A Hufflepuff's Loyalty

Chapter 4

I stomped through the cold, long corridors of the castle on Sunday night, on my way to the Great Hall for dinner. Every time someone happened to be in my path, they quickly scurried out of the way to let me pass. As I sat down at the edge of the Hufflepuff table to eat, the others shuffled along, making sure they were nowhere near me.

My fellow students evaded and avoided me. In just a few days, I had built up a reputation among the students. And it wasn't a very positive one. The Hufflepuff boy must've told his mates what I'd done to him, and soon the whole school knew.

Not that I minded, though. In fact, I preferred it this way. I didn't want anyone to distract me, as I was planning and plotting, trying to find a way to get out of Hogwarts safely. I didn't want to become friends with anyone until I could figure out who I was allowed to be friends with.

The castle filled up quickly. As word got out that the world was safe again, more and more students came back to school. They, too, quickly heard the rumours about me.

For four days straight, nobody bothered me. It was bliss. For four full days, I didn't have to worry about whether my family would mind me talking to them or not. I just didn't talk to them.

All week I'd been worrying, unsure what I should do. Should I keep playing along? Should I try to escape? As I was sat down for dinner, staring at the carrots on my plate, I realised that neither was a very good idea. Both were bound to get me in trouble. What I really needed, was to talk to another Death Eater.

And then, as I made my way out of the Great Hall to go back to the Hufflepuff Common room, I finally caught a break. I stopped dead in the middle of the entrance hall, so suddenly that a Ravenclaw girl bumped into me from behind.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" she squeaked. I barely even noticed.

There, right in front of me, talking to professor McGonagall, was someone I knew to be on my side. Someone with the same mark on his arm as I had. Someone I'd seen around among the rest of my family so many times. Finally, I'd found someone I could trust.

There, stood Severus Snape.

He looked dreadful – just how I felt, too. His face was even greyer than it normally was, there were massive dark bags under his eyes, and his robes were all wrinkled and skewed. Never before had I seen Snape look so terrible.

It made sense, of course. He'd lost everything, too, just like me. His master was gone, everything he'd worked for, destroyed. And now he was left having to work in this stupid excuse for a school, just to keep his cover up.

The two adults nodded at one another, and headed in different directions. Snape was walking away from me. He hadn't spotted me yet.

With a shake to clear my head, I told my paralysed legs to start moving, and I followed him through the corridors. There was only one thought running through my mind: I have to talk to him. I have to talk to him.

Patience was key, though. I couldn't just start talking to him about dark marks and Death Eaters in the corridors of Hogwarts. We'd have to find a private place. I'd have to wait until we were alone.

I followed him into the dungeons, where the corridors were empty and echoing. That's when he realised that he was being followed. He rounded a corner and glanced back at me. Even though he kept walking like nothing was wrong, I could tell he faltered for just a second when he saw my face.

As he disappeared around the corner, I picked up my pace. I couldn't lose him, not now. I had to talk to him. He had to tell me what to do. He had to help me.

I all but leaped around the corner, but before I could get my bearings, something grabbed me and pulled me towards the wall. No, through the wall. As I stumbled and fought to keep my balance, I found myself in an unused classroom, the door slamming shut behind me. The room was filled with dusty chairs, scattered about the room, and one large desk at the front, just as dusty as everything else.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Snape hissed at me, lifting his wand to point it straight at my heart.

My eyes grew wide as I realised how this must look; a Death Eater, as a student at Hogwarts! It was preposterous. No, worse, it was a betrayal.

"They took me here! They kidnapped me from Evan's house and brought me here. I tried to escape, I swear! You've got to help me get out of here, before they find out!"

"What are you talking about, girl?" he snapped. "Who are 'they'?"

"The aurors. The same one that killed Evan." Tears clouded my vision as my voice cracked. "Evan is dead."

Snape lowered his wand slightly and his gaze softened just a little bit. "Yes," he said. "I know."

I took a step forward. "You've got to help me get out of here," I whispered. "If they find the mark on my arm, they'll kill me. I have to get out, so I can join whoever's left, and help them."

His gaze hardened again, and he narrowed his eyes. "Whoever's left?"

"Yes! The Death Eaters! They need all the help they can get now, I'm sure!"

"Are you completely clueless? The Dark Lord is gone!"

I unconsciously backed up, startled by his outburst.

"Yes, but we aren't! There's still Death Eaters out there, right?"

"And they'll be captured and killed soon enough," he said coldly.

My heart skipped a beat. He couldn't mean what I thought he meant. Could he? "What are you saying?" I whispered.

"I'm saying it's over. His reign has ended. You need to put the Death Eaters behind you, and try and build a normal life."

It felt like my heart had stopped beating. I couldn't breathe. "You don't mean that."

"Of course I do!" he shouted. "You are lucky. You're free, before they've had a chance to destroy your life." Snape put his wand in his back pocket and turned to open the door. "I suggest you make yourself at home here. This castle is the only home you've got now."

Something inside my head snapped. My mind grew cloudy, I couldn't think clearly. Before I realised what I was doing, I'd pulled my wand and shouted, "Flipendo!"

Snape was thrown into the air and smacked into the door behind him. He immediately jumped up and snatched his wand back out, aiming for me with a murderous look on his face. The same look that graced mine, too.

"How dare you attack me?" Snape spat.

"You betrayed them! You betrayed them all!"

"Jena, stop being daft –"

"No, you stop! The Dark Lord trusted you. Evan trusted you. But as soon as we face one set-back, you forsake our causes. You traitor!" My chest heaved, as I tried to process what was happening, while still staying vigilant enough to defend myself if he decided to attack me back. It was too much. After everything I'd been through, I couldn't handle a betrayal like this. He'd been Evan's friend!

"Are you truly that thick?" said Snape. "I told you, the Dark Lord is gone. There are no causes left. The Death Eaters have fallen apart. You should've seen the amount of them crawling back to the Ministry, pretending to have been influenced by the Imperious curse. I'm telling you. There is nobody left."

My whole body shook, as I tried to make sense of what he was saying. It couldn't be true. They were loyal. Just like me. They would never just abandon the cause. Evan couldn't have died for nothing. Snape must be lying.

"That's not true," I groaned. "It can't be true."

Snape gestured towards the yellow stripes on my robes. "You're a Hufflepuff. Not everyone is as loyal as you are. Most people are only loyal until they get what they want."

I shook my head violently. "No... No, that's not right."

"It's not. But it's the way things are. People disappoint."

"But they're my family." A tear escaped the corner of my eye. "The only family I've ever had."

Snape lowered his wand, though he didn't put it away this time. "We've all lost something in this war. We've all got to deal with it."

With that, he opened the door and left me alone with my misery.