Showdown at Twilight

They were in the infirmary. Again. All of them.

From the safety of the door, Snape rolled his eyes in utter irritation. How these people had managed to keep a school going, not to mention win a war was a mystery to him.

Today had been a perfect, sunny day that could be filled with so many useful, necessary things, and what were they entertaining themselves with? Potter watching.

At least they hadn't woken him up.

Scrutinizing them all, he found to his disappointment that none of them had even tried to breach the wards. A pity. But then they probably knew him long enough to foresee his precautions and the absolute glee he would feel at finding one of them a victim to his wards.

Perhaps it was really time to start anew. Perhaps he should find himself a school where no one knew him, where no one would carefully avoid his private quarters and any place he took a personal interest in…

No time to dream, really. But still it was a pity.

"Since none of you seems to be occupied with anything sensible," He announced, frightening them all with his sudden and noiseless entry. "I would ask you to accompany me to the Forbidden Forest. There is something there that might be of interest to all of you."

Or at least I hope there is, He thought, sending a short glance out of the window, towards the sun setting over the trees of the forest.

"Something of interest?" Minerva inquired, one raised eyebrow prompting him to elaborate.

"Yes," He said, tremendously enjoying the way they all hang onto his lips, hoping for a little bit more. "That is what I said."

Ah, the joys of simple minded companions!

Of course they fussed, questioned him and made a generally noisy affaire of what had sounded so simple and cunning in the planning phase, but he scowled a lot and handed them a few evasive answers, once again thankful for the reputation he had carefully cultivated for years.

With anybody else they would have demanded to know what was going on, or why he was leading the entire staff of Hogwarts – yes, even Filch, who had to Snape's own surprise been sulking silently in a corner of the infirmary – out of the castle's safety. With their Potions Master however, they simply assumed that general unpleasantness and years of necessary sneakiness combined to build his rather melodramatic behaviour.

Well, good for him. It was their own fault if they assumed so much.

But as he watched them huddled together near the Qudiditch pitch, their expectant eyes travelling the edges of the Forbidden Forest, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly he was doing.

He had known these people for years, had sneered at them for most of his life and successfully worked together with them. Well, worked together. The success had most often been an accident or the result of extra work on his part.

Despite their ability to irritate him day and again, he had become attached to them. A week ago, he would perhaps have said that he felt content among them. And now he had brought them here.

He answered Minerva's rising irritation with a few vague hints and a few rather well-phrased comments about the total absence of patience in their group.

Then, he leaned against a tree to wait.

Darkness was falling steadily over the school grounds. As if having expected an audience, the sun set in one of the most spectacular displays Snape had ever seen, with lots of red and gold light effects that uneasily reminded him of his Gryffindor patient back in the infirmary, alone except for the huffing Madame Pomfrey that couldn't get through his wards.

He had told Snape explicitly not to do this, had advised him to choose the Slytherin way, and what had he done? That was what happened when one mingled with Gryffindors, Snape thought darkly. Their righteousness was just like a virus.

"Severus, whatever this thing you wanted us to see is, I really don't find myself willing to wait much longer. I have, after all, a school to run," Dumbledore now announced, his usual joviality dimmed a bit by the falling temperatures and the indignity of his position.

"Just a moment, Headmaster," Snape replied coolly, but his eyes were scanning the tree line rather nervously now. If they didn't come…

But then he saw a shape step out of the Forbidden Forest, a figure with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a horse, and silently breathed a sigh of relief.

He stepped away from the tree to join his colleagues, pointing silently towards the shape.

"A centaur?" Dumbledore asked, his surprise badly hidden. "What exactly is going on, Severus?"

"More than one," Tonks commented from Snape's left, her voice and body tense. Interaction with centaurs was always difficult, and for more than one of them to leave the woods at the same time, there had to be something strange going on indeed.

More and more horsemen stepped out of the forest, their bodies building a wall that was slowly advancing towards them.

Dumbledore took a step towards the forest and raised his hands as if in greeting, but before he could open his mouth, a gasp from Tonks and a hasty whisper from Minerva turned his attention to the left and right flank of the centaurs. There were other figures walking alongside them, Snape recognized human shapes clad in white to their left and in black to their right, advancing with the same, solemn steps the centaurs were taking. And wherever they had come from, there were many of them.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, his voice now sharp and commanding, and Snape stepped to his side obediently.

He could distinguish faces by now, Chairon and the centaur that had led them to the forest garden, Ayda, clad in white, and men and women with the same aura of wildness by her sides, and to the right he could see the dark, charismatic face of Shadow, accompanied by at least thirty of his immortals. The unnatural paleness of their skin was already visible, and another gasp from Tonks told Snape that they had been recognized for what they were.

"Vampires," Dumbledore whispered and drew his wand in a fluent gesture. "Oh Severus, what have you done?"

Snape stepped away from the group of teachers and turned towards them, fiercely aware that he had turned his back towards an army with unclear intentions, an army of beings with supernatural strength that could snap his neck before he could move.

"These are Potter's friends," He announced, his voice clear and calm and mockingly superior. "I thought you should meet them before you decide his fate."

He turned around again, his back now to the equally unclear intentions of his colleagues.

The view was impressive. His letters had been urgent, if short, and obviously his correspondents had decided that a show of strength was in order.

And what strength. More than a hundred beings filled the space all to the edge of the forest, and Snape would have been surprised if there weren't more waiting in the shadows among the trees. Whatever could be said about Shadow and Ayda, they were not careless.

