Hi everybody! Miss me?
Big thanks as always for the reviews and feedback. You fuel my creative process!
A few of you have expressed a bit of surprise and confusion about Severus's feelings of guilt over the fight with Simone. We can clearly see that in this case, some of what Severus said crossed a line, but some of you have noted that even times when Severus has said nothing wrong and yet recieved violence, he internally places some blame on himself, even while rightfully blaming the other person. This is not actually an unusual trait of abuse victims (not that Simone is an abuser, just an idiot who needs to sit in the corner and do some hard thinking). I myself endured many undeserved incidences in my childhood and teenage years where the fault should rest wholly on the person who abused me (always the same person) and yet...maybe a few hours after my anger and hurt had died down, I'd find myself questioning my own choices leading up to the moment. Sure, I didn't deserve to be hit or screamed at, but...could I have done something to avoid the situation, said or done something that would have gotten me out of there before things got bad? If I hadn't come home at that time, if I had just stayed in my room...would things have turned out differently?
Ultimately the fault rested solely on my abusers shoulders, but you can't help but dissect the situation and wonder if you could have avoided it all completely by just doing one thing differently.
Sorry to get all heavy on you guys. Anyway, let's get a move on.
If Someone Cared Enough
Chapter Seventy-Two: Up in Smoke
Severus sat across from his mother in the sunroom of the Longbottom Manor, slowly rotating his spoon in his teacup simply for something to do with his hands.
They'd sat in relative silence since his arrival at ten that morning, sparse snippets of idle chitchat that, while pleasant, left much to be offered. Severus came due to the concerns expressed upon him in Frank's most recent letter, detailing the steady decline of his mother's grip on reality. He'd hoped to better access the situation himself, but a fat lot of good it did if his mother was content to sit in silence the whole visit.
His mother reaching out to cup his face caught him off guard.
"You've grown so much, Severus," Eileen said softly, a fond, yet far off smile on her face, "When did you get so tall?"
"One tends to do that with age, mother,' Severus said blandly, taking a sip of his tea.
Eileen giggled, "Also so serious, aren't you? Just like your father."
Severus frowned; he had a feeling this was about to venture into unpleasant territory, "Mother…"
"Look at this house, Severus," Eileen went on, unhearing, "I grew up in a house just like this as a little girl. So many rooms, and yet I don't have to clean a single one! The kitchen is so expansive and here I don't have to cook."
"She laughed, "I hope your father doesn't mind when he gets here. He always preferred my cooking."
Severus frankly couldn't help but recall all the times Tobias said Eileen's cooking was lower than pig slop, but he chose not to mention it, "Mum…dad isn't coming here…"
Eileen waved his concerns away, 'Of course he is, silly. Yes, your father is very stuck in his ways; prefers to get by on the sweat of his labor, but this will be a good change for him. No more working long nights, no more coming home late and too exhausted to get up in the morning. Really, this will be good for him."
Severus said nothing, holding his cup to his lips to hide his frown. While alive, Tobias was out late drinking, not working, and he stayed in bed the following morning because he was too hungover to function. Rarely had Tobias Snape been a hardworking man, succumbing to the bottle early in his and Eileen's marriage and finding a slovenly lifestyle in front of the telly or at the bar a far better use of his time.
"I'm sure he's digging his heels in right now," Eileen went on merrily, "But you'll see, the temptation of a worry free life will be too much for him. Eventually he'll see this life is better than working the grindstone. He may say he's not cut out to be a 'stuffy rich', but he'll come around."
Severus snorted, Tobias's despising of the wealthy elite had little to do with personality or 'stuffiness' and everything to do with jealousy. He had absolutely loathed the fact that others had it better than him, feeling himself deserving of a life of ease despite doing little that would warrant a fortune such as earning it.
Much of his hatred of Eileen was over the realization that she came from money and he'd never see a cent of it, something she'd neglected to inform him of prior to marriage, back when he thought her to be some lower class mill girl. Upon realizing that the financial freeze out from his in-laws was over their hatred of his 'kind', he in turn decided he would vindictively hate all magic. Of course, what he intended to be a sting against the Princes fell short of effecting them at all, as it was doubtful they would care what a muggle thought of them.
"Mum," Severus began gently, placing his cup down primly on the saucer, "You do realize our house…burned down, yes?"
