Draco watched the final preparations through the window, dreading the whole thing. A week ago, they had received word that Voldemort had begun attacking and the strikes were becoming too close to ignore. That, coupled with the edgy disposition of the Asps, forced his hand. A source inside the Death Eaters warned of a possible attack tonight, and he had little choice but organize retaliation. The source was not overly high ranking, but had the advantage of being inconspicuous and easily attainable.

The war was heating up it seemed, and the Asps might yet prove to be key players… and they wouldbe getting Horris's body back. Merlin have mercy on whomever took it.

Dumbledore hesitated before removing the crystal from its case for the final time, knowing that after tonight, its presently light-pink color would finally fade into nothingness and his waiting weapon would finally be ready. His Phoenix Child would finally be ready. Harry Potter would finally complete the task for which he was born and bred.

With a wave, the seemingly non-existent door shimmered into view and with a grab at the inconspicuous key, Dumbledore made his way in. Before him lay the body, so different now from the way it looked when first removed from its canvas cocoon. It had taken quite a few spells to infuse the glamours that now made him, once again, look like the spitting image of the late James Potter… especially since he certainly did not wish for some stray spell to break the glamours. As he had since the day his indebted vampire brought him the prize, Dumbledore unlatched the crystal off one of its gold clasps, pushing the sharp object to penetrate the boy's skin a final time. The reddened wrist already bore the line of dotted punctures, following a blue-green vein away from the palm. Tomorrow, once the last of the crystal's magic was absorbed into Harry, Dumbledore would finally be able to check where he stood - what powers would be his to control. Would the boy still be shadowed? Would the Phoenix Powers be mature, or would Dumbledore need to incubate them? So much would be revealed so soon.

By next week, if not sooner, his puppet of a savior would be destroying Death Eaters and other annoyances left and right. A well-placed eye to convey the visual of the great Harry Potter will instantly quench the sparks of doubt Voldemort's supporters ignited so aggressively upon the young Snape's demise. Remus was already becoming ever more responsive to his pushes, and soon Dumbledore would be able to fully integrate him into his future role. He would check the man's stance later today over tea, and depending on its outcome, he'd either wait until after Potter ran his uses, or assimilate his future successor now.

He replaced the now clean crystal into its golden chain, securing the necklace under his many-layered robes… lest someone notes the new accessory. He could already feel it warm as its depleted contents began their role. Soon, the crystal promised him, soon all his work would pay off; soon all would be on track; soon the war would be over.

With a turn of the key, his secret door disappeared once more, a lightly glowing orb on his desk alerting him of a person waiting at his office door. Remus, then, just in time. He patted the concealed necklace once more before opening the statue with a wave over the orb.

"You asked to see me, Albus?"

"Tea, my boy?" he offered, "lemon drop, perhaps?"

"A cup would be lovely, Albus, thank you."

"Not a problem, son, I assure you."

"How are you feeling, Albus?"

"I must admit, my boy, the years are certainly sneaking up on me," he acknowledged, sipping calmly. "That is actually why I have invited you here. I need to ask where you stand."

"Where I stand?" Remus questioned, setting the teacup off to the side. "Where I stand on what? Has there been some doubt?"

"I heard of the trouble at Snape Manor, Remus," he prompted, leaving it to the young man before him to decide if he was cordially changing the topic or hinting as to the doubt set upon him.

"I still cannot believe someone- anyone-would steal a body Albus…"

"Its disappearance must be hard on those who knew him, certainly."

"You do not believe it unimaginable, however."

"Beyond the fact that it obviously didoccur, Remus," he reasoned, noting the boy was not overly surprised at his comment, "I do see how the act might prove quite prudent."

"Prudent, Albus!" Remus exclaimed, standing suddenly,

"Yes, prudent," he repeated, raising a hand to calm the younger man. "Think, Remus, beyond the worry over his body by those left behind, there is little a person can do to hurt the dead."

"The dead should have their peace."

"Only once their duty is served."

"And Horris hadn't done enough?"

"He has. No one can claim otherwise… but it ishis destiny to defeat Voldemort."

"Where one has failed, another will prevail. Where one left off, another will continue. You told me that."

