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Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related concepts are owned by someone who isn't me. The rest of this they wouldn't want to own, so we'll call that stuff mine.

Holly Polter

Chapter: Purgatory P.1

-o-

Once returned to the seclusion of his dorm room, Harry contacted Sirius via the mirror. It took several tries before he answered, but the delay was understandable- he'd been receiving the Weasleys at Grimmauld Place, where they now waited for word on their father's condition. For the rest of the day, Harry anticipated those brief moments of privacy when he could contact Sirius or Moony, only to find out nothing had changed. Arthur's life was still in peril.

Classes ended for the term and Harry accompanied Hermione and the Patil twins in a carriage to Hogsmeade station, but rather than take the Express he bid them goodbye and trod a path through the snow back into the village. Entering the flat rented to David Edge, he called out, but no one replied. He made a beeline for the fireplace.

An animated photo caught his eye, as it was sitting on the fireplace mantle beside the bowl of Floo powder. It was a picture of his parents at their wedding, being congratulated by Sirius and Remus. His father grinned at him from the picture- a man confident in his self and his destiny. His mother laughed like a woman so brimming with joy that she had to share it.

It was disturbing, in a way. He could see himself in his father, though his own face was more gaunt and paler. More sober, if anything. He could see aspects of Holly in his mother. He tried to imagine the two of them in those roles in the picture, but his vision of Holly in Lily's wedding dress tossed the bouquet to the ground, kicked off the white heels as if they were shackles, and then glared up at him as if to say, 'Get real. Enemies are coming for us'.

A quick spin through the Floo and he tumbled out of the fireplace into the kitchen at Grimmauld Place. Six Weasleys all rose up from the table in reaction. They saw Harry and sat back down in disappointment. The exception was Molly who pushed forward, gave him a hug and said, "So good to see you, dear. Are you hungry?" He shook his head, so she patted his shoulder and then returned to her seat at the table.

Remus gave him a muted greeting and led him out of the kitchen and upstairs to stow his cloak and rucksack.

"Arthur not healing, and now he's taken a turn for the worse," Remus explained as they climbed the creaking stairs."Everyone down in the kitchen is waiting on news from Charlie at St. Mungo's."

"Charlie?" Harry said, "Didn't even know he was back in country. Why is he there? Why not Mrs. Weasley?"

Remus smiled as they stopped at Harry and Ron's room. He replied, "They threw Molly out for arguing with the healers. They're used to the fussing of family members, and putting someone like Molly on a half-day Floo-blocking jinx is standard practice."

"So, now what?"

"Now," said Sirius as he appeared at the top of the stairs, "we find ways to waste time until the axe is lifted from Arthur's neck... or it falls. Drink?" He offered Harry a snifter quarter-full of whatever was sloshing in the dark bottle held loosely in his other hand.

"I dunno. The last thing they'd want to hear is us being jolly because we're in our cups." After a bit of thinking, he asked, "What would a good leader do?"

Remus said, "A good leader would give his troops some hard work to do that needs doing." Sirius shrugged and nodded in agreement.

The mission to Azkaban loomed again in Harry's mind, but none of the plans they'd been discussing involved having the Weasleys tear into the prison like rabid Highlanders. He set it aside, unable to focus into a strategic mindset. Reading would be a waste of time, and the last thing Harry wanted would be to ask Mrs. Weasley to cook something when her every stray thought was rightly focused on a hidden building several miles away. Even if she wasn't insulted, he'd probably end up with a bowl of soup de socks. And none of it would help heal Arthur Weasley.

"On second thought, hand that here."

Remus looked ready to protest but then said,"Pour me a glass as well, Padfoot."

They followed Sirius up the stairs to his room where more round-bottomed glasses awaited them. Sirius gave each of them a generous portion.

"Sniff, savour, then sample," said Sirius.

Harry sniffed from the glass but couldn't tell what he should be evaluating. It smelled like liquor. He took a gulp -- and then choked as the liquid ripped all the moisture from his throat. A burp forced its way out of his gut, turning into a puff of flame in the open air. Heat passed through his body from his center out across every vein and artery, making all his scars bristle in reaction. He felt the inscription on his hand throb in protest, but then it went silent. The other aches had disappeared as well.

He croaked out, "I like it."

Sirius grinned. "My brothers in spirits."

Ron came up a few hours later bearing a plate of sandwiches which he bartered for inclusion in their drinking. The twins found them soon after and Ginny joined in the quiet revelries just as Sirius was opening another bottle. They all ended up falling asleep there in Sirius' room.

-o-

Harry awoke in the middle of the night from a queer feeling of excitement that had no cause. Unable to fall back asleep, he ventured down one floor to use the loo. On his way out he heard a muted sniffling coming from the room at the end of the hall -- Tonks' room. He drew close so as not to wake others, and whispered through the door, "Hey, Tonks? Alright in there?"

Following a shuffle of clothing, a thump, and a grunt of 'ow', the woman opened the door. She looked exactly as Harry would have predicted; wilted. He just didn't know why.

Tonks murmured, "What're you doin' up?"

"Kreacher patrol," Harry said. "He's getting on in years, so I offered to creep around and mutter at people for him."

Tonks sobbed out a laugh. "You're funny."

"Just a little- I learned from the Weasleys. They're usually the funny ones."

Her face fell at that and she turned away, returning to the tatty old reading chair to resume her wallowing.

Harry followed her in and closed the door. He sat across from her on the ottoman. "Why are you so upset?"

"Oh, it's-- it's my fault!" she blurted. She emphasized her fraying nerves by the way her forearms flew apart once she'd got her fingers untangled. "I swapped duties with Arthur. If it weren't for me he'd be alright."

"And instead, you'd be dying from a snake bite. How is that better?"

She scowled at that. "I can handle meself better than Mr. Weasley, Harry. I woulda given that bloody snake a spell or two."

"Or you wouldn't have, because it caught you by surprise and you'd be in the same boat as Mr. Weasley."

"Arthur was tired, Harry! He'd been running around for his office before he took his shift. I wouldn't have been--"

"Aren't you, like, perpetually twitchy or something? You told me before that stakeouts make you nutty."

"I'd have done PAPERWORK!"

"Oh, and that'd keep you alert, would it?"

They kept up like this for the better part of an hour, Tonks' what-ifs becoming more ridiculous as they went. Finally she conceded. She gave Harry a warm hug for talking her away from her miseries, then kicked him out of her room.

After another stop in the loo, Harry headed to the main floor hoping to rustle up something (without alcohol) to drink. Though awake, he was quite exhausted from the effects of the firewhisky, and thus was caught flat-footed as he rounded the last bannister pole and collided with someone in black wool robes. He caught himself by clutching to the post.

