Remus Lupin was the first through the floo into the Hogshead Inn in Hogsmeade - closely followed by Frank Longbottom, Lily Potter, and Peter Pettigrew. He was on the way to the door of the Inn when he heard their names being called and turned about. Dumbledore stood in the doorway that led to the rooms upstairs, beckoning the four of them over. He looked over the motley collection of them, his eyebrows pinching.
"They've taken her! They've got Alice - they --" Frank started but Dumbledore held up his hand to stop Frank talking and shook his head, beckoning for them to follow him.
The bartender was wiping the bar with a dirty old cloth and he glowered darkly at them as they passed, heading up the stairs after Dumbledore.
At the top of the stairs, Dumbledore led them straight down the long hallway that stretched the length of the building, pushed opened a door that was hidden behind a bookshelf, and motioned for them to go inside.
Inside, Mad-Eye Moody stood leaning against a cane, the pale white face of the real Matija Blagojevic staring up at him, his pointed teeth bared, eyes glowing bright red. He was spell-bound to a chair and fiercely angry, hissing like a fierce animal. Mad-Eye seemed unphased by the spittle flying from Matija's mouth as he growled and hissed, and he turned to see the four new comers, his magical eye trained on Blagojevic.
Dumbledore closed the door to the room behind him, the bookcase sliding peacefully back into place, and then turned to join them all. "Mr. Pettigrew... Mr. Lupin -- a surprise to see either of you tonight," Dumbledore said, he looked at Lily and Frank, and again held up his palm before Frank could launch into any angry spurt. "Let me stop you before you start, Mr. Longbottom," he said, "I already know what's happened so we can skip the explanation of why you've come. I am aware that your half of the mission didn't go quite as planned."
"Quite as planned?" Frank spluttered, "My WIFE has been KIDNAPPED, Dumbledore!"
"And we shall get her back!" Dumbledore replied. "In due time."
"In due -- IN DUE TIME?" Frank's voice rose. His eyes narrowed. "You planned this? You planned for it to be Alice that they took?"
"No!" Dumbledore said, shaking his head, "By all means, no! Of course not. But the process of extracting Mrs. Longbottom from our enemy must be done with a delicate hand as the Death Eaters now believe that they have captured a fake Blagojevic and brought the real one with them - when we know that the real one is here, with us!"
Blagojevic hissed all the harder upon hearing himself mentioned. Nervous, Peter side-stepped behind Lily, who glanced at him a moment before turning back to Albus. "Silencio!" Moody grunted and the hissing from Blagojevic stopped with a glottal pop.
Frank was nearly shaking, "Dumbledore, I don't give a damn what sort of grand opportunity this affords your spy OR Severus stinking Snape. It endangers Alice and that's not acceptable!"
"Mr. Longbottom, all that I am saying is that we must be careful because we have two people in place with the Death Eaters now. Our spy is perfectly capable of --"
"She could be being killed right this moment -- or being tortured -- or --"
"She is not!" Dumbledore interrupted.
"How do you know?" Lily demanded, stepping forward. Peter paled as Blagojevic's eyes landed on him, all red and glowing, and he quickly stepped forward, too, staying close to Lily.
"Because, Miss. Evans, our spy has already reported back. Very briefly, but a report none the less. Voldemort is present with them, and as long as he is there the Death Eaters will dare not go against any commands that he gives. At this time, the Dark Lord has commanded that none harm Mrs. Longbottom for the sake of her pureblood - despite the fact that Alice has viciously spoken in defiance to his face."
Frank covered his eyes. There was no telling what Alice might have said.
"The Death Eaters and their leader seek the fight you wish to bring to their door step, do you understand? They are prepared - far more so than this group is." Dumbledore paused, looking over the group before him. His eyes narrowed, "Mr. Lupin?"
Remus's face was flush and he was scowling. "What?" he asked darkly.
"You were not involved in this mission previously..." He looked them over again. "Where is James Potter?" he asked.
"He went to the Ministry - to get --" Lily looked at Moody, "And the Prewetts and - and Underhill."
Moody looked at Lily. "What's he getting Underhill for?" he growled.
"To help us!" Frank shouted, "Which YOU aren't doing!" he added, looking to Dumbledore. "I don't care about the spy, I don't care about your mission, I care about my wife."
