A/N Hello there! Here's the next chapter, duh. So this chapter is only told from Snape and Hermione's POV because I wanted to keep it simple. Next time I think I'm going to do Harry, Draco, and Ginny. But that might change so don't count on it. Oh, and as you can see underneath Snape's lovely POV name, is before the kidnapping, which just means what was going on with him last chapter. And I have a question for you guys. How do you feel about the Snape/Lupin (Snupin) pairing? Just wondering. *wink wink*. Anywayyyy. Thanks so much for reading and please please please review! Seriously, I love hearing what you think. Happy reading!

Onward

Chapter 20

Snape

Before the Kidnapping

He wanted to fall asleep and never wake up. He wished more than anything that he could sleep for all eternity with no one to disturb him. Maybe if he was lucky he would dream of a world where Lily was still alive. Where he didn't have to figure this mess out by himself. Where there wasn't a mess in the first place.

Honestly Sev, moping isn't going to do anything to help this situation, deal with it!

Lily not that I don't love to hear your voice in my head, but your feedback isn't exactly helpful.

Yes it is.

Please leave me alone. Please.

He really was going insane, talking to Lily's nonexistent ghost. This, surely, was rock bottom. Pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, he sighed. Snape was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for Harry and Draco to wake up and drowning his sorrows in coffee. He felt like he hadn't slept correctly since he'd found out the truth. Since Lily's letter. It was selfish of him to wish that he was still in the dark. He felt like there was a knot in his stomach that would never loosen, and it would probably never would while Harry still hated him. For the first time in a while he wished he had someone to talk to, someone to help him. He didn't think he could do this by himself.

After he'd dropped Harry and Draco off, he went back to flat and sat in the dark by himself. What else was there to do? Harry wouldn't talk to him, wouldn't look at him-he was beginning to think this was a hopeless situation. A knock sounded at the door and he startled. Who on earth would come here? He left his spot from the table, and flipped on the lights.

"Who is it?" he called.

"Remus. Do you want proof?" What the bloody hell was the wolf doing here?

"Yes." he said, not quite sure why he didn't just ignore him.

"You followed James, Peter, Sirius, and I to the Whomping-"

"Okay! I believe you." He didn't care to be reminded about that at the moment.

"Can I come in?" Could he? Should he? Snape opened the door to find the wolf standing there in all his glory.

Hermione

She was over the speed limit. She was over the speed limit. SHE WAS OVER THE SPEED LIMIT. And breaking the law. Breaking the law. Oh sweet Merlin.

"Where do they live?" Ginny asked.

"Er…" Hermione took a deep breath trying to calm her thudding heart. "In Highland, it's an area with a bunch of flats. We're almost there." Indeed. This drive should've taken 30 minutes, it had been 12. She slammed on the breaks once they were in front of the flat building, both her and Ginny lurched forward.

"Sorry, I'm not-" but Ginny had already leaped out of the car and was running up the stairs. She vaguely remembered the number of the flat, Ginny didn't know though.

"Ginny wait! It's number 73! Did you hear what I said!" Hermione ran after her. "73!" Ginny was pounding on a door, screaming for Draco to open up. She prayed Ginny was banging on the right door. She reached the top of the stairs right when Draco flung the door open and Ginny nearly fell into the flat.

"We have to go after them." Was the only thing he said, a rather wild look in his eyes.

"Do you know where they might have taken them?" Hermione asked, it was clear she was the only one calm enough to think rationally.

"They might be taken to the Manor...but I dunno, they could be anywhere." This was going to be a tad difficult then.

"Do we have a way to contact anyone?" She asked him. Draco opened his mouth to answer, but Lyra of all people appeared with Bagel in her arms. Hermione whipped her wand out and Lyra squeaked,

"Hey! I'm not going to do anything, I swear!"

"She was imperiused to get information out of Harry." Draco explained. "Then the curse wore off or something, no idea what actually happened, and now she wants to help find them."

"Why?!" Hermione snapped. She heard Ginny let out some sort of sound behind her. Probably begging her to hurry up.

