Chapter Twenty-Six: The Vengeful Three

Ginny was in tears. Harry had just recounted the whole tale to her and Hermione in a deadened tone of voice. Percy had betrayed them. The witch in charge of the Aurors held a terrible grudge against Hogwarts and Harry in particular- it didn’t sound like she and Sam got along very well either.
“Charlie mentioned something about Dolly,” Ginny sniffed. “She had a friend in the year above her who was Slytherin prefect the year Charlie and Sam came to Hogwarts. They were always picking on Charlie and Sam because Sam had hexed Dolly on the very first day. Dolly was bullying another boy, you see, and Sam stepped in. Then, in Sam’s second year, Sam ended up going to the school dance with this boy in Dolly’s year that she really fancied. Charlie said she’d looked murderous.” Ginny shivered. “Then… then the boy had to run away from Hogwarts and Sam went after him, but Dolly’s friend caught up with them. She was a Death Eater by then. She killed the boy. Sam’s got a scar on the front and back of her shoulder from where a hex went right through her, but the Order stepped in and rescued her before she was killed.” Hermione was looking halfway furious and thoughtful.
“So, Umbridge has some sort of childish grudge against Sam, does she? That’s no reason to let Voldemort do whatever he likes! Who was this prefect, anyway?”
Regelus’ cousin, Crawley hissed. I remember it all. I was there. Regelus’ death started the rebellion of the Blades, because then they realised that Mantacori considered them all expendable.
Regelus? Harry hissed. He knew that name. Regelus was the boy Dolly fancied?
Yes. He and Sam were friends. We went to his house once. His mother was creepy, but I liked it- lots of snakes everywhere. She liked snakes. Snakes everywhere- silver snakes as door handles and motifs. The creepy mother.
Regelus had had an older brother. Regelus had been killed the year before Harry’s parents had been. Hadn’t he been a Death Eater? A Death Eater who had changed his mind… and his own cousin had carried out the execution.
“It was Bellatrix,” Harry said out loud. Ginny looked up at him in astonishment.
“How could you know that?” she asked. “Charlie couldn’t remember.”
“Crawley remembered the boy’s name. It was Regelus Black, Sirius’ younger brother. He told me it was his cousin who killed him. That could have been Andromeda, Narcissa or Bellatrix. We know Bellatrix could have done it. Andromeda wouldn’t have done. I doubt Narcissa was the one. So, she’s responsible for the deaths of both brothers.”
“But if Umbridge is a traitor-” Ginny began, but Hermione shook her head.
“She isn’t. She’s been very careful not to disobey the Ministry. But it would fit that she could accidentally ‘lose’ the warning Sam sent. She’s just not going to do anything until too late. It’s up to us to act, Harry.” Harry nodded. In his pocket, he had his wand back. He’d tested it, in case it was Fred and George’s copy, but it hadn’t been. Snape had allowed him to have the wand back, and had also advised Harry to wait for June 20th .
“We can’t go rushing into this,” Harry said, and Hermione stifled a desperate laugh.
“It’s normally me who says that!” Despite the humour, Harry could tell she was terrified. Bellatrix had killed Sirius, whose amazing luck had finally failed him. It was getting close to exactly a year ago that it had happened.
“We wait until the 20th. I think we can get the Order’s support.” Hermione let out a relieved sigh.
“We won’t be going in alone? But why are we needed at all?” she asked.
“Because I understand Crawley, and if anyone can find Sam, it’s him.”

The anniversary of Sirius’ death came and passed, leaving a week before the 20th. Harry, exams finished with, spent hours each day poring over books with any reference to Azkaban in them. Were there secret passages where Death Eaters would be waiting to ambush them? Were there any protective charms he should know about?
It turned out that the charms had been woven into the walls of Azkaban and, as no wall remained in tact, this meant that Azkaban was open ground. It would be possible to Apparate and Disapparate. Hermione would have helped in this research, but she was studying furiously for her own Disapparition tests. She was determined to be ready for the 20th.
Three witches, and one wizard were caught up in the middle of all this. Bella, Dolly and Sam, and then Regelus. Crawley had told Harry all that he knew and understood. Certain things confused him about the behaviour of human beings, so there were gaps in the story. Bellatrix had hated Sam simply for being a Weasley- ‘a Muggle-loving, soppy disgrace to wizardkind,’ was what Crawley recalled Bellatrix calling Sam one time. She had been mortified to learn that her cousin had asked such a creature to the school dance, and had spread rumours about the pair, written crude things about Sam on the walls of the girls’ toilets and, worst of all, got Peeves in on the act. Crawley maintained they were just friends.
Bellatrix hated weakness. Harry had been able to see that at her trial. The fact that Dolores Umbridge had never become a Death Eater must have ended their friendship. Dolly could expect no help from that quarter, but Dolly despised Sam, as did Bellatrix. That was still effectively two against one- with Death Eaters and Aurors and Dementors thrown into it. What could one witch do against all that? What could the Order do?
There were scores to be settled. Sam would be after Bellatrix- she’d been close to two of her victims. Harry wasn’t sure that he wanted Sam to take her revenge. He had scores to settle, too. Dolores would probably keep Sam occupied.
He hoped no one would be able to see what he was thinking, but the opportunity seemed too good to miss. Sirius would be avenged.

