Hawknest143: Thanks for reviewing! I'm proud of her too. She needed to learn to resist the curse, so she did. Honestly I'm pretty happy with the relationship between Snape and Charlotte too. Their friendship is one of the driving forces of this story, I think. After what Voldemort said to Charlotte about Bellatrix being murdered if she learned the truth and chose Charlotte, Charlotte's too afraid to tell her. She wouldn't want to cause her mother any suffering even though they've had their issues. Charlotte wouldn't be able to stomach losing Bellatrix the way she lost Mrs. Stoico. I wish Charlotte could tell Rodolphus too

Ldub: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I think I brought it up earlier in this version. I think in the original she learned about her fate much, much later, but I can't remember for sure. Yes, please keep it up!

EmilyCMalfoy: Thanks for reviewing! Charlotte did the best she could, but she's not been eating much or sleeping so she's pretty weak right now. She could only put up a fight for so long. I'm not an author, but I've thought about it in the past. We'll see if I ever decide to write something original haha

CHAPTER 24

After sitting with the Greengrass sisters for a short while, Astoria quietly says, "We should probably go down to the common room so you can talk with the second-years and Malcolm."

I sigh quietly. "I need to shower first. Put on some clothes."

They nod and let me leave the room, but when I return half an hour later, they're still waiting for me. The sisters then pull me from the bed and walk alongside me down to the common room where we take seats at one of the tables in the far corner. It doesn't take too long for Ella and Julia to join us, all smiles as they sit down. "It's good to see you with us again," Ella says kindly.

I pick at my nails. "Yeah."

"How have your classes been?" Julia asks quietly.

"I imagine Muggle Studies is poor for everyone, yeah?"

Ella groans loudly. "I hate the Carrows."

"Me too," I say. "They're dreadful people."

"Not as terrible as Snape though, right?" Ella laughs.

I clench my jaw but offer the best smile I can. Of course the students hate Severus, but it irritates me that they're all so open about their loathing. But why should I expect any different? They have no reason to respect him. They know nothing about what he has done for them and the other students and what he is trying to do for all of them.

Christopher, Jacob, and Malcolm all slow when they see me at the table with those who have not been rude and cruel, and they stand still for a moment, all of them, as if debating whether to come over and speak with me or walk away and not return until I am gone. Christopher seems to win the debate, for he smiles victoriously and finishes the short walk to the table. He sits down and watches me closely. "Something's changed, obviously," he says. "And I would like to know what it is."

"I've been pushing you all away because those I love have been in danger as of late. What I'm about to say will come as a shock, but I need you all to act as if nothing has happened because I honestly cannot handle your sympathy right now, all right?" I wait until each of them agrees to my terms, then brace myself for whatever their reactions might be. "Zoe was murdered because I loved her, and I didn't want any of you to suffer the same fate." I exhale and let them process this new information. Ella covers her quivering lips with her hands and lets Julia wrap her arms around her. "But now I realize that I've handled things incredibly poorly. So I'm offering an olive branch. Christopher, if the offer is still on the table, I would like to go with you for Christmas."

He smiles broadly. "I'll let my mum know that you'll be coming with me."

"Don't…don't tell her yet, because there are some things I'll have to figure out first. But I want to go with you."

He nods, and Astoria changes the subject abruptly. "What's the news on this Dumbledore's Army thing?"

"Dumbledore's what?" Jacob says. "I've never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have," I say. "It was a year before you started here at Hogwarts. It was created by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger as a way to oppose Umbridge. It was effective until the Inquisitorial Squad was started—that was a group designed to find out what Harry was doing and punish those involved."

"I remember that," Daphne says. "Pansy wanted me to join the Inquisitorial Squad, but I was too focused on studying for the O.W.L.s."

"Is it starting again?" Christopher asks.

"From what I hear, Neville Longbottom is leading it to oppose Snape and the Carrows," Astoria says.

"I want to join," Christopher announces.

"No, no, no, no, no. That's not a good idea."

"Why not?" he asks me.

"Because, as Slytherins, we need to at least make it seem that we're with Snape and the Carrows. You-Know-Who is all about Slytherin—he's a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself. We have to keep up the look of being on his side. Keep your head down, or the Carrows will inform him that Slytherin House is turning against him. He'll punish us more severely than he will the other Houses."

They begrudgingly accept this answer, and all conversation of the D.A. dies immediately.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Charlotte?" Severus asks me. Together we're sitting in his office. Tonight the Carrows are forcing a handful of students to serve a late detention, and he has requested that I use the Disillusionment Charm to sneak around and find out what they're doing. He would prefer to do it himself, but as things have come up that will not permit him to search the castle tonight, he has asked me. And I'm kind of honored that he trusts me not to fail. I also think he's doing this to distract me and make me feel like I'm actually doing something worthwhile, something to disrupt the Carrows.

