Gold Moon Rising
By: Cassius de Lioncourt
Disclaimer: Look at the first chapter, but I don't own anything.
Summary: Again, look on the first chapter because I'm too lazy to write the summary again. Besides, why would you need the summary if you've already read the first chapter?
An:/ Well, I seemed to have liked the way this story is going, so I've decided to post the second chapter, as you can see. For those who aren't sure, Harry does not have BAD hemophilia; he suffers from prolonged bleeding and the symptoms, (which includes weakness, swelling in the joints that can enable Harry the move because of the pain, and sometimes hemorrhaging). In this story, people with hemophilia are called, "Fallen Angels" and are marked on their forearms to signal others of their disorder. Richer people tend to think that to cure a Fallen Angel is to bleed them with leeches, which then kill the Fallen Angel. Well, in this chapter we get to meat dear old Severus! So enough of my blabbering, R+R
~_-*-_~
10 years later…
He walked in brisk determination down the lone hallway that was decorated in various paintings and tiny oak tables with knick-knacks or vases, his aurora screaming importance. Dark obsidian eyes were shadowed in anger and thin black brows were narrowed in a glare. Thin lips were worked up into a sneer and wisps of midnight black hair that had come loose from the short ponytail, framed the man's pale face and sharp cheekbones.
To say Severus Snape, Lord of a vast estate, was angry would be the understatement of the Renaissance. Severus was severely pissed, especially at his right-hand man, who had yet again failed to claim him the land he had taken up penchant for. It seemed Severus was much too lenient with his most loyal, it looked like he needed to pound some sense into his friend's ego-inflated head.
As he walked on, Severus' ire only seemed to blaze more when he heard loud, fervent moans coming from his study. His long stride quickened, making the tails of his black cotton coat billow behind his intimidating form. As the landowner walked into his brilliant, vaulted ceiling study, Severus watched as his right-hand man and a cheap strumpet girl engage in *intimate* activities.
"Ah-hem!"
The frantic lust-driven people halted in their administrations and quickly turned to the sound of a throat clearing.
"I hope you two weren't intending on soiling my floors with your passion." Severus drawled icily, his arms folded on his chest and glaring down his rather large nose at the caught pair. The over-powdered strumpet looked on in fear at Severus, then in shame she quickly tied back up her loose, frilly corset. Severus then glared at his close friend and right-hand man, Lucius Malfoy. Lucius was a man in his mid-twenties, the same as Severus, and yet he had still retained a youthful look about him. Long white-blond hair hung about freely off the broad shoulders and gray eyes stared coolly at the dark haired man in front of him. Lucius awkwardly straightened his cotton shirt, buttoning the loose buttons that had come undone in his lust with the strumpet.
Severus looked away, disgusted, from his comrade then fixed his cold, black eyes disdainfully on the all-to-young girl. Of course, Lucius liked his lovers young. Severus barked in his silky tone at the young woman to get out, which the strumpet did in fearful haste.
When the two men were alone, Severus spoke dangerously low to the blond. "I thought I made myself clear when you first came to my manor: Never. In. My. Home! I'd hate to have to beat my rules into that arrogant little head of yours."
Although the last bit was said sarcastically, Lucius just brushed it off with a smirk.
"Oh Severus, you take everything so seriously these days. Why should we be fighting over such frivolous matters?" Lucius replied calmly while moving gracefully towards the liquor cabinet, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"Since the day you failed, once again, in carrying out your duties to get me my land!" Severus snarled.
Lucius stopped in mid-stride and his presumptuous exterior melted into a somber one. "That couldn't be helped my dear friend-"
"You know damn well that it could be Lucius! They're peasants!"
Lucius 'tutted' at the raging man, the somber face that had once creased his pointed features gone. "Colorful language Severus, that's blasphemous. Yes I quite know they're peasants, I'm not stupid,"
"No, just insolent." Severus snorted.
Lucius continued as if he was never interrupted. "-But they are very narrow-minded when it comes to their land." Lucius took a sip of his drink before setting the liquor down and wrapping his arms around Severus' neck. The platinum blond nuzzled his nose into the pale flesh before him and sighed contently before being pulled roughly away.
Severus stared down his horny friend with a glare. "I will not be used to relieve your sexual tension. Go find a whore that you can drape on and eventually debauch yourself. And it would be best that you keep them away from my manor this time." He pushed the pouting blond away and sat down heavily behind his dark wooded desk, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Lucius continued to pout, which was what he thought to be seductive, and leaned against the desk resting his elbows on the surface. He made sure to stick his posterior high enough in the air and absent-mindedly wiggled it.
