Dumbledore's eyes grow serious for a moment. "Thank you, Harry. And you as well, Draco…" Dumbledore says, his voice carrying a weight of finality. He looks at them one last time, a flicker of sorrow and resignation in his gaze, as if acknowledging the burden placed on both of them. Then, without another word, he apparates away, leaving them standing amidst the wreckage.
Chapter 11: Death and Consequences
River's POV
The world continues to blur around me. Shadows chase me through the woods, twisting, turning, growing darker with every step. Whose woods these are I think I know. I feel them, like spiders, weaving their web, trying to ensnare me like prey. I pump my legs harder, faster… it's what they made me for, what they made me into.
I break through the darkness, into a small clearing. The noises around me drop away, the beating of my heart calms. I fall to the ground, exhaustion in my body unwilling to let me go on, I am met finally with perfect, peaceful…silence. There is nothing here…nothing here…nothing. Maybe I can finally let myself go and sleep.
The silence stretches on, and I don't know how long I am laying there, when a noise…an intrusion pierces my brain again.
"Quiesce in aquis placidis."
I sit up violently, gasping for air, as if I had been held under water and deprived of oxygen. My gasps turn to sputtered coughs and my body pitches to the side, as if it also expected my lungs to have been filled with water. The shadows drop away, the world comes back into focus, and every nerve ending is on fire again, as if I am reborn from the flames and pain.
Cut off my wings and come lock me up
Just pull the plug, yeah, I've had enough
Tear me to pieces, sell me for parts
"Ms. Black…" A gentle voice calls to me from my right. While the voice may be gentle, the fury I immediately feel at hearing it threatens to consume me whole.
"NO!" I scream. I may not have a wand, but the amount of anger I feel should suffice. "Expelliarmus!" I yell, willing all my magic into my open hand. The look of genuine shock slips through Dumbledore's usual stoic mask, as if he never expected a wandless child like me to be able to manage to do what I have done… surprise him.
I force myself to stand on shaky legs, Dumbledore's wand firmly held in my shaky hand, and pointing at the Headmaster.
"You did this…" I say as the fury fuses with my magic, making the air around me electric.
"Ms. Black, I'm sorry. I…"
"NO!" I scream, tears blurring in my eyes as all the memories I had to be subjected to come rushing back. "You're not sorry! You didn't tell me! You didn't protect me… you are just like them!" The energy from the wand in my hand crackles and a jet of light shoots out and strikes a meter or so away from Dumbledore.
Dumbledore does not react, just calmly stands there. "Is this what you want, River? Revenge on me won't undo the past or the foolhardiness of an old man."
"How would you know what I want?" I spit at him. "You didn't even give me a chance… placed this block in my head…blurred the lines of truth and lies! Tell me, what makes you better than any of them?"
"I'm not." Dumbledore says quietly, for once truth seeping into every word he gives me. "You're right, I am not better than any of them. I shielded you from the truth, from what had been done, from who you are in this world…"
Come shove me over the edge, 'cause my head is in overdrive
I'm sorry, but it's too late, and it's not worth saving
In his quiet words I feel my mind breaking…feel the block he had placed on my back in Grimmauld all those months ago dissolve. And I hear everything. All the energy buzzing around me, the magic of these woods, it is as if everything has been amplified back to what it was like before. Except now, my mind channels it, understands and comprehends.
"Why?" It comes out as a shaky breath.
"I only wanted to help you…to let you discover the path you had to walk in your own time."
"The prophecy." I say. It's both the question and the answer.
Dumbledore nods his head. "You didn't have a choice in what you are… I only wanted to give you time to have a choice in who you could be."
Time…choice…they are just pretty words wrapped with a bow for after the fact. The damage was done. He made his choice, and it was to hide, to lie, to keep secrets. Did they all know? Secrets that had me bleed, had me suffer, had me carry a burden alone. Did they all expect me to carry this? Why?
I don't have time to think about this further as a snap and pop to my left pricks in my ears, the distinct sound of apparition. I glance there to see Professor Snape standing in the clearing now as well. The anger in my blood now swirls with mistrust and doubt.
"YOU!" I say as I turn the wand I hold towards Snape. "You knew what Pucey and Draco were tasked with. You're just like them!"
Snape does not raise his wand, but sends questioning glances towards Dumbledore.
