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

Chapter 16

Haven't we seen that somewhere before?

"No, no, no, no." Hermione stood up exasperated. "None of these books have anything we want!"

They had been in the library for most of the night, and over three-quarters of the books had been discarded. None of them had contained what they wanted.

"This is pointless!" Ron exclaimed. "Shouldn't we be out there looking for them?"

Hermione glanced towards the door to the library. "Shouldn't Harry be back by now?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "He has his secret idea. Who are we to stop him?"

At that moment Harry raced back into the library. "Found it!" He exclaimed holding up what appeared to be a gold bowl.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

Severus' heart sank as he watched Evaristus put together the last parts of the summoning spell.

"Not long now, and the happy reunion will be complete." Avery said menacingly. "Then you will tell us what we need to know about his daughter. Maybe more."

Only Severus saw the irony of Avery's statement. It would be a reunion all right. A family reunion.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

"It's the Gniweiv bowl!" Hermione exclaimed. "What a brilliant idea!"

"We can look at Sna... Professor Snape and Professor Phaon to find out where they are!"

Albus nodded, and took the bowl off of Harry. He placed it in the middle of a round table so everyone could see into it and pronounced slowly. "Mehtweiv..." he paused, "Who do we find first?"

"Professor Phaon." Harry said seriously. "Professor Snape is strong, he can take care of himself."

The others nodded in approval, and Albus approached the bowl again. "Mehtweiv Professor Katrina Phaon."

The bowl coloured and shapes and images whirled around the bowl. They disappeared as soon as they came, and the bowl remained clear.

"I don't understand." Ron asked stupefied. "Why hasn't it worked?"

Albus nodded knowingly, and prepared again. "Mehtweiv Fay Devlin."

The bowl flashed colours again, this time the blurry images sharpened and focused on a point.

"The next train arriving from platform five will be departing shortly stopping at..." The voice faded and a woman appeared in the centre of the water. She was wearing small sunglasses perched on the end of her nose, she had brown eyes and short spiky bleached blonde hair. She appeared to be reading a trashy novel, one found in most railway stations' bookstores, but she occasionally looked up and scanned the surrounding casually.

"Her hair's been dyed, but it looks like Professor Phaon." Hermione whispered.

"She's running again, isn't she?" Ron asked Dumbledore.

"I believe so." Dumbledore answered quietly.

"Are we going to try and stop her?" Harry asked quietly, his eyes focused completely on the ex-professor.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

She couldn't explain it. No one on the train platform was looking at her and no one she recognised was near her, but she still had the funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was being watched.

Katrina (or Eve as she must get used to being called) ran a hand through her brittle, bleached hair. She scratched the back of her neck – where the remnants of her haircut were making her skin itch – and cautiously glanced at the people on the platform again. It was a normal English muggle train station, with benches against walls, which ran parallel to the rough somewhat faded yellow line, which a few people were standing behind. At the moment it was almost empty, only a few shoppers were waiting for their train to arrive, but Eve knew that soon the commuters would fill the platform, wearing their black or grey suits, carrying the trademark briefcase, and yelling into their mobile telephones. She watched a lonely crisp packet waft around the station, picking up speed and height now and again, but dropping back down. The muted (and often double-dutch speaking) announcer squawked commands at the waiting few, letting Eve know that her train would be arriving soon, to take her far away from here. She tucked a small piece of paper into the book she had bought from the station's store and stood up. She stretched her arms and stood on her tiptoes; who knows when she would be able to stand up straight after getting on the train. She put her backpack onto the bench she was sat on and put her book in the outer compartment, checking her CD player had enough batteries to survive the long journey she had ahead.

Swinging her bag onto her back she checked her pocket for the ticket, her purse and her new identity. You could never be too careful with pickpockets around nowadays.

A small old woman approached her. "Is the next one late?" She asked in the voice you use when approaching a stranger.

"I don't think..."

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

"We cannot do anything. If she is to return then it is up to her." Dumbledore said sadly, and looked into the bowl.

Suddenly, without warning Katrina disappeared. The train station was still there, the bench on which she was sat was still there, but she wasn't.

"What happened?" Ron asked.

Albus shook his head, and continued to stare at the scene in the bowl. "She's in the middle of a very public place, she wouldn't have disappeared like that."

Remus nodded in agreement. "Look at the people who were around her." He motioned to the bystanders who were pointing and asking about Katrina. "They saw her go. Any well trained witch would have been able to do a distraction spell."

"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked.

Albus nodded. "Mehtweiv Professor Severus Snape!"

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

Whatever spark of hope that Severus had disappeared as the form of a young woman appeared in a ball of glowing light.

