Voldemort heard the pop as the young man apparated to the place where his master was waiting for him. He turned as Severus Snape swooped into a low bow and kissed the hem of Lord Voldemort's robe.
"Rise, Severus," Voldemort hissed. "Come, walk with me. I have a special job for you, Severus." Voldemort said as he appraised Severus out of the corner of his snake-like eyes.
"I am honored, my lord." Snape said devotedly.
"Yes. The Dark Lord has not forgotten you Severus. You have, I know, a special talent. You are a skilled Legilimens, more talented than Bellatrix was at your age. And I shall instruct you, as I have instructed her, so that your skills will reach an even greater level." Voldemort, skilled Legilimens that he himself was, was a master at manipulating those around him. He understood what it was that each of his followers desired, needed most, and he provided it, thus gaining their total devotion. Just as Voldemort sensed that Bellatrix, cruel and conniving, had a lust for torture and causing as much pain as possible, a lust that Voldemort made sure was always satisfied, Voldemort also understood Snape. He knew that Severus strove to be considered special, great, and talented above all else. He was the often neglected son, loathed by his father, nothing more than a fellow prisoner and victim to his mother, and over looked by his long time beloved, Snape desired to be honored and praised. And so that is what Voldemort did.
"Th-thank you, my lord."
"There is no need to thank me, Severus. You have earned this important task with your hard work and dedication, and utter talent. This is a most important job, Severus. One that, I have always undertaken by myself, but which I must now pass on to you, and you alone. In September when you return for your seventh and final year at Hogwarts I need you to use your gift to better understand your school mates? Focus especially on your non-Slytherin class mates."
"What should I be looking for, master?"
"Possible recruits. The time will soon be upon us Severus, when we will need many who are willing to serve us. Many of them must be people who would never be considered as Death Eater material; people who we will be able to use as informants and spies, either within the ministry or within the Order of the Phoenix itself. I have found that it is a waste of time, for the most part, to target the natural leaders, they are sure of themselves and of their paths, but followers are more easily swayed. I do not wish for you to recruit them, I alone must do that, as it is a delicate and most treacherous process, but you must scout them out. Observe them; use your position as an older student and prefect to assist you in this process. And then report back to me, with what you find out. I do not expect this to be a quick and easy job, Severus. You should be thorough and leave nothing out in your reports. Do you understand what I am asking of you, Severus?"
"Yes, my lord. I will not let you down."
"Good, now go. I have much to think on."
Severus considered his new mission as he made his way down the street of Spinner's End. The factory chimneys loomed above him, as ominous and overbearing as ever. The Dark Lord had trusted him alone with this most important task, and he would not fail. He wished, without any real hope, that there was some way to recruit Lily. But even as he thought the idea he knew it was completely futile. The Dark Lord had told him that it would be a waste of time to recruit natural leaders, because they were sure of their path. He knew Lily, and Lily was a natural leader. A shoe-in for Head Girl with more conviction in her beliefs than most 17 year olds had about anything. She would not be swayed. This was something, although it pained him to admit it, that she shared with Potter. Something they could, possibly, in the future, bond over. He hoped, more than anything, that whatever had happened between them that resulted in their not speaking a word to one another since March, would still be in effect come September 1st and the start of term. In truth he hoped it would be in effect the rest of their lives. As his mind drifted from Lily to Potter and his band of baboons, a thought occurred to him. Peter Pettigrew was exactly the type of person that the Dark Lord had described to him. Snape did not know a lot about him, he had always focused his hatred on Potter, Black, and Lupin. Pettigrew had always just been guilty by association. He knew Pettigrew was a devoted friend to the other three and that it would be a long-shot to turn his allegiance. But if Severus could observe him more closely, learn his mind, uncover his secret yearnings and desires, then maybe, just maybe he could be turned. And if he could be turned he could give Snape, and of course the Dark Lord, the information that would bring about the end of James Potter.
