The Burning Pen

The Ring

by Ruth Solomon

The story content is adult in nature and can contain graphic sex and violence.  Those under the age of 18 are asked to leave this site immediately.  You are not welcome here.  The author is not responsible for those under-aged who view these works.

CHAPTER 6

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 6 ~ From the Other Side

Snape stirred, awareness returning to him. His first reaction was puzzlement. Hadn’t the incantation worked? How could he still be conscious? He should be dead.

He opened his eyes and looked on the personage of Voldemort. The wizard was floating in front of him, apparently unconscious. Snape looked around him. He was drifting in a dark space, speckled with lights reminiscent of stars. He felt weightless, and the silence around him was so thick, it was deafening. Was this death? He heard a groan and looked over at the Dark Lord.

The red eyes opened, and immediately narrowed when they fell on Snape. Then the wizard looked about him.

“Where are we? What is this place?” Voldemort demanded in his high-pitched voice. He struggled in place, but continued to drift. He had no purchase with which to move in any direction. He frowned at Snape and thrust out a scaly finger at him.

“You did this!” he cried, “You traitorous scum. You killed us!” the Dark Lord screamed at him.

“Yes. It seems I was successful, though I never imagined death would be like this,” Snape said, looking around. Actually, it was very beautiful, very peaceful.

“We will be trapped here forever!” Voldemort hissed, his forked tongue flicking toward Snape.

The Potions Master looked at him. “Trapped for eternity with you. Yes, that’s my idea of Hell,” Snape replied.

Voldemort made a choking noise and desperately tried to grab Snape, whirling his arms as if attempting to swim towards him. The Potions Master smirked as the Dark Lord let out a string of obscenities at him.

“I’ll kill you!” the Dark Lord spat.

“A little late for that, my Lord,” Snape said. Voldemort fell silent, but glared at him hatefully

Both wizards floated gently in the strange void for what seemed like hours.

“Is this all there is?” Voldemort said, his voice cracking, “Endless drifting among the stars? There must be more. There must be a reward!”

Snape looked at him. “If I were you, my Lord, I wouldn’t be hoping for any reward for the kind of life you lived. I’m sure you are on the ‘naughty” list.”

“Fuck you!” the Dark Lord spat, “I lived for glory!”

“You slaughtered and tortured thousands of innocents. Men, women…even children. There is no glory is that. If you had lived, you would have made the world one great ocean of blood,” Snape said, his black eyes glittering.

“It would have been my great ocean of blood,” Voldemort retorted, “And I would have swam in the agony of all who opposed me.”

“That’s exactly why you’re here now. Your evil is taken from the world, Voldemort. It was well worth my life to remove you,” Snape said.

“Yessss,” Voldemort hissed, “but you have condemned yourself as well. You are with me.”

Snape looked thoughtful. “I was already condemned, Voldemort, just by being in your service and providing the elixir that kept you alive until you began to feed on death and destruction. I enabled you to do your evil, even as I worked against you. I accept my fate. It is also my redemption.”

Voldemort hissed at him. Suddenly there was a thunderous noise that appeared to come from everywhere at once.

“What is that?” Voldemort cried, terrified.

Snape didn’t answer him. He looked around, then below them. He saw an orange light approaching. It was just a small dot, but was getting increasingly large. Voldemort saw where he was looking and looked down also.

“What is that!” he repeated, the fear in his voice making it even more high-pitched.

As the orange light drew closer, Snape could see that it was not a light at all, but a kind of funnel, made of churning, roaring fire. On either side of it were two small masses of flame also approaching. The two wizards were bathed in firelight as the mouth of the twisting, turning inferno drew closer. Then it stopped several hundred meters away. The two masses of fire continued toward the two wizards.

Voldemort was stiff with horror. Snape was resigned. Whatever was going to happen would happen. The two flaming masses stopped very close to Voldemort, and changed into two fiery beings made of flame. They looked like naked men encased in fire. Their eyes and mouths were simply darker flame. They looked at the two wizards.

“Aye, there they are,” said one flame being to the other, who nodded. “We’ve come to get you. Got a nice hot place waiting. Seems you made the “naughty” list.” The being grinned wickedly.

“NOOOO!” screamed Voldemort. The being looked at the other.

“I tell you, George, it’s the ones that really deserve it that makes the most noise about it,” he observed.

“Where are you taking us?” Snape asked calmly. The flame being looked at the wizard.

