Ex Umbris
Chapter 4
Snape felt fairly certain that he wouldn't be able to apparate without splinching himself, so thankfully the Dark Lord did it himself. He felt his back hit the ground again, but there was snow this time. It seemed much colder than before, except for the gentle heat from a campfire on his right side. He forced his eyes open, the blood that had dried on his eyelids cracking. At least it had stopped snowing.
"H-Hagrid ..?" Snape gasped quietly, turning his head as far as he could until it hurt. Fang came over and licked the blood off his cheek.
The Potions Master rolled over, pushing himself unsteadily to his feet. He stood there, wavering, taking in his surroundings. The forest looked as black as pitch because of the fire going in the center of the small clearing. Fang sat next to Snape's left leg, leaning on him. Hagrid was nowhere to be seen.
Perhaps the wait had been longer and colder than anticipated, and Hagrid went back to the warmth of his hut. Snape kicked snow over the fire, and the teacher and dog began their slow and painful journey back to the castle. It occurred to him to question why Voldemort would allow him to return to Hogwarts knowing that he was a spy, but he just cared about being warm again, so he decided to put off pondering the answer until he got back.
His limbs were numb with cold, his face felt chapped, but he arrived to the old, cast iron gate. This time, he didn't pause, but snapped the latch and pulled the gate open in a moment of uneasiness about his last encounter on this side of the boundary.
Familiar hands gripped his shoulders as he turned, and the gate was wrenched out of his grasp and he was pushed onto his back, in the snow. He struggled, but he was too tired to do more than push weakly at her hands.
It was the grey-eyed woman, again. Her hair flared around her as she moved, as if she were under water. She wore form-fitting, pleated breeches and a thick white shirt under a black vest. She didn't look the least bit cold as she stepped over him, each foot just under his ribs, and sat down. Resting her chin in her hands, elbows resting on her knees, she looked down at him with no expression.
He coughed. "Would you m-mind? It's a bit cold down here."
That made her smile. "I will warm you up, Severus Snape. It is good to see you again." She stood up and grabbed his wrists, pulling him painfully to his feet with inhuman strength. "But did I not tell you that you must not cross the gate between Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest?"
"It's not like I had a choice …" He trailed off as she pressed him against the freezing cold gate, her hands still holding his wrists. She kissed him gently, just a brushing of lips, but it made him forgot about the cold.
"Are you warm yet?" Without giving him a chance to answer, she nuzzled his black hair behind his shoulder, kissing his neck. He attempted to inconspicuously remove his hands from her grasp, but she tightened her hold and opened her mouth against his jugular.
He felt two burning pin-pricks in his neck, and an indescribable pressure inside his body, like she was drinking all of his ...
…Oh, Merlin. Blood.
Snape fought to break the vampire's hold on him, but she was much stronger than he. His knees refused to hold him up anymore, and he slid to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. He felt her chuckle against him, all around him, inside him. He shivered. And there was nothing he could do. Where was Hagrid? Did she get him, too?
Just as his eyes closed of their own accord, he felt the building pressure release, and she moved away from his neck. Snape felt his chin being raised up, and he struggled to open his eyes. He watched her bring her own wrist to her mouth and slice it with one of her sharp eyeteeth. The blood pooled on her wrist and down it, making it look like a liquid bracelet. She pressed the bleeding wrist against his mouth, and he drank.
Sirius Black stared in awe from the other side of the gate, in the form of a big black dog.
"Oh, Severus." Minerva McGonagall held her white handkerchief against each eye in turn, looking at the black casket with silver fittings as it was lowered into the awaiting grave at the Hogwarts cemetery, one of the less advertised accompaniments of the school.
Albus Dumbledore had given a tearful eulogy to the staff and students, most of whom looked saddened by their Potions Master's untimely demise, after dinner the night before. Nobody had asked why Snape was outside of Hogwarts' grounds at three in the morning.
Albus, of course, blamed himself. Not that there was anything he could have done differently.
Hagrid, too, blamed himself. The Care of Magical Creatures Professor remembered starting a fire, but that was all. He did not remember waiting for Severus, or walking back to his hut. The next morning he awoke in his bed, fully clothed and wearing his boots, knowing that he had forgotten something crucial. Upon making his morning rounds, he found Severus lying in the red snow, dead, at the cast iron gate.
It was raining lightly, too warm for snow. Minerva transfigured her wand into an umbrella, watching as some of her students did the same. Albus didn't seem to notice it was raining.
Minerva pulled a hairpin out of her bun and transfigured it into another umbrella, handing it to the devastated Headmaster. He took it dully, not looking away from the potion master's headstone.
"He's gone, Minerva. I can't believe he's gone."