Author: Meatball
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.
Summary: The war is going badly, and magical forces from around the world, including a special someone from Severus Snape's past, join in to help Minister For Magic Albus Dumbledore and Commander Severus Snape in their battle against Voldemort.
Author's Note: a bit out-of-character, and a bit non-canon.
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Chapter One: Like A Phoenix From The Ashes
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In the hospital wing at Hogwart's castle, the old man paced the cold stone floor restlessly. It was dimly lit, as befitted the lateness of the hour, and most of the beds were full. The atmosphere was hushed. Poppy Pomfrey slept, exhausted, in her office, ready to be awakened at any time the old man requested it. One of her nurses made the rounds of the wing, making sure that the patients were as comfortable as could be.
Several times during the long night, the old man wandered back over to the young man's bedside. Occasionally, he would place a hand on the young man's brow, pushing back his dark hair. The old man would pause, waiting for -- what? Consciousness? A sign of life? Any sign of the prickly personality and formidable intellect that had become so dear to him?
Early in the morning, as the sun was beginning to pinken the lightly-frosted windows, he sat down, exhausted, his hand resting on the young man's shoulder.
"Severus. Come back to us. Please, Severus. Please..." Dumbledore sounded tired from his long vigil.
The door to the too-full hospital wing opened, and Remus Lupin -- his own wounds bandaged and healing -- limped inside. Albus took note of Lupin's appearance. It wasn't just his injuries that made him look so haggard -- the last few years of his role as a double-agent had aged the man. He was thinner than ever, and his shaggy long hair was a light silver colour, even though he was not yet forty. His blue eyes looked careworn and dull. Lupin took a chair next to the bed, and handed Albus a mug of steaming coffee, mixed with milk and sugar. Just the way he liked it. Albus nodded his thanks. Lupin held his own mug of coffee, black, in his two hands as though to warm them.
"How is he, Albus?"
"Alive. Thanks to you. Beyond that…" Dumbledore's voice trailed off, and he sat down heavily in the chair beside Lupin, sipping his coffee meditatively. He was deeply worried about Severus. They both knew that if Snape could not survive here, in the hospital wing at Hogwart's, then there was no hope for him. Not since Saint Mungo's had been blown to smithereens the previous week. Unless they were able to move him to hospital facilities somewhere else on the continent -- but that would be tricky. Other European nations were buckling down and tightening security -- not that it would help much, if Voldemort decided to invade them.
Healers were a precious commodity in Britain now, since most of Britain's medi-witch and medi-wizard community had been in service at the venerable old institution at the time, helping with the untold casualties resulting from the all-out attacks of Voldemort and his Death Eaters during the last few weeks. Now there were just a few left, Madame Pomfrey not the least of them.
Even more crippling was the fact that Britain's Magical School of Medicine was located in the basement at Saint Mungo's, and class had been in session at the time of the disaster. They didn't even have any half-trained medical students left alive. All over Britain, whatever healers were left were doing double- and triple-duty, while trying to train willing pairs of hands for nurse duty, or paramedic duty. Unfortunately, the healers themselves were wearing themselves out and falling ill, with no one to care for them. And in the meantime, the casualties were mounting. The situation was beyond desperate, and Albus had to do something.
They were at war, and the other side was winning.
Dumbledore -- now nominally in charge of what was left of the Ministry of Magic, since the vicious onslaught just a month ago -- had put out the call for help. The building itself had nearly been destroyed, and no one had time to spare to rebuild. It was being guarded, and was under spells to prevent Muggles from spotting it, but in the meantime, the Ministry had gathered its remaining employees, and relocated to Hogwart's castle.
The Order of the Phoenix, tattered but still flying, had thus far resisted involving other nations, but their need now was desperate. Without help, they were doomed. And once he had conquered Europe, Albus knew that Voldemort would hardly be content to rest upon his laurels. Perhaps not right away, but soon -- soon enough -- he would expand his horizons to include the rest of the planet. And if they couldn't defeat him here and now… Albus did not want to think about how strong, how powerful, Voldemort and his army would become.
They would be unstoppable.
Remus Lupin lowered himself, painfully, into a chair beside Dumbledore's. "All I did was get him out of there, Albus. He saved himself. How did he do it, though? How did he repel the Avada Kedavera curse?" The sun was fully up now, and the hospital wing was bustling to life. The early morning sunlight slanted across Lupin's face, highlighting the young man's exhausted features. Beside them, Madame Pomfrey was checking Snape's vital signs.
