Chapter 1
It was a Dark and Stormy Night
"So, my faithful servant has returned to me. You are my faitful servant, aren't you Severus?" The cold voice held a hint of menace.
Severus Snape held himself still in his postion of kneeling subservience, head down, before the Dark Lord. He could feel Voldemort brushing against his mind, seeking the truth. Carefully Severus allowed just a bit of the fear and uncertainty he felt slip out for Voldemort to feel.
"Of course my Lord," said Severus.
"Indeed!" Sneered Voldemort. "Here you are before me, late in coming, but you have returned."
Severus felt the intrusion on his mind increase, and he struggled to maintain the control his study of Occlumancy had granted him.
"Ah! Ever has your mind been only partially available to me, my servant. Why is that? All other of Lord Voldemorts servants have granted me their innermost thoughts, but yours remain hidden. Could it be you have something to hide? Before his death my faithful servant Bartimous Crouch told me of your close associations with that fool Dumbledore. Could it be that Professor Snape has found a new master? Do you love the muggles and mudbloods now, Severus?"
Severus remained silent, stuggling for control of his own mind against the awesome powers of the Dark Lord. Sweat began to bead on his forehead.
"Speak! I command you! Perhaps some pain might loosen that reluctant tongue. Crucio!"
Pain flooded through every muscle, his eyes felt like they would explode inside his head. Then it was gone, leaving him feeling like an abcessed tooth, aching and empty. He saw that he had rolled near the fireplace in his agony, and pulled his robes away from the flames.
"My Lord," he panted. "I returned to you out of my free will. I took the first opportunity I had to come before you. I wormed my way into a position of trust with the mudblood lover, Dumbledore. His compassion blinds him to the nastier aspects of those around him, and I used that blindness to both save myself and prepare for your return."
Severus looked directly into Voldemort's red eyes, and snake like face, and let his control slip just a bit to allow Voldemort to feel the truth behind his next words.
"But I will never let anyone into my mind. If you find that transgression too great, then kill me now and have done with it. I will not change, and I will not look over my shoulder for the rest of my life watching for your assassins."
The Dark Lord stared at him for a moment, then laughed his cold, high laugh. "That absurd defiance is exactly what I expect from you. Stand up my friend. What I would kill others for in an instant is the reason you remain alive. Toadies and bootlickers I have aplenty. A man with a backbone is harder to find."
Voldemort pointed to a chair near the fire. "Sit, Severus. I have another matter to attend to that you might find educational. And have some wine, I suspect your throat might need wetting." The sneer had returned to Voldemort's voice.
The Dark Lord turned and nodded to Wormtail who had stood, cringing, by the door throughout their conversation. Wormtail opened the door, his silver hand reflecting the firelight, and poked his head out. "Bring him in," he said.
Two dementors entered the room, dragging a man between them bound in ropes. The man was crying, and struggling weakly in their grasp. He raised his head and Severus recognized the silver hair and goatee. Karkaroff.
The dementors dropped Karkaroff to the floor with a thud.
"You may go," said Voldemort.
The dementors bowed, and departed. Wormtail shut the door behind them, shivering from his close proximity to their joy draining powers.
"Oh do get off the floor, Karkaroff, that rug is certainly worth more than your hide." With a flick of his wand the ropes binding Karkaroff vanished.
"My Lord..." Karkaroff began, but Voldemort cut him off.
"That will do, Karkaroff. Your lies shine at me from your mind, unspoken." He glanced at Severus and smiled coldly. "My death eaters tell me that you have betrayed them. The tell me of the years they spent guarded by the very dementors that now serve me. Did you enjoy their touch on you, Karkaroff? Shall I call them back?"
"No my Lord, I beg you..."
"Silencio! Haven't I told you not to waste my time with your lies? Hold out your arm to me, Karkaroff. Show me the brand that marks you as mine," said the Dark Lord.
But Karkaroff had fallen to his knees, and was rocking back and forth, clutching his arms in front of him.
"Pathetic," said Voldemort. "Imperio!"
The Dark Lord gestured with his wand at Karkaroff, who stumbled to his feet and held out his arm. Severus could see the Dark Mark against Karkaroff's bare skin darken as Voldemort touched it with a finger, and instantly felt a burning on his own arm where the Dark Mark was hidden by his sleeve.
No more than five minutes passed until robed and masked figures began Apparating into the room. Severus noticed that the room wasn't as crowded as the last time he had attended a gathering. Several death eaters had died in the last war, and several more had been captured recently and sent to Azkaban. The death eaters formed a small circle around Voldemort and Karkaroff, and Severus stood and took his place. He noticed several of the masked figures looking in his direction.
"Welcome my friends. I called you to witness the price to be paid for treachery. I see several of you looking at my servant Severus. We will discuss him later. For now I give you Karkaroff for you amusement." Voldemort lowered his wand, and Severus could tell by the look of terror on Karkaroff's face that the Dark Lord had ended his Imperius Curse.
Karkaroff tried to speak, but no sound issued from his lips.
"I have saved you the wearisome task of listening to this worm by silencing him," said Voldemort, and the death eaters laughed harshly.
"Several of you suffered from the actions of this worm, and I promised you justice. Today you will have that justice."
"Master," said a female voice from behind a mask. "Let me deal with him, I beg you. He isn't worthy of your attentions."
Voldemort laughed. "My dear Bellatrix, although I appreciate your concern for me, and your enthusiasm for pain, I have something special in mind for our old friend. But if you insist I will give him to you for a short time as a reward for your loyalty."
Bellatrix stepped forward and raised her wand at Karkaroff. "Thank you master." She was panting slightly. "Crucio!"
The death eaters laughed cruelly as Karkaroff collapsed to the floor, spasming. A slight shudder went through Bellatrix's body as she held her wand on him. She continued the torment for several minutes, then lowered her wand.
"I can't hear him screaming," she pouted.
Voldemort and the death eaters laughed, Severus forced himself to laugh with them. The Dark Lord gave a sort of ironic half bow to Bellatrix and said, "My apologies, Bellatrix. Wormtail let them in."
Wormtail left his place in the circle and opened the door. The dementors that had brought Karkaroff in the room earlier glided in, and even the death eaters shied away from any contact with them.
"Master."
Severus shuddered. The sound of the dementor's voice seemed to stab into his brain like a shard of ice.
"He is yours," said Voldemort, backing away from the doomed Karkaroff.
The dementors bowed to the Dark Lord and glided towards Karkaroff, who looked to be screaming in terror. The dementors grasped him almost gently, cradling him in their arms, and soon Karkaroff's struggles had ceased. Then one bent towards him, lifting his chin towards its face. Severus felt the gorge rising in his throat and looked away as the dementor leaned forward to deliver it's Kiss. There was a soft gurgling sound, and when Severus looked back again the dementor was laying Karkaroff on the floor. The circle was very quiet.
The dementors rose, bowed again to Voldemort, and glided out of the room. Wormtail shrunk away from them in horror.
