Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Just a fan who used to have free timeA/N: My apologies for the delay guys. Finals week in uni was absolutely a draining leech. Hope you enjoy the chapter

Chapter 2: The Screeching Cat

Willem felt incredibly relieved. His boss had outright demanded that he and Barty deliver the quarter's product within the end of the week. After their last supplier from East London had unfortunately been waylaid authorities, following a snitch in their operations, remaining in London or anywhere in it's vicinity was far too grave of a risk.

Guaranteeing a new steady supply of "product" was difficult on it's on end, but arranging for their own identities to be re-done on such short notice was particularly stressful.

The names, Willem and Barty had been his personal choice, with Sam and Joseph being a bit too common for his liking last time around. He had had his name changed on so many occasions, that these days he hardly remembered the one he was born with. He was far more accustomed to being addressed as A1 on the memos and encrypted phone calls. 1st operations official in England, with Barty being the 2nd, for "The Organization".

Spinners End seemed like a low profile enough locale to set up a new residence in for the time being, but never in his wildest dreams would he have thought of acquiring such a low risk source of supply.

Spinner Hedge was essentially a fortune! And the relatively nonexistent levels of paperwork meant that their operations would be virtually untraceable.

The run down house they had acquired north of the river was in a neighborhood that would have been considered posh about a decade or so ago. Back when the locale still had enough people living in it. The closure of the mill had cost most of the commerce of the area, and even most of the houses in the posh part of town lay empty.

Their house had been empty the longest prier to them inhabiting it. It had belonged to a middle aged couple with two daughters. The father had died of a stroke upon hearing the murder of his youngest daughter and the mother had gone into a vegetative state during the funeral.

As they had moved in just this week, they had not entirely settled down. Carton boxes still lay unopened at the odd corner of rooms. They would have to tidy up somewhat, to offer some semblance of realism to their plan. Namely the assigned children's room, overlooking the front yard.

The walk from the play park to the Evans' old house had taken Severus longer than he had expected. It didn't help that he got side tracked and lingered around familiar places where he would spend time with her. Like the ice cream shop where she'd get a raspberry peppermint ice cream and buy him a plain vanilla, he'd always preferred simplicity in anything he enjoyed, after church on Sundays. Or the cinema where they had watched that god awful science fiction film, Star Wars was it? And the Manchester City ticket booth, where they'd bought tickets for the Manchester Derby for a FA Cup 6th round tie.

The ticket booth had been turned into a car repair shop after the downturn in the financial fortune for the locale. He couldn't say that he was still particularly that fond of football, but recalling the excitement he had faced when first acquiring the ticket brought forth a slinght pang of remorse over the ticket shops closure.

It had been an emotional goodbye for Helen. Much more so than the previous night. When the 1970 Ford Torino Cabra had pulled into the driveway, the prospect of actually leaving for good had became all too real.

The previous night, the thought did frighten her, but it seemed to be further away. The dread was distant, out of her scope of comprehension. The feeling was akin to a prisoner on death row. The actuality of death not fully sunk in. But when the doors to the automobile opened and she was greeted with a good morning, she could have sworn it was no different to the deceptively cool and soothing sensation of the executioners ax, before it came down for it's final swing.

The Defoe's were extremely early for her liking. It had not even been an hour still sunrise, so most of the other children had been asleep.

This was particularly, jarring for Helen, as she hadn't been able to say goodbye. Even when it came the goodbye with Gran Gran, she was disturbingly rushed by her new parents. They had to hurry to enroll into her new school, was their excuse, but Helen didn't give a damn! This was her final moments with her Gran Gran and she was going have a proper goodbye dammit! Education can go stick it for all it meant at the time. She also wasn't sure if she should be entertaining the thoughts of strangling people who are effectively her legal parents, but she was too angry in most of her ride to her new home to properly contemplate on it.

The sedan, moved onto a relatively posher looking street and pulled onto the driveway of a somewhat posh house, although it was evident that it's previous owners had fallen on hard times, given it's obvious state of disrepair.

As she got out of the vehicle, her eyes drifted over to a small clearing across the street that was being used as small playground for the children in the street, which she could tell from the swings and seesaw implanted on it. Although her eyes became aware of something else..

