A/N: I do not own anything
A/N2: Special Thanks to Shade. of .Grey13 for taking some time off to read through the draft
TWENTY THREE
Malfoy Manor
England
The shouting in the mansion was hushed but it was urgent. This was understandable as the Death Eater Corps was about to embark upon a mission.
For many of the Death Eater's, they knew that this was the mission. They were finally going to strike against what they had seen as the greatest force that had stood against them during the first part of the reign of the Dark Lord.
Everyone in Malfoy Manor knew that when they succeeded in this mission, nothing and no one would be able to resist them. There would be no need for them to hide anymore since those who have had the power and the guts to stand up against them would be nothing more but corpses by the end of the day.
Like most typical Death Eater missions, there were those who remained behind. As standard Death Eater tactics call for them to overwhelm their enemies at the earliest possible opportunity – preferably before they even realize that they were under attack – those that would be left behind would be those who did not have the magical capacity to fight a prolonged battle.
They would have to wait behind and operate the emergency services of the Death Eater Corps. The Death Eaters might believe that they were superior, but they were not stupid enough to think that they would win this battle without suffering some casualties.
Those who would remain behind would be the ones who would be in charge of helping those who were lucky enough to withdraw to Malfoy Manor should they get themselves hurt.
With a maniacal grin written upon her face, Bellatrix Lestange walked down the main hallway of Malfoy Manor while the lower level Death Eaters – mostly those who had just been recently recruited – stood at her flanks. Directly behind Bellatrix walked her chosen strike force – composed mostly of those who had escaped from Azkaban and some of the older Death Eaters who had a good record in their struggle.
Bellatrix had decided to expand her strike force from the original orders of the Dark Lord. She felt that having only those who escaped from Azkaban to depend on during her mission would be foolhardy as they had no idea what kind of defenses that the castle had.
Bellatrix might be confident in her ability as a witch, but she was also a competent troop leader who did not like to leave anything to chance – most of the time.
Plus, Bellatrix did not really trust Wormtail. In her opinion, once a traitor, always a traitor and Wormtail was a traitor. She knew that the only reason that the rat had returned to their master was because he had been found out.
Bellatrix also had other issues with the rat man because not only was he able to avoid Azkaban – framing a friend in the process – he had also refused to help the Dark Lord – preferring instead to live as a rat – instead of actively seeking him out like what Bellatrix would have done had she been able to avoid the wizarding prison.
Bellatrix worried – perhaps reasonably so – that once inside the castle, Wormtail would turn tail – and coat – once again, leaving her strike team trapped behind enemy lines, seriously jeopardizing the attempted attack of the Dark Lord. Having more men in her force would allow them to stand longer, and possibly convince the traitor to stay with their side.
The Dark Lord appeared before the assembled strike force – they were scheduled to leave an hour earlier of the rest of the force so that they might get into position in time – and everyone knelt on one leg before Voldemort.
"Are you ready?" the Dark Lord asked in his high tone
"Yes, My Lord" Belatrix replied, "We are ready, My Lord"
Voldemort nodded, "Good" the Dark Lord said, his tone showed his pleasure at hearing the words that his most loyal servant had spoken, "Good" he repeated, he looked at Bellatrix and said, "Then lead your force into the castle at once, Bella, I will lead the rest of my Death Eaters and assault the castle from outside" he looked at the assembled entourage before him – those that were under Bellatrix's command and those that he would lead into battle himself – and allowed himself a humorless smile, "Soon" he said, "Soon…."
No one would know what followed after the words of the Dark Lord. In fact, no one would even know what the first words of the Dark Lord were.
Precisely five miles away, Flight Lieutenant David Bennington and his partner, Flight Lieutenant Charles Trevor simultaneously pressed a bright red button on the stick of their Harrier jump-jets as soon as they were able to rest the crosshairs in the house that was supposed to be their target.
The electronics system of the jump-jet recognized the command given by both pilots and sent out an electronic signal to the circuits that controlled the rocket engine on the four Paveway laser guided bombs that were mounted on both wings of both fighters.
The electronic signal ordered the small – relatively – rocket engine mounted behind the laser guided bomb to begin ignition before the missile was released.
Since the missile was released faster than the engine was able to ignite, for a few milliseconds, the bomb was just falling. Then, the rocket engine of the missiles ignited, spewing red hot flames behind the missile, propelling said weapon towards their target, Malfoy Manor.
Flight Lieutenant Bennington and Flight Lieutenant Trevor released four bombs each. Eight Paveway laser guided bombs streaked through the night sky towards the target, unseen, and relatively unheard.
