Strong Enough

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Heres the next one!

She owns em, I don\'t!

CH 2 CAST NO SHADOW

Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say,
Chained to all the places that he never wished to stay,
Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say,
As he faced the sun he cast no shadow

- Cast no shadow, Oasis

Severus Snape was in a foul mood.

He was tired, his whole body was shaking with the after effects of the cruiatus curse, Voldemort\'s meetings were coming so thick and fast that he wasn\'t fully prepared for the start of term the next day and now he had a meeting with Dumbledore about the previous nights death eater \'activity\" in which he had received the curse which led to his shaking.

\"Cola cubes\" He snarled at the stone gargoyle, which guarded the entrance to the Headmasters office.
The gargoyle jumped aside and Snape strode up the stairs to the office to find Dumbledore pouring two cups of tea.

\"Ah Severus, right on time\" Dumbledore smiled warmly at the younger man who he and Minerva had come to think of as a son over the years.

Severus huffed and sunk down into one of the comfy armchairs. \"Do you think we could make this a quick meeting Albus? Only I am very tired and I would like to catch up on some sleep before dinner\"

Dumbledore looked at him closely, concerned, noticing the shaking \"Have you been to see Poppy? You know she can give you something for that\"

Snape managed to get the shaking under control and glared at the headmaster \"I am well aware of that Headmaster, seeing as it is I who makes Poppy\'s potions, but I will be fine as soon as I can get some sleep\"

Dumbledore sighed \"Well let\'s make this brief then, did you learn anything more about Voldemorts attempts to take over the school?\"

\"Only that we may have some time, I overheard some of them talking about a big event around graduation which I think is the most likely scenario, they will need time to make sure everything is perfect but knowing Voldemort it could be anytime really, he isn\'t best known for his patience, and as you can see I\'m still not trusted a hundred percent\"

Dumbledore peered over his glasses at him \"I think it only fair to warn you Severus that I have called for a small group of Aurors to come in undercover as teaching aides to monitor the school and any unusual activity\"

Severus jumped to his feet, fatigue forgotten \"Have you gone mad, Voldemort will find this out and when he does he will either know that I have betrayed him and have me killed or find out that I withheld this information and have me killed, either way I end up killed!\"

Severus\'s face had completely drained of what little colour it had and he was breathing hard.
It wasn\'t his own death he feared, he had come to realise a long time ago that he was living on borrowed time and secretly thought that he didn\'t even deserve that after all the terrible things he had done.He feared for everyone else.
He couldn\'t protect anyone dead, and although he was still a mean, cold-hearted bastard to most people, there were some who he cared about, who he considered friends, family, like Albus, who had taken him in and given him a job when he could have just turned him in to the ministry, and Minerva, whom he admired and respected, not least for her ability to manage to stay a loving companion to Albus all these years and still stay sane, but most of all the students.

He took a few moments to consider the children in his care. Yes they made his life a misery on a daily basis and for the most part he disliked them immensely, but after all he\'d seen and done over the years he couldn\'t bear to see any kind of harm come to them, not that he would ever let another living soul know that.

\"Severus calm down, it is ok. I want this information to get back to Voldemort and if it is you who delivers this news then it might just get you back into his good graces, which, judging by the looks of you, we could do with\"

Severus narrowed his eyes \"Why on earth do you want him to know this information? Does the ministry know this is a set up? And more to the point what\'s to say he doesn\'t just assume it was me who gave you the information about his plans to attack the school in the first place?\"

\"Severus, my dear boy, do you really think that you are the only spy working for the light? I had actually sent for the Aurors before you gave me the information about the plans for the school, and I know Voldemort has ways of finding that out, you have no reason to fear for your life anymore than usual, and for the record, no, the ministry does not know that Voldemort will have this information so soon\" At Snape\'s questioning look \"You know I cannot tell you who the other spies are, just as I cannot tell those who do not already know about you\"

Snape shook his head \"I\'ve got a very bad feeling about this Albus, what ever you are planning, there is so much potential for th to to go wrong\"

Dumbledore stood and walked to the window, looking out at the night sky \"Life is a gamble Severus, and as much as I do not like gambling with lives I can see no alternative this time. This war has gone on long enough and now it is time for the final battle to start. Please do not ask me anymore as it may only endanger the mission\"

They were quite for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts. Severus, thinking about how this terrible war would end. Albus, thinking about Severus.He considered the man in front of him.

He remembered him as a boy, always alone, always studying, always angry at the world.He remembered the night Severus had taken the mark after falling in with Lucius Malfoy and his cohorts. He remembered Severus coming to him, bloody and sobbing asking for death to stop the pain and keep him away from Voldemort
And then years later recalling what he had found at the Grangers house when he could not stop the massacre,

And he remembered the day that she had graduated and left Hogwarts.
Oh outwardly Severus looked the same as he watched her leave but Albus could see in his eyes a myriad of emotions and understood them all,

Fear: that harm would come to her, Helplessness: that he could do nothing to prevent it, Anger: that they could not go five minutes in the same room anymore without tempers flaring and being at each other\'s throat.

But most of all he saw Admiration: for this girl turned woman who had matched him in everything he had thrown at her and was still standing.

Albus did not know whether Severus had ever realised any of this, but he knew the coming months were going to be very hard for him. For them both.

Severus jerked upwards, he had nearly fallen asleep in the comfortable silence of the room.
He stood and straightened himself up, turning to go he addressed Dumbledore, \"Just one question headmaster and then I really must retire for the afternoon. Who exactly is coming here to \"protect\" us and please god don\'t let it be Potter and Weasley as I don\'t think my fragile mind could take it?\"

Dumbledore chuckled softly and gave a small smile that did not reach his eyes \"Close Severus, very close, but no the ministry are not sending Mssrs Potter and Weasley to us, not yet anyway\"

Snapes eyes went wide as the implications of what the headmaster was saying sunk in \"You don\'t mean..\'

\"Yes Severus. Miss Grangers team will be here by dinner\"

Authors notes:

Hope you like it, and I promise I am going somewhere with this. I will update soon if you like it and let me know!!