Chapter 24: Shadowed Truths

"Ten, nine, eight…oh screw it." Harry muttered getting up from the chair. With one last glance around his temporary dwelling, checking to see if he was forgetting anything, he quietly made his way from the room. A few minutes previously he had disillusioned himself and placed silencing spells on his feet. He honestly wished that he had thought to ask Dumbledore how he became invisible without an invisibility cloak when he had the chance. Instead, every time he found himself in a situation similar to this he had to rely on methods that could be detected. Of course Dumbledore's method may be detectable as well, but he'd never know until he learnt how he did it, now would he?

Stealthily he moved out of the room and into the shadowed hallway. Keeping to the shadows he silently made his way down the hall. He was slightly surprised when he did not come across a single Death Eater as he approached the meeting point but not too bothered by the fact. According to the note, he was still ten minutes early but he had been banking on that. Taking a letter out of his pocket he made a jabbing motion with his hand. The paper quickly folded itself in his trademark airplane before with another jab of his hand it shimmered out of view. He had specifically spelled the letter to reappear when it touched Dorcas Meadowes, and after she read it, it would disintegrate into ash, ensuring that Riddle would never get his hands or eyes on the information it contained. Riddle would suspect soon enough that he had a traitor in his ranks without the letter to confirm it and as soon as Riddle contacted him with the journal Harry would confirm that there was a traitor in the Death Eaters' midst.

Two cloaked figures stood in a deserted clearing in the dark forest, a gentle breeze blew through the wet leaves, causing the occasional soft rustle and dislodgment of water. The smaller figure pulled his cloak closer to their body, seeming as if he were trying to ward off the slight chill brought on by the earlier shower combined with the early morning hour, while the larger person glanced at his pocket watch.

"It's time."

At the growled statement the smaller person lifted their head, the shadows falling back slightly to reveal her face, "So it is." Her voice was soft but firm at the same time, seemingly hiding steel beneath its calm surface.

"Good luck." The scarred man grunted, lifting his head and giving the member what he hoped was an encouraging smile, but turned out to be more of a grimace.

The blond smiled back, her eyes glinting with determination, "Thank you Alastor." She looked around the clearing one last time before apparating away.

Moody glanced around the clearing once again and gave out a frustrated sigh before disillusioning himself and slinking into the nearest tree's shadow to wait. He hated waiting, but there was nothing else he could do.

Dorcas reappeared on the outskirts of the muggle village and right outside the manor's wards. She silently studied the wards for a few minutes, looking for an error that would allow her to breach the wards without being detected. Unfortunately, the wards were just as Albus had indicated…strong and impenetrable. She wasn't a ward breaker but she had worked in infiltration long enough to recognize the Locognization Ward when she saw it. However, the ward had been altered slightly, if she had to guess she would say that it was keyed onto the dark mark. Anyone who entered who did not bear the mark would immediately alert Voldemort of their presence.

Well, the Order had suspected as much and had planned accordingly. The only way to proceed was forward. With a deep breath she quickly transformed into a small silver hawk with piercing eyes. Flapping her wings a few times to stretch, she let out a harsh cry before speeding forwards. Flying, she could be at the meeting spot in a few minutes, hopefully not long enough for the Death Eaters to find the Potter boy missing and come looking for him.

She sped through the sky, the ground below her rushing past, until, with a sharp pull upwards, she sped into the dark sky before leveling off and circling the manor, looking for the exact window. Spotting it, she dove forward and crashed through the glass panels. She let out a hiss of pain, something that sounded quiet odd coming from a bird, as she transformed back. Cuts lined her face and hands but she ignored them in favor of listening intently for any movement.

The room she landed in seemed to be a large bedroom, just as the blueprints had indicated, but the room was covered in dust and cobwebs hung in the corners. Slightly curious she glanced around the room. Old black and white pictures hung on the walls and a few books were stacked on the nightstand by the bed, which was unmade, the covers looked as if they had been pulled precariously off in haste. The closet door was partly open, and she could see dresses hanging along with a few male dress shirts and jackets. A detailed music box lay on the dresser, its lid open and energy long spent, along with an ivory brush and matching comb set. It was almost as if the room's inhabitant had just simply vanished, leaving all their personal belongings behind. The wrongness of the scene sent a chill down her spine and she felt the urge to leave the room quickly. With a wave of her wand she disappeared from sight before she moved forward and pressed her ear to the door.

She remained like that for several seconds before concluding that there wasn't anyone in the hallway. Quietly she opened the door and crept out, closing the door behind her. The hall was sparsely decorated and covered with a light layer of dust, as if this wing of the manor had not been in use in years. She moved forward, running to the end of the hall, making no sound on the wooden floors. Looking around the corner, and seeing no one she prepared to make another sprint when something small and light tapped into the side of her head. She froze and gripped her wand, but before she could spin a small paper airplane came into her view. Letting out a sigh of relief she deftly shot out a hand and grabbed the note, shaking it open. Albus had mentioned that this was one of Thanatos' favorite ways to communicate.

