66. The Tower

The forest was dark, and my body darted through it like a ghost. No one tree was distinguishable from its brothers, and it felt as though the forest was moving through me rather than I through it, leaving me to run indefinitely in place. My heart pounded in my ears, and my blood rushed through my veins in a panic. My feet pounded against the forest floor, but my passage was surprisingly easy, as though I were flying in a nightmare. The rain slashed my face, pouring down among the tall, narrow pines. I had no spare breath with which to call for Dennis, and could only pray that I might catch him before the creature did.

The thunder threatened to shatter the sky, and had it not been for a bright flash of lightning, I would not have seen him.

I was too late. Dennis was lying on the ground, his face as cold and motionless as Andromeda's had been on that night in the woods near Hunston. I stumbled towards him and collapsed to my knees at his side, my pulse thick and hammering in my head. I could barely hear my own voice as I shook him and said his name. But of course it was for naught.

My limbs were freezing and stiff from the cold and my run through the rain, and my wand arm felt heavier than ten thousand galleons as I lifted it and pointed my wand at the grey, tumultuous sky that showed above the swaying tops of the pines. "PERICULUM!" I shouted, and my shoulder buckled as red sparks shot out of my wand, whizzed into the air high above the forest, and exploded.

But I could barely see or hear them from the ground, and knew that the people in the great hall would not possibly notice the cry for help.

Doing so would disturb the entire feast, but I had no other choice. I had to send my patronus to Severus. Closing my eyes to let the happy memory struggle forth, I waved my wand and called out, "Expecto patronum!"

My raven wavered into existence, bright in the darkness and the rain.

"Dennis Creevey is in the Forest! Come quickly!"

The patronus cawed and, in a heartbeat, was gone, leaving me in near-total darkness again. I was shaking violently but I couldn't allow myself to collapse. Crouching over Dennis's unresponsive body, protecting him, I looked around slowly, straining my eyes through the darkness for any sign of danger.

Another flash of lightning, and I saw it. Wearing Fred's skin, standing among the narrow tree trunks some distance away. Watching.

It was not the first time I had seen this awful imitation of my first lover, but it was the first time that I felt immune to it. Perhaps it was, as Remus had first believed, like a boggart. If I showed it that it had no effect on me, it would disappear.

"You're not him!" I shouted at it.

There was no change, despite what I had hoped. Its eyes kept looking at me, dark and pleading. My heart couldn't help but thud more quickly at the sight of his eyes… his face… his lanky frame…

NO! My inner voice resounded inside my mind. The creature was very powerful, but I would not give in as Andromeda and Nigel Brown and Dennis Creevey had.

I aimed my wand, my arm steady. "REDUCTO!"

Shock rippled through me as I stared at the creature. The spell had done absolutely nothing. The creature did not even stumble backward. It was most definitely a physical being… the spell should have reduced it to ash or vapour in under a second! How was it still standing there, completely unchanged?

The thunder crashed, and primordial fear filled me at the sight of this impervious being. I stared at it, and my heart stopped as it took a small step forward.

On instinct I covered my eyes, bending close to Dennis Creevey's chest. "Go!" I shouted, terrified of what would happen if it touched me. "Go!"

I fell silent, like a child hiding. For a minute there was only the sound of my breathing, the rain, and the distant growling of the sky between crashes of thunder.

Then I heard the soft sound of footsteps walking over the rain-softened forest floor. This was the sole sound the creature made. Only footsteps. No breath.

This was the end. I was going to be taken to some dark place where I could not hear or know anything. No voices, no memories, no way out. The smells of the forest, the rain, the pine needles overwhelmed my senses, and I drank it all in desperately, expecting defeat. I resisted the increasingly strong temptation to look up and see Fred's face as the creature grew closer… closer… closer…

Faint vibrations fluttered in the soil beneath me, breaking me out of my shock. The sensation strengthened, and soon I could hear thunderous hoofbeats approaching. My eyes were still clenched tightly shut as some giant creature galloped through the trees. I could hear it circling Dennis and me, and shuddering, cold gasps overtook my body.

"Young woman!" said a deep and urgent voice. "Look up!"

