The Gossamer Web

Chapter Three: The Servant With Two Masters

"Look at a man in the midst of doubt and danger, and you will learn in his hour of adversity what he really is. It is then that true utterances are wrung from the recesses of his breast. The mask is torn off; reality remains." -Lucretius

The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

Severus watched stoically as the dilapidated house that was the childhood residence of both his best friend and worst enemy revealed itself. As much as he hated Black, he could not deny Grimmauld Place was the optimal location for the Order's Headquarters.

He rapped the serpentine knocker and the door was answered moments later by a dusty Molly Weasley. 'Oh, Severus, it's good to see you,' she whispered. It was evident she had been cleaning; her hair was wrapped up in a garish scarf, and a bottle of Mrs. Skowers was in her gloved hand, though as he stepped into the hall, it looked as if it had not been inhabited, much less cleaned, in over a decade.

Following his gaze, she explained, 'I started with the kitchen, that's where we'll have the meeting.'

He surveyed the thick cobwebs covering the crystal chandelier and the doxy-eaten tapestries. 'The house-elf... Kreacher, he died then?'

She made a distasteful face. 'No, he's still slinking around somewhere, he just decided to let the place rot.'

A fitting tribute, he thought, heading into the kitchen. Here, the cleaning prowess of the Weasley matriarch shone. The copper kettles glinted, the hearth was swept and all the cobwebs and dust were banished.

As he was the first to arrive he had the prime choice of the assortment of mismatched chairs and benches gathered from the house surrounding the table. Severus dragged one of the dining room chairs to the corner, sat down and waited for the others to arrive. His seat was half hidden in shadows and would afford him a clear view of all those in attendance, while they would have to crane their necks to properly look at him.

The door swung open and Black entered. Their eyes met over the sack of dead rats Black was carrying; Severus raised an eyebrow and Black beat a hasty retreat.

Severus had elected not to tell anyone of the small incident that had taken place after the last Order meeting. Not out of a desire to spare Black, but because he knew the dread of waiting for the gauntlet to fall would be worse than whatever punishment the Headmaster would choose.

Molly Weasley entered a few minutes later. She had dispensed with the head scarf and gloves, and had expunged the dirt from her robes. She bustled about, pulling out pots and pans and various ingredients. Humming to herself, she flicked on the WNN.

There was a jingle for butterbeer ('Barney says: I'm just batty about Butterbeer!') and then the crisp voice of a wizard. 'Good evening and welcome to Ministry Matters, your source on the latest issues, I'm your host Fionnbar Curtis. The Ministry is reeling from yesterday's tumultuous events and many Ministry officials have put in quite the awkward position. For more, I have with me Bathilda Bagshot, author of the world-renowned, A History of Magic. Bathilda, thank you for coming on.'

'It's always a pleasure, Barry,' she said, her voice quavering with her advanced age.

'Let's get straight to the heart of the matter. Yesterday, an investigator revealed Cornelius Fudge to be engaged in fraudulent activities, yet he has not stepped down, why is that?'

The witch chuckled. 'Because there is no one to replace him! Traditionally, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would become Minister, but Madam Bones has chosen not to pursue the position.'

'So what happens now?'

'An open election will determine the new Minister. In the meantime, Fudge will remain Minister, though the scope of his power is greatly reduced and he will be monitored very closely.'

'What can we expect to happen with the election?'

'It will be held in the autumn. That is, of course, not much time from now, but all parties involved wish to remove Fudge as quickly as possible.'

The discussion turned to potential candidates, at which Severus couldn't fully repress a snort.

The Order began to trickle into the kitchen, and the room was soon filled with the hum of conversation. Aside from a nod of greeting from Minerva and a distrustful glance from Moody (which he returned with a sneer), he was largely ignored. Black who was seated next to Lupin was trying his best to pretend Severus did not exist; Black's lack of hostility was so out of character is caused Lupin to frown worriedly. Soon, they all settled around the table while they waited for the arrival of the Headmaster.

Suddenly there was a tremendous crash in the entryway and a voice began to screech, 'FILTHY HALF-BREED VERMIN! HOW DARE YOU-'

Black swore angrily and ran out of the kitchen.

Many of the Order members looked quite taken aback, but Severus smirked to himself. It was not an uncommon (though expensive) practice for families to commission a bewitched portrait of their deceased loved ones. Usually, it brought a great sense of comfort to the surviving family, though if the individual was especially aggravating, the portrait was usually ignored, or became something of a conversation piece. Severus could not deny he found the idea of Mrs. Black continuing her lifelong persecution of her eldest son from beyond the grave rather gratifying.

'Shut it, you old hag!'

'YOU! SHAME OF MY FLESH!' Mrs. Black continued her diatribe, calling Black, among other things, a 'worm', 'mongrel,' and Severus's personal favorite, 'an odious stain upon society.'

'Sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't see-' a witch's voice joined the cacophony.

Lupin rushed out to help and soon Mrs. Black's shrieks were muffled and replaced with a shriek of surprise, 'Sirius! Smegging hell!'

Several minutes later the doors opened and Albus entered followed by Lupin and Black, who was deep in conversation with a blue-haired witch Severus instantly recognized. Once Black and Lupin were seated, Albus addressed the group. 'I am pleased to introduce to you, Auror Nymphadora Tonks.'

She rolled her eyes. 'It's Tonks, just Tonks.' Greetings were exchanged, to which Tonks replied with a cheery, 'Wotcher!'

Severus sneered. Tonks exceeded Longbottom in incompetence, a feat which made him remember her particularly vividly and with particular distaste. She had managed to scrape by with an O in her Potions O.W.L. by nothing but sheer determination. She also had a penchant for misbehaving that could not be deterred.

Charlie smiled at her. 'It's good to have you on board, Tonks. What finally made you see the light?'

'The Ministry, if you can believe it. The day before last the Ministry issued a decree to disregard any rumors of dark activity and told us not to mention you lot. When I came into work yesterday, there were notices everywhere telling us not to blab unless we wanted to clear out our desks. Of course, I knew something was up. So I-' Tonks spotted him and she stared at him, gobsmacked for a moment before she found her voice. 'Snape? Lord, I didn't think I'd be seeing you here. If anything, I thought you'd be with the other lot.'

He surveyed her coldly over his steepled fingers. 'And I never thought I'd see you pass my class- it appears we were both incorrect.'

Tonks screwed her face in anger; or at least that's what he thought it was before she sprouted inky black hair and a large, aquiline nose.

Dedalus giggled loudly while the others tried to smother their sniggers with varying degrees of success. Black stared straight ahead with gritted teeth.

Severus remained seething long after the Headmaster called the meeting to order.

'...inside the Ministry was where we needed people the most,' Arthur was saying now, 'but now with the Minister's decree...' He shook his head.

'We could still talk to people, we'd just have to be careful,' Hestia Jones suggested. 'It's not like the words are Tabooed, right?'

'Too risky; and it's not like they'll be any more sympathetic to our cause if we get them sacked,' Black said.

'Has anyone been sacked yet?' Podmore asked. 'No one I know has, but then again, we Unspeakables are much better at keeping our mouths shut.'

'Acantha Summers was given the elbow this morning, she's from the Invisibility Task Force,' Tonks said. 'She saw the notice and, silly berk that she is, she opens her big gob and asks, "What d'you mean we can't mention the Order of the Phoenix?" And someone overhead that and reported her. Personally I think it was Jessica Brocklehurst, she's been on a right warpath ever since Acantha started dating her ex, Apollo, and she was looking rather smug today.'

Severus sat up in his chair. 'You mean anyone can report a Ministry official?'

Tonks nodded slowly. 'Yeah... all somebody needs to do is write up a report, submit it to their superior and bam he's gone. They hardly even bother investigating it, they make sure the two at least had some contact with one another, but that's about it.'

'Well, we all know the Ministry can be a bit hasty when it comes to justice,' Black said bitterly.

Severus's lips curled into a smirk. 'I shall have to thank Fudge for this,' he muttered to himself.

Minerva leaned forward. 'What was that?' she demanded sharply, having perceived a slight on one of her cubs.

'Doesn't anyone else see it?' he asked. They all looked at one another and Fletcher mumbled, 'See what?'

Albus smiled, his eyes twinkling. 'An excellent idea, Severus.'

'Which is?' Doge asked, his voice wheezy.

Severus addressed Tonks. 'Tomorrow, when you go to work be sure to stop by the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, say you have a memo to deliver, I don't care what, then you go and write up Walden Macnair.'

Tonks frowned. 'Who's Walden Macnair?'

'A Death Eater.'

It seemed everyone else had cottoned on, for they were all babbling excitedly. 'A capital idea!' Flitwick squeaked.

Lupin cleared his throat. 'But how long will it work? They're bound to notice eventually-'

'And they will,' Severus said. 'At which point they will have to repeal the damn thing before the Ministry whittles its way down to nothing. The Ministry might even reinstate those we manage to sack, but at the very least we will have greatly disrupted the Dark Lord's channels of information.'

'Why should we sack Macnair?' Moody asked Albus, seeking some point with which he could disagree with Severus. 'Why not someone else?'

'The Dark Lord will be seeking to ally Himself with those largely estranged from society,' he cast a sidelong glance towards Lupin, 'with good reason. Macnair is able to use his contacts within the Ministry to scout them out and appeal to them on the Dark Lord's behalf.'

