Trinity

Chapter 27

The moment they set foot inside the castle they were pounced on by the teachers, all demanding explanations for the sudden and rather frightened return of the students. It took the appearance of Remus and the Headmistress to calm things down and the trio were escorted to the Headmistress' office. She got them seated with cups of tea before fixing them with a stern gaze.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"We got a patronus message from Ginny telling us Death Eaters were attacking in Hogsmeade," Harry reported. "And that Snape and Draco were there as well."

Minerva's eyes blazed. "In Hogsmeade?"

Harry nodded, feeling a twinge of guilt about having to keep the Headmistress in the dark about everything that had happened. "They seemed to be leading the attack. We went down, we fought, the Aurors and the Minister arrived and the Death Eaters ran." He shrugged. "Not much else to tell you."

"What did the Minister want?" Remus asked curiously. "Kingsley sent word he was coming."

"Just to tell me that while he'd like it a whole lot more if I was working with the Ministry, he understands and supports me with whatever it is that I'm doing," Harry replied with satisfaction. "I think Kingsley's been talking to him."

"He has," Minerva said with a tight smile. "He wanted to try and smooth things over a bit so that you weren't interfered with. You may have to move fast at some point and Ministry interference could be deadly."

"That's good to hear," Harry said with relief.

"And certainly explains the Minister's behaviour today," Hermione added.

"How bad were the injuries?" Harry asked.

"Nothing too serious," Minerva said with relief. "Mostly a result of ricochets from spells hitting the walls from what Poppy said." She frowned. "Which is rather odd. She reported that the students said it was Severus casting most of the spells and it is unusual for him to be so inaccurate."

"Maybe the students were moving too quickly for much in the way of accuracy," Hermione said quickly. "It looks like the DA got everyone moving into shelter in a hurry."

Minerva's face cleared. "Ah yes, you may have a point." She stood and gave them a tight smile. "Thank you for your information. I'll let you go and get changed."

"Are you going to cancel future Hogsmeade visits?" Ron asked as the trio headed for the door.

"I'm afraid I'll have to," Minerva said. "The parents need to be sure that their children will be safe here."

The trio nodded and left the office. They walked slowly down the stairs and headed for the Gryffindor Tower. Once they got there they had to stop in the common room to answer the clamorous questions from their fellow students. Most of the questions came from the DA members, wanting to know if they had done the right thing. Harry, Ron and Hermione assured them they had then headed upstairs to get changed. They then left the Tower and spent the rest of the day in the Head Students' room to avoid the fussing of the rest of the students. By the time they went down for dinner, things had calmed down significantly and they were able to eat with a minimum of disruption.

After dinner they returned to Gryffindor Tower and claimed a quiet corner to wait for everyone to go to bed. Once the common room had cleared, Harry snuck up to the dorm and retrieved his cloak and the Marauder's Map. They slipped out of the common room, clambered under the cloak and crept out of the castle. They made directly for the Hog's Head and slid in through the back door. They made sure they were alone then Harry pressed the small section of wall that opened the door to Dumbledore's hideaway and they headed down.

The Headmaster was sitting in an armchair, reading from a book, and he looked up sharply as they came into the room and Harry pulled the cloak off.

"I was rather expecting to see the three of you tonight," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I caught most of that little confrontation today. Well done, all of you. I see Moody has done some fine work."

Harry smiled as he dropped down onto the couch, Ron and Hermione joining him. "Moody's been a hard taskmaster but I think we can definitely say it's been worth it."

"Good," Dumbledore replied. "I gather you are here to speak to Severus. I'm afraid he has yet to return."

"Is that bad?" Hermione asked, looking worried.

"Not as yet," Dumbledore replied calmly, though there was concern lurking in his eyes. "Voldemort has a tendency to keep his Death Eaters close after something has gone wrong."

The trio grimaced at that then Harry shook his head.

"I nearly forgot, we found the Ravenclaw artefact," he said.

