Chapter Twenty-Three
Late Tuesday night found Severus in her room marking some essays, she had already told Saba, Rena and Ceren to turn in for the night, when there was a knock at the door. Severus answered the door and saw Draco propped against the opposite wall; he was dressed for the outdoors. The two looked at each other for a moment.
"So, are you going to lead me to him?" Severus asked.
Draco smiled slightly, "Perceptive. Now you know why I'm here, I don't need to concoct some lame excuse," he said.
"Why you?" Severus asked.
"I remember that lovely speech that you gave early this year, it touched my heart," Draco said.
"I'm moved," Severus commented.
Draco arched an eyebrow before he continued, "I thought about what you said, and I made my choice. I know where my fate lies," he said. "No regrets."
Severus smiled, "I have no regrets either, shall we?" she said, and motioned with her hand toward the way out.
"Here," Draco said, as he threw something at Severus, who instinctively caught it.
As soon as the object touched Severus' hand she felt its liquid coolness flow around her fingers and then solidify into a metal ring. Severus looked at her hand and recognise the metal; it was similar to the one that was around her neck. "I expected as much," Severus said, "no new tricks?"
"If it works why fix it," Draco said, as he gestured the way with a flourish, "After you."
"I suspect my guests have been subdued," Severus said. When Draco answered with a nod, Severus led the way down the corridor.
Soon Draco and Severus were outside the castle, a half-moon hung in the sky and there was a storm approaching. Draco pulled a light cloak from within his own and held it out to Severus, "I think you'll be needing this," he said.
Severus eyed the black cloak wearily.
"Don't worry, it's not booby-trapped," Draco said.
Severus took the cloak and drew it tightly around herself, "How kind," she said.
"I wouldn't want to be punished for delivering the package in less than perfect conditions," Draco said.
Severus and Draco continued their journey into the Forbidden Forest, to the end of the apparition barrier. Several feet away from the barrier stood four Death Eaters; they straightened up and levelled their wands at Severus as she and Draco approached.
"Well, this is where I leave you," Draco said.
Severus paused and looked at Draco, "You know, Draco, there is no such thing as the point of no return; the path back is simply more arduous the deeper you are," she said.
Draco smiled and said, "Goodbye, Professor."
"Goodbye, Draco," Severus replied, and then walked over to the Death Eaters. As soon as Severus was in range of the Death Eaters, they grabbed her then used a port-key and disappeared.
Although they materialised in a darken room, Severus could hear that they were not alone, the sound of the other Death Eaters, and the evil presence of Voldemort hung in the air. A light from an unseen source illuminated Severus, and another light illuminated Voldemort who sat on an elaborate throne in front of Severus.
"And to what do I owe this pleasure?" Severus asked, with a look of boredom.
Voldemort stood up abruptly and walked over to Severus and grabbing her by the throat, "Let us not play games, Severus," he said, and leaned in close to whisper, "you could have been great, ruling as my right hand, but you threw it all away for a thankless job as Dumbledore's lapdog." Voldemort threw Severus to the floor and returned to his throne.
Severus slowly stood up and wiped the blood from her hand that had absorbed the impact of the fall, and looked at Voldemort with defiance.
Voldemort glared at Severus and spoke, "You, Severus Snape, are hereby accused of treachery, espionage and disloyalty. You are guilty of all charges and will be sentenced to torture and a slow, painful death."
The two spots of light widened until it showed that all of the inner-circle of Death Eaters were present. The Death Eaters pointed their wands at Severus and were about to cast the Cruciatus Curse when they were interrupted.
"Stop."
A figure emerged from behind Voldemort's throne, and stepped closer to the light.
"Ceren." Severus said.
"Yes," Ceren said, then turned to Voldemort, "Our deal was that you killed her outright, not a slow and torturous death."
Voldemort sneered, and said, "This traitor will die, but I demand reparation for his treason. Nobody betrays me and escapes so easily."
"Are you breaking our deal?" Ceren asked, "I have powers you that you cannot imagine."
"If you had such powers," Voldemort said, with a smirk, "then why did you need us to take care of your business?"
