Time to Return
The days slowly trickled by as Harry remained locked in the room. By his estimation he had been in there for at least two weeks if not more and had only left the room when Snape let him use the bathroom or wash up. The whole situation reminded him horribly of the summer before going into his second year. The Dursley's had locked him in his room as well but at least that time he had furniture and a window to stare out of. And eventually Ron and his brothers had come in their flying car and freed him. He had no illusion that anyone would be coming to free him this time.
He wondered if someday, far into the future, assuming he lived that long, if we would look back over his life and find these situations funny. He doubted it, but the thoughts amused since nothing else would.
When Snape would enter to bring him food they almost never spoke or if they did it was short and to the point. Occasionally Snape might mention what Voldemort was doing to try and find him or that the Daily Prophet was only writing about his disappearance every other day instead of every day, but they did not talk about any of the stuff that Harry was dying to ask.
He hated the fact that he hadn't gotten any closer to finding a Horocruxes the entire summer and still had no clue what the last two were. He still had to find the cup and the locket and only had feeble guesses as to what the last two were. Dumbledore had strongly thought one was the snake and the other was something of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, but what it might be and how he could get them, let alone destroy then, he had no idea.
If anyone might know, it would probably be Snape, but how could he ask the insufferable man without giving away what he was searching for. Harry doubted that Snape was on Voldemort's side, he would have turned him in by now, but he couldn't risk it in case he was. There were just too many "ifs" and dead ends.
Finally the day came when Snape entered the room and said he would be leaving soon.
"The train will be leave in three days," he said as he the door burst open and the man strode in wearing his typical solid black attire. "I think it is close enough that you can leave without a great risk of being attacked. But you should keep the fact that you've returned as quietly as possible or the Dark Lord may try to get you before going to school, understand?" Harry nodded dully. A month of captivity had zapped all of the energy from him and when Snape asked him these closed ended questions he didn't even bother with responding anymore.
"I think it would be best if you didn't say it was I who you were staying with over the summer," Snape said slowly. Harry let out a snort of laughter.
"What?" He asked impatiently.
"You make it sound like I'm here by choice," said Harry flatly.
"Well today you can leave and go get yourself killed for all I care. I got you through the summer and you're still alive so I did the best I could. Just don't do anything stupid while your at school and don't wander off with that insufferable know it all Granger or your side kick Weasley or you'll find yourself with the Dark Lord quicker than you can say 'run.' Got that?"
Harry nodded again, he could tell that Snape was actually being serious; he did not want Harry to get caught.
"So if I'm not supposed to say you were locking me up the whole summer then what am I supposed to say? I'm sure some people might be a little curious as to where I was for a solid month and who had me," he asked, barely keep the annoyance out of his voice.
"You like the attention, I'm sure you can make up some cock-a-bull story. You did it all the time when I was your teacher," he sneered. Harry choose not to respond to the snide comment, instead changing the conversation in a direction he'd been dying to bring up for a month and if he didn't ask now, he might never get the chance to.
"Do you know of any objects or anything that the Dark Lord has trying to get recently?" He asked, taking a giant risk but trying to be as general as possible. If he was leaving that day then he had to try and get some clues as to where the Horocruxes were.
"Why would you ask that?" Asked Snape suspiciously.
"Just curious," Harry replied innocently.
"Even after you have learned to close you mind, you are as easy to read as a book Potter," Snape said. Harry raised an eye brow at the back handed compliment. He had in fact been working on closing his mind everyday since Snape had captured him. He would hope that he had finally gotten it.
Snape continued on as if he hadn't just given Harry the first compliment of his life, "Obviously you're lying but I assume it has something to do with what you and Dumbledore were doing last year. As to your question, yes, the Dark Lord has been trying to find a way to get into Hogwarts for some time now, but the spells that Dumbledore left in place make it almost impossible for him to enter."
"What does he want in Hogwarts?" Asked Harry.
"I do not know, but he has been devising a plan to get in all summer," replied Snape. "Ever since Dumbledore died he's been obsessed with getting in. He hasn't discovered a way yet but he has people working night and day to break the defensive spells and charms that are keeping him out."
"Then how is it safe for everyone to be returning to school if he trying to break in there," asked Harry.
"Well I would assume that the ministry and the Order do not know of his plans so they would have no reason to fear re-opening," Snape said dryly.
"So you're just going to let everyone return and possible be killed without any warning?" Asked Harry in disbelief. "I thought you're supposed to be on Dumbledore's side and he would never want that to happen."
"Relax Potter don't get all dramatic yet," his former potions professor sneered. "Why do you think I just told you? The Dark Lord isn't even close to breaking through but if he does discover a way, I can just send you an owl and you can go save everyone. Isn't that what you like to do anyways?"
Grinding his teeth, Harry glared up at him. No matter what, some things would never change and their hatred of each other was one of those things.
