In over his head

Later that afternoon, Scorpius and Albus walked back into Scorpius' room, where Rose was waiting. She sat on the bed, as that was the most comfortable place she could reach with her chain still attached to the wall. She had insisted that it had to stay there, to avoid any suspicion of Scorpius neglecting to watch her, just because of what had happened the night before. Just the thought of what they now had to pretend made her blush, but it was still only a mild embarrassment, nothing compared to the other horrible events in the last 24 hours.

"So, what now?" she asked when Albus and Scorpius had closed the door. "What is the next big plan? What is happening?"

"Well," Albus said, "There is good news, and bad news."

"The good news," Scorpius added "is that we seem to be done with murder and torture for a while."

"It seems the plan is mostly to hole up here, recover our strength and recruit members from other families. Revenge is put on hold," Albus elaborated.

"That's good," Rose said. "What is bad about it?"

"It also means that we will have a harder time getting you out of here. It means harder for all of us to get out of here," Scorpius said sadly.

"I'm sure you will think of something," Rose said, smiling at Scorpius. "For now, let's be glad for the respite from doing horrible deeds you have received."

"I am glad you see it that way. But we do need to work out a plan. We can't stay here forever. Sooner or later, they will get bored, and we will need to do more horrible things. There are limits to how long we can fake this. We must find a way to get the Aurors and Ministry inside this building." Scorpius said.

"There is a Dark Mark barrier around the whole manor," Albus said. "No one can pass that unless they have been branded with a Dark Mark."

"But there has to be a way to disable that?" Rose asked. "I mean, what do they do if they have to take prisoners or new recruits in or out of the gate? Or is it enough to touch someone who has a Mark?"

"It is possible to disable it on the gate alone, but only from the inside," Albus answered. "New recruits probably won't be given Dark Marks right away, as they will have to prove their dedication first. I don't even want to think about what that might entail."

"So, one of you could disable the barrier and let someone in?"

"In theory, yes," Scorpius said. "But that could also alert half the manor. A small alarm is set off when anyone opens the gate. I don't think there is any way to disable that. And that would place you, and the one opening the gate, in terrible danger."

As if to prove his point, a small bell chimed. Albus took a quick look out of the window and saw Lestrange leading one other person through the gate. The other person was walking by himself, so it was probably a recruit, not a prisoner. They were met by two other people.

"We are all supposed to help manning the boundary and gate. We could claim that we are bored and volunteer for shifts. If we can time it correctly, we can let them in when we are on gate shift," Albus suggested.

"But how would we be able to time that?" Rose asked. "We have no way of communication. Any owl leaving the manor will be spotted now, with guards everywhere. And you would still be in danger."

"We can only hope that one of us is given a duty that takes us outside the walls," Scorpius said with a sigh.

"It's not much of a plan," Albus admitted.

"That is all we can do, for now," Scorpius said.

There was a knock at the door again. Albus and Scorpius instantly straightened, folded their arms, and generally looked menacing. Rose sat on the bed but curled herself into a ball.

"Enter," Scorpius said.

Lestrange opened the door. "There you are, Severus. The Dark Lord wants to talk to you."

"What does he want?" Albus asked.

"That is not important," Lestrange said firmly. "He wants you to come now. Go!"

"Of course," Albus said. "I'm coming."

Lestrange lingered for a moment longer, leering at Rose, until Scorpius blocked his view. Lestrange smiled slightly but left.

***

Voldemort waited for him down in the room where they usually had their meetings. Albus had no idea what this was about. He hoped it wasn't something he had done at the execution site that had come to light after all.

"Master," Albus said. "You wanted to see me?"

"Severus. There you are," Voldemort said. "As you may remember, I had a task planned that needed a Potter to work. Other events put it aside for a time, but I think we should go back to it now."

"What do you need, my Lord? I believe my loyalties have been discovered by now. I wouldn't be able to get my father or any others in the family to go anywhere alone with me. I am fairly certain they saw me at the execution site, and the Minister may have recognised me as well." Albus had hoped that this would not come up again. He needed to tread carefully, to avoid yet another member of his family being captured, or worse, killed. But this may also be the chance he needed to leave the Manor and discuss a strategy with his father.

