Harry Potter and the Last Goodnight

Chapter 27: An Escape from Azkaban

"Good night." Harry found his voice sometime after she had closed the closed the door. Blushing furiously and grinning like an idiot, he quickly pulled the invisibility cloak over his head and tiptoed down the stairs to the pub.

He wondered how she could affect him like that. How she could turn such a terrible day into a happy ending. He had never felt so vulnerable in his life, but she didn't take advantage of the situation. She was there for him. Just as friends should be.

Friends. The label bothered Harry. He was friends with Ron, with Hermione. He had a lot of friends. He wanted to be more to her. Perhaps... perhaps he ought to ask her on a date. He could sneak out of the castle after his two weeks of detention were over and they could have dinner somewhere. But where? He would be recognized for sure.

He yawned as he crept down into the Honeydukes cellar. Both emotionally and physically exhausted, he wanted nothing more than to climb into his four-poster and sleep until dinner. He was lucky that it was Sunday and he didn't have to attend any classes.

Alone. Eva's voice echoed in his head. She really had been alone for a long time. Harry somehow managed to do the math in his head from what she had told him about her mother's death. That put her at seventeen, eighteen years old at the most. She looked older than that, but he assumed it was because she was forced to grow up so fast.

He knew all too well how that could affect someone.

Harry shivered as he broke into a jog in the dark tunnel. It stretched on for ages, but tonight it seemed to be taking so much longer to find the exit. He slowed to catch his breath, but tripped over a loose rock and fell headfirst to the hard ground. Harry's breath caught in his chest, the wind knocked out of him, and as he tried to catch his breath, the first dizzy spell hit him.

Chaos. There was pandemonium everywhere. He could sense it when he flicked his tongue into the open air. Feet running. Shouting. Keys unlocking. Gates opening. And fear. Lots of fear. The stench of fear was so clear he could hardly smell anything else. As he slithered upon the stone floor he could sense she was close. He could feel the vibrations of her laughter as though he were slithering along her neck, feeling her heartbeat.

It will not be much longer.

He could hear her laughing now. The final gate unlocked and she stepped out into the open air. She took a deep breath and stepped towards him. She looked much healthier than their last escape, her heavy-lidded eyes wide and black hair shining in the sunrise.

"What took you so long?" she questioned, then leaned over and picked him up. He coiled around her boney wrist and slithered up her arm until he was secure around her neck. He had a better view of the anarchy around him. Some foolish guards hid in the cells that once held prisoners. The apparition ban on the fortress that kept its captives from escaping would now be the death of their most loyal employees.

Kill them. Kill them all.

She grinned. She took a step forward, but he coiled around her neck, choking her, stopping her.

They will take care of them. He watched as the dark figures came out of their cells and advanced on the last of the guards, trembling in fear. One, with long pale hair, raised his wand and began the incantation that would end the terror.

And as the first life was snuffed out in a flash of green, she laughed. "Yes, Master. I will save my strength for her."

The cackling echoed in Harry's mind. Horrible, evil screeching exploded in his ear. His scar felt odd. Tender. Harry reached up to touch his forehead, but suddenly felt two hands close around his wrists. Someone was calling his name. Someone was shaking him.

"Harry! Harry!"

His eyes flew open and he sat up on the cold floor, nearly knocking the woman out of the way. Harry's wrists were abandoned. "Lumos!" she called into the darkness.

When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw he was only feet away from the entrance into Hogwarts. The hole in the hump of the witch was open, and candlelight from the hallway was shining on the ground.

"Tonks?" Harry questioned.

Professor Leurre sat beside him, looking more like a concerned Tonks than a stern doppelganger of McGonagall. "Harry, are you all right?"

"I think so. What are you doing here?" Harry took a deep breath and reached up to touch his scar. Pins and needles shot through his forehead. It wasn't painful, just eerie. And suddenly, he remembered. He grabbed Tonks by the shoulders. "They're free," he said. "She's free."

"Who? C'mon Harry, we need to get you to the Hospital Wing."

"She coming for you," Harry whispered.

Tonks stopped in her tracks. "You're sure?"

Harry nodded. "I know it." He tried to stand up, but he must have twisted his ankle when he fell. He glanced at the ground and saw the corner of the Marauder's Map sticking out beneath the invisibility cloak. The items would have to remain there until he could sneak back and get them. Tonks quickly pulled him up and draped his arm across her shoulders. She didn't stagger under his weight.

They slowly made their way to the back side of the statue. Tonks went through first, then helped Harry. "Lean on me," she said. Harry did, and she steered him towards the left.

