A/N This chapter has been delayed because either my computer or ffn had a bit of a strike and wouldn't let me upload anything. I also finally managed to upload the beta'ed versions of chapters 10-12.
Walking back, Harry distinctly heard Mrs Weasley say "Bill will be able to…"He groaned. The eldest Weasley brother was a curse breaker and would be able to get through the wards, given enough time. The Order was not going to leave now that they had found them. They were trapped.
Once inside, he shifted Severus to one hip while tapping his face thoughtfully.
"What to do, what to do…we're stuck. We'll have to leave. Going to the cottage won't do any good, they'll have figured out where it is as well…"
He lowered Severus to the floor as he started inspecting the cupboards.
"And not that much food left either."
Suddenly he heard a sob, and turned around to comfort the child.
To his surprise, Severus drew back from him, pale and trembling.
"Sevvy, what is it? I'm not going to let them take you, you know that."
Severus sniffed. Of course Harry would be mad. He would drag him to those people and hand him over soon. Or maybe he would even hit him?
But there was nothing else to it. It was his fault; Harry needed to know that. He had gotten Harry in trouble with the scary angry red-haired lady.
"I…it's my fault…" he whispered, staring at the floor.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"
"Because…because…I went…outside the fence…" Severus stammered, wiping his tear stained face with his sleeve, only managing to get more dirt on it.
"Why?"
Severus looked up. Harry hadn't yelled at him yet, like he had expected. Now he wanted to know why? He was allowed to explain?
"Circe…Circe was outside the fence…and a bird wanted to hurt her…I didn't think…I Summoned her just in time…I did magic. I'm sorry, Harry, please don't give me to them, please, Harry, I'll be good!"
Harry stared at the boy for a few moments, taken aback with the desperate plea, before he scooped the child up and held him close.
"Sshhhhhh, Sevvy, calm down. I'm not sending you away. Come here," he put his handkerchief under the tap and proceeded to wash the boy's face.
"It's possible that they came here because they tracked your magic," he said softly, "but I already let you do magic in London, remember? Maybe they got a lead on us there. If Hedwig had been in danger, I would probably have done the same as you did. Is Circe alright?"
Severus nodded, and hiccuped once before putting his head on Harry's shoulder.
"Are you angry? Are you going to punish me?"
"No," Harry patted him on his back, "I would probably have grounded you for the day, but I think the fright you got when that lot over there showed up, was more punishment than you deserved."
"What are we going to do now, Harry?" Severus asked in a tiny voice.
He was frightened, but not so much anymore. Harry wasn't angry with him. He was very sad that they would leave the Bungalow – but as long as his 'big brother' was with him, he would be fine.
Suddenly Hedwig swooped in, carrying a letter which she clearly wanted Harry to read; she hopped up and down on the table, hooting at him.
"Yes, yes, girl, I'm coming," Harry said, untying the string.
"It's from Ron and Hermione," he said in surprise.
"Dear Harry,
We don't know if this letter gets there in time. If Mum and Remus haven't shown up yet, flee. They're on their way and intend to bring you back. We're sorry; we only joined the search party because we wanted to be sure you were safe, we never meant to co-operate with something like this.
We have left the Burrow and are staying at Fred and George's place in Diagon Alley. We're trying to come up with a plan to help you. Meet up with us, if you are forced to run, as soon as you can.
See you soon!
Ron and Hermione."
Harry looked at Severus. "Looks like we're not alone anymore," he grinned.
-Hogwarts-
Dumbledore sat in his armchair in front of the window, overlooking the grounds. He sighed. After catching up on a lot of sleep and eating properly, he was physically feeling better.
He was improving, he knew that. He didn't feel as desperate or as overwhelmed anymore.
The Grey Lady entered.
"Hello, Albus. How are you today?"
He smiled sadly. "I'm…preoccupied," he admitted, "I keep thinking about Harry and Severus. How am I ever going to make up for what I did?"
"Yes, that will be quite difficult. Especially now that the Order is holding them prisoner in Harry's house."
"WHAT?" Dumbledore shot up from his chair.
The Grey Lady nodded. "Apparently, Molly Weasley and Remus Lupin, despite having promised Harry that they would not force him into anything, have gone back on their promise as soon as they found out where he was. Coincidentally, Arthur's team traced Severus. They met up at the border of the wards on the Potter house. Harry ran into Severus the day after they disappeared, and they have been together ever since. Minerva said Harry had quite a tantrum when they showed up."
Dumbledore grimaced. "I can imagine. I remember the tantrum he threw in here. But what are they doing? Have they learned nothing from my mistakes, then?"
"Apparently not," the ghost said. Then she smiled.
"I have one more bit of information, but no one knows about it. Harry's owl apparently thought I should know, as she came by. Ron and Hermione did want to respect Harry's wishes, and when the others went to retrieve him, they fled to Ron's twin brothers. They have sworn to help Harry."
Dumbledore smiled. "Maybe I can help them…Let me write a letter."
-93, Diagon Alley-
The twins entered the apartment over their shop where the other two were sitting.
