The Musings of the Young

The sun had begun its daily descent and Harry could feel any hope he had beginning to diminish like the sunlight.

I don’t know what to do. Where is Professor Snape? Where is anyone?

Harry did not expect the Calvary to arrive at the last minute and save the day like in the old Muggle movies that Uncle Vernon seemed to favor. Regardless of what most people believed, the teenage boy didn’t expect to be rescued at every turn. Times were different now. The coming of the second war had caused a great paranoia amongst the wizarding world. The Order of the Phoenix was stretched to its maximum capacity. There were just too many late night attacks and advances by the Death Eaters for the Order to handle. People were not willing to trust their fate at the hand of the Boy-Who-Lived anymore. Consequentially, there were fewer members of the Order than ever before. No one wanted to risk being on the 'losing' side. Many Order members had also perished during the first war. Harry used to believe that the worst thing Voldemort ever did was to murder his parents. As he matured, Harry had come to realise that although the death of his parents was an enormous personal loss to him, there were worse things that Voldemort could do. Chief among them was destroying hope and trust. Good wizards turning against other good wizards out of fear and suspicion. Everyday it seemed like someone was accusing a friend or family member of being a Death Eater because they possessed a strange book or trinket. Harry failed to understand why no one seemed to see that they were making it easier for Voldermort to triumph.

They were destroying themselves.

Grinny, who had been surprisingly quiet for sometime now had begun to shiver violently in Harry’s pocket.

“Grinny? Are you all right?”

Then, he felt it. It was like a cold wave across his body that made him tremble. Very dark magic had been used nearby. Just as Harry had decided to attempt an escape on his own, he felt something else. It was the all too familiar feeling of his scar burning into his forehead. He felt a brief flash of raw, intense rage that was gone as quickly as it appeared.

Voldemort. He knows of the link, now. Funny, though, he actually blocked himself from me. He didn’t do it quick enough this time. He’s very angry. He doesn’t want me to know it.

“Of course! Grinny, I think Snape might have got away. That’s why Voldemort is mad and doesn’t want me to know. He’s failed.”

Grinny peered up at him with decidedly unfeline eyes full of anxiety.

“I know, Grinny. I don’t know what Snape had to do, either. I don’t think I want to.”

Harry took his 'kitten‘s strangled cry as an agreement.

The Musings of the Weary Soldier

Severus took no satisfaction in mindless killing contrary to popular belief. He was someone who did what had to be done.

That sounds like a fitting epitaph for my gravestone. 'Here Lies Severus Snape. He Did What Had to Be Done.'

Banishing the morose thought from his mind, he focused on the task at hand. Malfoy had never even known what was coming. Before his body even had slumped ungracefully to the floor Severus had took aim to McNair. A simple Pertrificus Totalus and McNair was nice and quiet. As he was penning a note to Dumbledore and charming it so that only the Headmaster would know it for what it really was, he grew uncomfortable with McNair’s seemingly accusatory stare. He decided to offer a way of explanation. All bets were now off, as it seemed.

“Do not think I have spared you out of some misplaced affection, Walden. I had to dispose of one of you to buy myself enough time to stun the other. You were simply judged to be the slower of the two. I concede that I could have killed you both, but I ran out of bloodlust long ago.”

Severus placed a concealing charm on his communication and turned to leave the room. He cast one final glance back at the two men he had once called his friends. It now seemed so long ago...

“Your Lord will send his clean-up crew long before anyone else arrives. Please do me one last service, old friend. Give him a message from me, his once loyal servant. I grew weary of being a pawn, and now I am a bishop. Although, between you and me, I rue the day that I joined this game.”

In the Name of a Savior

Harry was beginning to wonder if he had made the right choice. It seemed like hours had passed since Grinny had hurled himself through the Dursleys’ front window.

Grinny tensed up in Harry’s pocket and Harry could hear light footsteps in the distance. They seemed to be headed directly for the alley. It had to be a wizard, then.