Eileen nodded, a wistful expression taking over her face, "Yes, what a shame. I built so much of my life there. Got married, started a family, and now it's all gone."
"Well," Severus worried about how he could put this delicately, "You make it sound like dad is sitting around at home…but there's no home there now, is there?"
Eileen waved a hand dismissively, "He's at the men's shelter, Severus."
"The men's shelter," Severus deadpanned.
Eileen nodded, "Yes, the fool's too stubborn to just admit I'm right about this place and come here. But he will, mark my words. Then we all can be a family again."
Severus clenched his fists, wanting to scream. Again? They were never a family at all. The life Eileen remembered was a fabrication she chose to invent and it vexed Severus endlessly how determined she was to tune out reality for her own version of the truth. Tobias was not a hard worker. He was not a loving man, and there had been no happy memories in that house.
The very fact that Eileen could sit there and sigh about the supposed wonderful life they led to the son who suffered the most at Tobias hands was infuriating.
He wanted to lash out at her, curse her inability to protect her son as a mother should. He wanted to demand she stop her foolish fantasizing about a 'good man' who never existed, a man whom never emanated the warmth she claimed him to possess in her dreams. Severus wanted to shake his mouth and make her see the truth, that her life with Tobias was horrible and her unwillingness to admit the marriage was a mistake and leave made her partially to blame for the hardships she and Severus had suffered.
But…Severus looked down at his hands, letting his grip go lax. What could he do? Confronting her was tempting, yelling out his frustration a truly satisfying feeling, but ultimately it would accomplish very little. Eileen rarely responded well to shouting—very few people did—at her worst responding in kind with barbed words and cutting remarks, and at her most frail cowering and weeping in fear. As much as Severus wanted to unload his anger on his mother, he didn't think he'd be able to stomach her huddled in the corner crying and knowing his anger was the cause.
"Yes, mum," he said instead, heaving out a tired, weary sigh, "We'll be a family again."
He stood up slowly, careful not to startle his mother.
"I need to return to school now, mum," he said softly.
"Right," Eileen said distractedly, blinking owlishly at Severus as if just remembering her was there, "You have to keep up with your studies."
"Yes," Severus crossed round the table to Eileen, bending at the hip to give her a light kiss on the forehead, the most affectionate gesture he'd ever been able to exchange with his mother to date, "Take care of yourself, mum."
"You too, dear," his mother said with a smile.
Severus turned to leave, only for Eileen to grabbed hold of his arm.
"Severus?" Eileen said hesitantly.
Severus turned back to her expectantly.
Unexpectedly, Eileen tugged on Severus's arm, forcing him to lean in close.
Eileen gently cupped Severus's face in her hands, stroking her thumbs across his cheeks.
"You make me so proud…," she said eventually, her eyes swimming with emotion.
"…Thank you, mum," Severus said, "That means a lot to me."
Eileen released him then, turning back to the window, humming to herself.
"I see what you mean," Severus announced when he rejoined Frank out in the foyer, "Is she like this often?"
"Daily," Frank replied gravely, "She's out there most mornings until past lunch, and then she moves to the garden, always saying the same things."
"That my father is coming," Severus noted.
Frank nodded, "Usually she acts as if he'll be here any minute or by the evening. Regardless of the time, she believes he's on his way."
"And when he doesn't make an appearance?" Severus asked.
"That's the weird part," Frank said, "She right up until she goes to sleep, she maintains he's on his way. The next morning, the whole process repeats again…like she's reset herself. She doesn't recalling having said the same things the day before, she just starts over again."
"That explains a few things," Severus muttered. When he first arrived, he'd noticed his mother asked him some of the same things as she had during his last visit, almost as if she believed it was her first time inquiring.
"I know I shouldn't say anything," Frank began cautiously, "But my mum's been talking. She wonders if Eileen needs treatment at St. Mungos…"
"Absolutely not," Severus refused, "She won't be treated there, just stored away in a ward and forgotten; they're terrible at treating ailments of the mind. I won't have that for her. If caring for her becomes too difficult for your family, I understand. I'll seek new arrangements, but I won't have her going into a facility."
"Oh she's no trouble at all," Frank abated, "Really, we have plenty of help with the house elves. She's not a burden; mum just worries we're making things worse by not getting help."