Their missile firing duties done, the two RAF pilots pulled hard on their sticks, sending their fighters on a steady climb to assume cover duties while two other Harrier jets took their position.
The mission planners were reasonably certain that two bombs were more than enough to turn the house into a grave, but just in case something went wrong, the mission planners actually put six aircrafts, each armed with four laser guided bombs, on the target.
For a few minutes, there was no sound, only light.
The two Death Eaters that were on guard duty that night saw the lights coming towards them, and both briefly wondered if they were shooting stars –I wish that we would win the fight at the castle tonight, one even wished – but as they were busy listening to the speech of the big man, they really did not pay attention.
By the time that they were inclined to pay attention, it was already too late.
For some reason, two of the bombs missed, hitting the gardens of the manor instead. The other six, however, were of a different story.
All bombs exploded where they were supposed to explode. The force of their explosion ripped the support columns of the manor, collapsing the entire second and third floor of the house on the ground floor. As the house had a basement, the ground floor also collapsed when the unsupported weight of the upper floors were piled on it.
Not only were the occupants of the house turned into pancakes by the upper two floors, they were also dropped a good seven feet. The drop might not have been fatal, but right after they were mostly dead by being crushed by the time that the floor upon which they were stepping on collapsed.
Any survivor would then have to survive through the burning inferno that consumed everything in the manor without their wands and unable to call upon their magic.
Two Death Eaters were able to survive – at least, their bodies did. These Death Eaters were the two who first spotted the missiles and thought that they were shooting stars. The force of the explosion blew them outward and away from the manor before it collapsed.
Unfortunately, the force of the explosion also threw them into the air. They might have survived the fall had they not fell upon the sharpened eight feet tall fences that marked the boundaries of Malfoy Manor.
In a dimly lit hallway buried within the most secret room of the most secretive branch of the Ministry of Magic, a particular prophecy sphere shined brightly for a few seconds before it splintered into a million tiny microscopic pieces.
The Dark Lord Voldemort had been killed by the hand of Harry Potter and the power he knew not, the power of more than two thousand pounds of high explosives packed in a stick and guided by an invisible beam of light dropped by a flying machine the Dark Lord really had no comprehension about.
The fact that the information that resulted to this bombing raid in the first place came from the bodyguards – therefore, the hands – of Harry Potter saw the prophecy uttered by Sibyll Trewlany more than fifteen years ago, and had resulted in the death of James and Lily Potter fulfilled.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scotland
As he sat upon a bench with his wife beside him, Harry wondered why Al had asked for his presence – as well as the presence of Luna, Neville, and the Twins – this late at night.
It was really not that late at night, it was just that Al had never had a briefing like this during the evening. The Battle Wizard, Harry knew, preferred to conduct his briefings during the morning so that the participants could have the afternoon and evening following the briefing to work on what Al had said in the morning.
When Irina walked into the command tent with Al, Harry knew at once that it had something to do with the condition of Arthur Weasley.
As her husband watched the commander of his security force and his lover walk towards the podium mounted to the side of the huge communications mirror mounted on the far side of the tent, Hermione thought about the snatch mission that saw Arthur Weasley in the custody of Irina's team.
Harry and Hermione had been briefed by Sirius himself in regards to the snatch. The two members of the Council simply walked out of the Ministry of Magic and only one returned. Sirius reported that Arthur Weasley was feeling under the weather after he stuffed himself with muggle food during their brief foray into the muggle world.
The confirmed Muggle enthusiast then asked to be excused for the afternoon session before he apparated back home. The fact that there was a signature absolved Sirius of any blame in the sudden disappearance of the member of the Council. Not that anyone would have believed that Sirius would have had anything to do with the abduction of Arthur since the two were on the same side and against Fudge.
So, Hermione thought, not only were they able to save Arthur and bring him to the people who could help him, they were also able to imply that Fudge was using his power to pick off the members of the Council.
Amelia, Bode and Amos feared – perhaps rightly so – that they would be the next in line. All three had asked for Sirius's assistance and the head of the Black Family happily provided his assistance. All three remaining members of the Council were now guarded by the Private Military Corporation that Sirius had contracted with securing the ministry.
Hermione of course knew that the reason that Sirius provided the security in the first place was so that he knew where the other members of his team were. If worse came to worse – and Hermione was feeling that something big was about to happen soon, as did her husband – knowing where the three were would ensure that they could be safely evacuated.
As it was Sirius who arranged for the kidnapping of Arthur – though no one but those involved knew that – the three remaining members of the council were justified in their fears that they would be next, they only got the ones who were plotting it wrong.
