Chapter Text
‘Crucio!’
Pain erupted in every fibre; it felt as if his body was on fire while being continuously stabbed by icy needles at the same time. Andy screamed.
When it stopped, Andy gasped for air, blinking as he watched the stars above him. He didn’t recall falling. After wiping some strands of blond hair from his face he turned to the Death Eater above him, panting.
‘Maybe if you would join our Dark Lord…’
‘How about you tell your Dark Lord that he is an ugly, low-life, son of a–’
‘Crucio!’
Again, pain exploded in his body, and Andy screamed as he rolled over the dirty pavement. He barely noticed another Death Eater joining the scene.
‘Stop it,’ the second Death Eater barked.
‘He let a Muggle escape and spoke with disrespect about our Dark Lord,’ the first Death Eater explained as they continued to aim the wand at Andy.
‘I will deal with him. Stop it!’
The first Death Eater stopped.
‘Go. You’re needed elsewhere.’ It wasn’t until after the first Death Eater had Disapparated that the second one turned to Andy and said: ‘You look like a mess.’
Andy slowly crawled up; with shaking hands he touched the messy neck-long hair framing his face and picked up the elastic band – he had probably lost during the torture – to tie his now dirty hair in a loose ponytail. ‘I probably still look better than you with your greasy hair and hooked nose safely hidden under your hood and mask, Severus’
‘Don’t make me regret stopping him,’ Severus snapped, and after a pause continued: ‘We’ll go to your place.’
The two of them Disapparated from the scene and Apparated into a place that looked like a Muggle apartment, with a television set and some paintings and pictures on the wall that didn’t move. Andy went into the bathroom to wash his hands and face, which revealed several scratches underneath the dirt. His hands still shook, and he took in a deep breath.
This war sucked. Granted, it had been going on for ten years now, but most of that time he had stayed at Hogwarts or at his parents’ place in the countryside, and at both locations the war had seemed distant.
Ever since he had left the secluded environment of the school, he lived by himself; the last two years he had been in the middle of this war, and he tried to make the best of it, but it was hard. It was easy to spot Death Eaters when they wore their uniform, but when they didn’t, they looked like every other wizard and witch. Anyone could work for Voldemort, and there was no way to tell. To make it worse, Voldemort knew how to control people through the Imperius curse and could make innocent people do terrible things. There was a constant worry that friends or family would end up being tortured or killed, or used against their will to do terrible things. Not a week went by without people, both Muggles and those of the magical community, dying or disappearing, and the Ministry of Magic was barely able to do damage control. There was no indication they would be able to bring an end to this war anytime soon. Acts of terror against Muggles and Muggle-borns happened frequently; people were confused and panicking most of the time, and the uncertainty if you or your loved ones would get out of this war unharmed was a daily struggle.
Despite the danger, he didn’t hide in his apartment; when he wasn’t with a Magizoologist who had taken him in as an apprentice, Andy often walked the streets to help where he could, but he was one man, and today that had led to being tortured and, if Severus hadn’t shown up, probably killed as well.
He watched the dirt wash away with the water, and he thought about Severus Snape, whom he had left behind in the living room. They had been friends during their time at Hogwarts; sorted in the same year but into different Houses. Andy was a Hufflepuff while Severus belonged to Slytherin. It hadn’t been a surprise to find out Severus was a Death Eater; he had always suspected it, but two months ago he had seen the evidence. And had kept it to himself.
When he returned to the living room, he noticed Severus examining the books in his bookcase.
‘Why do you live here?’ Severus asked.
‘Why not? I like it here.’
‘In an apartment surrounded by Muggles?’
Andy shrugged. ‘Why not? They’re not that bad.’ He ignored the huff coming from Severus and gestured he had to follow him. They went into the kitchen and Andy pulled open a cabinet.
‘Did you eat already?’ he asked, to which Severus shook his head. ‘Then you’re in luck, as the best cook in the world I will make you some…’ he pulled a pack of spaghetti from the cupboard to check the date, ‘spaghetti?’
‘You don’t even like to cook.’
‘No, but a man has got to eat.’
‘Get a house-elf.’
‘I’m against slavery.’
Severus rolled his eyes but chose not to comment on it, not wanting to get into that discussion again.
‘So,’ Andy began as he was making preparations to cook dinner, ‘when are you going to stop following Voldy?’ Severus’s death glare at the disrespect was lost on Andy, who had his back at him.
