Two days had passed, it was now the 23rd of March, and about a week until Easter Sunday. Students who were going home for the holidays were packed up and ready to depart. Most were already waiting for the announcement to get into the carriages for Hogsmeade, and from there, they would catch the train. Severus hadn't seen Harry except for class on Friday, and during meals, Harry looked terrible.
It was clear he hadn't been sleeping, and was miserable. Draco had been right, this was worse than fourth year; it looked like Harry had given up. Severus didn't see Harry really eat at meals; it appeared that the boy was snacking to appease others and he kept up on his assignments too.
Harry might not be running to jump off the Astronomy tower, but he was in that darkness and didn't seem to have anyone pulling him back or maybe they just couldn't. Severus had to try, maybe he could get through, but it would take time. Harry could never truly heal if things kept happening.
Right about now, it was 7:30 am, and time for breakfast. Students were making their way into the great hall, but Severus had yet to see his husband as the minutes passed. Severus saw Draco coming in with his and Harry's friends. It seemed they were talking to one another and Harry wasn't with them.
"You do what you want, but I'm not invoking my godfather's wrath if we don't tell him." Draco remarked as he walked ahead towards the head table and stepped up on the ledge to reach Severus.
"Mr. Malfoy…You should not be up here." Albus reminded.
"All due your respect, Headmaster…It's an emergency." Draco remarked. "Uncle Severus…We can't find Harry."
Severus stood. "What do you mean you can't find him?"
"He's not in the dorms, obviously not with you and we checked all his usual hiding spots in the dungeons. No one's seen him since last night." Draco informed.
"We've been looking for him all morning, sir," Pansy said.
"When was the last time you saw him last night?" Severus asked.
"After dinner. We were all just sitting around and talking, awake. Harry wasn't talking, just sitting on his bed. Then he got up and prepared to leave the dorm. We thought he was going to you, because he took his cloak." Blaise mentioned.
"We don't know where he is, and we've tried everything we can on our own…" Draco sighed sadly. "We're worried and scared."
"You've tried everywhere you can think of?" Severus pushed.
"Yes. Everywhere we had access too." Theodore nodded.
"Have you tried his Gryffindor friends, to see if they know anything about a place Harry might go?" Minerva questioned now.
"No, we didn't want to waste too much time with the mood Harry's been in since that night in the infirmary. He's too quiet, not eating or sleeping much." Draco informed. "Uncle Sev…Can you feel the bond?"
"Of course I can, why would you ask that?" Severus remarked, then it hit him as to why his godson would ask. If Harry had killed himself; Severus wouldn't feel the bond anymore. "I can assure you he's still alive, wherever he is." Severus said. "I'm not getting a read off his emotions through it, though." He added.
"We've tried asking the ghosts." Vincent mentioned.
"And asked the portraits." Pansy remarked.
"We tried the Astronomy tower, abandoned classrooms, bathrooms, showers…" Gregory stated.
"We've run out of places to check and he could be anywhere under his cloak." Blaise said.
"Get his friends from Gryffindor. They've spent years wandering this castle, I'm sure they'll know if Harry would go anywhere in particular you might not know." Severus ordered.
"Keep this quiet." Minerva reminded. "Albus?"
"We'll use my office." Albus stood up. "The rest of you, stay here with the students so they can eat breakfast."
. . .
It didn't take long for the Slytherin group, and Gryffindor group to come together in Albus's office. The Gryffindors consisted of Hermione and Ron. Severus was impatiently waiting for any information on his husband.
"Is something wrong, Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione questioned.
"It seems we have a situation involving Mr. Potter," Albus began.
"Potter-Snape, Albus. Harry uses his married name," Severus corrected.
"No matter…" Albus waved it off and Severus fought getting upset that the man was ignoring Harry's marital status just because he was mad it happened right under his nose. It didn't matter, Severus had more pressing things to see to, like finding his husband. "We seem to have a problem locating young Harry and we were hoping for your assistance."
"Well, of course, Professor…Anything we can do to help." Ron said. "Harry's our best friend and we know he's been…Affected by what happened last month."
"Harry's never handled bad things well; he gets quiet, always deep in thought. We did our best to help him over the years, but when it's bad enough…He shuts down until a time comes where he just rejoins reality, I guess. That's what we've called it, he takes a vacation from reality." Hermione frowned.
"You should have seen him during fifth year, during Christmas with Sirius; he actually believed he was becoming evil. Because he was angry all the time." Ron remarked.
