I don't own Harry Potter, and I'm doing this for fun, not profit. Please let that be a sufficient disclaimer!
...
Adrian Nott had been a fool. He had ignored Goyle's fear as paranoia, and now another of the inner circle was dead. Of course, now Nott was afraid – who would be next? What if it was him?! He needed to do something, but what?
He didn't even know who he could trust! Maybe he would speak to Macnair; yes, Macnair was someone he could trust, and perhaps together they could think of something.
He would have to be careful, though. He might be being watched, by the killer or by the blasted DMLE. ... Oh, damn it! He might be being watched by the DMLE! He would have to pause some of his hobbies in case he was under surveillance by Bones and her incompetent morons; no point risking jail over fun with a few muggles!
...
Alicia and Angelina had started the school year delighted – they had both been sorted into Gryffindor, which was a lot easier than either of them had expected.
However, they were disappointed to find that the Gryffindor team was already well-established, with almost all places already filled from last year - the only open slot was the keeper, which neither girl was interested in. They were a winning team, too: the Gryffindor Quidditch Team had won the last four cups, though it sounded like much of that was owed to their captain and seeker, Charlie Weasley.
So it was with disappointment that Alicia and Angelina watched their first Quidditch match later that term – Charlie was indeed excellent, but the rest of the team were... terrible. Ok, maybe "terrible" was a little unfair, but they weren't exactly brimming with skill. The team had been 90 points behind when Charlie caught the snitch, and the chasers had acted like that was a good result! As chasers, they should have been appalled!
At least the new keeper, Oliver Wood, had talent. Yes, he was inexperienced, but he had stopped more shots than he let in, and it was only his first match. The chasers, however, were sixth years who had been playing for years, and so were the beaters – they should have done better.
...
Katie had made a plan. It was a very subtle, sneaky plan... for a ten-year-old. Fortunately, it was sneaky enough that Harry suspected nothing. Unfortunately, the plan hadn't got the result Katie wanted.
The problem was that Katie wanted to know what Harry thought about her, but she couldn't just ask Harry if he liked her – that would be unthinkable! And so, during their most recent playdate, Katie had put her subtle plan into motion.
It was genius, really. Katie knew that she was more likely to blurt things out when she was relaxed and sleepy, and she hoped that was true of Harry, too. As such, she had offered to give Harry a shoulder massage. Harry didn't really know about massages, but with Katie's encouragement he was willing to try.
Katie, Harry had concluded, had magic hands. He had never felt anything like the massage before, and as Katie's hands squeezed his shoulders he found himself feeling a little sleepy. Katie noticed this, and over the next few minutes began stage 2 of her plan.
"Harry, do you prefer my hair loose or in a ponytail?" "Oh, I don't really know."
"Harry, what do you think about my dress?" "I like the ducks on it."
"Harry, have you ever fancied a girl?" "What do you mean?"
"Harry, when you're grown up who will you live with?" "I'll live with my mummy and daddy, of course!"
Harry, Katie had concluded, had probably not yet noticed girls. Perhaps he wasn't old enough? Maybe she should ask someone... But she would have to do it without raising suspicion!
...
To say that Tom Marvolo Riddle had been biding his time was an understatement. Oh, the Dark Lord had used plenty of his time planning how he could regain a body and return to full strength: he currently had twelve separate options, though only eight would be guaranteed to work, and only five of those would leave his Horcruxes undamaged. But he had been forced to wait, agonisingly so, for an opportunity.
It enraged him that none of his followers had come to his aid; it was possible they had all been discovered and were locked away in Azkaban, and if that was the case then he could forgive them. But if there were Death Eaters running free, and yet hadn't sought him out, then there would be a terrible price they would pay.
Of course, Tom didn't know that his followers were being killed off methodically, and that there would soon be precious few left to provide any form of aid at all.
...
"It's just so frustrating!" the woman complained uncharacteristically. She was sat in a secluded corner of the pub, with a drink in her hand.
"Which part, boss?" her colleague asked, his tone gruff as always.
"The whole damn case, Moody! Nothing for a year, then an attack out of the blue. Then nothing for a year, then another attack. Rinse and repeat. And never any evidence!" the woman elaborated.
