Chapter 2 – When bad comes to worse

"Ron, she's been at it for at least 36 hours. Don't you think it's time we barge in?"

"Nah, I'd rather face a flock of angry hippogriffs."

"Don't be such a bottler. When we went to dinner last night I think I heard her crying."

"You're probably imagining thinks. Besides, don't tell me you didn't shed a tear at the funeral?"

No arguments against that one. There was hardly a witch or wizard that knew Albus Dumbledore and didn't cry their hearts out. Some more privately than others, but they all surely felt the same. Harry chose to just shrug the question off and change the subject.

"I kind of regret giving her my memories, you know. They grow fainter when you remove them, and I need all the hatred I can get to chase Snape and Malfoy down."

"Your list is growing longer. Last year it was only He-who-must-not-be-named, Pettigrew and Lestrange."

"You'll work your way through yours, don't worry. Greyback won't be your only target."

"I CAN HEAR YOU BOTH, YOU KNOW? Instead of whining outside my door, just get your sorry arses in here."

And with that the door to Hermione's Granger room flew open revealing a swelled eye, pathetically looking witch.

"See, she was crying."

"What with all those notes? Don't tell me you are making an assignment out of Dumbledore's last moments?"

"Actually I was thinking of selling it to Skeeter just for profit. Don't be ridiculous Ron."

"See crying hasn't chipped your charming personality a bit."

"Just get in the pensieve and watch."

"Just listening to Harry twice was enough for me, thank you."

"So, can I have it back now?"

"Yeah, Harry. You can. What the world would be without you chasing the wrong people after all?"

"I don't believe you. You're still on it? After what you saw?"

"More now than before actually. Wanna hear me out, or you have more Potion Masters to Crucio?"

"That was in defence, I'll have you know!"

"You cast Crucio on Snape? Go, mate."

"I was merely defending myself. What did you want me to cast? Tantallegra?"

"He was trying to save your hide and you cast Crucio? Repeatedly? I can see you becoming a fine supplement to the Order. Someone had to take Sirius' place after all."

"Now 'Mione that was a bit harsh…"

"No, Ron. Let her finish. Get all your spite out Hermione. What is it? In love with Malfoy? Or Snape maybe? Fascinated by the Dark Arts like they both are? Restricted section not good for your advanced learning abilities any more?"

"Now, guys. This is getting out of hand. Really!"

"At least I don't trust dog-eared textbooks to tell me how to fair my life. Twice."

You could cut silence with a knife. In large stodgy pieces. Ron kept casting cursory glances from one to the other, waiting for either to burst with a new set of malevolent retorts. This had never happened before. It was his place to bicker with Hermione. Usually over trivial little nothings that could escalate to silent weeks in a row. But they always worked it out.

Nothing like that though. He would make fun of her and call her a know-it-all freak but never gone as far as imply that she could turn against them in search of new reading material. And she would call him a thick-headed chimpanzee but never blatantly point out previous mistakes in such a painful way.

Well, Weasleys were infamous for their conciliatory techniques, weren't they? At least Molly Weasley was. Praying he had inherited at least a bit, Ron made a try patching things up.

"So Hermione, how would you like to read us your notes? I'm sure Harry will see your point, once he boils down."

"Sure. It runs in his family to do so, after all. Both his father and godfather were legendary for their judgemental call."

Ron merely caught a glimpse of Harry turning parchment white and resisting raising his hand to hit her. He instinctively moved between the two, feeling all the hate in the world radiating from green emerald eyes inches away from his own. Harry could become really formidable if he so choose. And Ron would never wish to be at the receiving end of it again, even if it only lasted a split second before his shaking-with-rage friend decided to storm out of the room. Several minutes later you could still hear the door threatening to bounce off its hinges.

Still shaken by their antics, Ron Weasley wisely chose to pamper the less fearsome of his friends for the time being.

"What has gotten into you 'Mione?"

