Death Before Dishonor

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR

Chapter Twenty-Three: Attack

Harry awoke to blackness. Screaming.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It´s him! Go! Run! I´ll hold him off--"

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"

Harry´s eyes flew open to see the gray and scabbed form of a Dementor. He found himself staring into empty eye sockets and the gaping hole of a mouth--his mother screamed in his ears as rotting hands reached for him--

"Stupefy!" a harsh voice commanded, and he saw no more.

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"It´s begun," Dumbledore said softly to the assembled staff. It was the dead of night, but all of them had been alerted when the outermost wards were tested. None had been breached, yet, which meant that the castle and grounds were still safe, but all knew it would only be a matter of time. Since they were unable to ring the entire grounds with unbreakable wards (which was simply a matter of too much distance), generations of Hogwarts headmasters had concentrated the defenses on the castle itself. None had ever expected to face an all-out attack by Dark wizards, but then again, stupid wizards did not become the Hogwarts headmaster, either. Nor did the overconfident.

Tense expressions matched his own. Every professor was present, as were Molly, Percy and Charlie Weasley (Arthur and Bill were still at the Ministry, struggling to make sense out of that mess)--except for Sirius Black. Several pairs of eyes, the foremost of which belonged to Remus Lupin, glanced around the room for him, but he was nowhere in sight. Dumbledore, however, was continuing.

"For now, let the students sleep," the headmaster said quietly. "This may be the last good night´s worth of sleep they have for some time. Until then, I want everyone to keep his or her eyes open, and report anything that may seem out of the ordinary. Minerva, tell Molly, Charlie, and Percy the basis of our defenses; I am sure you can figure out how to employ them best. Remus, I want you to recheck all the secret passageways. In the morning, you can enlist the help of Fred and George Weasley, who I´m sure know those passages nearly as well as you do. Severus, I want you to watch over your Slytherins--I know that you don´t want to believe any of them guilty of striking against this school, but we can´t afford to be careless. Argus, I want you to check all the classrooms for anything suspicious at all. Sirius--"

Only then did he notice that the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor was missing. Immediately, Dumbledore´s eyes snapped to Lupin. "Where is he, Remus?"

"I was hoping you knew," he answered in a whisper.

The gathered professors looked at one another fearfully. A thousand thoughts crossed the minds of those present, but suspicion was not one of them. Fear, however, was something they all felt, Remus Lupin most of all. He had spent too long without his friend to contemplate losing him again. The mere thought of that was enough to kill him. The headmaster was staring at him, but Remus could do nothing but stare back. He didn´t know. He just didn´t know...

"Belay what I said last," Dumbledore said heavily to Remus. "Find--"

The staff room doors burst open, and Sirius Black strode in, intense fury and fear etched into his handsome features. He spoke without preamble.

"Harry is gone."

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Pain. His scar was burning.

Harry felt like his head would burst upon awakening, and he knew that could only mean one thing. Even though he did not want to, Harry forced his eyes open to look into the face of Lord Voldemort. Red eyes burned into his own.

"Harry Potter," the harsh voice hissed.

Harry took a shaky breath. "Voldemort."

His defiance seemed to amuse the Dark Lord; he laughed. As his opponent did so, Harry took a moment to glance around himself. Only then did he realize that he was tied to a chair with magical chains that were hot and painful against his skin. The chair was inside a smallish room, in Hogsmeade, he guessed; on second thought, it looked like Honeydukes. That thought made him remember the secret passage and glance around fearfully, and sue enough, standing next to the door leading down to the cellar was Wormtail. Peter Pettigrew. The one man who knew how to get into Hogwarts unnoticed...but there had been Dementors. He remembered Dementors! He remembered hearing his parents´ voices, hearing his mother screaming... Suddenly, he thought of Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus. He hoped they were all right.

A cold hand suddenly gripped his chin, and his scar exploded with pain. "Now, now..." Voldemort chuckled. "Don´t look at my poor Wormtail with such hate. He´s been very helpful, haven´t you, Wormtail?"

"Yes, Master." Pettigrew bowed, his silver hand shining.

Harry swallowed his hatred as best he could, turning to face Voldemort once more. It was hard to look at Wormtail and not think of his parents. Without Wormtail´s betrayal, his parents would never have died, and Sirius would never have spent twelve years in Azkaban...

"Awfully quiet, aren´t we, Harry?"

