Harry left the courtroom directly behind Draco. Grimacing at the journalists that were waiting outside, Harry went to stand next to Malfoy. He didn't like the press, he never would, and he was not exactly a fan of the Slytherin. But right now, someone had to stand with Malfoy if he was ever going succeed in turning his life around. So, Harry braved the press with him. They were yelling questions at them, making it impossible to answer any of them. Flashes were going off so often that they barely had any time to adjust in between. It took several long minutes before the press calmed down and the journalist stopped trying to outdo each other and move onto actually getting answers.

Harry just stood there while Malfoy talked, carefully wording each answer. They tried to ask what Harry was doing there and what he was planning with his future but Harry ignored them and let Draco have his say. He stayed, not out of loyalty or any true feelings of friendship towards the boy, but because he needed to speak with him in private.

It didn't take that much longer for Malfoy to move away from the reporters and together they walked towards the lifts. Once inside, Malfoy looked at him and raised a single eyebrow. “Why are you here?”

Harry shrugged “Because I thought you could use the help.”

Malfoy sputtered for a bit “Because you... Because you thought I needed help? What, you thought you could hold this over my head later? So I would spend the rest of my life knowing I owed you?”

Sighing, Harry rolled his eyes “Not really, but if you're worrying about that.. You can answer some of my questions and be done with it.”

Malfoy shot him a considering glance “What is it you want to know?”

“What can you tell me about professor Snape?”

Malfoy opened and closed his mouth a few times without saying anything. Finally, he muttered “Only the lies he told me.”

Harry shook his head at Malfoy, questioning if he'd been mistaken when he'd believed Malfoy had some sort of brain. “Do you truly believe the man could have pulled that whole spying gig of if he was constantly lying?”

Malfoy considered that for a long time before he gave a nod in agreement. “Fine, follow me Potter.”

The lift doors opened and Malfoy let them down the unfamiliar corridor. Several twists and turns later, he unlocked an unmarked door and motioned for Harry to enter. When Harry hesitated, Malfoy sighed and rolled his eyes, entering the room without looking back. Harry followed and looked around. The room was small and seemed unoccupied. An empty desk was pushed against one wall and a large filing cabinet stood against the other. Figuring it as some abandoned office Harry closed the door behind him.

Malfoy was leaning against the desk, looking at Harry as if he didn't have a care in the world. “So, what exactly do you want to know about Snape?”

Harry thought quickly. He'd decided to talk to Malfoy because Harry had hoped the Slytherin might be able to tell him were Snape could be. But did Harry really want Malfoy to know that he was looking for their old Potions Master? “How well did you know him?”

“Obviously not that well.” Malfoy sneered.

“Did you ever see him outside of school?”

“I met him ones or twice during the summer these past years, if that's what you mean.”

Nodding, Harry asked, suddenly hopeful “Where did you meet him?”

“Aah, at Hogwarts. Father convinced him to give me a few private lessons. Thought Snape could help me surpass Granger. Or, if that turned out to be impossible, keep me alive long enough to procreate.”

“You're father thinks beating Hermione is more important than staying alive?”

“Who knows what that man thinks. Now tell me why you're so interested in Professor Snape?”

Harry bit his lip, considering his options. He could lie, tell Malfoy that he was just trying to make sense out of the memories Snape gave him. Pretend that he just wanted to know how he could have missed Snape's true allegiance. Or, he could tell the truth. Shrugging he answered “His body vanished. I'm trying to find him.”

“Father mentioned he owns some run down hovel. In a town called Cokeworth, I think.”

“Yeah, I heard about that place. Anything else you know that might help?”

Malfoy lifted one shoulder “The conversations between Professor Snape and myself usually concerned school matters.” he tapped his chin a few times “There were also a few instances where he was probably lecturing me about what The Dark Lord was really like. Though, I never caught on to what he was referring to. I suppose my own view of the world stopped me from understanding what he was saying.” Malfoy gave Harry a sly look “Like how he was always going on about your father.. Looking back on it now, it seems silly that I never noticed that he never mentioned your mother.”

Harry made a non committing noise “If you remember something that could help, can you let me know?”

Malfoy nodded and started towards the door “If you tell the professor that I would like to speak to him when he is doing better, than yes I will let you know if I remember something important.”

