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The Apprentice	By : Nerys Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 62961 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
The Apprentice

Chapter Eight

It was still relatively hot that night. Hermione shrugged off her coat and put it into her bag, before dumping said bag next to the bench carelessly. She sat down, checking her watch. It was early. There was time to change her mind; something she had done – oh– give or take a million times in the last four days. As for her whereabouts the coming weeks, she had given everyone the typical teenage lie. Her parents thought she was at the Weasley's; and she had written Ron that her parents had missed her too much and that she had to spend some more time with them before coming to the Burrow. It hadn't been a complete lie. She had seen her father comfort her crying mother as they walked away from the train station, thinking their daughter had been on the leaving train.

Instead, Hermione had sneaked back home and had waited in her bedroom, because she didn't think it would be wise to wander the streets much. It would be more than ironic if she happened to run into a stray Death Eater mere hours before having her meeting with their boss. Considering her luck these days, she wasn't risking it. Fate seemed to have it in for her.

Absentminded, she plucked a flower from the bushes behind her. Stay or go? Perhaps the flower knew? 'Leave,' Hermione said, pulling petal after petal of the flower. 'Stay – leave – stay – leave – stay – leave – stay – leave,' she ended.

Silently, she watched the flower's empty stem. 'Oh, that's not right,' she growled, tossing the stem away and getting to her feet.

She walked past two of the several clown's statues, which stood decoratively all over the playground – some very small ones and others slightly bigger than Hagrid's little brother. People felt it was a cheerful colourful sight, very suited for little children. Hermione had always felt they were just plain darn creepy.

She halted in front of the little wooden merry-go-round, grabbed the iron bar and stepped on the round platform. A flick of her wand and it started slowly twirling around by itself. Leaning back, she felt the wind pleasantly moving her hair away from her face. Her luggage lay forgotten by the bench she vacated. She sighed, looked at her watch and used the bar to lie down. Five to three, there was still time to reach a decision. She scratched her head with her wand before pointing it at the sky. 'Stay,' she said. A flash of light left the tip of her wand and a twinkling star blackened. 'Leave – stay – leave.'

It was a fun game; it gave her a kind of morbid satisfaction to darken the environment around her. Such great symbolism.

She snorted. 'Stay – leave – stay – leave – stay.'

'Dare I wait until you're finished with the Ursa Major?' a cold, high-pitched voice asked, amused. 'Some Astronomy scientists are rather fond of the direction the pole-star gives them.'

Hermione banged her head on the iron bar as she sat up abruptly. It was somewhat lower than she remembered it to be. With her left hand, she rubbed her head, while she whipped her wand around with the other. Slowly, the merry-go-round came to a halt.

'I-I wasn't really…,' she stopped, seeing the condescending look he gave her.

The Dark Lord had sat down on the bench she had vacated. His hands folded behind his head; his legs stretched out; his ankles crossed, he made the impression of lounging comfortable with all the time in the world. 'Do continue,' he casually said, his head nodding towards the sky, 'I wouldn't want to be held responsible for halting such an obvious intelligent method of deduction and,' he checked the time, 'you have only one minute left to get them all, so…,' he trailed off.

Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, which made her angry. She hadn't wanted him to know she was feeling uncertain about being here, and she sure as hell didn't enjoy being made fun of by the likes of him. Hermione embraced her anger; it felt better than embarrassment or fear any day, and she jumped to her feet feeling brave and empowered. With an irritable flick of her wand, the sky brightened immediately.

'I was just passing the time,' she explained through clenched teeth.

He merely gave her a look.

'I've made my decision ages ago,' she added, feeling a sudden need to kick something, anything – anyone, someone.

A chuckle escaped his lips. It wasn't a pleasant sound.

Hermione's eyes narrowed, which erupted a smirk on his face while he said, 'And?'

'I am here, ain't I?'

'So you are,' he conceded. 'I take it the lack of luggage means you are not coming. It's very bold of you, Hermione, to have the nerve to tell me no to my face. Not many of my followers would dare to risk the chance of displeasing Lord Voldemort.'

