Draco/Hermione fic: A Reason chapters 11 &12
A Reason update
Chapters 11&12
Chapter 11: Those Unseen
Author: Hafthand(Ally)
Disclaimer: Do not own them!
Summary: A look at someone not seen from in a while
A/N: WARNING: The next chapter is so very short and not focused on our main characters but it is essential, as I have finally figured out where I want this story to go.
I must personally thank lorett who has been an amazing inspiration and a wonderful friend. Also to accio, your wonderful pestering forced me to put something down on the computer to get my creative juices flowing again!
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She sat gazing at the white, bare wall not really seeing anything, not really noticing the movement around her. It had been this way for years but she was unaware of the time. The nurses who tended her would whisper to themselves about what a beauty she had once been, what a life she had once led. But it was all no more.
She was unaware of anything past, present, and future. Unaware of any memories but for one. He stood out like a shining beacon in her troubled mind. He was the light in a world that had never known good. He had been the only thing she had done right. But he was lost to her now and it was her fault. She couldn’t remember why, or even how he had been taken from her, all she knew was that something bad had happened and then he was gone. Or maybe she had gone? Maybe she had done something that had caused her to leave.
Either way she was sure she would never see him again or feel his presence. It didn’t matter. She was locked within her own mind, terribly unaware of the world around her. Had she been even the slightest bit aware she would have heard the mutterings and understood. She would have heard the nurses whisper as they read over The Daily Prophet. She would have understood that he had been sighted. Had she been able to remember the past, she would have understood the danger he was now in.
But Narcissa Malfoy was horribly unaware of anything around her. Even as the creature in black slithered his way past the nurse’s station unseen, she sat staring at the white, bare wall unblinking. Even as he circled her twice as a hunter circles its prey, she sat unmoving. Had she been aware of the world around her she would have seen him lean over her, his cold breath freezing the skin by her ear. Had she been able to process any kind of thought, Narcissa Malfoy would have heard the words he hissed to her. Had she been able to scream, her cries would have echoed through the halls.
Amazingly something of the woman she had once been must have remained in the shell of her body, for as she sat thinking the same thought she had been thinking for the past four years, a single tear rolled down her cheek.
As the creature in black slithered his way back out of the ward at St. Mungo’s, only one person beside Narcissa Malfoy was witness to his passage and his warning. Unfortunately he too was in St. Mungo’s for a reason. Unfortunately he had no way of communicating what he had just overheard.
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Patricia Alabaster shivered, as momentarily, all lights in the ward seemed to dim. She wrapped her shawl around her body tighter and checked the hall, not really knowing what she was looking for. Nothing. She shook her head slightly, the beads in her graying hair the only noise. She turned and walked back to her chair when a slight noise from inside the ward behind her made her turn back around. Grabbing her wand she pushed the curtain aside and gazed into the dark room. Everything seemed the same. “Lumos,” she muttered and followed the light of her wand further into the room. As she approached Mrs. Malfoy, she sighed in pity.
Had the woman been able to resurface for a single second, she would be aware that her son had reemerged into the land of the living. As Patricia came face to face with Mrs. Malfoy’s unseeing eyes she gasped quite loudly. There on the poor woman’s once beautiful face was a single tear. “Mrs. Malfoy?” Patricia asked, not really expecting an answer. When none came she took a handkerchief from her pocket and gently wiped the tear away.
Resettling the woman in her blankets she turned her attention to the only other occupant of the ward and for the second time that evening, gasped in surprise. The usually still and calm patient was opening and closing his mouth in such rapid movements that his actions could not be mistaken. He was apparently trying to tell someone something, but alas, the poor boy would never be able to speak again. All anyone could do was offer him comfort. His usually distant eyes seemed to focus on Patricia in an almost shocking way. But a second later they rolled back into his head. Poor lad.
Tucking his blankets back around his tired body. She turned and prepared to leave the room when she suddenly froze. Shock was something that Patricia Alabaster did not experience, but apparently tonight she was going for three out of three. Mrs. Malfoy was currently sitting up and staring straight into her eyes. There was no doubt in Patricia’s mind that Narcissa saw her.
“He is going to kill my son,” she uttered from a dry and unused throat before dropping back onto her bed, her eyes returning to their normal state.
For ten minutes Patricia Alabaster stood there unmoving as though she were one of her patients. She should by all rights inform the head healer. She should by all rights be doing anything other then just standing there. But by all rights what she had just witnessed should never have happened.
