Next Chapter will be a little longer in coming. Going to revise the first four chapters first. Enjoy!
Snape didn't bother with reporting to Dumbledore or even changing into Muggle clothing, his sense of urgency had caused him to throw caution to the winds. He knew that by the time he reached the White Cliffs night would have already fallen and the sense of urgency that was creeping over him forced him to abandon reason.
"Stupid Potter, always knows exactly where to find trouble," Snape said when he finally stood looking over the dark cliffs at the sea.
He brought out his wand and sighed, "Lumos." The wand lit up the night, showing the steepness of the cliffs.
Snape cursed and decided to start trying to find a way down. It was unlikely that they would hide Harry in the open which meant they were probably either camped out in the cliffs or in a nearby hotel. Any hotel would work against them since there would be witnesses to track them by, a cavern was their only real choice.
Even still the boy might be hidden by an invisibility cloak. But the very reason why this wouldn't help them in a hotel would help Snape find Harry. Unless they kept the boy unconscious, even gagged he could make enough noise to attract attention.
It took Snape the better part of an hour of searching to locate a way down the cliffs in the dark. He cursed as he carefully worked his way down, "That boy had better not be in a hotel somewhere."
Snape imagined Harry curled up in a bed, hidden in an invisibility cloak and scowled. He hated the thought that the boy was more comfortable than he was at the moment.
Then the vision of Harry hurt, bound and gagged, possibly unconscious, popped into his and the old concern came back, causing Snape to speed up and scowl deeper. He didn't understand why he cared for his old arch-rival's son, the reason of an unpaid debt was no longer viable. He had settled that debt four years ago.
Dumbledore had told him it was because of his retaining a good heart. That reason made him laugh, if he had contained a good heart in the first place he wouldn't have joined Voldemort and he wouldn't be the insufferable git he was today. No, he couldn't have a good heart, or anything else for that matter.
As per usual, a twinge of doubt at his certainty of his own worthlessness surfaced. Why had he turned back if he hadn't cared? If he hadn't something in him that was salvageable enough for Dumbledore to bring him back?
Snape shook his head and nearly tripped over his own feet, cursing at his foolishness. That boy really would be the end of him one day.
He'd come to the end of the path and now stood at the base of the cliffs, but his mind still whirled.
'If I really think he'll get me killed, if I really loathe him that much, why am I here,' Snape asked himself. He found he couldn't answer, a fact that infuriated him more than anything else. The stupid fool was always making fun of him, granting him every kind of disrespect and getting into more trouble -
"Into," Snape growled to himself, breaking the beachy silence. Didn't he mean got away with more trouble? It was true that he had had his fair share of fitting into both categories, but why didn't he truly hold it against him that he would get away with it?
Because when Harry got away with it he was still safe. It was when he was getting into his mischief that Harry really scared Snape. And admitting it, even to himself, scared Snape even more.
When had he come to care about what happened to Potter's son?
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Dumbledore sat in front of a stricken Sirius Black, beside whom stood Remus Lupin, who had refused to allow his last friend to travel to Hogwarts alone in his current state of mind. Hedwig hooted sadly from the perch she shared with Fawkes, who cooed every once in awhile for the room's other occupants.
"Do we have any idea where Harry is," Sirius weakly asked his old teacher.
"We only know that it had to be Deatheaters that took Harry, but since his body was not found and the Dursley's managed to survive, Voldemort must not have accompanied them on the raid," Dumbledore said with a sigh and shake of the head.
"Then how are we sure it was Deatheaters and not someone else just wanting to get in good with You-Know-Who,"Sirius asked desperately, his haunted eyes shining with unshed tears and reflecting even more ghosts than usual.
"Sirius..." Lupin chided his friend gently, knowing his friend was not thinking very clearly.
Dumbledore shook his head, "No, Sirius. Even if that were true, Harry would be in Voldemort's hands by now and we would have word of his death."
At the word "death," Sirius broke. Tears began to stream down his face and he stood in jerky motions. Shrugging off Lupin's hand from his shoulders, Sirius moved to take refuge in a wall.
Lupin sighed and sank down in Sirius' place while Dumbledore pretended to find the ceiling of great interest. Unseen by any of the room's occupants, a tear fell from the corner of the older man's eye as well.
After a few minutes, Sirius calmed enough to speak again.
"What do we do now? I have to find him," Sirius said in a ragged, tired voice.
"I don't -" Lupin began, but fell silent at a wave of Dumbledore's hand.
"Perhaps you could reinvestigate Arabella Figg and the Dursley's house for evidence," Dumbledore told him. "Perhaps an intelligent dog will turn up something the ministry couldn't on its own."
Sirius nodded, determined to find his best friend's son before it was too late or die trying, and swiftly left the room on his errand.
"Why did you do that," Lupin asked quietly, though a sliver of angry steel could be heard in his voice. "Can't you see how badly he's taking this?"
Dumbledore nodded, his sad eyes serious. "Indeed I do, but this will help. Sirius needs to feel useful, to work through this."
"I'm going with him," Lupin told Dumbledore, swiftly standing.
"I had hoped you would," Dumbledore told his former student with a hint of the old twinkle in his eyes.
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Snape searched the cliffs until it was almost dawn before he finally happened across a just man-sized crack in the cliff wall. It was two feet off the ground and the darkness had worked to hide it from Snape before, but now that he had found it, he knew it would be the perfect place to hide a young boy. It was far enough from the normal Muggle traffic to avoid attention and wouldn't be flooded even at high-tide.
"Potter," he called into the cave. "Potter, if you're in there, answer me! I haven't the time to play around."
"Who's there," came a weak voice that could barely be recognized as Harry's.
'Harry,' Snape's mind yelled in concern as he clambered into the cave. He had to fight a little to make it past the initial entrance, but then he was in. The cave was of a good size inside, but it was also very wet.
'That explains the weak voice,' Snape thought. Harry had probably caught a cold.
"Potter, where are you," Snape demanded as he cast the light from his wand around the cave.
"Over here, Professor," Harry answered from the shadows deeper in the cave. "But I've lost my glasses and can't tell you exactly where here is."
Snape sighed and took a step - and sighed again as he heard a loud CRACK!
"I have found your glasses, Potter," Snape said, glaring down at the hapless twisted plastic.
"I heard," Harry replied in as dry a voice as he could manage.
Snape ignored him and picked up the glasses. Stopping the light spell, he muttered the repair spell and relit his wand. He walked the rest of the way over to Harry, carefully this time so as not to step on anything else.
When he'd finally reached him, Snape stifled a gasp. He sincerely hoped that it was a trick of the light that caused Harry's skin to look so pale and thin, but he knew by the circles around Harry's eyes and his sunken cheeks that this condition was not so. It looked as though he'd possibly been this way for some time, in fact.
"Hold still, boy, and I will have you loose in a minute," Snape told Harry in his usual surly voice as he began to reach down to untie him.
"Oh, will you," asked a low, dangerous voice.
Snape spun around, his wand extinguished and ready in a moment, but it was too late. No sooner had he finished spinning than a strongly voiced "Expelliarmus" had unarmed him, leaving Snape to glare at the dark silhouette by the cave's entrance.
Next Chapter: The Dark Silhouette