"I don´t have much to say to you," Harry replied, surprised at his own daring. His head was spinning; it was hard to concentrate. Why, then, was he still mouthing off to the most powerful Dark wizard in the world?

"Ah, but that is not how the game is played," Voldemort replied lightly, finally releasing Harry´s chin. "Be polite, boy, and ask me how I succeeded in breaching the unbreakable Hogwarts defenses."

Angering Voldemort, Harry had once learned, was not a way to survive. Fear suddenly gripped his mind. Were the others all right? Was he alone? Did they even know he was gone yet? "Fine," he snarled. "How did you manage to get me?"

"A very simple matter of smuggling Dementors into the castle, transfigured into innocent and harmless coins... You will be pleased to know that your classmate, Draco Malfoy, has been in my service for quite some time."

Malfoy! Why am I not surprised? The Junior Death Eater club, as he, Ron, and Hermione had taken to calling Malfoy and his groupies, must have decided to join the Dark Lord´s service on a full-time basis, after all. He scowled. What if Dumbledore doesn´t know? Harry suddenly thought. They´re still in the castle! They can do all kinds of things for Voldemort on the inside! But suddenly his worries did not matter, because it seemed the Dark Lord had tired of conversation.

"Crucio!"

And there was agony. Although he´d experienced the Cruciatus curse, Harry had discovered it wasn´t something that one got used to over time. He couldn´t help but scream; there was no resisting as every nerve ending began to burn, as every part of his body felt like it was going to be torn apart from the inside out. His body was jerking helplessly in his chains but could go nowhere. He felt like his head was going to implode, felt like his scar had become a deep chasm digging into his skull... Harry screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

Finally, it ended, and through the red haze of pain, he heard Voldemort laughing. "Open your eyes, Harry," the Dark Lord said softly. "I know you´re still awake."

He hadn´t even realized that he´d closed them. For a moment, Harry considered resisting the command on principle alone, but he realized that wasn´t worth the pain it would bring. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at Voldemort. The Dark Lord´s red eyes were gleaming.

"Tell me, Harry Potter, why you think I wasted my one chance to breach the castle´s defenses on you."

One chance? Harry´s brain was working slowly, but after a moment he realized that Voldemort was right. Dumbledore would surely find out, and then the Dark Lord would never get into the castle again, no matter what kind of help he had. Obviously, Wormtail and the Dementors--Harry still shuddered to think of them--had been smuggled into Hogwarts, yet they had gone for him. No one else. Just him. Fear tried to rise again, but Harry shoved it down. He couldn´t afford to be afraid.

"Because you have to kill me," he said quietly.

"Have to?" Voldemort laughed. "No, dear boy, I just want to kill you. At the moment, though, you are simply bait."

"Bait?" Harry croaked. Oh, no...

Voldemort moved away, toying with a wand in his right hand--that´s my wand! Harry realized with a start as he stared at the Dark Lord. "Oh, yes," Voldemort said softly. "You are bait. Nothing more, nothing less. Do not flatter yourself into thinking you are more important than that, Harry Potter. Crucio!"

The pain was as unexpected as it was horrible. Harry screamed, buckling in his chains, torn not only by the curse, but also by the knowledge that his presence was endangering others... But the pain took over, and it was hard to think of anything but agony and despair, agony and despair... It was hard to breathe, impossible to think. He felt as if his body would explode, and the pain went on. The chains constricted as his body jerked harder, but all Harry could do was scream, both from the torturous pain of the Cruciatus curse and from the red-hot enchanted chains. Finally, when it stopped, he slumped in the chair, gasping for air. Still, though, he could not escape Voldemort´s mocking voice.

"You scream nicely, Harry," the Dark Lord sneered. "I toy with you... You are nothing compared to one such as myself. In the end, history will view you as a minor inconvenience, and as an example to all those who were foolish enough to resist me."

Harry could have cried, then, had he been any weaker. But pride and heart would not let him. He managed to whisper, needing to know, "Who...?"

Again, the high-pitched laugh came, and the only answer was pain.

Harry must have blacked out, because when he awoke, Voldemort was leaning over him. Instinctively, Harry recoiled away from the other, wanting nothing more than to escape the Dark Lord, but there was nowhere to go. He was still chained to the chair, still stuck in Honeydukes. With despair, he realized there was no escape. He was going to die there. Red eyes gleamed as Voldemort smiled. "You wish to know who you are bait for, Harry?"

