Note: Chapter 8 and 9 were published within hours of each other. If you have not read both, do that now.
Arthur Weasley found himself hurrying through the Ministry's labyrinth, trying with great difficulty to not look like he was rushing anywhere. The number one rule for Ministry employees in the Order: do not draw attention to yourself. As a result, he found himself muttering to himself as he waited for the lift, 'No need to hurry. No emergency. It's not like there are lives at stake. Just the life of a young man who may or may not be the key to defeating You-Know-Who!' He was practically hopping up and down when the lift finally stopped on his floor. The doors opened and he stepped in, followed quickly by a young man whose name he could not remember, but whom he had recently been introduced to.
"In a hurry, Mr. Weasley?" the young man asked.
"No, no, not really," he answered, but catching the young man's eye, realized he was unconvincing. "I was just getting some late night work in when I realized I was supposed to take my wife out tonight. I'm hoping she won't notice I'm late."
"I know how that goes," he answered with a knowing smile. "It's always life or death."
'You have no idea, little man,' Weasley thought.
Not an hour before, Arthur Weasley had been spending a late evening in his cramped little office finishing up some paper work when Rupert Grigsby stepped in to chat. Arthur had only been half listening when he heard the key words: Harry Potter.
"I'm sorry," he interrupted, "what was that you just said?" Suddenly, Grigsby had his undivided attention.
"I said, I heard the queerest news about Harry Potter today. Not sure if I believe it myself, but then, these days kids are getting odder and odder. Do you know that I went to dinner yesterday with my wife and there was a young lady with fuscia hair at the next table. Of course, all I could do was stare."
"Rupert, the news. What was it?"
"Why, that he was in a mental institution, and a Muggle one at that. I figured that if anyone knew the truth, it was you. Don't your sons go to school with the boy?"
"Yes," he answered tersely. "Where did you hear this? Was it in the paper?"
"The Daily Prophet? Oh, no, though I'm sure they'd like to get their hands on it. No, I heard it from Gerald Rushwing in the Portkey Office. Seems a doctor from St. Mungo's, Sol-something, found him and wanted to transfer him into her care right away. Can't say I blame her, considering who he is and all. Well, you know there's a waiting period for Portkeys, but this doctor (Salaria, was it?), she had Gerald owl the Minister at home, during a dinner party to get permission."
"The Minister?"
"Well, yes, to get a rush on it. But I don't know if it really can be Potter, because Minister Fudge denied the Rush Request."
Unfortunately, Arthur knew exactly why he would deny to have it rushed. Fudge was going to make sure the media got a whiff of the story first. And if that was made public, You-Know-Who would find him in an instant. Arthur knew he had to get out of there quick. He had glanced casually at his watch, then bolted out of his chair as if it were on fire, ranting that it was after seven-thirty and about his wife killing him for missing dinner and other such nonsense to cover his rush from the office.
"So Arthur," Rupert asked as Weasley gathered his cloak. "Do you think it's true? About Harry Potter?"
"Rubbish," Arthur answered, sweeping out the door. "I heard from my son this morning," he lied, "and he mentioned Potter being at school. Probably just a case of mistaken identity."
"Oh, oh yes. Quite right."
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Snape apparated in a small copse of trees and began the short hike toward the usual meeting spot. He was not surprised to hear others apparating around him, but couldn't help but wonder why they were being summoned. From the looks of it, nor could anyone else. Several Death Eaters were walking in pairs, whispering softly underneath the hoods of their black cloaks. What was more alarming was that it seemed to be select people who had been summoned, perhaps eight in all. Was he being summoned for a raid?
The answer came quickly enough when he was called forth by the Dark Lord. Lowering his head appropriately, Snape stepped forward, fully expecting to be punished for something or other.
"Yes, My Lord?"
"Severus, I've heard some very interesting news today. Can you guess what it is?"
Alarms went off in his head, but Snape managed to keep himself controlled. If he had been found out, everyone would have been summoned, so he could be made an example. It's something else.
