The Shattering of Souls

well, here we are one last time. back for more. oddly, this is now more AU than it used to be. but i suppose that that\'s okay, given its still fan fiction and all. i am almost done with this fic. a pair of chapters, i think, should see it done. i hope you\'ve enjoyed reading it as much as i\'ve enjoyed writing it. as always, i own almost nothing from this but three characters. the rest all belong to the wildly talented j.k. rowling and i wouldn\'t want her to think that i would dare to keep them. i\'ll put them all back where they belong when i\'ve finished. i\'m making no money from this, so please don\'t hurt me.

as always, i enact my standard warnings. but i can\'t guarantee that anything remotely exciting happens here. just be prepared, like all good boy scouts and girl scouts. you never know what will pop up.

finally, if you like this, please feel free to let me know. i enjoy reviews as much as the next person and i\'m always curious to know what you\'ve thought. kindness is much appreciated, too.

Chapter Twenty Two: A Traitor In Our Midst
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Bri stared out the window of the shack at the bloody sunrise. A week had passed since her conversation with Dumbledore. A week since she\'d last seen Severus. She was homesick and heartsick. She was torn in two by her needs. Part of her needed to be lost in the forest. Part of her needed to be lost in the comfort of Snape\'s arms. And the need to seek out Malfoy and his sadistic little helpers was still riding her like a demon. She felt as if she were being pulled thin in so many ways and she just wanted it to stop.

She\'d thought long and hard over what she wanted to do during the course of the last seven days. The desire to kill Malfoy and Lestrange was as strong as ever. In fact, it grew daily until the need to do something, stupid or not, was eating at her. She was restless and cross, even though there was no one to yell at. The inaction was making her completely mad with all of the building emotions. Combined with the desire to find some kind of balance by immersing herself in the thick trees and lush vegetation of the Forbidden Forest, she felt as if she would lose herself in the great void of insanity.

She turned her gaze to the far east, watching the blood red disk that was the sun as it slipped up over the horizon. It was a crimson that spoke of trouble. Something had happened during the night that was likely not good. She wasn\'t sure she wanted to know what it was. She only knew that her sense of unease and restlessness seemed to be growing. It had started only a few days ago, gradually climbing until she was a bundle of nerves. The slightest sound set her off. Only last night, the creaking of the door had seen her casting a spell at imaginary foes.

It didn\'t help that she couldn\'t sleep. Being so close to the edge of the trees was, in so many ways, the same as putting a junkie in the same room as his drug of choice. He would only be able to handle it for so long, to look at the drug and ignore it, before his desires and needs overruled his common sense and pushed him into the arms of addiction once more. The trees called to her in voices so loud, she was sure their words and song carried to the castle. She couldn\'t recall ever feeling so torn before. But it was nothing compared to the dreams.

Each night found her alternating between sadness and deep fear. She would sleep and dream of long, pale hands stroking velvet skin. She could feel him, as if he were really there, when she was dreaming. The sensation of his fingers and mouth skimming over her body, of his thick, pulsing shaft driving deeply into her welcoming flesh, was enough to make her cry with need and wish she\'d never left the safety of his arms. She would wake from those dreams with a sense of yearning that was as deep as the deepest chasm and so wide, it was impossible to cross. The tears would come and she\'d end up crying herself to sleep.

The nightmares were just as vivid. They held just as much power over her. In those, she was locked in eternal darkness. The only sounds were those of a woman\'s evil laughter. The caress of silken words that brought pain. The skittering of tiny feet scurrying across the floor. From those, she woke with her back on fire and screaming as if the scars were wounds newly inflicted. She wanted the madness to stop. She simply wanted to go back to her previous, unaware existence.

Growling in frustration, Bri decided that she was done waiting. It was time for action. She was going to go see Dumbledore. She was going to tell him that she was done sitting around. She was going to go find Malfoy and end this dangerous situation. Once and for all. Gathering a few things she would need, she hurried to the exit to start the long trek across the grounds.