Harry nodded in agreement and followed Malfoy out of the room. Before the two went their own way, Draco said “And Potter, you would have done fine in Slytherin. You did well in there, nobody would have guessed that you were leaving out some extremely incriminating evidence.”

Harry snorted and shrugged. “I'll take that as a compliment. Don't make me regret the choice. I don't like lying unless it's for a good cause, so don't abuse your freedom.”

Malfoy gave him a short nod and went off somewhere while Harry turned toward the lobby. He was so deep in thought, thinking about what the next step in finding Snape was, that he didn't notice the people that stopped and stared at him. He got the lobby and waited in line, still considering his option. Once he got to the mansion, Harry made a beeline for the library and started looking for maps, or books with maps, of the United Kingdom. It didn't take him long to find a recent atlas and locate Cokeworth.

Grabbing his wand, Harry walked of his property and hailed the knightbus. He still wasn't a fan of the magical public transportation method but figured it would get him there faster than going the muggle way. Asking to be dropped of a few streets from his destination, Harry started walking. He didn't want anyone to know where he was going. To many death-eaters were still on the loose and most of them were either trying to get to him, or trying to get to Snape.

When Harry arrived at Spinners End, a shiver ran up his spine. Snape had been right, the place was old and dilapidated, the whole street was. Looking around, it took him some time to figure out which house belonged to Snape. Harry walked along the street slowly, looking around carefully, trying to find sometime that said Snape residence.. When he finally found it, it wasn't something Harry could put a finger on. He was just thinking of trying the other side of the street when he felt something from the house on the corner. He had no idea what it was but it didn't feel dangerous. In fact, it was more like a faint feeling of knowing that the house was a safe haven.

Harry drew closer and pushed the small gate open. Walking around the garden, the place felt abandoned. There were weeds everywhere and the windows were so grimy Harry could see nothing through them. He used an unlocking charm to open the door and went inside. It wasn't much better than the outside. The air was stale and the closing of the door caused what was probably a year worth of dust to swirl into the air. Causing a rather spooky effect, with the twirling dust only visible in the thin beams of light that had found a way inside the gloomy house.

Harry walked around the house slowly. Searched every single room for a sign of Snape, but found nothing. Though he was certain that it was his house, unless there was another potions master with a fascination for the dark arts in the village. Letting out a long breath he sat down on the couch. He'd really hoped to find something that would help. Coughing from the dust that had escaped from the couch he called Kreacher.

The elf appeared in front of him with a soft plop and bowed deeply “Master Harry Potter called?”

“Yes. I wanted to ask if you could clean the house while making sure everything stayed were it is now.” If Harry was going to keep an eye on the house in the hopes of the professor turning up, he might as well make it inhabitable. If Snape turned up, then he would be in a reasonably clean environment, which would be better for whatever wounds he had left at that point. If he turned out to be death.. Well, Snape had left the house to Harry so he could do whatever he wanted.

Kreacher gave a nod and another bow “Kreacher will get it done Master Harry Potter sir.”

During the past weeks, Kreacher had been popping up around Harry more and more often. Asking if there was anything he could do, anything he could help with. Every time Harry had thought of something, the little house elf had bowed deeply and complied without a word. Harry had noticed that, while Kreacher came to him for work almost every day, the elf preferred being left alone to complete the task. And more importantly that he hated recognition for anything he did. The one time Harry had thanked him for doing a task, the elf had restarted the muttering and hadn't returned for several days. After that, Harry had learned that a simple 'I appreciate it' was much more acceptable. Both to Harry, who felt that expecting to be obeyed without a 'please' and 'thank you' was ridiculous, and Kreacher, who believed that being thanked was degrading. So Harry smiled at Kreacher, wished him a productive day, and left the house.

Harry apparated to Potter Park and went straight to the library. Snape hadn't been at his home but that didn't mean he wouldn’t turn up there. Unless he wanted to return there every day to keep an eye on the place, Harry needed to come up with something else. Making a B-line for the section on wards, he started looking for something on monitoring wards. Finding several books, all of them thick tombs and written in Old English, Harry groaned. The tombs could hold the information Harry needed but there was no way that he could get through even one of them before the Hogwarts school year started again. He needed to find some kind of ward that was simple enough to learn in a few hours. Before the thought could form fully, a small booklet flew towards him from a nearby shelf.

