Title: Buried Sorrows 2/????

Author: Jessica C. Malfoy

Rating: PG-13

Genre: General, Drama

Main Character: Snape



1 Buried Sorrows

1.1 Chapter 2



Another day comes, another day goes. Life moves on to new places. New mysteries. New adventures. Thus, the 1st month of their 5th year flew by, and Halloween was rapidly approaching.

Draco Malfoy looked up on the Halloween's Eve, during breakfast in the Great Hall, to see his eagle owl, which he had named Apollo, carrying a parcel, only it didn't drop it off to him, no, he took it to Snape.

He curiously watched for the last time that somebody toughed Apollo, nearly got their eye pecked out, or that's what Pansy claimed that he did.

He turned back to his plate, which obviously Crabbe and Goyle split for only a small part of the plate was left.

"Crabbe.Goyle.Did you take my plate?"

"Uhh.Goyle did it."

"No, it was Crabbe."

This would last for the next couple minutes, after Draco left the table, to go back to the dungeons to get his books for his morning classes, and maybe finish some extra work if time permitted.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus looked at the letter, before opening it, as if trying to ask himself, 'What is in this one.Should I even open it?'

He easily recognized the owl, it was Draco's, or to be more exact, Lucius's that he lets Draco borrow all the time.

"Well, what have you here for me? Good news?"

Apollo looked at Snape and hooted, a way only owls could hoot to one another.

"A simple yes or no would have done quite fine."

Apollo ruffled his feathers in either disgust or he had an itch.

Slowly, Snape took off the letter opened it and began to read.



Dear Severus,

I do hope that this letter actually gets through to you, this time; I've sent several just like before, but I've never received a response, so I do not know what has happened.

I do hope that you're in good health, but this is not a time for me to be playing '20 Wizarding Secrets' with you.

You need to prepare Draco for joining the Dark Lord. I have yet reached a date with Master, for it must be at his convience, as well, Draco needs to be prepared for the challenges of becoming one takes out of you. I daresay, that if he doesn't make it, he'll be terribly disappointed in himself, before he is killed.

I am guessing that since he is over 16 years old, he will be able to handle it alright without any guidance or being warned, but I do not want my name to be shamed; nor do I want to lose my sole heir.

I will come by your fireplace on the 30th of October.



Severus sighed and re-read the letter. 'He didn't even get the age correct, he's barely 15, and he's thinking that he's over 16. Even I know that, but I've known him for less time that he has as well.'

He looked up at the Great Hall, the students, most still sleepy from just having woken up, to the Slytherin table, which was always loud, unless they were planning something 'big', and it was best that he let them get on with it. He shuddered at the tales that older wizards and witches had told him about what most Slytherins did when they were denied to carry out one of their plans, which they had been planning and such for a while.

But, that hadn't happened in well over 100 years, but then again, you never know.

Sighing, he left the table, to head back to his lab, to try to work on some potions that he'd been neglecting for the past several days, in light of newer ones and the ones that actually did what they were supposed to do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco sighed to himself. This had to be the longest day that could ever exist. As if running into a portrait that insulted him, of all things, wasn't bad enough when he was going to his 1st class, Potions. But, this was one of those old ones that you hardly ever saw. No, this is what looked to be a picture of a couple of the founders.

"Godric! Look! Salazar has broken his binds and is walking among the living!"

"Helga, you know that's not possible.Oh my, Godric! Come and look!"

"Salazar.Draw your sword!"

"I'm not bloody Salazar. And if I was, I'd be ashamed to know the likes of you."

"Then who are you," inquired the one that was wearing a royal blue gown, which showed off her small figure.

"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy that is. Now, I do need to get to class, though, I think Snape wouldn't mind me being a couple of minutes late."

"Malfoy? Helga, isn't that one of the names that Salazar created while he was drunk?"

"Yes, it was, Rowena."

"Hey, my name was not created by some dead wizard, while he was drunk. He might have created it, but not when he was drunk."

"Think that all you like, Malfoy." Godric sneered.

"What a typical Gryffindor."

"Is that what you think, eh? What are you?"

"Need you to ask?"

"Well, yes, he does," Helga piped up.

"Slytherin."

"Well, that explains everything, doesn't it.?"

Draco rolled his eyes as he left for the last corridor that led to Potions. He just hoped that Snape was in there, and that he wouldn't notice him.