She was halfway to the castle when she saw the cloaked figure hurrying toward her. No one knew she\'d hidden in the Shrieking Shack the week before, so she had to wonder who was coming in her direction at such a hurried pace. She stopped and waited. There was something about the situation that wasn\'t right, but she couldn\'t put her finger on it. Instead, she took a moment to study the sky.

The rising sun had painted it with fingers of crimson and gold, the two colors moving seemlessly across the dark blue of early morning. It looked as if the sky were burning, as if flames were eating away the happiness in the deep blue. Bri knew it for the bad omen that it was. When she finally brought her gaze back to the ground, the cloaked figure was before her. She thought she recognized the face hidden in the folds, but her features were hidden deep in shadow. Bri tensed, senses that weren\'t entirely normal telling her that this was not a good idea. But the figure spoke, a soft and feminine voice filling the silence between the two of them that she thought was vaguely familiar.

\'Bri, I had hoped to find you,\' the figure said, then held out a box to her. Bri blinked at her. \'Take it. Its a message I\'ve been sent to deliver.\'

Bri could have slapped herself then. This was the traitor she\'d thought of back in Italy. That revelation, that day, seemed so long ago. An entire lifetime ago. She was prepared to use what ever spells she could conjure to blast this pathetic person to pieces. Her anger was tied to her other emotions so strongly that she was always a jumbled mix of anger and hate, of sadness and loss. This person, whoever she was, was the reason for all of it.

\'Take it, Bri. Or else you won\'t like the consequences,\' the figure spoke, her face still hidden in the shadows of her cloak. Bri snarled a few heated words at her, then reached for the box. It was made of finely crafted wood, a deep maple color with intricate designs carved on it. The snakes that twined about themselves told her who it was from, even if she hadn\'t already guessed. She ran her fingersa few inches over it, searching for hidden spells or hexes. There was nothing, so she took it in hand and opened it. What she saw inside made her blood boil.

A pair of round, wire-rimmed glasses lay on a bed of silver-gray silk. Next to them was a smooth wand that she knew contained a pheonix feather. Tucked under the edge of the frames were several dark, silky hairs. Harry. Shit, shit and double shit. She glanced up at the figure and gave her a furious look that urged the woman to speak. \'Malfoy says if you don\'t come for him, he\'ll kill Snape.\'

Bri felt a moment of giddy fear and hoped that it wouldn\'t show on her face. She\'d been trained to retain an empty expression and she prayed that she was wearing it now. \' I haven\'t the slightest idea of what you\'re talking about,\' she replied in what she felt was an appropriately unconcerned manner.

A soft chuckle answered her. \'Don\'t play stupid with me, Bri. Malfoy knows that Snape is alive. He figured out that the greasy git was the only one who could have gotten you out of his headquarters. No one else would have had the bollocks to do such a fool hardy thing.\'

\'Does Malfoy honestly think I would give dram of goat\'s blood for that conceited piece of shite?\' she asked, hoping she could pull off the bluff once more. The figure regarded her silently a moment, then shook her head.

\'Do you honestly think that the portraits in the castle don\'t talk about what goes on in the dungeons. They know all about your little affair with the Potions Master. Malfoy has been informed of every single moan and groan. Every slap and tickle. If you don\'t go, he\'ll gladly kill the man you love,\' she gave a snort of laughter. Bri decided she hated this person, too.

The idea of Severus really dying her filled her with a sense of dread that was suffocating. It settled on her chest like a dead weight, choking off everything but her fear and her love. If she didn\'t go, Malfoy would make good on his word. He\'d track down Severus and end his life. And he\'d likely do it while she was watching, when she couldn\'t help him. When she couldn\'t save him. The difficulty of her choices were enough to send her to her knees with tears rolling down her cheeks. She sighed and snapped the lid shut on the box.

\'Where the hell is the chicken shit bastard?\' she asked with firm determination. Bri swore she could hear the smirk on the hidden figure\'s face, even though she could barely see the woman\'s lips.

