She nearly jumped out of her skin as the tranquil atmosphere was disturbed by a loud *POP* and one of the school House Elves appeared on the rug in front of the fire. She let out her breath in a rush, her heart still beating wildly at being startled like that. She noticed that her husband’s arm had tightened around her and that he had reached for his wand at the interruption. She loved his protectiveness.
“Flora is sorry to be disturbing the professors but she has an urgent message from the Headmistress,” the House Elf said in a high pitched squeak, shaking visibly, “the Death Eaters are in the school, Professor McGonagall is saying that you know what to do.” And she was gone with another *POP*, most likely to deliver her message elsewhere.
“Stay here,” Severus commanded as he rose from the couch. He crossed the floor in long angry strides and threw open the door that led out into the hallway. He heard footsteps coming from deeper in the dungeon, there were two people… running. He sank back into the shadows, waiting to determine if it was friend or foe as he worked at hardening his heart. He didn’t doubt that he would meet a number of his former students tonight. “STOP!” he commanded as the figures approached and nearly ran past him. He had never been so grateful to see Potter.
“Severus,” Harry panted, already feeling the effects of his sprint up from the deepest depths of the castle, “the Death Eaters…”
“I know, tell Minerva that I will be there momentarily. I have to check on the Slytherins first. Mr. Malfoy, come with me,” he led the way back into his and Morgan’s chambers. “Morgan, I want you to go to the Order headquarters…”
“No,” Morgan had her wand in hand and a determined look on her face, “my children are here, I’m not going to hide while there is a battle to fight.”
He considered stunning her and forcibly taking her someplace safe. But she would never forgive him. “Mr. Malfoy, do you know the tapestry of Circe, the incredibly irritating one?”
Draco nodded, “at the end of this hallway and through the trick wall at the end of the last corridor on the left.”
“The password is eleutheria.”
“Sir, I can’t help but feel that if I can help out by fighting it is useless for me to hide…”
“Don’t be daft Malfoy,” Severus snapped, “they’ll kill you on the spot. Besides, I have a more important mission for you. Follow me.” He led the way into Olivia’s bedroom. “Olivia, wake up,” he softened his voice slightly, he didn’t want to scare her.
“Is it morning?” Olivia asked as she woke up to find her parents and Draco crowded around her small bed.
“No, darling, but you have to go with Draco now,” Morgan said as she reached out to hug her daughter. She stepped back as Severus lifted Olivia, blankets and all, and handed her to Draco.
“I need Tristan!” Olivia cried, and Morgan quickly found the rabbit and handed it to her. “And my book.”
“We don’t have time…” Severus said as he pushed Draco towards the door.
“No, I’ll get it,” Morgan quickly began scanning their daughter’s bookshelf for the illustrated story book she knew she wanted.
“Morgan…”
“Severus, we’re about to face off with the gods know how many Death Eaters. Our daughter will have her book.” She pushed back her tears, now was not the time. She had to keep her wits about her. It was the only way to survive. She found the book and made sure that Olivia had a good hold of both it and Tristan, and that Draco had a good hold of Olivia. “Take care of her,” she ordered Draco, “I need you to take care of her.”
Draco nodded mutely. He didn’t think he would be able to ever face Madame Snape again if he failed her. He wouldn’t survive that confrontation. He waited just long enough for Morgan to give Olivia one more quick embrace and for Severus to admonish her to behave. As quickly as he could he carried the youngest Snape deep into the dungeons and made sure they were both sequestered safely in Order headquarters. He prayed to whoever was listening that she would go back to sleep and he wouldn’t have to answer any questions.
“Where are we going?”
He sighed, it obviously wasn’t to be, “we’re going to a room down in the dungeons.”
“Why?”
“Because your parents have something to take care of, so we’re going to spend the night together.” He could tell from the way Olivia sighed in frustration she wasn’t satisfied with that, but thankfully she kept quiet and didn’t push him any further.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Any suggestions?” Dierna asked as she ran up to join Serena at the head of the pack of younger years.
“The Slytherin Common Room.”
