Disclaimer:- I neither own nor own anything from this story. My plot is my own but the world of Harry Potter is the intellectual property of JK Rowling and associates.

oOo

A/N:- Thank you to everyone who left reviews and alerts on the last chapter, please know that I appreciate every one of them. Sorry, I've been off the air for a while as COVID finally caught up with me, and it's taken me a while to start feeling like doing things again. My beta, the dragon and the rose, has revised this chapter, and I thank her for her work.

Chapter Five – Frustrating Holdups

The average temperature in the North Sea, even in the middle of summer, was only seventeen degrees Celsius, and Hermione had shivered the whole time she'd been here. Then it had been made worse after their enforced wash last week, and she'd been frozen to the bone ever since. Then as she'd woken this morning she felt truly awful, and she knew for sure what she'd only suspected for the last two days; she'd caught something dreadful.

Things had obviously changed here since the Dementors were gone, she'd heard the stories that Sirius had told them of his time here, but it seemed different now. She'd noticed—as she'd peeked around Severus' elbow out in the yard last week—that the prisoners did not seem to have the distinctive striped uniform anymore. All of them seemed to be in their everyday clothes, well, minus any jewellery and such, and she supposed that what most people wore was tatty and very worn because it was the only set of clothing that they had, and they were wearing it continuously.

However, as cold as she was, she had noticed that even her underwear had felt fresher after her enforced shower the week before, even if it had taken all that night and much of the next day to dry. At the time she'd just been feeling lucky not to have chaffed from having wet things against her skin.

The one time she'd seen all of Severus—on their last exercise day—she'd noticed that he'd been dressed in his normal black trousers, shirt, waist coat, but not his frock coat, which had surprised her. Then last week when they'd had their 'showers' some sort of shaving charm had rid him of his facial hair as well. She had no doubt that there was also a hair-cutting charm too, because, while his hair was longer than usual, it was not completely unruly and down to his knees as if it had never been cut in ten years, and that was when a thought struck her.

It was ten years, he would be out of here very soon, and he had expressed an interest in going back to Hogwarts once more. Maybe, once he was out of here he might inform Harry of where she was, and she wondered if they might be friends. She felt a strong affinity with him after her week here with him, something beyond the feelings she usually felt for him was currently pulsing through her. She reasoned that it was only gratitude for the efforts he'd made to keep her safe, but still.

Mind you, she was dreading today. If she calculated it correctly, today was exercise day, and therefore also wash day. The last thing she needed was another freezing cold, enforced shower, but she had little choice in the matter, and a burning urge for revenge on whoever had done this to her stabbed through her anew with that thought.

Harry, Seamus and Dean had spent the night searching Knockturn Alley for Lavender Brown, and the witch called Bertha Wilkes. They'd had no success, and all three of them were dead on their feet, but they kept going.

This morning, the new leads on the Granger case had prompted John Dawlish to allow Harry to address the entire squad at their pre-shift meeting.

Harry told his colleagues all the information that he had, including the fact that they now knew that Hermione had disappeared somewhere between Hogwarts and Harry's family home in Godric's Hollow by Portkey.

Everyone nodded their understanding of this information, and as the rest of the Aurors were heading out to start their day, Lester Moody, Alastor Moody's nephew approached Harry. "Cassius and I have been investigating a similar case, but this disappearance was a petty crook by the name of Fletcher, Mungo Fletcher."

"Not Mundungus Fletcher?" Harry asked.

"No, this is his brother."

"Oh, and what happened to him?"

"His wife reported him missing some months back,"

"But crooks disappear all the time," Harry shrugged. "Hermione Granger is no criminal."

"I'm not saying that she is, but Mungo Fletcher's wife's name is Bertha, and the circumstances are the same."

"I wonder what Madam Fletcher's maiden name was?" Harry asked.

"I'll put a galleon on it being Wilkes," Seamus chimed in.

"Where can we find her?" Harry asked.

"Pot-kettle Alley," Lester said. Every wizarding town had streets where decent folk never ventured, just like Muggle towns did, and Pot-kettle Alley was Hogsmeade's equivalent of Diagon Alley's, Knock-turn Alley.

