Snape scowled at the sound of Miss Feral scurrying out of his chambers. He went to his office, reparo'd his door, flung floo powder into the fireplace and stepped into the flames.

"Severus, I-"

"-Oblivate them," Snape ordered. The most powerful wizard alive sat at his desk with his hands steepled beneath his crooked nose. In two long strides Snape closed the distance between them. Dumbledore cocked an eyebrow.

"If you don't I will." Snape slammed his fist onto the headmaster's desk, the thump was followed by a sharp snap as a crack ripped through the wood. Both of Dumbledore's eyebrows rose.

"I see the fabled benefits of lying with a -" The crack grew with another unnatural snap and the headmaster stopped short. "Severus, sit."

Snape didn't move an inch.

"Who specifically are you suggesting I obliviate?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"The whole bloody lot of them."

"Even Miss Feral?"

"Those kids think I'm a bloody rapist! Potter is no doubt delighted, now that his opinions on my person have been vindicated."

"I have decided that Miss Feral will spend the Christmas holidays at Grimmauld Place-"

"-What?"

"Therefore, there is little point in obliviating the Gryffindors." Snape glowered and the crack in the desk stretched farther. "Severus, this desk is ancient and invaluable."

"I don't give a rat's ass about your bloody desk! What will He think if he discovers a student is unaccounted for over the holidays?"

"Is he keeping tabs on every student?"

Snape gritted his teeth.

"I don't know. Perhaps. He does not tell me the details of his schemes. I have yet to regain the trust he had in me… before. He is searching for her, but still believes she is of pureblood and younger than Feral. This weekend he has me investigating the old Irish clans in Kerry." Dumbledore nodded in thought. "He is less… assured than before his disappearance," Snape continued. "More troubled, as though some new threat appeared while he was gone."

"Potter?"

"No, something more like-"

"Severus. Do not try to use legilimency on me," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.

"If I am to oppose him effectively I need to know-"

"I have told you everything you need to know."

"I know what that diary was. He did not leave it to continue Salazar's legacy. He does not care about anyone's legacy but his own. If we're right, because I know you believe it too, then whatever possessed Mister Kun is another one. Like the diary. And just like the diary, it is capable of written communication. We need to find it and destroy it."

"As head of the order, I am taking the necessary steps to defeat Voldemort." Dumbledore's gaze held steady as Snape's jaw clenched. "What of Rookwood?"

"Still no contact that I am aware of."

"Do you believe he fled?"

"That would be out of character."

"Azkaban changes a man."

"Indeed."

Dumbledore stood and asked,

"How do you feel about having me as your secret keeper?"

Snape frowned,

"For which secret?"

"Miss Feral. We need the Order's help with her."

"You don't mean-" Snape began with disgust.

"No of course not. Just for her protection. I would not burden her with more than one suitor. Your intervention was effective, no?"

"I believe so," Snape muttered. "Minerva will be here over the break, are you suggesting she isn't capable of watching a young-"

"Yourself, Remus and myself will be gone, the deputy headmistress will have the entire castle to protect. Headquarters is the safest place for Miss Feral over the break, and to protect her, the Order need to know who she is."

"Are fifteen year olds now allowed to join? Because otherwise there is no reason the Gryffindors should know."

"Alas, Miss Granger has already figured it out."

"Of course she has, the brat. Tell me, did she steal more of my boomslang skin for her latest reconnaissance mission?"

"Do not speak ill of my students, Severus."

"What about Potter's connection to the Dark Lord? What if He sees Feral in Potter's mind?"

"Well, I would suggest spending less time lambasting Harry and more time teaching him occlumency."

It took all of Snape's restraint not to blast Dumbledore's precious desk to pieces. He took out his wand.

"Do you remember the fidelius charm incantation?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course."

"Then let us begin."

Róisín panted in her dark bedroom, her shaking wand pointed at the closed door. Snape's snarling voice, "Now you sneak into my fucking chambers!" rang in her ears.

"Colloportus!" she whispered. Her wand spat and the door rattled.

Why did Snape despise Potter?

