A Matter of Honor
by Amy McWilliams (McAmy)

Book 3: Love and Honor

Chapter 26: The Search

By the time they arrived yet again in Dumbledore's office, Hermione was done with hysterics. The set of her jaw, the look in her eye--no one in the room doubted that she would be perfectly able to do whatever had to be done.

Her gaze fixed on Sirius at once. "What happened?"

He glanced at the Headmaster, then outlined the events in Hogsmeade. "We split up, just outside of town. I went to check in with a friend of mine who…keeps an ear to the ground for me. Harry and Snape headed for The Three Broomsticks. Harry thought Rosmerta might have some information on the people who had taken over last year. They messed with her bank records and all to force her to sell, and she was right mad about it. Thought she would tell us anything she knew--and she always had a soft spot for Harry.

"Afterwards, we were going to meet down towards Zonko's. Harry and Snape were going to stage a disagreement, and I was all set to come barreling in, start a big fight, what have you. That way, when I started sniffing around asking questions about Death Eaters and Lucius Malfoy, it might look like I was willing to give up Snape, for a price. Snape's idea, and not a bad one, though maybe not completely necessary."

"Yes, yes. And then what happened?" Dumbledore prodded.

"Oh, right. Well, I saw them there in the street, and they looked like they were starting in, but then Harry…well, it looked like he saw something. He pointed it out to Snape--something back behind Zonko's, it seemed to me. Snape headed over there at a run, and Harry called after him. When he didn't stop, we both took off running. By the time we cleared the building, there was no sign of him."

"And no sign of whatever it was Harry saw?" Hermione asked.

"No sign of whoever Harry saw. It was a man, but Harry said he didn't look familiar. Just…sort of…shifty looking. Harry'll be able to describe him better."

Remus asked, "So it wasn't Malfoy."

"No, Harry would have recognized him," Sirius confirmed.

Dumbledore rose from his seat. "All right. I think the time has come for me to go to the Ministry myself. After Harry tells us a little more about this man, I'd like you, Sirius, to come with me." Sirius opened his mouth to speak. "No, I know you'd rather be out searching, but if we find a lead, I'd like to know I can send you out immediately, and not have to wait on owls or the Ministry's bureaucratic red tape. And you know as much about the goings on at this end as I do, so you can help me fend off questions in the meantime." Sirius nodded.

"Minerva, I will leave you in charge here. Lucius might be mad enough to make a move, if he thinks he has the upper hand. Bring Flitwick and Hagrid into your confidence, and whomever else you need. But try to keep things calm, for the children's sakes. "

"Of course, Albus."

"Ron, Hermione, Remus, I'd like you to go with Harry to back Hogsmeade…"

"Here I am, Sir." Harry arrived in the doorway, breathless.

"Ah, good. As I was saying, I'd like the four of you to go back to town. Harry, you and Ron are to use every tool at your disposal. Any sign of a port-key, any sign of a spell or Apparation--you know what to do. In the meantime, Hermione, I want you to go over everything Severus has ever told you about the Death Eaters and Lucius Malfoy. Remus, quiz her on every detail. And if you find a lead, send me an owl at the Ministry…but you have my permission to follow it yourselves."

Hermione had been ready to protest, but then she realized Dumbledore's intention. He would indeed be doing everything he could at the Ministry, but he expected the break they'd been looking for to come in Hogsmeade--or from Hermione herself. And he had just given them carte blanche to take whatever actions they deemed necessary.

"Yes, Sir. I'll do my best," she said, and the Headmaster nodded his head solemnly.

"I know that you will. All of you." He turned to Harry. "Now, Mr. Potter, perhaps you can tell us something about this man?"

"Well, Sir, I didn't see him well. He was crouched behind the bins out back of Zonko's. I noticed him mostly because he was trying so hard not to be noticed. Instead of keeping still, he was dodging in and out. When he realized I had seen him, he did stand up straight before he started running. He was about…Lupin's height, but built more like Sirius. He had dark hair, and glasses."

"Was he wearing brown robes?" Hermione asked.

"I think so."

"Then it could have been the infamous Mr. Carson," Hermione noted. "That would explain a lot."

"Indeed," said Dumbledore. "Well, let us waste no more time. Do let me know what you discover, and please, everyone. Be careful. And bring Severus home."

