Saving your life

“What are you doing here?” Snape asked as soon as she walked into his house.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” he asked, standing up and walking closer to her.

“What really happened with Dumbledore.”

“So you have already seen the memories,” he said.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she repeated.

“You never asked,” he answered simply.

“Would you have told me, if I had?” she asked, and he just shook his head.

“So what did they say?” he asked her then, wanting to change the subject.

“They want you to meet them at Grimmauld Place.”

“Why there?”

“Some of the members didn’t want to let you in our new headquarters.”

“And what did they tell you about what they saw in the memories?”

“Harry was furious,” she said, laughing bitterly. “I told him it wasn’t you I’d been meeting all this time.”

“And did he believe you?”

“I don’t know. Why did you want me to tell them that?” she finally asked.

“Now they’ve seen the memories and know it’s me, there’s a chance I can get back to the Order, but if they refuse, if they still don’t believe me, then it would appear you had betrayed them.”

“You are worried about what they think of me?” she asked, amused.

“If that happened, how would I pass information to the Order?” he asked matter-of-factly.

“Oh,” she muttered, and looked away.

“And what did the others say?”

“Most of them were too shocked to say anything. It was Kingsley’s idea to ask you to meet them at Grimmauld Place.

“He must have been surprised at what he saw.”

“I guess, but he didn’t show it. And he helped me with Harry and Ron too, they were so mad.”

“So he helped you, did he? That was very nice of him,” he said, stepping closer to her.

“Well, yes, it was,” she muttered confused.

“What’s with you and Kingsley?” he finally asked, slowly walking her back against the wall.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he seemed quite protective last night, every time your name was mentioned. And I noticed the way he looks at you,” he whispered, his hand cupping her face, and a finger tracing her lower lip, “the way he talks to you.”

“Jealous?” she asked, with a sly smile.

“Cheeky witch,” he muttered, and kissed her hungrily. His hands roamed her body as he pushed her against the wall, making her moan.

“We should get going,” he muttered breathlessly after a few moments, and stepped back.

“They can wait,” she breathed, and tried to pull him closer again, but he just took another step back.

“Kingsley wouldn’t be happy,” he said, turning away from her and moving to the door, and she sighed, but before he could say anything else, he felt the Dark Mark on his arm burn.

“He’s calling me. Wait here, it won’t take long,” he told her, just as he hurriedly stepped out of the house and Apparated to their headquarters.

He was surprised to find so many Death Eaters there, but he just searched the place, looking for his Master.

“Severus,” Voldemort muttered as he walked in, and then turned back to Bellatrix. He waited patiently for a few moments, until his Master was done with the witch.

“Follow me,” he ordered, and walked into an empty room.

“Any news from your witch?” he asked as soon as the door was closed and warded.

“I was with her. I am to meet some Order members.”

“Why?”

“She has been talking to them. There is a chance I can join the Order again,” he said, noticing his Master’s eyes brighten.

“That would be very good. How will you explain Dumbledore’s death?”

“I told her Dumbledore had it all planed, but didn’t go into any detail. Having known the manipulative fool, they probably wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Good. When are you meeting them?”

“I was about to go there when you called me, Master.”

“Do you know where their new headquarters are?”

“No. We are meeting somewhere else.”

“I need them to take the Death Eaters they captured to Azkaban.”

“I already tried it once, Master, and they refused. I don’t think they will do it now either.”

“The Dementors are finally joining us, and they will release all the prisoners before they do so. I want my men there when it happens.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“I want you to spy on them again, Severus. I don’t trust the witch and don’t want her involved in this. Make sure they take you back.”

“I will have to give them something, Master.”

“Tell them about Diggins spying for us in the Department of Games and Sports. He doesn’t know anything important about us, and his information lately has been useless.”

“Anything else, Master?”

“No. Go now, and come back when you are done. I want to know what they tell you.”

“Yes, Master,” he said, bowing, before leaving again.


“What happened?” she asked worriedly as soon as he walked back inside his house.

“He just wanted news from the Order, to know what they are planning.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“What I tell him every time, Miss Granger; nothing important,” he said curtly.

“The others are waiting,” she muttered, clearly upset by his tone, and walked out of the house.

“You are right, let’s go,” he said, following her, taking her hand, and Apparating them both to Grimmauld Place.

He opened the door and waited for Hermione to walk inside before following her. The room fell silent the moment they stepped in, and everybody turned to face them. He took a moment to look at the members present before sitting at the empty side of the table, in front of everyone else. He was sure they had decided on the sitting arrangement to make him feel uncomfortable, but they were just wasting their time.

He leaned back on his chair comfortably and raised an eyebrow, waiting for them to talk.

“You wanted to see me?” he asked calmly after a few moments.

“You bastard,” Harry hissed, and looked at him hatefully.

“We asked you to come here to explain what we saw in the memories,” Kingsley said.

“I don’t think it needs explaining, I believe it was quite clear.”

