A Series of Events
Chapter Eleven
"So," the Headmaster said from the chair by Severus's bed, "it was a student."
"Yes, Headmaster," Severus said as he came to a slow, thoughtful stop by the window. "It was."
On the bed between them was a tea service the Headmaster had conjured up. The edges of the cups and the saucers were adorned in gold and celestial blue, while the teapot was a star with the face and the general shape of a particularly creepy toddler. Severus's cup was on the tray, untouched.
Severus turned slowly on his heel and took a few purposeful steps to the foot of the bed. The soft fabric slippers he wore scraped faintly against the cold stone floor.
The Headmaster poured himself another cup of tea from the chubby, disturbingly adorable star teapot, which giggled and gurgled as it was tipped over. He spooned out an obscene amount of sugar from an equally disturbing comet-shaped bowl and stirred the concoction with a gilt-edged spoon. "And," he said as he placed the spoon on his saucer, "you Obliviated him."
Severus stopped in his careful tracks, just at the edge of the Headmaster's privacy bubble, and turned his back towards the bed. He clasped his hands behind his back in a precise manner. "I did what I believed was right," he said crisply. "What had resulted from that night only validates my decision."
The Headmaster drank his sweetened tea quietly. The china cup made a soft click as it came to rest on the saucer. "And that is why you will not tell me his name?" he said, that old, familiar admonition in his voice.
Severus kept his head high, his shoulders straight. He smoothed and tugged at the Hospital-issued sleepwear, uncomfortable in the light cloth. "I do not think it would be wise to inform others when he still knows nothing," he said, his eyes on the folding curtains.
The Headmaster drank some more of his tea. "Have you considered," he said, his lips smacking lightly against each other, "speaking to the boy about all this?" Severus shot him a dark look before stoically making his way back towards the window. "Not immediately, of course," the Headmaster conceded, "but, perhaps, in a few years? After this dark time finally passes?"
An impotent rage flickered inside Severus's breast at the possibility the Headmaster had painted so simply. In a few years? His life was already forfeit, tied down to the altar by the will of both the Headmaster and the Dark Lord. There was very little hope in his heart that he would live to see that promised dawn. And the boy… he who was just as destined, just as doomed…
"Perhaps then, the two of you can come to some sort of… understanding?" the Headmaster said. "If both of you still feel the same way."
He let out a soft, controlled breath, blanketing his feelings with an aloofness the Headmaster must not be allowed to penetrate. He looked out the window and saw only the darkness of night. "I see no need to come to an understanding with him," he said stiffly.
The Headmaster took one last sip of his sweet tea. "Later tonight, I will send down what information I have concerning the room at the heart of this matter," he said. "I hope you will go over it, if only to gain some meaning out of all this."
"Meaning?" Severus said, turning his head towards the Headmaster. "What sort of 'meaning' is there to find?"
The Headmaster placed his saucer and cup on the tray. "Only you can say what meaning it would yield for you, Severus," he said. The old man rose, shaking his sleeve over his withered hand as he did so. He raised his wand and with a flick, the tea service disappeared altogether. "Am I right to assume you're going back to your rooms tonight?" he said.
"Yes, Headmaster," Severus said, turning his eyes back to the window. In the darkness, he could barely make out the shape of the Forbidden Forest against the cloud-covered sky. There were no stars that night to guide his way.