"Like you River, Severus has been forced to walk in shadows and light. He is not what he appears to be." Dumbledore says calmly.
"Ms. Black…River." Snape tries to start but in the distance the sounds of voices and people crashing through the woods catches all of our attention.
"It's too late, I fear Mr. Pucey will have alerted them to tonight's events." Dumbledore says solemnly.
You must've made some kind of mistake
I asked for death, but instead I'm awake
The Devil told me, "no room for cheats"
Death Eaters...They're coming… they're coming for you. The thought flows from Dumbledore's mind as easily as water flows in a river. There is no time, we're too far outside the wards of the castle. Nowhere left to run. Yet I feel no fear.
"Severus." Dumbledore says as the voices break through the treeline behind us.
Snape quickly nods and answers under his breath so only the three of us can hear. "Always."
Four figures enter the clearing. Three figures have wands drawn, and one looks half animal. Three men, well two men and a werewolf by the looks of it, and a woman. A woman who I bear an unmistakable resemblance to. Bellatrix. Her mind is chaotic, almost like my own. It signs and dances around me, the sounds of Danse Macabre unmistakable in my mind.
"Well, well, well…look what we have here." Bellatrix practically bounces on her feet with glee as she sees Dumbledore disarmed and at the mercy of the Death Eaters circling around him.
"Bellatrix…" Dumbledore says before sending another glance to Snape and letting his stoic mask fall back in place and blocking me from hearing anything further in his mind.
"It seems Lucius was quite right, the resemblance is uncanny." Bellatrix says as she turns her attention to me. Similar to Snape and Draco, Bellatrix's icy, snake-like presence coils around me, squeezing with a chill that feels alive.
Bellatrix's mouth cracks into a jagged grin. "Oh, she is a Black this one, no mistaking that."
"We've got what we came for." Snape says as he moves towards me, forcing the arm holding the wand to lower. "Let's go, Bella." He continues as he looks towards where Bellatrix starts to slink towards Dumbledore.
So leave a light on, I'm coming home
It's getting darker, but I'll carry on
The sun don't shine, but it never did
"Please." Dumbledore whispers, a plea to Snape. His last request.
A bolt of blue green light explodes from Snape's wand as he says "Avada Kedavra." It hits Dumbledore squarely in the chest and I watch as he falls dead in the clearing.
I watch, but I don't feel. I…don't know how to feel. He was supposed to be a beacon, a protector. Now he's just another shade in a world that doesn't have any light left. He hurt me as they did at the Academy. Different methods, same outcome. How is anyone supposed to feel when they watch a life snuffed out?
A cackle rings out from behind me. As I look to the sky I see Bellatrix has cast the dark mark above us. Marking the end, marking the death of Dumbledore.
"Come! We celebrate!" Rabastan Lestrange yells jovially, rejoicing in the madness of the evening before disapparating.
Snape grabs my arm and I feel my world turning on its axis. The clearing in the Forbidden Forest now is nothing but an ink stain in my mind. The world blurs and twists, but I can't shake the feeling that a piece of me is left behind with him, buried in that final, forsaken place.
I think we're doomed, and now there's no way back
…Aftermath for the Order…
The aftermath of that night left everyone shell shocked. Albus Dumbledore, leader of The Order of the Phoenix, their trusted paragon, was dead. McGonagall and the other Hogwarts Professors had found him, under the horrible symbol in the sky. Snape's disappearance along with River led everyone to draw conclusions on what had happened. Some were in disbelief, unwilling to believe that their colleague would do such a thing, turning his hand against friend and mentor. But others, like Maddy Eye Moody, Sirius, and Mrs. Weasley were quick to believe that Severus Snape had never truly been one of them, and had turned on them.
But they all knew, deep down, they wouldn't truly know what had happened. Not until either Snape or River told them. They had spent the rest of the school year in a daze. Unsure what to do…or who to trust. The Order refused to have too many people meet together, for fear of something happening.
But Harry and Hermione had their own plan, one that they only clued Ron, Ginny, and Luna into. They would hunt for the remaining Horcruxes. Harry and Hermione would travel with Ron. Ginny and Luna would secure resources and drop them at specific locations each month, so that if the trio needed them, they would be able to replenish whatever the girls could provide. There would be no notes, nothing that could be traced. It would be bare essentials, but enough to survive. They just hadn't been able to discuss when they would leave for the hunt or if they could trust the Order to help them.
