Chapter Fourteen: Surrender Is Not an Option
Now that Malfoy wasn't dragging about Emilia, she felt a little bit better: at least he didn't suspect she had anything up her sleeve—literally. She was afraid with him jerking her about like that would cause the wand to fall or be discovered. Then, they would be in serious trouble.
As they continued down the corridors, Emilia recognized the route at once: it was down to the dungeons. Down to the Slytherin Common Room, where Lord Voldemort's allies were abundant. The walls surrounding her became narrower and slimier by the minute. Emilia knew if she didn't something now, something drastic, she and Potter would probably end up worse than dead.
After hearing about Potter's amazing tale of escape from Voldemort last summer at the TriWizard Tournament, he knew what they were dealing with. After he realized his retaliation was causing more pain than good, he'd stopped talking all together and had a determined look on his face. Emilia couldn't help admiring him for that. However, she also had to realize that this was inevitable, and she only hoped that her lessons of defense were enough for them to survive.
Finally, the walls were narrow enough for only one person to walk through. Emilia didn't recognize this part of the castle, which would explain why perhaps the Death Eaters were able to get in undiscovered. Malfoy went ahead of them, leading the way, then it was Emilia, and then Potter himself. Emilia wondered briefly what her options were to escape.
She fingered the wand inside of her sleeve. He wouldn't expect an attack now, would he? She could just—slip—the wand out and simply put a body bind on him before he could react. Then Emilia could take him to someplace, like a closed classroom, and get her and Potter to safety. It would be so simple.
However, Emilia was more than afraid to do this. Lord Voldemort was running unchecked around the castle, and Malfoy had powers that any moral wizard never used—and he wasn't afraid to use it.
Emilia ran her fingers down the length of the wand, and clutched it in her hand. Potter needed to get out of this, and now; any further, and she was practically guaranteeing his death.
She jerked her hand ever so slightly, the wand moving out quickly, and she simply grasped it in her palm. Emilia barely raised it when she simply whispered, "Petrificus Totalus!"
Immediately, Malfoy seized up and kind of wobbled on the spot, swaying from side to side. Then, finally, he fell forward, landing face down on the floor. Emilia smiled, and bent down near him. "Ha, ha," she said quietly. "The joke's on you. How dare you think you can get away with taking me to Voldemort? How dare you think you have the upper hand, walking around smartly like a pompous tomcat? How dare you underestimate me, you good-for-nothing Death Eater?" She turned him over most roughly, and searched his robes, extracting her and his wand. She grinned at his wide-eyed expression. "You are such a fool," she said softly, poking his cheek.
Potter looked at her with an odd expression. She looked up at him, and threw back him his wand. "There you are, most useful, thanks," she murmured, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Emilia stood, brushing off her legs and her arms. Her left arm ached with growing bruises, but she ignored the pain. "We can't leave the trash here, so we've got to move him. He doesn't add much to the scenery."
Potter grinned, and helped her move him to one of the empty dungeon classrooms, which she recognized instantly as the Potions classroom. They set him up on a desk, and walked out, laughing quietly. She locked the door, knowing the he didn't have a wand and that the Unlocking Spell wouldn't be much help to him from the inside, she thought gleefully.
Emilia wished she had some sort of knowledge that would enable for her to see the entire castle and see where everyone was. She needed to know if the Slytherin Room was invaded, and she needed to find Dumbledore, Minerva, and most of all, Severus.
This would probably be the time where his true colors will be shown. He and Potter were probably the most in danger. Severus, being a Death Eater—knowledge from her father—and her assumption he was a double agent, were now on the line. She felt her stomach sink a little. The small victory over Malfoy was very little compared to the scheme of things.
"Professor, what are we going to do now?" he said, grasping his wand tightly. He seemed much more confident with the wand in his hands, now that they both weren't as vulnerable.
She put her hand on her chin thoughtfully, and the light from the fire sticks flickered on the dark dungeon walls with each of their passing shadows. "I suppose we ought to find Dumbledore and rescue your fellow Gryffindors; getting them to safety is my top priority, as you all are in my custody. However, there are some other matters I need to attend to…" Like Severus and Voldemort, she thought frantically.
