Another plan and failing safehouses:

Authors note: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE!! Been such a hectic few weeks… But finally an update so i'll let you read the next chapter. Enjoy!

There is a confrontation scene with the kids and severus dad so if mentions of abuse offend you skip the paragraph with * in front.

The room was small and sparse, the only furniture a rickety bed, a far cry from the decorated halls and rich colours of the great hall he had just been in. Lucius had told him to stay and wait for further instructions so naturally he began to think of a plan to leave the room, the bloody castle and take the foolhardy Gryffindors with him. If they would come with him that was. Severus sighed and sat down on the bed. Now was not the time to start thinking of the betrayed look on remus' face, he had work to do. He took a deep breath and began to stretch his subconscious, feeling for the magic with his mind and accessing the great sea of magic that he normally repressed. There was a great surge and he felt his power flow through his body, accompanied by a tingling feeling in his fingertips and the tip of his smooth, black wand lit up with a dazzling array of lights. So this was how freedom felt he mused as he mentally checked all of the enchantments that surrounded the room. A basic locking spell, that was expected, but no more spells. Clearly they underestimated him, that was their first mistake.

Easily unlocking the door he slowly crept out, taking care to stop and check if the long corridor was clear. Seeing that there was no one in sight he stealthily took out his wand and whispered "point me Remus." The wood spun round in his hand and he took off in that direction, sticking close to the walls and in the dark shadows. As he snuck round the twisting and turning paths Severus began to plot the rest of his escape. He was sure that the Marauders would have been placed under more complex spells than him, and that would require much more power, especially if the Dark Lord himself had placed them. His wand vibrated violently and he paused outside a bolted iron door. Taking another deep breath - he seemed to be doing that a lot lately - Severus stretched his magic once again and felt for the enchantments. Unsurprisingly the wards were many and complex, allowing only those branded with the mark to enter, so he raised his wand ,and his left hand, and began to chant softly in Latin.

With a groan the heavy iron door creaked open and the smallest shimmer of violet caught the side of Severus' eye, indicating the wards falling. Cautiously he crept inside, wand aloft in case of any lingering death eaters. Seeing there was no one there his heart rate slowed although he remained alert and with his wand held high. And there it was. The blasted tent and from inside the angry mutterings of his least favourite people, although after meeting Voldermort he might have to reconsider that list. Checking for further enchantments and finding none he slowly pushed the tent flap aside and entered. Inside sat the rest of the bloody marauders. Remus was sat on his bed, a look of anxiety and despair on his face. Potter was next to him, a small cut on his temple, clearly Gryffindor foolishness had prevailed and Potter had taken the less passive option. What idiot chooses to resist against armed soldiers? Then there was Black, pacing backwards and forwards and clearly the source of the angry muttering. And then they saw him.

"Snape!" Yelled Potter as he left to his feet and automatically reached for his wand. Upon realising that it wasn't there he stopped in his tracks, clenching his fists and glaring at him. "What the hell are you doing here death eater?" Black snarled while Remus looked on calculatingly.

"I've come to save you dunderheads," he said smoothly back whilst watching Remus' reaction out of the corner of his eye.

"But you went with the death eaters. Your one of them." Merlin he was so tempted just to leave them.

"I'm a Slytherin, we take advantage of situations, I have a wand and can now escape, I'm doing better than you." He had muttered the last but but Black had heard and was now slowly turning red with suppressed rage. "At least we didn't kiss the robes of a maniac who wants to wipe out humanity."

He had a point.

"Look do you want my help or not," Severus snapped, knowing that they could have minutes left to escape. "Yes," Remus quietly interjected,"I trust you." The wolf looked him in the eyes and for a moment they just stood there staring into each other's eyes.

"Ok." He broke the science. "We're going to have to apparate."

"We can't," barged in Potter.

"Well I can, but not well and only to familiar places. Do you have your wands?"

"No, Malfoy took them," he sulkily muttered.

"Slimy git," added Black as an afterthought.

"That's our first mission then, retrieve the wands then run like hell," concurred Remus.

It turned out that finding Malfoy was easy. With the help of a well timed confundus charm and a quick point me spell they were soon peering into a stone room that contained 5 other death eaters and Malfoy. In the middle and boasting about his father and the future plans of the dark lord. "Father says that I'm shoo in for the Dark lord's inner circle."Salazar what was wrong with the boy, a disgrace to Slytherin house really Severus mused as he cracked the door open further and pointed his wand at the closest gormless follower. "Stupefy." He slumped over and in a flash the rest of them were on their feet, wands out and staring uneasily at the door. During his little spell excursion the door had creaked open ominously. Severus had hoped to avoid this but it seemed that he would have to duel his way out of this. Four death eaters and a furious Lucius Malfoy. Easy.

"Accio wands." He threw the first proverbial punch as 9 wands came flying towards him. Quickly distributing the Marauders wands to them he threw up a hasty shield and began firing off spells with a ferocity. Having heard the rest begin to shout stunning spells he focused all his attention on Lucius. The blonde was furious, the red of his face clashing horribly with his pale hair. "You will regret this," he hissed as he dived to the left, narrowly missing the 'petrificus totalas' thrown his way. "I will not." Severus had practically snorted the last sentence in a decidedly un-Slytherin way and it dripped with a cold disdain. "Your leader is a maniac who only uses you to get what he wants, total power and control." While speaking he had been slowly edging closer to the death eater and with a surge of magic he knocked Malloy out cold. He turned round to find three troublesome Gryfindors standing triumphant over the rest of the death eaters. Several sported purple tentacles waving around their face and one had a long tail that had rebelled against its owner to tangle him up.