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A/N: Short I know but fear not. I have not forgotten this story!! I know it may not have been what you expected but it was a necessary installment. I must apologize for not thanking all of you individually who reviewed. It has been so long and I have lost half of them, but I do promise to pick the habit back up with the next chapter which hopefully will not take as long and will be ten times longer. Thank you again to everyone who keeps reading!
NEXT UP: SNAPE and why he suddenly appears in Hermione's flat!!! I promise!!
Love, Ally
“Dead eyes, do you see me?” -unknown
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Chapter 12: Then The Nightmares Come
Summary: Finally, Snape’s exposure to a strange world
A/N: Haha! I forced myself to sit down and type out the next chapter so I wouldn’t let you people down! I do hope you enjoy it. Writing Snape’s part was terribly trying. I hope I pulled it off! Also there seemed to be a wee bit of confusion over the last chapter. This was intentional on some levels. You are not meant to know who visits Narcissa. You are also not meant to know who was the other patient in the room. But fear not all will be revealed. All I will say is that Narcissa received a visitor who informed her of his horrible plan to kill Draco. The only witness to it was the silent patient in the bed across from her.
Without further ado!!
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He stared into the dying fire before him and allowed the fire whiskey to burn down his throat. What had he gotten himself into? Severus Snape was never one to dwell on what could be, but tonight, as he sat in the freezing dungeon of a house not his, he began to wonder if what he had just done would change things for the better. After all, he had changed sides for more than self-preservation. He had changed sides for the simple reason that he refused to live his life following anyone’s orders but his own. Dumbledore offered him that freedom, no more no less. So Dumbledore’s side would be Snape’s. He knocked back the rest of his drink and threw the glass into the blue fire before him. He would soon find out if his decision had been the right one. Soon.
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Flashback
To say that Severus Snape’s presence in Miss Granger’s flat was unwanted would have to be the understatement of the century. Why he could practically feel the temperature in the room drop to freezing. Then again that could just be caused by that particularly unflattering look Miss Granger’s face. He had never had the opportunity to visit Miss Granger’s home before; an opportunity he could honestly say he didn’t regret not having. Besides the very worn copy of “Hogwart’s: A History” and a very battered Cleansweep 6 in the corner, her entire flat screamed muggle. Snape sniffed and brought his attention back to those before him.
“Mr. Malfoy,” Snape said coldly, his beady eyes running over Malfoy as though wondering if he was indeed real.
“Severus,” Malfoy answered just as coldly, stepping in front of Hermione when he noticed Snape’s gaze lingering on her.
Silently taking not of Malfoy’s action, Snape’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly and a dark smile tugged at his lips. “Severus is it?” Snape asked the young man before him. “Well, well, Draco,” and he allowed himself to draw out the name, “my how we have grown up. I trust the years of playing dead have been kind? Plenty of warm caves to sleep in? Lots of rats and the such?”
“Why are you here Severus?” Remus asked again suddenly, breaking Snape’s gaze away from Malfoy.
Snape’s face grimaced slightly as he took in Remus Lupin’s haggard appearance. His mind instinctually calculated the days left until the next full moon. “Dumbledore sent me. Apparently a very concerned Mr. Weasley has just recently informed him of a rather, hmm, how to say…delicate situation that has arisen.”
“He was meant to send an owl,” Remus said, almost to himself.
“Yes well Mr. Weasley’s touching concern for those he cares about got the better of him and he personally delivered the message. A shame really. I had avoided seeing a Weasley child for almost a whole year now,” he said, his gaze falling onto Fred. “I guess my streak of luck has finally run out.”
Fred stood up and stared at Snape for a long moment with an unreadable look in his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it again thinking better of it. He cocked his head to the side slightly and ran his eyes over Snape’s greasy, dark appearance. Suddenly Fred smiled and said, “You’re not worth getting worked up over.” Snape’s eyes, though it had seemed impossible, got even harder. Fred turned his look away from his former professor and walked past Hermione and Malfoy into the kitchen. Sounds of his search through her refrigerator could be heard.
Snape stood in the middle of the room raging inside. He was appalled at the way these children fancied themselves so grown-up. Oh yes, he considered them simply children, children trying to play a game that was above their level of abilities. He had never agreed with Dumbledore’s need to draw them into the inner workings of the Order, and he had never been quiet about his misgivings. Attempting to shove the feelings of anguish that threatened to overtake his judgment, he brought his attention back to the one person in this room he had actually been anticipating seeing.
