The Exchange.
The atmosphere was sombre as The Order of the Phoenix gathered in the kitchen of the small house owned by Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. These days Order meetings were held in various locations, decided at the last moment, after more than one supposed safe house had been raided by the Death Eaters. However, no-one expected any danger from the Death Eaters at that moment as for the time being the dark side well and truly had the upper hand in the war.
"I take it everyone knows why we're here," Harry Potter began, his eyes darting around the crowded room. Only a few people had been able to take a seat around the table, but plenty more were standing around the room. "We have a decision to make," he continued when no-one questioned the reason for the meeting.
"Do we really?" Harry's best friend, Ron Weasley, asked with a snort from beside Harry. "From where I'm sitting, there is no decision to make."
"I agree," Harry said with a nod. "But we still need to talk this through as a group. It's what Dumbledore would have done."
Albus Dumbledore was the one time leader of The Order, and Headmaster of Hogwarts, but he'd been killed a year ago in a battle with The Dark Lord. Since then Harry had been the leader of the Order, but he was far more influenced by his emotions than Dumbledore, and more often than not he was left thinking that the decisions he made would have been the opposite of the ones Dumbledore would have made. So to try and channel more of Dumbledore's wisdom, Harry always tended to think about what Dumbledore would do if he was still alive, and in this case holding a group meeting is how he'd decided the old headmaster would have proceeded.
"And yet what he would have advised is not the decision you will reach, Harry," Remus said gently.
"You think he would have said no?" Harry questioned. "You think he would have decided that we should do nothing?"
"I think, and I'm sure we all think, that Dumbledore would have looked at the bigger picture," Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and Remus's best friend, said. "He would have said this is a trap."
"Of course it's a trap," Harry snorted. "But they've got the perfect bait."
In case anyone was going to start arguing, Harry opened the brown envelope that was sitting in front of him and slid the large photograph out. He then moved the picture into the centre of the table, where everyone could see it. In the picture Harry's second best friend, Hermione Granger, was bound and tied to a chair, a Death Eater hovering behind her and the previous day's newspaper sitting on her lap. Hermione was also bloody and bruised, but despite this she still managed to glare contemptuously at the Death Eater behind her.
"How can we sit back and do nothing when we now know Hermione is alive?" Harry queried.
It had been three weeks since Hermione had been snatched during a battle with the Death Eaters in Hogsmeade. Initially the fear had been that she would be killed and her body returned to them, which was a move the dark had used several times before. But when nothing happened, hope began to grow that Hermione was still alive. And then yesterday evening Harry had received the picture which had seemingly confirmed that Hermione was indeed alive, and tests ran by the Aurors among them had shown the picture was genuine.
Although along with the picture, came an ultimatum from Voldemort. He wanted a meeting with Harry. If Harry met him at Godric's Hollow, he would return Hermione to the Order. However, if Harry failed to show, Hermione would be killed and her body displayed so that all of Wizarding Britain knew that Harry Potter had left his best friend to die rather than face his enemy.
Of course the entire thing was a trap, clearly designed for Voldemort to get hold of Harry. And since the Order hadn't yet found and destroyed all of Voldemort's Horcruxes, it meant that Harry couldn't yet defeat the dark wizard. However, Voldemort could easily kill Harry and claim victory in the war.
"I think what we need to decide is if one girl is worth us possibly losing Harry and the war," Molly Weasley said quietly, sounding guilty for even voicing the theory that Hermione should be left to her fate for the greater good.
"You think we should leave Hermione to be brutally killed by the dark?" Ron angrily demanded of his mother. "Because we all know they're not bluffing. If we don't turn up to this meeting, Hermione will be killed. And they won't do it quickly either. They'll make her suffer."
"Don't you think I know all that, Ron?" Molly asked quietly. "Don't you think I've lain awake on a night, terrified at what they could be doing to Hermione? You know I love that girl as though she was part of the family."
"Then how can you even suggest leaving her to die?" Ron questioned.
"Because someone has to," Molly replied. "Someone has to point out that if we agree to this meeting, we're effectively handing You-Know-Who victory. We're in no position to defeat him yet, and once he gets his hands on Harry we're all doomed."
