Fire and Water

Chapter Forty Four



Remus lay on a cold, damp stone floor, his arms bound behind him. He shivered. It felt as though the chill was penetrating his bones, freezing the warmth of his blood. He curled his body up tighter, hoping to warm himself, feeling his bruised body scream at the change in position. He wondered if Krystal had returned to the house yet. He clenched his jaw as he thought of how panicked she would be when she found him gone.



Less than ten minutes after Krystal had disapparated, the house’s protection had fallen. Five Death Eaters were too many for even a talented wizard such as he, and Remus had been Stunned. He’d awoken in this cellar; not knowing where he was or who was in the house above him. He was alone, with only his questions to keep him company. How had they found the house? How did they get through the protection?

Remus felt a rush of anger. There were only four people who knew about the house. Krystal was one, he was the second and the third was dead.

That only left Snape.



He heard footsteps on the cellar stairs and he staggered to his feet. He might be unarmed, but he wouldn’t face his attacker lying down. A crack of light appeared at the door, and a voice drifted in.

“I am armed. Do not attempt to escape. I will not hesitate to kill you.”

Remus felt rage burn through him as Severus Snape appeared in the doorway of the cellar.



“You son of a bitch!”

A red haze of anger blurred Remus’ vision as he ran at the man. With a swipe of Snape’s wand, he was thrown back against the wall, his head cracking hard against the stone, making everything go black for an instant.



“You really are nothing but an animal aren’t you, Lupin?’ came Snape’s loud, taunting voice. Remus shook his head, trying to focus after the blow to his head. Snape pointed his wand at him again almost lazily.

“Crucio!“

Remus fell back against the wall, his twisting and writhing sending him to the floor. He tried to grit his teeth against the pain, but a scream was torn from his throat. Just when it felt like the agony would never end, it did. Breathing heavily, he shakily tried to lift himself off the floor. He refused to give Snape the satisfaction of seeing him give up.



“Where is Potter?”

Remus halted, still on his knees. What? Confused, he looked up at the other man.

“Where is Potter?” he repeated, yelling this time.

“I don’t know,’ Remus responded, his surprise making him answer.

Had Snape lost his mind? He knew that Remus couldn’t lead him to Harry.



Before he could say anything else, Snape sent him flying across the room. He hit the wall again, this time hearing a crack as a sharp pain shot through his chest.

“You and your friends spent years torturing me at school,’ he said loudly, walking further into the room. “I’m going to enjoy repaying the favour, Lupin.”

The Death Eater shut the door behind him. He walked over to where Remus lay, his wand pointed at the werewolf’s heart as he crouched beside him.



“Don’t say a word, just listen.”

Snape’s voice was urgent and low as he leant closer to Remus. “I’m supposed to be making you tell us where Potter is. I am going to have to hurt you, a lot, to make it look and sound real. Get ready.”

Snape stood and yelled, “Crucio!”

Remus screamed in agony as the spell hit him. It was removed quicker this time, and Snape again crouched beside a panting Lupin, whispering quickly.



“Burgess followed you. He knew the house was there, they were close to breaking through the enchantments themselves. Burgess doesn’t know Krystal, he didn’t recognise her, but he knew you. He told The Dark Lord he could get to you and you could lead them to Potter.”



Snape stood. He pointed his wand at Lupin again and a flash of light blinded him. Remus groaned harshly in pain as a gash opened up his chest, crimson splashing onto the floor. Stepping over the blood, Snape leaned close to Lupin’s ear.



“They followed you both to Bill Weasley’s. Their attempt to take you then failed. I came last night to try and make sure Krystal was out of the house today. I asked her to do the only thing I could think of that would get her out of the way. When I saw her leave I called them, saying I’d gotten through the protection and that you were alone.”

He stood again and looked down at Remus. “It was you or her, Lupin. I don’t regret my choice.” He held up his wand.

Remus looked up at him. “Don’t pretend you did this to try and help her,” he spat at the man. “You were looking after your own skin as usual. You’re a coward, you always have been.”

Snape’s face was white and furious. “You know nothing about me!”



As he hissed the words, he bought his wand slashing down, sending Remus slamming into the wall again. He heard more cracks as his arm broke, the agony stealing the breath from his lungs. Spots appeared in Remus’ vision as the pain began to shut his mind down.



“You have no idea,’ Snape hissed furiously into the other man‘s face. “I have risked everything to help Krystal; even watching as she….”

He stopped, his voice cracking. Remus shook his head.



“Why?’ he said, his voice weak but refusing to give in. ‘Why have you done all this? Do you love her?”

Snape moved back and looked at Remus, his dark eyes narrowing.

“You really are jealous, aren’t you? She…she knows all about me, yet still …….’

He shook his head. “It is for her that I will try and get you out of here alive, but I won’t risk exposure of her or myself - not for you.”



He spun on his heel and left the room. Remus groaned and tried to look down at his chest. The bleeding seem to have slowed, but he had already lost a lot of blood. He was feeling woozy and the pain from his broken bones were making his head spin. He rolled onto his side and retched from the fresh burst of pain. The pressure on his ribs increased with the spasm of his muscles and his vision went fuzzy. He retched again; and this time, mercifully, passed out.



Later that night, Severus took a moment to steady himself as he appeared outside his Spinner’s End home. He had apparated after a particularly intense conversation with the Dark Lord, who probed his mind mercilessly, looking for an answer as to why his most trusted servant had so far failed to get him Potter‘s location. Severus shook a little as he stepped up to his front door.



He wasn’t sure how much longer he could protect Krystal or himself. Lord Voldemort was furious that Lupin hadn’t told Severus where Potter was hiding. Severus had only just managed to keep his mind defences up against the powerful Occlumens. As he opened his door, he sensed a presence behind him.

