Princess

Though it was still fairly early in the afternoon the thick gray clouds covered the landscape in a dusk-like gloom and in the gathering storm three young Death Eaters marched in tightly united group towards their destination; nice, small stone cottage nested on a deserted seaside.

"Remember, don't make any unecessary mess. The Dark Lord wants them out quietly" Lucius Malfoy muttered towards his younger companions. He was in charge of todays mission - getting rid of the inconvenient ministry worker, who had came too close to detecting and eventually revealing some of Dark Lord's important spies among the Ministry of Magic.

Bellatrix just impatiently clicked her tongue in response.

As they got nearer to the residence they could sense the wards surronding the place.

So the fool after all expected some troubles Lucius thought maliciously.

The wards provided themselves to be rather strong and resistant, so the two hooded figures stepped aside, to make space for their third accomplice, whose wand was already outstretched in the air.

Though Severus Snape was the youngest of the grim trio of Dark Lord's persecutors, he was also undoubtely the most talented one.

The boy's pale face was screwed in concentration as he, mumbling incantations under his breath and performing complicated movements with his wand-hand, took down one ward after another.

Lucius watched Snapes' metodious work with supressed envy. Always the prodigy that Severus, wasn't he?

"Clean" The boy announced after couple of minutes and lowered his wand.

The three of them exchanged a meaningfull look.

"No one in the house stays alive, no tumult, no Dark Mark in the sky" Malfoy repeated himself icily, talking primarily to the dark haired witch on his left. They all knew how much Bella loved to create mayhem, but today they had to be descreet.

They exchanged last nod, withdrew their wands and set off towards the back doors of the small, unsuspecting household.

Malfoy flew the door open with the flick of his wand and they bursted in to the tiny kitchen. The house occupants, clearly believing in the protection of their wards, were caught painfully unprepared; young woman with long wavy hair stood by the sink, apparently washing the dishes, and her husband - the very cause of the ambush - was just returning from the sitting room, carrying a tray with empty tea cups.

"Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix joyfully bellowed and seconds later, the kind-faced woman dropped dead on to wooden floor.

Lucius was getting on with the terrifed wizard who tried to retrive his wand, which foolishly laied on sofa. 

"Check the house" Malfoy barked an order.

At that moment Severus noticed the ministry wizard shooting a furtive look towards a half-closed doors at the far side of the room. A look filled with such desperation it send a  chill down Severus' spine.

Something had to be in there. Or someone.

No one else seemed to notice, and a flash of a green light later, the man too folded down the ground, his arms sprawled so as to nearly touch the hand of his wife.

Severus felt his throat constricting and he swiftly made his way towards the said doors, while Bellatrix checked the rest of the house, and Lucius searched for any possible compromising documents.

When Severus entered the room the marrow of his bones turned to frost.

A toddler, possibly one or two years old stood by the bed, clinging to the wooden frame for support, her huge blue eyes wide and terrifed. 

The baby took in shrudded breath and opened the little mouth in what was about to be an earpiercing wail.

In fraction of the terrifed second Severus flicked his wand, voicelessly Silencing the child. He could hear Lucius and Bellatrix getting near. In panic he casted couple of other charms; he imobilised and disillusioned the baby and just as Lucius jerked the ajar door fully open Severus swept the invisble kid - way too roughly - under the bed.

"Clean" He turned to Malfoy in desperately calm voice and turned away from the room, praying that the older man will follow him out. 

Bellatrix rejoined them with glinting flames in her black eyes, her high cheekbones flushed with excitement of the murder. Severus swallowed mouthfull of gastric juices which rose up his throat. He expected her to announce a find of a nursery room any time soon, but instead she said "Clean" and grinned at the two life-less bodies.

Lucius nodded and motioned for them to leave. Self-satisfaction was prominent in his proud, pale face; the mission was succesfull. What a damn good leader he was, right?

Outside the house all the three dark fugures synchronized, they turned on spot and disapeared. 

Severus gasped for air, as they reapeared back at the opulent Malfoy's manor. The others were awaiting their return, but to his relief it seemed that the Dark Lord was not present.

Their senior comrades flow them with queries about the task which Lucius delightedly began to answer, while Bellatrix thrilled about killing the traitor bitch.