His posture changed only slight during the last sentence, but it was enough to make her heart skip a beat and the fear she had felt upon hearing his voice the first time came rushing back. So much for feeling empowered and brave by embracing your anger.

Hermione frowned. She didn't know which misconception of him to address first. Neither option sounded very appealing. 'I've brought my luggage,' she decided on, chickening out by ignoring being included in the "my followers" bit.

Lord Voldemort glanced at the small beaded bag on the ground next to the bench. 'I told you to bring everything you would need for an extended stay. No woman would pack this lightly.'

'Sexist,' she blurted out; immediately wishing somewhere along the line of all those many years of education, she had picked up the ability to think before speaking first when he got to his feet – wand in hand.

'It's not light,' she added quickly. 'I shrunk everything to make it more manageable. I had to bring all my books and scrolls and my Potions' equipment and, well, everything; and my parents' neighbours are always up late and incredibly nosey. It's hard to sneak by them with a lot of stuff unnoticed. And if they had seen me walk the street at night dragging along that much luggage, they would have…,' Hermione halted when Voldemort picked up her bag and looked inside.

He rummaged through it for a moment, checking the contents. 'You didn't use a standard shrinking charm,' he said with a blank expression on his face.

'No, some of the historic texts I had to bring along have build-in charm protections. I had to bypass those.'

He nodded. 'Gregorian Shrinking Charm and Le Fay's Potion of Mirage to fool the inbound protections.'

'Yes, and a touch of Abyssinian Shrivelfig woven into the bag.'

'Which, if cast upon, enhances the powers of the Gregorian Charm significantly,' he added knowingly. Voldemort moved the bag up and down in his hands, weighing its contents. 'An Anti-Gravitation Charm added to the mix would have made it almost perfect.'

'I didn't have time to figure out how to embed one into the bag and not make it head for the stars continuously,' Hermione said, blushing slightly about the almost perfect comment.

He waved his wand trice over her bag in a circular movement. 'No Tracking Charms or other objectionable items,' he muttered, after which he tossed the bag to her.

Hermione almost went through her back as she had braced herself for catching something a lot heavier than it was now. 'Oh,' she said, surprised.

Lord Voldemort held out his hand. 'If you have decided to take me up on my offer, then we should be going.'

Hermione hesitated a split-second. It was something to decide to do this in theory, but another thing altogether when the man in question was standing a few feet away from you holding out his hand. She let out the breath, she hadn't realised she was holding, and moved toward him.

'Hold still,' he ordered, holding up his hand to stop her in front of him.

Hermione froze.

'Now, where did he put it?'

Hermione frowned, puzzled. 'What? Who?'

Lord Voldemort gave her a long examining look. She shifted somewhat uneasy under that intense red stare, but she wasn't backing down. No, she was holding her ground. After all, she was a Gryffindor. She had a reputation to uphold. Gryffindors don't do scared. Nope, she was not afraid; she was brave. She was perfectly fine with-

He raised his wand at her.

She was so going to burn the stupid Sorting Hat.

A flick of his wrist; and she tensed as his spell riffled through her like a blazing wind. Her clothes rustled; her hair twirled around her head and a strange, cold sensation forced its way through her. She waited for something dastardly to happen, but it ended without doing any damage to her. Well, for as far as she could tell.Oh, blissful paranoia.

'Nothing on you either,' Voldemort concluded, somewhat amazed. 'Dumbledore must be losing his touch.'

She was still checking up on herself as she spoke, 'I didn't tell Professor Dumbledore anything.'

'Sure you did.'

Now, Hermione felt insulted. She was not a liar. 'I thought you were supposed to be so good at Legilimency,' she sneered.

'So is the old coot.'

'Professor Dumbledore would not do such a thing.'

Lord Voldemort patted her on the head.

'He did not snoop around my mind,' Hermione hissed, pissed he was treating her so damn condescending.

'With your debilitating Occlumency skills it would not have been a stretch for him to check your mind without your knowledge, and Legilimency during sleep leaves virtually no trace on your victim.'

