Falling (asleep) | Fred Weasley fanfic

Snape

„Molly and Arthur are on their way," McGonagall said, and the spell of the music was broken: Everyone roused themselves as though coming out of trances, turning again to look at Bill, or else to rub their own eyes, shake their heads. „Harry, what happened? According to Hagrid, you were with Professor Dumbledore when he — when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some —"
„Snape killed Dumbledore," said Harry.
She stared at him for a moment, then swayed alarmingly; Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to have pulled herself together, ran forward, conjuring a chair from thin air, which she pushed under McGonagall.
„Snape," repeated McGonagall faintly, falling into the chair. „We all wondered... but he trusted... always... Snape... I can't believe it..."
„Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens," I said. „We always knew that... I worked with him closely last year... I can't believe it."
„But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!" whispered Dora. „I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't..."
„He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape," muttered McGonagall „I mean... with Snape's history... of course people were bound to wonder... but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine... Wouldn't hear a word against him!"
„I'd love to know what Snape told him to convince him," said Dora.
„I know," said Harry, and they all turned to look at him. „Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realized what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead." We all stared at him.
„And Dumbledore believed that?" said Remus incredulously. „Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James..."
„And he didn't think my mother was worth a damn either," said Harry, „because she was Muggle-born... 'Mudblood,' he called her..." None of us asked how Harry knew this. We all seemed to be lost in horrified shock, trying to digest the monstrous truth of what had happened. But I couldn't help reading his mind. „He saw Snape's memories during an Occlumency lesson."
„This is all my fault," said Professor McGonagall suddenly. She looked disoriented, twisting her wet handkerchief in her hands. „My fault. I sent Filius to fetch Snape tonight, I actually sent for him to come and help us! If I hadn't alerted Snape to what was going on, he might never have joined forces with the Death Eaters. I don't think he knew they were there before Filius told him, I don't think he knew they were coming."
„It isn't your fault, Professor," I said firmly.
„We all wanted more help, we were glad to think Snape was on his way..." muttered Remus.
„So when he arrived at the fight, he joined in on the Death Eaters' side?" asked Harry.
„I don't know exactly how it happened," said Professor McGonagall distractedly. „It's all so confusing... Dumbledore had told us that he would be leaving the school for a few hours and that we were to patrol the corridors just in case... Remus, Bill, Nymphadora and Arcadia were to join us... and so we patrolled. All seemed quiet. Every secret passageway out of the school was covered. We knew nobody could fly in. There were powerful enchantments at every entrance into the castle. I still don't know how the Death Eaters can possibly have entered..."
„I do," said Harry, and he explained, briefly, about the pair of Vanishing Cabinets and the magical pathway they formed. „So they got in through the Room of Requirement."
„I messed up, Harry," said Ron bleakly. „We did as you told us: We checked the Marauder's Map and we couldn't see Malfoy on it, so we thought he must be in the Room of Requirement, so me, Ginny, and Neville went to keep watch on it... but Malfoy got past us."
„He came out of the room about an hour after we started keeping watch", said Ginny. „He was on his own, clutching that awful shrivelled arm —"
„His Hand of Glory," said Ron. „Gives light only to the holder, remember?"
„Anyway," Ginny went on, „he must have been checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death Eaters out, because the moment he saw us he threw something into the air and it all went pitch-black —"
„— Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," said Ron bitterly.
„Fred and George's. I'm going to be having a word with them about who they let buy their products," I said, my eyes were still kind of watery, but I wasn't crying anymore.
„We tried everything, Lumos, Incendio," said Ginny. „Nothing would penetrate the darkness; all we could do was grope our way out of the corridor again, and meanwhile we could hear people rushing past us. Obviously, Malfoy could see because of that hand thing and was guiding them, but we didn't dare use any curses or anything in case we hit each other, and by the time we'd reached a corridor that was light, they'd gone."
„Luckily," said Remus hoarsely, „Ron, Ginny, and Neville ran into us almost immediately and told us what had happened. We found the Death Eaters minutes later, heading in the direction of the Astronomy Tower. Malfoy obviously hadn't expected more people to be on the watch; he seemed to have exhausted his supply of Darkness Powder, at any rate. A fight broke out, they scattered and we gave chase. One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed up the tower stairs —"
„To set off the Mark?" asked Harry.
„He must have done, yes, they must have arranged that before they left the Room of Requirement," said Remus. „But I don't think Gibbon liked the idea of waiting up there alone for Dumbledore because he came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight and was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me."
„So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville," said Harry, turning to Hermione, „were you — ?"
„Outside Snape's office, yes," whispered Hermione, her eyes sparkling with tears, „with Luna. We hung around for ages outside it and nothing happened... We didn't know what was going on upstairs, Ron had taken the map..."
„It was nearly midnight when Professor Flitwick came sprinting down into the dungeons," Luna added absentmindedly.
„He was shouting about Death Eaters in the castle, I don't think he really registered that Luna and I were there at all, he just burst his way into Snape's office and we heard him saying that Snape had to go back with him and help and then we heard a loud thump and Snape came hurtling out of his room and he saw us and — and —"
„What?" Harry urged her.
„I was so stupid, Harry!" said Hermione in a high-pitched whisper. „He said Professor Flitwick had collapsed and that we should go and take care of him while he — while he went to help fight the Death Eaters —" She covered her face in shame and continued to talk into her fingers so that her voice was muffled. „We went into his office to see if we could help Professor Flitwick and found him unconscious on the floor... and oh, it's so obvious now, Snape must have Stupefied Flitwick, but we didn't realize Harry, we didn't realize, we just let Snape go!"
„It's not your fault," I said firmly. „Hermione, had you not obeyed Snape and got out of the way, he probably would have killed you and Luna."
„So then he came upstairs," said Harry, „and he found the place where you were all fighting..."
„We were in trouble, we were losing", I said in a low voice.
„Gibbon was down, but the rest of the Death Eaters seemed ready to fight to the death," said Dora. „Neville had been hurt, Bill had been savaged by Greyback... It was all dark... curses flying everywhere..."
„Draco had vanished, he must have slipped past, up the stairs..." I continued. „Then more of them ran after him, but one of them blocked the stair behind them with some kind of curse... Neville ran at it and got thrown up into the air —"
„None of us could break through," said Ron, „and that massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over the place, they were bouncing off the walls and barely missing us..."
„And then Snape was there," said Dora, „and then he wasn't —"
„I saw him running toward us, but that huge Death Eater's jinx just missed me right afterwards and I ducked and lost track of things", said Ginny.
„I saw him run straight through the cursed barrier as though it wasn't there," said Remus.
„He must have known a spell we didn't," whispered McGonagall. „After all — he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher... I just assumed that he was in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who'd escaped up to the tower..."
„He was," said Harry savagely, „but to help them, not to stop them... and I'll bet you had to have a Dark Mark to get through that barrier — so what happened when he came back down?"
„Well, the big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the stairs," said Remus. „We all ran forward — those of us who were still standing anyway — and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the dust — obviously, none of us attacked them —"
„We just let them pass," I said with my eyes fixed upon Bill's injuries.
„We thought they were being chased by the Death Eaters," said Dora in a hollow voice. „And next thing, the other Death Eaters and Greyback were back and we were fighting again — I thought I heard Snape shout something, but I don't know what —"
„He shouted, 'It's over,'" said Harry. „He'd done what he'd meant to do."
The doors of the hospital wing burst open, making them all jump: Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were striding up the ward, the twins and Fleur just behind them.