AILF: I have a question. I went to see HP: Chamber of Secrets for the second time and heard something interesting. At the end, when Lucius is going to curse Harry, it sounds like he says 'Avada' before Dobby curses him. I am not totally sure, so if anyone can back it up, or tell me different, please tell me! I want to know!!! Thanks.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter universe. It is sad, but true none the less. That all belongs to JKR. Seri belongs to Ankha (who is very angry at fanfiction.net). The lyrics are part of the song 'Someday' from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Severus woke from the best sleep he had in years. He faintly wondered if his bed had become more comfortable since last night, then he remembered why he woke up. His mouth was extremely dry; 'kind of reminds me of the side effects Poppy's potions' he thought faintly as he made his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He turned on no lights as he could walk through his rooms blinded and upside down, if the situation called for it. He finished his water and was about to go back to bed when he heard voices outside his door. 'Why would anyone be outside my door?' he wondered, 'and holding a conversation at that.' He walked toward the door, ready to tell the Weasley twins off, when he stopped dead in his tracks. The first voice he recognized as Albus's, there was no doubt about that, but the other voice, that voice haunted him for years, as it continues to. He crept up to the door to hear more; rather curious as to why they were talking outside his rooms. Then something clicked, something that should have been obvious from the time he woke up. He wasn't in his rooms, these were the rooms in Albus's office, the ones for when the Death Eater meeting go a little badly. He stuck his ear to the door once again, curiosity compelling him to stay. He only caught snatches of the conversation, and didn't fully understand until he caught the words 'Death Eater raid'. It was then that the previous days events came back to him. He cursed, he knew what he had to do, and would have given anything to prevent it. Slowly he opened the door.
Albus woke to impatient banging on his office door. He sat up and groaned; it was too early to be woken up, especially from such a nice dream. He sat a moment contemplating the dream he'd had, when he was drawn from his thoughts once again by the banging. He slowly got out of bed and, not bothering to change out of his nightclothes, went to answer the door. He opened it to a very aggravated looking Serenity Winter.
"Ah, Serenity, it is good to see you; a bit early for a visit, but a pleasure none the less."
"Albus, this is not a pleasure visit. There has been an attack." Immediately his face became grave. "It was at Greenwich."
"Were there any fatalities?"
"Seven; six muggles and a Death Eater. The only injuries were to Aurors. It was odd; there were plenty of muggles around, but they only killed one each. Once each Death Eater killed a muggle, they disapparated. It was the first Death Eater raid where I ever saw that happen." Albus furrowed his eyebrows in thought.
"What do you think that means?"
"Well..." She was interrupted by one of the paintings creaking open. From behind it appeared the head of Severus Snape. Serenity gaped at him; she definitely did not expect to see him today.
"A-Albus, I need to talk to you." He said, trying his best to keep from looking at Seri.
"Severus, please come in. Perhaps you can shed some light on this subject."
"I would rather talk to you in private."
"It's all right, Serenity knows, and we have some things to discuss." Severus, very reluctantly, stepped through the portrait. "What did you need to speak with me about?" Severus looked at Albus, and in the process of telling his story, completely blocked out the presence of Seri.
"Voldemort has decided he needs to weed out those Death Eaters that are not loyal to him. He is going to set up 'tests' for us to perform. He will give the orders to the people the day he wants them performed, and only to those performing it. I have no idea when they are going to be. The only people he seems to really trust now are Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew." He stopped there, deliberately leaving out the little 'torture session' he had.
"That would explain what happened today."
"What did happen?" It was then that Seri came forward, startling Severus.
"There was a raid. Seven fatalities, several injuries, but only one death per Death Eater." There was a tense silence.
"That leaves us with the question of your safety. Is there anything that will indicate that he is on to you?" Severus thought; there was really nothing Voldemort did that wasn't characteristic of his other meetings. He shook his head. "I am afraid you will no longer be able to serve as a spy. It is too dangerous to risk." Severus looked defiantly at Albus.
"I will be fine, I cannot give up my position because of a menial thing such as this. It is not worth the information we will lose." Albus rubbed the bridge of his nose; this will definitely not be easy.
"Severus, you are worth much more than the information, and we can achieve it other ways. I will not let you die because of it." Neither man would back down, both being about as stubborn as mules, if not more so. Seri, sensing she would be here all night if she didn't stop them, interrupted.
"Severus, he is right. There is no reason to sacrifice your life for this. People care for you, whether you choose to acknowledge that fact or not." The room became deadly silent; Severus and Seri just stared at one another, as though locked in a battle of the minds. After a second Severus scowled and turned away.
