Summer of Enchantment

by Warviben

Summary: Harry is not dealing well with Sirius' death. Professor McGonagall is concerned enough about his mental health to approach the Headmaster. A surprising solution is proposed.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or the basic premise of this story. I am making no money from this endeavor.

Warnings: This story contains detailed heterosexual liaisons. If that disturbs you, please stop reading now.

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11 Metamorphosis

Four days had passed since the day their lives had come unhinged. Sera and Harry spoke now only in whispered conversations. Snape hadn't come upstairs once since his last traumatic visit to Harry's bedroom, convinced that Harry's promise to Dumbledore was enough to keep them from repeating their inappropriate behavior. Once they figured out that he had no intention of gracing them with his presence, they'd relaxed enough to hold hands and sit together on the couch to watch television. They dared not leave the house, certain they'd be accused of engaging in inappropriate behavior even if they hadn't done so. Though it was a struggle not to be with her, Harry was trying to respect his mentor's wishes, hoping that this sacrifice on their part would carry some weight with Snape when he made his decisions concerning his niece.

Sera had not told Harry about the conversation she'd overheard. She hardly knew what to make of it herself. She was devastated that her uncle was planning on leaving her behind. Though she'd known all along that that was a possible outcome of his visit here, she couldn't help the disappointment and rejection that had settled over her like a cold, wet blanket at his words and the ease with which he was able to dismiss her from his life. She'd felt as though they'd established a connection, maybe even a bond, and a large part of her had become convinced that that was enough. Finding out it was not was a crushing blow. What would happen to her now?

She was also heartbroken that Harry would be leaving her any day now. She'd also known that was likely to happen when the summer came to an end, but she was even less ready to have that possibility become reality. She loved him – he'd become her whole life. And now she was going to have to live without him, and she wasn't sure how she could do that.

But what bothered her even more than the potential leave-taking from the only two people in the entire world that she cared about was that they planned on taking away from her the memories of what had been the happiest three months she'd ever spent in her entire life. She was sure she couldn't live with that, and she'd been thinking more and more about running away from here before Dumbledore came back for Harry. She went so far as to go into town to stock up on supplies that she could take with her when she fled when something happened that made her realize that there were bigger things at stake here.

##########

Harry was lying on the bed in his room, absentmindedly tossing a ball into the air and catching it, over and over. Suddenly, he heard a tapping sound on his wall. He sat up and located the source of the sound. There was a grate in the wall between his room and Sera's, presumably to allow heat to flow between the rooms. A rolled up piece of paper was sticking out of it.

Harry retrieved the paper and sat down on his bed to read it. "I need to talk to you. Some place where we can be alone. You know where. Meet me there at 10:00. Please. It's very important, or I wouldn't ask."

There was no doubt in Harry's mind that he would meet her. He retired to his room early that night, but he didn't sleep. He hadn't been lately. He lay staring at the clock until 9:45. He'd been listening for Sera to leave her room, but he must have missed her because when he peeked out and opened her bedroom door, she was gone. Harry grabbed his wand, figuring he'd need the light, slipped quietly out of the house, and walked down to the lake.

Harry arrived at the lake, expecting to see Sera sitting on their stump, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Sera?" he called softly into the darkness. He activated his wand's light and played it over the ground. He heard something moving in the water and backed away from the shore.

"I'm out here," Sera answered him.

"You're in the water?" Harry asked, surprised. He pointed his wand in her direction, but it's beam of light didn't penetrate far enough to reveal Sera.

"Yes. Come join me."

"I didn't bring my suit."

"Neither did I," was Sera's sultry reply.

"Sera, you know I promised Dumbledore I wouldn't . . ."

"I know," she said. "But I think when someone betrays you, you have the right to go back on your word."

"Betrays?" Harry repeated. "Who was betrayed? Who did the betraying?" He was confused.

"Do you know what a memory charm is?" her disembodied voice asked in the darkness.

"Of course I do," Harry told her. "Do you?"

"I can guess. He's going to do one."

"Who's going to? On who?"

"Dumbledore's going to. On me. And you. So we won't remember what happened this summer."

"He wouldn't do that!" Harry said, certain she must be wrong.

