Full Circle

Chapter 22 - Infiltration

Their pace was slow and cautious as they walked along the grassy banks surrounding the lake. Luna was singing to herself again, another Beatles tune:

"Cry baby cry. Make your mother sigh. She's old enough to know better. So cry baby cry"

Ginny said nothing. Her mind was heavy again with unwanted thoughts. She was beginning to accept that a single strand of events weaving between the lives of her and her friends ultimately had an effect on all of them. For example, in the months that had passed, she and Hermione seemed to have had their personalities switched. Ginny was now trapped in weary contemplation: constantly assessing situations and analyzing solutions. Hermione, on the other hand, was shaken by the unraveling truth and thrown off balance by emotions that she normally suppressed. Ginny glanced up briefly to the window of the tower where Hermione was kept. It pained her to feel so distant from one of her closest friends.

But it was more than just Hermione who was fading away. Harry had disappeared again: fueled by the miscommunication she had created. Ginny imagined him angry and alone, trying to fight a battle that he might be unable to win. And then there was Ron. It sickened Ginny to think about all of this. Somehow Ron had gotten himself into a heap of trouble. The scar on his arm said it all. "But how?" Ginny wanted to ask out loud. Or perhaps more importantly... "Why?"

She suddenly turned to her blond haired friend in desperation. Luna was the only person who could help her now - besides Malfoy (and those directly involved) she was the only person who even had the faintest idea what was going on. And strangely, Ginny thought, Luna had a right to know.

"He has a dark mark," she spoke in a solitary breath. Luna stopped her singing, but continued to stare straight ahead.

"Ronald?" she asked.

Ginny struggled to reply, as if to admit it out loud would make it more real. She nodded. "Neville and I saw it on his arm last week. At first I was unsure, but then I realized nothing else could leave a mark like that."

Luna stared out across the glassy surface of the water. "It's obviously blackmail," she responded, simply. "Ronald is so prone to irrationality at times that he can be easily swayed. He'd make an obvious target."

Ginny stood with her mouth open. "You can't just chock this up to pure red-haired passion and fury, Luna. This is the serious stuff. Evil. Dangerous! You can't defend him. He's my brother and I can't defend him!"

"What's that?" Luna interrupted while Ginny groaned in frustration. She cocked her head to the side and walked suspiciously toward a marshy area on the right bank of the lake.

Ginny followed her distracted friend. "Luna, listen. This is important! I'm asking your advice on what I should I do. Should I turn my own brother in? Tell McGonagall or worse - the Minister of Magic? What about my parents-" Ginny stopped her tirade the moment she saw it too.

There was something in the lake.

Sure, there were plenty of things in this particular lake on a regular basis (creatures and magical plants of all sorts) but those things were intended to be there. Ginny and Luna were both pretty sure the small pale object, floating just beneath the surface was a recent addition.

"Oh. Merlin," Ginny murmured. Luna said nothing, but continued to inch closer to it. She looked half tempted to slip off her shoes and wade in. Ginny grabbed her by the arm. "You can't go in there!" She whispered loudly. "What about the squid?"

At the same moment a seething voice interrupted them. "I dare say, if you jump into that lake a giant squid will be the least of your problems."

Ginny and Luna glanced at each other apprehensively before Professor Snape leered over Ginny's shoulder. His hair looked extra greasy in the early afternoon sun.

"May I ask what you two young ladies are doing here?" He said with a curled lip.

"We're sorry, Professor," Ginny apologized. "We just thought we saw something....floating in the lake."

"I'll say," replied Luna, as Ginny pulled her attention away from the water.

"Oh really." said Snape down the length of his nose. "Indeed. Well, whatever it is, I doubt it's in your best favor to disturb it. Probably a nasty little grindylow waiting to snip at your fingers. Either way, there are strict rules about not swimming in the lake and I'm not afraid to take away house merits to prove that fact."

"Yes, Profesor," they replied obediently.

"Now that I've found you, Miss Weasley, I need you to come to my office and discuss the last assignment you handed me. The level of your effort was so abysmal that it poses a great threat to you current position in my advanced class. If you even dream about passing your potions NEWT's next year, you will desperately need a tutor. Right now it is totally unacceptable." He turned on his heels and starting to walk back to the castle.

Ginny did her best to hide her dismay and she quietly pulled her knapsack over her shoulder and followed in Professor Snapes's footsteps. Her eyes grew wide as she heard Luna call out "I'll be sure to talk to Ronald for you, Ginny. It won't be a problem."

