"Severus, so glad you could join me. Tea?"

Snape had no idea why Albus had asked him into his office that evening.

"No, thank you," he peered at Albus. After a few moments, Dumbledore placed his tea cup on his desk and removed a small white envelope from his robes, extending it to Snape. Snape eyeballed the letter. His lip quivered. Recently letters never held good news as one would hope. Instead, letters held grim news from loved ones or officials. He didn't want to hear either.

With a nervous hand, Snape grabbed the letter and gave Albus one final look before opening it slowly.

The regime is strong. We are safe for

now but are moving at daybreak.

Death eaters have infiltrated the

ministry and seldom can be trusted.

Take caution. She is safest

under your protection. News

to come.

A. Carrow

It took Snape only a moment to realize which A. Carrow had written to Dumbledore.

"How?" he questioned.

"House invasion." Dumbledore stated.

Snape knew that Alecto had some leads on her brother's house, but after feeding Amycus false information, he thought she would be thrown off. Maybe she was smarter than he had realized.

Snape sighed. "Sir, I am not capable of saving everyone." Dumbledore nodded his head and turned back to his desk. He sat down and placed the cup of tea to his lips again.

"Have you told the girl?" Snape questioned.

Dumbledore took a sip of tea before responding. "We will when the time is right."

"Excuse me sir. We?"

"Severus, she has been in contact with Amycus on school grounds. I have strengthened the enchantments but you must make sure this does not happen again."

Snape knew Amycus had been trying to find his brother, whether to help his sister or to make amends, he hadn't quite pinned it yet. But to have a death eater contact a student on school grounds? Who would even be able to make that connection...except for...

Snape scowled. He could feel a wave of heat wash over his body. Of all the irresponsible things to do.

"Yes, I believe Mr. Malfoy may have some explaining to do." Dumbledore stated knowingly. "However, that brings us to the next problem. I've noticed some peculiar behavior from that boy. I trust that you have everything handled?"

Snape nodded hesitantly. Dumbledore confided in him more than he had wished. First Harry and now Draco, who was proving to be more trouble than he had hoped. The boy needed a swift kick to the ass but he couldn't help but feel some sympathy for him. Elements of the Black family were not all terrible and this nature glowed brightly within Draco.

Snape turned to leave before Dumbledore stopped him, "One last thing before you go." Snape gently turned his head, listening. "Do you believe in fate, Severus?" Snape took a second to process the random question.

"No," he stated simply and exited, leaving Dumbledore to his cup of tea.

Author's Note: I strongly debated putting this chapter somewhere else. Please let me know your thoughts! The suspension in the last chapter is completely resolved by this letter, however, some of our character's do not know this yet (and from the looks of it, won't for some time). Dumbledore is the keeper of knowledge but how he chooses to use it is another story. For now, Lyra will suffer with the fate of her parents. More to come!