Ex Umbris
Chapter 6
The instant the Headmaster told his password (pecan turtles) to his gargoyle guard, the five Gryffindors attempted to all sprint through the doorway at once. The bedraggled group slid to a stop, just barely managing not to run the 150-year-old wizard down.
"What's this? Gryffindors out after hours?" Albus Dumbledore attempted light-heartedness, but he knew that the ever-before-present twinkle in his eyes was absent. After the mysterious death of their only double agent Severus, as if the loss of the man wasn't enough, the Order of the Phoenix was having a difficult time preemptively halting Death Eater revels. They had no inside information. And Voldemort was taking advantage of the fact.
"Sir, Harry has ---" Hermione was cut off by Harry, who surprised the small gathering by bursting into tears.
"Harry, is it your scar? Does it hurt, my boy?" Dumbledore resisted the urge to hug the Boy Who Lived, by placing a light hand on his shoulder.
He nodded, removing his glasses and accepting a white handkerchief that the Headmaster pulled from one of his multiple pockets with a muffled, "thanks, sir."
After Harry blew his nose and wiped his face, he was able to speak a bit more lucidly. "I had another dream, sir. It was …it was the scariest thing I've ever seen. Trapped in the dark, with no air …and the smell of rotting flesh." Harry stared at the gargoyle, tears running anew from his bloodshot eyes. "It was a coffin, Headmaster. And I think it was Sn –Professor Snape."
Dumbledore stopped breathing for a moment, surprise showing plainly on his face. "Neville, please go into my office and use the floo network to call Professor McGonagall, Madame Pomfrey, and Hagrid. Tell them what Harry said and that they need to get to the cemetery as quickly as they can. Ron, Hermione, go with him."
Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore headed at a sprint for the burial place of the Potions Master.
Chapter IVRough tree bark, earthy smell of soft dirt, wet grass, fog and darkness.
The edges of his vision were beginning to clear; he could see the black sky, the small bright lights of stars and from the castle in the distance. He felt his knees give up their support, and he slid to the ground, leaning against a wide maple tree. The wet grass and leaves soaked through his clothing, dark ceremonial robes light with dust and dirt and rot.
Something was coming from the distance. From the direction of the castle. Two spots of lights were growing bigger and bigger as they descended upon his still form, and the ground shook with their passing.
He had grown more sensitive to the earth, it seemed, since his time enveloped within its dark embrace. It moved and shifted, and he knew its own thoughts as if they were his own. They were humans, unaware of the world around them as a living being.
He only stared as they approached, not bothering to stand up or gawk. A tall man with a flowing white beard was in the lead of the small group, walking quickly, as if he expected this to be only a dream. To his right was a stern, steel haired woman in a dark green nightdress. She held a light at the end of a stick, a wand, he realized belatedly. To the old man's other side was a short, young boy with disheveled black hair and striped pajamas and a shaggy dog. Next to him was a man so tall that he dwarfed the rest of the company, and trotting at his side was another large dog. He was carrying a lantern. A stout woman with a wide skirt and a mop of curly brown hair ran into the lead when she noticed him watching her, but she was called back by the old man with the white beard.
They halted before they reached the prone man leaning against the tree, though each of them wanted to step forward and grab him and see if he was real and sane and alive. Madame Pomfrey had the most difficult time, her legs almost unconsciously carrying her ahead. The Headmaster's stern, yet gentle voice stopped her in her tracks. They didn't want to scare Severus away.
"Severus," Albus Dumbledore questioned in a halting voice. "Can you hear us?"
It was like listening to a person shout through a train tunnel, he had decided. Maybe he had dirt in his ears. He brought his hand up to his face, brushing his long hair out of his face. He felt the trail of blood along his cheekbone that it left.
"Please, Severus, acknowledge that you understand us." Minerva McGonagall tried her own stern voice, and gained no response for her trials.
"Professor Snape, I'm terribly sorry that I left you in the Forbidden Forest like I did. I didn't mean to. Professor Dumbledore here says that somebody put me under a curse like Imperio." Rubeus Hagrid motioned with his hand for Fang to sit at his side, and he saw Snape's eyes flicker toward him.
Almost there, yet, Severus. Albus thought to himself, hiding a smile that his Potions Master was alive again.
"Almost, yes." Severus Snape's voice was raspy and hoarse, barely audible over the looming silence of the dark forest. "But not quite."
Hagrid looked confused, but realized that Snape was talking to the Headmaster. He wasn't required to say anything in response.
"Professor, maybe you would like something to eat? Or a bath? Would you let me see to you? I'm sure you must have wounds, you were ---" Madame Pomfrey cut off, realizing that she was about to tell Snape he was dead. But then again, perhaps he knew that.
Snape's gaze, however, didn't even flicker in her direction. He was studying at the Boy Who Lived.
::How are the dreams, Mr. Potter?:: Harry started violently when he realized he heard Professor Snape's voice inside his head. ::Aren't terribly violent, I hope. I hope you did not dream of death as I did, Boy Who Lived.::
"P-Professor, h-how are you d-doing that?" Harry knew the ignominious catch in his voice was back again.
::I have seen many things, my boy. Voldemort is only himself a small piece in the great scheme of things.::
Their silent conversation was cut off by Madame Pomfrey's gasp. The Mediwitch had gone forward to inspect Snape's health, and had found his hands.
"D-dear, dear me, my dear boy," she cooed, as she would have to a student. "What in the world have you done to your hands, Severus?"
His head turned in her direction, looking through her with black eyes that flashed pale blue in the dull light of the moon. "I hurt them getting out of the coffin."