"Watch yourself, Potter," said the obstacle.

At the sound of that voice, his mask of command snapped into place. He straightened his stance, noting that he was now staring evenly into the man's soulless black eyes. "Professor Snape."

"Brilliant," the acerbic man said. "Five years of education hasn't gone to waste- you can recognise your Potions Master."

"Excuse me." Harry gestured towards the hallway to the kitchen, holding his hand out to indicate his intended path. Snape sniffed, then stepped aside. Harry took a step to stride past him.

"Oh, Potter, I hope--"

Harry put a quick end to whatever the smarmy bastard was going to say. The feeling of Harry's elbow smashing into - and through - the man's beak-like nose was the best Christmas gift he could have wanted. He'd just needed the extra step to get the angle right and ensure a strong hit.

Snape was knocked to the floor, blood spattering across the carpet from the man's broken nose. A black wand fell out of his black robes, rolling along the runner to stop at the foot of the stairs. Harry hopped away from the staircase, landing on the wooden instrument with the second satisfying snap of the night. He leaned down next to where Snape was clambering to his knees and said, "The last time you and I were in this house, you interrupted me."

Snape was coughing. His curtains of long greasy hair hid whatever expression he had.

"So let me finish what I was trying to say, then. I will kill you, one day, for what you did to Holly."

He seethed, "For what I did? That thing wasn't -- and isn't -- a real witch!"

"She's a person. It doesn't matter what she's made of; I love her and you burned her until she nearly died. I don't care what excuse you think you had- no one had condemned her to torture or death, and yet that's what you chose to do. You saw someone who looked like my mum and was involved with me, and that's why you burned her."

Snape drew a kerchief from his robes to staunch the flow of blood from his face, any intended reply deferred while he winced in pain.

"I'm sorry if your childhood was awful," Harry continued,"It sucks -- for you -- that my mum said no to you and yes to my dad, but you have NO RIGHT to ruin my life, or Neville's, or anyone else's, just because you can't get over it."

"You self-important imbecile. You have no idea --"

"What the Hell are you doing here, anyway?"

From behind them a familiar voice answered, "I brought him."

Harry turned around to where Holly stood in her black habit. She wasn't wearing the head coverings, leaving her wild red hair exposed. It gave him the brief impression of her as a lit black candle, which only reinforced his memory of how she had been tormented the last time Snape had been in this house. "I said he wasn't allowed here."

"I didn't have sufficient mass at the time to get that memorandum, Harry, and it wouldn't change my decision to bring him here if I had." Holly softened her voice and said, "I'm sorry, but we need to talk together, right now."

Snape pulled a different wand from his robes to fix the break in his nose. It righted itself with a muffled snap. A second gesture with the wand wiped all the blood from his face. "You can forget the whole venture, Professor Polter," Snape said as he stood up, "I have no interest in anything this misbegotten --"

"Aw, did Sevvy get a boo-boo?" she said (in a passable mimicry of Betty Boop).

"He assaulted me!"

Holly cut off his rising voice with an erect finger to her lips. She then hissed, "So did I, and we both told you why you'd earned it. If Harry was a bit juvenile just now I'd say he has the right of it, since he doesn't happen to be an adult just yet. Unwarranted acts of aggression are to be expected, and he actually had cause. As Harry pointed out, you don't have that excuse. Now, get in the library before you wake the portraits, will you?"

Harry trooped in first, followed by Snape.

Holly turned once inside to slide the door shut."And the next time I hear you refer to me as 'that thing', I'm going to make you suffer for it."

While Snape chuntered something about 'already suffering', they collected in the seats near the hearth where the fire had burned down to coals.

Grudgingly, Snape related the essence of the situation; "Arthur Weasley was attacked in the Ministry while he was guarding a certain room, but his presence diverted the Dark Lord from infiltrating that room. This has frustrated him. Lacking access to any advisors with enough clearance to know how to circumvent this, he now must retrieve one of his loyal servants from prison; former Unspeakable Augustus Rookwood. By all estimates, this will happen in the next day."

Harry said, "Right before Christmas? Talk about re-certifying your Fraternity of Evil membership card --"

"It is thus necessary to act now," said Snape, "if you intend to act at all. The Dark Lord isn't one to take half-measures. He needs Rookwood but, now that he's committed to the endeavour, he'll liberate all the Inner Circle prisoners from Azkaban in one move. I'm sure of it. So tell me, Potter, do you have it in you to truly act on your bravado, or does your courage fade if you're not just bullying your allies like your father did?"

Harry squinted at him. "I'm not -- when did my father -- wait, what are we doing?"

Snape made his 'I'm dealing with an imbecile' groan.

Holly said, "The mission, if you're ready to commit to it, would be to go to Azkaban ahead of him... and kill his followers before he can free them."

She was staring into his eyes. Harry felt his scalp prickle.

'This is a critical moment. Take your time before you decide.'

Harry glared back.

Was it the orneriness that came with the hangover?Perhaps the endless hours of feeling helpless awaiting news on Mr. Weasley was preying on him, driving him to take action, whatever the action might be. Or maybe it was the mad thrill of being offered a chance to jump into the deep end of adulthood? Harry's decision was made long before he could decide on his true justification for making it. "I'm ready," he said. A calm settled in, and the last vestiges of his hangover burned away.

He then asked, "Why is Snape still involved? He told you what he knows. Shouldn't the rest be a secret so he won't be in a position to blab about it?"

Snape bit back another cutting remark and instead looked at Harry as if distrusting his senses.

"You shouldn't cast the spells," Holly answered, "but you can accompany another to do the killing. I cannot go. Severus is willing--"

"Was willing, up until this infant struck me."

Holly grabbed Snape by the arm and squeezed until her nails digging in caused him to wince. She said, "You're still here, so stop wasting time trying to annoy everyone." She shoved him out of her grip and then turned back to Harry. "He's the best man for the job. He knows magic, he knows the targets by name and some by face, and he knows how to kill."

"There isn't anyone else?"

Holly thought for a moment. "Mad-eye is the next best bet, but I don't think he'll be a quick convert to the idea, what with it being illegal, arguably immoral and involve breaking into a Ministry-run fortress. It's not like he's on our side. He works for Albus. Sirius might be willing but I'm not so sure about the able- I don't know if he's ever killed anyone and even if he has, I doubt he'd want you to be watching him do it, eitherwise."

Snape said, "They both have one advantage that I cannot provide. I've never been to Azkaban. I was never convicted of anything."

Holly turned to glare at Snape. "How are you going to Apparate there, then?"

"That's your problem. I'm here to fulfill a debt. Nothing else."