"Harry's my friend." she snapped.

"You've only known him for what three days?" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I know him well enough to recognize when he's having a panic attack." Lyra looked very pissed.

"You told me you can recognize when anyone is having a panic attack." Draco drawled.

"Shut up."

"Harry has panic attacks!?" Ginny demanded, striding over to Lyra.

"Uh...yeah. You didn't know?" Lyra and Ginny were facing off now.

"No, he didn't tell me." Ginny spat.

"He didn't tell me either, he had one right next to me during therapy." Oh Merlin, they were wasting so much time.

"He goes to therapy!" Ginny shrieked. "And you didn't tell me! Why didn't he tell me! Since when?!" She rounded on Hermione.

"Can you two argue in the car! We have to find them!" Draco was shaking, and his skin was much more pale than normal.

"Let's go then." Ginny turned on her heel and storde out the door.
"I'm coming with." Lyra said.

"No you're not, it's too dangerous." Draco shook his head.

"Good. My life is much too boring anyway, and you can explain everything to me in the car." Lyra followed Ginny out.

"I would obliviate her but…" Draco glanced at Hermione.

"Don't want to shatter her mind, I know. We can't just leave her by herself either, Death Eaters might come back."

"Right." His voice cracked and he shook himself a little.

"Hey." She wrapped her arms around him. "We'll find them, I promise."

"I should've been there." he whispered.

"No you shouldn't have, because then you would've been kidnapped without any hope of escaping. At least now we have a chance to rescue them. And we are going to rescue them."

"Hurry up!" It was Ginny, she sounded hysterical. This was certainly going to be a fun ride.

Everyone piled into the car, Draco and Hermione in the front, Ginny, Lyra, and Bagel in the back. Draco had grabbed a bag with some clothes and food, as well as some stuff for Bagel.

"So do we have a way to contact anyone?" Hermione repeated, starting the car.

"I don't think so, haven't seen floo powder or anything for the fireplace, and Hedwig was left at the castle. I'm sure there's some sort of spell we can use but I don't know any, and you're the only one who can legally use magic?" Draco was staring out the window, blinking rapidly.

"Magic?" Lyra asked, she was still holding on to Bagel. Through the rearview mirror Hermione saw Ginny roll her eyes.

"Yeah, magic is-er-real." Hermione said awkwardly.

"I always knew it." Lyra sighed. She sort of reminded Hermione of Luna. "All of you have magic?"

"Yep." Hermione said.

"Harry too?" she asked.

"Uh huh." She really wanted everyone to shut up, she needed to focus if they didn't want to end up splattered all over the road.

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked.

"To find Harry and Snape." Draco said plainly.

"Yes, we all know that. But where?" Ginny continued, batting away Bagel as he tried to lick her.

"I don't know." Hermione said, they probably should figure that out.

"Oooh, I can help! I love mystery novels." Lyra said eagerly.

"No offense Lyra, but I don't think you can really help-" Draco started but Lyra interrupted.

""Course I can. What are the three places he-sorry they-could be?"

"Anywhere, anywhere, and anywhere." Draco said. Ginny moaned.

"Well then where are places that they most definitely will not be?" Lyra continued.

"Hogwarts." Hermione said automatically.

"What's that, a bar?" Lyra asked. Ginny snorted, and Draco smiled a little.

"No, it's a school for...magical people."

"Right, of course. So not your school. Where else?"

"Probably nowhere in London." Draco said after a moment. Hermione realized she had just been driving around the neighborhood for the past few minutes. Oh well, hopefully no one had noticed.

"Okay, so why don't we take the motorway out of London." Hermione yelped,

"The motorway!" She was not driving on the motorway, no way in hell was she getting on the motorway.

"Uh, yeah."
"Can't we just take the back roads-"

"Don't you want to find them!" Lyra demanded.

"Take the motorway Hermione." Ginny said. Hermione was nearly 100% sure Ginny had no idea what the motorway was.

"I can drive if you want." Lyra offered.

"No! This is my parents car. They'd kill me." They're probably already going to for leaving without telling them, but that's besides the point.

