Severus had only been travelling with Alastor for a few days, and could already tell he was not going to make it an easy trip. Why Dumbledore decided to have them work together, he couldn't say. At first he was thrilled at the idea of travelling to Cairo to retrieve an artifact. The tales of ancient Egyptian wizardry were legendary. The Egyptians had always been known for their superb alchemical knowledge and their excellent use of curses. It was odd Albus wouldn't tell him what the artifact was for, but it seemed like a thrilling adventure nonetheless. That was until he learned who would be accompanying him. Albus insisted they go together, saying it would be too treacherous to go alone. He justified the pairing saying Severus was the alchemical expert, and Moody would be able to help successfully navigate a tomb that most certainly would be rife with curses. Severus almost told him he wouldn't go, but he sensed a strange urgency in Albus as he was making his request. As much of an annoyance Alastor may be, this quest seemed far too important to Albus for Severus to say no.

Once they arrived in Cairo, they were greeted by a guide Dumbledore had arranged. He showed them to the hotel they would be staying in, and gave them a map showing how to get to the specific pyramid this artifact was said to be held in. Dumbledore was careful not to give the guide too much information. The guide knew that he was to expect two men to arrive on Dumbledore's behalf, and they were to be given suitable accommodations, and they were to be given this map. They would know what to do from there. It seemed simple enough, but to get sudden word like that from someone as powerful as Dumbledore still made the man nervous. As soon as Severus and Alastor were shown their rooms and given the map, the guide made himself scarce.

"Well. So much for a warm welcome." Alastor laughed and dropped his suitcase on his bed.

"The boy was scared and rightly so. I believe Dumbledore may not have given us the full story on this artifact we're fetching. I've had a bad feeling about this since before we boarded that bloody plane." Severus stated as he waved his wand and had his things start unpacking themselves.

"Hell, Severus, have you ever had a good feeling about anything? Use that bloody big head of yours. There's a reason Dumbledore sent us and not some bloody new recruit. Voldemort wants this artifact as much as we do. Think about that. Now, I'm going to get some sleep. Be ready at 5am." Alastor put the last of his things away and went to bed.

Severus lay awake for a while and contemplated the day ahead. Moody could make all the jokes he wanted, it didn't change the fact that their lives were in real danger. Realizing he wasn't going to sleep that night, he stood up and started preparing all his supplies for the trip. He prepared several sample bottles to take home some rare ingredients in, and various draughts just in case anything went wrong. As the sun was starting to rise, he sat down and began to write a letter to Lily in case anything were to happen. If he didn't make it back, he wanted her to know that he always loved her. They had known each other almost all their lives but just started dating a year ago. She was very proud that Dumbledore chose him for this, but also worried sick for him. He tucked the letter into his bag and waited for Moody to wake up.

Moody woke promptly at five as he said he would. They headed out as soon as Moody gathered his things. They took camels the rest of the way so as to appear as tourists and not draw attention to themselves. It was several hours by camel to the specific pyramid they were looking for. As they headed out, the sick feeling in Snape's stomach only got worse. The first issue was he hated dealing with muggle animals. He hated the fact that they were so unpredictable and difficult to control. The camel was no different, stopping whenever it pleased, and spitting on everything in sight. The camel combined with the already intense heat was annoying him severely. Moody tried to tell him to wear a lighter color, but he didn't own any white robes and wasn't about to start now.

They were about halfway to the pyramid and after several failed attempts at conversation, Alastor resigned to ride quietly next to Severus, regardless of how intensely bored he was by this point. Severus was near exhaustion from the heat and uncomfortable ride thus far, and started to suggest they put up a shelter and rest for an hour or so. Before he could finish his sentence, a great wind started to stir ahead of them and they saw the sand picking up almost in the shape of a wave.

"It's a sandstorm! Cover your face!" Moody yelled and they did their best to turn away and keep a hold on their camels. The sand was pushing them almost like a wall. The camels almost started walking backward and as the storm pressed on they were becoming more and more difficult to hold still. It went on for what felt like hours and was getting increasingly painful. Sev was tempted to try and cast something to shield himself, but didn't want to risk losing his wand. He found it odd they were running into this when he made a point to check with all wizard and muggle weather sources and none of them predicted a storm like this would occur today. It could very well be coincidence, but he didn't think so.

After almost a half hour of having waves of sand pounded on them, it seemed to finally let up. They shook the sand out of their things the best they could and continued on. Another 3 hours passed and they were upon the pyramid. While the storm had delayed them a bit, they were still on schedule enough to not run into any muggle tourists. It wasn't as big as the pyramids of Giza, but it was breathtaking nonetheless. For the first time since they set out on this journey, Severus was excited.

According to the map, there was a magical entrance hidden on the left side of the pyramid. Severus quickly traced a pattern in the stones with his wand. The stones within the pattern appeared to crumble away to allow them to pass through. Once they entered the stones reformed themselves, sealing them inside. It was pitch black inside as they expected. Snape promptly illuminated his wand and referred back to the map. According to the map, the artifact they were searching for was three floors down. Three cursed floors Sev suspected. The Egyptian wizards weren't going to make it easy to reach one of their greatest treasures.

Once he was reasonably sure of the path, he waved his wand about to try and get a better look at his surroundings. As his eyes adjusted he started to see piles of bones and beetles strewn across the floor. It didn't surprise them. They were told that several people had attempted to reach this item and lost their lives in the process. They stood there for a moment to get their bearings, when Moody saw a green gas seeping from a corner of the room.

"It's poison! Use the bubble head charm!" he started coughing as he cast a bubble head on himself.

