"I've seen the map," Kingsley said grimly, tossing it onto the war table. "Snape's given us everything ward patterns, shift rotations, even Bellatrix's habits. If we move fast, we have a window."
Lupin leaned over the table, his brow furrowed. "And you trust him?"
"I trust the intel," Kingsley replied. "Whether you believe in Snape or not, he's risking everything. And if he's wrong Harry dies."
Molly looked sick. Her hands trembled as she poured tea she wouldn't drink. "We should never have let him out of sight."
"He wasn't out of sight," Ron snapped, pacing. "He went out to find the sword. It wasn't supposed to happen like this."
Hermione sat silent, eyes on the map, memorizing every mark.
"We'll go in two nights," Kingsley said. "Just before dawn. We'll need decoys, and we'll need to hit fast."
"What if they've moved him?" Lupin asked.
Kingsley's jaw clenched. "Then we burn the whole place down."
Malfoy Manor- Harry
Two nights.
Of course, Harry didn't know that. But something inside him it felt the shift. The air tasted different. The pain still came in brutal bursts, but Bellatrix had been... impatient lately.
Like she was expecting something. Or someone.
Today she hadn't used the knife. She'd used the Cruciatus, and her voice.
"You're going to scream for me soon," she whispered. "Because no one's coming. Not the Order. Not your little friends. Not even Severus."
Harry didn't flinch.
She smiled.
"Oh? Still have faith in the Half-Blood Traitor?"
He didn't answer.
But the silence wasn't empty anymore. It was defiant.
Hogwarts- Snape
He stood in Dumbledore's office his office now staring at the portrait of the man who had left him with this cursed task.
"I've done what you asked," Snape murmured. "I've protected the boy. But it's not enough anymore."
Dumbledore's painted eyes were sad.
"You must walk this path, Severus. Even if no one sees you do it."
Snape clenched his jaw. "I am. And I will."
He turned and swept from the office, cloak swirling behind him.
Tonight he would Apparate back to Malfoy Manor. He would leave a door unwarded. Just one.
A chance.
The only chance.
Harry
That night, as the cold bit deeper and the pain returned, Harry's head lolled forward.
He saw flashes behind his eyelids Ginny's laugh, Ron's scowl, Hermione's worried eyes. Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower. Sirius falling through the veil.
And then.
Snape.
Just a flash. The whisper of a wand. That flick of fingers again.
Hold on.
Harry exhaled slowly.
He would.
He had to.