Justification

Justification: Severus Snape's Reasons

Albus Dumbledore had no specific plan for this day's trip to Hogsmeade. He had just felt compelled to visit the sleepy wizarding community. Perhaps it was because the day was clear and fair and he felt like a stroll in the sun. Though he could have done that on Hogwarts's grounds. Perhaps it was because a new summer was beginning and he wished to see how the village was preparing for the freedom of summer. Or perhaps it was just because he desired a new pair of socks. One could never have enough warm woolen socks.

However the joys of the season were dulled by the whispers of the evil threatening their way of life. Lord Voldemort was constantly in everyone's minds now. Only he was never referred to by that name. Commonly, around town the phrase "You Know Who" fell from people's lips if they were forced to speak of him. The Daily Prophet was even more specific and used the term "He Who Must Not Be Named."

Dumbledore wondered why the populous were intent on refusing to face this new evil. They had not done so with Grindelwald. Never so completely. But then Grindelwald had not been as gruesome as this Dark Lord.

Voldemort did not seem to have a plan outside eradicating Muggles and finding immortality for himself. Such randomness did not help him and his group to combat the mad man. For that was what this Lord Voldemort was. A mad man.

Dumbledore needed someway to know what went on inside Tom Riddle's mind. Some handhold to allow him to predict where the next strike would be.

The Headmaster wandered down the sunlit streets of Hogsmeade, watching the children play now that school was over. Watching the shopkeepers present and arrange their wares. Customers window shopping or purchasing. Taverns filled with people taking a quick meal or a leisurely drink. There was one shape that caught his eye as they roamed across the open air verandas. A former student, recently graduated, and one who should have been occupied enthusiastically in one potions position or another. One Severus Snape.

On impulse Dumbledore walked over to begin a conversation. "What are you doing here, my boy?" Snape looked up sharply then rose slowly in accordance to a proper greeting to one's superior.

"Headmaster Dumbledore." The greeting was polite, but not friendly. Albus remembered too many ill consequences for their relationship to be anything but formal. "It is a pleasure to see you again. Please have a seat." All in a measured tone to sound as though he meant every word. Dumbledore was not fooled and accepted the offer graciously. Severus hesitated momentarily, "May I get you a drink, perhaps?" All in an effort to seem as though he was welcoming his former professor.

"A cup of tea would be lovely, thank you," Albus answered, smiling. He knew what the young man was doing and would pretend as though the ulterior motives were lost on him. Or perhaps the boy was doing this to hide his blatant hatred. Either way, the Headmaster would have an interesting conversation. The socks would have to wait for later.

Severus returned saying, politely, that Rosmerta would bring a pot of tea along shortly. He seated himself and said in a very businesslike manner, "Now, Headmaster, what may I do for you?"

"When I see a former student of mine, I simply wish to discover what they have been up to since leaving school. So, my boy, how have you been getting along recently."

"Well enough, I suppose," he answered warily. The boy suspected something. "An employer has found me to brew some of the more difficult potions for his firm as well as to offer me an opportunity to research." Very much the truth. But why was there no mention of a name.

"This sounds most favorable, Severus. Congratulations. I hope you fair well. Your employer has indeed found himself an exceptional employee. May I ask if you have completed the necessary steps in becoming a full Potions Master? I was aware that was a goal of yours since fourth year."

"I have, Headmaster. Shortly after graduation. There was a brief article in the Daily Prophet mentioning one of the youngest to ever pass the exams on the first try."

"Excellent." Albus saw pride swell in this young pupil become professional. "I have always known you would excel far passed your peers."

"I am afraid age still counts among wizards, Headmaster." So it was tempered pride the boy was releasing. "My words are accepted on paper and questioned in person."

"I trust you will prove that you are worthy of your peers' praise soon enough. And your peers will discover you are as brilliant as your words suggest."

"Perhaps one day, Headmaster." Dumbledore felt a hint of wistfulness and warning in that one statement. Perhaps one day. What did the boy mean?

Rosmerta came with the tea and two cups even though Severus already had a stronger drink. One did not have tea alone when in company. "Ah, good afternoon, Headmaster. You are well, I hope."

"Rosmerta. I am as well today as I am every other day. Though I suspect just being here makes the day and myself that much better."

The Three Broomsticks' owner grinned cheerfully. "Should you need anything, just ask, Headmaster."

