Battle Plans

Without the amazing creative genius of JKR, none of this would exist. As it stands, anything you recognize from her books is not mine.

Thank you as always to the absolutely amazing GinnyW for her beta skills and to deemichelle for beta and cheerleading work along the way. And my most sincere thanks go to lifeasanamazon for Britpicking!

57. BATTLE PLANS

Everyone in the ballroom froze at the crack of Apparition.

It was violent, uncontrolled, panicked.

Startling in a sea of black robes and silver masks, a nightmare vision of blood appeared.

Severus took one look at Lucius, at the crone in his arms, at the blood, the fucking blood...

And knew.

He knew who had done it and knew there could only be one reason why...and Bellatrix Black Lestrange would not survive to try again.

He whipped out his wand and the "Avada..." had crossed his lips when...

The Dark Lord stilled his hand.

"Let's not be too hasty...."

~*~

A cold wind ripped through her as she veered away from the main walk without thinking and found herself at the side door they'd used when she'd hexed Harry.

Forget you've been here, her professor had ordered as they entered, because you won't see this door again, and again she felt braced and steadied by the memory of that snarling, powerful man.

But he was wrong. The castle waited for her and opened at her touch, and enveloped her in warmth even as she followed the dark, cold corridor that took her to the Potions classroom. To his office. To their quarters.

Breath caught in her throat when she entered and was greeted by a tangle of red sheets, the faintest memory of scent and...

Her wand, broken, on the bed.

She dropped to her knees and dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, fighting tears, fighting despair, fighting the hollow ache that threatened to overwhelm her.

Instinct.

It was all she had left.

She staggered to her feet and snatched up her beautiful green robes, shrugging them on over her dirty jeans and jumper. She tucked her broken wand in her pocket. It might be useless, but it was hers and she wanted it with her, all the way to the end.

She took the photo from the mantlepiece, the photo that showed their wedding kiss...over and over and over...and the silver bonds that joined them. She slid it between her bra and her skin, next to her heart.

Because it had never failed her before, she grabbed a fistful of Floo powder, flung it into the fire and announced crisply, "Room of Requirement."

And stepped through.

Even though it was possible that this really was Harry and Ron, Luna and Ginny, and even Professor Dumbledore who had their backs to her in a room that looked much like the boys' dorm in Gryffindor Tower...

It was impossible for them to be listening to what they thought they were listening to.

That was not her otter Patronus standing stiffly before them and pleading in a soft whisper, "Harry, save me...you have to come, please save me. Severus is bringing me to Godric's Hollow, and you must be there alone to get me. Please don't let me down, Harry. You must be alone, and nobody can know. Harry...please...I need you!"

But before she could speak, Ron snapped, "Who are they trying to fool? That's not 'Mione. Her Patronus would never stand still and beg, it would be curling in the air and prancing and she'd be giving orders like a bloody general!"

"She doesn't call him Severus, either," Ginny said, and Hermione could practically hear the roll of the eyes that accompanied it.

She wanted to hug them, to grab them and...

A second Patronus joined the first, and even though the image was astoundingly absurd...a doe?...the voice was unmistakably his.

"Alone, Potter. Do not take this as an idle request. If you value her life, you will come alone."

"That bastard!" Harry's voice was harsh with anger. "I'll kill him. If he's hurt her..."

"Oh for goodness sake," Hermione snapped. "He would never hurt me."

And all hell broke loose.

She was crushed between Harry and Ron, both demanding explanation, and even Ginny managed to get caught in the midst of it.

Luna stood back with a placid smile, and Professor Dumbledore seemed more interested in the last lingering remnants of the otter and doe. She rather suspected he was avoiding her.

As well he should.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from him and was caught off guard when she realised it was Luna's soft hand that held her own.

Responding to a question that Hermione hadn't yet had the presence of mind to form, Luna said, "I knew you were coming, of course, as soon as you activated the Portkey. I fetched Professor Dumbledore."

