Turning Point

Severus awakened to the sting of the summons radiating from his Mark. Getting out of bed and dressing quickly, he pulled out his favorite black eagle owl quill and a piece of parchment to write a short note for Hermione. After tucking the note under the door that separated their rooms, he swept out of the manor in a rush to join his "Dark Master."

As soon as he arrived, he fell to his knees before the Dark Lord and waited until he was bidden to stand with the others.

"Today we will be discussing my plans for the Ministry of Magic. Those of you who are here, are here because of your accomplishments. But do not be fooled by your involvement in these plans. The mission before us is as much for our war effort as it is a test of everyone's loyalty. Each of you will be tasked with a different part of this mission. So I will know, if one part fails, which of you are not as loyal as you claim to be. Now, everyone except Lucius leave the room and await your turn in the gathering room down the hall. Do not leave there until you have been summoned to speak with me about your part in the attack. Now go."

Severus paid close attention to the other four Death Eaters who entered the gathering room with him as they chose seats and took off their masks to await their turn before the Dark Lord. Panic laced his thoughts as he mentally calculated what might be planned, and what Greyback's, Bellatrix's, Nott's, and Rostoff's roles would be. He knew that whatever happened, all he would be able to do was warn the Ministry through the Order members to up the security. Although as he thought about all the possibilities of what kind of attack was being planned, having still more people at the Ministry could be devastating. There was no telling what type of attack the Dark Lord had planned.

So Severus waited, his mind flying from one possible scenario to another, until Lucius entered the room and, with a sneer on his face, told Severus he was to go before the Dark Lord for his assignment.

~{}~

Hermione rubbed her eyes after sitting up and stretching. As she focused on her clock, she noticed the white slip of parchment sticking under her door, so she quickly got up and retrieved the note.

Hermione,

Severus

Hermione folded the letter and put it away inside of one of her favorite books. With a flick of her wrist, she sent her otter Patronus to alert Remus to a meeting with her in half an hour, and then she went to take a swift shower and dress for the day. While she went through her routine, she mentally listed several places she thought might be safe enough for the testing of the Avada Bomb.

~{}~

Exactly half an hour later, Hermione and Remus sat quietly in her room going over a list of possible test sites. After narrowing it down to three, Remus left her after deciding it would be best if he personally checked out each place to calculate the security possibilities for their test. Hermione, meanwhile, went down to the lab to prepare what they would need for their test. From their estimates and educated guesses, they would need to be at a considerable distance from the blast for their own safety. So with that in mind, she packed away a set of shackles that would securely hold the... test subjects, as well as three sets of Omnioculars and a special set of protective robes she thought they should wear... just in case.

Once those were safely packed away in a dragonhide satchel, she pulled out some parchment and started to organize the list of observations and assessments they would need to note after the testing was complete. That way they could better prepare themselves for the moment and keep everyone on the side of the light safe.

~{}~

Severus bowed after closing the door and approaching Voldemort. "Severus, I have a rather tricky job for you," Voldemort said as he pulled out his wand and summoned a box that was trimmed with silver fastenings and had a snake emblem on the latch. "This box contains a rather large quantity of Veritaserum that, as you remember, you brewed for me a while ago at my request. I was saving it for this very day, and now your hard work is about to bear fruit.

"As soon as you leave this room I want you to accompany Lucius to the Muggle entrance at the Ministry of Magic. Through reports from my spies, I have learned that the Minister and all his top officials have been rotating their points of arrival every day. Today is their day to enter via the phone booth located there in London, although once they enter their own special codes they will appear in their own offices, not in the Atrium. As you see them approach, Lucius will Stupefy them and you will pour a phial of Veritaserum down the throat of each of them and leave.

"Do not fail me, Severus. Lucius has other work to do as well, but if the officials are not under the potion's influence by the time they wake from the ambush, then I will be very displeased."

Severus controlled his confusion and calculating thoughts as he bowed and picked up the box. "It will be done as you have instructed, my Lord. And, if I may, I would like to ask something of you," he said, hoping that the Dark Lord was in the right frame of mind to hear requests at such a time.

Voldemort searched Severus' thoughts, and the sudden intrusion nearly caught him off-guard. But Severus was well practiced and made sure to move the right thoughts and images to the forefront of his mind, detailing his plan to get rid of Lucius' most helpful lackeys.

"Very well," Voldemort said finally. "You may proceed with your retribution. I welcome the plan, since it will be effective in bringing Lucius' outside plans to an end. I will speak with him later after you have taken care of his... companions. You are dismissed."

Severus bowed again and left the room to find Lucius and get his part in the plan over with.

~{}~

When Remus returned, Hermione was packing away a few last minute books and tools they might need. "Okay, I found the perfect place. It's an island in the middle of the ocean. Nothing but wildlife. I've already created Apparating barriers and several spells that will repel Muggles and hide any of the magic that may be present. There is a small area in a clearing that is safe for all of us to Apparate to. I've also done some thinking about the possible effects on the island itself after the Avada Bomb goes off. I think, if we spell things just right, anyone who happens to come to the island will think a hurricane has hit. We will have to do some serious magic at the exact point when we use the potion... but everything else should be quite convincing."

