~Chapter 14~

Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, only the plot. I do not make any profit off this story.

Severus Snape was pulled away from his memories and found himself once again at his desk, looking across the room to the girl who he had searched for so devotedly. He might have been guiltless if finding her had been the only reason he had joined The Dark Lord upon graduation from Hogwarts. In all honesty, at one point Severus had believed in the new world image The Dark Lord had wanted to create. Now he was stationed at Hogwarts, on both Dumbledore's and The Dark Lords orders, a triple agent, completely alone in his mission. Nutmeg was still leaning against the door, waiting for him to say something. Severus felt the faint smile try to return as he looked at her, as he realized he finally found her. His smile faded before it came though as he also realized it was the worst time for her to show up.

"I believe you should be making your way to Potions, Ms. LeTore." Severus raised his eyebrows as he spoke and went back to what he had been doing before she came in.

"What happened to you, Sevey?" Meg pushed herself off from the door and came forward, biting her lip as she walked. Severus took a deep breath and closed his eyes, as the sound of his old nickname filled his ears.

"Professor," Severus realized they weren't in school, she was his student now. It wasn't the right setting for nicknames anymore. He almost spoke with a sneer out of pure habit, calming his voice he continued. "Or Professor Snape." Meg's mouth fell slightly open in surprise at his words, and she stopped in her tracks. She didn't move for a long moment or two. Severus could see the shock in her eyes, soon accompanied by pain. Meg blinked a few times in a row and looked to the floor, trying to hide the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. The girl looked at him as if she had been betrayed, making it difficult for Severus to look back at her. Turning his attention instead to his work, he avoided the guilt that was sure to come if he looked at her any longer. "You're going to be late for class if you don't get a move on it soon."

"Yes, professor." Meg gave a short nod and then swiftly turned to face the door to leave, her movements only showing anger towards Severus for acting so distant. When Severus did look up, she was over half way across the room; Meg was opening the door when he spoke again.

"And, Ms. LeTore, come by my office this Saturday. Around noon, if you will." Meg looked back at Severus when he spoke. She curved one side of her mouth into a sarcastic smile in recognition and closed the door behind her.

"Amycus, what's the hold up?" A man, younger than Severus, but not by much, blocked her way as Meg stepped out of the Headmaster's office. His hair was dark and cropped short, so short that his head could almost be considered shaved. His nose was a bit long for his squat and lumpy features and his eyes a bit too small. The woman behind him, whose voice Meg had heard a moment ago, wasn't much to look at either. Her hair was long and pulled back into a tight bun, the same dark shade as the man's. Amycus, Meg assumed, stood aside to let her pass, watching her every move as she did. She sheepishly looked away from the pair as she tried to slink past them. The woman's hand however caught her by surprise and Meg found herself pinned to the wall of the narrow staircase.

"Who are you? Never seen you around before." The woman's grip was tight around Meg's neck. As the woman interrogated Nutmeg, Amycus continued his path up the stairs and knocked at the Headmaster's door. When Nutmeg didn't answer the hand around her neck tightened until she could hardly breathe, much less talk. Meg began to gag just before she heard a door open; Professor Snape stepped out of his office answering Amycus' knock at the door.

"Tell me, Alecto, is it your intention to kill her first and then ask questions? If it is then, I can assure you that method is quite... unsuccessful." Calm as he was, there was a hardly noticeable tone of anger in the Headmaster's voice as he looked on the scene.

"Of course not, Sir." Alecto's response was mocking and short. After a long pause her grip at Meg's throat loosened and her hand fell to her side. Meg gasped, and fell forward trying to catch her breath. Once she could breathe properly, Meg ran the rest of the way down the staircase. She slowed down and looked back at Alecto, who in return was watching her leave. Alecto's eyes narrowed as she turned towards the Headmaster and joined Amycus at the top of the staircase. Meg went to the bottom of the stairs, past the gargoyle and hid out of sight. She wasn't sure who these two were, but this meeting might be worth hearing.

"You're late, Amycus." Professor Snape watched Meg leave until she was out of sight, before addressing the two before him. "If you wish to meet with me in the future, I suggest you be on time." His words were short as he made room for them to pass into his office. Once Alecto had pushed her way past him, Severus slammed the door behind him. After hearing the door close, Meg slipped past the Gargoyle once again, just before it closed off the staircase behind it. Sneaking to the top of the stairs, she leaned in close to the door.

"My sister and I are getting impatient, Snape." Inside the office, Amycus crossed to the middle of the room, leaving Alecto and Severus at the door. He spun around to face the Headmaster, his face full of mistrust and uncertainty. "It's been months since The Dark Lord took power again and Potter still hasn't been found. We are stuck here at the castle dealing with mere students who tremble at the mention of his name, while everyone else is doing his biding."

"Are you not doing The Dark Lord's biding as well?" Severus walked up to the man, a superior air about him as he stopped at Amycus' side. Half way past the Death Eater he turned only his face towards the man as he spoke. "You know his order's for you, as well as myself. We're to be at Hogwarts to wait for Potter and keep the students and teachers here not in allegiance to him under control."

"We want to be out doing something productive, Snape!" Alecto hissed from behind him. Without looking at her he continued to the stairs leading to the upper level of his office. He turned around to face her, taking the first step on the stairs as he did.

"Christmas holidays are coming soon. If you do not fear the wrath of The Dark Lord, you are free to leave the grounds and do as you wish. I will not stop you." He paused and took a short breath as he turned his gaze to her brother. "However, until then I'm afraid you'll have to stay at your posts. Teaching at Hogwarts is now your job and you will continue until The Dark Lord says otherwise. Do you understand?"

"I'm sick of waiting around! Let's just go find Potter ourselves and kill him." Alecto hissed. Being appointed by The Dark Lord as the Muggle Studies Professor, Alecto had taken to teaching the students about pure-blood superiority. The reign over the wizarding and muggle worlds alike, along with the torturing of misbehaving students at Hogwarts, was proving to not be enough to satisfy Alecto's thirst for causing pain.

"As much satisfaction killing the boy would give me, it has come to my attention as it should have yours that The Dark Lord wishes to kill Potter himself." Severus turned around and continued up to the upper level of the office. He didn't miss a beat in his response to Alecto's suggestion. Not only was it true that The Dark Lord wished to kill Harry Potter himself, but Severus could not allow the boy to be killed, especially before his purpose was served. "Now, I believe you both have classes you should already be attending to." Severus didn't face either Death Eaters as they left the room without another word. When Nutmeg heard Severus dismiss the pair she ran down the stairs as fast as possible, only to be blocked by the gargoyle. The door slammed at the top of the staircase, distracting her as she tried her best to remember the password again.

"Oh, God." She tapped her foot on the ground as her mind fumbled about searching for the words that would insure her escape. Alecto and Amycus were getting closer, their footsteps growing louder as they approched the last turn in the spiral staircase. Then suddenly the two words she needed came to mind.

"Pepper Imp."

Darting out past the Gargoyle before it moved completely out of the way, she ran as fast as she could towards the dungeons, barely missing the apparent teachers behind her.