Dungeon

Chapter 3 - Toil and Trouble

Hermione drifted off, leaning against Harry. As she slept, he marveled at how easy it was to hold her. He would never have imagined that. Clearly he needed to understand this better. He was also getting the sense that, to get this to work out right, he was going to have to take some action. He closed his eyes, cleared his mind and, for the heck of it, partitioned it off as he had been taught. He shook his head and braced himself to look for Snape with his mind. Dumbledore damn well better be right.

**********

The Hogwarts teachers and Ministry Aurors were combing the skies above the forest. Snape flew out with them, taking the route that directly connected the DE site, where the girl had been held, to the castle. He flew slowly, keeping a close watch below him. The rain had finally eased, making the task far less annoying. What he detected eventually caught him entirely off guard. Snape circled back and tried to catch it again. He thought about Harry Potter and his intense dislike of the boy. That let the boy right in and Snape knew exactly where they were.

With gradual movements, Snape circled away from the rest of the searchers, then down into the trees.

It was nearly dusk at the bottom of the forest, which meant there was still good light for flying above. "Come on," Harry said, shaking his friend awake. "We have to get going."

Hermione stretched her neck and crawled out behind him. "Do you think it’s safe?" she asked as they both looked up through the tree tops at the cloudy sky peeking through.

Harry didn't answer. He held his broom with both hands and slammed it headlong into a tree, chipping the end off and cracking it halfway down.

"Harry!" Hermione said and ran over to him. "What are you doing?"

"Making it clear why we couldn't fly. Don't interfere; he is almost here." Harry leaned his forehead against a rough-barked tree the way a Druid might and, biting his lip, rasped his forehead hard against it, bringing out blood. "I am making it look like we had a collision."

"And I didn't get hurt?" She crossed her arms and looked at him doubtfully as he dabbed at his bleeding head.

"We'll say I was in front. I hope Pomfrey buys the head injury."

"Tell her your head hurts on the back, not the front. You said 'he is almost here.' Whom are you talking about?"

"Me," Snape said as he glided to a stop beside them. He looked at Harry's recent injury and down at his broom. “That might work," he commented. "No one would imagine you of all people would do that intentionally."

"Some things are more important than others," Harry said in a low tone.

"I'll take Ms. Granger. If you are found walking, that would be more believable."

Harry took a deep breath then hesitated as he watched Snape hover the broom for Hermione. One part of him screamed to not trust him and the other wanted desperately to believe Dumbledore. A memory spell was probably Hermione's worst nightmare. And one strong enough to wipe out more than a day would impact everything its victim did for weeks or months afterward. Harry grimaced and turned away from them and started walking, dragging his beloved broken broom behind him.

Halfway up to the treetops, Snape halted their ascent and hovered. "I assume you know, as you seem to know everything, the side effects of a Gimble Memory Charm?"

Hermione, who was bent over the broom in front, nodded. Fear coursed through her. "I'll take a Crucio; you have one of those?"

Snape, whose arm was loosely around the girl's shoulders from behind, tightened it as a stiff breeze shifted their hovering. "I am not actually going to use it on you, Ms. Granger. I have no desire to damage my best Potions student by any means. But you will have to fake it and fake it well. Do you think you can do that? If you seem to be slipping I will give you a potion to mimic the symptoms without causing you injury but you will still have to make it back to the castle and at continue pretending at least for a few hours."

Hermione nodded and exhaled a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Granger, you truly came with me willingly, believing I would use such a memory charm on you?" Snape asked in disbelief.

"Harry trusted you. He walked away. What else was I going to do?" She sounded very tired.

"Potter's faith in the headmaster is disturbingly unshakable," Snape commented. "Are you ready?"

Hermione nodded and pulled herself forward away from him, not comfortable with their proximity. The broom swerved and rose upward. Snape headed directly for the castle. McGonagall spied them first and rushed to join them.

"Ms. Granger, Hermione, are you all right?" she yelled over the wind.

Hermione nodded, keeping her face down to protect it from the rain, which had started up again. The searchers were calling out to each other and congregating. "Granger, where is Harry?" someone asked. Hermione thought it might be Tonks. She shook her head. She wouldn't know that, would she. Poor Harry was going to have to walk the rest of the way.

They landed on the roof of the hospital wing. Dumbledore came out to meet them. Snape stood the girl up as they landed, and she stood dumbly there in the rain. The other teachers and Ministry wizards were landing around them. "Granger, go with the Headmaster," Snape said and gave her a little shove. Snape waved the others off to keep looking.

