Chapter 4: Betrayal
"Weakness compels strength. Betrayal begets blood. This is the law of the Nine Clans." ~Ninja Assassin
Dumbledore was dead, the Order in shambles, and Voldemort running wild killing everyone who stood in his way. Key members of the Order had been sent into hiding, their deaths faked, and their disappearances smeared across the front page of The Prophet, Voldemort clearly to blame. Harry had set his game of chess and the pawn was now in the other players' domain. Draco, his second in command, has surrendered himself to the Ministry, where he would inform Ron and Hermione, and therefore the rest of the wizarding world, that They Boy Who Lived, was dead, at the hands of his lover no less. He just hoped whatever story Draco went with was a believable one.
Fred and George Weasley (the later having died in a death eater attack some months ago and the former having fled the wizarding world to escape the pain caused by the loss of his twin) were holed up in a workshop on a private island somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, cranking out various weapons at lightning speed.
Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood (who had been trampled to death by a herd of crumple-horned snorkacks late last year) were fervently studying plants and their uses in various healing and preventative solutions.
Seamus Finnegan (who went and got himself blown up in the Great Battle of Hogwarts) was busy putting several of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes newest products to the test in carefully calculated, but seemingly random attacks on death eaters and Order members alike; each party blaming the other. Professor McGonagall (Merlin rest her soul) had told Seamus that he had a 'particular proclivity for pyrotechnics' and he had taken that to heart.
Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott on the other hand were busy being bad, and loving every moment of it. After the Great Battle, having lost most of his Inner Circle, Voldemort looked to the youngest recruits to create a newer, everlasting Inner Circle. Malfoy, Nott, Zabini, Goyle, and Parkinson quickly rose to fill that honor. Parkinson and Zabini for their seductive abilities, Goyle for his muscle, and Malfoy and Nott for their brains. Unfortunately for the Dark Lord, three of his most trusted members were loyal to the other side.
Malfoy assured Voldemort that his relationship with Potter was strictly 'professional'; and that now that he had won Harrys trust he was privy to valuable information in regards to the Order. Information the likes that even Severus Snape had been unable to obtain. And Draco was only too happy to share this 'information', after, of course, it had been twisted into absolute useless bull. Voldemort in his deluded state never did catch on, and thus he allowed Draco free reign so long as his reports remained 'entertaining'.
Zabini could charm water from a rock, when he wasn't busy screwing the first hot thing he came across, and so Lord Voldemort brought him in as an interrogator. Zabini got lots of useful information as well, none of which reached Voldemort in its entirety, and what did always lead his goons in the opposite direction, which in turn led to several lesser death eaters dying a very painful death for their failures.
Not to be outdone, Nott would slip the prisoners out secret passageways and then confound the guards so that no one ever knew how the prisoners were escaping, especially since Theo never used the same route twice. The three often sat and laughed over how stupid the Dark Lord was, and for a while the Light was close to winning for good. Then one day Snake Face introduced a new recruit, known simply as 'Red', who had provided him with invaluable information pertaining to the Resistance, and would, he claimed, if all went to plan, become his new right hand man.
Thirteen Order members and their families died that night. 'Red' became priority level #1 for 'The Clan'. No one ever saw his face, hands, clothes, shoes, or hair. He came in fully cloaked, hood obscuring the totality of his face, and he only spoke to Lord Voldemort himself under a muffliato spell, so no one ever heard his voice. He was tall, well built, and in a position to know too much to be some random wizard. After months of investigation, and the Order being hunted to near extinction, Harry and his eight closest confidants narrowed 'Red' down to one of 11 people. He, they decided, had to be an Order member, either in, or with close ties to the Inner Circle, between 20 and 25, with no familial ties to anyone who had been killed or attacked. Where 'Red' came from, they had no idea, but no one in the order wholly fit the description they came up with. Harry, Draco, and Ron were too closely connected with several of their fallen members. Neville was not now, nor would he ever be, a traitor. Tonks and Remus were in hiding. Kingsley was busy running the Ministry. Hermione and Molly were the wrong gender, and Arthur was too old. The Weasley siblings were all discounted based on how fervently they had all fought for Harry, and no other family was as deeply invested in the Order as the Weasley Clan.
Based on the information they had, The Clan hatched a devious plan to outs the rat. Harry had made a mistake once before when dealing with a traitor, he wasn't willing to make that mistake again.
"The deepest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers. This is war. There is no time for a trail before a jury of your peers. There is only you and the one you betrayed, so pray like Hell they wind up dead before they find you. Because they will be your judge, jury, and executioner. And if not, that Honor shall fall to their family and friends, and there is nothing as vindictive as an angry mob out for revenge. They will kill you where you stand, but they will do it slowly, and they will leave your body where it fell to rot and be fed upon by vermin like yourself. You will be publicly labeled a traitor, and struck from your family tree. There will be no grave, and no one will mourn your death lest they be labeled a traitor as well. Pomp and circumstance are reserved for Heroes and innocent bystanders. Not for filth like you."
That was the warning that had sounded from every radio station, and jumped off the page of every paper, journal, and magazine. Issued by one Harry James Potter, Order of Merlin, 1st Class, General in Charge of the Order of the Phoenix, War Lord of the Nine Clans. Harry was out for blood, a personal vendetta against one person, and now the entire wizarding world knew.