Finding Severus

12. Close Encounter

Thea had never been so relieved than when she heard a knock at the door. She hadn't stayed at the window long at all after the Aurors left carrying the victim's body. She didn't want to see anything else she shouldn't be seeing or didn't want to see. She had witnessed enough killing for a lifetime during the war. She was cautious when she opened the door. Her hope was that it was Severus, but that hope was dashed when she saw Harry standing at her door. Her face must have fallen a little too, because he frowned at her.

"Not who you were expecting?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I was hoping it was Severus," Thea explained. "I've not seen him all morning. He left a note saying he was going to Hogwarts to start helping you rebuild. He was gone when I woke up. I haven't heard from him either. I'm so worried." She paused to take a breath, because she had said all of that very very fast. "Especially after what I saw."

Harry studied her curiously. "What did you see, Thea?"

Thea urged Harry to come in. "First, I want you to take the protection spell off the door so I can get out, if you don't mind. Severus took my wand so he wouldn't be detected."

He nodded and took the spell off. "Okay. Now tell me what's going on."

Thea ushered him over to the couch and they sat down together. She told him of the horrible thing she saw outside of her window.

"And you're sure they were Aurors?"

"After the conversation I heard, I'm sure of it." She told him about the shiny silver badges. "I couldn't see anything on them, being as I was so far away, but I know they were. They talked about hunting for Severus, even questioned the man about it. They're going to kill him if they find him, Harry. They won't take him to Azkaban at all. They're going to murder him." Her heart was racing inside of her chest. She couldn't let that happen to him. She just couldn't.

Harry smiled warmly at her. "They're not going to do anything to Severus." He stood. "We're going to go and get him right now, okay?" He shook his head. "I can't believe he went alone."

"Maybe he thought you would be there?"

"Maybe. I just hope no one else decided to show up. Kingsley was talking to me about it just last night. He knows I've been spending a lot of time there."

"The Minister of Magic?" Thea asked in disbelief.

Harry nodded. "We have to go now. We haven't a moment to lose."

Thea grabbed Severus's wand off the table and stuck it on the inside of her jacket. She felt naked without a wand. Then she grabbed onto Harry and held on for dear life. A few seconds later, a loud pop sounded and they disapparated.

*******

Severus wiped the sweat from his brow. The day was hot, and since the roof was gone over the part of the castle he had been repairing, the sun was baring down on him. That paired with the fact that he had been working nearly the entire morning and afternoon, had made him a little weak in the knees. His wound was nearly healed now and perfectly fine. Thea had done a wonderful job in nursing him back to health, but he felt like he did the day he had met her and collapsed in the forest. He thought he had gotten his strength back up to, but apparently that wasn't the case. Deciding he would take a small break, he walked over to the main staircase and sat down, taking a look at what all he had accomplished so far. The main floor of the lobby and most of the infrastructure was as good as new. He was going to tackle the roof that went over the Great Hall next, because he had finally got that finished as well. That is, if he could stand. Maybe he hadn't been as ready to do this as he'd originally thought. He sat there a few more minutes, then slowly stood.