Dumbledore looked startled. "Already? Wonderful!" He beamed at Harry and his friends then sobered, his expression becoming proud and pleased. "I worried that I had placed too heavy a task on your shoulders, Harry, giving you both the responsibility for the Order as well as the job of finding and destroying the Horcruxes. I had hoped not to have to do that but circumstances did not work out the way I had wanted. But it seems my worries were unfounded. The three of you have done terribly well. I daresay far better than I could have done."

The trio looked surprised then they grinned, looking pleased and a little shy.

Dumbledore eyed them with pleased amusement. "I shall let Aberforth know that you will need his instruction immediately. I would feel much better to have that Horcrux destroyed. May I ask what it was?"

Hermione launched into an enthusiastic description of the beautiful artefact as Ron and Harry exchanged grins and settled back into the couch. Dumbledore seemed highly interested in the artefact and asked many questions about it. Once they had exhausted that topic of conversation he asked about the actual retrieval. Hermione immediately sobered and glanced over at Harry. He gave her a wry smile and picked up the thread of the conversation, telling the Headmaster about their approach, finding the artefact then the difficulty of their escape, including what had happened to him within the portrait.

"Well done, Harry," Dumbledore said soberly once Harry had finished telling his tale.

Anything else the Headmaster intended to say was interrupted by the sound of the door at the top of the stairs opening. They all tensed as they waited then Hermione's gasp sounded throughout the room as Snape stumbled down the last of the stairs. Both Harry and Ron leapt to their feet and hurried forward to catch the Potions Master before he could fall and they half-carried him over to the couch. While they had been doing this Dumbledore gotten to his feet and retrieved a small chest from the desk that stood against the opposite wall. He crouched down beside Snape and flipped the lid of the chest open.

"Severus?" he said gently. "Which ones do you need?"

Snape swallowed hard then coughed. His face was even paler than usual and he looked drawn and pained. The way he was lying on the couch, seemingly trying not to curl up, only reinforced the impression of pain and Harry was fairly sure that some of the dark stains on Snape's clothes were blood.

Snape opened his mouth to answer the Headmaster's question but before he could, Hermione was at his side and had plucked two vials out of the chest. She gave the vials a narrow look before uncapping them and sniffing at them. She nodded to herself then held one out to Snape, returning the other to the chest. Snape eyed the vial then nodded and took it from her, swallowing it in one gulp. Hermione ran her fingers lightly over the remaining vials in the chest then pulled out three more. Each one she offered to Snape was accepted and by the time he had swallowed the contents of the last vial, he was looking more like he normally did.

"Thank you, Miss Granger," he said, his voice raspy but reasonably strong.

Hermione gave him a solemn nod in response and packed up the small chest. She returned it to the desk then joined her friends.

"What happened, Severus?" Dumbledore asked calmly as he returned to his seat.

Harry took up a position standing in front of the fireplace as Hermione and Ron stood at either end of the mantelpiece, partially flanking him.

"The Dark Lord was most displeased to lose Bellatrix," Severus replied, his voice rasping and hoarse. "She knows too much of his plans for him to be easy with her in the Ministry's hands, especially with Scrimgeour in charge. And what he would not attempt for Lucius and the others, he will attempt for Bellatrix."

"He'll attack Azkaban," Dumbledore stated flatly and Severus nodded.

"Within the week," Snape confirmed. "He cannot afford to wait any longer. It will be done sooner rather than later. Perhaps even within days." He paused then continued grimly, "Draco will be given a leading role. The Dark Lord will not risk me while Nagini is still so ill but Draco must redeem himself in the Dark Lord's eyes and this task will make or break his service."

"How the hell do we warn them without giving everything away?" Ron asked, his voice laced with frustration.

"Scrimgeour said that if we needed the Ministry's help we only had to ask," Harry replied, thinking hard. He turned and fixed the Headmaster with a fierce look. "How much does the Ministry know about those...visions I used to have?"

"Only what has been written on the Daily Prophet," Dumbledore replied. "Cornelius did not wish to know more and there were very few outside the Order whom I trusted with that kind of information."

Harry nodded absently. "Then they probably know that the visions are of what Voldemort sees," he said, clearly thinking aloud. "So we say that the aftermath of today's events triggered another one of these visions. That I saw Voldemort raging about losing Bellatrix and that he's making plans to take Azkaban. We keep it to that. It'll look suspicious if we go into more detail."

