All characters except Vlad Comaneci belong to J.K. Rowling.
Just picture Vlad with a Viktor Krum-type accent. There's no way I'm writing it the whole way through!
Severus stared at the man before him, not daring to move.
"I know why you are here," the man said, his crisp Romanian accent set off by the coldness of his voice. "Your people have caused enough trouble for me. My name is Vladimir Comaneci."
Oh, the creature. Wonderful. "I assure you," said Severus, furious with himself for getting caught unarmed; by an angry werewolf, no less, "that we didn't come to cause trouble. We were sent by Albus Dumbledore--"
He broke off abruptly when Comaneci seized Severus's left arm and yanked the sleeve up, exposing the Dark Mark. "You lie," he spat, looking disgustedly at it. He pushed Severus back into the house with his free hand, his wand still trained on Severus's face. "You are one of them."
Snape gritted his teeth. Dammit! "Listen--"
Comaneci slammed him hard up against the wall next to the living room door, his slightly shorter height seemingly irrelevant. "No. You listen. I want nothing to do with you people. I know what you are here for."
"What's going on?" asked a mild voice. To Severus's immense relief, it was Lupin. He was standing just inside the front door.
Comaneci let go of Severus's throat and whipped round. "Another one?" he snarled. "You won't take us."
"Mr. Comaneci, I presume?"
"You assume correctly," answered the creature coldly. Severus rubbed his throat, wishing fervently that he'd been wearing some Slytherin silver. Mangy creatures. Both of them. Nevertheless, he was relieved that he wouldn't have to be the one to deal with the rabid monster. He'd leave that to the other one.
Comaneci was not looking perturbed in the slightest that he was standing in between two wizards whom he clearly thought wanted to harm him. Instead, Severus noticed, he was looking closely at Lupin.
Lupin took a step forward and spoke again. "Well, I'm--"
"You are one of us."
Lupin looked surprised. Never seen one of your own before, have you? Severus thought maliciously. "Yes, that's right," answered Lupin pleasantly. "We were asked to come here by Albus Dumbledore--"
Comaneci was apparently intent on preventing anyone from managing a complete sentence in his presence, because he interrupted again. "I saw the Mark on his arm." He jerked his head towards Severus, who sneered in return. "He is one of them. And I suppose they have already taken you?"
Lupin's slightly confused expression had cleared upon mention of the Dark Mark. He shook his head. "No one has taken me. Severus is no longer on the Dark Side. He is a spy for our side now."
Comaneci sneered and pointed his wand at Lupin. "You lie."
Lupin gave a small sigh. "No, it's the truth. If you like, we can use the fire to contact Dumbledore."
Comaneci regarded Lupin with a mixture of anger and suspicion. "Very well," he answered.
Lupin made towards the living room, but before he could get there Black burst in through the open front door, wand raised. Severus groaned inwardly. I always knew you were an imbecile, Black, but this is just the icing on the cake. He restrained himself for casting an Unforgivable on him for his awful timing.
"What's going on?" Black demanded loudly. "I heard--"
Comaneci's eyes widened in recognition. "I knew it!" he roared, looking enraged. "You are all with him! The snake man!"
Black looked furious. "What the hell are you--"
"Stupefy!" shouted Comaneci, and he tossed Severus's wand down onto the floor and stepped over Black's prone body into the night, cloak billowing behind him.
***
Remus stared after him. What on Earth was that all about? He hurried over to Sirius and turned him over onto his back. "Enervate," he said, while Severus picked up his wand, scowling, and dusted it off.
"--talking about?" roared Sirius, catapulting up.
Remus heard a snort behind him, which may or may not have been muffled laughter. Sirius looked around, a confused expression on his face.
"Too late, Black," said Severus. "If it wasn't for your horrendous timing for one of your ridiculous acts of Gryffindor heroism, Comaneci wouldn't have gone. Although," he added, smirking, "seeing you hit your head on the floor rather made up for it."
Sirius snarled and got to his feet. "Is that so? Tell me, Snape. What was it that caused him to have his wand out in the first place? I always knew you were an unpleasant bastard, but I thought even you'd know not to go starting arguments with the very people we're trying to get on side!"
Remus placed himself between the two when Severus started towards Sirius. "I'll talk to him tomorrow, see if we can gain his trust. I think that we have a bit more of a problem now, though."
"What?" asked Sirius. "Why was he so angry? I mean, I know you have that effect on people, Snape, but I doubt even you would provoke a reaction that bad."
"Perhaps if you hadn't come barrelling in here like some kind of idiot, Black, you'd have found out," snapped Severus.
"It seems that the Death Eaters have been trying to recruit them, and from the way Vladimir reacted, they've been using force," Remus explained. "That's why he got so angry: he saw Severus's arm. And he must have recognised you."
Sirius's face paled. "You don't think he'll turn me in, do you?"
Remus shook his head, ignoring the muttered comments coming from Severus's general direction. "I doubt it. I don't know what the Romanian Ministry's like, but if it's anything like ours, they probably won't believe him. Plus, I'm not sure how much they know about Voldemort." He fervently hoped that he was right. Their first meeting hadn't exactly gone as planned.
"Crime doesn't pay, does it, Black?" sneered Snape.
