Chapter Twenty Three
The train rolled through the warm spring day while five people sat silently in the cab of the engine. Lupin thought about each of them; Neville, Hermione, Ron and Snape; most of all Snape. The man sat without moving at the engineer's window and watched the landscape. Rain clouds formed in the west, where the train pointed it's nose.
Remus was very proud of the young people. They showed no fear, only determination. Hermione had a glow in her face which reminded him of Lily Potter. Lily had been half blood and was always campaigning for those who were underdogs- Snape for one. He could begin to see what had made Lily stick up for the man; then, just a boy like the rest of them.
He had meant what he said when he told Snape he would gladly fight with him and die together if need be. Although Snape could fall back into old ways of dealing with people Lupin knew he was loyal to a fault; as was Hermione. Even Ron, the red-headed boy who was there because Hermione was there showed determination and courage. Remus almost allowed himself to smile. He could see the hang-dog love in the boy's face just as James Potter had the look for Lily at the same age.
Oh what a time that was, Remus thought and drifted into his own memories about his long departed friends. The train rolled on.
It grew dark and rain fell.
"Severus," Remus stood and stretched. "Do you know how long it will be?"
Snape shook his head slowly as if he, too, had been lost in his thoughts.
"I'm going back for some more food for dinner," Remus said. Hermione and Ron joined him once again. Neville shook his head at the invitation and Snape glanced at him curiously. Remus smiled to himself. It seemed Neville preferred Snape's company over theirs.
They made their way once again over the coal car. After eating in silence, Remus excused himself. "I think I'd better let Severus have a break. Maybe I can persuade them to come back and rest for a short time. Leave some of that out for them would you?" Hermione and Ron nodded.
Remus made his way back into the cab. The lamp had been relit and the two figures sat in the cab, the low roar of the engine drowning other noises. Neville turned to Lupin as he climbed down the ladder.
Suddenly the train began to slow.
"What is I, Severus?" Remus yelled. "Are we close?"
Snape checked the gauges near his hands and glanced back at Lupin, nodding.
"Neville perhaps you'd like to go back and have something to eat with Hermione and Ron." Lupin was suddenly anxious to have the boy out of the cab. He knew he couldn't unhitch the passenger cars until the all three were together.
"Plans have changed, Remus," Neville said slowly and began to smile. The change was not dramatic but very slow, much like Tonk's metamorphosis. "I think we'll keep the passenger cars. We might need the extra room for the sick and wounded."
Standing in front of him was Albus Dumbledore instead of Neville Longbottom.
Lupin shot a look at Snape who had taken the change in stride, with just a small frown wrinkling his brown. The eyes hardened and he turned to the window without speaking.
"Albus!" Remus shouted. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought it best that Neville remain at Hogwarts where it is safe." Dumbledore said and shrugged. "I think we are about to arrive."
The train was nearing a mountain, its shape almost indistinguishable until lightening sparked across the sky. Lupin leaned out and studied the direction of the rails ahead. They would be entering a tunnel within minutes.
"What about Hermione and Ron?" Lupin asked the two as he ducked his head in just before they entered the tunnel.
"I will watch over them," Dumbledore said.
They entered the tunnel and the backwash of noise from the engine made speaking impossible.
The train slowed to a halt in a large cavern with many shrieks and squeals. Remus had his wand out and ready to jump from the moving train. Snape also had applied the brake and had climbed over the coal car and was ready to jump from the other side. They stopped, and Remus immediately jumped followed by Dumbledore who walked through the center of the large station. He looked as if he were taking an afternoon stroll through the park. He didn't even have a wand in his hand.
"Albus," Remus whispered, "where is your wand?!"
Dumbledore just turned and smiled. "Ah, here they are." Hermione and Ron joined him.
Snape was further to Remus' right. The place was empty.
"Where is everyone?" Hermione whispered. "Are we too late?" They stopped , standing in a semi-circle, wands pointed at five different arched doorways.
Dumbledore shook his head and waved her and Ron to step behind him. They stepped back one step and flanked his sides. "We are about to have company," he said quietly.
"Severus, I think if you take that tunnel over there you will find him."
Snape glanced at the tunnel and then at Dumbledore, frowning.
"It's all right Severus," Dumbledore said, "I think we can handle the rest. Some of our friends have joined us." From a large entryway off to the right and to the end of the cavern over a dozen figures emerged slowly from the shadows. Remus almost laughed with joy, it was Jolie, Gregor, Viktor and a dozen other Romani. His happiness was cut short by a loud growling and thunderous drums. The smell caught up with them before they saw it.
"It's a mountain troll," Ron gasped.
"Here they come, be ready!" Lupin shouted. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Snape make for the tunnel Dumbledore had pointed out.
