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.
He held onto the rails of the staircase for a minute or so and then he was fine. He knew then it was time to stop.
"What makes you think he would come here?"
Severus froze. Voices. He heard voices.
"I don't know. He might want to relive the glory of his handiwork," he rasped.
They were getting closer. He had no idea what direction they were coming from, but he had to get to a hiding place and fast. He chose the small area just before the main stairs. There was a door that lead into the trophy room if he needed to get further out of sight. The smart thing would have been to just disapparate, but then they would know that someone was there. Besides, he wanted to know who they were. He could already guess who they were talking about, and he was right.
"Snape would never come back here. He's too much of a coward."
Severus narrowed his eyes. It was apparent they did not know him in the least. Who were these men? There was no doubt that they were Death Eaters. Their voices sounded familiar to him. But which ones?
It wasn't long before they came into sight. Severus set his jaw hard. Jugson and Travers, two of the biggest cowards in Voldemort's inner circle. It was a wonder that the Aurors hadn't caught them already. Maybe they had more brain power than he had given them credit for. He watched as they walked inside the ruins of the castle, right through the front door. You would have thought they had never been taught to be cautious. If only he had repaired the door, he would have been more alert to their presence. There were still a few more things to do yet before that could happen.
"This is the stupidest idea you've had yet, Travers."
"I don't think so. The Minstry announced that they weren't going to start putting this place back together for another week or so. Maybe two."
Travers rolled his eyes. Was the man blind? "Look around. Somebody has already started putting it back together." He frowned. "Hmm. You may be right about somebody being here, but it probably ain't Snape."
They walked close to the main staircase and stopped. Severus held his breath. He wasn't afraid, he just didn't want to have to deal with them.
"And who do you suppose that would be?" Jugson asked.
"Potter." An evil grin spread across his lips. "Wouldn't it be grand if, after all this, we killed him anyway? He's not going to be expecting Death Eaters to re-enter this school. We'll catch him by surprise and he'll never know what hit him."
Severus balled his hands into fists, keeping a tight grip on Thea's wand. He knew Harry wasn't there, but hearing them talk about him like that made him angry. And in that moment, he had a realization. He had come to care for him after all this time. It was funny how it took someone threatening his life, after everything with Voldemort, to make him see it. All of the kindness Harry had shown him since then helped a lot too. It reminded him of Lily.
"Where do you think he would be?" Travers questioned.
"Wasn't he in Gryffindor? Let's start there."
They agreed and headed up the main staircase. The staircases were enchanted by magic, so they still moved. Severus waited until they were out of sight and breathed a sigh of relief. He had to get out now. He came out of his hiding spot, after casing the area to make sure they were really gone. He was about to disapparate when he heard a loud sound echo just a short distance away from him. His pulse quickened. Who could that be? He kept his wand drawn just in case it was an enemy.
*******
"He's definitely been here," Harry said when he and Thea materialized in the middle of the Great Hall. "It wasn't whole at all last time I was here."
"He better still be here," Thea stated, her voice dripping with concern.
Harry couldn't help but smile. It was uncanny that she already felt this strongly about a man she just met. It was nice though. It was good to know that Severus was going to have someone when it was all over, someone besides him as a friend. In Thea's case, it might be a little more than that. She seemed awfully overprotective of him and him of her. It was cute.
"I'm sure he's here somewhere. We'll find him." Harry looked around. "We'll start in the lobby."
He and Thea took off in a jog and they didn't stop until they reached the main staircase.
"Before we go any further," Thea said, "I just want to mention that if I have to defend myself for some reason, the Ministry is going to be here in a flash. I have Severus's wand."
"I remember. I don't really think we'll run into any trouble here."
"I do."
Harry and Thea whirled around, their wands drawn. They lowered them in a hurry though, when they saw it was Severus standing in front of them. Thea threw her arms around him, relieved that he was still here...and alive. He peeled her off after a few seconds. He had to warn them of the danger...but Thea jumped ahead of him.
"I thought the worst," Thea told him. "You have no idea what's going on." Severus raised his brow curiously as she continued. "There are Aurors that are murdering Death Eaters, Severus. They're not bringing them in like they're supposed to be doing. And you're on the hitlist."
He looked to Harry for confirmation.
"It's true. Ron and Neville pulled me aside just about a half hour ago and said that Kingsley told someone he was suspicious about accidental deaths of Death Eaters. He's looking into it. Then Thea told me what she saw and-"
"What she saw?" Severus faced her. Had she been in danger while he was gone? He was so concerned about that he forgot about the Death Eaters upstairs. "From where?"
"The window at the house. I couldn't leave because of the protection spell. I was going to come and find you."
"Why couldn't you leave?"