James cursed inwardly as he and Daphne dismounted the Hogwarts Express and made their way to where her family was waiting for them. He was prepared for meeting her mother and father. He was completely unprepared for also getting reacquainted with her brother. Daphne's brother, Nate Brown, was six years older than James and Daphne. James vaguely remembered him as a seventh year during their first year at Hogwarts, but nothing close to enough to be guaranteed of a warm reception. The fact that James was dating Nate's beloved little sister, made the odds of that happening even slimmer. For the past few years Nate had been living in Paris with his fiancée Katie, so James had had high hopes that he would just have to deal with Daphne's over-protective father, and not the over-protective father and the over-protective brother, but his hopes were now dashed. Daphne, James noted, did not share his disappointment, and he was not in the least bit surprised. Everyone at Hogwarts knew how much Daphne admired and adored her older brother, she would carry his latest letters around with her for days upon receiving them gushing about his latest exploits and showing off whatever trinkets he had sent her. And so he was well prepared for the shriek of delight that Daphne emitted upon sighting her brother, and only slightly less so when she took off in a sprint to engulf him in a hug. James followed behind awkwardly not sure if he should introduce himself to Daphne's parents or wait for her to do so.
Luckily for him, Daphne was even more devoted to him than she was her older brother and so after hugging her brother quickly she linked her arm through James' and made the introductions. Both of Daphne's parents, William and Mitsy, were quite welcoming to James and seemed genuinely thrilled to finally meet him after months of reading Daphne's letters. And even Nate was pleasant enough, only putting slightly too much force behind the clap on the back he had given James in greeting.
James breathed in a sigh of relief. For now at least it seemed things with Daphne's family were going to be okay.
Lily rolled over in her bed and stared at the clock, which was currently showing a time of 1pm. She had always had two distinct schedules: one for summer in the muggle world and one for the rest of the year at Hogwarts. During the school year she was, like most of the other students of Hogwarts, deprived of sleep a good portion of the year. Saturdays were her catch up day- if she didn't have other things she had to catch up on. Summer, however, was different. She always woke up early in the summer, in order to enjoy a free reign of her house before Petunia had awoken. After which time she would usually exile herself to her bedroom where she would read, nap, or otherwise occupy herself well into the early hours of the morning. At the Potter's house she had, for the most part, lived a fairly normal schedule for a teenage summer of late nights and lots of sleep, taking her cue from James and Sirius, who quite often did not emerge from their respective bedrooms until well into the afternoon.
But now things were different. Lily had quickly learned in the few days she had been back from Hogwarts that there was a huge difference between the type of silence that engulfed a house when everyone was asleep, a kind of silence she had reveled in as a child, and the type of silence that surrounds you when you are the only one. The always prepared, perpetually organized prefect was becoming unraveled. The fact that for the first time in her life she was completely and utterly alone had shaken her. She could find no reason to get out of bed, could not think of any event for which she needed to get dressed. There was no one to clean the flat for, no one was going to visit or ever see it except herself. There was no one to wash her hair for, or even for that matter brush it, it would only get matted down again when she climbed back into her bed. There was no reason, there was nothing. Nothing but perpetual silence; and it engulfed her.
It was the third night of James' stay with the Browns and his first real test. Tonight was the first big family dinner. Tonight, Nate's fiancée Katie was joining them and it would be the first real bout of questioning he would receive from Daphne's father and brother. And if he were completely honest with himself, James admitted, he was not sure which of the two of them he was more intimidated by, and which of the two of them he should expect the tougher questions from.
