Chapter Thirty-Five
An Unquenchable Fire.
Bellatrix looked momentarily confused by the sight that met her eyes; what she was seeing should surely not be happening. Her hooded lids flitted up and down a few times as she quickly processed the information. She didn’t know how they had managed to escape but escape they had. It was up to her to make sure they got no further. With an economical movement of her hand she withdrew her wand, barely giving Maeve and Remus the time to register the possibility that they were about to die. What no one expected was a male voice shouting a disarming spell high above the escapees’ heads. An Irish lilt brushed Maeve’s ears and she whipped her head around in recognition. There stood Niall O’Malley, a wand in his hand and a huge smile on his damp lips. As the spell sped towards its target there was a slight reverberation that echoed in Maeve’s ears.
Maeve turned back to Bellatrix, who was busy looking in astonishment at her wand, which was now in Remus’ possession – he had snatched it neatly out of the air as it had flown towards Niall. His hands almost recoiled from the blackness of the wand’s heart but he clung on bravely, pointing the wand back at its owner.
“That was a mistake!” a loud voice protested from the other end of the corridor. “A bad mistake, my man!”
With Bellatrix tamed for the moment Maeve took the opportunity to turn around once more, at the sound of Roderick’s voice. Niall was grinning with pleasure and raising his wand – no, Maeve thought with horror, that was her wand -- pointing it in her direction with a slight tremor of elation in his wrist.
“I’m finally going to have my wish!” he shouted, his voice magnified by the narrowness of the corridor. “I finally get to rid myself of the troublesome brat!”
“Go ahead,” Roderick interjected, his voice ringing with foreboding. “Kill her, but you’ll have the Dark Lord to answer to. I don’t know what Lucius thought he was doing allowing this.”
“Rampton, what is going on?” Bellatrix was clearly puzzled but also angry. Her hand itched to grab at her wand, but with Remus on the other end of it she wasn’t so sure of herself. He’d defeated them once already, and she didn’t want to risk her life on the chance he could do so again.
“I warned you to watch Lucius, Bella,” Roderick called as Niall hesitated for a moment. “He orchestrated this.”
“Do not let him kill the prisoner,” Bella ordered. Her head twitched as she tried to see past Remus and Maeve. If the prisoners died with her anywhere near them she would be firmly implicated in their deaths and Bella had a feeling Voldemort would not be too pleased about her involvement.
“I was promised her!” Niall yelled. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to kill her. I will not let this opportunity slip by me.”
The zealous gleam of fulfilment that sparked from the Irishman’s eyes made Maeve’s blood run slow in her veins. She didn’t understand for the moment how he had gained magical abilities but it was hard to deny the evidence of her own eyes. He had just successfully disarmed one of the most powerful Death Eaters in Voldemort’s army and now he wanted to kill her. The sight of Niall with a wand was immensely more terrifying than facing an armed Bellatrix. Roderick was looking beyond her towards the charcoal figure of Bellatrix but Maeve could sense that something wasn’t quite right about the tableaux in front of her. For a start, if Niall had acquired magical abilities, why hadn’t he bought his own wand, and why was Roderick trying to persuade Niall not to kill her?
“If Lucius ordered this then where is he?” Bellatrix asked.
“Are you mad? He wouldn’t be seen within a mile of this little contretemps. He’s probably up there now, drinking tea with your master and planning what to do with your body.” Roderick’s body language was relaxed; not one spasm anywhere betrayed his deceit.
Maeve watched the face she knew so well as it worked its magic. Roderick was lying. She hadn’t realised it before but there was a cast to his face that made people fall for his well-spun web of charm. She herself had fallen for it on many occasions, but here things were different. Abbeylara was the seat of her family’s magical power and she could feel its fingers ripping the scales of sightlessness from her eyes as she watched the man she had once liked so much. He was just a confidence trickster, albeit a clever one, and it took the strength of Abbeylara to make her see that. But why was he lying to Bellatrix about Lucius? Was he trying to get the two of them to self-destruct by playing them off against each other?
“Roderick,” she said, her voice breaking the spell that his charm was casting. “What are you doing?”
He ignored her completely but Niall’s eyebrows knitted together in maniacal anger at the interruption to the culmination of his grand scheme. He took a step forward but Roderick’s hand was immediately on his arm. The Auror whispered something to the over-eager man and he stepped back again, the wand still wobbling alarmingly in her direction. The stalemate would have continued were it nor for Remus, who was tired of this procrastination.
“Bellatrix, what do you hope to gain from keeping us alive?” he asked.
“Give me the wand back, Half-blood,” she cawed. “It will not work for you.”
“Oh I think it will, Bellatrix, Are you prepared to let me try?”
“Give me the woman and you may go.” Her voice was lower now, more persuasive.
“That’s not going to happen. You know I would die myself before I allowed you to kill her so let’s be sensible about this.” Remus kept his voice as steady as he could.
Maeve felt the conflicting energies crowding the passageway, combining with the natural magic that lived in the very walls around them. It was an explosive mix that could well go off at any moment, and she was in the worst place possible. Somehow things had to be manipulated so that they were not in the middle. Niall was the real threat here though, the one that would fell her given half the chance, but for some reason he wasn’t acting on it. She watched him carefully and wondered if he really had the guts to kill her. He had always been weak, weak enough to let others do his dirty work.
