A/N Well, this is the first real fanfiction story that I've written in a while. And the first Harry Potter one for sure. I'm still learning. I know I'm not great, I'm definitely far from good even. But I hope it's not too terrible for anyone to read. I'll try to update as often as I can. My goal is at least once a week, but we'll have to see how that works out with school and homework. I hope you enjoy.
Please review! :)
We all have demons.
They haunt you,
torment you,
terrify you.
And you can't escape.
Locked in a constant battle,
wishing for the end.
But the end never comes.
Severus Snape didn't know what he was going to do. He was stuck with two options; betray Dumbledore and run away from confronting the Dark Lord or walk right into his death in Voldemort's open arms.
He continued pacing the Headmaster's office, unsure of who he would hear from first and how it would affect his decision. He didn't have to wait much longer thought, for a moment later, Albus Dumbledore returned to his portrait frame hanging on the wall. Snape snapped to attention, giving the portrait a rather irritated glare.
"It's almost time, Severus. Lucius will be sent to find you at Voldemort's request any second now." Dumbledore peered down at Snape over the top of his half-moon glasses, as if knowing where his thoughts had been earlier.
"Wonderful, Headmaster. I assume that the Potter boy will be heading to the Shrieking Shack to play the hero soon?" Snape drawled.
"Yes, they're on their way to attempt to kill Nagini."
"So Potter has a death wish then?" Snape sneered, almost entertained by the thought of James Potter's son being killed playing the hero that James always wanted to be. "Or does he just not realize the Dark Lord is protecting Nagini and keeping her close at all costs."
"He's perfectly aware of Voldemort protecting Nagini, but he's going to see if there is perhaps an opening where they would be able to sneak an attack in to destroy the snake."
"There will be no opening-"
"No, but you can't let him think that, now can you Severus?" Dumbledore interrupted. "He needs hope, that's the only way we'll get through this war."
As if there is any real hope. Snape thought. "Very well, Headmaster. I should go now. I can feel the Dark Mark beginning to tingle."
With that, Severus strode out of the Headmaster's office, fully aware that every painting had its eyes locked on his retreating back.
Hermione had a really bad feeling about their plan to sneak out to the Shrieking Shack. She kept trying to press Harry and Ron to change their minds, but they wouldn't listen. Finally, she just gave up, nothing she said would change their mind.
"Under the invisibility cloak, we don't need to be seen." Harry ordered.
Ron and Hermione complied, and she even cast a disillusionment charm so that there was no change their feed could be seen beneath the cloak.
"Good thinking, 'Mione." Ron praised her.
"Thanks," she muttered, distracted by the fear that was rising in her throat.
Halfway to the Whomping Willow and its secret passageway to the Shrieking Shack, there was a sudden wailing, like that of an alarm, and before they knew it, spells cast by Death Eaters were flying every which way around them.
"Split up," Harry said, when he finally accepted that hiding under the cloak was only hindering and making them more vulnerable to being hit by a stray spell, not helping at all. "Run!"
The trio split, running in different directions while dodging and avoiding the flying jinxes around them. Hermione found herself running towards the Forbidden Forest in a weaving pattern. Just as she breached the border of the forest and was lost to the site of the Death Eaters on the school grounds, she ran right into a tall, lanky person who might as well have been a brick wall right then. She felt arms encircle her, catching her, supporting her, trapping her, in their surprise to find her there.
Before Hermione could so much as catch her breath and see just who she had ran into, she felt the pull and compression on her chest that signified an apparition. It was too much for her when it was over with, the effects of apparating caught up to her, and she passed out in the arms that were still holding her.
Snape couldn't keep up with the chain of events that just kept going, leaving him behind in the tracks, no matter how much a part of them he was.
He had been making his way to the Shrieking Shack, walking through the Forbidden Forest as a safe short cut, when Hermione Granger, of all people, came running out of nowhere, right into his arms. From there, he had panicked, whether from his own fears or the ones radiating off of Granger, he didn't know. But his first instinct was to get away from there and that is what he did, apparating himself and the bushy-headed Granger to his mother's old house, a place he hadn't been for years. One that no one else knew about. One that was safe.
He gasped in pain when the Dark Mark burned upon his arm, but he knew that he wasn't going to answer to it. Not now that he was away from the danger of the war and he was in a safe place for once in his life.
He looked down at Granger, passed out in his arms, and he curled his lip in distaste. It was a shame that he'd drug her along, but it had been a spur of the moment thing that was done with now.
She'll have to accept that she's stuck with me now. He thought to himself, as he carried her up to a guest bedroom and laid her on the bed. And yes, she was stuck. He didn't plan on returning to the wizarding world anytime soon, and as long as his residence was safe and a secret, he certainly wasn't going to let her go and blab about it to all her friends, ruining his safety that he'd finally found and the peace that would come with it.
No, she's most definitely stuck with me…
I definitely do not own any of the characters in this story or anything about it. It's all the property of the wonderful J.K. Rowling, who gifted us with these amazing characters in the first place.