Knight of Pentacles, Queen of Wands

Ch. 14 Temperance

"Tojours pur, brother. Let's get you home to Grimmauld, eh?"

"Go to hell, Reg."

Black didn't look good, not that Severus cared. Neither did he care that Regulus looked absolutely dejected at his brother's attitude toward him.

"But, Sirius, you need medical attention! And Mother, she'll be so happy that you're back. She doesn't ever mention it, but I know she's missed you terribly, and Father, well, he'll be pleased, I'm sure. It's not been the same..."

Severus sneered. This was becoming pathetic. He needed to leave. Sneaking out seemed like the best option. Besides Lucius and Narcissa, the three of them were the only ones left at Malfoy Manor. He felt like he was wasting his time watching Regulus trying to perform badly cast healing charms at his ungrateful brother. He really needed to see if Lily had managed to find anything useful.

"You're going to see her, aren't you?"

Severus barely kept himself from flinching. He had almost made his escape before Black's raspy voice stopped him.

"You're going to take me with you. Have to make sure you keep up your part of the bargain."

Severus couldn't fault him on his logic. However, it was more than disconcerting that he was starting to perhaps agree with Black that he should stay away from Lily. Tainting her with his presence and interest would do her no good, especially after what he'd been forced to do that night. He could barely acknowledge it himself. He was a murderer in truth. Yet, landing her with Black as the go-between wouldn't do at all. He'd have to settle for keeping Lily at a distance.

Severus reluctantly Apparated them both to Lily's house and dumped Sirius on the front stoop. What was it to him that Sirius Black couldn't stand on his own? Severus meant to touch him as little as possible.

"Severus!"

It was a rather horrified Lily Evans that opened the door.

"Is that Sirius?"

She rushed over and bent over to check the mangy mongrel.

"What happened?"

She looked at him with her lovely green eyes and Severus swore to himself that he had to keep her as safe as possible. Black couldn't know that she knew anything. He moved his gaze from hers straight into the eyes of a surprisingly conscious Sirius Black and lied.

"I've no idea. I was walking by and found him on your front lawn."

It was entirely plausible, however improbable. Black didn't naysay him, though he looked even more disgusted. He likely thought Severus only wanted Lily to see him in a good light- and that was the truth- but some things were more important than making good impressions. He was a lost cause on that anyway.

At her pursed lips Severus knew Lily wasn't buying his admittedly lame explanation. However, she said nothing about it either.

"They did a number on you, Sirius. I'm just glad you're still alive."

"Snape. Don't you need to be leaving?" Sirius rasped out.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Sirius. Since he's here, I'll need his help getting you inside."

Severus curled his lip in derision but helped Lily all the same. Black was soon secured into the spare bedroom and Severus had no intention of leaving him alone with Lily.

"Perhaps you should just Floo St. Mungo's to come and get him?" he asked tentatively.

"No," Black rasped out.

"Well, it's a perfectly reasonable suggestion, Sirius Black! It isn't as if I'm a Healer."

"Potter then? I thought the both of you were bosom companions."

Lily winced dramatically and bit her lip.

"Ah, I'm afraid there will be no James Potter appearances here anytime soon."

She looked to Severus slyly. What she lacked in subtlety, Lily certainly made up with sheer force of will. It was so very Gryffindor and it almost warmed Severus' heart to see it.

"There was an incident here last night. Nasty business with the Ministry. He was called in for questioning and he made it clear he was none too happy with the situation or me."

"Typical Potter, then," Severus responded dryly. "He causes others no end of trouble."

"Nasty business, she says! Death Eaters had you hostage, Lily!" Sirius shouted loudly.

Severus managed to look appropriately shocked and it was enough to set Sirius off on him too.

"Speaking of no end of trouble, that's all you've been to Lily since you showed up again, Snape! I'm sure you have greasy things on your agenda to slither off to, so don't let us keep you!"

Their hatred was palpable, and Severus wasn't about to let Black order him around. It was pure spite and malice that caused Severus to escalate their row to a whole new level.

"It seems to me that if you were abducted by Death Eaters, you wouldn't be left alive unless you had chosen to join them," Severus hissed in a low voice.

"Fuck you, Snape!"

