A/N: Man, that was a long wait for a chapter, eh? (Smiles and ducks from flying fruit and...hey, was that a knife?) Anyway, last chapter sucked, to be quite blunt and obvious (unlike that knife you threw at me). I was not about to let this chapter do the same. So, I wrote the chapter a few weeks ago. I then tossed it out and rewrote it. That one was destroyed. Then, I made another draft during a creative writing free day. Of course, that class had me all creatived-out. Finally, yesterday in less than one hour's time, I took pen to paper and wrote this chapter. Yay for flu induced creativity. I actually like it even though it's a bit longer than usually. I hope you will, too!
Enjoy!
Chapter 16:
Severus paced in front of the room impatiently. His thoughts were scattered, and it was difficult to concentrate on exactly what he needed. The last two times, he found himself in a room with many comfortable looking beds. The time before that, he found a mirror that showed Hermione in it wearing a very revealing outfit (lace was very much to his liking) and motioning him to come forward. He supposed that it was the elusive Mirror of Erised's naughty little brother, the Mirror of Lust (or Tsul as it said on the frame). The time before that, he found himself in a potion's lab. What he wanted right now seemed to be the one thing he couldn't think about. Fate was as evil as Dumbledore and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named combined. He growled, opening the door to find himself face-to-face with Divination books on cheating fate. Severus allowed himself to snort at the irony before he viciously slammed the door shut. It gave a disapproving bang before disappearing.
"Concentrate." He whispered to himself before he pictured a room full of penseives and started to pace. "I need to empty my head. I need a place where I can let go of my thoughts." He walked back and forth quickly while saying this before a door appeared. He opened the door as a voice rang out.
"Talking to yourself again, Snape?"
The door shut unceremoniously, and Severus turned to face the speaker, already knowing who it was because of the annoying low rumble of the voice. It sounded exactly the same as a filthy mut growling.
"Black." He acknowledged in a disinterested voice, now facing the shaggy-haired Marauder.
Sirius Black stood, smirking as he pocketed a now blank piece of parchment. He shook his head slightly, his long, black hair now framing his darkened eyes. He stepped forward. "We need to talk, Snape."
His tone of voice and lack of insults alerted Snape that this was not to be a pleasant and frivolous or even teasing visit. He pointed to the door. It seemed to emit a glow of energy, beckoning the two boys in.
Severus nodded, a blank look on his face as he stepped into the room. Finally, it seemed to be exactly what he wanted it to be. It had a comfortable arm chair with a table full of penseives next to it. Severus had no time to think that he was stepping into the lion's den. By the time he turned around to face Black again, he saw the door shut, and Black was drawing his wand.
Severus didn't panic. He simply followed suite, drawing his own wand. He relaxed as Black transfigured a bookshelf into another armchair that looked less comfortable than the one Severus had secured for himself. It infuriated him to see Black not even flinch at the wand pointed straight at him. Black simply sat down in one sweeping motion, placing his wand securely somewhere in the depths of his long, blue robes.
"Put it away, and sit down, Snape." Black barked out.
"I think I'll stay standing, thanks. What do you need, Black?" Severus asked. He wanted to sit down, feeling tired from a long day, but he did not want to take orders from Potter's right hand man.
"Suit yourself." Black shrugged before continuing, "I've been hearing talks of an attack close to the castle." Sirius said, his voice becoming dark and solemn.
"What does that have to do with me?" Severus replied, his eyes focused on Black. He hadn't heard of any plans to attack the castle at the last Deatheater meeting. He doubted that the Dark Lord would plan an attack on or around Hogwarts without informing the new recruits who lived there.
"Cut the innocent act, Snivellus. I know you're a Deatheater scumbag. I just would have figured that you'd care a little more about Hermione. She's the only one who will ever give you a chance, and you don't seem to care that she may die soon. Then again, can a heartless bastard like you care?" Sirius' eyes were lit on fire, his voice angry.
Severus' heart panged the second that Black mentioned Hermione. Ignoring the obvious insult on himself, he addressed the more pressing matter at hand. "What about Hermione?" Snape asked, his eyes betraying his calm demeanor.
"Nothing. Look, whatever Snape. I hope that one day you look back onto your meaningless life and remember the one girl, the only girl, who ever truly cared about you, and you killed her." With that, Black stood up, sending his chair flying backwards as he strode out of the room.
Severus sat silently. That was probably the reason he didn't know of the attack if there truly was one being planned near Hogwarts. If an attack was planned in the area that related to Hermione somehow, then one of the other Deatheaters probably told the Dark Lord of his infatuation with the girl, and he would be thus excluded from the plans. That was the only scenario that he could think of where he would be excluded from the plans. Severus had tightly locked out all traces of his feelings for Hermione during the countless times that his mind was being probed by the Dark Lord. He sighed in frustration.
Standing up from the comforts of his chair, Severus disregarded the pensieves and stormed out of the room. He walked quickly, his robes billowing as he turned the corner. There, he found the statue he was looking for. It was of Alexander Whartsby, the first (and only) giant to ever complete a school of witchcraft and wizardry. It wasn't to scale luckily, and Severus quickly found his tongue. He pulled it, backing away as it spit in disgust. It opened the passage door he was looking for.
Going down a long, spiral staircase, he encountered a door at the very bottom. He opened it, finding himself just steps away from the familiar portrait of the Slytherin Common Room. He took the steps quickly, muttering the password, "Riddle," before he walked into the common room. His eyes scanned the room which was decorated from ceiling to floor in expensive, green fabrics. Severus' eyes fell upon a group of seventh years who seemed to be discussing something of relative importance. He made his way across the room, noticing that there was a strong, magical barrier around them. That was most likely the reason that there weren't any younger years lingering around, trying to overhear things they shouldn't.
