The house was everything Lupin had expected. It was old, dark and mysterious, built on a small hill on the edge of a vast forest, far enough from any muggle civilization to have seen many accidental visitors over the centuries, but still just close enough to cause people to make up a lot of scary stories about the place. He had to admit it was quite an impressing mansion, shrouded in fog and looming over the woods and meadows surrounding it. With his sharp ears he could hear water splashing against rocks and when they approached the house he saw large cliffs growing out of the ground behind it.

So you grew up here? Lupin asked.

Snape replied curtly.

How old is it?

Snape simply shrugged his shoulders.

At close range the house looked even more intimidating. It seemed to stare down at its two visitors out of the black barred windows and the wooden steps leading up to the door creaked under their footsteps. Lupin whirled around when he saw something move in the shadows next to the door. He hadn't noticed the large stone gargoyle sitting there guarding the entrance, half hidden under the giant bushes. It had a dog-like face, widespread wings and was blinking lazily at them out of gleaming green eyes. With a low cracking sound it opened its mouth and yawned.

Master Severus, you haven't been here for a while. It then said in a hoarse voice.

He replied and waved his hand towards the door. Open, will you.

The gargoyle narrowed its eyes and looked at Lupin. Who is this coming with you? It asked.

Open that door now or else I'll transfigure you into a moth.

As you command, Sir. The heavy door slowly swung open and the gargoyle closed its eyes again.


The door fell closed behind them and Snape raised his wand to light the torches at the walls of the entrance hall. Lupin looked around to quickly survey his surroundings. The furniture, paintings and carpets were expensive, but everything also looked quite old and worn. Without a doubt they had been a rich family once, but this might have ended already decades ago.

How long has it been since you last came here? Lupin asked, still looking around and only slowly following Snape across the hall.

Quite a while. He wasn't really sure himself, as far as he could remember it hadn't been too long after his graduation from Hogwarts. Still, nothing seemed to have changed since then.

With a wave of his wand Snape lit the candles in the living room and stopped walking. He hadn't stopped or slowed down ever since they had arrived, but now he just stood there as if he had suddenly realized that he didn't even know where he was heading. Lupin kept a few steps behind him and glanced past him into the room. The most unusual thing he noticed were the swords mounted at the opposite wall. Snape still stood motionless when Lupin walked past him over to the wall to take a closer look at them.

Were those your father's? He asked.

Snape replied after a few seconds and, seemingly having been pulled back into reality by this question, slowly walked across the room towards the wooden double doors leading to the library.

Don't you think Voldemort might suspect you being here? Lupin asked and walked a few steps to stand in the doorway.

How should he? Snape replied, not turning away from the bookshelf.

Doesn't he know about your father's death?

Probably not.

So... he was not one of his followers?

Snape turned around to face him, looking a little surprised. No. Why did you think so?

Well... I just thought that most, I mean, a lot of people join Voldemort because... because of some kind of family tradition.

Maybe regarding me it wasn't tradition but pure conviction. Snape said and stared at him expectantly.

Lupin began to feel very uneasy under this glare and contemplated about a way to get out of this again. He knew that Snape was playing with him but still didn't quite know how to react. Lupin was relieved when Snape ended the game by turning away again to search through the shelves.

It was my mother who brought this tradition to the family actually. He then said and pulled a large red book out of the shelf. It's quite late already. There's a guestroom up the stairs, second door to the left at the end of the hallway.

Lupin yawned. Yes, I think you might be right. What about you?

Snape sat down in one of the old armchairs and opened the book. I'll just sit here safe and sound and will try very hard not to get myself killed. He muttered while thumbing through the first few pages.

All right, good night then. Lupin turned away to leave without waiting for a reply he knew he wouldn't get.


It was a stormy night. The storm embraced the dark mansion and furious gusts of wind hit the windows with so much power that it seemed like they could easily have broken the glass if they had only wanted to. Remus Lupin couldn't sleep. He stared up at the ceiling and listened to the roaring of the storm. The wind was rattling at the shutters and made the large trees outside bend. He turned over to his side to stare at the floor instead. The moon shining in through the windows cast long thin shadows of the leafless trees into the room and the storm made them dance and jump over the carpet. Although he had lit the fireplace it was still too cold in the room.

He gave up, got out of bed, put some clothes on and walked over to the window. If one wasn't trying to sleep the view of this nocturnal play the forces of nature were putting on was truly amazing. From up here he could see the churned up sea and the large dark clouds covering the sky. In the middle of this ravaging storm he spotted a person standing on one of the cliffs, staring out onto the sea.

Didn't you say you'd try not to get yourself killed... He muttered to himself. He really wanted to go down there and tell him to come back in but he also knew it wouldn't be the right thing to do so he decided to rather go down to the library and look for a book that might keep him entertained. Or maybe one boring enough to make him fall asleep.


Lupin woke with a start when he heard a loud crashing sound, jumped up from the sofa and tossed the book to the ground. There were voices echoing through the hallway. Voices he didn't recognize. He reached for his wand and held his breath when he realized he didn't have it with him. He had left it upstairs in his room.

He thought to himself. Just how stupid can you be. Great job, really... He ran a hand through his hair and looked anxiously around himself. He had no idea at all what to do now. Without his wand he felt pretty useless but he definitely wasn't going to simply sit there and wait until they came for him. But he couldn't run away either since that would mean to just leave Severus to die.

He whispered to himself once more and then silently sneaked across the room and carefully opened the door a little, just enough for him to peer through. The door of the living room had been left open so he could see the entrance hall from here. The sight was quite what he had expected. He counted three Death Eaters but there were probably more of them, he could only see a small section of the hall. As one of them stepped aside he saw Snape lying on the ground in the middle of the shattered remains of what had only a few minutes earlier still been a Welsh dresser. This explained the crashing sound he had heard. He knew he didn't have a chance, probably not with his wand and for sure not without it. Maybe they didn't know he was here. To take them by surprise was the only possible way.



Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it.

Snapefan51: No, it's not going to be a relationship story ( I think you reviewed everything I posted, thank you for that :) )