Summoned

Chapter 22: Consequences

"Get too near a dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soul-less and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life."

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

July 27, 1995, morning

"Dumbledore, be careful." Lupin was heading out the door, his cloak billowing behind him, his broom in his hand, "I'll see you there."

Albus watched until the werewolf's broom was out of sight, then headed for the Shrieking Shack. Early vestiges of dawn were beginning to lighten the sky, and as he approached the Shack he saw smoke rising from the chimney.

It hadn't been an hour yet since Severus and Minerva had returned. And the pain Dumbledore felt afresh over the Potters' deaths was sharp enough for him to know he was risking a great deal by confronting Severus right now. But he had no choice: he was the only one who would know what had gone wrong with the Weakening Solution he'd given Molly yesterday. And if it had gone wrong with her...

He swept Voldemort from his mind as he landed outside the door to the newly-cleaned and bewitched Shack. He didn't knock, of course: he simply broke through the protective spells and entered the house, going first to the parlor.

The fire was lit and Severus was sitting on the floor in front of it, huddled so tightly under his robes that he seemed much, much smaller than he really was. For a few seconds, Dumbledore saw again the frail-looking, gaunt and sallow-skinned boy who had haunted the dungeons of Hogwarts for so many years.

"Severus," he said quietly. He didn't want to startle the man, and he hadn't come into the room exceptionally quietly. But there was no response to his call. He crossed the room and bent down next to the man. What he saw on his face was no surprise.

"Severus, I'm sorry - I'm so sorry."

He waited, but the man didn't move, didn't acknowledge his presence. Albus put his hand out and touched his shoulder. That produced a reaction: the man took a hard shaking breath, and instantly, his composure dissolved. It was horrible to see: and yet, he owed it to him not to turn away.

Dumbledore sat through the brief deluge, surprised that his Potions master still had so many tears left, and when he finally began to gain control of himself, Albus produced a handkerchief for him, and stepped back.

"Minerva came back to the castle," he said quietly. "We - Remus was there. We saw her."

Severus looked up, the pain on his face etched even more deeply. "Lupin-"

"I told him to say nothing. Ever. - Severus," he said. "I'm afraid I must - something is wrong with Molly Weasley." He waited for his words to penetrate the thick, almost palpable pain Snape was in. When they did, he shook his head.

"What?" It was little more than a groan.

"They don't know. She's - they can't wake her up." He waited and slowly, very slowly, Severus pulled himself from his pain and turned to the Headmaster. "Sirius said she's doing magic in her sleep. Things flying around the room. Scourgify charms in the kitchen... The potion must have..." He didn't finish the sentence.

A look of dawning horror was covering Severus' face. He struggled to his feet, the handkerchief on the floor, his eyes so red and swollen from weeping that he could barely open them. "There can't have been anything wrong with the potion. No one touched it, I made it here! No one went in there but me!" He stopped and shut his eyes and ran a harsh hand over them again.

"We need to go," Dumbledore said.

Severus nodded and shuddered. Then he flicked his wand at the fire and it went out.

* * *

It wasn't possible, he kept telling himself. He was beginning to feel a deep panic building inside him, crawling through his stomach and up his spine to his head. He was miserably tired, too wrung out to feel anything any more, except the awful dread that somehow, something had gone wrong with the potion.

He was praying Molly was simply ill. Or that something in the Black house might have caused this.

The bedroom she and Arthur were sharing at Grimmauld Place was covered in soap bubbles when he and Dumbledore arrived. The bubbles were of various colors, and hovered and popped randomly around the room. It would have been amusing under other circumstances.

Arthur was sitting on the side of the bed, holding Molly's hand, calling to her, trying to wake her up. At the foot of the bed were Black and Lupin, both looking quite useless and stunned.

But to get into the bedroom, Dumbledore and he had to push their way through the cluster of children who were gathered in the doorway. Ginny, Fred, George and Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger - he looked away from her quickly - were there, anxious and murmuring to each other. When they saw Dumbledore, they parted to let him through. When they saw him following, they fell back as if he'd Stunned them.

