Change The Fate: The Fallen Angel Arise

By TheUndefeatable

Disclaimer: (noun) a denial or disavowal of legal claim:relinquishment of or formal refusal to accept an interest or estate.

Rate: Rated T just to be safe
Summary: There is always a light in the middle of darkness, you just must be brave enough to see it and to embrace it! Then, you will see that you don't need to take the burden all by yourself; you see that you are not alone. A sequel to 'Face The World Alone: Tale Of A Fallen Angel'
Warning: Mention of child abuse and attempted suicide, some violence and bloodshed in later chapters, but not any thing explicit! Don't like it, don't read it!
A/N: Hello everyone! I know that I have not updated in more than one year. The reason behind that is that I have been busy and on top of that I had a writer block for my other story and I have not received much feedback for the last chapter of both of my story. So all of that made me to lose motivation for writing, but fear not! I'm not going to abandon my stories, so I'm back and hopefully I will stay motivated to write and publish chapters as soon as possible (Of course you can help me with my motivation by reviewing!). Have fun reading! R&R

Opening the dormitory door, he silently crept in and closed the door behind himself, silently. He turned around and came face to face with the light of a lumus spell and his three friend standing there, staring at him.

Chapter 11: The Affiliation

"Where have you been?" Sirius asked.

"The kitchens, of course." He tried to say it with a confident smile, but ended up with something more resembling a grimace.

"And you go almost every night to kitchens?" Remus asked.

"Of course, well else would I go?" James tried harder and managed a small smile. Peter smiled and said.

"Didn't I tell you? You were worried for nothing."

"No, it is something else." Sirius muttered darkly.

"Sirius, buddy, come on! What is this about?"

"What is this about? WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?" Sirius nearly shouted. At Remus shushing, he lowered his his voice and said.

"This is about my best friend hiding something from us. You have been gloomy, James! All week! Something is bothering you. You are not yourself at all. We can tell you know! We are your best friend! Merlin, even Frank thinks you are not acting like yourself! We waited one whole week for you to tell us, but you didn't! So now, this is about me trying to find out what has gotten into you!"

"Sirius, there is nothing –" James tried half-heartly.

"James, spill the beans, now!" Sirius said firmly.

With a sigh James relented and motioned to beds. "We should sit down. It may take some time."

They settled down on James and Sirius' beds, facing each other. There was a few moments of silence, before Sirius asked. "Well?"

James sighed and started. "It started the first night I was admitted to Hospital Wing…." James explained briefly everything that happened that night. Dumbledore and McGonagall's reaction and how it made him feel conflicted. When he was done, there was a moment of silence before Sirius said, "I don't see what you are so conflicted about. It just shows that even Snivellus' old man knew what a waste of space he is."

"Maybe that's why he is going to join Death Eaters. I mean his father has hammered these beliefs into his mind since he was a child." Remus said calmly. Sirius' eyes darkened at that, but he didn't say anything.

"I don't think that's the case." James said. At the quizzical look he received, he explained. "Dumbledore said he is a half-blood."

"What? That git is a half-blood and yet he has the audacity to preach blood purity?" Sirius said angrily.

James didn't comment and continued, "Also, they said that their house was dirty and there was blood on the floor." James was not sure why, but talking about what he heard about Snapes' house was difficult and it made his stomach churn. So he didn't go into detail and instead explained his point. "If his father was a wizard, then why he wouldn't just Scourgify everything? Also, have you ever heard 'Snape' to be a wizarding name? I think his father was a Muggle."

"Well, no wonder he hated Muggles, if his father was a Muggle and treated him like that," Remus rationalized.

"Or maybe it is the other way around." Sirius said. "He had acted like the git he is and that made his old man to beat him up. Anyway, I don't see what you are so upset about." He directed the last part at James.

"Don't you see? Even if what you said was right, then why would Snape let him? We know that even as a first year, Snape knew more curses than anyone. Since his mother was a witch, their household is registered as magical. It means Snape could have easily cursed him without anyone knowing! Also, we know how he likes his potions and you remember Sirius, it was you who told us you saw him sell some kind of potion to other Slytherins and said that he was probably brewing poisons for You-Know-Who! He could have easily poisoned him! Why would he let his father beat him?" After that there was silence for a few minutes, before James said with frustration, "And that's not all. Dumbledore was saying Snape has problems with other Slytherins. He said that since Snape is a half-blood, they don't treat him well!"

