Harry continued to stare, speechless, at Macnair. He told himself the older wizard was just trying to confuse him, to throw him off, but then something else struck Harry beyond the odd statement Macnair had just made. It was the concern he'd shown for Ginny earlier. It didn't add up. Macnair was an executioner; he was supposed to be cold-blooded. But then, in Harry's estimation, so was Professor Snape. Harry gave himself a mental shake. He needed to act now, while he had the upper hand, if he was going to get Ginny out of here.

"How are you enjoying Potions class this year?"

Macnair said this with a smirk, almost as if he knew just what sort of character Mundungus Fletcher possessed. This aroused Harry's suspicions once more. Was Macnair trying to tell him that Fletcher was on Voldemort's side? That Fletcher was responsible for Ginny being here? No, that didn't quite make sense, either. Why give that sort of information out needlessly? But then, if this was really Snape, and Fletcher was on Dumbledore's side, that would make sense, as well. Harry needed answers now.

"What are you playing at?" Harry asked him.

"I'm trying to stop you from stunning me before I've had a chance to explain." He sounded very impatient.

"Explain what? That you're really Professor Snape? I don't think…"

"I am Professor Snape," Macnair said quickly, his lips barely moving, cutting Harry off.

Harry told himself he shouldn't believe the man, that he ought to just stun Macnair and be done with it. Death Eaters were likely trained in confusing opponents, and Macnair had just hit on a very good way to confuse Harry. But something stopped him. "Prove it."

"Last year in Potions class, you earned a detention from me when your Scouring Solution exploded all over the dungeon."

Harry thought this was said this much too quickly, as if he'd been ready with the story. "Malfoy could have told you about that. He's the one who added an extra measure of dragon's blood to my cauldron when my back was turned. Ron saw him do it just before the whole thing blew up."

The older wizard's expression was very smug. "I know. I saw him do it, too. But, you see, it doesn't do me much good to give detention to Lucius Malfoy's son. You, on the other hand…"

He trailed off as Harry raised his wand, perhaps realising that now probably wasn't the best time to goad Harry. "If you're really Professor Snape, you can tell me what my mark on my Potions final was last year."

"Do you know how many students I teach? Do you actually expect me to remember your mark?" The way in which he said this made Harry suspect that he really did recall Harry's mark and was just looking for a more subtle way to needle him. This as much as anything else convinced Harry it was really Snape.

"I'll bet you know Hermione's."

"That isn't difficult. She's got the highest marks of anyone," he spat. "Ninety percent." He sounded as if he begrudged the mark being even that high, but Harry was sure that with any other teacher, it would have been even more impressive. "You, Potter," he went on, "managed a mere seventy two percent, if I recall."

Harry slowly lowered his wand but remained alert in case he was mistaken. He knew that only Professor Snape would have such ready access to this kind of information, but he was still having difficulty making sense of what was going on.

"Aren't you going to give me my wand back?" asked Snape, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Not yet," replied Harry, and he thought he heard Snape mutter something about how being overly cautious was very un-Gryffindor-like under his breath. It almost sounded as if Snape was impressed. "I want an explanation first. What's going on here?"

Snape let out an exasperated sigh. "Close the door," he ordered tersely. Harry did so. "It'll have to be quick. I don't know how much time we have before she'll be called for again." He nodded towards Ginny, who was still lying on the floor, oblivious to everything.

"What have they done to make her so tired?" Ginny had gone from Hogwarts for about twenty-four hours now, and Harry didn't think that was enough time for her to have made a crystal.

"I'm not sure. Macnair was inner circle, but Lucius Malfoy didn't seem to like him very much. He treated him like a lackey and didn't let him in on everything." His tone was very sour, and Harry surmised that he wasn't happy at all about having to go into all of this.

Harry was surprised to hear Snape refer to Macnair in the past tense. "Was?" he asked.

Snape nodded curtly. "The real Macnair is dead, but the Dark Lord doesn't seem to have discovered that yet. When I took Macnair's place, no one batted an eyelash."

"How can you do that? You'd need him alive to keep making Polyjuice Potion."