"Thank you, Rosmerta, I will be sure to do so." The pleasant woman nodded and returned to watch over her establishment. She seemed to know the other participant of this conversation did not desire a third. "So Severus, you have yet to answer. What brings you here?"

The dark eyes focus briefly on the Headmaster before returning to roam the faces on the streets. Dumbledore sadly noted that the boy's appearance had changed little from his departure of the school. Severus was still a tall, thin, gangly creature with a disproportional face and limp, lank, greasy black hair. The eyes that had lost much of their curiosity on that fateful night had only regain a small portion of it. If anything the eyes had become more hollow as though they had seen more than their share of the world.

"Why are you here, Severus?" Albus questioned kindly.

"Waiting."

"Waiting?"

"Yes, Headmaster. I am waiting."

"What for?"

"Perhaps for you to move on to the next former student you find on the street," Snape said unkindly, yet in that calm manner that refuse to betray the hatred.

"Are you so discontent, Severus?"

"Discontent, Headmaster? I am nor more discontent than I am disillusioned." Snape poured the tea now, seemingly having forgot its presence. "Sugar or milk, Headmaster?"

"Both if you don't mind. I have always had something of a sweet tooth." Tea was poured and served. Severus took his plain.

There was a long moment of silence while Dumbledore sipped his beverage and watched Severus hold his. "Perhaps you have seen a predicament, Headmaster," Severus began without preamble, "where a man has become disillusioned and as such views there is no other way than to be disillusioned."

"May I inquire as to why this has come up?"

"You mentioned I was discontent, Headmaster. I responded with no more than I am disillusioned. After a moment of thought I began to wonder how a disillusioned man lives. And I politely inquired if you had seen such a man."

"I have seen many men become disillusioned, Severus. Wars have that affect on men."

"Only war, Headmaster? Surely there are other incidents where men see that they have been wrong. That life is not all of what they imagined."

"Surely there are. Those incidents are private and rarely shared. In a war, more are affected and the suffering is more public."

"Why must disillusionment mean suffering? Is it not merely a way to view the truth?"

"Disillusionment is not the truth, Severus."

"But nor is the state of man before he is disillusioned. Disillusionment is a truth, Headmaster. It is a truth that man is not what we wish and desire them to be."

"In what have you been disillusioned, Severus?"

"Now that is a question, Headmaster," the young man sneered. "It brings up the question of how does one know if he is disillusioned. Have you ever been disillusioned, Headmaster? You have said you have seen many men become so, but what have the wars done to you?"

"If you must know, Severus, it is that man will always seek what is worst for them and they think it is the best for them that has sobered my view on humanity. But I have not become disillusioned because for every man who tries to attain what he knows he should not reach there are countless more who only see the beauty life has to offer."

"No man is perfect enough for that." Bitterness laced the man's words. "No man can be until he is dead."

"Truly you don't believe that, Severus. Children are the best examples."

"Children, Headmaster. are among the first. When they realize life is not what their childhood showed them."

"Yet it is the childhood dreams that keep the hopes of a world alive. Have you lost those?"

"Dreams change."

"And with change brings new ideas. And with new ideas bring new opportunities. And new opportunities bring hope."

"And what does hope bring, Headmaster? Surely hope is not what we desire from life."

"Hope brings the chance and desire to fulfill dreams."

Silence from the table was only pushed around by the passersby and clinking china. This conversation was too deep for tea on a cheerful summer afternoon. Had Severus become disillusioned and if so, in what? Or was this merely a chance for a hypothetical spar.

"What are your dreams, Severus. What dreams was it that placed you in Slytherin?" There was a always a reason behind ambition. Without a goal there was no ambition. And goals always began as dreams of young students.

"I believe I have completed my dream, Headmaster. I have become a Potions Master at an age where none had done so before. That has always been my dream and only stated after my forth year."

"Then what drives you now? Why is it you get up in the morning?"

Black eyes met blue. The spark of the overwhelming desire to act was missing in those eyes.

"I get up in the mornings because it is expected. And I assume if it was expected to rise in the evening I would be doing much the same as everyone else."

"Are you telling me that you no longer have a reason, a dream, a goal to strive for?"

"I prefer to think I have not found another one as of yet."

Could that be all? Not disillusioned just searching. Or was he waiting for that goal to find him?

"Why are you waiting, Severus?"

