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Chapter 4

The Soulless one

Laurel wished it were just a nightmare. The abrupt sensation of weightlessness produced a void in her stomach that made her want to vomit, and the sudden gust of icy wind on her face made her close her eyes and clench her teeth. Her first impulse was to try to free herself from the solid arms that carried her, but a brief glance at the lights that illuminated London thousands of feet below produced in her the opposite instinct. She pressed herself even more against Severus's body trying not to die of hypothermia and buried her face in his chest, praying that this infernal flight would end soon.

Severus' black eyes were fixed on the woman in his arms, trying to understand the miracle that he had just witnessed. Only one person in the world had survived the Killing Curse and it was only because the infant Harry Potter had been protected by the love of his mother Lily, but this woman was a muggle and she had no magical protection. He had realized that Greyback had tried to torture her with the Cruciatus curse and had failed, but in that instant, he thought it was just poor aim or simply the werewolf's ineptitude for magic. The woman shifted in his arms and for a brief moment her wild eyes stared directly into his with fear. Severus wanted to penetrate her mind and learn more about her, but it was like crashing into a solid concrete wall. It had not been because of his nervousness that he couldn't use legilimency on her earlier. That woman was immune to magic. He remembered hearing about those soulless beings, an infamous race that many wizards considered cursed and believed almost extinct. A chill ran through his body at the thought that it might be true. The Death Eaters would not stop until they find her and most likely would offer her in sacrifice to the Dark Lord. She closed her eyes again and wrapped her arms around the wizard's body. Severus barely let out a gasp of surprise as he felt her warm breath against his chest. It had been a long time since he had such an intimate contact with another person. He shook his head, refocusing his thoughts on the immense problem in which he had been involved. Greyback would want revenge and surely the Carrows would be looking for the Muggle who had survived the killing curse. He looked down and could recognize the creek that circled Cokeworth.

A few minutes later, which seemed centuries to Laurel, Severus stepped to his feet in the dark, silent street of Spinner´s End and allowed Laurel to stretch her legs and take a breath before pushing her into his house. She was speechless upon realizing that she was in Tobias' old house in Cokeworth. The entire room seemed to be frozen in time. The same worn armchairs occupied the small living room. The chipped walls were the same as the ones in the photograph that she had so often looked at. The only difference was the tall shelves that seemed to be about to collapse from the immense number of books they were holding.

Severus just pointed to one of the rickety chairs and said without looking at her:

-"Sit down."

Tremblingly, Laurel obeyed, her gaze following the wizard who was currently scrambling around in the kitchen. He returned at once with a glass of water, which he bluntly offered to the young woman as he went about the room casting spells to prevent Wormtail from spying on them. Laurel didn't take her eyes off his wand, ready to run as soon as it was pointed at her. However, that did not happen. The wizard dropped exhausted into one of the armchairs in front of her and snapped:

- "I have not poisoned the water. Drink it."

The young woman took a sip and felt grateful as the cold liquid soothed her dry and sore throat after inhaling the smoke from the fire in the club. She immediately thought of Rebecca and Edward and ruefully she dared to ask the man if her friends were safe.

- "I do not know."- he replied dryly. - "And that's the least you should worry about now."

- "Is it true, then?" - she asked. - "Tobias was not hallucinating. You are a wizard? "

Severus didn't answer her, with a brief wave of his wand he made his long black robes appear out of nowhere. Laurel gazed in wonder as his long cloak wrapped around his slim figure as if it were his shadow.

- "And you are an Akardos, right?"

- "A what?"

Before Laurel could react, Severus said quietly:

- "Levicorpus."

A flash of light came towards her and Laurel let out a frightened screech, but as Severus expected, the woman was not left hanging in the air. Absolutely nothing happened to her. He couldn't help it, he stood up and approached Laurel, taking her chin with his long fingers, he examined her face as if it were one of his complex potions. There was nothing special about her that set her apart from other muggles, her russet brown eyes refused to look directly at him, her glowing skin indicated that she was no more than 25 years old. Severus stared briefly at her pale rounded lips and felt sorry for what Greyback would have done to her if he hadn't stopped him in time.

