Chapter 37: Hot-Blooded, Cold-Hearted

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the story which directly takes ideas from JK Rowling. This story is not being used for commercial purposes; it is simply for pleasure and fun.

Author's Note: "M" Guest – You are indeed asking the correct questions! This is the final chapter in the mini story arc! Hope you like it! Of course the main story continues but I figured since they'd be away from Hogwarts it would make sense to have a story that started and ended while they were away. That's not to say this doesn't fit into the bigger picture…

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"Eloise, what, what's going on… what are you doing?"

"Come now Severus I zought you were smarter zen zat. 'Aven't you figured eet out yet?"

Snape's eyes had adjusted to the dark and he could see more of the room he was in. It seemed like a basement or cellar of some sort, but there was something strange about the walls; they looked as though they were crumbling.

"Where are we?"

"Not zat eet matters but we are in zee ruins of Notre Dame."

"Why here?"

"Zee ritual will work better 'ere."

"Ritual?"

There was a definite panic in Snape's voice that he wasn't able to completely hide. Eloise had heard it as well and stopped her scraping; she appeared above Snape again with that same sickening smile.

"Ahh, yes, now you understand. Be a good boy and stay steell zen."

Eloise brought the dagger down and as she did Snape caught a glimpse of a familiar set of etching on the hilt but he did not have time to figure out what they were because his eyes snapped shut in pain as Eloise sliced open his other forearm. Severus let out another groan and Eloise picked up his arm, squeezing it as though she was juicing a lemon so that more blood spilled onto the floor. When she was satisfied with the amount, Eloise dropped his arm and it fell hard against the cold stone floor which eased some of the hot pain shooting through Snape.

"Why are you doing this?!"

"Because eet iz your fault! Eef eet wasn't for you, she would not be so afraid."

"Who? Afraid of what exactly?"

"Lily! My dear, sweet Lily."

"You stay away from her! Don't you dare hurt her!"

Snape struggled against his restraints, causing his forearms to bleed more profusely.

" 'Urt 'er? I would never, not in a million years. I love 'er, and she loves me too… she eez just too afraid to admit eet."

"You're delusional."

"Or maybe you know eet iz true and just do not want to admit eet, huh? She did not pull away when I kissed 'er but zen she saw you at zee door and ran away!"

Eloise had gotten riled up and walked away as she yelled. Snape used this opportunity to try and find a means of escape but his focus was distracted at best, did Lily really like… well… women?

"From zee moment I saw 'er I knew Lily understood me. And eet waz zer in zee cards! A big change, a decision was coming up in 'er life, in 'er love life. But you are in zee way, you are keeping 'er from being 'er true self. Not even the runes worked."

"Did you ever consider you were wrong? That Lily isn't… like you?"

Eloise stopped her angry pacing and considered this for a moment, then her face became flush red with anger and she appeared above Severus once more.

"You would say zat!"

Eloise bent down and grabbed Snape's hair, pulled his face upwards close to hers.

"You do not understand us!"

"Really? You think you understand Lily better than I, who have known her since before we started Hogwarts? I think I understand you pretty well too."

"Oh yeah, you do 'uh?"

Eloise dropped his head and it hit the stone floor roughly. She turned to walk away but Snape took his chance.

"Yes I do. You're a nobody, a speck of dust on the window. You could out-magic, out-smart and out-maneuver everyone single person in your school but no one so much as turns to look at you because you aren't rich or good looking enough to be worth the time of day. Then, someone comes along… Lily, and she's perfect; beautiful, kind, smart, funny and everything else good in the world. She takes notice of you and treats you well… and… and then you can't stop thinking about her, because for once someone saw you for who you really are. When you looked in her eyes you saw reflected back an actual human being, and you felt like you were worthy for the very first time."

Eloise appeared again, but instead of looking angry or mocking, there were tears welling in her eyes.

"How..."

"How do I know? Because I know how you feel, because that's what Lily is to me too. I mean look at me, do you think anyone at my school was happy I won? Or acknowledged me at all? Not even for a moment."

Tears spilled freely down Eloise's cheeks, the dagger trembled in her hand.

"Eef things were different, you and I could 'ave been friends Severus, but I am sorry, I must do zis, pierce your 'eart and win Lily's."

Eloise raised the trembling dagger over her head.

"No! Please Eloise don't do this!"

Eloise's hands shook even harder, and for a moment it seemed as though she had changed her mind, but then Eloise disappeared from view and Snape heard a loud crash at the far end of the room. Confused and frightened, Snape tried to look around but from his vantage point he could discover nothing. Was he dead? No he was in too much pain. Then he heard the sounds of footsteps, several pairs, coming his way.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know I'm sure we got her though."

Snape saw several shadows above him and then one turned around and he recognized the face.

"Aleksander? Yanko? Is that you?"

"Oh, it's Snape. So you're the one she had down here for the ritual? Nice going, getting caught by a girl."

Yanko mocked as he undid the restraints that held Snape down

"I wasn't exactly on my guard around her."

"Well, that wasn't exactly smart of you then was it… particularly after she nearly killed us in Paris."

