To Set A Trap.
Harry Potter slowly ambled through the deserted corridors of Hogwarts, his emotions swirling as he took in recent events. Just over a week ago, Harry and the former Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, had led an audacious attack on Hogwarts in the hope of getting the school back under control of the light side. Three years ago, the dark had seized control of the school, swiftly followed by control of the Ministry of Magic and Azkaban. Ever since then the Order of the Phoenix had led the rebellion against the dark, and finally they'd struck their first real blow to the dark side.
As he walked the corridors, heading down to The Great Hall, where an Order meeting was due to take place, Harry wondered what was next in the war that had gripped the wizarding world. So far, things hadn't exactly gone anything like Harry had thought they would go, so he wasn't really sure what to expect. In fact, Harry had given up trying to work out what Voldemort would do next a long time ago.
When Voldemort had returned to full power, at the end of Harry's fourth year, Harry had expected him to immediately start waging war on the wizarding world. Dumbledore had also expected the same thing, and he'd reformed the Order of the Phoenix, with old members re-joining the group and new members joining to fight against the dark wizard. However, while the light side were preparing to fight, Voldemort remained quiet. In fact, the only productive thing he seemed to do in the months following his return was to stage a breakout at Azkaban, releasing all of his followers that had been languishing behind bars.
As it turned out, Voldemort's lack of movement had ended up hurting the light as they tried to rally people to fight against the dark wizard and his followers. Aside from a small portion of Harry's friends and people loyal to Dumbledore, the general public just didn't believe Harry was telling the truth about Voldemort's return. And the longer Voldemort remained quiet, the more people were openly hostile against Harry and Dumbledore, and refused to join their fight. The end result meant that by the time Voldemort did move, three years later, at the end of Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts, the Order were a small bunch of witches and wizards and they'd been virtually powerless as Voldemort and his Death Eaters had taken control of Hogwarts.
It had been three years since that battle, and the Order's numbers had fluctuated in that time. There had been an initial burst of support after Voldemort seized the school, inserted his own staff and changed the rules to only allow purebloods and half-bloods. But then Voldemort had publically announced that he wouldn't persecute anyone who didn't fight against him, and he wouldn't even bother the muggleborns as long as they signed a register at the Ministry. The announcement had resulted in the majority of wizarding Britain remaining natural and refusing to get involved with the Order so they could avoid Voldemort's wrath.
However, there'd still been a solid band of Order members, and the group had fought agent Voldemort and his regime for the last three years. Over the years they'd had minor victories, as they worked on the long term plan of finding and destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes so he himself could be killed. It was actually the Horcrux hunt that had led them to realise they needed to regain access to Hogwarts as from all the information they could gather, one of his last remaining Horcruxes was hidden in the school. Another of his Horcruxes was believed to be at Malfoy Manor, Voldemort's headquarters, but a choice had needed to be made about which place to target first and the general consensus was that it would be easier to take back Hogwarts.
For the last four months, the Order had worked tirelessly on a plan to seize Hogwarts from the dark. Just over a week ago, the very day the students went home for the summer holidays, the Order struck. Choosing to move just as the Hogwarts Express was leaving Hogsmeade, and the staff were all unprepared, the Order stormed Hogwarts thanks to information from Dumbledore, who as the former Headmaster knew the place inside out. Their move had taken the staff by surprise, and even though they'd summoned help and a large battle was fought, the Order had gained the upper hand and they'd been triumphant in taking back Hogwarts.
Not that it had been without causalities on the light's side. Remus Lupin, Percy Weasley and Alastor Moody had all been killed in the clash, while Minerva McGonagall and Bill Weasley had been severely injured and were both in critical condition. However, Harry knew for a fact that the dark had lost people, and not everyone had escaped the battle uninjured. At the moment he just didn't know what the scale of destruction was on the other side, but he was hoping Dumbledore could give them an update on the enemy at the meeting he was on his way to attend.
