Title: The Living Dead
Rating: PG13-R
Pairing: SS/HP (and probably others in future chapters)
Genre: Action/drama/angst/romance
Warnings: Slash, violence, torture, death.
Chapter 5 summary: Snape and Harry arrive at their secret hideout and they get visitors.
Disclaimer: HP characters belong to the talented JK Rowling. I'm only borrowing them for fun. Original characters are mine, though.

The Living Dead
Chapter V – Grimmauld Place

Snape apparated in front of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place carrying Harry in his arms. As soon as the house appeared, he walked in and locked the door after him. He went upstairs and entered the room he knew to be Harry's and put him on the bed. He took Harry's glasses off and put them on the nightstand and then he took Harry's shoes off and stopped. He looked at Harry for a moment and realized that the boy was too young to be killed. His hatred for his former student was gone. All he had now was sympathy. He took out his wand and muttered a cleaning charm on Harry and then he flicked his wand and Harry's clothes changed into pyjamas.

Then Snape started muttering a healing charm on Harry and when he was done, he pulled the bed cover over Harry and tucked him carefully and when he was done, he left the room and headed to the living room.

He thought about going to his house, but he knew that if Voldemort was to send his followers after them, then he'd send them to his house first. They didn't know about Grimmauld Place, since after Dumbledore's death, Harry has volunteered to be the new secret keeper. That way no one would know where the house is, since Harry was not going to tell anyone, no matter how much torture he went through, and if Voldemort decided to use Legilimency, Harry was well prepared. He had mastered Occlumency by the end of his seventh year at Hogwarts.

Snape sat on one of the couches, and flinched as his back hurt. 'Damn the person who created the Cruciatus Curse' he thought to himself. He didn't even clean himself or change his clothes, and he drifted into sleep almost instantly in his seat.

An hour later, the door of Grimmauld Place burst open. Hermione and Ron came in and locked the door after them and started calling for Harry. When they heard no reply they started searching the rooms.

"I'll go upstairs." Said Ron and rushed up.

"I'll look here." Hermione replied and entered the kitchen. When she didn't find anyone there, she went to the living room. She saw Snape sleeping on the couch, his clothes dirty and torn in places. She gasped and put her hands on her mouth.

"Hermione!" Ron called from upstairs. "He's here!"

Hermione ran out of the living room and straight to Harry's room. They saw that Harry was asleep (or so they thought) but they were so concerned that they tried to wake him up.

"Harry?" Hermione said and gently shook Harry's shoulder. "Harry can you hear me?"

"Wake up, mate!" Ron said.

Harry groaned and opened his eyes. The room was bright, and blurry. Instinctively he reached for his glasses and found them on the nightstand. He put them on and saw that he was in his room and his best friends were with him. He sat up and looked at them, a puzzled look on his face.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione said in excitement and through herself on Harry, hugging him tightly.

Harry let out a sharp gasp, and pulled back.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, surprised by Harry's sudden action.

"Sorry, Hermione." Harry said. "I didn't mean to." He flinched. "My whole body hurts like hell. How long have I been here?"

"Obviously not long." Hermione said. "You've been gone since yesterday, and we were worried when you didn't show up in the evening."

"What happened, mate?" Ron asked. "Dad came home and said that Azkaban was in havoc."

"Havoc would never describe it." Harry said and laid back. His muscles were still sore and aching.

"What happened there, Harry?" Ron asked. "Were you hurt?"

"Snape!" Harry sat up again, causing his body hurt again. "Where's Snape?"

"Oh my God, I almost forgot about him." Hermione said and quickly got up. "He's downstairs in the living room. He's in bad shape."

The three of them went down to the living room and found Snape still asleep.

"Should we wake him up?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

"I think we should." Ron replied.

"I wouldn't want to. We went through a lot this morning." Harry said, "But we have to take him upstairs to the guest-room."

"And I don't think he'd appreciate levitating." Hermione said.

Hermione stood next to Snape and gently shook him. "Professor?"

Snape groaned.

"Professor, wake up, please." She said.

Snape opened his eyes and looked at the three faces looking at him. He recognized Harry's face at first and quickly got on his feet.

"Potter, what are you doing out of bed!" He scowled at Harry.

"Me? How do you.. wait.. did you put me in bed?" Harry asked.

"Were you at Azkaban with someone else?" Snape snapped back. "Now get to your room, now!" he pointed at the door. His body betrayed him at that moment and he was about to lose balance. He sat down on the couch.

"Professor, you need to rest." Hermione said.

Snape hadn't noticed Ron and Hermione in the room because of his sudden care for Harry's well being. He looked at Hermione and then to Ron.

"How long have you been here?" he asked in a tired voice.

"We came a few minutes ago." Hermione said.

"The Ministry is looking for the both of you." Ron said.

"Death Eaters as well." Snape said and started massaging his temples. "Damn this headache."

"We'll help you, Sir." Harry said. "Hermione's good at healing charms."

