Faerie Folly and Wizard Wands

Chapter Twenty

Severus' healing had done exactly the opposite that Saquoya would have expected. The darkness seemed to be stemmed from her mind. It still sulked in the background, but a new power surged through her, and filled her with expressions of happiness. Since he left her, she could think of nothing that she wanted more than to aide her father and Severus Snape in their quest to rid Voldemort from the wizarding world.

Her world.

Now her head was filled with a pure true vitality and sang with battle, for her father had finally revealed how he would use her power to destroy Voldemort.

Saquoya would have to face the evil wizard head on, with all the forces of good behind her. She was the first spear, the first arrow, the first strike, and the fatal one. If she failed, they would lose. It was simple math.

Sirius had returned, with the werewolf Remus and their friends. They were veterans at this game of fighting, and had spent their weeks together preparing the strongest magic in their wands.

Her father had even enlisted the aid of the House Elves at Hogwarts to help with the war, as their magic was amazingly powerful, and their loyalty unending.

Battle hung on the air, and sank into her flesh, and ripped into her lungs. Her faerie blood curdled and thickened with the spirit of power, and her heart often swelled with thoughts that brought her to her knees.

Suppose she lost her father? Suppose Sirius was wounded beyond her aid? Suppose...suppose Severus was killed?

The dark wizard had avoided her in the weeks before the outbreak of the war. He seemed to be angry for the debt she had caused him, although she would willingly forget it, if he would only speak to her once before she had to face the most powerful wizard of the age.

But his pride and her stubbornness led their paths to take different routes at all times, therefore leaving the void between them thick with unspoken words and embarrassed silences.

Dumbledore seemed delighted with their turn in a relationship, despite the gloom of impending battle. She would never understand her father completely, and doubted anyone ever could, except, perhaps, her mother. Why he was joyful of the fact that Severus refused to speak to her was beyond her comprehension. And in the end, she really didn't have the strength or the care to concentrate on the reasons.

In fact, since the day she had healed Severus, her desire to question life and the reasons for occurrences became one of the most obscure parts of her life.

Tension rose with each hour, killing the lighthearted steps of children in Hogwarts, and smothering the chiming of chatter and clocks. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was still full of children, since parents had entrusted her father with many of their little ones. Although half would refuse to acknowledge the coming of Voldemort, all had continued to keep their children there throughout the year, in case of an attack in the summer. She did not understand the politics of these people, but her father had just shook his head.

"I would rather they be here, Saquoya, where they are protected by these walls. Though their parents don't admit it, there's fear hanging in the air: everyone can feel it. This is impending on the mind, and they respond to it, whether it contradicts their beliefs or not."

Saquoya left her lonely white house. It was impossible to resist the temptation and pushing of the evil there. So she stayed at Hogwarts to hear of strategies and battles. Words that were forgotten years earlier were remembered, and wizards and witches were arriving to England by the minute from around the world. However, their forces were still not enough. Everyone knew this. Their side was split in half, and Voldemort's united. There was nothing but one chance.

All was upon Saquoya.

* * * *

The eve of battle was soon upon them, drawing nearer and nearer by the second, and Sirius and Saquoya stood overlooking the land of England that stretched from the castle in an eerie, silver light. Her senses were saturated with inevitable evil, pulling on her body and mind, reaching deep inside her core.

Shuddering, she looked at the wizard beside her. Sirius had been the first to discover her. He had watched her powers grow, had learned with her, and had taken her to her home and her family. His companionship had given her permanence.

"Are you afraid?" It was not what she wanted to ask, but it was all that escaped her.

"Yup," he nodded briefly. "Not much I can do about it, though."

He looked at her, his eyes piercing the dull gray around them. "Are you, Sabine?"

The use of her old name, the name Granna had christened her with, brought a torrent of thoughts tumbling around her, and she looked at him square in the face, measuring him before answering.

"I cannot be, can I?" This, however, was not the true answer. However, she felt that it was her duty to hold a strong face.

Sirius stared at the ground for a moment, and she heard him sigh, and felt his body sag. She felt his guilt radiate off of him, and felt a stab of resentment; why could the roles not be reversed? She would give so much to be the one feeling guilt instead of the weight of the entire wizarding community.

But then, she would have to give up her power.

The power that was so strong, it could make her weak in the final fatal moment.

Sirius' hand moved out to her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Saquoya. I wish you could share what you have to do."