"Why do you wake in the morning, Headmaster?" Snape asked ignoring Dumbledore's question.

"Because it is a new day. And with it a new hope," Albus indulged. "I rise so I may see the faces of every eager student. And to greet every ready professor."

"No, Headmaster," Snape interrupted with a dull and serious tone. One that was a far cry to the forced politeness of earlier. "What drags you from your bed at all hours of the night, only to find that you must still work at it in the morning? Why do you wake?"

Ah, so it was to be that. "Truthfully, Severus, most already know that reason. I wake because my students are in danger and I act because I wish to save them. I wake, Severus, because I cannot sleep for fear I have forgotten one." And he never knew who was that forgotten child. Who he had left. Perhaps it was more than one. Perhaps more than a dozen. But the mere thought that even one of his children had been forgotten was cause to wake. "I wake because I do not wish to do nothing."

Severus nodded. The man had not taken one sip of his tea. And had left his other beverage on the table, forgotten.

"Why do you wait, my boy?"

"It is simple enough. I wait because the time to act has not arrived."

"Are you discontent with waiting?"

"It is not the waiting, Headmaster. It is the acting. Why act when the actions are not your own?" Dumbledore had no answer for this. "I wait, Headmaster, because I do not wish to act."

"Have you lost the desire completely?"

"I have lost no desire. I simply found that there are no actions I wish to partake in at the moment. Nor does there seem to be an opportunity to create that action I would preform."

"Is this why you are disillusioned?"

Cold black eyes turn to his soft blue ones. Fury? "I do not recall ever mentioning that I was disillusioned. I strictly recall discussing the matter of the life of a disillusioned man. Frankly, for a man to be disillusioned he would have to have despair."

"And you do not despair?"

A grim smile. "Despair is for the man who has nothing." The tea was set down. "You will forgive me, but I find I have no desire for the taste of tea at the moment." The mug of his other beverage was lifted, but no to his lips, only lifted.

"Would you change anything about your life, Severus?"

The boy could not stop a look of accusation and confusion from flashing across his face. "No, I would change nothing I have done, Headmaster. For nothing I have done has harmed me in anyway. To speak candidly, I would change what others have done to me." The look of knowing a secret glinted in his dark cold eyes.

"You would truly change nothing?"

"If Black truly meant no harm, then my choice would not have resulted in such." Clarification. The Headmaster knew what event the former student referred to. And yes, Dumbledore agreed that he would change what others had done. But he would have changed what Severus had done. Given the boy a reason not to satisfy his curiosity. "May I ask, Headmaster, what would you change in you life? I doubt that there is nothing for you have lived too long, I mean that in the most sincere respect."

"Most of what I would change occurred long before you were born. But I too would change what others had done before I changed what I had done." Albus wondered if this was the right answer. He knew he was not having just a conversation. No, Severus Snape was looking far deeper than just words.

"It only stands to reason." Snape raised his mug in thought, but lowered it again to ask, "Men are not disillusioned by their own actions. Why?"

"Perhaps men only consider another's action before his own. Or perhaps it is the same reason man cannot view himself with out the aid of another."

"One man reflecting another man as a mirror in complete honesty would be unthinkable."

"Not unthinkable. Rare, perhaps, but not unthinkable. Most men do not know how to reflect what they see truthfully. Many more refuse to try. Those few who do, however, do so with complete honest and no judgment." Severus lowered the mug to the table completely.

"I believe I am done waiting, Headmaster. Perhaps if you care to wait for an hour or so, I will return here to finish our chat," the man sneered the last word as though distasteful. The rest of the sentence held no trace of bitterness, hatred, or any other malicious feeling.

"I believe I can wait until then," Albus agreed. The young man nodded in professional respect and was in the midst of unbuttoning and rolling up his left sleeve, carefully so as not to draw attention to it, while he stood. Dumbledore caught sight of a mark he dreaded seeing.

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. I have," a quirk of his mouth, "enjoyed this conversation. I should not be too terribly long." A shallow professional bow, wand tip on that mark which no one aside from him could see, and his former pupil Disapparated.

What had happened? And just who had he been talking to? Since when did Severus Snape bear the Dark Mark of the Dark Lord? Since when would a bearer of that Mark willing display it to him, Headmaster Dumbledore, the one man who was actively fighting against all that that Mark stood for.

