Summary: Set after HBP, this is the untold story of Severus Snape and how he lead the life of a double-alias. With the aid of flashbacks, we take a look at what really drove Severus to the Dark Side, how he earned Dumbledore's trust and most importantly, what burned his desire for redemption.

Disclaimer: Anything from Harry Potter is JK Rowling's. Everything else is mine. This was written based on speculations my sister and I made post-HBP.


The Prince's Reverie
Chapter 1

It was a dark and dreary night in Spinner's End, and it would have been considerably odd to find anyone taking a casual stroll. The wind blowing in the trees sounded awfully like a requiem that even thinking of being out at a time like this sent shivers down one's spine. The half-orb hanging in the sky illuminated the tombstones, which were strewn across the grounds.

Pop.

Two figures suddenly conjured from thin air and were now just outside the gates of the graveyard. 'Hurry up, Draco,' a voice growled. Severus Snape dusted his robes, and yanked a young boy in his teens by the collar, causing him to stand up abruptly. 'We haven't got the time to be smelling flowers.'

Draco Malfoy frowned at Severus' dry humor and caught up with him, walking as fast as he could to keep up with his old Head of Slytherin House. Both of them were no longer teacher and student of Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but fugitives running away from it. Oh, how Draco would give anything to be in Hogwarts again, renouncing his title as a Death Eater, and continue living the life of a normal boy, without worrying about his family's lives being at stake. But he knew it was impossible; Draco knew that Hogwarts was now merely a memory ...

'Foolish thoughts, Draco,' came the sharp voice from in front of him. Draco looked up, having forgotten completely that the man leading him was an accomplished Legimens. 'Had you done that in the presence of the Dark Lord, green light would have been the last thing you'd ever live to see.'

Severus Snape looked past his shoulder and caught sight of the young boy whose life he was responsible for. 'How many times must I remind you to shut your mind?' he persisted.

Draco merely scowled at the hundredth lecture he had received for the night and suddenly felt as if the anger building inside him was about to explode. 'Why didn't you leave Dumbledore to me? The Dark Lord's orders were for me to carry out, and –'

'You failed miserably,' Snape cut in, sharply. 'Both you and I know that you weren't capable of inflicting pain of any sort on the incompetent old fool. Had you the courage, you would have finished him off before I arrived.'

Draco was about to defend himself but suddenly felt compelled to keep quiet, knowing that what Snape said was true.

'Enough chat; we shan't keep people waiting,' Snape concluded, and which signaled the end of the conversation. Speeding up, Severus reached into his robes for his wand, suddenly feeling the need of security. A million thoughts were racing in his mind and he was having a hell of a time blocking out his thoughts, something he was quite used to before meeting the Dark Lord in person. The scene was still fresh in his mind, and was playing a cruel joke on him, replaying over and over again.

'Severus, please ...' Dumbledore pleaded.

Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and a look of revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face.

'Please ...'

Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore.

'Avada Kedavra!'

A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest ...

Severus shook the thought out of his head, and beckoned Draco to hurry. He knew that now wasn't exactly the best time to reflect on the past. Walking swiftly past the tombstones, the silence was broken by Draco's curiousity.

'Why are we here anyway?' Draco sneered, sweeping the scene with his empty blue eyes. It was a fact that Draco came from the prominent family of the Malfoys, and was highly insulted to be in such a horrible-looking street: rubbish cans kicked to the curb, crooked streetlamps (which barely lit the pathways), rats scurrying about and the horrible stench that entered his nostrils, which was most probably emitted by the murky river they were currently passing. 'Wouldn't this place be swarmed with aurors seeing that the blundering thunderhead would have told everyone by now how you killed –'

'It is the Dark Lord's orders,' Severus interrupted, curtly. 'The place we are about to reach is implottable and has been placed heavy curses all round,' He explained. 'You of all people should know what happens to people who questions his motives.' At the mere mention of their Master, Draco stiffened. 'We are here to see your mother,' Severus continued, after a while. 'She begged him for this special arrangement, so I don't think you'd want to waste any more time.'

With the last comment, both of them set off to the narrow winding road and walked briskly past evacuated buildings. Their footsteps echoed on the cobbled steps as they passed brick houses with broken windows. Without warning, Severus stopped in his tracks in front of the last house in the corner. Approaching the front door carefully, Severus lifted his fist to knock the door, when it flew open and a rather hysterical woman flung herself out, running past him.

'Draco!' The tall blonde woman called out, engulfing the pale boy in an over-bearing hug. Kissing his forehead, Narcissa Malfoy hurried both Draco and Severus into the house, and popped her head out of the door, keeping her eye out for unwanted guests. Turning on her heels, she shut the door quietly behind her and left to tend to her son. Rushing to his side, she conjured a kit with a flick of her wand, and brushed Draco's hair out of his face to search for any cut that may have scarred his pale face, much to his disdain.

Severus took off his cloak and draped it over the chair when he saw something strange in the corner of his eye – a figure sitting on the window frame. Stepping out of the shadows, the phantom revealed himself to be, well actually, a her.

'Bellatrix,' Snape sneered, his mouth curling into a sly grin. 'Fancy seeing you here. Come to see me gloat my victory?'

