Chapter 2: Azkaban
"So what you're saying," Tonks said as she twisted the red mug in her hands, "is that, you want to go to Azkaban to visit Snape."
Harry nodded. "Just to get some facts straight," he clarified. He grabbed his tall glass of pumpkin juice and drank as he waited for Tonks to respond.
The woman chuckled into her mug. "I didn't think anyone was seriously considering Ron's plan." She remained silent and for a moment, Harry was convinced that she would refuse in taking part of his plan. Hell, the plan itself was insane, he realized, which was why he proposed it when no one was around. Remus had planned to leave in the early breakfast hour to aid McGonogall and help with the physical and magical renovations. Harry knew the werewolf would have definitely rejected his proposition, so he waited until Remus was gone to head downstairs for breakfast.
Ron might have supported his plan, but Hermione would have talked sense into Tonks. In any case, even if Hermione did approve, she would want to accompany him, along with Ron. And Harry needed to be alone for this, so it was fortunate that they weren't at Grimmauld Place. Yet. They would come in due time, which was why he ambushed Tonks quickly. He needed an answer now, before anyone found out.
He carefully observed Tonks' current mannerisms. Her eyes were focused on a certain area of the ceiling. Two of her black, chipped nail-polished fingers were tapping feverishly on the mug she was holding with two hands.
She couldn't say no. It would go against her instincts. Tonks had a good heart and was devoted to the people she loved. Noble traits, but Harry knew her better than that, or so he liked to think. She had a wild side to her; she craved danger. It was the Black blood in her. It explained, after all, why she chose the career path of an Auror, and one of the many reasons why she fell for Remus.
He knew he had her when her lips suddenly formed a small smirk.
Tonks placed her mug down on the table and stood, placing her hands on her hips. "Okay, Harry Potter. I accept your challenge." She then put a finger to her lips and winked. "But we can't tell Remus, okay? He'll murder me if he knew what I was doing."
Harry couldn't help smiling. "Don't you mean we?"
Tonks shook her head. "Oh, no. He'd think it was all my idea." She turned around, approached a kitchen cabinet and began rummaging through the various items. "Now, listen... It'd be much easier if we waited a day. Getting permission for you wouldn't be such a hassle..."
He figured she'd say that, but he had the perfect response. "Well, where's the fun in that?"
She turned to look at Harry. Her eyes that day were an icy blue, and were presently shimmering with glee. "Exactly." She closed the cabinet and approached the table again, setting a container of toothpicks down. She grabbed two out of the plastic tube and held one up for Harry to see.
"I'm giving you an hour. One hour," she instructed clearly. She set the toothpick down again before continuing. "The security's pretty loose compared to the Dementors, but you still have to stay on your toes. They're not expecting any visitors today, so just stick to the shadows and you'll be fine."
"Stick to the shadows," Harry repeated. "Got it."
Tonks grinned. "You should go get your invisibility cloak. They won't be able to detect that." Harry complied and ran upstairs, but not before seeing Tonks pick up a toothpick and exclaiming, "Alright, let's see if I remember how to do this..."
When Harry returned, Tonks was already finished turning the toothpicks into portkeys. She passed them to Harry. "That one there will leave in two minutes, and the other one will activate an hour later."
Harry nodded. "Thanks, Tonks... I promise I won't get caught."
"Yeah, you shouldn't! For both of our sakes. And leave the area you land in as soon as you get there. Some parts of the wards are still weak, but they'll definitely detect the portkey magic, even if it is just a pulse. Oh! And," she added as Harry threw the cloak on himself. "Whatever you do, don't use your wand! You'll blow your cover for sure. Do you know Snape's cell number?"
"Yup," Harry answered under his cloak. "Thanks again."
Tonks smirked. "Yeah, yeah. Good luck."
And with that, Harry felt the familiar tugging feeling of the portkey whisk him away.
--
Harry lost his balance when he landed, but he still managed to stay on his feet. Remembering Tonks' advice, he quickly and quietly shuffled to the opposite side of the long, dark corridor.
He shivered and struggled to contain the teeth chattering in his mouth. Despite the absence of Dementors, the prison was abnormally cold. It was also dark, even with the flaming torches on the walls, and he could hear water dripping from each direction. He looked around, noting that the entire place felt hostile and unfriendly.
