Eye of the Beholder

Thanks to Justice for reviewing the last chapter

 Chapter 26. Difficult Decisions
Snape’s eyes never left Lucius, but he knew Sasha had fled. He wanted desperately to run after, but the immediate threat was from Lucius, and he had to deal with that first. Snape kept his wand pointed directly at his heart.
 
"Why are you doing this, Lucius," he asked accusingly. "Why bring this up now, after all these years."
 
Lucius eyed Snape’s wand. He had enough sense to remember that although Snape was a Potions Master, he was also damn fast with hexes. He knew he could not out-spell Snape in direct hand to hand combat. He lowered his own wand.
 
"Why not now," he replied testily. "It was bound to come up at some point seeing that you are involved with the girl. I merely brought it to your attention. Besides," he said, the mocking smile back into his voice, "it is not like I am inventing these events. You still have yourself to blame for abandoning the child in the first place." Lucius saw the pain in Snape’s eyes, and knew his barb had hit home.
 
Lucius had enough confidence to know that Snape was now somewhat back under control of his emotions, and would most likely not hex him. He took the flat of his hand and brushed Snape’s wand aside. Snape eyed the blond man with detest.
 
"You were also there, Lucius, and longer than I was. You could have stopped him."
 
Lucius looked at Snape and shook his head back and forth. "We both know that is not necessarily so. What I said earlier was the truth. Avery can be unstoppable when he gets fixated on something, and at the time, he was having too much fun taunting you with the child." Lucius stopped and leaned in close to Snape. "Or have you forgotten the incident already," he whispered, mocking Snape.
 
Snape reacted without thinking. He grabbed Lucius roughly around the collar, and brought his face in close.
 
"What exactly happened after I left? What did Avery do to her besides the obvious? Did he touch her in any way?" Snape gritted out between clenched teeth.
 
Lucius tried to grasp Snape’s wrists and remove them, but he was not strong enough. The two men glared at each other, until Snape shoved Lucius back, sending the blond man skittering off-balance.
 
He looked at Snape, the raw hatred evident in his pale eyes. "That, my friend, you will have to ask Avery yourself. You will have ample time at the Dark Revel."
 
Lucius jerked his cloak forward, readjusting the collar from where Snape had held him.
 
"Three days from today, Snape. Bring the potions, and yourself. You will find your answers there."
 
Lucius reached for his walking stick and re-sheathed his wand. He put his hand in his pocket and grabbed a fistful of floo powder, as he intended to make a quick exit before Snape figured out how he got into Hogwarts to begin with.
 
Snape watched as, without another word, Lucius turn on his heel and exited the room.
 
Once he was alone, Snape slumped down on the cold, stone floor and rested he head back against the wall. His wand fell unnoticed beside him on the ground. He closed his eyes in pain at the thought of what had just occurred.
 
My God, he thought. I don’t believe this is happening to me. His first few thoughts were of the incident that occurred so long ago. He remembered being disgusted with Avery, and having been laughed off at his pitiful attempt at defending the child. He had disapparated away from the field so he would not be a part of what was happening. He had no idea it was those very actions that that had led to Sasha being maimed. It was possible he cold have prevented that, if only he had insisted Avery stop.
 
Snape felt another wave of guilt and shame wash over him at his actions. How could he ever face Sasha again? How could he ever explain to her what had happened? He knew she was just starting to love him for the man he was, but he knew this sort of catastrophe would jeopardise all that.
 
Snape sat and looked aroune roe room. At his lab. He remembered the hours they had spent there, standing over the cauldrons. How he had shown her the delicate intricacies of his art. Of how she was curious, prodding him and asking questions that proved to him she was genuinely interested. He remembered sneaking glances at her while she was writing in her notebook. Little did he know she was writing about him; of her growing love for him, and of how she had begun to see past his role of Professor, to the man beneath. Snape remembered that he was the one she had sought out when she was panicked by Draco’s cruel words. She had been the one who had enough courage to reveal her feeling for him first. She had believed in him, and had seen the good in him while others never got past his cold defences.
 
And now all the trust that had slowly developed between them was gone.
 
He had never in his life felt so ashamed.