"No Lucius, I still stand firm. Especially after your cowardly admittance to the fact that you can't get rid of a few peasants on your own." Severus spoke. He brushed a few stray strands of his onyx hair behind an ear and out of sight.
"You hurt me Severus, you really do." Lucius whined in mock-pain.
Severus let out a long-suffering sigh. "Oh, Lucius, Lucius, Lucius…" The said blond perked up a bit and moved closer towards his dark-eyed companion. The gray-eyed man was only put down when Severus continued, "Still *whining* Lucius. I've heard enough, I've had to listen to you for years!" Severus grabbed the pale throat that was Lucius' and squeezed, but only lightly.
"If you don't get me Godric's Hollow, I will personally skin you alive, then impale you on a wooden pole! Do you understand me?" Severus waited for the affirmative nod before letting Lucius fall to the ground with a thud. "Good."
Lucius rubbed at his sore throat, greedily gasping for air.
"I don't care how you do it, I want those common *peasants*," Severus spat the word, "out of that town and I want it made way for my land."
Lucius got up from the ground and brushed himself off. He glared at Severus, but did no more then that, as it was not wise to anger the tall man more then already. Lucius nodded and his arrogance came back full blown.
"I know just the thing my dear Severus. And I'd think you'd do well in joining me in a trip to Godric's Hollow."
~*~
The carriage ride was a bumpy one most of the way. It hobbled this way and that, its wooden frame creaking in protest to its outrageous treatment on the gravel road. Inside, Severus and Lucius sat on the black leather cushions opposite of each other, waiting for their rugged trip to come to an end. Although the blond man did not seem to be enjoying the ride in the least.
"Why can't these people ever build proper means of transportation? This is beginning to infuriate me. Why can't others listen to me when I say peasants are worthless as the dirt on the bottom of your boot." Lucius ranted, his gloved hands gripping the carriage seat and window ledge to keep from falling off his bench.
Severus chuckled at his friend, his build going with the ride while keeping his hands in his lap. "You're be very imprudent Lucius. One would think you had the competence not to care so much for something so less."
As expected, Lucius stopped squirming and put on a mask of indifference. "No, no I do not care what so ever."
Although the twitch in the blonde's eyebrow told otherwise. Severus didn't know how Lucius managed to make him agree on coming on such a barbaric trip. Why, he could have been at home, sipping a glass of his finest wine in front of the nice, warm fire. He could have even been reading a nice book. But here Severus was, riding in a carriage down a hazardous road, listening to his friend complain. Severus supposed it was Lucius' charisma that got him into this mess, it had happened before, why not again?
"We're nearing the village Severus." Lucius said an hour later, braking the dark eyed man's reverie. Severus nodded and continued to gaze out the window. The large green pastoral hills seemed to dance in the afternoon breeze; the grass shimmered and sparkled from the ever-beating sun. Up ahead, down the hill that the road wound on, Severus could make out the first sites of the village he planned on embezzling.
Severus had heard of Godric's Hollow from passing people when he sat in the local tavern, how the town was on hills that sang when the morning sun touched it just right. It intrigued the dark haired man to no extent. He could build a large manor on those hills that he could retreat to when the city became too much for his liking. The only matter was *how* he was going to obtain this land and boot out the peasants. He left that to the miser-like Lucius. As much as Severus thought ill of the blond, he had to admit that Lucius was a cunning man, much like himself. Severus had to go with the plan that had formed into the arrogant head; it held the future of his land in it.
The carriage came to a halt, the vessel stopping its infernal shaking, and the two men stepped out. Severus could smell the clean fragrance that was the country's, one more reason to take this land.
"Bring up some horses." Severus silently commanded the blond after glancing around. Sneering, Lucius yelled at Severus' followers, who had been commanded along, to bring them two fair horses. Once the two men mounted their horses, Severus led the rest of the way toward Godric's Hollow.
"This place reeks of dung. Why, you can just *smell* the peasants from here." Lucius' face twisted into a disgusted sneer. The blond was brought up as a true aristocrat. Lucius hated anything he considered below his rich tenor, therefore ruling the beauty of the countryside as something of lesser value.
Severus decided to take no heed in Lucius' complaints and made his black mare trot onward. Not long, the little troop had came to what Severus claimed 'the entrance' of the village. It was dingy and by all means, run down. Various men and woman were about, and although they wore shaggy clothing and had dirt on their faces, the people were smiling. To his surprise, Severus felt his lips twitch at the enthusiasm such common folk had.
