Secrets

Severus Snape sat alone in his dungeon, contemplating on the Potter boy. He'd been especially cruel to him today, and the boy had run out of his classroom. Of course, it was Hagrid's job to be the boy's protector, and since Snape especially disliked the large, hairy man he would, of course, make Harry Potter's life as unbearable as possible.

But it wasn't strictly true. He did like the boy. It should have been him who was his protector. He had sworn to James that he'd look after him if anything ever went wrong. Something had gone wrong, and Harry had been left alone and the gamekeeper had been assigned the job. That had made him almost choke on his own spit.

He pulled out a draw from the table and took out a bottle of orange liquid. There only seemed to be a little left, maybe an inch, and he drank it before throwing the bottle at the door. It shattered into several thousand pieces just as it opened and McGonagall stepped in. Snape glared at her, and she looked at the mess behind the door, then at him, his black eyes hidden behind his hair.

"Severus, what are you doing to yourself?" she asked lightly. She was replied with a dragged out glower as he pulled himself up off the chair.

"Go away, Minerva," he snarled. He didn't offer an excuse at all and he stumbled when he tried to walk around the table and grabbed on to it. She rushed forward and he held his hand out towards her.

"What's wrong, Severus? Why are you drinking?" she asked, concerned.

"It's perfectly natural to want a bit of tipple now and then" he pointed out, holding on to the door handle

"Now, Severus," she reminded him. "You only drink when you're depressed. What is it?" She shut the door to his room behind them and observed how dark the corridor had become. She tried to keep up with him as he stormed on ahead. He suddenly stopped and turned.

"Minerva, if I had wished to share my troubles with you, I would have come to speak to you. Since it was you who has come to speak to me, I have no wish to speak with you about any matters. And since the subject is of I highly personal matter, I suggest you leave me and refrain from following me incessantly around the corridors at night." He turned with the intention of walking, but Professor McGonagall took hold of his arm and gave him an earnest expression. He looked at her hand distastefully, as if it was going to give him some dreadfully and potentially life threatening disease and grabbed it, dragging her into one of the side corridors.

"It's that Potter boy," he said darkly. Minerva braced herself for another rant abut how bad the boy was and the fact that he was no better than pond scum.

"There's something wrong," he said urgently. She opened her mouth to say something and he interrupted her. " I can feel it. I want you just to....."

A bloodcurdling scream finished his sentence, and it came from along the corridor. He went deathly pale and McGonagall looked at him in shock.

"What?!" she asked in alarm, but Snape was already running down the corridor towards the source of the scream, his midnight-black robes flying out behind him. She shook her head and followed him at a quick pace.

The portrait hole was open and Ron stood in front of it the a glazed expression on his face. Snape pushed him to one side and he fell to the floor, and McGonagall stayed with the boy as Snape stormed, wand out, up the stairs.

He entered the Gryffindor common room and saw all the Gryffindors in various positions of unconsciousness on the floor. He stepped up to the nearest one and felt for a pulse. There was one. He looked around the floor and could not see a short haired, dark-brown head anywhere.

Snape leapt over the stationary bodies and shot through the door leading to the boys' dorm, praying that the boy would be in his bed. His eyes scanned the room and saw the empty bed, the glasses lopsidedly half-off the bedside table.

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

The teachers sat in discussion around the table. The unexplained disappearance of one Mr. Harry Potter had spread around the school like wildfire, and so had the fact that a certain potions professor was paying extra attention to it than he would any other missing student. Most eyes in the dining hall were on him. Dumbledore stood.

"Many of you will have heard of the disappearance of Mr. Potter under suspicious circumstances. It is a fluke, we are sure, and currently the Ministry of Magic is looking into it. In the meantime, so not worry, everything is under control and everyone is safe."

There were murmurings, and Ron stood up, marching towards the head table. There was immediate silence

"Suspicious circumstances? I should say so. Who was first on the scene? It just happens to be his arch enemy, Professor Snape! If that's suspicious, I don't know what is!" he said triumphantly.

"I don't know what you're implying, Weasley, but I don't like the sound of it," remarked Snape in a cool but deadly tone. His voice was dangerously soft. " And if you don't shut that mouth of yours the Potter boy won't be the only thing missing from Gryffindor. A couple of house points might unexpectedly disappear too."

"You know what I'm implying, Professor Snape! You are a death eater, and by the mark on your arm I say that you've killed Harry and made the body disappear!"

Ron was suddenly accosted by two teachers, Hagrid and Lupin, and dragged out of the door at the head of the hall.

" An accusation of murder is a very serious business and Ron will be dealt with accordingly. I wish for no more of you to try and get involved in Harry Potter's disappearance, for this is over our heads, and it's up to the ministry of Magic to decide what to do."

