Chapter 10: Severus
"Alright people, let's take a break!" said Molly Weasley when she entered the room carrying a mountain of sandwiches on a plate. Everyone gave a relieved sigh and peeled off their protection gloves and masks. Severus sighed silently too. Not because he had been too active with the cleaning. He had been standing on the sideline watching while people worked, and jumped in occasionally when someone came too close to, or were attacked by, some of the cursed objects in the room. That was not an easy task either and frankly Severus silently regarded it as the most stressful one. He had to constantly be on guard in case something tried to kill the cleaners. It had even been close sometimes.
Ginny Weasley been attacked by a hairpin that sliced the skin on her upper arm. She crumbled to the floor, screaming in pain while Severus rushed to examine her. It turned out to only be a severe stinging curse, but it could have been something much worse. Another time Severus discovered a dark aura around a book just in time to stop George Weasley from touching it. Had he done so he might have been armless by now.
But, however stressful the cleaning sessions were, the worst parts were the breaks. The times where Severus had to pretend to be sweet and loving towards people he didn't like. He usually kept his distance from Lupin and Blaack in case he said something stupid. Therefore, he ended up talking mostly to the girls it the group for some reason. Probably because they were the only ones he had nothing against. And they were always nice to him no matter how silent he was.
He did try to pretend to be nice like Tonks, but it was painfully obvious that he didn't manage as well as he should. He didn't know Tonks enough to play her character accurately and people did notice that something was wrong. Lupin had discretely asked him one dreadful morning if he was 'alright'. Since he knew that Tonks would summon all the forces of evil on him if he said something negative he had smiled sweetly and muttered something about not feeling too well. The cruciatus curse would have been less painful. Especially when Lupin had asked him if he wanted to 'talk about it'. . . Ugh!
Little Ginny Weasley, who Severus knew very little about except that she was the youngest Weasley child, had also asked him if he was okay. Even though it was easier to talk to her it still annoyed him that people kept asking. Why couldn't they simply leave him alone? Why was he even helping them with the cleaning instead of doing more research in the library? Nothing stopped him from shutting himself in there, and yet something made him want to stay. Maybe he needed a distraction from everything that had happened the last few weeks.
Severus noticed that Tonks had left. He couldn't exactly blame her with all the accusing looks she got from the order members. Had she gone back to her flat? Or perhaps she had shut herself in the library? Severus felt another pang of guilt when he thought of how lonely she must be now that she was the shunned and hated death eater. A girl like her, who was used to a constant company of people (who all liked her) may find her new situation difficult. Of course, he knew how it felt but he imagined he could handle it better. He used to experience it every day after all. So . . . he was used to it.
They had worked for about half an hour before Molly came around with food and everyone gathered hungrily around the tray. Severus looked around. The room looked even worse than half an hour ago. The dust had been whirled around and the floor was littered with large garbage bags. The large but grimy window allowed little light to penetrate trough and the rain poured down outside. Large droplets hammered noisily against the windowsill and water streamed down the glass.
Severus felt an eerie chill through his body, but it took him a while to realize why.
It was raining.
And nothing happened.
He was still in Tonkses body.
Why had they not switched when it started raining? Severus looked frantically around as if to find a clue within the dusty room. Something was terribly wrong, he could feel it. Where exactly could Tonks be? How long since she had left the room? Was she in danger, or could she already be . . . ?
His feelings had apparently been visible on his face because Molly Weasley came over to him with a worried expression. "Tonks Dear, what on earth is the matter? You look like you have seen You-know-who himself."
Severus was too panicked to pretend like nothing. ". . . Molly, do you know where Miss- I mean Professor Snape went to?" he asked while his heart beat painfully fast. Molly gave him a questioning look "He said he wanted to take a look at the wardrobe in the secret room in the basement, you know, the room behind all that –." But before she could finish her sentence, Severus was outside the door and sprinted down the stairs to the basement. He had helped discover that room a few days ago but no one had dared to open the wardrobe in case there was something worse in there than a Boggart. If Tonks had opened that door and found something dangerous . . .
Downstairs in the basement he found the door to the secret room half open and he dove inside.
Nothing.
The wardrobe in the middle of the room looked untouched and silent. That was different. Last time he had seen it, the door had been rattling slighty. Now it was completely still.