Dumbledore started to respond but Remus cut in, "Sir. Last time we had a situation where a spy had been taken by the enemy and the rescue was put on hold to be safe, we lost Ned Veigler. I personally cannot stand for a tragedy of those proportions happening again. I - I'm very sorry, Dumbledore, but -- but we do have to go and help Alice. Whether you help us or not." Remus set his jaw firmly, and though his nose was flared slightly, It was clear upon his face that he meant what he was proposing and he stared Dumbledore in the eyes. Challenging.
Lily looked between Remus and Dumbledore. She hesitated, then, "I agree with Remus."
Frank nodded.
Even Peter said, "Me, too!" from behind Lily.
Dumbledore was silent.
Moody murmured, "Prewett One would agree, I think, Albus."
Dumbledore's upperlip twitched beneath his beard. "It seems then that I am out numbered." He paused. "And what shall we do about Mr. Bones? If we attack the Death Eaters, word will get back to the vampires and the results may expose his cover as well as Mr. Prewett's."
Moody frowned. "Ed's been trained to hold his own in these situations, we have to trust and have faith in him and his training." He knocked the floor with his cane. "Alice Longbottom's not had that sort of training and she's vulnerable. Just because the order's in place not to harm her, if she's talkin' back at He Who Must Not Be Named , there's no tellin' how long he'll hang on before he decides to let them do what they wish." He paused. "And with the Treaty -- Well, there's a possibility that Prewett One's cover will be blown if he's offered... a meal."
Frank paled.
"It may just be in the interest of our men if we go in sooner than later - extract the girl and even give them reason to believe their covers if we fight," Moody continued.
Dumbledore's eyes were still on Remus's.
Remus hadn't dared look away, either, despite how terrified he felt holding the stare.
"Very well," Dumbledore said, and he looked away.
Remus let out a breath and turned his face away, his heart beating twice it's usual pace. He clenched and released his fists at his sides, trying to dispel some of the anxiety that was coursing through him.
Lily reached out a hand and touched Remus's forearm, her eyes meeting his, tears in her eyes. She'd felt the strength it had taken out of him to hold his ground - and the pride that welled within her felt like it might burst from her.
"Alastor, I trust you can handle Mr. Blagojevic while I go with the Order on the mission?"
"Yes sir, I certainly can," Moody nodded and he turned to the vampire before him.
"Very good." And with a wave of his wand - Dumbledore let fly several ghostly forms of his phoenix patronus, which bolted for the fireplace and disappeared from the hearth in a burst of smoke. "Come," he said to Lily, Peter, Remus, and Frank. "We shall go and fetch Elphinstone Urquart - he lives just down the lane here - and await the Order's arrival there."
Alice had passed out and when she opened her eyes, she found herself staring up into cold grey eyes that stared back at her from above. She opened her mouth to shriek in surprise but her mouth was covered with a palm as Severus Snape reached down and stopped the sound before it could escape her.
"Don't. Speak." The words echoed in her head, which throbbed more now than ever. They were inside of her mind. His mouth had never moved. "Do you understand?"
Alice nodded, though she wasn't sure she did. How the hell was he doing that? The legilimency? Was that normal for legilimens to be able to shove their thoughts into other people's heads? She shivered. It was like she could feel his mind there along side hers and it felt intimate and too close and she wished she could shove it away... but her limbs felt so heavy, she didn't think she could move them to shove anything away. Her body felt like she was underwater with the air pressing upon her.
For a moment his eyes looked like he might've been about to say that he was sorry - but then he turned away. "It's necessary."
But was it? she wondered.
Snape removed his hand from her mouth as he glanced at the door of the room. He had only a few minutes before he would be missed downstairs with the other Death Eaters. Carefully, he drew his wand and waved it over her, muttering an incantation that she couldn't understand - it was as though it were in another language - and when he finished, she felt the heaviness that had been filling her up release.
"They'd cast a hex over you that weights the iron in your blood," he whispered, "To keep you from running. I've released it. It takes about fifteen minutes before it will fully leave your blood stream."
Alice nodded.
"You shouldn't move until it's left you," he said, voice barely above a breath. "When it has, you must go as quickly as you can."
Alice nodded; she started to open her mouth to ask a question but Snape cut her off.
"Your wand is there, on the dresser." He pointed.