He was sitting on Daphne's bed, watching her fix her hair for the coming evening, having long since given up on ever trying to make his hair cooperate, and for that matter wanting it too, he thought with a rogue grin as he ruffled it once more with his hand. He glanced around Daphne's room as she prattled on about this and that as she fixed her hair, only half paying attention. If he had ever imagined what Daphne's bedroom looked like, he could not, he didn't think, have ever imagined anything more Daphne than the room he was currently sitting in. Every possible surface of the room was covered in her favorite color: lavender. Calling the room a lavender explosion was an understatement in James' opinion. James and Sirius had teased the eleven year old Daphne about her obsession with the color by saying that she dreamt in shades of lavender, but after stepping foot in the room James was fairly certain that there was no way to avoid dreaming of the color as surrounded by it as she was. The carpet was lavender, the walls were lavender, her bookshelves were lavender, her closet doors were lavender, and as James already knew most everything it held inside of it was lavender. James had laughed upon hearing Nate refer to his sister as Lavender Brown, instead of Daphne Brown, because in truth the nickname fit her so well. She always smelled of the light lavender perfume she wore, and was usually if not completely dressed in the color, had at least one item in the color on her body, even if it was just her favorite, and for that matter James' favorite, bra and panties set. He had never fully appreciated it until coming in to her house, and hearing her brother call her Lavender, how much Daphne really was like a little thing of lavender in a garden. He conscientiously avoided the term flower in his mind, because he knew all too well that in his heart of hearts there was only one flower that mattered: a lily.
"So, James, tell us what are your plans after Hogwarts?" William Brown, Daphne's father, asked James after his wife Mitsy had finished set everyone's dinner upon the table.
"Um, well sir," James said, "I guess it all really depends on the war."
"The war?" Mitsy Brown questioned as she glanced up from her plate.
"Yes, mam," James nodded, "Unless something drastic happens during the next year then I'll be doing whatever I can to help the anti-Voldemort movement. Daphne did not flinch, after years of hanging around with James, Remus, and Sirius all of whom were steadfast in their use of the name it no longer seemed particularly shocking; but she was the exception. Daphne's mother dropped her fork in surprise at hearing the name, her father failed to fully suppress a shiver, and her brother grabbed his fiancée's hand as if he was afraid You-Know-Who might come bursting in upon them at any moment and he wanted to be sure he had hold of her in case he needed to apparate immediately to a safe place. Katie studied James carefully through eyelashes, not wanting to seem intrusive. She had grown up in London and had gone to Hogwarts, along with Nate, until her second year. It was at that time that her father was appointed Ambassador to the Ministry of Magic in France and her family moved to Paris and enrolled her in Beauxbatons. You-Know-Who had only just begun to become powerful when she had left London, and while stories of his horrors had certainly reached across the Chanel, she had been spared the worst of them because of the distance. Her aversion to the name was merely a picked up habit, not one learned out of the deep psychological fear felt by others at the table. Still, James Potter was the first person she had ever actually heard say the name, and he showed no sign of even registering that he had even done anything the slightest bit out of the ordinary. This seemed to indicate that he was used to using the name, and used to other people using the name. Something Katie found difficult to imagine, yet very intriguing. She knew her fiancée and future father-in-law did not agree. There had been a quantifiable shift in the atmosphere at the moment the name had been said. What had been a for the most part care-free evening, albeit tense as William and Nate Brown were sure to get over zealous in the examination of the boy dating Daphne, the beloved only daughter and much younger sister, but now it was as if there was a pressure pressing down upon each of them. Only James seemed unaware of the change, although Katie thought by a look of awareness in his eyes that he was much more perceptive and aware of what was going on around him than he let on. Katie wondered if he knew how bad things had just become, Daphne seemed to as she was now biting her lip to the point where it looked as though it might bleed. William, and for that matter, Nate were not cowards and they were not appeasers. They would both certainly admire any man who was willing to risk his life in the fight against evil, but there was a difference between admiration for bravery and wanting one's precious and much loved daughter or sister to be dating, possibly, knowing how deeply Daphne was devoted to him, married to him. While they could certainly admire the bravery of the young man before them, they even more certainly did not want the actions of a would-be-hero to unwittingly jeopardize the safety of Daphne, or even worse drag her along in his quest, and thus putting her in even more danger. Or even if they were to get married and James insisted on Daphne's staying out of the fight, they were terrified on Daphne's behalf of his death. How could either of them ever mend Daphne's heart if she lost her husband? What if she was left alone to raise a child or children who would never know their father? No, as admirable as James Potter's declaration most certainly was, they did not want Daphne's life and future happiness to be thus endangered.
