The website didn't come up. Damn. Ah, well... just search around for Nick Cuthell, or a website called Dema something and you'll find lots of pretty pictures!

I aplogise for short chapters, especially after it takes ages for me to upload anything.

What can Snape eat?: Sorry, in the last chapter, I didn't go into enough detail and probably used the wrong wording which is the most likely reason for violet's comment. Just to make it clear, Snape doesn't eat pork, shellfish, rabbit, camel... the basic things he isn't allowed to eat. The more complicated matters, such as use of plates etc etc, he and his family are more liberal about. Not an Orthodox Jew is he, otherwise, when you come to think of it, he wouldn't even be teaching in Hogwarts full-stop.

Neither would he have gone there for schooling in the first place.

Chapter 20: Fatigua

Remus didn't see Snape at all for the next two days. When he tried to reach out for Rat, he couldn't get a single signal, apart from one of emptiness which in itself was very disturbing for the werewolf.

After the first day, he began to think about it a bit more carefully, and had finally come to the conclusion that Snape must have gone for the - what was by now - eighth link. The usual feeling of worry gnawed at him, but he managed to keep himself relatively sane, thanks largely to the writings of Snape's father.

The second day went and by that time, Remus knew that something was rather wrong. He had not been called up to go and deliver one of the Links. As he didn't know why - and couldn't come up with any good reason - it was on the third day since Snape had gone that Remus went to have a word with Dumbledore.

"Ah," Dumbledore said in his usual greeting, not looking up from a table as Remus entered the room.

"Professor?"

Dumbledore beckoned to him. Obediant, Lupin answered the call and stood by the Headmaster at the table. As he looked down on it, he saw that it was a large piece of parchment, perfectly cut to fit the surface of the table exactly. On it, was a pattern, of triangles, squares and circles, where each line crossed, there was a jewel.

"Right now," Dumbledore said quietly, "none have been activated and the central viewing jewel has not been placed. But soon--"

Remus now understood why the jewels seemed to be so dark, not even glittering in the light of the candles.

"Professor," he began eventually. Dumbledore looked up at him.

"Yes?"

The werewolf took in a deep breath. "I was just wondering-- about these Links..." he trailed off, feeling slightly nervous. Perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to come here in the first place.

"Mmm...?"

"Well... It's just that.... I haven't been asked to place one in any certain location and I was wondering why..." Remus was amazed at the fact that he had managed to get the words out of his mouth. Dumbledore seemed to be thinking over this.

Very carefully.

"Remus," he began, "my main reason for not asking you to be in this business of Links and so-forth is simple: I have other things for you to attend to. I need to have at least a handful of ever-ready people that I can call upon to help in an emergency, not tired out by crossing the European continent in a night simply to place a hidden precious stone."

"I see, sir."

"Do you?" He turned to Remus.

Remus mulled this latest question over for a long pause. "Yes." He said. Gesturing to the parchment on the table, he asked, "could you explain this to me, then?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Of course... now?"

"Yes, please."

"Very well, then. Now, over on that side..."

~

It was now late afternoon and Dumbledore had called another gathering of the 'Order'. At first, the door to his office was closed and so Remus, with a dozen or so others, some of whom were not officially part of the 'Order', waited for a while before the gargoyle sprang away, allowing them to pass through.

Lira held onto Sirius' arm as they made their way through and in the little light that was available, Remus could see that she was tired.

**She ought to be getting some rest**

When they entered the office, they saw that already, there was someone else in there. In something like silence, the 'Order' filed in and took their seats, smiling slightly and politely at the woman who sat, poised, yet relaxed in her chair.

Remus looked at her carefully, sure that he had seen her somewhere before. Something about her face and colouring was all too familiar.

They waited.

Dumbledore stood up from his seat.

"Of course," he began, "you'll be wondering who this is..." He gestured towards the lady. "This is Eleni Madenia, formerly known as Eleni Snape."

Remus sat up straighter, regarding the silent woman once again. He wasn't the only one who had reacted in a similar way, either:

Sirius actually opened his mouth, Lira raise her eyebrows, nearly letting a small gasp issue from her mouth. McGonagall looked surprised as well.

The werewolf suddenly had an image of a young girl spring into his vision.

Of course.

Like Severus, she had black hair, though hers did not have the appreance of being greasy and was much, much longer. She also had darker skin and a less pronounced nose, one that accented her looks and made her appear all the more stunning. But having said that, she wasn't beautiful as such, but stunning was more or less right. And very attractive. She had a certain dark glamour to her, though her clothes were simple - and black - and her only jewellery was aa wedding ring and her small ear-rings.

She gave a lovely smile to the 'Order' and Remus could quite literally feel the mood lighten and the reception get warmer.

"Eleni here happens to be Severus' older sister. She volunteered to help us to the best of her abilities, perhaps due to someintervention from Severus, who's to know?" He gave a small smile and a quiet ripple of polite chuckles came over the seated 'Order'. "Severus' younger brother, John, though I believe he is usually called within his family as Jona--" Eleni nodded, "will be coming to join us as well, by...?"

"Tomorrow, we hope," Eleni finished off for him. Her voice was much like Lira's, only with a more fuller timbre, from which Remus could tell that Eleni Snape smoked a fair bit more than Lira did.