“Do you even have the courage, Niall?” she asked, as Roderick finally turned his attention to her. Her eyes passed over Niall’s glassy stare and connected briefly with Roderick but it was enough for her to see what he was doing. The tremble of his wand hand now and the subtle echo she had heard when Niall used the disarming spell suddenly made sense.
“Just try me!” Niall shouted. “Give me the satisfaction.”
“Go on then,” she goaded. “Kill me and finish the job you started with my mother. Have your fun, Niall O’Malley, and rot in hell while you’re at it.”
She flung her arms wide in a dramatic gesture that had Bellatrix rolling her eyes with disgust. For Niall it was too much. His face burst into life as he called out the words he had never thought to hear himself use.
“Avada Kedavra.”
A flash of green light exploded victoriously from the end of the corridor, horrifying both Maeve and Remus. Remus immediately dived to bring her down and out of the way of the curse. Niall roared with disappointment as the Unforgivable sailed through the air and hit Bellatrix squarely in the face. She didn’t even have time to scream her love for Lord Voldemort as she folded in on herself, crumpling to the ground in an elegant heap. But no one had time to reflect on the sudden demise of this woman, who had survived so much and was now brought down in a dingy corridor in the bowels of a stranger’s house.
Once again Niall raised the wand and aimed it at Remus and Maeve’s entwined figures. Remus was doing his best to shield her and at the same time raise Bellatrix’ wand but he stumbled over Maeve’s robes and the wand dropped to the floor just as Niall began to call out the killing curse for the second time. Maeve’s fingers fumbled for the black stick that had rolled into her grip and she pushed Remus away as she too brought a wand up in anger. Her curse came like a ricochet, just seconds after Niall’s, and would have failed to protect her had it not been for one thing.
Niall’s curse didn’t work. He stood there aghast as nothing came from the end of the wand he was holding. It was to late for him to try again because Maeve’s curse was already careering towards him with some force. Maeve turned her face away as the curse tore through him; she didn’t want to feel satisfaction in the face of such a horrific thing. All she heard was the dull thud as Niall hit the ground in a rather more ungainly manner than Bellatrix had just done.
The magic in the corridor was hushed as the walls held their silence. They absorbed the events, as they had absorbed so many other events in the past and kept their own watchful counsel. Of the three people left standing only Roderick looked unfazed, although there was distinct irritation on his face.
“You know,” he said, violating the stillness, “that was almost interesting.”
Maeve refused Remus’ offer of comfort and got to her feet, handing the wand that had just killed her former guardian to him instead. Out of necessity she walked across to Niall’s dead body and, with her toe, moved his hand so that her wand was released from his death grip. She swept it up and with real venom pointed it directly at Roderick, who didn’t bother to raise his own wand in defence. He looked at her coolly, raising his eyebrow in what he imagined to be a disarming gesture.
“Really, Maeve, you’re terribly excitable, aren’t you?”
“What are you playing at, Roderick?” she asked. “Two people just died because of your games. Why?”
Roderick smiled at her and raised his empty hand to touch her hair in a gesture that made her recoil. “What happened to that lovely red hair of yours? You really don’t suit black. It makes you look washed out.”
“I’ve already killed tonight. Don’t make me do it again.” Her wand hovered dangerously close to his face, backing up her words.
“Maeve, I don’t think this is….” Remus tried to alleviate the tension but Maeve ignored him.
“Why were you prepared to see us all dead? Why did you make Niall believe he suddenly had magic? The poor fool could never have possessed magical abilities. You echoed the spell. It was you who killed Bellatrix.”
Roderick looked pained as he pushed her wand to one side, knowing full well that Maeve was not a killer by choice and would not harm him unless he tried to harm her first. He was very impressed by her quick thinking, which had saved him the trouble of killing the odious Niall O’Malley. He knew now that he was running out of time. To get these two out of the house while retaining his appearance of innocence would not be easy, but at least he had two wands that would suggest he could be completely exonerated.
“You’ll have to bind me then make a run for it,” he said. “There are Death Eaters all over the place.” Scrabbling around in the deep pockets of his cloak he pulled out Remus’ wand and handed it to him, expecting to be given the black wand in exchange. The weary man took it gratefully before, much to Roderick’s displeasure, snapping Bellatrix’s wand into three pieces. At the core was a single blackened dragon’s heartstring that Remus was also careful to break. With a flick of his own wand he sent a single flame licking towards the broken pieces, which he dropped to the floor as they caught fire. Within seconds the remains of Bellatrix’s wand were just a feeble patch of black ash on the floor. The three of them looked solemn as they thought of the unendurable cruelty that that wand had visited on its victims.
Roderick broke the silence with a sigh as he realised he would have to trust in Voldemort not to disbelieve his word now that he no longer had the wand. The loss of the useful Prior Incantato would have to be borne.
“Very well, Maeve, if you would like to do the honours?” He sat down on the floor in preparation for the Binding Spell.
“You haven’t answered my questions, Roderick. What are you up to? Who wins this little game of yours?”
