Ferretbouncer: this is the last ch before Moody shows up, so please keep reading.
Chapter 6
Conditions
For some reason he found himself pondering the sensation of dust motes drifting through him. He was unused to this form yet, still not quite able to accept that even something so forceless as dust could go right through him.
It didn't seem wrong to be thinking this. The celebration seemed as much of the moment as of the union. The elves around him chattered cheerfully, happy for the couple at the end of the room, happy for themselves for being there, and all unafraid to voice it. Three of them were currently chasing a laughing Remus around the room, stirring up clouds of dust. Poppy, her new husband's hand clasped firmly in her own, was following the game, shouting encouragement to both Remus and his raucous tormentors indiscriminately. Severus was talking animatedly to an ecstatic Dobby, who for some reason had chosen to perch on his shoulder. Looking at them, Albus had rarely felt such pride.
Remus collapsed on the floor, pinned at last by his persuers. He rolled around, laughing breathlessly as they tickled him without mercy. 'Stop ... stop...oh, stop!' Coughing in the dust, they rolled to a halt beneath him. Flushed and grinning, his arms wrapped companionably around his three playmates, Remus looked up at him with the air of a satisfied pup. 'Why so grim?' he asked. 'I know we've had a rough night, but we're alive. Well, you're not, but you get my point. Have some fun! It might be the last chance we have for a while.' Struck silent, Albus stared. Was it truly that simple? What a way to view life. Yes, the world is at war, yes, we may die, yes, we have already come within inches of it, but we're alive now, so lets celebrate. He looked up, and met Severus' knowing gaze. He smiled, nodded to Remus, and turned to his ghostly companions. 'So. What does a dead man do for fun around here?'
It was an hour before some semblance of order descended on the place. After congratulating the newly-weds, the house elves moved out, save Dobby. They had a breakfast to prepare, after all. Fun was fun, but the job was the job. The Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron also made to leave. First, they approached the couple.
The Baron bowed, low. 'Severus, I must thank you. For your service to my house, to the children who have borne the title Slytherin, thanks to you with pride. You have served well a house that betrayed you. No better Head of House have we had. Our gratitude.' The Grey Lady moved in around him. 'For the school. For the life of Hogwarts that you helped sustain. For the students under your care, whom you have driven to achieve excellence. For the skills that you have imparted to help them survive. Our gratitude.' She smiled at Poppy. 'May you serve this woman, your love, as well as you have served us.' They retreated, leaving a somewhat stunned Severus in their wake.
'One more thing,' stated the Lady. 'Take care of Albus. He has offered us a long service, sustaining and defending this place through two and a half wars. He also has our gratitude. Do not abuse the power you have been given. It will destroy you.' Severus smiled bitterly. 'Well I know it. It has already destroyed two masters out of three, and the third shall soon follow. Rest assured, I shall not number among them.' They nodded gravely, and departed.
'Dobby, would you fetch some potions for me?' The elf nodded. Severus paused to think, running his eyes over himself and Remus. 'Two Blood Replenishing potions, blue label, and two Pepper Up, green label. I could use an extra, but an overdose in my condition would be unwise.' Poppy snorted. 'You think?' she muttered. 'Also, there's a small crystal vial in my hidden store. It will glow faintly when you touch it. Can you bring that also?' Severus continued, ignoring her comment. Dobby jumped up. 'Back soon!'
Once he left, Severus collapsed in the dust with a sigh. Poppy knelt beside him, a weary smile on her face. 'You would do better with some straight rest, you know.' He smiled wearily at her. 'Yes, but there are some things I must take care of first.' He beckoned Albus. For some reason, Albus felt the glimmerings of trepidation, and wondered if Severus had felt like that every time he had summoned him. He drifted over.
Severus looked up at him seriously. 'There are some things you must understand about your position. Things better illustrated with a demonstration. Alright?' Albus nodded. 'Spin in the air.' He blinked, but complied. 'Put your hand through my head.''What?' But the transparent limb already protruded from between Severus' eyes. 'Insult Remus. Say the most hurtful thing you can.'
Albus balked. 'No!' At once, though he had no body left to feel it, pain coursed through him. Mild stings raced up and down his limbs, slowly intensifying. He shook his head. 'No!' he repeated. A fresh wave, twice as strong, tore through him. 'Enough! I withdraw the command.' Panting slightly, Albus looked up at Severus. 'Compulsion to obey. Pain at refusal, intensifying the longer you hold out. The same for any order, from 'Drink up' to 'Kill yourself'. It doesn't change, and nothing you do can stop it, save obeying.' He met his former master's gaze squarely. 'That is what it means to be a slave.' Shaken, Albus looked away.