"No, My Lord." His body reflexively tensed, expecting to be Crucio'ed.
"It seems the information you offered to me earlier this week was correct. Harry Potter was, indeed, missing." A moment's silence. "Would you like an apology?"
Were he not bowing before the most powerful Dark Lord in a century, Snape might have actually laughed… if it wouldn't mean his certain and very painful demise. The Dark Lord certainly had a sense of humor.
"No, My Lord."
"Excellent, my loyal Potions Master. Rejoin the fold." Snape stepped back into the circle and raised his head again so he could see the others. "Lucius, in his close position with the Minister, has learned a very significant piece of information. Harry Potter is alive and in a Muggle institution." Snape thought for a moment he was imagining this, but in glancing at Malfoy standing next to the Dark Lord, found that he looked shaken, as if he had been punished for having brought false information about the boy's death. "Fortunately for him, he convinced the idiot Fudge to leave Potter there longer, on the pretense that the media should find out before he is moved. In reality, it should be very easy for you, my Death Eaters, to locate the boy and bring him to me. You will find Dr. Saluria of St. Mungo's and learn Potter's whereabouts, and you will find Potter."
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Arthur Weasley apparated to a patch of grass and looked up at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, then ran across the pavement to a worn black door and quietly let himself inside. He was greeted by peeling wallpaper and a threadbare carpet leading down a long hallway. Weasley hurried through a door into the kitchen to find Lupin, Black, Tonks, and Moody.
"He's alive! Harry's alive!" Arthur exclaimed as soon as the door had shut behind him. The occupants of the table looked up at him in surprise at his unexpected outburst, and Arthur could only stare stupidly back at him, until Lupin leapt to his feet.
"What do you mean he's alive, Arthur? Have you seen him?"
"Where is he?" Sirius demanded, pulling out his wand to go rescue his godson at a word.
"A hospital. A Muggle hospital." He proceeded to describe the conversation he had just had with Rupert Grigsby in his office. The story took no more than five minutes to relate when the present members of the Order began developing a plan.
"Arthur, you will come with Moody, Tonks, and myself to find this Dr. Solora," Lupin said as the others began rising from their seats, wands out. "Sirius, stay here-."
"Damn it, Remus!"
"Stay here, Sirius."
"Listen to Lupin, Black," Moody interjected.
"I will not! I am going to find my godson!" He was staring hard at Remus, daring him to disagree in his anger. Lupin, controlled, bid the others to wait for him in the hallway. When the door had shut, he turned back to his oldest friend.
"Sit down, Sirius."
"Remus-."
"Damn it, Sirius, you are not going, and the longer I stand here arguing with you, the longer it will be before we retrieve Harry! Now sit down!" Neither man moved for a long moment. Slowly, Sirius sunk back down into his chair. Still not moving but to meet Sirius' eyes in his now lower position, Remus addressed his friend both quietly and forcefully. "Sirius, despite our best efforts, you've been drinking everything you can get your hands on, and frankly, in this condition, I wouldn't take you to a schoolyard scrap, let alone a rescue mission. You would only endanger us and your godson." Sirius moved to speak, but was silenced by Lupin's upraised hand. "We are going to retrieve Harry. You will stay here and help Molly prepare a room. Harry's been in Muggle care, so it's possible he will still be injured. It is imperative that there is an appropriate room for him. Do you understand the importance of that?" Sirius nodded. "Good. I also need you to contact Dumbledore. Tell him what has happened and where we've gone. It's important, Sirius. For Harry's sake, you must do this." He waited just long enough to see the understanding in Sirius' eyes before going out to meet the others in the hallway.
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"Dr. Saluria, what a lovely home you have here," Lucius drawled as Dr. Saluria entered her study, unsuspecting to find a gathering of Death Eaters there.
"What? What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.
Snape, seated behind her desk on which Lucius leaned, merely watched the elderly woman as she took in the room, finally realizing what was happening.
"Jove save me," she whispered under her breath, before more forcefully, "What are you doing in my home?"