“If what we saw was true, then why didn’t you say something before?” Kingsley asked. Everyone else stayed in silence.

“None of you would have believed me. After that night, you would have tried to kill me on sight, and I would regret being forced to kill you,” he said, the last part with a sneer.

“Then why do you want to come back now? Are you already tired of torturing and killing innocent people?” Harry asked angrily.

“You certainly didn’t seem to mind having me around the other night at Diagon Alley, when Bellatrix Lestrange was about to kill you, Potter. But then again, you were probably too preoccupied with hiding and gaping at her to notice much.”

“It was you?” he asked, looking surprised.

“You said you had questions about what you saw,” he said in a bored tone, turning to Kingsley.

“Why now? Why try to contact us now?”

“Because you clearly need the information I can provide. I helped you capture many dangerous Death Eaters in the last weeks, after all.”

“So it was you? Yu were the one working with Hermione?” Ron asked, horrified, turning to his friend and looking at her accusingly. “How could you do this?” he asked her.

“I wasn’t working with Miss Granger, Mister Weasley,” he said before Hermione could answer. “We were simply both working with the same person.”

“Who?”

“You still need to learn to mind your own business, Mister Weasley. The person we have been working with wishes to remain anonymous.”

“You are just a traitor, this is all a lie. What you showed us was a lie.”

“I happen to know, Potter that you have seen more stored memories than you should have. As incompetent as you might be, I’m sure you can at least recognize a memory that has been tampered with. Everything you saw was true.”

“I don’t care what you say, Snape. You are a traitor and a murderer. And you,” he yelled, turning to Hermione, “I can’t believe you. He is the reason my parents are dead, the reason Sirius is dead, and he even killed Dumbledore himself. What on earth were you thinking?!” with that, he got up and strode to the door, glaring at everyone on his way. Before he had even reached the door, Ron was already up behind him, and with a sigh, Hermione followed both her friends out.

“Would you mind leaving us for a few moments?” Kingsley asked the remaining members, and with a little fussing, they walked out as well.

“So you were the one I met last night,” the Auror asked him calmly, after warding the room and Severus simply nodded.

“Were the memories real?”

“Yes.”

“What had happened to Dumbledore, why was he dying?”

“You saw the memories; I won’t say anything else about it.”

“So you were at Diagon Alley during the attack?” Kingsley asked then.

“Just for a few minutes.”

“You saved Harry from Bellatrix, and you were the one that sent Ron to St. Mungo’s when he was injured,” he said, and Severus just nodded again.

“That means Hermione knew who you were. And she lied to us to protect you.”

“She didn’t know who I was,” he lied quickly, surprised by the question.

“All this time, someone as intelligent as her, and you say she didn’t know? I’m not sure I can believe that,” he said sceptically.

“You can believe anything you like, I honestly don’t care, and that’s not what I’m here for.”

“And what are you here for?”

“Like you said last night, it would probably be better if we kept Miss Granger out of this. If I could pass the information directly to the Order it would make things much easier.”

“And your friend?”

“What about him?”

“If you joined the Order again, he could do the same.”

“That will not be necessary.”

“So what happens now?” Kingsley asked.

“I have to go to the Dark Lord, tell him I got back into the Order, and then it will be like before all of this happened.”

“This doesn’t mean we trust you.”

“You didn’t trust me before either, and I don’t need your trust. We want the same things, even if it is for different reasons; we just have to work together.”

“Harry will be a problem.”

“He always is,” he simply answered, as he stood up.

“I will talk to the others, but if they don’t want you back, there’s not much I can do.”

“I am sure you will be able to convince them, especially if you are as concerned for Miss Granger’s safety as you seem to be. Working with spies can be very dangerous,” he said, as he walked to the door.

“Oh, before I forget,” he said, turning back to Kingsley for a moment. “Do you know Diggins, from the Department of Games and Sports?

“Yes.”

“He’s spying for us,” he finished, and then turned back and opened the door.

As he stepped out of the room, he saw Ron, Harry and Hermione whispering heatedly in one corner of the library; the rest of the Order members were just standing by the entrance, talking to each other and seemingly waiting for him to walk out.

They all fell silent the moment they noticed him, some looking curious, others angry, but he couldn’t care less. He needed to talk to Hermione again, but he knew that was probably not the best time, so he simply walked past them with one of his famous sneers and left, without even saying good night.

“Severus, you didn’t take long. What happened?” his Master asked as soon as he saw him.

“Maybe we should discuss this in private,” he suggested, looking at Bellatrix, sitting nearby and looking at them.

“Nonsense,” Voldemort answered dismissively. “I want to know what happened.”

“I told them what I had told the girl, and then about Diggins too. They want some time to discuss it, and to make sure the information I gave them is real. Some of them are a bit reluctant, but I think they can be convinced.”

“So when will you know?”

“We arranged another meeting in a week.”

“Then the break out from Azkaban will have to wait. Stay in touch with the witch, ask her to tell you what they discuss and decide, before the week is over.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Go now, I have important attacks to plan.”