The Half-Blood Princess

Chapter 26- Estranged

With Voldemort in on the secret, Sabrina knew that she had to be extra careful.
One word from him and her life would fall apart, so she couldn't risk putting a toe out of line.
Luckily for the time being, he had no real use for Sabrina or Regulus, due to their age. So they were able to return to Hogwarts without attending any Death Eater meetings.
But as the months moved on, and Sabrina got closer and closer to her 17th birthday, she began to worry about what the dark lord would have her do, once she could use magic outside of school.

However, Voldemort was not Sabrina's only concern.
With Severus being in his 7th year, Sabrina knew that their time together was running out.
On the last day of term, Sabrina entered the boys dormitory, after all of Severus's classmates had left.
"So, is this it?" Asked Sabrina, as she made her way across the room towards her brothers bed.
His belongings were all packed, and his suitcase was waiting for him to take it down to the Hogwarts Express for the very last time.
"You shouldn't be in here" replied Severus.

"I can enter your dormitory, but you cannot enter mine, I like that. Anyway, the rest of your classmates have already left, so I knew that we'd be alone" admitted Sabrina.
"Have you finished packing?" Asked Severus.
"Yes. I finished last night, so that I wouldn't have to rush this morning"
"I did most of it last night. I was just finishing putting away the last few bits"
"I see... Where are you going to go?"
"My friends have offered to let me stay at theirs, before I find myself my own place"
"I think friends, is a strong word for the people you associate yourself with"
"Maybe. But I will be staying with them for the time being".

"Is this it then? Is this the last time I'm going to see you?" Questioned Sabrina, praying that the answer was no.
"You'll see me very soon. I have a meeting with Bellatrix and the dark lord next week. Hopefully, if all goes to plan, I shall be a death eater very soon" revealed Severus.
"Even if you do join us, it won't be the same. We won't be able to acknowledge each other in their presence because you're a Snape, and they believe I am a Prince"
"We will still be spending time with each other"
"Not like we used to".

"Neither of us have lived at home for years, so we haven't really been seeing much of each other" reminded Severus.
"We have at school" countered Sabrina.
"Yeah, but we don't exactly interact that much when we are here, since we have our own lives" replied Severus.
"So you are fine with never seeing me again, not counting the times when we bump into each other while wearing our death eater masks. Because I don't want that. You are my brother, and despite everything, I don't want to lose you".

Severus's face softened slightly, as he stepped closer to his sister, resting his hand onto her shoulder.
"You've grown up, Rina. You don't need me to protect you any more" Severus said quietly.
"That doesn't mean that I don't want you around" insisted Sabrina.
"Look, you're the one who turned her back on me. You didn't want to be a Snape. You didn't want to be my sister. Which is why you moved in with the Black's" snapped Severus, as he dropped his arm.
"Sev, it wasn't like that. I love being your sister. But to fit in with the Black's you have to be a pure-blood-"
"So you chose your boyfriend and his family, over me"
"This isn't all my fault. You stopped spending time at home. So to avoid our father, I started spending more time with Regulus's family. If you had been at home, then I wouldn't have needed to do that".

"Look, there's no point arguing about it now. You're a Prince, and will be a Black very soon. So it is time for us both to move on" announced Severus.
"No, I don't want that, I don't want to lose you" replied Sabrina.
"We can't change the past, what's done is done... Maybe once I've got my own place, you can come and visit me. That is if you aren't too scared that your new family will find out your little secret"
"I would like to see you. Do you think you will get your own place soon?"
"It depends on how fast I can get a job".

"Come and see me on my birthday" begged Sabrina.
"You want me to come to your new home?" Frowned Severus.
"No. But you can meet me by the park, where we always used to go to escape dad. It might be one of my last chances to see you before I come back to Hogwarts for my last year"
"Alright, I will come to see then"
"O.K, good. I will send you an owl nearer the day, to discuss what time to meet. And even if we don't see each that often, we can still send letters to each other, right?"
"Sure".

Severus waved his wand, making his luggage hover, before heading towards the door.
"Sev" Sabrina called out.
Severus sighed and turned back around, "What?".
"Just be careful. It's a dangerous world out there. And he, is a dangerous man... I don't want you to get hurt" Sabrina said quietly.
"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself"
"I know you can. But the dark lord is different. You haven't met him Sev, you don't know what he's like. You don't know how intimidating he can be"
"You don't need to worry about me little sister. I know what I'm doing".

Severus then made his way out of the dormitory, leaving Sabrina alone.
"No. You really don't" whispered Sabrina, even though she knew her brother could no longer hear her.
He was gone, and she didn't know when she was going to see him again.