It's final exams, and then, in a few short days, I will be home for a long break. YAAAYYY!!! God, I want a break. I should really be studying/writing essays right now. But bits and pieces of this story keep leaping from my mind, and I need to write more chapters so I can get to the good bits sooner. I'm aiming to finish this before the 7th and final Harry Potter book is released. Hopefully I'll make it, but I have to finish The Road Less Traveled as well. Anyway, Happy Holidays everyone! Hopefully you will hear from me again before the actual holidays, but just in case….
"I will give you three crows as your familiars," said the Princess. "You are in hiding as a witch now. That is your guise." She spoke a word to the crows, and three mangy, evil-looking things came and waited nearby.
"A witch?" Elphaba said.
-Wicked, Gregory Maguire
In the middle of the journey of our life,
I came to myself within a dark wood where
the straight way was lost.
-The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri
Severus was still rather furious, and Sakura easily admitted that she was intimidated. This, she thought, is a very different Severus Snape.
She tensed as he drew his wand, and he arched an eyebrow at that. "I'm going to cast a Disillusionment Charm on you. Bad enough Potter knows you're here, we don't need anyone else discovering you."
Sakura dampened her Sight, and was very glad that she had done so. Apparently Wizardry and Witchcraft was rather flashy for those who could See. He tapped her with his wand, murmuring an incantation, and she shivered at the feel of foreign magic washing through her body. She did a quick scan and was relieved to discover no peculiar side effects. From the name, as well as the feel, of the spell, she gathered it was some sort of invisibility spell.
"Follow me," her uncle said tersely, and spun about, robes flaring dramatically as he exited the Hospital Wing.
I wonder if he practices that, Sakura thought idly, and followed as quietly as she could.
The castle appeared to be very large. Sakura's eyes widened as they traversed the dark, empty corridors, and her head moved from side to side, trying to take everything in. The paintings - which could move and, apparently, speak, if the sleepy grumblings were anything to go by - and the maze of doors of various sizes, shapes, and even colors, the statues and suits of armor. She jumped in fright as they descended a staircase, and one above them suddenly switched places. Her fascination caused her to stumble several times, once barely missing smacking into a stone witch. With that wand portrayed in the midst of casting a spell, Sakura was under no delusions that it wouldn't be a painful experience.
Eventually, though, she relaxed and no longer tried to take in every little detail, as warmth and safety surrounded her. Sakura wondered if this was the castle's way of welcoming her when the atmosphere changed. She sent her senses out behind them and, feeling no one, sent them ahead, where she discovered someone heading towards them. Biting her lip, Sakura placed a hand on her uncle's arm, feeling him tense in surprise before slowing to a halt, pretending to have heard something suspicious.
"Someone's coming," Sakura breathed, lips next to his ear as she stood on her tip toes.
Severus nodded almost imperceptibly, and once again began to move. Sakura followed, concentrating and trying twice as hard to remember what Syaoran had said about moving silently.
Within moments Severus heard the tell-tale shuffle of feet and swishing of robes somewhere ahead of them. Schooling his features into his usual scowl, he continued long-legged stride towards his office. His scowl deepened, ill-concealed dislike hidden by the flickering shadows of the corridor, as the other person came into view.
Umbridge.
Sakura unconsciously drew close to her uncle, almost hiding behind him, as the large woman appeared. Like a toad, she thought, before scolding herself for such unkind thoughts.
"Severus," the woman said in such a sickly sweet tone that it made Sakura's skin crawl. "You've come back early."
"Professor Umbridge," Severus nodded in acknowledgement, stopping reluctantly.
The calculating look in the woman's eyes made Sakura uneasy. She unveiled her Sight and examined Umbridge's aura where the prominent aspects of her personality would shine through. Sakura fisted the back of her uncle's robes as the coldness and cruelty of the seemingly harmless women became evident. Her desire for power alone…. And this was a professor?
Sakura came back to herself with a start, realizing that the two had been speaking.
"…unethical and illegal."
"As the High Inquisitor, and liaison of the Ministry, I could easily grant you the proper permission," Umbridge murmured.
"As you wish," Severus replied stiffly. "I will work on the Veritaserum upon my return. I am only here to fetch a few of my possessions before heading back to the conference."
"Of course," Umbridge simpered breathily.
"It will be several weeks before it will be ready," Snape informed her curtly and strode off, Sakura at his heels. Eventually the two came to a large portrait of a man with dark green eyes, silvered hair, and a serpent wrapped about his waist.
"Password?" the man drawled.
