Chapter Ten Malfoy
Harry set the chair upright just as Peabody walked into the room. Snape was still at the bookcase and Harry was staring at him. Snape was returning the stare and for the first time Harry saw that there was something besides contempt in the man's face.
"Well! What's on the agenda for the day boys?" Peabody asked, collapsing into his favorite chair and Blackmoore, who had entered the room unnoticed, had placed a cup of fresh tea at his elbow.
Harry's mouth was dry from what he heard. "I'm…I'm going to my room for a moment and then I'm going to St. Mungo's to visit Lupin."
Peabody's head came up and he scratched his stubble of a beard. He had changed his clothes and wore his usual shabby attire. Harry knew, based on his living style, that Peabody was very wealthy but insisted on wearing his 'comfortable clothes'. He watched the older man as he did the calculations that were part and parcel of every thought that ever went on in his head.
"I see Harry," Peabody nodded. "Severus it seems wise for you to go along with the boy."
Snape crossed the room to stand in front of him and glare down. "You know Rolly whenever I'm around you I always feel like a wind-up clock with no free will of my own." He stood waiting until Peabody graced him with a smile.
"Understand what you mean dear boy," Peabody clicked his yellowish teeth together and yanked his customary paper up in front of his eyes.
Harry still shaken from the news Snape had given him, hurried off to his room, where he found that his stomach couldn't hold his breakfast. He stood staring into the mirror and replayed in his mind the scenes as he imagined them. His mother going to Snape with a clever way to try and save him. Snape's churlish manner when he saw her, suspecting that she would beg for her life and instead saving his. Snape loving her! Harry closed his eyes and willed his stomach to stop rolling.
The scenes went on until he yanked his glasses off and stuck his head into the basin of cold water. He held it there until there was no breath left in his lungs and then he threw his head back, pretending that the droplets that ran down his face was nothing but water.
"You're worse than a girl," he said, spitting at the mirror.
Ten minutes later he stood in the doorway to the study. Without speaking, he watched Snape stand and follow him. They were headed for muggle London and the entrance to St. Mungo's. Harry walked as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself. He couldn't tolerate the thought of allowing his Potion's Master to walk at his side. He wasn't ready.
They stopped at the store-front of an old shabby brick building with a sign that read Purges and Dowes Ltd. that posed as the entrance to the wizard hospital. Harry was very aware of the entrance because he had been there before when Arthur Weasley had been bitten by Voldemort's snake and Harry had seen it from afar, laying in his own bed in Griffindor Tower. Harry stared at the dummy in the store front window who appeared to be even more dilapidated than the first time he'd seen her.
"We're here to see Remus Lupin," he said to her. He and Snape stepped through together into the waiting room and advanced to the front desk. There were very few people present at that hour since it was very close to noon. Harry repeated his words and the receptionist pointed over her shoulder to the floor guide.
"Normally he would be on the fourth floor because of Spell damage," she said through a thick wad of chewing gum. "Since he's a werewolf and the moon is almost full he had been sent to the Artifacts Accidents ward, first floor second door to your right."
Harry nodded and led the way. He knew exactly where Remus was because he was occupying the same room that Arthur Weasley had been in. Harry stepped through the double door and felt some relief. Remus was standing at the window dressed in a hospital dressing gown and looking as well as he ever did.
"Harry!" Lupin strode over and took his hand. "I'm so glad to see you. You know, of course, about Hermione…" he asked, looking paler then ever. He glanced over his shoulder at the only other occupant in the room and saw that the woman was asleep. "Perhaps we should step out and down the corridor. There's an empty private room there." He led them down the hall and turned as the door closed behind them.
"Severus, thank you for bringing, Harry. I feel so much more relieved knowing that he's with you," Remus said and reached out to shake his hand. Snape stared at it momentarily before reciprocating.
"It's alright, Remus," Harry said leaning against a bed in the empty room. "We know what's happened."
"Are you going to go for her?" Lupin asked them both. "You know it was Percy!"
"Yes, Remus," Harry nodded. "But it isn't the right time yet." Harry felt strange saying it, knowing that Lupin felt as anxious as he did about Hermione's well-being.
