The Final Truth

He sat up gasping. It had been two weeks since she had vanished, but now he felt something. Something had happened. Something was wrong...

He swung his legs out of the bed, and briskly strode towards the door, ignoring the icy flagstones under his feet. He stopped only once to pull on a shirt, not even bothering to button it up before he hurried out of the room.

As he ran through the corridor and up the stairs, he wondered what could have woken him. He hadn't had this particular feeling since...

His arm was burning fiercely, and when he looked at it, he was filled with an unspeakable dread. The Dark Mark was as black as jet. That could only mean one thing...

He ran faster and faster, paying no mind to the furious shouts that issued forth from the paintings. All that he could think about, all that he could feel, was the Dark mark on his arm, shooting searing pain through his entire body, filling him with the need to rejoin Voldemort... and what could have caused him to have woken so abruptly.

By the time he realized where he was, he had his hand on the doorknob to the door of Albus' office. Without giving himself time to think about anything, or to slow his breathing, he threw open the door to the office, and stepped inside.

Nothing had been moved in the two days since she'd disappeared. As though it was the first time, his eyes took in the clutter of the small office. Papers and instruments were strewn about, and portrait frames were scorched and riddled with holes from curses. The ashes of a fire were scattered on the hearth, and Fawkes was just fluttering into the adjoining bedchamber. He followed the red-and-gold plumed phoenix, careful not to step on anything important.

As he entered the bedchamber, he saw Albus emerge from the bathroom, still adjusting his bathrobe, which was covered in small children holding bunches of balloons. Albus' silver beard and hair were disarrayed, and he too was barefoot. Lines of worry were etched deeply into his face, and his blue eyes glittered with an unreadable emotion. He gestured towards the fire, and said in an almost inaudible voice, "Come, have a seat, Severus."

Obediently, Severus turned, sweeping his hair out of his eyes as he did so. There was a fire blazing merrily in the hearth: three chairs were drawn up before it, with a small table between them and the fire. A glance showed that two of the chairs were empty, and that the third was occupied by Harry Potter.

Harry's face was pale, and his hands were pressed tightly to the scar on his forehead, the legacy of the Dark Lord's attack on the boy when he had been a toddler. His deep green eyes were tear-filled and frightened; his skin wasn't its normal tan shade, but a paler shade, a creamy white, which was bleached further by the flickering flames. His lips trembled as he did his best to suppress sobs, and his untidy jet-black hair fell over his fingers. He was wearing a pair of scarlet flannel pants and a matching shirt, as well as a pair of slippers.

Sitting down, Severus saw that Harry must have arrived here only moments before himself, since the tea in the cup before him on the table was still steaming. Albus sat down, and poured two more cups, one for himself and one for Severus, who left his on the table and began to speak.

"Something has happened, Albus. I can't tell what, but I know that something has happened to her. Do you know anything?"

Albus shook his head. His blue eyes were tired as he said, "No. I know nothing more than you. But Harry may be able to provide the answers that we lack, and that we so desperately need. He came here tonight from his home when his scar pained him so badly that he passed out." The look in Albus' eyes said that Severus should just sit quietly and for him to let Albus do the telling of the tale.

So he did, listening intently.

" Harry, we didn't tell you some of the things that have been happening here at Hogwarts. Perhaps I should have, but I thought that it would be best if you didn't know until you had to, or until she could tell you herself. Unfortunately, I believe that I must tell you now. So please, Harry, please just listen. Listen closely, and listen well."

Albus sipped his tea. Severus could see the wheels turning in his head, and knew that Albus didn't know how to tell the boy. So Severus cleared his throat, and suggested, "Why not start with what we knew immediately?"

He nodded, took a deep breath, and began to weave his horrifying tale.

"I had set wards, months ago, to let me know if certain rooms were disturbed. I had hoped my feelings were wrong about these things, but I set them just in case.

"Two days ago, I was working out an order for a case of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, when the wards were crossed. As I stood to go to the rooms, my door was thrown wide open.

