Chapter 11

The next few weeks went by rather relaxed, yet, security was high for the first bit. When there were no signs of danger that security was toned down. Which actually, was not a problem.

Everything was going perfectly fine until on Friday class (right before lunch) nearing the end of November. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were in the middle of their transfiguration lesson when Cate suddenly jumped in her seat. Her hand immediately flew to her left arm. Professor McGongall looked up.

"Are you all right Catherine?"

"Uh . . . yeah. I just bit my tongue." She replied, "May I go to the washroom?"

"Certainly." Minerva gave the eighteen-year-old a look of curiosity as she left the room

Once outside of the class, Catherine doubled over in pain, her arm felt like it was being torched. She was being called. Catherine gathered herself up and ran off to the dungeons, pounding on Snape's door when she arrived.

"What?" The man snapped as he opened the door. He then saw Catherine in major pain, holding her left arm. Turning back to his class, he shouted directions. "Continue working on your potions, at the end of class, I want a vial of each of yours on my desk!" Then he slammed the door shut.

"I'm being called . . . " Catherine stated, worry in her voice.

"I figured that much." Severus replied, "Go down to the kitchens to get some ice, it might help with the burning. I'll go in your place." Severus then turned and headed for his office to floo to Knockturn Alley. Slowly, the burning in Catherine's arm decreased, and she was able to think clearly again.

'I should go.' She thought, walking toward the Hogwarts gate. 'I don't want Severus to have to run off every time like this.' AS soon as the young woman was off Hogwarts grounds, she apparated to 172 Knockturn Alley, the upstairs, where she was unheard and unseen by Voldemort and his death eaters.

"Why have you come again, Severus?" A cold voice came from the main floor. Cate inched toward the twisted staircase infront of her and then halfway down it. She could just see into a musty room.

"Catherine was unable to come, My Lord." Severus replied. He stood facing Voldemort, death eaters surrounded them.

"That is what you said in October, when you were asked to bring her. So we sent the dementors out, they made sure she was marked. You did mark her, did you not?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Do you want her to take part in our circle?"

"Of course!"

"Then why is she not here now?"

"She is sick. She was unable to come to you when she was called."

"Are you telling me that Miss Snape was not well enough to apparate or floo here, but was able to go around the school searching for you to tell you she was being called?"

"I'm sorry, My Lord."

"Do not apologize to me!" Voldemort spat, then raised his wand, "Crucio!" Snape hunched over as the spell took over him. However, he showed a small amount of pain. Voldemort raised his wand, breaking the spell. "Where is your daughter?"

"Hogwarts."

"Why is she not here?"

"She is sick."

"I though I told you not to lie Severus." Catherine flinched at the tone of Voldemort's voice. Why was Severus doing this to himself? "Lucius!" Voldemort gestured to another death eater, "Make him bleed." The blonde-haired man stepped out of the corner and brought a whip down onto Severus' back, cracking the skin open.

Cate jumped as she heard the many snaps of the whip, retreating a bit further up the staircase. However, she stayed close enough that she could still see.

"Why is Miss Snape not here?" Voldemort hissed over the sound of the whip.

"I've already told you, she's ill!" Snape cried. Voldemort raised his wand again.

"Crucio!" The whipped sound stopped, but only for a second. "Lucius! I didn't tell you to stop!" They then continued.

Catherine nearly ran back up the stairs. She could not believe her eyes. Voldemort was nearly killing her father, and all because she hadn't shown up. Not being able to stand it anymore, she apparated back to Hogwarts.

After running back through the grounds, Catherine headed straight for Gryffindor Tower. She felt as is she could burst at any second, tears gathered in her eyes as she climbed through the portrait hole. Cate didn't stop on her way up to her bed, she pulled the hangings shut and collapsed down onto her bed.

Hours later, the dormitory was now only dimly lit (the rest of the students were on their way back from dinner) when Catherine was awoken by a sharp rapping on a window.

"Uuhhrg." She groaned, rolling over and pulling back the hangings. A black owl was at the window, rapping it's talons against the window. The young woman got up off her bed and walked over, opening the windows and taking the letter. It was written in the same red substance as the last one was. Sighing softly, Cate read through it quickly.

'Miss Snape,

You will be coming to meet with us the next time you are called. Come to the forbidden forest, and do not send or bring your father. If you do, you will received something a lot worse than a letter written in your father's blood.'

At that point (the end of the letter), Catherine dropped it and jumped away from it, gasping loudly.

"No." She whispered, the looked out of the window towards the forest and shuddered. Crouching down, Cate picked up the letter, folding it quickly, and left the tower. As Catherine walked through the halls, she thought back to the events earlier that day. She had been going through life as any young adult would, and in one second, was thrown into a hectic world of evil versus good, and insanity.

When she looked up, Cate found herself outside Professor Dumbledore's office, which was where she had planned to go. She muttered the password and jogged up the stairs, knocking on his door before entering.

"Catherine," He greeted warmly, "I expected to see you here . . . earlier though."

"Why earlier?" The eighteen-year-old asked as she sat across the desk from him.

"I expected you to come speak with me directly after telling Severus."

"Oh . . . " She paused, "Uh . . . about that . . . it would be nice if you didn't tell Severus this, but, I uh . . . I kinda went."

"What?" Two shocked voices echoed throughout the office. Catherine cringed heavily, thinking that her father had just walked in. However, Minerva walked around her, taking a seat on the side of Dumbledore's desk.

"Catherine, did you go to Voldemort? Answer me truthfully." Albus asked.

"I did not go to him . . . I went to the building. I saw him beating on Severus, he was furious with him for continually not allowing me to come. He cast the Cruciatus Curse on him, while Lucius Malfoy used a whip on him, and that would be when I left."

"You didn't get caught?"

"No." She shook her head, "But this came later, about thirty minutes ago." Cate tossed the letter onto the desk. The man read through it quickly, then passed it on, to Professor McGonagall.

"I'm not surprised at any actions of Voldemort or his death eaters."

"Neither am I." Minerva opinionated, placing the letter back down on the headmaster's desk.

"It was just so . . . " Catherine stopped, not knowing what to say, "I . . . I was in shock to see what Severus was going through. And . . . and to think that he . . . he's gone through this for so long, and that he saved me from it." The young woman paused tears sparkling in her eyes. "I don't understand why everything's so different now. Before I came here, things were so constriction, with dance, if you were over a certain weight, you were thrown out. The school was so full of conformity, everything was about being the best, the prettiest, the one who got all the guys." She sighed heavily, wiping tears off her face. "It's so much better to be here, even if my life's in danger." Cate buried her face in her hands, trying to get control of herself. Minerva reached over, rubbing the young woman's shoulder gently. After a few seconds, Catherine looked up, her face wet with tears, though, they had stopped flowing.

"Thank-you." Cate smiled, drying her face completely. "I'll leave this with you." She slid the letter across to Dumbledore. "And I'm heading to bed now."