A Tangled Web (Post-DH)

Author's Note:

This chapter is primarily a scene from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Ch. 2, "Spinner's End", retold from Severus Snape's point of view. The dialogue is therefore almost entirely Rowling's.

Chapter 11: Spinner's End

Severus sat in his armchair, his feet up on the rickety table in front of him. He was leafing through a book he had taken off one of the shelves that completely covered the walls of his tiny sitting room. The dim light cast by the candles in the lamp above was giving him a headache. Worse, he itched to make some notations about ideas he had for extending Dumbledore's life, but it was simply not a thing he could leave lying about the house, even under magical concealment. The little rat might sniff it out, and gain insight into the true nature of Dumbledore's injury. Not that he was making any progress, on that front, or on the little problem of Draco Malfoy. Perhaps he could at least solve the problem of his eyestrain, he thought, rising to get more candles from the kitchen.

There was a knock on the door. Severus listened for a moment. Sure enough, he heard a creak in the floor above him, doubtless caused by Wormtail on his way to investigate. After putting the book back in its proper spot, Severus drew his wand and approached the door to his house. Opening it just a crack, he saw two cloaked and hooded figures standing on his doorstep. For a split second, he debated his options; then the figure in front threw back its hood, revealing the pale face and long blond hair of Narcissa Malfoy. Tucking the wand back out of sight, he opened the door wider.

"Narcissa! What a pleasant surprise!" he exclaimed, quite sincerely. It seemed the puzzle of how best to approach her had just solved itself.

"Severus," she said quietly, her voice tense, "May I speak to you? It's urgent."

"But of course," he replied smoothly, stepping out of the way so that she and her companion might enter.

The latter greeted him with a terse, "Snape."

"Bellatrix," he responded. The voice and attitude were unmistakable. Doubtless, she was there to impress upon Narcissa the inadvisability of associating with so unreliable and unworthy a personage as himself. The thought brought a mocking smile to his face.

With a gesture, he invited his unexpected guests to take a seat on the threadbare sofa. Unexpected they certainly were, yet there could be little doubt Narcissa's reason for coming involved Draco's assignment. Their relations were not such that he might expect a casual visit from her. If he were going to set Bellatrix's doubts to rest and assure his continued good standing with the Malfoys, he would have to start now.

"So, what can I do for you?" Severus asked, settling himself in the armchair across from the sofa on which Narcissa was sitting.

Her hands betrayed her agitation. She held them clasped in her lap in a vain attempt to hide the tremors that shook them. Bellatrix had not accepted his invitation to sit down; she stood behind her sister and glared down at him.

"We ... we are alone, aren't we?" Narcissa asked nervously.

It would be best to disabuse her of that notion, Severus thought.

"Yes, of course. Well, Wormtail's here, but we're not counting vermin, are we?" he replied.

With his wand, he opened the door to the stairs. No surprise there - while Severus had invited his guests to step inside, Wormtail had made his way down to the foot of the stairs to listen to the conversation.

"As you have clearly realized, we have guests," Severus said to him.

Wormtail crept in and attempted to ingratiate himself with the company. Severus sent him back to the kitchen to fetch wine. It was the one perquisite of an otherwise abysmal living arrangement, so Severus was exploiting it to the fullest. He knew, and Peter knew that he knew, that Peter's primary assignment was to report on him to the Dark Lord. Nevertheless, as the Dark Lord had assigned Wormtail to assist him, Severus insisted he do so.

Once Wormtail had brought the wine, Severus dismissed him, before rising to fill glasses for his guests. Narcissa murmured her thanks. To his amusement, Bellatrix continued to glower, though she did accept the glass he offered her.

Severus raised his own glass.

"The Dark Lord," he said, and drained it to the bottom.

The sisters followed his example. Given the toast he had proposed, they could hardly do otherwise.

Once he refilled their glasses, Narcissa returned to the subject.

"Severus, I'm sorry to come here like this, but I had to see you. I think you are the only one who can help me-"

Severus interrupted her with a gesture and cast a spell, expecting it to find Wormtail with his ear pressed to the door again. With a squeal, Wormtail retreated rapidly up the stairs.

"My apologies," said Severus. "He has lately taken to listening at doors; I don't know what he means by it.... You were saying, Narcissa?"

There, that ought to make clear to her she could not expect what she said to escape the Dark Lord's notice. It seemed the message was received, for she took a long shuddering breath to steady her nerve before starting again.

