Warning: Violence and swearing!
ANOTHER UPDATE WHO CAN BELIEVE IT? I was supposed to be doing homework but I def wasted my entire day doing this lol. Since we are on a Sirius kick due to the NATURE of the OotP, and because I'm currently listening to PoA I REALLY wanted to write this scene and have been thinking about it for a long time! I do hope you enjoy xxxx
Also- I have to go to class now, but if I haven't responded to your review, I will do so later xx
A loud yell startled Penny from her sleep. She bolted upright, looking around in confusion, instead of finding her dormitory it was the dark common room that swam in her vision as she rubbed her eyes. She must have fallen asleep during the festivities for Gryffindor winning the quidditch cup. Apparently, no one had bothered to wake her so she could return to her bed. Her brain had not quite regained its normal function when a light from the portrait hole caught her attention; it was standing ajar as though someone had just entered and intended to return any moment to leave again.
The sight of it unnerved Penny who knew it was much too late for any of her classmates to have left the common room. Before she had the chance to investigate, the answer to her fears came thudding down the stairs, causing Penny to spring to her feet and turn to face the man making for the portrait hole. The breath caught in her chest when he stopped just before he ran headlong into her, suddenly realizing she was there. The dark eyes found her face and appeared to widen in shock, a softness fell over his features as though he knew Penny but had not seen her for many years.
Startled by his abrupt entrance and still groggy from sleep, Penny's own eyes strayed downward over the skeletal form, in whose hand was a knife. And then she realized she was looking at Sirius Black and he'd just come from the boys dormitory where Harry was. A cold dread spread through Penny and she took an involuntary step back, "You didn't kill him, you didn't kill Harry!" she said loudly, angrily.
Her accusation pulled Black from his daze and his eyes became hard, seemingly aware of the stirring that was likely to stumble their way towards them any moment. He advanced on Penny and pushed her roughly out of the way with one hand and made for the portrait. Filled with a reckless rage, Penny turned on her heel and ran after him, Sir Cadogan yelling after her as she ran as fast as she could after Black's footsteps. She did not know what she intended to do, or why she'd done it when she should have left it to the teachers, all she knew was she was filled with such hatred for Black that her legs moved without any real thought,. He'd betrayed her parents, was the reason they were dead, and had possibly just harmed Harry. Every fiber in Penny's body wanted nothing more than to catch Black, to make him hurt, and to steal his life away from him the same way he had stolen so much for her.
For being so emaciated, Black was fast and did not slow down, Penny noting how he seemed to know of all the passageways and shortcuts, as though he knew the castle inside out, even in the dark. Slipping a few times in her haste, Black was getting further and further away from her, until they made it out the door on the side of the castle that led toward the greenhouses. Penny knew this would be her chance, she was good at sprinting, dodging around corners, not so much. Finally, he looked back at her, somewhat alarmed. Penny didn't care that her bare feet were screaming in pain, she pushed forward with a great surge of energy.
Deciding he was not going to lose her in a 400 meter dash to the forest, Black changed course and made straight for the nearest greenhouse, throwing the door open and disappearing. Penny skidded to a halt and dashed inside, shutting and latching the door behind her, she would not allow him to sneak out without her noticing.
Her chest heaving, she squinted around, all was dark, all was silent and there was no sign of Black. Either he had some dumb luck, or he was much smarter than she gave him credit for because he'd chosen the smallest greenhouse, the one that was not used for teaching and was instead filled with old flower beds and tall shelving the whole way through. Penny had only been inside here a handful of times when Professor Sprout asked her to retrieve tools, or seedlings, but she was aware there was only one exit.
Reaching to her right, Penny picked up a hand shovel, having left her wand behind in the common room, she needed something to inflict damage with, and Black was carrying a knife. Penny stood for a moment, the adrenaline coursing through her easing just long enough for her to consider that perhaps she had made the most foolish of mistakes allowing Black to lure into the empty greenhouse, no one knowing she was missing or where she was likely to be. Black was a mass murderer, surely killing a 13-year old girl would be a simple task for him. But a stirring to Penny's left sent the adrenaline coursing again and she forgot worries, taking several slow, quiet steps toward the first row of shelving.
Her hand clutching her shovel more firmly, she glanced around the corner and peered down the first row, half expecting Black to be standing there looking back at her, but it was empty. Two rows away, however, Penny heard more stirring. With great caution, she headed toward it, one step at a time. She held her breath as she set her foot down, sharp rocks and the shards of broken pottery slicing open her vulnerable feet. When she finally arrived at the row, she paused, listening intently, she was certain something was just around the corner, so she took a moment to collect herself.
