Summary: Harry and Hermione walk into danger as they try to find Ron...but things are not as they seem...
Disclaimer: These characters belong to JK Rowling, except for a couple I've added.
Author's Notes: Harry's POV. It's Hermione's turn really, but I've changed the sequence for important plot reasons! I think there will be probably be two more parts after this - 9 parts altogether. This is a long part, to make up for the last couple of parts being quite short!
Goblet of Fire spoilers - no plot spoilers in this part, but a couple of spells mentioned in GoF are used. And there may be spoilers in part 8.
The Best Man 2: The Search for Snape, Part 7
When the rock had closed behind them, shutting them into the hillside, Harry and Hermione had been plunged into total blackness. Harry felt as though every nerve in his body was alert for danger, and he knew that beside him Hermione was just as tense. He gripped his wand tightly in his hand. There was a long silence, before the whispering voice spoke just one word.
"Follow."
As the voice spoke, a tiny yellow light sprang into existence inside the dark tunnel. It flickered and bobbed in the air about ten metres ahead of them - not bright enough to light up the floor or show the person who held it, just bright enough to see and follow. As the light began to move away from them, Harry and Hermione walked carefully after it, shuffling at each step with their feet to check the unseen ground for holes and rocks. Harry also walked with one hand raised above his head, feeling the ceiling a few inches above him, trying not to hit his head on the earthen roof.
"I think this might be an old mine working," Hermione murmured in his ear. "There are old mines round here, I know. Priskett was talking about searching them."
Harry nodded, then remembered she couldn't see him and said, "Yeah. Could be."
The light was still bobbing ahead, leading them on, and disappearing once or twice for a few seconds as they turned corners. They were definitely walking down a gradual downhill slope, Harry realised. They must be travelling down through Carn Brea inside the hill. He wondered which direction they were heading in - towards the woods, or towards the coast?
Hermione must have been thinking along the same lines, because a moment later Harry heard her whisper to her wand, "Lumos!" and then "Point me!" He knew she was using the Four-Point directional spell to make her wand point north - he had been about to do the same thing himself. The light from the end of her wand lit up her face eerily in the darkness, and he could see the wand laid flat on her hand, pointing almost straight ahead. She was frowning slightly. "We're going north."
"Towards the sea?" Harry asked.
Hermione nodded, and then extinguished the light from her wand, because the glow of it was making it very hard to see the tiny light ahead of them. There was silence as they continued to walk.
"We've come a long way," Harry muttered, eventually. "Alex and the Carlyon girls should be at the cottage by now."
"Yes. I know we're just doing what they - he - whoever - wants by coming here, but -"
"I'd rather be here than sitting in the cottage with Priskett and the rest," Harry finished. "At least it feels as though we're doing something."
Hermione made a sound of agreement, which turned into a squawk of dismay as she stumbled on some unexpected steps going down. Harry grabbed her just in time to avoid disaster, and they reached the bottom of the short flight safely, though shakily. It was only as Harry straightened up at the bottom of the steps that he realised the light which had been guiding them had vanished completely. They stopped.
"Lumos!" Harry said, and this time it was from his wand that brightness emerged to light up their surroundings. They were still standing in a narrow passage, with sides of rock and earth, but the passage was now blocked by a door ahead of them, and there was another sturdy wooden door to their right. There was no sign of the person with the whispering voice, whoever they had been.
"Hullo?" Hermione said enquiringly, lighting her own wand too. "Is there anybody there?"
There was a pause, and then Harry and Hermione both jumped slightly as a voice answered. It was not the whispering voice, but quite a different one - hoarse, and anxious.
"Who's there?" It was a man's voice, one that Harry did not recognise, but Hermione frowned, as if it seemed vaguely familiar.
"Ivan? Is that you?"
There was another short pause, before the voice came again, sounding surprised. "Yes...is that...Hermione Granger?"
"Yes, I'm here," Hermione had moved to stand against the door, lit by the flickering light from her wand, "and Harry's here too - Harry Potter. Are Ron and Leander with you?"
"Leander's here," Ivan answered, "although he's not feeling too good - he got a bang on the head when they captured us - I think he's got a concussion. Ron's not here though - was he captured too?"
Harry saw Hermione bite her lip before she answered. "You all disappeared at the same time. Wasn't Ron with you?"
"No...Leander and I were checking out some ruined mine buildings, looking for Malfoy - or those two little girls we heard had disappeared. We shouldn't have let ourselves get jumped, but we did. Next thing we knew, we woke up here. Ron and Alex were still back at our base. They must have gone looking for us after that."
Harry looked around cautiously while Ivan and Hermione conducted their whispered conversation. He was mystified - where had their mysterious guide gone? Was he listening to them now? And what was the purpose of leading them here?
Hermione had been giving Ivan a quick recap of what had happened. "Alex and the two girls must have got to Priskett by now. The M.L.E.S. will know roughly where to look for us."
"Are you armed?" Ivan asked. "Can you get us out of here?"
"We've got our wands, yes - and we'll have a go," Harry replied. "Get Leander away from the door, and stand clear yourself."
Harry and Hermione waited, casting nervous glances up and down the passage. They heard shuffling noises from behind the door, and Ivan muttering to Leander. Finally, Ivan said, "OK - all clear."
Harry saw Hermione hold her wand steady, and glance at him for a signal. He nodded, and they spoke together, their wands aimed at the lock on the door.
