Fight and Flame

Chapter Fourteen – Fight and Flame

Dust flakes swirled in the center of the Trophy Room, making the two boys cough and sniff uncontrollably. The light from the newly-conjured light spheres bathed the room in a warm glow. Supervised by the portrait of Albus Dumbledore, Harry and Ron had opened all the cabinets and were in the process of pulling one trinket after the other from the shelves.

"Seems I was the last one to clean up in here," Ron huffed, lifting a heavy golden bowl from the top shelf of the biggest case.

Harry smiled; it was nice remembering old times when everything was still a kind of game, deadly as it had been even then. They had all been so naïve, had so much trust in their own luck and Dumbledore's guidance. Hermione had always said that what he showed the public could not be all there was to him. Harry frowned; he had never listened to that. Yes, he had raved after Sirius' death, but could there be a dark side to the twinkling wizard?

"...a million shades of grey..." Dumbledore had said. Did he include himself in this; was it a hint? Harry shook his head slowly. Dumbledore was dead. He would not think about the bad traits he may or may not have had.

"So, what do we do now?" Ron asked, turning to face the tapestry. "Hey, where has Dumbledore gone off to?"

Harry looked over his shoulder to see that the former headmaster was indeed nowhere to be seen. Before he could say anything, the door was flung open with force.

"You two have some nerve," Remus bellowed, "traipsing off like that without informing anyone."

"But Dumble..." Ron started only to be nudged by Harry. He had dealt with an angry Lupin before and knew how to deal with him. He needed to get it all out before he could be reasoned with.

Most importantly, however, Harry was not sure if Dumbledore wanted anyone to know that he was involved. He had seen on two occasions how the portrait of Dumbledore pretended to be asleep or left the room when McGonagall or others were present. It was an odd behaviour, but after everything that had happened in the past, Harry had learned to not draw any rash conclusions. For now, Dumbledore's continued guidance would remain a secret.

"What in Merlin's name is the meaning of this..." McGonagall shrieked, indicating the trophies and awards that the boys had stacked pell-mell on the floor.

"We just..." Ron's attempt at an explanation was interrupted again, this time, however, by a shout of pain.

~o~o~o~

Severus had no sooner drawn Hermione to her feet than the wooden door was blown off its hinges. Splinters and dust flew everywhere, making the figures that had just forced entry quite unidentifiable.

Severus pushed Hermione behind himself, drawing his wand, ready to defend them. He was not sure who the intruders were or if he could take on all of them, but he would not allow any harm to come to the shaking woman behind his back.

"Well, well, well," came a sneering female voice. "Isn't that cosy?"

"Explains why the potion isn't ready yet," a cloaked figure added.

Hermione drew in an audible breath. Five Death Eaters stood just inside the house, fully attired, wands drawn.

It was a nightmare come true. He had lived with the knowledge that he would die sooner or later by the hands of his one-time allies, was resigned to the fact even. He never thought that he could be that afraid again. For his life. For Hermione's life.

The month with her had softened him up, it was true. But it was the potion that had taught him again what desire and longing felt like. And if he was completely honest with himself, he had to admit that he had more feelings for Hermione than were entirely proper. It was not lust or even love, but a longing for companionship. He loved challenging her, although he did it in a sarcastic way. No matter how difficult he made life for her and her friends, she had always respected and defended him.

"What do you want?" Severus asked, his voice cold, but not as steady as he would have liked.

"Why, how polite you have become," said the only female of the group. She made a show of removing her mask, lowering her hood and shaking her black hair back over her shoulders.

Bellatrix Lestrange looked nothing like she had when Severus had last seen her. Her face had smoothed out, the eyes were still dark, but she looked less drawn. A strange magic had surely been at work here, for she looked younger, but a lot less human. Hermione shivered and grasped Severus' robe for comfort.

"Yaxley, Avery, get the potion and ingredients," Bellatrix ordered. "They should be somewhere in the cellars. Bring them directly to our Lord; do not linger." The two smallest men of the group nodded and turned to comply. When they were out of earshot, Bellatrix turned to address Severus again.

"I always knew that there was something fishy about you. And here I find you protecting one of our enemies. When I was told that you were guilty of betrayal, I..."

Bellatrix never finished. Hermione had used her distraction to cast a non-verbal Petrificus Totalus. A moment of wonderment, and then all hell broke loose.

Spells were flying, destroying furniture and walls.

Hermione and Severus were separated by their enemies. The two male Death Eaters were advancing on Hermione while Severus was busy duelling with Bellatrix.

Hermione ducked an unknown spell and was hit by a slicing hex. She screamed in pain, clutching her bleeding shoulder. Severus turned at the anguished shout to see if he could help. This second of inattentiveness was all it took for Bellatrix to utter the Cruciatus Curse.

Severus fell to the floor, his muscles spasming from the power of it. His only lucid thought was Hermione. He could hear her sobs, could hear someone talking to her. The more he concentrated on her, the more the strength of the curse lessened, and he tried to crawl to her. He had vowed to protect her, and he would do so even if it cost his life.