Lupin nodded slowly and looked first at him and then at Snape. "You'll be helping Harry then, Severus?" The room was dark. The only light shone through a narrow window and the crystal balls that normally illuminated the room were dark. Harry waited watching the two men.
"Yes, Lupin," Snape said in his usual dead-pan way. "It seems I have a part to play in her rescue. Dumbledore sent a query to Peabody asking for information on Harry's situation at home. Peabody realized that a chain of events was about to take place and contacted me."
Lupin nodded, repeating in a monotone, "A chain of events."
Snape raised his eyebrows and nodded.
"It's very unlike Rolly to involve himself," Lupin said. "I was relieved, don't take me wrong, but surprised."
"You know, Peabody?" Harry said.
Lupin turned to him and answered, "Well, yes and no, Harry. I think I told you at dinner that I did, or maybe I just implied it. Anyway, because of my…condition, I have associated with many people, many types of people you could say. I know about him, it would be hard not to know him and yes, I have met with him once."
Snape seemed amused at what he was hearing and Harry noticed. He ignored it to ask a question, "We didn't talk about him in detail at dinner. I thought you...I got the impression you didn't like my being with him."
Lupin frowned slightly and sighed, "Forecasters are very difficult people to be around. People don't like them very much and I was worried about you staying with him." He continued quickly when he noticed the expression on Snape's face, "Not that I believe he is a bad person or that he would harm you, Harry."
"What then Lupin?" Snape asked smoothly. "Do you think this precious boy will be unduly influenced by Peabody? I can assure you he is in the best of hands."
Harry could feel them choosing up sides, Snape willing to protect Peabody and Remus willing to go to bat for Harry. If he hadn't known what Snape had told him earlier it wouldn't have made sense. However, he was beginning to understand with more clarity what stood between the two men. "Remus, it's ok. Peabody treats me very well and Mr. Snape is there to help me."
Snape glanced over at Harry and looked at him as if he had suddenly grown donkey ears and Remus was half turned to him with a puzzled expression on his face.
Lupin continued to speak, "I only meant Severus, that a person can feel very overwhelmed by an accomplished Forecaster. A person can feel like a puppet on strings, governed by a set of calculations of events...with no will of their own."
Harry nodded and broke in, saying, "It is intimidating at first Remus. Peabody is showing me how it's done; but I still decide when and what to do when I feel like it. It's clear that Peabody's life is pretty narrow because he relies on it so much. That's not to say he isn't brilliant."
The two men seemed to step back from one another.
"In this case, his skills will prove very important," Harry finished. "Hermione is being held by Percy. He'll hand her over to Voldemort but he's going to want to leave a trail of crumbs for me, to draw me out. That's what this is all about," Harry said. "Professor Snape is in a difficult position because Voldemort's going to trust that he'll give me up, that he's playing along, pretending he's on Dumbledore's side until the last minute and then show his true loyalties."
Snape followed Harry with his eyes as he made his way around the room. Lupin had seated himself and was listening.
Harry stopped at the narrow window. "He's grown tired of wondering what Mr. Snape is doing, whether he's playing both sides. The reward will be getting me and finally doing away with me." The room was silent for several minutes. "Remus, I'm afraid there's a good chance that something bad will happen to Percy. He's in the way."
The two men remained very still and Harry turned to look at them in the dim light, leaning against the window seal. "I'm afraid one of us will have to kill him."
Remus gasped, "Harry, just tell me where Hermione is and I'll go get her. You don't have to do this. You don't have to expose yourself." He turned to Snape with a pleading tone in his voice. "Severus?"
Harry broke in, "It won't work, Remus. Professor Snape has to take me there as his prisoner. It's the only way to get in. You couldn't go alone, I can't go alone and neither can he. It's only believable if he and I go together."
Remus stared at him and then looked back at Snape who remained quiet his hands folded before him. Harry knew what he was thinking. Lupin was unsure of Snape's loyalties, wasn't sure that once in front of Voldemort that Snape wouldn't do just exactly what Harry had just described.
"Remus…" Harry walked over slowly and stood at Snape's side and said very softly, "I trust him."
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They left the hospital room and stepped out into the street under the dull gray London skies.
"You impress me, Potter," Snape said coolly. "I didn't know that you could Forecast that far ahead. Rolly has taught you well."