"Alohomora!" There was a bang as the spell, doubled in force, hit the door. The hinges burst and the heavy wooden slab fell inwards. Clouds of dust rose, and Harry tried to wave them aside to see better as he lit his wand again and peered into the small chamber. "Are you all right?"
He could see two figures in the corner of the cell. Ivan, dark and stocky, had pulled his robes over Leander's face and was pressing both of them into the wall for safety. "Yes...we're fine."
"Quick! Get out! Can he walk?" Hermione asked urgently, from behind Harry.
In answer Leander, tall and fair, with dried blood caked on his forehead, unfolded himself and stood up gingerly. "I - I think so," he said uncertainly, but he swayed as he spoke, and put out a hand to lean against the stone wall.
"He'll make it - I'll help him," said Ivan quickly, putting his arm round his colleague's shoulders.
Harry looked up and down the passage again before deciding. "You'd better go back the way we came," he said. "You'll get to the end of the passage - there's a stone but you might be able to move it - if you can't you'll have to yell until Priskett's lot get up there and hear you."
"Could you lend us a wand?" Ivan asked, as they struggled out of the room, stepping over the wreckage of the door. "We could blast the stone out, then, and summon help."
Harry paused, then shook his head. "No. Sorry, but you'll have to manage without. I don't know what's up ahead of us - and I'd rather we were both armed."
"Maybe you two shouldn't go on," Ivan said, frowning. "Come back with us - the C.E.O. can decide what we should do next -"
"No," Hermione said, so firmly that it was clear it was going to be no use arguing with her. Her brown hair and her clothes were now covered in dust, but her eyes were very determined. "We're going on. Ron's still down here somewhere."
Ivan looked at her, in the dim light, then nodded reluctantly. "All right. Can you just give me a light, then?"
Harry nodded, pointed his wand at Ivan's free hand and said, "Fumos!" A handful of crackling flames, bright, but cool to the touch, appeared in Ivan's palm. Harry remembered the first time he had seen that spell worked - by his old teacher, Remus Lupin.
"Thanks." Ivan turned, propping up Leander, who still seemed dazed, and began to walk slowly back up the passage towards the entrance.
"It'll take them a while to get back, going uphill, and with Leander so groggy," Harry murmured, watching them go.
"Yes." Hermione had turned, and was now looking at the other door which barred their way. "Harry, I don't like this. It's all wrong. Where's the man who brought us here? Why did he let us help Ivan and Leander, without stopping us?"
Harry had been thinking about this. "I think he doesn't care whether he's got them or not - I think it's more important that we're here. Don't forget he wanted to swap us for them. It's you and me, and Ron, that he wants."
"Quite right," said the whispering voice suddenly, seemingly right next to them, and both Harry and Hermione stepped back in surprise and alarm. "They were merely pawns, and may as well be gone. I promised that they would be freed, when you were my guests."
"Let us see you," said Harry, looking around at the apparently empty space around them.
"Let us see Ron, too," said Hermione firmly. "We don't even know if he's really here."
"Always such a sceptic, weren't you, Granger?" said the voice, sounding faintly amused. "Always wanting proof. Don't worry - Weasley's here. A little the worse for wear, and not very happy, I'm afraid, but certainly here."
"Then show us," Hermione demanded, and Harry admired the steadiness of her voice.
"With pleasure."
Harry and Hermione both looked round quickly as a steady grating, rumbling noise began next to them. The heavy wooden door which blocked the passage ahead was slowly opening...to reveal a short flight of steps leading upwards. Harry and Hermione exchanged glances and then, without saying a word, began to climb, accompanied, Harry presumed, by their unseen captor. The wooden door slammed firmly back into place behind them.
At the top of the steps the passage forked into three. One passageway, as their lit wands showed, led off round a corner to the left. Another curved round out of sight to the right. The third passageway continued straight ahead for only a few metres before being blocked by yet another door.
"Where do we go next?" Harry asked in a low voice, as they paused at the fork in the passageways.
"Allow me," said the unseen voice again, sounding almost amused. Again, there was a rumble and the door ahead of them swung slowly open.
Harry and Hermione walked slowly forward towards the entrance. Harry lifted his wand, and shone the light through the doorway. He saw another small chamber, windowless and musty-smelling. It was almost empty, but there was one person inside, sitting propped against the far wall, blinking and shielding his eyes from the light with his hand as if he had just awoken.
"Ron!" Harry and Hermione exclaimed the name at the same moment. Harry started towards his friend, then paused in the doorway and looked around for danger, letting Hermione brush past him as she crossed the cell and knelt down beside Ron.
"Are you all right?" she demanded.
Ron blinked again as he took his hand away from his eyes. "Hermione?" At that moment he was looking at her, Harry thought, as though she was some sort of miracle.
"Are you all right?" Hermione repeated, frowning anxiously. Harry, glancing at Ron quickly before looking around again, thought his friend looked better than Ivan, Leander or Alex had. He looked pale and tired, his robes were dirty and there was gingery stubble on his face, but he seemed to be otherwise unhurt.
"Yeah - I'm fine -" Ron suddenly seemed to wake up properly and become alert. He jumped to his feet. "What are you two doing here? You shouldn't have come! That's what he wanted - to get you here -"
"Who? Who is it?" Hermione demanded, also getting to her feet.
"Snape!" said Ron, joining Harry, who was still blocking the doorway.
