Facing Danger
Chapter 15: Cooperation Makes It Happen (Year 5)
By Anne B. Walsh
Chapter 15: Cooperation Makes It Happen
Everyone froze in position, breaths held, waiting to see what would happen.
I don’t think he sees you yet, Pearl, Harry reported after a moment. But he heard you. Listen carefully—wander out into sight, then let your deer instincts take over. When you see something, or hear something, that scares you, run. With luck, they’ll just think you were in town looking for food.
That doesn’t make sense— Hermione began doubtfully.
They’ll never— Captain started.
People see what they expect to see, Harry cut them both off. And they’re not expecting anything strange or dangerous here, so they won’t see it if we don’t make it obvious. Pearl?
I’m doing it, said a small voice.
What about everyone inside, though? Ginny asked. If that guard sees one unusual thing, it might make him start wondering about other unusual things. He might decide to have a look around.
That’s why everyone inside is either small or can go invisible, answered Ron before anyone else could.
And I think you all should, right now, Harry added. The guard isn’t looking yet—he’s still watching Pearl—but he might start thinking something’s funny any minute.
Captain accepted the swaddled baby from Hermione and crouched on the floor, bending himself over so that his fur fell around the bundle. A few seconds later, they were nowhere to be seen. Neenie leapt up onto the bed, Snow Fox just behind her. Should we be up here? Snow Fox asked, pressing his paw to Neenie’s side to speak to her privately. What if they come in?
We’re up here in case they come in.
What do you mean?
Like this...
Neenie outlined her idea ‘out loud’, and was gratified to hear Ron laugh as he took it in. It’ll give you a little more cover, as long as they don’t actually come in, he said. And if they do...
Then we’re dead anyway, Snow Fox said resignedly. All right, I’ll go along with it.
Then do it now, Harry broke in. There’s two of them coming your way!
xXxXx
Nuncius Avery trudged up the narrow stairs. "Gibbon thinks that he might have seen something, and for this we go on alert," he said over his shoulder.
"I would rather be sure than sorry," said Patroclus Nott from behind him. "And it costs us nothing to be more wary rather than less."
"Nothing but some twinges in our knees from too many stairs." Avery caught his breath at the top of the current flight. "Why could we not have found something more spacious on one floor?"
"This is the safest place we could be," Patroclus said sanctimoniously. "No one will suspect us here, or see what we do."
Avery grumbled under his breath. I know that, you pretentious swot. Haven’t you ever simply wanted to complain about a situation, even though you knew why it was the way it was?
He rubbed most of a cramp out of his calf, limped down the hallway, and opened the door to the room where the Pritchard boy slept.
A tangle of dark hair was visible above the bedclothes, which rose and fell evenly. Avery sighed and shut the door again.
"Such a shame," he said musingly. "To use our own children—as if there aren’t few enough..."
"He was being raised wrongly," said Nott, a warning creeping into his tone. "Now that we have him in our control, he can be retrained. Or, if that proves impossible, kept secure until he is of age to pass on his bloodline. You are still devoted to the cause, I take it?"
"What sort of stupid question is that?" Avery glared at Nott. "Just because you were one of the first to join the Dark Lord, that says nothing about the loyalties of those who joined later!"
"But it could. Or some people might think that it could." Nott started back down the hall. "Just think about that, the next time you start to feel sorry for one our Master has rightfully taken into his possession."
Avery clenched his fists for a moment, then followed Nott towards the stairs.
xXxXx
In the bedroom, three breaths of relief were exhaled.
That was closer than we really want to come, said Ron shakily. All right, those two are on their way back, the guard on the back window’s being replaced because they think he’s seeing things—Starwing, where’s Pearl?
A momentary vision drifted before everyone’s eyes, Hogsmeade from above, with a tiny moving blotch in a street below. Two alleys away. She’ll be ready by the time they make it downstairs.
Right. Harry’s decisive nod was audible in his tone. We’ll never get a better time. Go, go, go!
