Previously in Twenty-one days

When he came back to the classroom he could see them all standing around in groups, just as he had left them ten minutes ago and he sighed a sigh of relieve. They hadn't killed each other yet. They all turned their eyes towards him and their faces were pale, shocked and they definitely were afraid, his Slytherins showing their fear less, the Gryffindors showing their fear more clearly - aside from Potter. The boy even nodded in understanding before he – Snape – even shook his head to indicate that he had not been able to use the floo in his office either and the mask the boy wore never changed. But they all were alright still.

Chapter two

Day one

Monday, second of September

They had been down here since the entire day now and it was evening, the other students surely would be in the great hall for dinner right now and he growled darkly at the prospect that they might be locked down here for a few hours more as it seemed, maybe even the entire night. Well, at least none of them had had a panic attack thus far and that was a small relief at least.

He had tried the doors, the floo and calling his house elf a few more times so far, but each time it had been in vain.

Well, at least Marlow had been back in his frame and he had gathered a few informations then.

Flashback

"Where in Merlin's name have you been, Venenatus?" Snape asked impatiently as soon as he entered his office around noon and – again, and again in vain – had tried to open the door that led to his private quarters. "Would you be as kind as to let me into my quarters?"

"I would, Severus, if I could." The ancient Potions Master answered. "But unfortunately I can't."

"Care to tell me, why ever not?" Snape wanted to know, his patience running short. It was half past twelve and he wanted the students out and in the great hall for lunch. Some of them already had complained about being hungry. He would cancel the rest of his classes today, that one was for sure.

"Because the door is locked by the castle."

"What is the meaning of this? Locked by the castle?" Snape growled darkly. "And where, in Merlin's name, have you been earlier?"

"Well, after I noticed the change in the locks, I went upstairs to ask the other paintings what was wrong." Marlow answered, his voice very serious and worried, something that immediately alarmed Snape. Marlow was a serious man, yes, but he also was a man that rarely sounded as worried as he did right now. "And I fear that the situation is grave. The castle has been attacked by Death Eaters and – that is what I heard – Dumbledore has cast a counter spell to one of their spells. They mixed together somehow, hit the entrance door of the castle and Hogwarts itself has reacted, has shut down each door within."

"You mean every class is locked up in different rooms?" Snape asked incredulously. Those were indeed grave news.

"Well, they have been, yes. But the headmaster had been able to convince the castle to open those doors. They all are free now."

"Good." Severus sighed a sigh of relief. "So I guess we as well will be out of here soon."

"I fear not." Marlow answered quietly, his voice getting even more serious with his words.

"And why ever not?" Snape asked exasperated. The headmaster surely would get them out soon too. He probably had worked his way from the upper levels down to the hallways and was now about to approach the dungeons.

"I guess one of your students had had an accident this morning?" Marlow asked. "I have heard one of the cauldrons exploding, at the same time the stray spell hit the front doors and the castle has shut down. That at least is what Dumbledore thinks after I told him of the exploded cauldron. And somehow all what had happened at that precise time had reacted badly and neither the castle nor Dumbledore can open up the corridors that lead to the Dungeons. Each corridor that leads down from the entrance hall as well as the side corridors and the shortcuts are cut off at their ends. He tried the floo, he tried to send a house elf down here and he even tried to make a portkey. Right now he and Minerva are trying to find another way to reach you."

"Has any other student been injured during the attack?" Snape asked, just to get as much information as possible. "And who exactly had been attacking in the first place? Which spells had it been?"

"No one had been injured, Severus." Marlow said. "Hagrid's hut had been on fire. Probably a diversion. But no one is injured. The spell the Death Eaters used we do not know, but the spell the headmaster used had been a protective spell based on a confounds charm in order to hide the castle itself."

"And he didn't think that he might have startled the castle by trying to hide it?" Snape growled darkly. "What maybe had been the reason that the castle had shut down in the first place?"

"I don't now, Severus." The older wizard shook his head. "None of the other teachers mentioned something like that. But it could be possible. What exact potion did your student manage to blow up?"

"We were brewing the fourth year healing potion for severe burns, the exustio potion. Crabbe and Goyle those imbeciles added the salamander blood too soon, before the potion turned green, and their cauldron exploded."

