New Beginnings
A/N: J.K. Rowling owns everything, only she was brilliant enough to come up with the world that is Harry Potter. This is my first fic so reviews would really help me develop the story and keep the plot interesting! Hope you enjoy!
Severus sat in the damp section in the darkest part of the shabby pub in wizarding London, clad in his infamous billowing black cloak. Slowly twirling a tumbler of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey in his hand, he remained unmoving as he stared at the group of people several tables over from his corner booth.
Cob webs stretched from the ceiling along the wall down to the back of the chair to Severus' right. The room stank of stale butterbeer, rotten food, and faintly of vomit. Sadly, to the barmaids distaste, vanishing and cleansing charms just couldn't rid the place of that smell. Rats scurried from table to table scrounging whatever little scraps they could manage, although people barely seemed to notice. Severus discerned all of this within seconds of entering the filthy shack. His days as a spy had long since passed, but those skills remained with him, keeping him alive long after the final battle. A draft from the poorly insulated ceiling gave him a slight chill causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He welcomed the cool breeze in his hot, dank corner; it kept him on his toes. Although the place was small there was still quite a crowd at the little pub. Not the kind of people self-respecting witches and wizards would associate themselves with; this was a sordid place after all. Illicit black market transactions were being handled in the corner directly across from Severus and numerous clandestine lovers sought this pub as their meeting spot, but none of this interested Severus in the slightest.
His eyes and ears were solely focused on that group a few tables over from his own. Through the low din of chatter he could make out fragments of their conversation.
"The stage is set for next Wednesday. Potter will never see us coming. He'll be too blinded by all those bloody reporters to notice much of anything," said a gruff voice.
"Aye, with so many people around the whole trio will feel safe, until we snatch that safety away from em'," a second man drawled on.
Severus recognized the voices of the two wizards facing away from him to be Macnair and Gibbon. Across from them sat Rowle, clear in Severus' line of sight. As he listened to them discuss the rest of planned attack on the Golden Trio, he pondered how they managed to remain free men when the entire wizarding world was on a lookout for them and they were about as daft as you could get. Severus managed to remain under the radar of the ministry since his "death" on the day of the final battle, something he remembered all too visibly.
As Severus pleaded more vigorously with the Dark Lord to let him go and find the Potter boy, he realized that it was all for naught. Although the Dark Lord was skilled at Occlumency and Legilimency, Severus managed to view some of his thoughts since his mind was preoccupied with the battle at hand. In those thoughts Severus saw his mind was already made up and it did not bode well for Severus or for Dumbledore's plan. All he could do was try to dissuade the Dark Lord from carrying out this death sentence and hope that he could find any member of the Trio to unburden his memories on. Of course the one time Severus actually needed their presence they were nowhere to be found.
"You killed Dumbledore Severus. While you live the Elder Wand cannot fully be mine. You've been a good and faithful servant Severus, but only I can live forever." **
Severus faintly heard the Dark Lord speaking to him, but could not register what he was saying through all of his thoughts about finding Potter, the Boy-Who-Makes-Everything-Difficult.
"My Lord….."**
That's when he heard it, the dim swoosh as the Dark Lord flicked a curse in his direction. So shocked by the lack of the green flash of Avada Kedavra to cast a non-verbal shield charm Severus felt the slash of one of his own curses deep in his chest. As he was thinking how ironic it was to be killed with his own Sectumsempra the Dark Lord sent forth Nagini to end his life. As the dreaded animal snapped vehemently at his neck all he could think about was how he had failed. He failed so many people in so many ways.
Of course there was Lily, his life-long burden as the cause of her demise being the whole reason he was in this situation in the first place, and Dumbledore, his second yet equally manipulative and devious master whom he owed his life to. Throughout the years he realized that what he thought was love that he was feeling for Lily was actually false feelings manifested out of his desire to be close to someone. She was beautiful, yes, but more importantly she stimulated him on an intellectual level and he now knew that what he valued in her was her friendship more than anything else. As for the late Headmaster, well Severus had disillusioned himself from the popular image of Dumbledore many years ago, when he determined the prank of a Gryffindor was worth more than the life of a Slytherin. Severus knew long ago that these debts would haunt him forever, leaving him no chance for peace.
More notably, in his mind however, were his failures to those he felt close to such as Lucius and Minerva. He tried valiantly to help the Malfoy family remain a passive bystander within the Dark Lord's inner circle, so that no matter which side came out victorious they would manage to squeak by, but here he failed them. Even though he tried to help Lucius by warning him of the DA's arrival at the Department of Ministry, Lucius still failed. Then Severus failed to protect Draco from the Dark Lord after his botched plight to kill Dumbledore. If the Death Eaters won this battle, surely the name of Malfoy would be disgraced and the family would have no place in the new world order.
