Chapter 9 - New Allies

A/N: Warning, some violence and a minor character death.

All characters belong to JKR.

Thank you to June for all of her help especially in this chapter.

Chapter 9 – New Allies

Nearly a week passed before Lucius was finally called by Voldemort. He'd been wrapping a fine silk cloth around his gift for Ginny – a rare and expensive book on healing – when he felt his Dark Mark burning. He dropped what he was doing to gather his Death Eater robe and mask, and then instructed Emil to contact Severus and inform him that he'd been Summoned.

Once at the Riddle home, it was a study in organization. There were three groups of Death Eaters seated at tables in front of the small stage where the Dark Lord's throne sat. Lucius noticed that two of the three groups had five men, one had four; he had the sinking feeling he'd be the fifth man in that particular group. Voldemort had originally said that he would be discussing his plan with a few Death Eaters, but this looked like he'd already made his plan – and Lucius had not been part of the planning.

"Lucius," Voldemort said as he pointed Lucius to the table with the four men, "you will be in charge of Baines, Talbot, Redburn, and Davies."

Lucius approached the table and sat in the empty chair. He noticed a man standing behind Voldemort, but didn't recognize him. He knew it wasn't the Spells Master; this man was someone else. He also noticed that the Dark Lord looked less haggard than he did the last time he saw him. When Lucius had supposedly killed Severus, Voldemort lost his only source for potions and vitamins. Perhaps he'd found himself someone to supply him with what he needed. Lucius turned his attention back to the men at the table and Voldemort.

The Dark Lord began to speak. Originally, he had wanted to only concentrate on financial and educational institutions in the wizarding world. But now, he'd decided that his men needed practice first. Tonight, one group would attack a Muggle school, and the other two groups would go for money. After all, Muggle money could easily be converted into wizarding money. Goblins rarely asked questions as to where or whom money came from; money was money to them.

Lucius' group would attack a bank in Muggle London. Rodolphus was in charge of the group that would hit a bank in Muggle Canada, and his brother Rabastan would attack a Muggle boarding school in America. The Dark Lord wanted his men spread out.

As the meeting progressed, Lucius wondered how he would get word to the Order of the plan. He had the coordinates for each area, but how could he get them to Severus? Voldemort dismissed them, and Lucius realized that this would be his only opportunity.

Just outside the house, Lucius excused himself from his group, telling his men he needed to go back inside to ask the Dark Lord a question, and that he would catch up with them at the Apparation point just beyond the caretaker's house. They obeyed, as they knew Voldemort would be angry if he saw them just standing and waiting for Lucius; better to be far from the house.

Lucius walked back slowly towards the house, waiting until all the teams were far enough away from the house as to not hear him Apparate. Then he disappered around the corner of the home to Apparate to Malfoy Manor. He knew that Voldemort could not hear him, as he was busy with Bellatrix at the moment, confident in his Death Eaters' success.

In his garden, he found Emil and Dari out for their evening stroll. He then instructed his head elf yet again to serve as his go-between.

The minute his master disappeared, Emil used the Floo to go to Severus' rooms.

"Professor!" he called out as he stepped through the Floo. After several moments, he heard scurrying coming from a back room.

Severus ran out, tying his robes around him.

"Emil?" A cold feeling washed over Severus, as he thought something had happened to Lucius again. "What is it?"

"My master has sent me. There are to be three raids on Muggles this night."

"Come with me." Severus threw powder into the Floo and called out to Albus. When he heard the old wizard answer his call, he took hold of Emil, and they both stepped through the Floo.

In the Headmaster's office, Emil recounted all that Lucius had told him. Albus immediately contacted the rest of the Order.

As a Muggleborn, Hermione would know how Muggle institutions operated. The Order accepted her advice, Arthur sent Aurors to the locations that Lucius had given them, with instructions to stay hidden and engage the Death Eaters only if necessary to save lives. The Ministry would follow to cast memory charms on Muggles who witnessed anything they shouldn't.

As the hours passed, reports began to pour in from the Aurors. Hermione's advice had been correct. There were two Death Eaters captured during the raids at the Canadian and London banks, and no Muggles came to harm since the raids were held during off-hours. Relatively few funds were stolen, as Muggle banks transferred most funds through electronic means, and regularly sent their cash by armored transport to regional banks.