She slumped back in her seat. "Well, there's a fine mess for us. Ready to go, but can't reach the target."

Harry smiled. "I think I may have this part covered."

-o-

Tonks sat in the library between the most unlikely collection of people who were waiting on her reply to a most unlikely question. It was like the set up for a bad joke; 'A specky boy-hero, the slimy git who hates him and a degenerate poltergeist posing as a nun bring a metamorph cop to a bar and...'

She had been waiting for the punchline, but Harry's resolute face told her this was for real. She gobbed air for a moment, then said, "You want me to help you break into Azkaban... so that you can murder the prisoners? What makes you think I'd say 'yes'? I mean, it's my job to stop you from doing this! By every right, I should arrest the lot of you right now."

"We just need you to lead us there," Harry said. "You wouldn't even be breaking the law."

"But, Harry--"

"Do you believe Riddle is back?" he challenged.

"Well, yes."

"And do you agree that it's likely that he will break out his Death Eaters, and that they'll join him to commit the same crimes as before?"

Tonks looked down at her hands in her lap. She said,"Yeah. Prolly worse than ever, what with being half-more insane from a dozen years in that literal pit of despair."

"Then you should agree that this plan is the right thing to do," Harry insisted, "that by doing this we may save lives."

She wrung her hands together and pleaded, "But, isn't there another way--?"

"No! I don't want to hear any more protest on this. This is the plan." Harry grabbed her forearm. "You promised me that you'd support me, support the Underground Army; this is when and how I need you, Tonks, more than ever. I remember when I asked for your support, you said it twice. That stuck with me- you weren't just saying 'Me, too'- by being different, you were telling me to remember that I had your support, in specific. I know that you meant what you said, so help us now. Be, now, who you promised to be, then."

Tonks turned away to consider.

In the pause, he took note that the other two people in the room hadn't spoken for a bit. Snape was scowling, which told him nothing. Holly was trying without success to hold back a wide smile, covering her reaction with a hand over her mouth.

Harry felt a similar pride, but he held his expression true.

-o-

Tonks agreed to do quite a bit more than bring them there. As they worked out their plan, she provided essential information on how to enter the fortress and also had contacted another Auror, asking to swap shifts '... so that I can earn quick cash for the holidays'. Azkaban duty hours paid twice as much as any other job in the Aurors, so this wasn't unheard of.

"Anything you cast there is detected at the central station," she warned. "If you conjure up so much as a kerchief, they check on it."

Holly countered this by saying, "In my time there, I was able to get away with a few wandless tricks. Also, I think that you may be able to escape detection if whatever you cast is done beneath your Cloak, Harry."

Professor Snape said, "Does Potter know any wandless magic?"

Holly countered, "Why not ask Potter? He's sitting right there."

Rather than wait for Snape to act politely, Harry answered, "Occlumency, and a bit of Summoning and Banishing. Do you know any?"

"More than you," the git replied. "In all cases, whenever you wonder what I know about something, the answer will be 'more than you'."

Somewhere in the back of his head, Harry felt reassured by that.

If he was being considerate to me, I'd be really worried.

-o-

Tonks Apparated them to a boat landing on a rocky shoreline, with Snape crouched together with Harry beneath the Cloak of Invisibility. She led them onto the special Ministry skiff and then cast off into the rough seas, the boat's animated oars knocking wood against water to project them along the way, out to what looked like a black claw stabbing out of the sea in the distance. Their craft wound the path through the choppy seas, but seemed hardly affected by them. It was impressive how the enchanted boat glided along, handed from the care of one swell to another, making it seem as if the storm might only be an illusion- a cold and wet one, but not able to toss or unbalance them.

Answering the unasked question, Tonks said,"We're very careful about our prisoner transfers."

As they approached, Harry could see that the prison was not just one bent tower but three of them, of different heights but all connected to a stout central keep. The outer wall rose along the coastline of the island, leaving only a little rocky ground between the fortification and the churning sea.

The cold of the North Sea was enhanced by the presence of scores of Dementors gliding around the towers. Harry spent most of the journey wresting his mind into a fully defensive state. When he was done, the mask was strapped on tight. He could still feel the heat-sapping aura of the Dementors but their terrifying despair was left outside. He saw Snape following a similar process, twitches of anxiety or doubt being smoothed out until only business-like indifference was left to run things.

Once on the island, Tonks entered the gatehouse leading into the keep to report for duty. The two wizards stalked away from the craft to navigate the narrows around the curtain wall until they found a few square yards of stable footing.

They had one critical test to pass before their mission could continue. They were safely inside what Tonks called the 'Charm-Cancelling Anti-Spell, -Magic, or -Charm... charm'. This defensive shell which projected a few yards beyond the curtain wall would supposedly cancel any active spell or nullify enchantments that it encountered like brooms in flight, except for things traveling through the Auror-controlled gatehouse. Despite this, the charm hadn't affected his Cloak of Invisibility, for which he was grateful. Harry had no idea how to turn it back on if it had been shut off somehow. Now they had to make sure the Cloak would shroud them from detection when casting spells.

They shared a look. Snape drew out a wand and twisted it in the movement Harry recognised as an Imperturbable charm. He felt the bubble of isolation pop into place.

No alarm sounded. No guard appeared.

Snape said, "This is a very interesting cloak, Potter. Where did you buy it?"

"I didn't buy it- it was my father's."

"That explains quite a bit- and yet suggests other questions as well."

"You'll have to ask someone else, then, because that's about the sum total of what I know about it."

Harry took a moment to activate the enchantments that Hermione had added to his glasses in recent days. The darkness turned green and he could see the shape of the professor before him as a lit outline, radiating heat from his face and hands. Following some experimentation, he was happy to discover that his Cloak blocked even this charmed vision effect from the outside. No one using similar charms would be able to see them.

They sat and waited. At first Harry and Snape each tried very hard to imagine they were alone under the Cloak, but eventually the effort to maintain a mental defense became tedious, and they got to talking. To keep their minds in check, they avoided any topic aside from their immediate circumstances; the bone-freezing cold, the dagger-like sleeted wind, the constant noise of the surf, and what they were there to do. With some prodding, Snape gave Harry a rundown on the names and traits of their targets. Snape was going through what he knew of the Lestrange family when they heard a heavy thunk into the ground nearby. It was an arrow with a rope attached that trailed up the rain-slick stone walls to a parapet.

Both men took hold of the rope. Harry felt a familiar bond sticking his hands in place. The rope drew taut and then pulled them up slowly along the sheer side of the prison. A few curious Dementors glided past them, perhaps confused by the moving absence of emotions, but their attentions soon wandered. Harry and Snape continued to rise, otherwise undetected.

