The Heart of Night

Heart of the Night

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Reveal Secrets

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2 Moons, 7 Nights

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"My friends," Dumbledore said with grave seriousness, "I fear we have a problem. A serious problem."

The Order members gathered around gave him questioning glances. This far, they'd all been glancing at Snape, who was standing in the corner like he always did nowadays, looking so dark and threatening that nobody dared to approach him. Or, if not at Snape, then at Remus, who was very quiet.

At last, however, Moody broke the silence. "What is it?" he asked bluntly, as was his usual habit. "Is the Dark Lord again planning something, or did you run out of lemon drops?"

"We all know that there is a traitor among us," the Headmaster said, eyeing them all one by one. "That is why I no more reveal any information to anybody who doesn't absolutely have to know it. This far, this traitor has remained uncaught, despite their various crimes." After a moment of silence, he continued, "However, now we are burdened with the duty of having to capture one of our own."

"You mean you've found them?" Molly Weasley asked, looking relieved beyond belief. "Thank Merlin!"

"Yes, Molly, I have found out who is the traitor," replied Dumbledore. "Or, rather, Severus and Remus have." At this, he nodded towards the two werewolves. "Remus, if you could...?"

"Very well." Remus wiped a strand of brown and grey behind his pointy ear, eyeing everybody in turn. "The night I was captured," he started, "that night, I saw the traitor. Smelled them. Heard them. However, I could not remember it -- the Dark Lord had removed those memories from me. Or, rather, separated those memories from my conscious mind." After a momentary pause, during which nobody tried to speak, he continued, "However, now I remember everything. Those memories were triggered by one word. That word is the thing that Severus figured out -- and it explains how this traitor has managed to hide this far."

"That's what I'd like to know as well," said Kingsley. "After all, we always check everybody for the Dark Mark. It's not like it could be hidden by any spells -- right, Snape?" he then asked.

The Potions Master merely raised an eyebrow, his amber eyes flashing momentarily golden in challenge. "I wouldn't know, Shacklebolt," he said. "I do not have that Mark." To prove his words, he lifted his left sleeve, baring most of his arm. Everybody saw the werewolf bite there -- but no Dark Mark. "That doesn't matter, though," he then said, ignoring their obvious shock. "The fact is that the traitor has indeed managed to hide their Dark Mark. How, we all probably ask. Well, I've found the answer." With a long glance that swept over them all, he then continued, "This traitor made a mistake... The serious mistake of attacking one of my friends, and pretending to be that friend. The traitor's also good at acting, I've come to notice -- they had copied every one of the said friend's habits and gestures down to the slightest raise of eyebrows. However, there's one thing that couldn't be copied -- but they did. And that was their downfall."

Once again, there was a silence. Everybody just kept watching the darkhaired werewolf, who seemed to be half enjoying all the attention. "When I realized that I'd been talking with an impostor, I was, needless to say, enraged," he continued smoothly. "However, that one gesture that shouldn't have been copied made me realize something. You can't hide the Dark Mark on your arm -- unless it's not your flesh you're showing. Just as well, nobody pretending to be that friend of mine could change the colour of their eyes -- unless they were not changing their eyes. It was simple, really. And the answer to these two problems is the same word that triggered Remus's memories."

They were practically sitting on the edges of their seats now, as Snape's calm, deep voice washed over them, pulling them all into the story. "That word," he continued in the absolute silence that surrounded his words, "that word is, 'Metamorphmagus.'" In the silence that now followed and made the previous silence feel like horrible noise, he then asked, "Do you know what my point is, Nymphadora?"

"You must be kidding," the young witch said disbelievingly. "You're saying that I am the traitor?"

"That's exactly what he is saying," Remus said calmly. "That's also what I claim by my memories. Oh, and do not look for your wand, Nymphadora -- I do fear I nicked it when you arrived." At this, he raised his right hand, flicking her light-coloured wand in the air before putting it safely into his pocket and backing away from her reach. It would not do to let her get a hold of it now.

"You are the only logical option, anyway," Snape continued. "The Dark Mark cannot be removed by any usual magic. However, it is only branded onto your own arm. It would not be a hard trick for a Metamorphmagus to change just the arm for a while, so that everybody will see the clear skin."

