A/N- First off, sorry for the huge delay. Doesn't writer's block always strike the hardest when you try and give yourself a deadline? Not to mention personal hassle and family matters... Anyway, here it is, at long last. And of course, the disclaimer- all canon characters are the intellectual property of JKR. Reviews would be much appreciated, thanks.

Chapter 3: Treading Water

Emerging from the near total darkness of the tunnel, Severus squinted, covering his eyes for a moment or two to avoid being half-blinded by the intense glare of the early morning sun, just about clear of the treeline over on the opposite side of the Lake, shining down directly in his face. It may have only been just past six in the morning, but it was slap-bang in the middle of summer, less than a week after the solstice. Even at this early hour, he could feel the warmth of the sun's rays on his pale, sun-starved skin, and he drank it in, basking in its radiant glow. He spent too much time down in the dungeons and in the darkness for his liking nowadays. Standing here in the clearing formed by this small inlet of the Great Lake, enveloped by the pine trees of the Forbidden Forest almost from all sides, it took him right back to the days of his childhood. Just about the only fond memories of his childhood that he still had, the only times when he'd ever been able to feel happy and carefree. Running through the fields and the open clearings in the vast Forest of Arden, out on the outskirts of Cokeworth, laughing and playing to his heart's content, with the most joyful, exuberant, magically beautiful girl in the worl...

Severus snapped out of it, ruthlessly choking off that train of thought with a iron grip. Looking down at the water in the inlet, still murky but markedly clearer than the water out in the Great Lake itself, he noted that the shallows around the water's edge were strewn with water lilies, in a cacophony of different colors. All of them in full bloom, all of them silently mocking him with their life, sweet fragrance and vibrancy. The genuine smile which had made its rare, fleeting appearance on his face withered away and died in an instant, to be replaced by the stony half-sneer, half-scowl once more. He wasn't here to cast a Patronus, damn it. Even if it would have been the easiest, quickest and most convenient way to do this, using his Patronus to go and tell the girl, this Natalia, what she needed to be told for him. No, he was here because he'd killed Igor Karkaroff, mere hours ago; and even if it had been at Igor's own request, it didn't change the fact that he'd done so in cold blood. Killed the man who'd been this girl, Natalia's, and her sister-in-law Anastasia's, father for most of their lives.

Albus, along with a fair few of the members of his Order of the Phoenix, might well possess the delusional, evangelical levels of belief in their own self-righteousness to do it that way- by sending the corporeal embodiment of their own happiness, joy and contentment as their message-bearer, and using it to tell a girl that her father-in-law had just willingly laid down his own life for the sake of keeping her and her sister-in-law safe, 'for the greater good'. But he didn't have that in himself. Unlike them, he was well aware that he was a complete and utter scumbag- he had to be to even be capable of thinking of such things, able to simply turn his mind away and immerse himself in blissful nostalgia. For him to be reminiscing about the sunniest and most cheerful memories of his entire life, at a time like this, after doing what he'd done, and given the grievousness of he'd come here to tell the girl, was perhaps even more unforgivable than that curse he'd used last night had been. He would not show that kind of blithe disregard; he'd come here to do this properly, to say what needed to be said face-to-face and in person. And he'd already dilly-dallied here by the lakeside for far too long.

Shaking his head, Severus started power-walking along the grassy banks of the floral weed-infested inlet, beating a path towards the main body of the Great Lake. Soon enough, the number of trees standing in his way thinned out enough for him to get a clear view of the Durmstrang Ship, off in the distance, exactly where he'd expected it to be. Not moored up on the pier alongside Hogsmeade, as it would be during the day and in the evenings, but anchored out there in the Lake, a fair distance from the shoreline- to prevent its students from sneaking out and breaking curfew, no doubt. As ready as he'd ever be, Severus cast the Tergeo Charm on his clothes again to leave them spotless once more, dispelling all of the mud and dirt which he'd picked up in the filthy secret tunnel, along with the stray piece of bramble and several stray pine needles which had apparently hitched a ride on his billowing robe in the last few moments. Staring intently at the barely visible bridge of the ship he'd be boarding for the first time, focusing on his destination, he apparated...

"Oof!"

...and promptly found himself slamming into something in transit, hard and painfully, knocking all of the air out of him. Half-stunned, Severus just managed to recover his senses soon enough to realize that he was plummeting downward, spinning and tumbling through the air. Casting the Arresto Momentum spell should have been child's play, even in spite of being unable to reach his wand or to find enough breath in his lungs to utter a word. But that impact had taken a lot of energy out of him, and he barely managed to scrape his scattered thoughts back together well enough to cast it before taking a plunge into the murky green waters of the lake below. Severus cursed silently, fighting to re-orientate himself and get his befuddled senses back, waiting for his foggy vision to clear again. But his head was perfectly, painfully clear. OF COURSE the vessel had anti-apparition wards. Any magical nautical vessel, especially one magically crafted for the Norse Magical School of Durmstrang, built to convey the heirs to several of the most powerful pureblood dynasties in the world across the oceans, would have to have apparition wards built into it.

