Chapter 35
Their usual evening date was restored now that Draco was part of their ever-expanding group of misfits. Not wanting to wait any longer, they immediately set their plan in motion. It could go wrong in many ways but they knew what to expect.
It was risky to all go to Malfoy Manor so, after uninterrupted hours of shouting and arguing, they established the groups.
Draco, George, Daisy and Sirius would sneak into Malfoy Manor where Severus Snape would be waiting for them inside so he could help them if things went wrong. One had to be smart. Getting in too many would have drawn too much attention. They didn't want to go to war, they just needed to free Mrs Malfoy.
While they entered the vanishing cabinet one by one, the rest would take care of the last things. For the first time they would see the fruits of their collaboration with the Order of the Phoenix.
Thanks to Draco and Severus, they had a list of everyone who had taken the mark, so they could isolate them from the rest of the students. They couldn't risk them somehow alerting Voldemort to what was happening inside the school, so they locked them inside the Chamber of Secrets with Harry's help. At first many complained about the suggestion, but Harry was right: it was the only place they knew nothing about. They couldn't escape and they couldn't hurt themselves either. They would keep them safe until they could interrogate them with the veritaserum so they could find out whether they had submitted voluntarily or not.
While Moody, Tonks and Kingsley and Harry looked after them, Dumbledore and the teachers would inform the students of what was going to happen next. They sent everyone home except for those who wanted to stay and fight.
Remus would remain in the Room of Requirement, guarding the vanishing cabinet. If they didn't return within two hours, he would call for reinforcements to join them, thus moving the location of the battle. As Ron had said a few days earlier: if they had to die, they would do it on their own terms. They weren't going to intentionally leave anyone behind.
Leaving the vanishing cabinet, Daisy turned to look at her friends and her father, whose outlines she could only see in the darkness of the room.
Through the window she could glimpse in the darkness the large iron gate at the entrance to a long driveway. All that surrounded that huge mansion were endless trees. Not a single house was visible and for a moment she was seized with panic. If they could not reach the cabinet, how would they escape from there? They had done it easily but with the mounting fear it was impossible to ignore the destructive thoughts that were forming in her mind.
" Daisy, are you OK? " George asked, placing a hand on her shoulder and bringing her back to reality.
" Yes, what is the situation? " the girl asked, watching as Sirius and Draco threw an unconscious, immobilised and oblivious man at the foot of the room. If he woke up, he would hardly be able to do anything. However, having the invisibility cloak with them had been useful. They wouldn't be able to hide under it, but they could prevent others from noticing the Death Eater trapped inside the room.
They cautiously walked down the dark corridor leading to the living room, crawling against the walls, to the half-open door.
The living room was blinding after all that darkness. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, more portraits lined the dark purple walls. Two figures rose from their chairs in front of a marble fireplace and the four of them hid behind the pillars of the room. They held their breath while watching them go to the opposite side.
Invading a house in the middle of the night was relatively easier than during the day. They had more blind spots to hide in, fewer people inside the house because they were taking part in some raid which, thanks to Severus's tip-off, would have dismantled the senior members of the order who were not at Hogwarts at the moment. They had covered everything except the possibility of running into Greyback.
Perhaps it would have been better to face those two Death Eaters than the mad werewolf in front of them.
"I could smell intruders. " he said, almost growling while smelling the air around them. " What a surprise, being confronted by the mate of my most rebellious pup. How is Remus?"
" Better than you, surely. " Sirius replied haughtily, looking him in the eyes as if to challenge him to do something.
Fenrir moved dangerously close to Sirius, sneering at the three terrified teenagers standing next to him. " I wonder if sending you back in pieces would break him enough to make him the beast he is. "
" He is nothing if not someone too good for this world. " Sirius replied, not reacting when Fenrir brought his claws closer to her face. Greyback was aroused with terror and seeing that man not blink at the sight of him pissed him off. "A few months ago I slashed the face of a pureblood like you. Would you like to join the club? "
Daisy stiffened at his words but didn't react, relieved to see Professor Snape advancing towards them. " What is going on here? "
" I found them wandering around the house. " Greyback announced, confident that he could gain something from his discovery.
"Did you warn the dark lord?" asked Snape, looking indifferently at the people in front of him. Sirius was too close to the wolf for him to do anything but all of them, if perfectly synchronised, could have knocked him out for as long as it took.
" No, I didn't think they were important to him. " said the werewolf, retreating his claws at the mere possibility of catching something Voldemort might want. He had once been punished by him and didn't want to relive the experience if he could. It was at that juncture that Severus, George, Draco and Daisy pointed their wands at him while shouting " Stupeficium! ", sending him to the opposite side of the room. He was completely unconscious after slamming brutally into the wall, causing a considerable crack in the affected area.
" Keep moving forward, I'll make sure we didn't attract anyone's attention with that racket. " Severus said, moving away towards the corridor where he knew the few Death Eaters left to guard the mansion during Lord Voldemort's absence were.
Draco led them towards the dungeon, which many were keen to point out was strange to add to a house. More disturbing was its ambiguous positioning.
If by some bizarre luck no one except Fenrir had noticed their presence, it was possible that given the closeness of the dungeon to the living room, anyone could hear any suspicious noises. So they had to be careful not to bring anyone towards them when they were so close to the success of the plan.