\'Vitualamen,\' she replied in rough latin. Bri sucked a breath as she realized what the word meant. Then she felt the sickening tug at the back of her navel as the portkey opened and drew her into the whirlwind of magic that would transport her to her destination.

~*~*~*~*~

Severus stared down at the small charm in his hands. The charm that had saved his life on more than one occasion. It was warm. Not from being held in his hands, but from whatever magic infused it. He knew that there was magic in it. There had to be to have saved him from a sneak attack to the back. Everytime he trouched it, he felt a slight tingle run up his hand and arm. Someone had lovingly filled the small charm with their magic, a magic that was so strong that it still lived in the combined shapes of the dragon and rose.

His guardian angel had given it to him. He knew it for a fact. It had surprised him to find out that he had a guardian angel. He was an ex-Death Eater. Men like him... people like him... didn\'t deserve to have someone watching over them and protecting him. He didn\'t deserve a guardian angel and he knew it. Just as he didn\'t deserve Bri. His mind kept telling him that he didn\'t need anyone. Certainly not a tempermental woman who called him hateful things and did her best to treat him like a pile of steaming horse shite.

His heart, traitorous thing that it was, was another matter entirely. He had long thought the organ in question had turned black, withered and died to leave him with a gaping hole in his chest. But it seemed that he was wrong. The small, shriveled muscle was suddenly beating, pining away for a woman he despised. It seemed that it had been too long in the dark and had suddenly gained a mind of it\'s own. And it was painfully reminding him that it ached for Bri Wallace. Of all the stupid things it could do. He snorted and turned to the table where his tumbler sat.

It was full of ice and a dark amber liquid that he wasn\'t sure he could even put a name to. All he knew was it was alcoholic and it made him feel blissfully numb. The ice that cuddled close with the fiery fluid was melting into it, giving the drink it\'s mind numbing cold. He relished the way the cubes clattered and clinked against the walls of the glass tumbler each time he picked it up. He\'d had three such glasses of the drink already. He could feel it in the slight numbness creeping into his fingertips and his very toes. That was always a sure sign that he\'d gone past his normal limits and was pushing the realms of drunken abandon. Not that he cared.

Anything to make him forget starlit blue eyes staring up into his lovingly or skin like porcelain that had been glazed a soft golden color and felt like the finest of satins when he ran his fingers over it or even the midnight black hair with purple highlights that was soft and sensual, liking the coiling of silken ropes about his hands and wrists. Anything to make him forget that a woman named Bri Wallace had ever existed.

Severus felt more than heard the intrusion into his private sanctuary. With the ungrateful wench\'s departure on that fateful day a week ago, he had warded his rooms against invasion. From any quarter, including Dumbledore. So he knew precisely the moment someone broke through his defensive wards. The heavy magic shifted aside like a pair of curtains being parted. One moment, they were ruffling as something came though them, the next they were perfectly still. It was as if he\'d imagined the disturbance. But he hadn\'t. He knew someone stood behind him.

\'Bloody well go away,\' he snarled, only the slightest hint of drink tainting his voice.

\'Once I have said what it is I have come here to say,\' a voice he\'d never heard before spoke. In an instant, Severus was out of the chair, tumbler forgotten on the table behind him. He was facing his intruder, wand out and pointed levelly at the man in question. For a moment, he felt as if his eyes were deceiving him, that the drink was muddling what he saw. But he realized, when the figure never once wavered or shifted, that he was seeing perfectly well.

The creature before him was tall, his skin a dusty golden color that almost clashed with his deeply purple hair, but didn\'t. He stared straight at Severus with a pair of eyes that were like amethysts, sparkling with the white light of stars in them. He had a condescending look upon a face that was angular and regal, handsome in it\'s expression of loathing. He was dressed in the finest of garments, his tunic a shimmery silver-lavendar color that hugged his lean frame. He wore a pair of deep, midnight black tights that were buried within high leather boots. A royal purple cloak was tossed almost negligently over his shoulders while a long, gleaming sword was strapped to his waist. Severus frowned at him, not at all intimidated by the look he was on the receiving end of.

