A/N: Wow. My sincerest apologies for my atrocious geographical knowledge. The UK is indeed an island. Thank you Mark Darcy for setting me straight. The error has been corrected. Severus would be appalled. I can just hear him now… "Idiot girl!" Alas, the slipperiness of the English language…

As for the length of Severus's hair…it's about as long as Alan Rickman's in the movies. Maybe a bit shorter. Poor Harry is closer to Ed Harris's look in The Rock, and Draco's is a little shorter than Tom Felton's in PoA (the no-gel look…what were they thinking in SS and CoS?)

And just for the record, we're looking at approximately 37, 38 chapters for the completion of this tale. I'm still reworking the ending, but S and A will definitely be complete by Halloween. Is that awesome timing or what!

Chapter 25- Revelations

The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly. -Corra Harris

Lunch consisted of cold sandwiches and fruit. Harry sighed as he lifted his glass of pumpkin juice.

"Just think," he said wistfully, "we'd be sitting in the Great Hall right now, watching the bats and pumpkins floating above the tables. And the feast would be tonight."

"Dishes upon dishes of food," said Draco. He closed his eyes. "The smell of cookies would fill the entire lower floors of the castle. We'd walk down the halls to class and our mouths would water."

"Oh, and the caramel apples," moaned Severus as he closed his eyes, leaning his head to rest on the back of his chair. Samantha rolled her eyes and chuckled as she sipped her water. "The house-elves made the best caramel apples. I would eat as many as I could every year."

"Merlin, Severus," said Samantha with a teasing smile. "It's a wonder you don't weigh 400 pounds."

"He walked it all off stalking us at night," said Draco. "The man was everywhere all at once. That was the only good thing about being a prefect. You could never get in trouble for being out after curfew."

"I think I would have liked to be prefect," said Harry thoughtfully. "Although it seems like a lot of work."

"It is, believe me," said Draco. "You have to go to all those bloody meetings with the Heads of House." Severus smirked at him. "They would go on and on and on –"

"That's why I never said anything in those meetings," said Severus. "Our staff meetings were that way as well. McGonagall was the worst. There were always 'discipline issues' with her precious Gryffindors."

"What!" cried Harry. "She would always punish us worse than anyone." He pointed a finger at Draco. "You remember in first year, when she caught you out past curfew?"

"Yes," said Draco sullenly. "She never believed me about you being out too. I was hated for the longest time for losing us forty points." He glared at Severus. "You just had to go and double what she'd already taken, didn't you?"

"Well, forty's not as bad as losing a hundred and fifty in one go," said Harry. Draco's jaw dropped. "Hermione and I were getting rid of the baby dragon that Hagrid had hatched in his hut. It was getting huge."

"I knew it!" cried Draco. "I knew you were up to something!"

"Yeah," said Harry sheepishly. "We were under my Invisibility cloak when she caught you. We gave the dragon to some of Charlie Weasley's friends but we left the cloak on top of the Tower. Filch caught us and took us to McGonagall. She'd also caught Neville out and we lost fifty points a piece."

"How in the world did Hagrid get his hands on a dragon egg?" asked Samantha, aghast. "Those are illegal to import and trade for a reason."

"Voldemort had possessed the Defense professor at the time," said Severus. "Little twit named Quirrell. He got Hagrid drunk in order to obtain information in exchange for the egg so that he could steal the Sorcerer's Stone for Voldemort. Thanks to James here, Voldemort was thwarted from gaining a new body at that time. Although," Severus took a drink of his juice, "that heroic escapade lost us the House Cup that year. Ruined a seven-year streak that I had thoroughly enjoyed rubbing in McGonagall's face. And we were ahead of Gryffindor by a ridiculous amount of points."

Harry grinned smugly. "Dumbledore did always know how to ruin a good moment for you boys, didn't he?" The other two glared at him as Harry sat regally in his chair.

"Well, speaking of ruining a good moment," said Samantha as she turned to Draco, "spill it on this intelligence you acquired last night, Elias."

"Right," said Draco, still glaring at Harry. "There's going to be a big attack on Hogsmeade the third Saturday in November."

Severus pushed away from the table and rose from his chair. He paced in front of the fireplace as Draco continued.

"All of the Death Eaters will be there," said Draco somberly. "He thinks that since Severus is out of the Inner Circle, the Order will have no way of knowing he's coming. The Dark Lord is hoping and planning for a massacre."

