Cicatrices Sunt Abyssi

I've always wanted to do Snape with an OC, and I don't like the idea of him not being able to move on from Lily. So, here's my all new story. When I get about 15 reviews, I'll reveal what the story's title means. Enjoy!

Full Summary: Four years after Lily's death, and five years before Harry attends Hogwarts, Valkyria Thanatos is a Slytherin prefect who always had a decent friendship with the young Potions Professor Severus Snape. However, her world is devastated when her younger brother, Helios, is brutally murdered by Hellhounds after an argument. Severus, still grieving over Lily, is revealed to be the young half-Veela's mate. As they grow closer, more things come to light, and the bravest wizard in Slytherin must let this grieving girl into his heart or they will both die.

                A Slytherin prefect, missing from class?

                The seat of one of his more favorable students was vacant, and Severus Snape was antsy. Valkyria Thanatos never missed Potions, even though the vapors made her sick sometimes. And she was one of the only people that had an ‘O’ in his class. Her best friend, fellow prefect, and rival, Bill Weasley, kept glancing nervously at her seat from his own across the table.

                It wasn’t to say that he easily forgot her face. Valkyria was of petite stature, with pale-golden skin and long, raven hair. She came from the prestigious Thanatos family, notable for their ancient blood, wealth, and the fact that everyone within it had scarlet eyes. What made her even less forgettable was the fact that she was half-Veela. Sometimes, however, Severus thought that she forgot that she was Veela, especially when she went carousing with her friends around the school.

Even the girls who sat behind her, who didn’t quite appreciate the fact that she was what she was, noticed she was gone, and tittered about it all throughout class. The stories they came up with made less sense with every one that passed their lips, and took points from their house for ‘disturbing the class’ when in actuality, he was growing more and more nervous with every passing second. He continued with the lesson normally, terrorizing the Gryffindors until Minerva McGonagall arrived, an unusual expression on her usually straight face. It took him less than a second to realize that it was worry.

She asked, “Severus, may I see you and Mr. Weasley a second?” Severus raised an eyebrow, but made a sharp jerk of the finger towards the red-headed boy. Once outside, the Transfiguration Professor wrung her hands, and asked,

“You are her favorite professor, Severus, so I must ask―have you seen Miss Thanatos?” Severus’ stomach did a backflip at Minerva mentioning that he was the girl’s favorite professor. Sure, she gave him a present twice every term, one for his birthday and one for Christmas, often visited him when she was off duty, enjoying each other’s’ silent company. After the 3^rd year of her doing this, he dismissed any thought of a childish crush, supposing that they were just friendly professor and student, but when she’d returned this year, his thoughts had taken a perverse but not unwelcome turn.

 He hid his feelings, instead choosing to state, “I’m afraid not, Professor McGonagall…I haven’t seen her since lunch. Perhaps she is with the animals again?” That was a bullocks excuse; the girl loved animals, and taking care of them, but she never missed a class. McGonagall shook her head, and asked the other prefect,

“Have you seen her, Mr. Weasley?”

“…I’m afraid not, Professor…no one has. I heard some of her housemates saying she had a row with her brother this morning. And she seemed in a foul mood during Divination this morning.” Severus frowned; Valkyria adored her little brother, Helios, who was a Ravenclaw. And Helios was usually so calm…why would they have a row? The professor swallowed, as Severus asked,

“Is her brother gone too?” Professor McGonagall said, distraught,

“Yes. Both Thanatos siblings have not reported to their classes since the morning time. Helios has been gone since before lunch, and Valkyria vanished just before her Charms class.” There was silence in the corridor, and Severus said,

“It is going on seven o’clock, Minerva. Perhaps they are sick.” McGonagall shook her head, “I’ve been to their dormitories and the infirmary. Madame Pompfrey said that Valkyria hasn’t been there for a week.” There was silence in the corridor, until someone screamed,

“HELLHOUNDS! HELLHOUNDS IN THE FOREST!” Within minutes, Severus and Minerva ran to the Great Hall, where Professor Kettleburn stood with a class of panicking first years. Dumbledore arrived seconds later, calming down the students.

With a stony expression on his face, he asked, “Silvanus, what happened?”