"Good evening" Al said as he took the podium. Irina – as usual – stood to his side, and Al ignored her, "I apologize for scheduling the brief in the evening, but some news that I felt could not wait until tomorrow have reached us"
Al sighed, "First off, we are now sure that the lead elements of Dumbledore's Army have indeed entered the United Kingdom" he said, earning a surprised gasp from most of the officers assembled with Harry and his friends, "We do not know where they are right now, though we are reasonably certain that they are near," the battle wizard looked towards Harry and the Hogwarts' contingent and said, "We might have to evacuate earlier than anticipated, and I have asked the Vanquisher to get ready to surface within a moment's notice for the next forty eight hours"
"What about the helicopters?" Harry asked.
"We might have to leave them behind" Al admitted, he wiped his face with the back of his hand – a habit that Harry knew his chief bodyguard performed unconsciously if he was stressed out by what he was doing – before he continued, "If we are going to evacuate using the helicopters in an emergency situation, we will find ourselves under fire from below. The choppers might be shielded, but I do not think they can take a pounding like that"
Harry nodded, "And the rest of the student body?" he asked.
"The most critical one that is not with us right now is Susan Bones" Al replied, "As her guardian is Amelia Bones, and the Head of the DMLE has been classified as a VIP, we need to ensure that she is with us should we evacuate"
"I will speak with her this evening" Hermione promised.
Al nodded; he looked towards Irina and nodded. With a nod back to her lover, Irina took the podium and began to narrate the reason that she was here in the first place, "For those who were unaware" she began, "Lord Sirius Black was able to take Arthur Weasley into custody before bringing him to my team. With the patient in our care, and with the love potion used identified, we have been able to begin purging said foreign substance from him" she looked towards an elated Fred and George before she added, "We are looking at two to three months before he should be complete off of it, though he might have to take counseling for a good decade as a result of the complications that we have discussed before"
Fred and George nodded solemnly, "As long as he is fine" one of the twins said.
"What about Bill and Charlie?" the other asked.
"Through Gringotts, we were able to contact William Weasley" Irina replied, "He has been informed about the condition of your father and has promised to contact Charlie Weasley. He also promised not to inform your mother or other siblings about these findings and other events" she smiled, "in fact, he reports that he has received a letter from your mother telling him that your father was missing, Bill replied in a suitable manner befitting a relative of a missing person"
"How is the magical world taking the 'kidnapping' of dad?" one asked.
"Not great, for them that is" Al replied with a smirk. He elaborated, "Sirius was able to manipulate the media into believing that Fudge had something to do with it, while Fudge is desperately fighting back by blaming Sirius about it. At the moment, the public believes Sirius all the more since Fudge has already shown that he is incompetent and because of the results of his preliminary hearing" he paused before adding, "the public has lost every confidence in the Minister. Britain has become a laughing stock in the International magical community because of his actions this summer. Combined with the fact that he was actually pocketing money instead of sending it to where it was supposed to be going, his popularity has taken a rather large fist in the face"
"Lord Black" Irina continued, "was able to insinuate that it was your father who found out all about the backroom dealings of Fudge"
For a few moments, no one spoke. Finally, Harry asked, "What about Voldemort?"
Al smirked, "Won't be a problem anymore" he replied, he took the podium again and said, "Albert Blackwood received word that Malfoy Manor has been bombed two hours ago" his smirk turned into a smile as he continued, "We do not expect survivors"
"Albert Blackwood?" Harry asked.
Al smirked again, "I told you before that I have a lot of secret identities, Albert Blackwood is my MI5 identity" he explained.
Harry pouted, "I should have been told about the other ones" he replied.
Al smiled towards him, "You'll probably be made aware of them soon enough" he replied, "Anyway, those are the three things that I wish to speak with you about" he looked at the people assembled before him and scanned the faces, "Anyone has any questions?"
There were none so Al dismissed the company. When everyone left the room save for Harry, Hermione, their friends, and the pair of Al and Irina, Hermione looked towards Al and said, "Actually, I do have a question"
Al looked towards Hermione and inclined his head towards her, "By all means" he said.
"A personal question, Al, Irina" Hermione said, her gaze bore onto the brown eyes of Irina as she continued her question, "I would like to know the extent of your relationship with each other"
Al actually laughed, though Irina looked positively mortified. The Russian – for her name originated from – stared at Al with irritation written in her eyes before she turned her brown eyes back onto Hermione, "My Lady…" she began
"If you do not want to answer, then don't" Hermione said in a low voice, indicating that while she would respect her decision should she chose not to answer, she would prefer that Irina answer the question.
