Restart by flax
JK Rowling owns the characters. They're only in this daydream for my profitless romp. :)
CHAPTER FIVE: Glypf, I Hardly Read Ye
Snape Manor, it must be said, has been a sturdy fixture in the wizarding world for quite some time. So many had seen it, and more importantly, so many had seen it to recognize it, that Snape Manor was a fixture. Like the mountains that had made it onto maps and oceans that had made it into minds - Snape Manor was there to stay. But while the outside reflected its recognized existence, the inside reflected what the current holder could know. Feeling foolhardy, half hoping for a nice rock pile with a few rats for dinner, Snape entered the house which was his self.
It was, he was surprised to find, empty.
The yawning hole of chaos which Voldemort inspired out of Snape had faded. To his surprise, the inside of house seemed solid and houselike. Not at all the chasm which ate Voldemort and crossed into otherwise unbroachable realities. Snape fell let down and relieved all at once.
The furnishings and surroundings were reminiscent of his parents' days. While his parents lived. It seemd odd to see his parent's home where once there was a black churning pit. Snape looked over the room, surprised now. He had thought that in letting go, he'd let go of this too. But the room had pleasant memories. All dead now. But Severus was not a person apart from this. He thought and was surprised.
A house elf tugged at the master's pant cuff.
"Hello," said Severus. He was surprised that his voice wasn't angry.
"Master Severus, sir, welcome home."
"Glypf, is that you?"
"Oh, I am so glad you remember me, sir."
"How could I forget. I would like your forgiveness, Glypf."
"I don't thinks I can give it sir. It's not for me to give."
"Glypf, I've made our lives hell."
"I know. But it's not for me to give."
"Glypf, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Your family left something for you in the blue room."
"Shall we go?"
Glypf showed him the way. At the door, Snape handed Glypf his coat. "I don't deserve the faithfulness, Glypf. Thank you for your service. If you need anything, I'm sure Dumbledore outside will be glad to help you."
Glypf took the coat and cried. "It don't fit me, master," said the elf. Snape found his wand, and it soon was a coat for an elf.
"You didn't have to do that," said Glypf.
"I don't have to do anything. But I can no longer accept service to my house when I don't know what I and my house are. You have a good heart and a good mind, Glypf. Be free if you can. And I recommend taking safety with Dumbledore."
"That didn't work out so well for you, sir."
"I see no way it could have worked otherwise. I would do it again. But it would break my heart and I would fail."
Glypf tugged his old charge down and hugged his neck, crying faintly on what was once the baby. "If you want to do me a favor, come see me again," he said. He wiped his head, and walked away, wearing Snape's jacket.
Snape almost cried to see him go, then stood up, opened the door and walked in without looking.
-----------------------------------------------
And found himself in a chamber of cheap and sleazy proportions. Not tempting, not even seductive: the chambers of those who need without knowing why. Horrifically, what light there was seemed to thicken into forms and resolve into figures. Soon present were his own family and friends, those who were dead, now some haggling over costs to buy things that should never be bought while nearby others were selling what should never be sold, and yet a few were careless and unable to attend, simply hanging.
Snape fell to his knees, weeping. This is what he brought upon his family. The evil of Voldemort - a man who would promise the world and then deliver it, suffering and destroyed. And there, central, sitting in a throne laughing at it all, the man himself. Tom Riddle. The man who could charm and corrupt.
Crookshanks meanwhile sniffed Snape's nightmare and looked about at what the family had left for him. Crookshanks looked over the room of dust and funeral urns. The family crypt. Apparently moved from the mausoleum up to the main house, complete with stone sarcophagi and marble skeletons. Death angels and Chronus with his paddle. The most recent remains had enamel panels on their boxes: pictures of the dead from while they were living. They looked happy - images caught at celebrations or in thought. But ok, and happy. Still images, formal, for the crypt.
Snape, however, was looking at something far different: Riddle was approaching, demanding Snape rejoin the game.
"I am the threshold demon, I'm not in," he stuttered.
Riddle laughed, slapping his face - and it worked. Snape was no threshold demon, barely there. He was there.
"I'm the servant of Dumbledore and the council - you can not command me," cried Snape, almost desperate as an eternity of hell began to impress him with it's horrors. For him and for these people.
Riddle merely looked at his arm and it erupted in searing pain. Snape could see his dark mark again - and then watched as his arm moved without his willing it. Riddle had sway and it would only grow. Snape closed his eyes and tried one last time.
"I do not serve you," he gasped out.
"You always did, you always will, and there will be no holding me back when I return this time, Severus, my loyal snake," said Riddle with glee.
"What do you mean?"
"You were my jailor. Now you are my freedom. I will kill in your name, so feel despair, my favorite traitor."
Crookshanks had had enough. He clawed Snape on the leg.
Snape fell to the floor in strange pain as he watched everything he cared about become tortured and despairing. "My heart can not serve you," he finally said.
