Joining the Fold

By Duckflesh

WARNING: Contains Deathly Hallows spoilers. Do not read unless you have read all of the Harry Potter books, or you don't care what happens in them.

This story takes place immediately following Severus Snape's graduation from Hogwarts. It does not take place in any kind of alternate time frame, and is meant to match up with current canon (though the story itself is obviously not). Comments and criticism are welcome. More chapters may follow. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor any of the characters used in the story to follow. The characters and all other Harry Potter trademarks are used here without permission.

Chapter 1

It was funny, really. For Severus Snape's first five years at Hogwarts, the train rides had always flown by. It seemed that only moments after boarding the train, he was forced to disembark, destined either for the House-divided tables of the Great Hall, or, worse, for home. Not since his fifth year, though. Now he found that every minute ticked excruciatingly by, if they even passed by at all.

This ride, his last, was no different. He glanced out the window. They had long since left the isolated Hogwarts area, and were now passing through muggle countryside, as boring as it was endless. He considered rifling through his trunk for his Advanced Potions book, but he knew it would just irritate him. He had lost his own thoroughly annotated copy just weeks ago, and had had to purchase a new one. The author was an idiot. So many mistakes, so much ineptness. It barely seemed worth correcting it all again.

He glanced over at Avery, a relatively short, chubby fellow with a serious face that belied his doughy physique. Not much good conversation there. Avery was scowling down at an issue of the Daily Prophet, no doubt reading about the Ministry's latest attempts at quelling the Death Eater problem. Snape knew, however, that Avery was taking it all far too seriously. The little attempts the Ministry was making to promote safety were basically useless gestures, designed for no other reason but to save face. Snape didn't know why they bothered. The few remaining wizards with the courage to oppose the Dark Lord wouldn't be fooled, and no one else really cared.

Avery wasn't much good for chatting with, but Snape didn't mind. He wasn't really the chatting type.

They were alone in the compartment. He heard laughter coming from somewhere off down the compartment, where he happened to know several Gryffindor girls were sitting. He dove as deeply as he could into his thoughts, attempting to block the sound out of his ears. Think of anything else, he thought. Polyjuice Potion. Veritaserum. Felix Felicis.

A better distraction presented itself when the compartment door slid open, causing Snape to look up. In the hall stood two admittedly attractive Slytherins. They appeared as though they'd been torn off the cover of a fashion magazine. On the left, Rodolphus Lestrange, and on the right, arm wrapped around Rodolphus' waist, Bellatrix Black. Each one wore a Prefect's badge on their breast, though neither was dressed according to the regulations for Prefects. It wasn't because this was their last day holding the position. They'd never bothered much with the regulations. Rodolphus had discarded his sweater and robe. The knot of his tie, however, was perfect. His shirt looked like he had ironed it immediately before putting it on. Snape suspected that Rodolphus usually did iron his shirts immediately before putting them on, but didn't see the point in asking. Bellatrix had kept her robe, but it was furled low over her shoulders. The top three buttons of her shirt were conspicuously undone. Her skirt had long ago been clipped to be at least three inches shorter than those that the other girls wore.

Looking at the pair of them always made Snape feel a little self-conscious of his own clothes, wrinkled and dirty as they were. It was worse today, because he was in his muggle clothes, unlike the rest of them. He hoped no one mentioned it, but they usually did. Even his school uniform had never really looked right, though. After seven years, his tie still always looked as though a child had tied it. He supposed he just had more important things to worry about. His ears drifted again to the sound of laughter.

"Sev!"

"Hrm?" Snape was called out of his reverie, and brought his eyes back up to the prefects, who had ambled into the compartment. Rodolphus lay back in a seat, Bellatrix draping herself over him like a blanket. Rodolphus was grinning at him.

"Excited, Sev? We can finally put this damn school behind us, get out there into the real world."

"I'm glad we've had all those Defense Against the Dark Arts classes," Snape said, softly, "in case we are encountered by dreadful dark wizards in an alley when we get off the train."

Avery chortled behind his newspaper. Rodolphus grinned even wider, and from his lap, Bellatrix seemed to stifle a laugh, passing it off as a cough. Snape glared at her briefly.

"Well," Rodolphus continued, "it's sure nice to know that I've got a, erm, position waiting for me when I get out of here. Avery, too. Both our dads are veterans. With the Dark Lord from the start."

Avery dropped the paper to his lap, scowling. "Just go ahead and tell the whole train, why don't you? I'd prefer not to get expelled fifteen minutes before getting off the train for the last time, thanks."