"So where am I supposed to go, Sirius's place?" Asked Harry angrily.
"I was under the impression that it is now your place," Snape said, painfully shoving the fact that Sirius was dead right into Harry's face. "But no, you can not go there. The Order no longer uses that place as Head Quarters. They seem afraid to since I know the location," he remarked dryly. "Go to the Weasley's home, I'm sure they will be more than willing to take you in."
"And how do you expect me to get there, you have my wand, remember?" said Harry, raising his eye pointedly. "Or should I start walking now?"
"Even after a month of being locked up you still have a large enough ego in you to support a hundred men," breathed Snape, eyes flashing heatedly. "I will give you your wand back, but I might suggest you keep a better watch on it. The next person who gets it might not give it back."
"Perhaps you had better start being a bit kinder to me," Harry snapped, clinching his fists. "I could go straight to the press the moment I return and tell them it was you who took me. I'm sure you pals and precious Dark Lord would love to read that article."
"And I am sure you would love another article about yourself on the front page," said Snape. "However, if you were to do that then any assistance I may be able to provide you would be gone. And from the looks of things, you could use all the help you can get."
Fuming and not having any response to that, Harry crossed his arms. "Fine, I won't say it was you, but you have to do something for me. If I hear about you doing anything with the other Death Eaters that harms people then I will not hesitate to say something that might get you caught by the ministry or at least get you in trouble with the Dark Lord."
"Do not give me ultimatums Potter," said Snape. "You will not say my name because it will hurt you as much as it hurts me if I'm caught helping you. The Dark Lord will know that I informed you of his plans and he will try that much harder to catch you sooner than later," he advanced into the room, walking straight up to Harry. "And that means that you can tell no one at all. As I told you before, there is a spy in the Order," seeing Harry open his mouth he held up a hand. "No, I still do not know who it is, but I guarantee you that there is at least one there. When you leave you must go straight to the Weasley's then go to school. Maybe you can even make yourself useful and discover what the Dark Lord is searching for. Whatever it is, he is in a great hurry to retrieve it."
Nodding his head a fraction, Harry sighed. "Fine I won't say anything but I still don't fully trust you."
"That is your choice, but don't let your personal feelings get in the way of what Dumbledore wants us to do," said Snape shrugging as if he could care less about how Harry felt about him.
An uncomfortable knot had formed in Harry's stomach which seemed to happen every time Dumbledore's name was mentioned. Eager to leave the presence of the man who had killed him, Harry looked pointedly at the door. "Can I go now?"
Reaching into his robe, Snape pulled out Harry's wand and handed it to him. "Yes."
Grasping the wand in his hand, Harry stared at it intently. This had been the moment he had been waiting for ever since the moment he had witnessed Dumbledore's death. Snape was before him with his wand pocketed and Harry finally had his wand out and ready. He looked up at dark, greasy haired man who was standing there, arms firmly crossed with a sneer on his face. Harry could tell that the he was waiting to see what he would do, if Harry would be able to leave the man he had sworn he would kill alive.
Sighing, Harry lowered the wand to his side. He still hated Snape but if what he'd said was true, then he was his only hope at destroying Voldemort. For now he would let him live. Snape nodded, turned and swept out of the room, his cloak billowing behind him.
"Come Potter, you can not dissaparate in the house," he said without glancing back. Slowly, Harry followed him out of the room he had been kept prisoner in for almost a month.
He walked down the same steps that seemed like a life time ago and followed Snape through the tiny, unchanged living room to the front door. Hanging on the door knob was a tattered black cloak that Snape grabbed and hand to Harry. "Put this on and cover your head. We don't want you being seen incase my house is being watched. Apparate right outside of their yard, you won't be able to get any closer than that."
Nodding, Harry pulled on the cloak and pulled the hood up. Looking back at Snape, he saw the man starring at him oddly.
"What?"
"You don't look bad in black," Snape said with a smirk.
Glaring, Harry turned and reached for the door. "Don't try to contact me unless I contact you first," he heard Snape say as he opened the door and stepped out, breathing in the fresh air which he hadn't experience in what seemed like forever. The sun was about three quarters of the way down and the neighborhood looked at trashy and beat up as ever, but Harry couldn't help but feel the enormous relief of being able to walk where he wanted again.
With a soft click the door shut firmly behind him and Harry quickly remembered that he was outside of Snape's home, definitely not the safest place to be. Concentrating with all his might, Harry picture the spot right beyond the Weasley's home where he and Dumbledore had apparated just a year before. The uncomfortable sensation of being compressed from all angles surrounded him, knocking the air from his lungs as he felt himself successfully apparate to the spot.
He hadn't received his Apparation license yet, but he wasn't too concerned at the moment, his only thoughts were on his happiness at being away from Snape finally. He walked up to the house, passing the small sign reading The Burrow and went up to the front door. Knocking loudly, he waited for someone to come and answer. He deeply hoped that he hadn't come when no one was home.