'To prevent this from occuring unnecessarily, there are certain ground rules I must put in place. To protect us both and prevent misuse of the bond. I won't permit that. Understand?' 'Yes,' Albus whispered. He blinked as Severus laid a hand over his. 'I'm sorry. I had to show you. I didn't know that this would happen, but now that it has, you must understand. I will do all I can to limit the effects of the bond.' Albus turned to him. 'I haven't been nearly as careful in my dealings with you as I should have been, have I?' His shamed admission was met with a smile. 'Compared to the other two, you were a walk in the park. Aside for annoyingly inane commands like 'Have a sherbert lemon'. You were obsessed with those things!' Albus smiled back, weakly.
Dobby arrived back just then, bottles and vials in his arms. The elf looked from one to the other warily. 'Everything is alright?' he asked. Severus nodded. 'Yes, Dobby. Thank you. Remus?' The werewolf approached cautiously, looking uncertainly at Albus. 'Oh, for gods' sake, hurry up man. No-one's going to bloody bite you! Here!' Severus thrust one of the green marked bottles towards him. Remus took it hesitantly. 'It's a Pepper Up potion, not a poison! If you don't trust me, trust Dobby!' the potions master snapped. Chagrined, Remus opened it and swallowed it down. Severus, meantime, downed the two Blood Replenishing potions and the other Pepper Up. For a moment, he stiffened, and his eyes crossed. Then he relaxed back into his wife's arms. The final potion, a crystal vial filled with a silvery fluid, he secreted in his robes. At least, he tried to, but there wasn't enough of them left. Dobby moved forward and grasped the fabric, muttering under his breath. The garments knitted themselves back up. Severus murmured his thanks, and finished stowing the potion.
He then looked back to Albus. 'You must treat any order I give you as a mere suggestion, to be obeyed or disobeyed as you see fit, without redress, unless I repeat it adressed to you. If you believe any order I give you would put yourself or one you would protect in danger, you must not act on that order until you have informed me of that danger. At any time, should you need to, you may hold your duty fulfilled, and pass the veil. I'll not hold you to this world. You are free, at any time, to act against me if you consider me a danger to others. You are free to protect your own existance above mine, and to persue your own agenda before mine. Should your existance, or that of anyone you would protect, become threatened in a way I can prevent, you must inform me. Act as you see fit, but attempt to keep me informed.'
He paused for breath. Albus felt the weight of the commands settle on him. Then he stared blankly as Severus repeated each and every command, finishing with Albus' name. He glanced around at their carefully blank expressions. 'No, I am not losing my mind. If I hadn't repeated them, you could have ignored the orders based on the first command. That's classic. Remember that. All commands are open to interpretation, within reason. Watch how things are phrased. Sometimes, a little pain for hesitating is worth it if you can weasel out.' He laughed at their considering expressions. 'I've been doing this for a long time. I know most tricks of the trade. I can worm my way around most things.'
He heaved himself up, aided by Poppy. He looked at Albus warily. 'What is it Severus?' 'Nothing. We should show Minerva that Remus is still alive. The Order too. Are ... are you coming?' Albus blinked. 'Of course. Why wouldn't I?' The other man shook his head. 'Nothing. It's just ... you always indicated that you wanted everyone to continue to function without you once you were dead. Appearing as a ghost would interfere with that. Do you wish to allow that?' The earlier hesitation was gone, replaced by the blank mask. This usually meant that Severus felt threatened, but why would the answer to that question constitute a threat? Yes, appearing thus would interfere, but it couldn't be helped. He had a duty ... Oh. You may hold your duty fulfilled. 'Severus, I have no intention of letting the Order harm you. Of course I'm coming. I know that you ... did not expect to survive. Ever since I ordered you to kill me, you must have been ...' He stopped as the implications of what he was saying struck him for the first time.
'Oh no. Severus, did you ... did you think that I meant for you to die?' Severus looked away, face hidden as the curtain of hair masked it. Horror clawed through his questioner. 'You did, didn't you!' Albus moved towards him, hands instinctively raised beseechingly. 'Why? Why would you think that? What have I done? Severus? Please. Tell me. Severus?' Severus backed away. Poppy moved between them. Desperate, Albus ignored her. 'Severus?' Shoulders hunched, the man finally turned to face him. 'It's nothing. Don't worry about it. It's fine.' Fury touched the ghost. 'How can you say that? It's not fine!'
'Severus,' came Poppy's voice behind him. 'Severus, not everyone thinks of you like that. Not everyone views you as a thing, a tool. I really don't think Albus thought it through that way. I imagine he was a bit preoccupied with the fact that if you didn't kill him, the Unbreakable Vow would have killed you. Although it was foolish of him, to say the least, to order you to do something like that without giving you a way to come back, I don't think he was trying to get you killed. I think he was trying to save you.'
