Severus couldn’t recall ever dreading a Quidditch match as much as the one that would be occurring later this morning. He’d secretly been hoping that the pitch would be engulfed in a fiery inferno at some point between last night and the current moment in time, but as usual, Severus found himself disappointed.

He had no desire to sit amongst throngs of nitwits and listen to them lose their stupid little minds over flying broomsticks and balls. The only time Severus had even remotely enjoyed Quidditch had been when he’d attended games with Lily, and that had quickly ended when the House rivalries had really and truly set in, around their third year.

However, he had wanted to make it known to Miss Evans that following was not going to be tolerated in any way, shape, or form. For once, Severus was glad he’d listened to that insidious little voice, the cruel one that held nothing but contempt, when he’d watched the girl… disappear in the Great Hall this morning.

It had happened suddenly, and if Severus hadn’t been watching her as closely as he had, he likely would have missed it completely. Miss Evans had gone as still as a statue, her (his) dark eyes fixated on the entrance to the Great Hall, when all of a sudden, she’d gone white as a sheet, hands covering her ears —

Which was why Severus found himself following Miss Evans to the Quidditch pitch. The Weasley twerp and Granger were stuck to Miss Evans’ side like they’d been Hexed there with a Sticking charm. It was completely nauseating, the level of devotion they showed her. Severus could tell it drove Lucius’ son mad. Draco was constantly pining for the girl’s attention, but nothing about his wealth, his status, or his personality was appealing to her. Severus wished he could tell Draco how foolish he was — when he’d been his age, he had thought those same attributes would have impressed Lily.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Granger was fussing in that voice, the same one that called out during his class. She’d stopped doing it the past two weeks, and it was clearly an act of defiance, a show of support for Miss Evans. Severus couldn’t have given less of a fuck about what Granger thought of him, but he had taken something akin to delight in massacreing her papers in relatiation.

Severus had pretended like he wasn’t listening, but something was gnawing away at him whenever the girl was brought up, now. An insidious little voice that recited the same four words every time:

But she’s your child.

Severus wanted to take that voice and catapult it into the center of a volcano. He had shoved The Incident into the same box he kept Lily, that he kept his childhood and the things that had twisted him into the adult he was today. Severus was determined to make sure that Miss Evans was safe — nothing more. He would not think about… the other thing. He couldn’t afford to.

What more is a parent? Something inside him whispered, hollow and high, like wings riding a wind current.

The answer was standing in front of him — Granger’s imploring eyes, Weasley-twerp’s arm just barely touching Miss Evans’ shoulder. The little monsters cared about the girl, loved her, even. Merlin knew Miss Evans loved them, even in the short amount of time she’d known them. That was something she’d inherited from Lily — giving her devotion to whoever needed it, wanted it.

I don’t regret you, or seeing Severus, Lily’s letter had said. She had lived her life, however short, with no regret, no shadow hanging over her. What did it say about Severus, that his only regret had been Lily, and everything he’d done to her, to Potter, to her — their — child.

This thought hung over his head like a sword as Severus made his way to where the rest of the faculty was seated. The rest of them were already there, talking amongst themselves. Minerva was busying herself with making sure Jordan was settled in the commentator’s box. They seemed to be bickering about something, but with one stone cold glare from her, Jordan shut up and busied himself with making sure the microphone was adjusted properly.

Someone was already there that made Severus forget about Miss Evans for a moment.

Severus had not spoken to Dumbledore in thirteen days, nineteen hours, and three minutes. He’d been keeping this internal clock since The Incident, determined not to break it until the old coot came crawling back. It had been a betrayal of the highest degree, even if Dumbledore hadn’t known everything, he had known something was coming, and had allowed Severus to be blindsided, had allowed Miss Evans to carry around the burden of proof like it was some long forgotten heirloom Lily had left behind.

Lily would have wrung their necks if she knew how the people she’d entrusted with her child were handling this. She would have burned the fucking school to the ground.

“Hello, Severus.” Minerva greeted him as he reluctantly sat down beside her. Usually, Severus accompanied Dumbledore to these sorts of things, but he was almost certain that if Dumbledore came anywhere near his general vicinity, Severus would set his beard on fire.