Once downstairs, they spotted, in what looked like a horribly cramped prison, the figure of a woman who was beautiful despite her appearance. She had a split lip and her whole unkempt appearance suggested that she was experiencing hard times. But her bruised face shone with joy when she saw her son before horror painted her face when she realised what was happening.
" Mum, what happened to you? "Draco asked, shocked at her condition.
" What, this? " the woman dismissed the injuries with a shake of her head. " Severus takes care of me when he can, don't worry. "
" Cissy, I would say it is good to see you again but the circumstances of our reunion are horrible. " Sirius smiled stiffly, releasing his cousin from the tight prison. He smiled affectionately at the careful way his son embraced her, afraid to hurt her. He didn't know what injuries his mother was suffering at the moment but the woman didn't seem to care as she held him tightly against her.
"If only Remus could hear you talking right now. " Daisy teased Sirius. " Hello Mrs. Malfoy. "
<< Not only did you bring my only son into danger but you dragged two other poor kids with you. >> Narcissa scolded Sirius, watching as George and Daisy snickered behind her back at the treatment she was receiving. Her look seemed to work as a warning because they soon stopped their giggling, much to Draco's amusement. His mother was a force to be reckoned with.
They all went rigid when they heard the dungeon door open. They pointed their wands at the newcomer, snorting in irritation when they spotted the figure of Severus Snape carrying a tray full of food for the prisoner. A task he performed often so as not to arouse suspicion. It was just the right diversion to reunite him with them. The time had come for Severus Snape to give up his life as a spy.
" Leaving aside the mess you almost made upstairs, things are going well. " said the man, placing the tray on the floor and approaching the woman carefully. Without uttering a word, he handed her his wand, resolutely ignoring everyone's eyes on them as Narcissa thanked him with a kiss on the cheek. A show of affection from their growing love affair wasn't something he would have wanted to show that particular group but he wasn't going to complain if it meant getting Narcissa to safety.
" We should definitely leave before anyone noticed what was happening. " Draco reminded them, intimating them to return.
As they passed the living room, they heard the undisputed sounds of multiple materialisations. They had to hurry as time had considerably thinned. They had to reach Hogwarts all at once because leaving someone behind was not an option.
" Where did Cissy go? " Bellatrix's scream made them advance faster towards their escape route. As the younger ones passed through the vanishing cabinet, Sirius blocked the door as well as he could so they could buy more time. The Death Eaters would try to open the door using the simple spell once they realised it was locked, not imagining that they had created a wall of furniture against the door to keep them occupied for a few more seconds.
Sirius wasn't such an idiot to think that they wouldn't solve everything in no time, after all, his cousin had always been less than patient. The mere sound of his crazy cousin's voice ignited an unquiet fear within him.
Severus had just helped Narcissa into the wardrobe when he spoke: " Black, you're next. "
" Don't waste time and follow the others. " retorted the ex-Auror after reminding the other man how excellent he had been in his old profession. Arguing over who would go last would only further halve their chances of all of them coming back. Severus knew this well because with a nod he agreed and disappeared right in front of his eyes.
There was only Sirius left inside the room and as he listened to his cousin's obscenely loud voice guiding everyone towards the room where he was hiding, he could only think back to his little brother. Would he be proud of what he was doing? He hoped so. There was nothing he could do to change his fate but he would fight to save the remnants of his family. Him, Narcissa and Andromeda could have been the light that would have cleansed the darkness of the House of Black. Smiling at the thought of his bigoted family turning in their graves at his actions, he headed for the vanishing cabinet. At the exact moment he closed the doors, he heard Bellatrix throw a bombarda towards the door that created a deafening roar. If Voldemort had not yet been alerted, he certainly was now.
Someone opened the cabinet doors and soon he found himself clutched in his husband's arms as Severus destroyed the cabinet so that no one could enter the school without being spotted.
" We should get you to the infirmary, ma'am. " George said cautiously, looking at the pale woman in front of him.
" Don't worry, dear. " Narcissa dismissed him, stating that Black was more resilient than seemed. " Take me to the principal. We have no time to waste. "
" According to Theo's updates, it seems that he has started sending first to fourth year students home. " explained Remus, greeting the woman he had seen in the distance for years. They knew each other but had never spoken before that moment.
" He should send all the children home, it won't be safe once the Death Eaters arrive. " the woman retorted with a frown on her face that showed her disappointment about the whole situation.
" It seems like a lot of the kids want to fight. " Remus said defeated, sharing Narcissa's reasoning. " We can't force them but at least we can try to protect them. I should congratulate you on making it back in one piece after only an hour. "
" Severus was right. The place was almost deserted. " Sirius said, nodding to the man in thanks.
" It would have taken us less time if we hadn't had to fight Greyback. " Daisy said, ignoring the way Sirius' eyes widened for daring to give that information to Remus.
" Calm down, we're fine. " Sirius tried to calm him down, ignoring the curious look that Narcissa was directing towards their behavior.
" What will happen to the Slytherins? I understand from Severus' stories that things have changed but I've seen most of those kids grow up and they won't trust Dumbledore. They need a friendly face. " Narcissa said, further repeating her need to go to where the principal was.
" That's why we have Theo, Blaise, Daphne and Astoria to reassure them. But if you want to go, I'll accompany you personally. " Daisy said, nodding at Draco when he smiled at her in thanks.
" Thank you. " said the woman, following her towards the great room together with the rest of their strangely balanced team.