Whoops, I forgot the Disclaimer on the first chapter O.o, so here it is: I don't own anything, they all belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.
Warnings: character death(s), HBP spoilers
Author's Note: This chapter isn't as long as the previous one, but...eh. Hope you enjoy, and please review!
CHAPTER TWO
The Dursleys were glad to see the back of him forever, and even waved cheerily as Harry trudged off into the dark street. Had this happened the previous year, Harry would have snorted with laughter, but the present-day Harry only shook his head, disgusted that Dudley could hardly fit through the front door.
Once he reached the roadside, Harry took his wand out of his pocket and extended his wand arm, and within seconds, he heard a loud bang! before the Knight Bus noisily trundled down Privet Drive and came to a stop before him. Harry ascended the bus, and gave a slight nod to Ernie, the driver, whom he had met before when he had been thirteen years old.
"'Ey 'Arry!" Ernie smiled, baring his yellow teeth at Harry. "Where are ya off tuh?"
"The Burrow, please, Ernie," Harry replied, and paid Ernie his fare before finding an empty bed near the back of the bus. He lay down as the bus moved again, giving one glance at Hedwig, who was hooting sleepily, before closing his eyes.
Severus Snape had never felt himself in, with lack of a better term, deeper shit than he was in now. The only man who trusted him had been killed, killed by no other than Snape himself, and it weighed on his conscience, despite the fact that the old, weak, and dying wizard had made it clear that it was what he wanted to happen.
Had Snape informed the now-very-much-dead Dumbledore of the last clause of the Unbreakable Vow that he had made to Narcissa, perhaps the man would be alive today. But Severus had chosen to keep this information from him, not wanting the Hogwarts Headmaster to know of his weak moment with Narcissa and Bellatrix. However, the thought kept nagging him...
Would it have made a difference, if he had told him?
The only people who trusted him now were Draco Malfoy, and his mother Narcissa. Draco, being his protege since his first year at Hogwarts, had placed his trust into the Potions Master, and Severus did not want to fail him as he had failed Dumbledore. He didn't particularly care about Narcissa--he thought, rather bitterly, she was the one that came to him for help in the first place, the one who had gotten him too involved with the situation.
He sat down beside Draco's bed, listening to the boy's heavy breathing as he slept, and watched him. The boy could be a brat sometimes, but Severus loved him like a son. After the Dark Lord had punished Draco, Snape had taken the boy back to his house on Spinner's End and given him a place to stay. His main priority now was to protect him.
Snape knew that the longer Draco remained as the Dark Lord's servant, the more likely he would die young. Draco had already proven that he couldn't kill--this was not the sort of person that the Dark Lord wished to have under his command. The only chance that Draco appeared to have, slim as that chance may be, was for Draco spy for the Order, just as Snape himself did--or used to have done.
Sighing as his thoughts turned to the Order, Snape ran a hand through his greasy locks. They'd never believe that he was still on their side, still spying for them, not after he had killed--no, he didn't want to think about it.
He buried his head into his hands, unaware of two silver eyes watching him from the bed in front of him.