"Now you see Lord Voldemort keeps his promises. Justice has been served."
No one spoke.
"Bellatrix, since you were so eager to serve me earlier, you may take the body and leave it someplace those fools from the Daily Prophet will find it. Everyone must know the price of betraying Lord Voldemort."
Bellatrix bowed. "Yes my Lord."
Voldemort moved into the middle of the circle, kicking Karkaroff's body out of his way.
"Several of our number are missing, having been caught while attempting to complete a task I had laid upon them." Voldemort looked at Bellatrix and continued, a hint of anger in his voice.
"I do not forget, and I do not forgive. However, I will not leave my servants to languish in any punishment that I haven't given them. Severus," Voldemort turned to look at him. "My faithful servant has returned, but he owes me a debt for my patience. You will repay my kindness by releasing those that fool Fudge has imprisoned in Azkaban...."
Cold rain fell into the black of the sea. The wind brought the salty smell of the water on it's breath and caused waves to pound the rocky shore. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the night revealing a small shack and a crudely built dock. In the darkness following the lightning, dim, flickering lights could be seen in the windows of the shack.
Severus pushed his wet hair irritably out of his face, and stared at the lights from where he crouched behind a hedge. Water dripped from the end of his hooked nose.
Severus pulled his wand out of his black robes and tapped himself firmly on the head. The usual sensation of cold trickling down his body was lost in the chill of the night and the water running off him, but a single glance down told him that his Disillusionment Charm had succeeded. Returning his wand to his robes, he moved towards the shack, resembling nothing more than a blurry shadow in the night, trusting in the waves, the wind and the rain to cover any noise he might make. Stopping a few paces from the shack, Severus reached into his robes and pulled out a pair of half moon spectacles which he put on.
The view through the spectacles was quite different than the scene he had viewed upon first arriving. The shack was revealed to be a modestly sized building, looking something like a warehouse, and the dock was transformed into a more substantial construction that was well tended. Alongside the dock was a two masted sailing ship that hadn't been visible at all, painted a shimmering, almost fuzzy, gray color.
Severus prowled around the outside of the building, being careful to avoid splashing in mud puddles that might give away his presence to anyone who might be watching from inside, until he came to a door set on the seaward side of the warehouse. The door was locked. Retrieving his wand from his robes, he pointed it at the lock and whispered, "Alohamora."
Severus sneered as the lock gave a faint click, and very slowly opened the door a crack and peeked in. Inside was a small, untidy office with a closed door at the opposite side, and, behind a very cluttered desk, sprawled a dark haired wizard in shabby robes. His eyes were closed, and every once in a while he gave a soft whistling noise from his nose. Opening the door just wide enough to admit his thin frame, Severus stepped into the office, and closed the door behind him. In the brief instant the door had been open, wind swept in and made some parchment attached to the wall flutter. The dark haired wizard gave a slightly louder whistling noise, and slumped forward onto his desk, still sound asleep.
Smirking, Severus passed the sleeping wizard and cracked open the door that led further into the building. Through the narrow slit, Severus could see a large, well lit open area that seemed to take up to rest of the building, boxes were stacked within his line of sight, but he could see nothing moving. After listening carefully for a minute, Severus ducked through the door and closed it behind him moving into the shadow of a large box. Only the part of the room he was in seemed to serve as storage, the rest of the room was nearly empty, except for a row of what even muggles might identify as empty jail cells along the back of the room, and a long table with multiple wooden chairs in which only two wizards were seated. The bars of the cells were made up of some dull, black material, and the single door that led into each cell lacked a keyhole of any sort.
The wizards were hunched over something on the table, and, rising slightly, he could see that they were engaged in a game of gobstones. Severus watched the wizards play for several more seconds, stunned by their sheer idiocy. Finally, giving himself a small shake, he raised his wand, and waited for the inevitable. Sure enough after only a few more minutes a gobstone squirted it's foul substance into the face of one of the playing wizards. The wizard sputtered and cursed, and his fellow laughed and said, "Hold on a second, mate, and I'll clean that off. Not sure I should bother really, sort of an improvement if you know what I mean."
Severus waited until the wizard had pulled out his wand and then he struck.
"Stupify!"
A red flash flew from the end of his wand and struck the wizard attempting to clean up his friend, directly in the chest. He crumpled.
"Damn!" Cursed the second wizard, fumbling in his robes for his wand, trying to wipe the spray from the gobstone from his face, and attempting to stand all at the same time.
"Stupify!"
Another red flash and the second wizard fell to the floor, dropping his wand with a clatter.
Moving back to the front office, Severus enacted another, "Stupify!" on the still sleeping wizard, whose slump became more pronounced. Severus thought that the cease of his whistling snores was a definate bonus.
"Fools!" He muttered as he started dragging the dark haired wizard's body into the large room with his fellows. "Even Goyle could have defeated them."
Letting the dark haired wizard fall to the floor, Severus investigated the jail cells more closely. His first assessment had been correct; there were no keyholes in the doors leading into the cells, although there was an area in which a keyhole could have been. The cells were meant to hold wizards, but how did they open? Severus touched the door lightly with his finger and received a slight jolt as though he had just shocked himself with static electricity. Obviously pushing on the door would do no good. One eyebrow raised as a thought occurred to him. The cells were designed to hold wizards whose wands had already been taken from them. He pointed his wand at the place where a keyhole could have been.
"Alohamora!" he murmured, and the door immediately sprang open.
He repeated this process until he had three cell doors standing open, then he turned to the unconcious wizards. With a wave of his wand he conjured ropes and gags for each of the wizards, then, with a, "Locamotor Idiot" levitated each into a separate cell. Briefly he considered cleaning the gobstone slime off the face of the wizard, but then snickered coldly, and decided to leave it. Closing the cell doors proved easier than opening them. He simply touched his wand to each door and it swung shut with a loud clunk as it locked.
After searching the front office for no more than ten minutes Severus found what he had been looking for in a desk drawer. It was a gleaming silver folding fan that was strangely light and cold to the touch. He pocketted the fan and walked back out into the stormy night, advancing quickly towards the two masted ship. There were no ropes tieing the ship to the dock, but the gangplank was down so he boarded and pulled the plank onto the deck. Severus walked back to where the ship's wheel would be found on a muggle ship, pulled the silver fan from his pocket, opened it, and placed it in an open silver hand that was attached to a small pedestal. The hand gripped the fan and began waving it. The sails immediately billowed out and the ship moved smoothly away from the dock. Although the sea was beyond what most would call choppy, the ship sailed as smoothly as if there were no waves at all, and after clearing the docks, turned slightly northwest and began to pick up speed.
Severus retreated from the rain and cold into the nearby captain's quarters and watched the ship's progress out a window, helping himself to a cup of hot tea he had found sitting on the captain's desk.
