Sweet Betrayal

Severus Snape couldn't believe his great fortune. After spending sixteen long years following the orders of a doddering old fool, he had finally been given the opportunity he had been waiting for - his life's ambition since he was twelve. Leaning precariously against the formidable stone wall of the tower, weakening with every passing second, was a defeated Dumbledore begging him to spare his life.

A week earlier, Severus would have laughed bitterly at the thought of such a tantalizing situation. Dumbledore would never beg him to do anything, much less spare him his life. The idea of a defeated Dumbledore was almost too much to hope for and Severus never let his imagination run wild - such a mistake would most assuredly lead to disaster. But here he was watching the most powerful wizard of the ages gravel on his knees, begging him to help. A cold feeling of hate and malignant glee crept up and squeezed at his black heart, the pleading look in the headmaster's dull blue eyes spurring it on. The moment had finally presented itself after sixteen torturous years. He raised his wand, a wild gleam in his eye.

The kneeling old wizard before him pleaded just once more before he spoke the words that had been on the tip of his tongue for so long. A look of shock and mournful disappointment flickered in the bearded wizard's eyes before he was sent headfirst over the edge of the tower. A satisfied look crossed the potion master's face before he grabbed the blonde boy's wrist and pulled him out of the tower, shouting directions while running down the winding stairs.

The chase through the castle was a blur of dodging hexes and curses and jumping over fallen bodies. Rushing through the passages of the school he once called home, he burst through the front doors of the school desperate to escape the trouble undoubtedly following him. He had almost reached the edge of the forest when a surprisingly magical Hagrid attacked him. He leapt out of the way of curse dragging Draco with him towards the dark forest. It was their only hope for escape. A meter from the edge, a red jet of light sped past his shoulder catching him off guard. He whipped around read to shout a curse at his attacker. Nothing could have prepared Severus Snape for what he saw behind him.

Fifty meters behind him, Harry Potter was charging after him with the most murderous expression on his face Severus had ever seen. The boy's eyes, a glowing green, were overflowing with a burning hatred far surpassing anything he had ever witnessed. For the first time in his life, Severus felt a tingling of fear. Using his legimens, he blocked every spell Potter threw at him, taunting his obvious failure at occlumency. Snape threw one last curse at the boy who lived before turning to flee, but was stopped in his tracks at the thing he heard next. Potter had called him a coward.

Eyes flaring with hatred and madness, Severus whipped around to face him bellowing at him that he was no coward. James Potter was the coward! He threw a rather rough curse at Potter before once again grabbing Malfoy and stepping into the forest and disapparating. He reappeared just outside the Malfoy mansion where he deposited a shaken Malfoy at his front door before disapparating once again and reappearing at the front of a shabby looking house with missing porch steps and splintered paint.

Standing outside the house, he stared up at the night sky remembering the look of shock on Dumbledore's face. He stood quietly outside the Death Eater's headquarters reliving those few precious moments in the astronomy tower with a mad gleam in his eyes - a sweet betrayal to relish for all time. What great fortune, indeed.