"Snape?" repeated Harry, surprised. Deep inside, he had been convinced that Malfoy was behind all this.
"Indeed, Potter," said the voice behind him - no longer whispering, but cold and cutting. Harry turned to look in the same direction in which Ron and Hermione were already staring. Behind him stood the tall, hook-nosed figure of Severus Snape. And behind Snape stood a hulking, hooded figure who reminded Harry irresistibly of Crabbe.
There was a brief pause while the five of them stood looking at each other in the semi-darkness. Then Snape, Harry and Hermione all said the same word at the same moment.
"Expelliarmus!"
There was a loud bang, and the walls of the tunnel seemed to shake as soil and dust showered from the roof. Ron ducked as Snape's wand flew past his head and bounced off the wall behind him. Harry and Hermione's joint spell had proved stronger than Snape's. Harry's wand was jerked out of his hand, but he managed to catch it again before it hit the floor.
Snape took two steps back, and reached out a hand to his massive accomplice. "Wand!" he snapped, and the big man fumbled in his robes, clearly searching for his own.
"Oh no, you don't," said Ron, who had now picked up Snape's wand and was holding it in front of him as he moved forward, shoulder to shoulder with Harry. "Stay right there," he added, holding the big man at wand-point. "Or do I have to use a full Body-Bind?"
The hooded man froze.
"Put your hands up where we can see them," Harry added, covering both Snape and his accomplice with his own wand.
Hermione moved forward past Harry and Ron, stopping only a few paces from Snape. "What on earth were you thinking?" she asked. "Surely you didn't expect to hold all three of us prisoner by yourself? You haven't been in trouble with the Ministry, why do this now?"
Snape's face was twisted with fury. "Shut up, Granger!" he spat. "You know nothing about my plans - nothing!"
"Is Malfoy involved in this?" Harry asked.
"How did you kn-" blurted the big, hooded man, before a quick gesture from Snape silenced him.
"Crabbe! I thought it looked like you," Harry exclaimed. Hermione, still with her wand pointed at him, took a few steps forward and pulled Crabbe's hood down. He blinked at them resentfully, but made no move to stop her, his piggy eyes fixed on the tip of her wand.
"So Malfoy is involved," said Hermione, picking up on Crabbe's mistake. "How?"
"Maybe not the way we thought," said Ron, sounding puzzled. Harry turned, and saw his friend carefully examining the wand he held. "I've seen this wand before. This is *Malfoy's* wand."
"How come? Why would Snape have Malfoy's wand?" said Harry.
"Where's Malfoy?" Ron asked Snape tersely. "You must know the whole of the Ministry's been looking for him since he escaped."
Snape had retreated a few paces, backing away from the wands which were still pointed at him. His eyes were darting from side to side, as though looking for a way to escape. "I'm not here to do the Ministry's work, Weasley," he snapped. "I have my own concerns."
Crabbe was starting to look agitated, shifting from one foot to the other. Harry noticed him looking at his watch in an anxious way.
With faint surprise, Harry remembered that it was the middle of the night. Down here in the darkness, it was hard to remember if it was night or day outside. He wondered if the Ministry wizards would be here soon to help arrest Snape and Crabbe - if there were only the two of them, it shouldn't be too difficult...now they had found Ron, Harry found himself relaxing...he had no idea why Snape had felt compelled to get them here, when he must have known he would be outnumbered...or where Draco Malfoy was, but -
BANG! Harry was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of a distant explosion. More soil and rock chippings showered down on them from the roof, and they all put up hands to shield their faces.
BANG! Another explosion, this time louder, rocked the tunnel.
Harry exchanged a quick look with Ron. "D'you think Priskett's lot are trying to get in?"
"Could be...but if they don't watch it, they're going to bring this roof down," said Ron.
They all looked anxious, but Crabbe looked absolutely panic-stricken. He was glancing over his shoulder to where the left-hand tunnel curved away, as if he would like nothing better than to take to his heels and run.
BANG! A third explosion, louder than even the third two, ripped through the tunnel. A great boom of sound and warm air rushed down the passage towards them. And then there was a crack, as above them, the timbers which reinforced the ceiling of the old mine tunnel finally gave way.
"GET DOWN!" Harry shouted, suddenly realising the danger they were in. Bigger and bigger pieces of rock and earth and wood were cascading down on to them, and there was a rumbling sound getting louder and louder. Harry flung himself to the floor, trying to keep his wand pointed at Snape. Hermione and Ron also dived for cover, and Crabbe turned and ran away along the left hand tunnel. Snape turned to follow him.
"Stupefy!" Harry and Hermione shouted together, and Snape was felled in his tracks. Harry saw him fall, stunned, before the rocks and stones which rained down made him cover his face and curl up protectively. All around them objects were falling as the roof collapsed and the tunnel caved in around them. Harry felt occasional jabs of pain as stones struck his back and legs. The long, roaring, rumbling noise seemed to go on for hours, though it could only have been a matter of minutes, and a choking dust filled the air. Harry tried to breathe through a fold in his robes to filter the air.
Finally, the noise stopped. The stones and dust gradually ceased to fall. But it was a good three minutes after that before Harry dared to move, afraid that by moving he might start off another fall of rocks.
"Ron? Hermione?" he said, into the sudden silence. "Are you OK?"
