The Traitor – Chapter Two

Valentina was standing near the bridge looking at the dark forest when she heard a familiar pop behind her. She turned around and saw Snape.

"I see you've found your way pretty easily." She said.

"I had a good tour guide to show me the way," he replied with a smirk.

"Let's go then. It's not so far from here."

They walked through the forest for about thirty minutes. Snape was already losing his patience as he kept cursing under his breath at every plant that dared to be on his way.

"Here we are." Valentina said.

They were standing in front of a large, wide clearing which seemed to be very bright under the moon light.

"There's nothing here." Snape said with a confused look.

"There will be now." Valentina waved her wand and a small cottage appeared in the center of the clearing.

Snape raised an eyebrow and followed Valentina as she led the way to the cottage. When they reached it, she pointed her wand at the door and muttered a few incantations, by the end of which it was opened.

"Impressive." Snape said as he followed her inside.

"You can't trust anyone around here." She waved her wand at the door and it locked itself.

Snape noticed shelves covering one wall of the room. There were many brown vases on them, and each had a date written on it. He stepped closer to them and started reading. There were no signs as to what can be inside the vases. He turned to look at Valentina and saw her take off her cloak and throw it at one of the two armchairs.

"They're ashes." She said.

"Ashes?" he was surprised. He didn't know she had noticed him reading the dates carefully.

"Family. No one wanted to get buried, so I keep them here." She said as she sat down on the couch and lifted her legs up on it.

"Oh." Snape said, "I see that one of them has died recently. About a month ago. Please accept my sympathies."

For the trolls' sake! What does he find so interesting about the darned vases? She asked herself. In fact those vases contained the ashes of her victims. She had turned their bodies into ashes and kept them in those vases. She marked the dates only to remember when she killed them. She didn't want to remember whom she killed.

When she didn't reply, Snape took a last look at the vases and went to sit on one of the armchairs.

"You seem to have a large family." He said.

"Yes, a very large one." She said. She had her elbow rested on the back of the couch, and her hand on her nose bridge. Her eyes were closed.

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked and went to sit next to her on the couch.

She pulled her legs to her chest, to give him space to sit. "I'm fine. It's just a slight headache. I think I've had too much fire whiskey."

He got up from his seat and went to kneel behind her. He took her head in his hand and tilted it back to rest on the arm of the couch. He started massaging her temples. Valentina groaned as her headache started to subside.

Snape continued massaging her temples until he noticed one of her hands fall to the side. She had fallen asleep. He got up and put her hand on her stomach. She looked beautiful and innocent while asleep, he thought. His plans for the night had been spoiled. He'd leave her and go home, but that wouldn't be nice. After all, he wanted her to trust him. Gaining the trust of Valentina Forester wasn't an easy task, and he wouldn't want to lose what he had achieved until this moment.

He looked around the place and saw a small staircase heading upstairs. He wondered where it came from. Besides, the cottage didn't seem to have a second floor from outside.

"You have charmed your own cottage pretty good." He muttered and went upstairs.

There he found a room with only one double sized bed in the center. This must be her room, he thought. He pulled the cover of the bed opened and went downstairs to get Valentina.

He carried her gently and took her upstairs and laid her in the bed, pulled her leather boots off and then pulled the covers on her and turned to head to the stairs.

"Stay."

He turned around to see her turn to a side, her eyes still closed.

"Stay with me, please." She said.

Snape raised an eyebrow at her request. Valentina Forester would never sound so innocent and nice unless she wanted something. He didn't know what she wanted, but if she had asked him to stay, then it must've been for a good reason. And that reason was something that Snape wanted too. At least, that's what he thought.

He took off his robes and sat on the edge of the bed. It was going to be uncomfortable if he was going to sleep with his clothes on. He took off his shoes and lay down on the bed, next to her. They faced each other, although Valentina's eyes were closed and she was breathing slowly.

Snape moved a lock of hair from her face, and his hand touched her face. She had a soft skin, he thought. Finally, he fell asleep.

About a couple of hours later, Valentina opened her eyes and saw Snape sleeping next to her. She smiled. Her plan was working. She lifted her head slightly and saw his robes folded neatly and put on a chair, and his wand was on it. She slowly extended her hand to her thigh and found her wand there in its usual place. She took it out and pointed at Snape's wand with muttering a levitation charm she levitated it and brought it to her. Her next step was tying Snape to the bed. Fortunately to her, he was lying on his back. She slowly got off the bed, making sure he wouldn't feel her moving and pointed her wand at him.

"Incarcerous!" she whispered and ropes erupted from her wand and tied Snape to the bed.

"What the..." Snape opened his eyes instantly and tried to get up.

"Shut up, traitor." She said firmly.

"What? What're you talking about?" he asked. How much did she know about him, and how?

"You perfectly know what I'm talking about, Snape" She said, "You've betrayed the Dark Lord's trust. Now you have to pay."

She took out a dagger from the drawer next to her bed and walked to the other side, where Snape was lying.

"What are you going to do?" he asked. He wasn't scared. He knew this day was going to come sooner or later. But he didn't expect that Voldemort wouldn't do it himself.

"The Dark Lord wants your head, and he's going to receive it." She said and put the dagger on his throat. "Any last wishes, Professor?"

Snape took a deep breath. He should do something, but how was he going to do anything while tied to the bed?

"You brought me here for a reason, and I came here for another." He said, "You're going to kill me, and your task is completed. May I at least get a part of mine done?"

"And what would that be?" she asked.

"A kiss."

Valentina felt like a tank of cold water had been poured on her head. A kiss? None of her victims had asked for that before. Not that she asked them for a last wish anyway. But this had confused her. She didn't know whether she should grant his wish or reject it.

Snape could see the confusion and distraction in her eyes and he also could feel the dagger firmly placed on his neck. This was the best time for him to do something.

"Accio wand!" he yelled and his wand flew to his hand. He didn't know where was it directed at, and he didn't care. "Reducto!" he yelled next.

It all happened so fast. Apparently, Snape's wand was directed at the staircase. The spell blew off the wall and that made the floor lose balance and crash.

TBC

Replies to reviewers:

Ajnastarheart: Here's what happens next :) and let's just say Snape wasn't smart enough this time ;) Thanks for reviewing!

Cyndi Black: Did I tell you how much I loffs you?

Gavroche-Girl: Updated! Now you know what happened :P