Chapter Fifteen
Peter
It was late afternoon, almost evening. They stood on the shore of the mainland and looked out to sea. Gulls swerved and dived from above and at their feet was a steep rocky cliff with surf pounding against it. Harry looked at the island swimming in and out of a gray ethereal mist.
That's it? he thought, wondering at the sight before his eyes. He looked over at Snape who looked positively ill. "You rescued my mother and helped her escape," he said loudly above the sound of the pounding waves. "How did both of you get off the island?" It was the first time he had talked about his mother directly with the man.
Snape held his broom in one hand and leaned on it as one would a staff. His eyes never left the island. "We swam."
Harry jerked his head back to look at the ocean and the ravenous, churning waters stretched to the little piece of land. Swam!
"You should know how we did it, Potter. Gilly weed." Snape raised himself up to his full height and once again prepared to mount the broom. "When we get there we must walk to the fortress and try and make our way in. Once we reach the gates they will allow me in since they know me. You will be at my side with the invisibility cloak on. That should be the easy part."
Harry nodded and shifted his broom to another hand. He had been mildly surprised to discover Snape was a good rider. It had been a long trip taking several hours and he felt cramping in his back and arms. He could only imagine how the older wizard felt, and yet, Snape gave no sign of being pain. As always the man's face was unreadable.
"What is it like over there?" he asked.
Snape turned to him and sighed deeply before answering. "There will be patrols so we must go in at dusk. That leaves little time for error. The executions are scheduled for midnight. There are wizards...werewolves... walking wolves around the perimeter. Vampires patrol at night."
"Death Eaters...?" Harry began.
He shook his head and talked over Harry's words "...are not wasted in guarding the fortress. The Dark Lord uses them as body guards and to carry out his tasks." He continued to describe the island. " There are bogs along the shores filled with Inferi. We cannot use fire to keep them off us so we must stay to the path. Do not disturb the waters along the way; they sense it."
Harry once again felt himself involuntarily shiver. "What else?"
"As we near the fortress there is a deep chasm where liquid fire burns eternally in the depths. It looks impassable as there is no bridge." Snape studied his face as if looking for weakness. "There is an incantation few know about in which there is an invisible surface allowing you to walk across the abyss. Once across, Dementors surround and guard the outer walls of the fortress. Wizards riding thestrals also cover the area and use many devices to detect movement. The road itself is treacherous and difficult. One person can do it but the chances of two going across without being seen are small. I think if you wear the cloak it will help," he finished quickly. "The interior is a maze of halls and corridors and the prisoners are kept below ground in the dungeons. It is a beehive of activity and many creatures abide there. The floor plan changes periodically so it is easy to lose oneself. There is very little in the way of signs to guide one."
Harry nodded with some trepidation. His mind once again strayed to the journey his mother and Snape had made. "If that's true, how did you get my mother out?"
"I have already told you. I transfigured her into a cat," Snape said patiently. "It's my understanding you saw the same thing done to Mr. Malfoy by Alastor Moody."
Harry remember the incident clearly and remembered Snape had told him what he had done and he had forgotten. "You got her out by turning her into a cat," he stated flatly. "We can't very well do that with all of them." He turned once again and looked at the island hoping somehow Percy had managed to find the Triwizard's cup and take it to the island. He didn't want to tell Snape in case Percy had failed.
"No, we can't," Snape replied succinctly. "We will have to come up with a plan. If we turn loose all of the prisoners that may be enough to cause confusion and a few can escape. I can distract them while you go down to the dungeons in your cloak and free them. I will try to think of a better plan as we go." The dark eyes watched him carefully.
Harry felt their plans, were, at the best, poor and yet knew they had to go on. "Do I need to know anything else? I assume we need to be stealthy and not have any conversations while were moving about. Won't they see us come in on brooms?"
"We are on the far side of the island, which means there are fewer patrols. We must keep close to the water so we may be mistaken for birds." Snape threw his leg over his broom. "Potter...these wizards are formidable. It is likely Lucius Malfoy is there to manage the wardens. Do not let your guard down for a moment. Every type of magic is used and it serves many purposes. You may easily be deceived. Make sure you know who you are speaking to. Test them. Do you understand?"
Harry thought he understood very well. He'd had experience with Polyjuice Potion and knew he could easily be deceived.
"There's something else." Snape reached for the neck of Harry's broom and stopped him from lifting off. "Understand, if we are not successful there is still a task left undone."
Harry knew exactly what he was talking about. "You don't have to tell me."
