Twilight Gardens

"Would you accept any suggestions from me?" offered Dumbledore.

Severus nodded, though he knew that despite Dumbledore's wisdom, the Headmaster could not unsow the moribund seeds of fate which had been planted for Severus yeards before.

"Turn yourself in to the Aurors and tell them all you know. I promise they will be lenient."

"I can't do that," Severus said flatly.

"May I ask why?" Dumbledore asked gently.

"I could never betray Lucius," stated Severus resolutely. "You may tell the Aurors what you like but I will never testify against Lucius."

"You needn't reveal all the details you told me. They will certainly be more concerned with Voldemort himself than those subservient to him."

Severus shut his eyes. What could he do but what Dumbledore had suggested? It wouldn't make a difference who knew about his short career as a Death Eater because nothing could change what was bound to happen.

With a sigh of exhaustion, Severus murmured to Dumbledore, "Will you come with me, Professor?"

"You have my full support," replied Dumbledore.

When the Aurors heard Severus' confession Albus Dumbledore did accompany him. The Headmaster went so far as to testify on Severus' behalf. The Aurors requested the names of other Death Eaters and Severus was reluctant, admitting to only a few of the countless names of Voldemort's followers. Severus flinched noticeably at the mention of the name Malfoy. His inquisitor must have realized because Moody leaned in and said, "Why does Malfoy's name cause you such distress, Snape?"

Severus' stomach became a hefty chunk of ice. He stammered fearfully, "Lucius . . . he didn't know what he was doing . . . and that night -- he seemed so dilirious. It was like he had been bewitched . . ."

"Bewitched?" Moody cocked his head.

"Yes," Severus whispered. "I had never heard him speak that way. He seemed drunk on fanaticism. It was like the Dark Lord had enchanted his mind."

Something seemed to occur to Moody and the other Aurors, something they had not previously considered.

"I suppose it is possible that some of the Death Eaters could be behaving the way they are due to some sort of magic," conceded one Auror.

"I don't know about that," Moody disagreed. "How much can we trust this one?" He leered suspiciously at Severus.

"We'll bring in all of the ones he named," suggested another Auror.

"Yes," added yet another, "including Malfoy. If he seems bewitched, that could be enough evidence not to send him to Azkaban."

Those words were the last of Severus' recollections. The past faded away and he was again the Hogwarts Potions Master in his thirties. He could hear footsteps outside of his office and his heart felt as frozen as the dungeon in which he sat. In answer to the light knock on the door, Severus called out with a note of nervousness, "Enter."

As Lucius pushed the door aside and stepped into Severus' office, Severus fluidly rose to his feet as though he were mesmerized. Lucius' appearance had changed little since Severus had last seen him up-close. He stood by the door regally clutching his elegant snake staff. The silence was killing Severus, so he bravely said, "Well, Lucius, am I correct to assume that your motive for arranging this meeting was not to discuss Draco's grades?"

"Yes, that is correct," Lucius smiled as he cut across the room to where Severus stood. "It's just been so long since we've spoken . . ."

"I know," Severus muttered, looking at the floor beyond Lucius' nostalgic expression. "I never had the chance to apologise."

Lucius was taken aback, "Apologise? What do you mean, Severus?"

"I want to apologise for leaving all of a sudden without explanation and then joining up with Dumbledore."

"Honestly, you needn't apologise for that," Lucius almost laughed. "If you hadn't led the Aurors to believe that I had been magically forced into Lord Voldemort's service, I would certainly be in Azkaban now."

Severus frowned, "That actually wasn't my intention though. You did seem a bit less than sane. I wasn't trying to deceive them in order to protect you. If that's what happened, then I suppose I have one thing I have done for which I can be glad."

"You're glad, are you? In that case, I daresay, you are still harbouring loyalty to the Dark Lord."

"I was never loyal to the Dark Lord," Severus admitted. "I have never been loyal to anything but you."

Lucius' eyes glistened, "If that's true, why did you leave me?"

"I didn't want to, believe me," said Severus, his voice fluctuating with sorrow. "That morning, I realized that this yearning to belong you have did not include belonging with me."

"Severus, I never said anything like that," Lucius' bottom lip quivered. "I *loved* you."

"Not as much as you loved Slytherin House. Not as much as you loved being a Death Eater. Not as much as you loved your mansion. Not as much as you loved your inheritance," Severus said dryly. His voice dropped and he sullenly added, "Not as much as I loved you."

Lucius seemed to be struggling against his own emotion, "Don't those things matter to you?"

"No," Severus said bluntly. "Without you, nothing means anything to me. I thought I knew what you meant that night we first kissed but I never fully comprehended that hollowness of spirit until the day I left you. And I have felt it ever since."

"There is something I have long wished to tell you as well," Lucius rested his hands on Severus' shoulders.

"What's that?"

"I want to tell you," Lucius drew closer yet, "how much I admire your courage. There is none more devoted to Lord Voldemort than I yet I cannot say that I would ever have the inner fortitude to come forward and, standing before a pack of bloodthirsty Aurors, proclaim myself a willing Death Eater. I feebly hide my allegiance behind a fabrication. Perhaps you were right in what you said all those years ago, Sev . . .

"Even a Gryffindor can be the most cowardly traitor and even a Slytherin can be the most stoic of souls."

FIN