It was Nate who spoke first. "Well that's certainly admirable. We were hoping that as soon as she graduates Hogwarts, Daphne will come stay with Katie and me in France, though. Get her away from the fighting, and the danger." He paused upon seeing the seething glare he was receiving from Daphne, and then in an attempt to appease her added quickly, "And you'd of course be welcome as well." The glare from Daphne had been enough to confirm her brother's worst fears: if James Potter was going to stay in England and fight against You-Know-Who, Daphne would not leave him. She would be in danger. And James Potter would surely mean the death of his baby sister.
James and Daphne walked around her neighborhood after dinner but neither of them spoke. They were both still concentrating on the dinner which had continued to increase in tension as the evening went on. Finally after they had been walking for easily ten minutes, Daphne, never one for silence could take no more.
"Say something, please!"
"You want me to go with you to Paris after we're done with school?" For a brief moment upon hearing the question Daphne's heart leapt in anticipation, but then she really heard James' voice and saw the hard look upon his face. Still, Daphne Brown was never one to hide the way she felt.
"Yes," she said simply. "But I know better than to ask." James nodded, but continued to press forward in the conversation. He needed to understand. He had never understood a hesitancy to fight. He knew with certainty that Sirius, Remus, Peter and himself would each join the fight upon leaving school. He knew that, despite his own misgivings about it, Lily most certainly would; and along with her Frank and Alice. Yet, he knew Daphne was no coward. She was a Gryffindor through and through, and he thought now he understood better. If it was just up to her, he didn't doubt that she would fight, but she was the most treasured thing in both her parents' and her brother's world and none of them would ever allow her to be in such danger. And he could clearly see how they must view him. He was getting in the way of their plan. Before Daphne had become involved with James, her idolization of her brother would have been enough to tempt her to living in France with him and his soon to be wife, but now they knew and James knew that she would not leave him. She loved him that much.
"Your parents and brother will still want you to go to Paris," James prodded.
"I wouldn't leave you." Daphne said. "Especially not when you're going to be in so much danger," her voice broke on the word.
"It's a bit of a problem," James said wryly.
"Maybe not," Daphne said hopefully. "The war could always end." James shook his head dismissively.
"It hasn't really even started yet," James said with a slight smile. He was brave to the point of a fault and while he knew with a grim certainty that things were going to get worse, he also wanted nothing more than to fight with every fiber of his being for what he knew was right, for the fate of his world. And he was arrogant enough to believe he could make a difference.
"Stop it." Daphne said with more force than she had planned, forcing James out of his thoughts of battle and glory. "I know I can't ask you not to fight. I know you'd never even consider it, but don't make me have to listen or see that dreamlike look on your face when you think about your idealized version of war. War is not cool. War means death, which you should know considering it was in your kitchen that they found Benny Fenwick's head! It was your parents who could have been killed by the fire, and you who almost bled out in Hogsmede!"
"I know that!" James answered back angrily. How dare she rub his parents' almost death in his face? "But don't you see? That's why I have to fight. Those murderers have hurt and killed so many people. My father is going to bear the scars of that night forever. I'll never forget seeing Benny's head on my table, or seeing the haunted look in Andromeda's eyes. And I'll never forgive the fact that they almost killed her…" His voice trailed off.
Daphne turned her head away, in a futile attempt to keep James from seeing the pain and anger in her eyes. He didn't need to say the name. They both knew who the 'her' was he was speaking about.
"The thing that kills me," Daphne said as she turned her face once again to look James straight in the eye, "is that if she were to ask you not to fight, to stay with her, you wouldn't hesitate for a minute." And Daphne turned and made her way back to her house, leaving a stunned James in her wake.
Lily grumbled as she made her way to her door. She was wearing pajama pants and a tank top and was certainly not expecting any company. She wondered fleetingly whether she should fetch her wand before opening the door just in case You-Know-Who or any of his cronies, she thought of one in particular, had decided to drop by, but she reminded herself that they most likely would not knock on the door. Her jaw dropped as she swung open the door and she saw the boy standing on the other side of it. What was he doing here?
A/N: Thanks for the patience! I've had a really rough couple of months and things have been really crazy on both the home front and the school front. I can't wait to hear you're theories on who it is at the door…so please review!