Late One Night
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Chapter 19: Dark Mark
It was a couple of nights after Remus and Severus had been arguing about the assignment that Remus was to go on, and the two men had still not come to an agreement on whether they should both go or not. Severus was still adamant about joining Remus on the mission, come what may, while Remus refused to let the man he loved tag a long because it really was that dangerous, especially for someone as human as Severus.
Remus was lay on his stomach under the covers of his and Severus's bed, he was thinking about his options for this mission. Either he could go and allow Severus to tag along, he could tell Dumbledore he wasn't willing to do it and if possible allow most of the Order to think even less of him. Or (and this was the least favourite of his options) he could sneak out when Severus and the girls were all sleeping so that nobody could follow him. He knew exactly where it was that he had to go, Severus hadn't been present for that particular chat with Dumbledore so he wouldn't know.
As Remus continued pondering he felt a cool handle wandering gently up and down his bare back. "Don't even think about it, Severus, I am not in the mood for any amorous activities with you at the moment." He could practically hear Severus rolling his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me, you pissed me off."
Severus sighed, after their argument the other night Remus had been behaving very temperamentally, he had even made Maria cry earlier today. "Would it help if I said I was sorry?"
"No it bloody wouldn't," replied Remus, he moved a little but not out of annoyance for having the hand on his back. "I know you haven't changed your mind about going with me, so apologising is pointless."
"It's a pointless mission in the first place," said Severus, he gently ran his fingers up and down Remus's spine. "I still don't think you should go alone, and I am not going to apologise for caring, if that is what you're waiting for."
Remus huffed and turned onto his back, he put an arm over his eyes and grumbled, "Why do you have to be such a prick?"
"You knew that before you first climbed into my bed."
Remus sat up and gazed at Severus for a few moments before speaking again, "What if someone else went with me? Would that get you off my case?"
Severus snorted quietly, "No it wouldn't. Taking someone else with you could ruin the mission."
Remus laughed incredulously, "And taking you won't?" Severus shrugged a little. "That is a bit of a double standard, professor, but still, whether you like it or not, I am going without you."
"Bu-"
"No buts," said Remus, cutting the other man off. "Anyone else that goes with me would get killed like that-" he clicked his fingers. "I will be damned if our kids are going to be left as orphans as well. I am leaving in a couple of days, if you follow me, Severus, I will personally inflict great harm upon you."
Severus had his eyebrows raised in slight alarm; Remus rarely made threats like that, in fact, the last time the werewolf had made one to him and actually meant it was when Remus was giving birth to Maria. "Point taken."
"Good."
………
By the next morning Hermione could tell there was a great amount of tension between her parents, particularly from seeing the dark looks Remus was passing Severus which was something he rarely did unless they had had an argument of some sort. This time though, Hermione felt certain she knew what their argument was about, it was this mission (whatever it was) and it seemed to be greatly displeasing to Severus.
Whatever it was though she was determined to find out, from the small bit that they had told her it sounded quite bad and she had a fair idea as to what the mission could be as Remus had said that 'only he could do it'. Remus was the only werewolf in the Order that Hermione knew of so she felt sure it was something to do with werewolves, there were small colonies of them in other countries after all.
Hermione kept glancing back and forth between her parents during lunch, it was just them, herself and Maria for once as all the extended family had taken a day trip to Diagon Alley for school books for a couple of the children starting at Hogwarts this year. "…I know you don't like it when I start questioning everything, but I have to ask. Why are you glaring at each other?"
"Its my natural expression," replied Severus in a flat tone of voice.
Remus glanced at Severus and rolled his eyes, "It doesn't matter, Hermione."
Hermione definitely knew there was something wrong now, Remus only ever said her full name if he was in a bad mood or she was in trouble. Usually it was just shortened to 'Mione'. "Ok then…" There was no point in questioning further at the moment; she would only end up in trouble then. "Draco wants me to go see him. Can I?"
Remus nodded, "As long as you be careful in getting there, and be back before midnight."
Hermione raised her eyebrows slightly; "I will be," with that she got up and left the dining room as quickly as she could. The tension in there between her parents was almost unbearable.
