The War for Souls

Chapter 10--The Revel

"Well, well, well, our Ickle Harrykins is growing up," said a Weasley twin.

"And getting snogged in the basement," said the other.

"By our very own Gin-Gin," said the first.

"Fred, you reckon this cancels the bet?"

"Probably so, George."

"We're rich," said George.

"Better let Tonks know, she'll be kicking and screaming all the way to the bank."

"Should we share, Fred?"

"I think so." Both twins walked around, and sat on the couch, flanking the now-terrified couple.

"Okay," said George, "we figured something fishy was up when you had that bet idea."

"Not that it wasn't brilliant," said Fred.

"But it seemed a bit...incomplete."

"So we improved on it, and added our new winners to the pool. But Tonks kept insisting on Luna and Neville..."

"So we had no choice but to take the bet."

"Bit funny, really. Everyone at Morag seemed to think you two were out of the running."

"But we knew better, eh, Fred?"

"We bet on you two, and here we are."

"But--" Harry began, but George was off and running again.

"Now, it's our duty to warn you of the reactions of all the members of the Weasley family."

"Mum," said Fred, "will begin to immediately plan your wedding, name your children, and find you a house, all the while sobbing about how her baby girl is growing up."

"Dad," George continued, "will be ecstatic, but a little out of it."

"But Dad's always a little out of it." Harry thought this a very apt description of Mr. Weasley.

"Bill and Charlie will threaten your life several times," said George.

"But don't worry," Fred concluded. "They won't actually feed you to a dragon."

"Thanks," said Harry, going along. Ginny was dissolving into giggles beside him.

"Percy's a pompous arse, but don't worry about him."

"He loves you better than his own family right now."

"Besides," said George, "if it comes to it, he'd probably rather snog a thick bottomed cauldron, so..."

"He might not even know what's going on."

"Then there's Ronniekins." Both twins let out a sigh, and Fred took Harry's hand--the one Ginny wasn't holding--seriously.

"Ron wants to put her in a nunnery, mate. He won't kill you, but he'll try."

"And then," said George, "Hermione will try to stop him, and they'll end up snogging...."

"And we'll kill two with one Bludger," said Fred.

"Guys!" said Harry.

"Look, we weren't doing anything," said Ginny. "We were talking, and agreed that we needed to take some more time. But, Harry, if that was your idea of a good kiss, no wonder Cho dumped you." Harry looked shocked for a second.

"Later," he whispered, hoping the twins wouldn't hear him.

"Anyway," said Fred and George together.

"We have to be getting upstairs. Remus wants to talk to you."

"He's here? Is everything okay? Is anyone hurt?"

"Relax, mate, Charlie'll fill you in. We've got to be leaving." And with that, the twins Disapparated, leaving Harry and Ginny alone in the basement.

"I'm sorry, Harry, really--"

"No, I don't care what they go on about. Let's go find out what's going on." He leaned in and kissed her, briefly touching his tongue to hers, and enjoying the half-shocked, half-pleased expression on her face.

"Wow," she said as they broke apart. "I take that back. Cho never knew what she was missing."

Harry and Ginny emerged from the basement to a hearty round of applause--led by Charlie and Bill--from everyone assembled in the sitting room. "Bravo, Ginny," said Bill. "The man's known he's royalty for two weeks and you've already snagged him."

"Shut it, Bill," said Ginny. "What happened?"

Charlie seemed reluctant to provide any real information. He hedged around the subject for nearly a minute, offering trite assurances of everyone's safety, before Ron pulled his wand and pointed it at Charlie. "Listen," he said. "You better give him the information we need."

"Ron? What the devil are you up to?" asked Bill.

"You aren't in the Order," said Charlie. "You can't--"

"I'll stop from hexing you because you weren't here for Harry's birthday," he said, "but Harry has authority regardless of anything the Order might do, and I'm on his Council. So spill it, brother."

