urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsThe Life And Death of Lillian Hope Black-Snape
Chapter Four
Lies she had to tell.
"What the bloody hell are you doing Hope," snapped Severus as the two other Aurors feel to the ground.
"Saving your bloody ass," Hope said with a glare. "You were unarmed and they were going to attack you."
"Do you realize what you've just done?" he asked looking at her.
"Yes I do," she replied as she knelt down between the two Aurors.
"This is just going to make me look even guiltier to them now," he pointed out.
She smiled up at him, but didn't say a word at first.
"Is that want you want? To make me look guiltier?" he asked glaring down at her. He wouldn't put that past a friend Potters.
She looked up at him and glared. "You're a bloody idiot Severus," she replied. "After everything you and Lily went through in school do you honestly think I would stand back and let someone she cared about be wrongly attack?" She saw the answer in his eyes.
"Well you are friends with Potter," he snapped. How dare her use Lily to justify herself to me, he thought to himself. "Reckless and never thinking…"
"Well that proves how little you know about me," she snapped back, her hands waved gently over Amelia and Mike. "I always think before I act, well most of the time, but just so you know I had a plan."
Severus watched her and wondered what she was doing. Perhaps she wasn't… No, he would not let himself think any other way about her; she was still a friend that Potter's and Black's.
"I want you to go back and stand where you were before I cast the spell," she ordered him and seeing was about to protest she glared at him. "Just do it if you don't feel like going down the Ministry to answer a bunch of questions."
He sighed and stepped back to where he had been standing moments before. He kept his eyes on the young Auror, unsure if he fully trusted her.
She waved her wand over both of them so they were both now standing. She moved them so they were standing the way they had been before she had knocked them out. She saw Severus looking at her. "It's a freezing spell, it allows me to freeze people and then place them however I want before unfreezing them," she explained. "It's a spell I made up sometime ago." Once she was satisfied with how they were positioned, she turned to look at Severus. "I don't believe in what they were doing. Hell, if they are going to accuse everyone that was known or been friends with someone who supports the dark side then Lily and I both would be screwed and I wouldn't want that to ever happen to her and I know she would feel the same about me. Besides that, you were unarmed and in my eyes, it's wrong to attack someone who is unarmed."
He couldn't lie to himself, he was a little impressed by not only her reasons behind what she did or how well she seemed to have thought things out so quickly, but her skills as well. He had known her in school and knew she was different, but she had been friends with "them" which made him despise her.
She turned to him once more. "Look when they come to, which won't be long, I won't be here," she explained. "I'm beginning to see that they don't want me involved in any dueling after what happened before. So, I'm going to lead them away from here by making them thinking I'm in trouble by sending up red sparks far enough away that they both will leave you be to come "save" me. They won't think any time has gone by so make sure you play it as if no time has passed or else everything I've done would have been for nothing."
"Thank you," he replied before she could leave. That pained him to say, but the words left his mouth before he could even attempt to stop them.
Hope smiled at him before disappearing just seconds before Amelia and Mike came too.
"Well, what will it be?" asked Mike.
Severus opened his mouth to speak when he noticed red sparks in the distance.
Mike and Amelia followed his gaze and their eyes grew wide as they both feared the worst, Hope was in trouble. "Must be your lucky day Snape," replied Mike. "But don't think this is the end." He and Amelia look off in the direction of the red sparks.
Severus stood there for a moment feeling a little stunned at everything that just happened. Perhaps Hope wasn't so bad after all. He grimaced when he realized this meant he owed her now. He walked off towards his home as he pushed it out of his mind.
"Hope are you okay?" asked Mike and Amelia as they ran up to her.
"I..I'm sorry," she replied as she turned to them with a scared look in her eyes. Her hands where shaking a little. "When you guys didn't make it on time I thought I would check some more areas out and I thought I felt someone following me when I came down this way." She paused and looked at the frozen mouse behind a rubbish bin. "I sent up sparks and then shot a freezing spell in the direction I thought the person was. I feel really bad." She said as she pushed a bag out of the way so that Mike and Amelia could see what it was. "I guess I was just being a little jumpy. I'm so sorry."
Mike sighed with relief. "The important thing here is that you are okay."
"Yeah," agreed Amelia.
Hope smiled at both of them, as others seemed to join them. "Is everyone okay?" asked an Auror, who was pushed out of the way by a familiar face.
"What happened here?" growled Moody.