Snape didn't notice him, for he was lecturing the class, again, on how if you didn't stir correctly, your potion would backfire and that could end up killing the person who was around it or consumed it in any shape or fashion.

Sighing, he took his usual seat, when he was late. Which just happened to be Snape's desk, however, this was becoming quite a 'usual' site, for he'd did several potions on the desk that would've burned or some thing other then that, to a person who accidentally touched the cauldron, and since he was sitting by Crabbe and Goyle.

Soon, that class was over, and Transfiguration flew by, as did Draco's other potions class, since Professor Sprout was ill and she wouldn't let anybody sub for her, giving them all a free period.

Lunch was pretty much boring, that is, if you didn't count Crabbe and Goyle challenging each other one how who could eat the fastest, and ended up having both in the hospital wing for that result. They did it at least once every two weeks, and they switched. One time Crabbe would win, the next Goyle would, and it kept on going like that and such.

The rest of the day dragged, leaving Draco tired and with lot's of homework, and another lesson with Snape, so that he could get 'twice the amount today, for you're going to need it one day'.

Sighing to himself, he went down to his dormitory, and laid down on his 4-poster, and fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus walked to his lab and waited. Then, waited some more.

"Draco, where in bloody hell are you?.You, oh bloody hell." Severus cursed as he ran out of the Potions lab and up to the regular level of dungeons. After what felt like a century had passed, he was in the Slytherin Common Room. The cold looking stonewalls, with the occasional patch of moss that had grown from the lake and managed it's way through the pipes and ended up on the wall.

The fire was merrily burning away, it's flames huge, casting shadows on either side, and hitting the chairs and the couches that served as furniture, as well as other things that Severus didn't even want to think about, or what happened on the furniture.

He saw Crabbe and Goyle, sitting in chairs, opposite of each other, with a chair in the middle, which was empty, and he strode over there.

"Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, where is Mr. Malfoy?"

"I dunno," Crabbe grunted.

"I saw him at.Potions," Goyle added.

"I know, I saw him at potions. Have you two any clue on where he is?"

"Uhh."

"Umm.."

"Never mind, never mind. I'll just have to find him myself."

"Okay."

"You want us to go with you?"

"I said, I was going by myself."

"Oh, I forgot."

Severus could've slapped himself in the forehead for their stupidity. 'Well, like father-like-son.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus waited outside the Slytherin Common Room the next morning, until a still sleepy eyed Draco came out of the entrance.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, are you too tired? Do you want to skip some lessons?"

"Can I? For, I feel like crap, and I did not get one wink of sleep."

"You mean, you feel ill because you didn't get any sleep or you feel ill, just because you are ill and you didn't get any sleep because of that?"

"Umm.My brain isn't here right now, so write it down and give it to me later."

"Mr. Malfoy, you were supposed to come down to the lab and work on that that potion that you've been working on."

"I was?"

"Yes, but obviously you made other plans and forgot to tell me about them."

"Well, if you've got to crash, you've got to crash."

"Don't try to use your 'quick-wit' this morning, for I'm defiantly not in the mood for that, nor your excuses why you didn't make it or why you shouldn't be forced to take both potions classes."

"I haven't complained about that one yet."

"Well, looks like you can't now."

By now, they were passing by the very same portrait that had insulted Draco the day before.

In a deep yawn he greeted, "Hello, Rowena, Helga, and Google."

Severus looked at Draco, then at the spot on the wall at which he was talking too. "Draco, who are you talking too?"

"Those founders in the painting. They insulted me yesterday."

"And you say the painting is right here?"

"I'm looking at it."

"Draco.Please follow me, right now."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, you do."

Severus led Draco up several flights of staircases and through one tapestry that was quite dusty, causing Draco to sneeze for the next 5 minutes.

"Where are we going?"

"You will find out when we get there, now, hush, I don't want to be found out."

"Well." Draco started then looked around, this was an unfamiliar part of the castle, that or they did some serious re-decorating over the summer."

"I daresay that you will recognize part of this, when we get to it."

"Well.Can't you at least give me a hint?"

"You'll recognize it when you see it."

"Oh, that helps a lot."

"Think about it." Snape muttered, getting a bit tired of Draco's constant comments, and from all of the walking that they've done, even though, they had barely walked 1/3 of the castle.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Poppy, you sure there is nothing wrong?"