Snow Fox tumbled out from the place partway under the covers that had shown his dark-furred back to the watcher at the door. Hermione flipped back those covers and leapt out of the bed, quickly pulled them back up, and transformed. Captain, now visible again, was the last one out the door, moving unsteadily on his short legs while his arms cradled the sleeping Graham.
Down the stairs, Ginny’s voice guided them. Move quietly, the Death Eaters are on the floor you’re coming to. Good...very good...
Captain nearly stumbled on the steps, but Neenie was there for him to catch himself on, though she hissed under her breath as he pulled on her fur. Sorry, he said.
It’s all right.
Death Eaters moving around, Ron told them as they crept to the next flight of stairs. Some of them like the bloke who was on duty and want to stay and drink with him, some of them don’t. Keep your eyes open and be ready to hide.
Down, down, down the stairs. Cat paws, fox paws, pressed only lightly against the stair treads. Demiguise feet pressed a little more heavily, but even so no creaks erupted to betray them.
Almost out, Harry told them, his form flickering at the corner of Neenie’s eye. Ground floor.
I know that, Snow Fox snapped, then shook his head. Sorry, Harry, I—
Never mind. Get safe now. Apologize later. And that goes for you, too, Pearl, Harry added ‘loudly’. Whatever happened, whatever needs to happen, we’ll deal with it when we’re all safe.
Okay, said a small and meek voice.
Neenie backed up until her tail draped across Snow Fox’s back. We should let Meghan put our lives in danger more often, she said sarcastically to him. It might break her little ‘queen of the world’ act.
Hey, she’s usually got it under control, Snow Fox pointed out. It’s annoying, but no worse.
Yes, but why do we put up with it?
Snow Fox shrugged. Because most of the time, she acts so grown-up that we don’t even notice she’s younger than us until we run straight into it?
There’s that.
xXxXx
Harry stood in the second-floor hall beside the Death Eater sentry, who was watching out the back window vigilantly. Starwing, go.
A silent form shot through the half-shadowed courtyard, making the Death Eater jump back and swear. "An owl," he said aloud, regaining his composure. "Just an owl, that’s all..."
Excellent fly-by, Harry told Starwing. Watch from above. I need to run one more recon through the house before we head out.
Yes, sir.
Harry was about to tease her for calling him ‘sir’, when it dawned on him that there was nothing funny about it.
She’s using it where it should be used. In the field, on a mission where we have to know who’s in charge. And who’s in charge is... me.
He swallowed his discomfort firmly. I know how to do this. I’ve been in training for it my whole life. This is no time to get cold feet.
Besides, in five minutes it won’t matter. We’ll get out of here, take Graham back to Hogwarts, and then we can all collapse.
I look forward to it, murmured Ginny in the back of his head.
Harry jumped a little. What’s that supposed to mean?
It means I’m scared and I want this to be over with, said Ginny tartly. Now, is there anyone out of place with Ron’s map?
Harry looked through Ginny’s eyes at the sculpted house, the chess-figure Death Eaters, the animal figurines huddled in a cluster at the back. Looks right to me, he said. They’ve checked the house, they’re sure there’s nothing wrong here, it was just an animal in the back—
And if we’re lucky, that’s all they’ll think it was until morning, Ron finished. Never get a better time, mate, most of them are half the house away, and there’s two or three closed doors between them and you. Even if you tripped the wards, by the time they could get there, you’d be gone.
Harry turned and hurried through the nearest door. Then let’s get going. Pearl, you back in place?
Yes.
Wait until I tell you it’s safe to open the wards. Then do it as quick as you can. Got it?
Yes. Meghan’s voice was a mental whisper, so quiet Harry had to strain to hear it.
Poor Pearl. But she can’t just do whatever she wants, especially not on a mission. The sooner she learns that, the safer we’ll all be.
Two more strides brought him back into the hallway where the sentry stood, still scanning the courtyard. Wait for it, Harry said, his eyes on the sentry. Wait for it—wait—
The sentry yawned, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth, half-closing his eyes.
