Chapter Nineteen
Hermione's cart rolled to a stop. Lamps were burning on a deserted platform. She held her wand at the ready and climbed the stairs that were made for very small feet. She listened intently and heard no sounds. The floor suggested there had been recent activity. It was covered in an inch of dust but there had been people walking around it and they had left footprints. The majority of the prints led her to an open entrance with stairs leading to the upper levels. The other small portals, provided mainly for house elves, remained empty and undisturbed.
She climbed the stairs cautiously holding her lit wand in front of her. Without realizing it, she was following Harry's and Tonk's footsteps. The stairs led her to a large hallway that was also lit. She couldn't decide if the lamps were left burning because someone expected to return or if they had been abandoned. It was a bizarre looking place, resembling the rail station in London. This one, however, appeared to be centuries old, with blackened, moss-covered stone. Doorways of various shapes and sizes lined the hall indicating a way station for a number of different types of creatures.
Hermione also recognized the smell that assailed her nostrils the moment a draft of air blew in her face. "A mountain troll! Ye gads!" she murmured and hurried down the hall in the opposite direction. She studied the floor but realized it was not easy to follow any signs. The traffic from a number of feet had obliterated any individual prints.
She halted and pulled herself back into an niche when she heard sounds at her back. The figure was unrecognizable in the dim light as it walked towards her. Standing in deep shadow, she waited until it passed and stepped out and pointed her wand at the back of the person's head.
"Stop!" she said. "Don't move."
"Hermione?" the figure asked.
"Neville?" They turned to each other.
"Good grief! Neville!" Hermione dropped her wand. "I almost turned you to stone. We've been following you. Where's Harry?" She glanced back down the hall in the direction from which Neville had come.
"The person you followed wasn't me Hermione," Neville said looking sick. "That was Tonks.
Hermione stared at him. "Tonks?"
"Yeah," Neville nodded. "It was Dumbledore's idea. He wanted to give Harry a chance at the Dark Lord. He set it all up, the map and letting the Death Eaters into Hogwarts and everything."
"Dumbledore?" Hermione said looking at him in disbelief. "He set Harry up?"
Neville looked almost like he was going to cry. "I... I don't know if you know…if Harry said…"
Hermione was trying to follow his stuttering explanation. "That you're the Guardian?" she whispered, nodding. "Yeah, I do."
Neville looked relieved. "Yes. Dumbledore wanted Harry to have a chance to kill You-Know-Who when Harry was still at Hogwarts and had lots of help. He planned it so You-Know-Who's Death Eaters were all at Hogwarts and distracted. He sent Tonks in my place. I was to be safe and Harry would have her help if he ran into trouble."
"Ginny would have seen Tonk's name on the Marauder's map," Hermione said shaking her head. "She would have known there was a switch and told us."
"She knew it was Tonks," Neville said shaking his own head. "Dumbledore told her to lie. I was never in danger, Hermione. Dumbledore said there were supposed to be members of the Order of the Phoenix to help Harry. He knew it was a trap and Harry was supposed to fall into it . Dumbledore wanted to follow Harry and then we'd know where Voldemort was."
"We knew where he was!" Hermione snapped. "He was at Godric's Hollow staying in Gryffindor's old castle."
Neville shook his head. "He's not there Hermione." He studied the walls around them and sniffed a little before he continued, "I knew as soon as they'd been caught, so I came to help him. I'm too late!" This time big fat tears rolled down his face. His face was screwed up and he was trying very hard to speak. "I know Dumbledore has people waiting to help, but where are they Hermione. Shouldn't they be here?"
"How did you know he was caught, Neville?" Hermione asked and felt a rising panic. She was trying to stay calm and get information from the sobbing boy.
"I just do. I can't tell you about it," Neville said, wiping his face angrily.
Hermione was thinking furiously, and speaking at the same time, "Well, first things first, Neville. We've got to get you back to Hogwarts where it's safe. There's been some mix-up and there are no members of the Order here."
"No! No, Hermione," Neville was suddenly resisting. "I have to help Harry. He's in really bad trouble. Vol…Voldemort's tricked us." Neville pulled away from her outstretched hand and started to back away. "I've got to help."
Hermione was cringing because Neville's voice was getting louder. "All right, Neville. All right." she calmly advanced on him. I don't want to have to put a spell on you Neville, she thought.
He evidently knew what she was thinking because his wand hand came up and he pointed his wand at her, "Hermione, I don't want to have to duel with you."