"What has gotten into ME? Did you actually see what happened? He was ready to Crucio me, this time."

"Slap you, looked more like. But you provoked him 'Mione. You know how touchy he's when it comes to his family. And what in the Merlin's louses has gotten into you to bring up Sirius?"

"Don't you see, he's just like him? Arrogant little bastard, treating everyone trying to save his pity ass with as much disdain as both Sirius and his father did."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I know fully well what I'm talking about. Last year, when you were submitting yourself to Gred's and Forge's pioneering experimentations, I was busy chatting to Remus. You can't even imagine what Snape had to put up with. Remus might dearly love his friends but he can still see what they did to Snape."

"They were merely kids, making fun of each other."

"They tried to bloody kill him Ron. That's not a definition of fun even in the most blood-thirsty cannibal tribe's dictionary."

"It was a joke."

"A joke? They were all able animagi, luring some poor unsuspected soul to a werewolf's lair on the night of his transformation, and you think of it as a joke? You can't see it, but I assure you that I'm laughing on the inside."

"Are we still talking about the same poor soul that invented Sectumsempra?"

"He had to defend himself somehow."

"'Mione, are you even close to realising that you're losing it? You're actually defending Snape?"

"At least I have reasons to do so. Didn't you notice that even when Snape told everyone about Remus, Remus still tried to make excuses for him? Don't you wonder why Remus is the only one, besides Dumbledore, totally trusting Snape?"

"Yeah, but Snape hates him even so."

"He bloody well knows it. That's why he trusts him. To be strong enough to overcome childhood hate in order to protect people that ruined your life, is really an enviable merit of character. And Remus kneels before Snape for that."

"Don't be such a melodrama queen. Malfoy kept making your life hell, but he didn't ruin it, did he?"

"I had you guys. Snape had his one and only friend snatched away from him to become James Potter trophy wife."

"Harry's mum was Snape's girlfriend? Backtrack. Backtrack. Snape had a girlfriend?"

"According to Remus it was just a platonic friendship. But the only one Snape had."

"So Snape hates all four of them for stealing his only friend?"

"They were torturing him Ron. The Marauder's map was primarily made to pin point Snape's location so they could set booby traps for him. Didn't you wonder why it was so eager to insult Snape, when it had done no such thing to the rest of us?"

"Well, we knew the password."

"Wrong again. Every password with a mischievous hint in it is being accepted by the map. Original was: One, two, three: help me make Snape flee. That's what they were trying to do. Make him either quit the school out of mere embarrassment or get him expelled."

"They can't have been that mean…"

"It's Remus' tale, not Snape's. It can't be biased. I don't even want to imagine Snape's view on all of these."

"Not a saint himself, either. It's not like he ever tried to hide his aversion to the Marauders. Or if he did, he was outstandingly lousy at it."

"Was he now? Snape was forced to work with Remus for a whole year. Not to mention provide his nemesis with a potion that takes 3 weeks to prepare on a monthly basis. After that he's being asked to join a previously alleged dead Pettigrew in Death Eater's escapades. To top it all he almost blows his cover to save Sirius. And if you ever decide to get into the pensieve you'll see him saving your idiotic friend's pity ass the night Dumbledore died, more than twice. Only thing next to happen, is James Potter coming back from the dead to have Snape butter his morning toast."

"I didn't think of all that…"

"Well, I did. And I needed the pensieve to see if the man finally snapped, like he rightfully should."

"Did he?"

"He didn't Ron. If you watch closely you'll see that even at the last moment he was fighting to keep both Malfoy and Harry alive."

"Humph. Not that we couldn't spare Malfoy."

"No, Ron, damnable as Malfoy's actions are, his motives are noble."

"Of course, pureblood domination. First priority over the right to be alive."

"Just take a look at it. Watch it and then we can talk."

