Imprisoned in the Past

Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, 12/24/1993, 18:24

Harry and Bellatrix glided across the dance floor swaying with the music as other couples danced all around them. The night had been going smoothly so far and Harry was starting to believe that Narcissa's security was successful in deterring an assassination attempt. He knew that it was too early in the night to get excited, the night was far from over yet but he still held out hope for a peaceful evening.

"I see that Cissa invited Bill again," Bellatrix commented as she glanced over to where Bill was dancing very close to Narcissa.

"I just hope those two aren't back together. I don't think I can handle Draco sulking about a second time," Harry whispered.

"Who knows with Cissa?" Bellatrix shrugged as the song came to an end.

"Care to have a drink?" Harry asked as he led Bella to one of the tables on the edge of the dance floor.

"Yes, I would love some wine," Bella smiled as Harry pulled a chair out for her.

Harry left her at the table and made his way over to the drinks stand. He wasn't very surprised to find Jonathan Greengrass helping himself to a drink when he arrived.

"Harry, it's good to see you again," Jonathan beamed.

"You as well, I see you've found the brandy," Harry smirked.

"One thing I love about these parties is that Narcissa always stocks the party with good spirits," Jonathan said as Harry poured Bella a glass of vintage elf-made wine.

"I'm a fan of the food myself," Harry admitted as he poured himself a glass of mead.

"So is Black," Jonathan sniggered.

"All that man does is eat and whinge," Harry grinned.

"I hear you and Bella are hosting a party on new year's Eve," Jonathan inquired before taking a sip of his brandy.

"We figured it was about time we hosted one of these gatherings," Harry shrugged.

"Well whatever you do, don't cut corners with the drinks," Jonathan joked.

"I wouldn't think of it," Harry grinned.

"Good man, I'll see you around. I told the wife I was getting her some wine and that was two drinks ago," Jonathan said as he poured a glass full of elf-made wine.

"Same here, I'll see you later on, I expect," Harry said before he made his way back to the table Bella was seated at.

When Harry arrived it was to find Bella in conversation with Narcissa.

"Ah, there you are, Harry. I was just telling Bellatrix that I managed to book an orchestra for your party," Narcissa said looking very pleased with herself.

"That's fantastic," Harry said as he handed Bellatrix a glass of wine.

"They are almost impossible to book at this time of year," Narcissa continued before taking a sip of champagne.

"I can only imagine," Harry said as he took his seat.

"I am also going to have Dobby assist Jangles for the evening," Narcissa said.

"It is much appreciated," Harry said, starting to get an uneasy feeling.

"Dobby has years of experience preparing meals for my gatherings," Narcissa said, giving him an innocent smile.

"What do you want in return for such generosity?" Harry asked, giving her a wary look.

"Oh I expect you'll return the favour one way or the other," Narcissa assured him.

"Would you care to dance, Cissa?" Harry asked hoping to distract her from her present line of thought.

"I would love to," Narcissa beamed.

"Hurry back, I expect another dance soon," Bella said giving Harry a meaningful look

"Of course," Harry promised before standing and offering Narcissa his arm

"While I appreciate you asking me to dance, I am not so easily distracted," Narcissa said as Harry led her onto the dancefloor.

"I have no idea what you mean," Harry said as they turned to face one another.

Their timing was perfect as a new song began to play almost as soon as he placed his hand on her waist. Though he supposed that could have been Narcissa's doing as this was her ballroom, after all.

"Of course, you don't," Narcissa said giving him a look of amusement.

"I just thought you might like to dance at your own party," Harry defended.

"You know me, I love to dance," Narcissa agreed before Harry spun her as the music picked up tempo.

Harry was brought up short from his next quip when he caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye.

Without thinking about it he pulled Narcissa tightly to his chest and spun them to the left just as a bolt of green light passed through the air where Narcissa had been standing before it engulfed an elderly woman who was dancing with her husband.

'THUMP'

The room went silent as the elderly woman collapsed to the floor before panicked screaming broke out around the room. Suddenly Narcissa's hired wands scrambled into the room and surrounded a woman in her late forties while the other guests ran for the exits. Harry watches the woman exchange spells with the bodyguard before she was quickly felled with a stunner to the back.

Harry had his own wand drawn as he scanned the room for threats but most of the guests had quickly left the room as soon as the killing curse was cast. Off to one side of the room, Harry saw Bellatrix standing next to Amelia and Sirius who all three had their wands drawn and at the ready. Behind the three adults were Harry, Edgar, Carina and Ignotus looking a bit scared and confused about what was going on.

