DEATH EATERS' REUNION
Snape registered his surroundings as soon as he apparated. He was outdoors in a somewhat deserted place. He took in the plants, the trees, the soil, the landscape - anything that would allow him to guess where he was. From what he could gather, he was no longer in England, but probably somewhere in central Europe.
The locations of the Dark Lord's meetings were always a mystery, even to his followers. It was the Dark Mark that guided them to the different reunion places. The Dark Lord had always been a suspicious - and rightly so.
Snape discerned several dark silhouettes in the night, all converging towards the same point. He followed, already knowing whom he would find there. Lord Voldemort.
As they arrived, the Death Eaters walked to their Master in turn, knelt in front of him, and kissed the bottom of his robes, as was custom. Then they stood up and took their place in the circle around the Dark Lord.
Before it was his turn, Snape emptied his mind as he always did, blocking any thought about his recent preoccupations and especially anything related to his activity within the Order. Truly his gift with Occlumency was a blessing - it was the only reason he was still alive after so much time spent spying. He then did his best to focus on something that would satisfy the Dark Lord, should he probe his mind. Potter dead-–dreaming about that wasn't so hard-–Dumbledore surrendering, a world full of pureblood wizards, havoc among the Muggles…
"Master," Snape murmured respectfully as he kissed the robes.
When he stood up, Lord Voldemort was observing him with a gauging look, but Snape had felt no attempt at an invasion of his mind. He walked to his usual place in the circle of Death-Eaters and waited.
"My dear Death Eaters," the Dark Lord eventually said in a low voice, "I invited you here tonight to announce good news. We will be ready to launch our first significant attack very soon."
Snape could almost hear the silent approval of the other wizards.
"As you already know," Voldemort went on, "the giants sided with us a while ago, along with the Dementors. I have never used them yet - that will soon change. In exactly thirty days, I will send some giants to attack Hogwarts."
Dumbledore had been right in his assumption, Snape thought. But giants? A giant was harder to stun than ten wizards combined. Even if only a few were sent, they would have a hard time stopping them.
"The purpose is not to take control of the school, only to show Dumbledore and his foolish supporters what I am capable of. But if some damage can be done in the meantime…" Voldemort continued with an evil smirk.
They would have to take adequate measures if they wanted to face the giants. Quickly. Stopping giants would be tricky. Extremely tricky, even if they were well prepared.
"Nott," the Dark Lord called.
Nott took two steps forward. "Yes, Master?"
"Are the giants on their way?"
"Absolutely, Master," Nott confirmed.
"When will they arrive?" Voldemort asked again.
"They should reach the coasts of England in a little over two weeks," Nott replied, "and should be near Hogwarts in a bit more than three weeks."
"Excellent." With a wave of his hand Voldemort dismissed Nott. The wizard took a few steps back until he was in the circle again. "Malfoy," the Dark Lord called this time.
"Yes Master?" replied Lucius as he took several steps forward.
"How are the relations with the Dementors going?"
"They're still a bit unwilling to be commanded, but I'm convinced I'll get complete control over them very soon. I'm doing my best," Malfoy replied.
Voldemort walked to him until he was almost nose-to-nose with the wizard. "Try harder," he hissed menacingly. "I didn't have you freed from Azkaban to merely try to socialize with them."
"Yes Master."
The Dark Lord eyed Malfoy for a long second before dismissing him like he had Nott. Then he cast a circular look at the Death-Eaters around him. Snape tensed a little - that was usually the moment of mind probing.
Contrary to his habit, Voldemort only spoke. "I have other news." An evil smile found his way to his lips. "We managed to catch at last a member of the infamous Order of the Phoenix, one of Dumbledore's supporters. Alive," he added. He waited for a few seconds before turning to Pettigrew. "Bring him here, Wormtail."
While Pettigrew left the circle, Snape wondered if it could be someone that knew him, someone that could give him away. But he wasn't really worried about his identity being revealed, for few members of the Order knew he was a member himself. And even fewer knew his role.
His guess was confirmed when he saw Pettigrew push a Stupefied wizard forward. Snape didn't recognize him - it was probably some insignificant member of the Order.