For the last few hours his fears had been unsuccessfully alleviated, perhaps the spell would fail, perhaps the hair is not Katrina's, and the one hope that kept him going perhaps the spell doesn't exist and it's all a bluff designed to get him to talk.

The white light made him wince in pain; his eyes were unaccustomed to the brightness, when he was able to see again he looked at the woman before him. She was wearing casual combats and a top with a backpack on her back, and... hope flared in him again as he took in the blonde crop of hair. It was short-lived when his eyes made contact with hers.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

Eve stood blinking in the middle of a luminous ball of light. One moment she had been in the middle of a train station next... She looked around her, ignoring the flashing lights in front of her eyes. She was in the middle of a piece of once grassy land. It was now filled with death. The weeds had been left to roam free and had covered everything in sight, in the distance a decrepit building stood; something about it jogged her memory. Turning in a circle she looked at the entire scene. And gasped in horror when she realised that the bloodied and bruised man in front of her was Severus.

"No!!" She screamed and raced towards him. "Severus!"

"Hold her." A familiar voice said, but she did not place it, her fear was so heightened.

Severus moaned in pain as two Death Eaters imprisoned Eve's arms in theirs and dragged her kicking and screaming back towards what looked like a sacrificial altar, they turned her so she kneeled facing the altar and Severus.

"You've changed your hair." Avery said maliciously, stroking her collarbone gently, threateningly. "Never mind my love. I can live with it."

Eve stared into Severus' eyes, but all she saw was despair.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

Harry sunk down onto his knees.

"Are you okay Harry?" Ron said alarmed, but all Harry heard was a mess of disordered words as the blackness overtook him.

"Harry!" Albus' voice brought him round. "What's wrong?"

Harry rubbed the lightning scar on his forehead. "I should never have done the spell." He said guiltily. "None of this would have happened. Professor Phaon would not have left and...."

"Yes it would have Harry. You know as well as I do that that is Professor Phaon's father. He would have come for her sooner or later."

"I would have preferred later to sooner." Ron mumbled under his breath.

Dumbledore ignored him and continued to speak to Harry. "We might have had a little more time to prepare, but we couldn't have done much more than what we are doing now."

Harry smiled half-heartedly, but he still blamed himself.

"We have to get back to the matter at hand." Remus said quietly, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder.

Albus looked at the scene in the bowl worriedly. "I don't see how any good can come of this." He muttered anxiously. He turned towards Remus. "We must find them."
"But how?" Hermione asked, gripping the edge of the table in fear.

"I will consult the council." Albus said determinedly. "Remus I want you to try and find them. Maybe you can sniff them out. Harry, Hermione and Ron, you keep looking at that bowl and update us if anything changes. Keep your eyes out for clues." Dumbledore issued commands to the other members of staff and stalked from the room, the other Professors followed.

"Well, who'd have thought we'd go to all this trouble for Professor Snape?" Ron asked, as he turned his attention back to the gold bowl.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

"Well, well." The familiar voice said coolly to Eve. "So you are the new girl who has stolen Severus' affection. "It once belonged to my daughter you know." Evaristus Devlin walked in front of Eve's face and she stiffened in fear as she recognised him.

"No!" She whimpered.

But Evaristus misunderstood. "Yes. She did hold his affection. And now you are going to help me get her back."

Severus looked fiercely at Eve, willing her not to say anything, and she relaxed slightly. Her father had not recognised her.

"Come now Severus. I know you held her on a pedestal, and she could not have escaped from me alone." He gripped Severus by the hair and yanked his head upwards. "Tell me Severus. Where is she?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since the first night we met." Severus gritted his teeth and said coolly.

Evaristus laughed cruelly. "I know you are lying to me boy."

Severus lifted his head and looked Evaristus straight in the eye. "Why would I lie about this?"

Devlin approached the altar and took a black cloth from the floor. "It is too late for you Severus." He said calmly, while unwrapping whatever lay in the cloth. "You we will kill for betraying the Lord Voldemort. But tell me where my daughter is..." he paused and looked at the sacrificial dagger he held in his hand.

"...and I shall spare this young lady's life."

A/N

Hiya to all who have reviewed!!! Including Paris (Hi!), KR (wow, 2 reviews for one chapter!!), Annoriel (Hi!!), and Kelest (I hope I have satisfied your curiosity for the moment!!)

P.S. For those who don't know, the Gniweiv ("Viewing" spelt backwards) Bowl was in my first story… It is supposed to show the person you ask to show, without them knowing, kind of like a scrying bowl.

Love to you all!!!

See ya at the same time next week!! (ish…)

Krusty.