He grunted in response, the players beginning their ascent. Fifteen broomsticks all trying to race each other into the sky, as if they wouldn’t have enough to worry about in just a few minutes time. Severus scanned the Gryffindor stands for the girl, finding her sitting right in front of Hagrid, Weasley-twerp and Granger sandwiching her in between them. Her face shone with excitement, far from the distressed and dazed expression in the Great Hall.

“Care to wager?” Minerva asked, tearing his attention away from the girl. “Though I’d hate to take advantage, I know for a fact that Wood has been training the team like dogs.”

If Severus heard one more mention of a dog, he was going to lose it. I don’t think it was dogs. Cheeky brat.

“I thought betting was beneath you.” Severus eyed Minerva from the corner of his eye. “Especially when it comes to children.”

“You may be the youngest of us all, but I hardly consider you to be a child, Severus.”

He glared at her. Minerva pretended not to notice, the corners of her lips twitching.

“I’ve already instructed the Slytherins to sacrifice one of their own to ensure victory.” Severus said flatly.

Minerva gave him a wry smile. “And I thought Quidditch was beneath you.”

“I hate Gryffindor pride even more.”

She gave a long sigh, but her eyes still held some semblance of amusement in them. “Well, I’ll leave you to wallow, then. Unfortunately, I have to ensure that Mr Jordan doesn’t have too much to run with. It is only the first game, after all.”

“You seemed to have misplaced your confidence, Minerva.” Severus called to her as she settled herself next to the boy. He didn’t envy her — he would’ve catapulted the brat from the stands the second the game started if he had to listen to his rambling, only two feet away.

Quirrell was three or so rows behind him, the considerable distance between them not lost on Severus. Pomona and Filius sat in the front row, beside Dumbledore, who had not once turned to look back behind him. Severus glared mutinously at the back of his head. His robes were tangerine today, and though it sounded ridiculous, Severus couldn’t help but wonder if Dumbledore had worn such an offensive color to ensure that he was definitively seen. It was the manipulative, offhanded bullshit Severus was accustomed to after working with him for a decade.

Miss Evans was waving to the Weasley twins, now, who have ducked below to wave at her and her cronies. She shouted something to one of them, and they blew an overdramatized kiss to her, which caused her face to nearly split open from the force of the smile. It was radiant — the happiest Severus had ever seen her.

Severus quickly scrubbed that thought from his thoughts — he was here to watch the girl and make sure that there wasn’t anything suspicious going on. That was it. He couldn’t handle anything more.

He decided to turn his attention momentarily to the game, loathed as he was to do so. Jordan was going strong, the Gryffindor’s already in possession of the Quaffle. Flint had assembled a strong team this year, which gave Severus some semblance of hope. It wasn’t so much the victory he enjoyed, rather that he could gloat until the start of the next school year, gleefully knocking Minerva down several pegs.

“Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead, and off she goes!”

Weasley-twerp cupped his hands around his mouth, hollering something Severus couldn’t make out. Whatever it was, it caused Miss Evans and Hagrid to chuckle.

“She’s really flying, that Johnson, dodging a speeding Bludger with all the grace only a woman that attractive can possess —”

“Jordan!” Minerva gave the boy a warning glare.

“Sorry, sorry — the goalposts are ahead, come on now Angelina! Keeper Bletchley dives — misses — GRYFFINDOR SCORE!”

The Gryffindors roared, Miss Evans and Granger clapping with delight. Severus rolled his eyes as the Weasley-twerp hooted, pumping his fists into the air.

“There goes that damn Bludger again — it’s really trying, but these flyers are quite nimble today —”

The Bludger was suddenly spinning off the field. Severus hadn’t seen it miss anyone, so what had —

He heard the children scream, saw Miss Evans dive out of the way just in time, and his heart stopped in his chest. He could feel it strangling him, twisting around his ribs and down to his stomach. It hurt to breathe.

Severus sprang out of his seat, Minerva jumping up beside him. “Merlin and Morgana, what in heaven’s name was —”

The Bludger had swung back around, Granger and Weasley-twerp helping Miss Evans up and off the floor of the stands. The surrounding students all came forward, clearly looking to make sure she was alright, when the Bludger came barrelling towards the girl once more. Luckily this time Hagrid wasn’t taken off guard, his hand flying outward to smack it away. The Bludger quickly rebounded, not missing a single beat.

