Nights of Gethsemane

Harry woke to the smell of tea. Feeling far too lazy to get out of bed just yet, he snuggled deeper into the soft covers, stretching out his hand to touch-

An empty bed?

Sitting upright, blinking, Harry glanced around the room until he found Snape sitting in a chair, a book opened over a knee, a cup of tea in his hand. Did the man ever sleep?

Yawning, Harry stretched and asked, "What d'you want for breakfast?"

"I'll be leaving before breakfast," said Snape. "You'll take it in your cell."

"Oh." Even with the excitement of his escape plan, part of him didn't want Snape to leave. Still, it had to be this way. It wasn't like they could run off together, and Snape had made it very clear that he didn't approve of any escape plan.

Snape closed the book and stood. "Come, you should take a shower. I don't want him to give you any, which means this will be the last one before I return."

It would be the last one before the final battle. Harry slid out of bed and padded to the bathroom while Snape followed.

As Harry stepped into the shower, Snape asked, "What does each oval contain?"

Harry answered dutifully.

"When do you open the Snitch?"

"During the twelve hour period before the ceremony when I'll be left alone."

Satisfied with the answers, Snape said, "I'll slip you a few more books before I leave. I know reading isn't your favourite hobby-"

Harry shrugged. "It's just three days." He paused, the soap over his chest. "You'll be careful, right? If Avery figured out-"

"I'm always very careful."

Harry arched an eyebrow at him. "And the Dark Lord never changes his mind?"

Snape snorted. "I've never been foolish enough to assume that."

There was nothing more he could say to Snape to protect him other than to warn him, and Harry refused to do that.

When he stepped out of the shower, Snape was waiting by the sink. After creating the collar and leash, Snape said, "I won't be gone long. The days will pass faster than you'll realise."

Especially with Harry out, taking care of all the loose ends. "I have ways of entertaining myself," Harry said with a cheeky grin.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Snape clasped Harry's right shoulder. "Behave. I don't-"

Scoffing, Harry pulled away, and moved to the door. "I'm not a child. I know how to handle Death Eaters. Besides, if he's just as nerdy as you, he'll spend most of his time in the lab."

"Still," said Snape, following behind. "You have ways of finding trouble."

"You've got it backwards." Harry dropped to his knees. In a teasing tone, he added, "I've always been perfectly behaved."

Sighing, Snape opened the door, and led him down to the cellar. As they passed through the library, he Summoned books, sending them to rest under the mattress. When he finished, Harry climbed onto the mattress, watching as Snape tapped the table with his wand, making breakfast appear.

Having no idea where Enitan had slept, Harry remained quiet, keeping his eyes on Snape's chest rather than his face.

Once the toiletries had been examined and replenished, Snape returned to the side of the bed. After slipping Harry the Snitch, he said, "Be good," before he swept past the bars and strode away without a backwards glance.

~

As expected, Enitan brought Harry lunch rather than pulling him out of his cell to make it. When he arrived, the lunch tray floating behind him, Harry was ready and waiting. Kneeling on the floor with his knees spread to reveal his full erection, he bent to the floor as soon as the door opened, then sat back up, showing himself off to the Death Eater.

Enitan nearly tripped over his feet when he saw Harry. Grinning on the inside, Harry said in his most polite, submissive voice, "May I wank you, Master?"

A pregnant pause hung heavily in the room before Enitan entered the cell, the bars parting before him.

"On the bed," he said, his voice low.

Yes! Turning around, Harry crawled across the floor in what he hoped was a seductive manner. Climbing onto the bed, he left room near the headboard for Enitan to sit.

Enitan approached, but rather than climb on the bed, he stopped near the edge. "Come here."

It wasn't what he had planned, but the Felix Felicis he'd taken earlier told him not to panic. Scooting to the edge of the bed, Harry dropped his legs over the side. Enitan knelt, pushing Harry's legs farther apart. He was going to give Harry head! It was perfect. He watched with a pounding heart as Enitan settled himself between his knees and reached a hand around his waist to tug him forward. Obediently, Harry slid closer to the edge of the bed. As soon as Enitan touched his penis, Harry punched him in the face.

