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Harry felt the pull of a portkey suddenly jerk him through time and space. Next thing he knew, he was spilling out onto the hard, merciless ground, his captors having lost their grip on him in the transition. Not that it mattered. Between being blindfolded, bound, and sporting a broken leg, he was thoroughly immobilized. He wouldn't get anywhere trying to push around the ground on his face and stomach with his one good leg.
"Take off his blindfold. He needs to be able to see where he's spending his last hours alive." Lucius commanded the two oafs that were peeling the boy off the ground. As soon as the cloth was off, Lucius said, " Oculus Replaco" and a pair of glasses identical to Harry's appeared in the air and placed themselves on the boy's face. Once his eyes grew accustomed to having glasses again, Harry looked at his surroundings. The smirks on Crabbe and Goyle's faces told him he should recognize the quaint house. It was a nice house, but the weathered look of the paint and roof told him no one had been taking care of it for a long time. Harry felt certain the dark inside would be home to nothing more than rodents and cobwebs. Something tugged at the back of his mind as he looked at the house, but he couldn't think of why it looked familiar. The exhaustion and hunger clouding every inch of his mind didn't help. The only thing he'd had since he'd woken up in the stone room was some water every now and then. He was beginning to lose more than his concept of time. Now he wasn't even sure his name was Harry. As he stared at the house, his eyes began to lose their ability to focus.
"Um, he's beginning to look alittle glazed over, Lucius." pointed out Crabbe. Malfoy pulled himself out of his newly formulating plots and glared at the boy. Harry's eyes were now beginning to cross as well as being completely glossed.
" Perhaps we were too hasty to break his mind. Of course, one would expect the infamous Harry Potter to last longer than this. Anyways, the Dark Lord would be greatly displeased if he arrived to nothing more than a vegetable. Besides, his senses will be much sharper after a good sleep. He'll be a new canvas for Voldemort to get creative with." At that, Crabbe and Goyle sneered. They were thinking of all the fun a fresh slate could provide. The Sleep Charm Malfoy performed enveloped Harry's mind and body with a warm blue light, carrying him from a thick gray fog into beautiful, empty darkness. Blessed oblivion.
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Severus sank to the cold floor, weary from worry and hopelessness. He couldn't return to the Order just to inform them that he'd found and lost the boy in a matter of seconds. To make matters worse, he had no idea where they had taken Harry. Severus sat there, trying to think if he'd seen or heard of any Death Eaters using a rat portkey. They would often use one item for a certain location to decrease confusion. For example, any snake portkeys led to the main hall of the Dark Lord's lair. Spider portkeys connected to a spot deep in the forest that was one of Voldemort's favorite killing spots. Snape had come to believe it was his favorite due to the cliff that overlooked the sharp, blood-soaked rocks that caught most of his victims. The memory of the hellish location and its rituals plagued Severus with a wave of nausea. It was a good thing he was already sitting down. He was thankful the three Death Eaters had picked up neither a snake, nor a spider. But a rat? The only thing that came to mind was Peter Pettigrew. But would Malfoy really let that rat in on any part of his plans? It was doubtful, but it was all Severus had to go on. He had to at least check it out. Besides, Lucius would do anything for the sheer pleasure of torturing another person, especially if that person was Harry Potter.
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Professor McGonagall spent the hour since Severus left gathering the ingredients Albus needed to make the locator potion he would use along with the locator spell. The spell alone had begun to work on Harry's wand, then it suddenly stopped, indicating the boy had moved out of the spell's reach. But with the potion to enhance the spell, they might be able to find him yet. But Minerva worried that the amount of time it would take the potion to brew and then work, might be more than Harry had left. She silently prayed that Severus was having better luck.
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It was a sad day when Snape's best lead was Pettigrew. Just the thought of that slimey rat repulsed Severus. He hated everything that man represented: cowardice, dishonesty, betrayal. That was, if you could even consider him a man. Severus preferred to think of him as a pusillanimous, overgrown sea monkey. Pettigrew's sole purpose to his existence was to weasel his way to the top. But Severus knew he would soon get his comeuppance. And he prayed that he would be the one to deliver it. Until then, he was forced to sneak around Pettigrew and try to locate Harry before Pettigrew or anyone else could lay their filthy paws on the boy. Having made up his mind, Professor Severus Snape left the dungeons of Malfoy Manor and disapparated to the sewers of Peter Pettigrew.
Okay, so he didn't live in an actual sewer, but the filthy shack Severus apparated to was close enough. There wasn't a living plant within one-hundred yards of the dilapidated building, if you could call it a building. Severus was sure that the only thing holding it together was magic. The walls were mazed with cracks and the roof was so riddled with holes, it was practically nonexistent. Sitting on the air was the stale scent of mold, dirt, and, lord knows, Severus didn't want to know what else. If the stink was this bad outside the yard, Severus could only imagine how bad it would be close to and inside the house. He was positive he'd guessed wrong. Lucius would never come near this trash heap. But he couldn't leave now. It was the only idea he had. Snape made sure the Invisibility Cloak was concealing all of him, then cast a No Smell Charm on his nose and headed toward the shack. The sun was well above the horizon, but Severus sensed no movement inside the house. The rat probably slept all day.
As Severus drew nearer to the door, a ball of dread grew in his stomach. Something didn't seem right, but until he figured it out, he would just have to keep going. He couldn't waste any time, it could prove deadly for Harry. Upon reaching the door, Severus found Stealth Sensoring Spells around the door and windows, so he settled for levitating down through a hole in the roof. For having such an open roof, the inside of the house was surprisingly dark. Of course, light probably had a hard time passing through all the dust and cobwebs that filled the house. The insides consisted of a small kitchen, one bathroom and a bedroom. The bottom of the bedroom wall had a few rat-sized holes, probably ways Pettigrew snuck in and out without being noticed. Severus crept toward the bed, hoping to curse Pettigrew before he woke up, but all he found was an empty bed. This didn't completely surprise Snape. It wasn't uncommon for the rat to leech a room in Voldemort's castle. Besides, why return to this dump when he could stay in a bedroom twice the size of the entire shack.
Severus turned and stepped into the kitchen. He spotted a parchment laying on the crate he could only assume was supposed to be a table. As he drew nearer, he realized it was a map. Finally, maybe fate was going to help him out a little. In the dim light, he could see a spot circled on the map, but he couldn't make out the name.
"Lumos." He whispered. A dim light emitted from the end of his wand. He gasped at the name. Then everything went black.
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Again, sorry that was short. And I hope my grammar/spelling wasn't too bad. My editor had too much studying to do. Please R/R. Thanks again to all my reviewers. I promise I'll update sooner.