Potter reached in his robes and extracted a very old sheet of parchment. "Professor, I think we can use this," he said. He unfolded it, and touched his wand on it in his hand. Murmuring quietly, he said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
Emilia watched in wonder as the paper started to grow little black dots and lines, and green writing wrote itself across the top of the page. He grinned, and showed her the paper. "As long as you promise not to turn me in for it," Potter said quickly.
"I ought to give you points for having it on you," she replied, taking it and absorbing the information. She glanced about the sheet, her eyes darting back and forth. The Hufflepuffs were still in their dormitory, yet Dumbledore wasn't anywhere in the room as she'd hoped; Sprout was in there, near the entrance. She guessed quickly they were locked in, probably one of Voldemort's precautions; a small dot that labeled "Crabbe" was just outside the door. The Ravenclaws were also blocked in, their head of House standing near the entranceway. However, their "guard" was labeled a name she had not heard of in a long time, "Macnair". Emilia, glancing at the large scheme of the entire page, saw that there were Death Eaters all around, posted at various places; specifically, those where the other students were. Malfoy was right next to them, and their dots were labeled with a blinking sort of red. Down the hall, Emilia saw in horror that Voldemort and Pettigrew—she knew him in her own time—were there, along with about six other death Eaters alone. Hogwarts was officially invaded.
Where was Dumbledore, Severus or even Minerva? She glanced about and saw that they were hard to place. She remembered seeing at least one of the professors manage to look around…and with a sinking feeling, she realized that that may not have been a teacher, but a Death Eater looking over one of the them.
They were surrounded, and Emilia knew that standing here was not going to help at all. At least Severus was not one of the people in Voldemort's hideout. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking up from the ever-so informative map, she saw Potter's face a bit of a ghost like color, looking down the hall. "What is it, Potter?" she said sharply, looking in the direction of his gaze.
"I thought I saw someone," he said tersely. She checked the map, and saw a small dot advancing toward their spot. She hadn't even noticed it until just then. The dot read "Severus Snape".
Emilia smiled in spite of herself. "It's just Professor Snape, Potter," she said, looking up and waiting for him to round the corner.
Potter looked at her with wide-eyes. "Snape?" he said. "We've got to get out of here—he's one of them!"
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused. Sure, she knew he was a Death Eater, but she didn't think a professor of this school would be a problem…
…and then her mind drifted back to what Dumbledore had said earlier—"It must have been someone from the inside." It seemed like such a long time ago, the dance. It must have been one or two by now, and the darkest of the night was upon them.
Who was the inside source? Emilia had a very, very sick sense that it was that Malfoy boy—she had been very distrustful of the boy from the start, and not to mention his father—but beside that, it seemed he had a grudge on her all along. And they way they were captured…
"Professor Snape used to be a Death Eater, Professor," said Potter, glancing down the hall. The footsteps were getting louder.
"I know…" Emilia said, shifting uncomfortably on one foot. "He's on the good side, you know that, Potter." She continued to glance down the hall. The ever-so omnipotent footsteps stopped.
Emilia's feeling of panic filled he body. Potter looked determined, yet at the same time, she wasn't sure who the perpetrator was, exactly. Glancing quickly, she saw an open door: an unused classroom.
"Potter," she said carefully.
"Harry," he interrupted, turning to her. "It's Harry."
She looked at him. "Okay, then. Look, I don't know what's going on, but I've got a poor feeling about this foul situation. So, I want you to slip inside that classroom while I talk to Professor Snape, and if it's okay, I'll pull you out. If it's not, then at least you'll be safe."
"But I don't want to be out of way if something happens…" he retorted. "Can't I just stand in the shadows?"
"Of the classroom," she added. "Go now, Harry." It sounded so odd to say that.
"Fine," he resigned, and turned to move. He slid into the dark corridor shadows and glanced out at her. She could barely see him where he stood. If she couldn't really see him, and she knew where he was, then there was a good chance that he would not see him there, either.
She turned and awaited Severus. He footsteps were closer; apparently during her instructions they resumed. A black cloak billowed out from behind a corner.
Emilia pulled out her wand and waited. "Severus?" she said out loud.
The person stopped. "Emilia?" he said incredulously. "I just was at the Great Hall expecting to find you there, and when I didn't I…" He glanced around. "Why are you down here?"
"Malfoy," she said. "Malfoy's here. So is the lot of them, Severus. Why are they here? How did they get in?" she burst out.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But I have a pretty good idea…" He glanced around nervously.
