Chapter 1: Previously On...
Summary:
A quick summary of where the characters are.
Chapter Text
ALBUS is trying to hold all the strands of his plan together, but people keep doing their own thing. smh.
ANDROMEDA is the new DADA teacher. She has also reunited with Sirius.
ARTHUR was attacked by Nagini, but thanks to a certain someone’s intel, survived, and is now in the care of Saint Mungo’s’ healers.
BARTY has been skulking about Hogsmeade, living the life. He needs the Dark Lord to care about him again, especially since a certain auror will flirt with him but refuses to take it any further.
BELLATRIX wants her family back. Her Dark Lord no longer loves her, so she’s become a spy for the order. Needs must.
CEDRIC is in love with Tom. This has caused him to become an accomplice in murder. He doesn’t mind. Except now Tom has been expelled and he can’t contact him. Time for a search party?
GINNY doesn’t like all this Tom Peverell business. She’s had that guy in her head. He’s a villain, plain and simple.
HARRY has Tom Riddle for a pseudo brother. This is less strange than one might expect. But he’s just been rendered unconscious while in the supposed safety of his common room. Now that’s a problem.
HERMIONE has been learning Dark Magic from Tom. She’s also started a secret defense club.
KINGSLEY may have flirted with Barty. Once or twice. It’s okay, soon enough he’ll have the means to convict him, and everything will be alright. As alright as it ever is, at least.
MOLLY plays matchmaker in her free time, though now Arthur’s injury is all she can think about.
NARCISSA only cares about her family making it through alright.
PETER is dead.
REMUS is head over heels for Tonks.
RON’s just been trying to be a supportive friend, even as that gets more difficult as his friends keep doing crazy, chaotic, maybe-evil things.
SEVERUS has kissed Sirius of all people. He can’t bring himself to regret it. Missions for the Dark Lord and Dumbledore come first, though, even if he’s no loyal Death Eater and his trust in the headmaster is quickly waning.
SIRIUS killed Wormtail, kissed Snape, and realized his godson doesn’t care too much about his occasional murderous tendencies. All in one day. He’s pretty happy with it.
THEO might be falling for Harry. It’s of no importance, though, because what he really needs to do is figure out what is going on with Tom Peverell and how Harry could hold the secret to defeating the Dark Lord.
TOM has dealt rather well with his sudden appearance some fifty years in the future. He has a boyfriend, some good friends, a little brother in the form of Harry Potter, and a plan. Well, fragments of a plan. He’s been expelled from Hogwarts but he has two horcruxes now, so that’s something?
TONKS is falling for Remus. In the meantime, though, she’ll tease Sirius endlessly about Severus because what else are cousins for?
VOLDEMORT must find Harry Potter and this past version of himself. Then he can get back to this exhausting business of conquering the British Isles.
WENDY wants—no, needs—magic. She needs the Elder Wand to get it, and to get the Elder Wand, and bring all three Hollows together, she needs Tom Riddle.
Chapter Text
Ginny Weasley sets her chin on her folded knees and stares out at the steadily falling snow. She’s tucked into a chair in a far corner of Grimmauld Place, away from everyone. She can feel the tear tracks drying on her cheeks, and it serves more to stoke her anger than anything.
Ginny grew up in a house with six older brothers. She knows better than to cry, knows crying will get her nothing and nowhere.
But Dad—
Dad is sick and maybe dying and it’s all that bastard’s fault, Tom Riddle. The old one, not the new, not that she really cares about the difference. Ginny would like to set the world on fire and all the Tom Riddles with it. Ginny would like to see things burn.
“Alright, Gin?” It’s George. Ginny doesn’t look over, merely jerks her chin in a motion that might be seen as an affirmative from far off. “It’s going to be okay,” he adds, a bit awkwardly. The twins have never been the best at emotions.
“You don’t know that!” She hisses, whipping around to glare at him. George takes a step back with his hands raised, and Ginny should probably feel sorry. “Leave me alone.”
“Alone,” George echoes, hands still raised. “Got it.”
She turns back to the window, listening to his footsteps recede. They’re worried about her, all of them, though they try to hide how much. They’re worried about all the wrong things. They should be worried about letting Tom Riddle into their midst, into the Order, as if Harry’s judgement is the end all.
Ginny had tried, she had tried so hard, to be comfortable with it, to get used to him being around. But Tom-from-the-diary still haunts her nightmares, and it was so easy for everyone to forget that this is the same boy who possessed her, who made Ginny do awful things, who twisted her thoughts until even now Ginny can’t tell what of herself is her and what is a piece of Tom etched into her brain.
She presses her hand to the window pane, feeling the cold seep into her skin, and holds it there for longer than she can bear it.
Tomorrow, they still won’t be allowed to see Dad. ‘Intensive treatment’ Mum says, and then she retreats into the kitchen and makes food for twenty as though that will fix anything.
It’s stopped snowing, though, and Ginny has a plan. She no longer trusts the Order, and she sure as hell doesn’t want anything to do with the Death Eaters, but there’s a third side, isn’t there? Percy abandoned their family. She’s starting to think that maybe they deserved it.
~
Harry drifts in and out of consciousness. In his most lucid moments, he gathers that he’s in the backseat of a car, alone but for the person driving, but every time he starts to feel awake, like clockwork another spell tugs him back into the dark.
~
Ginny has never ridden the Knight Bus before, and it’s wild. She thinks Tonks would love it too, for the people watching as much as the daredevil turns. She does feel a little guilty about Tonks wondering where she is; the woman is like the older sister she never had. But Tonks is an adult, and therefore probably obliged to give up Ginny’s whereabouts if she had them. So, sorry Tonks, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
She keeps up this cheerful renegade attitude for about half the trip before she starts to worry. What if they’re already tracking her down? What if Percy slams the door in her face? What is she going to do when term starts again, just go back to Hogwarts like nothing has happened?
The bus jerks to a halt, the wizard a few seats back retching again, and the guy at the front—she thinks his name was Stan or Pike or something—tells Ginny:
“Your stop, little lady.”
She grabs her bag and flips him the bird as she goes—for the little lady comment. The distance between the bus and the curb is quite large, so she jumps it, landing firmly on steady ground. Stan(?) still looks a bit wounded from her hand gestures, and she waves cheerily at the bus before turning her attention to the block of flats before her. There is a faint whoosh as the bus moves on.