"But that's ridiculous!" Tonks protested, her hair changing colour by every passing second. "I even got Harry from the Dursleys, remember? If I was a Death Eater, would I have brought him to Hogwarts?"

"Well, you hardly had any options," said Kingsley coolly. "You knew that you were being watched -- at the moment, we could trust nobody. If you'd taken Harry to Voldemort and he would have somehow managed to escape, your position as a traitor would have been discovered. And then, you would have been unable to collect any further information. No, it was better to wait until your Master had more power."

"Don't tell me that you believe them, too, Kingsley!" exclaimed the witch. "Of course it's not me! I could never do anything that might harm the Order or the Light Side!"

"You always were such an awful liar, Tonks," Remus said quietly. "You lie, I could smell it a mail afar. There's no use denying it. Nobody else could have acted as Severus's friend."

"Snape's friend?" echoed the Metamorphmagus. "So now you accuse me of that, too? Well, I can assure you, I have nothing to do with the death of Victor Voronwe! That's all just lies!"

Just then, somebody cleared their throat. As they turned to look, they saw Snape, who was eyeing the young witch with a very nasty glint in his eyes. "Nobody ever mentioned Victor's name," he said coolly. "Very few even know that I've been in touch with him -- and you definitely shouldn't have known that. And, moreover, nobody ever said that he was dead. So tell me, Nymphadora... how did you know that?"

Tonks turned momentarily very pale as she realized her mistake. Then, however, she soon got back her usual calmness and glared at everybody. "I am not the traitor," she hissed. "You are mistaken. I simply heard of Voronwe at work! The Aurors are looking into his death!"

"Yes, I do believe they are," Snape said coolly. "However, nothing you are supposed to know could tell you of any connection between Victor and myself. Definitely not should you have been able to know that he was the friend the traitor pretended to be while they talked with me." He raised an eyebrow again. "You made two mistakes, Tonks," he said. "You're a good actress, that I'll give to you. You'd got his every gesture down perfectly. Your first mistake was to wear your hair down -- Victor always had it on a ponytail. Your second mistake was to let his corpse be found. I should have never found out about his death, if you truly wanted your little game go all the way through."

At first, Tonks gave just an aggressive hiss, but then she noticed the numerous wands pointed at her by all Order members. Glancing around, she saw her friends -- her former friends -- eyeing her coldly, calculatingly. They were ready to take her down immediately if she tried anything. "Fine," she then sighed in defeat. "You won. True, I am the traitor -- and I'm no more going to hide it." While saying this, she lifted her left sleeve -- this time revealing the Dark Mark etched onto her skin. At the sight of the hated symbol, everybody backed away from her, lowering their wands -- mere inches, but enough. "I'm taking at least you with me!" she shrieked, and attacked towards Snape -- her hand glittering silver.

"Oh, no, you don't!" exclaimed Remus, jumping to stop her before she could get to the dark-haired werewolf with her silver hand. Tonks, however, merely grasped his arm, and the disgusting smell of burning flesh filled the air as the silver began its work. With a horrible scream, Remus fell to the floor, his other hand holding the terrifying burn on his arm.

Snape, who had by the alpha's interruption had just enough time to avoid the Metamorphmagus's rage, however, did not stay passive. Stepping behind Tonks, he grasped the witch's shoulder. Before she could bring her silver hand to hurt Snape, too, the man had already sank his fist into her skull with all the force his Lycanthropy gave him. "Nobody harms the alpha," he hissed lowly.

The others watched with morbid fascination as Tonks fell to the ground, returning to her original form -- the Dark Mark still well visible on her arm, her hand now flesh instead of silver. Kingsley started to kneel down next to her, but Snape waved him off. "Don't bother," he said, his voice void of all emotions. "She will not wake up ever again, so you don't have to hurry. Concentrate on helping Remus instead."

By now, Molly Weasley had already knelt down next to Remus, only to notice that the man had passed out in pain. "He needs healing immediately," she told them. "For anything I know, his life is at stake."

"No, he will not die," Snape said slowly. "He will live through that injury."

"How would you know that?" asked Moody sharply, soon getting over his shock. "Are you a healer?"

