Chapter 2: Severus Snape

He'd watched as Draco's name was called, Draco Malfoy, Slytherin, watched as Draco walked up to the High Table, dressed in his finest dress robes, to receive his NEWTs in Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy and Dark Arts from Karkarov – all the subjects you need to become an Auror – and he'd thought, it's not as glamorous a job as it sounds, it's mostly policing the blood purity laws, and eliminating the Mudblood brats as soon as the Office for the Improper Use of Magic detects their accidental, uncontrolled magic.

Then he'd watched as Theodore Nott and the rest were called up in alphabetical order, until it was Harry's turn - and while Draco's marks are a little better than Harry's and Draco is Head Boy, Harry is captain of the Quidditch team and he's been offered a place with Puddlemere United, hell, there's a chance he might even play for the British team in next year's World Cup. Well, Harry and Draco have been friends and rivals since they were toddlers, and he hadn't really been surprised when the owl arrived from Hogwarts to tell them that Harry had been Sorted into Slytherin, because he'd always thought that if Lily wasn't Muggle-born, she would have been Sorted into Slytherin – Slughorn thought so, too, he was always teasing her about it. And the Hat gives choices, he'd been offered a choice between Gryffindor and Slytherin himself, and thank Merlin he'd chosen Slytherin, because he'd met Lucius on the train and he'd wanted to be with Lucius. And who would want to be Sorted into Gryffindor, anyway, now that miserable little creep Pettigrew is Head of House? He'd suggested the appointment to the Dark Lord himself, after all, Wormtail was an Animagus, he was qualified to teach Transfiguration.

Finally the graduation ceremony had been over, the last name had been called, Blaise Zabini, Slytherin, and they could get on with the real business of the day, the branding with the Dark Mark. And here the order of precedence depends on the standing of the boys' fathers in the Dark Order, it depends on how high their fathers stand in the Dark Lord's favour, so Draco and Harry will be first.

He'd heard Bellatrix Lestrange - the bitch had greeted Lily with the bare minimum of civility, and if she wasn't the Dark Lord's right-hand woman, if she hadn't been entrusted with the Dark Lord's most precious secrets, he would have had it out with her at wand-point long ago - loudly congratulating her sister on having a son to give to the service of the Dark Lord, and now Draco is walking up to face the Dark Lord with Narcissa and Lucius at his side, and he can't help thinking that Harry is as strongly stamped with his paternity as Draco. And why does Harry have to be the living image of his father at the same age, why does the boy have to have James Potter's face and Lily Evan's eyes? But he doesn't really let it bother him because he won that battle years ago - and he thinks, I killed James Potter over sixteen years ago, Lily is mine, and Harry is mine, too.

But they'd had to tell Harry the truth about his father, before someone else did, and of course Harry had wanted to know everything, so he'd explained, "Your father was killed during the rise of the Dark Order, and when I married your mother, I adopted you." And at the end, James Potter had shown courage enough - so he'd told Harry, "Your father died bravely, and the Dark Lord always values bravery." And please god Harry will never find out the full story, there were so many raids in those days, the raid on Godric's Hollow was a mere skirmish and only brief details had been reported in the Daily Prophet.

Draco is kneeling before the Dark Lord, the Dark Lord places the tip of his wand against Draco's left forearm, and now Draco is reeling back and crying out, but that's nothing to be ashamed of, the Dark Mark hurts like hell; he remembers Lucius telling him, before he was branded with the Dark Mark himself, that it would sting a bit - and that was the understatement of the century.

Lily's hand on his arm tightens, of course she's anxious for Harry, and he feels a surge of tenderness for her - and Lily is still beautiful, she's still desirable, she's still got the power to stir his blood after more than sixteen years of marriage, and even if she hasn't been able to give him a son, she's given him a daughter. And Eileen is beautiful, too – thank Merlin she hasn't inherited his hair or his nose although there's too much of him in her face for her to be merely pretty - but she's a striking looking girl, and she's going to be gorgeous in a year or so, no wonder Draco can't keep his eyes off her.