"Hogsmeade," Dean said.

"Yeah, down past Madam Puddifoot's," Lester said.

"Do you want to pool our resources?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, maybe we'll solve two problems at once. I'll get the warrants, and while I do that, I suggest you three head up to the dorm for a kip," Lester said with a cackle. "You'll need your wits about you, and right now the three of you look like you couldn't even find Pot-kettle Alley, let alone manage to do anything once you got there."

The three exhausted Aurors knew that it would take a few hours before the search warrant was granted, and they wanted to do this by the book, so they took their colleague's advice, but before he settled, Harry owled Ginny that they had some leads and he'd let her know more later.

At Azkaban, the day was also progressing, but Hermione was not faring well at all. She felt miserable, and she hadn't been able to muster any interest in the horrid bowl of watery porridge this morning, and it had disappeared again uneaten.

In the cell opposite, Severus had to say that he was starting to really worry about her. He couldn't believe the concern that rose within him for this witch. Who would have ever believed that he, Severus Snape, would go soft over a pretty witch in trouble? However, regardless of his concern for her, he wasn't looking forward to seeing her up close again today, because she had woken something like a tiger in his belly, and the thought of her small body hiding behind him again in the yard today was making a certain appendage as hard as granite and worse than that, it was threatening to make him lose his control. Then he heard a bout of coughing from across the corridor, and the beast within him quietened, as concern for her rose up again.

"Hermione," he called. He'd only heard her coughs, sneezes and sniffs for most of the morning.

"Yes, Sev?" and her voice sounded, but she did not appear. "I don't feel very well," she added.

"That's obvious, you sound terrible," he replied. "Did you eat your breakfast?"

"I didn't feel like it," she replied.

"Make certain you eat your lunch, you must keep your energy up."

"Mmm," was all that wafted across between the cells.

"Come on, love. Talk to me."

"I'm trying, but I'm also trying to save my strength for going out into the yard. I don't want to go out there in the cold again. I'm frozen through, literally aching from the cold, and I don't think I can do it again."

Severus listened to her, and then he heard her sniffing for a different reason, and he knew that her logic had fled and she'd given in to despair. "I'll try and warm you up, Hermione. Don't worry."

"Thank you," her voice murmured. It sounded louder than normal to him through the silent hall. Only sometimes did another noise reach their part of the prison, but he realised that today he was listening harder.

He heard the heavy waves crashing against the foundations, and sometimes the occasional gurgling cries of a lost soul, but for the most part it was silent. Severus had learnt to hate silence, as once he'd longed for it. Now he longed for bird song, for the rustle of leaves in a breeze, music, in short, all of the happy sounds that he'd not heard for many years. Then he realised how important the witch across the way was, as the thought entered his mind that right now he'd spend another ten years in this hellhole just to have her safe and happy again.

Lunch came and went, and there was silence across the corridor, except for the sniffs and coughs that accompany sickness, and he started pacing, waiting for the moment that their cell doors opened.

Finally the disembodied voice spoke, and his door clicked open. Instead of waiting for the urging to start, he raced across the hallway, and taking his jacket off, he lay it on the end of her cot.

She looked up at him, and her eyes questioned him. "It will keep you warm later," he told her.

She swallowed hard, and cleared her throat. "Thank you," she gasped, and finding the energy to get up she hugged him.

Severus felt his arms going around her, returning the gesture, and they stood there experiencing human contact, but that's when the urging on their feet started, and they found they had to part to walk towards the exercise yard. Today though, they held hands as they walked.

"You'll be leaving here soon, won't you?" Hermione said as they walked.

"I wasn't going to burden you with that information," he replied. "In fact, I've calculated that I should have already been released."

"When?" she asked.

"Back in May," he answered.

"Oh, well I'm sure you'll be released soon, but I'll miss you," she said.

"I'll make certain that Mister Potter knows where you are as soon as I can. Don't worry, love, I'll get you to safety."

She looked up at him. "I like it when you call me 'love'."

The corner of his mouth twitched up. "Now, stand behind me just as you did last time."

