The Way Back Home

WL1031: Woo hoo! Here’s chapter 10, people!



Jade: I know and it was put up the same day as the last chapter!



WL1031: I know two chapters in one day! That is so big for me!



Jade: That is big! *turns to the audience* Enjoy people!



WL1031: And please, PLEASE review! I want to get up to 20 reviews!







Disclaimer: I don’t own it. Only the story line and the characters that you don’t recognize are mine. Everything else—the main characters and the Harry Potter Universe—is the fabulous brainchild of J.K. Rowling and her publishing company friends.









The Way Back Home

Chapter 10: Dark Past, a Tired Soul, and an Unexpected Visitor









“When I first came to Hogwart’s I was barely eleven years old. My parents dropped me off at the train station and quickly left. It was more like, my father dragged my mother away, irritated at having to come out of his home to drop me off. My mother cried and kissed me, not wanting to leave me—but she had no choice. My father was taking her away. The last time I saw her was when I went home during the Christmas Hols in my seventh year. I came home to see my mother weak and worn from my father’s abuse, something that he never extended to me. Her face was shrunken in from illness and she had bruises on her cheeks and a black eye.”



“Your father…did he…?” Zeporiap stroked his hand, moving her fingers in soothing circles. Severus nodded.



“My father killed her. He was beating her and abusing her when I was away, but would stop a few days before I was to arrive—just enough time to let any bruises fade or cuts heal. The last time, I came home unexpectedly, a whole day early because I knew that something wasn’t right. She died in my arms just after the new year.”



Severus’s body shook in barely contained rage. He was angry that he could not protect his mother, wanted to kill his father, and was just over all hateful of the man who raised him. He didn’t blame his parents for what happened to him, but he saw it as the catalyst that started it all. He was angry all throughout school, having to deal with the merciless teasing and jokes from Potter and his friends, the lack of care from his father, and just had an unlimited source of rage welling inside him. He felt the old, hidden feelings of rage wash over him, taking him over. He wanted to release it and felt his dark side coming closer to the surface, ready to emerge and destroy; ready to kill.



But, Zeporiap squeezed his hand, looking calmly into his eyes.



Instantly he felt the calm of her presence flow over him, soothing his soul, pushing his dark rage back. Her touch moved it back, down into that dark place that it inhabited in his soul, away from the exit to the world. He took a breath and moved on, glad that she stopped his rage from being unleashed.



“A few days after the funeral, my father brought me to a dark revel. I was amazed by the excess of the people there, giving in to their urges to hurt and destroy the lives of the muggles that were brought; I saw them practicing the dark arts on the muggles, laughing as they screamed and begged for mercy, and mercilessly casting them aside when they were broken. I was in complete awe—these people were doing exactly what they wanted, when they wanted and with no repercussions or consequences of the sort. They were completely without a conscious.”



Severus leaned back on the couch. He felt weary after the rush of anger that overcame him and wanted to stop telling his sordid tale. But, he knew that he had to tell Zeporiap because she needed to know. He began again. “That same night, the Dark Lord asked for me to come to him. My father took me to him immediately, eager to have me initiated into the fold. Although I was only seventeen years old, the Dark Lord made an exception for me because of my skills with potion making. I was the best potions student at Hogwart’s, having knowledge of potions that even the resident Potions Master didn’t know. When I met the Dark Lord, he gave me free reign of his library, allowing me to research and work on any of the potions that I could imagine. Soon, I was so engrossed in the work, that I was doing nothing else. I began to make potions for the Dark Lord himself, mixing up things that would easily kill and paralyze his victims with the merest of touches on the skin. The last night of the vacation, the day before I was to return to the school, I went out on a raid. We killed a family of muggles, raping the women and torturing the men until they couldn’t scream. Instead of being disgusted, I liked it. I began falling into the dark revelry, killing and raping muggles, torturing them until they died, not giving a damn when they died begging for mercy. I had no conscious or caring for them; I lost regard for human life long before that when my mother had died. Mayhap, I even lost it before then.”



Zeporiap was stunned. She knew that Severus had a dark past, but she didn’t think it went to that extent. She had the feeling that his life was not a happy one and now she understood why. She was a bit wary of his past behavior, but it was just that: the past. It wasn’t something that he could change now, although she was sure that he probably would if he could. Tears came to her eyes as she thought of how he suffered. They slid down her cheeks, a visible example of the sadness that she felt for him. She wiped her tears away then, let out a shaky breath. She nodded for Severus to continue.



“When I finally came to a realization of what I was doing, it was almost too late. I escaped to Hogwart’s and came to Dumbledore. I was a broken man, gaining and losing everything in one fell swoop. My father was killed, leaving me the entire Snape fortune, but my mother was not there for me to spend money for her comfort. Voldermort was dead, but I still had the Dark Mark on my arm. I knew that he wasn’t dead because the mark had not disappeared—it would only be a matter of time before he returned. But, at the moment, I was free. But not quite free: I had a sudden conscious and a feeling of remorse that I’d never before had in my life. It was overwhelming and more than once I had to fight within myself to keep from going back to how I was. In the end, I wound up here at Hogwart’s teaching potions.” He sighed wearily. “From time to time, I would find myself doing things from my old days but not to the extent of what I was doing before. I was fine until three years ago when the Dark Lord returned. I was immediately summoned and had to prove my loyalty. I reverted back to my old behavior, raping and killing, making potions and falling into my old ugly habits. But, I found a certain restraint, vowing not to cross the line when I saw another kill a small child. I had had enough—luckily for me, the Dark Lord desired for me to only make potions, specifically one that would preserve his life. That’s what I’ve been doing since then.”