Something stuck Emilia, as this situation was very, very odd. Why was Severus looking for her, and wouldn't he have found all those people there held hostage? Where were exactly his students?
"Severus, what's going on?" she said, backing up from him, holding out her wand.
Severus looked at her. There was something off, something not right. "You're not Severus," she said at last. "Not the Severus I know. He would be a bit more sarcastic at this point." She blushed. And not so easy-going after what happened a couple of hours ago…
"Finite Incantatem!" she said, pointed her wand at him. He ducked instinctively, and then fell to a crumpled heap onto the ground. Emilia looked at him for a moment, watching his near life-less body breathe. She was vaguely aware that Harry was breathing rather quickly from his hiding spot.
"What was the matter with him?" he said. Emilia looked at the paper, which he dubbed the 'Marauder's Map'.
"What is with this map?" she said, holding this up. "How does it work?"
She saw the glint of this glasses catch the fire of the lighted hallway as he looked up. "The dots, supposedly, are all the people in the school. It shows all the passages in and out of school, and…" he paused. "It shows who really is who; the Marauder's Map tells no lies. It's shows…all: invisibility cloaks, Polyjuice Potions—you aren't going to confiscate it, are you?"
"Heaven's no, this is what we need right now," she said absent-mindedly. "Potter—er, Harry, this is the best tool we've got against the Death Eaters right now. I'm pretty sure they don't know we've got this." She took a good look over it. "Your Potions professor, to answer your question, was under the Imperius Curse. I've seen…" Emilia took a second and readjusted her self, standing up straight and trailing off. She almost said, "I've seen my father do it countless times," but that didn't seem to fit the situation right now.
"Anyway, we've got to get going. They're not going to let Malfoy's and Severus's disappearance to go unnoticed before long." She looked up from the lifeless body. Potter had moved out of the dark and was standing next to her, pale as all hell and looking down at the Potions Master.
"What are we going to do with him?"
"I don't know, but I want to keep him with us. One more ally is better than none. I hope that his condition wore off, however. Please back up until I say different," she added, pointing to the corner of the hall. She bent down, next to him. Pointing her wand, she said "Ennervate!" Immediately, Severus sat up, holding his head like he had a headache of some sort.
"God damn it," he swore softly, looking up. Emilia was looking at him in a weird sort of way, but she backed off once he had looked up. She stood up, and he followed suit.
"What happened?" he asked. Emilia had taken a step back. She appeared to be alone, and her wand was raised.
Emilia looked at him, trying to determine if perhaps the Imperius Curse had worn off. It was hard to tell when the orders were that of acting normal. She only hoped that what she did threw it off a little…it was primarily up to Severus to get rid of it otherwise.
"Emilia?" he said, still holding his head. "What are you doing here?" He stood up straight and brushed off his robes. "Actually, what am I doing here?"
Emilia cocked her head sideways. Curious… "Snape, do you know where you are?"
"Yes, I do," he said simply. "I'm in the corridor down to the Slytherin Common Room. The question is, what are you doing down here?" He crossed his arms and gazed at her expectantly.
She bit back a smile. This was more like the Severus she knew. "I'm curious to know that myself. Do you remember anything since Dumbledore met us?"
"Yes…" he said defiantly. "Er…now that you mention it, nothing is too clear after that, though…" Severus looked rather tired.
Not only did he look tired, but also he looked rather vulnerable. That aging process had stopped over the last couple of hours, leaving him at the age of twenty-five and her in the age of twenty. She really wished that it would just finish up…she hated being so damn young! However, despite his age, he looked really worn out.
"This isn't good," she said quietly. "We can't stay down here, Severus. The castle is overrun with Death Eaters, and I've yet to find Dumbledore."
Severus went to say something, but then he stopped. Turning his head slightly, he stared right at the spot where she last saw Potter. "Step out of there, whoever you are," he said tersely.
Potter didn't move. "Harry, come out, I think he's all right," she said to him.
Harry stepped out of the darkness, ever slightly so, and walked over to where Emilia stood. He was glaring contemptuously at Severus. "Potter!" Severus snarled. "What are you doing down here?"
"We were being escorted to Voldemort," she said sharply. "Now, if you don't mind, I think we ought to move; Voldemort, ever so conveniently, is down that hall. Unless you want to stay, of course." Emilia bristled. The longer they stood here, the more likely they were to get caught.