12. The Battle at Stonehenge

Chapter Twelve: The Battle at Stonehenge

Time is a fickle master. A dash of anticipation makes it ooze like a slowly-cooling lava flow, while a touch of trepidation causes it to slip through fingers like sand. No one was anticipating the battle at Stonehenge, especially Severus.

He stood in the gloom of the early morning drizzling rain, glowering as the students boarded The Hogwarts Express. Albus had announced at dinner a few nights before an unscheduled school outing of sorts. His innate talent of finding a rare opportunity at an opportune moment did not fail them. A wizarding troupe was passing through London performing Shakespeare's The Tempest. The children would stay overnight in London and spend Monday morning in Diagon Alley under the watchful eyes of Aurors before The Hogwarts Express would return to the school late in the evening. They all prayed the battle would be over by then. They all prayed that there would be a school to return to at the end of the day.

Two days earlier, after the final class of the week, all children of known Death Eaters, their friends, and anyone suspected of leaning in that direction, were rendered unconscious as a precautionary measure, much like Penelope Clearwater had been. The lot, Miss Clearwater included, had been discreetly transported to a lesser-known health facility in Northern Scotland, conveniently headed by one of Minerva McGonagall's distant cousins. Albus had watched their departure with a divided heart; it pained him to accuse those whom garnered only suspicion. However, the Order could not afford even the smallest possibility of exposure. They needed to rely heavily on the element of surprise.

Severus stood silently beside the locomotive, silently ticking off the students from his house as they boarded the train. He found himself feeling slightly morose with the knowledge that, due to Friday afternoon's culling of Death Eaters' children, the other Heads of House had a noticeably larger number of students to oversee. That, along with the humidity playing havoc with his Impervius spell, was placing him in a downright sullen mood.

How he longed to be back in bed, wrapped in Hermione's arms. Severus checked off another two students and sighed.

Impatient git, she thought. Though, this little game they played, trying to stump each other with obscure quotes, lightened her mood.

"It is too early to be quoting Seneca, Severus, and I am not anticipating anything." Hermione kicked the heavy blankets off her nude body in frustration and sat up. "Where are you going so early?"

The Great Hall was filled with Aurors, Ministry officials, and members of the Order. Albus had the house-elves serve a most splendid dinner, of which they all partook with great fervour as though consuming their last meal. When everyone had finished, dishes removed and coffee served, Albus rose and cleared his throat.

"As you are all aware," he began, fiddling with his beard, "tomorrow morning we will all be transported to Stonehenge. After a lengthy discourse with Minister Angus, the head of the Portkey Office at the Department of Magical Transport, I have the immense displeasure to report that Lucius Malfoy somehow obtained the authorization to create a Portkey using a stone of this very castle. It has been confirmed that, as usual, Mister Malfoy has managed to make a mountain out of a molehill and somehow charmed every single stone in this castle to behave as one."

Albus paused while a flutter of extemporaneous exclamations swirled about the room like a flock of Cornish Pixies. Minister Angus had the decency to look properly cowed as various members of the gathering glared at him accusatorily.

"People!" Albus held up a hand. "Need I remind you that Lucius Malfoy has taken advantage of several present, myself included. After all," he grinned, "I always prefer to believe the best of everybody...it saves so much time."²

A titter was heard here and there at Albus' self-deprecation, and Minister Angus' shoulders relaxed a fraction.

"That being said, all unnecessary personnel have been evacuated from the castle. The children of known and suspected Death Eaters have been sequestered in a secure location known only to myself and a handful of others." Albus paused and peered intently at the faces surrounding him. Growing even more serious, he said, "Look around you. We all have our differences. Yet, tomorrow we face a common enemy. Tonight we band together as comrades in arms, and we will eliminate the scourge of the wizarding world."

Random applause skittered throughout the hall, as if people were unsure whether or not it was the proper thing to do. Albus bowed his head until the crowd settled once more.

He looked over the tops of the pince-nez perched on the tip of his nose, "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.³ War is not without its casualties, my friends; but it is time to finally break the stranglehold Voldemort has had on us these many years. It is time to rid ourselves of evil and truly live once more."

On the outskirts of the room, Harry sat in stoic silence.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

They dozed fitfully that night, fully dressed, the four of them in Albus' office. Harry was armed with his invisibility cloak, Severus with a dose of Polyjuice Potion. He expected to be summoned by the Dark Lord before the sun rose above the horizon. No one had been in the mood for much chatter. Everything had already been hashed over and talked to death; there wasn't need for any more.

The plan was simple. The Death Eaters would be expecting a great number of students and professors when the Portkey was activated, mostly in their pyjamas and without wands. Instead, they would be greeted by Aurors, professors and others who were fighting for the cause, wands at the ready. Harry and Hermione would be traveling beneath the invisibility cloak.

Hermione had discovered a second use for the Redwood bark in the last couple weeks leading up to the Equinox: a potion that would strengthen the magic of any spell performed by the drinker. She carried two doses in her pocket and one around her neck on a chain. When the time came, she and Harry would get to Severus, she would drink the potion and perform the quasi-dark spells needed to remove the Dark Mark. Harry would then be free to perform his role in the prophecy and kill the Dark Lord once and for all. There were unknowns, where exactly Severus would be and how long it would take to perform the magic, but they felt relatively confident the plan would work.

When Severus' arm began to burn, he woke the others, drank the Polyjuice Potion and took a Portkey to Hogsmeade where he Apparated to the Dark Lord's side. Hermione's lips burned with his final kiss, and the air hummed with their final whispers of love and promises to be careful and to return to each other at all costs. Even Harry shed a tear when Severus left and comforted his friend as she cried in his arms.

