Chapter 6

Lierin was fuming; she was angry at herself and even more angry with Snape. She was so, stupid, stupid, stupid! When would she ever learn not to get in Snape's way? She had made the mistake to think that she could make remarks on his teaching methods and get away with it. She should have known he would settle the score. He had lured her into a trap and she had fallen for it with her eyes wide open. McGonagall was right, she wasn't cut out to be a teacher and it was probably a good thing she wasn't really here to teach at all.

A pang of guilt shot through her like a lightning bolt and she knew why. She had tricked Dumbledore in giving her the job as an Ancient Magical Artifacts teacher and she felt sorry for deceiving him. Of course McGonagall had gone straight to Dumbledore after her little display of indiscretion and as a result the Headmaster had sent for her. Now Lierin was on her way to see the Headmaster and she intended to be completely honest about the real reason she was here. She touched the hidden ring on the chain around her neck for insurance.

"Nightfall's gain", she thought. It had everything to do with the reason she was really here and now she hoped she could convince the Headmaster to let her stay and continue her mission. She hurried down the moving stairs without paying attention and before she knew what happened, she had bumped into one of her students. The force of their collision caused the poor boy to fall down the stairs and Lierin scrambled to her feet to help him. It wasn't until Lierin had helped the boy to his feet again that she recognised the boy.

"Mr. Longbottom. I'm so sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention. You see, I'm on my way to.... Uhm, never mind. Are you all right? Wait a minute, what are you doing outside the common room at this ungodly hour? Its way past curfew, you shouldn't even be here!"

Longbottom's cheeks stained a pretty shade of red and he mumbled something that could either mean he was okay or he wasn't okay and he probably also gave her an explanation but Lierin couldn't make much of it. She smiled to herself even though her leg had got a nasty blow somewhere during their collision. Looking at Longbottom she remembered his outstanding results in Hagrid's class and she was curious about Snape's reaction.

"So, have you given Professor Snape the Pearlypod pearls yet? I'm sure he was very pleased with them. He should be anyway."

If possible, Longbottom grew even redder in the face and he shyly looked away from his teacher. Lierin didn't need to hear more, she already knew what was going on.

"You haven't given them yet, haven't you? Why not?"

"I-I don't really know Professor. I just didn't seem to find the right time to give them to him. Every time I want to give them to him, he...he just stares at me and I clam up. And...and he's been in such a terrible mood lately that I'm afraid to give them to him."

Longbottom looked down at the toes of his shoes and Lierin could see he was on the brink of tears. She felt so sorry for the poor boy and she wished she could get through to that thick skull of Severus.

"I know, I'm acting like a coward and I should just give them to him. But....are you sure he'll be pleased if I give them to him, Professor?"Lierin looked at the serious expression on Longbottom's face and she knew she shouldn't lie to him.

"I really don't know. Look, Neville...I know you're not doing very well in your classes. You're barely average in most of them and you are downright lousy in potions."

The boy looked as if he would break down in tears so Lierin gently put a hand on his shoulder and forced him to look at her.

"Now, don't start to cry. Just listen to what I have to say. I also know you did a great job in Care of Magical Creatures and I also know Professors Lupin and Sprout are quite content to have you in class. So what if you are not excelling in every subject like Miss Granger?

So what if one person might seem to be more gifted than the other? We all have our talents like you have yours. Use them wisely and don't think about what you might have been if you had the right talents, think about what you can be with the talents you do have. If you really want to give Professor Snape the Pearlypod pearls you should just do so without expecting praise from him because you know you did good. If you are really uncertain about giving them to him, give them to Professor Sprout or Madam Pomfrey for they at least will be very pleased to receive them from you."

Neville Longbottom fought back his tears and he smiled up at Lierin.

"Now cheer up, I don't want to see those tears anymore!" Lierin started to ascend the stairs again and Neville followed. About half way up, Lierin hesitated and placed her foot on the second next step to avoid the false step, which would crumple away. You could get a terrible accident if you didn't look out for that step. Confidently Lierin placed her foot on the step and was about to take another step upwards when the step plus the next three steps crumpled away. With a loud scream Lierin fell through the stairs towards the stone solid floor far beneath her.

