CW: Torture and death.

This was a hard chapter to write; I hope it's worth the wait.

Chapter Five

Good Holidays, Bad Holidays

"Please see me about your essay." Six words that no student wants to see scrawled on a graded manuscript. Six words that Severus Snape was staring at, uncomfortably, as Evan Rosier smirked over his shoulder. "Good job, Prince. What'd you do, insult the Gryffs?"

"Shut up, Rosier," Snape said irritably. He had no idea what he had done. It could be that McGonagall wanted to talk to him about his mother, but he'd thought that before and she'd just chewed him out. So he dawdled after class, pretending to rearrange the books in his bag, until everyone had left.

"Your essay was quite good, actually," said the dour professor once he'd approached her. "You're really starting to understand the underlying theories of transfiguration." Severus had to fight to keep from grinning like an idiot. He hoped that Aziz was similarly grinning inside his lamp.

"But that's not why I wanted to talk to you. Just—don't sign up to stay over Christmas holidays. But don't get on the Hogwarts Express, either."

"Yes, ma'am." It was only two weeks to hols, and Severus could suddenly no longer wait. "Thank you, ma'am."

He stalked out of the classroom in a semi-dignified fashion. Once the door had closed behind him, he looked around carefully to make sure the corridor was empty before jumping up and down excitedly.

~~SS~~

On the afternoon of December 21, Severus, carrying a rucksack full of clothes, accompanied Minerva McGonagall down towards the gates of Hogwarts. They walked in silence until they had passed outside of the wards; then the professor turned to ask, "How are your apparition skills?"

"Not bad," admitted Severus. He'd taken the classes during his sixth year and had successfully passed the apparition test the previous June.

"Good," she replied. "You know what it feels like." With that, she caught a hold of his arm and turned.

They were in a stand of barren trees—oak, birch, and alder, standing next to a fence.

"If you ever need to find this place by Muggle means, it's the Eskrigg Wildlife Reserve," McGonagall said briskly. "Just west of Lockerbie. There's good train service to the village."

"A wildlife reserve?" Severus panted as he tried to keep up with the old witch, who was jumping over fallen branches and occasional logs as easily as though she were walking down the sidewalks in Hogsmeade.

"It's the easiest way to keep the Muggles out. There are farms on all sides, and when Muggles see the fence we landed near, they think they're coming into farm territory. Also, no one thinks much if they see owls flying in and out. We've set it up so you can't apparate into the reserve; if you visit again, just go to that point where we landed."

Severus wasn't sure whether he could retrace his steps to wherever they were going, but he just said, "Yes, Ma'am."

"By the way, how did you know to ask me?" the professor said, cheerily. "Did you know I once had to leave, too?"

Severus shook his head. "Pure instinct, ma'am. You just felt like the right person to ask." He didn't say that it was a genie who had felt that.

"I was lucky I—in fact, no one in my family—ever told Alfie about this place. It's been our vacation spot for years but I never came when I was married."

"But he can find you now, can't he? I mean, everyone knows where Hogwarts is, and everyone knows…"

McGonagall stopped and skewered Severus with a withering gaze. "He was a fifty-year-old man taking advantage of a naïve, eighteen-year-old young woman. A Muggle who's been gone for years." Her face softened, and she added with a smile, "Besides, I have a brother who can be a bit intimidating when he wants to be."

They started walking again, and soon the woods opened up into a small clearing containing a homey little cottage. The door crashed open and Eileen Snape came flying out, running with arms outstretched…

"Oh, Severus, I've missed you so," she said as they hugged. "My dear little boy."

Severus snickered—his mother's head was firmly tucked under his chin—and said, "Mum, when will you stop calling me your little boy?"

"Never!" Eileen said decisively.

~~SS~~

As it turned out, Professor McGonagall was only there to deliver Severus to his mother. She explained, "I promised to spend time with my brother and his children at the ancestral pile." And then, vowing to return in time to bring Severus back to Hogwarts, she swept off.

So Severus and his mother were left alone for the holidays. They brought in a small fir tree (cut on a neighboring farm, with consent of the owner; they didn't want people to see them cutting anything in a wildlife preserve) and decorated it with snowflakes and paper chains. They baked everything from cookies to plum pudding and sat around reminiscing about amusing past events.

There was only one argument during the whole holiday. The two Snapes were down in the basement, brewing—Eileen hadn't skipped a single delivery of potions to the apothecary in Godric's Hollow—when the dreaded question came up.

"Why haven't you written, Sevvie?"

Severus looked up from the ginger he'd been slicing. "Mum! I just didn't want anyone to track the owl and find you."