Rodolphus smirked. "You've already got your diploma, moron. Besides, everyone already knows. What the hell are they going to do about it? Nothing, for as long as they like having living relatives."

Avery glowered at him, but disappeared behind the Prophet again.

Rodolphus rolled his eyes. "Besides, it's not as th--Hey! Rosier! Where the hell do you think you're going? Get your ass in here!"

Evan Rosier entered the train car, a resigned look on his face. He was blonde, attractive, and of medium build, though he was a bit shorter than average.

"Yes?"

"Yes, what, Rosier?"

Rosier sighed. "Yes, Prefect sir?"

"That's the spirit, Rosier! So, you're going to be a Seventh Year this September! Excited?"

"Yes. Sir."

"Aren't you worried that all your buddies are graduating this year?"

"I'm sure I'll manage."

Snape rolled his eyes. He wondered why Rodolphus enjoyed harassing Rosier so much. Granted, it was nothing personal. He did it to all the younger students, and Rosier was a very talented wizard… chances were, they'd be "working" together within a few years.

Snape, his mind having trailed off and his gaze lowered, looked back up. Bellatrix had apparently gotten bored, because she and Rodolphus were now fiercely kissing. Rosier looked on, awkwardly. He caught Snape's gaze.

"Hey, Sev."

"Hello, Rosier."

"Exited to be leaving?"

"Not really."

"Not really? But you've been planning this for going on four years!"

Snape shrugged. Rosier was right, of course, but for the majority of those years, his future hadn't seemed especially important to him. Not much did, actually. He briefly listened to hear if any noise was coming from down the corridor, but he was greeted only by silence.

"Well, listen; write me some time, alright? And I'll be seeing you soon after I graduate, I bet." Rosier flashed him a conspiratorial grin.

"Sure, sure. See you."

Rosier gave him a final nod, then turned to Avery.

"Avery," he said.

Avery's newspaper ruffled in such a way as to suggest that Avery may have nodded in farewell from behind it.

The compartment door slid shut, and Snape was once again alone with the occasional ruffle of Avery's paper and an obnoxious smacking sound coming from Rodolphus and Bellatrix. He rifled through his trunk until he found Advanced Potions, and started flipping through it.

"Ingredients for a Sleeping Drought haven't changed since yesterday, have they, Sev?" asked Rodolphus, who had apparently dislodged himself from Bellatrix. Luckily, she pulled him to her again before Snape had to bother thinking of an appropriately snide response.

Snape looked back down at the book. He flipped to a page inside where he had painstakingly re-copied the instructions for casting Sectumsempra. He smiled, thinking about how happy he had been when he'd finally gotten the spell to work correctly. He fondly remembered gashing James Potter's face with it during his fifth year.

But, why stop there? He thought of James kneeling before him, begging for mercy. He'd laugh in response. He'd point his wand at Potter's forehead, utter the words, and bifurcate him. It'd be messy.

What would Lily say, though? It'd be hard for her, but she'd get over it. She'd come to understand that he hadn't been good enough for her.

No, she wouldn't.

It was pointless to even fantasize about it.

He snapped the book shut and shoved it back into his trunk. No one noticed his anger; Avery was busy muttering at the Editorials page, and the other two were… engaged.

Snape was relieved when the train finally began to slow. It was almost over. He could put the last two years of pain behind him, and move on with his life.

No, he wouldn't. He'd never be able to move on. Not unless…

He growled, shook his head, and stood up. Avery mimicked him, but kept right on reading. Snape briefly considered that his fellow graduate probably should have been able to finish reading a newspaper by now. Avery's grades were nothing to write home about, though. Then again, Avery's father wasn't exactly concerned about NEWTs.

Rodolphus had dislodged from Bellatrix again. He kissed her on the cheek before standing.

"I'll go grab the stuff from the Prefect's car, babe. Meet me outside the platform, my dad's here, he's gonna take us straight to…" He stopped himself, barely, but his smirk was enough to leave Snape with little doubt as to whom he was referring.

Rodolphus walked forward and clasped Snape's shoulder.

"I'm sure I'll be seeing you real soon, Sev. Later!" He strode out of the compartment. Avery shuffled after him, finally tossing the paper, crumpled, to the floor of the train car. He nodded briefly to Snape, then slid out.

"Finally alone, Snivelus!"

Oh, wonderful, Snape thought. He ignored her, grabbing his trunk and enchanting it to levitate behind him.

"They all seem pretty sure that the Dark Lord will consider you good enough for him, Sevvy. But I think you and me are a little less convinced, huh?"

He shuffled towards the door, careful to remain expressionless.

