Yes............after all this time, I finally got off my lazy ass and
continued this story.
sigh
I'm sorry I kept everyone waiting. I am really unfair.....
But I do promise to not be so late in updating from now on. After all, I do
have a story to finish.....
Now, on to that story.
He didn't open his eyes when he finally woke up. He wanted to enjoy the remnants of the most peaceful sleep he'd had in months, years even.
He heard a door open some distance away from where he was lying, and heard several hushed voices.
"....really think we should do this, Albus?" It was Madame Pomfrey. She seemed extremely worried.
"We don't have any other choice, Poppy," Dumbledore said quietly. "He did too much at one time, and even worse, he'd never done anything like that before."
Madame Pomfrey sighed heavily. "Alright. If we must...."
That was all Harry heard before falling into the black pool of his subconscious once again.
Severus had just finished given instructions for his sixth year class of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. While the students began assembling their potions, he sat down at his desk, sighing. He was so exhausted; he knew that if he wasn't careful he would fall asleep right then and there. The last few days had been hard on him. The battle had left him drained, not just mentally, but magically as well. He knew it had been years since he'd really had to use his powers like that, but he never thought it would affect him so much. But he was so tired........
"Professor Snape?"
He opened his eyes and saw one of the Ravenclaw girls, Setarina Evanis, in front of his desk. Apparently he had almost fallen asleep.
"Miss Evanis?"
"Um, I, uh," she shifted nervously, not meeting his gaze. This was unusual for her, as she wasn't the least bit shy....unless she'd done something wrong.
"Are you going to tell me, or continue stammering like a child?" He asked, with far less sarcasm than normal. She looked up at him.
"I sort of, um, I accidentally made something blow up."
"And what would that something happen to be?"
"The store cupboard, professor."
Severus' mouth fell open slightly as he turned his gaze to said cupboard. There were scorch marks all along the sides and floor, and the contents had been reduced to......thin air.
"Dare I ask, Miss Evanis, where the remains of the supplies went," he asked slowly.
"Honestly, I have no idea." She looked like she was about to cry. She shook her head just enough to let her black hair fall in front of her face, blocking the rest of the class from seeing her expression. "It just happened. I don't know why—"
Severus was too tired to be cruel to her, and really didn't want to. "Class dismissed. Miss Evanis, please come with me."
Harry woke up again several hours later, to a darkened room. Looking around, he could make out the blurry outlines of other beds, and he knew he was under the care of Madame Pomfrey.
Speaking of her, she saw him looking around and walked over.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter."
"Good evening, Madame Pomfrey," he replied, sitting up and putting his glasses on. She gave him one last look over before letting him leave. The next thing he knew, he was standing in the middle of an even darker hallway. He began heading towards the Great Hall, perhaps to grab the last morsels of dinner before it all disappeared, but these thoughts quickly vanished as he passed the teachers room.
The door was cracked open, and he heard the voices of Severus and the Headmaster inside.
"...she has no clue how or why it happens, Albus!" Severus sounded slightly panicked. "She could easily eliminate her classmates before ever realizing the full extent of the power she holds! And what about her sister? You and I both know that if one has it, so does the other!"
"Severus, I know this, having been there myself." Albus said. "But for now, all we can do is wait. Then we will see."
"I only hope you are right, Headmaster." Severus said. Harry heard his footsteps nearing the door and took off down the hall and around the corner. Once out of sight of the Potions professor, he walked slower, and wasn't paying much attention until he nearly bumped into someone around another corner.
"Sorry!" They said in unison. Harry took a look at the other person and saw it was Setarina Evanis, who was in his Herbology class. She was the only Ravenclaw who was taking the class, so she was placed in with the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. She was very smart and had a good sense of humor, but Harry doubted that there would be any jokes this time from the look on her face.
"Are you alright?" He asked her. She shook her head.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just life," She laughed bitterly.
"Ah. Yeah, I know how that is," Harry said.
"Well, see you later," she said.
"You too."
Harry continued walking down the hall, unsure of what to do.
"Harry Potter."
He froze, listening hard. There wasn't a sound, and he debated whether or not to turn around, when someone's hands gripped his upper arms tightly.
"Doesn't it just fascinate you," Severus whispered against his neck. "How I can sneak up to you and you'd never know a thing?"
