The Wand Chooses the Wizard..
By Andrea "TheCopperDragon2004"
Author's Note:
A fair word of warning- this story was originally supposed to have a much darker ending to it, but I'm getting so tired of dark Severus stories, I didn't want to leave it at that, so I didn't. However, this means that I still may tweak the ending here a bit later on.
Part 4:
Severus escaped to the dark solitude of the Headmaster's office, and ignoring the portraits on the walls, sat down heavily at his desk, cradling his face in his hands as he fought not to lose control over his tightly-contained emotions. The year was not even over, and yet it had been the most trying of his decidedly miserable life. Normally he would never show any kind of weakness or emotion in front of another soul, but the portraits were Bound to him in his position as Headmaster, and could not reveal his private moments or conversations to anyone. Besides; they'd been present at his and Albus's meetings, and therefore knew the real reason he had killed the old man, knew the reasons Severus put himself through hell for years on end.
He listened to the snores of the various portraits in the office (some of the noises were clearly feigned- they did at least try to give him some semblance of privacy in his office when he needed to compose himself), and thought sourly that once this was all over, no matter which side won the war, he would not have a portrait made to join the others on the crowded wall. The wizarding world as a whole would likely burn it anyways, and besides, there would be no one left who would champion him once the Dark Lord considered his spy obsolete and likely killed him; Albus was dead, Minerva and the entire Order were convinced he was a traitor..
With a heavy sigh, he shifted uncomfortably in the old, beautifully carved chair in which he sat, and pulled his wand out from within his sleeve. As he stared at the length of ebony wood, he once again pondered the mystery that was his wand. Over the years he had to do many distasteful, even horrible things at the urging of his two masters, and had been required to be many different people in order to carry out his role as spy; Voldemort's Death Eater, Dumbledore's man, and quite rarely, could just be himself. He had often wondered how his life would have differed had thisspecific wand not chosen him. Would he even have had a wand, if one of Ollivander's long-dead relatives had not created this powerful tool?
With a snort, he realized that he probably would have had to live life as a Squib, or he would be dead already; none of the other wands at Ollivander's that day would work for him, and if he'd somehow been bonded to a different wand, he would have probably been killed years ago, once the wand had failed him in one way or another. He had needed a wand that he could protect himself with, whenever required, and yet could still injure or kill with, when necessary. He had needed a wand that could cast complex, delicate healing spells, as well as the darker, baser Unforgivables.
"Ebony wands are not merely light or dark; they are light, dark, and all shades in between. They are all-encompassing.." he remembered Ollivander's voice telling him. Indeed.
No, there truly was only one wand that he ever could have been paired to; the way this wand had captured his attention from the moment he saw it, the way it had always bent to his will and performed the magics he had needed of it (even during the few times he had sincerely hoped that it would fail him), left no doubt of that in his mind. This wand had been made for him. Like him, it was especially dangerous in the wrong hands..
Severus glanced up at the portraits on the wall, and as he spoke, they instantly snapped to attention.
"Be it five months from now, or fifty years from now, if you all would be so kind as to see that my wand is destroyed after I am gone, I would appreciate it." He very much thought that whoever would eventually find him would likely snap it in half anyway- this was, after all, the very wand that had killed the great Albus Dumbledore, among countless others.
"Destroyed, Severus?" Asked Phineas, Hogwart's only Slytherin Headmaster prior to himself. "Would you leave nothing behind for posterity, as Hogwart's Headmaster?"
"Posterity?" Severus snorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "The wizarding world will be in such a headlong rush to forget my existence that it will be astonishing if they don't trip on their own robes."
He looked back up at the portraits lining the walls of the office, and caught and held the gaze of three in particular.
"Dilys, Phineas… Albus.." Snape stood and faced the trio, huddled together for the moment in Albus's picture frame. "You know I would not ask if it weren't important."
Dilys and Phineas both look resigned, but nodded in agreement to his request. Snape turned to focus his attention on Albus.
"Headmaster.. surely you owe me this much?" he said softly. After all of the ways Albus had failed Severus, from the time he was an eleven year old boy up to the present, surely he could ask for one favor as penance.
"Severus, I have not been Headmaster in nearly a year," Albus started up the old argument, trying to deflect the favor the man was asking of him. Snape merely met the old man's gaze with his own expressionless stare, and waited. Finally, the old man sighed.
"Alright, Severus.. We will try to ensure that it is destroyed upon your death." The old man actually looked disgruntled, as though a great secret were being kept from him. "Although I cannot fathom why it is so important to you."
Severus couldn't hold back the sneer that came to his lips. "Suffice it to say, Albus, that you are not- and neednot be- privy to every secret that has ever passed beneath this castle's roof."
Albus at least had the grace to blush slightly at the younger man's biting comment.
"I shall just say that I made an oath to someone, a long time ago, in regards to this wand."
With a nod to the trio of portraits, he turned and left the office, black cape billowing behind him. The three portraits turned to look at each other.
"What in the bloody hell do you think that was all about?" asked Dilys.
The other two portraits merely shook their heads.
"I think he's been taking a bit too much after you, Albus," Dily said with a smirk.
The End.
Author's Note 2:
Thank you for sticking with my little story if you made it all the way to the end! Be sure to check out my other Snapely fic ("The Withheld Memory") if you enjoyed this one! I would love to hear what you thought of my writing!