He proceeded through the hallway stealthily, sticking to the shadows of the long corridor. He peered into cells when he passed them. Some were empty, but in other cases, he'd find a man or woman huddled in a corner of their cell. In Cell 3556, Harry found a tall, ragged-looking man pacing back and forth, mumbling his incoherent thoughts aloud. In the cell next to his, there was a woman leaning against a stone wall and sobbing quietly.
Harry was starting to feel uncomfortable and he was beginning to see exactly why his friends would have rejected his idea. The place was haunting.
He continued down the corridor. The path spiraled upwards some time ago, so Harry assumed that he was on the next floor. He was close.
He was caught off-guard, however, when a frail arm from a cell jutted out and blocked his path. He gasped, and then, quickly realizing that he slipped, simply stopped breathing altogether. The woman behind the bars stared blankly in his direction, a smile slowly forming on her face. "Magic," she hissed. "I sense magic. Beautiful, powerful magic, yes... I sense it. It's here! Magic is here..."
She could feel his presence! If she alerted the guards, they would surely find him. Panicking, Harry quickly backed away from the woman and began inching his way closer to the opposite side of the hall. He then heard footsteps echoing in the corridor from his right, growing louder and louder as they approached. Harry clamped a hand around his mouth and nose to stifle his breathing, and stiffened as the Auror passed him by.
"Magic," the woman hissed again. The Auror gave her a passing look. "I'm on it," he grumbled, more to himself than her. He headed in the direction where Harry came from, and when his shadow disappeared, Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
The bars of the cell behind him were uncomfortably stabbing him in the back, so Harry turned around.
The gasp that he let out that time was louder.
There he was.
He was sitting at the far-left corner of his cell space. It was dark, but the profile of the man left no doubt in Harry's man that it was Snape. Harry squinted his eyes and noticed that Snape's eyes were closed. Was he asleep?
It was no matter, in either case. Harry knelt down in front of the bars and looked to-and-fro before softly murmuring, "Sir."
There was no response, but after a long moment, Snape languidly opened his eyes and scowled. "Potter."
"I thought you were asleep."
"I was attempting it. Why are you here?" The response was gruff.
Harry lifted the bottom half of his cloak and pulled it over his face, revealing himself to the man. The top of his head was still covered, so Harry grabbed the sides of his invisibility cloak and grasped two steel bars in front of him, making him visible only to Snape. "I just... Well, I promised I'd get you out of here, didn't I?"
Snape was staring at the wall across from his position. "Detection charms, Potter. I'm surprised you've made it this far. Then again, the guards here are rather incompetent."
"Actually, sir," Harry began, "The Aurors... don't really know I'm here." He didn't know why he felt so nervous. Well, he should feel anxious, Harry supposed. He was breaking a handful of Ministry rules, after all. But being chastised by Ministry officials wasn't as nerve-wracking as standing (or kneeling in his case) before his former hated professor. His new target would be harder to break through than Tonks, that was certain. Even if Snape was behind bars and in dirty rags, he still had an air about him that left Harry feeling apprehensive. His black eyes were still cold, his face still fixed in a scowl, his hair still greasy and unwashed. Snape had large bags under his eyes though, Harry noticed. And his face seemed paler than usual.
"I assumed so. You never did like to follow orders. Just like your father."
Harry had to resist the strong urge to roll his eyes. He had almost forgotten with whom he was dealing. The memories he had witnessed certainly didn't change the fact that the man he was speaking with was a cruel and bitter one, and he would say anything to aggravate Harry. Sighing in frustration, Harry decided to try another approach.
"Look," he said through gritted teeth. "We both know you were on the Light's side." He waited to see if Snape would interrupt, and continued when he didn't. "And I know you don't like me any more than I like you."
Snape snorted.
"But... " Harry continued, watching the man drill holes into the wall with his glare. "I owe you."
"You don't owe me anything." Snape turned and finally met Harry's stare.
"I do," Harry said. "We all do. We wouldn't have won if it wasn't for you."
The two of them stayed in silence for a minute. Snape had shifted his gaze to the floor, and seemed to be contemplating everything that had just occurred. Harry opened his mouth to further convince Severus that his intentions were sincere, but Snape spoke first.
"Why are you doing this, Potter?"
"I..."
Various emotions surged through Harry's blood at that moment. Anger, gratitude, resentment, bitterness, appreciation, relief... All towards the man.
And suddenly, he was back in the forest again, enclosed in a circle of Death-Eaters. Harry was shivering, ashamed of being caught so easily. He was stupid for giving up the plan, foolish for not following orders. The silver masks were taunting him and he watched in horror as the figure in front of him took off their mask. Bellatrix laughed hysterically, loudly, the shrill tones echoing in his ears...