Severus watched in amusement as a group of squealing children ran away from a child carrying a wooden sword, smiles on their faces. The child's curly mane of red hair flew about in the wind as he chased the others. They ran about for a while, tagging and chasing, until they came to the front of a hut where a woman with fiery hair and jewel-like eyes stood grinning. Severus could make out a lone figure behind the woman from where he was. When the woman moved aside, the figure stepped out of the hut carrying a basket of linens.
It was a very pale young man. Severus' breath hitched at the sight of such a beauty. Wild black hair hung about in odd places, brushing the fragile looking shoulders, creating a halo around the boy's head. Stunning emerald eyes looked out off a dirty face, yet the grime only seemed to enhance the boy's beauty to Severus.
Severus watched, transfixed, as the boy carried the basket to a line of rope beside the hut and started to hang sheets on it. Severus mentally shook his head when he caught himself starring at the boy's posterior as he bent down to grab a fluffy sheet. Severus was by all means, not interested in little boys. But then again, this wasn't a *little* boy. This tid-bit of information only irked his curiosity, that he would even be thinking about a boy in *that* way.
Lucius made a noise in the back of his throat as some chickens made their way around the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. Severus could have sworn he heard the blond utter, 'blasphemy'. Although Severus was brought up in a sophisticated, wealthy family, the dark-haired man saw the beauty in what many people would take for granted.
"Alright, you know what to do. Get out there!" Lucius commanded at the assemble of troops. Severus watched in bewilderment as the men he had allowed Lucius take temporary command for, run into the village and cause havoc. The men on horses rode into the town; drawing sharpened swords, and began to slaughter the panicking peasants.
Severus turned away from the screams and to Lucius. The man was smirking at Severus in triumph.
"You said you wanted them out. I thought this was a brilliant idea."
Severus glared at the blond before he made his way slowly into the pandemonium. His men were taking lit torches and throwing them onto the mansard roofs, letting the straw ignite slowly, which all too soon manifested into mighty flames. Women and children were screaming, inside the burning huts and out, all running for their doomed lives while many dropped dead in the streets. At the slash of metal and gush of blood, Severus could hear dimly above the fearful shrieks as Lucius ordered a group of Severus' men to retrieve the peasants from the fields.
Severus frowned. Although he was getting his land, he felt a twinge of sympathy for the chaotic peasants whose lives were turned upside down today. Or maybe it was a bit of indigestion. Yes, that was it and Severus smiled. He didn't really care, as long as Lucius was doing his job and Severus was profiting from it, the obsidian-eyed man didn't have a problem.
The dark-haired man's gaze began to flicker through the ravished town, looking through piles of bodies that seemed to resemble a bored child's discarded toys. Severus found himself searching inconspicuously for the dark-haired beauty he had dubbed, 'the angel', having some new weird feeling akin to worry bubble inside for the boy (much to Severus' surprise).
At last, Severus spotted the pale angel he had seen putting the linens on the line. The boy was huddled in a corner beside a wooden trough, holding onto a younger, auburn-haired boy that Severus remembered had been playing merrily with the other children. The angle's beautiful eyes were shinning with horror from the innocent, emerald depths while thin arms clung protectively around the younger hazel-eyed boy.
With a 'yah!' to his horse, Severus cantered around the destruction in his hopes to get to the boys before his followers did; his obsidian gaze firmly locked onto the shaking pair. The two boys looked around fearfully as many of the implacable, crazed men charged by, chasing and killing the runaway peasants.
There was a pain-filled scream filling the air above the yelling, a woman's, which forced Severus halt in his path. Severus merely glanced at the burning hut from where the scream had resounded, before continuing onward in his 'rescue mission'.
"MOTHER!"
Severus was wrenched back at the angel as he feebly struggled to keep the auburn-haired boy in his grasp, but he eventually failed. The angel fell back to the dirt-covered floor as he yelled out to the young boy,
"Gabriel, come back!" The auburn haired child was dashing madly to the burning hut, the boy's only goal was to reach the nearly collapsing timber, not seeming to care that there were armed troops right on his heels.
The fiery-haired boy was only feet away from the burning hut that supposedly held his mother, when the rider leaped in front of the boy with a bellow from the horse. The rider laughed maliciously at the panic evident in the hazel eyes, and Severus watched callously as the rider drew back his sword.
"Gabriel! NO!"
At that point, the world seemed to stop, or uncontrollably go much slower for Severus as he tried to elucidate the situation. Or maybe the world was really spinning, just for the angel.
The emerald angel watched in consternation as what Severus supposed was his brother, fall to the ground, wounded and bleeding profusely. The angel let out an anguished, ear-piercing cry. The boy ran to the fallen boy, tears streaming down flushed cheeks and leaving a track in their wake. The angel fell down and gathered the dying boy in his thin arms sobbing nonstop.
