Forsaken
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
50
Views:
2,167
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
50
Views:
2,167
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
The Turning Point
Chapter 33 - The Turning Point
Kingsley slowly drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair, hearing firm footsteps above him. He craned his neck to look at the clock on the wall behind him.
Harry gazed blankly out the window, hearing those same footsteps and feeling slightly apprehensive about the man who would come down those stairs. He knew that kind of revengeful rage, that kind of unstoppable need to do something. It was enough to drive one insane.
The man who came out of the door was a man he barely knew. Severus Snape, Death Eater-turned-Vindicator, had returned.
“You’re in my seat, Shacklebolt,” said Severus tersely, his tone very familiar to the six kids in the room. Neville jumped in spite of himself.
“My apologies, Snape,” said Kingsley sternly, “but I’m not going to let you play bastard Professor with me. Find another seat.” A sneer flitted quickly across Severus’s face, but he made no reply, staring down the challenge and warning in Kingsley’s eyes. He turned his piercing gaze to the teenagers standing before him and clasped his hands behind his back.
“We are done worrying about Scrimgeour and Minerva,” he said calmly. “We have bigger fish to fry. It’s time for us as a cohesive -“ he paused for a moment, staring into the young faces, “-- a cohesive army to declare outright war on the Dark Lord and his faithful followers. From this moment on, you are no longer children. You are warriors. You are soldiers. You are defenders of the Light and of each other, and as such you will be trained and equipped to handle almost anything that the enemy will throw at you.” Severus began pacing up and down the floor.
“I will talk to the Mad Scientists,” said Severus, grinning at his nickname for the twins. “They may be able to provide us with products to give us an unexpected edge over our opponents. We are,” he paused in his pacing, turning to face them again, “in essence, the new Order of the Phoenix.” Caitlyn exchanged a nervous look with Pansy, Blaise and Harry exchanging intense, determined glances over their heads.
“Harry,” said Severus.
“Sir,” replied Harry promptly.
“Go upstairs and get some parchment and ink from my office,” said Severus.
“Yes sir,” said Harry, masking his confusion at the order. The rest of them waited in tense silence until Harry came back down, ink, parchment and quill in hand. He set everything on the coffee table. Severus stepped over and motioned for the others to gather around him as he knelt on the floor. He tipped the cap of the ink bottle back and inked the quill. Pulling the parchment towards him, he began writing names in a pyramid shape.
Bulstrode T.Davis D.Greengrass Harper
Warrington Pucey C. Yaxley Montague Flint twins Bole H. Davis Higgs Bletchley Carmichael Summers
Avery the Carrows Dolohov C. Crabbe N. Goyle Jugson Macnair M. Nott Greyback T. Greengrass
Ro. Lestrange Ra. Lestrange Mulciber Rookwood D. Yaxley
Bella Lucius
“These are our known targets,” said Severus, his tone a bit softer. “There are only thirty-four names here, but I know for a fact that there are more. I just don’t know specifics. These four -“ he pointed to his finger next to the name ‘Bulstrode,’ “-will be easy enough to take care of, since they’re still at the school. Kingsley and I can talk to Minerva and Moody before winter break. However, these others will take planning and strategy.” He shifted over to allow Blaise to sit on the floor beside him. Blaise looked at the parchment for a few moments.
“I know that Madison and Marcus were really good friends with Miles, Jake, Adrian, Carter, all these,” said Blaise thoughtfully, circling his finger around the names he had spoken. “They were all on the Quiddtich team, except for Madison, but she followed Marcus everywhere.”
“Twins are like that,” muttered Ginny, getting a grin from Harry and Neville.
“This H. Davis is Hunter Davis, correct?” asked Caitlyn. “I remember Tracey talking about him a lot with Daphne.”
“Yes,” said Severus. “They were quite close despite their age difference. Still are, as far as I’ve been able to tell. They and Daphne have fallen in with Seth Bole and Jakob Montague in particular.”
“Saw that coming,” said Pansy, looking at Caitlyn, who simply nodded her head in agreement. She turned to the confused boys in front of them. “Daphne and Tracey have had huge, obsessive crushes on them since we were in first year. Hunter was really good friends with them, so -“
“I see,” said Harry awkwardly. He looked over at Neville. “What’re you thinking, Neville?”
“Not sure,” he said softly, rubbing his forehead. “We don’t want to ambush any of these people when they’re in a group, right? They’d destroy us if we caught them all in the same place, going on sheer numbers.”
“Which brings up the question are we going to start from the bottom, so to speak,” said Blaise, pointing to the line with the names of those they had been discussing, “ and work up, or if we’re going to work our way from the top down.” He met Severus’s calculating face.
“Two very good points,” said Severus. “That is something I will leave up to the six of you. It will make a huge difference in how I train you. Lucius and Bella obviously have a very different dueling style than those of the younger crowd.”
“So what exactly are we going to be doing?” asked Caitlyn. “I’m a little confused.”
“We are going to hunt this slime down and incarcerate every single one of them,” said Severus intensely, staring down at the parchment of names. “We will follow them, spy on them, collect as much information as we can before we catch them unawares.”