Ron was still hesitant at the suggestion. He had no desire to watch Dumbledore breathe his last. It was enough hearing about it. Twice. Before Hermione's 3rd-grade questioning. And Harry's truth-serum-eagerness to reciprocate with all the gory details. He knew that the images would chase him for the rest of his life, and what with Bill's condition and the fight they put in order to block the Death Eaters he had more than enough, thank you. Nightmares about the night at the Ministry could stand their ground without any further enrichment.

But Hermione thought he really should. Past experience proved she was rarely wrong when so steadfastly insisting on something. And Ron had learned to trust her. A small part even feared her. Not that said small part would be ever caught alive admitting as much.

With a faint sigh he dipped head first into the silver blurry tendrils of the memory Harry had entrusted them with.

When he emerged several minutes later, he felt like their last conversation was a lifetime away.

"So?"

"I would have done it."

"Done what?"

"Kill Dumbledore. I mean not Dumbledore, but if Dumbledore was to Malfoy, what Malfoy is to me, I would have done it. And I wouldn't falter. I would have gone all the way through with it. If it was my family at stake... I would have."

"That's what I though. I'm not sure if I could put an end to it, but I would have tried nevertheless."

"Nah, you're not capable of it. You would have shake and trembled more than Mr. Malfunction did. Do you reckon that if we kept the rest of them downstairs, he would have surrendered?"

"I'm sure of it. Dumbledore was sure of it as well."

"So, why did Snape took action?"

"I think Dumbledore asked him to. With everyone up there, it was a lost cause. If either Malfoy or Snape didn't kill him, then the rest of them would. And if Snape showed reluctance like Malfoy did, he would have blown his cover. The Order would have lost its only insider and all Malfoys would have turned up murdered."

"So that's why Dumbledore died? To save Malfoy and his family from being killed? To save the Malfoys?"

"It's clever if you think about it. Now Malfoy owes both Snape and Dumbledore. Maybe it's never late for redemption."

"So, you really think, Dumbledore made Snape promise that if bad came to worse, he should kill him?"

"They both knew all along. You watched Dumbledore telling Malfoy that he knew. He didn't confront him for fear of his life. They let him to his own devices even though they knew he had a good chance to succeed."

"They knew about me and Katie, all right. But that still doesn't justify Dumbledore not defending himself. He died with no more dignity than a cockroach being splashed on the floor by a heavy wellington boot."

"On the contrary. He died with all the dignity he could master. If innate magic really kicked in, he held it back. If he let it take reign, he would have to put both Malfoy and Snape to prison."

"But he would still be alive."

"He always perceived death as a new experience, a journey into the unknown. And his judgement instructed that his death would be more of use to us. No one can question Snape's allegiances now. Dumbledore turned him into the key player to the final battle."

"You seem utterly convinced about it. What if Harry's right? I don't say he's, but what if? Isn't there the slightest chance that Snape's Avada Kedavra caught Dumbledore unaware?"

"Doesn't it seem a tad too coincidental that he had just enough time to transfuse all his knowledge and suspicions about you-know-who into the only person that stands a chance fighting him? Dumbledore was infamous for chipping in unverified reservations. Why did he feel the pressure to do it now? When he kept Harry in the dark for years?"

"Maybe last year's disastrous consequences finally caught up with him?"

"Or maybe he saw it as his last chance to redeem himself in the eyes of his protégée."

"Convicting Snape at the same time. Mum says the Order had a major split up over Snape. Moody demanded his head on a silver plate and has half the Order head hunting for him."

"I bet Remus leads the opposition."

"That's left for you to do. There's no opposition. Just one or two people doubting facts the way they were when Dumbledore tried to convince them Snape was on our side."

"Do I have your vote of confidence in this?"

"Nah. You know me. Always bowing in front of your Excellency. Wish Harry would listen to logic."

"I bet he'd listen to you."

"'Cause I can break his skull open and drip logic inside?"

"Catch him off guard. Ask him why would Dumbledore give Snape DADA if he knew it was jinxed to last no more than a year."

"Lovely argument. I'll go with the skull breaking."