The Missing Madman

A/N: As always, gigantic hugs to everyone who has left a review. I haven't gotten them all answered yet, because my work has been so busy, but I promise I will read and answer every one as soon as I get a chance. I just love my reviewers!

Special thanks to alert reader, Bambu, who noticed that I misspelled "Imperius" in the last chapter. You rock! Anyone who notices a typo, don't be shy! Send me an email at Plaidpooka@Yahoo.com so that I can get it tidied up right away. I love my alert readers!

Speaking of alert readers, my biggest thanks to my fantabulous betas, Vaughn and WolfMoonshadow. I don't know what I'd do without them. You have to have sharp eyes indeed to catch the very few of my oopsies that these two ladies miss. They are the best betas in the fandom, in my not so humble opinion, and I feel very lucky to be working with them both.

Big things happening in this chapter. Great big things, and I hope that you get a kick out of it. There might be a slight pause before my next update, as I've been too busy to get the next chapter started, but I should be able to get to it soon.

Disclaimer: They are not mine; I only take them out to play.

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Sometimes it's to your advantage for people to think you're crazy.

-Thelonious Monk 1917-1982

"What do you mean he's missing?" Hermione asked rather fiercely. "He never leaves the house!"

"Well, he's left it now," Draco snapped back. Then, running a hand roughly through his hair, he continued more calmly. "When I got to the lab, the only thing there was that smeggy excuse for a house-elf. I asked it where Severus was, and it laughed at me. It said that Severus was gone and I'd never find him."

"Kreacher lies," Ron said confidently. "Hermione's right...Severus never leaves the house. Sometimes he hides, though, if he doesn't want to take a shower or be put to bed."

"I'll get to the bottom of it," Harry said simply.

A few minutes of Harry interrogating Kreacher did nothing to make anyone feel at ease. Kreacher was forced to tell his master the truth--if Harry demanded it--and it was clear that Severus had indeed left Grimmauld Place. Unfortunately, no matter how Harry threatened Kreacher, the wily old house-elf refused to give any information on where Severus might have gone to. While Harry grilled the house-elf, Hermione sat miserably on the sofa. It was obvious that she was frightened by Severus' disappearance. Hermione's head hung down, her eyes were closed, and she had clasped her hands tightly in her lap to keep them from shaking.

"Forget it," Draco said, when it became clear that Kreacher was going to be of no assistance. Crossing to where Hermione sat, he crouched on the floor in front of her. Taking her hands in his, he pried them apart and held them tightly in his own. "Hermione," he said softly, "I know that you are upset--so am I--but I need you to pay attention for a moment."

It seemed as if she was coming back to the library from a great distance, but Hermione managed to raise her head and look Draco in the eyes.

"The bracelet," Draco said in that same soft but firm voice. "Severus' tracking bracelet. Is he still wearing it?"

Her eyes widening in surprise, Hermione mentally cursed herself for three kinds of fool. How could she have forgotten? They had never needed to worry about Severus leaving the house until now. Hermione had completely forgotten that the silver band that Severus wore on his left wrist was no ordinary piece of jewelry.

"He's still wearing it!" she exclaimed. "He always wears it!"

"Thank Merlin," Draco murmured with a relieved smile. Releasing Hermione's hands, he stood and drew his wand. With an intricate sweep of his arm, a glowing circle appeared in the air before him. Within the circle was a topographical map. Harry, Ron, and Bill gathered on one side to peer at the map, while Remus joined Draco and Hermione on the other side.

"Damn," Draco muttered. "It's not telling us much. It shows a fairly small area around Severus, but it will pick up things like street names. He's not near any streets at the moment."

The map depicted a small area of what looked to be slightly uneven terrain. Severus was standing near a small grey rectangle. There was another grey shape to the northeast, and an uneven grey line on the south border of the circle.

"That's a manmade structure," Draco explained, pointing to the small rectangle. "But it's too small to be a building. This structure up here could be a cottage or something. And the line at the bottom could be anything. A wall, or a larger building...it's hard to tell."

