Chapter 21: Three Rough Nights

Two days later 4 large trunks were waiting in the large hallway on the Head Quarters. Harry couldn't feel any more relived to be leaving this place.

"Alright let's go!" Molly said merrily. "Come on, come on!"

Tonks, Alastor and Arthur rushed into the main hall from the lounge, Ron, Harry and Hermione appeared from a corridor behind the dining room and Ginny came bouncing down the stairs.

"Right, Arthur's got some cars again, everybody outside try not to make it too obvious that you're walking out of an invisible house alright? There's no-one on the streets, I've just checked but still. Alright, ready? One by one – grab your trunks."

Fred and George ran down the stairs, "We're coming too," Fred panted.

"Alright boys. Come on, everyone," Arthur said as he opened the door and let everyone file out inconspicuously.

Once all the trunks were loaded, the house locked and the people settled in the cars, they drove off. Since they were already in London it was only some 40 minutes until they were pushing their trolleys towards Platforms 9 and 10. They disappeared through the barrier in pairs, having not much time left until the Express left.

"Come on, I'm getting on," Ron said pushing his trolley towards the train. Hermione and Ginny followed but Molly beckoned Harry to come over to her. She'd already hugged her children and Harry knew she counted him as one of her own too.

As he had expected, she had called Harry over simply to give him a big, tight hug. "Harry dear," she whispered. "I know you'll be safe at Hogwarts – but please be careful."

Harry smirked. Every year someone had said that to him. Every single year. 

"I will Mrs Weasley."

"I know you will. Love you, Harry. Have a fun term," she smiled.

Harry waved at Molly, Arthur, Fred, George, Tonks and Moody and then turned around, pushing his trunk towards the entrance. "See you in a few months!" he grinned.

He pulled his trunk down the corridors, looking left and right into the compartments for Ron and Hermione. Half way up the train he found them and shoved his trunk onto the holding racks over their heads.

Ginny entered seconds after he had sat down and she settled herself on his lap. Harry glanced at Ron but his expressions hadn't changed and he was still talking happily to Hermione. Harry crossed his arms across her stomach and she rested her head backwards on his shoulder. The train jolted to a start and they heard the whistle blow outside.

The train journey would be another 6 or so hours, but as always, they would find something interesting to do and talk about.

*

The students who'd arrived from the Thestral-Drawn carriages entered the Great Hall just in time for dinner. The Hall was already filled with the mingled chatter of students and the noisy clattering of hundreds of knives and forks.

"Aw this smells great," Ron mumbled as they made their way toward their tables.

"Yea it does. Oh look Shepherd's Pie, today. I -" but Harry suddenly stopped talking as something else caught his attention. Doing a double take, he whipped his head back around to the teacher's table and stared.

A man with ruffled, sandy hair, sprinkled with grey, wearing robes with a distinct shabbiness to them, was sitting next to Professor Flitwick, who was eating cheerfully and talking animatedly to the people on either side of him. The man's normally faint lines fanning out from his eyes were more pronounced than usual and his eyelids were drooping slowly. There was no denying he didn't look his best. Harry stood for a second, forgetting about following Ron to his seat and simply looked up at him in amazement.

So he had decided to come after all then? Harry had never expected Lupin to accept. They hadn't talked about it once since that night at the Christmas Party but here he was. In the flesh. Sitting determinedly up with all the other Professors. Harry suddenly felt a wave of respect towards him. He was back! The term, which had so far looked to be dull and challenging, suddenly had a new light shed on it.

His delight faded as quickly as it had come though. His stomach plummeted when he saw a well-dressed witch sitting in the seat usually occupied by Professor Snape. Her brown hair was tied back in a sleek pony tail and her striking eyes were roaming over all the students. She looked to be around 30 and Harry suddenly realised that he knew her from somewhere. Harry turned away, sat down next to his friend and immediately started serving himself the food.

He'd barely got as far as the second mouthful when Dumbledore clapped his hands, cleared his throat and stood up. When the noise level died down he smiled at his students and cleared his throat once again.