"After all, Snivelus, even the Dark Lord expects some degree of personal hygiene of his servants."

Something snapped. He turned to her, slowly. "I notice you enjoy calling me 'Snivelus'," he said, leering. "That name was coined by Sirius Black. Now, wasn't he a cousin of yours? You know, seems to me, he really likes to consort with mudbloods. What does that make him, again? What's it called, a blood traito—"

"You shut the hell up, Snive—" She stopped herself from using the name again, her cheeks flushing. "You son of a bitch!" She yelled instead, springing to her feet. He saw the hate in her eyes, and it temporarily cheered him up. However, her deprecating sneer quickly returned.

"Yeah, that's right, actually, isn't it? Your mum may have been a wizard, but she married a muggle, didn't she. Snape is even a muggle name. Which do you think is worse? My disgrace of a cousin, or your having a filthy muggle for a father and a muggle-lover for a mother? You're practically a mudblood, aren't you, Sevvy?"

His wand was out in a flash, pressed against the center of her forehead. He saw the fear glint in here eyes, though she tried to cover it with a smirk.

"Oh, come on, I dare you. Rodolphus would tell his father, and you know who he'd tell."

Snape pictured perfectly even halves of Bellatrix falling to the floor in front of him, blood spraying all over the compartment. However, her words were unfortunately true. He pocketed the wand and slid out the door.

"Bye, Sevvy!" She yelled after him. "Maybe we'll be paying you and your dad a visit real soon, huh?"

Snape stepped down onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters in a worse mood then ever. He quickly approached a uniformed man and arranged to have his trunk stored at the station until he sent for it. He didn't bother looking around for his mother or father. He'd have to find his own way home, if he even decided that he wanted to go back there. He walked quickly through the crowds of reuniting families, head down.

He bumped into someone, hard. Looking up, he saw Wilkes, a Slytherin from his year, who had apparently been walking just as fast in the other direction. Wilkes was very tall, with a nervous face and black hair that was usually matted by sweat. It was apparent that he wouldn't be disapparating, like most of the other Slytherins, as he was dressed to leave the station on foot. Like most purebloods, he didn't have a very good idea of muggle clothing, and what he had chosen to put on was quite bizarre. It included a Christmas sweater and what appeared to be swimming trunks. Wilkes' eyes met Snape's.
"O--oh, S--Severus. I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going."

Snape fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Don't worry about it, Wilkes. Where have you been? I was alone with Avery, you know."

"Hehe, and he was alone with the Prophet, I bet! Huh, Sev?" Wilkes broke down into a fit of disconcerting giggling. Snape took this in stride. It was relatively normal behavior, for Wilkes. Even the other Slytherins didn't particularly like him. Snape had sat with him at dinner a lot, back before he'd gotten to know Rosier, who he rather preferred.

"I have to go," Snape said. "I guess I'll be seeing you, Wilkes."

"Sure, Sev." Wilkes giggled nervous, then clambered off. Snape wondered briefly if he had any idea where he was going. It was rumored that Wilkes hadn't gotten a single NEWT. Granted, Avery might not have done much better, if he hadn't cheated. He shook his head to himself. Sometimes it seemed like pure blood was overrated.

Snape continued on his course. Granted, he wasn't really sure where he was going. He scowled as, only moments after leaving Wilkes, he felt a hand tap on his shoulder. Was he going to have to make small talk with everyone he knew before he had even got off the platform?

He spun, a rude "what?" ready to leave his lips, but it never emerged. He stared into the green eyes of Lily Evans. She was smiling, albeit weakly. She had on her school skirt and a pretty red sweater, and would easily blend in with the muggles outside.

"Hey, Sev."

He managed to prevent his knees from shaking, and then attempted to hold his body so that he didn't look as uncomfortable as he felt. He doubted that it had any effect.

"Lily…"

"I guess I'll be seeing you around this summer?"

"Oh, erm, maybe…"

"Are your parents coming to pick you up?"

She already knew the answer, but the look on his face confirmed it. She pushed on.

"Well, listen, do you need a ride home? My sister's picking me up."

He balanced in his head the pros of a car ride with Lily, and perhaps their first non-forced conversation in two and a half years, and the cons of constant sniping from Petunia Evans. It wasn't a very hard decision.

"Yeah, I sup-"

"Oh, and James, of course," She added, as though she had forgotten. Snape felt his heart plummet to his stomach, where he was fairly certain that it shattered into a million pieces. Worse still, James Potter had appeared behind Lily, hauling their trunks. He sneered slightly at Snape from over Lily's shoulder. He was dressed relatively convincingly. He was a pureblood, so Snape wondered if Lily had had to pick out his clothes for him. Somehow, the idea infuriated him.

