Rating:
PG-13
House:
The Dark Arts
Characters:
Albus Dumbledore Harry Potter Remus Lupin Sirius Black Severus Snape
Genres:
Action Drama
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire
Stats:
Published: 01/12/2003
Updated: 05/03/2003
Words: 102,224
Chapters: 28
Hits: 39,099

Death Before Dishonor

RobinLady

Story Summary:
After being rescued from the Dursleys by Sirius, Harry finds that there ``are still plenty of ways for Voldemort to catch him--and that his life ``may have to be bought at a very high price. Set in fifth year and the ``summer before it.

Chapter 22

Chapter Summary:
After being rescued from the Dursleys by Sirius, Harry finds that there are still plenty of ways for Voldemort to catch him--and that his life may have to be bought at a very high price. Set in fifth year and the summer before it. [This chapter: the results of Voldemort's attack on Hogsmeade, and the eerie silence of a peaceful dawn.]
Posted:
04/04/2003
Hits:
1,045

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR

Chapter Twenty-Two: Dawn

The Great Hall had become a madhouse. Awakened by his dreams, Harry had gone looking for Sirius, only to find Professor McGonagall in his godfather´s place. When she had told him that Sirius, Remus, Snape, and Mrs. Figg had gone into Hogsmeade, which was under attack, Harry had felt like screaming. Moments later, Professor McGonagall had led him into the Great Hall, seemingly understanding that he simply couldn´t go back to bed, and the refugees had started to come through the fireplace.

Within minutes, most of the school had gathered in the hall. The youngest students were immediately sent away, of course, but the older ones were pressed into service, helping Madam Pomfrey sort the seriously wounded from the frightened, and calming families who were still searching for their loved ones. Harry, Ron, and Hermione (joined shortly by Fred, George, and Ginny) were busily helping the school nurse, who had her hands quiet full of patients. Since none of them had studied the healing arts in depth, the most they could do was hand out potions (liberated from Snape´s office by Professor McGonagall, who seemed to know all the right passwords for some reason), and hold peoples´ hands. Even the Slytherins were helping, between snickers they let out when they thought no one was watching.

Dumbledore himself was healing people, which led Harry into wondering if there was anything the old man couldn´t do. He wasn´t as efficient as Madam Pomfrey (Harry had to wonder if anyone was), but he was definitely effective. Most of the other professors were with him, healing where they could, and administering potions or organizing the evacuees where they couldn´t. Others, including the Weasley family grown-ups, were also working hard. Professor McGonagall was by the fireplace, pulling people to their feet and out of the way, because it hadn´t taken them long to realize that someone new would come out of the fire every fifteen seconds. Professor Flitwick was elsewhere, checking the castle´s defenses, but the rest of them were all there. A gasp ran through the hall, though, as Madam Rosmerta came through the fire.

"I´m the last evacuee," she explained as McGonagall helped her up. A hundred voices immediately asked her what was happening, and she blinked before replying. "Professor Lupin and Professor Snape both went down just as I was leaving."

Suddenly, Dumbledore was there. McGonagall asked, "Down? How?"

Harry rushed forward. There were no new patients to deal with if Madam Rosmerta was the last, so he could afford to do so; Hermione and Ron were right on his heels.

"I don´t really know," the witch started to reply. "They were trying to--"

Arabella Figg tumbled out of the fireplace and rolled to her feet with an agility that such an old woman looked out of place having. She looked pale and drained, but her eyes were hard. "They´re coming."

Snape was next, but he came through with far less grace. As Dumbledore hauled him to his feet, the Potions master shook his head as if to clear it, looking even paler than Arabella had. His face was tense, and he was definitely in pain, but he pulled away from the Headmaster.

"How bad is it, Severus?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

"Disastrous." His voice was still dry, but it seemed less sarcastic than usual. To the side, Harry noticed the Slytherins perk up, staring at their Head of House curiously. Some, like Malfoy, looked vaguely worried, but whether that was from concern for Snape or for those Snape was undoubtedly fighting against, Harry did not know.