‘Why don’t you tell me what happened?’ Severus asked instead.
Andy shrugged as he gathered everything he needed to make spaghetti. ‘He spoke the truth; he was torturing some Muggles and wanted to kill them. I stopped him and let them escape. And when he suggested I’d join you guys I told him to tell his Dark Lord he is an ugly, low-life, son of a–’
‘Andy!’
‘This is not a surprise to you, Severus.’ Andy filled a pot with water and calmly put it on the stove. ‘You know how I feel about him and that whole pureblood-supremacy nonsense. I’ve made it perfectly clear before that I think that everyone who follows him are a bunch of Flobberworms.’ He pointed to Severus with a spatula. ‘You included.’
‘And yet you haven’t told anyone that I am a Death Eater.’
Andy nodded slowly. ‘True. I haven’t told anyone.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you are a friend with a brilliant mind and it would be a waste if that mind is devoured by those Dementors that guard Azkaban. Plus, I have no evidence and you have powerful friends who would buy you out.’ He opened a jar of tomato sauce and dumped the content in a pot. ‘Truth to be told, I am conflicted. Every person you kill is on me too.’
‘I haven’t killed that many.’
‘Then I have the blood of a few on my hands.’ He turned to Severus. ‘I keep hoping, against better judgement, you will have a change of heart and join the good guys.’
Andy recalled how they had met years ago: one day during their fourth year, he had watched Severus sitting alone. Something about that self-chosen solitude had intrigued him. He had joined Severus, and they had talked about the subject he was studying for. That had been the beginning of their friendship, even though Severus had seemed more annoyed than anything else when Andy had first intruded on his solitude. In the beginning, Severus seemed to tolerate his presence, but somewhere along the way Severus had opened up to him. In their fifth year, they had studied together several times, and chatted outside class. Andy knew about Lily, and he was the only one who knew Severus was the half-blood prince who had invented the Levicorpus jinx.
By the end of the 7th year, they had become good friends, even though their friendship seemed unlikely. Where Severus was pessimistic, he was an optimist. And they had disagreed on several occasions about Muggles and pure-bloods. Not to mention how he had witnessed Severus being drawn to dark magic, a branch he had never cared for. And yet, the way Severus had taken his studies seriously, his intelligence, it showed Severus had lots of potential, and that was something Andy had always appreciated in him; he had seen that when he and Severus did their homework together, and in the class of Study of Ancient Runes they had taken together. And Severus certainly wasn’t evil in nature; James Potter would have mysteriously died if that was the case. On the contrary, Severus was capable of a deep love many wouldn’t understand.
Loyalty to friends wasn’t easy in times like these, but while it didn’t feel right to let Severus do unsavoury things as a Death Eater, he couldn’t bring himself to betray him either.
Andy stirred in the pot with the spaghetti when he broke the silence. ‘Did you kill Timothy?’ he asked, still with his back at Severus.
‘I didn’t know he died.’
‘Death Eaters, two of them. They tortured him,’ He gritted his teeth as he glared at the spaghetti, not wanting to turn around and face Severus. ‘They made him say that he was sorry for using a wand, that he didn’t deserve to wield one, and then they killed him. I arrived at the scene when he screamed the words they wanted him to say and watched them kill him. One of them Disappareted, but I killed the other.’
‘It wasn’t me. I know that that… Muggle-born was your friend.’ Severus had almost said Mudblood, but caught himself just in time, knowing Andy would hate him for it. Using the word Mudblood had already turned Lily away from him, he didn’t want to turn Andy away as well. ‘I wouldn’t kill him,’ he assured Andy.
Andy nodded slowly. ‘I may have killed a friend of yours though.’
‘I doubt it,’ Severus stated. ‘How did you do it?’
Andy didn’t reply immediately; he watched the sauce bubble and turned off the heat. ‘Killing Curse,’ he eventually said, not noticing how the eyebrows of Severus rose, followed by the narrowing of his eyes as he pondered the implications. ‘Not the first Death Eater I killed either,’ Andy continued as he turned around. ‘The other was about to kill Muggles, and I used the Ventus jinx to save them… the Death Eater broke her neck when she landed.’
Severus shrugged to that; he knew very few of the Death Eaters personally, nor did he care much about them. There was a circle he considered friends, or at least like-minded colleagues, but that was it.
