Severus Snape was a lonely man. To say the opposite would have been a straight up lie. And he liked his loneliness. For most of the time that was. Even a solitary man like the Hogwarts potions master sometimes craved human company. The only person with whom he had wanted to spent most of his time with had of course died fourteen years prior, and he never had fallen in love or even befriended anyone since Lily. And because of that he was now sitting alone in his flat in Spiner's End, located in one of the most run down parts of Manchester. The Dark Lord had ordered him to prepare his place for a guest – Wormtail. It was uncertain for how long the other Death Eater was going to stay at Snape's place, but the spy hoped that it wouldn't be for long. Wormtail certainly wasn't the kind of company he sought out from time to time, more the opposite. The fact that the slimy vermin might move in with him made Snape look forward to go back to Hogwarts and dealing with his students. As much as he hated most of them, the vast majority of them would have been preferable part time company than the whimpering fool of a traitor.

It was more the latter than the fact that Snape regarded Wormtail as a useless idiot that he didn't want him around. Sure, Snape was also a traitor. He spied on the Death Eaters for the Order of the Phoenix after once having been a faithful servant of the Dark Lord himself, but Wormtail had betrayed the Order to Voldemort and with that Lily, and of course James and their son Harry. Wormtail had been the reason why the love of Snape's life had lost her life. It was something he couldn't forgive or forget. He of course had to play along and act as if it wasn't a problem to accommodate Peter Petigrew, especially after trying to convince Voldemort that his presence in Hogwarts meant that Petigrew would have been without supervision for months. The Dark Lord had assured his supposedly trusted servant that he needed not to worry about that. And with that any potential discussion had been over.

This had left Snape with the unthankful task to create a hidden part of his flat where Wormtail would not be detected if sought there. If anyone would ever look for him there that was. Of course Dumbledore already had been informed, so if the Order wanted to make a move, they'd know where he was. But since that would endanger Snape's cover, Dumbledore probably hadn't even informed anybody else about Voldemort's plans to hide Petigrew.

Snape had just finished some spells and charms to create a hiding space for his unwanted future guest and was now resting in his armchair in his living room, of course with a book on the dark arts in his hands, when he heard some noise outside. At first he ignored it before it became louder and louder and thus more annoying. Finally he shut his book and got up. Groaning he got out his wand and made his way to his front door. He had barely stepped outside when he was suddenly pulled upwards by something. Before he could even use his wand it was knocked out of his hand and hit the ground beneath him. The wizard was hanging upside down from the building in which he lived, cursing under his breath that he had been trapped like this. As he tried to use wandless magic he was addressed by a deep and dark voice. "Good evening, professor."

Snape looked around, and at first he couldn't see anyone or anything. But then he saw a man in dark armour with a dark cloak standing on the roof of the building – Batman. He was holding something that looked a bit like a gun and Snape quickly deduced that he had used some kind of grabbing hook device to grab him and pull him up here. "What do you want?"

"I want you to bring me to the estate of Lucius Malfoy," demanded Batman.

This demand actually came as a surprise to Snape. He had suspected that this Muggle vigilante would want to know the location of the Dark Lord himself. Maybe this man wasn't even half as crazy as I thought he was. "And what if I don't," he asked.

Batman didn't answer verbally. Instead he released Snape from the hook and the wizard fell towards the ground. If it hadn't been for his quick reaction and Voldemort teaching him how to fly without a broom he definitely would have hit the ground since there had not been enough time to disapparate properly.

"Impressive," commented Batman coldly after he had jumped from the top of the building down into the ally without any effort.

Snape thought the same about the jump but kept that to himself. "Why should I help you," he asked again.

"Because we both know where your true loyalties lie," said Batman, clearly challenging him to contradict him.

Snape wasn't going to do him that favour. Not only because Batman was right, but also because Snape somehow didn't like the vigilante. This was their war, not his. Dumbledore had told him and some other members of the order that Batman was working with the American government and that they should work together with him when he asked for it, at least to a certain degree, which was why Snape didn't just take his wand and cursed the man for attacking him like this. And that attack didn't really made Snape like Batman any more either. Instead of answering to Batman's request, he asked, "how did you find me?"

"I've a list of known Death Eaters and their addresses," the vigilante replied before smirking. "And you're the only one living in a Muggle neighbourhood I can access without the help of wizard."

Snape couldn't help himself but to curse under his breath. "Very well, Batman. May I ask you, why you'd want me to take you to Malfoy Manor?"

"Because Lucius Malfoy is one of the most influential Death Eaters as you well know," answered Batman.

This didn't reveal much of the intentions the other man had for Lucius, Snape realised. But he also knew that he didn't have much of a choice. He had to help Batman or explain to Dumbledore why he refused to help – and probably cursed the Muggle since he definitely wouldn't take no for an answer without a fight.

"I'll get my travel coat," said Snape reluctantly and not without making it clear that he didn't like doing this through the tone of his voice.