Chapter 2
The Island Prison
Severus looked out the window, watching intently for the first signs that he was approaching Azkaban. Soon enough he saw the twinkling of lights through the rain and sheets of spray thrown up by the ship as it passed through waves. Hurrying out on deck, Severus snatched the silver fan from the hand waving it at the sails, and the ship slowed and came to a halt. The ship had no anchor, but the dementors had assured him that once the fan was removed from the hand, the ship would not move so much as an inch unless another vessel collided with it.
Severus checked to make sure his Disillusionment Charm was still holding then reached into a pocket and pulled out a handful of a slimey green plant, that looked somewhat like seaweed. Breaking the plant into smaller pieces, Severus began to chew it up and swallow. The taste was not pleasant. After he had eaten a mouthful the gillyweed began to have its effects. Severus could feel a burning just below his ears. He kicked off his boots, moved to the side of the ship and dived into the churning waters without hesitation. The sea pulled him under and he forced himself to breath normally, letting the water slide in through his mouth and out through his new gills. Severus peered up through the murky gray of the water and oriented himself so that he was facing the same direction as the boat, then put his webbed hands and feet to work and began swimming towards the island.
He was able to propel himself forward with good speed in his altered form, and before long he saw the rocky base of the island ahead of him. Severus angled towards the surface, then waited for the gillyweed's effects to wear off, running over what he had learned about the new security while he waited.
When the dementors abandoned Azkaban to join the Dark Lord, the Ministry had decided to form a new section of the Magical Law Enforcement Department to deal with its running and upkeep. The new section, entitled The Azkaban Security and Keeping (or TASK for short) was headed by a board of retired Aurors and staffed with those who had applied to be Aurors, but hadn't made it through the difficult training and screening process. TASK was comprised of forty security, and ten maintenance personnel. These were divided into two teams, that alternated one month on, and one month off the island itself. The only person who was scheduled to stay almost year round was the superintendent, and even this position was intended to be changed every two years to ensure that no one not a prisoner, would have to spend too much time on the island. The current (and first) superintendent was an Auror named Mark Bridewell, who had volunteered for the position, owing to his need to recover from injuries gained while on the job.
Severus felt the water becoming colder around him, announcing that the gillyweed was wearing off, and pulled himself onto the rocky shore. He could see lights shining from windows in the black mass of the fortress above him that had been made into the prison of Azkaban many years ago. Lightning flashed and, squinting through the rain, he watched the battlements, but saw no figures patroling. As he had hoped, the storm had driven them inside.
Severus leaned against a boulder and pulled a folded piece of parchment from his pocket. The parchment had been enchanted to repel water; the raindrops falling on it seemed to simply bounce off, and on it was a map of the island showing the prison, and the maintenance outbuildings.
After his meeting with the Dark Lord, he had spent some time with the dementors. He gave a shudder that had nothing to do with the cold night air as he remembered those meetings. They had helped him to draw up the map, and told him about several ways he might approach the island undetected. They had also given him some suggestions about how he might penetrate and escape from the fortress itself. Severus checked the map and compared it to what he could make out of his surroundings. He guessed that he had come up on the southeastern part of the island, and after referencing the map once more, put it away and began to move towards the prison.
The granite face of the fortress wall was cold and he could feel the chill through his soaked robes. Severus positioned himself below a window several stories up that led into the lounge of the on-duty guards. He hoped. He reached inside his robes and pulled out his wand. Turning it so the wand pointed at him he extended his arm and whispered, "Contrectius Escendo."
At once he could feel the tiniest imperfections in the wood grain of his wand, and the ground beneath his bare feet seemed to firm up to allow him better traction as though he were standing on dry, packed earth rather than squelchy mud. Severus slid his wand between his teeth, pried his hand off it, and began to climb up the slippery face of the fortress wall. Clinging to the wall like some strange spider he swiftly made his way upwards to the window and peered in.
The room inside looked warm and comfortable. A fire was burning merrily in the fireplace, and several couches were placed near its warmth. A table surrounded by mismatched chairs stood apart from the fire area by several feet and the room was lit by several large white brightly glowing orbs hung from the ceiling. Raising himself a few feet more he checked to make sure the room was empty.
Using a single finger Severus pulled on the window, but it appeared to be locked. He took his wand out from between his teeth and poked at the window with a murmured, "Alohomora."
Nothing happened.
Cursing softly he put the wand back in his mouth and dug into a pocket. Out came a very small, thin bladed dagger which looked like it was made from obsidian. The light from the room didn't glint off of it, nor did it reflect the bolt of lightning that crackled in the sky. Severus slipped the dagger into the crack of the window and slid it past the interior latch. This attempt was rewarded with a very small pop as the latch came undone, and he wasted no time in opening the window and scrambling into the room.
He shut and latched the window and shook the dagger off his hand. It fell to the floor without making a sound. Grasping his wand he waved it and ended his climbing charm, a second wave dried his hair and clothes, and a third wave dried the small puddle of water that had formed by the window where he was standing. He luxuriated for a moment in the comfort of being warm and dry again, then stooped to pick up the dagger which he put away.
Crossing the room to its door, Severus placed his ear against it and listened for sounds of footsteps or talking. All seemed quiet. He opened the door wide enough to admit his head, and glanced up and down the torchlit stone corridor behind it. No one was in sight. He was suspicious. This just seemed too easy. Shrugging he stepped out into the passage and closed the door.
The corridors continued to be silent as he walked towards the high security area of the prison. He stayed near the walls trusting in his Disillusionment Charm, and the flickering torchlight, to hide him from anyone he might come across. Following the memorized instructions of the dementors he followed the passage and descended down a steep spiraling staircase. After several minutes passed and the stair continued down, he guessed he must be back to ground level. The stair ended abruptly after one last turn and Severus froze in place. In front of a large banded wooden door sat a blue robed guard behind a desk. He was reading The Daily Prophet and sipping occasionally from a large mug.
Severus retreated back up the stair out of sight of the guard and pulled a flask covered in a soft black material out of his pocket. Slowly he opened it making sure not to let the lid clink as he unscrewed it. Crouching, he moved back down the steps and watched the guard. The man was absorbed in his paper and snorted in irritation at whatever column he was reading. Severus lowered himself to the floor and crawled across the stone floor to the desk. Watching the guard intently he held the flask at the ready and as the guard turned a page he poured some of the contents of his flask in the man's mug.
If it could have been seen, a small crooked smile crossed Severus's face as he heard the guard drink from his mug. In a few minutes the guard had drank from the mug several more times and was now asleep in his chair, The Daily Prophet held limply in one hand. A small snore escaped the guard's lips and the newspaper fell to the floor in a soft rustling of paper.
Pulling himself up off the floor Severus moved around the desk and relieved the guard of his keys. He chose the largest key on the ring and opened the lock letting himself into the high security wing. Behind the door was another torchlit stone passage, broken every twenty or so feet by a barred cell door. He moved to the first cell door and looked inside. He could just make out a form lying on a simple cot, but the light from the torches illuminated it's familiar white-blonde hair.
"Rather a step down from the mansion I'd say, Lucius."
