Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Same as before.
AN I'll do all the proper thanks in
the last chapter, but I just wanted to say thank you
to everyone who has so loyally stayed with the story. Thanks to KCinlondon, Dogbone7,
Nomad, Sev's Girl, EssexGilAnna, and everyone else. I know I forgot some people. I'm
forgetful like that, but it's not for lack of love. This one goes out to all of you.
For a moment, just one moment,
the air became solid. Everything was frozen in a
macabre tableaux. No one moved. no one breathed. no one made any sound. Apart
from this eerily still scene, birds chirped merrily and
a light breeze fluttered through the
trees of the Forbidden Forest.
Then, time started again. One Death Eater in the from row raised a hand and all of his
fellows screamed out in unison. They pressed towards
the school throwing curses and
hexes as fast as they could. At the same time,
the teachers all rushed out of the school,
taking up position around the single entranceway. They countered as many of the curses
as they could, but with seventy five adversaries, some
got through. Some curses hit the
walls of the school, raining down chunks of mortar upon
the teachers. Others made it
through gaps in the teachers' defenses, finding their
way into the school to do who knows
what. One curse hit Professor Trelawny straight
on, sending to the ground with a forceful
thud.
As Snape desperately blocked
one curse after another he thought There's no way we're
going to win this.> There were too many of them. The teacher's were fighting a lost cause
and the school would be taken. Just as Snape was
beginning to give up hope, a new sound
was heard on the battlefield. The battle cries
of the Death Eater army were drowned out by
a much louder sound coming from inside the building. The Potions Master took a chance
and glanced quickly over his shoulder. Pouring
down the staircases and out of the hallways
must have been every single seventh, sixth and fifth
year student at Hogwarts. Their wands
in hand, they charged the attacking army with the ferocity
of a horde of angry quidditch fans.
They're going to get themselves
killed!> Snape thought, and then realized that they would
have been killed anyway. At least the school stood
a chance. Now, the students outnumbered
the Death Eaters. They drove the dark wizards back
away from the school several yards.
The combatants spread out, the Death Eaters' unity now
broken. Fighting turned frantic as
all participants realized that this would be to the death.
Snape fought slowly, but deliberately. He sent spells, charms, curses and counter curses. He
fought with everything he could think of. He watched
as one Death Eater, then another fell
under the wrath of his wand. As the his second
opponent went down, a face caught Snape's
eye. It was a cruel face with frosty blond hair
and cold blue eyes. "Malfoy!" Snape cursed.
He might have known that Lucius Malfoy would be behind
this. Snape wondered if Voldemort
knew about this attack at all, or if it was Malfoy's
idea. Lucius was always trying to prove himself.
Perhaps this attack was just some elaborate scheme to
win the Dark Lord's favor.
Snape abandoned his deliberate
fighting style, aggressively forcing his way through individual
battles to reach the man that he once considered a friend
in his school days.
Right before he reached him, Snape called out his name. The Death Eater turned to face him.
"Malfoy! What in God's name do you think you're doing?"
Two sets of hands seized Snape
before he could reach his target. Caught by surprise, he dropped
his wand. The Potions Master looked left then right
at the two large, bullish looking men that had
grabbed him. Must be relatives of Crabbe and
Goyle.> Snape thought. He turned his attention
back to Malfoy who was smiling lazily.
"Severus, I'm disappointed in
you. You should know that no real Death Eater does anything in
the name of God."
Realization dawned on Snape as
Malfoy's words sunk in. They knew! How could he have been
so stupid? They knew all along that he was a spy. They had been using him. They fed him false
information. They used him to get to Hogwarts. Snape felt fury build up inside of him. This was
his fault. Because of him, Hogwarts might be destroyed. How could he let himself be fooled like that?
Snape struggled against the two
rhinos that were holding him, but each man had a grip like an
iron manacle. He glared at Malfoy. Black
fire met blue ice as their eyes locked. "Malfoy,"
Snape growled dangerously. "So help me God, when
I get my hands on you I swear I'll..." His
words were cut off by sharp laughter. "You won't
have the chance. Cruccio!"
Snape's entire body seized with
pain. It ripped through every part of him. His fingernails
were
burning. His eyes were being washed with acid. His mouth was full of bees. Every bone in his body
broke simultaneously and every capillary burst. At first he tried to keep from screaming, but after only
a few seconds, his rational mind shut off in a pathetic
attempt to conserve his sanity. Snape screamed.
He screamed and twisted and thrashed about. It
was always the same with the cruciatus curse.
Rational human beings were reduced to wild animals.
When the curse was lifted, Snape
stood, barely, between his two guards. His breath came in
ragged gasps. Malfoy laughed. "You really
do hate that curse, don't you Severus?" Snape
didn't answer. He watched Lucius from behind a
curtain of pain filled haze. "Oh, but it's not
the pain you hate is it? No, it's the loss of control. You always had to be in control. Even
when we were students, you chose your own path. I guess that's why you turned spy, isn't it?
