The talk with Dumbledore had not gone amazingly well.  It was, sufficient, however. . .

It still had not been discovered how the Death Eaters had bypassed the wards at Hogwarts and, as such, the school would remain closed until the Headmaster deemed it safe.

It was also clear that both Harry and Snape where still required to remain in hiding until the school was re-opened. 

In brighter news (‘brighter' depending on the individual's point of view in Snape's opinion) a new headquarters had been established for the Order of the Phoenix and the Headmaster had finally settled on a decision of what must be done.

It was the safest option to keep up the blood protection charm that Harry benefited from by returning to the Dursley's.

This is where the individual point of view bit came in . . .

Reaffirming his disapproval of sending the boy there alone earned Snape a ‘sleep over.'  Just to ‘keep an eye on things and see if he could make sense of anything' by residing in the Dursley household for a number of days.

He had absolutely no desire for this day to arrive and highly doubted that the Potter brat would be grateful for his sacrifice either . . .

Secondly, the ‘New HQ' was the home of that infernal mutt!  It also happened to be the ‘safest place' for the three wizards to take refuge for the time being.  The length of that time being a little sketchy in the Headmaster's details.

Snape sighed to himself. 

He had already decided to tell the boy about their return to Privet Drive first.  No doubt that if he mentioned Black and his blasted house too early the brat would demand to go straight there and make life difficult for the Potions Master.

The cobbled streets were still damp from the storm that had rolled by the previous night.  The air was damp and the dilapidated buildings around the dark clad man were as dank and dreary as ever. 

Still . . . an unnatural stillness in the atmosphere caused the man to quicken his step.  A deep instinct within him told him that something was wrong. . .

A loud crash in the distance halted him for a brief second before he broke into a run. 

‘Potter!  If you are in the middle of this!!  What am I saying?  Of COURSE you're in the middle of it!'

Panting the Professor slowed at the top of Spinners End.  The noises had died down.  That either meant something good or really, really bad.  Knowing his luck and the probable involvement of the Potter boy- !!

A black Range Rover sped down the old streets.  Snape leapt aside to keep from being knocked down.

Alarm bells rang in his head as he whipped out his wand and aimed it at the Rover.  His aim was well made, however the vehicle was faster. 

Breaking into another sprint he chased the Rover around the corner and down the next street.  Another curse was sent its way by his own hand but he knew before he cast it that the car was too far away to be hit. . .

Chasing the vehicle any further was a futile effort. . .  The car was too fast and he was too tired to run any more.

With growing frustration, anger and worry the Professor turned back to the house.  The only thing left for him was to hope. . .

 ------------

"So a second party is out for the Boy-who-lived, eh?"

"So it would seem, Alistair . . ."

"Headmaster . . ."

"Severus, I know you did what you could . . .  What matters now is that we do everything in our power to locate and rescue the boy."

"And how do you suppose we do that Albus?  The Death Eater we interrogated knows nothing!  Useless son of a-"

"I think I may be able to help Headmaster . . ."

"Severus?"

"Heh, don't tell me.  You're workin' as an agent between us and this enemy as well eh?"

"Alistair I have told you time and time again-"

"We all make mistakes Albus."

"Headmaster, I don't know where they have taken Mr Potter . . .  but I believe I may be able to find out."

"By asking your little friends in the death chambers is it?"

". . ."

"Severus, please see what you can find."

"Yes Headmaster."

"Bah. . ."

  ---------hp---------

A groan from his own lips was his first distinguishable sound.

The air was thick and carried a rancid smell.  The atmosphere was heavy and the unnatural silence was suffocating.

A slick, sticky substance covered the ground beneath his fingers.  It was cold and was an unsettling sensation to the slowly awakening figure.

Cautiously he opened his eyes and took a moment to focus on his surroundings.

As the second realisation hit him he wished he'd never opened his eyes at all. 

His stomach convulsed and his head span sending his eyes out of focus again. 

The second he saw the room around him the whole world stopped.  The fact that he could not remember anything previously became irrelevant.  He was back.  Back to this dreaded place.

The still figures around him couldn't help him.  They only stared at the ceiling motionlessly or stared at nothing at all. . . . .

The only hope he had was to be rescued by either a person or death himself. . .

  ------ss-------

The black hems of his cloak dusted the floor as he strode purposefully down the dark corridors.