“We don’t have time for this,” Remus said. “If Rampton’s right, we need to get going. Now!”
“Listen to him, Maeve.” Roderick was looking at her sadly. The chances of any of them getting out of this alive were diminishing by the second. “You need to leave, and be cautious. Your knowledge of the house will not protect you from the people that walk its floors now. Use stealth and keep your wits very firmly about you, my darling.”
“Who wins?” Maeve was not to be diverted until she had her answer. She crouched low, the smell of her own fear mingled with his headier scent of expensive cologne, and looked into his shallow eyes. What she saw there disturbed her greatly because for the first time she saw what lay beneath that superficial exterior. He fought her knowledge, trying to defend himself from her understanding but it was too late. She placed a hand warily on his sleeve, wordlessly communicating her gratitude for what he had always tried to do for her. Maeve would never get the answers she wanted now; it was enough that she had seen the dancing light of humility beyond his arrogant stare.
“No one wins, Maeve, all we can do is hope not to lose. But we may as well enjoy the fight.” He gave her a foppish grin, flashing alabaster teeth that hid his clever tongue. “Go, now.”
“Thank you,” she said, not really sure what she was thanking him for. “When this is over…”
“No,” he insisted. “Don’t tempt fate. She’s a bitch when provoked into showing us just how presumptuous we really are.”
Remus caught her arm and pulled her to her feet, urging her into motion with his own flurry of activity. He used his wand to bind Roderick, who looked oddly pathetic now that he was captive. A hurried exchange of impotent good luck wishes preceded their hasty departure. Roderick watched as they stepped over the body of Bellatrix Black and he wondered if Maeve would look back. He reflected on her fine stature as she and her companion reached the end of the corridor. She wasn’t going to look back, he thought. The damned woman was just going to leave him without a final glance. But at the very last moment her neck snapped round, that black halo moving to give him a clear view of her face. Well, Roderick mused, that deserved some kind of reward.
“You should know,” he grinned, “that your boyfriend is here too… along with that brat that everyone is so interested in.”
Remus stepped backwards to join Maeve on the threshold of leaving. His eyes narrowed as he tried to decide if this was another trick on Rampton’s part.
“How do you know that?” he barked.
“I saw the great, black bat on the edge of the forest. If Voldemort catches sight of him he’ll be dead in an instant, stupid man.” Roderick clicked his tongue in disdain
“Never mind Severus,” Maeve said. “Harry’s here? How do you know that?”
Remus’s heart jumped at her dismissal of Severus’ presence but he immediately adjusted himself to their new affianced situation and his heart settled. More important was the prospect of Harry meeting up with Voldemort on some mad mission to free them. He supposed he should have been touched by the gesture but he found himself irritated by Harry’s recklessness.
“Because our spy at Hogwarts tells us that Harry is not in school and it doesn’t take an Arthimancist to put two and two together, now does it?” Roderick enjoyed imparting this information but couldn’t help wondering why Maeve was suddenly sparkling with optimism rather than fear for the boy’s life.
“Well now, that could work in our favour…we just need to find him!” Maeve grabbed Remus’ hand, dragging him from the gloom and this time there was no backward glance for Roderick. The Auror was already forgotten as they weaved their way from the depths of the cellars and up to more agreeable air.
Voldemort couldn’t understand the sudden loss of energy he felt as he stood by the window. The lethargy that had overtook him as his chest contracted was weighing him down and his mood wasn’t helped by the presence of Lucius Malfoy, who was fussing around him like an old woman.
“Where is Bella?” Voldemort enquired as Lucius asked him again if he was warm enough.
“I haven’t seen her for some time, Master.” Lucius watched Voldemort’s slitted eyes for any sign of suspicion.
“Well, make yourself useful. Find her for me.”
Lucius swept from the room with a satisfied smile on his face. He knew exactly where he would find Bellatrix Lestrange and he was looking forward to the discovery with a great deal of relish.
Severus had finally given in to the tempting ease of the Invisibility Cloak. It was wrapped around both him and Harry as they inched their way from the safety of the trees to the sombre disapproval of the house. As they passed through the roses, Severus had to fight against the need to sneeze. He cursed the pollen that insinuated its way up his nasal passages, making them itch with irritation. It was bad enough that he had to walk in such close proximity to Harry Potter; a sudden attack of sneezing wasn’t going to improve matters at all. Harry too was feeling the pressure of Severus’ presence as they finally left the roses behind and neared the house.
A strident shrieking made them both raise their faces skywards as a black cloud filled the sky. The source seemed to be the large chimney pots that clung to the far edge of the vast roof. It took several moments for the teacher and student to realise that the cloud wasn’t a cloud at all, but a mass of ravens. They circled the chimney in close formation, their stiletto beaks opening with portentous cries. Severus knew what that signified and this only served to harden his resolve to get inside the house to unearth its insalubrious secrets.
“What are those birds doing?” Harry whispered, his animosity towards Severus forgotten as curiosity took hold.
“Silence, Potter,” came back the hushed reply.
“But I just wanted to know…”
“Incapable of following an instruction, are you?” Severus eyed the birds again and gave in to the need to inform. “They are ravens. Surely even you can see that?”