"A rather dangerous potion when exploding." Marlow grimaced. "Someone got hurt?"

"Fortunately not." Snape growled, his mind racing a mile per minute. "I have been able to cast a shield charm before the actual explosion when I heard the sizzling. How could this explosion have been affecting the castle's shut down to a point where the castle itself wouldn't be able to open up the dungeons anyway?"

"That we do not know, Severus." Marlow answered. "I will go and give the information you just gave me to Dumbledore. Maybe he can find an answer."

"You better come back with either a solution or more information." Severus threatened darkly.

"I will." Marlow answered seriously, not impressed by the Potions Master's threatening. He was already dead since long after all.

End flashback

And right now Snape went back to his potions classroom - again. After he once more had tried everything he knew could get them out. And after - once again - finding the frame empty. Marlow had not come back as he had promised earlier in the day.

He didn't want the students being alone for a long time in a row. Not that he feared they would cause any trouble, but he knew that they, or at least some of them, could get into a panic attack at any moment now. It wouldn't take much, he knew. And he could quite understand them as well. He too was close to snap at any moment. Not because he was close to panicking, but because the situation was just annoying to no end. Not only were they locked down here in the dungeons since the entire day now after a Death Eater attack and neither the headmaster nor any other teacher had been able to reach them, but they probably were about to face a night down here too. Not to mention the fact that Marlow has not returned yet from Dumbledore.

He had explained the happenings to the students, trying to choose words as harmless as possible and to assure them that soon the headmaster would find a way to free them, but they all had recognized how severe the situation was and most of them had been looking quite afraid. So he quickly went back now to the classroom.

Yet - he'd just had to try the floo again. Maybe it would have been able to contact the headmaster or at least any other teacher by now. But nothing, the fireplace was as dead as was anything else. Just as all the times he had tried before. They still were cut off from the castle and from the wizarding world.

Draco was sitting in a corner when he re-entered the classroom, together with Crabbe and Goyle, Pansy, Millicent and Daphne, whispering quietly to each other. Theodore and Blaze were sitting at a table in the middle of the classroom, doing the same, and Tracy was sitting in another corner, alone, staring ahead into space.

Granger, Weasley and Longbottom were sitting at another table, discussing as quietly as his Slytherins. Thomas and Finnigan were sitting on the floor in the middle of the backside of the classroom. And Patil and Brown were sitting at another table, their heads together too.

Well, at least none of them cried, screamed, misbehaved or – well, panicked. They all were quiet and they all seemed to try and figure out what had happened in the first place and how it affected them and he was glad for that. He was not a man who easily gave away comfort, at least not to other students apart from his snakes. And the last thing he wanted to do right now was to comfort some students that had gotten into a panic attack.

They all were looking at him expectantly when he re-entered the classroom and he sighed before he wordlessly shook his head, watching their reaction to the bad news. The Slytherins nodded curtly at his headshaking while the Gryffindors sighed and turned back to whispering to each other.

Only when he noticed that the clinking to his left had stopped for a moment when he had entered he noticed that there had been that sound in the first place, but now, after his headshake it continued and Snape went over to the sink where Potter was scrubbing cauldrons, wondering why Potter scrubbed them in the first place. He hadn't ordered him to.

"Eager to become skilled at scrubbing cauldrons for your next detention, Potter?" He asked with a cold glare and for a moment Potter stopped his scrubbing. Yet – he didn't look at him, just stopped his scrubbing for a moment and then resumed in his work without giving him an answer.

Shaking his head he was about to give another scathing comment away, but then he thought better of it. Even if Potter had not answered his comment – that had been meant as a sarcastic but rhetorical question anyway, it would do none of them any good if he pushed the situation that was difficult enough as it already was right now.

They all had to deal with the situation in their own individual ways and if Potter chose to do some work to get his mind off the events, then be it.

So he sighed and turned, sitting at his desk. If he was stuck here with the students, then he would get some work done, grading the first essays that had been handed in, the homework from the fourth year Slytherins and Gryffindors. Yet – his gaze often wandered over the students, watching them close.

