Walk the Shadows

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The night was warm, and the moon a mere sliver of yellow, which set behind the distant hills, even as they waited. The first touches of false dawn lit the sky before the stone in the charmed ring on Minerva's finger flared to orange.

Time to go!

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Just after midnight, Severus held a muted conference with the Boy-Who-Lived-to-Bloody-Annoy-Him in the bathroom, with water running in tub and basin both. He boy was pale and shaking again. Apparently, a raid planned for Leeds had not gone well for the Death Eaters. They had been interrupted by Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix, and several of their number were killed or arrested. The Dark Lord was angry.

The result of his anger had required Potter to bathe again, as he'd covered himself and his bedclothes in vomit before being rendered unconscious. The lightning scar on his forehead bled freely, and burned ugly red against the boy's otherwise quite pale skin. Severus was having second thoughts about the escape, not least because he couldn't get the stubborn boy to agree to anything! Right now, he was trying to convince the fool to use the portkey Severus kept for emergencies. The problem the boy kept harping on was that it was set for only one person to use, so Severus could not be followed by someone who meant him harm. It also meant, he could take no passengers.

'I can find my own way, you arrogant child!' Severus spat.

From his seat on the edge of the tub, Potter turned his face up to the potions master. Severus had transformed a teacup into dark glasses, and had minimized the bandages on the boy's eyes so they were hidden by the glasses. He hoped no one they met would realize just how blind he was. Anything they could use to their advantage, they would.

'Who's arrogant now?' the boy growled softly. 'How will you get out? I'm not leaving you behind.'

'As if you have a choice!'

The boy set his jaw and Severus barely refrained from grabbing and shaking him. 'I can choose not to leave.'

With narrowed eyes, Severus considered the boy and his utter obnoxiousness. While he found Potter's determination to continually play savior rather irritating, it was also good to know the boy had courage to spare, and would not duck and run at first opportunity. But Severus was not going to be the one responsible for getting him killed. He sighed and explained. 'I will need to get you out beyond the wards that prevent Disapparition, or the portkey won't even work. Then, you will use the portkey, and I will Apparate. Unless you are suddenly capable of that now?'

'No, sir.' Potter's chin came up a fraction more. 'But I want you to promise me you'll do it.'

'Do what?'

'Apparate. Promise you won't stay behind and try to spy anymore.'

Severus gaped at the boy's audacity. What was he playing at now? It wasn't as if the arrogant whelp gave a rat's fart whether his slimy git of a potions professor lived or died. 'I can't do that,' he said at last.

'Then he'll kill you.' Potter's voice actually broke over the words, startling Severus still further.

'No. He needs his potions, Potter, and his spy into the Order.' He would be punished, horribly, for letting the brat get away, but he would not be killed. Probably. And if there was anything to be salvaged from this debacle, he would do his best to find it. He owed Albus that much, and more.

The boy was quiet long enough that Severus thought he had acquiesced, but he was still surprised when Potter nodded. 'I'll need your wand. If you're staying behind, it'll look better if I've taken your wand.'

'No. Absolutely not.' How dare he even suggest—

'Then I'm not going. He'll know, otherwise. How could I have overpowered you and snuck away without even a wand?'

'Fine!' Severus grated, finally out of patience. This boy might literally be the death of him. 'Now, listen to me. The guards will be changing in less than five minutes. Ten minutes more, and I will unlock the door and hit them both with Stupefy. We'll have very little time after that; alarms will have sounded . . .'

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It had been, all in all, a stupid plan, borne of desperation, with too many ways it could go horribly awry. Still, they had made it as far as the back entrance to the manor, with Potter gripping the wand in one hand, and a fold of Severus' cloak with the other. The wand was aimed at Severus' back, as if he were holding the older wizard hostage and forcing him assist him in an escape. Though Severus was as alert as he ever was – which was to say, very -- Potter heard the others first, and jerked him to a stop, seconds before Severus saw them for himself. Seconds before a burst of red light streamed into the space he would have occupied, one step later.

Damn, damn, DAMN!

Severus spun to re-capture his wand, knowing that the boy would not be able to use it very well without his sight. But the brat surprised him again and had aimed at the trio of Death Eaters who emerged from the shadows. With a shout of 'Expelliarmus!' he disarmed one of them.

Curses and counters flew back and forth, and the boy seemed to have a preternatural feel for where spells would come from, and where they would go, and he dodged and ducked to avoid each one, except when he set up a block. He hit another of the Death Eaters with a body bind curse, and had taken aim at the third when Severus heard the thundering of more footsteps. Many more.

'Out!' he shouted to the boy. He seized Potter's shoulder and dragged him to the door. They had just made the back steps when the Death Eaters appeared behind them, more than a dozen, from all over the manor, it seemed like. And more came at them from the shadows of the grounds. They were surrounded, with odds of fifteen to one, and the edge of the wards was over a hundred yards away.

Severus shoved the boy to the ground as spells converged on the space where he had been. The Death