Entering the Great Hall, Harry found a large round table in the centre of the room and several people already in their seats. Saying hello to a couple of people, Harry made his way to the table and sat down in the empty seat beside his godfather, Sirius Black, and his best friend, Hermione Granger.
"Where's Ron?" Harry asked Hermione, noticing his other best friend was nowhere to be seen.
"He was visiting Bill with Ginny," Hermione replied. "But he did say they would be back for the meeting."
"How is Bill?" Harry asked. He felt bad for not going to see Bill for the last few days, but he and Dumbledore had been preoccupied with tracking down the Horcrux that had been hidden in the castle.
"Madam Pomfrey says he's coming along as well as can be expected," Hermione answered. "She still can't say when he'll wake up, or if there'll be any permanent damage when he does wake up, but he's not getting any worse."
"That's good," Harry said.
"And how are you and Dumbledore getting along?" Hermione asked.
"We found it yesterday," Harry answered with a grin. "It's in a safe box in Dumbledore's office, and we're going to destroy it later today."
"That's good news," Hermione replied.
"It is," Harry agreed, before turning to his godfather and checking he was coping with the loss of his best friend.
Harry was till chatting to a subdued Sirius when Ron and Ginny arrived at the meeting with their remaining brothers and their parents. No sooner had the Weasleys taken their seats when Dumbledore entered the room and settled down at the last remaining seat.
"Morning," He said with a nod of his head. "I know we're all busy and have places to be, so I'll make this quick. Firstly, we're now confident that Hogwarts is completely secure and the dark can't get back in and take us by surprise. Providing we don't leave the castle completely unoccupied, we should be able to keep control."
"How confident can we ever be that this place is secure?" Sirius questioned in a belligerent tone. "Just look at what happened three years ago. You were taken by complete surprise."
Sirius had little time for Dumbledore, after he'd left him to rot in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit just so he could play god with Harry's life, and to be honest the only reason he was still around was Harry himself. Sirius had tried to convince Harry they could just leave the country and settle down somewhere nice and quiet, just the two of them, but his godson was determined to stay and fight. Not wanting Harry to be alone, Sirius had stuck with him, but his dislike and distrust of Dumbledore was becoming increasingly obvious for everyone to see. Sirius had even heard whispers that he couldn't be trusted, but he knew that Harry knew he was loyal to him, so he ignored the rumours and focused on keeping his godson alive.
"I'm confident it won't happen again," Dumbledore said. "Last time we had an entire student body in the castle, and as we found out they couldn't all be trusted."
"No-one did trust them all," Harry snorted. "We didn't trust the Slytherins, and we were right not to."
"We should have just kicked them all out when You-Know-Who returned," Ron said.
"And that would have made us as bad as those we're fighting against," Dumbledore argued. "We weren't to know that Draco Malfoy and his friends were working with Voldemort and helped them infiltrate the school. But it's not like it can happen again, no-one in this room would betray us."
At Dumbledore's words, a few people shot worried looks in Sirius's direction, but he merely glared back at them with open hostility. He'd passed caring what people thought about him, and if they didn't trust them, that was their problem. He would never betray Harry, no matter what his opinions were on Dumbledore.
"Let's not focus on the past," Harry said, aware people was mistrusting of Sirius and disliking it immensely. "Do we have any word on how the dark side fared after our battle? I bet they're reeling at losing Hogwarts."
"According to my source, it's come as a body blow to the dark," Dumbledore said.
"And was your source punished for his ineptitude?" Sirius sneered. "After all, the dark lost Hogwarts on his watch."
Everyone knew Dumbledore's source was Severus Snape. Once upon a time, Severus had been part of the Order and he'd openly played the part of double agent. However, when Voldemort had taken control of Hogwarts it appeared as though he'd pledged his loyalty to the dark when he was appointed Headmaster. But then a few weeks later, he'd turned up at Dumbledore's cottage and vowed he would do his best to keep helping the light and giving them all the information he could. Since then, Severus had passed information onto Dumbledore personally and he hadn't attended an Order meeting, even though it was an open secret in the Order that he was still on their side.