After Hermione had gone, Remus got up from the table. He knew he and Severus should sit down and talk civilly about this problem but he really didn't want to make the first move, and it seemed as though Severus didn't plan to either. As he headed past Severus he barely had time to react before he was pulled onto the dark haired man's lap and kissed. "Are you asking for forgiveness?"
Severus settled his hands on Remus's almost too thin waist, conscious of the fact that Maria was still in the room, "Yes. I may not like what you have been asked to do, but I guess I can step aside and let you go."
Remus had a small smile on his face, "How thoughtful," he put a hand to Severus's forehead. "Are you sick or drunk?"
Severus's eyes narrowed slightly, "Is being sick or drunk a requirement for swallowing one's pride?"
Remus smirked and pressed a kiss to the potion master's frowning mouth, "Can you blame me for being a little wary? Its not often that you admit you're wrong."
"I am not admitting that I am wrong, I am just going against my own best judgement."
"I am grateful for that, believe me," Remus untangled himself from Severus's arms and got back to his feet. He turned to Maria who was playing with her food, "You nearly finished, hun?"
"Yup!"
"You say that like you're going somewhere."
"We are," replied Remus, he noticed Severus's quizzical look. "Headquarters. Sirius and I need to discuss a few things before the meeting later. Try not to hurt my family when they come back." He said before lifting Maria up and carrying her to the door.
"I won't harm them if they give me no reason too," replied Severus darkly.
Remus smiled, "I'll see you later."
"Bye."
……
Hermione and Draco were sitting on the floor in Draco's bedroom, their backs against his bed. They hadn't done much talking about their relationship yet, mainly because they had spent the last two hours in the Malfoy Manor kitchen raiding cupboards and finding wonderful food to stuff themselves with. But now that they were feeling bloated and relaxed from the food and the wine that they had sneaked upstairs, they were feeling ready to talk.
"Do you think we should tell anyone?"
Hermione smirked a little, "No I don't. We have three fathers between us and they would all probably kill us, I would also prefer not having to deal with my friends right away."
Draco nodded, "Remus might be a bit more accepting, right?"
Hermione shrugged, "I don't know about that, I don't think he's ever been all that fond of you, and especially your dad. He just hides it well." She rested her head on Draco's shoulder. "Let's just play it by here. If they find out, they find out, there's no need for us to shout it from the roof tops."
"Yeah…" replied Draco uncertainly. "With the war at the moment, it would probably be best if we kept it quiet anyway…"
Hermione lifted her head and gazed at the blond, "You don't sound too happy about that."
"I just don't want you to get hurt."
…
The Order Meeting was in full swing now, the group of adults was seated around the kitchen table in Twelve Grimmauld Place, with parchment spread everywhere, and plans going into action.
"Remus," said Dumbledore after checking over something. "Have you decided?"
Remus nodded, "Yeah, I'm going. I'll leave in a couple of days…alone." He gazed pointedly at Severus and Sirius who had both tried to persuade him into taking backup with him, namely themselves. Neither of the raven-haired men looked happy about this and he knew they would both hunt him down after the meeting to argue it out, but he was not going to let anyone else get hurt. This mission was too dangerous for someone who was all human.
"Very well," Dumbledore nodded, a small frown on his face. "Now, next port of call-" the old wizard was cut off when Kingsley Shacklebolt rushed into the room (he had been on a mission up until now). "Kingsley, is all well?"
Kingsley panted for air, "There's something going down at the Malfoys', I saw a huge group of Death Eaters arriving, and I am fairly certain that You Know Who may have arrived by now as well."
Black and brown eyes gazed fearfully at one another and Remus spoke meekly, "Hermione's there…"
…
"Shit…damn it all to hell!" cursed Lucius Malfoy as he rushed up the stairs of his manor to his son's room. He had known Voldemort would be turning up sometime soon, along with the other Death Eaters, Draco knew that as well, but neither Malfoy had expected it to be today. The reason for Voldemort being here was worrying enough, but now Lucius had to make sure Hermione's presence was kept secret as well otherwise she could easily be killed. Knowing Voldemort, he would make Lucius do the killing. Once he reached the room of his son (which was inconveniently situated at the far end of the manor), Lucius hammered on the door.