“But what are they doing?” Harry watched the strange dance with unbridled fascination. It was as if a large section of the sky had been blacked out by a thousand battering wings.
“They are announcing the fate of the occupants of this dwelling.”
Severus did not need to qualify this statement. With a twist of repulsion Harry knew exactly what the birds signified. There were people in that house who were either dead or soon would be and Harry just hoped it wasn’t anyone he cared for. They stopped as two Death Eaters, dressed in thick black cloaks with the hoods pulled over their heads, rounded the corner. Severus and Harry stood with baited breath , like invisible effigies, as the two shadowy figures passed by them. Neither of Voldemort’s followers showed any sign of having sensed their presence but even so, it wasn’t until they had moved out of sight that Severus and Harry dared breathe freely again.
Severus propelled Harry towards the closed French windows, whose glass was reflecting the resilience of the daylight away from the house. He shielded his face with his hands in order to take a look through the mirror-like surface. To his satisfaction he found the room to be empty and, reaching out, he grasped the ornate brass handle and pushed downwards. It resisted his force, as he had expected. Harry watched as his teacher removed a small set of long metal objects from his pocket and he felt an unwilling respect. Not only had Severus Snape anticipated their curtailed use of magic but he had had the forethought to bring something that would open a lock. With a deft manoeuvre the expressionless man worked the pick to make the lock give with a snappish click. Harry almost expected a theatrical creak as the door opened. As it happened the hinges worked smoothly and they were able to slip into the house in silence.
“It’s just a day room,” Severus muttered, as he took in their surroundings. The well-upholstered furniture and antique embroideries on the walls suggested a gentility that was completely at odds with the house’s current occupants. “We need to ascertain where the prisoners would be kept.”
“Cellars?” suggested Harry. “Or an attic room?”
“Possibly, but that’s assuming they are still prisoners and have not already been despatched.”
It was taking a great deal of self-control for Severus to remain so detached. He could ill- afford for Harry to see even the slightest chink in his emotional armour, yet right now he was having to bolt down his anxiety. He wanted to storm to the roof and cry Maeve’s name out across the estate, letting the call bring her to him. He needed to know she was alive but more than anything he needed to know where she was.
With the discomfort of walking in tandem still hampering them slightly, they moved towards one of the two doors that led out of the room. It was risky to just open a door and step out into goodness knows what; however it was a risk they would have to take. They had both imagined that Abbeylara would be better defended than this because as they stepped into a cavernous hallway there wasn’t a soul to be seen. Severus tried to get his bearings. His last visit had been all too brief and he hadn’t really had the chance to explore the house very much. But he knew, from the decoration on the wall that traversed the end of the corridor they stood in, that they were just off the main entrance hall. On that first visit he had been able to smell the professional aroma of beeswax, tobacco and centuries-old woodwork; now all he could smell was a sweetly rotten odour that reminded him of a stagnant pool. It was a further revelation to him that he could no longer bear the smell of intrinsic evil, yet at one time he had lusted after that stimulating promise.
“Sir?”
It was the spontaneous use of the term more than the fear in Harry’s voice that made Severus clear his unsteady train of thought.
“Sir, I can feel him.”
“Feel who?”
“Voldemort… I can feel Voldemort.”
Severus winced. “Will you stop calling him by name? The Dark Lord must be nearby and so, naturally, I would expect you to feel his presence.”
“No, I can feel him very close by.” A searing pain flashed across Harry chest causing him to clutch at his robes. “I think he’s…hurt... or... something is eating at his strength.”
“That’s impossible, Potter.” Snape’s words were just a rustle in the air as he looked disbelievingly at Harry. “Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless he knows you are here and is beginning to worry.” Severus couldn’t help the little leap of hope that perhaps this indicated Maeve was still alive. She’d told him about the absurdly complicated wreath of prophecies that surrounded them and he knew how dangerous the combination of Harry and Maeve were to the Dark Lord. As they shuffled down the corridor their crab-like gait slowed them down — fortunately, as it happened. Just as they reached the end of the corridor that opened out into the grand entrance hall, Lucius Malfoy’s imposing figure streaked past them. His head was high and he hummed tunelessly as he retreated down the hall, pausing only once for some reason that Severus or Harry couldn’t fathom.
They moved out after him, still keeping close and concealed. He walked briskly past several doors before finally coming to a halt outside the one that was situated at the furthest end of the corridor. With a quick glance to either side of him, Lucius pushed open the door and disappeared from view. It wasn’t a moment too soon as Harry suddenly bent over in pain, the ache in his chest increasing in direct relation to the throbbing that now came from his scar.
“Stand up, Potter,” Severus said, dragging him back up by the scruff of his robes. “This is no time for histrionics.”
“I know,” Harry wheezed, waiting for the pain to recede. “But it sodding hurts.”
“And keep quiet.”
“You try keeping quiet with your chest bursting.”
“I said, quiet.” Severus was now opening the door that Lucius had gone through and he knew this was potentially the most dangerous thing they had done yet. Lucius had paused for a reason and if it was because he had suspected their presence he could well be waiting on the other side of the door. Harry continued to knead his chest as the dank smell of decay hit him from the cellars beneath them. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the prospect of going down there but he knew, as Severus stepped across the line between danger and out-and-out lunacy, that that was exactly where they were headed. Harry was swept along with the impetus of finding their friends; it didn’t give him much time to think about what might be at the bottom of those stairs.