Now, Meghan, now, now!
Harry only half-saw the tiny spark of Meghan’s beginning the spell, and that only because he knew where to look. The Death Eater finished his yawn, lowered his hand, and swept his eyes across the courtyard with a satisfied nod.
At your own discretion, Harry sent to Snow Fox, Neenie, and Captain. Make it quick, though.
Yes, sir, came three brisk replies.
Harry crossed all his fingers and edged closer to the sentry, trying to get the same view of the courtyard that the man had. Just a little longer... we’re almost out, almost free...
xXxXx
Snow Fox slipped from shadow to shadow on one side of the courtyard, Neenie mirroring him a few steps behind. Captain could move from shadow to light without fear, but was slowed by the need to carry and conceal the baby in his arms. So far, though, so good. Almost there—one more tricky bit...
He flattened himself against the wall and crept past a patch of light, his tail between his legs so it wouldn’t twitch and give him away. Safely in the shadows on the other side, he exhaled in relief.
Now a straight run to the wards...
Stopping short of the smell of magic, he sniffed delicately. Yes, yes, yes, yes—ah-ha, no. No magic right over... here. And little sister/deer on the other side.
Here, Meghan whispered silently, and one dark hand flirted through the air and was gone. Here’s the hole.
Thanks, Pearl, I see it now. Snow Fox shrank down to the ground and oozed forward. Tighter than any snow tunnel, more dangerous than any thorny hedge, this was the greatest challenge he’d ever undertaken in fox form—
And then he was out.
Well, now, that wasn’t too bad.
He pulled his brush free of the ward, turned, and retransformed, quickly drawing his wand. Hold it just for a second, Pearl, he said, clasping her hand with his free one. Let me take over.
Meghan nodded silently.
Perforo avertos, Draco pronounced within his mind, envisioning the energy from his wand blossoming from the end, flowing outward until it brushed the inside of Meghan’s, ready to take over when she stopped. All right, try it now.
Meghan took her wand away from the wards. Neenie, on the other side, sniffed at it. I still smell the hole, she said. I think you did it.
Good. Come on through.
Neenie was faster about slipping through than Draco recalled himself being. Once on the other side, she too retransformed, and set about helping Meghan adjust her harness, making sure both slings were ready for their occupants.
How’re we looking up there, Luna? Ron asked. Draco spared a moment to think of his friend, hunched intently over his model house, directing his pieces here and there, and as likely as not wishing he was in Draco’s place holding open the wards...
No one for three blocks, Luna reported.
Harry, what about inside? asked Ginny.
He still hasn’t seen anything. Not even the little bit of Snow Fox’s tail I spotted once.
Oops, said Draco guiltily.
I said he didn’t see it, dragon dung for brains. The words came with an affectionate mental flick.
Yes, but you did. Draco let just a bit of exasperated moan get into his voice. And you’re going to tease me about it for years.
That’s right. Alpha’s privilege. Harry chuckled, then turned serious in a heartbeat. Captain, how’s it coming? I can see you if I squint just right. You’re almost there.
Almost. Captain’s tone was ragged, giving the sense of panting. I didn’t know it’d be this hard... this form’s not designed to walk like this. Not just on two feet... but hunched funny to hide the baby.
Meghan, transformed into Pearl, nuzzled at Hermione with fear plain in her eyes.
You going to make it? Harry asked worriedly.
Yes. Of course. Just... I need a second... need to breathe...
Right, Harry said. Take the time you need. No sense rushing and getting caught, not when we’re so close.
Draco’s nose twitched. He wanted to be back in Snow Fox’s form, so he could smell Captain and know where he was, but they’d gotten the wards open without setting off any alarms, and there was no sense in risking one just to satisfy his curiosity.
Five heartbeats. Ten. Fifteen. No movement, no sound, nothing but his own breathing and that of his sisters.
Ready, Captain reported just as Draco’s twentieth heartbeat sounded in his ears. Here I go.