Severus rode closer to the saddening duo, till he didn't have to strain to hear the words issuing from the boy's sweet mouth.
"No, don't do this Gabriel… no, you c-can't go! Not before me, not before-" The angel cried desperately, but Severus saw how deep the auburn child's gash was… he could not be saved.
"I promised Gabriel, I promised to protect you! I can't fail you, no." The boy continued to wail, even after Gabriel's eyes fluttered lightly and his small chest heaved his last breath. "Gabriel? Gabriel!" The boy hugged the corpse to his chest and rocked his sobbing body in a soothing manner.
Severus' heart ached for the beautiful boy on the ground. The hut caved in on itself with a mighty crash and the boy held Gabriel closer, resting his head on the smaller boy's. Suddenly the angel looked up, whispering a soft 'father'. Severus turned his gave into the direction of the boy's gaze and he immediately saw Lucius and many of his followers surrounding a large group of men that had undoubtedly come from the fields. The blond was adorning a very smug look on those peach-pink lips as he ordered the men, one by one, to be executed.
There was a young man in the group that had his hands tied up in front of him, that caught Severus' attention the most. It was a rough man with the same hazel eyes as the deceased Gabriel and the same wild mane of hair as the angel had who currently whimpered on the dirty ground. There was no doubt in Severus' mind that this was the father of the angel and Gabriel. And as Severus looked more carefully, it was the same man his --wait, *his?*-- angel was staring at.
The father, after searching, locked his hazel eyes with the boy's emerald. The man suddenly turned frantic, and started to fight his bonds in order to make his way towards them.
"Gabriel! God no!" The man screamed. The angel sobbed harder at his father's antics. Severus heard Lucius order the men to kill the father quickly.
"Wait! No, you must understand! My boy, Harry, he's a Fallen Angel! NO! He needs me!" The father was grabbed at the hair and his head was bent back, yet he still struggled to his only son. It was over too quickly, at the stroke of the sword, the lifeless body of the father fell to the ground, and his severed head was flung into a fire from a hut.
Severus was clearly shocked, by the gruesome end to the parent and the newly bestowed information about the boy. This angel, was really an angel! A Fallen Angel, one of God's angels that was mercifully sent to earth and plagued with the never-ending bleeding. Severus stared down at the Fallen Angel in bewilderment, but then turned apathetic as he saw the boy seemed to blanch (if that was possible due to his pallor) and his emerald eyes wavered. Severus decided to act when the boy became a little limp. The dark-eyed man put up a façade of loathing, and leaned over his horse to hull up the boy from under the arms. The Angel let out a yelp and struggled weakly against his captor. He soon then stopped his actions, too exhausted to fight the strong, encircling arm.
Severus carefully positioned the boy so he could see the beautiful face up close. Severus was amazed that such radiance could be hidden in such a dump. They locked eyes, onyx meeting emerald. The Angel's eyes widened and he tried to shrink back in fear.
"Shh… it will be alright. I won't hurt you." Dropping the façade, Severus whispered to the boy's face in hopes of convincing him that Severus would not kill him. The boy's stiffened body seemed to relax, albeit slowly, and the boy choked on a sob, the lovely face becoming taunt with grief. Severus held the boy gently to chest and let the Fallen Angel cry.
Severus looked in front of him to see Lucius on his horse, a pensive expression on his aristocratic features as he watched Severus with the boy. Severus glared daggers at the blond, who in return, smirked back in a cunning way. That only seemed to set Severus on his guard.
Soon the Fallen Angel cried himself into exhaustion and had promptly passed out into the warmth that Severus was willingly radiating. The landowner shifted the boy so he could easily hold him, yet ride back to his carriage at the same time. Suddenly Severus felt all too guilty for destroying Godric's Hollow, but couldn't be more overjoyed as he rested the sweet Angel onto the carriage seat next to him.
TBC…
An:/ well, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, sorry it took so long, but I want to thank the following that reviewed:
Ivy- yeah, I kind of know, I'm getting a beta soon (hopefully *rolls eyes*). Thank you!
NightShade- well, that's what I kind of planned on, I wanted a more original plot and thank you, I'm glad you like the story.
Liz- here's your update, and I hope that I wont get writer's block any time soon
MarsIsBrightTonight- In this story, people back then called others with hemophilia, a "fallen angel" (like Harry). Harry's parents were just worried if Gabriel was going to be like harry. Just trying to clarify things for you, you could also read the beginning AN for more info.
Hippy Flower=Voldie's kid- I'm glad you love it, I really thought this story wasn't going to be a hit
Thank you again, I hope you R+R. Flames will be used to warm my tea.