Voldemort was trying very hard to breathe steadily. His tongue suddenly felt too big for his mouth as his lungs fought for calm. He didn’t know exactly what was happening but he didn’t like it and he began to realise he may have been rash in allowing the woman to live. If Potter was here then he was at risk… and the more he thought about it, the surer he was that the boy was close by. He needed to take decisive action. He would have to kill the prisoners and then turn his attention to the repulsive offspring of Lily and James Potter. With stuttering steps he left the sanctuary of his room and headed for the cellars. He took with him the scrabbling figure of Peter Pettigrew, who had been hovering on the fringes of his displeasure for the past few weeks. He was almost sorry that it had been Pettigrew who had proved so loyal in the long run —he was a fawning little specimen, but he had his uses.
Lucius managed to contain his pleasure at the sight of Bellatrix’s body quite well. He knew Roderick had been planning something appealing but he couldn’t have hoped for this outcome. He was a little more surprised to see the dead Niall O’Malley though and quite amazed by the bound Roderick, who looked at him with a cocked eyebrow and a smile.
“Quite the adventure I’ve been having… as you can see,” he said brightly. “Care to help me out, old chum?”
Lucius thrust his wand in Roderick’s direction, causing the heavy ropes to fall limply to the floor.
“What happened?” Lucius asked, his eyes drifting towards Bellatrix with unconcealed delight. His happiness was short-lived though when he realised that the door to the cellar room was open and there was no sign of its two occupants. “Where are they?”
“Got away. She’s a feisty one, that Maeve woman.” The roguish glint in Roderick’s eye was enough to convince Lucius that Roderick was blameless. He quickly explained how they had already escaped from the cellar when Bellatrix had glided onto the scene. In a matter of minutes Lucius was fully aware of the struggle in which Maeve had killed her father and Bellatrix, causing him to purse his lips in anticipation of another battle with the Irish witch. He didn’t ask for any proof of Roderick’s word; as far as Lucius was concerned the outcome precluded any need for proof.
As Roderick got to his feet, brushing away the musty detritus from the floor off his robes, he immediately felt the atmosphere in the cellars change. There was somebody or something else here and it was more powerful than he could have anticipated. He knew what it was. The boy had obviously made the trip in one piece, but the powerful charge in the air… that was something else…something connected with the location. Some highly considerate survival instinct was now telling him to get out as quickly as he could because things were about to get bad, very bad. It was clear to him that Lucius hadn’t felt the same thing; the blond man was still gazing at the bodies at his feet and plotting how to break the terrible news to Lord Voldemort.
“I think the time has come for me to leave,” Roderick said in as casual tone as he could muster. “You have what you wanted and I have a feeling things are about to change around here so I think it’s time I returned to Hogwarts.”
Lucius looked at him with inquisitiveness. “Why Hogwarts?”
“I’m still an Auror, remember? If I am gone too long people may start to think I have defected permanently. In order to be effective one must be visible to both masters.”
“Of course,” Lucius said with a nod. “But leave now and you will miss all the fun.”
“On the contrary, Lucius, I’ve already had my fun.”
He sidestepped his way past Lucius and kept a firm grip on his wand. Whatever that power was, he didn’t want to meet it unarmed. He made it to the top of the steps, shivering as he mounted them, and threw open the door to the upper floors. Gulping in the fresher air he resolved to put as much space between himself and this damned house as he possibly could. The rank stench of corruption was too much for his aristocratic nostrils. He realised he preferred his dishonesty to be sweet-smelling, preferably female and certainly not involving Dark Lords with enormous immortality chips on their shoulders.
“Rampton.”
The hiss halted his progress towards the main doors. He turned to see Voldemort’s contorted figure at the head of the main staircase. A white hand rested upon the gilt and polished wood of the banister as its owner fought to keep control of himself. Roderick watched as the scurrying creature that was with him tried to help the tall, gaunt monster… but Voldemort scornfully brushed it away.
“Yes, Lord Voldemort?”
“Leaving us?”
“For the time being.” Roderick had soon realised that the way to gain Voldemort’s respect was not to grovel. He had watched the man’s contempt grow for those who flattered and fawned just to achieve position. He would never sink that low; far rather Voldemort kill him there and then than allow himself to cower before anyone. “You should know there has been an incident with the prisoners. Lucius is dealing with it. You should speak with him.”
“What sort of incident?”
Even from the foot of the stairs it was obvious that Voldemort was in some discomfort but the cause of that discomfort couldn’t really be speculated upon. He was making his way down now, with Pettigrew on one side and the support of the balustrade on the other.
“I asked you a question.” The snake eyes strafed Roderick for answers in such a searing manner that for a moment Roderick was unsettled.
“I suggest you ask Lucius. Needless to say there is some rather sad news about Bellatrix. Her husband really should be informed.”
“Bella is dead?”
Pettigrew squealed with pain as Voldemort’s fingers bit into his flesh. He regretted not getting on the other side of his master; at least silver didn’t transmit pain.
