A/N: Just so you aren't confused, this chapter starts out before Snape told Dumbledore and Lupin about Harry running away.

-0-0-0-0-0-0

When Snape had woken up that morning, he had no idea what problems he was about to encounter. As he leisurely got ready, he wondered what new drama would occur that day concerning Potter. The boy needed to learn to obey him and the Headmaster, especially since they were just trying to do what was best for him. He scowled just thinking about Potter's atrocious behavior towards him and Albus. Snape knew that Potter had a right to be angry about the abuse that he had suffered, but they were now attempting to correct that situation. If nothing was done, Potter would just be returned to the household.

As soon as Snape walked into the Great Hall, he immediately knew that something was wrong. Potter's chair had been overturned, and there were papers strewn all over the floor. His first thought was that the boy had been kidnapped, but he decided to look more carefully at the evidence before reaching that conclusion.

Slowly walking over to the table, Snape calculatingly allowed his eyes to absorb all of the details. Half of Potter's food had been eaten. When Snape gingerly touched the food, he noticed that it was rather cold. The boy had apparently been there some time earlier, and he had left abruptly for reasons as of yet unknown. It seemed strange to him that the boy would have been up so early.

Bending over, Snape began to gather the newspaper together. Dread filled his stomach as the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. As he picked up the last paper from the floor, the article on the front page caught his eye. He quickly scanned the article and saw that the newspaper had gotten the story of Potter's abuse.

Cursing under his breath, Snape hurriedly made his way to Potter's room. He had never been inside Potter's room while the boy had been there, but the Headmaster had been sure to tell him where the room was in case of an emergency. When he found the room, Snape flung the door open and rushed inside. It was quiet inside the room and nothing looked to have been disturbed.

"Potter," Snape cautiously called as he walked into the boy's bedroom.

Once he walked into the room, Snape saw that the bed was unmade. Drawers had been left hanging out of the dressers, and the closet door was standing wide open. Potter's trunk was nowhere in sight, and all of his personal belongings were gone. Potter had left Hogwarts.

Snape shook his head viciously in anger. He could not believe that the boy had the audacity to run away. He had spent his personal time talking with Potter and trying to help the boy deal with the abuse. Not because he felt an obligation to Albus, but he had talked to Potter because he genuinely wanted to help the boy through this tough time. He had been reluctant to talk with James Potter's son at first; however, he had eventually realized that the boy was very different from his father.

While the boy was away from Hogwarts, he was also in danger from being captured by Death Eaters. The Dark Lord wanted nothing more than to find the boy and kill him. Even though the newspaper had been scarce with details, it would soon become apparent to the wizarding world that Potter was no longer with his relatives. They would want to know where he was, and they would probably find out that Potter was actually missing. When the Dark Lord found out that Potter was no longer at his relatives, the Dark Lord would use all of his powers and resources trying to find the boy. Potter had been lucky in the past when he had escaped the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord, but his luck could only last for so long.

Snape stormed back out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him. He needed to alert Albus to the situation immediately. If they could hurry, they might be able to find the boy quickly. Potter couldn't have been gone for very long, and he surely couldn't have gotten very far. There were only a few ways in which he could get away from the school. Also, everyone in the wizarding world recognized the boy. He would especially be on the mind of witches and wizards once they read the newspaper. Everyone would be in an uproar if they saw the boy around somewhere. If someone recognized him, that would make it easier to find him; however, hopefully they would find him before someone saw him.

When he entered the Headmaster's office, he instantly noticed Lupin sitting in a chair clutching the newspaper article tightly in his hands. Both men in the office turned to see who the intruder was. Snape ignored the werewolf and concentrated his attention on Dumbledore.

"Potter has run away, Albus," Snape said without hesitation.

Lupin's mouth dropped open in shock and surprise, while Dumbledore sagged visibly in his chair. Neither man had seen this turn of events coming. They had been trying to recover from the shock of seeing the newspaper article; however, they now had something else to deal with.

"Are you sure?" Lupin shakily questioned.

"I don't think that I would have said 'Potter has run away' if I wasn't one hundred percent sure that Potter had run away," the Potions Master snapped. This whole thing was getting on his nerves as it was, but he didn't want to have to deal with Lupin as well.

The werewolf angrily stood up and opened his mouth to reply when Dumbledore quickly intervened. "Gentlemen, please control yourselves. Neither of you are helping matters. Severus, please explain everything to us."

Lupin threw a disgusted look at Snape before sitting back down. Snape began to tell his story. He explained everything from entering the Great Hall to finding the newspaper article to discovering Harry's empty room. During the story, Remus's looks of hatred directed towards Snape transformed into a look of worry.

When Snape fell silent, everyone stayed quiet for a few moments in order to absorb the information. Lupin opened and closed his mouth several times as if he couldn't decide what he wanted to say first. After doing this for a while, he finally spoke out.