He patted her, before bringing her into a quick, brotherly hug, and departed, muttering about saying good-night to Harry Potter. She had met the boy, so briefly it was hardly a meeting. Sirius had introduced them before whisking the boy away to his dormitory. Then he had returned to discuss war plans. It seemed he took his role of godfather extremely seriously, and was determined that Harry did not get a second dose of terror as he had in the past. She remembered a fleeting of dark, shaggy hair and flashing green eyes-not unlike her mother's, Luelinea.

In the silence of Sirius' absence, she placed one finger delicately to her lips. She didn't have to stay, she knew. At this very moment, she could fly out the window on her pixie powers and never return. She could go to the miry wilds of her mother's people, and spend the rest of her life searching for Luelinea's prancing and flitting form.

She could not leave her father now, no matter how much cowardice suddenly welled into her heart.

And she could not leave Severus.

Severus!

It was strange that he approached, but she felt him, coming nearer, his being connected to hers in that strange fashion. He brought with him a finality, an utter control and decisiveness she longed for. Saquoya had discovered how much she held her mother's blood; this blood which hated change, and hated the unsure way of life. She wanted complete stability, no more moving from place to place and changing identity.

With Severus, she could have that. Complete and utter permanence. He would not change for her, and she didn't expect him to. His grisly demeanor and dark scowls were never-ending, but always there. His deep growls and sharp words sparked her own mind, pulling her to a realm of intense enjoyment. Saquoya no longer dreamed of a place that was full of posy and happiness. She did not wish for a knight--she never had. She wanted acceptance, which would give her life.

Severus had given that to her, through his Pensieve. He had given her life. So, she would give him acceptance.

It was a circle.

As he came closer, she spun around, prepared to meet him, her chin held high, her pride was her attitude.

"Are you ready for battle?"she taunted, her eyes shooting to his.

Hardly acknowledging her, Severus Snape made to pass by her, continuing the charade of silence and anger.

"You know, I hold no power of debt over you. Severus. You have no reason to keep with ignoring my existence."

He halted, his back tall and stiff to her, and she heard him exhale through his nose. "Foolish pixie. Do you think I don't know that?"

"You are afraid of me, then."

"Is that what you believe?"

"I know it. I can feel you shy from me," she shrugged, and then a devilish thought suddenly dwelled in her mind. Perhaps it was the coming battle, or the knowledge that her failure would bring the destruction of all she knew and cared for. Perhaps it was the snapping of her will, or the final twist of fate, but Saquoya Dumbledore got the same twinkle of her father in her eye, and beckoned to a wary and slightly irrate Severus.

"If you are not afraid, then you will not stop from helping me for a moment. Come here."

He did not approach, and stood back with a keen gaze. "I don't trust you. You've got a look about you I don't like."

"Then I am correct."

"I'm not being unreasonable. I have no business with you. Can't you concentrate on the war like a good little faerie?" his words were tinged with poison.

"Come here."

Taking a slight liberty with her pixie powers, Saquoya reached over to grab the sleeve of his thick black garments, and pulled with her extra strength. Against his will, Severus was drawn to stand near her. Reveling for a moment at his nearness, she said imperiously,

"Take your bat-like cloak and drape it over me."

"What?"

She glanced at him in a dismissive manner.

"On the next eve, I will be drenched in darkness. Facing Voldemort will bring all his evil racing to me, where it will seek to wreath me in its persuasion, to take me to Voldemort as aught but a power to be used. I would lose myself in this evil, and cease to be in human form. I want to see if I can continue to live as myself under the darkness."

"You take my cloak as if it was Evil itself?" Hatred crept into Severus' voice. "Is that what you think? Haven't I proven myself well enough to Dumbledore's daughter? Didn't I gain trust when I endured tortures and still didn't disclose any information? Or is the faerie too proud?" he sneered, his voice rising in his anger.

"No. But your fury at me substitutes as the evil, and your cloak is the darkness."

He stared at her, his mouth pinched, before snapping, "Take it."

She expected the essence of the pure irate, and the feel of an exasperated and irritable teacher. Saquoya waited for the helplessness and utter loss that she knew existed within him. The cloak was close to Severus' body all the time; part of him was etched into the earthy fibers of its make. She would be able to read him again, in a different, faerie level.

She was prepared to feel negative emotions, and ready to fight them from within her core. And she felt it. But there was more than that.

His cloak did not serve the purpose she had wanted.