"Then why does he spend so much time with them?" Peter asked timidly.

"Maybe because if he doesn't, they will turn on him?" Remus said, his tone questioning.

"Well, he has to sleep in the same dorm as them. Who knows what they can do to him, without anyone knowing!" James said heatedly.

"Serves him right for wanting to be in Slytherin." Sirius said dryly.

"I know I always hated him, but come on, Sirius! Snape is a half-blood. He grew up outside the Wizarding World. I really doubt he really had any idea what Slytherins were like!" James said.

"What is it with you, James? Since when you have become a fan of Snivellus?" Sirius asked.

"I'm not his fan! I still don't like him! He is jerk. And I know that, while he had it bad, it doesn't justify what he does! But I can't help feeling bad! It seems no one has given him a chance …neither us, nor the Slytherins!"

"Listen to yourself! I can't believe I'm hearing this! No, we didn't give him a chance, but Evans did! And see what that got her! He called her the 'M' word!"

This time it was Remus who tried to reason with Sirius. "Come on Sirius! Even we know that he didn't mean it! He practically camped outside the portrait to apologize!"

"What does that matter? He still call others that and he obviously means it, since I have not heard him apologize to the others!" Sirius said.

"Well, if he really wanted to blend in with his housemates to be safe from them, then he had to at least partially play the part." Remus said calmly.

"Say what you want, but I still think Snape is a git and that you have gone mad!" Sirius growled. After that no one spoke for some time.

"So now what?" Peter asked, breaking the silence.

"Well, I think we can start with a cease fire, the next time we see him." Remus said, feeling rather relieved with the result.

"There is no need." James muttered, just remembering what happened earlier that night. After seeing his friends expectant expression, he said, "Snape is dead."

"What?" The other three said at the same time. Their eyes were as large as saucers.

"He is dead. When I went to hospital wing just now, I saw his bed was empty and everything was cleaned."

"Maybe they took him somewhere else?" Remus asked. Sirius was still too shocked to speak.

"Where would they take him?" James asked.

"St. Mungo's," Peter answered.

James shook his head and said. "No, I don't think so. Did you not see Evans' face when she entered the common room? She had been crying."

"Well, maybe she was crying over something else," Peter said.

"No, I told you, she was there that first night and Dumbledore went after her to talk to her. And today, she comes to common room looking like that! It is clear that if Snape had died, they would have told her and no matter how much she says otherwise, she still cared enough to cry if he died," James explained.

Remus turned to a silent Sirius and said. "You OK? You are quiet."

"I'm fine" Sirius said quietly. "It is just that all those times that I wished him dead or gone, I actually never thought it would happen." Sirius didn't want to admit it, but there was a weight on his chest. He had wished Snape dead, sometimes and now, it was like his wish has been granted. And Sirius actually felt guilty, even if he had nothing to do with it. In all those times he faced Snape, fought with him, cursed him, and mocked him, he never thought – even for one second – that a day would come that Snape would not be there. And for it to happen like this! He always thought that one day, they would face each other as enemies in war and wanted to be the one who defeated and brought Snivellus to justice. But now, the git had died! Apparently, after getting beaten by his father the whole summer! It made Sirius shudder. He didn't show it, but the fact shook him to the core. He always thought he had it bad. Complained about his family and how they treated him and others, but as bad as his mother was, she never hurt him badly. Of course, there was those stinging hexes and painful curses now and then, but nothing that would leave a mark; nothing permanent. Nothing that he would die from – though there was one instance that Sirius definitely felt like he was dying, but more from embarrassment than pain.

It would have been hard enough to align this picture with the hateful boy they saw every day, but Snape had to go and die and make everything harder. As much as he protested against James' conflicted emotions, Sirius couldn't help but feel the same way.

~oOo~

The next day, Severus woke up to a humiliating revelation. Apparently, he was still too weak to control himself, so he had wet his bed. As if all the humiliation he had went through just the last few days were not enough. These past few days, Severus lived day by day, in the hopes that tomorrow things would get better and yet things were getting worse and worse by the day. Severus' musings were interrupted by sound of his room's door opening. He turned his head and saw Dumbledore entering his room.

"Ah, I see you are awake. How do you feel?" Dumbledore said cheerfully. Severus did not speak. He could only stare at Dumbledore. He didn't know which was worse: The fact that he, a sixteen years old boy, had wet himself or that Dumbledore was going to find out about it. He would most probably think that Severus had done that on purpose or worse, he would laugh at him. Something must have shown on his face, as Dumbledore's smile vanished. He approached the bed and asked.