"What?" Minerva stiffened. "Why on earth would Harry believe such a thing?"
"Because of the link with Voldemort…" Hermione informed. "Harry told Sirius that when he saw Mr. Weasley attacked, he wasn't just watching. He was the snake that attacked him. Harry never finished part of what he'd been saying, that for a moment when he was here in Professor Dumbledore's office, then he stopped and started on wondering if the reason for the link is that he was becoming more like Voldemort. Harry admitted to feeling angry all the time and felt that after everything he's been through; he was becoming bad."
"Sirius told Harry that he was not a bad person, but a very good one whom bad things have happened too. Sirius told Harry that the world was not split into good people and Death Eaters. That we all have light and darkness inside us, but the part we choose to act on; that's who we really are." Ron revealed. "They hugged, and Sirius promised Harry that when all the danger was over, they'd be a proper family."
"Black's behavior towards Harry is abysmal and left him quite hurt." Severus commented.
"Sirius loves his godson, Severus…Don't be that way." Albus sighed.
"You have also hurt him, Albus. Don't make me repeat a few days ago…The both of you failed Harry on all accounts of being there for and keeping him safe. I have not and those were Harry's own words last month. I have never let him down, even when we were butting heads. And it's me he chose to come to for help to get away from Sirius because you told him that if he left Sirius's guardianship; he had to return to his muggle relatives home." Severus scoffed.
"What can we do to help find Harry?" Hermione asked.
"His friends in Slytherin have tried all the places they can think of that Harry might go, apparently, he's been missing since last night and he took his cloak." Severus informed. "We were hoping that…With all your castle adventures over the years, perhaps you may have some ideas where he could be hiding out. Something for comfort, to be alone and think."
"Have you tried the Owlery?" Ron asked. "He likes to sit with Hedwig."
"We tried there." Pansy nodded.
"How about the Room of Requirement?" Hermione asked.
"The room you used for the army?" Blaise wondered. "We don't know where it is."
"It's on the seventh floor, across a tapestry. You have to pace the floor three times, thinking of what you need for the door to appear." Hermione informed. "Harry also likes the forest, during the day, at least…Or the Great Lake. The Pitch? Hagrid's?"
"Hagrid was at breakfast, I don't think Harry is at his house. We tried the pitch, and the lake. Not the forest because it's forbidden…" Draco stated.
"I have no notions about these places, the only place I know Harry enjoys is my main room living space at my house." Severus said. "Would he have left the grounds?"
"The gardens at Malfoy Manor too, but I don't assume Harry would have left the school grounds. He has no way to leave campus undetected, even less by portkey or apparition." Draco added.
"I…Wouldn't be so sure about that." Hermione offered. "There's a lot of ways to sneak out of the castle and get into Hogsmeade, Harry knows them."
"Explain?" Minerva pushed.
"Well…He has the Marauder's Map," Ron mentioned.
"The what?" Severus twitched at the use of the Marauder name.
"It's…A map of the school grounds. It was made by Padfoot, Prongs, Wormtail, and Moony. There are seven passages out of the castle that lead into Hogsmeade, and then several passages in the school that are…Shortcuts to other places." Hermione stated.
"Who are these map creators?" Blaise asked. "Odd names."
"It's Remus Lupin as Moony because he's a werewolf, James Potter as Prongs because his animagus was a Stag, Peter Pettigrew is a rat animagus known as Wormtail, and Sirius Black is Padfoot, a dog animagus." The potions master muttered.
"They were all unregistered animagi during our time at school, except Remus. They did it to be with him when Remus transformed. They are the Marauders. They made the map, of course they did and Harry somehow ended up with it." Severus sighed.
"My brothers gave it to him, they nicked it from Filch's office in their first year. When Harry couldn't get permission from his uncle to go to Hogsmeade, Fred and George gave Harry the map so he could sneak out of the castle and get there." Ron informed.
"So there's a chance he may have escaped to Hogsmeade?" Albus questioned.
"If we had the map, we could track him down if he's still on the grounds. The map shows everyone in the castle. All the time, what they're doing and where they are in real time." Hermione said.
"Wouldn't do us any good if we don't have the map, 'Mione. Harry's the only one who knows how to open it, aside from Fred and George, but I think they're away on some Joke Convention." Ron said.
"If Sirius and Remus helped create it, I'm sure they know how to open it." Draco said. "The problem is where the map is. I'm sure Harry wouldn't have left it lying around, he probably has it with him."