Good.

"They're not going to let him near her!" he heard Ron object loudly, and Granger responded with a sharp, "Quiet, Ron! Dumbledore knows what he's doing."

He strode to the bed and Arthur stood up to give him space. "Oh, Severus, thank you for coming," he said. His face was pale with worry and he rubbed his eyes, much as Severus had been doing earlier. He looked away from that, too.

"Arthur, really! You're not going to let Snape -"

"Sirius, shut up!" Lupin said.

But Severus had no time for either of them. He took Molly's hand gently in his and looked down at her: her head was tossing on the pillow, but the rest of her body was still. He could see her eyes moving back and forth rapidly beneath her eyelids. There was a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. He felt her head with the back of one hand: it was cool.

"When did this start?" he asked.

"About two hours ago," Arthur said. "I woke up because one of her jars of perfume hit me on the head. I opened my eyes and - well, you see!" he finished, waving his hand around the room. "The kitchen's never been cleaner," he added miserably.

Severus shook his head and put Molly's hand down gently on top of the covers. "I can't understand this. There was nothing in the brew that could possibly cause this reaction. It was under stringent -" And then a sick possibility hit him. The slightly strong odor...

He turned to Lupin. "Did you do anything in the kitchen?" he demanded, his voice cold and his words slow.

"Kitchen?" Black asked. "What kitchen?"

"I - I boiled some water for tea..." And Lupin's voice trailed off as understanding hit. "Oh, hell! Severus, I -"

The fury that rose in him at that moment was seconded only by the horrible panic he felt. "You - fool!"

"What are you talking about?" Black had moved between him and Lupin in a protective gesture, and he had his hand in his pocket on his wand.

Severus saw that and didn't wait. He drew his own and aimed it, and Sirius drew his and then Lupin jumped between them.

"Stop! Both of you!"

"Expelliarmus!" Dumbledore called, and Severus' wand went flying across the room while Lupin lunged and grabbed Black's. Then, before another person moved, Dumbledore strode to the door of the bedroom and shut it and flicked his wand at it. He grabbed Severus' wand from the floor, then he came back and glowered at them all. He returned Severus' wand and Lupin handed Black his.

"Enough of this! Severus, what happened?"

It took him a few moments to control himself, to keep from flinging a violent, nonverbal curse at Black and Lupin, maybe even an Unforgivable one! What Lupin had done certainly ranked up there!

"The added moisture in the room," he finally said, his teeth tight together, "changed the potion." He was glaring at Lupin, now, who was looking quite guilty.

"Severus, I had no idea..."

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of there?"

"Yes, but I -"

"Never mind that now," Dumbledore said, moving to stand between them. "Severus, will she be alright? Is there anything you can do for her?"

Do for her? He could barely think straight right now! Do something?

He had to think. He had to clear his mind. He took several long, deep breaths. "I'll need to return to Hogwarts," he said, wondering how he was even going to find the energy to Disapparate, much less anything else.

And then, something happened: Dumbledore shuddered as if he'd just been hit with a bolt of electricity, and he sank weakly onto the end of the bed.

"Dumbledore!" Severus yelled, grabbing his shoulder anxiously. No, he thought, not Dumbledore, please, not Dumbledore!

"Albus!" Arthur and Black both moved forward to steady him. "What's wrong?"

"Orestes," the Headmaster said, his eyes unfocused, his voice low. "He's just used the portal. Again." He turned to Severus, and the Potions master shook his head.

"He is not supposed to -" And the Mark on his arm began to burn and throb... "No! No, not now! Damn it! Damn it all!"

Everyone in the room, except for Dumbledore, backed away from him, away from the sudden explosion of fury. He turned his eyes on Lupin and saw the werewolf looking at him as if waiting for the curse that would end his miserable life. He saw Black, whose wand was once more aimed in his direction, and he almost wished he'd use it!

"I have - to go." He started for the door and then remembered there was a very young audience waiting out there for news of Molly. He turned to Lupin. "Get rid of them," he said, pointing toward the door. "Now!"