Albus had never felt more gratitude towards the woman. He watched Severus carefully as the man looked from one face to the other, seemingly confused. His heart ached for him. 'Perhaps you shouldn't have given me so much leeway, Severus. If I had been in your position as long as you have, I'd leap at the chance to pay my masters back.' The other man's head swung up, and Albus backed away at the hatred that blazed in his face. It was the look that had commanded fear from even Fenrir Greyback on the Tower. 'Oh, don't worry about that. They will pay. I'm only sorry Lucius had to die to free me. There are quite a number of things I would like to show that man the other side of.' His voice was a low, venemous hiss, echoed by a more breathy one from his wife. 'Oh yes! I wanted to hurt that man as only a healer knows how! I wanted to show him exactly what he messed with.'
Albus and Remus looked at each other in consternation. It was apparent why, for a generation of students, Severus Snape had been one of the most feared professors in the school. When he decided to go for intimidating, he got it. To calm things down, and also to get further confrontations out of the way as soon as possible so they could rest, Albus motioned towards the door. 'Shall we?'
It felt odd, to be heading to his former office as a supplicant, not the resident power. Although he was not a man afflicted by vainglory, still he had grown used to his position as Headmaster and leader. He supposed that little vanity had not been helped by Severus' use of his address as a subtle reminder that Albus was his master, and the only one he was truly loyal to. However, he was confident that Minerva was a more than competent Headmistress. He did not mind admitting that there had been times when her fierce, steady presence at his side had been the only thing to keep him going. No doubt that same presence now sustained a school burdened by loss and imminent threat of attack.
Behind him, Remus and Poppy tramped steadily along. Severus had taken one look at the hike expected of him, and opted to levitate himself along. Albus smiled to himself. Although the action showed how resourceful the man really was, and, more disturbingly, the level of injury and exhaustion he had sustained, at the same time there was something undeniably funny about the sight of the proud, dignified man bobbing along the corridor like a cork in water. He swallowed the grin as the dark eyes unerringly found his face, some instinct for mockery drawing them to find the source. It would not do to laugh in the man's face.
They mounted the stairs to his ... Minerva's office. Poppy gave the password to the gargoyle, a more restrained and respectable affair that his usual culinary fancies. 'Parley' had a certain gravitas lacking in 'cockroach cluster'. He acknowledged that Minerva would not feel the need to indulge herself in his eccentricities, nevertheless he was surprised by Severus' heartfelt sigh of relief, followed by a declaration of 'Finally! A sane Headmistress!' He had no idea that severus harboured such a dislike for sweets. It passed understanding.
On reaching the door to the office, he was assiled by a distressing sense of displacement. Through it came the sound of two voices: Minerva's and ... his own. Of course! The portrait. Well, this was going to be interesting. Leaving the knocking and door-opening to those who were still capable of the feat, he ghosted on through.
'Good morning, Albus,' greeted the portrait. He replied in kind. Minerva, caught between the two of them, looked confused only for a moment, before sitting down with a sigh. ''Hello, Albus,' she said. 'I hadn't realised you'd returned. Welcome back, I suppose.' He smiled down at her. 'Hello to you too. Why the lacklustre greeting?' Suddenly, she surged upwards. 'Because there's not much to welcome you back to! Harry's left, Remus is missing, the Order's in uproar, and now you ... that you,' she pointed to the portrait, 'tell me about the arrangement with Severus months after I could have done something about it! I tried to tell the Order, but they wouldn't believe me! They wouldn't even believe you! And now Severus is dead, Remus is probably dead, you're definitely dead, Alastor's going militia, gods know where Harry is, and I'm sitting here trying to hold the school together whilst watching it all go to hell! I'm sorry if I'm unable to summon suitable enthusiasm!'
Albus waited while she composed herself. 'Minerva, I'm sorry if I sounded flippant. I know things have been difficult for you ..' she laughed histerically at that, 'But I've good news. I ...' He was interupted by the arrival of the others. Minerva leapt up, wand in hand, as the door slammed open. Severus, flanked by Poppy and Remus, wasted no time. 'Accio wand!' As soon as the offending item was safely in his hand, he strode over to her desk, and calmly handed it back. 'Thank you for that summary of events, Minerva. However, you're wrong on a number of counts. Neither myself nor Remus are dead, and hell is a long way off yet.' Smiling, he caught the stunned woman as she she dropped, and eased her back into the chair. 'Now, take it easy. No need to panic.' She stared at him incredulously, then looked around, at an apologetic Remus, a sympathetic Poppy, at himself, both versions, grinning like the madman he undoubtedly was. She dropped her head into her hands. 'It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?'