There was a pause, while Harry experimented, trying to move his arms and legs, and was relieved to find that although there was a pile of soil and stones weighing his legs down, his limbs all seemed to be in working order. He was very bruised, but nothing seemed to be broken, even his glasses, although he had to rub them to get some of the grime off them.
He was just about to speak again when he heard more stones being gingerly moved, and Ron's voice saying, "Yeah...I'm all right - Hermione, where are you?"
"I'm here," she said, sounding shaken. Her voice was coming from somewhere to Harry's right, but when he put out a hand, he could only feel bits of wood and rock. Luckily, his wand had been cushioned from the rockfall by his body. In the darkness, Harry fumbled it into his hand and murmured, "Lumos!"
The light from his wand illuminated a scene of total chaos. Harry saw a huge pile of debris blocking the door through which they had come. The top of the door was just visible. More debris lay all around. One pile of soil and rock ahead of Harry was shifting as Ron dug his way out of it. To his right, Harry could see a fold of Hermione's robes sticking out of another heap of stones and soil.
Ron emerged, lighting the wand he held - Malfoy's wand. He was filthy - his face a mask of dust and dirt, the red of his hair completely dulled by earth. Harry realised that he must look just as bad himself.
"Well, that was fun," said Ron dryly, now on his hands and knees. There was no longer room to stand upright. "Hermione?"
"Can't move this door," she said, breathlessly, and Harry realised that she was partially trapped by what had been the door to Ron's cell. Harry and Ron both crawled across to her, and started shifting the rocks until they could see Hermione's grimy face and heave the wooden door off her legs.
"Thanks." She was spluttering and trying to spit out grit from her mouth.
"Did you break anything when that door landed on you?" asked Harry, concerned.
"Amazingly, apparently not," said Hermione, flexing her legs, "but I'm going to have some really spectacular bruises. Are you both all right? Ron, you're bleeding."
"I think I just got nicked by a flying stone," said Ron, putting his hand up to his ear, and bringing it away smeared with blood. "I'll live."
"What happened to Snape? Did we get him with our stunners?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah, I saw him go down just before the roof fell in," said Harry, pointing to a large pile of rocks. "He must be under there somewhere. Crabbe got away though, I think."
"Well, if it was Priskett's lot who blasted their way in and brought the roof down on us, it's going to be difficult for them to get through to us now," said Ron, looking dubiously at the blocked door.
"The other way's not quite so bad," said Hermione, looking thoughtfully at the left-hand tunnel, down which Crabbe had gone. "We could dig our way out through there."
"We don't know where we'd end up," said Harry, "but I suppose it would be better than just staying here and hoping someone comes for us. I can hardly breathe with all this dust flying about."
"We can't just leave Snape here," said Ron regretfully, his Enforcer's conscience troubling him. "We'll have to take him with us. We can keep him subdued."
"We'll have to dig him out first."
Snape turned out to be buried more deeply beneath the rubble of the rockfall than any of them had been. It took them quite a while to move the stones and earth away from the place where he had fallen.
"He's not dead, is he?" said Ron, when at last they had cleared most of the debris, and could see Snape's face, his jaw slack and his eyes closed.
"No, he's breathing," Hermione said, placing a hand on Snape's chest. "What shall we use - Mobilicorpus?"
"Yeah, but horizontally." Working together, still coughing as they breathed in dust, they raised Snape's body from the ground and he floated, suspended in mid-air a few inches from the rocks which littered the floor. It took another fifteen minutes or so to clear the left-hand passage enough for them to scramble through the hole and propel Snape forward through it. This tunnel was a little clearer, but there were still plenty of obstacles to move, and it was slow going, mostly on hands and knees, shifting handfuls of earth or larger rocks. They did not dare to blast many blockages out of the tunnel with their wands, afraid of causing another collapse. None of them bothered too much about Snape's body banging into obstacles.
Harry wondered what Ginny would think if she could see them now. She must be worried sick about them. He didn't know how much time had passed, but it was a long, slow, hot journey, lit only by the flicker of three wands, listening to the sounds of their own panting breath and the clatter of stones, before he heard Ron draw in his breath sharply.
"Look - there, ahead! Isn't that a light?"
"Yeah - I think so." Harry screwed up his eyes, peering through his glasses, which were still rather dirty. Up ahead of them, the tunnel walls were definitely brightening, and a pale glow was visible. It looked like daylight. He could feel a faint breath of cooler air on his face, too, and hear a curious sound. "What's that noise? Sort of sshhing sound."
"I think it's the sea," said Hermione. "We must have come all the way underground to the coast."
"There must be a way out here," said Ron, sounding more cheerful. "Come on."
The roof of this part of the tunnel had not been much affected by the rockfall, and they were able to make faster progress, Snape's body gliding in front of them. The light grew brighter and brighter, and the tunnel roof was finally high enough for them to walk instead of crawling.
As it got lighter, Harry could see his companions more clearly. Ron looked a mess - blood and dirt mingling on the side of his face. Hermione looked exhausted, but was trudging on determinedly. Snape - Harry glanced down at his unconscious face. Then he looked again.
"Stop a minute!" he said sharply. Ron and Hermione both halted, startled.
"What's the matter?"
Harry pointed with his wand. "Look - look at him!"
Ron and Hermione followed Harry's gaze. They both gasped as they looked at Snape's face. It was still filthy and his eyes were still closed, but the face itself...was changing. Before their amazed eyes, a transformation was taking place...