Carefully Harry released his grip on Narcissa and stepped back, noting a look of barely contained fury etched on her face.

"Thank you," Narcissa whispered.

"Don't mention it," Harry said, noting that Narcissa was shaking slightly either from fear or anger, he wasn't sure.

"Who tried to kill me?" Narcissa exclaimed as she looked over at her protection detail.

"It's Caroline Davis," Amelia muttered as she looked at the unconscious woman in surprise.

"She's been imperiused," one of the bodyguards exclaimed as he checked the woman over with his wand.

"Thank god that Harry saw the curse coming," Sirius muttered.

"It was just lucky that I did," Harry sighed as Bellatrix and the twins came to stand with him.

"You reacted pretty quick," Bella said as she took his hand in his.

"What was that green light, Daddy?" Carina asked as Amelia and Sirius began having a whispered conversation with the security team.

"A very bad spell, Princess," Harry said as he discreetly conjured a white sheet over the woman that had just been hit by the curse.

"It was an unforgivable curse, Carina," Bellatrix added giving the girl a meaningful look.

"Where is Draco?" Harry whispered into Bella's ear.

"Roxanne took him with her to Greengrass Manor," Bellatrix answered as Narcissa began berating her hired wands for their negligence.

"Aunt Cissa sure is mad," Iggy muttered watching the argument with fascination.

"Just be glad you're not the one who made her that way, Son," Harry said as a group of aurors entered the ballroom led by Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"If you want, you can take the children to the house while I give my statement," Harry offered.

"No, I am not leaving until you do but I may take them into the dining room," Bella said softly.

"I'll come and get you as soon as they take my statement," Harry promised before placing a kiss on Bella's lips.

Harry wasn't sure how much the kids had seen but he was hoping to avoid letting them see the aurors levitating a corpse out of the room if he could help it.

Harry watched Bellatrix herding the twins plus Esgar and Harry out of the room and made his way over to Sirius and Amelia who were examining Caroline Davis.

"Did the twins see anything?" Amelia asked looking over at Harry as he approached.

"No, they didn't see anything but the flash of green light," Harry said as the ministry aurors removed the sheet and began to examine the dead woman.

"Do you know who she is?" Harry asked.

"Mary-Anne Rivers, she was a healer at Saint Mungo's for thirty years," Sirius answered sounding troubled.

"And Davis was imperiused?" Harry asked.

"Yes, without a doubt," Amelia nodded.

"I wonder who did it?" Sirius muttered.

"I doubt that we'll ever find out," Amelia sighed.

Before Sirius could reply, Kingsley stepped over to their group looking very grave.

"Lord Peverell, I would like to get your statement," Kingsley declared in an official tone.

"Sure," Harry said, already expecting to be interviewed.

"According to Lady Malfoy, you pulled her out of the path of the killing curse?" Kingsley asked.

"I did," Harry answered.

"How did you spot the curse?" Kingsley pressed.

"I saw it out of the corner of my eye," Harry admitted.

"I will need a copy of your memory but that is more of a formality," Kingsley said, giving Harry an expectant look.

"Not a problem," Harry shrugged.

After Harry had given Kingsley a copy of his memory, the auror moved on to check with the team examining the body along with Amelia.

"Who do you think is behind this?" Sirius asked as soon as Kingsley and Amelia were out of earshot.

"I guess we're going to have to ask Snape," Harry shrugged.

"Good luck with that," Sirius muttered.

"I'm not a fan of dealing with him either but he may be able to tell us who put the curse on Missus Davis," Harry said.

"I know, but it's always so damn frustrating talking to him" Sirius scowled.

"He says the same thing about you. Were they able to break the curse on Missus Davis?" Harry asked as the aurors began to spread out through the ballroom to interview the other guests.

"Oh yeah and whoever cursed her was a bloody amateur, they broke it in a few tries," Sirius said sounding pleased.

"I guess that rules out Mulciber," Harry mused.

"Definitely," Sirius said looking over to where a very shaken-looking Missus Davis was talking with Amelia.

Harry would make finding the identity of Narcissa's attacker a top priority and he was pretty sure Bella would as well. If Harry knew his wife, Bellatrix wouldn't rest until the person who tried to kill her little sister was in the grave. Sirius was right, the first place that he would go to get answers was Severus Snape and he would get an answer one way or another.

Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton, 12/25/22:38

Voldemort had just finished listening to Dawlish as the auror filled him in on the failed assassination attempt at Malfoy Manor. He really wasn't surprised that Rupert's plan had failed but what did give him pause was the fact that Narcissa seemed to be expecting an attack.

Truthfully Lady Malfoy surviving the attack was of no consequence as he was almost certain that she would be at the Peverells on New Year's Eve and if he had his way, there would be no survivors after his forces attacked.

But once again, Voldemort felt a pang of suspicion that someone close to him was leaking sensitive information to his enemies.

"Perhaps it's time I had a word with Severus," Voldemort mused as an unsettling thought occurred to him.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Severus was the most likely spy. There was also the fact that Severus had already proven that he was not opposed to spying, he had spied on Dumbledore for years, after all.

He had once had reservations about Severus when the man had begged for the life of the mudblood girl. He had thought the matter was resolved. He had never sensed any outward hostility from Severus but only a handful of death eaters knew of his plans for Malfoy Manor and of that handful, only two had left the manor one of them being Rupert. He would talk to Severus and he really did hope that the man wasn't the traitor, Severus Snape was one of his best wands and certainly one of his most intelligent servants.

Pushing those thoughts aside for the time being, Voldemort sent a summons through his connection to Rupert Cromwell's dark mark. The man had to be punished for his failure tonight and Voldemort was only too happy to mete it out, if anything, punishing Cromwell might make him feel a bit better about this whole situation.

Tonks Residence, Reading, 12/25/09:36

Tonks woke to the sound of the front door clicking open downstairs. Rolling out of bed she stumbled into the hallway with her wand drawn and hurried down the stairs wondering who could be here this early on Christmas morning.

Tonks was taken aback when she saw her mother with an arm full of presents standing at the foot of the stairs smiling widely at her.

"Happy Christmas, Nymphadora," Andi beamed.

"Happy Christmas, Mum," Tonks smiled as she hurried to help her mother with the presents.

"I thought I would come by early and have breakfast with you," Andi said as she set the presents she was holding under the tiny little Christmas treeTonks had set up last night.

"I hope you brought food because there isn't any in the house," Tonks chuckled.

"I assumed as much," Andi smirked as she pulled two shrunken shopping bags from the pocket of her robes.

"You're going to cook me breakfast?" Tonks asked feeling much more awake at the prospect of a homecooked breakfast.

"Yes, I know firsthand what a disaster you can be in the kitchen, dear," Andromeda said as she resized the bags.

"I can make a mean sandwich," Tonks protested as the two Tonks women made their way into the kitchen.

Tonks took a seat at the table as her mother began to get breakfast going and she allowed her mind to wander as the tantalizing scent of fried sausages filled the kitchen. She was brought back to the present as her mother asked a question that had her searching for an answer.

"Is this... blood?" Andi asked as she hold up a quart-sized glass jug full of dark red liquid.

"Huh?" Tonls asked, trying to figure out how best to answer.

"Is this blood?" Andi repeated as she indicated the jug she was holding.

"Oh... uh, yeah it is," Tonks nodded, deciding to go with the truth.

"Why on earth is it in the refrigerator?" Andi asked looking disgusted.

"So it doesn't go bad, I guess," Tonks shrugged.

"Why do you have blood?" Andi asked, giving her a worried look

"It isn't mine. I have a bit of a... a houseguest and she drinks it," Tonks explained.

"There is a vampire in this house?!" Andi asked sharply.

"Yes, she's in the cellar," Tonks admitted.

"And whose blood is this?" Andi demanded.

"Dumbledore's, it's produced by a potion that replicates human blood," Tonks explained.

"I'm not even sure I want to know anymore," Andi muttered as she put the jug back in the refrigerator.

"It's for something to do with the order," Tonks said giving her mother a reassuring look.

"Well just be careful," Andi said giving her daughter an imploring look.

"I will be," Tonks promised.

"I hope so," Andi sighed as she levitated two plates onto the table.

"It looks amazing," Tonks beamed as she tucked into her full English breakfast.

"Thank you, I know how much you love a full breakfast," Andi said as she took a seat across from her daughter.

"So are you having dinner at Aunt Cissa's today?" Tonks asked between bites of her breakfast.

"No. Cissa stayed with Bella and Harry last night. I think we're all having dinner at Bella's this year," Andi admitted.

"Why did she stay with them?" Tonks asked after swallowing a large mouthful of eggs.