Hermione felt disgusted. Legilimency during sleep? She had never even known it was an option. It-it was so plain wrong. It was beyond sickening. It was frightening.

'Oh, don't worry, your sleep-cycles will be quite safe with me,' Voldemort said, smirking wickedly, 'I much more prefer doing it when someone is awake and aware.' He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, 'It's far more entertaining if they are writhing on the ground in front of you.'

When he leaned back and caught sight of her pale face, he seemed very pleased with himself. 'Let's go,' he said, holding out his hand once more.

Hermione stared at the offending appendage. She couldn't bring herself to take it. It was a mistake to take it, a very-very big mistake. 'Malfoy will beat you,' a taunting voice in the back of her mind stated.

She laid her trembling hand in Voldemort's. Run, Hermione, run.

His long fingers curled around hers. Pull away, Hermione, pull away now!

God, she wished her mind would stop screaming at her, especially since it made rather sensible suggestions.

He can't kill you, she reassured herself. I feel sooooo safe now, the little voice in the back of her mind mocked.

The squeezing sensation of Apparation started. She felt her body getting pushed together; the environment blurred; when, suddenly, she felt bloated – like her body was expanding. She glanced at herself, but she looked completely normal and so did her surroundings. The playground was yet again clear as glass. He'd stopped the Apparation; why?

A tap on her head, the feeling of a viscous liquid dripping over her head, and her appearance changed dramatically.

'Not a word,' Voldemort hissed. 'Go sit on the bench.'

He let go of her hand and pressed the tattoo on his arm with his wand. Seeing that, Hermione moved to the bench quickly.

'This better be good,' he mumbled, annoyed.

Crack.

Two robed figures apparated in front of him. 'Master,' they bowed.

Great, more friendly faces, this night was just getting better and better by the minute. Almost automatically, Hermione's hand went into her pocket, holding her wand tightly for comfort.

'Master, we found you this at the house,' a male voice said; he held out a tin canister, while his eyes glanced curiously to Hermione.

Hermione frowned when she saw Lord Voldemort accept it. They brought him sweets? He had his Death Eaters raid houses for candy? Okaaaayyy, and she thought Dumbledore was bad. At least he didn't need a bunch of lackeys to raid the villages in the middle of the night for his lemon drops. She rolled her eyes.

'Crystallized pineapple,' Lord Voldemort hissed, annoyed. 'Did I ask you to bring me crystallized pineapple?'

Picky too.

'But Master, it means-'

'I know precisely what it means, Rogers; or do you have the audacity to think I, Lord Voldemort, need the feeble explanations of a blabbering idiot to understand what has happened tonight?'

Oh, this was going to be good. Too bad she couldn't sell tickets.

'No Master, no,' Rogers said hastily, shaking his head.

'No-no?' Lord Voldemort replied sweetly. 'Well, Walden, what say you? Why don't you tell me why the two of you felt the need to disturb my time by bringing me this drivel?'

Walden swallowed visibly. Obviously, he wasn't at all happy the attention had turned to him. 'We thought you would be pleased to see we were closing in on him.'

'Why would I be pleased with this blatant sign of your failure to Lord Voldemort? Why would I be pleased that once again you failed to retrieve the man?' He shook the canister. Its candy clanged loudly in the night. 'Did you hear that, Rogers?' he asked quietly.

'Erm, yes?' Rogers replied hesitantly.

'Walden?'

'Yes, Master?' Walden replied uncertainly.

'Do you know what it means?' he continued threateningly.

Both Death Eaters glanced at each other fearfully.

'It's not empty?' Rogers suggested, closing his eyes.

'Meaning?'

It stayed silent. They obviously drew a blank.

'It means the house wasn't empty. It means Horace was still there and you two geniuses missed his presence. Now I-'

'Nobody move!'

Red uniforms surrounded the playground, Aurors, lots of them.

'Drop your wands!' Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice boomed. 'We have this place warded!'