Harry lay on the floor the third day. Vermilion had recovered enough to sit against a wall next to Moody, who seemed to have slipped into some type of dispirited state and had stopped speaking altogether. The torturers came once a day and each time he would not let the others be taken.
"Thee will die," Verillieon said. "It would be best if thou would let them kill us instead. We would prefer it to being here in this cell." The elf' natural glow seemed diminished in the putrescence of the prison cell.
Harry stared at the elf and rolled his head back and forth, "No." His lips were blistered and parched from lack of water. Although his legs were whole, they were now scarred. The torturers were not concerned about how they looked, they wanted him alive so they could start the process over again. He had refused to scream and they had started taking bets on what it would take and how long he could hold out.
Harry knew he was almost at that point. Each time he'd been dragged to the chamber he felt the warmth of the energy he carried building inside. He knew what it was. When he had been in Dumbledore's office and the Headmaster had frozen time, Harry thought the energy of Fawkes and Hogwarts had been transferred to Neville. He had been wrong, Dumbledore had placed it in him. It was only a matter of learning how to use it; and when to use it. He also knew Dumbledore was using him as a Trojan horse.
The last time they had pulled him up with rope and tackle he had felt himself wanting to use it, wanting to direct it at the two men who stood and laughed as they watched him. He bit his tongue in agony and spit blood out at them. They stepped back and one waved his wand and lit a fire beneath Harry's feet. "Do that agin and will see you dance a jig," the man yelled.
Harry screamed in his mind, his mouth clamped shut against the agonies and his body went rigid and dripping with sweat from his torments.
The light in the cell grew slightly lighter each day and completely dark at night. Harry sat up weakly and spoke to Verillieon, "They will come or I will find a way out of here." He closed his eyes, thankful that it was getting dark in the cell. They would not come in the night.
There was no way for him to know that when he woke the next dayhe was right; his rescuers were on the way. Hermione was stealing the Hogwarts Express and they were truly on their way. Harry watched Shacklebolt, worried for him. The man had stopped banging his head against the wall and had finally stopping moaning.
Harry crawled to him and touched his shoulder. There was no response. As he touched him, he could feel the palm of his hand grow warm and that same strange energy used on the elf flowing out through his hand and into the black man's body. Kingsley rolled to his back, stretched out and seemed to go into a deep sleep.
Verillieon watched and nodded, "Thee has healed him with thy touch as we think thee has done with us. Maybe this human here could be helped as well." He nodded to Moody who lay motionless in the filthy straw. He had not spoken in two days.
Harry made his way slowly the few feet across the obscenely dirty floor and touched Moody's face. He couldn't tell what was happening to him since he had no eyes. Suddenly, Moody seemed to take a deep cleansing breath and he, too, stretched out and seemed to relax and fall asleep.
"They will now sleep until they are rescued, or die, Harry," Verillieon said.
"What did I do to them?" Harry asked.
"They are cocooned," Verillieon said. "Like butterflies. They will stay alive that way a long time."
Harry was able to sleep for short stretches. He was no longer in agony as he was during the torture, but he was exhausted. They did not come for him early in the day nor in the afternoon. He lay on the floor gathering his strength for the next session and wondered what had changed the schedule.
They were running across the dirt floor looking for protection behind loading carts, stacked high with crates. Remus watched Dumbledore for a moment before turning to send a bolt of green light at two men dressed in black robes and white masks; Voldemort's Death Eaters. While Remus watched, Dumbledore extended his hand and a wave of energy swept out and bowled over a dozen goblins mixed with some dog-size spiders, all racing towards them.
Lupin was also surprised to discover that the Romani men used the same method. He knew them to be a people who used wandless magic, but had never seen it done. Remus stepped in beside Hermione who was sending her own version of a petrifying curse at a man. He quickly covered her from the side as they were almost overrun by men pouring out of another tunnel entrance. Lupin found it helpful to step behind some of the petrified people scattered around the area.
"Good job, Hermione!" he shouted and dropped to his knees to roll to one side and avoid a curse. Ron and he almost butted heads as they ducked for cover. "You okay, Ron?" Remus asked.
Ron nodded, his face slick with sweat. He pointed his wand out towards the onrushing hoard and shouted, "STUPIFY!"
Remus took the other side and pointed his own wand, "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"
Harry heard the footsteps clearly. They were coming for him. It was late at night and an unusual time for them to come. What's got them coming now? he wondered.
It was the usual. His hands were tied and he was pulled into the air. The two men stood arguing about something in whispers. Harry strained to hear what they were saying.
"It's a lie!" one said. "Can't no one break into 'ere. They'd get lost no time at'all."
