Harry didn’t remember moving, until he was brought to an abrupt halt and lifted bodily back into the Potions Master’s office. Kicking as he was pivoted in mid-air, his magic swirling around him, he was dropped unceremoniously into the chair in front of the desk, and a binding spell cast on him.

“You will do no one any good by rushing in to the Ravenclaw common room like an idiotic Gryffindor, Potter!” Snape snarled at him. “Do you really think that whatever Malfoy is up to, he would endanger that to do harm to Ginny Weasley?” And even if he were that stupid, Miss Weasley is aware that he is not Corner and should be on her guard, correct?”

Harry glared at Snape, struggling to get his breathing under control. He knew that Snape was right, and it irked him even more.

“I would think that your lack of faith in Miss Weasley’s abilities to protect herself from a known danger might be upsetting to her.” Snape added softly, the malice dripping off every word did not reach the glittering dark eyes.

“Yeah, she would kill me.” Harry managed to get out between clenched teeth, slowly bring himself and his magic back under control. “’Finite Incantatem.” He stood, smoothing his hair back down as best he could.

“I’m sorry, Professor.” He muttered his eyes downcast as he looked at the floor.

“It is admirable, Harry, that you are so always willing to protect those in danger, especially those you care about, but all your training will be for naught if you rush in without being prepared or having full knowledge of what you face.” Severus Snape laid a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “If Draco Malfoy is here, then there may be others here as well.”

Frowning Harry froze, the implication of what the older man said made him think, as it had not occurred to him that Malfoy would not come back alone. “It also means that Michael has been kidnapped, right, as they still need his for the Polyjuice potion?”

Snape nodded, his arms crossed. “Yes.” A hand came up, and he stroked his bottom lip with a long pale finger. “We need to see the Headmaster, Potter, gather your map…”

“But, Professor, what about Ginny, she could be on danger.” The anxiety he was feeling colored his voice. “I need to send a message to her, at least.”

“Alright, call that manic house-elf who seems so taken with you.”

“Dobby?” Harry asked, and the house-elf appeared with a pop in front of him.

“Harry Potter is needing Dobby, sir?” He asked throwing his arms around Harry’s waist, the many hats on his head wiggling as the diminutive creature bounced on his toes.

“Hi, Dobby, can you take a note to Ginny Weasley for me, please?” Looking around for a piece of parchment, Harry was surprised when Snape pushed a piece toward him and handed him a quill. He scratched a note quickly.

Dear Ginny, You are the only one I love. Come home now, please. I will be there as soon as the Headmaster lets me go. Love, Harry. P.S.: Don’t play with ferrets.
“Thank you, Dobby, Ginny is in the Ravenclaw common room right now with Luna. Anyway you can find some flowers to go with this, Dobby?” Harry asked hopefully, as he rolled and sealed the note with his wand. A large bouquet of bright flowers appeared in Dobby’s hand as he took the note, and disappeared with a pop.

“Enough time has been wasted with pathetic displays of affection; gather your map, Potter and put that blasted cloak back on. It would not due for any of my House to see us in the hallways together.” Snape sneered at him, and Harry was sure he saw the man roll his eyes.

The hallways were crowded with students returning from dinner, and Harry was amused as he trailed in the man’s wake, robes billowing behind him, at how they jumped out of the way for the scowling Potions Master to pass. In no time, they were at the door to Dumbledore’s office, Snape pushing it open without bothering to knock. Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk, clothed in glittery robes of midnight blue and sliver. A tea tray sat on a low table in front of the desk, as did a tray of sandwiches.

“Ah, Severus, Harry, please sit down. I took the liberty of having some sandwiches brought as neither of you were at dinner this evening.”

Letting the cloak drop to his shoulders, Harry shook his head at the elderly wizard, wondering how he always seemed to know. He followed Professor Snape towards the chairs.

“Harry, it is rather disconcerting to see your head floating about the room.” Dumbledore said, the blue eyes twinkling.

Harry grinned and took the cloak off, stuffing it behind him in the chair. Feeling ravenous, he took a sandwich from the platter as he leaned forward to spread the Marauders Map across the Headmaster’s desk. Taking a bite, he chewed slowly as Snape explained what they had discovered. His eyes found the Ravenclaw common room, and he saw the flag labeled “Ginny Weasley” moving towards the door, watching as it continued toward the Gryffindor tower. He didn’t realize that he had sighed with relief until the conversation around him stopped, and he looked up to find both older wizards looking at him.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Tucking into his sandwich, Harry listened to the two men discuss the situation, while his eyes roamed over the map. Searching the map methodically, he started at a point near the front door, down to the Slytherin dungeons, past the kitchens, and down towards the Hufflepuff common room, which was also in the dungeons.

