A Life of Hiding
Author: Leta McGotor
Disclaimer: I own nothing because JKR does and I'm not her.
Chapter 4
Minerva began to stumble and to lose her balance. Nearer and nearer the dark nothing came in front of her and she had slid into the precipice, when there hadn't been the strong arm, that hold her only inches from it away. Minerva was too shocked to show any reaction, therefore she just layed there, at the edge of the precipice and looked down. Suddenly she felt how she was turned around and stared into the dirty face of a man with dark brown eyes. His features were in a strange way familiar to her, but she didn't know on whom they remided her.
Minerva looked closely at the man standing above her. His black hair was as dirty as the rest of his whole body and his clothes. Prominet was the long nose above his grim looking mouth. He wore old dirty and at some places torn clothes in brown and green – or did they have another colour, when they were clean? His shoes were more than only used, it seemed as if they were older than their owner and looked exact this way. On top of his head there was an old hut – if you could call it that. This one, too, was torn apart and you had to have much fantasy to recognize it as a hut. He looked with a grim expression at her and scrutinized Minerva from head to toe.
"You are not from here" The man said while he was examining her clothes with a stick. "Your clothes are good, I could sell them on the market. What do you want? Speak, woman!"
"I… I have been loocking for someone. But he was not…"
"Who?"
"Behind those trees there. I had hoped to find Mr. Snape." She pointed at the trees behind him.
"Who?"
"Mr. Sn…"
"No, who are you?"
My name is Minerva McGonagall and I…"
"What do you want from him?"
"I would like to speak with him personally about this matter." Minerva answered looking the man directly in the eyes.
"Tell or you are going to die. Are you from one of the Ministries?"
"From one of the…? No, I'm a teacher but I…"
"Which school?"
"I'm not sure whether you know the school, sir." She added the 'sir' carefully to look how he would react.
"Hogwarts?" Minerva was surprised. He knew from the school. She hadn't expected this.
"How do you…"
"I'm the one you are looking for, so tell me what do you want from me." Now it was Minerva's turn to scruntinize him.
"You are Severus' father?"
"You are here becaue of my son, I guess?"
"Yes, look. He… he is said to have murdered someone but I believe he is innocent and therefore I would like to speak with him. I think he is in a cottage at the moment. Of course I'm not sure. I would like you to give me the location of this summer cottage of yours, so I can try to find him there." She said hopefully that he would have at least a bit sympathy for his son. Severus never spoke well about his father.
"He has murdered someone? Who? I hope it is someone who deserved nothing better."
"He is said to have murdered Albus Dumbledore, the… the Headmaster of Hogwarts."
"Then I will not help you. I didn't like that school and when he has murdered that fool, then he has for the first time in his life done something right."
"No, wait. They… they… are going to kill him, when they find him. You don't want to see your only son to be killed although he has done nothing wrong, right?"
"Doesn't matter."
"But… but… please." Minerva pleaded and looked up to the man, who had the possebility to change all and nothing.
"What's your problem, woman? I don't care and why should you? You are from the Ministry and thought I would give you your needed information, right?"
"No, I…"
"You will get it. Like I said I don't care but it will be your own problem to get out of this forst alive. You see my gun here? I'm going to aim for all people, who think, they can disturb me. I thought the Ministry would be not that stupid. If I were you, I would start running." While he spoke he had drawn a map on the ground before him to show her, where she would find the cottage, but now he stood again and aimed his gun at her. Minerva looked shortly at the map before she jumped to her feet, transfigured into her catform and ran for her life. She heard the explosion of the gun but she turned around a big tree and continued running. Then another explosion and another. Then suddenly Minerva saw the edge of the forest and ran for it. In this precise moment she heard the forth explosion and all around her went black.
Severus was laying on his bed in the summer cottage of his parents and stared at the ceiling. For hours he had done this without moving an inch. He had tried to sleep several times but everytime he closed his eyes, he was met by the night, that changed his life. He heard the voice of Albus Dumbledore in his head, who had had told him to do it.
Flashback:
"You must do it, Severus. I don't want you to die at my place. The Unbreakable Vow will kill you if you doesn't fulfill it. You are far too young to die, your whole life lies in front of you."
"But Albus. You are too worthy to die. What is with the school, with the Order, with… with all, who believe on you? What will happen to them?"
"Severus, I have thought about it all long enough. They will make it, I know it, but they will need you, not me."
"That's ridiculous. Your are the greatest wizard of all times, you and not me. I can't"
"Severus, believe me that this way is the best to all of us. Trust me. Do you trust me, Severus?"
"Of course I do. But…"
"No, Severus, no 'but's. I want you to have a life, a real life. After all what happened you are belonging to those, who really deserve one. And besides that all I want to know is that Minerva is happy, too." He answered with a twinkle in his eyes.
End Flashback
Severus turned around in his bed again. There had to be a time when his body had to sleep and he hoped that this time was soon.
Several hours later Minerva opened her eyes again. She didn't know where she was. All around her looked green and brown and all looked so strange. She tried to move her legs but noticed that one was bleeding badly and that she was still in her catform. She guessed that this one saved her life for the man with the gun was nowhere to be seen and she layed under a thick bush of something she didn't know.
Carefully she transfigured herself back. She was right. Her left leg was bleeding and she had several smaller wounds at her arms, but she was alive. Slowly she tried to stand up, although the pain nearly killed her. She let herself sink against a nearby tree. What should she do now? She closed her eyes and tried to think of her possebilities. Suddenly she opened them again. She knew it, the map Severus' father had drawn. She had to react as fast as possible or she would forget the lines and points of it. She knew the area and was sure that she – although her leg was hurting – would reach the cottage within the next hour.
Slowly she pulled herself to her feet again. Then she transfigured a small branch into a walking stick and limped out of the forest, her destintion clearly in her mind.
A really big thank-you to Digital Damita and kate for your reviews. Maybe I've said it about a thousand times or so but here again: I love to read my reviews, so I hope I will get a few for this chapter, too.
nancy in chicago: No my mother tongue is German. Thank you for your advice with the beta. First I will try with a friend of mine and should that not work I am going to advertise for one. Although I don't know how I have to do it. Shall I wrote under one chapter that I'm looking for a beta?