"Then we're just going to have to make sure he doesn't get his hands on me," Harry said. "We've got until tomorrow to come up with a plan. We need to make Voldemort think he's in control, and he's got us at his mercy."
"And what if he kills you on sight?" Tonks asked gently.
"He won't," Harry replied confidently. "We've been fighting him for years, plus there was all the studying I did with Dumbledore. I know how he works. He would achieve a lot more by being more ruthless, but he likes to grandstand. He likes to put on a show, and that is his weakness. I say we meet him, get him to hand Hermione over, and while he's crowing about his victory, we strike. Someone gets Hermione away to safety and the rest of us fight. Yes, we can't kill him, but we can take out some of his followers and I can get out of there as soon as possible."
"And what about the people in Godric's Hollow?" Sirius asked. "They'd be in danger caught in the middle of a battle."
"We evacuate the village," Harry said. "And to make sure the dark don't realise it, we'll replace the villagers with members of the Order. Those who the dark know well enough to recognise will be with me at the meeting, but everyone else can be in the village looking as though they belong there. That way we even have an added element of surprise."
"It has potential," Kingsley Shackelbolt said with a thoughtful nod.
"Then let's turn this potential into a full blown plan," Harry announced. "And if anyone doesn't want to be part of this, now is the time for you to leave. I understand that it could be considered wiser to refuse to meet Voldemort, but I will not abandon Hermione like that. She is my best friend and I am going to save her, no matter what it takes."
Even though Harry could tell a few people still had their doubts over whether they were doing the right thing, no-one left. They'd all vowed to stick together to defeat Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and even if they weren't sure Harry was making the right decision, they would follow him into battle.
Satisfied that everyone would do everything he asked of them, Harry began to make a plan of attack with the rest of the Order. It was tough coming up with a plan that might work, but even if there was only a slim chance of victory, Harry was going to take it. He was saving Hermione, even if it meant sacrificing himself to do so.
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Not wanting the dark to get wind of their plan to evacuate Godric's Hollow, the Order set about doing it once their initial meeting had broken up. Quietly the residents of Godric's Hollow were move to a safe location, while lesser known Order members took their places in the village. The end result meant that by the time Harry was preparing to meet Voldemort and save Hermione, the village was awash with Order members hidden in plain sight. The only people not hidden were the group too well known to the dark, and all of them would be accompanying Harry to the graveyard, where Voldemort had requested the meeting at midday.
"It's not too late to back out," Ginny Weasley whispered to Harry as they prepared to leave for Godric's Hollow.
"I can't abandon Hermione," Harry replied. "I'm sorry Ginny, I know you're scared, but I just can't do it. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Hermione died because I failed to meet Voldemort."
"And that is just one of the many reasons I love you," Ginny said, giving Harry a small smile, even though it was tinged with sadness. "You're willing to do the right thing by Hermione, even if it means putting yourself in danger."
"With any luck, I'll not be in too much danger," Harry replied. "If our plan works, I'll be out of Godric's Hollow a few minutes after you and Hermione. You are ready for this, aren't you Gin?"
"I'm ready," Ginny confirmed with a nod. It had been decided that she would be the one to get Hermione away from Godric's Hollow, not because she was girl or younger than most of the Order, but because Harry trusted her to protect Hermione and make sure his best friend was safe.
Pulling Ginny into his arms, Harry gave her a searing kiss and promised her that he would do everything he could to get away from Godric's Hollow, and back to where she would be waiting for him. Making the most of their moment together, the pair exchanged heartfelt 'I love you's', before joining the others and making sure everyone knew how their plan was going to run. With everyone sorted the group then headed off to Godric's Hollow, praying that their plan would work and they wouldn't regret walking into such an obvious trap.
Once at Godric's Hollow, Harry didn't look around to spot the familiar faces acting as though they were regular villagers. He just marched straight to the graveyard, and took up position with the Order behind him. Harry had positioned himself so that he and the Order were at the far side of the graveyard, so that when Voldemort and his Death Eaters arrived they would be between them and the rest of the village. It wasn't like they would be totally surrounded, but it was the best Harry could do with so little time to pull a plan together.