What they had brought was an army capable of invading Hogwarts, capable of holding it against the wizarding world if necessary. For a moment, Snape felt cold all over, but then he pulled himself together and met the serious gaze of the Stallion King, nodding gravely and receiving one of their strange bows in answer. He turned towards Shadow, dark eyes meeting dark eyes, and bowed slowly, expressing his wish to surrender and his hope for a fair treatment with the gestures of his hand.

He could hear the teachers in his back breathing quickly, could nearly smell their fear. Vampires had been the curse of the second war, these strong, silent killers that were nearly invincible, and their presence had to frighten some of his colleagues senseless.

But to see this strange alliance of men, vampires and centaurs, united as they were, deep within the defences of Hogwarts was a sight no one had expected to ever see, and Snape could feel fear warring with awe within himself.

Then, Ayda stepped forward and ruined the moment.

Nothing new there.

"Hello," Ayda greeted them brightly. "We have come to take over the castle, imprison you all and control the information in- and outflow over the next days. Don't feel threatened, we'll only kill you if you're trying to cross us."

"Madame…" Dumbledore addressed the madness that was Ayda with, Snape had to admit, admirable courage and the clear wish to keep within the bounds of conventional manners.

Snape could have told him that such a thing would never ever work with Ayda.

"My name is nothing of your business, you meddlesome old fool," Ayda answered sweetly. "The only thing that should interest you is what you can do to keep us from levelling your school to the ground."

Dumbledore spluttered with indignation and opened his mouth to utter something highly unconstructive, probably along the lines of 'Don't you know who I am', or 'How dare you threaten me'.

Then, he closed his mouth again and re-thought the situation. They were hopelessly outnumbered, his mind seemed to tell him, and the castle was empty except for an unconscious young man in the hospital wing. And in a move worthy of any Slytherin, the Headmaster of Hogwarts decided to change tactics.

He lowered his hands. His eyes began to twinkle in the trademarked Dumbledore expression. He smiled.

"Whatever your grievances, madam," He said happily and offered a well known leather bag to the group at large.. "I am sure we can find a more peaceful and civilized way to address them. Lemon drop?"

It was the famous 'Let's-irritate-them-with-kindness'-move that had done good service with more Ministers of Magic than Snape cared to count. Fudge had fallen for it even years after he had gained office.

But Ayda wasn't Fudge.

She twinkled right back.

"Whatever my grievances, Headmaster," She said in a dead-on impression of Dumbledore. "I am sure I can address them best by pinning you to the outer wall of your castle and skinning you alive. Knife?" She asked in the exact same tone Dumbledore had used and opened her cloak to reveal lines and lines of glittering weapons.

Snape couldn't help himself. He snorted loudly.

"Now see here," Entrance of Minerva, her Scottish accent strengthened by anger. "There is no reason to threaten any of us or act like an aggressive force!"

"Oh, but there is," Ayda disagreed, still twinkling happily. It gave Snape the creeps, really. "After all we want to invade Hogwarts, don't we?"

She smiled sweetly as Minerva choked on her confused irritation.

"Why should you want to do that?" She asked, her voice shrill and her wand finally drawn.

"Because you threatened someone who belongs to us," Ayda answered, and then her sharp eyes flickered over to Snape for less than a second. "Two someones, in fact. We don't like that."

"You mean Harry and Snape?" Tonks, her stupidity displayed clearly in the lines of her dropped jaw.

"Whatever you believe, madam," Dumbledore intervened, his tone now the icy command of the general since the doddering old fool hadn't worked. "You have no authority over their fate, since they are both in my care."

His eyes, too, flickered over to Snape, telling him clearly what he would turn this care into as soon as possible.

"And what should prove your authority over them?" Ayda asked back, her grin glittering like a knife in the descending darkness. Obviously, she enjoyed this all tremendously. "Your fashion sense?"

"But you can't invade Hogwarts!" McGonagall protested, spluttering at the impossibility of it. "It's just not done! How can you…"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, my dear," Ayda interrupted. "And… oh… look – I've already done it!"

She grinned, then turned towards Shadow who had watched her antics without the slightest impression in his face.

"Ready then, old bat?" She asked. "You can do the honours. I'm tired of this bunch of idiots already."

"Do not call me old bat," Shadow said, very quietly and very dangerously.

Then, before anyone could react, he moved.

Only for the blink of an eye, but when he was back at Ayda's side, he held all their wands in his hand – all their wands except that of Snape, who hadn't even bothered to draw it.

"What the fuck…" Tonks whispered and Snape had to suppress an irritated sigh. Why could they not once have a qualified Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor who would recognize a vampire and his power before all was lost?

"Whoever you are," Dumbledore shouted, his anger no longer controlled but slashing wildly though the air around them. "I protest against this treatment! You have no right to be here, nor to take our wands…"

"Be quiet, young man," Ayda interrupted with a finality that silenced even Dumbledore. "You did a rotten job in exercising your authority. It is time for someone competent to take over."

She paused, then nodded towards Shadow and Chairon.

"What a good thing we are here!" She said and suddenly shadows swarmed out from under the trees, encircling them, reaching the castle with superhuman strength and marking the edges of the wards with their presence.

Ayda nodded a second time, and vampires stepped forward, grabbing the teachers' arms and moving them towards the main entrance, druids surrounding them in a large circle.

Hogwarts had been invaded.

For a moment, Snape wondered if he had done the right thing.

He had, after all, spent the last twenty-some years defending this castle against every outside force, and handing it over now to a horde of aggressors seemed a bit much, even considering that he had been provoked.

But then, Shadow and Ayda stepped up to him, Shadow's eyes glowing with a strange mixture of pride and worry.

"Thank you, master Snape," The vampire said, and then asked the question that no one at Hogwarts, Potter's presumed 'home', had bothered with.

"How can we help?"

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