Looking at it, Harry smiled. Tracking Toddlers and Checking Children. He turned to the index and saw that there were several simple monitoring charms. Flipping through to the pages, Harry glanced over the information. The first one was meant to be attached to a person, which was completely useless in finding Snape. The second one needed to be attached to several objects, surrounding the area one wanted to monitor. It was meant to warn parents if anyone within the ward used magic. Harry tagged the page and continued flipping through the book. There were many more spells that Harry would definitely need to remember if he ever had a child, but only one other ward that could be useful. It was a temporary, one use only, kind of ward. It was supposed to form a dome over a room, or property and would give a warning if someone crossed the boundary.
Harry took the book with him to one of the sitting rooms and dropped into the large armchair to read the instructions.

The following day, Harry stayed in the mansion. He set up the wards in several rooms of varying sizes and tested them out. It took him almost the whole day but in the end he figured out how to do it.

He'd attached the magic detecting ward to four large stones he found in his back yard and connected it to a shoelace that he turned into a bracelet. Moving the stones around he found that the ward worked rather well. Each time that he used magic within the border delineated by the stones, his shoelace would heat up. He was able to put the stones in such a way that they covered several rooms but could not make it work when he put the stones on the corners of his property. Figuring it had something to do with the monstrous size of the house, he put the stones to the side. Snape's home was a lot smaller and if it was still to large, Harry could find more stones and set separate wards for all the rooms. Now that he figured out how it worked, it took him less than five minutes to make another set of border stones.

The other ward was a lot more complicated, as it was not attached to anything. Instead, he was supposed to define the border by casting the spell in a certain pattern along the perimeter. It took him over a dozen attempts before he had the small sitting room warded. When he'd seen the description of the ward, he'd been thinking of using it as a simple perimeter ward. But after it had taken him almost four hours to ward such a small space, he started to wonder if anyone ever used that spell. It seemed a ridiculous amount of work for a one time ward. Especially since a child would probably trigger it at least ones a day.

The next day, Harry returned to Spinners End and set the ward stones. It took him a few tries to get them in the right position but after thirty minutes, the ward was in place and working. Looking around, Harry frowned, thinking about the other ward. Right now, nobody could use magic, or enter the house with magic, without notifying Harry. That still left the possibility of someone entering the property without the help of magic. Having already dismissed the option of warding the border of the whole property, he needed to find another option. Looking at the front door, he had an idea. Opening the front door, he took out his wand and set a ward over the threshold. When he was done, he linked it to the second bracelet and gave it a critical look. He couldn't exactly see the ward, but he had a feeling that he would have seen the lines he'd drawn in a vivid blue if he had the ability to see magic. Taking a breath he stepped over the line, and was instantly warned by a flash of warmth around his wrist.

Grinning happily, he walked through the house and proceeded to draw ward lines in front every window and door. The addition of the ward to a childcare book made more sense now that he knew how to use them. One could draw lines at the top of the stairs, in front of the stove or in doorways and be warned as soon as the ward was broken. If you got a warning, all you had to do was check which ward was gone and you would find the culprit. Harry linked all the wards the his bracelet, left the house and set the last ward on the front door. With the wards up, he could focus on searching for Snape in other places. If the man turned up at his childhood home, Harry would be warned.

For the next week, Harry searched for Snape. He spoke with teachers, students and order members. Anyone who might know something, but he couldn't find anything. While he had many interesting conversations, and heard even more amusing anecdotes, no-one really knew anything about the man.

After a week, he finally told Ron what had him so busy. Harry had been invited to dinner with the Weasley's. Since Fred had been released from St. Mungo's and the whole family had been invited to celebrate. Molly had cooked and Harry had finished three plates. Afterwards they had all crammed into the living room and talked for several hours. Harry considered asking Ginny to go outside for a walk but decided against it. It wasn't that she was ignoring him, not at all. In fact, they'd had a very intense discussion on Quidditch during dinner. It was just that she wasn't exactly trying to speak to him in private. He had a feeling that she wouldn't have been doing that if she wanted to get back together. No, the only reason she would be avoiding the conversation was if she thought it was going to be uncomfortable. And so, Harry kept his distance.