\'Who the hell are you?\' he demanded, not dropping his wand. The man across from him smiled and waved a hand, sending the smooth black wood flying across the room. Black eyes narrowed on him dangerously.

\'My name, though not important, is Kaddyrayth Pdarn Draconus. I am here to inform you of situations that I believe you should be made aware of. Though why I am bothering is beyond my comprehension. It is obvious that my daughter has misplaced her feelings when it comes to you, Wizard,\' he told him in so casual a tone that Severus almost missed the most important facts of the statement.

\'Your daughter?\' he asked, his face gone white with realization. He knew who the man was speaking of, but he wanted to hear it with his own ears. The resemblance was uncanny.

\'Yes, my daughter. Bri Rhiannon nic\'Draconus Wallace,\' the man confirmed for him. Severus\' mind reeled. The man before him was of the Faerie world. It was obvious in his looks and the pure, raw power that surrounded him like a kind of invisible cloak. He knew the name Draconus, knew that that race of the Faerie was dedicated solely to protecting the rulers of the Faerie world. A Draconus had protected the High Kings and Queens of Faerie for as long as they had recorded their history. And this man was laying claim to the one woman who had found a way through Severus\' defenses.

\'Then I believe that you have no business here. Miss Wallace is long gone. She has packed up her sad and pathetic life and fled. I have no idea as to her where abouts,\' Severus pointed out, shifting so that he could cross his arms over his chest.

\'That much is obvious, dolt. For if you knew, you would not be sitting here, feeling sorry for yourself,\' Kaddyrayth frowned at him. Severus could see in the man\'s gemstone eyes that he felt the person he was looking at was not worth his time.

\'Perhaps you could pass over the insults and simply get to the heart of the matter. I have much better things to do with my time than stand around and listen to you speak foolish words about a foolish woman who has ever been a pain in my backside,\' Severus managed to say with a large amount of cold venom dripping from his words.

\'Very well, Wizard. My daughter,\' he began, pinning Snape with a piercing gaze. \'Has gone off to do something that will end in her death.\'

\'And this should concern me for what reason?\' he asked.

\'She has gone to kill the one called Malfoy.\'

\'Ah,\' Snape replied in a voice lacking any kind of feeling or emotion. \'Then I shall wish her all the luck in the world. She will need it.\'

\'Cold-hearted,\' the Fae muttered. \'How she could have given herself to someone who possesses no warmth, I will never understand.\'

\'Bri Wallace has been nothing but a thorn of immense size and pain to me for more than a year now. Because of her, I am confined to this blasted room with nothing to break the monotony of the days. I am cursed to an intolerable existence!\'

\'Because of my daughter, you still have your life,\' Kaddyrayth informed him with a deep sense of satisfaction.

\'My life? You call hiding in this damp dungeon a life? I cannot leave these rooms! I am destined to live out my last days here, in complete and utter solitude.\'

\' I did not mean the faked death,\' he shorted and pointed to Snape\'s hand. \' I refer, instead, to the charm clutched so tightly in your curled fist.\'

He watched as Snape uncurled his hand and stared down at the small charm he held. The charm that was warm with love and compassion, that had saved him from a curse shot at his back. A curse that had been meant to end his life. He stared a moment, then lifted confused black eyes back to the face of the man before him. At Kaddyrayth\'s nod, the confusion became a look of vicious hatred. \'Lies!\' Snape thundered.