A scrap of movement in the courtyard caught Draco’s eye. Fabric, a scrap of fabric—the edge of the blanket Hermione had wrapped Graham in—it was visible, it must have fluttered loose while Captain was resting—
Look out! shouted three voices at once.
Captain hissed wordlessly in his mind. Take him! he demanded, and baby Graham flickered into view just as a window slammed open upstairs—Hermione dropped to her knees and snatched the baby through the hole in the wards, yanking him out of the path of spellfire—
A blue spell lanced down from above, striking just to one side of Captain, or so Draco thought until he heard a mental gasp of pain and saw a bright blotch of blood appear on the stones of the courtyard. Meghan noticed it too, a little whimper breaking from her.
Run, get out NOW, Harry snapped, his tone preoccupied. I’m overlapping him, shouting at him, he thinks he’s being possessed—he can’t cast right now, get OUT of there—
Hermione snapped shut the last buckle on Graham’s sling, swiveled back to the wards, and reached through the hole, her left hand closing on nothing and dragging it through. With her right hand, she drew her wand and aimed it up at the window, where the figure of a man was just visible, writhing with his hands to his temples. "Stupefy," she hissed aloud, and the red blast of her spell shot straight and true.
That’s got him! Let’s go! Harry shouted.
No, wait! cried Ginny, urgent and sharp. The blood! Captain’s blood! They can test that, they’ll know whose it is!
Ginny, we don’t have time—Harry began.
We don’t have time not to, Ginny snapped back. If they find out Neville was here, they’ll know we’re more than we seem.
Being underestimated is our strength, Starwing added in what Draco thought of as her trance voice. We cannot give it up so easily.
They’re only halfway there, Harry, Ron put in. You’ve got long enough for this.
Harry threw up his mental hands. Fine. All right. You win. Who does the best Cleaning Charm?
I do, but I’ll need hands, said Ginny. Meghan? Will you let me in?
Yes. Meghan turned human, and staggered a little under the combined weight of baby and demiguise, but Hermione caught her. Help me?
Right here with you, Pearl, Harry said comfortingly, and Draco thought he saw a flicker of white pass into Meghan. We’re here. Let us guide you.
Meghan went to her knees in front of the hole in the wards, drew her wand, and aimed it carefully. "Scourgify," she whispered.
In Ginny’s voice.
That is just a little bit creepy.
But the blood was gone, the stones much cleaner than they had been a moment before. Meghan stowed her wand away, got her feet under her, and began to whisper her incantation—
Here they come, Ron warned. Draco, let the spell go, now—everybody get out of sight—
Draco released the spell and backed up a few steps. Hermione did the same, but Meghan was still transforming, and the voices of Death Eaters were audible now—
Forget you have something? Harry asked, and Draco’s hand went into his pocket without him sending it there.
Hey!
Sorry. No time. Get her covered!
Right. Draco tossed one end of the Invisibility Cloak to Hermione, then ducked under it, transforming as he went. Hermione did the same, Neenie the cat nipping under the belly of Meghan/Pearl, now almost fully transformed—
You made it, said Luna, her voice slightly shaken for once. They didn’t see you. If you back up slowly, they won’t know you were ever there.
And that’s the way I want it. Harry’s voice receded slightly, and Snow Fox thought he must be on his way home, back to his body. Come on, before they start throwing spells.
Step by careful step, fox, cat, and doe backed up. Snow Fox could feel Starwing pacing them silently above. Neenie warned them with a low hiss as she came to the corner, and Snow Fox swung wide to navigate the turn—the noise from the courtyard they’d left behind was growing—
Let’s GO! Neenie pivoted in place as only a cat could and raced off. Snow Fox dropped back to rearguard, behind Pearl—hoofbeats rang out clearly on the hard ground of the alley, but what did that matter now? They were free, free, free and safe—
They’re trying to cut you off, Starwing warned urgently from above. Coming at you from your left!
Neenie and Pearl increased their speed. Snow Fox slowed deliberately. Tell me where, he sent upwards.
