A/N: A HUGE thank you to everyone that reviewed, you guys rock my world!
Chapter Three: A Cry in the Dark
The next morning Harry awoke feeling much better than he had the night before. Even if Ron was angry with him, at least he wasn't back with the Dursleys. Mrs. Weasley was waiting downstairs for him with a plate overflowing with eggs, bacon, and toast.
"Have you been eating well Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, eyeing his thin frame.
Harry nodded, digging into his plate. He hadn't realized how hungry he was. That must be a good sign, having his appetite back. Ginny came bounding down the stairs, her shoulder length red hair pulled back into a pony tail.
"Morning Harry." She said, smiling as she slid into her seat and Mrs. Weasley set a bowl of oatmeal on the table for her before walking outside with a wicker basket full of wet laundry.
"Morning." Harry said, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of bacon. "Where's Ron?"
"He got up early." Ginny said, in between mouthfuls of oatmeal. "I think he went to play Quidditch in the field out back. Mum's been letting us now."
Harry nodded, slightly relieved that he would not have to see Ron until lunch at least. That would give him time to decide how he felt. He was still angry that Ron had accused him of running away to get attention, but at the same time he didn't want to ruin his entire summer.
"I'm going out there as soon as I finish breakfast. Do you want to come out and practice with us?" Ginny asked hopefully.
Harry quickly shook his head. He badly wanted to play, but the last thing he needed was Ron accusing him of being a show-off now as well.
"Are you sure? I'm trying out for chaser this year, and I could use some help."
"I'm actually really tired." Harry said, making a point to yawn.
Ginny scraped her bowl clean, and then dumped it into the sink. Before she went back into the garden to get her broom out of the shed she looked back at Harry, and sighed.
"Listen, this thing with Ron will blow over. If you change your mind about playing, you know where we'll be."
Suddenly, Harry didn't feel very hungry anymore. He picked as his breakfast for a few more minutes, and then dumped the rest into the rubbish.
"You aren't going to play Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, walking back into the kitchen with her laundry basket resting on her hip. It was still full of the same wet clothes, Harry noted.
"My back is pretty sore." Harry lied. "I wouldn't want to ruin my chances of getting back on the team."
Surprisingly, Mrs. Weasley didn't pry. In fact, she seemed distracted. Before Harry had even finished speaking she was at the open window, looking up at the sky.
"Oh, its just Pig." Mrs. Weasley said, smoothing her red hair back into place.
She took a deep breath, and then smiled at Harry. A second later Pig flew in and landed on the kitchen table, another letter tied to his ankle. Mrs. Weasley tossed Pig a treat, and then carefully pulled the letter loose.
"Harry, its for you." Mrs. Weasley said brightly, handing him the letter.
She then looked over her shoulder, grabbed the wet basket of laundry, and disappeared back outside.
Harry sat on a worn but comfortable chair in the living room, and tore open the letter.
Dear Harry,
I was so worried about you! I want to know what happened, but if you're not ready to tell me I understand. Just please be careful, and don't take any more chances! I'm sorry about what happened with Ron. You know I don't agree with him. You should know that Ron was very upset before you were found. We had thought that Voldemort had found you, the way everyone was talking. Did someone else go missing as well? Ron was sure he heard Kingsley say something about "the both of them" last night. Please write back Harry, I've been waiting to hear from you.
-Hermione
Harry let the letter drop down onto his lap, and rubbed his forehead. Could that have been what Mrs. Weasley and Tonks were whispering about last night?
"Harry?"
Harry jumped up, and crumpled the letter in his fist. He figured it was his private business anyway.
Mrs. Weasley had walked up behind him, and as Harry turned he noticed at once that she was wringing her hands together nervously.
"Harry, I need to speak with you for a moment." She placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down into his chair.
Harry nodded, hoping that a lecture wasn't in the works. His head was beginning to ache, and he suddenly wanted to crawl back into bed.
"This may sound a bit strange, but Harry...has Professor Snape tried to contact you at all?" Mrs. Weasley sat down in the rocking chair opposite Harry as she spoke.
"No..." Harry replied, his stomach tightening. What was this all about?
"Then obviously, you haven't seen him since school let out?"
Harry noticed she was sweating, and looked very flushed. He shook his head, and picked at a loose thread on his jeans.
"Is Professor Snape the one who went missing?" Harry asked.
