Forsaken
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
50
Views:
2,595
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
50
Views:
2,595
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 Break
Chapter 4- The Break
The clock in his office next door chimed the hour.
Half past ten.
Severus straightened the dragonhide jerkin over his thin black tunic before dressing in plain black robes. He slid an unregistered wand into his wrist holster and checked his boot for his registered one, feeling the wood against his leg. He strapped a belt around his waist, loaded with a few vials of select potions and a pouch of Smoke Capsules. He gathered his sleeves in his hands and held on to the fabric as he shrugged on a leather sheath. Two black-handled silver daggers hung on each side of his torso. He covered his face from the bridge of his nose down with a thin, gauzy black handkerchief, forgoing the claustrophobic white mask.
He checked his belt and sheaths quickly, making sure he wasn’t forgetting anything before swinging his black Death Eater cloak over his shoulders and raising the hood over his head. He took a deep breath and picked up the small disk that had arrived earlier that day, along with a bag of portkeys and unregistered wands that he placed in his cloak pocket.
“Vici,” muttered Severus, activating his portkey. He immediately felt the tug behind his navel as he disappeared from his room. He reappeared on the edge of the Isle of Sorrows, the wind blowing cold off the North Sea. He flicked his wand into his hand, scanning the battlements above him for any sign that someone had spotted his arrival. He scowled slightly when he saw no guards.
“That’s odd,” he murmured. Praying that Kingsley had gotten his note and heeded it, he moved towards the back gate. He froze as he felt the tingle of the Anti-Apparition wards. Glancing once more up at the battlements, he began the basic detection charms to decipher which kinds of wards had been placed over the door.
An hour later, Severus wiped the sweat from his brow. He hadn’t broken such high level warding in quite some time and had forgotten how much energy it required. The Aurors put seven different layers of warding on the door, including one which would have knocked any person bearing the Dark Mark breaking in or out unconscious for about four days. That ward had been particularly difficult to break, but eventually Severus found a weakness in it and exploited it.
He turned at the sound of someone arriving by portkey and saw three masked Death Eaters materialize behind him.
“Ah, good,” he said quietly. He pulled out the bag and distributed the wands evenly between them. “Get everyone out and give them a wand. You must lead them back to this gate. The wards are still intact over the rest of the island, so we cannot get anyone off this rock without setting off the alarms. I will hold on to the portkeys. Work quickly and silently. Do what you must to any guards you run into. Now go!”
“Don’t leave without us, Professor,” hissed one of the Death Eaters. Severus grabbed the front of their robes and pulled them within an inch of his face.
“Don’t fuck around, Montague,” growled Severus. “This isn’t a game! Go!” He threw the young man away from him and watched as the three of them faded into the darkness. Now he just had to wait.
As the minutes ticked past, he listened for any sign that the Order had arrived, any signal that a regiment of the Auror Corps had come to reinforce the sentries, but the fortress was as silent as a tomb. He stood alert at the sound of rapid footfalls coming towards him, his wand pointed down the hall. He lowered it as he spotted a white mask. He resheathed his wand and held open the bag of portkeys as the freed Death Eaters ran through the gate.
“Take one,” he said to the men that gathered around him. “It will take you directly to the Dark Lord. We will follow you.” One by one, the men disappeared with a brief flash of light. A shout went up from the gangway above them.
“GO!” shouted Severus, thrusting the bag at Jugson. He pulled two Smoke Capsules from his belt and threw them at the top of the wall. They burst open, spreading a cloud of smoke before the Aurors as the last of the prisoners portkeyed away. The alarums rang as the other two masked Death Eaters ran out of the gate. Severus quickly pulled his portkey out of his robe pocket.
“Stupefy!” cried a voice behind him. Severus dropped to the ground dodging the beam of red light, shooting back at the Aurors.
“Get out of here!” he shouted at Montague and the others. He pointed his wand to the sky.
“MORSMODRE!” shouted Severus. He muttered the password for his portkey, disappearing right before a Killing Curse shattered the rock he had been laying on. The Auror that cast it burst out of the gate and stopped. He waved his hands through the air surrounding the edge of the entrance.
“They broke the wards,” he gasped in shock. He turned to the Junior Auror behind him. “Get Dawlish here now!”
“Yes sir,” answered the young man, running back down the hall.
~~+~~+~~+~~
Severus landed hard on the floor of the receiving chamber, out of breath. Maniacal laughter echoed loudly off the walls as he quickly got to his feet.
“Yes!” shouted Voldemort triumphantly. “Well done, Severus! Very well done, indeed.” He moved towards Severus and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Gather round, my friends,” cried Voldemort. “Gather round.” The Death Eaters quickly formed a circle around the two of them. Severus could see the open astonishment at his new standing within the circle on the faces of the unmasked.
“At last,” began Voldemort, “we have enough manpower to step up our attacks.” He turned to Severus, gazing at him intensely as he continued.
“If we destroy all of the boy’s protectors, he will be easier to take captive.” Severus forced a cruel smile, occluding any and all thoughts of the Order.
“We will begin with those who are closest to the boy,” said Voldemort. “Greyback, I want you to take your wolves and take care of Lupin. Perhaps after the next full moon?”
“It would be my pleasure, Master,” growled Greyback.
“Bella, my dear,” said Voldemort, turning towards her. “I want you and Lucius to take about ten men and destroy the Weasleys. However, I want the girl taken alive and brought back here. She will make a nice welcoming present for young Potter.”
“Yes, my lord,” said Bellatrix.
“What of the youngest boy, my lord?’ asked Lucius, his voice harsh from disuse. “Potter’s best friend?”
“I do not want the boy,” hissed Voldemort, “nor do I want the Mudblood. I want them taken care of.”
“Yes, my lord,” said Lucius, bowing his head slightly.
“From there, we will move on to the others,” said Voldemort decisively. “McGonagall. Moody. Doge. If you hear of any others, report to me immediately.”
“And why can’t the spy tell you the others, my lord?” spat Dolohov, his face green with envy. “He’s certainly spent enough time with them. Surely he can tell us a few names.”
“Crucio!” cried Voldemort. Dolohov crumpled to the floor, writhing under the curse. Voldemort lifted his wand casually as he walked over and squatted down beside him.
“I fear that Azkaban has made you a bit forgetful of your place, Antonin,” said Voldemort softly. “I hope for your sake you don’t need more than one reminder.”
“N-n-no, m-my l-l-lord,” stuttered Dolohov. Voldemort grinned.
“Good,” said Voldemort. “And to answer your question, Dumbledore placed the names of all Order members under a Fidelius. Severus is not the Secret-Keeper, therefore he cannot reveal to us all of their names. We know a few for certain, as they are most outspoken in their stance. They will be the first to fall.”
Severus could not help but shudder at the laughter that once again rang through the room.
~~+~~+~~+~~
Harry shivered violently underneath the threadbare comforter, despite the warm breeze blowing in through the newly barred window. Vernon had beat him soundly when he caught Harry trying to climb out the window, taking one of his many vacation days to replace the metal bars across the panes of glass. Vernon had also made sure that Harry had no food of any kind. The panic that had first overwhelmed Harry had dulled into reluctant acceptance. There was nothing he could do. Hedwig was with Ginny, his wand was hopefully in his trunk, which was downstairs in the cupboard, and the Order had promised to leave him be until he contacted them. The one time he got what he wanted, it was the last thing he needed.
He jumped at the sound of his door being opened. Vernon appeared in the doorway, his face red with fury.
~~+~~+~~+~~
Kingsley sat smoldering in the chintz armchair in Minerva’s office. The past week had been an utter disaster. Not twelve hours after Scrimgeour had removed a whole squadron of Aurors from the prison, a dozen Death Eaters broke out. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the rumormongers had gone mental with the idea that Scrimgeour was a Death Eater and had actually known about the break before it happened. What utter bollocks.
But Kingsley had known. He had been warned and had done nothing. Guilt was such a bitch. This, on top of the Council’s current topic of discussion, put the young Auror in a foul mood.
“You couldn’t find anything?” asked Moody. “Surely Dumbledore must have had his address written down -“
“I looked through everything, Alastor,” said Minerva tersely. “I didn’t find anything.”
“How can someone work somewhere for sixteen years and not leave an address?” demanded Remus.
“Probably so if something like this happened, we wouldn’t be able to find him,” said Kingsley bitterly. “I personally think we have better things to be doing with our time than going on a wild goose chase trying to find a damn ghost.”
“Like what?” snapped Remus.
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Kingsley slowly, “maybe about how we have almost a dozen additional Death Eaters on the loose or why Voldemort saw need to break them out now. I think that’s a far more important subject for discussion.” The room fell into thoughtful silence.
“What’s got your knickers in a knot, kid?” asked Moody. “You know Snape’s one of that bastard’s best men. If we find him, it’ll be a major blow.” Kingsley sighed, running his hand over his face.
“Sorry,” he lied. “Just tired.” He slipped his hands into his pocket and sighed as talk resumed of Severus’s possible hideouts.
This was not what he signed up to do. When Moody had first approached him about being in the Order, Kingsley had jumped at the chance to actually do some real fighting against Voldemort. His position in the Auror Corps had been unsatisfying in that regard, burying him under mountains of paperwork and endless miles of red tape. With the Order, he could finally use the talents and skills he had worked so hard to perfect while he was at the Academy. He could fight Death Eaters and get real information about what Voldemort was doing, thanks in part to Severus’s role as a double agent within Voldemort’s ranks.
But now - now it seemed as if the entire Order was going crazy. Everyone was seeking vengeance from the same man - a man Kingsley never believed was as evil and malicious as everyone wanted him to be. For the past week, Kingsley had thought back to all of the times Severus had shown up at general sessions, explaining in painful detail what Voldemort was up to and what he was planning to do, especially if it had anything whatsoever to do with Harry. If Kingsley hadn’t known better, he would be tempted to say that Severus cared deeply for the kid in his own way, despite Harry’s wariness of him. If Voldemort was planning on getting to Harry, they would have to trust that Severus would do what he could to thwart him. The words of the note that Kingsley had repeated over and over again in his mind for the past week had placed doubt in his heart. This, coupled with Albus’s harsh words with Phineas’s portrait the day of the funeral, had made him rethink his own opinions on what happened.
“Well,” said Minerva, bringing Kingsley back out of his thoughts, “I think we’ve done all we can for tonight. Patronus everyone in your groups. Tell them we will be unable to have general sessions until we find a new Headquarters. We will continue to have Council meetings to handle the things that come up and will pass on information as we see fit. Good night, gentlemen.”
Kingsley got up and left immediately, not really feeling in the mood for mindless chatter that would inevitably turn to the subject of Severus. He was sick of this blind devotion to revenge - it was time for someone to find out just where exactly Severus’s loyalties lie.
He needed a plan.