33

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE:

"Sorry," Harry grinned unrepentantly when they found three students still waiting on them outside the cave. "Severus fell asleep."

Severus shot him a quelling look, then decided there was no point in trying to deny it. "There's no arguing with a Potter," he muttered.

"Ooooooh, dibs on being the woman in this relationship!" Harry cried, looking excited. The three students just looked on in bemusement.

Severus turned to him with an incredulous look. "…Excuse me?"

"You should date a woman sometime, Severus – you'll soon find that in a relationship, the woman is always right. Even if she's wrong." Harry nodded seriously, and Severus couldn't tell whether his tone was fond or exasperated. "So, I volunteer to be the woman in our relationship!"

Severus shot a quick look at the children and saw that they would be of no help: Granger looked satisfied, Weasley horrified, and Potter resigned. "That's absurd," he snapped, "both of us are men, and I refuse to discuss this any further. It is high time we returned to Hogwarts." With a flare of his robes he turned and strode off in the direction of the apparition point, leaving behind his dejected partner.

"Well, it was worth a try," Harry sighed to Hermione, who gave him a commiserating look despite the satisfied smile she still wore.

OoOoO

"Alright, is everyone clear on their tasks?"

The atmosphere in Order Headquarters was tense, each member of the Order focused as they confirmed that they were ready for their missions.

"Everyone has their charm on them in easy reach?" Harry swept his eyes over the gathering, nodding once he had checked that each member had their charm around their necks. "Take no risks. I have faith in our house elf friends, but it is up to you to subdue your target completely. Take every precaution; I refuse to lose even one of you again." Something in his set expression convinced them that this leader was one who would do absolutely anything to ensure their survival, and the members were quietly grateful that it wasn't Albus handling this.

Harry swept one more look over the gathering before kneeling and calling out five names.

"Master Harry is being ready?" Dobby squeaked, his face both eager and serious.

"I am," Harry confirmed. "And I thank you all for your assistance. Should one of you ever require anything, please come to me and I will do what I can to help." The other house elves looked shocked at the promise, but Dobby simply beamed.

"We is going to go put humans to sleep, then!" And they all popped away, each to their assigned Death Eater residence.

"Right," Harry said, standing up. "This is it, then. Tonight we strike back at the terrorists who have brought so much ill to this society. Tonight we end the second war before it can properly begin. Tonight we take the first step towards peace!"

A cheer went up in the room, a determined glint in each eye to do their part for that peace as they flooed out to locations from which they could apparate close to their targets' houses. Harry shook each member's hand as they left; no more words were said, but each member felt stronger for their leader's faith in them.

Except for Alastor, I suppose, Harry thought with an inner smile. That man will never change.

Then they were all gone, and Harry was left waiting with the remaining members of the Order. Turning to face them with a smile, Harry suggested, "Poppy, why don't you work with the remaining members for a while? There's no point in standing around doing nothing, after all," he winked, and felt the atmosphere immediately lighten because of his tone. "I'll be just over there," he gestured at an armchair in the corner and received a smile from the matron. Heading over, he fingered his charm, hoping against hope that he wouldn't be needed at all that night.

OoOoO

Severus led his group quietly to the edge of the wards, giving Bill a simple nod to indicate he start working on them. While most other Death Eaters had merely the basic wards that could be trespassed without much trouble, the Carrows had some very nasty wards including a few poisonous ones that would kill them if they weren't dealt with properly. Severus had no idea how good the eldest Weasley's skills were, but Harry's faith in the man was enough to set his mind at ease. Well, that and the fact that Gringotts only employed the very best.

"This will take at least half an hour," Bill whispered to his former professor. "They have some very tricky wards on this place." Severus merely nodded and gestured for him to proceed before moving away slightly to inform Tonks and erect a small protective ward around their location. That done, they settled down to wait on their ward breaker.

OoOoO

Seeing the Weasley twins being serious was an unusual occurrence for most Hogwarts students. But not a shred of their usual flighty behavior was present as they followed Mad-Eye Moody to the Nott mansion.

"I expect you both to be professional," Mad-Eye had told them intently earlier that evening, his blue eye looking off at an odd angle. "No fooling around – if you don't act seriously I'm leaving you behind. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," one of the twins had replied, his face more earnest than Alastor had ever seen it before. "You can rely on us," the other twin added, and his expression, too, convinced Alastor that Potter-Black hadn't made a poor choice when he assigned the two Weasleys to his command.

As they headed for the mansion Alastor idly spun his blue eye around to see the two boys walking behind him, only to see one of them gasp and reach out at the same time as his twin, two hands grabbing him and pulling him back roughly – and several wickedly sharp spikes pierced the earth where he had stood just a moment before. And in that moment Alastor realized that Potter-Black had known exactly what he was doing when he had paired up the veteran Auror with the two tricksters.

OoOoO

Remus and Sirius apparated directly onto the small grounds surrounding Jugson's country house and immediately began running for the back door, knowing that there was a ward that would alert the master of the house of intruders and unsure whether the house elf's sleeping charm would be strong enough to overcome that notification.

As he ran he felt the wind streaming through his hair and Remus grinned in a way that no one but a werewolf could. The hunt was on.

OoOoO

"It seems I have underestimated house elves all these years," Minerva sighed as she looked down on the sleeping man. "He didn't even wake up when we bound him to a chair!"

"Very true," Doge said, a slightly shocked expression on his face. "Without them this would have been far more difficult, wouldn't you agree?"

"My friend, I more than agree – I may have to do something nice for the house elves that aided us." It had been extremely easy to get in and subdue Rowle: The man had been fast asleep in his bed, and it had been quick work to levitate him to a chair and bind him firmly.

Doge nodded in agreement. "Well, shall we?"

"Yes," Minerva agreed, pulling out a vial of Veritaserum, the list of questions, parchment and a dicta-quill. "Let's."

OoOoO

Kingsley looked up the steps at Yaxley's townhouse, already knowing what wards were on it. He was a high-ranking Auror, after all – he had both read up on his targets and scoped out the locations as soon as he knew who he would be targeting. Everything he had read about Yaxley pointed towards what Harry had said: He would struggle, but in the end swear the oath thinking that he could bribe his way out of a trial. Makes my job easier, the tall Auror thought as he made quick work of the wards on the front door and slipped inside. Time to find me a Death Eater.