"Severus, I know I ought not to be here, I have been told to say nothing to anyone, but-"

"Then you ought to hold your tongue!" Bellatrix interrupted, her face contorted into a snarl. "Particularly in present company!"

Severus was well aware of Bellatrix's oft-stated views on him. In her eyes, he was the least trustworthy of the non-Azkaban Death Eaters. The Dark Lord had not chosen, apparently, to communicate the explanation he had accepted of Severus's actions in the long years of his absence, an omission that galled Severus, for it limited his access to other Death Eaters and the information he might glean from them. As this was hardly an objection he could make to the Dark Lord, it remained a problem, which Draco's assignment made more urgent. Bellatrix's visit provided an opportunity of sorts, and her statement was as good an opening as any for the discussion he wanted to have.

"'Present company'?" he repeated in a mocking tone. "And what am I to understand by that, Bellatrix?"

"That I don't trust you, Snape, as you very well know!" she answered heatedly.

Narcissa sobbed and covered her face with her hands. Severus set down his glass and sat back with a relaxed air. He smiled up at Bellatrix, before taking a moment to reassure Narcissa that she would have her chance to speak her piece.

"Narcissa, I think we ought to hear what Bellatrix is bursting to say; it will save tedious interruptions. Well, continue, Bellatrix," he added to her. "Why is it that you do not trust me?"

"A hundred reasons!" she declared loudly, striding out from behind the sofa and slamming her glass down onto the table.

As Bellatrix launched into an impassioned listing of a long series of questions, Severus listened calmly. When she paused for breath, her color was high and her chest was rising and falling rapidly. The wine, together with his calm and amusement, were having precisely the intended effect. Severus smiled, making sure she saw it. It would only serve to irritate her further; just what he wanted. After pointing out the obvious, that he must have satisfied the Dark Lord on all of the points she mentioned, he embarked on those same explanations. It was much easier, this time around.

As he spoke, Severus glanced over and saw that Narcissa had recovered her composure somewhat, and now appeared to be following the discussion. This was all to the good. It was fortunate that he was addressing Bellatrix's suspicions in front of Narcissa: she was also hearing the explanation, which would make it harder for Bellatrix to twist his words and influence Narcissa against him once they left. He wrapped up the explanation of his actions during the Dark Lord's absence by explaining that his late return to the graveyard had protected his cover as a spy.

"But what use have you been?" Bella asked with a sneer. "What useful information have we had from you?"

"My information has been conveyed directly to the Dark Lord," Severus answered, knowing that would rankle, especially now. "If he chooses not to share it with you-"

"He shares everything with me!" insisted Bellatrix angrily. "He calls me his most loyal, his most faithful-"

"Does he?" Severus asked, in a tone suggestive of disbelief. "Does he still, after the fiasco at the Ministry?"

"That was not my fault!" said Bellatrix, flushing. "The Dark Lord has, in the past, entrusted me with his most precious - if Lucius hadn't -"

"Don't you dare-don't you dare blame my husband!" Narcissa interrupted in a low and deadly voice, raising her eyes to Bellatrix.

She had picked a most inopportune moment to interfere, Severus lamented inwardly; he saw no chance now of returning to that very suggestive 'most precious'. He played peacemaker instead, to get the exchange with Bellatrix back on track.

"There is no point apportioning blame. What is done is done," he said smoothly.

"But not by you!" Bellatrix exclaimed, furious. "No, you were once again absent while the rest of us ran dangers, were you not, Snape?"

This was a dangerous line for the discussion to take, for his contribution to the debacle that Bellatrix had just tried to blame on Lucius was rather greater than she realized.

"My orders were to stay behind," he said calmly. "Perhaps you disagree with the Dark Lord; perhaps you think Dumbledore would not have noticed if I had joined forces with the Death Eaters against the Order of the Phoenix?" His lip curled, and he could not resist adding, "And - forgive me - you speak of dangers...you were facing six teenagers, were you not?"

The final barb hit home, and, happily, set Bellatrix off onto a new subject.

"They were joined, as you very well know, by half of the Order before long!" Bellatrix snarled. "And, while we are on the subject of the Order, you still claim you cannot reveal the whereabouts of their headquarters, don't you?"

"I am not the Secret Keeper; I cannot speak the name of the place," Severus replied reasonably. "You understand how the enchantment works, I think? The Dark Lord is satisfied with the information I have passed him on the Order. It led, as perhaps you have guessed, to the recent capture and murder of Emmeline Vance, and it certainly helped dispose of Sirius Black, though I give you full credit for finishing him off."

