Devil's Snare

Title: Devil's Snare

Rating: R

Word Count: 823

024: Brown

Paring: Harry/Draco

Summary: Harry is told to bring Draco to the light side of the war at any cost. Post-HBP, D/s, dubious consent, Post-Hogwarts, war!fic.

Disclaimer: Unoriginal characters and situations belong to JKRowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

Table of Contents found at http://www.livejournal.com/users/mahoganyhandle/9713.html

~

"Seamus Finnegan may not have been acting of his own volition," Moody said as the Order of the Phoenix gathered once more at Grimmauld Place to discuss their progress with the Horcrux and the war. Harry was not surprised to hear this. He had expected it, after speaking to Seamus once he'd tracked him down. But that did not undo all that had transpired since Tonks's untimely demise. "We have reason to suspect that he was being controlled via the Imperius Curse. And he is not the only one, I am afraid. I think there are more of us, many more of us. That is why I've called so few of you here today."

"Only those you know can throw of the Imperius Curse," Lupin murmured. Moody nodded. And indeed the meeting was most private – only Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lupin, Moody, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there. "We need to determine who the possible Death Eater targets are and decide how we are to go about… solving the problem."

"And what if it's a ruse?" said Mr. Weasley quietly. "What if there is a true spy in our midst?"

"We'll burn that bridge after we've crossed it. For now, let us only hope that it is the Imperius Curse. We've had our plans foiled enough."

"Lavender Brown," Hermione said, after a moment of silence passed over them all. "She's been acting a little strange – more withdrawn, I mean, which is odd for her. I thought it was because… I thought it was a personal reason. You know that she and Seamus were dating, but now…. It is possible that she is being controlled. I just… I don't know. I can't say for certain."

"Whoever is doing this is… frightfully good at it," Mrs. Weasley said. "I admit I never even suspected that Finnegan was acting against his inclination."

"You're not the only one," was Moody's gruff response. "No one thought – he seemed normal, like himself, even. Why would any of us suspect…? But now we know that there's some Death Eater out there who is disturbingly proficient at the Imperius Curse, and we've got to figure out who else he or she has targeted."

"It's Snape," Harry said. "I was following him when I crossed paths with… with Seamus that night."

"You didn't tell us that!" Ron interjected, leaping out of his seat and leaning across the table to loom over Harry. Harry stared up at him, unblinkingly. "You took on Snape alone? Are you bloody barmy?"

"I never saw him," Harry said, "let alone dueled him. Malfoy taught me how Voldemort identifies his followers through their Dark Marks…. It's how he monitors where they are, what they are doing, if they have failed him. I tried it out, when I got home, looking for anyone nearby. I could tell that Snape was in Seamus's flat, so I went there, but the connection broke when the Floo activated, and I couldn't pick it up again."

"And Seamus was alone?" Hermione asked. "There was nobody else? You are certain?"

"Well, there was somebody else there, but he's dead now, so it doesn't matter, does it?" Harry grimaced and slouched over the table, supporting his head on his palms. It felt as if the weight of the world was pressing down on him from behind, and it grew heavier everyday. The only times Harry ever felt unburdened anymore was when he was with Malfoy and his daughter. And where would that get him in the end? Malfoy had made it perfectly clear that he would never return even the tiniest shred of the affection that Harry felt for him. "What was Seamus doing for the Order before he was… before I killed him?"

"Investigating a few suspected Death Eaters," Lupin said. "Nothing too crucial, I don't think."

"What are their names?"

"They were Italians, mostly, but a few Germans. Beitel, Soprano, Abbadelli, Fuchs, Manco, Carrara, Nagel, Labrusca, and Serpico," Hermione answered.

Harry nodded, ducking his head. "And," he said, "who helped Seamus with the investigation?"

"You think one of the suspected Death Eaters found out what he was doing and turned it around on us?" Mr. Weasley mused. Again Harry nodded. "Fuchs is a Dark Arts professor at Durmstrang, now that I think of it. He would be extremely skilled with the Unforgiveables, after practicing and teaching them for twenty-five years. I'll look into it."

"And to answer your question, Harry," Hermione added as Mr. Weasley grew silent and introspective. "Seamus was working with Kingsley Shacklebolt, Neville, Enora Vance, Tonks and Lavender Brown on the investigation. We… we put all Aurors on the case because we didn't think it would seem suspicious that they were looking investigating suspected Death Eaters."

Hiding his face beneath his fringe, Harry rose from the table. He needed to get away, to think. Brown and Shacklebolt were the only ones left alive. Brown was probably the next to die.