From thy false tears I did distil
An essence which hath strength to kill;
From they own heart I then did wring
The black blood in its blackest spring;
From thy own smiler I snatch’d the snake,
For there it coil’d as in a brake;
Frm thy own lip I drew the charm
Which gave all these their chiefest harm;
In proving every poison known,
I found the strongest was thine own.
Remus Lupin’s hand shook slightly as he poured two cups of tea, passing one to Nymphadora Tonks. “I find it a bit strange how Moody’s old friend hasn’t sent us any word except for that little note. Doesn’t she realise how important it is that Harry is safe?”
“I know. I was talking to Arthur and Mad-Eye earlier today, they wanted Kingsley and I to track her down. We’re supposed to tell the Ministry that we have reason to believe she’s a Death Eater, although personally I think that’s a load of rubbish,” Tonks told him, sipping her tea.
Remus shrugged. “It might be rubbish, but it’ll fool the Ministry. When are you leaving?”
“Trying to get rid of me?" Tonks asked with a grin.
Remus returned the grin sheepishly. “Of course not. I thought I might come along, actually.”
“Great.” She leaned over and kissed him on the nose. “We’re leaving tomorrow morning, after we get clearance to leave from Scrimgeour.”
Suddenly, there was a loud, frantic knocking on the door. Drawing his wand, Remus hurried over to open the door, and Tonks stood behind him. He turned the knob, and stared up into the gaunt, pale face of Severus Snape.
“You!” Remus gasped, his look of surprise quickly replaced with a look of loathing. “How dare you come back, after what you did!”
“Expelliarmus!” Snape said, almost lazily, and Remus and Tonks dropped their wands. “Now is not the time, Lupin. Where is Potter?”
“What do you care, you stinking traitor?” Tonks shouted, lunging at him. Remus pulled her back, worried that Snape might strike her.
“I know he is missing. I also know that Moody sent Ursula Hardwick to look for him,” Snape said.
“Get to the point, Snape!” Remus snapped.
“My point, Lupin, is that you made a serious error in informing Hardwick that Potter is out there alone. She is not who she seems, and“"
"She’s not who she seems? Look who’s talking, you lying scum!” Remus yelled, letting go of Tonks and launching himself at Snape. Snape moved aside quickly, and Remus fell to the floor.
“I am not here to fight with you. Ursula Hardwick is dangerous, she cannot be trusted. Potter is in serious danger, and we have to find them both before it’s too late,” Snape explained, offering a hand to Lupin to pull him to his feet.
Remus did not take Snape’s hand. “I don’t trust you. You’re up to something, you’re trying to lure us further away from Harry!”
Snape sighed and reached inside his pocket, withdrawing a scrap of parchment. “Potter’s life is in jeopardy, Lupin. Do you really want to let him be killed because you refuse to listen to anything I say?” He shoved the parchment into Lupin’s hand. “There. This is where she has taken him, and where I will be. If you choose not to act, I will do it alone.” He turned on his heels and stormed out the door, Disapparating into the dark night.
On Wyvern Road, Ursula was glancing nervously out the window at the misty, cold evening. Harry was in the sitting room, enjoying a rather excellent slice of chocolate cake. “What are you looking at?” he asked.
“The sky. There’s a storm coming, it’s horribly dark out there. It’s hard to believe it’s only four o’clock, it looks as if it should be midnight,” Ursula mumbled, still looking out the window.
Harry felt a sudden shiver. “It’s a bit cold in here,” he said, pulling his hand-knitted jumper from his backpack and putting it on.
“Sorry, I must have left the air conditioner running for too long,” Ursula replied somewhat absently.
“You have air conditioning? Why don’t you just use a Chilling Charm?”
“Too much work. Besides, I’ve been living mostly as a Muggle for years now, it helps to keep up the illusion by using Muggle technology.”
“Why are you living as a Muggle?” Harry inquired, pointing his wand at his mug of tea and reheating it a bit. After seven years as a wizard, he found he could not get used to the idea of using a microwave when a wand worked just as well.
“Did anyone ever tell you that you ask too many questions, Potter?” Ursula retorted, her voice slightly snappish.
“Sorry. Just wondering.” He glanced up at her, thinking that she had just contradicted herself; hadn’t she said the day before that a good Auror asked as many questions as possible?
Ursula paced back and forth several times, then went into the kitchen for a moment. When she returned, she looked out the window again. With a small frown, she went upstairs. Harry thought he heard her talking to herself, and was not the least bit surprised. Ursula was incredibly odd, however nice she happened to be.
As he stood up to get himself another slice of cake, there was a loud crack of thunder. It was nothing, however, to the blast that suddenly blew the front doors to bits, leaving a gaping, smoking hole. Harry had dropped to his knees to shield himself from the explosion, and rose to find Severus Snape striding through the doorway, looking positively murderous.
“You!” Harry shouted, drawing his wand and attempting to Stun him. Snape merely deflected the hex, and stepped forward.
“Enough foolishness, Potter. You must leave, now,” he said, his voice oddly strained.
“No! I’m not going anywhere, not until you’re dead!” Harry snarled, aiming another hex at him in an attempt to disarm him.
Ursula appeared behind him suddenly. “Severus. I knew you would come,” she greeted, her face alight with sudden glee.
Harry whirled around to face her. “What?” he asked, feeling his heart skip several beats in shock. Had they been working together all along?
Snape pointed his wand at Ursula. “Avada Ked“" A burst of red light hit him in the chest, stopping him in mid-speech as he crumpled to the floor. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, until Ursula turned on him with a malicious grin on her face. “Not so fast, Potter,” she sneered, and before he knew what had happened, she raised her wand and everything went black.
A/N: Thanks again to my beta, Sarah. :)