"That would be true if I were using Polyjuice Potion. I'm not." He smiled slowly, pride evident in his expression. "I've developed something a bit more permanent than that. I don't have to take it every hour, and the person I'm replacing doesn't have to be alive to furnish parts of himself. It's all highly secret…"

Harry thought he saw Snape shudder slightly. He wondered how such a potion might be made to specifically impersonate someone else, someone who was dead. He could think of a few possibilities, none of them pleasant, and so he preferred not to ask. Instead he asked something else. "Are you saying you're stuck like that? As Macnair, I mean."

Snape shrugged. "I don't know. I maybe. No one else has ever tried this before. It could wear off tomorrow for all I know."

Harry stared at Snape. He was taking a terrible chance. As Severus Snape, his life was already forfeit because he had not remained a loyal Death Eater. Harry remembered the night Voldemort had re-embodied and called his servants to him. "One who I believe has left me forever…" Voldemort had said. "He will be killed of course." Harry had every reason to believe the Dark Lord had been talking about Snape.

Now his life was doubly at risk. Should he be caught spying, Harry didn't like to think how Voldemort might choose to punish Snape. The Killing Curse would be much too quick. As much as Harry and Snape detested each other, Harry wouldn't wish something like that on the man. Snape met Harry's gaze and nodded once, a sharp up and down motion with his head. Harry felt as if his former Potions master had read his mind.

"So you see, Potter," Snape went on, "we must be careful how we go about things. If you're going to take Miss Weasley back to Hogwarts with you, you will have to move quickly."

Harry was all for that. "I don't have much time anyway. Ron and Hermione are expecting me…"

"What?" Snape hissed, and somehow it was more effective at conveying his emotion than if he had shouted. He swore quite colourfully. "I should have known you'd bring your two sidekicks! That note said to come alone!"

"How do you know?"

"I'm the one who sent it," Snape grated, as if this should have been obvious.

"You sent it," Harry repeated dazedly. That explained the lack of vigilance around the castle, at any rate. None of the Death Eaters knew about the note, and they hadn't expected Harry to turn up here. "If you sent it, you ought to know me well enough to know I would have shown that note to Ron and Hermione. In any case, they were with me when I got it. We already knew Ginny was missing."

"I needed to find a way to get Miss Weasley out of here without jeopardising my position too much. I knew I could count on your nobility to want to come after your friend's sister. You're just like your father." The way he said that told Harry he hadn't meant it as a compliment. "But I was also counting on Granger wanting to go straight to Dumbledore and informing him. It looks as if I've misjudged her."

"Then why make it all so cryptic?"

"In case it was intercepted. I couldn't make it look like I was tipping Dumbledore off. At the same time, if it was intercepted, I could have argued that I was trying to lure you here as an extra prize for the Dark Lord."

"What do they need Ginny for? What makes her such a prize?"

"The Death Eaters have learned she's made you a working talisman. They want her to make one for the Dark Lord."

"But how do they know about that?" Harry protested. "No one is supposed to know."

"I don't know how they found out, but I think it's safe to assume there's a spy at Hogwarts. I don't know how far they got with her, either. She'd been holed up with Lucius Malfoy and his cronies since her arrival yesterday afternoon until just before I came up here. I think she must have defied them and not co-operated, judging from the looks I saw on Malfoy's face. I was bringing her a potion just now to help her hold out before they call for her again."

Harry remembered the first potion they'd made in class this year. It seemed so long ago. "Fortitude Potion?"

"Yes." This was said simply, with no praise intended for Harry's having remembered his Potions lessons.

"Well now she won't need it…"

Harry trailed off as he looked at his watch. His heart sped up. "Shit, I'm going to be late," he muttered to himself.

Snape raised his eyebrows; he'd evidently heard. "There are potions you can take to improve almost any sense you want," Snape commented. "Increased hearing can come in quite handy to a spy." This at least explained to Harry how Snape had managed to detect his presence in the room while he was wearing the invisibility cloak. "Don't worry," Snape went on, "I haven't been passing it out to the other lackeys."

"Listen, um, Professor, there may be a problem here. I was supposed to meet Ron and Hermione back outside the walls, and there's no way I'm going to make it in time even without Ginny. We agreed that if one of us didn't turn up, the others would go straight to Dumbledore."

