Dave and I were left to wait in the dungeon. My patronus, which amazed Dave, would have to make its way to Hogwarts from wherever we were now. Since we had no idea where this place was I didn't know how far away Hogwarts was and how long it would take for Balto to get there.
Since I didn't want to have Dave leaning against me the entire time we waited I had him lean against the section of wall near the stairs. From his position Dave was able to keep his leg off the ground and gesture to the mans prone form, "What are we going to do about that guy?"
I sighed, "He won't wake up until the counter spell is used on him. There is the possibility of somebody waiting for him to return."
He bit his lip worriedly, "When is that Severus guy gonna get here?"
"Right now," the air beside us distorted before Severus appeared with a silvery cloak in his hands, "and that's Snape to you."
Dave jumped at his sudden appearance, and I did jump a little bit as well. Unfortunately it startled Dave into hurting his still broken leg. My fingers only twitched around the elder wand, but being a part of the magical world helped me get used to odd things happening. The movement of my hand still hurt my pointer and middle finger since they were the two that were broken from the cell door slamming into them.
"When did you get in here? We didn't even hear you."
He handed the cloak over to me, "There are such things called silencing spells. I'm not supposed to be here when there's no meeting going on. Now I'll have to worry about myself as well as you two," Severus glared at Dave.
"Why are you glaring at me?" Dave asked in offense.
"You're going to slow us down with that leg of yours. Leave it to a muggle to ruin this."
"Alright," I broke in before an argument could occur, "first of all his broken leg is not his fault. Second of all if it's going to slow us down then we should go, now." Unraveling the cloak I threw it over Dave's shoulders before sliding under his arm for support. "Are we covered?"
We saw Severus nod through the material, "Yes, but your breathing is bloody loud."
I sighed, "Our footsteps will probably be noticeable too."
Severus pointed his wand at us, and I felt Dave tense up. When nothing happened I asked him, "What did you do?"
"You are probably wondering what I just did," he slipped his wand back up his sleeve. "To keep you two quiet I placed a silencing spell on you. I cannot hear anything you do, so communication will have to be made through touch." His explanation abruptly ended with him stomping back up the dungeon steps.
"How can he not hear us, but we can hear him?"
I opened my mouth to explain before sighing, "I don't know. The only explanation I can think of is magic."
Dave snorted while preparing himself to go up the seemingly endless set of stairs, "I'm going to hear that explanation a lot aren't I?"
He had an arm on both sides of the wall since there was no railing for him to hold onto. For help I would get onto the step before him and pull him up. It was an awkward and slow process, but it worked. "From most people yes. All of them will probably be about my age unless they have studied the subject."
"But you go to school to learn about magic. How do you not know?"
By the time we were halfway up the stairs I was panting, "We aren't exactly taught every what, why, and how of spells. To be honest I'm not sure how many people actually know the answers to those questions. I don't think there's even a way to explain magic itself. The word is used to explain the unexplainable for Merlins sake."
Dave and I finally reached the top step with him chuckling, "Merlin?"
"Yeah," Severus was standing right outside the door, and I made sure the cloak covered my hand when I reached out to brush my fingers against his, "magical people say Merlin instead of God because Merlin was the most powerful wizard yet. Whether or not he's the first I don't really know. History class isn't very informative."
We followed Severus down the hall at a much more sedate pace. I was able to walk much faster because my legs were just fine, and since we were in a hurry I was able to drag him along after me. Of course he would still hop along on his right leg. The only good thing about his captivity seemed to be his lack of body weight.
When we reached where Severus was looking out for any incoming Death Eaters I touched his hand again and he immediately continued down the next hall. This was the tactic we used to slowly maneuver through the halls. There were a few close calls involving a random Death Eater almost seeing Severus or nearly bumping into Dave and I.
Our nerves were finally tested when more and more Death Eaters started appearing in the manor. They were rushing through the halls with increasing frequency. It was what let us know that Voldemort had finally discovered the stunned man down in the dungeons, along with our escape.
This meant that Severus had to disillusion himself so nobody would see him running in the opposite direction from where he was supposed to be going.
There was one point where Dave and I couldn't find Severus anywhere. I was not willing to blow our cover by taking off the cloak, and without removing the cloak the silencing spell would remain in place.
It was none other than Regulus Black who revealed where Severus was hiding. "What are you doing under a disillusionment charm?"
Severus merely stared back coolly. Regulus was not an idiot, he had a good hunch on why his friend would be hiding around while the Dark Lord summoned them for a meeting. Their arms were still burning from being called.
"Where are they?" Not knowing if we should trust Regulus I made sure to keep the cloak away from him as I brushed my hand against Severus' back.
Something in his expression must have given us away, "Ah. They're right here."
The silence surrounding the four of us was tense. Dave and I were unwilling to break it, even though the other two wouldn't have heard us anyway.
"Just how did you plan on getting them out?" Regulus was taunting but not doing anything, "No doubt their injuries will make traveling hard. Especially the muggle boy. And where do you plan on taking them? Hogwarts? You would need to apparate there, and you have no portkey to use."