Hermione walked forward slowly as though in a daze, the rain beating at her, unnoticed. "The stress seems to have been too much," Snape commented as he opened the door to the stairs and held it open for the headmaster, who gave him a searching look as he steered Hermione through. Snape met his look with an innocent and confused expression.

"Where is Harry?" Dumbledore asked. "Ms. Granger?" She shook her head. Dumbledore looked at Snape.

A Ministry Wizard had followed them in and Pomfrey came up from below to take Hermione off their hands. Snape said, "He seems to have freed Ms. Granger with a bit of a battle, but I do not know where he is." Which was the truth. He assumed the boy could walk in a predetermined direction, though it would get harder after dark.

Hermione was laid out on a bed, where she stared at the ceiling between long blinks. Dumbledore watched her, then turned to Snape. "Go back and help look for Potter. It will be very dark soon."

***************

Harry's feet were hurting. He forced himself to not think about it which proved to be easy. All he had to do was remember the last thing Crabbe said to Hermione right before he released his hexed Zonko's cache. He would walk for a year nonstop if he had to in order to prevent that.

A crashing through the trees made Harry jump. "Grawp," he breathed in relief.

The giant leaned down and sniffed him, nearly inhaling his hair. "Har-rie," the giant said in greeting. "You come, visit?"

"Sure. Let Snape sweat for a while. Dumbledore will have gotten ahold of him by now."

Harry sat down and had a very slow and simple conversation with the giant although, by previous standards, it was a pretty intellectual one. Grawp liked to eat deer and they were easy to catch. The Centaurs ran away from him and they were fun to chase. Hagrid brought lots of nice games and treats.

Finally, Harry started to feel a little guilty about worrying everybody, although he wasn't relishing the complete chewing out he was going to get. That and he knew he was going to be in detention for the rest of the year. As Harry said goodbye and walked away from the waving giant he thought maybe McGonagall would let him out of detention long enough to play Quidditch. He sighed. At least Ron wasn't in any trouble. Except he too was going to be really, really mad at Harry. That thought almost made Harry turn around to go talk to Grawp some more.

Harry was wired with stress by the time he made it to the castle. He stood at the edge of the trees and watched the buzz of activity on the lawn. Torches lit the grounds in a flickering, spotty light. They had called in a lot of wizards. Harry thought he even recognized the long punk spikes of Tonks' hair. This was going to be a little awkward, Harry realized, as he watched a formation of wizards on broomstick fly overhead and out over the forest. Harry shook his head and chuckled at all the trouble everyone was going to. Laugh while you can, Potter, he said to himself, then stepped out into the torchlight. He froze there for almost a minute before deciding that no one, but no one, would be looking for him right here in this spot. He stomped up to the castle doorway and almost got past Professor McGonagall with a simple, "Busy evening, isn't it?"

She gasped and grabbed the back of his robes in a death grip. "Potter!" she snapped and pulled him around in front of her. Her expression changed instantly as she looked him over. "You're hurt."

"Ran into a tree trying to get away," Harry explained in a rush. He had rehearsed it better than that.

"Hospital wing, now!" she said as she pulled him along behind her, seeming determined not to let him get away this time.

Wizards and teachers called out to Harry in greeting and expressions of relief. He could hear the message that he was back being passed on out to the lawn as they turned the corner and walked along the windows. The door to the ward flew open before them. Harry flinched; he thought only Dumbledore could do that.

"One more," McGonagall said and dropped Harry into the middle of the room. He kept his footing with some effort. He was right about that upcoming chewing out, he decided.

"Harry," Dumbledore said in true pleasure at the site of him. The old wizard stood up and came over to him, putting his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Madame Pomfrey, another patient." Dumbledore brushed his fingers over Harry's scuffed forehead and glanced down at Harry's broom. "Did you run into a tree, Harry?"

"I was rushing," he replied, thinking about the rush to fake the accident as he said it. It came out rather well, although he would undoubtedly be telling the Headmaster the truth later.

Pomfrey forced Harry onto a bed and examined him. "Head doesn't look too bad," she commented, looking him closely in the eyes. Harry remembered and put his hand on the back of his head. "It hurts back here. I don't know why, I didn't hit the back of my head."

"Well, dear, we'll keep you here for a little while then."