Finally, the 20th arrived. The rest of the school was still basking in the warm afterglow of the final exams, though it was a miserably wet summer and most of the students were doing their best to enjoy themselves within the school itself. As a result, detentions were up and Filch had become extremely jumpy- various mentions of Fred and George Weasley had become commonplace. However, Harry felt completely separate to it all. He barely said anything to Ginny or Hermione that day. Hermione kept asking him questions, demanding to know what he was thinking about, but he wouldn’t tell her.
Ginny would look into his eyes and just know. He could see it there, too. They wouldn’t lose anyone else. They weren’t going to lose Ron. At any cost.
Then, just as everyone else was starting to gather for dinner that evening, and hopeful smells were wafting up from the kitchens, Harry was visited by Crawley in one of the school courtyards.
Severus sent me, the snake explained.
But he’s not a Parselmouth! Harry hissed back. Crawley chuckled.
You’re language is not hard to decipher once you get past the fact that everything must have a name, he said. He can speak to me, but he doesn’t understand me. You and whoever else you have persuaded to join you must meet in the Broken Wing at eight precisely. You’d better eat lightly. With that, the snake had left and Harry had made his way back to Gryffindor common room. Hermione was studying to get a head start on next term, while Ginny was coiled up on one of the comfy chairs in front of the fire, staring at it intensely. Both girls looked up as Harry entered the room, but neither said anything. A few late goers to dinner were still sorting themselves out.
“Aren’t you eating?” Neville asked as Seamus and Dean left the common room. Then he dropped his voice. “You’re up to something, aren’t you? You’re going after Ron.” Harry took a deep breath and tried to think of any reason he could give Neville to stop him going. “No, don’t bother, Harry.” Neville looked at Ginny sadly. “If Ron’s still alive… I… I know what it’s like, dealing with survivors of Y- You-Know-Who. He won’t be all right. He doesn’t take prisoners.”
“You’re wrong,” Harry growled at him. “Ron’s still alive and he’s still okay.”
“You’ve been wrong before.” With that, Neville turned to leave. “I’m sorry, Harry.” And he was gone. Harry looked at Ginny and Hermione, desperately relieved that they hadn’t heard the exchange. Ron was still all right, Harry was certain of it.
“Time to go,” Harry said. “We’re meeting Snape in the Broken Wing. Ginny, you’d better bring your cloak. Hermione, if you can think of anything, I trust you to know what we might need. I’ll meet you there.”
Harry knew that Sam had been tortured. He also knew Ron was a prisoner. If they were wounded, he hoped Hermione could think of appropriate treatments. Ginny was a spirited fighter, and she had the invisibility cloak. Harry also had his father’s cloak, but out of a need for something to do to make the time pass, he went to the kitchens to find food.
Maybe he would get hungry, or maybe he would find Ron half-starved. He didn’t know, and it didn’t matter much to him.
Dobby was predictably delighted to see Harry, but very concerned by his cold, distracted attitude.
“But… Harry… what’s wrong? Have you heard something? Is there anything I can do?” the house elf asked squeakily.
“I just need some food to take with me on a long journey,” Harry sighed.
“Everbread!” the elf squeaked excitedly. “We’ve got lots! Professor Dumbledore used to take some with him wherever he went. Not now, though. Professor Dumbledore is…” Dobby hesitated, and looked around nervously. All the other house elves were busy making dinner. “He is not himself,” Dobby strained to say. Each word was a punishment to him, and as he spoke, he bent various fingers back painfully. “Dobby was glad he left, sir. BAD DOBBY!” Harry grabbed him and stopped the house elf from throwing himself into the cauldron simmering in the great fireplace.
“What do you mean?” Harry asked. “Do you know where he went?” Dobby sighed mournfully.
“He and Draco Malfoy left in the early hours of the morning on that day. No fight, sir, no struggle. Professor Dumbledore has been drinking this, sir-” The moment Dobby opened the small bottle, Harry recognised the pungent smell. Polyjuice Potion.
“Do you know who he really is?” Harry demanded. Another house elf brought him a bag of Everbread and a couple of bottles of something silky and viscous. Dobby shook his head.
“No, sir,” he replied sadly. “All Dobby knows is… Miss Weasley found out, and the next day… she had a black scroll.”

Harry ran the entire distance to the Broken Wing to find Snape. Dumbledore was not Dumbledore, and possibly hadn’t been for the entire year. What had he been told? Did he know where the Order were? Who its members were? What other important information had been given to the false headmaster?

When he arrived at the Broken Wing, he was relieved, for once, to find that Snape was already there. The potions master looked up at Harry as he came charging into the hall, hastily shoving a crumpled note into his pocket.
“What is it, Potter?” he asked irritably.
“Dumbledore,” Harry gasped, struggling to find his breath again. “Dumbledore’s an imposter.” Snape gave Harry a look of utter disdain.
“And?” Harry choked with surprise.
“You knew?” he asked. Snape rolled his eyes.
“Samantha warned me. However, to reveal this fact is to ensure Dumbledore’s death. You must give me your word you won’t reveal this to anyone.”
“But-”
“Your word, Potter, or can’t I trust you?” Snape sneered.
“All right, I promise,” Harry said hastily. “But the Order’s in danger if anyone tells the fake Dumbledore where they are!” Snape didn’t get chance to answer that because at that moment, Ginny and Hermione arrived, pulling off the invisibility cloak at the door. Hermione looked around in disappointment.
“Is this it?” she asked. “Doesn’t anyone want to help us?”
“We must conduct ourselves in absolute secrecy, Granger, or risk more than the Weasleys’ lives here,” Snape explained impatiently. “Can any of you Apparate?” No one answered. Snape growled in annoyance and then produced a silver skull from his pocket. He tapped his wand on it, and muttered a few words under his breath. “We’ll use this, then. Where’s Crawley, Potter?”
He’s not my keeper, Crawley hissed irritably.
“I think he’s somewhere around,” Harry replied uncertainly. Hermione suddenly yelped and jumped back to allow the skeletal snake to pass by her and towards Snape.
“Very well, one of you had better carry him,” Snape said hastily. Harry carefully scooped up Crawley, who settled himself on Harry’s shoulders much as Griever did.
Griever, Harry thought to himself guiltily. The snake was still asleep in Gryffindor. Deciding that Griever wasn’t experienced enough to be able to protect himself, Harry shooed away his guilt and put his hand on the silver skull Snape was now holding. Ginny and Hermione followed suit and then Snape began to count.
“One… two…”

Quick explanation: chapters 1-25 are currently in the Finished Section, but for a quick re-cap of chapter 25...