Tonks stopped shovelling food into her mouth, almost choking on her eggs when her mother told her what she knew about the attempted assassination last night. Tonks was gobsmacked to learn how close her aunt had come to being killed last night and wondered if Mad-Eye had any leads on who was responsible.

"I have a feeling that whoever was behind it is living on borrowed time," Andromeda said as if reading her mind.

"Is Aunt Cissa okay?" Tonks asked.

"Physically she's fine, your uncle pulled her to safety in the nick of time," Andi answered.

"But she's furious now, I take it?" Tonks asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Andi nodded.

"I hope Uncle Harry will let me help this time when he goes to get the bastard," Tonks muttered before she went back to her breakfast.

"Isn't being an auror and living with a blood-thirsty vampire dangerous enough, dear?" Andi sighed as she picked at her own food.

"I still haven't actually seen any fighting since I joined the auror corp," Tonks grumbled.

"That's how I would prefer it," Andi shrugged.

"The only time I've seen combat was the night when..." Tonks trailed off when she thought about the night her family had been attacked, the night her father was killed.

"When your father was killed," Andi said with a slight tremor in her voice.

"Yeah, that was the only fight I've been in and that was probably the worst day of my life," Tonks admitted.

"Mine too," Andi said quietly as she glanced over at the empty chair to her right.

"I just want my chance to pay them back," Tonks said as she pushed her food around with her fork.

"Believe me, I understand how you feel but Ted wouldn't want you getting yourself killed chasing revenge," Andi said as she placed her hand on top of her daughter's.

"But you've gone with Uncle Harry to some of those attacks," Tonks accused.

"I was angry, I'm still angry about what happened to your father. Going after them didn't help, not really, it just channelled my frustration for a little while. Every time that I came back from those trips, I would crawl into my bed feeling like I had really made a difference but I felt just as broken when I rolled over in the middle of the night and Ted wasn't there beside me," Andi said, tears running down her cheeks as she spoke.

Tonks was at a loss for words for what to say to this and ate her food more for something to do than anything else. Truthfully the topic at hand had sapped her appetite but her mum had come all the way here to cook for her, the least she could do was clean her plate.

Thankfully the conversation moved to more cheerful topics and the two Spent the rest of the morning just sending time with one another. It almost felt like The Christmases from her childhood though it was obvious that both women noticed Ted's absence. Tonks thought it was a good sign her mother was here, this was the first time she had been here since the funeral.

As they opened presents, Tonks couldn't help thinking that this was shaping up to be one of the best Christmases she'd had in a long time.

Peverell Manor, Leeds, 12/25/1993, 16:34

Harry was sitting in the drawing room, digesting a wonderful Christmas dinner. This was the first time that so many guests had arrived for Christmas dinner and he had to admit, he enjoyed having a full house. Currently, the twins were outside playing quidditch with Draco and Little Harry. The Black sisters were in the library, most likely cooing over Hardwin, and Sirius and Tonks were in the drawing room with Harry listening to the wireless and enjoying a large glass of mead.

"So, any word about last night?" Harry asked, glancing over at Sirius.

"No, whoever set the whole thing up covered their tracks pretty well," Sirius shrugged.

"Whatever you lot are up to, I want in this time," Tonks said giving Harry a meaningful look.

"We'll see. I hear you've got your own problems to deal with," Harry said.

"What do you mean?" Tonks asked looking nonplussed.

"Andi says that you've got yourself a new houseguest," Harry smirked.

"Yeah, but I hardly ever see her," Tonks shrugged.

"It's Merula, isn't it?" Harry asked, giving Tonks a knowing look.

"Yeah, she just showed up a few nights ago," Tonks said before taking a gulp of mead.

"She said she was staying with a friend though I'm surprised that friend is you," Harry mused.

"Merula Snyde is staying with you?" Sirius exclaimed looking horrified.

"She didn't have much choice, I took the rest of her coven to Mexico a few days ago," Harry explained.

"She said as much. She also said that she can get you into Voldemort's headquarters," Tonks said getting Sirius' attention.

"I know but I'm still undecided about how I want to use the information," Harry admitted.

"Is it a good idea to attack him there?" Tonks asked.

"I have to if I want to take out his snake," Harry said.

"Why do you have to take out his snake Tonks asked in confusion.

"Because she's a horcrux," Sirius said with a look of understanding.

"Exactly," Harry agreed.

"What's a horcrux?" Tonks asked.

