The small amount of light emitted by the lumus spell did little to illuminate the dark, narrow tunnel. Severus slowly led the way, using one of the wands Eileen had confiscated from their guards. Though their situation had improved, it still appeared bleak. The were heading down a tunnel no one had used in fifty years without proper lighting and only three wands. Most of them were injured even if it was only minor, and they had only a general idea as to where they were headed.

Severus clutched Serenity's hand behind his back; it seemed to calm him slightly. Severus also felt like turning around and blasting his mother off her feet then handing her over to the Dark Lord himself. Of all the things she had ever done to him, his father, and Harry, putting ‘Imperio' on his little brother had by far been the worst. At the same time however, he realized the reasoning behind her actions. He was feeling a little claustrophobic inside the narrow passageway himself and he could only imagine what his brother would feel. Perhaps an Imperio was necessary, but why did his mother have to be the one to cast it?

-----

Serenity held on to Severus's hand with her own and ran her fingers along the surprisingly smooth walls of the cave with the other. From what she could see, the rock surrounding them seemed smoothed, almost polished, and if she had to guess from touch only, she would swear they were professionally done. Parts of the wall where coated with a slimly texture, probably a mold of some sort and possibly a result of the distant but steady dripping sound she heard.

She was suddenly reminded of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum." She squeezed Severus's hand in attempt to make this situation feel more real and was relieved when he squeezed back. Regardless of the severity of their situation, she couldn't help but to feel just the slightest bit excited. She was a part of a real adventure. The only thought that kept her from feeling truly excited was that Eileen was probably thinking the same thing she was. The others with her, excluding Severus and his family, were still a bit of mystery to her. The man standing behind her scared her a little. She had a feeling that he wasn't entirely sane, yet at the same time he seemed coherent enough. The other man, Moody, if she remembered correctly, made her want to laugh. He was paranoid, and Tobias held a bit of respect for him she could tell, but he seemed like a character straight out of a book.

Then again, she probably shouldn't be so harsh on him, after all - it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

-----

She had a nice ass. Aside from that one redeeming quality, however, Sirius couldn't decide what to think about the muggle woman standing in front of him. A better question, though, was what did she see in Severus Snape, of all people? The though made him want to cringe, so Sirius turned his mind to other things. Like how he was going to gouge Mad Eye's eye out with a blunt spoon if he turned his magical eye on him again. Then again the man was standing right behind him, so it was probably difficult not to look at him, but the feeling of being watched was creeping him out.

He was also having a difficult time with Eileen's use of ‘Imperio' on his godson. His godson. Sirius wanted to release a deep sigh when he thought about Harry. He wondered if his recent actions had harmed the relationship he had with the boy. It's just when he heard Harry call Tobias ‘dad' he couldn't help it. He couldn't describe what came over him, but without conscious thought, he had grabbed the boy and shaken him. He felt bad about it, but didn't know how to fix the situation. Especially, since he doubted Tobias would ever leave him alone in the same room as the boy again.

Tobias was another mystery. The man was just filled with surprises. With Tobias as a father, the question was how Snape turn into the hate-filled, filthy, double crossing Death Eater that he was?

-----

Alastor Moody didn't like standing in straight lines. Especially in a narrow tunnel where the could only move forward or go back. It made him feel like a sitting duck, knowing there was danger, but not moving out of the way. While he was paying as close attention as possible to his surroundings, it wasn't doing much good, so he occupied himself with trying to figure out who betrayed them to the Dark Lord. His first thought would have been Severus, but now that conclusion seemed unlikely. Eileen of course had unknowingly led the Dark Lord to her sons and husbands but she didn't know the location of the Order let alone how to get in. As Alastor continued to run the names of the Order members through his mind and the reasons why they could or could not betray the Order, he continued down the dark tunnel.

-----

It was odd, really, how the algae seemed to be concentrated on the upper portion of the wall and not the lower, but without proper lighting, Hermione was having a difficult time analyzing her surroundings. The silence that had descended among the group was deafening so in order to keep herself from growing mad, she was attempting to determine their location by the type of rocks that were all around them. It kept her mind occupied and away from the enraged and depressing thoughts that entered her mind when she thought of Harry.

While she understood the logic behind Mrs. Snape's, or whoever she was, actions she was having a difficult time condoning them. More then anything she wanted to run to Harry and throw her arms around him in an overly tight, but comforting hug. Hermione's foot made a small splash as his fell into a small puddle of water. As soon as they were out of here she was corning Harry and demanding answers . . . actually, she knew that what she and Ron really would do is wait patiently and gently encourage Harry to tell them what was going on between him, his mother, father, and Professor Snape.