"But Harry, you said it was Voldemort who was blocking the visions," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Surely if he finds out that you've warned the Ministry, he'll know it didn't come from him. And that still puts Professor Snape in danger."

"Legilimancy," Snape said abruptly. "I have...over-represented what happened during the lessons you took with me. Both good and bad. The Dark Lord will believe that you are capable of Legilimancy. That is why he has blocked off the link. You had more information than he intended for you to know when you went to the Ministry. He believes you extracted that information from him rather than any sloppiness on his part."

"Really?" Harry said with surprise. "I...think that's good. So he will believe that I used legilimancy to get the information about the prison break?"

Snape smirked and nodded. "Yes. And that will work in our favour. He'll spend more time trying to work out how you did it."

Harry nodded and stared at the floor for a long moment. He then looked up at Snape. "I need to learn Occlumency because somehow I don't think Voldemort going to leave that weapon alone when we finally come to it. Moody gave us some training, to the best of his ability, but I think I need more. Will you teach me?"

Snape stared at Harry with an unreadable gaze then finally nodded. "I will."

Harry relaxed as Dumbledore smiled at them both benignly. "Severus and I will sort things out then let Fawkes carry the message."

"Fawkes?" Harry said with a frown. "I thought Fawkes...disappeared after you er, died."

"He did not," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling. "And he has been watching over you."

Harry blinked then his eyes widened as did Ron and Hermione's.

"Casimir?" Harry gasped. "Fawkes is Casimir? But their feather patterns aren't the same."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Phoenixes are remarkable creatures, Harry. Capable of so many things and very loyal to those they choose as their friends."

Harry managed not to roll his eyes at the Headmaster's characteristic oblique manner of answering though from the amused gleam in Snape's eyes either or both of Ron and Hermione were not as successful. Dumbledore's chuckle backed up that supposition.

Harry looked over at the Potions Master. "You nearly gave up the whole game today," he said warningly.

Snape's eyes narrowed. "How so?" he demanded.

"You were inaccurate in your spell casting," Harry replied bluntly. "Enough that Minerva found the reports odd. Thankfully Hermione thinks very fast on her feet."

"I suggested that the DA had everyone moving too fast for accuracy," Hermione added.

Snape grimaced. "I was aware that would be an issue but there was little I could do. I had no great wish to harm the students unnecessarily. I am damned enough."

"Well, be careful," Harry said. "Moody's already suspected something once. Ron and I managed to deflect him into thinking it was a prank we were planning but it was a close run thing."

"Alastor did not gain the reputation he has by being slow on the uptake," Dumbledore said calmly. "We shall both be careful."

Harry nodded and picked up his cloak. "We'd better get back. I think the teachers are going to be a little tense for a while and it wouldn't be a good idea for us to be missing right now."

"Indeed," Dumbledore said, rising to escort them to the base of the stairs. "I shall speak to Aberforth regarding the training he promised you."

Harry nodded and the trio disappeared underneath the cloak. The sound of the door at the top of the stairs opening and closing signalled their departure.

**************************************************************************

The trip back up to the castle was completed without much fuss and despite a couple of close calls with patrolling teachers they made it back to the Gryffindor Tower easily. They crawled through the Entrance Hole and Harry draped the cloak over his arm. The two boys were about to say goodnight to Hermione when someone stood up from a deep armchair near the fireplace.

"Where have you three been?' Remus demanded, striding over to them with a stern look on his face.

He stopped in front of them and took a deep breath. He was about to start in on what was likely a lecture when he stuttered to a halt. He stared at them with a frown and took another deep breath, almost seeming to scent them. His eyes widened in recognition and his jaw dropped. Harry muttered a low curse and grabbed Remus' arm.

"Don't say a word. Not here," he demanded.

With a jerk of his head to Ron and Hermione, he dragged the werewolf out of the common room and down to the Head Boy and Girl's common room. Hermione quickly established the normal spells they used to protect themselves, finishing with the Muffliato. Once that was done, Harry let go of Remus' arm.