Ginny looked back over her shoulder, shaking her head furiously, but Luna just smiled. Sighing, Ginny continued on her path to an unknown fate.

Luna watch Ginny walk up the hill and out of sight. She debated whether she should return to the shoreline to get a better look after dinner or should she seek out Ron for a conversation first. Luna smoothed her blond hair behind her ear before something struck her as odd - Professor Snape doesn't teach advanced potions anymore...

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As the tip of an unknown wand jabbed him between the shoulder blades, a wave of nausea overwhelmed him. Harry could feel a chill course through his spines, the nervous beating of his heart against his chest, the dribbles of sweat moistening his brow. He couldn't have thought of a worse time to find himself in the hands of an attacker. Harry was desperate to find the strength to stand up - to whip around and defend himself against this unidentifiable enemy - and yet in his weakened state the moment of terror had crippled him.

Again the voice spoke.

"I know this is your parent's house, Harry, but I hardy never expected to find you here. Especially not weeping in the dirt." The stranger snorted a laugh. "But I can assure you: capturing the Boy-Who-Lived must have been the luckiest thing to happen to me all week."

Harry was not amused.

"Who are you?" He asked in a strained voice.

"Ah, would it make you feel better to see me face to face?"

In a blink, a young man stood before Harry- this time the wand pointed directly at his head.

"How's this?" He smirked.

There was still no recognition of this perpetrator with his curly blond hair and his laughing eyes. Harry knew he had many enemies in the wizarding world, but he had never been aware of this one. For some reason, the sight of the slender boy weakened the once pungent fear.

"Can I help you with something?" Harry muttered in a new annoyance.

"Growing testy, I see," the stranger replied. "Apparently Harry Potter has seen so much evil in his life, that he is not afraid of a wand in his face." He tapped the point insultingly on the tip of Harry's nose.

Swiftly the paralysis returned, becoming stronger with each tensing of his muscles. Harry's mind was flooded with thoughts, but he fought to keep his face a blank slate. Painfully he realized that he was completely unarmed.

"What you don't seem to understand, Harry," the stranger said "is that despite your obvious gift for bravery - your passion is nothing without the appropriate power."

"Thanks for the lecture," responded Harry, gritting his teeth. With recent discoveries still fresh in his mind, this was the last place he needed to be.

In the quietness of the late spring morning, a new voice called out like a shotgun in the woods. "Adam, are you sure this is the right place? The coordinates provided give a location - what in Merlin's beard is going on here?"

"Percy?" Harry questioned the unseen person.

As he came into view, the red Weasley hair was unmistakable. "Harry, what are you doing here?"

The stranger - or Adam as he was unwillingly introduced - coughed slightly and glared at his companion. "Weasley, I told you stay put until I surveyed the grounds. I didn't need you breathing down my neck as I made the necessary measurements."

"Percy, who is this guy?"

"Silencio!" Adam hissed. Harry opened his mouth, but his words were lost in the air. "I've had enough of this conversation. Weasley, you and I have to go back to the lair immediately."

Percy stared at his partner in utter confusion. "Wait, why?" He stammered.

Adam stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Percy. "Are you questioning your superior?"

Percy scoffed. "Are you pulling rank, Cordella? You know the master would not be pleased."

Lair? Master? Harry glanced back and forth between the two wizards, like a spectator at Wimbledon.

"You should no better than to discuss matters like this in mixed company," Adam replied.

Percy grabbed Adam by the arm and pulled him off to the side. "Alright. I understand that, but what I'd really like to know is why you're holding Harry Potter hostage by wand point?"

Adam shook his head, sadly. "Percy, are you always so blind? How can you be so intelligent and yet so naïve? You can't honestly tell me that you don't know..."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Harry try to struggle to his feet. With the flick of his wrist, Adam spat "Petrificus Totalus!". The dark haired boy spasmed before falling lopsidedly into the dirt. Adam gave Harry a smart kick and leaned down closely to his sweat beaded face. "Don't fuck with me, Potter. I'm not in the mood."

Percy interrupted the abusive situation with his typical obligation to order. "We were assigned the task of coming here and taking property measurements for the new headquarters today. To return to the Master empty handed will not please him!"

"Ha!" Adam couldn't help but laugh. "Return empty handed? You think bringing The-Boy-Who-Lived to his personal chambers would be considered less iportant than some stupid measurements?"

Percy obviously still misunderstood the significance of the situation and continued to bicker with his companion. But to Harry, lying silent and paralyzed on the ground, all the angry words just faded away with the exception of two. New headquarters. Suddenly the snippets of information he had gathered were falling into place - and the fury of this realization overtook him.

