A Tangled Web (Post-DH)

Chapter 14: The Order Meets

By the dim light of the old-fashioned gas lamp, Severus made his way silently down the long entrance hallway of 12 Grimmauld Place. He was careful to avoid the small, rickety table and umbrella stand. His efforts at stealth met with success; the curtained portrait of Mrs. Black remained silent as he swept past it. Reaching the end of the hall, he opened the door before him. As he descended the narrow stone staircase beyond, he could hear the hum of conversation rising from the kitchen below.

His arrival went unnoticed be his fellow Order members. The meeting had not yet begun, and he was by no means the last to arrive. He noticed with a twinge of relief that Nymphadora Tonks was already present - Snape had no wish to hear what Mrs. Black might have to say, especially now that she was likely acquainted with the twin facts that her son was dead and her house had been willed to a half-blood.

Minerva, he saw, was already present, and was comparing notes with Arthur Weasley on their recent experiences at St. Mungo's. Severus walked over and pulled up a chair near them, causing Mrs. Weasley to jump in startlement.

"Professor Snape!" she exclaimed, "Good evening."

"Good evening, Mrs. Weasley," he replied, giving her a slight bow. Mr. Weasley and Minerva interrupted their conversation to greet him as well, and then he sat down.

"Have you heard? Arthur has been promoted," Mrs. Weasley said proudly.

"I had not," Severus replied.

"He's now heading the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects, with ten people reporting to him," Molly explained. "It is a very responsible position."

"I see," Severus replied. While the length of the name of Mr. Weasley's new office was certainly much longer, Severus rather doubted that office was correspondingly more effective. It seemed more likely that this was yet another cosmetic change, implemented more to create the illusion of safety, than with an eye to prevent a takeover by the Dark Lord, the true danger the Ministry faced.

"A lot of it is just getting junk off the market, of course, fake protective amulets and potions and the like," Mrs. Weasley added, confirming Severus's opinion. He sneered at the gullibility of his fellow wizards.

"But some dangerous items come up too!" Mrs. Weasley added heatedly. "Why, early this month, Arthur confiscated a box of cursed Sneakoscopes. Just last week, one of his subordinates discovered a protective potion that was actually poisonous. He's at St. Mungo's, though they say he may recover in time...." Mrs. Weasley said uncertainly, sounding worried.

"Say, those incidents seemed like something a Death Eater might be behind," Mrs. Weasley essayed, a few moments later. "You would not happen to know-"

"No," Severus replied curtly. It galled him that he did not, for her hypothesis was a reasonable one. A few dangerous items put about to increase the sense of panic and danger in the public would be a logical contribution to the destabilization of the Ministry. But his access to his fellow Death Eaters had been limited of late. Though he was working on that problem.

Mrs. Weasley seemed to have run out of comments, and an awkward silence ensued between them. Minerva and Mr. Weasley had moved on to discussing last night's Death Eater raid in which a young Muggle woman had died, mauled by the notorious werewolf, Greyback. Tonks, with dark circles under her eyes and her face pale under uncharacteristically mousy brown hair, chimed in with a vicious regret that the bastard she had cursed had apparently been removed by his fellows.

So she was the Auror whose spells had struck Gibbon. It had been a first-rate curse, Severus had to agree, requiring no little skill to counter, an observation he kept to himself. He listened with Minerva and the Weasleys to her low-voiced account of the scene she had found once she and the other Aurors had driven the Death Eaters away. It was not news to him, as he'd already heard a detailed account, in Gibbon's potion-aided babbling, of the actions that had created the horror Tonks recounted.

Yet it was worse, somehow, in this company. The others' exclamations of abhorrence underlined his difference from them. They had not tended the perpetrators, or offered them hospitality. They did not bear the same mark.

Tonks finished her account, looking suspiciously misty-eyed. Mrs. Weasley pulled her chair closer to her and put an arm around Tonks's shoulder. Whatever she had been planning to say was interrupted by the arrival of Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Dumbledore told me that he would be late, and suggested we get started without him," Moody announced. "Perhaps Kingsley could start us off with a report on the Muggle Minister."

