Saving your life

Little Hangleton, he thought to himself as he Apparated and walked towards the house. He wondered why his Master kept going back to that place. He knew that his Muggle family had lived there. He also knew he had killed all three of them, his father and his grandparents, in that very house as a teenager.

He had used the place for hiding with Wormtail before he had finally recovered his body during the Triwizard Tournament, and now that their headquarters were not safe, he went back to that house.

Limping and still bleeding, he finally reached the house and walked inside.

“Master,” he said, bowing, as he found him sitting in the dining room, books and rolls of parchment spread all over the table.

“Severus, what happened?”

“They entered a few moments after you left, my Lord,” he answered as he walked closer to him.

“And what happened to you?” he asked as he noticed his blood soaked robes.

“They found me before I could leave.” Voldemort walked to where he was standing and, with a flick of his wand, healed his wounds.

“Thank you, Master.”

“Did you get the prisoners?”

“Some of them, the ones I thought were most important. We didn’t have much time.”

“Which ones?”

“The Unspeakables, the Auror, the Minister’s assistant and the Wandmaker.”

“Where are they now?”

“I told the others to leave them at the factory.”

“Very well. Go there and make sure everything is taken care of. And set extra wards around the building.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Have you talked to the witch?”

“Not yet.”

“I want you to find out exactly what Mulciber told them, and I want to know where they are keeping him and how they protect him.”

“I told her to find that out. She will give me the address when we meet again.”

“We will do it tomorrow night. Multiple attacks to distract them, and then you will get to him. Go find the witch, and then come back here.”

“Yes, Master,” he said again, bowing as he left the room again.

He Apparated to the Order’s headquarters, knowing the place would be deserted. Lifting the wards, he walked inside and up the stairs, checking every room until he found the one he was looking for. He quickly scribbled a note and left it on top of one of the beds, next to a neatly folded dress he knew was hers.

As soon as he left the place, he went to the Death Eater’s new headquarters. He had only stopped there for a moment before going to his Master, just long enough to leave the prisoners and a few instructions.
There were only a handful of men in there, the ones he had personally called in.

“Where did you leave them?” he asked, as soon as he reached one of them.

“They are in the back. We made a few cells and put them there.”

“Did you wake them?”

“No, they are still stunned.”

“Good, leave them like that. Now go find the others and tell them to meet me here,” he ordered with his voice full of authority.

There were different ranks among Dark Lord’s followers, and even after what had happened lately, he was still on the higher level, receiving orders only from the Dark Lord himself.

It took only a few minutes for the Death Eater to come back with the others, and as he sat at the head of the table, he motioned for them to join him.

“You will stay here tonight,” he started, once they were all sitting. “Make sure the prisoners remain unconscious and set extra wards on their cells.” He waited until they all nodded before continuing. “We had to leave everything behind when we left headquarters, but we had copies of almost everything here. You will sort through it and then leave it in the library; I want to know what is missing. I also need to know exactly what kind of information was lying around when they attacked us. Find out what was there, lists of prisoners, targets, informants, plans, everything. We need to know what the Ministry and the Order can find there. You can contact the others if you need to, but don’t bring them here, not yet. Any question?” he asked, looking at them all as he stood up.

“Do you know how they found our headquarters?” one of them asked him.

“Yes, but now is not the time to discuss that. Anything else?” He waited a few seconds, and when none of them spoke again he walked to the door. “Get started then, we need it done fast,” he commanded and left the building.

He had waited at his place for her to go see him. He wanted to know what had happened after he had stunned her and left, and needed to warn her about what Voldemort was planning.

He wasn’t exactly sure how it had happened, but they ended up like they always did lately, lost in each other’s bodies. He was still inside of her when he felt the Mark on his arm burn. His Master was calling him, and he knew he couldn’t make him wait.


He Apparated to what looked like a small, long abandoned factory; their new headquarters.
Surprised to see so many Death Eaters there, he walked through the rooms until he found his Master, sitting in an armchair by the fire.

“You wanted to see me, Master?”

“Yes. Do you know where Mulciber is already?”

“I do.”

“Good. We are planning the raids for tomorrow night, five of them. You will use the distraction to get to Mulciber. Find out what he told them, and make sure he never speaks again,” he said. “Take two or three men with you, in case they still have Aurors guarding him.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Now go help the others with the planning. There aren’t many Death Eaters here I can trust with it, so you will be in charge.”

“Thank you, Master. I will make sure we are ready for tomorrow night. You will not be disappointed.”

