Living Death

- chapter nine

The trio had been wondering what to do with your necklace since they'd found it. Harry had been waiting for you to appear on the map again, so he could talk to you at least, and maybe give it back to you, but you hadn't appeared on there since that night. Part of him worried maybe he'd imagined it all in the first place.

"Harry. We have to turn it in" Hermione said with earnest concern, leaning over the table a little more so only they could here. "If she is alive, she's probably missing it, but if she's not, then this is one of very few sentimental items that belonged to her"

Harry traced over the details of the snake a little with his finger, he had to admit, Malfoy's dedication to get this specifically made just for you, was a grand gesture, and in second year at that? Harry could barely look at a girl back then let alone buy them an elaborate and expensive gift.

"And if Malfoy finds out we have this, we might as well fake our own deaths as well to save ourselves the trouble" Ron added, talking with his mouthful of his dinner.

"Professor McGonagall can take it from here, we'll simply report out findings to her" Hermione continued, looking down the great hall to see Snape in the headmaster's chair. Even after some time, it wasn't a sight any of them could get used to, Snape was hardly Dumbledore. "At least she favours us over Professor Snape mostly"

"That's alright for you to say, your her favourite student!" Ron paused in his eating to add, shaking his head a little. Hermione smiled slightly at the comment, and Harry pushed the necklace deep into the pocket of his robe, out of sight and out of mind for now.

--

The next day felt cold, not only due to the blanket of snow that covered the grounds of the castle but due to the current predicament the trio had found themselves in. They were currently bundled up in McGonagall's classroom, awaiting the arrival of Professor Snape. Brilliant.

Harry sent Hermione a stern stare and she mouthed a small apology paired with a sheepish smile, Ron was looking from them both to McGonagall, gulping a little. They should've foreseen that McGonagall would call on Snape to come and investigate the necklace, but it was too late now, his robe swinging behind him as he walked into the room, not sparing the trio even so much as a glance as he headed straight to the table the necklace lay on, picking it up and inspecting it intently. Harry watched his expression; he was hard to read but he seemed furious.

"Why is it when something happens, it is always you three?" McGonagall said, her voice breaking Harry's fixation on Snape.

"Believe me Professor, I've been asking myself the same question for six years" shrugged Ron, sending her an almost apologetic smile.

"I found this necklace the other night, when I was heading back to bed" Harry chimed in, speaking directly to Professor Snape. "It was Y/N's. She was never without it."

There was a brief silence and Snape neither acknowledged or ignored Harry's words, his attention firmly locked onto the necklace, pondering what sort of excuse he could come up with to explain this.

"She's alive" Harry suddenly interrupted. Hermione and Ron's eyes widened at Harry's sudden outburst, sending each other looks.

Snape dropped the necklace all of a sudden and his neck craned to Harry with a look of utter disbelief. "That is a very insensitive thing to say when we are all mourning her death, Mr Potter" McGonagall challenged.

"Indeed" Snape added, his voice always sounding like it was laced with venom. "If you and your nosey friends must know Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy has been in possession of it since her passing. He must have simply misplaced it." Snape finished with a slight smirk, causing Harry's jaw to clench a little as he kept his stare.

"It's unlike Malfoy to 'misplace' things, especially something as sacred as his beloved Y/N's necklace, everyone knew how much he adored her" Harry spat back, standing his ground. "He wouldn't 'misp-"

"Enough." Snape's voice broke through Harry's words, stopping him mid sentence. There was a moment of intense silence and no one dared say anything. Even Hermione and Ron had stopped giving each other knowing looks.

"It may have escaped your notice Mr Potter but Mr Malfoy and Y/N are not your concern. Just because you pride yourself in being The Chosen One, and revel in the celebrity status that comes with your name, I can assure you that you do not have to keep up with everybody else's affairs." His attention turned to Ron then Hermione "And don't think you two are off the hook, Miss insufferable know-it-all and faithful sidekick Weasley"

"I suggest you go back to your dormitories. All of you." McGonnagall chimed in before either Snape or Harry could argue any further, which was lucky for Snape as Harry was about to open his mouth and yell "Snivellus" in his face, which would've definitely resulted in a life long sentence of detention.

Harry's eyes kept with Snape's for as long as possible until Hermione pulled on his arm and reminded him they'd been instructed to leave. His jaw was still clenched in anger by the time they got back to the common room.

"Snape's up to his neck in it all!" Harry burst. Luckily, there were only a few students in the common room currently, and the second they heard Harry's raised voice they all conveniently had someplace else to disappear off to.

"Calm down Harry" Hermione encouraged "At least we have solid evidence now." She sat down on the couch and looked from Harry to Ron. "He denied the whole thing to our faces yet, going by what you informed us, you saw her in Dumbledore's office stood right beside him, didn't you?"

Harry nodded but his fist was clenched as he sat at an empty common room table, staring intensely at the pattern of the wallpaper as though he was staring into Snape's soul all over again.

"So why is a slimy old git like Snape covering for her then? He was giving her detentions every other lesson and now suddenly he's protecting her from something?" Ron shrugged in utter bafflement "It's a bit weird isn't it?"

Hermione chewed on her lip, wracking her brains for some sort of answer, but nothing was feasible. Before the trio could mull over every possible explanation, some other students began to congregate in the common room, leading them to give up for now and call it a night. This was only the beginning.