Of all the Death Eaters whose presence he had been forced to endure, Corban Yaxley was the one Severus hated the least. Not that he liked him, of course, but the man had the unique and useful ability to appear completely anonymous to anyone.
Yaxley was whatever the person in front of him wanted him to be; a blank canvas on which, if you knew how to manipulate the colours, any image could be painted. Unfortunately, the image he had chosen to paint in this context was that of a Death Eater, loyal to his master.
Severus watched as the man, bound to a chair by a Binding Charm, glowered sullenly at the comings and goings of the dungeons. Determined to begin and end his interrogation as quickly as possible, he began to approach him with quick steps. If anyone could extract information from a Death Eater, it was surely him.
"Professor!"
He turned. Once again, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were walking towards him.
"What is it?" he asked, in the tone of someone who would have preferred not to be bothered.
"What are you doing, sir?" asked Harry.
"What do you think I'm doing, Potter? Interrogating our prisoner," he replied.
Three pairs of eyes moved from the Professor's scowling face to the hostile one of the Death Eater not far away.
Harry shook his head. "You can't."
Severus took a step towards him, slowly, a growing anger gleaming in his black eyes.
"I can't?"
Ron swallowed, and Harry shook his head again.
"And why on earth, Potter, can't I?" he asked in a dangerously calm tone.
The boy seemed to consider his answer carefully.
"There are things…" he began, keeping his head down, "things that might come out of the interrogation. Things that only I, Ron and Hermione know, and no one else—"
"I was the one who kept the secrets of the Order," Severus blurted out. "I knew more than anyone else for seventeen years."
He brought his face close to the boy's, his long, hooked nose almost touching Harry's pale face.
"I'm the one who deals with the Death Eaters here."
Harry bravely met the Professor's angry gaze. He stood in silence, waiting for the outburst to end, then said firmly, "It's Dumbledore's orders, sir."
The words had some effect on him. He stepped back, his eyes still fixed menacingly on the three students, and remained silent for a while.
"Fine," he said finally. "If you think three children can make one of Voldemort's most loyal followers talk, then go ahead."
He said the last words with a malicious grin on his face, apparently forgetting that he was supposed to be on their side.
The three students exchanged meaningful glances; then, no doubt driven by euphoric bravado, Hermione muttered, "Do you think you could get us some Veritaserum, Professor?"
Severus gave her a cold stare. He looked at them again, one by one, and only when he felt they were sufficiently intimidated did he nod and gestured for them to follow him.
They all walked in silence to his office. Severus opened the door and entered, the three of them stopping just short of the threshold. He reached into a cupboard behind his desk and took out a small glass bottle containing a colourless liquid. He swirled it in his hands for a few seconds, then turned and stood in front of the students, handing them the Veritaserum.
"Thank you," Harry said, with a smile that made Severus want to slap him.
"Veritaserum works best when administered to an unsuspecting subject," he remarked, regaining his malevolent grin. "You are about to interrogate a man you have taken hostage and tied to a chair. Good luck."
The three looked at each other in concern.
"But even if the subject knows they're drinking it, Veritaserum still works, doesn't it?" said Hermione. "Very few people can resist it. That's what it says in Moste Potente Potions."
The Professor seemed about to cast a deadly curse on her. Instead, he took measured steps towards her and looked her in the eye.
"That's what it says, isn't it?" he murmured. "You should take what you read in manuals a little less literally, Granger. This is the real world, and this is one of Voldemort's most loyal followers. How likely do you think it is that he isn't one of the few who can resist it?"
To be perfectly honest, Severus didn't believe for a moment that Yaxley could resist anything. However, the anguished expressions on the students' faces gave him a satisfaction that fully justified the minimal effort he had to make to appear convincing.
Harry, Ron and Hermione, not before having swallowed hard in unison, turned and started to leave the room.
"A word, Potter," the Professor called.
The boy looked at him and gestured for the other two to wait outside.
Severus, meanwhile, had sat down at his desk and started arranging books and parchments in the drawers as if it were a normal school day and he was about to start a lesson. Harry approached him and, inspired by the sudden burst of normality, sat down in the chair in front of the desk and waited.
"Tell me," he said, using the same tone he had used countless times before when looking for a good reason to punish him. "Why do you have Draco's wand?"
"Oh!" he exclaimed in surprise. "It's a long story."
"You'd better start telling it then. You don't want to keep your friends waiting."
They looked at each other. Resigned to the fact that he wouldn't leave the office without an explanation, Harry spoke.