Madam Pomfrey moved towards Snape, then, a look of concern on her face, but the Potions master waved her off. She scowled, doing an admirable impression of the oily man in the process.

"Save it," Snape said gruffly, but he never had a chance to say why before Remus Lupin came flying out of the fire and crashed right into the Potions master´s legs. They went down together in a tangle of limbs and cursing (most of which, Harry was sure, came from Snape, since he´d never heard Professor Lupin curse). Mrs. Figg and Professor McGonagall immediately moved forward, pulling both men up to their feet. Harry noticed right away that Lupin was the same washed-out and weakened color as the Potions professor, and looked just as unsteady on his feet. Still, both moved forward out of the fireplace´s range. They exchanged a meaningful look, and Lupin nodded. Harry held his breath. Seconds ticked by, and everyone waited for Sirius.

Finally, his godfather plunged out of the fire, rolling immediately to his feet and making Harry sigh in uncontained relief. Hermione´s hand, which he had not realized until then was tight on his shoulder, relaxed.

"Close the portal off," Sirius rasped, his voice tight and hardly recognizable. "They´re not far behind me--" But Dumbledore was already there, sealing off the network with a word.

Then Sirius collapsed.

Half of the students rushed forward in that moment, and Harry found himself caught in a throng of young witches and wizards babbling on about their professor. Without any regard for others´ feelings, though, Harry pushed his way through the crowd, backed by Hermione and the Weasleys, who understood how important it was for him to reach his godfather. By the time he got to Sirius´ side, Dumbledore, Snape, Remus, Madam Pomfrey, and Arabella were already there. Remus was shaking his unconscious friend.

"Sirius? Sirius!" Harry´s godfather remained motionless as Madam Pomfrey asked Snape,

"What happened?"

Arabella scowled and demanded, "What did he do?"

"Brevisalvum Mali," Snape replied. "Some sort of Auror healing--"

Harry had never heard such foul words come out of a woman´s mouth, and he didn´t even know half of them, but it ended in "...stupid bastard!"

Remus was still shaking Sirius lightly, but he stopped when Dumbledore laid a hand on his shoulder. "He will not wake up for quite awhile, Remus," the Headmaster said softly. "It will be best if you let Madam Pomfrey take him to the Hospital Wing."

The History professor looked up and nodded, rising and conjuring a stretcher with a flick of his wand. Slowly, Sirius´ pale form was lifted onto it, and under Professor Lupin´s direction, the stretcher left the hall, Madam Pomfrey right beside it. Harry swallowed, wanting desperately to follow, but not knowing if he would be allowed to. He looked at the Headmaster, and Dumbledore smiled.

"I think, perhaps, that you and Severus ought to go as well, Arabella," the Headmaster said quietly. "And take Harry with you."

---------------------

Harry sat anxiously as Madam Pomfrey bent over Sirius. Since he had Dumbledore´s permission to be there, the nurse could not exactly kick him out of the Hospital Wing (no matter how much she seemed to want to), but she had sternly regulated him to a chair in the corner, and threatened to make him leave if he said so much as a peep. Her harsh glares, however, had somewhat less effect on Sirius´ older visitors; Remus simply ignored her, and Snape didn´t seem to care. Mrs. Figg stared intently at Sirius´ face, still scowling, until Madam Pomfrey asked,

"Will someone please explain this Brivesalvi Nalium business to me?"

"Brevisalvum Mali," Arabella Figg corrected the nurse in a low voice, "is a quick-heal spell used by Aurors in desperate situations. It will heal almost any injury, temporarily, and make the body able to function normally. The spell is used rarely, however, because it has a terrible effect on the caster once it wears off."

"What does it do?" Pomfrey asked worriedly.

"Eventually, the spell unravels, leaving worse injuries behind than existed in the beginning," Figg replied unhappily. "You see, Brevisalvum Mali doesn´t actually heal anything; it just makes the mind and body think the problems are healed. The spell usually lasts around an hour, but if the caster exerts a lot of energy during that time, the effect tends to be shorter."

"He was a mess when he cast it," Snape suddenly interjected, and Harry looked at the Potions master in surprise. "And after that, things only got worse."