\'They are nothing of the sort,\' the Draconus sighed. He fished into a small pouch at his side and withdrew a handful of the same charms to show to the Wizard. \'These are charms carried only by the Draconus. They are unique to the Protectors and only work for one of my family. Their strength depends upon the emotions of the one charming them. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the charm\'s ability to protect the person it has been given to. Bri has saved your life more than once, Wizard.\'

Severus struggled to accept what he was being told. His heart was soaring at the idea that Bri had feelings for him. His mind, however, was reluctant to let go of what it thought. She had told him she hated him. She had left him as if he were no more important to her than a broken quill. She had told him she hated him with as much passion as she did Malfoy. He finally shot a scowl at her father and turned for his glass. \'So she has saved my life. Bloody wonderful for her,\' he said, sounding for all the world like a petulant child.

\'Do you not see? Bri loves you! This is why she has gone to face a madman alone. Because of her love for you,\' Kaddyrayth\'s voice was full of disbelief and frustration.

\'Bri has voiced her feelings for me in most efficient means. She has told me that I rate lower than toadstools with her. Which bloody well suits me fine!\' Snape spat at her father heatedly.

\'Have you never considered that she lied to you to protect her own feelings? But then, I suppose that matters to you as much as the fact that she has gone off to once more save your life. The boy she is protecting has been taken by the man who scarred her, both emotionally and physically. He has threatened your life. She was told that, if she did not go to him, he would kill you. Is that what you wish for her? To die in your place?\'

Severus stared at him, not bothering to respond. As it was, he didn\'t know what he wanted. He made sure his face remained impassive so that none of what he was feeling or thinking showed to his unwanted guest.

\'Very well. I can see that speaking to you is a waste of my time. I only came here because I thought perhaps you would help my daughter. I was not there to save her mother. I cannot be there to save Bri. She has no wish to see me. She believes that I should have done more for Diana.\'

Severus glanced up at him sharply. \'Diana? Diana Wallace?\'

\'Yes,\' Kaddyrayth nodded solemnly.

\'Diana Wallace was Bri\'s mother?\' he asked in a harsh tone. He was gifted with a nod here. \'Bloody hell!\'

\'What is it?\' Kaddyrayth\'s gaze sharpened on Snape, watching him intently.

\' I knew Diana Wallace,\' he replied, giving the man before him a slightly pained look. He could see the interest in those starlit, amethyst colored eyes. \'This will be most painful. I do not think that even Bri is aware of this.\'

\'What is it? Tell me now,\' the man demanded softly.

\'Diana Wallace was known to many of my associates as Voldemort\'s Concubine,\' Severus said in a soft voice, his eyes unfocused as he thought back to the last time he\'d seen her. She\'d been kneeling, naked and beaten, in the center of a circle of Death Eaters. He\'d been one of them. Voldemort had leveled his wand in her direction and was regarding her with those blood red, serpentine eyes of his. Diana, though cold, had not been shaking. There had been such a look of defiance on her face. And she had been smiling in the face of Voldemort\'s anger.

*~*~*~*~*

\'Tell me where the child is!\' the Dark Lord snarled at the woman before him. There was a smile on her face and a look in her eyes. It was obvious to everyone she would not give him the information he wanted. Diana lifted her head so that she stared Voldemort straight in the eyes. \'Tell me, you ungrateful bitch, or I swear I shall end your life here and now!\'

\'Kill me then. I won\'t give her to you,\' she replied simply. Severus stood at the edge of the circle that surrounded the kneeling woman. They had been summoned to watch the events that were even now unfolding before them. It was known far and wide that the Dark Lord was mad to possess the child that Diana Wallace had given birth to several years ago. Why he wanted the girl, no one knew. They only knew that he wanted her for his own personal gain.

\'Diana,\' Voldemort shook his head, his tone turning mildly chiding. \' I do not wish to hurt you. But you are forcing me to. All I ask is that you bring the girl before me. I promise no harm will befall her.\'

\'You\'re a liar,\' she countered. There was a soft, low muttering that broke out among the circle of figures dressed in black that surrounded her. A scowl from the seated man silenced them quickly. \'Don\'t think I\'m so stupid to believe that you would allow either of us to leave once we were brought before you. My daughter is not going to become one of your victims.\'

\'My dear,\' he began once more, his voice harder this time. Diana did not cower from it, nor the look she received. He had already assaulted her with both spells and physical abuse. He\'d given several of his most loyal followers the right to take their fists to her, while he\'d been the only one allowed to take his wand to her. She\'d long since lost all of her clothing, so each and every bruise she\'d sustained was visible. They marred the perfection of her skin, along with the bloody slashes made by both spell and knife alike.