"No, Harry didn't carry it around because he memorized the passages. We only know two of them out of the castle. Statue of the one-eyed-witch, tap the hump and say a password, it opens and leads to the basement of Honeydukes." Hermione said.
"I would assume the other is the passageway under the Whomping Willow, to the Shrieking Shack?" Severus inquired as the two Gryffindor's nodded.
"The map might be with his stuff. In his trunk…" Ron suggested. "That's where he kept it when in Gryffindor with us."
"His stuff is still in the dungeons." Theodore offered.
"Then we go to the dungeons." Albus said. "Miss. Granger and Mr. Weasley will search for the map as I assume they know what it looks like."
. . .
Upon arriving at the dungeons, Hermione and Ron were made to cover their ears regarding the password, but Ron admitted that he and Harry knew what it was from their time appearing as Crabbe and Goyle in second year, and they knew that Slytherin never changed their password.
Draco led the charge into the sixth-year dorms, then Hermione and Ron got to work checking through Harry's things. Hermione checked through all the books and her friend's desk while Ron tried the wardrobe. They checked all around his bed and finally got to the trunk. Hermione got it unlocked and they began to check through it.
"Got it!" Ron announced, pulling out the parchment. "Clever place to hide it too. No one would ever think to look under the trunk in a secret compartment…"
"How is this a map? It's just blank parchment," Minerva said.
"It's hidden, isn't it? There's a spell password on it?" Severus asked as the two Gryffindors nodded. "Yes…I remember this. I tried to unlock it once in his third year…It insulted me. Told me to keep my large nose out of other people's business." The man grumbled. "Lupin had taken it, though. Makes sense he gave it back to Harry…" He sighed.
"Then we go to Sirius and Remus, I'm sure they'll open it for Harry's sake." Albus said.
"We'll use my fireplace in my office to get to Grimmauld." Severus said.
Without another word, they all went to Severus's office then to the fireplace. Piling in slowly, Severus called the address and they were gone in the green flames. It was seconds later they were deposited into the lounge on the first floor, Sirius and Remus were on the couch.
"The hell are you all doing here?" Sirius asked.
"We need your assistance." Albus approached. "We've been informed you and your friends created a map of the school grounds, and we need you to open it."
"I'm not revealing our greatest work to that git." Sirius refused.
"Sirius! This drama with Severus is exactly why Harry got upset with you. Enough now…" Remus sighed. "Give me it, I'll do it."
"Remus, no!" Sirius told him. "How do you even know about the map?"
"It's a long story, but the short version is that it was given to Harry in third year." Ron said. "We know he can open it, so can my brothers, but they're away. We can't and we need it."
"Shut it, Black…We have an emergency." Severus remarked.
"What's happened? Is…Harry alright?" Remus asked.
"No, he's not. He's missing. That's why we need the map…" Severus said. "To see if Harry's somewhere on the grounds."
"What do you mean he's missing?" Sirius stood quickly.
"He's been miserable since that night in the infirmary, quiet, depressed, not eating or sleeping much. Last night after dinner, he left the dorm with his invisibility cloak and never came back. We've spent the morning looking for him and we've got nothing from checking his favorite places we know of. Ron and Hermione remembered the map." Draco said.
"Sirius…It's for Harry and this is an emergency." Remus told him.
"Fine…Give me it." Sirius sighed. Severus handed over the parchment as Sirius pulled his wand. "You too, Moony…We need to activate the entire map. James is gone and Pettigrew is a traitor. We're the only ones left who can." Remus pulled his wand and both of them tapped the parchment in the middle crease.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Sirius and Remus said in unison. The map came to life, words appearing and opening up. "Ostendere Us Omnis, Plenus Visum." The two spoke.
"Bloody hell…" Ron gasped as the map flattened on the table and rose off the parchment to show a 3-D version of the castle before them. Names appeared mostly in the great hall, because of the meal.
"What was that spell?" Minerva pushed.
"We're not giving away all the map's secrets…" Sirius muttered.
"It was Latin. Show Us All, Full View." Severus rolled his eyes.
"Told you we should have put it in French." Sirius groaned.
"I'm quite fluent in French and Spanish, and it's not that hard to study other languages either. Obviously, the map only responds to your orders as its creators so it doesn't matter if we hear the spells or not. Just…Find Harry, please?" The man inquired.
"I don't see Harry…" Remus searched around the parts of the castle.
"Is it possible he knows how to hide himself from the map?" Sirius inquired.
"I don't see how, Sirius. But it's possible that all the time he's had this, he might have figured out how to rework the map's magic. He is James's son, there's a chance the map recognizes him as family to James." Remus stated.