The students shrieked as they scattered again, like a swarm of bees. Miss Evans yelled something and pointed, pulling her and Granger out of the way just in time. The Bludger collided with the stands, the wood splintering on impact.

Jordan had noticed, too. “It seems we have a Bludger out of play — do we think it’s a coincidence that it’s the Slytherin’s Bludger?”

“Jordan!” Minerva snapped.

“Sorry — I mean, this would be a gross and obvious display of cheating —”

“Jordan, I am warning you —”

Severus couldn’t feel his hands anymore. The Bludger beat against the stands, against the exact spot when Miss Evans had been, like it was practicing what it wanted to do to her skull.

The girl had pulled herself and Granger behind the stands, now separated from Weasley-twerp. The boy fought to get to them, but Hagrid was corralling the students away, yelling at them to stand back. Students started piling out of the stands, though a few of the older ones began casting Hexes at the Bludger, trying to undo whatever bewitchment had been placed on it. The Bludger turned its sights on them, then, giving them chase as they dove out of the way. Luckily, this gave Miss Evans just enough time to drag herself and Granger below the stands and out of view.

Severus looked back at Quirrell, his eyes glued to the scene, too, his hand over his mouth in what appeared to be abject horror. There were too many people, too many suspects around, but someone was fucking with that damn Bludger, but who —

He started reciting the counter-curse, keeping his eyes on the girl. It hovered mid-air for a few moments, prickles of relief traveling up his spine, until it began to shake violently. Severus forced the spell out quicker, not faltering with his precision, but he could feel the pull of magic slicing through — it wasn’t enough.

His eyes finally went to Dumbledore, who had stood, his blue eyes icy.

Their gaze met, and Severus took off.

———

Ariel could hear Ron shouting for her and Hermione below the stands. Every time a student got close to try and get them out and to safety, the Bludger would lurch forward, like it was having some sort of fit. She couldn’t figure out why it had stopped smashing inside against the benches, but she wasn’t going to complain about it.

She really preferred the troll to this, though.

Fred swung by, grabbing the Bludger as Ariel peeked out. She watched in horror as it fought against him, one hand around the demon-ball, the other holding onto his broom for dear life.

“NO —” Ariel started to shout, but it was drowned out by the commotion.

“Go, Evans!” Seamus was hollering. “Go! Get out of there!”

“Ariel, we have to move!” Hermione said, her eyes wide with fear. “It’s going to force its way through!”

As if the Bludger had overheard them, it broke free of Fred’s grasp, barrelling towards them once again. Fred broom went spiraling towards the ground, the entire stadium letting out a collective shriek that made Ariel’s eardrums rattle. From up above them, Ariel heard some of the other students shouting spells, crackles of gold and blue echoing overheard. She peeked through the slits beneath the stands, trying to get a look at the professors and what they were doing. Professor Quirrell looked absolutely horrified, his hand clamped over his mouth — Professor McGonagall was making her way over to Dumbledore, who was —

— watching something else Ariel couldn’t see. She scanned the stands for Snape, but he wasn’t there, but he had been, she’d seen him just a few seconds ago. Where had he gone?

A sinking feeling pulled at her, making her eyes blurry. They couldn’t make a run for it, the Bludger was too bloody fast, and Ariel couldn’t live with herself if something happened to Hermione —

That was when the Bludger started up again. Ariel and Hermione screamed, clutching at each other as it rammed itself against the wood. She could hear each deafening crack as the wood came apart, the Bludger’s movements getting more and more desperate. She couldn’t let this happen, Hermione would get hurt, and it would be all her fault —

have some fire

Ariel stood up, worming herself through the opening. The Bludger had stopped, like it knew.

