Severus Snape and the secrets of time

Chapter 2: the inevitable

Half an hour later, as he sat with his back to the wall and an untouched beer in front of him, Severus heard the familiar high voice of the dark lord. "I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You can not fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

"If you had any respect at all for the teachers, you would stop trying to kill them and their students." Severus thought bitterly.

"Give me Harry Potter," continued Voldemort's voice, "and none shall be harmed."

Severus found his own heart unwilling to comply. He had heard those promises before, right before Voldemort had killed Harry's mother. He knew, even if they did comply, which they wouldn't, many would die before the sun came up.

"You have until midnight." Voldemort's voice warned.

He wondered if he would be able to disappear, or if he would be forced to fight more people he cared about. How could he bring himself to duel the children he had spent the last 7 years protecting?

The death eaters around him were leaving to take up their positions for the upcoming battle, so he too slipped out and disappeared into the shadows.

He had hardly left the inn, when he saw dozens, and then hundreds of students pouring out of the Hogshead inn.

He stood at a distance in the shadows against the wall, watching, putting protection charms over the children, when two death eaters walked up to him and asked him why he wasn't preparing for the battle.

"Voldemort put me over the children. I'm following my orders. What were yours?"

"To take out any students who escaped," The death eater sneered, as he raised his wand. Suddenly his eyes went blank and he dropped his wand on the ground.

"These children are doing exactly what the dark lord told them to," Severus snapped, turning to look straight at the second death eater. "Wouldn't you agree?"

The second death eater looked at the first, then at Severus who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He then swallowed hard, and walked quickly away toward the front lines without arguing.

The first death eater appeared to come to his senses, walked to the middle of the street, and stood guard until all the students had escaped safely.

Severus picked up the man's wand and pocketed it, walking away and keeping to the shadows in an attempt to avoid being forced to fight in the pointless battle that was breaking out.

Some time later, Lucius Malfoy, a fellow death eater and close confidant of Voldemort, once arrogant but now broken and battered, one eye swollen shut, limped up to Severus.

"The dark lord has need of you," Lucius told him. But his eyes were darting around, obviously consumed by his search for his son, only thinly veiled by his mission to deliver Voldemort's message. "He awaits you in the parlor of the house," he said, pointing in the general direction of the house on the hill.

Severus took off at once, though none too eager to reach his goal, dread bubbling up in him with every step.

He looked through a window, almost opaque with decades of dirt. Voldemort was strolling back and forth across the parlor, Nagini, his pet snake, slithering happily in a magical cage suspended in midair. Something told him this was it. He somehow knew Voldemort meant to kill him. Would he use Nagini to do it? Seldom had he been able to garner so much from the dark lord's mind. His defenses were down, unaware of his presence. He checked in his pocket for the bottle of anti-venom as he watched Voldemort sit down in a chair, toying with his wand. He hoped the anti-venom would be enough. It could kill him just as easily as Nagini.