"The Hospital Wing is the other way," Harry said, his teeth clenched as he tried to walk on his ankle.

Tonks shook her head. "You had a vision, didn't you? We should go to Dumbledore's office first. I imagine he's waiting."

Harry limped along the third floor hallway until they took the stairs down to the second level where the statue of the gargoyle was located. By that time, some of the pain in Harry's ankle had subsided, and he was grateful for the relief.

His mind was racing as Tonks said the password to get inside. Unlike his previous visions, he could vividly remember each detail as though he were really there. He could still feel Bellatrix's soft, pale skin and her heartbeat reverberate against his body. He shivered.

"All right, Harry?" Tonks questioned.

He didn't know.

When they entered his office, Dumbledore was already awake, looking very concerned as he sat behind his enormous claw-footed desk. He was wearing a dressing robe, and his long white beard was gathered together at the base of his chin to keep it from tangling while he slept.

"Sit down, Harry." It was a command. "We will wait for the others to arrive."

So many questions were reeling in Harry's mind. How did Tonks know where he was? How did Dumbledore even know what was going on? Was there some sort of surveillance on him that he didn't know about? How else could they have found him?

Harry was afraid to look Dumbledore in the eye. He wondered who they were waiting for. The sunrise was already spilling through the window in Dumbledore's office when McGonagall and Snape hurried through the door and stood at the headmaster's side.

He understood why McGonagall was there - to hand out the punishment, of course. It was a rule that only the head of each house could decide on the punishment of her students. However, Snape's presence was a mystery to him. Snape appeared to have been awake. He was not dressed in any sort of night clothes. Perhaps he slept in the same tattered black robes that he wore during the day. It wouldn't surprise Harry if he did. At least it would account for his greasiness.

When he met Snape's eyes, Harry could sense he was rather apprehensive about the whole situation. Maybe through his spying, he had been aware of the plans of the breakout in Azkaban.

Dumbledore inhaled sharply, then folded his long fingers together and set them down on his desk. He started at Harry with his twinkling, yet fierce, blue eyes. "Harry, I know that tonight has been quite an adventure for you. I know that there are endless questions in your mind. However, we need you to answer our questions before we can answer any of yours. You must tell us what you saw."

Harry gulped. He had gotten quite used to recording any of his dreams in the Diary Dupuliquer. It was a lot different trying to recall broken images to write on a page than telling them to ears that were anxious to hear. But it felt different to him this time. This time he didn't see broken images. He could recall everything about the vision in detail. It had been clearer than the first vision he'd had of the attack on Mr. Weasley last year.

"I remember," he began, "I remember the whole thing. I was there. I was at Azkaban. I've never seen the fortress before, but I know that's where I was. I was the serpent. I was that damned snake - Voldemort's pet."

Harry glanced up. Snape winced at the sound of his name. He continued with a renewed sense of distress. "There was death everywhere. I could sense it. I could smell it. And then I could hear her laughing."

"Who?" Dumbledore questioned, as though he already knew the answer.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry spat. Her name caused fury to grow inside of him. Some of the anger and pain that had vanished after talking to Eva came back to him. "She came over and picked me up and I coiled all around her neck so that I could feel her heartbeat."

McGonagall and Tonks exchanged worried glances. Harry pretended not to notice. "I could communicate with her. She would talk to me and we could understand each other. I said for her to kill them all. No, I said for the others to kill them all. I told her to safe her strength."

"Others?" Snape interrupted. Dumbledore held up a hand to silence him.

"She said she was going to save her strength for her." Harry tried not to look at Tonks. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to know that she was the one who had put Bellatrix back in Azkaban over the summer. He only knew she was the one because he'd been spying on her and Remus earlier that night. "And then someone else came forward to do the killing. It was Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy."

If it was possible, Snape's face somehow grew even paler. He turned to look at Dumbledore, but the headmaster was still patiently studying Harry. "And how did it end, Harry? Did he sense you?"

Harry thought back to when he had awakened from the vision. It had all happened so fast, it was a little fuzzy. First Malfoy killed, and then he could feel Tonks's hands wrapped around his wrists as he reached for his scar. "No... No, he didn't know I was there. The only reason I woke up from the vision was because Tonks was shaking me."

All eyes were on Tonks as she looked sheepishly to the floor. "I guess my cover's been blown," she said quietly. "I found Harry on the floor. He was thrashing around. I didn't know what to do."

"It's fine," Dumbledore said. "You did the right thing, Tonks." He took a deep breath and sat up in his chair. "Please escort Harry to the Hospital Wing, where he is to spend the rest of the day sleeping. He has had a very long day and an even longer night." Dumbledore peered over the desk at him with suspicious eyes. "I'm afraid your questions will have to wait for another day, Harry."

