The Princess and the Bloodstone

Mayhem

Severus

He twirled the thin vial of dried blood between his fingers. This was all he had left of her. The witch turned his entire life upside down. Before leaving. How could he let this happen? Again.

Lily.

He was lucid now, more than ever. Anger and deep sadness had burned his mind clear.

I gave her that power over me, the very first time I met her. No. Even before I came to know her, she owned me. She's like Lily in every way. It was only a matter of time before she too left.

Severus added a drop of asphodel oil to the vial and shook the mixture until the blood was liquid yet again. Next came a small silver cauldron and three fingers of pure alcohol to the bottom. He set it to a gentle boil, adding careful measurements of rose thorn, belladonna essence, and ashwinder powder. The mixture turned pure white, and he stirred the vial of blood and asphodel oil into the swiftly thickening brew. He waited apprehensively as the top layer of the potion separated and an image started forming on the rippling surface.

A building with a sign hanging by the door. Curling lettering revealed the name to be The Graves Bed and Breakfast.

Probably Muggle-run. A city, by the look of it.

He fixed the image in his mind's eye. Fear and bitterness etched it deeply.

It was a quiet Friday afternoon and most students were enjoying the sun while the staff were holed up for the financial report chaired by Professor Binns. Severus had asked Dumbledore to excuse him for the first fifteen minutes to see to last-minute Potions stocktaking pertaining to his portion of the financial report.

I had better make this quick, Severus thought, checking the clock on his office wall. He shook a skull, femur, and a few ribs from a burlap sack and kicked them about on the floor a bit. The bones had been treated with flesh regrowth potions - for added realism. He wrinkled his nose at the stench of the flesh covering the bones.

Think BIG, she'd said.

He gave the foul-smelling brew bubbling under his nose a final stir and picked up his wand and a box of matches, striking one of the sticks to light. The cold Dungeon air threatened to execute the small flame, and he cupped a hand over it, drawing a deep breath. ' Protego,' he mumbled, before dropping the match into the greyish contents of the cauldron. The match did its work and smoke soon started billowing around the shell of his charmed shield.

'Professor Snape?' A pitched, sweet voice suddenly asked from the door. Severus looked up and into Umbridge's toad-like eyes.

Merlin, not now!

'Why aren't you attending the staff meeting? And why are you dressed for travel? Is that a shield charm? You're acting rather sus—'

'GET OUT!' Severus roared.

BOOM!

NO! This wasn't supposed to happen! No one was supposed to be down here.

A deafening explosion rocked the room, and he was hit by a wall of sound and force. The shockwave slammed into his shield charm and still managed to knock the wind out of him. The world around him became a chaotic blur of noise, heat, and pressure. His ears ring painfully and d ust blurred his vision, obscuring Umbridge from his view. He rounded the scorched heap that had been his desk, the cauldron was blown to bits. The bones lay scattered about, singed flesh and bits of debris planted into the more fatty parts. They would find the remains and pity him if he managed to get out of the Castle...

I'm guilty of manslaughter now too, he thought, passing one of the old boots he'd strategically placed outside his shield charm - its top was burnt away nicely. He backed away toward the door, searching for Umbridge. Another chrispy shoe lay in the hole where his office door used to be. This shoe used to be pink, with a sharp little kitten heel. Dolores herself lay crumpled against the opposite corridor wall, blown away by the heavy oak door of his office. Severus sucked his teeth and gingerly checked for a pulse. She was alive, if barely. Perhaps she would still be able to pull through? He pointed his wand at her sooty temple, extracting her memories from the last couple of hours.

If she lives, it would be better if she can't tattle.

He tapped his wand to his thick travel cloak and cast a disillusionment charm, rendering himself invisible and setting off toward the Great Hall. There would be a crowd gathering soon and he had to be gone as soon as possible. The stairs were still empty, and he made it to the shadows behind the statue of the humpback witch just as two prefects, Dumbledore, Flitwick, and Minerva rushed toward the Dungeons.

Merlin. That was close.

Severus allowed himself a moment of respite before opening the witches' hump and worming into the hole as Holly had explained during one evening of pillow talk. After all these years, the secrets of Hogwarts never ceased to amaze him. The size of the hole was amazing too. How the hell did she fit through this thing? Holly had not mentioned this detail. After failing the first time, he cast an oiling charm on himself to fit through the statue's hump and, after some singularly embarrassing wiggling, dropped into the low-ceilinged passage allegedly leading toward Honey Dukes. He was immensely thankful no one saw that struggle.

'Lumos,' he growled at the darkness. That bloody Princess better not have lied.

He started walking down the endless tunnel, mind racing over the events of the day: he'd written another unsigned letter to Kingsley, informing him of the five suspected Horcruxes. He'd already sent the Basilisk teeth earlier. Now the Order could truly get to work. They simply had to. Before the explosion, Severus had made a few more stops throughout the Castle: palming a few potions from Poppy's store and a book or two from the Restricted Section. He'd finished packing his possessions into a small leather drawstring bag (with an expansion charm), that hung on the inside of his travel cloak. His last meeting had been with Dumbledore. It had proved... interesting. He'd taken a batch of the Horcrux ring's antidote potion and made sure to mention the Dark Lord's fascination with Walpurgis before asking a few pointed questions about the Dark Lord's past.

'Are you feeling well, Severus?' Dumbledore had asked when the Potion's Master was halfway to the door. Severus turned back, weighing his words carefully, 'I'm alive,' he answered truthfully, meeting the twinkling blue eyes. He'd gotten old these last weeks with the ring draining the headmaster of his life force, that much was certain.

'These days... it's almost as if I don't know you anymore, old friend.' Dumbledore held up the blackened hand, 'Prior to this most disturbing disappearance of Holly you almost seemed to not be carrying the old burdens with you anymore.'

Lily. He was reminding me of my promise to protect the girl. Was I truly happy enough for him to take notice? Am I that desolate without her?

'You needn't remind me. I will always carry her with me,' Severus said softly, opening the door to the spiral staircase. Then he left, feeling as transparent as the Great Lake on a bright summer day.

Dumbledore always seemed to see right through him. Although he knew the old man couldn't penetrate his mental shields, it did disturb - and embarrass - him to think he was not as subtle as he'd thought. That he'd been able to see that for a brief time, Severus Snape had been happier.

At long last, Severus glimpsed a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel and broke into a jog to reach it.