"Severus, what is wrong?"

Severus knew the exact moment Dumbledore found out, as he stopped in his track, a look of understanding on his face. Severus looked at Dumbledore warily, dreading his reaction. His face was flushed from embarrassment. Seeing this Dumbledore approached the bed and said, "It is alright, Severus. Let's just get you cleaned up."

This comment made something in Severus snap. Before he knew it, the words burst out of his mouth. "No, it is not! Don't pretend everything is normal!" He nearly shouted.

Dumbledore understood how Severus was feeling, but he knew that he need to put a stop to his behavior. It was one thing to gain Severus' trust, but it was something else to let him walk all over him and it was something that Severus should know. So with a serious cool tone he said, "There is no need to shout, Severus. And about your condition, we will talk about it later. First, we need to get you cleaned up."

Severus averted his eyes. A wall of shame rose in him. Here he was, not only being the useless wretch his father always said he was, but also he was acting like a brat about it. It was not Dumbledore's fault that he was such weakling. One that at the age of sixteen, even could not control his body. No, it was not Dumbledore's fault. It was Severus' fault and he should remember that. That thought made a lump to form in his throat and he whispered. "I'm sorry." Then he turned his head away, trying his hardest to not cry.

If the room was not so quiet, Dumbledore was sure that he would have missed it. As it was, he thought he imagined it, but when Severus turned his head, his expression one of misery, he was sure that he heard right. He immediately felt guilty. Maybe he shouldn't have been so sharp with him. After all it was just a few days ago that Severus woke up. He was not in a good condition; not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. Rosaline and Poppy told him repeatedly that since Severus had not time to mourn his mother properly, he most probably would be in a stage of grieving and that Dumbledore should consider that. His physical condition and his situation would also affect his mental health. He sighed and patted Severus' hand in consolation.

"It is fine. But lets get you out of these clothes. It cannot be comfortable. I'll run you a bath as well."

He left Severus briefly to prepare the bath. When he returned, he called a house elf and asked him to change the sheets. Then he took Severus to the bathroom. While Dumbledore used an stretcher the day before to move Severus to and from bathroom, today he scooped Severus in his arms and carried him there.

The order was over in less than forty five minutes and Severus was in clean clothes and back on his, now clean, bed. Dumbledore propped him up in the bed and stocked pillows behind him. Then he called a house elf to bring Severus' breakfast – some chicken broth and water.

When the breakfast arrived, at Severus' resistance, Dumbledore left the spoon in Severus' hand and sat down in the chair beside the bed. However, after Several unsuccessful try with his shaking hand and one incident – in which the spoon slipped from his weak fingers – Severus had to give up. Dumbledore, calmly, removed any trace of broth from the blankets and Severus' cloth with a flick of his wand and took up where Severus left off. After breakfast, Dumbledore sat calmly in his chair again and looked at Severus. When a few minutes of silence passed without Headmaster saying anything, Severus said.

"Are you not going to Great Hall to have breakfast?" At Dumbledore's expectant look, he added belatedly "Sir"

"I will have my breakfast later."

Severus fidgeted under Dumbledore's stare and said, "But don't you need to be present in the Great Hall?"

Dumbledore smiled and said "I'm sure they can manage to eat their breakfast without my supervision."

They were both silent for several second, before Dumbledore started speaking. "Severus, about the incident that happened before." At hearing this, Severus hunched slowly forward so that his hair was covering his face. Dumbledore continued, "I believe that we need to talk about that." And with that Dumbledore told Severus about everything that Poppy, Rosaline, and he had discussed and their implications. He told him about how weak his body will be, the problems that may arise, how much help he would need to get back on his two feet, and how long it would take him to do so. By the end, Severus was as pale as the pillows he was leaning against, as he stared at Dumbledore with wide eyes. He was slightly panting, as well, as he was starting to panic. So Dumbledore continued his explanation quickly.

"I told you all of this, so you have some idea what we are going to face. Also, I want you to know that when I accepted your guardianship, I knew about all this and that I accepted what I will need to do to help you. I will try to make it as comfortable as possible for you, but I need you to work with me." Severus blinked, surprised and then noticing how his emotions were written on his face, bowed his head, so again his hair hid his face from Dumbledore.

When Dumbledore didn't get any response from the teenager, he prompted, "Do you understand?"

