For all Joy wants Eternity

For all Joy wants Eternity

Chapter 19


\'This is going e exe extremely difficult, Remus. I
might need your help.\'

Albus\'s words, voiced about fifteen minutes earlier, were
still echoing in his mind, now that they were waiting
in the circular office to which the members of the
Order had been summoned once more. Only half an hour
had passed since the Gryffindor had arrived in the
Headmaster\'s office and found out about Severus\'s
return, and still Remus feared that they might already
be running out of time.
ong ong with the pressure to act as quickly as possible, his
awareness of Albus\'s anxiety concerning the enormous
tension they were about to face during the briefing gnawed
at the temporary confidence that the spy\'s unexpected
presence had awakened in Remus. With a deep mental sigh,
the werewolf leaned back in his seat. The upcoming meeting
would be extremely difficult indeed.

With each passing minute, the room filled with more
and more people. Silent, sombre witches and wizards who
followed Albus\'s call with the usual unquestioning
promptness that was one reason why the Order worked so
smoothly and successfully. Shock from the previous
night was still written over each of the faces that Remus
knew so well, and he did not need the pain that was
burning in some of those eyes to tell him that the losses
suffered some hours ago had taken close
friends and sometimes even family members from their
midst. A ng sng sense of guilt built inside him given that
this meeting kept many people from grieving for their loved
ones, but he knew that they needed each and every
person in the room, especially now that they were
approaching the end of the war. As cruel and painful as it
might be, there was no time for mourning right now, and
they would have to be swift in their upcoming decisions and
effective in their consequent actions if they wanted to make
sure that there would be time to grieve afterwards.

Being keenly aware of all this, Remus struggled hard to
fight off the dense veil of numerous and
complex levels of sorrow that reached for his own
sensitive perception, numbing his mind more with each
passing minute. It was hard not to be affected by the strong
emotions swirling through the Headmaster\'s office, and the
fact that he was close to each of the persons who were
reeking sorrow and pain made things even more difficult.

But the agony radiating from one man was the
hardest to endure.

The werewolf had stopped counting the times that his
glance had been drawn to the only Slytherin in the
room. Severus had slumped in his chair by the
bookshelves, a few feet away from the table the rest
of the Order was gathering around, as if to provide the
arriving wizards and witches with a target as small as
possible for the gazes they sent his way as soon as
they noticed him. And even though the shadows in the
dimly litm him hid most of the spy’s face, Remus
couldn\'t help but wince every time that he caught a
glance of the Slytherin’s features. The Gryffindor had
been grateful when the spasmodic twitching running
in waves over Severus\'s body, the last visible
after-effects of the Cruciatus, stopped about half an
hour ago, but still the Slytherin was a frightful sight. The
slight shivering of his hands did not seem to stop any
more at all and his dark eyes, dull and shaded, had
stared at the same spot on the floor in front of him ever
since the first members of the Order arrived about
fifteen minutes previously. There had not yet been time
to take care of any of the injuries that Severus had
suffered during the past 24 hours, so several thin, open
slashes still ran across his face, and Remus noticed
earlier that the Slytherin was limping slightly as well.
Neither he nor Albus had asked any questions about
that; they both knew that Severus would not be too
keen to reveal what had happened to him the previous
day. Besides, there *had* been so very little time... Be
that as it may, Remus had a strong feeling that he
didn\'t want to think about how the rest of the spy\'s body,
hidden under his black robes, looked anyway.

And now that the number of persons in the room was
constantly growing, Remus felt how the Slytherin\'s
mentorttorture, consequent upon the Dark Lord’s ritual,
increased to an almost unbearable level as well.

Not even the Headmaster\'s calm but decisive voice
opening the meeting managed to shake
Remus completely back to the reality of Albus\'s
office. A part of his attention kept circling the spy\'s
condition, searching for any changes for the worse he
might be able to perceive, trying to send all of his own
energy in form of soothing, reassuring thoughts the
Syltherin\'s way with the desperate wish to do
*someting* to support Severus during the upcoming
meeting.

Only when the spy suddenly lifted his head and
Remus felt the Slytherin summon all of the
self-control he could master and saw how pain and
anguish were resolutely pushed away in favour of
the last of the determination and will-power that
Severus could come up with, did the werewolf
finally return to the here and now. Albus was still
speaking, but Remuslizelized immediately the reason
for Severus\'s sudden attention. The head of the Order
had begun to explain further details of the spy\'s
return and the information that he had brought home
with him. Since Remus had only heard a very short
version of the events because they had not had time
for more after the Slytherin\'s return, he forced all of
his own concentration to focus on the Headmaster
as well.

