Don't own anything recognisable from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.

Chapter 15

Lost Time

"Harry!" Ron ran through the corridor followed closely by Hermione. "Where are you going?"

"Oh!" Hermione said shocked by the scene before her. They were stood in Katrina's old chambers and stared at the emptiness. "She's gone!"

"Just proves my point that she is a Death Eater," Harry muttered.

Ron's face turned a pale ash colour and he gasped.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"If she is a Death Eater, then she knows all of the security to the school. She could be on the way to He-who-must-not-be-named!" Ron gasped out. "We must tell Professor Dumbledore."

"I see what you mean." Albus Dumbledore stroked his beard pensively. "However, I don't think that Katrina is a Death Eater spy."

The three friends looked at each other shocked. "What do you mean, Professor?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Her leaving has come to me as a shock, but I must admit a tiny part of me was expecting it." Albus sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I had the chance to talk to her before she left. I told her about your situation, and she seemed more concerned that she would put Hogwarts in jeopardy than anything else."

"It could have been an act," Harry said stubbornly.

"True, true," Albus admitted. "But you were the ones who saw her life before Hogwarts, her childhood, her upbringing. Did it seem like she was enjoying being part of the Death Eater way of life?"

That made the three young wizards think for a moment, but they didn't get a chance to answer as a ferocious knocking came from Albus' office door.

"Come!" he called, mildly irritated by the intrusion.

Professor McGonagall entered with two students in tow.

"Yes? What can I help you with?" Albus asked.

"It appears that Professor Snape hasn't turned up to his morning lecture," Minerva McGonagall answered, with a touch of urgency in her voice. "Neither is he answering knocks on his door. He didn't come down to dinner last night either." She paused, and her eyes flashed fear. "It appears the last time anyone saw him was his last lesson, just before you went to see him."

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

Snape came round to the sound of muttered hisses. His eyesight was blurred by the bruising around his eye, leaving it half-closed. The taste of congealed blood filled his mouth and he remembered, as if it were a dream, the events of the last few hours. Or at least he hoped it was only a few hours, the confusion in his head had made him lose all track of time. When he managed to move slightly without his head swimming and when he could bear the pain, he scanned the surroundings.

He was tied tightly to a wooden post in the ground and he shut his eyes. He had seen many people in this situation before and none of them had been good. In fact, none of the people who were ever in this situation were seen again. He surveyed the background again coolly, his mind working furiously planning possible routes to escape, and possible strategic plans that Evaristus would believe.

"Our guest is awake!" Evaristus drew the Death Eaters' attention to Severus, who, with a lot of effort, straightened his back and looked them in the eye.

"Evaristus," Snape rasped, then spat blood at the feet of the obvious interloper, and made his voice sound offhand. "What brings you here?"

Devlin approached the wooden pole and grasped Severus' chin, pulling it up so he could see him. "Well, I don't know if you've heard, but apparently someone saw my daughter here." Evaristus' eyes never left Severus' face as he spoke the words, but if he was hoping for a reaction he was disappointed.

"Your daughter?" Severus' mind whirled. "I didn't think you had a daughter, at least that's what you said the last time I saw you. And if you recall, I was looking for her as well. Surely if I had found her I would have returned her to you?"

Evaristus smiled, and held a glass of water for Severus to drink out of; he took a couple of cautious sips.

"Thank you for your kind hospitality," Severus smiled derisively at Evaristus.

"Are you sure you haven't seen my daughter?" he asked again, while his hand rested over his shoulder.

"Haven't I already answered that question?" Severus mocked.

Evaristus stood up, and walked behind the group of Death Eaters. "Let the fun commence," he said smiling.

The group advanced, a bloodthirsty look in their sunken eyes.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

Harry and Ron were sent in the direction of the Gryffindor dormitories to find the Marauder's Map. Hermione and Professor McGonagall went down to the dungeons to seek out Severus, and Dumbledore searched through spell books, muttering to himself as he did so.

Albus reached the library first, looking again through more books, closely followed by Ron and Harry.

"Professor Snape and Professor Phaon aren't on the grounds," Ron called out to Albus, who nodded, selected a book, and brought it to the table.

Hermione entered the library out of breath, closely followed by members of the teaching staff.

"No one is in the dungeons," Hermione answered the unasked question in Albus' eyes. "Professor McGonagall is sorting out his class."

"Good, good," Albus muttered while searching through the pages of the spell book.

"What is going on Albus?" Remus Lupin asked, the other teachers remaining silent to hear the answer to the question.

"Professor Phaon and Professor Snape have gone missing." Albus slammed the book closed and exclaimed. "Why can you never find the spell you are looking for?"

"What spell do you want?" Professor Flitwick asked, heading towards the shelves.

"Something to locate them," Albus muttered, and disappeared into the masses of bookshelves.

The other teachers followed Albus' example and started to search through the books, all of them paused when Harry yelped, and sped out of the library.

"Where are you off to Harry?" Hermione called after him.

"I have an idea! Wait there." He yelled over his shoulder.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

She stared at herself in the mirror of the tiny bathroom and grimaced. She then straightened her clothes and smiled at the mirror. "Hi. I'm Eve Jones. Pleased to meet you."

She waved what looked like a wooden twig over her empty hand, and a passport appeared as if from nowhere. The twig also vanished, and in its place was a tube of lipstick.

She sighed and looked at her reflection. "Time to move on," she said brightly, but the cheerfulness didn't reach her eyes. In fact she was crying.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

They had left him, but he knew they would be back. The routine of torture, question, torture, question was familiar to Severus.

He was famed for it.

This time however, to the disappointment of Evaristus Devlin, it was not working.

'I cannot reveal anything,' Severus chanted in his mind like a mantra. The only thing that was keeping him silent was the brutality that Evaristus was using on Severus, and the horrors Severus had seen Evaristus projecting onto his wife.

Avery squatted down next to Severus and said in a sociable tone. "Why don't you tell him what you want? Eh?"

Severus squinted through his good eye at Avery. "What am I supposed to do? Lie?"

Avery smiled as if they were sharing a private joke, but his voice took on a more threatening tone. "You know. I liked the look of that girl you had in that closet."

Severus stiffened when he realised that he was talking about Katrina, and looked closely at Avery, who stood up and circled Severus. "Yes, she was good-looking wasn't she? Soft brown hair, baby blue eyes." He stopped, crouched down and pushed his face up to Severus' face. "I wonder what she'd be like tied to this pole, crying, begging me for mercy." Severus calmed down when he realised that Avery didn't know that she was Devlin's daughter.

"I might look her up. What do you say?"

"She wasn't that good actually," Severus retorted calmly. "I've known better."

Avery's face screwed into a grin. "Well, we'll see won't we? Probably sooner than you think."

"I don't think so," Severus said coolly. "I haven't seen her since then."

Avery waved something in Severus' face that made his pale face turn white, and his body go into shock.

"Well this is a piece of her hair and I feel like summoning her! What do you think?"

A/N Hiya!!! Not long to go and I promise that Severus will get what he deserves!!!! (That sounded as if I was going to kill him off, but I'm not going to!!)

Thanks to Kelest and Annoriel for reviewing!