AN: Not mine; I just play with it.

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Chapter 4. Friend Unknown

As soon as he let go of the branch, Severus Snape shot up along the tree's trunk and flew above the foliage with the bird happily chirping behind him. He took in the endless ocean of green beneath him, and for a moment, he could not believe what he achieved – his balance promptly lurched, but recalling the trust in his magic, he kept control. Severus cautiously learned how to navigate with slow movements, take curves, and move at different speeds before he felt out of breath. The physical strain flying put on his body was unexpected. He saw a clear spot amidst the trees and swerved towards it. He finally landed with a rough bump on the rocky ground, scratching his legs and tearing his robe, but who cares? He'd just done the impossible! He suddenly felt like a boy.

Severus glanced back at the greyish blue sky and nodded to the chirping bird with a wild grin before he lay down on the thin grass. The experience was worth the exhaustion, even if it was profound. Only his self-control prevented him from falling asleep where he was. He gathered himself and adjusted his route more to the west; he could only see the forest end in that direction. It was better not to think about what would have become of him if he had continued on to the northeast. That afternoon's long walk washed the grin off his face with the constant struggle against hunger and tiredness, only satisfaction helped him through it. At the earliest sign of dusk Severus found a sheltered spot, put up his defensive wards and fell in a dreamless sleep.

The third and fourth day of his journey, he spent practicing his new-found skill while eternally searching for berries and edible sprouts and striving west. The exhaustion of flying lessened by practice, but nothing on earth seemed to subdue his hunger. Quite unusual for he's never been a glutton, and although he had multiple reasons in the past to suffer in his life, starving has never been one of those.

One more side-effect of this new approach to magic was a strange sense of its shifting in its nature. He felt its constant throbbing like he had one more pulse. He only experienced this as an untrained child, and even then, only when his abilities surfaced with unintentional magic. It was distracting and thrilling at the same time.

The little venture into an animal's mind was also a game-changer. The forest hardly seemed empty anymore; it was alive. Steps, emotions, aspirations filled the woods – and so filed Severus' mind if he only gave attention – changing his perspective.

On the fifth day of his journey, Severus reached the edge of the forest. Behind the last line of trees, the landscape turned grassy, spotted with rocks and occasional groves. The horizon was finally visible, a steady unreachable line in the distance. Rabbit and squirrel holes as long as the eye could see.

"Where the hell are you?" – He mumbled, thinking of Hagrid like he could convince the gamekeeper to show up. A rabbit sprinted through his line of vision with such agitation Severus lifted his head. A she-wolf followed it with deadly determination, but the wise little thing hid in a hole. No digging was sufficient to retrieve the pray, and by the time her mate joined her, the she-wolf, in her frustration, bit at his fur. Severus could sense the agony and the self-restraint of the much more massive animal as he jumped aside.

"So much about loving again," – Severus mumbled. "Are you fucking kidding me?" – He cried out for the mysterious creature to hear him if she existed. The compassion he felt for the male wolf surprised him with its force. Severus turned his attention to the she-wolf, but the only thing on her mind was frustration and an image of a litter of whiny little pups hidden under a bush somewhere south of them. As much as he could now accept the bitch's right for her feelings, he still pitied the male. The only thing radiating from his mind was his eagerness to please his mate. "Have I ever felt such devotion to anyone?" – The question popped into his mind unrequested. He quickly lied to himself that he hadn't. As much as he wanted to see such eagerness pathetic, once he'd felt similar… or rather, Severus knew he could have felt similar if he was only given a bloody chance!

Freaking damnable Potter made a show of it while he hid behind his walls in self-preservation. Why? If the mindset of these wolves was anything to go by, devotion attracted females. But he was devoted, for goodness sake! He was… except maybe he wasn't. Not enough. He's never been enough because he wanted more than the girl. He wanted his thoughts, his research, his ways, and had an eagerness to prove himself, and he wanted the girl. Did he want too much? No question there, he was unworthy for so much… especially… especially after…

"Lilly was nothing like this simple bitch-wolf" – he lied to himself again, and for a while, he slipped back to the blackest self-reproach, grief and regret. The familiar pain enveloped and calmed him despite the awakening question somewhere deep in his mind that maybe, …maybe wanting just to be the one he was and the girl should not be too much… Of course, the thought was obviously wrong. Anyone would tell him that. He was sure that what he was, what he proved he was, was not worth keeping.

