Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
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Chapter 3: The Past Will Catch You Up (As You Run Faster)
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Severus sat waiting in his office three months later, sipping quietly on a cup of tea. With a small, audible popping noise, a small figure apparated in, smiling at him. She wore a cloak of thick black velvet, which matched her midnight colored hair.
"Severus… You're pale. You should be eating." Sahriya Snape commented, as Severus stood up and embraced her. "You should get out more, too."
"Ah, Sahriya, still a bloody nit pick." Severus smiled, handing his elder sister a cup of tea, adding her usual two lumps of sugar. "How've you been?"
"Not bad… Work's been a bloody nightmare, though." Sahriya said, a small grimace on her face. "The Minister's a blasted moron…"
Sahriya looked Severus up and down. She admitted to herself that he didn't look well. He was pale, more so than usual. There were deep circles around his black eyes, making his lack of sleep obvious. The bones of his face jutted out and his hands were bones covered with a thin layer of skin. He was drowning in his ebony robes.
"Have you been eating regularly? Or sleeping?" Sahriya asked, attempting to keep any hint of her true worry out of her voice. "Severus?"
"I'm fine." Severus snapped, standing up and walking over to the small sink near his potions. He dumped out the nearly full cup of tea and turned to her. He turned to her, his face expressionless.
"Fine is something you say when you're not, Sev. And don't think you can fool me into thinking that you're all right. You're obviously not." Severus braced himself for one of his sister's rants. "You look like you've eaten nothing in a month, and you've been working yourself ragged… Albus even…"
"Ah… I see. I was wondering why you wanted to meet with me so suddenly… So, Albus has been voicing his concerns to you, then. Let me see if I know his speech yet…" Severus hissed. He turned back towards the sink and the mirror over it. "Sahriya, he hasn't been eating, or sleeping. Sahriya, I'm worried about his well being."
"That's about it." Sahriya raised one perfect eyebrow and a trademark Snape family scowl appeared on her ivory face. She ran a hand through her short black hair, exasperated. "Look, I know that you've gone back to spying for the Order. I may not be at all of the meetings, Severus, but I do keep in touch with other members…
"Minerva had to be the one to tell me that my baby brother was going back to the Dark Lord. You couldn't even tell me. Do you disregard my feelings for you so much as to not even tell me that you're risking your life?"
"It's none of your concern, Sahriya. If I have to do this for redemption, I shall." Severus turned back to his sister, his hands clenched into painful fists, his nails digging deep into the flesh of his palm.
"You've been at this for twenty years, Severus! Don't you think that you've redeemed yourself yet?" Sahriya asked, falling back into her chair angrily.
"Ask the families of my victims that, not me." Severus whispered, his head hanging low. "Please, just leave me be…"
"Never." Sahriya said, stubbornly. She rose back to her feet, walking towards Severus. She took him in a tight embrace and whispered into his ear. "Never."
They both glanced up sharply as they heard a soft sound outside of the door. They looked at each other briefly before pulling out their wands and pointing them at the door. Sahriya mumbled a spell, sending the door flying open, sending a young woman to the floor.
"Is this the new teacher, Severus?" Sahriya shot a look at Severus, who merely nodded.
Pyre stood up quickly, dusting herself off. Her face was a bright crimson color as she mumbled several apologies, each running into the next.
"I'm sorry, Professor Snape. Professor McGonagall sent me to see what was wrong. You missed dinner. But then again, that's really not anything new, I guess. I mean, you never come to meals anymore. Not that I'm implying anything! I mean, I, I…" Pyre mumbled, hopping back and forth on her feet nervously. She cleared her throat before trying again. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have been listening in on your conversation, Professor. I didn't want to interrupt, so I was trying to wait until an appropriate time to do so…"
"Get out of my sight, Rittin." Severus hissed.
Merlin, does that scowl bring back memories. Pyre thought to herself. Gods, he is getting thin… And pale. Why didn't I notice that before?
"I said get out of my sight…" Snape snapped. Pyre stood watching him for a moment before turning to Sahriya. The elder Snape nodded at her quickly, taking Pyre's hand and dragging her out of the office, into the hall. Pyre looked up at her once in the hall, attempting to keep her temper in check.