The elderly C.O.M.C teacher said, an expression of horror on his face, “We were covering flobberworms, Dumbledore…when we heard it. A loud, horrible bark. And then a terrible screeching noise, like…” The man shivered. Dumbledore only said,

“Secure the students in the Great Hall. Severus, Minerva, come with me.” With that, they all traveled down to the grounds, where Hagrid was. The half-giant already had a mournful look on his face, and held up a knapsack. It was black, with red and white dots all around it, and was stained in blood in various places. Dumbledore gasped,

“This belongs to…Helios Thanatos.” Severus bolted past the three other people, now panicking.

Despite popular belief, Severus cared for his Slytherins, and for all the students that passed through his classroom. He secretly looked out for them, and if one was hurt, he would never forgive himself. Heart beating, he could hear Dumbledore and Hagrid calling for him to come back. He wasn’t going back until he had the two siblings with him. After several moments of jumping over fallen trees and the undergrowth, he came to a clearing, and gasped. Three hellhounds were in the clearing.

Large, shadowy and pitch black, he could tell one was dead; its tar-colored blood leaked onto the forest floor, drowning the shoots of grass that grown up after the harsh winter. Another was wounded, while the last was advancing on something. The coppery tang of blood was in the air. Pointing his wand at the remaining hellhounds and remembering the time his mother had taken him to the Irish Highlands, he roared,

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” The doe erupted from his wand and charged the wounded hellhound, chasing into the trees. However, the other had vanished, and was creeping up behind him. Severus could feel the creature’s horrific effect creeping up his spine, and he was frozen in horror. He imagined things he didn’t want to.

The Hellhound had the ability to take a simple thought and turn it into one of death and horror.

That when he heard another ‘Expecto Patronum’, this one a bit weaker and feeble, and a massive winged horse soared over him and fought off the hellhound and it too, fled. Turning around, he nearly shouted at the scene. Thanatos was covered in blood, and her head was bowed. The back of her robes was soaked with the scarlet fluid, and she had slumped onto a tree trunk. All around her were body parts of the hellhound, meaning that there’d been a fourth, but she’d managed to kill it. In Valkyria’s arms was a young, golden-haired boy. His scarlet eyes stared unseeingly at the darkening skies, and blood stained his uniform, forming a small pool around him and his sister.

Helios Thanatos was dead.

Severus bit his lip, this was exactly what he had feared. Valkyria’s head was still bowed, but he felt her pulse, and she gave a slight jerk, accompanied by a pained intake of breath. He sighed in relief, summoned another happy memory, and sent a Patronus to lead the others to him. He attempted to touch the girl’s face, but her hand shot out and grabbed his own, sharp nails digging into the flesh of his wrist, before he could do anything.

She then spoke, the blood that dripped from her mouth staining the green and silver of her robe, “…Who…are you…?” He realized that she couldn’t tell who it is, the blood was messing with her eyesight, and cupped her face with his other hand, speaking in an unnaturally soft voice,

“Thanatos, it’s me. Professor Snape. Please focus.” She gave another slight jerk of the head, and he noticed that she seemed to relax. She softly said, “I saw horrible things, fighting the hellhounds, you know. ” He could only imagine. He attempted to remove the boy from his sister’s arms, but she bristled and snarled at him, and he caught the glint of her scarlet eye from underneath the curtain of raven hair currently matted with blood and dirt. Letting up, he fumbled for his wand to cast a cleaning charm, but she grasped his hand and softly said,

                “I discovered who my mate was, several months ago…” She let out a slight moan, and blood slid down her front. “Pity I won’t ever get to tell him.” With that, she passed out, her head tilting forward more than ever, and he kneeled down, and shouted,

                “VALKYRIA! VALKYRIA!” He gripped her shoulders and shook her. As he continued to call out her name, anger boiling in his blood, Dumbledore and Hagrid arrived. The half-giant let out a shout, and Dumbledore sighed,

                “Innocent blood has been split today.” The headmaster levitated Helios’ body with great care, while Severus gathered Valkyria into his arms. She let out a slight whimper in her fitful slumber, and he whispered,

                “It’s going to be alright, Valkyria, I promise.”

                Severus hated making promises that he couldn’t keep.