She pulls the piece of parchment from her back pocket where she’d scribbled Percy’s new address, copying it quietly from his last letter that Mum had hidden away. She’s got this. Totally. Not a doubt.
~
Harry comes to abruptly, the result of another spell. He tries to scrabble upward, only to realize that his hands are tied behind his back and to fall to the floor of the car.
Ladies and gentlemen, the savior of the wizarding world.
“Yes, yes, quite impressive,” drawls a new voice. “Are you done?”
“Fuck you,” Harry says, craning his neck to try and see his captor. Straw blond hair and blue eyes, a face worn by the years but still recognizable. “Barty Crouch Jr?” He asks, surprise taking over his survival instincts. “Aren’t you dead?”
Yeah, maybe he’s still a little woozy.
“Not yet.” Barty grins at him. It’s disconcerting, a fact not helped by Harry’s upside-down perspective.
He still can’t think clearly, so he settles for an intelligent “Huh.”
“Come along, Harry,” Barty says, waving his wand and causing Harry to levitate from the car and into an upright position. He makes to run the moment his feet touch the ground, but stumbles, falling again as the ground sways beneath him. Barty tsks. “Dizzyness is a common side effect of the spell I used. Why don’t you let me lead for a time?”
He levitates Harry back to standing, and Harry doesn’t protest. His head is throbbing horribly and strange blobs are swimming in and out of his vision. He needs to regain his senses. Then he can plot his escape.
After a few moments of blinking he gathers they’re in front of a large manor, standing before the dark gates. Barty waves his wand, so Harry glides behind him like a strange puppet, and then he grabs Harry’s arm with his right, raising his left, and they pass through the gates as if through smoke.
“Where are we?” Harry asks. They’re walking along a stone path, now, gardens stretching out on either side. The sky is growing gradually lighter in the east, so he can at least approximate the time.
“Malfoy Manor,” Barty confesses easily. “The Dark Lord’s current headquarters.”
Fuck.
~
Ginny knocks on the door before she can talk herself out of it. There is a rustling on the other side and it opens to reveal Percy, already dressed, hair still damp from the shower, gaping at her.
“Ginny? What are you doing here?”
“Needed a place to crash,” she says smoothly, sidestepping him to enter the flat. He blocks her path, arms crossed.
“Ginny.”
“Percy.” She pulls out a trick she hasn’t used in years and widens her eyes in her best pleading-little-sister look.
A beat. Two. He sighs.
“You had better have a good explanation.”
Notes:
Told you we’d get a Ginny pov; just took me longer than I thought it would :)
~
Poor Harry is so out of it. Easiest kidnapping ever.
I enjoyed hearing all of your guesses as to who attacked him!
~
You can take the Percy out of the Weasleys but the Weasleys will never leave him alone
~
How have you all been?
Chapter 3: Of Missing Persons and Resulting Panic
Notes:
EDIT: just realized i screwed up on this chapter and am currently rewriting it to fit the continuity
so sorry <3EDIT: Fixed :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Percy listens to Ginny’s story in silence, both of them sitting at the tiny table of his flat. He should kick her out. She’s spouting their parents’ old tale about the Dark Lord’s return. Admittedly, Ginny’s has more layers—a boy Dark Lord and Dad in the hospital—absurd as they are dark.
“Is Dad alright?” He demands the moment she finishes.
“I’m not sure,” she replies, seemingly honest. Percy shoves his fears down—not like Dad would care anyway—and changes the subject.
“As for Peverell, we should report him to someone in the Ministry. I’m glad you came to me, Ginny; I cannot believe our parents were such fools as to take him in—”
“Percy!” She interrupts, sounding more distressed than ever. “You’re no better than them. You don’t believe me.”
And Percy is thrown back years to the moment when Ginny tried to tell him something was the matter in her first year, only for him to snap at her for interrupting him and Penelope—good old Penny, wasn’t that a mess—because he’s such an awful brother, only he’d finally decided to be more than that, to work his way up in the ministry and move beyond his family—
But here’s Ginny, eyes wide and pleading: somehow hopeful, after everything, that he’ll play the role of her big brother and support her. And, yes, Percy prides himself on his ambition, but he also was once Ginny’s favorite brother, before she grew old enough to appreciate the twins’ horrid sense of humor.
“Alright,” he says after several torturously indecisive moments. “I won’t mention it.”
Her shoulders lose some of their tension and he gets the odd feeling he did a ‘right thing’.
~
“We’ll find her, Molly,” Tonks assures Molly grimly, rubbing her back. Remus kneels before her with a cup of tea, while Fred paces and George and Ron fret. Molly continues to sob. That morning they had woken up to Ginny absent from breakfast. Since then they had scoured Grimmauld place for any sign of her.
“I just— with Arthur hurt and all, and P-Percy gone…” Molly wails incoherently, and Tonks hushes her, trading a look with Remus.
Sirius leans against the wall, arms crossed, apart from the rest, and thinks about Molly’s general overbearingness and Arthur’s injury and the fact that they haven’t yet gone through the room Ginny was staying in to see if any of her things are missing.
“Where would she run to, Molly?” He asks. “If she needed a place to go?”
Molly lifts her head to frown at him, watery eyes narrowed.
“You think she ran away?”
“The place is protected with just about every enchantment Dumbledore could think of.” Sirius pushes down a burst of annoyance. “What else could’ve happened?”
Molly starts sobbing anew. Sirius very gallantly does not sigh. Surely he would be just as much a mess if Harry went missing.
“Alright.” He claps his hands. “Let’s split. Tonks, can you call up the houses of any of Ginny’s friends who she might run to? The Lovegoods, maybe? Remus, let Kingsley know what’s up; he can use Ministry channels to keep an eye out. I’ll ask Severus if she’s been seen around Hogwarts. One of you boys contact Bill. Is there any chance she could be headed all the way to Charlie’s? Check just in case. We’re gonna find her, Molly.”
Molly sniffs heavily, managing wavering smile.
“Thank you, Sirius.” She sounds a touch surprised. He’s helping her, after all their differences in the past. He hopes she knows he would help any of her kids, if they needed it. No matter what.
“What about Percy?” George asks from the couch. Molly whips her head around to him.
“What about him?” She demands. “He doesn’t need to know. He’s made his position clear.”
