A/N: Chapter beta read by Forty-Two Dreams. All remaining mistakes are mine.
EXPOSED
Snape was woken up abruptly in the middle of the night, his Dark Mark throbbing like it rarely had. How long had it been burning already? he wondered anxiously. If he was late for one of the Dark Lord's meetings… He shivered and jumped out of his bed, getting dressed hurriedly and wondering if he should warn Dumbledore - no, he was probably already late.
Another meeting so soon after the last… This was unusual, extremely unusual even, to be called two nights in a row. This had to be related to the business with the Ministry, since the Order's raid on the Committee on Experimental Charms was on the same night.
It could mean only two things, Snape reflected as he walked on Hogwarts grounds. Either the Order's operations had gone according to plan and Voldemort was furious when he learned about it, or it had gone wrong because Voldemort had gleefully spoiled it.
Either way, Snape would know very soon the reasons for this unexpected meeting, he thought as he apparated in some place unknown to him. It was too dark for him to have a guess at the location.
Snape silently took his place in the circle of Death Eaters, relieved to see he wasn't late. The Dark Lord was pacing back and forth angrily in the middle, clenching and unclenching his fists nervously. He kept striding in silence for a long time, so long it could have been minutes, until he finally came to a stop.
"I should have guessed long ago that something was wrong," Voldemort spoke softly yet dangerously. "The failure of the attack of the giants on Hogwarts, Dumbledore's readiness… It was so obvious…"
The Dark Lord paused and paced some more. Snape was getting uneasy.
"It seemed that our enemy always managed to know beforehand what we were going to do," Voldemort went on. "Such a frustrating thing… It was as if someone in on the secret was informing them… Ludicrous, isn't it?" the Dark Lord continued with a nasty smile.
Snape was feeling really uncomfortable, now.
"But I had no evidence… so I set up a trap. And was pleased to see my target rise to the bait…"
The Committee on Experimental Charms. It was an ambush, Snape concluded with horror. He had sent them directly in the snake's mouth.
"After I informed you all of my plans," Voldemort went on, "several members of the Order of the Phoenix came to the Ministry of Magic to retrieve from the Committee on Experimental Charms what they thought I wanted. Imagine their face when they discovered Dementors there, waiting for them…" he added with a wicked smirk.
Dementors. That was why Voldemort had asked Malfoy to stay the last night, along with Crabbe and Avery. Malfoy was in charge of the dealings with the Dementors… Snape suddenly wondered what had happened to the team sent by the Order to the Ministry. Fighting wizards would have been reasonably easy, but no one was ever truly prepared to face a bunch of Dementors.
"Someone here," Voldemort articulated slowly, casting an intimidating circular look at the Death Eaters around him, "is betraying me… And none of you will leave this place before I find out who it is."
Snape took a deep breath and emptied his mind - he would have a hard time getting out of this one.
"Whoever the traitor is," the Dark Lord continued, "he managed to escape my probing until now. So I suppose resorting to Legilimency to out him would be useless."
Snape stared at Voldemort. How did he expect to reveal the spy, then?
"I decided to resort to… more traditional techniques," Voldemort said maliciously. "Torture has always borne fruit…"
Snape shivered, and for a moment he was glad to be clad in dark coat and mask that hid his features. Did Voldemort mean he was about to torture each of them until one confessed his true allegiance?
"During the intervention, we managed to capture three members of the Order of the Phoenix," the Dark Lord explained with a satisfied smile. "Surely one of them will be able to tell me something about this traitor…"
Snape felt more and more ill-at-ease by the minute, his hand clutching his wand nervously under his coat. He had to be ready to disapparate as soon as his name would be revealed, but had to remain as long as possible to gather as much information as he could.
The Dark Lord nodded to Malfoy, and Malfoy turned and waved towards shadows outside the circle that Snape hadn't noticed until then.
Two Dementors entered the circle, escorting a ragged wizard. Snape didn't recognise him, which comforted him somewhat - he wouldn't be able to reveal his identity.
"Your name," Voldemort commanded sharply.
The wizard remained stubbornly silent.
"Crucio!" the Dark Lord exclaimed.
He maintained the curse for several seconds on the shrieking wizard, but Snape knew he was using far less than his maximum potential.