Harry glanced up. He knew that the man was acknowledging his support in front of Remus. "I wasn't really Forecasting, Professor. You and I both know that's the way it'll end up." He started walking and Snape joined him. "Anyway, that will keep Remus out of our hair for now."
They walked on in silence and Snape slowed at a curb. "This way Potter. We're going to Hannah's."
Harry looked up and saw a decadent store front. It was an adult bookstore and the windows were plastered with posters of nude women. The glass was filthy from collected dirt and a string of bright multi-colored lights encircled each window. It looked like someone's shabby, year-old Christmas decorating. Snape noticed his expression.
"Better get used to it, Potter. We're not out for a picnic. If you want to find the Dark Lord you've got to go where he lives and this is the world in which he lives," Snape said and pushed open the door and stepped in. "Coming?" he asked.
They wandered through the narrow aisles towards a back room that smelled vilely and through a wall that Snape knew the combination to. Harry remembered a moment many years before when he'd stood before the wall behind Diagon Alley and watched Hagrid tap on the bricks to open up this new and wonderful world.
The wall opened and Harry held his breath for a moment. It smelled so bad he thought they were at the opening to hell.
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Harry was surprised at the warmth of Hannah's shop. It was located down a dark street, where the walls were covered with centuries of black soot and grime. He walked behind Snape whose very look caused the inhabitants of the street to turn the other way.
The street was narrow and the shops that lined it had small dark windows. Harry chanced to look in several and saw a few figures moving in the dark interiors. Some of the signs above the doors advertised the kind of store but a quick glance in the windows told Harry something different. Several times a figure would step out and speak quietly to Snape, who would shrug them off and continue on.
Once, he thought he glimpsed a glistening metal table piled with what appeared to be 'body parts! Snape grabbed him by the cloak and yanked him away before he could look again.
"Stay with me," he hissed.
They passed several outdoor stalls and several pubs where doors opened wide into darkness and one would almost imagine themselves stepping into a wide yawning mouth and being swallowed alive. Harry could hear the sound of voices and sometimes raucous laughter; the smell of rum and rank spirits drifted from them. A raven perched on the edge of one door cawed at them as they passed underneath. In the stalls beneath low hanging eaves, merchants dressed and hooded in dark somber, sometimes ragged clothes, reached out to claw at them as they walked.
"The best ye kin get, laddie. Come and 'av a look. Dragon's heart and all the part's ye need fer brewin'. " The witch that was screaming at him reeked of body odor, rum and the stench of death. "Why we have the best recovered remains on the street. Fresh outta the graveyard."
Harry shrunk back and stepped up his pace. He wasn't surprised when several dark men, dressed from head to toe in black, their faces covered, would address Snape. "Potion's Master," one whispered throatily, "'ave you come fer some special ingredients. Let me show you- the finest in Egyptian scarabs. No? Spider webs, then, foxglove. Jus' tell me and a kin fetch it fer ye fer a reasonable price."
"Not today," Snape said stepping into the cobbled street and around the misshapen black figure.
By the time they reached Hannah's shop Harry could taste the street in his mouth and desperately wanted to wash it away. Snape stopped and waited for Harry to look up.
Madam LaFoye's Apothecary was written in fading gold letters on the sign over the door. Unlike some of the other shops, there were lights shining from within. Harry noticed that the street was a little cleaner, age-old rubbish didn't cover the stone sidewalk and the air was a little cleaner.
"Why didn't we go in from the muggle side?' Harry asked.
Snape shot a look at him and replied, "Too dangerous for her. If we were seen going in from that side they would know. Here on this side, no one pays attention." He reached for the heavy brass door knob to the side of the etched glass door. "Sometimes there's an advantage to being an outcast in society Potter."
They entered and Hannah met them. She smiled at both of them, "Severus darling, have you gotten over your grim mood?" She kissed him again on the lips and reached out a hand for Harry who was looking over the items in the shop. There were several round tables covered in brightly colored shawls and tablecloths that were scattered around the small area. Each had items for sale sitting on them, including books, crystal balls, brass lamps, candles and other assorted items. Harry noticed the glass-fronted cabinets scattered about the room that held items that looked interesting; some held items not unlike those found at Borgin and Burkes. He thought the other things were probably some of the amulets that Hannah had told him about.