The form stirred and a pale face looked towards him.
"Who's there!" Lucius Malfoy said.
"Be quiet fool!" hissed Severus. "It's Severus. Now come to the door. The Dark Lord wants you out of here."
"Snape? I can't see you." said Malfoy.
"I'm Disillusioned. Now come to the door. Time is short."
Malfoy got out of bed and came to the door.
"Take this." Severus said, handing Malfoy a vial through the bars of his cell.
"What is it?"
"Poison you idiot! I've come all the way from the Dark Lord and broken into Azkaban to kill you. Don't flatter yourself, Lucius. After your blunder in the Department of Mysteries you aren't worth that much trouble. It's a simple shrinking potion."
"Why don't you just unlock the door? You have the keys," said Malfoy.
"Do as I say unless you'd like to remain as a permanent resident!" Said Severus.
Malfoy uncorked the vial and swallowed the potion. Instantly he began to shrink and soon he was lost in the folds of the prison uniform. Malfoy struggled to free himself from the pile of clothes and emerged no bigger than a large rat.
"I'm naked!" he said.
"Oh shut up!" Severus said. "Walk through the bars and climb into this sack. I'll enlarge you again when we get outside the fortress."
Malfoy glared up at Severus, but did as he was told and soon was tucked away under Severus's robes.
He moved from cell to cell shrinking the death eaters that had been captured in the Ministry offices and growing more irritated each time one of them complained about being naked, or looked at him suspiciously when he offered them the potion. Finally he had all the death eaters in bags and he could hear them grumbling.
"Shut up!" He said, shaking the bags and silence ensued.
Now he moved back past the cells pausing to transfigure the blankets on the cots into semblances of their previous occupants. Satisfied everything was in place Severus left the wing and locked the door behind him. He replaced the keys on the still sleeping guard and turned towards the stairs.
Severus climbed back up the stair and headed off in a different direction than the one from which he had first come. He had no interest in pressing his luck with the on-duty lounge a second time, and the dementors had told him of an easier way to leave the prison. The passages he was forced to travel were more populated, and several times he had to flatten himself against a wall in the shadows made by the torch light when one or more of the guards came by him. Finally he came to the door the dementors had described to him and, after listening at it, went in.
The room was bare and cold. There was no glass in the window and rain had puddled here and there on the stone floor. The sole feature was a square stone column in the middle of the room that had a set of widely spaced rusty manacles on each side at about shoulder height. The dementors had told him that the room had originally been used to interrogate prisoners, but hadn't been in use since the dementors had taken over the running of the prison. The death eaters began to make noises again, and Severus shook the bags to quiet them. With a wave of his wand he conjured a long rope from nothing. He pointed the wand at the column then the window, and the rope obediently tied itself around the column and flung itself out the window. Severus checked the sturdiness of the knot, took a deep breath and began to lower himself down the rope. Within minutes he was dripping wet and shivering as the rain beat against him and the wind howled in his ears. He could barely make out the ground below, and was relieved when his bare feet splashed down into the mud. Pushing his hair back out of his eyes he looked up at the rope and made it vanish with his wand.
He reached under his robes and pulled out his sacks of death eaters and unceremoniously dumped them onto the muddy ground. He sneered as they groaned and shivered, pulling themselves up and trembling against the cold night. Out of a pocket came a vial and an eye dropper. He filled the eye dropper with liquid from the vial and fed a few drops to each of the death eaters. Soon he was surrounded by full sized nude death eaters that were covered in mud and all looking at him balefully.
"Cold," said one, rubbing his arms in attempt to warm himself.
"Quit snivelling Nott, and stand still so I can Disillusion you." he said.
Rapping each on the head with his wand, perhaps a bit harder than necessary, he Disillusioned each of the death eaters. Returning his wand to his robes he pulled out the ball of gillyweed and gave some to each of them.
"Follow me quietly and eat that when I tell you to."
The group followed Severus as he walked around the fortress attempting to retrace the path he had taken to the prison. Finally he found the remains of a bare footed step in the mud; the rain was quickly eliminating all signs of his presence. He turned his back on the castle and moved towards the rocky shore, following the muddy tracks that indicated he had passed this way before. They reached the shore and Severus recognized the boulder he had sat against earlier.
"Eat the gillyweed," he said.
He conjured up some rope and, with flicks of his wand, tied it about the waists of the death eaters and himself connecting them together. Ignoring the gasping noises coming from behind him, Severus ate some gillyweed and waded out into the water. The tide was strong and by the time he felt the gillyweed take effect he had already been swept out into the sea. Looking one last time at Azkaban to orient himself he dove under the waves and swam back towards the ship, the death eaters in his wake.
Chapter 3
Wisdom or Folly
"So the plan succeeded?"
Severus sat in Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore stood behind his desk winding what looked to Severus like an overlarge and extremely complex alarm clock. Apart from the usual clutter he associated with Dumbledore's desk, there also sat a pair of half moon spectacles and a small black dagger.
"Yes," Severus said. He looked out the window into the soft golden light of early morning and the scuttling of clouds across the clear, blue sky.
"I had an owl from Mark Bridewell before you came in this morning telling me about the escape of several dangerous prisoners from Azkaban." Dumbledore's lips twitched. "I must remember to thank Alaistor for recruiting Mark to the Order."
Dumbledore put the clock down and picked up the spectacles from the desk. He toyed with them absently as he watched Severus, then hooked them on his ears and sat down. Severus was glad, Dumbledore had looked strangely naked without them. Dumbledore said nothing, he just continued to look at Severus as though he were waiting for something. The silence in the room grew heavy. The snoring of the old headmasters in their paintings became more pronounced, the ticking of the strange clock seemed very loud. Severus shifted in his chair. Finally he met the gaze of those pale blue eyes.
"Are you sure this was a good idea, Albus?" He said at last.
Dumbledore said nothing, he just continued to gaze at Severus.
"Those death eaters will not sit idly by after their escape from Azkaban!" Severus said. "They will go back to the Dark Lord and people will suffer for it! More meaningless death and suffering will become my responsibility for my part in this."
He realized his hands were clenched into fists, and he forced them to relax. Dumbledore sighed, and, for a second, it occured to Severus just how old he was.
"We are fighting a war, Severus," he said. "In war casualties do occur. It is most regrettable, but how many more deaths can we avoid by having you in Voldemort's trust? In his very circle. The value of the information you give us is priceless, and we must continue to receive that information if we are to win."
Severus opened his mouth to speak, but Dumbledore raised a hand to stop him.
"You are tired my friend. You've had a long and difficult night. I'm very sorry that I must place you in the position you are in. Go and rest, Severus."
Severus understood the note of finality in Dumbledore's voice. He rose from his chair and turned towards the door. Just as he was about to step onto the spiraling stone stairs that rose to meet him, Dumbledore spoke.
"Always remember, Severus. You may have some part in the suffering that is to come, but in the end you may well be part of the final cure. If we are lucky. Rest well."
Severus nodded and rode the stairs down.