"We fought and I disarmed him. My wand broke a few months ago, so I kept his."
"Where is he now?" Severus asked, trying not to sound alarmed.
The boy gave him a dejected look that made the task much more difficult.
"Is he dead?"
Harry shook his head. "No, sir. He's in the Slytherin dormitory, and refuses to come out since…" He paused.
"What happened?" Severus asked, and this time a note of concern cracked his impassive tone.
"He followed me when I went to…" he swallowed. "To die."
He shifted in his chair and cleared his throat.
"He must have seen me leave the castle. I think he was trying to reach his parents. I was wearing the Invisibility Cloak, but he managed to follow me, I don't know how."
Severus half smiled. The boy had always underestimated Draco.
"Anyway, he was still hiding when Voldemort killed me. I don't know why he didn't show himself, I… I think he was looking for a reason to rebel. He's changed, I saw it when we fought. I don't think he likes being a Death Eater."
"Of course he doesn't," the Professor said firmly.
There was a pause during which Severus brooded over the dozens of times he had wanted to help Draco but had been unable to.
"Did he do it?" he asked.
"Did what?"
"Did he rebel?"
Harry nodded gravely. "Voldemort asked his mother to check if I was really dead, but I was awake by then. She noticed and asked me… she asked me if Draco was still alive. I told her he was, so she covered for me. I think she was hoping Voldemort would give her permission to return to the castle to look for her son."
"But that didn't happen?"
The boy shook his head. "No, sir. Voldemort didn't trust her. He checked himself and when he realised she was lying, he killed her. Draco saw everything."
A look of pure horror spread across Severus' face, and he didn't bother to hide it. His family was all that Draco had ever had. The bond he had with his parents, especially his mother, was the only thing that had kept him alive in recent years. He wondered what Draco must have felt when he saw her die; then he stopped thinking. It hurt too much.
"He helped me escape," Harry added.
Severus' eyes snapped to him.
"When I stood up and faced him, Draco could have gone to his father, but he didn't. He came with me. He went back to Hogwarts."
"He's found his reason," the Professor said grimly.
Harry nodded. "He's the last Slytherin left. The dormitory is empty. No one in the castle knows the password and he never left."
Severus was surprised to read that note of genuine concern in the eyes of the boy who had hated Draco with a fierce passion for seven long years.
"Good. You may go," he dismissed him.
Harry rose, nodded briefly, reached the door and disappeared behind it.
Severus remained seated, thinking for a few more moments. Having made a decision, he left his office, locked the door and walked briskly towards the Slytherin common room on the other side of the dungeons. When he reached it, with a look of disgust on his face, he uttered the last password that had been set at the entrance when the school was still under Voldemort's control.
"Pureblood."
The door did not open.
He cursed and stood staring at it, reflecting. There was something that Voldemort had confided in him, among many other things, and it concerned this very common room: a secret entrance, only open to Slytherin and his heir, so that they would always have access, a place that welcomed them. And what was the one thing that Slytherin and all his heirs had in common?
He turned and crossed the dungeons again, his gaze determined and his black cloak billowing. He entered the main hall, the new hospital wing, and saw a compact group of people crowded around a bed, most of them with teary eyes. He approached and squeezed in between two seventh year Hufflepuff students.
On the mattress, covered in white sheets from the waist down, was Colin Creevey. There was a large black wound on his stomach, a hole that pierced his abdomen and seemed to grow before their eyes. There was an expression of suffering on the boy's face that made it almost impossible to look at him without feeling the urge to turn away.
"It's the Inferi Curse," Professor Flitwick explained weakly, also at the boy's bedside. "Nothing can be done."
Severus had seen the curse before, on Albus Dumbledore. It had been inflicted on him by a ring that had belonged to Lord Voldemort himself, and would have led him to a slow and painful death had he not intervened in time and confined it to one hand. Even so, the Headmaster would not have survived more than a year.
Judging by the boy's condition, however, there was no chance of stopping the rapid progress of the curse. He would die in excruciating pain within hours, days at most.
"Excuse me," a woman's voice suddenly said.
Omegas, who now had a large bandage on her head in addition to the one on her side, made her way through the crowd holding a white ceramic bottle and a spoon.
She reached the boy and sat down beside him on the bed. She uncorked the bottle, poured some greenish liquid onto the spoon, brought it to the boy's mouth and placed it between his parted lips. Immediately, Colin's expression relaxed and he let out a muffled groan, a sort of sigh of relief.