“I’m afraid so, along with Niall O’Malley.” Roderick edged towards the door. “I’d watch Lucius carefully in future, very carefully.”
“Give me straight answers, Rampton. I am not impressed with your chicanery. I do not play games.”
“Nor do I, Lord Voldemort. But I warn you now, there is a power in this house that neither of us can contain. If you want my advice I would get out, and get out now.”
“Are you suggesting I flee, Rampton?” Voldemort asked, his inhuman face sneering as best it could.
“I’m suggesting there are things even you cannot control. If the boy is here and the woman is alive then you need to be extremely careful. No one knows the exact nature of their power but I can feel it. It has begun to run through the very walls around us.” Roderick watched as another spasm crossed Voldemort’s chest. “And from the looks of things it is already having an effect. The prisoners have managed to escape their jail. I would suggest that Maeve O’Malley used your own magic against you.”
“No!” The voice carried through the house, alerting the Death Eaters to trouble. They began arriving as Voldemort continued his denial. “She could not have used my own power. That’s not possible.” And yet even as he said this he remembered the onset of the pain. It had felt as if someone were stealing his precious life and replacing it with a leaden substitute. Could it be that she had channelled his own power? Could it be that she was already with the boy in this very house?
“Get me the Somnus Funestus!” he said to the Death Eater nearest to him. “I want all the Death Eaters out and the vapour released. The house will be sealed with them in it.”
“Forgive me, Lord Voldemort,” Roderick began. “I don’t think you have the time for this. You need to leave now.”
“I cannot allow them to live if there is a chance I can kill them,” he insisted. “There is no cure now for the vapour. That has all been destroyed. This is the only way.”
There was a rumble from beneath their feet. To accompany this fanfare a large crack began to rise up the wall of the main hall. Neither Voldemort nor Roderick knew what to make of this, but Roderick wasn’t taking any chances. He flung open the main door and stepped out of the heavily charmed interior. Once outside he could Apparate with ease, but Voldemort had other plans.
“You will find me the woman, Rampton. She trusts you.”
Before he could even think about Apparating, two Death Eaters had dragged him back inside the building and he was once again enveloped by its decay. He wrestled his arms free from his captors and reflected, regretfully, that even the best-laid plans go to waste when a power-crazed despot is running the ship.
“Find her, and bring her to me. You must keep her away from the boy. Now GO!” Voldemort’s voice reverberated off the walls and into the ears of all those present. No one envied Roderick his task.
The kitchens were deserted as Remus and Maeve made their way towards the door that would promise them freedom. As Remus cautiously opened their means of escape, Maeve found herself struggling for breath. The closer she got to the door the harder it became to breathe until she was clasping at her throat in desperation, as if trying to scratch away a collar.
Remus took her hands and held them to her sides. In doing so he allowed the door to snap back on its hinges and the outside world was once more eclipsed. That small action seemed to ease her discomfort a little but she continued to breathe in a very laboured fashion. Her neck was swelling around the necklace she wore; the white weals that Severus had noticed just a few days earlier were now raw-edged with pink. Remus reached up to touch it but she clawed at his hand, taking it away from the cold metal around her neck.
“What is it?” he asked. “That thing needs to come off. I don’t understand why you…”
“It will kill you,” she rasped. “It’s that ridiculous prophecy.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know…. only two people can touch it without its power fatally wounding them.”
“Who? And where did this thing come from? Why can’t you just take it off?” Remus was desperate to understand but found he was failing.
“All the elements are in place. Harry must be here and the magic has begun. I need to find Harry…” Her eyes glowed with a strange light that came from beyond time. Remus had never felt in awe of an authority he could not see but now he stood spellbound, as her body became a channel for a power that outmatched any he had encountered before. “If I find Harry we have chance of defeating Voldemort… but we need Harry…he’s here.”
“We have no time. We need to leave….” Remus made to open the door again but her harsh intake of breath stopped him.
“I can’t leave. The magic has been released. I think it started the moment I used Voldemort’s magic from the charmed door. The thing that sealed the release of the ancient magic was Harry arriving. We now have to succeed before I can leave… or the magic has to be lain to rest again until the next time.”
“What do you want me to do?” Remus asked desperately. She moved away from the door and the constriction seemed to ease slightly. Turning to get past the huge wooden table Maeve’s foot clattered against a small box that was half hidden beneath the vast oak centrepiece. Glancing down she saw the flash of glass containers and was about to move away when a soft movement in the bottles stopped her. Picking one up, it soon became apparent that these were no ordinary kitchen ingredients. The vapour inside the sparkling crystal moved insidiously, folding into itself in an attempt to escape the confines of the bottle. The green glint of the mist concentrated her mental processes as she moved to take away the cork stopper. The icy chill that translated through the surface of the glass made her hesitate and with a flash of inspiration she knew what it was these bottles contained.
“For a dark mastermind, Voldemort really can be careless,” Maeve said, gratefully accepting the kindness that fate had offered them with this discovery.
“What is it?” Remus was beginning to get fed up with sounding like a clueless passenger in this adventure but he really had no idea what Maeve was seeing.
