His name is Severus Tobias Snape and he killed Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
His punishment for that? He got the old man's job.
He watched as the students had their meals in the great-hall. It's been three months since the school had started, three torturous months. Many of them held him in contempt, while others, those who supported the Dark Lord, revere. They were now his responsibility. It was his job to keep them alive.
He wanted to curse Dumbledore for this, if he hadn't already killed him. The man expected him to remain on the Dark Lord's good side, if he even had a 'good side', protect the student, help the order and figure out what the damned thing the Potter boy was doing! It would take a miracle for him to pull that off; thankfully he had practice with pulling of miracles.
He eyed the Gryffindor table. With the Potter boy gone the house has turned to Neville Longbottom and Ginevra Weasley as their new 'leaders'. Quite the pair those two were. They were the cause of some of the migraines he suffered. As much as he wanted to curse them, he understood them. He understood their need to fight back, even if it was a very stupid thing to do. They couldn't see that there was in fact, nothing they could do. In the end all they got were severe punishments made from the Carrow siblings.
He felt sorry for the students who suffered at their hands. He also knew that certain students, the younger Crabbe and Goyle in particular, enjoyed torturing the other students. It was rather hellish with Dumbledore gone. Students were being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse by other students. For the first time, he saw Hogwarts falling apart. This was not right.
Potter and his cronies were missing, Severus had no idea how to find them and give them the sword. He hated the boy so much; it pained him to see Lily in his eyes. But he swore to Dumbledore and to Lily that he would do all he can to protect the boy. It was rather pathetic that the faith of the wizarding world lied in the hands of a seventeen years old boy and it was Severus' responsibility to make sure he succeeds.
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The castle was fitful. The moonlight paved the halls that Severus walked on. He could feel the uneasiness of the walls. It was like the very foundations of the school knew that bad things were going on inside its fort. She was restless. Severus found out that as current headmaster he was able to read her better, as if she knew he was her protector. He was failing that responsibility. An echoing scream could be heard in the dungeons. He flinched; it was the screams of his students. The students he was supposed to protect.
He made his way to the familiar place. It used to be his solitude, his area, his territory, his home, but he barely recognized it anymore. The place stunk of terror and horror. It was not a place for students. He opened the door to the Dark Arts to find Ginevra being tortured by the Amycus Carrow. She was the scream that he heard from the floor about. He knew that Carrow was using the Cruciatus curse.
"Stop this instant," he growled upon entering.
Carrow sneered at him. "Why?"
"I am Headmaster and you will do what I tell you to."
Carrow's face turned into a hideous frown. His yellow rotting teeth were showing. Severus knew that the Carrow brother was always mentally unstable. He reminded Severus of young Crabbe and Goyle, stupid, easily angered but talented with the dark arts. "Perhaps the Dark Lord would find it interesting that you are protecting blood traitors."
Severus didn't take the bait. "Perhaps the Dark Lord would be interested to know that you've been spilling pure blood."
Carrow didn't answer; he was never good when reason was shoved in his face. He backed down enough for Severus to make his way to the Weasley girl; he roughly took her arms and dragged her from his classroom. She looked exhausted but still defiant. She pulled her arms from him the moment the door of Carrow's classroom closed. He observed her and was relieved that she was still fully clothed and nothing else had happened to her other than the Cruciatus curse. It was truly dark times when the Cruciatus curse was the least of his worries.
"What did you do this time?" he asked her coolly. She glared at him and stalked off to her dorm.
He glowered at the retreating figure. She should be thankful she's not currently with Carrow being tortured. She was too defiant for her own good. He knew she was the one who led the group who graffitied the halls of the first, second, and third floor, and she and her group was also the reason why most of the muggleborn students were currently missing from school. In a way he was grateful since he would have one less thing to worry about, but he would never admit that, even if admitting it didn't mean his life would be in danger.
He made his way back to his office, the headmaster's office. On his way he saw Minerva passing by consoling a young boy from Hufflepuff. She huffed in contempt the moment she saw him coming and moved the boy away from him as if he was a criminal. He really was a criminal though. He killed the only one Voldemort ever feared, aside from that Potter boy but honestly; Voldemort was being really idiotic about the whole 'no must kill him but me' bit. Doesn't matter anyway, whatever made it easier to kill the Dark Lord.