To Snape’s eyes, Draco Malfoy had not changed much in the two years he had been missing. He had never truly believed the boy to be dead; Malfoy’s were too clever for that. And he had always held Draco Malfoy above the rest of his psychotic family. That’s all they had been anyway, that’s all any of them were. Power-hungry wizards drunk on their own greatness. But in Draco he had seen a glimmer of something different, not at first, but towards the end he had seen something in Draco that no Malfoy had ever had.
The boy was, is and always would be a very dark person; Snape had no doubt about that. Lucius had seen to that before he had gone and got himself killed. He had left enough physical and mental scars upon his son that would make it impossible for Draco to live a normal life. Never had Snape seen a father so out to destroy his own son. But then again, looking back, Snape realized Lucius was out to destroy pretty much everything in his life, including his own mind. Unfortunately his wife and child had paid most dearly for it.
Snape did not for a moment feel pity or sympathy for the boy. You had to survive what was thrown your way, or else lay down and let it rule you. Survival of the fittest. No, Snape did not pity Draco one bit. Snape respected the boy; it was a deep, painful respect, but he respected Draco none-the-less. If he were to be honest, Draco’s life very much paralleled his own and that is why he respected the young wizard standing before him.
Two years had matured him both physically and mentally. When Draco had been his student, his eyes had been so very easy to read. He had been a simple, uncomplicated person back then, running mainly on hate and obedience. But now his eyes were hard, deep, and full of emotion. Snape was not blind to the reason behind that emotion. The way he had placed his body in between the girl and what he had perceived as danger had been only one of the many signs. Then again the most obvious reason was still a badly kept secret that was now causing all sorts of problems. Snape allowed himself to laugh inwardly at the path the young man had chosen to take. Lucius must be rolling in his cursed grave.
Snape shook his head, his greasy, black hair shifting slightly. He brought his thoughts back to the present and the task at hand. Now was not the time to let his thoughts travel backwards. Snape hated the past so much he often wondered why he bothered to fight so very hard for his future. He wasn’t a decent person, he had decided years ago, but he refused to be a monster.
“Dumbledore informed me of recent events and has sent me with a course of action,” Snape finally said, turning slightly towards Remus to see that he had heard his words.
“And since when are you Dumbledore’s messenger pigeon?” Malfoy said, his voice flat and cautious.
Snape smirked at the ignorance of the boy and watched as Hermione put a soft hand on Draco’s arm. The boy turned his head to her, his eyes meeting hers. Whatever he read there caused his body to relax visibly. “Later,” Snape heard the girl whisper. He knew that by tomorrow Malfoy would know all about his double life. The list of people who knew what his role in this war was, steadily kept growing longer. A necessary thing, but regrettable all the same.
“Yes, I suppose Miss Granger here is right for once,” he sneered as Hermione turned her cold eyes to his. “Explanations would best be kept for later. Time is of the essence. Shall we proceed forward then?” he asked as though addressing a room full of his potions students.
“And just what do you have in mind Severus?” Remus asked
Snape allowed himself the luxury of a dramatic pause before he answered. “Well, staying here is most certainly not an option seeing as the entire wizarding world is after you.”
“What? What are you talking about? I didn’t realize I was in that much danger?” Hermione squeaked out. Snape was momentarily confused by her outburst.
“It is not you they are after Miss Granger, so do stop your fretting,” he spat at her.
“What do you mean Snape? They were here waiting or her last night,” Remus told him, his eyes narrowing as he pinned Snape with an almost animal look.
“Yes, true, they came with intention of capturing Miss Granger, but she was to be bait for him,” he said coldly as he extended his arm and pointed at Malfoy.
“So technically they really were after her,” Fred said, having returned from his kitchen crusade with a bag of biscuits. Really the lad’s appetite was something to astound even the most uninterested of people.
“Oh will you shut up Weasley! Finer points aside, Mister Malfoy is their main target, so it is Mister Malfoy who we must hide,” Snape practically shouted, his impatience with the Weasley clan soaring to new heights.
“Why me?” Draco suddenly asked, though the look in his eyes told Severus that he already knew the reason.