At exactly midday, just as the village clock was chiming, plumes of black smoke appeared in the sky and Death Eaters began to appear in the graveyard with virtual silence. All of the Death Eaters were wearing masks, and none of them seemed to have Hermione with them. Just as Harry thought Voldemort wasn't going to keep his part of the bargain, the dark wizard himself arrived with a dozen Death Eaters. The group landed as one and positioned themselves slightly in front of the other gathered Death Eaters.
"Harry," Voldemort greeted in a low hiss as he stepped forward, his arms open almost as if he expected Harry to run into them and give him a hug.
"Where is she?" Harry demanded, also stepping forward slightly. Ron and Ginny also moved forward, but they then paused a few steps in front of the rest of the Order while Harry moved closer to Voldemort.
"Ah straight down to business," Voldemort chuckled. "I do admire a wizard not fussed with niceties. That was always Dumbledore's problem, he always liked to chat."
"You're rather talkative yourself," Harry retorted. "Where is Hermione?"
With another low chuckle, Voldemort clicked his fingers and the Death Eaters directly behind him parted. One of the Death Eaters then stepped forward, a chain in his hand. Harry followed the chain and cried out in horror as Hermione stumbled into view, the chain tied to a steel ring around her neck. Hermione's face was bruised and battered, with her left eye completely closed. There was also dried blood on her face, her left arm hung at an unnatural angle, she limped as though her right leg couldn't quite support her weight and there was a large blood stain on the side of her jumper.
"Hermione," Harry cried as the Death Eater holding her chain yanked it so she fell to her knees just in front of Voldemort.
"Not so fast Potter," Voldemort said, pointing his wand at Harry. "We haven't made our deal yet. You can see your mudblood is alive. You get her when I get what I want."
"What do you want?" Harry asked, struggling to take his eyes off Hermione. His best friend was still on her knees in front of Voldemort, but she raised her head and gave him a weak smile, revealing that one of her front teeth had been knocked out.
"Let's see," Voldemort mused as though he was seriously thinking about what he could possibly want from Harry. "Now what could you possibly give me, Potter?"
"Anything," Harry snapped, not impressed with Voldemort's stalling tactics. "Hand Hermione over to me, and you can have whatever you want?"
"I'm thinking about you dead at my feet," Voldemort replied with a cold smirk.
"Give me Hermione, and I'll duel with you," Harry challenged. "We've got an audience, and you like an audience. Show everyone how great you are. Prove that you're the better wizard."
"You're on Potter," Voldemort smirked. "Release the mudblood," he ordered with another snap of his fingers.
The Death Eater who was holding Hermione's chain, pulled out their wand and used it to unlock the steel ring around her neck. He then slipped her wand into her trouser pocket, and gave her a shove towards Harry. Still on her knees Hermione went sprawling to the floor at the Death Eater's push, but she quickly dragged herself to her feet and stumbled the final few inches towards Harry.
"Harry," she gasped, falling into his arms.
"Hermione, what did they do to you?" Harry asked gently, holding onto Hermione as he knelt down beside her.
"It doesn't matter, I'm safe now," Hermione replied. "But you're not," she added, looking at Harry with tears in her large brown eyes. "He's going to kill you."
"Don't worry, we have a plan," Harry whispered in Hermione's ear as he embraced her.
"As nice as this reunion is, we had a bargain Potter," Voldemort drawled.
"I know," Harry snarled as he glared up at Voldemort, although as he did, he failed to notice his wand being gently removed from his grasp. "Ginny, come and get Hermione," he called to his girlfriend.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hermione said loudly, suddenly sounding more like her normal self, and less like the broken figure she was.
"Hermione?" Harry glanced down at Hermione and found that she had two wands pressed against his throat, one of which was his.
"Stand up," she ordered.
"What is this?" Harry questioned as he did as Hermione asked and rose to his feet. Hermione also rose with him, and even though she was still battered and bruised, she still seemed to be struggling with standing on both legs.