A man, she thought. His appearance was so jarringly different from his surroundings, that it was impossible for her to not notice. His hooked nose, shallow cheeks and disturbingly gaunt frame gave him an almost serpentine feature which sent a chill of unease through her spine.

"Don't worry dear, you'll be able to play there in evening. Lets get you settled in first," said one of her father's. The lankier one Willem. A look of sheer confusion spread on Helen's features. "Couldn't he see that man? He was staring right at him while he spoke!" was her thought.

Willem interpreted her confusion as spoilt defiance and said, "Now there young lady, you may have been allowed to do whatever you want in your orphanage, but you would have to adhere to a proper routine whilst living with us. With that, he ushered her in.

Helen managed to look back at the man before being guided into the house. He hadn't moved a muscle except that there was now a clear look of astonishment it his obsidian eyes.

Severus watched with vague intrigue as the car pulled into the driveway. They must be its new residents, he thought. He was occluding to stop the wave of bittersweet memories rushing back to him, ones he'd been cursed to relive this summer. The Evans' house had been exactly the same as he had last remembered it, the summer before his sixth year. The summer after he had said the most regrettable word of his life. The tree overlooking Lily's old bedroom, which he had occasionally climbed up of to visit her when she was grounded, was still present.

It wasn't until a little girl jumped out of the vehicle that his emotions flared up again. From her slumped shoulders and scrunched eyebrows he could determine that she was obviously in a rather sour mood. But the moment her eyes turned to him that his occlumency walls completely fell away.

He could initially see an expression of confusion which then turned to one of fear. He was using a disillusionment charm that only worked on muggles to not arouse suspension from his lingering around in the neighborhood.

He had first devised it in his seventh year, adding an extra syllable to an already popularly used charm, thus improving it and making it his go to charm when residing in the muggle world. He enjoyed the anonymity and the lack of peering glances that it brought him.

But here, in an unmistakably muggle neighborhood, there stood a girl that was able to see him? However that wasn't the main aspect of this encounter that had absolutely bewildered him. It was her eyes. His is dazed, post occlumency state he felt a strange sense of nostalgia about them. As if those same set of eyes had been irrevocably intertwined with his very life. That very fleeting look doused in confusion, followed by irrevocable fear had been so profoundly familiar. Hadn't girl so much like her, given him the exact same look when he had emerged from the bushes after she had flown of that swing. Those emerald green eyes were now glued to him, just as they had been all those years ago and just like the first time around, the look of fear slowly evolved into one of soul crushing disgust. The first time around, the owner of those eyes had been turned away and rushed back home, likely this very structure, by her sister while this time around it was her father, or so he had assumed.

Unable to withstand the onslaught of emotions that particular memory had brought, Snape meandered to a secluded alley before apparating back to Spinners End, where he could occlude away from the catalysts of his remembrance.

Away. Away. Away. They had taken Madam Helen away from him!

Those murderers!

Old Miss Bingsly probably couldn't tell, going be her disturbingly amicable demeanor around them, but she couldn't smell the lingering smell of blood on their hands like Feebus could, could she.

The old hag had given precious Madam Helen to away to those butchers! He could still smell the torn scabs of skin underneath their nails and the familiar perfume Madam Helens classmates wore. But worst of all, he could smell the rot of their soul. The rot that had eaten away at the very core of their humanity and had left behind a carcass whose stench was so strong that Feebus and nearly gagged when we had first felt it upon his nostrils.

No! Oh, no! He wouldn't let them bleed Madam Helen like so many others before her. He'd bleed them dry to rot like their souls first.

Helen was somehow disappointed by her new house. She was expecting something a little less barren. Barty took her belongings to her room upstairs while Willem led her to the kitchen for some breakfast.

Cereal. She had never had it before, but heard some of the other kids at school talk about it a few times. With the budget at the hedge being as tight as it was, the city council didn't want to pay extra to feed orphans expensive processed foods.

Sweet she thought. It was sweet. It felt somewhat stale, but the milk made it bearable. When Willem was looking the other the other way, she managed to take a glance at the container. It's expiry date had run out. Why would anyone feed their daughter expired food?

Willem got off the phone to confirm their drop off point. He scheduled a meeting at the abandoned old mill a mile along the river in a few hours.