“You didn’t actually think you could do what you did and get away with it did you?” Snape asked as he coolly arched his eyebrow. The glare Malfoy shot back told him all. “You would have been better off staying dead Mister Malfoy. The Dark Lord has had one Malfoy taken from him against his wishes. He now requires the other Malfoy as payment of this debt. He wants his vengeance. You have been volunteered,” Snape said quietly and watched as Draco grew paler than ever, though his eyes retained their hardness.
“And just where do you plan on hiding me Severus? If your Master really wants my blood so badly, there are few places he would not find me,” Draco spat out.
“Why I would think that would be glaringly obvious,” Snape said and had the pleasure of delivering the news that had brought him to this place. “We’ll be going to Malfoy Manor of course.” The silence that followed was almost laughable.
The looks he was receiving were priceless. Fred Weasley had spit the entire contents of his mouth into Hermione’s hair. She didn’t notice however, as her eyes were wide and her mouth agape. Draco, for his part, simply stood frozen, his eyes ice as he stared at Snape. As for the werewolf, there was a cold calculating look in his mistrustful eyes.
“That would be suicide,” Lupin said evenly, his voice low but failing to hide his concern.
“I won’t go back there,” Draco said firmly, his hands unconsciously seeking Hermione’s body.
“Oh you will Mister Malfoy. You don’t exactly have a choice in the matter,” Snape said, a small smile slowly creeping onto his face.
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And that is how he had found his way here, in front of a dieing fire getting thoroughly drunk in a house he too had vowed he would never set foot in again. But here he was, stuck with several people he could barely stand. Dumbledore had suggested they hide here, and at the time Severus had agreed with the old man’s logic. There were so many protective spells on the house, there really were few safer places. Plus, never in a million years would Voldermort suspect Draco to come back here.
But after the day’s events, Snape was ready to throw Dumbledore’s cool logic out the window and run for the hills. Having to spend time with Lupin would normally be enough to try his patience. Throw in Miss Granger, a severely disturbed Draco Malfoy, an amazingly annoying Fred Weasley who insisted on popping up everywhere, and a certain Boy-Who-Lived who had tagged along for the ride at the last minute, and Severus Snape highly doubted he would have his sanity by morning.
A loud feminine scream suddenly echoed through the gigantic manor followed by the sound of running feet and heavy breathing. Fred Weasley barged through the door and skidded to a halt when he saw Snape. “Hide me!” he shouted, his voice bordering on panic.
Snape had not moved. The alcohol had clouded his mind, but enough of these occurrences had happened throughout the day that he was now unfazed. “Whatever it is you have done to Miss Granger this time Weasley, you will have to get out of it yourself. I am not your babysitter,” Snape managed to say without slurring too much.
Just then a very wet, very purple, and very upset looking Hermione Granger entered the room. Her eyes were huge and wild, her teeth audibly grinding. “I will kill you,” she said, steel in her voice. She whipped out her wand and pointed it at Fred.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Fred screamed before running out the back of the room, Hermione close on his tail.
Not ten seconds later none other then Harry Potter himself came running into the room. “Where are they?” he asked through gasps. Snape simply pointed to the back. “Thanks,” Potter shouted as he ran after. A loud explosion could be heard from their direction.
As expected, Malfoy came running in a few seconds later. He froze as Fred, looking slightly singed came shooting back into the room. “Go, go, she has finally lost it,” he shouted at Malfoy. The two ran out of the room only to be followed closely by Hermione and Potter.
Snape stood up slowly, a twitch having finally reached his left eye. He walked over to the expensive mahogany bar by the fire, grabbed the glass bottle, and proceeded to choke down the entire contents. Merlin help him, he had better had made the right decision all those years ago.
“FRED WEASLEY!!!!” came Granger’s shrill shout followed by yet another explosion.
Snape began to pray that someone, anyone, even the Dark Lord himself would come and take him away. He was even beginning to hope Granger’s screams would wake up Lupin. Having no other option, he picked up another bottle and choked down even more alcohol. If he had to stay here with these children, he would make sure he couldn’t remember it in the morning.
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A/N: Hiya! No real cliffhanger this time folks! My treat. But do not fret, plenty of action coming up. I do so hope you all enjoyed it. I had to throw in the last scene there to lighten the story up a bit. It has gotten quite dark and serious that I wanted to reinstate the fact that these really are just children. They are only about 19-22 years of age. I hope it worked!
