Heredity vs. Solidarity (S. Snape)

Chapter Twenty

The wind was a gentle caress. October had been promising cooler weather thus far, and Saturday was no exception. Selena pulled her robes tighter around her, and with her arms crossed tightly around her torso, she peered across the Black Lake where the grey waves rippled with the cool breeze.

Shivering, she kicked at a couple of small stones before turning on her heel, and slowly making her ascent towards the Whomping Willow. It stood proud against the wind, hardly moving a branch at the cooler temperatures. Across the grounds, she could see the shifty character of Severus Snape walking swiftly towards the tall specimen, clearly not seeing Selena as of yet.

Behind the tree, Selena recognized the blonde phenomenon known as Michaela Thomson. Even from the short distance, Selena saw the cold smirk the girl donned, and couldn’t help but freeze briefly.

Her answer could be very easy. Selena could simply turn around, and leave, and Severus would never know that the two set this up together. She could simply tell him afterwards that she hadn’t been able to meet up with him, and that him meeting Michaela was an unfortunate happenstance.

Things like that happened all the time, right? But, Selena’s heart felt stuck somewhere between her throat and her stomach. It was beating unevenly, and she knew with a heavy guilt that she couldn’t do that – nor could she let him get hurt. This hit her hard, and fast.

Why would she ever think that Severus’s harm came second? Why would she ever think that Marcy’s statement being revealed was more important than a human being’s safety? She had been so blinded that for some reason unbeknownst to her, she agreed to the wrong thing.

Severus was already extremely close to the tree, and if Selena bolted, she knew she could reach them in time – maybe even bide them some time for another quick plan of action. It was with quick steps that Selena ran flat out towards the tree, ignoring the nervous stabbing in her chest, and the gradually increasing stitch in her side.

Michaela’s eyes met Selena’s, and she winked.

Behind the tree, Michaela dug through her wand pocket, and upon producing the slender instrument, Selena glared harshly and withdrew her own.

“Stop!” she screamed.

Selena saw Severus pause in his actions, his eyes finding her, but clearly not seeing Michaela as of yet. Michaela didn’t listen to Selena’s scream; she was flicking her wand back, and just bringing it down with a spell when Selena silently whipped her wand.

This time, Michaela screamed.

Her body was thrown several feet away from her original position, but Selena realized with dread that the wand was still clasped within Michaela’s fingertips. Severus, confused, froze in his stance near the tree.

“Move, Severus!” Selena cried. “MOVE!”

Selena was inches away, and was surprised when a spell hit her square in the wrist. Her wand went spiraling into the air, and fell a good twenty feet away. Severus reached for his own wand, but it was too late.

“SECTUMSEMPRA!”

Another spell was soaring at them, and Selena – with nothing else to use – threw herself at him. Severus shouted something as he attempted to push her away, but she never caught the words. Her body fell as the spell hit her square in the torso, slitting apart the folds of her cloak, and causing a warm, red liquid to instantly ooze down her front, a sharp pain quickly following.

Severus looked worriedly between Selena’s unmoving body, and the target. With his wand raised, he uttered, “Expelliarmus!” followed by a quick, silent spell. Michaela’s wand was soaring several feet away, and directly afterwards she was hoisted by her ankle into the air. Without a weapon, she thrashed helplessly.