Disclaimer: Not JKR, not making any money
Chapter Warnings: Smoking
They were in the middle of the Halloween feast. He could hear the voices of children drifting out of the castle, up to the tower where he stood in his cloak and scarf, smoking one of Lily's cigarettes. It was stale with age. Severus didn't care.
Severus had left his rooms shortly after returning. His shields were still up, not to keep anyone from looking in but to keep himself from feeling all that suppressed terror. He had sent a message to Dumbledore, a scrap of parchment that would appear at his place at the head of the table. Out of obligation more than anything; it would do no good. The Opposition would never rally in time.
So Severus smoked his stale cigarette. He looked up at the bright stars. The photograph of Harriet and Lily was tucked away in his pocket in case he didn't have a chance to clear out his rooms. In case his magic didn't work.
A spell he couldn't cast. He could only arrange it, moving all the pieces into place, expecting - like bloody fucking Dumbledore - that those pieces would do the most righteous thing. That one of them, the Longbottom woman, would love more fully than anyone else in this miserable world.
That she would sacrifice herself to protect her son.
He wasn't hopeful.
He dragged on the cigarette, blew smoke out toward the stars. The nicotine made him jittery. This was going to fail.
The Secret-Keeper, he thought. I'll need to find her Secret-Keeper. And then I'll need to find her.
Like Jason Hanley, he couldn't think her name. He'd betrayed her, betrayed her as surely as Hanley had betrayed the Longbottoms. But perhaps in the aftermath he'd be able to send her away. To Russia with his mother. To the vast Canadian wilderness.
Someplace she could be safe.
"I'll keep you safe," he whispered, ash dropping down the front of his robes. The chilled Halloween wind swept through his hair, bringing with it the scent of magic and pumpkin, cinnamon and mischief. "I'll keep you both safe."
But he knew he was lying.