Severus fully relaxed into the couch this time, completely drained of it all. He had finally revealed his dark past after years of keeping it all inside, away from prying eyes. He felt bone-tired and just wanted to sleep. His eyes drifted closed for moment then, wandered back open when he felt a warm hand on his cheek. Zeporiap’s silver eyes smiled, reflecting acceptance and relief. Tears still ran down her cheeks and he brushed them away. She tugged at his hand.



“Come with me, Severus.” She said quietly. “You need to rest, your soul is tired.” She got him to stand and walked him towards his bedroom. Ordering him to sit on the bed, she removed his shoes, and undressed him down to his boxers. She helped him into the bed and pulled the covers up around him.



“Thank you.” he said quietly, as she stepped out of the room. He yawned sleepily, drifting off to sleep.



Zeporiap surprised him, however, when she returned a few moments later. She was also dressed for bed, wearing a floor-length, lavender, silk night gown; her dainty feet were bare. She walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in.



“What’s wrong?” he asked tiredly. He moved over to make room for her in the bed.



“I’m going to watch over you as you sleep.” She said as she gathered him in her arms. She scooted up against his back, warming him. “You did the same for me and I want to return the favor.”



“Why?” He was startled that she wanted to do this for him. No one had ever done that for him. He rolled over, bringing her under him. “Why do you want to do this for me?”



“I’m doing this because I want to.” She said simply. “You have not had anyone give you comfort for so long—I can not help but give this to you. I want to give this to you. No one protected you when you needed it. I am here to do that now.” She smiled gently, caressing his cheek. “It is time for someone to protect you.”



Severus’s eyes filled with tears. He could not express what he was feeling in words. He laid his head down on Zeporiap’s shoulder and cried for the first time in his life.







For the first time in a long time, someone was protecting him; protecting him because it was something that he needed; and not because he had asked for it.







“Wow.” Ron said. He was completely amazed at what Harry had just told him. What he had just heard was just incredible—actually he was kind of shocked that it had all ended up that way. Hermoine was just as flabbergasted.



“So there was another part of the prophecy that you learned two years ago?” Hermoine asked. Harry nodded.



“It details on how to defeat Voldemort but it was sort of vague. It says that ‘when the silver and black build a wall, the power within will cause his fall.’ The only thing that we could conclude is that Snape and Zeporiap need to create some kind of protective shield around me while I battle against Voldemort. The probis his how they are going to build this shield, how they can maneuver me inside it without Voldemort knowing about it.” He sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Ginny kissed his cheek then, laid her head on his shoulder.



“The good thing is that Dumbledore has allowed me to get help in solving this dilemma. He gave the approval for you, Ron and ‘Mione, to help out with the strategy and spell casting parts. Hermione, I hope that this won’t be too much with all the other stuff you do?”


Hermione shook her head, smiling excitedly. “Harry, you know that I can help with this! I’ll start right away.” Ron nodded in agreement.



“How long do we have to work on this, do you think?” Hermoine asked.



“I’m not too sure about that either. I think that we have until at least May, due to Beltane, but other than that I don’t know. Snape agreed that he needs to seek more information about when Voldemort wants to strike, but he was pretty sure that it would be sometime around that time. If not, he’d inform us of a change.”



“I’ll draw up some ideas as soon as I see what you guys will be working with.” Ron said, solemnly. He was already going over strategies in his mind, thinking of ways to incorporate some Quidditch game plans into this newer plan. “I’ll need to see the room, maybe a map of the area, but I can have something to you in the next few days.” He nodded in confirmation.



Harry smiled for a moment. “I want to ask that you guys don’t let this get around. Don’t talk about it around anybody, don’t write anything or leave any notes about it lying around, and don’t let anybody follow you when you’re going to the meeting place. When we get the map on how to get there tomorrow, don’t let anybody see it. And if they ask, just brush them off with some non-important and useless response. But, we have to make sure that we say say the same thing. If we have conflicting stories, people will start asking questions: something that we definitely don’t need. Later, we’re going to have to come up with a story that would be off-putting enough, but would be easy to remember.”



“Don’t worry Harry we can figure it out in the morning.” Hermoine said stifling a small yawn behind her hand. She rubbed her eyes sleepily.



Ron stretched and yawned hugely. “I guess it’s time for bed, mate.” He shook his head as his sister let out a tiny snore against Harry’s neck. Harry laughed quietly, careful not to wake her.