Love, Ally
“Oh nothing Tommy. It’s tip-top. It’s just I’m not sure about the colour.” -Turkish (a cookie for anyone who guesses what movie this is from)
Chapters 11&12
Chapter 11: Those Unseen
Author: Hafthand(Ally)
Disclaimer: Do not own them!
Summary: A look at someone not seen from in a while
A/N: WARNING: The next chapter is so very short and not focused on our main characters but it is essential, as I have finally figured out where I want this story to go.
I must personally thank lorett who has been an amazing inspiration and a wonderful friend. Also to accio, your wonderful pestering forced me to put something down on the computer to get my creative juices flowing again!
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She sat gazing at the white, bare wall not really seeing anything, not really noticing the movement around her. It had been this way for years but she was unaware of the time. The nurses who tended her would whisper to themselves about what a beauty she had once been, what a life she had once led. But it was all no more.
She was unaware of anything past, present, and future. Unaware of any memories but for one. He stood out like a shining beacon in her troubled mind. He was the light in a world that had never known good. He had been the only thing she had done right. But he was lost to her now and it was her fault. She couldn’t remember why, or even how he had been taken from her, all she knew was that something bad had happened and then he was gone. Or maybe she had gone? Maybe she had done something that had caused her to leave.
Either way she was sure she would never see him again or feel his presence. It didn’t matter. She was locked within her own mind, terribly unaware of the world around her. Had she been even the slightest bit aware she would have heard the mutterings and understood. She would have heard the nurses whisper as they read over The Daily Prophet. She would have understood that he had been sighted. Had she been able to remember the past, she would have understood the danger he was now in.
But Narcissa Malfoy was horribly unaware of anything around her. Even as the creature in black slithered his way past the nurse’s station unseen, she sat staring at the white, bare wall unblinking. Even as he circled her twice as a hunter circles its prey, she sat unmoving. Had she been aware of the world around her she would have seen him lean over her, his cold breath freezing the skin by her ear. Had she been able to process any kind of thought, Narcissa Malfoy would have heard the words he hissed to her. Had she been able to scream, her cries would have echoed through the halls.
Amazingly something of the woman she had once been must have remained in the shell of her body, for as she sat thinking the same thought she had been thinking for the past four years, a single tear rolled down her cheek.
As the creature in black slithered his way back out of the ward at St. Mungo’s, only one person beside Narcissa Malfoy was witness to his passage and his warning. Unfortunately he too was in St. Mungo’s for a reason. Unfortunately he had no way of communicating what he had just overheard.
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Patricia Alabaster shivered, as momentarily, all lights in the ward seemed to dim. She wrapped her shawl around her body tighter and checked the hall, not really knowing what she was looking for. Nothing. She shook her head slightly, the beads in her graying hair the only noise. She turned and walked back to her chair when a slight noise from inside the ward behind her made her turn back around. Grabbing her wand she pushed the curtain aside and gazed into the dark room. Everything seemed the same. “Lumos,” she muttered and followed the light of her wand further into the room. As she approached Mrs. Malfoy, she sighed in pity.
Had the woman been able to resurface for a single second, she would be aware that her son had reemerged into the land of the living. As Patricia came face to face with Mrs. Malfoy’s unseeing eyes she gasped quite loudly. There on the poor woman’s once beautiful face was a single tear. “Mrs. Malfoy?” Patricia asked, not really expecting an answer. When none came she took a handkerchief from her pocket and gently wiped the tear away.
Resettling the woman in her blankets she turned her attention to the only other occupant of the ward and for the second time that evening, gasped in surprise. The usually still and calm patient was opening and closing his mouth in such rapid movements that his actions could not be mistaken. He was apparently trying to tell someone something, but alas, the poor boy would never be able to speak again. All anyone could do was offer him comfort. His usually distant eyes seemed to focus on Patricia in an almost shocking way. But a second later they rolled back into his head. Poor lad.
Tucking his blankets back around his tired body. She turned and prepared to leave the room when she suddenly froze. Shock was something that Patricia Alabaster did not experience, but apparently tonight she was going for three out of three. Mrs. Malfoy was currently sitting up and staring straight into her eyes. There was no doubt in Patricia’s mind that Narcissa saw her.
“He is going to kill my son,” she uttered from a dry and unused throat before dropping back onto her bed, her eyes returning to their normal state.
For ten minutes Patricia Alabaster stood there unmoving as though she were one of her patients. She should by all rights inform the head healer. She should by all rights be doing anything other then just standing there. But by all rights what she had just witnessed should never have happened.