Hope blushed as she pushed moved so that the newcomers could see the rat.
"We were late meeting up with Hope," Mike began to explain. "I guess it made her a little uneasy being alone and she thought someone was following her."
"I'm sorry I scared everyone," she said looking embarrassed.
"We're just happy no one was following you," replied Amelia and a few of the other Aurors nodded their head in agreement.
"It helped us to find you at least," stated Moody. "Your shift is over; the three of you need to get back the Ministry right away." Something told him more was going on here than Hope was saying.
"But.." Mike began but fell quiet when Moody gave him a look. Perhaps telling him they had left Hope alone hadn't been the best strategy after all. He would inform the Minister about having seen Severus Snape when they got back to the Ministry.
Hope fell down on the couch when she finally got home. Moody had her doing so much paperwork when they had gotten back to the Ministry that she thought she would never get it all done.
"Hard day?" asked James as he and Sirius entered the living room.
"You could say that," she answered not daring to move.
"We were going to have Peter transform and run in here, but we were afraid he might hex him," laughed Sirius.
Hope sat up giving him a look.
"Don't get mad," James said with a laugh.
"Who the bloody hell told you?" she said angrily.
"Moody, but it was only after I heard him telling Dumbledore you gave him a scare again today," Sirius pointed out hoping that might calm her down.
"Great," she mumbled.
"You know we had to tease you," James pointed out as he sat down beside her. "But that's not why we came in here."
She just glared at them. "Why then?" she asked, still not happy.
"Dumbledore and Moody want to talk with you," James replied.
"What about?" she asked, suddenly feeling cautious about having lied to everyone today.
"We don't know," answered Sirius.
"We were just told to give you the message," added James. "They are waiting in the kitchen for you."
She sighed and got up, but not before Sirius grabbed her ankle causing her to jump. She slapped him on his shoulder before walking out of the living room after mumbling the words "annoying" and "git" which only caused James and Sirius to roar with laughter.
"What do you want?" Hope asked with a yawn, hoping to come off more as she was tired after the long day, which was somewhat true.
Dumbledore waved his hand so that the kitchen door closed. "I wanted to ask you want happened today," he said to her as he looked down at her.
"I already told Moody," she pointed out.
"I want to hear it from you," Dumbledore replied.
"Mike and Amelia were late. I felt uneasy being alone there and felt something coming. I got scared sent up the red sparks, as Mike told us too, and then shot a freezing spell where I was feeling something coming from. I made a mistake and I told everyone I was sorry. I didn't know it was just a stupid street rat okay."
Dumbledore watched his former student closely. "That's not like you to make such a mistake Hope," he replied.
"I was uneasy, I make mistakes okay," she said calmly wishing everyone would just drop the subject already.
Dumbledore looked at Moody, who said nothing, but left Hope alone with Dumbledore. "It's just me now," he told her. "I know you don't get scared that easily Hope. What's going on?"
"Nothing," she replied. "I just wish everyone would leave me alone already. I'm tired of explaining what happened today."
"You know you can tell me anything," he said watching her closely.
"Really want to know?" she asked him and he nodded. "I wish people would just accept what I did today and drop the subject. I feel stupid enough as it is for making such a mistake. Do you have any idea what they all probably think of me now?"
After a moment, Dumbledore dropped his gaze. "I won't bring it up again," he said to her. He walked over, placed his hand on her shoulder, and said in a voice that only she could hear, "I trust your judgment Hope." He could read more into what truly had happened that day than she would ever know. Then again, he had seen the signs even when she had been in school, even though she had yet to see it.
Hope watched Dumbledore leave the kitchen as she stood in shock from his last words. Had he known she wasn't telling the truth? She had thought she had done a pretty good job on the lies, even going as far to hexing an actual rat and sticking to her story no matter what. She even made sure to show how stupid she felt for having "screwed up" in such a way.
Hope decided to go up to her room while the others talked in the living room; she felt like being a lone. Her bedroom was what some would call the master bedroom; it had been Sirius idea for her to take that room since it had its own bathroom. She did like the walk-in-closet a lot more than she let on sometimes.
She sighed as she tired to relax in the hot bath water; her eyes closed as she took in a deep breath. She had lit a few scented candles to help her relax even more from all the stress of the day. It was harder too not think of everything that had happened, but Hope did her best to push all thoughts from her mind.
