Chapter Twelve
Snape watched the Werewolf stand and leave. ::Too easy,:: he thought muzzily. With any luck, the whole thing would be forgotten by morning, he wouldn't get a lecture from Dumbledore, the Dark Lord's anger with him was satiated, and the Werewolf would leave him alone. Given past experiences, however, that was unlikely. He lifted the bottle with a feeling of ennui.
The sky had become the heavy blue velvet of a moonlit summer night. The soft hooting of an owl reached him as his eyelids drifted over his field of vision. Enveloped in a warm, alcoholic glow, he didn't notice as another person stepped out onto the top of the tower.
*********
Minerva McGonagall sipped at her tea, watching the stars glitter through the dark rectangle of night sky visible through the window. With a sigh, she turned back to the cozily lit room. "So, Albus, what news?"
The ancient, silver haired wizard regarded his teacup solemnly. "I don't know what to do about Severus, Minerva. Poppy has little experience with cases of addiction to Muggle drugs, and the problem with Severus goes far beyond just the physical aspects."
Minerva spoke cautiously. "Have you given any thought to what may happen when the next school term begins?"
"Minerva -"
"I know you feel responsible for the boy, Albus, and I know that he has done a great service to the Order. But surely you must remember what you said to me all those years ago? 'In a war, we are all soldiers.' Soldiers die, Albus. Severus is a wreck." Her voice was an urgent whisper as she gazed into Dumbledore's sad old eyes. He looked away, then down at his tea, before looking back at Minerva. His eyes had taken on the color of hard blue steel.
"I will do whatever it takes to keep Severus alive and well." The words fell with an unarguable finality. "If we do not maintain our humanity, then what are we fighting to preserve?"
"Well, what measures are we going to take, then?"
"I think we should move him to Grimmauld Place, where he can be watched. Remus has one of the suites on the third floor - perhaps they could share it," Dumbledore mused into his teacup.
"Albus, are you mad? Severus would never consent to moving into the Black house, let alone room with Lupin!"
"I never said anything about consent, did I?" The old wizard's face showed an inappropriate degree of mischief, and Minerva almost swore out loud.
"For Merlin's sake, Albus, have you ever heard of Occam's Razor?" she huffed.
Dumbledore waggled his long, silvery beard at her and smiled, the gold-framed glasses perched precariously on his long nose winking with his movements. "I haven't touched a razor in over a century, my dear," he murmured.
Minerva sighed. "All right, all right, as you wish, Albus." She finished off her tea in one swift gulp. 'Shall I go find him? We have much to talk about, and although I know you wish for Severus and Remus to become friends of a sort, Severus will be more amenable to discussion without a childhood rival lurking around."
"That would be good, Minerva. Thank you."
*********
Her wand tugged her towards the Astronomy tower. ::The Astronomy tower? Of all the places...:: The climb up the tower was long, and she paused at the platform halfway to the top. Through the window she could see the moonlit grass ripple softly in the summer breeze. After a few quiet, contemplative moments she continued her upward trek.
It was with a sigh of relief that she reached the Observatory at the top of the tower. The broad expanse of the sky stretched languidly overhead, and she paused to pick out a couple of summer constellations before calling softly, "Severus?"
A sudden shifting and a muffled clink came from her left. With a wave of her wand she lit the tower top with a soft glow. A dark shadow leaned against the low balcony fitted with empty telescope mounts, their charges packed away until the advent of the next school year. As the soft wand light illuminated the Observatory, the shadow turned two black, glittering eyes at the intruder.
Minerva was suddenly overcome with awkwardness. His defiant gaze forcefully reminded her of the dour, dirty little boy who had refused to touch the Sorting Hat, the scrawny young man daring her to comment when she had first learned of his crimes, of the tireless fighter at Dumbledore's side. The man who had murdered innocents, who had cast the blackest of magicks countless times. . McGonagall sighed, frustrated with herself. Now was not the time to dwell on anything but the here and now. "Severus, stop sulking like a homesick first year and come down for some supper."