"I heard them talking, that day he was here. He wanted Uncle to stay here with you another week. The only way Uncle would agree is if Dumbledore would do a memory charm on both of us. Uncle wanted him to do it that day, but Dumbledore said he would do it when he came back to get you. He wanted to give us time to say good-bye."

Harry was dumbstruck.

"Do you believe me?" she asked.

He did. He didn't want to, but he did. "Yes," he finally admitted.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I wasn't going to tell you. I was just going to let them do it. I figured you'd be better off in the Magic Kingdom if you had no memory of ever meeting me."

"How could you think that?" Harry protested fiercely. He took a step toward the water, wishing she would come out, that he could see her. "I can't believe you didn't tell me! I would have fought them! You were just going to let this happen?!"

"I thought it was best for you. I was going to go away, so they couldn't do it to me. If I'm going to stay here, what difference would it make to them if I left now? They don't care about me. But they're not going to take my memories of the wonderful times we had this summer, especially if I'm never going to see you again."

"You're staying, then?" Harry asked, slumping his shoulders in defeat. "You know this for sure?"

"That's what Uncle told Dumbledore last week."

"But to wipe our memories clean – how could they do that? Would you come out here, please?!" he demanded.

"They're just trying to do what's right for you, Harry. Me, on the other hand, they could care less about."

"That's not true, Sera! Dumbledore's not like that."

"You know him better than I do, I guess. But obviously Uncle is able and willing to just turn his back on me. And he's the one whose opinion matters. So I was going to leave. I was all packed. I was going to leave tonight. But then everything changed, and I couldn't go without at least telling you."

"What changed, Sera?" When she didn't answer, he demanded, "Tell me what changed!"

"I'm pregnant, Harry," she said, and her words, spoken quietly, seemed to gather volume and form as they skimmed across the water until they reached him and slapped him hard across the face.

"Pregnant?" Harry repeated in a whisper. "Are you sure? " She didn't answer, and he thought probably she hadn't heard him. "Are you sure, Sera?" he asked, raising his voice.

"I'm late. I've been throwing up every morning. You didn't notice, did you? I went into town this morning to buy some things to . . . I bought a pregnancy test. I used it in the bathroom at the gas station. I saved the stick – it's there in my pants pocket if you want to look."

"I believe you," Harry said, and he did. "I don't need to look." The thought that she might just be saying this, trying to make him stay here with her, had fleetingly crossed his mind, and he was immediately ashamed of himself for thinking it and dismissed the thought. "Would you come out of there, please?" he asked, much more nicely this time.

"It's nice out here," she said. "Why don't you join me?"

Harry figured he had nothing to lose. He stripped down, extinguished his wand's light and laid it on top of his clothes, and stepped into the surprisingly warm water. He couldn't see her at all. "Where are you?"

"Right in front of you. Come on, that's it. Keep walking."

Finally, when the water was armpit deep, he stood in front of her, and he could see her at last. He took her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Sera."

"It'll be all right, Harry," she promised him, hugging him tightly. "But we both grew up without our fathers, without any parents to speak of, and I couldn't let them do this without at least telling you. I knew you'd want to know. Then, if you didn't want . . . if you decided . . . well, at least you'd make your decision knowing everything."

"I'm glad you did," he assured her, and he kissed her, hoping to convey with that simple gesture that everything really would be all right, that somehow he would take care of her, of both of them.

He became conscious of the fact that they were skin to skin, and now that familiar beast reared its pesky head.

She must have come to the realization at the same time, because she said, "I've missed you," and her voice made gooseflesh rise on his exposed skin which had nothing to do with the humid night air and its contrast with the cooler water.

"I've missed you, too," he said, and he lifted her in his arms and joined with her in the water.

When they made their way back to shore, Harry's legs were wobbly, and he was happy to collapse onto the blanket she'd thoughtfully spread out on the ground. "You knew this would happen!" Harry accused, not at all displeased by that thought.

"I thought we'd at least make it back to the blanket," she admitted.

Sera lay back on the blanket next to him and stretched luxuriantly.

Harry turned to face her. "Whatever made you think that I'd be better off without you?"

Sera shrugged. "I can't do magic."

"And yet you've managed to stun me pretty thoroughly just the same," Harry pointed out. He placed his hand on her flat stomach. "A baby? In there?"