"Yes, I'm sure Severus."

"He's been complaining for a while now, but now.Look at him," he hissed at her, while Draco was laying down on an empty bed, bored, almost too bored to get to sleep.

"Then what do you think is wrong?"

"Obviously something not good."

"Severus, I've already looked at the boy from head to toe. There is nothing wrong with him. He just had a rough night."

"I don't recall having as many bad nights as he did, when I was his age, and I was taking harder courses back then, and I do believe that everybody's lives were a bit more.stressful back then as well."

"Yes, I do remember those times just as clearly as you do, but this is something entirely different. He's just tired. Maybe you've been working him too hard. You should enlist some of those Ravenclaws to assist you with the potions, not your favorite Slytherin."

"He's the top pupil of his year in Potions, he's ahead of the Ravenclaws. Plus, they're quite boring to talk to, and they don't have the ambition to succeed, to see which one will work the fastest and such."

"Severus, really. And you say that other professors prefer the other houses."

"Well, they do. When was the last time that you heard something good about a Slytherin, from another student's mouth, that wasn't in Slytherin, or had family members in there?"

"Well.Oh, Severus, what do you want me to do? Hire a professional to look at him?"

"If you must, yes!"

"You are just over-reacting. You act like you're some.guardian angel of his, Severus! The boy is 15 years old, if he's feeling sick, I do believe that he would've come up here!"

"He was planning on going to classes today, as usual. I'm telling you, he hasn't been himself lately."

"He's a teenager, Severus. They do tend to have 'mood swings', and some of you all still do have them from time to time."

"Poppy, just bring somebody in and let them have a look at him. I know something isn't right with him, I can feel it in my bones."

Poppy looked through the curtains at the now asleep Draco, "Well, he does seem a bit pale, paler then usual that is. I'll have another look at him, and then I'll bring somebody else in. Now, go tend to your classes."

"Notify me at once if you find something or whoever you send for arrives, you got me?"

"Loud and clear, Severus, now do go."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus took out his watch again and looked at the time. It had only been 1 hour since he had dropped Draco off at the wing, and still, no word.

The 5th year Gryffindors and Slytherins were busy among themselves, taking advantage of this 'free-day' until, "Every one, take your seats. You are taking a quiz." And groans of disgust came forth from the Gryffindor side of the room.

5 minutes later, there was not one word being spoken by anybody, just the students trying to remember the specific orders, the instructions, the ingredients to all of the potions that they had covered so far, both in the class and what he had assigned for them as 'extra-work', though, only the Slytherins and Granger did those.

Soon, that class was over, and the other half of the 5th years came in, needless to say that they didn't take the quiz. They quietly studied and brewed potions, that were not harmful, or at least, they hoped they weren't harmful.

Needless to say, the time dragged on and on, till the 7th years that decided that they wanted to continue to take the harder potions class was ready. They were demonstrating what happens when you combine 2 very different ingredients, did the research on both of them, and explained why that single reaction occurred.

Lunch arrived, and Severus was as nervous as a 1st year muggle-born was when they put on the Sorting Hat. Finally, he received a note from an incredibly nervous 1st or 2nd year, he couldn't tell which, and didn't have enough patience to remember the name of the child, before he left to go to the wing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There was a large amount of nurses, leaving Poppy at the door, filtering who could come in and who would just have to live by the rumors that escaped the walls, and she gestured for Severus to come in.

"Severus, I sent you a note an hour ago, where have you been?"

"An hour? I've just received it 5 minutes ago."

"Oh, those nurses, they probably gave it to one of the patients, instead of Miss Weasley."

"What is wrong?"

"I'll let the Dr. tell you that."

"Oh, brother, that bad?"

"It's certainly not good."

Severus pushed his way through the mass of witches and wizards, till he finally approached the cubicle that enclosed Draco from the outside world. "Let me through, let me through." He demanded, waiting for the doors to be opened so that he could enter and see what had happened.

A short medi-wizard, only 5' in height, opened up and looked up at Snape. "And who might you be? Another one of those students that want to take advantage of the ones that are not in the best position to defend themselves?"

"I am Severus Snape, the Potions Master, as well as the Head of his house. I'm the one that brought him here, and I demand to know what the hell is going on."