"How many more must die, Remus. Think." Albus beseeched him, ready to obliviate should the young man not be swayed. "Why not let the one who was supposed to end this, and had been given leniencies to live his life, not now be used to end this?"

"Necromancy, Albus? You?"

"No, my boy, I would not use such evils."

"Then-"

"A shard, a soul, a puppet." He waited for the moment of recognition before casting the memory suppression spell… it would do little good for Remus tofullyforget this, after all; far better to simply keep it suppressed until such a time as Albus triggered them back.

"Are you alright, Remus?" he asked as soon as the glossy quality began to recede from the man's eyes, "your mind seems to have wandered a bit, my boy."

"Forgive me, Albus, what were you saying?"

"I asked how you were coping, dear boy,"

"Oh. Yes, well… I… I suppose I'm dealing with things; as best I can, at any rate."

"I do hope you keep me informed on things, my friend."

"I already promised I would," Remus reminded him,

"Yes, yes you did."

He looked over each Asp, clad in the resilient armor robes with whichever weapons each had taken a liking to, and with wand secured in Auror-grade holsters. The hooded robes were cloakless, unlike most battle robes, the sleeves customarily fanned for extra mobility and easy access. Along with the wand holster on their wrist, each carried a band of single-dose potions just above their non-wand elbow filled with all sorts of concoctions that might be useful in battle. The royal blue robes, trimmed in gold, were made of a light and magically altered cloth, rendered them tough enough to protect without losing their flowing and flexible quality.

A part of him dreaded the idea that something might happen to any of them tonight, the last time they had fought Death Eaters was still quite fresh in his mind. He could only pray that no more of them would die before their time. Tonight… tonight, there shouldn't be much resistance - no upper crust Death Eaters, no great number advantages, and no one waiting for them to show. It should prove quite an easy fight, by all accounts, but he still couldn't get the dread to leave him. Their lives were his responsibility.

He was the last one to go, apparating into the village as the others were looking for a good site to wait for their ambush, already having (as he himself had) put up glamours to hide their robes and weapons… lest someone notice something amiss before the actual attack.

The Death Eaters appeared about an hour thereafter, allowing the Asps plenty of time to twiddle their thumbs, though getting there late would have been a poor alternative. Their enhanced night vision gave them an advantage as they watched their enemies. Although the Death Eaters had cast vision-enhancing spells, those only let one see in reduced levels of light, while theirs shifted into heat-based vision. Theirs could also be canceled and replaced at instinctively; a feature they were planning to take full advantage of tonight.

The moonless sky, coupled with the village's unlit streets ensured that the Death Eaters had to be using someform of augmented sight, be it spell, potion based… or that strange Muggle device Lea once mentioned, as unlikely as the last option was.

He readied himself to send up sparks as soon as the Death Eaters neared the spot the Asps had determined would give them the greatest advantage, his signal hopefully drawing the enemy's attention as well, only increasing the effectiveness of their trap.

Just as Draco had hoped, his 'get ready' signal of red sparks had most of the Death Eaters look up and away from the main congregation of Asps. Perfect. He turned the sparks green with a wave, knowing everyone (himself included) had already dulled their vision to near-blindness… another helpful feature. Immediately, everyone shot up their brightest Solarisspell, and he knew the bright bursts he saw would be a thousand times brighter to the sensitized eyes of the Death Eaters, leaving them effectively blind for quite some time.

They followed the quickly decreasing light level, always keeping their vision as sensitive as possible without being adversely affected by the fading spells. Soon as he was sure they could easily see their enemies and not be hurt by the light, he shot another set of sparks, blue, launching the Asps into action. Most of the Death Eaters, still covering their eyes, fell quickly under their soundless spells with only a few attempting to blindly retaliate.

The disorientation faded sooner than Draco would have liked; and a few of the brighter Death Eaters cast restorative spells as soon as they realized what had happened. One of them nearly succeeded in blasting Wolf to kingdom come, the ex-Gryffindor dodging the blood-boiling curse by near millimeters. Close. Fartoo close. Draco's answering spell didconnect, sending the cloaked figure slamming into the side of a nearby building… the resonating crack grimly satisfying. Dean gave him a quick nod of thanks before once more concentrating on helping keep their anti-disapparation wards up. No use having their pray running off, now was there? And, honestly, allowing them to send reinforcements did not sound overly appealing to him, either.