"Draco," Hermione snapped. "Get rid of these glamours and spells," she barked.
The Death Eater who had been holding Hermione's chain pulled off his mask, revealing the smirking face of Draco Malfoy. Raising his wand he then muttered a few curses and Hermione began to transform before Harry's eyes. Her bruises slowly vanished, the dried blood disappeared, her front tooth reappeared and she once again had the full use of both her arms and legs.
"That's better," she grinned as another spell from Draco got rid of the messy clothes she was wearing and dressed her in a pair of tight fitting black trousers and a blood red one shouldered top, and tidied her hair into a neat ponytail.
While all this was going on the rest of the Order had been watching, too stunned and confused by events to even think about moving. As such they'd failed to see some of the Death Eaters at the back of Voldemort's ranks move to spread around the graveyard, so now it was the Order surrounded by Death Eaters. Although there was still the Order members in the village, but until anything happened, they were oblivious as to what was happening in the graveyard.
"I don't understand," Harry muttered, looking down at the two wands Hermione had pressed against his neck. "I came to save you."
"As we knew you would," Hermione chuckled. "You're so damn predictable, Harry. You knew this was a trap, yet you still walked into it."
"To save you," Harry insisted. "I did this for you, Hermione."
"And I really appreciate it," Hermione said. "But I didn't need saving. You see this is where I belong, Harry. With my family."
"Family?" Harry questioned, his eyes darting towards Voldemort.
"Not me," Voldemort chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, I'm fond of Hermione, but she's not mine. She's the daughter of a most loyal follower."
Narrowing his eyes, Harry turned his attention to Draco. Of course he knew Hermione wasn't his daughter, but she might very well be his sister. Although why a daughter of Lucius Malfoy would be posing as a muggleborn was a mystery to Harry. Even to get close to him, it seemed a bit extreme.
"No Potter, she's not my sister," Draco laughed, easily reading what Harry was thinking. "Even the most staunch pureblood wouldn't marry their own sister."
"Marry? You're married to Malfoy?" Harry spat.
"Not yet," Hermione replied. "We'll get married once you've been dealt with. But to put you out of your misery, I'll introduce you to my father."
At Hermione's words one of the Death Eaters in the advanced group stepped forward. When he removed his mask, Harry found himself looking at his former Potions Professor, Severus Snape. Once upon a time Snape had been part of the Order, and Dumbledore had been insisted that he could be trusted. But he'd revealed his true colours just before Dumbledore had died, and Harry would never forget the distress he caused the headmaster in his final moments.
"Severus," an obviously stunned feminine voice called from behind Harry.
"Minerva." Severus acknowledged his former colleague with a polite nod of his head.
"How?" Minerva McGonagall asked, looking between the wizard she'd known since he was a teenager, and the girl who'd been her favourite student, searching for some family resemblance.
"I don't think anyone here need a sex lesson," Severus drawled. "But I'm guessing that's not what you're asking. To cut a long story short, I got married shortly after I joined The Dark Lord. But then he wanted me to infiltrate the Order, so I had to keep my marriage and when she was born, my daughter quiet. When I chose to keep in with Dumbledore I knew I couldn't then produce a daughter so we kept quiet about Hermione. When it was time for her to go to school, I changed the details you had for her, switching her to a muggleborn and using her mother's maiden name. It was all so simple really. People tend to believe what you tell them, so no-one ever questioned Hermione's lies."
"You were using us the entire time," Harry accused, glaring angrily at Hermione.
"I was," Hermione confirmed with a nod. "As if I was ever going to be friends with the son of James Potter. You might think your father walked on water Harry, but I know the truth. He was nothing but a vile bully, and a horrible excuse for a human being. Every time you used to take pleasure in supposedly being like him, I wanted to shake you and tell you that it was nothing to be proud of. If anything you should be proud that you're not like your father. Despite what it looks like Harry, I don't hate you. Our friendship might have been an act, but I don't hate you. I actually think that in other circumstances I might actually like you."