Dumbledore shrugged. "Severus Snape is one of the most powerful wizards in this century, Remus. He'll be the first to deny it, but…" He waved a hand towards the bed, where Pomfrey was peering into the unconscious man's eyes and making that tut-tut'ing sound that Albus had come to associate with the medical profession in general, both wizard and muggle. "He did it once before, when Harry was a baby. And now he's done it again, when it was directed towards himself. It's some kind of positive-power shield that he created. I can't do it, myself, although Severus has tried to teach me. It's some kind of extension of one's life force. The spell is easy, and it requires power, but there is something else to it that Severus has not been able to teach me, for he does not know himself how he does it. Perhaps someday, he will be able to put it into words." Their eyes were drawn to the upper part of Snape's chest, where part of an angry red scar, in a familiar lightning-bolt shape, could be seen above the bed sheet pulled over him. The scar stretched from his collarbone to his navel. It made Lupin wince, just to look at it.
Remus Lupin's eyes flicked to Dumbledore's. "He did it…for Harry? I didn't know this."
"It's not my story to tell. It's Severus's." Dumbledore sighed. "I hope he has the chance to tell you himself."
"Does Harry know?"
Stroking Snape's clammy forehead, Albus said, "He's about to. Now that Severus's cover has been blown with Voldemort -- how he kept it up so long, I am in awe -- anyway, now that Severus is no longer a double-agent, he must assume the role that I have trained him for." Albus tapped his mug with his wand, and it instantly refilled. He did the same for Lupin.
Remus looked at Albus curiously. "There have been rumours…"
"Of course there have been! This is war. When are there not rumours"
Albus smiled grimly. "Yes. I am in charge of the entire Ministry now. I need Severus to assume command of the Order of the Phoenix. And now that your own cover has been blown, Remus, I require you to assume the role of his second-in-command." He leaned away from the bedside, as Madame Pomfrey performed a quick-bathe spell on Severus, and levitated him gently in order to perform a household spell, one which changed the bedding. When this was completed, she carefully returned Snape to his bed, squeaky-clean and covered in warm, dry sheets. Through the entire operation, Snape did not awaken.
Lupin bowed his head. "I'm honoured. I'll do my very best, Albus. Or die trying."
With a touch of his old humour, Albus said, lightly, "I know you will. Or we'll all die anyway." He shrugged gently. "Not a lot to it, is there? Live or die. Win or lose. All we can do is our very best. And I trust you to do your very best, Remus. And I trust Severus to do his very best." He paused, then added quietly, "I trust him with my life. I've done so before, and I would do it again. Without hesitation." Madame Pomfrey had moved on to another patient, so Dumbledore sat down on the edge of the bed again and squeezed Severus' hand in his.
He fell silent, and Lupin knew that Dumbledore was thinking about the time, just three years ago, when he and Snape had contrived to fake Albus's death, in order to save Snape and Draco Malfoy from an ill-chosen unbreakable vow. They'd pulled the whole thing off, and until a few weeks ago, had pulled the wool over the entire wizarding community's eyes. Lupin remembered his own shock when, while helping search the rubble of the Ministry for survivors, a short-haired and clean-shaven Albus Dumbledore had strolled onto the site and greeted them. Lupin didn't think his nerves would ever be the same again, after that.
He and Snape had began trying to worm their way out of their undercover duties shortly after that, for word had spread like wildfire. Albus Dumbledore had returned, and he was taking command. All over, there was a sense of impending doom, a sense of things coming to a head. Unfortunately, Voldemort had been a few steps ahead of them, and if not for Lupin's tough part-werewolf hide, he and Snape would have been dead. Or, more likely, wishing that they were. Lupin stretched and winced. Tough hide, yes, but he was bruised and battered in more than a dozen spots. Fortunately, his incredible speed had saved them both, and had saved him the necessity of having to kill. If there was one thing that he and Severus had in common, it was the opinion that murder was a cruel waste.
"And Harry? Do you think he will follow Snape's command?"
"Oh, yes. Yes, I do. Harry and I have had many discussions about Severus Snape, and now it is finally time for him to know the events that occurred, on the night that his parents were killed by Voldemort."
"And what of the rest of us?" Lupin stared at Albus, intently.
"Pardon?"
"Will we ever know the full truth? After all," Remus paused, a bit choked. "After all…James and Lily were two of my dearest friends. I've lost…so much. I've lost James, and Lily, and Sirius, and even Peter, for he once was a dear friend. Will I ever know the truth?" He held Dumbledore's gaze, his light blue eyes shining with unshed tears.
Dumbledore reached out and placed a fatherly hand on Lupin's shoulder. "That is not up to me, Remus. That will be up to Severus, whether or not to share the tale. But I believe he will wish to tell you. In fact, I'm certain that he will."
Unable to speak, Lupin looked away.
After a long moment, they both jumped, startled, at the sound of a weak voice. They looked at the bed, to see Severus Snape gazing dully at them from pain-glazed eyes. Dumbledore jumped up, quickly, and leaned in close.
"What was that, Severus? What is it?"
"…Potter…get Potter…"