"So what now Snape?"

"Now? Now we get the hell out of here."

Severus didn't want to apparate here. In fact he detested every second they spent in that place. Were it not for his risky apparation and the fact that, although he loathe to admit it, this was the place he found most familiar, he would never step foot here again. As he navigated the weary streets of Cokeworth the tired Marauers began to ask the predicted questions. "Snape where are we?"

"Yeah were did you take us slimy git? Why couldn't we go to Remus's or James"

"Because you dunderheads I have two apperate to someplace familiar and even though I have spent past few weeks at the Lupins I can't risk apperating there and splinting myself. Not to mention I had to take you idiots as well." They turned yet another smog filled corner into a small street. The houses were run down and seemed abandoned, the air heavy with silence and desperation. The streets were lined with coal dust and rubbish and as the group marched along curtains twitched and curious faces peered out. "Yes but where are we?" Potter wined. There was a pause as Severus thought about what best to tell them.

"Hoy Snape" the yell came from one of the back alleys and a small boy came sprinting out. "Your fathers in there, he seems angry." Severus froze. This was decidedly not part of the plan.

Realising the 8 yr old was looking for a reply he sighed "thanks Mike, how's Lisa?"

Mike's face turned grim the way no eight year olds should. "Father got angry with her last night, it's not looking good." Ignoring the quiet whispers of the marauders behind him he focused all his attention on the younger one. "If all goes well swing by the house later with her and I'll see what I can do." Getting a nod in reply he quickly strode on, not caring if the marauders followed, his mind full of his father. Tobias Snape was supposed to be in prison. Tobias Snape killed his mother. As they rounded onto a small rundown house Severus braced himself. He could use his wand and threaten the man to leave for a few days, just until they figured out how to get back. Taking a deep breath he braced himself and opened the door.

LUPINS POV:

From the moment they had arrived Remus Lupin had a bad feeling. A suspicion they invaded his mind. A suspicion that was confirmed as a boy (Mike?) told Severus about his father. Nausea had immediately flooded his body, Severus had lived here? Oh Merlin. This was bad. As the hushed conversation continued between Severus and Mike James turned to look at him. "Moony where do you think we are?"

"Probably some muggles house that he and his Death Eater friends have commandeered."

"Shut up Padfoot" he hissed. "Can't you see Severus isn't friends with them. He could have just left us but instead he risked his life to come and save us!"

James looked at his analytically, " you really believe that we were wrong about him don't you?" The two were saved from another scathing reply as Severus began to stride towards another house, his face pale but with a determined look in his eye. They hastened to follow and he couldn't help but feel afraid for his Slytherin friend as they approached the house. He had heard the nightmares, the screams and Remus had to admit he was afraid to see what could make the boy so terrified. Severus visibly collected himself, pushed the door open and strode inside.

The inside was worse than the outside, layers of grime and dust covered the furniture like a blanket. The furniture itself was broken and worn, cluttering up rooms. Remus himself could hardly see where he was going and judging from the muffled curses behind him neither could Padfoot and Prongs. A foul stench of alcohol pierced his senses as. they delved deeper into the house. Paint was peeling as if it wanted to escape the walls of the house too. Suddenly the party came to an abrupt stop as Severus peered down at a breathing lump with barely concealed anger. Drawing his wand the black clad man prodded the lump viciously. "Up. Get up!" He was yelling at this point and with one last quivering movement the lump uncurled and revealed a man.

His eyes were bloodshot and red rimmed with drunkeness matching his disheveled face and uncut beard. He was tall and tubby although his arms showed muscles that proceeded as a warning to anyone who dared to get close to him. Upon spying the boy his mouth curled into a malicious smirk as he told up to his full height, only slightly unsteady on his feet. "Boy." The one word alone made him shiver but Severus seemed un afraid still. "Father" came the cool reply, "was prison not to your liking?"

"No good booze" the man said drily.

"Leave." The one word conveyed so much anger.

"I think not," Severus' father sneered, "this is my house freak, you and your friends can leave."

"I am not a freak." The words came out low and laced with anger.

"You are, just like your mother was." Upon observing how he flinched at the mention of his mother the man's eyes lit up with glee. "Do you want to hear about your mother? How she screamed for you as I killed her? How none of her freaky powers could save her? How the police didn't care because she was worthless, just like you." With every spiteful word the man stepped closer. Severus was now shivering and cowered away from the bulky man, the fiery anger from a few seconds ago replaced with a cold fear. He raised his hand, laughing as Severus flinched away on reflex. "Perhaps a few days in the cupboard will do you good." Remus couldn't let this continue. "Leave him alone." The man turned his attention on Remus and suddenly this seemed like a terrible idea.

"Yeah back off." Thank Merlin for the marauders. Realising that this would only work if they used magic he shook free his wand and raised it at him. Then he went down, toppling forward like a felled tree. From behind Severus straightened up, his wand still pointed at his father. "He's stunned, I'll take it off when we leave." Blatantly ignoring the looks he was getting Severus turned smartly on his heel and strode off again into the dark gloom of another room. Right he thought to himself, that's that then, and he set off in a trot following the shadowy boy.

It was going to be an interesting night.