"No."
"Severus Snape, come with me this instant." .
He pointedly ignored her, continuing to gaze vacantly at the broad, velvety sky above them.
McGonagall sighed. "Don't be ridiculous, Severus. Albus needs to hear your report." When he again refused to respond, she began to feel her temper flare. In two strides she came up beside him, grabbed his elbow, and tugged. An empty bottle slipped from his fingers and smashed loudly on the stone floor. Snape looked dumbly at it, then turned his gaze upward to stare at her.
"Snape!" Minerva was furious. "Merlin help me, I cannot understand why Albus puts up with you! You cannot even face your own life sober!" She felt empty, anxious. When she got no response, she grabbed his elbow again. "You are coming with me to the Headmaster right now!"
"Gerroff, damnit!" He spun around and backhanded her clumsily, gripping the low parapet with his other hand for support. They faced each other, Snape panting heavily and Minerva placing an absent hand on her stinging cheek.
*********
After Lupin left the Astronomy Tower, Snape managed to haul himself off of the cold stone floor. He felt wonderfully mellow and calm, as if he was floating above the world and all its problems. The stars wheeled majestically overhead as he leaned against the parapet. His head swam, the dark horizon of the forest tilting against the bright night sky as if it was revolving in slow, jerky quarter turns. Despite the great height of the tower, he found himself leaning further and further outwards...
"Severus?" He jerked disjointedly at the sudden sound behind him. McGonagall. He felt like a student again, out after curfew and drunk, to boot. A lazy stab of fear curled in his gut and he tried to hide the empty bottle. ::Please don't take points, please don't take points...:: a young little voice threaded through the fog of his mind.
Light suddenly illumined the broad tower top and he turned his head to blink at the stern, sharp-featured woman before him. She sighed sharply. "Severus, stop sulking like a homesick first year and come down for some supper."
"No." ::Just go away...::
"Severus Snape, come with me this instant." McGonagall's voice was sharp. ::If I ignore her, maybe she'll leave.:: He tried to count the stars above, but his former teacher's presence had destroyed the calm tranquility of the night. A seething resentment began to build deep in his chest.
McGonagall sighed again. "Don't be ridiculous, Severus. Albus needs to hear your report." ::Why don't you leave me in peace?! I was content, for a moment...::
He heard two quick clicks of her boot heels on the stone floor before she grabbed his elbow and tugged. The empty bottle of gin slipped from his fingers and smashed slowly, as if the air had gelled around it. His stomach plummeted with the glass and a removed sense of doom washed coldly over him. ::Shitshitshit...:: He winced as she began to shout at him.
"Snape! Merlin help me, I cannot understand why Albus puts up with you! You cannot even face your own life sober!"
She grabbed at him again and he recoiled from her reaching hand, his earlier irritation flaring into hot, expanding rage. The pressure in his head roared through his ears as he turned. He felt dislocated, as if he was observing himself.
"Gerroff, damnit!" His arm swung back on its own accord and his hand struck her face. It felt so good, so satisfying, to react physically at the annoyance she caused, as if she was nothing and *he* was in control of *her*.
He crashed back into himself.
*********
"Oh, Merlin, oh, Merlin..." Snape's face was the color of bleached bone in the moonlight. Minerva's shock quickly faded into anger and she whipped out her wand. At the sight of the slender beech wood raised above him, Snape crumpled to his knees and covered his head with his arms. His ragged breath whistled through his mouth and he gave a quiet sob, mumbling into his arm, "No, no, Papa, don', please, no, no..."