Miss Meadowes,

The boy is at the meeting place. It is imperative that I not be seen to be absent when the boy is discovered to be missing. He was under the Imperius Curse, forcing me to stun and disillusion him. The stunner is on a modified time limit, so I suggest you reach the boy soon, before he reappears and one of my associates pick him up.

-Thanatos

PS Let it go.

PSS It's better up than down.

She blinked at the letter, reading the last line again, 'better up than down' what could the man possibly mean? Was he giving her a warning? And 'let it go'? She stared confusedly at the last two lines. Without forewarning the letter crumbled away, until she was holding a pile of ash.

Well that explained 'let it go', she thought as she released the pile, watching uninterestedly as it floated to the ground, but what about the other line? Shrugging, she moved forward heading to her original goal.

Within a few more minutes she had reached the meeting place. As she looked around, the air beneath a painting seemed to shimmer a moment before the pre-teen boy appeared, wand directed at her heart, "Who's there?"

He was getting bored. His rescuer was already two minutes late, but then again not every one could be a stickler for time. He fingered his wand uninterestedly as he gazed down the hallway in both directions. Where was everyone? The lack of Death Eaters once again seemed to strike a cord in him. Not that he knew for sure that the manor was usually swarming with the scum, but in his previous stay at Malfoy Manor there had always been a few Death Eaters around to play, whether he was up for it or not. There hadn't been a Death Eater attack on this day originally, so Voldemort must have his Death Eaters doing something unofficial, something that wasn't recorded in the official history…but surely there had to be a few of them wandering around?

A slight shuffle caught his interest and he concentrated staring down the hall until a slight shimmer caught his attention. Clearing his face he pointed his wand at where the person's heart should be before dropping the disillusionment charm, "Who's there?"

Silence reigned for a moment until Meadowes' charm fell as well, still he did not remove his wand. Instead he eyed her warily trying to put as much uncertainty and disdain in his stare as he could muster, "Don't move or I will curse you."

The middle-aged woman glanced around before raising her hands in a placating manner, "You do not have to fear me. I'm here to rescue you. Your family sent me."

She watched as his eyes narrowed and the grip on his wand intensified, "Prove it."

She blinked uncertainly, mind racing, frantically trying to think of a way to reassure the boy. What did she know about the boy? Oh honestly! They didn't have time for this. Surely the Death Eaters knew the boy was gone by now?

"Show me your arm." Harry finally ground out, wand steady and apparently ready to cast.

Dorcas blinked in surprise before slowly lowering her hands and pulling back her left sleeve to show unmarred skin. Almost immediately Harry lowered his wand in response and stepped forward, "My family really sent you?"

The older women nodded again before stepping forward, her eyes running critically over the boy looking for any obvious damage. She was surprised when she found none besides a light cut on his left cheek, "Yes. Come, we must get out of here quickly."

She frowned when she raised her wand and the boy flinched back.

"I'm not going to harm you. I just need to make us invisible. Here, hold my hand so I won't lose you." She said before holding out her hand.

Harry tentatively took the offered hand as the witch cast the charm on him, before she quickly cast it on herself.

"Try not to make a sound, and don't let go of my hand, ok?" She asked with a nod before remembering he couldn't see her.

"Yes, but don't you think-"

His sentence was cut off by a loud boom from the direction Harry's room had been in.

"Come." Dorcas said as she pulled the boy along, down the hall and preplanned path that Albus had mapped.

Shouts could be heard behind them and loud footsteps could be heard, with little choice the pair broke into a run, flying down the hallways. The older woman pulled him around another corner before coming to a full stop.

"This isn't supposed to be here." She muttered looking at the staircase.

Harry looked curiously at the older women. What wasn't supposed to be there? Did it really matter, the Death Eaters were after all closing in, and surely they'd have a better chance just choosing either up or down?

"They're coming, we don't have time for this. How about down?" He finally said tugging slightly on the woman's hand to get her attention as she muttered to herself.

"Down? Why does that sound…of course! Better up than down! Come on Harry!" Dorcas said and with a tug they were both flying up the stairs.

Harry frowned slightly to himself. He hadn't really meant anything by that when he placed it in the letter. He was hoping that it would get back to Albus and annoy the old man as he tried to figure out what his informant had meant.

They entered what appeared to be another unused hallway. Looking down he mentally groaned as he noticed the trail they were leaving in the dust, but trekked on regardless.

The woman quickly opened a door and glanced in. Perfect! She hustled the boy through the door and to the window.