Snape glared at him, "You don't have any idea Potter of the horror of defeat; particularly of what will happen, not just to your friends but to the whole wizarding world. HE will conquer it all and leave no muggle-born alive and will move on to half-bloods like us."
"Like us?" Harry stuttered, shocked by the words.
Snape nodded and said, "Your mother made enormous personal sacrifices to stop this and she left you a legacy. You may not want the weight of it on your shoulders but it has been placed there nevertheless."
"What do you know of it? Who are you to preach to me?!" Harry asked, suddenly angry. "You've pounded at me from day one, picking away at me like a big vulture. "Why?! How could you? You helped my mother escape from certain death. Loved her! And yet, you have been cruel to me since I walked into Hogwarts. And now you have the nerve to remind me about my duty? I would do this if I had to swim across that sea without Gilly weed. I will find a way to kill Voldemort if it is the last thing I do."
"Are you prepared to die, Potter?' Snape asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yes," Harry answered defiantly. "I am."
"Horribly?"
"I refuse to give up until the moment of my death. What about you?"
"I have laid my life on the line more times then I can count," Snape said. "I have been fighting this war longer then you have been alive. I do, however, have a sense of survival and I've managed to do it against all odds. Whether we like each other or not is not the issue. However, it is most important that you survive and I am your best guide. Believe me I do not care for the companionship anymore then you. I am a realist Mr. Potter. I recognize you are the tool to achieve success- if that is possible. It would be in your best interest to do as I say and not go at this without restraint and self-control."
You bloody, Git! Harry thought and bit his tongue. "I have no wish for power or glory, something you have accused me of from the beginning. I am with you because my mother trusted you and loved you. That was a long time ago and I'm not at all sure your motives haven't been corrupted. I am here because I have no choice. I have no idea why you are with me..."
Snape jerked the broom handle, his face changed dramatically. "What? What did you say?"
Harry shook his broom free and prepared to lift off. "Yes, that's right!" He understood what had shocked the man, "Yes, she loved you. It was in her letter to me. Obviously, she saw something no one else could see. She was your friend, she trusted you and defended you. She risked losing her friends, even her husband-my father-because of her loyalty to you." Harry lifted off a foot from the ground and hovered.
He looked down into his ex-teacher's astonished face and shouted, "Do you know how that hurts me? I have never known her touch, the sound of her true voice, or to look into her face. I haven't treated you badly or hated you because of it even though you are the cause of their deaths."
He continued to rage against the man, shouting against the thunder of the sea, "I will treat my friends like she did. I'll do anything for them...like she did. I will even treat you the way she would have. But you weren't a true friend to her were you? You did something...something you know would have hurt her badly if she had found out... and she never did, did she? Oh yes, Mr. Snape, I know about it. She knew in her heart you felt ashamed about something and you couldn't tell her. She tried to make you tell her didn't she? She tried so hard to help you and you deceived her."
Snape's head was thrown back as he looked up at him suspended on his broom and there was a look of wretched despair that flashed over his face.
"You didn't love her; you just wanted to possess her. So you told Voldemort about the prophecy in hopes my father and I would be killed and then she would have you to turn to in her grief. That's not love, that's self-serving and greedy. You can never say your sorry to her for your horrible betrayal; you can never take it back, and I will never forgive you."
He choked back the torrent of words threatening to force themselves out and looked away from his former hated teacher until he could get his emotions under control. Then he turned back and said loudly, "I'll accept your help until my task is done because I don't know enough and I'm unskilled, but I won't take your abuse anymore. Once it is done, then I think it would be best if we don't cross paths again!"
"Is that a threat, Potter?' Snape asked. His face had turned to a stony glare.
"If that's how you want to hear it, so be it." Harry said staring down on him. "I loath you, I pity anyone who has to be near you and depend on you. Once this is done we will owe each other nothing! If you choose to abandon me now, then do it. I'm going to go and try and save my friends!" Harry took off and headed to the island, riding low with his feet gliding over the waves below and didn't turn back.
….
His mother's voice whispered from the pages as he sat in the sunlight from the window and went through the diary.
"...he was noble and courageous in helping me escape Azkaban," she said of Snape. "You cannot imagine how horrible it was and how much pain and suffering the inmates endured. He risked so much for me and in turn I believe him to be a friend. As a friend, I will love him like I do my other friends and I will do what I must do to keep them all safe. This is not about heroics my son, never let it be about heroics. Let your friends be like family, where every drop of their blood that is spilled is like a drop of your own. You can't survive without them. You're twice as strong if you have friends then if you are alone and there is a magic to it that even the purist blooded wizard would not understand.
