Betaed by Lliey Gemini

Revised: 04-01-04

***************************************************************************

Chapter 9 - Searches

***************************************************************************

Alone, horribly alone for hours... perhaps even for days? Harry didn't know. He was cold, and he curled up as much as he could, but he still trembled in the freezing temperature.

Cold inside and outside. Cold everywhere.

It was just too hard to bear with the loneliness, the darkness and the coldness of the room. He was longing for Snape's company, their talks, the closeness. He needed all those so-called psychological facts which were now missing. He decided he liked psychology. If it was to constitute happiness?

The door creaked and swung open.

Death Eaters. Their sight became fairly familiar in those days. They marched through the door, their cloaks were wavering behind them, the masks billowed in the semi-dark. Harry involuntary winced as they grasped his arms and dragged him up from the floor.

Beating again.

Or something worse. Avery was between them. Harry's mouth dried in an instant. He attempted a gulp but his tongue stuck to his palate and he could feel as the anticipatory dread clenched his throat.

He was half-panicked by the time they, eventually, reached the torture chamber.

No one was there in. Neither was Snape. Harry felt deluded and his worry rose in his chest. What had happened to him? He wasn't dead, was he?

His panic overwhelmed him fully, every sense, every thought, every feeling of his were praying and begging silently in his head... He felt a sudden and almost insufferable urge to scream in his inner turmoil. Avery took out the razor.

Harry froze on the spot. He would die there. He would die there alone. There would be nobody to comfort, to hold, to care for him. Snape had undoubtedly died. Alone as him. He knew for sure he could not hold on. No, he wouldn't humiliate himself to beg and plead with them, never. He just wouldn't be able to remain in silence, because he strongly wanted to scream, to wail in his pain.

He shrieked as the razor touched his skin.

It ached. It was worse than the Cruciatus: helplessness and desperation added their effects to the man's work. The last, still throbbing cuts were opened again. The razor seemed unbearably hot as if flames were burning his back, side, chest, neck, legs, everything, everywhere, as the blade went on and on with slow and accurate motions.

Avery took off his mask as he had done the previous occasion too, and Harry could catch the signs of well-controlled madness and sadism in those glittering eyes, and that scared him even more. Last time, there was Snape's gaze to help him to balance that sadism with its concern, to anchor some of his senses into reality, but now, he was helplessly alone, perhaps forever.

Nobody knew he was there.

Nobody could save him.

Cuts and flames.

Fingers widening the cuts.

Nauseous feeling. Those fingers were violating him through the cuts. Harry was sure it was worse than a rape. Those fingers penetrated into his flesh and...

Screamed and screamed.

He would not survive this. Not the pain. The sickness. The violation.

No, not again. Never again.

He wasn't able to stay any more. His legs were trembling and buckling. Somebody punched him at his back and he fell on his knees in the immense pain. He rested his palms against the floor.

Something wet and slimy... his blood. Blood was everywhere, he could see that. He was kneeling in his own blood. But now, he felt, they would not allow him to die there. They would heal him again and again to re-live this miserable deserted feeling of being abandoned and at their mercy.

"My, my, Mr Potter. It's wonderful to hear your voice again. I nearly forgot how you scream. It's a priceless sound I assure you. And I promise I will give you a lot more opportunities to cry. To satisfy me."

Harry couldn't answer. His voice was gone. He lifted his gaze as bravely as he could to Voldemort. Their eyes locked.

In the eyes of Voldemort was coldness and hatred. For a moment Harry was sure he had seen this kind of sight before. Coldness and hatred... But... in Voldemort's case both of these feelings were controlled and used as a utensil. They were not real feelings. As Voldemort himself wasn't real. Just a living corpse.

Harry jerked.

Voldemort's evilness was something under-human, menacing and counted device to reach his aim: the total power and control above all.

No. Not all. He would not be controlled by Voldemort.

Never.

***************************************************************************

Snape didn't dare to look up. He hopelessly wanted to block his ears somehow. Every scream of Harry tormented him to death. It must have been Avery with the razor, he thought. Harry was alone with that psychotic. He would murder the boy.

He frantically longed to be there. He knew Harry would be comforted by his presence, even though he didn't understand, why.

Harry...