Charlie looked at Bill, then back at his younger brother, and decided to talk. "There were ten wizards. They weren't in Death Eater robes, but I'm almost certain their leader was Lucius Malfoy. Although, I thought you lot put him in prison."

"We had him," said Neville. "Fudge let him buy his way out again."

"That explains it. Anyway, we caught most of them, and Remus insisted on taking them to Morag, not to the Ministry. They never even actually broke through the wards."

"Okay then," said Ron. "Do we have a guard on Hermione's parents?"

"Absolutely," said Bill. "We have ever since the fight in the Ministry."

"When is Fudge meeting with Mulciber?" asked Neville.

"Tomorrow," said Hermione, looking at both of them in admiration--but especially Ron.

"Not if we can remove him first," said Ron. "The best defense is a good offense."

"Good point," said Neville. "If we can get Harry to the Wizengamot first thing tomorrow, we should be able to unseat Fudge before he meets with Mulciber."

"Yeah," said Ron, "but we can't let anyone know Harry's real importance yet. And we really have to get cracking on finding out if Susan is the Ambrosius of Scotland."

"What?" said Charlie.

"What about Ireland?" asked Neville. "Do we know anything there?"

"No," said Hermione, relief on her face as the conversation moved back into an area she could converse in. It wasn't often she a discussion went over her head. Harry was relieved to have the verbal back and forth slow down a bit. Ron and Neville had been exchanging ideas and solutions so quickly that Harry thought he would have whiplash from trying to keep up.

"What's all this about, now?" asked Charlie again.

"To make a long story short," said Ginny, "Harry is the Ambrosius of Wales, and we think Susan Bones is the Ambrosius of Scotland."

"Merlin," swore Charlie.

"We should have Susan come here after the vote tomorrow," said Harry. "We need to level with her, and she might be able to help prove it."

"Good point," said Ron. "Hey, what about Neville's Gran and Luna's dad, are they safe? And if Susan gets linked with us, her parents are in trouble."

"Susan's an orphan," said Harry. "And I think Madam Bones can take care of herself."

"Daddy's in Sweden," said Luna. Harry whipped his head around. Not for the first time, he had almost forgotten she was there. "He's looking for Snorkacks."

"Right," said Charlie.

"Gran'll be okay," said Neville. "They'll get more than they bargained for if they attack her again." There was a fierce pride in his eyes as he spoke, and Harry realized that Neville was finally living up to the expectations his formidable guardian had on him.

"I'm impressed, for one," said Bill. "I never figured Ronniekins to be one for high politics."

Ron blushed at the moniker. "You try sitting next to that one in the Wizengamot for three days, you'll absorb it, too." He pointed at Neville, who blushed even worse.

"Well, you seem like you've got things in hand," said Bill. "We'll be going back to Morag, but one thing first." He took Harry by the arm, and pulled him into the kitchen. "Look, I know you're a trustworthy bloke, and Ginny can take care of herself, so I'll spare you the overprotective big brother act."

"Thanks," said Harry. "I think I'm going to get it from Ron anyway."

"Probably," said Bill. "But look, just be careful. Trust me, I'm older and wiser, the last thing you need right now is a kid to worry about."

"Bill!" he said indignantly. "We're not even really dating yet. We're just..."

"In love," said Bill. "And yes, it's that obvious. But remember, even Antigestus Potion isn't infallible."

"I'll remember," said Harry, more to get the eldest Weasley off this subject than anything else.

*****

If there was anything Severus was dreading about his role as a spy, it was participating in a revel. Not that there was much of a choice. He had already been to see Dumbledore about it, not that the Headmaster had been any help. "Your path is yours to choose, Severus. Do what you think is best." He didn't want to go to the revel, but it was clear that Dumbledore wouldn't tell him not to. Without a clear command from the Headmaster, his oath to the Order required him to maintain cover. A task that, in turn, required that he participate in the revel.