His mark started burning again. He rubbed it violently, hopelessly wishing it would somehow vanish. It was pointless though because nothing could make it disappear. It was a constant reminder of the mistakes he, Severus, had made in his life. It represented everything he lost and everything he destroyed. His mark felt like his own personal dementor, it sucked out his happiness.
He flooed to the Malfoy Manor, the Dark Lord had been using it as a meeting place for some time now. He saw a few other death eaters arriving, they wore their masks proudly, must be new recruits. He ignored them; they were too foolish, too arrogant and too stupid for Severus' liking. He hated people like that, it reminded him too much of his younger self.
One the large table sat the Malfoys, the once prominent family reduced to weak snivelling little rats, speaking of, Pettigrew was also present along with the Lestranges, the Carrow siblings, Amycus sent a glare at Severus, Yaxley, and other people Severus didn't think were important enough to garner his attention. The head of the table, where Lucius Malfoy was supposed to sit if the situation was different, was Lord Voldemort himself. Severus made his way to him and bowed before heading to his seat.
"My dear Death Eaters," Voldemort hissed quietly. All talk, if there were any, ceased. "What news is there from the ministry?"
Everyone turned to Yaxley, he had Minister Pius Thicknesse under imperious. "Nothing new my lord. Just the normal business, we've registered three hundred muggleborns and had them shipped off to Azkaban. Of course word had gotten around that we were questioning employees and most of them decided to leave the country my lord."
Voldemort nodded. Yaxley gulped, he looked terrified and was doing a poor job of hiding it. It was very difficult trying to decipher what Voldemort was thinking, even Snape, who was a skilled Legilimency user, had a hard time. "What of the international affairs?"
"The American Government is becoming hostile; it's been difficult to negotiate with them. The French are the same," said a Death Eater that Severus did not recognize. Voldemort pointed his wand at the speaker and immediately the man became a screaming twitching figure in the ground. Most of the party flinched except for the old members who learned to be immune to such things. Severus saw the younger Malfoy turn a few shades lighter, his aunt, who sat a few seats to his right, was looking at the twitching figure with glee. Only a psychotic maniac would find that amusing.
When the screaming stopped Voldemort turned to Severus. "Of Hogwarts?"
In a calm manner, achieved only by placing his life in danger multiple times, he answered, "Under control. But I must confess that some of the muggleborns have gone missing, it is suspected that some students are smuggling them out." He prepared himself but preparation is never enough. A sudden burst of pure torturous agony erupted from every cell in his body. He managed to keep a better composure than the preview man and did not make a sound.
"My Lord, if I may," said Amycus Carrow, "One of the Weasley child was suspected of helping the mudbloods out of the school. Just before the meeting I was interrogating her but Snape here interrupted."
Severus sneered. It was a rat race. Everyone wanted to be on Voldemort's good side, if he even had a good side. He prepared himself for questioning, his brain started thinking of excuses. He a few prepared but surprisingly Voldemort did not ask. He was silent, thinking.
"Which Weasley child?" the Dark lord asked.
"Ginevra Weasley my lord," answered Carrow.
Voldemort was silent again. "Why does that name sound familiar? Weasley is the blood traitor family is it not?" There was a murmur of affirmative. Severus saw that Lucius looked sick, he was the reason the name Ginevra Weasley would be familiar to Voldemort, and not for a good reason. No one moved, no one made a sound, it was deafening silence.
"What of Gringotts?" Voldemort asked suddenly. Previous topic remained unmentioned.
Severus let out an inaudible sigh of relief, for a moment he thought Voldemort was going to ask him to bring the Weasley girl to him.
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A message from TemperedRose:
Some things I've realized about myself:
One, I have too much time on my hands. I've created another one. I have trouble sleeping sometimes and when I do, I write things and when I write things, I have the urge to publish them.
Two, I like using Ginny too much. I just love her character because JK gave us enough to work with but at the same time I find her character too underdeveloped that it's quite easy to manipulate her personality so while it still fits the canon, the author can add a few extra touches.
Third, I like pairing her with older men. It's odd. I mean, I've been attracted to older men, but mostly it was because they were actors from amazing movies. But I've never found any one, significantly older than me, that I knew personally, whom I found attractive.
Fourth, I blabber with I'm tired but can't sleep.
Anyway... if you've enjoyed this story, drop a review. But if you didn't, drop a comment to tell me why.
Until then.
Sincerely yours,
TemperedRose