Snape looked sour. It was quite strange, really, seeing such a typical Snape expression on Macnair's face. "Right. I can make you a Port Key that will have both you and Miss Weasley back at Hogwarts before Granger and Weasley get there. You can head them off…"

He broke off, and soon Harry heard the unmistakable sound of someone coming up the stairs. Snape swore again, and then he hissed, "Hide!"

Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and darted to where he'd be hidden by the door when it opened. Then he remembered he still had Snape's wand and tossed it to him just in time. The door opened in the next instant.

"There you are!" said a surly voice. "You're needed down in the caves on the double. There's a security problem."

The caves, Harry thought wildly, that could only mean one thing. Ron and Hermione had been caught down there.

"I'll be right there," Snape replied. He did not look pleased. Harry heard the other man begin to descend the stairs again, and Snape moved to follow. As he passed, he looked hard at Harry, as if to say, "Don't do anything stupid." Then he was gone.

Harry sat down on the floor next to Ginny. She hadn't moved at all, in spite of all the activity around her. He listened closely and could hear her breathing deeply and regularly. She was fast asleep. He idly picked up a lock of her hair and played with it, absently noting all the shades of red: each strand seemed to be a different colour.

His stomach was churning unpleasantly. All he'd wanted to do was get her out of here and safely back to Hogwarts, and now he had to cool his heels until he knew his friends were all right. And he couldn't do anything that would blow Snape's cover. All that added up to sitting, waiting and worrying.

He thought about Ginny and all she'd been through in the past day. He still didn't know how they'd managed to take her. And what had they done to her to exhaust her so? Snape had thought she'd put up a fight, and Harry now remembered something Ron had once said, something about no one making her do anything she didn't want to. Harry shuddered at the thought of them hurting her, and a hot wave of anger burned through him. He had to get her out of here, and soon. He knew they'd be back for her, and he had to be gone before that.

But there was also Ron and Hermione to consider. He couldn't abandon them, either. He could only hope that Ron and Hermione would prove somewhat of a distraction to the Death Eaters so Ginny would have more time to recover. And then he was angry at himself for having such a callous thought. No. They, all four of them, needed to escape this place as soon as they could and without giving Snape away. It seemed impossible.

Harry suddenly felt tired right down to his bones. He'd barely slept the night before, and he'd walked for miles in the cold. He stretched out on the floor beside Ginny, making sure he was still covered by the invisibility cloak, and put his arms around her. She sighed in her sleep and nestled closer to him. It was as if they were made to fit together. Harry dozed off in spite of the unforgiving stone on which they both lay.

*

Harry awoke with a start. It was dark in the room now. Ginny was still asleep beside him, but at some point she'd shifted positions and rested her head on his chest. Harry lay for a moment and berated himself for falling asleep. Someone could have come in and discovered him, and a bad situation would have become much worse. He eased himself out from under Ginny and stood up, hearing her murmur something and toss restlessly before settling once again.

There was someone coming up the stairs, and Harry took up his position by the door. If it was anyone but Snape, Harry resolved to stun him and go in search of Ron and Hermione, but then he realised that would mean abandoning Ginny. He muttered a few choice words to himself. Then the door opened.

"I heard that, Potter," a silky voice said quietly. "You're lucky I can't take points here, because you're tempting me."

If Harry wasn't so sure that Snape didn't possess a sense of humour, he'd think that Snape was teasing him. "That isn't funny," Harry grated. "What's going on?"

"Your two sidekicks have been caught. I thought Granger was more clever than that, but Weasley is too hot-headed…"

"Where are they?" Harry interrupted, feeling his heart sink as his fears were confirmed. He wondered if the woman at the farm had told someone up here that there were guests coming. "What's happening to them?"

"They're being held in the dungeons, but that's not the worst of it. Malfoy has his lackeys scouring the place looking for you. They've obviously seen no trace of you yet, but you're going to have to be very careful. They know that where Granger and Weasley can be found, you can't be far away. I don't suppose that occurred to any of you. They've also worked out that you were somehow alerted as to just where you might find Miss Weasley for you to get here so quickly." Snape paused here and let the words sink in.

"Have they…" Harry began.

