The Girl With the Dark Mark: Book two (A Harry Potter FF)

Snape watched as the girl walked outside, leaving him alone in the hallway. It took him around five minutes before he slapped himself mentally and hurried after her. She was out of sight and if he knew Sophie right she would have headed towards the Forbidden Forest. He drew out his wand and began chasing her.

The forest was dark and creepy and Sophie wished she hadn’t been so stupid to enter it. She had let her trunk behind half an hour ago, luckily for Snape that was his clue he was on the right way. “Sophie! Sophie!” He yelled when he spotted her only a few meters in front of him. Sophie didn’t have time to react, before Snape grabbed her arm.

“No let go!” She cried and tried to break lose. “No, you’ll kill yourself!” He protested. “And you care why?” She didn’t stop fighting his iron grip who was starting to cause a bruise. “Sophie, please listen!” He tried but she caught him off. “I trusted you, I thought you were my friend!” She cried and tears ran down her cheeks. She had promised herself not to cry, to become cold and hold her emotions inside, but she was to hurt that it didn’t work.

It began getting chilly inside the forest and Sophie began to freeze. Her lips were blue and her body was slightly shivering. “Please I am sorry. I didn’t mean to-“ He broke himself off. “Oh my god you’re freezing.” He said and tried to comfort her, but she jerked away and managed to get out of his grip.

“Please Sophie just listen to me, you’ll die if you stay out here.”

“I can’t go back.” She said and turned her back on him, thinking he had given up. But Snape once again stopped her. “You can…stay with me.” Everything became silent and she was in the middle of Snape and the rest of the forest. He let go off her arm, a sign it was her choice. “Please Sophie, I am sorry.” He took off his black cape and offered it to her. She hesitated, but the cold air blew through her body, making her icy cold. With her head down and not looking at Snape she made two small steps towards him. He exhaled relived and tucked his dark grey, wool cloak over her.

He led the way out of the forest and grabbed her trunk she had left behind. Without a word they walked together towards the platform and waited for the train to arrive. Dumbledore had arranged the train to come and get them. She held his warm cloak tight around her and concentrated on not looking up at him. He entered an empty cabin and for a split second she considered to take the other next door, but shook her head and fallowed after him.

“Are you hungry?” He asked after a while in silence. She shook her head, even though her stomach rumbled in hunger. After another hour had passed by in silence she spoke. “I hate you.” He didn’t reply, but she could feel his eyes on her. Snape was going to through an insult at her, but stopped himself. He figured he wasn’t exactly in the right position to be nasty.

It was pitched dark outside when the train finally reached their destination. She had to hold back a yawn on their way out; she didn’t want to show any kinds of feelings. Even the small ones. After walking a lot and taking a few cabs they finally got to a street lined with deserted houses and broken streetlamps. It was near a dirty river and an abandoned mill with a tall chimney.The run-down state of the area suggests it was located in an out of use industrial settlement.

They came to a house who stood at least two stories high. Snape tapped his wand on the door and it opened. He held it up for her and without looking or speaking to him she entered. The house contained a sitting room which had the feeling of a dark, padded cell, furnished with threadbare furniture, a dim – lit lamp hanging from the ceiling, and walls covered in books.

The place had an air of neglect, probably because Snape only lived there in the holydays.

She stood in the middle of the living room when she spoke. “Where am I supposed to sleep?” The question wasn’t politely asked, nor was it rudely either. It was like she had given up, her voice was hollow and careless.

“Up the stairs, first door to the left.” He answered and without giving him a second glance or a thank you, she dragged her body upstairs. The room she got in was dusty and dark and it looked like nobody had been there for ages. A small bed and an old closet took most parts of the space. She groaned before landing on the bed and trying to close her eyes. But she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Snape entered with a plate of food and a glass of milk. Where he had gotten the food from, she had no idea, since the place was obviously inhabited. “I’ll see what I can do to make the room more comfortable tomorrow.” He said with his usual tone, but tried to sound gentler. Unfortunately he wasn’t succeeding. He looked at her as she was determined to not look at him. He placed the food on her bed, before walking out and closing the door behind him.

Sophie childishly decided not to eat, but changed her mind after lying in the bed unable to sleep because of hunger. With a sigh she got up again and picked up one of the toasted breads. She didn’t know if she was angry, sad, ashamed or disappointed. All the feelings inside her made her crazy and from the next day and forward she decided she would never show emotions again. Feelings were a sign of weakness and she was not weak.

Downstairs Snape was sitting in his living room. Despite how tired he really was he couldn’t sleep. He sat down and buried his face in his hand. “What had he done?” His scowl grew bigger on his face and the feeling of guilt in his stomach overwhelmed him. He only hoped with time she would forgive him. After her personal question that night in his chambers she had hit a nerve and he had spent the last week hating her. Only to realize in the end he really didn’t. Lily’s death wasn’t her fault, it was his. Blaming it on another person was wrong even for him. He could only imagine how much she had been trough and even though she tried to hide it the best she could, he saw right through her. It was on her body language and he was very familiar with the situation she was in. Having an abusive father.