Redemption For A Monster (Marauder fanfic) Book Three

68- A Prisoner Of The Dark

Despite being pretty convinced that she wouldn't be able to see any of her loved ones over Christmas, Sara still wanted to get them presents. Even if the gifts spent all year in her house, until the war was over, and could be unwrapped.
But after months of being trapped in her fathers house, only leaving to get the essentials once a week, she was thankful for an excuse to leave.
She didn't have many presents to get, since most of her friends were dead, but she wanted to get something for Harry, Molly and the Weasleys, and Remus and Tonks.
Being in Diagon Alley again for longer than the 5 minutes it took her to buy her potion each month, made Sara nervous.
Not only were there homeless, wandless wizards and witches sitting on the cold hard ground. There were also several Death Eaters roaming the streets, which is why Sara was keeping her face disguised by a thick scarf.

There weren't that many shops still open, as Voldemort's return and rise to power, had forced a lot of them to close.
But despite this, Sara managed to get some Quidditch related presents for Harry, from Quality Quidditch Supplies. The rest of her gifts came from Sugarplums Sweetshop, Whizz Hard Books, and Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment.
However, as Sara stepped out of the last shop, she knew that something was off.
There was an eerie silence in the empty street, that had been full of homeless people, only a few minutes earlier.
Acting on instinct, Sara removed her wand from her pocket, as she took another step into the street.

As Sara took her second step, a loud voice suddenly shouted out from behind her.
"Stupefy!".
"Protego" Sara shouted back, as she spun around, blocking the spell that had been thrown at her.
With their cover blown, 4 Death Eaters stepped into the street, 2 at either end, covering her escape.
She knew than an Anti-Disapparation jinx had been set in the town, so that people couldn't Apparate in and out.
So she would have to fight her way through the Death Eaters, until she came out the other side of the Leaky Cauldron, where she would be able to Apparate.

"Pertrificus Totalus!" Yelled Sara, pointing her wand at the nearest Death Eater.
He blocked the spell, and sent one straight back at her. Sara stopped it using non-verbal magic, and decided that she would have to continue in that fashion, if she wanted to make it out alive.
Although the odds were not in Sara's favor, being 4 against 1, she had a lot of experience fighting terrible odds. Those in the Order were nearly always outnumbered, so she had become accustomed to fighting in those situations.
As a fight broke out in the street, Sara was having to fight a war on two fronts, without turning her back on either side for more than a second.

Even though she had successfully managed to Stun two of her opponants, Sara was beginning to tire, and the two left standing were getting more ruthless as time went on.
Sara assumed that they were under orders from Voldemort not to kill her, as none of them had sent the Killing Curse at her.
This knowledge was not very uplifting, as Sara could only imagine what terrors Voldemort would inflict on her one she was in his clutches. As she knew that he would do anything to get Harry's whereabouts out of her- not that she even knew where her godson was currently hiding.
When Sara's reactions began to slow, one of the Death Eaters got a lucky shot passed her Protego spell, causing a large cut to appear on her wand arm.

Sara screamed, and sent a poweful body-binding spell back at him in retaliation, paralysing him.
The last standing Death Eater threw a Stunning spell at her, as she did the same, and both of their spells hit their intended opponant.
Sara fell at the same time as the Death Eater, hitting her head on the hard ground, making her vision go blurry.
A stranger in long black robes began to make his way towards her, and Sara realised that there must have been a 5 Death Eater hiding in the next street to ambush her if she succeeded in taking out the other 4.
As the strange figure approached Sara, her eye lids began to feel heavy, and despite her best efforts not to, she passed out.

****
When Sara woke up, she found herself in a cold dark, windowless room. She was sitting on an old mattress, that squeaked as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.
The room had a large wooden cupboard on the opposite side to the bed, and a desk with a chair in the centre.
Sara immediately jumped from the bed, and began patting her pockets, searching for her wand, which she realised had been taken from her.
Knowing that she had nothing to lose, Sara ran for the door, and began shaking the handle, trying to open it, but to no avail.
That was when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching, forcing her to retreat to the far corner of the room.

She watched the door handle move, before the door itself creaked open, and a cloaked figure stepped into the room.
However, it was not the cloaked figure that Sara had been expecting.
"Snape" gasped Sara.
Snape said nothing as he shut the door behind himself, and began to approach Sara.
"I must say that I didn't expect you to be my interegator, or should I say torturer. I assumed that Vol-"
"Don't say his name... The Dark Lords name has been tabooed. Anyone who says his name, instantly gives away their location" interupted Snape.
Sara frowned.
"I don't understand. Why does it matter if I say his name? Since I'm pretty sure that he knows I'm here, as he was the one who sent you down here to talk to me".

"The Dark Lord does not know you are down here. If he did, he would likely kill us both" admitted Snape.
"But wait a minute. I've been saying his name for months, and he's never found me" replied Sara.
"That is because of the immense protection magic that has existed around your house for over a hundred years. However, if you had said his name in the street, or at someone elses house, I assure you that the Dark Lord would have been able to find you"
"Wait, how do you know where I live?"
"I was a member of the Order of the Phoenix for many years, if you remember"
"Until you betrayed us all... If I haven't been brought here on his orders, then where am I, and how did I get here?".

"This is my house. Or more specifically, my basement" revealed Snape.
"I- I'm in your house?" Questioned Sara, not quite believing what she was hearing.
"Yes. When I heard that you'd been spotted shopping in Diagon Alley- a foolish risk on your part- and that several Death Eaters had been sent to capture you, I decided to intervene, and save your life" answered Snape.
"Ha. You, help me, what a joke. You've never tried to help me. And I didn't need your assistance anyway, as I managed quite well on my own just now".

"You were falling into unconsciousness when I found you. And may have bled to death, if I had not stopped the bleeding in your arm. You may have Stunned the other Death Eaters, but more were not far away, and after finding your body they would have brought you to the Dark Lord. Which is where you would be right now, if it weren't for my help" Snape revealed.
Sara looked down at the faint mark on her arm, before staring up at Snape, not understanding why a Death Eater like him, had risked everything to safe her life.