-----

Ron followed sedately behind Hermione. He was lost in thought over their current situation. While he was shocked, he did see the reasoning behind Eileen casting an unforgivable on Harry...but that didn't mean he had to like it. He hoped his friend wouldn't be to upset over the situation, either. He prayed to whoever was listening that they would be out of this tunnel soon or he would scream. Between the silence and the distant dripping sound he felt like his head was going to explode. He wished someone would say something; even Hermione's constant dribble about educational crap was preferable to the deathly silence. However, like him, Ron figured that everyone was too busy thinking about their current situation to form sentences. He wished Fred and George were here; they could always break up the tension in a room.

-----

Ginny followed behind her older brother, grateful for his presence. Though she often found it annoying and rebelled against them as much as possible, Ginny had to admit that it was nice to have six overprotective older brothers. No matter what she did she would always be the baby girl and therefore perfect in everyway, at least to brothers and parents. She desperately wanted to be with them right now.

In a way, she almost envied Harry. At least he had his entire family here with him through this mess. Granted, his mother didn't seem to be the maternal type, but his dad seemed to love him. Even Professor Snape, as uncharacteristic as it may seem, was incredibly...brotherly around Harry, though he tried not to make it to obvious. Ginny could see it though; her potions professor had the same look in his eyes when Mrs. Snape had cast ‘Imperio' as her brothers got in theirs whenever they thought she needed ‘protecting.' As though she couldn't take care of herself; however, it was nice at a time like this to know that her brother was with her and would do anything in his power to protect her.

-----

If it wasn't for the fact that she was sure their conversation would be heard all the way back to Voldemort, Eileen would have attempted to talk and smooth things over with Tobias, but the lack of privacy stopped her. While she was sure Tobias understood her actions, she was equally sure he would not appreciate the method in which she had executed her plan. At the time, she had had little choice . . . if she had merely suggested the idea, they would have been to busy arguing about it to escape and simply forcing the boy down the tunnel would have resulted in screams she was sure would have attracted the attention of the Death Eaters waiting upstairs.

Hopefully, Tobias would come around. Also, for some unfathomable reason she found herself partially concerned with Severus's reaction. She knew he hated her, and for some reason, that bothered her just the slightest bit. She wouldn't go as far as to call it maternal instinct, but more a curiosity. She found herself wanting to know what he had been doing for the last twenty years and though she had heard about his many advances in potions, she was curious to know what he would say about them.

-----

Tobias had to do something and he had to do it soon or jinxes were going to start flying and it wouldn't surprise him if Severus would be the first to fire one. He could feel the tension mounting in the air second by second and knew it was only a matter of time before someone snapped. Sure, he was as upset with Eileen's actions as the next person, but he also saw the necessity of them.

Tobias clutched Harry's hand behind his back, leading the emotionless boy along the tunnel behind him. His years spent in military service had taught him a thing or two and he remembered quite well the strange effects small spaces and silence could have on a person. Throughout the history of the Navy, songs had been passed down from generation to generation that seemed to be written for the sole purpose of starving off insanity. Had he been with other sailors, it would be quite easy to start up a pointless nonsense jaunty, but with the group he was with...Well for starters they didn't know any jaunties and secondly he would have to explain the reasons behind wanting to start up the song, which would ultimately defeat the purpose. Talking was his only hope, but he didn't know what to say.

-----

Silence reigned among the tired group for a while longer until a whistle was heard. Severus almost stopped dead in his tracks until he recognized the tune that was being whistled. He gave a sort of half-smirk to the dark tunnel ahead as he listened to old sailors' tune his dad was whistling out. Only his father would find such a way to distract them.

Unable to resist as they continued on there way, Severus began whistling the tune as well; he remembered it well enough from his childhood. When he was very young, his father would often entertain him with such melodies and he soon learned the songs by heart. Severus didn't know about the others, but the ancient melody seemed to calm him and the though the whistling echoed oddly it seem to lift the tension which had descended amongst them.

All too soon the melody ended and, just as Tobias had planned, it sparked Ron's curiosity.

"What was that about?" asked the teenage boy, curious yet relieved.

"It's an old tune that a hundred years ago would have been quite common to be heard on ships," explained Tobias, he voice seemed relaxed and had a calming quality to it. "They're hardly ever sung on ships anymore, but they've survived due to many old sailors passing the songs down generation by generation. This seemed like as good as time as any to refresh my own memory."