The din around a long kitchen table was sent into an immediate hush and several questioning faces turned towards him as he strode in and across the room but he ignored them all.

"Severus?"

"I have found them Headmaster."

  -----hp-------

How much time had passed?  Weeks?  Months?  Years??

It didn't matter.  Nothing mattered anymore. . .

The chains around his wrists and neck dug painfully into his flesh.  It didn't matter.

His stomach growled with desperate hunger.  It didn't matter. . .

His entire body racked pain.  His bones ached and groaned with unnatural strains.    It didn't matter. . .          

He was more tired than he could ever remember being before in his life but the screams and shouts around him discouraged any sleep.  It didn't matter. . .

The only thing he hoped for was to avoid any form of contact.  He wanted to be left alone.  He wanted to be forgotten, and he wanted to remain curled up in a quiet ball until blissful nothingness took control of his senses. 

  ----ss-ab-sb------

"Grrrrr!"

"Quiet you worthless mongrel, or would you rather we give ourselves away now and save ourselves from the tedious task of pulling Mr Potter out of harms way, again?"

"Grrrrrrr!"

"That is enough!  Sirius I allowed for you to come on this mission on the understanding that you and Severus would place our objective above your petty differences."

The dog whined but cast a withering look at the black haired man before falling silent.

"So what is our plan?" asked the dark haired man.

"A simple charm will help us to pass most of the alarms and surveillance devices, however. . ."

A questioning whine from the bear sized black dog prompted the Headmaster to continue.

"I have never encountered such a thing before, but. . .  It would seem that there is something absorbing all the magic in the area. . ."

"What?"

"I must caution you both to be on your constant guard.  We must find Harry and leave as swiftly as we can."

"Yes Headmaster."

A whine that translated as ‘yes.'

The three figures walked through the door to the building.  The guards where already unconscious, courtesy of the old Headmaster and the security system had been bypassed, magically, of course. 

The outside of the old building had looked like nothing more than a dilapidated outhouse but metal steps led down, and down, and down, and down. . .

Deep beneath the land's surface lay something most people would never even dream about.  The solid walls where white and metallic tiles gave the impression of mirrors lining the floors.

The large empty corridors stretched out and crisscrossed like a giant, man-made bee hive and were unnaturally quiet.

"Perhaps a division of parties?" suggested Snape.

The Headmaster thought on it for a moment, sighing at the ill looks shared between the black haired wizard and the big black dog before speaking.

"I do not find splitting up to be the safest strategy, but in this instance I believe it may be for the best.  Very well Severus, you take the left route and I shall accompany Sirius down the right.  If we should fall into any kind of trouble fall back immediately and send out a signal."

"Yes Headmaster."

"Yawl."

 ------hp-------

Voices in the distance stirred a slight curiosity within him.  It was strange. . .

Mostly he just tried to ignore the voices around him but these voices. . .  They seemed . . . familiar. . .

They where calling something . . .  Something that also seemed familiar . . .  It did not matter though . . .  Nothing mattered anymore . . .  They were here.

 ------ss------

The blank corridors seemed to stretch on forever. 

It was eerily quiet.  No one prowled the area seeking out intruders.  No one rushed through the various doors or rooms going about their work.  No one cleaned. . .

This alone put the ex-Death Eater on his guard.  When it was quiet enough to hear your own heart thumping wildly against your chest you where in a dangerous position.

The only conclusions he could form to answer for the lack of security was that their opponents already knew about their intruders or . . . that the area did not need security. . .

Another hex took out another surveillance camera.  Or rather, hid him from its detection.  Destroying the devices or causing a large number of them to fail would draw attention and if he did have any element of surprise he did not want to jeopardize it.

The end of another corridor offered some sort of an advance. 

The interiors seemed to get darker and not just progressively so.  There was a definite line between the clean, pristine white ‘hospital' area and the dirty, worn and heavy ‘prison' area.

Snape swallowed.  The place looked wretched and he spent his life in a castle dungeon!

Cautiously he began his passage down the new area of the building, wand poised and ready.

With all the stillness and silence of a shadow he crept up to the first door where a small hatch opened up to show its contents.

Obsidian eyes peered in and widened at the sight that greeted them. 

He took a number of steps back in horror, forgetting his surroundings for the fatal millisecond needed for an unknown force to bring him too his knees. 

A reflection on the floors looked emotionlessly at him as his vision blurred and darkened and his body fell forwards.