"Actually," Snape said, "I wasn't really planning on going home."

"Oh…" she said, concern showing in here eyes. Or, was it fear? "But, where will you go, Sev?"

"I think we've all got a pretty good idea of where he's going to end up," James Potter said, voice dripping with spite.

"James!" Lily said sternly, but her eyes looked less upset than they did sad. Snape avoided meeting them.

"I think I might just get a room on Diagon Alley until I figure out what I want to do."

He doubted he'd be staying on that particular alley. The look in James' eyes suggested that he doubted it, too.

"Well," Lily said, "I heard your NEWT scores were great. In not too long, you'll have your choice of teaching jobs at Hogwarts."

"Sure," Snape said.

"Come on, Lily, we've better get going. You've go to show me how to drive, remember?"

Lily smirked at Snape. "Oh, this'll be a treat."

Snape didn't return the smile. For a moment, no one spoke.

"Well," she said finally, looking at the ground, "I'm sure I'll see you around, Sev."

"Yeah. See you, Lily."

She took a quick step forward, surprising him, and clasped his hand, which had been hanging limply at his side. He felt his pale cheeks flush red. James scowled slightly.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" Lily said, quite softly, and she stared at him until he met her eyes.

"Okay," he said, fairly certain that he was lying. She smiled sadly and turned around, and she and James headed towards the exit together.

Snape stood there staring after her, people streaming around him as he blocked the path. It wasn't until the two of them had nearly reached the barrier and she had looked as though she were about to glance back at him over her shoulder that he spun around and allowed himself to be taken up by the current of the crowd. He headed for a bench and sat heavily upon it, trying to regain his composure. He brought his hand up to his face and stared at it for some time.

Finally, he came back to his feet. The crowds had finally begun to dissipate. Within a few minutes, the place would be deserted. He headed for the barrier, and walked through it.

A hand immediately grabbed him and pulled him into a crowd of people heading towards the building's exit, still quite a ways of. He found himself walking next to Lucius Malfoy. Malfoy's blonde hair was carefully slicked back. He wore loose-fitting black robes, which were getting him quite a few looks from passing muggles. His hand was casually draped over Snape's shoulder. Snape blinked.

"Malfoy!"

"You sound surprised to see me, Snape."

"That would be because I am."

"Come, did you think I was going to let you rot in that half-blood household you came from? I've told him all about you, and he's very excited to meet you."

"The Dark Lord… is excited to meet me?

"Well, perhaps excited is the wrong word. But he's not going to kill you on sight, and that's about as good a deal as you're going to get."

"Erm, no."

"There you are, then."

"Look, Malfoy, I was thinking maybe I'd take a few days to myself."

Malfoy blinked at him, and stopped walking. Several muggles bumped into them, then detoured around them with a series of muttered apologies. Malfoy pulled Snape against the wall, where they were out of the crowd.

"Listen to me, Snape. I'm offering you the deal of a lifetime. You're five years younger than me, but I still kept track of you after I left Hogwarts, because I knew you had talent. I've informed the Dark Lord that you're second to none in potion-making, and a prodigy when it comes to," he smirked as he said it, "Defense Against the Dark Arts. And quite adept at all the other subjects, as well."

"You haven't been exaggerating my abilities, I hope."

"I hope not, too, for both our sakes. You'd better live up to expectations, Snape, or we both just might wind up seeing green."

"Yeah. But like I said, I'm not really sure I want to-"

"Dammit, Snape! This is what you've always wanted! What do you think the other options are? Besides… if you get a job with the Ministry, you'll be working for the Dark Lord within a few months anyway, though it may not be of your own free will.

Snape frowned. "Yes, but…"

Malfoy's face lit up, though it wasn't like it should have been. When Lily's face lit up, Snape recalled, she looked happy, excited. Malfoy just looked malicious, though perhaps, for him, there was no clear distinction between the two. "I know what you need," he said.

Malfoy pushed Snape off the main corridor, into a small alcove containing the bathroom entrances. He then disappeared back into the crowd, leaving Snape standing alone in confusion. A few moments later, Malfoy reappeared. He had dragged a muggle in a business suit out of the crowd, and now shoved him into the alcove even harder than he had Snape. The muggle stumbled by him, hitting the wall at the end of the nook.

"What is the meaning of this?" the man sputtered.