“Get inside,’ a familiar voice ordered, coldly. He did as he was asked, moving quickly. He had known she would come.



Krystal stared at Severus through silver eyes as he turned to look at her.

“Krystal…,’ he began, his words cut off as her fist made contact with his face, hitting him hard and sending him careening into the wall.

“I wanted to feel that one,’ she hissed, watching as his hand went to his bleeding mouth and nose. Before he could get his wand up, she’d used a charm to immobilise him. She put her hand up to his throat, but did not make contact. Despite this, Severus felt a pressure on his neck, compressing his throat until he could barely breath.



“Understand that I will do whatever I have to in order to find Remus,’ she said, her voice harsh. “I will do it as slowly and painfully as I can and I will keep you alive for the whole thing.”

Her hand raised and swiped across his face, leaving a wet, bloody trail. Krystal raised the Immobilising Spell, and Severus stumbled up the hall and into the living room.



“Wormtail..” he warned, but she shook her head.

“I’ve already taken care of that little rat,’ she said, her voice sending a tremor down his spine. “Where is Remus?”

Severus sank into a chair. “He’s alive…’

“Is he alright?” she demanded.

“He is alive,’ he repeated loudly. “Battered and bruised, but alive. Krystal, I had to help them take Lupin. He was being followed too closely for me to step in.”

Krystal stared at him, breathing heavily, her tone disbelieving. “So you betrayed me? You took them to my house?”



Severus looked up at her stricken face. He’d done a lot of things he wasn’t proud of; things that plagued his sleep, but the look on her face cut deep into his soul.

He nodded as he said, “Yes - not to betray you, but to save you.”

Krystal looked like he’d slapped her as she abruptly sank to the couch behind her. “That sounds familiar,’ she mumbled as she shook her head.



“This is karma,’ she said, almost to herself. “This is retribution. I betrayed my friends and now it’s come back on me.”

She began to rock back and forth, shaking her head. Severus got to his feet and knelt in front of her, grasping her hands.

“You didn’t betray them, Krystal. And I didn’t betray you. Don’t go weak on me now. If you want him back, you’ll have to fight for him.”

She looked at him with haunted eyes. “What happened?”





“Burgess has been tracking Lupin. He found out where he went on the full moon and followed him from there on the last cycle. He saw him go to the Ministry afterwards and found out that he’d gone to the Auror office.”

Krystal looked up at Severus, a frown on her face. “The Auror office? Are you sure?” Had Remus gone to see Tonks the full moon before Christmas?

Severus nodded. “That visit made Burgess believe that he was sharing information about Potters’ whereabouts with Nymphadora Tonks or Kingsley Shacklebolt. They are known to have supported Dumbledore, and suspected to be involved in the Order, and of course, Lupin and Tonks were to be married.”



He paused and looked carefully at Krystal. “Go on,’ she said, her expression unreadable.

“When Lupin left, he managed to follow him to your house. There was a lot of excitement when Burgess told us all about your place. The Order wasn’t known to have any safe houses out of the country and the others were sure that they would find Potter there. Yaxley, at the Ministry was working on a way to get through the enchantments, and would have succeeded in a day or two, even if I hadn’t helped them. The Dark Lord was impatient, though, and wanted him taken right away. Burgess arranged for the assault on you at Bill Weasley‘s house - they followed you there.”



Severus’ mouth and nose had stopped bleeding. He stood and sat on the chair next to Krystal. “When I found out what was going on, I tried to warn you, but you were already at the Weasleys. I couldn’t interfere to stop the attack without revealing myself, but I was there. If they had overpowered you and Lupin, I would have taken care of it. I didn’t need to though.”



Krystal stood and paced, unable to stay still any longer. “Why didn’t you warn us? Christmas night, when you were at my house? Why didn‘t you tell us what they were doing?” Severus stood as well, stepping in front of her as she attempted to walk past him.

He grabbed her shoulders. “I was on guard duty. I was supposed to be watching Lupin and following him if he left. If you had both disappeared that night, I would have revealed myself.”

Severus shook his head and let go of Krystal. “I still have too much to do before that happens. All I could do was try and get you out of the way the next day, and then let the others in once I knew you were gone.”

Krystal looked into his eyes and saw the truth there as he said, “I’m not sorry I did it this way. I made a promise to Albus that I would protect you - and I’ll be damned if I’m going to fail because of Lupin.”



She ignored his slight on her lover and asked, “Where is he? How can I get to him?”

Severus’ jaw tensed. He had been thinking about this and there were no easy answers. “He is being held at Malfoy Manor, in the cellar. There are a number of enchantments protecting the property, it will nearly impossible to get you in or Lupin out. If I help you, I will be discovered, as will you, and we will be joining Lupin. Or at least, you will be. I shall be killed.” He said it nearly casually.



Krystal sat heavily back into the chair, grasping her hair madly. “What can I do? I can’t leave him there, I have to help him.”

‘She is starting to become hysterical,’ Severus realised. He pointed his wand at her and silently cast a charm to calm her. It worked almost instantly.

“Thank you,’ she said, guessing what he had done.



She stood again, pacing the same patch of floor she had previously. He watched her, her face troubled, but single-minded.

“So I can’t get in?” Severus shook his head. “And you can’t get Remus out without detection?”

She stopped pacing and looked at him, with a small glint of hope in her eyes.

“I have thought about this, and I can’t see a way,” he said as gently as he could.

He saw the light fade. Krystal nodded and began walking again.



For the next ten minutes, he sat silently as she moved around the room, occasionally stopping, touching a knick knack or a book, and frowning. Eventually, she stopped and sat down next to him, her blue eyes boring into his black ones.

“Well, if we can’t get in to rescue Remus, we are just going to have to get the Death Eaters to bring him to us.”