He was just leaning over staring at a set of silver goblets with a very familiar family crest on them when he looked closer to read the crest stamped on one of the cups. They were from the Sirius mansion and carried the Black family crest. Harry would have known them anywhere since he'd helped clean the room they came from. He reached over to open the door when Hannah touched his hand and turned him away.
"These will only bring back sad memories Harry," she said and brushed his cheek with her lips all the while pulling him into the interior of the shop. "People sell things to me and I, in turn, sell them to others." She looked at him with her dark eyes. "They are just things, Harry. There is no life in them. Come. I have lunch prepared upstairs." She guided him to a circular wrought-iron staircase leading to the upper floors. Harry guessed that Snape had already gone up by himself, but he was wrong. When they stepped into the tiny flat above the shop he was not there.
A small table was set and Hannah pushed him gently into a chair. "I will finish the preparation while we talk. If you wish to freshen up the bathroom is there. Harry saw that the bathroom was at the end of the room just past the bed. The bathroom appeared to be the only separate room in the flat. Hannah noticed his glance around the room and smiled, saying, "I lived most of my growing years in a wagon, Harry. The smallness of these rooms seems very grand to a person like me and they suit me well. "
"Where did Snape go?" Harry asked, accepting a chilled glass of pumpkin juice. He relaxed. The atmosphere was very comfortable and homey.
Hannah brought a cup of tea to the small table with two chairs. "He'll return soon." She reached over to touch his brow. It allowed him to see the smooth skin of her neck leading down to the round breasts and cleavage peeking just above the blood-orange blouse that was pulled down on her shoulders. He couldn't seem to see anything else. She brushed the hair from his eyes, her fingers grazing the lightening shaped scar. His hand went up to catch her wrist. She gently pried his fingers off and pushed his hand to his lap, removing his glasses with the other hand.
"We must find a way to disguise you. Since we gypsies are so good at disguises, Severus has left you in my hands. I'm going to dress you like a Roma man, Harry. There are clothes in the bathroom and then we will have to cut this hair."
He almost closed his eyes as he felt the fingers gently tugging at his hair. It sent a familiar wave through him that was enticing and sensual. Harry couldn't see her features clearly to his dismay and put his glasses back on. "Someone tried that once, Hannah. My aunt cut my hair when I was little and it grew back almost immediately.
She grinned with her straight white teeth setting off the deep dimples on each cheek. She whispered, "But you are not a Chavo (boy) anymore, and now you understand that you can control the magic that lives here." She touched his chest, her palm warm over his heart where he knew that she could feel it speed up at her touch. "We will cut it and then, perhaps, a hat I think. It is the glasses that worry me." She dropped the hand from his head and sipped tea from the cup in the other.
Harry shook his head and said, "There's nothing for it. I can't see a thing without them."
She nodded." Severus says there is a muggle device that will help you see without them. He has gone to find this thing." She stood and went back to the small kitchen. "Go now and change your clothes. They are in the bathroom. Let us see if you make a proper Roma man."
Harry stood and walked the few feet to the bathroom. He found the clothes neatly laid on a stool. He stared in the mirror for the second time in the day and looked at himself. He knew that Hannah was too old for him, and that she really didn't intend to disturb him as much as he felt disturbed. He was beginning to understand how she was naturally a warm, touching, sensuous woman and why Snape had fallen in love with her. It was not something that man would ever admit to, but it was clear in his manner.
There was a noise from the shop below and he stuck his head out in time for Hannah to shake her head and warn him to stay put. He watched from a crack in the door as she slipped down the stairs.
That voice, I know that voice, Harry thought. He crossed the room on tiptoe and bent to catch the view of the shop and held his breath when he saw who it was.
"Hannah, my darling!" Lucius Malfoy declared, standing at the counter with his arm around Hannah's waist. He kissed her full-mouthed and ran his lips down her neck.
Hannah was smiling and pushing at him saying, "Mr. Malfoy, not in front of your son."
Malfoy laughed harshly, "He's hardly a flower that is going to wilt Hannah. Why he had his first woman before he was thirteen."