“I think I have just found Voldemort’s secret weapon, and he left it lying under a kitchen table!” Scorn tumbled from her mouth as she handled the vessel.
“The vapour?” He moved closer to peer into the glass at the writhing killer within.
“I believe so. Shall we stopper these bottles permanently?”
“Be my guest.”
“Obsignare.” The charm passed, without need of her wand, from her fingers to the cork. She smiled slightly at the sudden increase in power of her wandless magic but drew her wand for the remainder. It made no sense to deplete her energies unnecessarily.
They watched as the first stopper rattled slightly and then settled, sealing both the contents and whatever other magic surrounded the item. She quickly performed the charm on the other bottles, looking up just as the kitchen door opened. Two malicious Death Eaters strode into the kitchen but they were not expecting anyone else to be there. Their wands were still safely tucked up inside their cloaks and Maeve lost no time in taking advantage of the fact that her wand was already in hand”. Remus was horrified to hear her use the killing curse without any immediate threat; his instinct would have been to bind them. Black cloaks fell to the floor, surrounding their former owners in a shroud as Maeve pushed the box of bottles back under the table.
“Voldemort knows something has gone wrong,” she said, not needing to explain that the Death Eaters had been there for the vapour. “We really need to find Harry.”
“Can this new magic not summon him to you?” Remus asked, frowning at the dead Death Eaters.
“No, we’ll have to risk discovery in order to find him. The house is large and there are plenty of convenient doors to hide in should the need arise. Come on… we have to go.”
She grasped Remus’ hand and pulled him towards the kitchen door, feeling his reluctance.
“Were would Harry look for you?” he asked.
“I don’t know… probably in…he’d look in the cellars…or the servants’ area… anywhere that wasn’t in the main building.”
“We need to go out into the open again,” Remus said in a heavy voice. “We need to go wherever they think they will find you.”
“Find us, Remus, they’re looking for us.” Her reassurance fell on deaf ears though, Remus knew who they were looking for and it wasn’t him.
As the same time Maeve was opening the kitchen door, Roderick was doing the same with the cellar door, his breath shallow and his frustration high. This wasn’t going as well as he had expected and he could have cursed everyone in the damned place for his predicament. Hadn’t he tried to do the right thing by Maeve and that useless accoutrement she had brought with her? He slammed the door forcibly and walked straight into solid space. The gruff grunt that accompanied his collision suggested to him that he had stumbled on the boyfriend and the child so he poked his wand into the air in front of him and connected with soft flesh.
Severus knew this time there was no concealing their presence so he whipped off the Cloak and faced the man who he had grown to dislike with all the loathing of a fly for a cobweb.
“Well, you took your time,” Roderick said, looking from Harry to Severus with mild irritation.
“Where is she?” Severus asked in a tight voice.
“No idea. She left me, in one piece I might add, a short time ago.”
“If she is harmed I will hold you entirely responsible. Lucius has just left in the opposite direction. What happened to Bellatrix?”
Harry watched silently as Roderick toyed with telling a falsehood.
“Niall killed her, and then your girlfriend killed Niall. It was all rather thrilling, but now things aren’t so good. Voldemort wants me to find her and bring her to him and he’s not going to let me out of the house until I do.”
The pleased expression on Severus’ face gave away the fact he wasn’t unduly unhappy about Roderick’s predicament. Knowing Voldemort’s methods as he did there could be no doubt there was a plethora of charms over the house that would rival those of Hogwarts. There would be no easy escape for anyone today.
“And what will you do when we find her?” Severus asked, giving Roderick no option about finding her on his own.
“What do you think, Snape?” Roderick snarled, displaying a chink in his charm that made Harry wonder what had passed between these two. Harry vaguely remembered Neville saying something about an altercation but he couldn’t remember the details.
“I don’t know, Rampton. But if you harm her you will die in the attempt.”
“I always had you down as an unemotional man, Snape. It would appear I was wrong.”
“What do you know that could help us?” Severus was growing impatient.
“I know she cannot leave because of a certain item of jewellery that she wears and I also know that the magic in the house is getting too powerful for it to be contained. Your friend’s arrival has made sure of that.” Roderick nodded towards Harry.
“Why?” Harry asked, his voice breaking the monotony of the disagreement between the two older men. “What do I have to do with anything?”
“The prophecy,” Roderick said, his face looking older as the events of the day began to chop at his energy. “Once you and she are united beneath the same roof as Voldemort then something happens… I’m not sure what.” It aggrieved him to admit that there was a hole in his extensive knowledge.
“How do you know this?” Severus snapped. The dull thunder of the walls prevented any answer as the ground shifted slightly beneath their feet. Severus pushed past Roderick, who remained on the stairs, seemingly in deep thought. With uncaring hands he threw open the door and stepped into the hall. The time had come to stop skulking around in the shadows and find Maeve before this house fell about their ears. As he dragged Harry with him he felt the darkening chill of Voldemort’s presence and his arm throbbed with longing.
He could feel the urgency in the air as he led Harry back down the corridor towards where he assumed the servants’ area would have been. It made sense to him that Voldemort and his followers would have been towards the front of the building while Maeve would have made her way towards the back. With Harry trailing behind still fighting for breath, he passed the kitchen door and descended the steps that led to the large servants’ quarters.
