-118-
It's dark outside, nearly the midnight. Carrow twins has ordered all of the students and professors out of their Common Rooms and chambers by now. Everyone's confused what's going on since no one is telling them anything. It really stresses out the children, and some of the adults who aren't aware what's going on either. Instead of just walking straight to the Great Hall, they have made people walking in groups. Meaning; the Head of the Houses are walking in front, leading their members of their representation House - just like in military. Us other professors are already in the Great Hall that has been lit up with the cold, greenish-blue torches all around, standing on the sides of the big hall and just wait for them to arrive and go stand where they are order to be in. All of the tables and chairs of the room has been removed, so there will be space for everyone to stand in line like they wish us to do. Severus didn't have the time to try to convince - or force me to leave the castle after he went after the twins. So now I'm standing here. Nervously waiting what's about to happen next.
Won't take long before everyone's standing where they should be; Hufflepuffs and Slytherins in front - closest where High Table should be in, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors in the back, closest to the big double doors. Each House are evenly distanced from each others. Everyone is wearing their school robes and capes. There are few students that are looking quite sleepy since they got woken up only an hour or two after they went to sleep. They must be so confused what is this meeting about. I'm standing between the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors, near where Minerva is standing. My head keeps turning around time to time, desperately trying to see where Remus is. But I can't see him anywhere. He must be in the back, I reckon. When the twins walks past, heading towards the front of the Great Hall, I notice how Alecto shoots this proud look right at me. Her eyes asking:'Jealous?'. Urgh...
Soon after, we hear how the double doors gets closed and this immediate silence descends into the whole room. Not that anyone was talking begin with, but the sound of the people's nervous shifting balances in their places died right in there. And only one person's calm footsteps can be now heard, echoing around the place. Headmaster Severus Snape's. Feels like everyone in here are holding their breaths as he calmly walks in middle of the hall with determinant look on his face. His long, dark cape trailing after as he approaches the twins that are eagerly waiting for him to come up front. My eyes are glued on him the whole walk. Unlike the others, who are scared to even make any eye contact with the man. Like the saying:'if looks could kill' would actually be a real thing in this case.
Even Minerva herself looks a bit hesitant. She tries to give me the eyes to just stare forward like everyone else as she's standing behind me, but I pretend not to notice her stare and keep my gaze locked on Snape. As he walks right past us, I try to see if he gives me any sort of a wink or anything to let me know he has a plan and everything's going to be alright - just like Dumbledore used to do in times like these. But no. Nothing. Snape's dark eyes won't even take a quick glance in my direction. Sev... Seeing him so intense and focused gives me the chills running down the spine. I clench my hand into a tight fist to calm down the heart that has started to beat faster. Please have a plan to get us all safe and sound of this situation.
When he finally reaches the low steps in front of the Great Hall, he turns to us while having his hands inside the pockets. Small silence follows after that. What's about to happen now? "Many of you are surely wondering why I have summoned you at this hour." Headmaster starts the speech with quite soft tone, yet there is a hint of danger to make everyone feel uneasy. He then continues:"It has come to my attention, that earlier this evening, Harry Potter was sighted in Hogsmeade.". This raises many eyebrows and the Great Hall fills with whispers and wonders. But as soon as Snape continues to speak, they all go quiet and lower their heads. "Now... Should anyone, student or staff attempt to aid Mr. Potter, they will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of their transgression, furthermore... Any person found to have knowledge of these events, who fails to come forward, will be treated as... Equally guilty." his smooth, deep voice echoes around.
With slow, haunting steps, he began to walk towards us, the dark eyes traveling on everyone as they avoid the chilling eye contact:"Now then... If anyone here has any knowledge of Mr. Potter's movements this evening... I invite them to step forward.". He stops after passing the first and second years of the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins and lowers the tone of his voice:"Now.". No one is saying a word. They are all terrified to even make an inhale to try calm down their nerves at this point. Both of the Carrows are also looking at the people around the room from where they are standing. Waiting for someone to do something, so they can immediately take action. So, this is his plan? To punish people..? I don't understand. How's that going to..- My thoughts gets cut off when students on the back lets out these stunned gasps, followed by everyone turning their heads towards a student who comes to stand forward from Gryffindors's line. What?! Just like everyone else's, my eyes widens out of shock and lips apart. Harry?!?! I cannot believe my eyes. It's Harry Potter himself! He's wearing a school uniform like everyone else. How..-?!