"I think that's where they grow," she joked.

"Rather incredible, isn't it?" He placed a gentle kiss on her belly.

"Mmmm. Are you going to want me when I'm fat?"

"You won't get fat," Harry guessed. "You'll just get sexier."

"Sexier than I am right now?" she asked, slithering silkily beneath his hands.

"Yeah, I know. I didn't think it was possible either."

Sera laughed and pulled his mouth down to hers for a kiss. "Again?" she asked, looking up at him hopefully.

Harry looked down at her, amused. She was more insatiable even than he was. "Later," he promised. "We need to talk."

The night air was humid and heavy, but after being in the water, they were both chilled, and they took a few moments to pull their clothes on. Harry transfigured rocks into pillows, and they lay on the blanket, looking up at the sky and making plans.

They had to leave – that was apparent to both of them. They couldn't allow their memories to be taken, not now. Where to go was obvious: they'd need money, and Harry had a vault full at Gringotts. But how to get there? Sera had some money, perhaps enough for two plane tickets, but neither of them had identification, and air travel was traceable. They could walk, but how far could they get on foot? They could take the truck, but if local law enforcement was notified of their disappearance, they'd be easily tracked that way.

Finally, they decided that apparition was the only way, assuming Harry could make it work with her along for the ride. He explained the risk to her: that they may leave part of her, or him, or both of them behind. He'd become quite proficient at disapparating himself, but he'd obviously never tried to bring anyone along with him, and he'd never gone a very great distance.

Harry told her that before they made the long jump across the ocean, they would practice here, so that if something went wrong, they'd be able to ask Snape for assistance. Sera evaluated the risk and agreed it was the best way.

They talked about Lenni and decided she must stay behind as Harry had never asked Snape if animals could disapparate, and he could hardly do so now, and neither of them was willing to risk the kitten's life in the attempt.

"Go pack," Harry said at last, rising to his feet and offering her a helping hand.

"I'm already packed, remember?"

"Oh, right. But only one change of clothes, okay? And all the money you can scrape together, and whatever else you can't live without. Nothing that won't fit in a backpack. This will be hard enough without luggage. Maybe you can get some food out of the kitchen. I'm not sure exactly where we're going to land and how long it will be before we can eat again.

"I'll pack, too," he continued, his mind several thoughts ahead of the words coming out of his mouth, "but I also need to study a map. I've never disapparated farther than from the house to here, and I don't want to try getting all the way back in one jump. I'll break the trip up into shorter lengths. I think it will be safer that way."

"All right," Sera agreed, willing to agree to anything if it meant she didn't have to stay behind here, alone.

Harry kissed her again, and they walked back up to the house in silence, holding tightly to each other's hand.

When Harry re-entered his room, he took out the encyclopedia he'd seen on the shelf and opened it up to the world map section. It was very old, circa 1953, but he figured the important points on the map hadn't moved much since then. He studied it, trying his best to estimate distances and noting longitude and latitude markers, then started to pack. A complete set of clothes, his wand, the Marauder's Map, the invisibility cloak. What money he had. The picture of his parents and his scrapbook.

Harry looked longingly at his new school books and then decided he wouldn't need them. He wasn't going back to Hogwarts, maybe he never would. He'd miss Hedwig. Maybe she'd find him wherever they went. She was pretty smart – it could happen. Lenni took that moment to meow at his door, and he let her in. He scooped her up and held her under his chin. He'd miss the little fur ball. He kissed her softly between the ears and set her on the bed. He sat thinking about this one last time, trying to be sure it was the only way.

He supposed they could tell Dumbledore about Sera being pregnant. Harry really believed that if Dumbledore knew, he would never subject them to memory charms. The problem was that since Dumbledore had already given Snape his word that he would do the charms, he obviously wasn't going to ask Harry and Sera if they wanted them or agreed that it was a good idea. Which probably meant that the charms were going to be performed on the sly. What if Dumbledore hit him with the spell before Harry even got a chance to open his mouth? It would be too late to explain. And Harry wouldn't remember that he was about to become a father. In a few months time, he wouldn't know that he had a child out there somewhere. And Serafina would obviously know that she was pregnant and had a child, but she wouldn't remember how or with whom she'd created the life. Those possibilities were too horrible to contemplate, and he couldn't take the risk that he wouldn't have a chance to explain before their lives were changed irrevocably.