"How will we ever find him?" asked Ron. "That could be anything! That could be my parent's house for all I know, and I wouldn't recognize it from this!"

In an oddly quiet voice, Harry said, "I recognize it...I know where he is."

Ignoring the ensuing clamor of questions, Harry stepped around the floating map and stood next to Draco. His head was cocked slightly to the side, and he had a faraway look in his eyes. Putting a hand on Draco's shoulder, he spoke again. "I know this is going to sound odd, but I need to ask you something. You once told me that Severus was no longer an Occlumens. You said that it was nothing to worry about because anyone who tried Legilimency on him would only see one thing, and it was harmless. What did you see, Draco?"

Shaking Harry's hand off of his shoulder, Draco's eyes narrowed in anger as he looked at Harry. "You're wasting time! If you know where he is, let's go and get him!"

"Please," Harry began calmly, "humor me. I promise you that it's important."

"It was a stupid memory," Draco snapped. "It was a little bit of meadow near Hogwarts. It was summertime...there were a lot of flowers...and butterflies seemed to fill the air."

"Butterflies!" Hermione cried, her eyes widening in alarm. Leaning towards the map, she studied it intently. "Harry, you're right," she said rather breathlessly. "That's where he is."

"Where?" Bill asked.

"Hogwarts," Harry said simply. "Severus has gone to Hogwarts." Lifting one hand, he traced the grey shapes with a finger, first the shape in the northeast, then the line in the south, and lastly, the small structure in the middle. "That's Hagrid's hut. This line is the north face of the castle. And this...this is Albus' tomb."

"We must go!" Hermione said. "If they find him there, he'll get hurt!"

As she started to go to the door, Harry called her back. It had taken a lot of years, but Harry had finally learned a bit about rushing into a situation.

"Hermione, we need to know what we're getting into," he said sensibly. "Wait a moment while I--"

"Wait!" she yelped. "There's no time! If the Hogwarts staff finds him there, he'll be hexed first and then carted off to the Aurors!"

"Please, Hermione!" Harry said firmly. "Wait just one moment while I send Phineas to check on the situation!"

Luckily, Phineas Nigellus was in his Grimmauld Place portrait that night. It took Harry no time at all to convince him to visit his portrait in Minerva's office and find out if anything was amiss. When Phineas returned, he did not bear good news.

"It's bad," he said flatly. "There was quite a ruckus amongst the portraits when I arrived. Minerva had been in her office recently, but then she saw something through the window that agitated her. The portraits said that she fire-called Filius and then ran out of the room in a rage."

"We'd better go, then," Harry said, "and go quickly. Draco, get out of here. Send me your Patronus later and I'll tell you what happened."

Draco's lips were pressed in a tight line and there was sorrow in his eyes, but he knew that he could not afford to be caught at Hogwarts. "Find him," he said shortly. Striding to the Floo, he disappeared from the house in a flash of green fire.

"Remus, Bill," Harry said, turning towards the two men, "What we are about to do is bound to get us into trouble. If you don't want to risk it, I'm sure that Ron, Hermione, and I can handle it."

"I'm coming," Remus said simply. His tone of voice was soft, but it brooked no argument.

"And me as well," Bill added. "Severus is a friend."

"All right," Harry said. "Hermione, I don't suppose you have a plan knocking around in that head of yours?"

"We'll have to Apparate to the gates. We'll be able to see Dumbledore's tomb from there, so we can get a glimpse of what we're getting into. We don't want to hurt anyone--if we have to fight, try to stun them. If Hagrid is there, we'll have to try to talk to him. He's very resistant to magic."

"Watch out for Filius," Bill added. "He's a much better duelist that one might imagine, and his stature makes him a difficult target."

"Will it really come to that?" asked a pale Ron. "Will we have to fight our own people?"

"Merlin, I hope not," Harry said emphatically. "Let's move!"

As they left, the front door slammed, startling a furious but oddly silent portrait of Walburga Black. The house at Grimmauld Place was suddenly as still as a tomb.