Sam Weasley has left the school, apparently under the instructions of Voldemort, who has captured Ron. It is known he is planning a major necromantic rite and needs Sam for it.
Harry, meanwhile, has had to continue with his exams. During the DADA practical, a sort-of-duel with Professor Snape, Voldemort possesses him and attempts to use Harry to kill the treacherous, former Death Eater. Crawley (also possessed, but by Sam), intervenes and saves Snape, but Harry is stripped of his wand for the safety of the school.
While Harry lies unconscious in the infirmary, he has a vision of being Voldemort talking to Sam and Ron, telling them that he will kill them once the rite is over. The rite will make Voldemort immortal.
Harry hurries to tell Snape what he has seen, but Snape argues with him, claiming it is just another trick by Voldemort to lure Harry to the ruins of Azkaban. Nonetheless, Snape agrees to accompany Harry and anyone else to Azkaban based, not on Harry's vision, but on a letter of Sam's he has found; her attempt at warning the Ministry about what is going on has been foiled by the combined efforts of Percy and Umbridge.
Harry has also enlisted the help of Crawley, Sam's skeletal snake familiar.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Guardians at the Gate

“Three.” Harry’s legs felt as though they had turned to jelly and he collapsed on the hard earth below him. Here and there, he could see patches of bare rock that the dewy grass hadn’t managed to cover, and hear the crashing of the ocean somewhere near by. They were on a cliff, one which jutted out across the sea, and crowned by the jagged remnants of a once mighty fortress.
“Azkaban,” Hermione breathed. “It’s… it’s in ruins.”
“The Death Eaters wanted to make sure it was uninhabitable,” Snape said coldly. “The Ministry had to dig the survivors out. The main entrance is there-” he continued, pointing towards a still standing, huge archway with its even larger wooden doors charred and hanging off their hinges.
“Sam was at the entrance…” Ginny mumbled. “She’d been so close to escaping.”
“So what does the mighty Harry Potter think we should do now?” Snape sneered at him. Harry gaped at the potionsmaster. He didn’t have a clue. He’d thought they would be following Snape’s orders. Maybe Sam wasn’t even here anymore. Maybe Snape had just brought him here to make him look like an idiot.
She was here! Crawley hissed loudly.
Sam? Harry asked hopefully.
Of course. Her trail is very faint, and if it had been anyone else, there’s no chance I’d be able to follow it. I can’t tell you if she came here alone, though.
Take us the route Sam went, Harry told him. Crawley immediately began snaking across the grass, leaving beautiful but peculiar patterns in the dew. He hissed every now and then when he changed direction, or would pause at a point and look around, though how the snake actually saw, Harry wasn’t sure. Then, he would dart off again. The others were following Harry not far behind.
Crawley did not go to the main entrance, but they got close enough to see that the archway behind the doors was filled with rubble. Harry tried not to think that Sam had once been buried under there. Crawley picked up speed and led them to a very small side door.
Here! he hissed excitedly, and Harry pulled out his wand and aimed it at the door.
“Alohomora,” he announced. With a metallic click, the door slowly swung outwards. The hinges, Harry noticed, had been oiled. Sam had been trying to sneak into Azkaban, yet the Death Eaters would have known she was coming. What were you up to? Harry thought to himself.
They found themselves in a large kitchen, with only the smallest of fires burning in the grate. Snape’s hand landed heavily on his shoulder.
“Someone’s been here very recently, boy,” he whispered.
Sam? Crawley asked hopefully, before hurrying towards the door at the other end of the kitchen. He had already slipped through before Harry noticed he had moved and he ran after him-
And crashed into the now firmly closed door.
The fire in the grate went out, and they were plunged into darkness.
“It’s a trap!” Hermione wailed.
“Go away!” an age-husked voice barked at them.
“That snake belongs to us,” Snape announced. “We have to keep an eye on it.”
“Get out! Be gone from this place!”
“Lumos,” Ginny whispered, and her wand erupted in light. Everyone in the room cried out with pain as they were momentarily blinded, but after a few seconds, they had recovered, save for the owner of the mysterious voice.
“Put it out! Put it out!” he wept. Ginny dimmed the light a little. Cowering in a corner with his arms over his eyes, was a house elf. It was clearly a very old one, and its skin was grey and clung to his skeletal frame. He wore a skirt made from a grey, prison-issue towel and looked so wretched and helpless that Harry moved towards him.
“Petrificus Totalus!” Snape barked, and the house elf went completely rigid and fell back against the wall. “Alohomora,” Snape barked again, pointing his wand at the locked door and blasting it open. Crawley waited for them a little way down the narrow, dank corridor.
Hurry up! I hear people! he admonished them, before rattling his way down the corridor. Now Harry, Hermione and Snape lit their wands too. The walls were slippery with some sort of fungus and in places, it had crept across the floor to make coverings more treacherous than ice. A number of times, they had fallen over in fungus and now they each had streaks of it up their clothes and over their hands.
At a junction, Crawley led them down an even narrower, spiraling path. Snape extinguished all lights but his own and continued to follow Crawley at the head of the group now. Ginny and Hermione shared Ginny’s invisibility cloak, and Harry wore his. Nobody spoke now, not even Crawley. They could hear voices now too.
“-made a terrible mistake.” Harry’s eyes widened in shock- that had sounded like Dumbledore!
“Really, Dumbledore? You think so?” Harry knew that voice too: Lucius Malfoy.
Crawley stopped and hissed very, very quietly. They had reached the end of the corridor. A greyish light illuminated the doorway at the end and Crawley slithered out into it. Snape stopped them from following. After a few moments, Crawley returned.
Three wizards, he reported. Two armed, one bound on the floor. Neither are paying attention to the doorway. Then he disappeared again. This seemed to be a signal as Snape rushed out of the doorway crying ‘Stupefy!’ and the resulting flashes of light indicated some sort of duel was going on. Harry ran out of the door to look, and saw that Snape was not only fighting Lucius, but Draco as well.
Harry felt no guilt over Stupefying Draco who fell with a momentary look of surprise on his face. Now realising that he was outnumbered, and that one of his foes was invisible, Lucius dropped his wand on the ground and raised his hands.
“Now, now, Severus, surely you wouldn’t hurt an unarmed wizard?”
“Where’s Samantha?” Snape demanded. Dumbledore seemed to choke with surprise and struggled against his bonds. Harry made his way slowly over towards him and carefully burnt the ropes around his wrist with the Peruro hex.
“Professor, it’s me, Harry,” he whispered.
“Good work, my boy,” Dumbledore whispered back. “Now, I believe this would be a good time to leave, don’t you?” But Harry didn’t budge.
“My boy?” he repeated. “You’re not Dumbledore!”
“Too true, now if only the Malfoys knew that. But if you let me go, I can tell you where the real Dumbledore is.” Harry backed off slightly, and suddenly found himself shoved to the ground. The fake Dumbledore rose to his feet and looked blindly at a spot a foot to the left of Harry’s head. “Or I will simply leave, and you will not stop me for if you reveal that I am an impostor, my usefulness, and Dumbledore’s, will end. I will be reassigned; he will be killed. Goodbye, Mr. Potter.” With that, ‘Dumbledore’ walked around the edge of the hall towards the empty doorway while Snape continued to shout questions at Lucius, who was calmly turning them aside.
He’s waiting for something, Harry thought to himself. Suddenly, there was a shriek at the doorway as Dumbledore removed the invisibility cloak from Ginny and Hermione and wrapped it around himself. Vanishing with a chuckle, Harry heard his footsteps running up the corridor until he was gone. In the moment’s distraction, Lucius managed to punch Snape and throw him to the ground. Swiftly snatching up his wand, he stood over Snape and prepared his next hex-
“Avada-”
“Lucius!” The sharp voice seemed strange to Harry, until he saw Bellatrix Lestrange walk through into the chamber from a seemingly naturally made opening. No longer using her sweet and patronising tone, she marched into the cavern and fired an Imperiatus hex at Ginny and Hermione. To Harry’s horror, Ginny was hit and swayed on the spot. “Come here, child,” Bellatrix cooed. Ginny stepped forwards a few steps. Something in her eyes told Harry she was trying to fight the spell, and she stopped only a few paces in. “Useless!” shrieked Bellatrix. Harry suddenly knew what she was going to do. With no thought for the consequences, he ran to put himself between Ginny and Bellatrix and closed his eyes, ready for the end.
“Avada Kedavra!” Hermione screamed from where she had managed to hide herself, but the spell hit Harry instead, or rather, it hit his cloak, which erupted into blazing flames. Harry yelled with pain as he tore the flaming garment off himself and collapsed, weeping from pain, on to Ginny, pushing her to the ground as well. He curled up into a ball and wished he was dead. He looked at his hands… and tried to throw up. Nothing was left of them save for the burnt, black bones.
“So,” Bellatrix said calmly. “Harry Potter is here too. Anyone else?” No answer. “Good, because I’d hate to have to finish off the boy to find out. That honour I shall save for my Master. Do you know what he is doing at this very moment?” Harry was about to try and shake his head, but suddenly his scar seemed to split with pain.
He could see a perfectly round chamber with a huge, gaping, bottomless pit at its centre. Nine small platforms were set at regular points around the pit, though one was considerably larger and grander and was raised a little higher above the pit, over-looking it somewhat like a diving board. The pit was filled with vague wisps of cloud, sometimes taking on shapes… ghosts! He was staring at a pit of ghosts!
A large group of people now entered the chamber. With a twinge of his scar, Harry recognised the leader of the group- Lord Voldemort. Following obediently behind him were nine figures, eight of which were elaborately robed, with the ninth in her usual, more Muggle style of clothing. Sam. Following behind them, with a wand prodding him in the back, was Ron. Following Ron was Wormtail, dripping with sweat and looking horribly nervous. One of the figures, Harry noticed, had a glazed look- he was under the Imperiatus curse. The eight robed figures took their places at the minor platforms and faced the pit. Wormtail, Voldemort, Sam and Ron climbed up to the main platform. Ron’s wrists were tied to the barrier surrounding two sides of the platform. Sam took a deep breath.
“You will be remembered for this,” Voldemort told her. “You will be great.”
“There’s no way I could do this anonymously? I don’t feel particularly ‘great’,” Sam replied, taking another deep breath as she stared into the pit and looking to Harry as though she was going to be sick. “All right, lets do this.” She turned to Voldemort. “You keep your side of the deal though, or I promise you-”
“Get on with it, Sammy,” Wormtail sneered.
“Oh shut up Scabbers,” Sam replied bitterly. She took out her wand and lit it, and then began to say terrible words, words which pulled at his very soul. Sam seemed to go into a sort of trance and she approached the edge of the platform. Ron yelled at her, but she ignored him and stepped right off the end of the platform… and kept walking. She stood over the pit of ghosts, now whirling around her like a tempest, and turned back to face Voldemort. Her hair was writhing around her head like snakes and she seemed to glow with power. The other necromancers had begun chanting and swaying. Wormtail leaned in for a closer look-
And Voldemort pushed him in.
He screamed and fell into the pit, and ghostly hands dragged him in. Immediately, the white pit grew even fiercer and a tempest of ghosts now whirled around chamber. Voldemort stood at the very edge of the platform, watching hungrily. Sam began to chant louder, the other necromancers too, caught up in this great feat of power and then-
Everything exploded.