Voldemort paced the entrance hall, watching as Pettigrew hopped and grovelled around him. He knew it was taking the fools too long to bring the vapour back.
“If you need something doing it is far better to do it yourself!” he said angrily. With a sweep of his cloak he manage to disorientate Pettigrew, almost knocking him off his feet, and made for the kitchen himself. A barrage of Death Eaters followed him, breaking off from the main body in the hall. As Voldemort pushed open the door to the kitchen he cursed his misfortune in being surrounded by incompetence. On the floor where his dead servants and yet, strangely, the vapour remained intact. He was thankful that his adversaries appeared to be slightly slower than he when it came to recognising deadly vapours.
“Get the vapour!” he said to Pettigrew, who had finally caught up with him. With a mumbled sigh of submission Pettigrew made for the box of bottles. “I want everyone out except for the fools who believe they can defeat me.”
Peter moved quickly. With Bellatrix gone and Lucius’ status in doubt then there was clearly a vacancy at Voldemort’s side. It could prove to be the making of him if he could just do the right thing now. The procession made their way to the front doors as another violent shift shook the foundations of the house. Voldemort staggered against Pettigrew, who dropped the box and allowed the bottles to clatter to the floor with dangerous force.
The first door that Severus opened proved to be nothing more than the laundry, but as he placed a hand on the second Harry moaned in heartfelt pain. With a hurried wrench Severus had the door open and his heart almost gave out as he saw Maeve clutching hold of Remus in the gloom. Her face was blanched white but when she saw Harry it suddenly took on a green tinge.
“I can’t help her,” Remus said, his powerlessness evident in his ineffectual attempts to soothe her distress.
“Let go of her,” Severus snarled as he crossed to them. “You have no idea what is going on here.”
“And you do?” Remus asked incredulously.
“Of course I do, Lupin. After certain events in my life I have made a point of always knowing what is going on.”
Voldemort watched as the bottles rolled against the geometric patterned floor. The fact that they didn’t shatter was no surprise; the reason for their intactness was walking towards them now.
“Ah, Malfoy,” Voldemort greeted his new right hand man with a smile. “Your unbreakable bottles seem to be working well.”
“Master,” Lucius panted. He was rather less physically fit than he would have liked. “I fear something terrible has happened!”
“I know. Don’t bother me with such details. Rampton is finding the woman as we speak. I want all the followers out. I am about to release the vapour.”
Lucius tried to decide if Lord Voldemort was serious, but one swift look at the red sparks set into his face told him that Voldemort was indeed deadly serious.
“Very well,” he said. “Leave it to me. I will see that they are all out.”
With snapped orders, Lucius had the assembled company shooting off in all directions, rounding up the stragglers. Surely on their travels they would also come across that bloody woman and her hanger-on. It took just a few minutes for the message to pass around the house that the order had been made for them to leave and they poured from the upper floors in their numbers. Lucius marvelled that Voldemort had managed to amass so many adherents to his regime. The slick of black that erupted from the mouth of Abbeylara made even the ravens disperse in disgust.
With the Death Eaters gone, Voldemort felt the time had come to seal the house and release the deadly vapour on his victims. As his chest almost gave way he instructed Pettigrew to release one of the stoppers. It would take the vapour a good five minutes to realise it was free and he would be able to make a clean getaway. Pettigrew made to pop the stopper from its hole but he found it was stuck, and no matter how much manipulation he gave it, it still wouldn’t shake free. All the while he was aware of Lord Voldemort’s burning eyes cutting through him and he knew he had to get it loose. After a few seconds of his failure Voldemort wrested the bottle from him and threw Pettigrew to the floor with contempt. When his own hands failed to dislodge the cork he began to get infuriated. Lucius had returned and stood by him with his wand at the ready. At such a crucial moment the heir to the Malfoy name was well aware of the need to be prepared.
“Deal with it, Lucius,” Voldemort said, thrusting the bottle at the triumphant man.
A minute later and the triumph was gone from Lucius’ face as he failed to separate the cork form the neck of the bottle. Voldemort gave him a cold stare, which made Lucius’ insides contract into a sliver of ice.
“Release the vapour,” Voldemort insisted and Lucius did the only thing he could think of. He smashed the bottle towards the floor, cursing his own greed as the glass failed to shatter. It was the Unbreakable Charm. His wand flashed again and again the object rejected the charm. A red flash of disapproval emitted from the bottle as the charge was sent back to the wand.
“It… it can’t be done,” Lucius said, fumbling with his words. “There is something preventing the charm from working, Master.”
“Get out,” Voldemort hissed. “I will deal with you later.”
Lucius registered the disapproval on his master’s face but was only too pleased to follow his instructions. As he flung open the door he heard Lord Voldemort speak.
“Inextinguere Ignis.”
Lucius knew then that the Dark Lord was admitting some sort of defeat. He would not burn down a house without accepting that he had run out of options. As Voldemort joined him in hurried Apparation neither of them looked back at the house that had begun to quake under the effects of so much magic, nor did they care. There would have to be another time for the boy and the woman that fuelled his magical fire.