Enitan fell backwards, knocking his head against the floor, and passed out.

Harry surged forward, grabbed him under the arms, and hauled him onto the bed. Driven forward by the potion, he stripped Enitan of his outer robes, leaving him dressed in a thin, dark red robe. He patted him down, twice, and found two invisible magical pockets filled with potions. Once he was confident that he'd uncovered every hidden object on the Death Eater, Harry pulled out the strips of cloth he'd prepared earlier and tied the man to the bed. He used the rings in the mouths of the dragons on his bedposts to hold the cloths in place as he stretched out Enitan's arms and tied them horizontally. He made sure to not only tie Enitan's hands, but also to point one towards him. He didn't know enough about wandless magic to know if it could be directed through the arms, but he figured it was better to be cautious.

While Harry waited for Enitan to wake, he rifled through the pockets of the robes he'd taken. Out came a knife that hummed with magic, a scroll of parchment with some sort of coded writing on it, an unopenable purse stuffed full of what sounded like gold coins, and more potions. Harry had just donned the robe, slipped the Snitch in a pocket, and replaced all the items, when Enitan's eyes opened.

Enitan cursed in a language Harry had never heard before.

"Cast Sectumsempra," ordered Harry. It was the only Dark Spell he trusted to remove his cuffs without removing his wrist as well. Even if he did lose a hand, Snape would know how to fix it.

Enitan just cursed, pulling on his bonds.

Harry yanked on the end of the cloth rope tied around Enitan's neck, pulling tight. The Death Eater's eyes bulged as he gasped for breath, his legs kicking as far as the cloths would allow.

Relaxing the rope, Harry repeated, "Sectumsempra, cast it now."

A wandless, wordless spell raced towards Harry who, not knowing what spell it was, dodged out of the way. Harry tightened his grip on the end of the rope. He let the man turn a dark purple before he released him. "Try that again, and I'll cut off a finger." Grabbing the knife, Harry pulled it out of the scabbard. It glowed a dark red, the blade filled with Dark Magic.

Enitan eyed it nervously, but said, "I'll never free you."

"You will cast Sectumsempra," Harry informed him, "If you insist on refusing, I'll torture you until you will."

Enitan sneered at him, "He'll torture me worse than you ever could, whore."

Harry laughed. "Not bright are you? You'll tell him what he wants to hear. The ceremony won't work. I've sabotaged the potion."

"Severus-"

"Is so sure of himself. The Dark Lord will take care of him for me." Lifting the knife, Harry said, "I've been in this prison for three months. You can't begin to imagine what was done to me. I think I know a thing or two about torture. Severus wants to castrate me." He gave a crooked smile. "Shall I demonstrate?"

Harry lunged and Enitan yelped, moving as far away from Harry as he could.

"Do- Don't!" he gasped. He started casting another wandless, wordless spell and Harry pulled hard on the blanket, cutting off his air until his entire body shook. Before releasing him, Harry punched him in the balls.

Even though Enitan's air was cut off, he still howled, his cry of pain turning into a string of curses.

In a dark voice, Harry told him, "I warned you. I know I said I'd only cut off a finger, but I've changed my mind." Climbing on the bed, he stabbed the knife between Enitan's thighs and slowly dragged it up. The Dark Magic seeped into the blade poured out as Harry cut, decomposing the fabric as it sliced through it.

In a panicked, high-pitched voice, Enitan cried, "I'll do it! Sectumsempra!"

Tossing the knife to the side, Harry had to dodge to catch it square on his left cuff. He'd imagined a million times what it would be like to feel his magic surging through him again - to be a normal wizard once more. The cuffs simply vanished and cool air touched skin that had been covered for months.

Yanking Enitan's wand from his pocket with one hand, Harry pulled the pills out of his mouth with the other. He slid the three-day sleeping potion off the chain. "Take this pill," he told Enitan, "You don't want to be awake when he first finds out I'm gone."

The Death Eater just cursed at him. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to easily get him to ingest the potion, Harry cast Immobulus, cut open the man's abdomen, and poured the contents in. Enitan's eyes slid shut and his body went limp.

