Chapter 8: Aftermath
Severus followed Rose out of Dumbledore's office. She was walking fast and he could feel a powerful anger emanating from her. She rushed to her rooms and slammed the portrait shut. Severus rushed to the portrait and lifted the wards around the entrance before entering.
"Rose?"
"What the hell were you thinking! My nephew as bait! Do you not care an ounce that he could die out there?!" She paused to take a breath.
"We have to find out who did this to him and if we wait and let Harry participate we will be able to catch them." Severus replied calmly.
"Do you have any idea what the first task is?!" She asked shrilly. Before Severus could reply, she continued. "DRAGONS! He is two years too young to participate and you want him to face full grown female dragons! Have you seem Weasley's arms? Is that what you want for him Severus? You are so angry at Lily picking James over you that you want to kill her son?!"
Severus took a step back, stunned at her words. His face paled and anger sparked from his every pore.
"WATCH IT!"
"It's my nephew's life and the only part of my sister I have left that you are putting on the line!" She yelled back. "Tell me what is the plan for Harry? You'll all wait for him to be half dead before interceding? The Boy Who Lived Killed By Dragons? Do you really think I did not notice that witch Skeeter in the Great Hall? Is this it, they've milked the Voldemort card long enough now they want to kill him so that we can drum up more sympathy?"
She was spent and panting. Her eyes sparked with anger but a deep dark pain hid in their depths. Severus' heart cringed at what he saw.
"Rose, I promise you that we don't want him dead." Severus said quietly. "I just think that the best way for us to catch whoever wants him dead is to have him continue in the Tournament."
"Severus, he has no one to advise him other than a bloody insane ex-Auror who drinks too much, sleeps little and doesn't know the difference between a friend and a foe. Do you not see why I am worried?" Rose said angrily. "Seeing as you can't seem to understand that this whole tournament is not safe for a fourth year student, get out so I can start planning how to keep my nephew from being killed while he acts as your bait!"
"Rose,"
"I SAID GET OUT!" She yelled.
Severus felt rather than saw the ball of energy hurled at his head. He looked at her confused for a second. In her hands she held a blue shimmering ball and was getting ready to throw it in his direction again. Severus scampered out of the rooms and ran all the way to his dungeons.
"What the hell is her problem?" He growled at himself. "Can't she see that we have this under control?" He grabbed a Firewhiskey bottle and sunk into his black leather armchair. Severus spent the night stewing over what had happened. How could she suggest that this was his revenge on Potter? He knew he had been cruel but he never could've imagined her thinking so low of him.
He couldn't get her out of his mind. She was gorgeous and as much as he saw her as a little sister growing up, he had to acknowledge that she was no longer little or the teen that she had been when he had graduated. She was all woman and a very strong one at that. How was it that she could do what she did without a wand. He had never felt anything like it. He had never seen anything like it. Neither Dumbledore nor the Dark Lord could do what she did.