Love is Chaos Part 2 of A Light in the Dark (Severus Snape x OC)

Chapter 17: Unraveling

And as Severus stood watching, everything began to grow quiet. Every sound, every gust of wind that blew through the tower, all seemed to fade away.

Time seemed to slow, and in the grand scheme of things, Severus knew humans had barely existed in all of time, and yet, here was, feeling caught in an inescapable moment, bound to live it again and again, stuck in an endless loop. He was trapped in time, haunted by the reminder that we are all merely skin and bone, souls captured in flesh, mere mortals living for what feels like a millisecond experiencing everything and nothing at the same time.

And right now, Severus was feeling it all:

Fear... Agony... Love... Betrayal... Horror.

He felt it all.

But he also felt nothing.

Severus stared at Laura, who didn't dare look at him. Severus had thought about this moment many times over the past year, wondering when Dumbledore's time would come. He had pictured countless scenarios of this moment.

And yet, out of all the possibilities, the millions of possibilities, the millions of outcomes...

This was never one of them.

"Laura, please," Dumbledore said softly, his voice haunting and quiet, causing Severus to snap out of his thoughts.

Laura stared at Dumbledore, listening to his pleas, all while Severus watched her holding her wand steadily, aimed at Dumbledore's chest.

"Avada kedavra!" Laura said, causing a stream of green laced with blue light to erupt from her wand, slamming into Dumbledore, killing him instantly, causing him to fall from the tower.

Severus stood, paralyzed for a moment, his eyes slowly drifting to the cracks in the floor, seeing Harry still lying there, helplessly witnessing death once more.

Severus's eyes flicked up, seeing a look of relief on Draco's face, knowing he didn't have to kill Dumbledore, while the other death eaters looked proudly at Laura.

But Laura wasn't proud; she would pretend to be, though, putting on a mask of arrogance the death eaters expected her to wear.

"We need to leave," Severus said, grabbing Draco by the shoulder, shoving him forward.

The death eaters began to move, but Laura remained in place.

"Now, dammit!" Severus yelled at her, causing her to jump slightly, yanking her from her shock. He grabbed her by the arm, pulling her with him.

Severus dragged Laura through the castle, dodging spells from students and teachers alike, watching some of the death eaters fighting back. He couldn't deny that he didn't care about those death eaters, hoping that some of the teachers and students would take care of them.

Part of him wanted to help, but the only thought running through his head was about getting Laura and Draco to safety.

Severus dragged Laura and Draco outside, the sky turning to a haunting gray color. "Get Draco to Malfoy Manor. Now," Severus commanded Laura and they both disapparated, a loud cracking sound ringing through the air as they disappeared.

Severus kept walking, seeing some of the death eaters destroying the grounds at Hogwarts. He heard a loud bang and turned, seeing Hagrid's hut bursting into flames, the sound of Bellatrix cackling in the air as she caused more destruction.

"No! Fang is still in there, ya evil--" Hagrid kept speaking but the words seemed so far away to Severus as Harry approached.

"Coward!" Harry's voice rang out. Severus turned around, seeing Harry Potter running towards him. "Snape! You coward!"