"You cannot possibly believe that it would be a good idea to send only two aurors for protection."
"What you don't understand is that for the mechanics of the mission to work, more would be dangerous."
It was Potter against Dumbledore...again. The kitchen of Grimmauld Place where the Order conducted their meetings had become a war room. The two men seated at opposite sides of the long wooden table argued vigorously. It had started as a belated teenage rebellion on Potter's part, a refusal to accept the absolute control of the man who had dictated his life since he was a baby.
The Order members watched one man and then the other, following the verbal battle.
But Severus' attention was elsewhere.
He watched her from across the table as the Order meeting droned on and on. What a waste, he though. What a fucking waste. After graduating Hogwarts, she had been accepted to the most exclusive wizarding university.
Dankenwald was known for only accepting purebloods. In recent years, they had loosened their policies a little, only making exceptions for extremely exceptional students. He should know, he had been one of them. He was a half-blood, and without some pulling of strings by one Tom Riddle, he never would have been accepted. Even while he was attending, it was only his mark that kept him safe and scared the teachers enough to at least pretend to grade him fairly. The first Muggle-born was accepted only ten years ago. Since then, they had accepted only a handful more.
He could only imagine how she had been treated there.
He had been the only member of the Order who had not tried to talk her out of going. Some had been worried for her safety, knowing how pervasive the dark had always been at the university. Some had been worried that she would become tempted by the dark arts when surrounded by it so completely.
He had been worried by neither possibility. The past seven years had shown that she could defend herself...and honestly, how could a girl who believed that even house elves had rights be tempted into service to the Dark Lord? He knew that the Order needed her, they needed her intellect. The things she could learn at that University could give them the advantage they needed. As far as he was concerned, it was worth the risk.
He was disappointed when she returned after graduation.
He had hoped that she would set up a lab somewhere safer and develop new weapons for them. He had been disappointed when she returned six months ago and immediately become Harry Potter's girlfriend. Not that the change in Potter over these months hadn't been much needed. The boy had grown up, become a man, started assuming more of the leadership responsibility which naturally fell on him. But for her... what a waste of her intellect, her education. Severus had taken out his disappointment in her by treating her worse than ever. He had confronted her about it a few months ago.
"So glad to see your education hasn't gone to waste," he had sneered at her maliciously, "So glad to see that all those years of studying have paid off...that you're making a contribution to the world just as you always wished to do."
"I am contributing to the war," she retorted, not even bothering to turn around.
"Yes, ….as Harry Potter's girlfriend."
She turned on him.
"I am a member of the Order of the Phoenix."
"Neville Longbottom is a member of the Order of the Phoenix." The implication was clear, it was obviously no big accomplishment.
He had hoped that being away from her friends would change her, force her to grow up. He had always seen so much potential in her, but she had returned as the same obnoxious know-it-all schoolgirl she had always been.
She had gotten an advanced degree in potions. He wondered if he was responsible for this, if the only reason she had done it was to prove him wrong about her abilities. When he had heard that she had also gotten a degree in the History of Magic, he had laughed for hours. History of Magic? What a joke.
His attention was roused out of his thoughts as she leaned into Potter, gently touching his arm and whispering in his ear. Her hand covered her mouth, but from his angle, he could make out the movements of her lips. It was a skill essential in spying, he made out her words easily.
"Compromise and agree to send only two members to keep watch on the school, more would be too risky," She whispered in Potter's ear.
He slightly shook his head, he had been stubbornly arguing against this for hours.
"Come on Harry," she whispered again, moving even closer to his ear, "I want to go upstairs with you and that won't happen if this meeting goes on all night."
Potter continued to argue his point. All eyes were on the back-and-forth between him and Dumbledore. All eyes except one pair. Severus watched her closely, recording every movement, every breath. Potter seemed to be winning his argument, but there still seemed like hours left of arguing before the old man would concede. Potter sat back down and she gently touched his arm, letting her fingers brush against the bare skin left revealed by his rolled-up sleeves. The sinuous muscles on his arm tightened at her touch. Not a minute later, Potter reversed his position and agreed with the old man, effectively ending the debate and ending the meeting.
Usually Severus was the first one out the door when the Order meeting ended, but tonight he stayed at the table slowly sipping his firewhisky and watched Potter follow the swing of his girlfriend's hips upstairs...just as she had promised.
Severus felt a twinge of unease. People naturally listened to Potter. His connection to the prophecy, his status as the chosen one gave him a natural place in the leadership of the Order, in the leadership of this war. Severus had just watched the boy be controlled by a girl, a girl who had spent the past three years at a university steeped in dark magic. It hadn't been the most important matter debated tonight, but if she could control him in this, what else could she control? He needed more evidence.
Returning to his chambers at Hogwarts, Severus Snape dug up the pensive in his office and emptied into it every memory he had of Potter and his girlfriend together over the past six months. He spent the rest of the night immersed in the silvery fluid, focusing on every detail, every gesture, every whispered word. By morning he had no doubt. Potter's every move was being carefully orchestrated by this seemingly innocuous schoolgirl.
He had thought that she lived in Potter's shadow. He had put the light source in the wrong place in his metaphor. Potter was not standing between her and the light, casting his shadow on her. Instead, she stood between the light and the wall, Potter was only her shadow puppet. She was a queen in every sense of the word, starting wars and dictating legislature with a single touch, a single whisper in the king's ear. She had succeeded where the two most powerful wizards in the world had failed; she could control Harry Potter. His blood ran cold at the thought.
There had been a hole in the Order's security, a hole that as paranoid as he had been, not even he had seen. Each member of the Order was required to undergo days of vigorous questioning under veritaserum and extensive background checks before being allowed to join. All members, that is, except three. No one doubted the Golden Trio, no one had even thought to put them through the security measures.
What if the Dark Lord had gotten to her? If she was controlling Potter on his behalf, they were all in grave danger. He had underestimated her, yet again, he had underestimated both her power and her willingness to break the rules. She was more devious and more cunning than he had ever imagined. Dankenwald had changed her far more than he could have guessed.
He had to know. He couldn't tell the rest of the Order until he was sure. Any doubt about Potter's competency to make his own decisions could throw the fragile balance of the Order into chaos. He had to be sure. His identity as a spy, his life was at stake. If it was Voldemort that was controlling her…well, he could only imagine his fate.