Alastor Moody looked at his boss, the normally reserved Amelia Bones, and felt a twinge of... was that guilt, or amusement? He couldn't tell.
"At least we got a lead last time. And whatever was found in the Malfoy's vault when Narcissa allowed the goblins to inspect it clearly had them rattled," Moody pointed out.
Bones allowed herself a brief smile at the memory. The goblins had found something that enraged them, and they had nearly attacked Narcissa on the spot; whatever the item was, Narcissa had rushed to deny all knowledge of it, and so couldn't overly protest as the goblins had demanded it handed over and destroyed.
The goblins wouldn't even tell Bones what it was, but she knew it must have been incredibly dark, if even the goblins demanded its destruction.
"Yes, though they refuse to tell us what it was. They were fiercely adamant it had nothing to do with the attacks, so unless we want to start another Goblin War there's nothing else we're going to find out about it," Bones countered, her frustration evident.
"And since Narcissa gave an oath she believes Lucius is dead, and doesn't know where his body is, that lead is closed too", Moody admitted, pointing out another fact that frustrated his boss.
"Damn it. Well, at least the overall crime rate is going down, so the Minister isn't on our backs too much", Bones stated, more for herself than for her colleague.
...
It was Christmas break, and Katie had managed to persuade her mum to take her flying. Katie was brimming with excitement, for she knew Angelina and Alicia were planning to practise that day. So when her mum had apparated them to the training pitch, and Katie looked around and saw no-one, she was a little disappointed.
For about ten seconds.
"Katie!" came two excited cries from above, before Angelina and Alicia mobbed the younger girl.
"Alicia! Angelina! It's so good to see you both!" Katie greeted excitedly. "What's Hogwarts like? Are you on the team yet?"
Alicia was going to reply, but Angelina got there first. "No, but we should! The chasers are rubbish!" Angelina complained.
"Angie, they're not that bad," Alicia replied hesitantly, using the new nickname Angelina had acquired.
Angelina gave a 'what are you talking about' look to her best friend. "Lis, they're worse than us, and they're sixth years!" she grumbled.
Katie noted the two nicknames. "Angie? Lis? Are those new nicknames?" she asked with a smile.
Angelina nodded. "Yeah, two dumb twins in our year couldn't be bothered with our full names, so made up nicknames," she grouched.
Alicia smiled. "You'll like the twins, they're fun. And other than Quidditch, we're good. Right, Angie?"
"True, true. It's cool learning magic and making new friends. Though it'll be more fun next year when you join us!" Angelina replied.
Alicia nodded. "That's right! We missed you, Katie. Anyway, tell us about your term," she asked, an eager smile on her face.
"Oh, nothing much to say, really. I've hung out with Harry a few times..." Katie began.
"Oh, is he flying today too?" Angelina interrupted.
"I'm not sure," Katie replied, before continuing. "Anyway, other than that, not much going on. It's not been as fun without you two around, and there's no one nearly as good I can practise with, so I'm sure I've gotten worse," Katie admitted.
Alicia patted Katie on the back encouragingly, whilst Angelina shook her head and replied. "I bet you're just as good or better. And even if you had got worse, you'll still be better than the Gryffindor chasers!" she insisted.
"Well, one way to find out!" Alicia hinted – a hint neither girl seemed to miss, based on the broad smiles on their faces.
...
Whilst the three girls were flying together, Harry was enjoying some time with his parents.
"Mum?" Harry asked from his position - sandwiched between Rob and Jenny, on the sofa, eyes staring at the screen in front of him.
"Yes, my little wizard?" Jenny replied, using a term of endearment Rob had coined earlier in the year.
"Do you think I could make a lightsaber?" Harry asked curiously.
In another life, Jenny might have laughed at the cuteness of such a naïve question. However, given what she had seen Harry accomplish with runes (albeit under very close supervision from his magical uncles!), and what she understood of magic (still so little, really), she couldn't rule the idea out.
"Dare I ask why my sweet little boy wants a lightsaber?" Jenny asked, amusement in her tone.
The reply was part horrified, part disbelieving. "How can you ask that? It's because they're cool!" replied... Rob. Harry just nodded his agreement.
