Note: Welcome to today's Monday update! You'll be pleased to know that when there's over twelve inches of snow outside and I've spent six hours writing a French presentation and not even getting halfway through, I have a tendency to write out of sheer desperation. Anything to avoid French…

Chapter Fourteen

The Hunt Is On

Same time, same place. That seemed to be the story of Severus's life at the moment. For the second time in as many days he had found himself sitting at the long table in the centre of Lucius's drawing room, looking around at the faces of his comrades and wondering why he felt so fully and horribly out of place.

Although to the outsider there would seem to be little in the way of order to the layout of the room, the seating plan was in fact a delicately organised ballet, the symbolism heavy although for the most part unconscious and unknown to the participants. Severus, however, was acutely aware of the way that the Dark Lord's mind worked. The further one was down the table, the less important one was. Those on the left side were less trusted than those on the right, after all, they did always say that the second-in-command was the right-hand man, or woman in this case. It was obvious that the symbolism was also not lost on Bellatrix, whose visage was constantly switching between grinning wolfishly at the rest of the corps like the cat who had got the proverbial cream, and smiling simperingly at their leader, who thankfully seemed either immune to or completely ignorant of her affections. Severus risked a quick glance down the table at Rodolphus, sitting about three places down from his wife. His face was blank, a mask of calm, an automaton awaiting instruction, but his eyes gave him away. Years of perfecting the unforgiveable curses and further years' incarceration may have touched his mind but they had not changed Rodolphus Lestrange's eyes; still as deep and expressive as they had been as a young man barely out of school. Right now, they were brimming with barely concealable fury. If Severus didn't know better, he would say that their usual brown had indeed changed to the emerald of bitter jealousy. Rodolphus did not envy the Dark Lord his power; he envied him his place in his wife's heart.

The relationship between the Lestranges was too complicated a one for Severus to dwell on at that moment in time, not when he needed to be on his guard. He thought about his own place at the table; it seemed to change with every meeting he attended. At the moment he sat on the right, opposite the most trusted lieutenants; whilst the Dark Lord had made it clear that he was no longer as trusted as he was, Severus liked to think, grimly, that he was too important as a spy in the Order-and-Hogwarts (as interlinked as the two inevitably were) camp to be let too far out of sight. He looked further down the table, towards their slightly less than willing host, but before he could begin to try and work out exactly how much alcohol Lucius had imbibed since the last time they saw each other, the Dark Lord called the meeting to order with a single word. That word was, unfortunately, his name.

"Severus," he said softly. Severus forced his attention in his master's direction. "I hear that you have some interesting news from the Order?"

Severus allowed his eyes to slide momentarily towards Yaxley and his sly grin before refocusing on the Dark Lord. He had always suspected Yaxley of being the one who was keeping tabs on him and his meetings with Minerva; the man would have made a good spy himself in another life.

"I do. The Order is planning to move Potter tonight. They are scared that Arthur Weasley may talk and compromise his whereabouts."

"Do you know where they plan to take him?" probed the Dark Lord. Severus emptied his mind against the searching red eyes, knowing as he did that they were searching far deeper than merely his outward appearance. "It would be interesting indeed to see their reactions if they find a welcoming party at their ultimate destination."

A hard laugh echoed around the table.

"I am afraid I do not know where he is to be taken, my Lord, but I am sure that he will not be too hard to follow. Although the trace has now broken, the Order is determined not to leave any magical traces behind them when they travel and as such they will be using purely muggle means."

Severus took a deep breath before he continued to speak. The last time that he had met with Minerva to discuss the Order's plans, they had worked out what of the new information he was going to impart to the other side, and what he was about to say had not been included. It made him feel physically nauseous to know he was betraying Minerva's trust in this way; for some reason it seemed to be more of an unforgiveable act to deceive Minerva than it was to deceive Dumbledore. But ultimately, it had to be done in order to ingratiate himself with the Dark Lord again. He had already cost the Order too much thanks to his loyalties being tested. Once he was on the right side of the table once more, in both senses of the word, then he could afford to be more open with Minerva and more evasive with the colleagues he currently sat amongst.