"So it's a folk song." Hermione spoke up he own curiosity piqued. Her voice took on a tone that made Ron roll his eyes, as her thirst for knowledge began to override her own fear of the situation.

"Precisely." Silence almost descended amongst the group again, but Tobias was prepared this time. "Does anybody know who the first person to sail around the world was?"

"Magellan," answered Hermione immediately not even hesitating.

"Very, good," Tobias replied and nodded his head even though the girl could not see him. "Now, what's the difference between a pirate and a buccaneer?"

Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but was beat to it by Ginny, who replied matter-of-factly. "Pirates are English. Buccaneers are French."

"Exactly," Tobias was smiling his plan was working nicely. Even if only the kids were talking at the moment it was at least providing some noise and a welcome distraction to everyone. "Well, it appears as though the two young ladies are tied one-to-one, so far. Let's see who gets this next one. What was the name of Sir Francis Drake's ship?"

"The Golden Hind," answered Hermione immediately without hesitation and a satisfied air about her answer.

"I'm sorry my dear, but that is incorrect." Tobias had figured this question would stump the girl. "Anyone else like to have a try at it?"

"Tobias," spoke up Serenity calmly, but assuredly. "I believe you may be mistaken. I'm sure the Drake's ship was the Golden Hind."

"The Pelican," Severus answered from up front before his father could start lecturing Serenity about not arguing with your elders and such. "Queen Elizabeth named it the Pelican. Drake rechristened it as the Golden Hind before he crossed the Straight of Magellan on his trip around the world several years after Magellan had made his legendary journey." Severus's voice was quiet but could be heard all the way to the end of the line where his father was.

"And the point goes to Severus," said Tobias with pride in his voice. "Okay this next one is going to be easy..."

Very soon everyone became involved in the trivia game, and after a few more questions Moody turned the tides by asking Wizarding History questions, many of which Tobias was able to answer, much to everyone's surprise, with the exception of Severus and Eileen who knew that Tobias was unable to resist gaining any sort of knowledge even if it meant reading his son's school books.

As the group overcame their tensions and small discussions broke out amongst everyone, the journey seemed to go faster and before long the dripping sound which had been almost drowned out by their talking became louder and louder. Eventually, the narrow tunnel opened up into a large underground cavern. As soon as Severus stepped out of the tunnel and into the open space he stopped short.

Even with only the small Lumus spell the cavern seem to light up magnificently. Various colored crystalline structures reflect the light around the cavern making the whole area light up. On the far side of the cavern was a lake that seemed to be kept full from the small amount of running water pouring out from the large hole in the stone wall above it, creating an underground waterfall. The sight was breathtaking.

Upon exiting the tunnel, everyone stood in awe of the sight until Moody broke the silence. "This seems like a good place to rest." He stated commandingly, already scoping out the area for a place to sit down.

"No," said Severus firmly as he turned to face everyone, but looked pointedly at his father. "The puddles of water in the tunnel, the weathered wall, the algae, it all had to come from somewhere right? We were lucky enough to come through when the tide was out, but we can't be here if it comes in."

Tobias suddenly felt everyone's eyes on him seeking confirmation. He stared at the waterfall and the floor already knowing his son was correct but seeking a solution. He could not deny the feeling of pride he felt either knowing he had taught his son at least a few things about sailing. "He's right, but I doubt it floods the entire tunnel every tide. I'm sure most of it stays below knee deep unless the water levels go up. Luckily for us it's been an unusually dry summer; however, we do need to get to higher ground before decideing to stop and rest. How far is the cottage from here Severus?"

"About eight miles from the manner and we've traveled at least five so far, sir." Severus answered respectfully, fully trusting his father's expertise in this area.

Tobias nodded in acknowledgement to his son, but said nothing, immediately scanning the cavern one more. The tunnel they had just come out of seemed to be the only way in or out of the cavern. "We need to find the other way out of here. There should be another tunnel or opening somewhere other than where the water's coming from." Tobias seemed to take command in that instant. His voice became slightly louder, but not harsher, and he began issuing orders. "Severus, Alastor, and Serenity take the left side of the cavern, look for any sort of opening and stay together. Sirius and Eileen will come with me to look over the right side. And you..." Tobias rounded on the kids his voice becoming sterner as he glared at them sending an unspoken message that he was meant to be obeyed. "You will stay right here. You may sit down if you like, but you are not to move from this area. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes, sir," replied Hermione and Ginny immediately, but Ron hesitated.