Hermione tried to wrestle her back, but she was too slow. “No, Ariel, NO —”

———

Both teams had picked up that something had gone wrong outside of their game. Hooch had begun blowing her whistle frantically as Severus raced towards the girl, barrelling through the throngs of students, all craning their necks to see what all the commotion was. The seventh years Gryffindor had been forced to flee when the Bludger began aiming itself at their heads, instead, meaning that it was only a matter of seconds until —

Severus could hear his voice, distant and muted, commanding the little monsters to get the fuck out of the way. His heart felt like it was trying to beat its way out of his chest, a panicked rhythm hammering away against his ribs as he made his way towards Lily’s daughter. She was so close, but the Bludger had set its sights on her once again, and Miss Evans was —

Granger pulling on her arm, trying to drag her back down as the girl climbed out. “No, Ariel, no!”

But Granger was too late — Miss Evans was standing on top of the bench, shouting at Bludger. “Hey! It’s me you want, yeah? Come and get me!”

She was —

more importantly, my boy, she is yours

Severus lifted his wand as the Bludger fired. “Protego!”

The Shield went up in the knick of time, knocking Miss Evans backwards. Severus didn’t bother looking to see what or where the Bludger had gone.

“Get up,” Severus snarled, reaching his hand blindly towards her. “Now.”

Miss Evans took his hand without hesitation, her (his) dark eyes fixed on his. Severus grabbed the girl, swinging her around him. She was small (too small, fucking PETUNIA), which in this moment, worked to his advantage as he shot out of the stands with her in tow.

“Professor—“ Miss Evans tried to say, but Severus heard the rush of air behind him, the crowd screaming —

“Reducto!” Severus shouted.

It exploded, the shards cascading around them like fireworks. Severus tugged Miss Evans beneath his cloak, shielding her eyes with one hand, and his own with the other.

The girl stared up at him, eyes wide. “Whoa,” was all she said.

Severus could hear his heartbeat in his ears, the edges of his vision shimmering. He knelt down in front of the girl, looking her over for any noticeable injuries. Vaguely aware that he was saying something, that he was asking the girl questions, Severus kept his eyes trained on hers (his).

It wasn’t long before Granger and the Weasley-twerp were throwing themselves at the girl, followed swiftly by Minerva and Poppy. They carried her away, a sea of worry and concern and relief, but something inside of Severus was still ticking down. The explosion hadn’t gone off — he was simply suspended in time, waiting for the real strike.

That was the moment Severus knew that whatever had decided to go after the Stone wanted the girl now, too.

And he was going to kill them if it was the last thing he did.

————

Ariel dreamt of the woman in the mirror, again.

There the woman stood in front of some sort of large vanity with an attached mirror. Her hair was shoulder length, but covering most of her face in waves. When she looked up to the glass, she did not look at herself, but at the space behind it, as if she knew Ariel was there, watching her, even though she couldn’t see who it was.

When Ariel awoke, she was shaking. There was an indescribable feeling in her chest, like she had lost something precious she could never recover.

her piercing anguish rising high above the foam

Hermione was curled up beside her, facing the opposite way, towards Parvarti’s bed. Her breathing was soft and shallow, a comforting noise in the otherwise silent room. They’d fallen asleep hours ago, Lavender braiding Ariel’s hair in an attempt to make her feel better after what had happened at the Quidditch match, but it hadn’t done much. There was a sinking pit in her stomach that kept growing the more Ariel thought about it.

The darkness would’ve been unfair enough, but now other things were starting to go after her. The Bludger had kept them all so distracted that they hadn’t been able to see who was doing the bewitching. Ron had sworn up and down that he’d seen Snape muttering something under his breath, but Snape had been the one to save her. He’d stood between her and that Bludger, his arm around her, making sure that not even the Shield spells harmed her.

Ariel almost didn’t want it to admit it, but the second Snape had appeared, all of her fear had vanished, like a candle in the wind. He’d asked her if she was alright at least ten times before everyone else had started to glom her, and all Ariel could do was nod at him jerkily instead of thanking him or asking him what happened, or how he’d gotten over there so bloody fast.

the wanderer weary, full of fear

Maybe it was a sign that she never should have opened Mum’s letter. It had been like Pandora’s box, the troll, the darkness, that cold, high voice, and the stupid Bludger following.

She brought her pillow to her face, burying her face in it as she stifled a sob. It was beginning to feel like too much. She wanted it to stop. She wanted things to go back to normal, to do boring old Charms homework, being terrible at flying and practicing Stinging Hexes to use on Malfoy.

