Chapter 23 – Another Strike

Harry was so wrapt up in his researches that he nearly forgot to go down into the dungeons at eight o'clock for his Occlumency lesson. Nearly. He managed to arrive there just in time, but he had run the entire distance from the library to Snape's office, and then Snape immediately cast the Legimency spell after he had closed the door behind himself. Entirely out of breath and without a moment to prepare himself for what was happening, Harry had no chance to defend himself against Snape's attack. It was not a pleasant Occlumency lesson at all. It got better after that horrible start, but not much. Harry was still too wrapt up in the researches he had conducted in the library.

But that was how he spent the next two days. In the mornings, he would head up to the library immediately after breakfast, bury himself behind a stack of books, searching for the answer to the question of how Sirius could be brought back. He'd have lunch with Remus, then head back up to the library again.

Life at Hogwarts was so isolated from the real world that Harry could pretend it didn't exist. There were moments when it wasn't all that hard to imagine that Voldemort was nothing but a fragment of imagination, nothing that threatened his friends and their families out there. Harry didn't receive the Daily Prophet, he relied on the fact that Remus or Dumbledore would tell him if something happened again. Until then, he worked hard to keep himself from having another dream like the one he had had hardly a week ago. Though he had still not found a way to clear his mind before he went to bed, Harry tried. He really did. Every night before he fell asleep, he put a conscious effort into thinking about the things that were occupying him, trying to deal with them well enough so that they would not haunt him at night. That had to be enough, he didn't have another way to do this yet. He had the feeling that he was progressing in his lessons. Though he still couldn't manage to keep Snape out of his mind entirely, or even to effectively push him back once Snape had penetrated his protective barriers, he had the feeling that it was getting harder and harder for Snape to enter his mind in the first place. It took longer, and it seemed to cost Snape more effort to manage. What convinced Harry most was the fact that though Snape still criticized him in every way he could, he no longer said that Harry wasn't putting an effort into his lessons. Of course, things still developed far too slowly for Snape's liking, and he told the teenager as much, but Harry had the feeling of progress. Not much, but still something.

On the day two days before full moon, Harry was surprised to find Remus sitting in the Gryffindor common room as he descended the stairs from his dormitory. Normally, Remus was up far earlier than he was and was already sitting at whatever he was working on by the time Harry got up. But this morning he was sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, an untouched plate with breakfast in front of himself and the Daily Prophet lying next to his teacup. A small leaden weight settled in Harry's stomach as he sat down in an armchair and pulled up the second plate with his own breakfast.

"Bad news?", he asked. Slowly, Remus nodded.

"I think you could say that, yes. There has been another attack."

Harry didn't feel particularly hungry anymore. His memories of the dream about what had happened to the Bransons were still very vivid, he didn't need any more of that. Not at all. Problem was, there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop those things from happening.

"What happened?", Harry asked and reached for the paper. Remus only shook his head.

"You won't find it in there, Harry. It happened in the early morning hours, it didn't make it into the morning paper."

Harry withdrew his hand and looked inquiringly at Remus. With a sigh, Remus began to speak.

"Albus told me about it first thing this morning. Obviously, it was Moody who informed him about it. Last night, another member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was killed."

"Who?"

Remus shook his head. "Aloysius Vandenberg. I doubt that you know him of have ever heard of him, but just like Sal Branson, he was an important and high-ranking member of the DMLE. One of their top Aurors, to be precise. Fortunately, he was neither married nor did he have children, so it was only him who was attacked, but it's still bad enough."

Harry frowned. He had indeed not heard of an Aloysius Vandenberg before, but that didn't necessarily have to mean something. What he couldn't quite grasp was that so little was actually happening. Upon seeing Remus' expression, Harry had been prepared to receive really bad news, news about a lot of dead people, maybe even people he knew.

"But what is the sense behind this?"

Remus frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Attacking people like that. I mean, a few days ago the Bransons, and now this Auror. Why so small attacks, now that Voldemort is back and everybody knows. I had thought he would do something bigger."

Remus finished his tea and leaned back in his chair. Harry noticed with some concern that he didn't seem to have eaten anything at all this morning, and he didn't really look as if he had gotten all that much sleep last night.

"Maybe he does it because everybody knows."

"What do you mean?"