"I didn't ask," Dumbledore replied with a shrug. "We had more important things to discuss."
"Such as?" Molly Weasley asked.
"Such as, how the dark were taking losing Hogwarts," Dumbledore replied. "Apparently Voldemort was furious, but other things have stopped him from plotting to retake the school."
"What other things?" Harry questioned.
"Mainly, two big losses for the dark," Dumbledore replied, his face breaking out into a triumphant grin. "We all knew several Death Eaters had been killed, and some severely injured. Well my source informed me that one of those killed in battle was Lucius Malfoy."
Lucius was Voldemort's right had man, and although he'd escaped a prison sentence following the first war, he'd been right at Voldemort's side since his master's return. Rumour had it, his family home was being used as headquarters for the Death Eaters and Dumbledore had even heard that Voldemort himself was staying at the manor. Of course, Lucius didn't just provide a base for Voldemort, he was a formidable Death Eater and he often led brutal attacks and raids on the parts of wizarding Britain that still rebelled against Voldemort.
"You said two losses, who's the other one?" Harry asked.
"Draco Malfoy," Dumbledore announced with glee. "He returned from the battle gravely injured and he died shortly afterwards. In the space of one battle, Voldemort has lost his right hand man and his heir apparent."
Following his help in getting Voldemort into Hogwarts three years ago, Draco had joined the Death Eaters and quickly risen up the ranks. Initially the Order had just thought Draco was another Death Eater, but then the rumours had reached them that Voldemort was grooming him as his successor. Severus had confirmed the rumours, and informed Dumbledore that all the Death Eaters knew that one day Voldemort would step back and hand things over to the young Slytherin. The only thing puzzling the Order, was why Draco? What made him so special that Voldemort would be willing to hand his life's work over to a boy who he wasn't even related to? The entire thing was a mystery, but it was clearly true, so while the Order didn't know what Draco had done to get the privilege of being named Voldemort's heir, they knew it had happened and as such he'd been a major target for the Order. Unfortunately for them, Draco was also a skilled fighter and dangerous Death Eater, and they'd never even come close to getting their hands on him.
"Two Malfoys in one battle?" Harry questioned with a frown as other Order members cheered at the news. "What are the chances of that happening?"
"Maybe about the same as us losing one of our sons and having another one injured in hospital," Arthur Weasley said. "We did have the upper hand in the battle for the first time in a long time, so I don't suppose it's that strange that we managed to take out two of their top men."
"Especially since they weren't both killed outright," Dumbledore added. "Lucius was killed at the battle, and one of his fellow Death Eaters took his body back with them, but Draco was merely injured in the battle and died from his injuries afterwards."
"I just think it's strange that after so long, we've killed them both in one go," Harry said with a shrug.
"Maybe it's just luck finally turning our way," Hermione suggested. "Let's face it, we've had none for three years. For three years, the dark have been one step ahead of us. Maybe this is the tide turning in our favour."
"Of course it is," Ron said brightly. "The Malfoys just got what was coming to them. Considering they both turn up to nearly every battle, the chances of taking them out eventually were pretty good. It's just a coincidence that they were both taken out at the same battle."
"I guess I'm just not used to things running so smoothly," Harry admitted with a laugh. "I keep waiting for someone to turn up and say something's gone wrong."
"Things aren't going wrong, Harry, they're going right," Dumbledore said. "Just think of the opportunity this provides us with. Voldemort is reeling from recent events. Not only has he lost control of Hogwarts, but he's lost his two best men. He's a broken man, and now's the time to strike."
"But we can't strike," Harry argued. "We're still two Horcruxes missing."
"But we know one of them is Nagini, who'll we have to kill before the final battle, and the other one is at Malfoy Manor," Dumbledore pointed out. "Malfoy Manor is suddenly very vulnerable with the deaths of Lucius and Draco."