"Now Harry I have to remove the charm for a moment okay?"

"Okay." He agreed, silently wondering what the plan was.

Once he was visible again, he saw a small phoenix ring appear out of seemingly thin air. Dorcas took his right hand and quickly slipped the ring on, "This is a portkey. Once we are out of the manor's wards we will portkey out." A small broom appeared next to them and she quickly enlarged it, "Now listen very carefully," she whispered, "we're flying until we are past the wards. If anything should happen to me keep flying until you are out. Then land and use the portkey, key word 'safety'. There will be a man in the clearing waiting for you. Understand?"

Harry nodded his head in agreement.

"Right, well I guess I should-"

The door blasted open and a large man leaped through the remains, throwing curses before he even finished entering. Harry was shoved out of the way of an oncoming curse and heard a sharp gasp of pain as the blue curse hit the patch of air he had just inhabited. Frowning he whipped out his wand in annoyance and anger. That curse wasn't very nice at all, he knew from experience. Not only did it break your ribs but it slowly squeezed the air from your lungs until you passed out, that was…if the initial pain didn't knock you out first. Dorcas most defiantly had been knocked out from it, as having all of your ribs simultaneously broken was rather painful. Even he hadn't been able to stay conscious the first few times.

He silently threw a blood boiling curse at the unknown Death Eater, who jumped out of the way and quickly sent a barge of curses back. Harry didn't even attempt to block the curses. Instead he silently cast an unknown spell that he had found in an ancient Greek spell book on defensive shields. The Death Eater faltered in slight amazement. Instead of tearing the boy apart, the spells simply hit the boy and was absorbed, causing the boy to softly glow with golden light, until the last spell was absorbed and he glowed brightly.

Had the Death Eater not been staring with amazement he may have been able to block the bone crushing hex that hit him squarely in the chest, throwing him backwards into the wall where he impacted with a loud crack. With a smirk Harry waved his wand again. A paper with a sketch of a lion devouring a snake appeared on the fallen man's chest.

Harry continued to glow, but was beginning to dim as he turned back to Dorcas. Unknown to him, she had seen him glowing brightly before she was claimed by darkness. With a sigh he found where her body was lying and cast a few healing spells on it. Nothing too advanced but enough to ensure that it was safe to move her. With another flick of his wand, he had her floating in the air. Mounting the broom he positioned the woman in front of him, gripping her tightly, before releasing the spell. He struggled with her weight for a moment before he became used to the unaccustomed weight. Leaning forward, he rocketed, as fast as brooms in the '70s could rocket, out of the windows and across the ground.

Alastor checked his watch again before looking at the sky. Dawn was quickly approaching and there was still no sign of Dorcas and the boy. He had an uneasy feeling about this, and he had learnt to always trust his hunches. They had saved his skin on more than one occasion, and at the moment they were telling him to be weary. Something was definitely amiss and he unsure as to what.

He jumped slightly when two bodies fell from the sky. The landing was going to be a rough one he thought as he watched the boy hold tightly onto a slumped body and brace his legs for the impact. When it came the boy toppled over and he and the cloaked person fell to the ground.

He gripped his wand tightly and quickly pointed it at the boy before moving to stand over the pair.

Harry glanced up; catching a glimpse of the face under the hood did not set him at ease. Alastor Moody was just as likely to curse him as a Death Eater was. He quickly back peddled and reached for his wand, but paused as the older man's wand was shoved in his face.

"Don't even think about it boy!"

Smirking internally, Harry quickly reached up and grabbed the wand before striking out with his foot, catching the auror in the crotch before hitting him in the stomach. Initially Harry frowned when his first kick did not bring Moody to his knees, but cheered up slightly when the auror doubled over from the stomach kick.

He turned the wand on its master before standing then quickly had to jump out of the way when the man launched himself forward at Harry. He quickly cast the tripping hex, followed by the binding charm and smiled slightly when the man fell forward, bound on the ground.

"You're a Death Eater!" Harry accused in an ice cold voice, moving to where he could see Moody's face as his hood had slipped during the clash.

The scarred man glared back, "I'm no Death Eater boy! Now untie me, we don't have time for this nonsense."

He received an incredulous glare back, "You attack me and then expect me to untie you? Do you really think I am that stupid?"

"Look Potter, how long do you think it will take them to track that portkey?" Moody ground out, "We don't have time for this garbage. Release me now!"

"If you really are who she," here Harry pointed at the downed woman, "told me I was supposed to meet, then you are supposed to have another portkey." He paused a minute, gauging the man's reaction, the slight twitch of Moody's left eye gave it away. The man did have a portkey. Harry continued, "It's quite simple. Either you give me the portkey and I portkey us all out of here, or I'll leave you here for the Death Eaters to find while I take the woman and fly off, get it?"