- "Please do not hurt me." - She begged as she tried to get away from him, shrinking in the chair and trying to control the crying that was already beginning to emerge. -"I did not want to bother you. I didn't mean to be rude. Let me go and you will never see me again. I beg you…"

- "I'm afraid that won't be possible." - Severus replied. - "Your impertinence has put me in a rather difficult situation. I hope you are smart enough to realize that I have risked a lot in saving you and bringing you here. The others will soon come looking for you and most probably they will kill you".

- "But I haven't done anything!"

- "Absolutely. Your mere existence is a threat to our world. Your life is worth less than of a muggle's. "

Laurel wiped away her tears and tried to reason with Severus.

- "But I'm muggle! Just like Tobias! Just like all those people in the club! Why should they insist on killing me? "

- "How stupid can you be? Have you not realized that it is a miracle that you are still alive? That none of the unforgivable curses they have thrown at you have worked? You are the worst kind of muggle there can be! You are an Akardos! The Soulless ones. A long time ago the magical world tried to eliminate those who were like you, immune to magic, natural enemies of the magic folk; and the extermination was thought to have been successful. Unfortunately, few Akardos survived, and they did because it is very difficult to distinguish them from the rest of the muggles. And so, we decided to hide our magic, so we don't have to deal with your disgusting kind."

Laurel barely understood what Severus was saying, but that last sentence made her lips curl in offense. What right did he have to call her that? The only thing she had ever tried to do was having a conversation with him. Disgusting had been that attack on innocent people. Now her life was in danger due to what Laurel believed, some sort of magical supremacy war. A war in which her blood was deemed worthy of complete annihilation.

- "Why did you get me out of there then?" - She asked angrily. - "Why not let me die in the fire?"

Severus wondered the same, it would have been so much easier to let Greyback finish her off, so he wouldn't have to deal with the grave suspicions that now fell on him. He had made a huge mistake and exposed his cover by attacking a member of his fellow Death Eaters to protect a muggle. However, Severus Snape hadn't been so cold-hearted to let Greyback mutilate the poor girl, especially when she had put herself on a silver platter by foolishly addressing him.

- "I'm not really sure yet." - Severus replied sarcastically. - "Would you rather have been skinned alive? Your cursed blood only protects you from spells and curses, not from the teeth and claws of a werewolf ... "

- "Can you please stop saying that I'm cursed and that my blood is disgusting? It has already become clear to me ... "

Severus felt a pang of remorse as he remembered for a second the look of disdain in Lily's eyes when he called her that insulting name, yet he continued speaking, pretending to ignore Laurel's complaint.

- "You were also talking about Tobias Snape, weren't you? Did you know the bastard? "

Sadness invaded her as she remembered the reason why she had decided to exchange words with Severus Snape. She remembered Tobias' watery eyes begging to see his son again and there he was now, in front of her, insulting his own father and looking at her with anger.

- "Don't call him that, I loved him very much." - Laurel murmured, looking sadly at the floor. - "I took care of him for a little over a year in a nursing home. We thought he had mental problems, that he hallucinated ... but I see that everything he said was true. "

Without realizing it, Severus had his gaze fixed on the Prince family pendant, it had been so long since he had seen it hanging from his mother's neck that he had completely forgotten about it. That day he finally decided to get rid of his father, he must have stolen it.

- "So, the old dog was able to resist the memory charm?" - Severus said more to himself than to Laurel. - "It may be that the spell had faded over time, or I simply performed it incorrectly ..."

- "Did you do that to your father yourself? Did you hate him because he was a muggle? "

- "No, I hate him because he is a monster. I don't know what he told you, but he made my life a complete nightmare."

Laurel looked at the man's thin face, comparing it to the photographs she had seen of him in his childhood. He still retained the enormous resemblance to his mother, the black and dull eyes gave her that feeling of despair again, however, there was also a little bit of Tobias in him, an aura of dignity and self-assurance that made Laurel forget for one second that she was in grave danger.

- "Was… He was… Tobias passed away a few days ago. I took care of the funeral myself." -Laurel hid her face with her hands ashamed. - "I know, I know. Tobias had told me about it, he himself recognized that he was not worthy of his family, that he had committed terrible acts ... I was an idiot, Severus, pestering you like that ... I did not stop to think that I could offend you, I just thought that maybe you would want to know that your father loved you after all. Forgive me."

Severus was staring at her with a look of surprise on his face, assessing the young woman in front of him. She at least was not as naive as he had thought.

-"What is your name?"

- "Laurel Noel."

