As the Potions Master walked briskly out into the night, Tonks followed him. She was, for once, able to remain silent as she kept up with his pace but at a reasonable distance to prevent the likelihood of her being seen. She didn't even know entirely why she was following him. She just had a feeling in her stomach that it was the right thing to do and so, she decided to do it.
He opened the gates, taking a quick look behind him to check he wasn't being followed. Tonks managed to remain still enough in the shadows of a nearby tree which just happened to be handily positioned there so that she wasn't seen. He allowed the gate to swing closed behind him, giving her just enough time to squeeze through before it closed and locked behind them. If anyone noticed she was missing, she knew she'd be in a lot of trouble. She was fairly certain nobody knew he had left either because he had don so in such a discrete manner. At any rate, if anything bad happened the two disappearances would at least be linked, or so she hoped.
They took the pathway to Hogsmeade, Tonks keeping at least ten steps behind Snape at all times and remaining as close to silent as was possible. Suddenly, Snape seemed to speed up as though he had realised he was late for something. Tonks found it more difficult to keep up so decided she would just make sure she kept him in sight as there was nowhere other than Hogsmeade to go to along that pathway. Little did she know that the meeting Snape was attending was on the pathway, not at Hogsmeade.
It was pitch black and the moon was barely out; probably a good coincidence considering that Fenrir Greyback had ensured that his pack was much larger now. Tonks was almost entirely unaware of the fact that there was a sudden tenseness in the atmosphere until there was a loud crack and ten death eaters suddenly surrounded Snape. Tonks gasped, shrinking back behind some bushes and listening intently to what they were saying.
"So, Snape, you decided to show up," said a voice that Tonks recognised to be that of her aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange. Snape either made no response or spoke too quietly for Tonks to hear and the next statement from her aunt followed only moments later, "We've discovered a spy within our ranks, Snape, and it appears that spy is you!"
Snape's body became considerably paler, although Tonks was unable to see this happening. The only reason she became aware of this fact was when another voice pointed it out to the group, "Well, well, well, he's acknowledging it by his change in colour!"
The group laughed and, above all the laughs of the other people there, the cackle of Bellatrix was the most audible. "Crucio!" Bellatrix shouted once the laughter was beginning to subside and an almost blinding light shot from the end of the wand of the witch. The menacing laughter seemed to get worse again as Snape writhed in agony on the floor. Another spell must ave been fired as well as Snape was then sent flying backwards into a tree which tore his robes. The light from the various spells now being fired at Snape was enough to show Tonks that he was bleeding and fairly badly hurt and she felt very sympathetic towards him.
Before she had even realised what she was doing, Tonks had drawn her own wand and a green light had shot from the end of it. She gasped as one of the death eaters fell dead to the ground, having not even remembered saying anything, and the laughter stopped. "He didn't come alone," exclaimed one of the death eaters.
"He could have any number of people with him!" added another and they were gone within a matter of seconds to protect their own lives. Voldemort was yet to rise again and their plans being passed to the Order of the Phoenix meant very little to them for now. When he did truly return though, the life of Snape would certainly not be safe if their accusations had been true and Tonks knew that.
She went straight over to Snape to see if he was conscious and was glad to see that he was. "Professor?" she asked in nothing more than a whisper. Her wand was still drawn as she realised they may have still been around. "Finite Incantatum," she said, having remembered something Snape had once told them in a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson he had covered about spells often still being active and being used to determine how safe it was for the dark side to return to the scene of the crime. In most cases, if it was just a chance passer by, or so they had been told, the need to use that particular spell would be less prominent.
"Did you follow me?" Snape asked, sounding rather harsh and angry despite the clear pain he was in. He sat up slowly, trying to hide the pain but not being particularly successful. "Go back to the school and tell nobody you saw me here," he snarled at Tonks as menacingly as he could muster.
Tonks was slightly scared of her Professor when he was clearly much more powerful than he had ever let on. He was obviously a member of the death eaters or he wouldn't have been recognised by them all, or have been accused of being a traitor. She still didn't want to leave him when he was clearly in pain though. "I can't leave you here, Professor," she replied, her eyes glancing back at the body of the man she had killed.
Snape saw it for the first time and he realised what she must have done. His eyes simply watched the body, almost as if he expected it to move, for several moments before he finally looked back at her and said, "Go back to the castle. Give me your wand and I'll tell the Ministry I took it by mistake."
Again Tonks shook her head, "Professor, I don't want to get you into trouble. And besides, you're injured. I'm not leaving you here," she insisted. For the first time, she felt hopeful that maybe, just maybe, she might be able to help him in some way as she had wanted to do for the past few years. Perhaps this was what had been worrying him all this time?
"You don't understand what you're getting yourself into," Snape persisted as he wanted to at least know she would be safe before he concentrated on finding a way of making himself feel more human again after what they had done to him.
"I know more than you realise," she replied, "Bellatrix is my aunt. I've seen her torturing people before but..." she paused and glanced over the rips and blood stains on his clothing, "She really doesn't like you, does she?" she asked finally.
Snape shook his head and frowned, "If she realises you're anything to do with me apart from being my student she'd probably hurt you as well. She sees me as a traitor and labels anyone I'm associated with as just as bad," he frowned once more. The only person he felt he had betrayed was Lily Evans- No. Lily Potter. He sighed quietly at the memory and brought a hand up to move some of his hair out of his eyes, only to find it absolutely covered in blood. Prior to this movement he hadn't realised he was bleeding so badly and he physically grimaced at the sight of it.
Tonks noticed the grimace and she frowned, "You live at Spinner's End, right?" she asked, having remembered the address on the envelope and the letter she had briefly glimpsed on his desk last Halloween.
"How on earth would you know that?" Snape asked, a look of something between horror and confusion, mixed with the pain he also felt, plastered upon his face. He hadn't been aware that any of his students knew where he lived.
"I saw it on a letter you were reading once, I just happened to glance at it," she replied innocently and he seemed to accept that. He nodded, in any rate. "Should I apparate us both there?" she asked. She had never been there before and her apparition could be a little haphazard at times but she was yet to leave any body parts behind or anything of that sort.
Snape looked at her warily, "If your apparition is anything like your attempt at Potions, I really would prefer not to," he answered as he tore part of his robes in order to make a temporary bandage for his hand.
"Just because I can't do Potions doesn't mean I can't do anything," she replied, sounding a little hurt. In fact, apparition was probably one of the few things she could do almost straight away without too much problems. "And I did just save your life," she added.
Snape looked up at her and nodded, "That's true. I suppose there's no reason you'd have saved me to then kill me with an apparition attempt. You do have a licence though?" he asked as he knew she was in enough trouble already.
"Of course," she replied, "Now how are we going to do this? As it doesnt look as though you're going to be standing on that," she said, nodding to his foot which, until now, he hadn't realised had a bone sticking out of it at an odd angle.
He grimaced a little once more and shook his head, "No, I don't think I will..." He was actually rather scared of allowing her to apparate him anywhere but then if they stayed there they would be in a lot more trouble than if they left.
"Take hold of my wrist and I'll do my best to land gently," she said as she also took hold of his shoulder. "Ready?" she asked.
Snape grasped her wrist as tightly as he could with his good hand and then nodded, "Ready," he replied and Tonks apparated the two of them straight to his home in Spinner's End.