By: Cassius de Lioncourt
Disclaimer: Look at the first chapter, but I don't own anything.
Summary: Again, look on the first chapter because I'm too lazy to write the summary again. Besides, why would you need the summary if you've already read the first chapter?
An:/ Well, I seemed to have liked the way this story is going, so I've decided to post the second chapter, as you can see. For those who aren't sure, Harry does not have BAD hemophilia; he suffers from prolonged bleeding and the symptoms, (which includes weakness, swelling in the joints that can enable Harry the move because of the pain, and sometimes hemorrhaging). In this story, people with hemophilia are called, "Fallen Angels" and are marked on their forearms to signal others of their disorder. Richer people tend to think that to cure a Fallen Angel is to bleed them with leeches, which then kill the Fallen Angel. Well, in this chapter we get to meat dear old Severus! So enough of my blabbering, R+R
~_-*-_~
10 years later…
He walked in brisk determination down the lone hallway that was decorated in various paintings and tiny oak tables with knick-knacks or vases, his aurora screaming importance. Dark obsidian eyes were shadowed in anger and thin black brows were narrowed in a glare. Thin lips were worked up into a sneer and wisps of midnight black hair that had come loose from the short ponytail, framed the man's pale face and sharp cheekbones.
To say Severus Snape, Lord of a vast estate, was angry would be the understatement of the Renaissance. Severus was severely pissed, especially at his right-hand man, who had yet again failed to claim him the land he had taken up penchant for. It seemed Severus was much too lenient with his most loyal, it looked like he needed to pound some sense into his friend's ego-inflated head.
As he walked on, Severus' ire only seemed to blaze more when he heard loud, fervent moans coming from his study. His long stride quickened, making the tails of his black cotton coat billow behind his intimidating form. As the landowner walked into his brilliant, vaulted ceiling study, Severus watched as his right-hand man and a cheap strumpet girl engage in *intimate* activities.
"Ah-hem!"
The frantic lust-driven people halted in their administrations and quickly turned to the sound of a throat clearing.
"I hope you two weren't intending on soiling my floors with your passion." Severus drawled icily, his arms folded on his chest and glaring down his rather large nose at the caught pair. The over-powdered strumpet looked on in fear at Severus, then in shame she quickly tied back up her loose, frilly corset. Severus then glared at his close friend and right-hand man, Lucius Malfoy. Lucius was a man in his mid-twenties, the same as Severus, and yet he had still retained a youthful look about him. Long white-blond hair hung about freely off the broad shoulders and gray eyes stared coolly at the dark haired man in front of him. Lucius awkwardly straightened his cotton shirt, buttoning the loose buttons that had come undone in his lust with the strumpet.
Severus looked away, disgusted, from his comrade then fixed his cold, black eyes disdainfully on the all-to-young girl. Of course, Lucius liked his lovers young. Severus barked in his silky tone at the young woman to get out, which the strumpet did in fearful haste.
When the two men were alone, Severus spoke dangerously low to the blond. "I thought I made myself clear when you first came to my manor: Never. In. My. Home! I'd hate to have to beat my rules into that arrogant little head of yours."
Although the last bit was said sarcastically, Lucius just brushed it off with a smirk.
"Oh Severus, you take everything so seriously these days. Why should we be fighting over such frivolous matters?" Lucius replied calmly while moving gracefully towards the liquor cabinet, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"Since the day you failed, once again, in carrying out your duties to get me my land!" Severus snarled.
Lucius stopped in mid-stride and his presumptuous exterior melted into a somber one. "That couldn't be helped my dear friend-"
"You know damn well that it could be Lucius! They're peasants!"
Lucius 'tutted' at the raging man, the somber face that had once creased his pointed features gone. "Colorful language Severus, that's blasphemous. Yes I quite know they're peasants, I'm not stupid,"
"No, just insolent." Severus snorted.
Lucius continued as if he was never interrupted. "-But they are very narrow-minded when it comes to their land." Lucius took a sip of his drink before setting the liquor down and wrapping his arms around Severus' neck. The platinum blond nuzzled his nose into the pale flesh before him and sighed contently before being pulled roughly away.
Severus stared down his horny friend with a glare. "I will not be used to relieve your sexual tension. Go find a whore that you can drape on and eventually debauch yourself. And it would be best that you keep them away from my manor this time." He pushed the pouting blond away and sat down heavily behind his dark wooded desk, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Lucius continued to pout, which was what he thought to be seductive, and leaned against the desk resting his elbows on the surface. He made sure to stick his posterior high enough in the air and absent-mindedly wiggled it.