"I still don't see how the newspaper found out about the story. I didn't even know what was going on."

Dumbledore pensively stared ahead. "I honestly don't know. I didn't go to the Ministry with this information, even though I tried to convince Harry that that would be the best option. Maybe the Ministry found out that Harry was gone from the Dursley's house and they went there to question his relatives about it…"

Snape interrupted. "We can talk about all of this later. I think that finding Potter right now holds precedence."

Nodding in agreement, Dumbledore responded. "You are right, Severus. The more time that Harry is gone, the harder it will be for us to find him. Not to mention the fact that he has the unfortunate ability of finding trouble all of the time."

"Wait. I do want to find Harry, but I have to know something. How long have you known about the abuse, and why wasn't I informed?" Remus asked.

"When Severus was on duty watching Harry a few days ago, he noticed that Harry was limping and in considerable pain. Severus brought him back here, and he was been here since then. I planned on telling a select group of people eventually, but I wanted to concentrate on Harry first. He was having a hard time dealing with events, and he didn't want to tell Wizarding Child Services about the abuse."

"Alright," Remus eventually responded. He would have liked to have been informed about everything that had been going on, but he could understand why the Headmaster hadn't said anything yet. "So, what do we do now? How are we going to find him?"

"I think that we need to call together the Order members and inform them of the situation. They can help us find Harry. I will need the two of you to help me get a hold of everyone," Dumbledore said.

They both nodded in understanding. The three of them made a quick list of who needed to be contacted, and then they divided the list between them. Remus and Severus left the office in order to find separate fireplaces to contact the Order members with Floo calls.

When Snape contacted each person, many of them were oblivious to the newspaper article. They were curious as to what was going on, but all Snape would tell them was that there was an emergency situation. That statement caused them to quickly agree to meet at Hogwarts as soon as possible. There were, however, a few members that had already read the article and were demanding to know what was going on. Frustration crept into Snape's voice as he tried to quell their questions without giving away any information.

As soon as Snape saw the fifth name on the list, he mentally groaned and cursed Albus. He did not want to deal with these people. Why couldn't Lupin have contacted them? He braced himself as he threw in the Floo powder and called out his destination.

When his head entered the fireplace, he saw that the living room was empty. He could dimly hear the soft sounds of voices in the next room. Apparently they hadn't already heard the news, or there would have been shouting and chaos in the house.

"Hello," Snape loudly called. The voices in the other room stopped, and eventually Mr. and Mrs. Weasley entered.

Surprised upon seeing whose head was in the fireplace, Mrs. Weasley answered, "Good morning, Severus. What can we do for you?"

"Albus is calling an emergency Order meeting," Snape vaguely replied. He hoped that they wouldn't ask too many questions or cause too many problems.

Both Weasleys stiffened when they heard that statement. Having an emergency Order meeting was never a good thing. Mr. Weasley concernedly asked, "What's going on? Does it have something to do with You-Know-Who?"

"I can't say too much right now. You just need to get over to Hogwarts as soon as possible," said Snape.

When Mr. Weasley began to say something, he was halted by a voice shouting in the kitchen. Alarmed, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley quickly hurried towards the voice. Snape wasn't certain what was going on, but he had a fairly good idea. Apparently the Weasley children had just discovered the newspaper article. He wished that he could just pull his head out of the fireplace and get back to Hogwarts, but he knew he couldn't leave just yet.

Snape could hear the distant voices rising in surprise and horror. Within seconds, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley returned with Ron and Ginny in tow. The children were still in their pajamas, so they hadn't been awake for long. Their eyes widened when they saw their professor. When everyone had entered the room, they all began to talk at once.

"Is Harry okay?"

"Is the newspaper article true?"

"How long has this been going on?"

"Where is Harry now?"

"Quiet!" Snape roared. Everyone abruptly stopped talking in shock. "Now, I don't have time to go into details. Molly, Arthur, you are needed at Hogwarts. Everything will be explained there."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley understood the need for urgency. They began to gather everything together. Ron and Ginny started running to the stairs so that they could get dressed and go along. Mrs. Weasley's voice stopped them.

"You are both going to stay here…"

"Mum," Ron disbelievingly responded. "Harry is my best friend. I want to go see him and make sure that he is okay."

Mr. Weasley looked unsurely over at Snape. "Would it be okay if we brought the children along? I don't like leaving them here alone. The kids can stay with Harry during the Order meeting."

Snape did not know how to reply to that inquiry. He definitely didn't have time to explain to them that Potter was missing. That would just cause them to start talking all at once again, and it would cause more of a delay in finding the boy. If he said that it would be fine, he could have Albus deal with the situation when they arrived at Hogwarts. Besides, maybe the children would know where Potter would be likely to go.

