Chapter 10

They were in a private garden overlooking the sea. The only thing keeping lookers-on safe from the rocky bottom of the cliff was a small row of bushes along the edge. Willow trees boarded the rest of the small area.

"I really don't feel comfortable with this sir," Harry said nervously.

"Nonsense Harry. This is the only way for you to know if you're doing it right. The others aren't as familiar with the spell as I am," Dumbledore replied, "Now try again."

Dumbledore drank another vial of red liquid. Harry rubbed his arm where the prick of the dagger had pierced him.

Harry shook his arm out and started the complicated wand work for yet another try. There were ups and downs, and twisting motions that he could barely remember, but he seemed to have done it properly. Dumbledore didn't correct him after all.

A clear, bright blue light came from his wand and lazily made its way to Dumbledore. He let out a wheezy breath and bent over, holding onto his knees.

"Professor, are you okay? What happened?" Harry demanded.

"Nothing's wrong Harry. You did exactly right. Bravo," Dumbledore lumbered back upright, "Why don't we test it?"

"Rictusempra," Dumbledore called out.

Harry bent over laughing for a few seconds, then it stopped. He looked up when he heard something thump. Dumbledore was on the ground laughing so hard tears were falling into his beard.

"Finite Incantatum," Harry said. Dumbledore stopped laughing and wiped his eyes.

"Very good Harry. I think you're ready," he said, as he climbed to his feet.

Harry looked at his feet for a few seconds, thinking. "Sir, about the potion Snape is making, he mentioned something about it lasting only six hours. How is that going to help me later on?"

"Its Professor Snape Harry, and he's in the process of developing a long lasting version of it. Now, what do you say we go to dinner?" Dumbledore suggested.

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"No. the black widow legs will destabilize it. What do you think about cerulean tuna eggs?" Snape asked Dumbledore during their meal.

"Liquefied it might work, but it would be safer if you used powdered flamingo eyes," he suggested.

"Of course, thank you Headmaster. Excuse me," Snape moved his chair back in an effort to leave.

"Hold on Snivellus. You haven't finished your meal, and we'd like to know how your part of the plan is going," Sirius interjected.

"The potion in question will be done in three days. We have two weeks after that in which to implement our plan before it rots. Now if you would like to preserve Potter's life after this planned encounter, you'll leave me to my work," Snape groused out.

"What crawled up Snape's ass?" Sirius asked.

"He's worried about Harry. He has been looking after the boy these last few weeks," Dumbledore answered.

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Only a few more hours until it started, he thought to himself. It wouldn't be worth all the work if they failed though. At best they would get away with only a few broken bones from minor curses. If that was the case, then the Dark Lord would be even worse in his hunt for Harry. If the worst happened, it would be realized that the Dark Lord was the devil incarnate and the world would continue only as endless fires, and raining brimstone.

"When did I become so biblical?" he muttered to himself.

"Probably when you started voluntarily joining sides with a Potter," a gruff voice behind answered him.

Snape looked behind him to find Sirius leaning against the door jam. His hair was falling in his eyes, but his body language read hostile. Feeling a bit at a disadvantage, Snape stood up.

"The boys were the smarter ones. They took a dreamless sleep potion. It seems we're the only ones left to worry ourselves sick," Sirius glowered.

"Misery loves company?" Snape asked.

Sirius nodded. "Do you think it will really work?" he asked desperately.

"No, I don't. And I'm not saying that to make you feel worse," he replied.

Sirius stood there. Neither of them knew what to say, yet he still felt like he had to break the silence.

"You know him better than me by now. I just had to get that out… before," he muttered.

And with that, Sirius was gone.

Snape hadn't been expecting for something like that to ever be said. It seemed against nature somehow. But that did just go to show that the world had turned on its ear since the beginning of the summer.

He decided it was as good a time as any to stop brooding. He went to Dumbledore's lab and grabbed a cauldron off a stand near the door. A few good hours over a potion would help calm him.

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They'd eaten what they could stomach. Their plan had been finalized. The only thing left to do was to go through with it. They all walked down to the edge of Dumbledore's property, to an area safe to portkey from.

Draco pulled a long chain off of his neck, which everyone grabbed loosely. They all looked at each other a little nervously. This was the last chance to back out after all. No one said anything, so Draco said the activation phrase.

The uncomfortably familiar tugging pulled at them. When they opened their eyes again, they were in the meadow which had been in so much discussion.

Draco muttered the few necessary charms that would keeps the wards from falling into place.

"Well people, this is it. I'll shoot off the agreed upon purple sparks when its safe to come," Draco muttered.