“Think they’ll let us in?”
“They’ll have to.”
“Do you know where the entrance to their Common Room is?” Dierna asked.
“Ummm…” Serena paused. They had passed the Potions classroom and she knew that the Slytherins were somewhere down here, but not exactly where… “There!” at precisely the right time part of the unmarked stone wall swung open admitting three Slytherin boys, who were immediately accosted by the entirety of Gryffindor House minus the three upper years.
“Hey! What are you doing down here?” Marcus demanded.
“This is Slytherin territory,” Agrippa added.
“What happened?” Posthumous asked, seeing that most of the Gryffindors were in tears or shaking or just plain looked ill.
“I need to talk to Mark,” Serena told them, “please let us into your Common Room.” She noticed the way the triplets hesitated. She hated to lay all their cards on the table when there was no certainty of whose parents were Death Eaters or which students were loyal to Voldemort, but she had to, “Death Eaters are in the school, they came in through our tower, we have to put the younger years somewhere safe.” She couldn’t believe she was pleading with a Slytherin, but she had to. She could hear the First Years crying behind her. Everything was so… wrong. The dark seemed darker than it ever had. Even the torches on the wall seemed reluctant to burn tonight. The longer they stood there the closer the Death Eaters were getting…
The triplets took a few seconds to confer with one another, dark heads bent close together. Agrippa finally broke away and whispered the password to the unmarked stretch of wall that marked the entrance to the Common Room.
“What’s this?” Mark asked as most of Gryffindor House came pouring into the Slytherin Common Room.
Serena pushed through the younger years and grabbed the Head Boy by the front of his robes. “There are Death Eaters in the school, they came in through our tower, we’ve brought the younger years down here to be safe, we need you and the rest of the older students to help protect the school,” she rushed through her entire explanation in one breath.
Mark pried his ex-girlfriend’s shaking hands from his robes with difficulty. He’d never seen her this shaken. He looked around at Gryffindor students, many openly crying, all of them terrified. “I didn’t think it would come this soon… I thought they would wait…” The few members of Slytherin had gathered around, asking questions of the Gryffindors and starting to panic as well. “Which Years did you bring down here?”
“Fourth year and below,” Dierna replied.
Mark nodded, “Kay, come here!” he waited until the Prefect had pushed her way through the crowd of students to him. “I want you to stay here with the younger students, I’m taking the older ones with me.”
“I’m not staying here while you…”
Mark grabbed her by the shoulders, “Snape is going to stop down here to check on us as soon as he knows what’s going on. Someone has to be here to explain the situation to him.”
Kay didn’t look happy, but she nodded in agreement. She stood to the side as Mark issued orders. No wonder he was Head Boy. Death Eaters were invading the school and he was calmly telling the younger years to stay in the Common Room and entertain the Gryffindors while gathering the older students together to defend the school. She wondered if he was thinking about his parents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Where is Severus?”
“He went to check on the Slytherins,” Morgan said softly as she put out the light from her wand and carefully peered around the corner. She turned back to Sirius, “all clear this way.” They were slowly making their way up from the Great Hall to the towers on the East side of the school. They had yet to run into anyone other than the school ghosts, who were covering as much ground as they could and serving as messengers between the groups of teachers out patrolling.
They started down the hallway slowly, keeping well in the shadows. “How many do you think there are?” Morgan couldn’t help but ask.
“I don’t know…” he suddenly stopped and pushed Morgan flat against the wall as he cast a stunning spell into the shadows ahead of them. A dull thud resounded throughout the hallway. “Stay here,” he told Morgan as he crept forward to inspect the fallen figure.
“Is it a Death Eater?” Morgan asked.
“Yes.”
“Sirius, what is it?” Morgan could hear the despair in her colleague’s voice.
Sirius tossed the white Death Eater mask down the hallway in rage. It clattered across the stones before skidding into the wall, it seemed to glow faintly in the darkness. “He’s one of the students that defected over the summer.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Severus was shocked to see so many students assembled in the Slytherin Common Room. Especially as half of them had on some form of red and gold. And there were no older students present. Except for one. “Miss Parkinson, explain!” he pointed to a spot on the floor directly in front of him.