"I will not quit being a spy, and there is no way you can make me. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get ready for breakfast." With that said, he made a hasty exit from the office. He practically ran through the halls to get his rooms in the dungeons. They couldn't take this job from him, why don't they understand? This job is what keeps him alive, it's the only reason he woke up every day. This is the only thing that made him feel needed. So intent was he on his thoughts that he did not see Neville until he ran over him. Dragging himself front the ground, Severus wheeled around, giving Neville one of his more nasty looks.
"Longbottom, watch where you are going!" The boy turned many shades of pink before stating, or rather trying to state, an excuse.
"I...I'm sorry Pro...Professor Snape. You...you told me to come down here for detention today. I...I was waiting for you, your classroom was locked." Severus looked up and realized, indeed, his feet had carried him straight to his office.
"Very well, come in." He opened the door and let Neville in, "you can start cleaning, you know where everything is." Snape sat at his desk, leaned back, and closed his eyes. He remembered exactly why Neville received this detention, the order he put the ingredients into his last potion had the potential ability to blow up the entire hall. Severus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose (A/N: Ankha: Hey, didn't Albus do that a minute ago? Weird.); he had to do something about the boy before something serious did happen. Then an idea popped in his head. He called Neville to his desk and took one of his books from the shelf. He opened it in the middle and handed it to Neville. "Please read the first paragraph aloud." Neville did after giving Snape a very curious look. Snape listened, following along in his head, as he knew the passage by heart. He wrote down the mistakes Neville made as he read. When Neville was finished reading, the Potions Master dismissed him to go to breakfast, and looked over the mistakes. Of course, it all made sense, he was dyslexic.
The Great Hall was alive, filled with students, complaining about their schedules for the most part. At the Gryffindor table sat a small crowd, all but one redhead, talking in hushed voices.
"I do not know what happened to him. I wrote him about ten letters, but never received any replies."
"He cannot have disappeared off the face of the earth."
"Maybe his uncle didn't let him come this year."
"Dumbledore wouldn't let that happen."
"But who says he even knows?"
"Dumbledore knows everything." At that the group turned and looked up at Dumbledore, who grinned at them over his goblet. Suddenly one of them gasped.
"Where's Snape?" The rest scanned the Great Hall.
"I haven't seen him since the Sorting yesterday. I wonder what happened to make him run out like that."
"I didn't tell you; when he did, he dropped a picture. I was able to see it just before Dumbledore picked it up. It looked like one from Harry's photo album. The one with his mother holding him when he was a baby, standing beside another lady, though I don't know who she is." The crowd stared at her.
"You should have told us before, Harry could be in trouble!" About that time, the post arrived. One of the owls landed right in the middle of the group and extended it leg to no one in particular. Ron took the letter.
It read:
Harry is in the hospital wing. He is doing fine. As to what sent him there, Harry will tell you when he is ready. You can go visit him between classes if you like.
"It doesn't have a signature." Each person took turns looking at it.
"It almost looks like Snape's handwriting." The rest stared at him wide eyed. "It was just a guess." The boy said, shrugging.
"We have half an hour before our first class, lets go and see him." With a nod the group went out of the doors and to the infirmary. They made there way in and saw Harry laying in a bed against the far wall. They hurried over there just as Harry was waking up.
"Harry, are you all right?" Hermione asked, sitting on the end of the bed. He tried to sit up, but groaned; his whole body ached.
"What happened to you?" Ron asked, standing beside Hermione.
"I don't really know. I remember going to bed one night and then waking up here."
"I wonder how you got here; maybe Dumbledore went and got you when you didn't make it to the sorting."
"Actually, Professor Snape did." Everyone sat, jaw resting firmly one the ground, staring at Harry; all except for Hermione.
"Of course, that is why he ran out of the Great Hall in such a hurry, he found out what happened to you Harry, but how?"
"What are you talking about, Hermione?" Harry asked, now throughly confused.
"At the feast, two owls came in and brought something to Snape and Dumbledore. I didn't get to see the first item, but the other was a picture of you when you were a baby with your mother and another lady. I wasn't able to get a good look at the owls, either; they were going too fast." The group went quiet as each began to generate their own ideas about what happened. Then Ginny spoke up.
"I was able to see the birds." Everyone turned to her, and she turned a light shade of red. "They were Pig and Hedwig."
"What? Are you sure, Ginny?" The girl nodded while she stared at the floor, clearly embarrassed by all the attention.
"That means that the picture probably was yours, and Hedwig brought it...but why?" It was Harry's turn to blush. He said in a hushed voice...