She did, and again no one noticed her, but she wondered that they didn't hear her cry of dismay as one prisoner was set upon by a mob of other prisoners. However, still no guards came, and all those involved seemed to be Apparated out as it happened, but then Hermione felt the urge to start walking back to her cell.

As they walked, Hermione said, "Does this whole place run automatically?"

"When I first arrived it didn't, but just recently…" he answered, as they watched the bathroom panel slide open and they were urged inside.

"And you haven't seen a guard since?"

"No."

"So, it's possible that we're alone out here."

"Yes, it's entirely possible," but he didn't get to finish that sentence, as the water hit them.

Hermione instantly started shivering more violently, and by the time they were finished, Severus was holding her up.

As they walked back to their cells, he tried to wring her hair and clothes out for her, but she was still very wet. "Go into your cell and put my coat on, it will help to warm you."

Her lip slipped between her teeth, and she murmured another thank you, and stumbled to her cot. She curled up into a tight ball and shakily pulled the heavy woollen frock coat over her, and she realised now why he hadn't had it on last week when she'd seen him. He purposely took it off before his washes so he'd have something warm to put on when he came back.

It helped, but then the thought that he'd given it to her to help keep her warm slammed into her brain, and despair overcame her at his thoughtful gesture. She loved him, there was no doubt about that, and his gesture made her realise that he must care for her too, but there was nothing that either of them could do about any of it, and she cried herself into a fitful sleep, even though it was only about six in the evening.

Lester Moody had obtained the search warrants just after lunch, and he and his partner, along with the three off duty Aurors, Harry, Seamus and Dean, had searched the Fletcher residence in Pot-kettle Alley, and by five in the afternoon they'd found enough evidence, including a bank statement with Lavender Brown's deposit information on it, and they'd arrested the woman—whose maiden name was indeed Wilkes—and brought her in for questioning.

However, as soon as the interview started, she just smiled nastily and said, "I ain't tell'n you nothin'."

They knew then that they'd have to get another permit, one to allow them to administer Veritaserum, and Harry's patience started to give out. His friend was out there somewhere, and for the first time he realised that she might indeed be dead. He ran his fingers through his hair, and walked from the room.

"Hi, Harry," came an unexpected voice. "You're not due back until next week."

"How can I not be here, Kings? I come back and find that 'Mione's been gone for over a week, and I've made more progress towards her case in one day than anyone has made in the whole time she's been missing."

Kingsley could see that his concern for his friend was starting to get to him, and he patted him on the shoulder. "What's the hold up now?"

"The witch we've brought in for questioning won't talk, we've just filed an application to use Veritaserum."

"While we wait, why don't we go to your office? You can update me on what's happening. I've been coming down at the end of every day to see if there's been any developments."

"Man, is it the end of another day? I hadn't noticed," Harry scoffed.

"How much sleep have you had?" Kingsley asked.

"I caught a kip this morning while we were waiting for the search warrant."

They'd arrived at Harry's office, and Kingsley called his elf. "Any early dinner for Commander Potter," he said, he'd been able to hear Harry's stomach rumbling, although he was pretty certain that Harry was too preoccupied to hear it.

The food arrived, and Kingsley encouraged Harry to eat. "Go on, and you can tell me what you've found while you eat."

"Well, it appears," he said, literally falling on the food and starting to devour it. "Lavender Brown paid the witch we have in custody to make Hermione disappear, but as yet we do not know how."

"Why would Lavender Brown do that, she's engaged to Ron Weasley, isn't she?"

"Not anymore, and she herself has disappeared."

"So she could be a victim here as well?"

"I don't think so," Harry replied. "I took Ron back to his house to find her, and she'd set several spell traps for him. No, I think she's simply left, but I guess we'll find that out too when we get to question the witch we've brought in."

"True," Kingsley said, as there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" Harry answered.

It was Seamus. "The application's been approved and Master Warren is on his way."

"Right, now we'll get some answers," Harry said, as he watched Kingsley getting up too.

"I'm coming too," Kingsley said, as they walked out the door.