It was almost midday by the time he finally left the Factory. They had spent the entire night deciding what places to attack, finally settling for three Wizarding cities and two Muggle towns. The idea was to attack all those places at once, forcing both the Ministry and the Order to send as many wizards and witches as possible, but in small groups. They did not intend to take the places; their orders were to simply ‘have fun’.

He had already warned her there would be attacks that night, to be ready for it, but he couldn’t tell her where they would be. It would be too much of a give away.

By sunset, the new Factory was filled with Death Eaters, all of them going through the details of the plan and deciding which group they would be in.
He decided to take Amycus and Jugson with him, the same men that had joined him in Australia. He told them they would first join the others in the attacks. He wanted to make sure the distractions worked before going after Mulciber, he had explained.

Once the five groups were ready he joined one and Apparated with them.

He looked around at the peaceful Muggle town they were about to attack, the surrounding only disturbed by the group of masked men. He watched the Death Eaters spread silently and break into some of the houses, walking back out after just a few minutes, terrified screaming Muggles floating around them.

Soon they had a group of men and women, and even one child, and they took turns at hexing and scaring them while the others laughed and cheered. Taking a step back, he watched the mask men for a few moments, until his eyes set on one in particular. Making sure the others were too distracted to notice, he aimed his wand at him and muttered ‘Imperio’. After a few more seconds and a few well-chosen words, he watched the man look up at the sky and conjured the Dark Mark.

The laughter died out almost immediately, and one of them yelled, “Who did it? Who conjured it?” but before anyone could answer, they heard the loud sounds of Apparition. The Aurors were there.

“Let’s go,” he yelled at Jugson. “Go get Amicus and wait for me with the other group.”

He took a few minutes to Apparate to the other Muggle town under attack, and once more used the Imperius curse to get one of the Death Eaters conjure the Mark. The Aurors would know about the attacks on Wizarding places soon, but he had to let them know where else to go.

When he Apparated to Diagon Alley he was surprised by what he saw. Being an important Wizarding city and knowing the Aurors and Order members would be there fast, they had sent the larger group there, over twenty Death Eaters.

With his back against the buildings, he walked down the Alley, searching for Amycus Jugson and watching the Aurors, Death Eaters and Order members firing, and being hit by spells and curses. He could see terrified witches and wizards running inside the buildings and trying to hide in dark corners.

A cold, crazy laugh made him look around, and he gasped as he saw a cornered and wandless Potter, and Bellatrix Lestrange towering over him.

“Not so brave now, little baby Potter?” she asked mockingly, and then raised her wand to him. There were too many Death eaters around him, and he couldn’t risk them seeing him hex the witch, but he had to do something.

“My Master will be most pleased when he finds out I killed you,” she said, and laughed again. He watched her move her wand and start muttering the killing curse, and he knew he had to act fast.

He saw a Wizard run past him and, aiming carefully, he yelled ‘Expelliarmus’. The wizard was propelled backwards, hit by the spell, and knocked Bellatrix to the floor. He saw then Potter’s wand lying on the floor, out of his reach, and, with another spell, sent it flying into the boy’s hand. Surprised, Potter looked around and soon locked his eyes on him. He watched the boy frown and narrow his eyes as he tried to find an explanation for what had just happened, but Snape turned around and ran in the other direction before he had time to recognize him or say anything.

He kept moving and hexing a few Aurors and Order members on his way, sometimes because he knew another Death Eater was watching, others just to defend himself. He was halfway down the Alley when he saw her. She was walking slowly, barely paying any attention to her surroundings, and after a few seconds, he noticed she was carrying something. Or someone, actually. He could only see black robes and red hair, from where he was standing, but that was enough to tell it was a Weasley.

He crossed the street and stopped when she looked at him, a terrified expression on her face, as she lifted her wand. If it had been another Death Eater, she would have been dead already. He held his hand up for a second, and saw her relax when she realized it was him. Taking another step closer, he took hold of Weasley’s other arm and helped her pull him to a dark side street.

“What happened to him?” he asked, kneeling in front of the boy, searching for any visible injury. It was Ronald Weasley.

“He was hit by a curse. The Death Eater was aiming at me, but Ron got in the way,” she said, and then kneeled next to him.

“Is he going to be alright?”

Instead of answering, he pointed his wand at the boy’s chest and tried a few spells, but he didn’t wake up. He reached down the boy’s legs and took off one of his shoes. He put it under the boy’s hand and, pointing his wand at it, he muttered ‘Portus’. In just a few seconds, the boy was gone.