The Dark Lord nodded towards Crabbe and Goyle, and the two of them advanced towards the wizard. Once they had seized him by the shoulders, Voldemort cast an Enervatum spell on him. The man looked a bit dazed at first, then stared at the Dark Lord in shock and fright, his mouth ajar. Judging from his ragged clothes and the blood dripping from his forehead, he had already been… interrogated thoroughly.
"What is your name?" Voldemort questioned coldly.
The wizard hesitated for a second. "Adar Miller," he eventually said.
"Greetings, Adar Miller…" the Dark Lord replied. "From what I've been told, you don't know any precious piece of information… The only names you could give us, we already knew… How unfortunate for you… Crucio!" he exclaimed as he lifted his wand towards the Order member.
The wizard yelled under the curse, his face contorted with pain and his body agitated by spasms, until the spell stopped when Voldemort withdrew his wand.
"You do understand that considering the circumstances we cannot keep you alive any longer…" the Dark Lord continued, and nodded to one of the Death Eaters - probably Mulciber, Snape guessed.
Mulciber took his wand out, pointed his wand towards the wizard, and pronounced the last words this member of the Order of the Phoenix would hear in his life. "Avada Kedavra!"
Snape's eyes didn't remain very long on the dead body of the wizard when he fell to the ground with a thump - his fate had been sealed the instant he was caught and any kind of sympathy would be totally misplaced. He had other concerns of his own, especially since the Dark Lord was now turning to him.
"Snape," Voldemort called.
Severus took two steps forward. "Yes, Master?"
Voldemort walked up to him. "Is Hogwarts's new DADA teacher any threat?"
"Certainly not, Master," Snape replied truthfully. "He's no more than a pathetic idiot, an insufferable disgrace to the pureblood community."
The Dark Lord nodded. "Does Dumbledore suspect anything about our projects?"
"I'm afraid he doesn't confide in me about such things, Master."
"Does Dumbledore suspect anything?" Voldemort insisted, his tone more aggressive.
"I believe he doesn't, Master," Snape said, knowing full well the Dark Lord wouldn't be satisfied by his answer. In a self-preservation instinct, he mechanically emptied his mind.
"You believe he doesn't," Voldemort spat and stared at him intently. That was when Snape felt the beginning of a mind intrusion.
Potter dead, Snape imagined. Potter tortured, Potter suffering from an unbearable pain, Potter under the Cruciatus curse, Potter at the mercy of the Dark Lord…
The mind probing was over, and Snape knew none of his secrets had been revealed. But Voldemort was still staring at him.
"Crucio!" the Dark Lord exclaimed, pointing his wand at him.
Snape's knees gave way under the pain and he fell to the ground. Fighting back would only make the Dark Lord more irate. All he could do was wait - and endure.
"Stand up," Voldemort ordered when he eventually withdrew his wand. "STAND UP!"
Once Snape was back on his feet, Voldemort wrapped his hand around Severus' neck and squeezed dangerously.
"I will need more than mere suppositions the next time if you wish to leave another meeting alive," the Dark Lord dropped in his ear angrily. "Don't forget you're still on probation…"
"I never did, Master," Snape managed to articulate.
"Be careful, Severus…" Voldemort warned. "You're no more than a pawn… And pawns can be sacrificed…"
"I know, Master…"
Voldemort eventually released him. Snape refrained from massaging his sore neck in a mechanical movement - the Dark Lord would not appreciate such a display of weakness from one of his followers.
Voldemort turned to the other Death-Eaters. "This goes for all of you as well. No pawn is irreplaceable." He eyed them silently for a few seconds. "You're all dismissed."
It was with relief that Snape apparated right outside Hogwarts grounds a couple of seconds later, and massaged his neck at last. It had been close this time. He immediately began striding towards the school.
Roughly fifteen minutes later he was already back to his study. He observed his desk and the pile of tests still in need of a correction, suddenly feeling a bit depressed. He had a lesson to teach early the next day, and it was already the middle of the night. The tests would wait another day. As would the Order.
Snape walked to his room and collapsed on his bed.
