The Choice of Destiny (Snape Love Story)

The Past

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Dumbledore kept quiet in his office as he often has done lately. His thoughts were racing around relentlessly; not even the Pensieve could help him from constantly thinking of all the mysteries that were at hand this school year.

The mystery started with Harry, just like it has been for the past four years. As always, Voldemort has been involved but this time, not even Severus was able to locate the culprit that was to blame for the danger which most of the school has faced. Dumbledore’s blue eyes flashed in anger as he realized that somewhere in the corridors of Hogwarts, a lurking Death Eater or some other pitiful servant of Voldemort plotted the death of the last Potter.

How low must one stand to plot a death of a child? Surely, Harry has been touched with magic that will remain unknown to most of us but together with his heart, it makes Harry extraordinary in all other ways but being a threat.

Dumbledore paced himself to the bookshelf that consisted mostly of photographs. His eyes searched for one in particular, the one where pregnant Lilly Potter smiled from the embrace of her husband James.

An exquisite witch and a marvelous wizard who have never harmed anybody; yet they had to die because of one man, a man I knew as a child. What could Tom Riddle have been if he wouldn’t turn away from his humanity?

Dumbledore didn’t know answers to most of his questions yet they continued to haunt him. He sighted as he thought of another matter at hand, one that wasn’t so clear.

Catalina Legrande.

Dumbledore has seem the girl on numerous occasions whether it was to see her handle her magic or for him to retest her reaction to the Unforgivable Curses. Severus didn’t like his attention to Catalina. He refused to agree with her being treated as a laboratory pet and suggested Dumbledore, on numerous occasions, that he should take Fawkes for his play of magic.

 Despite the concerns that lined the old man’s forehead and Severus’ general snappiness, Dumbledore still have to smile. It was a smile of astonishment and endless admiration. No matter who the girl really was, she brought Severus back from his lethargy. The girl has really been exclusively charming, yet at the same time, he could glimpse certain similarities between her and Severus even though he didn’t spend much of his personal time with them.

Both of them were endless perfectionists. Dumbledore has known that for a fact in case of Severus while for Catalina, it was more or less one of his accurate guesses. He guessed from the way the girl trimmed her nails, the way her hair always fell into right place, her grades, the drive towards things she wanted and most of all the slight tone of hidden satisfaction that seemed to hit Severus’ eyes whenever she was around. The girl was also proving herself to be strong and quite temperamental. How else could she withstand Severus? Dumbledore knew that he couldn’t stand the usual swoons of feminine weakness and meaningless chatter that he saw every day in class. He regretted that he couldn’t be completely happy for the couple.

It wasn’t because of her youth; Dumbledore was one of the very few who didn’t underestimate the value of a young witch or a wizard just because they haven’t been around for very long. He also didn’t feel like drawing a line to where childhood ended and adulthood began. He believed that if Catalina passed Severus’ scrutiny, she was perhaps more mature than most of the Hogwarts staff.

It was more because of the mystery that seemed to surround her. The one that he wasn’t able to unravel until now. Dumbledore had his fair guess about what Lord Voldemort was doing, about how many giants were already feeling that it was time for them to rise again in search of their master. He also knew which of the former Death Eaters were becoming more active in the society but he couldn’t figure this out.