"Yes," he whispered. There was no use denying it, but he shuddered as Voldemort touched his face once more. His scar burned, and he wanted to scream, but he didn´t feel he had the strength to do so. It hurts...

"In truth, I am not very particular," the Dark Lord whispered. "Either the great Muggle-loving Dumbledore or your bothersome godfather will do. They will come, and then you will die."

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The students were gathered in the hall that morning, frightened and worried, but none more so than Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who had awoken to find their best friend gone. In Ron´s case, he had come to, along with the rest of the boys in his dormitory, without ever knowing that he had been stupefied. For Hermione, it had been Ron´s shouts that had awakened her, all the way in the girls´ dorm, and she had rushed into the Gryffindor common room to find a furious and frightening Sirius Black striding out of the tower, having just discovered that his godson was missing. It had been Sirius who awoke Ron and the others when he´d first heard of the attack on the wards and gone to check on Harry. He hadn´t said a word as he stalked out, presumably to tell Dumbledore.

They hadn´t seen any teachers except for Hagrid, ever since the half-giant had been sent to bring all the students into the Great Hall. It was rumored that Professor Dumbledore would come and speak to them soon, but so far, all the teachers were still busy seeing to the castle´s security--and, presumably, looking for Harry. Hermione was scared to death for her friend, and knew by the look on Ron´s face that he felt the same. Right now, they stood off to the side with Ron´s siblings, unwilling to engage in any of the wild speculation running throughout the hall. Harry was missing. Nothing else mattered.

However, events took an interesting turn as Sirius Black and Severus Snape swept into the Great Hall side by side, heading directly for Malfoy´s group of Slytherins. The two men normally could not have looked more different, but at the moment, they were very much alike. Both wore identically controlled expressions, and moved with the same long and sweeping strides. As they approached the Slytherin fifth and sixth years, though, Sirius slowed a bit and allowed Snape to take the lead as the Potions master stopped in front of his student, with Sirius standing a few feet behind. The contrast between them began there, because Snape´s face relaxed every so slightly, while Sirius´ became more tense, as if he was holding onto his temper by force. His eyes were dark, and his hands, from what Hermione could tell at that distance, were shaking.

"Where is he, Draco?" Snape asked softly.

"Who?" Malfoy responded innocently, looking up at his head of house with wide and confused eyes. He blinked, then, seeming truly confused. Hermione and Ron crept closer.

"Potter." Snape´s voice remained idly curious.

The blond haired Slytherin stared at the Potions master. "I don´t know what you´re talking about, Professor. Why, I..."

"Tell me now, Draco. This is no time for games." Snape´s voice took on a bit of an edge, earning an exasperated reply from his student.

"How should I know? It´s not like I´m his friend--"

His response was cut off by anger flaring in the professor´s eyes. Then, unbelievably, Snape grabbed him by the collar, snarling, "Foolish boy! Do you think I´m blind? Tell me how Voldemort got into the castle!"

"I don´t--" Malfoy´s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. The entire hall was watching. Ron and Hermione couldn´t believe what they were seeing. Was Snape actually threatening Malfoy? Was he actually looking out for Harry´s safety? It had been one thing to know that the Potions professor was on Dumbledore´s side, but it was quiet another to see this. "I don´t think that I ought to tell anyone, even you, sir...I mean, anyone could hear it here..."

He clearly thought Snape was still a Death Eater. Hermione almost gasped in surprise, but Ron clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent her from doing so. She couldn´t believe that Malfoy didn´t know... Wouldn´t his father have told him? I guess Death Eaters just don´t advertise it when they leave, she thought. Then her heart leapt. If Malfoy thought that Snape was still working for Voldemort, maybe he´d tell him what had happened... Obviously, the same thought had occurred to Snape.

"I don´t care what you think, Mr. Malfoy," he said silkily. "I asked you a question, and I require an answer."

Malfoy peeled out of Snape´s grip. "I´m sorry, Professor," he replied quietly, his chest puffing up importantly. "I was told that I can´t reveal it to anyone."

"To anyone?" the Potions master challenged, arching his eyebrows expectantly.

The Slytherin´s eyes glowed with self-satisfaction, but there was a shadow of doubt there, too. After a second´s hesitation, Malfoy began to smile, but was cut off by Sirius´ hard voice.

"We don´t have time for this, Severus."