It's Harry's turn now, his turn to be honoured with the Dark Mark, and Harry won't flinch at the pain - the boy has plenty of guts - but as they approach the Dark Lord's throne he can't suppress a twinge of apprehension, because Harry has been fed a lot of crap about the honour and glory of serving the Dark Lord, and tonight he's going to find out what being a Death Eater is really like. The kids have been taught the theory, they've practiced the Unforgiveables in class, on spiders and the like, but tonight they're going to use them on a human being for the first time; OK, they've been brought up to think of a Muggle as a kind of talking animal, but a Muggle still screams and bleeds, just like a wizard – and the first kill is always the hardest. Then he thinks, I was only eighteen myself when I took the Dark Mark - and now he's angry with himself, is he going soft?

They kneel before the Dark Lord, Harry kisses the Dark Lord's robes, and now the Dark Lord is placing the tip of his wand against Harry's left forearm – but Lily is reaching out her hand and pushing the Dark Lord's wand away ...

He's astonished, and he's terrified – doesn't Lily know what happens to those who anger the Dark Lord? This is open defiance, the Dark Lord has killed wizards for less than this ... but it's only crucio, it's only pain, it could have been worse, the Dark Lord could have used his own curse, Sectumsempra, for enemies, and scarred Lily for life - and the Dark Lord is lifting the spell now, he's leaning forward, his eyes fixed on Lily, and he asks, softly, "You don't want me to do that again, do you?"

Lily is struggling to speak, but the Dark Lord is impatient for an answer, he's speaking again, "I asked you whether you want me to do that again? Answer me!"

He's kneeling beside Lily but he daren't say anything, he dare not even let the Dark Lord see the fury in his eyes, so he keeps his head bowed while the Dark Lord raises his wand again, and all he can think is that while he's been able to protect Lily from Bella and Barty and Lucius and all the other pure-blood fanatics for more than sixteen years, he can't protect her from the Dark Lord himself.

And now everything is getting a lot worse, it's getting completely out of control, because Harry is on his feet and his wand is in his hand, and the Dark Lord won't overlook this – this means death, because it's death for a servant to raise his wand in the presence of the Dark Lord without orders. And Lily knows that it means death, too, she's trying to get between Harry and the Dark Lord, she's begging the Dark Lord for mercy, begging the Dark Lord to take her instead of Harry, but she's wasting her time, the Dark Lord is never merciful ... the Dark Lord will kill Harry and he might kill Lily, too ... time has slowed down, as it always does in a firefight, he's got plenty of time to plunge his hand into his robes and grasp the handle of his wand - and plenty of time to realise that there's nothing he can do to save Harry now, because the Dark Mark is no mere tattoo, it's the Dark Lord's choke chain and no one who bears the Mark can raise hand or wand directly against the Dark Lord.

The Dark Lord is telling Lily to stand aside but she won't move, there's a flash of green light and Lily crumples to the floor, he knows that she's dead - and it's all his own fault, because if a wizard can't guard what's his, he doesn't deserve to keep it. The Dark Lord's wand is pointed at Harry, straight between the eyes, there's another flash of green light - and now the Dark Mark is burning black on his arm, it's never hurt as much as it's hurting now but it's a familiar pain, he's used to pushing it away, and something momentous has happened, the Dark Lord's throne is empty, there's nothing there but a pile of empty robes ... and Harry is still alive, it's unbelievable, because there's no counter-curse against Avada Kedavra, there's no blocking the Killing Curse.

He's still on his knees, he looks up at Harry, Harry is OK, he looks fine - bewildered, but fine - and there's something different about him, there's a lightning-shaped hex mark in the middle of Harry's forehead, and that's jogging an old memory, but that's not important right now - not when Bellatrix Lestrange is screeching something about treachery. The crowd is hanging back in slack-jawed wonder, but not Bella - and if Harry is going to stay alive, he's going to have to take control of the situation right now - so his wand is in his hand and he's on his feet in an instant, and it's just like the old times because you're never so alive as when you're just about to die. There's a flash of green light, but this time it's from his wand; Bellatrix is down, and he's ready to take on anyone else who shows fight - but Lucius is stepping forward, raising his hand and calling for calm, there's a shrewd, calculating look on Lucius' face - and now that old memory comes back, the memory of what he'd overheard, crouching at the keyhole so many years ago, Sybill Trelawney's harsh, hoarse tones, The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ...