Updated September 2016

The Politician

At about the same time, Remus Lupin, too, was visiting Diagon Alley. However, he knew nothing of either Elena's, Eddie's or Snape's closeness and wouldn't have wanted to run into any of them. Instead, he cherished some maudlin alone-time in the Leaky Cauldron, in the company of a tank of beer. He had always liked the place, the quiet familiarity during the day, the raucous business at night. Also, it was the place where he had first taken Tonks.

He remembered the occasion well. It had been after an Order meeting at Grimmauld Place, and since Sirius had been obliged to lay low at the time, Remus had considered it his duty as his closest living friend to take out that young cousin of his. He had thought nothing of it, certainly never entertained the idea that she might like him. Remus knew very well that he wasn't the type that women usually preferred. However, she had let him know. The stunned surprise about that had opened his eyes to her beauty – which, like the kind of beauty he liked best, wasn't obviously parading itself, but came in through the back door with a mischievous smile – and by the end of the evening he had been ready to name their future children. Everything else had taken an intense and rapid course from there, as if they had intuitively known that the time window allotted to them was only very small.

Now, when Remus thought back to those mad one-and-a-half years with her, the war was hardly ever part of his memories, except in the form of a constant underlying worry which even highlighted the comfort and relief he had found in the relationship. The images that came to his mind were of her smiles, her naked body, her whispers into his ear, her gazing into his eyes without interruption during nightly discussions. It had been passionate and breath-taking, and this was why her loss had left him so utterly empty. Though not that gaping-into-a-hole kind of empty that he always suspected was part of Severus Snape's inner make-up, but the kind that burned like hell and kept him up at night. It had been suggested to him that he should look forward, try to find a new woman, even. However, that was inconceivable to him. Although, paradoxically, he found it much easier these days to talk to women and enjoy their company, he suspected that the reason for this was really indifference. Only Tonks would have alleviated it. Only with her could he imagine true happiness.

There was, of course, Teddy. He tied his worn-out father to this world. However, as much as he loved his son, sometimes Remus did not know whether this was good or bad.

The hour in the Leaky Cauldron was a time-out from worry. The tank of beer gave him a piece of reality that was a little softer and blurrier, though not excessively so, enabling him to stay on top of things. Yet, it was an escapism and he hated to be interrupted in it.

No such luck, though. Tom, the barkeeper, leant over the polished counter. "Thought I'd let you know that Eusebius Marlin just came in", he murmured in a confidential voice.

"Oh, drat …", Remus sighed.

"You might be lucky 'cause he's got company. – Ah, no, sorry. He's spotted you …"

Quickly, Lupin gulped down the rest of the beer, indicating to anyone who might accost him that he was getting ready to leave. However, Marlin's insensibility could be relied on. The next thing Remus felt was a hard slap on his back and he coughed up half a mouthful of beer.

"Heck, Lupin, I'm so sorry!" Marlin chimed out happily while the other man was still catching his breath. "Fancy meeting you here …"

"I was just leaving", Remus wheezed.

However, Marlin glowed like a Christmas tree, cheeks even redder than his hair. "You must meet my dear friends, Mr and Mrs Crowley …"

Only now did Remus realize that Marlin had company. It was a very handsome couple, the man about sixty, the woman quite a bit younger, and at first glance they looked like people one would indeed like to meet. They were dressed both formally and dashingly, he in an old-fashioned suit with a waistcoat and a watch chain draped importantly above his belly, she in a long pencil skirt and shiny dark-red boots, her head full of black curls nestling in the wide collar of a well-tailored fur coat. They exuded sophistication and money. Remus only just kept his ready reply to Marlin – 'I must nothing these days' – from slipping out.

Marlin was prattling on and turned a lively face to his friends. "Have you met Mr Lupin? He is working with the Ministry, in RRR, and he was a member of the Order of the Phoenix and on the frontlines during the war …"

"We have certainly heard of you, Mr Lupin", the stately man introduced as Mr Crowley droned out. He had quite an impressive voice, pleasant and compelling at the same time, and a quirk of his eyebrow let on that he didn't think too much of Marlin's verbal effusions, either. "Aeneas Crowley, I'm very pleased to meet you." He stretched out his hand after removing a black dragon-hide glove. The shake was firm and implied sincerity. "May I present my wife, Magrathea Crowley", the man went on and bowed a little to his beautiful partner.

"The pleasure is mine", Remus hastened to say, and he nodded at the woman. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

Mrs Crowley was certainly as formidable as her first name and looked at him with a pair of stunningly large blue eyes. Her mouth was full and painted dark-red. "Likewise, Mr Lupin", she purred in a husky voice, "and let me say how very sorry we are for your loss. Of course, we read about it in the papers. Such a shame for your little boy to loose his mother so young."

Remus bowed his head – the charisma of the woman was so strong that you found yourself inevitably doing that – and said a quiet "Thank you". There was nothing else to say. Most of the time, the platitudes came with the best of intentions, although their contents hardly reached him.

A benign pause ensued, before Marlin couldn't hold his breath anymore.

"Aeneas has just been appointed member of the Ministerial Council", he blurted out, beaming.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"He has Kingsley's full approval, he told me so himself. And rightly so, I might add, after all that Mr Crowley has done for our community!"

"Oh, please." Aeneas Crowley raised his hands and Remus could see him roll his eyes a little, though he doubted that Marlin noticed it. "Of course, one helps in times like these. This should have nothing to do with Mr Shacklebolt entrusting me with the position of Councillor."

"I'm sure it doesn't", Remus said politely. "I know Mr Shacklebolt as a wise man with a sound basis for his opinions and decisions."

"He is also a very nice man!" Magrathea Crowley piped up. Remus wasn't sure whether it was just him, but somehow the word 'nice' had a peculiar ring to it.

"And certainly a most able man", added Aeneas Crowley, holding Lupin's gaze. Like Elena, he was one for eye contact, but rather than searching, his way of looking at people was tethering and controlling.

"I'm sure he did the right thing by giving the post to Mr Crowley", Marlin continued his glowing introduction. "He will blow fresh wind into our sails. Make sure that reconstruction will begin in earnest …"

"The way I see it", Crowley said with a good-natured twinkle in his eyes, "we in the magical community have been dawdling a little. Celebrations, and all that. Well understood, well deserved, no doubt. But now it's time to start sweeping up the rubble. That is, of course, mostly a matter of capital …"

"Mr Crowley is a very successful business man", Marlin rang out.

Remus watched Aeneas Crowley carefully. A wealthy business man turned bored, a bored man turned politician? Something told him that this was the last thing the magical community needed at this point. However, the man was certainly personable. A handsome face with deep vertical lines, engaging light-grey eyes and an open smile. He would be liked. From experience, Remus knew that this could be the most dangerous kind.

The man with the well-trimmed silver beard inclined his head modestly. "I am new to a ministerial career and shall have to learn a lot."

"He's a fast learner", Mrs Crowley said cheerfully.

"Let me buy us a round", Aeneas Crowley offered before silence could ensue, and already he was on his way to the bar.

Marlin edged closer to Remus, like an over-active sniffer dog. "The Crowleys are my neighbours in Surrey. I have known them for years."

"Don't remind me just how many years, Eubie", the Crowley woman chirped with a lady-like wave of the hand, "it reminds me of how old I'm getting …"

"Oh, my dear, surely you can't mean that, you are looking as fantastic as ever …"

"Oww, isn't he a sweetheart?"

Remus smirked.

"Mrs Crowley is a very charitable woman", Marlin eagerly explained to Lupin, "she has set up a fund with her father – who is actually none other than Barnabas Cuffe – to house orphans from the war in an adorable little chalet in the countryside – and she organizes fundraisers for rebuilding destroyed homes of wizarding families. Official buildings, too! The Elven Ballet, for instance …"

"I didn't know that had been destroyed?" Remus interjected quickly.

"No, but it needed new paint", said Magrathea Crowley with a dazzling smile, "and some modernisation. In times like these, Mr Lupin, people are so hungry for diversion. You have to provide them with a break every now and then."

"That's the Magrathea Crowley I know", Marlin said with something almost resembling pride, "ever-concerned for her kind …"

"It's not easy to be a witch or wizard in this day and age, Eubie …"

'What a wise-crack face she has', thought Lupin. At first, he hadn't been able to help noticing her exceptionally good looks. Now, however, he detected ambition in her neat pretty features and the will to dazzle anyone out of her way. Her eyes looked like bluebells frozen in an ice cube. At the back of his mind, Remus tried to remember who Barnabas Cuffe – her father – was, because he had certainly heard the name, read it in the papers. If he wasn't too far off, he was a man of considerable wealth and influence, though in what function was momentarily beyond him.