"Unveil what's lost, reveal to me where Harry Potter-Snape be." Sirius commanded. "No, nothing. If he were in the castle, a red marker would have appeared where he is."
"Sirius, can we retrace his steps? Draco said Harry left the dorm last night, which means we can probably at least see where he went." Remus suggested.
"Map memory, retrace Harry Potter-Snape's last path." Sirius said. Harry's name appeared in the dungeons with the time date and time from last night. "Hah, ghost memory. This should show us where he went last." The man said. No one talked, just watched as Harry's name moved through the corridors. The time continued to change as it got later, Harry disappeared behind a wall.
"There's nothing past that wall, why would he stop at a wall?" Remus remarked.
"No, no. That's not it. The map must not show the Room of Requirement. That's where that entrance is, on the seventh floor…It said Harry went there at 9:30 pm." Hermione informed. "He must be there."
"He couldn't have been, look…" Draco pointed. "Harry left there about thirty minutes later and he was heading too…" The teen stopped. "The Astronomy tower."
"So he was at all the places we checked, just not at the time we looked…" Pansy frowned.
"This shows him in the tower until 10:15 and not moving." Blaise remarked. "And then around 10:45…He's hovering outside of it."
"He was outside the railing…" Theodore frowned as the friends looked at one another. "Isn't that where you found him, two years ago, Dray…Outside the railing and wanting to jump?"
"Don't…Remind me." Draco took a few deep breaths. "But yes, and I'd talked him down."
"No one talked to him this time…" Ron looked at Hermione, who leaned against his shoulder.
"Well, he obviously didn't jump, or his name would have moved…Disappeared even. He's not dead, you can still feel the bond, right, Severus?" Sirius questioned softly.
"Yes…I can, but I can't feel his emotions or feelings. I don't know why…I should have been able to feel everything he does." Severus stated.
"Not if he's blocking the bond from his side, to keep you from feeling it." Sirius informed.
"What?" Severus eyed the man.
"In all bonds, when done correctly, partners can block one another to avoid projecting their feelings to the other person. In an example, when Voldemort puts you through the Cruciatus curse…If you're not blocking it on your side, Harry feels everything as you do. It's what makes bonding more powerful than marriage." Sirius explained.
"You may not have known you were doing it, blocking Harry from feeling it. It's possible you did it subconsciously." Remus added. "Knowing you were going through it all to hold your position as a spy, and knew it was to keep Harry safe. The bond may have reacted on its own to block Harry from feeling what you were, Severus."
"Hey, Harry went back inside the tower at 11 pm. Looks like he stayed there until 11:30 pm…Then went down to the second floor." Hermione said. "And entered the girl's bathroom. Why on earth would he go there?"
"And then he disappears." Minerva enlightened. "That does make any sense…Why would Harry disappear in the girl's lavatory?"
"I don't have that answer for you, Minerva. Perhaps Harry uncovered another secret passage we didn't when we made the map." Sirius stated.
"No, wait…" Ron thought. "Bloody hell, he's gotta be down in the chamber!"
"What?" Everyone asked.
"The Chamber of Secrets! That's where the entrance is, the group of sinks comes apart and takes you down. It makes sense. The reason the map doesn't show him down there is because the chamber runs miles away from the school. He's not under it, but underground and several miles away from campus." Ron informed.
"Why the hell would he go there?" Remus pushed.
"Because no one would be able to get to him…" Albus frowned.
"Only a Parselmouth can open the chamber." Draco added.
"Well we have to do something!" Sirius stated.
Severus needed an idea. He was only ever able to get to the chamber with Harry's help, so how did he get to his husband now? Would the passage in his room work? Would Salazar be able to open it without Harry? It was supposed to be a secret, but this was more important; Harry already hung off the Astronomy tower once last night and was now alone again. If things were this bad, it was only a matter of time before Harry might give in.
Severus left the table and hurried back to the fireplace. "Where are you going?" Remus asked.
"To get my husband, obviously." Severus grabbed a handful of powder. "Severus Snape's Office, Hogwarts." He threw it down and vanished.
"Something tells me he knows how to get down into the chamber without someone who can speak snake…Should we follow?" Hermione inquired.
"We have to be there for Harry." Ron agreed.
"Oh hell, we might as well all go." Minerva sighed.
One by one, or in small groups, they all returned to Hogwarts and ended up in Snape's office to see just how Severus would pull off getting into the Chamber of Secrets.