Disclaimer: The characters and places in this story are all the property of JK Rowling. I have merely borrowed them and given them my own little twist.
Isolation
Severus Snape waited until Madam Pomfrey had turned the corner before stepping out of the shadows and entering the hospital wing.
As Headmaster of the school he found it rather ironic that he was doing as much sneaking around the corridors as the underground resistance known as Dumbledore's Army were.
He quickly crossed through the room, making sure to remain as quiet as he could so as not to disturb the sleep of the half dozen students who were already tucked up in bed. He hesitated as one of the second year students turned fitfully in her sleep, a soft cry on despair escaping from her lips.
When he was sure that she wasn't going to wake he continued on his way and let himself into Madam Pomfrey's office, closing the door behind him.
He estimated that he had around five minutes before she returned with the two fourth year boys the Carrows had been disciplining tonight. He quickly opened her store cupboard and took careful stock of the supplies. She was running short on several essential potions that she would need to restore the students to health over the coming months.
Some of the students were becoming adept at the cruciatus curse at an alarmingly fast rate. Snape could clearly see that the supplies were inadequate for the numbers that would soon need administering as things continued to escalate.
He knew that Horace Slughorn was more than capable of brewing the required potions but he didn't know whether his former teacher and colleague knew how fast the stock would deplete in the coming weeks.
He briefly considered whether he should mention the matter to Horace, Madam Pomfrey or both of them. He discarded the notion as soon as it came to him; now more than ever he had to play his part and it wouldn't do to be seen to be openly showing concern for the students.
His decision was made before he left the hospital wing. He'd make sure that the potions Madam Pomfrey needed the most were continually stocked. He just had to make sure that no one knew that it was he who was restoring her supplies. As harassed as she was starting to look these days, he decided to take the chance that she'd not notice the depleting stocks were being replaced for some time…if at all. And if she ever did notice then he'd have to take Horace aside and implant in him the memory that he'd been restoring the potions for her. He hoped it wouldn't come to that but he'd been charged with protecting the students under his care and he'd do whatever he could to ensure their safety.
He arrived in the dungeons a short time later and set to work. At this late hour he knew that Horace was unlikely to disturb him as he worked, and even if he did he knew that one look from himself would quell any questions the older man had.
Two hours later he'd finished his work and left the room in the same state he'd found it. It wasn't quite as clean and tidy as he'd have liked, but it was left in the same state as he had found it.
He wondered, not for the first time, whether it would be worth suggesting to the Carrows that at least a few of the students in detention might have their time put to better use by doing some cleaning around the various parts of the school. He'd already overheard Hagrid discussing with Minerva McGonagall the strain of his own duties as both Gamekeeper and a teacher and knew that he was missing the extra help that students in detention could sometimes provide.
He was also aware that despite Mr Filch's glee at the thought of the old torturous punishments he was grateful to have students taking some of the cleaning chores off of his shoulders.
Of course Snape knew better than to use either of these arguments with the Carrows; the welfare of a half-breed or a squib was something they'd give no consideration to at all.
He knew that all he could do was to keep an eye out for troublemakers himself and punish them in the regular methods. He was the only member of staff who didn't have to refer students to the Carrows for punishment.
He passed the doors to the hospital wing without stopping. There was a light still on and he knew that he'd have to wait for another opportunity to slip into the storeroom with the extra supplies.
He continued along the corridors, his mind lost in thoughts of happier times spent at the school. He passed the corridor leading to the staff room remembering how, less than a year ago he'd spent pleasant evenings there with the other Professors. Loathe as he was to admit it, even to himself, he missed their company; he'd never felt more isolated than he had since the night he'd faced Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower.
Thinking of his predecessor, Severus quickened his pace as he made his way back to Dumbledore's…no his…office.
He arrived to find that the staircase was accessible which was the first sign he had that something was wrong. The second was the sound of whispering voices from above, voices that were, if he were not very much mistaken, those of Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood.
He walked silently up the staircase and met the trio half just beyond the halfway point.
Luna was the first to notice him and her tiny squeak of alarm alerted the others. Neville spun round to face him with a look of horror on his face whilst Ginny seemed more concerned with secreting something under her robe.
"As students who have all been here for some years, I assume you would know by now that this tower is neither that of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw."
He pointed back up the staircase and the three students turned and marched back up to the office.
Snape closed the door behind him and indicated to the three trespassers to sit down. He kept his eyes closely on Ginny and noted at once her uneasy movements as she tried to comply with his order without revealing what it was she was hiding.