"Forgive me for interrupting your meals, as I'm sure you'd much rather eat up than listen to an old fool, like myself, welcome you back to school. But I'm afraid you'll have to sit still for a minute or so as I do have some rather important announcements to make. Now that everyone is here, I shall begin. First of all I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas break and you're ready for your brains to be all filled up again. After the disaster we had last term with our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Koley I have managed to find an excellent replacement. For those in 4th year and above, you will have met him before. I would like everyone to welcome Professor Remus Lupin back to Hogwarts."

Harry was among those who clapped the loudest. Very few Slytherin's were applauding but the rest of tables were reassured by the delighted clapping the Professors were giving him.

"Many of you will know that Professor Lupin is a werewolf."

As one voice, the entire 1st, 2nd and 3rd years gasped. Harry saw Lupin close his eyes shamefully.

"But I tell you all, that he is a totally safe and able Professor. He is only affected once a month and the school has taken more precautions than necessary. You do not need to worry. Anyone who does not treat him with the respect any Professor deserves," here, Dumbledore's eyes flicked almost unnoticeably to the Slytherin table, "Will find themselves in my office immediately."

He paused and the hall of students looked up at him, sitting in awkward silence.

"Next, I would like to introduce our new Potions Professor. Please welcome Professor Mysticus."

 "It looks like Snape's finally been sacked!" Parvati said happily to her friend, Lavender.

Harry's stomach turned again and he caught Ron's eye. Professor Snape hadn't been sacked. No. He'd gotten much, much worse.

Once the applause had died down Dumbledore clapped for attention.

"Professor Snape may or may not be returning to Hogwarts this term, we cannot know," Dumbledore said looking sadly at his students, many of whom cast worried or confused glances to their friends. "I have been having a debate with myself over the past few days, and this afternoon I finally come to a decision. Many Professors will argue that I have reached the wrong one, but I believe you all ought to know the truth. Professor Snape has been taken by Voldemort."

The gasps Professor Lupin had got, now seemed trivial compared to the horrified splutters and intakes of breath.

"What?"

"Taken by You-Know-Who?"

"Oh my!"

"Did he say-?"

Many Slytherins were looking furious. Voldemort had captured Snape? But why? Wasn't Snape one of the most highly regarded Death Eaters?

Unless, he wasn't.

Of course, why else would Voldemort take him? Their role-model was a spy. A dirty, sneaking, lying, spy. Draco's mouth was hanging open in disgust.

Dumbledore waited for the students to calm down and then continued. "I did not tell you this to alarm you. I am merely trying to get you to be aware that Voldemort is back and as merciless as ever before. Many wizards and witches, not to mention parents would rather you did not know this hard truth. But for two years I have been trying to get people to understand how serious this is – and hiding from him is only making this easier for his side." He coughed and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I hope you enjoy the meal."

The Hall remained silent as the students slowly resumed eating.

That night Harry lay in his bed, blissfully comfortable and more relaxed than he had been in weeks. He felt so much freer at Hogwarts especially now that the gloom of 12 Grimmauld Place was no longer pressing down on him. There was a certain warmth about the Gryffindor Dormitories, which Harry had grown to love. There were no clouds tonight and Harry had pulled his hangings aside to admire the view. His eyes fell on the white, glowing moon, suspended up in the dark sky, like a beautiful orb floating in a deep, shadowy ocean. He stared at its full, gleaming circle for a while, slowly becoming drowsier.

All the way in Hogsmeade, up on the hill sat the derelict and foreboding Shreking Shack. Inside, the figure of a wolf was standing, on his hind legs, up against the wooden planks, peering through a splintered gap at the very same moon. His snout was pressed up against the walls and his tail was hanging limply between his legs. Remus Lupin often stared at the moon during the long lonely hours here in his Shack. He felt oddly attached to it. Sometimes he felt like blaming it for all his pain and torment – and everything that went wrong in his life... but then there were the times, like these, that he would see it shining down on him humbly, as though begging for forgiveness. He blinked and dragged one paw down from the wall, the second limb following dismally until he landed on all fours and shook his head slightly.