Severus knew we were caught, "I'm sure we'll manage."
Regulus hummed, "I suggest you take the Knight Bus then. It may not be the best way to travel, but it won't disturb their injuries as much as the other options."
"You want them to get out," Severus stated what we all realized. "Why?"
He hummed again and leaned in closer, "Because she's the only chance we have." Regulus backed away and started down the hall. He tossed a careless "good luck" over his shoulder before disappearing around a corner.
We stood in an almost shocked silence before Severus whispered, "Left." Thus our search for the exit continued.
Eventually we reached an exquisite looking room with equally beautiful double doors that Severus lead us towards. I could practically taste our freedom until Severus ruined it, "An alert is sent to the Dark Lord every time these doors are opened. We'll have to be quick."
He gave a moments pause to let us digest the information before he wrenched the door open and ran out. "Shit!"
I was basically giving Dave a piggyback ride down the road with how fast I was pulling him along. There were many times when he would hiss or shout in pain because of his leg, but not once did he complain or ask me to slow down. It was most likely because he was trying to run just as fast as I was.
Despite the amount of space we've managed to put between us and the manor we could still hear angry shouts. Dave went to look back but I shook him, "No Dave! Focus on running for right now!"
Ahead of us was a loud bang that echoed through the air. A familiar triple decker bus was pulled up against the side of the road, and I could correctly assume it was the work of Severus. I hadn't realized how close we were to the road, but when your running for your life it seems freedom is closer than you'd think.
Severus was arguing with the driver of the bus by the time we reached it. I practically threw Dave up despite the fact the two of us got tangled in the cloak on the bus steps. "GO, GO, GO!"
Seeing the Death Eaters running down the hill and casting dangerous looking spells had the driver stomping the pedal almost through the floor. It made the bus even more jerky than usual, and I hadn't known that was possible.
The rocky movement's prevented Dave from getting up from the floor. His broken leg hadn't taken too kindly to being thrown in the bus, and was protesting rather same could be said for my arm even though it wasn't broken any more.
Severus sneered at us, "Get off the floor."
I glared at him, "Easy for you to say considering none of your bones are broken."
"I would have thought you would be jumping for joy now that you're free."
Hearing him say that made whatever argument I had melt away before I could say it. I spent three days locked in those dungeons, and yet it felt as if a lifetime has passed. Now I was finally out and I could go and see Sirius and Lily. Just seeing James or Remus would make my day.
"Where you all headed?" The driver interrupted our moment of revelation.
The three of us realized we didn't really have an answer. Dave's family was practically gone. I didn't know if his father was still around for him, but when he said nothing I assumed he was gone as well.
"Drop us off at the Leaky Cauldron." The two boys looked at me inquiringly. "I know a place we can regroup."
The ride to the Leaky Cauldron was made in silence. Despite this I could feel Dave's relief, and see the disbelief on his face. It had me smiling as well, and rejuvenated me enough into thinking about standing up. I would have done it if the bus wasn't so disorienting.
It must have been only five minutes by the time the bus stopped in front of the Cauldron. Severus paid the driver before helping me get Dave off the bus. Once we were completely off the bus doors shut and it immediately shot off.
"Well," Dave was looking a little green, "that went well."
"That went extremely well," I commented. "There were so many things that could have gone wrong. And Severus," we made eye contact, "thank you for this. I would kiss you but I'm too busy holding Dave."
Severus sneered, "How upsetting."
"Come on guys," I gestured to our left, "we need to go that way."
They both looked suspicious but didn't question me. "What's that way?" Dave asked.
"The apartment I stayed in during summer break. It's not far from here."
The walk ended up being longer than I thought because of Dave's rather handicapped status. Either way the three of us made it to the complex relatively quickly, and I had to use the Elder wand to unlock the door since I didn't have the key with me.
"Welcome to my humble abode," I slipped from Dave's arm to lock the door behind us. Now that we were securely inside somewhere I deemed safe I finally felt free. "Make yourselves at home."
Severus took this as his cue to abandon Dave and sit on the couch in the living room. I rolled my eyes and helped Dave get onto my bed. This way he could fall asleep comfortably with his leg elevated by a pillow.
Automatically knowing Severus would take the couch I had to duplicate the pillow so I could have one to sleep with.
Dave looked confused when I placed my pillow next to his and climbed into the bed, "What are you doing?"
I rose my eyebrows, "Getting into bed." Sitting on the edge so I could take off my shoes I used the Elder wand to change my clothes into pajamas before doing the same for Dave. "It is my bed after all, and it's only one night."
Dave nodded in understanding. Too tired and too relieved to argue. What was there to argue about anyway? He was finally laying in what must have been the softest bed in the world after laying on a stone dungeon floor for years.
With the cloak folded neatly beneath my pillow I finally felt ready for bed. Turning off all the lights until the only thing left on was the TV Severus decided to watch, I climbed back onto my queen sized bed and snuggled into the heavenly comforters. Before I could utter a goodnight to the boys I slipped into what felt like the best sleep I've had in years.