Grabbing another chicken sandwich, Harry continued to follow his finger as it checked through the Hufflepuff dorms. Two flags seemed to overlap, making Harry grin as he saw two students that close. His finger moved on just as the flags separated enough to read the names: Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. Opening his mouth to announce his discovery, Harry promptly inhaled a small piece of bread, coughing and choking as the two men turned towards him. Tears streaming down his red face as his throat attempted to dislodge the offensive material, Harry stabbed at the flags with his finger.

A goblet of water was pressed into his hand, and Harry gulped it down. Still coughing sporadically, he took off his glasses and wiped his face with a napkin. Carefully, he finished his sandwich, as Snape ate and the Headmaster continued to study the map. Fingers trailing along hallways as Harry’s had, Professor Dumbledore discovered another imposter in the Ravenclaw dorms, a Slytherin who had already graduated, Marcus Flint.

“That makes four that we know of, Severus, four missing students, and four imposters here for unknown reasons.” The wizard said thoughtfully, sitting back in his chair, a worried frown creased his brow.

“We know that Malfoy is here as Michael Corner, but we have no way of knowing from this who the other three are impersonating. How are we going to find that out, Professor?” Harry asked as he looked at him over the map.

“We will need to find a way to isolate them and discover who they are.” Snape said his eyes on Harry. “Malfoy will surely be in the company of Flint most of the time, so it should be relatively easy to decipher his identity. Crabbe and Goyle may pose a more difficult challenge.”

“If we could get one of those two idiots away from the other, either of them would be easy to question with Veritaserum, and then Obliviate, wouldn’t they, Professor.” Harry asked excitedly.

“Yes, that might be a way to discover why they have been sent here. Are you willing to allow us to use your map, Harry?” Dumbledore peered at him over the half-moon spectacles.

“Of course, Professor, for however long you need it.” Harry assured him.

“Alright, my boy, I think you need to get back under that cloak and return to Gryffindor tower.”

Harry grabbed his cloak and headed for the door, anxious to see Ginny, Ron and Hermione.

“Harry.” Dumbledore’s voice stopped him. “Remember to keep this very quiet, as we do not know who is actually who.”

“Yes, sir, I will.”

Diving back under the cloak, Harry hurried towards the common room removing the cloak just before he hit the stairs. Stepping through the portrait hole slightly out of breath, he looked up in time to see Ginny streaking towards him. Catching her as she jumped, Harry spun her around, delighting the crowd of Gryffindors seated in the room beyond them. Bringing his head down, he kissed her hard, startled by a tingle not unlike an electric shock that ran through him.

Drawing back, Harry could tell by the redness of her blush and the fact that she hid her face in the hollow of his neck, that Ginny had felt it too. Ron and Hermione walked up, and with a look from Harry, they all went up to the empty boys’ dormitory. Settling on Harry’s bed, they drew the hangings and Harry enclosed them in a silencing field. They listened quietly as he told them what he and Snape had found.

“I would have loved to have seen that, Harry.” Ron said, referring to the scene in the Potions Master’s office. “I’ve seen you when your magic starts swirling around you, the thought of Snape grabbing you and tying you to a chair would have been brilliant!” Grinning, Ron ducked as Harry took a good-natured swing at him.

“Yeah, Snape thought I was taking off because I didn’t have any faith in Ginny’s abilities.” Harry chuckled, seeing the flare of anger in her eyes. “When…”

“When it was actually your ‘saving people thing’ kicking in.” Hermione guessed accurately.

“Something like that.” Harry muttered, relieved that Ginny was now smiling at his discomfort.

“What is scary in all this, is the fact that there are at least four students who are being held somewhere by that bloody bastard.” Rom remarked, knowing how hard it was for Harry to sit and do nothing. “What is Dumbledore going to do?”

“I dunno, I made the suggestion that we grab Crabbe or Goyle, question them and then Obliviate them, but they were still talking when I left. I think right now we just have to be really careful, and the four of us stick close together.” Harry told them seriously.

“I think it is good that we done have any regular DA sessions this week, and we can always have Professor Snape use the map to check those of us in the core group, before our training on Tuesday afternoon.” Hermione said, clearly thinking ahead. “And we need a password that we can use, something only the four of us would use.”