They watched him leave. Harry was shifting nervously from foot to foot, while the three men with him waited, tense and silent. Snape was running the plan through in mind yet again. If one thing failed, but he knew that. They all did. He didn't need to keep going over it.

On his right, Dumbledore was trying to get two lemon drops unstuck. It was futile, in his nervous heat the two treats became fused as one. Looking at him, you'd think this was just another one of Minister Fudge's boring fundraisers. Off course he was anxious. This might escalate the war further faster than he had intended, but there was nothing to be had for that. The men next to him were men of action, and if they didn't do something, what they did on their own could be even worse.

Sirius was also amusing himself with something trivial. Turning leaves into different miniature animals. He'd gotten from zebra to kangaroo before the sparks were sent. The showed right in front of him.

"Well, that's it boys. I'll be off," Sirius took the cloak from Harry and disappeared.

Inside, he took the cloak off, and set it by the entrance sending the signal himself. He thought he saw a slight shimmer before there was once again nothing. A few moments later Snape joined Draco and Sirius in the small ante-room. Then Dumbledore, and last of all, Harry.

Once they were all in, they took a small breather. Harry looked around the room they where in, trying to calm himself for the next bit. It wasn't quite as damp and cave like as he had imagined. It was surprisingly warm, not like some drafty horror stereotype. It was reasonably lit. Then Draco opened an even smaller room off the one they were in. He pulled out a few moth eaten robes, all black of course, and four water stained masks.

"Spares, but we can fix them up quick and be on our way," Draco explained, as he was handing them out.

Once they were on, Harry started feeling even more nervous. But he held himself in check none the less. It wouldn't do for him to start shaking. Someone might notice and get suspicious.

They all left the room single file, and crept through the halls. There were so many twists. Even Draco had to stop a few times and use the point me spell.

Finally they reached a hall that was well warn and well lit. You could hear laughter a short way off. It made them all just a little more on edge. Draco led them into a new room and told them to stay put.

"It won't do for the new recruits to show up unannounced. He might not be in the mood to deal with it," Draco clarified.

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"Ah, Draco, it has been a few days," Lucius called out.

"Yes father, I've been making friends. Some I think our lord might want to meet," he replied.

"I'll see if he's in the mood for new friends." Lucius left.

He came back only a few moments later, a wide smile on his face, "Draco, bring our new friends in. Lets make them feel welcome."

So Draco once again stepped into the room that held the other four. "So, the curtain is up. You better drink your potion now Potter." So Harry drank the potion and they left. When they did, a small sense of calm fell over Harry and Sirius. They were finally here. It either failed or it didn't. Snape and Draco just became grim and stiff. Dumbledore sucked on his big lemon drop, having finally given up separating the two. It'd be too much of a give away.

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This room was almost what Harry had imagined. It was dark and damp at least, but it was still warm. Apparently Voldemort was a bit more snake-like than he had anticipated.

"Ah welcome. Its nice to see new people interested in the future of the wizarding world. May I present you four to our lord and soon to be savior the Dark Lord Voldemort," Lucius said with a grand wave.

The looked up from Lucius. All that was to be seen was the back of a tall chair. Until a mousy looking little man strained to push the chair around. Wormtail was still in service at least. Sirius looked at him and became as tense as Snape, just in front of him.

"Like our dear Lucius Malfoy said, welcome. Please tell me your names, as you know mine," the dark lord encouraged.

In a swift movement of rustling cloaks, the five men formed a line in front of him. The four in masks, and Draco the very left. As one, the four removed their masks. In front of him stood Draco, Dumbledore, Harry Potter, Severus and Sirius Black from left to right. Potter waved his wand in a quick complicated movement he didn't catch, and yelled something he didn't hear over his own roaring.

"GET THEM!!!!!!!!!!!" he shouted.

With another quick movement the three men and Draco formed a box shape around Harry. From the death eater's ranks, there was disorder, and yells.

Many of them took several moments to find their wands. While they where doing that, the box shape of order members made their way to the entrance. Only to find it had of course been blocked. This time by the Lestranges and a few other wizards and witches Harry didn't recognize.

Their little group just barely managed to get a few shield charms up before there were unforgivables being shot at them. Harry was shuffled in the middle of the four, not sure what he should be doing. He shot off a few stunning spells when he was an opening between them, but they were few. He got lucky and managed a shield charm that just caught and blocked a crucio from Draco.

There was little more than chaos though. The Knotts were on the ground bleeding, and Voldemort himself had fled. Wormtail was in a corner cowering.