The Order took a moment to let what Dumbledore was saying sink in. Six months ago, when the Horcrux trail had led to Hogwarts and Malfoy Manor, a discussion had taken place about the chances of getting into either place. At the time, Dumbledore had been pessimistic about gaining access to the manor. Malfoy Manor was well known for being the most secure private residence in the country, and Dumbledore was convinced that a lot of its protection was in the form of blood magic. However, with the deaths of the only two blood Malfoys, all those protections will have died with them.
"I think we all agree that without Lucius and Draco the manor is vulnerable," Sirius began. "But they weren't the only Malfoys. There's still Narcissa, in case you've forgotten."
"I hadn't forgotten," Dumbledore replied reassuringly. "But as we discussed months ago, she's not a Malfoy by blood. Lucius and Draco held the key to the blood magic protecting the manor. I'm sure Narcissa is more than capable of re-securing the manor and making it almost as impenetrable as her husband had it, however I know something else that could be of use to us. I know Narcissa is inconsolable following the deaths of her husband and son, and she's refusing to go back to the manor. She's holed up in one of their overseas properties as she grieves in private."
"So you're saying the manor is there for the taking?" Harry checked, a sly smile breaking out over his face.
"I am," Dumbledore confirmed. "The question is, do we want to try and take it? Do we strike while the going is good and the dark are in disarray, or do we wait and let them get themselves back on track?"
"No question about it, we strike now," Harry said determinedly.
"I was hoping you'd say that," Dumbledore replied, sharing a sly smile with Harry, before launching into how he thought they could take over Malfoy Manor and give the light all the edge they needed to defeat Voldemort and end the war once and for all.
Hermione sat through the Order meeting, adding her opinion every now and again, but mostly keeping quiet and taking in what was happening. Although to be honest, the meeting was running exactly as she'd expected. She knew the 'deaths' of Lucius and Draco would be mentioned, with the Order having no idea that neither Lucius nor Draco had even been in attendance at the battle at Hogwarts, and so far the Order were reacting exactly as planned. They were doing everything she'd predicted and she felt rather smug at how so far things were going entirely to her schedule. Everything was falling into place and Hermione couldn't be happier.
Six months ago, when the trail of her father's original Horcruxes led the Order to Hogwarts and Malfoy Manor, Hermione had listened to Dumbledore's opinions on how easy each place would be to penetrate and reported back to her father, Lord Voldemort. Voldemort had been thrilled with the inside information she'd been able to give him, and together with Lucius, Draco and Severus the pair had concocted the perfect plan to lead the Order into a trap where they would finally get rid of Harry and Dumbledore once and for all. To be honest, Voldemort could have done so years ago, but he just liked toying with the pair and it amused him to give Dumbledore hope that one day he would defeat him, only to snatch it from right in front of him time and time again.
Of course, Hogwarts wasn't any easier than the manor to break into, but since they knew that was where Dumbledore wanted to strike, the dark had set it up so that the Order thought they had been successful. Severus had changed a lot of the new wards around the castle, meaning the Order could breach them easily enough. Of course, the staff had all known an attack was coming, but it was easy enough to make it seem as though the Order had taken them by surprise.
Even the fake deaths of Lucius and Draco had been pre-arranged as Hermione had made it clear that Dumbledore didn't think they could get into the manor as long as both Malfoy men were alive. Of course, yet again, Dumbledore had simplified things and he'd been so concerned with blood magic that he hadn't bothered to actually try and get a look at the wards. Maybe if he had, he would have realised that the main wards protecting the manor were very intricate and had been performed using all four members of the Malfoy family, and it would actually take the deaths off all four Malfoys to break the wards. Although, to be fair to Dumbledore he had no idea a fourth Malfoy existed as no-one outside of a select few members of the dark knew that the reason Draco was Voldemort's heir was because he was married to his daughter. Hermione and Draco had been betrothed since childhood, and they'd both grown up knowing about their marriage, and they were both more than happy to go through with it a few weeks after they'd left school and the Death Eaters had taken control of Hogwarts.