One moment Hermione was standing on Harry's doorstep, the next she was standing before the gates of Hogwarts. Shaking off the slightly nauseated feeling that Apparation always left her with, Hermione strode forward until she could see Dumbledore's monument. The others followed her so quickly that when she abruptly stopped, gaping in astonishment, they nearly ran her over. Then they too stared at the scene laid out before them.

Severus was at Dumbledore's tomb, but from this distance it was impossible to see what he was up to. What they could see was a ward that surrounded him like a dome. Though the ward was easy to see through, its energy shimmered slightly in the night, making its shape easily apparent. It also lit the ground beneath it, which made it easy to see Severus crouching by the marble monument.

Outside the dome of shimmering light, Minerva, Filius, and Hagrid were gathered. Hagrid bodily pushed at the ward, but it was clear that he could not pass it. Filius stood watching Minerva as if he was uncertain of what to do. Minerva was viciously attacking the ward with her wand. Each spell she aimed at it lit the ward with angry sparks that spread out over the dome and dissipated harmlessly.

"They can't get in," Hermione whispered. "That's good for us, but we'll still have to do some fast talking to get Severus away from here. Minerva doesn't look like she's going to give up for anything. Do you think the ward will hold?"

Harry's previous study of wards was about to pay off. "If it were going to collapse," Harry said softly, "it already would have. Hagrid is the strongest person I know...if he can't push through it, then it isn't possible. See how Minerva's spells dissipate? If I'm not mistaken, she's actually making it stronger by throwing energy at it. She won't break the ward that way."

"Merlin," Ron whispered. "Is Severus trying to do what I think he is? Is he trying to raise Albus from the dead?"

"I certainly hope not," Remus said quietly. "Wizards who try to animate the dead end up raising soulless zombies. Albus would never want that done to him."

"But Severus knows goblin soul magic," Bill added, keeping his voice as low as the others. "Maybe he didn't learn it just for the cup. Is what I'm thinking even possible?"

"I think it is," Harry said calmly. "And I think this is what Albus set up. It all makes sense! Albus would never have used a Horcrux because he would have had to do some horrible atrocity to split his soul. But if he knew a spell that would simply pluck his soul from his body..."

"He would have used it," Hermione finished. "It does make sense, and it explains why Dumbledore kept you from interfering on the tower that night. I don't know if Severus will be successful or not, but let's give him every chance. We need to go down there and try to talk some sense into Minerva."

"Oh, that will be fun," Ron groused as they began to make their way towards the tomb. "The way Minerva is going at that ward, it will be like trying to talk some sense into a banshee."

When Minerva looked up and saw the group of people approaching her, she looked comically relieved to see them. Bill and Remus went straight to her and started trying to calm the frazzled witch down. Though Remus--with his soft voice and calming demeanor--tried his best, it didn't go at all well.

"What do you mean I should put my wand away," she shouted. "That traitor is in there, and he's going to do something horrible to Albus' remains...I know it! I'm not about to stand here and let him get away with it! I'll hex that bastard's balls off and feed them to the squid before I let him touch Albus!"

"Now, Minerva," Remus said, patting her arm gently, "you know that there is nothing Severus can do that would hurt Albus now. Try to calm down."

"Calm down! I'm not going to calmly let that blackguard vandalize Albus' remains. It's unthinkable! It's blasphemous!"

There was one point that had confused Hermione since she first arrived and saw Severus at Dumbledore's tomb. Now seemed a good time to ask and perhaps her question would distract Minerva.

"Minerva," she began, keeping her tone of voice as pleasant as she could manage under the circumstances, "I'm puzzled. During the memorial service, it looked as if Professor Dumbledore's body was covered in fire before the marble top of the tomb appeared. Wasn't he cremated?"

"No," Minerva said, her voice trembling slightly. "Albus always said that he wanted to be cremated, but last year he changed his wishes. He told me..." Here, Minerva's voice broke down completely and she searched briefly for a handkerchief to wipe at her eyes.