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A/N: Short I know but fear not. I have not forgotten this story!! I know it may not have been what you expected but it was a necessary installment. I must apologize for not thanking all of you individually who reviewed. It has been so long and I have lost half of them, but I do promise to pick the habit back up with the next chapter which hopefully will not take as long and will be ten times longer. Thank you again to everyone who keeps reading!
NEXT UP: SNAPE and why he suddenly appears in Hermione's flat!!! I promise!!
Love, Ally
“Dead eyes, do you see me?” -unknown
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Chapter 12: Then The Nightmares Come
Summary: Finally, Snape’s exposure to a strange world
A/N: Haha! I forced myself to sit down and type out the next chapter so I wouldn’t let you people down! I do hope you enjoy it. Writing Snape’s part was terribly trying. I hope I pulled it off! Also there seemed to be a wee bit of confusion over the last chapter. This was intentional on some levels. You are not meant to know who visits Narcissa. You are also not meant to know who was the other patient in the room. But fear not all will be revealed. All I will say is that Narcissa received a visitor who informed her of his horrible plan to kill Draco. The only witness to it was the silent patient in the bed across from her.
Without further ado!!
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He stared into the dying fire before him and allowed the fire whiskey to burn down his throat. What had he gotten himself into? Severus Snape was never one to dwell on what could be, but tonight, as he sat in the freezing dungeon of a house not his, he began to wonder if what he had just done would change things for the better. After all, he had changed sides for more than self-preservation. He had changed sides for the simple reason that he refused to live his life following anyone’s orders but his own. Dumbledore offered him that freedom, no more no less. So Dumbledore’s side would be Snape’s. He knocked back the rest of his drink and threw the glass into the blue fire before him. He would soon find out if his decision had been the right one. Soon.
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Flashback
To say that Severus Snape’s presence in Miss Granger’s flat was unwanted would have to be the understatement of the century. Why he could practically feel the temperature in the room drop to freezing. Then again that could just be caused by that particularly unflattering look Miss Granger’s face. He had never had the opportunity to visit Miss Granger’s home before; an opportunity he could honestly say he didn’t regret not having. Besides the very worn copy of “Hogwart’s: A History” and a very battered Cleansweep 6 in the corner, her entire flat screamed muggle. Snape sniffed and brought his attention back to those before him.
“Mr. Malfoy,” Snape said coldly, his beady eyes running over Malfoy as though wondering if he was indeed real.
“Severus,” Malfoy answered just as coldly, stepping in front of Hermione when he noticed Snape’s gaze lingering on her.
Silently taking not of Malfoy’s action, Snape’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly and a dark smile tugged at his lips. “Severus is it?” Snape asked the young man before him. “Well, well, Draco,” and he allowed himself to draw out the name, “my how we have grown up. I trust the years of playing dead have been kind? Plenty of warm caves to sleep in? Lots of rats and the such?”
“Why are you here Severus?” Remus asked again suddenly, breaking Snape’s gaze away from Malfoy.
Snape’s face grimaced slightly as he took in Remus Lupin’s haggard appearance. His mind instinctually calculated the days left until the next full moon. “Dumbledore sent me. Apparently a very concerned Mr. Weasley has just recently informed him of a rather, hmm, how to say…delicate situation that has arisen.”
“He was meant to send an owl,” Remus said, almost to himself.
“Yes well Mr. Weasley’s touching concern for those he cares about got the better of him and he personally delivered the message. A shame really. I had avoided seeing a Weasley child for almost a whole year now,” he said, his gaze falling onto Fred. “I guess my streak of luck has finally run out.”
Fred stood up and stared at Snape for a long moment with an unreadable look in his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it again thinking better of it. He cocked his head to the side slightly and ran his eyes over Snape’s greasy, dark appearance. Suddenly Fred smiled and said, “You’re not worth getting worked up over.” Snape’s eyes, though it had seemed impossible, got even harder. Fred turned his look away from his former professor and walked past Hermione and Malfoy into the kitchen. Sounds of his search through her refrigerator could be heard.
Snape stood in the middle of the room raging inside. He was appalled at the way these children fancied themselves so grown-up. Oh yes, he considered them simply children, children trying to play a game that was above their level of abilities. He had never agreed with Dumbledore’s need to draw them into the inner workings of the Order, and he had never been quiet about his misgivings. Attempting to shove the feelings of anguish that threatened to overtake his judgment, he brought his attention back to the one person in this room he had actually been anticipating seeing.