To be successful at killing a man Penny could not hesitate, Black surely wouldn't. Whatever stupid decision making had led her to this point, it was life or death now and Penny intended to live. It was evident that Black would not stop coming for Harry, if he had not already succeeded in killing him, and the Ministry had already failed not only in keeping him locked up but capturing him as well. Penny could not let him get away, not again when Harry's life depended on it. For once, she needed to be the one who helped Harry.
With a burst of courage, Penny clenched her jaw, raised the shovel over her head and rushed around the corner, charging several steps down it before her eyes adjusted to what she was looking at.
Black was nowhere to be found, instead there were several large rats scurrying around a bag of seeds that rested on the ground which they had apparently gnawed a hole through. Her heart thumping unreasonably in her chest, Penny lowered the shovel and kicked at the stupid animals, cursing them under her breath. However, she realized too late that dropping her guard had been a mistake. She heard his footsteps but was too slow to react, a skinny but unusually strong arm winding itself around her neck, pulling her firm against his frame in a choke hold. His other hand grabbed hold of the wrist that held the shovel and threatened to hit him.
Penny tried to yell in rage, but all she could manage was a strange gurgling sound because his arm was cutting off her airway. Black wasted no time and pulled her to the right to get near enough the shelving to begin smashing her hand against in an attempt to force her to drop the shovel. Knowing it was futile to try to force his grip from her, she reached up and began clawing at Black's face, her fingernails cutting into that waxy skin and drawing blood. He let out a strangled grunt, but did not desist, smashing her hand so hard against the shelf that the sound of her bones cracking reached her ears. She cried out in pain, but the sound was again lost in her throat, the searing pain in her hand accomplishing what Black intended, and loosened her grip on it, allowing him to fling it away from them, where it clattered to the floor.
With no need to worry about her weapon anymore and having the upper hand due to brute strength, he moved onto subduing the hand assaulting his face, prying it off himself with ease. Though he was little more than a skeleton, he was a full grown man, giving him an advantage over Penny, but that did not mean she was ready to roll over. Knowing her time was short because of the lack of oxygen, she instinctively took the heel of her foot and stomped on his several times with all the force she could muster.
He yelped and staggered just enough for Penny to be victorious in throwing all her weight against him, causing him to trip. Already off balance, he went tumbling to the ground, taking Penny with him. In order to catch himself, he released Penny's neck, she gasping in air as soon as she was free. They landed hard on the ground in a somewhat tangled mess, but Penny did not waste a moment, she elbowed him in the side of the head before scrambling over him on all fours. At this point, all her ideations of killing Black had long since disappeared and Penny was filled with a desperation to survive, the weight of how foolish she had been crushing in on her.
She'd almost made it to the end of the row when Black's hand caught her ankle and began pulling her back towards him.
"No you don't," he growled.
Grabbing the nearest thing, Penny clung onto the foot of the shelf and kicked hard at Black with her free leg. He dodged her with quick reflexes and gave her a good yank, prying her free. In a single motion, Penny grabbed a pot to her right, rolled over and swung it at Black just as he got her into range. He managed to protect his face with his arm and the pot shattered, distracting him.
For the second time, Penny rolled onto her stomach and tried to scramble away, but in the moment it took her to gather herself, Black was already upon her and he forced her around, slamming her back against the cold, dirty ground. Straddling her to keep her legs secure, he took her wrists and pinned them above her head, forcing her into submission with terrifying ease.
Penny struggled, yelling, thrashing and attempting to bite at anything within range, but Black was more cautious now and remained just outside of it. It wasn't until the body above her began to cackle that she ceased her efforts, her eyes finally focusing on her captor. He hovered over her, his sunken features full of sick amusement, his eyes glinting with a liveliness his wanted pictures had missed and his chest heaving from the effort it had taken to get Penny under control. He watched her, the both of them catching their breath, Black still laughing uncontrollably, looking at her as if he'd known her for her entire life. If Penny did not know better, she'd say Black was enjoying some twisted joke only he was party to. For the first time since she'd woken up and endeavored on this idiotic mission, fear, real petrifying fear began to penetrate Penny's senses, making her completely helpless as she dreaded what he would do now.
"That was a real dumb thing to do, Penelope. You should have let me leave the tower, no one knows you're down here," Black said.