Excited chatter spread around the scene; broad smiles appeared on the faces of several of the students.
"I'm not curing him," she hastened to clarify. "There is no cure. This is only an Anaesthetic Potion. He still has to die, but there's no point in him suffering through it."
The smiles around her faded and the chatter stopped. Everyone resumed watching the scene with silent regret as she let more drops of the liquid fall onto the spoon. Before raising it to the boy's lips again, she looked up and gave each of them a grim look.
"Would you mind giving him some privacy?" she said sourly.
She rose and drew the curtains around the bed. The small crowd dispersed, returning to their low murmurs.
Severus watched them go, waited a few moments, then slipped into the drawn curtains.
"Would you please—" she began, her tired eyes full of irritation; then she saw him. "Oh, it's you."
Severus walked around the bed as she continued to nurse the boy. He reached the bedside table, picked up the large white ceramic bottle, uncorked it and sniffed the contents.
"The Anaesthetic Potion has no effect on curse wounds," he observed.
She gave a half smile. "Yours, perhaps."
His eyes darted sternly in her direction, but she continued to work impassively.
There was a brief pause.
"I've never understood why the Inferi isn't considered an Unforgivable Curse," she said flatly. "Knowing you're about to die is a lot worse than dropping dead instantly, don't you think?"
She asked the question as if expecting to engage in a philosophical debate about the Dark Arts and their classification.
Severus ignored her. "Are you a Healer?"
She chuckled. "Definitely not."
She stood, taking the bottle from the man's hands and putting it in her bag.
"Why are you here?"
Severus suddenly remembered the reason that had brought him back to the new hospital wing. The strange aura of mystery surrounding that woman had distracted him again.
"Do you speak Parseltongue?"
Omegas gave him a perplexed look. "Well, I am a snake," she nodded. "Why?"
"I need you," he replied.
She seemed pleased.
He gestured for her to follow him, and she obeyed.
They walked along the corridor, past it and towards the Slytherin common room. When they reached the front door, Severus turned to look at her and found a peculiar grin on her pale face. She was looking at the door as one looks at an old friend long lost.
"Why are we here?" she asked.
"I need to get in," he explained.
"Do you know the password?"
"I wouldn't need you if I did."
She narrowed her eyes to slits, curious.
"There's a legend…" he added. "A rumour, about a secret entrance."
"Is there?" she asked, intrigued.
He nodded.
"And you believe it opens by speaking Parseltongue?"
"I do."
"Why is that?"
Severus looked at her, trying to convey with a frosty look that he would have preferred fewer questions. She paid no heed, however, and waited for an answer.
"Parseltongue is the one thing all Slytherin heirs have in common. The secret entrance was placed here for them," he explained.
"I see," she murmured.
She moved closer and began to carefully examine the door, the frame and the surrounding wall.
"And I presume you have no idea what this entrance is supposed to look like?"
"No," he confirmed, irritated.
"Hmm," she mused. "It's not a very bright idea, using Parseltongue as a key, is it?"
"Isn't it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
She looked at him. "Well, it's just a language. It can be learned. Once the entrance is discovered, any outsider could use it to get in."
Severus frowned. "No one can learn Parseltongue. It's a gift you're born with."
Omegas suddenly stopped examining the stone wall. She turned to him. She gave him a perplexed frown and one of her usual cryptic smiles.
"Is that what you believe?"
He wrinkled his nose. "No," he grumbled. "This is what I know."
Her violet eyes remained fixed on his black ones for a few seconds. Then she turned, stood in front of the door, examined it for another long moment and finally uttered an indistinct hiss.
The door opened.
Severus watched her, careful not to appear in any measure impressed. She seemed to read him anyway.
"Why hide something if you think no one will ever look for it?" she whispered.
He didn't reply.
They turned and both watched the empty common room for a while. Omegas took an uncertain step inside and looked around as if she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.
She smiled softly. "I missed this place."
The surprise those words caused in Severus was too much for him to hide.
She had been at Hogwarts. She had been a Slytherin. And yet he had never seen her. How was that possible?
"Whatever you have to do, I suppose you want to do it alone," she ventured.
He was snapped out of his thoughts. He glanced at her and nodded briskly. She nodded back, gave him one last, quick half-smile, turned and hurried to leave the room without pressing the matter.