Moody turned slightly purple in the face, "Now see here-"

"You have twenty seconds to tell me where the portkey is or I will leave." Harry interrupted.

The man glared at him for a few more seconds after the statement. A look mixed with annoyance and a bit of respect.

"Ten seconds."

"Left pocket. Bag of Lemon Drops." Alastor finally said gruffly.

"Accio lemon drops." Harry said and catching the bag in his left hand. With another wave of his borrowed wand and a muttered incantation Moody was floating through the air and over to the downed female. Harry quickly deposited the man on the ground.

"You have the portkey, now untie me boy!" The man demanded sharply.

"I said I'd portkey us out, not that you'd be untied while it happened. I'm still not convinced you aren't a Death Eater." Harry said smugly. He grabbed the woman once again and hefted her up until she was leaning against him. With a grunt he held out the portkey to Moody, "You coming or not? The broom offer still stands."

With one last curse Moody reached his bound hands forward and placed his hand on the bag, "Earwax." And with that last word the trio was pulled from the clearing.

Once again Harry found himself sprawled across the grass after the portkey landed. Luckily he was not alone this time, as a cursing Moody was laid out five feet from him and Dorcas was right next to him, thankfully still passed out, though that green color she was sporting wasn't good.

With a groan he swiftly got to his feet. Looking around in interest at his surroundings, Moody's wand still gripped tightly in his hand, he saw that he was on Hogwarts' front lawn. He appeared to relax slightly when he spotted Albus and Harold hurrying forward with Poppy trailing slightly behind them.

"Harry!" Harold yelled running forwards and pulling the boy into a firm hug. Holding his cousin tightly against his body he rubbed small circles on the boy's back until Harry relaxed against him, and burrowed his small head further into his burgundy robes, "Everything will be ok. You're safe now. He can't get you here."

Harry let out a contented sigh and rested his head on his grandfather's chest as the older man continued to rub his back. If only he was naïve enough to believe that he'd always be safe. No, he knew that even Hogwarts wasn't safe against Riddle when the man put his mind to it. But for the moment he was safer than a few hours ago.

Harold ran his hand through Harry's tousled hair before lifting the boys face up to meet his eyes, "Are you hurt?"

Harry shook his head before stepping back, but Harold refused to let him pull back. Instead he placed an arm around the boy's shoulders and pulled him to his side, "We'll still get you checked over by Madam Pomfrey. Mary will kill me if we don't."

Harry turned his head back to the others watching as Madam Pomfrey worked on Dorcas and Alastor hissed quietly at Albus, gesturing with his hands. He wasn't totally sure but he thought he caught Moody make a throttling gesture a few times before pointing in his general direction, however, he could have been mistaken. Albus seemed slightly amused by something, if the twinkle in his eye was anything to go by before he said something that seemingly placated the paranoid man.

"Are they ok?" Harry asked in a small voice, knowing that his grandfather would know who he meant.

Harold looked down to see Harry staring back up at him intently.

"They're fine. In the castle actually, sleeping at the moment."

The boy nodded before turning around to find Dumbledore and Moody standing in front of them.

"My wand." Moody said holding out a slightly scarred hand.

Harry handed over the wand after glancing at Dumbledore, who smiled slightly and nodded his head in silent approval.

With a slight huff, Moody grabbed the wand and stashed it in a leather holder on his arm, before turning his glare back on Harry, with an affronted and approving look in his eyes.

"Ever thought about what you'd do after Hogwarts, Potter?" The man growled out.

Biting his tongue, Harry suppressed what he really wanted to reply to that question and instead shook his head. He didn't think his grandfather could take a jibe about even making it out of school alive.

Moody pulled out a card from his pocket and handed it to the boy. Harry took it with a slight frown, reading it over.

"You've got quite a bit of the Potter line in you to get the jump on me. I'll be looking forward to working with you in the future. Next time I won't be so easy to trick."

"Recruiting my boy already Alastor?" Harold asked with a bit of pride but protectiveness as well.

Harry felt his heart jump with emotion when he heard his grandfather refer to him as 'his'. He leaned into the protective arm around his shoulders as Moody answered, "Get them while they're young, better able to mold them that way."

"The one thing I want to know is what happened to you in the past to caused you to wear a cup?" Harry asked innocently looking curiously at the auror, now realizing what had bothered him earlier when he had kicked the man.

Harold burst out laughing at the scowl once again directed at the boy.

"Always be prepared." Moody huffed before stalking up the lawn towards the castle.

The three men watched him for a moment before their staring was interrupted by Madam Pomfrey, "Well Albus, we'll need to get her to the hospital wing, and," she paused to send a piercing gaze over to Harry, "I still need to examine Mr. Potter."

Harry stifled his groan as he was led away by his uncle.