"You went over this ground before. And the trail's older now. Do you really think we're going to find anything?" Ron asked, half an hour into their search.

"We've got to keep looking. If it was a port-key, then probably the other man Apparated after Snape was taken away," Harry thought aloud.

"What if the port-key was on the other guy? So when Snape caught up to him, they both went?"

"Then there'd be less of a trace, even if it were fresh." The two exchanged glances.

"Harry, what if there was more than one port-key. You know, more than one thing for him to aim at? There might not be a magical trace any more, if it was timed. But if we found it, we might be able to tell something about it."

"You might be right. That guy didn't seem too smart--though he did want to attract our attention. But didn't Hermione say that Snape never did think he was that clever or talented anyway?"

"Something like that. I'm going to look up this way."

Hermione and Remus sat on a bench outside the back door of Zonko's, watching Harry and Ron's search.

"They look like Holmes and Watson, all bent over and looking for footprints," Hermione mused.

"Like who?"

"Never mind. All right. I think we can agree that Malfoy wouldn't have gone back to any of the places Draco had visited. He would have to know that there was a possibility that Draco had told us everything he knew."

"Agreed. Which means the Ministry teams are wasting their time, unless they can find somebody nearby who saw something, or a trace Malfoy left behind--magical or just a scrap of parchment or something."

"But I can't help but think that Malfoy would want us to be able to figure out where he had gone."

"Why?" Remus asked, attempting to keep up with her train of thought. "Isn't there a chance he would just…disappear?" He hoped Hermione wouldn't be upset at the possibility.

She wasn't. "No. I don't think so. Because what Lucius Malfoy wants is attention--an audience. Severus always said that he was surprised that Malfoy had stayed quiet this long. So if he has Severus now, he would want us to find him. But where would he be?"

"Looks like they're coming back," Remus noted. "They don't appear to have found anything." Deep in thought, Hermione didn't answer.

"Nothing?" he asked, as the two men approached.

"Nothing," Harry answered. "Sorry, Hermione."

"I've got it." Hermione didn't seem to have heard him. "It makes perfect sense--well, perfect sense for Lucius Malfoy."

"What does?" Ron asked.

Hermione looked up at Harry. "He won't be anywhere on the Ministry's list. Right?"

"Right," agreed Harry.

"And he'll want to be somewhere that the Ministry won't think to look--but where we can find him."

Harry thought he was catching on. "Somewhere the Ministry would never think to look--but somewhere that makes absolute sense."

Ron interjected, "And where would that be?"

Harry, eyes still locked with Hermione's, answered. "The Malfoy estate."

Hermione nodded. "Exactly."

They Apparated to a point about a quarter of a mile from the Malfoy estate. Harry and Ron cast the spells that would help them identify wards and traces of magic; Remus and Hermione quickly added some minor defensive spells and set Flitwick's Veiling Charm in front of themselves for the approach. Ron and Harry cast full invisibility.

It seemed all for naught, when they finally stood in front of the house, because there was no sign of life--no sign that anybody had been there since the last Auror raid months earlier.

Visible once more, Harry offered, "We should look through the house anyway. There might be something…"

Hermione stared up at the dark windows. She had been so sure.

"Yeah, come on. There might be something," echoed Ron, and the four of them headed up the front stairs.

Over an hour later, they had gone quickly but carefully through the entire house, and found nothing.

"Well, what now?" asked Ron. "Should we check in with Dumbledore to see if they've come up with anything?"

Remus placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Irritably, she moved away. "Gods, this is…they have to be here. This is the only place that makes sense."

Ron tried to console her. "We'll find him, Hermione. We just have to decide where to look next."

But Harry interrupted before she could respond. "Hermione, do you remember, back in school--I guess it started our sixth year--Draco always talked about his father buying him a horse?"

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Of course! We almost missed it. An estate of this size has to have other buildings--a stable, something." She glanced around. "But where?"

Remus suggested, "Let's go around the outside of the house and look for a path or another drive. This one only goes up to the main road."

It was getting dark, but they didn't dare to cast Lumos. At the back of the house there was, in fact, another gravel drive, headed off into the trees. Again they cast their spells and charms, making another cautious approach.

"There it is!" hissed Ron. "And there's a light on."

