Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people or places that belong to the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. The OC (Katherine) is entirely my own.
Severus woke up with a start. He was panting heavily, and sweat covered his forehead. It was those dreams again; they were become more and more frequent now. It was as if the small kiss that they shared in the hidden tunnel had trigger something stronger. Something deeper.
He groaned and ran his hands over his face; images of Katherine's body against his were burned into his mind. Severus looked down to find his legs entangled in his dark emerald green sheets.
Carefully disentangling himself from the linens, Severus grudgingly rose from his bed and proceeded to the bathroom, for yet another cold shower.
..................
The ice cold water raced down his head and back as Severus stood in the shower. His eyes were closed, as he contemplated his job ahead. He had a fairly good idea that it wouldn't be long before the Headmaster would call on him to end his life.
He knew he had to end Albus' life, but a part of him kept yelling at himself not to. But he knew if Draco failed and he didn't finish the task, his life would end as well. Then not only would he have failed Albus, but Lily as well.
And what of Katherine; what would happen to her? He was tired; tired of being Albus' pawn in this chess set of life.
'That's it. I've got to talk to Albus,' Severus told himself as he turned off the water and went to get ready for the day.
.....................
Severus was frustrated, to say the least. By the time dinner came around, he had not seen hide nor hair of Albus or Katherine. Slowly he stalked his way up to the Headmaster's office and luckily found that Albus' was indeed in his study.
"Lemon Drops," Severus muttered to the ugly stone gargoyle, and watched it jump aside to reveal the winding staircase. Once at the top, he knocked and waited for entrance.
"Come in," a voice shouted from the other side. Severus opened the door to see the Headmaster standing and staring out the large window that overlooked the lake. "Ah, Severus. What can I do for you?"
"What can you do for me?" Severus sneered at the question. "You can answer me one thing. Where do you and Potter keep disappearing to this spring?"
"The only thing I can tell you is that I am giving him the information that he will need before my time ends." Albus said, as he turned around to face the younger wizard. Severus thought that the headmaster looked even older tonight, more than he ever had. There seemed to be more lines on his face and his blue eyes looked to have lost their sparkle.
"Information..." Severus spat angrily. "You trust him...that boy...yet you do not trust me with this information."
"Oh, believe me Severus, I do trust you. But as the muggles say, I prefer not to put all of my secrets in one basket. Especially since that particular basket spends so much time dangling on the arm of Voldemort."
"Which I do for you. On your orders."
"And extremely well, I might add. I realize that you put yourself in constant danger and by giving Voldemort valuable, but false information, I am able to trust you all the more."
"Than why not trust me with more? Why not tell me the real reason behind these outings?
"Very well," Albus said, as he paced back to his desk and gestured Severus to sit down. "Harry must not know until the right moment, but there will be a time, long after my death, that Voldemort will fear for the life of his snake companion."
"Nagini?"
"Yes. And when he does, you must tell Harry..." Albus paused, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.
"Tell him what Albus?"
"Tell him, that on the night of October 31st, all those years ago, that when Voldemort tried to kill him, his mother, Lily, cast her own life between them as a shield, which rebounded the Killing Curse and blasted off of fragment of Voldemort's soul. That small fragment latched itself onto the only living soul within the destroyed home. Harry's. A part of Voldemort's soul is within the boy, which is why he is a Parselmouth, which is why he has a connection to Voldemort's mind. While Harry lives, Voldemort cannot die."
"So that means...Potter must die?' Severus asked quietly, as he tried to calculate all the information he was just given.
"Yes. And Voldemort must kill him, himself."
"So your telling me, that we have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment. I thought that we were protecting the boy for her, for Lily. And now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter," Severus shouted, rising from his seat and staring into the old man's eyes.
"Have you grown to care for the boy Severus?"
"For him?" Severus spat. "No, it was all for her. For Lily!
"Expecto Patronum!" Severus shouted, but the light at the end of his wand faltered. Severus growled in frustration before trying again. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Finally from the end of his wand, the silver doe burst forth. Severus and Albus watched silently as she pranced across the room and leapt out the window and faded into the night.