The noise of sudden movement pulled him back to his senses. The she-wolf must have left while he was preoccupied in his dark reverie, and now the rabbit tried to sprint for the next hole with the big male wolf on its heels. Compassion surged again, and without a thought, Severus lifted his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The rabbit tumbled over and never moved again. The wolf was quick to catch its limp body and turned to look the wizard in the eye. Severus steadily returned its gaze and instinctively reached for the animal's mind. Astonishingly, the wolf was grateful. Even more astonishing was that he could not recall the last time he could perceive this feeling with such clarity in a human mind. A flash of green light, the catch of the prey, and something like amazement was also present in the wolf's memory, but no trace of aggression or any intention to attack.

The big grey wolf stepped closer to the wizard and spat the dead rabbit on the ground, pushing it towards the other hunter with its nose. Severus raised an eyebrow, and the beast repeated the move.

"No, you may keep it." The wizard told the wolf, and he relayed the picture of the whining litter he previously saw in the she-wolf's brain to make himself clear. The wolf grabbed the prey again, cheerfully cracking its spine, and turned to walk away only to stop after a step or two to look back questioningly. Did it want to repay him? Or thank him?

"If you insist…'- He mumbled and sent a mental picture about Hogwarts' gamekeeper complete with the scents and smells he remember from Hagrid's hut.

The wolf hung its head and walked away.

"I thought so," – Severus said and grimaced.

The hopeless walk now slightly to the southwest continued, and he felt a pang of regret for leaving the forest he learned to like. Miles came and gone, and by the evening, his annoyance and hunger took the better of him. Severus placed his wards and cursed the whole wide world collectively and separately again.

Shortly before midnight, the wards alarmed him. Someone or something tried to get to him in his sleep. Large trees hid him in their shadows; as he pulled his wand, only his pale hands and face reflected the dim starlight, and he would have posed a frightening sight for anyone. Even the wolf lay low, silently whining, a few steps from the last tree. Severus erased the wards and stepped closer with concern.

"I don't need a pet" – he wanted to convey to the wolf, but as soon as he touched the animal's mind, an image of Hagrid swept in his face. The gamekeeper was not alone. Indeed, he sat by a bush in a dell and next to him lay an unusually tall woman. Severus was sure that his astonishment was easy enough to read through the contact, even for the wolf. The beast went on, showing him a race after a ground-squirrel. The poor fellow was slow to hide, and when the she-wolf began to dig, it jumped and tried to make it to a dell, where the male wolf waited patiently. Besides the evident joy of a good hunt, the wolf shared the moment when the wind turned, and he sniffed something remotely familiar. Biting on the ground-squirrel, he turned his head to see – for his greatest surprise – the exact copy of the image the wizard sent him some hours ago.

Untamed relief shot through Severus, and he didn't mind the wolf feeling it. Inspired by the glorious moment, he cast a healing charm and mended several small wounds on the wolf's back. The beast moved its tail in a friendly manner and went back to his business.

Severus wasted no time. He vanished all evidence of his short night's rest and leaped into the air as he well trained himself by now to do. Flying above plain land was less entertaining than slaloming amidst the woods but undoubtedly more efficient. The stars still shone brightly when he reached the spot where the she-wolf dug after the ground-squirrel; he left the traces of the wolves' hunt behind and hurried to the dell.

Against all hopes to find a camp or at least a small fire, the dell was abandoned. Hagrid and his companion must have left before the evening fell, to use the cut carved into the land to their advantage. Severus decided to wait for daylight to examine their tracks. Casting a spell to warm against the windy night, sat down and watched the stars. He must have fallen asleep because, with the next blink, he saw the sky turned ruby with the dawn.

"Hey, Lex!" A voice came from somewhere discomfortingly near. Casting the disillusionment charm by knocking his wand on his head, Severus disappeared with haste and begrudged himself for his stupidity while trying to find that voice's source.

"Come on, Lex… you bloody snail, we cannot be far behind!"

Severus crawled to the dell's edge and looked down. The one called Lex must have caught up with the other because he could see two men examining something by a bush.

"So. Now can we finally have a rest?" The leaner straightened up and grimaced behind the other's back. "These tracks are not so old, Grimaye, we're close, and we shouldn't catch up with them."

"It's our duty to catch them!" Grimaye replied, and even Severus could feel the dangerous undertone in his voice. "We owe this to the Ministry and the benefit of all worthy wizards and witches of this age. We need to stop them on their…"

"Stop it! Do you hear yourself? You're doing it again!" Lex took Grimaye by the shoulders and shook him. "Look at me now, what's wrong with that face of yours? The closer we get to them, the more you freak me out. I swear you sound like a bloody fanatic!"

