Ch 20 It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn

"You're a wizard, Harry Potter."

"Harry."

"Harry?"

"Harry!"

The boy stirred groggily to life. Someone was talking to him in his dreams. In his head?

"Who's there?" Harry asked, still in his head.

Severus let out a sigh of relief, if it is possible to do something within a deep trance. "It is I, Severus Snape."

"Sir! Are you here? Are you here to rescue me?" Harry asked, still with thoughts. "Wait, how are you talking to me through my head?"

"I am not entirely sure, child. I have been trying to reach you for hours. I thought it would work best if you were asleep. It seems not. I am not sure how long this connection between us will last. As it is, it is taking me a tremendous amount of energy to sustain it," Snape said gently, hoping to explain things to the child in a way he would understand. "Harry, you must listen to me."

"Of course, Sir."

"How much have you told them? About yourself. About me?"

"Nothing, sir. They haven't asked me any questions." They boy took no time to think about this.

"What have they said to you? I heard Mr. Malfoy say that I abandoned you and that he thought I was a muggle," Severus had not been sure that bringing this up was a good idea, but there was not much time. "You know that is not true, right?"

The child did not answer. Severus could not see him and could only imagine what the boy had been going through.

"It's not true, Harry."

"Yes, Sir."

"Describe where you are being held. Have you seen anything other than that room?"

"No, Sir."

What color are the walls?" Severus asked.

"Stone, Sir. It is cold here. The floor and wall are all stone. The walls are wet. Kinda crumbly."

"Wet? Like damp? Might you be underground then, like a basement?"

The child seemed to consider this. "Yes, Sir."

"Very good, Harry. I want you to know that I am going to find you. Do not let them hurt you. Focus inside yourself. Deep inside yourself. Think about protecting yourself if they try to hurt you." Severus did not know if this would work, but Harry's magic did have a history of acting in this way. It was worth the attempt.

"I will, Sir."

"I have to leave now, Harry. Remember, you are strong. I will see you soon."

Breaking the connection felt almost like a physical pain. Severus wanted to scream or grab the nearest object and smash it to bits. He felt so helpless even after finally making a short connection with the boy. He could only hope that it would strengthen the boy's resolve and possibly help him to defend himself. Accidental magic and children's defensive magic were very unpredictable. If Harry still had fight in him, perhaps there was a chance.

Harry was underground, in a basement of some kind. Stone floors and walls were not much of a giveaway. Many wizarding structures could be described as such. If Severus did not know better, he would assume that they were at Malfoy Manor. The aurors were watching that though. Lucious Malfoy had many connections. Not every old manor had a basement. It was a place to start.

Severus went downstairs. Kingsley was there talking to Arthur Weasley. When he saw Severus, he walked over.

"News?" Severus asked the auror.

"A possible sighting of Narcissa. It is a small village in Northern Ireland," Kingsley handed a map to Severus and pointed to the town. "Are you familiar with it?"

"No. I do not know of any Death Eaters known to have resided there either. I assume it is being investigated?

"I sent two of my best teams. One will be discreet, and one will make a presence."

Severus nodded. It could be a decoy. Lucius trusted his wife to great lengths, but not completely. Lucius trusted no one completely.

"I'll leave you to that, then. I need a list of Death Eaters with manors that are known to have basements or underground facilities."

"You have a lead?" Kingsley seemed cautiously interested.

"It is possible. I do not want to go charging in, but if something fits with other information I have …" Severus let his voice trail. "I cannot lose him."

"You won't. We have mobilized the entire department. As far as everyone knows, it is just a missing child investigation. We don't want publicity. However, we will find him. You have my word that no resource is being left out."

"I'll hold you to that."

Walking to the table, Severus took a cup of tea offered by Arial and then sat down to review the day's reports. There was nothing promising as far as he could tell. He noticed crumbs here or there that might be something if there was other evidence to go with them.

In front of him, a piece of parchment popped into existence. Severus put down his near-empty cup of tea to give the list of Death Eater homes his full attention. He wasn't focusing just on high-ranking members. Lucius could just as easily muscle in on a low-ranking member or take advantage of someone's desire to impress him. Many of the Death Eaters refused to accept the Dark Lord as truly gone, and Lucius was the de facto leader of the residual force.

Halfway down the list, something caught his attention. Vincent Crabbe lived on a 17th century farm. The roster listed an old manor house and several outbuildings in various states of disrepair. Severus suddenly remembered something that Harry had said which he had barely paid attention to at the time.

"Kinda crumbly."

Of course, that could describe almost any old structure. However, there were other reasons that Crabbe fit the qualifications for Lucius Malfoy's use perfectly. His farm was remote. He was not a rich man and did not have a large staff of servants or even house elves to see things or ask questions. Most important, Crabbe had always been a follower. He would have done whatever Lucius asked without question. Where Crabbe was, the oafish Goyle was likely not far behind.

"You did have backup," Severus mused to himself.

"What was that?" Arthur asked. "Did you say something, Severus?"

"There were three kidnappers, after all. We wondered how Lucius Malfoy thought he was going to take three children on his own. He had two other Death Eaters with him."

"What were they planning to do with three children? Three muggle children?" Arthur looked green.

"I do not know. But I know where Harry is. And I am going to get him."

"Wait, you are going to get him? No, Severus. Stop a minute. We need to plan this out. You were not approached by Lucius. You also can't go in and take on three Death Eaters. We need a plan." Arthur chided Severus gently.

Severus gritted his teeth in frustration, but he knew that Weasley was correct. "Fine. I will allow for aurors to be involved, but I am going to be involved too. He is my child. I am not just going to sit back and wait for a patronus to tell me he is alright!"