"Motorway is that way." Lyra pointed left. They were all going to die. Taking a deep breath Hermione turned left and headed towards the motorway.

"You have to go faster, honestly why didn't you just let me drive?" Lyra said. Hermione wanted to tell her to shut up but the majority of her brain was occupied by the fact that she was driving on the motorway. Something she hadn't wanted to do for at least another three years. There were so many cars, all zooming by at what felt like 100 miles an hour. It took all of her self control not to start screaming. Distantly she heard Draco and Lyra having a conversation about where Harry and Snape might be, but she was not paying any attention.

"Turn off here, we need to stop really quick Bagel and I have to pee." Lyra said. Hermione exited the motorway sighing a breath of relief. If she hadn't had an audience she would have burst into tears. She turned into a gas station and parked the car.

"We'll be quick." Lyra said.

"You can't take Bagel inside." Hermione called after here.

"Who's gonna stop me!" Lyra called back.

"We're going to go to Cheshire first, see what we find there." Draco told her.

"Why there?" Hermione asked. "And Cheshire is pretty large." Pretty large was an understatement actually.

"They think You-Know-Who took them somewhere remote." Ginny piped up from the back.

"How come?"

"He'll want to keep his plans somewhere no one can easily find them, so no cities. And I've heard him mention Cheshire once." Draco said. Hermione was about to say how brilliant that was, when she realized what he had said.

"You heard him?"

"He's in the manor all the time." Draco said, bristling a little. Oh, right.

"Sorry, I forgot." She said. However some part of her still wanted to reach for his arm and shove his long sleeve up to see if the Mark was there. But she wouldn't, not with Ginny here, watching them closely.

"We're going to drive through Cheshire and look for clues." Ginny said.

"Clues?"

"Yeah, just sightings or reports of You-Know-Who...stuff." Ginny said slowly.

"Okay, then I better get gas." Hermione said.

Snape

Before the Kidnapping

"What do you want?" he snapped. "It's early." Lupin didn't look fazed.

"I got a letter," he started. Snape waited.

"From James." He reeled back. James was dead, it had to be a fake. Like Lily's. So...what did that mean?

"And he said that you are Harry's...er-" Lupin turned red and rubbed the back of his neck with an unsteady hand.

"Biological father." Lupin finally blurted out. Damnit Lily, why didn't you tell me this while you were still alive! At least then he would have been somewhat prepared for opened his mouth to try and say something, but it felt like everything he wanted to say had been pushed back down his throat.

"Is it true?" Lupin asked. Well, yes, but I didn't know till what, two three months ago? So he just settled for nodding stiffly.

"Does Harry know?" he asked. He nodded again.

"So that's why he's here...with you." Lupin said slowly.

"Indeed." He tried to keep his voice cold, and unattached. Snape couldn't quite tell if he succeeded.

"How long have you known?" Lupin moved to sit down at the table and Snape reluctantly sat down with him.

"I found out right before the term started." he said, avoiding Lupin's gaze.

"How's-"

"I think you should go." Snape interrupted. Something was telling him that if Harry walked out and found him and Lupin here, talking about him nonetheless, he would be more angry than he already was.

"Okay." At first Lupin made no move to get up. "Okay." he said again. This time he stood up and stared at Snape, like he wanted to say something else. The stupid wolf was too nosy for his own good. Lupin walked out, and Snape put his head back in his hands.

This didn't make sense. Nothing made sense. Nothing! How did he get a letter from Lily, and how did Lupin get a letter from James. And come to think of it, how did James know? Did he find out before he died, or after? But how would he find out after...Snape was ready to chuck his cup of tea out the window. He was still at the table thinking. Because there was nothing else he could do! Just sit here and think about everything he should and should not have done. He was about to make good on throwing that cup of tea out the window when a slight chill settled over the flat. He immediately got to his feet and drew his wand.

"Show yourself." he breathed. Not a sound. Where were Harry and Draco? He went to the window and saw Harry with Bagel, no Draco in sight. Draco must have stayed in the room then. At that moment he felt a familiar burning sensation in his arm and fell to his knees in panic.