Mrs. Weasley let out a small gasp, her jaw dropping.
"How did you know about that?" She asked, her voice heavy with worry.
"Hermione told me." Harry said, staring down at the letter. "Ron must have said something about it..."
"We can't be..." Mrs. Weasley suddenly stopped, and caught herself. "It isn't really your concern."
She rose quickly, and then walked back into the kitchen and began hastily scrubbing the breakfast dishes.
Harry waited for her to come back and tell him something...anything. When after a few moments it became clear she wasn't, Harry retreated upstairs to Ron's bedroom.
After searching Ron's desk, he found a piece of parchment and a quill, and quickly began to write.
Dear Hermione,
I think that Snape has gone missing. Mrs. Weasley accidently told me. Do you think he's switched sides? Do you think I should tell Ron? I think we're still not speaking. Don't be worried about me Hermione, I'm fine.
-Harry
It didn't exactly feel like a lie, but Harry wasn't sure how fine he was.
The rest of the afternoon passed very slowly. Harry tried to nap, but he found that his body wasn't as tired as he had thought. He debated going out and joining Ginny and Ron, before deciding it was definitely best to give Ron some room to brood. He ended up spending the rest of the morning reading comics in Ron's room. Twice Mrs. Weasley came upstairsto fuss over him. Was he hungry? Thirsty? Did he need something to do? Would he liked to get some fresh air?
Harry was glad when lunchtime rolled around, and he was no longer alone with Mrs. Weasley. Ginny and Ron came bursting into the kitchen, their cheeks red from the wind and the sun. Ginny was all smiles and chatter, but Ron quickly fell silent when he saw Harry.
All through lunch Harry and Ron carefully avoided each others gazes, and did a decent job of each pretending the other didn't exist. Ginny overcompensated by chatting nearly none stop, and if Mrs. Weasley noticed their silence she didn't say anything.
While Ron was helping to clean up after lunch Harry cornered Ginny in the hallway, and quickly pulled her into his bedroom.
"I need to talk to you." Harry said, waiting for Mrs. Weasley to climb the stairs and discover them at any moment.
"About Ron?" Ginny asked, glancing over his shoulder at the closed door. "Because I'm not sure..."
"Not about that." Harry said impatiently. "It's about Snape. He's gone missing or something, and your mum's gone really strange about it."
"I sort of figured that out yesterday." Ginny admitted, somewhat sheepishly. "But I didn't want to say anything. You know how my mum gets, if she figured out I was eavesdropping I'd be scrubbing floors for a month."
"Oh." Harry said, disappointed that he didn't get the shocked reaction that he expected. "Well, um...what do you think it means?"
"Last night Moody convinced everyone that Snape had switched sides and had taken you to Voldemort himself. That's why they sort of went crazy when you were missing. Honestly, the way my mum was acting I think she was sure she would never see you again. I was worried too."
"Yeah." Harry said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well...thanks."
Ginny smiled, and then giggled softly. Harry had to mentally remind himself that she had a boyfriend, and her girlish crush for him had dissolved ages ago.
"Do you think its true though?" Harry whispering, hearing footsteps on the stairs. "That he's switched sides?"
"Lupin didn't seem to think so." Ginny shrugged. "And from what he said I don't think Dumbledore does either."
Only mildly reassured by this, Harry began to unpack his trunk while Ginny went back downstairs to finish her chores. As he worked he could feel his eyes getting heavier. It didn't help that Charlie and Bill's room was small, with only one small window above his bed letting in light and fresh air. As the room grew hotter his head grew heavier, and he lay his head down on the pillow intending to sleep just for a few minutes. Before he even had time to remember to take off his shoes, he had fallen into a deep sleep.
He was trying to scream, but no sound would come from his lips. The world around him was dark and blurry. He was thrown before someone's feet, musty air clogging his throat.
Red eyes stared down at him, burning with anger. He desperately tried to crawl away, but one arm would not move. It was broken, the bone jutting from the skin just above his elbow. There was a chunk of flesh missing from his forearm, just where a dark mark might have been.
Dark hair hung in front of his eyes, dripping with blood. He stared up again at the man above him, and then let out a weak strangled cry.
Voldemort...that was who stood above him. The Dark Lord...a spell was whispered from him lips. Harry could not hear it over the blood rushing in his ears...but then it was ripping through his body. It was tearing him apart.
No, it was killing him.
