Chapter 4

Hermione didn't apparate far, just to the Unspeakable Headquarters, which was situated several floors above the ward rooms. She was seated behind the Head Unspeakable's desk when the man in question walked in.

"Angela, I don't care how late it is, get me that surveillance footage. Classify it A1 and bar all Auror involvement!" The man shouted. "I need to update the Minister in an hour!"

"You can update me now, Finnigan," Hermione stated, nearly giving her former yearmate a heart attack.

"Weasley don't do that!" Seamus uttered as he tried to catch his breath. "Do you want me to end up in an early grave?"

"You will if you don't explain what is happening. I get that message from you, and all I find in the ward room is Robard's task force. Where are the Unspeakables that were supposed to be monitoring Room Four? How was security so easily breached?!" Hermione questioned. "Not only are the new Ministry wards threatening to fall in a month, but imagine the implications if word gets out that Harry Potter is alive."

"There has been... I have just been informed..."

"Spit it out," Hermione crossed her arms. She looked quite serious, and Seamus gulped.

"There were no Unspeakables monitoring Room four," Finnigan confessed. "It seems my subordinates, especially the younger recruits, skived off during their guard shift. They thought that since there had been no activity in the Room for over two decades that it was a low-priority job."

"Did no one explain to them the seriousness of their guard duty?!" Hermione now hissed.

"Considering that we were trying to erase Potter from the population, no, they were not informed who or what they were guarding."

"So you are saying our own measures came back to bite us," Hermione groaned. "What of the third party? Is it THEM?"

"Bahamut? We are unsure," Seamus stated. "Our intelligence officers indicate that the group has no idea where Potter would have been held or if he was even alive, but they have only infiltrated the fringes of the organization. We still have no information on the organization's top echelon."

"This third party is believed to have advanced knowledge of Runes," Hermione muttered. "This is troublesome, considering the reforms we've made to prevent another Dark Lord from rising."

"Are you thinking that they might turn Potter Dark?"

"They wouldn't need to try very hard," Hermione stated. "Considering what's been done to him. I will need to make some calls to see if we can speed up our plans. What I want you to do in the meantime is find out who this third party is and find a way to sustain the wards past a month. By any means necessary."

"Any means?"

"Did I stutter?" Hermione's eyes narrowed.

Meanwhile, in an unassuming flat, an elderly woman was developing a photograph and gasped. It was only a partial side view, but it was groundbreaking. If she published this... 'No,' She shook her head. This was groundbreaking, but this information had to be handled carefully.

She conjured up her Patronus, ironically also a Beetle like her animagus form, and gave it the message "I have something that changes everything. We need to meet," before sending it off to its intended recipient.

Severus and Harry, totally oblivious to all of this happening, were simply trying to survive in the small cottage. Severus had finished the soup and placed a warming charm on it as Potter was still sleeping before he went to check out the rest of the cottage. A few wandless spells here and there, and he had a broom and a cloth cleaning certain areas. Potter was currently laying on dusty covers, and that needed to be rectified soon, but first, the Potion master checked on the water situation. Luckily, it seems, they had running water, and Snape left the faucets open for a bit so that the pipes could be cleaned. He had used aguamenti for the soup, but that wouldn't be sustainable if two adults had to bathe. The bathroom was dusty and covered in grime and spiderwebs, and an evanesco only did so much. It was to be expected from a place that had been neglected for decades. He had rummaged through the supplies that Death had left for them and found no cleaning products. "Just great," He had muttered under his breath. "Either the entity wanted to make his life difficult, or he genuinely didn't know about cleaning products. Severus also blamed himself. He should have been more specific about what they needed when the entity was present.

The Potion master had stepped out of the cottage and was wandlessly laying some wards on the structure when he discovered that there was a loch nearby. While not recommended for bathing, it was an additional source of water if needed.

When Severus walked back inside, he heard Potter calling for him. He walked into the bedroom only to see Potter still asleep, but thrashing on the bed as if he were having a nightmare. The man was calling out his name, and Severus crouched down to place a gentle hand on Potter's shoulder, trying to shake him awake. When green eyes snapped open, they stared at Severus with such intensity that the Potion master backed away slightly.

"You're still here," Harry whispered breathlessly as his chest heaved from exertion. His ribs were showing, causing Severus to grimace. Hopefully, Ollivander came through for them because Potter's clothes were in tatters and covered in grime. Even an Azkaban prisoner would look more presentable.

"Astute as always, Mr. Potter," Severus answered.

"Normally, you leave. Everyone leaves," Harry whispered.

"Potter, I am real," Severus stated. "We are also no longer in the Ministry." He held up Potter's skinny arm to show him the bruise where the manacle was fastened. "You are free," He stressed.

"I've... I'm..." Harry hesitated. "What year is it?"

"I don't exactly know that myself. Your floating entity didn't exactly specify, though it seems Ollivander is on the job."

"He's not my floating entity, Professor," Harry argued as Snape helped him sit up against the headboard.

"He called you Master. He's yours."

"I don't remember getting him."

"And I don't remember being alive," Snape deadpanned. "Yet here we are."

"So what now?" Harry asked.

"Now you eat," Severus stated as he wandlessly summoned a bowl from the kitchen area that he had been keeping warm. "I made lentil soup."

"You did that wandlessly," Harry remarked while staring at the floating bowl.

"Yes, Potter, that is what Wandless Magic is for."

"No, I mean, I thought I was the only one that could do that after the war," Harry said. "Gave Ron a right scare when I accioed his boots from the back door."

"Hermione figured that it might have been the horcrux that was blocking part of my magic," Potter muttered, though he reached for the spoon with shaking hands. The spoon trembled in his hand, and he could barely lift it when Snape's hand closed around his.

"Let me Potter," Snape suggested. "You have hardly any muscle mass left. Your eyes are sunken, your tendons unused, extreme malnutrition; your fingernails have fallen off."

"No, those were ripped out," Potter muttered. "Hurt like a bitch too,"

"I'm sorry, what?!"

"I'll tell you when that thing pops back up again," Harry muttered.

"It's confusing," Severus stated. "Your body is on the brink of death, yet your vocal cords are functioning fine."

"Life's greatest mysteries," Potter stated. "I've always had my voice. That's the one thing the Unspeakables hated when I was in their care."

"Considering how infuriating you are, I am assuming you at least gave as good as you got,"

"I tried," Potter said. "Though dry sarcasm is more your thing,"

"I'm sorry," Harry suddenly said between the spoonfuls Severus was feeding him.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry, for you know, calling you back. Interrupting your afterlife. You were probably in paradise, and I, with my stupid choice, dragged you back here to play nursemaid."

"I don't remember," Severus stated.

"Uh?"

"I don't remember, though any afterlife anywhere near your father is debatable," Snape muttered. "I have a feeling your skeletal entity erased that part so that I might be kept sane."

"The Tale of the Three Brothers," Severus mumbled. "Do you remember the part about the Resurrection Stone? Cadmus used the stone to bring back his deceased lover, but she was not truly alive and yearned to return to the afterlife. I am assuming... Death... blocked that part of my memory from going insane. Insane Potion Masters are not great help. Can confirm,"

"Now eat your soup, Potter. If it gets cold, I am still force-feeding you the lot."