"This was my father's house!" Harry cried out. The warm taste of blood filled his mouth from having forced the words through the power of a silencing spell. As it began to dribble down his throat, he coughed slightly, expelling a trickle down the side of his lip. The two wizards stared at him in a mixture of alarm and fear, similar to watching the deterioration of a mad man.

With all the strength he could muster, Harry pried his arms the sides of his confined body and slowly slipped them out onto the dirt underneath him. Tears formed in the back of his eyes as the anger swelled within him. His arms quivered as he tried to pull himself up, his muscles burning as he attempted to move his legs. "Oh god," he muttered in a defeated way. "It's him, isn't it?" The taste of his own blood in his mouth made him want to vomit. He glanced up at Percy, his green eyes pleading. "It's Voldemort. Percy. He has you. You don't know it, but he has you..."

Percy's face grew pale with Harry's words. He was suddenly reminded of an afternoon, a few weeks back, when Ron had wanted to meet for lunch at The Three Broomsticks.

At the time Percy had been annoyed: constantly interrupting the conversation to glance at his watch or ask a floating quill and parchment to make a note of yet another errand he had to run. Finally Ron became so fed up that he reached across the wooden table and grabbed Percy's right arm, shoving the sleeve up past his elbow.

Ron held his breath for a moment, waiting to see the faint scars bubbling under his flesh - matching so perfectly the painful marks on his own skin.

There was nothing.

Ron tightened his grip and stared at the empty space, almost willing the etchings to appear before Percy yanked his arm away. "What in St. Mungo's name do you think you're doing?" he had asked his brother in a huff.

"On the contrary!" Adam replied. "You are only partially right, Harry Potter. Perhaps our Master Sauron was the former Dark Lord." Harry could hear Percy gasp out loud at the sound of the name. "Oh don't be so foolish, Percy." Adam said, turning his attention to him. "You wanted this. The power, the benefits... the prestige of being a Knight. Did you honestly think all of this came without a price?"

Percy was forced to sit down on the grass from the overwhelming faintness that enveloped him.

"As I was saying, Harry, you may be right about the Master - but Percy is not the one he "has", per se. He, like so many Knights, has no idea what he has become involved in. They won't actually know until a time comes when the Master will need them and by then it will be too late. Their entire lives are entwined into the system, there will be no escape." Adam smiled. "Yet there is a young wizard who is intimately involved in the Dark Lord's plan. But this one happens to be a different Weasley."

The words Adam spoke penetrated Harry's brain - connecting images and theories together - Voldemort, Ron....Hermione. Fuck! He thought. How stupid could I be? I left Hermione at Hogwarts, to deal with all of this by herself...in order to chase down the answers to a series of bizarre dreams.

For a moment, his heart skipped a beat as pieces continued to click into place. He did this. Voldemort created these dreams. He was the one who lead me astray...

"You should never have left, Harry," Adam said softly. "Because now it's too late."

"I didn't know..." He mumbled to himself. Harry closed his eyes and felt his body give up. His arms collapsed beneath him and he fell back onto the ground.

"Like hell it's too late..." Harry heard the strong voice, but could not force himself to move. A subsequent spell was shouted, a flash of light and the sensation of a body plummeting to the grass beside him. The world continued to fade to black...

When he opened his eyes, he saw dark familiar eyes looking down at him. The older man smiled as Harry's vision came back into focus. Harry reached up his hand to wipe a trace of dried blood from his face.

"Sirius?" He asked in an almost whisper.

"In the flesh," his godfather replied with a smile, putting his arm behind Harry's head and lifting him into a sitting position. Behind him, they heard a snort.

"As much as I appreciate this little greeting card moment, we do not have time to waste." Snape spoke as he tied Adam's wrists behind his back. "Do I also have to mention how terribly irresponsible it was to storm into this situation spouting off stunning spells?" Snape sneered at Sirius. "Especially when you were told to stay home..."

"Oh and let you protect Harry? If I hadn't been here, you would have probably helped this kid dragged Harry off to the Dark Side."

"Well, now that you've stupefied him - we can't very well ask Lestrange about his plans, now can we?"

"Lestrange?" Harry, Sirius and Percy questioned in unison.

"His name is Cordella," Percy protested, weakly.

Snape rubbed his temples with frustration. "Perhaps if you were the son of two of Azkaban's most famous prisoners - you wouldn't go around proclaiming your heritage either. Cordella is the married last name of his paternal aunt who raised the boy after his parents were arrested. Being his second cousin, Black, you should have recognized him."