NO. Snow Fox winced as Harry’s voice drilled through him. We do NOT need anyone to play hero. Just keep running—you’ve got a good lead on them, and four feet are faster than two. Unless you want us to have to do this all over again for you?
Awww... Snow Fox pouted. You’re no fun.
An image of bared fangs. Get running.
Snow Fox ran.
xXxXx
Harry opened his eyes, blinking against the gritty feeling they always seemed to have when he’d been out walking. "Glasses," he croaked.
"Here." They appeared in his peripheral vision, Ginny’s fingers around the nosepiece. "Ron’s gone down to the gates already, to wait for them there. Do you think you can get there?"
"Give me—oof—five seconds..." Harry flinched as his muscles protested movement. What happened?
Your body was tense from all the worry, Ginny told him, unfolding the glasses herself and sliding them onto his face. I tried to keep you from knotting up too badly, but I don’t know how well it worked.
I’ll live. Harry rolled his shoulders forward, then back, then forward again, turning the motion into a surge upwards. He stumbled, but Ginny caught him. Thanks.
Anytime. Ginny’s cheeks went pink, but her tone was steady. Can you walk?
I’ll do better on four feet. Help me down?
Of course.
Ginny’s hands bracing him, Harry dropped to hands and feet, shook himself all over, and was Wolf almost immediately. He licked his chops appreciatively at the scent beside him, then turned his attention to the task at hand. Get to my Packmates. Bring them safe.
He bounded across the room and shouldered through the door he wanted, Ginny running beside him. "Thank you, Godric," she said breathlessly, and Wolf leapt into the passageway that opened for him. Dropping to his side, he let his momentum and the inherent magic all around carry him forward. To the place I want to be, to the closest way to my Packmates...
Behind him, the distinctive scent of Lynx blossomed, and a low, excited yowl filled the stone slide. Wolf answered it with a half-toned croon, the ‘indoor voice’ of a howl, and the music of the two voices reverberated through the passage and through Wolf’s bones.
This is good, murmured Wolf’s instinct, this is right, this is as it should be...
Harry’s mind kept this carefully shielded from the part of him that was linked to the Pride.
xXxXx
Ron pelted down the path towards Hogwarts’ gates, fumbling in his pocket as he ran. Where are you? he broadcast over the Pride’s link.
Coming in above you, Starwing called. The others are close behind, but someone is chasing them.
Ron swore once, mentally, saving his breath for running.
You can’t come up to give me passage, can you? Starwing asked.
No, I can’t, it’d take too long to get off the ground and then back down again. Come in with the others.
I will. He felt rather than heard her sheer off, and then his hand closed around what he’d been looking for—
Written confirmation that I’m allowed to open the gates. Dumbledore’s handwriting, Dumbledore’s magic, to let us let them back through the wards and the walls once they’ve got Pritchard safe. Now I just need to use it.
Ron scrambled to a halt at the gates and yanked the paper free of his pocket, unfolding it frantically and pressing the inked side flat against the padlock. He could hear them now, paws drumming the earth, rough panting as they fought for breath—
The padlock shot open, and the gates creaked under his hand.
Home free! Ron shouted through the link, slamming himself against the left-hand gate, which opened a few inches with great reluctance. Come on, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!
A streak of grey shot past Ron at eye-level, brushing his face with feather-softness—Starwing—two streaks past his ankles—Snow Fox, Neenie—
And then he looked out and saw Pearl, running straight at him, and a shape in the dark behind her, a shape which could well be a man, a Death Eater, with a sudden gleam bursting from it—
Left! he shouted, and Pearl swerved just in time, as a Stunner dug a furrow beside her.
Ron, the gate—not enough—Neenie’s voice was faint but terrified, and Ron glanced at the opening he’d made and swore again. He’d only just barely opened the heavy gate, and the slings on Pearl’s sides made her wider than the others—she’s not going to fit—
He reared back, ready to throw himself against the gate again, knowing it wouldn’t be enough—she’ll crash into it, or she’ll slow down so much he’ll get her, and then this will all have been for nothing—
On three! shouted Harry, and Ron’s head swiveled. Wolf was running flat-out towards the gate, Lynx pacing him perfectly, and there was just enough room between them for a skinny human—
One! Two! THREE!