Harry burst through the open bars and darted to the laundry room. Ruptum had him through the wooden door, and in a room with a washer and dryer, rows of clothing and sheets on shelves, various boxes, and a door heavily guarded in wards.

Casting every single Dark Magic spell he knew, Harry destroyed the wards and the wall, crashing through the mess of stone into the open air.

FREE!

HE WAS OUTSIDE! HE WAS FREE!

He ran.

Cracks of Apparition behind him alerted him to the presence of others, but he ignored them, pounding hard towards the woods.

They were yelling, spells were racing towards his back, but he was almost to the woods.

Almost there.

Almost.

Just a bit more.

Voldemort.

Harry's scar seemed to burst open and the pain of it nearly made him stumble. Although he couldn't see, he could still run straight ahead, sprinting towards the direction of the woods. Voldemort came closer and closer, but Harry wasn't far enough, he hadn't felt the second set of wards that he needed to pass through before he could Apparate.

THERE!

He could feel them! Just a bit more!

"HARRY!"

Neville.

The wards, if he was passing through him, put up no resistance and when he didn't feel their presence, he figured they had to be beyond the bounds of Apparition. Spells shot thickly by them and more cracks filled the air. Harry grabbed Neville, threw up mental wards, and Apparated away to the first place he could think of.

They ended up on the island where Vernon had taken Harry to try to escape the owls. A sharp pain burst from his leg as if he'd chopped it in half. He'd splinched himself. He didn't dare try to Apparate again - not while he was in so much pain. His head no longer ached, but he couldn't tell if that was due to successful Occluding or if the pain in his leg was overriding the pain in his head.

"Neville! We're near Cokeworth! Take us somewhere, fast!"

Neville stared at Harry as if he'd sprouted eyes all over his body. "That's impossible!"

"Hurry! They can trace Apparition! Take us somewhere!"

Neville jerked into motion, grabbed Harry's arms, and Apparated him away to a forest. When they landed, Harry had to take a step to steady himself and that simple movement sent pain roaring up his leg.

"Another place," he gasped out. "Somewhere they'd never look."

Neville's arms tightened around Harry's chest and they Apparated away again, landing in the middle of a cow field. The heifer three armspans away stared at them with big black eyes while the rest of the cows looked up from the grass.

Neville's grip loosened and Harry's legs gave way, making him tumble to the grass. Pulling the potions from his mouth, he screwed open the lid of the healing potion, and poured the liquid over his leg, over the white of the bone he could see.

"Harry," said Neville. "Merlin, Harry. Is that really you?"

"Yeah." Harry slumped over, trying to catch his breath and ignore the hurt of his leg.

Neville pulled out his wand and Harry gripped his, expecting an attack, but Neville just cast his Patronus and said, "Cast yours."

Harry flourished the stolen wand, and a silver stag erupted from the tip.

Neville looked at Harry through narrowed eyes. "What did Malfoy nick from me your first year?"

"Your Rememberall. I caught it. That's how I got on the Quidditch Team. Where did I run into you during Christmas holidays fifth year?"

"St Mungo's. What did I lose on the train in my first year?"

"Trevor; Hermione helped you find him."

The flesh started to grow back on Harry's leg and he poured more potion on. "Name three Gryffindor common room passwords."

Neville groaned. "I can't remember that! That's why I wrote them down! How did we communicate with the other DA members?"

"Charmed Galleons," answered Harry. "You hate Professor Snape. You love Herbology. You're a better dancer than me. You supported me when few people would. You took Ginny to the Yule Ball."

"Merlin," swore Neville. "I can't believe it! How-?"

He had no time for questions. He had to get to Hogwarts. Now that the pain in his leg had receded, he knew from the lack of pain in his head that he'd managed to successfully Occlude against Voldemort. "I need to see Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Where are they?"

"They're probably back at Headquarters." Frowning, Neville scratched his head. "I can't take you anywhere near it because of the privacy wards. I'll take you to a hideout."

"Wait." Harry stripped naked, dropping the robe on the ground.

Neville's face flamed red and he turned away.

