The dark eerie gloom cast through the hotel room. Severus laid in the bed, staring up at the ceiling completely awake. His thoughts had drowned out his peaceful state, causing him to be unable to sleep. Severus barely slept throughout the years. Too many thoughts and confusions crept through his mind in the middle of night. First, he would usually think about his childhood and how his father had abandoned his mother and him. Then, there were his years at Hogwarts, which focused around the horrible tortures of the Marauders and then his decent into the world of the Death Eater. He had been consumed by their evil, leading to so many deaths of people he knew. The main death that still plagued his mind, heart, and soul, had always been Lily. She was usually the last thing he thought about, and most of all, the one person he thought about the most. She swarmed through his mind like an endless sea, making him regret everything he had ever said and done to her.
Severus groaned as he stared up at the ceiling. Since he couldn't sleep, he sat up in bed and looked over at Paige who was laying on the ugly brown couch. He felt bad that he took up the bed, but she had insisted on him sleeping in the bed and her sleeping on the couch. Severus was the injured one, so in all common sense, he should be the one sleeping in the bed. He watched her while she slept, her leg dangling off the couch as she laid on her stomach and a blue blanket, which was on top of her, was all wrinkled and disheveled as it barely covered her body anymore.
As Snape watched Paige quietly, the doorknob to the front door stated to shake as if someone were trying to pick the lock. Severus got out of bed, stood up, and walked into the bathroom. He peaked around the corner of the doorway, watching as the doorknob still shook. His eyes darted to Paige who was still asleep on the couch, obviously not hearing the doorknob. Crap. Why didn't he wake her up? His eyes darted back to the doorknob and finally the noise stopped. A click sounded from the knob, and then the door opened a crack.
A tall man in his middle 40's opened the door and stepped inside the room. He had an army haircut and a navy colored t-shirt and pair of jeans on. In one hand, he carried a bottle of whiskey and the man staggered slightly, as if he were drunk. Somehow, the drunken man was able to find the light switch so he turned it on, causing the whole room to be illuminated in a light yellow color. "Baby girl?! I know you're in here!" The man exclaimed.
Paige practically jumped off the sofa as she was startled awake. Her heart raced as one of her fears had come true. He had found her. She looked at the drunken pig in fear. "How did you find me, father?" She asked.
"I was in the Royal Navy. You know I can find anyone." He replied before taking a drink of the whiskey.
Paige started backing away from him, trying to reach the wall behind her. "I think you need to leave."
Her father walked right up to her and slapped her across the face. Paige fell to the ground and held her cheek, staring up at the man in fear. "How dare you walk out on your mother and I like that!? She's worried sick about you!" He shouted in drunken anger.
Severus stepped out of the bathroom and into the main room. "Haven't you ever heard you're not supposed to hit a lady?" He asked rhetorically.
Paige's father turned around and looked at Severus. "Who the hell are you? Some older man banging my daughter?" He asked rudely.
"She's not your daughter," retorted Severus. "It takes more than a drunken fool to raise a daughter.
"How dare you!" Her father exclaimed in anger. He stormed over to Severus and was about to hit him, but Severus reached into his back jeans pocket and gripped his wand. "If you take one step closer, you'll embarrass yourself." Severus warned.
Paige's father stepped closer as if he found it a challenge. Severus pulled out his wand, pointed it at the man, and shouted, "Episkey!" The flash of red light hit her father in the chest and caused him to fall backwards. Her father laid on the floor looking dazed and catatonic.
Severus ran over to Paige and pulled her off of the ground. "Are you alright?" He asked sincerely for once in his life.
"Yes." She replied, looking stunned by everything she had just witnessed.
"We need to get out of here," explained Severus. "I used magic so they can track it." He grabbed Paige by the arm and used his wand to apparate them to someplace he figured they would be safe.
Eventually the two arrived in a location that was unknown to Paige. She fell to her knees and breathed heavily as the sickening feeling took her over. She appeared as if she were going to throw up. "What…was…..that?" She asked between breaths.
"We apparated," he replied. "Wizards and witches use it to travel. Everyone feels sick the first few times they apparate."
Paige started to breathe normal after a few minutes. She looked around the place to see marble walls and some really nice furniture, which looked antique because it was worn out and old. "Where are we?" She asked.
"Malfoy Manor," he replied. "They are some people I know."
Just then, two blonde-haired people, one male and one female, came running into the hallway with their bathrobes on since it was night. They saw Severus and the mysterious woman in the hallway, causing both to seem confused and curious at the same time. Lucius face turned to anger and confusion. "What is the meaning of all this? Everyone thinks you're dead!" He exclaimed in anger.