"We hope," Dumbledore nodded. "Now, in this meeting, I wanted to address the issue of the Links, as we are so close to it being completed.

"Severus will not be here for another three days at least. He is currently somewhere nearby, placing one of the certain Links which hold a slightly more important role than the others, for with these, we will use to get direct journeying to and from unlike with the others, where we'll only be able to look into them and act from there."

Lira was the first to speak. "And he's as safe as you can make the journey to be...?"

Dumbledore held her tired gaze with his own piercing one. Remus glanced at Eleni who he realised was looking at Lira with a rather worried look on her face. Perhaps she could see that Lira's situation was none too good, as well.

"I've asked Jona to intervene in that particular matter," Eleni replied for Dumbledore. This made Remus smile slightly: Eleni Snape was even more fothright than her younger brother. Her very presence seemed remarkable. "Though whether he actually will, I don't know. Even if he doesn't, yes, Dumbledore has placed several precautions. Similar to the ones he placed on your husband, might I add."

"Well that's reassuring." Lira covered a small yawn with her hand.

"Ah," Eleni turned to Dumbledore. "Albus, do you mind if I leave now for a small while?"

"Of course not."

Eleni nodded and got up, walking outisde the circle to Lira, in whose ear she whispered something. Lira gave Sirius a look and when Sirius nodded, she and Eleni left the room together.

~

As he entered the Great Hall, he noticed that when he took his seat, Eleni only came up to his ear. So, her younger brother Severus was taller than her by at least five inches.

She and Lira sat next to each other and were talking quietly. Maybe it was just because Eleni was here, but the staff table seemed a good deal quieter and more reserved. It was quite a difference that her presence seemed to make.

Remus took a seat next to Sirius who smiled wearily at him. Earlier on that day, Sirius had had a chance to talk to Harry and spend some time with him. It seemed that the ex-Azkaban prisoner was a bit happier and not as tired as before.

"Looking good, Padfoot," Remus murmured.

Sirius shook his head. "I've hardly had anything to recover from." He snorted. "I wonder what sort of shape Snape will be in when he returns."

Remus winced. He didn't really want to picture it.

"Do you think it's likely that he'll get attacked or something?" Remus asked.

Sirius frowned and took a sip from his goblet. "I really do doubt it, Moony, but it's things like that, which we've got to consider." He added a forkful of his meal into his mouth and chewed. "If he does, he'll know how to look after himself and he'll get through to us--"

*Before it's too late* was what Sirius seemed to have stopped himself from adding.

"I hope he does get back alright." Remus said absently, finally beginning on his meal.

"Mmm..." Sirius gave him an odd look. "Do you really care about him that much?"

Lupin breathed. "Well," he started, in a voice barely above a whisper, "I'm just worried about him. I mean, he keeps himself to himself too much and... it seems to me that we've all been underestimating him...--"

Up until that point, he hadn't realised that Lira and Eleni were finished with their conversation and Eleni in particular was giving him the oddest look. When he did notice, he felt himself colour, but her look reassured him that she wasn't judging. Or at least, that was the impression she gave off. She was probably recording all of these conversations and mettings in her head, the way her brother seemed to.

Just as he shouldn't underestimate Severus, neither should he Eleni.

"Do you know my brother well, then?" She asked. Remus detected a strange sort of accent.

"You could say." The werewolf was grateful that neither Lira or Sirius mentioned anything of their growing closeness. "Why?"

Eleni gave an elegant shrug. "He never struck me as the type who could become close to anyone. He's more the sort to back out if he finds himself gaining someone as an intimate friend. Still, who said that there's never room for improvement, hm?"

Something in what she said struck Remus as a little odd for a description of a younger brother. It seemed rather cold.

**Perhaps they don't get along well**

Gods, it was at times like this that he felt the need for a little sarky presence such as Rat. Rat would know what to make of this strange, quietly glamorous woman.

"Lira?" Remus said.

Lira looked up at him, turning her neck slightly, as she was leaning on her husband's shoulder. "Remus?"

"Are you feeling any better? You've been looking pretty exhausted lately." Remus - perhaps to make a further impression on Eleni - let the true amount of worry (which was an awful lot) surface in his eyes.

"Ah, Remus," Lira breathed. "I *am* feeling quite a bit better. I've been absolutely wretched for the past few days: throwing up every other morning and just always feeling so very tired..."

"She almost collapsed yesterday," Sirius said quietly.

Remus nearly gasped, but managed to contain himself, only giving Lira shocked look. He *was* shocked, unpleasantly so. She had actually *collapsed*?

"I didn't... I just tripped...."

"Of course, love.."

"Sirius..."

"I'm sorry," he said promptly and kissed her gently on the forehead. "I didn't mean to exaggerate..." but all four knew that he hadn't been.

Eleni took a sip from her own goblet, looking very thoughtful. "My dear," she said finally. "It does seem a lot more serious than I first thought it was... but I can only increase your treatments bit by bit... I really don't want to endanger your baby..."

"Oh, Eleni, really... you're as bad as your brother... you can stop worrying..."

Eleni gave a small chuckle at the mention of her brother then shrugged again and remaine silent for the rest of her meal.

*

TBC *very soon*