Escape ↣ Harmione

Chapter Eighteen

February in the castle was besieged by newspaper reports of Potter's flight with Miss Granger. What Severus found bemusing was that the media portrayed it as Potter rescuing his soul bonded girlfriend, from a marriage which would rip their very existence apart. It seemed to not have occurred that she might have decided not to follow the archaic law implemented by the Ministry and asked him to accompany her. Patriarchal society at work, he thought sighing. He wasn't sure who came up with the stories but had watched in amusement as the castle assimilated the information and it became law.

Potter and Granger had been soul bound, it seemed half the students confidently admitted to knowing they had been a couple, and that anyone looking at them could tell they were bound. The Ministry had known, hadn't cared and were planning on tearing their bond asunder, killing them both in the process. So the gallant knight had ridden in on his Firebolt and rescued the fair maiden. Was truth stranger than fiction? Not in Hogwarts castle. The truth was mundane, she'd not wanted to be a pawn in her friend's life or submit herself to a process so obviously biased, so she'd run and she'd taken Potter with her.

He was eagerly awaiting to see if the newspaper would up the ante on their method of escape, he had a side bet going that a magical creature would have kindly offered them transport in recognition of their deep abiding love, and willing sacrifice to leave everything behind. Minerva had goggled at him in disbelief and happily taken the bet. She didn't want to admit it, but he knew she was following the stories as closely as he was. It made for light entertainment allowing them to forget the seriousness for at least a little while.

Severus won his bet with Minerva, the Prophet had outdone itself with tales of a winged Pegasus flying them away to be safe, never to return, as theirs was a love that could not be denied. It had, he thought been laid on incredibly thick, and he wondered how anyone could believe that it was the truth. Never the less it was eaten up by the public. When they started reporting eyewitness accounts of the pair and their tame Pegasus he'd stopped reading, thrown the paper in the fire and refused to look at another one.

March blew in, the papers had long given up on the speculation as to where Potter and Granger were hiding out, with the March winds came another visitor to the castle. Remus returned.

Severus and Minerva were ensconced in Minerva's sitting room, it being warmer than the dungeons, having a drink. They had reined in the drinking, now they knew the two were away and safe. Severus agreed to come to her rooms through the floo as Minerva said his dungeon was too dank when it was squally. He's sneered at her but was glad that her sitting room was warm and cosy. The dungeon wasn't cosy, and stone cooled faster than it warmed when surrounded by water.

When Remus came barrelling through the door, they had both been startled. Severus had held back a groan, barely. Lupin might have become more tolerable after a grovelling apology for his behaviour in school, but he wasn't comfortable around the werewolf. The night in the Shrieking Shack where he had first come face to snout with Lupin transformed was still part of his nightmares. They could be cordial, they could work together with the minimal amount of sniping and sneering, but they would never be friends.

Remus paced in front of the fire, hands buried in his hair trying to rein in his temper. "Where is he?" Remus bit out, a deep growl echoing in the words.

"Have you not spoken to Albus?" Minerva queried.

"Albus!" Remus spat. "Albus, who didn't see fit to tell me that Harry had gone missing? I asked if they'd been in touch, and do you know what he said? He said that they had, but unfortunately all the copies of the letters had to be destroyed for security purposes." He threw his hands up, his eyes flashing yellow as the wolf came to the surface. This, Severus thought, was why he had wanted to be elsewhere.