Harry turned around, smiling. "Yes, it does. But let me ask you this: Why are you sneaking around?"
"Because I have the privilege of doing so."
Severus studied Harry for a moment. He was very thin and looked beyond tired.
"Are you sure you slept at all in the last week?" He asked Harry.
Harry shrugged. "It felt like sleep, but it could have been a really nice wet dream."
Severus laughed. "You're real funny, you know."
"I know," Harry said as they walked off.
"She's a WHAT?"
They were sitting in the Headmaster's office, and Dumbledore had just told Harry about Setarina's newfound abilities.
"Harry, please, relax." Dumbledore said, alarmed.
"And how exactly do you propose I go about doing that?" Harry yelled.
"Breathing usually helps," Severus said sarcastically.
Harry shot him a really nasty look before trying to calm down.
"Would you like a lemon drop, Harry?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.
"Hell, no! I am so NOT in the mood for a lemon drop, thank you very much!" Harry said sharply. Dumbledore sighed heavily.
"We don't know for sure if she really is a Charmed one, Harry."
"What else could she possibly be?" Harry mumbled, curling up in his chair and turning his face to the fire, away from Severus and Dumbledore.
When Severus walked into the Great Hall for breakfast the following morning, he was greeted with the distinct smell of smoke. Almost like.....
"Like burned oatmeal?"
Severus turned around and saw Harry's disheveled form in the doorway. "Yeah, something like that."
Harry looked at him. "You look funny with your nose wrinkled like that."
"You could be the next burning object, you know."
There was a small explosion and they looked towards the Ravenclaw table. When the smoke cleared somewhat, they saw Setarina sitting with a little boy in her arms, tears falling down her face. When she saw Severus and Harry (not to mention the majority of those trying to eat) looking at her, she cried harder.
"I don't know how—why I—how—what have I done?"
Severus exchanged a look with Dumbledore, who was sitting at the Head Table.
"Now what?" Severus asked, exasperatedly.
There was no time to take care of that situation, for the main doors had burst open, and several cloaked figures entered the Hall. McGonagall stood up quickly.
"Everybody GET OUT!"
The students ran through the doors in the back of the hall, Setarina dragging the little boy, with some help from her friends.
"Still got those fast reflexes, eh, McGonagall?" It was Crabbe, who spoke, barely heard over the footsteps of the retreating students.
"What are you doing here?" Dumbledore asked quietly. From where Harry was standing, he could see Dumbledore's knuckles turn white as they gripped his goblet tightly.
"Taking vengeance for the death of a close friend of ours," Voldemort's voice emerged from behind his followers. Aiming his wand quickly, he said,
"Avada Kedavra!"
Upon hearing these two devastatingly frightening words, Setarina panicked. Turning around, she saw one of her friends, Susan Bones.
"Sue, can you get him out of here?" She begged, gesturing to the boy in her arms.
"Yeah, sure," Susan said, taking him. "Get yourself out of here as fast as you can, Setarina. It's dangerous."
Setarina nodded, but instead of trying to escape like everyone else, she went back to find her sister. It didn't take her long.
"Lileana!"
A girl with black curls and glasses turned quickly. "What? Don't tell me you've blown something up again."
Setarina shook her head, but before she could speak, the entire hall was filled with horrible screams and curses.
Lileana grabbed her arm. "Come on, I have an idea."
There were students everywhere. It was complete chaos. Harry had no idea who was who until he heard the screams. Spinning around, he saw a group of younger Hufflepuffs trapped by three Death Eaters and several older Slytherins. In one motion, they raised their wands and said, in unison,
"Avada Kedavra."
Harry stood, frozen, as he watched the Hufflepuffs' limp bodies crumple to the ground, listening to their murderers' insane laughter ring in his ears. Gathering all of his willpower, he tore his eyes away and vanished before they saw him.
It was Professor Sprout who fell to Voldemort's deadly words before things got out of hand. Severus found himself surrounded by terrified students. Terrified, unprepared students who were also children. Everywhere he looked, there were faces with fear or sick pleasure on them.
He came back to himself as he was attacked, by a student who, out of fear of anything with black on, thought he too was a Death Eater. I AM a Death Eater, Severus mused to himself for a brief moment. As he ducked the curse that was sent to him, he realized the position he was in.
