Hey... well… first of all thanks for offering yourselves as betas´. I really appreciate it but fortunately, I have found one. Her name is Sylvia Potter and I am most thankful for her help.

Anyhow… I've written till chapter 28 and I am having a lot of fun with this story. I hope that this chapter is of your liking.

Well… here it is; chapter 24… ENJOY! (and most important, review!)

Chapter 24: The only one he ever feared

Oscar Wilde used to say that the truth is rarely pure and never simple. I mentioned this statement before and its veracity makes my skin shiver, what if the truth is never found? What if we die only understanding one side of the story?

For Severus Snape, Hogwarts most feared potion's master, telling Albus Dumbledore that his new job was to find a way of killing him was not easy. Perhaps because this old man with grey beard and matching long hair acted like the father he never loved or may be this fatherly figure acted like the parent his dad had never been.

The pure truth was, though complex as it may seem to the untrained eye, that telling Albus Dumbledore that he was the main target of a group of murderers that lusted his blood, was one of the hardest things he had ever done. Moreover, he would have to mention the mirror incident in which he had seen a dead Hermione and the way in which his wife had entered the game, a game in which she had become, purposely or not, a vital piece in the chessboard of power; the queen of a magical castle.

But his job was not an easy one. He respected the old man too much and he owed him plenty. But he needed to do what needed to be done. He was the perfect choice, after all, because of his cynical manner and cold attitudes. He was, in fact, the only choice they had: few bad people turn good in a rotten society.

As he reached the gargoyles that led to Dumbledore's office, a feeling of consternation filled his chest. How was he supposed to tell a man like Dumbledore that his wife, a woman he shouldn't love, had betrayed his confidence and allowed herself to be touched by Draco Malfoy while he, the foolish husband, stood chatting with Malfoy Senior in the other room? He hadn't quite figured that out just yet but something told him that the conversation he was going to have with Dumbledore would not be a happy one.

He reached the oval office in which he had shared so many talks with Hogwart's Headmaster, peering inside as if to see if Dumbledore was there. But until Albus´ fragile voice spoke from the very top of the stairs he had not depicted his presence.

"Severus, my child, what brings you here?," he asked once he was seated behind his desk.

"I am afraid that the news I carry is not happy news," he said sitting down at the other side of the wooden desk in which Harry had once deposited Godric Gryffindor´s sword, "I have spoken with Lucius and I am afraid that he has plans to kill you, sir," he said as coldly as he could without looking straight into Dumbledore's eyes but concentrating on the movements of his hands whose fingers were drawing circles in the mahogany table.

"We all assumed that was a possibility, Severus," he calmly said with a wise smile plastered on his face, "you have little to worry. Now, what did he exactly propose?," he enquired pressing his back on the leather chair.

"He did not specifically say how or when but he made it clear that the only way for us, the Death Eaters, to annihilate you, sir, is through me," he sentenced still not looking into his eyes as if he were ashamed of what he was saying. This time his eyes were focused on Hagrid's hut whose chimney now expelled blue smoke.

"Severus, as I said, there is little for you to worry for now. They will, sure enough, contact you in the following days and thus any decision you make should be previously discussed with me. Is that clear?," Dumbledore asked, leaning forward and depositing his hand over Severus'.

"Yes, sir," he answered, for the very first time looking into Dumbledore's direction.

"Now, Severus, would you be as kind as to pour us some tea? There is something we need to talk about," he proposed once again pressing his back against the leather chair.

"Of course," Severus answered standing up and pouring some tea and boiling water into two blue cups, "Sugar?," he asked knowing the answered by heart.

"Yes, please. Two will be the perfect amount," he sentenced with a grin on his wrinkled face.

"Here you are, sir," he said as formally as he could. Even though it had been years sometimes he couldn't help but call him "sir", especially when something troubled him, "what did you want to talk to me about?," he asked sitting down in the opposite chair.

"Well, dear boy, obviously something is troubling you and I would appreciate to know what it is," he simply answered having a sip of tea.

It was not ginger and mint but all the same the steamy infusion was tasteful enough for Severus who had a large sip before answering Dumbledore's statement.

"Professor Dumbledore," he said and then corrected himself at Dumbledore's frowning face said, "Albus, I am having trouble being honest with you. Hermione, my wife, has become essential for Malfoy's plan," he explained leaving the cup of tea on the desk. Dumbledore followed, doing the same.

"How is that so?," he enquired.

"Sir, on my way to my chambers the other day I noticed a mirror particularly similar to the one you used to protect Nicholas' stone a few years ago. I stood in front of it in order to understand its function but I was troubled to see my wife hanging from the ceiling with a rope around her neck," he explained as cold as he could, but Dumbledore did not fail to notice his trembling hands and his shaking lips.

Severus Snape, Hogwarts most feared Potion's Master, was scared.

"That was a powerful way to prove your loyalty to us and your feelings for your wife," Dumbledore answered, but this time he was not smiling. His manner was calm and tranquil but he was not relaxed mainly because in a war the lives of many are at risk and he would hate for the mirrors´ prophesy to come true.

"The mirror was quite poisonous too," Severus said revealing his injured leg, "She helped,"

"I see," Dumbledore said, and then added, "Please Severus let me know of anything else odd,"

"Of course, sir", Severus replied knowing that he was already keeping information away from Dumbledore, information which would probably proved useful in the near future.

But he said nothing more and, shaking hands with the only one Voldemort had ever feared, he left his chambers and went to his morning lesson with the Slytherin and Gryffindor seventh years.

But what stroked Severus as odd was not the fact that Neville's cauldron was not melted but that Draco Malfoy was not sitting in his usual spot like the teacher's pet he had always been in Potion's classes.

And he feared that daddy might have received the mail earlier that day, with information of fundamental importance for their survival.