In former years, Severus had always been glad to have his mother join them at Grimmauld Place. He was not quite sure what was different this year, but his father seemed worried about his wife and her present state, so Severus was inclined to believe that there was something severely wrong with her.
However, his mother had insisted on coming, so there was no room for discussion. Severus knew the situation. His father seemed unable to deny the small, pale woman any of her wishes, and the annual Christmas dinner at Grimmauld Place was not something you missed twice in a row.
So for the time being Severus had put up his best behaviour, tried to follow the conversation where necessary, and paid constant attention to not doing anything that might bring his mother back into a state where she could get upset or ashamed of him or, in a worst-case-scenario, have another fit.
Severus was afraid of these fits. He was afraid of what they were doing to his mother and worse, almost, what they were doing to his father. He had never before seen the soldier more shaken than this afternoon, when he had sat by his wife's bed for hours, occasionally pressing her hand, trying to get through to her.
Then, when she had recovered again, Severus had accidentally overheard a conversation between the two of them. A slightly... disturbing discussion. He had been sitting on top of the small staircase leading to his room on the first floor while his parents were talking about... things. Severus had not grasped all of it. His mother had said something along the lines of how hard it was to leave everything behind, but how much harder it would be for her, knowing that her husband and son did not get along with each other. She had cried while saying it, so Severus assumed she was talking about another stay at St. Mungo's.
Next to him, Sirius Black was side-glancing derisively while the grown-ups were discussing matters that were of no interest to Severus. He hated the Christmas gatherings, seeing as they consisted of waiting and enduring endless discussions about family relations and attitude - for the most part.
Attitude.
How he hated it. Usually, when people went on about attitude, they were simply not following one rule or the other. Despicable, really, how people could get upset about one another when it came to law and order, and at the same time were looking for loopholes to navigate themselves around... well... around rules.
'Being a Pureblood isn't simply an attitude,' snapped Severus's aunt Gladia, pulling him from his thoughts. 'Don't be ridiculous, Lance. Not everything is about rules.'
'Most things are,' replied her brother darkly. 'Usually, when people stick to rules, problems tend to not occur at all. Especially those of the kind that leads to petty fighting among youngsters.'
'You are underestimating the complexity of society,' said Gladia angrily. 'Obeying rules might be all very well if you are within a military environment, dealing with criminals and magical beasts, but society is about something else.'
'There is enough people in society whom I would call criminals,' said Severus's father coldly. 'And the army is all about dealing with them. We serve the interests of society, Gladia. That is the main idea.'
'Still, the real world is much more complicated than your simplified army hierarchy,' snapped Gladia. 'That kind of behaviour only works with men, my dear. But in the real world, it is the females who -'
'Don't be ridiculous,' interfered her husband. 'That remark is completely out of place.'
'You just know I am right,' replied Gladia. 'Why do you expect people used to fight over Dumbledore's daughter? The female members of his family are the really powerful ones, am I right, uncle Ferdinant?'
The Cardinal inclined his head just slightly. 'Interesting observation,' he remarked. 'There might be a core of truth in it, but I cannot tell for sure. Prophecies have certainly tended to concern the daughters of the family...'
'Prophecies?' said Lucilius disbelievingly. 'Since when do we put our faith in prophecies?'
'It depends on who makes them,' replied the Cardinal sharply, 'and how. The descendants of Cassandra are usually quite trustworthy.'
'The descendants of Cassandra have a poissonnerie near the Ministry of Magic in Paris. And I daresay that it is not quite clear whether their line actually descended...'
'That is so very beside the point, Gladia...'
Severus threw a quick glance at Bellatrix, who was supporting her head with both hands, looking both, annoyed and very bored. After some more talk and fruitless discussion she raised her head again, glared around, and, to Severus's great surprise, the discussion stopped. Several people turned to her.
'You are doing it again,' Bellatrix snarled. 'Fussing over such insignificant matters as Paya Trelawney's heritage. Who cares how far the seer line goes back if their prophecies actually fulfil?'
'But that is the point we are discussing, dear,' said Gaia weakly.