"So if we show up, the Dark Lord will know he's got another informer in his midst," said Samantha. She looked to Severus. "If we do this, Draco might be unable to return."

Severus nodded in agreement. "Discounting Bella, I'm the only family he has left. But if Draco is convincing enough, Voldemort may be fooled as to Draco's true allegiences."

"But why Hogsmeade?" asked Harry. "Why not the Alley or the Ministry? That would make more of an impact if he were just trying to scare everyone."

"That's what worries me the most about this whole thing," said Severus. "It's too close to Hogwarts for my comfort. If he was able to capture the school, he'd be almost impossible to defeat, even if we were able to convince the Ministry to help us."

"We have no choice, do we?" said Draco softly. "You have to stop him. It's just a matter of my return afterwards." Silence descended on the room as all four of them sat in deep thought.

"We'd lose any chance of getting solid information on other attacks if Elias doesn't go back," said Harry.

"But we run the risk of his being killed if he returns," said Samantha. She sighed. "Severus, how good is his Occlumency?"

"It's very good," said Severus. "But I don't know if it's adequate enough to fool Voldemort on this level yet. I'd have to work with him some more."

"Then let's do that for the next couple of weeks," said Draco firmly. "We need as much information as we can get, especially if the Dark Lord is planning on taking the school in the near future. You can call an Order meeting or whatever and plan details. We need to keep someone on the inside so that we're ready to kill him after we destroy the chest from the Ministry." Severus looked into the blond boy's unwavering eyes and sighed.

"James, get me some blank parchment," said Severus. Harry ran out of the room and returned with a whole roll, several black quills and some ink. Severus unrolled some and cut it from the rest with his wand. He grabbed a quill and drew a quick sketch of the village, labeling the main establishments.

"Draco, where are there going to be teams stationed?" asked Severus. Draco grabbed another quill and placed X's in front of The Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes, Dervish and Banges, and the Post Office. He also marked the stile at the end of the high road and Hogsmeade Station.

"I'm leader of the Station group," said Draco as he pointed to one X. "Aunt Bella has one of the ones in town. Pettigrew is in charge of the one at the end of the road. I'm not sure who has the others. My main objective is to keep any of the villagers from escaping towards the school. So, we'll be fanned out all along here," he indicated on the map. "I'm to keep fairly close to the edge of the village, so I'll actually be a ways from the Station itself."

Severus looked at the map and then up at Samantha, giving her a penetrating look. She shook her head, glancing quickly at Draco. Severus nodded slowly. Samantha bit her bottom lip as Severus exhaled noisily.

"We have to do it, Sam," said Severus. "He will have to be here to answer questions and to help explain the attack from his side."

"If the other two kids come, it'll be a nightmare," said Samantha. Harry frowned at them. Draco looked back and forth between them and Harry.

"What are you talking a--" asked Harry slowly. His eyes widened in comprehension. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" Severus and Samantha looked at one another, then over to Draco. Draco shook his head vehemently.

"No, they'll never believe me," said Draco firmly. "It'll be a disaster and nothing will get done. We can't. Not yet."

"They already have questions as to where the other information has come from," said Samantha. "Remus has been hammering me for your name ever since you started passing information. If we go to him with this much detail about a major attack, he will demand your name or refuse to accept the intelligence. Like Severus said, you might as well be here to answer any questions they have about the placement of our teams in relation to yours."

"Bloody hell," whispered Harry as he rubbed his eyes underneath his thin-rimmed glasses. "Ron and Hermione are going to have a fit."

"I'm more concerned with Moody myself," muttered Severus. Draco paled slightly at the name.

"Moody?" asked Draco in a small voice. "Who else?"

"McGonagall, Lupin, Hagrid, all the Weasleys" said Severus, Draco's face getting paler and paler at every name. "Your cousin Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and of course, Sam and myself." He gazed at Samantha with a grin. "Unless they kicked us out for that little stunt we pulled back in July and didn't tell us."

"We can't really worry about that now, can we," said Samantha. "We've got to get this to Remus and call a general session to discuss all of this, and soon. With as many Death Eaters as the Dark Lord has, this is going to take everything we've got."

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Harry wearily. "Patronus Remus and Mr. Weasley. Let's get going on this."

Two days later, Harry sat at the head of the kitchen table. His knee bounced nervously as his fingers tapped the edge of the chair. Samantha stood by the stove, sipping a cup of coffee sweetened with ungodly amounts of sugar. Severus paced the floor slowly, stopping every now and then in thought. A thin figure stood motionless and almost invisible in a dark corner behind Harry, cloaked in black with his hood drawn over his head.