Just what had occurred? Had Severus become disillusioned in Voldemort's plans? Had Severus joined because he was disillusioned with him, Albus Dumbledore? Had Severus used this opportunity to learn what it was he wanted to do? Had Severus learned what it was he wanted to do?

How much of Severus's answers and questions been merely hypothetical? How many had referred to the young man? And how many of his words contained heavier meanings than first thought?

Rosmerta seemed to know he did not wish to be disturbed and every so often came by and inconspicuously refilled or warmed the tea on Albus's table.

What was it Severus wanted? He had shown Dumbledore the Dark Mark. He had shown it to him for a reason. But what was the reason? Was it possible the boy was fighting a curse and therefore could only speak hypothetically? Was it possible Severus was trying to ask for help, to tell him what was wrong? Was it possible that Mark on his arm was not placed there voluntarily?

Severus had said there was nothing he would change in his life. No, he had said he would change what others had done to him. Could he be referring to a different event other than the one involving Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and James Potter? Could it be that the Mark was the event in question?

But what was all that about waiting to act and not having the desire to act and not having the right opportunity to act? What had Severus been waiting for? Or what was Severus waiting for? Had it already occurred?

What were Severus's dreams? He claimed to have achieved them. But what were the new ones? Where were the ones that Life always presented to intelligent men?

And what of the lack of hostility in the last moment of the conversation? A conscious choice had been made. But what?

"Headmaster Dumbledore?" The voice startled him out of his reprieve. Albus looked to see who called him, the voice sounded incredibly tired. Severus Snape.

Afternoon had fallen and evening threatened the air, but the weather was warm and their table outside untouched.

"Ah, Severus. Do have a seat. I have been waiting for you."

The young man took the seat across from Dumbledore, behind the cup of tea and mug he had left. The face of this boy was world weary. No face of a mere nineteen year old had a right to appear as such. This was the face of a man who had seen too much. And who hated the world for giving him that sight.

"If it is help you were after, my boy, you only needed to ask."

"Help, Headmaster?" the man scowled. "I never asked for help. And where it is not asked, help should not be given."

"Then what is it you are after, Severus?"

"Must I be after anything?"

"Tell me, Severus Snape, what do you want," Dumbledore fairly ordered. Snape's eyes glimmered with something indistinguishable and looked directly into the Headmaster's twinkling blue pair.

At first Albus could see nothing but black solid stones. Then slowly the stones gave way to an animate object. Was the boy trying to reveal what he was hiding, or was he simply showing that he could hide everything behind his eyes.

"Perhaps to answer that demand best, Headmaster," Severus said cold as steel. "We had best journey to someplace more private. I assure you that what I want is not what other men would wish to hear."

Carefully eyeing the man before him, Dumbledore nodded. "I am sure Madam Rosmerta would grant us the use of a private room."

"And you trust the privacy of such rooms?"

"That I do."

"Then I shall put my trust in yours." Severus picked up the cup of tea and quaffed it as though it were nothing more than cold water. Dumbledore knew that a heating charm had been placed on the cup and the tea still warm. Severus rose and waited politely for the Headmaster.

Seeing that this was the only way he would find his answers, Dumbledore rose and made eye contact with Rosmerta. Without a word, she lead them to a small, private room, one Dumbledore had used on many occasions for sensitive information. He sat and waited for Severus to do the same, but the man shifted visibly under his stare.

"The Dark Lord is planning to attack many of those who are close political proximity to you. He will remove the lowest first and work his way up the political ladder until you are left alone. He has not mentioned names yet, but there will be an attack around the third week in July. I do not know for certain who will participate but I assume there will be seven as that was the number mentioned."

Dumbledore caught himself staring. This man, a mere boy was reciting the Dark Lord's plans. He spoke as though he had participated in the actual planning stages. All Dumbledore could do was stare in disbelief.

"However, a demonstration is planned for the last Saturday of June. There will be ten and they will find their way to an Auror pair hiding out in the east of London. I have not been told the names, nor do I think the Dark Lord has them. He seems to only be in possession of the location."

"STOP!"

Severus gained a truly frightened look on his face at the order. What did he fear?

"What are you doing, Severus?"

A smirk. A fearful one, but a smirk nonetheless. "Is that not obvious, Headmaster?"

"What you are saying is. But why?"

"Men do not need whys when they are being spoon fed what they have been searching for."