"Severus."

"Now!"

The werewolf opened the door and Severus waited while he shooed the Weasley clan and the Granger girl away. Then, when the coast was clear, he swept out of the room, broom in hand, and left the building.

He didn't have time to get his hooded cloak or his mask. He glanced around himself quickly once he was on the sidewalk, then whirled himself back into the arms of Voldemort.

The building wasn't dark this time. Morning light filtered through the dirty, broken windows. The dust on the floor was still there, and in the middle of that floor was the prone body of Orestes.

Standing over him was the Dark Lord, his snake lying lazily over his shoulders. "My faithful servant is dead, Severus." He aimed his wand, even as Severus dropped to his knees and bowed his head.

"Master, I - how did it happen?"

"Your potion! Your potion killed my servant. Fortunately for you, his work for me was done. At least - the work I'd planned for him."

The wand moved closer and touched his chin. He lifted it upward and Severus looked into the angry eyes above him. "He brought your mind back from the brink of insanity. He brought me word that you were, in fact, loyal to me. And - now he is dead. - At your hand, Severus."

If he'd had the energy to panic, he would have done so already. But after what had already happened in the past few hours, he had nothing left for the Dark Lord to feed upon.

He thought.

"What shall I do, Severus? I don't like my servants killing each other - without my permission." He stepped closer and lowered his face, and Severus smelled the rank, foul decaying breath. "Ah, just hours ago I rewarded you, I praised you to my other followers, I gave you what you have desired for many years. And how have you repaid me? How have you thanked me?"

He knew better than to say a word. There was no defense that would be accepted. There was no excuse that would placate him. Voldemort was right, he was always right, no matter what facts might be at play.

And what could he say, in any case? That Lupin had contaminated the potion while it was brewing? While he, himself, lay unconscious, trying to recover from his own poisoning at the Dark Lord's hands?

"Why did you leave so soon, Severus? Did it not take you very long to fulfill yourself with Professor Minerva?"

"No, Master, I - I was concerned that my position at Hogwarts might be compromised if she - remembered."

"Oh, Severus, that is not the truth!"

Instantly, the Cruciatus took him and he gasped and bent over and found himself in the midst of a fire that seared his nerves and scorched his bones...

And then it was over. He gasped and struggled to kneel upright again.

"You did not pleasure yourself with her, Severus? Why not? The truth! The truth!"

"I - could not, Master. Your gift was - generous, but - I could see only Professor McGonagall and - I have no desire for her."

The Dark Lord stared into his eyes, his wand once more beneath Severus' chin, lifting it back. "You speak the truth," he said, his mind boring into Severus', finding painful memories, playing with them, pulling them forward...

He gasped and instinctively tried to pull back, but the Dark Lord reached out and wrapped his bony hand around his head and pulled it forward, closer to him. "You are fortunate, Severus, very fortunate. You see, Lucius is making great progress within the Ministry of Magic. And I have you at Hogwarts to spy for me on Dumbledore and the Order. If you were not so valuable to me, Severus, you would not live much longer.

"But you were always my favorite," he whispered, leaning his face so close that the sickening dampness on his lips brushed Severus' cheek. "We are so much alike, my beloved servant, so very much alike." And then his tongue flicked out and licked Severus' lips and he struggled not to gag.

"The Potter boy is very much like us, too, is he not?"

He couldn't think of an answer to that question.

"Now, then," the Dark Lord said, not waiting for a response, standing back up again, his eyes glowing darkly. "Why did your potion kill Orestes?"

"Master, he was very old. It is possible it - that it was too strong for his system to bear."

"Perhaps. - I don't think so, Severus. No, I think something went wrong with the potion. Something -" And instead of speaking the next word, he pierced Severus' thoughts and saw the image of Lupin, standing in the Weasleys' bedroom, looking at him with despair...

"The werewolf," the Dark Lord ordered. "Tell me about him!"