The school was a different matter. While a few students had been slightly harmed, Voldemort was unfamiliar with American ways and had made a slight miscalculation. He'd decided his first attack on an institution of higher learning would be on a "Muggle boarding school" in a remote part of upstate New York; however, the school in question was West Point, which was conducting a training exercise that night in a field. The Military Academy's students were firing live ammunition at practice targets, but the five Death Eaters had Apparated out of thin air – in front of the targets. It only took seconds for the Army cadets to stop firing, but by then they'd unintentionally killed four very surprised Death Eaters.

The only member of this team to return from West Point was Rabastan Lestrange. His first instinct was to hide or kill himself, but he knew that Voldemort always made someone pay for failure. If Rabastan did not return, his brother Rodolphus would pay with his life.

Upon the raiders' return to the Riddle home, Rabastan was the last to arrive. Bedraggled and wary, he approached the ballroom with trepidation. He knew he would pay for his failure; he brought with him no prisoners, and had lost four Death Eaters. The tall man entered the room and looked towards his brother, then Lucius. He quickly saw that there were only two men missing from the bank teams, but he also saw Muggle money scattered on a marble table. It wasn't much, but perhaps these Muggles were poor.

"You failed," said Voldemort.

"My Lord," Rabastan said as he bowed his head. "There were too many. They were not children. They had weapons, Muggle weapons."

"Silence!" yelled Voldemort as he stood. "I am tired of excuses, all the time excuses." His eyes turned red with anger as he looked around the room. It now began to fill with more and more Death Eaters. "I want to make things clear that I will not tolerate any more mistakes."

He pointed his wand towards Rabastan. "Incarcerus!" Ropes shot out and bound the Death Eater. The Dark Lord smiled. "Incendio."

Rabastan screamed as his body began to burn like a torch. The rest of the room of Death Eaters looked on, but said nothing. Bellatrix was horrified, yet she knew that she could not look away, as that would be a punishable offense in itself.

As his brother was burned alive, Rodolphus made an involuntary move towards the middle of the room, but was held back by Lucius.

"Don't, be a fool. There is nothing you can do." hissed Lucius.

He was forced to watch his brother die, screaming as he burned to death.

"What is that smell?" asked Voldemort, sounding amused as he looked around the room

Wormtail looked quizzically towards his master. "Burning flesh, master?"

"No!" The Dark Lord looked at the flames still licking the now charred body of Rabastan. "It is incentive! Look at him, all of you. That will easily be you if you disappoint me once again!"

Rodolphus continued to watch, as his brother's body burned down into a pile of bones and ashes.

After the Death Eaters were allowed to leave the ballroom, Rodolphus walked out; his mind was numb, his face void of emotion, his eyes hollow. In the hallway, he was caught again by the arm by Lucius. He turned to the blond.

"I need your help." Lucius knew this was his one opportunity to get through to Rodolphus. He needed allies within the ranks; he had to take this chance.

Rodolphus suspected Lucius was up to something. The blond had been acting oddly for several years, more so in the last few weeks. Bellatrix had once told him that Narcissa believed her husband was morose with disappointment over their son; Rodolphus believed it was because of knowing his wife bedded the Dark Lord. Rodolphus well understood how difficult it was to see your wife used by someone like the Dark Lord, and unable to do anything about it.

"What is it that you want of me, Lucius?"

Lucius knew he was taking a risk, but there was no one else he could ask. He looked towards the throne area, where Voldemort was speaking to the man Lucius had noticed earlier.

"That man," Lucius said as he motioned his head towards the mysterious newcomer. "Who is he?"

Rodolphus laughed bitterly. "He is the Dark Lord's new potions supplier, since you killed Snape."

"I need for him to disappear, so to speak, but..." Lucius hesitated. "I need all of his hair."

There was a long moment of silence. Lucius hoped he hadn't made a terrible error in judgment.