Harry nodded. That meant his punishment would have to wait for another day. "Yes, sir." He stood gingerly on his feet and slowly made his way to the door with Tonks's help. Sleep had never sounded so good to him.

"Minerva, kindly wake Mr. Fudge and alert the Ministry that Azkaban Fortress has been under attack and the captured Death Eaters have broken free." McGonagall nodded and quickly left Dumbledore's office.

Harry expected to overhear Dumbledore give some instructions to Snape, but just as Tonks shut the door, he heard Dumbledore's powerful voice. "You and I have much to discuss, Severus."

* * *

Harry slept until well past noon that day. When he finally woke up Madam Pomfrey was at lunch. It seemed that the potion she'd given him for his ankle had worked wonders, and he was back to normal. He quickly got up from the bed and made his way from the deserted hospital wing back to Gryffindor Tower.

As he climbed the stairs, he couldn't help but notice how eerie Hogwarts felt. Was it because he had finally let go of all the emotions he'd been holding inside? Was it because it was hard to feel at home there anymore? Was it just him?

But even the Fat Lady was humble. "Billywig bile," Harry mumbled. The portrait opened and Harry stepped inside.

The common room was quite full and all eyes were on Harry as he quickly walked toward the boy's dormitory. However, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Seamus were sharing a table and Hermione was on her feet to greet him in a flash.

"Harry! Where have you been? We've been so worried!"

"Worried?" Harry questioned.

"When we couldn't find you this morning, we just assumed the worst. Especially after what happened."

"What happened?"

Ginny held up a copy of The Daily Prophet. There was a picture of Azkaban Fortress on the front page. "The Azkaban Breakout."

"Oh, right." Harry cleared his throat.

"You mean you didn't hear about it?" Seamus questioned.

"I did more than that," Harry muttered. He sighed, feeling his exhaustion returning. Seamus raised an eyebrow at him, confused. "I... I was just... I had an early morning Remedial Potions lesson."

"Snape never gives you a break, does he?" Seamus laughed.

"No," Harry said. "He certainly doesn't. I'm going to go up and take a nap before supper." He turned away from his friends' worried faces and dashed up the stairs. If he didn't sleep, at least maybe he could have a moment to himself so he could get some actual studying done - or better yet, his Muggle Studies essay.

He had just gotten into his four-poster when the door into the boys' dormitory opened and shut. Harry glanced up and saw Ron come inside, The Daily Prophet in hand. He threw it down on the foot of Harry's bed.

"Look, Ron, I've had a long day. I don't want to get into anything with you..." Harry began.

"You saw it, didn't you?" Ron interrupted. "You saw the whole thing."

Harry sighed. "Pretty much."

"The Ministry said no survivors," Ron said. "All the Death Eaters. Gone. The other prisoners. The workers. All killed."

Harry could still smell the stench of death. He shivered. "Murdered."

Ron plopped down on the bed across from him and held his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry, Harry."

"Ron..."

"I acted like such an idiot yesterday. I just forget how much you have on your plate sometimes. I'm so narcoleptic."

Harry grinned. "Narcissistic?"

"Right." Harry could see that Ron felt terrible. His eyes were bloodshot. He looked as though he hadn't gotten much sleep either. His face was paler than usual. "I'm really sorry. I was so upset over these stupid, petty things like Quidditch that I forgot what was important. I forgot about the war. About V-Voldemort."

"It's okay. Things were calm for a while. It was misleading."

"It brought out the worst in me," Ron said. "I'm sorry."

"Quit apologizing," Harry snapped. "Do you want to hear about last night or not?"

Ron stayed silent as Harry told about the adventure from the night before. He left out a few parts, particularly about his tears and Eva's past.

"You mean you've been seeing that wench from the medieval dinner all along?"

"She's not a wench," Harry said. "Especially not after I got her fired last week."

"Wait, so in class, when you were talking about impressing a girl, it really wasn't Ginny after all?"

"No, it wasn't. How many times do I have to tell you - there's nothing more than friendship between us!"

"I know." Ron sighed. "Mum's going to be so disappointed when I tell her."

"You can't tell anybody!" Harry cried. "Not even Hermione."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want anybody to make a big fuss over it like they did when they thought Ginny and I were together. If word gets out about Eva... Well, word will get out about you and Hermione."

"You wouldn't... That's blackmail!"

"I would," Harry grinned. "Besides, I'm only a friend to Eva right now." And hopefully, one day soon, he would be more.