Water-horse (Snape fan fiction)

Beyond the Barriers

Ch.6 — Beyond the Barriers

"Severus!"

Halfway down the stairs to the dungeons, Minerva McGonagall tried to regain the wind that had been knocked out of her, catching hold of her colleague's arm in an attempt to steady herself against him. For a moment it seemed the force of their collision had robbed Snape likewise of enough breath to keep them on their feet; then, as he staggered and thrust her off almost spasmodically, she caught sight of his face.

"That's blood." Her voice was sharp, and Snape managed the weary ghost of a snarl, grey lips contorting.

"Of course it's blood. Damn you, McGonagall, do you think I'd have run otherwise? The thing had me by the throat—" He broke off, as the colour began to ebb from Minerva's own face, and caught onto the stair-rail, dragging himself upright.

"It got Lovell." Bitter, unadorned truth. "It went after me for two solid days — drained all it could — and then it got Lovell."

"Oh dear God." Professor McGonagall caught hold of the rail herself, as her knees threatened to betray her. "Magnus. If I'd thought—"

She remembered the boy's parents with a sudden stab; the worn dark beauty of the mother, and the haunted hollows of the father's eyes. Dan Lovell had suffered more than enough already.

"Where is it? Where is…is he?"

Snape's lips twitched again, baring uneven teeth. "It's not what you think, Professor. Don't waste your time on pity. It took him willingly — it's riding his mind, using every spell he knows. The stupid, arrogant little boy—"

McGonagall gasped. "He's alive?" The sick wash of relief was almost more than she could bear. Not, after all, to be responsible for the death of a student. Not to have to break that news….

"Lovell alive?" Snape retorted. "Yes — if you call that 'alive' — and a danger to the whole school every minute he stays that way. With a human mind to channel its power, the only limits on the threat that creature can pose are those of Lovell's own knowledge—"

As she turned to run for Dumbledore, long fingers shot out to clutch at her robes, catching her off-balance, and she missed a step and almost fell. "Where are you going? What do you think you're doing?" Snape hissed.

Professor McGonagall's lips were pressed very firmly together as she reluctantly let his death-like grip drag her back down, grudging every wasted moment. "Severus, this has gone beyond the two of us now. Dumbledore needs to know, no matter what the consequences. I'll not shield myself at the cost of the death of a child—"

She wrenched suddenly at her robes, trying to free herself; but for all the ashen exhaustion in Snape's face, he was grasping onto her with the strength of a drowning man.

"Dark Magic work sanctioned in your name, against the express permission of the Headmaster? You think Dumbledore could — or would — cover up for us then, once the board of governors gets wind of it? Do you think there would be a place for either of us at this school, after that? You have a home, a family — I—"

He broke off, his face twisting, and took a fresh grip, dragging her close.

"We're in this together, Professor." It was the closest she had ever heard him come to a plea. "You and I can get Lovell out of there — deal with that creature ourselves before anyone need know."

He released her, abruptly. "Or you can go running upstairs to tell the world. Throw your future away — and mine. Is that what you want to do?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Minerva said sharply, without thinking. Her stare had deflated hundreds of students in their time, including a certain sullen adolescent Slytherin. It brought little more than a curled lip now, and her own hackles rose instinctively in response.