Black looked unhinged and it caused Severus enough grim satisfaction to smirk.

"Hit a little too close to the truth, eh?"

Lily gasped.

"Severus, really! Why don't you go to my room and see if you can find a few potions that might help, all right?"

As Severus walked into Lily's bedroom, he couldn't help but thinking that things were spiraling out of control again. His other life seemed so distant and hazy as if he'd dreamt the entire debacle. It had hardly been pleasant, but one thing he knew was that Lily Evans couldn't be allowed to die so young, especially if he could stop it. He had barely managed to find her potions stores, when she joined him.

"What happened?"

Her voice was hard. Severus didn't look at her, opting instead to let his hair cover his eyes while he pretended to keep looking for the right potion.

"He's alive, isn't he?"

"Is that an admission that you forced him into being a Death Eater?"

"I did what I had to do, Lily. Otherwise, we'd both be dead."

His voice was apathetic. Severus felt dead inside.

"I killed a man last night."

There, it was out. She'd continue hating him and she'd be safe.

"You what?" Lily whispered in a horrified tone.

Severus gave a hollow laugh.

"Karkaroff- on the Dark Lord's orders. The worst part is, I'm not really sorry that he's gone."

"But, if the Dark Lord made you..."

Severus ignored her and kept talking.

"Black is right. I shouldn't be here around you. It was part of our deal anyway, and I'll find a way to get the information we need without your help."

"Deal? What deal?"

It was then Severus chanced a look through his fringe into Lily's eyes, which were glinting with anger. Even angry, especially angry, she looked incredibly lovely. Her jaw had a stubborn set to it and Severus almost smiled to see her so lively. He held her gaze.

"The deal where he agreed to be a Death Eater in exchange for me leaving you alone. It was the only way, Lily. You need to be kept safe and away from all of this."

"So, the both of you decided these things for me without consulting me, did you?"

He had never heard her sound so peeved.

"It wasn't like that."

"No."

"Lily..."

"I said, no! My entire life has been turned upside down in twenty-four hours and I'm not about to let you lot make my decisions for me. I said I would help, Severus Snape, and that's what I'll do. My judgment may be monumentally bad, but I'm trusting you on this. I want to help you get rid of the Dark Lord and neither you nor Sirius Black are going to stop me! You owe me, remember?"

Lily put a hand on his arm and pulled his sleeve until his face was next to hers. She sneered at him.

"No man will dictate my life from here on out. Are we clear, Severus?" she whispered menacingly.

Severus swallowed hard. He closed his eyes under the intensity of her righteous anger before daring to answer her.

"Crystal."

"Excellent," Lily responded sweetly. "Glad we cleared that up."

She leaned away and let go of his sleeve. Severus found himself missing the contact and silently cursing himself for his weakness. Lily smoothed the material where she had wrinkled it and patted his arm.

"I did some snooping. You'd be proud, Sev. It's absolutely amazing what one can discover in someone else's unattended Pensieve when they have also nicked a particularly handy heirloom item from their ex-fiancé, but I shan't bore you with the details. There's this ring that Dumbledore has been looking for. It belonged to a family by the name of Gaunt..."

Thus began Lily's tale of particularly useful information and the niggling suspicion that Gryffindor's Sword had everything to do with how to get rid of Horcruxes. However, they didn't get far before the doorbell rang.

It was such a Muggle thing that neither thought much of it and Lily had bounded down the stairs to open the door before Severus could even think to stop her. He was the suspicious Death Eater and should have been thinking rather than allowing himself to be distracted by a fiery, petite red-head.

It was at the words, "Oh, hello, Headmaster Dumbledore. What brings you here?" that Severus realized his mistake. It was upon hearing Sirius Black's insane laughter from the spare room that Severus realized his even bigger mistake; leaving a Sirius Black with a vendetta unsupervised.

Simultaneously hearing Lily escorting Dumbledore inside and Black saying, "You didn't keep your end of the deal, so I don't have to keep mine!" was enough to make Severus wish for Azkaban.

It was the cowardly thing to do, but he Disapparated. No matter what, Severus Snape was bound and determined to not let Albus Dumbledore get the chance to even wish him a pleasant afternoon.