"A man walked in, wearing a mask, a dark cloak, and a black robe; he was hoping to hide his identity, no doubt. In his arms he carried someone. She seemed to be unconscious, but she may have just been Stunned. I couldn't tell who at first- she was too tall to be a student from any of the current classes.

"He set her down, carefully, gently, almost lovingly in one of my office chairs, then turned to me. He laughed, his voice triumphant, and said, 'You're no match for me, old man!'

"He blasted my office with various curses, then turned his wand on me. Since I didn't have my wand in my hand, I couldn't defend myself. I fell, senseless, as he picked up the other person, and left my office.

"When I came to my senses, the two were gone."

Severus could see that Harry didn't understand, that he hadn't figured it out. He rose to his feet, and shouted, "Albus, we don't have time for this! Just tell him-"

But Albus shook his head, and waited. Severus sat, his heart racing. How could the boy not know?

Finally, Albus' voice, filled with sorrow, began the tale again. "The man was Draco Malfoy. And the girl..."

Harry shook his head; a horrifying thought occurring to him.

"No. No- it can't have been..."

But Albus met his eyes, and said, softly, " The girl was... Hermione Granger."

Harry began to cry in earnest now. Tears streaked down his face, as Albus drew him into an embrace. Severus could hear Harry slightly, but didn't listen. An idea had suddenly come to him.

Could he use Harry to find Hermione?

But Albus turned to him, and asked him to tell Harry what had happened since then. He nodded, and took up his part of the tale.

"I was numb, numb with shock and loss. I didn't believe Albus. How could that have happened?

"I didn't believe him because my quarters are next to hers. I hadn't heard a thing.

"I was angry that Albus could have played such a trick on me. But when I looked into his eyes..."and his eyes filled with tears, "... I could see that it was true.

"All along I had known. Albus wouldn't have done something like that to me. And I had had my warning, by my Dark Mark. That was what had awakened me.

"I cried, then," he sobbed, his voice thick with tears, " like I am now. And the Headmaster calmed me down, and put me to bed, since I couldn't sleep on my own. And my only thought before I slept was, Maybe we can save her...

"So I have been searching, these past two days, for her. But there is no sign of her, though I know that she still lives. I would have felt it if she had died..."

He fell silent, letting the tears flow down his face. He had learned that all that he could do was to cry when the time came.

Once the worst of the tears had passed, Severus remembered his idea.

"I think, Harry," he began, tentatively, "that I may know of a way to find her. But I need your help, and I need you to trust me."

Harry looked quizzically at him, his eyes still red from crying. Severus could sense a cold resentment form him at the fact that they hadn't told him about Hermione vanishing, and he could feel the younger man's burning anger, too. But he saw Harry's hope that she could be found, and kept talking.

"You must trust me, because- Do you remember when the Dark Lord used you, in your fifth year?"

Harry nodded, his curiosity rising.

"Well, if he could do that to you, then you can do it to him, as well. You don't know how, but I do. If you truly trust me, you will lower your shields against me and let me into your mind, and I'll get the information from his mind. And I will protect you and myself. You don't need to do anything but trust."

Harry gave the idea a bare thirty seconds of thought before he nodded. "All right. But you and I should sit. Who knows how long that this will take?"

Severus shook his head, and explained the other part of the theory to him.

" You need not stay. You may find it easier, though, if you are asleep. I will, in effect, be asleep, since I will be going through your mind into his."

Albus nodded at that point, then left the room while Harry and Severus debated several other points.

When Albus returned, he was carrying two goblets and a bottle of Sleeping Potion. After filling the two goblets, he gave one to Harry, who lay down on the bed and drank it. He grimaced at the taste, and fell into a deep, relaxed sleep.

Severus took the other goblet, and sat down on the bed next to Harry. Looking at Albus for a last reassurance, her drank down the potion, grabbed Harry's wrist to ease the contact, and laid back. He was inside Harry's sleeping mind in a matter of moments.

His body, sinking into sleep, released its hold on Harry's arm. The journey had begun.

Albus warded all of the doors and windows with the strongest spells he knew, then sat down to wait. The last thing that he noticed was that Harry and Severus both had a single, glistening tear running down the same spot on their faces. Strange, he thought. Then he too slept.