"The only thing that can be of help to her is re-acclimating her to the magical world," Severus said firmly, "She's been kept away from it too long. How's her magic?"
Frank shrugged, "Mum lent her an old family wand, but she hasn't had much luck in using it yet. I know the wand choose the wizard, but she can barely get a spark out of it."
"She hasn't touched a wand in years," Severus confessed drearily, "I imagine holding one feels rather foreign to her now."
"She has shown some accidental magic," Frank revealed, "Just little things. Teacups moving on their own, flowers opening and closing, things like that. Still it's a good sign."
"Better than I could hope for, given the circumstances," Severus conceded, "Her mind may be weak, but at least her magic is growing in strength."
Severus sighed, feeling quite drained from the whole ordeal, "I should probably return to school."
Frank placed a hand on Severus's shoulder, "Hang in there, mate. We'll get through this yet."
"I wish I could share in your optimism," Severus admitted.
Bidding Frank goodbye, Severus stepped into the fireplace and threw down a handful of floo powder, "Headmaster's Office."
He reappeared in a cloud of clean smoke in Dumbledore's fireplace.
"Ah, Severus," Dumbledore greeted, "I trust you had a pleasant visit."
Severus stepped out of the hearth, brushing off his robes, "As much as could be expected. Thank you for letting me use the floo, Headmaster," he added politely.
Dumbledore inclined his head slightly, "You're very welcome. Tell, how is your mother?"
Severus frowned, "Doing about as good as can be expected, though she seems to prefer fantasy over reality as of late. Frank tells me she is under the impression that my father will be coming to live with her at Longbottom Manor."
Dumbledore quirked a brow, "Really now. That is peculiar. Given his recent passing I can see of such an event would be quite farfetched."
"Indeed," Severus agreed, "If it is alright, Professor, I would like to schedule an appointment with Marcus during the next Hogsmeade visit. I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to talk to him."
"Of course, Mister Snape," Dumbledore obliged, "I'll arrange for it this evening. I should hope though, that you know I am available should you ever need to talk, as if the rest of the staff."
"I am aware," Severus replied carefully, "But I hope you do not find it rude that I prefer an outside, unbiased ear."
Dumbledore nodded congenially, "Of course. Have a good afternoon, Severus."
Severus gave a polite smile that came off closer to a grimace and left.
{page break}
"Are you sure it's okay that I'm up here?" Mary asked for the umpteenth time as she sat on Severus's bed.
"It's fine," Severus assured her.
"You sure?" Mary questioned, "Because the amount of dirty looks I got heading up here says otherwise."
"If you recall," Severus said lazily, "I never said you had to come up here. You could have waited outside the entrance while I gathered my things."
"Yes, but I've never seen your dorms before," Mary protested, "And it seems everyone is allowed all the other Houses' dorms, so I figured it would be alright for me to come in."
"I don't believe that applies to girls in the boys' dorms," Severus pointed out boredly, "Nor on their beds."
Mary shrugged, bouncing up and down a little on the mattress, "There's nowhere else to sit."
Severus shook his head, returning to gathering his homework.
"So," Mary began, "How'd it go with your mum?"
Severus sighed, "How long have you been waiting to ask that?"
"Since you came back yesterday," Mary replied simply, "So how is she?"
"She's…okay physically," Severus said slowly, "Mentally, not so much. She seems to think my father is still alive."
Mary grimaced, "That's not good."
"Indeed," Severus intoned.
"Do you think she'll get better?" Mary asked as Severus came over to sit down beside her.
Severus gave a half shrug, "Honestly I have no idea what to expect. I'd hope brining her back to the wizarding world would help lift her spirits, but so far she seems content to play a muggle living among magic. She keeps talking about some wonderful life we led as a family that never existed outside her own hopes and dreams. Tobias wasn't a Prince Charming, and my mum is no Cinderella. Her life was worse after she married him, not better."
"I'm surprised you know that reference," Mary said.
Severus snorted, "I did grow up with Lily."
Mary chuckled, resting her head on Severus's shoulder, "I'm sorry things you've had to put up with so much, Sev. It can't be easy on you."
"I suppose I've dealt with worse," Severus said dismissively, referencing the years under Tobias's roof.