Dumbledore was bleeding from his left arm, from a slicing hex that he couldn't get a shield up in time for. Sirius was dripping blood as well, from a missed jinx that had caught him in the temple.

They had managed to make it to the door, but it refused to be opened. They were all trying to force it when they could find a second to fire off a spell at it. All they could manage was repeating themselves as no one really knew what they were all doing.

They had ended up shifting around so Snape and Sirius were facing the door, and Dumbledore and Draco the crowd, with Harry still locked firmly in between them all.

"OH TO HELL WITH THIS DAMN DOOR!!!!" Sirius roared.

It finally gave, and the all rushed through it. Here in the corridors, they switched around, to where Snape and Sirius where in front, so Draco could lead them out.

Fortunately, their box shape had the advantage. No one could stand more than two abreast. The Death Eaters where loath to miss and possibly hit their own people. They didn't have a problem with climbing over their fallen comrades though. Which is exactly what they did when one of them fell.

"Damn, this must have been how the enemies of Persia felt against the Immortals," Sirius laughed.

"Now is not the time for a history lesson Black, we've Death Eaters to fight," Snape snapped.

Draco some how led them to the grove without needing any directional spells. He took one side of the doorway and Dumbledore the other. Harry passed through into the trees with Snape and Sirius still in front of him.

"Severus, Sirius, take Harry away from here. Draco and I will join you soon," Dumbledore ordered.

"But sir, you'll be…" Sirius interrupted.

"DO AS I SAY BOY!!!" he shouted.

So Snape and Sirius grabbed Harry by each arm, and apparated away. Leaving Draco and Dumbledore in the lions' den.

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They were standing in front of the Hogwarts gates of all places. Harry was feeling a little disillusioned. They had gone from the middle of a battle, to the peace of Hogsmead in summer. He shook it off quickly though.

"What do we do now? We can't just leave them there," Harry asked.

"We can and we will," Snape replied harshly.

"But…" Harry started.

"He's right," Sirius interrupted. He ran his hand through his blood and sweat grimed hair. "Dumbledore ordered us to. There's nothing else we can do until he gets back."

Harry opened his mouth again, but there was a small pop next to them. Snape and Sirius raised their wands and found themselves looking at a broken hearted Headmaster.

"Headmaster, what went wrong, where's Draco?" Snape demanded.

"He didn't make it. There's no other way to phrase it," Dumbledore answered.

He waved a tired hand, and the gates squeaked open. He headed through them, the other three following.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Harry asked timidly.

Dumbledore glanced back at him weariness written in his face. "I grabbed his hand to apparate away, but he let go at the last minute. Said something about making sure no one would follow. I can only assume that he… that he is dead, or dying. Bellatrix Lestrange would be too angry to let him live, no matter what his value might be, and she was right in front of us as I left."

They continued walking in silence, no one but Dumbledore knowing where they were going.

They ended up in the infirmary. Madam Pompfrey was sitting at her desk, filing papers. She looked up in surprise at hearing the doors open. She was even more surprised to see four dirty, bloody men standing in front of her.

"Oh dear, what happened to you? And what is the felon Sirius Black doing here?" she demanded.

"Please, Poppy its better you don't know any of it, and that you forget you ever saw Mr. Black here," Dumbledore asked.

"Of course, I'll fix you lot up then. Then I want you to go home and get some rest. You'll be feeling it in the morning." she said.

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It was three weeks later, and things almost seemed to have continued as they had before. Harry was still unsure what any of this meant, or what the future held.

But there hadn't been any attacks reported. They had even gained a new spy. Lucius Malfoy had switched sides much to the surprise of most of the order. Apparently seeing his son cruciod to death by someone he had considered a friend, had been to much for him. Only four men knew that though.

"So now what?" Sirius had asked one morning.

"Well, Voldemort is laying low, but that doesn't mean he's given up. He's taking time to figure out what our little trip was about. What our next plans might be. The war still rages, it will get worse, but there's a bit of hope now. If Harry Potter can make it into the middle of his headquarters and out again, then maybe more of the death eaters will open their eyes, and the people of the wizarding world as well." Dumbledore answered.

"This never was about ending anything. Just taking a few precautions. Now, don't we have a funeral to get to? At least we four should be there. We're the only one's that can really honor the memory of Draco Malfoy after all." Snape added.

And with that, three of their number disapparated while the last, the famous Boy-Who-Lived, followed by portkey, to pay his first and last bit of respect to the boy who had died saving his life, and possibly the rest of the wizarding world.

THE END

AN: Its about time those word were finally typed. Thank you to all those who stuck through and gave me the encouragement to finish. It is very much appreciated.