Minerva was at a loss for words. It wasn't long, though, before her mothering instincts began to tug at her mind. Snape looked supremely unthreatening cowering at her feet, and she knelt down beside him. She wrinkled her nose at the reek of sour alcohol. ::He was my student,:: she thought sadly. ::What could I have done to prevent this...? Could I have changed things for him?::
With some guilt she recalled her less than favorable attitude towards the lonely, ugly little Slytherin boy. It seemed very different, now, knowing that boy's future. A fierce wrench of protectiveness towards her students gripped her chest and almost brought tears to her eyes. She knew Snape was a person making the best of the hand he'd been dealt. He was not a nice person, but she honestly believed he was a good person.
"Get up, Severus. The Headmaster would like to see you." Her voice was soft, but strength rested behind the facade of her mild words.
The young man before her slowly uncurled and buried long, spidery hands in his lank hair. "No, no, no..."
Minerva stared shrewdly at him. ::The boy is no longer in his right mind,:: she realized. "Severus, please stand up," she cajoled, a tingling feeling of impotence stirring the hairs on her neck. ::Just like Eleanor, after she was captured...:: Memories of the war with Grindewald's forces almost sixty years ago suddenly threatened to swamp her, but she shoved them roughly out of her conscious. A light sweat prickled her brow, at odds with the cool breeze from the Forest.
********
::He's in my head... he's in my head...:: An upraised arm, the scent of magic gathering.
::No escape...::
**********
The forest was dark, the sounds of night insects and the rustling of small things in the brush seemed almost unnaturally loud to his ears. His tongue lolled from his mouth as his lungs worked to expel the torpid summer air, and he followed the trail before him, its scent like colored smoke dissipating into the slight wind. Nose down to catch the ground scent, he loped after it.
Violence. Pain, blood, dark magic. His tail twitched behind him and he pressed on.
A clearing opened up before him. The colors had been leeched from the earth, bleached by the full moon's harsh light. The tall summer grasses hissed and rustled in the hot, dry breeze, and the sound of crickets was almost deafening.
The seeded grass heads bobbed on their tall stalks above him, obscuring the bright, cold stars as he followed the trail through the waving grasses. The scent of broken stems was a sharp tang in his nose, and he sneezed once, twice, thrice.
The trail pulled insistently at his nose, but the cloying perfume of crushed grass and the rushing warmth of the summer air combined with the monotonous droning of the crickets served to lull his mind. It wasn't long before he sunk to the baked, dusty earth and curled up, head swimming, and fell into a deep sleep.
*********
He stretched, enjoying the warm tingling as his muscles squeezed sleep-heavy blood back to his awakening heart. He felt better, fresher, than he had for weeks. He sighed happily into his pillow.
It wasn't until he was halfway through an early breakfast down in the main kitchen of Grimmauld Place that his mind returned to the events of the last few weeks. For a moment, the cool, long kitchen, cast in shadows and lit only with bright morning light filtering through the dirty windows, had brought him back to his childhood home. Reality crashed down around him with a weight unbecoming of the summer morning.
::Don't think about that now,:: he chided himself. ::You have to go meet Raksha Mahu today.:
Remus could hear the front door click and then the loose floorboards in the entrance hallway creak as Molly Weasly entered the house. She hummed quiet snatches of song as she bustled into the long kitchen.
"Oh! Good morning, Remus," she said as she put a skillet on the range and set some eggs to beating themselves. "You're looking better than you have in weeks," she added as she poured the eggs into the skillet and left the bowl to wash itself in the sink.
"'Morning, Molly," he returned around a mouthful of porridge. She turned from the sausages she was grilling to give him a quick smile. "What's the Cleanup Crew going to work on today?" he asked.
"Well, we're going to clear out some of the dark arts material on the third floor, and Albus asked that we prepare a room for Severus," she replied nonchalantly.
"What?!" Remus shouted, and an answering scream from the hallway caused them both to wince.
"Filthy mudbloods and blood traitors, defiling the hallowed seat of the Black family! May your dirty magic curdle in your filthy blood! May-" An explosion sounded in the hallway and the shrieking cut off sharply. Remus and Mrs. Weasly glanced at each other.