He inclined his head and raised his glass to her, a gesture that entirely failed to placate her.

"You are avoiding my last question, Snape," Bellatrix accused. "Harry Potter. You could have killed him at any point in the past five years. You have not done it. Why?"

"Have you discussed this matter with the Dark Lord?" asked Severus.

"He...lately, we...I am asking you, Snape!" Bellatrix said. Her confusion could not have made it clearer that she was currently out of favor. He bit back a rejoinder to that effect. The conversation was beginning to remind him unpleasantly of a first-year Potions lecture. Bellatrix despised him, and this conversation would do nothing to change that, yet it was important that she walk away understanding the answers to all her questions, and truly seeing that she lacked indisputable facts on which to base her suspicions.

Curbing his impatience, Severus outlined the reasons he had given Voldemort. He was dependent on Dumbledore's protection to stay out of Azkaban, he had been curious about the boy's survival, until longer acquaintance had shown him to be mediocre at best.

"I have done my utmost to have him thrown out of Hogwarts, where I believe he scarcely belongs, but kill him, or allow him to be killed in front of me? I would have been a fool to risk it with Dumbledore close at hand," Severus concluded.

"And through all this we are supposed to believe Dumbledore never suspected you?" asked Bellatrix. "He has no idea of your true allegiance, he trusts you implicitly still?"

"I have played my part well," replied Severus. "And you overlook Dumbledore's greatest weakness: He has to believe the best of people. I spun him a tale of deepest remorse when I joined his staff, fresh from my Death Eater days, and he embraced me with open arms-though, as I say, never allowing me nearer the Dark Arts than he could help. Dumbledore has been a great wizard-"

Bellatrix snorted, expressing her disagreement with that assessment.

"-oh yes, he has," Severus contradicted her, "the Dark Lord acknowledges it. I am pleased to say, however, that Dumbledore is growing old. The duel with the Dark Lord last month shook him. He has since sustained a serious injury because his reactions are slower than they once were. But through all these years, he has never stopped trusting Severus Snape, and therein lies my great value to the Dark Lord."

This, finally, silenced Bellatrix. The answers to her questions had not made her happy, but it appeared she had spent all her ammunition. Reasoned discussion could not be expected to get him more than her grudging acquiescence - he had done what he could. Taking advantage of Bellatrix's silence, Severus turned to her sister.

"Now...you came to ask me for help, Narcissa?" he inquired.

Narcissa looked up at him, her face eloquent with despair. As their eyes met, he caught a flash of memory, a single image. He recognized the location - the library at Malfoy Manor, as well as the actors: Narcissa, seated on the edge of her chair, in the very robe she wore now, her face a pale, still mask, Draco, standing behind his mother's chair and looking down at her worriedly, and the Dark Lord, his eyes seeming to glow red and his face betraying a hint of cruel amusement as he gazed down upon them. Severus's stomach twisted. Of course, having devised an ingenious means to torture Lucius and his family even while Lucius was in Azkaban, the Dark Lord would take the trouble to ascertain it was working.

"Yes, Severus. I - I think you are the only one who can help me. I have nowhere else to turn. Lucius is in jail and..."

She closed her eyes as tears seeped from beneath her eyelids.

"The Dark Lord has forbidden me to speak of it," Narcissa resumed her explanation. "He wishes none to know of the plan. It is...very secret. But-"

"If he has forbidden it, you ought not to speak," said Severus at once. "The Dark Lord's word is law."

Narcissa gasped in shock, and her eyes flew open. Severus was pleased to see that Bellatrix, at least, looked satisfied for the first time during the visit, for the admonition was entirely for her benefit. She, and Wormtail as well, if he had managed to overhear, could report only that his response to Narcissa was all anyone could ask of a loyal Death Eater.

"There!" Bellatrix crowed. "Even Snape says so: You were told not to talk, so hold your silence!"

As she spoke, Severus rose to his feet and strode to the window, composing his thoughts. He did want Narcissa to speak, but in a way that incriminated neither of them. As his mind raced, he peered though the curtains in a show of his respect for the importance of the secret, and then closed them again with a jerk. He turned around to face Narcissa, frowning.

"It so happens that I know of the plan," he said quietly. "I am one of the few the Dark Lord has told. Nonetheless, had I not been in on the secret, Narcissa, you would have been guilty of great treachery to the Dark Lord." Since he did know, she could now speak of it without violating her orders to keep it secret.