"Professor Heartilly!" screamed Neville.

*************************************************************

Only one thought crossed her mind when Lierin crashed through the stairs.

"The wrong step. It's the wrong step!"

She kept repeating it to herself as if it were an ancient mantra that could prevent her from plummeting to her death but she kept falling down towards the solid stone floor beneath her. The same thought crossed Neville's mind as he watched in horror as his teacher disappeared through the steps of the moving stairs. In his mind, he played back the entire scene and he counted the steps his teacher had taken and he could clearly see or better yet, he could clearly remember how she had avoided the false step. So how could it be the step had just crumpled away from beneath her feet? But it hadn't been just the false step hadn't it? At least four steps had just crumpled away! Neville scrambled to his feet to look down the hole and just as he saw how two large floor tiles moved away to swallow up his teacher into whatever it was that was down there, the staircase fixed itself and the hole was gone. Astonished Neville looked around, not quite sure what to do next until it dawned to him if he didn't go look for help soon, it would be too late for his teacher. So Neville took off at a run and he ran through the isolated hallways as fast as his legs could carry him.

He didn't give himself the time to think about to whom he should turn to for help, but soon fate resolved that problem for him. He didn't need to look for the right person; he bumped into to right person, literally.

"Mr. Longbottom, do I dare ask why you are running around through the hallways like a madman, AFTER curfew?"

The silky voice alone was enough to chill the blood running through his veins and Neville looked up at Snape from the ground. His behind was sore from the two times this evening he had fallen to the ground and running into Snape was like running into a solid wall. But Neville could only wish he had walked against a wall. At least a wall wouldn't look so menacing and threatening after you collided with it. Neville gulped and tried to find the courage needed to say something to Snape.

"I'm terribly sorry Professor Snape, but I was on my way to get help for Professor Heartilly. I really must be..." Neville stopped talking as soon as he realised Professor Snape could help.

"You can help her! Please, if you follow me, sir. I don't know exactly what happened but the moving stairs acted funny, she's gone, I couldn't see her anymore, the steps just crumbled away and she disappeared through the floor! She's down there!"

"Mr. Longbottom! Would you slow down! You are making about as much sense as a chocolate fire screen! Now, come on; don't distress yourself even further. Pull yourself together and tell me what happened. Slowly!"

"But Professor Snape, we don't have time for that! The step on which Professor Heartilly had been standing, just crumbled away from beneath her feet and when she was about to fall to the floor, the tiles of the Hogwarts crest just moved aside to let her fall through!"

Snape gazed at Longbottom with a very skeptical look in his eyes but when he noticed the very serious expression on the boy's face, every trace of a doubt that was left in his mind simply vanished.

"Now you are making sense. You go on and explain what happened to the Headmaster. I'll go ahead and see what I can do. The crest of Hogwarts you said?" asked Snape worried.

All of a sudden, his sarcastic demeanor was gone and a small part of his true nature broke through his charade of the stoic, cruel and sarcastic teacher who loved to bully students around. Now a small part was revealed of the man he used to be, a man with a beating heart like everyone else, a man that could feel joy as well as pain, a man who could be worried, like he was now.

He didn't waste another second and he ran into the direction of the moving stairs. Had students been in the hallways, they'd probably have been shocked to see the Potions Master running down the corridors as if his life depended on it. With his black robes billowing behind him he resembled more of an avenging angel than a rescuing angel. Or worse, he resembled the devil himself who was about to cast his judgment over a very unfortunate soul. Snape didn't know why, but the knowledge something awful had happened to Lierin made his heart beat violently in his throat. He shouldn't care, heaven knew he cared about no one else than himself. He had stopped caring for anyone after that horrible accident that took place a few years ago! When Snape finally arrived at the scene of the incident there was nothing to be seen. Everything seemed to be just fine; nothing was out of order. He looked about a couple of times but as it was after curfew, the halls were completely desolated. Not entirely sure what to do next, Snape just stood there as if he were waiting for a luminous idea to kick in. He examined the tiles on the floor but there were no signs at all of some kind of abduction. There were no signs of a struggle, no hole in the steps of the moving stairs, no plaster on the ground - absolutely nothing.