The aurors and Arthur exchanged glances. Severus thought he saw everything from amusement to pity.

"What!"

"I apologize, Severus," Kingsley broke in, his deep voice conciliatory. "We are just not so used to seeing you emotional."

"Yes. You also just referred to Harry Potter as your child. I think it is taking some getting used to," Arthur smiled.

"Oh!" Severus glared. "This is no time for joking. I am perfectly composed. Do I care about the child? Of course, I do. He is my responsibility. I take responsibilities seriously, as you well know. Who he is, or who he was, is beside the point."

"Of course, Severus." Arthur agreed.

"Now, are we going to make a plan, or not? If you all are not serious about rescue right now, I am going in without you!"

Within ten minutes there were a dozen more aurors in Severus's kitchen. Arial had hors'd'oeuvre spread out on the sideboard in the dining room and the table there was completely covered with maps and charts. A conjured blackboard took up one wallpapered wall and there were currently three aurors arguing in front of it, supposedly discussing teams. Severus was watching the proceedings with disinterest. As far as he was concerned, the aurors could follow their protocol. He knew how Death Eaters operated. He had said his piece and would do his part.

"No, absolutely not."

A loud complaint moved Severus's attention to the corner of the room where Kingsley was in a heated discussion with Remus Lupin. The Order members were mostly in the parlor with Dumbledore. Severus peaked his ears to hear what Lupin was butting in about.

"I see no reason why I should not be in the vanguard. As you are no doubt aware, I have extra-human senses, specifically smell. I can track Harry's scent before anyone else." Lupin was saying.

"Then you can go in after the advance team has cleared the building. You are not an auror, Lupin. You do not have the training for this." Kingsley was firm.

"We do not even know that he is there!" Lupin argued. "I can investigate and see if he has been taken there."

"How do you propose to do that? If they apparated him in, you would not smell him?" Severus had tired of the argument and decided to join in. He understood that Lupin felt close to the boy as a friend of his deceased parents, but that did not give him the right to go in and muck things up.

"It would not matter," Lupin said, this time addressing Severus.

"You can smell through walls?" Severus did not attempt to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Possibly," Severus did not think Lupin was even convincing himself.

"Nonsense. You should not be involved at all, Lupin. I will not have you endangering Potter's life. You will stay here and leave this to the professionals." Severus sneered.

"Oh, and that is your call how?" Severus did not know Lupin could get that nasty. "You are not in charge here, Severus." His voice evened out, becoming much gentler and even sad. "We are both worried about Harry."

"That is right. If you are so worried about him, you will not risk his life." Severus stormed off, into the parlor. He stopped inches from Dumbledore. "You need to get your pet werewolf under control. He is going to jeopardize Harry's life with his half-baked plans."

"Severus, I know you are worried." Albus remained seated on the settee and spoke gravely. When he looked over his shoulder, Severus realized that Lupin had followed him. "We all want the same thing here. If we work together and everyone keeps a cool head, Harry will be returned safe and sound."

"Forgive me, Headmaster, but you can't know that." Severus dropped into an armchair near the roaring fireplace, gazing despondently into the flames. "This is our most promising lead. We simply cannot take any chances."

"I agree, Severus." Dumbledore eyed Lupin. "What is this dispute about?"

Severus and Remus exchanged glances. Severus's contained irritation, while Remus's just seemed hurt. When neither spoke, Hagrid broke in.

"I'm sure Remus meant no harm. He loves Harry like a son, Sev'rus!"

Severus glared at the large man, who had moved to stand on the other side of the fireplace. "Lupin wants to go in either with the advance team or before them and try to sniff Harry out." He was unable to keep the irritation out of his voice at the word "sniff."

"I see," Dumbledore looked at Lupin. "What does Kingsley feel is the best choice?"

Lupin had the good sense to look down in what Severus thought might be chagrin.

"He feels that Lupin should wait, if he goes in at all," Severus let the words ground out.

"Well then, I think that settles that. Don't you think, Remus?" Dumbledore eyed Lupin carefully. Despite the fact that the words were phrased like a question, everyone knew they were not.

"Yes, Sir. Of course." Lupin spoke quietly. At the dejected look on his face, Severus almost felt sorry for him. It must be the situation getting to him.

With a huff, Severus got up and strode out of the room. He knew that the plans for how and when Harry would be extracted would not be ready for quite some time. Frustration and irritation were beginning to overwhelm him. He walked out into the back garden. As he closed the back door, he almost walked back in when he saw that Molly Weasley was standing on his patio. This was the problem with your house being operational headquarters. There was no privacy.

"Severus!" She seemed surprised to see him, even though it was his house. "How are you?"

Biting back an angry retort that would do neither of them any good, Severus simply sighed and sat down on the garden wall. "I am surviving, Mrs. Weasley. I am sure this has not been easy for any of us."

"Oh, come now, Severus. None of that! Your child is missing. You do not need to put up a brave face for everyone, you know?" Molly came cautiously closer to him and sat a few feet from him on the same section of wall. "If one of mine …"

She did not finish her thought, but then she did not have to. Severus knew that while she had quite a large brood, she loved each and every one of them. Before he had brought a child into his life, he would never have imaged that. Now that he had Harry, the icy cold feeling gnawing deep inside his gut would not be gone until the child was back.

"Yes, madam." Severus was not sure what to say to this woman. He was not a demonstrative man.

"If you need anything, anything at all, please let us know." With a cautious gentle pat to his knee, she went back inside.

"I need Harry." Severus said softly, glad she was already inside and could not hear it.