Standard disclaimers apply. Anybody who sues me proves himself that he is an utterly stupid dumbass who cannot think.

Summary: Contrary to what others presumably know or think, Professor Severus Snape is not a spy but the employer of spies. And also contrary to what other people think, Albus Dumbledore is really manipulative bastard more than genial omnipotent old coot he's made himself to be.

Silver, Mercury and Moonlight are not the color of a spy's cloak

Astral Fou-lu

"Severus…you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready…if you are prepared…"

"I am."

The next day.

The short exchange of words between Professor Severus Snape and Dumbledore jarred him so much to the extent that he had to take a potion of Dreamless Sleep before going to bed last night.

And now, faced with the usual image of students scribbling down potion ingredients like meek lambs (for the slaughter, as Severus would say), he had to put on the mask of indifference, not letting himself have the liberty to put down his defenses and think about the matter, no, Quest for the Grail that was waiting for him as the term ends. More like the Death March, Snape thought sourly as he stopped scribbling. He barked a few hasty instructions to follow what was written in the blackboard and excused himself from the class for a short while.

Snape sped his way up to the astronomy tower where he was to meet an important pawn of Dumbledore's, he had half-expected it to be Lupin or Sirius Black, but chances are slim; the two were away risking their wizard-length lifespans to walk the tightrope above the lion's pit for Dumbledore. Severus was uncertain if they were to return in functioning shape: Albus Dumbledore was, as far as Severus Snape was concerned, a manipulative bastard. In no any genial way.

Slightly panting, Severus got hold of the railing in the wind-swept balcony of the Astronomy Tower and let it support his weight for a while. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see one of his spies perched precariously on the other side of the railing, his legs dangling in the air with the solid ground almost waiting for him to fall, almost a mile below.

"Getting older, Professor Snape?" the younger man leapt up and walked over to his master, but he was about to offer his arm when Severus pushed them out of the way, albeit gently.

"No need of that, Emeliore," Snape took five seconds to regain his regal composure. Emeliore appraised his employer's default stance, veiled admiration and non-patronizing respect in his eyes. As he was slightly (yes, slightly) flattered that somebody who had obviously better physical faculties than he had would ever admire him the way Emeliore had, he could not help himself but express displeasure at the sight of blood dripping from Emeliore's silver sword sheath.

"I told you, man of Frost, that you should avoid killing people. Whether they be enemies nor allies," Severus reprimanded Emeliore, eyes steely.

Ice-blue met his beetle-black stare. "Master," Emeliore began, his soft voice insinuating into the chilly air despite the cacophony of the gale, "it was necessary. Avery and some other lackey of that You-Know-Who-Should-Get-His-Ass-Whipped should be eliminated. There was no other way, if only you had sent my cousin then she would have performed the Memory Charm…you do well know that I am not a wizard."

"And Albus Dumbledore would probably get around it with his deviant stories and his equally fictional self," Severus spat, fully recovering his composure and his venom. "You know the bat will do everything to make himself look like the bloody saint nailed on the cross. You know that he wants the Wizarding Community's sympathy all to himself. We should be careful, Emeliore of Frost, that we should not spoonfeed Dumbledore opportunities to make himself look pure as the shade of white."

Emeliore, unfazed, only shrugged. "Then that would make him the filthiest shade of white," Combing a hand through his long, luxurious blue mane, he pulled a strand and gave it to Severus.

"What will I do with this?" Severus asked, incredulous, but took the lone strand of hair anyway.

"Tell Draco that if ever he should want to murder Dumbledore by himself, he could make a Polyjuice potion in my image," Emeliore climbed the railing and stood up, ramrod straight. "save Harry Potter from the clutches of the wicked old hag…poor Harry."

"I agree." Severus turned away to go back inside the tower and at the same time, Emeliore of Frost let himself be taken by the wind and returned to his Land of Ice.

It is our job, though, to make the Gryffindor House look pure, Snape thought as he swept away to the inner bowels of the dungeon. That way I can reclaim what is rightfully mine.

Handling the vial of mercury carefully and tipping it over the cauldron of Wolfsbane, Severus did not even flinch the slightest when a soft knock resounded through his office from the door.

"Enter," he said, voice sinuous and almost dripping with what could be compared to cream.

Seventh-year Hermione Granger peeped into the room. "You rang, sir?'

Rolling his eyes at a purposefully bad joke Snape put down the now-empty vial and with a free hand beckoned Hermione to enter. His greeting of choice was the question: "How are your acting skills?"

"Well," Hermione thought about her question as she climbed onto a stool nearby where Snape was working, "I didn't need to do some acting that much, everything is chaos about the Dark Lord. 'Oooh,' they would scream. 'Dark Lord this and Dark Lord that," she said, almost whining. "And I still could not get over with that remark about my teeth."

Snape mock-smiled and said, almost consolingly, "It's in the contract."

"Do not patronize me, Slytherin scum."

"Ten points-"

"-from Gryffindor," Hermione finished for him instead. She very well knew that if were any student other than her who had insulted Snape like that, it would be instant expulsion. "Could you get a more…innovative defense mechanism?" Knowing by the smell alone that Snape was preparing a Revealing Potion, she went ahead and ground some cicadas.

"Did you know that cicadas are eaten in Vietnam?" Snape asked, casually, as he saw that his prized student (and spy) was helping him. He thought that an exchange of trivia would be enough for the girl who craved knowledge.

He would be sorely disappointed. "I just watched about it on Discovery Channel," Hermione said artlessly. "Joys of cable television."

Silence.

After what seemed to be fifteen minutes, Hermione broke the silence. "I brought a new pensieve, as usual."

Snape interpreted what she had said, judging from her tone of voice, Doesn't this destroy you? Would you be okay?

"It cannot be helped," Snape said curtly. "I did so much already. I could not risk what we had accomplished and also the lives involved."

That was enough for Hermione. "Give me your current pensieve, then."

Moments later Severus and Hermione sat on the cold floor across each other, two pensieves betweem them. Severus looked pensive through his eyes but his composure never betrayed his anxiety. Hermione was tapping her wand, collecting her strength for the spell.

"Are you ready," Hermione whispered, finally.

"Yes," Severus answered without a beat.

Hermione promptly pointed towards the wizard's head with her wand, transfigured into a sharp ice-pick for the purpose, and rammed it straight into his brain. Hermione whispered an incoherent spell and yanked back her wand/ice-pick, taking along with it his memories and threw it into Severus' current pensieve.

Hogwarts would have been filled with the screams of a man if not for the Silencing spell.

Reviews are extremely welcome.