arionrhod (arionrhod) wrote in lupin_snape, @ 2008-01-29 20:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | fic: pg13, trading places challenge |
Trading Places Fic - Cupid's Little Helper - PG13
Title: Cupid's Little Helper, Part 3/4
Author: arionrhod
Rating: PG-13
Challenge: Trading Places
Word Count: Total ~21,100
Summary: The Afterlife isn't what Sirius Black expected it to be... but coming back to Earth with a "mission" isn't much better!
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
The office was still as grey as the man, who looked surprised and not all all pleased to see Sirius. "Mr. Black, this is highly irregular! What are you doing back here?" he asked, obviously perturbed.
Sirius, however, was beyond caring about such trifles as breaking rules or other people's feelings. Leaning his hands on the desk, he shouted his ire to the man who had sent him back to earth. "Snape murdered Albus Dumbledore! How in the hell do you figure that rates me having to make up to him for something that happened twenty years ago? He's a killer, a criminal! He deserves death, or prison, or worse! Not finding true love!"
"Was that his wish?" The Grey Man raised a brow as though surprised, not by Sirius' outburst, but by Snape's wish.
"Yes! It's ridiculous!" Sirius was practically frothing at the mouth. "Who could ever love him? This is a terrible mistake!"
"No mistake." The Grey Man's tone was firm, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "You wronged Severus Snape, and you must make restitution to him."
"I won't! He killed Albus!" Sirius couldn't believe the man was so dense. "Are you telling me Snape deserves it? How is what I did worse than what he's done? He's a murderer!"
"He's a hero."
Sirius didn't think he could have possibly heard that correctly. "What? That's ridiculous! If he's a hero, then I'm... Merlin!"
"You're not Merlin, but he is a hero." The Grey Man raised a brow. "This is completely irrelevant to your task, but in the interests of getting you out of my office and back to where you belong, I'll tell you something: Snape did not murder Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore was a dead man anyway, and he extracted an Unbreakable Vow from Snape to fulfill Draco Malfoy's assigned task of ending Dumbledore's life. Snape is, if anything, a martyr, someone who has sacrificed his own life and his own reputation for the good of all."
"You're mad!" Sirius began to pace in front of the grey desk, seething with annoyance. "This is preposterous, some kind of joke! You're trying to make my life miserable, aren't you? Just because you can! Is that how you get your jollies, screwing with other people's heads?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Mr. Black. I am merely doing my job." For once, there was an inflection in the man's neutral tone, a note of disgust. "I have far more important things to do than care about whether you are happy or miserable or bored or whatever strikes your fancy these days. I review the cases, I give tasks. In this case, your task is in jeopardy of failing - and if I may remind you, you'll get no second chance."
"This isn't fair!" Sirius wasn't ready to let it go yet. He didn't believe for a moment that Snape hadn't killed Albus with malice, no matter how he managed to make it look to others.
"Life - and Afterlife - isn't fair." The Grey Man smiled a wintry smile. "But since I can't resist taking know-it-alls down a peg, let me tell you something. Snape could have killed your godson at any time he'd wanted while at Hogwarts, but he didn't because he was protecting him. If he'd wanted to kill Dumbledore, he had ample opportunity for years. He also could have killed you, the Weasleys, or any number of people, but he didn't. Your own prejudices are what is getting in the way of you seeing the truth - and the truth is that Snape has done more to protect your godson than you have ever done. That's why you want to believe the worst of him, isn't it? Because he did what you failed to do."
"It's a lie!" Sirius shook his head in denial, not wanting to listen, but deep down, he knew that the Grey Man was right about some things. "He's a terrible person! He got Remus fired, and he..."
"And you tried to kill Snape when you were teenagers, using your best friend to do it, didn't you?"
"No! It wasn't like that! You've got it wrong!" Sirius hated it when anyone brought up that damnable prank, especially Snape. It had been a joke, one that almost went terribly, horribly wrong. "Snape just saw what he wanted to see!"
"Just like you."
The words were soft, but they brought Sirius up short, eyes narrowing. "I'm not like Snape!"
"No, you aren't. He's a hero," the Grey Man said.
"Not in a million years!"
Sighing, the Grey Man reached into his desk, pulling out two folders. "You're a singularly pig-headed man, Mr. Black. But here, if you don't believe me, are the balance sheets against your soul and those against Severus Snape. You don't have to read them, merely touch them, and you'll know."
"This is a trick," Sirius said suspiciously. "How can you know that?"
"Because I'm your caseworker, Mr. Black," the Grey Man said, sliding the folders across the desk, then shrugging as though he no longer cared. "It's your choice, of course, but I must warn you this is your last chance. Either touch the folders and know the truth or don't. Either way, you have thirty seconds before I will declare your case closed, and judgment will be rendered at once."
Something about the finality of the Grey Man's tone worried Sirius. "If I touch them, I know everything, but if I don't?"
"Then you go to Hell."
The words sounded final, and Sirius felt his certainty wavering. What if the man was right about Snape? Was Sirius throwing away his own salvation senselessly?
He could feel the seconds counting down, and finally, he gave a grunt of disgust, reaching out to place one hand on each of the folders. He went rigid as knowledge poured into his mind like water into a glass, filling him up with facts and figures, dates and times, people and places. It took only a few moments but seemed to go on forever until he was released, staggering back to collapse weakly into the uncomfortable grey chair before the desk.
"Satisfied?"
Sirius blinked, his mind whirling for several more moments, and then he shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself. He knew now, and that knowledge was intensely humbling.
"Yes," he muttered, feeling lower than he ever had in his life.
"Then I suggest you get on with it. Before the Wizarding War is over and any action you might have wanted to take will be completely irrelevant."
Rising to his feet, Sirius nodded, then turned and left the Grey Man and his grey office for the last time.