'It's Him!' another voice squeaked slightly anxious.

Lord Voldemort whipped his wand above his head. Both Death Eaters rolled to the side. Several bright flashes. Hermione dove to the ground, clutching to her wand and her bag. Spells flew over her head, the sounds of dropping bodies. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rogers or Walden go down.

'Drop it, missy,' an Auror said, pushing his wand in her back.

Hermione let go of her wand and bag immediately. Her hands got tied behind her back and she was pulled up on her knees. She gasped, seeing Tonks stand in front of her, wand pointed at her face.

'Move and you die,' said Tonks.

'Get her stuff, Tonks.'

'Accio!' Tonks cast.

Hermione watched as her belongings flew into Nymphadora's hands. A kaleidoscope of colours streamed from the Dark Lord's wand behind Tonks. Three more Aurors dropped. Lord Voldemort swirled around. His body suddenly obscured by a raging tornado.

'Look out!' Hermione yelled to Tonks as the tornado rushed them.

The Auror behind Hermione pointed his wand over her head to cast at the tornado, while keeping her arm in a vicelike grip. Tonks turned half, stumbled and fell to the floor beside Hermione, dropping her stuff. A tiny clown statue got shredded to dust. The tornado was almost there. They weren't moving to safety! They weren't moving out of its path!

Tonks tried to scramble to her feet and aimed at the tornado, but Hermione let herself fall sideways and used the momentum to pull her legs out from underneath her. She kicked out as hard as she could and got lucky. She hit the half-raised Tonks full in her left bottom and she flew through the air, out of the way. The Auror behind her swore and placed his wand in her neck. Hermione closed her eyes, bracing for the impact of whatever curse was going to hit her. She felt the tip heat up. A violent wind blew in her face. She screamed. Blood spattered in her face. The hand on her arm was gone. The ropes on her back were ripped to pieces, and it turned silent in the eye of the storm.

Lord Voldemort drew her to her feet, accio-ed her belongings and pushed them in her baffled hands. 'Do not lose them,' he barked.

His wand flashed around and the "tornado" around them started changing. It ceased to growl and twirl, and turned from the violent grey debris clouds to a bright green translucent dome-shaped light you could see straight through. Curses in all the colours of the rainbow crashed upon it, but it merely pulsed and seemingly absorbed the powers. The dome's energy had an almost physical quality. Hermione felt the strangest desire to touch it. She reached out.

'Don't,' Voldemort warned. 'Unless you want to lose your wandhand.'

She pulled back, clenching her fingers around her wand. The unsavoury desire was still there, like wanting to stick your hand inside the cage at the zoo and pet the tiger - so tempting, so deadly.

Voldemort swirled around, taking in their environment. Hermione's head swivelled left and right, wanting to see what had happened too. She gasped. She was horrified by all the bodies on the ground. In those brief moments of battle, it had been a slaughterhouse. She bit her lip. Her eyes met one of the Aurors still standing; Kingsley frowned at her for a moment, until his attention focused back on the man beside her. Still, despite the body count, Hermione noticed there were plenty of Aurors left alive and kicking. This could not be said of the two Death Eaters. One was either unconscious or dead, and the other lay bound and gagged on the ground.

'We have this place warded; you can only leave with us!' a booming voice shouted. 'Surrender now!'

Voldemort snorted. 'Drop those wards and I'll consider leaving without taking you all down.'

'We have reinforcements on the way; you'll never get us all.'

'I believe you are mistaken.' Voldemort whipped his wand above his head.

Screams of "look out" called; people dove for cover, and spells crashed against the dome once more as it started expanding with the extra magical force Voldemort had added to it. The Aurors slowly backed away from the approaching dome. Something the immobile Death Eater could not do. His eyes widened in fear and he tried to scream through his gag. Lord Voldemort stepped toward him, following the moving wall of his dome on the inside. A flick of his wrist and the gag fell from the mouth of the Death Eater.

Apparently, spells could leave the dome, but not enter, Hermione noted.

'Master, Master, help me,' Rogers said, moving his arms and legs frantically in his bounds.