"I have also heard that they plan to use at least one if not more decoys as a distraction. Ostensibly the journeys will start from the different stations of London."

The Dark Lord smiled, satisfied with this information and Severus permitted himself a small inward sigh of relief. As used to it as he was, having one's veracity tested in such a way was never a pleasant experience.

"Then we have it. We shall split our forces and follow them until we find the real Potter." The Dark Lord surveyed his forces over steepled fingers, wondering who would work the best together and who he should send where. Severus took a moment to collect his thoughts and hoped that the Order knew what they were doing. It had been Hermione Granger's idea, and although he could not fault her logic (after all, she had successfully solved a puzzle he had meant to deter adult magicians aged only twelve), nor indeed her ability to get Potter and Weasley out of sticky situations with near monotonous regularity, this was something completely different. Lives were at stake here. Well, when it came to Potter's madcap escapades, the trio's lives were often at stake, but Severus was not quite so worried about them. He was far more concerned for the responsible adults who were risking their safety by listening to a witch who, though academically brilliant, had not had quite as much experience of life and its unexpected problems as the rest of the Order had. Severus suppressed a sigh, perhaps he was being judgemental. After all, no-one else had come up with a better plan for Arthur's rescue. All the same, he could not help but be wary; he had always said that Miss Granger's unquenchable thirst to prove herself would get her into trouble one of these days, and whilst her over-enthusiastic hand-waving in lessons had died down slightly over the years, Severus was still waiting for the inevitable mishap. There was simply too much chance that it might come now.

He slipped out of his reverie on hearing his name.

"Severus… You will go to St Pancras with…"

The Dark Lord's voice faded out of his perception as Severus fell to brooding once more. He hoped that the Order were prepared.

The room fell silent. Orders had been given. It was time to move out, but before anyone could push back his or her chair, Yaxley spoke up, his smooth voice cutting through the still atmosphere like a knife.

"My Lord, there is a possibility that we have not considered," he said, and in that moment Severus could tell why the man had been chosen to oversee the infiltration of the Ministry. Whilst he could have been a brilliant spy in another life, he would have made an even better politician; his tone reassuring but so heavily laden with meaning it was almost weighted to the ground. "Might this movement just be a distraction? Perhaps the Order is planning to rescue Weasley whilst our forces are preoccupied with chasing various Potters around the muggle public transport system?"

The Dark Lord took a second to ponder this suggestion, and then began to laugh, softly. A few of the other Death Eaters tittered unsurely.

"Yaxley, why would the Order attempt to break into our headquarters? I believe that at the last count, they did still have some sense of self-preservation."

Unseen by his master, Severus quirked an eyebrow. That particular statement was rather debatable considering the calibre of the Order members he knew. A curse-breaker, two Aurors and one ex; wizards who by their very profession threw themselves into the path of danger every day in their quest for good. A werewolf who had spent the majority of the previous year liaising with others of his kind. And finally, one could never underestimate the Gryffindor courage of Minerva McGonagall. It still made Severus's blood run cold when he thought of what could have happened to the headmistress on the night she had moved Potter, but he knew that she would not have had it any other way. The Dark Lord was mistaken indeed if he thought that the Order would have any reservations about throwing themselves into the fire to rescue one of their own if necessary. Their emblem was, after all, the phoenix, at home in the flames.

"Besides," the Dark Lord continued. "You said yourself that according to Mr Dawlish, the Aurors are completely ignorant as to Weasley's whereabouts. They can hardly launch a rescue mission if they do not know where he is being held."

"I did say that…" Severus allowed himself a minute smirk as he watched Yaxley squirm under the Dark Lord's cold, scarlet gaze. "They may have found something since my last report," he muttered eventually.