\'...has actually been sent back here by Voldemort
himself.\'

With a strong surge of sympathy washing over him,
Remus registered how Albus ignored the low, hissing
whispering and uneasy fidgeting that his last sentence
provoked in some of the witches and wizards who were
present. His blue eyes very sober, his voice not holding
any trace of cheerfulness for once, the Headmaster went
on, at once silencing even the slightest sound from his
audience.

\'He was supposed to make us believe that he had been
lured out of the castle by a cryptic message and
abducted by Death Eaters in the course of Voldemort\'s
most recent strikes against us and then taken to some
secret place where they tried to force him by torture to
reveal details concerning the steps we had taken to protect
Harry and perpare him for his role in the events that are to
come. And finally that as a result of the feverish activity
among the Death Eaters last night, Severus had taken a
chance to escape. ‘

Alastor Moody’s growl cut in.

‚Lovely story, that.‘

The Headmaster stopped for a momeand and the werewolf
could see how he let his eyes wander over to his spy who
sat completely still and silent in his chair, only the small
movements of breathing that very slowly lifted and lowered
his chest revealing that there was still life in him.

\'Voldemort apparently decided that only a performance as
authentic as possible would make us believe this version
of what had happened, and so Severus was subjected to
exactly the same treatment that would have awaited any
other witch or wizard unfortunate enough to fall into Death
Eaters’ hands.\'

It was the Gryffindor\'s turn to try and capture the Syltherin\'s
glance. He had been aware of what the Dark Lord had
done to his friend only a few hours ago and thus had been
prepared for the news, but he was also able to feel how the
spy struggled for his fragile composure at the mention
of what he had gone through. Not caring at all about the
reaction of anyone in the room who might notice the intense
eye contact developing between him and Severus, Remus
did all he could to comunicate the deep compassion and
strong urge to support friefriend that were flooding him,
while another part of him continued to listen to Albus\'s
explanations.
In tIn that way, he killed two birds with one stone. First,
Severus\'s physical condition would contribute to the
credibility of what he was supposed to tell us. Second,
Voldemort obviously assumed that the heavy Crutiatus and
the...nature of the rest of his injuries would back up
Severus\'s request to be sent to St.Mungo\'s for treatment –
this is how he was supposed to leave Hogwarts again. He
has been told to Apparate before five o\'clock this evening
to receive further orders. He would have returned to the
Dark Lord without us suspecting anything, quite the
opposite. We would actually have sent him back\'

One of Fawkes\'s feathers falling to the floor would
have been audible in the perfect silence that followed
the Headmasters final sentence. Until Arthur Weasley
calmly voiced what yoneyone in the room probably
thought.

\'But there\'s no sense in that. Why take the long way?
Why use Hogwarts as an intermediate stop instead of
sending Severus directly to St.Mungo\'s? I don\'t see any
advantage that the Dark Lord would gain from that.\'

An affirmative murmer erupted all around Remus, and
he couldn\'t hold their reaction of disbelief against his
fellow members of the Order. Arthur had made a very
good point, and being ignorant of the reasons behind
Voldemort’s orders to Severus would not only make it
very hard for some of them to believe what the spy had
told Albus about the real events of that morning, but also
leave them completely in the dark about many of the
Dark Lord\'s intentions. But since Remus did not doubt
one word of Severus’s version of the story, he was
absolutely positive that the problem was not that the
Dark Lord might have acted without reasons. The point
was that the Order was not able to recognize those
reasons. Net. et.

\'It is an attempt to learn about the castle\'s defences.\'

Because he was the first to face Severus who had just
spoken for the first time since the meeting began, Remus
felt rather than saw how each head in the room turned
to the source of those words. The Slytherin\'s eyes were
fixed on Remus, they glittered strangely in the candlelight
and his voice dripped with strain, but he went on
anyway.

\'As well as a test. A test to find out whether he can trust
me or not.\'

Only his knowledge of the ritual kept the werewolf from
leaning closer towards his friend. A tight knot began to
tangle up his insides, and the unerring feeling that
Severus was right made his hands wet with sweat. He
knew that his words had a tone of more than mild
anticipation as soon as he opened his mouth to speak,
but Remus could also tell that his excitement was
mirrored in the Slytherin\'s exhausted features.