"So?" Mary asked, a bit of anger in her voice, "Just because you've been through harder stuff doesn't mean you should have to endure anything less. It still more than anyone should have to go through."
"Our life experiences aren't measure by how much good fortune or misfortune we've had," Severus replied, "It matters little to the hands of fate that I may have already suffered before this."
"Still it seems so unfair," Mary insisted, "You've had to deal with bullies and terrible fathers. Even attempted murder! I think you've gone through enough for a life time."
Severus rubbed at the faint line around his neck, the only remains of the once life-threatening wound that marred his flesh, "Like I said, there isn't a quota on pain to be filled or maxed out. It's all random occurrences, or things you brought on yourself inadvertently. Usually what we go through is based on some unseen law of what's deserved, but rather it's just us being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It happens."
Mary frowned, tucking her head into Severus's shoulder, "It happens too often to you."
Severus shrugged, "It is what it is."
"Lily's worried about you," Mary confessed, "We all are. You've had a domino effect of one bad thing after another lately. First with your father being found dead and the prophet leaking your private life to the public. Then your house was burned down and now everyone knows You-Know-Who is targeting you. And after all of that you've mother's doing poorly…it's just a lot for one person to go through."
Severus massaged his brow, "If it eases your mind any, my father's passing was of little consequence to me; it was something I'd wish for a great while ago if I'm being honest. And my private life has always fallen under some speculation thanks to Potter and Blacks efforts to remind me daily of my poverty and hygiene since I first came to Hogwarts. Everyone's always suspected I came from a bad home, because those two buffoons always shined a light on it every chance they got."
"As for my house and my mother," Severus went on, "I can deal with the lose of that wretched place; it held no good memories for me. I realized long before that turning against You-Know-Who would bring some repercussions on me. Did I think he'd take it so personally that a fifteen year old rejected his offer, no, but I can't imagine he'd be pleased I got two others of his flock incarcerated. I'd braced myself for some fallout."
"And your mum?" Mary prompted.
Severus sighed, "My mother…well I can't say I'm truly surprised she's doing so poorly. She has been in a bad state of mind for many years…just not this bad before. Still, I suppose I always knew she was barely hanging onto reality all these years. Life's been terrible for her under Tobias's thumb."
"Why didn't she leave?" Mary asked.
"And go where?" Severus shot back, "She couldn't go back to her parents, she had no worldly skills, no life savings to fall back on. And she had me to take care of. For as much as she loathed my father, she clung to him and pretended it was by choice because she didn't want to admit she had nowhere else to go. I think being cut off from her family and magic for so long started to take its toll on her somewhere down the road."
"I take it then that no one from your mother's side has written back," Mary said matter of factly.
Severus nodded, "Not a one. Though I suppose I can't just write that off as confirmation; most purebloods would at least send a missive demanding I never contact them again. The fact that I've heard nothing could just mean they haven't gotten around to reading it yet, if the letters ever made it there."
"So there's still hope," Mary said optimistically.
"Or still a chance for rejection," Severus said sardonically.
Mary flicked his forehead, 'You can't sit around waiting for the worst all the time. There's being a realist, and then there's being a pessimist."
"The latter sounds far more appealing," Severus drawled.
"I'm serious," Mary said firmly standing up to face him. She put her hands on her hips, "I'm not pushing you to reconnect with your family for kicks, you know? I just don't want you to throw in the towel until we've exhausted all the options. As much as you dislike your relatives on principal, you don't really know them. If there is even the slim chance one of them is a decent person, wouldn't it be nice to reach out to them and give your mum some ties to her old life?"
"I suppose," Severus conceded reluctantly.
"If there's route goes tits up, I'll be the first to support you cutting all ties with them," Mary assured, "I just don't want to rule anything out before we know for a fact that they're a lost cause."
Mary looked sadly down on Severus, "I just want you to be happy, Severus."
"And here I thought you were trying to help me get my hands on the Prince family fortune," Severus joked dryly.
Mary gave an undignified snort.
"You ass," she laughed, shoving Severus, "If I was after money, I'd just betroth myself to Black."
"A fate worse than death, I assure you," Severus said gravely, though with a hint of a smile.
"You know I like you for you, right?" Mary asked, giving him a crooked little grin, uncertainty in her eyes.
"You've said that many times," Severus admitted, "Though I can't help but worry that you—do you smell something burning?"