"Something a bit too dark for you, niece," Bellatrix said as she entered the room with Hardwin in her arms.

"I'm a cadet auror," Tonks protested.

"So you've not become a real auror yet?" Bella taunted.

"I will be in June," Tonks pointed out.

"But this is December," Bella shrugged as she took a seat beside Harry.

"I'll explain what they are later," Harry said before Tonks could argue.

"What they are, is irrelevant. The point is, that Nagini has to be destroyed," Bellatrix said as she placed Hardwin into Harry's arms.

"Oh," Tonks nodded her understanding as she watched Herdwin squirming about in his father's grasp.

"Where are Cissa and Andi?" Sirius asked.

"They went to go watch the quidditch match," Bella smirked.

Little Harry had gotten a brand new Nimbus two thousand and one for Christmas this year and Draco (and the twins to some extent) were quite put out that they hadn't found a newer broom under their own respective Christmas trees.

"I wonder if the twins are still upset that Bella wouldn't let them have faster brooms?" Harry chuckled.

"Furious, poor Harry is having a time of it today," Bella cackled.

"There isn't much difference between the two thousand and the two thousand and one, to be honest," Harry said sounding amused.

"Well the twins have a different opinion, they think Bella is being unfair," Bella shrugged.

"I don't know what they're complaining about, I'm still flying a Comet two sixty," Tonks sniggered.

"I remember you flying my Comet two sixty through the beach house," Harry said giving Tonks a look of amusement.

"I heard about that," Sirius chortled.

"Harry wouldn't let me paddle her," Bella pouted.

"I thought you like to get spankings, not give them?" Sirius quipped causing Tonks to sputter mead out of her nose.

"I prefer it that way but there are exceptions," Bella shrugged.

"I thought that I was the only one who preferred the rough stuff," Tonks muttered as she vanished mead from her robes.

"We're getting a bit off topic here," Harry sighed having no interest in hearing about Tonks' private life.

"We usually do," Sirius agreed.

Before Harry could reply, the fireplace flared full of green flames seconds before Amelia stepped into the room looking exhausted.

"Amy, I thought you'd never make it," Sirius beamed.

"That makes two of us, I need a better second in command," Amelia sighed as she took a seat beside Sirius.

"Happy Christmas, Amelia," Harry said as he offered her a large glass of mead.

"Happy Christmas, to you as well," Amelia said as she accepted the glass and gave him a grateful smile.

"So how are things at the office?" Sirius asked.

"Finally settling down after last night. Where are the boys?" Amelia asked.

"Outside," Sirius said.

"Have you learned anything new?" Bellatrix asked.

"We believe that Cromwell was the one who placed the imperius curse on Missus Davis. We extracted her memories and found a grainy image of him approaching her at the Leaky Cauldron," Amelia shrugged.

"The dark lord must be desperate if he charged that imbecile with assassinating my sister," Bellatrix muttered, a dark look crossing her features.

"I think that I may have also found a spy in the auror department," Amelia added.

"Who?" Tonks blurted out.

"Sorry little Cadet Auror, that's classified," Sirius answered before Amelia could reply.

"Unfortunately, he's right. That is classified until we make an arrest," Anelia admitted.

"Oh," Tonks muttered.

"I imagine that it'll be public knowledge in a few days," Amelia shrugged before taking a sip of mead.

"It would be nice to sever Voldemort's connections in the ministry," Harry mused.

"If you can catch him before he knows that you're on to him," Bellatrix pointed out.

"Which is why it's been classified," Amelia smirked.

"I'll be glad when June comes around," Tonks sighed.

"I wouldn't be too eager," Sirius smirked.

"The Rookie year is always pretty awful," Amelia agreed.

"Graveyard shifts and boring assignments are quite common for rookies," Sirius added.

"At least they can't assign you guard duty on Azkaban anymore," Harry consoled at the horrified look on Tonks' face.

"Where's nepotism when you need it?" Tonks muttered, shooting Sirius a look of annoyance.

"There is no favouritism in my department," Amelia said flatly.

"She's not lying, I'm her bloody husband and she gives my team all the shit work," Sirius snorted

"That's all that you're qualified for," Bellatrix quipped.

Harry tuned out of the conversation as Bella and Sirius began to argue as he thought about who the spy inside the ministry could be. Truthfully he was at a bit of a loss though he only knew a handful of aurors and he was confident that none of them was the traitor.