"After the Minister declared over the press that Voldemort is back, everybody was only waiting for something to happen. Something big, the outbreak of a war. Anticipation is really hard to bear if nothing happens for a longer stretch of time. Everybody at the Ministry saw the attack on the Bransons as a starting point of such a big thing. There was a Dark Mark in the sky, and so far that only happened when the Death Eaters wanted to let people know who committed the crime. And then nothing happened for days. The Aurors were on double shifts, the guards around the important buildings were doubled or tripled, and simply nothing happened. I think Voldemort wanted exactly that."

Harry slowly shook his head. "But then what about last night?"

Remus shrugged. "I don't know all that much about what happened last night. Albus said it isn't yet confirmed as a Death Eater attack, though from what he gathered from Moody it was exactly like it was with the Bransons, only that there was no Dark Mark in the sky. But it isn't officially confirmed, and without a Dark Mark it will probably never be declared a Death Eater attack."

"But it was one, wasn't it?"

Remus nodded. "That's what Moody said. On Albus' – let's say gentle prodding, I called up Janus earlier this morning. He was in charge of the Branson investigation. It took me a while to worm details out of him, but what he said was worrisome, to say the least."

Remus' face indicated clearly that this had not been one of the most pleasant conversations of his entire life, but Harry had learned quickly not to inquire about Remus' relationship with his brother. And now certainly was not the time.

"Janus said that last night's attack looked every bit like a Death Eater attack, or at least every bit like the attack on the Bransons. Quick entry, torture, killing, no traces to the perpetrators left behind. The only difference is the Dark Mark. That makes it two high-ranking members of the DMLE who were killed. Janus hinted that he had heard of similar things happening in France, but so far that's even less sure than everything we know about last night. Another fact is that a number of Ministry workers didn't show up for work today, unaccounted for until now."

"What does that mean?"

Remus shrugged. "It's too early to say for sure, but it seems as if they were set on taking out the important people in Law Enforcement one by one, slowly, well-planned, and at their own pace."

A shiver went down Harry's spine. "What? But why?"

Remus shrugged and refilled his teacup. "After two deaths it's far too early to speak about a scheme that can be recognized behind what's happening. But it's not been just anybody who was attacked, and neither were it any muggle-borns or mixed wizard-muggle families who were attacked. The only thing they have in common is that they were high up in the Law Enforcement of our administration." He nervously rubbed the scar on the back of his hand, then caught himself and forced his hands to fold still in his lap. "It's the government that sets the laws for a society, but it's the Law Enforcement that keeps them up within society. If you take out the important people, the ones who carry the responsibility and who organize and coordinate everything, chaos ensues. The more people you take out – the more chaos you cause – the more difficult it becomes to persecute the Death Eaters. And of course it evokes fear. The people see that the Ministry is powerless against the Death Eaters, and they lose their faith in the authorities. Chaos can be immensely helpful if you're intending to lead a war."

He sighed and got up from the sofa.

"A lot of what I told you is speculation, but it's what we think Voldemort is trying to achieve at the moment. We'll see what happens once the missing Ministry workers are accounted for."

Harry nodded slowly, listlessly picking around on his plate with breakfast.

"About what your brother said. If something like that happened in France, do you think it's safe for Hermione and Ginny?"

Remus shrugged. "I don't see any reason why not. What Janus talked about was even more unconfirmed than the little we know about last night's attack. And even if Voldemort is trying the same in France, so far it's not affecting the general public. I doubt that Hermione and Ginny are any less safe in France than they would be in England. Probably they're even safer."

"And until something else happens, we'll just have to sit around and wait, right?"

"Unfortunately. The Ministry is doing everything they can, the Aurors will be more careful, and the Order is desperately trying to find out what the Death Eaters' next move will be. As for us here at Hogwarts, there is indeed nothing we can do but wait, as horrible as that may be." He clapped his hands together and made a step towards the portrait hole.

"Right. The reason why I waited here actually was to tell you that Severus will be busy tonight. He told me to tell you that he rescheduled your lesson to ten o'clock this morning, meaning he expects you in his office in roughly twenty minutes."

Harry sighed loudly and grimaced. "Great."

Remus chuckled. "Just think about the evening you'll have off tonight. Right, I have to go and talk to Albus again, then I'll be in the library. I'll see you later, Harry."