"I thought you must know about it!" said Narcissa. "He trusts you so, Severus...."

She might have thought so. The relief in her voice now that he had confirmed his knowledge of the plan, though, suggested that she had come resolved to disobey a direct order the Dark Lord had given her in person, if it had proved necessary. Not a thing to undertake lightly. He found himself reluctantly impressed by the lengths to which she was willing to go for her son.

"You know about the plan?" said Bellatrix, outraged. "You know?"

"Certainly," said Severus. Let her chew on that evidence of the Dark Lord's trust!

"But what help do you require, Narcissa?" he asked. "If you are imagining I can persuade the Dark Lord to change his mind, I am afraid there is no hope, none at all."

That was, regrettably, the plain truth. He had tried as much as he dared already, during his own meeting with the Dark Lord.

"Severus," she whispered. "My son...my only son..." The redness of her eyes as tears continued to run down her cheeks only served to emphasize their unnatural paleness.

"Draco should be proud," Bellatrix interrupted. "The Dark Lord is granting him a great honor. And I will say this for Draco: He isn't shrinking away from his duty, he seems glad of a chance to prove himself, excited at the prospect-"

Narcissa, pushed over the edge by this display of indifference, began to cry in earnest. She kept her eyes on Snape, gazing up at him in mute appeal.

"That's because he is sixteen and has no idea what lies in store!" she exclaimed through her tears. "Why, Severus? Why my son? It is too dangerous! This is vengeance for Lucius's mistake, I know it!"

Severus said nothing. She understood, then. He looked away from her tears. Her situation was every bit as horrible as she believed; he could not bring himself to offer her meaningless words of reassurance, and he was as powerless as she was to shift the Dark Lord from his determination to punish Lucius.

"That's why he's chosen Draco, isn't it?" she persisted. "To punish Lucius?"

"If Draco succeeds," said Severus, still averting his eyes, "he will be honored above all others." A highly unlikely event, that would be, as she doubtless understood all too well.... Indeed, the suggestion did not budge her - she launched into yet another appeal for his intercession.

"The Dark Lord will not be persuaded, and I am not stupid enough to attempt it," said Severus flatly. This had gone on long enough. Leaving her with any hope that Draco might be spared this ordeal would be doing her no favors. "I cannot pretend that the Dark Lord is not angry with Lucius. Lucius was supposed to be in charge. He got himself captured, along with many others, and failed to retrieve the prophecy into the bargain. Yes, the Dark Lord is angry, Narcissa, very angry indeed."

"Then I am right, he has chosen Draco in revenge!" cried Narcissa. "He does not mean him to succeed, he wants him to be killed trying!"

Severus did not confirm the obvious, remaining silent. Narcissa stood up and staggered over to him, seizing the front of his robes. Raising her tearstained face to his, her tears falling onto his chest, she gasped, "You could do it. You could do it, instead of Draco, Severus. You would succeed, of course you would, and he would reward you beyond all of us-"

Indeed, he could. In fact, he would be doing it. Looking down into her eyes, red and swollen from crying, he said slowly, "He intends me to do it in the end, I think. But he is determined that Draco should try first. You see, in the unlikely event that Draco succeeds, I shall be able to remain at Hogwarts a little longer fulfilling my useful role as a spy."

"In other words, it doesn't matter to him if Draco is killed!" Narcissa exclaimed.

"The Dark Lord is very angry," Severus repeated in a low voice. "He failed to hear the prophecy. You know as well as I do, Narcissa, that he does not forgive easily."

She crumpled and fell to the floor at his feet.

"My only son---my only son..." she sobbed.

"You should be proud!" said Bellatrix ruthlessly. "If I had sons, I would be glad to give them up to the service of the Dark Lord!"

Now there was a helpful interjection, Severus thought in disgust. Narcissa gave a little scream of despair and clutched at her hair. He could not lay her fears to rest with the truth of Dumbledore's plan, that would be beyond foolish. Neither could he sit back and condemn her to an indefinite extension of her agony, when it was within his power to offer her some reassurance, at least. Severus bent down over her and lifted her onto the sofa. He then poured her more wine and forced it into her hands.

"Narcissa, that's enough," he said firmly. "Drink this. Listen to me."

She quieted a little; slopping wine down herself, she took a shaky sip.

"It might be possible...for me to help Draco," Severus said.

Her blue eyes huge in the deathly pallor of her face, she seized on the suggestion with all the desperation of a drowning man reaching for a lifeline.