So, while Severus will be back at Malfoy Manor for whatever Death Eater duty is required of him, I will be hunting the castle to gather information on the Carrows' wicked ways here at Hogwarts. "I'm disappointed that you seem to be wary of trusting me on this, Professor."

"I in no way implied that I didn't—"

"Joking," I interject with a smile, a smile that only really seems to come naturally now when I'm with him. Around everyone else, I struggle to be this happy—and if not happy exactly, at least light-hearted. "I know you trust me, and of course I'm up for this. It's a simple Disillusionment Charm. You and I both know that I'm rather skilled at that charm, yeah? I can do it. And I don't mind. Anything I can do to help, really." Well, anything to help him.

"One rule," he says firmly, "do not try to be a hero. Do not try to prevent the Carrows from whatever it is that they are doing. I don't want you risking yourself and your cover just yet." I watch him silently. "Agree to this rule or I refuse to let you do this at all."

"And with you being gone and all, will you be able to stop me either way?"

"Charlotte."

"I agree to your terms. I will not try to be a hero. I will let those students suffer at the hands of the Deputy Headmasters. All right?"

He nods. "You should get going. I imagine the detentions will begin soon."

"And should I come back here after?"

"Yes."

I stand and leave Severus's office, covering myself with the Disillusionment Charm on my way down the stairs and out of the Headmaster Tower.

Because Amycus Carrow is the professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts, I believe my best guess would be to check in his office, but deep down, I know this isn't going to be where they keep the "trouble-making" students. My fears are confirmed when I actually reach the office and quietly push the door open. There are no tortured students here. Perhaps they are in Alecto's office. So that's where I'm going now.

As I start making my way to the fourth floor, I hear a bone-chilling "meow" and freeze, now panicking. Can cats see through charms like this? Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, walks up to me and stares right at me. I stare back at her, trying to breathe evenly. These following seconds last for years, and then the cat finally saunters away. I sigh, and once she's gone, I bolt unapologetically and unceremoniously, just take off running as fast as I can.

Alecto's door is open, and my heart leaps. Surely the other students must be here. So I slow down, ensuring that my steps are quieter, and creep toward the door. I clench my jaw when I peer through the door and find only Alecto.

Maybe they're in the dungeons. Not the same part where the Slytherins live, but the actual dungeons. With no better ideas, I take off in that direction. I'm coming around a corner on the second floor and have to stop. Neville and some others, again, are writing on the wall, "Dumbledore's Army: Still Recruiting." I stand still, watching them, smiling at the bravery of the students here at Hogwarts. They're all so willing to rise against the Death Eater professors, and I admire that about them.

Once they dart out of the corridor, I continue on my way toward the dungeons, slowing and quieting again as I get closer. Footsteps and rattling chains are the only things I can hear, which means this most likely is the very spot where the students are being imprisoned. I could have saved so much time be simply checking the dungeons first.

I peek around the corner and take in the sight of a young boy, probably a first-year, chained to the wall. There's a little girl chained beside him. There some other older students in there as well, all of them chained. Amycus walks around the room, a knife in his hand. I struggle not to scream out at him as he approaches the young first-year boy. I wonder what the students did to warrant this type of punishment.

"Leave him alone!" one of the older boys commands. I believe he's Ravenclaw. The Death Eater doesn't even acknowledge him and continues moving toward the young, trembling child. "He's just a kid!"

"He's a kid that needs to learn to respect his superiors!" Amycus says. The blade slices across the boy's arm, and he screeches, trying desperately to move away. But there's nowhere to go. "Filthy little half-blood." He cuts the boy again, who begins crying out for mercy. This eleven-year-old child would never have guessed that coming to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would lead him to being tortured in the dungeons of a castle.

A few footfalls behind me startle me, and I jolt away from the door before Alecto reaches me. I wait until she disappears into the dungeon before rushing back to Severus's office. I doubt I have as much information as he wants, but it's more than he knew yesterday. Rather than publicly punishing students by having other students Cruciate them as they were just a few weeks ago, they've hidden away the torture. Probably because it makes it all seem worse. No one wants to go experience the type of torture that the Carrows keep hidden. With that in mind I dodge up to the gargoyle statue, rush up the steps, but come to a sudden stop when I see the door leading into his office. A note on the door has my name, so I tear it from the door and rip it open.

I'm to go to the second-floor girls' bathroom again and Apparate straight to Severus's chambers. Something doesn't feel right about this, but I obey him nevertheless and make my way back down to the second floor. I waste no time Apparating to his chambers.