The boy certainly believed that he was dead. They were separated, perhaps once and for all. He would never see the kind face of Harry again, he would never promise him stupid things, never talk to him about his parents or his school days. He would never hear Harry's wise-like remarks again.

The happy days were gone. Darkness covered everything.

After the boy's heartbreaking screams faded away, Snape began to comprehend the past days' so-called psychological events even deeper. While Harry had been there, he, the first time in his life, hadn't been alone. And the first time in his life, he had understood what it had meant to share life with someone else. To belong.

Even with Quietus in his company, he had been a loner, even with his mates, even with Albus... Something had always been missing and he could just guess what it had been.

When he had been alone previously he had never felt the absence or the lack of a company... or perhaps not never, but rarely, when he had been haunted by unspeakable and terrifying memories and nightmares and he had had to face them alone... but now he was going mad of being alone, being without Harry.

He could eagerly picture in front of his eyes the boy's present state, after almost five hours of torture, the cuts, the blood, the unconscious, weak and torn form lying helplessly and alone on the floor of a distant cell...

If Harry were here... He certainly wouldn't be able to heal him, but there would be a slight chance of sharing pain by each other's company.

Snape laughed bitterly. He, the ex-Death Eater, one of the most trained wizards was so feeble and powerless!

Covering his face in his hands he wondered again about his own change occurred in the last days, as he, the reluctant but nevertheless sworn protector of Harry Potter found himself in the role of a deeply scared and worrying parent. He gulped. Strange. And so... natural.

Moreover, he had to confess himself: this change was not just an accidental consequence of their common fate. Yes, the fate had had its role in this adaptation, that was undeniable, but Harry's features and merits had done their job in this process too.

First, Harry accepted his apology without further remarks. He had forgiven him truly for everything Snape had done against him. Then he had showed real worry for him from the very beginning, when he had seen his professor's feeble and miserable state. And he had never requested explanations about Snape's feelings, he had just accepted them, and had given his feelings in return. He had never protested against anything.

How could the boy be so sensible? He was so young... and he had grown up practically in a perfect emotional desert, despised, dejected, ignored... He should have been a total bastard or an insane git with eternal complaints over his life's misery, mourning over his lost chances... He should have been incurably hurt and fully incapable of giving and accepting positive emotions. And yet,  the boy wasn't such a kind of person. He could have been, but he wasn't nevertheless. Unlike the Greatest Bastard whose mortal and boiling hatred towards the world was caused certainly by similar childhood events to Harry's.

Voldemort rejected and despised the world and the only thing he lived for was revenge and hatred.

Harry accepted and cared for his surroundings and the only thing he was longing for was mutuality. He desperately wanted to be accepted.

Harry had accepted not only their situation, but even him, the potions monster. And he, the absolute loner. couldn't help but accept him in return.

It would have happened the same, Snape now was definite about it, if he had given a chance to Harry before... The chance he had never given. Right now, it was just too late to regret.

Snape sighed deeply. And he made the third oath in that pit of death: if they could manage somehow to escape, he would give everything to Harry that he merited. He would give him care. Comfort. Home.

Family.

***************************************************************************

Days...

Tortures...

Screams...

Everything seemed an endless process to a non-existing goal. It was a lone process. Always alone.

Alone to hear Harry's screaming, and alone to bear the boy's systematic, everyday torture.

It couldn't be worse, he had thought the first time. And it always was.

Then came the day when he was dragged out of the cell to the chambers in the first floor. It meant Voldemort had decided to torture Harry alone was too boring. Snape was so weak because of the lack of meal and uneasy sleeping that he couldn't move his legs normally, so the accompanying Death Eaters had to carry him there. The situation was so humiliating in itself that Snape desperately wanted to die in shame.

And in the chamber he was given his first real and almost insufferable beating. Just beating, no curses or potions. It took hours. Ten Death Eater beat him in a row and when the last finished the first began anew. His robes were ripped from him, his only cover was his own blood and the bruises and injuries.

After a while he realised that he was moaning. Then crying. Then shrieking. But finally he managed only to groan in a hoarse voice rolling in his own blood and vomit.

Everything hurt. He couldn't breathe properly. When he thought they couldn't invent any new way to cause pain, Malfoy came with his usual hammer.