Harry looked over at Dumbledore, who appeared to be keeping vigil on Hermione. There was an odd sadness to his eyes. With a jolt, Harry realized that Dumbledore didn't know about the ruse. "Headmaster?" Harry said. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

Dumbledore turned to Harry and then understood the boy actually meant much closer. He stepped over and sat beside him. Harry crooked his finger to bring Dumbledore in closer yet. "She’s faking it," he whispered. "Unless you have Snape completely wrong."

Dumbledore sat straight and looked at him. "Professor Snape," Dumbledore mouthed, correcting him. Harry rolled his eyes and glanced at Hermione.

More Ministry wizards came in at that point, Percy leading the pack. "I insist on speaking with the girl on the authority of Cornelius Fudge."

Dumbledore stood and intercepted him. "I will not allow it. She has been through enough for one day, if not one lifetime. Out," he ordered with the full force of his commanding presence. Percy withered and slinked back out, trailing assistants.

Dumbledore moved to stand over Hermione, who continued to mull over the cracks in the ceiling. Her eyes flicked to the headmaster for just an instant and she winked. Harry watched Dumbledore relax and almost smile. He strode across the room. "Pomfrey, let no one bother these two until I give my consent tomorrow. Professor, come with me," he said to McGonagall.

When they reached the Entrance Hall, Dumbledore asked McGonagall to take care of the Aurors for him, as they were mingling near the doorway. Then he turned to Snape. "Severus, a word," Dumbledore said, broaching no excuses.

Snape followed the headmaster up to his office in silence.

"I am amazed that you pulled that off," Dumbledore said in relief. "I was beginning to believe you had lost control of the situation and had to actually use a memory charm on Ms. Granger. Rather fine actress, that young lady." Dumbledore arranged his robes and sat down at his desk. "I did not intend for Harry to get out. I apologize for that. We had a plan that was coming together for the evening-"

"It would have been too late," Snape cut in. "Potter was almost too late as it was."

Dumbledore studied him and Snape explained, "Constantz Crabbe has rather an affinity for young girls. He had perhaps met his match in Ms. Granger, although he was too dim to realize it."

Dumbledore frowned. "Just as well, then. Satisfy my curiosity, will you, as to how young Harry managed it?"

Snape sighed. "It involved a gross of false teeth and rather a lot of bath powder," Snape stated, taking some satisfaction in Dumbledore's bemused expression. "And I am not joking."

"You never do, so I am trying to work that out precisely."

"The teeth were hexed and rather violent and numerous enough to completely distract Ms. Granger's guards. The powder was a mystery to me at first. It descended upon us from above like snow. But it revealed two cloaked Death Eaters I hadn’t known were even there."

Dumbledore raised his chin. "Do you think you are under suspicion?"

"I don't know. They may have simply been backup." Snape crossed his arms. "Potter is a student of diversion. He simply cloaked the girl and used two pair of charmed shoes to create a trail leading away through the powder. Then he was able to rescue her at leisure after we gave chase."

"You almost sound impressed, Severus," Dumbledore teased, his eyes sparkling.

Snape gave him a narrow look. "It was what he did next that makes me hold out some hope for him, for all of us." He paused. "He took her only partway to safety and waited for me; his accident was as fake as Ms. Granger's memory difficulties. The faith you have managed to instill in him astounds me, Albus; he handed the girl off to me with only minimal hesitation."

"His trust is heartening; I will admit. I feared I had lost it at the end of last year." Dumbledore looked up at the clock.

"While we are on this topic, there is something else we need to discuss," Snape said.

"I think perhaps I should return to deal with the Ministry wizards. I have been absent quite some time," Dumbledore said dismissively.

Snape looked out at the blackness of the grounds beyond the window. "I think if we are absent, it will imply that I had a difficult time convincing you of my version of events, which would be quite acceptable. I am suspicious of one of Mr. Weasley's assistants and think it worth putting on a show, just in case."

Dumbledore reached behind him to his suddenly steaming, rose-patterned teapot. "Have a spot of tea then, and sit down, Severus."

Snape took the tea cup and sipped it, boiling hot. The pain woke him up fully. "I believe I know what the next plan is regarding Mr. Potter--something Mr. Malfoy has suggested in the past although, he is still ensconced in Azkaban and will presumably not be taking part. If I am right, his son will be, whether he likes it or not."

Snape took another searing sip, and met Dumbledore’s curious gaze. "You are not going to like this, Albus . . ."