"Master, he is - a member of the Order. He was one of Fenrir's wolflings. They are - I overheard him talking. They are going to send him to a pack of wolves that will be meeting - tonight or tomorrow, I'm not sure which. They want him to try to turn them from following you."

Voldemort listened and said nothing. He lifted his wand and used it to push a lock of hair back from Severus' face. "And were you not going to tell me this on your own?" he asked dangerously.

"I was, Master, but - only after you had finished - punishing me."

The Dark Lord was silent for a few seconds. "As you deserve." Then he whirled and crossed the room and waved his wand. And as he knelt on the floor, Severus began to feel the temperature drop, felt the horrible cold of something sickeningly familiar.

"That is valuable information, Severus. Very good. I shall talk with Fenrir. I shall send him to find that - Lupin? - and deal with him. But - I must still punish you. Your potion killed my Healer. I cannot replace him, can I? And though he was old, you and I both know age is not what killed him. Don't we?"

"Master, I do not know - I can only guess that - I left the potion unattended, of necessity. It must have become - contaminated somehow."

"Somehow."

And then there was a swooping sound in the room and two dark, shrouded shapes converged on him.

"My dementors," the Dark Lord said, "my Dark Servants have come to punish you, Severus. Oh, you will live, you will remember everything, and you will return to Hogwarts so that you can continue to spy for me. But I can't let you go without punishing you, can I?

"You see how valuable my servant Lucius is? He has brought me dementors for my own use, dementors who will soon be finding their work in places other than Azkaban. Oh, yes, Severus, a new day is dawning for these servants of mine.

"This morning, however, until the sun reaches its zenith, they will feast on you. They are very hungry."

And before he could breathe, he felt them in his mind, sucking at his thoughts, and he screamed...

* * * July 27, 1995, late afternoon

The question was whether to call Madam Pomfrey to Molly's bedside or not. Dumbledore was not in favor of that option: she wasn't a member of the Order, and he was loathe to involve her in anything that could endanger her later.

"Dumbledore, I might be able to find an antidote," Remus volunteered. "If I can go back to the school, I can look through Severus' books."

Dumbledore wasn't much happier with that choice, but he reluctantly agreed. Remus and Alastor both went, in the end, since they were both more familiar with the types of potions Severus would have been brewing than anyone else.

In the meantime, he tried giving her a bezoar that Sirius produced ("found a whole stash of them in the main bathroom upstairs"), but while that seemed to quiet her a bit, the frenetic cleaning around the house continued.

The children - and young adults, Dumbledore reminded himself - were told only that Molly might have picked up an infection from something in the house. To add credibility to his lie, he suggested that they all used facemasks and gloves from now on.

"No telling what my mother's been accumulating in here," Sirius added helpfully. "Or Kreacher!"

Hermione had several choice remarks to make at that comment and, fortunately, the conversation outside the bedroom continued without further questions.

Inside the room, Arthur kept a bedside vigil. Albus returned to the castle, both because he could do nothing useful at the house and because he wanted to be there when Severus returned.

He went down to the dungeons and found Remus poring over two books he'd pulled from the Potions master's shelves. Alastor was scrounging around in Severus' personal stores cabinet, and Albus had a distinct feeling he was acting from his own eccentric caution, rather than from an effort to help Molly.

"Find anything useful, Remus?"

The werewolf looked up from the books. "I might have. I've got what looks like the recipe he used for that potion. I wish I had more of it on hand, though, so I could be sure."

"None in here," Alastor growled. He pulled out four bottles, though, and placed them all on the desk, pushing aside a stack of student papers to make room for them.

"What's that, Alastor?"

"Don't know, yet. Don't recognize these, though. Could be potions he shouldn't have around here."

Dumbledore shot a quick glance at Remus. "Alastor, there's nothing in there that he shouldn't have," Remus said. "I guarantee it."

"How could you guarantee that, huh? Never can be too sure. Constant Vigilance!"

"Alastor," Dumbledore said more sternly, "this is not meant to be an opportunity for you to search through Severus' things. Please, if those aren't part of what will help Molly, put them back."