However, Longbottom had clearly stated two tiles of the Hogwarts crest had moved aside, allowing Lierin to fall right through the floor. So, he was dealing with a secret entrance then. Lucky for him he knew exactly what to do with hidden entrances. Snape closed his eyes for a brief moment, took a deep breath and pulled out his wand from his sleeve.

"Alohomora enigma!", sounded his voice through the empty space and the secret entrance opened up revealing an enormous chasm below. In awe, Snape lowered his wand and gazed at the entrance of this netherworld.

He was quite sure no one was aware of the existence of the underground tunnel or whatever it was. Last year even Dumbledore was surprised when the Chamber of Secrets proved to be much more than just a myth and he had never uttered one word that proved he knew about all this. Snape peered down the hole but it was too dark to see anything. An eerie coldness crept up from the deep pit leaving a very unsettling feeling in his stomach and he noticed his hands had slightly started to tremble. Snape, feeling rather uncomfortable, wondered what it was that could cause him to react that way. He had always prided himself for both his physical and his mental strength.

He was a strong man; he had to be, or else he would never been able to handle the current situation that was thrust upon him.

In daytime he was the formidable Potions Master who rained his students with an iron fist and often in nighttime he was the loyal servant of the dreaded Lord Voldemort - or so the Dark Lord believed. In fact, Severus Snape was a spy for the Ministry of Magic and he took his job very seriously, for it wasn't entirely without danger. Sometimes, when Voldemort was in a vindictive mood, he enjoyed torturing his Death Eaters pretending he was 'testing' them for their loyalty and it was after those dreadful nights Snape's cruel demeanor reached horrifying heights. He had to admit, he loved to see his students squirm and suffer, especially Gryffindor students after a long night of pain and humiliation. He knew both students and teachers loathed him. They could hardly stand him for his biased opinion about his students, but Snape justified his hatred for Gryffindor House by reminding himself what they were capable of - something McGonagall had chosen to forget and something Snape would never be able to forgive nor forget.

Looking at the floor through which Lierin had disappeared, thousands of thoughts and emotions surged through his body and mind and unwanted memories of an incident that took place years ago breached his usually indifferent sentiments. An incident which had deepened his hatred for the House of Gryffindor, an incident which had taken the life of a young Gryffindor girl who should have been a Slytherin from day one, an incident known to insiders of the school as 'The one time the Sorting Hat was wrong'. He didn't know why on earth Lierin's disappearance brought back memories of that incident. The two incidents were in no way related to one another, or so at least he thought. It would take him at least until the end of the year before he would finally understand. At the moment, from his point of view he had two options; one, walk away and leave it up to Dumbledore to clean up the mess or two, go in and try to rescue Lierin. Surprised, Snape noticed a sensational tension building up inside of him as he thought of Lierin.

Not the Lierin Heartilly the young brat he had experienced in his classes but Lierin Heartilly, teacher at Hogwarts, and still the most annoying, disturbing, unsettling, aggravating and unnerving person he had ever met in his entire life. With a deep sigh Snape lowered himself down the hole, seeking a way to climb down and for the first time in his life he cursed himself for not paying enough attention in Charms for by the love of Merlin, he could not remember the correct levitation spell. Snape searched his mind for possible solutions and decided to create a wall, which he could use to climb down.

"Wall!"

Immediately a single rock at the bottom of the chasm started to multiply itself and soon a wall steadily grew itself up towards Snape. Snape was the first one to admit it was a lame spell. It was a spell you learnt as a first years Hogwarts' student in Defence Against the Dark Arts class. It was a defence spell, which was usually countered by the "Crumble" spell. Luckily, this time around there wasn't an adversary who could counter his spell and the "Wall' spell proved to be quite effective. Snape, still hanging at the ledge of the chasm, jumped over to the wall.

But as soon as he placed his foot in a small crack, the improvised foothold crumbled away and Snape slid away and fell down at least a couple of feet before he could grab a hold again. A dark look appeared in his eyes and Snape, not being a cowardly person, he only thought to himself, "Lierin should be mighty grateful." A very faint swishing sound penetrated his thoughts and he turned his head to look down but it was still too dark.

"Lumos!"

His wand started to spread a faint light but still Snape couldn't see anything. With a heavy sigh Snape started to climb down, very aware of the swishing sound accompanied by the same disturbing feeling he had experienced before. When he was about half way down, or so he guessed, he stopped for a moment to look down again. This time he could make out a few shadowy figures but nothing concrete yet.

Swish, swish, swish it went, and with a shock Snape realised the swishing sound he was hearing, was the sound of robes slightly brushing the floor. He started to climb down faster. Swish, swish, swish, thump, thump, thump. He could now clearly hear the swishing accompanied by his own heartbeat and the disturbing feeling was followed with an awful wave of coldness. His stomach made strange jolts until he thought he was about to throw up.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be a Slytherin, Professor. I'm sorry I couldn't make you proud of me."

"I AM proud of you and you ARE a Slytherin. You'll always be a Slytherin to me!"

The sounds of memories long forgotten pushed their way into his memory and Snape had to close his eyes to force them away. He needed to concentrate on the task ahead and Snape moved down again repressing the urge to quickly climb up again and get the hell out of there. After what seemed like an eternity Snape stopped again to look down and he received the first shock when he saw Lierin lying down in an awkward position. It looked as if she was either unconscious or dead. He believed the latter for no one could survive a fall like that. But she was a witch and what if she had somehow protected herself? He had to try to find out. He received the second shock when he noticed tall cloaked figures were approaching Lierin with their arms stretched out to her and immediately Snape understood the disturbing feelings. They were memories he desperately wanted to forget... and the sudden coldness! Those weren't ordinary wizards down there - they were the DEMENTORS! If that were true and they were after Lierin, then she was in grave danger.

He pushed aside at least a hundred questions like, "What were they doing down there? Why were they after Lierin? Had they used a trick to trap down Lierin? HOW did they get there? How did they know about this secret place?" Snape realised he had to act fast or it would be too late for Lierin. Well, it would be if they were planning on giving her the "Dementor's Kiss" and judging by their sudden rattling breaths, they were. Snape knew the spell that would get rid of the dementors, but he also knew what it took to be able to cast the spell, happy thoughts. Snape searched his memory for a happy moment but he came up with nothing. A sad and desperate feeling threatened to overwhelm him as he realised how little happiness he had known in his life. He could think of absolutely nothing and he just needed one happy thought. Oh, how disappointed Dumbledore would be! Snape let that thought sink in to him and suddenly he realised Dumbledore was the solution! The only moment he had been truly happy was the night Dumbledore had forgiven him his treason and had appointed him as the new Potions Master. With renewed confidence, Snape jumped down the last few metres and that way he drew the attention of the dementors towards himself. Snape however, didn't give them the chance to react and he pulled out his wand and pointed it at them. He concentrated on his happy moment and expected enough happiness to well up in him to give him strength.

"Expecto patronus!"

But to his great disappointment his patronus was small and weak and the softly shimmering silvery shadow faintly slithered towards the dementors and Snape realised it wouldn't thwart the dementors for very long so he hustled past them, took Lierin in his arms and ran towards the wall.

Again he shouted, "Expecto patronus!" But he knew whatever came from the wand would dissolve after just a few seconds.

He reached the wall but then he realised it was virtually impossible to climb back up again with this precious burden in his arms.

He looked down at the young woman in his arms and concerned he noticed she was, indeed, in bad shape. He shot a worried look at the dementors behind him and he noticed the dementors had got rid of his pathetic little patronus and if it weren't for the fact he couldn't see their faces, he would have thought they were furious. He needed to find a way back up fast! Very carefully he touched the ground with the tip of his wand trying not to let Lierin fall and with his wand he drew a circle around them.

"Leviosa selecta!"