"No, I realise that your father knows your loyalties. I told him about it myself. But would he have told the whole family? Or would he try to hide the shame of his son joining with the enemy?"

"I do not know, sire. It depends on who you are talking about. He has probably told my mother, and she was at the execution site as well. They have most likely told my grandparents, as that is where Malfoy was taken. The Minister knows, and so my uncle Ron probably also knows by now. Who else of importance is there?"

"But would they all believe it? If you contacted one of them, would you be able to convince them that you are in fact not gone over to me, but your father believes you have?"

"How would I spin that sire? Pretend that he hates me enough that he doesn't think I am a prisoner here? That I escaped somehow? That sounds unlikely."

"That is one idea. Another is that you are simply pretending to have gone over to my side, but are working to undermine me, but your father doesn't believe you."

Albus felt a jolt of panic. "Pretend? Master, I haven't… My loyalties are with you my Lord. Surely, I have proven that to you?"

"Yes, you have. Do not worry. All I say is that you can tell your family that that is what has happened. Can you think of someone in your family that you could approach, who may go along with you, despite your father's claims of your allegiance? Would your mother believe it? Or, better, would you be able to convince your father to go with you? My revenge on the Mudblood Minister failed. I need to move to another target."

"My father? He will be extra careful now, Master. He won't go anywhere alone." Albus knew that he could not risk his father near any of the Death Eaters. He was the number one target for their hate, they would not hesitate to kill him, even if Voldemort wanted them to only capture him. Especially the ones who knew that it was only an impostor.

"Wouldn't he?" Voldemort asked. "From what I remember, Potter was not the one following the rules. Wouldn't he come, if he thought he could score a victory?"

"Not alone. He never goes anywhere alone. His perceived strength comes from always being in other people's vicinity. He hides behind other people's skills. Someone who might come alone, if he was confronted in the right manner, would be Ron Weasley. Especially if we bait him with the return of his precious daughter." Albus hated that he had to choose between family members like this, but he knew he probably wouldn't be able to convince his mother to go along with whatever scheme Voldemort meant for him to do, and Voldemort wouldn't care about any of his other uncles. That left Uncle Ron. He hoped he could make the mission fail somehow. Aunt Hermione probably needed Ron's support right now and he didn't want to have to hurt Uncle Ron either.

"Yes. That may be a better course. He was always the weak link. And with the murder of him, Potter may finally be persuaded that he needs to confront me."

Albus was shocked. This was worse than he thought. Once again, he was in over his head. "Murder? Not captive? Ron could be used to lure out either the Minister or my father…"

"No, a murder is needed, to show that we are serious. First the escape of the prisoners, then the failed attempt to kill the Minister. A quick, sudden death is the best. So, you will bring with you one other, who will be in hiding. When Weasley shows up to save his daughter, he will be killed. Leave the body. If no one has found it in a few days, we will alert the Ministry in other ways. Would you be able to do this task, Severus?"

"I… Yes, my Lord. I do not think I could do the actual killing yet, but to get him positioned? I can do that. He works in Diagon Alley. The best way would be to get him away when he leaves work. Contact him there, then get him to come with me right away. The shop closes in about an hour." Maybe, if he was lucky, Uncle Ron would not be alone when the shop closed. Or he would still be at home with Aunt Hermione.

"Excellent. Take Crabbe with you. He proved to work well in these situations when he captured the Mudblood Minister."

"Crabbe?" Albus said. "I was thinking Malfoy… We work well together."

"No, Malfoy is needed here. And he has the girl. He needs to persuade her that he is on her side. Killing her father would work against that. Besides, he doesn't know the Killing Curse yet either."

Albus' heart sank. "You are right of course, Master. As usual, you are the best of us. But where should I take him? Where should Crabbe wait for me?"

"Crabbe will be in the shadows in Diagon Alley. Then he will move after you, to the predetermined location, and kill him before he notices."

"Why? He could just wait where I would take him. That would be safer, less chance of him being discovered."

"I don't want to send you alone, Severus. Your family may be on the lookout for you as well. No, Crabbe can have your back."

"Very well Master. It will be as you say, of course," Albus said, trying not to panic. Now he needed to think fast. How on earth was he going to fix this? No time for a message, no warning. Could he Stun Crabbe before he had time to kill Ron?