Chapter 8: Death Eaters

Severus Snape knew that he was in deep trouble as the ring of Death Eaters closed around him. He had already tried Apparating away. But it seemed that Voldemort's lackeys actually had some kind of brain left because they had risen the anti-Apparition wards again after their arrival.

The Potions Master registered their threats only peripherally, not deeming them necessary to listen to. He had heard all of those before, not a few times out of his own mouth. Instead he kept in constant motion, turning around in order to keep track of his opponents. But there were just too many of them! The odds of escaping were neigh to impossible. And surrendering was out of question. He knew for a fact that a fate worse than death was more than a mere proverb.

Severus felt a minor curse brush against his shield, sending a jolt through his body. It held, though its strength was now diminished to half of what it had been at the beginning of the fight. It was only a question of time before it would fall under the combined might of the Death Eaters. Nevertheless he sent a quick thank you to the Founders for it being still intact.

His robes were drenched in sweat and he risked a quick swipe with his hand over his temple to prevent the tiny droplets of salt water from dripping into his eyes. It wouldn't do to be blinded in a crucial moment. Though he couldn't say which moment to come was not crucial.

Severus' breathing was laboured and he felt exhaustion seep into his bones. It wouldn't be too long now until he missed a counter. The adrenaline rush that had kept him going so far was ebbing off, leaving him weary. It was all he could do to prevent his hands from shaking. In addition to the strain on his body there was also the constant drain on his magical reserves. The more they were depleted the greater his terror became.

And terror it was. Severus had passed beyond fear. Because fear was what he felt when he went to one of the meetings as a spy, fear of what would happen if he made a mistake. Most, hell, all of the people who knew him wouldn't think him capable of that emotion. But it was there, almost constantly, he was just good at hiding and controlling it, at using it for his own purposes. Though this time horror gripped his heart, blanking his mind from finding a way to escape.

Severus registered another curse hit the periphery of his shield. But instead of being deflected, it was only slowed down, though not enough for him to prevent it from finding its mark. Pure agony shot up his right leg. It felt like being on fire, heat eating away his skin, burning muscles right down to the bones.

Losing his balance he went down, narrowly missing another curse aimed at his chest. As his hands touched the ground he knew that it was over. Though he was still far away from giving up, desperation driving him on. Using the momentum of his fall he curled himself up into a ball, rolling over the ground until he was back on his feet. Favouring his injured limb, he rested most of his weight on his left side. Gritting his teeth he started sending out one spell after the other. Now that his defence was gone – there was just no time for recasting the shielding, which would take precious seconds – he had to fire away, hoping to intercept oncoming hexes with his attacks.

Out of the corner of his eyes Severus saw a shadow moving at the brink of the wood but his brain was too occupied to process the sensory input. Not daring to stand still he danced across the clearing, though his movements were becoming slower and less coordinated by the minute. He was bleeding form several wounds now and his left arm was hanging uselessly by his side.

His view was narrowing down, blackness moving in from the edges of his vision. Still Severus was desperately clutching his wand. The noises around him dimmed as the rush of blood in his ears grew louder. From far away he heard a scream and was wondering if one of his curses had hit home, though he didn't dare to dwell on it. He had to keep moving. But it was hard, so very hard not to give in to exhaustion and lay down.

His eyes were already playing tricks on him, he thought. There couldn't be a giant with the death eaters. Though the shape of a huge being, much bigger than a muggle or wizard, moving amongst them was persistent. He didn't dare shake his head in order to chase away the apparition. Severus couldn't afford the distraction.

It seemed to him an eternity of casting spells without a break had passed and it astounded him that he wasn't caught yet. Readying another curse he paused as there was no immediate target in sight. From far away he noticed the deafening silence that hung in the clearing. The Potions Master stopped in his tracks and listened. But all he could hear was his own ragged breathing. Was he dead? Blinking a few times he looked around. There was no one, at least not standing. The area was littered with bodies covered in blood and clad in the shredded remains of black robes. All dead. No one could live with their intestines strewn around or their throats ripped open. He counted them. There were eight.