At the summit they risked leaving the shelter of the Cloak to clamber over the stone battlement onto a walkway. There was no sign of Tonks- just the antique crossbow from the Black armory that was the source of their reel of rope, anchored with metal braces spanning an interior doorway. Harry dislodged the braces and reeled in the rope, packing all the parts including the crosspiece into the magically-expanded stock of the crossbow. Once the evidence of their entry was cleared, they returned to crouching beneath the Cloak.

Snape re-cast the Imperturbable. Harry then asked him, "Which way do we go?"

Tonks' one shortcoming in the preparation was not having access to a map showing which prisoners were being kept where. The most she could report was that 'the tall tower usually holds the worst sort'. Snape took a look around, then declared, "We go up. No doubt the most dangerous inmates are kept in the highest rooms, so that the Dementors can readily feed on them. We'll have to check on whomever we find along the way to confirm this."

The interior of the tower was lit by torches in wall sconces, one placed opposite the door for each cell. It was a cruel temptation of light and heat too far away to provide much of either. Yet still, most inmates were curled near their cell doors and furthest away from the slit window to the stormy outside. Yard-long spikes projecting in from the dense ironwork doors kept them from getting too close, but most prisoners slept or sat facing their particular torch.

The cells weren't labeled with the prisoner's names-instead they had a placard mounted outside with the prisoner's designation. The pattern indicated what year and month they were first imprisoned (ever), so they disregarded any cell with designation more recent than 1981. The first actual Death Eater they found was a wretched pile of skin and bones with stringy blond hair and beard. Once Snape had gotten a good look at him, he turned to Harry and said, "That's Gibbon."

They sat crouched for a few moments, watching the man breathe. "Well, go ahead," said Harry.

"Potter, your Cloak may hide spells cast beneath it, but spells that go beyond it will no doubt be detectable."

"So how are you going to kill him?"

"Why should I be the one? This is your mission."

Harry's mask bit back the anger before he felt it, but he still felt that expressing his irritation would be useful. He said,"You're here to participate, not just make side comments! This is your job, executioner."

"I will not be the only one with bloody hands after this. If I must kill, so should you."

"Fine. We'll trade off." It was a logical conclusion, so in his current state of mind Harry had agreed without considering how he might feel about it later on. "You're still going first."

"Why?"

"It's proper teaching technique; first, you demonstrate for the student. I know the concept is a bit foreign to you--"

"Shut up and hand me the crossbow."

They both rose to change position and Harry had to pull out and reassemble the weapon. In their shuffling beneath the Cloak, a paper-wrapped candy fell out of Harry's pocket.

Snape noticed it first and said, "What's that?"

"Oh, it's one of the Weasley's... hang on." Harry stared at the wax-wrapped candy for a long moment. He then said,"I'll go first."

Snape gave him a curious look.

Harry ignored him. He concentrated on the idea of chocolate- warm, soothing, sweet and creamy chocolate. He then breathed onto the toffee. A creamy mist enveloped the sweet. Harry tossed it out from their concealment and watched as it rolled across the stone floor past the spikes towards Gibbon. It came to a stop near the man's prone form.

A moment later, the man sniffed the air. He sniffed it again and cautiously poked his face out from beneath his tattered blanket. The toffee on the floor shone like a jewel.

"Can't be," he muttered, but a second later Gibbon pounced on the toffee, holding it up to the pale torchlight as if it might be the Holy Grail itself. He gave it a tentative lick and shuddered in joy. He licked it again and stuffed the treat into his mouth and began to chew.

Within a minute, the man's moans of joy were replaced by a harsh barking quack. He rolled towards them, revealing that his tongue had swollen to fill his whole mouth and spill out the front and down his chest, and it was still growing. A minute later, the sound of cracking announced the dislocation of the man's jaw.

Harry steeled his mind once more, trying to lock away the revulsion of watching a man choke to death. He recalled watching Draco on the Express, changing similar colours and making similar motions. This time, there would be no Anapneo. He fought his instinct to alleviate the man's suffering. Now that the man was choking, Harry needed to stay committed to that death. When he turned away, he saw that Snape was staring at him. Harry dragged his eyes back towards the choking man. Gibbon would get that much respect- to have his murderer bear witness to the whole process of his end.

They watched him choke on his engorged tongue until all the life had escaped him. Harry watched Gibbon. Snape stared at Harry.

When it was done, Harry turned to Snape and murmured through clenched teeth, "That's one."

"Vomit if you must, Potter. It's only--"

Provoked by the word, Harry emptied his stomach onto Snape's boots.

"... human."

-o-

Snape lured the next death eater, named Albrecht, to their tented cloak at the man's cell door. "I'm here to free you," he whispered, "to serve the Dark Lord once more."

Albrecht crawled close as he could, peering towards the sliver of shadow hanging from nothing, just outside his cell door. "Izzat you, Snape?"

"Yes," he said, "now grab my hand." Snape reached his left arm out of the cover of the cloak, exposing the dark brand on his forearm. As if reacting to discovering he was exposed, he retracted it back into the shadows.

"Alright then." The man was so thin he was able to thread himself partly between the spikes. He turned. He strained. Finally he was close enough, though a spike was pressing intently against his cheek right below the eye. Albrecht stretched his hand far enough to reach beyond the door, enough to enter the shroud.

Snape's Killing Curse shot into the man's palm and he slumped. Only the acrid scent of his bowels releasing gave proof that he wasn't merely sleeping.

Snape reapplied the Imperturbable charm to the Cloak, then said, "A bit quicker, you might note."

"You enjoyed that."

Snape answered the accusation with a look of contempt. "Enjoyed it? Enjoyed using the spell that murdered your parents to do away with your enemies? No, Potter. Only an idiot would suggest that. Until you've cast that spell yourself, you will know nothing about what it means."

"Do you think I should use it for the next one, then?"

"No!" Snape's vehemence surprised them both. Snape schooled his emotions, his face becoming a mask of disdain once more. He said, "Some personal milestones should be put off as long as possible. This is one."

-o-

For their next victim, Harry used the crossbow. He had all the time in the world to set up the shot, bracing the weapon and taking careful aim at the man's slumbering form. He fired.

The bolt entering into the man's chest caused him to cry out in shock and pain. In a panic to silence the scream, Harry slipped the lever on the reel to auto-retract the rope. This yanked the man's body towards the door until stopped by the iron spikes. The continued tension from the reel tore the man's lung out of his chest, ending his scream.

A minute later, another scream came from a prisoner somewhere above them. It was mocking in similarity. Several other mimicking screams followed, from above and below. Harry thought he could hear one echoing from another tower, even.