He was petrified by the dread as two of the bastards lifted him and made him kneel next to a desk. He couldn't even protest. He just watched numbly as a third one fixed his hands to the desk with a quick bonding spell. He knew precisely what would come. WHO would come.

He couldn't believe it before. That man had been his friend. His best friend even. And now...

He had never hurt him intentionally, not even after he had changed sides. He had always looked after his son as long as Draco had been in the school... Despite everything that had happened, they had remained friends... Or at least he believed so.

The proof of his failure stood now in front of him. Snape writhed and averted his face from the man's sight. Now, he would experience personally this kind of pain too. Not that he had been longing for it.

The first blow was unexpected. His eyes rolled into his skull and he felt a metallic taste in his mouth. Blood. He had bitten his own tongue. It was worse than it seemed. It was fortunate he didn't wet himself. And although he had been positive a few minutes ago that there had been no power left in him to cry out, he screamed and shut his eyes tightly concentrating on his breathing. He didn't want to see his hands. Never.

When his first finger was smashed, Lucius gave him a little break.

"What about this kind of pain?" Voldemort asked with mock curiosity. "I was afraid I would never hear your voice again... But Lucius has a REAL talent to persuade you to open your mighty, stubborn mouth, my professor. At least young Potter can hear that you are still alive."

First, this last sentence brought an immense relief for the torn Potions Master. Harry would know he was still alive! But a moment later, he became unsure. Perhaps this bit of information would decrease his pains. Or would it increase them? His breath hitched to the next blow. Harry could hear him screaming, and the boy knew he could suffer the various torments in silence. What would he think about his cries? The child was so compassionate...

By the time Lucius finished his work with his left hand, Snape passed out. Instead of his beloved "ennervate" curse, the Dark Lord decided to use one of the Potions Master's potion. The Vigilae Potion. This would be extremely bad, Snape thought in his half-conscious daze. Not to mention the fact that the other potion Voldemort poured into his throat was the Dolorem Facio. Snape, for a moment, was surprised that Voldemort didn't use that before. With the combined use of the Dolorem Facio and Cruciatus you could torture anybody to madness... like the Longbottoms, who had been tortured in the same way. This potion was intended to wipe away those gaps between neurons, which were intended to prevent the brain from going insane in an insufferable physical pain by causing fainting or dumbness in the nervous system.

This was one of his own developments. He had invented it, when he worked in the Institute for Health Potions Researches. How ironic!

The Potions Master knew what was about to happen.

After a while he was absolutely unable to give even a tiny, weak sound. The magical bonds loosened and he fell to the ground. Consciously. Damned Vigilae!

The next moment, he felt a cautious, kind hand on his shoulder.

"Pro...professor," somebody cried over him and hot tears hit his bare skin. It was Harry.

He heard as the Death Eaters ordered the boy to bring him back to the cell. Despites his weakness he struggled to stand up, to walk on his own feet. It wasn't easy. But they did it somehow.

The big, brown door slammed behind them. THEM! They were again together.

With the remnants of his power Snape dragged himself to the familiar corner and sat down leaning against the wall. Harry, tottering, followed him, after collecting the miserable cloak from the floor. He knelt beside his professor and putting Snape's sweater off himself, dressed the naked man carefully. Snape couldn't even protest. He was conscious because of the potion, but he wasn't really awake. He didn't want the boy to do this, but he was impotent to do anything against.

Harry pulled the sweater over his head slowly. Then he lifted a hand to slip into the sleeve of the robe, when he spotted the fingers. Snape saw that he was very close to fainting. But Harry, regaining all his willpower slipped the unrecognisable limb in the sleeve as carefully as he could. Then the other one until Snape was clothed.

The sweater was bloody, and unbelievable dirty. But it was warm too, the warmth of a living body... Harry's body. Or was it warm because of the boy's care?

Snape didn't know when Harry began to sob. The time he had caught the sight of his hands? His body? His consciousness?

Harry pulled the professor's legs to his chest ("conserving the warmth..." he muttered sobbing) and wrapped the cloak around them with kind motions.

He was still sobbing when he nestled himself to Snape's side and wrapped his arms around him.