He is sitting on his sofa, waiting for me to arrive, and hops to his feet the moment he sees me. "What have you learnt?"

"They're torturing the students," I say automatically. "They're torturing them in the dungeons. Cutting them with knives. No doubt using the Cruciatus Curse as well, but I didn't stay long enough to see that." I simply couldn't watch another child's torture.

He nods. "I feared as much. Looks like I have to find a way to get around this."

"It would appear so." I look around his room. "Why did you call me in here? Surely it's not because you didn't want the portraits to hear what the Carrows are doing."

His sigh sets my nerves on edge. Without a word, he walks around the sofa and stoops down beside it and comes up with a box wrapped in brown paper. It's roughly the size of my two or three of textbooks stacked on top of each other and just as wide. "This is addressed to you, and I worry about what might be in here," he confesses. "And I decided it might be best for you not to open it in front of the portraits."

"Who sent it?" I ask awkwardly, taking it from his hands and sitting down on the sofa with it.

His eyes roam around the room. "I'm unsure."

"Then who handed it to you?"

"Narcissa. But she made sure to declare that it was not from her, Draco, or Lucius. She claims Draco found it on his bed earlier today."

"That's uncomfortable."

"Open it."

"Is this why you went to the manor?"

"No, but when Narcissa saw me, she thought I should give it to you."

"Does the Dark Lord know?"

"I'm unsure. Open it."

"Why didn't you open it?"

"You've been stripped of enough privacy in your life—constantly under watch by some Death Eaters." I almost want to smile because I don't mind being under his watch like this, but his face is serious, so I'm guessing he's not just making a joke about his job of watching over me these past few years. "I wasn't going to open this. It wasn't my place."

I begin tearing open the brown wrapping around the box. Once that's done, it's easy work to open the top of the box, but the moment I have, I realize that I do not want to see what this is. The hairs in the back of my neck stand up. I know what this is, but it doesn't make sense. I pull it out of the box. It's a sketchbook. I turn it over. On the front is a note that says in large black letters, Obey the Dark Lord.

"Charlotte—"

I open the front cover and sob, dropping the sketchbook. In my haste to scramble away I fall onto the floor, then just keep sliding away until I'm a good distance away from the book. Severus is already on his feet, approaching me.

"Charlotte—"

"How does he know already?"

He waves his wand at his office door and crouches down before me. "What do you mean?"

My eyes land on the sketchbook, and I can't stop myself from crying. Severus picks it up and opens the front cover. He closes his eyes for a second before placing the sketchbook back on the sofa. "Zoe," he says softly.

"Don't say her name," I whisper.

"Charlotte—"

"I only fixed my relationship with my friends today, S-Professor. How…how does he already know? How does he already know?"

"Perhaps the Carrows saw you."

"I only spoke with them in the common room. The Carrows couldn't have—someone must be watching me." My body begins to tremble. "The Dark Lord is watching me and there's nothing I can do. He's going to kill them like he killed Zoe."

"That's not necessarily true, surely you know that. He has no reason to harm Slytherins."

"Zoe was a Slytherin and he harmed her! And he's going to kill them too." I fall onto my side and pull my knees into my chest. "He's going to take everyone from me." I hold my head in my arms and let the sobs break free. Everyone I love is going to die. Or get sentenced to Azkaban. Or worse. If there is a worse alternative to life in Azkaban.

"Charlotte, this doesn't necessarily mean he has people watching you," Severus says. He places a gentle hand on my shoulder. "The Dark Lord might be trying to destroy your psyche. Don't let him."

I shake my head, still weeping. "He's going to kill them all."

Severus slides his hands under my knees and shoulders and lifts me off the floor. "Charlotte, that will not happen."

I rest my head against his chest. "You can't be sure of that."

He sets me down on his bed, pulls the covers around me, and crouches down to look me in the eye. "I can be sure of that," he states. "And I'm leaving for Malfoy Manor at this very moment so I can find out more about this sketchbook and how they could've gotten it."

I close my eyes. "They got it from her flat," I say. "Everything was gone when I went back. They must have it all." My eyes then fly open. "I have to get it back." I try to sit up, but he gently pushes me back down. "I have to get it back! It's hers! Please!"

"I'll do my best to get what I can and to find out what exactly has happened."

I pull the extra pillow to my chest and wrap myself around it, allowing myself to sob into it. I let myself believe that it was safe here. I let myself believe that my friends would not be in danger because of me. I let myself believe that Voldemort would not harm my friends because they're Slytherins.

But now this.

It had to have been the Dark Lord who sent it to me. As a threat. As a nod to what he's already done. To Zoe. To me. He wants me to live in constant fear.

And it's working.

I'm going to lose everything. Because I am property of Lord Voldemort and nothing more until he dies.