Ron slammed his whole weight against the gate, feeling a double impact, one on either side of him. With a rusty groan, the hinges complied, and Pearl shot past the three of them at full speed, her pursuer almost at her heels—
Ron, change, now! Lynx snapped. Don’t let him see you!
Ron dropped to the ground and thought hard about feathers and talons. A moment later, Redwing the hawk mantled his wings uneasily. He hated nighttime; it meant he couldn’t see properly, and besides, owls hunted at night and would gladly take a hawk down a peg or two if they got the chance...
Stay human-minded, Neenie reminded him, prowling into his sight. I don’t think we’ll want to miss this.
Miss wha—
"I’ve got you now!" shouted a hoarse voice, and a man in black robes pounded through the gates of Hogwarts.
Oh.
xXxXx
Harry seated his human mind firmly in Wolf’s body and started snapping off orders. Starwing, stoop on the Death Muncher. Lynx, get Pearl to the Forest in case he doesn’t flinch. Fox, run get help. And me...
He turned and gave Dumbledore’s paper a glance. A flash of fire, and it was gone.
The gates slammed shut behind them.
The man had just barely turned to see what the noise was when Starwing materialized out of the night, screaming like a banshee’s ghost. The man shrieked in his turn and flung his arms over his head, dropping to his knees.
Pearl and Lynx vanished into the darkness, Starwing turning her dive to follow them. Wolf’s nose knew they were still out there, but he was focused on the threat—though it’s not much of one at the moment. Still, better to keep him off guard.
He stalked forward, letting a low rumble come to his throat. You hunted my sister. Both my sisters, my brother, and my sister’s friend, you hunted them and tried to hurt them. So now I hunt you.
The man’s eyes widened, and a very gratifying fear-stench permeated his scent.
You don’t like this. Wolf let his lips draw back from his teeth and the rumble emerge from between them. You don’t like being the stalked one, instead of the stalker. Too bad for you, there’s nothing you can do about it—
Except that! snapped Neenie, and her dark shape shot past Wolf’s nose to land on the man’s face, all her claws extended.
What—Neenie—
He had his wand! Neenie leapt straight up into the air, her claws digging furrows down the man’s face. He screamed and clutched at them, blood and pain now mingled with the fear in his scent. Redwing, if Wolf lights it up around here, can you help us watch him?
Hey, I hadn’t thought of that. Good one, Neenie. Wolf, can you?
Wolf shook his head, admonishing himself for not noticing the man’s wand hand starting to come up. Yes, I can, he sent. Hold on a second.
A quick thought, and four balls of fire burst into being, along with one smaller one alongside the man as his wand burned to ash in an instant. Redwing chuckled—there was no other word for it—and rustled his feathers down into place. Better, he said, sweeping his wings once or twice before he made the strong downward sweep that thrust him into the air. Much better.
Plus, said Wolf in satisfaction, glancing toward the castle, it makes us very easy to see when people come to help us...
xXxXx
Shaun Dietsch flattened himself on the ground, panting in pain. No part of this night had made sense. First had come the alarm from Gibbon about noises behind the house, but nothing in sight when they’d gone out to check. The Pritchard boy had still been in his bed when Nott and Avery went to check, and everything was fine.
Then another alarm, from Runnals this time, cut off in the middle, abruptly. Shaun had heard some nonsense being shouted from the window as he ran out of the courtyard, something about being possessed, but he’d paid more attention to the chase than to the words.
And then the very nature of the chase. Animals. A human, chasing animals—animals who always seemed to know when he lifted his wand, and which way to dodge—and he’d been so busy running, he hadn’t noticed where they were going until he’d barreled past gates and suddenly registered his whereabouts—
Hogwarts. They’ve led me to the school—are they Animagi? Teachers?