Albus notified the others in the castle to prepare for battle, and then there was nothing left to do but wait. Harry and Hermione held each other beneath the cloak, their stomachs in knots. When the first ray of sun illuminated the darkness, the air grew uneasy as the magic around them coalesced, and suddenly, something was pulling them through the very stones of the castle, turning everything inside out. And they reappeared within the circle of Stonehenge, the stones that had served as their Portkeys littered around them.

The Death Eaters stood on the outside, surrounding the ancient monument, and a great murmur rippled through the mass as the group that appeared inside formed a defensive circle with wands drawn. There were hundreds of hooded and masked witches and wizards, and they outnumbered the group inside three to one as far as anyone could tell. Each one of them clung to a silent thread of hope.

Then, as though possessed of one mind, the ranks of Death Eaters parted, and the Dark Lord passed through the entrance of the stone circle and approached Albus who stood waiting at the Altar Stone. Hermione and Harry stood forward of Albus' position and to his left, and from their vantage point, the rising sun formed a crown over Voldemort's head. Hermione fervently prayed that it was not an omen of things to come.

Harry directed her attention to Severus' presence, still disguised as Penelope. He had followed Voldemort at a distance and remained at the edge of the circle between the Death Eaters and those from Hogwarts. Gasps were heard in the crowd as she was recognised; unshaken, Severus played his part while Harry and Hermione stealthily made their way to his side.

Hermione fished a bottle of the Redwood potion out of her pocket and drank it. "Severus," she whispered loud enough for him to hear. "We're ready if you are."

Severus bowed his head slightly and slowly reached up his left sleeve to grasp his wand, baring the skin where the Mark festered. It was a difficult thing to get close enough to touch his arm so that the invisibility cloak would not come into contact. Hermione didn't think her visible hand would be noticed with everything else that was going on. It became one with Severus' skin as she laid it over the Mark, and she began the incantation, her wand pointing through the material of the invisibility cloak.

Severus' skin grew hot to the touch and burnt the palm of her hand. She held fast, concentrating on the spell, occasionally glancing up at Severus' face. He stood quietly, his face impassive to the pain in his arm, watching Voldemort and Dumbledore circle each other warily.

They couldn't hear the conversation between Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, but they could see a discourse was taking place by their body language. It was definitely not words of love that passed between the two powerful wizards. Hermione prayed that Albus could stall the fighting for just a little longer and poured even more energy into the incantation, hoping to break the dark magic in time.

"You need to hurry, Hermione," Harry whispered at her side. "It's going to begin."

And begin it did. As the first curse flew from the Dark Lord's wand, curses also began to fly between the Death Eaters and the group that stood within the circle. Just in time, Severus pulled Hermione to the ground, leaving Harry to stand alone beneath the invisibility cloak.

"Go, Harry!" Hermione hollered above the din. "Get as close to Voldemort as you can!" She and Severus had discussed it at great length. When the connection was severed, it would be as though a blow had been delivered to the Dark Lord, and his magic would visibly diminish. She did not know if Harry had left or had even heard her, but she had no time to worry about it.

Severus covered her almost completely, protecting her from errant hexes, grabbing onto her tightly as she worked her magic on his arm. He screamed as a slicing hex missed its intended target, ripped through his robes and skimmed his leg, but he held on tight nonetheless. "Hurry," he urged. "The Polyjuice is wearing off."

With the reappearance of his old body, there was more of him to protect her, but it didn't make matters any easier. Now they risked Severus being recognised. She was almost there, but the last bit was proving difficult.

"Severus, you need to help," she pleaded, placing his right hand on top of hers. "Say the incantation with me."

The extra magic flowed through the both of them like an electric current, and finally, they broke through the barrier. His skin grew extremely cold, and for a moment, her hand seemed to freeze to his skin. The sudden shift between hot and cold was even more painful than before; her palm was raw. Severus pressed down on her hand, and they repeated the incantation one more time.

Hexes flew through the air as people screamed all around them, but it suddenly felt too quiet, too calm, as though everything around them had shifted into slow motion. Hermione and Severus stood and began blocking and returning the hexes that flew in their direction. Through the haze of burnt-out curses, she saw the Dark Lord stumble and drop to one knee. Where was Dumbledore? Hermione's eyes scanned the area for the headmaster, but she couldn't see him anywhere. Then Harry appeared and stood boldly in front of Voldemort, wand drawn, looking very much like the all-powerful wizard he had always been portrayed to be.

But she had no opportunity to watch what happened next. A curse tore down the side of her arm, and she twirled around to find three Death Eaters bearing down upon them. Even as she held her arm and felt the blood flowing from the wound, she felt calm. She wondered, for a brief moment, if she had ever expected to come out of this alive.

"Severus," an icy voice spoke from behind one of the masks.

"Lucius," Severus replied just as coldly.

"How pleasurable to have the opportunity to kill you twice. I am quite looking forward to it."

Lucius' voice seemed to come from far away. She felt dizzy. She was losing too much blood. All she wanted to do was sleep.

"Go ahead and kill me, Lucius. It won't change the fact that your Dark Lord has failed."

She barely heard Severus' words. She wanted to protect him, but she no longer could. The darkness was closing in on her.

² "I always prefer to believe the best of everybody--it saves so much time." - Rudyard Kipling

³ "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." – Norman Cousins, writer and editor (1915-1990)