With a sigh, Harry turned his thoughts to the logistics of what they were about to attempt. The route he'd mapped out was from here to St. John's, Newfoundland, in Canada first. From there, they'd travel to Dingle, Ireland, which was by far the largest distance and would be the most dangerous part of the journey, but there was just no other way of getting across the Atlantic. Harry figured if they made that segment of the journey successfully, they could easily make it the remaining way to London. Assuming, of course, that they were still in one piece by that time. Harry took a moment to wonder if they were insane for what they were about to do.

In her own room now, Sera went through her backpack to be sure that she had everything she needed. When she returned to the house, she'd immediately gone to the kitchen and made four peanut butter sandwiches and filled a thermos full of water, and she added these items to her three favorite books (The Stand, Sense and Sensibility, and David Copperfield), her most recent diary, a spare set of undies, another pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, the money that she had, and other miscellaneous things she thought they might need on their journey.

She spotted her basketball sitting on the chair by her bed, and she picked it up fondly. It would be hard to leave this behind, but where could she pack it? A smile stole over her face as she thought of an appropriate place. She lifted her shirt and tucked the ball beneath, placing it directly over her stomach. She looked down at herself, stunned. So this is what she would look like in a few months. She rubbed her hands over the ball, pretending it was the baby, and a sense of happiness filled her, in spite of what they were about to do. What a mess she'd gotten them into – what a glorious, awful, wonderful mess. She moved to the mirror to get a look at what life had in store for her.

When Harry was as sure as he could be that he had covered all of the bases, he quietly slipped into her room, carrying Lenni, nearly scaring the mismatched socks right off her feet when she saw his image in the mirror behind her.

"Jesus, Harry! You scared me!"

He took in her appearance, and his eyes widened in shock. "Bloody hell!" he yelped. "What are you doing?!" And she thought he'd scared her.

She blushed just a little at having been caught in her daydreams. "I was trying to decide whether I could take my basketball with us. What do you think?" She turned sideways, giving him the benefit of her full profile.

He looked down at the bulge in her midsection and said honestly, "I think that's going to take some getting used to. I assume it won't happen that quickly." He'd never known anyone who was pregnant, and he had no idea how quickly they grew to the size before him.

She smiled indulgently. It was apparent he wasn't as enchanted with her shape as she had been. "I think you've got a few months to adjust." She pulled the ball from beneath her shirt, gave it a quick squeeze (she didn't want to kiss it goodbye with Harry watching), and put it back on the chair. She turned to face him.

"Are you ready to try?" he asked.

She nodded and slipped the backpack over her shoulders. She kissed Lenni goodbye tearfully, put the kitten down on the bed, then told him she was ready. They walked back down to the lake. Harry was unwilling to try disapparating any closer to the house, afraid the sound would wake Snape.

"When I did this with Dumbledore earlier this summer, I held onto his arm," Harry said, holding his left arm out to her. Sera stepped around his outstretched arm until she was standing nearly in his shoes and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I like it better this way," she said.

Harry encircled her in his arms and disapparated them six feet closer to the lake.

"It worked!" she said excitedly.

"That was only a short distance," he warned her, raking his eyes over her in the dim light to ensure that she'd brought all of her body parts with her. "The longer trip is likely to be harder." His own experience with apparition, both doing it himself and with Dumbledore, told him that the longer the distance traveled, the more pronounced the after-effects. Also, they seemed worse for the one being taken along than they were for the one in control of the apparition.

"I don't care," Sera assured him. "I'm ready."

"Do you want to wait until tonight, or do you want to go now?"

"What's the point in waiting?" she asked. "We're all packed. And we don't know when Dumbledore's going to return. If he comes back this morning, we're screwed."

That was a good point. "All right. We go now. Are you sure you have everything you want?"

Sera was sure. "All I really need is you, my love."

They held on tightly to one another again, Harry concentrated with all his might, and then they were gone.

