Chapter Twelve
Severus knew that Potter Junior and Lupin were up to something all year, he just couldn't pin anything on them definitively. That is, until, he showed up at Lupin's door with his damn Wolfsbane Potion and the dunderhead wasn't even there. He knew what missing even a single potion meant!
Lucky for him though, Lupin just so happened to leave his precious map open on his desk. Severus followed the footprints of Potter, Granger, Weasley, Lupin, and surprisingly, Pettigrew and Black. The footprints led him to the Shrieking Shack. At the base of the Womping Willow lies Potters infamous cloak, he throws the cloak over himself, presses the knot on the tree's trunk, and crawls through the entrance that emerges at the base.
Severus' mind flashes to the last time he was in the Shack and his hands begin to tremble. Eighteen years ago, Sirius tricked him in to going down this very tunnel to follow Lupin. If it hadn't been for the first Potter, Severus would have encountered Lupin in his werewolf form, and that would have been the end of him. After bringing this to Dumbledore's attention, the events of the night were somehow flipped around on him, and Dumbledore actually had the gall to say that he was indebted to Potter! Even Lily sided with the prick. After everything that Potter had done to him, everything that Lily had witnessed, she still chose Potter. Severus has never stopped himself from believing that she would still be alive today had she just chose him instead.
Severus takes one final gulp to settle the adrenaline building in the pit of his stomach and pushes through. Coming to the bend in the tunnel, he hears the commotion above. He's finally got them!
Stepping into the entrance room, the scene fills him with dread. Footprints circle the dust in the floor, furniture smashed in pieces, what once was a mattress lies in heaps of feathers throughout the room. For a moment, he fears he may be too late, Lupin has already turned and devoured them all. Just then, movement upstairs causes dust to spurt through the floorboards. He sneezes. Someone hears him, they're screaming. He can't make out the words, they're too jumbled. He moves quickly, careful not to lose his footing on the debris scattering the room.
Finally, he reaches the room above and surveys the scene before him beneath the safety of the invisibility cloak. Lupin, Potter, and Black have their wands pointed at one another, each screaming to be heard above the other. Weasley lies on an old mattress clutching that disgusting rat, Granger stands before him ready to strike should anyone come any closer. For some reason, there is also a cat. A very ugly cat.
Severus flings the cloak off and throws it in the corner of the room, all eyes are on him now. He doesn't quite recall the next few moments, only shouting. He feels giddy, slightly annoyed, and triumphant.
"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Shouts Potter. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN-"
"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Severus feels his face redden at the effort to yell louder than Potter. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black-" he turns towards Black now, directing the next part of his rant to him. "At least one of your children has an ounce of sense to them!" Black looks at him dumbfounded.
"Now, get out of the way, or I will make you." Potter makes no movement, only stares at him defiantly. "GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"
Severus doesn't see it coming, he was too focused on Potter and Black. Granger and Weasley simultaneously cast Expelliarmus. His body lifted from the ground, his head cracks against the door frame. He feels his head throb, the room begins to spin. His vision and hearing go blurry. Blood begins to trickle down his face from the impact, then nothing.
One by one, his senses return to him. First comes his hearing, fuzzy and far away sounding at first, then entirely too loud. He lifts his hands to covers his ears and feels the bandage wrapped around the entirety of his head. Next comes his vision, it's too blurry to make anything out. After blinking a few times, it has returned to him in full force. Much like the hearing, the sight is too much. He attempts to sit up, to extinguish the candle flame next to him, but everything aches. He lies back down with a sigh.
How long was he unconscious? Where was he? Certainly not the Shrieking Shack still. He can smell the medicinal stench of a hospital setting. How did he get here?
Severus opens his eyes again and studies his surroundings. Of course, the Hospital Wing. Just as he tries to sit up again, Albus comes sauntering behind his curtain.
"Severus. You're awake. How delightful." Albus sticks his head behind the curtain and shouts, too loudly, for Madam Pomphrey, then makes himself comfortable in the chair next to his bed. Pomphrey arrives only seconds after Albus shouted for her. The woman truly is a saint.