It was a Dark and Stormy Night
"So, my faithful servant has returned to me. You are my faitful servant, aren't you Severus?" The cold voice held a hint of menace.
Severus Snape held himself still in his postion of kneeling subservience, head down, before the Dark Lord. He could feel Voldemort brushing against his mind, seeking the truth. Carefully Severus allowed just a bit of the fear and uncertainty he felt slip out for Voldemort to feel.
"Of course my Lord," said Severus.
"Indeed!" Sneered Voldemort. "Here you are before me, late in coming, but you have returned."
Severus felt the intrusion on his mind increase, and he struggled to maintain the control his study of Occlumancy had granted him.
"Ah! Ever has your mind been only partially available to me, my servant. Why is that? All other of Lord Voldemorts servants have granted me their innermost thoughts, but yours remain hidden. Could it be you have something to hide? Before his death my faithful servant Bartimous Crouch told me of your close associations with that fool Dumbledore. Could it be that Professor Snape has found a new master? Do you love the muggles and mudbloods now, Severus?"
Severus remained silent, stuggling for control of his own mind against the awesome powers of the Dark Lord. Sweat began to bead on his forehead.
"Speak! I command you! Perhaps some pain might loosen that reluctant tongue. Crucio!"
Pain flooded through every muscle, his eyes felt like they would explode inside his head. Then it was gone, leaving him feeling like an abcessed tooth, aching and empty. He saw that he had rolled near the fireplace in his agony, and pulled his robes away from the flames.
"My Lord," he panted. "I returned to you out of my free will. I took the first opportunity I had to come before you. I wormed my way into a position of trust with the mudblood lover, Dumbledore. His compassion blinds him to the nastier aspects of those around him, and I used that blindness to both save myself and prepare for your return."
Severus looked directly into Voldemort's red eyes, and snake like face, and let his control slip just a bit to allow Voldemort to feel the truth behind his next words.
"But I will never let anyone into my mind. If you find that transgression too great, then kill me now and have done with it. I will not change, and I will not look over my shoulder for the rest of my life watching for your assassins."
The Dark Lord stared at him for a moment, then laughed his cold, high laugh. "That absurd defiance is exactly what I expect from you. Stand up my friend. What I would kill others for in an instant is the reason you remain alive. Toadies and bootlickers I have aplenty. A man with a backbone is harder to find."
Voldemort pointed to a chair near the fire. "Sit, Severus. I have another matter to attend to that you might find educational. And have some wine, I suspect your throat might need wetting." The sneer had returned to Voldemort's voice.
The Dark Lord turned and nodded to Wormtail who had stood, cringing, by the door throughout their conversation. Wormtail opened the door, his silver hand reflecting the firelight, and poked his head out. "Bring him in," he said.
Two dementors entered the room, dragging a man between them bound in ropes. The man was crying, and struggling weakly in their grasp. He raised his head and Severus recognized the silver hair and goatee. Karkaroff.
The dementors dropped Karkaroff to the floor with a thud.
"You may go," said Voldemort.
The dementors bowed, and departed. Wormtail shut the door behind them, shivering from his close proximity to their joy draining powers.
"Oh do get off the floor, Karkaroff, that rug is certainly worth more than your hide." With a flick of his wand the ropes binding Karkaroff vanished.
"My Lord..." Karkaroff began, but Voldemort cut him off.
"That will do, Karkaroff. Your lies shine at me from your mind, unspoken." He glanced at Severus and smiled coldly. "My death eaters tell me that you have betrayed them. The tell me of the years they spent guarded by the very dementors that now serve me. Did you enjoy their touch on you, Karkaroff? Shall I call them back?"
"No my Lord, I beg you..."
"Silencio! Haven't I told you not to waste my time with your lies? Hold out your arm to me, Karkaroff. Show me the brand that marks you as mine," said the Dark Lord.
But Karkaroff had fallen to his knees, and was rocking back and forth, clutching his arms in front of him.
"Pathetic," said Voldemort. "Imperio!"
The Dark Lord gestured with his wand at Karkaroff, who stumbled to his feet and held out his arm. Severus could see the Dark Mark against Karkaroff's bare skin darken as Voldemort touched it with a finger, and instantly felt a burning on his own arm where the Dark Mark was hidden by his sleeve.
No more than five minutes passed until robed and masked figures began Apparating into the room. Severus noticed that the room wasn't as crowded as the last time he had attended a gathering. Several death eaters had died in the last war, and several more had been captured recently and sent to Azkaban. The death eaters formed a small circle around Voldemort and Karkaroff, and Severus stood and took his place. He noticed several of the masked figures looking in his direction.
"Welcome my friends. I called you to witness the price to be paid for treachery. I see several of you looking at my servant Severus. We will discuss him later. For now I give you Karkaroff for you amusement." Voldemort lowered his wand, and Severus could tell by the look of terror on Karkaroff's face that the Dark Lord had ended his Imperius Curse.
Karkaroff tried to speak, but no sound issued from his lips.
"I have saved you the wearisome task of listening to this worm by silencing him," said Voldemort, and the death eaters laughed harshly.
"Several of you suffered from the actions of this worm, and I promised you justice. Today you will have that justice."
"Master," said a female voice from behind a mask. "Let me deal with him, I beg you. He isn't worthy of your attentions."
Voldemort laughed. "My dear Bellatrix, although I appreciate your concern for me, and your enthusiasm for pain, I have something special in mind for our old friend. But if you insist I will give him to you for a short time as a reward for your loyalty."
Bellatrix stepped forward and raised her wand at Karkaroff. "Thank you master." She was panting slightly. "Crucio!"
The death eaters laughed cruelly as Karkaroff collapsed to the floor, spasming. A slight shudder went through Bellatrix's body as she held her wand on him. She continued the torment for several minutes, then lowered her wand.
"I can't hear him screaming," she pouted.
Voldemort and the death eaters laughed, Severus forced himself to laugh with them. The Dark Lord gave a sort of ironic half bow to Bellatrix and said, "My apologies, Bellatrix. Wormtail let them in."
Wormtail left his place in the circle and opened the door. The dementors that had brought Karkaroff in the room earlier glided in, and even the death eaters shied away from any contact with them.
"Master."
Severus shuddered. The sound of the dementor's voice seemed to stab into his brain like a shard of ice.
"He is yours," said Voldemort, backing away from the doomed Karkaroff.
The dementors bowed to the Dark Lord and glided towards Karkaroff, who looked to be screaming in terror. The dementors grasped him almost gently, cradling him in their arms, and soon Karkaroff's struggles had ceased. Then one bent towards him, lifting his chin towards its face. Severus felt the gorge rising in his throat and looked away as the dementor leaned forward to deliver it's Kiss. There was a soft gurgling sound, and when Severus looked back again the dementor was laying Karkaroff on the floor. The circle was very quiet.
The dementors rose, bowed again to Voldemort, and glided out of the room. Wormtail shrunk away from them in horror.