"They don't know who's tipped you off, and Granger and Weasley can't tell them, since they don't know themselves." He laughed harshly. "They could be given Veritaserum and it would do no good. You, on the other hand, could tell them quite a lot that would interest them." Snape took a step towards Harry, suddenly looking quite sinister in the small amount of light that was filtering into the room. "You must be very, very careful if you want to get your friends out of here," Snape went on. "Malfoy is going to be through with them soon, and when he is, he's going to want Miss Weasley back. When she is taken out of here, I strongly suggest you go and set Granger and Weasley free. I'll make you a Port Key that will send the three of you back to Hogwarts."

"No!" said Harry as loudly as he dared. They'd been talking in undertones up until now. "I'm not leaving without Ginny."

"I will make sure that Miss Weasley is sent back unharmed."

"No!" Harry said again even more adamantly.

"There's no time for this now," Snape hissed. "They're coming for her." More footsteps could be heard approaching, and Snape lowered his voice to the barest whisper. "Do nothing to stop them now." The words were enunciated very clearly, and Harry thought he saw Snape's eyes glitter.

Harry wanted very badly to disobey, but he knew Snape was right. If the Death Eaters discovered he'd been up here all this time, suspicion would be cast on "Macnair". Harry didn't want to feel responsible for the consequences if Voldemort's servants discovered Snape's subterfuge because of him.

It took the entire force of his will to stand there quietly as several men came into the room and hauled Ginny roughly to her feet. Her eyelids fluttered open for an instant before she crumpled back to the floor in a heap. One of the figures turned to Snape.

"I thought you were going to give her something to keep her awake."

"I tried to earlier, but she was too unresponsive. I ended up spilling it all over my robes instead." Harry was amazed by the change in Snape's demeanour. It was subtle and yet tangible. He'd never imagined his Potions teacher would be such a good actor. "Perhaps it would be better to wait until morning," Snape was suggesting.

"His Lordship is insisting on doing this now," replied the other. Harry had to assume that "His Lordship" referred to Lucius Malfoy, and he found the title rather ridiculous. He wondered what Voldemort thought of this designation, if indeed he even knew about it. "There's no time to be wasted. If Potter's friends have found her this quickly, can Dumbledore be far behind?"

He signalled to one of the others, who picked up Ginny and slung her over his shoulder where she hung limply like a rag doll. When they'd gone, Harry paced about the room burning with anger at the way they were treating her.

After a few minutes, he was sure they were far enough away that he could venture down the stairs himself. He had no idea how long they'd keep Ginny this time--although from the looks of things, they'd kept her awake for twenty-four hours the last time--but he decided he'd have enough time to get his bearings and find the dungeons. If he could get Ron and Hermione out, that would be something. Perhaps they'd have some ideas how to rescue Ginny. He could tell them they had an ally among Lucius' lackeys…

But even as the thought crossed his mind, he realised he couldn't tell them. If they were caught again and given Veritaserum, that would be it for Snape, and it would be his fault. With all the history between him and Snape, it was very strange indeed to feel he had to protect the man, but Harry reasoned that Snape must have felt much the same way during Harry's first year when he'd protected Harry from Professor Quirrell.

Harry managed to find his way back down to the great hall without incident, but now he was at a loss. Ron and Hermione were being held in the dungeons, and he had no idea how to find them. Glumly, he thought of the Marauder's Map, which he'd left back in his dormitory room at Hogwarts. Not that that particular map would help him here, but something similar would certainly have come in handy.

The castle seemed mainly deserted, as it had earlier, and Harry suspected that most of its inhabitants were involved with whatever they were doing to Ginny or looking for him. He thought that even if he did manage to locate Ron and Hermione they'd be under guard, and he'd have a job of it trying to free them unnoticed. For an instant he thought about locating Ginny instead, but that wouldn't do him much good, either. He'd simply be forced to stand by and witness whatever she was going through, in order not to call attention to himself and be captured in his turn. Above all else, he couldn't allow that to happen.

He resigned himself to beginning at one end of the great hall and methodically trying all the passages and doors until he found one that led to the dungeons. Luckily the castle wasn't anywhere near the size of Hogwarts, or he wouldn't have even considered doing this. He was careful to be as quiet as he could, but even so he had a near miss when he opened one door to find someone on the other side of it. Fortunately for Harry, whoever it was had his back turned, and it looked very much as if he was darning a pair of socks. Harry let out a long breath and stifled the urge to laugh as he slipped away.