The battle was nothing like the horror that robbed them of their young leader. The Death Eaters outnumbered them two to one… three to one at most, and almost all were untrained rookies probably only a few years older than the Asps themselves. It seemed to end in mere moments and left him feeling disturbingly empty and worn. He gave the order to gather and bind the idiots, the Asps yanking off those despicable masks as they carried out the order.

Now came the hard part. If they delivered these idiots to the ministry, he could bet the Malfoy fortune that most would somehow freely leave the lax institution. If they dropped them at the Order's doorstep, then Dumbledore would find a way to make it seem like the Asps were under his umbrella of manipulation. If they took them to the Manor dungeons, and not only might the Ministry (if they found out) charge them with mass kidnapping of wizards, the Professor might wring Draco's neck for sullying his Manor with the filth.

"Dragon!"

He turned towards the call, wand at the ready in case Wolf had spotted some extra Death Eaters or some of the captured ones had gotten loose. He looked at him questioningly when no such danger was apparent, the other boy already making his way towards the blond.

"We gotta go, someone's attacking the wards."

"More Death Eaters?"

"The Order, more likely… the magic isn't dark enough, though I wouldn't stake my life on that."

"How long?"

"Not much longer," Dean relayed after feeling them for a second.

"Listen up!" he called out, knowing his choice was made for him now, "everyone take as many of these idiots as you can safely apparate with. Get to the Manor as soon as you feel our wards drop; I do notwant anyone here when whoever it is out there knocks them down. Get ready!"

They all ran towards the bound Death Eaters, each grabbing a few and standing by for the wards to drop. He felt them fall only seconds later, looking over to make sure all the Asps and captives had gone, popping out just as Dumbledore apparated in and met his eye. Damn. He had hoped to keep the Asps unnoticed for at least a little longer.

"Toss them into the dungeons," he called as soon as he materialized at the pre-arranged retreat site, not bothering to tally the captives. "We have plenty of cells, so don't tempt fate by bundling them together. Use the second level ones, heavy guard."

It wasn't necessary, he was almost certain given how quickly they fell, but it would give the Asps something to do, at least. He'd have to contact the Professor and ask what should be done with them on a long-term basis… this still being his manor and all. Scanning the mass before him, however, waiting until the weekend sounded like a far better idea than needlessly bothering the man now. Then again, he revisited his logic, Merlin forbid Dumbledore contacts the Professor first… maybe firecalling now would be the lesser of two evils?

"Dragon?"

"Dumbledore saw me," he explained his mood away, "gotta call the Professor beforehedoes, Wolf, or he might very well skin me."

"Are you going to tell him that Horris has been stolen?"

"Not if I can get away with not doing so… I'd rather tell him after we've recovered him," he confessed, shrinking into himself at the possibility of having to tell the man.

"Yes, Mr. McCarlen?" he asked, looking up from his grading,

"Sir! The Headmaster sent me to request your presence, sir."

"When?"

"Now, sir, he received a firecall."

As the pupils were disciplined, the inter-staff relations proved far more amenable than those in Hogwarts, and with far less annoying co-workers. Thus, until the boy had said 'firecall', Severus had assumed the young man was sent to invite him to something akin to afternoon tea with the man. A firecall meant Draco.

"Well?" he asked as soon as the door shut behind the Headmaster and Severus had cast some privacy spells about the now-vacant room,

"Sir."

"Get on with it, Draco," he tried not to growl, knowing something musthave happened for the blond to contact him like this.

"Sorry to disturb you, Professor, but I figured you should find this out from me, not Dumbledore."

"Find whatout?"

"The Asps have entered the game, sir."

Damn, this was notthe news he had hoped to hear.

"The captured Death Eaters are in the Manor dungeons, unless you want us to remove them from your property. Dumbledore saw me before I could apparate out after the fight."

"No casualties?" he asked in a sharp voice even though he was internally pleading,

"No, sir."

"And what, may I ask, prompted you to overcome your decision to stay out of things?"

"A lot has happened since we last spoke, sir, and I must apologize for that, though some of the recent events I could not tell you in good conscience without further information.

Severus leaned back at the cautious words, motioning the blond to continue. Something big must have happened, and by Merlin, he wanted to hear what it was.