Severus apparated to the designated meeting spot. It was empty, luckily, but the weather increased his nervousness. If he died now, Lily would be in greater danger. There was a flash of light and Severus found himself wandless and on his knees.

"Don't kill me!" Severus called, recognizing that Dumbledore was using dark magic.

"That was not my intention." Dumbledore replied calmly.

Severus took some time to catch his breath. He had not expected to be caught off guard like that, the Dark Lord had trained him to be more careful. He needed to calm down and clear his mind.

"Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"

"No—no message," Severus hadn't expected this, "I'm here on my own account!"

Severus stood up and tried to avoid pacing, "I—I come with a warning—no, a request—please—"

He couldn't think straight. What was wrong with him? He had planned this conversation all day. Suddenly the wind stopped howling and blowing Severus about. Somehow the stillness sunk deeper and Severus felt calmer.

"What request could a Death Eater make of me?" Dumbledore asked coldly.

"The—the prophecy…the prediction….Trelawney…" Severus saw that Dumbledore was in his mind. They were reliving their last encounter.

"Ah, yes. How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"

"Everything—everything I heard! That is why—it is for that reason—" Severus couldn't believe that he was following the train of thought Dumbledore was leading him on. He had hoped to have this conversation on his terms. "He thinks it means Lily Evans!"

"The prophecy did not refer to a woman. It spoke of a boy born at the end of July—"

"You know what I mean!" Severus tried to calm down. Dumbledore was just like the Dark Lord and everyone else, he was used to impertinence like this. "He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down—kill them all—"

"If she means so much to you, surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?"

Severus permitted the memory of his request to the Dark Lord to surface, "I have—I have asked him—"

"You disgust me!"

It was working. Severus looked down to hide the triumph. He couldn't let it slip like he let it slip in front of the Dark Lord. He could regain control of this situation.

"You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?"

Severus thought about the need to save Lily being more important and looked up at Dumbledore.

"Hide them all, then. Keep her—them—safe. Please."

He took a deep breath and kept his mind clear.

"And what will you give me in return, Severus?"

"In—in return?" Severus gaped at Dumbledore. He was risking his life to share information to save Lily, what could he possibly mean. Then it hit Severus like a rock. Dumbledore wanted a spy, how could he have overlooked that possibility? Was there something he could say to make it measured? The Dark Lord hadn't given him any special information that would be of use to Dumbledore other than what he had already told him.

Severus knew what he had to say in order to not be suspicious in front of Karkaroff. As he looked inside of himself, he knew it was the same as what he would answer if he answered truthfully: "Anything."

"Very well, I think you already have an idea of what I have in mind," Dumbledore replied.

Severus nodded. He knew Dumbledore was legilimens just like the Dark Lord.

"Professor Slughorn has put in his papers to resign at the end of this term. If I remember correctly, you were quite talented when it came to potions. A posting should appear in tomorrow's Daily Prophet, respond to it immediately. I don't want Lord Voldemort to get suspicious, but I do realize you have been looking for work for quite a while."

Severus nodded, remembering how his interview for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post had been cancelled after his spying on Trelawney's interview last year. Even then he had been out of a job for six months. It was only after losing the possibility of working at Hogwarts that he had applied to work for the muggles in order to survive.

"Our next meeting will be an interview and then I will bring you on to work with Professor Slughorn for the last month. Starting June 1st, you will live under my protection at Hogwarts. I will hide your involvement with the Death Eaters until legal charges are raised against you and I will protect you as long as you have lived up to your end of the bargain, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Severus replied.

"You may go, good luck."

Severus nodded at Dumbledore's well wishes and turned to disapparate back to his house.

Severus swore loudly as soon as he closed his front door.

**Most of the dialogue is taken from Prince's Tale