Snape's family (Severus x OC)

13 The lost girl

Astrid did not scream, but her shock was transmitted through her magic ring to the other members of the family.

Snape received that silent scream like a blow, wrapped in fear, astonishment, disbelief, as well as a sudden weakness, and he did not hesitate to abandon his duel against Harry and Draco to run towards the house.

Adrien and Celine were crowded in front of the laboratory door, but unable to enter, since only Snape and Astrid could go inside. The death eater pushed past them and stormed in, closing the door behind him, and fixed his attention on Astrid.

The woman was still holding onto the table, her hands tense. Her face was completely pale, and her eyes stared into space, without blinking. Her whole body trembled, and she gave no sign of hearing her husband arrive.
Snape stood in front of her and shook her to get her to react.

"Astrid, answer me, what's wrong? Astrid!" Snape had to shout at her because she didn't seem to hear him. "Astrid!" finally, she blinked and looked at him stunned, and by the look on her face it seemed like she was going to start laughing and crying at the same time. "What happen?" Snape asked. When he touched Astrid's arms, he realized that they were cold, and that the woman was still shaking.

"The rat..." she whispered. "Look at the rat."

"What happens with the rat?" Snape turned and looked at the animal, which was circling the table, surrounding a pool of blood.

"It was... dead. Totally dead. I killed it. I saw it die."

Snape watched the animal come and go, and then at his wife.

"Astrid, are you sure what you're saying?"

"Of course! Look at that blood," Astrid pointed a trembling finger at the red puddle. "I cut its neck... I saw how it died..."

Snape had never seen Astrid in such an upset state, so he knew she wasn't making anything up. He dismissed the idea of joke, because Astrid's glassy eyes couldn't lie to him like that, and he had to assume that the only possible explanation was that the rat had... come back to life.

Snape got the woman to sit down, and he did the same, taking her hands.

"What happened?" he asked softly. Through the ring he continued to notice chaotic sensations coming from Astrid.

"I-I injected it with the en-enhancement potion," Astrid was really affected, and it was difficult for her to vocalize clearly and stop trembling. "And then... I made a mistake... it bled to death..."

"Didn't it heal?"

"No, the rat died before the potion took effect," Astrid tried to calm down. "I had blood on me, so I went to change, and when I came back it was... it was..."

"Alive?"

She nodded, feeling calmer. Snape stood up and picked up the rat to examine it closely. The animal was covered in blood, as was the table.
Looking carefully at the animal, he saw that, on the neck, beneath a narrow strip of hair shorter than the rest, there was a fine scar that was gradually disappearing...

"What have we done?" he asked himself.

***

Ginny opened her eyes but saw only darkness. It took her a moment to get used to the dim light of the place and to realize where she was.

She was lying on the stone floor of what looked like an abandoned basement. There were no windows, and the only exit to the outside was a door at the top of some stairs, which, of course, was closed.