Grimaye pushed Lex forcefully away, so he landed on his butt and pulled a wand. Severus shook his invisible head. That lunatic was clearly under the Imperius curse, and this Ministry-ox failed to see the obvious. He tried to figure a way to separate dumb and dumber when with a sudden stroke of luck, Lex reached a hand to grab his fellow's arm and instantly got hit with his stupefy in return.

Severus waited patiently until Grimaye hurried away, leaped through the edge of the dell and woke up the ox.

"Imperio!" – Snape said in a calm voice, and the curse hit the Ministry-worker. "You are to tell me your name, your department and your purpose, then do as I instruct you."

"Lexter Hornblow, Department of Failed Charms" – the man replied in a colourless voice and with a blank face – "I am to follow a possible traitor and gather information, particularly those that are incriminating on Albus Dumbledore. I will be promoted and get an internship at the Auror Headquarters, and I will make my mom happy."

Well, that's a purpose! Snape thought, pulling his lips into a grimace that could have been a smile. "You are going back to the Ministry of Magic and report that you found no trace of a traitor" – he said it aloud in a clear, low voice – "You were following the tracks with your companion to South Germany where all traces were lost. You suspect it was a false track, and your failure is Grimaye's fault." – He added with sudden malice while the young wizard absentmindedly nodded. – "You are telling your betters," – Snape paused – "and your mother, that you never wanted to be an Auror. You know you are unqualified and incompetent so that you will pursue a quiet honourable life. Now you repeat after me and go."

Young Lexter repeated the orders then turned to walk back on his way. Severus hid his face in his palms with frustration.

"Make a portkey or Apparate with disrupts, you nitwit!"

When the boy disappeared, Snape renewed the disillusionment charm and leaping on the air. He flew after the bigger fool. He cast Expeliarmus before even hitting the ground. Grimaye turned and faced thin air; Snape already spoke: "Finite Imperio!"

The poor guy looked around, amazed by his surroundings in one moment, to cry out in shock.

Severus thought it was apparent he needed a strong will to guide him.

"Imperio" – he helped the guy out. – "You will tell me all you remember about getting cursed last time, then you will do as I order you."

Grimaye began his tale like a victim of Babbling Beverage. He hardly had a thing to say about leaving London, and Severus reached the edge of his patience, silently swearing to use Legillimency next time, even if he felt intense disgust when he thought about this ox's mind. Finally, Grimaye got to the important news. He got cursed in France shortly after they reached the continent. His order was to track and kill Dumbledore's messenger. Snape filed this for later contemplation: someone knew without a shadow of a doubt that Dumbledore indeed sent a message; who could that be? The only thing he learned from the continuing babbling that Grimaye was cursed in a female voice.

"You go back to the Ministry and report you lost track in Germany. You will forget everything related to this issue and go for a long vacation anywhere else but France." – Snape commanded and let the pathetic idiot Apparate away.

He knew the death curse would have been much cleaner work, but it felt so good to only use it for hunting bloody rabbits. If this coming war didn't see him tear his soul apart, he would die a lucky man.

Severus lifted the disillusionment charm with a sour grimace and turned to find a secluded place to do some thinking. He did not expect this complication and had no desire to visit France, although it seemed inevitable at this point. A sudden noise halted him in midstep…like sliding pebbles…

"Cruti…"

"Impedimenta!" – Snape lifted his wand and cried towards the place he heard the pebbles fall; a heartbeat later, he heard a soft bump as someone fell on the grass behind the edge of the dell. Without a thought, he flew up, ready to fight but only his eyes rounded in horror.

"I've never thought you a traitor!" – The man on the grass shouted, reaching for his wand, which fell in the grass.

"Lennier!"

"So nice, Severus, you acknowledge me! I am here on the orders of the Dark Lord himself, and what are you doing, friend? – Lennier used their exchange as a distraction; Snape could easily see through him as the man never stopped searching the grass with his fingers. "I heard all, you know…" – Lennier went on, and his hand suddenly stopped – "and have no illusion that I…"

Lennier's hand swung up with his wand, but not before Snape cried, "Sectumsempra!" Then time seemed to slow down as he watched the other death eater's upper body slid off the lower while Lennier's mouth voicelessly formed the word "traitor."

Snape swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. Lennier has never been a good friend, but he was around for a long time now… which was sufficient to teach him that the world just became a better place without this Machiavellian goat…

Still…

"Damn it!" – Snape muttered, envisioned his backyard at Spinner's End and made a portkey of Lennier's wand.