Author's Note: This chapter is, primarily, lifted from the Deathly Hallows book.

The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a long and ornate table. The room's usual furniture had been pushed carelessly up against the walls; illumination came from a roaring fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a gilded mirror.

Snape lingered on the threshold for a moment. His eyes growing accustomed to the lack of light, before being drawn upward to the strangest feature of the scene: an unconscious human figure hanging upside down over the table, revolving slowly as if suspended by an invisible rope.

None of the people seated beneath the body seemed to notice it, except for a pale young man sitting almost directly below it. He seemed unable to prevent himself from glancing upward every minute or so.

"Snape," said a high, clear voice from the head of the table. "You are very nearly late."

The speaker was seated directly in front of the fireplace, so that it was difficult, at first, for the new arrival to make out more than his silhouette. As Snape drew nearer, however, a face shone through the gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and gleaming red eyes whose pupils were vertical.

"Severus, here," said Voldemort, indicating to the seat at his immediate right.

Snape was aware of the eyes watching him as he glided around the table and took his allotted seat beside Voldemort. Across from him, her back straight, hair falling over her shoulders, hood pulled over her head, almost hiding her face in shadows sat Avery.

Voldemort turned, his gaze flittering over Snape's face. "I sense good news," he said. It was more a statement than a question.

"The best, my Lord," said Snape, nodding in turn.

"Does it regard Harry Potter or my daughter?"

"Harry Potter."

Voldemort continued to stare at Snape, he could feel his penetrating gaze pressing against the shield inside Snape's mind. Searching for deceit or lies.

"Very well," said Voldemort. "Tell us this news."

"The Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on Saturday next, at nightfall."

The atmosphere tensed rapidly.

Voldemort's ferocious gaze fastened upon Snape like a predator watching its prey. "Saturday… at nightfall," he repeated. His lipless mouth curved into something like a smile. "Good. Incredibly good. And this information comes -"

"- from the source we discussed," said Snape, nodding.

"My Lord." Yaxley leaned forward to look down the table. He was sitting a mere three seats away but seemed determined to be seen by Voldemort. "My Lord, I have heard differently."

Voldemort glanced at him but did not speak.

"Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the thirtieth, the night before the boy turns seventeen," said Yaxley.

Snape smiled. "My source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be the first time; he is known to be susceptible."

"I assure you, My Lord," Yaxley pushed. "Dawlish seemed quite certain."

"If he has been Confounded, naturally he is certain," said Snape. "As the new Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Department, Yaxley, I am surprised that you do not know your own new rules. When you replaced Mortimer Flint were you not informed that the Auror office would no longer play a part in escorting either Mr Potter or Faye."

Yaxley narrowed his eyes.

"There is also the matter of the Order," Snape added. "They believe we have infiltrated the Ministry. They will not risk compromising Potter with a Department they no longer trust."

Voldemort lifted his gaze to the revolving figure above the table.

"My Lord," Yaxley pressed, "Dawlish believes an entire party of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy -"

Voldemort held up a hand and Yaxley subsided, slinking back into his chair. "Where do they intend to move the boy?" he asked Snape.

"To the home of another Order member," Snape answered. "The place, according to my source, has been given every protection that the Order can provide. There is little chance of taking him once he is there, my Lord."

Voldemort turned to Avery. "What are your thoughts, my Lady?" he wondered.

"The Ministry is only half in our control," said Avery, immediately. "Yaxley has managed to replace Flint, but he fails to meet with other Heads of Department to either turn them to our cause, or Confound them. Scrimgeour is also a risk, while his Head of Security is under our control, he still travels with minimal backup."

Avery turned to Yaxley, who seemed to shrink under her look. She raised an eyebrow, and Yaxley leaned forward once again.

"My apologies, my Lady," said Yaxley. "I do not mean to hesitate in bringing the others under our regime. Getting around the rest of Scrimgeour's security isn't as easy as predicted, even with one of our own as the Head of the Department. As for the rest of the Heads of Department, they're as trusting as the Minister."

"Then maybe you require some assistance?" Avery asked, her fingers curling into her palm. Yaxley felt his throat close up, and tears appeared in his eyes as his chest burned with lack of air.