"Stupid old bat," came a muffled reply, followed by a thump. "Ouch! That thing bloody well moved, it did!"
A neon orange head of spiky hair poked through the kitchen door. "Oh, hello! Wotcher, Remus! Ooh, that smells good, Mrs. Weasly!" A gangly body followed the eye wrenching head. Mrs. Weasly frowned at the young Auror, but Lupin could see the amusement in her eyes.
"Sit down, Tonks, breakfast will be ready shortly."
"Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Weasly, ma'am! Oi, Remus, did you hear tall, dark, and snarky was moving in here? Dumbledore said-"
Remus could feel his frustration building. "Tonks, when did Dumbledore tell you that Snape was going to live here?"
"Got an owl this morning. Silly thing flew right into my window, didn't even stop to check-"
"Tonks, what did the letter say?" Remus felt stretched, his nerves fraying. Dumbledore was going to move Snape into the Black house? Was he completely mad?
Unperturbed, Tonks riffled through the pockets of her Muggle jeans. "Ah! Here it is." Her face grew lined and a silvery beard sprouted from her chin, and despite his tension Remus had to bite back a laugh. "'Dear Nymphadora'-" she frowned, "'I hope this letter finds you well.' Then it says a lot of stuff about the Aurory, the breakout from Azkaban, shifts for watching over Harry..." Her bright blue eyes scanned the parchment. "Here it is - 'Professor Snape will be moving into the Order headquarters. Please aid in the preparation of a set of rooms for his use.'" Her face regained its youth and her long beard disappeared. "That'll be a nasty business, if y'ask me. He *hates* this place. I wonder how Dumbledore convinced him to-?"
Remus stood up hurriedly, a gnawing sense of urgency chewing at his insides. "I - I've got to go, Tonks. What time is it-? I'll be late - I've time for a shower, I think-" He almost knocked his chair over in his haste before half walking, half running out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasly and the young Auror shared a look.
"What's up with him?"
*********
"Severus, you are going to move into Grimmauld Place," Dumbledore stated firmly, and Snape felt his stomach squirm in shame. He cast a furtive glance at McGonagall, but quickly returned his gaze to his lap. His head hurt terribly and his hands shook as nausea faded in and out of his gut like the buzzing of insects.
"Yes, Headmaster." He still couldn't believe that he had hit McGonagall. In truth, he could remember very little about the night before. He knew, however, that he was currently in no position to argue with Dumbledore.
"Need I say I am very disappointed with your behavior, Severus?"
"No, Headmaster." Snape's response was little more than a whisper.
"I believe apologies are in order." Snape winced at Dumbledore's low voice.
"Professor McGonagall, I ask you to accept my apologies for my... inexcusable behavior... last night." He tried to look up at her, but his neck refused to turn. He had struck McGonagall - *McGonagall* - the only member of the staff who had accepted him fourteen years ago, the only person who had ever come close - in his reckoning - to Dumbledore.
"Just don't let it happen again, Mr. Snape." He fought the urge to cringe at her dismissal.
Kicked out of Hogwarts - he couldn't think of a worse punishment. ::I swear I'll never touch alcohol again,:: he thought miserably.
"Well then, you should pack your things, Severus. You will be rooming with Remus Lupin." Snape's gut twisted and he choked back a refusal.
"Yes, Headmaster."
*********
Dumbledore and McGonagall both sat back and sighed as the door to the Headmaster's office closed quietly.
"Albus, really-"
"Minerva, a little guilt makes the gears run smoothly, especially with him."
"Honestly, I grabbed him first. I probably startled him, and I know how much he hates to be touched..."
"Don't make excuses for him, Minerva. Besides, now we don't have to deal with a two hour hissy fit about him moving to Grimmauld place."
"You made it sound as if he knocked me down and beat me, Albus, really, it was just-" at Dumbledore's mischievous smile Minerva rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I cannot believe how much of a puppet master you are, sometimes," she sighed. "But you are right - it is nice to have him behave meekly every once in a while."