\'Save your breath, Tom,\' she snarled. She knelt because she couldn\'t stand, but she didn\'t lower her gaze from his. Her defiance shown in her eyes and in the rigid stance of her body. \'My daughter will never be one of your followers. You\'ll never get your hands on her. She\'s safe from you and yours.\'

\'Tell me where the child is, or I will end your life here and now!\' he growled at her. His wand lifted higher so that it pointed straight at her face.

\'No,\' she replied softly. \' I couldn\'t stop you from using me as you wished. But I will not allow you to touch my daughter.\'

There was a deep finality in her voice that there was no mistaking. Even Severus could see that she would not give the Dark Lord what he wanted. Severus hoped silently that she would be given a swift death. He did not want to see her suffer needlessly. His gaze flicked to the chair where Voldemort sat, staring down at her. He finally heaved a long, loud sigh. \' It will prove difficult to replace you, Diana. You have been so much.... fun.\'

\'Go to hell,\' she snarled. Voldemort looked at her with an expressionless face, then sighed. He looked around the circle a moment, his gaze stopping on one of the figures close to where he sat.

\'Lucius!\' he snapped, returning his attention to where the woman knelt before him.

\'My Lord?\' he asked, stepping forward out of the circle. He motioned to the kneeling woman with one hand, the gesture almost a lazy one.

\'Take her to my chambers. She will await me there for her punishment. Do not touch her,\' he warned, glaring at the tall Death Eater. Lucius inclined his head and moved to Diana\'s side. He pulled her roughly to her feet. She sent a scathing look to Voldemort first, then another to Lucius. Malfoy merely smirked at her and led her away. It was the last Severus ever saw of Diana Wallace.

*~*~*~*~*

\'Three days later, she was found dead in an alley. The reports were that she had been cursed and hexed so badly that it had taken the mark on her ankle to identify her. Several Medi-Witches and Wizards had been so repulsed by what they\'d seen, they\'d immediately left the hopsital, never to be seen or heard from again,\' Severus finished telling his tale. Paddyrayth had dropped into a chair and was simply staring up at the dark man with something like shock on his face.

\'My beautiful Diana,\' he whispered. Snape stared down at him, his face empty of emotion. Kaddyrayth surged to his feet, his hand curled tightly around the hilt of the sword at his side. \'You have condemned my daughter to the same fate as her mother.\'

\'Why do you not simply go to her and stop her?\'

\' It is forbidden. My people do not interfere with what happens in the Mortal Realm. Bri is my daughter. I do not wish to see her die as her mother did. You, Wizard, are the only one who can or will help her. If only you would push aside your hatred and mistrust so that you could see that she...\'

\'You will not convince me with that speech. Bri told me that I do not matter to her. I intend to take her at her word,\' he spat distastefully. He turned his back to his guest and stared at the wall. The Faerie sighed.

\'You are blinded to the truth. Bri cares deeply enough for you that she will willingly take your place. She will die. For you. Because she loves you. Her words of previous were nothing more than words. She wanted you to believe that she does not like you. She was trying to make it easier for her to seperate herself from you. She aches for you, so when she heard that this Malfoy person would kill you if she did not give in to his demands, she went. All of her work will be for naught,\' Kaddyrayth paused long enough to allow his words to sink in, then pushed on. \'She and her young charge will die.\'

\'Her young charge?\' Snape asked. When he got no answer, he turned to find that Bri\'s father was gone. His mind raced with the information that he\'d been given. Bri had lied to him? Part of him wished to believe that. The other part of him, the part ruled by his mind, told his hopeful heart that she had not lied, that her words were the truth. But that would not explain why she would go off if his life was in danger. He was supposed to be dead. Every one in the Wizarding World knew he was dead. And yet...