"Well, I did like you," Harry snapped. "In fact, I loved you. I sacrificed myself for you, Hermione."
"I know, and I will always be grateful for it," Hermione said as she smirked at Harry and placed a tender kiss on his cheek.
"Well, I think it's time we got on here," Voldemort called. "Hermione, bring Potter to me."
"No!" Ron cried, surging forward only to be halted by Draco who grabbed him and threw him to the floor.
"Look around Weasley, you're surrounded," Draco snarled, pointing his wand at Ron's head.
For the first time since the dramatics with Hermione had started, the Order paid attention to their surroundings and realised that the Death Eaters had fanned out and were guarding the perimeter of the graveyard. There was also a group practically surrounding the Order, just waiting to strike.
"If you want to fight, we can fight," Voldemort drawled with a roll of his eyes. "But look at your saviour. He's at Hermione's mercy. She can kill him before anyone can get near to her."
"He's right," Harry said with a defeated sigh. "Fighting will only get us all killed."
"Harry," Ginny pleaded, not daring to move as one of the masked Death Eaters had their wand focused on her. "Don't give up without a fight. Even if we all die, it's worth it not to give up."
"I never said I was giving up," Harry replied with a slight smirk. "Fight to the death!" he cried.
Harry's rallying cry was the signal the Order had been waiting for, and despite being surrounded, they launched themselves at the Order. Sirius even managed to send the red sparks into the air, which was the signal for the Order in the village to join them. However, the Death Eaters weren't taken by surprise as Hermione had warned them that the Order wouldn't just stand back and let them take Harry. But even so, several battles broke out and the sound of fighting echoed over the graveyard.
But while everyone else rallied to fight, Harry was still stuck with Hermione pointing two wands at him. Since she'd been expecting the outbreak of violence, Hermione hadn't been distracted by what was going on, and she still had Harry in her control. Harry also seemed to realise it, and he'd made no move to get away.
"Are you going to kill me now?" he asked as various battles raged around them.
"Is that what you want?" Hermione asked. "Because I can kill you now, and then there's nothing to stop The Dark Lord claiming victory."
"Do it," Harry said as he closed his eyes, preparing himself for death.
"I don't think so," Hermione chuckled as she moved closer to Harry and grasped him arm in a surprisingly strong grasp. "You see Harry, in all our research about Horcruxes, I realised something. That connection you've got with The Dark Lord, it's not because of your scar. It's because you're a Horcrux. An accidental one, but a one nonetheless."
"So what? I get to live?" Harry scoffed.
"We're not going to kill a piece of The Dark Lord," Hermione cackled. "We haven't decided what to do with you yet, but for now you're coming with me."
"Never!"
Knowing that he wasn't going to be killed gave Harry a bit more fight, and despite the fact Hermione had two wands in her possession, he did something he never would have normally done and lashed out at her. Hermione was taken aback by Harry's move, and she didn't see the fist coming her way until it was too late. As Harry's fist smashed into the side of her face, Hermione staggered but had enough presence of mind to keep tight hold of the two wands. Physically, Harry might be able to take her, but she still had the magical abilities to best him.
Harry also knew that Hermione had the advantage when it came to magic, so when she staggered, he took advantage and turned and ran. However, with so much fighting going on he had to dart around people, and that gave Hermione enough time to regain her footing and aim a spell at Harry's back.
"Stupefy!" she cried, as she ran towards Harry at the same time as shooting the spell at him.
The spell caught Harry in the centre of his back and he went down with a loud crash. Reaching him seconds after he'd fallen, Hermione grabbed onto the back of Harry's shirt and not waiting for more trouble, she raised her wand and the pair of them disappeared from Godric's Hollow with a loud crack.
A couple of people fighting closest to Harry noticed his vanishing act, but it wasn't until the Death Eaters began to retreat that most of the Order realised that Harry was gone. By the time the final Death Eater left Godric's Hollow, a portion of the Order were dead, and those that were left were broken by Harry's disappearance. How were they now meant to win the war when their saviour was in the hands of the dark?
A/N - I have a second part to this tale, which I will post on Friday.