Harry screamed and yelled. His scar was bleeding anew. He felt a wave of despair and anger flood over him and lost all hope. Ginny was holding him tightly.
“Harry! Harry!” she called, over and over, but he could barely hear her over the sound of screaming. He opened his eyes, and found that he was no longer hearing his own agony, but someone else’s. Ginny was sobbing in terror and shaking. “She’ll kill him!”
Bellatrix was standing over Snape holding under the Cruciatus curse. He had no idea how long the potionsmaster had been tortured for, but his screams had taken on a strangled tone and he seemed to have lost his voice. Nevertheless, he writhed, occasionally facing Harry with a look of absolute torture on his face. Finally, he fell silent, and Bellatrix ended the curse. Snape didn’t move. Harry wasn’t even sure he was breathing.
At that moment, a revived Draco came running in from the chamber Bellatrix had arrived from, out of breath and pink in the face.
“Something’s happening! The gate’s opening!” he gasped.
“Finally, our master comes for us!” Bellatrix declared. “Lucius, Draco, go wait for him! I’ll keep my eye on these wretches.” Lucius and Draco left the chamber and vanished from view. Bellatrix approached Ginny. “I have no use for you,” she said quietly. And if Potter wasn’t shielding you, I’d kill you right now.”
“Bella!” Draco yelled from the other chamber, followed by a few shouts and flashes of light. Bellatrix coldly didn’t move to help her brother-in-law and nephew. Instead, she scowled at Hermione and then watched the door impatiently. Harry’s scar twinged again and he gasped with pain.
“Voldemort!” he croaked, trying to warn Ginny and Hermione. Sure enough, a tall, black robed figure appeared in the chamber, hood concealing his face. Two ravens swept through the room and took up perches at convenient vantage points, and, stood on either side of the wizard were Ron and Sam Weasley.

