Chapter 13: Tying up loose ends
Another week from the end of Christmas holidays, Harry was back and with classes not in session yet, Dumbledore took the opportunity to convene a meeting in his office. As they sat, with Severus conjuring a chair from his quarters, a tense silence settled over the group in anticipation of what Dumbledore had to say.
"I am glad you all have come. I have needed to talk to you all for sometime, and I had no desire to dampen your Christmas spirits with talk of horcruxes."
"This is good news, you said," Severus spoke up.
"Oh yes, very much so," replied Dumbledore. "Mundungus Fletcher has redeemed himself at last."
"Redeemed himself? After he knicked Sirius' stuff?" shot Harry, getting fired up at once.
Dumbledore barely spared him a glance before he continued, "for some time I have had Arthur Weasley keeping an eye on Dolores Umbridge's movements at the Ministry, especially since it was there that she was most likely to have her guard down. Besides which, for what we had planned there would have been entirely too many witnesses and no real way to get her alone, were this done out in the street as it most likely would have to have been...but I digress. Once he knew her routine well enough, I enlisted the aid of Mundungus to utilize his somewhat disreputable skills of impersonation and thievery."
"You had him steal the necklace from her? But won't that prompt an investigation?" Cassie interrupted.
"On the contrary. Were she able to remember what happened, she would only have seen a hag hiding behind a veil. As it happens, however, she was confunded and the locket in question retrieved, with another left in its place identical in appearance. To this day, which I admit it is now weeks later, she still appears none the wiser. At least no word has come to Arthur that she has noticed anything amiss."
"So then, we've got it Professor?" Harry exclaimed jubilantly.
"Has it been dispatched already?" asked Severus.
"Oh yes, thanks to Gryffindor's sword, always at the ready, it too has bled out and died with an acrimonious scream." Dumbledore smiled thinly.
"Then, at some point--and I know this has nothing to do with our mission here exactly--but can Harry now give it to Kreacher? Whatever's left of it? I know that when I read of everything he had to do to help Regulus get it, having Harry give it to him as a keepsake for the master he loved so much was like a balm on his wounds, so to speak, especially since it was because of this locket that Regulus died."
"Yes, I don't see any reason why he can't. Harry, if you like you can flue over to Grimmauld Place in a bit. But first, we thought--Severus and I--to fill you and Cassie in on the next phase of our plan."
Cassie looked from Dumbledore to Severus and back, wondering why Severus had not mentioned it. Before she could ask, Dumbledore spoke again.
"Severus has learned of a special item that Voldemort wishes to move from Bella's home to her vault. Luckily for our cause, he has enlisted Severus' aid in guarding it en route." He paused at Cassie's shocked gasp before continuing. "Dangerous though it may be, we have deemed it best that when he arrives, he replace the cup--as we did the locket--with an imposter. Bella, who does not know what she is truly guarding, will not be any the wiser and this one final horcrux can be destroyed."
"Oh god, Severus, but if you're caught--" started Cassie, her eyes already gleaming with tears of shock and worry.
"Should I be discovered, it will no doubt mean any amount of torture and ultimate death. It would also give away the plan, so naturally this is of the utmost importance that I do not fail."
"So no pressure," she said baldly. "Oh my god." At a complete loss for anything more constructive, Cassie dropped her head in her hands. Taking a breath, she looked up at him and tried to steady her voice. "When do you have to go?"
"The first day of term. I have told the Dark Lord that I will feign ill to be able to assist with his endeavor. On returning with it, of course, we will once again put Gryffindor's sword to use."
Cassie chewed her cuticle a bit, thinking. "That's extremely unusual for him to call you away from here at such a time, isn't it?"
"Indeed, there have not many times he has required my assistance on such an important matter. However, it is meant to be a reward getting me away from here for what information I gave him as to Potter's whereabouts for this summer."
"What??" exclaimed Harry and Cassie in unison.
"As Cassandra mentioned, Hogwarts does meet the requirements for being most suitable for the pivotal battle against Voldemort and his minions. In which case, Harry, rather than have you return to your aunt's and uncle's, I have decided it would be best for you to stay here."