“Not ‘us’. Just him,” he said, nodding towards Voldemort, who was moving his mouth silently, his tongue lashing about in terror. “You was supposed to go, but you managed a ‘save’. You ain’t one of ours no more. Ought to be glad about that,” the being said, latching on to Voldemort’s arm. The Dark Lord screamed in agony.

“You think you’re screaming now. I’m a low-temp. You’ve got folks waiting on you that makes the sun seem like an ice cube. Come on now. Gotta go.”

The other being latched on to Voldemort, who screamed again. His robes were smoking and his red-eyes bulged out in pain.

“Severus! Severus help me!” Voldemort screamed as he struggled between the two beings who carried him to the churning mouth of the funnel.

Snape looked at the screaming wizard, his black eyes cold.

“You wanted reward, my Lord. It seems you have it,” he said.

The two beings swung the wizard back and forth between them.

“One…two…threeeeee!” George said as they flung Voldemort into the fire. The wizard slid down until he was lost to view. Both beings dusted off their hands, and turned to Snape.

“The others ought to be along soon for you. So hang around a bit,” George said laughingly. Then the tunnel began to recede, and the two beings flew alongside it. Snape watched them until they were mere specks, then they were gone. Silence fell again.

The Others?

Snape drifted in the black, starlit space for what seemed like months. His consciousness seemed to come and go. Then he heard something. It sounded like music. It began to fill the void. Sweet, tinkling sounds, like chimes in the wind. Snape stirred himself to full wakefulness and looked around. Above him, a white light was fast approaching. Two smaller specks flew alongside it. Snape figured these were the good guys, finally coming to collect him. A great funnel of light stopped a distance from him and the two beings of light flew toward him. Their eyes and mouths were also made of darker light. Both beings smiled at him.

“We’ve come for you. We would have been here sooner, but you were a late addition. Seems like you pulled a ‘save’,” the closest being said to the Potions Master.

“So I’ve been told,” Snape replied dryly. “So where are you two taking me?”

“Oh, to your Just Rewards. A lovely place really. Full of light and love,” the being replied.

Snape scowled a bit.

“Any dungeons there?” he asked. The beings looked at each other.

“No, but if you need one, it can be provided,” the being said, looking rather puzzled.

“Thank the gods,” Snape thought. The land of light and love sounded nauseating.

“Well, let’s go,” the being said, reaching for Snape. Then it stopped and looked at him. Then he reached for the Potions Master’s arm again, then stopped.

“Hey. You’re grounded. Can’t take you,” the being said. “You aren’t properly dead yet. Sorry.”

Snape let out a sigh of relief. It had worked.

“So what happens now?” Snape asked. The being shrugged.

“You just stay here until the situation rectifies itself. You did plan this, didn’t you?”

Snape nodded. “Yes I did. I wasn’t sure if it took though.”

“Oh it took all right. You’re just going to have to float here until something happens,” the being said, withdrawing. Then it hesitated. “You’ll have some entertainment at least. You’ll be able to watch your loved ones that are still alive while you wait. It’s something to do. It ought to start in a bit. See you.”

Both beings and the tunnel of light receded very quickly. In a moment they were gone, and Snape was once again left alone, drifting. Hm. He’d be able to see his loved ones. Well, he didn’t have any loved ones, so it would probably be a blank screen.

Suddenly the space in front of him grew cloudy, and a mist formed. Snape looked at it as static flew across its surface. Then he saw her. Hermione. She had a pack on her back and Raucous was sitting on her shoulder. Her hair was drawn back in a ponytail. Snape looked at her pack and was able to see past the fabric, to the contents. He saw the onyx box wrapped in a piece of cloth.

“Yes! Good girl!” he said to the image of the witch pushing the main gates of Hogwarts open. She stood in the middle of the road.

I could use some help here.

Snape started. Was that her voice? No, he hadn’t heard it. It was more like he felt it. She was trying to get to his ancestral home and didn’t know how to start. She needed to activate the ring as a port key.

“Activate the ring, Hermione. Say ‘Portis,’” Snape said to the image.

Suddenly the witch and Raucous disappeared.

“Yes,” Snape said, “I knew I chose well.”

It wasn’t lost on the Potions Master that the image showed Hermione Granger. His feelings must be stronger for the witch than he wanted to admit to himself. Yet, he couldn’t deny it. His ability to see her was unmistakable evidence that Hermione Granger was indeed a Loved One.

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A/N: Wow. Voldemort’s off to collect his ‘reward’ and Snape appears stuck someplace between life and death. Lol. Can’t even imagine Snape happy in a land of love and light. Haha. Anyway, please review.

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