Disclaimer: The usual's! *points to previous chapter's*
Chapter 96
Albus woke up feeling rather refreshed, especially now that his rash was gone. Severus had came up a couple of nights before, and after mocking him for a good twenty minutes, finally handed over the antidote. Upon asking how the man had known about his rash, he learned that Harry had ventured down to the dungeons to have a chat with him.
That, of course, had pleased Albus greatly. Hopefully it would make telling Harry the truth a tad bit easier if the boy was still seeking out the man's company on his own.
After a quick shower, he plundered around in his night stand for one of his lemon drops. He then headed down to his office. He had some paper work to finish up plus he needed to contact Kingsley about an order mission the man had just returned from.
His stomach gave a low rumble. 'Hmm, maybe that can wait until after breakfast,' he mused to himself.
Just as he did every morning, he glanced at the clocks tuned to various people on his shelf. The two on the front of the shelf were the ones he normally paid the closest attention to.
Severus Snape: Mortal Peril
Harry Potter: Mortal Peril
Albus nodded. All was as it should be. He then headed out of the door down to the Great Hall, idly wondering if the elves would serve the lemon flavored biscuits this morning.
Perhaps five seconds had passed when Albus came rushing back into the room and looked at the clocks again.
"No!"
He immediately sent his patronus to Minerva telling her to check the dorm for Harry, while he ran down to Severus' quarter's to look for the man there.
"C'mon Harry! Get up!" said Ron as he tied his shoes. It was odd that he was up and moving before Harry was. After his shoes were tied, he got up and moved Harry's curtains surrounding his bed aside and saw that the bed was empty.
He should have known that he didn't sleep later than him. Maybe he was in the common room and he just hadn't noticed him when he headed to the shower earlier.
As he was exiting the dorm, he almost ran straight into McGonagall. "Weasley, is Potter up yet?"
"He's not in his bed ma'am. He's probably in the common room."
McGonagall entered the dorm and looked around. Potters' book bag was still present but his wand was missing.
"Is something wrong, Professor?" asked Ron.
"When was the last time you saw Potter?"
"Last night before we went to sleep."
"C'mon Ron and Harry! I need to run to the lib-," Hermione trailed off as she saw McGonagall standing in the boy's dorm. "Good morning, Professor."
"Granger, have you seen Potter this morning?"
"No ma'am. Is he missing?"
She ignored the question. "Did you hear him leave the bed last night Weasley?"
"No, Professor. He sleeps with a silencing charm on himself and besides, he hardly ever sleeps for more than like four or five hours, so he's most always up long before the rest of us."
She turned around surprised at that. She had no idea. She ushered them fully into the dorm and closed and warded the door. "I need you two to check to see if anything is missing from his belonging's."
"Is Harry missing?" asked Hermione again, her voice showing more alarm than it had a second ago.
"The Headmaster believes he may no longer be on school grounds. Time is of the essence. Please look around."
They didn't see anything missing right off, but neither could open his trunk. Ron suddenly had an idea.
"Dobby!" he called, much to the scandalized look of Hermione.
"Oh, the great Wheazy is calling Dobby! Can Dobby be helping the Wheazy?"
"Harry added you to his trunk's protection's didn't he?"
The elf squinted. "He did," he said cautiously.
"Can you open it for us? We think he might be in trouble and I need to see if his invisibility cloak is missing."
"Oh, Ron, that's brilliant!" said Hermione.
Dobby looked to McGonagall. "Is Harry Potter in trouble?" asked the elf with trepidation in his voice.
"We're unsure Dobby. Please open the trunk if you can so they can search to see what all is missing."
Dobby opened the trunk and Ron and Hermione started going through it. "His cloak is missing."
Hermione sighed. "Thanks Dobby. You better lock it back that way no one else can get in it."
He done so. "Can Dobby help you find Harry Potter?"
McGonagall looked down at the elf. "No one can know that he's missing. Can you turn yourself invisible and search the castle?"