\'Potter!\' he snarled into the still air. Not only would Malfoy kill Bri but he\'d kill Potter, as well. Severus knew there was no love lost between the two of them, that he and Potter had been bitter enemies since the first day of his magical schooling. But the boy had, for the better part of seven years, been denied much of his childhood. Snape would not deny him the chance for a future, much as it galled him to think about doing such a thing.

He was suddenly very sober and very alert. Bri was in danger. Both because of him and for him. Many things Severus was, but completely heartless wasn\'t one of them. He didn\'t particularly like Potter or Bri, but he wouldn\'t wish death at Malfoy\'s hands upon them at all. It didn\'t take long for him to disassemble the wards. They shattered around him with a single word. Then Snape was flying out of the room, the door to his private sanctum left standing wide open as he hurried along the halls, his intention being to find Dumbledore.

~*~*~*~*~

The halls were silent as Snape stalked up to the Headmaster\'s office. The school term hadn\'t quite ended yet, so there were students in the castle still. He didn\'t care. He didn\'t care if they saw him and thought he was a ghost come back to haunt them. He intended to speak to Dumbledore. His better intentions would likely be the death of him, but he was going to do what he could to save both Bri and Potter. If he died in the process, so be it. But he wouldn\'t condemn the two of them to death because of him. He certainly wasn\'t a coward and he wouldn\'t hide in the castle in safety while a woman and a young man barely out of his childhood faced his fate for him.

He was surprised to find that Dumbledore\'s gargoyle, Penrith, was sitting wide. The spiral stairs to the Headmaster\'s office was exposed and Severus knew a moment\'s sense of panic. Something was going on, something that was terribly bad. He took the stairs at a dead run, his long legs catching every second step on the way up. He wasn\'t about to wait for the stairs to rotate him up to the very top.

The large wooden door stood open, allowing Severus an unencumbered veiw of the room beyond. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, a grim look on his face. Hagrid was standing near the door, not blocking it while clearly being ready to move before it at a moment\'s notice. Minerva stood to the side of the desk, frowning heavily. Her arms were crossed beneath her breasts, one foot tapping an angry tattoo on the carpet beneath. There was an unusual box on the desk, settled before the Headmaster. The top was closed, but there was something mildly familiar about the box. Severus moved closer.

The snakes caught his attention first. There were a pair of them entwined about one another on the top of the wooden box, surrounded by a border of vine work. The box was stained a deep, rich maple color that shone in the dim candlelight. It was an expensive piece that he\'d seen before, many years ago. That box belonged to Lucius Malfoy. He\'d seen it every time he\'d visited Malfoy Manor.

Dumbledore glanced up at him as Severus lifted the lid and stared in. Potter\'s wand and spectacles lay neatly on the bed of silver-gray silk, a few strands of black hair tucked in for good measure. He scowled deeply, then slammed the lid down on the box with enough force to make the desk shake. \'We have a guest, Severus,\' Dumbledore said gently, motioning to a chair just behind Severus.

Snape spun and stared at the figure huddled before him, his scowl deepening. So this was the traitor. The one who\'d been giving away all of Dumbledore\'s secrets. He\'d have expected something like this from one of his own House. But from someone like the person he was now staring at. Suddenly, he saw Avada Kedavra green and he was glad he\'d left his wand in the dungeons.

\'YOU!?\' he snarled in disbelief.

end chapter twenty two.
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a warm round of thank yous and hugs to all my support group. i am so glad that i have you guys there to encourage me in everything i do. i don\'t know that i\'d have gotten this far if you hadn\'t been holding my hand. huggles and much love to you all.

this is entirely self beta\'d, so please don\'t hurt me for mistakes.

finally, thanks for reading.

to Echo: i hope this chapter is satisfactory. there should be a bit more action, then a bit more angst. then it should be done.