He glanced around the room and saw the broken and empty case where the sword of Godric Gryffindor was normally stored.
"The sword, if you please Miss Weasley." Snape's voice was quiet but he knew that she would comply with his order. If the students had been scared of him before…they were terrified now that he was their Headmaster.
Ginny removed the sword and placed it on the desk. There was a sullen look on her face, mingled with disappointment and resignation.
Snape chanced a glance at Dumbledore as he walked round the desk to take his seat opposite the three thieves. He knew instinctively that Dumbledore knew exactly why they had tried to steal the sword and he was sure he detected a faint look of pride in his face as he looked down into the room. So it appeared there was something else that Dumbledore had failed to take him into his confidence about. He tried not to feel the sharp stab of pain…he knew that Dumbledore had trusted him with everything he had felt that he could.
"Thieving from the Headmaster, disgraceful!" Phineas declared from his portrait, his sentiments echoed by some of the other former Heads around the room. Snape didn't need to look at him to know that Dumbledore remained silent. From the looks on the faces of the students they had also noted Dumbledore's lack of comment and appeared to be taking it as a promising sign.
"For what purpose were you taking the sword?" Snape asked.
As expected they remained tight-lipped and gave nothing away.
"Did you have a specific reason for stealing this sword? Did you perhaps hope to deliver it to Harry Potter?" Their reaction, slight though it was told him instantly that he'd been right.
"Do you know where Potter is?" he continued.
"No," Ginny replied. Her answer was swift and firm and he believed her instantly. Of course it made her own actions rather pointless since if they didn't know where Harry was they would have no real chance of getting the sword to him.
"So it merely a prank to prove the bravery of Gryffindors?" He deliberately cast his eyes over Luna to emphasise that he didn't believe this to be the case.
Neville and Ginny exchanged a quick glance before the latter spoke up again.
"Yes, it was just a prank," she said, giving a far too casual shrug of her shoulders.
Snape didn't believe her but was relieved she had taken the out that he'd given them. He waited in silence for several long minutes, watching them fidget in their seats. He tried to recall which teachers would be most grateful for the assistance of three students in detention. It would help matters if every member of staff besides the Carrows didn't clam up every time he came into the room. He contemplated Slughorn's increasingly messy Dungeon and Hagrid's chores in the Forbidden Forest. He knew which it had to be, even as he knew what their reactions would be.
He stood up and turned his back on the trio as he told them they would be given detentions which would be spent in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid. When he judged that they had had enough time to compose their faces so as not to look too pleased with their luck he turned back to them and gestured them towards the door.
They had only reached halfway across the room when Dumbledore's voice drew him to a halt.
"Perhaps a more secure place for the sword of Godric Gryffindor should be arranged?" Dumbledore suggested. "Gringotts perhaps?"
Snape looked at Dumbledore with confusion before hurrying the students from the room.
"What was that all about?" Snape asked once he was alone in the room, with only the portraits to hear him.
"We need to keep the sword safe until it can be delivered to Harry in the appropriate manner," Dumbledore advised. "If the students believe it is somewhere outside of Hogwart's they won't try to take it for him again."
Snape wasn't surprised to have it confirmed that they were after the sword for Potter and not themselves. He'd gathered as much himself. He was about to ask why Potter needed the sword when he realised that Dumbledore had not finished speaking.
"You'll recall that Ginny's eldest brother works at Gringotts. He'll be able to confirm it's there if she enquires."
"But if the sword is in Gringotts then how do you expect it to get to Potter?" Snape asked. "He must be moving around or he'd have been caught by now. If the sword is in Gringotts then the time wasted retrieving it will give him time to move again if we discover where he is."
"Oh we won't send the real sword to Gringotts," Dumbledore replied with a chuckle. "We'll send a copy. You should be able to make one within a few days."
"Won't the goblins notice that the copy isn't their own work?" Snape pointed out.
"Of course they will," Dumbledore replied. "But I don't imagine they'd bother you with that information." He chuckled again. "Meanwhile we'll keep the original out of sight here. Anyone who hears that the sword in Gringotts is a fake will merely believe that you have been duped and that Harry has already managed to secure the sword from right under your nose."
Snape snorted at the idea before recalling that Potter and his friends had managed to secure other items from his personal stores over the years without a great deal of difficulty. The story would be believed…that was the important thing.
"Never mind Severus," chuckled Dumbledore. "Your reputation will, I'm sure, be restored eventually."