Of all of these, his failure to Minerva was most difficult to bear. Although Severus was never really "friendly" with anyone, he shared a begrudging respect with Minerva. He found her stern attitude and quick wit refreshing, and enjoyed their intelligent debates on magical theories; he could tell her none of this of course, but he wished he could. When she called him a coward earlier that night in the castle it nearly broke whatever small fragments were left of his heart. She had always commended him on his bravery, especially when defending the Trio against Lupin's werewolf form in their third year. Without personal connections to anyone he valued the little morsels of respect she offered to him and now he was truly friendless.
Severus was startled by the definitive crack of apparition and opened his eyes to discover he was quite alone in the boat house. His mind took in the fact that he was losing copious amounts of blood and he could feel Nagini's stinging venom coursing through his veins until his whole body felt as if it were about to burst into flames. Just as his subconscious was telling him to give into the darkness that had begun to creep into his vision, the Golden Trio arrived in the flesh.
"Take them. Take them to the pensieve"** he managed to ground out through clenched teeth as the pain from the venom made it nearly impossible to talk. Severus relished in this small victory as Potter captured all of his memories in a small flask, hoping that Dumbledore's plan would continue without incident.
"Go now Harry we haven't much time!" Hermione urged as she crouched down and replaced Harry's hand on Severus' neck with her own. "I'll stay here and figure something out."
"C'mon Hermione, he isn't worth it. He killed Dumbledore, doesn't that mean anything to you?" Ron said menacingly.
"Everyone deserves a fair trial Ronald. You two get out of here now and finish this!" With Hermione's tone of finality Ron and Harry set off for the castle to find the pensieve, leaving Severus and Hermione alone.
"Professor, if you tell me what curse these gashes are from I can heal them." Severus shook his head because the daunting task of speaking was too much for him now in his weakened state. He could see Hermione was horrified at the amount of blood she saw pooled around her former professor, but she held onto her resolve without vomiting and he respected her for that.
"Would it be alright if I looked in your mind?" His eyes widened slightly at the revelation that Hermione Granger could perform Legilimency. He then nodded and realized that of course Gryffindor resident know-it-all would have taught herself Occlumency and Legilimency out of a book. As he stared into her eyes and pushed forward his memory of the Dark Lord's attack he noticed for the first time the slight change in them. They were still the same chocolate brown color, but no longer could he see the bright tenacity in them; they had been hardened by her journey this past year. Severus barely felt Hermione slip out of his mind after finding what she needed. He felt weaker every second, but managed to stay conscious while he watched her work. She effortlessly chanted the incantation to heal the nasty cuts as he struggled to hang on to his consciousness.
"Do you have potions in any of your pockets?" she urged him, sounding a bit exasperated. He found just enough strength to touch his left breast indicating where she could find a small store of potions, including anti-venom made after Nagini attacked Arthur Weasley at the ministry. Immediately she retrieved the potions and selected three bottles; unstoppering each of them with a flick of her wand. First the anti-venom, he could tell by the slightly sour smell and the sting as it travelled down his throat. Severus felt the effects almost instantly as the burning throughout his body slowly subsided. Finally she gave him two bottles of blood replenishing potion to help him recover his nearly depleted stores. Severus could feel his strength returning little by little, but the whole encounter left him exhausted and he closed his eyes. He heard Hermione rummaging through her bag and then felt her hands working over the healed cuts; he knew from the smell and the tingling feeling that she was using dittany to diminish the scarring.
"Everyone in the wizarding world hates you right now and wants to see you thrown in Azkaban," she spoke softly, he could only guess because she thought him to be sleeping. "But I don't agree with them. Dumbledore trusted you and even though you killed him I can't believe he, the greatest wizard of all time, would have gone down without a fight. I think this is all a part of his plan somehow, but I don't really know what to believe anymore." Severus honestly could not believe his ears; she had figured it all out. Dumbledore, "greatest wizard of all time", has an ingenious plan and this teenage girl managed to see past the façade to strike at the very heart of it. He was stunned to put it lightly. Sneaking a peek through hooded lashes Severus watched her run some diagnostic spells and then head towards the door.
"I'll come back for you when this is all over. It's better if everyone believes you to be dead for now." He watched her glance back at him one more time, and then she was gone.
Ever since then Severus has been running his own covert operation tracking Death Eaters, capturing them, and leaving them for the Aurors to find. Severus believes, as Hermione did then, that the wizarding world would be better functioning on the false pretenses that he was dead. Of course the ministry did a nice little cleanup after they realized his body was gone, and honored an empty coffin at his funeral. Although he was less than thrilled with the whole situation, for now he worked with renewed vigor knowing that his work served a purpose. Severus remained until the pub was mostly empty before he paid his tab at the bar. With the information he learned that night he set a course for home to come up with a plan.
A/N: I know Severus seems a bit OOC, but who he truly is and the facade he shows people are two different things. When we're in his head I'm trying to convey the type of person I believe he is. As the story continues we'll see him interact with more people and brooding snarky potions master will make his return!