"Smart men will want the why when they are given what they want when they have not been asked." Dumbledore stroked his bread wearily. "Before you go further, I will know why you are standing here betraying your master."

An odd pause. "I am no more discontent than I am disillusioned. You would do well, Headmaster, to take the information without further question than if it is truthful. And I assure you that it is."

"How are you discontent? And why are you disillusioned?"

"Those questions do not merit a reply."

"Then you will tell me why you are here betraying your master."

"I had thought I had found an opportunity to create an action I was willing to preform." The cold steel had an under current of a child who not understand how his actions could not be the ones that were sought.

'An action I was willing to preform.' Willing to preform. Somehow that conversation held hours ago had given Severus Snape a reason, an opportunity, a chance. And possibly hope?

"You will answer my questions in detail later."

And so, Severus continued to reveal one plot after another. Some more elaborate. Some just plain crass. Some to incite terror, others to rid him of his enemies. All in the planning stage, waiting to be executed. When the man finished, he appeared even more weary than before. And he began to fidget like a boy waiting punishment.

Dumbledore suspected strongly that this boy never revealed such a weakness to his master. That this boy would never dream of appearing to be anything other than in full control before the Dark Lord. At least until the master decided to break it.

And this was not even the Headmaster's Office. Dumbledore was granted to see what Voldemort would never see. This man as human.

"You have come here under your own will?"

"I have."

"And you swear to me that this is truth?"

"I swear."

"And you are swearing that none of this encounter will reach Lord Voldemort?"

Severus flinched at the name. A tremendous fear. "I am." No hesitation. Only fear.

"How am I to know there is no deception?"

Anger. Pure, raw anger. Snape did not say a word. Violently pulled up his left sleeve to bare his forearm. And suddenly dropped to his knees, his wand offered in his left hand, not his wand arm. "You wish to know if there is deception. Then look." He raised his head, the eyes glittering strangely. "I bear a brand of servitude. I took it as a badge of honor. I wear it because it was the only way to seek revenge." Dumbledore saw through the eyes of this young man every truthful statement. Every honest action.

"My revenge has come to not, for my revenge was not against you. You seek deception. Then look. That wand has cast darker magic than you have read about. That wand has seen years of Unforgivables. There has been no deception except for where you do not look. The magic learned by that wand was meant for revenge. Revenge that has not come." Dumbledore saw boys, different ages but one soul, practicing magic he had only read about. Practicing magic he had not wanted to read.

"You seek deception. Then look. You found me without previous knowledge. You came and talked without knowing. I had been waiting, but not knowing for what. You answered without questioning. You found me when I wanted to hide. I stayed because you did not demand. You answered in truth because you know no different. You answered in truth and did not look for the same. You seek deception. Then Look." And he did. He saw every meeting this man described. Saw the numbers this man spoke of. Saw the plans this man built. Saw the master this man served.

Quieter, ragged and worn. "You seek deception where none exist." He knew what this man wanted. And he did not know. He knew where this man had been. And did not understand. He knew why this man was here. And yet he did not know. A bitter quiet laugh. "You seek deception when it only begins."

"Severus?"

Another bitter laugh. "Well, Headmaster. What is it to be now? Shall this charade finish? Shall this travesty conclude on the same bitter note it began? Are you now going to return to your question of what I am doing here? Or will you skip to the question of what do I want? Did you not look? I am here because I want to be here. And I want to be here because I do not want to be elsewhere. I do not want to be elsewhere because the deception you seek will be real."

A maniacal shine over took the eyes. "You demanded why I am betraying my master. When had my master not searched for deception where there was none. When had he not demand what I do not have to give. When had he stopped trying to force his way into where he did not belong. When had he stopped making promises that could not be kept. When had he ever been truthful to those that do not merit truth. You demand when he would have already forced it from you." The boy was trembling. He never once dropped eye contact nor had that barrier returned. "You listen when he would ask. You ask when he demands. You demand when he has already found it. And you ask me why I am betraying him."

"A clear statement is all I require."

"A clear statement no longer exists. I am giving you what I refused him. Should you refuse to take it, then I shall not ask again. But I would continue regardless."

"Speak plainly, Severus. This is no longer the time for hypotheticals."

Severus swallowed, his Adam-apple bobbing. "I offer you my loyalty," he spoke dully and truthfully.