Severus murmured something that Sakura couldn't quite catch, and tapped the corner of the portrait twice. The wall to the left dissolved and they stepped into what looked like a living room. Sakura looked around, barely noticing when the wall reappeared behind them. She did notice, however, when Severus hurled some sort of glass object at the wall across from them. She jumped at the crash and watched as the hundreds of shards sparkled in the firelight.
"Damn the woman!" Severus Snape hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Veritaserum on a student? And Potter no less! Merlin, this could ruin everything!" He paused. "Perhaps…"
He frowned suddenly, having nearly forgotten about his niece. "Sakura? Where are you?"
"Here, Severus-ojisan," she said, placing a hand on his arm.
"Hold still," he ordered, and tapped her with his wand. She shivered again as the wizardry flowed through her body, wiping clean any traces of the original spell. Once she came back into view, the Potions Master gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. She did so, tucking one leg underneath her body as she turned to face him, watching curiously as he lowered himself into an armchair next to her. He said nothing for several long moments, lacing his fingers together under his chin and studying her.
"I suppose I could Obliviate your memory," Snape murmured thoughtfully, his dark gaze all but pinning her to her seat.
Sakura stiffened at his words. She wasn't sure exactly what 'Obliviate' meant, but it sounded as if he meant to mess with her mind, and that was strictly taboo among sorcerers.
"No. I would like an explanation at the very least."
"Yes," he scowled. "I suppose I owe you at least that much, as well as keeping your memories intact. You have, after all, saved my life, and possibly even my position. I am, once again, in another's debt." His hands tightened spastically on the armrest. "This would be so much simpler if Albus were here," he lamented, before returning his attention to his niece.
"You will not breathe a word of this to anyone, Sakura, or I will remove these memories from your mind. And rest assured, whatever happens, I will be contacting your father."
"I would not endanger your safety or take any risks with your secrets with anyone who would be a danger to you in any way, Ojisan," Sakura promised. "You can trust me."
"I do not trust easily," Severus informed her coldly. "But it appears that I have no choice. Very well. You do, of course, know that the Dark Lord has once again risen."
Sakura, in fact, did not, but this wasn't surprising. She nodded anyway.
"Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and I feared that such an event would once again occur, so when Harry Potter returned from the Triwizard Tournament with the body of one of our students and the news that the Dark Lord had returned, we had general idea of where to go from there. During the first war, I…I saw the error of my ways and became a spy for Dumbledore, who was, at the time, the only wizard the Dark Lord feared. I have been attempting to regain the Dark Lord's trust, but he is suspicious, and progress is slow and always painful. I have been paying my penance for my actions as an idiotic teenager, and I know that it will never be enough."
He tilted his head forward, hiding behind a curtain of dark hair, waiting for her censure, her anger, her disgust. Waiting for one of the few people who truly cared about him to storm out of his sorry life. Waiting to erase every memory of himself from her mind. He hated this feeling of emotional vulnerability, could not remember the last time he had opened up to anyone. It was not something he had ever dreamt of doing.
But this was Sakura. He knew without a doubt that her presence brought out the best in others, and some bit of humanity in himself.
Severus started at the gentle touch on his arm, and raised his expressionless gaze to his niece, who knelt next to him.
"Severus-ojisan…" she murmured.
She didn't know it, but her hand would have been touching his Dark Mark, had he not been wearing his heavy robes and stiff, old-fashioned shirt. And all of a sudden the need to push her away before he corrupted her, killed her, rose up in him, almost choking him with the intensity of it.
Severus leapt to his feet, trembling with fury. "Shall I show you his brand?" he hissed, thrusting back his sleeve to display the inky darkness of the snake in the skull. "I am a Dark Wizard, Niece! I am a torturer and a murderer and a poisoner! Out!" he roared. "GET OUT!"
But Sakura didn't move, simply stared at him, her green eyes wide as he spoke. And then she gently grabbed his marked arm, and he froze.
"Is this why you were in pain when you left so quickly?" she asked, lightly tracing the moving tattoo.
Snape remained silent.
Her eyes met his, and she gazed at him intently. "Darkness is not evil, Severus Snape. Your aura cannot lie. It is dark, yes, but it is also very good. And you may believe that whatever you do can never be enough to pay for whatever sins were committed, but I believe that they have been paid many times over."
He snorted disbelievingly, only slightly distracted by her comment about his aura.
"You are a good man, Uncle Severus. You just refuse to believe it."
He sighed resignedly, and sat down.
"Will I never rid myself of you?" he asked tiredly.