Ariel whispered an apology to Hermione, and slipped out of the room.

————

Severus had not bothered to try and sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he heard the sickening THWACK of the Bludger crunching the stands down to sawdust, and the girl’s steely gaze, unafraid, unwavering, unmoving.

It was a quarter past midnight, the fire dying in the hearth, and a third of a bottle of firewhiskey had. Dumbledore had tried to come through his Floo three times already, but Severus had disconnected it after The Incident. It was pointless, anyway — Severus destroyed the Bludger, and any evidence along with it. They both already knew that there was someone inside the fucking school after the Stone, but what that had to do with Miss Evans evaded Severus. It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch, the answer right below his hooked nose. The writing on the wall was a tongue he couldn’t understand, the letters blurred and dimly lit. Something was happening, but what the sodding fuck did it have to do with Lily’s daughter?

He knew that eventually he’d be forced to have a discussion with Dumbledore, take more protective measures, but for now, Severus just needed to bob on his sea of Occlumency — alone. It was the only thing keeping him from a nervous breakdown.

you can’t protect her

hide them, hide them all

Severus thought about Lily.

He’d been carefully unraveling the memory of her, like it was a sacred jewel or parchment long thought lost. The memory she’d left him had bound itself back into his thoughts, reweaving itself into a tapestry of emotions, both past and present. There were moments where Severus found himself cursing her for writing the damn letter, others where he would’ve given anything to read those words again, to hold a piece of Lily in his hands. Her words had been sloppy and irregular, which was unlike her, but spoke volumes about the state in which she’d penned it. A letter that was only meant to be read if she were dead — for a child Lily knew she would fight for, until her last breath.

Above all was the soul-crushing guilt that had accompanied it all. Severus had killed her, and now, he had somehow been afforded the privilege of watching their daughter grow up. Well, that was, if Miss Evans made it past this year without inanimate objects fracturing her skull.

Severus wished, above all else, in the deepest part of that untouchable box, that Lily would have told him. He would’ve moved heaven and Earth to make sure they had been safe. Potter had been naive — so, so young, but naive. The Dark Lord would have hunted them until the ends of the Earth if he thought the child was in any way a threat. Severus tried to connect the subject of the Prophecy to the girl, who slept only several floors away, and felt his heart stutter.

The powers that be had a truly twisted sense of irony.

Severus’ waves of Occlumency carried him away from things he wanted to forget. That was, until —

BANG BANG BANG

Severus slammed his fist down, intent on mangling whatever little fatuous cretin needed him now of all times. He threw open the door, a Child Appropriate “fuck off” on his lips, when he saw her.

It was Miss Evans, which was the exact moment Severus realized he was hopelessly ill-equipped when she decided to force his existence to interact with his. She stared up at him wordlessly, her traveling cloak wrapped securely around her person. The soft glow of the fire reflected off of her (his) eyes. They gave him one request.

He really shouldn’t have been surprised.

Severus narrowed his eyes down at her, but he couldn’t find the energy to be angry with Miss Evans, even though a distant voice screamed at him to take ten million points from Gryffindor. He was too tired — she had successfully worn him down.

He moved aside, a silent invitation. Miss Evans said nothing as she slipped past him.

“I assume you’re aware that you’re breaking curfew.” Severus said, trying to summon as much displeasure into his voice as he could. It seemed to have worked — the girl cringed.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Miss Evans said — her eyes said as much. There were the beginnings of dark circles underneath them, her hair a tangled mess of red.

Severus made a disapproving noise, but motioned for Miss Evans to sit in one of the chairs adjacent to his desk. He rapped the desk twice with his knuckle, “Hot chocolate.”

The girl’s eyes went as big as bowls as the steaming mug materialized in front of her. “How’d you do that?”

“Magic.” he stifled the urge to roll his eyes. “Drink that, it’ll help.”

She eyed the mug suspiciously. “How? Did you put something in it?”

“Chocolate has healing properties.”

Miss Evans gingerly picked it up from the bottom. “Why would I need to be healed?”

“Forgive me,” Severus sneered, if only to mask how much he wanted to balk. “I believe you had a rather eventful Quidditch match, if my memory recalls correctly.”

