Severus Snape And The First Order Meeting

Becky felt her forehead being stroked lightly by a warm hand. Her lips curled upwards in response as she hungrily soaked in the comfort offered by the gentle touch. Abruptly, the hand left her. She struggled to open her eyes in protest but met with little success. She felt weak and her eyelids were unusually heavy. Vaguely, she registered an ache that she could neither identify nor trace. Was it her heart that was aching? Her hazy mind could not sieve out any reason to be upset, but the sense of loss was unmistakable. Before she could delve further into this topic, the hand was back again. It slid to the back of her neck lifting her head up slowly, by a few inches. She spluttered as cold liquid was poured down her throat. That was when her eyes flew open. She saw a mass of black withdraw hastily from her as the support behind her neck was gone and her head fell back into a soft pillow.

She blinked, shook her head a couple of times and looked again. A gasp of surprise escaped her throat before she could hold it back.

"What - what are you doing here?" She stared in confusion at Snape.

He took another step back, looking mildly flustered.

She tore her eyes away from him and looked around the room. She could not tell the time of the day as there were no windows. The only source of light was from the fire that was burning in the fireplace. "Where am I?" she asked.

Snape did not answer her immediately. Instead, he looked at the door wistfully, as though he longed to escape through it. When he reluctantly returned his gaze to her, his voice was carefully devoid of any emotion. "You collapsed in the corridor and I brought you here."

"This is your quarters?"

The jerk of his head must have meant a yes. He continued to stare at her in a mixture of unease and puzzlement.

As the haziness of the mind began to clear, Becky remembered his earlier words and frowned. Did he say that she had collapsed in the corridor? She thought hard. Suddenly, she heard Remus' voice in her head. You did not miss her at all? That wasn't a thought dementors could take away…

Then she started sobbing.

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Sirius stopped outside 9, Willow Creek. He stared at the house for a long time. Finally, he walked away. This was not the right time to have that dreaded talk with Becky. It would be wiser to wait until he was absolutely sure of his own feelings.

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Snape watched as Becky drew her knees close to her chest and cried her heart out. His gaze did not leave her until he felt a sudden stabbing pain in his palm. Looking down at his right hand, he was taken aback to see that it was bleeding, and there were glass particles stuck to the raw skin. He had unknowingly clenched the empty vial so hard that it broke in his hand. He quickly waved his wand over the wound, and muttered a healing spell. He certainly did not want Becky to notice how agitated he had become.

After what seemed like eternity to Snape, her wrenching sobs subsided and she lifted her tear-streaked face. He silently cursed whoever had caused her misery and allowed his guard to be let down, just a little.

He sat on the edge of the bed, and observed her closely. "Who was it?"

She avoided his gaze.

"Am I right to assume Black is responsible?" he growled.

She did not reply, but the fresh tremble of her lips confirmed his suspicion. Against his better judgement, he could not stop himself from asking, "What did that scoundrel do this time?"

She took a deep breath as she wiped away the moisture on her wet cheeks. "He did not do anything," she replied in a quiet voice.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "I assure you, Miss Pettigrew, I am no fool."

"Nothing happened. Really."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Then how do you ex -"

"You have no right to question me like this!"

"On the contrary, I believe you owe me a proper reply after all the inconveniences you'd put me through for the past hour."

She flung aside the bed covers and looked at him in frustration. "You want to know the truth? Fine! Nothing happened! Nothing, and that's the problem! There was never anything in the first place!"

"Calm down, Rebecca."

"You know something Severus? Sirius has outdone you once again." She gave a hollow laugh that made him wince. "You thought it was fun to fool me by pretending you were in love with me for a couple of days. For your information, he has broken your miserable record. He had me hanging like a fool for fifteen years. Fifteen years, Severus! Try beating that!"

"You're not saying –"

"Just like I told you, there was nothing. Zilch. Non-existent. He feels nothing for me. Never has, and most probably never will."

Snape cursed under his breath. He couldn't wait to lay his bare hands around Sirius' throat. He would squeeze hard with all his might, until every breath left the ex-convict. He was distracted from the satisfying picture in his mind when Becky suddenly tried to stand up and stumbled. He caught her arm and steadied her. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home," she mumbled as she tried to shake off his firm hold.

"You're not going anywhere in a hurry. You are staying right here until you can stand on your own two feet."

"I –"

He pushed her back onto the bed. "From what I last heard, Black is still in the castle. I reckon you'd not want to meet him anytime soon." He narrowed his eyes. "Or do you?"