"After all this time?"
"Always."
"But what of the other patronus I experienced this year from you?" Albus asked curiously, yet his eyes were full of tears. Severus exhaled slowly and closed his eyes.
"Expecto Patronum," Severus said softly. The silvery light erupted from the tip of his wand again and a small creature sprung forth. It bounded across the room, and faded, just like the doe, into the night. "It's was Katherine's you know. I only ever saw it once, and that was many years ago. I only seem to conjure it when I'm thinking of her. Otherwise, it is always the doe."
"But there is something there for Katherine, is there not?"
"No. Just companionship. Nothing else." Severus exhaled. The grandfather clock behind the headmaster's desk chimed. "Still have you ever considered that you take too much for granted. Has it ever crossed your brilliant mind that I don't want to do this anymore."
"I will not negotiate this Severus," Albus said as he turned back to the window. "You agreed to this. You agreed to protect Harry and watch over Katherine, so there is nothing more to discuss tonight."
"Headmaster..."
"I must be leaving," Albus said as he made his way towards the office door. "Mr. Potter and I will return later this evening." Severus was frozen in his spot as he watched the headmaster leave. He was angry to say the least, but to argue with Albus more about this would prove pointless.
Severus let out an aggravated sigh, before turning on his heel and heading back towards his study.
.....................
A soft knock came around ten o'clock. Severus sat behind his desk, trying to distract himself with grading, but it was proving unsuccessful. Something was gnawing at the back of his mind, saying that tonight was the night that he would have to end it all.
"Enter," he grumbled, as he marked a big red "T" on top of a second year's paper. He looked up as the door opened to reveal a very tired looking Katherine. His brow furrowed at her state; her eyes had dark circles around them and they were so heavily-lidded that it looked as if she would fall asleep standing up.
"Severus, can I talk to you?" she asked quietly, as though she were in the library.
"Of course," Severus said, rising from his chair and gesturing her to sit. He watched as she slowly made her way to a chair in front of his desk and sunk down into it. She rested his elbows on the arms of the chair, and rubbed her forehead with her left hand. "Katherine? What is the matter?"
"Do you have any Dreamless Sleep potions on you?" Katherine muttered, closing her eyes. "I've run out and haven't had the time to make more." Severus eyed her carefully, noticing the difference in Katherine's movements and in her tone of voice.
"Katherine? How long have you been taking that potion?"
"Since the end of September."
"WHAT!" Severus bellowed, slamming his hands down on his desk. Katherine's eyes snapped back open and her head shot up to look at Severus' enraged face. "Katherine, you and I know very well what that potion can do if you take it excessively. It's no wonder why you look like you're losing more weight or why you look so damn tired lately."
"Don't you dare scold me like a student," Katherine bellowed back, rising from her own chair.
"What bothers you so that you cannot sleep at night?" Severus spat as he inched around his desk, to get closer to Katherine. "What nightmares plague your mind so?"
"You want to know!"
"YES!"
"Fine," Katherine spat, as she stepped closer to Severus. "Prison for one thing. I can still hear the others' screams at night. I still feel as though I'm going to be woken up by the Cruciatus curse. I can still feel the cold stone floor beneath my body as I withered about from the effects of the curse."
Severus stared blankly at her for a moment. He had never thought much about the fact that she may dream of that sort of thing, but then again, he had the same sort of nightmares from the things he saw while he was loyal to the Dark Lord.
"What the other thing?" Severus said quietly, as he looked down into Katherine's eyes. In her rage, she had stepped so close to him, that they were almost touching noses.
"What?" Katherine snarled.
"You said that prison was one of the things that kept you awake. What is the other?" Katherine suddenly flushed and tried to turn her head away, but Severus caught her chin in his hand. "What is the other thing Katherine?"
"You," Katherine breathed.
"What?"
"You," Katherine repeated. "Ever since the tunnel incident, I've been having...well...let's call them, erotic dreams or nighttime memories of things we've done."