…
Draco and Hermione jumped apart in shock, they had not been expecting any interruptions, in fact, they had both thought that Lucius wasn't even in the manor and they knew the house-elves wouldn't disturb them.
"Come in!"
Lucius opened the door, and both teenagers saw he looked far more pale than usual, "He's here, Draco, you are wanted downstairs," Draco's grey eyes widened. The senior Malfoy then turned his attention to curious looking girl in the room. "Hermione, stay here. No matter what you hear from now on, do not leave this room, not unless you know that you can get out undetected."
Hermione nodded silently as Lucius and Draco swiftly left the room. Who was here? He… Who was he?
As she realised whom Lucius had meant, Hermione's eyes widened fearfully.
"Voldemort…"
…
"Oh holy hell…" Remus buried his face in his hands, he was shaking with nerves even more now than he had been when the group of kids had gone off to the Department of Mysteries. "Why the hell would they be there?"
Severus had dragged his chair up next to Remus's, he had a hand on the werewolf's back as he looked to the Headmaster, "Do you really think six people around the perimeter of that manor is going to suffice, Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore frowned, "No I do not, but we can not go rushing in there as has happened before," he knew exactly what was on Severus's mind, he knew what his potions professor wanted to do. "It could end fatally, anyone could be hurt, Severus. Hermione could be hurt."
Remus let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a whimper.
…
Hermione had been pacing Draco's room for nearly half an hour now, she hadn't heard a single sound from downstairs and she figured that there were many Death Eaters down there. She stopped in the middle of the room suddenly, something had finally clicked in her slightly inebriated mind at last, there were literally hundreds of secret passages throughout Malfoy Manor. All she had to do was use the one in Draco's room and follow the tunnel and stairs until she came to the passage that connected to the Manor grounds. She and Draco had used them all the time when they were younger, mainly so they could escape Lucius's wrath because he didn't know where all of them were. She went over to the big bookcase in Draco's room and searched the middle shelf for the right book, once she found the thick brownish coloured tome she pulled on it and the bookcase started to slide across the wall to reveal a dark stairway.
…
Sirius crept through the thick bushes lining one side of Malfoy Manor; he had apparated into the adjoining forest so that he could be part of the team that was keeping watch on the manor because of the Death Eaters and Voldemort's presence. He had also promised the nearly hysterical Remus that he would make sure he got Hermione back in one piece.
…
Hermione had found her way to the first floor, she knew she was very close to the Drawing room now, and she could hear voices. She squeezed through a gap that she had thought was bigger than it was now, though last time she had gotten through it she had been about ten and had no chest to get in the way. Once through the gap she found a crack in the wall and peered through it, but upon doing so she really wished she hadn't.
In the drawing room, in the middle of the group of hooded Death Eaters was the tall, half-skeletal and snakelike form of Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord had his wand out, the tip of it on the bared forearm of Draco who looked to be in a great amount of pain.
The teenager's eyes widened as she saw Voldemort tip his head back slightly and take a great sniff of the air. It wasn't possible that he could smell her, was it? She became frozen to the spot when the Dark Lord spoke.
"Lucius," Hermione saw a Death Eater with his back to her become rigid. "Do you have something you wish to tell me?"
"No, my Lord."
Oh no… Thought Hermione, he sounds too nervous, surely he knows that. She tried to will Lucius to grow his spine again.
"You are lying, Lucius," Draco whimpered in pain. "Would you like me to make this more painful for your son?"
"I would never do such a thing to you, my Lord."
Voldemort removed his wand from Draco's arm; the young blond fell to his knees, cradling his arm in pain. Voldemort pointed his wand straight at Lucius and muttered, "Crucio."
Hermione had to cover her mouth to keep herself from crying out when she saw her Godfather fall to the ground and writhe about in agony. She quickly squeezed back through the narrow gap and took off through the dark secret tunnels, in search of the right passage to get out of this manor.
…
Remus was already on his third not-too-small glass of Firewhiskey, the worry was getting to him even more now because he wasn't allowed to do anything about it. With the Department of Mysteries fiasco, he had at least been able to go and help rescue the kids, Hermione in particular – in fact, at that time it had been Severus was drowning his sorrows in alcohol because he had been powerless to do anything at that time.