There is this very tiny change in Headmaster's eyes as he realizes the boy is actually standing there. Harry frowns with spiteful look:"It seems despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you still have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster.". There is this unpleasant twitch in my stomach. Harry... In that moment, the doors of the Great Hall opens and more people walks in. Remus, Neville, Lovegoods, Sirius, all of the Weasleys, Hermione and aunt-Ruby. "I'm afraid it's quite extensive." Harry continued. Can't help the stunned look on my face as I stare at the whole group. They are all here! "How dare you stand where he stood?" the boy suddenly spat and my focus goes back to him. Huh? "Tell them how it happened that night!" his voice now echoes around the room and people shift their gaze to the Headmaster. The look on Severus won't budge much, but I can see he immediately knows what the boy is talking about. "Tell them, how you looked him in the eye - a man who trusted you, and killed him." Harry raise his voice out of pure anger. Everyone looks stunned - except the Carrows. Ho..- How does he knows all this?! He wasn't there when it happened. Was he? "Tell them." Harry insists sternly.
It all happens in seconds; Snape quickly draw his wand, aiming it right at the Choisen One, and I saw the corner of my eye how Minerva is about to jump in front of the student a wand in her hand to protect. The fear she will hurt Severus severely consumes me. No..!! And just like that - faster than the wind, I step in front of them both and aim my wand at the Headmaster himself. All of the children gasps and rush to stand aside afraid as this happens. Snape's lips apart slightly as he gets surprised by this turn out of event. He even lowered the wand just for a quick second, but composes himself and aims it right at me. There is a pause as we both stare at each other for a moment. Everyone's on the edge and on alert. Remus and all the others near the doors raise their wands as well, ready to jump in if needed. Severus... He knows Voldemort is watching. And the fact the twins are standing right behind him, doesn't help either.
My hand is shaking as I try to keep the wand steady. I need to do something, so no one else can intervene and actually hurt him. So with that in mind, I swift the wand and a fire spell shoots out. Everyone around us gasps and takes a step back as they flinch. Just in time, Snape blocks the spell and takes a step back. The look on his face is heartbreaking. There is mix of confusion and acceptance of the whole situation. That I am now turned against him. But that's not true. No. I need him to get out of here. Away from all of these people who now hates him. To fool the Dark Lord and his allies that there is nothing between Severus and I, so there won't be any way they can blackmail him when he returns to them. The corner of my mouth twitches as the heart aches. Breaking into pieces. Run... I shoot another spell which he quickly blocks too. Run. Once again, that feeling of a golfball inside my throat raises. Go.
And right after that, I start casting more spells at him. The sound of crackles fills up the Great Hall as the spells keeps hitting against each other while every one of them gets blocked and tossed around somewhere in the ceiling or floors. By every spell, Snape takes a step back, and I move forward. Tears starts to raise on my (e/c) eyes. If there was a time I wished he would read my mind, it'll be now. Go! But knowing him, he has kept that damn promise. 'Very well. I promise not to use my Legilimens skills on you anymore, if you promise not to steal from me ever again.', 'You have yourself a deal.', 'But how do I know you keep the promise?', 'I am a man of my word.' Something snaps inside me and I scream while blasting this big fireball at him:"GET OUT OF HERE!!!".