Severus swallowed as he slowly made his way to the stairs. He didn't know exactly what kind of conversation awaited him once he crossed the threshold, but he was sure it wouldn't be pleasant. He hesitated for a moment as he reached the door to the seventh year boys' dormitory. Cautiously, he placed a hand on the handle, pressed it down and pushed.
The usual four-poster beds with dark green and silver curtains were empty. Some of the boys' trunks had been abandoned, open and overturned on the floor; someone must have tried to grab as many things as possible before making a desperate escape.
A muffled whimper forced Severus to turn quickly to the far corner of the dark room. Someone was crying.
"Draco?" he whispered, slowly approaching the source of the sobs.
No one answered.
"Draco?" he repeated, this time with a little more conviction.
A green spark shot out of the darkness, but Severus promptly dodged it. The sobs grew louder, and another spark immediately followed. Soon, a barrage of spells was flying in the Professor's direction.
"Go away!" a frantic voice cried.
"Draco…" he tried calmly.
"No!" the boy shouted. "I'm not going with you! Go away!"
Severus sighed. "I'm not here to take you away."
"Yes, you are!" Draco yelled, his voice breaking. "You want to take me to Him. But I'm not going!"
"Draco, I—"
"I SAID NO!" he shouted, and another green spark shot towards the man, missing him by inches.
Severus pointed his wand at the dark corner. "Expelliarmus."
Immediately a wand, which Severus recognised as Gregory Goyle's, emerged from the shadows and flew into his hand.
Draco burst into desperate tears.
"You'll have to kill me," he rasped, shaken by sobs. "Do it! Do it!"
Judging by his tone, the Professor guessed it was a plea rather than a provocation.
"I have no intention of killing you," he declared.
Draco emerged from his dark corner and lunged at him, throwing his full weight around his neck. They both fell to the ground with a thud.
"WHERE WERE YOU?" he shouted, his sharp face contorted with anger. "WHERE WERE YOU WHEN HE KILLED MY MOTHER?"
Severus, still holding both wands, waved his rapidly. The boy was pushed in the opposite direction. He didn't resist it; he let himself fall to the ground and let out another chocked cry.
Severus rose and cautiously approached him. He tried to think of the right words to say, but nothing came to mind that could even remotely address such pain. So when he reached him, he knelt down beside him and placed an uncertain hand on his back.
"Leave me!" he shouted.
But Severus didn't.
They remained in that position, Draco writhing and desperate, until the boy gave up and collapsed beside him.
"Kill me," he groaned. "Just… just kill me."
"No."
"I'm not going back there."
"You won't have to," Severus replied.
The boy turned to meet his eyes. "You won't take me to Him?"
The Professor shook his head.
"Why?" Draco asked, his exhausted face crossed with hopeful disbelief.
"Because I'm not one of them, Draco. I never was."
The boy's eyes widened and he swiftly moved away from him. This time, Severus let him.
"You… you're not…"
"No," he confirmed. "And you don't have to be either, if you don't want to."
"I don't want to," he said immediately.
Severus smiled faintly, looked at him and gave a slow nod.
There was a long, quiet pause. Draco sat on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest.
"How did you do that?" he asked softly.
It took Severus a while to explain the background to his double game. The boy listened intently, his sombre gaze fixed on him.
When he finished the story, Draco remained silent for a few minutes.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.
Severus hadn't expected that question. He paused and frowned slightly.
"I… couldn't," he said simply.
"It would have been different!" the boy burst out. "Everything would have been different if I had known that you… that you…" he was interrupted by another sob.
Severus stared at him for a long time. Not a single appropriate word came to mind. Never, since the boy had first crossed the threshold of the castle, nor in the seven long years he had been his teacher, his guide, his mentor, even, had it ever occurred to him that his decisions could have such an impact on Draco's future.
Twice he opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Finally, taking a breath and regaining control, he whispered a weak, "I just… couldn't."
Draco quickly raised his head and looked at him, his eyes still filled with tears.
Some time passed before either of them could say anything.
"What's going on out there?" the boy finally asked, nodding towards the door.
Severus had to make a conscious effort not to let her voice tremble when he spoke again.
"The Death Eaters have retreated. The Order is reorganising." He got up from the floor and held out his hand. "I think you should come with me."
Draco's eyes shot to him. He swallowed hard and regarded his hand as one might a dangerous animal.
Severus forced an encouraging look. "You're the last Slytherin in the castle," he said quietly. "You don't want to let the other houses take all the glory, do you?"
Draco's blue eyes moved from his hand to his Professor's face. A faint smile curved his lips slightly as the other helped him to his feet.