The odds of me owning this are nil.
Severus was officially declared missing. That was the conclusion reached when he failed to return Friday night. When Saturday and the ball came and went, then Sunday, Dumbledore officially declared him MIA. Carl took over his classes, with Jim helping with the younger groups. It was not until the following Friday that a coded letter from Lucius via Draco landed into Dumbledore's hands. It was direct and to the point: "They have him. P 0 is R MM. Will try to send the packages."
"Harry, calm down,"Sirius said tiredly. "I'm just as scared and worried as you are, but wearing yourself into the ground is not going to release him." The stress of Jade's pregnancy, Amy's pregnancy, Regulus, and now Severus missing was wearing on him. Harry had caught him being violently sick more than once. Molly had tutted about sympathy pains and given him candied ginger, and Everett was giving him the same potions as his daughter and Jade, since sympathy pains apparently were not uncommon in wizarding pregnancies, male or female. (Yes, Carl and Jim had explained when Dumbledore ordered them to teach wizarding sex-ed to the fifth-years, male pregnancy was possible via a potion, but was very difficult, very dangerous, and had a one in four chance of failure.)
"I know, Siri," Harry said exhaustedly, sitting down on the couch in Severus' quarters. Dumbledore had, on Wednesday, excused Harry from classes for the rest of the week. The date was the first of December, and Severus had been missing for a week. Now Lucius had sent the message, which after being decoded and translated, read: "They know about Severus. They have him. Prisoner Zero is Regulus. They are at Malfoy Manor. I will try to help them escape." Sirius had explained to Harry that even for a Malfoy, there were unexplored catacombs, so Lucius more than likely stumbled across them by accident, or Bellatrix or Rodolphus or Rabastan had let something slip that made Lucius realize where they were. "But you're just as bad."
"I know, cub."
"We'll get Sev and Buck back," Everett said, folding his large frame into an armchair, which automatically grew to accommodate his height. He had explained that his nickname for Regulus was Buck, and had been since they had met, right before he had "died" in 1979. Sirius now knew the details of how Regulus had barely survived, and how Amy and Everett had helped him do it. Amy, Laura June, Robyn Mathews, who was one of their other quad mates, and Jim had had to drive him across the US to Los Angeles while Everett had gathered the ingredients for a potion to chelate the potion Regulus had ingested out of his bloodstream. He had been too ill to apparate or ïfloo, and the others all had their licenses. They had dropped Robyn off at her brother's in Oklahoma. He had been desperately ill, and even with Everett's intervention, it had taken him over a year to really recover Everett generally had a nickname for everyone he regarded as family. His nickname for Sirius was Canus when he was being affectionate. He was as worried as Sirius and Harry, since he regarded both Sirius and Regulus as sons and Severus as a younger brother, he just hid it better.
Eugene had, much to Sirius' relief, been able to, by sheer force of personality, managed to get him released on bail. His trial was scheduled to begin promptly at nine. Press passes and courtroom seats were highly coveted, and his turning himself in, release on bail, and the date of the trial were broadcast to the muggle world. Harry, Ron, Hernione, Remus, Sirius, and Dumbledore's memories of the night almost two years ago, plus Sirius' memories of the switching of the Secret-keepers and the events of 31 October 1981 had been pensieved and copied, as well as tested to be real memories. Lucius would also test them as the prosecution. The letter from Lily to Harry was entered as evidence as well, since it revealed the Secret-Keeper to be Peter Pettigrew. Eugene would try to get the fact that James Potter was not Harry's real father, though he was his legal heir, redacted for security reasons, but he warned Harry to be prepared for, as he very bluntly put it, a shitstorm, when the news broke. He hoped to have the trial over with by next Friday, with Sirius as a free man.
Harry felt his neclace blaze against his chest. "At least I know he's alive. I don't like that he's in pain, but at least he 's alive."