"There's absolutely no sign of magic--no wards, no indication he's been casting anything," Harry noted.

"Well, he could have Apparated in at a distance, like we did. And maybe he's trying not to draw any Ministry attention," Ron suggested.

Hermione interrupted. "Whatever the case, we have to assume that Lucius Malfoy is in there, and that he's got Severus. Now. If he's not casting any magic, that means that there are probably no wards, nothing to let him know that we're coming. But there's no sense in us all just charging in and forcing him to do something drastic."

She looked from Ron to Harry. "You two head around the back, and watch for an opening. Remus and I will come from this direction." She turned to Remus. "If he expects anybody, he expects me--and possibly you, if he knows you were there when we found Draco." Remus nodded. "So I'll go in first, and try to keep his attention. You'll be there to protect me if he tries anything. Hopefully, we can get him away from Severus--at least distract him enough so that Harry and Ron can contain him, or better yet, get Severus out of there."

Three heads nodded in the dim light.

"But Hermione…" Ron began.

"Ron Weasley, if you tell me that you don't think I should go in there to face him by myself, I'm going to wallop you."

"Never mind."

Ron and Harry took off through the trees to circle back behind the stable. Hermione waited a couple of minutes, and then headed for the stable door with Remus behind her. When they were almost there, she motioned for Remus to stop. They stood still, listening.

"…my son to Azkaban. Why? Was this your final retribution, Snape? To take my son away from me?" Lucius's voice was shrill, pitched higher than Hermione remembered. She heard another voice, too soft to make out.

A sharp noise crackled through the night. A slap? "Speak up!"

Then Snape's voice, strained, but still cold and sure. "I didn't take your son from you, Lucius. You drove him away. You treated him as though he was unworthy of you. And in the end, he made his own choice."

Another slap. A groan. "How dare you! You…traitor. You know nothing of loyalty, of family. Of honor. I would kill you right now, if that didn't mean I would lose the pleasure of watching you die slowly."

Hermione choked back a sound. She moved closer to the building, making her way towards the window to get a look inside. Glancing over the sill, she caught her breath, and dropped to her knees. She took another look, then backed up towards Remus.

Pulling him with her under the cover of the trees to the side of the road, she whispered, "He's there. Lucius has him tied up to a chair…torturing him."

"How does Severus look?" Remus asked, cautiously.

Hermione swallowed. "He's been cut. Looks like Lucius has been taking a swipe at him every so often with a knife. He's got a black eye, and his lip's bleeding. He…looks pretty bad, but I don't think it's anything very serious, except a gash on his shoulder. Not yet, anyway."

Remus nodded. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

They edged up to the stable once more, and Hermione disengaged her Veiling Charm. Taking a last glance towards Remus, she pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Lucius Malfoy didn't seem to have heard her. He was too focused on Snape. Hermione watched as he shifted the knife--a dangerous but compact blade, serrated, she noticed, though she knew very little about knives--back to his right hand and ran the tip of the blade down Severus's cheek, drawing another faint line of blood.

Hermione's hands clinched. She forced herself to calm down, and spoke--low and clear, to draw Malfoy's focus without startling him.

"Well, well. Lucius Malfoy. Fancy meeting you here." She stifled a flinch as Malfoy whipped around to face her. Raising an eyebrow in her best impression of confidence, she added, "Though I don't suppose you're familiar with such a Muggle phrase."

She didn't let herself look at Severus. Instead, she locked eyes with Malfoy, watched the smug grin slide across his features.

"Ah, yes. Miss Granger. Muggle whore and Arithmancy professor at Hogwarts. I have to say, I'm not surprised to see you. Though it did take you an awfully long time to find us…"

Snape spat, "I told you that you were an idiot for coming here, Malfoy. If she can find you, so can the Ministry."

Malfoy tutted. "No, my dear Severus, I think not. I think you're not giving your slut enough credit. She's a clever one, after all. And so loyal. Ironic to think that you'd value loyalty, when you have none of your own."

He took a step towards Hermione, and Severus struggled against his bonds. Hermione didn't move, except to raise her chin a fraction of an inch in mute defiance. Mentally she urged him on, "Come closer, you prick."

"You know, our last visitor was of no use to me." He nodded towards the corner, and Hermione glanced over to see the body of Carson, throat slit, slumped against one of the stalls. "Perhaps you will prove to be more…amusing?"