Snape watched the Werewolf stand and leave. ::Too easy,:: he thought muzzily. With any luck, the whole thing would be forgotten by morning, he wouldn't get a lecture from Dumbledore, the Dark Lord's anger with him was satiated, and the Werewolf would leave him alone. Given past experiences, however, that was unlikely. He lifted the bottle with a feeling of ennui.
The sky had become the heavy blue velvet of a moonlit summer night. The soft hooting of an owl reached him as his eyelids drifted over his field of vision. Enveloped in a warm, alcoholic glow, he didn't notice as another person stepped out onto the top of the tower.
*********
Minerva McGonagall sipped at her tea, watching the stars glitter through the dark rectangle of night sky visible through the window. With a sigh, she turned back to the cozily lit room. "So, Albus, what news?"
The ancient, silver haired wizard regarded his teacup solemnly. "I don't know what to do about Severus, Minerva. Poppy has little experience with cases of addiction to Muggle drugs, and the problem with Severus goes far beyond just the physical aspects."
Minerva spoke cautiously. "Have you given any thought to what may happen when the next school term begins?"
"Minerva -"
"I know you feel responsible for the boy, Albus, and I know that he has done a great service to the Order. But surely you must remember what you said to me all those years ago? 'In a war, we are all soldiers.' Soldiers die, Albus. Severus is a wreck." Her voice was an urgent whisper as she gazed into Dumbledore's sad old eyes. He looked away, then down at his tea, before looking back at Minerva. His eyes had taken on the color of hard blue steel.
"I will do whatever it takes to keep Severus alive and well." The words fell with an unarguable finality. "If we do not maintain our humanity, then what are we fighting to preserve?"
"Well, what measures are we going to take, then?"
"I think we should move him to Grimmauld Place, where he can be watched. Remus has one of the suites on the third floor - perhaps they could share it," Dumbledore mused into his teacup.
"Albus, are you mad? Severus would never consent to moving into the Black house, let alone room with Lupin!"
"I never said anything about consent, did I?" The old wizard's face showed an inappropriate degree of mischief, and Minerva almost swore out loud.
"For Merlin's sake, Albus, have you ever heard of Occam's Razor?" she huffed.
Dumbledore waggled his long, silvery beard at her and smiled, the gold-framed glasses perched precariously on his long nose winking with his movements. "I haven't touched a razor in over a century, my dear," he murmured.
Minerva sighed. "All right, all right, as you wish, Albus." She finished off her tea in one swift gulp. 'Shall I go find him? We have much to talk about, and although I know you wish for Severus and Remus to become friends of a sort, Severus will be more amenable to discussion without a childhood rival lurking around."
"That would be good, Minerva. Thank you."
*********
Her wand tugged her towards the Astronomy tower. ::The Astronomy tower? Of all the places...:: The climb up the tower was long, and she paused at the platform halfway to the top. Through the window she could see the moonlit grass ripple softly in the summer breeze. After a few quiet, contemplative moments she continued her upward trek.
It was with a sigh of relief that she reached the Observatory at the top of the tower. The broad expanse of the sky stretched languidly overhead, and she paused to pick out a couple of summer constellations before calling softly, "Severus?"
A sudden shifting and a muffled clink came from her left. With a wave of her wand she lit the tower top with a soft glow. A dark shadow leaned against the low balcony fitted with empty telescope mounts, their charges packed away until the advent of the next school year. As the soft wand light illuminated the Observatory, the shadow turned two black, glittering eyes at the intruder.
Minerva was suddenly overcome with awkwardness. His defiant gaze forcefully reminded her of the dour, dirty little boy who had refused to touch the Sorting Hat, the scrawny young man daring her to comment when she had first learned of his crimes, of the tireless fighter at Dumbledore's side. The man who had murdered innocents, who had cast the blackest of magicks countless times. . McGonagall sighed, frustrated with herself. Now was not the time to dwell on anything but the here and now. "Severus, stop sulking like a homesick first year and come down for some supper."