Jenny laughed. If Harry could find a way to make a half-decent copy, she might need to convince her husband not to beg Harry for his own! Giving her son a kiss on the top of his head, Jenny gave the obvious answer. "Maybe. Why don't you ask your uncles?"
...
Remus, who had taken a little time off over Christmas, couldn't stop laughing. Sirius' face was just priceless! It might have been less effective had Remus just stunned his best friend, instead of the utter shock which Harry had bestowed.
Eventually, Sirius got his voice back. "Moony! We need to cancel the mirror project, stop the work on the map, and pause the spy goats. This is urgent!" he declared.
"What? Making a magical lightsaber?" Remus chuckled.
"Of course! Can you imagine?! And you know what the best part is?" Sirius asked with toddler-amounts of excitement.
Remus could guess what his friend was about to say, but decided not to arrest his momentum. "What's the best part, Padfoot?"
"There's no underage ban on using lightsabers!" Sirius declared.
...
Oliver was disappointed, though he tried not to show it. The whole team – no, the whole of Gryffindor – was celebrating the spring win against Hufflepuff, but he had no idea why.
Ok, he understood a little – a win was a win, after all. But the 'Puffs had a terrible team, and yet the lions had still only won by fifty points! They were a hundred points behind when Charlie caught the snitch! A hundred!
Oliver managed to excuse himself and retreated to a quiet corner, claiming he had pulled a muscle during one of his (he felt all-too-few) saves.
His solitude didn't last long.
"Hey, Oliver, well done today," came a cheerful voice from the side.
"Yeah, well done!" came a second voice.
Oliver groaned to himself and turned to face two excited little firsties.
"Hi, erm... Angelina? And Alicia?" Oliver hazarded. Thankfully his memory didn't let him down... Too much.
"Close, just the other way around," Alicia corrected, a smile on her face.
Oliver gave a slightly sheepish look, which chased the melancholy off his face for a moment. "Oh, sorry about that."
Angelina waved off the apology, and got back on topic. "Anyway, we wanted to congratulate you on your flying today."
Oliver gave her a sceptical look. "Not to crush the party spirit or anything, but you know we were terrible, right? It's only because Charlie caught the snitch that we were able to win at all, and that was against the worst team at school." Oliver griped.
"But you did really well!" Alicia insisted.
Before Oliver could disagree, Angelina elaborated. "We don't plan on complimenting the rest of the team, you know. Charlie obviously did well, but you're the only other player worth their broom. In fact, if you hadn't saved as many goals as you did, even Charlie wouldn't have been able to save us from losing," Angelina explained.
"But I let in fifteen goals! That's awful!" Oliver argued.
Alicia shook her head insistently. "But that's just because of how many shots the 'Puffs had! You stopped most of their shots, even with the bludger after you most of the game," she pointed out.
"You saved almost thirty shots," Angelina confirmed.
The light returned to Oliver's eyes. "Really? Thirty?" he asked unsurely.
Alicia nodded. "Almost! Though we didn't count the ones that would have missed anyway, and we might have misjudged a few," she admitted.
"You both really love Quidditch, huh," Oliver noted. Then, after a couple of seconds, asked the important question. "Do you play?"
"Yep!" Alicia replied.
"Better than your current chasers, for sure," Angelina added.
Oliver sat for a few moments and thought hard. The current season was probably too soon, especially with the rule against firsties having brooms, but maybe after Charlie had left? Maybe next year, there might be a worthy Gryffindor Quidditch Team?
"Can I see you fly?" Oliver asked, wanting to see proof before planning any further.
...
It had happened more by accident than anything. The man had been hiding for years, but even more carefully since last Christmas. Still, he couldn't stay in his current room forever, especially when he'd become ill.
So, with no small amount of fear, the man had allowed himself to be carried to a medical professional, and prayed there wouldn't be any problems. His prayers were viciously unanswered that day.
"How can I help, Mr. Weasley?" the witch asked.
"It's silly, Madam Pomfrey, but it's my rat. He's not been himself for a few weeks, and I'd hoped you could take a look," Percy Weasley requested politely.
It just so happened that it was the day after the full moon, and Remus Lupin was currently in Hogwarts' infirmary, within listening distance of the conversation. Normally he would have paid the young wizard's concerns no mind, but any mention of rats always put Moony a little on edge, even years after Pettigrew betrayed the Potters then blew himself up.