He walked out of the room and Snape followed him, and the other teachers exited and drifted off to various parts of the school. Dumbledore stopped and turned.

"You wished to speak with me, Severus?" the older man asked, and Snape followed him into his office, whereupon he shut the door and sat in the big leather chair on the other side of the desk. Snape sat and arched his fingers

"Is there any particular reason why you denied me the chance to be the boy's protector in school?" he asked, the line between his eyebrows becoming darker for a second. The headmaster looked at him concernedly.

"That is irrelevant," he replied.

"But he might have been still here if you'd let me, Albus. You know I had a feeling about that night when he was abducted. I made a promise to James and I broke it. I feel it is my personal duty to find the boy." Dumbledore looked deep in thought for a few minutes, and the light from the sun outside the window seemed to darken.

"No, Severus. I can't allow you to go. It's too dangerous. I've already lost Harry, and I don't plan on losing you also," he finally decided, and Snape's aura glowed darkly.

"The boy may be lying dead in a ditch and you won't let me find him? For the sake of Lily and James, Albus, let me fulfill the promise I made to them!" Snape stood and leaned over the desk, and rather than feeling intimidated Dumbledore stood also.

"I'll have my eye on you until this business is over, Severus, good day." He opened the door to his study and Snape scowled.

"Albus, please!" he protested.

"Good day, Severus," Albus finished. This statement was a full-stop to the conversation as Snape was shooed out the door.

Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room amongst a heap of tissues. Ron sat next to her with his arm around her, and some other glum-looking students.

"He's gone! He's gone forever!" Hermione cried. Ron looked worried.

"Snape knows we're on to him, 'Mione. I'll get him to confess," Ron comforted, passing her another tissue. She sniffed.

"Oh, Ron, what if we're wrong? What if it wasn't Snape?" she wailed.

"I am *never* wrong, Hermione," He reminded her gravely. One of the other Gryffindors came up to tap Ron on the shoulder.

" There's Snape outside, he wants to see you." The boy straightened. "And he says to tell Hermione to stop sniveling. Sorry Herm'," he said, addressing his last point to the crying girl.

Ron stormed down the stairs as menacingly and as Snape-like as possible, poking his head through the portrait hole. If he was going to confront a murderer, he had to be brave. He took a deep breath.

"Yes?" he asked, aloofly. Snape regarded him with a cold stare.

"I need to speak to you alone, Weasley. It is a matter of great urgency," He said sharply.

" A date with a sledgehammer isn't my idea of a good evening, murderer," Ron said, glaring at the black-clad man. Snape stared at the boy, outraged, and grabbed his arm forcefully.

"Listen, boy, it is to do with your...friend," he spat the word out "that I am on business here with you. It is for no other reason that I wish to converse with you, so get those ridiculous ideas out of your head and come with me." The man floated along the corridor and then turned back to look at the red haired boy.

"No," Ron said with as much dignity as he could muster. Snape looked deadpan at him.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," he informed the boy.

"What? No!" he protested.

"Do you wish to come with me?" Snape asked again. The boy shook his head. "Twenty points from Gryffindor"

"I'm still not coming." Ron folded his arms and took on what he hoped was a mature pose, and hoped the Professor didn't notice his voice was shaking.

The older man rolled his eyes. "Fifty points from Gryffindor"

"What? You can't do that!" Ron objected, throwing his arms in the air.

"I'm a teacher, Weasley, I can do whatever I like. Now do you wish to keep up with this childish charade of disobedience or will you come with me?" The man raised his eyebrow at the much-disliked boy and Ron hung his head.

The boy was led into Snape's office, looked at the broken glass on the floor, and felt immediately sick. The room was decked out in green and silver and although the man was wearing black he still half melted into the walls.

"Sit. I have a very important thing to ask you," he said calmly, and the boy sat nervously on the other side of the table. Snape looked at him for a minute, his black eyes seeming like dark abysses of hell. "I think I know where Potter is."

"What, in you're broom cupboard?" Ron said sarcastically, and received a murderous glare in reply.

"No, you stupid boy," Snape sneered "I'm perfectly serious, and I'm beginning to think I shouldn't even have attempted to talk to you. It's obvious you don't want your friend back. Get out," he ordered. Ron put his hands up in disbelief.

"Oh please, Professor! I want to see Harry again! Please!" he begged, and the teacher closed the door and sat down.

"Very well, Weasley." He drawled, sitting back in the seat "and I don't fraternize with Gryffindors, so please excuse any...insults....that creep in. Now listen. I think that Voldemort has Harry and is going to keep him hostage unless they return him to his normal powers. Dumbledore won't let me go and get the boy, and I need your help to get out of here." The boy was dumbfounded. "It's just a hunch," he added "But I feel it is an extremely accurate one." He leaned forward and looked dubiously at Ron.