"Yeah, until later", Harry said, his voice anything but enthusiastic about the change of his morning schedule.

Remus left the room, and Harry quickly stuffed some breakfast into himself before he set off towards the dungeons. Trust Snape to reschedule his lessons and send him notice about it at the last possible moment. Just bloody great. But Remus was right, at least that way he would have the evening off without another of those lessons looming over him. That thought cheered him at least a little bit as he climbed down the numerous staircases towards the dungeons. He was a few minutes early, but as he knocked on the office door, Snape bid him enter. As always, Snape was looming darkly behind his desk and glared at Harry as he entered.

"Mr. Potter, I see that Lupin found you. Well then, let us begin."

But as Snape pulled out his wand and Harry readied himself for the attack that was bound to follow, the flames in the fireplace suddenly flared up and Remus came rushing out of the fireplace. Snape immediately turned towards him, wand still in his hand, and for one short moment Harry thought that his professor would curse Remus for intruding. But Snape merely pocketed his wand again and glared at Remus.

"What, Lupin?"

"Sorry to come banging in here like that, Severus. Albus just left, and he asked me to give this, he said it was urgent and that he'll come back in the late afternoon to give you the details."

He pulled a sealed roll of parchment from the inner pocket of his robes and handed it to the other man. Snape grunted something and pulled the parchment out of Remus' hand, then deposited it onto his desk.

"Was there anything else, Lupin? I'm about to start Potter's lesson."

Remus didn't answer, and as the silence stretched for a few seconds too long, Harry turned and looked at him. He was startled to see that his former teacher had suddenly become very pale, and his hands, which were handing loosely at his sides, were shaking badly. Snape, too, noticed Remus' sudden distress and made a step forward from behind his desk.

"Lupin?"

"I'm all right", Remus all but panted. "Just…just a bit dizzy."

Harry thought that just a bit dizzy looked less threatening than that, but just as he made a step forward and stretched out a hand, Remus suddenly doubled over. Eyes wide in horror, Harry watched as Remus' eyes unfocussed, as if he was staring at something only he could see. All the colour drained from his face and suddenly, without warning, his knees gave way and he fell to the floor. The last thing Harry saw were Remus' eyes rolling back in his head and his hands gripping for something to hold on to but meeting only thin air.

Harry might have been the seeker of the two other people in the room, but nevertheless Snape beat him with his reaction. While Harry was still staring in shock at the collapsing form of his former teacher, Snape rushed forward and managed to catch Remus before his head hit the floor. Nearly gently in his actions Snape lowered Remus to the ground and pried one of his closed eye-lids open with his fingers. Only the whites of Remus' eyes was visible and Harry saw a narrow line appear on the skin between Snape's eyes as he frowned.

From his place standing near Remus' feet, Harry helplessly had to watch how Remus' hands clenched and balled into tight fists in time with the cramps that were coursing through his body. He watched the scene as if he wasn't really there, saw Snape move behind Remus' head and hold it as still as he could while Harry himself couldn't think of anything to do except from kneeling down and taking one of Remus' tightly clenched fists into his own hand, listening to the ragged and wheezing breaths and praying that this seizure would be over soon.

Please not him as well!

Harry didn't know where that thought had come from, but it was true. Remus had always been more distant than Sirius, he had been more teacher than friend for a long time, but now with Sirius gone Harry suddenly realized that this man was the last living connection to his own parents' past. And he was the only adult left who still could become something like a fatherly friend. Remus could probably never take Sirius' role, he was too different from how Harry's godfather had been, but Harry realized that he cared for the man, cared very much indeed, and that he just wasn't ready to lose him as well.

But there was nothing he could do, Harry realized, nothing he could do to help Remus.

After what seemed like a small eternity, Harry felt the tension leave Remus' body and the hand which he still had clutched tightly in his own relaxed and lay limply between his palms. Remus' harsh breathing gradually evened out into lowly wheezing breaths, and eventually Harry dared to look up at Snape.

The worried line in the middle of his forehead had not disappeared and didn't disappear now as he reached towards Remus' neck to search for a pulse. Without looking up, he barked out his next commands at Harry.

"Fetch me the green bottle from the top shelf beneath the window, Potter."