I am so glad that you are posting again on this one! I just love your stories, and that is saying alot. I am very choosy! I read AVWW every time you post...but I rarely get the chance to tell you how much I love reading it! I hate that too, because I really get upset when people don't post when they read my story...well anyway, keep up the great work on your stories, because I look forward to every post! Keeping my fingers crossed for the next installment...Shay

No problem Shay, it's great to hear from you again! Here's the next chapter:

Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Fall into Darkness

“Harry!” Ron exclaimed, but the hooded figure flung out an arm to stop him going to Harry. Ron looked at Harry apologetically, but Harry scowled back. Why was Ron stood willingly with his enemy?
“Master, why have you brought these Muggle-loving traitors here? Where’s Lucius and Draco?” Bellatrix asked.
“Leave, Bella, before I do something I regret,” the dark figure told her. Something about the voice was wrong. It wasn’t Voldemort’s high-pitched tones. Yet Bellatrix bowed her head gravely and left towards the gate. The moment she was gone, the Weasleys broke ranks. Ron ran over to Harry and Ginny, while Sam knelt down beside Snape, checking him for a pulse. Harry glared at Ron with what little strength he had.
“Why are you helping him?” he hissed. Ron frowned.
“What are you on about?” he asked. “It’s not what you’re thinking…”
“I’m sure it isn’t,” Harry snapped.
“I thought Percy had let us down, Ron, but at least he’s not a Death Eater!” Ginny shouted. “Leave us alone! We’ll make our own way out of here.”
“You’d never get past Tolly,” the dark-clad figure said, walking towards them. The twinge in Harry’s scar was fading, not growing. Something seriously strange was going on. “What happened to your hands? Did Bella do this?”
“Why should I tell you?” Harry demanded. “Who are you?” The figure recoiled in surprise.
“Harry he’s-”
“Save it, Ron,” Sam called. “Harry’s in shock as it is. We don’t want to kill him. Can you still Apparate?” This final question was directed at the stranger. He nodded.
“If I have a wand, of course.”
“Take mine.” She tossed it casually over to him and he caught it easily. “Get them to the surface. Tell Tolly to start releasing the charms. I don’t think it’ll be long before they follow us here.”
“What’s going on?” Harry asked weakly. The figure shook his head.
“Ron, you first. You’ll be able to defend yourself if there’s trouble.” Ron looked anxiously at Harry, then he and the stranger vanished with a slight bang.
“Is… Is Professor Snape all right?” Ginny asked fearfully.
“No, Ginny, he’s not all right. Bella’s got a taste for torturing people out of their minds. To her it’s far more satisfying than killing them.” The tremors in her voice belied a bitter rage simmering away just beneath the surface.
“Death is your area of expertise, Weasley. Care to see it from the inside?” Sam stood up very slowly and turned around. Bellatrix was waiting in the entrance to the gate chamber. Behind her was a large group of Death Eaters. “Did you really think you could fool me with that impostor?”
“I’m unarmed, Bella,” Sam told her quietly. “But if you take one more step towards me, we’ll both regret it.” Bellatrix laughed.
“And just what can you do?”
“I took an oath many years ago that it would never come to this. Don’t ask.” Bellatrix took out her wand and aimed it casually at Sam.
“I’m asking,” she said. “Crucio!” Sam fell to the ground, screaming and writhing in torment beside the fallen Snape. “Do your worst!” Bellatrix screeched.
SEAL. THE. GATE. Sam seemed to have fallen unconscious just as the first explosion went off overhead, accompanied by the sound of something huge colliding with the cavern wall. Six explosions went off in quick succession, sealing off the doorway Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Snape had used; the collisions were slower in coming, but much nearer. By the second hit, a huge series of cracks appeared in the wall. Bellatrix watched, her face a mask of terror and confusion. The cracks spread with the third hit. The fourth hit exploded the wall inwards, showering everyone in dust and rubble. With a mighty roar, a skeletal basilisk reared up and began to strike at the wall separating the cavern from the gate room. The Death Eaters despaired and started trying to attack the basilisk, but nothing they did seemed to affect it.
Harry watched the scene in horror.
Sam's not going to do something so stupid as to let a Basilisk come after all of us again. Ron’s words came dimly to Harry’s mind. Perhaps Hagrid had been right to lose faith in her. She had done what Dumbledore had feared most and unleashed a monster, one which this time could not be destroyed.
Bellatrix, however, soon extracted herself from the battle and marched over to Sam. She kicked her savagely in the stomach, making Sam cough up blood and curl up in pain.
“Make it stop!” Bellatrix screamed. She raised her wand again, just as the stranger reappeared. Seeing the situation, he grabbed Bellatrix’s raised wand arm and twisted it behind her back. Though she butted her head against his face, he didn’t let go of her. He dropped Sam’s wand, and feebly she reached for it before sitting up. The stranger grabbed Bellatrix’s wand and wrestled her to the ground before sitting on her. She screamed angrily.
“Silencio,” Sam croaked. Bellatrix fell quiet, but didn’t stop struggling. Sam tried to get up, toppled, and began to weep. Even as the tears fell, she tried to get up again, failed, then finally got to her feet. She wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. Harry couldn’t hear what words Sam then said to Bellatrix, but Harry watched the Death Eater’s expression. She looked defiantly at Sam, then glanced at Snape and smirked. It looked for a moment as though Sam was going to hit her, but her strength failed and she continued to speak. Bellatrix looked back at Sam-
She looked up into the face beneath the hood.
Her eyes filled with absolute terror.
And she fainted.
The stranger got to his feet and offered a steadying arm to Sam, but she shook her head and pointed to Ginny. The stranger then disapparated wordlessly with Ginny. Harry began to feel strange inside. The stranger wasn’t Voldemort, but he had no clue as to who it was. Who could Bellatrix have been afraid of enough to faint?
He realised it had fallen quiet, and the skeletal basilisk had ceased sealing the gate room. Only Bellatrix remained on this side, and it seemed the Death Eaters had disappeared back through the gate, sensing defeat. The basilisk was still reared though.
Daft thing can’t tell the battle’s over, hissed a voice at Harry’s side. Once we’re all on the surface, we’ll take you straight to St Mungo’s. We can save your hands, even if it looks unlikely right now.
Who is it? Harry asked. Crawley didn’t answer. Crawley? Who is the man in hood?
I don’t know. It’s not a scent I recognise.
He was someone Sam had known, but Crawley hadn’t, then, so it was unlikely they’d known each other at school. Harry still couldn’t tell who it was.
There was a series of pops that indicated several apparitions. However, the hooded stranger was not among them. Stood there instead were several surly-looking witches and wizards, all stood behind a witch and a wizard Harry knew all too well. Sam, however, spoke first.
“Pig!” she called, sounding almost hopeful. Percy Weasley ignored her, but Dolores Umbridge looked delighted and turned to Percy.
“Why on earth does she call you that?” she asked, putting on her simpering voice.
“Percy Ignatious,” he replied. “I haven’t seen this woman in many, many years. I have no ties to her.”
“That’s just as well then. Samantha Joan Weasley, you are under arrest. You will be taken to a temporary holding cell until a new holding facility has been constructed. You didn’t think that we’d simply let you walk away from Azkaban, did you?” Umbridge finished with a giggle.
Harry thought she sounded mad.
Sam’s gaze remained fixed on Percy.
“I’m sorry about Scabbers,” she told him, before looking at Harry and Hermione. “I’m responsible for that. He seemed like such a sweet little rat, a perfect gift for Percy to take to school with him in his first year. I really should have known better.” She turned back to Percy. “But he’s dead now. Voldemort killed him.”
“More likely that you did!” Umbridge said shrilly.
“The real killer is right in front of you, Dolly!” Sam suddenly snapped, and pointing at the fallen Bellatrix. “She murdered Regelus and Sirius Black, and you have witnesses to both those murders right here in this room. She’s all but killed Severus-” Her voice choked with emotion and she finished by croaking: “Take me back to the Ministry if you like, but I’m taking her with me.”
There was then another series of rapid events.
The stranger returned, landing so close to Percy that they both fell over and Percy’s wand rolled across the floor-
-to where Bellatrix seized it and leapt to her feet-
-causing the Aurors to start firing hexes at both her and Sam-
-who was running towards the basilisk-
-who was hissing in alarm and threatening to kill the Aurors-
-who, distracted by the basilisk, had forgotten Bellatrix-
-who was grinning maliciously at Harry and had removed the silencing curse from herself. She ducked past the explosion of hexes that were the result of the battle being fought between the attacking Aurors and the desperately defending basilisk, stranger and Sam.
“Sam may have wounded my master, Potter, but I won’t let you exploit that. Don’t worry. I’ve heard there are much worse things than death.” Harry lifted his charred and fleshless hands to shield his face, but through them saw an explosion of green light hit Bellatrix. She dropped, eyes wide in shock, to the ground.
Everything stopped instantly, as though every person had been frozen. Hermione’s wand was still pointing at Bellatrix. Hermione, holding it, was shivering all over. She collapsed to her knees, eyes staring wide in fear at Bellatrix.
“Oh no…no… I didn’t mean to…” Words failed Hermione and she began to sob tearlessly with shock. Bellatrix’s eyes were still staring.
Umbridge came marching over and roughly grabbed Hermione’s arm, dragging her to her feet and snatching away her wand.
“You’ll be joining Miss Weasley, I see,” Umbridge whispered quietly. Hermione had no will to fight back. The Aurors, who had turned to watch this unfold, suddenly shouted with anger as Sam and the stranger disapparated. There was another series of pops as yet more people appeared in the cavern, but these were faces Harry knew. He saw Lupin, Moody, and Hagrid, all looking cautious as they surveyed the scene. Hagrid was clutching Griever.
“This is no place for… civilians,” Umbridge snarled. “You have no authority here!” Lupin, grim-faced, presented a scroll to Umbridge which she read with growing disgust on her face. “How do I know this is genuine?” she demanded. “Where’s the evidence?”
“You know these documents can not be easily forged, Miss Umbridge,” Lupin said smoothly. “With the death of Sirius Black, guardianship of Harry falls to me, as was his parents’ will.”
“And just how did you know he’d be here?” Umbridge asked, staring at the snake suspiciously. Hagrid looked uneasily at Harry, but Moody stepped in first.
“This isn’t in Aurors’ jurisdiction, Dolores!” he snarled. “And I should know! The boy comes with us. Hagrid has come for the rest of his students.”
“Tha’s right,” Hagrid agreed swiftly. “So if yeh don’t mind-” Umbridge tightened her grip on Hermione’s arm.
“Not this one! This one cast an Unforgivable Curse! It’ll be prison! You know she’s of age!” Hermione tried to pull away.
“No! No, I didn’t mean to!” she wailed. Hagrid looked at Hermione sadly and shook his head. Harry knew full well that look meant. There was nothing they could do. The Aurors vanished, and Lupin visibly sagged with relief. He walked over to Harry, who was staring at him in astonishment.
“You’re my guardian?” he asked.
“Only until July, Harry, and then you’re on your own,” Lupin said, gently lifting his hands to examine them. “There’s no protection for you at the Dursleys anymore. In the meantime, we’ll be taking you to St Mungo’s to get your hands fixed. After that… we’ll see.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Unanswered Questions