Mary sniffed the air.
"I do," she replied, their conversation momentarily forgotten, "Where is it coming fro—"
"Fire in the common room!" the terrified scream from out in the hall rang out loudly through the room.
Severus looked to Mary in alarm.
"Have your wand ready," he ordered.
Mary nodded, fear paling her face.
Severus snatched up his school bag, not wanting all their research to be lost to the flames.
"Let's go," he said, heading for the door.
Kicking the door open, Severus and Mary entered into a scene of pure chaos. A fire was raging in the center of the common room, growing out of control as it caught the ornate tapestries on the walls and the draperies lining the lake-view window. Students ran frantically from the room, piling up at the exit as people all tried to escape at once.
"Single file!" demanded a prefect, stopping to drag a terrified, sobbing first year to her feet, "Everyone remain calm."
Smoke billowed across the room, rising high into the air and amassing like a thundercloud. Students choked and cough as the more knowledgeable of the crowd guided others into crawling on their hands and knees to the door.
Flames traveled up a tapestry by the stairs Mary and Severus stood on, the heat licking threateningly at them.
"Aguamenti!" Severus chanted, aiming his wand at the fire.
A jet of water shot out the tip of his wands, but the fire it hit didn't recede. It didn't even sizzle.
Startled, Severus tried the extinguisher spell, all to the same effect, "What in the—"
"You can't stop it!" A frantic seventh year cried out from the stairwell to the girl's dorms, "Nothing puts it out!"
They all watched in alarm as the flames shot higher and higher, shifting and churning to form distorted images of beasts.
"It's Fiendfyre!" Severus cried out.
Screams began anew at this announcement, what few students remained fighting to fit through the door renewing their struggle with frenzied kicking and hitting.
"We have to get out," Severus yelled to Mary, grabbing the scared-stiff girl and dragging her down the stairs.
As they join the fray clustered by the entrance, Severus pushed and shoved with all his might, dodging elbows and fists as he struggled to keep a hold of Mary.
"We'll never all make it through," someone cried despairingly.
Suddenly, the door enlarged to a disproportionate size and everyone fell forward.
"Good work, Miss Evans," Slughorn complimented, "Your charm work is extraordinary."
"Thank you professor," Lily said, her wand still trained in front of her as she scanned the crowd for familiar faces.
"Sev!" she cried, scrambling forward when she spotted her friends, "Mary! Are you two alright?!"
"What are you doing here?" Severus asked, mystified.
"I was coming to see you when I heard the screaming," Lily said, helping Severus and Mary to their feet.
"Students, remain calm," Slughorn commanded, assisting several students up from the pile, "Enter the hall in a quick and orderly fashion and report to the Great Hall immediately. Prefects, please escort the injured to the Hospital Wing." He aimed his wand at a crying girl still crouched behind an armchair farther in the room, summoning her to him wordlessly.
"There now," he said, patting the girl comfortingly on the back, "Miss Ambrosia, please escort Tabitha to Madam Pomfrey, would you?" he gently passed the weeping girl off to a prefect before turning his focus back to the growing flames.
Raising his wand, Slughorn began sealing the door, large, unusual bricks seeming to form out of nothing steadily closing the hole.
"All our stuff is going to be ruined!" One sixth year complained loudly.
"That's what you're focusing on?" a boy nearby snorted derisively, "We could have been killed!"
"Let's get you two to Pomfrey," Lily advised, beginning to lead her friends away.
"It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it," Mary murmured to Severus, "First your house, now this."
"It's all material things," Severus said dismissively, "I made sure to take our research with us. The rest is just clothes and books. I can replace those. There's nothing else of…"
Severus trailed off his eyes going wide.
"The picture!" he cried, his mind going to the gift Lily had made him for Christmas. He could still see it, sitting on his nightstand.
"I can't leave it!" Severus ripped his arm out of the girls' grasps and charged through the gap still remaining in the wall.
"Sev!" Lily shrieked in terror, jumping through after him before anyone could stop her.
"Miss Evans!" Slughorn shouted in alarm, "Mister Snape!"
"Sev! Lily!" Mary made to go after them.
"No, Miss MacDonald," Slughorn said, blocking the frantic girl with an arm, "It's too dangerous!"
"Sev!" Mary screamed into the flames, "Lily!"