A chorus of assent greeted this suggestion. All turned towards the tall Auror to listen, while Moody took a seat near the staircase; the better, Severus deduced, to keep his magical eye on the entrance behind him. After a succinct update, indicating the Muggle Minister was believed secure for the moment, Kingsley suggested Tonks should discuss the Auror Office's plans for patrolling Hogsmeade in the coming school year.

Tonks rose, her eyes still slightly red, though her manner was crisp and professional. She had completed an introduction in which she explained that she was to be one of the Aurors assigned to Hogsmeade, when abruptly she paled and stopped mid sentence, fumbling for her previous train of thought. Mrs. Weasley, with a resentful glance at the staircase, asked her a question in her kindest voice, and this got her back on track.

Severus turned to find the source of Tonks's consternation and Mrs. Weasley's displeasure - Lupin had arrived. He took a seat at the far end of the table from Tonks. Severus noted without much interest that he looked rather greyer and shabbier than he remembered, though certainly nothing in his appearance warranted Tonks's extreme reaction. Lupin was pointedly looking away as she spoke.

As Tonks wrapped up her report, Minerva rose to her feet.

"I suppose, as Albus is not here, that I can update you on the plans for Hogwarts' security that we are implementing in parallel to the Auror patrols described by Nymphadora," she began.

Severus doubted he would learn anything new. He and Dumbledore had hashed out the details before Severus had left for the summer, with a focus on making sure they had left no loopholes in the defenses for Draco to exploit.

"We've completely revamped the protections, and we've added new ones," Minerva continued. "Albus is also asking for volunteers to patrol the school itself, at times when he feels there is heightened risk."

"I'd be happy to help out," Lupin spoke up first. "My time is not spoken for," he added bitterly.

"I'm posted at Hogsmeade anyway," Tonks offered. Bill Weasley, Alastor Moody, and Hestia Jones also chimed in with their willingness to help out.

"Thank you all, that's a good start," Minerva said, looking pleased. "The Ministry is treating the arrangements as top secret, so I'll speak to you all separately - we can talk after the meeting."

"What about my fellow Aurors," Tonks asked. "It might help to know what is already being covered by the new measures."

"Anything the Aurors know, Voldemort will surely learn. The Ministry leaks like a sieve," Lupin objected.

"The Dark Lord will know all about the school's security measures anyway," Severus interjected.

"Do you know of a specific leak, Severus?" Minerva asked.

"I helped Dumbledore to design those measures," Severus stated flatly.

Minerva looked taken aback, and a low murmur went about the table.

"It is my opinion that the protections we have in place cannot be breached without inside assistance," Severus explained. "I will so inform the Dark Lord."

"Is it wise to admit your role in thwarting his will in this way?" Minerva wondered.

"He believes he has inside assistance," Severus pointed out.

"Well," said Minerva into the awkward silence that greeted the explanation. "In that case, Nymphadora, you might as well share what you learn, if you think it will help." After a final glance at Severus, she began a quick exposition of the new protections, as Dumbledore came down the stairs.

"Please continue," he told Minerva with a twinkle of his eyes, as he sat down next to Moody. Severus noticed them whispering as Minerva finished her presentation.

When she took her seat, Albus rose. "Thank you, Minerva," he said. "Remus, would you bring us up to date on the werewolf situation?"

Severus listened to Lupin's explanation, then to updates by Bill Weasley on Gringotts and the goblins, and finally to Moody on Dementor attacks and other Death Eater activity. As he had nothing of his own to report, his presence felt pointless, but he made himself attend to the details of the others' concerns. There was always the possibility he would hear mention of something relevant among the Death Eaters, that he could pass on to Dumbledore.

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Dumbledore left the house with the last group of stragglers from the meeting. Though they had agreed to speak afterwards, Severus was nowhere to be seen. Dumbledore said his farewells to the others and they Disapparated, except for Minerva.

