The Catch

Chapter Twelve: Hideaway

Neville didn't know what hit him. One moment, he was just laying on his bed, enjoying the last minutes before sleep, when suddenly, the curtains of his bed opened to reveal two Gryffindors. He stared at the glaring figure of Hermione as she stood beside his bed, arms akimbo, while Harry grinned just behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Neville asked, surprised.

"The question is: What have you been doing?" Hermione handed him a piece of parchment. "Look what we found lying around."

Neville took the sheet from her, mystified. He gave Harry a questioning look but he just shrugged and shook his head, looking pointedly at Hermione.

"What is this-- Oh! It's the contract!" Neville stared at it, shocked, and sat up on his bed. "Where did you get this?"

"Where was it supposed to be?" Hermione countered.

"Harry and the other blokes gave it to me for safekeeping and I put it in here." He opened his bedside drawer. "Only, it's not here. It was--"

"In Snape's office," Hermione finished grimly. "No what I want to know is: how did it get there?"

"Well I certainly didn't give it to him. I don't think Dean and Seamus would have, either. They didn't even know that it was in the drawer." Neville was starting to get upset. "And I haven't told anyone either. I wouldn't tell on Ron and Professor Snape. Besides, no one asked..." He trailed off, eyes widening as if he suddenly remembered something.

"What is it?" Hermione encouraged. "Did someone ask about the bet?"

"Well, to tell you the truth..." Neville slowly started. "It happened a few days ago. I really couldn't remember what I told her. We sort of had fun during the first hour. You know, just talking. Then later, after the third butterbeer, I think she asked me something about Snape and Ron. But I don't remember what I said."

"Oh, Neville, you got drunk?" Hermione sat on the bed, sighing.

"Well I didn't mean to get drunk!" he answered defensively. "We were just having a nice afternoon chat with a few bottles. She asked me out!"

"Who did?" Harry butted in, his interest piqued.