She shook her head slowly.

"Good," he said, satisfied. He lifted her legs onto the bed and threw the covers over her once again. "I'll wake you when it's dark."

He started to walk away when she spoke, "why don't you go ahead and do it." It was a statement more than a query.

"What do you expect me to do?" Snape asked. She almost expected him to sneer but there was only puzzlement in his face.

"I'm sure you can't wait to gloat. Perhaps say what a silly little fool I've been? Or more likely, you'd take this chance to utter unpleasant untruths about Sirius."

For the first time that day, anger flashed in Snape's eyes and caused Becky to flinch. He leaned close to her and said very coldly and clearly, "Now I'm convinced that you're a fool. You should have learnt your lesson years ago, but you didn't. Even now, when you finally realise how little you mean to Black, you're still sticking up for him." He drew away from her and stood up. "If I bother to utter any words about Black, you can be sure they are unpleasant truths."

Becky searched for the words of protest. "Sirius is not that bad. It's not his fault that he doesn't –"

"Hush," Snape waved a hand in a dismissive manner. "Get some rest."

She watched as he swept out of the room. He was certainly not acting the way she had expected. What was he up to? As she drifted off to sleep, she vaguely registered that she had been wondering about Snape's peculiar behaviour instead of agonising over the conversation she had overheard outside Remus' office.

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Sirius and Becky succeeded to avoid each other for a few days. It was not difficult since he had chosen to spend his time at Remus' office while she confined herself to her home. Too soon, they received an owl from Dumbledore and were summoned to a meeting for members of the Order of Phoenix.

Despite Remus' urging, Sirius decided that he needed more time to confirm his feelings before his inevitable confession. Becky, on the other hand, made up her mind just as she entered the Shrieking Shack, that she would act as though nothing had happened, and not give Sirius or Remus a reason to suspect that she had overheard part of their conversation.

Becky was apparently the last to arrive, since upon seeing her, Dumbledore clapped his hands together and called for everyone's attention. "It's my great pleasure to announce that we have a new member today. I trust that Rebecca Pettigrew is not a stranger to some of you. As for those who have yet the pleasure of meeting Rebecca, I'm delighted to inform you that her excellent duelling skills will be a valuable asset to our cause."

Becky was shifting uneasily as the headmaster signalled her to step forward. The soft gasps among some of the members when her name was uttered did not escape her. She cleared her throat self-consciously. "I'm sorry to say that Professor Dumbledore might have exaggerated about whatever duelling skills I have. But I do hope I will be an asset like he mentioned." She heard a soft chuckle from the elderly man and drew sufficient courage to look directly at the others in the room. She immediately spotted Sirius and Remus, and pulled her gaze away quickly. There was also Professor McGonagall and three others she did not recognise. She drew a breath and continued, addressing the three strangers. "Those of you whom I'm meeting for the first time might have noticed my name. I do not deny that I'm a Pettigrew. Peter Pettigrew was my half-brother."

"We're not here to learn about your family tree, Miss Pettigrew. As long as you can prove your worth to our cause, we don't care if you're related to the Dark Lord himself."

Becky looked into the direction of the voice and was surprised to see Snape step out of the shadows. She had not noticed his presence earlier.

Snape addressed Dumbledore. "Shall we get on with the meeting, Albus?"

The headmaster obliged, but not before introducing Becky to the three members whom she now knew to be Mad Eye Moody, Arabella Figgs and Mundungus Fletcher. The meeting then went on uneventfully, as no one had either progress or news to report.

Before he called the meeting to an end, Dumbledore had one last announcement to make. "We all know there are uncertainties and dangers in this path we have chosen. From today, I'd like all of you to work in pairs. Keep your partner in the know at all times, before you embark on your respective tasks which I will assign at our next meeting. I need you to look out for one another and work closely together. Should one of you be unable to attend our meetings, I'd count on the partner to report on his behalf."

The members nodded their consent.

"Very well," Dumbledore smiled. "Minerva, you can work with Mundungus, and Arabella will partner Moody. And since I do not want any members to kill one other in the process, Severus, you can work with Remus."

Becky's eyes widened in shock. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the frown on Sirius' face. "Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore –"

"Albus," the headmaster corrected.

"Very well, Albus. If you don't mind, I think Remus and Sirius would work well together." There was a brief stretch of silence, and she could feel all eyes were fixed on her.

Dumbledore considered her thoughtfully. "Am I right to assume that you'd work with Severus?"