##########

St. John's is the most easterly city in North America, which is why Harry had chosen it. They had apparated at the foot of a lighthouse, whose nearby sign identified it as the Cape Spear National Historic Site. Luckily, at this time of the morning, there were no tourists milling about, and they'd arrived unnoticed. Harry quickly turned to Sera. "Are you all right?"

She looked green by the light of his wand, and instead of answering him, she turned away and vomited into the grass. After she'd emptied her stomach, she wiped her mouth and looked back at him, tears in her eyes from the effort of heaving up nothing. "Sorry," she croaked. She felt as though she'd been turned inside out.

Harry sympathized with her. He remembered what it felt like the first time he'd disapparated. Practicing his own skills had made him accustomed to the unpleasant sensations, and he hardly noticed them now. He looked her over by wandlight. She appeared to have brought everything with her: arm, legs, eyebrows, ears, nose. "It's okay. We made it. We made it!" He hugged her quickly. "Are you okay?"

"I don't feel so good," she admitted. "But that's been happening for a while. Morning sickness, I guess."

"Maybe not. Dumbledore told me that people who disapparate for the first time often feel sick. Do you want to rest for a while, or should we keep going?"

The longer they remained here, the more chance they had of being discovered. "No. We should keep moving. We're only sixteen hundred miles away. It would be too easy to bring us back if they caught us now."

Harry was pretty sure no one would catch them now. Even if they knew he'd disapparated away, how would anyone guess where they'd gone? He'd put the world map book back on the shelf where it had been. They'd left behind no clues about where they intended to go. They hadn't known themselves until minutes ago.

"Ready?" he asked. "This one will be the hard one."

When she nodded, he hugged her tight and concentrated, and they were off again.

##########

The Dingle Peninsula stretches thirty miles into the Atlantic Ocean from Ireland's southwest coast. It's rocky coastline is broken by sandy beaches, and it was on one of those beaches that Harry and Sera suddenly appeared somewhat shy of five o'clock in the morning, local time.

This time, Sera fell to her knees, retching until she felt as though her stomach itself was coming up. Harry knelt beside her, removed her backpack, and held her hair away from her face while rubbing her back, waiting for the nausea to pass. He himself had felt no ill effects from the trip, and he was anxious to get a look at her to make sure she was still whole. When she collapsed onto the sand and lay on her back with her eyes closed, he finally did, although he had to do most of it by feel, unwilling to use any more magic at all here, and he was relieved and surprised to see that they'd both come three thousand miles intact.

"Water," she gasped.

Harry rummaged around in her backpack and removed the thermos. He poured her a cup full, then helped her to sit up and drink it. "Better?" he asked when she'd finished.

"Not really," she said, and turned away and threw up the water.

Harry was getting a little worried about her. "I think it would be okay if we rested a while." It was darker than the inside of his pocket here, and if they curled up under his invisibility cloak, they'd be able to sleep for a while without fear of discovery. He really wanted to be home before they stopped, but if she needed to, they'd stay here for a while.

"No. I'm good," she assured him feebly. "One more leap left, right?"

"One more," Harry promised. "Then we can rest."

And once again, Harry took her in his arms, concentrated with all his might, and they vanished from the black seaside and reappeared in Surrey.

"Where are we?" Sera asked once she'd survived the inevitable bout of vomiting.

"Surrey. Right outside Little Whinging," Harry told her. Despite his unpleasant memories of this place, he was familiar with the area, and he knew where they could find shelter to get a little bit of sleep until daylight came fully and they could get to a bank to change Sera's US dollars into British currency.

"Where you grew up?" Sera asked.

Harry nodded affirmation.

"I've got half a mind to march right up to those awful Dursleys and give them a piece of my mind," she said, and she meant it. "Just tell me which way to go."

And as much as he might like to see that and to watch Aunt Petunia trying to figure out what to make of Sera, he had no intention of going anywhere near the Dursleys, and he told her so. "I only came here because I know the area. Come on. We can sleep for a while in here."

He wanted to get under some type of cover quickly. From prior experience, Harry knew that performing magic here was monitored by the Ministry of Magic, and he assumed that they would know that someone had just done so. He didn't know how the process worked, but he wasn't taking any chances, in case the Ministry was aware of his disappearance and were even more closely monitoring this area. If they sent someone out to check, he wanted to be well hidden. He was fairly certain that no one knew they were missing yet, and hoped that once they did, a mysterious bit of magic here wouldn't be connected to their disappearance.