"I wanted to ask you a few questions," Lucius answered. He walked around the room, examining the different awards and certificates on the walls before stopping directly in front of her. "How interesting that you studied in a Muggle university, Anya. Oh, pardon. May I call you Anya? How very forward thinking of you."
"What do you want?"
"Potter. I want Harry Potter, and you know where he is."
Snape was stunned to see her eyes grow round, as he had half-expected the information to be false. Her reaction, however, confirmed what Malfoy had learned: Potter was alive, and this woman knew where he was.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Snape observed her hand working very slowly into her sleeve.
"Expelliarmus!" Her wand flew out of her hand and into Snape's outstretched palm. Malfoy, however, was unfazed.
"Really, Anya. That was just stupid. I had assumed a woman of your obvious intelligence, having studied at a Muggle university, to have known better. Tut tut. What is the state of education these days? Crucio!"
Snape schooled himself to appear disinterested in Malfoy's torture of the old woman as he flipped through the files on her desk, all the while keeping an ear to the woman's frantic pleas, listening for any information she had. All the while, his mind was working quickly to develop a plan. When they finally found Potter, how would he get him out without getting either of them killed? He most certainly could not allow him to be taken back to the Dark Lord.
He picked up another file, wishing he'd had time to warn the Order (and hoping that someone at the Ministry had heard similar information), when his eyes fell on a note on the desk. The letterhead revealed that it was from a Dr. Edward Thompson of St. Luke's Mental Institution. Without picking up the note or making any movements which would draw attention away from the screaming doctor, he scanned the tiny scrawl.
Anya,
Please come to my office this evening. It is of the utmost importance.
Edward
As if on cue, the woman began screaming.
"St. Luke's! He's at St. Luke's! Edward Thompson!" A green flash and the screaming died instantly, followed by the dull thud of the woman's lifeless body falling to the floor.
"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Lucius quipped. "Gentlemen? Shall we?" Snape rose from the chair, sweeping imaginary dust from his robes just as the doorbell rang. The Death Eaters' heads turned instantly toward the hallway, wands out.
"I believe we have what we came for," Snape asserted. "We should find Potter. I'm sure you do not wish to test the Dark Lord's wrath again, Lucius." Malfoy sneered at the Potion's Master, but assented.
"Dr. Saluria?" came a faint voice from the wrong side of the front door that Snape recognized as Lupin.
"We do not have time to deal with him," he hissed, motioning toward the door. He dropped the file he was holding back onto the desk, but away from the note so it sat prominently in the center of the desk. Hopefully, it would be found by the right people. They disapparated.
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"Maybe she's not home?" Tonks suggested after several seconds of impatient waiting for the door to be answered.
"Too many lights on for nobody being home," Moody huffed, tapping his wand toward the locked door. "Alohomora." The lock clicked and Moody pushed it open. "Wands out," he growled, glancing around the foyer. "Something's not right here." He motioned for everyone to remain silent, then split the group to search the house. Arthur and Tonks headed upstairs, Lupin and Moody searched the down. It didn't take long to find the body.
Lupin knelt next to the old woman, his fingers pressed to her throat in search of a pulse.
"Don't bother, Lupin," Moody told him grimly. "Killing Curse."
"Death Eaters?" Lupin asked, less surprised than anxious. Voldemort was searching for Harry as well. And, they had a head start.
Moody simply nodded. "Call down the others. If the good doctor left a clue as to where Potter is, it'll be in this room." He stooped and began picking up files that had fallen on the floor, glancing at the names on each, hoping she would have one for Potter. Lupin returned moments later, followed by Weasley and Tonks, when Moody's eyes fell on a scrawled message on the desk.
"St. Luke's, eh? Boys, we may have just found Potter."
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"Spread out, two to a floor," Lucius had told the Death Eaters after searching the now deceased Edward Thompson's office. "Find Potter." Snape had found an unmarked file near the top of the old man's pile, the notes inside making it clear who the occupant of that room was, though no names were included. Third floor, room three-thirty-seven. He made sure he claimed the third floor to search, and was now heading down a long corridor with Malfoy, silently checking the occupants of each room, checking names on doors and glancing through windows just to make sure it was not Potter, and hoping for a chance to slip away.