Alastor opened one of the bottles and took a sniff. Then he closed it up and gave Albus an unhappy look. "You're too trusting, Albus. Too trusting!"

"When I have been wrong about Severus?" he asked sharply.

"Oh, now don't even bring that up! He's as guilty as Avery and Mulciber and all the rest of 'em, you know damn well he is! He's just had you wrapped around his finger since he was -"

"Alastor!"

The former Auror stopped and glanced at Remus, whose attention had been riveted on the conversation, and who quickly looked away. Moody made a growling noise and put the bottles back into Severus' cabinet.

"I think," Remus said, holding out one of the books so that Alastor and Dumbledore could look at what he was reading, "that it might be as simple as some Dreamless Sleep. See, here..."

He went into a detailed explanation of the ingredients used to stabilize the Weakening Solution Severus had made, and the counter-effects of the Dreamless Sleep ingredients.

"What are the chances that if we don't treat her, it'll just wear off?" Albus asked. He was reluctant to act on what Remus could only guess at. He'd been hoping he would find something that left no question as to its effectiveness.

"I don't know. In theory, it should wear off. But - well, here's where you need the expert, Dumbledore, and I'm not it. I'm sorry."

He leveled an unhappy look on him: he had a lot more than this to be sorry about, the Headmaster thought. But this wasn't the time to bring that up.

They decided to try the Dreamless Sleep, and Remus and Alastor returned to Grimmauld Place with the potion.

Albus went to talk with Minerva.

* * *

She let him in without turning from the window. From the doorway, Dumbledore could see that she was still in the form of Lily Potter: she was about an inch shorter, her hair was long and red and flowed just below her shoulders. And the only thing that reminded him that his eyes were lying was the fact that Minerva was still wearing her green tartan cloak.

"Albus," she greeted softly, her voice just as Dumbledore remembered Lily's.

"How are you feeling, Minerva?"

She shrugged. Then, with a long breath, she turned to face him. "This had to have been hell for him."

He found himself suddenly, and again, suffering from a surge of grief just looking at the woman. Lily had never been a student of his, he'd had almost no dealings with her during her days at Hogwarts. She was as close to a model student as the school had ever produced. But the sight of her brought back the horror of those days of terror, Voldemort growing in strength, betrayal where he'd expected loyalty - and loyalty from the most unexpected place of all.

"We've had a bit of a problem," he said. Lily's young, green eyes waited for him to continue. But he couldn't: nothing else that had happened since she and Severus returned seemed to matter at the moment.

"Minerva, what happened?" He surrendered and moved closer to her, his eyes trying to see through the false image to the woman he knew was suffering within. "Did - I don't even know what to ask. Did he - Are you -"

She tried to smile, but then tears gathered in her eyes and she turned away quickly, wiping her face with her fingers. "He - got us out of there - as quickly as he could. - Have you talked with him?"

He shook his head. "Things have - happened."

The look on Lily Potter's face was one he could have done without. He looked away. "The Weakening Solution seems to have backfired on Molly. And - Orestes used the portal again. And Severus has returned to Voldemort. He was Summoned back."

The already pale, Irish skin of Lily Evans Potter turned even paler, and Minerva sank backward into a chair. "Oh, Albus." She cradled her head in her hands for a moment, then looked at him, trying to control herself.

He told her briefly about Molly: about what Severus suspected had happened to the potion; about Alastor and Remus trying to find an antidote.

"And Severus?"

He shook his head and glanced at the hourglass on the desk behind Minerva. It was nearly noon.

For a few minutes, they just sat there. He could sense Minerva's personality through the vision before him: he could sense her strength, her bravery. Her age and wisdom, and her compassion. What he couldn't sense was how badly she'd been hurt by this. And he had no idea how to ask her the questions that leapt, quite logically, to mind.

Finally, she stood back up and summoned up some hot chocolate for each of them. He took his gratefully, and after she'd drunk about a third of her cup, she put it down and said, very softly, "He kissed me - her. It wasn't me, it was her."