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It was nearly two hours later and Potter had scrubbed each cauldron when he went back to his Gryffindor fellows, sitting down beside Weasley who looked curiously at him.

He had noticed Weasley shooting such looks at Potter more and more often during the past two hours while Potter had been scrubbing those cauldrons and at one point the red head even had gone over to the sink, asking Potter what he was doing.

Potter had blinked at him and had countered his question with the counter question if it wasn't obvious what he was doing and Weasley had been shaking his head, asking if he were crazy. Potter had just shrugged his shoulders, continuing his scrubbing and at some point Weasley had gone back to Granger and Longbottom, shaking his head and watching Potter as if his friend had gone mad.

Draco, Theodore, and Blaze together with Crabbe and Goyle were still sitting at a table, whispering to each other while the Slytherin girls did the same at a table beside them. They seemed to be calm still, afraid somehow, understandably, but calm. Theodore had been over once, asking him if they would have to sleep here and Snape had answered him with a "regrettably yes". He had known the reason as to why the boy had asked this question and in a silent voice he had promised him that he would wake him if he had a nightmare, as he'd had the dreamless sleep potion just the night before and he couldn't take it again this night. He knew that the boy had those nightmares for a few weeks whenever he came back to school after the summer holidays.

Theodore had been shaking his head, had told him in an equal silent voice that he rather didn't want the Gryffindors knowing that he had nightmares in the first place.

Snape had sighed and – even if he normally was against such, he had promised the boy that he would cast a silencing spell at him as soon as he fell asleep. He didn't like his snakes casting such spells to hide their nightmares. If no one could hear them, then no one could wake them.

It had taken Theodore up to the end of his second year until he had finally accepted his words, but he had and now the boy was worried that the Gryffindors would find out about his nightmares. Again – understandably.

Most of the Slytherins knew. They were used to each other, they knew each other, and a lot of them had similar fears to those Theodore had. They understood each other. The Gryffindors would not understand, they most likely would taunt them afterwards. Well, he would allow Theodore this spell for at least tonight and he just would have to watch the boy during the night so he would be able to wake him if necessary.

"How can you be so calm, Harry?" He heard Weasley asking, his voice a bit louder than it had been a moment before and just on the edge of panicking. "We are locked down here!"

"Yes, we are." Potter answered, his voice low and he only could understand his words because he now concentrated onto their conversation. "But they will be able to get us out eventually."

"Eventually, yes." Weasley growled. "But we are locked, Harry. Together with Snape and the Slytherins."

"Well, so are they." Potter answered and Snape had to suppress a snort. Once in his life Potter was right.

"And you don't care that you are locked down here for Merlin knows how long?"

"Well, it could be worse."

"Are you crazy, mate? How could it be worse?" Weasley demanded.

"You could be locked in a cupboard, couldn't you?" Potter answered and again Snape had to suppress a snort. Potter definitely had a point, and a nearly annoying sense of optimism – or sarcasm.

"However, I'm hungry." Weasley complained. Well, that was a sentence that he had heard a few times during the day and not only from Weasley but from others as well. The only one who hadn't complained about that had been Theodore, Tracy and – as startling as it was – Potter.

"I know, Ron." Potter simply answered.

"I guess we all are." Was the first sentence Granger said and Longbottom nodded.

"Well, maybe Snape has some frogs here we could roast?" Weasley asked, nearly sounding hopefully, garnering a distasteful look from the others and he nearly snorted once again. But then he quickly grew serious. He would have to keep an eye on them during the night. All of them definitely were hungry, but even if he indeed had frogs down here, they were long dead and pickled in poisoning fluids.

"Don't be stupid, Ronald Weasley!" Granger had the sense to answer. "I'm sure whatever you could find here is not for eating, probably even poisonous."

Potter sighed and shook his head. He got up and for a moment Snape thought that the boy actually might be stupid enough to really search for something he could eat. He even prepared himself that this now would be the first moment he would have to deal with a hungry, tired and panicking student and the thought that it would be Potter he would have to deal with was just the more annoyingly. But Potter just picked up one of his books, history of magic, he noticed, and placed it at the floor in a corner of the classroom, drew his wand and pointed it at the book, enlarging it before he cast a cushioning charm at it, thus creating a mattress. Well, the fourth years hadn't yet learned how to transfigure larger furniture.

