Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
December 18, 1976 – Serena Pov
It was Hogsmeade weekend. A few days before we were allowed out for the Christmas holidays. At this moment, I was on an unbearable double date with Lucius and Narcissa, this date forced by Narcissa. Obviously, with Bellatrix by my side. I sighed and simply surrendered to my fate.
"Can you stop looking like you're dying? Our dates are coming here soon." Lucius nudged me, and I rolled my eyes. I pulled out a couple of cigarettes, placing one on my lips and offering him the other. "Thanks." snap Lucius seemed to have gotten used to my way of lighting cigarettes because he didn't flinch when I did it anymore, too bad.
"Lucy!" I heard Narcissa before I saw her. I saw her arrive quickly with a smile on her face; she seemed happy as she dragged her sister by the arm. Bellatrix, on the other hand, seemed more resigned than anything else.
"Cissa, my dear, you look stunning." Lucius smiled gallantly, and Narcissa giggled, kissing Lucius on the cheek. I rolled my eyes at the same time as Bellatrix; it seemed that she couldn't stand Lucius's cheesiness either. Lucius hit me with his shoulder again and pointedly looked at Bellatrix. I sighed tiredly. How the hell had I ended up here? Oh yes, an incessant stream of begging from Narcissa.
"Bella, you look breathtaking," I said honestly, and I wasn't lying; she was wearing casual, warm clothes. It was December, so it was awfully cold, but she still looked good. It was a welcome change from the ever-present school uniform.
"You too, Sera." Bellatrix purred as she walked over and wrapped her arm through mine. I rolled my eyes.
"Well, let's go to Hogsmeade and get into some business, you must be cold," I said simply.
"And you aren't?" Narcissa asked curiously.
"Brass stores heat; I can increase my body temperature with it." The trio looked at me with a dirty expression, and I rolled my eyes. "You can take out the corresponding metals; there are several." I replied, putting more force in the brass, enough to emit heat around me. The trio looked at me in surprise, but they snuggled closer to me. Bellatrix practically stuck to my body, while Lucius and Narcissa got as close as they could without looking awkward.
"You're burning up." Bellatrix grabbed my hand and felt the warmth of my body. I nodded.
"I know." I smiled arrogantly at her. Bellatrix rolled her eyes amusedly. I chuckled, "I'm resistant to temperatures generated by my metals, even fire in general. With a few tricks, I can even resist lower or higher temperatures, especially higher ones." We started walking in the direction of Hogsmeade. "What's the plan?" I hadn't prepared at all.
"We can go to Madam Puddifoot's." Narcissa squealed in excitement, all three of us shuddering at the thought. "It'll be very romantic!" I grimaced as Bellatrix glared at me, falsely accusing me of this failure of an idea.
"Actually, I was thinking of stopping by the shops. I have some things to buy, you can go with Lucius, it might take me a while." I smiled awkwardly.
"NO!" Lucius yelled. It clearly wasn't a screech, he cleared his throat. "I mean, this is a double date; it wouldn't be fair for us to split up. Narcissa was expecting this." He looked at me with pleading eyes, as if begging me not to abandon him. 'I'm sorry, Lucius,' I said mentally. 'Our friendship only goes as far as Puddifoot's door. Friendships are broken the moment you step inside.'
"Lucy's right! It's a double date!" I wanted to moan in frustration. I grimaced when I felt Bellatrix digging her nails into me.
"Now, sister, Sera said she has some things to buy, I don't want to stop her from doing her shopping." Bellatrix smiled softly, "We can go later, or on another day." she comforted her. "Or never." she muttered, only audible to me. I snorted.
"...Okay, but we'll go with you, it is a double date after all." Narcissa huffed reluctantly, and the three of us let out a collective sigh as we avoided the hideous pink tent. I didn't mind the color pink; in fact, it's a nice color. I like pink, but there was a point where the pink was just too much. It became painful to look at; Puddifoot took that level up a notch, and it was practically torture to be inside.
The rest of the day was enjoyable; we ended up talking about everything and nothing, just wandering from store to store, doing our missing Christmas shopping. However, I couldn't really see anything I could gift to the group next to me or that I would buy in full view of them, as it would ruin the whole surprise, so I just filed the ideas away for later.
We were nearing the end of the day, close to the time we needed to return to the castle, when an explosion caught our attention, and a group of hooded people, Death Eaters appeared.