Malfoy turned towards Snape. "What do you think, Snape? Can your whore amuse me? Or should I kill her now and get her out of the away?"

"Your son was right." At Hermione's words, Malfoy's head snapped around to fix her with his glare.

"What do you know about my son?" She had his attention now. She concentrated on not reaching for her wand, and chose her words carefully, following Snape's lead.

"Draco told us everything. He told us that you were nothing but a broken man, desperately trying to strike out at those whom you blamed for your own complete and utter failure. He chose to go to Azkaban rather than return to you. All he wanted was your approval, but in the end, he realized the truth. He realized that you are nothing."

Malfoy's eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched. A snarl wrenched itself from his throat and as he cried out, his wand appeared in his hand. "I'll show you nothing, you foolish girl!"

All at once, chaos erupted. Hermione drew her wand. Ron and Harry entered through the door behind Malfoy, and Remus appeared at Hermione's side. As Malfoy swung around, the spell he had begun to cast shot into the rafters with a blinding flash. Hermione aimed, intending to cast Petrificus Totalus, but an instant later, she heard her name--"HERMIONE!"--and was shoved to one side, where she landed with a searing pain before everything went black.

"Severus…" she murmured, coming back into consciousness. "Severus?" She tried to sit up, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder and a sharp pain in her arm.

"It's all right, he's fine." Ron's voice. "Lie still. You've broken your arm, and I don't want to try to set it myself."

She opened her eyes and put her other hand to her temple. "Everything's fuzzy…what happened? Where is Severus?"

"He's just over there. We called in the Ministry; they're bringing medical help."

She turned her head and saw Harry cleaning the gash across Snape's collarbone. Snape held a bloody cloth in his hand, and winced as Harry aimed his wand again. "This can wait. I have to see…"

"Hold still!" Harry ordered.

"She's awake," Ron announced. "She'll be all right."

Snape rose from his chair. "Get out of my way, Potter, or I swear…"

"Severus…" She tried to sit up again. Ron helped her, and Severus sunk to the floor beside her. Careful of her arm and his own injuries, he supported her against him.

"I thought he was going to kill you," she murmured.

"He would have," Snape answered softly. She felt the tears fill her eyes. "But he won't hurt anyone now."

"Is he dead?"

"No," Ron noted with a grimace. "Harry cast a Full Body Bind on him, and he's lying on the floor over there, waiting to be taken into custody."

"Any sign of them yet?" Sirius's voice came from behind her.

"That was Sirius," Hermione said, confused. "When did he get here?"

"Shortly after you came in here," Ron said. "He and Dumbledore had the same idea we did. By the time he got down here to the stables, it was pretty much over."

"Is Remus still…" Severus began. Ron nodded.

"Is Remus still what?" Hermione asked. Ron looked uncomfortable. "What?" She shifted, determined to sit up and see for herself.

"Unconscious," Severus answered. "He pushed you out of the way because he saw Malfoy's botched spell was going to bring that loft down on your head…"

"And it came down on him, instead," Hermione finished. "Oh, Gods, Remus!"

"He's breathing," Harry added, coming from Sirius's side. "But his pulse is weak, and he won't wake up."

Desperately, Hermione ran through a mental list of the healing charms she knew. "Have you tried…"

"We've tried everything we know," said Harry.

"That must be them!" Ron exclaimed, and the others heard the sounds of voices outside. "In here!" he called out, and headed out the stable door.

Harry joined him. "Everybody except Malfoy is to go to Hogwarts," he instructed. "Dumbledore's orders. They're stable now, except for Professor Lupin. He should be ready to move, though."

As the sounds of orders and arrangements and questions rose around her, Hermione whispered, "He has to be all right, Severus."

He kissed the top of her head, but had no promise to give her.

A/N: Though I've gotten used to women being in danger, I absolutely hate it when one of my favorite male characters is put in dire jeopardy. So to Captain Picard, Fox Mulder, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, Michael Garibaldi, Jamie Fraser, Han Solo, and Maximus Decimus Meridius, this one's for you. :) The choice of the stable is a somewhat arbitrary nod to Hannibal. At least there are no pigs in sight. Bill and Greg have assured me that the knife, however, must be a harpy.

On to Chapter 27