After the water became cooler and her fingers became all wrinkled, she decided to climb out of the tub; grapping her house rope as she let the water out. She did feel a little better now that was for sure. Before she started to towel dry her hair, she made sure all the candles were out as she always did.
Hope could hear footsteps downstairs so she knew people were still there, but she didn't feel up to going back down there tonight. Instead, she walked over to the bay window with her towel still in her hands drying her hair. They sky was clear and the moon was almost full which lit up the night as if it was almost day. Sitting down on the long cushion, she put her leg under her a little as she leaned against the side of the window. She loved the night especially on nights like this when the stars were all out shinning putting everything back in perspective.
There was a soft knock on the door followed by, "May I come in Hope?" It was Lily, but she didn't surprise Hope one bit; she had expected her to eventually make her way up to check in on her. Hope sighed.
"Come in," she said as she ran the towel over her hair once more.
"I brought you some tea," Lily said, caring a tray with two cups, a tea pot, and a few bags of Hope's favorite tea.
"Thanks," she replied, still looking out the window. She knew Lily wasn't going to leave just yet. No matter how much she truly wanted to alone tonight, it just wasn't going to happen it seemed.
"I thought after the day you had, that you might want some tea," Lily replied sweetly with a smile, but she knew quickly she wasn't fooling Hope as she handed her a cup of tea. "I'm sorry Hope; we're just all really worried about you."
"Well I would be fine if everyone would just leave me alone," she stated as she took the cup for her friend.
"I just thought maybe you'd talked to me at the very least."
"Talk about what?"
"Today and what really happened."
"Why does everyone keep saying that to me? I am sick and tired of repeating myself already. I would be fine if everyone would just drop the subject of what happened today!"
"Hope, it's me you're talking to here, you don't have to keep things from me. You never have and I like it that way; just as I never keep things from you." Lily paused for a moment and decided to just come right out and say it. "I know you saw Severus today."
Hope looked at Lily in shock. How did she know that? Who told her? "What are you talking about Lily?" she asked her trying to act like she didn't know what her friend was talking about.
"Amelia told her brother and he told Dumbledore," Lily began.
"That figures," muffed Hope. "So why are telling me since you already know?"
"Dumbledore was hoping you might confide in me with whatever happened," Lily said, blushing a little from feeling a little silly. "He thought maybe you would open up more to me since for some reason you kept that part from everyone else."
"I don't see why that was important," Hope said with a shrug. She hadn't really thought of mentioning it since she had, had other things on her mind than having just walked into him on the street. "It had nothing to do with me screwing up."
Lily watched her friend closely knowing her well enough to know she was hiding something from her. "You could have at least told me," she pointed out.
"To be honest I did want to bring up his name especially with the others around." It was somewhat the truth since she knew how James and Sirius would react to such news.
"And now?" asked Lily. "James and Sirius are talking with Dumbledore so they are to busy right now. Why would you not tell me you saw him? Did he say something to you?"
"After how things went at Hogwarts with the two of you, I didn't think it was a good idea to bring up his name," she answered with another shrug. "No he didn't say anything to me." She suddenly found herself being defensive again; she knew where Lily was going with that question. "I walked into him and asked what he was doing there, he said he lived nearby and then we went on our way."
"That was all?" she asked remember what Dumbledore had said to her just moments ago.
"Pretty much, yeah."
"You know what they think about him don't you?"
"That he's a Death Eater because he's friends with Lucius Malfoy."
"So you didn't think it was important to tell us you ran into him today?"
"Oh come on Lily!" Hope replied defensively again. "You have known me for how long? Don't you think if I felt any sort of danger at all I would have told you guys right away? He went one way, I went another, and I didn't see him again or sense him being nearby. You know the whole story now, so can we please drop it?"
That was true and Lily knew it. "I'm sorry Hope. We're just all really worried about you, you know that. We love you and don't want anything bad to ever happen to you."
"I know," she replied calmly. "And you all know that I can take care of myself and if I felt I was in any kind of danger I would have not only told you, but I would have been out of there right then; you know that."
"Yeah, I'm sorry Hope," she replied again. "Forgive me?"
Hope smiled. "Of course!" The two girls giggled before Hope looked out the window again; her mind on the man she had seen just hours before.
"You won't keep anything else from me any more will you, not even if it's about Severus?" asked Lily sounding concerned.
"I won't," she said still looking about the window.
"Good," Lily said sounding much happier now and stared out of the window as she tried to block memories from their Hogwarts days from her mind.