Madam Pomphrey passes him two stout bottles of potions, he can't place them in his groggy condition, but he trusts her with his life, and besides, he brewed these potions himself. He tosses each back without complaint but has to pause midway through the second bottle to force himself not to gag at the thickness and taste of it. Pomphrey takes the bottles back from him and makes to leave. "Why can't they all be as obedient as you, Severus?"
Obedient. Ha. If only she knew.
"Sirius Black is on the grounds, he-"
"I know, I know." Albus leans back in the chair and watches him with interest.
"You know, yet, here you are."
"Don't tell me you still hold a schoolboy grudge, Severus."
"It is not a grudge!" Severus shouts too loudly, immediately regretting it as his head begins to throb.
"I have taken care of it. You mustn't worry."
"You let them go, didn't you?" He could feel it in his gut. Albus would risk a thousand lives for Potter.
"You don't know the full story Severus."
"Then enlighten me, Albus."
Albus went on to explain to him what they both already knew. Pettigrew is the one who gave the Potters to Voldemort only hours after becoming their Secret Keeper. He was there the night Pettigrew burst into Malfoy Manner and claimed to know where the Potters were at, knew how to get past the charms and blocks. Severus went immediately to Dumbledore, told him everything that Pettigrew had said. It did no good. Voldemort was at the Potters the same time he was at Hogwarts begging Dumbledore to just fucking help him. He just wanted Black to pay, just as he had. Thirteen years in Azkaban for allowing that fucking rat be the reason Lily was murdered. A kiss from a Dementor would just be icing on the cake.
Albus let Black free. Gave him a fucking hippogriff to ride off into the sunset. Here he was, stuck in a hospital bed dry heaving from the pain radiating throughout his body. He has got to find a way for these potions to take effect sooner.
Weeks pass and he can't shake the feeling that Black is still near. Black has no money, no home, and is a wanted criminal with a price on his head. Where would he go?
The Shrieking Shack. That's exactly where he would go. Close enough to Albus to remain safe, far enough from wandering eyes to be caught. Severus goes every night at midnight and waits just inside the entrance on the second floor bedroom, that way he's the first thing Black sees when he shows up.
Two weeks pass, just sitting in the room night after night, willing Black to show. Then, it hits him. Black could already be in the house. It's possible he never actually left, and that's why the prints in the dust have not been disturbed, he's avoiding the main entrance.
Severus waits until daylight to return to the Shack as to not have to use his wand for light. Slowly, he makes his way out of the room, careful not to let the boards beneath his feet creak. Casting Muffliato once at the top of the stairs to ensure his silence, he finally sees the disturbances in the dust on the floor. Someone has dragged something through here. Following the drag marks on the floor, they lead him to a door on the main floor. Carefully, he turns the knob and flings the door open.
There lies Black. Only, not the one he was hoping to find. She stares up at him with those eyes that are so strikingly like her fathers that he must resist cursing her.
"You. I knew you were up to something." He actually didn't, but he should have.
Like father, like daughter.
Severus closes the gap between the two and forces all of his strength in to Legilimency. Nothing. Not a single thing. His brain rattles within his skull as he hits a wall inside her mind. He grabs the girl's wrist, noticing just how small it is, and drags her to the castle. Once inside, he leads her to his office. Black stammers apologies the entire way, at least she has manners. He practically tosses her into a seat in his office, and the girl quiets immediately. At his desk he drafts a letter to Albus, snaps his fingers for an elf who takes it to the Owlery without question, and waits.
"Why?" he asks her, she looks up at him with a puzzled expression but does not answer. "Must I dumb it down for you? Why do you believe that the rules do not apply to you?"
"I-I…I just-"
"Today, Miss Black!" The girl flinches at his outburst, he runs his hands over his face in an attempt to calm himself.
"I just couldn't go back there, Sir." Her words come out in almost a whisper.
Outside, the sun has long since set. Severus paces a groove in his office floor waiting for Dumbledore. He has not spoken a word to the girl in hours, he could bring her a book or a cup of tea, but why should be reward her misbehaving?