“Yeah but, Mum, what if she went to his place?”
“She wouldn’t. He wouldn’t let her in.”
“You’re being stubborn!” George snaps. “Ginny could be in danger!”
Molly sucks in an angry breath. Remus shakes his head at George. Sirius meets George’s gaze and nods slightly out of the room and winks. A moment later, George is storming from the room in a huff.
“I’ll handle him, Molly,” Sirius assures, trailing out the door.
He finds George in the hallway, arms crossed.
“Well?” The boy demands.
“Use the floo in the upstairs parlor,” Sirius offers easily. “Calling Percy is a good idea regardless.”
George narrows his eyes, as though searching for a trick, before relaxing.
“Thanks.”
~
Neither of the boys are there at breakfast. Hermione tries not to worry—maybe they just slept in—but the twins aren’t present either and she gets the feeling that something is really wrong.
“Hermione!”
It’s Angelina. Hermione hasn’t really spoken to the other girl one-on-one before, but she turns with as much of a smile as she can manage.
“Looking for the boys?” Angelina asks, falling into step beside her as they make their way up the stairs. “Mcgonagall called them away in the middle of the night. Mr. Weasley was injured. Something about ‘Phoenix business’?”
“Thank you,” Hermione breathes a sigh of relief even as her worry spikes for the Weasley’s father.
But then she reaches the common room to find Errol, the Weasley’s battered old owl, tapping on the windowpane. The letter is from Ron.
Hermione,
Dad got hurt doing you-know-what. No updates on his condition yet. Probably won’t be back at school before spring. Harry can explain more—tell him and Cedric hi for me.
Ron
Hermione lets the letter fall from her hands.
Harry isn’t with the Weasleys.
~
“What do you mean missing?” Cedric demands. He’s already on edge from everything and now this?
Hermione raises a hand as if to placate.
“We don’t know if he’s missing for certain yet,” she clarifies, though one look in her eyes says she’s very worried. “Only he isn’t with Ron and he wasn’t at breakfast either.”
“We need to search the castle.”
“And maybe let a grownup know?”
“Who could we possibly trust?”
“Sirius,” she replies instantly. “And we know Professor Snape can get him a message.”
Cedric frowns.
“Sirius Black? The mass murderer?”
“It’s a long story,” she replies shiftily. “But he’s on our side.”
“Harry’s strange friends aside,” Cho, who’d been with Cedric when Hermione approached, intervenes. “What can we do to help?”
“We need to do a thorough search,” Hermione instructs. “And let’s not tell Sirius until we’re certain Harry’s gone. We don’t want him doing anything drastic.” She takes out her wand and whispers something Cedric recognizes as a locator spell. The wand drifts from her hand, levitating, and floats down the corridor, pausing at a bend for them to follow. “Let’s go.”
~
The three of them—Cedric, Hermione, and Cho—stand before the Hogwarts gates. Hermione’s wand hovers beside the latch, expectant. Hermione hisses in a breath before murmuring the counter spell, catching her wand as it returns to her hand.
“So he really is gone,” Cedric mutters, kicking at the dirt.
“Why would he leave?” Hermione presses her fingertips against her temples, frustrated.
“Do you think he was kidnapped?” His mind is spinning too fast. Will everyone he cares about slowly be pulled away from Hogwarts, one by one?
“Or he left to find Tom,” Cho suggests calmly. “We don’t want to rush to conclusions.”
“He could be hurt right now. Or dying! We have to—”
“Do something, yes. But standing around here worrying is helping no one.” She turns to Hermione. “You mentioned Sirius Black earlier. You really think he can find him?”
“If anyone can find Harry,” Hermione says firmly, “He can.”
Notes:
Poor Cedric is always a step behind on the lore
Chapter Text
Percy is just about to leave for work—having given Ginny a stern warning to do nothing rash while he’s out—when the floo flares green. He tamps down a sigh and turns to the fire, motioning Ginny into the hall, out of sight. She doesn’t catch on at first, so that by the time George’s head makes itself clear in the flames, Percy is flapping his arms widely. Ginny has scurried out of eyeline, and George snorts at what must be a preposterous image of his least favorite brother.
“What do you want?” Percy snaps, flushing. George frowns.
“Is, uh, is Ginny there?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Ginny shakes her head.
“Why would she be here?” Percy asks carefully.
“She’s not home.” George presses his lips together tightly. “Please, Perc, if you know anything…”
Percy thinks about everything Ginny told him. You don’t believe me! He knew how that felt.
“She’s here,” he says at last. George visibly relaxes. Ginny gives Percy a death glare. “Gin, come over.”
She does, but she drags her feet the whole way.
“Thank Merlin,” George says when he sees her. “Ginny, what were you thinking? We’ve all been worried sick—”
“You sound like Mum,” Percy cuts him off, feeling oddly protective. Ginny darts a glance his way, a bit of hope in her eyes.
“I’m fine,” she adds. “I just needed to get away.”
“But Dad…” George trails off, casting Percy a guilty look.
“Yeah,” Percy frowns at him. “Why did no one let me know about Dad?”
“You know Mum; she probably got all in her head and thought you wouldn’t care.”
“One of you could have told me,” Percy says quietly. “Or Bill or Charlie, if you lot were too frightened of Mum’s wrath. I assume they were informed first thing.”
George doesn’t meet his eyes.
“Look, Percy,” he sighs. “We miss you, okay? Just come back and apologize and everything can go back to the way it was.”
“No.” Percy adjusts his stance, stays firm. “No, I don’t think I will.”
“Per—”
“Tell Mum Ginny is safe, alright?”
“Alright.” George nods, defeated. “We’ll send someone to pick her up—”
“Speak about me as if I’m not here, why don’t you?” Ginny huffs, crossing her arms. “Maybe I don’t want to go back. Maybe I want to stay.”
Percy stoically avoids pressing his palms into his eyes. Clearly, Ginny thinks their shared distance from their family is some sort of bonding point, as if they don’t have entirely different reasons and experiences. Some line about not wanting to babysit is right on his tongue, but Ginny’s look is all pleading and that’s his baby sister.
“I can look after her,” Percy finds himself saying. “Give her the chance to cool off.”
“You sure?” George asks, and Percy is really really not, but Ginny is beaming.
“Yep. It’s fine.”