The expressions on Harry's, Ron's and Ginny's faces expressed their silent astonishment, as well as hurt feelings. Luna had known? She'd told Luna and not them?

"So," Luna said in her matter of fact way, "clearly you know something we don't, or you wouldn't be here." And then, as an afterthought, she cocked her head. "Why are you trembling? Are you all right?" Luna asked, her gentle blue eyes crinkled in an uncustomary frown. "You look..."

"Like hell," Ron finished for her. "Blimey, have you been eating?"

Eating? She didn't know whether to laugh that Ron's first thought would be food or to weep from hunger. When had she eaten last? She didn't even know.

They were waiting for her to speak. Even Professor Dumbledore seemed to be awaiting her answer when he finally turned his face to her and studied her through narrowed eyes.

"I...I just escaped from Bellatrix Lestrange," she said, unwilling to give any other reason for her sudden shaky state. "She wants to kill me, and to kill Professor Snape, and I... well, I'd never hurt anybody before, and I think I'm feeling the aftershocks."

"You escaped from her?" Professor Dumbledore was certainly looking at her now. "You defeated Bella Black?"

"'Mione's a regular secret weapon," Ron boasted. "You should see what she can do with wandless magic!"

"She's brilliant," Harry agreed.

Hermione felt a knot of panic tightening in her stomach. Was, she thought disparagingly, I was. She swallowed hard.

Only Ginny seemed less than pleased about the revelation, probably remembering her poor Harry, laid flat from that wandless hex.

Dumbledore shot Hermione an assessing look, and Hermione didn't dare let this conversation continue. "I did injure her, but...but she's going to try to kill him...Professor Snape. She...she said so."

"Why would she?" Harry demanded. "Now that the bloody bastard's joined Voldemort for good, she should be on his side."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione demanded, even as she heard the voice in her head, the voice saying, The day I drop to my knees and take an oath to Snape...

No. No.

"Who told you such nonsense?" she demanded.

"Pansy Parkinson," Ginny replied. "She said her father intended her to marry..." She broke off and avoided Hermione's eyes.

"Whatever you want to believe, Snape's gone over," Ron said. "He's a traitor. He's been with You-Know-Who since..."

"That's a lie!" Hermione seethed with frustration. "He is not a traitor! He's a spy, and you know it, so of course he's with the Dark Lord, but..."

"If he's not a traitor," Ginny said angrily, "why would he send a false Patronus to lure Harry off alone?"

"Because he assumed you wouldn't be dense enough to believe that Patronus!"

"I figured it out," Ron said with a glower. "But that doesn't mean he expected me to."

"Ron!" Hermione almost shouted in her frustration. "He fully expected you to figure out that..."

"That it's a trap," Harry said softly.

"Yesss," she breathed her relief that somebody understood. Their eyes locked. Harry understood.

Hermione watched Harry who remained pale and silent, watched his face, watched him as no one else did.

She reached for him and touched his hand, and his eyes...oh, those green eyes...met hers.

"Harry," she said softly, "he's on our side. You know that, don't you? He's everything to me, my entire life, but more than that...he's on our side."

Harry's eyes slid away from hers and he didn't respond.

She dropped his hand.

~*~

Red eyes fixed on the bloody tableau before them, he tilted his head in question. "Ssstay," he hissed and then dropped to his knees.

"Bella, my Bella..." he crooned. "Look what happens when you defy me."

His grip on his wand tensed as Severus watched, watched the Dark Lord reach to stroke the wrinkled cheek.

Belatedly, Cissy realised what was happening and cried out in alarm.

But the Dark Lord silenced her with a flash of his hand and bent over the injured witch. "Who did thissss?" he asked thoughtfully, raising his eyes to Lucius.

"The Mudblood!" Bellatrix spat. "With a..." She broke off in pain. "A Muggle gun," she finished, her eyes black and blazing as she tightened her grip on her wand.