"Now you see Lord Voldemort keeps his promises. Justice has been served."
No one spoke.
"Bellatrix, since you were so eager to serve me earlier, you may take the body and leave it someplace those fools from the Daily Prophet will find it. Everyone must know the price of betraying Lord Voldemort."
Bellatrix bowed. "Yes my Lord."
Voldemort moved into the middle of the circle, kicking Karkaroff's body out of his way.
"Several of our number are missing, having been caught while attempting to complete a task I had laid upon them." Voldemort looked at Bellatrix and continued, a hint of anger in his voice.
"I do not forget, and I do not forgive. However, I will not leave my servants to languish in any punishment that I haven't given them. Severus," Voldemort turned to look at him. "My faithful servant has returned, but he owes me a debt for my patience. You will repay my kindness by releasing those that fool Fudge has imprisoned in Azkaban...."
Cold rain fell into the black of the sea. The wind brought the salty smell of the water on it's breath and caused waves to pound the rocky shore. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the night revealing a small shack and a crudely built dock. In the darkness following the lightning, dim, flickering lights could be seen in the windows of the shack.
Severus pushed his wet hair irritably out of his face, and stared at the lights from where he crouched behind a hedge. Water dripped from the end of his hooked nose.
Severus pulled his wand out of his black robes and tapped himself firmly on the head. The usual sensation of cold trickling down his body was lost in the chill of the night and the water running off him, but a single glance down told him that his Disillusionment Charm had succeeded. Returning his wand to his robes, he moved towards the shack, resembling nothing more than a blurry shadow in the night, trusting in the waves, the wind and the rain to cover any noise he might make. Stopping a few paces from the shack, Severus reached into his robes and pulled out a pair of half moon spectacles which he put on.
The view through the spectacles was quite different than the scene he had viewed upon first arriving. The shack was revealed to be a modestly sized building, looking something like a warehouse, and the dock was transformed into a more substantial construction that was well tended. Alongside the dock was a two masted sailing ship that hadn't been visible at all, painted a shimmering, almost fuzzy, gray color.
Severus prowled around the outside of the building, being careful to avoid splashing in mud puddles that might give away his presence to anyone who might be watching from inside, until he came to a door set on the seaward side of the warehouse. The door was locked. Retrieving his wand from his robes, he pointed it at the lock and whispered, "Alohamora."
Severus sneered as the lock gave a faint click, and very slowly opened the door a crack and peeked in. Inside was a small, untidy office with a closed door at the opposite side, and, behind a very cluttered desk, sprawled a dark haired wizard in shabby robes. His eyes were closed, and every once in a while he gave a soft whistling noise from his nose. Opening the door just wide enough to admit his thin frame, Severus stepped into the office, and closed the door behind him. In the brief instant the door had been open, wind swept in and made some parchment attached to the wall flutter. The dark haired wizard gave a slightly louder whistling noise, and slumped forward onto his desk, still sound asleep.
Smirking, Severus passed the sleeping wizard and cracked open the door that led further into the building. Through the narrow slit, Severus could see a large, well lit open area that seemed to take up to rest of the building, boxes were stacked within his line of sight, but he could see nothing moving. After listening carefully for a minute, Severus ducked through the door and closed it behind him moving into the shadow of a large box. Only the part of the room he was in seemed to serve as storage, the rest of the room was nearly empty, except for a row of what even muggles might identify as empty jail cells along the back of the room, and a long table with multiple wooden chairs in which only two wizards were seated. The bars of the cells were made up of some dull, black material, and the single door that led into each cell lacked a keyhole of any sort.
The wizards were hunched over something on the table, and, rising slightly, he could see that they were engaged in a game of gobstones. Severus watched the wizards play for several more seconds, stunned by their sheer idiocy. Finally, giving himself a small shake, he raised his wand, and waited for the inevitable. Sure enough after only a few more minutes a gobstone squirted it's foul substance into the face of one of the playing wizards. The wizard sputtered and cursed, and his fellow laughed and said, "Hold on a second, mate, and I'll clean that off. Not sure I should bother really, sort of an improvement if you know what I mean."
Severus waited until the wizard had pulled out his wand and then he struck.
"Stupify!"
A red flash flew from the end of his wand and struck the wizard attempting to clean up his friend, directly in the chest. He crumpled.
"Damn!" Cursed the second wizard, fumbling in his robes for his wand, trying to wipe the spray from the gobstone from his face, and attempting to stand all at the same time.
"Stupify!"
Another red flash and the second wizard fell to the floor, dropping his wand with a clatter.
Moving back to the front office, Severus enacted another, "Stupify!" on the still sleeping wizard, whose slump became more pronounced. Severus thought that the cease of his whistling snores was a definate bonus.
"Fools!" He muttered as he started dragging the dark haired wizard's body into the large room with his fellows. "Even Goyle could have defeated them."
Letting the dark haired wizard fall to the floor, Severus investigated the jail cells more closely. His first assessment had been correct; there were no keyholes in the doors leading into the cells, although there was an area in which a keyhole could have been. The cells were meant to hold wizards, but how did they open? Severus touched the door lightly with his finger and received a slight jolt as though he had just shocked himself with static electricity. Obviously pushing on the door would do no good. One eyebrow raised as a thought occurred to him. The cells were designed to hold wizards whose wands had already been taken from them. He pointed his wand at the place where a keyhole could have been.
"Alohamora!" he murmured, and the door immediately sprang open.
He repeated this process until he had three cell doors standing open, then he turned to the unconcious wizards. With a wave of his wand he conjured ropes and gags for each of the wizards, then, with a, "Locamotor Idiot" levitated each into a separate cell. Briefly he considered cleaning the gobstone slime off the face of the wizard, but then snickered coldly, and decided to leave it. Closing the cell doors proved easier than opening them. He simply touched his wand to each door and it swung shut with a loud clunk as it locked.
After searching the front office for no more than ten minutes Severus found what he had been looking for in a desk drawer. It was a gleaming silver folding fan that was strangely light and cold to the touch. He pocketted the fan and walked back out into the stormy night, advancing quickly towards the two masted ship. There were no ropes tieing the ship to the dock, but the gangplank was down so he boarded and pulled the plank onto the deck. Severus walked back to where the ship's wheel would be found on a muggle ship, pulled the silver fan from his pocket, opened it, and placed it in an open silver hand that was attached to a small pedestal. The hand gripped the fan and began waving it. The sails immediately billowed out and the ship moved smoothly away from the dock. Although the sea was beyond what most would call choppy, the ship sailed as smoothly as if there were no waves at all, and after clearing the docks, turned slightly northwest and began to pick up speed.
Severus retreated from the rain and cold into the nearby captain's quarters and watched the ship's progress out a window, helping himself to a cup of hot tea he had found sitting on the captain's desk.