"Hello, did anything…"
"Unusual happen while we worked?"
Hermione grinned. "Fawkes came by."
The twins raised identical eyebrows.
"He delivered a letter from the headmaster, and something else. Look!"
She shoved something in the twins's hands. A clock.
A smaller version of Molly Weasley's clock.
Two hands were on it; Harry and Severus. Both pointing to 'Bungalow' and 'trapped'.
"It has two outer rings, one for location and one for circumstances. The rings move as well as the hands. Apparently we only have to touch our wands to it to add our own hands to the clock. This way we can react quickly if Harry…"
Suddenly the rings spun, and the hands changed to 'Travelling' and 'safe'.
"As you can see, Harry and Professor Snape are apparently together," Ron said.
The twins shrugged. "Snape is six years old now. Just a kid."
"Well, anyway, we can keep an eye on Harry like this, and help him quickly if he is in trouble. "
"And DUMBLEDORE sent this?" George asked.
"He sent a letter, and this clock. He says he is doing much better and is feeling horrible about what he did to both Severus and Harry. He wanted to help, so he made this clock. He commends us for not making his, and the Order's, mistakes. It actually sounds like he is encouraging us…"
-Bungalow, a little earlier-
"Do you plan to leave any time soon?" Harry asked Molly Weasley.
"Not without you," she said sternly, "you two should come with us. So stop this nonsense and let us in. We will let you spend the rest of your holidays at the Burrow."
Harry choked back his anger.
"Harry," Arthur said, "could I have a word in private?"
Harry nodded with a frown, and they moved away from the others, still on either side of the fence.
"Harry, Minerva, Poppy, Pomona, Filius and I were here because we were searching for Severus. We can see that he is doing fine, and I'm very glad for that."
Harry smiled slightly. "I couldn't very well let him starve on the streets, could I?"
Arthur returned the smile warmly before his face fell. "Harry…when we set out to search for him…we ran across his diary. We agreed we should search it for clues, but since we didn't want to invade his privacy too much, only I have read it. Harry…what I read about his life…"
"Wasn't pretty. Yes, I know. He remembers nothing but the first six years of his life, and that is more then enough. His adult memory only surfaces in his nightmares. He thinks they are just nightmares about the scary man he's seen the night he was de-aged, but I know he dreams his memories. His adult memories."
Arthur sighed. "Filius and Minerva are looking for a countercurse, but we haven't had any luck so far with that. Molly and I…well. You see, we had planned to take Severus in ourselves when he was found and give him a happy childhood. That's why Molly is so insistant to bring the two of you to the Burrow."
Harry leveled the man with a piercing gaze. "I think you are wonderful people, Mr Weasley. But I won't let Sevvy grow up with people who won't listen to him whenever they've been blinded by what another adult says, and break their promises. I'm sorry, but while you still have my love, you have lost yourself my trust."
With a sad look on his face, Arthur watched the boy walk back to the house.
"Sevvy!" Harry called.
Severus walked into the livingroom.
"I've found Circe," Harry said, handing the snake to the boy, "Come, help me pack. We're leaving."
"Where are we going, Harry?" Severus asked.
"We'll take the portkey back to the house in York. From there, we'll take the train to London and meet up with my friends."
"Why don't we go directly to London, like earlier?"
"Because that's too easy to trace. It's safer to take Muggle transportation for now and stay in the Muggle world until we find Ron and 'Mione."
Severus hung his head. "I'm sorry, Harry…"
He was going to meet Harry's friends. What would they be like? They must have been his students when he was grown up; they would probably not like him much. Meeting new people was scary. If only he hadn't left the wards…
Suddenly he felt a hand on his hair.
"It's ok, Sevvy. It's not your fault that they have us trapped in here now. In a few hours we'll be with my friends and they'll help us."
"Famous last words," Harry thought to himself. He quickly shrugged it off. They needed to get going.
-Outside-
"Hey Mum. What can I do for you?"
"Hello, Bill, dear. We need to bring down the wards on this place."
"Sure thing, Mum. Let me go work on…OUCH."
"What is it, dear?" Molly asked, worried.
"I was just touching the warding and then I felt a surge. Must be quite some wards."
Inside, the portkey had activated. Harry and Severus landed in York.
They quickly made their way to the station and boarded the train. Severus sat in wonder. He had never been on a train before.
"Harry?" he asked, after a while, when he had gotten used to the novelty.
"Yes?"
"You said…you said that the mean old man, the Headmaster, that he is ill?"
Harry looked up. "Yes, Sevvy. When you were there, did you see him work?"
Severus nodded. "He never stopped working, and there was a lot of paper on his desk, and always people Floo'ing him for help."
"Precisely. And it has been like that for years and years. He couldn't sleep much because of all the work. He got ill. He has probably been ill for a very long time, but no one noticed because they needed him to do the work. He probably didn't mean the nasty things he did to you. Or to me for that matter," Harry added thoughtfully, more to himself then to the boy.
None of them noticed the man sitting at the other end of the compartment, gloating behind his newspaper. His Lord would be very pleased with the news he had to share.