Again, Severus raised his own wand. There could be only one reason Hermione would attack Bella, and that was self-defence.

"No," the Dark Lord commanded.

Severus dared not defy him, even as the Killing Curse trembled on his lips.

"I told you that you would regret not killing her, did I not?" he asked silkily as he stroked a long, coarse strand of hair from Bella's wrinkled face. "My beautiful Bella, what have you done to yourself by defying me?" he crooned.

"I will do anything to protect my beloved Lord," she replied, her voice hoarse with pain. "Even defy you."

"Release her," the Dark Lord ordered Lucius.

With only a moment's hesitancy, Lucius allowed Bella to slide to the hard marble ballroom floor. She lay there, twisted in pain and covered in blood, the wound at her shoulder a horror of tissue and shattered bone. But her eyes never left those of the Dark Lord as she awaited his verdict.

"You are my Bella, my loyal Bella...." He raised her bloodless fingertips to his lips and bestowed a most gallant kiss. Then he dropped them and rose." No one is to touch her," he said. "No one is to heal her."

Narcissa stood like ice, her eyes trained on the Dark Lord's face, clearly fighting an internal battle. Lucius stood and took her hand in his bloody one, and their fingers clenched together told it all. She never glanced down.

"The hour draws near," the Dark Lord announced with a twist of his thin lips that was meant to be a triumphant smile. "Prepare yourselves for our future!"

He turned his back and offered a hand to Lucius without casting even a glance at the woman on the floor. "Lucius, Severus, I believe you have some business to conclude," he said and whisked back to the parlour, leaving them to follow.

Severus trained his eyes ahead, mind racing, thinking of Bella bleeding but not dead, and Lucius very much alive and not beholden to him.

~*~

The hidden door in the far wall opened, and Lavender Brown, Terry Boot, both Creevey brothers and Parvati Patil burst through in various states of half-dress; it was very early morning, after all.

Clearly, Ron and Harry were as startled at their arrival as Hermione was.

"And to what do we owe this honour?" Professor Dumbledore asked, his smile genial but his tone definitely not.

Several began to speak, but Luna raised her Galleon. "I summoned them, sir, and I'm sure the rest will be here quickly." She blinked her large eyes, and her slightly unfocussed gaze held a subtle challenge. "Dumbledore's Army... Aren't we going to war?"

Oh, god.

She'd known it. She'd known it since Bellatrix Lestrange had tried to kill her.

She'd known what this meant.

But until Luna actually said the words...

She looked at her friends, saw the reality hit, saw it reflected in their eyes.

"But...Halloween," Ron protested weakly, as if voicing the words could make them real. "We were supposed to have until Halloween...."

She saw Harry's eyes burning, the tension in his jaw and his clenched fists and knew what he knew: This was it. This was the day he'd dreaded since he was eleven years old.

The room fell silent, as Padma and Dean Thomas came running in...

And the Floo fires flared green.

Angelina Johnson stepped out, tall and confident and with a cocky grin. "Well, it's about damn time," she said, ruffling Harry's hair. "I've been itching for a fight."

Finally Professor Dumbledore spoke again. "Indeed, Miss Lovegood, you're exactly right. Though I'm not at all willing to have students step into the fray, I've already summoned the Order of the Phoenix, and they should be gathering at Headquarters, even as we speak, awaiting orders."

"We're all of age," Ron said firmly. "You can either let us know what you've planned, or you can let us show up on our own. It's your decision."

"And Ravenclaw," Luna added. "I need to let them know. Even though we don't have many fighters, everyone who is of age has been practising Side-Along Apparation to the cemetery and will be able to take anyone who hasn't been there before."

"You've been Apparating into Godric's Hollow with it possibly being watched by Death Eaters?" Professor Dumbledore asked, astounded.

"Under Harry's Invisibility Cloak," Ginny replied. "Luna had a schedule. They took turns."