He was glad at how things were proceeding. He felt comfortable of his relationship with Miss Bingsly and would be back at the orphanage to secure another product. He had to make sure to not let the buyers know of his source, or he'd be sure what they'd storm the place and clean out all the product. Oh no. This source was far to valuable and wouldn't run dry as long as he maintained control of the channels.

His musings were disturbed by a knocking sound. He made to head of towards the front door but noted that the sound was lighter, as if off glass. His eyes turned toward the window by the kitchen sink and saw, an owl? What?

It was gently pecking on the glass, as if wanting to come in. Wearily, Willem pulled up the window and allowed the bird in. Straight off, it flew towards the girl and sat in front of her bowl of cereal. He noticed that it was carrying an envelope in one of it talons, which it beckoned towards her.

Almost as confused as him, albeit also rather tentatively excited as well, the girl accepted.

He moved behind her to get a better view of who it was addressed to and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw that it read, 'To Helen Evon Parkins, 17th Cheshire, Cokesworth.' With that, his tempers flared.

What the flying fuck?! Nobody knew about this! Absolutely nobody! Not a fucking soul within the organization, except their immediate superior knew about their current location and even he didn't know about their operations. How the feathery flying fuck did this letter have the name and address of this place when the girl hadn't even been here for even a bloody fucking hour. This wad not an elaborate prank. His supervisor didn't play pranks. His supervisor didn't play pranks. Unless he wanted them dead that is. Fuck…

With hands shaking, half with absolutely seething rage and half with bone chilling terror, he pulled out his handgun and leveled it at the bird. The owl looked up at him confused.

BANG!

The bird dropped dead, a bloody hole in between it's eyes. The girl screamed. "You killed it! You killed it!" she screeched, "Why did you do that!?" She had begun pounding on his side now. Unable to withstand his anger he swatted her away.

Barty ran into the room while the girl crashed into a cabinet. He didn't care. It didn't matter anymore.

Seeing the carnage in front of him, from the bloody bird to the crying girl in the corner, Barty lost his shit as well. "What the fucking hell is wrong with you!? Never damage the product! You always tell me that!" said Barty, his obese features turning hot pink.

"We're being compromised," said Willem, white faced. That seemed to have calmed the Barty down somewhat, understanding the meaning. Willem tossed him the envelope. "Someone knows about the girl," said he, "I'm guessing it's the Supervisor. He must have called the orphanage and give another team the source. Probably a team that would give him a larger cut."

"You sure it isn't something else? Like I don't, magic?"

"Now's not the time Barty. Go and get the kerosene from the cellar, I'll place the decoy bodies. We'll make it look like a fire."

"What about the girl?" They both glanced over at the whimpering girl in the corner. Her eyes glaring daggers at them, obviously bloodshot from the tears. Her left cheek starting to swell from his earlier assault. Probably broken.

"Where'd you keep the chloroform Barty?" he said casually, "We'll drop her off at a freelance buyer. Will probably only fetch us half of what she would have, due to my loss of temper, but it'll be enough for us to relocate."

"Third drawer from the sink," was his reply. Comprehension dawned on the girls features at that remark. With a flash she made a dash towards the backdoor exit. But little did she know, that Barty over here was a little freak of nature. That's why they had been put together. Him with his IQ of 167 and Barty being stupendously agile for a man his size. He had her by her shoulders by the time he had doused the napkin with the chloroform.

The girls panicked shrieks hardly registered to him. He had far to much on his mind and even more work to do.

He had made sure to bare his parents house of all it's furniture after he had inherited it from his father. Being a minimalist, he only kept the bed in his old room, never having enough courage to sleep in the same room his mother had died in.

Out of all the furniture he had enjoyed burning his father's couch the most. The couch on which he had passed out drunk many a night, usually after abusing him or his mother.

He now lay occluding on a reclining chair he had transfigured from an empty potions bottle. Lily had been revolted by him. Disgust was both the first and last feeling she had ever felt for him. These thoughts had barely registered the magnitude of emotional upheaval they would have had it not been for his occlumency walls. Now, they were little more than a fleeting sensation on the surface of his mind. Hollow. Yes, that was it. The feeling of hollowness. His truest salvation. The prospect of not existing in the first place.