In the very moment he’d realized where he was, the gates had slammed behind him, and a hideous scream had accompanied a devil diving at him from above. Some fragment of his mind recognized an owl, but the rest was too busy shielding his head and dropping to the ground, away from those wicked talons.
But the ground had been no refuge, for a wolf waited there, a snarling wolf which seemed to glow with its own inner light—and when he’d tried to bring his wand to bear, a spitting demon had leapt into his face and left him half-blinded by his own blood. The same fragment of his mind was still trying to tell him that it was a cat, only a cat, when fire erupted above him and lit the scene as brightly as day, and his wand flamed up where he’d dropped it and was gone.
This can’t be real. I must have fallen and hit my head, or been caught by a spell that makes me see things—none of this is possible, it’s not happening—
A sweep of wings overhead, and a sound like a satisfied laugh.
Or perhaps I’m dead, and my grandmother was right—there really is a Devil, and he does come for you after you die if you’ve done evil in your lifetime—
Darkness, looming to one side. A sardonic voice. "I assume all of your... people returned safely?" A pause. "So I see there is one area in which you are not totally inept." Another pause, longer this time. Then, in a voice like chewing glass—
"Well done."
The light went out over his head, and something screamed.
Shaun Dietsch, Death Eater, fainted.
xXxXx
Godric’s sword and shoes—
Wolf! What happened to the light?
Sorry! I’m sorry! I just—I was so surprised I lost it!
I can’t blame you—I mean, considering the source—
"Lumos," said Snape, and Wolf and Neenie blinked in the sudden wandlight. Redwing squawked in pleasure and glided down for a landing.
Snape stepped to the Death Eater’s side and prodded him with a toe. "He seems to have fainted," he observed. "That would make it safe for you to resume your human forms."
Wolf rolled his eyes. And contrary to popular opinion, we can take a hint—
Only when it’s applied with a sledgehammer, Neenie said acidly, shooting upwards into Hermione. "Thank you, Professor," she said aloud as Harry, Ron, and Draco followed her lead. "Will you take care of him?"
"I will. And I believe you will need this." Snape extracted a small bottle from his pocket and handed it to Hermione. "Four drops should suffice to reverse the effects. I remind you that it is for external use only."
"How come?" Ron asked. "I mean, you drink the first one, shouldn’t you drink the second too?"
Snape bestowed his patented glare on Ron. "The potion I have just given to Miss Granger-Lupin, as you would know had you been paying attention in your third year Potions lessons, contains several toxic compounds. Drinking it would have results ranging from messy to fatal. If this is any indication of your retention rate, Weasley, I doubt we shall meet again in an official capacity after this year."
"And isn’t that just a shame," Ron muttered.
"Thank you for the reversal potion, Professor," Harry said loudly before anyone else could talk. "We’ll just go and take care of that, then."
"Do." Snape turned away from them, his attention already on the Death Eater crumpled on the ground.
Come on, let’s go. Harry twisted back into Wolf. Ron, want a ride?
Sure. Give me a second—
Snow Fox, race you! Neenie shouted.
Marks, get set, go!
Talons fastened into Wolf’s ruff, and he left the ground with a great leap. You won’t win, he called after them, paws slamming into the ground. Not either of you—we will!
Will not! chorused two voices, and the race was on.
xXxXx
Deep within the Forest, two sets of eyes and three noses tracked the coming of the Pride and their prize. They had seen the Death Eater enter the gates of Hogwarts, had been ready to act if action was necessary, but none had been, and they were proud.
Now they guarded the little group hidden within the trees, one girl tending to the baby, one to the injured boy, and the last girl sitting alone, her knees drawn up to her chest. They had thought of approaching her, but her scent shouted that she wanted to be alone, and so they left her that way, instead prowling about to ensure the safety of the five.
Four more joined them in time, and one of the guardians decided it was time to make herself known.
xXxXx
Ginny gasped, Hermione squealed, and Draco and Ron yelled as a great green blunt-nosed head poked around a tree.