It was a voice so powerful I couldn't help but obey, and I lifted my head and found myself looking into the strong, rough face of a centaur. Long black hair fell around his strong, taut body. He held a bow in his hands, and a quiver of arrows was strapped across his back. I looked wildly around for any sign of the creature. My gaze found it at once, running away at a great speed through the trees in the distance, completely unimpeded by the centaur's arrow in its back.

"You must leave the forest at once!" the centaur demanded. "Lift the boy to his feet!"

A surge of adrenaline enabled me to stand despite my frozen joints, and I held Dennis's dead weight against my chest, pulling him up by sheer force of will and desperation. I was in awe of the centaur's sheer size as he secured his bow across his back, stepped forward on four legs, and picked Dennis up in his arms.

"Climb onto my back!" he said.

I lacked the mental resources to hesitate and, holding onto his muscle-roped elbow for leverage, dragged myself up onto his broad horse's back.

"Hold on!" he shouted, and no sooner had my arms wrapped around his naked waist than he began to gallop through the forest. Losing all sense of myself, I buried my face in his thick earth-scented hair, shutting my eyes to the rapid passage of the trees on all sides as the thunder roared.

Then I sensed an opening in the air. The rain became harder and colder, and I knew we were out of the forest. I opened my eyes but continued holding on for dear life as the centaur carried Dennis and me up the hill towards the castle at a fierce gallop. Severus, Neville, and Minerva were just rushing into sight at the top of the hill, and the centaur stopped, its body heaving, as he reached them.

Three pairs of eyes widened at the sight of the centaur, whose kind almost never left the Forbidden Forest. Neville stood back in respect, but Minerva charged forward, overcome by the sight of Dennis Creevey, as pale as death, in the centaur's arms.

"What has happened!"

The centaur spoke, but not in answer. "You must all find safety, and be on your guard! Something has happened in the stars!"

Severus surged into motion, his eyes locked on mine as he rushed to the centaur's side, reaching up to help me down. I was still clinging in shock to the centaur's muscled torso, and was unable to make myself let go.

"The boy, Severus!" Minerva demanded, and Severus tore his eyes from me with difficulty, instead taking Dennis into his arms. Neville came to my rescue, and with his help I slid down over the back of the centaur until my feet met solid ground. My legs shook and I struggled to stand, my body aching from the intensity of the ride.

Without further explanation the centaur turned and galloped down the hill into the blackness of the woods. Lightning split the dark sky again, and I stared catatonically after the centaur who had saved me from the same fate as the creatures' other victims.

A hand closed around my wrist. It was Neville. "You're frozen!" he said. In shock, I had to be pulled along as the others hurried back into the castle.

The portraits along the corridor were now in uproar as the thunder boomed outside. "Did you see the creature?" Minerva's sharp voice demanded as she followed after Severus, looking back at me.

"Yes," I said, the important discoveries coming back to me. The words came out of me, cold and shivering, and Neville cast drying and warming charms on me as I spoke and hurried to keep up. "The Reductor Curse didn't even leave a scratch. It made the sound of footsteps, but it had no breath. And the centaur shot it with an arrow but it had no effect."

We'd reached the end of the corridor and Poppy Pomfrey was just coming out of the great hall into the entryway. Her face grew grave at the sight of Dennis in Severus's arms. "Up to the hospital wing," she said.

I caught sight of the Marauder's Map, which must have slipped from my hands and fallen to the stone floor earlier. I bent slowly and picked it up, completely disassociated from the movements of my body. Clutching the parchment to my chest, I stared through the open doors of the great hall, the candlelight suddenly completely at odds with the drastically altered mood of the evening. All of the students were standing around their tables, talking loudly, and the remaining professors and prefects were struggling to maintain control. One of the seventh-year girls at the end of the Gryffindor table saw Dennis and let forth a wail of terror and confusion.

Then a much more piercing scream sounded from the staff table, and all heads turned towards Professor Trelawney. Her hand was violently shaking over her mouth, and her eyes were rolling in her head as the scream ended and an awful, guttural sound emitted from her throat.