His musings were disturbed when the fire pit burst up an a flurry of green flames. Amongst then, he saw the familiar bearded features of Albus Dumbledore. The furrowing of his brows brought him on edge. This cannot be good.

"Ah greetings Severus, I hope that this isn't disturbing your vacation but I am in need of your services now," his withered voice boomed across the barren living room.

"No worries headmaster," he waved the notion on disturbance away, "How may I help?"

"An owl had been sent for a new student living in Cokesworth last evening. I believe it to be the Evans' old house. It was come to my knowledge that the owl has met a premature end to it's services for us. I am now worried about the well being of the student. It may be nothing truly grievous, but since you are the closest staff to the scene I was hoping you could examine and see that everything was alright," he finished with a soft smile, "I hope this would not be too much to ask."

"Certainly not professor, I will see to it at once," Severus confirmed.

As the fire extinguished, Severus at once apparated to the secluded alley from which he had disapparated not too long ago.

Of course the girl the girl wasn't a muggle. She had been able to see him. Through his disillusionment charm. He had been so distracted with his musings of Lily that he had completely forgotten why he had gone there in the first place.

Despite the headmaster's attempts to downplay the gravity of the situation, Severus knew that something was wrong. There was a sliver of concern in his voice. Yes, it was rather common for delivery owls to be disposed of when delivering letters to muggle households. Especially so in the case of new students. Most parents cannot take the sudden exposure to their world and act violently. Heck, even his father had ordered his mother to throw the owl that had delivered his Hogwarts acceptance letter into the cooking pot. Although that was namely because they hadn't had any meat to eat for months at that point. But no one had checked in to see if things were alright back then. Was this girl important somehow?

Severus took a sharp intake of breath as the house came into view. It was on fire. Shit!

He quickly cast a charm to rain in the locale. With it being Manchester he hoped a passing shower would not be too out of the ordinary. Even in the summer.

Smoke. Fire. Smoke and fire. But no Madam Helen. Feebus was frantic. What had they done to her?

There were bodies in the burning house. Burnt beyond recognition, but there were not Madam Helen. She was not here. They had taken her someplace else.

He was about to set off in no particular direction when he picked up the oddly familiar scent of someone else. He had known this before. But more importantly, he could have sworn that he knew of the rot of this individuals soul.

It was a different kind of rot this. Unlike the dead carcasses of Madam Helen's capturers, his rot was alive. It was living, breathing and almost attempting to consume his soul whole. To destroy it's own self, to become one with the void and simply not exist.

Feebus felt a shiver and was overcome with a hatred that was not his own. From another life perhaps?

He ran. He charged and he lunged. He sank his teeth into this mans wrists.

Pain. That was first thought that Severus registered when he was set upon by a screeching cat.

Throughout his life he had felt moments that he had an inkling would change his life forever. The moment he had first seen Lily jump of the swing and float towards the ground. The moment when she was sorted into Gryffindor and went on the sit besides Potter. The seconds after he had called her that name, and even the seconds after the Fat Lady's portrait closed that night. Even the night he heard the prophecy to that dreadful night where he had discovered her dead, huddled over, face down on the floor. But he had never expected to next feel like this through a cat? A screeching cat biting into his wrist. What?

Stupify!

The cat landed on the scorched floor with a thud. And all of a sudden the moment was gone. Deciding not to dwell on this peculiar event, he decided to look around. The burnt bodies did not belong to the girl. They had taken somewhere, but where?

His eyes found the the Hogwarts invitation letter, remarkably still intact. Did these have protective charms from fire? What other charms did it have?

A quick diagnosis revealed that the letter also contained a tracking charm, only to activate when in possession of a magical animal. Realization dawned on him.

He lifted the stunner on the cat and kneeled in front of it. "I need you take this envelope to that girl. Do you understand?" He said, as slowly and clearly as he could. Tentatively, the cat clutched the envelope in it's and gave him a lingering look of comprehension before running off.

A/N: Happy Bengali New Year btw. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Be sure to leave a review if you can. It really helps with motivation.I have a break for two weeks, so hopefully I'll be able to stick to the fortnightly update routine this time around.I'll be going and watching the City match now. Sterling just scored. Goodbye.