Harry had to take several different potions before his hands began to resemble hands again. The in-between stages were so painful that Harry’s hands were wrapped in bandages and the healers kept giving him sleeping drafts to stop him feeling it. A week passed, not that Harry was very aware of the time passing. He had vague memories of many different people visiting him, but nothing of what they might have said to him or what he might have said in return. Finally, though, he regained enough consciousness to realise that Lupin was sat on the end of his bed late one evening.
“Feeling better?” Lupin asked. He seemed to have aged a decade.
“Just a bit,” Harry replied, before realising his throat was horribly dry. A jug of water stood next to his glasses- he put his glasses on and poured himself a glass of water. “How’s Ginny? And Ron and Hermione?” Lupin looked at Harry sadly.
“Ron doesn’t quite seem himself,” he said. “I’ve heard that he’s thrown himself into the study of necromancy and spends all his time in the school library. When he’s visited, he hasn’t stayed long. Ginny has been sat here more often than I have. She misses you, Harry. As for Hermione… the jury at the Wizengamot found that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove Hermione killed Bellatrix Lestrange. One of the Aurors noticed that Bellatrix had a second hex wound on her back meaning-”
“Someone else fired a hex at the same time,” Harry finished. “Who?”
“We don’t know. I suspect it could have been Sam or whoever it was with her- they had the opportunity during the battle with the Aurors.” Lupin sighed sadly. “However, Hermione has confessed to casting the spell. That alone is a very serious crime. I understand she is now in a temporary holding cell beneath the Ministry of Magic.” Harry couldn’t believe it.
“But-”
“She knew the consequences, Harry!” Lupin told him swiftly. “She chose to cast that spell, even if it was in a fit of anger! Snape lies in the Janus Thickey ward. Only time will tell if he fully recovers or remains like the Longbottoms for the rest of his life. And as for Sam, she’s left us with a huge headache at Azkaban. The basilisk has settled down there, but he’s not trapped. Ministry officials are going to collapse the ruins once and for all to contain it.”
“There was a house elf…” Harry remembered. “They’ll free him first, won’t they?”
“An elf?” Lupin asked, looking distant. “We found an old tea towel in the kitchens… but no elf. A series of powerful hexes had all but destroyed the area though. It may be, I’m afraid, that he was trapped beneath the rubble.” Harry moaned and let his head loll back so that he could stare at the ceiling. It was all such a mess. Dumbledore’s absence at St Mungo’s told Harry that the impostor was still in charge of Hogwarts. He had nowhere to live, save at Grimmauld Place now. One of his best friends was now a prisoner of the Ministry of Magic and the other seemed to have gone a little mad. Then there was the issue of where he was going to stay over the summer.
“I heard you stayed at Wight’s Lane last summer,” Lupin commented. “I don’t know if Sam’s friends will be there again, so you could be on your own. One of the Order will around to check on you often, though.” Harry nodded, though secretly he hoped that wouldn’t be too often- he had enjoyed his freedom last summer; now he was getting even more.