Harry found himself obeying immediately, hurrying through the room to bring the demanded bottle. He didn't know what was inside, didn't recognize the name of the potion that was written on the label, but he trusted Snape enough to know that he would not poison Remus. When he came back he found that Snape had pulled Remus up into a sitting position, propped up against his chest, and was whispering harshly into his ear.

"Oh no, Lupin. Not while I'm around. That would be a great joke for you and your friends, wouldn't it? But I won't let you load your death on me, Lupin. Not today, hear me?"
Without looking up he stretched his hand out and Harry placed the bottle into Snape's palm. Not bothering to thank Harry - which the teenager hadn't expected anyway - Snape unscrewed the small flask and poured the contents into Remus' mouth. Nothing happened.

"He doesn't swallow."

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Mr. Potter."

Harry wondered how Snape could remain so…so cold and calm even now, with Remus being too weak to swallow the potions that were supposed to help him. Still not looking up from Remus' unmoving form which was leaning against him, Snape reached under Remus' chin and placed his fingers under his jaw, exerting pressure. After a short moment, Remus swallowed. Harry was flabbergasted.

"How…how did you do that?"

Snape was repeating the procedure with the remaining contents of the bottle without looking up at Harry.

"Interesting and useful trick", Harry thought Snape was grinning somewhat ruefully, "very useful to make people swallow potions, even if the don't want to or are in no state to do so."

He let that sentence hang in the room and after a moment Harry contemplated that he didn't really want to think about the possible implications of this statement. The little he knew about Snape's past before Hogwarts wasn't pretty, and right now he was too worried about Remus to waste his thoughts on his teacher's past.

"What about Remus?"

Snape shrugged and once more controlled Remus' pulse.

"I'm not a medi-wizard, Potter, and neither do I pretend to know enough about blood-oaths to understand what is happening to him. He is alive for now, if that was what you wanted to know. He ought to wake up again, but other than that I can't tell. As long as Black is caught behind that veil and draws from his strength it will happen again, and obviously it will get worse. When next, I don't know."
"It's happening more frequently."

Snape only nodded, but didn't comment. Harry bit his lip. In his momentary relief that Remus' seizure was over, he had nearly forgotten that even thought he might be all right for the moment, this would continue until they had either found a way to bring Sirius back or until Remus would…would not wake up again after a seizure. They needed to do something, and fast.

Snape seemed to think more about the moment, because he looked up at Harry and nodded towards the fireplace.

"Go and get Madam Pomfrey, Potter."

Harry scrambled to his feet and walked over towards the fireplace, not really knowing how his legs were carrying him when they felt like they were made of rubber. A small pot with floo-powder was standing on the mantelpiece, and Harry quickly threw some into the flames and called out for the Hogwarts infirmary. It took maybe a minute, but then the woman's head appeared in the fireplace.

"Mr. Potter? What happened?"

"Remus collapsed again, in Professor Snape's office."

Madam Pomfrey nodded. "I'll be there in a moment."

Harry got up and slowly walked back to where Remus was lying. Now there was nothing they could do but wait – wait for Madam Pomfrey, and wait for Remus to wake up again.

Madam Pomfrey arrived not half a minute after the floo connection had closed. She put her bag down on the floor and knelt down next to Remus' prone form.

"What happened, Professor Snape?"

Snape got up and shrugged. "He collapsed again."

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over Remus in a first examination, but then her eyes fell on the empty bottle that was lying next to Remus' shoulder, and she picked it up.

"Is this what I think it is?"

Snape nodded. "If you think it's a reviving tonic, then you're right. His pulse was erratic and barely discernable anymore, it wouldn't have taken much more for his circulation to collapse entirely."

A chill ran down Harry's spine at those words. To him, it had not looked more serious than the first two seizures he had witnessed. Truly, it had lasted longer, but the mere thought that it had been that bad, to the point where it had threatened Remus' life…

Madam Pomfrey sighed deeply, then she nodded and conjured a stretcher underneath Remus' unmoving body.

"I'd better bring him up into the infirmary until he wakes up again."

And with those words, she levitated the stretcher towards the door and vanished. Snape picked up the empty bottle and put it on a counter underneath the window. Then he checked the watch in the pocket of his robes and pulled out his wand. He pocketed it again with a small, grim smile playing around his lips.

"Well, as much as this has been entertaining and distracting, we should use the remaining thirty minutes for something more productive. Legilimens!"