Ceren and Voldemort stared at each other, finally Ceren ceded and turned to Severus, "It seems I now have the pleasure of seeing you suffer," she said.
"Why?" Severus asked.
"If you could not be persuaded to our cause then you must be eliminated," Ceren said.
"That simple," Severus said.
Ceren nodded.
"If you two have quite finished," Voldemort said, "we shall begin."
Once again the Death Eaters raised their wands and, with a command from Voldemort, simultaneously cast the Cruciatus Curse. Severus screamed as the force of so many curses slammed into her body, pain erupted all over and every muscle contracted.
"Stop," Voldemort commanded.
When the curses were halted, Severus fell to the floor, her throat was hoarse and she twitched every so often as muscles spasmed randomly. Severus focused on her breathing so she wouldn't hyperventilate; it also helped to calm her as she prepared herself for more.
The Dark Lord languidly pointed his wand at Severus, "Crucio," he said.
This time Severus was prepared and managed to stifle a scream as she curled up tighter into a foetal-position. Severus tried to ignore the pain as her right hand reached into her inside breast pocket and clasped around a small vial.
Voldemort lifted the Cruciatus Curse and stood-up, he raised his hand and spoke, "My loyal Death Eaters, our quest is a long and arduous one but the rewards that you will reap will be glorious, we will revel in the bounty that is rightfully ours. All those that oppose us will be punished, and all those that betray us will suffer my wrath. You, Severus, any last words?"
Severus' hand tightened on the vial and removed it from her pocket as she pushed herself up into a sitting position; right foot on the floor and left leg bent under her. She looked up at Voldemort and smiled, "I have no regrets," she said.
Voldemort levelled his wand at Severus as she crushed the vial in her hand; the purple liquid touched the metal ring around her finger and began to eat away at it. Before the Dark Lord could cast the Killing Curse, there came a large explosion from the right, everyone looked over. There was a large hole in the wall; several Death Eaters lay dead in front of the hole, before the dust had a chance to clear a large black dog jumped in and transformed into Sirius, he was quickly followed by Rena, Saba and Remus in his werewolf guise.
The distraction served to take the attention off Severus, and gave the potion a chance to eliminate the ring. Voldemort hissed, "Kill them," he said, and then turned back to Severus; she immediately threw a fireball at Voldemort and dove to the right.
Amidst the chaos of fight, Ceren screamed in frustration and pushed her way into the fray in search of Severus, anyone in her was blasted aside with an assortment of spells. Severus herself was trying to make her way toward the hole in the wall, but the Death Eaters were persistent in their task. Two Death Eaters fell to Severus' stupefy curse, the gap revealed the rescue party just out of reach, Severus met Sirius' eyes across the battlefield and a moment of understanding passed between them. But before Severus could think anymore on it, a bolt of fire streaked by and singed a few of hairs. Severus turned around and saw Ceren about to cast another spell; Severus created an enchanted barrier that almost broke with the force of Ceren's hex.
"I have not come this far to fail, you accursed swine, die," Ceren shouted, "just die."
"No, unfortunately, I have a destiny to fulfil," Severus replied, and cast the stupefy curse.
Ceren dropped to the floor and cast a spell that created a horde of bats; Severus crouched down and covered herself almost completely with her cloak. Suddenly a swarm of wasps appeared and attacked the bats, Severus hazarded a glance behind her and saw Saba nod.
"This does not have to be this way," Severus said.
"No, it will have to; I have sacrifice too much," Ceren said, "I will not let you people conquer us."
"No one is going to be conquering anyone, not while I am here," Severus said.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up."
Ceren's posture straightened, she positioned her hands palm down at her side, and a look of intense concentration marred her face, power visibly swarmed around her. The Death Eaters stopped and backed away from the scene, even Voldemort curiously watched the events unfold.
"Severus, remember what I taught you," Saba said, and then to the others, "take cover." Remus and Sirius hid behind a magical barrier that Saba created, while Rena stalked toward Ceren with a lightning bolt in her hand.