"What? As bait?" he countered.
"After a fashion, yes," he replied as Harry sputtered. "As of the end of term, this will be the new headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. I mean to have everyone willing to serve in the cause to take up residence here. I see no reason why they cannot, seeing as how we have ample room and resources. In addition, I have spoken with the merpeople, as well as the centaurs on the grounds about aiding in the fight should the Death Eaters come knocking, as I'm sure they will. The house elves as well are prepared to do battle in the name of magical creatures everywhere. I would also request that you, Harry, as their personal leader, ask any members of the DA who would like to stay behind--namely those who will be of age by the time you are. I do not think it advisable for the younger, more inexperienced ones to stay behind and fight."
"But why in the world would Voldemort walk into a battle, knowing we're waiting--"
"Because he will not know, Harry," Dumbledore cut in. "What Severus told him is that I will be securing help from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons in aligning against him, and will be leaving you in Severus' care. In which case, Voldemort firmly believes that you will at last be offered up easily into his waiting hands. When he arrives, he will find the enchantments guarding the grounds have been lowered, presumably by Severus to allow him access in, but what he will not know is that he will be walking directly into a trap. At that point, Severus' mask is off and it is too late to do anything about it. Not only will he find that I am, in fact, in residence, but also that there are any number of people prepared to fight what will probably be a very small following on his part. He would have no reason to suspect a need for more than a few of his men."
"But, sir...what about the protection thing from going to Aunt Petunia's," he asked dubiously.
"True, once you do not consider it home anymore, the protection will no longer hold. However, I believe you should be amply protected here with as many well-trained witches and wizards as we shall have in residence at that time. If I may be so bold, given the people in attendance this should actually be one of your better birthdays, despite the battle looming before you. The time of attack, in fact, is shortly after you become of age. It is at that time that you are supposed to have been brought in from your Aunt Petunia's and left here with no protection to speak of. That should give us plenty of time after the end of term to prepare ourselves as best we can."
"Well, good. So we'll be prepared and he'll be in for a huge surprise. So much the better for us then," said Cassie, casting a glance around at everyone. Severus raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as Dumbledore looked benignly between the two of them. Harry simply sat digesting the news that he had one more birthday before he went to war.
As ready as Cassie was to fight, she was scared to death of Severus going away. More, she was afraid of him not returning. As it was, later that night when they made love, she did as though she may never have the chance again, as it was all too likely true. And in the silence afterward, as his breathing slowed and deepened in sleep, she wept.
***
It was the first Tuesday of the term that Cassie found herself doing rounds alone for the first time in ages. She had nearly finished, having worked her way up from the dungeons. She had only the rest of the seventh floor to cover before she could call it a night. As she passed the suit of armor and then came upon the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, across from the room of requirement, she said yet another prayer of thanks that Malfoy had not been made a Death Eater after all. He was coming along with regard to Muggles and had even been helping out in class shortly before the holidays. It was a shame, she thought, that none of his other friends could follow suit. Likely they would wind up going the way he could have and get stuck with any number of impossible chores from Voldemort. Like fixing that ridiculous cabinet. Good god, the vanishing cabinet! How could she have forgotten? What if he had charged someone else with the chore in order to get Death Eaters inside the castle? Did Voldemort already know about it, or was it something Draco would have thought of...no matter, she thought. Something had to be done about it just in case.
With Severus off on his mission, and Dumbledore god knows where, the only best person Cassie could think of to rid them of it was Harry. Determined to do something still, she trotted hastily back and forth in front of the wall, willing the door to appear. As soon as it did, she swept in and hurried up and down aisles until she found the cursed thing. Not knowing what else to do, she grabbed ahold of the door and wrenched with all her might, trying to tear the door off. Seizing the bust nearby, she battered at it until she was breathless and the door had indeed split severely around two of the hinges. Wrenching it fully apart at last, she flung the door over a large pile of junk and considered it the best she could do on short notice, resolving to get to Harry as soon as she could. At this point, however, it was too late at night and no one was about, so she deemed it safe enough for the time being.