It had been seventeen years since Severus had been to a revel. That night was burned into his memory as clearly as if it were yesterday. The Dark Lord--or, more probably, Lucius--had selected a Muggle family in Kent for torture. It was the average British Muggle household. The father worked as a minor government clerk, the mother stayed home, and the twin daughters were about to start high school.

Severus had walked into the house, head held high, and really had felt no compunction in torturing a forty-something man. He had felt no sorrow or guilt when the wife, silenced and bound, was forced to watch her husband be torn limb from limb, dismembered slowly in front of her eyes. He had been ready to torture the woman to death, all in the name of serving the Dark Lord, and the greater cause of the purity of blood.

The Silencing Charm had failed. That was the greatest memory he had. One of the eleven-year-old twins, being tortured in another room, had somehow made a sound. That blood-curdling scream was the end of Severus' career as a Death Eater. From the moment he had heard that voice, the voice of an innocent child, he had been determined to put an end to this nonsense. Purity of blood never meant torturing a child. So much like me, he thought.

That thought kept him going as he searched out Albus Dumbledore. That thought kept him going as he returned to Voldemort as a spy. That thought kept him going when Peter Pettigrew walked into the Death Eater assembly, and announced, in a clear voice, "James and Lily Potter are in Godric's Hollow, Glamorgan, Wales."

In all the years since, the sound of the girl's scream had never left his ears. It was the spur in his side that would not let him rest, no matter what the cost, until the Dark Lord was defeated--permanently. Now, for the first time since he had heard the scream, he would be asked to participate. Knowing Lucius, there would be children taken tonight.

Severus gritted his teeth, raised his mental shields, and Apparated to Malfoy Manor. He arrived in the throne room, and came face to face with the Dark Lord. Peter Pettigrew was standing, unrobed, directly in front of him, obviously giving the Dark Lord some ridiculous information.

The Dark Lord, however, seemed to be rather pleased with the information the worthless rat was giving him. So pleased, in fact, that he dismissed Pettigrew without a single Cruciatus, a rare occurance. "Severus, I am glad to see you have chosen to serve me."

"Of course, my Lord. I am yours."

"Yes, yes, you are. We will be doing a bit of business before the revel. Surely you remember taking the Mark."

"Of course, my Lord."

"Very good. We are doing well, Severus. For the first time in fifteen years, new Death Eaters will join our ranks."

"That is always good to hear, my Lord. Forgive my impertinence, but who are these new recruits."

"Two that you know well," said the Dark Lord. "Lucius' son, and a woman from the Ministry itself. A very high placed person in the Ministry, I am told. Come now, let us welcome them to our cause."

Severus joined his place in the circle as the Dark Lord kindled a fire in its center and sat on an ornate throne in front of it. One by one, the two initiates were led forward. He saw the lanky form of Draco Malfoy, and the short, squat form of his former colleague, Dolores Umbridge. "Come forward," hissed the Dark Lord.

Malfoy stepped up to the Dark Lord's throne, and knelt at his feet. "Draco," he said. "You have come to take my Mark?"

"Yes, my Lord," said Malfoy, bowing low to the ground.

"Stand."

The Dark Lord touched his wand to Malfoy's forearm, and the young man fell to his knees again, clutching at his skin. A faint wisp of smoke rose from the spot, and Severus could plainly see the Dark Mark burned into his skin. It was a dark, charred black now. Later it would fade to red, and a pale, almost skin-colored pink. No matter what he did, however, it would never disappear.

Dolores Umbridge came forward, and the process was repeated. After she was burned, however, she stood up, and handed a parchment to the Dark Lord. His red eyes seemed to light with fire as he looked at it. He gave a twisted, evil smile to the woman in front of him, and stood himself.

"My Death Eaters...my loyal friends. Tonight we have been given an opportunity that cannot be passed up. Our newest devotee has given us a great resource. Tonight we had planned a revel. This will not occur. Tonight, we strike our blow at that Muggle-loving fool Dumbledore, and his pawn Potter. Tonight, we will destroy Dumbledore's Army."