He was a Death Eater, follower of Voldemort. But he was also a spy, Dumbledore's spy. And this was Hogwarts, with several hundred students, Dumbledore and the staff, all of the Death Eaters, and Lord Voldemort himself.
And Harry Potter was........
Harry Potter was lost in his own mental world as he walked through the mass of bodies that surrounded him. He kept getting flashbacks, echoes of screams that came with the ones made in the Great Hall. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he never saw the towering figure that approached him from the side, never heard the voice that came out of that figure's mouth.
"Crucio!"
Harry's body stiffened in response to the powerful curse. The pain raced through his body, burning him, cutting him open with invisible knives. The curse continued and became more intense, as the hatred from the castor became more focused on the target.
It was too much, too painful for Harry to bear in one of his most vulnerable states. He couldn't hold it anymore. He screamed.
Setarina and Lileana heard Harry scream, and they knew that something was wrong.
Lileana turned to her sister.
"Listen, we need to use whatever powers we've got to help him."
"Even the ones I don't know how to use?" Setarina asked nervously.
"Yes." Lileana sighed. "But you have to be careful-concentrate and they'll work the way you want them to."
Setarina nodded and they walked towards Harry and his attacker. They couldn't see who it was because the hood was pulled down over the eyes.
"Ready?" Lileana asked Setarina.
"Ready."
Lileana darted out in front of Harry's attacker and grabbed his wand arm, and twisted it around. Unfortunately when she turned, she met his other arm, and was caught by the throat.
Mind filled with panic, Setarina concentrated as hard as she could on her sister's captor. The next thing she knew, he exploded into flames, and Lileana was kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily.
Severus knew he couldn't help Harry, whatever trouble he was in. That didn't stop his heart from clenching in pain at the sound of Harry's voice, cutting through the air like a knife.
"Severus Snape."
Turning around, he found himself face to face with Voldemort.
"Yes, my Lord?"
"I want you to kill Harry Potter."
Well, that wasn't so bad was it? A little short, for me, but don't worry. I have plans for these guys, as you will find out very soon....whenever the next opportunity to get online strikes......perhaps in a few more days, or even tomorrow, if I get it out in time before I have to go to the doctor's. I have discovered I have more problems than I thought I had.....but, hey. That's life, my life, for me. Please review and tell me how you like the story so far.
He didn't open his eyes when he finally woke up. He wanted to enjoy the remnants of the most peaceful sleep he'd had in months, years even.
He heard a door open some distance away from where he was lying, and heard several hushed voices.
"....really think we should do this, Albus?" It was Madame Pomfrey. She seemed extremely worried.
"We don't have any other choice, Poppy," Dumbledore said quietly. "He did too much at one time, and even worse, he'd never done anything like that before."
Madame Pomfrey sighed heavily. "Alright. If we must...."
That was all Harry heard before falling into the black pool of his subconscious once again.
Severus had just finished given instructions for his sixth year class of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. While the students began assembling their potions, he sat down at his desk, sighing. He was so exhausted; he knew that if he wasn't careful he would fall asleep right then and there. The last few days had been hard on him. The battle had left him drained, not just mentally, but magically as well. He knew it had been years since he'd really had to use his powers like that, but he never thought it would affect him so much. But he was so tired........
"Professor Snape?"
He opened his eyes and saw one of the Ravenclaw girls, Setarina Evanis, in front of his desk. Apparently he had almost fallen asleep.
"Miss Evanis?"
"Um, I, uh," she shifted nervously, not meeting his gaze. This was unusual for her, as she wasn't the least bit shy....unless she'd done something wrong.
"Are you going to tell me, or continue stammering like a child?" He asked, with far less sarcasm than normal. She looked up at him.
"I sort of, um, I accidentally made something blow up."
"And what would that something happen to be?"
"The store cupboard, professor."
Severus' mouth fell open slightly as he turned his gaze to said cupboard. There were scorch marks all along the sides and floor, and the contents had been reduced to......thin air.
"Dare I ask, Miss Evanis, where the remains of the supplies went," he asked slowly.
"Honestly, I have no idea." She looked like she was about to cry. She shook her head just enough to let her black hair fall in front of her face, blocking the rest of the class from seeing her expression. "It just happened. I don't know why—"
Severus was too tired to be cruel to her, and really didn't want to. "Class dismissed. Miss Evanis, please come with me."
