Shadows of Allegiance | Severus Snape

Chapter 2

"Severus Snape? Professor Snape?" Although Y/N had every intention to join the Dark Lord, spying on Professor Snape was not the mission she had in mind. And now, she had to follow through, right?

They were back at Hogwarts, talking in the corridors. It sounded risky but students knew their way around the Professors. They knew the secret corridors barely anyone cared to check.

"Calm down. You're gonna be fine," Ivy assured her, not sounding panicked at all. How could she stay so calm Y/N wondered. She definitely wasn't. A pit in her stomach began to form, her throat squeezed together tightly. This felt impossible. How would she ever manage? She tried to take a deep breath, but it merely made her panic even more.

"I can't. Ivy, I don't wanna do this anymore. Wait, what if I go to Headmaster Dumbledore and tell him? He could perhaps help, like hide me away somewhere until it's safe. Or he could-" She flinched at the push against her shoulder, and flicked her eyes towards Ivy. Instead of the somewhat collected person she was before, she now seemed utterly mad. It was as if Y/N touched a nerve she didn't know existed.

"Wake the fuck up, Y/N," She hissed, "Dumbledore doesn't care about Slyterhins. He never cared. If you were to go to Dumbledore right now what do you think will happen? Do you honestly think he's going to help you? No, he's not going to do shit!" Her eyes looked absolutely murderous and although she wasn't talking very loudly in the quiet corridor it somehow seemed as if she was yelling. Y/N wasn't used to that tone. She was used to an irritated or annoyed Ivy, not a mad one. The way she talked about Dumbledore made him seem like some kind of villain. She wanted to say exactly that, but Ivy was faster.

"Do you really think genius Dumbledore didn't notice half of the Slytherin population joining the Dark Lord? Look at Professor Snape. Dumbledore must've known. He does not care." And it was true. It has always been like that. Most of the Slytherins Y/N knew were either planning on joining the Dark Lord or already bore the Dark Mark. If you weren't openly idolizing him in the Common Room then you were hated, bullied. 

There were students with a high social status, pureblood, with rich and powerful parents with inside connections to the Dark Lord. Everyone would know your name and they'd come for you. Somehow it seemed as if everything was connected to the Dark Lord, everything led back to him.

She tried to get herself together. Taking some deep breaths in and out, feeling the weight on her shoulders slowly leaving. It felt better having Ivy by her side to guide her through everything.

"Maybe you have a point, but still the Dark Lord is making me do the impossible. Professor Snape would find out immediately," Y/N told her. She noticed from the way the Professor always seemed to know who was not paying attention, even with his back turned to them.

"Trust me. You could've gotten it worse." Ivy said this as if she had experienced it first hand, and Y/N suddenly realized what her mission had been.

"What did you have to do then?" Y/N asked. Ivy pulled her brow up and it almost seemed as if she wanted to refuse telling her, but instead she sighed and hung her head down. Was she ashamed? Perhaps scared of how Y/N will react. Surely it won't be any worse than spying on the most private Professor to exist.

"I had to find a person who had done him wrong in the past. He told me to bring him alive." Y/N nodded before realizing her friend probably couldn't see it.

"I'm listening," Y/N said instead.

"So I found him...and brought him to the Dark Lord as requested," She swallowed thickly, "Then I had to finish the job." Y/N's eyes grew wide. The person standing in front of her had taken someone's life.

"Goddamnit," Y/N whispered. Things were getting real now, she was actually going to join the Dark Lord. She now knew what that meant.

The day after her adventure felt surreal. She was suddenly surrounded by students in the Great Hall, people chatting and the scraping of cutlery echoing as it always does. It felt so different from that night when Hogwarts appeared so dead and silent. Y/N had felt like she was in her own world with Ivy, and she would've thought it was a dream if Ivy hadn't come up to her and reminded her that she had Potions today. The subtle hint she was trying to give dawned Y/N to the realization that this was in fact very much real.

She had met the Dark Lord. She had stood in front of him with a mixture of gratitude and nervousness, and had accepted the icy hands on her face. Although it was already a few hours ago that she was there, she could still feel the fingertips ghosting over her skin. She quickly looked over at the High Table where most of the Professors were already eating too. Her eyes glided over Flitwick, Dumbledore and lingered on Snape.

Snape with his high collar. Snape and his traditional black robes. Black buttons. There were so many black buttons.

Before she had the chance to look away, her eyes automatically went up until she stared right into Professor Snape's eyes. Her breath hitched, and she hastily returned to eating her food. Did he know?

Y/N walked to her first class, which she unfortunately didn't share with Ivy. On her way she wondered how many things Professor Snape had seen. Had he seen Ivy murder someone? Hearing those thoughts in her head nearly made her stop in her tracks, feeling so disoriented that even her feelings didn't know what to feel. So perhaps Ivy had done some wrong things, who cared? Y/N was sure Dumbledore wasn't so innocent either, or maybe even Flitwick had done some unholy things. It would be fine, she reassured herself as she entered the Divination Classroom.

Students bustled in, chairs sliding over the floor and slowly everyone started to settle down. The last few hushed whispers died and the lesson began.

Y/N wasn't paying much attention to whatever nonsense the Professor was spouting about. Most students thought Trewlaney didn't know what she was doing, and merely applied for this job for the money. Y/N didn't think she was the kind of person to go after money, although she had to agree with the others that Divination was useless. 

There had been times where Purebloods refused to take this class because they didn't want to be forced into spirituality. It seemed a bit strange coming from people who could do literal magic. Growing up with muggle parents and suddenly hearing about a school of magic, she would've believed in Divination in a heartbeat after seeing things like Animagus and Patronus.

"Tessomancy. Has anyone ever heard of that?" Hermione Granger's hand shot up in the air, and Y/N noticed Draco rolling his eyes.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"It's the magical art of reading tea leaves to predict events in the future." A few students snickered at the idea of leaves being able to predict the future.

"Very good, 10 points to Gryffindor." And so cups were being handed out. Professor Trewlaney explained how it worked and soon the classroom became quiet as people concentrated. Although not everyone believed in it, they still did their best. Perhaps there was a small part that was scared to believe in it. To be able to predict the future with simple tea leaves wasn't a comforting thought. Nobody wanted to know their future.

It seemed as if she had done something wrong, since her end result was just some tea leaves in a blob. She grimaced and glanced over at her neighbor to see what theirs looked like, and she was sure she could see something remotely looking like a sun. Trewlaney walked around, explaining the meaning of the tea leaves. Y/N felt herself starting to fidget with her hands as she started to get near her. Maybe the Professor would see something in it, she merely hoped it was something good. Something that had to do with power and wealth.

Professor Trewlaney peered over her shoulder into her cup. She gasped, and Y/N sat up straighter in her chair.

"My my, that doesn't look very promising. It appears you have yourself a skull, Miss L/N." A smirk slowly spread over Y/N's face. That was a good sign, right? The Dark Mark was a skull with a snake.

"It means that danger is in your path," Professor Trewlaney whispered with fear, as if they would suddenly be attacked by a werewolf. Y/N's smile fell, as if it never existed. Perhaps that wasn't a very good sign.