\'How, Severus? How do you know? How is he doing it?\'

The room seemed to be closing in on them. The
graveness of the others\' silent but still doubtful
expectation drew nearer with every moment, but it
seemed to Remus as if anything of relevance had
condensend to Severus and him holding each other\'s
eyes. Hearing each other\'s words.

\'It must have been his plan from the moment that I
returned to him last summer, but he had to wait until he
was ready to strike, which he is now. He knows that he
has to take over Hogwarts to stand a chance as far as his
goals are concerned, so what he needed was a connection
to the school, which was me. By... seeing to it that I arrived
as punctually as possible at his summons, he made sure
that I would find the shortest and most effective way to
leave the castle despite the anti-Apparating barrier.\'

If anything, Severus\'s eyes drilled even deeper into
the werewolf\'s gaze, giving Remus the sensation of being
drawn into their dark depths, and he could see clearly
what profound horror was building there, how it deepened
with each of the spy\'s now breathless words.

\'He waited until he knew the time had come...I\'m sure he
magically marked me somehow, so I would leave a
detectable trace where I Re-apparated after I left him this
morning. My simply returning here would immediately tell
him all the information he needs...with him already knowing
about Hogwart\'s weak spot when I arrived at St.Mungo\'s
for further orders, all it would take is asking me for the leak
in the castle\'s protection that I was using for Apparation,
and my answer or lack of it would tell him about my
loyalties at once...\'

The helplessness that he was condemned to in the face
of his friend\'s mental torture was almost too much for
the werewolf. He felt his own face contort in a weird
mixture of sympathy and compassion on the one hand,
but fierce rage and sorrow on the other, and all Remus
wanted to do that very moment was take the Slytherin\'s
now violently shaking hands in his own, gently entwine the
tightly clasped fingers and caress them until their dreadful
shivering stopped. He wanted to tell the spy that there was
nothing he could have done, that none of this was his fault,
that nothing was lost yet, that there was still time to find a
way to avert the worst, that...

\'But it would not have been possible to impose such a
powerful detection spell on you without your noticing,
Severus!\' Minerva\'s tones were slightly shrill and trembling,
and her usually composed features showed true
apprehension now from the consternation and incipetent
fear that she was struggling with. \'To magically mark you,
Voldemort would have had to establish a physical
connection far more powerful than the Dark Mark...\'

Only someone who knew would have been able to notice
the quick flickering of the spy\'s eyes at her last sentence.
But Remus, who knew about the ritual, was momentarily
shaken himself by the realization that the necessary
physical bond between Severus and Voldemort actually
existed. But Minerva continued speaking, not leaving the
werewolf time to ponder how Severus\'s theory about why
Voldemort sent him back to Hogwarts made more and
more sense with each passing second.

\'...as well as a mental one equally strong! As competent
a Legimens as you are could not have missed his trying
to invade your mind in the attempt to do so!\'

Watching the spy in the tense silence that fell after
Minerva ended was shocking. Severus was literally
radiating defeat. A horrible grimace of painful
understanding engraved itself onto the spy\'s injured
face, and the fierce despair that coloured the small
moan escaping his slightly parted, totally bloodless
lips tore at Remus\'s soul. When the Syltherin finally
spoke, his voice was not more than a whisper.

\'Regarding the physical and mental state I\'ve been in
this morning, he could have done anything at all
without my noticing.\' Severus\'s eyes slowly closed.
\'I should never have come back.\'

For the first time in several minutes, Albus\'s quiet and
composed tones rang out in the still room again.

\'This is not true, my dear Severus. Apart from the simple
fact that no risk or danger would make me chose leaving
you in Voldemort’s hands over your returning to Hogwarts
safely, the information that we just gained *because* of
your being here is priceless.\'

Along with everyone else, Remus watched the Headmaster
rise from his seat and capture the Slytherin in an intense,
vivid glance before he went on.