"She was the one who bruised you up that night?"

"Did a fair bit more than bruise us, I'm sure we just nearly ducked around a few death curses and she took our dagger."

Aleksander seemed to be looking around for the aforementioned item.

"I saw her with one, she was holding it before she disappeared."

"Must have been ours, we knew once she took it she would try something like this but… well we thought Lily might be the target, or one of the girls from her school. So we tried to keep an eye on them."

"So that's why you took them to the ball with you, and kept hitting on Lily."

"Well one of the reasons."

Bahlmoore answered with a wink.

"Why did you think one of the girls was the target?"

"The ritual she was preparing for was meant to sacrifice someone who was competition for the person someone loved, in order to win over said person. We figured she saw the girls as competition. Guess we were wrong about it, she must have had something else in mind."

Aleksander answered.

"No that's exactly what she had in mind."

"What?"

"Nevermind."

Snape didn't have time for this, Lily might be in danger.

"We have to find Lily and warn her, can any of you apparate back to the hotel?"

"No need mate, Lily's here."

"What?"

"When you didn't come back last night and were gone all day Lily got worried and asked us to find you. That's how we came by here. But we thought you went after Eloise and got caught not that you were the sacrifice."

Yanko was looking at him in a confused manner.

"Yesterday? How long has it been? No matter, where is she now? She's in danger if Eloise got away."

Almost as if to answer his question, a loud sound was heard from outside.

The group of boys ran up the stairs into the now deserted square in front of the Notre Dame cathedral. It was well into the evening and the lightly falling snow was illuminated by a bright full moon which cast long shadows and made the cathedral look dark and eerie. Eloise must have needed a full moon in order to complete the ritual. Eloise was backed up against the main doors of the church, nursing a bloody lip and struggling to keep upright. In the middle of the square was Professor Locus, holding his wand up and pointing it at Eloise as he held several pieces of paper clutched in his other, vein-riddled hand.

"Tell me you stupid little bitch!"

Professor Locus had a snarled look on his face and his voice echoed unnaturally loudly across the square.

"Tell me what spell you used or I'll end your pathetic little life right here and now."

Eloise simply laughed in response and glared at the professor. This infuriated him and he sent another round of spells at Eloise, who expertly knocked them away but she was injured, likely by the spell the Durmstrang boys had used, and she was slowing down considerably. Professor Locus had taken no notice of the new arrivals.

"When they put the potions together you used a spell to blend them, I know it. No one else in that room could have managed it. My life's work will not be stalled by some tramp! You will tell me!"

Professor Locus sent another spell Eloise's way and for a brief moment she shrieked and withered in pain.

"The cruciatus!"

Thought Snape. He had seen what it could do before.

"Why can't you just write things down like normal people?!"

When Professor Locus said this Snape remembered seeing him at the inn just before Eloise's room had been ransacked. How long had the professor been stalking Eloise, or better yet, suspecting her?

"Professor Locus what's going on?"

Snape's question made the professor whip around in surprise. This momentary distraction was as good as Eloise could hope for and she slipped through the church doors.

"Damn it! Come back here you wretch!"

But Professor Locus never managed to get halfway across the square before a curse flew at him and caused him to tumble head over heels and fall sprawled in the most awkward position on his back. Snape and the Durmstrang boys turned to see who had cast the curse only to see Lily, Radhika the Divination professor and a vaguely familiar woman all holding their wands out in front of them.

"Talk about girl power."

"Shut up Yanko."

Lily rolled her eyes and walked over to Snape.

"Sev! Goodness you've lost so much blood. Here I brought some blood replenishing potions, take this at once."

"Lily are you alright? Is everything okay? She didn't hurt you did she?"

"No, of course not. I can't believe she did this to you!"

"Nearly drove a dagger through my heart actually."

"No!"

"Yeah we saved him."

"Yanko go to the corner."

Yanko simply pouted in response and turned away.

"What happened? Was Professor Locus controlling her? Why did she do this?"

"Well, she… she was in love with you and… well… wanted me out of the way."

"She... what?"

At this both Radhika and the other woman looked at each other and smiled.

"We thought it might be something like that."

"You did?"

Snape turned in shock and looked at the two women who looked around awkwardly.

"Uhh, yeah… I can see the future remember, Seer and all."

"Oh right. Who are you again?"

Asked Snape motioning to the other woman.

"Me? I was your runes instructor, my name is Suzannah."

As she said her name she waved her arms in the air in a strange fashion and posed.

"Ohh… right… it was sort of dark and all so I couldn't really remember what you looked like."

"That is part of my mystique. Now onto the more pressing issue."

Radhika giggled slightly next to Suzannah who gave her a reproachful stare.

"Yeah I'd say we have a more pressing issue."

It was Aleksander who spoke and point upwards to the top tower of the cathedral. Standing there was Eloise and she was looking down, gathering the courage to…

"Noo! Eloise don't do it!"

Lily was cupping her hands around her mouth and yelling up at Eloise. As they stared Eloise took a step closer to the edge and everyone drew in a collective breath.