"… that's why we have to make sure that our world is safe again." Her words pulled him out of his thoughts, he had missed a bit of what she'd been saying. At that moment, Aeneas Crowley returned, balancing four glasses of Ogden's.

"How do you like working for the Ministry, Mr Lupin?" he immediately launched into conversation.

"So far it has been interesting and rewarding", Remus replied truthfully. No reason to let on that he had only taken the job to occupy his mind and give him something useful to do.

"Although you are really a teacher, aren't you?"

Crowley scrutinized him closely. An uncomfortable feeling made itself felt in Lupin's gut. Was the man implying that he was not suitable material for a Ministry post?

"I have done all kinds of things in my life", he replied evenly, clinking his glass with the others and taking a cautious first sip.

"No plans to take up teaching again?"

"Not at present. I have a job."

"Of course." Crowley beamed amiably. "How good of you to take it so seriously, considering that the Ministry is hopelessly understaffed."

"Hence our present problems", Marlin remarked, making a sinister face.

"Problems?" Remus raised his eyebrows inquiringly.

"We have spoken about this before", Marlin replied and there was the tiniest hint of reproach in his voice. "In my view, we haven't yet begun to properly process the past."

Remus had an idea where this was going. "In my view, it is more important to look forward", he stated.

"I completely agree", Aeneas Crowley said with a jovial smile. "However, there is no way of looking forward if one doesn't bother to get rid of bad rubbish first."

"If you are following the reports in the papers, you will certainly appreciate how difficult it is to find ex Death Eaters who have gone into hiding."

"You are right there, Mr Lupin. However, isn't this – among other obstacles – predominantly a matter of lacking financial means?"

"That, and the way how some people like to turn blind eyes these days", Marlin amended with a pointed look.

"What do you mean?" Lupin asked and it came out a little harsh.

"You know exactly what I mean", Marlin replied with a frown. "Two words: Severus Snape …"

"Oh, come on. Not again!"

Aeneas Crowley eyed Lupin with a distant look of interest on his face. "Are you one of those who hold the view that the man should be left in peace? Go unscathed?"

Remus stared into Crowley's eyes and found that it was not easy to hold the piercing gaze that exuded all the self-assurance in the world. "He hardly went unscathed", he argued. "I think at this point we all know what Severus Snape has done for the wizarding world. Acting as spy in the lion's den for years, putting himself in mortal danger …"

"Oh, I do not doubt that the man is brave", Crowley said with a generous nod. "And certainly a lot of things he did were admirable. Others, however, not so much …"

"I'm sure a man of your status and experience knows that no person is either black or white, that there are grey areas …"

"Of course I do. But I must point out that courage and criminal behaviour are not mutually exclusive. In fact, bravado is the mark of the most callous villains."

"That is certainly so", Magrathea Crowley commented airily. "To some it's bravery, to others it's unscrupulousness."

Remus supressed an irritated sigh. "As far as I'm concerned", he began, trying to put a degree of finality into his voice, "I'm completely satisfied with what Harry Potter said at the hearing with the Wizengamot. He clearly stated that the war could not have been won, that he could not have defeated Tom Riddle without Severus Snape's help."

"I am sure that this is the way Harry Potter sees it", Aeneas Crowley conceded.

"What a sweet boy", purred his wife and again she made it sound as if she thought the exact opposite.

"However", her husband took over, "you must not forget that the Potter boy's perspective of things is greatly influenced by Albus Dumbledore. After all, he was his mentor, as I understand."

"What's wrong with that?" Remus asked, immediately regretting the recalcitrance of his tone.

"Nothing, per se. – However, as much as I admired Albus Dumbledore and his achievements as a wizard, he was also the man who protected Severus Snape for years. And that got him killed, I might add."

"It was a death pact, as I'm sure you know."

Crowley tilted his head. "Yes, there's been a lot of talk about that."

"You don't believe it?"

"Oh, I believe it all right. Dumbledore may indeed have seen it as the right thing to be committing himself to at the time. However, it is my view that Mr Snape responded a little too readily to the death wish of an old, broken and frustrated man."