The girl grimaced. She looked like Lily when she did that. Her nose scrunched up the same exact way, paling the freckles around her nose. “I knew I hated flying.”

Something warm nestled beneath his ribs at her words. Severus studied her carefully as she blew on the mug, giving it a few sniffs before deciding it was probably safe to drink.

“Thank you for saving me.” Miss Evans said quietly. She looked up at him with such earnesty, that Severus couldn’t look her fully in the face. It felt like staring into the sun for too long.

Severus didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. Saving Miss Evans was his entire existence, now.

“Do you know what happened?” Miss Evans asked, peering up at him hesitantly. “Hermione said someone must’ve Jinxed the Bludger to come after me.”

Severus waited until she took a sip of the hot chocolate to answer. “Miss Granger should not have been the only witch to come to that conclusion.”

Miss Evans scowled — he recognized that scowl, the sharpness of her cheekbones and the intensity in her dark eyes.

He wasn’t going to survive this. There was no rational path that would lead Severus out of this unharmed. How had he not seen it before?

“I knew that,” Miss Evans said in a voice that sounded put-off, but conveyed every inch of the child she was. “You know what I mean. Do you know why it happened? Or who did it?”

Severus gave her a long, searching look. “It could have been a student executing a prank gone horribly wrong,” it wasn’t, “or a malfunctioning Bludger,” it wasn’t, “or something much more… sinister. It could have happened to any of the students.”

Not just any student, Conscience said, the Girl-Who-Lived, all thanks to you, Severus Snape

Miss Evans didn’t miss a beat. “What about… that thing that followed me, right after Halloween?”

His eyes narrowed. “What about it? Did you see it during the match?”

The girl set down the mug, her mouth set in a hard, thin line. She must’ve picked up on that from Minerva. “No, I didn’t.”

“Then what relevance does it have?”

“I’m not stupid.” Miss Evans stared him down, over the steaming mug. “I know somethings going on, I just can’t tell if it’s because of the Stone, or because of me.”

Severus settled back in his chair, trying to stifle the urge to hit something. He had been avoiding this idea since Miss Evans had first seen what she called “the darkness.” There was only one possible connection between the Stone and the girl, but it was impossible, not with Dumbledore here, not with the fortress of spells and wards surrounding the school.

The Dark Lord being anywhere near the school was enough to make Severus’ blood run cold, a hollow feeling in his bones that howled like winter, but it was the only explanation he could think of. Unless, the Dark Lord was directly influencing someone here, but who —

Severus would get his answer sooner than he thought. The girl set the mug down, her hands shaking.

“I… I have to tell you something.” Miss Evans looked up at him nervously. “Somethings happening, and I don’t know how to make it stop.”

————

Ariel watched Snape carefully when she had finished. His eyes were closed, but she could see a vein in his temple pulsing, like there was some horrible creature trying to rip it’s way free. Ariel looked around at the… things suspended in that weird, bluish-green goo in the jars, and shuddered. She wondered if any of them had popped out of people’s skulls. Probably.

(That was a little cool, she thought to herself)

“How long?” Snape finally asked, the shadows dancing across his face. His expression was unreadable, but it hurt to stare at it for too long.

She shrugged — Snape’s hands turned into claws on the desk. She quickly racked her brain for an answer that wouldn’t end in the dungeons being brought down around them. “Since the night I told you… about you-know-what.” she said quickly.

“What does it say?” Snape asked in a voice that told her that he didn’t really want to know the answer.

“The voice?” Ariel stifled a shiver, thinking back to this morning, when the world had gone grey and cold, like she’d been plunged to the bottom of a lake. “Today was the first time that’s happened. It wanted me to tell it something.”

“What?” Snape finally snapped, the muscles in his neck strained. “Are you trying to be purposefully obtuse?”

“I don’t know, I told you!” Ariel threw back. “I have no idea what it wants!”

Snape seemed to be biting back a scream. “Has it ever happened in Gryffindor Tower?”

Ariel paused, thinking. She’d been having weird dreams, but no actual darkness had come through up there. “No, I don’t think so.”

“What about my classroom?”

