A/N: I apologize for the wait. I actually wrote this chapter twice and there was a tragic accident involving an accidental shut down that erased the first draft. However, I think the second is WAY better and I hope you likey! Thank you all so much for all the reviews and helpful comments. They have added fuel to the fire and I am proud to present to you the longest chapter I have written so far. I hope that it will answer most if not all of the questions that were broached to me. If you have any more, feel free to shoot me a PM. I love the universe I have molded here and would be happy to lighten the fog a bit!
Keep the reviews coming and keep fueling the fire! Much love! Enjoy!
It took a few moments for Ron to realize that the speaking he was hearing was not coming, as he had been dreaming, from a sandwich had been trying to devour him, but from the silvery form of a large dog that was sitting in front of where he had drifted off into sleep on the common room couch. Getting up suddenly and knocking a still very asleep Kate into consciousness, he grasped at its words trying to catch the last of the message before the image faded.
"….not a traitor. Please meet us in the Headmaster's office as soon as possible. We must move quickly," Sirius's voice said from the mouth of his patronous. It said something more; however, Ron didn't catch it as his arm was being tugged on insistently by his girlfriend to his side.
"Bloody hell, Kate! I just missed the last bit abou—" he began.
Speaking over him however, she all but shouted. "Where are Harry and Hermione?"
Unconcerned, Ron took his time stretching before he answered. "They are probably up in Hermione's dormitory asleep." Cracking his painfully cramped neck he added, "We should have done the same…."
Kate, already on her feet, rushed towards the stair that led to the headgirl's chambers only to return with a look of panic on her face. "Ron, they aren't in there."
"What?"
"No sign. The bed looks like no one's been there for at least a week."
Ron bypassed her and led the way up to the dormitory he shared with Dean, Seamus, and Harry. "Harry?" he called, becoming increasingly concerned. "Hermione?"
The door to the room was bolted tight. He took a few moments jiggling the handle before Kate pulled out her wand and muttered, "Alohomora!" causing it to open with an audible click. As the door swung open, they both immediately knew that the something was amiss. All of the curtains on all of the four poster beds were closed, a rather uncommon site considering none of the inhabitants had been by to close the curtains since before the break. Frantically, they ripped at the curtains starting on opposite sides of the ring of beds and meeting at Harry's bed. With swift movements, they each yanked open one side, jumping slightly at the sight of one another on the opposite sides of the bed. "Don't do that!" Ron said, gripping his heart dramatically.
"Ron!" Kate said looking down at the unnaturally still form of Hermione tucked beneath the pin straight covers. Leaning over to test her pulse, Kate breathed a sigh of relief. "She's been stunned."
Pulling out his wand, Ron muttered "Enerrvate."
Immediately, Hermione sat straight up in the bed. Both Ron and Kate stepped back in surprise. "Harry?" she shouted looking around desperately, only vaguely noticing her rescuers as she sprang out of bed, looking through all the beds, panic apparent on her face. Not finding him, a look of deep hurt and fear flooded her body in a series of cold chills as she sprinted out of the room.
"Hermione?" Ron ventured.
"He's left."
"Left?"
"Yes, we need to get to the Order immediately."
"They're in Dumbledore's office," Ron supplied, stumbling down the stairs behind her. "But Hermione, wait—"
"We can't Ron, he's going to sacrifice himself."
#-#-#-# An Hour Earlier #-#-#-#
"I just finished the headcount," Tonks said, pushing the door to the Headmaster's office closed.
"And?" Sirius prompted impatiently. He shot a look at James who was still rubbing his chafed wrists as he sat down.
"They weren't there."
Silence met the proclamation. No one wanted to admit the meaning behind the fact that Severus Snape and Peter Pettigrew were missing.
Sirius broke the silence with a long stream of profanity. "Snivellus I can understand, but Peter!" He punched the pillar ignoring the blinding pain. "I'm going to kill him."
"No," James said shaking his head. "Wormtail would never do this to Lily, to Harry! How could you say that? He's a marauder! We protect our own."
"Well obviously little Wormy missed the message," Sirius muttered through gritted teeth.
James ran his fingers through his hair in a perfect mimic of his oldest son. "Just because he's not here? That is a poor excuse for throwing him to the wolves. Anything could have happened. We should be worried about him. The Dark Lord could have him too!"
"Actually," McGonagall spoke up from where she was seated in the large chair behind the headmaster's desk. Though she still looked tired, she had now donned clean robes and, thanks to Madame Pomfery's ministrations, was on the mend. "I tend to agree with Sirius. I don't recall seeing him with Albus when…" Her voice trailed off at the pain of saying the late headmaster's name.
"What are you saying?" James spat.