Chapter 2
The Island Prison
Severus looked out the window, watching intently for the first signs that he was approaching Azkaban. Soon enough he saw the twinkling of lights through the rain and sheets of spray thrown up by the ship as it passed through waves. Hurrying out on deck, Severus snatched the silver fan from the hand waving it at the sails, and the ship slowed and came to a halt. The ship had no anchor, but the dementors had assured him that once the fan was removed from the hand, the ship would not move so much as an inch unless another vessel collided with it.
Severus checked to make sure his Disillusionment Charm was still holding then reached into a pocket and pulled out a handful of a slimey green plant, that looked somewhat like seaweed. Breaking the plant into smaller pieces, Severus began to chew it up and swallow. The taste was not pleasant. After he had eaten a mouthful the gillyweed began to have its effects. Severus could feel a burning just below his ears. He kicked off his boots, moved to the side of the ship and dived into the churning waters without hesitation. The sea pulled him under and he forced himself to breath normally, letting the water slide in through his mouth and out through his new gills. Severus peered up through the murky gray of the water and oriented himself so that he was facing the same direction as the boat, then put his webbed hands and feet to work and began swimming towards the island.
He was able to propel himself forward with good speed in his altered form, and before long he saw the rocky base of the island ahead of him. Severus angled towards the surface, then waited for the gillyweed's effects to wear off, running over what he had learned about the new security while he waited.
When the dementors abandoned Azkaban to join the Dark Lord, the Ministry had decided to form a new section of the Magical Law Enforcement Department to deal with its running and upkeep. The new section, entitled The Azkaban Security and Keeping (or TASK for short) was headed by a board of retired Aurors and staffed with those who had applied to be Aurors, but hadn't made it through the difficult training and screening process. TASK was comprised of forty security, and ten maintenance personnel. These were divided into two teams, that alternated one month on, and one month off the island itself. The only person who was scheduled to stay almost year round was the superintendent, and even this position was intended to be changed every two years to ensure that no one not a prisoner, would have to spend too much time on the island. The current (and first) superintendent was an Auror named Mark Bridewell, who had volunteered for the position, owing to his need to recover from injuries gained while on the job.
Severus felt the water becoming colder around him, announcing that the gillyweed was wearing off, and pulled himself onto the rocky shore. He could see lights shining from windows in the black mass of the fortress above him that had been made into the prison of Azkaban many years ago. Lightning flashed and, squinting through the rain, he watched the battlements, but saw no figures patroling. As he had hoped, the storm had driven them inside.
Severus leaned against a boulder and pulled a folded piece of parchment from his pocket. The parchment had been enchanted to repel water; the raindrops falling on it seemed to simply bounce off, and on it was a map of the island showing the prison, and the maintenance outbuildings.
After his meeting with the Dark Lord, he had spent some time with the dementors. He gave a shudder that had nothing to do with the cold night air as he remembered those meetings. They had helped him to draw up the map, and told him about several ways he might approach the island undetected. They had also given him some suggestions about how he might penetrate and escape from the fortress itself. Severus checked the map and compared it to what he could make out of his surroundings. He guessed that he had come up on the southeastern part of the island, and after referencing the map once more, put it away and began to move towards the prison.
The granite face of the fortress wall was cold and he could feel the chill through his soaked robes. Severus positioned himself below a window several stories up that led into the lounge of the on-duty guards. He hoped. He reached inside his robes and pulled out his wand. Turning it so the wand pointed at him he extended his arm and whispered, "Contrectius Escendo."
At once he could feel the tiniest imperfections in the wood grain of his wand, and the ground beneath his bare feet seemed to firm up to allow him better traction as though he were standing on dry, packed earth rather than squelchy mud. Severus slid his wand between his teeth, pried his hand off it, and began to climb up the slippery face of the fortress wall. Clinging to the wall like some strange spider he swiftly made his way upwards to the window and peered in.
The room inside looked warm and comfortable. A fire was burning merrily in the fireplace, and several couches were placed near its warmth. A table surrounded by mismatched chairs stood apart from the fire area by several feet and the room was lit by several large white brightly glowing orbs hung from the ceiling. Raising himself a few feet more he checked to make sure the room was empty.
Using a single finger Severus pulled on the window, but it appeared to be locked. He took his wand out from between his teeth and poked at the window with a murmured, "Alohomora."
Nothing happened.
Cursing softly he put the wand back in his mouth and dug into a pocket. Out came a very small, thin bladed dagger which looked like it was made from obsidian. The light from the room didn't glint off of it, nor did it reflect the bolt of lightning that crackled in the sky. Severus slipped the dagger into the crack of the window and slid it past the interior latch. This attempt was rewarded with a very small pop as the latch came undone, and he wasted no time in opening the window and scrambling into the room.
He shut and latched the window and shook the dagger off his hand. It fell to the floor without making a sound. Grasping his wand he waved it and ended his climbing charm, a second wave dried his hair and clothes, and a third wave dried the small puddle of water that had formed by the window where he was standing. He luxuriated for a moment in the comfort of being warm and dry again, then stooped to pick up the dagger which he put away.
Crossing the room to its door, Severus placed his ear against it and listened for sounds of footsteps or talking. All seemed quiet. He opened the door wide enough to admit his head, and glanced up and down the torchlit stone corridor behind it. No one was in sight. He was suspicious. This just seemed too easy. Shrugging he stepped out into the passage and closed the door.
The corridors continued to be silent as he walked towards the high security area of the prison. He stayed near the walls trusting in his Disillusionment Charm, and the flickering torchlight, to hide him from anyone he might come across. Following the memorized instructions of the dementors he followed the passage and descended down a steep spiraling staircase. After several minutes passed and the stair continued down, he guessed he must be back to ground level. The stair ended abruptly after one last turn and Severus froze in place. In front of a large banded wooden door sat a blue robed guard behind a desk. He was reading The Daily Prophet and sipping occasionally from a large mug.
Severus retreated back up the stair out of sight of the guard and pulled a flask covered in a soft black material out of his pocket. Slowly he opened it making sure not to let the lid clink as he unscrewed it. Crouching, he moved back down the steps and watched the guard. The man was absorbed in his paper and snorted in irritation at whatever column he was reading. Severus lowered himself to the floor and crawled across the stone floor to the desk. Watching the guard intently he held the flask at the ready and as the guard turned a page he poured some of the contents of his flask in the man's mug.
If it could have been seen, a small crooked smile crossed Severus's face as he heard the guard drink from his mug. In a few minutes the guard had drank from the mug several more times and was now asleep in his chair, The Daily Prophet held limply in one hand. A small snore escaped the guard's lips and the newspaper fell to the floor in a soft rustling of paper.
Pulling himself up off the floor Severus moved around the desk and relieved the guard of his keys. He chose the largest key on the ring and opened the lock letting himself into the high security wing. Behind the door was another torchlit stone passage, broken every twenty or so feet by a barred cell door. He moved to the first cell door and looked inside. He could just make out a form lying on a simple cot, but the light from the torches illuminated it's familiar white-blonde hair.
"Rather a step down from the mansion I'd say, Lucius."
The form stirred and a pale face looked towards him.
