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PATH to DARKNESS by Tyde
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Chapter Eighteen – When Is It Too Late?
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It had been five years since Severus had left Hogwarts. Five years of teachings from his master and five years that had rendered the world in pain and suffering from the antics of Death Eaters. Countless Muggles and Mudblood had met their end at the end of a wand. Two Death Eaters (Rosier and Wilkes) had met their demise at the hands of Aurors but no one could tell for sure how many of them there were. They seemed to be everywhere at once. People were now too terrified to use the Dark Lord's name and would only refer to him as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who. There was a rumour going around that someone in the Ministry had uttered Lord Voldemort in their sleep and he'd Apparated straight to them and taken their life before they could even wake up. It was an unconfirmed rumour but one that no one wished to test. Snape lived in a small flat above The Daily Prophet in Diagon Alley with Narcissa and Lucius and they made regular trips to Knockturn Alley for supplies and to keep up on the latest news. He found out from a gossipy witch in the Apothecary that Lily's mother had died in a car accident several months ago and that her sister had married a man called Vernon who was just as ridiculous as Petunia herself. His heart ached a little for Lily but not as much as it had in school. The darkness inside of him was slowly spreading through every fibre of his being. How long would it be before it was too late to save him?
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Junior Minister for Magic James Potter to marry Auror Lily Evans!
The heading on the front page of the Daily Prophet screamed out at him. Literally. The printers had included a charm in the paper that day to scream whatever headline the reader was looking at, at the time. A picture of James standing behind Lily with his arms around her sickened Snape to the stomach. Her smile, that still made his heart skip, was wider than he'd ever seen it before and she didn't seem fussed by having those 'cretins' arms around her. James would lean down to nuzzle her neck and she'd try to playfully swat him away. A twitch developed just under Snape's eyebrow and he pressed at it with his fingers, but still it flickered. He sat there squeezing the flesh between his thumb and forefinger but still the flickering refused to stop. It was like a mini-heartbeat in his face and it was simply driving him nuts. Snape had never felt so murderous towards James as he did right at that very moment. He stormed off to his cauldron to brew up a paste to make the flickering stop in his eyebrow. Was it was too late now?
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He wasn't sure what it was that drove his need to have Lily by his side. Was it love? He couldn't be certain. Was it more a need to conquer over Potter. He was obsessed with making that man feel pain – it didn't really matter who she ended up with he'd give them all pain. Potter, Lupin and especially Black. He reserved just a little more venom for that man. He hadn't see hide nor hair of him in 3 years, just heard he was flying around Wales and Ireland on a motorcycle. Snape knew it was only because of Potter's interference that Sirius as allowed to keep the modified Muggle artefact. Rookwood had told him so at the last meeting with Voldemort. He'd also heard talk of a private band of Dark Defense League fighters that called themselves the Order of the Phoenix. Moody was one of them but the others were still unknown. Severus was beginning to feel a little trapped. There were so many Death Eaters pretending not to be supporters of the Dark Lord and too many Aurors from the DDL going undercover to bust the ranks of Death Eaters. He himself had narrowly escaped a stunning curse set upon them by Bartimus Crouch Snr. Travers however had not been so lucky and was now ensconced in Azkaban where he was slowly going mad. Snape privately thought that was where Voldemort had gone wrong. He'd waited too long to get the Dementors on sid4e and they were becoming increasingly disloyal to him. The giants had been a smart move but only for mostly wizard villages. The giant king Torsten had killed too many Muggles on a whim and Voldemort was becoming increasingly agitated with him. His queen Helgatha had kept mostly in line though because she liked to think of the Dark Lord as her own personal toy boy – literally. He endured her flinging him about because he was yet to find a spell that could kill a fully grown mountain giant. Avada Kedavra just didn't seem to be enough. Macnair had proven useful with providing all sorts of magical creatures and beasts but unfortunately had lost the Hippogriffs and Manticores to Hagrid. Voldemort had demanded someone find out his price but Snape conceded that Hagrid's loyalty to Dumbledore was too fierce and would never waver.
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He crouched down in the shadow of the lowly elm and watched. They burst out through the double doors arm in arm with matching smiles plastered on their faces. The throng of people gathered outside started cheering and throwing handfuls of confetti that would dance around their heads for hours like a cheery, colourful rainbow. It was enough to make you ill really, all this sickly sweet goings on. It's funny then that Severus Snape, he of the scowling and dark clothing, would have given anything to be the man by her side making her Mrs Snape and not Mrs Potter. She was positively glowing today and he swallowed the sob that had risen in his throat. His right traced his wand in his pocket and he thought of emerging from the shadows and shouting the killing curse triumphantly at James Potter, but they were only thoughts. There were too many people around including half the Dark Defense League and not to mention high profile Ministry members. He'd never get away from them all and he didn't have his mask either. What use would it be to kill her new husband right in front of her if she could see your face? She'd never go to you then. She'd never love you after something like that. He sank further behind the tree when he spotted Albus Dumbledore emerging from behind Sirius Black and Daisy Longbottom the Best Man and Matron of Honour. Even with only a furtive eye and lock of black hair showing around the trunk Severus knew Dumbledore was aware of his presence. How does he do it? How does he know I'm always there? It wasn't a look of disappointment Albus shot at him but a wary look, filled with concern for James and Lily.
Stay away it said None of this belongs to you.
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Author's note: Kelly – you'd really buy books if I wrote them? Aw shucks. Tell you what, I'd send you a few signed copies cause you keep reviewing this. That is when I write a book. Hmmm. I don't think publishers would like me – my original stuff is too depressing or weird or too soap opera-ish (the horror). I'll always write though even if I never endeavour for it to be published.