"He's missing one of the toes off his front paw, is that new?" Madam Pomfrey asked, examining the rat.
"No, he's been like that ever since I found him, years ago," Percy replied.
"How old is your pet?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"I don't know. I've had him almost nine years, so he's at least..." Percy began.
"Nine years?! He must be magical in some way, common rats don't live that long," Madam Pomfrey noted with surprise.
"Magical? No, Scabbers has never shown any magical talent, he's just…" Percy began, before he was interrupted. By a professor. Leaning heavily against their hospital bed. Pointing a shaking wand at Percy.
"Stupefy!" came an animalistic growl.
"What did you do, Professor?!" cried the half-outraged, half-scared Percy.
Madam Pomfrey had drawn her wand, and was preparing to use it.
Remus had lowered his wand, not wishing to risk the Matron's ire. "I'm sorry for the interruption, I really am. And if I'm wrong I'll owe you both a deep apology. But, Madam Pomfrey, I need to see that rat. I think I know what, or more accurately who, he is," Remus explained.
Madam Pomfrey acquiesced against Percy's cries of dismay, and Remus almost snarled as he saw the traitorous rat up close. "Hello, Peter."
...
Katie had enjoyed a wonderful late spring day with Harry. Really, she was excited in general – she was now eleven, which meant that she could finally get her own wand! And familiar!
Her wand was ten inches, yew, with a unicorn hair core, and in Katie's eyes it was the most perfect wand in the whole wide world! And Harry seemed almost as excited as she was, asking her to wave it around and shoot sparks again and again.
And her familiar – she had considered a cat, but owls were just so useful, and she wanted to be able to write letters to... well, a few people, she told herself, and then she'd seen this gorgeous owl in the window of the... What was the word...? Managie? Manarge? Menagerie! The menagerie! ...and she just couldn't resist him. She'd named him Apollo, and Harry agreed that it was a cool name.
But if Katie was honest, she would admit it was mostly Harry, not the wand and familiar, that made the day wonderful. Whenever she hugged him, or led him along by the hand, or gave him a quick shoulder massage – you know, perfectly innocent things that wouldn't betray her feelings – she felt just really warm and nice, and she really liked it.
Harry was oblivious to Katie's feelings, as all almost-nine-year-olds are. He didn't really question why Katie hugged him a lot (she still smelled of strawberries, which was nice), or always grabbed his hand to lead him places (his hands were now bigger than hers, he proudly noted), or did the squeezing-his-shoulders thing (which he really liked when she did it).
No, Harry didn't question these things, as he had seen Katie hug Angelina and Alicia and her parents all the time, so figured Katie was just really tactile. Which, whilst being true, was also missing quite a bit of the picture.
However, after Katie's mum had apparated Harry back home, and Katie decided it was about time she sneakily asked her parents a question she had been pondering for a while, Katie's day went downhill. For her question wasn't as sneaky as she thought, and her actions had already been noted by her mum and dad.
"Mum, I've been wondering something," Katie began nonchalantly.
"What is it, my superstar?" Elisabeth replied, curiously.
"When do boys start to fancy girls?" Katie asked, confident that no parent could possibly tell she was asking because of her feelings for Harry.
"..."
"What?"
"Are you asking because of your feelings for Harry?" Elisabeth gently queried.
Katie's face proclaimed her shock. How could her mum have possibly solved such a complex riddle so quickly?! "Wha... What do you mean, mum?" Katie asked in a panic, stalling for time.
"Honey, it's ok," Elisabeth began in a soothing tone. Katie was not particularly soothed, though Elisabeth continued in the tone regardless. "I thought you were dropping hints, given he's only just left. And you are always especially tactile with him."
Hints? Hints?! She hadn't been hinting that she liked Harry, she had been trying to be sneaky and avoid her mum finding out!
"Is everything ok?" Matt asked, seeing the horror on his daughter's face.
Elisabeth decided to be kind, and only repeat the question Katie asked and not her own reply... though the outcome would be the same. "Katie was wondering when boys start to notice girls."