"Well, Yaxley, I will take your worries into account." The Dark Lord turned to Severus. "Has anything of this ilk been mentioned to you?"

"Not that I have heard, my Lord," said Severus calmly, unconcerned with how easily the outright lie came. "But then again, I have not been entirely trusted since Weasley was taken. Professor McGonagall is certain that I knew something of his disappearance beforehand and should have warned her, and by way of punishment she is being deliberately reticent as to the information she shares."

At this his colleagues did laugh out loud, but Severus ignored them. Unlike the other Order members, his sense of self-preservation was functioning perfectly, and he intended to keep it that way for as long as possible. This was not the first time that Severus had wondered what would become of him if the Dark Lord learned his true allegiance, but he knew that it would be an experience he would not survive to warn others of.

"It would not make sense for Potter to be travelling without protection, and it would not make sense for this protection to be provided by anyone other than the most capable wizards, but at the same time it would not do to leave our citadel completely undefended. Of course Wormtail will remain, faithful guard dog that he is, and Yaxley, since you are so concerned about our defences here, you shall remain as well."

At this, Lucius showed signs of cognitive awareness for the first time since the meeting's beginning.

"My Lord," he protested, no doubt ruffled by being sent on madcap goose chases around St Pancras station instead of being allowed to defend his own house. The Dark Lord held up a hand to stop him.

"Lucius, I am sure that your abode will remain perfectly safe. After all, your son is here to uphold what remains of the family honour."

Draco's eyes widened whilst Lucius's became fixed upon the ceiling. His knuckles were white where he gripped the table's edge, and Severus was almost afraid that there would be indents in the shape of his fingers left in the wood when they finally managed to prise him away from it.

"Now, there is precious little time to waste. Use any means necessary but remember: Potter is mine, and I want him alive!"

The gathered Death Eaters began to disband and leave the house to disapparate, and the Dark Lord himself vanished soon after the first had disappeared beyond the boundaries.

"Malfoy?"

Rowle leaned across the table slightly but the older man made no reaction. Had he been a student in one of his classes, Severus would have taken great delight in dropping a book behind his chair to see how close to a coronary he came when shocked back into the present time.

"What did I do to deserve this?" he muttered to the chandelier. "For pity's sake, the Department of Mysteries cock-up was Bellatrix's fault. That aside, what did Draco do to deserve this?"

"He failed to kill Dumbledore," said Yaxley's oily voice in the doorway. "Are you still here, you three? St Pancras is going undefended you know. Chop chop." He clicked his tongue in the way one would to make a horse move.

Lucius finally tore his gaze away from the ceiling and regarded Yaxley with a glare capable of shattering glass.

"I happen to live here, Yaxley. You try hosting the entire corps in your pigsty of a flat in the capital's backwaters, then I may pay more heed to your comments."

"Oooh. Lucy's got his claws out for once."

Lucius didn't reply, instead turning his wand on his comrade. Yaxley had the decency to look genuinely scared for a split-second before his slick demeanour returned and he sidled out of the room.

"Lucius," Severus muttered, coming round the table and placing a hand on his friend's arm to make him lower his wand. "He's not worth it, and if anyone around here gets the privilege of killing the slimy bastard then it's me. Besides, he's right for once. St Pancras awaits."

"I know…" Lucius stowed his wand once more. "But by Merlin, Severus, what if they do come here? What about Draco?"

Severus didn't reply for a moment. Knowing that 'they' would indeed be coming calling at the Manor, he felt just as terrible giving Lucius false hope as he did betraying Minerva's trust.

"He'll be fine. Let's go."

As they disapparated, Severus said a silent prayer.

Please let everything go smoothly.

Note2: Let it be known that I have an awful lot of trouble preventing scenes with Voldemort and the Death Eaters from turning into a Whitehall Farce, but I believe I managed to keep this one out of the realms of idiocy. Onwards to the next chapter, in which we go on a jolly to muggle London…