The Masks' (A Severus Snape Story)

I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it

I was running through the rain.

“You’re never going to get away,” She taunted from behind me. Green sparks were flying everywhere. I didn’t know what they were. Mother father where are you? You promised me you wouldn’t leave me. Where are you! I was too young to be on my own running from them. I had no means to defend myself like Ma and Pa had. I didn’t have a wand like they did. I hadn’t even got my Hogwarts letter yet.

I didn’t know what the green sparks meant coming from the nasty woman’s wand, I just knew I had to avoid them. She had caught mother off guard and she had fallen to the ground, her eyes glazed over.

“Danielle!” my father had exclaimed dropping to grab my mother’s body and looking under the table at me. I sat with my arms wrapped around my knees and tears streaming down my face. He mouthed a single word to me,

‘Run’

And my father was struck in the back with the green sparks and fell, never to move again. Yes, I was nine and had already seen my parents’ murdered. I crawled from under the table and looked into the eyes that had so ferociously slain my parents. I turned and ran.

That is what had me running down this slippery hill while a disgusting mark slithered in the sky. It turned the whole sky into a nasty green color that you could barely see through the torrents of rain. I placed my foot in the wrong spot and I fell. I rolled continually down the hill but I couldn’t stop.

I glanced off something hard and my body was sent flailing like it was weightless. I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder as I hit something else sending me sprawling. My whole body hurt as I jerked to a stop when I hit a tree. It took me a moment to get my breath back. My ribs hurt, along with my shoulder. I tried to get up but the pain sent me back to the ground. I had to keep going. That would be what Pa wanted. I rolled myself to my stomach and slowly pushed myself onto my hands and knees. The excretion of just that had me gasping. I pushed myself into a stance and kept running, each step causing black specks to cloud my vision.

I could barely see/ The hooded figures roamed the streets looking for the girl who had got away. They all wore masks of white with different patterns on them. They were scary and kept their features undistinguishable. It was hard to pay attention but I was always an odd child. I was very attentive and could pick up the tiniest detail. I kept my mind open to hear every little sound. I turned around a corner and came face to face with a mask. I heard a faint hiss of pleasure and I felt a warmth in my body. I don’t know how I knew what to do but a word popped into my head as the power was released through my hands which were held defensively towards the Mask.

Crucio

The Mask yelped and fell to the rain soaked ground twitching. I turned and ran the opposite direction. They way out of the town seemed forever away. I cried and my hot tears mixed onto my face and in my clothes along with the soaking rain. The cobblestone bricks scraped my bare feet. They were long past scraped. They had cuts and grooves in them everywhere. Couldn’t feel the pain anymore. It was just one more thing.

Evil thoughts crowded my mind. It was finally sinking in that my parents were no more. Dead. Finished. My only flesh and blood gone. Where was I going to go? I couldn’t just show up on some muggle’s doorstep.

I clutched my stomach still running. Why me? Why my parents?

Through all the confusing thoughts I had let myself become vulnerable. I had closed my mind to my surroundings figuring I was safe now. I ran into something hard.

I fell to the ground. I looked up at the mask. It stood over me, its wet robes clinging to its body. I felt the same power well up and release. The mask blocked it with a flick of it’s wand. I felt some unwelcome feeling in my head. The mask glared at me and pulled it’s wand. I felt every memory of mine flashing by quickly. Me playing with my dad out back. My bosom friend Charlie. My mother wiping flour off my face. Everything up until that night. I willed my memories to stop and amazingly they did. The disgusting feeling left with them. The mask held its wand against my chest, skillfully placed over my heart.

This is it, the green sparks that would end my sinfully short life. I turned my head to the side squeezing my eyes shut. No. That was wrong. I looked up into the one distinguishable feature of the Masks’.

The midnight black eyes held no mercy in them for what he was about to do. The eyes told a sad story of suffering. More suffering then I would ever know. I cried now. Not for the fact that I was about to die, no I would never cry over that. I cried for this mask. This mask that would never know love. Would never have warmth touch his heart. Doomed to an eternal life suffering. Meant to follow other people’s biddings. I cried for this person behind this mask.

The pressure of the wand burned over my chest. I guess this is the part where I get to plea for my life. I would not sink that low. For mother and father I would stay strong.

“You are a mask. Can you go home at night and hang it and wash off all the pain you cause? Does it make you feel strong and have power? Will you ever love? Has life taken its toll on you and shaped you into a wonderfully cold object? That is not what you have to be, how you have to live. I will die at the point of your wand like so many before me but they have all parted with pleas and woes for their lives. I shall leave you with something to think about. You are special and you deserve love,”

I stared into the killers eyes and watched as all the emotions traveled through its eyes. Confusion, pain, anger, pain, surprise, pain all before the hardness settled back in. its low voice started and I just sat there memorizing the grooves of the mask, the pattern and the hardness.

“How old are you?” The mask voiced.

“Nine,” I answered confused.

“Nine? You speak of such intelligence for a mere nine year old.”

“I have seen many things and read many books. I can’t say I’ve experienced them but I can now say I know the pain of loss,”

“Child, you are strong to, you met a. what do you call them?”

“Mask,”

“Yes, a mask. Without a wand a mere nine year old put one of our oldest masks’ to the ground,”It retracted itswand and stood up.

“You are a lucky, child, and I will let you live. I will be expecting great things from you,”

I staggered up to my feet and stared at it. itwas letting me live?It turned and started to leave. I ran afterit collapsing onto my knees and grabbing ontoits soaking robe.

“Please-” I whimpered. “Don’t leave me,”

Itcrudely glared at me.

“Child. I am a mask. I could very well, am supposed to, kill you. Strike you dead at this very moment and you are begging me for condolence.”

“No, not condolence,” I whispered barely above the rain. “Commiseration. Just a word that you are sorry for the masks’ actions,”

“Child, I cannot offer sympathy for something I am not sorry for,” it rashly said. “Your parents deserved what they had coming and you were brought up in a life that would surely turn horrible. They were on the run from the dark Lord and decided to bring an innocent child into this brash life,”

I dropped my head and removed my hands from its cloak and nodded.

“I understand, sir, I guess now that I have resisted the Dark Lord I am now a convict as well,”

“Child,” It stopped there shaking its head slightly. “You deserve much better than this. You are found guilty by association though so you will be hunted,” I hung my head lower and knew that I would keep fighting and not give up.

It walked away along the cobblestone bricks and I curled up into a ball. I didn’t want to run. I didn’t ask for this. I wanted a normal life. That was not possible though. Little did I know about what would happen. Would I be alive to see my tenth birthday in? Would I be alive to own a wand? I just knew the first thing I had to do was change my name and my look. I was now on the Dark Lord’s list and I planned on doing whatever it took to not be crossed off.