He suddenly felt a compelling urge to open the door and see what was inside. He knew it was magic. He knew it was a bad idea and he tried to fight it, but it was too strong. And really, he knew quite well how to resist compelling charms, but this was like nothing he had experienced before. This was also different from the last time he saw the wardrobe. There was no compelling charm on it then, as he could remember . . . He lifted his hand and turned the handle.
As soon as the door was open his vision blurred. The world stated spinning and he felt a surge of relief at the sensation. This was the unmistakeable sign of "The Switch" as he secretly called it in his mind and it had to mean that Tonks was alive somewhere.
When the world came back into focus Severus was on all fours in a room he did not recognize. It was more like an attic than a room, with very simple wooden furniture and a bed with a hay-stuffed mattress. Bright sunlight came through the tiny little window on one side of the wall.
That was odd. It had just been raining . . .
What made him even more confused was his attire. His clothes would fit better in the medieval times than in 1995 London. Simple leather boots, black trousers, and a green tunic made of a rough fabric.
What I Merlins name was going on?
There was a tiny little mirror on the table in the corner and he grabbed it, but almost dropped it again when he saw his own reflection. Yes, he was back in his own body. It was definitely his face, but something was very wrong with it. What had she done to him . . . ? His skin used to be a lot paler than that . . . Or was it something wrong with the light? His hair was tied back in a strange sort of half ponytail, and his chin was covered with a layer of black hair, a beard!
Severus had never been so confused before. How had the girl managed to end up in this room, change clothes, grow a beard and get herself a tan in thirty minutes? And where was this again? What did this place have to do with the wardrobe in Grimmauld Place?
He decided to go outside to find out where he was. He went out the only door on the room and went down an unusually crooked, wooden staircase before he exited a door to the outside. What he saw made his jaw drop.
He was standing in the middle of a medieval village in the English countryside. People in the streets wore cloaks and tunics and medieval dresses. Some rode horses and others pulled huge carriages with hay behind them. Severus couldn't help but stare at the scene in fascination.
Wow.
It surprised him that people in the streets seemed to know him. They nodded and smiled when they passed. Some even patted his back before they went on. Severus wasn't sure what to do or who these people were, so he nodded back awkwardly. He suddenly felt a pang of annoyance and anger for no apparent reason and he realized that the culprit was the mental link between himself and Tonks. He was aware of its existence even though he didn't bother to mention it to Tonks. He had been unsure whether she knew about it too, until now. she was using the link actively to send him a message, which was quite clever actually. Peraps Tonks was not as thoughtless as she appeared? She told him to stay where he was, and she would come and find him. He was embarrassed to admit the relief he felt at the thought. He had a feeling he should let her explain the situation first before he decided to do something drastic, like try to find his way back to Grimmauld place. Tonks seemed to know what was going on and for once he listened to her.
He sat down at the stairs to the house he had excited and waited, not able to stop stroking his chin in annoyance. He hated having a beard. It was itchy, unnatural and stuck out in all directions. This time, Tonks had carefully trimmed it to a reasonable length, and he admitted it looked better than anything he could have managed himself. But still. His face felt weird.
He spotted her after about fifteen minutes in the crowd. She had been smart enough to change her hair colour from pink to blonde, but she was still wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He rose when she came closer.
Her face had a tight expression on her way towards him and the flash of anger he had felt from her earlier had seemed pretty genuine, so it surprised him greatly when she called his name with a smile and slammed into his chest in a hug that almost crushed his ribs.
"Where have you been!? I thought I would never see you again. I thought I would have to stay here forever. What took you so long!? I thought I told Molly that I went to check on the wardrobe. Merlin, I am so glad to see you!" she babbled on while she held a solid grip around an astonished Severus's chest.
"What do you mean 'what took me so long'? I ran after you the moment I noticed something was wrong, that was no more than half an hour after you left".
"Half an hour!? I have been here for two months!"
Authors note:
So I thought I'd explain why I am writing Snapes point of view in third person. I simply don't think a first person view suits him. Snape strikes me as a person who would never talk about his emotions, and so it would be weird if he agreed to write about it. That is just my opinion.
Also, I am sure you can all guess where I've gotten the idea of a wardrobe that sends you to a different place?
You guessed right. Narnia, of course. Dooh.