While coming down from the shakes wracking his body, Harry said, "These aren't the most dangerous ones, are they?"

"What makes you say that?"

Harry gulped. "They seem... too easy to kill."

Snape glared at him, but didn't reply.

"We need to get the key people. We need to get Rookwood, and Mulciber, and Dolohov. Are you protecting them?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Snape said.

"You know where they are, don't you! If Riddle was planning to attack this place, he'd have gotten that information and shared it with the people coming with him. Take me to Rookwood!"

Any reply Snape was preparing was interrupted when he clutched at his forearm, obvious pain forcing him to curl into a ball. At the same time Harry felt a pulse of stomach-twisting glee banging against that capped sewer drain in the back of his mind.

From the staircase to the next level up, he could hear people hissing to each other. A woman sang off-key, "He's coming! The Dark Lord is coming..."

Snape grabbed Harry by the arm and said, "We're done."

"Not yet!" Harry tried to explain more but his voice was being overwhelmed by a sort of thunder, in reverse; it started as a distant rumble but quickly grew so loud as to disrupt his sense of balance. The noise surrounded him, surrounded the whole tower, the whole island-- a sudden shock threw everything into the air and Harry watched as part of the inner wall cracked apart and fell away from them.

He'd been bounced into the air and didn't get flat floor to land on. Tilting slabs of stone sent him off his feet again and then he slid down the now canted floor, wet flagstone offering poor traction until he got his trainers angled to his advantage. Through the crack in the tower wall he could see down into the now-encaved center of the keep. As best he could guess, Voldemort had drawn down a meteor the size of Durmstrang's ship to sunder the prison's defenses. Smoking lumps of rock and earth were everywhere. Lightning flashed, illuminating several streams of black smoke descending towards the base of the rubble.

An alarm like a chorus of screaming cats rang out. It disharmonized with the shrieking of Dementors stirred into high dudgeon by having their nest cracked open.

Harry turned back towards the other half of the hallway- Snape was not in sight.

He's still under the Cloak... and I'm NOT!

He scanned the darkness, hoping to see a flurry of fabric or even a wave of movement in the air. Instead he was distracted by the sudden eruption of multicolored spell fire arcing up in all directions, including at his position.

Voldemort's voice echoed out clearly across the sounds of the storm, the alarm, the Dementors and the still-collapsing sections of building; 'Kill the Aurors. Get our friends a wand apiece, then offer amnesty for any new converts, yes?' Even though it rang in Harry's ears, he could feel that it was a projected thought.

His vision was obscured by the sudden appearance of awarm body directly in front of him. The fastest spell he could think of was 'Duro'; the man's cloak solidified like stone, prompting him to struggle in place accompanied by guttural cursing.

With the extra moment's preparation, Harry set his mind, aimed, and then cast Confringo at the man's head. He saw his victim's near eye go wide behind his silver mask... and then the curse made the man's head burst apart like a kicked jack-o'-lantern.

From behind him, a hoarse voice called out from one of the cells, "He's here, my Lord! Potter is here!"

Glory be; I'm famous even at Azkaban.

Another Confringo did something wet and bloody to silence his spotter, but Harry didn't have time to check if it killed the man. He scrabbled up the floor, back into the relative concealment of the intact portion of the tower.

'Harry... Potter?' echoed through all nearby brains still functioning. 'How delightful.'

Once he was on a level surface Harry bolted down the hallway, looking for a door to the battlement outside. He skidded to a stop at the door but the alarm must have automatically sealed it shut.

He stepped back and then blew a hole out of the wall beside it. He clambered through the opening he'd made, but was distracted by the unexpected sound of buzzing hornets. He turned and saw the wall behind him quiver in place, then dissipate into a swarm that then gathered and swung in his direction.

Instinct drove him to shoot flames from his wand to burn the hornet horde--

My wand? I thought I'd brought MacNair's. Ten spells later, this occurs to me. Thanks for coming, wand.

(cnr-dywfon?)

Refocusing his attention, he sent another fan of fire at the remains of the rallying swarm.

Beyond the frying insects, he saw a white-faced figure clad in black robes, rising into the air on a pillar of swirling charcoal smoke. Red eyes shone from beneath his hood and his sharpened teeth glittered in a flash of lightning.

Voldemort said aloud, "Harry Potter. Exactly what we wanted for Christmas."

-o-

Holly idly took note when she first could hear the Weasleys as they roused and started the day. She was curled up in a high-backed reading chair, staring into the flames of the fireplace while gnawing on a thumbnail... and imagining every possible way that Harry's mission could go wrong. Holly was also trying to understand her own place in his life.

Will I feel it when he kills someone on purpose for the first time?

Will I know if he's caught, tortured or even if he's killed? Would I even survive if he were killed, or would I suddenly fall apart like a ruptured water balloon?

Would I even want to survive?

Ron found her there. "Oh, hey Hols. Didn't know you'd got here. Have you seen Harry around?"

"Not for a few hours," she answered, truthfully.

Ron slumped down into the seat across from her. He spent a few minutes recounting to her his view of the bonding over whisky from the previous night.

They were interrupted by a flash of white in midair that formed into a luminous doe. It spoke in Snape's voice, "The Dark Lord has attacked, and the idiot child has chosen to confront him."

"Oh, no," Holly moaned, "Nooooo. No no no no no-- what part of 'escape together unseen' did you not understand?"

The Patronus had faded, though Ron's face had gone nearly as pale. "Are you saying Harry went with Snape on some mission and now Harry's fighting You-Know-Who on his own?"

"Wha- Ron, just wait a moment and I can explain."

Ron was having nothing of that though, and he bolted from the room. Holly rushed after him but couldn't outpace the boy's much longer legs. She arrived in the kitchen just as Ron blurted out, "Harry's gone on a mission with Snape and now he's fighting Volde-- He-Who- ...Riddle. He's facing /Him/. Alone!"

Ginny turned an accusatory glare at Holly and said,"Why aren't you there with him? Why is Snape--"

"Azkaban," croaked out Sirius, who was nursing a steaming mug of potion in the corner, "It's the only place Hols can't function."

Ron nodded and said, "Must be. It makes sense."

Looks were traded around the table. Ron to the twins, Remus at Sirius, and Ginny to Bill who then turned to Charlie, who evidently had returned from St. Mungo's now that their mother was allowed back in. They all turned to look at Holly. She nodded.

Bill said, "Get what we need; meet back here in four minutes. Bring brooms, weapons and anything that can protect us from spells and the cold. Sirius, if you have a flying carpet--"

"Yeah, there's one upstairs. Back in a jot," he said and then Disapparated. Following his example, everyone twins or older Disapparated as well. Ginny and Ron barreled out through the kitchen door.