  ------ab-sb-------

"Bark!"

"What is it?"

The large dog scraped its claws futilely at one of the thick metal doors.

It growled deep in its throat before transforming back into a man.

"It's no use," spat Sirius in frustration.  "I can't smell him any where!"

"Calm yourself," encouraged the Headmaster.  "We will find him Sirius.  Now take a deep breath and concentrate.  What can you sense?  If your nose can't help you we shall simply find another way of finding him."

Sirius took several breaths, his hands flexing as he paced the dank corridor.  "I'll tear apart every inch of this place if I have to!"

"Sirius. . ."

Stopping in his tracks the canine man looked sorrowfully at the old wizard.

"Harry is waiting for us, let's not keep him waiting while we worry."

Sirius nodded.  "You're right. . .  You're right."  Another deep breath and then he opened his eyes staring heatedly at the metal door before them.  "Through there.  I dread to think what it is, but it's the only smell I can pick up in this area."

Dumbledore nodded then brought up his wand.  A flick of the wrist sent a wave of light into the digital lock on the door.  The lock beeped and clicked, allowing access to the two. 

"Shall we?"

  ------ss-------

A sharp ache indicated that he had been struck across the head.  A blow to the head meant that he had been caught by the enemy.

As such the Potions Master did not immediately open his eyes, preferring to explore his surroundings with his other senses before having to confront anything or anyone.

Cold bands about his wrists, so he was bound.

The air was fresh and the floor felt cold and clean, so he was likely being held somewhere in the clean areas that he had travelled down earlier.

There where no voices, but the sound of footsteps and breathing a short way away from him, so he was not alone.

His blind analysis of his surroundings only got so far before he was addressed.

"I was surprised to see you.  I found it highly peculiar that you would chase us here.  I will take your actions as confirmation that the boy truly is this ‘boy-who-lived.'  Very interesting."

The Professor froze, still refusing to open his eyes.

Footsteps approached him, stopping mere inches away from the wizard.

"What is this boy worth to you, Severus?"

 -------ab-sb---------

The smell was offensive to man's senses.  So much so that Sirius had reverted back into his human form permanently in an effort to keep himself from being sick.

"I would sooner make Azkaban a permanent residence!"

The aged wizard said nothing in response.  He had been quiet for a while now. . .

Sirius understood completely.  The situation was far more desperate than they had realised.  Members of the Order where ready to support them at any given moment, but none of them had expected to find what they had. . .

Blood painted the walls and rooms they had passed gave evidence of events that could send a person mad with grief and horror. . .

Harry had to be found!

  -------ss-----------

"W-what are you doing?" breathed the dark haired wizard. 

A life time had taught him to hold his emotions tight and to give little away, but his ability to do such a thing was being severely tested.

"Correcting what must be corrected," the room's other occupant stated. 

Even in his current state it seemed that the Professor was not failed by his trademark sneer.

"You stand in a place like this and speak of things that need correcting?   You never did have a clue did yo-"

A raised hand caused the Potions Master to flinch on instinct.  He opened an eye warily when the blow never came.

Instead he found the hand meant for him held in the air as its owner studied him thoughtfully.

Slowly the hand was lowered and without expression the man walked over to a computer console.

Several TV monitors filled one of the walls.  Images of the premises flicked between the screens before blinking into one large image shared between the screens.

"Would you care to observe the subject's progress?"

Snape looked between the man and the screens, his brows furrowed.  He knew this was not going to be good but he needed to know what was happening.

A single vision appeared on the screens.  It took a moment for the Professor to make out what the picture was showing him but when he did him mouth opened in disgust.

(!!!!!)

Bodies.  As far as the eyes could see.  Mutilated forms lay abandoned and abused, blood flooding the room.

Cracked bone and rotting flesh dominated the area and huge gashes could be seen in all places; in the walls, on the floors -what little floor there was to be seen!- and along the corpses.

Snape could imagine that the room smelt rancid.  That the smell was suffocating. 

He was about to turn his head in disgust when another image caught his attention and made his stomach convulse.

(!!!!!!)

Sat motionless in a corner was a figure he knew, the very reason he and the Order was there in the first place.  Harry. . .

The boy did not move.  His hands were chained to his neck and there was barely an inch of space in which to move without coming into contact with one of his lifeless cell mates.

"What!?-"

"Marvellous, isn't it?"