Al placed her hand upon Irina's shoulder, "I think" he began, "that you should tell them"
"You are the only one that I've told it to" she complained, "I do not think that it would be in their best interest to know" she stated.
"Perhaps" Al agreed. Hermione and the rest watched as his gaze bore into hers for a few moments –they look upon one another as if they are the only ones in this room¸ Hermione noted – before Al continued, "I will not be here forever Irina, and I think that you should tell them so that they can help you"
Harry felt a sense of dread when he heard the words that his chief bodyguard had uttered, but before he could say anything, Al continued, "They should also know why you are our foremost expert in love potions, and you cannot tell them the reason for that unless you tell them that story"
Irina hesitated for a few moments, she looked towards Al, towards Hermione, and then back towards Al before she smiled a sad smile, "It probably would be for the best" she finally agreed, "Do you wish to listen to it again?" she asked.
Al shook his head, "Your story" he replied, he leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss on her cheeks before he turned towards their audience and announced, "I'll have to see to my men, goodnight" before he walked out of the tent.
Irina – and the others – waited until Al was out of the command tent before she began her story, "The reason" Irina began, "that I am the foremost expert in love potions among this group, is because I was subjected to it" she did not allow anyone to react to what she had just said and instead continued her story, "I was fourteen when I was first subjected to it, I was twenty five by the time I learned of it, and I was twenty eight before Al rescued me"
"Is that the reason why the two of you…" Hermione began.
Irina shook her head, with a tragic smile written upon her face, she turned towards Hermione and asked, "Has Al told you about his past?" at the nod from Hermione, Irina asked, "Veronica?" another nod, "East Asia?" another nod, "The Falklands?" again, Hermione noted. Irina paused for a few moments as she pondered her next question. Finally, she asked, "What about Vicky? Had he told you guys about Vicky?"
Hermione looked at Harry who just shook his head. Al had not told them about anyone named Vicky.
"I see" Irina replied, she hesitated, and then said, "That's his story to tell" before she sighed and continued with her story, "Suffice to say, Veronica was not the only girl that Al had given his hear to, there were a lot of others" she looked pensive as she said, "I do not think that I am breaking his confidence in me when I tell you that every single girl that Al had fully given his heart to, every single one of them are dead"
Hermione and Luna gasped while Harry, Neville, and the twins nearly fell out of their chair. Hermione looked ready to cry, but Luna, she realized that there was something else at work. Having been told by Hermione – and to a lesser extent by Al himself – about what the battle wizard had done in the East, the smart Ravenclaw was able to come up with a conclusion.
"The curse of the nine tailed fox" Luna said.
"…I am cursed", Hermione remembered Al saying during that discussion about his past at Potter Island. He had said that he did not think that he would be able to find someone who could be like Nica was to him. What he meant was that he would not like to find someone who could be like Nica was to him. Suddenly, Hermione understood the reason why, despite the obvious attraction between the two, Al would not like to take his relationship with Irina a step further.
"He is protecting you isn't he?" Hermione asked.
Irina smiled, though it was a tragic smile, before she nodded. She kept quiet though, not really voicing out what she had just confirmed.
"You want to take it further" Harry suddenly stated. The Duke of Gryffindor knew that he was out of his league when his wife suddenly started asking their love potion expert about his personal life, but this was something that he could understand. He, after all, went through this when he was younger. Looking straight towards Irina, Harry asked, "That is the reason why you are here, because you want him to notice you, the reason why you became an expert in your field, you want him to accept you, for what you are"
Irina nodded, this time, she spoke, "You are correct, my Lord" she replied, before she sighed and said, "I know Al better than anyone in this contingent, I know that he is keeping himself from going that final step" she smiled, "I do not mind, I am confident in my heart and in my mind that he…likes me. Even if that was not the case, I am fine with the fact that I like him as well" she sighed, "We do not know if it would be wise to allow this feeling to blossom into love, my Lord"
Harry nodded, he looked at Hermione – who was about to ask a follow-up question – and opened his mouth to say something but he was quickly cut off by an explosion followed by the loud sounds of pistols being fired.
"What the hell…?" Fred and George asked at the same time.
The resonance was quickly followed by the sound of battle rifles and general purpose machineguns being fired.
The flap to the command tent opened. Al walked in with a P-90 sub-machinegun strapped onto his chest, followed by several other similarly armed men. The battle wizard looked towards Harry and said, "We are too late"