Endings and Beginnings

Saturday, Albus's birthday, was coming up quickly. Ginny, Molly, Dasom, and other Order members were frantically owling each other making preparations for the celebration. Winky and the house elves who had left Hogwarts to follow Dumbledore to his new home were bombarded by owls carrying instructions. The hall was hung with cloth of scarlet and gold. Flowers were put everywhere. Silk butterfiles and chocolate, foil-covered bumblebees, all charmed to fly, awaited in trunks to be released. An enormous cake was baked and decorated with 158 candles, all charmed to extinguish with a single breath from Albus. Sitting arrangements were made. Invitations were delivered. Presents were being owled. The Order members and the house elves handled a thousand other details. They had managed to get everything done by Friday night.

Of course Albus had been aware that he was to have a surprise party from the beginning, even though the evidence was hidden from him. Even in his weakened condition Albus never missed a beat, that man.

Snape was dreading the event, and Albus knew that too.

When Friday evening rolled around Dasom flooed herself directly to the hall. She saw Snape looking around with disdain.

"You're here early," he remarked.

"I need to check on everything, sir," said Dasom, her eyes twinkling exactly like those of her great-great-grandfather.

"Disgusting décor," Snape said, looking at the hangings.

"Well, what can you say? Albus was a Gryffindor," Dasom answered.

"And you were not?" asked Snape. "I thought all Dumbledores were Gryffindors."

"I'm a Christie," said Dasom, "We're all Ravenclaws, sir."

Snape raised his eyebrows in derision to cover his surprise. How could this young lady have been his student yet he remember so little about her?

"You could have fooled me," Snape snarked.

"Albus would be proud of that," Dasom answered, inspecting the room.

She put her gift on the rapidly-growing pile. Those who couldn't make it had been owling presents all day.

"Where is Albus?" she asked.

"Asleep in his rooms. I've magicked the bed so he can't fall out," Snape replied.

"But he can get out," said Dasom, worried.

"Of course," answered Snape as if the girl was an idiot. "And the house-elf is watching him. If I am needed I will be alerted, and I will apparate to his side."

"Well, everything is in order here," Dasom said rapidly. "I'm going upstairs to talk to Winky. Goodnight, Mr. Snape." She left the hall rapidly.

Snape watched her go and then whipped out of the hall himself.

The birthday party went off without a hitch. The hall was full just before noon. Albus and Dasom were walking in the courtyard. The old man said, eyes twinkling just a little too much, "I wonder if there are any presents for me in the hall."

"He knows," Dasom thought.

The minute they stepped into the hall the guests undisillusioned themselves and cried, "Surprise!"

Albus laughed delightedly.

Hermione and Ron brought up his automobilicorpus chair. His charmed cane, in the form of a walker, changed to a floating handrail. He held it and lowered himself into the chair. The children, led by Lupin, sang to him the Happy Birthday song. Hermone then pushed him through a sea of smiling, adoring faces to the table. The children ran back and forth bringing Albus his presents. Afterward the cake appeared, and he made a wish and blew out the candles, as planned, with just one breath. Dumbledore was in his element.

Bill and Fleur wre there with their four-year-old boy and their newborn girl. Ginny and Seamus Finnegan were there with their one-old boy. Hermione and Ron had their twins Molly and Polly. Other members of the Order had brought their children as well. Neville was there too. Still a bachelor, he was too busy with his magical plant nursery to think about anything else. He sat next to Professor Sprout, deep in conversation.

All the Hogwarts teachers who knew Albus were there. Minerva was now headmistress. They couldn't stay away from the school long, but they wouldn't have missed this party for the world.

Arthur and Molly Weasley showed up late, and they apologized profusely. Albus said, eyes twinkling madly, "At least we have a Minister of Magic who will actually speak to me!"

Arthur thought about this a minute and then laughed heartily.

The couple had been late because Arthur had to stop by the office. The last Minister had been using his popularity for leading the Wizarding world against Voldemort to milk the system for all he could get. His reign had been rife with graft and greed. He had created sinecures for his political buddies. He had been the one who cut budget for the Aurors and St. Mungo's as well as other departments way back in order to pay off his friends. He would have gotten by with everything had his son not joined a Voldemort cult. At first the Minister tried to deny the cults existed. When Muggleborn children started disappearing he said it was a coincidence and that no one could be sure it wasn't Muggles themselves taking the children. It wasn't until Patricia Reynolds, a Muggleborn who had been kidnapped, was found in the dungeons of the Minister's family castle, in a cage, kept by the Minister's son and his coven, that anything was done. The coven members were sent to Azkaban. The Minister was impeached. The authorities investigated the Ministry and started booting corrupt officials. The only official who hadn't been paid off or intimidated by blackmail was Arthur Weasley. He was also the lone voice of dissent. That was why he was chosen as the next Minister of Magic.

His job was not a simple one. He had been dissolving redundant offices created by his predecessor. He had been working tirelessly with the new Ministry oficials to write a budget giving more money back to the Aurors, St. Mungos, and other hard-hit departments, including Muggle Relations. He had also officially ordered investigation of the cult. Arthur took his job very seriously.