Harry was pulled from those thoughts as Hardwin started to get fussy and a familiar smell filled the room.

"Oh, it seems the baby needs tending to," Bella said, scrunching her nose up.

"Sirius, this is exactly the kind of work you're qualified for," Harry smirked as he stood up.

"Sorry mate, I don't do nappies anymore," Sirius refused.

Harry rolled his eyes before making his way out of the room with Hardwin to go get the lad cleaned up. Harry hadn't really expected Sirius to accept the job, nobody likes nappy duty. Harry and Bellatrix had a rule for this kind of situation, whoever is holding the baby when he makes a mess has to clean up said mess.

As Harry began changing his youngest son, he couldn't help but feel pleased about how Christmas was going. True it had started out a little rough but having a full house today had more than made up for the disaster at Cissa's party last night.

Harry was pulled back to the present when he unwrapped the surprise his son had left him and he found something else to be thankful for, vanishing charms.

Spinner's End, Cokesworth, 12/25/1993, 22:12

Harry made his way to the rundown home and knocked smartly on the door. He had visited Snape a few times over the years but this was the first time he had visited the man at his home.

Harry had opted to come without his unspeakable robes, the disguise was becoming pointless and he was hoping that it may help make Snape a little more cooperative.

Harry could see the large chimney of a mill silhouetted in the moonlight not far from the house he was standing in front of making him think that Snape lived in an old mill town. All of the houses on this street looked identical in design though admittedly the other houses seemed to be better cared for than this house which was starting to resemble the Shrieking Shack with peeling paint on the walls and boards covering the windows.

Harry didn't have to wait very long before the door opened to reveal a perplexed-looking Severus Snape.

"Peverell, what are you doing here?" Snape drawled.

"I need a quick word with you," Harry said giving him a serious look

"Very well," Snape sighed before stepping aside and holding open the door for Harry to step inside.

Snape led Harry into what he believed used to be a sitting room but now more closely resembled a library or archive room with bookshelves taking up most of the walls. In the centre of the room was a pair of high-backed armchairs facing a tiny fireplace with a fire burning merrily in the grate.

"So what do you want from me?" Snape asked as soon as they entered the room.

"Narcissa was almost killed last night and I want to know who was ordered to assassinate her," Harry answered deciding there was no point beating around the bush.

"I take it you plan to kill whoever's responsible?" Snape asked in an emotionless voice.

"Of course I do," Harry said in a deadly serious tone, his eyes boring into Snape's.

"Good, at least you're being honest," Snape nodded approvingly.

"You're a smart man, you know who I really am by now," Harry shrugged.

"I do," Snape agreed.

"So who tried to kill my sister-in-law?" Harry asked.

"I knew she was a target but the dark lord kept the assassin's identity a secret. I will try to find out who it was but all that was discussed during our last meeting was plans for an attack on the thirty-first of this month," Snape admitted.

"Where?" Harry asked sharply.

"He hasn't said, but I know that he's had a few of his simpler followers transporting hundreds of inferi to a location in England for the attack," Snape shrugged.

Before Harry could ask his next question, Snape winced and grabbed his forearm.

"I've been summoned," Snape said looking alarmed.

"I'll come back tomorrow," Harry said as he followed Snape back towards the front door.

"If you must, I will make a few discreet inquiries and see if I can learn the identity of the assassin," Snape told him as the two men stepped out into the frigid night air.

"I would be very grateful," Harry said as the two of them came to a stop just outside of Snape's transportation wards.

"I'm not doing it for you, Narcissa is an old friend of mine," Snape snarked before he turned on the spot, disappearing with a soft 'pop.'

"That man has absolutely no manners at all," Harry muttered into the silent night as he continued walking towards the dirty river in the distance.

Harry's mind wandered to the snippets of information he had gotten from Snape. If he was interpreting the information correctly there would be a large-scale attack on New Year's Eve and inferi would be involved. The problem was that he didn't have a location which would make it difficult to set up acounter-attack.

When Harry thought about it he realized he would be busy that night anyway, that was the night of Bella's party...

"Bella's party," Harry whispered as he had an unsettling epiphany.

Harry felt like kicking himself, of course, the party was the target! The wards over the manor would be taken down for the night and quite a few high-value targets would be in one place.

Harry turned on the spot to apparate home and bring this information back to his wife, disappearing with a barely audible 'pop.'

As Harry left to go tell Bellatrix of his suspicion, he had no idea that he would be one of the last people to see Severus Snape alive.