His Masterpiece

A Portrait of the Artist as a Coward

I don't tell You-Know-Who anything. I don't have to tell him.

I can feel him digging around through my brain, picking up each memory and examining it like a customer at a shop. He lingers over the ones that feature Severus. He seems amused by my schoolboy crush. "You had him here, baring everything to you, and still you couldn't tell him?" You-Know-Who laughs as he releases his tendrils from my mind. I flinch.

His eyes are red and I think, they should be warmer. Like an ember. Red is such a hot, vibrant colour. But instead his eyes are cold, as if they were coloured the deepest blue. He looks at me with curious amusement. We're the same height, him and I, but he seems so much taller. Bigger. His magic fills the entire studio and I can feel it pressing against my chest and lungs, making it hard to catch a breath.

"I look forward to seeing more of your work," he says with a smile, bows his head, and takes his leave. I can do nothing but gape at him like a fish.

Malfoy presses a few galleons into my limp palm. "For your discretion," he says. There is a warning in his tone. A hint of a threat. I'm not stupid. I've read the papers. "I'll make arrangements regarding the purchase of the painting at a later date."

He follows his master and as soon as the door closes behind him, I sink to my knees, unable to support my weight any longer.

I can suddenly breathe again and as oxygen floods my brain, I think of only one thing: Severus. He has to be warned. I scramble up, swaying slightly as I manage to stand upright. I make my way over to Gertrude's cage. The barn owl had tucked her head underneath her wing the moment You-Know-Who appeared. She peeks out at my approach, and seeing him gone, lets out a series of shrieks and chirps, nipping lightly at my fingers as I take her shaking form from the cage.

I scribble out a letter to Severus, warning him of what has just transpired, and send Gertrude on her way. She returns within an hour, but I can't sleep. I spend the entire night stroking her feathers, keeping watch outside my garret window in case he returns. I wait.

I wait four days and then I can stand it no longer. I breach the threshold of my door and go outside, feeling the prickle of eyes on me as I scurry down the street. I go to the boarding house where Severus lives, and there I am duly informed that Severus has moved out. "Has he given you a forwarding address?" I ask.

"No," the landlady succinctly answers and closes the door in my face.

He must have read my letter. He must have gone into hiding, I think as I trudge back to my garret. I should probably leave too. Just in case. But when I get back to my room, I can't find the energy. I like Knockturn. It's dirty and dangerous and everything my family disparaged, but there's life here, more than that cold, sterile house I grew up in with my cold, sterile parents.

Instead of packing, I pull out the large canvas I bought a week prior and place it in front of my window. I begin sketching. I trace the outlines of the buildings, feeling their shape as twilight descends, scattering the light until everything glows a hazy purple. I move down to the cemetery, drawing and erasing and drawing again to ensure the perspective is correct when a knock on my door sends my pencil skyward.

My hands are shaking as I put my pencil back down. I'm terrified. What if it's You-Know-Who again? What if he's angry that Severus escaped? My fingers are completely numb as I turn the knob and pull open the door.

I am not prepared to find Severus Snape standing in front of me.

He pushes past me and I am helpless in stopping him. I don't even try. I simply stand there as he closes the door, marches into my garret room, turns back around to face me and... he says nothing. He's fidgeting a little, twitchy, his eyes darting from side to side. He looks different. His clothes are very expensive and his hair shines. He looks well taken care of.