Voldemort raised a hand and Avery released Yaxley.

"Having one Department on our side will not be enough to take Potter when he reaches his destination," said Avery. "I'm not saying we need all Departments, but if we wish to overthrow the Ministry then all Departments must be under our control. As for the boy, taking him during transit will be our option, my Lord."

Voldemort nodded; his lipless mouth pressed firmly together.

"We do have an advantage there, my Lord," said Yaxley, his eyes watering as he took gulp full of air. "We now have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter Apparates or uses the Floo Network, we shall know immediately."

"He will not do either," said Snape. "The Order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry they mistrust everything to do with the place."

"All the better," said Voldemort. "He will have to move into the open. Easier to take, by far." Again, Voldemort looked up at the slowly revolving figure as he went on. "I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned."

A terrible, drawn-out cry of misery and pain echoed around the room.

"Wormtail!" Avery snapped, her chair sliding backwards. She stood and whirled around, coming face-to-face with a small, balding man standing at the door behind her. He trembled as she towered over him, his head bowed in fear.

"S-sorry, my Lady," Wormtail whimpered. He scampered out of the room, closing the door quietly in his stead.

Avery retook her seat and adjusted her hood. She met Snape's gaze and then looked away, staring off into the fireplace as it crackled and danced behind them. Laying on the rug in front of the hearth was Nagini, the snake lifted her head, tilted it at Avery, and then lay back down.

"Potter's escapes have been more my errors than sheer luck on his part," said Voldemort. "However, before I dispatch him this time, I shall need the help of one of you. I require a wand."

Nothing but shock reflected back at him from the men around the table.

"No volunteers?" said Voldemort. "Let's see… Lucius? I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore."

Lucius Malfoy looked up. His usual pale skin was now yellow in colour, his eyes sunken and shadowed, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse from the lack of use. "My lord?" he asked.

"Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand."

"I…"

Malfoy hesitated and glanced sideways. His wife, Narcissa, sat on his right, her gaze staring straight ahead. Her long blonde hair hanging down her back, but beneath the table her slim fingers closed briefly around his wrist.

Digging into his pocket, Malfoy removed his wand and pass it along the table to Voldemort.

"What is it?" Voldemort asked.

"Elm, my Lord."

"And the core?"

"Dragon - dragon heartstring,"

"Good."

Voldemort drew his own wand and compared it next to Lucius. The latter made an uneasy rocking motion in his seat, drawing the attention of his Master, whose eyes widened maliciously.

"Give you my own wand, Lucius? My wand?"

Someone sniggered.

"I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late. What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?"

"Nothing - nothing my Lord."

"Such lies. Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?"

"Of course, my Lord," said Lucius. "We did desire it - we do."

Narcissa made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Voldemort, to Avery, and back to the table beneath her. To his father's right, sat Draco, his gaze shifted from the body, to Voldemort, and then away again.

"My Lord," said a dark woman halfway down the table, her voice constricted with emotion, "it is an honour to have you hear, in our family's house. There can be no higher pleasure."

Avery watched as Bellatrix leaned closer, the longing to be near her Master evident on her face.

"No higher pleasure," repeated Voldemort. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you."

Bellatrix's face flooded with colour.

"My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth!"

"No higher pleasure," Avery said, her gaze locked onto Bellatrix. "Even compared to the happy event that, I hear, has taken place in your family this week?"

Bellatrix glared across the table. "I don't know what you mean…" she said, shaking her head.

Avery grinned darkly. "I am talking about your niece, Bellatrix," she said. "Nymphadora, if I am correct, married the werewolf known as Remus Lupin."

There was an explosion of laughter.

Bellatrix's face, once filled with happiness, turned an ugly, blotchy red, as she glared angrily at Avery. "She is no niece of ours!" she hissed. "We - Narcissa and I - have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, or any beast she marries."

"Yet, you still refer to your sister as 'your sister'," said Avery, enjoying every bit of tormenting Bellatrix as possible. "If she were no longer part of your family, as is her daughter, why would you refer to her as a sibling? Caroline turned her back on me a long time ago, and I paid her back for her betrayal. But I no longer refer to her as a sibling. Funny, how you think Andromeda is still yours."