"I don't know why you ask this of me, nor what you are planning, but I don't care to know." Rodolphus looked back through the doorway, at his brother's bones and ashes still smoldering in the middle of the room. "Anything you ask of me, I shall do, Lucius. I know I will never come out of this war alive, and even if by chance I do, I will go to Azkaban. I would rather die on the battlefield while avenging my brother, who was only following orders. I cannot abide by what I see any longer, when I have been forced to allow my wife into sexual slavery and have seen my own brother burned like garbage for all to see."

Lucius was relieved. While he wasn't sure he could exactly call Rodolphus an ally, at least he knew that there was one person among the Death Eaters who was willing to not sit idly by, watching the world rot with evil.

"I will need a Pensieve from him, though; can you manage that?" asked Lucius. He knew that this would be the perfect opportunity of getting Severus back into the Riddle house and perhaps making Voldemort's potions once again. But before Severus could take the man's place, he would need to know every task he'd performed – every potion he'd been assigned by Voldemort.

Rodolphus shook his head and held up his hand. "Don't worry. Have you forgotten my skill with the Imperius Curse? He will be Obliviated, and I will leave him like a child on the steps of a Muggle hospital in another country. Once it is all finished, you will receive my owl on where to meet. I will bring you a small Pensieve and a bag filled with his hair." He walked out.

Lucius was left in the hallway, standing alone and feeling exhausted. He backed up and leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath and rubbing his face. He needed to get home and get word to the Order. He doubted there were any casualties on their part; the Order was much too organized, more organized than Voldemort's camp – and they actually cared whether their members died.

~*~*~*~*~

At Hogwarts, Severus had been in his rooms, with Hermione. Her rooms were close to his, and they'd asked Albus to make a connecting hallway so they could go to each other's quarters without being seen by students. Albus was only too happy to abide by their request.

As the two lovers sat reading on the rug in front of the fireplace, a note flew through. As Severus read it, Hermione noticed him smirk.

"Good news?" she asked.

"It seems that Lucius has found a way for me to go back."

Hermione frowned. "Go back? How? You're supposed to be dead!"

"I am not going back as myself, but as the Dark Lord's new potions maker."

Her eyes grew wide. "No, you can't go back. Severus, he'll know! He still has that spell to penetrate Occlumency shields!" She moved towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Ha laughed. "Relax, Hermione. I won't be going back just yet." He used a spell to copy Lucius' note, then sent it through the Floo to Albus' private rooms before he began stroking her hair. "I need to begin brewing some Polyjuice Potion. I have some in my own private stores, but not enough."

"I have some as well, but how are you going to get the hair?"

It was now that Severus became serious. "Lucius has asked Rodolphus Lestrange to help him."

"How can he trust him?" asked Hermione, not believing what she'd heard.

"His brother Rabastan was one of the leaders of tonight's raids. He was not successful, and he paid with his life. It seems that Rodolphus has agreed to help Lucius, no questions asked."

~*~*~*~*~*~

At the Riddle home, Bellatrix lay in bed, next to the now sleeping Voldemort. Her eyes filled with tears as she stared at the ceiling, reliving over and over again the vision of Rabastan's body burning, his screams echoing in her ears.

She quietly got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, where she looked at herself in the mirror. All she saw was the ghost of the woman she had once been. She used to be beautiful; she'd once rivaled her sister Narcissa in beauty.

"Narcissa," she whispered as she closed her eyes tightly. 'What have we done?' she wondered. She knew that after the Dark Lord drank his nightly sleeping potion, he would not be awake for hours. She filled a tub with warm water and climbed inside, then methodically began scrubbing her body raw, trying desperately to wash away her past as well as her present. By the time she climbed out, the water was pink, stained with blood from parts of her skin she'd rubbed almost to the point of rawness.

As she tucked herself back into the bed, she caught sight of a key ring hanging on a nail next to the room's large fireplace. She looked towards the sleeping body next to hers, then back to the key ring.

Bellatrix knew that the key to the House of Black was on that ring, and she also knew that she needed to make it disappear. She'd given it to the Dark Lord as a present, just after she'd escaped from Azkaban. She was not in her right mind then, but things were different now. That key would be her salvation, if things got bad; she knew that it was the only way for her and Rodolphus to get to a safe place.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

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