The Princess and the Bloodstone

Spinner's End

Holly

Long fingers twitched against her back and a nauseating feeling pulled at her navel as she was sucked into the apparition. She bore the unnatural sensation by focusing on the familiar scent of ink, parchment, and soap she found by pressing herself into his robes. Moments later, they were thrust into an unfamiliar street. Upon landing, she overbalanced and almost lost her footing. The hand moved to steady her at the waist. She glanced up at Severus, starting to thank him - but he was already looking ahead, black eyes pinned on rows of identical brick houses stacked close together. Holly looked around too, the neighbourhood appeared to be an old blue-collar housing scheme. They stood close to a cluster of rubbish bins, Holly wrinkled her nose at the rancid odour of spoilt food and various forms of household waste. A couple of maggots wiggled free from the gaping lids of beat-up bins. A street sign stuck from the smelly pile's centre.

'Spinner's End?' Holly read aloud, risking the vague question at her suddenly sullen companion.

'This way,' Severus said, setting off across the empty street. The sun tried its level best to break through the cloud bank but only managed to throw a ruddy halo around the false priest now picking his way around skewed mailboxes and trash on the other side. One thing was clear: today was Garbage Day in Spinner's End. Only one of the narrow, tightly packed houses had no bin put out. And Severus was heading straight for it. Without his ever-present cloak, he appeared much less imposing and seemed to shrink as he approached the blocks of houses, outlined against the skyline by a massive factory chimney. His peculiar gait was more noticeable; he moved with confidence, quickly and almost spider-like as if he were constantly counting his steps. She jogged to catch up with him.

They entered the tall, thin building and she was unsurprised to find it as drab inside as it'd been outside. He held the door open for her with a carefully composed expression, watching her. It was the countenance he favoured when teaching. She raised a brow at him as she passed by, keeping her thoughts nice and blank. Just like he taught her.

Did his lip curl?

The house's interior was barely furnished and had the stuffy smell of an old holiday cabin. Severus busied himself with resetting wards that they'd disturbed.

'Is this your place?' She asked when he lowered his wand.

'Unfortunately,' he said, stuffing his wet umbrella into a dusty stand by the door before drifting closer, pale hands clasped piously in front of him. He cut the perfect image of a priest — the look'd convince her if only she didn't know how filthy the man could be. He seemed more relaxed after casting the wards, but something had changed in his eyes. Something like "let's-get-this-fucking-over-with".

'Show me the Horcrux,' he said, not bothering to hide that he was not best pleased.

Is it because of me? She wondered reflexively. Or because I visited Sirius? No, it's because of Voldemort. Duh. It's so hard to know what he's thinking.

Holly sighed and pulled the handkerchief-wrapped Horcrux from her pocket. It was alive, she could feel its heartbeat hammer against the metal casing as if it were a tiny - evil - bird.

'What happened when you touched it?' He levitated the locket from her hand and rotated in the air, studying the golden pendant from all angles.

She nodded, afraid of what he might say. He'd forbidden her to see Voldemort again, sure. But this had been different. She'd seen him where he actually was, it wasn't a vision.

'You witnessed the Dark Lord,' Severus said softly, studying her changing expressions. By the set of his jaw, she gathered he'd found his answer. 'What did He say? Where was He?'