As soon as this happens, Severus swings his wand and the spell bounces, splits in two and goes flying right at the Carrow twins behind him. "Argh..-!!" they both fall to the floor stunned. The tears bursts out and couple of them runs down my cheeks as I shoot couple more spells - which he blocks, and right after, he holds onto the long cape and turns himself into the black smoke only Death Eaters are able to turn into. As fast as he can, he hops on both of the Carrow's unconscious bodies before escaping thru out the window behind him. When the window shatters, I blink and let out a sharp gasp like I've just realized what had just happen. Sev..- Minerva spins around and swift her wand at the same time, so all of the torches changes from the greenish-blue back into the warm ones. All of the children burst out for loud cheers and began to jump out of happiness, hugging each other and celebrating the 'victory'. Huh?
I turn around to see all of the happy faces slightly baffled, slowly realizing that everyone in here misinterpret my scream at him to get out as a threat - not as a cry for help. Quickly, I wipe the tears away when Minerva approaches. "Are you alright, (Y/N)?" she asks as she places a hand on my shoulder, eyes traveling up and down to make sure I'm not hurt. "Yes. I'm fine." I lie and avoid her eyes, hoping she won't notice the tears. She looks like she'd like to say something, but bites her tongue. Over the cheering crowd I spot Harry, who's staring right at me, both of us being unsure what to feel at the moment. He knew. He knew Severus was the one who..- "(Y/N). What where you thinking?! Going against the man like that..-" aunt-Ruby rushes thru the people and cups my face to check up on I'm alright, rest of the members of the Dumbledore's Army following right behind her. They all look so worried.
Gently, I push her hands away from touching my face:"Aunt... What are you doing in here? You're supposed to be in..-", "Don't even start, luv. I didn't come all the way here just to sit around and drink butterbeer." she huffs. Ruby... My eyes then shifts from her to look all the others. "Where's Aberforth?" I ask. Before anyone else manages to say anything, Luna tells:"He told us he wants nothing to do with the war. That this isn't his fight to deal with.". I see... "We probably should do something about these two." Remus points out the unconscious twins on the floor. Quickly glancing over the shoulder:"Oh, right.". Remus and Sirius are quick to walk up to them, ready to tie them up. While watching this happening, Vivian comes to stand next to me:"Did you see how Snape accidentally knock them out during your battle? He must've been so scared to not even realizing it!". Really don't know what to say to that, so I just grudgingly nod:"Mm...". As the duo lift Amycus and Alecto to sit back to back, I notice how the twins has lost their wands somewhere. Where did they disappear to?
All of sudden, the look on Harry's face falls and he stumbles a bit, almost like he's feeling light headed. "Harry? What's wrong?" Hermione asks. Remus and Sirius both lift their heads when they heard Hermione's worrying tone. Sirius quickly rushes to him:"Harry..-". Before anything else happens, a girl across the room began to scream out of terror the top of her lungs. Huh?! It got all of our attention. Some of us even draw our wands, in case there is an attack. But no. The girl from a third year is hunched down, covering her ears and keeps on screaming. Professor Slughorn happens to be right next to her, looking as confused as the rest of us. He then quickly looks up to us, his green eyes meeting mine:"She..- She just fell down and started screaming. I..-", right after that, another girl from the fifth year - who's standing close to me and Ruby, starts screaming as well. She also has covered her ears. What the hell is going on?! Is someone torturing them?!
Right after that, everyone in the whole room - except me, flinches out of surprise and terror. Some of them more than the others. "What's happening?" I look around stressed. I've never seen such a scared look on my aunt's face. I hold onto her by the shoulder:"Aunt, talk to me. What's going on? Why are you..-", '...folly.' creepy voice suddenly echoes out of nowhere. "Wha..?" my head keeps turning. Trying to see where that voice came from. Everyone here seems to be focusing on something else. "Did you hear that?" I ask. "It's him." Remus suddenly tells while looking somewhere in the distance. My head snaps right at him:"Huh?". 'Give me Harry Potter...' the voice again speaks. Is that..? '...none should be harmed.' the snake like voice keeps slithering. It really feels like someone's actually inside my head. Don't tell me..- My heart drops when I slowly realize. It's Voldemort! He's whispering inside everyone's head. 'Give me...- Potter...- ...shall leave you untouched.' he keeps going. Annoyed by the sound, I pick my right ear a bit. Wonder if everyone else is hearing this badly what he's trying to say? And just like that, everything around me went mute and I hear perfectly clear his last words:'Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You'll have one hour.'.
