The Dark Gryffindor

Please review! The next update will concern events that took place on the eve of the battle at Hogwarts. The beginning of the end!


Chapter Thirty-four: Untangling Loose Ends


The evening had only just begun, and it was refreshingly cool especially since it had been a hot afternoon, of which she spent alone in an empty dormitory. Ever since escaping the Carrows, Valerie hid in Gryffindor tower. Fortunately, the Carrows assumed she’d be hiding in the Room of Requirement and did not going looking for her there.

She couldn’t even go down to the Gryffindor common room except for late at night, for fear of being sighted.

Valerie was alone, and sulking in misery, to the point of cold despair. She was still saddened by her mother’s death of course. Her bedroom was a mess, the covers all twisted. The food the House-elf, Winky had brought up was left untouched.

And now she stood before her bureau looking at her disheveled appearance in the mirror, garbed in a soft, pink-hued dressing gown with white ribbon trimming. The attire hung loosely around her lanky shoulders, and her hair was greasy. Her feet were bare, and caked with dirt from lying around her dormitory for so long.

Biting back a sob, Valerie looked down to see the Pensieve that Severus had given her a couple of months ago. It was full of the swirling, pearly memories of her miserable past. At least putting them inside the Pensieve could keep them off her mind, yet it did not make her an amnesciac of them.

Blinded with tears, she prodded her wand listlessly through the memories, the awful truth of her past, unraveling before her. She had not seen Severus for four long days. Not even he was present to comfort her in exile. The only time Valerie could go outside was flying through the window for a breath of fresh air, but this was only at night when she wouldn’t be seen.

Valerie did not know how long she stood over her Pensieve, crying. She was doing this every night. The memories of her mother’s murder and her father’s despicable corruption of her sexuality still clouded her consciousness.

Valerie felt a breeze on her shoulder from the window behind her. She had kept it open, and was planning on maybe going for a walk in the forest tonight. She no longer cared what was dangerous; she almost wouldn’t have cared if she died. There was another burst of cool air, and something seemed to stir right behind her. It must be nothing. If anything it was her imagination getting the best of her. Maybe she should study to get her mind off things.

Gentle hands were on her hips, and someone was untying the ribbons of her nightgown from behind. Valerie finally looked up from the Pensieve, startled to see Severus in the mirror. Tears splashed down her face, some of them landing in the Pensieve.

“Severus…I’m so glad you’re here.”

He need not say anything, but continued to kiss Valerie from neck, down to her shoulders. His kisses felt deliciously sweet, and a soft moan escaped Valerie, somewhere between a lustful whimper and a sob.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

“Yes. Oh, Severus, you don’t know how much I needed you!”

Valerie dropped her wand in release, and it clattered onto the dresser. Snape had taken hold of her midriff in a tight grip, one that made Valerie feel very secure. He held her against him, and she could feel his presence. Warm, but hard, so very solid, as he pressed his body behind her.

“Yes, I’m here….And I love you,” he whispered passionately. Severus was finally coming to the full-realization that he was madly in love with this young woman. The candlelight glowed softly in the room, as twilight set in, sultry breezes drifting in from the window.

“Now why don’t you take those memories and put them back in your mind?”

She shook palpably against him, “S-severus….No. I can’t!”

“Just put them away. It isn’t so hard. Do it! Do it for me, Valerie."

Valerie’s shoulders went limp and she sobbed in defeat. Snape had never seen her so gone of the usual spunk and feistiness. Clearly her depressing memories had begun to rule over her. He felt a sudden wash of guilt at leaving her alone and isolated for the last several days. For now on, till term ended he promised silently to visit her.

“Valerie. It’s for your own good. Put them back inside your head!”

“No! Don’t make me!”

Snape grabbed her wrist, and taking his hand in hers, forced her to grasp her wand. He directed her to coil one of the liquid strands around the wand.

He let go as she placed the wand to her temple. He was sure she was going to do it, when she suddenly dropped the strand back into the basin. “It’s too much. Too painful!”

In frustration, Snape wanted to turn her around and scream at her. But instinctively, he knew what was good for her. He saw a wooden hairbrush on the dresser. Stealthily, he grabbed it, and slapped her bottom with it.

“Ouch!” Valerie said from surprise. “Severus…I don’t want to feel pain. But you’re forcing me to!”

He knew this would work. One hand went between her shoulders, and she was lying against the surface of the dresser. He laid a firm paddling on her naked posterior. After a few hard blows, Snape stopped.

He grabbed her shoulders again, and forced her to stand straight again. He could see Valerie’s face in the mirror, wincing from the sting of the paddling, tears plastered on her pale cheeks. Snape had been forced to resort to force, if only to get her to do what she needed to do.

“Take them out of that Pensieve I gave you and return the past to your mind. I will not allow you to hide any longer,” said Snape, sounding very stern and more in his teaching role than that of a lover now. “You must have a disciplined mind….Otherwise, all will be lost. Now put those memories back inside your head.”

Valerie screamed with misery, struggling without really trying as she fought the demons in her mind. Snape held her. “I must…I must battle my pain,” she said. More tears fell down Valerie’s face. “Somehow I suppose this makes me stronger. Half the battle comes from within. Does it not?” she asked him.

“Yes. Come on.”

He held Valerie as she forced her wand into the stone basin again. Slowly, and inexorably she placed each of the dozen memories back into the forefront of her mind again. Valerie could feel the memories fully inside her again, and she burst into sobs.

“I’m sorry. Th-thank-you for helping me!”

“Of course,” he whispered into her ear, as he held her. Snape actually let her cry into his shoulder, something he’d never let anyone else do before.

“There now…I promise, you’ll get used to it. Abstaining from the Pensieve will make you stronger in the process.”

“Right….Already I feel different.” And Valerie did. It was like the final door closing in her mind, closing and burying her past for good.

Snape still holding the bamboo brush used it now to brush her hair. Apparently the poor girl hadn’t brushed it in a while. The strands were all straggly, coarse and full of knots. Snape went to great lengths to untangle them.

Valerie sank onto her four-poster bed, still crying a little. Her bottom felt pleasantly warm against the red satin sheets. Snape went to lie with her, holding her close against him, gently brushing her long, wavy brown hair until it was free of kinks.

They spent the night together, Snape holding Valerie where she was safe in his arms. They had a bite to eat, for Valerie was ravenous from her meager appetite of before, but his company brought back her desire to eat. He told her everything, confiding in her just like she was his beloved wife. He told Valerie how Voldemort in his rage went through with the secret poisoning of a select few ministry workers. Several of them died yesterday, Yaxley and Selwyn being the ones who poisoned them. And then Snape told her that the Chief Snatcher, Heinrick Scabior was hurting students. Kids were constantly being tortured in the halls now, and students ran to their classes, terrified of Scabior and his men. They were scared of their teachers, scared of the Carrows, scared of the Prefects and even of the Headmaster (even though Snape was really an empty threat).

And Snape concluded, “Hogwarts is tightly coiled, tensed with fear. It is likely to spring into a skirmish at any moment…I’m waiting on tenterhooks for a major fight. It’ll be Slytherin versus Gryffindor all over again. But this time, I’m afraid it is truly militant.”




NOTE: Please review. The next scenes will all be battle scenes from that night. I think you will all be surprised concerning Valerie’s fate and perhaps Snape’s as well.