"The ward line probably is what finished it off," Remus said unhappily "At the last moment, he dropped the barrier he´d created so that he wouldn´t go out like we did"--the history professor gestured at himself and Snape--"but then he did something else. I don´t know what. Regardless, he put too much into this."

Surprisingly, Snape shook his head. "No, he disagreed softly. "He just did what had to be done."

---------------------

Hours passed.

Sirius´ chest rose and fell, his breathing shallow and face pale. There were several times when Harry thought his godfather might wake, when his breathing would quicken and his body would begin to shake, but those moments always passed. Sirius remained unconscious, even as dawn broke over Hogwarts and the sun began to stream through the windows. Classes, however, did not resume that morning; Hogwarts had become a refuge, with, at last count, two hundred and thirty-seven extra witches and wizards (children included) inhabiting the castle. Providing beds, food, and medical care for all those people was what had caused Professor Lupin to finally leave his friend´s bedside with a sad smile in Harry´s direction, and a quiet promise to return. Then there was quiet.

His godfather´s features were gaunt, but unless Harry was mistaken, he was gaining color. The process was slow, but Sirius was unmistakably less pale than he had been when he´d dropped into unconsciousness. Madam Pomfrey had left hours ago, after doing all she could for him, but seemed that no one, even Arabella Figg, was able to predict how long Harry´s godfather would be unconscious. The spell Sirius had used was a tricky one, she had told Harry, and the effect it had on him depended greatly upon the caster itself. The longest any Auror had stayed unconscious after using it, though, had been a little over a day. That´s not exactly encouraging, Harry thought, trying to fight down an irrational fear of losing Sirius. Even Dumbledore had assured Harry that Sirius would be all right, but it was hard not to be afraid.

Sirius was the only family he had. The Dursleys didn´t count; it was with Sirius, over the past several months, that Harry had learned what family really was. Family didn´t hate you for being what you were. Family listened to your troubles, helped you with your homework. And family was there when you needed them, just as Sirius had always been for him. And now I´ll be here for him, Harry thought to himself, praying that Dumbledore was right. Let him be okay, he pleaded. Let him wake up.

Suddenly, Sirius stirred, and even as Harry began to hope this might be for real, his blue eyes flew open with astonishing quickness. Sirius blinked once, scanning the room anxiously and then focusing immediately on Harry. He smiled slightly. "Hey, kid."

"Hi." It was really a stupid thing to say, but Harry couldn´t get any other words past the humungous wave of relief that was busy washing through him.

"You´ve been sitting here for awhile, haven´t you?" his godfather asked quietly.

"Ever since they brought you in here," Harry admitted. "I was worried."

"I´m sorry." Harry opened his mouth to tell him not to apologize, but Sirius continued, "They did tell you the spell I used isn´t fatal, right?"

"Yeah." Harry smiled sheepishly. "But I just wanted to be here..." He didn´t know how to explain.

"Thanks." His godfather seemed to understand. However, Sirius sat up cautiously, making Harry frown.

"Should you be doing that?"

His godfather chuckled. "Probably not," he grinned. "But who´s here to stop me?"

"Are you feeling better?" Harry asked, inwardly marveling that such a powerful wizard could act like a mischievous little kid on such short notice.

"Yes, I am." In fact, his face was almost a normal color, now, except for the hint of pain still in his eyes. "Madam Pomfrey would probably argue that, but I´ve dealt with worse." He shrugged lightly, but Harry couldn´t help but remember the story Sirius had told a few days before in Dumbledore´s office. He hadn´t asked Sirius about what had happened to him, but Harry knew that he and Professor Lupin had talked about it, which seemed to have helped.

"I´m glad," he said quietly, not wanting to bring the subject up, especially since Sirius seemed so determined to leave it in the past. His godfather, though, must have seen the concern on his face.

"I´m sorry that I worried you, Harry," Sirius repeated. "I seem to keep doing that."

"I´d rather be worried about family than not have any at all," Harry replied immediately. That, of course, was a huge understatement. "So, will you tell me what happened? Professor Snape said something about you knocking Voldemort out?"