Hermione smiled at him and put her dragonhide satchel down. "Severus should be back soon; then we can go test it. I'm so excited, Remus. If this works, we can end the war."

"I'm excited about it, too. But before we go you need to think about what is about to happen Hermione. It's never easy being responsible for someone's death. Tonight you, Severus, and me...we will be responsible. Make sure you have your head on right, okay?"

Hermione nodded and replied firmly, "This is war, Remus. I look at tonight as a way to further our cause while eliminating a small but dangerous foe. Whoever Severus chooses to test this on will deserve what is coming to them. I'm not worried about what we are about to do; I'm only hoping that it works the way we want it to. The sooner it does, the sooner an end will come to all of our distasteful but necessary deeds."

"Well said, Hermione. Well said," Remus replied. Both of them settled down at the kitchen table with a couple of butterbeers to await Severus' return.

~{}~

Severus was cringing on the inside as he poured the last phial of Veritaserum down the Minister's throat, the others having already received their doses. When the deed was done, he retreated with Lucius and they watched from a darkened alley across the street from the red phone booth as one by one the Minister and his men awoke and rushed into the phone booth, disappearing below the ground. Severus nodded curtly to Lucius and Disapparated away.

Lucius pulled out a phial of Polyjuice Potion and drank it quickly, and then he too Apparated to the Daily Prophet to do the other part of his job.

~{}~

Severus' Patronus leaped into the room and dropped an old quill from its mouth. In an impatient voice it said, "Pick up the quill. It's a Portkey to my location. You have one minute."

Hermione and Remus leapt to their feet, and after Hermione grabbed her satchel and a cloak, they both picked up the quill just in time. Moments later they landed in the clearing where Hermione had been captured months before. As they picked themselves up off the ground and dusted off their clothes, they noticed two bodies tied up and covered with hoods at Severus' feet.

"Did you figure out a safe place to conduct our test? We cannot be here long. I've got much to do after we return, whether we are victorious or no," Severus said, irritation lacing his words as he double-checked the ropes binding their prisoners.

"Yes, everything is set, Severus. Hermione, let me hold the satchel. You will need to hold one of them with Severus' help. I will hold onto both of you. Severus, you remember the island you took me to several years ago? The one where we found that ingredient we needed at the time for the Wolfsbane? That's where we're going. Help me with the Apparation...I'll concentrate on the safe entry point I created. Are we ready?"

Hermione and Severus adjusted their grips on the prisoners and nodded. Severus and Remus counted to three and the five of them disappeared.

~{}~

After they arrived, Hermione gave Severus the magical shackles and watched as he floated the two prisoners to the point Remus directed him to. When the prisoners were secure, Remus and Severus returned to the edge of the clearing.

"Right," Hermione began. "Severus and I calculated that with a quarter of an ounce we should be a minimum of two hundred yards away. So for safety's sake, I say we should be extra careful and double that. Severus, I might have created the concept, but this Avada Bomb would not have been possible without your help. You can float the potion over their heads and release it," she said.

She tossed a protective cloak to each of them and then fastened her own. While they donned them, she pulled out her parchment, quill, and the Omnioculars. When they were in position, Hermione pulled out a box that contained the test phial. Carefully she removed it from the box and handed it to Severus. He swished and flicked with his wand, and they watched in anticipation as the phial floated overhead and stopped above the prisoners, who were thrashing uselessly in their shackles and hoods. Hermione's quill was at the ready when Severus released the phial, and he and Remus threw up their most powerful protective shields.

The moment the glass phial broke, a blinding green light lit up the clearing. For a moment the whole world seemed to pause, and then the force of the Avada Bomb extended outward at all angles. Trees in the immediate vicinity were obliterated. Remus' and Severus's wand arms shook as they held their shields in place through the force of the bomb. As the wind from the explosion died down and the glare faded, Remus and Severus released their shields and the three of them picked up the Omnioculars and looked at the devastation that was the clearing.

The prisoners were clearly dead. As were the grass and the bushes. Everything green that had once swayed in the wind was now a desolate brown in death. Severus waved his wand a few times, checking to see if it might be safe for them to examine the prisoners and the blast zone more closely. After confirming they would be safe, they walked slowly towards ground zero.

A cricket crunched beneath Hermione's foot and she looked down. An anthill that had once teemed with scurrying helpers looked like a miniature battlefield with ants lying where they had fallen in demise. Flowers that once held color were shriveled and lay on the ground.

They approached the prisoners and Hermione gasped when she saw the faces. The blast had ripped off their hoods, exposing them. Alecto and Amycus Carrows' faces were frozen in horror. Dead.

Severus, seeing her shock, wrapped his arms around her as he observed the scene around them. "We need to work quickly."

A/N: Thank you so much for reading... More to come soon! Please remember to review... *HUGS*