Severus' heart dropped as he heard the name, and connected it to Umbridge...and then to Potter's defense group.

*****

"POTTER!" Harry was half-asleep when Moody's voice boomed through the buidling. Ron was out of bed in an instant, and Harry saw one of the girls--he thought it was Luna--pulling on a dressing gown.

"POTTER!" Harry jumped up and ran down the stairs. Moody, Dumbledore, and two others were standing in the sitting room. "Quickly, Potter," said Moody, "who were all of the students in that defense club last year?"

"What?"

"The D.A., Harry," said Ron, coming up behind him. "Who was in the D.A.?"

"Us, the twins, Cho...that's all I can remember...oh, Susan and Justin from Hufflepuff."

"The prefects," said Ron. "Ernie and Hannah, and...oh, bugger..."

"Mr. Goldstein and Miss Patil from Ravenclaw," said Dumbledore.

"Michael," said Ginny, stroking Harry's hand gently. "Parvati and Lavender, Dean, Seamus..."

"That tall bloke," said Ron. "The one who was such a git."

"Zacharias," said Harry. "And Lee, Dean, and Seamus. I think that's it."

"No, wait," said Ginny. "The Creeveys."

"Oh, right."

"Okay. You six get dressed in Muggle clothing, quickly, get your wands, and come back down here."

"What?"

"Quickly, Harry. Time is of the essence."

Harry dressed quickly, and raced back down the stairs. As Moody scribbled on a piece of paper, and looked over what seemed to be a map of Britain, Remus stepped out from the shadows. "Dolores Umbridge has joined the Death Eaters, and has turned over to them a list of the students in Dumbledore's Army. Voldemort is attempting to strike at all of them in the course of a revel tonight. We need to provide protection for those students in most danger."

"Who are those?" asked Hermione.

"Well, Muggle-borns first, and the younger students who will have more difficulty defending themselves. Obviously your families are in danger, particularly Hermione's. We have people there. What we need you to do is to split up and help us. Don't worry about the Ministry, we'll take care of that. Just fight off anyone who attacks. I'll be with one group of you, and Mad-Eye will be with the other."

"You're splitting us up?" asked Ginny.

"Have to," he said. "You, Harry, and Luna are with me. Ron, Hermione, and Neville, you're with Moody."

"Take this one," growled Moody, pointing to a name on the list. Alicia Spinnet.

The place they dropped into was a barn. With a speed born of urgency, they raced towards the farmhouse about a hundred yards away. As they approached, Harry saw strange lights flickering in the upstairs window. "No..." He turned on as much speed as he could manage, and had blasted the door right off its hinges before he had reached it.

The scene in the upstairs bedroom was straight out of a nightmare. The tall, dark haired girl tied in the shape of an X to the bedframe bore little resemblance any longer to the beautiful Quidditch Chaser who was dating George Weasley. Her clothes were torn and blood-stained. Her face was scratched and bruised, her head limp. Her body looked battered and beaten. A single candle was burning, hovering in mid-air over her body, dripping hot wax onto her breasts. Worst of all, though, a burly Death Eater Harry knew by sight as Crabbe or Goyle, Senior, was standing between her forcibly spread legs, leaving no doubt as to what he was about to do. Another boy , one of the two Slytherin thugs, was standing to the side, laughing heartily as he waited to take his turn.

Harry's blood was boiling. "STUPEFY!" he screamed. He made one mistake. Instead of stunning the man about to rape his friend, he stunned his classmate who was standing to the side. The elder brute left off his first activity, and spun to face Harry.

With a grunt, he swung a club-like fist, and connected with Harry's temple. He slumped to the ground, and his vision swam. As his eyes watered, and he struggled to catch his breath, he saw Remus burst into the room, grab the larger man by the collar, and launch him through the window, jumping down after him.