Severus felt a sensing ward running a check over his body as he took one final step. The magic left his body, and Severus could now hear the quiet conversation which was taking place.
"What is the meaning of this?" Snape snapped, a deep grown gracing his previously blank features.
The conversation halted, and the seventh year Deatheaters turned to face Severus. The smirks on their faces turned into blank expressions. Only Trevors had a sneer plastered on his face. "Nothing that is of concern to you or your little Mudblood, Snape." The brown-haired boy spat out in a superior manner. The rest of the Deatheaters remained uncharacteristically quiet, one nudging Trevors in his side.
"By the look on your rash face and the obvious reference to the Mudblood, even though I hadn't mentioned her, tells me otherwise." Snape sneered down at Trevors. "Tell me what is going on here before I curse you into shreds."
"That's a precocious threat from someone who is left out of important Deatheater meetings because of his tie to Mudbloods and halfbreeds." Trevors barked, standing up to face Severus.
"It's not a threat anymore, you dimwit. You just spouted out exactly the information I came to you for. I came to you specifically, Trevors, because I knew that I could count on you and your irrational, temperamental mouth to let go of information that you've been entrusted to keep confidential. If you truly just told me the information you weren't supposed to have, I'll look forward to seeing the Dark Lord torture you until you lose your small mind." Severus smirked, grabbing Trevors' wand out of his hand and pocketing it.
Trevors lunged at him, but Severus had his own wand drawn and was silently stunning his fellow Deatheater before he even had a chance to make contact. Severus smirked down at the boy lying on the ground before eying the motionless Deatheaters who were silently staring at Snape, their expressions still blank.
"I respect your orders to leave me without information, gentlemen." With that said, Snape turned on his heel and walked through the almost empty common room and out the entrance.
So, the Dark Lord had his eyes on Hermione. This confirmed his suspicions that there was definitely something the little chit wasn't telling him. There had to be something she knew or possessed that would make her worth the risk of having a full combat with Dumbledore himself. This worried Snape immensely. There were only seldom times that the Dark Lord didn't get exactly what he wanted. If he wanted Hermione, he would not be stopped until he got her.
It had been weeks now since Severus had spoken to her. He could still remember the hurt expression on her face when he glared at her in the hall as she walked by. He could still remember her soft touch when she tried to reason with him. He could still see the single tear that she allowed to flow down her face when Severus harshly told her it was over. Now, Severus had to deal with worrying about her life, trying to protect her while remaining loyal to the Dark Lord.
"Snape." He heard his name being said for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He recognized the voice immediately to be Hudson's. What worried Severus was the tone of voice that his name was being said in. It was curt and hurried, fear ringing through it.
Severus turned to face Hudson, stopping his journey to the Great Hall for dinner. "What is it?"
"They're going after Hermione." Hudson said in a hushed whisper. The boy's usually bright eyes were now dull and dark, almost a shade of midnight.
Severus let down his guard and allowed himself to sign in exasperation. In an uncharacteristic move, he took his long, pale fingers and ran them through his slick, black hair. "I know." Severus admitted, allowing himself to slump against the wall in a display of frustration and weakness.
"What do you mean you know?" Judson's eyes were almost ablaze with fire, the anger protruding into his voice.
Severus let his chin drop down, his hair drooping over his cold, black eyes. His hand went into his robe's inner pockets, and he retrieved the wand he took from Trevors. He eyed it for a second before standing up straight and snapping it. He let the two pieces fall on the floor before he raised his eyes to meet Hudson's.
"I just found out via Black, and Trevors," Severus pointed to the broken bits on the floor, "confirmed it. No one else was willing to provide me with any information."
This answer seemed to pacify Hudson for now. "What do you plan to do about it?"
"Nothing." Severus replied, his voice emotionless once again.
"Nothing?" He echoed in disbelief.
"Nothing." Severus reiterated. "What did you expect me to do, ride in gallantly on a white horse and rescue Granger?"
"No, I didn't. I expected you to at least show a little compassion for the women who let herself fall in love with you. I expected you to at least think of some way to warn her to try to protect her." Hudson said, his voice raw.
"Well, I'm quite sorry to disappoint you, but I am a Deatheater. I pledged my allegiance to the Dark Lord. I have this ugly scar to prove it." Snape lifted his robe sleeve to show the Dark Mark glowing on his forearm.
"No, don't use mistakes as an excuse, Snape. I know you better than that. You love her, but you're too afraid to save her life. You're nothing more than a coward, Snape." Hudson spat.
Snape had never seen him so angry, and he knew he was right. Even if he died in the process, he had to do something for Hermione. "When?" Snape asked, rubbing his forehead before he lifted his chin again to face his house mate.
"Tomorrow."
A/N: I wrote the very last few paragraphs of this story because I knew exactly how I wanted it to end, and now I'm excited about the end. Usually, I'm sad and weirded out, but I'm really excited about this particular ending because it just fits SO well. Anyway...
One or two chapters left. I'm not exactly sure what I had planned out. We'll see what happens. It'll be 1.5 chapters or one long chapter. I'm not much for writing battle scenes. Do be prepared for a sequel though. I want to get it well under way before marching season rolls around again. That means that an update shouldn't be too far away this time.
Like it? Love it? Wanna make me try out for DCI?
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