He led her to a shed at the edge of a playpark, and removed tools from his backpack to open the padlock locking it. "This would be easier with magic, or a light," he muttered after five minutes with no success. He dared not use magic on the lock or even use his wand as a light source in case anyone from the Ministry was focusing on the recent magic. Sera delved into her backpack, and seconds later, a light was shining on the lock.

"What's that?" Harry asked, alarmed.

"It's called a flashlight. Surely you've heard of them," Sera said tiredly.

By the torch's light, Harry was able to pick the lock, and he led her inside. It was a maintenance shed, where tractors and lawn mowers, rakes and such were kept. Harry spread his cloak on the floor and they curled up into it together, too tired to speak, both asleep within minutes.

They awoke six hours later, just as their disappearance was being discovered back home.

##########

Dumbledore apparated into Snape's workshop very early in the morning. All arrangements had been made. After the required brief stay at Privet Drive, it was now safe to bring Harry back to Hogwarts.

"Good morning, Headmaster," Snape said without looking up from his notes. He had everything packed. All that remained was to speak with his niece, have her make the call to the appropriate people to let them know that she'd be staying here, and put the basement back the way he'd found it. He wasn't letting himself think about the separation from his niece and what that might do to her, or to him. He couldn't get past what she'd done – it had opened up too many old wounds.

And as for Potter – well, he figured they'd just continue not liking each other, though now with even more reason. Not that Potter would remember those reasons, after Dumbledore had performed the memory charm on him. Maybe he'd ask Dumbledore to make it so that Sera didn't remember anything at all about this summer or about meeting her uncle. Maybe she was better off thinking that she was alone in this world. Hoping for something that was never going to happen wasn't a good way to live your life. How well he knew that! He supposed Dumbledore would never agree to wipe Harry's memory completely clean of this summer. The boy had learned too much under Snape's tutelage to undo it all now.

"Good morning, Severus," Dumbledore said. "All is well, I trust."

Snape shrugged. It wasn't, but it was all that could be expected at the moment.

"You've arrived at a decision concerning your niece?"

"I told you when you were here last that I had done so," Snape pointed out.

"I was rather hoping you'd reconsider," Dumbledore said. "Once that decision is made, it will be difficult to undo."

Snape knew that once he left here, he'd likely never see the girl again. A large part of him was saddened by that fact. He'd come to like her very much. She had the family gift for potions, but even more than that, she'd brought color, music and laughter into his dark, silent life. She and Potter both, though there was no way he was admitting that, even to himself, especially now. But the part of him that had lived with and fed off the darker feelings of betrayal and mistrust for almost his entire life controlled him now, as it always had. "I'm willing to live with that."

Dumbledore sighed. Why did people have to be so stubbornly obtuse when they'd been hurt? The larger picture was out there for all to see if they could just get beyond the immediacy of their acute feelings.

"Well then, I guess we'd better get to it. I'll go up and speak with Harry and take him away. Has he packed?"

"I didn't know when you were coming, sir," Snape pointed out. He didn't mention that he hadn't spoken with either Sera or Harry since their last meeting about anything, and hadn't even set eyes on them.

"Well, it shouldn't take him long, in any event," Dumbledore guessed.

"And the memory charms?" Snape reminded him.

Dumbledore had hoped Snape had forgotten about that. But he had given his word to Severus, and he intended to keep it, despite his misgivings. "I'll look in on Sera before going to Harry, to say good-bye. I'll do it then."

"And Potter?"

"Yes, I'll take care of Harry's memory as well."

"Thank you, Headmaster."

"Thank you, Severus. Despite how everything turned out, you did amazingly well here with Harry this summer. He's come a long way from the grief-stricken boy you brought here."

"Apparently you don't have me to thank for that."

"Don't sell yourself short, Severus. Well, I'll go up now. Once Harry and I have gone, you can make your arrangements with Serafina."

"Yes, sir."

