twilight_dancer

Hogwarts castle is attacked. Many are lost, students and teachers alike. A small group of survivors wait in the dungeon for their leaders to decide what they do next. The final battle is upon them, and they are outnumbered three to one. They need a plan...

"He can’t come back, Harry." I was choking on the words even as I said them. Not wanting to believe them any more than Harry, and hating them for being true. But I had to say them. “He can’t come back because he’s dead.”

A prequel to Ribbons in the Wind, this fic is set on the night that young Severus Snape lost the only person he ever let close to him. It is the beginning of his fall to the darkness.

I stood upon the rough stone. Life was so peaceful up here. Nobody wanted anything more from me than what I could give. The wind whipped my robes around me like a swarm of black sparrows where sewn to it, each desperately trying to escape me. I couldn’t blame them. What had I to offer them? They deserved more than I could give.

A sleek white cat stalked the corridors of Hogwarts. Its soft paws made no sound as it padded across the hard flagstone. It knew what it had to do. He would be there. Waiting for her. Master… no! Not master. Friend. Cats have no masters. He is a friend.

Harry writes a letter to the godfather he lost and we see his deepest hurts and fears.