"My name is Penny! And don't speak to me like you know me," Penny said, startling herself with the amount of fierceness in her voice.
"I know a lot more about you than you think, and about the mother you're the spitting image of," he said with a dry laugh. "A lot more like James though, aren't you? Yes, you have the same look he always had when he realized how fucked he was."
"Let me go and I'll show you who's fucked," Penny spat, returning again to her efforts to break free of his hold.
He grinned down at her in approval much like an uncle might unsettling Penny. Black was not at all as Penny had imagined him, insane, maniacal, lusting for blood, evil. Instead he seemed rather laid back, amused, and if he were not currently pinning her to the floor she'd think they were just having a casual chat based on his demeanor. "And what did you think you could do against me, you came after me without even picking up your wand. You're brave, I'll give you that, kid but you're also reckless, and reckless is what gets you killed."
"You'd know a thing or two about recklessness, entering the Gryffindor common room after you failed last time and now that Albus Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic know you're here, it's only a matter of time before they catch you," Penny retorted.
"I knew what I was risking, and they won't catch me, not before I accomplish what I came here to do," he said, his amusement turning to anger.
His words gave Penny hope that he hadn't succeeded, that somehow Harry was alright.
"I refuse to let you, you won't get away with this, I'll make you pay for what you've done," Penny blurted out, realizing too late she was not in the position to make threats.
His bark-like laugh startled Penny, who stared at Black again uncertain if she were looking at a murderer or just an average man going about his business. Perhaps that was what people meant by evil, someone had to be this desensitized in order to warrant the title. Black had killed 13 people, but Penny felt like it should have been more obvious, like a tattoo on his face.
"You want to kill me, don't you, Penny? I see it in your eyes," Black said, a pity in his eyes that infuriated Penny and made her feel even more pathetic.
"You stole them from me! You're the reason they're dead, I won't let you have Harry too," Penny said with more confidence than the situation should allow.
"One as young as you should not know such hatred," he said, sounding almost remorseful.
"Should not? How can you speak of should nots! You murdered 13 people, you sold my parents out to Voldemort-your best friend!" Penny yelled, thrashing again beneath his hold, wishing very much that her hands could hit him, beat him over and over again until he felt the kind of pain that was swallowing her heart whole . It felt good to lash out at him, to release the truth and see the way Black recoiled before his face hardened.
"You've only got one thing right, James was my best friend, and I won't see his daughter become a murderer on my account. I don't care what happens to me, but I will make him pay and you won't be getting in my way," Black said, his voice full of vehemence.
"So what, are you going to kill me too? Go on then, just do it already, what's a murderer like you waiting for?" demanded Penny, searching around again, for something, anything to help free herself from his grasp. It probably wasn't her best plan, egging on her captor to kill her, and though her words feigned courage, Penny was trembling within and was not at all ready to die.
"I didn't come all this way for you, but I'm too close now, I can't let him escape. I'd really rather not do this, but you are his child and I think it's safe to assume even after getting your ass handed to you, you'd still be stupid enough to follow me. I'm sorry, but I have to. . ." Black said, the breath catching in Penny's chest as all the fight drained out of her, a mixture of terror and confusion paralyzing her. He watched her for a moment before leaning down and placing a prickly kiss on her right cheek
Before Penny comprehended what he had done or could respond, his bony hands released her wrists, wrapping themselves around her neck and began squeezing. She swiped at him, but his arms were longer than hers and she hit nothing but air. Reaching for his hands, she tried to pry him from her neck, choking beneath his hold. Again, the effort was futile, panic setting into Penny. She gasped, thrashed and attempted to yell, desperate for freedom, for her warm bed, for Harry's embrace.
His grey eyes ensnared her own wide, terrified green ones just like her neck . Looking up at the man who was strangling the life out of her, Penny found something utterly peculiar in his features. Where she'd expected to see evil, hatred, pleasure even, there was grief, agony, despair and even loathing-self-loathing? He looked like a man who wanted no part in the violence he was committing, a desperate man who only had horrible choices to choose from. And in that moment, watching Black, Penny's struggling eased, her hands ceasing their attempt to harm him and opting instead to hold onto Black's wrists, no longer resisting and wanting nothing more than to understand why Black did not want to hurt her.
Her gesture appeared to be unbearable to him, causing him to shut his eyes, letting out an angry yell as several hot tears landed on Penny's face. He was crying, but why, Penny did not know.