Throughout the night his mind would dip in and out of sanity. There were periods when he was purely a man in a wolfs body; when he would prowl around thinking thinks out in great lengths, containing all his emotions, and then the periods where the wolf would take over; and he would claw at the walls, howl in spine-chilling anguish and throw himself at anything solid he could find. The Potion Severus had made for him was far more effective – Talia's worked by all means, but was slightly weaker ... allowing the wolf to gain control every now and again. Lupin never slept during his transformations. It was not a time where one could relax.

Remus paced the upstairs room a few times over, before walking through the doorway and entering the room with the bed. Everytime he came in here it felt as though he was whipped, cruelly, back in time. He could remember being in here, 3 years ago and seeing Sirius for the first time in over a decade. He could still see his sallow skin, those haunted eyes, the way his hair hung limp around his body, and how his body was more like a skeleton than anything else. He remembered the power of that single, brotherly embrace they had shared, where so many un-spoken things had been swapped. The hug had told more than a thousand words could have.

He recalled posing ready to strike Pettigrew dead. He could still feel the rage burning inside him, outweighing the shock, confusion and fear. His mind was spinning, trying desperately to put everything in order, but at that moment, nothing had mattered except that he and Sirius, Moony and Padfoot, should kill the one who had betrayed them all.

Shaking off his anger, Remus climbed up onto the bed and lay down on it, tired of standing. He could feel the wolf inside him, clawing to escape. It wanted to let out his fury, his misery. It wanted to let someone else knew how it felt. He wanted to show them what it was like. Why should he have to bear this alone? Growling, Remus pushed the thoughts deep down inside him, below the murky surface of all his secrets. It was a relief to know the wolf couldn't get out the shack. It had been protected by so many spells and charms that no matter how loud he howled, or how much he tore at the floors and walls, or how hard he slammed against the rickety door – he would never get out.

As the night grew older, and the moon shifted heavily through the sky, Remus could feel the wolf winning over him. It felt like every part of his body was being stretched to its limit, pushed until he would explode. Remus dug his claws into the mattress, fighting to keep his mind his own, but as a tiny sliver of moonlight flickered in his eyes, the wolf burst out. It threw his head back, howling, releasing the distress Remus had kept under his lid for so long. Crying in agony, the wolf leapt from the bed charging for the wall, determined to destroy the pain and misery in the only way it could think of.

Harry rolled over sleepily and yawned. Neville was mumbling slightly and Dean was tossing and turning. Gradually, Harry fell asleep peacefully – but his pleasant dream was soon rudely interrupted and in the corner of his mind, Harry managed to wish he had stayed awake. His scar burnt with inexplicable pain.

Snape's body flew across the room and hit the stone wall with a sickening crunch. His body fell to the  floor like a bag of cloth and bones. His greasy hair was tangled and riddled with blood. There was a long, painful silence where the shattered gasps and breaths of Snape were all that could be heard.

From the cold darkness a sharp, icily smooth voice spoke slowly. "You might as well tell me. The Master is extremely upset and do you know what? He's granted me permission to do whatever I like to you." Lucius Malfoy twiddled his wand on his fingers. "This is even more fun than torturing Aurors!" he laughed cruelly and pointed his wand at Snape.

Snape lifted his head slightly and blood dripped from between his teeth, onto the black, jagged floor. His eyes swept up to Lucius face, fixing him with a stare which would haunt anyone but a Death eater for the rest of their life.

Lucius smirked at him. "Cohorresco!" he spat, and instantly Snape's whole body shuddered causing his to head snap backward and collide with the bitter rock.

The room slid out of focus and Snape felt his mind rolling. He didn't care about the pain. He'd earned the pain. He should have been more careful. But he couldn't let go of his mind. He had to protect his secrets with every last ounce of strength he had. He would keep his memories closed off until he died. It was like water was rushing around inside his brain and his stomach lurched.

Somewhere in the distance he heard Lucius' amused sneer. "We're not going to let you die Severus." Snape's heart sank and a fresh wave of nausea overtook him.

 We'll torture you – we'll torture you mercilessly, you deserve it -  but you're not going to escape. You'll tell us all you know if the last thing your foul mouth ever utters. Scendi!"

Snape's limp body flew up and hit the ceiling. Lucius laughed and turned away. Snape fell crashing to the ground and a fresh gash erupted on his right temple. Blood trickled down the side of his cheek.