- "Laurel" - he repeated in a low voice. - "I will not discuss that; you were an idiot... a very lucky idiot..."

- "So, will you hand me over to the others? Will you let them kill me? "

- "Regretfully, I will have to, there is a lot at stake, but I will try my best to keep you alive. Not only are you the one who is at risk, my life is also at risk if they find out that I am helping you."

-"All right." - Laurel replied, drinking what was left of her water glass. "I see that at least you are not like the others."

Severus was a bit shocked by Laurel's sudden response. He expected to have to deal with her refusal to cooperate with him given the circumstances. In a low voice he asked:

- "You don't mind being taken hostage by the other wizards?"

- "Do I have another option? - Laurel answered with a tone of sincere disbelief. - "Besides, the last thing I want is to put your life at risk after you saved me. All I'm asking is that you find out if my friends are okay. Rebecca and Edward, those are their names. Can you do it?"

-"I will do it." - Severus said, surprised to hear his own voice. - "But I want you to understand that I have gotten into a huge problem for you. Those wizards, all they want is to get rid of as many muggles as possible. They call themselves Death Eaters. They will have no mercy on you. You must obey me and follow all my instructions. "

"To the letter." - Laurel stated as she put the glass down on the small coffee table and looked at Severus with a serious face. - "Although I still don't understand how someone like you can belong to a group like that."

- "The less you know the better."- Severus said approaching Laurel and removing the necklace with the crest of the Prince family. - "And the first thing you should do is forget that you ever knew my father or that you know anything about me or my family."

Laurel nodded sadly and watched as Severus tucked the necklace into his pocket.

- "Don't talk to them directly, don't look them in the eye. They will try to cast hexes on you, don't panic, nothing will happen to you. Wizards are very used to their magic, they will not resort to physical torture right away. They will present you to their leader, Lord Voldemort, and he will decide what to do with you. "

-"Lord Voldemort?" - Laurel repeated in a trembling voice.

- "He is an exceptionally powerful dark wizard; don't you dare speak his name. We call him The Dark Lord or He Who Must Not Be Named. When you are in front of him do not mutter a single word. I will speak for you".

A sudden feeling of panic seized her, there was no choice, she had to trust that man she had met just recently. Grabbing Severus's hand and looking him straight in the eye she asked:

- "Will I survive, Severus?"

He held her gaze and squeezing her hand in a reassuring gesture he said:

- "I will do everything possible to protect you, Laurel. Are you ready?"

Without waiting for an answer, he stood up and pulled up the sleeve of his robe, exposing what to Laurel looked like a faded tattoo on his left forearm, however, when touched by the wand, it began to ripple and blacken until the image of a skull with a snake protruding out of its mouth could be seen clearly contrasting against the pale skin. Then he went straight to a hidden door behind one of the shelves and yanked it open. A balding, squat man who had clearly been leaning over it moments before fell face down to the floor. Severus grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him to his feet. Peter Pettigrew turned his watery little rat eyes to Laurel, puzzled to see a young Muggle sitting in the rickety armchair.

- "Wormtail, good to find you so willing at this ungodly hour." - Severus said with a disdainful sneer on his face. - "You had asked to have more serious assignments. Well, this is your moment. I have summoned some guests tonight. They will appear near the river, I suppose. Guide them back here."

- "Is she a muggle? What's a Muggle doing here?" - Wormtail asked in a shrill and disgusted voice, without looking away and completely ignoring Snape.

- "Yes, Wormtail, she's a Muggle." - Severus replied dragging the words with annoyance - "I'm glad all those years living in the sewers haven't affected your vision. Your ears on the other hand need a good scrubbing. I just told you to go to the river and bring Greyback and the others back here, do you understand me? "

Wormtail nodded and with quick, nervous steps he went out of the house slamming the door behind him. Severus let out a deep impatient sigh and turned back to Laurel.

- "Stay still."

Long ropes sprouted from his wand and wrapped around Laurel's ankles and hands, rendering her motionless. She could not help but let out a distraught groan, but she did her best to stay calm. An extremely difficult task when a few minutes later, the imposing form of the beast-like wizard came through the door followed by Amycus and Alecto Carrow and headed straight for her, furiously flexing his fingers ending in extremely long yellowish nails.

- "We meet again, precious." - He growled.