{page break}
Severus covered his mouth with the sleeve of his robe, hacking into it as the smoke cloyed his senses. Squinting through the haze of smoke, he sought out the stairwell, the flames not having consumed it yet. He made his way forward, stumbling over overturned furniture and discarded book bags.
"Sev, wait!" Lily called dashing towards him.
Severus whirled around, horror on his face, "What are you doing here?!"
"I couldn't leave you," Lily said, grabbing hold of Severus's arm.
"You shouldn't be here," Severus shouted over the roaring flames, "Go back!"
"Not without you!" Lily shouted back.
Severus shook his head, "I can't; not without the picture."
"What picture?" Lily asked, but Severus was already heading to the stairs.
"Go back," Severus demanded as Lily followed him up.
"No!"
Severus huffed, frustrated with Lily's stubbornness. He looked searchingly around the room, having a better vantage point from the stairwell, "Why hasn't it completely burned this place? Fiendfyre can consume a room in minutes."
"Look," Lily called out, pointing to the walls.
Above them, sections of the common room was changing, morphing in and out of existence. Segments of charred tapestry strewn walls were replaced by barren stone, furniture vanishing and leaving empty space.
"I think Hogwarts is fighting back," Lily stated in amazement, "Like the stairwells or the Come-and-Go room; it can change anything."
"It's giving it less to burn," Severus observed, "Unfortunately, the spell isn't designed to burn things, it's designed to seek out—"
The wall of flames suddenly curved towards them.
Severus swallowed thickly, "—people…"
"Run!" Lily yelled, urging Severus up the stairs. Ahead of them, the door to the boys room was blinking in and out of existence; Hogwarts efforts to prevent the fire from spreading. On the door's reappearance, Severus wrenched it open and he and Lily dived inside before it could disappear again.
"This won't hold it off for long," Lily said, back pressed against the door while she caught her breath, "Grab what you need and go."
"There!" Severus cried. He rushed across the room, tripping and sliding on parchment and notes scattered across the floor.
Strange, he didn't recall leaving the place in such a mess.
Focusing on the task at hand, Severus snatched up his picture from the nightstand, cradling it like a prized jewel.
"That's what you came back here for?" Lily asked, "Severus, I can make more!"
"It wouldn't be the same!" Severus argued.
"I don't know whether to be touched or infuriated with you!" Lily declared angrily, "We have to get out of here!"
"Fine," Severus stowed the picture in his robes, "But I doubt we're getting out how we came in."
Cautiously opening the door, the two peered out only to dismay at the fire rapidly climbing the stairs.
"We're trapped," Lily lamented.
"Not quite," Severus said, an idea coming to him, "Climb up."
"What?" Lily asked, allowing herself to be lifted up onto the banister.
"The chandelier," Severus said, pointing to the opulent crystal piece hanging in the center of the room, "Jump for it."
"Are you crazy?"
"It's the only way!" Severus yelled harshly, "Now jump!"
Lily took a blind leap, her hands out in front of her, groping wildly for the chandelier. Managing to grab hold, she hung helplessly as the fixture swung back and forth with her added weight.
"Sev, come on!" Lily called.
Severus climbed shakily onto the bannister, wobbling with the effort to remain steady.
"I need it to swing back this way," Severus said, watching the chandelier sway.
"Well hurry," Lily hollered, "you don't have much time!"
Severus glanced over his shoulder at the rapidly approaching fire. It slithering up the stairs like a cobra coming in for the kill.
"It's now or never, Sev," Lily cried.
Severus made a leap for the chandelier as it swung back his way, just as the fire crest the top of the staircase.
For one horrifying moment, time slowed down as Severus's fell towards the chandelier. He barely managed to grab hold of the thing, slipping down to the lower tier of crystals, sending a shower of glass raining down to the floor.
"Yes!" he cried, only to panic when the rod in his hands cracked under his weight, "No!"
"Severus!" Lily screamed as Severus slipped from the chandelier.
He crashed into the remains of a burnt up ottoman and tumbled across the floor, lying prone in a heap.
"Sev!" Lily cried. She swung the chandelier hard, aiming herself for a chair and throwing herself into it with a grunt.
"Sev," Lily cried again, righting herself. She scrambled to Severus side, "Sev!