Kay scurried across the room to stand in front of her House Master, “The Death Eaters came in through Gryffindor tower so they sent the younger years down here for safety. The rest of the older students went back out.”
“Were any of the Gryffindor students…?” he couldn’t quite finish the sentence as he thought of the twins. Especially the one who hadn’t spoken to him for so long.
“Dierna and Serena escorted the younger students down here,” Kay knew what her House Master was trying to ask.
“Miss Parkinson, what I am about to tell you is to be used only in the case of an extreme emergency. If you ever share this information your life will not be worth living. Have I made myself clear?”
“Crystal, sir.”
“The tapestry with the House crest on it, on the wall behind it press the seventh stone from the bottom in, there is a passageway that leads to Salazar’s quarters.”
“As in Salazar Slytherin’s personal quarters?” Kay asked.
“Miss Parkinson, now is neither the time nor place,” Snape reminded her. “In an extreme emergency only. And just to clarify that means the Death Eaters are about to break down the wall to get in here. If any of your heroic schoolmates stop by make sure they stay here. The students do not need to be wandering around trying to protect the school. The staff is here for a reason.”
“Yes sir,” Kay couldn’t help the tears that filled her eyes when her House Master turned to leave. As much as she hated to admit it, she was scared. And having Professor Snape tell her how to get out of what was probably one of the safest rooms in the school unnerved her even more.
Seeming to sense this Severus turned back to the Prefect, “I wouldn’t leave you in charge unless I was fully confidant that you could handle this Kay.”
Kay did let a few tears fall as soon as her Head of House had left the room. Her composure further crumpling when the Bulstrode triplets tried to find out what was wrong, “he called me by my given name,” she explained. None of them knew how to respond. None of them had even been addressed such by Snape. It underscored the seriousness of the matter and unnerved them more than a little.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark and Dierna looked down at the two Death Eaters they had successfully stunned and bound. Both had expected to feel some sort of satisfaction over defending there school… but it wasn’t there.
“Sometimes I wonder…” Dierna sighed, “they wouldn’t hesitate to use Unforgivables against us. What if we really needed to defend ourselves, would it be ok to us them against the Death Eaters?”
Mark shook his head, “I don’t see it as a question of morality, it’s a question of practicality. Unless you have a lot of practice you’re not going to be able to use them.” He didn’t offer any information whether he had that practice or not.
“What should we do with them?” Serena asked. She thought about removing their masks, but didn’t. She was terrified that she would find someone she knew beneath the scrap of white. Someone she had been in class with, someone who had been in Gryffindor…
“Make sure they’re tightly tied and we take their wands with us…” He pulled out a small silver whistle that didn’t seem to make any noise when he raised it to his lips. But a short moment later the Bloody Baron came floating through the wall. Despite the seriousness of the situation he almost smiled when the Snape twins backed away from the silent ghost. The specter was helpful and somewhat talkative, but also a stickler for the rules, when it came to the Slytherins. But he enjoyed terrifying the rest of the Houses.
“I shall watch them,” the shade answered the unasked question. “Mr. McKean,” he called back the Head Boy as the teenagers prepared to move on, all a bit shaken, but driven to protect their school, “the main entryway,” he suggested. He had seen the Death Eaters moving down. Apparently they either had what they were looking for or were retreating
The three teenagers raced down the stairs towards the main entryway. It was unsettling that they hadn’t seen any of the other students. The halls felt dead, completely deserted still. They didn’t know what a siege was supposed to really be like, but this felt… off.
“Do you hear that?” Serena asked in a trembling whisper, afraid to break the silence.
Mark held out an arm to stop both girls, “let me check it out first.”
“No, we go together,” Dierna insisted. The three of them crept forward and peered down over the railing into the entryway below. They finally understood what dueling really looked like.