"Albus," she said, "if I might have a moment of your time...."

This diffident approach was not at all her usual manner. A furrowed brow and clenched jaw clearly indicated something was causing her considerable worry.

As Severus appeared not to have stayed to keep his appointment for some reason, Albus supposed he had a moment to spare.

"Certainly, Minerva," he replied.

"I...It felt wrong, to bring this up in front of the others," she began hesitantly. "But, are you sure you can trust Severus?"

"Whatever makes you ask, Minerva?" Albus asked, surprised. She had been genuinely shocked to learn two years ago, of Severus's Dark Mark, but he thought he'd soothed worries on that score long since.

"He as much as said, Albus, that he would be telling Voldemort all about the school's magical protections!" Minerva said indignantly.

Albus resisted rubbing the bridge of his nose. This conversation must have taken place before his arrival at the meeting. He thought he had a good idea of how it might have gone. There were any number of ways that Severus might have presented the facts to persuade his audience. It appeared he had chosen none of them.

"He explained himself, I would imagine?" Albus inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"He said it was his opinion that no one could breach the protections from the outside," she said. "But-"

"That is also my opinion, Minerva," Albus said.

"Oh! I see," she said, sounding somewhat reassured. "But if someone inside the school helped...."

"He mentioned that as well, did he?" Albus asked. From the look on her face, he had. Probably in a way that suggested him for that role. "Know that Voldemort has not asked it of him. He believes Severus to be too valuable a spy to expose in such a way. Believe me, our students are safe in Severus's hands."

Minerva nodded her head. "I am sorry. You are right, of course. He must play his part, as you say."

"I am glad to have set your mind at rest on that account. Was that all?" he asked.

"It was," Minerva replied.

"A very good night to you, then, Minerva," Albus said.

"Good night, Albus," she said, and then Disapparated with a faint pop.

As soon as she was gone, Severus stepped out from behind the broken gate of Number 11. So he had merely been waiting for the others to leave, Albus realized. His face betrayed no reaction to the conversation he had undoubtedly just overheard, but there was a nervous tension in his movements that he could not quite hide.

"Ah, Severus, there you are. Shall we discuss your mysterious new development at Hogwarts?" Albus suggested.

"Very well. Shall I meet you at the gates?" Severus asked.

"No need, Severus," Dumbledore said, casting about him for a suitable object. His eyes caught sight of an empty bottle among the refuse spilling from the overflowing rubbish bins of the neighboring house. "Hand me that bottle, please."

Severus bent down and picked it up. Holding his wand awkwardly in his hand to avoid aggravating his injury, Dumbledore placed the tip on the bottle and spoke the word, "Portus!" It glowed momentarily with a blue light in Severus's hand. Then Dumbledore reached for it with his left hand, and the Portkey activated.

The familiar sensations of travel by Portkey ended abruptly as his feet once again hit solid ground, with Severus standing beside him. His office was dark; the only light available was that of the moon and stars. Grasping his wand carefully, Dumbledore drew the curtains with one gesture, then lit the candles in their holders, bathing the room in warm light.

"There, much better," he commented to Severus. "Please, do take a seat," he invited, removing the bottle from Snape's hand and Vanishing it with another wave of his wand.

"Thank you," Severus said, though he remained standing.

"Can I offer you something to drink? Wine, perhaps, or just a pumpkin juice?" Dumbledore offered.

"No, thank you," Snape replied.

Dumbledore strode around his desk and sat down himself. Severus's message had not indicated any urgency to this meeting, which is why they had agreed to meet after the next Order meeting. Yet his manner suggested something was bothering him. Rather than prolonging the tension with further attempts at the social amenities, Dumbledore turned the conversation to business.

"So, what have you learned, Severus?" he asked.