"He said they were acomin'," the other argued. " 'ho am I to tell 'im what's what?"
Harry watched them prepare the vat and drop the bucket of beetles in. They left him suspend while they talked.
"I don't believe it," the fat, greasy one said and spit on the ground.
"We'll you best be believing' it, says I. You wait, 'e'll be callin' us at anytime to go up top."
"I don' wanna be fightin' no wizards like 'em," the fat one said.
"If the Dark Lord calls ya, you'll be fightin' wizards," the other said, matter-of-factly.
The fat man grumbled at his leaner taller partner. "Less jus' get on wid this 'un."
He kicked the clog holding the wheel pulley and Harry slowly dropped down into the vat to his knees.
Think Harry, think. Take your mind off the pain. Now is the time. He focused his mind away from the pain of his legs and onto the two men.
"LET ME GO," he said and let the energy building inside reach out to the men.
It worked. The chamber lit with an eerie light which seemed to emanate from around Harry. They two slowly rewound the rope and pulled him from the vat, swung him to the side and undid the ropes. Harry collapsed on the floor, his own blood staining the ground.
"LEAVE ME," he said, "BRING THE OTHERS FROM MY CELL TO ME."
Snape raced through the darkened tunnel and found the lift taking people to the lower levels. He could hear the noise from the main cavern above him and the shrieks of humans and other creatures all around him as he descended into the dark.
The lift stopped at the bottom-most chamber. He held the lit wand out and followed the short tunnel until he could hear the sound of voices clearly
He stumbled into the chamber just as the two men led the elf, Moody and Shacklebolt in. With one glance he took in the scene. Harry was laying on the floor his legs covered in blood and ragged flesh. He was pushing himself up by his hands. The elf was weak and barely able to walk. Moody and Shacklebolt were like zombies; stopping and standing where they were put. The two men who led them into the room also acted like puppets dancing on the end of a string. Snape could tell Harry was focused on them, using some kind of power to control their minds and manipulate their limbs.
"STUPIFY," Snape shouted and shot a green bolt at the two men. They dropped over like stiff boards. He ran to Harry who had collapsed, shaking convulsively from the pain.
"Hold still, Harry," Snape crooned holding his head and examining the wounds. "I'm going to help you." He raised his wand and a voice he knew, spoke from behind him.
"Oh, I don't think so, Severus." Voldemort stood over them and took the wand from his grasp. "Nice of you to join our little party my old friend."
Snape was on his knees holding Harry. He looked up at the uncovered face of his old master.
"A little bird by the name of Duncan told me you were going to pay me a call," Voldemort grinned, as much as you could call the reptilian face grimacing, a grin. "I haven't seen you for AGES." Voldemort circled them completely ignoring the elf, and the two men still standing to one side. "And you've brought me a little treat," he said. "Mr. Harry Potter. How wonderful."
Snape remained silent and held Harry firmly while his spasms slowed. He had made no sound, his lips almost sealed by dried blood, his eyes unfocused and glazed. Snape sat quietly cradling Harry knowing there was nothing he could do but wait for death.
Harry looked up into his face, and whispered, "Let me kill him now."
Snape shook his head imperceptibly and frowned in horror. He was sure the boy was out of his mind and didn't know what he was saying.
Harry mouthed the words again, "Let me kill him. You have to let me go or I will hurt you."
Snape shook his head again while Voldemort circled like a vulture, rambling on about something Snape was not listening to. Harry pushed his hands away and struggled to disengage. Snape didn't know what he was doing and thought he was fighting the pain again. "What…?" he asked. "HARRY, NO!"
"I CAN DO IT! Let me go. I WILL KILL HIM!" Harry said much louder.
Voldemort heard and began to chuckle and then broke into a hyena howl of laughter.
"Kill…kill me?!" Ha! Hahaheee, Aghhhahaheee."
Harry rolled to one side, out of Snape's arms and looked directly at Voldemort. His hand reached out, fingers splayed and he shouted, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" The three were engulfed in a white light. Voldemort froze, mid-laugh, choking. His snake-eyes widened and protruded as he reached for his throat with skeletal hands.
Snape lay next to Harry and watched in fascination.
Remus stood at the side of the red Hogwarts engine purring on the track and watched as scores of wounded people were led to the passenger cars. Bodies of all kinds of creatures lay piled around them. Hermione and Ron stood on the steps of each car helping people board.
"Where are they, Albus?" Remus searched the cave looking for Snape and Harry. "Shouldn't we go to them?"
Dumbledore looked at him with his cool blue eyes and shook his head.