Bellatrix looked from Avery to Voldemort. "Avery knows not what she speaks, my Lord," she said, feverishly. "Narcissa and I swear loyalty to you, and only you. Our sister is nothing to us."

"There's that word again. Sister." said Avery, pleasantly. "Oh, and you shall address me as my title intends, Bella, or nothing else. Am I clear?"

Bellatrix grit her teeth. She hated Avery vigorously. The only reason, at least in her mind, that Voldemort had chosen Avery to bear him an heir was because of the magical capabilities of her family. If he had been looking for a witch that was merely devoted to him, he would've chosen her, Bellatrix was sure of it.

"What do you think, Draco?" Voldemort asked. "Will you babysit any cubs they may have?"

The hilarity mounted. Draco Malfoy looked in terror at his father, who was staring down into his own lap, then caught his mother's eye. She shook her head imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan stare at the opposite wall.

"Enough," said Voldemort. "Enough."

The laughter died at once.

"Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time," Voldemort said to Bellatrix. "You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest."

"Yes, my Lord," whispered Bellatrix. "At the first chance!"

"You shall have it," said Voldemort. "And in your family, so in the world, we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remain."

Voldemort raised Lucius' wand, pointed it directly at the slowly revolving figure suspended over the table, and have it a tiny flick. The figure came to life with a groan and began to struggle against invisible bonds.

"Do you recognise our guest, Severus?" asked Avery. "It was not easy to get her out of Hogwarts, believe me."

Snape raised his eyes to the upside-down face. He did recognise her. "Yes, my Lady," he said, as the woman twirled around, the flames of the fireplace casting an eerie glow over her terrified face.

"Severus," she whispered, her voice cracked and weak as she met his gaze. "Please."

"And you, Draco?" Voldemort asked.

Draco shook his head.

"But would you have not taken her classes?"

Again, Draco shook his head.

"For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage who, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Burbage instructed our children all about Muggles. How they are not so different from us."

Charity revolved to face Snape again.

"Severus… please… please…"

"Silence!" Voldemort snapped. "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of Wizarding children, like my Heir, who, I believe, took the class twice…"

Avery nodded. "More than likely forced into it, my Lord," she said. "Professor Burbage seemed intent on teaching the young, fragile minds of our children the subtle importance of Muggles. Corrupting and polluting them with lies of a better future."

"Indeed," said Voldemort. "Just last week, Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defense of Mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. Wizards, she says, must accept these thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the Purebloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance. She would have us all mate with Muggles… or, no doubt, werewolves."

Nobody laughed this time.

For a third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape. Tears were pouring from her eyes into her hair. Snape looked back at her, quite impassive, as she turned slowly away from him again.

"Avery, my dear," said Voldemort, extending a hand. "Would you like to do the honours?"

"Of course, my Lord."

Avery turned her gaze back to Charity and held her hand up, palm facing the revolving professor. She waited until the woman came back around and the halted her progression with a smile whisper. "Professor Burbage, you have been found guilty of trying to corrupt, not only the minds of pureblooded children, but also of my own daughters. You have not pleaded your case in good measure and are therefore sentenced to spend the rest of your existence in tortured agony."

Charity gasped as her throat closed. Avery merely smiled, her fingers curling inwards to her palm, cutting off the air supply to Burbage's lungs. Her eyes turned red, the tears running dry, as blood streaked down from her nose and mouth, the sluggish red liquid mixed with her hair just as her tears had done.

With a snap, the bonds holding Charity give way, and she landed on the table with a heavy thud, her body convulsing as it shut down rapidly. Then, she became motionless. Her eyes cloudy and staring, but not seeing at the ceiling,

"Nagini," Voldemort whispered.

Near the fireplace, the great snake lifted her head again and slithered over, her whole body clutching her master's chair as she glided up the back and down onto the arm. The wooden frame creaked under the serpent's weight.

"Dinner."

Tasting the air, Nagini slithered onto the polished wood of the table. Her body swaying from left to right as she glided towards Burbage's body. Her jaws opened, unhooking from the bottom, with a hiss she latched her fangs onto Burbage's head, and started to drag her into its mouth.