"You seem to have organised this very well, Miss Lovegood," Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

"Hermione did," Luna replied. "I just carried out her plans."

Hermione felt Professor Dumbledore's gaze burning into her, but she stared at a fixed spot on the wall, avoiding all contact with him, not even willing to meet his eyes.

"Perhaps you should have them gather in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, Miss Lovegood," he finally remarked.

And Hermione knew he'd intended them to be involved all along and only put up token resistance to preserve the illusion that he attempted to keep his students out of harm's way.

"Professor Dumbledore," she said, keeping her voice cool, "if I might have a word with you in private?"

She dared his eyes to twinkle, dared him to patronize her. Instead, he gave her a crisp nod and gestured to the Floo. "Harry, I suppose this ends your stay in the Room of Requirement. Be sure to get everything you need before you leave."

"Incarceration's more like it," Ron muttered, but his eyes glowed with anticipation as he snatched up his wand. "Can't leave this place fast enough to suit me.

Hermione turned her face resolutely to the fireplace and followed the Headmaster into the green flames.

Professor Dumbledore was waiting for her when she stepped out.

"Miss Granger," he began, and this attempt at solicitude was equally as successful as his earlier attempt at geniality, which meant not at all.

"Madam Snape."

"Ah, of course." He cleared his throat.

"The last time I was in your presence, sir, you were doing your best to get my own husband to kill me...without ever coming right out and saying so, of course. You think it would bloody well have served me right, because as you pointed out to me, you don't know that you can trust a Severus Snape who has everything to live for, and I made the mistake of coming between you and your weapon."

She raised her chin and dared him to deny it, and when he didn't, she continued. "It seems that you and I are the only two who know without a doubt that he is not a traitor, that he is not a Death Eater, and that he spent the past seventeen years living a self-destructive life with one goal...and that is to destroy Voldemort.

"For seventeen years, he has been your man and has carried the burden that others dared not. You know this, and you've given it lip service whenever it suits your purpose, but today is the day when you prove exactly what kind of man my husband has devoted his life to serving, because today is the day when it is up to you to protect him. To protect not just Harry, but to protect him. To make it perfectly clear in terms that no one can misunderstand that if Severus Snape is to die today, it will be at a Death Eater's hands, and that any member of the Order or DA who attacks him does so against your explicit and direct orders. And if you, for one moment, think that this isn't a priority, and that I'm meddling in things that are beyond my ability to understand, or worse...that once again I'm attempting to ruin your carefully laid plans..."

She drew in a deep breath and said in a voice saved from shrillness only because of her deep terror, "Might I remind you that if I hadn't interfered with your plans, you would be dead? You would be the one sacrificed to prove my husband's loyalty, and he would be on the run and a murderer?"

The mighty Albus Dumbledore flinched, and she knew her barb had struck home. "I can assure you..." he began.

"I don't have time for your assurances, sir. You will either do what is right or not." She slid her hand into her pocket and stroked her broken wand. "I'm on my way to Godric's Hollow to save my husband."

And as she dived back into his Floo, she felt a tiny tingle in her fingertips and realised...this was the day in which she would find him, and after this day, they would never be parted again.

~*~

If Lucius was at all uneasy, it did not show.

Not that Snape had expected it to. Nor did he bother to cloak his own seething rage as he spun and challenged, "Where is she?"

"At her family's ancestral home, the last I saw her, though I think it likely she wouldn't remain under the circumstances," Lucius replied.

Snape froze. He had missed her? She had been there and he hadn't known? "And she's..."

"Quite all right, unless the mere firing of a Muggle firearm has consequences beyond my ken."

Relief flooded through him, and he knew as he stood there that he hadn't managed to cloak that reaction, either.

The Dark Lord glanced from one wizard to the other. "Severusss? What do you plan to do now?"

Severus met Lucius's cool grey eyes. He offered his hand. "Your word, Lucius. That's all I need is your word."