Severus started choking and cast one on himself just in time. The room quickly filled with this poison gas. It was surely just a taste of the deterrents they would encounter. Once they caught their breath, Moody took notes of everything in a pad he was carrying, and Severus collected some samples of bone and a couple beetles. Once they had enough information they made their way down to the next floor, keeping the bubbles on just in case.

They came upon a set of steep stone steps and slowly began their descent. The steps ended abruptly and Severus grabbed Moody before he walked off the edge.

"The floor is two feet down, and there are one foot spikes coming up from it. If you step down, you'll lose the other leg, and maybe your life." Sev whispered.

"We'll have to use a levitation charm then." Moody said and started whispering the incantation when Sev stopped him again.

"What now Severus?!" he exclaimed.

"Look you idiot." Severus whispered and pointed to the very end of the room. As they looked, torches lit themselves all around the room.

Poised on a pedestal overlooking the room, was a large sphinx. She was a magnificent creature to behold. She had the body of an immensely muscular lion and the head of a beautiful Egyptian woman. Severus could not help but stare. He also couldn't help but notice that she was injured. She had what appeared to be puncture wounds on her neck, and scratches all across her body. It didn't appear to bother her though. She sat perfectly calm with her paws crossed and eyes closed and addressed them.

"I've been waiting for you. Severus. Alastor. Are you prepared to solve my riddle?" She snarled at them and opened her eyes suddenly.

Severus recognized that voice. Nagini. It couldn't be! He knew something wasn't right. Could Albus have known this was a trap? It didn't matter now. He had to warn Moody.

"Mad Eye! It's not a bloody Sphinx it's Nagini! It's an illusion!" he yelled and readied his wand. Mad Eye cast a levitation charm on them both and stood at the ready.

"Severus. You were always so clever. Pity you couldn't play along a bit more." Her illusion faded as she turned back into a python and started heading towards them. Somehow she was avoiding all the spikes on the floor deftly slithering between them. Mad Eye aimed his wand at her and started shouting curses as he levitated across the room. Severus started doing the same. She was very quick and was easily dodging them. As he was levitating around the room Severus spotted the corpse of the actual Sphinx. He thought it a great shame such a wondrous creature had to die at the hands of Voldemort's pet.

They battled around the room, curses flying everywhere and Nagini striking when she saw a chance. She landed a strike on Severus's ankle and latched on. Snape cried out in pain, and Moody took the opportunity to stun her and remove her from Snapes leg. Once Moody had her removed, Snape started searching his bag for an anti-venom serum. He was already starting to lose consciousness so he had to act quickly. After fumbling for a moment, he found one and quickly downed it. It tasted terrible but it quickly did its job and the venom started to ooze out of his wound onto the floor. Once he was sure it was all out, the started heading down to the next room, Nagini in hand.

"Damned bloody snake. I would kill it. but I'm pretty sure its "daddy" is waiting on it down here. If we're lucky Snape, we'll be able to take out Voldemort and get this damned artifact all in one go." Mad Eye exclaimed, shaking the unconscious python in his grip.

"If he wasn't here already, he will be soon, knowing his filthy pet is in danger. And if he's here, the artifact is as good as lost to us." Snape growled in pain while closing his wound with his wand.

They made their way down to the final level. The floor was made of dirt and there were more bones and bugs everywhere. This was a much larger room than the others and it seemed to lead into two other chambers. There wasn't anything of note in the main room so they decided to check the side chambers.

"You take the left, I'll take the right. Do not hesitate to kill that thing if anything goes wrong. Shout if you need me." Snape told Moody.

"Oh it'll be my pleasure when the time comes." Moody smiled and nodded. He shook the snake a bit more and started heading towards the left chamber.

Severus went into the right chamber wand first. There was nothing in the chamber except for a single sarcophagus in the center. It was elaborately decorated. He thought it had to be someone of importance. He was examining the hieroglyphics when he heard a shout from the other chamber. Apparently Nagini had awoken before Mad Eye could react properly. She had him by the arm. Snape quickly stunned her and removed her for Mad Eyes arm. He handed Mad Eye an anti-venom and pulled a dagger out of his bag. He had grown beyond tired of this wretched animal, no longer caring to use her as a hostage. He slammed her down on the floor and took her head off with one fell chop.

Once her head was off, he yelled for Moody to follow him and went back to the other chamber. Together they started prying the lid from the sarcophagus working as fast as possible. Once the lid they came off it revealed a corpse of what must have been a beautiful woman of noble status. She was clutching a beautiful solid gold staff with a sphinx made entirely of Sapphire at the top. Sev could feel the power coming off of it. He could also sense that Voldemort was nearby.

"SNAPE!" Voldemort shouted as he had almost reached the chamber.

"Grab my arm we have to leave now." he whispered to Moody, and grabbed the staff. Mad Eye hesitated, at first wanting to stand his ground and fight, but quickly realized that was not the best idea. He gripped Snape's arm and they apparated away.

The next thing they knew they were safely in Dumbledore's office. Lily was standing there and immediately fell into Severus's arms. He held her tight as she cried. Dumbledore took the staff from him and quickly disappeared. A couple moments later Dumbledore reappeared.

"That was very close. Severus, Alastor. Thank you both. We are unsure exactly what the staff is capable of, but we know Voldemort was planning on turning it into a horcrux. Now it is stored here, so it can be protected and safely researched. Also, Severus, your defeating Nagini has given us a great advantage. Although it is bound to upset you-know who so we had best be on high alert." Albus said to everyone.

"You killed Nagini? That's incredible!" Lily exclaimed and hugged Severus tighter.

"Yep. Chopped her head right off he did, after she took a chunk from my bloody arm." Mad Eye laughed and slapped Severus on the back.

Authors Note-

School-Mahoutokoro

Theme- Seeking

Prompt-Egyptian Tombs or Pyramids

Year-5th

Word Count- 2511