Fickle Fate: Chapter 36

I feel like these past few weeks have been a whole year with the amount of stuff I've done. Wow I'm tired! Thank you to everyone who reached out with nice things about the last chapter! :)

Warnings: Angst.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I wouldn't have to apply for so many scholarships to get through school.

Please enjoy!

First Steps...

It was overcast and starting to rain when he arrived on the grounds. He did not bother with a warming charm, knowing he would not be outside long. The man intentionally came during the day. Appearing at night would only set the owner of the manor on edge.

Within a few moments, he reached the front door. Luckily he had been able to apparate well within the manor's wards. He knocked and heard the sound reverberate in the large house.

Severus couldn't say he was surprised when the door opened and Minerva had a wand pointed directly at his nose.

"How did you get here," she growled at him. Snape barely refrained from rolling his eyes.

"Really, Minerva. We both know your wards are set to only allow friends and family in and will send anyone else off with a rather nasty burn. Seeing as we are not related and I am standing here, injury free, that can only mean you trust me as a friend." Minerva's mouth, somehow, managed to pinch together even more in irritation. "Yet, I will admit to some surprise. I assumed Dumbledore would have convinced you that I had switched loyalties and abandoned the Light side of the war."

Minerva didn't answer right away. She narrowed her eyes and examined him closely for a few moments. Finally, she lowered her wand and stepped aside to let him enter.

"Dumbledore has convinced me of next to nothing as of late." McGonagall marched off to her sitting room and Severus followed. Once there, the elderly witch poured herself a significant amount of Scotch despite the early hour. Snape was about to question her when the older professor started talking again. "You are correct, Severus. Dumbledore did attempt to convince me that you were a traitor to the Light. I was skeptical." They seated themselves and Severus raised a brow, asking for clarification. "You deliberately give off a cold air, Severus, but remember, I've known you since you were a child. You've always been…sensitive," Snape scowled at her description but it softened when she continued,"and apart from that, extremely loyal."

With a wave of her wand, a tumbler with a more appropriate amount of alcohol appeared in front of Severus. He took it and nodded his head in thanks before taking a sip.

"However," now McGonagall was scowling. "The old fool lost me when he said you had managed to convince Potter to join Voldemort. At that point I knew, the Headmaster has completely lost his mind."

"And where do you think Mr. Potter is," Severus queried. Minerva narrowed her eyes in suspicion of Snape's calm tone.

"Well…I am hoping I am right in suspecting that Black and Lupin took him away to America and far from the war. Those two have disappeared along with Potter and his friends." Severus took a small sip of alcohol, not taking his eyes off of Minerva.

"So you want Mr. Potter out of the war," Snape asked. He was not about to tell the witch where Harry was until he got a better understanding of her thoughts and feelings on the situation.

"Of course I do," Minerva snapped. Her face twisted into a scowl as she took a full gulp of Scotch. "I've never wanted that poor boy involved but Dumbledore has this ridiculous idea that only Mr. Potter can destroy Voldemort. Why we suddenly put stock in one of Sybill's ridiculous predictions when we never have before, I have no idea!" Suddenly the old witch turned the full force of her glare on Severus. "I may be on the Light side of the war, Severus, but I am hardly a fan of the Headmaster. Unfortunately, he is the strongest wizard on our side who could end the war and my superior." Snape didn't even wait for McGonagall to finish swallowing before he spat out,

"Is that why you ignored students getting tortured under your watch? Because Albus Dumbledore told you to?" Minerva just about choked on her Scotch. Once she had caught her breath again she shot Snape a sharp look.

"Excuse me? I would never allow such a thing! How dare you-"

"And yet Dolores Umbridge was allowed free reign to use a black quill on all of the students in her detentions and you merely told Mr. Potter to 'keep his head down.'" Minerva froze; in fact she froze for so long Severus thought she had had a stroke.

"She. Did. What?" McGonagall bit off each word viciously. At that point Snape was one hundred percent convinced that the older witch had honestly had no idea what Umbridge was doing to his son and the other students. He had had strong inclinations to believe it before, but that uncertainty lingered until Minerva expressed her absolute (and sincere) shock and disgust at being told what Umbridge had done.

"I was only just made aware of the events myself," Severus began, looking down into the depths of his tumbler and surprising Minerva with the amount of emotion he showed. It was still considerably less of a reaction than a regular person but for Severus it was practically screaming his feelings. "Mr…excuse me, Harry…circumstances forced Harry to tell me of last year's detentions with that vile woman. She would make them write lines with a black quill so her lessons would 'sink in.' Many students, even first years, were subject to her cruelty though it seemed she avoided using it on Slytherins and students of influential pureblood families." Minerva's hand had migrated up to cover her mouth, as though to contain her screams of horror. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears.

"Harry had so many detentions with her," she finally breathed out, as the extent of the problem finally clicked in her mind. Snape slowly nodded.

"Yes. I was only able to pry the information out of him because I…" Here he paused, unsure of how to proceed. Finally, he decided it was worth it to share at least some of the summer's events to elicit more trust from Minerva and perhaps convince her to turn further from Dumbledore's side. "I have been teaching Harry, Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley and my godson Draco Potions and Dueling these past few weeks. They were all excelling. In fact, Harry managed to best me in a duel just yesterday. As such I suggested they practice casting with their non-dominant hand. I was concerned when everyone but Harry was picking it up quickly. That's when I noticed the hand tremors." Snape cleared his throat and took a sip of alcohol. "It took some time and help from his friends but I finally was able to cast a diagnosis charm on him and get the story. He had so many detentions with her that he has nerve and tendon damage. I fear at least some of it may be permanent."