"Oh forget this, I'm not just going to stand here!"

Lily said as she sprinted across the courtyard and into the church. Snape looked back up at Eloise, who suddenly reminded him very much of his mother. She hadn't had it easy, Snape knew what that was like to be in Eloise's position, to be shunted and ignored. Then to add to all that being, well, it was a struggle Snape could only imagine.

Snape stood transfixed by panic and fear. How did things get to this point? He looked up at her, standing on the highest tower. Her tears fell with the light evening snow; they fell to the ground in front of Severus, soon followed by a few too many blood drops. Snape followed their path. The blood spatter made it seem as though the snow was blushing. Snape looked back up. There was nothing he could do, nothing he could say. Not even all the magic in the world could save her now. Her only hope was the figure running towards her and he could only watch from below and hope, hope that he wouldn't have to watch her die.

Lily shouted something to Eloise who shouted something back but Snape couldn't make out the words, the wind was sweeping the sound away from them. All of a sudden Lily lunged and grabbed Eloise off the ledge and they disappeared from view for a long time. So much so that Snape believed they were making their way down together but then, just as suddenly as they had disappeared, Eloise reappeared and jumped off the tower.

"Nooooooo..!"

As soon as the scream left Snape's throat the bells sounded out across the square, ringing in midnight. Eloise stopped falling and Snape saw that she had landed on a broom. Eloise pulled the broom upwards so that she was level with Lily and handed her something before she sped away on the broom, into the night sky beyond. Only the ringing of the bells broke the silence of the dark.

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It had been a long evening. After Lily came down from the tower and Professor Locus had regained consciousness, the whole troop along with Professors Radhika and Suzannah went back to the inn where the French Ministry of Magic authorities were waiting for them. Professor Locus was taken to the hospital as he had apparently taken some potions that had addled his mind. As for Eloise, Snape and Lily discovered that she was an orphan and now that she was of age she had been on her own. She was being considered a criminal at large even though Snape insisted he didn't want to pursue the matter; kidnapping was much too serious an offense for it to be swept under the rug. After several hours of investigations and a short trip to a nurse, Lily and Snape gladly retired to their rooms for some badly needed sleep.

The next morning, after saying goodbye to the Durmstrang boys and thanking them, the two groups each got on a different train so they could return to their respective schools. After a short train ride they took a portkey across the channel and to London at which point they went to King's Cross and got on the Hogwarts Express which was taking them back to school. Professor Slughorn was inhaling the lunch trolley in his cabin.

"Are you sure you didn't want to go home and see your mum and sister? You could have spent New Year's at home."

"No, I think I'd rather not, I don't think I want to face any more questions."

Lily answered with a slight blush on her face.

"I suppose we do need a rest after our 'holiday'. That has to have been the worst prize ever."

"Well, it wasn't all bad I guess."

Severus turned to Lily and asked,

"What do you think happened to Eloise?"

Lily sighed and looked out the window.

"Well, I asked in the morning and they said they still hadn't found her and all of her belongings were gone. I suppose she's hiding out somewhere. An orphan on top of everything else, it really doesn't seem fair when you think about it. And those awful girls, you should have heard the way they were talking about her."

Snape lowered his head. As terrible as some of the things she had done had been, Snape couldn't help but identify with with Eloise, hadn't he himself done some stupid and reckless things? He knew what it was like to feel alone and unappreciated, knew how much one could long for someone to understand and care about them.

"What did she say to you up on the tower?"

Lily blushed even more deeply and shifted her sitting position.

"A fair few things."

"Such as?"

"Nothing all that important, but she did ask me to burn the letters."

"What letters?"

"The ones Professor Locus stole from her room."

Lily reached into her bag as she said this and pulled out several rumpled sheets of paper. She laid them on her leg and flattened them out. Snape was about to ask why she still had them and hadn't destroyed them as Eloise asked when Lily added,

"She also gave me this."

Lily pulled out a dagger in a sheath from her bag and handed it to Severus. There was no doubt it was the same one Eloise had used to cut Snape's forearms during the ritual, there was even some of his dried blood left on it. Even though the wounds were gone and there were no scars, Snape could still feel the stinging sometimes, although it was likely all in his head.

"But I thought this belonged to Aleksander, why did you keep it?"

"Because Eloise was quite insistent that I do not give it back to them."

"But why?"

Lily pulled the dagger out of its sheath and Snape winced slightly. Lily held the dagger's hilt in the light and Snape saw the etching he had glimpsed during the ritual. They were the same ones he and Lily had seen all over Paris, the triangle, circle and line.

"So they were the ones who had spread that graffiti all over the place. But still Lily if it belonged to them, even if it is cursed or sketchy or something, you should have given it back. I owe them my life after all."

Even as he said this though Snape remembered Eloise's hands trembling hands and the way the dagger lowered slightly just before...

"I had a good reason not to."

Lily flattened the letters from before on her leg once more before handing them to Severus to read. Snape grabbed the first letter and stopped in shock after the first line.

Dear Mr. Lattimer,