End of Part 7
Part 8 will be up Very Soon.
Disclaimer: These characters belong to JK Rowling, except for a couple I've added.
Author's Notes: Harry's POV. It's Hermione's turn really, but I've changed the sequence for important plot reasons! I think there will be probably be two more parts after this - 9 parts altogether. This is a long part, to make up for the last couple of parts being quite short!
Goblet of Fire spoilers - no plot spoilers in this part, but a couple of spells mentioned in GoF are used. And there may be spoilers in part 8.
The Best Man 2: The Search for Snape, Part 7
When the rock had closed behind them, shutting them into the hillside, Harry and Hermione had been plunged into total blackness. Harry felt as though every nerve in his body was alert for danger, and he knew that beside him Hermione was just as tense. He gripped his wand tightly in his hand. There was a long silence, before the whispering voice spoke just one word.
"Follow."
As the voice spoke, a tiny yellow light sprang into existence inside the dark tunnel. It flickered and bobbed in the air about ten metres ahead of them - not bright enough to light up the floor or show the person who held it, just bright enough to see and follow. As the light began to move away from them, Harry and Hermione walked carefully after it, shuffling at each step with their feet to check the unseen ground for holes and rocks. Harry also walked with one hand raised above his head, feeling the ceiling a few inches above him, trying not to hit his head on the earthen roof.
"I think this might be an old mine working," Hermione murmured in his ear. "There are old mines round here, I know. Priskett was talking about searching them."
Harry nodded, then remembered she couldn't see him and said, "Yeah. Could be."
The light was still bobbing ahead, leading them on, and disappearing once or twice for a few seconds as they turned corners. They were definitely walking down a gradual downhill slope, Harry realised. They must be travelling down through Carn Brea inside the hill. He wondered which direction they were heading in - towards the woods, or towards the coast?
Hermione must have been thinking along the same lines, because a moment later Harry heard her whisper to her wand, "Lumos!" and then "Point me!" He knew she was using the Four-Point directional spell to make her wand point north - he had been about to do the same thing himself. The light from the end of her wand lit up her face eerily in the darkness, and he could see the wand laid flat on her hand, pointing almost straight ahead. She was frowning slightly. "We're going north."
"Towards the sea?" Harry asked.
Hermione nodded, and then extinguished the light from her wand, because the glow of it was making it very hard to see the tiny light ahead of them. There was silence as they continued to walk.
"We've come a long way," Harry muttered, eventually. "Alex and the Carlyon girls should be at the cottage by now."
"Yes. I know we're just doing what they - he - whoever - wants by coming here, but -"
"I'd rather be here than sitting in the cottage with Priskett and the rest," Harry finished. "At least it feels as though we're doing something."
Hermione made a sound of agreement, which turned into a squawk of dismay as she stumbled on some unexpected steps going down. Harry grabbed her just in time to avoid disaster, and they reached the bottom of the short flight safely, though shakily. It was only as Harry straightened up at the bottom of the steps that he realised the light which had been guiding them had vanished completely. They stopped.
"Lumos!" Harry said, and this time it was from his wand that brightness emerged to light up their surroundings. They were still standing in a narrow passage, with sides of rock and earth, but the passage was now blocked by a door ahead of them, and there was another sturdy wooden door to their right. There was no sign of the person with the whispering voice, whoever they had been.
"Hullo?" Hermione said enquiringly, lighting her own wand too. "Is there anybody there?"
There was a pause, and then Harry and Hermione both jumped slightly as a voice answered. It was not the whispering voice, but quite a different one - hoarse, and anxious.
"Who's there?" It was a man's voice, one that Harry did not recognise, but Hermione frowned, as if it seemed vaguely familiar.
"Ivan? Is that you?"
There was another short pause, before the voice came again, sounding surprised. "Yes...is that...Hermione Granger?"
"Yes, I'm here," Hermione had moved to stand against the door, lit by the flickering light from her wand, "and Harry's here too - Harry Potter. Are Ron and Leander with you?"
"Leander's here," Ivan answered, "although he's not feeling too good - he got a bang on the head when they captured us - I think he's got a concussion. Ron's not here though - was he captured too?"
Harry saw Hermione bite her lip before she answered. "You all disappeared at the same time. Wasn't Ron with you?"
"No...Leander and I were checking out some ruined mine buildings, looking for Malfoy - or those two little girls we heard had disappeared. We shouldn't have let ourselves get jumped, but we did. Next thing we knew, we woke up here. Ron and Alex were still back at our base. They must have gone looking for us after that."
Harry looked around cautiously while Ivan and Hermione conducted their whispered conversation. He was mystified - where had their mysterious guide gone? Was he listening to them now? And what was the purpose of leading them here?
Hermione had been giving Ivan a quick recap of what had happened. "Alex and the two girls must have got to Priskett by now. The M.L.E.S. will know roughly where to look for us."
"Are you armed?" Ivan asked. "Can you get us out of here?"
"We've got our wands, yes - and we'll have a go," Harry replied. "Get Leander away from the door, and stand clear yourself."
Harry and Hermione waited, casting nervous glances up and down the passage. They heard shuffling noises from behind the door, and Ivan muttering to Leander. Finally, Ivan said, "OK - all clear."
Harry saw Hermione hold her wand steady, and glance at him for a signal. He nodded, and they spoke together, their wands aimed at the lock on the door.