To be honest, the last three years of her undercover mission had been the hardest for Hermione, and she'd pushed her father to end the war sooner. However, Voldemort had been happy to let things run at their own pace, and he'd found it rather amusing to let the Order destroy the Horcruxes he'd made before his first defeat. What the Order didn't know was that upon his revival six years ago, Voldemort had cast a spell to reconnect him with his Horcruxes so that when they were destroyed, his soul returned to his body. Of course, he'd still made a single new Horcrux, which the Order didn't know existed, but by destroying his old Horcruxes all the Order were doing were making Voldemort stronger as they reunited the parts of himself that he'd cut himself off from years ago.
Happily, Voldemort was now happy to put an end to the ongoing war, and Hermione knew her charade would soon be over. Very soon she would be leaving behind Hermione Granger, the perfect muggleborn witch, and embracing Hermione Malfoy, the dark and dangerous daughter of Lord Voldemort. Of course it also meant she would finally get a chance to have a normal life with her husband, something that eluded them over the first three years of their marriage. But finally, the end was in sight and Hermione couldn't be happier.
By the end of the meeting, Hermione had a full time scale she could pass onto her father. She now knew when the Order were going to try and take control of the manor, as well as knowing roughly how they were going to do it. Of course she would need to hand over further details when she got them, but for now it was enough to be going on with. It was certainly enough to give her father the time to sort a plan for when the Order walked into the trap and found themselves trapped in Malfoy Manor.
Once the meeting was over, Hermione found it easy enough to slip away and return to the small flat she used when she was with the Order. Hermione had sorted the flat three years ago, rather than staying at Grimmauld Place, which was Order headquarters, as it made getting away to see Draco and her father so much easier. However, since she'd had to tell Harry and Ron about the flat, no-one on the dark side ever dared visit her at the flat. She always went to them, and so far no-one had ever noticed when she took some time away from the Order to spend it with her husband and family.
Hermione was in her flat long enough to get changed before flooing to her father's palatial manor in the Welsh countryside. Despite what the Order thought, Voldemort wasn't residing at the manor. He had his own home, and that was where Hermione had grown up under the charge of her aunt, Jean Granger. Her own mother had died in childbirth, and her aunt had been the one to raise her. Even before Voldemort was vanquished when she was a toddler, it had been Jean that had done the majority of the childrearing.
Hermione arrived in the designated floo room, but she quickly made her way to the front room. Until the Order were dealt with, Lucius, Narcissa and Draco were all staying with her father and she expected that at least one of them would be in the large front room. Although as it turned out when Hermione entered the room, she found her father, aunt, husband and parents-in-law.
"Hermione." Draco was up off his feet and over to his wife before anyone else had even spotted Hermione.
"Hey," Hermione replied, smiling at her husband as she stepped into his arms.
Totally oblivious to their parents watching them, Draco slanted his lips against Hermione's as his right hand slid through her soft curls. Hermione eagerly returned the kiss, holding tightly onto Draco as she pressed herself as close as she could to her gorgeous husband. Unsurprisingly, the heated kiss quickly affected the couple and Hermione let out a small whimper when she felt Draco began to rise to attention against her thigh.
"Hmm, hmm," Voldemort called, clearing his throat and causing the couple to reluctantly tear themselves apart.
"Mmm, you're very alert for a dead man," Hermione teased Draco.
"Hermione," Voldemort called, as Lucius let out a snort of laughter at her remark.
"Sorry Daddy," Hermione replied, giving her father a warm smile. Reluctantly leaving Draco's side, she walked over to her father and greeted him properly, before greeting her aunt and Draco's parents.
"I'll go and sort some tea," Jean said, rising to her feet and disappearing into the kitchen. Even though Jean supported the cause, as had her sister, she wasn't an active part of Voldemort's Death Eaters and she rarely got involved in whatever he was planning.
"I take it all went as planned," Voldemort remarked as Hermione sat down beside him while Draco sank onto a nearby chair, trying his best to hide his arousal from everyone even though they all knew about it.