\'Even though we don\'t have reliable evidence yet, I think
that we should assume that Voldemort now knows how
to enter the castle without having to deal with the
anti-Apparation barrier. I agree that making you
unwittingly reveal that possibility to him was one of the
very few likely reasons that he sent you back, Severus –
but despite how that might appear at first glance, I dont
think the fact that he knows *has* to turn out to be a
disadvantage. After all, we are aware of what he knows
now as well. And then...\' Albus sat down again, letting
his eyes wander over every single face in front of him,
until his glance finally returned to Severus. \'Then there\'s
still the information about the attack on St.Mungo\'s that
we also know about now - thanks to you.\'

Only a second after Albus\'s final word the room burst
into a buzz of enraged voices. Left speechless by this
most unexpected news himself, Remus was one of the
few who did not give vent to their horrified disbelief by
nervously voicing questions or exclaiming disbelief - until
they were all silenced by the head of the Order lifting one
hand.

\'I think it should be Severus who tells you the details
about that particular aspect.\'

The spy\'s eyes closed at that request, which had been a
rather gentle demand anyway, and Remus could tell by
the small sigh accompanied by several slow shakes of
Severus\'s head that the Slytherin did not feel like talking
about anything at all at the moment.

\'Severus.\' The Headmaster\'s voice again. \'Please.\'

Exhaling very long and deeply, the Syltherin lifted both of
his hands to his head and started to viciously rub his
temples, as if to wipe all knowledge about the war from his
mind. Still, after a few moments of tense silence, the spy
finally complied with Albus\'s wish, his words little more
than a breath and barely audible.

\'One of the Death Eaters somehow knew that I was
ordered to Apparate to St. Mungo\'s in the afternoon. He...
he explicitly warned me not arrive too close to the
building, so I would not \'get in their way today\', as he put
it, apparently trying to keep me from Apparating right
between the lines...\'

The scornful snort from somewhere to his right made
Remus turn automatically, facing the contempt on Alastor
Moody\'s strange, incomplete face.

\'Sympathy for and taking care of each other among
Death Eaters. How very touching indeed.\'

With a slight wrenching of his stomach the werewolf
realized that the trouble Albus had already forseen
before the meeting even began was finally on its way,
momentarily banishing the horror a Death Eater attack
on a hospital represented to the Gryffindor\'s mind.
Without even looking at his friend, Remus could sense
how everything about Severus\'s aura changed within
the blink of an eye. Almost afraid of what he would find
there, the Gryffindor turned towards the spy again, only
to be completely taken aback by the degree of pure rage
screaming from the Slytherin\'s eyes. Gone were despair,
exhaustion and pain, and the brightly flaring, but
fortunately still wordless fury Severus\'s glance sent
Moody\'s way made Remus act immediately. He had
been on the receiving end of the spy\'s anger too often
not to know that he had to prevent Severus from losing
his temper if this meeting was not to end in total disaster.

Especially now that the target of Severus\'s rage was
Alastor Moody of all people.

Frantically hoping to distract the Slytherin\'s attention from
the Auror, Remus decided to resort to the issue which
had originally brought up the sudden open tension
between the spy and Mad Eye in the first place. And
which still needed some clarification, in his opinion.

\'Could all this not have been a trap as well, Severus? An
attempt to make you *think* Voldemort is planning an
attack on the hospital? If the Dark Lord really is not
entirely sure of your unconditional support for him, that
information was probably only bait to make us withdraw
defences from one place and transfer them to protect
St. Mungo\'s, exposing other possible targets in the
process. Hogwarts for example.\'

To the werewolf\'s great relief, the spy managed to tear
his stare from Moody and forced himself to face the
Gryffindor again. And as Severus shook his head in
denial as he began to speak, now in a much stronger
voice than before, Remus gratefully noticed how part of
the Slytherin\'s fury had begun to dissolve.

\'I\'m very sure that it was an honest warning, even though
I can, of course, not prove this to you at all. I\'m afraid you
will have to rely on my intutition here, but I\'m positive that
St. Mungo\'s will be one of the targets of Voldemort\'s
attacks today, and I also think that the Dark Lord is not
aware of his plans having been accidentally revealed to
the Order.\'

For a few moments, not a word was spoken. The air
seemed to quiver with the images of a hospital being
assaulted by Death Eaters, with the profound fear for
witches and wizards who had barely survived last night\'s
attacks and were now in St. Mungo\'s for treatment...only
to be helplessly exposed to the same enemies again
just one day later, along with all of the hospital\'s other
patients.

Nymphadora Tonks was the first whose voice broke
through the silence.

\'So what are we to make of all this?\'

As if on command, all faces turned to Albus, except for
those of Remus and the Slytherin, who both already
knew what the Headmaster was about to announce.