"I don't need obedience, only despair," said Riddle, triumphant.
Again there was the blind sharp biting pain in his leg. Severus looked and saw Hermione Granger's familiar looking at him as if he was insane. The cat butted his calf, and then deserted him, in order to chase what had to be imaginary mice. That or space aliens. Who can fathom the mind of a cat.
Severus looked at Riddle who was there, in all his horrors, and then the mad cat in a dry crypt. He could see the two different worlds. And Severus realized he could choose. His heart could serve. And he picked one. He didn't bother telling Riddle who simply screamed from his onrushing oblivion. And Severus walked around the room, crying for the dead, missing them, and grateful that they were not in pain or suffering.
After a few hours, he wandered out to find Glypf sitting on the main stairs before the main door.
"Glypf, I cannot express how grateful I am to you. I consider you a friend of my family, and I shall always think of you fondly."
"I have no where to go, sir," said the house elf.
"I'm going to try to bring home a bride, Glypf," said Severus.
"No reason why I can't stay, then, yes?"
"She doesn't like the house elf system. She thinks you all should be free and paid."
"I like her already," said the elf, to Severus' surprise.
"OK, consider yourself on salary. Would you be my butler? I have to find out what my finances are before I can tell you the salary."
"Your finances are what they were," said the old white wizard, making his way in.
"This isn't Hogwarts. You can't possibly know what just happened in my front room."
"OK, then I don't know. But as long as your house logged you as living, we kept your accounts intact. Oh, and you have been giving charitably."
"Thank you. And I am surprised. Things working out."
"Surprise yourself some more. It makes my heart light."
"OK. Now, Glypf, 5 galleons a week?"
"Yes sir!"
"Then I'll take my leave of you two and go see a garden about a girl."
"And a school about a job?" reminded Albus.
"Next year, Dumbledore. If Hermione will take me, then she gets a say in it to some extent. So probably, yes, but give me a year to remind myself what a caldron looks like."
"You make an old man happy."
"I'm glad I did it for someone one."
"Welcome home, Severus."
"Don't be a stranger, Albus."
Albus blinked in surprise, not at the sentiment, but at the expression. He smiled at his old friend and took himself back to Hogwarts while Severus faced the next step.
"So what does a woman who wants nothing want?" he asked Crookshanks who was back. The cat yawned, jumped on a couch, and promptly fell asleep. "Oddly enough, Glypf, I think this bodes well."
"If you say so, sir," said Glypf, distracted by thoughts of cat hair on the couch.
tbc....
JK Rowling owns the characters. They're only in this daydream for my profitless romp. :)
CHAPTER FIVE: Glypf, I Hardly Read Ye
Snape Manor, it must be said, has been a sturdy fixture in the wizarding world for quite some time. So many had seen it, and more importantly, so many had seen it to recognize it, that Snape Manor was a fixture. Like the mountains that had made it onto maps and oceans that had made it into minds - Snape Manor was there to stay. But while the outside reflected its recognized existence, the inside reflected what the current holder could know. Feeling foolhardy, half hoping for a nice rock pile with a few rats for dinner, Snape entered the house which was his self.
It was, he was surprised to find, empty.
The yawning hole of chaos which Voldemort inspired out of Snape had faded. To his surprise, the inside of house seemed solid and houselike. Not at all the chasm which ate Voldemort and crossed into otherwise unbroachable realities. Snape fell let down and relieved all at once.
The furnishings and surroundings were reminiscent of his parents' days. While his parents lived. It seemd odd to see his parent's home where once there was a black churning pit. Snape looked over the room, surprised now. He had thought that in letting go, he'd let go of this too. But the room had pleasant memories. All dead now. But Severus was not a person apart from this. He thought and was surprised.
A house elf tugged at the master's pant cuff.
"Hello," said Severus. He was surprised that his voice wasn't angry.
"Master Severus, sir, welcome home."
"Glypf, is that you?"
"Oh, I am so glad you remember me, sir."
"How could I forget. I would like your forgiveness, Glypf."
"I don't thinks I can give it sir. It's not for me to give."
"Glypf, I've made our lives hell."
"I know. But it's not for me to give."
"Glypf, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Your family left something for you in the blue room."
"Shall we go?"
Glypf showed him the way. At the door, Snape handed Glypf his coat. "I don't deserve the faithfulness, Glypf. Thank you for your service. If you need anything, I'm sure Dumbledore outside will be glad to help you."
Glypf took the coat and cried. "It don't fit me, master," said the elf. Snape found his wand, and it soon was a coat for an elf.
"You didn't have to do that," said Glypf.
"I don't have to do anything. But I can no longer accept service to my house when I don't know what I and my house are. You have a good heart and a good mind, Glypf. Be free if you can. And I recommend taking safety with Dumbledore."
"That didn't work out so well for you, sir."
"I see no way it could have worked otherwise. I would do it again. But it would break my heart and I would fail."