"I'm okay," Severus groaned, rubbing his wrist, "I think I sprained something."
"Better than what could have happen—look out!" Lily screamed suddenly tackling Severus across the floor. The chandelier plummeted to the ground and crashed into the spot they'd just been kneeling in moments before.
"We have to get out of here," Lily moaned, looking around them for a way out of the flames, "I don't think Hogwarts can hold it off for much longer."
"Look over there," Severus said, pointing.
Not too far from them, a wand laid forgotten on the floor, fire streaming endlessly from it.
"That's where the fire started from," Severus said, "Who's wand is it?"
"There's no time for that," Lily said crossly, dragging Severus to his feet, "We have to find a way out."
They'd barely made it a few feet when the iron rod of a fire-eaten wall hanging gave way from it's bindings and feel down before them, cutting off their route.
"We're trapped!" Lily said in a panic.
Fire loomed ever closer, bearing down on them in the disturbing shape of a dragon, its maw gaping.
"This is it!" Lily cried in fear, cowering beneath the rising wall of flames.
"Lily!," Severus threw himself over Lily without a moment's thought.
The fire seemingly roared its fury then crashed down on them, intent on consuming them both.
It never hit its mark though, as a giant, luminous shield sprung up around them.
"Professor!" Lily yelled in relief.
"Stand back children," Slughorn shouted, his features set in stiff determination. Bravely, he kept his wand trained on the flamed serpent, "Stay back; the Headmaster has arrived."
Sure enough, a lone figure appeared in the center of the room. Midnight blue robes billowing around him, Albus Dumbledore stood poised among the flames, facing down a barrage of fire-made creatures.
"We must get you out of here," Slughorn announced, walking backwards towards the door with Lily and Severus safely behind him.
The doorway opened up a fraction, Flitwick poking his head through, "Hurry, this way!"
Professors unceremoniously yanked Severus and Lily through the door, Slughorn in tow.
Behind them, the flames rose higher still, a wave of fiery destruction set to engulf the room and the headmaster whole. Still, Dumbledore did not falter. Normally twinkling eyes steeling with icy clarity, he aimed his wand at the discarded one on the floor, the source of the fire.
The wand snapped in half with a flash of red, the flames sputtering out from the end of it.
Turning back to the near sentient wall of fire, Dumbledore raised his wand high in the air and began to circle it widely around him at the fire, sending it swirling around him in a whirlwind.
Just as the roaring fire reached its deafening crescendo…it stopped, the fire sucked up into Dumbledore's wand, the inferno extinguished.
"Never in my years," came McGonagall wavering voice, drawing Severus attention. The deputy Head mistress was visibly shaking.
"Never in my years have I witness such blatant stupidity!" she roared, "What were the two of you thinking, going back in there? Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?"
"Now, now, Minerva," Filius soothed, "They're safe now. Let's just be glad of that."
McGonagall was beside herself with anger, fear and relief warring with itself on her face. If Horace had been even a moment later…
"Detention," she barked out, struggling to form words over the emotional overload, "For both of you!"
Before she could say more, a blur shot past her, tackling Severus and Lily to the floor.
"You idiots!" Simone croaked out, her face buried in Severus shoulder, "You bloody idiots!"
"Glad to see you're alright too," Severus said sarcastically.
"Shut up," Simone hiccupped; Severus thought he could feel a wet spot growing on his robes.
"You almost died," Simone said, "And here I've been too stubborn to just apologize." She pulled back, streaks of mascara painting a ghastly image on her face.
"Look at you," she went on, "You've got glass stuck in you."
"The chandelier broke," Severus informed her, "…after we took a ride on it."
Simone hiccupped again, a mix of a cough and a laugh.
"Idiots," she repeated as Thea came to stand next to her, "Bloody, bloody idiots."
{page break}
Clean up for the Great Fire of Slytherin—as it quickly became known was a messy ordeal. Wands could whisk away ash and debris, but relocating furniture Hogwarts had vanished away was a trickier matter. Slughorn mourned the wreckage of his beloved House while Flitwick carefully extracted ashwinder eggs from the ashes scattered about, hoping to remove them before they managed to hatch. Students picked their way through the room to locate any salvageable possessions, lamenting the loss of clothes and books, letters from home and favorite trinkets.