The power that Ceren had gathered was released in a surge, a wall of impenetrable force; anything in its path was destroyed. Severus focused her mind and disappeared just as the wall of power swept passed, she reappeared moments later on the same spot. Rena, who had also metamorphosed, reappeared behind Ceren and thrust the lightning bolt through Ceren's chest.
Ceren looked shocked as she fell to her knees, she died before she hit the ground.
Rena grabbed Severus' hand and quickly led her toward the hole in the wall. The barrier that protected the rest of the rescue party faded, and revealed that the people behind were safe and well, though Saba leant on Sirius coughed.
"Are you all right?" Severus asked.
"Yes, just over exerted myself," Saba said, "who knew she had that kind of power in her."
"I think she was planning to take everyone with her," Rena said.
"Less chat; more escaping," said Sirius.
"Agreed," Severus said.
But as they prepared to leave, Voldemort rushed forward and bellowed, "Stop, traitor."
Severus turned around and saw that Voldemort had raised his wand, anticipating a curse Severus slipped off her cloak and flung it at the Dark Lord.
"Avada Kedavra," Voldemort shouted.
The hex shot out of Voldemort's wand and streaked toward Severus, with a wave of her hand the cloak spread itself out and was hit by the Killing Curse. A high-pitched scream echoed through the room, before the cloak hit the floor Severus and the rescue party had escaped.
When the group reached a safe place, Saba brought out a port-key that apparated them to the infirmary at Hogwarts. As soon as they arrived, Poppy confined them all to hospital beds and gave them a thorough examination before they could protest. Severus was the first one to be treated, apart from the Cruciatus Curse she was surprisingly unmarked, Poppy poured a small cup of Cruciatus Reliever and then healed the cuts and bruises. Rena, Saba and Sirius were slightly more wounded, nothing serious or irreversible, at least not for Poppy. Although Remus had been wounded in the battle his Werewolf physiology had and would continue to heal his wounds. Fortunately in the chaos of the battle no one cast an anti-werewolf spell, or rather they were quickly despatched before it could be fired.
Dumbledore entered the infirmary as Poppy finished up on her last patient; he had been debriefing an Aurora who had led the attack on Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Voldemort and the conscious Death Eaters were gone, only the dead remained; Voldemort had seen to that.
When Dumbledore saw Severus, he walked up to her and grabbed Severus by the shoulder, "That was a very foolish thing to do," he said, angrily.
"I apologies, Albus, I just wanted an end to this infernal business," Severus said, and looked down at her hands.
"Dammit, Severus," Albus said, then embraced Severus tightly, "I was worried about you."
"I am sorry, Albus," Severus said, as she wrapped her arms around Albus, "I never meant to worry you."
"Just remember if you do something like this again, Voldemort will be the least of your worries," Albus said.
"Albus, please unhand her, Severus needs to rest," Poppy said, "They all do."
Albus released Severus and smiled, "Of course, Poppy, I would not dream of disobeying you," he said, "Then shall we schedule a debriefing tomorrow, I shall come down in the morning."
There were no objections, so Albus and left them to rest in the infirmary for the night.
>>>
In the morning, Severus described the events of the night before, how she followed Draco to the Forbidden Forest and then escorted to Voldemort, the mock trial and revelation that Ceren was the traitor.
"So that was why you were acting strange these pass few weeks," Saba said, "I thought you were having second thoughts about us."
"Yes, I was trying not to raise anyone's suspicions," Severus said, "I could hardly confide in you."
"That is understandable," Saba said, "Who could have guessed that Ceren was a spy."
"We never suspected a thing, she was your mother's handmaiden," Rena said, "I wonder when she turned, or if she was always helping the other side."
"These past few decades must have been hard on her," Saba commented.
"How can you be so…sympathetic?" Sirius asked, "She tried to kill Severus."
"She was just doing what she thought was right," Severus said, "It may not be in agreement with us, but then again it is not as simply as that."
"She's a traitor," Sirius said, "Traitors don't deserve compassion."
"Sirius!" Remus said.