At one point he came across Snape skulking outside a door and decided that must be where Ginny was being held. Everything was eerily silent, and Harry wasn't sure that was a very good sign. He kept going.

At last he found what he was looking for, a flight of stairs that led downwards. He took them, winding ever further into the bowels of the castle. He came out in a dark passage lit by feeble torchlight. He paused before going on, wondering how heavily Ron and Hermione would be guarded.

A noise came from further along the passage, causing him to freeze and his heart to pound. Someone was coming. No, it was more than one person, and it sounded as if they were dragging something heavy. Harry flattened himself against the wall: the passage was narrow, and he didn't want to risk detection.

Soon he saw two figures approaching, dragging a third between them. As they passed, Harry caught a glimpse of red hair and realised with rising panic that it was Ron and that he was unconscious--at least Harry fervently hoped so.

He hesitated, torn once more. Should he go after Ron or try to find Hermione? Was Hermione even down here, or had she been dragged out earlier while he was wandering around upstairs? This entire adventure had been nothing but one frustration after another. Either he was prevented outright from acting as he wanted, or he was forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. He decided it would take less time to check and see if Hermione was down here than to follow Ron and find he'd be obliged to come back for Hermione.

He hurried down the passage, and it wasn't long before he'd spied a closed door among all the open ones along the passage. There didn't seem to be any more guards. He used the Lock-picker on the door, not even bothering with magic.

There was a form on the floor. It moved as the door swung open, and Harry could just make out Hermione's face in the torchlight. The dim light was enough to reveal that she'd been crying.

"Who's there?" she quavered.

Harry rushed to her. "Ssh, Hermione, it's me," he said quietly.

"Harry!" The name came out on a sob.

"Hermione, we have to be quiet, in case there's more guards about." He took the chance of removing the invisibility cloak.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" she hissed. "We agreed no heroics."

Harry took her scolding as a sign she hadn't been really hurt in any way. "Did you really expect me to go back to Hogwarts and leave you here? Are you all right? Have they done anything to either of you?"

"You must have seen Ron just now."

"Yeah, what have they done with him?"

"I don't know. They'd barely got us down here when someone else came along and said they wanted Ron upstairs. Then they stunned him and dragged him off. Before that they just asked loads of questions. Ron did put up quite a fight before they disarmed us, but other than that…"

Harry wasn't sure she was telling them everything. He suspected Hermione had done her share of fighting, as well. "What did they do with your wands?"

"Took them. I saw one of the Death Eaters pocket them, but I couldn't tell you if he still has them."

"Right. Listen, I found where they're keeping Ginny, except she's not there at the moment."

"Is she all right? Did you find out what they want her for?"

"They know she can make talismans. I don't know how they found out, but they know. They're trying to force her to make one for Voldemort. I saw her for a bit, but all she wants to do is sleep."

Hermione was silent for a while; then she said slowly, "I don't like this, Harry. They knew who we were when they captured us. If they're trying to force Ginny to do something against her will, they've probably taken Ron as a means of convincing her to do what they want." Harry's stomach plummeted as Hermione went on. "I've been reading about talismans. They won't work unless the jewel-wright is acting of his or her free will. So the Imperius Curse wouldn't help them. And they can't use Cruciatus on her, or she won't be in any condition to make a crystal, either. It takes an enormous amount of power. But…"

"… But they could torture Ron to make her give in," Harry finished for her.

Hermione nodded, and Harry thought he heard her breath hitch.

"Then we've got to put a stop to this now." Harry didn't mention it to Hermione, but he knew Lucius Malfoy and his cronies wouldn't be above a little Mudblood-torture, as they were sure to term it, either. "The first thing we have to do it get your and Ron's wands back. Would you recognise the person who has them?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Come one then."

"Where are we going?"

"I think I know where they've got both Ron and Ginny. We're going to find them, and if we're lucky, the person who has your wand will be in that room as well." In Harry's opinion, they were due for a change in their luck, and he was ready to trust in it.

He held up the invisibility cloak, and Hermione rose and joined him underneath it. Neither of them was as small as either had been first year when Harry, Hermione and Ron had hidden beneath the cloak. It covered the two of them now, but just barely. Together they set off towards the stairs that led from the dungeon.