Hi! Back for round two of QLFC! Entry below!

Round: QLFC: Season 5: Round 2

Team: Kenmare Kestrels

Round Prompt: Spinner's End

Title: A Noble Slytherin's Memories

Word Count: 1059 minus AN

Uses optional prompts (dialogue) "If you leave now, you get nothing." and (word) noble

Please enjoy and leave a review!

Severus Snape shivered as he walked through the winding streets of his old home- Spinner's End. Dank and dismal as it seemed, each street was embedded in his mind and so he led himself to the best of his old haunts. A small bakery on the south end served his need for a drink and breakfast, though the bagel he consumed tasted fairly bland.

After exiting the small shop, he ambled along through the streets, not unnerved in the least to find complete silence. He let out a sigh of contentment. His childhood had been spent exploring every corner of this shriveled town. Not a stone had been left unturned, he figured.

Until now.

Death Eaters did have a flair for the dramatic.

"Snape." Bellatrix Lestrange greeted him with a mere uplift in the corner of her mouth. "What a pleasant... surprise."

"What is it, Bellatrix?" If Snape had not been worried about the four hooded Death Eaters stirring behind her, he was now. The tone of Bellatrix's voice was teasing, yet slightly hostile. The tension resting in the air was electric and it seemed the slightest move would cause a bomb to go off.

"The Dark Lord questions your loyalty, Severus." She began to leisurely pace the alleyway in which they had cornered him.

"And why is that?"

"Don't pretend you don't know!" Bellatrix drew her face close to Snape's, shouting. "Dumbledore! You have crawled to him like a slimy worm, ready to confess your alliance to the Dark Lord!"

Not a single person from the outside world seemed to hear her hiss in frustration, sense Snape's growing fear, feel the spite rolling off in waves from the Death Eaters. Not a single person probably cared.

"I have been loyal to the Lord for most of my life. Why only now do you question me?" A quiet intensity burned in his words, but Severus Snape had a sneaking suspicion that he had been betrayed by someone, but only one person could have- no.

"We are just checking on your... alliance to us, Snape. You alone have given us reason to worry." The Death Eaters behind her seemed to be moving closer. "You see, we had a certain contact... she told us everything." Snape relaxed, knowing that the one who had given away his secret was female, but then tensed again. Who else could have betrayed him?

"Snape." Bellatrix gave a piercing smile, giving her a dark, devious look, complementing her naturally shady appearance. Severus didn't waste a moment listening to the end of her statement. Predicting what would happen if he didn't run, Snape took off, dark cloak billowing behind him.

"GET HIM!" Bellatrix screeched, pointing her wand at him. Her target couldn't hear a word of each spell she cast, so he attempted to dodge each one. What he assumed to be a "Stupify" hit him in the back, sending the man sprawling onto the pavement below. Luckily, none of his pursuers had caught up to him yet.

One last shout came from those behind him, slipping through the distance between them. "If you leave now, vermin, you get nothing. Nothing!" He assumed it came from Bellatrix, as the pitch was certainly that of a female. And only one female Death Eater had such a piercing cry.

"Nothing!"

"Thank you, Professor Snape." Albus Dumbledore was in his office, having just witnessed a semi-shocking memory. A slight aura of distress had come to the usually serene headmaster of Hogwarts, unnerving the staff member in front of him. "I understand this to be a great sacrifice on your behalf."

"Indeed, sir, but with all due respect, how can you expect me to continue as a spy with the Death Eaters' trust in me lessened?" Snape was truly more anxious about facing the one other person who knew his secret- well, one of three, as he had recently learned- than facing Voldemort, the Dark Lord, again, but this conversation would help matters with both scenarios.

"I will not force you to continue serving Voldemort. But still- who knows of your true alliance?" Dumbledore quieted his already soft voice to a level at which Snape had to concentrate deeply on him in order for the sentences to be audible.

"I am sorry, no one should know his identity. Sir. I do not want my contact to be exposed without his permission."

Unbeknownst to both men, someone else was lurking in the office, eavesdropping on their conversation...

"A noble deed has been done, no?" A satisfied growl was released with this sentence.

"A noble Slytherin. Who would've thought?" Another animal-like noise, "Noble indeed."

The window to Dumbledore's office was promptly jumped out of, said subject leaving only a bit of fur behind him. A smooth transition was made once the Animagus- for that was what he, or she, was- stood on the ledge of the small window. He/she then jumped onto what looked like a broomstick but was partially concealed by the large cloak it's rider was wearing.

"My Lord." Bellatrix Lestrange had just finished sharing the events of the past day to Voldemort, her master. He was petting Nagini, a large snake that was indeed very good at terrifying those standing before her and the Dark Lord. "What shall we do about this... development?"

"We know now that Snape is out of the picture. No, we must recruit someone new..." He paused for a moment. "I do believe there is someone- a Malfoy, no?- that we can bring in."

"But My Lord, isn't the boy... young?" The woman before him, fierce as she was in appearance, seemed to have a bit of emotion break through to the surface. He features were controlled to not betray any inner feeling, but the thought of her sister's son serving, receiving his mark, at such an early age was a bit of a delicate matter. Especially because she knew she would be the one to break the news to Narcissa.

"Soft-hearted, now, are we?" Voldemort narrowed his already snake like eyes, scanning his follower for signs of mutiny.

"No- no. Never that, My Lord."

"Good. We shall have him keep a close eye on Snape. It will be perfect." Voldemort smiled, showing each of him teeth. "Perfect."