"Severus - oh, Severus - you would help him?" she pleaded. "Would you look after him, see he comes to no harm?"

"I can try," he agreed.

She flung away her glass in a passion; it slid across the table as she slid back off the sofa to kneel at Snape's feet. Seizing his hand in both of hers, she pressed her lips to it.

"If you are there to protect him...Severus, will you swear it? Will you make the Unbreakable Vow?" she asked.

"The Unbreakable Vow?" he repeated, playing for precious seconds while he considered the unexpected request.

Bellatrix, however, let out a cackle of triumphant laughter.

"Aren't you listening, Narcissa? Oh, he'll try, I'm sure...." she said sarcastically. "The usual empty words, the usual slithering out of action...oh, on the Dark Lord's orders, of course!"

Severus fixed his eyes upon Narcissa's, recognizing the fervent hope in them as he strove to consider rationally what she was asking of him. To help Draco, to look after him, to see he came to no harm - all this he could do, while furthering the plans Dumbledore had made for the boy. Not to mention that agreeing had its benefits. Narcissa would walk away reassured, content to leave the problem in his hands. Otherwise, she might remain a loose cannon he would have to manage along with Draco to ensure nothing untoward occurred before Dumbledore's time came. Bellatrix would have proof of his loyalties now, in a form she could not doubt, a favorable outcome that all his talk had not accomplished. Finally, he would have a cast-iron reason to involve himself in Draco's plans without raising fresh suspicions about his loyalties. It was risky, of course, but, he judged, worth it.

"Certainly, Narcissa, I shall make the Unbreakable Vow," he said quietly. "Perhaps your sister will consent to be our Bonder."

Bellatrix gaped at them as he knelt down in front of Narcissa. Beneath Bellatrix's astonished gaze, they clasped right hands.

"You will need your wand, Bellatrix," Severus reminded her.

She drew it, still seemingly unable to believe what she was witnessing.

"And you will need to move a little closer," he added.

She stepped forward and stood over them, placing the tip of her wand on their linked hands. Narcissa began her statement of the terms.

"Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes?" she asked.

"I will," said Severus. He certainly planned to in any case, to make sure Draco's plans did not harm others.

A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands. As Narcissa began her statement of the second clause, it glowed like a red-hot wire.

"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?" she asked.

"I will," Severus replied.

A second tongue of flame shot from the wand. It wove itself about the first, making a fine, glowing chain.

"And, should it prove necessary...if it seems Draco will fail..." whispered Narcissa.

Severus's hand twitched as it struck him that a simple request for help should surely not induce this sudden attack of hesitancy. But he did not withdraw it from her grasp, for she would not possibly ask for more than he had previously agreed to do.

"Will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?" she finished.

Bellatrix watched, her wand upon their clasped hands, her eyes wide, as he hesitated for a moment. He thought he might rather die than carry it out and live with the memory, but of course, unbeknownst to his companions, he was already committed to this final, most troubling clause of the Vow.

"I will," said Severus.

The final tongue of flame shot from Bellatrix's wand, braided itself with the others, and bound itself thickly around their clasped hands, like a rope, like a fiery snake.

Narcissa looked down at their hands, and then back up at him, an expression of incredulous joy on her face. Bellatrix, finally recovering from her shock, stepped back and tucked the wand away in her robes. The glowing bonds that joined him and Narcissa grew fainter, and then seemed to sink into their skins.

Severus rose smoothly to his feet, and then helped Narcissa up to hers.

"Oh, Severus, however can I thank you?" she exclaimed. "I could not have borne it, imagining the dangers Draco faced alone; I should have gone mad. Knowing that you will be there for him is such a relief."

Bellatrix was looking at him, her eyes narrowing.

"You are quite welcome, Narcissa," Severus replied silkily. "I am pleased to have alleviated your concerns."

"Narcissa, he only agreed because he wants the credit-" Bellatrix began.

"I've heard enough from you tonight!" Narcissa snapped at her sister. "If Draco succeeds, there will be quite enough credit to go around. And if he fails," her voice faltered, but then her gaze fell on Severus, and she finished, "I do not care who gets the credit, so long as Draco is safe!"

"Indeed, Narcissa," Severus said, "it is not seemly for us to bicker amongst ourselves."

He retrieved the wineglasses and refilled them, and then handed them to his guests. Raising his own, he added, "We are on the same side, we serve the same Master, and we are united by a common goal. To success!"

"To success!" Narcissa and Bellatrix repeated, raising their glasses in turn.