Moments later a blue ball of light flared to life in the air over the tables, and unfurled into a giant lynx. My body went numb as I recalled the same blue light, the same lynx, appearing in the centre of the dance floor at Bill and Fleur's wedding. My feet carried me numbly forward into the doorway of the great hall, and I looked up at Kingsley Shacklebolt's patronus, raining down blue light upon the shocked, upturned faces of staff and students alike.

His deep voice rang out, and the candles in the pumpkins flickered. Some died, and sent trails of smoke towards the magical ceiling. Kingsley's voice spoke slowly, each word echoing as its meaning sank in.

"Azkaban prison has been struck by lightning. Nine former Death Eaters are now at large. Lucius Malfoy, Augustus Rookwood, Fenrir Greyback, Antonin Dolohov, Rodolphus Lestrange, Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow, Thorfinn Rowle, and Walden Macnair. Given the presence of war heroes at Hogwarts, the school must be immediately evacuated. The Hogwarts Express will be guarded by aurors who are presently apparating from the Ministry of Magic to the village of Hogsmeade. Those members of staff who are in danger must make it to the nearest Floo-connected fireplace within fifteen minutes, before the network is shut down. Waste no time."

The lynx disappeared.

There was a prolonged moment of silent terror.

And then chaos broke out in the hall.

My ears rang, and inside my head my thoughts moved very slowly, as though I had entered dream-time.

Azkaban prison has been struck by lightning.

The card which Trelawney had seen on the bottom of the deck that evening… The Tower... had it not looked strangely like Azkaban? I remembered the image vividly. A strong yellow bolt of lightning striking the top of the tall grey tower. Two people falling towards peril on the jagged rocks below.

But those who had escaped Azkaban tonight would meet no such fate. They would have already apparated to the mainland, dispersing, hiding, hunting…

I started shaking violently, my body beyond my control as the names slithered through my blood like poison.

Rookwood

Malfoy

"SILENCE!"

The voice rang out over the screaming of the students, and brought me back to life. Minerva stood in the entrance to the great hall, her arms spread wide and her voice booming as she gained control over the chaos, with the help of her wand pressed to the side of her neck.

"STUDENTS WILL LEAVE ALL THEIR POSSESSIONS IN THEIR DORMITORIES. TEACHERS WILL ESCORT ALL STUDENTS OUT OF THE CASTLE AND INTO HOGSMEADE, TO BOARD THE TRAIN. AT ONCE!"

The great hall surged to life again, but a very different kind. Students looked around in shock, and some broke down crying. I could only watch as the teachers led the students through the doors of the hall, out of the castle, and into the rainy courtyard. I backed up towards the staircase, steadying myself against the bannister. I looked down at the map in my hands, watching the crowd of ink footprints leaving the doors, as though to prove to myself that it was really happening.

Hagrid was visible above the crowd, and under the swarm of voices I distinctly heard him proclaim that, after helping the students to Hogsmeade, he would return and stay at the school.

I caught sight of Phoebe in the crowd and called her name. She heard my voice and turned around, a desperate look in her eyes, but was then swept away by the fast-moving current of students.

Severus was still holding Dennis Creevey in his arms, and a firm mask had settled over his face, concealing every emotion from the outside world. Only I could see past his firm facade to the complete terror in his eyes. The names of those escaped meant something far worse to him than they meant to anyone else now fleeing, because he had known them more intimately. Seen every vile and wicked act they had inflicted firsthand.

"I will form an emergency floo connection to St. Mungo's," Poppy was saying to Minerva. "Mr. Creevey must go at once."

My voice unexpectedly sprang to life. "But when Andromeda–"

"It's only allowed in absolute emergencies, and this is an absolute emergency! Mobilicorpus!"

Dennis lifted easily out of Severus's arms, and I noticed Severus's expression become more grim, now he was deprived of a task to ground him. Poppy rushed into the great hall, Dennis hovering beside her, and I watched her draw a vial of emergency floo powder from an inner pocket of her robes. The powder was a light green colour rather than the usual silver, the same lime hue as the robes worn by the mediwizards at St. Mungo's.

She threw the vial into the roaring fire, which flared green, dragged the hovering Dennis Creevey into the fire by his elbow, and cried "ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL!" With a hissing of flames, they were gone.

