Intermission: Purple, Silver, Green

Severus was adding a drop of unicorn's tears to the green potion when he felt the pain flare up in his left arm. Carefully, he tapped the vial to get the last of the tears out, then set it down and turned to fetch his cloak and mask. The burning grew worse in his arm, but not so bad that he could not function. His Lord knew that he needed some extra time to get beyond the wards so that he could Apparate.

Just as he made his way towards the closet at the back of his office that led to a tunnel, which itself led out onto the grounds, someone knocked on his door. Severus groaned and turned. It would be his luck that some member of his House needed help or comfort now. Quickly casting a Disillusionment Charm on his robe and mask, and keeping a stoic expression on his face that belied the burning coming from his left arm, he opened the door.

Albus stood there, his face taut with excitement. "Severus," he whispered. "You must come with me. The Order has received intelligence from one of Voldemort's victims that he is ready to begin a raid in Ireland. We will be Apparating there to stop him."

Severus concealed another groan. That was, very likely, the raid in which he was supposed to be participating.

He held up his left arm in silent answer. Albus's eyes narrowed at it, then at him.

"This raid will be on homes with defenseless Muggle families and children, Severus," he said. "I am afraid that I must ask you to come with us this time. Conceal your face, but do not add your wand to the other side."

Severus's consternation enabled his thoughts to soar above the pain. There was a time when Albus would never have asked him for that. Since he assumed his little spy was loyal to him, he would have trusted Severus to avoid casting curses at Order members, and to avoid any killing that was not absolutely necessary to make a point in front of another Death Eater.

Now he didn't trust him to that extent.

Perhaps he has not trusted me since the graveyard. It would explain why I didn't know anything about Connor Potter's training or location.

His eyes on Albus, he made his decision. The burning in his left arm was growing more urgent, but only slowly so, like acid constantly replenished with stronger and stronger forms of itself. First it would eat skin, then flesh, then muscle, then bone. But he had time.

And he had a pawn he could sacrifice to insure that Albus would think about other things in a short while, and suffer for binding him like this.

"Very well," he agreed, and Albus beamed and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Splendid, my boy! We'll be Apparating from the gates in a few moments." And Albus turned and strode away.

He trusts me a little, then. His mistake.

Severus bent and slid his wand over his left wrist, invoking the communication spell that Charles Rosier-Henlin had taught the Death Eaters a week ago, when he'd finally, finally been persuaded into coming to the Dark Lord's side. "My Lord," he murmured, and heard the intense hissing of a snake rise. "The old fool commands my presence on the phoenix's side of the raid. I will work what havoc I can there, and return to you as soon as I can."

There was silence for a moment. Then his Lord's voice said, "Go, Severus, faithful servant." Severus felt the intense thrill at the sound of his own name that he'd felt since he followed Voldemort's advice and started thinking of himself by his first name again instead of his last.

And the burning in his left arm stopped.

Severus shook his head and blinked. He must trust me indeed, to put off showing his displeasure while I do this task for him.

That only increased his determination to make his absence from his Lord's side worthwhile. He strode towards the gates, his mind racing as he sought for the best way to do what he wanted and make Albus pay.

And then he paused in mid-stride, his whole body shivering with a dark delight.

He could not—

Could he?

He had not tested all the limitations on his potions. What he wanted to do might be possible, but there was a stronger chance that it was not. And he did not want to embarrass himself by failing.

But if he did it carefully enough, no one else would ever know, and he could keep any failure to himself.

Severus nodded, and sped up, arriving at the gates at the same moment as Minerva. She gave him a narrow-eyed look, then stepped forward and received the vision of the field in Ireland from a tap of Albus's wand.

Severus did the same thing. For a moment, he was close to his old master, and could meet those blue, twinkling eyes that did their best to see into his soul. But Severus had been Occlumens enough to fool a more powerful Legilimens for years, and he did not flinch away from that gaze.

Albus smiled at him, then tapped his head and sent the vision into Severus's memory. Like the other Order members, he Apparated.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

He easily ignored the carnage around him, the blood, the broken limbs. There was a time he would have found it troubling, when he still believed that the Death Eaters should have some grace that the other side did not. Now, he realized that the only grace or beauty anyone brought anywhere was what he carried with him, and he and his Lord did enough with contributing beauty and grace to the Dark. At times, in particular moods, Bellatrix or Evan helped too.