“Where did you send him? What’s wrong with him?” she asked him, beginning to panic.

“Calm down,” he whispered, taking off his mask, standing up and pulling her to her feet. “I sent him to St. Mungo’s, they will take care of him there.”

“Oh, Merlin, Ron,” she muttered, and then put her arms around him, her head resting against his chest.

“He was lucky he wasn’t hit fully, or he would be dead,” he said, and felt her arms tighten around him.

“Calm down,” he repeated, and pulled her closer to him.

“You have to be more careful,” he whispered by her ear. “That was very powerful Dark Magic. If that curse had hit you…” he trailed off, and was slightly surprised when she tilted her head and brushed her lips to his.

As soon as he felt it, he buried his hand in her hair, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. The thought of losing her suddenly scared him more than he would dare to admit.

Voices near them brought them back to reality and, as the sound grew closer, he put his arms tightly around her and Apparated them to another dark street on the other side of the Alley.

“I have to go,” he said, and put his mask back on. “Did they move Mulciber again?”

“No,” she answered.

“Will you be alright here?” he asked, concerned.

“Yes,” she whispered. “What will happen to him?”

“Mulciber?” he asked, and she nodded.

“He has to pay for telling the Aurors how to find the Dark Lord’s headquarters.”

“But…” He watched her eyes widen as she understood what he was saying, but before she could ask anything else, they heard new voices coming closer.

“Hide,” he hissed as he watched two masked figures walk down that street, carrying a screaming witch between them.

“Oh, I love it when they fight,” one of them said as the witch tried to bite his hand, and the other laughed aloud.

“Jugson, Amycus,” Snape said, having recognized the voices. He watched the two men stop dead on their tracks, trying to find him in the darkness.

“Snape?” one of them muttered.

“Where were you?” he asked. “You were supposed to meet me long ago.”

“We were just having a bit of fun,” they answered.

“Leave the witch, we have to go.”

“But…” one of them started to protest.

“Now,” he ordered, and both men let go of the woman’s arms at once.

“Let’s go,” he said then. “You know where.”

He waited for them to go and then turned to the woman on the floor. With a flick of his wand, he erased the memories of the last hour, making sure she wouldn’t remember his name. Then he Apparated away too.

When he opened his eyes again he was standing in front of a small, dark house with the number 36 painted on the door.

“There might still be Aurors inside,” he said, as he walked to where the other two men were standing. “Be careful.”

After lifting the wards protecting the place, he opened the door. The moment he stepped in, he saw Mulciber, sitting on a small sofa, his back to them. Before the others could walk in, he pointed his wand at the man and muttered a complex spell.

A few seconds after it hit him, the man stood up and turned around, his eyes lazed for another moment.

“What’s the matter, Mulciber?” he asked, when the man’s eyes widened in surprise and fear at seeing him there. “You thought we wouldn’t find you?”

Mulciber looked confused for a second, but when he finally spoke, Snape sighed in relief. The Memory Modifying charm had worked.

“It’s not… I can explain, please.”

“Explain? You betrayed your Master!”

He saw a jet of light hit the man then, and he fell to the floor, twisting and screaming. After a few minutes, he held up his hand and Amycus lifted the curse.

“What did you tell them?” he asked then.

“Nothing, I didn’t tell them anything,” the man cried from the floor, and the next second he was screaming again.

“You should know better than that, Mulciber, you can’t lie to me,” Snape told him once the curse was lifted again. “What did you tell them?”

“I just…I just told them how to get to our headquarters, that’s all. I didn’t want to, but they made me do it,” he said, panting and scared.

They all winced when they felt the Mark on their arms burn.

“We don’t have time for this,” Snape muttered as he walked closer to Mulciber. “What else do they know?” he asked, and as soon as the man’s eyes settled on his, he muttered ‘Legilimens’. A few moments passed and everyone in the room remained silent as Snape searched the other man’s mind.

“He’s telling the truth, that is all he told them,” he finally said as he moved back to the door.

“You know the orders,” he told Amycus and Jugson as he opened the door. The room shined green for a moment, and then it was dark again. “Let’s go,” he ordered, and they all stepped out of the house. He didn’t even set the wards again, Why bother?

He raised his wand and muttered ‘Morsmordre’. Looking up at the sky, he could see the green, glowing skull he had just conjured.

“Go,” he yelled at the two men as the first Aurors arrived, and the three of them Apparated away.