\'I am afraid that our options are rather limited as far as
our scope of action is concerned. We have already sent
a warning to St. Mungo\'s, and I\'m sure they\'ll be in need
of some more defenders, so that needs to be organized.
Furthermore, we have to be prepared for Voldemort to
attack the school, so there are steps to be taken on that
account as well.\'

Albus leaned back into his seat with a sigh, and again his
glance fell upon the Slytherin.

\'Severus and I have already agreed to his carrying out
his orders as he was told to - anything else would raise
Voldemort\'s suspicion. Severus will leave for St. Mungo\'s
in a few hours, and he will reveal the leak in the
anti-Apparation barrier should the Dark Lord ask him to
do so. He will receive his further orders and act upon
them as he sees fit.\' The Headmaster\'s blue eyes
surveyed the wizards and witches before him. \'Any
questions?\'

A cold fist closed around Remus\'s insides with a
freezing grip as Alastor\'s unmistakable voice rang
out at his right side again.

\'Only one question, Albus.\' Remus felt the scrutinizing
glance the Auror shot burning into his right temple, before
Moody turned towards the spy once more, who had fallen
back to fixing his gaze on the same spot on the floor
in front of him that he had stared at at the beginning of the
meeting. As he watched Severus, Alastor\'s intact eye
glittered with loathing, and when he spoke, coldness
seemed to make his voice crunch. \'Where were you last
night, Snape?\'

It didn\'t take a werewolf\'s keen senses to notice that the
Slytherin\'s entire body went rigid within a split-second

\'Alastor, I really don\'t think that...\'

\'No, Albus, not this time! I for my part think that we have
a right to know if the man that we all have to trust with
our lives has already done his share as far as killing for
Voldemort is concerned - or whether we have to be
prepared to be among his victims later today ourselves.\'

\'Tread lightly now, Alastor.\' Remus was a little surprised
at how much of the wolf\'s growl crept into his tones, how
distinctively the beast\'s first warning snarl already
coloured his voice, a snarl that announced that the animal
was prepared to defend a member of his pack that was
not able to fight for himself right now.

And one short glance at Severus had been enough to tell
him that the Slytherin would by no means be able to
summon the strength and composure again necessary to
stand up against the cold fury of the Auror, who apparently
did not intend to leave the spy alone. With both of his eyes
still fixed upon Severus\'s silent form, Moody\'s cold voice
dropped to a hoarse whisper.

\'Come on, Snape, tell us! Were you part of the attack on
the Auror training camp near Essex? Or on the dragon
keepers up in the Highlands? Or did you break into the
secret stockrooms of rare potions ingredients in Diagon
Alley...\'

Remus felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise,
and the hot prickling that ran over his entire body sent
each of his muscles and nerves into a state of alarm. His
mind seemed to be absolutely clear, though, no second
thoughts, no hesitation, only complete focus. Bright, clear
awareness of what to do, and that certainty made him
break into the Auror\'s speech again.

\'Moody, that’s more than enough!\'

The warning in his voice rang out loud and clear. He could
tell from the shock he felt emanating from most of the
persons in the room, the fright concerning the degree of
open hostility that had suddenly erupted between Alastor
and himself, of all people, but he didn\'t care about
anyone’s reaction to their imminent quarrel at the moment.
Remus had no idea if Moody was right, if Severus truly
had actively contributed to the death of some of the
wizards and witches who had lost their lives last night, but
he did not care about that at all. There was only one thing
relevant right now, and that was keeping Severus from
being violated further than he already had been during the
previous day. During the past weeks and months, during
the years that he had lived under his very own Sword of
Damocles that was the ritual. Nothing would make Remus
tolerate any further harm coming the Syltherin\'s way, not
if he was able to prevent it.

And his entire body, his dense aura, his burning eyes
and the unconcealed threat in his words radiated his
determination.

Still Moody made the mistake of ignoring the werewolf
completely and went on instead.