"Who's there!" Lucius Malfoy said.
"Be quiet fool!" hissed Severus. "It's Severus. Now come to the door. The Dark Lord wants you out of here."
"Snape? I can't see you." said Malfoy.
"I'm Disillusioned. Now come to the door. Time is short."
Malfoy got out of bed and came to the door.
"Take this." Severus said, handing Malfoy a vial through the bars of his cell.
"What is it?"
"Poison you idiot! I've come all the way from the Dark Lord and broken into Azkaban to kill you. Don't flatter yourself, Lucius. After your blunder in the Department of Mysteries you aren't worth that much trouble. It's a simple shrinking potion."
"Why don't you just unlock the door? You have the keys," said Malfoy.
"Do as I say unless you'd like to remain as a permanent resident!" Said Severus.
Malfoy uncorked the vial and swallowed the potion. Instantly he began to shrink and soon he was lost in the folds of the prison uniform. Malfoy struggled to free himself from the pile of clothes and emerged no bigger than a large rat.
"I'm naked!" he said.
"Oh shut up!" Severus said. "Walk through the bars and climb into this sack. I'll enlarge you again when we get outside the fortress."
Malfoy glared up at Severus, but did as he was told and soon was tucked away under Severus's robes.
He moved from cell to cell shrinking the death eaters that had been captured in the Ministry offices and growing more irritated each time one of them complained about being naked, or looked at him suspiciously when he offered them the potion. Finally he had all the death eaters in bags and he could hear them grumbling.
"Shut up!" He said, shaking the bags and silence ensued.
Now he moved back past the cells pausing to transfigure the blankets on the cots into semblances of their previous occupants. Satisfied everything was in place Severus left the wing and locked the door behind him. He replaced the keys on the still sleeping guard and turned towards the stairs.
Severus climbed back up the stair and headed off in a different direction than the one from which he had first come. He had no interest in pressing his luck with the on-duty lounge a second time, and the dementors had told him of an easier way to leave the prison. The passages he was forced to travel were more populated, and several times he had to flatten himself against a wall in the shadows made by the torch light when one or more of the guards came by him. Finally he came to the door the dementors had described to him and, after listening at it, went in.
The room was bare and cold. There was no glass in the window and rain had puddled here and there on the stone floor. The sole feature was a square stone column in the middle of the room that had a set of widely spaced rusty manacles on each side at about shoulder height. The dementors had told him that the room had originally been used to interrogate prisoners, but hadn't been in use since the dementors had taken over the running of the prison. The death eaters began to make noises again, and Severus shook the bags to quiet them. With a wave of his wand he conjured a long rope from nothing. He pointed the wand at the column then the window, and the rope obediently tied itself around the column and flung itself out the window. Severus checked the sturdiness of the knot, took a deep breath and began to lower himself down the rope. Within minutes he was dripping wet and shivering as the rain beat against him and the wind howled in his ears. He could barely make out the ground below, and was relieved when his bare feet splashed down into the mud. Pushing his hair back out of his eyes he looked up at the rope and made it vanish with his wand.
He reached under his robes and pulled out his sacks of death eaters and unceremoniously dumped them onto the muddy ground. He sneered as they groaned and shivered, pulling themselves up and trembling against the cold night. Out of a pocket came a vial and an eye dropper. He filled the eye dropper with liquid from the vial and fed a few drops to each of the death eaters. Soon he was surrounded by full sized nude death eaters that were covered in mud and all looking at him balefully.
"Cold," said one, rubbing his arms in attempt to warm himself.
"Quit snivelling Nott, and stand still so I can Disillusion you." he said.
Rapping each on the head with his wand, perhaps a bit harder than necessary, he Disillusioned each of the death eaters. Returning his wand to his robes he pulled out the ball of gillyweed and gave some to each of them.
"Follow me quietly and eat that when I tell you to."
The group followed Severus as he walked around the fortress attempting to retrace the path he had taken to the prison. Finally he found the remains of a bare footed step in the mud; the rain was quickly eliminating all signs of his presence. He turned his back on the castle and moved towards the rocky shore, following the muddy tracks that indicated he had passed this way before. They reached the shore and Severus recognized the boulder he had sat against earlier.
"Eat the gillyweed," he said.
He conjured up some rope and, with flicks of his wand, tied it about the waists of the death eaters and himself connecting them together. Ignoring the gasping noises coming from behind him, Severus ate some gillyweed and waded out into the water. The tide was strong and by the time he felt the gillyweed take effect he had already been swept out into the sea. Looking one last time at Azkaban to orient himself he dove under the waves and swam back towards the ship, the death eaters in his wake.
Chapter 3
Wisdom or Folly
"So the plan succeeded?"
Severus sat in Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore stood behind his desk winding what looked to Severus like an overlarge and extremely complex alarm clock. Apart from the usual clutter he associated with Dumbledore's desk, there also sat a pair of half moon spectacles and a small black dagger.
"Yes," Severus said. He looked out the window into the soft golden light of early morning and the scuttling of clouds across the clear, blue sky.
"I had an owl from Mark Bridewell before you came in this morning telling me about the escape of several dangerous prisoners from Azkaban." Dumbledore's lips twitched. "I must remember to thank Alaistor for recruiting Mark to the Order."
Dumbledore put the clock down and picked up the spectacles from the desk. He toyed with them absently as he watched Severus, then hooked them on his ears and sat down. Severus was glad, Dumbledore had looked strangely naked without them. Dumbledore said nothing, he just continued to look at Severus as though he were waiting for something. The silence in the room grew heavy. The snoring of the old headmasters in their paintings became more pronounced, the ticking of the strange clock seemed very loud. Severus shifted in his chair. Finally he met the gaze of those pale blue eyes.
"Are you sure this was a good idea, Albus?" He said at last.
Dumbledore said nothing, he just continued to gaze at Severus.
"Those death eaters will not sit idly by after their escape from Azkaban!" Severus said. "They will go back to the Dark Lord and people will suffer for it! More meaningless death and suffering will become my responsibility for my part in this."
He realized his hands were clenched into fists, and he forced them to relax. Dumbledore sighed, and, for a second, it occured to Severus just how old he was.
"We are fighting a war, Severus," he said. "In war casualties do occur. It is most regrettable, but how many more deaths can we avoid by having you in Voldemort's trust? In his very circle. The value of the information you give us is priceless, and we must continue to receive that information if we are to win."
Severus opened his mouth to speak, but Dumbledore raised a hand to stop him.
"You are tired my friend. You've had a long and difficult night. I'm very sorry that I must place you in the position you are in. Go and rest, Severus."
Severus understood the note of finality in Dumbledore's voice. He rose from his chair and turned towards the door. Just as he was about to step onto the spiraling stone stairs that rose to meet him, Dumbledore spoke.
"Always remember, Severus. You may have some part in the suffering that is to come, but in the end you may well be part of the final cure. If we are lucky. Rest well."
Severus nodded and rode the stairs down.