Right after that, my whole body got the uncomfortable tingles going down the spine and I visibly shiver and rub the sides of my arms:"Urgh... Let's not do that again.". Then, I look around and see how everyone here are staring at the boy as he's now standing in the middle of the Great Hall. They are all looking so scared. Defeated. Confused. Unsure what to do right now. The fact Voldemort put him in this position... This isn't good. That's when Harry's eyes meets mine across the room and I feel the turn in my stomach again. Harry..- "What are you waiting for? Someone grab him!" familiar Slytherin girl's voice breaks the silence and we all turn to her. Pansy Parkinson. Of course... Ginny is quick to step in front of him to protect in case someone would actually try to grab Harry. And right after that, without a word, Hermione, Ron and rest of the people closest to him, takes a step to show that they are ready to protect the boy if anyone here tries anything. Voldemort said he'll give us an hour. What's going to happen then?
"Students!! Students out of bed! Students out in the corridor!!!" Mr. Filch's voice all of sudden echoes around the Great Hall as he runs in while carrying his beloved Mrs. Norris in his arms. Huh? Minerva and I are standing side by side, watching how he's coming right at us. Where did he come from? Minerva frowns frustrated:"They are supposed to be out of bed, you blithering idiot.". We are all staring at him at this point. Some of us are fighting against a smile appearing on our faces. Filch looks a bit stunned:"Oh... Sorry, ma'am.". She then starts walking forward, waving her wand as she speaks:"As it happens, Mr. Filch, your arrival is most opportune... If you would, I would like you please to lead Miss Parkinson and the rest of the Slytherin House from the hall.". All of the Slytherin's ears perks up and so does mine. "Exactly where is it I'll be leading them to, ma'am?" he asks. "The dungeons would do." she nods. Dungeons?
Rest of the students began to cheer loudly and clap their hands together. Unlike all of the Slytherins that are looking confused and a bit upset they'll be taken there. "Alright, hurry up. Come on now!" Mr. Filch yells at the students and they began to follow him. Without taking my eyes on the students, I quickly come stand beside Minerva:"Why are you sending them there?". She also keeps the gaze on them:"We can't afford for any risks, (Y/N).". That's when my eyes lifts up to her and I feel this pull in my heart. For some reason hearing that... I can't really explain it. It made me feel... Guilty? Empathy? Towards the ones who hasn't done anything. To those who wasn't going to do anything and still has to carry the 'blame'. To think couple years back I probably would have been cheering as loud as these children in here. But now... All I can think is Draco's and Severus's faces.
Harry then comes up to us, like he wants to say something. "I presume you have a reason for returning, Potter. What is it you need?" Minerva asks without any hesitation. "Time, Professor. As much as you can get me." he answer with pleading eyes. She slowly starts nodding her head:"Do what you haveto do. We'll secure the castle.". My head snaps up to her:"We?". Harry gives a nod as a thank you and is about to leave, when Minerva suddenly calls:"Potter.". The boy stops and turns to hear what she has to say. "It's good to see you." she offers this very small smile. "Good to see you too, Professor." he smiles back. And with that, the trio runs out of the Great Hall, leaving the rest of us behind.
The horrifying truth Harry is one of the Horcruxes and how he needs to know it crosses my mind, and I instinctively take a step to go after him:"Harry!". But Sirius and Remus managed to block my way unintentionally as they gather around like the rest of the Professors and the Weasleys parents. "What is our plan? How are we going to give him more time?" Arthur asks. As Minerva starts to explain what we are going to do to buy Harry and the others more time - even I'm standing here in a circle with them, pretend to be listening, my thoughts are elsewhere. I just can't help it. They are all listening carefully what to do, suggesting their own strategies and so on. My focus goes to the twins that are now tied up, sitting back to back on the floor, still completely out of it. Then, I lift my gaze up to the broken window above them, worry filling the heart. Severus.