And he continued to sob for a very long, long time. Snape wanted to caress his head, but being afraid of the pain of his hands decided not to.

"All right, Harry," he muttered after a while. "You can finish it. You don't need to cry."

"Don't I?" the boy replied weakly. "Why don't I need to cry? I have very good reasons to cry, sir."

There was no reply to this remark. Harry was right.

"We have some reasons to be happy too," the professor sighed. "We can be together again."

"Are you happy to be with me?" the boy's voice sounded hopeful.

"Potter, for god's sake, haven't I told you it before? Yes, I am happy to be with you. In fact it seemed a damned long time when we were separated," he could feel a small hint of anger but his voice was so weak and hoarse that all of it came out as a silent whisper. The arms around him became tighter and his anger disappeared. "If I remember correctly I told you something about my house and you being around me, and I didn't change my mind. Is it enough for you to calm down?"

Harry suddenly blushed.

"You know, sir, I... when we were separated I thought to ask you if you said that seriously or not..."

"As you surely noticed, Mr Potter I am always serious," he tried to say it in a stern voice but he failed. Harry cracked a half-smile.

"I thought that in the school. But since when we are here together, I noticed other features of yours, professor."

"Which are...?"

"Er... well..." Harry didn't know how to answer. "You are sometimes joking..."

"Sometimes. Yes. But I am not joking when I talking about themes of great nicety. And your wish for a proper home and family is a topic of that kind."

"Do you mean that...?"

"Exactly," nodded the professor. "Although I'm afraid I will never have the opportunity to prove it."

"It doesn't matter, sir," Harry's sound was barely above a whisper. "The fact you... accept me, is enough for me." After some minutes he added. "No, it's not just 'enough'. It's everything."

***************************************************************************

***************************************************************************

Percy was nervous. He didn't want to do this, he hated to do this snooping. He was afraid of his colleagues who could find him searching in restricted documents, and he was angry because he hadn't found anything for two days.

Perhaps he was looking for them in a wrong place. He wanted to know something about that damned Nightmare Manor, but the normal documents didn't mention it at all. He had to find another way to approach this problem. His father said that the Manor was an important meeting place of You-Know-Who's followers. So he had to do a research in the Death Eater's files. But those were strictly restricted. The majority of them was in the Top Secret Section.

The others, a little bit more legal possibility, were the Aurors' files. The other side of the same coin. The non-restricted side of the same game.

His idea was brilliant. After he pulled out a huge amount of AU (Aurors') files and cast on them the Revelo spell ("Revelo Nightmare Manor!" - it was a special edition of the spell, he invented it himself and was very proud of it) he could see as the papers began to spin roughly and suddenly, a file lay in front of him on the table. A light, greenish aura surrounded it.

SNAPE, Quietus Salazar - was written on the top of it.

Percy's eyes widened. Snape as an Auror? Was it some kind of joke? Or that bloody Revelo modification wasn't as effective as he had thought? He shrugged. Whatever the cause was, he would examine this file, and if he proved to be wrong, he would try another way to search.

SNAPE, Quietus Salazar – he read again and suddenly, he realised: the name wasn't the greasy Potions Master's name. He was Severus, wasn't he? No, he WAS Severus, undoubtedly. But who was this other Snape, then?

A sudden curiosity made him open the dossier. It was quite a general, very boring-like file, but Percy was used to reading loads of this kind, and he could pick the important elements of them easily. He began to read and took a piece of parchment and a quill to make notes if it was necessary.

***

***

ID: 03960881010

Date/Place of birth: 02.04.1960, Snape

Date/Place of death: 02.12.1979, Nightmare Manor (place unknown)

{'So he had died... And he had been so young...' Percy thought. In that place, he was looking for. But the file said 'place unknown'. 'Damn it!' But his curiosity forced Percy to go on.}

Father: SNAPE, Severus Salazar

            Father's ID: 0392856457

            Father's date/place of birth: 05.11.1928, Snape

            Father's date/place of death: 04.11.1981, Snape

Mother: NOBLESTONE, Quirke Athena

            Mother's ID: 0493112539

            Mother's date/place of birth: 02.02.1931, Hogsmeade

            Mother's date/place of death: 04.11.1981, Snape

{'The same date and place of death as the father's. Interesting. It could be more than a mere coincidence.'}

