Chapter Fifteen

… O my fears,

Two weeks after their conversation, Harry had to take the usual end of year exams. For once, he found himself without Voldemort-related problems to worry about while he was taking them. It felt weird, but it also meant that he was able to concentrate on them fully rather than having his attention directed at more life-threatening concerns. Of course, it also helped that he was better prepared for them than he had ever been, thanks to Severus' tutoring and thorough training. That meant he was even able to relax slightly, rather than being constantly tense with worry that something he'd not had the time to revise would come up and ruin everything.

Naturally, relaxation not generally being a word in Hermione's vocabulary, she insisted that the three of them follow the revision schedule she had drawn up again this year. Harry was rather grateful that he could use lessons with Severus as an excuse to escape at least some of the sessions. On the other hand, judging from Hermione's occasionally mussed hair and flushed face when he returned early, he suspected that his two friends didn't always stick to the schedule exactly when he wasn't there with them.

The exams went well, in his opinion. He felt more confident about them afterwards than he had in years, even in the subjects like Arithmancy which he had not exactly found easy to pick up this year. The weekend following the end of exams was scheduled as a Hogsmeade weekend, as was customary. On the Friday night, after his last exam – the Transfigurations practical test - Harry went down to visit Severus with the excuse of checking if there was anything the professor needed from the village while he was there.

After inquiring about how the exams had gone, Severus warned him once again of the dangers of leaving school grounds, even if it was only to go to Hogsmeade. He also reminded Harry quite forcefully of the necessity of caution.

Then, after a few moments of consideration, he added, "However, if you are insistent on endangering your own skin, you may as well make it worthwhile and bring me back some liquorice laces. Ordinary ones, mind. None of that tacky Charmed rubbish that they sell everywhere."

Harry grinned at him. "Okay then. I s'pose I really should have known that you'd like black sweets," he teased.

Severus glared at him, but not as if he particularly meant it.

***

So it was that on Saturday afternoon Harry found himself in Honeydukes, searching in vain for 'ordinary' liquorice laces. He managed to find ones that would tie themselves into knots and ones that would tie people up in knots. He came across ones that wriggled in your mouth almost as if they were disguised snakes, and others that changed taste with each bite, and more other varieties than he could really keep track of.

As he searched, he began to understand why Severus had specified uncharmed ones. That didn't change the fact that he was unable to find any. He spent so long looking that his friends eventually got tired of waiting for him to give up, and told him they'd meet him later on, as they had other plans. Ones which didn't include spending all day in the sweetshop.

It didn't help that he was quite reluctant to explain exactly why he was so intent on getting his hands on these particular sweets. Not that he thought they'd mind him wanting to get something for Severus, at least once they'd got over the initial shock, but it might give them the wrong – or perhaps the right – impression.

In the end, forced to concede at least temporary defeat, he decided to ask the shopkeeper for some help. The stocky, bearded man gave him a decidedly odd look, and pointed out to Harry the extensive selection he'd already looked through. He didn't seem able to understand why anyone would prefer staid, Muggle-style liquorice laces to his clearly far superior magic ones. Harry heaved a long-suffering sigh, deciding to ask Ron if he knew of any other sweetshops in the village.

He walked out of the cool, dark shop into the afternoon sunshine, and felt his momentary disappointed mood lift. It was one of those gloriously sunny, cloudless mid-June days that effectively wiped away the memory of the long, cold winter and soggy spring, and it was wonderful not to have to think about exams on such a beautiful day. It was warm enough for him to be comfortable in a t-shirt, but not too hot, and there was a gentle breeze that kept the air fresh. It smelled of freshly cut grass, the source easily detected – the man mowing his lawn with a spell Harry wished he'd known when he'd lived with the Dursleys. It was really impossible to be grumpy when the day was this perfect. He could always buy something else if he had no luck, he reminded himself. It wasn't all that serious a problem.

He wandered through the village, poking his head into shops as he went, and finally found Ron and Hermione sipping butterbeer on a bench set up outside the Three Broomsticks. As he settled down with his own tankard, he asked if they'd heard about any other places he could buy sweets. Ron mentioned there was supposed to be another sweetshop near Dervish and Banges, but he'd never been there because they didn't sell many wizarding sweets. Harry thought this sounded perfect for what he needed. Finishing off his drink, he told them he'd have a look and then meet up with them again.

Although they offered to come with him and keep him company on his expedition, he told them not to bother. After all, it was only Hogsmeade, perfectly safe, and he'd be back soon, he assured them. Hermione looked slightly uneasy at this, reminding him of Severus' warning.

Since Harry's friends now knew about the existence of the bond, he'd been able to tell them about some parts of his conversations with Severus. Actually, they'd probably have thought it odd if he didn't. It was also much easier to explain the man's concern – they took the bond as an explanation of almost everything, although he occasionally caught Hermione giving him those speculative looks. He shrugged off the caution again, instructing her teasingly to call in the cavalry if he was gone for more than half an hour. Ron laughed at the command, but Hermione agreed with not a hint of playfulness in her eyes.

It took Harry a while to locate the shop Ron had mentioned. Eventually he found it, halfway down a side-street near the edge of the village. Thankfully, once he'd got there, he soon discovered they did carry ordinary sweets, and specifically the ones he needed. It took very little time to make his purchase, and he watched the old man behind the counter wrap them up for him with a distinct sense of satisfaction at a job well done. He'd have to make Severus pay for the amount of trouble he'd had to go through for these sweets.

He hummed happily, if tunelessly, to himself as he made for the door. At that point, however, his plan went more than a little awry.

As he exited the shop, he felt a presence close by, then a sharp poke at his right side. He recognised the pressure of a wand's tip nestling just under the last ribs. He was in deep trouble, he could tell it now, even though nothing much had been said or done. A deep, low, male voice hissed in his ear, as an ominously shrouded figure stepped close behind him.

