Hi, this is my first long-term Fan-fiction so it might take me a while, I apologize if I'm not up to par compared to some other writers. Review so I know when to post the next chapter, I have chapter 2 just waiting to be posted!, Follow, and Favorite?
[Thank you gemini-rose 16 and jitra for letting me know the correct date for this chapter, I fixed it, see? :)]
~Creelluka
Disclaimer: I own nothing unless specified din the disclaimer. Inspector Lestrade is from BBC's Sherlock.
(edited as of 10-3-2015)
July 21, 1982
A twenty-one-year-old Severus T. Snape sat in a chair at the grimy kitchen table of his childhood home, numb. Albus Dumbledore, a slightly less grizzled Alastor Moody, and a muggle Policemen were sitting at the table, looking at him.
"She's dead?" he croaked. The first words he had spoken since he was told of his mother's death.
"Yes, I'm very sorry for your loss, Mr. Snape," The muggle policeman said. "But I'll need you to answer some questions."
Dumbledore spoke up. "There'll be no need for that, Inspector Lestrade. We can take it from here." The Inspector's eyes glazed and he marched himself out the door of Spinner's End and into the darkness.
"Bit o' Firewhiskey on you, boy?" Auror and member of The Order of the Phoenix, Alastor Moody asked.
"No, only muggle alcohol, in the cupboard," Snape said, gesturing to a rather grimy cabinet in a corner of the kitchen.
"Ah, better not then, the stuff tastes like piss." Moody muttered and whirred his new magical eye in its socket.
"Severus," Albus spoke softly. "We have a witness that says your father was the one to do this, Argus Filch, a Squib who lives in the area and was assigned to watch your home."
"This isn't my home," Snape spat, anger overtaking the shock. "This," he gestured to their surroundings. "Has never been my home, it is a prison for all who live under its roof. Hogwarts is my home." Moody grunted in agreement.
"Voldemort is gone Severus, but he will return," Dumbledore intoned. "His last assignment was for you to be his spy at Hogwarts. Lily is dead, James is dead, young Harry is an orphan, Peter Pettigrew is dead, your mother is dead, your father has fled the country, and Sirius Black is incarcerated. Everyone that you loved is dead, and all you have hated are either dead or gone.
"Join The Order of the Phoenix, Severus, because Tom will return, and with him, his followers. You say Voldemort wished you to spy on The Order, join The Order and spy on him after his return. For Eileen Prince. For Lily Evans. For the last remaining piece of Lily, her son."
Snape's black eyes met Dumbledore's. There was no mischievous twinkle in those blue eyes now, they were hard chips of ice. They were eyes who had seen and experienced things much worse than Death.
Looking back on this moment, Severus realized the irony of the situation. Almost a year ago he had begged Dumbledore to forgive him for giving his master the prophecy he had overheard. Severus had begged Dumbledore to hide the Potters away and allow him to help the Order to right the wrong he had caused. Dumbledore had hidden the Potters but had refused to accept his pleas to help against Voldemort, and when, almost nine months ago, his Lord had fallen, leaving the Potter's dead except for their son, and Death Eaters were rounded up and tried at the ministry, most, with the exception of the political influence, without trial. Severus himself only managed to escape Azkaban and the Dementor's Kiss because Dumbledore had stepped in and vouched for him, knowing that he owed the young man for warning him about Voldemort's plan for the Potters, but only in that one instance. And now, here was the great Albus Dumbledore, asking for his help. Looking back, Severus knew what he should have said, but experiencing it for the first time, his answer was.
"I'll do it."