Around eleven Ron had pulled Harry to the side and started questioning him. Apparently, Harry's
absence had been noticed. When he'd finally admitted that he had been looking for Snape, Ron had freaked. To Ron, it didn't matter which side Snape had been on, he was The Evil Bat from Dungeons who took their points and appointed detention. While Ron was willing to admit that he had been wrong about the man's allegiance, it didn't change his opinion. Harry tried to convince him that Snape couldn't be all bad. After all, he'd saved Harry's live on several occasions, been friends with Harry's mother and put his life on the line many, many times. In the end, he just gave up and told Ron he was trying to make up for all the times he thought Snape to be the bad guy when he'd actually been trying to do right. Ron had accepted it, saying that Harry should really do something about his 'saving people problem'. Which made Harry roll his eyes and Ron laugh.

Harry had owled Malfoy to ask him to arrange a meeting with Draco's mother for Harry and got a response during the second week of his search. Malfoy's mother would be present at Malfoy Manor and willing to meet that afternoon. He'd just finished his lunch when the message arrived, and he had no idea how to get to the place. Cleaning up his plate and grabbing his stuff, he hailed the knight bus again and left for Malfoy Manor. The trip was a lot shorter than he had expected, leading Harry to think that the Malfoy's lived somewhere close the Potter Park. When he arrived, he was slightly taken aback. While he had been inside of the manor, they had arrived at night and he hadn't been able to see the house properly. After he'd moved into his own mansion, he had assumed that Malfoy Manor would be around the same size. He'd been wrong, very wrong. During the night, Malfoy Manor had looked creepy and ostentatious. During the day, it was still pretentious but it the creepy feeling wasn't there. The tiny towers to the side were beautiful, but also very... cute. While the house itself was larger and the maze like hedges in front of it more pompous than anything at Potter Park, it's seemed somehow less impressive. It seemed to be trying so hard to be regal and grandiose, that the whole effect was lost.

Harry went through the already open gates and walked up the driveway. When he was walking up the staircase that led to the overgrown front door, it was opened. Harry almost faltered, the Malfoys had an actual butler.. They didn't just have elves, they had other wizards waiting on their every wish. It was utterly ridiculous. Shaking his head inwardly, Harry smiled at the man and gave him a slight nod when he was waved inside.

The butler let him to a large room filled with plants. It reminded Harry of his own greenhouse room, though he didn't have nearly as many strange plants. Maybe he should talk with Neville, he would probably drool all over if Harry told him he could use the space.. Filing that away for later, he followed the pathway until he found Mrs. Malfoy sitting at garden table, waiting for the teapot to finish pouring her tea.

Harry walked toward her and bowed slightly. He'd spoken to one of his ancestors, who's painting had finally reacted after Harry had been trying to wake him for over an hour. The old wizard had told him to stand straight and be quiet unless he had something interesting to say. He'd then gone on to ask questions, to which Harry was only allowed to say yes or no, any more information and the wizard cut him of. When the man had the information he wanted, he gave Harry a two hour lecture on how a Potter should compose himself in the company of others. Harry hadn't minded the lesson, he'd spend all day searching for Snape and had been tiered, listening to the old geezer wasn't that much of a hardship. Or, it hadn't been after Harry had swayed on his feet after the first 20 minutes and he had been allowed to sit down. Now, all the information returned to him and he found that he was glad it was there. Narcissa Malfoy was a scary woman, who was most likely easily insulted. He had to tread carefully if he was hoping to get anything useful from her.

Mrs. Malfoy didn't stand up, she simply gestured for him to take a seat and told the teapot to 'poor the boy a cup'. Harry sat down and waited for the woman to say something. Which didn't take nearly as long as Harry would have thought. It seemed that Mrs. Malfoy was not good with uncomfortable silences.

“My son told me you wanted to speak with me.”

Harry nodded slowly and leaned back in the chair. “He did not tell you why?”

“No, he mentioned he had an idea of what you wanted but did not elaborate.”

“Yes, I imagine he does. I spoke with him about it after his trial.”

Mrs. Malfoy's eyes narrowed “Is that why you were there? Because you had questions for my son?”

