A Hufflepuff's Loyalty

Chapter 10

Something was up. I knew it. There was something just too damn strange about the way Snape was handling all this. The ease with which he gave up on everything. He didn't care that everything had gone to shit. How could he not care? How could I be the only one who cared?

As the door slammed shut, I stared at it. Yet again, I was left alone with nothing but a head full of confusion in an empty classroom.

No. Not this time. I had to know more.

Every muscle in my body was tense with desperation, as I went after him. I heard his heavy footsteps already around the corner and followed, all the while considering how I'd get him to tell me the truth. Knowing him, he probably wouldn't respond well to threats.

Coming round the corner, I was just in time to see the stone gargoyle bouncing back into position. I slowed my pace, my eyebrows rising. Did Snape just go into Dumbledore's office?

I looked around to see if I could find him anywhere else, but there was no movement. The hallway was deserted.

My face paled. Why would he go to Dumbledore, just after... What I'd nearly done... He wasn't going to tell him, was he? He'd get me kicked out of Hogwarts! I had to stop him.

Before I'd even realised what I was doing, I was already standing below the statue, staring up at the gargoyle's still face. I hesitated only for a second. I had no plan. Was I really just going to barge into Dumbledore's office without a plan?

Did I have a choice?

"Sugar Quill." My voice trembled slightly, but the gargoyle stepped aside anyway. I walked past it and slowly crept up the spiral staircase, doubting myself more and more with every step. What if Snape was here for a completely different reason? I would just be giving myself away...

As I neared the top of the stairs, I could hear their voices floating through the heavy wooden door that separated the office from the little hallway I was standing in.

"... set her off? It's as if you were testing her," said Snape's drawling voice.

I shuffled a little bit closer, so be able to hear it better.

"I had an appointment with auror Moody, Severus," said Dumbledore.

A short pause followed, after which Snape said, "Of course you did."

I held my breath, so as not to make a noise.

"What exactly are you here for, Severus?"

Footsteps. For a horror-filled second I thought they came towards me, but then I realised someone was just pacing, back and forth.

"Did you know what she was?" said Dumbledore suddenly. My eyes widened. Was this about me?

"Of course I knew," Snape answered. Why were they talking about this?

"Yet you didn't tell me." It wasn't a question, more of a statement.

"No. I did not," said Snape defensively.

"Why not?" A short silence followed, after which Dumbledore continued. "This is exactly the kind of information I need you to pass on to me, Severus. Do not forget your role."

"I didn't forget!" Snape spat. I could almost feel the tension between the two men all the way outside the door. They were not happy with each other. But why not?

"Then do as I asked of you."

"You didn't uphold your end of the deal, either!" I flinched when the Death Eater suddenly shouted out in anger. "You promised you'd keep Lily safe, and you failed! And now she's..."