“So,” said Ginny slowly. “Are we going to be staying here or -“
“Not for long,” said Severus. “We’ll stay wherever we need to stay. I can teach you all disguise charms so that no one will recognize us.” The boys immediately began talking in low tones about which names to go after first. Severus glanced up, his determination dying a little at the apprehensive expressions on Ginny and Pansy’s faces in particular. He turned to Kingsley, who gave him a look as he rubbed his hand over his head.
“Why don’t you all go home for a few days?” said Severus softly. “Can everyone be back here by Wednesday?” They all nodded.
“Good,” said Severus. He pushed himself up off the floor, his knees cracking as he stood. “Boys, do me a favor and escort our ladies home. Just in case.”
~+~
The trunks were repacked, shrunk, and placed into pockets. Severus let them leave in pairs, staggering them over a thirty-minute period. Harry and Ginny were the last to leave.
“I will contact your brothers,” said Severus as he walked them to the door. “They might wish to move back in with your parents.”
“They won’t move back in with Mum,” said Ginny, carefully lifting her hood over her hair. “I guess I’ll see you soon, Severus.” Severus grinned to himself and pulled open the door.
“I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to you addressing me by my first name,” he said. Ginny smiled.
“Same here,” she said.
“Have a good evening, Ginny,” said Severus. He nodded once at Harry.
“I’ll be back,” said Harry, following her out the door. Severus threw Harry’s hood over the boy’s head on his way past and shut the door behind them. He returned to the sitting room, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest. Kingsley tapped his fingers against his lips, watching through the window as Harry and Ginny made their way towards the bridge.
“You have doubts,” said Severus, a statement rather than a question. Kingsley dropped his hand and sighed.
“Not doubts so much as worries,” said Kingsley. “You’re training a bunch of kids to be Hit Wizards.”
“They will not be assassins,” said Severus. “They’ll be very advanced Junior Aurors, not murderers. I will let the Ministry deal with the captives.” The volume of his voice fell to barely above a whisper. “I am in no position to play judge and jury here.”
“Severus, we’ve never done anything like this before,” said Kingsley worriedly. “Dumbledore would have a fit if he were here. He always said it was too dangerous, too much of a -“
“Kingsley, I know what I’m doing,” said Severus.
“-- risk for you to use your position to give us this kind of information!” shouted Kingsley. “What if someone finds you out, or figures out that we’re somehow mysteriously getting all this classified information? Then what are we supposed to do?”
“That won’t happen,” said Severus simply.
“Shit,” muttered Kingsley, throwing his hands up. “You don’t know that, Severus! If it does, I’m going to have a bunch of kids and not a few pissed off parents looking to me for direction! You know I’m not good at this seek-and-destroy spying stuff.” Severus narrowed his eyes.
“Yes, you are!” said Severus. “You’re a goddamn Auror, for Christ’s sake, and have been for seventeen years! You can’t possibly expect me to believe that in all that time, you’ve learned nothing about how to do your damn job!” Kingsley stood up sharply and stalked over to the cabinet in the corner of the room. He yanked open the cabinet doors.
“Good God,” he whispered. He looked over his shoulder at Severus’s raised eyebrow. “You could put Rosmerta out of business, you know.” Severus rolled his eyes.
“Yes, well, I’m a closet alcoholic,” said Severus sardonically. “Pour me a double of whatever you’re having. I’ve got a pounding headache.”
“I seem to remember it being alcohol that gave you the headache in the first place,” said Kingsley smugly as he took down two glasses and a bottle of vodka.
“An entire bottle of scotch will do that to you,” muttered Severus as Kingsley went to the kitchen for ice and sugar. He walked over to the sofa and threw himself down on it, his arm dangling over the edge.
He had to admit - if only to himself - that Kingsley’s fears were well founded. Albus had never been comfortable with the idea of him giving that much personal Death Eater information to the Order, lest Voldemort doubt Severus’s loyalties and eliminate him as a potential threat to his domination. Truth be told, Severus wasn’t entirely comfortable with it either. He had yet to reveal the status of Hufflepuff’s chalice. Once that was done - he hated to think what lengths Voldemort would go to in his paranoia to ensure that no more of his Horcruxes were found and destroyed.
A glass half-filled with chilled liquid appeared in front of his face. Severus took it in his hand. Kingsley tapped his own against it gently. Severus sat up on his elbows and took a drink.
“Vodka slings,” he said, peering down into his glass. “You hate vodka slings.” He turned to Kingsley, who had just finished tossing the rest of his drink back. Kingsley pointed a finger at him.
“Shut up,” he said, making his way back over to the liquor cabinet. “Let me get drunk enough to think this plan of yours will work out fine.”
“That shouldn’t take long,” said Severus, setting his glass on the table and lying back down on the sofa. He picked up the diagram he’d drawn. As he read it over, he couldn’t help but wonder if the trials would be any different than last time - little to no evidence, other than the Dark mark on their arms. No witnesses willing to speak out against them. Conviction by hearsay and public outcries for vengeance. Death by - well, not dementors. That was something at least. Poison was probably the new capital punishment. And the Ministry was not likely to be merciful in their choice of fatal liquid.
Severus sat up and swung his feet to the floor. He rested his elbow on his knees and cradled his head in his hands, pressing his palms against his temples.
Oh God, am I ready for this?