Malfoy ignored him, pointing his wand at the muggle's chest.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The green light lit up the hall, dancing over Malfoy's sneering face. Snape pulled himself back against the wall, trying to get away from the crackling energy. It was over as soon as it began, however. The muggle crumpled to the ground, lifeless. Snape looked at Malfoy, horrified.

"But… they'll…"

Malfoy smiled coyly. "I like to try to see how many laws I can break in a five minute period."

Snape stared. He was having a bit of difficulty believing what he was seeing. There was a cracking sound as someone apparated into the alcove. It was an Auror, though not one Snape had ever seen before. He was wearing dirty brown robes, and looked nervous, though his eyes, locked on Malfoy, showed a certain glimmer of vindication.

"Ah-hah! Lucius Malfoy! You prat, we've got you this time! For using magic in front of a muggle, and for…" he looked down. Any trace of pleasure disappeared from his face. "Oh, God… for… killing a muggle."

Malfoy smiled sedately and put his hands up, wand dangling from the right.

The Auror glanced at Snape, who hadn't drawn his wand. Apparently deciding that he had bigger things to worry about, he turned back to Malfoy.

"Good. Now, drop the wan--"

Snape was surprised by how quick on the draw Malfoy was. The Death Eater flipped his wand back up into his hand in one smooth motion, and then fluidly brought his arm around, the wand level with the brown-robed man's neck. The Auror's eyes went wide."Stupef—"

"Expelliarmus," Malfoy said softly, and the Auror's wand popped out of his hand, straight up into the air. Snape blinked as it came down towards him, and he caught it automatically.

Malfoy grinned. "Thank you, Severus. Crucio."

The Auror seemed to melt to the ground, screaming so loudly that Snape felt like his ear drums were going to burst. He pointed the captured wand at the exit leading out to the main corridor. "Muffliato," he said.

Malfoy walked in a wide circle around the Auror so that he was standing on the other side of him. He stared at his wand for a few moments, as though bored, and then aimed it once again at the sobbing wizard.

"Crucio!"
Inconceivably, the screaming was actually worse this time.

"Crucio!"

It occurred to Snape that he wasn't actually sure what happened when you casted the Cruciatus Curse on someone repeatedly. Could it kill them? He was thankful that he wasn't going to find out. Malfoy had suddenly put his wand away.

"That will do. Let's go, Snape."

Snape's eyes went wide when Malfoy used his name in front of a Ministry official, but he headed for the exit of the nook anyway. Malfoy had to step over the downed Auror, kicking him harshly in the ribs as he did so. The pain this caused was apparently inconsequential, compared to the Cruciatus Curse. The wizard was still crying, but showed no other reaction.

Upon reaching the corridor, Malfoy pulled his wand and turned back around, aiming at the shaking Auror's back. Snape winced, ready for the worst.

"Obliviate," Malfoy said. The man on the floor showed no change in behavior.

Snape frowned as the two of them headed, once again, towards the exit of King's Cross. "You erased his memory? But then, why is he still in pain?"
"I didn't erase the pain. Only our faces and names. He has no idea who we were, but he knows full well what happened to him when he tried to meddle with the affairs of a Death Eater."
"Hmm. Is erasing their memory the Dark Lord's idea?"

Malfoy frowned, and suddenly looked rather worried. "Erm, no. I just feel it's preferable."

Snape contained a smirk. The Dark Lord had never been more powerful, yet Malfoy was still hedging his bets to make sure he'd have deniability should anything happen to change the balance of power. He supposed it had never occurred to Malfoy that he might just avoid going around killing people arbitrarily.

"So," said Malfoy, clearly trying to change the subject, "how many laws do you figure that was, Snape?

"Uhm."

"I believe it was five, assuming we only count 'use of an unforgivable curse' once."

"Ahh…"

Snape felt a little burnt out. He had certainly heard about the marked increase in muggle deaths over the past few years, and it had been obvious that the Dark Lord was responsible. However, it had never occurred to him that most of the deaths might have just been caused by unsupervised Death Eaters getting their jollies. It seemed so… amateurish, if nothing else.

"What was that spell you used? You made it so no one could hear him?"
"Yes."

"Good thinking. I was looking forward to when some muggles came in to help him, though."

I know, thought Snape.

"Of course, we could disparate, but it's actually not very far, and I like a stroll among the commoners now and again, don't you, Snape?"

Snape didn't reply. It occurred to him that, in a few minutes, he would be face to face with the Dark Lord. Putting distance between himself and Lily had made him feel a bit better. The incident with the Auror was already forgotten as he thought about meeting the Dark Lord, and he considered, pleased, that it was about time.