"Stay quiet and come with me."

Harry felt suddenly cold despite the summery day, struggling to keep his composure in the face of this alarming development. A corner of his mind intent on analysing the situation rather thought it recognised the voice that issued the command, although he couldn't place where he'd heard it before. It wasn't one that he heard regularly, he decided. He attempted to crane his neck up and back, trying to catch a glimpse of his captor's features, but his face was well hidden under the hood of his cloak.

"Move!" instructed the man impatiently, prodding him sharply, threateningly, with the wand.

Harry decided to go along with him, resisting the instinct to struggle, to make this as difficult as possible for the man. After all, with him on his right side there was no way he'd be able to get his wand out without him noticing, and his grasp of wandless magic was unreliable at best. They clearly wanted him alive, and if he resisted they'd probably just Stupefy him and take him along anyway. It was best not to provoke them, for now. At least this way he was still conscious.

There was one thing he could do however, he realised suddenly, wondering why he hadn't thought of it before.

//Severus.// He got the man's attention, then gave him a flood of images that showed his current predicament. He hoped that the edge of panic creeping up at the thought of simply letting himself be taken away by this man didn't show too much.

//Bugger,// replied Severus, surprised and worried enough to allow himself a curse. //Harry, I told you to be careful.// Harry thought the man sounded more annoyed than anything else, but also couldn't help but notice the concern beneath it.

//Okay, I'll be there,// Severus said, barely hesitating. His mental 'voice' dropped, sounding more reassuring, and yet warning at the same time. //Don't do anything stupid and get yourself knocked out,// he added, the half-criticism oddly familiar and comforting, the confidence in Harry underlying it encouraging. //I need to be able to find you.//

//I know, I'm sorry, and I won't,// replied Harry, feeling rather annoyed at himself for not paying attention to his surroundings, not to mention horribly guilty about it, and also rather relieved that he hadn't let Ron and Hermione accompany him. If the obvious suspicion about the reason behind this was correct, the man who'd captured him would probably not have had any qualms about hurting them if they got in the way.

//Um, if you need it, my Cloak is in my trunk,// he offered, hoping that he could redeem slightly himself in Severus' eyes with the suggestion. It had really been quite stupid of him to let himself get captured like this and have to get Severus to come rescue him like a helpless child, he realised with a mental cringe. Remembering that they were still linked, he didn't let the rest of that thought come any closer to the surface.

//Thank you. It might be useful.// Harry felt a pause before Severus added, //Don't blame yourself too much. Concentrate on staying unharmed.// He hesitated yet again before he said, //And Harry, I'm here for you.// His voice was warmer than it had been for a long time.

//Yes.// Slightly comforted, although still kicking himself internally, Harry felt Severus break the connection and sink back into his own mind. He tried not to sigh at the loss, if only because it might be suspicious, and went back to observing his surroundings.

***

Harry walked according to the cloaked figure's directions. The man, perhaps a head taller than him, stayed close enough behind him and to the right to keep the wand securely pressed to Harry's side without allowing it to be seen. The action was so natural it seemed he'd done something similar many times before. They probably looked like family, Harry thought, the man's closeness seeming to be a protective contact rather than endangering him.

He kept the 'line' to Severus open, and admitted to himself that this was for more than merely practical reasons. It was… comforting to know that the man was only a thought away. Harry knew he must be in the hands of Death Eaters, and even if Severus was one, had committed their crimes, as he knew so intimately, at least he was now Harry's Death Eater.

He refused, however, to let himself think 'Now he's talking to the Headmaster', and 'Now he's on his way to the gates'. That would serve no purpose except to worry him if there was some delay. At least concentrating on avoiding those thoughts kept him from being scared out of his wits. He took a deep breath and prayed for calm as they left the boundary of Hogsmeade, heading in the opposite direction from the school.

Eventually he was directed to a clearing in a small wood, perhaps an offshoot of the Forbidden Forest, although not connected to it. His fear surged as he registered the seven other people, all cloaked and hooded, waiting in the shadow of the trees.

//I'm coming. Albus is with me. Just… try not to do anything foolish. Please,// Severus said unexpectedly. It sounded like an order, as Harry had anticipated, but the sincere, barely hidden entreaty behind it surprised him.

//You might want to tell them that.// Unfortunately, it bore less sarcasm than he'd intended, and rather more pleading.

//Stay calm.// Severus' statement would have been more effective had Harry not been able to feel the anxiety underlying it. //Just… stay calm.//

//I'm trying,// Harry snapped, fear momentarily getting the better of him, and then //I'm sorry.//

//Perfectly all right,// soothed Severus. //Won't be long now.// The sense of his presence faded slightly once more.

As Harry and his escort entered the clearing, the other figures quickly moved to form a circle around them. All of them had their wands out, pointing straight at Harry. "Stay there, unless you want your life to become even shorter than it has to be," said his original captor, moving to take his place in the circle, directly in front of him. The wind was stronger now, rustling through the leaves above their heads.

He stood there, at the centre of a knot of silent, mysterious figures once more, and felt terror clawing roughly at him, begging him to give it just one chink to enter and rip his throat out, just to ease his death-grip on it for a bare moment, just long enough.

He closed his eyes, and swayed ever so slightly. He was about to – to do something, he didn't know what, maybe scream or try to run, anything to break the sense of waiting. Just before he moved, the one who'd captured him stepped forward slightly, and pushed back his hood.

All thoughts were fleetingly scorched from his mind in shock and terror as he recognised the face, and stared. Now he knew why the voice had been familiar, and why he had been unable to place it. He had never imagined that he would hear it so near Hogwarts, had not wanted to imagine that he would ever hear it himself.

Thane!