On a Night Like This

Disclaimer: everything belongs to JKR, I am making no money


Chapter Twelve: I’m Dying Tommorrow


Things were going surprisingly well at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Had Minerva been considering it, rather than contemplating the possible destruction of wizard-kind, she would have been please to notice how well they worked under pressure. Despite the intense animosity between them, Lucius Malfoy and the rest of the Order were working together seamlessly. Severus had not snarked at anyone; in fact one could even say he was patient. People were helping each other, strategies were being formed, and last minute spells practiced. However, this was not where her mind was and so it went unnoticed.

They planned their counterattack based on the information from the Deatheater spies. The attack was to take place at Hogwarts. Though it had phased the Order little, school had recently begun again. It was only in the first week of classes. Course loads had been cut for all the students down to the bare minimum, much to Hermione’s chagrin. They went in the morning until lunchtime and then left for 12 Grimmauld Place. They had been confused when Minerva explained the plan to them. How exactly where they supposed to get there? Apparating would be a pain in the ass and portkeys required a lot of planning due to their one-time-use nature.

She took them to her chambers and showed them the way. She had conjured a portal into the living room of the headquarters. They simply walked through a doorway and were there. Hermione muttered something about Hogwarts, A History and not being compliant. Minerva had only smiled at them and said that the school had many loopholes. Hogwarts would never give away all her secrets in a book. Albus himself had his home gardens linked to his office.

It was easy for them to slip out. Students acted strange all the time now. Things were different now with Dumbledore gone. It was not uncommon to see students by themselves, wandering aimlessly. Unexpected crying jags were also commonplace. Many students had not even returned. No one noticed that they were only there for classes and their beds in the dormitory were unoccupied nightly.

It was a Saturday, and there was a ball scheduled for that night, the beginning of term ball. None of them had given it a second thought, school was hardly a part of their lives now. Severus taught absently, forgetting to harass the students. He simply corrected their mistakes and continued teaching. House points were neither given nor taken. The students hardly noticed the difference.

It was as if the world as they knew it was simply in a dream. Daily life was an impersonal haze; people absently went about their business. All tasks became mindless ones. The world was waiting, waiting for the end to come, for the other shoe to drop.

And drop it would, that night at the ball. The Order had not planned on attending but the other students would, there was nothing else to do. Voldemort’s plan was sound. Hogwarts still employed (and schooled) the most brilliant magical minds in the world, even with the loss of Dumbledore. Taking it should be easy, surprise would be on his side and the ministry aurors would not be present. With Hogwarts under his belt, the rest of the world would be a cinch.

Fortunately, the Order had been busy. They were the only ones not still mourning Dumbledore, instead looking to the future. Severus and Bella brought their most important weapon up from the dungeons, the nearly completed potion that would ebb Voldemort’s life and power away.

Severus rounded everyone up to help with the final touches. “As you know, this potion will drain him both physically and magically. It will take effect an hour or so after ingestion, and will be undetectable until that point. By the time he realized he has been poisoned he will already be weak.”

“It is complete except for several ingredients. It calls for blood. This makes up for the simplicity of it, the odds of acquiring all these specimens at one time is slim. The blood must be fresh, drawn the same day it is added.” Everyone nodded; they were prepared to contribute their blood if asked.

Bella handed a dagger to Harry. “Blood of his worst enemy,” she explained. She distributed two more daggers to Hermione and Lucius. “Blood from a completely pure line and blood from a formerly non-magical line.” Hermione scowled, which Bella noticed immediately. “Your power as a witch will make it more potent.” She brightened some at the compliment and Minerva winked at Bella.

Severus pulled Ginny in close to him. “We need the blood of an innocent,” he whispered in her ear. “If you aren’t we can use someone else.” She shook her head and took the proffered dagger. “I have the blood of a loyal servant,” Bella announced, pulling a small vial out of her robes. “Peter Pettigrew. I cornered him after the meeting this morning. On a similar note, he will not trouble us any longer.” Harry shivered, understanding and recalling what she said about not wasting time dwelling on bad things happening to bad people.

“The last would be the most difficult to procure in any other situation. We are fortunate in our allies. We need the intended victim’s blood, willingly given.” Bella grasped a dagger and positioned it above her right arm, motioning for the rest to do the same over the cauldron. They followed suit but looked to her, confused. “A direct descendant works as well. The dark lord’s blood courses through my veins.” The Order gasped as she cut her arm but the others quickly imitated her, dripping into the cauldron as Severus stirred.

Miverva went to each of them, healing the small gashes. Harry gaped at Bella. Understanding, she laughed at him. “He was a man once. He had a life before this evil undertook him.” Her smile gone now, she looked sad.

“I know he was always a little off, and he did always have notions of the purity of magic. My mother was a pureblood from France and they loved each other very much. After I was born, we were everything to him. From what I understand, it was actually a rather ordinary existence. When I was very small, about one, my mother was kidnapped. We lived in a rather backwards area of Romania. Dad loved dragons, you see, and he wanted to be near them. They were muggles who saw her doing magic. Several of them took her and broke her wand, then tortured her before finally killing her. He was never the same. He began his tirade against muggles and muggle-borns after that.”

A tear dropped from the corner of her eye. Draco gently wiped it away and Severus patted her knee reassuringly. “He was hard on me after that. Not unloving, just trying to make me stronger. He always felt that if we had all been better prepared we could have done something to save her. He used to hold me under the cruciatus curse to build up my resistance, increase my threshold for pain. I imagine that I can withstand it for longer than anyone in the world, as have been practicing since I was about three or four.” Hermione’s eyes nearly leaped out of her head. It had been horrible to watch the spiders subjected to the curse in fourth year, she could not imagine a child that small. The man truly was a monster.

“There is something else you may have noticed. I don’t use a wand. My mother was completely defenseless without hers and he never wanted me to be in that position. I was never allowed a wand; in fact I don’t even own one. All my magic is wandless. I can do anything that you can, and probably more. It requires an immense amount of time and patience to perfect it, the likes of which most neither have nor are capable of. I’ve had my whole life to practice. I never went to school. There were some tutors, but mostly he taught me himself. He was very smart, at least when it came to book learning. I also had the added advantage of very powerful ancestry. My father, obviously, was Salazar Slytherin’s heir. My mother’s heritage was no less impressive. Her grandfather was Grindelwald, the dark wizard Albus defeated long ago. Though he put much stock in himself, he was no fool. I could be more powerful than he could ever dream of. He never imagined that I would not embrace my dark past.”

She sighed and stood up, her back popping as she turned. “Enough of my sob story. We must leave in an hour to meet with Voldemort, and you must ready yourselves. I understand it is to be a masquerade ball. That should be interesting. Be careful, it will be easy for the Deatheaters to slip in unnoticed. In fact, he is counting on it. You will only see his followers when he calls them to stand behind him. I should warn you, some of your fellow students will go, perhaps even those you least expected. Try not to let your feelings distract you.”

She laced her small fingers with Severus’s long pale ones, pulling him out of his chair and flush with her body. She kissed him hard and turned to face them. “I suggest you spend your last hour wisely. I do not wish to lie to you; many of us will not live to see tomorrow. I expect this is my last night alive. I have seen and done too much, played both sides too long to escape unscathed. Spend it with those you love, but mind the time, for this day we fight!”


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Thanks and please review! I snagged the last bit from lord of the rings, it’s not mine either :( I may borrow a few more elements before the story’s end. I’m dying tomorrow is an alkaline trio song (and one of my favorites!!!). Tell me what you think about this chapter, truthfully I’m not entirely sure I like it…