Severus swallowed and nodded his head. After that, they fell into silence for several minutes, before Dumbledore stood up and helped Severus to lie back down and said.

"Try to rest a little. I will come back shortly with Madam Pomfrey for your potions." Then he turned to leave, but Severus' voice stopped him in his track.

"A...about….t-that therapy,..."

"Yes?" Dumbledore encouraged when Severus fell silent and didn't continue.

"Who? Who is..." Severus trailed off, but Dumbledore understood and answered.

"We have not talked about it, yet. Why do you ask?" Dumbledore was almost sure about why Severus asked that, but he thought it important that Severus learned to communicate with him.

"It is possible that Madam Pomfrey could do it?" Severus said quietly and in one breath, but he didn't make eye contact while speaking.

"I can talk about it with her, but you must understand that she is not an expert in that area. Also, she is the school matron and she only has obligation toward the students and currently you are here as my ward, not as a student." Severus nodded in understanding and Dumbledore left with a sleep well.

~oOo~

Lucius Malfoy was unhappy. He couldn't believe how everything turned out as they did in a matter of days. It was only six days ago that he thought everything was going perfectly. Just six months ago, he had become the head of the noble house of Malfoy. He had just finished an assignment from Dark Lord. His financial investments were making his money tenfold. His time with his beautiful fiancee was amazing. And most importantly, he was sure that he could get Snape to sign the guardianship, the next time he visited him.

He even went so far as imagining Dark Lord's reaction when he found out that in the end it was he, the newly appointed head of the noble family of Malfoy, who had acquired him his most prized asset. But then suddenly everything went to hell six days ago. In one of their meetings, Felberta Grayson informed the Dark Lord that Severus has gone missing from his home and that his Muggle father had written to authorities about it. In other words, the location of the Dark Lord's most wanted asset was unknown and practically everyone knew about it. To say that the Dark Lord was angry was the understatement of the year. He was furious. After handing out a series of Cruciatus Curses to everyone, the Dark Lord ordered them to find Severus at all costs.

Things just got worse when Bareed said in the next meeting that after contacting Hogwarts, they received news that Snape was at Hogwarts. No one knew how he got there, but it was clear that they couldn't get their hands on Snape as easily as before. The Dark Lord ordered them to find a way to, if nothing else, at least visit Hogwarts and find some information about what was happening there. It was one of the first times that all the Death Eaters involved, united together to do some task. Because they knew that they were running out of time and if that happened, they were all dead. For the first time, they all operated completely synchronized; telling each other of their plan, consulting, complementing each other's plans, but it was no use. Dumbledore, like always, did what he did best: Dodged all of their plans, using regulations and laws to forbid entry to anyone. After two days of getting nowhere, people with children at Hogwarts, started contacting their children to get some information.

It was the late morning of the sixth day since the news of Snape's disappearance, when Lucius received a letter from Mr. Peterson, the Ministry employee who prepared his papers. He asked to meet him urgently. Lucius, who had a bad feeling about the letter, flooed to Ministry immediately. He was horrified to find out that just one hour ago, Dumbledore had rushed through Ministry with a Ministry employee in tow, brandishing the signed guardianship form for Snape. The first thing that came to Lucius' mind was that Dark Lord was going to kill all of them and the next thing he thought was how Dumbledore had managed to get Snape to sign the form. After all, it was known to all Slytherins that Snape hated Dumbledore with a passion.

When he came out his thoughts and noticed that Peterson was nearly hysterical, he knew that his problems were not going to end there and he was right. Apparently, the guardianship was not the only document Dumbledore had brought with him. Dumbledore had a copy of Snape's cancellation form and money transfer form, which with his newly found authority as Snape's guardian, he nullified. Lucius had no idea how he came to know of those documents, but regardless the fact that he did, didn't bode well.

Dumbledore immediately started two cases, one for abuse and another for suicide – Lucius knew Snape was a coward, but Lucius wondered what had caused that bout of insanity for him to commit suicide. However, Lucius didn't ponder that much as he knew he had more important things to do. If he didn't manage to do something soon, all will be lost. He started by trying to calm down Peterson. Lucius promised him protection in case things went south. Of course, he didn't mention to Peterson that he would do so as long as it has some benefit for him. Peterson was important for his network, but not that important. However, that empty reassurance seemed to do the trick, as Peterson calmed down quickly. Lucius used this chance and sent him to get some news about what Dumbledore was doing.