Eileen frowned. "Severus, even if someone could follow an owl to a secret-kept location—and they can't—that someone would absolutely NOT be your Muggle father."

"But Mum! You need to be safe!"

"I am safe."

"He's going to track you down and find you! Do you remember the time we tried hiding at the Baileys' house?"

Severus had been eight. He'd watched his father choke his mother until she passed out. The next day, a Friday, his mum had picked him up from school and taken him to a friend's house. They stayed there all weekend. When Eileen picked Severus up after school on Monday, Tobias was waiting there too. There was no threatening; just begging, cajoling, and pleading that he really had changed this time. Severus had heard through the grapevine that Tobias had stormed all over their neighborhood, knocking on every door and asking for information. (The Baileys lived on the other side of Main Street, a much better neighborhood where Tobias never ventured.)

Eileen shook her head in response to Severus's question. "He's not like that anymore. If he really wanted to find me, he'd have gone to Godric's Hollow to find the apothecary and get information that way. But he hasn't been by."

"YET."

"He'll settle down soon enough, and then…"

"Mum! You can't go back. It's not safe."

"It wouldn't be permanent unless I was sure I was safe. I'm saving my money, keeping it at Gringotts so he can't get his hands on it, so I can leave again any time. I'm brewing more now, too, and I might be able to get a full-time position…"

"No, Mum, you can't. You just can't."

"Marriage is for life, child. You should know that."

"In the wizarding world! But you weren't married by a wizard. You got married at the courthouse. So go down to the courthouse again and…"

"Not one more word about this Severus! Get that ginger chopped right now and keep your mouth closed."

~~SS~~

The night before he left for Hogwarts, Severus summoned Aziz again.

"Having fun, master?"

"I wished for her to be safe and she's thinking of going back! What is it with you and your lousy wish fulfillment services?"

"Master, you know I can't change other people's minds on your behalf. But I do know a bit about psychology. And you know, the longer she stays away, the less she'll think about returning. Just keep stalling her."

By the end of the break, Severus had convinced his mother to stay until the end of the school year. "I can protect you better when I'm there with you, Mum."

"Perfect," she'd replied. "Minerva needs the cottage back for summer anyway; her nieces and nephews are coming to visit."

Six months. He had only six months to change her mind.

~~SS~~

It was less than a week after his return to Hogwarts that Hugh Mulciber, Evan Rosier, and Nigel Wilkes approached him in the common room after dinner. "Happy Birthday to the Half-Blood Prince!" announced Rosier brightly, waving a bottle of elf-made wine. He reached behind him for the tray of goblets that was levitating behind him. "Let's toast!"

"And open your gift," Mulciber added with a smile. "I wasn't sure whether to give it to you or not, but I noticed that your mum didn't…" Eileen had sent him a present of some books—used, of course—via owl that morning.

Severus opened the smaller present that was handed to him and found the traditional coming-of-age gift: a wizard's watch. He was a year past the traditional coming-of-age, but his parents had never given him one. "Thanks, Mulciber! You're the best!"

"Have a good time with your Mum, Prince?" Wilkes asked after they'd toasted Severus's good health.

"Mostly," he admitted. "I forgot how good her plum pudding is. And her fruitcake."

"Ooh, yeah!" exclaimed Rosier. Eileen had sent Severus a fruitcake via owl a few years prior, and Rosier evidently hadn't forgotten how much he liked it.

"She doing okay?" questioned Mulciber. By this point, most of his friends knew that his parents were separated—and why.

"For now," replied Severus darkly. "But she's thinking of going back at the end of the school year."

This pronouncement was met by three simultaneous exclamations: "No!"—"What's she thinking?"—"What does she see in that Muggle?"

Severus shrugged. "I just need a job straight out of school and my own place, so I can protect her."

Wilkes smiled. "Talk to Lucius. He'll take care of you."

"Why would he take care of me?"

"Well, you know—he's always looking for protegés. Especially people who don't like Muggles."

"It's not that I don't like Muggles, it's—"

"Just say you don't, and your mother doesn't, and he'll take care of you both."

And so owls were sent, and plans were made, and Severus gritted his teeth and hoped he didn't regret this new alliance.

~~SS~~

"I just don't like this, master." It was March and Aziz and Severus were, once again, sitting under the willow tree next to the lake. Aziz had hooked his legs over a branch and was hanging upside down—a favorite pose; he said it helped him think better.

"But I need to keep her safe, and I can't stall forever."

"Have you looked into jobs opening up after Hogwarts?"

"There's not much available. I mean, I could qualify as an Auror—they're hiring—but who would want to do that?"

"Have you contacted your uncle?"

"Uncle?" Severus frowned. "Dad's an only child and…"

"And your mother has a brother," interjected Aziz.

