So, here is the next chapter! I have a huge part prewritten for the next chapter, so I hope I will be able to update soon!

I hope you guys all like it, please leave me your reviews, I always love to get them :)

And a special thanks to SlenderPanda and TheUnnamedAvatar for your continued support!


It was as if time had stopped for a short moment.

Severus could hear and feel his heart beat painfully in his chest and his throat dried up.

Taking a few surpressed, but still deep breaths he fought the slight shake that wanted to take over his body and managed to rip himself from the moment of shocked surprise.

With one last look into Rolandas eyes, he let go of her so that her back hit the floor with a soft thud and he straightened himself.

„I am coming."

Rolanda followed Severus with her gaze as he walked towards the exit of the cellar and as he turned for a brief moment before leaving, she was sure that she could see smallest hint of panic flicker over his face before it was in its usual sneer again.

Severus slowly made his way upstairs, crossed the long main hallway and entered the Malfoy's luxurious and elegant sitting room.

The distance between cellar and sitting room was not particularly far, but still his heart was pumping by now as if he had just run a marathon and he could hear his blood rush in his ears.

He knew these signs of nervousness all too well, as he had had to fight and conceal them countless times in his life before and as he had been successful with that before, he did not doubt he would be able to do succeed today too – even though it felt like the tension in his chest might make him explode.

Bellatrix was seated on a lovely green leather couch, her lazy posture and her somehow disarranged clothing and wild hair forming an odd contrast to the neat tidiness and pure class of the whole room with its high windows to the garden, the small, polished mahagony tables with candles, ancient books and a set of a vine decanter and glasses made of the finest crystal on it, everything gleaming to show off the wealthiness of the owners of this place.

„Hello Bellatrix", Severus greeted her, a casual expression on his face. „What do I owe this immense pleasure? And please spare me with useless smalltalk, I have some business to do, as you know."

She stopped picking at her incredibly long nails that looked a bit like claws and looked up, smiling at him, a cruel smile full of an awful and odd happiness that always made her look a little bit more insane, and said softly:"As you wish, Snape. Actually, your business is the reason why I am here. The Dark Lord has send me to assist you with the interrogation."

It became hard for him to breathe calmly and he actually had to hide one of his hands behind his leg to prevent that Bellatrix could possibly see it twitch for a short moment.

Her voice, dripping from anticipation at the thought of torturing someone, of causing unbearable pain to not only the body, but also to the soul, made his stomach clench slightly and he had to gulp before being able to react the way he had to.

„Assist?", Severus asked, rising one eyebrow, acting as if he was merely curious while he truly was in a state of shocked surprise. „I believed that he trusted me to fulfill this task with my capacities."

She smiled even wider, though she did not fail to express her loathing towards him as she responded:"Oh, incomprehensibly he still does. But I myself have expressed my concerns to him... and even though he reassured me that you were capable of getting the information from that woman, he agreed with me about you needing a little bit too much time to achieve the results we are waiting for. And as I feel like time could be an important factor, I asked him to permit me to give you a little assistance."

Of course it had been clear to him from her very first sentence what „assistance" meant, she was Bellatrix Lestrange and her past had never left any possibilities to doubt that she was always going to cause the most horrible pains to the people she called her victims. The Longbottoms were only the most striking example for her cruelty that was deeply anchored in her character and Severus knew that all these years in Azkaban had not really smoothened this trait of hers.

Therefore it did not surprise him at all that his own first concrete thought was that she would kill Rolanda.

And for a short moment, his mind was flooded by an illogical wave of thoughts and considerations, and he lost control.

He would loose her, he would loose her like he had lost Lily.

Once again, he would fail to protect a person he... he loved.

And even though Lily was still in his mind, his first thought was to beg for Rolanda's life to be spared, to repeat his faults again.

This time, it was even more in his powers to keep someone who was important to him safe, at least he had started to believe in that over the last few days, but now he realised that he had fallen for an illusion.

He could not save her.

It became more clear to him than ever before that his personal feelings had no place in the plan Dumbledore had. That it did not matter who died if in the end, Harry Potter would be able to succeed.

Rolandas life did not matter to the plan, and Severus had sworn to Dumbledore that the plan was going to be his only ambition after the night the Headmaster was going to be killed.

If he asked for anything that would help Rolanda, he would endanger the whole plan, he could possibly be taking away every chance to realise a positive outcome of this war for the opposition against Voldemort.

Any other person would have had denied that there was no way past abandoning a friend in this moment just for the sake of a plan, but to Severus, this was a luxury he could not afford. The thought that he had gotten way to used to things like that left a bitter feeling inside of him, and his little grudge on Dumbledores ruthlessness about the smaller components of things while preaching about the importance of details was fed by his concern about Rolanda.

Surely it was not in Dumbledores powers to foresee something like this, a situation in which a person who was not important to the plan, but important to Severus, even though he did not openly admit that to anyone, unexpectedly appeared on the scene and questioned how far he could go to fulfill his tasks.

But still Severus felt like it was the old mans fault that there was no room for air, for a little act of hidden mercy in these times.

Severus looked at Bellatrix and nodded curtly while stepping aside, gesturing towards the door.
„Do what you have to do, Bellatrix. I suppose you know the way to the cellar?"

And as Bellatrix' grin seemed to literally blast her face apart, he walked over to a comfortable armchair, made of the same green leather as the couch Bellatrix was seated on. With a flick of his wand, he summoned himself a book and sat down, his eyes following the black-clothed witch as she strut out of the room.

Only a second later, the door banged shut behind her and it was as if its vibrations had caused the wave of pure, burning guilt that broke down over him, together with the knowledge that he had just left Rolanda in the hands of Bellatrix, alone, unprotected, helpless.