I'll Be Good

Chapter 3: An Accidental Jump

"But I thought you said the Dark Lord won the war? How would still have a portrait? And the Dark Lord would have destroyed any way to find muggleborns so he could just leave them to destroy the muggle world with their wild magic. So Albus couldn't have used it!"

"Umm... well, I'm a Slytherin and I was worried you would kick me out if you didn't have a reason for me to stay. So I might have told a little lie. But I can still save lives! I'm still useful!" She didn't want to be thrown out! She'd finally gotten to her true home. She couldn't leave it now! She'd rather die. This was where she belonged. She didn't even want to go back to Ashley and Chelsea, not because she didn't love them, but because this was where she would thrive. This was where she was supposed to be. She could feel it.

Severus was upset about the lie but it was her insistence that she was still useful that caught his attention. "Woah, calm down Heather, I won't throw you out. Why would I do that? It's not like I could anyway. You are a witch, you have a right to an education. I am disappointed that you felt it prudent to lie to me. And don't make a habit about it, the next time you lie I will be more upset. But it will take a lot more than a small lie to make me throw you out or stop talking to you. And, call me biased, but I can't exactly penalise you for saving yourself when I have done that many a time myself."

"I'm really sorry. So Harry did actually defeat snake face but he did it by luck, he didn't plan the way it worked out, he just figured it out before Voldy did. Basically, the Deathly Hallows exist, and Voldy had the Elder Wand which he stole from Dumbles' grave. He assumed it didn't work for him because someone else killed him. So he killed the person who killed Dumbles. But the wand doesn't work like that, it changes master based on who disarmed the last master. Draco disarmed Dumbles, and Harry accidentally disarmed Draco when he got taken to Malfoy Manor and so he was the master. So when Voldy tried to do Harry in, he got blasted in the face instead." And breath. That was a long explanation.

"That is quite an extensive tale. I think I understand what you where trying to say, but one detail is missing, who did kill Dumbledore?" Maybe it was Bellatrix, she was always trying to prove herself to the Dark Lord. Or one of the other inner circle, maybe one of the Carrows?

"Severus... I don't think you want to know." She didn't want to be the one to tell him that he was the one to do the deed. Even if  Dumbledore wasn't the grandfatherly figure he portrayed, Severus probably still cared about him in some sense. She still cared about her parents and they didn't truly give two hoots about her. She didn't want to put him through that again if she could help it. But it was his decision after all.

"It was me wasn't it." It was easy to put together with all of the facts. She was hesitant to tell him, so it had to be someone who did care about Dumbledore but everyone thought they were on the dark side. He was the only one that fit the bill. And any doubt disappeared when she blanched and started to explain hurriedly.

"It's not like that, you and Dumbledore set it up. He was dying anyway from one of Voldys horcruxes, the ring. So he told you to kill him so you'd be Voldys favourite. And then you could work from the inside,"She had to tell him, she was the only one who knew the future. She couldn't keep something so big from him, no matter how much she wanted to. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for? You didn't make me kill him." Severus didn't know what to think. He obviously didn't want to do it, but he did do it in the end. Murder can never be justified. Not ever.

"No, but you went through a lot. Alone. And, trust me, I know how much it hurts to be truly alone. I wouldn't wish anyone that. Especially not you." Hadn't Severus been through enough? He'd only had Lily and to an extent his mother. He didn't deserve the weight of spying. But he believed he did, and she was going to change that even if it killed her.