Survivor

Chapter 15 - Ordinary

(AKA. Begrudging war chapter pt 2.) H.x

Dust exploded from the rafters as Severus landed on the rotted and damp wooden floor of the Shrieking Shack. His limbs felt heavy and shooting pains ran up his spine as he hauled himself up off of the floor. 

"I'm too old for this." He muttered. 

Severus had just left The Great Hall, after a rash and explosive duel with Minerva. He didn't want to hurt her. They were on the same bloody side, but there was no way he could get out of dueling with her. He flew away through the great glass window, hearing cheers and shrieks of "coward" behind him.

Urgently, Severus bent over and vomited. He saw black spots in his vision. The war hadn't even started and the stress was slowly killing him. Severus believed that "stress" was the grossest understatement he had ever heard. He was not stressed. There wasn't a word in the English dictionary to describe how he felt. He was definitely tired, though, and if not a tiny bit heart-broken.

Severus thought longingly about Hermione, leaning against a wall in the moldy shack. "Damned witch." He cursed, trying to regain his senses and his stomach. 

If he ever got out of this mess alive, Severus swore to himself that he would marry the insufferable know-it-all. "We kissed only hours ago, and here I am promising her my hand in marriage." Severus groaned.

"At present we lie within a few minutes's striking distance." Severus muttered to himself grimly as he walked. The Dark Lord had sent the message that the troops meet a little out of Hogsmeade. Of course, Severus was expected to be there.

"I have come to the conclusion – reluctantly I admit, that we cannot get away. Here we are and we must make the best of it. But do not underrate the risks, the grievous risks, we have to run." Severus recited, walking down the path towards the village. He wasn't sure which side of the efforts he was referring to.

There was a wind that nipped at the ears and chilled the bones.  The cobbled streets were empty, wooden boards hastily stuck across windows and street lamps doused. The people of Hogsmeade were peering through cracks in the windows, wondered why Severus Snape would be passing through so leisurely when surely the Armageddon was awaiting.

The man whom Severus was quoting was Mr Winston Churchill, Prime minister of muggle Great Britain during and after the second world war. A man who had seen Britain at its darkest hour and had pressed on through the mess, in the hopes of resurrecting the empire. Severus had been taught about the man when he was a boy in muggle schooling.

A hero of Great Britain.

Right now, the wizarding world needed a hero to fight against the mad tyrants that were trying to control it. Allied forces had pulled out all of the stops to put an end to the axis.

Severus was not going to be that hero.

In fact, he despised the word. It was a word that described the Potters and the Dumbledores of the world. Those who were arrogant and snobbish and thought that the world revolved around them. No, Severus had been taught at a fairly early stage that there was no place for another hero in the world.

The clearing just outside of the village was visible and Severus could see hundreds of men dressed in black robes. Some had masks, others decided that they were a little redundant given the magnanimity of the situation. As Severus pushed his way through the masses, the crowds began to part automatically, as they recognized who he was.

Wrongfully described as the right-hand-man to The Dark Lord, Severus was indeed higher up in the ranks than most, but he was not seated at the right hand of the monster. Of course, his role was deemed essential, monitoring and spying upon the mess that was Hogwarts. It may have been argued that Severus was indeed, Dumbledore's most essential tool in the effort bring down The Dark Lord, but no, Severus would also disagree. It was a matter that was misconstrued in all news paper articles and gossip magazines, and was the main reason why Severus had cancelled all of his subscriptions shortly before the Potter Boy had began to attend Hogwarts.