She finally caught up with him at lunch next day, and without telling him what was going on, she led him upstairs to the room, and only when they were safely inside and away from the dangers of eavesdroppers did she tell him why she needed him here.
"Blimey, Professor! No offense, but you might have thought of that before now. Lucky it's not too late," he said, clearly amazed at her slip up.
"Thanks so much, Potter, but really in light of everything else this was kind of on the back burner. Besides, it's not too late until the Carrows and Greyback show up with a few of their closest friends."
When they came upon the broken cabinet, Harry swished his wand once exclaiming, "reducto" and veritably reducing it to sawdust.
"Excellent, Harry," she said, brushing a large pile of it under a nearby bookcase. "No worries about that now at all. But coming to think of it, we will have to consult Dumbledore about blocking your beloved passageways into the castle or at least guarding them more heavily."
"Right Professor," was his grudging reply as they left the room and headed for the stairs.
Cassie and Harry split up when they got back to the second floor. Harry proceeded down the stairs for Potions in the dungeon as Cassie made her way down the hallway for her NEWT students. She was still a good distance to her room when she saw a commotion going on in front of the door. It appeared Crabbe and Goyle could not leave well enough alone without a leader anymore and were still making themselves unpopular as bullies. They were both bearing down on Hermione, both looking menacing with their wands out, while Hermione reached into her robes for her own. As Cassie drew close enough to hear what was said, she was already on the verge of reading them the riot act.
"Leave her alone," commanded someone coming up behind them. Turning, they saw Mandy, Cassie's angelic-looking OWL student who had clearly overheard their remarks and was quicker getting there than Cassie herself.
"What do you have to say, mudblood lover?" countered Goyle--or was it Crabbe--turning his wand on her as well.
"Leave them both alone, you great foul gits! How brave are you anyway, harassing a couple of girls?" said Draco, sidling up from the other side of the hall to stand between the two boys and Hermione, who looked aghast at this new Malfoy.
"Enough all of you," said Cassie as soon as she was within earshot. "Fifty points from Crabbe and Goyle each, and I'll be speaking to Professor Snape about this as well. For the future you just keep in mind that if you can't keep a civil tongue in your mouths, you'll just be required to stick to answering questions in class and commenting on the weather. The rest of you get to class, there's nothing to see."
She watched as they all filed away, Hermione and Mandy both catching up to Draco, whose strides were already eating up the stone floor while Crabbe and Goyle walked away mumbling to each other. As Cassie watched, utterly shocked, she saw Mandy take Draco's hand as they split from Hermione on the stairs. "Hmmm," thought Cassie, "I wonder what Mama Malfoy will have to say about this."
Hours later, she finally gave up trying to grade papers as a bad job and sat staring across the room into the fireplace. Her cd player was on in the background, with soft strains of music lilting into her thoughts. Yet it was the words that affected her most:
and I don't understand
by the touch of your hand
I would be the one to fall
I miss the little things
oh I miss everything about you
She did miss everything about him. From his swagger and the swish of his cloak to the snarky sarcasm and derisive arch of his brow. More than anything she missed the warmth of him and the purely masculine smell on his clothes as she wrapped her arms under that cloak and breathed him in. She kept trying to tell herself that he had done any number of dangerous tasks for year, between both Voldemort and Dumbledore. The difference was though, she didn't have to witness them. She did not have to sit, feeling so useless and worried, wringing her hands. Never before had she loved anyone so much, and because of this, she had never had so much to lose. Not knowing how long he would be away was yet another contention she had that kept her worrying. Was no news good news? Did the hours stretching by mean that there had been complications? What if something had gone wrong, or he couldn't make the swap? Was there something she had forgotten about the cup as a horcrux? She groaned aloud, unable to answer any of her own questions and, packing up her paperwork to take to bed with her that night, she resolved to try and take it one day at a time.
Ed note: I have Sarah Maclachlan to thank for "Sweet Surrender." It's the perfect song for Cassie, with regard to Severus.