Kapitel 6: Death and Domain - Chapter 6

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It hadn't been a hard guess to make.

The Severus Snape of this world spent day and night testing and brewing new potions. So much so he's hardly ever seen around the school. On the weekends, he takes them to the hospital. And in that same hospital, Lily Potter hangs on to life by a thread after the events that made her daughter so famous, even if she's in a vegetative state.

On their own, the fragments of information were rather unimportant and would fly under anyone's radar. Octavian's included. But since I knew of Snape's love for Lily, connecting the dots was easy enough.

"How…" Snape barely wheezed out. All the strength seemed to leave his body. His hand on my arm went limp, and he had to lean against a desk to stay up.

"Rose Potter was looking at a bunch of pictures of her mother in the library a few weeks ago," I told him. A lie, but I wasn't about to tell him I'd just stolen his nephew's body. "I saw it over her shoulders and recognized a younger you beside Lily Po… Evans. Then I remembered seeing you at the Black family's library all those years ago when I played with Celeste. You would spend days locked up there, reading and researching about long term magical illnesses and what not. I didn't think much of it at the time, of course, but now… now it makes sense."

Snape looked ill. His pale skin took on a ghostly tint. His wand shook in his grasp. "What do you want from me?"

"To listen," I said emphatically. "Think, uncle. Voldemort must have used the Killing Curse on Lily the same way he did on Rose. Only it's supposed to be instant death, painless and with no trace of injury to the body. Her problem doesn't lay in her body, which is the only thing your potions can affect. I'm no magical theorist, but I believe the Killing Curse attacks the soul directly."

Some of the earlier anger returned to him. "You think I have not thought of that?" Snape let out a bitter laugh. "Stupid boy. I have gone over every scenario, every spell and every counter-spell, every possible reaction from curses and rituals. But if it was the Killing Curse, if she somehow survived it like Rose but it took her soul then that means… that means…" he nearly choked. His eyes turned glassy with tears and he had to bring a fist to his mouth to cover a sob.

I forced my expression into a semblance of empathy. In reality, it was to hide the disappointment. The real Snape might have been an asshole, but he wasn't this pitiful. Years of pointless struggle to save his unrequited lover had broken this one, no doubt. He was barely functional, an empty shell of a man.

Depending on him left a bad taste in my mouth, but he was the shell of a man with extensive knowledge of dueling and the finer points of the Dark Arts. And one that was easily available to me.

"Yes, I know what it means. And I'm counting on that being the case. The Prince family might have the necessary knowledge of the Soul to save Lily."

Snap growled and jumped to his feet. "You come to me with false rumors of our stupid family," he spat, grabbing me by the collar.

I shook him off easily. He was weaker than Octavian, which said something of his strength. "Eileen Prince was never going to be the heir," I told him. "She was never taught the family magic, which is why you don't know either. Despite his incompetency, my father at least charged the house elves to teach me about our past, even if the actual knowledge of the art was lost with my grandfather."

His mouth twisted. "And how does a lost art help, you imbecile?"

This time I slapped him in the face. The sound echoed in the room, but at least he was stunned into silence. I had to do it, otherwise he would get the wrong idea of where we stood against each other. Or, at least, where I intended to stand.

Snape looked at me wide eyed, mouth agape. The red of my palm was stark against his pale face.

"It is only lost because my father didn't care to learn it himself," I told him with a sneer of my own. "Perhaps if your mother hadn't been banished from the family for marrying a muggle, you would be able to learn it yourself. No, the knowledge is not available to you, but it is to me. I will learn the secrets of the Soul and master its magic. We have plenty of time. Lily Evans isn't going anywhere."

"You will save her, will you? You who can barely hold your wand properly?" Snape let out a tired laugh. "You think you can unwind the doings of one of the greatest masters of the magical arts that ever lived?

"The Dark Lord is more than the bedtime stories told to scare children into obedience. He is not just a boogeyman, a mad wizard with a penchant for flinging Unforgivables." He shook his head. "He was an academic too, a scholar of the highest order, learned in every facet of magic that you could ever imagine. He traveled the world in search of any scrap of knowledge he could gather." His voice sounded hopeless. "This is not something you can counteract by cramming during a summer."

I just nodded slowly at his words. "Then maybe I won't be able to help her. Maybe it will all be for nothing," I allowed. Then I gripped his chin and made him look up at me, even if I kept my own eyes focused on nose. "But I'm the only chance you have. The knowledge of the Princes is not something the Dark Lord ever sought. His abilities may be greater than my own, but so long as I learn just one thing he didn't know when he cast that spell, then there is a chance I'll be able to undo the damage he caused."

Snape grit his teeth. I could almost see the gears turning in his head. He was pathetic, but he wasn't dumb. For someone who'd tried everything in their power to help someone, even a morsel of hope was a lifeline.

"Very well, Octavian," he said, fists balled up beside him. "Though I suspect I will not like your price."

I hid my smile by turning away from him. In the long run, Severus Snape would be a decisive piece in the many-layered chess game I would be playing. I needed to tie him securely to my side—for him to be my creature, my triple agent with access to the camps of both Dumbledore and Voldemort. This was only the first step.

"Nothing too onerous, I assure you," I said softly. "You were right in saying I can barely hold my wand. And though my grasp of theory is up to par in the non-wanded subjects, especially in enchanting, I believe some level of competency in the more practical schools of magic will help me save Lily."

I heard Snape clicking his tongue behind me. "You just want a private tutor," he said in scorn.

I shrugged. "And you just want a cure for your half-dead girlfriend."

Snape slapped his hand down on the table. "Don't!"

"Alright, alright." I turned to him with both hands up. "I won't call her that, so long as you swear you won't run off to tell the headmaster about any of this. Family business, if anyone asks."

"And why are you so certain I would do such a thing?" Snape asked, brows furrowing.

"I'm not stupid, uncle," I said. "There are other rumors about you too. I can guess what you're hiding beneath your sleeve, and I know the only person with enough political clout back then to get you out of a sentence would be Albus Dumbledore. I'm sure he keeps you neatly folded in his back pocket, doesn't he?"

Snape looked like he had a lot to say, but he kept his mouth shut. That was enough of an answer for me.

"Listen, I don't want anything to do with the headmaster or the Dark Lord," I lied. I was good at that. "I just want to be able to hold my own against Cassius Warrington and Justin Travers, and my useless father sure as hell won't help me. You were my only choice, and I knew you would need some incentive."

"How wonderful for me." Crossing his arms over his chest, Snape gave me a humorless smile. "And when do you expect to start your… training?"

I smiled. "No time like now, no?"

I could swear I heard Snape whispering the Killing Curse under his breath.