"Prongs!" Sirius said, shaking his best mate out of his defense. "It's not just about tonight. Just look at him! We have barely seen him for weeks. Despite the escalating heat, he still has time to take a trip to Italy?"
"But—"
"And, what about the fact that he was nowhere to be found the night of Moony's death despite the fact that he was supposed to be on the mission with him?"
"Remus was changing! He couldn't very well—"
"And," Sirius pressed on. "What about the fact that when the kids were spying on the Deatheaters, they kept referring to a 'rat' that the Dark Lord was listening to? James, this is the last straw! We've been ignoring the signs for too long now."
James's face was frozen in stubborn denial. There was no way that he could reconcile the idea that Peter was a traitor. In fact, he was about to open his mouth to argue the fact when Professor McGonagall raised her hand for silence.
"Gentlemen," her voice was not raised, but the finality in the word was enough to get both men into their seats. "Whether or not Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Snape are traitorous, is not the important issue at hand. Right now we have some hard decision to make concerning Mrs. Potter."
James's annoyance visibly vanished as worry took over his expression. Sirius got up and moved to his best mate's side, clapping a comforting hand on the man's shoulder, all animosity disappearing.
"Do you think there was a reason that he picked tonight to act?" Kingsley asked, concern written on his face.
"I cannot say," McGonagall said, resigned.
"Ah-hem!"
Everyone's attention snapped to a dark portrait of one Phineas Nigellus Black. He looked as surly as ever, but his gruff features seemed to be highly amused by the chaos concentrated in the former office. "I was meant to pass on a message to you."
"Yes?" Minerva prompted.
"You were left a note by the noted late headmaster."
"What? Where? I searched the office myself! There is nothing here! Even his memories in the pensive were destroyed!"
"Well, it was hidden of course!" Phineas drawled as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Leastwise why would I lower myself to talk to you?"
McGonagall looked at him with extreme annoyance. "Well?"
"He told me to tell you that it is hidden in the back left leg of the desk. You have to tickle the third knot with your smallest finger and whisper the words 'Lemon Drops forever'."
Instantly McGonagall made to bend down to reach it, only to rise wincing from her not completely healed wounds. Without prompt, Tonks moved forward and quickly retrieved a thick roll of parchment sealed with the Hogwarts crest in thick red wax. McGonagall wasted no time in breaking the seal and reading aloud,
"To the Esteemed Members of the Order of the Phoenix:
"If you are reading this, one of my more fascinating testiments, I have most likely fallen. I am pleased to report, however, that I have not left you unprepared. For if I am dead, then I have finished my final mission and made the downfall of Tom Riddle possible.
"Before I press on, I must first apologize to many of you. I have used you all as means to end this war—most of the time without your knowledge. I beg your forgiveness as I was simply trying to end this war with as few lives lost as possible. That being said, I must tell you all that I have kept a dreadful secret from you for a long time.
"Four years past, an informant that I shall leave nameless, told me of a plot hatched by Tom Riddle when he was still in school to become immortal. You can see the appeal, of course. He could live forever while holding absolute power. No price would be too great for such a thing.
"In order to become this all powerful being, Riddle split his soul into seven separate parts and place those pieces of his soul into significant objects in his life. This is an ancient and vile magic. The result of which is an object called a horcrux. As long as one of these bits of Tom are floating about, his reign of terror could never be ended, only postponed.
"It has been my mission and that of several of you to find these objects and destroy them at all costs.
"As of putting these words to paper, I have just destroyed the last known Horcrux. I believe there were seven in total. I have no doubt that my efforts, as of now previously unknown, will be noticed. So, to prepare you for what is to come, I will lay out all of the intelligence I have learned over the past four years. I must admit it is quite a lot, so in this missive I will not be able to give you much more than vague ideas and notions The details, though fascinating, are too many to illuminate in a series of books, let alone one letter. I must also admit that I have put on of you in great danger to set up an opportunity for Tom Riddle to be taken down forever. I can only hope that you will understand, the opportunity was too great to pass.
"I became aware that in the past year Tom Riddle has begun to rule with increasing paranoid. Power has that effect on people. The more one has, the more one fears its loss. Riddle became once again fascinated with a family that I had been hiding. Rather than discourage the fascination of this idea, I fed this distraction so I could finish my work destroying him on my own front. After all the defenses of the Potters had lasted; I had no reason to believe that they would be put in danger. That was, until the passing of Remus Lupin.
"With his passing, I knew that if the destruction of Riddle's soul didn't bring him to me, his curiosity about why I had so long hidden the Potters would. I do not hold that he will be kind to me in getting the information. When he breaches my thoughts he will have access to the prophecy that inspired me to protect the Potters in the first place. I have no doubt that even if he is aware that the prophecy has already been fulfilled, he will attempt to tie up the loose end that is Harry Potter. This final act of paranoia will prove to be his last.