Lupin was about to abandon the train and head down the tunnel Dumbledore had pointed out to Snape earlier when he saw them. Snape was walking slowly towards them carrying Harry in his arms. Harry's head rested on Snape's shoulder and his eyes were closed. His clothes were soaked in red stain and Lupin knew what it was. He took a running step towards them and Dumbledore caught his arm.
Snape walked past them without looking at either of them. Harry looked up and recognized them. His face was ashen and Remus' heart missed a beat when he looked into his eyes.
He's alive! But my god, what has happened to him! Remus thought and leapt up the steps after them.
An elf followed behind guiding two prone men along on stretchers. Dumbledore bent over them.
Harry opened his eyes and saw black ones staring back at him. Snape sitting near leaning over him. "I thought I would hurt you. Are you all right?" he managed.
Snape nodded, his face grim with concern, "Yes, I'm all right."
"Take me to Nadya," Harry said and collapsed into unconsciousness.
They had been traveling for hours. Lupin glanced in one of the compartment and saw Hermione sitting opposite a familiar woman. There were four others in various stages of repose, all sleeping. On a second look, he realized who the woman was who sat in front of Hermione. Hermione looked up when he opened the door.
"Are you guarding her?" Lupin asked.
She nodded, "Not much to do, Professor. She's out of it altogether." Hermione looked over at Petunia and then back to a book she held in her lap, her wand was in the other hand. Remus shook his head in amazement at her calm.
"You did well back there, Hermione," he managed. "I'm proud of you. You're quite the witch."
She smiled up at him and said, "Thanks Professor. I think I've only just realized that I'm a better witch than I am a muggle. Strange isn't it?" She stared at Petunia. "By the way Harry and Professor Snape are in the end compartment. Would you let me know how he is?"
Remus nodded. "I will Hermione." He closed the door and continued down the narrow corridor.
Lupin found Snape alone in a compartment with Harry. The boy was lying on a seat covered and unconscious. Snape had one hand resting on Harry's chest and was asleep, his head dropping to his chest. He awoke immediately when he heard the catch.
"Is he alright?" Lupin asked entering.
Snape nodded. Lupin sat and watched the rise and fall of Harry's chest. He caught sight of his wounded legs. Snape had done some healing charms but they remained red and blistered.
"Dumbledore said Voldemort was there but we didn't see him. There was so much going on." Lupin rested his head against the seat and watched the sleeping boy.
"He is dead. Harry killed him." Snape said patting the boy's chest without any awareness of what he was doing.
"Dead!" Lupin said.
Snape nodded again.
"How?" Remus asked.
"It's not important. It is over and he is dead." Snape turned away and looked at Harry.
Remus also looked at the dark unmanageable hair coated in filth, the head that was always so familiar, the face reminded him of his own dead friend. They sat in silence as the train rolled through the night.
Harry awoke in the comfort of a bed. It was night and a lamp was lit and sitting on a table. He didn't recognize the wagon but knew he was in a wagon. He rolled his head and caught sight of his glasses resting within arms reach. When he put them on he lay quietly familiarizing himself with the interior and the sounds he was hearing from outside. The door opened and two men stepped in. One was Jolie and the other Snape.
"Hello," he said, attempting a smile.
Jolie looked at him with a serious face. "Mushto hom me di kava tute (I am glad to see you)," he said.
"I am happy to be with you, too," Harry nodded accepting the hand Jolie offered. "I want to see Nadya."
Jolie looked at Snape and Harry tried to rise from the bed. "What is it? Where is she!"
"Calm yourself, Potter," Snape was immediately at his side pushing him gently back into the pillow and holding him.
"Why? What is it Severus?" Harry was panicked.
Jolie bent over the bed and said, "You cannot see your wife because she is having your baby. The midwife is with her even as we speak." Jolie patted him and grinned.
Harry looked at Severus who closed his eyes for a moment and nodded. Harry reached for his hand grabbing it in terror. "She's having it now? I want to go to her."
Jolie sat in a chair and gave a little laugh. "Well you cannot my son. We men must wait; it is always the way."
Snape held onto Harry's hand and Harry didn't pull it away. "Does she know I'm home?"
Snape answered, "Yes. Now you must keep still."
"Don't leave me, all right?" Harry asked pulling at Snape.
Snape nodded and remained sitting at the edge of the bed holding Harry's hand.
Harry lay staring at the ceiling, listening. Later, Harry heard Nadya's sudden wail and grasped the hand tighter, moaning in fear and turning to the Romani, "Jolie, go find out what's wrong."
Then he heard another cry. This came from the one taking his first breath.
Harry sank into the pillow with a sigh of relief and let Snape's hand go. "So what do you think we should name him?" he asked Snape. The black eyes drilled into his. "Well you're his godfather. Don't godfather's do that kind of thing?" Harry grinned sheepishly and closed his eyes to sleep.