He could see her, near the couch they had occupied. Someone was bending over her, watching the blood pouring out of a big cut. He needed to get to her. He tried to rise to his hands and knees only to fall down when his muscles burned in protest.

"Stupefy!" someone yelled, and the pain receded. Then all went silent around him.

~o~o~o~

"No! Please don't!"

Severus was slowly regaining his consciousness when Hermione's sobbed plea penetrated the haze of his mind. Believing her in danger, he tried to lift himself from the floor. Something heavy but soft was pressed against his back, and it took him a moment to realize that it was a human body.

"Hermione?" he croaked, his voice rough.

The person resting over him stiffened momentarily before the weight lifted from his back. Two knees came into his line of vision and tender hands helped him roll over.

"Hermione?" he asked again, trying to focus his heavy eyes on the concerned face hovering above him.

Hermione softly stroked his hair, undisturbed by the presence of Aurors and Order members.

He coughed heavily, trying to sit up to ease his breathing. Hermione moved behind Severus and carefully repositioned his head in her lap.

"He needs a glass of water," she said, catching Kingsley Shacklebolt's eye. "And then he'll need to see Madam Pomfrey."

"Miss Granger," the tall black Auror cautioned, "he is a known Death Eater and murderer. I can't... He'll get treatment at St Mungo's, but after that I'll have to turn him in. I would lose my job if I didn't."

"You'll have to get past me then," Hermione threatened. "I'll not allow you to take him away." Although the young woman knew that her threat was quite idle, she would not let Severus down. He was one of her friends now, and she always fought for her friends.

Bill Weasley handed her a glass of water, looking Snape over with a rather calculating expression. He seemed to take stock of the former professor's injuries. And then his eyes lifted to Hermione's face.

With an almost non-existent nod of his head, he whirled around, wand raised. "Obliviate!" he shouted, and a beam of bright blue light hit Kingsley squarely in the chest.

"Get him out of here!" the red-haired man shouted to his brother Charlie. He immediately complied and led the confused Auror out of the room.

"What...?" Hermione's confused gaze shifted between Bill and the only other remaining person in the room, Nymphadora Tonks.

"I won't tell a thing," the pink-haired woman assured her. "You better get him to headquarters before the reinforcements get here."

"I... " Hermione was at a loss for words. She couldn't believe that her friends trusted her judgement enough to allow a supposed murderer refuge.

Tonks drew an old handkerchief out of her pocket and brought it to the couple still on the floor. She thrust it at Hermione with a sad smile. "Portkey," she explained. "Ministry authorised. It'll take you directly to Grimmauld Place. It's empty but for Molly."

Hermione took the piece of cloth and wrapped it around Severus' hand. She then drew him closer against her body and took his hand. Tonks tapped her wand at their joined hands and mumbled a word to activate it. A blink of an eye later, the two were gone, leaving two relieved and concerned people in their wake.

~o~o~o~

All eyes turned to Remus Lupin, who was tearing at his robes with a vengeance. His face was contorted in pain, teeth biting his lower lip to keep from screaming out again. He felt as if he were on fire.

Arthur made to assist him, and winced at the fire that immediately set in his veins. He tore his hand away and reached for his wand. Sweat was running down Remus' forehead and his body shuddered as if he were under a curse.

Just when he was about to faint from exhaustion and pain, Harry yanked the robes from Remus' body. The heavy fabric landed with a thump on the floor, knocking several trophies over. The five watched with rapt attention as a strange green fire burned a hole through the dark brown fabric.

"What the bloody hell..." Ron wasn't quite sure what he wanted to say, but his outcry pulled the other four out of their trance.

Spells were cast, but the fire persisted. The light in the spheres flared high before they went out, casting the room in near darkness. The green flame flickered once more and went out with a hiss.

"Lumos!" the voice of Minerva McGonagall intoned, but nothing of her usual briskness was left. The lights went back on, and all eyes went to Remus' burned robes. A small vial, containing the blood of the boy Tom Riddle, was hovering over them, encased in green flame. It swung back and forth before it suddenly picked up speed and aimed for Harry.

He lifted his wand, ready to cast a Shield Charm or anything else that could deflect the thing. As if it could sense the resistance, it took a sharp turn and landed on a small golden shield at Ron's feet.

"That was totally crazy," Ron exclaimed. Without thinking he reached down and picked up the little bottle and the award. "They're stuck together," he told his flabbergasted audience.

"Let me see that," Harry said, his voice stern. He took the two objects out of Ron's hand and stared dumbfounded at the engravings of the golden shield.

"Remus, what's in that bottle?" he asked, dreading the answer he felt would come.

Remus moved to look over Harry's shoulder and in a quite voice answered, "It's the blood sample of one Tom M. Riddle."

Harry nodded, his eyes still fixed on the second object. It was an award for special services to the school, and it had been awarded to the Head Boy, Tom Riddle, when he had accused Hagrid of setting free the monster of Slytherin.

The pieces slowly clicked into place. The residual dark power in this room, Riddle's award, his blood, the disturbing reaction.

"It's a Horcrux," he whispered.

A/N: I know it's been a while, but I hope the chapter was a least worth the wait.