As soon as the clock in the kitchen read eight, the floo fired a bright green. Remus stepped out, brushing ash off his cloak. He kissed Samantha on the cheek in greeting.

"Hi Sami," he said. He moved over to the table and ran a hand over the top of Harry's head. "You gonna stay for this meeting, kiddo?"

"Yes, Remus," said Harry stiffly. "I need to be here."

Remus raised his eyebrows. He glared at Severus, who had ceased his march down the length of the room and was standing next to Harry's chair. Severus stared back at him with an impenetrable gaze.

"Lupin," said Severus with a curt nod. Remus responded with a similar nod and took a seat at the table. Samantha rolled her eyes behind his back. The floo flared again, spewing forth Weasleys left and right along with a disheveled Hermione.

"Hi Remus," said Ron, grasping Hermione's hand and clearly ignoring the other occupants of the room. Remus glanced at Harry before responding.

"Hello, Ron, Hermione," said Remus. "How's life at the Burrow?"

"Busy and as chaotic as ever," answered Hermione. She glanced towards Harry, but recoiled slightly at Ron's sneering face. Harry ignored them both, staring down at the top of the table. Ron dragged Hermione down to the opposite end of the table.

The rest of the Order arrived in shifts. By 8:20, everyone was seated and sipping the beverage of their choice, thanks to Molly. Severus leaned down to speak to Harry.

"This is your show, James," whispered Severus. "Sam and I will be here if you need us, but this will be much more meaningful coming from you." Harry nodded as Severus straightened his tall frame. He stepped back to stand next to Samantha behind Harry's chair. Harry took a deep breath and rose slowly from his chair. He cleared his throat to get the room's attention.

"Thank you all for coming," he said clearly. Some of the members gave each other questioning looks, gazing at Severus and Samantha behind Harry. "Let's get started so that you can get home at a decent hour. We called this meeting to discuss intelligence we've received from our source on an attack planned for the third Saturday in November, which is a little less than three weeks from now."

"Do we know who this source is?" asked McGonagall sternly, narrowing her eyes at Harry. "It's certainly not him." She glared daggers at Severus, who stared back blankly at her. "And, furthermore Potter, you are sitting in Albus's chair. I don't know if you really --"

Harry growled in frustration. He whacked the back of the wooden chair hard with his wand, transfiguring it into a tall, black marble throne with green velvet cushions. He glowered at McGonagall's hanging jaw and pointed his wand at the chair.

"Are you satisfied now?" said Harry in tightly controlled voice, arching an eyebrow at her. "I don't think Dumbledore would ever sit in something so Slytherin nor would he give a damn that I'm sitting in his chair." McGonagall's face flushed in anger, but she remained completely silent. Harry shook his head slightly and continued. "And to answer your question, no, our source is not Severus," he said as he pulled out the map of Hogsmeade they had made a few days prior, setting it on the table. "Our spy is a very good friend of mine, actually."

"I'll bet he is," muttered Ron loudly. "Bloody coward can't even show his face at an Order meeting."

"Be careful what you wish for, Weasley," said Draco from the corner. He stepped forward and pulled back his hood.

"DAMN IT!" cried Moody as he stood up sharply from the table. "I won't have any more Death Eaters in the Order! We've already had one, and look how that turned out!" He glared contemptuously at Severus, who sneered back and stepped towards him. Samantha put a hand on his arm, holding him back. Severus stopped, but continued to scowl at Moody as the arguing erupted. Harry sighed and sat down heavily in his chair, covering his face with a hand. Draco put a hand on Harry's shoulder, not saying a word. After almost twenty minutes of continuous bickering, Ron's loud voice was heard over the general roar.

"I told them as soon as he contacted Snape that he couldn't be trusted!" shouted Ron. "I have a bad feeling about letting him in."

"We agree," cried the Weasley twins in unison.

"Boys," said Arthur warningly. "Calm down. Now." The boys cowed slightly under their father's stern gaze. McGonagall shook her head.

"No, absolutely not," she said. "How can we be sure he's adequately prepared? One small miscalculation, and the Order will be exposed." The room erupted again, doubts and fears of compromise being heard.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" yelled Harry as he stood up sharply. Shocked silence descended on the room as they all stared at Harry. They could feel the powerful waves of energy emanating from him as Harry tried to reign in his anger. Even Severus and Samantha took a step back, but Draco didn't move, standing respectfully next to Harry as he glared at the room and spoke once again in a controlled voice. "If you would just let us explain, maybe you would be a little more understanding of the situation."

