Chapter 13
Lucius, after sending Severus away, was left alone in his chambers. He sat in his chair resting his chin on one hand, appearing to be deep in thought. He sat in this manner for a time before getting up to report to his lord Severus' answer.
* * * * *
It was several hours later into the night after Dumbledore had informed the select members if his staff of Severus' and Harry's condition. Only he, Minerva, Sirius, and Remus remained in his office.
It was Minerva who finally broke the deafening silence that the atmosphere bore. "Albus, we cannot sit here and do nothing," she said in a tone that challenged anyone to the contrary opinion.
Dumbledore slowly stood from his perch and walked across the room, stopping to stare out of a window. "I know how you must feel, Minerva," he said. "For I feel the same. But we have no idea of where to even begin looking for them. If Voldemort becomes aware that we are actively searching for our missing charges, it could persuade him to act on whatever his plans may be quickly. At this moment, the only thing that Severus and Harry have on their side is time. Voldemort is not a rash man. He will bide his time and wait for an opportune moment.
Sirius, who had not brought his face from his hands all this time, looked up at the elder man. "Professor, how do we even know that they are still alive?" His voice was dry and strained, indicating that he had very little hope to think otherwise.
Dumbledore's answer was thoughtful but detached. "Very simple, Sirius, he has not yet made his return known to the world."
* * * * *
Ron sat in a chair in the Gryffindor common area waiting for morning. Every so often he got up and paced the room in an agitated manner. At times he paused in front of a window or the stairs to his dormitory room. He couldn't bring himself to go back to his room where he knew that he would have to look at Harry's empty bed. He wondered how he was going to explain this to Hermione, let alone the rest of Gryffindor. He wondered if he would ever see Harry again.
* * * * *
Lucius entered the same large room that he had seen his school mate tortured in hours ago. The room was now empty except for two forms, one in a chair and the other hovering around it. Lucius sighed inwardly as he made his way to the two forms. He cursed himself, feeling his stomach lurch at the news that he was about to deliver to his lord. It was exactly how Severus had described it hours earlier.
As me made his way closer, he could make out the faces of the two figures. The hovering figure was glaring menacingly at him. It seemed that Pettigrew had not taken the earlier incident lightly.
Voldemort was looking over him with a curious eye. "Why have you not brought Severus with you, Lucius? I trust that you had no trouble with him?" Voldemort's voice was composed but held a bit of skepticism.
Lucius cursed himself again when he again felt his insides turn. Bowing, he replied in a calm voice. "Yes, my Lord. Severus, it would seem, is unwilling to join our cause."
Voldemort's eyes narrowed and his face deformed into a grimace. Pettigrew, on the other hand, seemed rather elated at the news. His grin widened and he left his master's side to get a closer look at Lucius, now circling around the man.
Lucius rose to his full stature, watching the man idly when the small man came into his field of vision.
"There is something that you are not telling me, Lucius," Voldemort said shrewdly.
"My Lord," Lucius said, feeling the muscles in his abdomen tighten, "I tried reasoning with him but to no avail."
Voldemort began fingering his wand casually.
Lucius' keen eye spotted the movement and picked up on its meaning. "He may still be useful to us in this way, Lord Voldemort."
"Yes, Lucius," Voldemort hissed. "More useful than you can imagine."
* * * * *
Harry sat in a corner watching his Potions professor paced back and forth, every now and then stopping abruptly as if an idea had struck him, then shaking his head in annoyance and recommencing his pacing. The boy had wrapped himself back into the man's cloak once the cold had gotten to him. Each second that passed by in silence aggravated his nerves more and more. It was his fate that the man was contemplating, his fate that he was not being allowed a say in.
Finally mustering up the courage, Harry spoke up in a small voice, "Professor?"
Severus ceased his pacing but did not look at the boy. "What is it, Potter?" he replied in a tired, agitated voice.
Harry pushed himself to his feet in order to make him feel less like a student addressing a professor and more like a man addressing another man. "I was wondering if I mightn't be of some help," he answered in a voice that sounded more nervous than he had hoped it would.
Severus rolled his eyes before shutting them and turning back to the boy. "And what help do you think you could possibly be?" he said, opening his eyes to look at Harry after he finished the sentence.
Harry swallowed but did not back down. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm involved in this as well," he said in a voice that he never imagined that he would use to address one of his professors.
"This isn't one of your little adventures, Potter. In case you haven't noticed, Dumbledore is not here to save you." he snapped.
Harry glared back, his cheeks flushed in anger at the cutting remark. "And how do you propose to get us out of this?" he spat acidly.
Severus let out a sigh. Pointing to a corner toward the back of the cell he said, "Just sit down and shut-up."
Harry was a bit taken aback from the finality of his professor's tone but he didn't budge from where he had firmly planted his feet. "Look, if we're going to get out of here, we're going to have to work together."
Severus bit his lip to keep from resorting to instinctively uttering a snide remark. After a moment in which he used to collect his thoughts, he spoke in a forced calm voice. "There is a cabin. It's at least a week's journey from here on foot but it's our best option of getting back to Hogwarts without having to worry about being pursued by Voldemort."
Harry considered this for a moment before speaking. "Why can't we just aparate once we're out of here?"
"For one, you can't aparate. Two, I don't have my wand to aparate. And three, before we even think about aparating, we have to get out of the area that magically prevents aparation," Severus replied dryly, beginning to massage his temples. "We don't have brooms, so the only option we're left with is to escape on foot."
"But why are we going to the cabin instead of directly to Hogwarts?" Harry asked. "Voldemort's going to be looking for us so wouldn't it be best to get back to Hogwarts as soon as we possible?
Severus sighed. "That's exactly why we're going to the cabin first. It's in the opposite direction of Hogwarts so it'll be the last place that Voldemort will be looking for us."
"I suppose that's settled then," Harry said, a bit surprised at the progress that the conversation had made. But that still left one question. "So, how are you planning to get us out of here, then?"
Severus shot the youth an agitated look. "Don't want a say in that, do you?" He waited until he had received a glare from Harry before continuing to the point in a softened tone. "I haven't figured that far yet."
* * * * *
Lucius stood motionless in front of a large window in a corridor that he had stopped in. He stared out into the sunset with unseeing eyes. In a few hours, he was to bring Potter to his lord to be killed in front of all of his Death Eaters. Severus would be sent back under the imperious curse and used as an inside weapon against Dumbledore. Once he had outlived his usefulness, Severus would be killed by Lucius himself.
Author's Note: Ok, I am so (to the ith power) sorry that it took me so long to update. Thank you to those who were patient with me! And thank you to all of those wonderful people who reviewed :-) I'm just going to assume that you can't aparate without a wand because that assumption is imperative to the rest of the plot line… Anyway, I will never go that long without posting again. I just got back to school. (So much for the August deadline.) So I won't be able to update as often as I would like, but I'll try to update every couple of weeks… or whenever I'm inspired by my reviewers to do so (hint, hint). Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know so I can improve on things!