Severus sat opposite Remus at the kitchen table in Sirius's house, they were alone in there now except for Maria who was on his lap. "Remus, drinking is only going to make it worse."
Remus glared at dark haired man, "The more I drink, the less I'll remember it in the morning."
Severus rested his chin on top of Maria's head, because the child was falling asleep, "It's a full moon tomorrow night, do you really want a hangover for that?" He was trying hard to be sympathetic with Remus, sure he was worried sick about Hermione as well, but the werewolf could be quite irritable with his attitude sometimes. Remus pushed the Firewhiskey away from himself. "No, I didn't think so. Anyway, we could be worrying about absolutely nothing-"
"Oh don't be so naïve, Severus," snapped Remus, he succeeded in bringing Maria back to full alertness. "You know better than I do about what goes on when Voldemort calls a meeting. For all we know she could be dead by now, if he's found out she's there."
…
Hermione had finally found her way out of Malfoy manor via several different secret passages. She was currently crouched behind a bush because she had seen a Death Eater patrolling this particular side of the manor. She watched silently as the Death Eater traipsed past her hiding place, and once she was sure that he had gone around the far corner of the manor she made a run for the bushes that separated the manor grounds from adjoining forest.
Once she was safely behind the cover of the separating bushes, Hermione crouched down again just as the same Death Eater came back around the corner. It was then that she heard movement behind her, so she got her wand at the ready and cautiously scanned her surroundings.
Before she had any time to react she was grabbed around the waist and a hand was placed over her mouth to stop her from screaming. Now she was frightened, and the fact that it was quite dark outside now added to that.
"Hermione, calm down. Its me," whispered the person who had grabbed her.
After she had unceremoniously been dragged further into the forest, her 'captor' finally let her go so that she could see him. Upon doing so, Hermione smacked the man in the arm. "Could you not have been a little nicer about it!"
"Keep your voice down," hissed Sirius, rubbing the arm she had just hit. "Ow, no wonder Lucius was upset when you hit him."
Hermione sat down on the ground, her back against a tree, "Why are you here?"
Sirius leaned against a tree opposite her, "The Order has been patrolling the Malfoy property for a couple of months now, to make sure we don't lose our last spy," he spoke quietly. "Kingsley saw the Death Eaters arrive earlier and he alerted us, normally we wouldn't come all the way here just to spy, but your parents expressed their concern about you being here."
Hermione nodded and chewed her bottom lip, "Voldemort tortured Lucius before I left," she glanced up at Sirius and saw his grey eyes widen in worry. "I also think he was giving Draco the Dark Mark…"
Sirius frowned, "He was… You would probably be in Draco's position if your father was as brainwashed as Lucius was when you were born." Hermione's eyes widened once again. "Lucky for you, he had Remus to talk him down." He held out a hand to pull Hermione up. "Come on, I promised I'd get you back Headquarters safely."
Hermione took Sirius's hand and let him pull her up, "Dad's probably freaking right out, isn't he?"
"He was when I left."
…
Remus was pacing the kitchen now, it had been over an hour since several Order members had gone to, "Something must have happened, they've been far too long…"
Dumbledore had entered the kitchen as Remus spoke, "Hermione is perfectly fine."
It was then that Hermione tripped down the stairs into the kitchen with Sirius behind her, smirking at the clumsiness.
"Oh thank god!" Remus rushed over to Hermione and hugged her tightly.
Hermione, after the surprise, tugged on Remus's robes, "Dad…I can't breathe…"
Remus reluctantly let her go, "Are you ok? What happened?"
"Dad, I'm fine," replied Hermione, "I don't think Lucius and Draco are though…"
……
It was nearly another hour before the two Malfoys made an appearance at the Order Headquarters. Lucius looked far more composed than he had when Hermione last saw him, but Draco on the other hand, looked to be on the verge of tears still. But rightly so, his left forearm was burnt from Voldemort's Mark and it was bleeding profusely.
Dumbledore took Lucius, Sirius, Severus and Remus out of the kitchen and to another room for a quick talk, while Molly (though reluctantly) tended to Draco's arm. Hermione stayed at the blond's side.