To Snape’s eyes, Draco Malfoy had not changed much in the two years he had been missing. He had never truly believed the boy to be dead; Malfoy’s were too clever for that. And he had always held Draco Malfoy above the rest of his psychotic family. That’s all they had been anyway, that’s all any of them were. Power-hungry wizards drunk on their own greatness. But in Draco he had seen a glimmer of something different, not at first, but towards the end he had seen something in Draco that no Malfoy had ever had.
The boy was, is and always would be a very dark person; Snape had no doubt about that. Lucius had seen to that before he had gone and got himself killed. He had left enough physical and mental scars upon his son that would make it impossible for Draco to live a normal life. Never had Snape seen a father so out to destroy his own son. But then again, looking back, Snape realized Lucius was out to destroy pretty much everything in his life, including his own mind. Unfortunately his wife and child had paid most dearly for it.
Snape did not for a moment feel pity or sympathy for the boy. You had to survive what was thrown your way, or else lay down and let it rule you. Survival of the fittest. No, Snape did not pity Draco one bit. Snape respected the boy; it was a deep, painful respect, but he respected Draco none-the-less. If he were to be honest, Draco’s life very much paralleled his own and that is why he respected the young wizard standing before him.
Two years had matured him both physically and mentally. When Draco had been his student, his eyes had been so very easy to read. He had been a simple, uncomplicated person back then, running mainly on hate and obedience. But now his eyes were hard, deep, and full of emotion. Snape was not blind to the reason behind that emotion. The way he had placed his body in between the girl and what he had perceived as danger had been only one of the many signs. Then again the most obvious reason was still a badly kept secret that was now causing all sorts of problems. Snape allowed himself to laugh inwardly at the path the young man had chosen to take. Lucius must be rolling in his cursed grave.
Snape shook his head, his greasy, black hair shifting slightly. He brought his thoughts back to the present and the task at hand. Now was not the time to let his thoughts travel backwards. Snape hated the past so much he often wondered why he bothered to fight so very hard for his future. He wasn’t a decent person, he had decided years ago, but he refused to be a monster.
“Dumbledore informed me of recent events and has sent me with a course of action,” Snape finally said, turning slightly towards Remus to see that he had heard his words.
“And since when are you Dumbledore’s messenger pigeon?” Malfoy said, his voice flat and cautious.
Snape smirked at the ignorance of the boy and watched as Hermione put a soft hand on Draco’s arm. The boy turned his head to her, his eyes meeting hers. Whatever he read there caused his body to relax visibly. “Later,” Snape heard the girl whisper. He knew that by tomorrow Malfoy would know all about his double life. The list of people who knew what his role in this war was, steadily kept growing longer. A necessary thing, but regrettable all the same.
“Yes, I suppose Miss Granger here is right for once,” he sneered as Hermione turned her cold eyes to his. “Explanations would best be kept for later. Time is of the essence. Shall we proceed forward then?” he asked as though addressing a room full of his potions students.
“And just what do you have in mind Severus?” Remus asked
Snape allowed himself the luxury of a dramatic pause before he answered. “Well, staying here is most certainly not an option seeing as the entire wizarding world is after you.”
“What? What are you talking about? I didn’t realize I was in that much danger?” Hermione squeaked out. Snape was momentarily confused by her outburst.
“It is not you they are after Miss Granger, so do stop your fretting,” he spat at her.
“What do you mean Snape? They were here waiting or her last night,” Remus told him, his eyes narrowing as he pinned Snape with an almost animal look.
“Yes, true, they came with intention of capturing Miss Granger, but she was to be bait for him,” he said coldly as he extended his arm and pointed at Malfoy.
“So technically they really were after her,” Fred said, having returned from his kitchen crusade with a bag of biscuits. Really the lad’s appetite was something to astound even the most uninterested of people.
“Oh will you shut up Weasley! Finer points aside, Mister Malfoy is their main target, so it is Mister Malfoy who we must hide,” Snape practically shouted, his impatience with the Weasley clan soaring to new heights.
“Why me?” Draco suddenly asked, though the look in his eyes told Severus that he already knew the reason.