Finally, around two in the morning, the girl falls asleep with her head resting on her arms that are crossed on his desk. She looks uncomfortable, but there is no alternative. Remembering how cold she gets, he removes his outer cloak and places it around her shoulders, he watches as she burrows against the warmth. A strand of her hair falls across her forehead a gently moves up and down against her mouth as she breathes. He must resist the urge to reach out and tuck it behind her ear as he would with Lily when she fell asleep in the library after a long day of studying.
Severus watches the sun rise as Albus finally waltzes into his office, a smile on his face.
"Oh! There she is!" he says, clasping his hands in front of him.
"What do you mean, 'there she is'?" Severus asks impatiently as he casts Muffliato.
"Well, Miss Black here never got on the train this summer. I had wondered where she got off to. You say you found her in the Shrieking Shack?"
"She has been missing all summer and you never thought to tell me?" It takes all he has to keep himself from grabbing Dumbledore by his cloak and shaking some sense in to him.
"Don't tell me you've grown to care for the girl, Severus."
Severus scoffs at this and brings a black pack of clove cigarettes from his robe pocket. He shakes the pack and brings it to his lips, pulling out a single one and putting the pack back in his pocket. Albus leans forward and lights it for him. He slowly exhales and closes his eyes before rubbing them with the hand that holds the cigarette.
"There may come a time, Severus, where you must protect her."
"Has it ever crossed your mind that I am tired, Albus?"
"He will return. Soon." Severus scoffs at this, but he knows it to be true. He can feel the throb in his forearm, see the way the mark has darkens when he places his wand to it. He is already returning.
"She's just like her father." Severus mutters, glancing over at the still sleeping girl on his desk.
"I wouldn't say that."
"Her mother, then?" This makes Albus chuckle. It wasn't a joke. "Who is her mother?"
"I do not know, Severus."
"Don't give me that."
"I spoke with Sirius regarding her."
"And?"
"When she is ready, we will tell her."
"She's already asked me who her parents are. Am I to continue lying to her then?"
"When the time is right, she will know."
"I can't use Legilimency on her. I tried, in the Shack. Nothing." Severus shakes his head at this, still confused. He takes a long draw from his cigarette and slowly lets the smoke escape from his nose.
"I know. I had my suspicions, so I tried myself the day I called you and Sprout to my office. I suspect it is why she has had such trouble with non-verbal magic this last year."
"And you said nothing?"
"As I said, Severus, there may be a time when you must protect this girl. He will be interested in her when he finds out."
"When he finds out."
"Precisely. When. Now, take the girl to Hogsmeade. I'll send an owl to the Three Broomsticks. She'll have a room there for the remainder of the summer. I will arrange for her belongings to be sent there by the time you arrive. I think we can have the Knight Bus collect her in a few weeks for her trip to Diagon Alley. Don't you?"
Severus does not answer, instead, he watches as Albus strides next to Black and peers down at her sleeping peacefully on his desk.
"As I have stated before, do not think that I do not see the resemblance. Do not let it be the reason why you help this girl. She is not Lily, Severus." He knows that she is not Lily, Albus didn't have to say it. He's reminded of it each and every day.
Severus extinguishes his cigarette in the ashtray he keeps just behind his desk, Albus releases the Muffliato charm and places his hand on the girls shoulder. She stirs calmly, then jolts to her feet when she sees Dumbledore standing beside her. She immediately begins stammering; Dumbledore simply raises his hands to stop her.
"Follow Professor Snape to Hogsmeade, my dear. Your belongings will be there when you arrive." Just like that, Albus is gone.
Danu looks back at Severus sheepishly, he simply walks right past her and out of the door. He can hear her struggle to keep up with his stride as they make their way out of the castle and across the grounds. It's a silent walk to Hogsmeade, but a beautiful morning. Just as Albus said, there is a room above the Three Broomsticks for the girl. Her belongings arrived five minutes before they did.
"I will be checking every evening that you are here. Do not wander off."
"Yes sir."
"In two weeks, you will catch the Knight Bus and collect your supplies from Diagon Alley. I will ensure you are in this room by nightfall. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sir."
Severus turns to leave; the girl grabs his sleeve to stop him.
"I'm sorry I disappointed you, Professor."
"You are only sorry that you got caught."
With that, he leaves.