"But my grandparents…"

"Are dead, and your uncle isn't."

"How do you know these things?" Severus said grumpily.

"My dear boy, the process of fact-finding became considerably easier the day I became a djinn. Your uncle Tiberius still lives in your ancestral home in Shrewsbury. He's eleven years younger than your mother—he hadn't yet left for Hogwarts when she eloped with your father. It's worth a shot."

Severus shook his head. "You don't know pure-bloods. It won't work."

"Please, master. You really shouldn't do this. There are other options."

"This is what we're doing, and that's that. Now, tell me how to use the Imperio curse."

~~SS~~

The plan, as Lucius had explained to Severus through his letters, was to give Tobias a good scare.

If he knows that hurting a witch will bring retribution on him, he'll behave. Bullies are like that—they only hurt people if they can do so without consequence.

Malfoy, Rosier, Wilkes, Avery, and the Lestranges would all accompany him to teach the lesson. He'd heard rumors about Bellatrix and Rodolphus, but had never met them in person.

It's important for us to be unrecognizable, because we should represent all witches and wizards. So we'll go in our Death Eater robes and masks.

That was the part that Severus didn't like. His father knew plenty about the Death Eaters through their long-running subscription to The Daily Prophet, and Severus did not want to be associated with them in his father's mind. But there was no way he could go into a confrontation like this unless he was backed by powerful wizards, so he saw no other way.

~~SS~~

Severus had promised his mother to visit over the Easter holiday as well, but told her he would arrive late. "One of my friends is having a party the first day," he said. "I can apparate myself, now that I know where to go."

And so, after leaving the Hogwarts Express, he apparated directly from King's Cross Station to the lane outside Evan Rosier's house. Rosier, smiling, took his hand and apparated again. This time, they appeared outside a large estate lined with hedges. The gates swung open silently and the two young men walked through the twilight towards a large white manor house.

Lucius Malfoy himself opened the front door. "Severus and Evan, welcome! Come in! We'll have dinner soon, but first there are people I'd like you to meet."

Severus was introduced to several new faces, including Lucius's father, Abraxas; Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange; an oily-looking foreigner named Igor Karkaroff; and a burly young man named Walden MacNair. The latter greeted him with a shifty smile, mentioning how much he loved putting Muggles in their place.

A small part of Severus's brain told him that the dinner was extremely delicious, but he could barely register its taste. He was on edge, all of his nerves prickling, telling him that something was not right. And then, at the end of the meal, the invisible Aziz whispered in his ear: "Quickly, master, leave! Leave while you still can!" But Severus didn't. What could possibly happen at a dinner party? He still had plenty of time to back out…

But then he looked out the window and saw a black shape hurtling through the sky: A man, flying through the air without broom or magic carpet. The other dinner guests rose to their feet. "Our master has come!"—"Come, Severus, come and meet our master!"—"The Dark Lord is here!"

The Dark Lord! Well, Severus had heard a thing or two about this Dark Lord; and while he'd rather not meet the man, he'd at least go into the meeting prepared. In his mind, he pulled forth his liar's palace, as Aziz called it, and locked his Occlumency shields firmly behind it. Then, and only then, did he allow Lucius to present him to the man who styled himself as Lord Voldemort.

"Severus Snape. I have heard so much about you. Look at me, boy." The Dark Lord practically hissed in his low voice. Severus raised his eyes and immediately sensed the probing he associated with Legilimency. He allowed the Dark Lord to sort through the memories he kept in his liar's palace, focusing extra hard on the memories in which his father hit his mother.

"A powerful wizard despite the Muggle father," said Lord Voldemort after viewing a memory of Severus dueling Lucius. "You will do nicely, my boy. You are off to teach your father a lesson, are you not?"

Severus forced himself to maintain eye contact while nodding slowly.

"Well, then, let me give you a little something to boost your power," said the Dark Lord, and, reaching out, grabbed Severus's left wrist. "Pario Morsmordre!" he shouted, and a fierce burning sensation seared through Snape's arm. He gritted his teeth, willing the pain to subside, and gradually got his burning under control.

Lord Voldemort was looking at him with a smile on his snake-like face, his red eyes crinkled in pleasure. "The same privilege I bestow upon my loyal followers, but temporary. If you like it, there's just one thing to do to make it permanent. This is your night to try it out."

Severus looked down in shock at his left forearm, where the Dark Mark had been branded.

~~SS~~

After dark, they apparated to the edge of the river near Severus's house. Lucius and the other Death Eaters disillusioned themselves for the walk down Spinner's End. Severus had changed into a t-shirt and jeans so as to not look out of place, but his wand was stuck in his pocket. He'd left his robes, cloak, and—more importantly—the necklace containing Aziz's lamp in a closet at Malfoy Manor.

