Author's note: This is written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition (Round 9) "Shakespeare". This round was very different to what we usually do so I hope you like it. It is based on the scene where Banquo's ghost reappears to Macbeth after he has had him killed. Snape acts as Macbeth, Lily as Banquo and Alecto Carrow as Lady Macbeth (though there is no relationship between her and Snape).
Task: Write about a Shakespeare play - Macbeth.
Prompts used: (word) feather, (quote) 'Sentiment is a chemical defect found on the losing side' – BBC Sherlock and (word) burning.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
A pale moonlight shone upon the wooden tables which ran the length of the Great Hall. Flickering candle light bounced off the polished, wooden surfaces creating a soft glow around the vast space.
Dressed in robes as dark as the black expanse of sky outside, sat the newest headmaster of Hogwarts school. For years, he had struggled to gain such a position, but finally, he had succeeded.
The Carrows had called together this party of companions before the start of the new term, to celebrate Severus' victory. There were many from the new ministry staff including the Minister for Magic, Pius Thickness and Yaxley who also held a position of power. Others who worked within the system all crowded around the large staff table at the top of the empty hall.
They were all celebrating Severus' success, but only a select few knew what he had done to get there. He had killed Dumbledore to gain this position, and nothing could cleanse him of that deed. Even so, he still believed that the event should be kept hidden so that no one else would know of his treachery.
Food appeared on the golden platters in front of them, shaking Severus from his reverie. It was not the time to dwell on his heinous crimes. He just had to convince everyone else here that he was content with his new found power.
Snape lifted his gaze from the plate in front of him to observe the empty space before him. The cavernous space was deserted, filled only with the student tables and the sounds of the laughter and idle chatter of his comrades.
He turned his head to the left and caught the eye of Alecto Carrow, who gave him a sly smile in return. Simply nodding in response, he turned back to view in front of him, only to see that it was not the same as a moment before.
There was a new edition to his celebration. An individual emitting a pale, whitish glow was seated at the Gryffindor table, close to the large staff bench. Their outline blurred together with the shapes of objects behind them, showing that they were not wholly present. The figure sat with their back to the main table; long, flowing hair draped down their translucent back, so that it brushed the wooden bench where they sat.
Severus blinked a few times, in order to rule of the possibility that his eyes were playing tricks on him. He had ordered all the Hogwarts ghosts to remain in their house common rooms or in the dungeons, and they surely would not disobey his command. But Snape was sure that it was a ghost that occupied a space in his vacant hall.
He quickly glanced both to his left and right, but no one else seemed to have taken any notice of the mysterious figure. He stared once again at the apparition, willing for it to turn around so that he may identify the intruder.
As though they had read Severus' thoughts, the figure turned its head wickedly fast and locked eyes with the headmaster.
Snape's eyes widened with disbelief as he pushed his chair backwards and staggered out of it, not breaking eye contact with the spectre. The gaze was burning and caused him to feel light headed as he pushed himself backwards. His elbow knocked over his glass in his hast, spilling a dark crimson liquid across the varnished surface of the table.
The gathering fell silent as they all reacted to Severus' hasty actions. All that could be heard was the slow dripping of liquid onto the floor, forming a small pool on the flagstones.
Severus still stared at the ghost's face, transfixed on their features and praying that he was imagining the whole thing.
"Do you remember, Severus?" a woman's soft voice spoke, as she gently ran her fingers across the table top, following the patterns that her feather-light touch traced on the wood, "I used to sit here and I would look over at you and smile…"
Severus opened and closed his mouth a few times, though not able to find any words. His feet still grappled against the floor as he tried to move further away from the table, to the stone wall beyond.
"Well, I suppose you don't remember, seeing as I am sat here once more," she continued, still gazing intently at the wood.
"This… this cannot be happening… Lily, you can't be here," Severus stuttered as he moved himself around the chair slightly, so that he could see her better.
"Oh? And why would that be, Severus?" Lily asked innocently, eyes wide with curiosity, "is it because I am dead?"
The emphasis she put on the final word made Severus shiver with guilt as Lily turned to face him properly.
"Is it because you told him that he needed my son gone? You knew I would defend Harry to my last breath and yet, you did it anyway…" Lily rose from the wooden bench and glided silently over the icy stone floor, towards Severus' seat.
"No…No, Lily. I didn't know – it was foolish. I… I'm sorry," Severus spluttered, now cowering under her accusing gaze, next to his seat.
"Severus, is everything alright?" asked Pius Thickness, scanning the room for any sign of unusual. Lily turned the corners of her mouth up in a slight smirk at being unnoticed. Snape did not move a muscle from his current position, trembling in the shadows.
"I'm afraid Severus is simply overtired, Minister," Alecto Carrow replied before Severus could say another word, "he may be coming down with something." She hoped that she could explain away his mysterious behaviour so that it did not arouse any suspicion.
She bent down to touch Severus' arm but he recoiled from her touch, still looking at Lily's form which passed through the Hufflepuff table and hovered higher in the air.
"What? Don't you feel anything, Severus?" Lily said angrily, now floating in between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, "no guilt? No pain?"
"Sentiment is…is a chemical defect found on the losing side," Severus replied, stumbling over his words as he tried to remind himself that the spectral figure could not be real, "I only got here without feeling. We only got here by blocking out any type of emotion."
His words did not convince her, or even his own mind. His guilt for Lily's death was staggering, something he had lived with for nearly two decades. Everyone felt things, whether they wanted to or not.
Lily turned her head to survey the array of people at the table, all of whom were now either looking at Severus' quaking figure or following his eye line to see what had caused this dramatic change of behaviour.
"My blood is on your hands, Severus. You led him there. You killed me!" she exclaimed viciously, "and now, you'll have to live with that."
Immediately after she uttered her final word, Lily vanished, leaving no trace that she had ever been there. The house tables were as empty as they had been before her arrival.
Severus stood up from his former position and brushed down his robes. He ignored the quiet mumblings coming from both sides and the puzzled looks he was receiving, as he stepped back from the table.
"I apologise, I fear I am coming down with something," he said in as normal tone as he could muster.
Without another word, he left his place and walked purposefully down the hall, with his robes billowing out behind him. His feet guided him automatically to the dungeons, where he came to his former office door.
Without hesitation, he pushed it open and slipped inside. He leant against the dark wood to close it, slipping to the floor as the tears which had threatened to spill, fell down his pale cheeks.
He broke down, just as he had done when he had found Lily nearly seventeen years previously, and begged for her forgiveness once more.