"You caught me at the wrong time, Harry," Remus said flatly, anger sparking in his amber eyes. "So close to the full moon, my senses are particularly sensitive even in human form. Why can I smell Snape and Dumbledore on the three of you?"

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. He glanced over at Ron and Hermione but they only gave him rather helpless looks and shrugs.

"Well?" Remus demanded when the silence stretched too long.

Harry sighed again and slumped slightly. "Because Dumbledore's alive and Snape's not a Death Eater. I mean, he is a Death Eater but he's not really a Death Eater. He's working for us."

Remus' jaw sagged and he stared at Harry in disbelief. His gaze flicked over to Ron and Hermione and they both nodded solemnly.

"You're...He's...I think I need to sit down," Remus stammered weakly then he fumbled his way to one of the armchairs and all but fell down into it. He looked over at Harry with stunned hope. "Dumbledore's alive?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

"How? Why?" Remus asked.

"It's...kind of a long story," Harry said as he sat down in the armchair opposite Remus. Ron and Hermione had taken seats on the couch.

"Give me the short version," Remus said flatly.

"Snape was under an Unbreakable Vow to aid Draco in his task and complete it if Draco failed," Harry replied.

"And Draco's task?" Remus asked.

"To kill Dumbledore," Harry said. "Snape told Dumbledore about the whole thing and they tried to find a way out of it. Eventually they found a way where Snape could apparently kill Dumbledore without actually doing it and the whole thing came to a head on the night the Headmaster and I went to that cave."

"So how did they do it?" Remus asked, his natural curiosity overcoming some of his confusion and anger.

"A simulacrum," Harry replied.

"I thought the knowledge of how to create a simulacrum had been lost long ago," Remus objected.

Harry shrugged. "That's what Dumbledore said but he also said he found it in a book in the library at Grimmauld Place. Anyway it worked. Snape could kill Dumbledore without actually killing him. That fulfilled the Vow and got him installed as Voldemort's right hand man."

Remus stared at Harry for a long moment then he shook his head. "Dear Merlin," he breathed. "How has Severus managed to handle all of this?"

Harry snorted. "He's fine. He's been slowly poisoning Nagini so Voldemort's hardly going to risk Snape on any dangerous missions."

"He's poisoning Nagini?" Remus said then his face cleared. "Oh, I remember, Nagini is one of the horcruxes."

Harry nodded. "And the one that would be the hardest for us to get to. So Snape's taking care of her."

Remus nodded, still looking slightly stunned. "So where is he? Dumbledore, I mean."

"In Hogsmeade," Harry replied. "He's hiding in a secret room in the Hog's Head. But Remus, you can't say anything. I probably shouldn't have told you all this but...well..."

"What about Minerva?" Remus objected. "Surely she should know?"

Harry shook his head. "She can't. What if she says the wrong thing at the wrong time? Okay, it's probably not that likely but it only needs to happen once. Then Voldemort finds out and Snape's dead."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't have thought that would bother you."

Harry grimaced. "We've...kind of declared a truce," he admitted.

"And if you think that's weird to hear, you should try seeing it in action," Ron said with a grin.

That surprised a small chuckle out of Remus and he seemed to relax a bit. "I can imagine," he said dryly then he frowned. "Okay, I can sort of see your point about not telling people but what if Severus needs help and you're not available."

Harry sighed. "I don't know. I've just got to assume that Dumbledore and Snape have got contingency plans in place. I'll have to tell them you know so they may contact you. Usually we go to them but Snape has contacted me once when he needed help."

Remus nodded slowly. "So why were you down there tonight?"

"To find out how Voldemort reacted to today's events," Harry replied.

"And how did he react?" Remus asked.

"Badly," Ron replied sourly.

"He took some of his anger out on Professor Snape," Hermione added. "He really wasn't in very good shape when he got back to the Hog's Head."

"I'm not surprised," Remus said with disgust. "I heard a lot about how Voldemort treats his people when I was with the werewolves. So did anything else happen?"

Harry nodded. "He's going to make an attempt to get Bellatrix back. He's going to attack Azkaban."

"Merlin! You have to tell the Ministry!" Remus exclaimed.