"Professor Dumbledore is a very intelligent man. If he had forbidden something, I'm sure it was for good reason," the boy replied meekly.

Snape's eyes widened and his thin hands gripped the arm rests of the chair. "Good grief," he stated, staring at the boy. "You're not as much of a dunderhead as I thought you were." He paused. "In answer to that question, Weasley, Dumbledore is a fantastic man, but in some respects he fails in this. Although I respect him greatly, he has no sense of action. He wishes to do everything by the book. Granted, his hands are tied by the Ministry, but when I set my sights on something, such as the rescue of Potter, then it shall be done, by the book or not." Ron shuffled in his chair and thought. After a minute he looked up at the older man who was staring at him. Creepily. Ron wished he'd turn away. God knows what he was thinking.

"Why are you always so horrible to Harry?" he asked after a while, trying not to look at the professor. Snape stood.

"That is of a personal matter, Weasley, and not one which I wish to discuss with you. Do you wish to come with me or not?"

"It's a deal!" he said, and held out his hand for it to be shook. Snape looked at it in repugnance before ignoring it and opening the door. As they stepped out into the now almost pitch-black corridor, he asked; "Professor Snape, why me out of all the students in the school?"

"Because, you great fool, you know him better than I do. Now, enough with the stupid questions," Snape sneered, slamming the door. Ron watched as his potions teacher locked the door with two padlocks and three spells and slipped the keys into his robes pocket. "We're leaving tomorrow, Weasley, and if I find you've told anyone about this, I will personally make sure you never get past your eighteenth birthday."

*

Harry sat alone in darkness, diseased by continuous pain. Every breath was a nightmare, every heartbeat was a thousand knives. The scar on his forehead ached terribly, and the darkness around him suddenly seemed closer than it had before. He didn't dare even think, but if he had, he would have wondered were his friends were.

*

In the lesson the following day Severus Snape was in an even worse mood than usual. He managed to successfully deduct 50 points each from all of the houses except his own through what he called 'insolent behavior'. He'd stormed into the classroom, cloaks flying out behind him, and had deducted ten house points each from four Hufflepuffs in discussion. Ron sat nervously on the edge of his seat and refused to look Hermione in the eye.

"Ron, what's going on? Aren't you speaking to me?" she whispered in a low voice. It was enough for her to get a glare from the Professor.

"Detention, Granger!" he said loudly. Hermione slunk in her seat, and after a few minutes Snape saw Ron scribble something on a piece of paper.

"Accio!" Snape said, interrupting himself. The piece of paper flew towards him and he plucked it out of the air. He went over to his desk and read it, and as he turned around his black hair flew in his eyes. One thin finger pointed at the boy. "Fifty points from Gryffindor. Weasley, see me afterwards."

During what was left of the lesson Ron had slunk in his chair and barely paid attention to what was being said. The threat from last night still played in his mind, and the prospect of spending time alone with Snape terrified him, even if it was to save his best friend. At the end of the lesson the other students filed out of the classroom, and Ron was left in the empty dungeon with the seemingly omnipotent Snape.

"Weasley. Come here," he ordered. The walk from his desk to Snape seemed longer than ever, and when he got there, Snape didn't bother looking up.

"Yes, Sir?" he asked anxiously. Snape looked up despairingly.

"I despise working with you, boy, I really do. What make of broomstick do you have?"

"Nimbus," he replied, mock-proudly. Snape glared at him.

"We leave at midnight. Go into my office. You may leave now." He dismissed him, and

Ron went back to the Gryffindor common room, were Hermione sat waiting for him.

"Hermione, I have something very important to tell you," he said. Hermione was not used to seeing Ron so serious, and she made room for the seat for him.

"What is it, Ron?" she asked.

"I may be going away for a while. I have to help someone. Please try not to worry about me, I'm in good hands - and don't try to stop me, it's useless," he said. She nodded, sat back and thought for a minute.

"Is it something to do with Harry?" she asked, and he nodded. "Ok then Ron. I won't ask. But one thing - come back safe. And come back with Harry."

Ron smiled and nodded, and went to get up, but Hermione touched his arm and passed him a newspaper. "Ron, wait - read this."

He read a few lines and looked up. "This by that Skeeter bitch?" he asked. She murmered in assent.

'Harry Potter Missing!' the headline screamed. Ron wiped his brow. "I'd better read this on the way down to dinner" he told Hermione, walking toward the portrait hole.