In his cell at Azkaban, Severus was running on the spot trying to keep warm, he'd never noticed how warm his dry coat had been able to keep him after the enforced washes. However, he didn't regret giving it to Hermione, and this surprised him. He'd never been a giving man, he'd always zealously guarded what was his. It had been a need that had grown out of having so little, but now as he had the least he'd ever had, he was freezing because he'd given his coat to a witch.

Mind you, she was not just any witch, and he had made a vow so many years ago that if he couldn't treat her as the enquiring and valued student that she was, he would at least protect her from harm. It had been after he'd glimpsed into her mind her very first Potions lesson at Hogwarts, and he'd seen how similar to himself she was. She'd been so upset at his dismissal of her, because she was—like him—a true seeker of knowledge, even if it had manifested itself as a bit know-it-all in nature early on.

At that moment, knowing his role in things, he'd decided that he would be her protector, of course, he'd officially been Harry Potter's protector, but the two really went hand in hand, and it seemed that he was still protecting her.

He'd also surprised himself earlier when she'd hugged him, he'd thought that his first human contact would be the touch of a Knockturn Alley whore once he was out of here, but when Hermione had hugged him, he'd revelled in the feel of it and he'd easily reciprocated.

He knew from his past experiences with this witch that she was not the type to flirt to get what she wanted, if she was grateful she told you so, and in frank straightforward language. Then he thought about her telling him that she liked him calling her 'love'.

That had snuck up on him, he hadn't even realised that he was doing it. They talked so much over the last week that it had just happened. He paused in his jogging on the spot, exhausted, as it felt like hours that he'd been trying to keep warm.

He listened for any noises coming from across the corridor, her cries before had pulled terribly at his heart, but all he could hear now was breathing, wheezy choked up breathing, but breathing nevertheless, so he reasoned that she was asleep. "Well, at least she's still alive," he muttered to himself, and as the lactic acid in his muscles from his jogging started to abate, he started pacing. He was restless, because he had an awful feeling that if Hermione did not get medical attention very soon that she would be gone.

He wanted to punch a wall, or yell and scream, as it looked like yet again, he'd allowed himself to want something that was going to be taken from him. He flopped down on his hard cot, and he ran shaking fingers through his wet hair. He wanted to cry, and suddenly he remembered the last time he'd cried. It had been as he held the lifeless body of the last woman that he'd loved, and with that thought came the equally painful realisation that after only a week in her company, he'd given what was left of his heart to Hermione Granger. He really was a doomed idiot.

However, what Severus didn't know was that at Auror headquarters, the Veritaserum had made Bertha Fletcher spill many secrets. In fact, the witch was babbling so quickly that the scribes were having trouble keeping up.

Harry Potter, had only heard one thing in the verbal profusions - his friend, Hermione Granger, was being falsely imprisoned in Azkaban. He rose to his feet, leaving the rest of the tale to the others.

Kingsley followed him, and seeing the expression of resolve on Harry's face, he said, "You can't just go to Azkaban, Harry."

"I can, and I will. I'll search it from top to bottom to find her. My god, when I think of the things that could have happened to her there already," he gasped.

"I agree, and it is a dreadful place, but there is an easier way to find her. Come," and Kingsley strode off up the hallway.

After a lift ride where Kingsley had opened a panel of buttons that Harry had never seen before, he found himself being escorted into the Department of Mysteries.

"Minister," the hooded guard said.

"Commander Potter and I need access to the Azkaban grid."

"I'll fetch Unspeakable Neeves," the guard said, pressing a button on another panel. A door opened. "Please wait in here, and Unspeakable Neeves will be with you momentarily."

Kingsley ushered Harry into the room, and the raven-haired wizard went in without question, but only because he trusted Kingsley implicitly.

Then his attention was taken by the arrival of another hooded Unspeakable. Unspeakables reminded Harry of Muggle monks, they were sort of the religious order of the wizarding world; an always calm presence in a sometimes hostile world.

"Ah, Minister Shacklebolt, Commander Potter. What can I do for you, gentlemen?" the hooded wizard asked.

"We wish to see the Azkaban grid," Kingsley demanded.

Unspeakable Neeves looked at Kingsley for a moment before he answered. "The Azkaban grid is still capable of functioning."

"Still capable? Is it not functioning? What?" Kingsley asked, confusion creasing his brow.