"Of course not," Sakura said with a smile. "I've only just found you again, and you are family. We love you."
Severus scoffed. "Please," he said dryly. "There's no need for that."
She cocked her head to the side. "It's true."
But he did not believe her, and she didn't push the issue. There would be time enough for that later.
Severus sighed wearily, and turned to face Sakura once again. "Will you tell your father what you've been up to, or do I need to return with you?"
"I will tell him," she promised, and after and assessing look, Snape nodded in agreement. "All right then. I believe I will recover from this misadventure in my rooms. The conference had ended anyway. Judging from your stunning display of incompetence, I will assume that your house is not connected to the Floo network?"
Sakura blinked in confusion before her expression cleared. She shook her head. "No."
"There are anti-Apparition wards surrounding Hogwarts, so I would have to walk you to the Forbidden Forest. However, after following me halfway around the world, I doubt you would be up to making the return trip. I wouldn't want you to splinch yourself. After everything that has happened, that would be too ironic."
Sakura frowned, trying, and failing, to follow all of these new terms.
Severus, meanwhile, reached for a spare quill, and tapped it with his wand, murmuring, "Portus." Catching Sakura's frown, he said dryly, "After hearing about all of my prior and current exploits, one wouldn't think you would be so put off by the creation of an illegal portkey."
He watched carefully as she tried to hide her confusion, setting off alarm bells in his head. She may have his best interests at heart, and her vow may keep his secrets safe, but there was much more to Sakura Kinomoto than she let on, and one way or another, Severus was going to find out what.
He held out the quill to Sakura. "Once I tap it with my wand, it will activate. I will send an owl once Dumbledore returns as headmaster, although I would hope that you will abandon this foolish and dangerous notion of visiting Hogwarts by then."
"Good bye, ojisan," she simply said, and he stiffened as she hugged him briefly. Her green eyes were lit by her smile and full of a trust that Severus could not dispel, no matter how hard he tried. As she disappeared, Severus was put in mind of another pair of green eyes that refused to trust him despite, or perhaps because of, his actions.
Shaking his head at the irony of it all, Severus dug a mirror out of his pocket and retreated to the privacy of his bedroom to contact Headmaster Dumbledore.
Meanwhile, Sakura flinched at the unfamiliar tug behind her navel, and soon ended up sprawled across her lawn with a surprised, "Kami-sama!" Wizards, she thought as she brushed dirt and grass off of her robe, have the worst ways of traveling.
She entered her house only to be confronted by a stern Syaoran, with Tomoyo and Kero-chan shooting her apologetic looks from behind him.
Sakura sighed, and wondered how many times she would be repeating her story.
As Harry made his way to Gryffindor Tower carefully and quietly, he pondered the relationship between the greasy git and Sakura. They were complete opposites, the Potions Master as cruel as ever, yet Sakura seemed to like him. Not only that, she had hugged him! Harry had a very strong sense of justice, and no matter how he wanted to shove his image of Professor Snape back into its cold, uncaring place, he couldn't keep his mind from returning to the problem.
Could some of Snape's cruel words and actions really spring from concern? He was a heartless bastard, wasn't he?
But in the secrecy of his own thoughts, Harry knew that he was being unfair. Not that Snape was fair by any means. But Harry had given, or attempted to give, as good as he got. Not only that, but he had willfully invaded his professor's privacy by looking into his Pensieve, although the thought was tempered by the fact that the Legilimency ruthlessly invaded his own privacy.
And, Snape had protected him and saved his life on several occasions.
He was still a bastard, though, and Harry did not intend to change his actions, at least not yet. Part of it may have been to keep up appearances with Voldemort and his followers, but Harry's temper, once worked up, often got the better of him. And, although Harry liked to think, and was indeed, mature for his age, the childish hatred still lingered.
His luck was with him tonight, as he made it to the Fat Lady's portrait without detection. She swung open upon his uttering the password, and he stepped inside, only to be nearly flattened by Hermione's exuberant greeting.
"Harry!" she whispered fiercely, throwing herself at him and hugging him fiercely. It took Harry, who was unused to being touched, a moment to relax, and then he stroked her hair soothingly.
"Hey mate," Ron greeted quietly, so as not to alert the rest of the Gryffindors who were asleep. "You had us worried."
"What happened?" Hermione asked, letting go of him and stepping back. "We were gone for a moment, and then you just…just disappeared. And with Umbridge in charge and Dumbledore gone…"
Harry smiled reassuringly and the three settled down in front of the fire, huddling together as he related his adventure.
Hope this was okay. See you soon, maybe.
Mystical Magician