Chapter 6
"Harry! Thank God I found you, everyone thinks you're dead..." Snape was looking incredibly elated, the way he used to look while humiliating Harry. His eyes were so large Harry was sure that he'd pop a blood vessel.
A random thought ran through Harry's head before he repressed it. Isn't this amusing? He's actually glad to see me. He closed his eyes tightly, then opened them quickly. Concentrate. Concentrate at the task at hand. "Don't make any false move. If you take me down, you'll be dead before you can blink."
Pleading overcame the elation on Snape's face, an expression that none present had seen on him before. "You've misunderstood. I have always been loyal to Dumbledore." His face darkened. "Even in death."
"Why should we believe you? Snivellus."
Snape cringed.
"Why should we believe that you still stand by a man who's enemy has gained complete control? How are we to know that you've haven't sided with the winning team?"
"Why? Because it's the truth, that's why!" Snape began to wave his hands wildly in the air, as if desperately grasping for a lifeline. His gaze fell on the two dead Death Eaters, lying on the pavement. "If I was still working for You-Know-Who, than why would I kill his men?"
Harry leaned in close, his disgust barely hidden. "Tell me everything you know."
Gulping, he nodded quickly.
"After the Last Battle, when Dumbledore fell, I thought that everything was lost."
A mutter came from the crowd behind Harry. "Everything is lost."
"Don't talk that way! Negativity can destroy us." Everyone knew Harry's comment made sense, and who ever had interrupted Snape stayed silent now.
"Continue."
"I went back to the Dark Lord, and I was thinking of how I could die, so that as many Death Eaters died with me as possible. They had grown overconfident, even more so now. I was certain I could take down a few with me, just so that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wouldn't have the final word.
"I was out on a raid to salvage materials from abandoned wizard houses, oh… maybe two or three months after the Last Battle. I went out alone, since no one under the Dark Lord's banner had been attacked in over a month and a half. The ones truly loyal to Dumbledore had perished in the Last Battle, and no one expected resistance. It was a habit of mine to give a portion of whatever I found to You-Know-Who, and keep the remainder for myself so that when the moment came, I could what I had to retaliate. He never questioned me doing so, must Death Eaters did, and he allowed them their bonuses in exchange for total servility."
Ron gave a frustrated groan. "Get to the point, scum. Stop wasting our time with pointless information."
Harry gave a silent nod in agreement, but everyone knew he meant it as much as Ron did, even if he said little.
Bobbing his head, Snape replied. "I'm just trying to fill you in with background information, is all. Anyway, well I was nearly done with the raid, I apperated to a house. It was only a home of a muggle-born witch, so no one had searched it before. Basically, it was busy work. The house was in complete ruins, and most of the sides had collapsed into the cellar, with the roof crumbling on top. I performed a simple banishing spell, and the entire cellar was shown." He paused for emphasis.
"Get on with it." Harry gave him a cold stare.
"I was sure they were the only ones, but now that I've found you, there may be many more."
Harry made a low growling in the back of his throat; a clear warning.
Seeing that Harry could snap at any time, he quickly finished his tale. "There are others out there, Harry. There are other survivors, still loyal, still true, hiding out. I don't even think they know why, maybe the same reason you are. They're still hoping, hope against hope, that something will happen, change the tide for them."
"Others of us… it's not possible, is it?" Ginny mumbled to herself, then looked around, confused.
The twins were muttering to themselves or each other, it was impossible to tell which. Fred was still eyeing Snape suspiciously, and George too, seemed unconvinced. It wouldn't matter who said it, Ginny thought with a wince, they'd believe no one who said such, till they themselves saw it. They'd lived too long on the edge like this to place trust in anyone beside their leader. Yes, if Harry would've been the one to tell them that others were out there, they would've believed. But no one else.
Gazing at Harry, Ron seemed to be looking to him for orders. If Harry was their General, Ron was Second-In-Command, his right hand man. Ron would trust if Harry trusted, and would fight if Harry fought. Whether Harry realized it or not, Ron had complete faith in him, and his loyalty had never wavered since back in the days at Hogwarts. If Harry could realize what a valuable friend he had, maybe he could share the load. But he always seemed oblivious beyond the thought of his final goal.
Dean was simply staring about wildly, still hopelessly confused. He'd never fully understood what was really happening, and the others had never fully told him everything. Ginny was fairly certain he trusted Snape at least a little, but it was hard to tell. Like everyone else, his face had become a mask, and his emotions rarely showed except in times like these.
Their leader's face, as always, was totally unreadable. Only he knew what transpired in his mind.
Kneeling down, Snape clasped his hands together. No one had ever seen him this vulnerable before. This war has really broken him, Ginny thought with a start.
"They're waiting for something, someone to help them. I helped them, aiding them in sporadically moving their camp, and getting supplies whenever I could to help them. But I never believed that what they were waiting for could happen. Now, I know, Harry, because you are alive. You have the power to free them, to free us all."
Annay- It's so great to have some of my old reviewers back! I was hoping I hadn't lost all of you, so thank you so much for reviewing. Thanks for putting me on your favorites again.
Fairyangel24- Thank you to you too, you're so great to come back after I hadn't update in forever. Congrats again on the right guess.
JessieRose- Another one of my old reviewers! What more could someone ask for? Thanks for reviewing, and thanks for reviewing on Five Steps too. You should update your Marauders story!
littleporcelianjadoll- Ignore her, everyone. She's just my rabid semi-beta. But if anyone wants the permanent position of beta, just review and tell me.
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Sploogal- Well, here you go. Email me when your computer is up and running!
Here it is! I hope I didn't take too long. As I mentioned above, I'm interested in getting a beta. Anyone care to help me? I really appreciate it, but if you do, I might ask you to beta some of my other stuff too, so be warned.
Thirty seven reviews, yes! This is so great for my first fic. Well sort of first, the real first one doesn't really count…. Anyways thanks everybody. Make my day and try to get me up to 50 reviews! I'll love you forever if you do! Sorry, sorry, I'm a review hog. Keep up the reading and reviewing. Revelations