"I know," Harry replied. "But we have to do it carefully. If we just go and tell them they going to demand to know why and we're not going to be able to tell them. And even if they do believe us it'll then be a dead give away that there's a spy in Voldemort's ranks. It'll put Snape at risk."

"So what..." Remus broke off then he nodded in sudden realisation. "Your visions. You're going to use your visions."

Harry nodded. "It seems like the best way to do it."

"And Professor Snape said that Voldemort won't get suspicious," Hermione added. "He'll think that Harry used legilimancy."

"Why would he think that?" Remus asked curiously. "Legilimancy is very difficult to learn."

Harry grinned wryly. "Snape's been misrepresenting me to Voldemort so yes, he'll believe I'm capable of doing that."

"Clever," Remus conceded.

Harry was frowning as he thought about something. "Remus? Did you ever get anything out of the werewolves?"

"I'm still waiting," Remus replied. "They were pretty horrified by what Greyback did but its also made them even more wary of opposing both Greyback and Voldemort. They were going to think about it and get back to me." He paused. "I'm reluctantly to push too hard but I might send a little reminder in the next few days."

"Good," Harry said firmly. "Greyback's got his pack out in the Forbidden Forest somewhere with orders to stay there so maybe that news will help change a few minds."

"Maybe you should tell them that Grawp's out there with Greyback and his pack," Ron said. "With any luck Grawp'll take care of them."

"We should be so lucky," Hermione replied dryly.

"It's worth mentioning," Remus said with a smile.

Harry hesitated for a moment. "Are you...okay with all of this?"

Remus gave him a genuine smile. "Yes, Harry. I was just rather shocked at first. I always knew that Dumbledore would dare a great deal to get rid of Voldemort, I just never quite thought he'd go this far." He paused and laughed. "People are going to kill him after all of this is over...or at least yell at him a lot."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, I know. I can imagine how I reacted."

"How did you find out?" Remus asked curiously.

"That night when we tried to ambush Snape and Draco? Well, after it was all over I remembered something odd I saw when we were near the Hog's Head," Harry explained. "I went back and saw Snape coming down the stairs as calm as you please. I had some really nasty suspicions about Aberforth at that point. Anyway I followed Snape and he went down into this hidden room in the basement of the pub and Dumbledore was there."

Remus was silent for a moment then smiled. "I'm a little surprised we didn't hear you yelling from here."

Harry laughed a little weakly. "I was too shocked. I was angry but just really more shocked and upset than anything else."

"I can imagine," Remus said kindly. "In many ways it was an incredibly cruel thing Albus did to you."

Harry shrugged. "Maybe but his reasons were good so I can accept it. I don't have to like it but I can accept it."

"Is Draco in on this?" Remus asked suddenly.

"No," Harry said with disgust. "He's still trying to be the good little Death Eater."

Ron snorted. "He always was an idiot."

Harry shrugged. "I guess Ron's right. He's supposed to be taking a leading role in the attack on Azkaban. His big chance to redeem his family name in Voldemort's eyes."

"And if he fails?" Remus asked soberly.

"We probably don't want to know," Hermione said soberly. "Unless he finally realises how stupid following Voldemort is then maybe he'll come over to our side."

"Yeah but even if he did, would you trust him?" Ron asked.

Hermione just shrugged, looking dubious.

"Draco made his choices," Remus said sadly. "People have been trying to turn him from that route since he came to Hogwarts."

"He made his choice, he has to accept the consequences," Harry said grimly.

On that rather sober note, Remus got to his feet. "You three better get some sleep. You've a rather full day."

The trio nodded and snorted with amusement and Hermione quickly took down all of the spells. They walked out of the common room and down the corridor until they got to where they had to separate.

"I won't say a word about..." he paused and looked a little helpless.

"We've been calling them his greasiness and Professor Twinkle," Harry said with a grin. "Not exactly original but good enough for our purposes."

Remus chuckled. "Well, I won't say a word about...them but I think you should consider telling Moody."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I know. It'd be useful having him in on it. I'll speak to them but I make no guarantees they'll agree."

Remus patted him on the shoulder and they headed off in their separate directions.