“Alright, I’ll take her upstairs to her room.” Harry said, standing up and easily lifting Ginny in his arms. Hermione got up off of Ron’s lap then grabbed his hand. She went the stairs first because the stairway would have rejected Harry or Ron if they stepped on it first. That way, with her going first, it tricked the stair way into thinking that it was all females going up.



Reaching the Head Girl’s room first, Ron and Hermoine bid Harry good night. They closed her door quietly after Harry walked past. Once inside the room Ginny shared with a few other girls in her year, Harry placed her on her bed, careful not to jostle her too much. She mumbled for a bit then, smiled in her sleep. He charmed her into her night clothes and smiled as she woke up just enough to get comfy in the covers. She leaned up and kissed him softly good night then, settled down.



“I love you, Harry.” She mumbled sleepily.



“I love you too, Ginny.” He said smiling. He watched her for a few moments, making sure she was asleep then, slipped silently out of the room. Levitating down the staircase, he quickly crossed the common room and went up to his room. He readied himself for bed and climbed in, careful not to wake up Hedwig as she nestled in the covers.



“Hoot.” She called as he got into the bed.



“Oh hey, girl. I’m sorry that I came back too late to bring you to the owlery. I hope that you don’t mind staying a bit longer. I’ll take you back in the morning, okay?” She hooted in agreement.



A few minutes later, Harry went off to sleep as well.







A few hours later, Severus was woken by a strange noise. It was loud and persistent, a complete bother to his sleep-muddled brain. As he became more aware, he realized that someone was calling his name. He opened his eyes and saw Zeporiap smiling. Her eyes were tired, but they glinted in the candlelight. She stroked his stubble-ridden cheek.



“Did you sleep well?” She asked sweetly. She was cradled under him in a most sexual position, but his body wasn’t reacting to her warmth around him. He was completely relaxed, feeling entirely at ease. He smiled slightly.



“Yes, I slept fine. I didn’t feel any of the usual demons clawing at me and I had no feelings of insomnia.” He leaned down again, resting his head on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him, running her fingers through his hair. She smiled.



“I am glad that you got rest because you needed it.” She said quietly in his ear. “Don’t worry I slept too. I just wanted to make sure that you went to sleep first.”



“I must be too heavy for you—” He mumbled.



“No, you’re fine. I like how you feel.” He leaned up and looked into her eyes.



“Are you sure?” He asked. “I could always move back a bit so that you’d be more comfortable.” She put a finger over his lips. She shook her head.



“I wanted to be here. It’s not a problem.” She smiled again then, kissed him on the cheek, stubble and all—his morning shadow scratching her cheek.



Their eyes connected; the silver and black irises meeting heatedly. Severus leaned forward slowly moving closer. Zeporiap licked her lips unconsciously, moving closer and closer until…



Some one called Severus’s name out loud.



“Damn.” He groaned, laying his forehead on Zeporiap’s smooth shoulder again. He sighed. Zeporiap was just as frustrated, exhaling in annoyance.



“Severus, I know that you’re there. Wake up, my boy.”



Severus moved back from the bed. He looked down at Zeporiap, and caressed her cheek. “Stay here. We will continue this when I return.” He moved off of and away from the bed and pulled on a long black silk robe. Zeporiap turned on her side, watching as he belted the robe loosely around his lean hips.



“Alright, I will stay.” She smiled then, gasped when the voice spoke louder, sounding clearer than before. She recognized that voice. She shrunk back under the covers away from the voice.



Severus instantly felt that something was wrong. He turned and moved back towards the bed. “What’s wrong?” He saw Zeporiap practically cowering under the blankets, trying to shrink herself away into nothing. It was like she was attempting to make herself invisible.



“I recognize that voice.” She said quietly, shrinking back under the covers even further.



“How could you know that voice?”



“That voice belongs to the man who raped me.” She said quietly. Severus’s eyes hardened immediately.



“Stay here. Do not come out until I return to this room.” Zeporiap nodded.



Severus turned and stepped out of the room, closing the door. He moved towards the hearth and sat down in his chair. He turned and greeted the face floating in his fireplace.



“It’s about damn time, Severus. I was just about to come over there.” Lucius Malfoy said.







Severus could barely keep the rage from spilling forth. He was looking into the face of the man who had raped and brutalized his soul mate; the one who made her afraid, cowering in fear.



He didn’t know it yet, but Lucius Malfoy had just signed his own death warrant by speaking out loud. He didn’t know that his voice alone would be enough to put the nails into his coffin.



Severus smirked. He would make sure that Lucius would die—he was sure of it because he’d be the one to kill him.







_,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_.









WL1031: Well that was something! I liked that chapter a lot.



Jade: Yeah, there were quite a few things going on with this one. Especially, at the end of the chapter. Man…I felt just as frustrated when they were interrupted. *sighs in annoyance* Hopefully, we’ll see some action in the next chapter.



WL1031: Yeah… *looks around slyly* Maybe, something will go on in the next chapter.



Jade: I hope so…that would be very nice. Very nice, indeed.



WL1031: Review people! And look out for Chapter 11 sometime today!









Translations:



None for this chapter!