"You mean done under our agreement, our..."
"Our no-strings attached arrangement. Yes.
"Well, it's not like it wakes me up," Katherine breathed, moving even closer to Severus. His hand release her chin to cup the side of her face. "But I definitely am in need of a shower when I do."
"I know the feeling," Severus said, as he lowered his head to meet her lips. But a sudden knock at the door, broke them apart. Severus growled at the door as the knocks continued rapidly.
"ENTER!" he bellowed, as he moved towards the door. The door flew, and to Severus and Katherine's surprise, revealed Filius Flitwick on the other side.
"SEVERUS! KATHERINE!" his tiny voice squeaked. "Come. Quickly. Death Eaters are in the castle....attacking the students... and the staff." His little arms flared wildly, motioning them to follow him.
Without warning, a red light flashed passed by Severus' form, hitting the tiny wizard in front of him. Flitwick fell to the stone floor, unconscious. Severus turned to face Katherine with a raised brow.
"What?" Katherine shrugged. All Severus could do was shake his head, as he turned a bolted to the door, with Katherine hot on his heels. As they reached the stairs, they saw Luna Lovegood and Hermione running towards them.
"Professor Snape, Professor Dumbledore," Hermione yelled, panting heavily. "There are Death Eaters in the main hall. They are..." But by that point Severus had stopped listening, as he watched Katherine raced by him and up the stairs.
"Granger, Lovegood," Severus said, with a demanding tone. "Go take care of Professor Flitwick. He passed out in my study. GO!" The two girls didn't even look back as they ran down the hallway to his study.
Severus continued on his way, dashing up the stairs that led to the main hall. He caught sight of Katherine darting in and out of duels, and quickly followed her.
"Severus," Katherine shouted to him, over the noise of screams and curses. He looked towards her and saw her pointing in the direction of the staircase that led to the Astronomy Tower. "Draco!"
Indeed, Severus caught sight of the boy racing up the stairs, followed closely by Bellatrix and three others. Katherine rejoined Severus and the two rushed through the crowd towards the stairs.
Both were panting heavily by the time they reached the tower door. Katherine moved to pull it open, only to find it sealed shut. Severus roughly pushed her aside, before aiming his wand at the handle.
"Bombarda!" Severus shouted. The door blasted open and the two sped up the last flight of stairs to the top of the tower.
..................
"Do it Draco," Bellatrix hissed. "NOW!"
"No," Severus shouted as the small group of Death Eaters turned to face both him and Katherine. The two were breathing heavily and sweat had formed on their brows.
Severus could see that Draco was already faltering; his wand already pointed down and away from his target.
"Think there's a bit of a problem, Snape, Dumbledore," Amycus Carrow stated, as the lumpy man bore his eyes and wand at the defenseless headmaster. "Draco doesn't seems able to finish the job. Just as pathetic as his old man." Amycus, Alecto and Fenrir laughed menacingly, as Draco dropped his head.
"Severus..." a soft voice could be barely heard over the others laugher. "Severus..." the voice came a little louder, causing everyone to turn their heads towards the headmaster. Albus was pleading for Severus to end it, but to everyone else on the tower, they thought he was pleading for his life to be spared.
Severus walked forward, not muttering a word as he pushed Draco behind him and into his godmother's arms. The other Death Eaters backed away as well, but Severus soon heard the clicks of shoes on stone coming towards him.
"Severus...Please..." Albus quietly said again. Severus flinched involuntarily as he felt a hand lightly grasp his shoulder. He looked back behind him, only to find Katherine's ice blue eyes staring back at him.
She gave him a short nod, as if telling him to finish it, then Katherine turned her hatred gaze back on her uncle. Severus turned back and looked at the headmaster for a moment; his face was etched in harsh lines of revulsion for what he had to do.
"Please..." Albus barely whispered it this time, as he looked back and forth between Severus and his niece.
Severus raised his wand and pointed it directly at Albus, all the while Katherine's hand never left his shoulder.
"Avada Kedavra!"