The last of the students were hurrying outside, the rear brought up by Flitwick. Neville had slipped away with the others, and now it was only Minerva and Severus and me.

"You must go, the two of you," Minerva said, her tone terribly brittle, "to the old headquarters, and you must hurry to the Three Broomsticks before the network is shut down."

Severus began to protest as his mask started to slip. But Minerva's voice overrode him. "No arguments, Severus! If they find any of us they won't hesitate, and certainly not with you! Go! There's no time to waste!"

She swept out of the castle into the rain, and the giant doors closed behind her with a dreadfully final sound.

I clutched the Marauder's Map tightly as Severus turned his eyes on me. I looked back at him, reflecting his fear. We were utterly alone in the castle. The thunder crashed loudly, trying to startle us out of our heavy stillness, and the giant clock ticked urgently in the tower overhead. Tick, tock, running-out-of-time! Tick, tock, running-out-of time!

For a matter of seconds, neither of us could speak. Then, simultaneously, our old fighter's instincts returned and took us over, forcing us to function again. My senses doubled in sharpness, and I felt my heart racing in my chest.

"The passageway," I said. "Into Honeydukes."

"Where?" Severus demanded.

"Third floor. The statue of the humpbacked witch."

He grabbed my hand and we ran at full speed up the stairs.

We took the passageway at a run. Severus went before me, holding his wand and its light out in front of us, so bright it hurt my eyes. His other hand never let go of mine. He had ripped off his silken black cloak and left it behind before we'd even entered the passageway, as I'd almost tripped on it as it billowed behind him. The underground air was damp and freezing, and our panting breath echoed off the close earthen walls. The thunder could be heard far above the earth. I felt time slipping away with every footstep. I was running faster than I ever had in my life, tugged along by the speed and force of Severus's superior strides. But we still didn't seem to be going fast enough.

There was no time or room for anything but adrenaline and panic.

I thought of Phoebe, who would be all alone with nowhere to go once she arrived in London on the train.

I thought of Fenrir Greyback, tearing childrens' throats with his teeth, sating his lust for blood after more than a year of captivity.

I thought of Lucius Malfoy and Augustus Rookwood, and what they might do again if they found me.

I thought of Remus, out there somewhere, vulnerable and alone, calling my name.

But most of all I feared for the man who held my hand and pulled me along the passageway like his life depended on it. Minerva had been right. Those who had escaped tonight would see Severus Snape as no less than the man who had betrayed them. They would be out for his blood.

We finally reached the end of the passageway, and I couldn't help but fear that we had already run out of time. Severus wasted no more of it, throwing open the trapdoor at the top of the uneven stone stairs, and half-lifting me up onto the wooden floorboards of the Honeydukes cellar. "Nox!" he gasped, and his wand light went out as we ran up the wooden stairs into the dark shop, toppling over a pyramid of boxes as we raced to the door. We were out in the street so fast that the Flumes had still yet to make a single peep upstairs in response to the disturbance by the time the door jingled closed behind us.

I found myself losing stamina as we ran down the cobblestone high street under the pounding rain, the lightning splitting the sky and eerily silhouetting the castle in the near distance. We were so close, but I suddenly lost all hope. The thought crossed my mind that I was only slowing Severus down; that he should leave me behind.

The train was already whistling loudly from the edge of the village, and Madam Rosmerta had stepped out the front door of the Three Broomsticks.

"What in Merlin's name is going on!?" she shouted as she saw us. But Severus did not answer as he barged past her and wove through the rough wooden tables into the back room.

His hands were shaking as he took off the lid of the floo powder jar on the mantel. As he took a violent fistful the jar fell and rolled across the floor, spilling its silvery contents on the rug. Lightning flickered into the room, and made the powder shine. I felt myself going into shock as I waited to see whether it was too late. My hands vibrated. I saw terrible things in the flames.

Severus threw the powder into the fire and it roared bright green. I had gone totally numb again, and allowed Severus to lift and drag me into the fireplace with him.

"Number Twelve Grimmauld Place!" he shouted, his arms wrapped around me.

And we were yanked away.

NOTE

I've been planning this turn of events for quite some time now, and it's been such fun to write it at last!

As always, thank you so very much for reading. I would love to hear your responses!