The speed with which Dumbledore made both cases progress was dizzying. They managed to even get an appointment for examination in two days time. When Lucius found out that they didn't manage to get the papers on time to find a healer for examination, he saw his chance and immediately set to meet the Ministry employee for appointment of healers, some one called Grey Gobson. It didn't take long and didn't cost much to convince Gobson to help him. The plan was to make sure that there would not be an examination until next week. Lucius intended to come up with some sort of plan to get Snape out of Dumbledore's clutches. That day he went home, hopeful that all was not lost.

The next day, he went to Ministry to see how things has gone. When he heard from Gobson that Dumbledore had managed to find a way around the obstacle they put in his way, he became very angry, but when he came to know that the supervisor was Wolfing, he was relieved. While Wolfing was not an active follower of Dark Lord, he had made his standing well known among the right sort. Also, he had once made a request through one of the Death Eaters to meet the Dark Lord. The fact that such a person has managed to get access to Hogwarts was both good and bad. The good thing was that they finally would get a glimpse of what is going on with Snape. The bad thing was that not only it was not Lucius who was bringing the news, but also the person who was bringing Snape to the Dark Lord was not even a Death Eater. And Lucius knew the Dark Lord would make all of them pay for that.

However, in the end, even Wolfing could do nothing, except telling them that apparently Dumbledore was doting on the boy and would not let him out of his sight. It was a doubly bad news because it meant that whatever has happened, Snape had given his guardianship willingly to Dumbledore and it made getting him out of clutches of the old coot even harder. The only good thing in this whole mess was that Wolfing's action has granted him a meeting with the Dark Lord and he reported to the Dark Lord in person about failing to bring the Snape boy and, as a result, borne the wrath of the Dark Lord. It didn't mean that they all went unscathed, but they all were punished lighter than they would have been, had Wolfing has not been there. Lucius, himself managed to get the least possible punishment after he suggested some ideas about kidnapping Snape later on. Based on Wolfing's report the boy could not move much without help – how he had gotten to Hogwarts was still a mystery. So it would be some time before they could get their hands on Snape, but, as he told the Dark Lord, they could use this time to figure out the perfect plan. Lucius already had some ideas about what to do. He just needed to work on it. He would show that the traitor Snape what it means to refuse a Malfoy.

That night, he went home considering Snape's case a closed case, for the time being. However, the very next day, he received an owl from one of his people who was the secretary of one of the members of Wizengamot about a private request that Dumbledore has made about his ward and all the people who had falsely claimed that they were his guardian. Apparently, Dumbledore had provided a copy of all of their documents to the Wizengamot to be investigated discretely. Lucius knew it was a copy, since they destroyed all the original files after Dumbledore came to the Ministry as Snape's guardian. The name of several of the Dark Lord followers – marked and unmarked, including Lucius, and their Ministry connections must have come up because that is how his informant has heard of it. That was an unavoidable mess and while Lucius knew it would not be hard for him to slip away, he also knew that his network and credibility within Ministry was going to receive a blow. He could only hope that he could salvage the situation well enough for his social status within Wizarding World not to be affected. However, his rank within the Dark Lord's inner circle was something that he was worried about. On the one hand, it was Dark Lord's reaction to the news; he would surely lose the favor he had with his Lord as he could not be as useful as before. On the other hand, it was the reaction of other Death Eaters. It was not a secret that the Death Eaters would hardly hesitate to throw each other under the Knight Bus if it would mean that they could get a better place within the Dark Lord's rank. Also, there was the possibility of those followers whose names have come up in the investigation, trying to use Lucius to save themselves. All in all, it was going to be very messy and all because of that git Snape. All this was his fault and Lucius knew he would make sure that Snape paid for it.

TBC...

A/N: I have an announcement to make: Child abuse is a really important and grave matter and it should not be taken lightly. I know that in this story I'm not doing it justice, but that's to be expected since everything I know about it, is based on some reading that I did on the subject. Also, since child abuse is not the main theme of the story, I have to move passed it sooner than I would have liked. Actually one of the reasons that I wanted to write about Child Abuse in the first place was that I felt that JK Rowling made a mockery of this matter by how lightly she treated it. But I noticed that we are at chapter 11 and the story have not even began. So I am going to cut short on this subject soon and move to the next part of the plot. However, I would like to clarify that the only reason I'm going to move on from Child Abuse is that there are other stuff that I want to write about and not because there is nothing more to say on this matter. I hope that this doesn't cause any offense to any one.