You couldn't stand that you weren't in charge of your
own destiny. The Master was."
Malfoy chuckled again. "I guess, in a way, he still
is." He pointed his wand at Snape again.
"Cruccio!"
By the time Malfoy lifted the
curse the second time, Snape could no longer support himself.
Malfoy was holding the curse much longer than it was
ever meant to be held. This kind of
torture was what lost the Longbottoms their sanity. Snape wasn't certain how many more
curses he could take.
Feeling was starting to come
back into his limbs and a new pain blossomed in his right shoulder,
overriding the memory of the cruciatus curse. He
glanced at his shoulder, and from the
disturbing angle at which he hung, he determined that
it was dislocated.
Dangling between Rhino one and
Rhino two, Snape looked up at Malfoy. Raw hated and wild
frustration burned in his eyes. "What do you want,
you sorry excuse for a wizard?" Snape's
voice was savage and gritty from screaming.
Malfoy seemed amused by the whole
situation. "What do you think? We want the three people
who have been a thorn in our sides since the Dark Lord
returned. Sorry, Severus. I guess you
make a better teacher than a spy. Cruccio!"
This time it was held even longer. By the end, Snape couldn't move, couldn't speak, he could
barely even breath. He felt his mind slowly start
to drift away from the pain. Is this what
loosing your mind feels like?> He thought distantly.
Malfoy was saying something,
but Snape couldn't focus on the words. Might be important.>
He thought, and tried to concentrate.
"...pathetic, you know that? You could have been at his right side. He respected your talent
that much. What a waste! Avada Kedaaarrrgghh!"
That didn't sound right. That couldn't be the killing curse, he was still alive. Snape opened
his
eyes and lifted his head just enough to see Malfoy dancing
around, trying to pry something gray
off of his face. The two large Death Eaters dropped
him and went to help Malfoy. They
dropped him right in front of his wand.
Pick it up, you dunderhead!> Reason was starting to reassert itself, apparently. Snape's mind
was beginning to clear. He grabbed the wand with
his left hand and rolled onto his back. He
pointed the wand and croaked out "Petrificus totalis!" Both large men went rigid and fell to either
side of Snape. He turned his attention to Malfoy,
but Malfoy wasn't there anymore. In his place
was a small gray and slightly battered cat.
"Shadow, what are you doing here?"
Saving your butt, you idiot.> She ran over to him, hopped on his chest and began to purr.
"What...?" He realized
what she was doing. She was trying to heal him again. "No,
not now.
There isn't time. I have to warn them." He
rose painfully to his feet, Shadow still clinging to his
robes. She climbed the rest of the way up to his
left shoulder. She was too big to sit on his shoulder
anymore, so instead, she just draped herself over it.
I hope you appreciate how undignified this is!>
Snape wasn't worried about his cat's pride. He was remembering his conversation with Malfoy.
"What do you want, you sorry excuse for a wizard?"
"What do you think? We
want the three people who have been a thorn in our sides since the
Dark Lord returned."
Snape staggered through the battle. No one seemed to notice him. They were all entangled in
their own fights. It took several minutes before
he found who he was looking for. McGonagall
was fending off three Death Eaters at once. She
was cornered up against the castle wall. As she
desperately tried to defend herself, bits of stone were
raining down on her from the crumbling wall
above. The Death Eaters didn't see Snape behind
them. He sent two curses at them, knocking
the two closest Death Eaters out instantly. The
third turned to face him just as McGonagall sent
a binding spell at him.
When all three were down, McGonagall
rushed towards Snape. "My God! What happened to
you?"
"I'm fine." He lied. "I know why the Death eaters are here. They're not after the school."
McGonagall had figured as much. After the students had joined the fight, the dark wizards showed
no interest in entering the castle.
"They're after three people," Snape continued. "Dumbledore, Potter, and me."
"You? Why..."
"They want the three people who
have been a thorn in their side. They know I'm a spy. They've
been feeding me false information. Look, you need
to find Albus and Harry. Get them to safety."
"And you. You need to get to..."
"I can take care of myself." He answered, annoyed.
McGonagall looked at him doubtfully. "Severus, in your state you can't..."
"Their lives are in your hands!" He roared. "Go now, or I'll curse you and do it myself!"
McGonagall stared at him for
a moment longer. She wanted to argue with him further, but he was
right. He was in no shape to find the two other
targets. She was the only one who could. "Be
careful, Severus." She turned and left to start
her search.
Snape watched her go, then staggered
to the castle wall. He leaned his weight against it, and then
slowly slid to the muddy ground. He had no energy
left; nothing to fight with. He'd done what he
could. He watched the raging battle with detached
interest.
Shadow crawled onto his lap and once again began to purr. Snape lamely tried to push her off.
"Shadow, no. I need to stay alert. What if I'm needed. What if something..." But shock was
finally setting in. he couldn't fight it anymore. His body was shutting itself down, and Shadow's
presence wouldn't make one bit of difference. In
the middle of his sentence, Snape slipped into
unconsciousness.