The woman whom he called Bellatrix had features which were quite similar to the witch before her but had hair as black as night, instead of her sister's blonde. She advanced towards Severus, her eyes hungry and snake-like.

'So it's done?' she whispered.

'I wouldn't be here if it wasn't, now would I?' Severus replied, with a bored voice.

Her eyes widened as she looked at him in disbelief. It was impossible. Dumbledore was really dead ... Bellatrix couldn't believe that the one wizard every Death Eater has been trying to kill (aside Harry Potter) was actually dead. And killed, no less, by Severus Snape, the Dark Lord's spy whom the old fool thought to have "renounced the old ways"!

'Did he fight back? Did the buffoon fight back?' Bellatrix began, her voice getting louder and louder, her excitement growing.

'It is a remarkable story how he died, Bella, but Severus will be all too happy to tell you tomorrow, because he and Draco deserve some rest,' Narcissa cut in, killing the heightening climax.

'Are you joking, Cissy? How can you think of sleep at a time like this – when Death Eaters everywhere are rejoicing!' Bellatrix said incredulously, baffled by her sister's odd behaviour. 'You're obviously mad! And what is he doing here, anyway? I understand Draco, but shouldn't Snape be reporting to the Dark Lord?' she persisted.

'Amycus and Alecto are doing that deed,' Severus said quietly. 'I thought you, being the Dark Lord's favourite and everything, would have known about the change of plans beforehand?' Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at Severus. 'Thank you, Narcissa, for your concern,' he said, nodding his head. 'I trust the both of you would have made yourselves comfortable by now? Excuse me,' Severus finished, leaving the two sisters to squabble.

Finding his way to his room, he could hear the shrill voices of the witches echoing in the corridor and cast a soundproof charm on the walls of his bedroom before shutting the door behind him. He stared at the four bare walls, and sat himself on the bed. Changing out of his dirty robes, he slid under the covers. Severus was tired – both mentally and physically. He was tired of leading a double-life; tired of lying; tired of pretending; tired of spying; tired of running; tired of hiding. He was fully aware that his fate was sealed the moment the Dark Mark burned his skin at the young age of eighteen ... In fact, he was certain things were never going to be the same once he went under Dumbledore's wing to act as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix ...

And then suddenly, as if things couldn't get any worse, a pair of green eyes floated into his mind, which slowly came with a whole face, accompanied by the unruly jet-black hair and lightning-bold shaped scar on the forehead. Severus' eyes were suddenly filled with so much hatred for the foolish boy whom the face belonged to; the one who caused all of this; the one who dared call him a coward ...


'Kill me, then,' panted Harry, whose eyes were filled with only rage and contempt. 'Kill me like you killed him, you coward –'

'DON'T – ' screamed Severus, and his face was suddenly demented, inhuman, as though he was in as much pain as the
yelping, howling dog stuck in the burning house behind them, ' – CALL ME COWARD!'

Severus Snape, a coward? How dare anyone call him a coward when it took a man with such, outstanding courage to take the life of one of the greatest wizards to have ever lived on his orders ... After tonight, no one else would ever know the truth behind what really happened, seeing that it died along with the only other person who truly knew Severus' intentions, just merely an hour ago ... Potter was the only witness among the Death Eaters and the scene had portrayed Severus to be a heartless murderer: killing Dumbledore with the Unforgivable Curse, after he pleaded for his life ... Or so they had thought.

Everything happened too quickly and nothing seemed to make sense when Severus replayed the scene in his head. The message Dumbledore had sent via legilimency just seconds before his life ended was short and simple: Kill me and take the boy. Severus didn't have time to mull things over and did as he was told, without a second to give himself away, in front of the Death Eaters. It was heart-wrenching enough to see the state Dumbledore was in – pleading for his death– but to be the one who was going to have to fulfill his death wish? It was simply cruel ... Severus was fully aware that he was doomed from the very beginning, and that with every action came a consequence and he couldn't avoid it. And so with one look of revulsion and hatred for the great wizard who wished his death, Severus Snape killed Dumbledore with just a flick of his wand and the simple incantation that ended anyone's life almost instantly – Avada Kedavra.

Severus' eyes softened once the face of the moronic boy morphed into the face of a much kinder witch, blessed with cascading red hair, but with identical eyes as the face before that just bore into his own black ones. Turning to face the wall, Severus shook his head and wished forever more to draw his thoughts out into a pensieve. He was going to meet the Dark Lord first thing in the morning tomorrow and the last thing he needed was a distraction from the past in the form of Lily Evans ... But before he could stop himself, his heavy eyelids drooped and eventually closed, leaving him to fall into a deep slumber ...

Author's Note: I know it's pretty silly of me to have started a new story when I've got two unfinished ones, but I couldn't wait to write this when I exchanged theories with my sister after HBP. This is merely based on what we think must have happened and what was the real cause behind Snape killing Dumbledore. Basically, I love Snape and I don't think he is pure evil. :):)

This is also something relatively new to me, because I've always written Lily/James. This, however, is going to focus on Snape and will explain the actions behind the greasy Potions Master we have all grown to love and hate. :D

Love it or hate it, do leave a review so that I can write Chapter 2 in peace, heh. The following chapters are roughly going to be Snape's flashbacks of his days in Hogwarts, and maybe occasional glances of the present.

Love,
Amirah