The atmosphere in Grimmauld Place was dark and depressing after the previous day's discoveries. Despite discovering where Hermione was being held The Order were still no nearer to rescuing her and they actually had no ideas on how they were ever going to achieve it. The meeting the previous evening had been a complete waste of time, no new ideas were thought of and everyone left feeling depressed.
Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville were the most affected by the lack of progress. The teenagers were currently in the front room, trying not to give up hope of seeing their friend again. Order members were coming and going regularly while Dumbledore and some of the others were in the kitchen discussing tactics but the five teens remained in the front room, not wishing to hear how unlikely it was that they would rescue Hermione.
The teenagers only left the front room when Molly appeared and ushered them into the kitchen for lunch. Apart from Dumbledore everyone had left, leaving Molly and Sirius as the only other adults present. Over lunch discussions between the three continued to take place and it was obvious to the five teenagers that despite a whole morning in conference ideas of how to rescue Hermione were still thin on the ground.
Halfway through lunch they heard the front door open and moments later Severus Snape entered the kitchen. The five teenagers all shared a disgusted look as their Potions Professor entered the room, none of them liked the Head of Slytherin and it was obvious that he didn't like them either.
"Severus, sit down." Dumbledore said. "We've got a lot of catching up to do, we missed you yesterday evening."
"Sorry, I was called away." Severus replied. As soon as he sat down Molly placed a plate of food in front of him which he immediately thanked her for.
"Anything important?" Dumbledore asked, hoping Severus could provide them with something positive to work with.
"An initiation ceremony." Severus answered. "Last night Draco received his mark."
"But he's just a boy." Molly gasped.
"Yeah, an evil one." Harry hissed. "He'll fit right in to the Death Eaters."
"I must admit, I'm surprised." Dumbledore said, placing his cutlery on his empty plate. "I didn't think Voldemort would allow any wizards to join him until they were finished school."
"He's made an exception for Draco." Severus explained. "The way The Dark Lord was talking it sounded like he was a fan of Draco's, he already considers him one of his best followers."
"What's he done to deserve to be so highly though of?" Sirius asked. "As Molly said, he's just a boy."
"A boy who orchestrated Hermione's kidnapping." Severus said, causing everyone to gasp in surprise.
"I knew he was involved." Ron seethed. "Bloody git."
"What do you mean he orchestrated the kidnapping?" Dumbledore asked.
"And why haven't you told us sooner?" Sirius demanded before Severus even had a chance to respond to Dumbledore's question.
"I haven't mentioned it sooner because I didn't know until last night." Severus replied, glaring at Sirius. "Apparently Draco came up with the plan and worked with Lucius to pull it off. Getting the mark was part of Draco's reward."
Severus had decided to tell a story that was based on as much truth as possible, he knew it was easier to convince people a lie was true if there was an element of truth hidden amongst the lies. So far the story he was telling was quite accurate, he was merely messing with the timings of certain events and omitting Hermione's name from the forming of her kidnap plan.
"What do you mean getting the mark was part of his reward?" Harry asked. "What was the rest of his reward?"
Severus used Harry's question to initiate eye contact with the Gryffindor. While Severus was looking at Harry he used legilimency to delve into the boy's mind, once there he stirred up the memory of the conversation he had heard yesterday afternoon. Severus was hoping that with the memory fresh in Harry's head he would mention capturing Draco when the time comes.
"The rest of his reward is to lead an attack on Saturday." Severus replied.
"They're letting him lead a raid so soon?" Sirius asked. "They must be confident in his abilities."
"They are, The Dark Lord is especially vocal on how much he thinks of Draco." Severus said, trying to make sure The Order knew how important Draco was to Voldemort.
"I'm sure he'll think a lot less of him if he messes up his first raid and get himself captured." Harry mused. The previous day's conversation was suddenly very prominent in his mind.
Sirius immediately caught on to what Harry was implying and shared a look with his godson, letting him know he would support his idea.
"What are you talking about Harry?" Molly asked.
"It was an idea we had yesterday, although back then we were just thinking of what we could have done differently." Harry said. "If we had Malfoy we would have some bargaining power with the dark, we could force them to return Hermione to us if they wanted him back."
"Of course we thought it was just speculation about what we could have done, but now we've been presented with a golden opportunity to snatch Malfoy Jr." Sirius said, backing up his godson.
"You're seriously suggesting we kidnap someone?" Molly questioned, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Surely that makes us just as bad as them."
"We'd be snatching Malfoy as a way to get Hermione back." Ron told his mother. He was immediately taken with the plan, anything to hurt Malfoy was a good idea in his eyes.
As everyone began debating the pros and cons of the idea, Severus had to work hard to hide his smirk. It had been easier than he thought to initiate the plan to snatch Draco, he just hoped that Dumbledore sided with Harry, Ron and Sirius. At the minute Dumbledore was sitting back listening to the trio as they tried to convince Molly it was a solid plan.
