The Hidden Army

The Hidden Army by Darque Queen7

Chapter Two: The Meeting in Muggle London

Aliannas Darque twiddled with the crystal goblet of the dinner placement before her, waiting for her client to arrive. She stood, admiring the tasteful and expensive décor of the room. She liked this flat very much - too bad she was going to have to leave as soon as her business had concluded. The kind of life she now led did not leave her time to enjoy the finer things in life. Like sleep...

Her Second, Colonel Lionel Masters, had given her a saying that she kept close to her heart. "You get to sleep loads when you're dead." That was more than ten years ago during their first Prague incursion. Aliannas remembered that hardly any of her then force of 110 slept during that two week 'exercise'. She was still learning the ropes of the Paid Army trade - and of the world of Muggle Politics. Or as she preferred to call it now - The Government of the Month Club. She wondered sadly whether Masters was sleeping well now himself. She lost thirty-two of her people during the incursion and swore she wouldn't let any more of her finest go before the "Real War" they were training for. His senseless death hurt most of all.

Two hours before they were set to withdraw, Masters took an assassin's bullet for her. She had grabbed his automatic weapon from his arms as he fell and returned fire. The assassin fell dead about three seconds after Masters.

As she admired an original Renoir on the wall, she still wondered why she answered Dumbledore's letter in the first place. When his phoenix, Fawkes, had found her two weeks before in Moldavia during another 'exercise', she was quite surprised. Her people had finished with the burying of the dead and were now preparing to move out, moping up the last of the latest rebel/wizard movement there. She was concerned with the latest melding of Muggle/Wizard relations, but she had noted that most of the Muggles her troops were encountering were placed under Imperious curses. Once the Wizards in charge were taken out, the populace fell back to their normal ways - or as normal as they could be.

She was pleased with the outcome of this latest exercise - the people that were lost this time around belonged to the errant wizard under Voldemort's orders. She had enjoyed ringing that information out of the pompous Pure Blood before allowing him to die. She needed to learn to keep them alive a little longer. There was no telling how much more information she could have gleaned off the prat. She remained until final payments were secured and then booked passage to Prague to visit Masters' final resting place. She knew he would have been pleased to know that she still cared.

She had every intention of finally returning home; of finally settling old debts. Debts that were owed to her, of course. She had promised her people as much. She had given everyone a fortnight's furlough and told them to be prepared for all out Wizard War once they returned. She remembered the seas of wolfish grins after her announcement. Many of them - like she - had waited years to visit upon the Pure Bloods the way the Pure Bloods had visited them. She had planned to use certain covert means to extract information from some key targets, but Dumbledore's invite pretty much gave her Carde Blanche in the Wizarding World. She thought still that her initial blackmail schemes could still work...she'd have to file those away and pull them out as the situations presented themselves.

There were rumbles and rumors of their existence in both worlds. She would smile when witches would yell at their errant children - "The Hidden Army will get you!" as she would walk through Wizarding Communities. You have no idea, she would say to herself. She reveled in her secret. But it wouldn't be a secret for long. Soon - all the Wizarding World would know. The Hidden Army would come out of hiding...just to make sure the Wizards stayed on their side of the fence.

Although she knew of many Wizarding Communities through out the world, she did not feel at home in them - she preferred to live within Muggle Society. She could neither forgive nor forget. At least you know when they come to try and kill you; they'll be using their hands or weapons - no damn sticks! She thought ruefully. She remembered the last assassination attempt on her life...a wicked smile suddenly curled on her face. They actually hired a Wizard that time...pity. He didn't last nearly as long as the Muggle ones...

Not now, she chided herself. He was a powerful Legilimens - they both were. Aliannas knew he would bring the Dark one - for Dumbledore would not venture far from Hogwarts without his double-spy hound close at his heels. She remembered what she had learned in her travels of Legilimency and Occlumency. She needed to clear her mind - leave nothing behind that she didn't want them to know about. But her disdain of the both of them and their...world, however, she could leave that behind in spades. The rest she could peruse through later. Much later.

A double knock at the grand French doors of the dining room brought Aliannas back to the present. She smoothed the front of her Muggle navy blue double-breasted pinstripe skirt suit and checked her appearance in the opaque image offered by the one-way glass windows that enclosed the high-rise flat.