Lucius nodded with a slight smirk. He had known he was safe. They all had. To demand the Vow would be to put one of the Dark Lord's most powerful Death Eaters out of commission for hours and they all knew it. Lucius accepted Severus's hand. "My loyalty, my faith, my friendship," he said smoothly. "Upon my word." And with a gracious nod to the Dark Lord, he added, "If you'll excuse me, I'd prefer clean robes before the festivities begin?"

He made a quick exit, leaving Severus alone in the Dark Lord's presence.

She'd shot Bella with a gun.

A Muggle gun.

The irony was beyond bearing, but...why? Why hadn't she used her wandless magic? Something was wrong, violently, horribly wrong.

"Your heart must be light now that the end is near and you will soon have her back with you." The Dark Lord reached forward and stroked a hank of hair out of his eyes, a gesture strangely and uneasily like the one he'd bestowed on Bella as she lay in her agony.

"I'm not sure light is the operative word, my Lord," he said, his chest aching with the need for her.

"Everything rides on our success today. Everything. If we lose...either you will both die today, or you will both waste away in Azkaban, separated for the rest of your long lives. I rest easily in the knowledge that you will do everything within your power to avoid that outcome."

"Indeed, you may," Severus replied, the agony of such a separation too close to the surface.

"Your soul is still wounded despite your new strength, and I am not comfortable having you enter into combat. However, our blood connection gives you a special power that is of even more importance to me than your skill as a warrior. The shield you cast to protect me will be that much stronger because you protect your own blood."

"As you wish, my Lord."

"Of course, I'm also aware that your... connection... to the girl could cause unforeseen problems."

Severus stared at him, not blinking, not breathing.

"Or could if we didn't anticipate and plan for them."

The Dark Lord raised his wand, the wand that had a few short hours before sealed the futures of almost all his Death Eaters to Severus's command, should the Dark Lord fall. "But I'm not one to leave such things to chance."

And then he gave a quick flick of the wand and uttered one word.

"Imperio!"

Severus didn't have time to react. He felt it hit him, the force, and then...

Peace.

An utter and total peace unlike anything he'd ever felt.

He met the Dark Lord's glowing red eyes and felt a distant rage, a distant protest, but wanted nothing more than to thank him for his grace, his release from the pain....

Peace...

"But remember your hatred, Severussss. Remember how much you hate them."

And it was there, coiled and hard as real as his wand, a ball of hatred that encompassed all of them, all of them who had taunted and reviled, who had used him and taken him for granted, who had ignored him and then when it mattered most...

An image formed in his mind.

The old man, the fucking old man and his orders, his orders to do what must be done, even when that meant killing her.

And he gloried that he could be filled with such peace and heated with such rage at the same time.

And that he could make them pay.

"Follow me," the Dark Lord said.

And he followed.

They re-entered the ballroom and as one, all present dropped to their knees and bowed their heads in obeisance.

A bloody smear lingered on the floor where Bella had been.

"What happened?" the Dark Lord demanded.

"She...she healed herself," Narcissa gasped, and Severus could sense the wincing that accompanied that, the shudders of distaste.

Bella was no Healer.

What atrocity had she inflicted upon herself?

"We will deal with her later," the Dark Lord announced and raised his hand for all to rise.

Yes. Severus allowed the flame to uncoil and wrap him in heat.

There was hate enough for Bella. He would deal with Bella.

He would end this war no matter the cost, and he would end it quickly.

And he would find his Miss Granger if he had to move heaven and earth to do so.

And he would bind her to him so she would never leave him again.

He closed his eyes and allowed the hate to swallow him whole, and rejoiced in its power.

"Severussss."

"My Lord," he said, dropping to his knee and kissing the hem, and willing to follow this wizard into battle and shield him from hell itself.

He felt the affectionate hand on his head and wondered if this was what it was like, to love a father.

"It is time."