"No, it doesn't," replied Sirius airily, although his eyes were blazing. "As I'm sure you realised when that thing on your arm caused Comaneci to start stunning people. Blown it now, haven't you?"
They both drew their wands at the same time, their faces showing equal burning hatred and contempt. Remus sighed impatiently and drew his own wand. "Expelliarmus."
The looks of surprise on Sirius and Severus's faces would have been comical under other circumstances. Remus pushed the front door shut and looked sternly at them both. "If you think that cursing each other is going to help, you're wrong. Clearly, there are, or were, Death Eaters in the area. If they aren't here now, it's pretty certain that they'll come back. Voldemort isn't just going to give up. I know Albus said that at a push, if we could persuade them to remain neutral, that would be enough, but obviously we're going to have to get them on side now. Squabbling amongst ourselves isn't the best way to make Vladimir trust us. And there's the added fact that you," he nodded towards Severus, "are in no position to be seen helping Sirius and I. Who knows what Voldemort will do if he finds out? We need to be inconspicuous."
Severus nodded grudgingly and stomped up the stairs, muttering. Sirius looked abashed. "You're right," he said. "If the Death Eaters are taking them by force it's going to make them pretty vicious when the full moon comes round..."
Remus nodded. "I'll tell Albus, see what he says."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
"What did the Headmaster say, Lupin?" asked Severus an hour later. He was feeling slightly calmer, having done a bit more research in the library.
Lupin sighed. "He's going to try to find out if any known Death Eaters who work for the Ministry are away at the moment. It will give us an idea of who to look out for. And he told us just to keep him posted on what's going on and to keep a low profile, if we can. Easier said than done, though. The main Death Eaters would recognise any one of us."
Black nodded. "Then again," he said, "I'd rather the Death Eaters recognised me than a Ministry employee." He shuddered and Severus rolled his eyes. One wrong move, Black, and I'll see to it that the Minister of Magic himself is banging on the door before you know what's happening. He, personally, wouldn't stop them hauling him back to his Azkaban cell. It would give him immense satisfaction to see Black's smug grin wiped off that murdering face...every time he saw him he was itching to hit him, or curse him, or...something.
Well, Snapey, if you're that desperate to know, who am I to keep it from you, you slimy bastard?
Severus clenched his fists and looked away. He owed too much to Albus to give vent to his feelings towards Black. Dammit!
He was jolted out of his thoughts by the sudden appearance of a searing, burning heat on his left forearm. A screaming pain that felt like it was tearing off the skin of his arm. He gasped and gritted his teeth. No, God, no... But wishing it away didn't help, cooling solutions didn't help, even stunning himself hadn't worked. He had also once found out, the hard way, that trying to cut it off didn't help, either. The only way to relieve the pain was to go. Through the haze of pain, he wondered where his wand was so he could Apparate. The pain was worsening...all-consuming...
Lupin was watching him worriedly. "Severus?" he asked, taking a step towards him.
Severus jerked away. "Get my wand," he gritted out. "It's in the library. Go!"
Lupin disappeared. Black was looking at him oddly. It wasn't worry, it wasn't sympathy...but it wasn't satisfaction or malice, either...
Do you swear to bind yourself to me, to serve your Lord under the Dark Mark, renouncing Albus Dumbledore...
Thumping footsteps...
...Muggles....
Something being pressed into his hand...
...Mudbloods...
And through sheer will to end the pain Severus was able to summon the presence of mind to Apparate to wherever the Mark took him.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, I've been surprisingly busy. Sorrrrrrrrry! And it's horribly, pathetically, feebly short. Oops...the next one will be longer, but I thought I'd better get a move on and upload this one.
By the way, I know the viewpoint I'm telling it from jumps around a lot. Is that a bad thing? If it makes it difficult to read, let me know and I'll try not to. It's sooo much harder to tell when it's your own piece of writing. Argh!
The Nemesis Raptor - thanks! He is rude, isn't he? But that's why we love him! The Jedi Wizard Hobbit - for some reason, while I was writing that I couldn't think of a single word that rhymed with bat. And I agree about the slash thing, I don't write it myself. Thanks for reviewing! Desideratus Fatum - I think sometimes people do forget that, while they dislike each other, they're nearing forty. I'll be keeping the childish pranks away! Louise - aw, thanks! I enjoyed writing the book bit. Maybe because I love books; the older and dustier the better! naughtynat - evil, moi? Noooo. You never know, the wolves may well chase Sevvy ;-)! JamesPotter - yep, as you've probably gathered by now that was Vlad! Thanks loads for reviewing! Hawaii - I couldn't resist the collar thing, it was just too tempting! themidnightangel - hope you enjoyed your week off, jammy! Well, if Sirius gets freed and Snape's potions fall through, I can always get them an agent - they can be the next...*tries to think of people who sing duets* erm, duet...people. Mmm-hmm...Anyway, I'm sorry this one took so long, I'm hopeless, I know! tia - thanks for reviewing! I hate cliffies, too, but that's when other people write them! Reva Ayanami - absolutely. I love Sirius and Severus's little spats! Yep, I get a bit sick of them, too. Oh well. Thanks for reviewing! mrs snape - don't you worry - your Sevvie is absolutely fine!