Even the Hogwarts Express had anti-apparition wards runically crafted into it, to prevent potential hijackers or kidnappers from apparating aboard. But these wards, the ones that had just kept him out, weren't regular anti-apparition wards, not like the ones which Hogwarts used- he'd heard of this sort of anti-apparition warding before, in the course of his own research into the 'Dark Arts' (or, more accurately, the illegal Arts). These types of wards didn't just politely bar wizards and witches from attempting to apparate to or from anywhere within a given range- on the contrary, anyone could apparate within their invisible walls freely, with no trouble at all. No, these were designed to simply splinch apart any would-be intruders or escapees who tried to apparate their way in or out through the wards' perimeter instead. Which, given where he'd ended up popping out, looked to be set at about ten meters away from the ship's hull.

In spite of himself, Severus felt a shiver run down his spine. At that moment when he'd crashed into it, it had been all he could do to hold his focus and keep himself together, rebounding off the barrier intact and all in one piece. The concentration of practically any other witch or wizard less proficient and disciplined in mind magic than himself would have been shattered, and they'd have been splinched apart, dissected, by that impact. Even himself- if he'd been even the slightest bit less focused, if he'd taken slightly less time to gather himself before apparating, or if he'd been distracted by anything at all in that split second when he had, then he could very well have been Grindylow Chow right now. How could he have been such an imbecile?! Get it together, man. Who did he think he was- Harry bloody Potter? He couldn't just trust in blind luck, damn it! Though he'd certainly consider going into his personal stockpiles and adding a drop or two of Felix Felicis to his morning coffee for the time being. He'd certainly need it, in the months to come...

Managing to summon his wand into his hand, Severus levitated himself clear of the water; flicked himself upwards and swiftly cast the freezing charm on the water beneath him, creating a steady sheet of ice upon which to stand, and in which the wet soles of his shoes were firmly anchored into place, giving himself a sure and steady footing. Muttering "Wingardium Leviosa," out loud this time, and going through the proper wand motions to get more force behind it, Severus levitated his improvised platform upwards, hauling himself out of the water and through the air, towards the open deck where he'd sought to apparate onto in the first place. With some relief, he noted that there was no-one yet up and out on deck, and that all of the cabin porthole windows facing this way were empty; he'd half-expected them all to be filled up with the faces of gawking students, pointing him out and laughing their heads off at how he'd made a fool of himself. It wasn't much to be thankful for, but quite frankly, given his recent run of form, he'd take what he could get.

Touching down on the deck, he vanished the ice away in a stroke, and marched towards the cabin door to the decks below. He could have knocked, but quite frankly, after all of that palaver, he wasn't in the mood. Plucking apart the token wards, unlocking it with ease, Snape used his wand to slam it wide open, and descended down into the ship, smoothing out his billowing cloak to double-check that it hadn't gotten creased, torn or tangled in the stymied apparition attempt or the fall. However, rather than the entrance passageway he'd expected this short staircase to lead down into though, he found that it led directly into the main hall of the Durmstrang Ship- what was the proper naval term for it again? Ah yes, the 'mess deck'. It looked rather like home- quite similar to the Slytherin Common Room, truth be told, but ironically far lighter, brighter and less gothic, with an enchanted ceiling to show the clear blue sky as it was outside, and the rising morning sun shining down warmly from its current place in the sky. And unlike the Slytherin Common Room, there wasn't all of that clutter- no tapestries, no cupboards, no faux-dark magical objects like skulls lying about everywhere. Just a few plain black armchairs and white sofas here and there, set against the walls down the lengths of the room, and a single long and narrow table running down the middle of the room, with benches on either side.

There were already a few other early risers up and about- five students in all, clustered in two different groups, all of them sitting at the table, chatting away and tucking into their first meals of the day. Or at least they had been, up until he'd come along. Now, now they were staring at him, gawking and pointing him out- but thankfully, none of them were laughing. All of them seemed thoroughly intimidated by his entrance, and inwardly, Severus smiled in relief. Outwardly though, he hardened his expression, setting himself to be as grim and stony as possible. Looking around, he duly noted that there were a total of seven doors leading in and out of the Durmstrang Ship's mess deck in total- the one that he'd just emerged from, at the rear end of the room, which led out onto the open deck, and six set into the walls, three on either side, interspaced at regular intervals along the length of the long room. Recalling the ship's external appearance, he had little doubt that the central one, on the starboard side, led to the actual main entrance passageway, out towards the access ramp to walk on and off the ship- he'd definitely be making his exit in that direction.

For a few moments, he stood there in silence, allowing the tension to build. The closest door on the port side opened inwards with a creak, and Severus turned to fix his gaze upon a couple of female students as they emerged into the room, who were initially engrossed in chatting to one another, but quickly froze in the doorway, startled into silence by his unexpected presence. Could either of them be Natalia, the girl he'd effectively orphaned last night? Somehow, given the language that'd they'd been conversing with each other in- Lithuanian, from the sounds of it?- he very much doubted it. But he could easily be wrong... Severus turned his gaze back firmly upon the closest group of three students sitting at the table, all of whom were male. And all of whom had the impression that he was either incapable of overhearing their whisperings, or incapable of comprehending Durmstrang's lingua franca, Dano-Norwegian. With any of the other teachers at Hogwarts beside Professor Babbling, they'd have been correct. Not so with him, however.