"It worked perfectly," Hermione replied with a grin. "The Order are over the moon they have Hogwarts back, and they don't suspect for one minute that it was handed back to them on purpose. As for everything else, they think you're furious to have lost Hogwarts, and you're broken up over losing both Lucius and Draco."
"No-one questioned both of us being killed in the same battle?" Lucius checked. To be honest, faking both deaths together had been their only concern with the plan working.
"Harry was a bit wary, but everyone else was so convinced it was genuine, he was talked around," Hermione replied. "If he does still have doubts, he's not sharing them and he's still more than happy to go along with Dumbledore's scheme to try and take the manor."
"That worked as well?" Draco asked with a smirk. He could hardly believe the Order were being so foolish and just walking into the trap they were laying so easily.
"Like a dream," Hermione confirmed with a grin. "I think the plan to get the manor occurred to Dumbledore the minute Severus told him you and Lucius were dead. He couldn't wait to bring it up."
"And they don't consider me a threat?" Narcissa asked with a pout. Even though she wasn't technically a Death Eater, she was still a formidable witch and it amused her how much the Order dismissed her as nothing more than a trophy wife.
"Of course not," Hermione laughed. "You know Dumbledore, he doesn't like to see what's right under his nose. He's so obsessed with the manor being protected by blood magic, he's never bothered to check it out. He thinks in time you could protect the manor just as well as Lucius, but he thinks you're so upset that you're hiding away and won't go back to the manor."
"And his arrogance will be his downfall," Voldemort declared. "After some refreshments, we can go to the manor and alter the wards. We need to take down all the ones your four put up together, and I know a few spells that will make it look as though some blood wards have been rendered useless following Lucius and Draco's tragic demises. We'll also put the warning ward around the manor so we know the second Hermione is on the premises with the Order. And you all know what happens, after that?"
"Of course," Draco replied with a nod. "Once Hermione is at the manor, we all apparate back to the manor and before the Order know what's happening we'll have placed a new ward around the manor, ensuring no-one can leave. With the Order trapped, the rest of the Death Eaters turn up and before we know where we are, Dumbledore, Potter and their army are finished."
"Then we get to live our lives like normal people," Hermione added, smiling at her husband. "No more having to make do with odd hours here and there."
"It would be nice to see my wife more than a few hours a week," Draco said with a chuckle. "Speaking of which, how long do I have you for today?"
"I'm all yours until tomorrow morning," Hermione replied.
Draco's face broke out into a wicked grin, and Hermione just knew his mind was full of ways they could spend their time together, and she doubted sleeping was one of them. Not that she was complaining, she and Draco had the rest of their lives together to sleep, right now they only had a few hours and she wanted to make the most of them. An all-night sex session with her husband sounded much more fun than just curling up and having an early night.
"I think perhaps we better press on with our plans and give these two some time alone" Voldemort remarked with a roll of his eyes at the young pair.
"Time alone sounds good," Hermione replied, giving Draco a sultry look.
"Very good," Draco agreed.
Fortunately for the pair, Jean returned with the tea and after a quick drink and some delicious strawberry cream cake, they headed to the manor to alter the wards. Altering the wards and running over what would happen when Hermione returned with the Order took nearly an hour, but finally it was all done and Hermione and Draco were free to have some time on their own. Not wanting to go back to Voldemort's house, where they would be super aware that their parents knew what they would be doing, the couple headed to a remote Malfoy property on the south coast. Since the property was private, they didn't have to worry about anyone seeing Draco, but then again, they didn't even have plans to leave the bedroom.
Sure enough, the couple didn't leave the bedroom all night, and when they parted in the morning it was with the knowledge that they would soon be together full time. It would only be a few days before the Order launched their takeover plan on the manor, and when that happened they would be walking straight into a trap. It was a trap none of the Order would get out of, and a trap that would ultimately win the war for the dark. It was time to snuff out the light, and let the dark rule the world.
A/N - There will be a sequel to this piece at a later date where the dark put their plan into action - but as of yet it's not done. However, it will be posted when it's finished, and in the mean time there's plenty more tales to come.