"Albus Dumbledore may have been old, but he was certainly not frustrated", Remus countered and found it difficult not to sound too irritated.

"But he must have been, poor man", interjected Mrs Crowley. "After all those years, and with all the responsibility on his shoulders …"

"Believe me, Dumbledore's shoulders were very strong and solid, even when he was not at his best."

"As you are a member of the Order of the Phoenix, I can hardly blame you for admiring the man." Aeneas Crowley's smile was once again jovial and Remus felt the desperate urge to knock it off his face. "Nor can or will I blame you for wanting to be done with the past instead of raking up old stories …"

"It's not about that!" Remus broke in. "And I'm certainly not being nostalgic about Albus Dumbledore. However, I am one-hundred per cent sure that Severus Snape, although he may have made some bad decisions in his youth, completely changed his ways and sufficiently made up for past mistakes!"

Crowley eyed Remus as if he found the latter's words particularly interesting. There was a long pause before the stately businessman spoke again. "So if I understand you correctly, Mr Lupin, your contention is that it is enough for a murderer to regret his past actions to be completely forgiven and exonerated?"

Remus readily detected the pitfall. "Regret may not be enough", he explained with an effort at patience, "but actively making amends by completely disregarding one's own safety and comfort should certainly go neither unnoticed nor unrewarded."

"Well, you see, there we disagree", Aeneas Crowley said very quietly. "Let me tell you a story. For decades, I have been friends with Ansgard Periwinkle, a very respected member of the Wizengamot, as you may know."

Remus nodded curtly, wondering where this was going.

"Mr Periwinkle has held his post for decades, even during the … difficult times."

'Which must mean that he made a deal with the Death Eaters', Remus thought, but held his tongue.

"After the first wizarding war", Crowley went on, "Periwinkle worked very hard to bring forward charges in the McKinnon assassination. I am sure you remember that incident, Mr Lupin."

Of course. Who could ever forget Marlene McKinnon? The wiping out of her family had been one of the hardest blows to the Order during the first reign of Voldemort.

"You see, Periwinkle was related to the family by marriage, and he was horrified by the atrocities committed. Not merely clean killings – if a killing could ever be referred to as clean – but unspeakable brutality enacted upon the entire family, even the children. So finding someone responsible for these heinous acts became a mission to Periwinkle to which he dedicated himself whole-heartedly. Now, you may not know this, but Periwinkle was able to find witnesses who, without any doubt, put Severus Snape on the scene of the McKinnon murder."

"What kind of witnesses?" Remus asked sourly, although the revelation threw him a little. "Ex Death Eaters? – You know very well that every one of them that was caught eagerly blamed their cronies to divert attention from themselves."

"Sure they did. But is that justification enough to entirely dismiss their testimony? – No, Mr Lupin, there can be no doubt that Snape was involved in the assassination. Periwinkle tried for years to get to him, he was on Crouch's back all the time. However, there was nothing to be done. Severus Snape was under the firm protection of Dumbledore, no one was able to touch the man."

"Which fact should be enough to persuade anyone that Dumbledore was convinced of Severus' reform."

"You're on first-name basis, are you?" Magrathea Crowley remarked, making it sound a little vulgar.

"We were at school together, colleagues at Hogwarts and he was a fellow-member of the Order", Lupin explained pointedly, but a moment later he saw that the statement had been a mistake, not least because it had come out a tad heatedly.

"I see", Mrs Crowley said with a knowing smile, "you and Mr Snape go way back."

Staring at the woman, Remus found it particularly hard to keep the dislike out of his eyes.

"I respect your personal opinion of the man", Aeneas Crowley said generously. "Even serial killers can be engaging fellows, I'm told."

"'Engaging' is hardly the correct adjective …"

"Be that as it may. The fact remains that the man has never even been questioned, let alone punished for his past transgressions. Yes, he may have done the wizarding world a service or two, but that doesn't change the fact that for a long time he completely disregarded the value of human life. I hear he was an advisor to the Dark Lord, provided him with strategic plans and poisons, too. He was ambitious, unscrupulous, and he took part in murderous acts. – And as for the murder of Dumbledore … it may well have been a death pact. However, I can't help asking myself if there wasn't another way? A wizard as powerful and cunning as Snape certainly is – would he not have been able to find an alternative, one that ensured that the old man would have lived on?"

