Disclaimer: I own nothing Harry Potter or Mr. Yeats' poem.
Chapter twelve: A Series of Unfortunate Events
Or anything by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler).
Harry took a step towards the pensieve and glanced at the door nervously.
"Don't do it." The fae hissed. He stepped closer. "You don't need to see anything in there!" She knew what was in it and no one would benefit from Harry snooping.
"Don't!" she almost yelled. The boy subconsciously stepped around her and only hesitated a moment before putting his face to the shimmering surface.
"You stupid ass!" She screeched stomping her foot.
The fae just had time to hop unto Sirius Black's back as he stormed out of the safe-house to go after Harry at the ministry. She looked back at Severus' stunned and scowling face.
"You're all stupid asses!" she screamed right before Black disapperated.
Was she supposed to be proud of the way he fought the grown men after his life? The way he had inspired other bloody children to ban together and fight by his side?
She wasn't.
In fact she had a distinct lack of feeling in general ever since she saw the man named Black fall behind the veil. The boy nor the others couldn't see past it but for the fae it was sheer fabric.
He had fallen behind it and stumbled, looking confused at his new surroundings. Suddenly a hooded figure put a skeletal hand on his shoulder and began to lead the man away.
Sirius tried to look back, but the hand on his shoulder was strong and allowed no leeway. Death might be an okay guy in general but when he was working, he took who he could and never gave back.
No one stopped Death from looking back and when he did he looked straight at Harry. Slowly, he turned his head hooded face towards her and tilted his head in greeting before turning away and taking his charge with him.
The fae felt her mind lose its tether and for a moment she felt as if she were floating. She knew with no uncertainty that regardless of any prophecy or anything she did: no man cheated Death of his due.
Her boy would die. Someday. Somehow…
…but so would that talkative bastard.
Now when Harry fought and pushed Voldemort out of his mind all by himself, she was proud. Love had saved him the first time and love kept him still.
It always would.
Snape slammed the door to his quarters at Hogwarts and immediately made his way to where he kept the whiskey. The fairy pendant around his neck transformed and the fae appeared sitting on the back of one of his armchairs.
"Well, it seems Dumbledore figured out Voldemort's soul magic without any of my help." Said the fae with a flat voice. She had hoped for more time…
Snape picked up the whiskey bottle as if to pour a drink but then set it back down with a loud clink.
"…like a pig to the slaughter…" He whispered, voice rough.
"Yes." She said leaning back over the chair. "The boy must die."
Something glass shattered against the wall and Snape covered his face with one hand as he leaned heavily on the table with the other. The fae didn't even flinch, she simply stared at the cold fireplace as she lay backwards over the chair in a sick broken way.
""Afar from our lawn and our levee,"" she said so very softly.
""O sister of sorrowful gaze!
Where the roses in scarlet are heavey""
Snape threw another with a crash and sank to the ground.
""And dream of the end of their days,"…be careful of the glass, Severus."
Death came to Hogwarts that year.
He stood in the distance until at the very end, he was waiting at the top of the astronomy tower when Snape and the fae arrived.
The fae stepped back from Severus at that point.
"Severus…," pleaded Dumbledore. "Severus…please…"
The fae didn't want to watch, she wanted to cover her eyes so that she could not see how much he hated his friend at that moment. She sank down into a squat in the corner. Hated the man he trusted the most because of what he was forced to do.
But she watched as Snape raised his wand a Dumbledore.
"Avada kedavra!"
The green light hit Dumbledore and he fell…fell.
His body fell from the tower and his spirit stayed at the top. For a moment he looked down at where his body was on the ground. Soon though, he turned and caught sight of Death politely waiting to the side.
"Hullo." Dumbledore said slightly amused and confused. "Are you who I think you are?"
"Most likely." Said Death. Dumbledore chuckled.
"And who is that?" He asked gesturing towards the fae and looking at her. She stared back with wide eyes.
"Someone who will see things to the end." Said Death. Dumbledore nodded as if that were a perfectly acceptable answer.
"Do you always come for souls yourself?" He asked turning back to Death.
"Mostly, but I make a point of it for those who used at least one of my three gifts."
"The Hallows?" Dumbledore said, turning to walk next to Death.
"Yes, that is what you call them."
And they walked through the veil together. The fae walked over to the edge of the tower and looked down. They were starting to gather around his body. She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sky. She would stay until the end then.
A/N: This is the second to last chapter and then the epilogue. Please review.