A few more assurances, and George is gone. Percy straightens his robes and stalks back to the door.
“Thank you,” Ginny says, uncharacteristically hesitant. Percy scrubs a hand through his hair.
“We are talking further tonight,” is all he says before leaving the flat to apparate to the Ministry. This is quite the mess he’s gotten himself into.
~
Molly, predictably, takes the news of Ginny’s whereabouts as a bitter betrayal. She secludes herself in the kitchen for more angry baking while the rest of the Order bask in their relief. Sirius is up in his spot in the attic, smoking out the open window, when a delicate doe patronus dances into the room and speaks in Severus’ voice.
Harry is missing from the castle. Floo me.
All the tension from Ginny’s disappearance comes rushing back into Sirius’ limbs tenfold. He drops his cigarette, stamping it out with the heel of his boot and leaving a burnt streak on the floor. Harry can’t be missing. Harry has to be alright.
He apparates to his old bedroom. His hands are shaking so bad it takes three tries to get a scoop of floo powder from the jar on the mantel. He steps into the swirling flames, whispers “Snape’s Office, Hogwarts” and stumbles out blindly into the dungeon room.
Cold hands grasp his immediately, steadying.
“Breathe,” Severus tells him firmly. “Deep breaths, Black.”
Slowly, Sirius comes to himself, lets crippling fear be overtaken by purpose. He straightens, humming with restrained energy, and it’s only when Severus hisses that he realizes the death grip he has on the other man’s hands and releases them.
“Tell me everything.”
~
They’re having a meeting in Narcissa’s house and Narcissa is not invited. This is the norm, by now, and so Narcissa has developed a habit of waiting in her personal parlor while they gather downstairs, reading while she waits for the meeting to end. Lucius is forbidden, via unbreakable vow, to tell her anything that occurs in those meetings without the Dark Lord’s permission. The Dark Lord understands marriage, in the most technical sense; understands love and loyalty.
He does not understand familial ties.
Every day when a Death Eater meeting ends, Narcissa waits in her parlor for Bellatrix, who will slip through the door and flop on the settee and tell her everything.
“Cissy!” Her sister swans in like usual, but takes the seat directly beside Narcissa on the couch, rather than sprawling across a whole piece of furniture. There’s something uncertain in her silver eyes, and Narcissa wants to smooth it over, the way she used to soothe all of Bella and Andi’s conflicts.
Why is she thinking of Andromeda? She makes a point to never think of that sister. That traitor. Unless…
Is Bella thinking of her? Sometimes their minds link like that. When Bella got married, Narcissa was haunted by phantom feelings of terror all day. When Narcissa went into labor, Bella knew before anyone else, showed up within minutes. When Andi ran away—
Narcissa studies her eldest sister. Something is different with Bella, some deep secret. Perhaps she is having an affair, though why she wouldn’t tell Narcissa about something so trivial…
“Are you having an affair with my husband?” Narcissa asks, at the same time that Bellatrix says:
“The Dark Lord has captured Potter.”
They blink at each other. Bellatrix cackles.
“With Luci?” She asks gleefully. “Never.”
“Have we won then?” Narcissa asks. “With Potter imprisoned?”
Bella gives her a long, unreadable look.
“No,” she says at last. “But the Dark Lord plans to use him as bait for the young Peverell.”
“Why not just kill him? And assure Potter cannot kill him?”
“Ours not to question our Lord’s judgement,” Bella says, though less sharply than she might have another time. “Is Lucius cheating on you? Because you know I’ll kill him.”
Narcissa scoffs.
“I’d kill him. And no, you’re the one who’s hiding something.”
“All will be clear in time, dear heart,” Bella promises. “Let it go.”
Notes:
Percy: i hope Ginny doesn’t think we’ll be bonding over this
The author: *cackles maniacally*~
Snarling dogfather trope>>>
~
Bella: I would never sleep with someone so terrified of me anyway; no fun
Cissa: Lucius isn’t terrified of you
Luci: Yes I am
Chapter 5: Of Rescue Plans and Arguments
Notes:
Shorter chapter than usual and it’s a bit of a mess. Sorry. <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sirius is still very clearly not okay. Severus sticks close to his side all throughout the meeting, sitting next to him at the long, mahogany table where Dumbledore gathers them, where Sirius’ family once had their fancy ass dinners.
“Our spy among the Death Eaters,” Dumbledore begins, and everyone’s eyes dart to Severus. He keeps his face emotionless. Dumbledore’s mouth quirks into a smile. “Our other spy among the Death Eaters,” he amends. “Has informed us of Harry’s location.”
Three people shout at once.
“We have another spy?” Tonks frowns.
“Harry’s been captured?” Sirius asks, strangled.
“Where?” Remus demands.
Dumbledore keeps smiling. Severus wants to kill him. The urge isn’t new. He keeps it to himself.
“Yes, yes, and Malfoy Manor.” He nods to Sirius. “Your cousin’s place.”
“No cousin of mine,” Sirius spits, and Severus thinks of sweet, sharp Narcissa and how some things are irreparable.
“What’s the plan?” Emmeline Vance asks, tone even despite her flashing eyes.
~
The plan is a stupid one. Have Severus and this other spy Dumbledore’s refusing to name gather intelligence. Then send a strike team to get him out. Sirius is not invited. That is the stupidest part.
“Who’s the spy?” He demands, pulling Severus into a little used parlor after they leave the dining room. He’s well aware he sounds and looks deranged. Severus stares back, apparently unaffected.
“I don’t know,” he says clearly and calmly. “Let go of me.”
Sirius had barely registered the death hold he has on Severus’ arm. He releases him, stepping back and running a hand through his hair.
“You should go,” he says. “Follow Dumbledore’s orders like a good boy.”
Severus arches an eyebrow.
“Dumbledore doesn’t want me interfering until tomorrow.”
“Tomor—” Sirius cuts himself off with an anguished growl. “Harry could be dead by then!”
“Dumbledore believes the Dark Lord will not harm Harry for the time being.”
“And you trust him?” Sirius doesn’t wait for him to reply. “Go. Get out of my sight.” He doesn’t look over, but there’s a swish of robes and the click of a door and Severus is gone. He’s immediately disappointed. “Fuck.”
Harry is captured. Harry is hurt. Harry is dying. Harry is dead.
And no one around here seems to give a fuck.
Sirius wears away the floor with his pacing, thoughts wild. He feels powerless. It is James all over again. It is all his fault for not protecting him more and if no one is going to rescue him—
If no one is going to rescue Harry, Sirius is going to do it himself.
That settled, he draws his wand and heads for the attic.
~
Maybe Severus shouldn’t have left. Yes, Sirius had asked him to, but he is genuinely worried about the other man’s state at the moment. He’d looked every inch as deranged as the papers painted him to be, and while Severus doesn’t give a damn who Sirius hurts, he does have a vested interest in Sirius himself not getting injured or killed doing something stupid.
“Severus?” Dumbledore calls him over. They are alone in the meeting room.
“What now?” He tries to sound bored instead of fucking irritated.
“We—”
He is cut off by the apparition that appears above the table, a skull floating in green smoke. It opens its mouth to reveal that its tongue is a snake and speaks:
“Dumbledore.” The Dark Lord’s cold voice fills the room. Across from Severus and Dumbledore, the door flies open and Emmeline appears, wand drawn, Lupin and Tonks a beat behind her. They freeze, horror flashing over their faces at the sight of the Dark Lord’s poor excuse for a patronus. “I have the Potter boy,” the skull continues. “But I am willing to make a trade. Bring me the boy who goes by Tom Peverell by next Sunday or Harry Potter will die.” The skull pauses as if considering. “Good luck.”
The smoke engulfs the skull and it all shrinks down into nothing.
“Right,” Severus says coolly. “Simple enough.”
“You don’t actually believe he’ll hold up his end of the bargain?” Lupin demands. “He’s just going to murder Harry anyway.”
“Obviously,” Severus drawls, resisting the strong urge to roll his eyes. “But the Dark Lord is not the only one who can work trickery.”
“Why do you still call him that?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you—”
“Alright,” Tonks intervenes. “Let’s focus on helping Harry.”
“Ms. Tonks is correct,” Dumbledore says in his obnoxious teacherly voice. “Your arguments are inconsequential in the face of our real enemy.”
Severus is so done.
~
Theo steps into Hermione’s path after class. She doesn’t look surprised.
“Is Harry alright?”
She glances around before pulling him aside.
“He’s missing.” She holds up a hand to cut him off. “I know. We’re going to find him.”
“Not without me,” Theo says before he can stop himself. It’s a wild thing to say, really, given that as far as she knows, he and Harry are just barely friends.
“Of course,” she agrees like she’d expected it. He knew Hermione was book smart, but he hadn’t quite noticed how perceptive she is. “We’ve let his godfather know.”
“Sirius Black?”
“...yes?”
“Everyone knows about the boy-who-lived’s infamous godfather,” Theo explains.
“Right. Well, he isn’t a death eater.”
“Of course not.” His parents had never once believed that, and Father probably still hated the man. “So Black is going to find him?” He doesn’t want to leave it up to a stranger to save Harry.
“Two fronts,” Hermione explains. “Meet us in the R of R tonight, okay?”
She’s gone before he can reply.
~
Tom keeps the ring on a string around his neck. It’s tempting to put it on, to feel the power of a Hallow, of his Hallow, but Bee had been very insistent that they save it for the ritual. He’ll respect that wish for now, at least until he can get a moment alone.
Still, he finds his hand going to it now and then, stroking the surface of the carving. The Resurrection Stone. He could see Alphard, Arcturus.
His mother.
His witch mother, who was supposed to be powerful but who let herself die of a broken heart. Who—Tom has done his research—raped his father and couldn’t handle the consequences. He should want nothing to do with her.
He would like to see her. Just once.
Notes:
Sirius honey… not sure that’s a good idea… get someone’s help at least…
*Voldemort sends a magic skull message*
*everyone is terrified*
Severus: what a drama queen smhTheo: I shouldn’t act like i’m worried about Harry i have no reason to be
Hermione who knows or suspects everything: of course you’re joining the rescue party
Chapter 6: Of New Allies and Their Plots
Notes:
Hello lovelies! It’s been a while, i know, but I finally had both a plan and a reason to procrastinate on other shit and managed to bang this one out. Have this fic planned out several chapters in advance now, so hopefully I can get back into a rhythm. Thanks for sticking around <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Theo tucks the broken pieces of the diadem into his bag before recasting all the protective charms on his trunk and turning to leave the dorm. Draco is standing in the doorway.
“What are you doing?”
Theo gives him an unimpressed look, tightening his grip on his bag strap.
“Going through my things. I wasn’t aware that was any of your business.”
Draco narrows his eyes.
“You’re up to something.”
“Okay.” Theo moves to brush past him, but Draco steps in his way.
“Pansy says you’ve been hanging around Potter.” Draco smiles. He thinks he’s onto something. “Gone soft, have you? Thinking of joining Dumbledore’s little gang?”
“What makes you think Harry and Dumbledore are on the same side?”
Draco’s grin widens. Shit.
“Harry, huh?” Theo takes an instinctive step back. “Grown close to the boy wonder? Don’t think that won’t get back to your father.”
“Draco.”
“Unless…” Draco is gleeful, distracted.
Theo bolts past him before he can continue with his blackmail. Who gives a fuck what Father thinks or knows? Theo, in a sudden, brilliant discovery, finds that he doesn’t care about the old man or what he does anymore. The lines have been drawn, and Theo will be standing with Harry, whatever that entails.
~
The others are already in the Room of Requirement when he arrives; Hermione, Cedric, and, oddly, Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw Theo knows only from a distance.
“Good,” Hermione says when she sees him. “We’re all here.”
“Finally,” another voice agrees dreamily, and—what is it with all these random Ravenclaws?––that Lovegood girl pops out from under a table.
“What are you doing here?” Theo spits. She smiles back.
“We’re helping Harry, aren’t we?”
“How do you know Harry?” Hermione asks. Lovegood shrugs.
“I’ve seen him around.” Her eyes are very round. “He’s always been nice.”
Hermione pinches the bridge of her nose.
“Just because he’s nice to you—”
“This is a private meeting,” Cho agrees, which is a bit hypocritical of her, Theo thinks, because since when was she a part of this?
“Hey,” Cedric says. “We need all the help we can get.” He turns to Lovegood. “What’s your name?”
