This is Snape's POV. I'm thinking of writing the next chapter from Hagrid's POV, or possibly McGonagall's. Please Review. Before you ask, I don't want to do the next chapter from Lilly's, James's, or Dumbledore's POV. I kind of want to have the story told in ways that haven't really been gone over in the books. I'm thinking I will add a chapter later from Sirius's POV, or possibly Lupins...That would make things interesting. I know I didn't really go in to detail when Peter told the story, there was a reason for that. I don't really like the idea of Draco being younger than Harry, but I wanted a way to explain his existence without gong in to too much detail. Do you think I should start the next chapter where I left off, with another character in Hogwarts, or start over and have another character tell the story from his/her POV? It will all come together in the end.
I sat in my bedroom, staring at the wall. I was waiting. I was waiting on the Dark Lord to tell us the news I had always hoped wouldn't come. I could no longer handle the pain. I reached for the nearest lamp and threw it, with all of my might at the wall. It shattered from the impact and lay on my cold wooden floor in pieces.
I paced back and forth, hoping against hope that my suspicions weren't true.
I had woken up in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat and dire panic. I had felt a part of me die that night. I could feel the anguish ripping a giant hole in my heart that could never be healed.
I glanced toward the window. The streetlights flickered and insects buzzed. A few muggle children were still out trick-or-treating. It all seemed so wrong. How could every thing seem so peaceful on a night like this?
I remembered the meeting I had attended only yesterday.
"The keeper has to be one of their friends. Knowing James, He would only pick one of his closest friends. Since it isn't me, it has to be either Sirius or Remus."
Peter had said this nervously, occasionally glancing at the door, as if he was considering sprinting away. I watched as the Dark Lord smiled imperiously.
"Ah, Peter, let's say I were to try and convince one of them to lend me this information. They are friends of yours right? In your opinion, might they give me the information I need?"
I grimaced. My fellow death eaters were grinning as the Lord toyed with Pettigrew.
Peter was visibly sweating when he replied, shakily.
"N-No my Lord. I believe they would d-die before giving y-you their location."
He was drenched in nervous sweat, and was now determinedly trying not to look at Voldemort's face.
"And you, Peter," he started in an acidic tone. I had an intense hatred for the way he dragged out his words in a sick, maniacal way.
"Will you give me the location of the Potters, in the event that they would give you that information?"
Peter now forced himself to look up in to his snake-like eyes.
"Y-Y-Yes my lord."
I raked my fingers through my hair. James used to that. That was when I realized that I had subconsciously used the pas-temps. I wanted to scream. He had taken the love of my life from me, and somewhere I knew in the back of my mind that they were both dead.
That was when I heard an urgent pecking on my window. I opened it and a majestic black owl flew in to my bedroom. I knew this owl. It belonged to the Malfoys.
I untied the letter that had been attached to it's leg in a sleek black ribbon. Written on the snow-white parchment in hasty short hand was one short sentence.
Apparate to the manner immediately.
Something was wrong. If a meeting was being held, why hadn't the Dark Lord summoned us? I glanced down at my forearm. My dark mark was faded to a point where it was barely visible. Barely. Something was very wrong.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them, I was standing in front of a familiar steel gate, embroidered with a large "M". I walked up to them and they automatically swung open, noiselessly.
I ran until I reached the room with the long table, where we often met. I burst through the door and everyone fell silent.
Most of them were still wearing nightclothes, but a few of them had hastily thrown on clothing. Many of them had obviously been crying. Lucius sat at the head of the table, in the Dark Lord's place. Narcissa looked oddly out of place, sitting to the left of Lucius in the place where he usually sat. She was six months pregnant and she had tears streaking down her face. Somehow her dark makeup had remained perfect and she still looked scary.
Lucius finally spoke.
"Severus, take a seat. Something horrible has happened."
He said this in his usual cold voice, but something in it was different. There was an undertone of sadness in his strict, powerful voice.
Considering the fact that he was one of the most horrible people I knew, if he says something is horrible, it must be pretty bad.
I did as he said and sat in my usual seat.
This was when Peter spoke up.
"They asked me to be their secret keeper. The Dark Lord went to their house and killed both J-James and L-Lilly." He paused to put his head in his hands and let out a loud sob. I forced my self to hold back my own tears. It was true.
Peter forced him self to continue.
"S-So the Dark Lord tried to kill the boy, but the curse backfired. The Dark Lord has fallen."
Oddly enough, I was the only one who hadn't reduced to tears at this point. Somehow I knew that the Dark Lord was not dead. The same way I had known that the Potters had been killed. I just knew.
I pushed back my chair and let it fall to the floor. I heard Narcissa wince as her mahogany dining room chair clattered and cracked against the white marble floor.
I stormed out of the room. It wasn't until I had lost myself inside their manner that I let the tears fall. As I sobbed uncontrollably, I realized where I needed to go.
I walked until I found a lit fire in one of the Malfoy's many parlors. I reached in to my coat and grabbed a hand full of floo powder. I threw it in to the green flame and spoke with no emotion.
"Hogwarts."
