Memories of a death eater (Severus x OC)

7. Day 5

Dumbledore dismissed the owl that had brought him the mail, and absently glanced at the day's newspaper. He had barely taken any interest in the world around him, but apparently it had not changed much in his absence.

The main pages were occupied by articles dedicated to the King's Cross massacre, and journalists were busy writing in their columns all the morbid information they obtained from anywhere. Everyone thought Snape was guilty, so why measure the tone of their words? After all, the bloodthirsty murderer would be executed in just two days.

To further muddy the matter, Rita Skeeter had written a tearful report about the Letters, and had added a photo of the family, according to her "found in the pocket of one of the victims". Dumbledore preferred not to know how the journalist had really gotten her hands on that photograph, but he looked at it carefully.

The Prophet's editors had made sure that the image moved, like a magic picture, and for that reason, Laura and Jonhattan Letter were able to move and wave with their children.

The headmaster looked at the kids and could see that the girl had the factions of her father, while he was not very sure about the boy, as he was too young to venture similarities.

Would Snape have had an image like that? Had he ever looked at it with nostalgia, thinking about his loved ones? Would he keep something similar in your memories? Ready to solve his doubts, Dumbledore emptied the next bottle into the pensieve, and entered its depths...

***

...that memory began in a strange way, with Snape sneaking into Mary-Anne's house. It was very late at night, but the death eater advanced in silence, guided by the walls, until he reached his neighbor's bedroom.

Once there, he approached the bedside table and turned on the light, but he did not wake the woman up immediately, instead he sat next to her and stared at her, as if he wanted to learn her features by heart.

Finally, a bitter grimace crossed his face, and he shook his head. He took out his wand and pointed it at the woman.

"Mary-Anne, I'm here. Don't be scared when you wake up," he whispered. She stirred in her sleep, took a deep breath, and finally opened her eyes. She didn't seem surprised to see him there.

"I think this is the most curious way of waking up I've ever had. How did you manage to get into my dream?"

"It's just a spell," he murmured, very seriously. "I have to talk to you, it's very important."

"Does it have to be now?" she asked. Although she was awake, she did not seem very lucid.

"I haven't had another moment. There is another death eater in my house, a certain Wormtail, and he must stay there... until the Dark Lord decides it. I won't be able to come to your house for a long time."

She sat down, with her back against the headboard of her bed, and looked at him seriously.

"Is he spying on you?" she asked, surprising Dumbledore with her sagacity.

"It's possible. Tonight, I managed to trick him into drinking a sleeping potion, but I don't think that trick will work again. He is very distrustful, and watches me all the time. I think... I'm going to make the door disappear indefinitely," he added, without much enthusiasm. She nodded, with the same feeling. "You will also not be able to send me any message or communicate with me. I won't be able to control him all the time, so you'll have to be careful with him."

"Is he dangerous?"

"Not too much," Snape snorted, as if the idea of Wormtail being dangerous was ridiculous. "But he's a snitch, and that's risky. Additionally, he can transform into a rat."