"It was decommissioned six months ago by your decree via Undersecretary Weasley."

"It was not on my orders," Kingsley replied, his dark eyes narrowing.

"It was your signature on the order," the Unspeakable declared.

"This is getting us nowhere," Harry interjected angrily. "Hermione's out there, and I'm going to get her."

"Oh, no one goes there anymore," Unspeakable Neeves stated calmly. "Well, I suppose those who are sentenced do..."

"N-No one goes there?" Harry asked, cutting in over the Unspeakable. "Who maintains the welfare of the prisoners?"

"That I do not know, but the whole system has been taken out of Unspeakable control."

"This is all news to me," Kingsley said. He would be having words with Percy Weasley as soon as they had Hermione Granger safely back amongst them. "How long will it take to get it up and running again and retrieve a prisoner who should not be there?"

"All going according to plan, a little under an hour," Unspeakable Neeves answered.

"Then do it, we'll wait," Kingsley stated. "Do you have a desk and some parchment?"

The Unspeakable gestured to the desk at the other end of the room, and Kingsley walked over and settled himself at it.

Harry looked around and found a chair. "Are you certain this is the quickest way?" he asked, sitting, but then standing immediately again.

"Harry, there are upwards of ten thousand prisoners housed in single cells in Azkaban, it would take days to search for Hermione by going out there. Once the grid is up and running we can find her in minutes and have her retrieved straight into this room."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. What about the others that have been wrongly sent to the prison?" Harry asked, thinking back to what the witch had said

"The grid will show us those too," Kingsley said. "Patience, your friend will be here soon," but then he thought for a moment. "Perhaps you should gather some blankets and organise hot drinks."

"Why?"

"Because you said that Hermione was only wearing a sundress, she'll be freezing."

"Oh… oh, yes," and he was up and off, glad of the occupation.

Everything was now set. There was a healer present from St. Mungos, and even though Harry did not know who'd called the healer, he'd collected blankets and everything he could think of that might help. He'd also owled Ginny earlier and told her that they knew where Hermione was, and that they were getting her as soon as they could.

Then it was all happening. It had seemed like an interminable wait, but now a large wall chart flickered into life in front of him, and he watched Kingsley rising from his chair too. Harry looked at it and all he saw was a huge representation of something like the Marauder's Map that he had of Hogwarts. In fact, the appearance was almost identical, but Unspeakable Neeves drew in a surprised breath.

"Is there an issue, Unspeakable Neeves?" Kingsley asked.

"Yes, the prison is half empty."

"What?" Kingsley gasped.

"Has there been a breakout?" Harry wanted to know.

"No, Commander Potter, no breakout, no alarms are sounding, but look at this row. That was full of Death Eaters, and look, there are only two occupants now."

Harry looked, and his eyes opened wide. "What is Severus Snape doing still in Azkaban? He was due for release months ago." They all felt bad that Severus had been jailed for something that he had been ordered under an unbreakable vow to do. It was not like he'd had any choice in the matter.

However, then his eyes scanned over to the other name bobbing over the cell occupant opposite Severus Snape. "There she is, there's Hermione. Get them both here immediately!" Harry demanded.

"Very well," Unspeakable Neeves replied, but when he raised his wand nothing happened.

"What's the problem?" Kingsley wanted to know.

"Someone else is in control of the system. I can observe, but I cannot effect change."

"Can you get us to them?" Kingsley asked.

"That is an unwise course of action. We need to know what has been done first. I would suspect that all possessions would be stripped from your person as you entered the wards," and he moved to the only other door. He opened it, and called, "Accio property of Hermione Granger." A long box flew into his hands. He opened it. "See," he said, showing Harry and Kingsley, "this is why your friend is stuck where she is. Here is her wand and belongings."

Harry sighed. "So, where do we go from here?"

"We'll interview my undersecretary."

"Percy?"

"If he signed off on this, he'll know what's happening."

"But will he tell us?"

"If he doesn't he'll find himself under arrest as well as out of a job," Kingsley growled. "We shall return, Unspeakable Neeves."

"I will work on the problem from this point while you are gone," the Unspeakable replied.