Chapter 9

Tollie's body was cold, desolate. It had been placed in the infirmary until it could be claimed. Remus sat next to it, his face as bloodless as the boy's.

"Remus?" Dumbledore entered the room. "Tollie's parents are here."

"Why?"

"I let them know what happened," the wizard explained. He disappeared back through the door and reemerged with Mr. And Mrs. Andrill. Remus just sat there as an older couple entered the room, the husband held his wife in his arms. "Orin, Astrella, I"m sorry about your son. He was a very special boy," Dumbledore said, leading them to their dead son. "Remus Lupin here has been watching out for him for a while now."

Astrella's eyes were white and rheumy as she peered down at the corpse, not really seeing anything at all. Malnourished tears stained her cheeks and eyelids as she wept openly.

"Tollie has been under my care for the past month," Remus explained automatically, "He's been well fed, cared for, and looked after.

"I don't understand- what happened? Why is he dead?" Orin asked.

"When was the last time you saw your son?" Remus asked back.

"Almost seven months ago. One night, he just ran away. We've been so worried about him. You have no idea what it's been like."

Remus sat there, not looking at the two. "I found Tollie living in London last May. He moved into my house not long after that- well, he was afraid, you see. He wouldn't admit it, but he was only seventeen. Tonight, he had been possessed by Voldemort, and ended up dying because of it."

Astrella shook violently at the news, her husband supported her until she quieted.

"He was killed before he could harm anyone, including himself. It was an unfortunate accident."

"An accident?" Orin spat out. "He was murdered, you mean. And I want to know who murdered him."

"I did," Severus glided into the room, his robes swirling behind him.

"You did?" Orin gasped. "But why?"

"It was needed," Severus replied evenly.

The older man stilled at the pronouncement. "We will take our son and leave immediately."

"You knew, didn't you?" Remus spoke up.

"Knew what?" Orin looked befuddled.

"That he had the Dark Mark- he was afraid of you. That because he couldn't handle being a Death Eater, you would have killed yourself or turned him over to Voldemort. Well, I hope you're happy. He died for you and your stupid Death Eater fascism."

"He once told me how he got the Mark. How he was taken to some godforsaken cemetery and met Voldemort alone. He did the various rites, the general bullshit promises, et cetera. And then, he got the Mark. You know he laughed about it? Only Tollie could laugh about such things. How Voldemort went to Mark him, but, at the last second, he asked for it to be put on his right arm because he was left-handed, and that it might interfere with is wand work- he taped his wand to his arm, you know. So he showed Voldemort the tape, and surprisingly, that sociopath actually agreed to Mark him on the right arm. It's probably the nicest thing he ever did in his life. I don't know, he might have done it because it just amused him. Maybe you should ask him the next time you see him."

"How dare you-"

"Don't give me your self-righteous, hypocritical insults. Tollie was afraid of only one thing, and it wasn't Voldemort. Are you happy? You didn't deserve Tollie, and now you've sacrificed the only thing that made you remotely human. Now you're just a pawn- a soulless monster who let their son die for your Nazi ideologues. I hope this whole thing gets you further up the Death Eater foodchain, because when you get sent to Azkaban, the Dementors are going to leave you this one perfect memory of your dead son to keep you warm during those long, cold nights. I watched him die, You-"

"Remus! Enough." Severus interrupted, his normal stoicism cracking slightly.

"Professor Snape, please help Professor Lupin to a nice cup of tea." Dumbledore ordered. "It's been a long evening, and everyone is still grieving."

Severus nodded and grasped Remus's elbow hard. Lupin took a step towards the Andrills, then allowed himself to be led away. He walked out of the infirmary, the door swinging behind him, cutting off his last sight of the dead boy.