But how? This was too surreal and he was too tired to contemplate. The last of his strength left his body and he slowly fell down on his knees, his palms coming to rest on the ground before him. The grass was damp of dew, he noted dimly. Severus was breathing heavily, pumping much needed oxygen into his aching lungs. He still couldn't believe that the fight was over nor that he was free. Someone must have helped him and he knew that he should get up and investigate. Being an enemy of his enemy didn't necessarily equal a friend. But his traitorous body was not cooperating. Sighing inwardly he finally conceded to his corporal needs. Rolling over on his back he slipped into a light meditative trance. It would allow him to regain enough energy without losing too much time.

Concentrating on the clear starlit sky he blanked his thoughts and dimmed his senses to the point where only a direct threat would bring him back. Another advantage was that the pain, that throbbed dully through his whole body, was diminished greatly. Severus had learnt this practise very early in his life as a mean of survival.

Severus Snape's mother had become very sick during her pregnancy and hadn't really recovered after the boy's birth. She had still lived for a few years afterwards but only as a shell of her former self, which was what he had been told later. Nevertheless some of his fondest - if a little hazy - memories dated back to those times. Although being almost constantly in pain and bedridden she'd always had a smile for her son or a song for when he couldn't sleep.

It was after her death that Severus' life had turned into a nightmare. His father who'd been mostly indifferent towards him so far, fell into a severe depression and started drinking. He made his son responsible for his wife's death and took all the fury over his impotence out on the little boy. He lashed out with words and fists intent on hurting. The man sank deeper and deeper into madness, cruelty defining his personality more and more. And so it was no wonder that he joined up with Voldemort as soon as the Dark Lord rose in power.

Little Severus at first wilted away under the gruesome treatment by his only parent left. Though even in his tender years he was a fighter and he soon managed to cope. He devised ingenuous plans to stay out of the man's – he refused to call him father any longer – way and learnt to handle the pain if those failed. He not only built up his corporal endurance, but also his mental shields. Training his wit fell into his need-to-stay-alive category, as well as acting.

All in all Severus Snape grew up hard and fast, with one principle accompanying him through everything: never ever becoming his sire, which was also one of the main reason he had become a spy.

The Potions Master slowly resurfaced from his trance, his thoughts coming back in a tumble, leaving him in a state of confusion. Wading through his memories of the last few hours he managed to piece together where he was and what his immediate plan of action contained, as well as time being crucial.

Sitting up Severus couldn't suppress a groan. Although he now had enough energy to function again, his whole world consisted of pain. Gritting his teeth together he managed to get to his feet. A quick survey of the clearing reassured him that he was the only one standing.

Next he inspected the bodies to make sure that they had all really moved on to the next plane of existence – hell - he hoped. It was a task that threatened his dinner's position in his stomach, which was saying a lot concerning his past among the Death Eater. He had seen people raped, killed and tortured to the point of madness. But nothing compared to the sight before him. The way they had been disembowelled spoke more of a wild animal than a man. If he went close enough he could even see claw tracks and the throats seemed to have been bitten through by large canines. Perhaps he hadn't imagined the giant shadow earlier during the fight. But which animal was that large and would cause so much destruction?

Well, it was a fool moon, so it could have been a werewolf, Severus thought. But they didn't have claws as long as the gashes indicated, and they wouldn't have stopped with killing the Death Eaters. It had to be something sentient. An animagus? That was a possibility. But speculations weren't bringing him any further.

Checking the ground, he found evidence of the fight: trampled grass, holes of curses gone awry and splatters of blood. There was no use of trying to analyse any further at the moment, he admitted to himself, frustrated. The light cast by the stars and the moon wasn't enough to make out a lot and he could only brighten his immediate surrounding with Lumos. It would take an eternity to search the whole clearing like that. The best would be to head home and leave the clean up and investigation to the authorities, although it went clearly against his professional pride.

Dismayed Severus let his gaze wander over the scene of battle for a last time without detecting anything suspicious. There was no real reason to remain here any longer. Still, he felt an unexplainable reluctance to leave, as if something important was close by waiting to be found.

Nonsense, the Potions Master sneered at himself. You're deluding yourself. Whatever has been here is long gone. And since when did you let your emotions get the better of you? You're not a Gryffindor!

Pushing his gut-feeling aside he swerved around into the direction he had come from. Though before he could enter the wood a twinkling in the grass before him caught his attention. As he got closer he recognized it as a tiny metallic object reflecting the light of the moon. He bent down and picked it up. It was a small spiral made of silver, probably some kind of jewellery. It didn't seem too important to Severus. One of the Death Eaters must have lost it. But he'd keep it for now.