Everyone was there now except poor Harry---

---and for the moment, Snape.

Snape was sleeping in that Saturday. He left his bed only for food and bathroom breaks. He REALLY did not want to attend this party. He had an extra day to rest this month, and he was going to take full advantage of it.

He lay in bed on his stomach in that pleasant haze between sleep and waking when he heard childish giggling.

That wasn't right.

He reached for his wand, which wasn't there. He looked up straight into twin baby faces. Before he could think his face was full of cake.

"Uncle Snape miss cake!" said Molly.

"We bring Uncle Snape cake!" said Polly.

Snape's eyes registered horror at the cake all over his fine sheets. He saw that Polly was waving his wand, producing blue and copper-colored sparks. He was shocked by the fact that she already seemed to have mastered swish and flick.

"Give me that!" he shouted, snatching his wand from the girl.

Because he slept au naturel, Snape was careful to wrap himself in his coverlet before jumping out of bed. The whole process, though quick, took long enough to get the girls into more trouble.

"Get OFF of that bookcase!" he shouted. Molly and Polly jumped down, each holding a book, pressing cake into the fine leather and parchment pages.

He was giving the two his best death glare, which wasn't very effective with cake all over his face. The girls dissolved in giggles.

He had his wand raised when he heard, "Polly and Molly Weasley, leave these rooms RIGHT NOW!"

The girls turned innocent faces at Hermione, who wore the stern look her friends Harry and Ron had learned never to ignore.

Snape lowered his wand.

"But Uncle Snape miss cake!" they cried as Hermione took the books from their hands and set them on Snape's table.

"That's Uncle Snape's business, not yours. Either you go back to the hall, or we go home this instant," Hermione said in a voice that made Snape shudder.

"No go home," they whinged.

"Then go back to the hall. Now."

Snape realized she was using the voice he always used in his classes.

The girls slunk out of the room. They heard them giggling and running down the corridor.

"I'm very sorry," said Hermione as she did a very thorough Scourgify on Snape's pillowcase.

Snape glared at her.

She turned around to hide her smile. That look was indeed funny on a face smeared in cake. She busied herself in magically cleaning his books.

"Obviously," snarked Snape. "May I ask, how did they get past my wards?" he asked accusingly.

"I really and truly don't know," Hermione answered honestly. "They keep getting into places no one would ever think they could. Bill's considering taking them back to Egypt to help him access tombs."

Hermione turned back around to look at Snape. She realized then that he was wrapped in his coverlet and why.

"I'm really sorry. It won't happen again," she said, leaving quickly.

Snape heard her admonish the twins, "No running up and down the stairs!"

Severus shuddered. He was certainly glad he didn't have children. And where did they get the idea they could call him "Uncle?" He'd have to have a discussion with the little know-it-all and her dunderhead husband.

As he washed and dressed, Severus wondered about the fact he had reacted so slowly. In the past that laxness would have rendered him dead. Was he losing his touch? He was certainly glad that he was no longer a spy.

All eyes turned to the freshly clean and starched former professor as he glided into the hall.

"Severus," called Albus, quite pleased, "Come sit next to me."

The others in the room resumed their conversations.

"Thank you for the gloves," Albus said, modelling the soft, supple Dragonhide gloves Snape had given him. They were charmed to stay a comfortable temperature all year round, and they were also charmed to help Albus grip his charmed cane. They were quite an expensive, thoughtful gift.

Severus felt someone gazing at him. Whipping his head around, he saw it was Lupin.

"Lupin," said Snape snidely, "How's the babysitting business?"

"Going quite well, actually. Molly and I have ten in our class now, including these ladies. Little Molly and Polly squealed delightedly as he squeezed one in each arm.

Severus put his hand around his wand more to assure himself that it was still there than anything else. He knew he couldn't hex them while sitting next to Albus.

Snape took a covert look around him. Angie Woodson, Lupin's new girlfriend, was talking to Tonks. He glared at her. She seemed to feel it.

"Although I'm not going to have time for it soon," Lupin was saying.

"Awwww," whinged the two girls.

"You'll still have Grandma and Miss Woodson," said Lupin.

When the Order started investigating Voldemort cults everyone thought it was the best idea for the children of Order members to be kept somewhere safe during the day. Hence the nursery school at Grimmauld Place was born. Lupin and Molly had created this school. Angie was taken on as an assistant but had quickly become the school's accountant. She and Lupin had started dating around that time too. That was a bit too coincidental, Snape thought.

The girls were asking "Why, Uncle Lupin?"

"Because Grandpa needs me to fight bad wizards," Lupin said.

"But you do that anyway," Molly said.

"Yes, but now I'm going to be working for Grandpa," Lupin said.

"Didn't Uncle Snape fight bad wizards?" asked Polly.

"Yes ma'am," answered Lupin, "He was a spy in the big war."

"Uncle Snape Hero!" both girls cried.

Uncle Snape frowned to cover the smile that was threatening to appear on his face. "I'm not your uncle," he said with much less venom than he intended.

"We know, Uncle Snape," said Molly.

"Then why do you insist on calling me that?" asked Snape.

