It was really quite filthy down here, Sirius noticed. Granted, he didn't really know what he expected; it was a sewer, after all. He was trudging through the sewers more slowly than he would have liked, since the overpowering stench was making him rather dizzy and nauseous. Also, Harry's dead weight was slowing him down further, but it was definitely preferable to risking being caught.
If he was caught, then Harry would die for certain.
The farther he went in the sewers, the more overpowering the horrid stench got, and the dizzier and weaker he got. Finally, he had no choice but to set Harry down briefly, fall to his knees and regain his bearings. He failed to notice the figure nearby.
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When Lucius had told Narcissa about his idea to go into the sewers of Hogsmeade, she simply wrinkled her nose in disgust and said,
"Why would you want to go down there, Lucius? It's filthy."
He then told her that since people sometimes lost things down in the sewers, he thought he could perhaps come across some Galleons, or maybe even an item that he could sell. Sure, it was a bit crude, but it was necessary; it was a world where dogs ate dogs, after all.
Right now, he was standing near an exit, watching a man set what looked like a corpse down on the ground and sink to his knees; Lucius supposed the smell down here was dizzying.
Lucius crept closer, and realized the figure was Sirius Black, the man who took Ginny away. Coming even closer, Lucius noticed something sticking out of the corpse's pocket. It looked like some sort of cloak or something—he knelt next to the corpse and grabbed it.
He recognized what the item was immediately—it was an invisibility cloak.
This was fantastic—he could sell it for a high price—or perhaps use it as blackmail material. He pocketed it, and got to his feet.
The next moment, he was aware of a fist hitting him across the face. In surprise, Lucius fell to the ground.
"Get away from him," Sirius snarled, who'd apparently regained his bearings. Lucius started to reach for his wand, but then thought better of it; he had the invisibility cloak from the corpse; he could easily blackmail Black.
He got to his feet.
"Which way is out?" Sirius demanded.
"Down that way," Lucius said, pointing down farther, where a ladder leading out of the sewer was located. "You better be watching yourself, Black."
If Sirius heard the threat, he ignored it; he picked up the body, and headed to the ladder. He set the body down again, climbed up the ladder and shifted the sewer cover enough to make a sizable exit. Sirius climbed back down the ladder, retrieved the body, and exited the sewer.
Lucius continued on his way; he could take care of Black later.
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After exiting the sewer, it didn't take Sirius long to reach his house; he entered in a rush and headed towards the fireplace. Ginny came running downstairs, probably hearing him enter.
"Dad, what's going on—"
Her sentence stopped short when she saw Harry, her face going pale and her brown eyes widening in horror.
"Harry! Harry!" she cried.
"Ginny, we have to get him to Saint Mungo's," Sirius said, his voice low and urgent. Ginny nodded, her face still pale.
They wasted no more time, and flooed to Saint Mungo's.
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When they arrived, Harry was rushed into urgent care; as of now, it was unclear whether or not Harry would survive. Ginny had sent word to James, Harry's father. Now, she was pacing in the waiting room, nervously awaiting word of Harry's condition.
"Ginny," Sirius said. Ginny jumped slightly, and turned to face him.
"Yes?" she whispered.
"I have to return to Hogsmeade to do something," he said. "Harry's father will be here in a little bit."
Ginny looked confused.
"When will you be back?" she asked. She didn't want him to leave, but she also knew that it must be very important.
Sirius hesitated; he couldn't tell her the truth, it would break her heart.
"I don't know," Sirius said. He quickly flooed back to the house.
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Without a dying Harry to take care of, Sirius reached the spot where he'd promised to return to quite quickly.
Snape was nowhere to be found. Sirius glanced around, confused, but Snape wasn't there.
He shrugged, and started back towards the house. It seemed like Snape had decided to let him go, after all. This struck him as odd, since Snape hated him with a passion, but Sirius wasn't going to complain; at least he didn't have to go back to Azkaban.
It wasn't until a week later that Snape's body was pulled out of the Black Lake.