"No."
"Severus Snape, come with me this instant." .
He pointedly ignored her, continuing to gaze vacantly at the broad, velvety sky above them.
McGonagall sighed. "Don't be ridiculous, Severus. Albus needs to hear your report." When he again refused to respond, she began to feel her temper flare. In two strides she came up beside him, grabbed his elbow, and tugged. An empty bottle slipped from his fingers and smashed loudly on the stone floor. Snape looked dumbly at it, then turned his gaze upward to stare at her.
"Snape!" Minerva was furious. "Merlin help me, I cannot understand why Albus puts up with you! You cannot even face your own life sober!" She felt empty, anxious. When she got no response, she grabbed his elbow again. "You are coming with me to the Headmaster right now!"
"Gerroff, damnit!" He spun around and backhanded her clumsily, gripping the low parapet with his other hand for support. They faced each other, Snape panting heavily and Minerva placing an absent hand on her stinging cheek.
*********
After Lupin left the Astronomy Tower, Snape managed to haul himself off of the cold stone floor. He felt wonderfully mellow and calm, as if he was floating above the world and all its problems. The stars wheeled majestically overhead as he leaned against the parapet. His head swam, the dark horizon of the forest tilting against the bright night sky as if it was revolving in slow, jerky quarter turns. Despite the great height of the tower, he found himself leaning further and further outwards...
"Severus?" He jerked disjointedly at the sudden sound behind him. McGonagall. He felt like a student again, out after curfew and drunk, to boot. A lazy stab of fear curled in his gut and he tried to hide the empty bottle. ::Please don't take points, please don't take points...:: a young little voice threaded through the fog of his mind.
Light suddenly illumined the broad tower top and he turned his head to blink at the stern, sharp-featured woman before him. She sighed sharply. "Severus, stop sulking like a homesick first year and come down for some supper."
"No." ::Just go away...::
"Severus Snape, come with me this instant." McGonagall's voice was sharp. ::If I ignore her, maybe she'll leave.:: He tried to count the stars above, but his former teacher's presence had destroyed the calm tranquility of the night. A seething resentment began to build deep in his chest.
McGonagall sighed again. "Don't be ridiculous, Severus. Albus needs to hear your report." ::Why don't you leave me in peace?! I was content, for a moment...::
He heard two quick clicks of her boot heels on the stone floor before she grabbed his elbow and tugged. The empty bottle of gin slipped from his fingers and smashed slowly, as if the air had gelled around it. His stomach plummeted with the glass and a removed sense of doom washed coldly over him. ::Shitshitshit...:: He winced as she began to shout at him.
"Snape! Merlin help me, I cannot understand why Albus puts up with you! You cannot even face your own life sober!"
She grabbed at him again and he recoiled from her reaching hand, his earlier irritation flaring into hot, expanding rage. The pressure in his head roared through his ears as he turned. He felt dislocated, as if he was observing himself.
"Gerroff, damnit!" His arm swung back on its own accord and his hand struck her face. It felt so good, so satisfying, to react physically at the annoyance she caused, as if she was nothing and *he* was in control of *her*.
He crashed back into himself.
*********
"Oh, Merlin, oh, Merlin..." Snape's face was the color of bleached bone in the moonlight. Minerva's shock quickly faded into anger and she whipped out her wand. At the sight of the slender beech wood raised above him, Snape crumpled to his knees and covered his head with his arms. His ragged breath whistled through his mouth and he gave a quiet sob, mumbling into his arm, "No, no, Papa, don', please, no, no..."