“No, I was there to ensure he got another chance.”

“Why? What do you get out if it?”

Harry wanted to roll his eyes, sigh deeply, hit his head against the table.. Doing any of those things would be completely useless and so, he just started at her. The women appeared truly curious, almost anxious for the answer. It seemed to Harry as if she was afraid of what he would say, as if his answer had the power to destroy her, or more likely Draco.. Taking pity on her he said “Nothing. I don't need anything.”

“Then why?” There was a sliver of desperation is her voice. Harry couldn't help but wonder what she was so afraid of.

Instead of answering, he asked a question of his own “Why did you lie? I already gave you your answer, there was no reason to lie.”

If anything, his question made her more nervous. Her hands shook slightly, causing her cup to rattle softly as she sat it down. “You.. You survived his curse, again.. After what I heard from my baby when he returned for the summers, I stopped believing that you could actually kill that monster. You were obviously just another average boy, not worth the trust those fools had in you..” Mrs. Malfoy took a sip of her tea, her hands ones again steady. “I never wanted to follow him, that was my husband's thing. I just wanted what was best for my family. And since I didn't trust that anyone could ever defeat the maniac, joining seemed the safest route.”

Harry grinned “But then you realized I survived, again, and you thought that maybe I could be trusted to do my job.”

“In a sense. Considering the circumstances, it seemed worth the risk. My boy wouldn't have survived long as a servant to the Dark Lord.”

Harry sat forward and looked at her closely “That's it, isn't it? You're afraid I will hold Draco's freedom over his head. After all, I have enough information and influence to get him convicted. You're afraid I'll force him into another kind of servitude.”

When Mrs. Malfoy eyes widened in shock, Harry couldn't help the smile that crept over his face. It was nice to know that he had guessed right, even if he wasn't going to use the information. “Well, since you weren't exactly a follower of Riddle, maybe you won't mind answering the questions I had?”

She looked as though she wanted to return to the earlier subject but, after a long moment, she nodded in acquiescence.

Harry decided it would be best to get right to it. At the moment, Mrs. Malfoy was still considering the possibility of blackmail. All too soon, she would decide on some course of action and Harry doubted she would still be willing to answer questions when that happened. “I'm looking for Professor Snape. I need to know any information you may have on his location.”

Sipping at her tea slowly, Mrs. Malfoy considered the question for a long moment. “He has a house in Cokeworth, in a very old muggle neighbourhood.”

Harry nodded. The few that had known anything personal about Snape had all told him that. The house in Cokeworth. It seemed that no-one had ever heard of Snape going anywhere but his house and Hogwarts. “Anything else?”

“I knew Professor Snape only in passing. My husband might know more but...” she didn't need to end the sentence, Lucius was in Azkaban and the whole world knew it.

Harry considered the possibility of visiting the man. He didn't really want to; Azkaban was not a happy place, with or without dementors. “Were they friends? Lucius and Snape.”

Mrs. Malfoy pursed her lips, in much the same way as his aunt whenever Harry asked a question “My husband did not have, as you say, friends. Lucius respected the Professor, always spoke highly of him.”

“I suppose he's changed his mind.”

“Ooh no. Lucius has decided you are delusional. There is simply no way Snape could have deceived him.” She said it in a perfectly neutral voice but Harry had a feeling she was mocking her husband's believe.

“You disagree?”

A jerk of her head “My husband kept an eye on anyone he believed of interest. Snape, as a Hogwarts teacher, was only notable for his allegiance and his skills with potions. That, in and on itself, is suspicious.”

“How so?”

“Because he is too smart to be so unremarkable. What was he using that brain for?”

Harry grinned “Inventing new ways to insult Gryffindors?”

Mrs. Malfoy didn't laugh but Harry noticed her lip twitching, apparently the woman did have some sense of humour. “Well, it doesn't matter. Either way, I only know of his house in Cokeworth. If you want to know more you'll have to arrange a meeting with my husband.”

Biting his lip, Harry thought about it. “Have you been there?”

“I visit, yes. He is my husband.”

“Is it better now that the dementors are gone?”

Mrs. Malfoy gave him another one of those scrutinizing looks “They are locked into small cells and are rarely allowed to leave. But yes, it is better without those vile creatures.”