"I asked you a question, boy, and I expect an answer." Tobias focused his attention on the tall red-headed boy causing him to fidget.

"Well...yes, sir...but...um..." Ron refused to meet anybody's eyes as he shuffled his feet nervously.

"But what, boy?" Demanded Tobias, his tone growing harsher by the second.

"I have to use the loo...sir." Ron's ears turned red, especially when he heard the chuckling coming from his sister and Hermione.

Tobias fought back his own amused smile as he pointed towards the tunnel they had just come out of. "Do not go more then four feet in and be quick about it."

Ron didn't need to be told twice as he quickly turned back around and headed for the tunnel. When he emerged Tobias still wore the same stern look as before.

"Now I will ask again," Tobias's voice of deadly quite. "You are to remain right here. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," came three very respectful replies.

Tobias watched them for a moment longer before satisfied that they would not move before guiding a still nonresponsive Harry to sit down for a moment and leaving in search for a way out of the cavern.

Several minutes after leaving the kids, Tobias found himself turning around in small circles, getting agitated over their situation. He was standing on the edge of the lake and could plainly see Severus, Alastor, and Serenity on the other side of it as well as the children near the entrance to the tunnel. They had searched the cavern from top to bottom and had not found a way out, which gave them only two options: go back the way they came (which wasn't really an option) or wait for the tide to come in and out again before finding a way to climb up to the hole where the water was coming from and attempt (4) to get out that way. Tobias stood staring at the waterfall for a few moments trying to come up with a plan.

Suddenly he noticed something odd. As the water fell down the stone wall, the colors changed. It would be difficult to notice the change from a distance, but he was sure that it got much darker towards the bottom of the falls than at the top. Not seeing any alternative, Tobias sighed and began making his way through the freezing cold, clear water towards the water fall. When the water reached his knee, he stopped cold and stared down at the water. Here the color of the water changed again, but it was obvious why. The lake was not so much of a lake as it was a deep hole in the ground which had then filled with water and flooded over. Where Tobias was standing, the ground dropped off, seemingly straight down for at least twenty feet.

Glancing back up at the waterfall, and ignoring the questions being shouted out to him from broth shorelines, he realized he would have to cross this in order to figure out what caused the darker-colored stones at the bottom of the falls. Taking a deep breath, Tobias dived in, resurfacing a moment later and began swimming with strong, expert strokes towards the waterfall. As he got closer, he realized his suspicions were correct and he smiled as he reached the wall behind the waterfall and was able to pull himself up out of the water and into another tunnel that was much larger then the last.

On the shore of the lake, Severus watched as his father disappeared behind the falls and almost sighed in relief at having found a way out. Across the shore, he saw Sirius and his mother watching as well. Serenity and Alastor stood by his side, also watching as his father emerged, diving out from behind the waterfall and straight into the lake below. Once the man (4) reached the shore, a large smile on his face, both groups began making their way back around the lake to where they had left the children.

Once they had reached the kids, who had been able to watch everything from their position near the mouth of the tunnel, Tobias turned to Eileen speaking in even but commanding tones. "Take the spell off of him now. The next tunnel is much bigger and he shouldn't have a problem with it."

Eileen nodded, but before taking the spell off she warned in an emotionless tone: "I will take the spell off, but at the first sign of a problem I will recast it."

Tobias nodded in understanding, sitting down next to his youngest son.

As the spell was released, Harry slumped backwards slightly before sitting up straight with wide black eyes searching around frantically, as though startled. He felt a large heavy hand being placed on his should and instinctively flinched away. Looking over at his father, he saw a look of sadness on his face, but noticed something more in the man's dark eyes. If one were to look closely they would see the anger floating just below the surface. The anger startled Harry and although part of him knew it wasn't directed at him he couldn't help the fear that rose when the ‘Imperio' was removed.

Tobias noticed his son's growing distress and immediately began speaking in soft, deep, soothing tones. "Harry, it's okay, everything's all right now. Do you know where we are?"

Harry tried to remember and as he thought about it, memories came rushing back to him. His fear of the tunnel. The blissful willingness to follow through the tunnel.

His mother had cast the ‘Imperio' on him.

A type of rage he didn't even realize he possessed welled up within him at the thought. Turning hate filled eyes at the women responsible, he glared at her emotionless face before speaking in a quite whisper filled with anger. "I. Hate. You."

Eileen remained emotionless and simply raised an eyebrow at the boy still sitting on the floor of the cavern.