And then he saw the malice in her eyes disappear. Her laughter was suspended and he saw her topple backwards as the green light hit her in the chest. The rest of the Death-Eaters retreated from their stances, some Apparating out of the area, others physically fleeing, afraid that they would be blamed for her death. One, Harry saw, had the gall to swipe Bellatrix' wand from her fingers before they left. Then, realizing that he had a chance to escape, Harry swerved around, and gaped as he saw Snape staring back at him, staring with such ferocity, it scared the hell out of him, and then the man turned and walked away, leaving Harry alone, but then he heard the screams of agony, and...
"I don't need help."
Snape's statement tugged Harry away from his thoughts. Yes, best not to think about it all. He couldn't keep reliving it…
He shivered involuntarily and focused on the task at hand. "So," Harry started, "You think you can convince the Wizengamot of your innocence?"
Harry thought he saw his former professor smirk. "No," he responded. "I cannot. Though that fact would hardly matter, seeing as there won't be a trial. Surely you read about it?"
Harry's eyes widened. "No, they forgot to mention that," he said, anger boiling inside him. "I didn't read the entire article, anyway. It was a load of rubbish. In any case, sir, I won't let you stay here. I'll get a hearing approved and you'll be out of here in no time."
Snape locked eyes with Harry again. "I said I didn't need your help!"
"Yes, you do!" Harry exclaimed, having trouble to keep his voice in such a low tone. "You can't possibly spend the rest of your life in Azkaban! You don't deserve it."
"Enough!" Snape attempted to stand, winced, and then compromised to giving Harry a very scathing look. "I don't need your help, Potter. There's nothing left for me out there, so I might as well stay here where I won't be hounded every bloody day by wizards and witches who think I'm a traitor!"
"Whom are you talking to, 4113?" A voice to Harry's left asked. Harry froze instantly.
The woman on the opposite side began to yell again. "Do you feel the magic? Yes… The magic is here, it's there, I feel it! Magic…"
Footsteps swiftly approached. "Keep calm, will ya? There's no magic, I just checked! And 4113, here, is still new, so the wards haven't dimmed his magic yet. Jeez…" A large clanging of metal was heard, and the woman screamed. The man then stepped towards Snape's cell and let out a deep chuckle, right beside Harry.
Harry gripped the cell bars tighter and hoped that the guard wouldn't bump into him. He was too close for Harry to back away without being detected. Plus, his front side was still revealed to Snape, and it wouldn't do for the guard to see a conspicuous ripple break through the air.
He stayed still and waited.
"You know, most prisoners last two weeks before they start creating invisible friends," the Auror chuckled again. "So what's its name, eh? Female? Male? Creature? Come on, I'm all ears!" The man continued to laugh.
Snape merely glared at the Auror. "Food," he demanded.
The guard's laughter slowly died down. "Hey now, what did we say? If you want some food, you're going to have to crawl over here and get it from the other side. Yeah, 4113. You're going to have to touch the bars, I'm afraid." The man placed his hands on the mentioned bars. "But don't worry. Your friend will be there for support!" The guard howled with laughter and walked away, miraculously missing Harry by a foot.
When the footsteps could no longer be heard, Harry spoke. "Looks like you'll be mistreated here, too. At least out there you can feed yourself."
Snape stayed quiet. Then, he softly sighed. "If you do manage to free me, will you promise to never bother me again?"
"Promise."
The man sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose as he did so. "Do your worst," he said with reluctance.
Harry grinned despite himself. "Brilliant," he remarked, and then looked at his watch. "And with a few minutes to spare." He then glanced back at Snape, who was staring at the floor. "I'm getting you out of here," Harry reassured him.
Snape raised his hand and dismissed him without another word. Harry rose from the floor then, covering his face and body again with his cloak. He stood there, observing Snape for a while. The man had closed his eyes and seemed to be attempting to sleep once more. He looked frail in those moments, and Harry felt the cold prickly sensation of guilt slither around his body like a snake.
Fortunately, he didn't have time to dwell on it. He felt the portkey in his pocket activate, and in a blink of an eye, he was back in the comfort of his empty kitchen at Grimmauld Place.
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A/N: Thanks for the reviews I've gotten so far. I'm glad people out there are excited for this story as I am -- 'Cause trust me. I'm stoked.