"I don't want them to have any means of tracing me," explained Harry as he gripped the Snitch and threw away the wand.

"They can't trace wands," Neville informed him. "Take it." He shrugged out of his outer robe and held it out to Harry, not looking at him. "Take this too."

"Thanks." As soon as Harry had grabbed the wand and closed the robe, they Apparated. The safe house was nothing more than a groove of trees in a forest.

"Loads of wards," said Harry, feeling the magic in the air.

Neville nodded. "Invisibility Charms as well. The whole works. Expecto Patronum!" When his Patronus burst from his wand, Neville said, "I have Harry, send a Dimension Door. Flobberworm." The Patronus raced off, disappearing into the trees.

"Dimension Door?"

"Portkey," explained Neville. "We use code words for everything now. It makes it easier to tell who's who. They've been Polyjuicing into everyone. Even you. You wouldn't believe some of the things they made your doubles say and do."

"I can imagine," said Harry, not wanting to think about it.

A crack rang through the air and Luna appeared. She smiled at Harry. "Walking around barefoot is quite nice, isn't it?"

Harry glanced down at his feet. "Yeah. Expecto Patronum!"

"Expecto Patronum!" Her rabbit danced around his stag.

"Here," she said, holding out a huge spatula. "I'm glad we found you, Harry. These woods are full of cariblancas."

Harry and Neville grabbed onto the handle. As soon as they touched it, they were pulled into a building. Harry stumbled backwards, trying to catch his feet, when someone pounced on him. Instinctively he tensed, ready to fight off the intruder, but bushy brown hair filled his field of vision and he knew who was squeezing him half to death.

"Hermione!" He wrapped his arms around her, matching her fierce hug. He'd known that girl they killed wasn't her. He'd always trusted Snape on that score. Still, hearing that she was still alive and having the proof in his arms were two entirely different things. He never wanted to let her go.

"Oh-!" She tried to speak, but burst into tears instead.

"Harry!" Ron's voice made Harry open his eyes to see the amazing sight of his other best friend running towards him. He threw out an arm to hug him and Ron hugged both him and Hermione, enclosing them in a tight circle.

There were others in the room, voices swirling around him and bodies pressing in on all sides, but for a moment, Harry could do nothing but just hug his two best friends. Finally, Ron and Hermione released him, and he shook hands and accepted hugs and congratulations from Dean, Percy, Arthur, and Tonks.

Even with the joy of seeing his two best friends, Harry had to ask, "Where's Ginny?" once the crowd settled down and most of the others had left to go spread the news.

"At Hogwarts," said Ron. "I'm so sorry mate, we just can't find that Diadem. We-"

"It's in the Chamber of Secrets," Harry told them.

They nodded.

"That's what we figured," said Hermione. "They've got patrols in the corridors and its nearly impossible to search for it. Dean's going now to send a message to the Hogwarts group."

"How many of you are there?"

Hermione looked pained. "I know low numbers are probably best, but Ron and I just couldn't do it on our own. We've-"

Harry interrupted her with a squeeze of the hand. "I don't blame you. I didn't expect the two of you to go at it alone. You've told everyone about the Diadem?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "And Nagini and the other possible Horcruxes. Bill and Fleur left England to tell others sympathetic to our fight. We've all been very discreet, of course, and we've warned everybody to not try anything unless we-" Her voice faltered. "Unless we knew we could no longer count on you.... Oh, Harry! I'm so sorry! We were so close! So close to just giving up on you! We-" Her tears fell again and he moved to hug her which just made her cry harder for some reason. He glanced at Ron who gave him a shrug as if to say, "Beats me."

To distract her, Harry said, "Tell me how you got the Cup out of Gringotts. I'm dying to know."

Rather than calm her, this made her pull away and she stared at him with a frown. Ron frowned too and asked, "You don't remember?"

"How could I?" asked Harry. "I was in prison."

Their frowns deepened and Hermione edged farther back. "Not then. You were captured later."

"That's impossible. The Malfoys grabbed me. I've got missing memories, but I don't think I lost that much."

"You escaped the Malfoys," said Ron. "That was three months ago."