Oh, how I miss, Remus in times like these. He was always the peacemaker; always the one who could talk sense into your father. James came to respect my feelings for Severus even though he despised the man. I cannot tell you how much grief that caused me since this was the man who had saved my life and yours. We live in such dark times. The one man I thought would betray me was the one who saved me and the one I loved with all my heart, disappeared and left us all to our destiny." Her voice trailed off into a mournful sigh and did not pick up until he turned the page and read on.
Yes mum, friends are important. Sadly, I'm glad you didn't live to find out how many of those friends lied to you and betrayed you, Harry replied in his own mind.
…...
Peter Pettigrew was on several missions; one not directed by his master and one that was. He had played the role of traitor many times and knew the subtleties of it. He realized he was deceiving his master and yet he knew he had a debt to repay. It was a debt that could not be ignored and might mean his own death. However, Peter believed his finest talent was cleverness and sneakiness. If at all possible he was going to complete the task and return to his master's side in a very short time. When the actual events occurred, they would be blamed on Malfoy.
Peter reached for the dead body of the Weasley boy and prepared to do a side-along apparation. This was the task his master had sent him to do; to take the dead body to Azkaban, a task that was abhorrent even for someone as low as he. However, it provided an opportunity to complete his other secret task. He pulled the object from its hiding place and with a wave of his wand, transformed it into a much smaller object which he hid within the body cavity. He studied the effects and decided that no one would ever search the body and therefore it would remain undetected. Satisfied with the results, he groaned and reached for the dead boy's arm. Side-along apparation with a corpse was said to be fairly disgusting, and he was not looking forward to it. He had only to touch with his fingers and then disapparate. He would later recall the sensation of coldness when his flesh mingled with that of the dead boy; a sensation that lasted for a very long time.
…...
Remus had not slept through the previous two nights and was becoming more agitated. The new full moon was not far away. He mentally laughed at that as he thought about it. Upon consideration it was the least of his worries considering they were all scheduled for execution, as the Daily Prophet was now claiming twice a day in the paper, at midnight that very night. He was sure what was written would not be actually happened within the confines of the prison. There was no one here that was going to give details to the outside world and he was sure as he sat in his empty cell that his fate was going to be much worse then the others.
He had just finished the roll call he made every hour on the hour, so that people would continue to talk to each other and stay in contact when they could. It helped to hear the sound of other people after the Dementors had left the area. He was just beginning to feel the warmth, what little there was of it, return to the air when another figure emerged dead center in the corridor. Lupin peered through the slits in the metal door and immediately felt an animalistic rage flood his entire body.
"Pettigrew, you rat!" he shouted and threw himself bodily against the door. "Dare to open this stinking door Peter, just once, and I will rip you apart!"
Others along the corridor chimed in. It wasn't until Lupin heard Molly Weasley's shriek that he knelt and looked through the opening again. Peter was using his wand to lift a body to hang on the wall. And with increasing horror, Lupin realized it was hanging across from Molly and Arthur's cell and it was the body of their son, Percy Weasley.
"My god, Peter," he shouted. "What have you become...you... you loathsome creature!"
Ginny screamed and Lupin could tell Fleure was trying to console her. Molly was in hysterics and the twins and Bill were shouting out foul language at the small shaggy wizard who had transformed from his animagi form to his human form.
Peter ignored their curses and taunts and hurried to Lupin's cell. He waved his wand and unlocked the door and simultaneously waved it again and silenced Lupin, paralyzing him and pressing him up against the back wall. "I don't have time, Remus," he muttered in terror. "I'm leaving you something. Potter is coming for you and the Dark Lord has set a trap. I didn't kill the Weasley boy. We took this from him when he was captured. Now, I must go. My debt is paid. Tell Harry that. My debt is paid." He stepped back, his wand still pointed at Lupin who was wiggling under the spell that held him trapped and silent against the wall.
The door clanged shut. The torches along the walls continued to flare bright and Lupin threw himself across the floor as soon as Pettigrew withdrew the incantation. He watched as the wizard stood outside his cell and waved his wand one more time. The dead body on the wall convulsed and a small yellow light floated from it and into Remus' cell. As soon as it was done Peter scuttled down the corridor with the Weasley family shrieking at him in their grief.
Remus turned and dropped to the floor with his bottom on the cold hard-packed soil and looked at the object Pettigrew that had transformed and placed on the floor of his cell. It was the Triwizard cup.
A portkey! he whispered in awe.