Holly sank down to sit in a chair.

Bill reappeared with a 'pop', mid-process of sheathing an ornate-handled knife into his belt.

Holly asked him, "So, how are you planning to get there?"

"Side-along Apparation chain. Why?"

"You've been there before?"

Sirius had reappeared burdened with a broom, a rolled up carpet, and a thick fur cloak. Bill nodded his way and said, "Mr. Black should know the way to Azkaban."

Sirius looked up and said, "Uh, that's not likely to work out. I was a bit addled when I escaped. I don't think I could find my way back."

Bill mulled for a moment. "Is Tonks still here?"

"No," Holly answered, "she left a few hours ago."

Sirius turned to her and said, "You know the way."

"I never went there, here," she protested,"I can't trace back --"

"That's not what I mean," Sirius said."You know the way to Harry. You've said so several times- you always know where Harry is."

Holly opened her mouth but for once she had nothing to say. All she could hear were her own screams echoing in her mind from the last time she'd faced a Dementor.

-o-

Sirius looked over the Weasleys crowded in his kitchen, all in heavy fur cloaks. Swap their wands and brooms for broadswords and they could be allies of William Wallace girding for battle. Their departure had been delayed for an argument between Bill and the youngest two.

"I mean it- you wait here in case someone needs to come save us. Mum will be returning from the hospital soon enough, and she'll be less likely to explode if it's only us missing. With any luck we'll be back before she knows it."

Ginny growled quite adorably in frustration. Ron simply handed over his broom for Charlie to use.

Holly then announced, "We're going on a long three-count: like one-two-three-go, alright?" Receiving nods, Holly gripped Sirius' hand and stared deep into his eyes.

In his head, he heard, 'I am the guide- you are the conductor. Do not let the pipeline close until you're certain the last one is through.'

Though startled, Sirius thought back, 'Understood'.

Aloud, she said, "One..."

Sirius reached back and grasped Remus' hand, who had already joined hands with Charlie, followed by Bill, George and Fred at the end.

"Two..."

Sirius saw Fred turn towards the youngest Weasley kids and hold out his hand.

"Three..."

Ginny grabbed it and grabbed Ron's hand as well.

"Go!"

The hand connected to Holly squeezed tight- even tighter than normal, as if instead of a hosepipe, Sirius was being drawn through a pinhole. He turned his spine in just the right way and the pressure relaxed slightly- her hand was still in his, pulling towards the pinhole. Everyone else dragged on his other arm, threatening to pull it out of socket, but he held tight. A painful few moments later, they landed on a dock. Sirius turned back to verify that Ron had arrived at the end of the chain, then released his hold on the aperture.

Holly gasped out, "This is as close as I could get. I --" She then flipped onto her back and screamed. Moony jumped and grabbed her by the mouth to muffle her.

Turning to see what she saw, Sirius was tempted to join her.

Waves of Dementors were flying towards them like a charging cavalry. He held up his wand and tried to think of a good memory. The view beneath Holly's skirt came to mind.

Ron called out, "Wait! Don't cast -- just listen!"

Remus had hit Holly with a Silencing jinx; Sirius could now pick out a haunting but sweet song echoing across the water, loud enough to out sing the crashing waves, rumbling storm and screeching Dementors. "What is that?"

"Phoenix song," Ron said, "Harry's wand must be locked up with Riddle's, like he said happened in the graveyard. The Dementors, they're all just running away!"

They watched as scores of Dementors flew overhead, clearly unconcerned with their presence.

Once they'd passed, he heard Charlie say, "Ron, Ginny- what the bloody HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Ron answered with some affront, "Helping, I'd say."

Ginny added, "Harry's our friend and leader. He needs us all and you won't keep us from standing by him. We wouldn't be Weasleys if we did."

Charlie grumbled at her, but then turned away without further argument. He pulled a spyglass from one of his pockets and aimed it out to sea. "Looks like there are people Apparating around the place, so the protections must be completely down."

Remus had let Holly go so he could join the conversation. He gave Ginny a look of apology and said, "Right now, you're a liability. We can't be protecting you and trying to save Harry. Just stay here with Holly... and the carpet, since you can't Apparate."

Bill said, "If no one else minds, I've got a plan." Following nods of assent he said, "We want to get in, grab Harry and get out as quick as we can, all together."

From his robes he pulled out a sack tied closed with leather; unwrapping it revealed a foot-tall stone obelisk and several flat stone disks, each with a ribbon threaded through the hole in the center.

"This is a campsite beacon and talismans. We use them in crypt explorations in case you end up underground and unconscious- you can't Apparate out of an enclosed space if you have no idea how far down you are, so this leads your Apparation back to the campsite.

"This will be our rally point. We'll fly in as teams, approaching in order of age- Sirius and Remus; me and Charlie; the twins. Stay undetected as long as possible, then toss in some distractions and evade pursuit. Do not get into a duel. When a team gets to Harry, Apparate with him back to the camp stone and then tap this sigil to send us a signal. The signal from the camp stone will make all the talismans heat up, so wear it next to your skin so you'll feel it."

Fred was putting his talisman under his shirt when he noted, "Oi, Bill- where's yours?"

Bill turned to him and then tugged on the fang piercing in his left ear. He continued, "Once we're all here, we'll head back to headquarters. Our only mission is to get Harry and get out. If it all goes pear-shaped," and he gave his youngest siblings a forlorn look,"fly away."

Disillusionment charms were applied to all. Sirius gave chameleon-Remus a chameleon-smile, hoping the expression of confidence would calm his own shaking hands. They mounted their brooms and sped off towards the island. It was straight towards the mouth of the Abyss as far as he was concerned.

Only for you, Harry.

-o-

Ron unfurled the carpet and slumped down on it. The Persian design was faded in some spots and the gold fringe along one edge had separated except at the corners. He plopped the camp stone down to keep the corner of carpet from flapping up from the wind.

"They're treating us like babies."

Ginny had Charlie's spyglass out. He could see the rippling outline of her, standing on one of the dock pylons to get a better viewpoint past the choppy seas. "Welcome to my life, Ron."

They sat for a few minutes, staring at the storm over the island where multicolored lightning reversed course up into the clouds. A chill swept over them. Even under a heavy winter cloak, Ron shuddered. It would be easier to bear through this bone-deep cold if he had something else to do than think about it.

He turned to check on Holly. Disillusioned as she was, he could see her shape rippling at the tree line. She appeared to be back-crawling, and Ron soon realised why. Floating out of the darkness between the trees were a trio of Dementors. They pounced on Holly, shrieking in delight now that they had a victim.