"Do I look dead to you?" Snape retorted.
"Why did you come here? Don't you know the Ministry can track your spells? And who is this woman?" Lucius asked a series of questions very rapidly.
"I came here to receive your help," answered Severus. "The Ministry can only track where I did the spell, not where I went. You should know that, Lucius. As for the woman, you don't need to be concerned."
"If you apparated here, then she must be a muggle." Lucius assumed.
"Yes."
"How dare you bring a filthy muggle into my home! I most definitely won't help you now!" Lucius shouted in white-hot anger. He was always known for hating muggles, half bloods, and especially mudbloods.
"Stop calling me that word!" Paige exclaimed. "I'm right here, you know. I can hear what you're saying."
Lucius glared at Paige because a muggle had spoke to him. He wanted to say something, but Severus spoke first. "May I remind you who made the Unbreakable Vow with your wife. I helped protect your son by killing Dumbledore."
Lucius gritted his teeth while Narcissa helped Paige off of the ground. "It's alright. We will set you two up in a room." Narcissa explained, leading Paige to a spare room in the house.
The owner of the Manor paced back and forth. He was deep in thought before he stopped and looked at Severus. "I should kill you for your insolence. As for the woman, she should be killed. She's nothing more than a lose end and an inconvenience."
Severus glared at Lucius. "You will keep your hands off that woman. She's responsible for me still being alive," he explained. "Just because we know the Killing Curse, the curse that takes away lives, doesn't give us the right to play God. We do not choose who lives and dies. It was never our right and that is where Voldemort failed. He thought he could play and be God."
An eyebrow raised on Lucius face. "Since when have you become so religious?" He asked.
"I haven't. I just believe there is a higher being out there that controls all fate. It doesn't even have to be God, for all I'm concerned. I'd like to believe everything happens for a reason and that only one person or being knows what that reason is."
Lucius thought for a moment and then nodded. "Very well. You are in complete control of this girl while she is here," he explained. "But I warn you, if she even puts one finger out of place, I'll break it." Lucius stormed off, his bathrobe billowing behind him as he headed back to his bedroom.
Severus knew the Malfoys were always conceited. They thought they were the best and he knew otherwise. He knew they were far from perfect since they had displayed it on many occasions. First, they had made the mistake of trusting and following Lord Voldemort. Lucius had ended up in Azkaban while Draco was supposed to kill Dumbledore. Once Lucius escaped, he offered the Manor to Voldemort, and yet he was nothing more then a slave. Draco had failed to kill Dumbledore and their whole family had almost been destroyed. Yes, this family was far from perfect, but Snape had been friends with them all the same. In the end, Voldemort had betrayed both Severus and the Malfoys.
Severus walked down the hallway where Narcissa had gone with Paige. He passed various paintings of old Malfoy family members, some ugly and old, while others were beautiful and young. The hallway was too dark to see anything else since it had still been nighttime. After Severus found the room, he entered it and overheard Narcissa talking to Paige. "There might be some old clothes you can wear in the closet." She stated.
"Thank you." Severus said graciously.
Narcissa turned around and nodded at him before leaving the room. Severus sat on the bed next to Paige. He wondered what she would think now that he had used magic in front of her. His world was completely unknown to her, nothing more than a mysterious dream of fantasy. Very few muggles ever learned about their world. The Prime Minister of England, muggle parents who gave birth to a magical child, siblings of these children, spouses who married a wizard and weren't magical, were only the few groups of people who knew about their world. Even to these people, the wizarding world seemed like an overwhelming place sometimes.
"Did I scare you?" Severus asked.
"A little, but I'll be fine." She replied. "Thank you for that back there in the hotel."
"So your father is the one that hurt you?" He asked curiously.
"Yes."
Severus pulled Paige's face gingerly towards him with his hand. He looked at her cheek and noticed it was redder than usual. "It might bruise," he stated. "Men should never hit women like that. As far as I'm concerned, he's not your father. It takes more than common DNA to be a father."
Snape let her go and then laid back on the bed. "We should get some sleep. It's pretty late." He explained.
Paige laid back on the bed as well. They laid there quietly, each keeping to their own side. However, neither of them had their eyes closed. They laid there wide-awake, thinking about the events that had happened recently. Severus had met this woman who saved him, and in return, he had saved her from her father. He could be dead if it weren't for her, but she could be dead if it weren't for him. The two seemed to have met for a reason and some of these reasons were starting to become clear. Maybe two people really can meet each other and save each other's lives, no matter how corrupt or flawed they may be. Then again, maybe they could completely ruin each other's lives, but on the other hand, both knew that everything happens for a reason, even if figuring out that reason is the hardest part of all.