When the food was cooked, Andy served it. They ate together and for a moment if felt as if they were back at Hogwarts. Andy talked about his plans for becoming a Magizoologist and told Severus he had been accepted as an apprentice with an old witch called Miranda Shortblom and that he had been on various trips around Britain the last two years to see some creatures in their natural habitat. “War or no war, there is still a lot to learn” was her answer when he questioned if it even was worth it, which had made him appreciate her even more. Now he was ready to go solo, and she had already said she’d back him up. Severus, in turn, told him about a prophecy he had overheard in Hogsmeade and that he had told the Dark Lord about it.
‘Interesting,’ Andy commented. ‘Any idea who the child is?’
‘The Dark Lord is looking into it as we speak. I bet Dumbledore is too.’
‘Probably. The prophecy is intriguing, and we all know he opposes Voldemort. Voldemort will want the child dead, so Dumbledore will want the child alive.’
‘Are you on his side?’
Andy looked up as he put a fork full of spaghetti in his mouth. ‘I’m against what Voldemort stands for and I will protect Muggles and Muggle-borns,’ he said after chewing and swallowing, ‘but I stand alone, I haven’t affiliated with anyone. I’ve had lunch with someone whom I know is in the Order of the Phoenix – I’m not going to tell you who it is – and now I’m having dinner with you.’
There was no way he would tell Severus about his lunch with Arthur Weasley. They had met a few times at the Ministry of Magic and they shared an interest in Muggles. On top of that, Arthur was just a nice guy to hang out with. He knew Arthur was In the Order of the Phoenix, Arthur had invited him to join them after all, but he wouldn’t let any Death Eater know that.
After dinner they parted ways, and Andy didn’t see or hear Severus for a while. He did come across Lucius Malfoy one day.
‘Andrew Bansing,’ Lucius greeted him.
‘Lucy!’ Andy replied with a broad grin, as if they were old friends. ‘It’s been years.’ He knew Malfoy had been a prefect of Slytherin when he was in his first year at Hogwarts, and the few times their paths had crossed hadn’t make him like Malfoy at all.
Lucius scowled. ‘Don’t call me that,’ he hissed.
‘And I don’t like my full name. Just call me Andy.’
With the faintest of nods, Lucius accepted it. ‘I’m hosting a party,’ he explained, ‘and you, as a pure-blood, are invited.’
‘I understand why you want me there,’ Andy stated with a cheeky grin. ‘I’m a great wizard after all. Yes, my pure blood certainly gave me lots of strength and magical prowess and smarts, but I’ll be busy.’
‘I haven’t told you when it is yet.’
Andy crossed his arms. ‘I’m certain I’ll be busy that day.’
‘Don’t reject so lightly,’ Lucius warned him. ‘This party could be important for your future.’
‘Yes, well, black doesn’t suit me, but thank you for your invitation.’ Andy was certain Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater, but he had no evidence for it. As far as he knew, the Malfoys had always been pureblood supremacists, but that in itself wasn’t illegal. Several elite pure-blood wizarding families were like that, but not all of them were Death Eaters. Still, he was willing to bet everything he had on the fact that the Malfoys had sided with Voldemort.
‘So be it,’ Lucius said, and he was about to turn around when Andy spoke up.
‘I want to make something perfectly clear,’ Andy warned him. ‘If I see you hurt a Muggle, I’ll turn you into a newt. Or, well…’ he waved his hand in a dismissive way. ‘Something resembling it at least; I wasn’t that good at Transfiguration.’
Lucius glared at him. ‘Be careful, people might think you are a blood traitor.’
‘Let people think what they want to think. It’s better than being a Flobberworm.’ Andy narrowed his eyes. ‘Are you the one who killed Timothy?’
‘Who?’
‘A friend of mine. Timothy.’
‘That Mudblood you hung out with?’
‘Careful now,’ Andy growled, reaching for his wand.
Lucius likewise reached for his wand, and he narrowed his eyes. ‘I honestly don’t care a Mudblood died, but I did not kill him.’
‘Would you tell me if you had?’
‘I would tell you how much I enjoyed it,’ Lucius hissed. ‘It’s just one less Mudblood…’
Andy glared at him and moved his wand as he muttered a spell. When Lucius wanted to ask what he had done, he coughed up some feathers.