'Yes, exactly!' snarled Bellatrix. 'You keep discussing things! You keep talking about meaningless matters while our world goes to ruin. I still cannot see why Dumbledore should be invincible just because his stupid line has won a few wars. Actually -' a smirk appeared on her face just for a second, 'won and lost at the same time, if I got that correctly. If Grindelwald could be defeated while being of the same blood as Dumbledore, why not bring down the great White One himself? Where is your problem?'
'Don't you get it?' said Severus, driven by a sudden impulse of impatience, seeing as the matter really was not too hard to grasp. 'They have to slay each other.'
His gaze met his father's just briefly, seeking for support in the soldier's expression, but his father just looked at him, his blue eyes never leaving his son's face, not giving away any of his thoughts or emotions, as usual. Severus gulped and trailed off. 'B-because they are just too... powerful... You know. ... It's... it's b-been like that for cen...turies...'
There was a brief silence. Severus looked around awkwardly, suddenly unaware of what had made him utter this statement, well aware that he was not supposed to speak without being addressed. But the subject had been so tiring all of a sudden. And it really was obvious, wasn't it? Why did people have to be so slow on the uptake?
His gaze met Sirius's, who, to his utmost surprise, was grinning broadly at him, and then wandered up to his father again, whose expression was unfathomable, but not angry. Severus suppressed a sigh of relief.
'What you do not seem to understand, young Snape,' said the Cardinal now, 'is that Albus Dumbledore is not to be slain. Not as long as we do not know how many descendants of the family, if only remote ones, there are. Not as long as we cannot be sure that there will be no successor to his... position. He is annoying, misguided, meddlesome and a great burden to most of us, but people like Grimmauld Grindelwald are worse. They endanger our all well-being, because they have, though the right ideas, not the appropriate personality, and certainly not the necessary planning skills to bring their intentions to a useful end. People like Grindelwald cannot rule.'
'And Dumbledore can?' Suddenly, Bellatrix's mother was back to the conversation.
'Gaia, please. Have you been at Hogwarts? Have you seen this man teach or... or give one of his start-of-term speeches for that matter? People love him. Most people. The less... critical ones. And even though they know of the past - or parts of it, they would have elected him as Minister for Magic, had he not refused to take the position. He has an interesting view on that, actually. Wants people to think for themselves. Not do things because he orders them.'
'Mercurius,' said his brother thoughtfully, 'have you ever considered that he might not have taken the position because the headship of Hogwarts bears yet more power? They say he installed Bagnold as Minister for Magic because she will do his bidding without hesitation. She is loyal as can be to the Dumbledore clan - has been for years. Why do you think she keeps visiting Dumbledore in her free time? I say - what Dumbledore wanted in the first place was Hogwarts and the Wizengamot. And by Merlin - he got it.'
'Oh, now you are being overly critical, Perseus, don't you think?'
'I am seeing where the money is, Gladia.'
'As if you had ever known where any money is, my dear.'
'I, at least, know where my loyalty lies.'
'So do I.'
'So do I.'
'So do I.'
Glasses were refilled in friendship. Severus saw Bellatrix accept the wine, though she hardly nipped when people raised their glasses to loyalty. She was wearing a very sour look.
Grown-ups could be very strange, Severus thought. One moment they fought about a matter, the other they were drinking to such an honourable thing as loyalty. He threw his usual, scrutinising look at his mother to see whether she was still with the conversation and, to his great relief, could not make out any signs of discomfort.
Nevertheless, when people rose later the evening to move the table for the more... entertaining part of the evening Severus's father decided that it would be a good idea to grant his wife as much rest as possible, given her earlier fit (not mentioning it to anyone, quite naturally), and bid everyone goodbye, asking Severus to follow him to the fireplace, from which they started off back towards Camden rather earlier than Severus had expected.
When Lucius Malfoy stepped into the kitchen early in the morning, having only just awoken from a stressful night's sleep, he was not surprised to find the fireplace lit and blazing.
'A call,' he said to himself. 'Let me guess...'
