It was the same day on which the rumours had occurred that Professor Albus Dumbledore chose to pay a call to the household of Snape.
This was, by no means, an unusual event. Still, Lance Snape was taken by surprise when his office was suddenly lit by the fire of his tiny fireplace, usually reserved for army internal travelling or brief discussions. Albus had not called for several months and it was rather fortunate that the soldier happened to be at home at all, rather than in one of the many training camps down in M'bwa or New Kellington. He also happened to be enjoying a few moments of free time with a mug of tea in one hand, and a dissertation on mammal transfiguration in the other, when Albus's head appeared in the office's fireplace around tea-time. The Snape politely advised him to use the much bigger device situated in the living-room, which was for private guests, not general army use.
By the time Albus stepped into the living-room, less dirty, he felt, than after any other "floo journey" he had ever undertaken, Lance had settled down in one of the room's larger armchairs, still holding his mug, and had provided a further cup of tea, as well as another armchair opposite the place where he was sitting. He had crossed his legs and seemed rather relaxed, though curious what the headmaster might have to say.
Albus settled down thankfully.
'I trust you are not here to talk about Severus,' said the soldier before his opposite had even time to get comfortable. It was not a question.
Albus shook his head. 'I trust you have heard the rumours about Professor Binns's death,' he replied calmly, knowing that Lance Snape tended to be among the first to be informed of such things.
'Indeed, I have. Your call is not totally surprising. Still, I want to hear exactly what happened.'
Albus told him. He did not take long. When he had finished there was a short silence before the soldier spoke up again.
'You are here because you want to know whether you can trust Robertson.'
Albus nodded.
'I told you before the start of term that the boy has my unlimited support,' continued the youngest of the Snape sons pensively. 'And that is all I have to say to that, although I will not deny that he can be difficult at times.'
'I have caught him several times applying the old implements on students who misbehaved,' said Albus quietly. 'Is it possible that he has... certain problems in that respect?'
Snape senior laughed quietly.
'Implements?' he said, not seeming in the least concerned. 'A cane at a boarding school? Highly unusual.'
Albus chose to ignore the blatant sarcasm.
'Am I or am I not right in my assumption that Robertson has experienced violence in his youth?' he said, as calmly as before. Lance considered for a moment, then bent forward (and downwards) slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, to look the headmaster in the eyes.
'Yes,' he said.
'And am I right thinking that you know him better than... say... your average recruit?'
'Yes.'
There was no emotion visible on the Snape's face. Albus, on the other hand, pulled his beard while speaking, appearing rather thoughtful. 'You know that Atropus Robertson has been involved in the accident concerning Remus Lupin and his family a few years ago?'
'Yes,' said the Snape for the third time and leaned back. 'And did you know that Rodney Robertson has not been in contact with his parents for more than fifteen years?'
'No,' replied Albus, feeling his eyebrows raise in surprise. 'I know little about this family. Too little, to be exact. That is the reason for my being here.'
The soldier nodded.
'I thought so.' He made a little pause, playing with the brim of his mug, then looked up at Albus, more earnest than the headmaster had ever seen him.
'I'll tell you why I believe Robertson innocent of the two murders -'
'One murder,' said Albus quickly, observing a small gleam of - was it gratitude? - on the Snape's face.
'Of course. Well, I shall tell you why I believe him innocent and why I doubt he is, as you claim, mistreating the students in his spare time.'
Albus nodded, remaining silent.
'Robertson was raised by his grandmother,' said the soldier quietly after a while. 'You might know her, she is a member of the Knitting Fates Association, in which, I believe, Vesta McGillivray spends a lot of her free time.'
Albus nodded again. 'Miranda Robertson. Of course. Former classmate of mine.'
'Mrs. Robertson,' continued the Snape, 'is widowed, but tends to choose very young lovers, all roughly from the generation of Rod's parents. Among them, various of my brothers...'
Albus raised his eyebrows. 'Your brothers?'
'Yes,' said the Snape darkly. 'You would not know Palatine... he died several years ago...'
Albus shook his head in mute sympathy.