Sirius looked at Severus, and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean…"
Severus shrugged and interrupted, "I know your mouth often by-passes your brain, I am hardly offended by it now. I know you two were incapacitated by Ceren, so how did you escape?" she asked Saba and Rena.
"Albus freed us," Rena said.
Albus nodded, "Your quarters, as you know, were charmed, and an alarm sounded that indicated an unforgivable had been cast. I arrived at your rooms and discovered you gone, while Rena and Saba were incapacitated."
"The Headmaster freed us, and it turns out that Remus had charmed your room as well, so he and Sirius came through the mirror," Saba said.
"Is there anything else I should know?" Severus said, and glanced at Albus and Remus, both men smiled and Remus looked abashed.
"We, Saba and I, were planning to track you as we did before, but Sirius and Remus forced themselves onto the group," Rena said, "not that we begrudge them."
"So we tracked you down and burst in," Saba said.
"And not a moment too soon," Severus said,
"I thought we had interrupted something important," Remus said.
"That was when Voldemort ordered the Death Eaters to kill us," Sirius said.
"Using the confusion I freed myself and jumped into the crowd, I fought my way to them but was delayed by Ceren," Severus said.
"Delayed is not the word I would have used," Remus said, "attacked is more like it."
"As I was saying, after a brief fight Rena dispatched her, and we were able to escape," Severus said.
Remus laughed, "Didn't you forget the tiny detail concerning Voldemort and the Killing Curse?" he asked.
"It never got to me," Severus said.
"That's a good point, how did your cloak stop the Killing Curse? I thought magic was useless against it," Sirius said.
"That is true and it is capable of passing through something as flimsy as a cloak, however if it hits a living thing it is, in a way, stopped. The cloak was no ordinary cloak, it was a Surrogate Cloak," Severus said.
"How on earth did you come by such a dark item?" Remus said.
"Dark, how so?" Sirius asked.
"Before the 1723 Dark Magics Act it was still legal to perform human sacrificial magic," Albus explained, "the Surrogate Cloak merges a human's life-force and soul to a cloak, or other apparel. If a person is hit while wearing the cloak, the cloak will take the consequence. Apart from the Killing Curse, the only way to destroy the cloak is if it takes too much punishment at one time."
"So if the cloak is not destroyed, it can survive forever?" Sirius asked.
"Theoretically yes," Remus said.
"Please tell me the person trapped inside doesn't have to experience any of it," Sirius said, but no one answered.
"But to answer your question, Remus, I came by it quite unexpectedly – Draco Malfoy," Severus said.
"Malfoy? But I thought he was working for Voldemort, I mean he led you to him," Sirius said.
"He says that he has made up his mind, but I am not too sure of it," Severus said, "I would keep an eye on him but do not push him or he might jump the wrong way."
"Do not worry, Severus, we will," Albus said, "Are you still planning to leave this Saturday? Now that you have finished this matter, why don't you stay a little longer?"
Severus glanced at Rena and Saba, "How every much I would like to, I have a destiny to fulfil," she said.
Dumbledore walked over to Severus and gently kissed her on the temple, "I understand, my child, we all have a destiny in life. I can only hope that we will see each other again," he said.
"I hope so too," Severus said.
>>>
Later that day they were all discharged from the infirmary. As Severus walked down to the dungeons Sirius caught up with her, they walked in silence until they were outside her office. Severus unlocked the door and walked in, but Sirius lingered in the corridor.
"I presume that you wish to talk to me, or did you simply want to loiter in the dungeons?" Severus asked.
"Er, yes," Sirius said, and entered the office.
Severus sat behind her desk and waited for Sirius to begin.
"I'm not really sure how to start this," Sirius said as he finally sat down, "we have so much history between us, most of it bad - fighting, pranking and mutual dislike. And them suddenly I find out that you are this…nice girl, it's a lot to take in all of a sudden. You lied to me, not only you but Remus and Albus and Hermione as well."
"They were only trying to protect me, the less people who knew the better," Severus said.
"I felt betrayed, especially by you," Sirius said, "You weren't who I thought you were."