But the Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, had paid Harry, Hermione, and Ron a visit earlier that day, setting in motion the wheels that would force their hand. They just didn't know it yet.
In the dim, crowded drawing room at Grimmauld, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Sirius, Lupin, Mad-Eye, and Tonks tried to make sense of Dumbledore's will.
"I still don't understand. They had no right to examine his things like that!" Hermione was still fuming.
Lupin pours himself a drink of Firewhiskey, and then another for Sirius before walking over and handing it to his partner. "The law was created to stop wizards passing on Dark artifacts." He replies before taking a drink.
"And the Ministry is supposed to have powerful evidence that the deceased's possessions are illegal before seizing them!" Hermione argued.
"Are you telling me that you thought Dumbledore was trying to pass us something cursed?" Ron asked cautiously as he turned the Deluminator in his hands.
"The four of you were the only people named in his Will. Everything else went to Hogwarts. It raised suspicion." Tonks responded, trying to assuage his worry.
"Yes, because his copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard is suspicious." Hermione harrumphs, refusing to be deterred from her diatribe.
Harry turns the golden Snitch, the first he ever caught, over in his hands. It was a memento of his childhood, a chapter of a book that was rapidly closing before all their eyes. "Hermione has a point, this is just a snitch." He says somewhat dejectedly. "Maybe, maybe I can understand them refusing to relinquish the Sword of Gryffindor, but why wait to give us these?"
"Cause Scrimgeour is a fool! He's hardly doing anything more than covering up what's really going on." Mad-Eye Moody chimes in before taking a swig from his flask.
Sirius was unusually quiet. While he nursed the drink Lupin had handed him, he was also flipping the compass that had been left to River in his hand. As her legal guardian, it passed to him since no one had been able to find her in the month since she disappeared with Snape. Kreacher, no matter how many times Sirius called, had also refused to answer, so he was no help in trying to find River either.
The words from Dumbledore's will echoed in Sirius' head. "When the path ahead is not easily seen, this compass will help you find what you already know deep inside." Sirius opened the compass and stares at it more closely. It doesn't point North, no matter which way he twists it, but instead always to the West. Something in the way that the compass's needle glows softly, scratches at Sirius' mind though, like a forgotten word on the tip of your tongue.
"Sirius?" Harry's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Harry, can you hold this for a minute?" Sirius asks as he moves to hand the compass to him.
Sirius pressed the compass into Harry's hand, the faint glow seeming to pulse in time with their shared heartbeat, a silent promise of guidance. Sirius watched as the needle began to spin slowly. "That's strange." Harry says as he looks up into his godfather's face. Hermione peaks over Harry's shoulder.
"Isn't it a compass? Shouldn't it point North?" Hermione asks.
"No, I don't think so." Sirius says as he regards the two. "I think it's a compass of arcane truths."
Upon hearing something she was unfamiliar with, Hermione's interest perks up. "What's that?"
"It's very old, very rare magic. Most people wouldn't even know what one looks like. Rumored to be able to guide the bearer toward their most honest and authentic path." Sirius says as Harry hands the compass to Hermione. The needle once again glows softly before softly moving and pointing to Harry.
Hermione seems to blush before handing it back to Sirius. "Why would Dumbledore leave that for River?"
Sirius' face grows ashen as Hermione's question brings him back to the last conversation he had with Dumbledore. Guide them...Be there when they need you, as you always have. But understand that River and Harry both have paths to walk on their own truth will come to them, in time. "Dumbledore knew River needed it."
"But why?" The trio looked at Sirius, alarmed.
Sirius's face grew ashen. "Because of who she is."
"Who she is?" Ron's words hung in the air, tension coiling around them.
Moody stepped forward. "Sirius…"
Lupin looks at the trio in front of him, his partner, and the two Aurors in the room before trying to be the voice of reason. "Shouldn't we talk to the others…"
But Sirius had had enough of secrets. "NO! They need to know!" He crouched, looking Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the eyes. "There's a prophecy… a Chimera, born of lion and snake, who could tip the war for either side. And Dumbledore thought…" he paused, his voice catching, "it was River."
"But if River is the Chimera then…" Hermione begins to ask, but the rest of her words die in her mouth as a flaming ball of wispy light comes barreling into the room.