Once she was assured she was presentable, she waved her hand towards the door and the lock clicked open. Her new second (she still saw him as new even though he had been with her now for ten years!), Colonel Albert Robertson, entered with her two clients.

"Your 6pm appointment, ma'am," he said softly, nodding towards her. She returned the nod and then held her right fist up close against her right leg. Hold your position. Be alert, the motion said. He simply nodded again and closed the door. She turned to her guests.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," she said bowing slightly. She straightened herself and motioned to seats at the table. "You have brought your second, I see. Professor Severus Snape," she said, scanning him with an appraising eye. "The same Snape that is a Death Eater? Oh, no. That's right...you're a spy for the Order." She snorted derisively. "The years have not been kind," she added scathingly. "You never did take the time to get a dog, did you?" she asked suddenly. Snape looked to Albus, and then turned to answer her, but she cut him off. "Ah...dogs and their masters. Must be so confusing for you, being as how you supposedly have two. Masters, that is." Severus turned several shades of red as he held his tongue. She smirked as Albus then cleared his throat and addressed their hostess.

"Miss Darque," he began. "We arrived as per your instructions. We did not come here to be insulted -."

"No," she began, cutting him off. "First, you will address me as General. Second, you came here to buy an army. An army that has been fighting the filth that your kind was too stupid to believe had returned. Truth of it was - it never left. It has been at your side all along," she said eyeing Severus evilly.

She held her hand up to Dumbledore in a conciliatory gesture, then sighed and snapped her fingers. A house elf appeared with a lap top computer and handed this to Aliannas. She took it wordlessly and went to the seat she taken earlier at the table. She motioned the two men to the other settings. She then turned to the house elf. "Wine, Hob. Something good from the cellars; nice and full bodied to go with tonight's dinner." She looked up to the men. "We are having Beef Wellington with summer vegetables tonight. I hope that will meet with your satisfaction, gentlemen." Severus nodded curtly. Albus also gave assent. With a nod, the house elf vanished. She then held her left hand out to Albus. "The proposal, Headmaster. If you please." Albus withdrew from within his robes a rolled parchment sealed with Minister of Magic's Seal. She looked at the seal and smirked, looking at the Headmaster. "Still playing 'The Power Behind the Pulpit', I see." Albus gave her a small smile but offered no explanation. She waited for none as she opened the lap top and put on a headset with a tiny LED monitor set in front of her right eye. The house elf reappeared with a bottle of red wine. After she gave the bottle's label a cursory glance, she nodded and the elf then snapped his fingers and the cork popped off the wine. As she took out a handheld scanner and transferred the document into her lap top, the elf had poured wine into all three wine glasses magically. He then turned to her. "Will there be anything else, General?" he asked.

"Not at the moment, Hob. Let me know when the meal is ready," she answered as she checked that the document transferred correctly.

"Yes, General," he said and exited with a quiet 'pop'.

Severus looked at the entire exchange with surprise - although he wasn't going to give Aliannas the satisfaction of knowing that. He had tried to see if he could use Legilimency on her - but she was as superb an Occlumens as he. He couldn't get beyond the basic information inside of her head.

A little lost, Snivellus? she asked unkindly.

As Snape straightened almost imperceptibly in his chair, Albus could not help but notice the rueful grin that graced her lips. He smiled sadly. He too had attempted to enter her mind - but was shut down almost immediately. There was something physically in the way of his establishing contact within her mind. All those years abroad did more than give her an ego, he thought.

Yes, she answered into his mind. It gave me force of will. She turned to him and smiled. She then looked at Snape, still smiling. "If the both of you have stopped trying to enter my mind and plunder its resources, we have a proposal - and more importantly, a price to discuss."

Severus snorted in disgust after two hours haggling between Albus and Aliannas. She was fair, but completely unmoving in the price. As she had stated in her letter, her fees were not up for negotiation. At one point, she said quite simply that her people were going to die for their kind. "Because that is what happens in a war," she began softly. "Had your kind not been living with their heads up their collective rears for the past 14 years, then perhaps you could defend yourselves." She stood silently, her posture letting the pair know the discussion was over. "Balls to the wall, gentlemen. I am your only option. You have no choice. Thanks to very poor judgment on behalf of your government, I and my people are all you have. Or - you could leave this all to your Golden Boy, Harry Potter." She saw both men's eyes flash at her - but for different reasons. Snape's flashed in anger. Dumbledore's out of concern.