Severus sank in to nearest chair, before his buckling knees could give him away. All he could think of was the imobilised baby, laying on the floor along her dead parents.

Oh heavens, there was not supposed to be a baby.

The assembly fluently turned in to a feast, Malfoy showing off with delicious dishes and rich wine brought on to long table by battered looking house elves.

The sitting hall was vivid and noisy, everybody but Severus loudly celebrated the succesfull extinguishing of the lives of Dark Lord's opponents.

Severus sat stiffly on his chair, trying to will the beads of sweat to stop cumulating on his forhead and was racing his mind for some plan. He did not had any, but he needed to go back to the cottage. Like right the fuck now, that is.

"Leaving so soon?" Avery asked loudly when Severus rose from his seat and all eyes turned on him. He cursed inwardly and breath got caught in his throat. That much about the subtle leave then, but he still did all in his power to apear causal.

"Yeah, I need to go back home. I started to work on one potion and I'm eager to finish it"

Some of the older Death Eaters laughed, but Severus could sense Lucius' pointed look.

"Forever holed in that lab of yours, aren't you Severus? You should stay and celebrate your succes with the rest of us" Avery stated good-naturely.

The Dark Lord and his senior followers respected Severus for his skills and knowlenge, which happened to be exactly the reason why those younger liked him not so much. After the thing with Regulus Black, Severus was at present the youngest of the Death Eaters' ranks and he was climbing the notional prestige ladder in speed for which be some other Death Eaters did not hesitate to break their neck.

Or his neck, his most of all.

"I only took down the wards" He shrugged modestly "Lucius and Bella outdid themselves today" He managed to grin and rose his wine goblet in their direction. It worked, all the attention turned to those two and that vain bastard Lucius seemed to all forget about Severus, who was now free to leave.

Salty air filled Severus' nostrils and he clumsily landed back before the stone cottage.

The night was already falling and the unlit windows mirrored the darkening sky, blank and unseeing as the eyes of the people inside.

Not all of them though, at least if the baby didn't...

The little of wine which Severus drank during the dinner sprung out of his mouth and nose, but he did not slowed down and proceeded to the house, wand at the ready.

When he entered the kitchen dread washed over him all over again; the bodies laid just as they left them and the whole place was ominously quitet, really really quiet...

Severus sprinted in to bedroom, fell on all fours and his long arm started to franaticly search under the bed. At last his fingers brushed over something, a tiny ankle by the feel of it, and he pulled the invisble body out. He lift the disillusion charm and his eyes fell on to apparently life-less baby body. It was one of the most terrifing sights he ever witnessed, and that really said something.

"No!" Severus rasped and hastily pressed his finger on to toddlers' puppy-fat neck and when feeling the puls he emitted something in between a sob and chuckle. "Thank heavens... You're alive, you're alive" He mumbled and uncertainly lifted the girl in to his arms.

As he did not dared to stun her back then, he supposed that she simply fell asleep from exhaustion, after hours of voice-less crying.

At complete loss of what to do Severus wandered back in to the sitting room, mindlessly cradling the girl towards his chest in protective manner, hissing "it's alright" in endless flow, more for himself than for the unconscious toddler.

One thing was clear - he could not leave her in here. It will probably take days before someone find this homicide scene. But all the same, he could not take the baby, because had anyone found out about this, it would be a death sentence for both of them. And most of all, he could not keep a baby, even if it would not bring Damocles sword over their heads. What the hell would he be doing with a baby?

Well, first of all he needed to get her out of here, Severus thought as he carefully stepped over the body of her father; staying in this dire hole would not do, but the question remained how? Severus was suddenly not so sure whether the babies should be apparated.

He continued to rock the tiny warm body, albeit in an awkward way, because actually, he never held a baby before, and weighted their options, until there weren't any left; Severus' heart stumbled and missed a beat as he saw, through the kitchen window, two black hooded figures apparate right in front of the house.

"Oh hell" He breathed and ducked out of the view. Well, if those outside were Aurors or some of the Dumbledores' people the best he could do would be just leave the kid in here, but a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that those weren't Dumbledores' people.

No, those were his people.

With a silent prayer on his lips Severus turned on spot, engulfingt he baby as best as he could with his body to absorb the physical shock and disapparated.