Priori Incantatem [HARRY POTTER FANFICTION]

Chapter 34: Secrets Part I

Chapter 34: Secrets Part I

Following Snape down the corridor, it occurred to Lily that her decision to follow a Slytherin who hated her boyfriend with a fiery passion and was known to be a friend of sorts of Lily's worst enemy probably was not the wisest decision she'd ever made in her life. But still, Lily reflected, he'd helped her that day in Knockturn Alley; if he'd really wanted her dead, he'd had the perfect opportunity then. And even if he did want to hurt her, she could take care of herself. That thought gave Lily a bit more confidence; she gripped her wand a bit more firmly and tilted her chin up to a more confident angle.

Snape came to an abrupt halt in front of a doorway Lily had seen several times on her patrols but had never explored. He muttered an incantation under his breath and flicked his wand, and the door swung open, revealing what seemed to be a storage cupboard for potion supplies. Ignoring the two unlit torches on the cupboard's walls, Snape lit the end of his wand and motioned Lily inside. After hesitating briefly, Lily lit the tip of her own wand and stepped in, deciding that she'd already come this far and might as well go along with it. Snape stepped in after her and shut the door as silently as possible; making sure that the latch was secure before turning to Lily.

"There isn't much time, so I'll ask you to listen without interruptions," Snape's pallid complexion was eerie in the flickering light, his expression grim. Lily nodded wordlessly to indicate that she understood. Needing no further encouragement, Snape spoke in the soft, urgent tones he'd been using before, as though he were afraid of being caught.

"First, I need to ask you: do you know where Dumbledore is right now?"

"Still in London, as far as I know," Lily whispered, feeling as though the bottom had dropped out of her stomach. "At a Wizengamot meeting." Professor Dumbledore had been called away the previous evening for an important Wizengamot summit, or so Professor McGonagall had said at tonight's Prefect meeting, which, now that Lily considered it, Snape had not attended.

Snape's mouth tightened, but he betrayed no other outward sign of emotion. "He Who Must Not Be Named's followers are planning an attack on that meeting," Snape informed Lily curtly "but it's only a means to an end. Their real target is Dumbledore, and this meeting is one of the few opportunities the Death Eaters have to access him, as he rarely leaves Hogwarts."

"What can I do?" Lily asked simply, her expression determined. 

"There may still be time," Snape's eye blazed in his sickly face as he studied Lily appraisingly. "Listen carefully: some students in this school are leaving in an hour's time to rendezvous with others and then they will all proceed to the Ministry together. You have approximately an hour and ten minutes, perhaps less, to warn Dumbledore and the Wizengamot. If you leave now you should have adequate time."

"Wait," Lily said, trying to sound as rational as possible, "come with me to warn Dumbledore and tell him what you've just told me. We can get the Aurors and have the Death Eaters arrested; we can stop the students before they leave the castle if you'll just tell me who they - "

"No!" Snape was startled by the vehemence of his response, and so, from the look of her, was the Mudblood. "No," Snape repeated again, trying to be calm, but he couldn't keep the note of desperation out of his voice. "You CANNOT tell ANYONE what I've just told you or even that you spoke to me. I'm telling you this for only one reason: because the Death Eaters won't leave any witnesses; they'll kill Dumbledore, the other Wizengamot members, and anyone else who might chance to see them and that would be distinctly - untidy. That reason and no other; if you think I have some sort of altruistic motive, you're mistaken." Snape paused deliberately, allowing his words to sink in.