"You have betrayed us all Snape, and now you shall pay." The voice was sickeningly familiar. Avery. Snape cast an exploding spell in his hopes that he would render Avery unconscious. He ran to Harry and Draco's room and said quietly to the door,

"Draco get in the closet." He could only hope that the boy obeyed and would find Harry.

"Thought you could get rid of me that easily?" Avery asked from behind him. Snape whipped his elbow around to try and get Avery in the face. Bone crunched and blood sprayed but Avery stayed on his feet, moving closer and closer.

"How'd you get past the wards?" Snape rasped.

"Time for small talk later my dear man." Avery grabbed him viscously and they disappeared leaving Draco and Harry alone.

Hermione

"Let me drive." Lyra demanded. She had her hands on her hips, and she was glaring at Hermione. They were by the gas pump, and everyone else was already in the car.

"I'm not about to let a stranger drive my car." she snapped.

"No offense but you're kind of a slow driver, and we need to move fast." Lyra said.

Hermione resisted the urge to scream in frustration. They were wasting so much time.

"Actually I think your slow driving is wasting time." Lyra said cooly. Shoot. She'd said that out loud.

"I'm doing the best I can!"

"You don't have to do it by yourself, I can drive just fine. I won't crash the car, promise." Hermione ran her hands through her hair in agitation,

"Fine. Drive." Hermione went in the back with Ginny and Bagel, and Lyra moved to the front.

"Hello Draco." she said smoothly, then started the car.

"Please be careful." Hermione begged.

"Nothing to worry about darling."

There was everything to worry about. Everything. Lyra was the most insane driver in the history of drivers. Honestly it was bloody insane. She had no qualms about honking at cars and zooming right past them, or going 80 on the motorway! Hermione and Ginny clung to each other in the backseat. And Bagel, the idiot, wanted to be in the front with Draco and stick his head out the window. She was afraid the wind would pull him right out of the car.

"Lyra." she ground out. "Slow down."

"Do you want to get there or not?" Lyra snapped, zooming in and out of lanes.

"Where are we?" Ginny asked, her face was a rather sickening shade of green.

"One hour away from Cheshire."

"Cheshire is huge." Hermione repeated.

"Well we're going to drive through all of it." Lyra said. "Tell me about your government again."

"It's not even that interesting-"

"Oh stuff it, it is very interesting. And I don't know anything about it! Since I'm a...what did you call me again? Muggle?"

Lyra had wanted to know every single detail about the wizarding world, and she had asked many times if the witches were cute. Draco said they were gorgeous and Hermione had felt her toes curl. Ginny on the other hand, was moody and Hermione was ten seconds away from yelling at her. She wasn't the only one who cared about Harry for goodness sakes! Snape...well she hadn't quite decided where she stood on the whole Snape debacle just yet. Hermione's stomach rumbled loudly and she blushed. They hadn't eaten anything in Draco's bag yet, nor had they stopped for food.

"Wanna stop to get something to eat?" Lyra asked.

"There's food in the bag-" Draco started.

"Okay, um, we can just stop for food. It won't take long and will be five thousand times better than biscuits." Lyra said.

"We don't have time!"

"You should save the food for when we're driving through the country." Lyra retorted.

"She's right." Hermione realized.

"Thank you." Lyra pulled off the highway and to a takeaway place. They all piled out of the car and stumbled inside. Everyone was tired, stiff and a tad bit panicked. Lyra and Hermione split the pay for some meat pies and they went back to the car. Just 45 minutes away from Cheshire.

Snape

He was underground. Avery took him to a cell and all but tossed him inside. Snape leaned his head back against the wall and tried to think of a way to get out of this. Hours ticked pass and no one came to check on him. His mouth grew parched and his stomach began to rumble. The cell was completely empty, not a cot, bucket... It began to seem like a very real possibility that Snape might die in here. His only consolation was that Harry and Draco were safe.

A/N Oh Snape, man you thought! XD. Thanks again for reading! How was this chapter? See ya next week!