Dumbledore made his way up the stairs and was again met by Lenni. "Hello again," he said to the cat and scooped her up. He wasn't surprised to find the upper level showed no sign of life: teenagers and early mornings were not a good mix. He tapped gently on Serafina's closed door and waited for her reply. When he got none, he knocked again, more loudly this time. Finally, he pushed her door open. The room wasn't large enough for it to take more than a couple of seconds to realize she wasn't in it.

He closed the door again and tapped on Harry's door. When there was no immediate response, a distressing feeling began to tickle inside his brain. He knocked again and then opened the door without waiting for a response. This room, too, was empty, and Dumbledore knew that this day was not going to go quite as he'd expected.

"Severus, would you come up here, please?"

While waiting for Snape to come up the stairs, Dumbledore hurriedly searched Harry's room. It appeared as though all of his clothes were still here, although Dumbledore had no way of knowing that with certainty, but the important things – his wand, his invisibility cloak – and his rucksack were nowhere to be found, confirming Dumbledore's suspicions that Harry and Sera weren't simply out taking a walk. He picked up the sketch Sera had done of Harry, which Harry had left behind in his haste, and was holding it when Snape walked into the room.

"They're gone, Severus," he said simply.

"Gone? They can't be gone. I just saw them . . ." Snape thought back. When had he last seen them?

"Last night," he finished. Though he hadn't actually seen them last night. He'd heard them, both of them he was sure, moving around up here last night at dinner time. He hadn't been eating with them since . . . but he knew they'd been here last night.

"So they've got a rather large head start on us, I'm afraid. Where could they be, Severus?"

Snape didn't answer, but went into Serafina's room, not really believing that they'd left. There had to be another explanation. They were just outside somewhere, they had to be. He looked around in her room, then had to admit to himself that he had no way of knowing what might be missing. He'd never been in here before.

"I don't know, Headmaster," he finally said.

"Well, wherever they've gone, they've left you behind, haven't they?" Dumbledore asked Lenni, stroking the kitten's head. Lenni purred happily.

"What now?" Snape asked, guilt and worry beginning to creep into his gut.

"Let's try to figure out where they might be and how they might have gotten there. Wait a moment." Dumbledore closed his eyes, concentrating on Harry. Hard as he might try, all he saw was a black curtain that he could not lift. Despite how much more difficult it made the current situation, Dumbledore had to chuckle. "Well done, Harry." He was satisfied that if he couldn't access Harry's thoughts, neither could Voldemort. That was something. He tried again, this time concentrating on Sera, but he had very little connection with the girl, and legillimency was so much easier over any distance when one had a strong connection with the person whose mind you were trying to penetrate.

"Could he have disapparated out of here?" Dumbledore asked.

"He could have, but he couldn't have gone far. He's not capable of disapparating any great distance by himself, let alone the side-along apparition that would have been required to take Serafina with him. He just hasn't had enough practice. Besides, I would have heard them."

"We've underestimated his talent before," Dumbledore mused, not bothering to point out that they could have gone some distance from the house to disapparate for that very reason. "But this time, I tend to agree with you. That type of ability would take at least months to master. So we concentrate our search locally, assuming that they must have left on foot. No broomstick at his disposal, I assume?"

"No enchanted ones," Snape confirmed. The broom Harry had ridden on his birthday had returned to its ordinary state and duties, sweeping floors, after Harry had finished riding it. The boy certainly didn't know how to enchant a broomstick to make it fly. Did he? Then a thought struck Snape. "There's a vehicle. Serafina drives it."

They hurried to the barn, but there sat the decrepit old pickup truck. "Well, they're not driving. On foot, then."

"Do we alert the local authorities?" Snape asked, wondering how they'd explain this to law enforcement officials and the state authorities responsible for Serafina's welfare.

"Not yet," Dumbledore decided, mulling over those same difficulties. "Let's see what we can find first."

And they looked, for miles in all directions, figuring that with even a substantial head start, the teenagers couldn't have gotten that far on foot. The area was wooded though, and if they knew they were being searched for, as they probably did at this point, Harry and Sera had plenty of hiding places to choose from.

From time to time, Dumbledore tried to access Harry's thoughts, hoping just once to get through, but each time, the curtain remained in place, leaving him completely in the dark as to Harry's whereabouts. His pride in Harry's ability was somewhat lessened by the certainty that he was going to wring the young man's neck when he saw him next.