"I have not asked for it. Nor have I asked for the information."

"It is because you did not ask. It is because you did not force the issue that I understand why I was waiting. I left because I was summoned. I was through waiting because you let me see my own reasons."

"And you offer this because I never asked."

"I offer this because without it I will not survive." He was bitter about needing another in order to survive this war. "I offer this because it is an opportunity to satisfy my revenge."

"You will not murder Sirius Black."

Was that a dark humor chuckle? "I do not want him dead. Not any longer," he amended. "I will prove that everything he ever thought about me was wrong. But that is no longer my revenge." Solid steel could not hope to gain any ground against the will Severus revealed through his eyes. "I did not intend to become a mere servant. Mislead by false promises. I do not intend to allow myself to be so gullible. Not a third time." A vicious grin spread across his face, not reaching the eyes that continued to speak pure honesty. "You may have ignored me, demanded unfair promises, and betrayed the trust in a teacher. But you have never mislead me through false pretenses. You left that to you precious Gryffindor students."

Dumbledore had never felt guiltier in his life. He had pushed aside a boy who had needed an alliance only to have that boy return to spit in his face. How much did it say for the boy to return and state quite plainly that he was still the better option in spite of his failings? To be a second choice only when the first failed miserably.

"I have not asked for your loyalty nor your information."

"But you will take the information and leave me to gain more only to repeat this performance. Only without the offer of loyalty. You will take the information and leave me to the wolves as you have already shown. Do not think I have not taken that into account. I know the only thing my loyalty to you is good for is your fleeting protection should you manage to win this war. Do not think to belittle my intelligence. I have told you that I resent becoming a servant through false pretenses."

"But you would become one knowingly."

"When has loyalty required one to be a servant?" A truly evil grin was planted firmly in place. "You do not expect such from your Gryffindors and they would follow you blindly. And when the same is offered from a Slytherin you have this strange definition. I assure you all loyalty towards you equates to one thing: refusal to betray."

"And what of your loyalty to Voldemort?"

Again the flinch. "I gave it as an alliance. And if his end of the bargain is not up held, then I see no reason why my end should remain. The Dark Lord offered me knowledge, a chance for revenge against Black, and a way out of the Life Debt. No knowledge has been forthcoming, if anything only secrets lay in wait. An order to make no move on our own agendas, ever. And the only knowledge I have gained from the Dark Lord is the knowledge that a Life Debt cannot be ignored." Bitterness and self hatred. "I have spent more time giving up my knowledge than I have learning anything new."

"So you have changed your goals?"

"I have."

"It is getting late. Does he know you returned here?"

"Yes, Headmaster. He knows I am here speaking to you. He believes you are trying to return me to your side. He believes that you know nothing of what I have been doing and are going to try and convince me to join you." All in honesty and truth.

"You did not mention this before."

"You did not look."

He wondered just how much this man could hide from him. How often this man could lie while seeming to tell the truth. If this man could lie and still seem to be honest.

"You should be aware that Voldemort will not accept a change of alliance."

"I am aware. I know precisely what I am doing, Headmaster. I am merely waiting for you to come to some conclusion."

"I am interested in knowing your complete sincerity."

"Did you not look." Scornful.

"I saw only what you wished me to see. No further."

"It is likely you could break the barriers, but you have too much heart for it. If you do not believe my words and if you believe that I selected memories, then look for what will prove me sincere to your eyes."

"How long have you studied?"

"It's not how long but how often. How severe. I only learned recently, but times demanded I learn quickly and completely. You wish to see complete sincerity. Then I will let you look. And you will know there is nothing hidden."

"That is not necessary."

"But it is. Or do you wish to continue to second guess my actions. You have not said as much, but the fact you are doubtful explains it."

"Stand up, my boy. Your actions speak well enough for themselves. If you insist on continuing this deal, then I shall do all that I can to protect you when this is over." The boy looked doubtful. "You have never once given me reason to mistrust your word. You word is enough. Now stand up and we can see about how you're going to explain this to Voldemort."

The man rose, flinching at the name. Calmly putting away his wand and straightening his sleeve, he looked once more at the Headmaster and what was left the openness of his eyes flicker and vanish behind the fathomless black coal those eyes seemed to be made of.

"Would you care for some tea, Severus?"

"Yes, thank you, Headmaster."

"Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you, sir."

And their first official meeting began.