Rose walked as fast as she could with her broken leg. Her inability to apparated inside the castle added onto her woes. "Only if there was a shorter way to reach Severus." she mumbled, half dragging her leg across the floor.
She turned around a corner to reach the marble staircase, when she bumped her head against someone. Grabbing her hurted forehead, she looked through her blurred vision.
As the sight cleared, she noticed Harry standing in front of her.
"Sorry, Professor. I was in a bit of hurry." he said wiping sweat off his brows.
"Just try to be careful when you walk, Potter."
Rose noticed a tiny flask in his hand. It was filled with some kind of silvery liquid. "What are carrying?"
Harry raised the bottle to his eye level. For a moment, he stood still, choosing his words carefully.
"Snape left me his memories. He wanted me to see them."
There were lot of questions waiting to be answered. But only one held priority. "Is there a faster way to reach Shrieking Shack?"
He replied that rather faster and more eagerly than the witch expected. "There is a short cut through Whomping Willows. You need to press a knot in the trunk to make it still. It doesn't accept intruders."
She smiled. "Thank you, Potter."
She turned around him and took a few steps when Harry called. She swirled back.
"The broomshed is just around the corner. You can take my broom from there to reach the shack faster."
Rose smiled again. But there seem to be something really odd about the student. Why was he concerned about her visit to the shack? He knew that Severus was dying there, but did he have the knowledge that she was supposed to be saving him?
Putting her questions aside, she thanked Harry once again for his idea and limbed her way to the broomshed.
Flying on the swiftest broom in the castle, Rose got out to the grounds. From a distance, she could see the Whomping Willow spreading out its branches against the purplish sky. She could make out a large gap in its root at the base of the tree.
Wondering about the purpose of this short cut, she landed about 50 yards away from the tree. It turned its trunk as if to look down at her.
"Wingardium Leviosa." she said, pointing at a branch near her.
It flew through the air and landed on the knot of trunk. The tree moved no more.
Leaving the broom at the opening of passage, she climbed into the hole.
By the time she reached the end, the pain of her broken leg agonized her. She mustered enough strength and clambered out of the hole. Standing to her full height, she looked around in darkness. "Lumos."
A ball of blue flame shot out of Rose's hand and hung about in air, brightening the room.
In a corner, she saw a dark figure on the ground. Walking near it, the figure took form of a body. "Severus…" came a sad whisper out of her mouth as she kneeled beside him.
His expression was that of guilt and remorse, something which she wasn't used to. Reluctant, she touched his neck where there was a visible fang mark. Blood still oozed out of the wound, staining her fingers.
Rose gulped. Sliding a bit closer, she bend down and put her ear of his chest. For a minute or so, when she didn't hear, she felt a knot tighten in her stomach. Just when she thought she failed Dumbledore, she heard a heartbeat.
She straightened immediately. He is alive she thought excitedly.
Pulling the potion's bottle out of her pocket and opening it, she poured it Severus's throat. She expected him to wake up and look around but somehow it didn't happen. The smile of her faded.
Rose touched his neck again. The bite had healed and stitched itself together. She could feel his faint pulse at the point of touch.
Set into believing that his life was ebbing, she felt numb. Why didn't I come earlier? she thought, too dumbstruck to speak. If he dies now, after doing so much, I would fail myself too.
Determined to save Snape no matter what it took, she decided to use the Life Transfer. She remembered Dumbledore telling that it was a gift for she knew it without learning. 'But you needn't do it since it will take your life' was his piece of advice.
Turning her hand into a loose fist, she mumbled the spell quickly and opened it. Her palm glowed.
She sniffed. The thought that she needed to die was bringing out her nostalgic feelings of childhood. "You are giving someone life today." She assures herself that her life wasn't wasted.
Slowly, she kept her hand on Snape's body. At the first touch, she felt something swirling inside her, travelling out of her hand. After a few seconds, her body went numb and senses faded. Gently, when all energy was drawn out of herself, she hit the wooden floor of shack.
The smell of blood and dust was the last thing Rose remembered.