Harry nodded and stood up “Thank you for the tea and conversation. Don't worry about Draco. I went to his trial because I believe he deserves a chance. I have a feeling he will make the most of it.” He started to walk away but stopped and added “Make sure Lucius stops feeding him that bullcrap about pure blood superiority, the man has way to much sway over Draco and he doesn't need anyone poisoning him while he's trying to become a better person.” Harry didn't turn to see if she had gotten the message. He left the greenhouse and walked straight to the front door and out of the house.

The following day, Harry returned to Hogwarts and procrastinated under the guise of speaking with the teachers again. Most of the professors were still there, helping to rebuild and clean the school, as well as enlarging classrooms and dormitories for the extra load of students that would be coming next year. Very few of Harry's year-mates had given a definite yes or no on whether they were returning for their N.E.W.T.s the following year, as there were rumours of a chance to take them at the start of the year. But even if Harry was the only one returning to school, which was unlikely since Hermione would never miss the opportunity of more schooling no matter if she could take the tests regardless, there were the muggle-born students that had to redo the year and many other students who had been taken out of classes at some point during the past year.

Harry talked with the professors, helped with some of the work and generally wasted his time. None of them knew anything that could help him with his search for Snape, though most had something of interest to say of a wide range of other subject. By the end of the day, Harry had learned how to clear a classroom with one swish of his wand, stacking the tables nicely to the side of the wall, and how to find and fix weak spots in the simpler wards around Hogwarts. Sprout had promised him some interesting plants after he mentioned his greenhouse and Slughorn had tried six times to get a promise from Harry that he would show up to the next slug party.

The new headmistress had been busy sorting out the schedule for the next year but had taken Harry aside for a quick word. Apparently, she had heard of his search and wanted to know how it was going. When Harry told her, she was slightly disappointed with his lack of progress but wasn't all that surprised. Like Harry, she was well aware of Snape's private nature and hadn't expected much. She wasn't precisely happy with the idea of Harry visiting Azkaban but agreed that Lucius was perhaps the only person who would know something more. He was the kind of person that had files on every one of his rivals. And in Malfoy's eyes, Snape would definitely have counted as a rival, especially after Riddle returned.

Harry tried to convince himself that Malfoy wouldn't know anything useful for a while longer. After all, Snape was a spy and would never have given Malfoy any information that would actually have some use. But he couldn't really manage it. Snape might have had some kind of bolt hold that was known by the death-eaters. It only made sense. Had he really been a death-eater, he would have had a safe house and some of the death-eaters would have known about it. Snape never did anything half way so it would only make sense that he'd done the death-eater thing right. Which meant that Harry had to go to Azkaban and speak to Malfoy Senior.

Four days later, Harry apparated to the coast and flew out to Azkaban on his Firebolt. Had he not been on his way to the prison, he would have enjoyed the flight more than anything he'd done in a while. As it was, he was agitated and had to consistently force himself to continue. He had spend several days talking to a dozen bureaucrats before he'd decided to find the minister and ask for a favour. Kingsley had arranged a visit after he had explained his purposes but had refused when Harry had asked for complete privacy. It didn't really matter, in fact Harry was kind of glad the man had said no. He felt uncomfortable asking for favours from the Minister of Magic. It was better if he could see it as fast tracking. These days, it was possible for everyone to visit an inmate if you were family or had a good reason. It was just a little bit easier for Harry to get a semi-private meeting than it was for most, but that was as far as it went. It boded well for the future of the Minister of Magic.

When Harry arrived, a guard did some kind of revealing spell. He had to leave his cloak, wand and broom and was allowed to enter. Another guard waited to lead him through some kind of device that held some resemblance to airport security gates. The guard let him through a few corridors and into a cell-block. Several of the cells held prisoners, most of which were pressed against the bars, glaring daggers at them. A few were yelling vile slurs and one had pulled down his pants and was showing them his backside. To Harry's eternal gratitude, Malfoy was being held at the end of the first row. Keeping Harry from having to pass more of the inmates.

Malfoy was sitting on the ground near the bars, his back leaning against the left wall of his cell. His hair was matted, and filthy did not do justice to the state of his clothing. His eyes were closed but his face was drawn, as if he was in constant pain. Looking him over, he noticed that the man's foot was twisted strangely. Harry glanced at the guard. “How did he get injured?”