"And I was in prison for three months," Harry reminded them.

"No," said Hermione, shaking her head slowly. "Only a month."

Feeling as though he'd stepped into another dimension, Harry said, "You stole the Cup, uh, about two months ago?"

They nodded.

"Yeah, the Dark Lord punished me for it. I nearly died. I was in prison then."

"That's impossible," said Ron. "You helped us get that Cup. You gave us Lestrange's wand. You-"

"I was there?" asked Harry, confused. Why would Snape have lied to him about the passage of time? It didn't feel like one month.

"No, you-" began Ron, but Hermione interrupted with, "Let him speak. Harry, what is the last memory you have from the time before you were imprisoned?"

"I don't remember the capture exactly, just bits and pieces. Apparently they tortured me so badly, my mind walled up the memories."

Wincing, Hermione pressed her lips thin, but didn't say anything.

"There were some other memories that weren't blocked, but I couldn't think of them for some reason. Like the Deathly Hallows. I forgot about them for a while. I was with you up until the beginning of last month?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, we last saw you at Malfoy Manor. You Summoned Dobby and he Apparated us away. You were last to go, but Malfoy grabbed you just as you were about to leave. You released Dobby. I'm sorry, Harry, Dobby didn't make it. He was killed by Bellatrix when he Apparated."

Dobby was dead? Why couldn't he remember this? It had to be trapped in the walled up section of his mind. No wonder Tom was so eager to see what lay behind it.

"We were going to go back to get you," continued Hermione. "But we needed to plan an attack first, especially because we no longer had Dobby. Then Kreacher showed up. You sent him to tell us that you'd escaped, but that you wanted us to stay away from you for a while because You-Know-Who knew about the Horcrux search. You set up our means of communication. You gave us the glass shard so we could speak to Aberforth, Headmaster Dumbledore's brother. He helps us sneak into Hogwarts and passes on information. You also nicked one of Dumbledore's portraits from the Ministry and talked to it whenever you needed to talk to us. He'd go to his Hogwarts frame and tell Phineas Black who told us. We'd tell Black whatever we needed to tell you and he'd pass it on."

"Portraits!" cried Harry. "I knew it! He wouldn't tell me, but I know that's how he did it."

"Who did what?" asked Ron.

"Snape!" Harry practically shouted. "You were talking to him, not to me! He said he wasn't, but I knew he was lying, he-"

"It wasn't Snape," said Hermione. "It couldn't have been. Not on his own anyway. He can't summon Kreacher."

"He could Polyjuice into-"

"No. House-elves won't show up if you Polyjuice into their owners. Believe me, we tried that. Kreacher also confirmed it when we asked him. Call him and ask him yourself. We haven't seen him since you've been imprisoned this last month."

"Kreacher!" The house-elf did not appear. Harry felt a stab in his gut. Kreacher had died on his behalf. If he had known the house-elves were in such danger, he would've sent them away to safety.

Hermione must have seen the look on his face, for she slid forward and gently touched his arm. "Maybe you told him not to come to you anymore in order to protect him. Don't give up on him until we search Grimmauld Place and Hogwarts."

How had he survived so long without her? "You're right. When- How did I get captured?"

"We don't know exactly," said Ron. "You helped us plan the Gringotts break-out, you told us to go to Hogwarts to search for the Diadem and to spread the word about the Horcruxes in case you couldn't destroy them yourself. You wanted us to stay hidden after the Cup incident, but we couldn't do that."

"Especially not after we met up with the other Dumbledore's Army members. You've got hundreds of supporters. Say the word and we'll fight."

"We're not going to fight," Harry told them. "Not yet. Snape and I, we've-"

Hermione and Ron exchanged glances.

"What?" asked Harry.

"Is it true that he was your primary guardian?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah," answered Harry. "Three whole months locked in a house with that git. Can you imagine? But he's on our side. He's-"

"Harry," interrupted Hermione. "Have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome?"

"Uh- no."

In her best school-teacher tone, Hermione lectured, "When a person is held captive by another, it is common for the prisoner to feel empathy for his captor. You could switch allegiances, even fall in love. Sometimes rescued people have escaped back to their captors."