As Nagini feasted, Avery retook her seat and turned her gaze once again to Snape's. "Now, Severus," she said lightly, her hands clasping under her chin, both first fingers meeting at the tip and resting against her lips. "Tell me… where is my daughter."

~X~

"I want to see Professor Snape."

Teddie's declaration hung in the air as silence fell around the dinner table. Marcus and Theo exchanged a glance as Ursula turned to her husband. She wasn't all that surprised at Teddie's request, but it wasn't something that could be easily delivered.

"Unfortunately, Teddie, that's not possible," said Mo.

"I don't care."

"You should," said Mo. "Severus is the new Headmaster of Hogwarts, as you know, and is there under the watchful eye on the Carrow siblings. Taking you to the school isn't something that can be accomplished without getting caught."

Teddie stared at Mo. She wanted to see Snape, she had too. She had to talk to him, at least once, before she left England. Who knew what she would get the chance again. "Then write to him and ask him to come here."

"Again, not possible," said Mo. "His every step isn't just monitored at the school."

Teddie sighed. She had expected a hassle, but this was just ridiculous. There was no way that Voldemort could keep his eye on Snape twenty-four-seven, surely?

"Can't we disguise me?" Teddie asked. "Polyjuice potion? Disillusionment charm? Hell, Harry's invisibility cloak would work."

Mo shook his head.

"May I ask what it is you would like to discuss with Severus?" Ursula asked.

Teddie shrugged. Did it matter? Severus Snape had been a constant in her life since she was two years old, she had seen him every year since she was a baby, and she wanted to uphold that tradition even though she was being home-schooled this year.

"I want to talk to him about the events of last year," said Teddie. "Why he refused to let me go back to the Astronomy tower with him. Why he killed Dumbledore. I need answers and he is the only person who can give them to me."

"What if the answers he gives aren't what you are looking for?" Mason asked.

"What, like he actually meant to kill Dumbledore?" Theo asked.

Teddie shook her head. "I refuse to believe he did any of that willingly," she said, defiantly. "Why would he be a double agent his whole adult life only to turn on Dumbledore at the last minute?"

"Everyone has a breaking point," said Marcus. "Maybe Dumbledore was starting to ask too much of him. Or he just had enough. There are a thousand varied reasons."

"Then I need to know," said Teddie. "It's been playing on my mind since last year. I wanted to ask over the summer but was afraid."

"And you're no longer afraid?" Ursula asked.

Teddie shrugged. "A little," she said.

"Teddie, I know this is important to you…"

"Then make it happen," Teddie pleaded. "Please. I don't ask for much of you, Mo, and I'm grateful for everything you have done for me, Mason, and Theo, even going as far as to put yours and your families lives in harm's way to protect us. But I need this."

Mo sighed. "How would you like me to go about getting you to Hogwarts?" he asked. "Like I said, the castle is under careful renovations, not to mention watchful gazes."

"Renovations?" Mason asked.

"The Death Eaters have orders to exterminate any creature on school grounds that are not pure," said Mo. "Teachers and all manners of magical creatures have been removed over the summer. Including a Charity Burbage."

"Professor Burbage?" Teddie asked.

"Wasn't she your Muggle Studies professor?" Theo asked.

Teddie nodded. "How long as she been missing?" she asked Mo.

"A couple of weeks."

"Why didn't the Daily Prophet report it?" Mason asked.

"Because He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named now runs the Ministry," said Ursula, "and it the Daily Prophet only prints what he allows them. Harry Potter being the Desirable Number One is all that fills the front page these days."

Teddie looked down at the forgotten Daily Prophet from breakfast that morning. She was curious as to why the House Elves hadn't removed it along with the breakfast dishes.

"About Professor Snape," said Teddie, drawing the conversation back.

"I'll see if I can make it possible," said Mo. "It's not going to be easy. Hopefully, since school has not yet started back up maybe the Carrows, and other Death Eaters are not always on patrol. I cannot make any promises, however."

"I understand," said Teddie, nodding. "Thank you."

Mo bowed his head. "Anyone else have any requests?" he asked, looking around at Theo, Marcus, and Mason.

They each shook their heads.

"Um, if I may," said Teddie, awkwardly.

Mo sighed. "Yes?" he asked, patiently.

"I would like to speak with Harry Potter, too."