"I am aware that the Order has been infiltrated by at least two spies. Until recently, I could not be sure of their identity and even after finding out for sure, I kept silent in hopes that the same paranoia Riddle feels would not infect our group. In fact, it is they who will reveal themselves in the gathering of the Order before the final battle. The traitors will not be present, for they will be at their master's side for what he deems to be the end of the Order of the Phoenix—his last great opposition. He will chose a time when the informants have told him that everyone will be together so he can hit you all at once. I have a few ideas of locations where this could happen, though I am fairly certain he will attack our stronghold at number twelve Grimwald Place.
"With Riddle believing he has the upper hand, I have no doubt he will be at his most vulnerable.
"Attached are ideas and tools that you might find useful. Please use this knowledge well and know that in my death, I leave you the only think I have.
"Hope for a better tomorrow.
"Your Faithful Servant,
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore"
As her voice faded leaving all those gathered in a stunned silence, mixed emotions flooded everyone-ranging from the shaking rage and betrayal of James to overwhelming hope of the older members who had lived close to thirty years under the oppression of an unbeatable enemy. No one seemed able to speak. Most were still as statues afraid to take a breath.
Sirius finally broke the ring, coming forward to snatch up the remaining sheets of parchment that McGonagall had set aside while reading the letter. He let out a low whistle of admiration. "Well the man was a bloody genius that's for sure," he muttered turning over a highly detailed map of Grimwald place including several secret passages that seemed to be recent additions. Behind that was a smaller version of his expanded maps of Hogwarts followed by a map of the Potter's new home. Sirius tossed aside the latter two and examined the first, watching curiously as dots with their names above them paced around his childhood home. He had to repress a surge of anger at seeing the names 'Peter Pettigrew' and 'Severus Snape' emblazoned upon the page.
"How could he do this to my family?" James said in a harsh whisper.
"I don't think now is neither the time nor the place to be condemning the decisions made by Albus. We must simply use what he has given us to save Lily and end this war," McGonagall said, looking more closely at the map of Grimwald place that Sirius had spread out and enlarged in front of them.
"I think she's right, Prongs," Sirius said attempting to placate his friend while hiding his own rage at what he had just seen.
"How can you say that?" He shouted. "What gives him the right to bloody play God with our lives? Lily could die!"
"Yes, and if he hadn't done it, we would never have the opportunity to bring peace!"
"So we should just sacrifice her? For the cause?"
McGonagall stood at that, the glower on her face frightening enough to make him remember how terrified he had been of her in school. "Mr. Potter! That is quite enough! While I cannot condone his actions, I have no doubt in believing that Dumbledore did as he saw fit to promote the greater good. While we will all try to save Lily, the truth is—when we took our vow to join the Order—each and every one of us pledged to devote ourselves to fighting this enemy with everything we had, up to and including death. She was well aware of the risks as were you!"
Her harsh words were a slap on the face, burning a hole through his cloud of rage.
"Now," she continued, "if you have nothing to help with this meeting, then I suggest you remove yourself immediately. If would, however, like be of some constructive help in this mission, then I suggest you voice those opinions and keep everything else to yourself."
Resisting the urge to let his temper get away from him, James took a deep breath and started towards the desk where the other order members were already moving to look at the plans. Sirius clapped him on the back, and said in a low voice that only James could here, "Don't worry, brother, we will get her back, and after we do? We will hunt ourselves a squealing rat."
James followed Sirius's gaze, catching site of Peter's location on the map. Having an outlet for his anger that wasn't Dumbledore made it much easier to focus. A smile that was more of grimace spread across James's lips and he nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Shall I call Harry?" Sirius asked aloud.
McGonagall gave a slight disapproving look, before nodding her reluctant assent.
Moving away, he produced a large patronous dog gave his instructions and sent it to find the oldest Potter boy.
Little more than ten minutes later, the doors of the Headmaster's office burst open. All the heads turned to a hysterical Hermione.
"Hermione?" Tonks said, stepping forward and taking the girls arm attempting to calm her. "Slow down, love, we can't understand a word you're saying."
However they didn't have to wait for her to calm. Just then, Kate and Ron burst through the still open door.
"Harry's gone!" Ron gasped.
"What?" James and Sirius burst in unison.
"He left some time while we were asleep. He stunned Hermione when she tried to stop him," Kate cut in.
"Why?" James demanded, stepping forward and giving his daughter a powerful shake.
"He—didin't—w-want any of—u-us to d-die—for him!" Hermione barely managed to gasp.
Without bothering to wait for plans or further explanation, James bellowed a harsh "Stay here!" to his daughter and, wand at the ready, raced from the room to save his wife and oldest son, Sirius hot on his heels. In that moment, everything was around him was lost.
There was no more reason.
Only pure, unadulterated rage.
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