Harry arrived back in school just in time for the final few days of term. Ginny burst into tears on his shoulder when she saw him, telling him how she couldn’t believe what had happened to Hermione and if only she had been there to see it, maybe she could have stopped it and-
And Ron, meanwhile, had a slightly mad look in his eyes. As soon as he could, he was trying to get Harry and Ginny into the library to read the ‘Feats of Necromancy’.
“I don’t want to see that horrible book!” Ginny exploded. “Why can’t you stop being a necromancer?!” she shouted at him. Ron, however, was quite insistent.
“Honestly, you wouldn’t believe it if I just told you. You have to see it written!” Ron begged them. Finally, more to shut him up than anything else, Harry and Ginny followed Ron to the restricted section of the library and to the golden cage containing the huge book. Ron immediately flipped to the very last entry.
“There!” he said triumphantly. “Read that!”

WEASLEY, Samantha Joan
Gained Master Status on this day, 20th June, through the feat of resurrection. The rite included eight other necromancers and the exchange of a life for a life.
In thus breaking the First Code of Necromancy as written by the First Circle, Weasley has been denounced an exile and a bounty has been placed on her soul.


Harry re-read it.
He rounded on Ron.
“So? Who did she bring back?” he demanded. Ron looked even madder as he grinned.
“Sirius, mate,” Ron replied honestly. “I’d guess they’d have gone to my aunt and uncle’s house.”
“Sanctuary,” Ginny breathed, and her eyes seemed to be focusing on some thought or memory which slightly too far to be seen clearly. She shrugged after a couple of seconds though. “It’s completely sealed off. Uncle Bert and Auntie Iris had saved up a huge amount of money so they could buy it. No one uninvited can get in.”
“But mum and dad must have had a way to get in!” Ron said, eyes widening with his grin. “Harry, we’ll work on it.” His face suddenly fell. “But we really need Hermione for this.” The three of them stood in silence, wondering what Hermione was going through. “I never thought she’d cast an Unforgivable Curse,” Ron said quietly. “Even if she was only defending you two.” Harry remembered Lupin’s words: she knew the consequences.

The man who was currently accepted as being Dumbledore gave a solemn, grim speech at the end of term feast. He spoke of their ‘missing students’ as gaps in the school, though Harry was sure he had no idea how much of a gap Hermione had left. Draco Malfoy, too, had not returned to school, though Crabbe and Goyle were hardly looking lost without him. The pair had joined forces and had just enough malice and intelligence between them to start making life a misery for anyone they met. There were also the two conspicuous gaps at the staff table where Snape and Sam should have been sat.
Though Harry and the potionsmaster had never got along very well, he still felt his absence keenly. Snape had done what he could to prevent Harry getting killed in the past, and he had gone with them to rescue Ron and Sam. For that, he now lay in St Mungo’s, possibly for the rest of his life, yet there was some part of Harry that would never trust Snape as far as a definite answer. Maybe he was deluding himself, as he had done with the mirror and yet…
Hadn’t Sirius come back?

The next day, all the Hogwarts students boarded the train to London, many of them discussing Hermione’s incarceration. Most people were acting as though Ron, Ginny and Harry didn’t exist- many were embarrassed that Ron had returned when they’d all been discussing his probable death during term, and as for Harry and Ginny, Hermione had gone with them to Azkaban and it was there she had cast the Unforgivable Curse. There were rumours someone had died, and it was no secret that Snape was in hospital and Sam had fled. The strangest theories Harry had overheard involved Hermione trying to kill the potionsmaster, and then threatening Sam. He didn’t try to correct them. After all, who was going to believe him?
The flesh on Harry’s hands still looked pale and new, though it blended in with his slightly more tanned arms quite well. Whenever he looked at them, he kept remembering the charred black bones that had been there before, and were still there underneath. Ginny was still amazed he had survived at all, though the loss of his father’s cloak had become a major loss for Harry. It had been the only object he’d had that had linked him to his father, and though it saved his life, it was gone now for good… as was he.
He was also facing a summer of complete independence as he would not be returning to Privet Drive. He wondered how he would remember how to get to Wight’s Lane once he left Platform 9 ¾, as Ginny and Ron were heading straight back to the Burrow for the first part of the summer. As they were left alone for the entire journey, they talked freely about Sirius’ return. It was as though the events at the Ministry of Magic a year previously had never happened, and yet he had seen it with his own eyes. Back then, Sirius had been dead and Bellatrix alive; now it was the other way around.
Ginny was still puzzling over Sanctuary, the name of the house that her aunt and uncle had bought just months before their deaths. She said that she could remember a mention of the house when she was very young, soon after Sam had been sent to Azkaban. There was something her aunt and uncle had given her parents, something from Sanctuary, but Ginny wasn’t sure what the object was, or even where it was now.
“I’ll work on it,” she assured Harry again. “Maybe it was directions to the house, a map, or even a key or-” The word ‘key’ rang a bell in Harry’s head.
“A portkey!” Harry exclaimed.
“Yeah! That’s got to be the only way into Sanctuary- the owner has to give you a portkey.” Then Ron’s face fell. “But our house is full of stuff. It could be anything.”