"No, I'm not," replied the Potions Master, "nor am I a Seer. But trust me, Moody, he will live. I know it." Then, turning towards the Headmaster, he said, "Would it be possible that I take him to Hogwarts, Albus?"

"Of course, Severus," Dumbledore said, seemingly a bit dazed from the events. "Do hurry, my boy."

"Oh, trust me, I will." And with that, Snape easily lifted the other werewolf onto his arms and left the room, everybody's eyes locked on his back.

As soon as they were sure he was out of hearing, they looked at each other, all equally astonished.

It was Mundungus who finally managed to voice the one thought in everybody's mind, clearly awake for once. "...Remus is his alpha?"

*

"Professor Snape?" asked a timid voice, breaking the pressuring silence of the Infirmary. Severus looked up from his alpha, who lay on a hospital bed, deathly pale. Seeing Alan, he smiled weakly.

"Tiny Ginger Cub," he said, nodding slowly in acknowledgement. "I've told you this before, cub. When we're not in the classroom or something like that -- when I'm not present as a professor, basically -- you may call me Beta. Or, preferably, just Severus. And the same goes for our Alpha here."

"Okay, S-Severus," Alan said then shyly. "But... Alpha will be okay, won't he?"

"Of course he will, cub," Severus said, ruffling the boy's red hair. "He is a strong man. Something like this can't take him down easily. This time next week he'll be up and about again." He was right, he knew it -- it wouldn't take a week from Remus to recover, something he was very glad about. At the same time, however, he also knew that not a month later Alan himself would lie in the very same bed -- and he would not get up again. This thought filled his heart with unexpected and definitely unwelcomed pain.

"Good," the little boy said, walking to his side. "I don't want to die without saying a goodbye to him first."

Now, it was a very cold, dreading feeling that attacked Severus's heart as he listened to Alan's words. "That will not happen, Tiny Ginger Cub," he said quietly. "I will do everything in my power to prevent you from dying. I won't let you die." And he meant it. His efforts might be in vain, but he'd still try.

"Thank you, Severus," muttered the tiny werewolf. "But I don't think you can help." After a long glance at Remus's unmoving form, he turned towards Severus again. "The Headmaster said that somebody called Logan is coming tomorrow," he said. "He should be important. Do you know who he is?"

"Yes, I do," Severus replied. "He is the alpha of the Forbidden Forest's pack."

"Really?" The boy's amber eyes flew wide. "I've never met an alpha werewolf -- well, other than our alpha, of course. Have you met him?" Then, with an even quieter voice, he asked, "Is he scary?"

"Yes, I have met him, and no, he is by no means frightening, at least not to you," said the dark-haired werewolf soothingly. "Annoying, yes, but not frightening. Remus said that he knows all kinds of stories of werewolves; maybe he will tell you one of those. They should be interesting."

"Really?" Now, Alan's eyes practically shone. "Wow, that's cool!"

"Yes, it is 'cool,' like you put it," Severus said. "Now, do run along, cub. I'm sure you have much homework awaiting you. And if you've been released, nothing's keeping you here."

Now, Alan turned immediately serious again. "That's not true. The alpha's keeping me here."

"Oh, for Salazar's sake," sighed Severus. "Then at least get your books here. The full moons are disturbing your studies much enough, so don't get anything else slow you down."

And, as Alan ran away to get his books, Severus just shook his head in wonderment. He would never understand this loyalty. Alan obviously thought it responsibility to stay near to the alpha while the adult werewolf had troubles, and Severus felt that himself, too. No problem there. It might have been friendship or his werewolf instincts again that had made him kill Tonks -- he'd shattered her skull with that one blow. However, he could not understand why Remus had put himself in such a danger to save him.

"Why, you bloody Gryffindor?" he muttered. "Why did you do that? Why've you done all these things?"

Of course, he did not get a true answer -- like his hearing told him easily from the pace of the other werewolf's breath, Remus was currently deep asleep. However, he did get some kind of an answer as the alpha, currently deep in his sleep, turned his head and muttered two words. To anybody else, they would have been inaudible. Severus's sharp werewolf ears, however, caught them easily.

"Severus," Remus had muttered. And then, "Love."

It wasn't until Alan returned that Severus could stop staring at the alpha.

*