Chapter 8: The Rescue

******Where We Left Off*****

When Draco realized that the Dark Lord was alive and sitting in his dining room, he stepped away, allowing his godfather to shield him from view. Then he took out his wand and brought down the wards around the house. He couldn't allow the girls to be slaughtered by that man.

After he was done, he moved to Severus. "It is done," he said in a low voice.

The wizards outside the house had to sense they were down, but Severus knew they would come as soon as they could as Cordelia wore a camera that would visually confirm the Dark Lord was there in the flesh. However, he needed them to hold off until Harry was brought out because there was no way Harry was elsewhere if the Dark Lord was there. He moved to Narcissa's side and whispered, "Take Draco to get Harry and go outside. There's a van across the street—that's a muggle transportation vehicle that looks like a box on wheels. Head toward it to safety." He wished he could easily get Cordelia out, too, but it would draw too much attention.

Narcissa wavered for one moment, and then she nodded. "I will see if we have that particular bottle of wine, Severus," she said easily. "Draco, come."

Draco followed her mother, and Severus shut the dining hall behind him.

"Ah, here are our last guests," Voldemort said.

Severus needed to give Narcissa some time to get Harry out of the house, so he glanced at Lucius, who didn't protest his actions. "My Lord," he said. "May I present my daughter, Buffy Anne Summers-Snape and my niece Cordelia Chase-Black."

"Come closer, ladies," Voldemort said. He glanced at Bellatrix. "Bellatrix, this one is your cousin, I believe."

"She is very lovely," Bellatrix said. "I can see the Black blood in here. Too bad it's tainted with the stench of muggle."

"I'd rather be tainted with muggle than be bat-shit crazy like I hear you are," Cordelia said with a haughty glare.

Voldemort let out an amused chuckle. "Girl's got fire. I like that. Too many pureblood women are so weak," he said.

"Let's see how well she handles a bit of pain," Bellatrix said as she pointed her wand.

However, Severus and Lucius were both faster and each had their own wands. "Crucio!"

Bellatrix fell to the floor in agony while Voldemort looked on dispassionately. "You brought that on yourself," he said to her. "You insulted the girl—your own blood. Then your moved to hurt her without provocation."

Both Lucius and Severus were relieved that the Dark Lord was not punishing them for their actions.

"I will not have her harming my girls," Severus said. "Especially when she is the one insulting and provoking them."

"You know in America, we put down mad dogs," Buffy said with a smirk. "If you like, I'll be happy to put her down for you." She said the offer so casually and with such a bright tone that Voldemort seemed pleased at the offer.

"I understand that Bellatrix is a bit off-putting, but she is devoted and loyal," he said. "I find those are two qualities that often fail so many others."

Bellatrix stopped twitching and was ready to attack. However, Buffy pulled out her wand, and shouted, "Brachiabindo!" Bellatrix was bound immobile before she could get a spell off.

"How did you learn that?" Cordelia asked her cousin, impressed.

"Giles," she said, flashing a smug smile.

"Most impressive," Voldemort said. "Bellatrix, you need to relax."

Buffy heard from Giles through her comm. "We have Harry. Draco and his mother are secure."

She looked at her father and Cordelia and nodded. "We're good," she said.

Severus was relieved and sought to distract the Dark Lord. "Buffy Anne, why don't you tell the Dark Lord a bit about your life in Sunnydale, California? I'm sure he would be fascinated to hear tales about your life on the hellmouth," he said.

"Do you want to wait until we have dinner, or shall we start with the ceremony?" Voldemort asked Lucius.

"Narcissus went to get a particular wine, so we have a few minutes," Lucius said. There was about fifteen of his fellow Death Eaters in attendance, and he knew that he was going to have to make a choice. Would he help subdue Severus and his wife's cousin? She had so little family, and Draco admired the two girls so much. Severus' daughter was a bit older and too friendly with Potter. However, Draco had shared how well she treated him. The girl was a spitfire, and Lucius found her a breath of fresh air even as he found her entirely offensive with her forwardness and sheer audacity.