The guard didn't answer but Lucius' eyes flew open at the sound of his voice. Grabbing the bars, he tried to pull himself upright. Groaning, he gave up and dropped back to the floor. “What is it you want Potter?” Lucius rasped.

Harry looked down at the man. “I want to know how you got injured.”

“Each block has an hour out of the cell each week.”

Harry blinked. That was interesting.. He wasn't sure if he liked it. On one hand, Harry wanted them all to rot in their cells. On the other, it was rather inhuman to keep them in one place for years on end. Even monsters had to stretch their legs ones every so often. “So.. You were having to much fun during playtime and twisted your ankle?”

Malfoy shot Harry a useless glare. “There are death-eaters in this block. I walked away before the end.”

Harry nodded his head in understanding “Ah, got it.” and he did, he'd seen the things that went on in that camp.. Most of them were backstabbing power junkies who would take any excuse to attack one of their own. Particularly if it would get them in a better position. Without Riddle, some would be vying to prove themselves to the others and become their new leader. Harry briefly considered which death-eater was going to come after him for just that purpose when he was distracted by Malfoy.

“Are you going to get to the point any time soon? You're disturbing my afternoon beauty sleep.”

Harry rolled his eyes “I came to ask about Snape.”

Malfoy's eye's sharpened and a second later, he was on his feet and glaring at Harry “Why?”

“I'm trying to find him.”

Malfoy waved his hand in a dismissive movement “He's dead.”

“Is that why you're in denial over his role in all of this? Because you think he will never be able to disabuse you of the notion?”

“I knew him much better than you little boy.” He sneered.

“Then tell me, were would he have gone if he had been injured and needed a safe place?”

“I would assume his home, like a normal person.”

Sighing, Harry folded his arms. “His home was known both to death-eaters as well as phoenix members. He wouldn't be safe from either side.

Malfoy blinked a few times, than started pacing, or to be more precise limping, up and down the bars. “You're right.. I never considered that.. He was spying on Dumbledore.. He would have to have some place where he could get away from the senile old man.”

Harry scoffed “You really are delusional, aren't you?”

Lucius' eyes narrowed as he glanced at Harry “Severus killed Albus. He was on our side.”

“Dumbledore was already dying. He practically begged Snape to kill him.”

Lucius stepped closer to the bars and wrapped his hands around them. “Severus cut of the ear of your little friend.”

“His shot missed. He was going for the hand of one of your friends.”

“He was the one who gave The Dark Lord's prophecy, he got your parents killed.”

“Which was why he turned. Didn't appreciate the love of his life being killed.”

Lucius sneered “He turned to Albus on The Dark Lord's orders. Decided that filthy mudblood wasn't worth the trouble.”

Harry glared at the man, wishing he could throttle him, he clenched his hands. Malfoy's breath hitched and he stumbled back, a wild look in his eyes. Startled, Harry released his fists, anger draining away. After a moment, Malfoy seemed to be perfectly fine. Harry frowned and looked down at his hand. Had he just caused the man's airway to shut? Not wanting to consider the possibility, he shook his head to clear it and asked “How about you tell me something useful and when I find him, we can ask him.”

Malfoy gave him a look, one that Harry didn't recognize immediately. It reminded him of some of the looks he'd seen during Potions class, he didn't like it. “Severus had no family or friends. He spend his time at Hogwarts or his home in Cokeworth. The only other place I know he visited was the Hog's Head.”

Harry nodded and walked away. No need to spend any more time in that wretched place. When he was about halfway down the hall, one of the laces around his wrist heated up. He lengthened his strides and found his way out as fast as he could. Racing back to the shore in a mad dash, he was still laughing happily when he landed.

A second later, he was standing in an ally he had scouted out the first time he'd come to Spinner's End. Harry ran towards the house and dashed through the front door. Looking around, the house seemed empty. Until he heard a noise coming from the second floor. Drawing out his wand, Harry crept up the staircase. There was a low light coming from beneath one of the doors. When there was no answer after Harry's knock, he opened the door slowly.

Laying, completely still on the bed was Severus Snape.