Twilight Gardens

Realizing that if he stayed any longer without making a purchase it would be considered loitering, Severus decided to leave. As he neared the door, someone called out to him, "Going so soon, are you, Severus?"

Severus whirled around to see Albus Dumbledore sitting at a table in a nearby corner. The white-bearded wizard was one man Severus had not wished to see. It wasn't that Dumbledore was not a decent fellow in Severus' eyes. The Headmaster had certainly shown far less scorn to the Slytherins than most Hogawars teachers. While many professors had looked upon the Slytherins as though they were infected scabs itching to be scratched, Dumbledore alone seemed to show absolutely no bias towards House affliation. Severus had enough sense to recognize what an extraordinary thing it was to find a non-Slytherin who didn't favour the Gryffindors. What disturbed Severus about seeing Dumbledore were the memories of Hogwarts the man invoked.

His Hogwarts years -- only a few months past -- were something Severus hated to recall at anytime. But when those memories commingled with the bitterness of his break-up with Lucius, Severus felt almost sick. The sight of Dumbledore was more unbearable than the flocks of Death Eaters in Knockturn Alley. Yet, try as he did to ignore Dumbledore and exit the establishment, Severus remained rooted to the floor.

"Don't look so frightened, Severus," Dumbledore said. "Why don't you join me for a drink?"

At a loss for anything else to do, Severus silently accepted Dumbledore's invitation. Slowly, he trod over to Dumbledore's table and took his seat opposite the Headmaster. He could feel himself shaking slightly, as much with the cold dampness clinging to his body as with the apprehension Dumbledore instilled in him. Seeing Severus' shivers, Dumbledore ordered his former student a steaming beverage and genially inquired about how Severus had fared since graduation. By some divine mixture of desolation and drinking, Severus confessed everything to Dumbledore. Severus knew how completely mad he was to reveal himself as a Death Eater to Albus Dumbledore. But it didn't matter.

Nothing mattered anymore.

A Dementor's Kiss would have been nothing short of a blessing that night.

Dumbledore's demeanor did not alter however. He was calm and still as though Severus were merely relating to him a well-known, tragic fairytale with which they had both been familiar for years. There was no boredom nor lack of feeling exhibited by Dumbledore though. Severus had been sue that any witch or wizard, upon hearing his confession, would condemn him wholeheartedly and immediately alert the Aurors. Evidently, Albus Dumbledore was even less common than Severus had thought for the older man seemed sympathetic and oddly omnisecient to his plight.

"Well, Severus," Dumbledore said slowly once his former student had finished his tale, "what is it you plan to do now?"

The question left Severus' mind blank. Subconsciously, perhaps he had been hoping to die. Moreover, perhaps he still was and he always had been. At last, Severus answered, barely moving his lips, "I don't know."