"Parvati Patil."

~~~~~

"Do you need a drink?" Harry inquired politely.

"No!" Hermione replied shortly. She had been pacing around the common room for hours. It was empty except for her and Harry since it was way past a rational person's bed time.

"Food?"

"Nope."

"Sleep?" he asked hopefully.

"Harry! How could you possibly sleep? We haven't even figured out why the Patil twins would do this horrible thing to Ron!"

"Instead of trying to figure it all out by yourself, why don't you try asking Parvati?" Harry suggested sleepily. "Isn't she right there in your room?"

"Ask Parvati! But I can't! What would she... oh all right. I suppose I should."

"Hmmm," Harry nodded, "that should save a lot of time."

"I'll ask her in the morning." Hermione suddenly smiled. "You go sleep. And tell Ron that we'll find a solution to this, okay?"

"I will. G'nyt, Herm." Yawning, Harry made his way back to his room, leaving Hermione alone in the common room to think.

Hermione sat on the couch, facing the fireplace, waiting for the answer she had been hoping for. In a few minutes, the fire started to glow. It turned green, sputtered a bit, and finally revealed the smiling face of Percy Weasley. Hermione moved closer to the fire.

"Perce! Did you get my letter?"

"I did. Is Ron okay? He hasn't sent me anything. No note. No letter. Nothing."

"He's very distraught. He hardly even moved from his bed since this afternoon. This thing with Snape really put him down."

"So it's really serious, huh?"

"It is. He loves him Perce. He never told us... but just look at him! Oh... I hate to see Ron like this."

"I wouldn't have believed it if Ron had not told me in the first place." Percy scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I've known Professor Snape for a while. In fact, we had become pretty close during my sixth and seventh year in Hogwarts. He's not the type to let someone get too close, if you know what I mean."

"Well he did with Ron." Hermione sighed. "I feel sorry for him too. He must be feeling really shitty right now. Imagine him finding Ron's contract and reading it just before he was about to leave for dinner."

"Have you found out who sent it?"

"Harry and I have a suspicion but we're dealing with that tomorrow. Anyway, what have you got to share?"

"Herm, I'm telling you this because I trust you, and because I want to help my brother in the best way I could. Please don't tell anyone else other than Harry or Ron. It wouldn't be good for anyone to find out," he said seriously.

"I promise," she swore. "Now tell me, where do you think Professor Snape is hiding?"

"I would need to let you know more about where he's coming from. Professor Snape is a Pureblood. His family has been around the wizarding world for a long time. However, their reputation had not always been good, nor were they rich enough to carry a lot of influence. Often, in the past, several notorious Snapes have been persecuted for their illegal acts, giving the family a bad name--which those morons were irrationally proud of, Dark as they were.

"But this has been difficult for the more decent members of the family to get over with. Severus' father was one such man. He was a scholar, very interested in, of all things, muggle history, much to his family's shame. He would have spent his life with his own books had he not met Severus' mother, the noted Potions Mistress, Wanda Rowani, and married her after a very short courtship. For a while, they were quite happy, the young couple with their baby.

"Now, they weren't like most of the Snapes. They were, for a Dark family, rather good. For one thing, Professor Dumbledore was a close friend of the couple and was made, I think, Severus' godfather. But not many years after they were married, they were killed under mysterious circumstances. Some say that it happened because the rest of the Snapes, who were dwindling in number, had killed them out of spite. But no one really knows what happened."

"Oh dear! Poor Professor!" Hermione's eyes misted. "I had no idea that he had gone through so much in his past. And he was so young!"

"That was the greatest tragedy of all: his youth. It might've been better if he were older; at least he would've been able to cope with it better. But he was just a child, and was made to live with his father's brother and his wife who were the perfect doubles of all the Snapes' dark ancestors. Needless to say, he did not spend a happy childhood. Professor Dumbledore couldn't save him soon enough because the child was bound to stay with his nearest of kin. All he could do was watch over the young Snape while he was in school. But it wasn't enough. His ugly home life had left scars that were too deep to heal, and he had made one mistake after another... which led him to finally joining Voldemort as an act of escape."

"But he's not like that now, is he?"

"No." Percy shook his head, smiling. "He's more well-balanced now as an adult. Although he may have some privacy issues."

"What does his history have to do with finding him?"

"Raven Towers. That's the ancestral home of his family, although now, he's the only one left. It's located in the middle of nowhere, near the Craggy Mountains where a few rare griffins could still be found."

"And you think he's there for a vacation?" Hermione asked disbelievingly. "Why would he go to the place where he was hurt so many years ago?"

"It's just a hunch. But I think he may be trying to say goodbye to his past." Percy's image in the fire shrugged. "Put it at self-flagellation. He might be feeling extremely stupid after Ron's apparent betrayal. He might find consolation at facing his other inner devils."

"So we'd have to go all the way there," Hermione thought aloud.

"It's dangerous. I don't want you going alone. Maybe I should come with you."

"Oh no! I can't let you neglect your work just because of me," Hermione objected. "Stay there. The Ministry needs you."

"Don't forget that Ron is my brother, too. I'd like to help him in any way I can."

"Don't worry. Between Ron, Harry, and me we've faced more danger than you can possibly imagine. What's a little band of griffins and a few miles of forest?" She smiled faintly and reached into the fire, touching the image of his face and producing a few sparks. "We'll be okay. I promise we'll be careful."

"All right." Percy smiled and held out his hand, touching her fingertip with his own. "I'll wait for you. Make sure to let me know, okay?"

"I will. Good night."

"I love you."

~~~~~

"Good morning."

Ron opened his eyes and winced. His lids felt swollen. He must have slept longer than necessary... or cried more than he wanted to admit.

"Herm... what are you doing here?" He stretched and craned his neck to see the clock. "What time is it?"

"It's nearly six o'clock in the morning." She smiled and stood from her seat beside his bed. "Hurry and get dressed. We need to get an early start." She sounded rushed.

"A start to what?"

"Finding the love of your life." She threw him a towel. "Now go take a shower so we can leave as early as possible!"

