Chapter 18 A Dark, Frightening Place

It was a dark, frightening place. The walls were closing in. It was a small, windowless room with no furniture. The only light came from the tiny crack under the door. Even though it was night, the hallway must have been lit. The boy was curled up in the corner, shivering. There were tear-tracks on his dirty cheeks. He must have cried himself to sleep.

Severus woke with a start. When had he fallen asleep? It had been just over forty hours since Harry had been taken, and he had vowed not to rest until the boy was found. Yet, here he was, asleep on the sofa in the room off the kitchen. He could hear muffled voices at the table as the current shift studied maps, monitoring devices, and reports on the search for Harry Potter.

"Why did you let me sleep?" Severus demanded as he barged into the kitchen. There he found Remus Lupin, Arthur Weasley, and an auror he did not recognize.

"Severus," Arthur greeted him gently, "I'm sorry, but we decided that you looked like you needed it. You were only out about a half an hour."

"Have there been any developments?" Severus asked, deciding to let it go. He couldn't shake the dream. If it was anything like the dreams he'd had before, it wasn't just a nightmare. What he had seen was real.

"Aurors have been checking up on known death eaters. Kingsley made a visit to Malfoy Manor," Lupin began.

"Malfoy Manor?" Severus interrupted. "Are they mad? What if the boy had been there? They could be risking his life! Malfoy has more traps and escape hatches than you can ever imagine."

"Forgive me, Severus, but they know that," Lupin continued patiently, "I believe that Kingsley has experience with that particular Manor. At any rate, it was empty."

"Empty?"

Lupin nodded. "It appears that the family is in France and Malfoy senior has absconded with the boy. There was only a skeleton crew of house elves in residence and questioning them resulted in no new information."

With a nod, Severus ran his hand over his face. He was beginning to feel helpless. Acting the part of the responsible guardian, he had left the investigation to the authorities. In the meantime, however, Harry was being held in a dark hole somewhere. They still had no idea why he was taken, but Severus knew it could be for no reason good.

"Malfoy and his ilk believe that the Dark Lord will return. They blame Harry for weakening him. Every moment that Harry is with them he is in danger," Severus began. He felt ridiculous for pointing out what everyone knew, but somehow saying the words aloud brought him some calm for what he was about to do. "I know these people better than anyone. Better even than you. I am going after him."

"But Severus. Dumbledore …" Weasley began.

"I will inform Albus Dumbledore of my plan. I am not going rogue. I will also not stay behind while my ward is missing, not when I am the person in the best position to find him."

With that, Severus went to the fireplace at the end of the room and declared his destination.

"Severus! Is there news?" Dumbledore greeted him cautiously.

"No, Headmaster. All they know still is that Malfoy has taken the boy. He is being held somewhere, but the aurors have not located him yet. I have decided that I am the person best suited to find him." Severus paused to gather his thoughts. "He is my responsibility, Headmaster. He was likely taken because of his connection to the Dark Lord or his connection to me. I have spied on these people for years. I know them."

Dumbledore looked at Severus appraisingly and nodded. "I agree, for the most part, Severus. It seems to me that there is more to this than you are telling me though. What is it that you have left out?

Pursing his lips, Severus thought not for the first time that he wished Dumbledore was not quite so perceptive. "Yes, Headmaster. I have been having dreams again."

"Dreams?"

Severus nodded. "One, actually. I nodded off. Those imbeciles on the task force allowed me to nod off. I never meant to fall asleep." He paused, as if for confirmation, and Dumbledore nodded. "I saw him, Headmaster. He was in a cell. It was a tiny room, with no windows or light. There was no furniture!"

"Severus …"

"When I first began having dreams, months ago while he was at the Dursleys, I thought he had been kidnapped. Now I know he has been. I waited far too long last time, Albus, while I allowed him to suffer. I will not have that on my conscience now. I need to find him. I will find him!"

"Forgive me, Severus, but I am not contradicting you or forbidding you. I understand why you desire to go. You are perhaps correct that you know more about the inner workings for the Death Eaters than most aurors."

Pacing, Severus stopped and eyed Dumbledore. He was waiting for the catch.

"And?"

"You are generally not as emotionally invested."

"Nonsense. Albus, you cannot believe that. You know that is nonsense. You know why I became a spy. Everything I do is for that boy. It always has been. I have been protecting him. I just do it from less of a distance now, because the people you chose to protect him were beyond inappropriate." Severus spoke the last words in close to a hiss.

"Right, Severus, you are right. However, it is still important to keep a cool head." Dumbledore met Severus's gaze over half-moon spectacles.

"If you do not think I can do that, Headmaster, then you do not know me at all."

With that, Severus stormed out of Dumbledore's office and down into his quarters in the dungeon. He took the long route, walking instead of using the Floo, because he wanted to wear off his frustration. Despite his confident words to the headmaster, he knew that he was getting overly emotional. It was time to reign himself in.

Once he reached the calm familiarity of his quarters, Severus poured himself a finger of fire whiskey, drank it, and carefully began his meditation rituals. Without raising his occlumency shields, he lay his tired body down and was asleep before he knew it.

It was the same room as before. This time, the boy was awake. He was huddled in the corner of the room, apparently staring at the sliver of light under the door. Since the boy was clearly listening, Severus listened too. Footsteps were coming down the hall.

"Well, well, you are awake!" The words were said with a tone Severus recognized as excitement. They made chills go up Severus's spine. Lucious Malfoy sounded much too interested in Harry Potter.

"Who are you?" The boy demanded. His voice was quavering slightly but still strong. "What do you want with me? Where is my dad?"

"Dad? What dad? As I understand it, your father has been dead for years, boy," Lucius told Harry coldly. "If you mean the muggle that adopted you, you can forget about him. He's given you up. You're too much trouble."

Malfoy dropped a bowl of what looked like porridge on the floor and closed the door again.

"No, he didn't!" Harry insisted, yelling after the man. "You took me!"

Severus's eyes snapped open. He was both horrified and relieved. On one hand, he was impressed that Harry did not contract the errors in Malfoy's statement. Did he have it wrong, or was he trying to trick Harry? Clearly, he wanted Harry to think he wasn't wanted, but why did he think Harry was with a muggle? If Lucious Malfoy didn't know that Harry Potter lived with Severus Snape, then Harry was only in half as much danger as Severus had thought he was.