She held up his wand. "Because I have your wand."
"Oh," he said sheepishly. "Right. Sorry."
"No problem."
"I'm glad she saw what she did," Harry admitted. "At least now we'll have a witness if the Aurors try to deny it. Would you know them if you saw them again, Thea?"
She thought for a moment. "No, but I would if I heard them speak."
"That's good enough for me."
Severus suddenly remembered Jugson and Travers. "Listen. We need to get out of here."
"I figured I might help a bit," Harry said. "I can't let you have all the fun."
"Some other time. I meant to tell you the moment I saw you. We're not alone. Jugson and Travers are upstairs. Death Eaters."
Harry's eyes widened in alarm. "Death Eaters? What are they doing here?"
Severus swallowed. "They were looking for me. Now, they're looking for both of us. They can see someone's been repairing the school and they thought you were here."
Thea's eyes wandered to Harry. Even now, Voldemort's cohorts were trying to kill him. Would the war ever be over?
"Then they'll find me," Harry said indignantly. "I won't let anyone else get hurt because of me. I want you and Thea to go."
"I will do nothing of the sort."
"Severus," Thea said softly. That's all she said. Just his name. And that was all she needed to say. Her tone was cautious. She wanted him to leave too.
He turned to her, a smile on his face. "I ran the first time to try and find Harry, and to keep up appearances. I'm not running anymore. I want you to go though. Leave me my wand and go."
"But the Ministry-"
"I'm tired of running."
Harry's ears perked. "Really?"
"Yes," Severus said. "I should be out there helping catch these criminals. I'm tired of being one of them. I had to pretend to be one of them for the six years you were at Hogwarts and one that you weren't. I'm not one of them anymore. I'm one of you."
Harry grinned. "Yes you are. I'll start working on clearing your name."
"This is fantastic, Severus," Thea said. "You'll finally be free." She handed his wand over to him and he gave hers to her. "But I'm not going anywhere. If there's danger, we're facing it together."
Severus smiled. "Thank you."
"There was never a choice to make."
"Isn't that sweet?"
Severus, Harry, and Thea turned toward the top of the staircase. They had waited too late. Jugson and Travers stood in front of the trio, huge evil grins on their faces.
"We didn't get one of them. We got two," Travers said, rubbing his hands together. "Too bad the Dark Lord isn't here. We would have been heavily rewarded."
"I say we kill them now." His eyes burned into Severus's. He had never trusted him and he had been right not to. Here he was, alive and well, standing side by side with Undesirable Number One and some unknown. His suspicion that he was helping Potter this whole time had been right. "Traitors have to die. I always knew you were on their side, Snape. You may have fooled a lot of people, but I was never one of them. You're supposed to be dead."
"And you should be in a jail cell," Severus retorted. "Right in the heart of Azkaban."
He laughed. "As much as they hate you, you'll be there before I am. If they don't kill you first."
"Not going to happen," Harry spoke up. "No one's killing anyone today." He opened up his jacket. Inside, was a shiny silver badge with the crest from the Ministry etched on its surface. "I work for the Ministry now and you're under arrest."
Both men retained their smiles. Travers found this highly amusing. "You think you're going to be able to take us in?"
"I think we are," Thea corrected him. "Two against three. Those odds aren't exactly favorable to you, are they?"
Travers narrowed his eyes at her. He knew her from somewhere. She looked familiar and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "I know you."
Thea was taken aback. How could he possibly know her? Unless...she gasped. It was him. The Death Eater that had tried to recruit her to their side, the one that...she shuddered. She couldn't even stand to think about it. He had a mask on and she never saw his face. He was the only one she had ever gotten that close to. It had to be him. "You recognize me. That's all."
"I see you're just as brave as ever. You should have joined us."
"Never would have happened. Then or now."
Severus and Harry kept their eyes on Jugson as they listened to the exchange between Thea and Travers. It was strange that they knew each other. They knew Death Eaters had tried to recruit a lot of witches and wizards, but it sounded like there was more to it than that. There was a history there. Severus made a mental note to question her about it later.
"Can we fight now?" Jugson said crossing his arms on top of his chest. "I'm bored."
Severus pointed his wand at him. Harry and Thea pointed theirs at Travers.
"Gladly," Thea said through gritted teeth. She was angry. Just seeing him standing there, smirking at her was enough to get her blood boiling. What he had done was unforgivable.
"Good."
Jugson threw the first spell sailing toward Severus and Travers went for Thea. Harry was caught between the two, wondering which one he should help. He knew Severus was very skilled in dueling. He had taken on the Order and been taught by Voldemort. He probably wouldn't need his help. Thea, however, was struggling, but holding her own. Something told him this wasn't just about protecting Severus or survival.
It was personal.