‘Damn you, Bansing,’ Lucius growled as he held a hand over his mouth. He coughed again, and some small feathers escaped through his fingers. ‘
‘Nice talking with you, Lucy,’ Andy said as he walked away, waving without looking at him. He believed it when Lucius claimed he hadn’t killed Timothy, but he couldn’t let his words go unpunished.
A couple of days later Andy was in his study when Severus rushed in.
‘He’s going to kill her!’ His voice was on the edge of panic, and he grabbed Andy, his fingers digging deep into the fabric of his clothes. ‘The Dark Lord, he decided the one mentioned in the prophecy I overheard is the son of Lily. I begged him to spare her, and he agreed, but… he broke his word before… and Lily will never let anything happen to her son. She will die, Andy!’
Andy grabbed Severus’s face and looked him straight in the eyes. ‘Then go to Albus Dumbledore. He is the only one who can protect them. I will do what I can to save Lily from him, I will stand between them if I have to, but I’m not strong enough to take on Voldemort. Dumbledore is the only wizard I know strong enough to protect Lily. Go to him.’
‘What makes you think he’ll listen to a Death Eater?’
‘He will understand how deeply you love her. Trust me. Go to Dumbledore; he can help you better than I can. Just tell him you love her more than Voldemort and his ideas, because I know you do, and he will see the truth in that.’
As Andy had suspected, Dumbledore believed Severus and the Potters went into hiding. Since that day, Severus acted as a spy for Dumbledore. Andy didn’t like it one bit, but he helped him as well as he could. As Severus worried for Lily’s safety, Andy worried for Severus. If Voldemort found out, it would be his end, and a very painful one as well. How he regretted sending Severus to Dumbledore.
Then the day came that was the end of everything.
Severus staggered into his study, his skin as white as a sheet. Halfway through the room he collapsed and buried his face in his hands; Andy rushed over to help him back onto his feet.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Lily is dead!’ Severus cried out, clutching Andy’s clothes.
‘How…’
‘He betrayed them, told the Dark Lord where they were. And the Dark Lord went there… and killed them.’
‘So, all three–’
‘Her son survived,’ Severus whispered, his voice hoarse. ‘She gave her life for him, and with that protected him. Harry Potter survived, and the Dark Lord is gone.’
Andy held onto Severus, keeping him close to himself. ‘Gone for good?’ he whispered. Was it finally over?
‘Not according to Dumbledore,’ Severus whispered. ‘He says he’ll return one day. Lily died for her son; we have to… we can’t let it be in vain. We have to protect Lily’s son. She died because of me… because I… the least I can do is look after her son. If the Dark Lord will return…’
‘Then I will do what I can to help him,’ Andy promised.
‘I will be a teacher at Hogwarts,’ Severus continued.
‘What?’
‘Dumbledore offered me a position. As a former Death Eater, there aren’t many places I can work anyway, and Lily’s son will come to Hogwarts when he is old enough. I will start next school year.’
Andy nodded slowly, noticing how wet Severus’s eyes looked. ‘You must do with your life what you feel is best, but don’t let Dumbledore decide your path. If I had known he would make you spy I would not have suggested you go to him.’
‘I don’t have another place to go,’ Severus muttered as he wrung his hands.
‘You can stay with me until you figure something out.’
Severus shook his head. ‘With the Dark Lord gone, they will look for Death Eaters. Even though I changed sides, my name will be mentioned. Dumbledore promised he would protect me. And he’s right; out of respect for Lily's memory and her sacrifice I have to make sure her son will be protected. And the best place for that is Hogwarts; Dumbledore will ensure he will be safe during his childhood.’
‘Okay,’ Andy sighed. ‘Stay safe, Severus.’
A silence fell between them.
‘What are you going to do now that it’s over?’
It felt unreal; was the war really over now? He should feel happy; why wasn’t he? Sure, he was glad and relieved, but he didn’t feel like bringing out the firewhisky in celebration. It didn’t help that Severus stood heartbroken in his room. He noticed Severus waited for an answer, so he forced a smile on his face and shrugged. ‘I’ve got plenty to do. There are a few things I want to investigate here, but I’m also planning a trip to Africa.’
‘Africa? Why?’
Andy turned to face the window as he said: ‘Everyone here already knows the European Magical Creatures, but we still know truly little of the creatures that hide in other parts of the world, like Africa. I want to investigate those.’