Touch your heart (Severus Snape)

Chapter 8

When I told Dumbledore what happened he gave me the kindest look ever.

"Don't you worry, Angel. Everyone here loves you. Even if they knew who you are, everyone will look at you with nothing but love. Your past doesn't define who you are."

"It's not just that, Dumbledore. If the Malfoy's' know about me, my family will know about me! They will come for me." I cried.

"They won't do anything to you. Besides, I got Severus protecting you."

I muffled a laugh. "He thinks that I'm hiding something from him and that I don't trust him. He is mad with me because of that."

"Are you? Hiding something?"

I froze and widened slightly my eyes, speechless, but he just smiled.

"I trust you, Angel. I know your life is full of pain. I know there are so many things you don't want to tell anyone and I respect that. But Severus is a man with lots of scars. His heart is closed to love and doesn't show his feelings. That's why I gave you the mission to get close to him. Now, I know it's not an easy task, but you need to learn to trust him. You don't need to tell anyone everything about you. But you need to be honest with him. Otherwise, we will lose him. And one day, when I'm no longer capable of being here, I don't want him to be alone. I can only ask him to sacrifice so much for the greater good, I need to do this for him. I know this is hard for you, my darling, but we all need someone by our side in the darker times."

"You seem like you know something is about to happen," I told him, leaving him with a contemplative expression.

"I can only imagine. I only wish for you both to find friendship with each other. Something tells me you can do it. You just need to open your heart, my darling."

I nodded him - not because I accepted everything he told me, but because I understood what he was trying to say - and got out of his chambers, heading for mine. It was sleep time already and I was dying to feel my comfortable bed under me. I felt so overwhelmed with this confused feelings. I have no idea why I was feeling this way, I never did before. And I was so mad about it, that I just wanted to vanish for good. But tonight, I was going to sleep on that heavenly bed.

But when I got to my door someone was already there, waiting for me.

I could recognize those black curls at distance, so I froze, not knowing what to do. He had seen me and was smirking maliciously. Running wasn't an option, he would get me instantly, screaming wouldn't help either. And I couldn't understand how he was able to pass Hogwarts security.

"Oh, my dear Angelina! After all these years I finally found you! And how beautiful you are!"

"Uncle Maxime. How did you get in?"

He laughed and approached me. A laugh that I knew too well and that provoked shivers down my spine. "You don't think Dumbledore's' security would stop me, would you?"

"What do you want?" I asked, stepping back slowly. The moonlight illuminated his face and I could now see him perfectly. I could see the face that gave me nightmares along with the scars that I made on that face when I escaped.

"You know what I want." I drew my wand and he laughed. "What can a weak pet like you do to a powerful wizard like me?"

"I've been training. Don't get closer to me. Go away."

"Don't fret me, girl. I came to give you a message. Your family is waiting for you. They wish you to join us again. Together we will raise the Dark Lord from the deads. And they want you by our side."

"You must be really a fool to come here to propose me that. You already know the answer."

"I know. But that will change. Soon."

And like that he went away.

As soon as he was out of sight I released air that I kept locked on my lungs. I started to feel dizzy, my breathing was heavy, gasping for air and my heart was pounding. I leaned against the wall and let myself slide down until I was sitting on the floor, embracing my knees and trying to calm my sobbing.

All the dark memories of my past came back to me.

The way my uncle chained me to the wall and used my body for his own pleasure. My little fragile body. The night when I grabbed a knife from the kitchen without anyone notice it. And when uncle Maxime went to the dungeons looking for the pleasure he had almost every night now, I stabbed him in the shoulder and cut his face, kicking him between his legs and running through the dark corridors.

I knew most of my family was away, reuniting with some Death Eaters. So the coast was almost clear, and I ran the faster I could until I wasn't able to see the mansion anymore..

What I was doing after running, I didn't know, but I didn't stop until I was really tired and fell asleep under a bridge, in spite of my growling stomach..

I was almost fainting but I still managed to get up from the floor and stumble through the corridors, in the opposite way of my chambers. My body automatically moved in the direction of the only one who could protect me at that moment, - even though he didn't want to have anything to do with me.

Weakly, I knocked on his door, still trying to handle my uneven breathing and my racing heart.

I heard movements inside Snape's' chambers and the door was abruptly open, showing an angry and sleepy Snape. His mad face turned into a worried expression and his arms immediately caught me on his arms before I finally fell.

He took me inside his chambers, leading me to his couch.

"What happened?"

I couldn't say anything, so I just cried, head buried on his neck, arms around him. And he didn't ask anything else. He knew I wasn't able to give him an answer, just yet so he did what he was trying not to do for months... He pulled me to his arms and embraced me while he planted a kiss on my head, closing his eyes and dandling me until we both fell asleep on his couch.