"Fine," replied Snape shortly, "but hurry."

When Snape entered the Great Hall at Hogwarts after he was finished contacting everyone on his list, he saw that Lupin and the Headmaster were already seated. Several people were scattered around the room, and they were questioning each other on what information the other person knew. There were gasps as those who didn't already know about Potter's abuse were quickly filled in by their neighbor.

Once Snape had taken a seat beside Dumbledore and Lupin, the Headmaster asked, "Did you get a hold of everyone?"

"Yes, they will all be here," answered Snape. He scowled over at Albus and continued speaking, "I would have appreciated, however, not having to inform the Weasleys about the meeting."

Remus smirked when he heard the conversation. Even though he would have been uncomfortable as well informing the Weasleys about Harry's abuse, he still thought that it was funny imagining Snape having to talk to the Weasleys.

Dumbledore, with a slight twinkle in his eye, started to respond; however, he stopped when he noticed the arrival of the four Weasleys. Ginny and Ron kept glancing around as if searching for Harry, but they quickly realized that he was not in the room. Dumbledore stood up and walked over to them.

"Albus," Mrs. Weasley breathed. "How is Harry? The children and I want to see him. If you don't want the children to sit in on the meeting, they can go stay with Harry now."

Dumbledore gently steered Mrs. Weasley to a seat. He gestured for the rest of the family to sit down as well. "I'm afraid that I have some bad news. I will explain everything in a few moments to everyone. Ginny, Ron, you can sit in on the meeting as well. There are things that you will need to hear. You may even be able to help us."

The Weasleys looked like they wanted to ask some more questions, but the Headmaster gave them a small smile and eased himself away from the group. Everyone quieted down when Dumbledore stood in front of everyone and raised his hands for silence.

"Thank you for coming here so quickly on such short notice. I'm sure that by now you have all heard about the newspaper article saying that Harry Potter has been abused by his relatives. I am sorry to say that the article is true."

Even though everyone had already heard the news, they still began to murmur amongst themselves. It was hard for them to imagine that the Boy-Who-Lived had been subjected to that kind of a lifestyle, especially the fact that the boy had suffered alone in silence.

Dumbledore loudly cleared his throat before speaking again. "Severus rescued Harry from his relatives a few days ago and brought him back here. I don't know how the Daily Prophet found out about the abuse, but we will take care of that issue later. There is something right now that is more important. When Harry read the article this morning, he was so upset that he ran away from Hogwarts."

Several mouths dropped open in surprise before everyone began to noisily talk to each other. Ron and Ginny had initially been shocked upon hearing that Snape had been the one to help Harry, but they began to shout out questions when they heard that Harry was gone.

Patiently waiting out the noise, Dumbledore stood silently just staring across the room. Once everyone realized that they were not going to get any answers until they quieted down, they began to stop talking. The Headmaster waited a few more moments in order to make sure that everyone would stay silent.

"It is important that I explain everything to you as quickly as possible. I know that all of this is so sudden and unpredictable, but I ask that you please not interrupt. If you have a question, please raise your hand. Now, we don't know exactly when Harry left, but it was some time this morning. We don't know where he is, where he is going, or how he left the school. I called all of you here in order to help us find him. It is crucial that he is found soon. Voldemort will be looking for him once he knows that Harry is missing."

Snape spoke up. "Since he can't Apparate, it limits the distance that he could have traveled. He might have flown or used Floo powder. We also know that he is aware of several secret passages that lead to Hogsmeade."

All heads turned around when Ron tentatively said, "When Harry ran away from his relative's house the summer before his third year, he used the Knight Bus."

Dumbledore smiled at Ron. "Good thinking, Mr. Weasley. Does anyone else have any suggestions?"

A few more people gave some suggestions. Once Dumbledore realized that everyone had exhausted all possibilities, he turned once again to the Weasleys. "Ron, Ginny, do either of you have any idea where Harry might have gone? Has he said anything to you lately that would give you any clues?"

Both Ron and Ginny sadly shook their heads. Ron briefly answered, "Harry wrote to me the other day and said that he had been taken away from his relative's house, but he didn't say why. I have no idea where he might be"

"All right," responded Dumbledore. "We will need everyone to work together in trying to find Harry. I want everyone to discreetly ask around. Some of you go to Hogsmeade, some of you visit Diagon Alley, and some of you question the drivers of the Knight Bus. Everyone needs to pick where they will go, and what they will do once they are there. Everyone is going to have a different job."

At the end of his speech, the Order members were nodding in agreement. They sat discussing for the next few minutes who would do what. Once everything had been decided, the group broke up and left Hogwarts.

-0-0-0-0-0-0

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Some people are wondering how the newspaper got a hold of Harry's story. That information won't be revealed until later.

Next chapter: Harry will definitely be in it. We see where he has gone.