“Luna!” She says brightly, chewing on lemon-yellow nails. Theo sighs inwardly. Hermione sighs outwardly.
“Welcome to the group,” Hermione says after Cedric shoots her a look. “Now, anyone have ideas? Because I drafted up a few plans, but I’m open to suggestions.”
When they shake their heads, she pulls out a muggle binder full of paper.
Merlin, Theo loves her.
~
Percy is a good cook, like all of them—Mum wouldn’t accept anything else—but Ginny picks at her food as she sits across from him in the tiny flat. She feels worn out for no reason, and it’s been boring sitting around in the flat all day, resorting to reading from Percy’s extensive library, and she doesn’t even know if she wants to be friendly again with Percy, who said all those mean things to Dad, and—
“Ginny,” Percy begins hesitantly. She looks up, gives him her attention. “I… I want to apologize.”
She frowns.
“For what?”
“I shut you all out along with Mum and Dad. I shouldn’t’ve.”
“Don’t worry about that.” She grins. “We wanted nothing to do with you either.”
He smirks a little at that, and when the silence falls again it’s a little less awkward, a little more like family.
“I do want to set some ground rules,” he says after a bit. Ginny sighs, rolling her eyes.
“I’m not gonna go out and party,” she grumbles. “Or do drugs or whatever you think I’m going to get up to.”
Percy blinks.
“Right.” he adjusts his glasses. “I was more thinking along the lines of what you’re going to do while I’m at work.”
“It is boring here.” Ginny sets her head in one palm and thinks a moment. If she wants to figure out what’s actually going on, insert herself into the main narrative, there is a place where everything is happening. But she has to play her cards right. “Do you think… could I maybe come with you to the Ministry?”
Percy frowns.
“You think my job is boring.”
“So prove me wrong.”
“I’m not sure—”
“I’ll be good, Perc. Your quiet shadow. Please?”
“I suppose…”
“Thank you!” She bounds up from the table and throws her arms around him. It’s the first time they’ve hugged in a while, and he looks a little stunned.
“Yeah, alright.” She steps back, feeling a little bad at how happy he looks. “But you have to listen to me. And my seniors as well.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’m not even sure if they’re going to be good with this.”
“They’ll be fine,” she waves him off. “You’re, like, their favorite minion.”
“Ginny,” he admonishes, but he isn’t actually mad.
~
Hermione is halfway through her speech when Luna raises her hand. She steadily ignores her, until Cedric clears his throat, darting his eyes pointedly from her to Luna. Hermione sighs.
“Yes, Luna?”
“I know where Harry is,” she says bluntly. They all stare at her.
“How—”
“He’s at Malfoy Manor. I have sources.” Luna smiles, showing her teeth, and Hermione wonders if she’s underestimated her.
“And those sources are?” Theo prods, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. Luna studies them all a moment.
“They’d prefer to go unnamed for now, but if you prove yourselves trustworthy, I can put in a good word.”
“It’s not the norgles again, is it?” Cho asks pointedly.
“It’s pronounced nargles,” Luna corrects primly. “And no.” She sniffs. “I promise you already believe in the people I’m talking about.”
“Alright.” Hermione sets down her binder on one of the shelves. There is half a week of school left before winter break. They don’t have that kind of time. “We’re going, then?”
“And skipping school?” Cedric presses.
“Obviously.” She fixes him with a look. “Do you want Harry to die?”
He raises both hands in surrender.
“Just double checking that this was coming from Miss Goody-Two-Shoes.”
“Fuck off,” she returns, and grins when he splutters. She’s changed a lot in the last half-year, sure, but she likes this new Hermione. She feels powerful. Like she could take on the world.
“May I come?” Luna asks, pale eyes wide and hopefully. Hermione hesitates.
“The more the merrier,” Cedric decides. Theo frowns.
“Pack quickly,” Hermione announces. “And we’ll meet back here.”
The group splits, but Theo lingers.
“Nothing to pack?” She asks when the others have left. Theo is an interesting anomaly to her. He’d barely crossed her radar before this year, when he’d suddenly been best friends with Harry. To the point where, according to Harry, he’d dealt with a horcrux. Ravenclaw’s diadem. Said to emphasize the wearer’s intelligence. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t disappointed to have never seen it before it’s destruction.
“Already did,” he says, adjusting his messenger bag. Lightening and enlarging charms, no doubt.
“Same.”
He studies her a moment.
“I think I’ve been underestimating you, Granger.”
“Most people do,” she agrees. “But I think we have a few things in common.”
“Oh?”
“We’re the smartest people in the room.” She grins sharply as she says it.
“Obviously.”
“Allies?” She offers, holding out her hand. After a beat, he takes it and gives it a reluctant shake.
“When you change the world,” he says. “Count me in.”
Notes:
Draco is so unimportant in this fic but he wishes he was
~
If Theo wasn’t gay and Hermione wasn’t into loyal redheads, they’d be the greatest power couple. As is, they’ll have to take over the Ministry platonically.
~
Ginny has a plan. Do I know it? …moving on.
~
Theories about Luna’s secret allies? I am looking forward to their introduction!
Chapter 7: Of Petty Rivalries and Unwelcome Surprises
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Dumbledore was disappointed to hear of Trelawney’s death, but not overly sad, and he has let Bellatrix keep her disguise and teaching position, after making her swear an unbreakable vow that she won’t harm any of the students under her care. Easy enough to agree to; the little brats aren’t Bellatrix’s enemy. She isn’t sure anyone is her enemy, anymore. She sacrificed her loyalty to the Dark Lord for her family, sure, but that doesn’t make him her enemy. She’d be perfectly fine with him taking over so long as he doesn’t hurt anyone she considers hers.
Except now he’s captured Potter, and Bellatrix can feel the time running out before she will have to bring her true allegiances to light.
She’s in Trelawney’s rooms, up in their tower, surrounded by lacy drapings and slow burning incense. She hasn’t changed a thing about the space, so as not to arouse suspicion, but the environment grates. She holds a cup of tea, the spoon gently stirring in honey by itself, as she sits in a spongy armchair, reading one of Trelawney’s books on dark omens. Her features are rearranging themselves as she reads; if she wants to go out later, attend dinner as she often does to keep an eye on Andromeda, she will have to take another dose of polyjuice. When the mark burns, it is with aching familiarity.
