Chapter Text
"What the hell is going on?" Snape complained, shivering in his wet robes. Although the rain itself had been oddly warm, the abandoned house that currently sheltered them was drafty and cold. Several large leaks left puddles of water standing in various places, and the wind howled through broken windows. "Where the hell are we?"
Potter rummaged in a dusty cabinet, looking for a form of spirits, anything to ward off the chill. His hand closed around the neck of a short, squat bottle. The fluid inside was a swirl of red and blue with tiny gold flecks. It looked rather like a child's kaleidoscope. Pulling the stopper out, he took a cautious whiff and jerked his head back so sharply his neck cracked. Definitely alcohol of some sort and judging by the smell, at least 150 proof.
"Here, drink this."
"What is it?"
"I don't know, but it's booze. Should help warm you up. "
Snape sneered. "I would have thought the least I would have drummed into that fat head of yours over the years is never drink something if you don't know what it is."
"Fine with me, Snape. If you want to die of hypothermia, far be it from me to stop you," Harry grinned wickedly at the shivering Potions master.
"And how is it you managed to stay dry, Mr Potter?" Snape asked sourly.
Harry fingered the cloth of the coat that lay dripping over a chair. "Muggle invention. It's called a raincoat. Useful things. I would have thought you'd have used a charm or something to stay dry. You're always accusing me of not thinking, Snape. Looks like you should have taken your own advice."
"Yes, well, when I agreed to let you Apparate us b-both, I didn't expect to l-land in the middle of a l-l-lake." Snape gave Harry the most withering look he could manage under the circumstances.
"Don't whinge, Snape. It's not becoming. It wasn't a lake, it was a puddle, and if you had just held on like you were supposed to… And before you say anything, it wasn't my fault you lost your wand, either."
Whatever Snape said next was lost in the chattering of his teeth.
"Just drink this, will you? I'm going to go see if I can find you a towel or something. You're soaked to the skin."
Harry turned to the large fireplace at one end of the room. Pulling out his wand, he transfigured a chair into firewood, and started a healthy-sized fire.
"Drink that stuff, take your clothes off and hang them over the chairs. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"If you th-th-think I'm going to st-stand here with no c-c-clothes on..."
"Good lord, Professor, it's just us. I assume you haven't any odd bits I haven't seen before? If you're bashful, you can put on my raincoat." Harry raised an eyebrow at his professor. "And no funny stuff. I don't want any stains on that, it's new. Don't bother trying to glare at me, it's not very effective when accompanied by blue lips."
Harry picked up the bottle of swirling spirits and thrust it into Snape's trembling hands. "Don't drop it, you git. Drink some. Strip. Put on the raincoat. Stand next to the fire. In that order. I'll see if I can find something to dry you off and any hint of where we are."
"D-d-don't t-tell m-m-me what t-t-t-to d-do, P-p-p-p-potter." Snape's teeth seemed to be trying to dance Flamenco.
"Well, somebody has too. You're obviously too stubborn to take care of yourself. Look, I don't fancy trying to Apparate carrying your dead weight, so if you conk out on me, I'm leaving you behind."
Harry waited long enough to watch the shivering professor pull the stopper out of the bottle before disappearing into the dark corridor off the room they were in. "Lumos!"
The glow from the end of his wand lit up the darkened hallway and revealed a set of stairs at the end. Three doorways on the left, and two on the right beckoned him, but he suspected living quarters - and the chance of towels or dry clothes for Snape - were up the stairs. A booming peal of thunder made him jump, and he chided himself for the shiver that crept up his spine.