He heard Ginny cast 'Finite'- the sudden sound of Holly's screams out-shrieked the Dementors. Ginny called to him, "Can you cast a Patronus?"

"Of course not! Are you mad? We've got to fly--"

"But what about Holly?"

As if in answer, Holly's screams stopped.

They both turned to look for her. The Dementors at the edge of the wood were rising from whatever they had done to Holly and now were turning their attention towards them.

Ron grasped Ginny by the cloak and pulled her onto the carpet. Ginny protested but he knew that there was no other choice. With Ginny clutched to him, he grabbed onto the gold fringe of the carpet and flicked it like reins, urging it into flight.

They shot away from the ground faster than expected, finding themselves circling above the prison within three heartbeats. Both were also surprised to realise that the carpet had bonded them in place, making falling off nigh-impossible. Bill's obelisk was similarly anchored at the corner of the carpet.

He still had one arm around Ginny, though she'd stopped struggling. Despite all the rancor below, he could hear her crying into the folds of heavy cloak.

"She was gone, Ginny."

Ginny pulled out of his grip and glared at him.

"What could we do?" he added."Honestly; what good could we have possibly done for her by that point?"

Ginny shook her head and rubbed away the tears threatening to freeze to her eyelashes.

"You're right. And I'm not really mad at you. I'm just... mad." She turned to look down over the island. "And I see a bunch of people I can take it out on."

He looked back at her for a moment, then said,"I'll fly; you hex."

-o-

It has seemed like a good idea at the time.

From the start, Harry saw that Voldemort was being quite careful not to cast a spell directly at him. They both knew that this wand-lock was a possibility. Harry had tried casting a number of curses at the man but he was quite agile on his pillar of smoke and readily grabbed pieces of rubble to deflect Harry's spells if he was too busy to dodge.

Harry's solution was a bit mad, but so was he. He spotted an Auror emerging from cover to cast at the floating Dark Lord and ran full-bore to jump in between them. He'd calculated that the Auror's spell would pass before he got there and jumped in hopes to intercept Voldemort's curse in riposte with his Disarming charm... while jumping into free fall thirty feet above the ground.

'Make this happen,' he'd willed.

Defying the odds and all common sense, his gamble paid off and the Priori Incantatem effect grabbed them both into the floating golden cage. From then on, they were stuck out of the action below; Voldemort's expression of anger about that really made Harry smile.

Caught as they were in this specific effect for the last twenty minutes or so, Harry was now confounded on how to get out of it.

I had distractions before; echoes of old spells of his that acted against him. We're both stronger this time, and he's familiar enough with the outcome that he's keeping the ball in the middle from reaching his wand.

Suddenly the area around them grew thick with explosions of green gas.

Dungbombs? What kind of Death Eater would bring dungbombs for this?

Strangely enough, while the golden cage had deflected all spells and objects tossed at it, the noxious gas seeped right in.

Their battle of wills became a battle of composure-both were nauseated by the clinging gas, feeling it seeping into their noses, their eyes. Even the chain of power linking their wands in combat turned green.

The wand-lock broke, sending a wave radiating out from them, carrying the noxious fumes with it. He began to fall.

A moment later, Harry was hurtling straight upward.

Realising he'd been hexed, he invoked a Finite. When that didn't work, he riffled through a catalog of counter-curses for spells that grab the opponent. Liberacorpus released the spell on his body that was propelling him up into the storm clouds. He was able to reorient himself to see downward just as gravity had finally stopped his upward motion. He looked down at the island of Azkaban from at least a thousand feet in the air.

No broom, no winged animagus form. Even if I can survive hitting the ground, and I'm still not convinced that'll work, I'm an easy target all the way down.

With only Holly's notes describing the process to guide him, he Disapparated.

-o-

Ginny and Ron had been circling above the battle. They couldn't see any of their family and the death eaters were moving so quickly that targeting any of them seemed pointless. Ginny had resolved that chaos would be to their advantage, so she'd gathered a collection of tricks they'd stuffed into their pockets and launched them into the fray.

When the golden cage blew apart it threatened to knock them, carpet and all, into the sea. They were hurtling downward and only at the last moment did Ron recover control of the tassels and flip them to skim across wave tips until they were upright and stable again. Ron turned back towards the island. Ginny ordered him to fly up towards where they saw Harry falling. He snapped the reins and they shot forward, but halfway there they saw Harry Disapparate.

"Didn't know he could do that," said Ron.

"Me either."

Seeing the battle picking up steam again, Ginny loaded up another hefty collection of missiles into her palm and Banished them with enough oomph to reach and detonate around Voldemort. Brown, stinky clouds surrounded him, but a blue spell shot forth from the mess right afterwards, fanning outwards in an arc towards them. Ron banked away just fast enough that the spell only ripped through the trailing corner of fabric, though that was enough to set it aflame.

Clouds of black smoke marked their flight path- even disillusioned, they knew they could easily be targeted. Ron dove the carpet back down below the curtain wall and intercepted an ocean swell to soak them with seawater. They hit it and flipped over, all landing in the angry sea.

Ron didn't let go of the reins, though, and a moment later he aimed the carpet upward. It dragged them back out of the water, soaked to freezing but alive.

Ginny grabbed him in a hug from behind. "Best brother, ever."

Ron smiled. He said, "Let's go get Harry."

-o-

Harry felt that Disapparating was exactly as disturbing as Holly had described it, but the end of the transport was unexpectedly harsh. Pain erupted in both his left arm and left knee. He opened his eyes to find himself facing a stone wall, into which parts of him were now stuck. While it hurt, it didn't hurt as much as he would have expected. It felt mostly like those sections of his body were being squeezed under a steel press, but not hard enough that they would burst. Nonetheless, he was stuck in a wall and in a lot of pain. Still at Azkaban. It occurred to him that a destination more specific than 'down to the ground' might have served him better.

There was a 'poof', then an inky cloud of darkness surrounded him. His enchanted lenses compensated, but he could barely twist his neck far enough around to note two figures were now approaching him through the coal-black smoke.

He heard one say, "Well, that's done it, Fred. Now I can't see anything, either. How are we going to get him out?"

The other replied, "Dunno, but at least we have a few minutes to think on it."

"Fair point, fair point."

His heart warmed to hear those friendly voices. He croaked out, "T-take... take my glasses. Hermione charmed them. They see through this."

One twin fumbled forward until he found Harry's shoulder, then traced around by touch to lift the glasses from his face and put them on.

"Oh, brilliant," the twin exclaimed."Y'know, we should sit that girl down and bring her into the business."