She picked up her lap top and then connected it to an awaiting printer on the sideboard table. After a few quiet minutes, the finished bill Aliannas had outlined was printed. She then held the letter closed to her lips and whispered to it, setting wards on it simply with her voice. Severus felt the magic bind the letter. She then sealed it in a Muggle envelope and after affixing her own seal to it, presented it to Dumbledore, fixing him with an intense gaze.

"This outlines what we will undertake to win you your war. We will cut off your enemy, Voldemort, from his supplies - both monetarily and physically. Meaning we will go after his Death Eaters; his Pure Bloods. What we will do is not for the faint of heart. Wherever we go, whatever we do - Fudge must back us up one hundred and ten percent - or I promise both you and him - he'll wish to God he'd never heard of us. This letter is warded so only members of the Order and you and Fudge himself can see it. To anyone else, it is a Muggle divorce decree. If someone tampers with it...well, just hope their Wizard Life Insurance Policy is up to date," she said smiling evilly. Severus fixed a cold sneer on his face as she looked to him. She gave him one right back. She then turned back to Albus and continued.

"Once you accept this letter, 50 percent of the proposed price will be transferred to my Gringotts' account instantly. Then you will wait for me to give you our answer - 24 hours from now. As soon as your proposal is accepted, the remainder will be due," she said softly. Dumbledore nodded, reaching for the letter. As soon as he grasped it, a bright light passed from him to Aliannas. She nodded in agreement and then snapped her fingers again. Once again the house elf appeared.

"Is dinner ready yet, Hob?"

"Fifteen minutes, General," he stated softly. She simply nodded.

"Thank you, Hob. Perhaps some more wine?" The house elf nodded and disappeared. He returned instantly with another bottle and, after popping the cork and serving it, vanished with a soft 'pop' again. Snape again snorted. Aliannas turned to him, her eyes narrowing with disdain.

"If you have something to say - please, spit it out. You sound like you have allergies over there."

"Muggleborns and their...machines," he retorted not too kindly. She smiled at him; her smile made Dumbledore flinch.

"Yes...well, our contraptions sort of solve all that 'foolish wand waving'. You'd be surprised how many of your former students work for me now. They've told me of your 'first years' speech', as they refer to it. "Bottling fame and brewing glory...did that ever work for you? Quite hilarious, really." She turned to him again, her green eyes flashing daggers at him. He had seen that look before - he had seen it on Evans' face...and more recently on Harry Potter's. "Beats Pure Bloods and their inbred stupidity," she continued. "At least we as Mudbloods can make that leap of logic - and merge the two. Magic with machinery - that makes us Techno Magus, I believe."

Severus made a move to stand up and give her a piece of his mind; he had had enough of her baiting him for the past almost three hours at this point. If Albus were going to hex him; so be it. As he moved towards her, she simply put her left hand up to him - for a split second he swore he saw a light forming in the center of her palm, as she grabbed his wand hand and squeezed. The pain and sudden cold that he felt throughout his body gave him quite a shock as he fell to his knees, a startled groan leaving his lips. She then leaned in so close, her hair brushed by his ear, causing a shudder to run throughout his entire body. "You ever try to make to move against me again - and I'll hand you your body back minus your entire arm. That is not a threat...it is a bonafide promise." She backed away and dropped his hand; he simply rubbed it, trying to bring feeling back to the digits. Albus now stood up.

"Stop this now, General," he said quietly. Aliannas nodded reluctantly and sat back in her seat as the house elf reappeared, but this time with two others, all were laden with covered silver trays and placed them each on the silver charger plated set before them. She had closed her eyes and when they reopened, she was once again in control of her anger. Her eyes softened; but her voice had not.

"Forgive me, sir. I will never do that in your presence again, sir. Unless, of course, I am left with no choice." This she directed at Snape, who had retaken his seat and was still trying to massage feeling back into his fingers. He wasn't sure, but he believed that she broke some bones in his hand. And he still felt cold. How....how did she do it? He asked himself.

She returned him a Cheshire cat smile and she took the cover off of her food.

Wouldn't you love to know?...she whispered into his mind.

