Chapter 30 Happy Little Thought

Lightning crackled in the sky. The last light of sunset was just below the horizon. Never was there a tumultuous sea than that of the deep black that lead to the monstrous keep called Azkaban. There were cloaked figures in dreadful mastery controlling the storm and the hearts of all who dared carry their souls to the haunted island. There were no competent guards, but this didn't matter to the nearly dead and dying. There were no persons to make an escape, just the dregs of a fragment of humanity. There were no masters here. Just dinner.

There were two boats coming from a distance. There were no guards. Each were sent off from a larger boat from which the guards watched them make landfall from a safe distance. They had no desire to go anywhere near the fabled prison.

Each of the small boats had a single occupant. The first had a decrepit waste of a human being. There was very little left. He had a few long tufts of mangle hair, and a pale complexion. There was little to do for this man than to settle where he would be buried. Life was leaving him. It seemed as though there was so little blood in his veins that he was already but a ghost. There was no help for him.

The other occupant in the tumult of rain and waves was a freckled youth. His hair though caked in the mud they had found him in was as scarlet as the gash in his cheek. Rage had made him reckless. His faith had long since left. There was precious little left to believe in these troubled times. Life was as meaningless as he had made it. There was no life left to live. Hermione was gone, dead for all he knew. His best friend was dead. The world was destroyed. The Order was gone, and the family he had been led to believe would never end had been torn apart. He had not seen any of them for over a month, and they likely would be dead soon if they weren't already. There was no light, no love, no hope. The only consolation was that he wasn't entirely alone. There was not much life left in the companion a couple hundred meters away, but that shabby figure was one he once knew rather well, though not as anything more than teacher and pupil. Professor Lupin was not going to get him out of this. The demetors were circling. He had never felt so lost and alone. He felt for a moment he could launch himself from the boat and drown in the drunken stupor he had fallen into with the madness descending. He laughed in the despair and pain of a doomed soul. There was no hope. He would be dead or worse before the end, and he didn't know what it would do to him. There was no light.

'Except for THAT!'

He saw through the fog and gloom a pale blue in the distance. There was no profound brightness or glory, but it was not possible to ignore it once he saw it. It was directly to his left in the middle of the churning cauldron of the deep. There was a serenity to it that he could almost place. It ensnared his vision and brought stars to his eyes. Ron Weasley could find the light again. There was a dazzling bright ray that shown upon the waves. Was it a ghost? Not possible. It was brighter, and more dazzling than the break of dawn. There was a strength behind it the he could feel and breathe. It was not like anything he had ever breathed in before. There was not a light that could compare. There was a mumble behind him. Lupin was staring at the light as well.

The light frightened Remus at first. It felt like the moonlight which terrified him to this day. There was not much of him left to turn into a monster, but he still could cling to the human that once defined his life, not the shackled form of a conquered monster he had become. This light though it was pale in it's brightness, loosened the coils around his punctured heart. He let it fill him up. It left him in the brightest most exquisite pain and purity that he had ever felt or experienced. There was no triumph in the evil around him. There was only peace, and purpose. There was light.

Frightened shouts beyond their view cowered before the sudden appearance of the divine manifestation before them all. The personage let it's light spread forth to the dementors who retreated in the light. This patronus was the most powerful thing Ron or Remus had ever encountered, reaching forth into the sky.

At the heart of it beneath the stars, a tall man lowered his wand. The raging patronus cantered around the two he come to rescue. The man's greasy hair dangled from his face disguising the tears in his eyes.

"Did…" his voice trembled. "Did she say anything else to tell me?"

"Not to me." the younger man with the green eyes said. "She had a hard expression when she said it, but I'm not sure you were the real reason."

Snape sniffled. The doe patronus cantered forth from the sea and led the two bedraggled souls to shore.

"There was power in her that I couldn't fight." Severus said.

"I know." Harry replied.

"You knew? All this time?" Snape asked.

"Did I know you were a better man than my father thought? I had no idea. I would have been a bit better if I did." Harry admitted.

"Spare me the platitudes, Potter." Snape half halfheartedly said.

Harry stepped forward placing a hand on his Professor's shoulder.

"I have to make you understand, Professor." Harry said.

"Understand what?" Snape cried. "There are no more order or ministry. The Dark Lord has overthrown the whole of the country. He sets his sights on the empire the Grindelwald ruled. There will be no real resistance. We have lost! And your mysterious resurrection or your pretenses at trying to make yourself your late headmaster will not save them. We are all dead, and no red headed half wit, or mangled werewolf will win this war. You are outnumbered and all together overtaken. We have no power!"

"We have all the power we need. You just proved it." Harry said as he pointed to the silver doe cantering as large as a dragon across the tempest.

Snape looked longingly at the Patronus. It let out a mournful bleat of longing. The sound cascaded over the man, letting his heart see daylight for the first time in over a decade. Holding the powerful feeling with his might, he set his eyes on the two boats at the shore.

"We have to go." Snape sneered as he set off toward the boats.

"Right behind you, Sev." Harry said as he looked at the cantering doe, a bright symbol in the night. Harry chuckled to see Snape bristle at this nickname, but the man didn't acknowledge it.

"There's no time for us to waste." Harry whispered to himself, the uneasiness of the last month taking a massive toll. 'I've already been gone too long.' he thought.

The two prisoners shielded their eyes as they beheld the doe and two figures standing behind it. Their last thoughts were of their good fortune, and the exultant splendor of their rescuer. Two red lights flew from the gloom, and they both fell into blissful ignorance, breathing, but dead to the world.

"We will save this world Professor. I have to." Harry said.