Other family member(s):

Brother: SNAPE, Severus Nobilus

            Brother's ID: 03958912111

            Brother's date/place of birth: 05.03.1958, Snape

            Brother's date/place of death: ((alive))

{'So, this guy was the greasy git's brother! And... Snape was younger than his parents?' Percy was shocked. He always thought the Potions Master as a mean, old git. But 37 was not that old!}

Marital status: single

OWL: O, 100% (cert. no. 14/1976)

NEWT: O, 100% (cert. no. 14/1978)

AU: O, 99,3% (cert. no. 2AU/1979)

{It seemed impossible. He got only 94% for his OWLs and 94,1% for his NEWTs. How could somebody reach such a level? Percy was envious. Then it came to his mind that the boy was dead. He was alive. GREAT difference.}

Details:

1971 - Hogwarts, HSWW

1976 - OWL max. results

1978 - NEWT max. results

01.09.1978 - Ministry's Official Auror-training (AuT2245/IN/322/1978)

01.02.1979 - Appointed Auror (ranked 1st class) (App12/IN/310/1979)

21.03.1979 - Gave his notice and left the Ministry (Not24/IN/311/1979)

01.04.1979 - suspected OoP activity (see OoP112/IN/44/1979)

{'OoP? What can it be?' Percy wondered shortly, and wrote down the information. He would have to do another research about this topic later.}

02.12.1979 - died (cert.no. D-13342/3/1979)

Remarks:

1. To the AU training recommended by Harold Winston Potter (ID: 039203345129, AU 011)

{'Surprises over surprises. A POTTER recommending a SNAPE to the Ministry's AU training? What do all this damned matter mean?' Percy felt so stupid... and this feeling was so unfamiliar to him...}

2. Possibly killed by Voldemort in Nightmare Manor (place unknown), based on the testimony of SNAPE, Severus Nobilus, ID: 03958912111, under the effect of Veritaserum (brewed by STOLL, Nicholas, ID 0393902354 PM cert. no. PM10H/14/1971) (see: Test/SNAPESN/134/DE/12/1981; DE/76/1982; DE/97/1982)

{Percy gulped. There was a Nightmare Manor. And other things. His professor was undoubtedly a Death Eater. There was the proof: the documents signalled with DE. And the mean git had been there when his brother had been killed, he had been probably one of his murderers. Percy's mouth went dry and he became very nervous. His quill moved fast as he copied the details. Snape, the thoroughly hated Slytherin professor was indisputably a bloody Death Eater. How could Dumbledore let him teach? He had to talk to his brothers, all the three of them and Ginny! He had to warn them! Later, he calmed himself. He had work to do now. He went on.}

3. Suspected OoP auror member. Resisted the persuasions. (see OOP/SNAPEQS/IN)

{'Oh, this OoP stuff again.'}

4. Family suspected DE activities - reliability questionable. (see DE/SNAPESS/IN, DE/SNAPESN/IN, DE/SNAPEQA/IN)

{Greater shock. 'Really, an amazing family. Three Death Eaters and an Auror. An Auror who left the Ministry for this suspicious OoP thing.' Percy was not stupid. This OoP had to be something like Voldemort's affairs, something prohibited and probably dangerous - this was clear from the way the file mentioned it.}

Attached documents:

OWL, NEWT, AU certificates

Extract from the testify of SNAPE, SN (Test/SNAPESN/134/DE/01/1982)

Record about the circumstances of Quietus Snape' death

{Oh, Percy thought. Finally something interesting...}

***

***

(...)

Snape: My father wanted him to become a follower of Voldemort.

Interrogator: What did he think about your father's persuasion?

S: He refused it several times. Finally, my father decided to force him with physical abuse and took him to Voldemort directly.

I: When?

S: On December the 2nd, 1979.

I: Where?

S: In Nightmare Manor.

I: Where is this Manor?

{A good question. If he was lucky he would have the answer.}

S: I don't know the exact place of it. I suppose it is situated in North England or in Scotland.

{He wasn't lucky.}

I: I see... What happened there?