My eyes opened wide; I had no recollection from Severus that a Death Eater attack would occur around this time. I looked at Lucius, who looked at me and quickly realized what I wanted to ask without speaking. He shook his head immediately.
"Shit." He also had no memory of any Death Eater attack. I grabbed Cia, who was on my shoulder, and placed her inside my clothes, letting the warm feeling reach my entire body, until a hand grabbed my wrist. "Bella?" I looked at Bellatrix, confused. She had a crazed look, almost as if she was holding back with all her strength. She seemed anxious as she looked at me, almost pleadingly, while her eyes deviated to the hooded people. I sighed, "Go, don't let anyone see you, and for the love of Morgana, only the Death Eaters." I gave her the green light; Bellatrix's smile grew more sadistic before disappearing.
"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Lucius asked with a grimace, and I replied the same.
"Not really, but if I didn't let her go, she was going to do it herself," I said honestly. It was the first time Bellatrix was going to look for souls to consume, and I didn't know if she could really control herself or not.
"Bella's going to be okay; she can take care of herself," Narcissa said. I nodded. It was the least of my worries; unless Voldemort himself came, there really was nothing to worry about.
"Very well, we have to go back to the castle." Maybe help one or two people, or some students. I don't think they would be so bold as to kill right next to Hogwarts, to send a message? Maybe, but killing at this stage of the war? And a student? It was drawing too much unwanted attention.
"Now, now, Snape, why would you want to leave?" I clenched my fingers together, about to snap them to burn away the new voice that had just interrupted me, and I turned around. I saw a hooded wizard with a white mask. I quickly scanned the place; we were in a not-so-secluded spot, but there were little to no other people around. They never looked in our direction. I gulped; it wasn't an ability I used very often, but I could immediately hear the magical pulses like a drum in my head.
First, I felt the wards above us; there were several, I suppose anti-apparition was one of them. Then, I heard the people around me, Bellatrix being the most obvious. Even from a distance, her sound was a thunderous and intense drum, dangerous, that seemed to engulf everything.
Next was Lupin, who wasn't far from where I was. Lupin's sound seemed normal, like the rest around me, but his sound was corrupted, as if it had a slight distortion. I realized that the distortion was the curse of lycanthropy.
"Rabastan, do we have to do this?" Lucius asked impassively, immediately recognizing the person under the mask. Lestrange's noise was almost flat, but beneath it, there was a slight noise, dangerous, almost a hiss. Because it was so weak, that noise made me shudder more than those of the werewolves, Voldemort. The noise came from Rabastan's dark mark.
I could feel that same hissing sound spread throughout Hogsmeade; there were several marked Death Eaters.
"Lucius." Rodolphus spat. "The dark lord believes you're on our side, thanks to your father, a traitor is all I see." he hissed as he removed his mask. "But I'm not here for you, or for your sister, Narcissa, for breaking the engagement-" Narcissa growled, "I'm here for you, Snape." He hissed hatefully as he glared at me. "Now where's my brother?!" He exclaimed loudly. I grimaced. Of course, it was about Rabastan.
"No idea, Lestrange, I thought he crawled back to you to suck your cock again when he disappeared from Hogwarts." I slurred my words slowly as I looked at Rodolphus.
"How dare you!" Lestrange hissed, "Tell me where my brother is, or else!" Rabastan raised his wand and sent up a red flare. The change was immediate. A group of Death Eaters seemed to have been waiting for the signal and surrounded us. There were at least a dozen of them.
"Now, Rodolphus, this is not necessary." Lucius interjected, on guard. I could see him scanning all the Death Eaters. "You know better than to trust Rosier's information."
"I didn't say anything about Rosier," Lestrange growled. Lucius rolled his eyes and pointed at one of the Death Eaters.
"Do you really think a mask would fool me? Please, I could see your incompetence from afar." Lucius chided condescendingly. "Besides… is the Dark Lord aware of this… incursion? You don't want to upset him, Rodolphus, I hear he… doesn't take kindly to those who anger him." Lucius drawled slowly, causing Lestrange to shudder slightly.
"Don't listen to him! It's his fault! She made him disappear! She must have used a Portkey!" the Death Eater, whom Lucius said was Rosier, shouted.