'You let them follow you,' Voldemort quietly said, folding his arms over each other to show how little action he was going to undertake. 'You have outlived your usefulness.'

'Master, please, Master!'

Kingsley moved from behind the cover of a tree, briefly. His wand flashed, untying the Death Eater, who scrambled away on his behind, frightened.

Voldemort lazily cast another curse at his Death Eater. The man was immobile again. He screamed in pain as his feet touched the dome and they were being pulverised. His agonising yells continued, which - to Hermione's horror - made Kingsley try to rescue him again. But this time she knew Voldemort was waiting for him. Kingsley would die! Rather late she realised she had a wand too, and raised it.

'Avada Kedavra,' Voldemort cast.

'Mobilé Clown,' Hermione cast, trusting one of the huge clowns between Kingsley and Voldemort.

A backhand swoosh from Voldemort disarmed Hermione, even before the stone clown cracked upon the impact of the Killing Curse. Astonished, Kingsley looked at her for a split-second, and then he ran, because the cracked clown began falling toward him. The already fallen Death Eater stopped screaming; he had passed out. Slowly, the dome moved farther, until it shredded his entire body. It was when Lord Voldemort swirled toward her. Hermione stepped back in a reflex, but he had her wrist locked in his hand before she knew it.

'I wondered what it would take to make you to act,' he whispered, showing her his hand that held both wands now. 'It is interesting to know you really don't give a damn when an enemy of yours dies horribly. Your only concern was for the Auror. You felt absolutely nothing when Rogers screamed his lungs out. It's almost as interesting as your choice not to aim at me.'

Horrified, Hermione looked at him. He'd been hanging around here, killing people, to see what she would do?

He flung her around in his arms and held her tightly against him with one arm around her waist. 'Though if you had aimed at me, I would have been forced to teach you a lesson, which I suppose would have been regrettable. Now, after this most insightful moment, we can leave,' he decided. 'I'll use both wands so you can feel what I do.' In a single move, he pushed both wands in her hand and folded his hand around hers – his fingers interlacing with hers. 'Observe and learn, little apprentice.'

For a moment, Hermione thought nothing was happening. Then, she felt it – Voldemort's magic drew together as if it was taking a deep breath. The gravitational power of it was enormous and it pulled her magic with it as well. Her eyes widened.

'Get out!' she yelled to the Aurors in panic, because whatever was going to come next – it was going to be bad, big time.

When he simply flicked their wands to point at the top of the dome, it felt like a shot of electricity leaving her body. Her knees buckled; quickly, she grabbed a hold of Voldemort's arm around her waist to not keel over, and she leaned back – her head resting against his torso to stay in a vertical position.

Frankly, the only reason she was still standing was the firm grip his arm had on her body, because his curse burst out with the force of lightning and smashed into the dome, expanding it so violently, it demolished the Aurors' wards and everything else in its path to pieces. Hermione had no idea if Kingsley and Tonks or any of the other Aurors had made it out on time. There was simply too little left of the school's playground to make identifications.

'Now we can leave,' a satisfied voice spoke above her, and he apparated them away.

She expected to arrive somewhere indoors, but they didn't. He let go and she plummeted to the ground; her legs were still not quite able to function properly. As she lay on the hard metallic surface, clutching her beaded bag in her left hand, she noticed the stars were a lot brighter out here – wherever on earth here was. She also noted the surface she lay on was moving; actually, it was rolling – waves! They were on a ship. A ship? His headquarters was on a boat? Odd.

'We're not there yet,' Voldemort said, coming back into view from whatever the hell he'd been doing. He knelt down and held out a necklace with a small emerald pendant to her. Inside the pendant, a black cloud bellowed in and out of focus. It was shaped in the figure of his mark. 'Put this on.'

Hermione glanced at the necklace suspiciously. Yeah sure, did he think she was crazy?

'The wards around my headquarters are designed to kill those who try passing them without my mark. But if you don't want the necklace, I can always put a tattoo on your arm if you prefer that?' he said, pointing his wand to her left arm, smirking.