Snape had apparated to the last site he knew Jolie and the Kumpania to be only a few days before when Nadya and Jolie had been at Hogwarts visiting with Harry as he recuperated in the hospital wing. Since it was so close to Spring, the Romani were gathering together their wagons in small family groups of six or seven. Snape knew Jolie and the families were capable of protecting Nadya and he was aware of approximately where he could locate them.
He followed their trail and within thirty minutes of apparating from Hogwarts, he had located them. A man he did not recognize approached him from the bushes. He was smiling and talking to him in Romani, most of which Snape understood. Snape needed to get past the guard and see Jolie, so he used what he knew would allow him entrance immediately.
Tute rakker Romanes (Can you speak Romani)?" Snape asked.
The smile left the man's face and was replaced immediately by a serious stare. He had expected to meet a Gadjo, a non-gypsy; and one who did not know his language.
"Va, et tut Romanes," he replied.
"Tell Jolie the Old Crow wishes to see him," Snape said in Romani. The man continued to stare and then his eyes shifted to something over Snape's shoulder.
"Is that what they call you?" a laugh erupted behind him. Snape turned to meet Jonas.
"Hello, Jonas," Snape watched the man cautiously. "I need to see Jolie. It's important."
Jonas nodded to the other who slipped off into the brush. "Yes, of course. Follow me," he said and waved his hand. Snape followed. "What is it, Mr. Professor?" Jonas asked.
Snape considered the question before answering. "We have lost Mr. Potter again. This time I fear he has been taken by the Kalo Beng."
Jonas stopped and turned to looked at Snape, his face expressionless. "That is not good news. Our poor Nadya will be... very sad." He said the words but didn't seem at all affected by the news
Snape frowned at the man's use of familiar words but didn't have a chance to question him. Jolie came up with Gregor and Viktor. Snape spoke quickly.
"You must talk to Nadya," Jolie said. "I'll gather some others and we will go. Jonas will help us to track him." Jolie patted the man on his shoulder. "He can find our Harry even in that castle. Snape didn't argue. He wanted to talk to Jolie about his suspicions concerning Jonas and how he mistrusted him. However, it was obvious the man was accepted by this family and his chances of changing Jolie's mind were slim. He decided to wait and watch Jonas.
Snape left them and found Nadya's wagon. A very pregnant girl was washing clothes in a tub and hanging them on the bushes near the wagon. It was still early Spring and cold outside. Steam rose from the hot water and the wet clothes. She turned to pick up another wet bundle when she saw his feet in the black polished boots. She looked up and Snape watched the deep rose-pink of her cheeks drain away.
"Uncle, mushto hom me di kava tute ( I am happy to see you)." She stretched from her bent position and he could see her big belly. "It is my Harry, isn't it?"
He nodded, watching her reaction, ready to jump to her side. "Yes, Harry is once again in trouble," he said, walking to her slowly.
She nodded, her big black eyes looking at him with calm, "Will you go to him?" she asked.
"Yes, I've come for Jolie and the others, I need their help." Snape reached and took her hand. It was red from the hot soapy water of the tub and rough from the weather. He squeezed it gently. "I am afraid the Kalo Beng has him. It may be some time before we can find him," he said with tenderness.
She slowly reached for him and wrapped her arms around him. He looked down at the top of her head, covered in a scarf, resting near his midriff. He held her and waited. She didn't cry out or even weep; she looked up into his face.
"Just bring him home to me, Uncle. My heart is in your hands," she said.
Snape looked down into her face and nodded, "Hai 'she 'li (I swear)."
She looked into his eyes with a stare that burned, let him go and turned back to her wash.
He couldn't stand to look at the straight shoulders and the head held so high. I swear Nadya, I will bring him home, he thought and turned on his heel. Damn you Dumbledore,
you and the other Guardians!
Snape and Jonas arrived at Godric's Hollow and found the ancient way station and the platform ahead of Jolie and the others. Snape stood back and watched as Jonas investigated the dusty platform. The Senseve was following a dozen footprints with his eyes. He stopped to get to his knees and sniff and then to follow a peculiar trail along the wall.
"Harry got out of the cart and crawled to the wall," he talked as he walked the trail. "It must have been dark. He walked along the wall, to this doorway and then back to the cart. He then got the girl, Tonks, out of the cart and the two went back to the doorway and up the stairs," Jonas said. "The girl Hermione and the boy Neville have also been here. Their prints lead the same way. Let us go up the stairs."
Snape followed.
Jonas walked in almost the same footsteps as Harry and Neville. He stopped when he got to the prints of Hermione and Neville, smiled smugly and went on. Snape could see the headlong rush through the doorway covered in cobwebs. Jonas followed the trail as if it were painted in white on the floor. He didn't hesitate and led Snape directly to the tunnel where the cage had been. Flush with the floor were a set of railway tracks leading away into a dark tunnel.