Harry watched as Draco Malfoy came into view. His face was covered with a smirk as he watched his father paw at the woman. Hannah was struggling to break free and keep the man's hands off of her.
"Lucius, what is it you want?" she purred, her smile strained.
"We've come to do a little shopping." Malfoy said, twisting his hand in her hair at the back of her head. he was not being gentle. "I've heard you've acquired a few more things from the Black mansion. Bellatrix gave me a list. Now that her dear cousin is dead, we should be able to recoup some of the items that were previously lost to us."
"There is nothing there of importance, Lucius," Hannah answered, breaking free form his grip. "You can see what I have here in the case." She pulled a key from her skirt and unlocked the curio that Harry had looked into when he first entered the shop. "I shall be hearing from my associate soon and I will send an owl to you."
Lucius laughed again, "Associate! You mean that house elf, Kreacher?" He swept his cloak off and dropped it on the counter, ignoring the glass curio cabinet. "You always had a way of talking like a pureblood, Hannah. We both know that you are not." Lucius reached and grabbed her wrist. "Since we cannot have what we came for, perhaps we can take something else away with us."
Harry watched in horror as Malfoy pulled Hannah across the shop towards the stairs. Draco smirked and relaxed in a chair near the door. Lucius Malfoy was pulling her up the spiral stairs directly towards the small flat and Harry knew exactly what he intended to do. His blood was beating in his ears and he pulled his wand out unsure of just what he wanted to do.
Suddenly, a hand reached out and yanked him back from the hole in the floor where the stairs poked through. A hand was clamped around his mouth and he was drug backwards on his heels into the bathroom. He was let free and he swung around to see Snape standing there. He had his wand out and instead of pointing it at Harry he was performing a spell on himself. The buttons on his cassock-like black coat sprang loose and he was stripping quickly to his pants, ripping the white shirt off.
"Keep your mouth shut, Potter," he said quickly. "No matter what you hear or see. Malfoy cannot find you here. Do you understand?"
Harry was nodding as he stared at Snape's body. The man was now down to just his trousers. He flipped the black boots off and opened the door. Harry saw his back. Crisscrossed over it in a hundred different ways were white scars, the remains of perhaps a hundred or more severe beatings.
Harry stepped over and peered through the crack in the door.
Snape stepped into the room just as Malfoy's white head of hair peeked over the rim. He hadn't seen Snape yank the blankets and bed linen back to make it look as if he had just gotten up from the bed. Malfoy still had a firm grasp on Hannah's wrist and literally lifted her the last step to the floor of the flat. It was then that he saw Snape.
"Severus," the man said, appearing startled. "Hello, old boy!"
"Lucius," Snape returned the greeting, his voice as hard as the sound of an iron hammer.
"I see that you've already enjoyed the pleasures of our sweet Hannah," Malfoy said regaining his composure quickly. He continued with some amusement in his voice, "Perhaps we can enjoy a nice afternoon of her company and have a little party."
Snape advanced slowly and Hannah was staring at him with frightened eyes, standing just behind Malfoy, her wrist still in his grip. "Malfoy, I have always admired you for your style and manners when I was growing up. This kind of behavior is beneath you, OLD BOY!" Snape snarled.
Malfoy smiled unscathed by Snape's remark and turned loose of Hannah's wrist. He looked around the small place and languidly leaned against a wall.
In the meantime, Harry looked over the bathroom frantically searching for his wand. He'd dropped it when Snape had pulled him in. It looked like the two men were going to have it out and duel right then and there and he wanted to make sure he was armed.
"We're not going to fight over some gypsy are we, Severus? Really that would be beneath both of us don't you think?" Lucius was saying. Harry found his wand and stepped back to the crack. "Come old friend. I'll meet you down at the hotel and we can have a glass of wine and discuss business." Malfoy stepped over to the stairs as if nothing had happened between them. He disappeared quickly and Harry heard the front door of the shop open and close.
Snape closed on Hannah quickly and held her. Harry turned away from the scene and found himself staring again in the mirror. Sitting on the edge of the sink was a pair of contact lens. For the first time, he also noticed a crack in the wall just to the left of the sink. He reached over and gave the wall a gentle push. The wall swung away revealing a dark hallway.