Contrasting Familial Ties

Disclaimer: I don\'t own the boys, JKR does I just like to play and watch :D

A/N: Thanx to my betas, Cyndassa and Sarah and also to Miss Riddle and my reviewers!

Warning Character Death!

Chapter 3

All was silent in the castle, all the lights were out and there was only one lone shadow stalking the halls. Severus Snape prowled throughout the halls, looking for students out after curfew, which would, of course, lead to massively cruel point deductions. As he rounded a corner near the great hall, he felt a sharp burning pain in his left arm, not as powerful as a Summons, but still enough to get his attention. The Dark Lord was near. If anyone had observed the Potions Master at that time, they would\'ve seen his face lose all color and his eyes widen in an uncharacteristic display of emotion; after the realization had sunk in, Snape all but ran to the Headmaster\'s office.
\"Baby Ruth,\" Snape gasped, barely stopping before taking the winding staircase two or even three steps at a time. When he came to the door he didn\'t even stop, preferring to barge right in unannounced, not surprised to see the Headmaster already at his desk and waiting for him.
\"Severus my boy, whatever is the matter?\" the old man asked, noting Severus\' haste to talk to him, and not even trying to offer him tea or lemon drops.
\"Headmaster, Voldemort is near. Very Near,\" Severus said, panting.
Not a moment after the pronouncement, an alarm suddenly went off throughout the castle, signaling that there were Death Eaters on the grounds. Quickly, Dumbledore cast a spell, magnifying his voice so it could be heard throughout the castle and summoned all the teachers to him.

After sketching a brief outline of the battle plan, it was decided that the teachers and the seventh years would take various posts throughout the castle and the grounds. The rest of the years would stay in their houses guarded by house prefects, the house ghosts, and also the suits of armor, while the portraits were used to communicate between houses. While the students were being taken care of, the Headmaster was assigning tasks and positions to the remaining teachers and students. Severus\' job was to slip outside from a secret passageway in the dungeons and pick off the Death Eaters one by one. It was a simple plan really, Severus just had to make good use of his spying skills and incapacitate some of his former comrades.

Affixing a scowl onto his face, Severus set out for the grounds. Despite the glower on his face, inside Seversu was practically thrumming in excitement and nervousness. It had been awhile since he had utilized his skills against the Death Eaters, and he was hoping that his skills weren\'t too rusty. This thought almost made the scowl on his face take flight and be replaced with an evil grin. The sight of the Great Bat stalking down the corridors with an evil grin on his face would not only scare the pants off his students, it would also scare the staff. This amusing image kept his mind busy and before he knew it, he was nearing the forest.

As he stealthily crept towards the silent group, he heard their whispers about how this attack was just to unsettle the residents of the castle. Falling behind the group, Severus grabbed one of the Death Eaters from behind, shoving a hand over his captive’s mouth to prevent him from alerting the others.

\"Petrificus Totalus!\" Severus said as quietly as possible as he held down his victim. Once satisfied that the man was unable to move, Severus plucked the man\'s wand out of his hand and put it in a hidden pocket in his robes. He continued to stalk after the group, noticing that there were fewer Death Eaters than had been expected; apparently the Dark Lord believed that this attack was not a first priority, thus only needed one or two small groups to rile up the inhabitants of Hogwarts.
Severus was able to bind two others before the man who was appointed the group leader turned around to ask one of his fellows a question and caught sight of the dark figure. Severus was forced to drop the man he was carrying in order to throw up a shield, just in time to miss the leader\'s first hex.

\"You traitor!\" the man yelled, finally glimpsing Severus\' face. His rage forced him into sending a few more hexes towards the professor, but both men\'s attention was suddenly captured as they heard a loud yelp followed by yelled, \"Fang!\"
\"Seems my comrades have done part of their job,\" the man gave a smirk, \"Even though that great beast wasn\'t worth anything, he is still quite a large force to reckon with.\"

Throughout this little exchange, Severus had been keeping an eye on the man across from him, watching for a moment when the other\'s defenses fell. Another loud yell of pain and a flash of light came from the direction of Hagrid\'s cabin, drawing the unnamed man’s eyes away from Severus. That was the opening the professor needed, although he almost wasn\'t fast enough to send a binding spell towards the other man. The man went down and Severus grabbed the wand he had clutched in his hand. Not looking back, Severus quickly made his way to Hagrid\'s hut, but found he was too late, the half-giant\'s still form lay on the ground, twisted in agony.

\'Harry\'s going to be heartbroken, his first true friend is gone,\' Severus thought to himself gloomily.
\"Well, well, what have we here?\"
Cursing himself, for letting his guard down, Severus whirled around to face none other than Lucius Malfoy.
\"Lucius,\" he spat, glaring at the blond.
\"Severus. Mourning over the big oaf then?\"
Not knowing if Lucius knew of his true allegiances, Severus kept silent, watching the pale man carefully, his wand hand twitching. He saw a figure move behind the pale man and watched as the Aurors sent a quick Stupefy towards Lucius. The Aurors sent suspicious looks at him, but proceeded to gather up the Stupefied Death Eaters. Knowing his task was done, Severus returned to the body of the half-giant and levitated it up and to the castle.

After everyone had regrouped and the injured were taken to the infirmary, Severus climbed up the spiral staircase to the Headmaster\'s office. As soon as he opened the door, he was offered tea and a lemon drop, but refused, wanting to hear what the Headmaster had to say.

\"You must retrieve Harry,\" Dumbledore said, completely immersed in his cup of tea and sounding quite distracted. Severus scowled but nodded an affirmative, knowing that the brat wouldn\'t be safe hidden in the Muggle world any longer.