Minerva was at a loss for words. It wasn't long, though, before her mothering instincts began to tug at her mind. Snape looked supremely unthreatening cowering at her feet, and she knelt down beside him. She wrinkled her nose at the reek of sour alcohol. ::He was my student,:: she thought sadly. ::What could I have done to prevent this...? Could I have changed things for him?::
With some guilt she recalled her less than favorable attitude towards the lonely, ugly little Slytherin boy. It seemed very different, now, knowing that boy's future. A fierce wrench of protectiveness towards her students gripped her chest and almost brought tears to her eyes. She knew Snape was a person making the best of the hand he'd been dealt. He was not a nice person, but she honestly believed he was a good person.
"Get up, Severus. The Headmaster would like to see you." Her voice was soft, but strength rested behind the facade of her mild words.
The young man before her slowly uncurled and buried long, spidery hands in his lank hair. "No, no, no..."
Minerva stared shrewdly at him. ::The boy is no longer in his right mind,:: she realized. "Severus, please stand up," she cajoled, a tingling feeling of impotence stirring the hairs on her neck. ::Just like Eleanor, after she was captured...:: Memories of the war with Grindewald's forces almost sixty years ago suddenly threatened to swamp her, but she shoved them roughly out of her conscious. A light sweat prickled her brow, at odds with the cool breeze from the Forest.
********
::He's in my head... he's in my head...:: An upraised arm, the scent of magic gathering.
::No escape...::
**********
The forest was dark, the sounds of night insects and the rustling of small things in the brush seemed almost unnaturally loud to his ears. His tongue lolled from his mouth as his lungs worked to expel the torpid summer air, and he followed the trail before him, its scent like colored smoke dissipating into the slight wind. Nose down to catch the ground scent, he loped after it.
Violence. Pain, blood, dark magic. His tail twitched behind him and he pressed on.
A clearing opened up before him. The colors had been leeched from the earth, bleached by the full moon's harsh light. The tall summer grasses hissed and rustled in the hot, dry breeze, and the sound of crickets was almost deafening.
The seeded grass heads bobbed on their tall stalks above him, obscuring the bright, cold stars as he followed the trail through the waving grasses. The scent of broken stems was a sharp tang in his nose, and he sneezed once, twice, thrice.
The trail pulled insistently at his nose, but the cloying perfume of crushed grass and the rushing warmth of the summer air combined with the monotonous droning of the crickets served to lull his mind. It wasn't long before he sunk to the baked, dusty earth and curled up, head swimming, and fell into a deep sleep.
*********
He stretched, enjoying the warm tingling as his muscles squeezed sleep-heavy blood back to his awakening heart. He felt better, fresher, than he had for weeks. He sighed happily into his pillow.
It wasn't until he was halfway through an early breakfast down in the main kitchen of Grimmauld Place that his mind returned to the events of the last few weeks. For a moment, the cool, long kitchen, cast in shadows and lit only with bright morning light filtering through the dirty windows, had brought him back to his childhood home. Reality crashed down around him with a weight unbecoming of the summer morning.
::Don't think about that now,:: he chided himself. ::You have to go meet Raksha Mahu today.:
Remus could hear the front door click and then the loose floorboards in the entrance hallway creak as Molly Weasly entered the house. She hummed quiet snatches of song as she bustled into the long kitchen.
"Oh! Good morning, Remus," she said as she put a skillet on the range and set some eggs to beating themselves. "You're looking better than you have in weeks," she added as she poured the eggs into the skillet and left the bowl to wash itself in the sink.
"'Morning, Molly," he returned around a mouthful of porridge. She turned from the sausages she was grilling to give him a quick smile. "What's the Cleanup Crew going to work on today?" he asked.
"Well, we're going to clear out some of the dark arts material on the third floor, and Albus asked that we prepare a room for Severus," she replied nonchalantly.
"What?!" Remus shouted, and an answering scream from the hallway caused them both to wince.
"Filthy mudbloods and blood traitors, defiling the hallowed seat of the Black family! May your dirty magic curdle in your filthy blood! May-" An explosion sounded in the hallway and the shrieking cut off sharply. Remus and Mrs. Weasly glanced at each other.
"Stupid old bat," came a muffled reply, followed by a thump. "Ouch! That thing bloody well moved, it did!"