"Did I?" Sirius´ eyebrows rose.

"He said his mark stopped burning."

Sirius snorted. "Well, I had hoped to, but I never thought I´d succeed. I knew he was distracted, but..."

"But how did you do it? I mean, that´s Voldemort. Not everyone can do that."

"I suspect it was luck more than anything, Harry," Sirius said honestly. "As wizards go, I´m fairly powerful, but it would require a lot more than me to take Voldemort down."

---------------------

Classes still did not resume the next day. Instead, students and teachers alike were pressed into further strengthening the castle´s defenses, and everyone was assigned certain areas to go to if an attack should come. After the morning in the Hospital Wing, Harry barely saw Sirius at all; his godfather was busy scouring the castle and grounds, usually at Dumbledore or Snape´s side, but sometimes also with Professor Lupin. But Sirius was not the only one busy enhancing the wards around the castle; Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, for example, had been tasked with casting dormant sealing spells on each and every door in the castle, all of which could be activated with a single word. Such defenses probably would not slow Voldemort down much, but if there were Death Eaters inside the castle, Harry knew that the Hogwarts staff would need all the advantages they could get.

That evening, the Hogsmeade refugees were evacuated on the Hogwarts Express. Some had wondered about the danger of doing so, but Dumbledore had insisted, and a great sigh of relief passed through everyone´s lips when news came through that the refugees had safely reached London. Arabella Figg had been tasked with escorting them there, and according to Sirius, she would also be gathering all the former Aurors she could find to bring to Hogwarts. It was no longer a question of if Voldemort was coming; now it was merely a matter of when. Hogsmeade had been destroyed, and thus Hogwarts was isolated.

The Ministry of Magic, under the temporary directorship of Arthur Weasley until a new Minister of Magic could be selected (every poll in every paper claimed that it would be Dumbledore, who had so far not said no to the position), was still reeling. Everyone knew that it would be at least a week before the Ministry could gather its resources, and even then, no one knew what would happen when they tried to fight back. In fact, no one even knew what Voldemort was doing, aside from licking his wounds. No one even knew where he was. Not even Harry, for his scar had not hurt since the attack on Hogsmeade. Snape´s Dark Mark, however, had resumed its steady burn before Sirius had even awoken in the Hospital Wing, so they knew that the Dark Lord was alive and well. He was just biding his time. But he was coming. It was only a matter of time.

Voldemort was coming to Hogwarts.

They tightened the defenses. They built in extra wards and traps for the unsuspecting. The teachers taught offensive curses that they would not have dreamed of doing otherwise, and the students slurped them up like good Butterbeer. The oldest students, especially those above the fourth and fifth year, were under no delusions. They knew that the Death Eaters outnumbered the Hogwarts staff by at least ten to one, and that meant the students would be fighting. So they listened, and they learned. The school had become a second home for most of them, and they were not going to see it fall. So, side by side, the teachers and students readied Hogwarts for a siege.

But in all their preparations, they forgot one tiny thing.

When Draco Malfoy received a package in the mail the next morning, no one paid attention. The owl post, after all, was one of the few normal events still transpiring at the school. Worried parents depended on it to ensure that their children were all right--many, of course, had demanded that the students be sent home, but the Hogsmeade refugees had filled the Hogwarts Express, and Dumbledore had flatly refused to allow the train to return to Hogwarts once it had left. He would not lower the school´s defenses to do so, and besides, the children would make the train a target. The headmaster had rightly guessed that Voldemort did not care about the Hogsmeade refugees; their escape was simply anther vehicle with which to spread terror. Those people had been hurt already. The Dark Lord was moving onto bigger game.

Thus, when Malfoy opened up a small bag that was filled with coins, no one noticed that six of the coins looked a little different from the others.

----------------------

Author´s Note: I´m sorry that I´ve taken longer than usual for this chapter; this week has been hellish. I realize that some people have wondered why Harry hasn´t gotten in much trouble this year, and the answer to that is coming in the next chapter--trouble will indeed find him in a very big way. So stay tuned for the rest, and in the meantime, please review!