Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

The next morning, the news about the headmaster was announced. Severus had made sure that Harry knew about it before they went down to breakfast. The teen had been obviously upset but his reassurances that Albus had taken it quite well had managed to calm him down. Alec wasn't convinced that this was the best choice, but after his uncle's words he decided to wait for a chance to talk to his grandfather about it before deciding on what to feel. After all, maybe Dumbledore was happy to leave Hogwarts and all the work it implied behind.

Most students were quite upset by the news; it wasn't that they didn't like Minerva, but as Severus had said the night before, she was not Dumbledore. Most of the Ravenclaw turned to Harry after hearing the news. He was immediately asked about how his grandfather had taken the news. The teen could only shrug and say that he hadn't had the chance to talk to the man yet. He was sure he would have been bugged further if the bell for classes hadn't rung then. Lan was quick to drag him out of the Hall and to the charms classroom much to his obvious relief.

When they went to lunch that afternoon they were surprised to see that the teacher's table had become longer and that several ministry wizards were sitting there talking quietly with the teachers. Madam Bones was seated between Minerva and Severus and was quietly discussing something seemingly important with the two of them. Lunch went on peacefully. It was nearing the end, when Lan stood up.

"I forgot my charms book in the common room; I'll see you there in a few minutes."

Harry nodded at her and continued eating his dessert. No one had been paying attention to the girl until a piercing scream ran through the hall silencing all conversations and making more than one person go for his wand. They all turned to look at the source of the scream and froze at the sight that met them.

Professor Nirian stood there with an arm around Lan's neck and her wand pressed against the girl's throat. Her blue eyes were glaring around the room, daring anyone to move. The teachers, who had risen from their seats, froze when the DADA teacher's eyes fell on them.

"Put your wands down, or the girl will die, and after her, all the other students until you manage to take me down."

Knowing that that was no idle threat, they all complied and put their wands on the table in front of them. Rising from her position, McGonagall looked towards the other woman.

"What is it you want?"

Nirian's eyes became frozen icicles at the question. "I want Potter. My master wanted him dead, and I will make sure that that is what happens to him even if the Lord is no longer here to witness it."

Several gasps rose from the students. They had never even suspected that the woman might have been a supporter of Voldemort. She had always seemed quite normal to them and for once had been a competent teacher. Minerva felt Severus tense at her side and narrowed her eyes.

"We don't know where Potter is."

Lan let out a small scream when the wand pressed more tightly against her throat. "Don't lie to me! I know that he has been hiding under our nose, I heard you and Snape talk about it so don't make me believe you don't know where he is when he is standing in this hall."

The students and most teachers couldn't believe their ears; they had trouble believing her words, surely she was insane, Potter couldn't be here without anyone knowing.

Minerva went to answer her, even if she knew that there was no sense in denying the truth; they needed time in hope that someone would hear what was happening.

Before she had the chance, another voice interfered. "Let her go."

Nirian's eyes travelled to the voice and met the bright blue eyes of the boy standing at the Ravenclaw table. "I already said I would let her go, but only in exchange for you, Potter."

All eyes swirled around to his small form, but he didn't move a muscle. From the corner of his eyes he could see his aunt and uncle curse softly under their breath, but there really wasn't anything they could do about it.

"Very well, but how will I know you speak the truth?"

A nasty smirk covered her lips. "You won't, but then again, if you don't come with me, she will die for sure."

Sighing, the teen nodded and started to walk towards her only to be stopped short by a blasting curse that landed just in front of his feet. Looking up, his gaze met her slightly crazed eyes. "I don't think so, boy. Throw your wand away, I'm not so stupid as to let you near me with a wand on you."

Alec was hard pressed to not let a smirk bloom on his face, as if he needed a wand to take her out. Without a word, he did as she asked and threw the wand towards the teachers' table that was now behind him. Then he continued walking forward and this time nothing slowed his advance.