Voldemort nodded and gestured for Severus to bring the girls closer. "Your girls are quite beautiful," he said, looking at them as one would a painting. It creeped out both girls—Buffy worked hard to not attack. Severus was slowly opening the curtains in the room and had been as soon as they entered. However, he was trying not to draw attention to the fact, so he was doing it at a millimeter at a time. The snipers Rupert and the DADA professor had set up needed the windows to be cleared of obstruction, so they could take out as many of the threats as they could.

"Fortunately, they do not take after me," Severus said dryly.

Voldemort chuckled as did several others. "I was about to make that same observation," he said. "Are you ladies ready to pledge yourself to my cause and take my mark?"

"And what cause is that?" Buffy asked, looking around the room at his fellow Death Eaters.

"The cause of rooting out blood traitors and muggle lovers and things that have been allowed to weaken the magic in our community," he said.

"Well, first of all, the inbreeding in the pureblood family is what's weakened your magical community," Cordelia said with a snort. "Any idiot without magic—your so-called muggles—would tell you that you just don't do that. It's what destroyed so many family lines of the aristocrats in both France and Britain. I learned that in my muggle education back in America."

"Second of all, you do know Cordelia and I were raised by muggles?" Buffy said, arching an eyebrow. The one physical trait she gained from her father. "In fact, my muggle mother is working at Hogwarts, and I'd be very upset if anyone tried to harm her."

"And from what we've been told, you're not even a pureblood yourself, are you, Tom Riddle?" Cordelia said with a smirk.

Voldemort looked at the cheeky teenagers in rage and pulled out his wand, but Buffy was in motion before he even managed to pull it out, hitting him hard in the face with a hard punch. A full hit from a slayer, knocked him backward in his chair. Only his magically wards around himself kept her hit from seriously harming him.

Buffy quickly reached down and grabbed his wand out of his hand. While this was happening, Severus opened up the curtains all the way. That was when the chaos was unleashed. The sharpshooters that were covering the outside windows of the dining hall began taking headshots of the guests, which stunned the wizards. They all stood and took out their wands, not knowing if they should attack the teenagers and Snape or defend themselves against the threat coming from the window. However, when another dropped dead, they turned away from the girls and looked to see how they could protect themselves. That was when they were horrified to discover a magical shield did not stop muggle bullets.

"What is happening?" Lucius asked as he saw a shield fail to stop whatever was killing his guests.

"Buffy's Watcher's Council is protecting her," Severus said as he pulled Cordelia behind him.

Cordelia had already created a magical shield to hide behind as a few Death Eaters tried to defend their master. Her shield protected her from curses, and the sharpshooters were careful to target the wizards farthest away from the slayer. Peter Pettigrew, however, did what cowards do, he transformed into a rat and tried to make himself the smallest target possible.

Unfortunately, Buffy didn't realize that taking Voldemort's wand would not disable him because he was quite sufficient at wandless magic, and she fell to the floor as pain coursed through her body.

"You are quick, my dear, but I don't need a wand either to cause pain," Voldemort said, as he watched her. She didn't cry out, though. Hmmm. The girl was very strong, and he looked at Severus, who raised his wand, shouting a killing curse at him. Voldemort dodged it. "Why is she so strong, Severus? You've been keeping secrets!"

"She is a vampire slayer, and she would never serve a dark wizard," Severus admitted.

"A vampire slayer," Voldemort said in surprise.

Cordelia wasn't going to let Buffy get hurt anymore, so she transformed into her Animagus form just as Buffy was coming out of the pain of the curse she was hit with.

She was so pissed and clenched her fist, determined to give that ugly wizard a beatdown. However, her legs weren't quite working right. When he dodged another curse, she managed to get to her feet but was a bit unsteady. Damn, that curse packed a punch!

