On a cold, dark, normal street at 11 pm precisely, a group of people were whispering conspicuously,

'Quick, no one's around, let's do it!'

'Where's my wand gone?'

'Are you sure? I swear I just saw number three's curtains twitching.'

'I can't find my wand.'

'What do you mean you can't find your wand? You had it a second ago!'

'I can't find it!'

'The lights are out, the muggles are gonna start getting suspicious soon, we have to hurry...'

'I wouldn't worry. They'll probably think it was the Ginembus Thraits again. They're always cutting off muggle power supplies.'

'Or you could just hit them with a confundus charm if you see one'

'The Muggles or the Ginembus Thraits?'

'Guys I still can't find my wand...'

'Get a grip Neville, it's sticking out of your pocket!'

'Oh, thanks Ron.'

'It's now or never'

'Will you lot shut up, you're going to let him know we're here.'

'Honestly, you wouldn't think we'd been planning this for months now.'

'Yes, hurry up already, someone's going to see us!'

'Let's get on with it!'

'Before He knows we're here. Tonks?' Harry turned towards the witch sporting bubblegum pink hair.

'Right follow me everyone, remember, 'constant vigilance' as Alastor would say, although he doesn't seem to have heeded his own advice very well, what with being locked up in his own trunk for the best part of a year...'

'Tonks!'

'Right, right! As I was saying, you know the drill, we've practised it enough times. Here we go kids, on the count of three, one two THREE!' Tonks, raised her wand and shot out three short bursts of light as a signal to the rear guard staking out the back of the house and led the charge up the front path of the final abode of the row of terraces collectively known as Spinners End.

The front door was blasted off its hinges by a jet of green light and the group charged straight through into the shabby living room- the empty, shabby living room. They all stood panting warily, wands raised at the ready for any sudden movement. Suddenly, the bookcase directly opposite the door was blasted open, revealing not the target of this mission, but an out of breath werewolf and a cursing Auror.

Moody stomped into the room, barking obscenities as he advanced towards the others, who lowered their wands as they recognised his unmistakable profile, 'Gone! Scarped, the no good lying rat! We had him! Lupin cornered him. But then he loosened his grip after we heard his sob story and he was off in a flash. Wouldn't have happened if I'd caught him the filthy little...'

'You let Snape get away? He could be anywhere by now! He's gotten away with it again! He killed Dumbledore!!! Am I the only person who remembers that?' The boy-who-lived's voice was sharp and full of unbridled anger.

Since witnessing Dumbledore's death, he had been obsessed with hunting down the man he hated almost as much as Voldemort and there was nothing any of his nearest and dearest could do to appease his rage. It was Harry who insisted they keep trying to locate Snape, Harry, not Hermione, who had staked out the Hogwarts library looking for locator spells and Harry who had finally found what he was looking for in the restricted section in a book called 'A Dish Served Cold'. It was Harry who had painstakingly combed through the former Potion Masters classroom and study for a full two weeks looking for the required trace amounts of hair and blood to add to the required locator spell. Years of playing the double agent as well as his profession had made Snape particularly careful about that sort of thing. A single strand of hair if placed in the wrong hands could be enough to kill you. At least this was what Harry hoped. He had shown enormous patience waiting for the potion to brew, another precious fortnight lost. He had shown even more fortitude by taking his discovery to the Order and letting Tonks and Moody plan and lead the assault. He held his tongue when they insisted that the assault would be more successful with more people and had even suggested using some of the better and more loyal members of the DA to do this. He had waited patiently as the seeds of the plan were formed and the designated night of the attack rolled around, all the while, the desire for revenge stirring in his heart until he could hear it's presence with its every beat, each breath he took seemed to countdown to the lusted after moment. And now, finally, the chance for him to exact his revenge on the hated Snape, the man who had made his life a misery since he was 11 years old, the man who was directly responsible for his mother and father's deaths, the man who murdered Dumbledore, the man who had made Voldemort his mortal enemy, had slipped away because Lupin was a soft touch. He could feel the hate welling up inside him, could feel it distorting his features as he glared at Moody's companion.

'No, not Snape Harry.' Remus Lupin raised his hand in a calming gesture that had no effect on Harry's temper whatsoever. 'Peter Pettigrew. Apparently he's been hiding out here for some time on the orders of the Dark Lord. He said he hasn't seen Snape in weeks, months! Not since the night Dumbeldore died.'

'A likely story indeed!' Scoffed Moody

'I believe him,' Remus turned to Moody, whose magical eye was spinning round and round at a frenetic pace. 'Before all this, I knew Peter Pettigrew, and I know when he is lying and when he is telling the truth.'

'You didn't know when Black was though did ya?' Growled Moody 'He went to Azkaban for 13 years before your lie detecting abilities were proved right!'

'That's not fair Alastor! No one knew abut Sirius, not even you! Pettigrew fooled us all' Interjected Tonks

'Well what makes ya think he hasn't done it again hmm?'

'That's enough!' Everyone stopped and turned towards the speaker. Hermione Granger stood with her hands on her hips glaring at everyone who dared meet her eyes. 'This doesn't really matter right now. What matters is Snape obviously isn't here and after tonight he's not likely to come back. I know we all wanted to catch him and make him pay for what he did to Dumbledore but that's not going to happen tonight so we should all stop attacking each other about it! So let's just take the opportunity to look around and find any clues which might lead us to him in the future. Alright?' She raised an eyebrow as she glanced around at her companions. 'Agreed then.' She nodded her bushy head as everyone started to silently move around the book lined room searching for a better understanding into the mind which was Severus Snape.

Harry wandered over to a rickety end table upon which several old and well-read looking books were stacked precariously at opposing angles. Neville jumped violently backwards into him, sending the tower of books tumbling to the ground as the bookcase he was inspecting swung open to reveal a concealed stone staircase. A soft, yellow light shone from somewhere at the bottom of the stairs, illuminating the figure standing upon them.

Ten wands simultaneously pointed at the girl dressed in a heavy winter coat holding a plate of sandwiches in one hand and a glass of pumpkin juice in the other. She starred open mouthed at the group for a second before promptly dropping the plate and glass to the floor. 'Who the bloody hell are you?' She demanded from behind her wand.