The elf nodded. "I can be doing that. I'll be letting you know what I find out."
"Granger, Weasley, do either of you know where he might have gone?"
"Er ..."
"Where Ron? Harry could be hurt!" said Hermione.
"I've suspected that he's been back to the Chamber of Secret's. I know he went back down there last year because he was covered in dirt when he should have been in bed asleep all night, but I'm not sure about this year."
"Oh, that's not good. He's the only one that can open the entrance to it. Have you checked Professor Lupin's quarter's? Harry stayed there over Christmas break."
"Professor Dumbledore was checking there." McGonagall sighed. "I need you two to go on to breakfast and class and act like nothing is wrong. If anyone asks, tell them Harry got sick last night and is in the infirmary."
"But Professor," said Ron, "we want to help you find him."
"No. No one can know that we can't find him. Maybe Dobby will get lucky and find him in some obscure part of the castle asleep. Act like nothing is wrong, and at the end of the day, head up to the infirmary to take him his homework. I'll meet you all there before dinner and update you. Now go on."
They scowled but headed down to breakfast.
Albus was frantic. Severus quarter's revealed nothing missing except for Severus himself, his death eater robes and the mask. He was currently on his way to Lupin's quarter's to see if Harry had stayed there.
As soon as Lupin opened the door, the Headmaster entered the room. "Is Harry down here with you?"
"No. He stayed in the dorm last night. Why?"
Albus sighed. "Because he's missing. His and Severus' clock showed Mortal Peril this morning and I was hoping that they were broken. I have Minerva checking the dorms and asking his friends."
Remus grabbed his cloak. "I'll go check Grimmauld Place."
"He's not there. I've already checked."
"Where could he have gone?"
"I don't know. The fact that Severus is gone bothers me as well."
"Surely you don't believe Severus would take Harry to Voldemort do you?"
"Of course not," scowled Albus. "I'm afraid that Harry might have received another vision and thought that he needed to rescue Severus."
"I thought they had stopped."
"They had, but that doesn't mean one couldn't suddenly break through if Tom became angry enough."
"Harry knows not to go off on his own like that, especially doing something as suicidal as trying to rescue Severus." 'Unless, he thought he was about to be responsible for another death,' Remus thought with horror.
"I'll contact Kingsley, Tonks, and Moody and have them start looking around. Right now, everyone is going to be under the impression that Harry has developed a case of Dragon Pox, since he never received it as a child and is in the private room in the infirmary. I need to go discuss this with Poppy but we have to carry on as normal. No one can know that Harry is not in the castle."
"I cannot lose Harry, Albus. Especially not so soon after Sirius."
"Hopefully Severus and Harry are together and Severus will be able to -"
Suddenly a cat patronus bounced into the room. "Not here. No idea."
Albus sighed with frustration. This was not good.
After talking for another minute, Remus went to breakfast (after more protesting that he should be out looking for him, not sitting around the castle) and the Headmaster headed up to the hospital wing.
"Poppy, I need your assistance."
"Of course Albus, what is it?"
They went into her office and erected privacy barriers. "I need you to set up the private room like you would if someone had a case of Dragon Pox."
"Does someone have a case of Dragon Pox?"
"No. But we're going to say that Harry showed up in the infirmary last night itching with whelps on him. You are currently trying to rule it out."
"Why?" demanded Poppy.
"Because no one can find him and my clock has him in Mortal Peril."
Poppy gasped but nodded. She immediately set out to fix things up the way she would need to.
Albus was currently in his office. Just like before, all of his searching spells hared off on a wild tangent or fizzled out completely. The clocks had not budged from Mortal Peril so he knew that both of them were still alive, but that didn't make him feel much better.
What in the name of Merlin could have put them both in that danger?
"Headmaster?"
Albus looked up at the Bloody Baron. "Yes Baron?"