"Well," said Polly thoughtfully, "Uncle Lupin not uncle, but we call Uncle Lupin Uncle Lupin."

Molly pointed at Snape's plate and shreiked, "Eat cake, Uncle Snape!"

Snape looked down exasperatedly at the cake that had appeared in his plate.

"Run along now," said Lupin. The girls ran off after their four-year-old cousin Robert.

"Charming," Snape tried to spit, failing miserably.

Lupin ducked his head into his napkin in order not to grin at the man.

"How is business anyway?" asked Snape, more seriously now. Lupin had taken Dumbledore's place as head of the Order.

"We have been partially successful. We have tracked down the latest coven, but we have evidence of three more. The Dark Lord cult is more popular than ever," he said.

"A lot of Pure Blood children are very angry," remarked Snape.

"They really believe Voldemort is still alive somewhere. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky they are not more aggressive than they are," said Lupin, looking very sad.

"Give them time," answered Snape.

"Arthur had officially opened investigations, but we can't arrest unless we find proof a crime has been committed," Lupin said.

"Like Patricia Reynolds," said Snape.

Lupin laughed wryly, and then said soberly, "I wish we could prove whether or not the others were kidnapped by cult members. They've been a lot more circumspect since that arrest. I just hope and pray they're not dead."

"Considering the time that has passed it's highly unlikely they're still alive," answered Snape.

Snape cursed himself again for giving away his hand in that final battle. Had he known who things would turn out he would never have acted as he did. As it was the Order no longer had effective spies. The few they did have were not much better than children themselves. It was a wonder they ever found Patricia.

Now Snape was Target Number One of the former Death Eaters who were still free. That was one good reason for staying here. He could no longer collect information nor could he hide. Now, with his slow reaction time, he wondered if he could even still fight.

Albus---he must concentrate on Albus and on the potions they were inventing.

"What about the imposters?" asked Snape.

Since the war all known Death Eaters who hadn't died had been arrested. The problem was that not even the Death Eaters themselves knew who all their colleagues were. The Dark Mark had disappeared since the passing of Voldemort, much to Snape's delight, but with its disappearance went any proof of who the Death Eaters had been. It was this group that was producing imposters who were worshipped by the cult. It was also this group who was killing off the imposters almost as quickly as they appeared.

"We have one who has managed to evade death for the past six months. This one is hiding his identity very well," said Lupin.

At that point Angie came up behind Lupin and put her arms around him.

Snape glared at the young woman until she and Lupin moved away.

Arthur Weasley came up and sat his corpulent form in the empty chair next to Snape and began talking to him.

Snape really wished he were anywhere else.

"Hello, how's the research going?" he asked.

Snape found Arthur annoying, but he saw no reason to alienate the Minister of Magic.

"It's making progress," he said, waiting for Arthur's real question.

"And how is...he?" asked Arthur in a lower tone.

Snape stiffened. He knew Albus would hear every word of this conversation.

"The same," Snape said. "I've seen no sign of...degeneration...since your last visit."

"A year ago," Snape thought bitterly.

"Excellent, excellent," Arthur said, smiling.

Snape thought the only improvement made on the man since he'd become Minister of Magic was his clothes. He wore sober, well-tailored blue or gray suits instead of those tacky jumpers and waistcoats.

"We've been working on the new budget. Maybe soon St. Mungo's will have more funding. That means Dasom can come and relieve you more often---"

"Oh, joy," Snape thought. Yet a memory of a willowy young witch with long, lustrous blonde hair and Albus's twinkling eyes flashed through his mind. He covertly looked around. She was talking with Molly and Tonks. Hre hair shone in the afternoon sun. He made himself look back at Arthur.

"---And give you more time for research," he continued.

"Albus and I do research together. He may be...physically infirm, but I guarantee you his mind is as good as ever," Snape said in clipped tones.

"Splendid!" said Arthur. Little did he realize that behind the smooth mask Severus presented, he wished that the man would leave.

The butterflies and bumblebees were released. The children especially were much delighted by the colorful, flittering, buzzing mass that spread across the hall. Albus reached up and caught a handful of silk butterflies and chocolate bumblebees. Fawkes, perched atop the post of Albus's chair, spread his magnificent wings and took flight to the ceiling. He dislodged butterfiles and bumblebees that had been caught in the rafters, dropping them to the children below.

Snape scowled as he brushed flapping silk and buzzing foil-covered chocolate out of his once-again-greasy hair.

At last Dasom and Snape could tell that Dumbledore was getting tired. Dasom politely but efficient sent everyone on their way, bags of party favors in hand. Snape helped Albus to his rooms. Albus seemed so much younger and healthier tonight. That was why he wished they'd come visit the old man more often, even if he didn't like most of them personally. They had a positive effect on Albus's life force.

"Thank you, Severus," Albus said as Snape helped him get ready for bed. In that one statement the man showed that he understood how hard it had been on Severus and how truly grateful he was the man had come. Even though he wasn't fully assured that the man had nothing to do with the twins' escapade, he relaxed.

For the remainder of the evening Snape sat next to Albus's bedside, reading in comfortable silence.