"Go and get some sleep, Ron." He said, enlarging and cushioning another book, Weasley's 'history of magic'. "I need more books." He added.

"How could I sleep now?" Weasley complained giving Potter his book bag while Granger shook her head, pressing her book bag against her chest as if Potter tried to take her life from her. "I'm just hungry."

"Then try to sleep." Potter answered, forming a third book into a mattress.

Well, normally he would have gotten Potter's backside for such a prank, changing books into beds and placing them along the walls without asking for permission beforehand, but right now he had to admit that the boy had a point. They would need something to sleep on anyway. And honestly, their situation was difficult and tiring enough, he really shouldn't add more stress onto them with his sarcastic comments, even if it was Potter. They all had reacted rather well to this damn situation up to now, even the Gryffindors, he had to admit.

"How could sleeping help?" Weasley asked while rolling his eyes, and he took Longbottom's book bag and reached it to Potter.

"It just helps." Potter said, creating the next mattress. "Just do it, try to sleep."

Getting to his feet Snape went over to the students.

"Potter is right, Mr. Weasley." He said when he went by the Gryffindors. "Sleeping will help, so I suggest you try just that. There are more books in the cupboard, Potter."

Then he began transfiguring sheets of parchments into pillows and blankets. They wouldn't be really warm, he knew, there was only so much one could do with magic and changing parchments into blankets – well, it would be easier if he had towels or something akin to begin with. But there were only two towels in the bathroom that was added to the laboratory and too much students to share them so it would be unfair if two had warm blankets and the others just thin ones.

He just would have to cast a warming spell onto them during the night.

He frowned when he transfigured the next blanket that had ink spots on it. He really had to concentrate more on what he did. Casting a glance at Potter he noticed that the teen looked with a frustrated frown at his wand.

"What is it, Potter?" He asked, not able to keep his tongue. "Not able to do more than ten minutes of magic? How disappointing."

But his next blanket had ink spots too and the next pillow had even written words that definitely proved – it was an essay from Longbottom's third year.

Potter's next mattress was slightly thinner than the other mattresses and not quite as soft as the first ones had been, and again he frowned. What in Merlin's name was wrong now?

However, soon seventeen mattresses with pillows and blankets – some of them with half an essay written on it, were lined at the wall and gritting his teeth Snape turned back to the students, ordering them to bed. He would stay awake, ensuring that none of them tried some foolish stunt in form of searching for something to eat that most likely was either poisonous or would make them ill.

break ... ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ... line

Harry was frustrated to no end.

He knew, would he lay down and go to sleep right now, then he would have nightmares and that was something that simply was not an option. He never even allowed his fellow Gryffindors knowing about them and cast a silencing spell around his bed, and surely he would not allow the Slytherins to witness them. The problem was – he wouldn't be able to cast a silencing spell around his mattress. Somehow his wand didn't work anymore. Neither did Snape's or someone else's.

He didn't really understand why, but somehow the magic in these rooms were – tired, dead, worn out, whatever, he didn't know. And thus, well, he just would have to stay awake this night in hopes that in the morning Dumbledore would have found a way to get them all out of here. He would skip classes for the entire week then.

Well, of course he would not. But honestly, he would like to.

Snape had similar thoughts, wondering why in Merlin's name none of them were able to do any more magic down here, why in Merlin's name Marlow didn't come back, and why in Merlin's name Dumbledore hadn't found a way to free them yet.

So much for casting warming charms on them during the night and he cursed under his breath, knowing they soon would begin to freeze. But there was nothing he could do about that right now. It was only one night and they would survive this one night.

'And what if it won't be just this one night?' The same small voice asked that had made itself known earlier during the day. 'What if no one will come to get you out anytime soon?' Sighing in frustration he shoved the small voice aside and forced himself to concentrate onto the present situation.

His Slytherins still were calm, just whispering to each other, laying on the quickly made beds, some of them really trying to sleep while others read a book or just whispered to their classmates.