Several tremors shot through the ground on which he was standing and suddenly the top layer of the floor let go and carried them up. Snape couldn't help himself and a small smile appeared on his lips when he saw the Dementors getting smaller and smaller while his levitator carried them up. Suddenly a wave of coldness and nausea threatened Snape to lose his balance and a sudden tremor through the levitator nearly caused him to fall down. Snape looked down and saw how the Dementors had gathered beneath the levitator and somehow, without using wands or spells, they forced the levitator to come back down. Snape wasn't a person to easily panic and often enough his wits and quick thinking had kept him alive. He glared down at the Dementors with a cool gaze in his eyes and he kept a calm composure but he knew he had to find away out before the Dementors had them in their clutches again.

"Multiplus!"

Suddenly a copy of his levitator appeared and quickly he jumped over to it while casting the "Wingardium leviosa" spell over it forcing it to move up. He could almost sense their confusion as the other levitator went down without human prey to feast upon and, more importantly, without Lierin. The Dementors couldn't see so they tried to pick up trace emotions but because Snape kept a stoic composure and Lierin was unconscious, the Dementors had a hard time tracing them. Snape, still moving up, cast the 'Wingardium leviosa" spell on the levitator which had reached the floor and it went up again and just in time because he could feel the Dementors were focusing on him again. Slowly the levitator moved down but this time it's duplicate was moving up.

A wry smile appeared around Snape's lips and as the two levitators were aligned, he jumped over to the levitator moving up and left the Dementors confused again when they found nothing on the second levitator. Again they lifted up their hooded heads and this time they could track Snape's emotions almost immediately due to his excitement. Snape cursed himself for letting his guard down so easily when he noticed the levitator was moving down again.

This time he tried to cast 'Wingardium leviosa' on the levitator he was standing on but the Dementors' magic was much stronger. Still moving down, Snape cast 'Wingardium leviosa' on the levitator down with the dementors but it didn't move up.

"So, you are smarter than you look" Snape thought to himself. "We'll see how you can manage three levitators! Multiplus!"

A third levitator appeared and Snape jumped over to it casting 'Wingardium Leviosa' on it for the upward movement. His arms started to tremble and he found out it was quite tricky jumping up and down the levitators while carrying an unconscious woman in his arms. Of course, he could cast the 'Mobilicorpus' spell on Lierin but he was too afraid the dementors would counter that spell as well. At least he was certain of her safety as long as he held her in his arms, or so he made himself believe. The truth was, holding her close to him felt too good to simply cast a spell over her. The levitator still carried them up and Snape could faintly smell the scent surrounding Lierin. Her scent reminded him of a valley in spring during a mild rain and his heart started to beat faster.

He realised his mistake when he felt the now familiar tremor and he cursed again as the levitator moved down. He pointed his wand down with every intention to set one of the other levitators in motion but the sight of two dementors on each of the levitator moving up fast made him change his mind. He tried to create a fourth levitator but to his astonishment they had somehow blocked his magic.

There he was, holding Lierin in his arms moving right down towards the dementors. With the corner of his eyes he noticed the wall created by himself and he knew that, if he still wanted a chance to get out of there, he had to take the risk and use the wall to climb up. Snape lifted Lierin over his shoulder and he prepared himself to jump. However, preparing to jump and actually jumping were two entirely different things. Snape looked down and noticed the gap between him and the dementors was closing rapidly and without thinking twice he jumped and ... flew up! Suddenly a high shrieking noise filled the area and Snape realised the dementors were making that sound.

No soul alive had ever witnessed those creatures showing any kind of emotion at all but he just had, they had showed immense anger and disappointment and Snape didn't like it. Looking up he saw Dumbledore and Remus peering down the chasm and it only took them a matter of seconds to lift Snape and Lierin from the chasm. The moment Snape felt solid ground beneath his feet, the hidden entrance closed up again and Dumbledore pointed at it and sealed it off with magic.

"We must make sure this never happens again!" said Dumbledore in a very serious fashion and Snape couldn't agree more.

"Well, I think it's best if we take Professor Heartilly to the Hospital Wing. In the meantime you can tell me what happened down there. Or better yet, you can tell me everything from the beginning."

Snape and Dumbledore headed towards the Hospital Wing and Dumbledore noticed how Snape held Lierin protectively in his arms instead of using a floating spell. His arms were trembling, which probably meant he had been holding her for quite a while now, but the look in Severus' eyes stopped Dumbledore from suggesting a floating spell.