When Harry awoke he was screaming, his throat dry with panic. In the darkness he could not remember where he was, and it seemed that Voldemort could really be here, standing right above him. He screamed again when his bedroom door flew open, flooding the room with light. Mr. Weasley rushed in, with Ginny on his heels.
"What?" Mr. Weasley shouted, his wand drawn and pointing wildly in Harry's direction.
Harry blinked against the yellow light suddenly flooding the room, and sat up too quickly. Overtaken by a strong dizzy feeling, he flopped down weakly onto the pillow and tried to catch his breath.
"Just a nightmare." Harry explained, hating the way he could feel his heart pounding in his throat.
"Oh..." Mr. Weasley lowered his wand, but looked over his shoulder just to be sure.
Ginny stood glued to the doorway, staring at Harry with wide curious eyes. Suddenly Harry felt very foolish, because he knew he must have thrown the whole house into an uproar.
"Was it one of those dreams?" Mr. Weasley asked, clearly thrown off guard.
"I don't think so." Harry said.
He hadn't had one of those dreams since after Sirius...
Harry swallowed a growing lump in this throat. He didn't want to think about that day, especially not now.
"How can you tell?" Ginny asked, trying to be sensitive but wanting badly to know the truth.
"My scar didn't hurt." Harry explained slowly, still reasoning with himself as he thought. "And I don't think I was...um...connected to Voldemort. I dreamed that I saw him, but that's all."
Mr. Weasley nodded as Harry spoke, the color returning to his cheeks. Ginny however, did not look as convinced.
"Well, that makes sense." Mr. Weasley said, slipping his wand back into robes. "Everyone has nightmares from time to time...perfectly normal."
"Yeah..." Harry said feebly, deciding not to point out that most people didn't have dreams involving torture and the Dark Lord.
"I suppose that's it..." Mr. Weasley said, sounding like a man who had just narrowly avoided a great crisis. "Molly left a plate for you in the kitchen, we didn't want to wake you for dinner. So whenever you get hungry..."
"I'll be down in a few minutes." Harry said, relieved when Mr. Weasley smiled and back out of the room.
Ginny waited until her father was down the hall before shutting the door, and whipping around to face Harry. He sat up in bed, and smoothed out his crumpled clothing while Ginny looked on in silence.
"Where's your mum?" Harry asked, wondering why she hadn't spoken yet.
"Order business I guess." Ginny said. "Ron's out in the garden, I suppose he didn't hear you..."
"I don't care where Ron is." Harry said irritably, grabbing his wand off the night table and shoving it into his back pocket.
The truth was, he expected Ron to be the first person to come running if he thought Harry was in trouble. It was quite another thing to have Mr. Weasley come barging in, half convinced that Harry was some sort of a loon. He didn't mind so much that Ginny was here, she would not fuss over him like Hermione would, and unlike Ron they were actually speaking to each other.
"What was your dream about?" Ginny asked, leaning her back against the door, subtly blocking Harry's only exit.
Harry shrugged, the details were still vivid in his memory, but he had little desire to talk about it. He was afraid he would come off sounding morbid and more than a little crazy.
"I don't remember." He lied, picking up the clothes he had discarded earlier.
He might as well finish his unpacking now, because if his hands were busy he wouldn't be thinking so hard about his dream.
"Yes you do." Ginny said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You just don't want to tell me."
"Whatever." Harry said, not in the mood for an argument.
Let her think what she wanted, it wasn't going to make him talk. He slammed his trunk shut, and pushed it to the end of the bed. Still, Ginny did not move.
"You would have told Ron." Ginny said stubbornly.
Harry sighed, and then dropped on onto his trunk. He really didn't want to tell her, but he didn't want another person giving him the silent treatment. Deciding that one friend here was better than none, he cleared his throat and then told her the entire dream exactly as he remembered it. After he had finished, Ginny leaned back against the wall, and let out a big breath.
"I need to think about this." She said, rubbing her temples for an extra dramatic flare.
Harry squinted at her, wondering what there was to think about. Downstairs he heard the kitchen door slam shut, and he knew that Ron must have come back inside. Harry could not think of a single thing Ron would be doing out in the garden after dusk other than avoiding him.
"I have an idea." Ginny said, interrupting his thoughts. "But I don't think you're going to like it very much."
"Why?" Harry said distractedly, his thoughts still on his quarrel with Ron.
"Because it involves Snape."