Jonas stopped and searched the room, then nodded towards a wall. "They have gone by rail." He waited until Snape noticed the sign and tried to read it; at last succeeding. Snape's eyes grew wide when he saw what the dusty, blackened sign said.
"Basgareth," he intoned. His deep voice lent a shade of ominous doom to the word.
Neville and Hermione were hiding in a deep recess and heard the words he spoke. They looked at each other but neither knew what it meant.
"Yes," Jonas said without emotional inflection in his voice. "The caves of Basgareth. He will not be gotten from there easily, if at all, I think." Jonas moved slowly towards Hermione and Neville's hiding place. "As for the other two," he stepped into the shadow of the alcove and Hermione and Neville shrugged in defeat and stepped forward, "they are here."
Snape swerved around still pondering something when Jonas escorted the two from the shadows. "Miss Granger, Mr. Longbottom," he said in a tense voice. Snape was both relieved to see them and angry.
"Professor," Hermione was the first to speak. Neville as usual shrank back at the sight of his dreaded Potions Master. "Did they take Harry and Tonks through there?" She indicated the tunnel with her head.
Snape stared at her as if he had not heard the question.
Jonas answered, "Yes, they have been taken with three others to the slave caves of Basgareth." The Gypsy man leaned against a wall, arms folded over his chest and stared at them. He seemed unconcerned.
Snape frowned at him. "Then we must go after him," Hermione declared. "It's only been a short time, we can catch up. If you know where it is we can apparate there."
Snape was still mute, but shaking his head slowly to her suggestion.
Jonas once again spoke for him, "We cannot find it. Basgareth is unplottable. I'm afraid this is an impossibility."
"It can't be!" Neville burst out. "I don't care what you say, I'm going to follow that rail and see if it takes me there. I'm going after Harry!" Neville was on his way towards the tunnel when Snape's hand shot out and grabbed his arm.
"No, Mr. Longbottom, you are not."
For the first time, Neville glared at Snape and shoved his hand off, "Get off!"
Snape did not shout or frown, he spoke quietly and gently, "Jonas is right for now. We must return to Hogwarts, Mr. Longbottom. The night is over and it's morning. We need time to rest and to plan. We can't go to this place today." They stood nose-to-nose and finally Neville nodded. "I'm taking these two back to Hogwarts," Snape told Jonas. "Tell Jolie when he arrives. I will speak with him later."
Jonas nodded and left the room.
"Albus," Lupin said, he was still sitting in the chair. "Why would James do such a thing? Why would he sacrifice his own son?"
Dumbledore had stopped weeping and was staring at the fire, his face drawn and tired. Lupin waited and he finally spoke. "There was a sense of desperation at the time, Remus. Don't you remember? Tom Riddle was unstoppable. James knew he was going to die and he wanted his death to count. He sacrificed himself." Dumbledore glanced at Lupin. "He did not know Lily would be killed or that Riddle would try and kill Harry. Almost everyone was at risk who worked for the Order. Although you were not often with us, you should remember that?"
"Yes, I remember," Lupin said. "But this magic you and the others performed is so imprecise. You could not foresee the consequences or the outcome even with your gift of Sight and yet you…all of you, proceeded. Are you so sure Harry will defeat Voldemort?" Remus shook his head, his expression one of sadness. "Are you so sure of everything Albus that you were willing to sacrifice so much?" Lupin stood to leave the room, now looking exhausted. "You stand to lose them both; Severus and Harry."
"Our pledge to James for performing the magic was that we would protect, Harry. I have tried to do that. I have treated him…felt like he has been my own son. I could not change or stop what was to be. Everyone hoped, James hoped, his son would never be needed to...used as an assassin. James believed Harry would have his mother. You know he would not have risked them both."
"No matter what you have done Albus, you couldn't replace his father in Harry's heart," Remus said, "He's out there right now and he doesn't know the truth. He's out there- your champion, willing to die- going off to fight Voldemort. I promised him he would never have to do it alone! We have all let him down!"
"I have promised that as well," Dumbledore said grimly. "He has all I have to give. I have done everything I know to do."
Remus left the room and stood aside to let Ron and Ginny Weasley in. They looked at him with eyes filled with worry. He tried to smile at them reassuringly and felt none of it himself.
At three in the morning, Remus was making his way to his rooms when Harry was curled in a fetid cage holding the head of an injured elf and two other members of the Order were sitting quietly in the dark listening to the sound the wheels made on the rails. They were in complete darkness on their way to Basgareth.