Loathing

"He's got Padfoot!" he shouted. "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!"

Snape had stopped with his hand on Umbridge's door handle.

"Padfoot?" cried Professor Umbridge, looking eagerly from Harry to Snape. "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?"

Snape looked around at Harry. His face was inscrutable. Harry could not tell whether he had understood or not, but he did not dare speak more plainly in front of Umbridge.

"I have no idea," said Snape coldly. "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little. If Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on our reference if you ever apply for a job."

He closed the door behind him with a snap, leaving Harry in a state of worse turmoil than before...

*****

Snape left the office and walked swiftly down the corridors to the dungeon, Potter's words running over and over in his head.

"He's got Padfoot! He's got Padfoot in the place where it's hidden!"

Well, Snape thought to himself as he unlocked the door to his rooms in the dungeons and hurried inside. Padfoot is Black. The old nickname he used at school. "The place where it's hidden"...that'll be the hall of prophecies. As for "he", well, what other he would Potter be talking about? The professor picked up a on his bedside table.

The mirror, though it was merely a small, plain, silver hand mirror, was one that Snape kept on his person at all times. It was the manner which Dumbledore had devised to make it easier for Order members to communicate with one another. They need only to speak the name into the face of the mirror, and the contact's own mirror vibrates to inform them that they were needed.

And so it was that Snape found himself uttering the name of a man he loathed into the mirror: "Sirius Black".

Moments later, as expected, Snape's face was replaced by another man's in the mirror's reflection.

"Snivellus. To what do I owe this...honor?" Sirius's voice echoed softly in the room.

"Are you at home?" Snape replied curtly.

"Yes of course, Snivellus. Where else would I be? As you constantly tend to remind me, I'm not allowed out. Why?"

"I was just in Umbridge's office, and so was Potter."

"What's he done? Is he in trouble?"

"No, he's frolicking with the unicorns by the lake. Yes, he's in trouble, you fool. He thinks you're the Dark Lord's captive in the Department of Mysteries. At least that's what I got out of 'He's got Padfoot in the place where it's hidden'"

Snape chose to interpret Sirius silence to mean he didn't understand.

"'Padfoot' is you, Black. 'He' is the Dark Lord, and 'the place where it's hidden' I assume is the Department of Mysteries. My guess is that he had a vision of you trapped in the Department of Mysteries and took it for truth. So, does the Dark Lord have you in the Ministry of Magic, or is Potter making up lies again?"

"I'm here, Snivellus, but Harry wouldn't make up something like that. Where is he?"

"I don't know, Black. I'm not the boy's body guard. He was in Umbridge's office when I left."

"Well, is he still--" Sirius began, but Snape hushed him with a start, hearing a knock on his door.

"Who is it?" he asked, setting the mirror, Sirius's face still displayed in it, back on his table, glass side down.

"It's Draco, sir," came breathless reply from the other side of the door.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Sir, Potter and Granger went out to the forest with Professor Umbridge about half an hour ago." There was a pause whilst the speaker caught his breath. "The Inquisitorial Squad were left with the rest of the captives. But they overtook us- there were more of them than us- and they ran off toward the forest. Potter said something about a weapon they've got there for Dumbledore."

"And why are you coming to me, Mr. Malfoy? You are disturbing me in my private quarters," Snape flung open the door, his face twisted into an angry look.

"Because, sir, there are students out of bounds. Gryffindor students," Malfoy smirked. "I thought you'd like to deal with them."

"Malfoy, you and your puerile ideas had better get the hell out of my room now. Go back to your own dormitory, or I shall assign you a detention."

"But sir--"

"OUT!"

Malfoy turned on his heel, keeping his back upright until he reached the door to Snape's office, at which point his running footsteps could be heard making their way down the dungeons. Snape turned back to the mirror, picking it up off of the table to find a very irate Sirius glaring back at him.

"I suppose you heard that?" Snape raised an eyebrow, as if Sirius was known for listening in on private conversations.

"Harry and Hermione are in the forest, thinking I'm trapped in Voldemort's clutches in the Ministry. If I know Harry, which I think I do, he'll go after me. Or at least he'll go to the Ministry looking for me. But how will he get there?" Sirius wondered aloud.

"That had better be a rhetorical question, Black, as I'm in no mood to remind you once again that I do not possess the boy's brain, and therefore have no idea as to what could be running through his mind."

"Snape, you've got to go in after them. Find them if you can, tell him I'm safe. We can't have Harry running off on his own, however he manages to travel. You've got to do something, Snape. Go looking for him, go after him. Something."

"I'm not going into the forest to look for your godson, Black," Snape sneered.

"You're the only Order member at Hogwarts, Snape. Which means you've got to go. Unless you want me to apparate to Hogsmeade and go looking for him myself, which I would be only too glad to-"

"No," Snape growled at once, "You're...well, for lack of a better word, you're right. He's too much like his father. He'll play the hero. Look, give me ten minutes. I'll contact Dumbledore and fill him in, see what he suggests. Don't do anything, Black. Just stay where you are for the time being."

"Albus Dumbledore," he said into the mirror.

"Yes, Severus?" Dumbledore's face appeared in the glass.