Bellatrix goes to the mirror, foggy as it is, and checks her appearance. She waits a moment, as the pain of the mark steadily grows, for her face to be fully her own. Then she casts a invisibility spell and sets out from Trelawney’s chambers.
When she leaves the castle, there is a cloaked figure a few paces ahead. Snape. No doubt the Dark Lord called for his sorry arse as well. Bellatrix can admit that she has little reason to hate Snape now, given that most of her motivation stemmed from the Dark Lord’s unwavering trust in him and her suspicions that he might be a traitor. She is the traitor among them. How the tables have turned. Still, Bellatrix isn’t fond of the sneaky git. He’s as much a wild card as Barty, but far more dangerous, because most people don’t notice.
They pass through the gates and Bellatrix hurries up, steps into his path, and removes the invisibility spell, looking for all the world like she’s just come up from Hogsmeade. To her great delight, Snape flinches.
“Bellatrix,” he greets stiffly.
“Surprise!” She returns cheerily, waving her wand carelessly and leaning into her rumored madness.
“What are you doing so close to the castle?”
“Worried about your ickle students?” She pouts.
“Hardly,” he sniffs. “Only about you jeopardizing the Dark Lord’s plans. It is foolish to think you can wonder Hogsmeade without Dumbledore finding out.”
Bellatrix has to laugh at that.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl.”
He has the self preservation to not roll his eyes at her, but it seems to be a tough battle. Bellatrix’s arm flares up again and she clucks her tongue.
“Shall we?” She offers her arm so they can apparate together, just to piss him off. She gets a dead stare in return.
“Of course,” he replies evenly, and apparates away without her.
Bellatrix arches an eyebrow at the empty space where he stood. Someday, she thinks, delightedly, Dumbledore will win and the Dark Lord will fall and no amount of lying and groveling will save Snape a second time around because Bellatrix’s beloved cousin will slaughter him. Sirius always did hate Snape with such a passion. It will be fun to watch him finally get his wish.
~
“Bella!” The Dark Lord greets when she arrives at the entrance to the dungeons of her sister’s manor. “I have a gift for you.” He’s flanked by Rowle and Nott, both of whom are bloody. Snape, having arrived just a moment before her, is still knelt before their Lord, not having been given permission to stand yet. Bellatrix doesn’t bother to kneel; when the Dark Lord greets her like this, he means for them to play at equals for a moment. She grins sharply, just the way he likes, skirting Snape’s prone form.
“A gift, my lord?”
“Indeed.” He grins cruelly. “Ran right into our arms this one did.” He waves a hand. “Stand, Severus. This will interest you as well.”
Snape rises, something wary and roiling in his dark eyes. Bellatrix meets them, narrowing her own gaze, and he looks quickly away. She isn’t dumb; Snape has an idea what the surprise might be, and it worries him. Bellatrix runs through the options as she follows the Dark Lord down the stone steps. The Dark Lord already has Harry, so what, or who, could he have found that he believes would so delight her? Delight them both?
She figures it out a moment before they reach the cell, drawing in a quick breath that the Dark Lord notices. He turns to her, head tilted with intrigue.
“Excited, darling?”
How long has it been since he called her darling? How long she has waited for that word and yet it doesn’t even register beneath her dull horror.
“Very.” At her side, Snape has gone unnaturally still. He must be so overjoyed, the bastard, at the idea of this all.
Her and Snape step forward, and Rowle, as the lowest ranking Death Eater present, casts a lumos, revealing the contents of the cell.
Sirius lies in the corner of the cell, battered and bloodstained, unconscious. Bellatrix laughs to disguise her emotions.
“What a wonderful gift, my lord!” She exclaims, but her voice is a little too high, and the Dark Lord notices.
“Does it trouble you, Bella?” He hisses softly, pushing past Snape to stroke her hair. “Seeing a member of your house so far fallen?”
“Only because I know what he could have been,” she assures him quickly. Her favorite cousin. She’d hated him so much, but now? With the prospect of getting Andi back, Bellatrix had begun to hope for a full family reunion. She’d begun to hope, foolishly, that she could get them all back, that everything would be the way it was before. (Except Regulus. Weak, foolish Regulus. Bellatrix misses him still.) “I mourn the loss of Black blood, but not the fool who bled it.”
“Well put.” The Dark Lord steps back. He puts one hand on her shoulder and one hand on Snape’s. Snape’s gaze has not once moved from Sirius’ form. She imagines he’s searing this memory into his mind forever, and the idea repulses her. No one should be allowed to see her family so weak. “You have both served me so well, and I understand how much hate this sorry excuse for a wizard has caused.” He grins slowly, as though offering a great kindness. “He’s yours. Do with him what you will; I want him dead by morning.”
“Yes, my lord.” Bellatrix dips her head. “It will be an honor to prune our great line thus.”
“Yes, my lord.” Snape’s mask flickers, revealing a glimpse of ugly hatred. “He will pay.”
“Good.” The Dark Lord claps his hands. “Rowle, Nott.” The other two follow him out.
“Be careful,” Rowle whispers as he leaves. “The bastard did in Crabbe.”
Good, Bellatrix thinks.
“I can handle myself,” she scoffs.
Notes:
I love writing bella
Next up: teamwork makes the dream work :D
Chapter 8: Of Surprising Spies and Unexpected Coalitions
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
They are alone. Him and Bellatrix and Sirius. Severus’ options are rapidly dwindling, not that there were many great ones to begin with. Sirius looks so broken, on the floor of the warded cell, and Severus wants nothing more than to run to him.
He doesn’t like his odds at fighting Bellatrix. He would have to protect Sirius at the same time, and keep her from calling for the others or summoning the Dark Lord. He cannot just stand by and let Sirius die, though. He cannot lose one more person he loves.
Most likely, Severus is going to die here. And just when he was beginning to have reason to live. He smiles at the irony, a bitter, cold smile.
Bellatrix is watching him, frowning. She’s always hated him. She’ll be glad to give the killing blow.
Severus takes a breath in, then out. He has to try. He steps forward, waving his wand at the lock.
“What are you doing?” Bellatrix snaps. She seems jittery, on edge.
“Were you planning to kill him from out here?” He asks, slow and even. She huffs.
“Obviously not.”
The lock clicks and the door swings open. Sirius doesn’t move.
