Saved by Love (Severus Snape / Original Female Character)

Curses & Vows

 August 1996

Spinner's end

Severus got to his mother's house an hour before the time he had told Narcissa to arrive, for he had to hide all the pictures of the kids his mother had all over the place.

Once there were no more signs of them in the house, he made himself some tea and sat on an armchair to read the newspaper while he waited.

At around six-thirty, he heard someone knocking on the front door.

"Narcissa," he said, once he opened the door, frowning when he saw she wasn't alone, "Bellatrix," he said bitterly, not hiding his displeasure at the sight of that woman.

"Half-blood," Bellatrix replied, clearly as happy to see him as he was to see her.

He opened the door wider, allowing the two women to walk in; then he closed the door and turned around to face them.

Narcissa sat in the armchair he'd been occupying earlier while Bellatrix walked around the room, looking at his books with contempt and touching some of his mother's knick-knacks.

"Put that down, Bella. We mustn't touch what isn't ours," he said in a bored tone, turning to look at her blond sister, "What brings you here, Narcissa?"

But the dark-haired woman slammed the little figurine back on the mantle and spoke, before her sister could: "Where were you when the Dark Lord fell?"

Severus didn't hesitate: "At Hogwarts – where he told me to be," then he looked at the blond woman again: "Why are you here?"

"It's Draco," Murmured Narcissa, "He's just a boy," the tears already flooding her blue eyes.

"So," interrupted Bellatrix, "You stayed at the school, playing Dumbledore's lapdog, while most of us were locked up!"

"Yes, Bellatrix, I stayed," said Severus, betraying a hint of impatience, "I had a comfortable job that I preferred to a stint in Azkaban. They were rounding up the Death Eaters; they even made me help capture some – if you don't remember who got you and your husband locked up."

Bellatrix snarled at him, "I'll never forget: it was you and that stupid girl!"

Ignoring her anger, Severus continued: "Dumbledore's protection kept me out of jail; it was most convenient and I took advantage of it. The Dark Lord does not complain that I stayed, so I do not see why you do."

"Bella!" Narcissa spoke harshly, "You promised to keep quiet! You said you'd come just to guarantee my safety!"

But Bellatrix ignored her sister, her dark eyes fixed on Severus, murderously, "Why did you stop the Dark Lord from getting the Philosopher's Stone? Where were you when we battled to retrieve the prophecy? And why the hell is Harry Potter still alive?" she finished in a deranged shout.

Severus could feel the beginning of a headache prickling his temples. Ignoring the crazy woman, he turned to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of firewhisky, "Can I get you anything, Narcissa?"

"Firewhisky. Neat," the blond woman replied.

He poured two glasses, giving her one, deliberately forgetting to offer Bellatrix anything – she could drop dead and parched for all he cared.

"Before I answer you, Bellatrix," he said, after sipping from his glass and siting down on the armchair opposite to Narcissa's, "Let me ask a question in turn: do you really think that the Dark Lord has not asked me each and every one of those questions? And do you really think that, had I not been able to give him satisfactory answers, I would be sitting here talking to you?"