"No Lucius, I still stand firm. Especially after your cowardly admittance to the fact that you can't get rid of a few peasants on your own." Severus spoke. He brushed a few stray strands of his onyx hair behind an ear and out of sight.
"You hurt me Severus, you really do." Lucius whined in mock-pain.
Severus let out a long-suffering sigh. "Oh, Lucius, Lucius, Lucius…" The said blond perked up a bit and moved closer towards his dark-eyed companion. The gray-eyed man was only put down when Severus continued, "Still *whining* Lucius. I've heard enough, I've had to listen to you for years!" Severus grabbed the pale throat that was Lucius' and squeezed, but only lightly.
"If you don't get me Godric's Hollow, I will personally skin you alive, then impale you on a wooden pole! Do you understand me?" Severus waited for the affirmative nod before letting Lucius fall to the ground with a thud. "Good."
Lucius rubbed at his sore throat, greedily gasping for air.
"I don't care how you do it, I want those common *peasants*," Severus spat the word, "out of that town and I want it made way for my land."
Lucius got up from the ground and brushed himself off. He glared at Severus, but did no more then that, as it was not wise to anger the tall man more then already. Lucius nodded and his arrogance came back full blown.
"I know just the thing my dear Severus. And I'd think you'd do well in joining me in a trip to Godric's Hollow."
~*~
The carriage ride was a bumpy one most of the way. It hobbled this way and that, its wooden frame creaking in protest to its outrageous treatment on the gravel road. Inside, Severus and Lucius sat on the black leather cushions opposite of each other, waiting for their rugged trip to come to an end. Although the blond man did not seem to be enjoying the ride in the least.
"Why can't these people ever build proper means of transportation? This is beginning to infuriate me. Why can't others listen to me when I say peasants are worthless as the dirt on the bottom of your boot." Lucius ranted, his gloved hands gripping the carriage seat and window ledge to keep from falling off his bench.
Severus chuckled at his friend, his build going with the ride while keeping his hands in his lap. "You're be very imprudent Lucius. One would think you had the competence not to care so much for something so less."
As expected, Lucius stopped squirming and put on a mask of indifference. "No, no I do not care what so ever."
Although the twitch in the blonde's eyebrow told otherwise. Severus didn't know how Lucius managed to make him agree on coming on such a barbaric trip. Why, he could have been at home, sipping a glass of his finest wine in front of the nice, warm fire. He could have even been reading a nice book. But here Severus was, riding in a carriage down a hazardous road, listening to his friend complain. Severus supposed it was Lucius' charisma that got him into this mess, it had happened before, why not again?
"We're nearing the village Severus." Lucius said an hour later, braking the dark eyed man's reverie. Severus nodded and continued to gaze out the window. The large green pastoral hills seemed to dance in the afternoon breeze; the grass shimmered and sparkled from the ever-beating sun. Up ahead, down the hill that the road wound on, Severus could make out the first sites of the village he planned on embezzling.
Severus had heard of Godric's Hollow from passing people when he sat in the local tavern, how the town was on hills that sang when the morning sun touched it just right. It intrigued the dark haired man to no extent. He could build a large manor on those hills that he could retreat to when the city became too much for his liking. The only matter was *how* he was going to obtain this land and boot out the peasants. He left that to the miser-like Lucius. As much as Severus thought ill of the blond, he had to admit that Lucius was a cunning man, much like himself. Severus had to go with the plan that had formed into the arrogant head; it held the future of his land in it.
The carriage came to a halt, the vessel stopping its infernal shaking, and the two men stepped out. Severus could smell the clean fragrance that was the country's, one more reason to take this land.
"Bring up some horses." Severus silently commanded the blond after glancing around. Sneering, Lucius yelled at Severus' followers, who had been commanded along, to bring them two fair horses. Once the two men mounted their horses, Severus led the rest of the way toward Godric's Hollow.
"This place reeks of dung. Why, you can just *smell* the peasants from here." Lucius' face twisted into a disgusted sneer. The blond was brought up as a true aristocrat. Lucius hated anything he considered below his rich tenor, therefore ruling the beauty of the countryside as something of lesser value.
Severus decided to take no heed in Lucius' complaints and made his black mare trot onward. Not long, the little troop had came to what Severus claimed 'the entrance' of the village. It was dingy and by all means, run down. Various men and woman were about, and although they wore shaggy clothing and had dirt on their faces, the people were smiling. To his surprise, Severus felt his lips twitch at the enthusiasm such common folk had.