"Okay, I've heard enough." Dumbledore brought a halt to the debate. "Normally I would be dead against kidnapping a student but it does seem like a good way to get Hermione back."
"Albus, you can't possibly be condoning this." Molly exploded, shooting dark looks at the headmaster.
"Come on Molly, it's not as if we'll be hurting him." Sirius said. "We'll just keep him prisoner until they're willing to exchange him for Hermione."
"Severus, do you think it'll work?" Dumbledore turned to Severus who was sitting silently watching the conversation. "Would they exchange Hermione for Draco?"
"I think they would." Severus said cautiously, he didn't want to appear too eager in case someone got suspicious. "Lucius and Narcissa wouldn't just sit back and do nothing if Draco was snatched. I think they could convince The Dark Lord that an exchange would be for the best."
"Could we get hold of him though?" Dumbledore questioned. "We may know about his upcoming raid but that still doesn't guarantee we can capture him."
"Of course we can." Sirius scoffed. "It's his first raid and he's totally inexperienced. If we know where he's going to be and when we can already be waiting for him."
"Plus, he's cocky." Harry added. "You know what Malfoy's like, he's got an over inflated opinion of himself and his abilities."
"He is a confident young man." Dumbledore admitted. "But with careful preparation we could be lying in wait as Sirius suggested."
"And what happens if you do manage to capture him?" Molly questioned. "Are you just going to bring him back here and keep him locked up until the exchange takes place?"
"No, we won't be bringing him back here." Dumbledore replied. "We'll be taking him to Hogwarts."
"Why Hogwarts?" Harry questioned.
"As soon as the dark side discover Draco's missing they're going to come after us. We need to make sure we're all somewhere secure." Dumbledore explained. "Hogwarts is the safest place, so I suggest we begin making plans to head to the school."
"You want everyone to move to the school?" Severus questioned. Moving everyone to Hogwarts was not something they had anticipated.
"Yes." Dumbledore nodded. "Once they realise we have Draco they'll hit us hard, I don't want to risk anyone not being safe. We're moving The Order to Hogwarts, I want as many people as possible safe in the castle."
"Where are you planning on keeping Malfoy once we have him?" Ron asked.
"I was thinking you five might like the job of making sure he was safe." Dumbledore said to the five teenagers. "Despite the tight security of the castle I don't want him wandering around, ideally I would prefer it if he was confined to one of the four houses."
Harry and Ron turned to look at each other, grinning as they both knew they were thinking the same thing.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Ron?" Harry asked.
"If you're thinking we make Malfoy live in Gryffindor Tower, then yes." Ron grinned. "He'll hate being stuck up in the tower away from his precious dungeons."
"I'll leave all the arrangements with you lot." Dumbledore said. "But now we need to discuss if we can get hold of Draco. What information do you have on the raid?" He asked, turning back to Severus.
"Not a lot, I'm due back at the Manor later tonight to help plan it." Severus said, for once telling the truth. While the basic time and place had been set all the details were still to be discussed.
"What do you know?" Sirius snapped.
"As I said the attack is due to take place on Saturday, late afternoon I think." Severus replied, once again glaring at Sirius. "The Dark Lord hadn't totally decided on a venue but he was leaning towards Hogsmeade."
"They're going to attack Hogsmeade during the school holidays? That makes no sense." Sirius scoffed.
"Actually it makes quite a bit of sense." Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "With the school closed there's no help nearby, Hogsmeade is quite isolated in the holidays. They could actually do some major damage and send shockwaves throughout the wizarding world. I pretty much guarantee an attack on Hogsmeade will make some parents reconsider how safe it is to let their children return to school in September."
"But surely if they're attacking Hogsmeade it makes it easier for us." Harry said. "We know practically everyone in the village and if we're moving headquarters to the school we're nearby."
"Actually their choice of location is perfect. We can practically evacuate the village before the Death Eaters arrive." Dumbledore said. "But before we start making plans I think we need to call a full meeting of The Order. Molly, Sirius, can you two arrange that?"
"Of course." Sirius nodded, before he rose and headed into the front room to begin making arrangements.
"I'll help arrange the meeting but then I'm going to the hospital to relive Arthur." Molly said as she stood up.
"Of course." Dumbledore looked at the witch in sympathy, it wasn't looking good for her eldest son and he was continually surprised that she made such an effort to even be around Headquarters. "Give our love to Bill."
"I will." Molly smiled weakly. As she tried not to cry at the mention of her eldest child she turned to the teenagers who were still sitting at the table. "Come on you five, get upstairs for a while, you can come back when the meeting starts."
Without arguing the teenagers all stood up and made their way upstairs. Piling into Harry's bedroom they settled down to discuss what was happening. They could finally see a realistic chance of getting Hermione back and they were all excited at the prospect.