The train pulled into platform 9 ¾ and all the students began to disembark. Molly and Arthur grabbed Ron into a hug, and Molly was crying with relief. Charlie and Bill stood just behind them and they waved at Harry. He considered asking Charlie if he could take Harry to Wight’s Lane when he saw Lupin stood a little way away. He felt his stomach tighten. Lupin didn’t know, did he?
He said goodbye to the Weasleys and hurried over to Lupin. Before he could speak, Harry blurted out-
“Padfoot’s alive!” Lupin let out a disbelieving laugh and looked around with the worried expression of someone who thinks he has gone mad.
“What did you say?” he asked Harry.
“He’s alive, Lupin!” Harry told him firmly. “He was at Azkaban! He and Sam have run off and-” Lupin stopped him suddenly.
“How can you be sure?” he asked.
“Ron was there, he saw everything,” Harry replied. “He thinks they’ve gone to Sanctuary, but the only way in is by using a portkey.”
“If what you say is true, we’ll need to find that portkey to find Sam and Padfoot, Harry,” Lupin told him.
Harry resolved to write to Ginny that night. But one thing puzzled him.
“Why do you want to see him so urgently?” Harry asked. “He’ll go to the Order, won’t he?”
“He might, but Sam can’t. This isn’t about Padfoot,” Lupin told him. “We had no idea he was alive. While I was visiting Professor Snape in St Mungo’s, a Seer was admitted, the victim of a Death Eater attack. With her last breaths, she told me her name was Jutta Segur and she’d had a vision. It concerned Sam, and she’d traveled here to warn her. Of course, we’ve checked with the Ministry of Magic- they don’t have the prophecy, but the Segur family would have kept a copy of it, as did Jutta herself- in her bag. The bag has gone missing, Harry. I’m sure you realise that depending on the contents of this prophecy, this could put Sam in considerable danger.”
“But she’s safe in Sanctuary!” Harry protested.
“Not yet, she isn’t. We don’t know who has the portkeys.” Harry’s heart sank, but at the same time, he began to wonder- who DID have the portkeys? He didn’t know Sam’s parents well enough to guess, but he resolved to try and find out.
It was going to be an interesting summer.

Epilogue

Hardly anyone gave Sam a second look as she ordered drinks at the Muggle pub and then carefully carried them to a gloomy table in the corner. Sirius grabbed his gratefully and took a long, slow gulp from it. Sam, meanwhile, unfolded a copy of the Daily Prophet and stared at the front page-
HOGWARTS STUDENT ARRESTED FOR MURDER
“Hmmm,” Sam said darkly. “That’s not right. I think I should pay Dolly a visit, don’t you?” Sirius laughed his comforting, barking laugh.
“That’s something I’d love to see,” he replied. “But don’t go doing anything that’ll get Hermione into even more trouble. She wouldn’t appreciate that. Got to be legitimate.” Sam didn’t say anything. “Sam?”
“Yes?”
“Are you listening to me?”
“Sorry, I was reading the rest of the story. Severus… Severus isn’t going to recover according to this.” Sirius reached across the table and gripped her hand.
“You all right?” he asked her. Sam took a deep, shuddering breath.
“I’ll get back to you on that.” A Muggle man came staggering towards their table with a deep frown on his face. He pointed at Sirius.
“Ishoo,” he slurred. “Ish Su- Siriusis Black.” Sirius looked at the man with an open, blank face.
“He died, didn’t you hear?” Sirius replied. The Muggle hiccoughed and then looked embarrassed.
“Oh, shorry,” the Muggle said. “You look jusht like ‘im.”
“I get that a lot, don’t worry,” Sirius replied in a friendly way. The Muggle nodded and then stared at the front page of the Daily Prophet, where Hermione’s face was chewing her bottom lip.
“That picture’s movin’!” he gasped. Sam fished out her wallet and handed the man a few pounds.
“You haven’t had enough to drink, mate,” she told him, pressing the coins into his hand. “You’re seeing things.” The Muggle, satisfied with that answer, grinned toothily at her.
“You’re all right,” he told them. Sam and Sirius exchanged glances and smiled knowingly. Just at that moment, however, the television above the bar changed to the news. Sam’s face appeared.
“Police are searching for Samantha Weasley in connection with the murder of a young woman. They are warning the public not to approach her, as she is to be considered armed and dangerous. If you see Weasley, then ring this number-” The Muggle gasped and look at Sam and Sirius’ table-
But they had long since gone.


[SIZE=7]THE END

Wow *stares in awe* That was a really good story... I can't wait to read the rest of A Very Wicked Weasley.


Edit: Er.... But who was the fake Dumbledore? Is there gonna be a sequel? Do we find out in AVWW exactly why Sam got Expelled??

It Can't be over!!!! Not Yet!!!!! Wahaaaa! I want a recount, wait that isn't right, I want more more more!!!!!!!!!! Ok enough of my whine! I hope that you continue this story with another :sorcerer: sequel, it is too good to let go!

A sequel you say? My that would take some planning.
I have started work on the sequel already, and I will start posting once I have a few chapters under my belt. I'd like to say here again what a pleasure it has been writing with all your support- :flowersmile: :flowersmile: :flowersmile:
As you know, Harry will be staying at Wight's Lane over the summer, and he'll be receiving some guests familiar to those who have read AVWW... and Tolly, of course, we haven't seen the last of him, but I'll say no more.

awesome fic. definitely needs a sequel.

are you gonna start the sequel in this thread or start a new one?

This one rocks, it is definitely on my all time favorite list. I've just finished the entire thing (both stories) and it took me, like two days! those posts are super long! Anyways, I would like to read the next part if you would be obliged to write it, but no pressure. If you don't end up writing one, I'll just imagine what will happen, although it probably won't be as interesting. When I was reading it, I kept having to remind myself that I wasn't reading the actual sixth book!

Anyways, heads up when you have the next part finished!

I can't seem to find your other story (A wicked Weasley) and I think the restricted section seems to not exist anymore, and your link is no longer working. Maybe you could look up on that?