Harry's heart pounded in his chest. Hermione knew more than anybody else on certain subjects and he had no doubt she'd researched the condition thoroughly. How could he explain what had happened between him and Snape without sounding mental? He doubted it was this Stockholm Syndrome though. Snape wasn't his captor - Voldemort was.

"It isn't like that," he assured them. "He was a prisoner just as much as I. He-"

"You used to hate him before," Ron pointed out. "There's pictures of you-" He stopped, glancing at Hermione.

Oh god. "Pictures of me what?" Harry had to ask, his heart dropping to the floor. As much as he didn't want to know, he needed to know.

Ron looked as though he was going to be sick. He spit out, "Pictures of you sitting at his feet, looking up at him like you're a pet dog and he's your owner!"

Harry nearly laughed with relief to know that's all they had seen. "They do have Polyjuice, you know. It was probably some other bloke pretending to be me. Listen, I know he was a complete bastard to me before, but he's changed-"

"He's a murderer!" exclaimed Ron.

"I know," answered Harry calmly. "He told me about some of the ones he's killed."

"Did he tell you about Mundungus?"

"No. What about him?"

Ron said, "He murdered him."

"What?" Harry glanced between their grim faces. "Why?"

"Because he was a member of the Order, that's why," said Ron. "Snape fought against several of us. He just sought some of us out and attacked us! He nearly killed my brother! Kingsley managed to get him in the back and he slithered away."

"He told me about the fight," Harry told them, trying to explain what he couldn't explain. "Not about Mundungus. Maybe he didn't know he killed him."

"He knew!" Hermione said, her eyes tight. "He killed him with that horrible spell of his and took his wand as a trophy. He was gloating."

Harry ran his hand through his hair, his thoughts jumbled up. Snape had lied. Snape had said that he hadn't killed anyone. Still, he couldn't tell them why Snape had been so determined to return to him. Why Snape had needed to remain his guard. It wasn't right though. He'd rather have been raped by Avery than have Mundungus die for him. "I don't agree with what he did, but I know he thought it was necessary, other-"

"Necessary?" asked Hermione, her eyes dangerous. "How is murder a necessity?"

Harry's stomach turned. "You can't understand what it's like! I had to- I watched people die while I did nothing! They Polyjuiced this girl into you and- I had to pretend to be loyal!"

"Oh!" She clasped his hand in hers. "We're just concerned about him. And you. It's just-" She cast a glance at Ron for support.

Ron said, "We won't help you defeat You-Know-Who only to let Snape take control."

"You don't have to worry about that," Harry assured them. "Besides, I don't trust him one hundred percent. I mean, I trust him with my life and I know he wants the Dark Lord dead, but I've made my own plans. I know it seems crazy and I can't explain it very well, but I got to know him." He looked at Hermione. "Have you ever read any of the plays on Faust?"

She nodded. "Goethe's, not Marlowe's, but-"

"I asked him why he joined the Death Eaters and he gave me Faust to read. He gave me loads of books to read."

Hermione perked up, but didn't say anything.

"He also compared himself to Captain Vere from Billy Budd."

"I've never read it," she said regretfully, shaking her head.

Harry told them, "It's about a man who's forced to do terrible things out of a sense of duty." Ron still wore a frown on his face, but Hermione wore a look of fascination. "I would've been so bored in that prison if he hadn't given me a ton of books to read." And then, to judge their reactions, he added, "He even gave me books on sex."

"What?" Ron's eyes widened and he nearly fell over. "That's creepy, mate. Who'd want to think of that greasy wanker polishing his knob?"

Hermione turned pink and smacked Ron on the arm.

Harry laughed. "Here's the plan. I'll go to Hogwarts and take care of the Diadem. I think I'm the only one who can get into the Chamber to destroy it. Then I'll face the Dark Lord. Alone."


[[Harry's grown so much, he actually escaped! I'm so proud of him. Of course, if poor Enitan hadn't panicked, a different outcome might've happened, but Harry's always had wonderful luck.

So close to the end! With Harry out and about causing trouble, it's sure to come quick.]]