Albus looked at the cup in his lap and nodded.

"And he held me for a few minutes," she whispered. Her voice was so soft he had to strain to hear it. "Nothing else. Nothing more. Given what - Voldemort expected him to do..." She looked up and he met Lily's eyes. "I didn't mind."

He smiled. "That will mean a lot to him." He finished his chocolate. "Do you have any idea how long this will last? Did - did Severus say anything..?"

She shook her head. "It's strange," she said. "I don't feel any different. I even sound like myself to myself. But I think I should - just stay here until - I'm myself again."

He agreed. "I'm going to go see if Severus has returned," he said, looking once again at the hourglass. Another half hour had passed. He was beginning to fear that he wouldn't see his Potions master for another two days: that this - error - might have cost him more dearly than he wanted to imagine.

Severus' dungeon office was locked, and there was no response to his knocking. He unlocked the door, just to check, and found the room empty.

He went back to his office and was preparing to use the Floo network to ask after Molly when there was a knock on his half-opened door and Severus stepped in.

"Headmaster." His voice was low and gruff, as if he were forcing words out into the room.

"Severus. What happened? Are you alright?"

He stared at Dumbledore and all he could see was dark emptiness in Severus' eyes. As if he'd had his soul sucked out of him. "Severus?"

The man looked at him with no expression. "Will you please call a meeting of the Order? I have timely information they should have."

He took a step closer and tried to read something from the eyes that stared hollowly at him: there was nothing there. Nothing!

He nodded. "I'll do that. How soon are you - when do you want-"

"Shacklebolt and Tonks should be there. Everyone should. - Except McGonagall. Nothing concerns her - directly." There was very slightest inflection at the end of that sentence; but aside from that, Severus might have been rattling off a list of potion ingredients from the amount of emotion in his words.

"What happened? Is Orestes coming back?"

"No. - I would prefer - to go through this only once, Headmaster. I will answer all your questions - at the meeting."

"Six, then? To give Tonks and Kingsley time to get there?" Albus asked. He had just remembered the last time he'd seen Severus this empty, this vacant: it was the day he'd stood trial for being a Death Eater.

The Potions master nodded once and then turned. "I will meet you there," he said, his voice utterly flat.

After he left, Dumbledore realized how odd it was that he hadn't asked after Molly: as if he'd forgotten about her entirely.

* * * July 27, 1995, evening

Dumbledore disagreed with Severus about having Minerva at the meeting. But, for all their sakes, she agreed to keep the hood of her traveling cloak up and Albus agreed that they would try to keep her from having to say anything.

Kingsley and Tonks were already in the meeting room when he and Minerva arrived. Arthur was just coming down from the bedroom and he smiled at Dumbledore as he met him in the hallway.

"Molly's awake, she says she's feeling fine," he said. "That Dreamless Sleep seems to have worked. We're lucky Remus was able to figure that out for us."

"Remus has always been pretty decent at potions. Well," Albus said, glancing into the kitchen, "at least some extra cleaning got done."

Arthur laughed with the kind of nervous laughter that told Albus he was still an inch from crying with fear for his wife. He put a hand on Arthur's shoulder, and headed for the meeting room.

"Minerva?" Tonks asked as the hooded and cloaked professor entered the room. "Is that you? Are you alright?" Tonks came around the table - she'd been in deep conversation with Remus - and tried to peer under the hood.

"Tonks," Albus said, moving a step closer and allowing Minerva a chance to back away, "have a seat, won't you?"

"What's happened to Minerva?" she asked, just loudly enough for everyone who hadn't yet noticed the woman to turn. But Remus touched her arm and shook his head and they took their seats.

"Oh, no!" Sirius gasped. "Professor McGonagall -" The sight of the raised hood had to have made him remember Severus' use of the same disguise just a few days ago.

"She's alright, everyone, she's quite alright!" Dumbledore said, waving his hands to reassure them.

It was then that Severus walked into the room and as he glanced around and saw Minerva, he turned a deathly shade of white.