\'Tell me if all along we’ve been working with a killer...\'

Remus did not know what came first, his loudly slamming
both is his hands on the table in front of him or his
abruptly jumping to his feet, knocking over his chair in the
process. What he *had* realized was Moody wincing
visibly at the sudden confrontation, yet the Auror did not
shrink back in the least. There were clear signs of surprise
showing on his face, though, now that he finally, silently
faced the livid werewolf to his left. Remus couldn\'t quite
explain why, but the unbelieving astonishment written all
across the Auror\'s features fueled his anger even more.
It didn\'t matter, of course, that Moody had not the
slightest idea of what he, Remus, knew about Severus\'s
life, about his horrible condition, about his continuing
suffering and the abhorrent price that the spy would be
paying for a decision of his youth for the rest of his life.
It didn\'t matter that from his point of view, each and every
accusation Alastor had just confronted the Syltherin with
was absolutely justifiable.

There was only one thing relevant right now.

\'Stop. It.\'

The werewolf spat the two words in Alastor\'s direction
as if they were freshly ripped off pieces of bleeding flesh.
And he would have said more, was about to do so when
some movement he perceived out of the corner of his
eye made him turn.

Not a single drop of blood seemed to be left in Severus\'s
face. The fine slashes running over his cheeks and
forehead were gleaming brightly red against the perfect
whiteness of the spy\'s skin that was taughtly stretched
over the tense muscles of his lower jaw and the sharp
curve of his cheekbones. His lips an even thinner line
than usual, his hands shaking against the black cloth of
his robes, he stood before the chair he had just gotten
up from. The first of his steps swayed a bit, but with
each inch closer to the door he got, carefully avoiding
physical as well as eye-contact with anyone, the spy\'s
walk grew steadier and more secure.

He only looked up once on his way out of the
Headmaster\'s office. It was not an accidental glance
that Remus received when he made only the smallest
move to follow the Slytherin. It was one of the coldest
glares the werewolf had ever been hit by, out of eyes as
dark and hard as if they were made of black glass, and it
froze Remus in place immediately. The message that
look had borne could not have been any clearer, and
unlike other people in the room, the Gryffindor was
capable of recognizing and respecting warnings for what
they were.

But had it not been Severus himself telling him he
wanted to be left alone right now, nothing would have
held Remus in Albus\'s office when the door clicked shut
behind the Slytherin.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


The meeting didn’t last much longer afterwards, but
Remus had difficulty concentrating on how the
necessary tasks were distributed among them. His
role had been clear from the beginning; he would stay at
the school with a special emphasis on being there for
Harry - as one of the very few people left that Harry still
had unconditional confidence in, the upcoming events
would make him a precious refuge for the boy who had
not only lived, but was expected to fulfill the prophecy
soon as well.

As he listened to the others settling the few matters
which still needed clarification, the Gryffindor\'s anger
ebbed away almost as swiftly as it had erupted, and he
knew that before Alastor left to stand guard at the
Shrieking Shack, the two of them must have an
iluminating talk that hopefully would clear up things
between them. Remus did not regret anything he had
said or donhoughough, and if necessary, he knew
he would react exactly the same way again. Still he
understood that Alastor had his reasons for his own
fury as well, and it was not only Remus\'s respect for the
feelings of the Auror who had lost some very close
friends during last night\'s fights that led him to seek
reconciliation, but also his certainty that parting without
making peace would not help them at all in what was to
come.

Still, Alastor would have to wait a little while. For all the
werewolf’s honest intention to put things between
Moody and himself right again, there was something
far more important to him, and after Albus wished them
all good luck before closing the meeting, Remus didn’t
waste any time at all. Even if he had not caught the old
wizard\'s glance during the silent dispersal following the
meeting, even if he had not immediately recognized the
Headmaster\'s polite, but all the more urgent, request he
would have been on his way down to the dungeons by
now anyway.

There was another person that he still needed to talk to
more desperately than anything else, before the
madness finally, irrevocably began.


Author’s note:
Ha – chapter 19! We’re getting there...;o)

@Ilmare: I’m afraid Severus will not be able to enjoy his time at Hogwarts
for too long...poor him, there doesn’t seem to be any place *not* becoming
some kind of burden anymore.
As for Lucius and Severus – I can tell you as much: The two of them will not
meet again. So I think we will be left with our own interpretation about what
the one felt for the other - or not.

@ta: I *love* cliffhangers *grin*...only as long as I don’t have to read them
in some story, of course...;o)
I’m quite sure that Severus will do *anything* to never ever have to reveal the
ritual to Albus, so it’s quite likely that this story will end without the Headmaster
finding out. And maybe it’s better that way...imagine Albus being aware of the
fact that he himself more or less sent Severus to what was waiting for him...
*shudder*