Glypf tugged his old charge down and hugged his neck, crying faintly on what was once the baby. "If you want to do me a favor, come see me again," he said. He wiped his head, and walked away, wearing Snape's jacket.
Snape almost cried to see him go, then stood up, opened the door and walked in without looking.
-----------------------------------------------
And found himself in a chamber of cheap and sleazy proportions. Not tempting, not even seductive: the chambers of those who need without knowing why. Horrifically, what light there was seemed to thicken into forms and resolve into figures. Soon present were his own family and friends, those who were dead, now some haggling over costs to buy things that should never be bought while nearby others were selling what should never be sold, and yet a few were careless and unable to attend, simply hanging.
Snape fell to his knees, weeping. This is what he brought upon his family. The evil of Voldemort - a man who would promise the world and then deliver it, suffering and destroyed. And there, central, sitting in a throne laughing at it all, the man himself. Tom Riddle. The man who could charm and corrupt.
Crookshanks meanwhile sniffed Snape's nightmare and looked about at what the family had left for him. Crookshanks looked over the room of dust and funeral urns. The family crypt. Apparently moved from the mausoleum up to the main house, complete with stone sarcophagi and marble skeletons. Death angels and Chronus with his paddle. The most recent remains had enamel panels on their boxes: pictures of the dead from while they were living. They looked happy - images caught at celebrations or in thought. But ok, and happy. Still images, formal, for the crypt.
Snape, however, was looking at something far different: Riddle was approaching, demanding Snape rejoin the game.
"I am the threshold demon, I'm not in," he stuttered.
Riddle laughed, slapping his face - and it worked. Snape was no threshold demon, barely there. He was there.
"I'm the servant of Dumbledore and the council - you can not command me," cried Snape, almost desperate as an eternity of hell began to impress him with it's horrors. For him and for these people.
Riddle merely looked at his arm and it erupted in searing pain. Snape could see his dark mark again - and then watched as his arm moved without his willing it. Riddle had sway and it would only grow. Snape closed his eyes and tried one last time.
"I do not serve you," he gasped out.
"You always did, you always will, and there will be no holding me back when I return this time, Severus, my loyal snake," said Riddle with glee.
"What do you mean?"
"You were my jailor. Now you are my freedom. I will kill in your name, so feel despair, my favorite traitor."
Crookshanks had had enough. He clawed Snape on the leg.
Snape fell to the floor in strange pain as he watched everything he cared about become tortured and despairing. "My heart can not serve you," he finally said.
"I don't need obedience, only despair," said Riddle, triumphant.
Again there was the blind sharp biting pain in his leg. Severus looked and saw Hermione Granger's familiar looking at him as if he was insane. The cat butted his calf, and then deserted him, in order to chase what had to be imaginary mice. That or space aliens. Who can fathom the mind of a cat.
Severus looked at Riddle who was there, in all his horrors, and then the mad cat in a dry crypt. He could see the two different worlds. And Severus realized he could choose. His heart could serve. And he picked one. He didn't bother telling Riddle who simply screamed from his onrushing oblivion. And Severus walked around the room, crying for the dead, missing them, and grateful that they were not in pain or suffering.
After a few hours, he wandered out to find Glypf sitting on the main stairs before the main door.
"Glypf, I cannot express how grateful I am to you. I consider you a friend of my family, and I shall always think of you fondly."
"I have no where to go, sir," said the house elf.
"I'm going to try to bring home a bride, Glypf," said Severus.
"No reason why I can't stay, then, yes?"
"She doesn't like the house elf system. She thinks you all should be free and paid."
"I like her already," said the elf, to Severus' surprise.
"OK, consider yourself on salary. Would you be my butler? I have to find out what my finances are before I can tell you the salary."
"Your finances are what they were," said the old white wizard, making his way in.
"This isn't Hogwarts. You can't possibly know what just happened in my front room."
"OK, then I don't know. But as long as your house logged you as living, we kept your accounts intact. Oh, and you have been giving charitably."
"Thank you. And I am surprised. Things working out."
"Surprise yourself some more. It makes my heart light."
"OK. Now, Glypf, 5 galleons a week?"
"Yes sir!"
"Then I'll take my leave of you two and go see a garden about a girl."
"And a school about a job?" reminded Albus.
"Next year, Dumbledore. If Hermione will take me, then she gets a say in it to some extent. So probably, yes, but give me a year to remind myself what a caldron looks like."
"You make an old man happy."
"I'm glad I did it for someone one."
"Welcome home, Severus."
"Don't be a stranger, Albus."
Albus blinked in surprise, not at the sentiment, but at the expression. He smiled at his old friend and took himself back to Hogwarts while Severus faced the next step.
"So what does a woman who wants nothing want?" he asked Crookshanks who was back. The cat yawned, jumped on a couch, and promptly fell asleep. "Oddly enough, Glypf, I think this bodes well."
"If you say so, sir," said Glypf, distracted by thoughts of cat hair on the couch.
tbc....