…
Lucius leaned heavily against the fireplace in a living room of the House of Black, he was in so much pain right now, Voldemort had cast Crucio upon him three times.
Sirius immediately made a beeline for his lover, but it became quite clear that Lucius didn't want any fuss made over his injuries right now. The Animagus sighed, there was always later.
"What happened, Lucius?" questioned Dumbledore, folding his arms.
Lucius ran a hand through his long hair and sighed, "He turned up earlier than I thought he would, requesting Draco's presence. I got Draco, told Hermione to stay where she was, and…let my son take the Mark. I was also tortured a few times because He thought I was lying to him…and in all honesty, I was."
…
"I wonder what's going on," said Hermione curiously.
"Hermione, come and keep pressure on his arm, while I go and find out," said Molly warily to the girl before she left the kitchen.
"Ok…" Hermione went and sat down behind and just to the side of Draco, she pressed her hand down on the Murtlap covered cloth on Draco's forearm and rested her chin on his left shoulder. "Are you all right?"
Draco let his head rest against Hermione and he sighed, "Yeah, I guess so… I always knew it was going to happen, I just…"
"Didn't realise the full ramifications?" finished Hermione for him. She slipped her free arm around his waist and hugged him. Though she still wasn't entirely sure of what Death Eaters had to do, she could at least guess what would probably be expected of her boyfriend now that he carried the Dark Mark, and she didn't like what she was coming up with at all.
"I should have backed out when father gave me the chance…"
Hermione nuzzled her head against his pale neck; "He would've killed you both if you had refused."
Draco sighed and revelled in the fell of being nursed by his oldest friend, and now girlfriend, "I know, but father always said that if I didn't want to do it then he'd find someway to protect us both, and perhaps mum as well. I just agreed out of fear, it's hard to say no to Voldemort, because you know he's going to kill you on the spot."
Hermione pressed a kiss to the back of his blond head as she heard footsteps nearing the kitchen, "You'll be ok, I know you will."
The kitchen door opened and Dumbledore came in followed by the four men he had been talking with just moments before. The three fathers of the group stopped dead upon seeing their children so intimately close.
Dumbledore smiled a little, "As lovely as it is to see my Head students getting on so well already, we need to speak with Draco alone, Hermione."
Hermione nodded and started to get up, but Draco grabbed her by an arm and forced her back onto her seat, "She stays."
"Draco," said Lucius in a warning tone. "This is no time to be a brat."
Draco scowled at his father, his good arm restraining Hermione because she was fidgeting like she was trying to get back up, "I'm going to tell her what you say anyway, so you might as well let her hear it first hand."
Hermione chewed her bottom lip nervously; Lucius's temper was enough to get her nerves on edge, but the look on Severus's face was definitely worrying. I guess that's what over-protectiveness looks like… She thought, as she averted her eyes.
Lucius was about to speak again, but Sirius over-rode him, "They're both adults, we may as well treat them as such."
"Thank you, Sirius," said Draco smugly, though his gratefulness probably just cost some trouble for Sirius.
"Very well," Dumbledore sat down at the head of the table and the other four men followed suit. It was obvious none of them were happy about Draco's insistence of Hermione staying. "Now, Draco… You are aware of what is expected of you now that you have taken the Mark of Lord Voldemort?"
Draco gulped audibly and nodded, "I've already had that explained to me. Spy on Potter, isn't it? Feed the Dark Lord knowledge but not the entire truth."
Dumbledore nodded a little, "Yes, except that particular play on the truth should be run by your father, Severus, or myself before anything is said to Voldemort." Draco nodded slowly…
………
It was nearly sunrise by the time the Lupin-Snape family returned home from the Order Headquarters. Hermione knew exactly what would happen if she stuck around her parents for too long, so as soon as she had entered the manor she took off upstairs to her bedroom. She really didn't want to be interrogated about her relationship with Draco right now. Severus went to put Maria to bed while Remus collapsed on their bed; the two werewolves were exhausted now because of the oncoming full moon.
After he had tucked Maria into bed and kissed her goodnight (or good morning as the case was now), Severus headed for his and Remus's bedroom, fully intent on passing out. He found Remus already fast asleep, burrowed down under the covers, snoring softly (though the brown haired man would never admit it).