I shriek into the pillow as loudly as I can until my throat grows raw and my voice dies out. I keep my face hidden in the pillow, debating the merit of running away right now and just never coming back. Completely disappearing.

I hear Severus's Apparition but don't turn over to speak with him. A moment later his hand comes to a rest on my shoulder, and I force myself to face him. Only a faint shred of moonlight shines through the window. I meet Severus's eyes but stay quiet.

"Charlotte, I've spoken with Narcissa."

I sit up. "What did she say?"

He takes a seat on the edge of his bed. "They don't know who sent it, just that it arrived with your name on it." I whimper and reach out for his hand. "I applied Legilimency, Charlotte, and she has no memory of it. Narcissa, Lucius, and Draco have no memory of how it got there."

So basically someone is tormenting me, and we have no idea who that might be. I press the heel of my free hand into one of my eyes and attempted to stop tears. I can't do this. I can't keep on when I know that someone will always be there, just outside my line of sight, trying to destroy me. "C-can I—is-is it okay if-if I—don't go back to the common room right—right now?"

"It's getting late, Charlotte," he gently points out. "If the Carrows go looking for you—"

"Why would they? They've never sought me out before."

"Fair point."

Severus moves to stand, and I find myself blurting out, "Pleasedon'tleaveme."

I can feel his eyes on me, but I can't bring myself to look back at him. After a moment of silence he lets out a long-suffering sigh and says, "Move."

I grin to myself and make room for him, and he sits down next to me on top of the sheets and leans against the headboard, his body stiff. I guess what little was left of the formalities between us was already broken down when we fell asleep on each other on his sofa. Or when I slept in his room over the holiday. "Is he going to kill you?" I ask quietly.

"He needs me. What other Death Eater can easily replace me as the headmaster of Hogwarts?"

That idea doesn't really assure me much because Voldemort could easily replace Severus. I mean, he basically runs the Ministry now. He gets what he wants, and if that means another Death Eater as headmaster, there will be another Death Eater as headmaster. Severus remains quiet after that, and a deep sorrow weighs on my chest.

Something could happen to him because of me. If I anger Voldemort at all, Professor Snape might be one of the people on the list of "Ways to Hurt Charlotte." My breath catches in my throat, and I turn toward him and take his hand. "I don't want you to die because of me," I whisper. "I don't want him to—"

"Nothing will happen to me," he says confidently. "You don't have to worry about that."

"But—"

"Charlotte."

I sigh but do not continue arguing.

Perhaps Severus is right. Perhaps, just maybe, Voldemort won't actually try to murder him. I gather his sleeve in my fist and hold on tightly, as if that will solve my problems, as if that will prevent someone from hurting Severus, as if that will stop anything bad from happening to him.

I soon fall asleep.

For three days I do not leave Severus's private chambers. The sketchbook remains on the floor by the sofa. I do not touch it. Ever. I do not look inside of it again. But I find myself on many occasions staring at it from my safe place hiding under the sheets on Severus's bed. It's a piece of her, and I know I should cherish that I now have something of hers again—something that went missing—but it seems wrong somehow. I didn't get it myself. It was sent to me as a threat. It's been tainted with hate.

Each meal I eat is taken with Severus in his chambers. I'm still able to stomach very little, but it's a time that he forces me to sit up in the bed rather than lie down. He believes it's good for me to not lie around constantly, and yet he makes no argument for me to leave his quarters. In fact it almost seems like he's encouraging me to stay, like he knows that things will get worse if I'm forced to mingle with the other students. It's like he fears I won't be able to keep quiet about my issues.

And honestly he's probably right.

I'd try to warn my friends about the danger I've now put them in.

But Severus and I don't talk about that anymore. It seems he's making an effort to distract me in any way that he can. Over our meals we talk about small, insignificant things such as potion-making and Hogwarts Quidditch teams over the past some-odd years that Severus has been teaching here. Apparently Charlie Weasley was a wonderful athlete.

I mean I guess that makes sense. All of the Weasleys I've met appear to be athletic.

Not once does Severus direct the conversation toward Fred or anything he seems to think will upset me.

This man, who is suffering immensely and has suffered pretty much his entire life, is trying to help me through this as best he can. And I think that's what finally forces me three days later to make myself presentable and prepare to leave his office. He brings my dinner into his chambers and finds me not lying on the bed but sitting on the sofa calmly. "I think I'm ready to reenter the Hogwarts world," I say.

His lips turn up in a smile that isn't broad enough to show his teeth, and he comes toward me and sits down beside me. "Eat something first. You look fairly weak."

I eat one last half-meal in his office before Apparating to the second-floor girls' bathroom and making my way down to the Slytherin Dungeon.