'You might, however,' continued the soldier, 'have heard about the case of the other.'
There was a short break, in which the headmaster waited politely.
'Viminal Snape?' said Lance supportively.
With effort only, Albus brought over his lips what had gone through his head immediately at the mentioning of this name.
'The lunatic?'
Lance's eyes narrowed for a second, then his face straightened again, as abruptly.
'Yes,' he said, more coldly than usual. 'That's him.'
'I'm sorry,' said Albus quietly. 'And what is it he has to do with Robertson?'
'Robertson was... the case,' said the Snape quietly. 'You remember what Vim was imprisoned for?'
The headmaster shook his head slowly, pensively. 'Not the details. I was in Germany at that time. Ministry business. The Daily Prophet didn't deal with the case either. I am afraid it must have gone past my notice.'
'The Daily Prophet remained silent because that is what I demanded,' said the soldier grimly. 'Can't stand how they take to pieces whatever happens in front of the Wizengamot these days. None of everyone's business, in my opinion.'
Albus nodded. Silently.
'Vim is, without a doubt, mentally disturbed,' explained Lance quietly, not taking his eyes off the headmaster and his tea. 'He cracked when Palatine died in the hospital and our mother... "went missing" down in M'bwa. We still haven't found her.' There was a short silence in which the soldier stared into his mug, apparently absent. When he looked up again, there was an odd glitter in his blue eyes, which the headmaster believed to have perceived in his son's dark ones in similar situations. Lance was leaning on one of his arms rests now and was speaking with some effort.
'I believe Vim used a number of illegal spells on Rodney... over a certain period of time. Everything from torture - not Cruciatus, mind you. He would not directly go against the law, cracked though he might be - but also spells that are usually used for age degeneration with animals. You know - to make the beef more delicate... or the milk taste better. Does that make sense to you?'
'Of course,' muttered Albus. 'Mentally disturbed people are often reduced to their basic desires and act accordingly. Provided your brother does have age-play tendencies...'
'I think that is totally out of the question,' said Lance sharply and the headmaster decided it was probably wise not to explore the topic any further.
'You'll realise now why I don't believe Rodney Robertson would lay his hands on innocent children - not in an abusive way,' said the soldier after a small while. 'And should that ever come to pass, trust that I will personally pay him a visit before the year is over. But he knows that as well. He is not stupid. Don't believe Rodney a murderer, Professor. He is just lost. And he doesn't belong at Hogwarts. It is the army he needs. The company of his friends... well... friend. Anyway... a bit of distraction. Not teaching a subject any Muggle could do if only they knew the secrets. Believe me, Robertson doesn't kill.'
There was another silence. Both men followed their own stream of thoughts and eventually came to the conclusion that it was time to change the subject. Both at the same time, unfortunately.
'How is your wife...' began Albus exactly the moment in which his opposite chose to offer him some tea. Both wizards thanked each other instantly and Lance Snape was quick to assure that, apart from occasional ailments, his wife was all well and healthy.
'She has had these 'ailments' for some time, though, hasn't she?' said Albus critically, but the Snape gave him such a sinister look that the headmaster decided to drop the subject.
'And... how come you know Robertson so well?' he eventually enquired, noticing that Lance made him feel slightly awkward and look frantically for a topic of conversation - by merely sitting there, not saying anything at all.
The soldier gave him a dark look.
'That is just the way things turned out,' he said coldly. 'I had to guarantee the victim's safety, so I brought him here. For the time being. Turned out that he stayed a bit longer in the end. For several months, to be exact. Before he moved to M'bwa into the camp. His grandmother is not...' he hesitated, just for a second, 'not the best choice to raise a child,' he said eventually, some finality resonating in his dark voice.
Albus hesitated. Then, after a very long time, nodded again. 'And...' he said, gazing into the flickering fire, 'it worked out? With your son, I mean?'