"Potter is not in the Chamber of Secret's, nor in any of the other places we ghosts have come across him before."
"He's been back to the Chamber?"
The Baron nodded. "He went down a few times last year. Once it became general knowledge where the entrance was, us ghosts became able to go down there as well."
Albus sighed. "Thank you for looking Baron. How did you know he was missing?"
"We are ghosts, Albus. We know quite a few things that goes on, plus the Grey Lady was in the infirmary this morning when you talked to Madam Pomphrey."
"Do you know what caused them to leave the castle?"
The Baron tilted his head to the side. "No Headmaster, but if you wish I could ask some of the other ghosts. They may have seen something."
"I would appreciate it Baron. Thank you."
Madam Pomphrey sighed. She had just finished checking over most of the students that had contact with Potter last evening when the boys friends came in the infirmary.
"Have a seat, you three. I'll be with you in a minute." After grabbing their medical folders, she returned to them. "Stay still, I need to scan you to make sure none of you managed to contract what Potter has."
"Has he been found?" whispered Hermione.
She shook her head. "Bite down on this Longbottom and hold it in your mouth for 20 seconds."
"But I had Dragon Pox when I was a kid, Madam Pomphrey. I can't get it again."
"It doesn't matter. I have to check you regardless."
Neville huffed as he put the sponge like object with goo on it in his mouth. 'When Harry's found, assuming he's alright, I'm gonna smack him upside his head for making me go through this,' he thought with annoyance. The goo tasted absolutely awful.
McGonagall came in the room just as the medi-witch had finished up her scans. "These three are fine as well. None of them are sick."
"Very good. You guys go on back to class. You can bring Potter's homework to him after dinner."
"Did Dobby find him, Professor?" whispered Hermione.
His friends all frowned even deeper when she shook her head no.
"Why did he run away?" asked Ron - also keeping his voice down. "He seemed to be fine yesterday."
"I don't know, Mr. Weasley. Run along. I'll speak to you all again after dinner."
Madam Pomphrey watched as the trio walked out of the door, then looked over at Minerva. "Has anyone found Severus, yet?"
"No. Albus still believes that they are together. I just hope that if they are together, Severus can get Potter out of whatever he has gotten himself into."
Poppy nodded and headed off to her office to finish up her paperwork. Since the school was going to be under the impression that Potter had Dragon Pox, she had to keep up the illusion by checking everyone the boy had contact with - to make sure that it didn't spread. Otherwise, people would start asking questions.
By 10pm, Albus had put together a rough time line of what had happened.
Simon the Sinful had seen Snape leave the castle, apparently under no duress, around three in the morning. That most likely meant the man had been summoned.
The Fat Lady recalled her portrait being opened from the inside by an invisible person around that time as well. She said that it happened a lot and after a while began ignoring it.
That must have been Harry leaving.
The shepardess painting by the entrance said that she saw the castle's front door open twice that morning, but didn't see anyone actually opening it either time.
That had been both of them leaving the castle. Severus using a spell to not be seen and Harry using his cloak.
But what would make Harry chase after Severus without letting anyone know where he had been going?
A chill ran down Albus' spine. Harry must have seen a vision where Snape's cover had been blown and went to help him.
"Foolish, foolish boy," he muttered.
Albus spied a series of maps he had spread out on his desk. He had been going through some of the memories Severus had let him keep copies of in an effort to locate Voldemort's base. They had both long speculated that it was located in an unplottable county, as neither could really figure out where it was. Unfortunately, he wasn't any closer now to locating the place than he had been before.
Around 1am, he had memorized certain areas in Severus' memories that he believed he could apparate to, and headed out of the castle. Once at the gate, he thought of each place and turned on the spot.
And he went nowhere.
'How did Harry follow Severus?' Albus wondered with a frown.
Feeling disheartened, he headed back up to his office to see if he could come up with any more ideas.
"I'm worried, Ron."
"So am I, but there's nothing we can do."