The long hallway came to a T, with more rooms on each side. Potter's room would be on the right.
"We should split up," Snape suggested. "You check the left, I'll check the right." And hopefully Lupin will catch up soon enough.
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Edward Thompson's office. Another dead body. The Death Eater's were certainly not attempting to cover their tracks. They had obviously searched the office, and even now could have Harry. Lupin's eyes quickly glossed over the top of the desk littered with open files and torn documents. Something wasn't right. One file sat on the edge, its corners perfectly aligned with the corner of the desk, as if it had been strategically placed. All the others were haphazardly strewn about.
"Something wrong, Remus?" Arthur asked, peering at him curiously.
"I get the feeling someone is leaving us clues."
"As in a trap?"
"Quite possibly," he replied, picking up the folder. Sure enough, inside was description enough to convince him it was Harry's file. "Three-thirty-seven," he told them, tucking the file inside his robes.
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"Or perhaps we stay together," Malfoy answered coolly. "I wouldn't want you taking the boy back to the Dark Lord all by yourself."
Snape shrugged indifferently and began walking to the rooms on the left. Unfortunately, they didn't take long to search, as most were empty. Reaching the end of the short hallway, they found a metal staircase. They turned and headed toward the other hallway. A whirring sound echoed through silent hallway.
"Someone's in the lift," Malfoy pointed out.
"It may be one of the other pairs," Snape offered.
"Or a Muggle doctor making his rounds."
"You already killed the doctor."
"Perhaps there's another," he smirked back. They waited patiently, but the lift did not stop on their floor. Crossing to the opposite hallway, Malfoy began searching the rooms again. Each step brought them closer and closer to Potter's room. Three to go. Two to go.
"What have we here?"
Snape glanced over Malfoy's shoulder and saw why the man's pale face lit up. A dark haired teenager was sitting on the bed, his knees drawn up, rocking back and forth.
"Stupify!" Malfoy fell unceremoniously to the floor. Snape didn't bother to look for whomever had stunned the man, though he was quite sure it hadn't been him. Shouts echoed through the once silent corridors. Lupin and his must have come up the stairs behind them. Death Eaters had converged from the longer corridor. Spells were being flung back and forth between both parties. Amid the confusion, Snape slipped into the room and ran to the bed.
"Potter?" The boy didn't look up, but continued rocking himself, ignoring the man in the black robes. "Potter!" He grabbed the boy's wrist and received a look of pure loathing. One dull green eye held him, the other hidden behind long hair. Blood trickled down his forehead.
Realizing he was still wearing his mask, Snape pulled it from his face and turned so the boy could see who he was.
"There isn't much time, Potter. I'm going to get you out of here." He pulled a silver pocket watch from within his robes. "This is a portkey. It will take you to the school. Do you understand?" Nothing. Just that unsettling stare. Snape turned the dial until the second hand was on the one. "Five seconds, Potter. Hold on to it tightly." He laid it in the boy's hand.
Potter's face softened from loathing to confusion. He blinked at the Potions Master.
"Who are you?"
Before the question even registered in Snape's brain, Potter was gone, pulled into the tiny space that had been Snape's pocket watch. The elder man stared unblinking at the empty air before him, thoughts swimming through his mind, each quite as plausible as that which preceded it.
The voices in the hallway came nearer, ripping Snape from his thoughts. He replaced his mask and turned, just in time to be hit in the chest with a spell. His body crumpled to the floor.
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Weasley and Tonks still had their wands pointed at the Death Eater, even as his body crumpled to the floor, revealing an empty bed where they should have found Harry.
"Now what?" Tonks asked. "Shall we help Moody and Remus chase down the last of the baddies?"
"Look around first. Be sure there's nowhere Harry might have hidden."