"Potter had a vision tonight. A vision that the Dark Lord had Black trapped in the Department of Ministries. He's going after him. And he's taking Granger, Longbottom, Lovegood, and both Weasleys with him."

"How long ago did they leave, Severus?" Dumbledore was remarkably calm, although his eyes had grown a stony grey.

"I would say they left the forest a matter of minutes, sir. They left with Dolores Umbridge for the forest about half an hour ago, and it is my belief they ditched her there and ran after Black. I have no idea how they plan to get to the Ministry, but I guarantee that's where they're headed."

"Very well, Severus. Thank you. Please alert anyone who is at Headquarters to go immediately to the Ministry. If Harry has gone there, then no doubt there are Death Eaters waiting to use him to get the prophecy. Tell someone at Headquarters to stay behind, as I will need to be filled in on any new information when I get there. You will stay behind and search the forest for Dolores, as I'm sure she is probably in need of medical assistance. Bring her up to the castle, if that is the case, and let Madam Pomfrey look after her. And now I must go," the mirror went blank.

The mirror went blank once more, and Snape called Sirius's face into it.

"Sirius Black," Snape said into the glass, and Sirius's face appeared immediately.

"What?"

"I just spoke with Dumbledore. He's positive Potter and rest of them are on their way to the Ministry."

"So is Remus. He's here, as are Kingsley, Tonks and Moody."

"Dumbledore's on his way to headquarters. He said for one of you to meet him when he gets there. That'll be you Black. Dumbledore would want you to stay put," Snape said with a cruel twist to his lips. "Shacklebolt, Tonks, Lupin and Moody can go after them. But stay put, Black. Dumbledore's supposed to be there any minute."

"No way in hell am I staying behind while my godson is out there in danger, Snape," Sirius growled at him.

"You'll stay put if you know what's good for you. But whatever happens, I have to leave. Dumbledore gave me direct orders," Snape emphasized the "me" slightly, and smirked into the mirror.

With a slam, Sirius put the mirror on the table from which it had come.

"That bastard! He can't presume to tell me what to do."

Sirius felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Remus looking at him worriedly.

"He's right, Sirius," Remus said quietly. "Sirius, it's logical. We need someone to stay back, and Dumbledore says you aren't supposed to leave the house."

"I don't give a damn what Dumbledore wants! He can't keep me trapped in here like some bloody criminal. I haven't done anything! It isn't my fault the ministry's still being completely ignorant," Sirius pulled his hands through his hair, tilting his head backward as he did so. "He's my godson, Remus. I have to be there for him at least once in my life."

"Fine," Remus sighed. "I know you aren't going to stay put, but you should. It's for your own good, you know."

"How many people are going to tell me that? I'm going, Remus. There's nothing that can stop me. Not even you. So don't waste your energy."

"Your ultimate choice," Remus shrugged resignedly, "but we've got to leave either way. I'll leave a note for Dumbledore then. Or maybe you ought to, as it's your decision."

"I'll do no such thing. He's smart, he'll figure it out. If you want a note written, you write it. I'll go get the others."

Lupin bent over the desk and began scratching out a note to Dumbledore as Sirius walked out of the study and into the kitchen, where Kingsley, Moody and Tonks sat at the table.

"Time to go. Remus is leaving a note for Dumbledore. I'm coming with you. Snape says Harry and them have gone to the Ministry to save me. God that sounds odd. But we've got to get there as soon as possible."

"Excellent," Tonks grinned, "I love a good fight."

"You should stay behind, Black," Moody growled, grabbing his bowler hat from the hat stand.

"So Remus tried to convince me. Didn't work," Sirius replied stubbornly.

"Very well," Moody limped out the door that Kingsley held open.

Kingsley held the kitchen door open for the rest, and they walked out, meeting Lupin in the front hall. The group of five walked out the door, waited for Moody to re-ward the house, and they all apparated away into the night, appearing momentarily in the foyer of the Ministry of Magic itself.

A few hour later, those left of their party walked through the doors to 12 Grimmauld Place. They all looked a bit worse for the wear. Some physically, others psychologically. Kingsley looked tired and bruised. Moody's limp was worse than it had been when they set out. Tonks was unconscious in St. Mungo's. Remus had lost more than an old school friend in the battle. They all walked into the kitchen, sinking into the chairs without a grunt. "Accio firewhisky," Lupin murmured, and took a large drink before setting it down.

Back in the castle, Snape remained in his chambers, waiting for Dumbledore to inform him what had happened. Dumbledore sat patiently at his desk, explaining away fifteen years worth of information to a teenage boy too distraught and upset to comprehend anything for a few days.

When Dumbledore did come down to tell Snape of the night's events, Snape sat and listened unemotionally, nodding occasionally when he saw fit. After the headmaster was through, Snape said simply, "It'll take more than that to get rid of the Dark Lord," before bidding Dumbledore good night.

It wasn't until he was turning down the bed clothes that Severus Snape realised that Sirius Black, his arch nemesis at school, the man he avoided as a grown man, had met his demise that night.

In the darkness of his bed, Snape did something he hadn't done in a long time.

He smiled.

Fin.