And indeed, a few seconds later a black-haired head appeared in the flames, letting a pair of glittering, black eyes search the room for signs of human life. They stopped when reaching Lucius and a smile spread on Bellatrix's face, of the sort Lucius had learned to respect while she had still been at Hogwarts. Mercurius's daughters were all of a kind you did not want to annoy, and especially not make your life-long enemies. Both, Bellatrix's heavily painted eyelids and her long, severe Black nose gave her an air of cunning and menace which was unusual, even for her branch of the family. Lucius had sometimes wondered when the girl had started building up all the hatred she bore inside and how she managed to keep it all bottled up until she had reached a moment in which she could use it to her advantage. Bellatrix was an animal, Lucius sometimes thought. Wild and incalculable in any of her actions, at any time of the day. Never could Bellatrix Black be controlled or outwitted. It was this quality, for which Lucius adored the girl.
At the moment, though, Perseus's daughter seemed a little impatient and Lucius hurried to step forward and settle down in front of the fireplace to see what she had in store for him. Bellatrix did not lose time.
'The plan failed,' she hissed. 'As you said. It is no used with them. They are just a bunch of jabbering old fools. Too narrow-minded to actually leap into action. They will never join.'
Lucius shrugged. 'Fair enough. We don't need them.'
'Are you insane?' snapped Bellatrix. 'Of course we do! Without their generation on our side - and it is a whole generation we are talking about here - we are nothing but a raging minority trying to push through our own ideas of society, without a chance of success.'
Lucius was honestly surprised. 'Don't you think you are exaggerating just a bit?' he said quietly. 'They are just a handful of adults who like to talk. What difference does it make if they are not on our side? The future belongs to our generation anyway.'
Bellatrix's expression darkened. Dangerously, Lucius noted. She is insane, he thought. She is possessed by her own ideas. And that is all we need. Fanatitic belief in the impossible.
'My father,' said Bellatrix quietly, 'has the Unspeakables in his hands. Lucilius Longbottom is leading the Muggle department. There is Lestranges of their generation all over the Dark Creatures Department and in most breeding farms around London and abroad. Rudolphus's father's cousin is trained and licensed to control the bloody Dementors, and his aunt has alliances with the giants up in the mountains. Serenety's brother Cornelius is Minister for Magic, even though he is still far too influenced by Dumbledore, of course, and the Crouches are still at large in the Department for Magical Law Enforcement. Not to forget the Aurors and the bloody army,' she added as an afterthought. 'Do you really think we'll get anywhere without the wizarding army behind us? Personally, I would hate having to fight uncle Perseus. Or uncle Lance.' She shuddered. 'Just imagine.'
Lucius shrugged again. 'I do not intend to fight them,' he said simply. 'You are missing on one crucial point, Bellatrix. Even though they might be disinclined to actually fight, they are not exactly against us either. We might be the only ones taking action, but people will see how much we achieve and join up en masse once they see what our ideas mean for the wizarding world.'
The Black daughter shook her black-haired head slowly, pensively, and eventually said, 'I do not think it will be as easy as that. It is easy enough for you, Lucius. You're still at school. And will be, if the plan goes wrong. But many of us will have to be careful not to destroy their future in this country by taking action against the current rulers. The problem is,' she added after a moment's thought, 'that no one wants to stand up against Dumbledore.'
'Yes,' mumbled Lucius. 'I figured as much. Well,' he said, trying to contribute something useful to the conversation, 'that matter will be settled shortly, won't it?'
Bellatrix grinned. Mirthlessly. 'No discussion of that here,' she said curtly. 'Everything is set then, I take it?'
'Our man must have finished his job by now,' Lucius replied. 'Personally, I am just glad to be out of there while it happens.'
'How is he going to conceal his guilt?' enquired Bellatrix, sounding as rational as before.
'Blame it on a random member of staff, I presume,' said Lucius. 'But I do not know the details. It is better this way, I presume.'
'You know,' said Bellatrix after another while, 'wizards like you is what our world needs. No, really. See you tomorrow.'
And her head vanished from the Malfoy fireplace. Lucius stared after her for a long while, trying to work out whether these last words had been supposed to be ironic or not. Eventually, he decided that this was the case simply because of Bellatrix's disinclination of openly expressing her appreciation for anyone. It was just not her style.
With an air of sulkiness about him, Lucius cleared the fireplace and eventually went upstairs to wake his parents.