"Severus," Dumbledore said quietly. He didn't want to argue with him about Minerva being here: apparently, neither did Snape. He turned away and went to his usual seat.

"Everyone, we're ready to start," Arthur called. Moody came limping in from the kitchen, half a ginger snap in his hand, the other half apparently in his mouth. He took a moment to glare at Severus across the table, then turned and saw McGonagall for the first time.

"Merlin's ghost!" he exclaimed, and Albus remembered that his magical eye could see right through the hood. "Minerva? What in the name of -"

"Alastor," he said quickly, grabbing the man's arm. When the former Auror turned to him, his mouth half-opened, Dumbledore shook his head warningly. Moody took his seat and closed his mouth.

"Alright, everyone, let's get this going, shall we?" Arthur summoned his quill and the parchment, and the rules of order took over for the next several minutes. Finally, he turned the meeting over to Dumbledore.

"Professor?" he said. "We're all ears."

"Ah, yes," Albus said, recalling suddenly something he'd noticed in the hall. "Speaking of which, I think, Arthur, that our junior league may be trying to listen in tonight. Have we set a charm on the door?"

Arthur took care of that, and then Dumbledore said, "Excellent, thank you. I called this meeting because a great deal has happened in a very short time, and not everyone is aware of all that needs to be told."

"For example," Sirius cut in, "by my count, Snape has had two meetings with You-Know-Who since our last meeting here. I'd like to know how they've gone."

"Sirius -" Albus started, but he was cut off.

"Predictably unpleasant, Black," Severus said, his voice slow and modulated into a monotone. "If you would like to stay after the meeting, though, I will be happy to give you details that should satisfy even your sadistic lusts."

It was on the edge of Albus' tongue to call him on that, but he couldn't: knowing what he did, he had to remind himself it was a wonder the man wasn't back in the hospital wing in a Body-Bind!

"Severus," he said, rather more gently, "would you like to start?"

He continued to hold Sirius' furious glare for another minute, then turned and looked at Dumbledore. "I have information about the Dark Lord's work which I received during this last - visit," he started.

"Just a moment, Professor," Kingsley said, leaning forward on the table. "This last visit? Arthur told us about you and Professor McGonagall going to - to see him. To test the Weakening Solution. What happened with that? I assume, Professor, that - something happened during that meeting and that's why you're wearing your hood?"

Tonks and Kingsley were both still trying to see beneath Minerva's cowl: she, for her part, had lowered her head, and was probably only looking at the table.

"Voldemort changed his plans," Dumbledore explained, trying to save Severus from as much of this as he could. "He gave Minerva a transmogrification potion instead."

Tonks and Sirius both gasped. Arthur swore quietly, under his breath. Moody, of course, having seen her, had no further reaction. And Remus simply sat back and waited, his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze flicking back and forth between Severus and Albus.

"Why?" Tonks asked. Her own hair turned a shade of purple, but Albus didn't know her well enough to know what that meant.

"It doesn't really matter," he started, but he was cut off again.

"I think it does." Alastor gave Minerva a piercing look, which she may or may not have seen. "There's got to be a reason he decided to have you look like - that," he finished.

There was silence around the table for a few seconds, then Sirius jumped back in. "Come on, Professor! What's You-Know-Who up to? He had you look like someone else. Why? Someone we know? Someone from Snape's Dark past, maybe?"

She shook her head and Sirius flapped his hands impatiently. "Isn't she even allowed to talk?"

"Transmogrification potions change the person's voice as well, Sirius," Albus reminded him. "She's been altered to look like someone some of us know. It isn't important -"

"Oh, come off it, Albus! Minerva, would you please take off your hood?"

She shook her head.

"The Dark Lord," Severus finally said, "thought he was transforming her into someone I would find appealing, thanks to several false memories and misinformation I gave him. He was mistaken. If Professor McGonagall is not comfortable removing her cloak, it is both cruel and vulgar of you to insist she do so."

If he'd Stunned them, Albus thought, he couldn't have created a more silent room. Seconds later, having glared at everyone else around the table, he turned back to Dumbledore.