-"Tut-tut, careful Greyback." -Said Severus in a contemptuous tone - "she's too much of a valuable spoil for you to damage. The Dark Lord would be upset to find out you mauled our captive. But you may be too thick to understand why."

-"Why would he care about that insignificant muggle?

- "She is an Akardos."- Alecto whispered, approaching Laurel and examining her carefully. - "I remember how our great-grandmother told those horrible legends about The Soulless ones, how they used to hunt and murder as many wizards and witches as possible. They captured children before they could perform magic to protect themselves and burnt them alive and there was nothing we could do to defend ourselves."

Alecto's face had reddened, her teeth were gnashing with hatred, and she had drawn her wand, poking it hard against Laurel's cheek. She tried by all means to obey Snape's instructions and kept her eyes fixed on the floor, avoiding looking at the angry face of the witch and ignoring the pain caused by the wooden wand digging into her face.

-"But now you are defenceless, innit?" – She continued. – "Dirty little bitch, how much fun would I have with you? Cutting you piece by piece."

-"Alecto, dear, leave the girl alone."- Said Snape in his silky low voice. – "It will be the Dark Lord's decision."

-"HE WILL WANT HER HEAD!" – She screamed pointing her wand now to Snape, who fast as lightning performed the disarming charm, taking Alecto´s wand on the fly.

-"Would you be so kind to not threaten me in my own house? Now, as I am sure, the Dark Lord would have a great pride to parade her head around the Ministry of Magic once he takes power, it is inadvisable to kill the Akardos here and now. She may be of great use to our Master while still alive."

-"What use could she have?" – Stepped in Amycus, turning to his sister's side and looking suspiciously at Snape. – "I doubt your intentions, Snape, the girl came directly to you in the bar, she may be a spy!"

-"Do you suspect me Amycus?" – Said Snape dangerously. – "Let me remind you that suspecting of my loyalty to the cause is suspecting of the intelligence of the Dark Lord himself."

Snape handed over Alecto´s wand back to her and then grabbed an extremely worn-out book from one of the shelves throwing it at Amycus who end up picking it up from the floor.

-"Dominance of the Magical Blood, Synthesis and Experimentation." – He read. – "Are you planning to make a potion with the muggle?"

- "I plan to use her abilities to the Dark Lord's advantage, Amycus. How I'll do it is none of your business."

- "In that case, I will be the one handing her over to the Dark Lord, as it was I who organize the attack tonight." - Amycus said with a greedy glint in his eyes.

- "And how do you plan to take her Amycus? You cannot apparate with her." - Snape answered. He turned his gaze to Fenrir and smirked. - "Or are you planning to ask Greyback to piggyback her all the way to the Malfoy Manor? You'd at least make good use of the werewolf. He is such a good dog, woof, woof."

Laurel was shocked to hear him talking with such caustic sarcasm, especially when Greyback clenched his fists and let out a low menacing growl. If she were not so scared to death, Laurel thought she would have laughed at the snarky remarks that Severus seemed to throw left and right without giving a care in the world about the reaction the other Death Eaters might have.

-"All right, all right…"- Amycus murmured red faced and with trembling voice. – "Take her, then. I reckon you have learnt the ability to fly from our Dark Lord, ¿no?"

- "Our Master pour his knowledge where he sees fit, Amycus. I am just his faithful servant." – Said Snape sneering at him. "But don't worry, I will see the Dark Lord knows you have been essential to capture the Akardos."

-"Will… will you?"

Snape nodded and pointed to the door.

- "I'll be there in a few minutes. After you please. "

The Death Eaters came out looking at the muggle maliciously and muttering among themselves. Only the tiny figure of Wormtail stood still in the room.

- "Go with them, Wormtail." Snape ordered.

- "But…"

- "Now."

After Snape was sure the Death Eaters were gone, he summoned one of his long black cloaks and made sure it completely covered Laurel's body and head.

- "It will be cold." - He said simply.

- "I am seriously thinking that I would rather die of hypothermia than have my decapitated head paraded through some magical ministry." - Laurel joked with a sad smile.

Severus lowered his head, hiding the slight resigned smile that had formed on his lips. Helping her to her feet he led her to the street. Laurel took a deep breath enjoying the smell that emanated from the earth moments before a storm and she saddened wondering if she would ever feel it again. Severus picked her up in his arms and Laurel was soon flying, trying to protect her face from the raindrops of that summer storm.