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I've been a forest fire.
Snape Jr could hear them talking through the door. His dad, Malfoy’s mom and.. another strange voice. He hadn’t heard that one before. It was high and shrill. He assumed nothing important was going on and barged into the room, as he typically did.
Regret instantly followed that choice.
There his dad was, making an unbreakable vow, the famous death eater Bellatrix conducting it and the worst part was the tattoo on his father’s forearm. No, it wasn’t a tattoo. The skull, the snakes, it was a fucking dark mark. The only thing that drew his eyes away from the mark was the shrill laughter he heard from the death eater. He looked at her, pale as a ghost and.. were those tears welling up in his eyes? He wiped his eyes with his baggy sleeve, looking at her. Bellatrix. He swallowed a lump in his throat and they shared a look. Both had a mutual understanding. He wouldn’t tell anyone about this. Silently, he turned and went back to his room, hurt filling him.
About an hour later, footsteps approached his room, followed by a knock. He went to his door and opened it, going back to his bed. “Son, I didn’t want you to know,” His dad started, “I didn’t want you to get wrapped up in this.”
“If this is the side you’re taking, it’s the side I have to take,” Snape Jr muttered, a bitterness laced in his voice.
He heard a gentle slam and he looked up. Sure enough, his dad was gone, a closed door being the only thing to meet his eyes. He curled up on his bed, hugging himself, eyes glossy with tears.
And I am a fire and I am a forest.
Despite it having been months, his arm hurt. He looked at the fire his dad had started, the death eaters Draco had let in, and looked at his arm. The mark almost pulsed the same beat as his heart, which was rapid. He swallowed the lump in his throat and pulled out his wand. “Incendio!” He yelled, wand pointing at the forbidden forest. A jet of flames erupted from his wand, lighting the nearest tree on fire. He heard small, high pitched screams, small creatures that were in the tree instantly being set aflame. He felt his hand shake as the fire continued to roar, the screams getting louder, and suddenly he was on his hands and knees, dry heaving.
Tears steadily fell as the weight of his choices started to crush him all at once. Everything was too loud, he could hear his heart pulsing in his ears. His head hurt, his eyes hurt, he just wanted it all to stop. For it all to be gone. His lungs started to ache, desperate for air as he started to splutter, only finding smoke filling his lungs. He looked up at the fire, it was raging on. His hands found his throat, holding it as he started to suffocate.
Suddenly he was picked up, and apparated to a different location. He wasn’t near the fire anymore, and he let out an awful cough, before gasping for whatever air he could find. He was being held by very familiar arms. Before he knew it, he was sobbing, hiding his face in his dad’s shoulder as he gripped his back tight. “I’m here, I’ll never leave you again,” He heard his dad utter, emotion in his voice for one of the first times in his life. His dad felt safe again. He was safe again.
And I am a witness watching it.
Running through the rubble of Hogwarts, Snape Jr called, “Dad? Dad?! Where are y-” He cut himself off when he saw Harry Potter, standing over his dad. Harry was looking at him, remorse filling his eyes. A breath caught itself in his throat. No. No. He scrambled to his dad, heart dropping to the floor when he saw him lying there, completely motionless. His eyes were open, and glossed over.
A raw scream filled Hogwarts at that moment.
He instantly fell to the floor, holding his dad’s shoulders and jostling them. “Dad, dad wake up. You said you’d never go again. You promised. YOU PROMISED ME!” He yelled at his dad’s corpse, tears falling like they’d never fallen before. “Dad, please,” He rasped, throat in agony. Of course, it was silent.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, Harry’s. He shoved it off, staring at him with angry eyes. He stood up and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, “Why didn’t you do anything?” He screamed in his face. He was attempting to be intimidating, but he just looked pathetic. Voice barely there at this point, tears still flowing.
Harry hugged him. And Snape Jr sobbed in his arms.