"The Dark Lord decided to test the Weakening Solution on Orestes," he told them. "Professor McGonagall and I ..." He stopped. He simply stopped in the middle of his sentence and it was obvious to everyone that he simply couldn't say anything. He struggled for a moment, his lips moving, his sudden paralysis so painful to watch that even Sirius said nothing.

It was the first real confirmation for Dumbledore of what must have happened in his latest meeting with Voldemort: he could see the same signs he'd shown when he'd returned back after his two days of torture.

"After they returned," Albus launched, realizing that his Potions master wasn't going to be able to continue yet, "Arthur contacted me and told me that Molly was having a reaction to the potion."

"Which, if I recall, we were absolutely assured would not happen," Black said. "Weren't we?"

Lupin sighed. "Sirius, it was my fault! I boiled water in the kitchen -"

"Oh, right, the kitchen!" Sirius turned once more to his friend. "What was that all that about?"

"What kitchen?" Kingsley asked.

Albus sighed and took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. They had not told the rest of the Order about Severus' "recuperation" in the Shrieking Shack. Remus' absence from Grimmauld Place had originally been to help him set the alarm on the portal. Now the story of Severus' necessary remedy was going to have to be gone through, and he didn't think Kingsley or Tonks or Arthur - or Sirius - would be any happier for knowing how badly off Severus had been.

But for all the deadness in both his eyes and voice, Severus seemed to be once more in control of his ability to talk. "After the discussion about it at a previous meeting," Snape began, "I took a place in Hogsmeade where I will prepare any - potions that the Dark Lord requires of me. There is a small kitchen there."

"Severus told me to stay out, but I boiled some water for tea," Remus said. "I guess the moisture-"

"What were you doing there, Remus?" It was, surprisingly, Tonks who asked that question. The werewolf stopped abruptly and looked first at Severus, then at Albus.

"I -"

Severus sighed. "He was watching over me while I tried to recuperate from the Blood-Letting Potion I'd taken."

There were several long seconds of silence. A few glances were exchanged, and then Arthur said, "Watching over you? Just how bad was this?"

"I am fully recovered," Severus answered. There was nothing like truth in his voice, Albus thought, but no one at the table pressed him any further.

"In any case," the Headmaster continued impatiently, "Remus gave Molly some Dreamless Sleep which seems to have helped." Arthur nodded. "And Severus is here to give us information from Voldemort."

"Orestes is dead." He looked at Albus. "Apparently, the same hyperactivity that the potion caused in Molly happened with Orestes. He was dead when I arrived."

"Ach! Good ol' Voldy can't have been too happy with that," Alastor muttered. "Take you back out to the woodshed, did he?"

"Yes. He most certainly - did." He gave Alastor only the briefest of glances, then turned to Remus. "He caught a glimpse of you in one of my memories," he said. "I told him you would be meeting with a pack of werewolves either tonight or tomorrow night to try to persuade them to work with us. Or at least, to not work with the Dark Lord."

"But - I'm not."

"Of course it is not! I made it up to please him. Is the concept of espionage completely foreign to everyone at this table!" he asked impatiently.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"You should be aware," Severus continued, his comments directed at Remus, "that any excursions in the next two days could be dangerous. He plans to have Fenrir prowling around looking for you. I would like to suggest that - extra caution be taken. You will want to be sure you are nowhere that he can find you."

Remus nodded. "Well, I'm perfectly safe here." Tonks gave him a worried look which he returned with a smile and a wink.

Severus, though, looked just a bit disappointed, Albus thought.

"He also told me that Lucius Malfoy has been making great inroads in the Ministry."

Kingsley nodded. "I've seen him there a lot recently. He's got Fudge in his pocket, I'd be willing to bet anything on that."

"He has more than Fudge. - He has the dementors."

There were hushed sounds of surprise around the table. Then Albus asked, "Are you sure? Could he have just been boasting?"

Severus shook his head. "I spent the morning with two of them."