"We will NEVER understand his point of view," growled Moody, pointing to Draco. "You can't understand the perversity of a Death Eater's mind."

"Then perhaps you will understand it this way," said Harry harshly. "Imagine a young man whose parents have been taken away from him by a madman bent on immortality and conquest of the world. This young man was forced into a situation that he would have never chosen on his own. He's not even through with school yet, for Merlin's sake! He's given a huge burden to carry and finds that he can't do it alone. He goes to the only people he believes can help him. Those people mentor him, giving him the training to do what is necessary for the salvation of other people who want nothing to do with him. They become his friends, closer friends than he's ever had in his entire life. He completes this training, going back into the fight to give those same people who doubt and hate him a chance at a life they've never had."

Several members scoffed at him. Harry shook his head, disgust written all over his face.

"Dumbledore never taught me how to hate wizards and witches who sacrifice their very lives to save mine," said Harry firmly. "He never taught me how to be prejudiced against those who want to help us, just because they were in the so-called "wrong" damn House in school. In fact, Dumbledore always spoke of the opposite. 'We are only as strong as we are united' is what he said after Cedric Diggory was killed. He may have started this group, but you have forgotten why this group exists. If we cannot pull together on this, we can be sure that Voldemort's victory will be complete."

Samantha stepped forward, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and giving him a calming squeeze. He rested his hands on the table.

"If you refuse to understand the young man that Harry just described for you, then you have no way of understanding any of the four of us," said Samantha, waving to Severus and Draco. "Acting on this information could save the lives of many other children from the same fate that we have all lived through. The entire village of Hogsmeade rests in the palms of our hands, to do with as we will. If you wish to smite them from the face of the planet, by all means continue to doubt us."

"You're welcome to leave, if you so choose," said Harry calmly. "One of us might be able to patronus you from the battle if we aren't overwhelmed by Voldemort's entire army of Death Eaters."

"Entire army?" asked Remus with wide eyes. "He's bringing all of them?"

"Yes," answered Draco. "All of us have been assigned to a team and we will be stationed at different places in the village. Harry has a detailed map of where the teams will be placed. I'm leading a squad near Hogsmeade Station. Pettigrew will be leading the group at the other end of the high road. I know my aunt Bella will be in charge of a group in Hogsmeade itself, but since I have yet to be promoted to the Inner Circle, I have no details as to which team she has nor the leaders of the other teams." Harry pointed at the parchment spread out on the table.

"That's the map there," said Harry. "We have to figure out how to place ourselves to keep the majority of them from escaping, from killing innocent civilians, and from killing whoever of us decides to fight. We cannot allow them to get to Hogwarts." He looked to Remus, who was stroking his chin in thought. "Remus, does Pettigrew know about all the secret entrances into the castle from Hogsmeade?" Remus froze, his face paling quickly.

"He definitely knows about the one from the Shrieking Shack to the Willow," said Remus. He ran a hand through his grey hair. "I have no clue if he remembers the one from Honeydukes. My guess is that he does." Harry nodded.

"We might need to have people near both as lookouts, just in case," said Harry. "Honeydukes is closed, but that probably won't stop them if they're determined to get in." He paused once more. "Severus, does anybody know about your apparition point?"

"Just Draco," said Severus. "None of the other young Death Eaters were branded before the school year was over, so they have no idea how I left the school. Draco was forbidden to tell them of it."

"I haven't told anyone about that door," said Draco. "But I'm pretty sure we're not aiming to get into the castle with this attack, just weakening the village and sending a message to Scrimgeour. He's given us no indication that we are to attempt to secure the castle. At least, as far as I can tell, he's hasn't. That would take quite a bit more planning on his side." Arthur leaned forward in his chair to get a better look at the map. Harry tapped the parchment, enlarging it. Arthur gave him a small smile and a nod of thanks.

"Your spell work is amazingly improved from the last time I saw you," said Remus, looking strangely between Harry and Severus.

"Well, I haven't been sitting here twiddling my thumbs," said Harry morosely. "When you're selected as the appointed Chosen One, it's best to have a few tricks up your sleeve." He turned his head towards Draco. "Draco, do you know how you're planning on coming in?"