"Disgustingly foul is more like it!"

The man chortled to himself humourlessly.  "I did not expect for you to hold a positive outlook on my work, only for you to understand."

This room, the ‘Red Room,' is but one of our many training facilities. 

It did not need any more explanation than that.  The Potions Master understood fully. 

The man wanted to create an army, but not just an average army. . .  This army would be made up of trained killers. . .  ‘Weapons' to be used when and how its masters saw fit.

Of course the whole point of these ‘training rooms' was to destroy a person's soul.  Break them apart and leave an empty shell to be filled with whatever the master needed.

It would seem that the Red Room was a room of death.  Snape surmised that when a person -person being ‘child!'- they would be so used to death that it would cease to have any meaning.

The person would kill without remorse. . .  Without feeling.

Without feeling. . .

Snape closed his eyes.

‘Close off all emotion.' 

Those simple, thoughtless words had opened a door into Harry's memories of a past spent here.  Here!  How long had the boy been trapped in this place?  And why did he seem unaffected by his experiences at the start of each year of Hogwarts?

"What have you done to him?"

"Fixed him."

"You sick-!" Snape began, but there wasn't a strong enough word that sprang to mind.

The man laughed bitterly to himself.  "I did not expect you to hold a positive outlook on my work.  I expect nothing from you but further disappointment!"

  -------ab-sb---------

"There!! Oh no- HARRY!!!!" Sirius beat his fists frantically against the heavy door. 

He could see his Godson through the filthy bars and the sight was enough to have him attempting to tear down the door with his bare hands.

"Sirius! Calm yourself! We must-"

The Headmaster's words where lost in Sirius's desperate cries.  Tears came to his eyes in a mixture of anger and sorrow.  Blood began to run down his hands at the constant barrage of the cell door.

He desperately called the boy's name over and over again but received not the slightest response from the hunched up figure. . .

Transforming into a dog he began to claw at the ground, blood now mottling with fur.  He scratched and bit until his mouth bled and not for a second did he hesitate in his wild attempt to reach his Godchild.

"That is enough!"

With a flash of light the dog fell motionlessly to the ground.

"You will only succeed in damaging yourself Sirius and then who will be there to look after the boy!?"

The dog remained motionless but the violent aura seemed to dissipate while a heavily sorrowful one took its place.

A wave of a wand freed the dog from its bonds and it lay still on the ground of its own accord, looking up earnestly at the wizard before him.

Dumbledore nodded sombrely and turned his attention to the door before him.

He drew his wand arm back and threw a spell at the metallic barrier.

Nothing. . .

Smoke cleared and there, in the door way, the door still stood. . .

With confusion and mounting dread the Headmaster raised his wand again and threw another spell at the door.

Again, nothing. . .

Again, again and again and still nothing!

By this point the man was stood where the dog had lay with his own wand poised.

With a mighty effort the two lifted their wands and threw the strongest of their spells at the heavy framed door, only to find that the hinges where not even strained. . .

Sirius was about to move forward in another frustrated assault but an old hand held him back.

The Headmaster studied the door for a moment before stepping back and shaking his head.

"There is a strong field around this portal."

"A shield?  We can break it!" stated Sirius fiercely.

"No. . ." the Headmaster responded sadly.  "This field absorbs magic.  The stronger our attacks the stronger its defence becomes. . .  I do not know how they have done it but. . ."

"THERE HAS TO BE A WAY!" roared Sirius.

"I am thinking, Sirius."

"Dumbledore. . ."

Sirius spoke with a sudden calmness that worried even the Headmaster. 

Following the younger wizard's gaze he could see movement within the room. 

Harry was being lifted by two large men and led roughly out of the room and out of sight.

"No. . ." breathed Sirius.  "NO!!!"

Once again he hammered at the door shouting through to the people on the other side.

"HARRY!!  DON'T YOU DARE LAY A FINGER ON HIM!!  Snap out of it! Harry. . .  HARRY!!!!!!!"      

 ------hp----------

Moving again. . .  Maybe this time he would be fed?

Voices in the distance stirred a slight curiosity within him.  It was strange. . .

Mostly he just tried to ignore the voices around him, but these voices. . .  They seemed . . . familiar. . .

They where calling something. . .  Something that also seemed familiar. . .  It did not matter though. . . 

Nothing mattered anymore. . . 

They where here.