"Isn't that one of the Hogwarts Professors? The Potions Master?"

"Yes, the Head of House Slytherin- Snape, I think. Isn't he supposed to be the deputy head as well?"

"No, the Deputy Head's the Transfiguration Master, Head of House Gryffindor..."

"Wait, isn't Dumbledore from House Gryffindor as well? How is that fair?"

"It's not fair. It's openly biased; you hear what the Slytherin Prefects were saying about that House Cup they'd normally have, every year?"

"Yes, I think I heard about that. With Gryffindor getting awarded just enough points to win it every time, right at the end of year ceremony, no matter who actually won...?"

"Well, if you ask me, the novelty of their whole House system thing wore off within the first week. It's colorful and all, but it's divisive, and stupid as heck..."

"Enough about that for now, you two. He's looking at us..."

"What do you think he's doing here?"

"You wanna go ask him then, Fonzell?"

"Like hell I do. I thought Karkaroff was fearsome, but he's got nothing on that guy."

"Conrad?"

"Don't even ask me, Karl. Go on, Deputy Head Boy- it's your responsibility, not ours..."

"Fine, fine. Thanks a lot, guys..."

Still purposefully standing there in the open doorway, with his cloak still billowing out behind him in the light updraft, Severus cranked up the intensity of his stare, turning it on the tallest of the three, a student with light brown hair, high cheekbones and a goatee- Karl, no doubt- as he rose from his seat. To the boy's credit though, even when caught in the full glare, while clearly hesitant, cowed and intimidated to an extent, he didn't turn around or stop in his tracks, but still resolutely kept approaching him regardless, walking across to close down the gap between them.

"Hallo. You are Professor Snape, ja? You knew our Headmeister vell?"

"Yes, I am Professor Snape, and yes, I did know your Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, pretty well. Well enough- or at least I thought I did."

"So, vot has happened zen? He has disappeared, gone on de run- but nein. All of his things, dey are still here in his study cabin."

Well, well. Given Igor Karkaroff's magical skills in breaking and entering, and the man's increasing paranoia over the past few months, Snape hadn't expected Igor's own security to be nearly so lax as that comment implied; but then again, within the confines of this war-warded ship, as it was within the walls of Hogwarts, it would be all too easy to let one's guard down, especially for one's own students. He'd have had no choice but to allow his own students and other members of his staff access through the wards, just as was the case with his own office back at Hogwarts. And of course, Severus contemplated morbidly, if Igor had put wards up to alert him to any intrusions, they'd be completely redundant now. "Very observant of you, Mr...?"

"Reuchlin. I am Karl Frederich Reuchlin, und... Vell, I had been expecting our champion Viktor Krum to be back by now, but he is still not back, and neither is Headmeister Karkaroff, so I suppose that as the Deputy Head Boy, I am the person to be speaking to for ze Durmstrang students instead, for time being at least."

As the young man's sense of pride and self-importance took over, and the young man's tone and bearing grew firmer, Reuchlin straightened his posture to stand tall; as a matter of fact, perhaps an inch taller than Severus himself, forcing Severus to turn his gaze upward to maintain eye contact with him. So, this boy thought he could handle being the big man, eh? Well, he asked for it- we'll soon see if he's up to the task or not... Severus raised a furtive eyebrow, smoothing out what would have otherwise have been an acidic smirk into a neutral, amiable smile.

"Are you indeed? Well, in that case, Reuchlin, you should have no problem getting all the members of the Durmstrang delegation gathered together within the next five minutes, should you? I have an grave and urgent announcement to make; one of the utmost importance, and one which all of you will need to hear straight away."

Reuchlin visibly slumped. Blinked in disbelief, he just stood there for a moment or two, momentarily stunned by the daunting prospect of the challenge he'd let himself in for. Dropping the pretense of a smile, Severus hardened his expression, sharpening his tongue and adopting a harsher tone.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Did you hear me or not? Go and get them, now."

"Yes, yes, I heard- but all of them? In five minutes? Wie schaffe ich das in erst funf minuten...?"

"Innerhalb. Das ist, weniger als funf minuten. Time is very much of the essence, and you're wasting it by standing around. Go on- wake them up if you have to, march them out and get them in here. Whatever they'd rather be doing, it can wait. This, on the other hand, cannot."

"Er... Yes, jawohl, Professor Snape..."

A/N- Snape is NOT an irredeemable scumbag- he just believes that he is. We know that Snape is an incredibly harsh and scathing critic- and since I've chosen to go with an interpretation of his character which doesn't make him a total hypocrite, it only seems logical that he'd be equally harsh and scathing when criticizing himself. And I'd like to offer my apologies, if there are any German readers who feel that the portrayal of Reuchlin and the representation of his accent were a bit OTT.