Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and publishers, not me, sadly.
Reaffirmation
Good luck, then.
Dumbledore's last words to me, before I departed...possibly the last words he will ever say to me. Good luck. Hah. You don't need just good luck where I'm going. You need the most powerful charm on Earth...rather like the one Potter has. Or rather had, since Voldemort seems to have broken that.
Good luck.
They said Diggory had luck. He died. They said Potter had luck. His blood revived the Dark Lord. And now I must do the one thing I have been dreading for thirteen years. I must live again a double life, as a spy. As a Death Eater.
Curse the day I was ever branded with that accursed mark! If I had known what it would lead me to, I would never have done it at all. Or maybe I would have. How am I to know?
Good luck.
Apparating...so easy, when you know your heading. I know what I must do; I have to go through with this torture for this to work. If it doesn't, if Voldemort isn't fooled...well, I'll be dead, and Dumbledore will have to find someone else to be the Potions Master. Pity.
Ah, look, there's the rest of the Death Eaters now...faithless scum that they are...probably wondering what took me so long. I see a great deal of familiar faces in the crowd there...Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Avery...all glaring. Is it possible some of them know the truth?
No, that cannot be! It is known only to Dumbledore, myself, and a few others who were at that trial. None of which are here tonight. My secret is safe. For now.
Good luck.
That's right, stand aside you scum, make way for Severus Snape. The mysterious one, the one no one truly knows the whole story about. The one who will betray you all.
Ah, Severus...back after so long?
Voldemort, waiting for me at the end of a long row of Death Eaters, looking just as I remembered him...snake-like. Evil beyond the means of any true, mortal man. Though he is neither mortal nor immortal, rather some ghastly place in between.
Approach me.
I can only nod my head, and bend forward to kiss the hem of his damnedable robes. I know what I must do. This has to work. I have returned, my Lord. Empty words. indeed. I have returned to your service, to be your faithful servant, my Lord.
He nods beneath his cloak, reaching for his wand. I cannot see his face from here. Hold out your left forearm, Snape. His very voice is a command, an Imperius curse in disguise. I can do nothing but what he asks of me, baring my arm and the Dark Mark upon it for him to see.
With my head still pointed to the ground, I see little of what he does. But I feel the stinging sensation of his wand, upon my arm, and then the terrible burning of the Dark Mark. He has done it. I am once again of his ranks, and yet I am not, at the same time.
You are reaffirmed. Stand up, Severus. I stand, but I will not face him. I could not bring myself to look at those dark red eyes. The eyes of pure evil. You are a Professor at Hogwarts now, are you not?
I am, my Lord.
Good...good...you will be my spy there, Severus. If Dumbledore was blind enough to trust you the first time, he'll overlook your subterfuge easily. Go, return before morning. Before they suspect you.
I bow once more, turning and walking through the other Death Eaters as quickly as I dare. I have to get away from here. Voldemort does not seem to know of my betrayal...but if he were to find out...I dare not think of it. Avada Kedavra would be too good a punishment for me, then.
Oh, and Severus? I turn, and see those eyes. Those hateful eyes. Looking straight at me, straight through me.
Yes, my Lord?
Good luck.