Never in his life did Harry wish to see Snape as he did now. After spending the past five years avoiding the man, Harry could not help but see the irony in the situation. Harry steeled himself against the garbage receptacle, wand at the ready. The footsteps were hesitant and abruptly came to a halt less than four feet away from his hiding place.

“Potter?” a voice hissed.

Snape! It has to be! Still, what if it is a trick?

“Potter, if you’re here, show yourself! I do not what to use my wand unless it is necessary. If you are here and do not announce yourself, you can rest assured that I will go directly to Hogwarts this instance and have that nuisance you call an owl for dinner. That blasted bird nearly took my eye out this morning!”

Harry decided that was a close as a confirmation of identity he was going to get. Only someone who had been at Hogwarts earlier could have known of the message he’d sent with Hedwig. He carefully slipped out from behind the receptacle and came face-to-face with the Professor.

“Potter, you look absolutely hideous.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Professor.”

“Do not take that tone of voice with me, boy. I have gone to the trouble of saving your worthless hide yet again and I would be displeased if you forced me to undo my hard work. Come here, now. “

Harry watched as Snape rummaged through the garbage littering the alleyway.

“Are you looking for something, Professor?”

“No, Potter. I enjoy sticking my hands through filth.”

“Well, I’m sure you touch your hair, so that’s probably true.”

“What was that, Potter?”

“I said I just wanted to know so I could help you.”

“I’m sure that was what you said. However, I do not have the time for your childish behavior at the moment. I would like to live long enough to deduct all the points for every insolent thing that makes it way out of your mouth. Now, where is it...?”

Snape reached his hand into another pile and pulled out a tattered book with a look of smug satisfaction.

“This, Potter, is a Portkey. I am certain even you know what that is.”

“Yes, Professor Snape.”

“Well boy, hurry up and get over here. We need to leave, now. It will activate in ninety seconds.”

As they both held on, Harry felt the familiar tug at his navel. Colors swirled and danced before his eyes and then vanished. He found himself in a field surrounded by mountains. In front of him was a small cottage. It had seen better days. The paint was peeling and the roof had gaping holes throughout. Snape was looking around the area with some confusion.

“Is there anything wrong Professor?”

“As usual, Potter, you are a keen observer. This was an emergency Portkey set up by the Headmaster to aid in your protection. More specifically, it was for me. The Headmaster firmly believed that one day the Dark Lord would ascertain your location and that I would be the logical choice to retrieve you.”

“Is this the wrong place, Professor Snape?”

“I do not know. The Headmaster told me I would know the safe location and how to get back to Hogwarts from there. This place is shielded by an anti-Apparation ward similar to the one at the school. We are supposed to walk back from here.”

“I’m sorry, Professor, but I still don’t understand. Is Hogwarts too far?”

“No, you imbecile! That’s the problem, Potter! I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE WE ARE!

Things Fall Apart, the Center Does Not Hold

“Have I failed you, my lord?”

“Do not worry, my child. Your information was correct. It appears my faith was not.”

“Did they not get the boy, my lord?”

“No, they did not. One is dead, another useless, and one has betrayed me.”

“How can I be of service to you, Master?”

“I am certain the old man has hid the traitor and Potter. Use your proximity to the fool to found out where they are. I want them both, alive.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Do not fail me.”

“I shall rather die than disappoint you, my lord.”

“I will keep you to your word. You are a true assent to your family. You sometimes remind me of a young Bellatrix.”

“Thank you for your kind words, Master.”

“You are right under their nose, you know. The Aurors and the Order. When I restore the true order to this world, you shall be right by my side for all to see. I will relish the expressions on their faces when they realise they had a traitor in their midst all along.”

“You are too kind, Master.”

“Never forget that I understand your shame in having an inferior Muggle in your lineage.”

“It pains me to think of it, my lord.”

“Do not let it worry you, my child. You will rise above your blood, as I have. Someday the entire world will know of your efforts in my name.”

“I await that day anxiously, Master. I tire of living two lives.”

“Soon enough, my loyal servant. Soon enough.”