“Snuffles.” Sadness tinged Harry’s quiet voice.

Ginny slid over and settled in Harry’s lap. “Are you sure, Harry? It’s a perfect choice, but it’s not worth the pain.”

Kissing her on the forehead, Harry wrapped his arms around her, and shook his head. “Sirius will love the idea that he can still help us, even in such a small way. Snuffles it is.”

The prickling of his scar increased over the next couple days, but no visions came through and Harry was more annoyed than anything. They stayed together as a group with Luna and Neville joining them, taking their studying and playing to the Room of Requirement, where they could relax. The weather outside was windy and rainy, trapping everyone inside the castle, and fraying tempers. Remus approved of their decision when he surfaced Sunday afternoon, and took their idea of a password as well as the plan to screen the special DA group, to a meeting with the Headmaster on Monday morning.

Professor Snape joined the teenagers and Remus after dinner on Monday for Harry usual advanced training. Seeing the five young people comfortably ensconced in one corner of the room, Severus Snape shook his head.

“This will not do.” He muttered as he removed his outer robes.

Harry bristled at the implied slight against his friends. “They would never say a word…”

Long fingers settled on his shoulders as Harry bit off his tirade, and looked up to meet the unreadable dark eyes.

“I had thought us beyond this pettiness, Harry; my concern for your friends is for the same reasons that we wear a certain type of clothing when we train, for their safety only. I was in no way questioning their loyalty.”

Chagrined, Harry hung his head. “I’m sorry, Professor. You are right, I jumped to conclusions and I should know better.”

Remus stood to the side watching, and Harry knew that he was supportive of this fragile new trust between him and the Potions Master. His guardian tended to be overprotective, but Harry knew he trusted Snape. Closing his eyes, Harry envisioned a wall between his friends and them, and opened them to find the room had supplied one. He looked up in time to see Snape wave a hand, and the wall became as clear as glass, allowing his friends to watch.

“Thank you, Professor.”

The training went smoothly, working on Harry’s wandless magic, first with him saying the spells, and then without. Harry had progressed in the past few months, becoming very proficient with wandless and amplified magic. It had taken awhile for him to learn to control the magic he was pushing out of the medallion, several times he had over extended, as he had at Kings Cross that day. Now that he could better control the amount of magic he used, Professor Snape was working on helping him refine his control to the point that he didn’t need to verbalize the spells and charms he used.

“Concentrate, Potter, it is a simple enough spell!” Snape sneered at him from the far end of the room. “How many students would love to hex their greasy git of a Potions Master?”

Harry’s smirk had an evil edge as he threw a Jelly-legs Hex at the black clad wizard, which Snape easily blocked.

“That’s better, now try throwing several, one right after another.”

Harry concentrated, beginning his right hand up in front of him, giving him a focal point, and began to throw out simple hexes. The older wizard easily dodged them, and threw several back at Harry who didn’t realize it until the last minute, dodging two out of three. Remus was laughing at him as he said the counter curse for the Tarantallegra, stopping Harry’s legs from their violent dance.

“What was that for?” Harry asked as he rubbed his thighs.

“I am merely trying to keep you on your toes, Harry.” Snape said with an amused smile on his lips.

Harry couldn’t help himself, he gawked, he didn’t think he’d ever seen a real smile on that face before. Remus laughed hardily at the look on his godson’s face, and Snape smirked. Feeling his cheeks heat, Harry found himself laughing at his own reaction. The Potions Master walked over to them, one hand coming to rest on Harry’s shoulder.

“You did well tonight, Harry, although you are still using your hand as a pseudo wand. If you must do that, as least use both of your hands, in order to keep your opponent confused as to what you are doing. Hopefully, we will get you past that need.”

“Won’t that…”

The door to the room opened, and Albus Dumbledore stepped into the room, his face a blank mask. With a wave of his hand, the clear wall dissolved and he waved them all towards the fireplace. The three wizards exchanged a troubled glance as Snape pulled on his outer robes and lead the way over to the others.

“Headmaster, has something happened?” Snape asked, walking to stand beside the older man.

“Yes, Severus, something has happened.” Dumbledore looked at Harry intently, motioning him over. “Harry, have you felt anything at all, last night or today?”

“Just some of the prickling I’ve been having lately, sir, stronger than usual, but nothing else.” Harry looked up in to the blue eyes, noting the absence of the usual twinkle. “What’s the matter, sir?”

Albus Dumbledore looked at the faces in front of him.

“Professor Sinistra is missing.”