"Not much, yet," Severus replied, "unless you count confirmation of our suspicions. The development is of a different nature. Upon my return home from Hogwarts, I received a visit from Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Regarding Draco's assignment, I presume?" Albus hazarded.

"It was why Narcissa came, yes," Severus confirmed. "Bellatrix came along to dissuade her from telling me anything."

"Did Bellatrix succeed? Or did you manage to persuade Narcissa to broach her concerns with you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Narcissa was beside herself, entirely desperate. Nothing Bellatrix had to say made an impression," Severus said.

"Why do you suppose that is?" Albus asked.

"I believe she came to me on the heels of a visit from the Dark Lord himself," Severus explained. "She has figured out that the Dark Lord would not mind if Draco failed and died, and she feels his failure is likely. My assurances I would try to help did not suffice for her, and she asked me to make the Unbreakable Vow." Snape exhaled.

"And?"

"I agreed," Severus said.

"It was an eventful evening, I see," Albus remarked lightly. He saw Severus relaxed slightly at his reaction. "So you are bound to help Draco. That should be manageable. What was the exact wording of the terms?"

"While Draco attempts to carry out his mission," Severus replied, "I have sworn to watch over him, protect him as well as I am able, and kill you myself in the event he fails."

Fate, it seemed, had taken a hand in the matter. Changing his mind about Severus's role in his plans was no longer an option, it seemed.

"As you say, there is nothing in your vow to cause disquiet," Albus said.

"It seemed worth the trouble," Severus said. "It certainly reassured Narcissa. In addition, it convinced Bellatrix of my bona fides, something the lengthy discussion that preceded Narcissa's request, had not."

"So you and Bellatrix are now reconciled?" Albus asked.

"Hardly," Severus said with a wry grimace. "No, she has gone from suspecting me of treason, to viewing me as a dangerous competitor for the Dark Lord's favor. I expect she will still prove an obstacle for me with Draco, but at least I have won Narcissa's trust, and improved my standing among the other Death Eaters."

"How so? What you have done is known, then?" Albus asked.

"I'm not sure," Severus replied candidly. "It seems likely Wormtail could have seen or heard the Vow, he was as usual around when Narcissa came. However, I have other indications that I am viewed with less suspicion," Severus said.

"Indeed?"

"This morning I was visited by Yaxley, in the company of a Death Eater injured in last night's raid," Severus explained. "He sought my assistance for the injured man, Gibbon."

"Gibbon...," Albus mused. Some ten years Severus's senior, he recalled. He'd not been in any way a memorable student. "They would hardly expect to be turned away."

"True. But Yaxley invited me to a meeting, in exchange for the favor. And also left me alone with Gibbon." Severus made a sour expression. "Unfortunately Gibbon does not seem to know anything of any use."

"How so?"

"I dosed him with Veritaserum and firewhiskey under the guise of treating him," Severus said with a shrug. "He revealed the names of his companions, but they are all known to us - the Carrows, and Greyback. He knows nothing of Yaxley's Ministry activities of contacts."

"I see. Nonetheless, the invitation by Yaxley is, as you say, a positive sign. It seems also, that you may have more to report, over the remainder of the summer."

"I hope it may be so," Severus agreed.

Dumbledore opened the top drawer of his desk and rummaged around in it, finding a pair of identical Muggle coins left from his meetings with Ollivander. He placed them on his desk and enchanted them with a variant of the Protean Charm.

"In case you should have an urgent need to pass me information," Albus said. "Meet me on the hilltop when I respond to your call."

Severus approached the desk and pocketed his coin with a nod of his head. Of their occasional meeting places, the very first place to which he had brought Albus information made the most sense. Hogwarts might be watched, and Albus's favored Muggle pub might be closed, depending on the hour.

Albus, too, rose to his feet.

"Good night, then, Albus," Severus said.

"Feel free to use my Floo," Albus offered.

Severus shook his head. "Wormtail will expect me to be returning from Order headquarters. I'd better Apparate."

Albus nodded his understanding.

"Good night, Severus," he replied.