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"And I must go too." The potions master said. "Harry, I know you want to, but you can't follow this time." Harry was about to protest but realised he really couldn't; the passages were filled with anti-animagi wards and the Dementors guarded all other exits. Severus could walk out of the castle if he went along with Sirius and Minerva but, should Harry try to leave the castle through one of the passages, the alarms would ring and turn the attention to him. And even though Harry was fairly certain he could outrun the professors and exit the castle, there simply was no way Harry could let them stop looking for Adrian just to chase after such a distraction.
"Bârzuln!" He had reverted into cursing in Gobbledegook again and Severus offered a tight lipped smile.
"I have to go." Harry nodded. "Go back to the common room and hex that brother of yours something awful if he gets back safe on his own before the search is over." Harry nodded and Severus walked to the door. "I'll bring Adrian back." Severus stated. "Do you trust me with this?"
"Of course I do." Severus nodded once and left the office in a hurry. He had to catch up with the others and resist hexing them something awful himself; how could they just leave Harry like that? He might just have saved his brother -again even if they didn't know that- and they had just ignored him? It was a wonder why he still wanted to help sometimes… He ran down the corridors in a frenetic state, finally catching up with the rest of the search party in the Great Hall.
"What took you so long, Severus?" Lily asked agitated. For the first time in his life, Severus looked at the beautiful woman in front of him with incredulous irritation.
"Your son." He stated simply.
"My son is out there, probably in danger!" Lily exclaimed seriously. It was her desperation talking at the moment but still… Severus had never really looked at Lily and found a flaw. But now… Not knowing what to say to her or how to react he was for once relieved at Sirius's interruption.
"We're ready to go, Lily. The students are gathering." The redhead turned and run out the doors immediately. Severus tried to do the same when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"What is it, Black?" The potions master asked irritated. He really didn't have time for the dog's antics at the moment.
"Thank you." That completely caught Severus off guard. He looked at the man in front of him curiously.
"For what?"
"For what you did just now for Harry. There might still be hope for you after all, as much as it pains me to admit it." Severus's eyes widened but he nodded once. Sirius nodded back and let go of his shoulder just as Remus walked in. The werewolf stopped and nodded his thanks at the potions master too before asking them to come out for the search. Severus just watched the two men leave the hall running, his head reeling.
"There might still be hope for you too." He muttered softly, hasting to catch up once again.
The search seemed to be going on for ages, as far as the Head of Slytherin was concerned; they had all the students accounted for but Adrian and his two friends. Severus was ready to commit murder and the most possible victim was one Albus Dumbledore for more reasons than he cared to relay. At the moment it was the fact that he just stood lost at the middle of a search while the rest of the world was panicking. And he had given a promise to Harry.
"He's not here…" James muttered. "Where can he be?" Severus approached the Headmaster, passing by the panicking Auror; he didn't even wanted to think what he would have been doing had Harry gone missing instead. But Harry would never be as irrational as to just throw a cloak over himself and run; he hadn't been raised like that.
"Call the Aurors, Albus." Severus offered hastily. "Have them comb the forest as we search the village." The older wizard regarded the young man blinking once, twice before regaining his wits.
"James!" He called strongly. "Summon the Aurors! We're widening the search!" Severus exclaimed in relief as he joined the team that would search the village; Lily and James joined the Aurors that apparated just outside the gates, spreading around the school in search for the missing students; Molly and Arthur arrived soon afterwards, Severus noticed, adding yet another frightened pair of parents searching for their children.
He was getting restless, walking around Hogsmeade, checking every road and alley; it had been almost half an hour and the group of three -himself, Remus and Sirius and who would have thought that would ever happen?- were searching the lower part of the village. He was seriously contemplating to demolish a wall that was simply in his way when he heard Lupin's voice from the next alley.
"Over here! Hurry!" He called, his voice resonating in the empty streets; the village had been evacuated, all inhabitants transported temporarily in Hogwarts. Severus ran over to where the werewolf stood, hunched over the prone form of a girl; it was Hermione Granger, Severus realised as Remus cast an Enervate spell on her. The girl opened her eyes and stood still for a second before starting to panic, looking around frantically as if she was searching for someone.
"He's got him! Please go find them! Please!" The girl cried out in fear as Remus tried to hold her down. Severus was just about ready to run off to the direction the girl pointed out but he realised that he didn't even know who had taken whom and where. All this could end up being something completely different. He hoped it would. Sirius brushed past him and kneeled down to face a crying Hermione.
"What happened, Hermione?" The man was shaking but his voice was calm; if the situation wasn't that dire, Severus might even have admitted that Sirius was acting his age for the first time ever in his presence.
"Ron and I were walking out of the Three Broomsticks. We were…" Her voice wavered and broke, fresh tears spilling from her eyes. "We were arguing about something silly and then we heard Adrian's voice calling out to us. I was shocked but Ron knew he would come; they said they wanted to surprise me." She wiped some of her tears away but new ones just came pouring down. If Severus wasn't certain that a comforting word from him would unnerve her even more, he would have done just that, facades be damned; the poor child was breaking down in front of his eyes.
"You saw Adrian?" Remus asked, giving Hermione some time to compose herself.
"No." She mouthed. "He was wearing his invisibility cloak. We just followed his voice and once we turned into an alley he took the cloak just a little off to prove he was him. We walked around for a while, Adrian invisible again, and I was trying to convince him that he should return to the school; the outing was almost over anyway but he said that nothing could happen with the cloak on. We walked for a little more before we heard the teachers calling us to gather in the front gates. Ron said something bad must have happened and Adrian ran off to a side street saying that he would go back to the castle. Ron and I walked forward and that's when…" She started crying again as Remus patted her comfortingly in the back.
"Was it Pettigrew?" Sirius asked. She nodded it was. "And he has taken Adrian?" The dog animagus had gone completely pale. Severus's head was spinning a little too. How could it all have gone so wrong?
"No!" Hermione whimpered, as three pair of eyes zeroed on her. "He took Ron!"
"Ron?" Sirius asked confused.
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