Severus watched in amusement as a group of squealing children ran away from a child carrying a wooden sword, smiles on their faces. The child's curly mane of red hair flew about in the wind as he chased the others. They ran about for a while, tagging and chasing, until they came to the front of a hut where a woman with fiery hair and jewel-like eyes stood grinning. Severus could make out a lone figure behind the woman from where he was. When the woman moved aside, the figure stepped out of the hut carrying a basket of linens.
It was a very pale young man. Severus' breath hitched at the sight of such a beauty. Wild black hair hung about in odd places, brushing the fragile looking shoulders, creating a halo around the boy's head. Stunning emerald eyes looked out off a dirty face, yet the grime only seemed to enhance the boy's beauty to Severus.
Severus watched, transfixed, as the boy carried the basket to a line of rope beside the hut and started to hang sheets on it. Severus mentally shook his head when he caught himself starring at the boy's posterior as he bent down to grab a fluffy sheet. Severus was by all means, not interested in little boys. But then again, this wasn't a *little* boy. This tid-bit of information only irked his curiosity, that he would even be thinking about a boy in *that* way.
Lucius made a noise in the back of his throat as some chickens made their way around the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. Severus could have sworn he heard the blond utter, 'blasphemy'. Although Severus was brought up in a sophisticated, wealthy family, the dark-haired man saw the beauty in what many people would take for granted.
"Alright, you know what to do. Get out there!" Lucius commanded at the assemble of troops. Severus watched in bewilderment as the men he had allowed Lucius take temporary command for, run into the village and cause havoc. The men on horses rode into the town; drawing sharpened swords, and began to slaughter the panicking peasants.
Severus turned away from the screams and to Lucius. The man was smirking at Severus in triumph.
"You said you wanted them out. I thought this was a brilliant idea."
Severus glared at the blond before he made his way slowly into the pandemonium. His men were taking lit torches and throwing them onto the mansard roofs, letting the straw ignite slowly, which all too soon manifested into mighty flames. Women and children were screaming, inside the burning huts and out, all running for their doomed lives while many dropped dead in the streets. At the slash of metal and gush of blood, Severus could hear dimly above the fearful shrieks as Lucius ordered a group of Severus' men to retrieve the peasants from the fields.
Severus frowned. Although he was getting his land, he felt a twinge of sympathy for the chaotic peasants whose lives were turned upside down today. Or maybe it was a bit of indigestion. Yes, that was it and Severus smiled. He didn't really care, as long as Lucius was doing his job and Severus was profiting from it, the obsidian-eyed man didn't have a problem.
The dark-haired man's gaze began to flicker through the ravished town, looking through piles of bodies that seemed to resemble a bored child's discarded toys. Severus found himself searching inconspicuously for the dark-haired beauty he had dubbed, 'the angel', having some new weird feeling akin to worry bubble inside for the boy (much to Severus' surprise).
At last, Severus spotted the pale angel he had seen putting the linens on the line. The boy was huddled in a corner beside a wooden trough, holding onto a younger, auburn-haired boy that Severus remembered had been playing merrily with the other children. The angle's beautiful eyes were shinning with horror from the innocent, emerald depths while thin arms clung protectively around the younger hazel-eyed boy.
With a 'yah!' to his horse, Severus cantered around the destruction in his hopes to get to the boys before his followers did; his obsidian gaze firmly locked onto the shaking pair. The two boys looked around fearfully as many of the implacable, crazed men charged by, chasing and killing the runaway peasants.
There was a pain-filled scream filling the air above the yelling, a woman's, which forced Severus halt in his path. Severus merely glanced at the burning hut from where the scream had resounded, before continuing onward in his 'rescue mission'.
"MOTHER!"
Severus was wrenched back at the angel as he feebly struggled to keep the auburn-haired boy in his grasp, but he eventually failed. The angel fell back to the dirt-covered floor as he yelled out to the young boy,
"Gabriel, come back!" The auburn haired child was dashing madly to the burning hut, the boy's only goal was to reach the nearly collapsing timber, not seeming to care that there were armed troops right on his heels.
The fiery-haired boy was only feet away from the burning hut that supposedly held his mother, when the rider leaped in front of the boy with a bellow from the horse. The rider laughed maliciously at the panic evident in the hazel eyes, and Severus watched callously as the rider drew back his sword.
"Gabriel! NO!"
At that point, the world seemed to stop, or uncontrollably go much slower for Severus as he tried to elucidate the situation. Or maybe the world was really spinning, just for the angel.
The emerald angel watched in consternation as what Severus supposed was his brother, fall to the ground, wounded and bleeding profusely. The angel let out an anguished, ear-piercing cry. The boy ran to the fallen boy, tears streaming down flushed cheeks and leaving a track in their wake. The angel fell down and gathered the dying boy in his thin arms sobbing nonstop.