The arguing he and Remus had been doing the last year or so was really beginning to get to him. He really didn't want to be fighting with someone he loved so much, but it just happened with or without them realising it. It was the war, Severus knew it was the war, they hadn't argued or fallen out nearly as much before Voldemort came back. It had happened back during the first war as well, but to add to the problems back then he had been a full-fledged Death Eater and they had had a baby daughter as well.
Severus was just hoping that they could both survive long enough to work through their many problems.
………
"Harry, can you come with me?" said Sirius after breakfast at the Headquarters.
"Ok…" Harry followed Sirius through the house curiously. His godfather had been behaving oddly for quite a while now, all summer in fact. He was also meaning to ask Sirius what happened last night, because he had definitely heard the very distinctive voices of both Lucius and Draco Malfoy.
Sirius closed the door to his mother's old bedroom after Harry had entered, "Listen, I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now, but Dumbledore advised me to wait a while. I was also going to do this with Remus's help, but it's a full moon tonight, so he can't."
"Stop stalling, Sirius, just tell me," replied Harry, his curiosity was definitely peaked now.
"Right, sorry," Sirius sighed and nodded, he leaned against an old chest of drawers, "About a year ago, Dumbledore requested that Snape create a potion that could resurrect the dead…" Harry's eyebrows raised. "At the beginning of this summer the potion and a couple of others were finished and we had it administered to…to your dad."
"…And?"
Sirius tried a smile, he didn't think Harry would be too happy in being kept in the dark, "He's alive, Harry, James is back."
Harry's green eyes had widened slightly, but almost as soon the shock had come, his expression became darker, "Why didn't anyone bother to tell me sooner? How long has he been back!"
Sirius ran a hand through his dark hair, "We thought it would be best not to let you know about Dumbledore's idea in case the resurrection didn't work." Harry glared at him. "He's been back about a month, but he's been too weak for much up until now." He had also been planning on telling Harry of his relationship with Lucius, but right now, that wasn't looking like such a good idea. "Harry, look-"
"I don't want to hear it," growled Harry, and before Sirius could say anything, his godson had stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Buckbeak squawked.
Sirius went over to the hippogriff and scratched Buckbeak's head, "We both knew that wasn't going to go well, eh, boy?"
Buckbeak made a little noise and nipped at the hem of Sirius's t-shirt.
"All right, all right, I'll give you some lunch."
…
"Rem," Severus shook Remus to wake the werewolf up, he needed to get the last dose of Wolfsbane potion into his lover before tonight. Remus had been taking the potion again because of his family being around, just for precautions. "Wake up."
Remus groaned and tried to bury his head under his pillow, "Go 'way…"
Severus pulled the pillow away from the smaller man, "Remus, you need to have your potion."
Remus mumbled something unsavoury before forcing himself to sit up, he slumped against the headboard of the bed and took the goblet of potion off Severus, and he gulped it down quickly and pulled a face. "It still tastes foul."
"I'll take that as your thanks," said Severus, as he got started to get back to his feet. But he stopped when Remus grabbed one of his wrists and pulled him back down. "What?"
Remus sighed, "I'm sorry."
"For?"
"You know perfectly well what for," Remus's voice was a bit hoarse now. "I said some pretty nasty things last night, and I'm sorry, I know how you feel about your past and I should've known better than to bring it up."
Severus pressed a kiss to the other man's forehead, "We're both too stressed out at the moment, I don't blame you."
Remus sat up properly and wrapped his arms around Severus's neck in a hug, which was returned almost immediately. "I love you."
"I love you too, Rem," he could tell Remus was starting to drift off to sleep again. "More than you know."
……………………………………………………………………………………
A/N: Finally, another update. By the way, the 'nasty remarks' made between Sev and Rem during the night aren't the ones that I actually wrote in.
Next Chapter: Remus has gone on his mission. Severus reflects on his werewolf love (flashbacks included). Hermione begs her father to tell her about Remus's mission. School starts back. Draco and Hermione are introduced to the not-so-joyous job of being Head Boy and Girl. Harry meets his father.
So there will be lots in the next chapter (whenever it is actually written).