The Spaghetti Lesson. Snape, Changed.

EPILOGUE

The Head Boy rushed into the first floor classroom. "Professor!" He shouted. "Elizabeth!" No reply. He swiftly opened the door to the office. Her things were gone. Gone! "Dammit!"

Down the stairs he charged, all the way to Snape's dungeon. He threw open the classroom door. Empty. He tried the office door. Locked. "Alohomora!" He didn't expect that to work, not there. "Snape!" Again, no reply.

Now he ran back upstairs, taking them two at a time, stopping at the entrance to the headmaster's office. "Cannelle," he said, and the gargoyle slid aside. "Dammit, dammit, dammit," he muttered as he rose on the circular staircase. At the top, he rapped twice loudly on Professor Dumbledore's door and rushed inside. "Where is she?" He demanded.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, quill in hand. He laid it down carefully and replied, "Ah, Mr. Weasley. You seem a bit agitated."

"Where is she?"

"That, I cannot say." The professor looked at the tall, red-haired boy over the top of his half-moon spectacles.

"She's with him!"

"If you are referring to Professor Snape, he is about a task that I have set him, and Professor Cord is not with him."

Bill Weasley took a deep breath. "Is she safe? Is she alright?"

"Yes."

"This is all Snape's fault, dammit. And he's just tossed her out like she was nothing, hasn't he."

The old man shook his head. "No. Professor Snape saved her life and continues to. And it is I who am at fault. I knew not how much danger I was introducing. All because some wizards hold onto old prejudices that should have long since been put to bed."

Weasley turned on his heel and headed for the door. He paused. "Does the Order know where she is?"

"That, I cannot say."

Weasley walked out, slamming the door behind him.

...............

Snape swept into the castle, through the entrance hall, down the stairs to the dungeon. Bill Weasley caught sight of Snape's coat tails at the bottom of the stairs. He rushed down after him. "Professor!"

Snape stopped and turned slowly. "You know where she is, don't you," Bill accused.

"I do not, I cannot, and you know why. Your parents are in the Order." Snape replied.

"She could have gone to The Burrow, with my parents."

"Not safe enough." And too close to you. That thought felt selfish.

"Number 12 is safe."

"They know about Grimmaud Place. Besides, for her, that would be like a prison. To be safe, she must not be near any of us." Snape shook his head. It suddenly seemed to Bill that this was not the haughty, snide man he was accustomed to seeing. Snape looked, somehow, sunken...pained, and tired.

"Dumbledore said that you saved her life...what happened?"

"A Dementor. Set upon her intentionally. Had I not been there..."

"So you care enough about her to save her and then you just...toss her out? Like an old shoe? What, was she getting too inconvenient for you?" Bill spat.

"Bill, I...I am not tossing her out. You have no idea how this feels."

"Oh, yes I do." But Bill asked, "Why did they curse you, anyway?"

Snape said, "I believe Pratchett' s uncle did that. Out of spite for the expulsion."

Bill sighed. "So Professor Cord is gone, somewhere, and can't come back. I'm trying to understand. But it's all your fault!" Maybe I can find her. I could keep her safe. And I wouldn't throw her away. He never loved her... "I'm sorry, Professor," he said, turning his back.

"As am I." With that, Snape walked into his office and closed the door.

............

He moved toward his desk and saw a small parchment scroll there, tied with a red ribbon. He picked it up and stood holding it for a moment. This could only be from her. He carefully untied the ribbon and read the message written inside, then said aloud, "Why? Weasley's right. I've deserted you."

Snape pulled his wand from his pocket and magically retied the ribbon. Turning, he unlocked the door to his study and went through. On the dresser sat a locked, lacquered box. He conjured the key.

He thought it odd that she never had asked about the box. Never asked where it came from or what was inside it. But then, she had never pushed. The Professor always just let him lead. So where had he led her? Down a primrose path. His cheeks burned and he closed his eyes tightly against the feelings of guilt and sorrow as they arose inside him. Now he opened the box and glanced inside. It contained a broken wand, the signature page of a handwritten letter, a still photograph of a Labrador Retriever and a wizarding photograph of a tall, thin woman with long black hair and her arm around a beaming young Snape who was waving at the camera and wearing his very first set of Hogwarts robes.

He added the parchment scroll to the contents of the box and relocked it. The key disappeared into thin air, and with one more glance around the room, he walked out, locked the door, and headed once again for Professor Dumbledore's office.

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Thank you for reading! We all know what happened to Snape, but Elizabeth had a dream that things would work out...check out my short story, AFTER THE SPAGHETTI, PROFESSOR CORD'S DREAM. But what really became of Elizabeth? Did Snape see something in her future? What was it? Watch for my next series of stories: American Wizards. Book 1 will be published soon, titled American Wizards: North Star Rising.