Bellatrix doesn’t either.
Severus waits, watching her. She sways a little in place before stepping carefully into the cell. He follows close behind. There’s something off about her today; maybe he can take advantage of that. Bellatrix is standing before Sirius, but all she casts is a wandless rennervate. Sirius’ eyes flicker open slowly. One of them is swollen and puffy. He’s so far out of it, gaze drifting up to Bellatrix before he gives a hollow, desperate laugh.
“Here to kill me, cousin?” His laugh turns into a cough, and blood splatters the stone floor. Severus clenches his fists to keep himself from doing anything rash. Bellatrix doesn’t reply, twirling her wand nervously. Severus risks another step forward, and Sirius notices his presence for the first time. He stills. “Snape.” Thank Merlin, he’s still lucid enough to lie.
“Black,” Severus returns, though it kills him not to kneel before him, to embrace him and heal his wounds. That argument can’t have been their last proper conversation.
“Let’s get this over with,” Bellatrix spits, the fire returning to her eyes. She flicks her wand idly. “Crucio.”
Severus sinks to his knees.
~
Bellatrix casts the unforgivable on Snape, hoping to catch him off guard. She watches for a moment, him shudder on the floor, so determined, even now, to hide every emotion; mouth sealed shut, body curled tight instead of flailing like most might.
“No!” The haggard roar is unexpected, as is the suddenness of Sirius, despite his injury, launching himself at her. Surprised and unwilling to fight back, Bellatrix falls to the ground. She still has grip on her wand, but her focus on the spell snapped. Snape will be recovering enough to call for backup any minute.
“You fool,” Bellatrix spits, wrestling Sirius beneath her, pinning him to the stone. “I’m trying to help you.”
He goes limp, confusion written across that familiar face. She hears Snape standing, and scrambles up to face him. He’s breathing hard from the crucio, but his gaze is fiercely calculating.
“You’re the other spy,” Snape breathes.
~
It’s the only thing that makes sense. Still, he’s half expecting Bellatrix to attack again. She frowns, tapping her wand against her arm.
“You…” she begins, brow narrowed in confusion.
“You want to rescue Sirius?” He interrupts. This is probably a trap, but it’s better odds than he’s had all evening. She watches him warily.
“He’s my blood.”
Purebloods and their fucking wild priorities.
“Good.” Severus steps around her, helping Sirius up to standing. Bellatrix just stands there, looking between them.
“You hate each other.”
Sirius, leaning on Severus for support, laughs hollowly again.
“Not quite,” he says tiredly. Then: “I was pretty confident you hated me.”
“I did, baby cousin,” she smirks. “But I still loved you.”
“But why—”
“The Dark Lord lost my allegiance.” She shrugs. Severus makes an impatient sound.
“Explanations later,” he says. Bellatrix nods.
“I can apparate as soon as we’re out of the cell,” she explains. “The wards have exceptions for certain people.”
“This feels too easy,” Sirius mutters.
“You’re half dead,” Severus snaps. “Just be grateful.”
They half carry Sirius out of the cell.
“Harry.” He says suddenly, staggering away from their arms.
“What?” Bellatrix reaches out to grab him again.
“We have to rescue Harry.”
Severus grabs his wrist.
“We don’t know where Harry is being kept,” he says tightly. “And you don’t have a wand. Do you realize how suicidal that is?”
“But Harry—”
“The Order is on its way to rescue him. Not to mention, the Dark Lord is keeping Harry alive until the week’s end. He planned to have you dead tonight.”
“We don’t know that for sure—” Sirius protests.
“Idiot,” Bellatrix hisses under her breath. She flicks her wand and Sirius becomes a dead weight against Severus’ arm, unconscious. “Okay,” she mutters. “Let’s get out of here.”
~
Severus is not bringing Bellatrix to Grimmauld, whatever she claims, so they apparate back to Hogwarts, appearing in the snow outside the gates. They levitate Sirius’ body as they begin the slow climb up to the castle. Bellatrix draws a vial from a small bag attached to her belt, downing the potion inside, and her face quickly morphs into Trelawney’s. It’s only thanks to Severus’ years of spywork that he doesn’t react.
“How long?” He asks.
“Around the time that awful DADA professor disappeared,” she replies, which explains quite a bit of Trelawney’s recent strangeness.
“Does Andromeda know?”
She scuffs at a clump of snow with the toe of her boot.
“No.”
It’s strange to be talking to her like this, all masks gone. She’s the last Death Eater Severus would ever imagine turning.
“Severus? Sybill?” Hagrid comes lumbering out of the darkness, followed by Fang, holding an axe. “Sirius?”
Bellatrix raises her wand.
“We’re on business for Dumbledore,” she says harshly. Severus shoots her a glare.
“He’s part of the Order,” he says, and Bellatrix lowers her wand a little sheepishly. “Rubeus, can you get Dumbledore?”
“ ‘Course,” he nods readily. “In the meantime, bring Sirius to me hut to keep ‘im warm.”
~
Bellatrix paces the floor of Hagrid’s hut, from the bed to a shelf laden with foodstuffs and back again, wondering how such a large man is comfortable with such a humble space. Sirius is lying on Hagrid’s bed while Snape runs what diagnostic and healing spells he can.
There’s a knock at the door. Bellatrix runs to open it, wand at the ready.
Hagrid and Dumbledore, she expected, but not Andromeda.
“Sybill,” Dumbledore greets, a faint twinkle in his eyes. “May we come in?”
“Of course,” she says quickly, a little flustered, backing away too quickly and running into the table.
“Sirius!” Andromeda runs to his bedside. After surveying him, she turns to Snape. “You saved him. Thank you.”
“Obviously.”
“Still.” She hugs him suddenly, and Bellatrix hides a smile at how uncomfortable Snape looks.
“We need to take him to Pomfrey.” He says stiffly. Andromeda releases him.
“I can do that.”
“Wait,” Dumbledore says. “We need you a moment longer, Mrs Tonks. Hagrid can bring him.”
“What do you need?” Andromeda asks, arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently.
“Sybill?” Dumbledore prompts. Bellatrix’s eyes widen. She is not ready for this.
“Right,” Andromeda says slowly. “What are you doing here?”
Notes:
Careful guys, your affections are showing...
Up next: some long awaited reunions and quick thinking