About twenty or so Death Eaters were slowly retreating towards the doors, all through a volley of spells. Flitwick was moving faster than any of his students could have imagined. Sirius was staying out in the open as much as possible, it allowed him to make the most hits, but also put him in the most danger.
“I don’t see Dad,” Serena whispered. As much as they wanted to help they knew they had to stay out of this fight. They would only distract the teachers who needed to focus their full attention on the Death Eaters.
“Some of the professors must be right below us, there are more spells being cast from our side than fighters that I can see.” Dierna commented, “can you hear what’s…” her words trailed off and she dug her nails into Serena’s arm as she heard Sirius’ voice carry over the din of the battle.
“Morgan, watch out!”
Morgan threw herself to the floor just in time. A searing blast of heat slammed into the stone wall where her head had been a split second before. She reached for her wand, which had fallen from her hand and clattered across the stones a few inches away. She rolled over and pushed herself up off the floor. Grateful to Alberto who had rushed over when he saw her hit the ground to cover her.
“Look, there’s Dad!” Dierna relaxed her grip on Serena’s arm somewhat, her confidence growing now that there father had arrived. She scarcely remembered to breathe as she watched him race up the steps from the dungeon and joined in with the fighting. He was at least as fast as Flitwick, but had a ferocity that the smaller man lacked.
“Should we try to find the others?” Mark asked. Based on what he had learned, although not by choice, over the summer he had a feeling this was about the extent of the attack. If he was right in his guess as to its purpose. He had only heard bits and peaces of the plans. They had known that his loyalties were questionable, despite their best efforts to turn it.
“No, we have to stay,” Serena said. “We’re not leaving while both of our parents are down there.” Her tone brooked no room for argument. She was not leaving while both her parents were fighting Death Eaters!
Mark nodded in agreement, but moved a few steps away so that he could make sure that they were still in a secure area. He didn’t want to take any chances.
“What just happened?” Serena asked. She didn’t know what it was, but the whole tenor of the battle below them had just changed. She tried to peer through the growing cloud of multi-colored smoke that was rising from the numerous spells, but it was impossible. The bitter smell of smoke permeated the air, forcing the three students away from the railing as they tried to clear their vision and find a bit of fresh air.
Morgan looked up as she stepped back against the wall and her eyes met her husband’s across the room. She could tell that he wanted to make his way across the entry way to her. But the way the fighting was going kept him away.
She wasn’t as skilled a dueler as those around her, and she knew it. But she had to try. She had her children and her students to protect.
Severus saw the yellow flash of light as it sped from the wand of the masked Death Eater. He watched it as it cut through the air at what appeared to be a horribly slow pace, approaching nearer and nearer. He knew he was powerless to stop it.
Morgan didn’t see it until it was too late. The yellow light of the spell slammed into her chest, knocking her head back against the wall before she crumpled to the floor. The pain was unbearable.
She was barely aware of being half lifted from the floor as spells continued to cross the air above her head.
“Morgan!” Severus fell to his knees next to his wife and gathered her in his arms holding her to his chest. “Morgan look at me, you need to stay awake. You can’t go to sleep Morgan!” His voice caught in his throat as he looked down into his wife’s unfocused eyes. Her large velvety brown eyes. Had he ever told her how much he loved her eyes?
“Sev…” the word was barely more than a breath, “the children…” blood bubbled at her mouth as Morgan strained to breathe.
“Morgan, keep talking to me!” Severus ordered. “You can’t go to sleep! You can’t leave me!” his voice was desperate now. “Morgan!” he watched as her eyes rolled back and a sob caught in his throat as her body went limp in his arms. “Morgan, don’t go!” He slid his fingers across her neck trying to feel for a pulse, but they kept slipping in the blood that was trailing from her slackened mouth and pooling in the hollow of her neck. That soft little spot where he had always loved to bury his lips…
For the first time as a grown man he sobbed as he pulled his wife’s limp body against his chest, his face buried in her soft hair. He hardly noticed as the rest of the staff succeeded in pushing the last of the Death Eaters out the doors and off the grounds. He ignored the staff members who had gathered around him. His entire life was cradled, lifeless, in his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~