The Gryffindors were another matter, Weasley had been the first that had sounded more than just – frightened, worried, even if Potter had kept the situation under control. If Potter had not reacted with a clear head and calm, then maybe the situation would have gone out of hands, but Potter had, to his great surprise. And right now Potter was sitting on his mattress, reading, while Weasley already snored and Granger too had a book in her hands.

break ... ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ... line

It was two hours later and each student was sleeping by now, aside from Theodore and Potter.

He knew that Theodore didn't want to sleep, knowing that he wouldn't be able to cast a silencing spell at him, knowing that he couldn't take dreamless sleep this night either and the boy had taken to write his potions essay in order to prevent sleep.

Well, he would allow Theodore this night. The boy could sleep as soon as they were out of here tomorrow. He knew that he wouldn't do him any good if he forced him to sleep now and even if he normally made a point to his students regarding curfew, right now he thought that staying awake and avoid a nightmare was more important for Theodore.

Potter on the other hand had taken a bucket with warm water from the sink, had added a cleaning agent and then had grabbed some old cleaning clothes. And right now Snape secretly watched the irritating teen cleaning the upper shelves that lined the walls, standing on a desk in order to reach those shelves.

Well, he had two possibilities. He either could allow the Gryffindor to continue with his irritating task, or he could force him to bed. But he knew that he had to talk to him first, never mind what he decided. Maybe the teen had a reason as to why he avoided sleep, maybe he just wasn't tired and tried to tire himself out, maybe he was too worried to sleep. Never mind what, he had to talk to him and he groaned inwardly.

"Potter." He silently called over, loud enough so the boy would hear him, but not as loud for the students to wake up. Only Theodore lifted his head and watched him before he cast a curious glance at Potter and then resumed in his work. Yet – there was something in the boy's eyes that he didn't recognize when he gazed over at the Gryffindor. A strange look.

He shoved it towards the back of his mind to think about later. Right now he had a conversation to hold that he did not look forwards to.
Potter looked over at him and when he pointed towards his office and got up, the boy silently climbed down from the desk and slowly walked over, followed him into his office. He threw a worried gaze at him when he closed the door behind them but Snape ignored it and sat behind his desk.

"Sit." He said, pointing at the chair in front of his desk and reluctantly Potter did as he was told, sat down onto the edge of the chair.

"Care to tell me as to why you would clean out the shelves instead of going to sleep?" Snape asked, trying to keep his sarcasm out of his voice and words.

"I'm sorry, sir." Potter answered and Snape couldn't help but lifting his eyebrow. "I'm just not tired."

"Try again, Potter." Snape answered, his dark eyes never leaving the boy's green ones.

"Well, I couldn't sleep anyway, sir." Potter finally answered. "And I'll be silent. I won't wake the others."

"I am not worried over your classmates' sleep only, Potter." He said, sighing in frustration. Never mind how much he loathed it, but he had to try and be civil with the boy. "But over yours as well. You need a few hours of sleep."

"I'll be fine, Professor." Potter had the nerve to say and for a moment he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"As long as you go to sleep as soon as you are tired." He finally answered, knowing that he either could fight with the teenager what surely would not help at all and only would result in an upset student, or that he just could give in for now and allow the damn boy to stay awake in which case he possibly would go to bed eventually. "And as long as you won't disturb your classmates' sleep. I am sure that at some time tomorrow we will be out of here but as long as they are sleeping they do not have the time to worry and I would prefer you doing the same soon."

"And what if we won't, sir?" Potter asked, addressing the same question that he had asked himself a few times up to now and somehow he did not have the heart to bark at the boy. Potter was just as frightened as the rest of them were, even if he didn't show it as openly as Weasley or Tracy did.

"I'm sure we will, Potter." He finally answered, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.

Potter this time just nodded, accepting his answer and after a confirming nod from the Potions Master the boy got up, left the office and went back to cleaning the shelves while Snape too got back to his desk in the classroom to read through some of his lesson plans for the upcoming year as he had no more essays to grade.

He still had to ensure that neither of them would do anything foolish in order to find something to eat during the night and for a moment he watched Potter more closely, wondering if maybe that was the reason why the boy cleaned the shelves in the first place, trying to find a jar containing something to eat.

But then – no. Potter just took jar for jar and cleaned it, just to place it back on the shelf without inspecting it any further.