She snatched the necklace from his hand.

'Oh well,' he said, shrugging. 'There is always a later opportunity.'

Hermione glared at him. Was he delusional? Oh, rhetorical question; never mind.

She sat up carefully – glad she was able to – and put on the necklace, surveying her surroundings. There was nothing to see. It was like looking at a black wall. Hermione frowned and looked up. The stars were gone too.

'It's to make sure we are not followed,' Voldemort explained. 'Can you stand already?'

Hermione ignored the slight annoyance in his voice and tried her legs. 'I think so,' she muttered, scrambling to her feet a bit wobbly. The rolling surface didn't help and she stumbled, grabbing a hold of his robes to keep standing. 'Whoops,' she said.

He merely looked at the offending hand on his robes. Hermione withdrew her hand quickly. 'S-sorry,' she stuttered, 'I almost fell.'

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, because, really, it wasn't like they hadn't touched before.

'If you are done delaying us…,' Voldemort said coldly, holding out his hand once more.

Hermione's jaw dropped slightly. It wasn't like she was the one who drew all her magic out of her and then dumped her on the ground like trash. Somewhat annoyed, she took his hand. His wand tapped on her head again, changing her appearance back to normal. Then, the world began swirling; everything turned black and the same uncomfortable feeling of Apparation crushed her body together. They were well on their way to the Dark Lord's headquarters.

xxx

'I don't think Sirius would have left the house to Harry if there was a chance of it blowing up in his face like that,' Remus Lupin said softly.

'We need to know for sure,' Molly replied, concerned. 'We can't risk Harry's life.'

They all looked at Severus Snape, who sighed. 'For the thousandth time, I have no idea if Bellatrix Lestrange is its rightful owner now. She doesn't confide to me and the only time I had a chance of finding it out, the Dark Lord sent us away to read a letter he got.'

'It's a shame you couldn't find out anything more about the letter other than that its contents incited him,' Alastor Moody said suspiciously, his magical eye rolling to Snape. 'It sounds like something that could have been important for us to know about.'

'Yes, it's a shame,' Snape repeated sarcastically. 'The next time the Dark Lord gets a letter, I'll make sure to ask him to read it out loud. I'm positive he will be more than accommodating; he is like that you know, always willing to assist and help his fellow man.'

'The letter is not an issue, Severus,' Dumbledore intervened. 'I have a pretty good idea what was in it and whom it was from.'

Every Order Member present looked at Dumbledore curiously, but he continued without explaining it any further. 'We need to focus our attention on twelve Grimmauld Place, and Kreacher, I believe, is the ticket to finding out if…,' Dumbledore halted, shocked.

The door had opened and two people, who looked like they had been through a storm, entered. Tonks limped in, while Kingsley supported her. They were covered in bruises and scratches. Their clothes were ruptured, and they both looked thoroughly annoyed.

'Oh my,' Molly said, her hands flying to her mouth.

Remus Lupin's chair crashed to the ground as he hurried out of it to get to Tonks. Kingsley let go of Tonks to make room for Remus. 'Are you all right?' Remus asked, putting his arms around her.

Tonks nodded. 'It's nothing; I can't move my leg normally due to some heavy bruising thanks to a little bitch, who kicked me.'

'That little bitch saved your life,' Kingsley retorted calmly. 'Ipswich wasn't as lucky. You-Know-Who's tornado killed him.'

Remus's grip on Tonks tightened.

'And I'll be happy to return the favour to her someday,' Tonks replied to Kingsley vengefully, rubbing her extremely painful bottom.

'You-Know-Who!' several voices said, talking straight through Tonks' words, getting to their feet. 'You ran into the man himself?'

'What tornado?' asked Bill.

'What happened?' asked McGonagall.

Dumbledore stood and his voice called out over all the others, silencing them. 'Why don't we all sit down,' he suggested, making Tonks grimace. 'That way Kingsley or Tonks can tell us all about what happened in an orderly fashion.'