They were helping now, torturing a Muggle woman between them, sending her reeling from one pain to another. Severus reveled in the screaming, and felt a moment's urge to protest when Minerva mercy-killed her.

Then he remembered his plan, and felt his mouth move in a deep smile. He turned and fixed his gaze on James Potter. He'd had to overcome his cowardice, because Albus insisted that every member of the Order of the Phoenix be a fighter, and currently he was dueling with two Death Eaters who were backing him towards his wife and son. Connor Potter led them, of course, because he had to, the intermittent flashes of spells catching his heart-shaped scar and making it gleam as if filled with blood.

Severus concentrated. He'd fed James the silver potion months ago, but it should still be vibrating along his veins, the liquid equivalent of the Imperius Curse, enabling Severus to command him.

Come here.

James turned and lurched like an automaton away from the two Death Eaters, and towards Severus. His opponents paused, momentarily confused, and then turned and shrugged and found other targets.

His old rival halted in front of him. Severus took a deep breath of satisfaction, and then held out his wand and cast an illusion of the Dark Mark on James's left arm. It wouldn't hold up to testing, and would not enable the man to feel a summons from the Dark Lord, but in a moment's glimpse, it looked quite convincing.

"Go," he said quietly. He would have loved to send James after his son, but his Lord had been explicit: no one was to kill the boy but him, and the Dark Lord had not yet appeared on the battlefield, though Severus knew he was close and watching. "You know who to aim for."

James nodded, his hazel eyes full of steel and dreams, and then turned and lurched forward. In a few moments, though, he was walking smoothly, his Auror training and the intense duels of the past few months sharpening his stride. He ducked and weaved past the Order members, and came up close behind Connor Potter, whose spells, Severus had to admit, were effective at blasting his enemies away. They were Death Eaters Severus didn't care about, though, so they were no great loss.

James halted in front of Lily, and held up his left arm so that she could see the Dark Mark. Her eyes widened dramatically.

Severus was sure a lull fell over that part of the battle, so that everyone near could hear James say, "Avada Kedavra."

The green light struck his wife. She slumped. For a moment, James stood blank-eyed, staring.

And then his son hit him, screaming, casting Cutting Curses that he shouldn't know over and over, slicing his father's body apart, sending blood to cover his robes, and then his mother's corpse, as James slumped on top of Lily's body.

Severus released his control, so that no one could find any trace of his mind in James's, and then turned and faced the east, knowing instinctively that his Lord was there at that moment. Voldemort's gleaming red eyes met his.

His Lord was pleased. A hissing voice whispered his name over and over in his ears. "Severus, Severus, Severussss…"

And he, who had survived to serve two masters and then chosen the best one when he could no longer be a double agent, reveled in it.

Best of all was the tragic look in Albus's eyes as he wrapped his arms around the Potter boy and tugged him away from his dead parents, forcing him to face his oncoming doom, his destiny.

SSSSSSSSSSSSS

Severus woke with an edge of gladness and joy still riding his mind. He did not remember the dream any more than he usually did, but he was just as glad to have dreamt of something bright instead of dark for once.

He checked the potions. The purple one was finished completely now, and had been for some time, simply shimmering in its cauldron and now and then uttering a slow bubble like swamp water. The silver one had a light, misty cloud above it, one ingredient reacting with another. Severus waved his wand and dissipated the cloud, then set the cauldron to slow simmering again. He planned to ask Harry if he could use the potion on him soon, since it seemed that there were once again wounds in his son's mind, and this should work to cure him.

The green potion—

Severus shook his head with a faint, fond smile. He could not wait until the green potion was ready.

The world lurched suddenly, and Snape put a hand to his head, feeling slightly ill. Had something just happened?

Nothing more than the departure of his mood and a more normal one asserting itself, he supposed. Euphoria never stayed long with him. He scowled as he remembered thinking about the wounds in Harry's mind. They had almost certainly been caused by contact with his parents again.

Determined, this time, to see into the bottom of Harry's mind and find out just how much he was hurting, Snape stalked out of his offices. Harry had been behaving too well these last weeks. It was time to see what that kind of behavior was costing him.