"Albus Dumbledore had a powerful dark curse on himself", Remus reminded him. "He would have died within a year. Why, he would have died much earlier if Snape hadn't helped him, given him potions to contain the curse …"

"Yet, he sounds like an opportunist to me", the Crowley woman chirped, inspecting her fingernails with an indifferent frown.

"Have you heard of euthanasia, Mr Lupin? It is much discussed in the Muggle world, and I have been following the discussion with some interest. There is a large lobby in the non-magical world advocating that helping someone die must be illegal – simply because giving and taking life is God's prerogative, not that of any human being."

"There is also a large lobby advocating the right of anyone to decide for themselves when it should be over." Remus Lupin had always made a point of keeping himself informed on socio-political debates going on the Muggle world since they inevitably influenced the world views of the wizarding sphere.

"And yet, euthanasia is illegal and punishable in most countries." Aeneas Crowley was gracious enough not to look too triumphant.

"This is not a question of euthanasia, however", Remus argued, "first and foremost, Dumbledore's death at the hands of Severus Snape was a strategic plan. A plan but for which the war could not have been won."

"You are not alone with that opinion", Crowley declared almost solemnly. "Just as large, however, is the number of those who hold the view that Snape's actions may have been exactly as opportunistic as my wife said. That until the very last moment he was undecided which master to serve, and that in fact he observed very carefully which way the wind was blowing …"

"That's nonsense!" Immediately, a dozen pairs of eyes in the immediate proximity were on Remus. He had become emotional and spoken too loudly. He took a deep breath. "You seem to forget that Riddle set his pet snake on Snape. Had it bite him through the neck and left him for dead! That was the kind of situation Snape exposed himself to for years, never knowing if he might come out alive of any given day."

"And yet, he survived. Another miracle that hasn't been solved yet …"

"Are you trying to say …"

"No." Crowley decidedly shook his head. "I am sorry, Mr Lupin, we may both have been carried away by our little discussion. – The truth is, neither you nor me can decide whether Severus Snape is guilty or not. What really irks me, however, is how the man never spoke out publicly about his role in the war. Bolted the moment he was so mysteriously … resurrected. Never gave the Ministry any help. Just laid low for a couple of months and then quietly snug into Hogwarts again, which – by the way – worries not a small number of parents of Hogwarts students."

There was nothing to say on that. In disappearing and refusing to cooperate, Severus had certainly done a very stupid thing and might even have committed a grave mistake. Remus would have liked to launch into an explanation on how the man was really a loner, too reserved and socially incompetent to be volunteering to actually talk to people. However, he didn't, fearing that it would have made him look biased, and some instinct told Remus that this was not a wise impression to leave. Something was simmering beneath a well-covered surface, he could not yet tell what it was. However, he would definitely talk to a few people in the next days …

In that moment, another shadow darkened the doorstep of the Leaky Cauldron. It was an arresting appearance, and heads turned. Who they saw was a stately wizard with a well-groomed black beard, formal clothes and a pointed hat. His dark eyes swept through the room, and for a brief second came to rest on Remus' group. Another one of his instincts – keen werewolf instincts – made him turn around sharply to Crowley, and he caught the glimmer of recognition.

"Claudius Selwyn", Remus murmured to Crowley when the new arrival had passed without giving them another glance, "his family was close to the Death Eaters. Do you know him?"

Aeneas Crowley looked back at Remus with a stare of utter sincerity. "No. Never met him, I'm afraid."

"He has a son and a daughter at Hogwarts", babbled Marlin who was eager to re-join the conversation, "and a nephew, as well. He is one of the parents who are not too enthusiastic about Snape teaching at Hogwarts again. And Defence Against the Dark Arts at that!"

"Of course he would resent Snape!" Remus said sharply. "He betrayed the Death Eaters, after all, brought about Voldemort's downfall. Selwyn's brother is in jail."

"There have never been any charges against Claudius Selwyn for having helped the Dark Lord's followers!"

"I'm just saying that the tables have turned for Severus Snape. Who used to be his associates are now his enemies. That's worth a mention, don't you think?"

Aeneas Crowley breathed importantly, and Remus found himself inadvertently looking at him. Again, he took note of the man's immense charisma. Crowley looked him in the eyes, they held a very friendly twinkle. "There, Mr Lupin, you are certainly right."

However, Remus knew at once that it was a lie.