"Well, if you want to hear things from the beginning I think you'd better start with Mr. Longbottom. He was with her when she crashed through the stairs."

"Yes, so he told me. I already know what happened from his point of view. Minerva also told me about the little 'incident' between you and Professor Heartilly. Care to explain?"

Snape's eyes grew darker.

"It was nothing. Nothing at all. I assure you."

Dumbledore was sure it wasn't just "nothing," the red marks on Severus cheek proved it, but he didn't ask further. Whatever had passed between the two of them, it was their concern, their problem to solve.

"Very well. Tell me what happened down there."

"I went to the hall right after Mr. Longbottom had told me what happened. At first I thought he was pulling a prank on me but the serious look in his eyes bid me to go anyway. When I got there, nothing was out of order - absolutely nothing.

It didn't take me long though to find the forbidden entrance and I went down. Headmaster, there were DEMENTORS down there! And they were after Lierin...Miss Heartilly!"

"You mean Professor Heartilly."

"Yes. Her."

"Hmm yes, I figured those hooded figures were dementors."

Snape and Dumbledore entered the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey had to stifle a cry when she saw the limp body of Lierin in Severus' arms.

"Good heavens! What happened to Professor Heartilly?"

She didn't wait for an answer however but she immediately prepared a bed for Lierin and she went to her little office to fetch her medkit. She returned shortly after and ever so carefully Severus laid Lierin in bed and was about to tuck her in when he saw the look of incredulity in Madam Pomfrey's eyes. The hard look in his eyes returned and he regained his usual composure so when Lierin's eyes fluttered open, it was the stoic Severus Snape who was standing at her bedside.

"What in the world is HE doing here?" thought Lierin but she didn't get the time to wonder about his presence for Dumbledore noticed she had awakened.

"Ah, I do believe Professor Heartilly is with us again. Wonderful, wonderful!" said Dumbledore and he pulled up a chair to sit beside the bed.

"How do you feel? You took a nasty fall even with your incantation of protection."

"I feel like I've been to Limbo and back," said Lierin. She felt that description came closest to her feelings. Dumbledore's sudden change of expression didn't go unnoticed. At first he had been concerned and caring but he changed to being very solemn and serious.

"I think in a way you have been," said Dumbledore and he exchanged a very peculiar look with Snape.

"Severus told me you were chased by Dementors. Do you have any idea why?"

"Dementors?" asked Lierin, stunned and confused.

"Yes, Dementors girl! Nasty nightcrawlers who feed themselves on nothing less than the human soul. You do remember what those hooded creatures are, do you?"

"Severus!"

"Oh come on! She must have felt their presence when she fell through the floor! Their presence was clearly detectable! I felt their influence the moment I opened up the secret entrance! Surely Miss Heartilly must have felt SOMETHING!" Snape glared at Lierin, his old demeanour was back with a vengeance. For the time being he chose to forget the fact that even he hadn't understood the meaning of those sudden waves of coldness and nausea until he had seen those hooded creatures himself.

"Well Severus, I really wouldn't know. You see, when I fell through the floor, my mind was engaged in more important matters than the hypothetical presence of Dementors, like protecting myself from falling to my premature death!" blazed Lierin fuming with anger. She hated it when he addressed to her as if she were still his student. She was a professor now; she was his equal!

"How can you be so sure it would have been your 'premature' death?" Severus dared to say, but an angry glare from the Headmaster made him swallow the rest of his spiteful words.

"Lierin, can you tell us anything about what happened?"

"I'm not going to say another word in front of him!"

Dumbledore closed his eyes and sighed. He knew Severus was curious about what happened and he had seen his concern. It seemed as if the ghosts from their past wouldn't let them go, it was a pity those ghosts were standing in the way of friendship and maybe even...

"Severus, could you leave us alone please?"

Severus scowled at Lierin and for a short intense moment they locked eyes and did nothing to conceal their hatred for each other. Lierin felt a cold shiver running down her spine when Snape rushed out of the room treating her with one last evil glare, and she released her breath when his billowing robes vanished out of sight.