Severus rode closer to the saddening duo, till he didn't have to strain to hear the words issuing from the boy's sweet mouth.
"No, don't do this Gabriel… no, you c-can't go! Not before me, not before-" The angel cried desperately, but Severus saw how deep the auburn child's gash was… he could not be saved.
"I promised Gabriel, I promised to protect you! I can't fail you, no." The boy continued to wail, even after Gabriel's eyes fluttered lightly and his small chest heaved his last breath. "Gabriel? Gabriel!" The boy hugged the corpse to his chest and rocked his sobbing body in a soothing manner.
Severus' heart ached for the beautiful boy on the ground. The hut caved in on itself with a mighty crash and the boy held Gabriel closer, resting his head on the smaller boy's. Suddenly the angel looked up, whispering a soft 'father'. Severus turned his gave into the direction of the boy's gaze and he immediately saw Lucius and many of his followers surrounding a large group of men that had undoubtedly come from the fields. The blond was adorning a very smug look on those peach-pink lips as he ordered the men, one by one, to be executed.
There was a young man in the group that had his hands tied up in front of him, that caught Severus' attention the most. It was a rough man with the same hazel eyes as the deceased Gabriel and the same wild mane of hair as the angel had who currently whimpered on the dirty ground. There was no doubt in Severus' mind that this was the father of the angel and Gabriel. And as Severus looked more carefully, it was the same man his --wait, *his?*-- angel was staring at.
The father, after searching, locked his hazel eyes with the boy's emerald. The man suddenly turned frantic, and started to fight his bonds in order to make his way towards them.
"Gabriel! God no!" The man screamed. The angel sobbed harder at his father's antics. Severus heard Lucius order the men to kill the father quickly.
"Wait! No, you must understand! My boy, Harry, he's a Fallen Angel! NO! He needs me!" The father was grabbed at the hair and his head was bent back, yet he still struggled to his only son. It was over too quickly, at the stroke of the sword, the lifeless body of the father fell to the ground, and his severed head was flung into a fire from a hut.
Severus was clearly shocked, by the gruesome end to the parent and the newly bestowed information about the boy. This angel, was really an angel! A Fallen Angel, one of God's angels that was mercifully sent to earth and plagued with the never-ending bleeding. Severus stared down at the Fallen Angel in bewilderment, but then turned apathetic as he saw the boy seemed to blanch (if that was possible due to his pallor) and his emerald eyes wavered. Severus decided to act when the boy became a little limp. The dark-eyed man put up a façade of loathing, and leaned over his horse to hull up the boy from under the arms. The Angel let out a yelp and struggled weakly against his captor. He soon then stopped his actions, too exhausted to fight the strong, encircling arm.
Severus carefully positioned the boy so he could see the beautiful face up close. Severus was amazed that such radiance could be hidden in such a dump. They locked eyes, onyx meeting emerald. The Angel's eyes widened and he tried to shrink back in fear.
"Shh… it will be alright. I won't hurt you." Dropping the façade, Severus whispered to the boy's face in hopes of convincing him that Severus would not kill him. The boy's stiffened body seemed to relax, albeit slowly, and the boy choked on a sob, the lovely face becoming taunt with grief. Severus held the boy gently to chest and let the Fallen Angel cry.
Severus looked in front of him to see Lucius on his horse, a pensive expression on his aristocratic features as he watched Severus with the boy. Severus glared daggers at the blond, who in return, smirked back in a cunning way. That only seemed to set Severus on his guard.
Soon the Fallen Angel cried himself into exhaustion and had promptly passed out into the warmth that Severus was willingly radiating. The landowner shifted the boy so he could easily hold him, yet ride back to his carriage at the same time. Suddenly Severus felt all too guilty for destroying Godric's Hollow, but couldn't be more overjoyed as he rested the sweet Angel onto the carriage seat next to him.
TBC…
An:/ well, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, sorry it took so long, but I want to thank the following that reviewed:
Ivy- yeah, I kind of know, I'm getting a beta soon (hopefully *rolls eyes*). Thank you!
NightShade- well, that's what I kind of planned on, I wanted a more original plot and thank you, I'm glad you like the story.
Liz- here's your update, and I hope that I wont get writer's block any time soon
MarsIsBrightTonight- In this story, people back then called others with hemophilia, a "fallen angel" (like Harry). Harry's parents were just worried if Gabriel was going to be like harry. Just trying to clarify things for you, you could also read the beginning AN for more info.
Hippy Flower=Voldie's kid- I'm glad you love it, I really thought this story wasn't going to be a hit
Thank you again, I hope you R+R. Flames will be used to warm my tea.