Albus looked at her, a little of his twinkling returning to his eyes as he smiled. "Where did you get the house elves?" She returned his smile; he was relieved to see that there was warmth in this one.

"Their masters were taken out by my forces. We have found that many of the sudden disturbances that have required our 'assistance' in countries around the world have Death Eater influence written all over them. Yes - even in Moldavia. That is where I found Hob. I couldn't let him go out there, lost and alone. So - I gave him what he wanted. I gave him a master to serve...me. The others have similar stories. They were brought to wherever by their masters. When their masters would finally fall - I didn't have the heart to leave them behind. So - they now work for the Army. My army."

A personable silence fell over dinner as the three of them ate their dinner. Severus remained silent throughout the meal and Aliannas acted as if neither of them were in the room with her as she ate. As soon as the dessert (hazelnut truffles served with white chocolate sauce) dishes were magicked away, Aliannas stood and showed her guests to the door.

"The escort that brought you here will take you back to the entrance to Platform 9 ¾ at Kings' Cross Station. From there you can Apparate back to Hogwarts and I will send you a final response by tomorrow evening at the latest." She then turned to Snape. Severus, her mind said suddenly. Remember he once asked you to call him Severus....

She shook her head suddenly; that was a long time ago. Before....before everything that changed her forever. She looked back into his obsidian eyes.

"This is not over, Death Eater. When this war is over, when your Dark Lord is pushing up a field of daisies; then perhaps it will be your turn. But for now...this is far from over."

Looking down at her and rising up to every millimeter of his 2 meter frame, he fixed his best Evil Death Eater look on his face and smiled darkly in return.

"I agree," he said evenly as he followed Albus Dumbledore out of the door.

******

Once they had Apparated on the outskirts of Hogsmeade and began the walk towards the castle, Severus suddenly fell. Dumbledore went immediately to his side, helping the younger man up. It was then that he felt it. Severus was freezing! After performing a warming charm on him, he half-carried Severus up the hill towards Hogwarts' as quickly as he could. Looking at Severus, he could see he was about to pass out.

"Severus," he called softly as he rubbed the younger man's hand and arm. "What is wrong with you? Why are you so cold?"

Severus mumbled something and Albus had to ask him to repeat it because he couldn't understand him. Now even speech was becoming difficult.

"Not cold," Severus began again, feeling even more tired. Snape had felt this before...but where? The realization struck him like lightening, his eyes opening so wide that Albus was afraid he would do damage to his face.

"Not cold - drained," he finished at last. "Like...like in Azkaban. But...this was no Dementor. It...It was her."

They had reached the school and Albus wordlessly helped Snape to his dungeon chambers. After securing that Snape would recover after plenty of bed rest, he left for his own rooms. Once in his study, he plopped down in his chair behind his desk. That was his favorite place for thinking.

Aliannas Darque...she was a true conundrum if he had ever found one. There were several spells that could drain a wizard of his powers - but they all required wands. There was no wand present - at least not in Aliannas' hands. So - how? He sighed bitterly. He was getting too old - far too old.

Perhaps...perhaps she is too far gone to be saved, he thought sadly as he looked to Fawkes.

"I wonder if I will lose Harry as well, my old friend," he said as he stroked the bird's feathers.

******

Aliannas smiled broadly as she held up a miniature monitor and put it to her left hand. She was pleased with the readings - she had been able to draw enough energy off of the offending wizard without having to use the cumbersome outer power unit. The internal systems were performing above expectations. She smiled broadly as her father entered the room. Silently she handed him the monitor. He looked to her, his face plastered with the world's most self-satisfied smile.

"My dear one," he said softly, taking her small left hand in his strong ones. "The Extractor is ready for Stage Two." She smiled back.

"We've got the job. I have to take the bill to the group, let them decide if this is what they really want to do."

"You know they are going to go for it," he retorted, snorting as he went to the sideboard to fill a glass with brandy.

"I never count my chickens before they hatch, Father. Just make sure the Stage Two Extractors are ready for Operations in 36 hours. If they approve, I want to take out at least two of them by night after next."

Professor Darque nodded as he walked to the door. He then turned to his daughter. "Who was the unlucky bastard?" he asked.

"Severus Snape," she answered evenly. "And the next time I use the Extractor on him, Dumbledore won't be there to stop me."