"Alohomora!" There was a bang as the spell, doubled in force, hit the door. The hinges burst and the heavy wooden slab fell inwards. Clouds of dust rose, and Harry tried to wave them aside to see better as he lit his wand again and peered into the small chamber. "Are you all right?"
He could see two figures in the corner of the cell. Ivan, dark and stocky, had pulled his robes over Leander's face and was pressing both of them into the wall for safety. "Yes...we're fine."
"Quick! Get out! Can he walk?" Hermione asked urgently, from behind Harry.
In answer Leander, tall and fair, with dried blood caked on his forehead, unfolded himself and stood up gingerly. "I - I think so," he said uncertainly, but he swayed as he spoke, and put out a hand to lean against the stone wall.
"He'll make it - I'll help him," said Ivan quickly, putting his arm round his colleague's shoulders.
Harry looked up and down the passage again before deciding. "You'd better go back the way we came," he said. "You'll get to the end of the passage - there's a stone but you might be able to move it - if you can't you'll have to yell until Priskett's lot get up there and hear you."
"Could you lend us a wand?" Ivan asked, as they struggled out of the room, stepping over the wreckage of the door. "We could blast the stone out, then, and summon help."
Harry paused, then shook his head. "No. Sorry, but you'll have to manage without. I don't know what's up ahead of us - and I'd rather we were both armed."
"Maybe you two shouldn't go on," Ivan said, frowning. "Come back with us - the C.E.O. can decide what we should do next -"
"No," Hermione said, so firmly that it was clear it was going to be no use arguing with her. Her brown hair and her clothes were now covered in dust, but her eyes were very determined. "We're going on. Ron's still down here somewhere."
Ivan looked at her, in the dim light, then nodded reluctantly. "All right. Can you just give me a light, then?"
Harry nodded, pointed his wand at Ivan's free hand and said, "Fumos!" A handful of crackling flames, bright, but cool to the touch, appeared in Ivan's palm. Harry remembered the first time he had seen that spell worked - by his old teacher, Remus Lupin.
"Thanks." Ivan turned, propping up Leander, who still seemed dazed, and began to walk slowly back up the passage towards the entrance.
"It'll take them a while to get back, going uphill, and with Leander so groggy," Harry murmured, watching them go.
"Yes." Hermione had turned, and was now looking at the other door which barred their way. "Harry, I don't like this. It's all wrong. Where's the man who brought us here? Why did he let us help Ivan and Leander, without stopping us?"
Harry had been thinking about this. "I think he doesn't care whether he's got them or not - I think it's more important that we're here. Don't forget he wanted to swap us for them. It's you and me, and Ron, that he wants."
"Quite right," said the whispering voice suddenly, seemingly right next to them, and both Harry and Hermione stepped back in surprise and alarm. "They were merely pawns, and may as well be gone. I promised that they would be freed, when you were my guests."
"Let us see you," said Harry, looking around at the apparently empty space around them.
"Let us see Ron, too," said Hermione firmly. "We don't even know if he's really here."
"Always such a sceptic, weren't you, Granger?" said the voice, sounding faintly amused. "Always wanting proof. Don't worry - Weasley's here. A little the worse for wear, and not very happy, I'm afraid, but certainly here."
"Then show us," Hermione demanded, and Harry admired the steadiness of her voice.
"With pleasure."
Harry and Hermione both looked round quickly as a steady grating, rumbling noise began next to them. The heavy wooden door which blocked the passage ahead was slowly opening...to reveal a short flight of steps leading upwards. Harry and Hermione exchanged glances and then, without saying a word, began to climb, accompanied, Harry presumed, by their unseen captor. The wooden door slammed firmly back into place behind them.
At the top of the steps the passage forked into three. One passageway, as their lit wands showed, led off round a corner to the left. Another curved round out of sight to the right. The third passageway continued straight ahead for only a few metres before being blocked by yet another door.
"Where do we go next?" Harry asked in a low voice, as they paused at the fork in the passageways.
"Allow me," said the unseen voice again, sounding almost amused. Again, there was a rumble and the door ahead of them swung slowly open.
Harry and Hermione walked slowly forward towards the entrance. Harry lifted his wand, and shone the light through the doorway. He saw another small chamber, windowless and musty-smelling. It was almost empty, but there was one person inside, sitting propped against the far wall, blinking and shielding his eyes from the light with his hand as if he had just awoken.
"Ron!" Harry and Hermione exclaimed the name at the same moment. Harry started towards his friend, then paused in the doorway and looked around for danger, letting Hermione brush past him as she crossed the cell and knelt down beside Ron.
"Are you all right?" she demanded.
Ron blinked again as he took his hand away from his eyes. "Hermione?" At that moment he was looking at her, Harry thought, as though she was some sort of miracle.
"Are you all right?" Hermione repeated, frowning anxiously. Harry, glancing at Ron quickly before looking around again, thought his friend looked better than Ivan, Leander or Alex had. He looked pale and tired, his robes were dirty and there was gingery stubble on his face, but he seemed to be otherwise unhurt.
"Yeah - I'm fine -" Ron suddenly seemed to wake up properly and become alert. He jumped to his feet. "What are you two doing here? You shouldn't have come! That's what he wanted - to get you here -"
"Who? Who is it?" Hermione demanded, also getting to her feet.
"Snape!" said Ron, joining Harry, who was still blocking the doorway.