Lupin and Black looked at each other. 'Macnair goes,' Black said, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

Just then the Mark on Severus's arm burned. His left hand clenched, but he gave no other outward indication of the pain. Rising, he gave an entirely superfluous glance at the clock on the wall, announced brusquely, 'I have other business to attend to,' and swept towards the door.

'What? Leaving so soon? Got a hot date or something?' Tonks called.

Moody guffawed loudly and much of the Order seemed to have been struck with a coughing jinx.

Severus's face twisted into a snarl, and he slammed the door shut, causing the hall of portraits to screech and scream once more.

________________________________________________________________________

The moor was dark, deserted, and blanketed by a layer of mist so dense it obscured Severus's feet and limited his vision to an ell's length. With nary a glance to the left or to the right, Severus Snape stalked through the fog. For thirty paces the oppressive mist continued and then it ended abruptly and Severus emerged in a large clearing where a circle of cloaked figures stood, their pale masks glinting in the light of the waxing moon.

In the center stood the Dark Lord with Wormtail cowering at His side.

Severus strode forward and dropped to one knee. 'My Lord.'

The Dark Lord inclined his head in acknowledgement. 'Rise, Severus,' he commanded.

Tearing down the fortifications around his mind, Severus stood and met the Dark Lord's gaze, letting a slew of memories rise to the forefront of his mind.

Immediately images of the past few days flashed through his mind: him hexing Black, McGonagall trying to steer him into less volatile territory during the Order meeting and him sipping his morning coffee with a scowl on his face.

The Dark Lord withdrew, His thin, bloodless lips curled into a smirk. He nodded, and Severus stepped back into the circle.

Contrary to what one might believe, the Dark Lord despised excessive fawning. He had an ego that needed stroking to be sure, but doing so was a tricky business. Excessive flattery struck the Dark Lord as insincere, and the only thing worse than being insincere was being ineffectual.

Though there were other things the Dark Lord despised as well. When Severus had Apparated to the Dark Lord after the Third Task he was nearly killed on sight; it had taken many bouts of the Cruciatus Curse and much Legilimency before the Dark Lord was convinced he had never strayed from the cause. Even then, many of the Death Eaters were rather leery of him, though of course they gave no outward indication of their mistrust.

Severus was among the last to arrive. Judging by the head count this would be a meeting with all of the Death Eaters (excluding those in Azkaban of course) in attendance. In the past there had been many gatherings where only a select few were called. There had also been times where it was just himself and the Dark Lord.

Two more figures entered the clearing, the first a tall, robust wizard who Severus tentatively identified as Walden Macnair, though with the mask it was impossible to be certain, and next to him... Severus sucked in a breath through his teeth, his face becoming pale under his mask.

Fenrir Greyback's yellow eyes swept the circle as he took his place next to Macnair.

'Fortune seems to have decided to favour Lord Voldemort at last. Thanks to Fudge's timely indiscretion we shall have the Ministry far sooner than I anticipated... for why trouble ourselves with breaking through the window when the door is wide open?'

Severus, who had a very good idea where this was going, swore fervently to himself.

'The door is indeed open, open for my trusted servant, Lucius Malfoy to enter the election and become Minister for Magic!'

In an instant, the boon of Cornelius Fudge's imminent departure had been revealed for the curse it really was.

Malfoy inclined his head. 'It is, as always, a honour to serve You, my Lord.'

The Dark Lord continued, 'Another wizard will be announcing his candidature tomorrow evening as well, a Professor Hubert Allgood. He is an old fool and has spent years as Fudge's sycophant, hardly an opponent by any means.'

Severus had always dreaded the day Lucius Malfoy would formally enter the realm of politics. For a man of his wealth and influence whose only occupation was ordering house elves about and bribing Ministry officials it was inevitable, even Lucius had once acknowledged it over a decade ago.

For a brief moment Severus casually considered whether a monkshood or asphodel based poison would work best in preventing Malfoy from being elected Minister, but the idea, for reasons he could not identify, was repugnant, and he pushed it away.

After ordering his followers to assist Lucius in his bid for Minister in any way possible, the Dark Lord then began to take reports from His servants. Severus listened attentively, committing every word to memory. The Dark Lord heard from all of them in turn, then He came to Severus. His eyes darted from side to side, then He hissed, 'Leave us.'

His followers hastened to obey, and the air was filled with the whip-like crack of Dissapparation, leaving only the Dark Lord, Wormtail, and Severus in the clearing.

The Dark Lord drew his wand, conjured a throne-like chair and sat. He gestured to the open area before Him. 'Sit.'

Severus produced a wingback chair and settled into it, while Wormtail hovered by the Dark Lord's side like a craven, slovenly dressed butler.

'Remove your mask.'

Severus did as he was ordered; pushing all from his mind except for the devotion he had felt for the Dark Lord so many years ago and met his Master's gaze evenly. And the interrogation began.