She shook her head slowly. “No… not there, either.”

Snape leaned back in his chair, his hands pressed together, resting just below his chin. “Your scar, has it bothered you?”

Ariel opened and closed her mouth several times. “How’d you know?”

“You mentioned that it had done so after the first time.” he stared at like, his gaze intense.

“What does it mean?” Ariel asked, trying to sound brave and big and strong — like Snape — but it came out small and timid. She hated feeling this way. She’d never been scared of the Dursleys, had never feared what they could do to her. They were so consistent in showing her how much they hated her that Ariel knew their patterns, like when Aunt Petunia took her grocery shopping, she’d leave Ariel there.

The darkness had spoken to her. If it could do that… what else could it do? Ariel didn’t very much feel like finding out.

Snape’s black eyes glittered, but he was focused on something else, she could tell. He was staring at the spot just above her head. “You tell me.” he said.

Ariel stared at him, taken off guard. “How would I know that? It’s obviously whoever’s trying to steal the Stone, right?”

He leaned forward with gritted teeth. “And wouldn’t a revelation like that warrant the appropriate intervention?”

“Who was I supposed to tell?” Ariel asked, giving him a pointed look. “You wouldn’t talk to me!”

“You could have told one of the countless capable ADULTS —”Snape's voice rose, like the tide pulling back and forth.

“Like who?” Ariel said, leaning forward in her chair. “You’re the only one who knew, and you haven’t even looked at me since the floating room!”

“And you decided to retaliate by not telling anyone about the disembodied voice that has been stalking you!” Snape hurled back. “Do you have a death wish, or is it simply the gift that bravery provides you and the other Gryffindor halfwits?”

“I didn’t even tell Ron and Hermione until yesterday!” she could hear her voice getting louder, but she didn’t care anymore. “I didn’t know!”

Snape’s eyes glittered dangerously. “You have been nothing but trouble since that letter, using it as an excuse to be foolish and reckless.”

“You didn’t want it!” Ariel shouted, leaping from her chair. “You didn’t want anything to do with me! You act like Mum never existed, that it doesn’t matter that she’s not here —”

The SCREECH of a chair made her stop. Snape had stood, his chest heaving, something wild moving behind his eyes. It wasn’t the light, it was the thing Ariel had seen right after she’d shown him The Truth. It stared at her, making her entire nervous system quiver.

“Every — day — I am reminded that she is gone.” Severus hissed. “Why do you think I’m here, girl? Because I relish watching her only living child walk the same halls she once did? I am here for one reason only, and that is to make sure that you stay alive. I cannot do that if you don’t tell me these things.”

She wasn’t prepared for how much his words disarmed her. She wasn’t prepared for how small they made her feel, or how hearing him finally acknowledge that Mum was gone, and that it hurt someone other than her, was going to strike her heart.

“I didn’t know.” Ariel said, mostly to herself, helplessly. “I didn’t know it was real, and I didn’t know who to trust. I’m sorry.”

Snape moved from behind his desk. For a split second, Ariel was quite sure that he was going to throw her out (again), but instead, he came around to the front of the desk, leaning against it, one leg crossed over the other. He stared down at her, still deeply vexed, but that pinprick of light was back in his eyes. It was a strange expression, one Ariel had not yet added to her Snape and His Expressions library. Everything he said and did needed to be run through some sort of machine inside of her brain since Snape refused to talk like a normal human being.

“I know this has been… difficult.” he finally said. It was a toneless voice, one Ariel couldn’t get a read on at all. She wondered how he was doing that, after getting so worked up.

She gripped the sides of the chair. “You mean the giant smoke monster? Or the cursed ball that tried to off me today?”

Snape’s face did not change, but he inclined his head. “Certainly those… amongst other things.”

It took Ariel a few seconds to realize what in the world he was talking about. It hit her like an electric shock, making her sit up a little straighter. Snape had never willingly brought up… other things. She racked her brain for something to say, but it felt like she’d gone into overdrive, too many thoughts, too many things she wanted to say, ask, do, demand of him.

Snape must’ve seen that her brain was short circuiting, because he looked bored, like he was waiting for her to reboot.

“I… didn’t burn it.” Ariel finally decided on. “The letter, I mean. The Protection Charm is back on it, though.”