"Harry," Tobias spoke up from beside his son. "Harry, listen, please, we had to get out of there before we were caught. It was the only possible solution at the time...In order to fight tomorrow we have to live today." Tobias repeated the words that had run through his mind after Eileen had cast the Unforgivable on their son. On his son.

Harry looked at his dad, the rage and anger gone from his eyes. Instead, residing deep within the dark onyx depths was hurt and a bit of betrayal.

Tobias felt his chest clench painfully and he wanted nothing more than to gather his boy up in his arms and never let go again. He didn't though. Instead, he waited silently as Harry stared at him, looking for something. Though he continued to look straight into his son's eyes, Tobias's peripheral vision allowed him to see Severus come up beside Harry and crouching down to whisper something in his ear.

Harry broke eye contact with his father in favor of looking at his brother and after a moment nodded his head. He briefly glanced over at his father before standing up, and staying closer to Severus then he normally would, but avoided actually touching him.

Tobias closed his eyes briefly and swallowed hard before opening them and standing up to walk quietly towards the shore of the lake explaining the plan along the way. "We have to swim across the lake to get to the cave behind the waterfall. It drops off after about thirty feet in, however, and the water is at least twenty feet deep. Does everyone know how to swim?"

Seeing everyone nod their heads, Tobias, still dripping wet from his last dip in the cold water began making his way across the lake. When he came to the point where the lake dropped off he dived in and made his way towards the falls, which were beginning to fall more rapidly than before. Tobias waited until everyone had climbed into the cave, offering assistance when necessary, before climbing in himself.

.............................................

Severus was quickly becoming annoyed. Harry had not left his side since the curse had been taken off of him. It wasn't so much that he minded the boy's presence, but that he was standing too close to him. They were walking through the large cave and though there was enough room for four people to walk beside one another comfortably, Harry insisted on staying mere inches away from Severus. They would occasionally even bump into each other, a fact that was grating on Severus's nerves. The cave was well hidden behind the waterfall especially since its mouth was rather small - only one person could fit through at a time - but it immediately opened up in to a very high and wide cave that got dryer as they ascended.

Not that anyone could truly enjoy the dryness of the cave since they were all soaking wet. They would be lucky if no one got sick.

As they walked, Severus tried to distance himself from his brother slightly, but the boy just seemed to close the distance again within seconds. He understood that Harry was upset, but he was not the sort of person used to or even comfortable with extended amounts of close contact. He wished he were more like his father. His father would know exactly what to do in his place. Right now, Tobias was hanging back away from his son knowing that he was not one of the people Harry wanted to be near right now.

Severus was actually rather surprised that his brother wanted to be near him instead of his friends, who were walking ahead of them but continued to send worried glances back to him upon occasion. Small conversations would occasionally break out amongst the group, but they never lasted long and the silence, though not as oppressive as before, was tangible.

Severus tried to think of what how his father would handle the situation, but failed when he realized that his father would have handled the situation differently with him than he would with Harry. Severus would have wanted more space. He would have distanced himself as far away as possible until he could sort it all out in his mind. Harry wasn't like that though. Harry was so starved for love and comfort that the mere thought of being alone was probably enough to send him into a full fledged panic attack.

Harry accidentally bumped into him once again knocking him off balance slightly. Then it was as if Severus ran into a brick wall. The proverbial light bulb came on over his head and he stopped dead in his tracks and turned before placing his hands on his brother's shoulders and turning Harry toward him so that they were facing each other. Then with an exclamation of "For heaven's sake, boy!", Severus pulled the boy towards him for a hug.

Severus was well aware that everyone was watching him now, and began to reconsider his actions. However, as Harry's arms circled around him and the boy's head came to rest on his shoulder, Severus could only hug the boy close to him before bending his head down to whisper softly in the child's ear the only words he could think of. "You're not alone Harry. I won't leave you. Neither will Dad. You're. Not. Alone. You're friends are here, too. We won't leave you, Harry. You're not alone, anymore. You never will be again. I promise. You're not alone. I'm here, little brother, and you're not alone."

After a couple of moments, Harry pulled away feeling better but keeping his head down, not wanting to meet any of the eyes he could feel on him. Severus refocused all his earlier irritation on those watching them, and sending them the scariest glare he knew, he urged them to continue moving. The group continued to move at a steady pace until the cave, which had began ascending at a steep incline, turned sharply and dead-ended into a small, circular cavern. Though it was smaller then the one before, it could still comfortable hold at least twenty people.