Legilimens

| Fifteen |

26 June, 1998

Draco woke with a start, the mark on his forearm burning through the thin layer of clothing on his skin. His shirt was glued to his chest from the perspiration caused by a nightmare he could no longer remember. Putting his arm over his eyes to block the morning light, Draco gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the pain, but soon pushed the duvet and climbed out of his bed to reach the Dark Lord's side. He hastily put on clothes and apparated into Riddle Manor, where Voldemort had summoned them. Draco was the last one to appear in the dusty room, and he stood silently, waiting for the man to speak.

"Now that Draco has graced us all with his presence, we can go. The Order are on the move. It's the perfect time to attack every hideout we know, to find the Cloak. The rest of you will search the Forbidden Forest, and will only come back here once it has been found, understood?"

The Death Eaters nodded and disapparated away, leaving Rockwood and Fenrir Greyback to Guard the manor.

Draco soon found himself at 12, Grimmauld Place and searched the house with several of his people. The whole house had been searched many times during the war and many members of the Order had lost their lives on the first attack of the Dark Lord and his army. The place was now empty, silent and destroyed. Broken chairs were scattered around the room, and Bellatrix had enjoyed burning down the tapestry of the family room.

When they were satisfied nothing new had been left at the hideout, all of them left to raid the Burrow, then the Forbidden Forest.

***

The entirety of the Order of the Phoenix was gathered in Andromeda's front lawn and was listening to Shacklebolt's instructions. After they were all divided into groups of four or five people, they prepared themselves to attack Malfoy Manor, not knowing what to expect. They reached the gates of the property and McGonagall and Shacklebolt hit the locked gates with a blasting red spell that hit the metal fence with such a force that it blasted off the side marble walls after a few seconds. Shacklebolt walked quickly over the broken-down gate, followed shortly by Professor McGonagall and the remaining of the Order. Once they reached the double doors of the manor, the groups all went their separate way to find the prisoners and steal as many resources they could get their hands on as most of their healing potions and ingredients had been destroyed in one of the many attacks. Diagon Alley was always full of Death Eaters, and they couldn't find anything they needed. Hermione's group quickly found the kitchen and opened the many cabinets, gathering all they could need and stashed it in her purse, while George and Ginny made their way on the second floor to make sure they wouldn't meet any surprise attack. The main group was waiting in the hall, for an attack, a dark spell, anything. But the manor stayed silent. No one except for them was here. Shacklebolt and Minerva followed Ronald down the halls and into a vacant room.

"That's the cellar." He pointed towards the stairs. "That's where they kept us a few months back. Maybe they're still holding the prisoners in there."

Kingsley stepped forward and moved passed Ronald, the rest of them close on his heels. They quickly made their way down the poorly lit stairs and reached the door of the cells, bursting them open with the same spell they had used outside. The second the door went flying, the blasts of an alarm resonated around the whole manor. Not wasting any time, they entered the cellar and helped the bloodied and weak prisoners out of the room, the younger allies of the Order disapparating away with the injured as soon as they were out of the room. Once everyone was out, the original members of the Order climbed back up the stairs and joined the rest of the group in the drawing room.

"We took everything we could." Panted Hermione. "We should get-"

She was interrupted by a dark green spell that blasted their way, missing her face by a few centimeters only. Augustus Rockwood stood at the door, his wand raised and already sending another spell at them. By his side was the werewolf Fenrir Greyback, who charged at them and pounced on Sturgis Podmore, who had joined the ranks of the Order at the second wizarding war, and bit down on his neck, snapping it with a neat sound. Hermione gasped and didn't hesitate to flee when Professor McGonagall told her and her friends to leave, immediately. They all apparated back at Dromeda's house and waited nervously for the others to get back.

Soon enough, everyone was safely back, apart from Podmore, whose body had been left behind. Molly and Arthur Weasley embraced their children, Harry and Hermione into a hug, and only stepped back once satisfied everyone was safe. Josie was standing farther away with Luna, when all gazes turned on her. Hermione, Ginny, Harry, George and even Ron grabbed the girl in a hug and blabbered about how happy they were that she was safe and sound. She giggled nervously and hugged them back, touched that they cared so much about her safety.

"Of course, we care Josie!" Said Harry. "Without your help, nothing would be the same. We owe you so much..."

"Please don't say that. None of you owe me anything. I just- I tried to do what I thought was best."

"And please, may you explain what it is you did, exactly Miss Capet?" Said an unfamiliar voice.

Stepping to the side, Josephine found herself staring into the eyes of a tall and intimidating man. She gulped down.

"Of course, sir." She said without hesitating, knowing right away she was addressing the leader of the Order.

And she wasted no time revealing to everyone exactly what she was, and what she had done to save the Boy who Lived.

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As promised, I'm back with a new chapter, a bit on the short side, but still!
Hope you enjoyed!
Gabrielle xx