"Albus said that if he fell while Voldemort was still alive," Filius began, smoothly taking the duty of explaining away from the distraught headmistress, "he didn't want to be cremated at all. He asked us to build a memorial right on Hogwarts grounds and to put him inside with a stasis charm on his body. He said that it would be good for morale, if everyone thought that he was still here in some way...watching over the place. I added that fire charm to the one that conjured the top of his monument. It was only pixie fire, quite harmless...but I wanted to send him out in style."

At the Charms professor's explanation, Remus, Bill, and Hermione exchanged a knowing look.

"Morale my arse," Bill whispered in Hermione's ear. "He wanted his body to stay in good shape, but it wasn't for morale."

Hermione nodded her agreement, but then shifted her attention to Minerva, who was shouting again.

"Then this bloody murderer shows up! He means Albus' tomb some mischief, no doubt. But he's a clever bastard. He raised this ward so that I couldn't stop him!"

"This isn't Severus' ward," Harry said, interrupting Minerva's tirade. During the whole conversation, Harry had been standing near the ward, his palms raised to it as he studied it carefully.

"What do yeh mean it isn't Severus'?" Hagrid asked. "It's never been here 'afore. I was jus' returning from the forest tonight when I saw Severus hurrying over ter the Professor's tomb. Tha ward sprung up as soon as he passsed the edge of it. I never saw the like."

"I'm certain that Severus triggered it," Harry explained, "but it isn't his ward. This ward has Albus' signature. And, as capable of a wizard as Severus is, I think that only Albus could have constructed a ward of this magnitude on Hogwarts grounds." Turning to Minerva, Harry spoke to her, his voice soft and kind. "There's a great deal about this situation that you don't know, Minerva, and I don't think now is the time to go into it. I don't know if what Severus is trying to do is going to work or not, but I can promise you that he means no harm to Albus' body. I'm asking you to put your wand away and trust me for a little while."

"You seem awfully free with the bastard's given name," Minerva said, staring at Harry through narrowed eyes.

"I should be. He's been living at Grimmauld Place for the past couple of months." As Minerva, Filius, and Hagrid stared at Harry in shock, he continued. "Please, Minerva, trust me. Put away your wand and let's see what happens, yeah? It's not as if Severus is going anywhere, after all. He seems quite busy."

Turning to look through the shimmering ward, Hermione saw that Severus had indeed been busy. The top of the white marble tomb had disappeared, and so had the spangled purple cloth that had covered Dumbledore's body. Albus' body lay on a table, clad in a simple white tunic. It was obvious that the body had indeed been placed in a stasis charm; it looked no different than the night he had died. Next to the table that held Dumbledore, Severus had conjured a second table. Its top was crowded with objects. There were several scrolls, a large basin, a jug, and assorted bottles and vials.

Standing over Albus' body, his face screwed up into a rather hideous expression of concentration, Severus ran his wand over various parts of Albus. He seemed to be murmuring the same phrase over and over, but he spoke so softly that Hermione couldn't quite make it out.

"What's he saying?" Ron asked a second before Hermione could voice the question herself.

"I'm not quite certain, but it sounds like a Bone Mending Charm," Filius said. "Now why in the world would he be doing that?"

"I'd tell you," Harry said with a sigh, "but I rather doubt that you'd believe me."

The group of people outside the ward watched in stunned silence as Severus finished with the Bone Mending Charm and reached for one of the scrolls. Hermione's heart went out to the poor man as she watched him shake his head and throw the scroll to the ground. Falling to his knees, Severus put his head in his hands and rocked for a moment, like an upset child. Severus' magic was still strong, but in his present state it didn't come easy. No one knew this better than Hermione. She had watched him struggle over potions that would have been simple for him before he went mad. How would he ever manage what he was trying to do now?

Leaning against the ward with silent tears running down her cheeks, Hermione said a simple prayer to whatever gods happened to be listening. Then, watching Severus with eyes full of love and concern, she settled in to wait.