Harry woke up again several hours later, to a darkened room. Looking around, he could make out the blurry outlines of other beds, and he knew he was under the care of Madame Pomfrey.
Speaking of her, she saw him looking around and walked over.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter."
"Good evening, Madame Pomfrey," he replied, sitting up and putting his glasses on. She gave him one last look over before letting him leave. The next thing he knew, he was standing in the middle of an even darker hallway. He began heading towards the Great Hall, perhaps to grab the last morsels of dinner before it all disappeared, but these thoughts quickly vanished as he passed the teachers room.
The door was cracked open, and he heard the voices of Severus and the Headmaster inside.
"...she has no clue how or why it happens, Albus!" Severus sounded slightly panicked. "She could easily eliminate her classmates before ever realizing the full extent of the power she holds! And what about her sister? You and I both know that if one has it, so does the other!"
"Severus, I know this, having been there myself." Albus said. "But for now, all we can do is wait. Then we will see."
"I only hope you are right, Headmaster." Severus said. Harry heard his footsteps nearing the door and took off down the hall and around the corner. Once out of sight of the Potions professor, he walked slower, and wasn't paying much attention until he nearly bumped into someone around another corner.
"Sorry!" They said in unison. Harry took a look at the other person and saw it was Setarina Evanis, who was in his Herbology class. She was the only Ravenclaw who was taking the class, so she was placed in with the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. She was very smart and had a good sense of humor, but Harry doubted that there would be any jokes this time from the look on her face.
"Are you alright?" He asked her. She shook her head.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just life," She laughed bitterly.
"Ah. Yeah, I know how that is," Harry said.
"Well, see you later," she said.
"You too."
Harry continued walking down the hall, unsure of what to do.
"Harry Potter."
He froze, listening hard. There wasn't a sound, and he debated whether or not to turn around, when someone's hands gripped his upper arms tightly.
"Doesn't it just fascinate you," Severus whispered against his neck. "How I can sneak up to you and you'd never know a thing?"
Harry turned around, smiling. "Yes, it does. But let me ask you this: Why are you sneaking around?"
"Because I have the privilege of doing so."
Severus studied Harry for a moment. He was very thin and looked beyond tired.
"Are you sure you slept at all in the last week?" He asked Harry.
Harry shrugged. "It felt like sleep, but it could have been a really nice wet dream."
Severus laughed. "You're real funny, you know."
"I know," Harry said as they walked off.
"She's a WHAT?"
They were sitting in the Headmaster's office, and Dumbledore had just told Harry about Setarina's newfound abilities.
"Harry, please, relax." Dumbledore said, alarmed.
"And how exactly do you propose I go about doing that?" Harry yelled.
"Breathing usually helps," Severus said sarcastically.
Harry shot him a really nasty look before trying to calm down.
"Would you like a lemon drop, Harry?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.
"Hell, no! I am so NOT in the mood for a lemon drop, thank you very much!" Harry said sharply. Dumbledore sighed heavily.
"We don't know for sure if she really is a Charmed one, Harry."
"What else could she possibly be?" Harry mumbled, curling up in his chair and turning his face to the fire, away from Severus and Dumbledore.
When Severus walked into the Great Hall for breakfast the following morning, he was greeted with the distinct smell of smoke. Almost like.....
"Like burned oatmeal?"
Severus turned around and saw Harry's disheveled form in the doorway. "Yeah, something like that."
Harry looked at him. "You look funny with your nose wrinkled like that."
"You could be the next burning object, you know."
There was a small explosion and they looked towards the Ravenclaw table. When the smoke cleared somewhat, they saw Setarina sitting with a little boy in her arms, tears falling down her face. When she saw Severus and Harry (not to mention the majority of those trying to eat) looking at her, she cried harder.
"I don't know how—why I—how—what have I done?"
Severus exchanged a look with Dumbledore, who was sitting at the Head Table.
"Now what?" Severus asked, exasperatedly.
There was no time to take care of that situation, for the main doors had burst open, and several cloaked figures entered the Hall. McGonagall stood up quickly.
"Everybody GET OUT!"
The students ran through the doors in the back of the hall, Setarina dragging the little boy, with some help from her friends.
"Still got those fast reflexes, eh, McGonagall?" It was Crabbe, who spoke, barely heard over the footsteps of the retreating students.