"Be as fast and as silent as you can," Snape hissed. "I'm not going to be able to help you if you get caught. They'll kill you - torture you first for the fun of it. The Dark Lord has departed for now so there's nothing to stop them from doing it. Some of the cruelest Death Eaters are downstairs at this moment - and you've already angered one of the most dangerous of them with your old hag comment earlier." He paused, then reached into his pocket, withdrew an envelope and pushed it into the pocket of the vest that Alice was still wearing. "Now. Because I am letting you go, you will owe me a favor. Give that to Lily Evans. Do not look at it yourself. It is for Lily's eyes only. Do you understand?"
Alice's voice was a croak, "Potter. Lily Potter."
Severus glowered. "Quiet. Or they will hear you. And I will not stop them if you are caught. Remember that."
She flushed.
Severus slid his wand into the folds of the black robes he wore and he stared at her for several moments. "You don't even know who the other Blagojevic is?" He shook his head. "The Dark Lord is right... Dumbledore trusts no one, does he?"
"It's to protect --"
"Shh," Severus held his finger before his mouth, silencing her, then turned, batlike, and left the room, pulling the door silently closed behind himself. In the hallway, he paused and waved his palm before the door - casting a silencing charm that would help - at least a bit - to keep her from being detected by the Death Eaters a floor below.
The Death Eaters who were
Downstairs, Matija Blagojevic - or the version of him that they now kept in their presence - was sitting stiffly at the dinner table, looking disgusted by the sight of the human food that the other Death Eaters were taking in. Without Voldemort in the room, the table had an almost relaxed sense to it, a camaraderie that could almost be mistaken for a friendship. Barty Crouch and Evan Rosier were arguing in a friendly way about the recently passed World Cup, to which Barty had gone but Evan had not, and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were whispering to Edwin and Esther Crabbe about their son, Esther running her hands over her over-large stomach with affection. They hadn't told anyone yet, but Narissa was pregnant - this Snape knew because he could hear Lucius's mind as he stared at Esther's stomach and wondered if Narcissa's would grow as large as that? Dolohov sat beside Blagojevic and had bent forward - he was talking about an inn in Bulgaria where he'd once stayed and asking if Blagojevic had ever been to it and Blagojevic was answering vaguely.
A wise move, considering there was no telling when Dolohov might be testing him on something he knew from previous conversations with the real Blagojevic, Severus thought.
Severus sat to the left of Dolohov, across from Barty and Evan, and told himself he wasn't still hungry. He'd eaten a small amount before he'd excused himself up to release Alice and now that everyone else had pretty much finished and were only talking, he felt strange taking more food now, though it sat before him. He willed his stomach to stay quiet and diverted his eyes toward the ceiling.
"So how come you didn't know that was Alice all along that Dolohov was talkin' to, Snape?" Barty asked, turning suddenly to look at Severus.
The question caught the attention of Edwin Crabbe and Antonin himself, who turned around to look at Snape.
Severus could hear Fabian Prewett's mind slip his shields with surprise. As though reminded by the words, Fabian reached into his vest and withdrew a small flask identical to one that Blagojevic really did carry - though the real Blagojevic's was filled with blood, rather than polyjuice.
He looked to Barty and said, slowly, "I did know."
"You did not," Antonin Dolohov said, "You looked panicked when I had her pinned to the bar."
"I did," Snape said, eyes meeting Dolohov's. "I had been waiting all evening to try at catching any associates that she was working with - they were in the room, you know. There were at least four others and I thought I recognized the mind of at least two of the others."
"Oh yeah? Who were they?" snapped Evan Rosier. Knowing the names of the Order of the Phoenix was just as important to the Death Eaters as knowing the names of the Death Eaters was to the Order of the Phoenix, after all.
"One of course was her husband," Snape said, drawing out his words, avoiding Evan's glare.
"And the other?" prodded Barty.
Severus shrugged. "It sounded like James Potter."
"If James Potter was there then must've been that little piece he's married to was as well," grinned Evan, staring at Snape, knowing what would get a rise out of him.
"It couldn't have been Potter, though," Snape said, interrupting Evan's filthy thoughts that had carried on well past the words he actually said outloud about Lily Evans. "His big ego wouldn't fit through the door."
Barty Crouch laughed, but Evan Rosier smirked.
On the other side of Antonin Dolohov, Blagojevic-Fabian raised an eyebrow at Severus Snape.