"Snape?" repeated Harry, surprised. Deep inside, he had been convinced that Malfoy was behind all this.
"Indeed, Potter," said the voice behind him - no longer whispering, but cold and cutting. Harry turned to look in the same direction in which Ron and Hermione were already staring. Behind him stood the tall, hook-nosed figure of Severus Snape. And behind Snape stood a hulking, hooded figure who reminded Harry irresistibly of Crabbe.
There was a brief pause while the five of them stood looking at each other in the semi-darkness. Then Snape, Harry and Hermione all said the same word at the same moment.
"Expelliarmus!"
There was a loud bang, and the walls of the tunnel seemed to shake as soil and dust showered from the roof. Ron ducked as Snape's wand flew past his head and bounced off the wall behind him. Harry and Hermione's joint spell had proved stronger than Snape's. Harry's wand was jerked out of his hand, but he managed to catch it again before it hit the floor.
Snape took two steps back, and reached out a hand to his massive accomplice. "Wand!" he snapped, and the big man fumbled in his robes, clearly searching for his own.
"Oh no, you don't," said Ron, who had now picked up Snape's wand and was holding it in front of him as he moved forward, shoulder to shoulder with Harry. "Stay right there," he added, holding the big man at wand-point. "Or do I have to use a full Body-Bind?"
The hooded man froze.
"Put your hands up where we can see them," Harry added, covering both Snape and his accomplice with his own wand.
Hermione moved forward past Harry and Ron, stopping only a few paces from Snape. "What on earth were you thinking?" she asked. "Surely you didn't expect to hold all three of us prisoner by yourself? You haven't been in trouble with the Ministry, why do this now?"
Snape's face was twisted with fury. "Shut up, Granger!" he spat. "You know nothing about my plans - nothing!"
"Is Malfoy involved in this?" Harry asked.
"How did you kn-" blurted the big, hooded man, before a quick gesture from Snape silenced him.
"Crabbe! I thought it looked like you," Harry exclaimed. Hermione, still with her wand pointed at him, took a few steps forward and pulled Crabbe's hood down. He blinked at them resentfully, but made no move to stop her, his piggy eyes fixed on the tip of her wand.
"So Malfoy is involved," said Hermione, picking up on Crabbe's mistake. "How?"
"Maybe not the way we thought," said Ron, sounding puzzled. Harry turned, and saw his friend carefully examining the wand he held. "I've seen this wand before. This is *Malfoy's* wand."
"How come? Why would Snape have Malfoy's wand?" said Harry.
"Where's Malfoy?" Ron asked Snape tersely. "You must know the whole of the Ministry's been looking for him since he escaped."
Snape had retreated a few paces, backing away from the wands which were still pointed at him. His eyes were darting from side to side, as though looking for a way to escape. "I'm not here to do the Ministry's work, Weasley," he snapped. "I have my own concerns."
Crabbe was starting to look agitated, shifting from one foot to the other. Harry noticed him looking at his watch in an anxious way.
With faint surprise, Harry remembered that it was the middle of the night. Down here in the darkness, it was hard to remember if it was night or day outside. He wondered if the Ministry wizards would be here soon to help arrest Snape and Crabbe - if there were only the two of them, it shouldn't be too difficult...now they had found Ron, Harry found himself relaxing...he had no idea why Snape had felt compelled to get them here, when he must have known he would be outnumbered...or where Draco Malfoy was, but -
BANG! Harry was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of a distant explosion. More soil and rock chippings showered down on them from the roof, and they all put up hands to shield their faces.
BANG! Another explosion, this time louder, rocked the tunnel.
Harry exchanged a quick look with Ron. "D'you think Priskett's lot are trying to get in?"
"Could be...but if they don't watch it, they're going to bring this roof down," said Ron.
They all looked anxious, but Crabbe looked absolutely panic-stricken. He was glancing over his shoulder to where the left-hand tunnel curved away, as if he would like nothing better than to take to his heels and run.
BANG! A third explosion, louder than even the third two, ripped through the tunnel. A great boom of sound and warm air rushed down the passage towards them. And then there was a crack, as above them, the timbers which reinforced the ceiling of the old mine tunnel finally gave way.
"GET DOWN!" Harry shouted, suddenly realising the danger they were in. Bigger and bigger pieces of rock and earth and wood were cascading down on to them, and there was a rumbling sound getting louder and louder. Harry flung himself to the floor, trying to keep his wand pointed at Snape. Hermione and Ron also dived for cover, and Crabbe turned and ran away along the left hand tunnel. Snape turned to follow him.
"Stupefy!" Harry and Hermione shouted together, and Snape was felled in his tracks. Harry saw him fall, stunned, before the rocks and stones which rained down made him cover his face and curl up protectively. All around them objects were falling as the roof collapsed and the tunnel caved in around them. Harry felt occasional jabs of pain as stones struck his back and legs. The long, roaring, rumbling noise seemed to go on for hours, though it could only have been a matter of minutes, and a choking dust filled the air. Harry tried to breathe through a fold in his robes to filter the air.
Finally, the noise stopped. The stones and dust gradually ceased to fall. But it was a good three minutes after that before Harry dared to move, afraid that by moving he might start off another fall of rocks.
"Ron? Hermione?" he said, into the sudden silence. "Are you OK?"