"Well, yes, of course, Mr. Snape, we've been expecting you, but not you.Eh.Do come in." The wizard moved aside and Snape entered, to discover that the cubicle had been magically enlarged on the inside; the wizard motioned for Snape to sit down, which he slowly did.

"What is wrong with him?"

"Mr. Snape, your pupil has several powerful, and very well concealed magical bonds and what we believe memory charms performed on him. Very powerful, but we're still not sure what exactly it is, what it's about, and who cast it and when.

"As well as that, something is wrong with his immune system, it's very, very weak. We've performed strengthening charms and the likes, but the potions would probably do him better."

Snape nod and was deep in thought. "Is there anything else?"

"Not at the time, but then again, we're really busy as it is. But I do need to ask you one thing, what happened this morning?"

"I was talking to him when he left for the Great Hall, for you see; he missed his Advance Potions lesson with me and nobody could find him, or that is, the Slytherins that were in the Slytherin Common Room. He then went on saying how he didn't get enough sleep and that he did not feel his best."

"I see. Anything else?"

Snape paused in thought, debating over if he should tell that Draco was talking to figures of a picture that didn't even exist.

"No, nothing else. When do you think he'll be released? For, I do need to owl his parents."

"Oh yes, well, you best leave that up to us, so that we can go into fine detail on what will be done and so forth."

".May I see him?"

"Of course, of course. How long have you known the boy?"

"His entire life."

"Are you his god-father?"

"I wasn't made it, but I'm a close friend of his family. I went to school with his parents, so that's how."

"That's very nice how you all kept in touch after graduation. Now, if you step this way, now, I do ask that you don't touch him, in fear of spreading germs from one place to another."

Snape sighed and got up, and didn't wait for the wizard to direct him to the bed, instead, he just walked straight. He was on Draco's left side. He looked a bit pale, his eyes were closed, you'd think he'd be dead if you didn't listen closely and watch his chest slowly raise, then slowly fall back down. He had sparks going over him, recording the statistics of it, for future use.

The wizard followed Snape, and said, "Try talking to him, it might give us some good brain waves, to determine what exactly happened and so forth."

"Why can't you talk to him?" Snape inquired, but then, the sparks were a bit more solid in color as they shot from on side to the other and recorded themselves on it's sheet of parchment.

"That's why. We've all tried talking and we didn't get a response, but you however, you just did, and that's the most brain activity that we've recorded for him this entire time."

"Well.Some things are just best left up to those who know each other, then ones that are new to them."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing," Snape said as he left the cubicle and stopped Poppy, as she was cleaning out bedpans in a far corner.

"Poppy, I want you to let me know when all of those medi-freaks are gone, and keep an eye on them. I'm surprised they haven't started poking him with needles and such."

"I will Severus."

"And use somebody who will be able to find me soon, and that's under an hour."

"Okay, Severus, now go and brew a potion or something of the sort."

Severus sighed as he left, leaving Poppy cleaning the pans and the nurses and the other wizards going in an out of the cubicles.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Dumbledore was waiting outside the infirmary, "How is he?"

"Not good sir, I'm afraid."

"Pity, really. Just before Halloween, and this year is supposedly one of the best ones that I've planned."

"What are we having this year?"

"Another ball."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Do the students know about this?"

"No, it's one of those costume balls, where you dress up in costumes. I figured since they probably won't be able to figure out who is who, they might not as well know that there is one, till tomorrow at lunch."

"But, why another ball?"

"Are you saying that you don't like the balls, Severus?"

"I prefer to stay in my lab, trying to figure out a potion that could save somebody, instead of playing chaperone at some teenage school party that I am only informed of a day before hand."

"Where's your sense of fun?"

"You know where that is, as do I."

"Really, Severus. It's not your fault. Sometimes, fate is cruel and harsh, but then, did you enjoy that brief time period?"

"Well, yes.But I'll never have it again. And then, it was robbed from me, and I wasn't even there to say good-bye."

Dumbledore patted Severus's back as they began to walk down the corridor. "You've never have let that go have you?"

"I don't think I ever will. The one time that I was happy, and then, it's gone. As if losing my parents weren't a harsh enough blow as it was."

"Now, you must focus on the present. Maybe one day, you'll be able to prevent heartbreak, by using your brains and create something that will prevent it."

"Maybe, headmaster, maybe one day."