Severus didn't stop throwing curses at Voldemort, who had managed to pick up his wand as gun shots from the Council's snipers still kept ringing in the room.

Voldemort was enraged at the betrayal of Severus, but he should've known. There were dead bodies everywhere killed by muggle methods, and the outrage of such acts was maddening. He cast a shield as he moved toward Bellatrix, his lips curling in disgust as he saw a familiar rat try to join him. However, the large panther that Severus' niece had transformed into pounced on the rat. Voldemort wasn't sure it was much of a loss as he grabbed his most loyal supporter and apparated out of the massacre. Lucius and Severus would pay dearly for this betrayal.

"No!" Buffy shouted as he blinked away just as she got a foot moving toward him. "I can't believe he got away!"

"He knows when to leave and regroup," Severus said, relieved that he had left without hurting any of them.

Aurors were now in the room, so the gunshots had stopped. At least five Death Eaters had been shot dead, which was shocking to the magical police, but the Watcher's Council had claimed partial jurisdiction as their slayer was the one at risk on the premises. Although her father was a wizard, he had given permission for their help in protecting his daughter and niece.

"You can turn back to human, Cordy," Buffy told her. "The little weasel ran off."

Cordy did so, and then she shrieked as she saw a dead rat at her feet. "Where the hell did this dead rat come from?" she asked.

Severus looked. "I believe you have killed Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form—the betrayer of the Potters," he said.

Cordelia's eyes widened in realization. "The one Uncle Sirius went to prison for when he took the blame for everything that Peter did?" she asked.

Severus nodded. "Yes."

Cordelia looked down at the dead rat body. "Why is he not back to a human?" she asked.

Buffy walked over and looked, wrinkling her nose at the mauled rat body. "So gross," she said with a shudder.

"You dismember demons," Cordelia pointed out. "How can a little partially gutted rat bother you?"

"'Cause rats are just disgusting," Buffy said. "Why is he still a rat?"

"That's what I just asked," she said.

"When the magic leaves his body, he will change back to human," Severus said. Then the body changed, and the girls both jumped back as the rat morphed into a male form.

Now Cordelia was upset. Killing a rat was one thing—killing a man was another. She stepped toward her uncle, who pulled her away from the body. "Let's get out of here," he said. "Lucius, your family is outside."

Lucius was reeling from the events and the slaughter left in his dining hall, but he nodded. "Am I under arrest?" he asked Shacklebolts, who was one of the aurors securing the scene.

"Well, you need to come with us as you were hosting you-know-who in your home, and we have muggle video confirming he is alive—there can be no doubt," Shacklebolt said. "You can't claim to be under the Imperius this time, Lucius."

"Do you think we had a choice?" Lucius said. "Bellatrix is my wife's sister, but she would still kill Narcissus if she thought for one moment that we would betray her master. We did manage to make sure they didn't harm the boy, though."

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Bellatrix wanted to peel off his skin," Lucius said. The girls looked sick and disgusted. "My clever wife convinced him that if Harry was presented as a barely recognizable, abused boy, his victory over him wouldn't be worth much. Basically, she appealed to his ego."

"Like a good Slytherin," Severus said with a smirk.

"Of course," Lucius said.

"I don't have the authority to excuse you, Lucius, and you know it," he said. "You and your wife can come and give statements and share your memories of the incident you just spoke of. Maybe it will give you leniency."

"What about all the bodies in my home?" he asked. "I do not think my elves should have to clean that mess up."

"We will take care of it," Shacklebolt said. He looked at Severus and the girls. "Snape, are your girls okay?"

"We are fine," Buffy said. "I'm pissed that that weasel hocus-pocused himself out of here like a big ole scaredy-cat!"

Severus looked amused as the Auror tried to figure out exactly what his American daughter said. "Well, he will regroup and find a way to retaliate. There's no doubt of that," Severus said.