“You didn’t actually think you could do what you did and get away with it did you?” Snape asked as he coolly arched his eyebrow. The glare Malfoy shot back told him all. “You would have been better off staying dead Mister Malfoy. The Dark Lord has had one Malfoy taken from him against his wishes. He now requires the other Malfoy as payment of this debt. He wants his vengeance. You have been volunteered,” Snape said quietly and watched as Draco grew paler than ever, though his eyes retained their hardness.
“And just where do you plan on hiding me Severus? If your Master really wants my blood so badly, there are few places he would not find me,” Draco spat out.
“Why I would think that would be glaringly obvious,” Snape said and had the pleasure of delivering the news that had brought him to this place. “We’ll be going to Malfoy Manor of course.” The silence that followed was almost laughable.
The looks he was receiving were priceless. Fred Weasley had spit the entire contents of his mouth into Hermione’s hair. She didn’t notice however, as her eyes were wide and her mouth agape. Draco, for his part, simply stood frozen, his eyes ice as he stared at Snape. As for the werewolf, there was a cold calculating look in his mistrustful eyes.
“That would be suicide,” Lupin said evenly, his voice low but failing to hide his concern.
“I won’t go back there,” Draco said firmly, his hands unconsciously seeking Hermione’s body.
“Oh you will Mister Malfoy. You don’t exactly have a choice in the matter,” Snape said, a small smile slowly creeping onto his face.
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And that is how he had found his way here, in front of a dieing fire getting thoroughly drunk in a house he too had vowed he would never set foot in again. But here he was, stuck with several people he could barely stand. Dumbledore had suggested they hide here, and at the time Severus had agreed with the old man’s logic. There were so many protective spells on the house, there really were few safer places. Plus, never in a million years would Voldermort suspect Draco to come back here.
But after the day’s events, Snape was ready to throw Dumbledore’s cool logic out the window and run for the hills. Having to spend time with Lupin would normally be enough to try his patience. Throw in Miss Granger, a severely disturbed Draco Malfoy, an amazingly annoying Fred Weasley who insisted on popping up everywhere, and a certain Boy-Who-Lived who had tagged along for the ride at the last minute, and Severus Snape highly doubted he would have his sanity by morning.
A loud feminine scream suddenly echoed through the gigantic manor followed by the sound of running feet and heavy breathing. Fred Weasley barged through the door and skidded to a halt when he saw Snape. “Hide me!” he shouted, his voice bordering on panic.
Snape had not moved. The alcohol had clouded his mind, but enough of these occurrences had happened throughout the day that he was now unfazed. “Whatever it is you have done to Miss Granger this time Weasley, you will have to get out of it yourself. I am not your babysitter,” Snape managed to say without slurring too much.
Just then a very wet, very purple, and very upset looking Hermione Granger entered the room. Her eyes were huge and wild, her teeth audibly grinding. “I will kill you,” she said, steel in her voice. She whipped out her wand and pointed it at Fred.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Fred screamed before running out the back of the room, Hermione close on his tail.
Not ten seconds later none other then Harry Potter himself came running into the room. “Where are they?” he asked through gasps. Snape simply pointed to the back. “Thanks,” Potter shouted as he ran after. A loud explosion could be heard from their direction.
As expected, Malfoy came running in a few seconds later. He froze as Fred, looking slightly singed came shooting back into the room. “Go, go, she has finally lost it,” he shouted at Malfoy. The two ran out of the room only to be followed closely by Hermione and Potter.
Snape stood up slowly, a twitch having finally reached his left eye. He walked over to the expensive mahogany bar by the fire, grabbed the glass bottle, and proceeded to choke down the entire contents. Merlin help him, he had better had made the right decision all those years ago.
“FRED WEASLEY!!!!” came Granger’s shrill shout followed by yet another explosion.
Snape began to pray that someone, anyone, even the Dark Lord himself would come and take him away. He was even beginning to hope Granger’s screams would wake up Lupin. Having no other option, he picked up another bottle and choked down even more alcohol. If he had to stay here with these children, he would make sure he couldn’t remember it in the morning.
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A/N: Hiya! No real cliffhanger this time folks! My treat. But do not fret, plenty of action coming up. I do so hope you all enjoyed it. I had to throw in the last scene there to lighten the story up a bit. It has gotten quite dark and serious that I wanted to reinstate the fact that these really are just children. They are only about 19-22 years of age. I hope it worked!
Love, Ally
“Oh nothing Tommy. It’s tip-top. It’s just I’m not sure about the colour.” -Turkish (a cookie for anyone who guesses what movie this is from)