While the dorm rooms remained relatively untouched, Dumbledore decreed that all Slytherins would be staying in the Great Hall until repairs were complete.
All except the owner of the wand that started the fire, that is…
"I'm telling you, I didn't do it," Wilkes shouted, unable to struggle under the body bind McGonagall placed on him, "I don't know how my wand got there, but I didn't cast the bloody spell. I'm innocent. Innocent!"
"That will be for the authorities to decide," McGonagall said coldly, "Casting a spell so dark in nature is practically as bad as an Unforgivable, Mr. Wilkes."
"It wasn't me though," Wilkes growled, baring his teeth at her, "Ask anyone. Ask Reg! He and Rosier were with me when the fire started. I didn't have my wand on me then, did I, Rosier?"
"With all due respect, Professor, I never saw his wand," Rosier admitted cooly, "He was talking with me when it happened."
McGonagall pursed her lips, "Be that as it may, it was his wand that started this. Rest assured we will get to the bottom of this matter, post haste."
She floated a still cursing Wilkes out of the room, Slughorn hot on her heels, his face creased in obvious disapproval as he tutted at his student.
"Who would have thought it," Mary said, standing in the doorway with the others.
Davis snorted, "Who would have suspected Wilkes, you mean? Umm…all of us!"
"Still, he seems sincere," Nesme mused, "He seemed almost insulted they think it was him."
Severus watched Wilkes be carried off, "Something doesn't seem right. If Wilkes had done it, he wouldn't have been stupid enough to do it while he was so far in the room. He'd have set it at the entrance and run."
"And he certainly wouldn't have done it to this dorm," Simone added, studying the damage around them, "It's the pride and joy of every Slytherin. Our legacy. He'd sooner burn down his house than something created by Salazar himself."
"So you think someone else cast the spell?" Lily asked curiously. She gently dabbed at a cut on Severus face, smearing some cream from Pomfrey over it.
"It's been done once before, remember," Severus pointed out, hissing as Lily touched his cut, "Back in Ravenclaw decades ago. When it happened then, it was Helena manipulating a student to cover up her secret."
"So you think someone was doing something similar," Simone said with consideration, "Couldn't have been Helena's doing; she's on our side."
"Well what goal could someone have in mind for doing this?" Davis inquired.
Just then, Thea came wandering back from the girl's dorm.
"Hey, Thea," Simone greeted, "Our things okay, I take it?"
Thea didn't answer, her face unnaturally pale.
"Thea?" Simone cocked her head, brow furrowing in concern. She took a step closer to her friend, "Thea, what's wrong?"
Thea shook her head, her lower lip trembling.
"It's gone," she whispered, "It's gone."
Simone grabbed hold of Thea's shoulders, looking the girl in the eyes, "Calm down, Thea. What's gone?"
Thea looked at Simone, her eyes watery, "It all happened so fast…when the fire started; everyone just ran out of the dorms…there was no time to think about anything else…"
"You're not making any sense," Severus said impatiently.
"I left my things in my room," Thea admitted, shamefaced, "The diary's gone..."
As the Mayor would say on Action League Now (great moments from my childhood), "Uh-oh...here's trouble."
Pretty exciting, eh, folks? Never a dull moment in the land of Harry Potter.
So Eileen's mindset is at a fragile state right now, born mostly out of a necessity to hide from the truth of her own circumstance. She made an impulsive decision in her youth that cost her stability, safety, and ultimately her identity as a witch. By running off straight from wealth into marriage she effectively sealed herself off from potential fall backs and back up plans one might have had should the future not pa out the way they wanted it to. Others probably could have left in her situation, but those people would have had skills to apply to survive in this world, maybe family to turn to and maybe not a hungry child dependent on them. Eileen had little choice but to endure the hell she unwittingly stepped into and while being abused is not her fault but her abusers, she still faults herself for lacking any means to escape.
So she withdraws into a dream world, a place beyond rhyme or reason where she's still a little girl safe at home, while simultaneously a woman in a happier marriage; everything she ever wanted. It's easier for her than to cope with the lack of justice for herself or closure for her trauma.
I wonder who set the fiendfyre, don't you? And just when Severus was going to try yet again to let Mary down gently. Poor timing if anything, huh?
And Simone makes an appearance! Maybe now she can get her head out of her butt and work through some things.
Review please :)