"This was a good victory, though," Shacklebolt said. "None of you were hurt, and many Death Eaters are dead. We have proof that you-know-who is alive."

"Why do you guys not say his name?" Buffy asked, frowning. "He's not the boogie man. He's just an ugly dark wizard, who came back from the dead. He's not all-powerful. By refusing to say his name, you're just adding to the fear he's trying to instill."

Shacklebolt looked at the girl, who he knew was a probationary member of the Order of the Phoenix and nodded. She had a point—one he'd thought of many times. "I know. It's just a habit," he said.

"Well, you should break it because I'm so going to kick that guy's ass the next time I see him, and his crazy bitch," Buffy said.

"Watch your mouth," Severus said, glaring at his daughter. "Your mother would be so embarrassed."

Buffy flashed him a rueful smile. "I'm sorry," she said. "I just hate it when the bad guy gets away."

Giles came into the room with Draco, Harry, and Narcissus, who immediately embraced her husband, asking if he was okay. "I'm fine," Lucius told her.

Buffy and Cordelia went and hugged Harry. "Are you okay?" they asked.

"I am," Harry said. He looked at the room and grimaced. "Wow. I see I missed the fight. Who brought the guns?"

"What's a gun?" Draco asked.

"You don't know what a gun is?" Buffy asked in surprise.

"Purebreds don't know anything about the real world," Harry explained.

"That's seriously messed up," Cordelia said. "Why would anyone purposely make themselves stupid?"

"Draco is not stupid!" Narcissus said, hearing the remark. "He's at the top of his class."

"No, Mother. I'm second," Draco said.

"That's 'cause no one can beat Hermione," Harry said. He looked at Lucius. "You know, the muggle-born best friend of mine."

"We didn't mean to say Draco was stupid," Buffy clarified.

"I did," Cordelia said. "It's just plain too stupid to ignore ninety percent of the non-magical society and what they contribute to the world, especially if you're too ignorant to recognize a freakin' bullet hole on a guy's head 'cause you don't even know about guns and how quickly those non-magicals you look down on and call muggles could kill you with their guns before you even know to draw your wand." She was looking at Draco's parents when she gave her speech.

"I did notice that magical shields did not work to stop them," Lucius admitted.

"Really?" Draco asked, fascinated.

"If you go outside and talk to Professor Wyndam-Price, he can probably show you some," Buffy suggested.

Draco looked at his mother for permission, and she nodded. Draco eagerly left to do so. "Severus, we have to go with the Aurors. Will you explain to Draco?" Narcissus asked.

"Of course," he said.

Shacklebolt took a hold of both Malfoys, and they apparated away, leaving Severus to look at Harry to see how injured he was. "You don't look much worse than usual—just dirty," Severus said. He raised his wand to do a cleansing spell on Harry.

"Can we get out of here?" Buffy said to Giles.

"Yes," he said.

As they gathered to leave, Harry looked at Buffy and asked, "What happened to Voldemort?"

"I totally kicked his ass!" Buffy said.

"You did not!" Cordelia said. "You were on the floor flopping around from the wandless curse he threw at you!"

"Well, I knocked him on his ass! That's more than anyone else has ever done!" Buffy said.

Severus put his arm around her as the left the manor. "You were magnificent," he said with pride.

"Cordelia turned in a panther and ate the rat that ratted out your parents," Buffy said with a grin.

"I so did not eat a rat!" Cordelia said with a glare.

Buffy snickered. "Well, you probably would've if the fight wasn't over," she teased.

Harry laughed, feeling almost giddy as the tension of the past week left him and the knowledge that his new friends really were soldiers for the light even though they were Slytherins. Ron's doubts were for nothing. Buffy and Cordelia and even Professor Snape had come and saved him, and even Draco and his mother led him out of his jail.

Sometimes, people could be counted, and sometimes, people could surprise you.

Harry couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts and see his friends to tell them.

*****Chapter End*****