"Yes, Pro – Albus. I'd like to work with Severus," she confirmed in a quiet voice. Anyone but Sirius.

If Dumbledore was surprised, he did not show it. Becky let out a sigh of relief when he nodded his agreement and signalled the time for dismissal. She hurried towards the exit after McGonagall and Arabella, anxious to return to the safe haven of her home. However, she was not in luck. Sirius had grabbed her arm and pulled her to a corner of the room, where Remus was waiting.

"What's going on back there?" Sirius barked as soon as they were out of earshot.

She pursed her lips into a thin line. "I've no idea what you're talking about."

He looked exasperated. "Look, if you want, I can work with that git so that Remus can take care of you."

Her eyes darted back to his face. There was no trace of warmth in her gaze. "I see," she said slowly. "You'd rather work with Severus than with me. I get the picture, Sirius. You couldn't have put it across more clearly."

"What are you talking about?" he growled as he impatiently waved off Remus who looked as if he was going to interrupt their conversation.

Instead of replying, Becky shook her head and made for the exit with slow but determined steps.

Remus cleared his throat as Sirius stared after her.

"What now?" he snapped at the werewolf.

Remus appeared unperturbed. "It seems you two have one thing in common. Both of you prefer to be paired with Snape than with one another."

Sirius opened his mouth to protest but could not find the words.

"If you don't want her to partner Snape, it might be a better idea to offer to pair up with her instead of offering me as an alternative partner," Remus continued.

"What's –"

"She's right that your message was brought across loud and clear. But there's one thing I can't put my finger to. Are you sure you have not told her about…you know, that?"

Sirius shook his head.

"Then she's more perceptive than I thought. She probably noticed that you've been avoiding her and guessed the reason behind that." Remus put up a hand to stop Sirius from cutting in. "Of course, there's another possibility. She may have decided that Snape is a more suitable candidate for her to lavish her attention on instead."

Sirius' eyes went wide with horror and shock. His mind was blank and he was, once again, at a complete lost for words.

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Jade Merlin: I like your suggestion!

Padfoot-Dreamer: This is probably the last time I can use your old username! Cute dialogue you had with Sirius in your review, but he wasn't the guy who caught Becky – it was dear old Snape! ;)

violingirl7: Thanks for your kind words! You visit SugarQuill as well? Actually, I've not posted for months there cuz my beta was upset with my bad grammar, while I was upset that she took more than a month to beta-read each chapter. But I have a new beta now, so I'll post again at SugarQuill soon. Then, I can re-upload edited versions of my past chapters at

fra: You're my 100th reviewer!!! Cookies? Ice-cream? Candies? Hot chocolate? Take your pick! :)

ANNE( v )79: Venezuela! There're lots of VERY good-looking girls in your country! (OK, I admit I do watch telecasts of the Miss World and Miss Universe finals.)

elvesmagic010: Hooray! You're rooting for Snape! I'm so relieved and happy that Snape has some supporters! I'm waiting anxiously for your next chapter of Last Chance. It's among my favourite fics now!

OutofAzkaban: I've seen POA. It's great as a standalone movie, but as a fan of Rowling's HP books, I felt short-changed cuz there were many differences between the movie & the book, and I felt they glossed over Sirius. David Thewlis did a great job and was perfect as Lupin. But Gary Oldman…he could certainly act well but something's missing. He just didn't remind me of the Sirius in the book! Going by appearance, he's too short (since when is Sirius shorter than Lupin?!), too old (Sirius is about 34 in POA, not 46!) and not good-looking enough. And his character in the movie seems a little superficial. What happened to the concern he showed Harry BEFORE they even exchanged a single word? He risked getting caught by buying Harry the Firebolt when he was on the run. He showed his mischievous side by banging Snape's head as they made their way out of the Shrieking Shack. He was sweet enough to give Ron an owl and thoughtful enough to send Harry the consent form. Where on earth are these events in the movie!?

potts: Thanks for supporting Snape! Well, I'll let Becky decide for herself… evil grin

Snuffles2984: Thanks, thanks, thanks for loving this story. Your review had been smiling for quite some time!

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I want to thank all my reviewers once again. You guys & gals are the reason why I'm slaving over this fic! For the rest of you who are reading but not reviewing, why are you waiting for? Please be nice and drop me a note (about this story, chapter, or simply about the POA movie). That will put a wide grin on my face. I may even become a loon and start talking to myself if I hear from you! :)

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