Severus Snape Phoenix Freed

Chapter 27 - Determination

Severus saw Phoenix disappear out of the corner of his eye. His heart jumped, beating against his chest, but ice ran through his veins. He ran to Professor Slughorn. "She's been taken. Tell the staff privately, but only tell the students you can trust not to panic," Severus said hurriedly. He noticed Phoenix's friends. He hadn't noticed before, but they had been in almost a circle around her, dancing with each other as Phoenix had danced with the boy. They were all clumped together now, talking worriedly. He strode up to them, "Come with me," he said, and they looked at each other before silently agreeing with one another to follow him. When they were a safe distance from the party he stopped and turned to them. "What did you see?" He asked. The student named Edgar spoke, "She was dancing with one of the students, and when the lights came back, she disappeared with him."  "Why were you all around her?" Severus asked. The girl named Josie spoke this time. "We were around her all night. We were watching out for her. She had said that she thought the Carrows might plan something to ruin the party, and that she overheard them mention her name. When the lights went out, we all moved closer to her, but it didn't help," she said, obviously distressed. "What do you want us to do?" Edgar said. "She told us we could trust you if we were in trouble."  "Then why didn't she trust me to tell me this?" he said, more to himself than them. He would have been furious with her if he wasn't so worried about her. If the Carrows did have a hand in this, they could have easily bypassed the spells that blocked Apparation to outside the school walls. "I want you to break into teams. Look everywhere. Keep your wands at the ready. The staff will most likely be looking too, so look in the places they may not suspect. Meet in the library in two hours. If I'm not there, go find Professor Slughorn. I must look outside these walls," he said, and flew away to find his Phoenix.

Phoenix was dumped roughly on the floor.  The student she had been dancing with started to change. She immediately knew it was polyjuice potion that had altered his appearance. He ran off as someone else approached. She tensed, ready to fight. "I wouldn't recommend it," she heard a voice, then saw it came from a Death Eater who had his wand drawn. The Death Eater stood over her, "Give me your wand," he said. "I didn't bring it to the party," she said, and a swift kick to her rib cage was her reply. She grunted as the air was forced from her lungs. "I can have my friend search you, and trust me, you will not prefer it," he said. She weighed her options, but she couldn't find any. She drew out her wand, and the Death Eater snatched it from her.  Another Death Eater walked up, and the first one asked, "Did anyone see what happened?"  The second one replied, "Possibly. I tried to disapparate while it was still dark, but Snape illuminated the room too quickly. I don't think many saw us though. It doesn't matter."  The other one snarled, "It does matter. They could have thought they ran off together while it was dark. They could have thought he dragged her off.  Now they know she disapperated, and if they don't find her in the school, he will suspect it was us!"  "Quiet!" the other one said. Phoenix listened to all of this, and she knew who it was immediately. Did they think she was daft?  "Why?" she asked them.  They didn't answer. She had her suspicions. Severus had bucked them, and so they took something from him. "You don't want to be his enemy," Phoenix said, and received another kick for it. They didn't want to be her enemy either, they just didn't know it yet. She doubted Voldemort was in on their plan. She knew Severus was held in high regard by the Dark lord. Severus had implied as much. "Snape will do as we say as long as we have you," one said. "What if he goes to the Dark lord?" she asked. They looked at each other, as if they hadn't thought about that. Severus had said they were dangerous, and she wondered if it was because they were powerful, but without the sense to go with it. "He already knows," one said. She couldn't see their eyes through their masks to know if they were telling the truth, but she strongly doubted it. She looked around. She was definitely in part of Malfoy Manor. She wondered if even Lucius knew. They hoisted her up and carried her to a small room and threw her in. "Stay in there and be quiet, or we will kill you.  It would maybe even make things easier for us," one of them said.  It was dark since there was no window, but she knew exactly where she was. She had scoped out this whole estate, and she had memorized a layout that she had paid dearly for.  Before the turn of events that had lead her back to Hogwarts, she had planned to make her final stand here, and to take out as many as she could before, hopefully, making her escape. Severus would have been appalled of her risky plan. Oh, Severus, she thought. He would be so worried about her. She hoped he didn't do anything too risky either to try to find her. She knew she was in a servant's room, most likely previously inhabited by an elf servant. She felt around the room. There were still items from the previous occupant. She located a candle and lit it. She didn't have her wand, but she knew some wandless magic, and some she'd even learned from Professor Snape when she was his student. She wished she could unlock the door with magic, but when she tried, she found they had set spells on it. She needed to think of a way out. She could make her own water with magic, but not food. At least she could last a for a while without them returning. She found a comfortable spot and started thinking. Another problem with no apparent resolution. Hopefully this one would work itself out as well as her last one had.

Severus flew around the grounds of  Hogwarts, searching fruitlessly. He needed to focus. If it were the Carrows, then they would be gone from their rooms at Hogwarts. He was an idiot, he thought to himself. She should have checked there first. If they took her somewhere, there might have been time for them to return. He headed back into the building, flying straight to their rooms. He knocked, not wanting to give away his hand by barging in. After a few long moments, Amycus answered the door. "Have you seen Phoenix?  She has disappeared with a student," he said, knowing they would find out regardless. "I'm not surprised.  You can never trust beautiful witches," Amycus said ruefully. "No, she's been kidnapped," Severus said, his anger building. "What about the student?  Was he or she kidnapped as well?" Amycus asked. "They disappeared from the party after the lights went out. It looked like they disapparated," Severus said. "If the lights were out, how could you see?" he asked. Severus wasn't going to play this game any longer, "If I find out that you had any hand in this, you will pay," he said through his teeth. Before he gave him a chance to reply, he flew off in a flurry of darkness. He would talk to Lucius. If the Carrows had taken her to Malfoy Manor, he would have to be granted access to enter to search.  He returned to his chambers. He still had time before he was supposed to meet in the library. He needed to send a message to Lucius. He also wanted to see if Dumbledore's portrait would offer anything. He found him awake upon his return. He pleaded with Albus to help with Phoenix, but he said he had no insight. He did however give him instructions to take the Sword of Gryffindor, which was hidden close to his portrait, to get it to Harry Potter. When it was time, he would have to send his Patronus to guide Potter to find it in the frozen pond. He knew what he must do, but with Phoenix weighing on his mind, he felt torn in two directions.  He left for the library, where he found Phoenix's friends. They didn't have any better news. They had found the student she had been dancing with, but he had been tied up, blindfolded, and gagged, and he hadn't seen his assailants. Severus pieced it together easily enough. He spoke to the staff, and they said they would all try to find her, but he knew she wasn't within these walls. He thought about seeking Voldemort's counsel, but thought better of it. The less he knew, the better. When he finally returned to his chambers, he stayed up all night. Throughout the night he moved from anger, to rage, to grief, to despair, to desperation. Had he not needed his wits about him, he would have drank himself into a drunken stupor. He did not have that luxury, though. He would not stop until he found her, and he finally moved into a more comfortable state... determination.