He walked up to his old home and rapped sharply. The door opened a crack, and then was suddenly flung wide to reveal Tobias Snape, tall and gaunt-faced. "Severus! Where's your mum?" The smell of whiskey was strong on the older man's breath.

"I won't let you see her until you promise to keep your hands off—and mean it," said Severus confidently.

"I promise! I promise I won't hurt her again!"

"I've heard those words before," said Severus. "Too many times. I said you had to promise and mean it. And now I'm going to make sure that you mean it, Pops. I'm going to come in now, and so are my friends, and we're going to show you why you should never hurt her again."

Tobias's eyes darted around the front porch, looking for the previously named friends; seeing none, he backed up, allowing his son into the house. Severus pushed forward, forcing his father up against the rear wall of the lounge. The door swung shut, pushed by unseen hands. And then, with a pop, six hooded figures appeared in the room.

"S-S-Severus. Death Eaters? What are you doing?"

"Pops, I don't know if you realize it, but I'm a full-grown wizard now. Have been for over a year. I've only held off of you for Mum's sake. I can make you do anything. Did you know that? Imperio!"

The unforgivable curse shot out of Severus's wand with a fierce power that he'd never felt before in practice. He forced his father to his knees, made him grovel on the floor, made him curl up in a ball.

"You see, Pops? I can make you do anything and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

But then Tobias Snape screwed his eyes shut, breathed deeply—and stood up, shaking his head. Severus could tell that the force of his curse had broken.

"No, son. Your mind tricks won't work on me forever. And I'm still bigger than you and stronger than you. You and all of your friends!" He grabbed a stick from the stack near the fireplace and waved it threateningly.

Severus waved his hand and—wandlessly, non-verbally—cast Levicorpus on his father. "Not feeling so great now, are we?" he smirked, looking at his father hanging ankles-first from near the ceiling.

"I'll beat you up, upside-down or no!"

"No, no you won't." The cool, smooth voice of Lucius Malfoy issued from one of the masked figures. "Because, you see, if you hurt any witch or wizard, we will come after you. Crucio!"

Tobias Snape's gaunt frame wracked with pain, still hanging from the ceiling. "Stop! Stop him, Severus!"

Lucius waved his wand again and Tobias breathed deeply. "That was just a taste, Muggle. It will hurt more the next time."

"I am not a Muggle!" roared Tobias. "I have the blood of the Prince family in my veins too, just like my wife! I'm a wizard!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, then, wizard, stop me from doing this! Crucio!" shrieked Bellatrix. Her ability to cast the Cruciatus curse was obviously much more powerful than her soon-to-be brother-in-law's, and Tobias shrieked in agony. "Come on, all of you, help me teach him a lesson!"

Rodolphus and Lucius joined in with their own shouts of Crucio, while Avery, Wilkes, and Rosier—who obviously hadn't mastered the Unforgivables—shot any sort of hex they could think of.

"Please, stop! I promise! Severus, I promise I'll be good!"

"That's enough!" yelled Severus. "Stop!" But they kept on going.

Liberacorpus, he thought, and his father's body slumped to the ground. But this did not dissuade the Death Eaters: indeed, it seemed to enrage Wilkes, who ran over and started kicking and punching Tobias.

Severus saw, in his father's eyes, a spark of something—something he'd never seen before. Tobias closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and then—a great wave of magic pulsed out, knocking the Death Eaters off of their feet.

"That's all I can do, boy," whispered Tobias Snape, weakly. "Tonight, twice, I've used magic. And now I can die happy."

"But you're a wizard, Pops. You don't have to fight with Mum anymore."

"He's no wizard!" shrieked Bellatrix, getting to her feet. And she turned her wand on Tobias again, hitting him with a fresh wave of the Cruciatus. Her husband joined her, cackling with glee.

"Severus!" whispered Tobias, his body still wracking with pain. "End it. It's enough. I don't deserve…just end it."

Lucius stood behind Severus, putting his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You know what he's asking, Snape. He wants it, and it's the only way to guarantee your mother's safety."

Severus knew, all right. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't…

But then, a wave of darkness and power washed over him, starting from his left wrist and sweeping upward. All of the memories he'd saved in his liar's palace, the ones of his father beating his mother, swam to the forefront of his consciousness and stayed there, intensifying his anger and the power rushing through his body. And, as if in a trance, he spoke the words:

"Avada Kedavra."

There was a flash of green light and a renewed surge of pain in his left arm—a surge of pain so intense that he blacked out and crumpled to the floor.

Up next: Severus deals with the consequences of his actions.