"There's nothing in here, Arthur. If he were under the bed, we would see him from the door. And that chair wouldn't hide an undernourished pixie, let alone a fifteen year old kid. All we have here is Mr. Death Eater, and he doesn't seem to be in the mood to talk," she told him, kicking the unconscious Death Eater at her feet.
"Look around, Tonks," Arthur repeated patiently. "We have to find him." Looking took almost no time at all. Tonks was right: there was nowhere for Harry to be. The Death Eaters had gotten to him first. The robed figure lying outside the door began to move again, but Arthur stunned him a second time and proceeded to tie him up. It was then that Lupin and Moody appeared.
"Where's Harry?" Lupin asked as soon as he was inside the room.
"Gone," Arthur answered. "They got here first." This was punctuated by Tonks again landing a swift kick to the Death Eater at her feet.
Lupin's jaw hardened as he looked down at the robed figures on the floor, as if restraining himself from killing them outright. His entire body tensed and he ceased to breathe for one long moment before closing his eyes and exhaling slowly.
"What now, Moody?" Lupin asked, his eyes still closed. "Shall we alert the Ministry? Have them pick up a few prisoners?"
Another kick by Tonks.
"No." Moody was staring at the body at Tonks' feet.
"No what?" Lupin asked.
"No, we do not contact the Ministry," Moody answered in a low voice, his magical eye remaining on the prone body at Tonks' feet, while the human one looked steadily at Lupin. "We do not send these men to Azkaban. We leave now and do nothing but wait for information." His magical eye swiveled up at the young witch poised to land another kick. "TONKS, IF YOU DO NOT WANT HIM CURSING YOU LATER, I SUGGEST YOU STOP!"
Tonks froze, staring bewildered at the wizened Auror who had just yelled at her for kicking a Death Eater. Lupin frowned at the elder Auror, then down at the Death Eater. Slowly, he stooped and removed the mask.
Severus Snape.
"Oh," Tonks muttered when she saw his face contort as he began to regain consciousness. Lupin stunned him again, and he fell still.
"Why'd you do that?" Arthur asked.
"If the others wake first and find him unconscious, there will be no suspicion that he helped Harry escape. He has to look like we took him down." Lupin glanced toward the one near the door. "Untie him so he can help Snape get out of here."
"You sure about this, Lupin?" Moody asked as Arthur removed the binds from the other Death Eater.
"I hope so." He caught Moody's eye. "Otherwise, he's a dead man."
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Madame Pomfrey was sitting at her desk sorting files for new students when she heard the commotion. Puzzled, she rose from her seat and glanced around, expecting to find a mouse scurrying about on the floor. Still frowning, she sat down again, then jumped out of her seat as a low cry emanated from the door behind her. That door led to a private room Professor Snape used when he had been seriously injured in his work for the Order. If noises were coming from that room, Snape must have used his emergency portkey.
She threw the door open, expecting to see the tall professor lying on the bed or crumbled on the floor, but was surprised to find a student standing in the middle of the small room. In the darkness, she could not make out who he was or how he had come to be in a room which had only one entrance that she had been sitting in front of for over two hours. With a wave of her wand, she lit several candles and gasped.
Dressed in thin hospital pajamas, Harry Potter stood just in front of the bed. His right arm was in a sling. Blood dribbled down his too pale face. His body trembled violently, his eyes wide with fear as he stared up at the medical witch, who stared back with as much confusion in her eyes as his had fear.
"Potter?"
His left hand opened and a glint of silver followed, as Snape's emergency portkey, his silver pocket watch, fell from the boy's hand. It seemed to fall in slow motion until it bounced shallowly across the floor with a metallic tink, before coming to rest on its back, its face shattered. The boy followed, his body going limp as he too fell to the floor.
"Oh gods!"
Well, that's it for this chapter. Don't worry. Next chapter, I'll explain what happened to Harry to land him where he was. And no, it wasn't the beating. It's much more logical than that. I gave you all the info you need to figure it out yourselves! But if you do, please don't put it in your review. I want it to be a surprise to those who don't figure it out. If it makes you feel better, you can tell me afterward whether or not you were right, or tell me what you thought it was.
Toodles!