"What the hell was that all about? Who're you, and who do you think you are, dragging me out here?" Pyre asked, her hands on her hips. Sahriya glanced at her and patted her on the head. Pyre shrugged away quickly, glaring at her.
"Calm down, Ms. Rittin." Sahriya smiled sadly. Sahriya looked up at the open door to Severus' office. She flipping her hand towards it, slamming it shut, and turned back to Pyre. "I need to talk to you about Severus.
"Has he been going missing for days at a time? Has he been eating?"
"I really wouldn't know. I'm not Snape's babysitter." Pyre responded, her voice both annoyed and nervous. "Like I said in there, he's been missing meals a lot lately, but he's never missed one of his classes…
"I have seen him come and go at odd hours. He'll leave directly after his final class and return mere moments before his first class the next day. I never fancied asking him about his nocturnal habits, though… Always figured that it was none of my business.
"Besides, who are you? Why should you care what Snape does or doesn't do?"
"I, child, am his elder sister, Sahriya Snape-Sallus." Sahriya stated, the Snape smirk taking its rightful place on her face. Her black eyes shone, showing all of the depth of Severus's, but with a warmth instilled in them that didn't show in her younger brothers eyes. "I do believe that gives me the right and privilege of caring for him."
"Yes. I'm sorry, Ms. Snape." Pyre stammered. A graceful smile appeared on the elder woman's face.
"Call me Sahriya."
"All right. Sahriya." Pyre leaned against the brick walls of the dungeon hall. She let a soft sigh escape her lips as the cool rock pressed against her forehead. "Look, Snape has been doing what I said. He's not coming to any meals, whatsoever. He used to at least make an appearance at one or two meals per day, but now he doesn't even bother with that. He's always holed up in his blasted laboratory, or off Merlin knows where.
"Is it true that he's gone back to the Dark Lord?"
"It wasn't his choice, Ms. Rittin." Sahriya stated, a sad smile on her face. "He never wanted to join in the first place… Our grandfather, Silvian Snape, was a devoted follower of Voldemort's, as were our parents. Father followed in our grandfather's footsteps, dragging our mother along with him. She never cared much for Voldemort, you know. She only wanted to keep her children safe, and believed that following Voldemort would do so…"
"She joined to keep you and Severus safe? She gave up her life and freedoms?"
"Yes… Not only for us, but also for our older, twin, brothers, Caesar and Augustus." Pyre quirked her eyebrow at the names. Sahriya sighed. "Mother was a history professor before marrying father… Anyway, Severus was brought into the inner circle at a very young age. All four of us were initiated into Voldemort's group at the same time… Caesar and Augustus were eighteen, I was sixteen, and Severus was only seven. Seven years old and already in Voldemort's inner circle."
"Sweet Merlin… I didn't know that was possible…" Pyre breathed, shock visible on her face.
"It normally isn't. Our family had…connections… Therefore, we all got our marks at the same time." Sahriya smiled slightly. Pyre decided that it definitely wasn't a pleasant thing. "In the end, father gave his life for Voldemort, as did mother, and Caesar… Father fought the Ministry, with Caesar supporting him, and both were killed. Mother attempted to leave the fold soon after, taking Augustus, Severus and I with her, but paid dearly for it." Sahriya took a deep, steadying, breath. "We were never able to find her body."
Pyre found herself unable to speak. She knew of nothing to say that would be able to comfort Sahriya, so didn't bother attempting it. She simply nodded.
"Augustus and I were able to sever our ties with Voldemort soon after mother's death. Severus decided then that he would pay Voldemort back for the death of our family. He opted to bring Voldemort down from the inside."
"Spying?"
"Yes."
A deep respect for the potions master overtook Pyre. "Is-is there anything that I could do to help?"
"Please, just keep an eye on him for Augustus and I. We couldn't handle losing another member of the family." Sahriya said, her eyes moist.
"It would be my pleasure, Sahriya."
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A/N: Hrms. I do believe I need a Beta… Sorry about this chapter's length. I really wanted to get a bit of Severus' past in there without it being too corny. I guess I traded in the corny for length. Oops. : ) Anyway, please let me know what you think through a review. It would help me a lot, and probably help chapter four get here faster.