"The ministry has fallen…" The disembodied voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt echoes in the room. "The minister is dead…they are coming."
As the patronus wisp disintegrates, the wards of Grimmauld quake, as if the foundation has been rocked by cannon fodder.
"Shit." Tonks says as she and Mad-Eye's both cast a patronus requesting back up before running to the front room to get a better assessment of the situation. Lupin follows as well.
Sirius turns back to the trio in front of him, worry etched in his face. "The wards can only hold for so long before they have to allow entry to a Black descendant. If Bellatrix is here, we only have so much time." Sirius rushes as he hands Harry the compass again. "You had a plan, yes? Something you didn't tell us?"
Harry clenched the compass tightly, feeling its steady pulse against his palm—a lifeline in a world falling apart. He shares a look with Hermione and Ron and then nods as they all stand up. "We did."
The floor vibrated beneath them, dust trickling from the ceiling as if the house itself were straining against an impending collapse. "You need to go now. Stick to your plan. Don't say anything more to us about it… in case..." Sirius says as he draws his wand, the rest of his sentence unspoken…in case we fall or they capture us.
Lupin comes back into the drawing room. "She's here, has about ten or so with her." Lupin rushes out.
Sirius held Harry a moment longer, feeling the crushing weight of both love and fear. He had already lost too many, and the thought of losing Harry, too…"This isn't the end." Sirius says before he lets go of Harry. "We'll hold them off long enough for you to get out of here."
"But how? The apparition point is out there?" Ron asks nervously as he motions to where more echoing booms and noise can be heard.
"You stay together under the cloak, wait until all of them come through that door." Sirius as he turns to leave the room.
"Sirius!" Harry yells, calling out to his godfather who turns one last time. Sirius felt a pang in his chest as he met Harry's gaze, the unspoken weight of lost loved ones pressing down on him.
"We'll buy you the time," Sirius said, his voice thick with a love that carried the weight of farewell.
As Sirius turned away, a shattering crash echoed from the entrance hall, followed by the chilling cackle of Bellatrix Lestrange.
…Aftermath for the snakes…
A target had been painted on Theo, Pansy, Blaise, and Draco in the aftermath of that night. Pucey had disappeared, but would no doubt reemerge when they least expected it, and they didn't intend to be subjected to whatever horrors would be left to run Hogwarts after Dumbledore's demise. Snape was gone and they didn't trust Potter's precious Order, or whatever remained of it, to come to the aid of a bunch of Slytherins. The snakes understood they could depend only on each other now, with no illusions of safety elsewhere. They also knew their families would soon come calling, ready to reform the "disappointments" to pure-blood societal standards or even drag them into the Dark Lord's ranks. So, they did what they did best—they plotted and planned.
Blaise had a solution. Husband number seven had met an unfortunate end due to a hunting accident a month prior, and Blaise's mother had written that she would be on an extended holiday in South America for the foreseeable future. Blaise used this to their advantage. While he wouldn't be able to access any of the vault his mother had inherited from husband number seven, he was able to dispose of some of the smaller assets per his mother's wishes. A few properties were quickly sold, documents amended, and in all of the chaos, one little Villa off the coast of Croatia seemed to be lost in the shuffle.
Meanwhile, Pansy, ever the clever one, had siphoned a few hundred galleons monthly for years. Unbeknownst to dear mummy and daddy, she did not indeed require a new wardrobe every season during her time at Hogwarts, and they were so oblivious they never monitored her spending habits. These galleons would provide them with an untraceable source of funding, as Pansy had been able to set up a Swiss vault and had made her deposits via Owl. She had never appreciated the Swiss Wizarding Privacy Statues more than she did now.
They had a location and they had means, but Theo was providing them with the ability to escape. He had always been fascinated with trains as a child, and this fascination had led him to a secret hobby, studying the muggle train system. He hid it well, buried under lock and key in the recesses of his mind, but this childhood hobby was providing them a lifeline. They would travel in pairs, Pansy with Blaise, and Nyx as they couldn't bear to leave her behind and the familiar had adopted Pansy as a surrogate mother in River's absence, and Theo with Draco, to avoid being noticed, but he laid out two different paths that they would each take to reach their final destination. Theo knew it was risky, but it was as close to foolproof as they could make it. The risk lay not in their escape, but in the fact that one of them might not truly want to leave.
