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crack_van2006-04-26 10:30 pm
malabud.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2006-04-26 10:30 pm
Entry tags:
An Unbreakable Promise by Azazello (PG)
Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Gen
Length: 5,500 words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zoepaleologa
Author Website: June Diamanti aka Azazello
Why this must be read:
This short story is an absolute must-read for all Harry Potter fans. Whether or not you believe Snape is ever so evil or ever so good, this story offers a compelling case for the latter that cannot be entirely set aside. The story begins by giving us the entire Forbidden Forest conversation between Dumbledore and Snape, of which Hagrid overheard only tantalizing bits, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It then shows Dumbledore's death as well as the aftermath from Snape's point of view. The reader is never disabused of the notion that Snape is a "deeply horrible person" (as Rowling puts it), but the story realistically shows that he is also a man in search of redemption and ultimate peace.
In the author notes following the story, Azazello admits that she does not know whether or not Snape is on the side of the good guys. She says she used this story to explain to herself how it is possible to fit together the bits of canon we do have so that Snape is good. She also takes the canon-compliant position that Dumbledore is not a "Machiavellian arch-schemer," as she says.
Whatever you believe with regards to Snape, this story is excellent and its characterization of both Snape and Dumbledore is spot on. Highly recommended.
* * *
'Well - I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he - Snape - didn' wan' ter do it any more -'
~*~
Both men were so intent on their conversation that neither realised they had been overheard. The encroaching twilight and the gloom of the Forbidden Forest concealed Hagrid's presence from Snape and Dumbledore, and they did not see him. He took a quiet step back, and then waited for a chance to retreat undetected. It was not possible to hear what they were saying, but Hagrid guessed from their location out of the castle, the whispered exchanges and the way they looked, that this was secret Order business.
Snape said, "It's an insane idea, and I was insane ever to listen to you. I've followed your lead for almost seventeen years; obedient to your wishes, regardless of what they meant for me, but this is the end. You cannot seriously ask me to--"
"It may not come to it, as you well know, Severus. But I very much doubt there is a way to escape the consequences of your Vow with Mrs Malfoy, should you fail to fulfil it--"
"I should never have made it, I realise that now, but at the time, I did not see how else I might convince that crazy sister of hers of my loyalty. I knew what the Vow would mean for me; I should have seen a way of avoiding it--"
They stood facing each other, a scant few yards from the edge of the forest. Hagrid noticed a curious tension in both their stances.
"No, Severus. It was right to make the Vow. Nothing less would have convinced Bellatrix. Mad she may be, but she would have gone straight to her master with the full tale, had you refused or even delayed. Your present standing with Voldemort would not long have survived her uttering any suspicions to him. It was the right thing - the only thing - to do, and now you must do as I ask, also," said Dumbledore. He spoke quietly but with irrevocable finality.
"No!" Snape hissed through clenched teeth.
An Unbreakable Promise
Pairing: Gen
Length: 5,500 words
Author on LJ:
zoepaleologaAuthor Website: June Diamanti aka Azazello
Why this must be read:
This short story is an absolute must-read for all Harry Potter fans. Whether or not you believe Snape is ever so evil or ever so good, this story offers a compelling case for the latter that cannot be entirely set aside. The story begins by giving us the entire Forbidden Forest conversation between Dumbledore and Snape, of which Hagrid overheard only tantalizing bits, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It then shows Dumbledore's death as well as the aftermath from Snape's point of view. The reader is never disabused of the notion that Snape is a "deeply horrible person" (as Rowling puts it), but the story realistically shows that he is also a man in search of redemption and ultimate peace.
In the author notes following the story, Azazello admits that she does not know whether or not Snape is on the side of the good guys. She says she used this story to explain to herself how it is possible to fit together the bits of canon we do have so that Snape is good. She also takes the canon-compliant position that Dumbledore is not a "Machiavellian arch-schemer," as she says.
Whatever you believe with regards to Snape, this story is excellent and its characterization of both Snape and Dumbledore is spot on. Highly recommended.
* * *
'Well - I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he - Snape - didn' wan' ter do it any more -'
~*~
Both men were so intent on their conversation that neither realised they had been overheard. The encroaching twilight and the gloom of the Forbidden Forest concealed Hagrid's presence from Snape and Dumbledore, and they did not see him. He took a quiet step back, and then waited for a chance to retreat undetected. It was not possible to hear what they were saying, but Hagrid guessed from their location out of the castle, the whispered exchanges and the way they looked, that this was secret Order business.
Snape said, "It's an insane idea, and I was insane ever to listen to you. I've followed your lead for almost seventeen years; obedient to your wishes, regardless of what they meant for me, but this is the end. You cannot seriously ask me to--"
"It may not come to it, as you well know, Severus. But I very much doubt there is a way to escape the consequences of your Vow with Mrs Malfoy, should you fail to fulfil it--"
"I should never have made it, I realise that now, but at the time, I did not see how else I might convince that crazy sister of hers of my loyalty. I knew what the Vow would mean for me; I should have seen a way of avoiding it--"
They stood facing each other, a scant few yards from the edge of the forest. Hagrid noticed a curious tension in both their stances.
"No, Severus. It was right to make the Vow. Nothing less would have convinced Bellatrix. Mad she may be, but she would have gone straight to her master with the full tale, had you refused or even delayed. Your present standing with Voldemort would not long have survived her uttering any suspicions to him. It was the right thing - the only thing - to do, and now you must do as I ask, also," said Dumbledore. He spoke quietly but with irrevocable finality.
"No!" Snape hissed through clenched teeth.
An Unbreakable Promise
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