He seemed to consider this, giving her a long, searching look. “It was yours to do with as you wished.”

That sounded like a question, in Snape-speak. “I didn’t think Mum would want me to get rid of it. I… couldn’t do it.”

“I doubt she wanted you to do anything other than read it.” he said coldly. He looked… empty.

“She wanted me to show you.” Ariel shot back. “That’s something other than reading.”

He flinched — it wasn’t a regular flinch, but it was so subtle that if she hadn’t been watching she would’ve missed it.

“Did you… really not remember?” Ariel asked softly. “You had no idea, even when the Blood Wards stopped working?”

“Does the word Obliviate evade you?”

Ariel bit her lip. “It didn’t, Mum didn’t know what was going to happen. I don’t think a letter was the best way to do it.”

The mask dropped, his face troubled. “What else did you expect of her?”

“I don’t know.” she said, feeling stupid and selfish. “Would you have wanted her to tell you? When she found out about me?”

Snape bowed his head, his hair hiding his face like a curtain. He didn’t say anything for a minute or so.

“It was a very different world, back then.” he finally said, not meeting her imploring gaze. “Your mother did the right thing.”

Ariel swallowed back the lump in her throat. “Did she do the right thing when she wrote that letter?”

His eyes flashed, that impossible light inside them shining back at her. They were a lighthouse, trying to get her to see the shoreline clearly, but the light was dim and quick. It reminded her of the Snitch at the game. Ariel would’ve hated to be the Seeker — it seemed dreadfully tedious.

“It is impossible to tell.” Snape said, slowly, deliberately, painfully. “That has yet to reveal itself.”

Ariel ran this through by her Snape-Department living inside of her brain. “I don’t think so.”

The light inside his eyes went out — the lighthouse gone, for now. It faded, the lines in his face so sharp, they could’ve cut glass.

“You said your mother couldn’t have known what would happen.” Snape’s voice was so deep, it didn’t have a bottom. “I would stand by that statement, given the circumstances.”

Ariel tucked her knees under her chin, bringing her feet atop the chair. If Snape disapproved, he didn’t say so. “I’m glad she told me. It eliminated you as a suspect, Well, at least it had, but Ron thinks —”

Snape’s head jerked up sharply. “A suspect of what, exactly?”

An alarm starting blaring inside of her head, flashing lights and sirens galore. Ariel clamped her mouth shut, wanting to smash her head against the desk. How could she have said something so stupid when Snape had been willingly enagaged with her? She’d been trying to be honest and open, because that did seem to work with Snape, but questioning his integrity was —

DANGER DANGER DANGER, screamed her brain. ABORT MISSION, ABORT —

“Nothing,” Ariel said, shaking her head wildly. “it doesn’t matter.”

“I think it very much does.” Snape said in a deadly voice. She could feel it poisoning the air around them.

“It was just a stupid theory, but I know it can’t be you — I don’t think it’s you —”

“Miss Evans —” his voice was getting quieter and quieter — when Snape got angry, he got quiet, and it was only a matter of seconds until he let her have it.

Ariel took a deep breath. “We thought it’s you trying to steal the Stone. Ron… made a good point. Every time something happens, you’re right there, and you’re the one who told me about the Stone in the first place. You keep saving me, though… so that doesn’t really make much sense, does it?”

She didn’t see him move, he moved so fast. She wondered if he’d done that teleporting thing they’d done at Aunt Petunia’s — what had it been called? Appropriating? Appropo? She couldn’t remember, but the next thing Ariel knew, he was practically on top of her.

Snape knelt down in front of her, so close that their knees touched. The lighthouse was back, the light not warm, nor cold, but blinding.

“If you think there is any part of me that would hurt you,” Snape said, in a voice that was barely a whisper, but was so loud that it hurt to listen to, raw and cruel. “you are not only foolish, but clearly illiterate.”

There was a feeling like starlight inside her heart. The more she looked at Snape, the brighter it grew.

takes on last breath

Ariel swallowed her fear in one gulp. “Prove it, then.”

His hand gripped the arm of the chair, like it was a lifeline.

and leaps

“As you wish.” said Snape.

————