"You ready mate?' Theo asked as he stood at the door to his and Draco's shared room. Pansy and Blaise had already made their exit the evening before, slipping off under the cover of darkness to avoid as many prying eyes as possible. It was just Theo and Draco left.
"I'm not coming." Draco says without much preamble. He wanted to rip the wound open as fast as he could.
Theo stares at him a moment, before turning and closing the door behind him. 'You're going after her, aren't you? It's why you said you would travel with me instead of going with Blaise… you knew…"
"I knew you would understand, yes…that you would know what it was like and not want me to experience what you did." Draco says without duplicity.
It was an unspoken topic, one that only the two of them shared any acknowledgment of. Theo knew what it was like to be forced to stand by and watch as the person you cherished went through utter agony. He'd had to watch his mother be subjected to his father's torture for years, until her broken spirit couldn't take it anymore. Draco saw the aftermath of this, what it did to Theo, and knew he'd never be able to take away the pain he felt, but he could be the brother to him he wished he had.
"What do you want me to tell Pans and Blaise?" Theo asks, accepting there would be no changing Draco's mind. He hesitates, then adds, "You know this is a risk, right? You could get yourself killed going after her. But… I get it. You don't leave someone behind when you've got the chance to save them."
Theo steps forward, resting a hand on Draco's shoulder. "Just promise me you'll keep your wits about you. We've both seen what this world can do to people." He squeezes Draco's shoulder, a rare display of vulnerability.
"Tell them… tell them I am making my own choice—something they can understand." Draco says stoically before mimicking Theo's display of affection and placing his own hand on Theo's shoulder to give it a squeeze.
They both stand there a moment before falling into a tight embrace while letting Draco's previous words hang between them. Theo breaks the hug, and takes out a small parcel from his traveling bag before handing it to Draco.
"If you need us… you know how to reach us." Theo says as he pulls away from Draco and walks out the door.
As Draco stepped on to the King's Cross platform after departing from the Hogwarts Express, a chill descended upon him. There are no smiling faces, no happy reunions. Just the scared faces of students being collected by their parents, who are equally warry. No one pays any mind to him, they merely want to return to wherever they have that can provide safety. Draco scanned the crowd and his eyes landed on his mother, her frame set rigidly, ever the pure-blood society the world imagined her to be.
"Hello mother." He said as he robotically moved to kiss each of her cheeks.
"Hello, Draco. I hope the journey was pleasant." Narcissa replied coolly.
Draco inclined his head slightly, meeting his mother's gaze. "It was… eventful, as you might expect. I trust all has been well at the Manor?"
Narcissa's lips tightened briefly before she responded. "As well as can be expected, given the current… company. We've had some unusual guests staying for an extended period. I'm afraid hospitality has been strained."
Draco glanced at her meaningfully, his expression carefully blank. "I see. I had hoped to catch up with an old friend who might have been visiting. Has anyone of particular… interest arrived?"
Narcissa's eyes narrowed just slightly, a subtle sign only Draco would notice. "Yes, an old family friend arrived not too long ago. She's…resting, but I believe she's been spending quite a bit of time indoors. Our other guest, of course, insisted on monitoring things closely."
Draco nodded, understanding the subtext. "I'll have to make sure I'm prepared to greet them both properly, then. No need to keep anyone waiting."
Narcissa gave him a small, almost imperceptible nod. "Yes, that would be wise. Our guest is rather particular about such things. It's best to observe all courtesies under the circumstances."
Draco swallowed, barely suppressing a sigh. "Of course, mother. I'll make myself… useful."
Narcissa glanced around the platform, her voice lowering. "Just be cautious, Draco. We've made sacrifices to get to this point. It would be a shame for anything to disrupt the delicate balance we've achieved."
Draco gave her a solemn look, steeling himself for what awaited him. "I understand. I'll proceed with care."
Narcissa allowed a faint smile, though her eyes remained distant. "Good. Come along, now. We mustn't keep everyone waiting."
AN: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening By Robert Frost seemed fitting to reference here.
Also, I am removing the whole Harry has to stay with the Dursley's plot point, since Sirius is alive. He's still 17 (since I aged them all up), but it felt more believable this way. I hope everyone enjoyed the update! I'll let you all take a wild guess who we will see in the next one ;)