"She probably was able to escape and went to get help." Now everyone stared at him.
"Why would she need to get help? Were you not going to be able to come this year or something?" Ron asked; Harry shook his head.
"Vernon was not very happy this year. The business he works at was doing badly, and he was very frustrated. He took those frustrations out on me most every day. I guess he just hit me a little too hard and knocked me unconscious." Everyone looked down, not wanting to meet Harry's eyes. They knew his home life wasn't to that good, but they never guessed his 'family' resorted to violence. Harry sat quietly, not knowing what else to say, and was very relieved when Pomfrey ushered everyone out so that they wouldn't be late for class.
Seri made her way down to the dungeons. She had to talk to Severus, to talk him out of this. She stopped in front of the potions classroom doors and knocked. When she didn't get an answer, she entered and found Severus steadily marking papers. She walked forward and cleared her throat, but he didn't hear her. She tried again, but to no avail. She then walked up to the desk and thumped him on the head. He jumped up, wand drawn, and glared at her. She simply looked at him innocently.
"What are you doing down here?" He asked, putting up his wand and sitting back down.
"I just wanted to talk to you. I haven't seen you in fifteen years." She sat in one of the student chairs and looked at him.
"There is nothing to discuss. I am busy, so if you don't mind." Seri lowered her head. If asked years ago what Severus would be like in the future, she would have never guessed he would end up like this. He turned into the father he used to despise. What happened to the fun-loving man she used to know?
"Will you please put the papers away, I want to talk to you. I have something very important I need to tell you." He looked up.
"What?" She sighed and rubbed her eyes.
"Severus, Harry's not the son of James, he is your son." He looked back at the paper he was grading.
"I know." The room fell into a deafening silence.
"H...how?"
"The story you gave me wasn't well thought out. Lily began showing her pregnancy just a few weeks after the wedding. It is a fact that she would have to have gotten pregnant when she was with me, and she did not cheat on me." Seri gaped at him.
"Then why didn't you take him in? He could have had a real family, you could have had a real family." Severus slammed his pen down.
"I have this speech twice already, I do not need it from you too!" By now he was yelling.
"Severus?" She whispered, getting up and taking a cautious step towards him. He stared at her with a look that made her want to cry for him.
"As long as I spy for Dumbledore then I would just put him in more danger than he is in now."
"Then why do you still do it?" She did not want to breach this subject now, but this was probably the only chance she would get.
"Don't you see, if I quit being a Death Eater, Voldemort would just kill me, as well as any family I have."
"Dumbledore can keep you safe; he could give you a whole new identity if need be."
"It is best that I stay in my position. Something big is going to happen, I can feel it. The fight between the light and Voldemort is just getting started and I hold a crucial part in it. By spying, I can keep the light informed of his moves; keep us one step ahead."
"Then why not tell Harry that you are his father? Even if you don't take him in, then he will know you, know about you. What if Voldemort finds out, what if he kills you? Harry will never know the truth, he will go on living a lie."
"Yes, but he has been living that lie. If I tell him the truth and then I die, how do you think he would feel? He would then have lost three parents, and one of them he spent most of his life calling a greasy bastard and believing it? No; it is best he doesn't know. Maybe one day he will find out, but today is not the day, and as long as the war goes on, he is best left in the dark." Severus went back to grading the papers, and Seri stared at him. Why couldn't things be different? She resisted the urge to embrace him and walked out of the potions classroom, defeated.
Our fight will be won then
We'll start in the sun then
That bright afternoon
'Till then
On days when the sun is gone
We'll hang on
If we wish upon the moon
schulyr: It is a possibility....
G-C:
Thank you
Thank you much
Thank you plenty much
:)
I am glad you like this story!
I know I made Sev suffer, but I had to, I promise! And besides, it is kinda fun torturing characters....ummm...did I just say that? I mean, I didn't mean to make him suffer, I felt really bad about it...yea.
Lei Dumbledore: Thanks for the review!
Shiroki: Thanks for the chocolate! I love chocolate!! Need more chocolate!!! *starts twitching* Must have more chocolate!!!! *sees the frogs in her hand* Hee Heeeeeeeeee *runs from room and locks herself in closet* Ooooo...chocolate!
Footmonster: Yikes, nine Snapes' running around...that is a scary thought.
SPONGEBOB IS EVIL. He was created to brainwash children into buying his products (which are evil as well). I stand by my convictions and shall never view a Spongebob show again. The one time I did watch a show (out of sheer curiousity) I was comotose for a month.
I have a theory, I think every small Texas town is full of rednecks. It is inevitable, at least i ain't one. :)