Minerva was in utter shock. She felt like she couldn't move as the pain from simply thinking about such torture to a child immobilized her. The older witch didn't know what to feel, what to think as her mind was overwhelmed with images of her students, her children in pain and herself…having done nothing to stop it.

Then she got mad.

McGonagall's magic whipped about the room smashing and throwing anything in its path. Snape stayed perfectly still to avoid flying debris.

"I will kill them both!" The older witch only allowed herself that one outburst and then she sat down slowly and regally in her chair. A house elf popped into the room once things stopped flying about.

"Mistress is needing Pips to clean?" Minerva took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes, Pips. That would be appreciated. I apologize for such a mess." The house elf wouldn't hear of it and shook her head, big ears flopping about.

"No sorry's, Mistress. Pips heard what made Mistress mad. Pips be mad too." Both witch and wizard inwardly shuddered at the cold, evil glint in the house elf's eyes. For all that house elves were servants to Wizarding kind, they were very powerful in their own right and if they really wanted to…they could murder anyone and never be caught.

With a snap of her fingers the room slowly put itself to rights again and the terrifying look left Pip's eyes.

"Pips be bringing Mistress and Guest tea," she said with a bow. Then she was gone, leaving Minerva and Severus alone. Minerva sighed and held up her head with her hand, elbow resting on the arm of the chair. When she finally looked up at Severus, she had tears in her eyes.

"How many? How many students did she do this to, Severus?" Snape grimaced.

"I cannot say. I spoke with Harry, Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley about that very thing and all they could really say was many. The entirety of the DA organization was forced to use black quills in a collective detention when Umbridge caught them. Aside from that all that they know is that most of Gryffindor was subject to the quill at any point in time. I do not mean to be biased but…I suspect Harry still had the most detentions with her and the quill out of anyone." A single tear rolled down Minerva's cheek and she quickly wiped it away.

Her brows furrowed in frustration as she tried to recall something.

"I remember telling Mr. Potter what you quoted to me earlier. I remember…I knew she was a problem. I knew she was a horrid woman and something was wrong with the detentions. I wanted something to be done. I…" She must have finally stumbled upon the memory she was searching for because she paled and her eyes got wide. "I did go to Albus. I told him something was wrong. He said he would investigate but the next day he called me into his office to tell me that nothing she was doing was out of line, just more severe than most detentions, that it would be best to leave her be until the Ministry determined she was no longer required at Hogwarts. That we should all play along and it would end soon. I…I knew that wasn't right, that it couldn't be right. But at the same time it all…made sense. From then on I don't think I questioned any of it. I just knew that Dumbledore said all was well and as such it would be fine. Later Mr. Potter tried to come to me and I just…dismissed him. At that moment I fully believed if he just kept his head down he would stop getting in trouble, though another part of me knew that would never happen. That boy never has been able to stand corrupt authority," here she scoffed derisively. "Not that anyone can blame him." The Potions Master allowed her a few moments to collect herself before commenting.

"It sounds like Albus used a Compulsion Spell on you. I would also suspect he cast a Loyalty Bind on you though the way you speak of him seems to disprove that." McGonagall nodded slowly as the idea took root in her mind.

"Yes, it does, doesn't it. I…just the other day I had to go to Gringott's in person, something I haven't done in years. I wanted to pick up some old journals from my vault and had to endure the Thief's Downfall. I suspect that the strong purification magic in the falls washed away any binds Dumbledore might have placed on me. However, I will make an appointment with the bank as soon as possible to have any other lingering enchantments removed. How…how could this have happened?" Before Snape could respond Pips popped back in with tea.

Severus thought better of downing the rest of his Scotch and simply exchanged the alcohol for the tea. The two ex-colleagues sat in silence for a few minutes, absorbing their reality. Snape came to a decision in his mind and prayed that the Dark Lord did not Crucio him for it later.

"Dumbledore has a long history of ruining people, Minerva. He…he took many things from many people. He took my son from me and turned us against one another." The tea cup that had been lifting towards Minerva's mouth froze in its trajectory.

"Y-you have a son?" Severus could practically see the cogs turning swiftly in Minerva's mind and knew the witch suspected his next answer.

"Yes. I- Harry. It's Harry. When the Dark Lord put me on a mission to spy on Dumbledore, the Headmaster attacked and altered my memories. He manipulated everything to make it seem that Lily and James fell in love and had Harry together when in fact it was myself and Lily. I am sorry to say that, even when the block on my memories was removed a few months ago, I was still not eager to accept Harry as my son. I still held animosity towards him and based his actions on inherent arrogance and idiocy and foolhardiness. Not long into the summer it was discovered that Albus used a butchered version of the Polaris Charm to force Harry to act certain ways towards certain individuals and triggers, mainly myself, Slytherins and the Dark Lord. I am glad to say that the spell was removed and things are getting better between us. We still have much to fix and work on but…our relationship is already significantly improved."

"Dear Merlin," Minerva breathed out. "That's…I'm so sorry, Severus. I…" She surprised Severus by reaching forward and taking hold of the man's hand. "I am glad you and Harry found each other, that you both now have someone." Severus cleared his throat of the emotion clogging it and gave her a grateful nod.

She pulled back and the settled back into silence for a little while longer.

"Severus," Minerva finally said. "Since you have been teaching Mr. Potter and his friends, I assume you know where they are?" Severus did not respond verbally but did nod. "And I'm assuming that since you clearly no longer trust Albus and he claims you have turned to the Dark side that you and the children are somewhere I would likely not approve of?" Another, more hesitant, nod. "I will finally assume that you have a plan to protect them and end Dumbledore?" Here Severus gave a strong nod and a vindictiveness shone in his dark eyes.

Minerva sat up straighter and looked determined.

"Tell me."

McGonagall is such a bada** to me and I just need her to not be a bad person in this story. Sorry if that bugs anyone!

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