He was aware of the eyes of the student body that followed each one of his moves, they were probably wondering if he was really The Harry Potter. A quick glance to the fifth table showed him that Ron and Hermione seemed to be the most incredulous of the students. He would have to talk to them later on, but now he had something else to do. Turning towards their teacher, he saw that the woman had started to advance backwards, out of the Great Hall, dragging Lan with her. The girl had her eyes fixed on him and he steadily returned her gaze. He knew that he needed to find an opening before they left the wards of Hogwarts, else they would be in quite a lot of trouble. The doors of the Great Hall slammed shut when he finally stepped outside and he found that the woman's wand was suddenly pointed at him. The craziness in the woman's blue eyes had grown and Harry suddenly realized that she wouldn't wait until they left Hogwarts to act.

"You die today, Potter."

Before he could answer, Lan spoke. "If you kill us here, the teachers will get you in a second and you will die with us."

Nirian let out a sharp laugh. "Do you think I mind, you silly girl! My master is dead, and without him, my life is meaningless. If I die here, after having killed Harry Potter, I will be remembered right along his name and his remaining followers will worship my name until a new Dark Lord raises."

Harry knew he needed to distract her, so he asked something he had been wondering about for a while. "How comes you're not dead if you are one of his followers? You should have died just as every other Death Eater has."

Nirian snorted. "I don't know why you would want to know something like that if you're going to die, but to satisfy your curiosity, there were a few of us who had the Master's full trust and respect, we were the elite and our marks are quite different from the others'. We were tied to Voldemort only with our oaths, not with our magic because we needed all of it to fulfil his wishes. He should have left you to us, we would have killed you without a problem."

Harry smiled sweetly up at her, he had seen something that would be able to provide the distraction he needed, he just needed to wait for a few more seconds. "It's a pity that he was such a nutcase, else he could have let you deal with small matters like me and concentrate on the important ones like trying to teach you Death Eaters something worthwhile. After all, all his followers always seemed to incompetent to do much good, I guess that was his downfall."

He hadn't really been expecting the cutting curse that tore through his shoulder and left him panting from the pain. He had rather expected a shouting rant coming from the woman. When he looked up, his good hand clutching his bleeding limp, he was met with ice blue eyes, who were burning in rage. "You will regret those words, boy, I was planning on killing you quickly and getting it over with, but now I will enjoy making you scream in pain."

Lan was looking at him with horrified eyes, but Harry knew nothing mattered anymore. Just at the moment when the witch was about to fire another cutting curse, sharp fangs sank in her ankle, making her howl in pain. Knowing that his chance was there, Harry quickly thrust his hand out and summoned his classmate, who went flying to him, torn out of unresisting arms. With a wince, he caught the girl against his chest, which sent a stab of pain shooting through his arm. Trying to ignore it, he fired another curse towards the woman, who was now kneeling down clutching her ankle with one hand while trying to find the snake that had bit her with the other one. The stunning curse reached its mark and the teacher crumbled to the ground without further sound.

With a relieved sigh, Harry looked down at the girl that was now clutching his shirt in one hand while her eyes roamed through the unconscious woman. "Are you ok, Lan?"

The girl turned to face him sharply. "Am I ok? Am I ok! Of course I am not! But you are the one bleeding here and you ask if I am ok."

Harry looked faintly embarrassed. "Yes, well…"

He tried to push some of his hair behind his ear before remembering that his hand was still coated with his own blood. Lan looked at his movements, concern replacing her former anger. "You're getting pale, I'll take you to Madam Pomfrey; she wasn't at lunch so I guess she'll be at the hospital wing."

Harry shook his head. "Professor Nirian put wards around Great Hall, we need to break them down so they can get out."

Alec turned to face the door and was already raising a hand towards it when his concentration was broken by the girl. She had grabbed his hand and was now dragging him away from the door.

"Melanie!"

The girl's stride didn't change. "That can wait, they're not in danger and someone else will be able to handle it; it doesn't need to be you. Besides, I'm sure that the professors will be able to come up with something to break down the wards, they're not defenceless, you know."

Harry would have bickered with her, but he was starting to grow dizzy from blood loss and knew that if he didn't get to the Hospital wing soon, he would faint, which was the last thing he wanted right now.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader Vinnie.