"Who's there?" Asked someone from behind the door. Harry had forgotten about the stupid questions that the Ministry was telling people to ask.
"Harry," he said.
"Harry who?" Asked the voice from within.
"Harry Potter," he said irritably.
There was a long moment of silence then the voice, who Harry had finally realized was Mr. Weasley asked, "how can you prove that?"
"I don't know, ask me a question," he snapped. This was not the reception he had expected but he could understand Mr. Weasley's doubt since he had been gone for so long.
"Wait here for one second," Mr. Weasley said. He's probably calling the Ministry Aurors or something, Harry thought dryly.
Several moments later anew voice greeted him. "Harry, is that really you," asked Hermione tentatively.
"Yeah Hermione," he said softly. It was good to hear her voice again.
There was another moment of silence then she asked, "what did Slughorn give us at his party last year?"
Harry smiled. "I couldn't tell you, I never went to one."
"Harry," came Mr. Weasley's voice, "how do we know your not here against your will? That someone is not waiting for us to open the door?"
"Mr. Weasley," said Harry flatly. "I spent the entire summer before being caught pushing you guys away so that you wouldn't get hurt. I would never, no matter what they did to me, come back here and allow any of you to be caught."
He heard a sigh of relief come from within right before the door was pulled forward and a large amount of brown bushy hair was shoved into his face as Hermione grasped him tightly in a hug. "We were so worried abut you," she sobbed, her entire body shaking horribly. Over her, Harry could make out many red headed face starring intently at him. Hermione finally released her death grip and stepped back, allowing Harry to walk into the house.
It was such a weird feeling to see everyone again after so long. For a while it had seemed like he would never see a familiar face again except for Snape's.
Walking in, Harry saw Ron standing awkwardly next to his father. He looked very pale making his red hair stand out even more. Coming up to him, he gave Harry a tight, one armed hug, gripping his shoulder stiffly, "it's really good to see you mate," he said, looking Harry up and down as if to make sure he was real. "We thought… well… you know; it had been so long and not even a word from anyone," he shrugged slightly, his eyes still searching Harry up and down.
Looking at each face lined with worry, Harry felt awful that he had put them through that. He had asked Snape once, a few days after the kidnapping if he could at least write to someone and let them know he wasn't dead, but Snape had firmly refused saying that if anyone intercepted the letter and traced it then it would be over for both of them.
As soon as Ron stepped back enough to give her room, Harry felt himself pulled into a bone crushing hug by Mrs. Weasley who had tears streaming down her face. "Oh Harry dear," she wept. "Are you okay? Will of course you not!" She exclaimed answering her own question and pulling Harry in tighter. "You poor thing, you look awful did they not feed you at all? Oh it was just terrible, I am so thankful you're safe."
Blissfully she released him and Harry gratefully felt the air come back into his lunges, not that he minded Mrs. Weasley's hugs. Those had always been one of the best parts when coming over to the Burrow. She was the only person he had felt hug him like a mother would.
"Harry are you sure you're alright?" Asked Mr. Weasley.
"Yeah," said Harry nodding, "I'm fine."
"Then we need to get you to the Order as soon as possible, we've had almost every member searching for you every second of the day," he said. "You'd been gone so long that we weren't sure if there was much hope left, but we figured if, will…we might have heard…" he turned akwardly away, unable to finish.
"You thought they would probably let everyone know I was killed," Harry completed for him quietly.
"We figure You Know Who would want to brag about it or something," said Bill stepping up next his father and shaking Harry's hand gravely. "When we heard no word for so long, no one knew what to think."
"What happened?" Asked Ron weakly, he was still starring at Harry like he was a ghost.
"We need to get to Head Quarters first, then he can tell us what happened," said Mr. Weasley firmly. "We'll all be safer there anyways."
There was a murmur of consent by everyone and they quickly prepared to leave. Mr. Weasley led them out of the house to a point where they could disapparated, the rest of the Weasley's, Hermione, and he followed quickly behind on his heels. As they walked, Harry glanced at Ginny who was a few steps to his side. They met eyes briefly before she looked back to the ground. Harry had never seen her beautiful brown eyes so full of pain before. The thought of how she must have felt made him sick with guilt. He remembered all too clearly the long talk they had had on the train ride back. Her eyes had been just as teary as they were now.
"Molly, you take Ginny, I'll take Harry," said Mr. Weasley. "You don't have your license or know where the new Head Quarters are," he said to Harry's frown. Nodding, Harry watched him grip his arm tightly then felt the unpleasant feeling of Dissaparration once again.
Author notes – hope you liked that! Let me know if there are any areas you think I can improve on (grammar, word choice, dialogue ect...) I appreciate any advice, the next chapter will hopefully be up soon. It just takes so long to be validated!