Snape glanced over his shoulder, and the two professors exchanged a meaningful look. The Potions master nodded ever so slightly, but Sirius´ expression did not change; his pale features looked as if they were etched in stone. He was showing no emotion, but Hermione wondered what that cost him. Snape´s voice became very soft. "I suggest you answer me, Draco."

"Or what?" the young man demanded, encouraged by his professor´s gentle tone and mistaking it for acceptance.

"Or I will not be responsible for what happens," Snape growled softly.

Malfoy blinked. "You wouldn´t dare."

"You´re right, I wouldn´t...although not for the reasons that you think." Snape smiled grimly. "But he could."

Malfoy´s gaze flew to Sirius´ expressionless face as the ex-Auror stepped forward, radiating more power and anger than Hermione had thought possible. It brought her memories back to that night in the Shrieking Shack, when they had all been terrified of Sirius Black and convinced that he was a mass murderer...but this was different. He wasn´t the starved, haunted and gaunt escaped convict anymore. Now, he was an Auror, implacable and deadly, and able to kill. The change from the lighthearted and mischief-making professor was lost on no one in the hall, least of all Malfoy.

"My father would kill you," he whispered.

"Your father, young man, is not someone I fear," Sirius replied with a hard snort. "And you will find yourself quite alone right now. There is no one here to protect you. You have already all but admitted your guilt...and I realize that working as Voldemort´s spy may a certain allure for you, but you will find it a very dangerous business."

"I don´t know what you´re talking about." Draco´s voice was shaking slightly, and Hermione almost felt sorry for him. If Sirius had been looking at her that way, she would have been scared, too.

"Are you sure about that?"

"You can´t threaten a student!" That, at least, was true. Suddenly, Hermione had to wonder if Professor Dumbledore knew Sirius and Snape were doing this. It seemed highly unlikely that he would allow this to happen...unless Malfoy really had done something that let Voldemort´s agents into the castle and enabled them to kidnap Harry. But who else could it be? she asked herself sternly. It has to be Malfoy.

But Sirius only turned to Snape. "Do you want to, or shall I?"

"I suppose I ought to," the Potions master replied coolly, reaching inside his robes with his left hand and holding up a small vial of clear liquid. "You know what this is, Draco?"

But Malfoy was staring fixedly at Snape´s left hand--no, Hermione suddenly realized, he was staring at Snape´s left forearm. She suddenly realized that the Potions master had used that hand to remove the Veritaserum from his robes for this exact purpose: as he held up the potion, his sleeve slipped down around his elbow, exposing the Dark Mark for all to see. Malfoy clearly recognized it. He gaped.

"But you´re..." Snape nodded ever so slightly.

"I was. A very long time ago...before I learned the difference between what is right and what is easy. I had hoped that was a lesson I could impart upon my students, but if that has failed, Draco, there are other lessons you can learn. For the final time, answer me. Tell me how Voldemort has breached the castle´s defenses, or I will use this potion."

Very quietly, Malfoy began to talk. As he told the story, Hermione stared at him--how could he knowingly bring five Dementors and Peter Pettigrew into the castle? How could he do such a thing? What if Wormtail had decided to go for someone other than Harry, and had simply released the Dementors to suck as many souls away as they wanted? She shuddered, then, wondering how much control Voldemort really had over Azkaban´s former guards. What had he promised them? Finally, though, Malfoy finished his tale, but before either professor could talk, another voice came as its owner strode quietly into the room.

"Now we know."

"Professor Dumbledore!" the Slytherin gaped. He´d never been very respectful towards the headmaster, but at the moment he looked relieved to see him. In fact, Draco looked ready to rush to the old man´s side but a raised hand stopped him. Dumbledore´s eyes had none of their familiar sparkle, and he was frowning.

"Do not look to me for protection, Draco," the headmaster said quietly. "I am sorry to hear of your choice, but that does not extend to excusing it. Your actions have endangered a great many people, some of whom have done no more against Lord Voldemort than the innocent Muggles that he hunts." Malfoy started to reply, but again, Dumbledore´s raised hand stopped him. "You will be in no danger here, but that is all I can promise."

He turned to Snape, his eyes turning sad for a moment. "Severus, if you will take care of those whom you know are against us...?"

"I will." The Potions master seemed sad, but he nodded. "As per our previous arrangements?"

"Yes." Dumbledore turned to the other black-haired professor. "Sirius, I would like to speak to you when I am done here...and before you run off and try to get yourself killed, I think there is something I might say to make you wait."

