Monday October 30

The night before Halloween, Snape and Lyrica were wakened from a deep slumber by Dobby. Scowling at the interruption of a good night's sleep, Snape stared at the wide-eyed house elf standing at the side of his bed.

"What is it?" he growled. "This had better be important. I had some very late detentions this evening and I am tired."

Dobby pulled fretfully on his long, leathery ears. "Please, Master Severus, sir. I is giving you message from Madame Pomfrey. She says come right away!" Dobby popped out at once.

"Severus? It's Lucius, isn't it?" asked Lyrica, slowly stirring awake.

"More than likely. Will you go to Draco?" Snape left the bed and dressed as quickly as he could. Lyrica slipped on her dressing gown and slippers and walked out of the bedroom to her son's bedroom door. A whoosh from the fireplace told her that her husband had already Floo'ed to the Infirmary.

"Mother?" Draco opened his bedroom door, wiping at the sleep in his eyes. "Is everything all right?"

"It's Lucius." Lyrica watched her son carefully. All semblance of sleep left Draco in an instant.

"I need Hermione," he whispered.

"Put on your robe and slippers and then go make tea, dear. I'll go and get Hermione for you."

Draco nodded slightly and disappeared back into the darkness of his bedroom. By the time he was headed to the kitchen to fix the tea, his mother was already on her way to the Gryffindor tower.

Ten minutes later, Lyrica returned with Hermione, but also Ron. Harry was finishing up the tea Draco had started after finding his brother standing in front of the boiling tea kettle that was screaming madly with boiling water.

Hermione went to Draco and put her arms around him. He was stiff at first, but then he leaned into Hermione, wrapping a fist in her soft, velvet dressing gown. Ron sat on the other side of Draco while Harry served everyone tea. All were quiet... waiting.

Snape came through the Infirmary Floo and was met by Madame Pomfrey. She firmly stopped him before he went into the room the Death Eater was hidden in. "Severus, I wish you'd reconsider," she whispered.

"He never showed any of his victims mercy, Poppy," he said, his tone hard.

Poppy shuddered. "I cannot stay here, then. The pain potion I did give him is already starting to wear off. I..."

"Poppy, I know your Healer's Oath will not allow you to withold comfort, even from a Death Eater," he said softly as he removed the medi-witch's hand from his arm. "Go. Now. I'll take care of everything. Notify Albus, if you wish."

The medi-witch nodded, ignored the Floo, and practically ran from the Infirmary.

Steeling himself into the cold implacability that had kept him safe in his Death Eater days, Snape entered the small room where Lucius Malfoy lay dying. The pale haired wizard was not faring well, and it was obvious that the pain potion he'd had no longer was working. He grit his teeth, keeping his pain to himself as much as he could. Malfoy managed an acid sneer at the Potions Master.

"Come to gloat, old friend?" he sniped.

Snape stood tall and rigind with his arms crossed over his chest. "There's nothing to gloat over, Lucius. I've merely come as a witness. Then, should there be any question of whether or not you're alive, I can prove you're not."

A spasm of pain gripped Lucius and his fists gripped his blanket. He gritted his teeth, but it did not stop the involuntary moan of pain that escaped.

"You stand there so self-righteous, you hypocrit," snapped Lucius through another wave of pain. "Do they know of your sins? Does my son know what you've done, Severus? You may have kept your hands from the stain of blood our Master required, but I made certain blood tainted your soul." He laughed sadistically.

"Did you, Lucius?" An eyebrow rose upward. He waved his hand, moving a chair near Lucius' bed. He seated himself and leaned forward. "Ah. You must be speaking of the children. Your little... fetish. All those pretty, sweet boys who stood in for Draco when you couldn't beat him enough. Are they my sins?"

"I beat them, but I never killed them, Severus. It was your hand that did so. How many was it?" There was a gleam of triumph in the dying wizard's smokey grey eyes.

"Eighteen. Nineteen, if you wish to include your daughter," replied Snape. His face was a mask of stone, but there was a deep, sharp hatred in his eyes for the man in front of him. For just a moment, it scared Lucius and he tried to push himself deeper into the bed.

"Hate me if you wish, Severus, but your own soul will burn as mine shall someday. Only yours will burn much longer for the innocent lives you took."

"I have made many mistakes, Lucius, but I can assure you, my old friend, there are only two innocent deaths upon my soul, Lily and James Potter." He gave Lucius a dark and feral smile that chilled the other wizard to the bone. The smile became even more frightening as a harsh spasm ripped through his body, making him cry out. When Lucius fell back against the bed, he felt trapped by Snape's deathly expression and in that moment, he was truly terrified of dying.

"I nursed every single one of those children back to health, Lucius. I made certain that each and every one was carefully Obliviated of the memory of your fists, kicks, your damnable cane, and Cruciatus Curse. I then returned home those that still had homes and found homes for the others where they would be safe, loved and far away from you."

"You LIE!" Lucius cried out. He rose up to try and attack Snape but with a wave of the other man's hand he was slammed back into the bed.

"When we were in school, you should have listened to me when I was so foolish as to confess to you about the beatings my father gave to me. I distinctly recall telling you that I would never become my father. Never would I harm a child as he did me." Snape's voice cut like a razor across Lucius' mind. "Once I was a fool to believe you and I took the Dark Mark under your watchful gaze. I should have known then what you were capable of. It wasn't until the day I saw you kick your own son that I knew you for what you truly were: a monster."

Lucius shivered uncontrollably. Snape thought it might be from the weakening of nerve and muscle tissue. For Lucius, it was the spectre of Death that had replaced Snape. Lucius screamed, then.

Snape rose from his chair and pulled away from the bed as Lucius cried out for mercy. There was none for one such as he. Finally, the Death Eater took his last, agonised breath. Taking out his wand he pointed it at Lucius and whispered, "Incendio Constricum!" In moments, Lucius Malfoy was no more than ash that Snape disposed of with a cleansing spell. He repaired the damage to the bed and surrounding area from the fire and soon the small, hidden room showed no sign of its last patient.

The sun was just rising over the morning of Halloween when Snape returned to his family. A silent knowing passed between father and son. Snape understood that even though Draco had lost any feelings of love towards his biological father, he still grieved for Lucius. Draco mourned the loss of what Lucius could have been to him had he been a different person who valued family above money and power. Snape had known the same feeling when his own despised father, Tobias Snape, had succumbed to death after falling into a drunken stupor during a terrible storm outside of a Muggle London bar he favored, freezing to death.

Snape's arms opened towards his son and Draco rose shakily to his feet and stumbled into the embrace. He tried to say something, but instead he wept.