Batman didn't react and just waited outside until Snape had returned, standing there in the dark like a statue. Even Snape could see why other people might be intimidated by this man, despite him not having such an effect on Snape himself. The only person that really frightened or intimidated him nowadays was Dumbledore. As much as some Death Eaters wanted to deny it, and others were just too zealous in their believes to admit it, Dumbledore was intimidating, even the Dark Lord himself thought so and hence had always tried to avoid a personal confrontation at all cost. Snape had always been among those who knew how dangerous the Hogwarts headmaster could be but after being confronted with his wrath, and Snape had known that Dumbledore was holding back then, Snape knew that if Dumbledore wouldn't hold back and unleash himself, no force in the wizarding world would stand a chance against him. But the headmaster was too gentle and kind to ever do so. Snape wanted him to unleash though, then they wouldn't longer have to rely on Potter to save them.

"Take my arm," he ordered Batman and the vigilante immediately did so. His grasp was more than firm and Snape actually had to bit his cheeks to keep himself from making any noise of protest about the very tight grip. Instead he closed his eyes and concentrated on their goal and apparated away to the front gates of Malfoy Manor. He knew that Batman couldn't see it as long as they were outside the magical barriers around it and hence gestured him to just follow.

Snape approached the dark gates and held up his left arm, revealing the Dark Mark on his lower arm. The gates slowly opened and Snape wanted to tell Batman that he had to be quick but before he could even open his mouth the masked man had already entered the perimeter. Surprised about the other man's speed, Snape followed him. The two walked the long path up to the manor, with Batman jumping from shadow to shadow so masterfully that even Snape had a hard time spotting him. It became more and more apparent to him that there definitely had been a reason for the Americans to hire this particular Muggle to do their dirty work.

Suddenly Batman had disappeared completely and Snape wondered where he was. But he didn't have much time to ponder the whereabouts of his travelling companion as he spotted Lucius Malfoy himself walking down the steps of the main entrance to greet his guest.

"Severus, what a surprise. Especially at this hour," he said in an oily voice and with a fake smile on his face.

Snape and Lucius were supposedly friends but it wasn't the first time that Snape wondered if he wasn't the only one pretending or if Lucius was even capable of showing genuine emotions at this point.

"This is important," replied Snape. "May we go in?"

Lucius nodded and gestured towards the entrance. The two began walking and suddenly Malfoy disappeared. Snape quickly looked up and saw his friend hanging upside down from the roof of his own mansion. Batman had somehow gotten up there and laid the same trap he had laid for Snape in what could have only been a little bit more than a minute.

"What the –" said Lucius in shock as he got his head pulled to the edge of roof by Batman.

"I'll give you the same choice I've given your friend down there," said Batman in barely more than a threatening whisper. "You're going to find the location of the vase your master stole from a museum in my city, or you yourself will end up in an American prison for robbery. The government there knows that Voldemort is back, and they'll not hesitate to prosecute any Death Eater that suddenly appears on American soil, understood?"

Lucius nodded and swallowed hard. "Who are you," he asked.

"I'm Batman," was the reply and Batman let Lucius go. Not only his head but his entire body.

Snape looked on in shock has Lucius fell towards the ground with no force supporting him until suddenly the fall stopped. Not because either one of the wizards had gotten out their wands but because Batman had stopped it just before Lucius had hit the floor. He released the blond wizard again and disappeared into the shadows of the night as Lucius hid the floor with a thud but without any injuries.

"He did the same to me," said Snape.

"Let me guess, he forced you to take him here," asked Lucius and Snape nodded. "He's not a wizard."

It wasn't a question but Snape still answered. "No. But he has beaten up some of the best fighters of the Order, including Mad-Eye Moody himself. And I've seen something the Muggles call video footage of the Dark Lord stealing that vase from the museum – the two fought and this Batman actually had the upper hand until our Lord has managed to apparate out of there."

"I don't believe you, Severus," replied Lucius stoic.

"That's your prerogative, of course. But if you want to, I can arrange you seeing the material for yourself."

Snape studied his friend's face and there certainly was interest there. "Maybe," he finally said. "But first we should figure out how to deal with this situation at hand."

"As I see it we have two possible options. Either we do what Batman asks us to and then suffer the wrath of our Lord, or we tell him what happened, endure his wrath about being successfully ambushed by a Muggle and have Batman turn us over to the American authorities."

"A lose-lose situation," said Lucius, pointing out the obvious. "I think I'll have to sleep over this before making a decision."

Snape nodded to signal his understanding before walking back to the outskirts of the estate to aparate back home. Before he did so he looked around but couldn't see any sign of Batman. He shrugged and turned on the sport. When he woke up the next morning he found a note pinned on his front door that told him to keep an eye on Lucius. It was marked with a bat, leaving no doubt who had sent the note. Snape asked himself how Batman had managed to get away from the manor and back to Spiner's End without any means of transportation but decided not to pursue this thought any further. He had enough other things to worry about for now.