Snape nodded and dropped his head back. "This was a nightmare."

"Professor, can you walk?" Hermione asked. "You need to lie down in a bed. You can't stay here. The couch will only make you hurt more."

Without protesting, Snape got up and Hermione took him by his elbow and walked him out and to the guest-room upstairs. Ron and Harry followed them.

When they were in the guest-room, Hermione left the room and let Harry and Ron help Snape get cleaned and change his clothes. When they were done, Ron called for Hermione to come in. She took out her wand and asked Snape to lie down on the bed. He obeyed.

She started a chorus of diagnosing and healing charms at which all three men were amazed. Hermione quickly finished her work and pulled the cover over Snape.

"Thank you, Miss Granger." Snape said.

"There's no need to thank me, Professor." Hermione replied with a blush.

"Sir, you need to rest." Harry said. "You've been through a lot."

"How did you get here?" Ron asked, bluntly.

"Ronald!" Hermione said. "This is not the time for questions! They need to rest!" she turned to Harry, "Harry, you must go to your room and lay down."

"I'll let you know of the details as soon as I have some rest." Snape said. "So much has happened, and you need to know." He looked at Harry, "Especially you, Potter."

Harry was puzzled. What happened that he can't remember? He was desperate to know how they managed to get out of Azkaban unharmed, but he couldn't remember anything. Finally, he nodded at Snape and walked out of the room accompanied with Ron and Hermione. They went to Harry's room where Harry lay back on the bed. Hermione sat on the edge of the bed and Ron pulled a chair close and sat down.

"Can you tell us anything?" Ron asked.

"Ron, Harry needs to rest!" Hermione protested.

"No, it's alright, Hermione." Harry said. "I can tell you how it went and what happened. Bt not the whole story, since I can't seem to remember how we got here."

Ron and Hermione listened carefully at what Harry had to say and how his mission was almost a success if they didn't encounter the Death Eaters and the Dementors. Then he told them about Draco and how he was doing. Hermione gasped and tears fell on her cheeks as she listened to Harry. He also told them about the potion that Voldemort had prepared for his Death Eaters, and how they used Draco's blood to make it.

"That is horrible!" Hermione said. "We have to get him out of there!"

"Are you off your rockers, Hermione?" Ron asked. "He killed Dumbledore!"

"He didn't." Hermione said. "It was Snape, and you know it."

"But he was the reason that Snape did it!" Ron replied.

"That doesn't make him the one who said the curse!" She snapped.

"Stop it you two!" Harry said.

Ron and Hermione stopped arguing and glared at each other like they were going to hex one another into next week.

"Listen, we can't get Draco out of there. He's already damaged. I saw him! He didn't recognize us! He thought Snape was Dumbledore, and then thought he was his father! He didn't even notice me! I'm his enemy for Merlyn's sake! And he didn't even look at me!"

Rona and Hermione look at each other and then at Harry. They didn't know what to say. They apologized to each other and Hermione decided that Harry should get some sleep.

"We're not going to leave this place. We'll just be in the kitchen. Get some sleep and when you wake up, I'll have some food prepared."

Harry smiled and closed his eyes. Ron and Hermione left the room and headed to the kitchen as Harry drifted into sleep. He was exhausted.

Five hours passed and Snape woke up. He felt refreshed and comfortable. He looked around, wondering why his room had pink walls and then he remembered that he wasn't home at all. He sat up quickly and was about to get out of bed when he heard a soft knock.

"Come in." he said and sat on the edge of the bed.

Hermione opened the door and walked in. She smiled as she saw Snape awake.

"I see that you're feeling better." She said.

"Yes, thank you." He replied. "The spells you used were very helpful."

"I created them myself." She said, proudly.

"Impressive." He managed to smile at her, for the first time in his life.

"It's almost eight and dinner's ready. Would you care to join us?" she asked.

"Yes. I'll be there in a few minutes. I need to change my clothes." He said and got up.

Hermione nodded and went out of the room and into Harry's room. She found him awake and told him that dinner's ready. They went down to the kitchen, where Ron was and a few minutes later Snape joined them.

"Mmm, mashed potatoes." Harry said as he sniffed the air. "My favorite."

Hermione grinned. Snape only rolled his eyes and sat down at the table.

They started eating in silence. Ron and Harry shared a short conversation about a Scottish professional Quidditch team and how Ron has been invited to try out as a keeper. Although Harry has been listening to Ron's daily report of how excited he is to be invited to the tryouts for the last week, he never ceased to look amazed when his friend started talking.

Snape looked at the two of them exchanging theories and tactics about different positions in a quidditch team, but his main focus was on the dark haired young wizard. He needed to tell Harry what had happened while he was unconscious after getting hit by the Cruciatus Curse. Harry needed to know. He deserved to know. Snape owed him that. Even if Harry didn't like the reasoning that Snape gave to Voldemort in order to conceal the reason he blocked him from his mind.