"Apparition," he said leaning over Harry's shoulder to gaze at the map again. "It's a drop and fire."

"What's that?" asked Arthur. He looked at Severus, who ran a thin hand over his face.

"It means that they will apparate directly to where they're supposed to be and they will do it in broad daylight," said Severus bitterly. "They will commence firing on anything that moves --men, woman, children. They will spare nothing and take no captives."

"So you will have to be there before the drop time to secure the village," said Draco. "We haven't been given specific times yet. The Dark Lord might even give us all staggered times in order to produce a wave effect, but that isn't likely. I will contact Severus or Harry as soon as I get my time."

"Staggering would be bad for us," said Harry, shaking his head. "How many Death Eaters do you think will be there?"

"There were forty when I left," said Severus. He glanced at Draco. The boy shook his head.

"He's definitely been recruiting since then," said Draco. "Last head count I did, we were up to at least sixty. Now, granted, some of the new recruits are younger than I am -- last year's fifth years, if I remember correctly. We've got a few Ravenclaws I think, along with more Slytherins."

"We'll have to watch our spell strength, then," said Samantha. "Ravenclaws have notoriously slow reaction times, so powerful spells can really do some damage to kids who can't perform proper shields. We don't want to kill them, just incapacitate and capture."

"Now wait just a minute," said Ron loudly as he stood up from his seat. "We're believing him? We're just going to take his word for it? A slimy, Slytherin coward who is just –"

"RONALD WEASLEY, SIT DOWN!" shouted Molly. "You will control yourself, or so help me, I will drag you back to the Burrow to stay with Fleur and Ginny." Ron sat sullenly, looking down at the table. Molly gazed towards Harry's end of the table. "I am so sorry, Draco. Please excuse Ron's horrid behavior." Ron flushed deep red in embarrassment. Severus nodded at her, glancing at Draco's shocked face and giving her a thankful look.

"How can we stretch our numbers to even the odds on them?" asked Harry, staring at the map. Suddenly, Samantha grabbed Severus's sleeve.

"The rooftops," she whispered. "Can we have a couple of teams on the rooftops until we've evened numbers a little?"

"Hm," mused Severus. "We can't have everyone up there, but we could definitely have those with better long-range aim to hit the Death Eaters from above, one team on either side of the road, between the Post Office and Dervish and Banges. We'd be free to hit anyone in black cloaks since Draco's going to be at the train station." He gave Remus an intense look. "Lupin, what do you think?"

Remus looked up at him sharply, giving him a calculating look. He held Severus's gaze before he nodded.

"Let's do it," said Remus. Samantha grinned at him as he addressed the rest of the Order. "Who all wants in on this? We need to get some rough numbers so we can start dividing into teams. If you know of anyone else who would be able to help us, get them in on it quickly and quietly. We don't need the entire Ministry there to give us grief if Draco or Severus are captured."

"The three of us are in," said Severus. "Harry and I will be there in disguise to avoid unwanted attention."

"Hermione and I will be there," said Ron gruffly. "I'm not about to let a Malfoy show me up."

"Whatever, Weasley," muttered Draco. McGonagall sighed loudly.

"I'll be there," she said reluctantly. "I'll also talk to Filius to see if I can get his help as well. We could use another champion dueler out there with us."

"Molly, what do you think?" asked Arthur. "Boys? It's up to you."

"Well, if ickle Ronnikins is going, I think we'd better go along to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble," said Fred with a sly grin. Ron glared at them, his face flushing red again.

"I'm in as well," said Bill. "I'll try and get a hold of Charlie, but he may not be able to get here in time."

"If the boys are going, I'm going too," said Molly. Arthur smiled and gave Remus a nod.

"The Weasleys are in," he said. Remus looked to the corner where the other Aurors were standing.

"We can be there as Ministry reps," said Tonks. "Kingsley can pull some strings as Deputy Head of the division if things get messy with Draco and Severus." Kingsley nodded in agreement.

"What about everyone else?" asked Harry. The rest of the members nodded in agreement or murmured the assent. Harry smiled. "Then let's get to it." Draco took a deep breath and exhaled loudly as Harry and Severus began to hash out details with Remus and Arthur.

A/N2: Yes, I just couldn't help but take a shot at the fan fic depiction of Voldemort's throne. Haha...I could have added a serpent trim in green or silver to it, but I restrained myself.

The layout of Hogsmeade is based on the map from HP Lexicon, which I think is fairly accurate. That site is AMAZING!