Outside, a shadow swept across the Dark Forest. Róisín stilled. It looked too big to be a crow. Maybe a raven.

If Potter hadn't broken into Snape's chambers, she would be having sex right now.

She needed to pee. She sat on the toilet with the bathroom door open so she could keep an eye on the door and window to her room, her wand still brandished in her hand. When she was done, she washed her hands and splashed cold water on her face.

Why did the headmaster trust Snape?

Dumbledore had said Snape was thirty-five. That meant he'd been a student in Slytherin while Death Eaters were still at Hogwarts. Had he shared their views? Had he sat around the fire in the Slytherin common room discussing the solution to Mudbloods like her?

She looked around for her jumper. Fuck! She'd left it in Snape's chambers. Grabbing another, she went to her mirror and disillusioned herself. Her whole body turned a swirling shade of ruby. Ugh! Was she capable of performing any useful spells anymore? She tried again. This time, half of her body took on the indigo of the sky outside her window and the other half matched her bedroom wall. Johnny Depp's dark eyes from a poster stared from her cheeks, and her hair was pink and blue tartan, matching an Edinburgh Pixies' scarf - Eóghan's favourite Quidditch team - pinned behind her.

She ran through the seven rules of defensive duelling in her head before setting off towards the main Hogwarts library.

Her wand lit with a pink lumos, Róisín tiptoed up and down the Modern History section. The colour of the light made it difficult to read the sides of the books and reminded her that she had unfinished business with Snape. The light shook as she shivered.

She found general histories on the last wizarding war but couldn't find detailed information on the Death Eaters. The iron bars of the Restricted Section winked at her. Glancing around, she alohomora'd the locks and chains around the entrance and stepped inside.

The rest of the library smelt like books and candles, but here, it smelt like an old shed where a rat had died. The ancient tomes stirred as Róisín walked by them, and she had to jump back when a black, leather tongue whipped out from a book that was bound by three ancient padlocks.

There,

The Death Eater Trials 1971 - 1984 Vol.1

And right beside it, The Death Eater Trials 1985 - 1988 Vol.2, it's title in the same square, official-looking font as the first. Róisín cast a series of charms she had learnt from Professor Smith in the Department for Bedevilled and Blighted Magical Artefacts. One of the charms detected a mild fear fungus, but otherwise they confirmed the book was safe to touch. After removing the fungus, which Róisín presumed had spread from "Defining Terror - The Unforgivable Battle of 1611", she carefully took the Trials from the shelf and sat in a corner on the floor.

Snape twisted his wand between his fingers, feeling it's warmth from the magic of the Fidelius charm. Dumbledore recited the final words that bound the secret to his soul and said,

"Now Miss Feral is safer."

"Because I cannot betray her to the Dark Lord?" Snape asked snidely.

"Severus, I know you are a better man than that."

"It's my fault she's in danger in the first place."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"I said you are a better man, not that you have always been."

A moment passed where neither said anything.

"May I borrow the map to watch out for her?" Snape asked.

"You may, however if I see the rest of the houses trailing behind because of your new-found ability to catch students frollicking outside of hours-"

"- I will not use the map to apprehend misbehaving students, I will only use it to confirm Feral's safety. Besides, it is impossible for Slytherin to catch up-"

"Severus," Dumbledore interrupted sternly. "I chose not to replicate that map because I believe my students deserve the right to privacy, I am adamant that it not be used to enforce rules."

"Understood," Snape said. "The cloak would also prove useful for when Feral has to-" he hesitated- "visit me."

Dumbledore summoned both of the items and handed them to Snape.

"On that note," he said, "Do not let Potter's misadventure tonight get in the way of your duty to Miss Feral. The password for the map is: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Dumbledore rubbed his temple, looking alarming old. "Good night Severus."

"Headmaster," Snape acknowledged with a nod. He left through the door to the spiral staircase, unfolding the Marauder's map as he did so.

A/N: Again, I'm so sorry for how long this update took. I know what it's like to wait for an update to a story you're following and how frustrating it can be! This is a short chapter but I promise the next one is almost ready :)