"Oh, that's brave of you to talk to us about your feelings for Harry, honey," Matt congratulated.
Katie looked half-mortified, half-outraged. "I didn't... I never... it might not be..." she began, but given the scepticism dripping off her mother's face, and given how quickly her father had come to the same conclusion, her protest died in her throat.
"Honey, did you want your answer?" Elisabeth replied kindly.
Katie, her face now hidden behind her hands – which also prevented her from seeing her parents' terrible expressions – merely nodded.
"Well, boys can be pretty hopeless, they tend to notice girls much later than girls notice boys," Elisabeth started to explain.
"Also..." Matt began hesitantly, "Harry might not fancy you even when he does notice girls. In fact," he continued cautiously, "there's a small chance Harry might not notice girls at all."
Katie didn't really like any of those answers.
...
Moody was sharp, and always practised the constant vigilance he preached. So when Dumbledore came hurrying into his office, casting privacy charms, Moody's wand was already in hand and a curse ready before Dumbledore had finished.
"Oath, now," Moody greeted with his usual amounts of politeness.
"I am Albus Dumbledore and I am acting of my own free will, so shall my magic prove," Dumbledore hurriedly stated, his wand lighting up to prove his words.
Moody grunted and nodded. "So what's got you so..." he began, but was cut off.
"Word of Peter's capture had leaked, and the remaining free Death Eaters are afraid – Pettigrew is one of the few who can be forced under Veritaserum, and he is not clever enough or strong enough to twist his answers and protect secrets," Dumbledore began.
"And he's a coward who might just choose to betray them," Moody added with a growl.
"They are calling a meeting now, and Severus suspects some will feel pushed into returning to Voldemort. We have a valuable opportunity, but we must leave now," Dumbledore explained quickly.
"How do we get in?" Moody asked, now very interested.
Dumbledore handed over a vial. "Treat that as your invitation. The meeting is at Nott Manor."
...
Severus cursed his bad luck – he'd been unable to get to the meeting on time, and he knew how his former colleagues treated lateness: with exactly the same anger and distain he had shown when he had been a professor at Hogwarts. And given how much fear and distrust there was amongst the Death Eaters at the moment, that put him in an unenvious position; the last thing he wanted was to be wrongly suspected of something!
But now Severus was ready to travel to the location. Focussing his mind, he mentally prepared himself, then left.
...
Nott was getting agitated. He was risking a lot, bringing all the free Death Eaters together, and of them all it was Snape who he trusted least – the same Snape who was late!
Nott was imagining several violent ways to deal with him when the floo triggered and Snape emerged, wand in hand and looking alert.
"Where the bloody hell have you been?! You were meant to be here twenty minutes ago!" Nott seethed.
Snape wore a frustrated look. "I was interrupted on my way here, and since I didn't want to lead a potential enemy into our midst I had to lose them," he replied.
Nott looked very ready to argue, but Macnair interjected. "Adrian, we've little time to waste," he reminded his friend and ally.
"Yes, and we all know why," Nott started, but at Snape's look of venom he held his hands up in placation. "It doesn't matter. We're all here now."
Nott looked around the room, seeing the very few who remained. "You know why we're here. There aren't many of us left out of Azkaban, and Pettigrew's just been caught. There's a good chance he's going to spill some secret that will leave us on the run. Also, some bastard's been hunting us down slowly, and it might even be Lucius. What do we do?" Nott summarised.
"No way Lucius would turn on us. Not unless he was Imperiused," Yaxley, one of the group, asserted.
Several murmurs of agreement went around the room at the comment, and none disagreed – Lucius had been one of them, had kept them out of Azkaban, had been their de-facto leader. He wouldn't turn on them willingly.
"So what do we do? If Lucius is under the Imperius, chasing us down..." Macnair asked, his question left hanging.
A few seconds of silence, then Nott tables his suggestion. "There are rumours. Rumours that the Dark Lord might still be alive," Nott began.
Shouts of disbelief echoed around the room. Then Snape spoke carefully. "You suggest we seek our Lord out?"
Nott hesitated a second, then nodded. "If he's alive, there is none better to protect us. None better to serve."
Snape, for once, had a pleased look on his face. "The return of the Dark Lord!" he proclaimed. Nott was surprised it was Snape who backed the idea first, but once it was the two of them it quickly became three, then four, then all.