"What are you doing here?" Dumbledore asked quietly. From where Harry was standing, he could see Dumbledore's knuckles turn white as they gripped his goblet tightly.
"Taking vengeance for the death of a close friend of ours," Voldemort's voice emerged from behind his followers. Aiming his wand quickly, he said,
"Avada Kedavra!"
Upon hearing these two devastatingly frightening words, Setarina panicked. Turning around, she saw one of her friends, Susan Bones.
"Sue, can you get him out of here?" She begged, gesturing to the boy in her arms.
"Yeah, sure," Susan said, taking him. "Get yourself out of here as fast as you can, Setarina. It's dangerous."
Setarina nodded, but instead of trying to escape like everyone else, she went back to find her sister. It didn't take her long.
"Lileana!"
A girl with black curls and glasses turned quickly. "What? Don't tell me you've blown something up again."
Setarina shook her head, but before she could speak, the entire hall was filled with horrible screams and curses.
Lileana grabbed her arm. "Come on, I have an idea."
There were students everywhere. It was complete chaos. Harry had no idea who was who until he heard the screams. Spinning around, he saw a group of younger Hufflepuffs trapped by three Death Eaters and several older Slytherins. In one motion, they raised their wands and said, in unison,
"Avada Kedavra."
Harry stood, frozen, as he watched the Hufflepuffs' limp bodies crumple to the ground, listening to their murderers' insane laughter ring in his ears. Gathering all of his willpower, he tore his eyes away and vanished before they saw him.
It was Professor Sprout who fell to Voldemort's deadly words before things got out of hand. Severus found himself surrounded by terrified students. Terrified, unprepared students who were also children. Everywhere he looked, there were faces with fear or sick pleasure on them.
He came back to himself as he was attacked, by a student who, out of fear of anything with black on, thought he too was a Death Eater. I AM a Death Eater, Severus mused to himself for a brief moment. As he ducked the curse that was sent to him, he realized the position he was in.
He was a Death Eater, follower of Voldemort. But he was also a spy, Dumbledore's spy. And this was Hogwarts, with several hundred students, Dumbledore and the staff, all of the Death Eaters, and Lord Voldemort himself.
And Harry Potter was........
Harry Potter was lost in his own mental world as he walked through the mass of bodies that surrounded him. He kept getting flashbacks, echoes of screams that came with the ones made in the Great Hall. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he never saw the towering figure that approached him from the side, never heard the voice that came out of that figure's mouth.
"Crucio!"
Harry's body stiffened in response to the powerful curse. The pain raced through his body, burning him, cutting him open with invisible knives. The curse continued and became more intense, as the hatred from the castor became more focused on the target.
It was too much, too painful for Harry to bear in one of his most vulnerable states. He couldn't hold it anymore. He screamed.
Setarina and Lileana heard Harry scream, and they knew that something was wrong.
Lileana turned to her sister.
"Listen, we need to use whatever powers we've got to help him."
"Even the ones I don't know how to use?" Setarina asked nervously.
"Yes." Lileana sighed. "But you have to be careful-concentrate and they'll work the way you want them to."
Setarina nodded and they walked towards Harry and his attacker. They couldn't see who it was because the hood was pulled down over the eyes.
"Ready?" Lileana asked Setarina.
"Ready."
Lileana darted out in front of Harry's attacker and grabbed his wand arm, and twisted it around. Unfortunately when she turned, she met his other arm, and was caught by the throat.
Mind filled with panic, Setarina concentrated as hard as she could on her sister's captor. The next thing she knew, he exploded into flames, and Lileana was kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily.
Severus knew he couldn't help Harry, whatever trouble he was in. That didn't stop his heart from clenching in pain at the sound of Harry's voice, cutting through the air like a knife.
"Severus Snape."
Turning around, he found himself face to face with Voldemort.
"Yes, my Lord?"
"I want you to kill Harry Potter."
Well, that wasn't so bad was it? A little short, for me, but don't worry. I have plans for these guys, as you will find out very soon....whenever the next opportunity to get online strikes......perhaps in a few more days, or even tomorrow, if I get it out in time before I have to go to the doctor's. I have discovered I have more problems than I thought I had.....but, hey. That's life, my life, for me. Please review and tell me how you like the story so far.