A neon orange head of spiky hair poked through the kitchen door. "Oh, hello! Wotcher, Remus! Ooh, that smells good, Mrs. Weasly!" A gangly body followed the eye wrenching head. Mrs. Weasly frowned at the young Auror, but Lupin could see the amusement in her eyes.
"Sit down, Tonks, breakfast will be ready shortly."
"Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Weasly, ma'am! Oi, Remus, did you hear tall, dark, and snarky was moving in here? Dumbledore said-"
Remus could feel his frustration building. "Tonks, when did Dumbledore tell you that Snape was going to live here?"
"Got an owl this morning. Silly thing flew right into my window, didn't even stop to check-"
"Tonks, what did the letter say?" Remus felt stretched, his nerves fraying. Dumbledore was going to move Snape into the Black house? Was he completely mad?
Unperturbed, Tonks riffled through the pockets of her Muggle jeans. "Ah! Here it is." Her face grew lined and a silvery beard sprouted from her chin, and despite his tension Remus had to bite back a laugh. "'Dear Nymphadora'-" she frowned, "'I hope this letter finds you well.' Then it says a lot of stuff about the Aurory, the breakout from Azkaban, shifts for watching over Harry..." Her bright blue eyes scanned the parchment. "Here it is - 'Professor Snape will be moving into the Order headquarters. Please aid in the preparation of a set of rooms for his use.'" Her face regained its youth and her long beard disappeared. "That'll be a nasty business, if y'ask me. He *hates* this place. I wonder how Dumbledore convinced him to-?"
Remus stood up hurriedly, a gnawing sense of urgency chewing at his insides. "I - I've got to go, Tonks. What time is it-? I'll be late - I've time for a shower, I think-" He almost knocked his chair over in his haste before half walking, half running out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasly and the young Auror shared a look.
"What's up with him?"
*********
"Severus, you are going to move into Grimmauld Place," Dumbledore stated firmly, and Snape felt his stomach squirm in shame. He cast a furtive glance at McGonagall, but quickly returned his gaze to his lap. His head hurt terribly and his hands shook as nausea faded in and out of his gut like the buzzing of insects.
"Yes, Headmaster." He still couldn't believe that he had hit McGonagall. In truth, he could remember very little about the night before. He knew, however, that he was currently in no position to argue with Dumbledore.
"Need I say I am very disappointed with your behavior, Severus?"
"No, Headmaster." Snape's response was little more than a whisper.
"I believe apologies are in order." Snape winced at Dumbledore's low voice.
"Professor McGonagall, I ask you to accept my apologies for my... inexcusable behavior... last night." He tried to look up at her, but his neck refused to turn. He had struck McGonagall - *McGonagall* - the only member of the staff who had accepted him fourteen years ago, the only person who had ever come close - in his reckoning - to Dumbledore.
"Just don't let it happen again, Mr. Snape." He fought the urge to cringe at her dismissal.
Kicked out of Hogwarts - he couldn't think of a worse punishment. ::I swear I'll never touch alcohol again,:: he thought miserably.
"Well then, you should pack your things, Severus. You will be rooming with Remus Lupin." Snape's gut twisted and he choked back a refusal.
"Yes, Headmaster."
*********
Dumbledore and McGonagall both sat back and sighed as the door to the Headmaster's office closed quietly.
"Albus, really-"
"Minerva, a little guilt makes the gears run smoothly, especially with him."
"Honestly, I grabbed him first. I probably startled him, and I know how much he hates to be touched..."
"Don't make excuses for him, Minerva. Besides, now we don't have to deal with a two hour hissy fit about him moving to Grimmauld place."
"You made it sound as if he knocked me down and beat me, Albus, really, it was just-" at Dumbledore's mischievous smile Minerva rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I cannot believe how much of a puppet master you are, sometimes," she sighed. "But you are right - it is nice to have him behave meekly every once in a while."