"What! You know where he is?" He jumped out of bed and rushed to her in seconds. "Where is he?"

"Easy boy." Hermione chuckled and plucked out his hands from her sleeve. "You'll see him soon, if we're lucky. It's just a hunch, but Percy thinks he may be in Raven Towers--that's his family's home. It's in the Craggy Mountains, that's why we have to leave straight away."

"The Craggy Mountains! But that's nearly a country away! And we have classes... aren't you worried about missing them?"

"Pooh!" She waved her hand carelessly. "What are a few classes compared to you."

"Herm!" He stared at her, amazed. "You never cease to surprise me."

She blushed and pointed to the bathroom door. "Now stop gawking and go take a shower. You're holding us up."

"Yes, ma'am." He saluted her and happily walked to the showers. Before he even reached it, the door opened and he bumped into a very damp Harry who still looked half-asleep.

Harry clutched his towel and called out. "Herm, out of the room! I'm getting dressed!"

~~~~~

"I will never, ever ride one of these things again!" Ron grumbled as he moved his stiff backside from a thestral. The beautiful black creature snorted and glared at him rather reproachfully.

"Hah! You should be lucky that I thought about calling them earlier. How could we have gotten here, otherwise?" Harry retorted.

"Oomph." Hermione groaned and alighted. She petted her thestral and grinned. "Well at least it seemed better than the first time."

The three had arrived safely just outside Raven Towers on three thestrals that they had called out of the Forbidden Forest that morning. The black creatures gleamed beautifully in the sunlight. Unlike before, when Harry had been the only one in the three who could see them, Ron and Hermione had seen too much death during the past war when Voldemort was finally subdued. In fact, most of the school's students could now see them occasionally, flying above their home in the Forbidden Forest.

"So this is Raven Tower." Harry stopped and looked above. "Grand..."

"...and falling apart," Ron finished. "I've heard about this but I've never been here."

"You're family was never an associate, Ron," Hermione stepped forward.

"True. They just ignored us. Or made fun of us. Now, look where they are... all dead and buried around their crumbling castle."

"Except for your boyfriend," Harry butted in. He stared at the sprawling west side of the castle. "He must be in there... somewhere."

"Oh, we'll find him. But first," Hermione glanced at the front of the walls. "We have to get over the moat."

~~~~~

"It's a wonder that he hasn't heard us by now if he were here. Harry's been smashing into one suit of armor after another," Ron complained as he pulled a cobweb off his hair.

"Well, it's not exactly bright in here," Harry snapped, picking himself up from the floor amid pieces of another toppled-over suit of armor.

"Try to behave yourselves. This isn't your house, you know," Hermione shushed them up. "Harry, are you a wizard or not? Lumos." The tip of her wand glowed.

"Sheesh... sorry, I forgot." Harry grinned sheepishly and brought out his wand. "Lumos."

"Think the thestrals would be okay out there?" Harry asked after a few minutes of walking in the bare stone hallway. "What if some griffins accidentally find them?"

"Nah. Griffins never attack near a human dwelling." Ron was starting to lose heart as they stayed longer inside the castle. "I don't think he's here. We've been here for an hour an I've found no sign of any other human being other than the three of us."

"Patience, Ron." Hermione patted his arm. "It's only been an hour. And it's a huge castle. Who knows how many rooms they have in here?"

"This place is a dump." Ron kicked on the floor, making the dust swirl around his robes. They were now standing in another cavernous hall that looked so much like another they had passed earlier except for the ugly sculpture of a giant raven in the middle. The layout of the castle was very confusing, and Hermione had to put marks on some of the places to guide them on their way. "I cannot believe his evil family made Sev stay here when he was a kid. I'll never make him come back here as soon as I find him."

"Wait!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. "Look!"

He pointed towards a door. There was light coming from under it. Trying not to seem too excited himself (after all, the light could just be sunlight from an open window), Ron walked towards the door. He held his breath as he pushed it open, preparing himself for the worst...

"Ron!"

-TBC-