"Sangre! Don’t do that!" Harry darted across the clearing, pounded a fist against the basilisk’s nose, then hugged her. "You scared us half to death!"
"My apologies," said Sangre with a chuckle in her tone. "I only wanted to tell you how you are guarded, so that you will not fear to stay here as long as is needful. And also to tell you something I doubt that you know—something to do with the lake not far from here, where I sometimes go to swim on nights when I will not be seen..."
"She’s guarding us," Harry translated over his shoulder, "so we can stay here even if we’re human. What about the lake?" he asked, switching back to Parseltongue.
"I sometimes speak aloud to myself," Sangre said. "It is often a fault of those who are much alone. And one night, when I was lying on the shore of the lake and telling over a tale my first master once told me, I felt a strange motion in the earth nearby. I stopped speaking, and the vibrations also stopped. When I spoke that section of the tale again, the same pattern of vibration recurred, but this time moving the other way. As though my words had wakened something, something which moved back and forth."
"Tell me the story?" Harry asked, sitting down.
Sangre swayed back and forth, flicking her tongue in her form of laughter. "You will find it funny, eggling—my master loved himself above all else, and his tales were usually about himself."
Her tone took on a singing quality, strange to hear in a hiss. "‘Hear now the tale of the greatest wizard of all time, the master of subtlety, Salazar Slytherin, who alone among wizards of his time understood the necessity of the purity of blood. But he was not to be alone forever, for with his three underlings of greatest promise he caused a school to be founded, and there he taught the young of his land, though he himself taught only the strongest and the purest among them. And when he had taught them what he knew, they fell at his feet in gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Master, for this gift of knowledge—unworthy as I am to thank you, Salazar Slytherin..."’"
"Stop right there," Harry said, feeling a grin start on his face. "Can you show me where this happened, Sangre?"
"Of course—why? Do you know what I felt?"
"I think I might." The grin developed to full strength. "I think I very well might."
xXxXx
Graham Pritchard stirred, licking his lips. A strange taste lingered on them, vying with the sourness of sleep in his mouth.
Did I ever really wake up? I thought Longbottom was in my room, and Black and Granger-Lupin, Meghan’s brother and sister—
But that’s stupid. How could they get in where I was? It was just a dream, like the time I thought someone was talking to me, telling me he knew where I was, that he’d help me, that he’d come back for me. Just a stupid dream.
That’s all it was.
He opened his eyes.
Far, far above, the slight silhouettes of bare tree branches swayed against a star-filled sky. Graham caught the scent of woodsmoke and an odd musk he’d never smelled before, and voices were whispering nearby.
"—harm done, just save it for later next time—"
"—course we still love you, you silly, how could we not—"
"Wait, I think he’s awake—"
"Graham?" A girl’s voice, shrill with excitement and familiar...
"Meghan?" Graham rolled onto his side and pushed himself up on his elbow, his incredulity growing—this had to be a dream—
"Graham, you’re awake!" Meghan launched herself at him, her eyes almost glowing in the firelight. Over her shoulder, Graham could see the fire, and other figures gathered around it—Meghan’s family and friends, her Pride, he realized as his eyes adjusted to the light—Potter and Granger-Lupin and Black, the two Weasleys, Longbottom and Lovegood, all looking at him, smiling with real happiness, real care in their eyes—
"H-how—" he stammered. "How d-did you—"
Meghan pushed away from him and smiled, one tear sliding out of her silver eyes. "Magic," she said simply. "We used magic. And now you’re safe."
Graham closed his eyes and hugged Meghan again, commanding his own tears to go away but, just this once, not really caring whether they obeyed or not.
Safe.
It was worth shedding a few tears over.
Author Notes:
So I was telling the truth—I didn’t take another month to update, I took longer. Argh. Sorry, everyone. How about I just not promise anymore, huh? RL is really crazy at the moment, and I quite honestly don’t know what’s going on with it. I will keep writing, though—the Dangerverse is getting done, no matter what!
Of course, a little encouragement is always nice... hint hint...