Severus smiled, "Perhaps, or perhaps I was a lot more genuine than you realised," she said.
"Perhaps," Sirius said, "I talked with Remus and Albus, and even Hermione had a go. I thought a lot about this, probably more than I usual do, and I have decided that perhaps I had been needlessly holding on to a grudge. It has been years since we were at school, and the time at Azkaban didn't help matters. What I am trying to say is…sorry."
"Okay," Severus said.
"Okay? Was that it?" Sirius asked, "Not going to shout at me?"
Severus laughed, "No, I understand slightly what you went through. It was something I had to think about when you became my bodyguard, it was either that or hex you to oblivion," she said.
"It's a good thing you chose the former," Sirius said, he extended his hand across the table and Severus shook it. "By the way, how did you end up turning into a girl?"
"I encountered a small prank before Christmas," Severus said.
"Was it the bucket over the door trick?" Sirius asked.
"How did you know?"
Sirius looked abashed, "That was me," he said.
Severus arched an eyebrow, "I should have guessed that all this was somehow your doing," she said.
Sirius laughed and made for the door, "Hey, we're friends now, so all's forgiven," he said as he left the room.
Severus smirked when she heard a yell from outside as Sirius slipped on a sudden icy patch.
Saturday finally came around; Severus, Rena, Saba, Remus, Sirius, Albus and Hermione were in an underground room at a remote location. The time had come to finally go home. They arrived early to find Hellen and her team busy preparing the spell that would allow them to travel through dimensions, Hermione immediately explored and studied the technique, and thankfully Helen was an enthusiastic teacher. Severus, Rena and Saba were examined and prepped, and given instructions of how to return should anything go wrong.
"Okay," Helen said, "we have the coordinates that you gave us calculated into the spell, so we're ready when you are."
"Are you ready, Severus?" Albus asked.
"As ready as I every will be," Severus said, with a small smile, "Albus, I have left instructions to my lawyer to leave my estate in your hands, so you can do with it as you wish."
"I will look after it until you return, dear child," Albus replied.
"Don't worry about it, Severus, we'll keep everything in order," Remus said.
"Thank you," Severus said, "You know I dislike mawkish displays, so I guess this is good-bye. Goodbye."
Severus turned to enter the magic circle where Rena and Saba were waiting, but suddenly she was gripped in a tight hug. Albus had come up behind Severus; she leant back into his embrace.
"I'm going to miss you, Severus," Albus said.
Severus turned around to give the Headmasters a proper hug, "And I will miss you as well, thank you for everything, it has meant more to me than I can ever say."
When Albus finally released Severus, Remus pulled her into a hug.
"Damn it, I am not a doll to be randomly grabbed," Severus said.
"Severus, shut up and enjoy the moment," Remus said, before he let her go.
"Don't worry I'm not going to hug you," Sirius said, "it'll feel a bit weird."
"Thank-you," Severus said, as she and Sirius shook hands.
"Professor Snape, thank you for allowing me come here with you, and good luck," Hermione said.
"That is quite all right, good luck with your NEWTS, I am sure that you will pass spectacularly and be the valedictorian," Severus said.
After all the farewells had been said, Severus walked into the magic circle that was drawn on the floor, it consisted of three circles at similar distances apart, with a square in each circle at different angles to each other. There were ancient sigils inscribed within the circles. Hellen stood in front of the circle and started to chant the spell, the pictogram on the floor glowed purple and the outermost circle emitted a faint barrier. Severus, Saba and Rena held hands as Hellen completed the spell. The outer barrier became more solid, until the three inside were completely obscured; it suddenly shattered and revealed that there was no one inside.
Severus opened her eyes and saw the sun rise; it slowly illuminated the valley, she looked up and far above them on a mountaintop was a city. The walls of the city were pearl white; towers topped with golden spires reached high into the clouds and colourful banners fluttered in the breeze. Severus had no doubt that this was home.
Saba gently tapped Severus' shoulder, "Shall we go home?" she asked.
Severus looked at Saba then Rena, smiled and said, "Yes."
The End