As he slid his finding into a hidden pocket of his robe his eyes came to rest on a spot on the ground. It showed a footprint similar to one of a human being - if they'd had shoe size 50 which none of the Death Eaters had. So it had to originate from his mysterious saviour. Bending over he scrutinized it closely without much success. He couldn't think of any animal nor magical being that would leave such tracks. It came close to a giant's but was too small for it. A half-giant was out as well because the being must have moved very quickly to eliminate all of his enemies, something you couldn't associate with the notoriously slow half-breed. At least he could be sure now that his werewolf-theory was wrong and that the animagus one was highly unlikely.

As he expanded his search in diameter Severus found other footprints leading away from the fighting-scene into the wood and deducted that this was where his rescuer had vanished. And he had been hurt because following the trail was a line of blood.

Curiosity was warring with common sense in the Potions Master's mind as he thought about chasing after the being. It was quite powerful, enough to go up against 8 wizards and win, so he alone was no match for it, especially now in his weakened state. But if it had wanted him dead it could have killed him already. Pertaining that it was sentient and his survival wasn't pure luck. It was also insured and a potential ally against Voldemort, which was a really good incentive.

Making up his mind he moved past the first trees, his eyes glued to the ground. The being had left visible dents in the soft needle covered earth. They were much deeper than the ones he left, which were barley visible. It must be really heavy, Severus thought.

The further the Potions Master got the more red he could see. It didn't bode well. Had it been hurt that badly? He felt guilt gnawing at his insides. It was him the Death Eaters had been after. Now two of his contacts were dead and the one who'd rescued him . . . No, he wasn't going to go there.

Severus frowned as he came across a fallen tree trunk. There was a bloody hand-print on it and traces of a stumble. He just hoped that the creature was alive. It wouldn't do to have gone through all this trouble to find it dead.

He pushed on, quickening his pace until the trail suddenly ended in a stone. Though it wasn't a stone at all Severus noted as he came closer. It was the shape of an enormous human being slumped on the ground motionless, though its complexion belied it being one of them. The creature's skin was a dark blue, stretching over taut, well-defined muscles. It was clad only in jeans, though they were ripped open at the seams, as if the wearer had had a sudden growth-spurt. With relief Severus noted the steady rise and fall of broad shoulders, indicating that it was still breathing. He couldn't see its face as it was lying on the side with its back towards him, only a nest of a tangled black mane.

Slowly Severus crept closer, making sure to cause enough noise as to not startle the creature if it was still conscious. Then he had reached it. Carefully he extended his right hand, letting it hover over the prone figure for a few seconds before finally touching it. It felt smooth and warm. He tucked a little, rolling it over on his back. There was a large gash on his abdomen which was the cause of all the bleeding. But it was already stocking and he could swear that the wound was closing. Nothing life-threatening, thank Merlin! It must be a really fast healer, he thought.

Its mouth was slightly open and he could make out elongated incisors. The features of the face seemed oddly familiar but he couldn't place them at the moment. Its eye-lids were fluttering and Severus almost jumped in surprise as they flew open. The sight startled him more than anything else among the creature because it was its most inhumane feature as far as he could tell. There was no iris, nor a pupil, just two onyx orbs with not even a speck of white in them.

Their gazes met and he caught himself holding his breath, the intensity sending chills running down his spine. As suddenly as it had started the moment was interrupted by a spasm raking through his opposite's body.

Severus drew back, not knowing what to do. Another seizure followed the first eliciting an inhuman howl of pain. Then something under its skin began to move, seeming as if muscles and bones were rearranging themselves, changing positions out of their own volition. And through it all its body was shrinking, losing great amounts of mass as he was watching transfixed. And with those went the unnatural blue, leaving an ordinary human being. One that he knew all too well. Impossible.

A/N.: It's a cliffhanger again. Sorry for taking so long but I've been gone on a summer school/congress thingie and there's awfully lot to do at university.

Thanks a lot to Ravensblack, Nimohtar, ann and biblios for their very encouraging feedback

Harry's a Lycan, but not just one . . . Does this make sense?

At the moment I am not planning for an Underworld character to appear in the story apart from being mentioned by name and in the past.

I have the general plotline worked out but there are still parts that are vague at best, so if anyone has preferences, tell me!

I am also looking for a beta. My sister is doing me the honour so far but neither her nor me are native English speakers, so you see my problem. Anyone interested?