"I doubt it," Sirius replied darkly, murder dancing in his eyes. "But I will listen."

"And that is all I can ask." The headmaster nodded, and then turned to his students. "As I am sure all of you know by now, Hogwarts´ security was breached last night. Although I can assure you this will not happen again, it is best that everyone remain on his or her toes for the time being.

"I also regret to inform you that Hogwarts is under siege."

A frightened murmur swept through the hall, but Dumbledore´s steady gaze killed it even as it began. That did not keep Hermione´s heart from leaping into her throat, however, and she exchanged a worried glance with Ron. Hogwarts? Under siege? Everything she had ever read told her that was impossible, but Hermione knew that Dumbledore wouldn´t lie. War had come to Hogwarts. The headmaster continued.

"Accordingly, all classes are canceled. Students are not to move around the castle, expect when escorted by a professor. For the time being, everyone will sleep in the Great Hall; your Heads of Houses will take you to the appropriate dormitories soon so that you can gather anything you may need for the foreseeable future. By the end of today, each of you will be given a job to do to ensure the castle´s security, and no matter how small that task is, I hope you will perform it diligently. As I have said before, we are only as strong as we are united, and together we will ensure that Hogwarts will not fall."

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"God help me, Remus, if I see him again, I´m going to kill him."

"I know, Sirius." Lupin sighed. "Me, too." That was a hard truth not to ignore, and even though Remus had never wanted to be a killer, Peter Pettigrew seemed to be a mighty good place to start. "But you can´t just go running off half cocked--Dumbledore is right. You will get caught, and then where will we be?"

Sirius was pacing the room like a madman. "You don´t know I´ll get caught."

"Really?" It was hard to restrain himself to just that one word and a raised eyebrow, but the murderous look that Sirius gave him made Remus pause. He knew Sirius loved Harry as a son, and understood his friend´s determination to save him--and not fail Harry the way Sirius felt he´d failed James and Lily. When will he understand that wasn´t all his fault? He had no way of knowing that Peter was the spy! Pain welled up in Remus, remembering, and he understood, too. He´d spent the last years wondering what he could have done differently to save them, and he knew Sirius did the same. Only Sirius had had twelve years in Azkaban to run through nothing but the worst memories in his head. Of course he hated feeling helpless. The silence, however, was unnerving. Simply to fill it, Remus commented weakly, "Your office is a wreck."

"I don´t care."

"Sirius, you´ve got to listen to reason--" Even if it does stab like a knife.

"Fuck reason."

Remus never cursed. He made a practice of not doing so, in fact, unless the situation really warranted it. But this one certainly qualified on all counts. "Dammit, Sirius!" he snarled. "I care about Harry, too, but I´m not letting it blindly! If you do this, you´re going to play right into Voldemort´s hands!"

"Listen, Remus--" Sirius wheeled on him. "There are few things in this world that I´m good at, and waiting isn´t one of them! I can´t just sit here and let Voldemort hurt Harry--and don´t you even try to tell me he isn´t, because we both know that´s a lie!"

"You think I can either, Padfoot?" Remus demanded. "But that doesn´t change the fact that it´s the right thing to do! We can´t afford to take chances. Not with Harry´s life."

The worst part about it was that they were both right. Remus was only better at listening to reason over his emotions...something that Sirius had never been good at. One of Sirius´ greatest strengths was his loyalty--but it could also be his greatest weakness. Sirius would gladly die for Harry, Remus knew (just as he would), but at the moment, that would get them precisely nowhere. They had to wait. They had to trust Dumbledore. Even though it was killing them both. His last words, though, finally did have the desired effect. Sirius deflated. He stopped pacing.

"And then what?" he asked bitterly. "We do nothing?"

"We wait," Remus replied. "We have to."

As always, Sirius was unpredictable--and always on one of two extremes. He swung into motion again, startling even Remus, and grabbed a book off of his desk. In a second, the book crashed into a mirror (which had probably once belonged to Lockhart and had never been removed) and sent shards of glass flying everywhere. The words exploded out his old friend. "I hate waiting!"

And then Sirius deflated again, slumping wearily against his desk.

"Me, too," Remus whispered.

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Author´s Note: Thanks again for reading...please keep doing so, and please keep reviewing! I can´t give you a clue about what´s coming, because that would spoil the plot...but stay tuned. Thanks again!