"Your name," Voldemort repeated more pressingly.
"Aarhus Reipurth," the wizard eventually admitted reluctantly, catching up his breath.
"Tell me, Reipurth, what were you supposed to take from the Committee on Experimental Charms?" Voldemort pried.
Reipurth looked away. Honestly, if he was hoping to get away like that, he was a fool, Snape concluded.
"Crucio!" the Dark Lord exclaimed again. "I'm not a patient wizard," he remarked almost casually as he lifted his wand, while Reipurth was still writhing on the ground with pain. "You'd better answer my question before I decide you made me lose too much time."
Reipurth hesitated visibly. "We were supposed to take everything," he confessed in a whisper.
"Everything, really?" Voldemort asked with amusement. "I would have thought Dumbledore to be better informed than that. How could he know I was planning an attack on the Ministry without knowing what I intended to take exactly? Could it be…" he paused dramatically, "because I didn't tell his spy?" he ended, casting a new look across the circle of Death Eaters, causing Snape's blood to run cold.
"What a poor job you are doing, sending your friends right into my claws!" Voldemort continued provocatively.
While Snape knew the Dark Lord wasn't talking to him specifically, it was spine-chilling.
Voldemort turned back towards Reipurth. "Who informed you of my plans?" he asked menacingly.
The wizard shook his head lightly.
"CRUCIO!" the Dark Lord cast again. His almost full power Cruciatus betrayed the fact that he was slowly losing his temper. "Don't try my patience and tell me who informed the Order of my plans!" he threatened.
"I don't know! I swear, I don't know!" Reipurth yelled between cries of pain, spasms agitating his body squirming on the ground.
Voldemort lifted his wand at last and observed the wizard.
"Legilimens!" the Dark Lord exclaimed, his eyes boring intently into Reipurth's during a few seconds, until he sighed. "You're boring," he said with disgust. "You don't know anything worthy of interest. Avada Kedavra!"
Voldemort stepped over the lifeless body of the wizard to talk to Malfoy. "Bring the next one."
Once more, Malfoy turned and waved to a couple of Dementors, who escorted a new prisoner. Snape briefly had a lump in his throat, but he didn't recognise the witch that entered the circle of Death Eaters.
Snape was beginning to think he may actually manage to get away from this mess alive. After all, out of the eight members of the Order sent to the Ministry that night, it was very likely there was only one who knew him: Wilson. She was a good duellist, he could concede this at least. It was doubtful she would have been captured by a couple of Dementors.
When the witch discovered her partner's dead body, she panicked suddenly. "No… No, no, please…" she pleaded on the verge of tears, trying to escape her captors fearfully. "Please, I'll tell you everything you want, but please don't…" she broke into tears.
Snape made a mental note to tell Dumbledore to stop recruiting the members of the Order in boxes of all flavour beans.
"Very well," the Dark Lord hissed with a half satisfied smirk. "Then maybe you, at last, will be able to tell me who informed you."
"I- I received my orders from Dumbledore," she stuttered, choking back her tears.
"I don't think you understood what I meant," Voldemort said slowly, almost seductively, as he edged closer to the witch. "Who informed the Order of the planned attack on the Committee on Experimental Charms?"
"I- I don't know…" the witch admitted pitifully, her lower lip trembling.
The Dark Lord shook his head lightly as if he were very disappointed with her and clasped his wand, toying with her fear.
"Wilson! Wilson would know!" the witch suddenly exclaimed in a last pathetic attempt to save her life.
At this moment, Snape would have gladly hit his forehead with his palm out of spite.
"Wilson?" Voldemort repeated.
"Yes, Endora Wilson! She's the one who was leading our party, she would probably know!" the witch confirmed.
"Interesting," the Dark Lord murmured. "Avada Kedavra," he added almost casually as he cast the killing curse.
The witch's body soon rested next to Reipurth's.
"Malfoy, the last one," Voldemort ordered.
Snape was half panicked at the sight of the next prisoner, but managed to remain still. Escorted by two Dementors was the only one in the intervention team that was able to give his name away.
Wilson.
And the Dark Lord knew she was in on the secret of his spying…
He was in trouble. He was in big trouble this time, he realised. He clutched his wand a bit further.
Coming Next: The Watcher