There was a pause, while Harry experimented, trying to move his arms and legs, and was relieved to find that although there was a pile of soil and stones weighing his legs down, his limbs all seemed to be in working order. He was very bruised, but nothing seemed to be broken, even his glasses, although he had to rub them to get some of the grime off them.
He was just about to speak again when he heard more stones being gingerly moved, and Ron's voice saying, "Yeah...I'm all right - Hermione, where are you?"
"I'm here," she said, sounding shaken. Her voice was coming from somewhere to Harry's right, but when he put out a hand, he could only feel bits of wood and rock. Luckily, his wand had been cushioned from the rockfall by his body. In the darkness, Harry fumbled it into his hand and murmured, "Lumos!"
The light from his wand illuminated a scene of total chaos. Harry saw a huge pile of debris blocking the door through which they had come. The top of the door was just visible. More debris lay all around. One pile of soil and rock ahead of Harry was shifting as Ron dug his way out of it. To his right, Harry could see a fold of Hermione's robes sticking out of another heap of stones and soil.
Ron emerged, lighting the wand he held - Malfoy's wand. He was filthy - his face a mask of dust and dirt, the red of his hair completely dulled by earth. Harry realised that he must look just as bad himself.
"Well, that was fun," said Ron dryly, now on his hands and knees. There was no longer room to stand upright. "Hermione?"
"Can't move this door," she said, breathlessly, and Harry realised that she was partially trapped by what had been the door to Ron's cell. Harry and Ron both crawled across to her, and started shifting the rocks until they could see Hermione's grimy face and heave the wooden door off her legs.
"Thanks." She was spluttering and trying to spit out grit from her mouth.
"Did you break anything when that door landed on you?" asked Harry, concerned.
"Amazingly, apparently not," said Hermione, flexing her legs, "but I'm going to have some really spectacular bruises. Are you both all right? Ron, you're bleeding."
"I think I just got nicked by a flying stone," said Ron, putting his hand up to his ear, and bringing it away smeared with blood. "I'll live."
"What happened to Snape? Did we get him with our stunners?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah, I saw him go down just before the roof fell in," said Harry, pointing to a large pile of rocks. "He must be under there somewhere. Crabbe got away though, I think."
"Well, if it was Priskett's lot who blasted their way in and brought the roof down on us, it's going to be difficult for them to get through to us now," said Ron, looking dubiously at the blocked door.
"The other way's not quite so bad," said Hermione, looking thoughtfully at the left-hand tunnel, down which Crabbe had gone. "We could dig our way out through there."
"We don't know where we'd end up," said Harry, "but I suppose it would be better than just staying here and hoping someone comes for us. I can hardly breathe with all this dust flying about."
"We can't just leave Snape here," said Ron regretfully, his Enforcer's conscience troubling him. "We'll have to take him with us. We can keep him subdued."
"We'll have to dig him out first."
Snape turned out to be buried more deeply beneath the rubble of the rockfall than any of them had been. It took them quite a while to move the stones and earth away from the place where he had fallen.
"He's not dead, is he?" said Ron, when at last they had cleared most of the debris, and could see Snape's face, his jaw slack and his eyes closed.
"No, he's breathing," Hermione said, placing a hand on Snape's chest. "What shall we use - Mobilicorpus?"
"Yeah, but horizontally." Working together, still coughing as they breathed in dust, they raised Snape's body from the ground and he floated, suspended in mid-air a few inches from the rocks which littered the floor. It took another fifteen minutes or so to clear the left-hand passage enough for them to scramble through the hole and propel Snape forward through it. This tunnel was a little clearer, but there were still plenty of obstacles to move, and it was slow going, mostly on hands and knees, shifting handfuls of earth or larger rocks. They did not dare to blast many blockages out of the tunnel with their wands, afraid of causing another collapse. None of them bothered too much about Snape's body banging into obstacles.
Harry wondered what Ginny would think if she could see them now. She must be worried sick about them. He didn't know how much time had passed, but it was a long, slow, hot journey, lit only by the flicker of three wands, listening to the sounds of their own panting breath and the clatter of stones, before he heard Ron draw in his breath sharply.
"Look - there, ahead! Isn't that a light?"
"Yeah - I think so." Harry screwed up his eyes, peering through his glasses, which were still rather dirty. Up ahead of them, the tunnel walls were definitely brightening, and a pale glow was visible. It looked like daylight. He could feel a faint breath of cooler air on his face, too, and hear a curious sound. "What's that noise? Sort of sshhing sound."
"I think it's the sea," said Hermione. "We must have come all the way underground to the coast."
"There must be a way out here," said Ron, sounding more cheerful. "Come on."
The roof of this part of the tunnel had not been much affected by the rockfall, and they were able to make faster progress, Snape's body gliding in front of them. The light grew brighter and brighter, and the tunnel roof was finally high enough for them to walk instead of crawling.
As it got lighter, Harry could see his companions more clearly. Ron looked a mess - blood and dirt mingling on the side of his face. Hermione looked exhausted, but was trudging on determinedly. Snape - Harry glanced down at his unconscious face. Then he looked again.
"Stop a minute!" he said sharply. Ron and Hermione both halted, startled.
"What's the matter?"
Harry pointed with his wand. "Look - look at him!"
Ron and Hermione followed Harry's gaze. They both gasped as they looked at Snape's face. It was still filthy and his eyes were still closed, but the face itself...was changing. Before their amazed eyes, a transformation was taking place...
End of Part 7
Part 8 will be up Very Soon.