"You're just like him, you know, like James. He would have done the same thing. I'm glad I got to see you just once before. . .If things had been different-Don't come looking for me again, Penny. You're so young and the world still has so much to offer you, so don't squander it," he said in a strangled voice, his eyes remaining tightly shut.
The world around Penny was exploding with tiny white dots, the panic spiking in her chest, but she clung to Black's wrist, finding a strange solace in the crying man, allowing him to ease her into the darkness. Just before she fell unconscious her body started twitching again of its own accord, it's last ditch effort to preserve her life. His eyes opened, turning back to her green ones. She clung to those eyes wishing she could read the thoughts that hid behind them. There was a secret there, a painful secret, one that involved her. But it mattered not because her eyes rolled and her head lulled to the side and all was black.
Penny didn't know how much time had passed, but when her eyes opened again, the world around her was still dark. She coughed several times, her entire body screaming in pain. The sound of a door banging open meeting her ears.
"Help!" Penny cried in a raspy voice. "Help me!" she tried again, barely louder this time.
She was acutely aware of several shards of pottery pressing into her back, so she tried to roll off them, letting out a cry of pain when she put weight on her broken hand.
"Potter!" Snape hissed, his lit wand rounding the corner and blinding her. He made his way quickly to her side, kneeling down beside her and helping her into a sitting position.
The black eyes found her green eyes and Penny was surprised to find worry behind them instead of the fury she expected. Penny coughed several times, her unbroken hand rubbing at her aching neck. Snape's eyes narrowed on her it, and he pulled her hand aside to examine her neck, his fingers trailing what she knew must be a bruise. Then he moved onto her cradled hand, scowling as he pressed on the break and she yelped again.
"I've been looking everywhere for you, explain yourself!" he demanded in an unusually strangled voice.
"It was Black, I chased him-" Penny admitted, too ashamed to meet his gaze.
"You-brazenly stupid-could have-lucky to be!" he fumed, so angry he could not even finish a single one of his thoughts.
"I thought he was going to kill me. . ." Penny said, quietly to the floor. Snape's rant stopped abruptly, the hand on her back going stiff.
"I was-I was so afraid," Penny said, a fat tear rolling off her nose and hitting the ground. "It was so foolish, I don't know why I did it, but when he had his hands around my throat, I-I thought that was it. And I was angry, angry I'd never see you again," Penny went on, finding the strength to look up at him, to make him understand.
In that moment, the moment before she was certain her life would leave her, she had not felt the terror or helpless as she'd expected. Instead, she'd been consumed with a horrible sense of sorrow and guilt as Snape's face had flashed before her eyes. Thinking of that face, Penny wanted more time, she needed to understand why him-why this miserable, annoying, awful man meant so damn much to her.
His brows furrowed, the color gone from his face, the harsh lines of it softening a little, and Penny knew she'd been given a second chance and she refused to waste it. She turned and threw herself into him, wrapping her hands around his stomach and holding tightly to him not caring that her hand screamed in pain, letting the flood of tears burst free. He tumbled backwards, Penny landing in his lap, her face buried in his chest as she cried and soaked in that wonderful smell, the one that always made her feel safe. Bergamot intoxicating her, Penny clung even tighter to Snape's slim frame, allowing the relief she felt to swim through every vein in her body.
Startled by her outburst, Snape sat rigidly for a moment, but then two arms wound their way around Penny, and very reluctantly, he held her, Penny listening to the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest.
"It'll take a lot more than death to keep me from you," Snape said and though the words came out harshly, almost angrily, they reached out and shook the heart in Penny's chest as she began to wonder if Snape had also been afraid-afraid of losing her. "You will forget all the rubbish that annoying house of yours has taught you. There is no glory in playing the hero, there are only those who die like fools and those intelligent enough to do everything they can to stay alive. I forbid you from acting so stupidly ever again. And I warn you, if you ever disregard this, I do not care what it requires of me, where I have to go or whom I have to get through-I will find you- and you will experience the full wrath of my displeasure."
Penny took the reprimand and nodded into his chest, finding the command strangely soothing. Suddenly, her desire to live, to run away no longer felt like cowardice, it had a newfound purpose, because she understood now that his arms would always be waiting for her. His words they were a promise; if she ever lost her way she could always trust him to find her.
Sorry, it's the BRIEFEST moment with Snape, but in my head, boy is this moment IMPORTANT. One day we will get there, maybe, if I ever make it to book seven! Alright, have a wonderful day xxx