Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except Devlyn. I am not making money from this or any of my other fics.
Chapter One:
The room was dark, the only light being the half moon that sat out in the night sky.
The room was silent, other then the quiet moaning, and the shuddering breathes coming from the now, only occupant in the room.
He couldn't move, he tried, but his body wouldn't co-operate, he knew what had happened and wondered why he was still alive, why he was still able to breath, he wished that he wasn't able to.
The family that they had been sent to kill were still in the house, the mother in the kitchen, the father in the study and here he was in the sitting room, and that's when he realised that even if he had the strength to move, he would not know who to go to first, the body of the small boy's dead mother, or that of his father, and then before another thought could breeze through his mind, darkness consumed him.
He slid in and out of consciousness, for what seemed like forever, the smell was becoming strong, he had seen sunrise and sunset more then once and wondered if he would die before help came, he had calculated that it had been two days since the night the house had been attacked, but no one had come for them, he was alone, and he was dying slowly from blood loss.
he knew that someone would turn up eventually; the attack had come the day before he was meant to return to Grimuald Place, but he was on the floor, covered in blood, and it was not the first time that he thought, maybe no one would miss him, maybe he had been forgotten, even the master spy couldn't live forever.
He hoped it was all a nightmare, something he would wake up from, but the pain was real, the cold he felt was real, and the feelings of loss and betrayal were real. Then as he thought all hope was lost, that no one would come, he heard some noise, a few sudden pops, and he closed her eyes, hoping that it was not anyone coming to finish what had already been started.
He opened his eyes at the sound of his name being called, he could hardly focus, and he wondered if the sounds had been real, or just a hope that he thought he had lost.
"Severus, where are you?"
He knew that voice; it was Remus Lupin. For the first time in two days, he felt adrenalin shoot through his body, and hoped he would be able to move, he had to get to the voice, even if it was the old Lycan.
He pushed himself up, using the couch that he was behind as leverage, he heard the gasps, and realised they had found the dead parents. He needed to get to them, he knew he would pass out again soon, but he got up, he gritted his teeth from the pain.
It took all of his strength and all of his will power, he was up, and he made his way to the wall, and used it to keep himself up, his own blood staining the walls as he slid further towards the kitchen, towards the noise.
As he got to the doorframe, he lost his strength and slid down the wall, with a small thump, as he hit the ground. He tried to call for them, but he couldn't talk, coughing up blood in the attempts.
But it had worked, he heard footsteps getting closer, he heard his name being called again, and then as he saw someone's leg move out from the kitchen and stop beside him, the owner gasping and falling to there knees, he saw a pair of eyes look into his own, and then voices again. He made out the voices, and was happy probably for the first time in his life that the new girl Praxis had been inducted into the order and was intelligent enough to know that even though someone's parents were dead in the next room, that there was nothing she could do for them, but as long as breath was in his body, she could help him.
"We have to get him to St Mungo's," One of them said.
Before Severus could disagree, the darkness overtook him once more.
They say that life flashes before your eyes when you die, but it doesn't.
You are surrounded in darkness, you are alone, your thoughts are all you have, and it is then your hopes and wishes are split in two.
You can't decide, you fear waking up, and then you fear dying, but you still can't decide which it is you want.
And that's when it happens, that's when you make the list, it's like a dream of memories helping you, guiding you to your ultimate fate.
The memories you had tried so hard to forget, the ones of darkness, the most horrible and terrifying moments in your life stroll by, hoping that you will take the easy way out, the decision of dying, of loosing that hope everyone told you to hang on to till the very end.
And then the good memories, the ones you were happy in, but that voice in the back of your mind creeps in, 'were you really happy, or is that what you wanted them to believe?' and as much as you want the voice to stop, you still think about its questions, and you wonder if it would be worth waking up.
And then when you think you have made your mind up, that you have nothing left, that it would make everyone's life better, that you don't have anyone left, that's when that one memory pops up, a pair of eyes, and a smile you have spent years trying to forget and months knowing you will never forget it, trying to store somewhere in the back of your mind, because you can't have it, because it hurts to much to think about it, because you know what everyone will say if and when they find out, and you suddenly realise that if you can open your eyes one last time and see them, then you can't pass without ever wondering will they be ok if you leave them here alone.
And you change your mind, you decide, you will give it one last try, that having life return to you is not a want but a need, and the colour starts returning to the darkness.
He could hear voices around him, and his eyes feeling so heavy opened slightly, moaning in pain as his chest rose and then fell, in his memories it had never hurt to breath as much as it did right now, and he wondered if he was now dreaming, if death had come to him even though he had opted to live even for only a few more minutes, hours or days, he forced the pain away, knowing even all the pain in the world would not stop him seeing those eyes just once more.
Yes it may be something no one ever thinks of, but even the darkest souls have something they need to live for.
A moan came from the bed before them, and everyone turned quickly in time to see his eyes open slightly, and all of a sudden everyone let out a breath that they had been holding for the last few minutes.
"Severus, can you hear us?"
"Water," He coughed out, trying to focus his eyes on the people in front of him.
He didn't know how long he had been out, but he slowly recognised the room to be one inside St Mungos.
FLASHBACK:
Severus Snape was sitting down having a nightcap, when his Dark Mark began to burn.
He gulped down the remaining liquid from his glass and went to his rooms to don his Death Eater robes and mask, before using his very own secret passage way that took him directly to the gates of Hogwarts, where he touched his wand to the ink imbedded in his skin and apparated to the dark lords side.
The initial full member meeting lasted for an hour, before the Dark Lord dismissed those beyond his inner circle to rally up new troops for his dark army.
Once the last 'junior' Death Eater had left, the Dark Lord told his inner circle to sit and listen, for they had a job to do.
"My loyal servants, tonight we will make a difference in our pureblood world, tonight we will exterminate some of those vile vermin called Mudblood, the enemy and those who fight with and protect their kind."
Some excited chatter rang through the chamber at the Dark Lords words.
"Nott, your group will hit the marked houses to the north, and Lucius, your group with hit the marked houses to the south. You know what is desired from each of you, be gone," The Dark Lord said dismissing his dark soldiers into the night.
The inner circle bowed in respect and left with the distinct sounds of apparation to their new missions.
Severus, Lucius, Avery, Lestrange and two others moved through two empty muggle houses before finding any of their intended targets.
Severus spotted a picture of a small family, a mother, a father and a small boy looking forward, with big smiles on their faces, smiles anyone could tell were anything but faked, and at the moment he laid eyes on the boys picture he knew that their was something special about him, that something was different and needed to be protected.
The next few moments were the hardest of his life, because in the space of two minutes, he had decided to defy the orders of both the masters of his insignificant, miserable life.
He waited for the right time and struck, killing the two unknown Death Eaters and Avery, who had their wands pointed to the young boy bound magically in the corner.
He pulled his emergency portkey from around his neck, unbound the boy and placed said portkey around his neck, activating is a mere second later.
By the time the boy had disappeared before his eyes, Lucius and Lestrange had not only killed the boys guardians, but had also stumbled across Severus' betrayal. They found him soon after and tortured him. Only leaving when they assumed he would die choking on his own blood and vomit, or would die due to blood loss and the deep wounds they had given him.
END OF FLASH BACK
A young frightened boy landed on a four poster bed, in an unknown house.
Lightening lit the sky outside, but darkness continued to fill the room. The boy began to rock back and forth, and started to speak in an ancient tongue.
A multi coloured light flashed into and engulfed the room, and once again the room was dark, and empty.
When the boy opened his eyes again he was pleased to find himself at the side of his saviour Severus Snape.
Please R&R