'The most famous wizard on the planet has been missing since yesterday. It seems he was snatched from his bed, possibly by one of the minions of He Who Must Not Be Named, but there are no clues as to why. We tried to interview the head teacher of the school, but to no avail as he refused to discuss anything with us. We enquired as to....'

"Hello, Weasley." a child-like voice said behind them, and a blonde head came into view. Hermione raised her eyes heavenwards. "Taking in some pre-dinner literature, I presume?" Draco said, scanning the headline. "Potter Missing, hey? Did *you* have anything to do with this, Ron?"

Hermione suddenly stood up, struck by inspiration. "Oh, bug off, Malfoy. You only pay so much attention to Harry because you have a crush on him!" The Gryffindors cheered and the tips of Draco's ears went a lovely shade of pink. He opened his mouth for a retort but a light hand landed on his shoulder.

"I trust everything is customary at this table?" a deep, silky and dangerous voice asked, and the Gryffindors stopped cheering immediately, and Hermione sat down. Draco turned to his house leader.

"Everything is fine, Professor Snape. We were just discussing some journalism," He said, scowling at the Gryffindors. He walked back to his table and the Gryffindors started to chat again, albeit in low voices. Snape breathed in Hermione's ear.

"If I ever find you insulting one of my Slytherins again, Granger, you will be in detention. Do you understand?" he finished, and walked away.

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

It was five past midnight and Ron woke with a start. He speedily changed into his robes and grabbed his broomstick from where he had hid it under the bed. He looked one last time at the Gryffindor dormitory, and half-stumbled down the stairs. Snape was waiting at the bottom, Firebolt in hand.

"You're late, Weasley!" he hissed, grabbing the boy by his collar and dragging him along the corridor "I can't trust you to do anything right!"

He dragged him around a corner and stopped suddenly. A breeze hit Ron and he realized the two large stained-glass windows at the head of the corridor were wide open. "Footsteps. Behind us. Fly, Boy! And don't stop until I tell you to!" Ron looked at Snape in bewilderment and got a sharp shove in the back. Obediently he flew off and out of the window. Snape abruptly followed, and the windows shut with a bang behind them both. After about one hundred meters Snape called out.

"Weasley - stop!" The boy turned and looked at his potions master. He looked a lot younger in moonlight. He should get out more. "Boy, stop staring at me. We have work to do. We have to go through the Forbidden Forest."

It was an exceptionally clear night and the light from one or two windows in the castle shone like eyes, casting long shadows on the dewy grass. The sun was shining directly on the both of them and Snape could clearly see the look of complete horror on the boy's face.

"What, all the way through?" Ron asked in a squeaky voice. Snape's eyes narrowed .

"Weasley, you forget I used to be a Death Eater. I've been through there many a time. Now follow me, and stay exactly beside me. If you fall back or go to far ahead, I won't be able to reach you, and you'll be lost. Understand?"

The boy nodded and Snape raced at extreme speed down to the trees.. Ron hurried to catch up, and Snape hovered at the first line of trees to wait for him. The professor ducked down as far as he could, hugging his broomstick, and Ron copied him. Suddenly Snape shot off but his time Ron was at a steady speed.

The trees were coming too fast towards him and the first couple of times he nearly hit them. Their bark looked black in the moonlight and it was hard to see the man next to him. He was keeping up now, he was sure of it. It was even becoming easier to swerve trees. Snape looked towards him, a flash of white in the darkness, and sped up. Ron tried harder to catch up, and suddenly something which he thought was a tree loomed ahead of me. He skidded to one side, hoping to stop, and then he realized it couldn't be a tree, this thing had red eyes! Panic shot through his veins as he skidded quickly towards it. He cried out, and then something else dark came between them and the dark thing screamed and disappeared.

"What was that?" Ron asked breathlessly.

"Demon," Snape said hollowly into the darkness. "Stay close and it won't happen again." Then he went ahead, albeit a bit slower so Ron could catch up. There had been something in his last statement, the way that he had said it, which made Ron feel scared. He was thinking about it all the way through the forest, and as he came out, he realized what it was - fear. The trees gradually dispersed into grass, and grass into fields, and Ron watched his fellow adventurer's broom pull steadily vertical and slow. When it slowed until it had almost stopped, Snape hopped off, and Ron stepped off too.

"Are you harmed?" Snape asked. Ron looked up in surprise. Care, from the potions master? Ron still hadn't spoke, and Severus looked at him as if he was brainless. "Are you dripping blood, boy?" he asked, his question saturated with sarcasm. Ron looked away, obviously upset and brimming with anger at the man who had previously saved him, now taunting him.

"Where's Harry?" Ron asked accusingly.

"The only place no-one would ever think of looking for him," Snape replied.

"Where?"

"Why, the Ministry, of course."

7