"Shut up, Rosier!" growled Lestrange, his wand gripped tightly. "The Dark Lord is aware of this attack! I had his permission, and he provided me with the necessary assistance. I can't do anything with you, Malfoy! But Snape is fair game! She's going to tell me where my brother is, even if I have to rip it from her! One Cruciatus Curse and her tongue will loosen!" Lestrange's crazed look as he pointed his wand at me was telling; he really had no bargaining power at this point. I sighed and saw Lucius looking at me as he shrugged, having come to the same conclusion.
snap I snapped my fingers as Lestrange began to move his wand.
"AAAHHH!!" Lestrange's scream filled the village as his arms and wand suddenly caught fire. I didn't think it would work at all. Rosier was with them; he should have warned them about my fire. It was disappointing. My eyes moved to those who raised their wands, but I decided not to risk it. I was increasing my speed of thought, so the calculations came to me easily.
snap Fire erupted and burned the arms and wands of all the Death Eaters, and a cacophony of screams immediately arose as the Death Eaters tried to put out the fire on their arms to no avail. I looked dispassionately at the nearly dozen people writhing on the ground, crying and moaning in pain. I looked at Lucius and Narcissa, both of them were staring at the group as if they were a group of insects. I wasn't even surprised by their reaction anymore. I simply shrugged my shoulders and fired a Stunning Charm at each of them before beginning to walk over the bodies.
I paused momentarily, and with a wave of my hand, everyone's masks slipped off their faces. I quickly looked at them… bingo.
There was no reason to waste this opportunity to get more credits. I only knew 4 of them: Rodolphus Lestrange, Rosier the snitch, and to my surprise, Goyle Sr. and Crabbe Sr. The rest seem like run-of-the-mill recruits; people without a canon history or at least some relevant history would not generate any credit for me, so I quickly summoned my seal and pressed it on the four relevant people.
"What the -!! Snape!!" Why me? I groaned frustratedly as I put the seal away, just as I had finished sealing everyone, and looked at Black, who had screamed with his wand in hand. He seemed somewhat battered, just like the rest of the Marauders with Lily and her friends.
"Black, what a surprise."
"What happened?! What did you do?! " he asked forcefully as he looked at the unconscious bodies of the Death Eaters.
"noth-"
"Aurors! Stop!" I looked away from Black towards the new group that began to arrive. Moody was the first to approach us.
"Auror Moody, it's a pleasure to see you." Lucius said cordially. Moody grunted.
"Yeah, sure, Malfoy." Moody's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Now talk! What the hell happened here!?" he exclaimed as he looked around before snorting. "Though it seems they had a last-minute upgrade, HA!"
"We were on our way back to the castle when we saw them," Lucius said simply, "we were avoiding everyone when we came across these people with their arms burned, we have no idea who it was."
"And you clearly knew nothing of this, did you, Malfoy?" Moody asked suspiciously, his magical eye darting around. Lucius raised an eyebrow.
"Are you, Auror Moody, implying that I'm involved in this, or am I misunderstanding?" Lucius asked lazily. Moody snorted.
"If the mask fits you," Moody growled, and Lucius narrowed his eyes.
"I don't like what Auror Moody is implying. I'll be sure to tell my father and file a complaint with the Auror office for defamation and prejudice."
"Your father? Yes, of course! I'm sure he was present at this attack!" Moody exclaimed, and Lucius rolled his eyes. "I can tell you things about your father that would horrify you, boy! Now, start talking! "
"Now, Auror Moody, I feel insulted, even discriminated against." Lucius said with a hurt expression, "You accuse me of terrorism and being affiliated with a hate group against Muggle-borns when you are doing the same thing. Believing that, because I am a pureblood, I have something to do with all this-"Lucius pointed to the area,"-absurdity. I feel hurt. Who is discriminating against whom? " He put a hand on his chest and smirked.
"You little shit!"
"Alastor!" I grimaced. Dumbledore had arrived, and Moody knew better than anyone to remain silent as the Headmaster looked around. His gaze focused on Evan Rosier and then his arms and the ash around him. There was a strong smell of burnt flesh. His gaze shifted to me without hesitation. There was a clear look of disapproval on his face. I raised an eyebrow in his direction. Really? I raised another eyebrow and reached for my right arm. He frowned before looking at Moody. "I'm sure, Alastor, they will answer any questions you Aurors have, but they are still my students and will be respected as such." he said firmly. Moody clicked his tongue.
"Of course, Albus," he said reluctantly as he clicked his tongue and started walking. "Black! Potter! You guys go first!" he pointed at the marauders.
"Now, Miss Snape, I believe we need to have a conversation." Dumbledore's gaze focused on me once again.
Shit.