'Oh, Severus is quite a bit younger than Rodney,' said the Snape and shrugged. 'As you will have noticed. They weren't much in each other's way. Still, I think Rod was oddly interested in Severus. Even though he never liked to show it. Severus, of course, is too stubborn to see Rodney's efforts as a kind of approach. Believed himself in danger whenever Rodney was around. He often shows rather egoistic - sometimes paranoid tendencies, I'm afraid...'
'So your son and Professor Robertson have never had any concrete problems?' said Albus, having to admit that he was surprised. His opposite shook his large head, frowning down at the headmaster over the brim of his mug. Even in sitting position he was surmounting most of the room's chattels, including the headmaster in his armchair, who noted that the Snape appeared relaxed, but wasn't.
'What is it,' said Albus slowly, very quietly, 'that you are trying to conceal from me, Lance Snape? Is it something important or just the fact that in spite of his childhood experiences Robertson has always been interested in sado-masochistic practice and you just do not know how to put it?'
The gaze that met his was like a dark cloud over a single barn in a thunderstorm. Slowly, very pronouncedly Lance put his mug onto the small living-room table and glared directly into the headmaster's eyes. Albus was not surprised to find an Occlumency wall thicker than any he had ever seen appear in the general area of the soldier's stern forehead. Lance built himself up to his full size, which was considerable, and put one massive hand flatly on the rest of his armchair.
'Are you using Legilimency on me, Albus Dumbledore?'
The tone in his voice was carrying an unmistakable threat. Albus did not move so much as a muscle.
'No. But I have known a lot of Snapes in my life and I have known you for some time now. And, of course, I am making lucky guesses based on some of my recent assumptions,' he added as an afterthought. Lance kept watching him sternly, but leaned back in his armchair again after a while, no less cautious than before.
'I see,' he growled. And after a long moment's silence. 'You are a wicked old man.'
'I might be old,' said Albus, smiling, 'but that in itself cannot be regarded a problem. You, on the other hand, tend to take things too seriously and that makes you appear old.'
His joke seemed to meet Lance's disapproval. The soldier frowned.
'I believe I now know everything I came for,' said Albus after another moment's silence. 'You'll have work to do, as usual.'
'As usual,' the Snape nodded.
'We still haven't had our game of chess,' said Albus quietly.
'No,' said the soldier. 'Perhaps when the year is over.'
'I'll come back to that,' replied the headmaster, still smiling. 'As a celebration, perhaps, when we have found a solution for the Knight problem.'
A simple nod was the answer. Nothing more.
There was not much to do to get the headmaster of Hogwarts back into his office. A few more words were exchanged, then his departure was arranged. Some floo powder fetched from the office. Just when Albus put his hand in the Snapes' small box of greenish army floo powder, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Turning again at an instant he realised that he had almost expected this.
'One more thing, headmaster...'
Albus, noticing that it had been a while since Snape senior had called him this lowered his arm again and returned the younger man's look unblinkingly. Witing. To the untrained eye, Lance Snape appeared to be his usual grumpy self, but the headmaster sensed that there was an insecurity underneath which was rarely found in a Snape. In such an apparent manner, that was.
'Yes, Lance?' he said, cautious to assume a warm smile, sensing the fragility of the situation.
'Concerning the Knights,' said the Snape hesitantly. 'I meant to ask you a favour. It isn't very urgent... and certainly not official... but it is said that Hogwarts isn't as safe as it used to be.'
He hesitated once more. Albus, on the other hand, took the larger man's arm, in turn, and looked straight into his eyes.
'Severus?' he said quietly.
The soldier nodded.
'I shall have an eye on him,' promised the headmaster, not knowing where his sudden awareness of what was causing the Snape's uneasiness came from. 'We are hoping, of course, that the Knights do not hold their meetings inside the castle, but I shall do my best to protect our students of them - and especially your son.'
To his great surprise a smile spread over the large man's face. Both man stared at each other, one seeming feel as awkward as the other.
'Thank you,' said Lance eventually, unable to put across any more of what was going on inside him. He quickly pressed Albus's shoulder, gave him an appreciative look, and vanished into the hallway. A hiss and some floo powder brought the headmaster back to where he came from. The living-room remained in silence.
