Ron and Hermione just sighed; they might as well head down to dinner. They stepped out of the portrait hole and waved goodbye to the fat lady, receiving sympathetic glances from whoever they passed the entire way down to the great hall. Everyone was extremely worried and felt horrible knowing that what they were feeling could only be a small portion of the anxiety and dread that his two best friends must be feeling. They had just stepped into the entrance hall when their potions professor burst through the massive doors, his normally composed self was completely disheveled. His hair flying out at odd angles behind him, his robes unbuttoned and partway off his shoulder. "Dumbledore!" He panted in the loudest voice he could muster, "I must speak with Dumbledore!" His eyes did a quick glance around the entrance hall and he was about to sigh in exasperation at its emptiness when they landed on Ron and Hermione crouching in alarm by the stairs. He quickly hurried over to them. "Harry is in serious trouble," he spat in an urgent whisper, "Lord Voldermort has him. I need to speak to Dumbledore immediately!" It took a second for his words to sink in, but when they did Hermione's eyes widened in fear and surprise.
"No!" she shouted in fright, "is he alright?" Severus just stared at her in disbelief and such pity that for a moment Hermione wasn't sure he had heard her, but then Snape shook his head in much more sympathy than Hermione thought he could ever generate for a Gryffindor. "I will explain everything when we find Dumbled-"
"Ah Severus," he was interrupted by the old mage himself, "you seem a little less composed than usual." The twinkle that was ever-present disappeared as soon as he was informed of the reason as to why his potions master was not his usual self. "Come to my office immediately, we will discuss this further there."
The three discouraged wizards led Hermione, who was silently sobbing, past the gargoyle, and up the moving staircase into the headmaster's office. Once inside, the three sat down in the chairs which had appeared specifically for there use, while the Albus sat down behind his desk, his hands clasped forebodingly. Everyone sat in silence for a few moments before the headmaster shook himself out of his reverie. He looked at the three of them with a newfound despair that was unusual for the normally pleased headmaster. "What else do you know Severus? We should have all for information before we try to devise a solution." Snape sighed deeply. No one was going to like the information he had to share.
"When we found Harry . . ." It took nearly thirty minutes but when he was done everybody sat in shocked silence. Hermione was sitting there, too shocked and scared to be crying. Ron's face was far paler than, Severus believed, his had ever been in his lifetime. Dumbledore exhaled deeply and leaned back in his chair rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"First things first, I fear that the students will be required to watch this horrible display. This spell can not be lifted unless the caster himself breaks it, and if none of the students show up Voldermort will know that there is a spy. Also, I do not know what we can do to help Harry. The span of time between now and the showing is just to short, I will do as much as I can tomorrow, but I doubt it will help much, I am truly sorry. The aurors will of course be sent out, but as we do not know where Voldermort is at the moment, they will not be of much help. Dumbledore looked up into the two horrified faces of Ron and Hermione, "But I wouldn't worry too much. Harry is a strong boy, he will make it. He has a way of getting the better of Voldermort and escaping. I am sure that this time will be no exception." The two just nodded unbelievingly, Dumbledore continued, "I would go and get a small dinner. You guys need some rest, I will make sure that you are excused from classes tomorrow, don't worry about the homework either. But please remember not to mention this to anyone; we do not know who at this school is in direct contact with death eaters." Both Hermione and Ron knew immediately that their headmaster was referring to Draco Malfoy and a few other dangerous Slytherins. "You may leave now." Both of them nodded gravely and stood up, their chairs disappearing as they did so. They were almost out of the door when Dumbledore spoke again, "oh yes, and congratulations on making prefect Ms. Granger, I am sure Harry will be able to join you in no time." Hermione gave him a weak smile and continued with Ron down to the great hall, though they both knew that they wouldn't be eating much anyways.
Dumbledore turned to Severus, "Ah yes, now I didn't want to speak of this in front of the children, but exactly how grave is Harry's condition?" Snape grimaced apologetically at the headmaster and answered at first, with just one word,
"Bad." Dumbledore sighed again. Never in his life had he met a kid who had had to go through so much pain, both mental and physical, as Harry. Snape elaborated as soon as t was obvious that the headmaster was going to say no more, "I think the boy may not make it. He seems to have given up. He isn't fighting back, and when he is tortured," Dumbledore closed his eyes briefly in unhappiness, "he just lies there, not even making noises of discomfort. Even when Voldermort uses curses like 'Scissum Torus', the one that tears your muscles, he doesn't move. I think it may be futile to even try and rescue him. The aurors wouldn't be able to do it without the boys help and I don't even know if he can stand up, let alone if he wants to." Dumbledore just nodded acceptingly,
"I will do what I can. You might as well go eat something. Tomorrow is going to be a trying one for all of us." Severus stood up to leave, giving Albus one more apologetic glance before making his way out of the office and into the dungeons.
Hermione and Ron sat quietly at the Gryffindor table. Most of the other students kept on giving them sideways glances, but they didn't notice. The two teens had been quite depressed before this, but now . . . they seemed even more sullen than ever before. Hermione nibbled absentmindedly on a piece of bread while Ron stared blankly at his plate. They sat there throughout most of dinner, barely eating anything, and when it came to an end, they both stood up and made their way back up to Gryffindor tower. They sat down on the couch, now shifting their gazes from the floor to the fire. They stayed that way for many hours until they both drifted off into a stress induced sleep, leaning on each other for support. It was a support that they both would need, now more than ever.