S: He was abused physically and by curses for five hours. He didn't give up his resistance. In the end, Voldemort asked him if he was about to join him. He refused it. Then Voldemort cast the Killing Curse on him and he died.

I: Did you abuse him too?

S: In the beginning, yes. I hoped to find a way to save him. I needed time. After the fifth round I realised I was impotent. Then I refused to abuse him any more. My father cast the Cruciatus on me several times, but Voldemort prohibited him to kill me...

(...)

***

***

Oh, how touching... The greasy git wanted to save somebody! Unbelievable! But... this testimony was made under Veritaserum that meant... Well... he was his brother after all... Percy shrugged.

The searching didn't give real results. Perhaps tomorrow...

Percy sighed and began to order the papers to put them back in their place, when he caught something just behind the 'SNAPE, Quietus Salazar' file.

'SNAPE, Severus Nobilus' was written on it.

If he felt shock before, he was now petrified. According to the previous file, the git was a Death Eater. And now he could see his documents between the AU's! What was going on???

Suddenly he forgot about Nightmare Manor. He wanted to read that file too at every cost. But as he reached his hand to open it, he suddenly noticed the greenish light around the document. The spell he cast! Oh, probably now, he would know!

He opened the file greedily.

***

***

ID: 03958912111

Date/Place of birth: 05.03.1958, Snape

Date/Place of death: -

Father: SNAPE, Severus Salazar

            Father's ID: 0392856457

            Father's date/place of birth: 05.11.1928, Snape

            Father's date/place of death: 04.11.1981, Snape

Mother: NOBLESTONE, Quirke Athena

            Mother's ID: 0493112539

            Mother's date/place of birth: 02.02.1931, Hogsmeade

            Mother's date/place of death: 04.11.1981, Snape

Other family member(s):

Brother: SNAPE, Quietus Salazar

            Brother's ID: 03960881010

            Brother's date/place of birth: 02.04.1960, Snape

            Brother's date/place of death: 02.12.1979, Nightmare Manor (unknown)

Marital status: single

{'So nobody wanted to marry the greasy, hook-noised, mean git,' Percy smirked evilly.}

OWL: O, 95,2% (cert. no. 22/1974)

NEWT: O, 94,6% (cert. no. 21/1976)

PM: O, 100% (cert. no. 1PM/1/1978)

{This family was really annoying with their results. The professor seemingly wasn't as clever as his brother, but his results were still higher than Percy's. He felt a strong loathe.}

Details:

1969 - Hogwarts, HSWW

1974 - OWL high results

1975 - Advanced Potions' Studies in HSWW at Agilus O'Peck (ID: 03913567344)

{O'Peck! His dad and mum told them a lot of stories about the old Potions professor, who had NOT been the Head of the Slytherin House, indeed, he hadn't been a Slytherin either. He had been a Gryffindor... and had accepted the disgusting Slytherin as his apprentice? Well, life was rarely logical.}

1976 - NEWT excellent results

01.09.1976 - work for Institute for Health Potions Researches

{Eating Death and making health researches? Simultaneously? Good job!}

1977-1981 - suspected DE activity (see DE28103/IN/03/1977 and attached documents)

{Well. It seemed he was really a DE, and not an AU.}

01.14.1978 - appointed Potions Master (ranked 1st class)

01.09.1978 - appointed Potions' Professor in HSWW

02.12.1981 - captured by Auror AU2301 in HSWW, official questionings made by AU781, AU910 and AU1103 (records no. DET14/1981, DET22/1981, DET98/1981, DET119/1981, DET255/1981, DET376/1981, DET388/1981, DET401/1981, DET455/1981, DET475/1981, DET544/1981, DET591/1981, DET3/1982, DET9/1982, DET13/1982, DET16/1982, DET22/1982, DET43/1982, DET65/1982, DET76/1982, DET88/1982, DET97/1982, DET113/1982, DET127/1982, DET156/1982, DET178/1982, DET201/1982)

{'How many reports? Does it mean that Snape was questioned so many times? He surely denied everything. But... He was given Veritaserum, wasn't he? Then... why was it necessary to question him so many times?' Percy finally shrugged and went on.}

29.01.1982 - attested DE activity, removed to Azkaban (sentence no. AZ/IN/39/DE/1982)