"Plans for later, George, cut him out."

"I'm cutting, I'm cutting."

George freed Harry's arm, though it was still weighted by a ring of stone bonded through his forearm. He fell backwards from the lack of bracing, caught by Fred before he could crack his head open. His leg was freed a moment later. The stone held it clamped at a right angle, so the twins lifted him up from either side.

"We're going to Apparate us to a safe point," George said. "On three. Don't resist it, alright?"

He nodded.

"One..." said Fred.

"Two..." said George.

They were all blasted onto their arses by a shockwave, followed by hurricane-force wind tumbling them against the wall. The wind blew the cloud of darkness from around them as well. They looked up to see a pale figure in black robes standing five yards above them on a broken edge of wall. His red eyes flared.

"Don't. Move. We shall kill Harry Potter without interference... or else we will keep killing those getting in the way until the deed is done, understood?"

Whether the twins had agreed or were simply frozen with fear, neither of them moved.

The Dark Lord snapped, "Avada Kedavra!"

A slab of flagstone flipped up in front of them to block it, though it cracked to pieces when the spell struck. Thousands of seagulls then swooped in, buffeting around the Dark Lord and also intercepting every spell yet flying at someone in the battlefield beyond them.

Harry took the opportunity to Banish Voldemort away from them. The gulls didn't intercept that and had sufficiently distracted the warlock that he was forced a dozen yards off his perch before once again rising up on a pillar of smoke.

An eardrum-shattering boom accompanied a bolt of lightning which struck the wet ground near several cloaked figures. They all clutched and contorted in pain, then collapsed. Smoke rose from within their black cloaks.

All attention was then drawn to a sole figure- a tall, old man in white robes, standing on a precipice of tower. Down at ground level, Bellatrix spun around to cast at him but was knocked out by a sudden stalagmite projecting up from the ground into her chin.

"Enough, Tom." However calmly it was said, everyone heard it, even if their ears were still ringing from the lightning's shockwave. They could hear the anger beneath it, too.

Voldemort scowled. He took a look around, smirked at the devastation and the dead.

He bowed towards the white wizard, and then Disapparated. A moment later his minions Disapparated as well, including Bellatrix who was holding her jaw in place while clambering to her feet.

Ron and Ginny then appeared from over the curtain wall, swooping towards Harry and the twins on a flying carpet. Ron guided it down to land next to them. As soon as they landed, Ginny tapped a stone at the corner of the carpet. People started Apparating around them. First was Bill, holding up his brother Charlie whose left arm looked like it had been caught in a meat grinder. Remus Apparated in, turned in a circle, and then moved to tend Charlie's arm. Sirius appeared in mid-stride, wrapping Harry in a hug two steps later.

Harry shook his head happily to see so many allies. When he saw the vague outline of Dumbledore, looming behind the crowd of redheads, he blushed a little.

"Where did you come from, sir?" Harry asked him, "Did Snape tell you?"

"No," Dumbledore said with sigh, "I was already here." The man's face began to soften, the beard disappearing and the hair drawing short into his rapidly de-aging head. His body shrunk down by at least a foot. With a tap of wand on bracelet, the hat and robes swapped out for a battered and dusty cloak over a leather jacket, torn jeans and jump boots. Her hair turned from sagely white to candy-floss pink.

Tonks said, "... But then I found myself stuck beneath a large lump of Scotland."

"Tonks?" Ron exclaimed, "How'd you pull all that off?"

She ran her fingers through her hair to shake out the last of the grey. "The birds were already in flight, I'd already called the lightning and put a Sonorous on, so really I was only actively Shaping Earth. The most important part was me keeping me balance like an awesome wizard should."

"And making the world's most successful bluff," gushed Charlie.

Tonks nodded and suppressed a prideful grin. She stepped up close to Harry and shot a cloudy purple spell at him; the stones still encasing his knee and arm slipped off to crumble on the ground."That's a splinch-reversal charm. Don't Apparate again until you know what you're doing." She then glared at him and yelled, "Was it worth it?"

Harry reeled at her sudden anger. Then he glared back. "Five enemies dead, at minimum."

Tonks said, "Not counting all the Ministry people crushed beneath the rock or cut down by Death Eaters!"

"Yeah- not counting them," Harry replied,"on account as they would've died anyway."

"Six," Sirius said. "My dear cousin Bellatrix is now a widow."

Remus said, "You're sure?"

Sirius gestured back towards the remains of the tallest tower. "They left Roddy's body behind, still stuck on the cell door spikes that I Summoned him into."

Fred said, "That's one for Fabian or Gideon, then."

George added, "Since Barty Jr. got Kissed back in June, maybe that covers for both."

Tonks shook her head. She turned away and wouldn't look at any of them. She raised a weakened hand to catch her tears on the cuff of her cloak. Bill stepped close to offer her a consoling word, but she twisted away. "Get out of my sight," she ordered. "All of you. Go away."

-o-

They Apparated as a jumble, landing in the entry hall of Grimmauld Place. The portrait of Sirius' mother started screeching at them but was interrupted by a grey spell from Mrs. Weasley as she charged down the steps. She bellowed at the petrified painting, "YOU CAN JUST WAIT YOUR TURN!"

The witch turned to glare down at them, her wand raised and sparking. She spoke in a quiet hiss, "I have been up and down the entirety of this thrice-damned house looking for my family, all of whom were in MORTAL PERIL!"

There was a gasp from down the hallway toward the kitchen. Hermione rushed forward, cradling the Weasley family clock in both arms.

"I'm so sorry it's my fault I don't know how it happened I just Floo'd in and hit the table and the clock fell and I'M SO SORRY I BROKE IT!"

Mrs. Weasley looked over the bannister at her and said, "What do you mean, you broke it?"

Hermione held up one of the metal hands.

"Not completely. Just that this one came off." She turned it in her hand to identify it. Realisation drained the colour from her face. She whispered, "It's Mr. Weasley's."

Molly clutched at the bannister to ride out some sort of tremor. She then sank down onto the stairs. She could only gurgle as her throat closed up in weeping.

"It's working just fine, Hermione," said Bill. "You did nothing wrong."

-o-

Author's note:

The 'P' chapter has been split into two, possibly three pieces, because it all relates to the Yule events and consequences but has significant shifts in tone and focus. 'Qualified' will come after, covering the return to Hogwarts to face Umbridge.

(cnr-dywfon?) = 'command not recognised- do you want flames or not?'; wands don't speak (and even if they did it certainly wouldn't be in English) but in my headcanon they do have a way of communicating with their owner/users through subtle buzzes and pulses. They might say a lot, but it's the rare sort of wizard that can sense them at all.