Tonks gestured to Kingsley to go ahead, while everyone moved back to their chairs. Molly hovered around Kingsley, asking him if he needed anything, before walking over to Tonks and checking her out, while Kingsley started telling.

'So,' Mad-Eye said when Kingsley was done. 'You say he let the two Death Eaters die whom you lot followed, but he went to extensive length to keep this unknown girl out of the hands of the Aurors.'

Thoughtfully, Dumbledore put one of Molly's cookies in his mouth.

'Yes,' Kingsley replied, leaning forward excited. 'She must be important to him.'

They both turned to Severus. His face darkened. 'Ever since the summer vacation has started, I had the blissful fortune not to run into any brats – nor have I heard of any little girls...,' Severus trailed off. He suddenly remembered the Dark Lord's outburst right before apparating away.

'Yes?' asked Arthur, gesturing to Severus to finish his sentence.

Snape looked up at Dumbledore, questioningly. Albus Dumbledore was giving him an intense stare back. Somehow, he got the feeling Dumbledore didn't want him to share this information with everybody.

'Nothing,' Snape finally said. 'I thought I remembered something, but I was mistaken.'

Remus's eyes darted from Dumbledore to Snape and back again. He noticed Moody was doing the same. For a second, he met Moody's eyes and they shared a glance of mutual understanding – something was up.

'It was strange though,' Kingsley continued, ignoring the moment, knowing full well there was no point in trying to gain information from Dumbledore if he wasn't in a sharing mood. 'Sure he protected her, but she looked absolutely horrified about what was happening. She saved both my life and Tonks, and she warned us all to leave right before the Dark Lord would have killed us all with that destructive dome of his.'

'I am surprised she is still alive, then,' Elphias Doge stated.

'Well, you did say not every Auror listened to her, so he got to kill a lot of them anyway,' Emmeline Vance replied.

'Maybe she isn't alive,' Dedalus Diggle countered. 'He could have killed her after he left.'

'Doubtful,' Kingsley said. 'She-'

'We need to decide where we will get-together for the weeks to come, until I have spoken with Harry and tested out whether or not twelve Grimmauld Place is still ours,' Dumbledore interrupted.

Arthur and Molly looked at each other. Arthur shrugged and nodded to her that it was her choice. 'You can all come here,' Molly stated.

Dumbledore turned to her. 'Are you sure, Molly? It will make your home an even bigger target.'

Molly pointed at the clock on the wall. All the hands stood firmly on mortal peril. 'We're already in danger, Albus. Besides, the Ministry is installing extra protections on our house, because Harry will get here two weeks from now. We might as well take advantage of it.'

'Very well,' Dumbledore said. 'We thank you for your gracious offer, Molly. For the time being we will keep meeting here. I shall look into the matter for the future; hopefully, Remus is right about Sirius's actions and we can use twelve Grimmauld Place again. If not, I believe a more neutral place than any of our members' home would be more suitable.'

'I can take a look if one of the Auror's safe-houses qualifies?' Tonks suggested.

'That would be most helpful,' Dumbledore said. 'Unless anyone has any more urgent news, I'd like to adjourn this meeting. I have urgent matters to attend to.'

Nobody had any more news. Slowly, the Order Members dribbled out of Molly's kitchen. 'Severus, a word,' Dumbledore said.

They walked out together, causing several of the remaining occupants of Molly's kitchen to raise their eyebrows. 'I hope Albus knows what he is doing,' Mad-Eye muttered, disgruntled.

'I am sure he has a good reason to trust Severus Snape,' Remus replied, putting on his raggedy coat.

Mad-Eye snorted distrustfully. 'Does that embody trust in you?' Mad-Eye pointed his wand at the scene outside.

Dumbledore and Snape were gesturing in aggravation. They obviously were having a serious disagreement of sorts. Remus sighed. 'You see betrayal everywhere, Moody.'

'That's because there are far too many lying traitors around, Remus, far too many,' he grunted. 'Constant vigilance, I say, constant vigilance.'
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The Apprentice