But Snape had a warning for the group. "If any actually have the remorse they professed at the trials all those years ago, you'd better leave now. And we will need oaths that none will bring this to the DMLE."
Nott was surprised at Snape's foresight, though being a double-agent had clearly taught him to trust no-one. All made the oath.
The feeling of determination and comradery evaporated as a heavy knocking was heard at the door.
"Macnair, with me!" Nott commanded.
It was to the Death Eaters' shame that all attention was towards the door, and that none noticed the first spell fired, though the target didn't react straight away.
Nott opened the door, wand ready, to see a very familiar face at the door. His wand was raised and a red curse fired almost before the target could react.
The target, however, did react, barely raising a shield in time and taking a nasty gash to his left arm.
"Nott! You bastard! Invite me here to kill me?!" the man howled, ducking behind a wooden pillar just outside the door before firing a black curse in return which was deflected.
"You can't fool me! Severus Snape arrived ten minutes ago! You're the imposter killing our men!" Nott spat, before throwing another curse at the man, and missing.
A horrible feeling of dread crept up Snape's spine. No! If there was someone who looked like him inside, then Nott and the others were in danger! Some might already be dead! "Nott, it's me, you idiot! The one in your house is the imposter! Probably the one who's been killing us off!" Snape desperately shouted.
Another spell hit the pillar he was hiding behind, smashing it to kindling. Snape dove to the side, throwing up a shield which almost blocked a nasty gouging curse. Unfortunately, 'almost' was not good enough, and Snape fell to the floor, his leg now missing a chunk.
"Just look behind you, you insipid fool!" Snape shouted in a high-pitched panic.
Nott couldn't help himself. He turned round, and felt his stomach drop through the floor. For there was Yaxley, wand out, and blood covering his robes. And near to where Nott stood, the body of Macnair, eyes lifeless and blood pooling on the floor.
Nott only just had time to shout "Yaxley?! Why?" before his own body joined Macnair's.
Snape, hearing Nott's last words and seeing him collapse to the ground, knew he had to escape – badly injured, and with the imposter Snape and someone who looked like Yaxley against him, he wouldn't stand a chance.
Wincing in pain, Snape apparated to St. Mungo's, barely avoiding splinching himself.
...
Inside, Yaxley returned to stand next to the imposter-Snape. The imposter stared into his eyes, seeing the glassy expression. The Imperius had worked perfectly, and in that instant the imposter fully comprehended how such a curse was deemed unforgivable. Well, given what the Death Eaters were planning, the imposter could easily forgive himself.
Nodding at his handiwork, the imposter took out his wand and ended Yaxley's life. Then, cancelling the effects of the Polyjuice potion early, the man took out his magical eye, slotted it back into place, surveyed his grisly handiwork one final time, then flooed home to clean up.
...
Author Notes:
Big thanks to Red Renera, the wizard who fixes my many mistakes before you read them. More like chopping them like a butcher – Red.
Unexpectedly busy work meant this chapter was quite delayed. But the motivation to continue never stopped, thanks to the knowledge that so many are enjoying this story – a huge thank you to those who follow or favourite this story, and an extra special thanks to those who review – amortentiate, alix33, magitech, Chiku11, Comic Rocker, Brockster550, seaweedbrainwisegirl07, SiriusOrionBitch, TakuGifian, Doomspark Deathfire, pix25, newkidintown00 and Belden7. It's you wonderful people who keep me going even when real life gets beyond hectic.
Alix33 – thanks as always! The Katie question has given me an idea for next chapter; your answer will be there :-)
Chiku11 – it will. I really mean it when I say that the positive reaction from yourself and others keeps me going.
Comic Rocker – that is a great idea, and I'm really considering doing it... though it might be a few stories away.
Seaweedbrainwisegirl07 – I didn't remember that being a thing, so if I missed that then oops! I'll consider it a difference in this AU. Regarding the question on Katie – maybe a little on the early side, but hopefully it will feel natural. Katie will be waiting a while, though...
Doomspark Deathfire – I like your ideas. I may not be able to include all, but you can see you've very much inspired a couple of scenes in this chapter!