Ginny and Luna were at his heels, and set to work quickly untying Alicia. She took a ragged breath, and opened her eyes slightly. She opened her mouth to speak, and no sound came out. She weakly pointed a finger at her throat, and Luna jabbed a wand at her. "Liberloquor."

"Harry?" Harry stood and walked woozily to her side. "How? I thought I was..."

"I don't know how we knew. But you're safe."

She closed her eyes, and a peaceful look came over her face. "Better get her to Madam Pomphrey, if not to St. Mungo's," said Ginny. "She'll be in a bad way for a while." Harry looked at his almost-girlfriend, and saw that her face was as white as the walls at Padfoot's.

"What's the matter, Gin?"

"I'll tell you when we get back. Let's get Alicia taken care of." He nodded.

*****

Severus knew what was going to happen. He hung back as he watched Draco Malfoy, a lascivious sneer on his face, enter the house. He would do anything to prevent it from happening again. He could never spy for the Order again, his life would be forfeit, but if he saved her life, it would be enough. "Thinking of doing something, Severus?" He turned and saw the unmasked face of Darius Nott.

"Darius." He nodded to the tall man, and turned back towards the house.

"Think, Severus," said Nott. "A young girl, what, sixteen? Ready...waiting...powerless to stop you. You wouldn't deny yourself that pleasure."

"Darius! I joined our cause to promote the purity of the wizarding race, not to torture innocents. You have just sent Malfoy into that house to rape and torture a pure-blooded witch. Why? Because she happens to have friends at school?"

"I'm disappointed in you, Severus. Defending this girl. Do you know who she is?"

"She's a school-girl, Darius. She's not a threat."

"Oh, but she is. She has managed to take the Ministry away from us, almost single-handedly. Her Aunt is going to be Minister of Magic. She has defended Potter at every step, and wrenched him from my control just this week. She is not just a school-girl."

"Darius, do you think we--do you think he--could be stopped by a school-girl, whatever her relations."

"You are evading, Severus. To think, this whole charade, this whole plan, to prove your loyalty, and you've been a traitor all along. I have my orders, and I plan to fulfill them." He raised his wand.

"Avada Kedavra," said Severus. Nott dropped as the green light struck him in the chest, a stunned look on his face. "Goodbye, Darius."

*****

Padfoot's was a tense place to be, as it had been over the previous several nights. Harry made no attempt to hide his feelings, as he and Ginny curled into each other's arms on the couch. Ron looked like he desperately wanted to comfort Hermione, but didn't have the nerve to do so. Every few moments, he would slide a few inches closer to her. At this rate, thought Harry, he'll get there before we graduate.

Before he had the chance, however, two figures dropped out of thin air. One of them was the Potions Master, the other, Susan Bones. "Professor! Susan? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Susan. Harry saw that her blouse was torn, but other than that, she seemed the polar opposite of Alicia's condition.

"Professor?"

"I will be fine, Potter," said Snape. "You may want to inform Madam Bones that there is a corpse in her garden."

"What?"

"I was told by the Dark Lord to accompany young Mr. Malfoy to Miss Bones' house. I planned to stun him from behind when he got into the house, transport Miss Bones to safety, and stun myself, making it look as though we were ambushed. However, Darius Nott had followed me, unbeknownst to myself, to ensure my loyalty. I was forced to kill him."

Everyone in the room was too shocked to respond. "If no one requires me further, I will be returning to Hogwarts." He walked towards the fireplace.

"But...but, Professor! You killed a man!" Hermione spoke more in shock than in anger or scolding.

"Miss Granger, I assure you, this is neither the first nor the last man I have killed. We are at war. Did you think a war could be won with Stunners and Disarming Spells?"

"I...no."

"I assure you, the Death Eaters will not hesitate to kill you if you cross their paths. War is what it is, Miss Granger, and it is not a very sanitary business." Without looking at her, he tossed a pinch of powder into the fireplace, and disappeared.