{'It had to be an accident that this file was here, between the AU documents. But it was a lucky accident nevertheless,' Percy wondered. So Snape had been in Azkaban. Just the right place for people like him.}

01.07.1982 - trial reclaimed by DUMBLEDORE, Albus (ID: 03834119801)

04.08.1982 - released from Azkaban (doc. no. AZ/OUT/1/1982)

{'WHAT? DUMBLEDORE?' Percy couldn't know what to think anymore.}

01.09.1982 ongoing Potions' Professor in HSWW

1985 ongoing member of the International Potions Master's Alliance (no. 2808/1985)

1995 - suspected DE activity (see DE21/IN/03/1995)

{'STOP!' Percy wanted to stand up and sprint home or to his father with the news. Dumbledore had been wrong. He had defended the undeserved git and this was the answer of his trust! If Snape had been a Death Eater 14 years ago and now too, that could mean only one thing: that he had been a Death Eater during the whole period between, their full school-time! He froze. He had to do something. To talk to dad. To the Minister. To Dumbledore. To everybody. To print in the Prophet the TRUTH: that that bloody git was a Death Eater!

He had to struggle to calm down enough to continue. No. The Minister didn't believe that Voldemort returned. But... This remark was kind of a proof of that, wasn't it?

What should he do?

Percy decided. He would become an Auror. This would be the best way to protect his family.}

Remarks:

1. About his Potions Master's activity see UPM/SNAPESN/IN

2. About his DE activity see DE/SNAPESN/IN

Attached documents:

OWL, NEWT, PM certificates

Confession of DE activities (Test/SNAPESN/11/DE/01/1982)

{Here was the proof! But... by this time Percy was completely confused. He couldn't understand. Was Snape a Death Eater or not? If he indeed had been, why had he been released from Azkaban?}

***

***

(...)

Interrogator: Are you a Death Eater?

Snape: Yes.

I: How long have you been serving You-Know-Who?

S: For 3 years.

I: Have you committed sins in his service?

S: Yes, I have.

I: Murders?

S: Yes.

{'The confession HAD to be under Veritaserum,' Percy thought.}

I: Exact number of people you murdered?

S: Eleven.

I: Their names?

S: Joseph Galvany, his wife and two children, Patricia Wrights, Cathrin Lighthouse, Andrew Waite, his wife and their child and three young men, I don't know their names.

{'Wh...what? The Galvanys were killed by this greasy, bloody, fucked, evil...' It was just unbelievable. Percy shook his head in shock. All of a sudden, he felt weak. It couldn't be true. And then again... it WAS. His mum would never believe it. Never. He should take this file home somehow. But he knew it was impossible to walk through the Security Watch with such important files. He shook his head again.}

I: Did you kill them for pleasure?

S: No. I killed eight of them for the order of Voldemort. The three unknown men I killed in defence of Lily Evans.

I: Were you under the effect on Imperius during your assassins?

S: No.

I: So you killed them for your own decision.

S: For Voldemort's order.

I: But you obeyed him.

S: Yes, I did.

I: How many times did you use Unforgivables?

S: 11 times Avada Kedavra and 79 times Cruciatus.

{THE BASTARD! Surely, he used the Cruciatus on the Galvanys too...}

I: Imperius?

S: I've never used that.

{Ahm. That was interesting. Why not?}

I: Do you consider yourself innocent?

S: No. I am guilty of all of sins mentioned above.

{This answer was implicated by the serum or by the guilt? Surely, by the serum...}

I: You said you acted for orders.

S: Yes. But it was my free decision to join Voldemort. I did what he asked me to do. I am guilty.

{No, not the serum. There was no question to be  answered. It was unbelievable, but that blasted git had felt guilty for his deeds. Uhmmmm.....}

I: Severus Nobilus Snape you are found guilty in 11 murders, 79 attested tortures and 90 uses of Unforgivable curses. Your punishment will be a life imprisonment in Azkaban.

(...)

***

***

For long minutes, Percy sat on the chair, staring unfocused out of the window.

He didn't know what to do with all this stuff he had found out today... how to tell his mother and father... how to react...

Everything seemed so blurry and chaotic.

For the first time in his life, Percy was totally uncertain and helpless.

***************************************************************************