"Well so is Draco Malfoy, but I don't see Sirius inviting him over for afternoon tea," Harry responded.

Sirius looked at the captive with surprise. "Now that you mention it, he does resemble Rudolphus."

Snape grunted but said nothing. Percy continued to sit and stare - completely taken aback by the information he had learned. His eyes were glazed over. "Lestrange." He muttered to himself. "I can't believe...and the Master...oh, Merlin..."

"So what exactly happened here? How do you know this young man, Percy?" Sirius asked in calmed voice.

Snape interrupted. "It's obvious, Black. The Dark Lord is at it again. We knew he was out there, plotting, but recruitment rates must be high if he flagged a Weasley."

"Two." Percy replied soberly. Three heads turned to him in anticipation. "And I think it's worse for Ron. Last month we had lunch together and he...he checked my arm" Percy pushed back all of his sleeves. "None of us have marks. Not that I know off..." his voice trailed off.

Wordlessly Snape walked over to Adam and pulled the robe away from his bound arms. It was easy to see the faded scars on his skin.

"So you think Ron has one as well?" questioned Harry. The implications of his words throbbed in the back of his mind.

Percy nodded. "He met the Master the very night of his initiation. Few have ever even seen him...." He closed his eyes and buried them into his knees. "Bloody hell," he said uncharacteristically. "What is Penelope going to think of me? My parents?"

Instinctively, Harry wanted to reach out and pat Percy on the back. He knew full way what it felt like to be fooled by Voldemort. But it was the thought of evil that brought his memories back.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed to no one in particular.

Snape tutted while Sirius looked a little hot around the collar. "Well, Harry. There's something you need to know-"

"Is she ok? And the baby?"

"Ron-" Sirius began.

"-is not that father. Yes, I understand." Harry said, now sitting upright on his own. "He's mine. Or she. It. The baby is mine. Well, and Hermione's...obviously." He stumbled over his words. "I'm...a father."

There was silence for a minute as the reality sunk in.

"Congratulations," Percy said, quietly.

"It's a great honor, Harry." Sirius replied.

"It is the result of a great deal of irresponsibility on your part, Potter. Finally, after years of fooling around like a child you actually have to deal with the consequences of your actions," said Snape.

"Shut up, Severus!" Sirius spat. "He just realized that he's produced a new life. Give him some time to absorb the information."

"I didn't even know you two were dating," said Percy.

"We weren't," Harry felt his cheeks flush. "We aren't." His heart tightened in his chest. "Where is she? I need to see her!"

"Be patient, Harry. Let's report your attacker to the proper authorities and then we'll return to Hogwarts," said Sirius. Harry looked unconvinced. "She's being carefully watched by both the Headmistress and Madame Pomfrey. There's no need to worry."

"Yeah, she's being doing well these past several months without you Potter, what's the hurry now?" Snape scoffed.

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Malfoy was sitting at the Slytherin table be himself that evening. Everyone else had eaten their supper an hour before, but Malfoy had refused to join them. Every day that went by, he was beginning to feel more and more invisible at Hogwarts. Who needed those fools anyway? He thought to himself.

Peeves floated above the tables and blew a raspberry at Malfoy as he went by. Draco didn't even bother to react. The last thing he wanted was taunting from a stupid ghost. He sighed and slipped another piece of kidney pie into his mouth. As he chewed, he heard a quick flutter of wings as a large brown owl swooped into the Great Hall and dropped a rolled up parchment right on top of Draco's dinner.

"Damn it, bird, can't you see I'm eating here!" He shouted, his words echoing off the walls of the empty room. He grabbed the piece of mail and pulled off the black ribbon, let the scroll unravel in front of him. A second scrap of paper fell out onto the table, but Draco ignored it as he read the scrawled handwriting.

Draco -

I am not sure which is greater proof of your mediocrity: the fact that you have let you guard down or the idea that you've grown soft for the enemy. Either way, traitors of the Dark Lord never win in the end.

Enclosed is a recent photo of your nasty little girlfriend. Remember that I do not take kindly to insults.

As soon as Draco had finished reading the words, they faded away from the surface of the document. He sat silently for a moment, unsure of the letter's author. As he pondered, his eyes moved down the paper that now lay face down on the table. With his left hand he flipped it over and stared at the image

How the hell...? He thought as he stood up abruptly, his face growing red with anger. "Damn you!" he spoke out loud, realizing immediately who had sent the letter. "Why do you always have to have the last word?" Draco resisted the urge to crumble the photo, but shoved it into the pocket of his robe and stormed out of the room. "Well, not this time!"