"I wonder if Professor Dumbledore sent Professor Snape off to see if he could find Harry?"
"You don't reckon Snape took Harry to You-Know-Who do you?"
"Of course not, Ron. Professor Dumbledore trusts Snape and so does Harry."
"Right. Just saying."
"Why didn't you say anything about him going back to the Chamber of Secrets last year?"
"I didn't figure that he wanted anyone to know. Besides, he started going back down there during that time that I ... er ... was acting like a git to him."
"You still should have told someone. He could have gotten hurt down there."
"Hermione, when he's found, you are not going to nag him about going down there."
"I don't nag, Ronald. Besides, Professor Dumbledore should be informed."
"I'm sure, McGonagall's told him by now, anyway."
"Why did he run off like this on his own? He doesn't have us to help him if he get's caught up in anything."
Ron's eyes widened at Hermione. "Hermione, Harry is perfectly capable of taking care of himself."
Hermione looked at him incredulously.
"Okay, so I admit when it comes to his personal self, he's a bit of an idiot, but when it comes to him using magic, he surpasses us all. He's also got that bit of Slytherin in him that's sneaky. When he's found, unless you want him to become annoyed at you, you need to relax a little. Don't harp on him about not telling anyone that he had been back to the Chamber of Secrets. I'm sure he had a reason to not tell someone in the first place. Besides, it's over and done with. I've not seen him dirty any this year, so I doubt he's been back."
"But what if Salazar Slytherin, or You-Know-Who for that matter, left something down there that could harm him."
"Then I'm sure it already would have."
"I ... I'm sorry Ron, it's just that I'm worried. He's always had at least one of us with him on his 'adventures', and now that he doesn't, I'm afraid that he's not going to make it."
"He has, but in the end, he's ultimately faced everything alone. He was alone during our first, second, and fourth year whenever he faced You-Know-Who. I have faith in him, Hermione. You should too. Besides, if You-Know-Who did manage to get Harry, then Snape is probably with him right now. I'm sure Snape will be able to rescue him."
Hermione frowned, but nodded. "When did you become so reasonable?"
Ron snickered. "Harry has a way of making a person grow up, at least a little bit."
"It's to bad that he had to grow up the most. I don't think he's ever really had a normal childhood."
"I don't think he ever got to be a child period," commented Ron, sadly.
The two stayed up talking about Harry until midnight which is when the other boys returned to the dorm to sleep, making Hermione have to go to the girls dorm.
Before drifting off to sleep, they both prayed that Harry would be found during the night and that he would be safe.
By 5am the next morning, Albus was utterly beside himself with worry.
Severus' clock had moved to 'Dying' even though Harry's lingered on Mortal Peril.
He couldn't take it anymore. He had an idea, but unfortunately, it wasn't the safest thing to try. However, at this point, he didn't have anything else to lose. He quickly scrawled out a note and left the castle again.
A/N: Hmm... I wonder if this chapter is going to get me flogged because Harry and Severus are suspiciously missing from it. *ponder's around for a little bit*
Most likely.
*hides*
I kinda like the idea that Ron was the one that noticed that Harry had most likely been back to the chamber of secret's. After all, most everyone knows that he isn't the most observant person around. hehe Who thinks this is going to open McGonagall's eyes a bit about how much she really doesn't know about her students? I've always thought that the Deputy Headmistress/Headmaster shouldn't also be a Head of House. It's just too much work for one person.
Anywho, up next, I suppose I'll let you all know what happens with Harry and Severus.
So ... who want's another cliffhanger? Because I can probably give it to you. ;-) *grab's Death Eater's robes and mask and flee's the scene*
Oh .. uh ... I should have it up some time this week. The chapter is more or less finished. It just needs some finessing. :)
And for those threatening disembowelment (there were a few of you actually ^.^), I'm going to be hiding behind Lord Moldy-Shorts, so you have to go through him first. :P