Chapter Forty Two – Painful Truths

"Kennedy," Willow placed her hand on her girlfriends arm. "Take it down a notch. We're here to help."

Kennedy took a breath and pulled the Slayer back. "Sorry," she said. "But you have to admit, the whole not being able to say a name thing is pretty pathetic."

"Severus," Dumbledore said. "Put your wand away. I'm certain Ms Winston means no harm."

Snape nodded in the Headmaster's direction, his eyes never leaving Kennedy. He slowly put his wand back in his robe and sat down on the couch. He continued to study Kennedy very carefully.

"If you will all take a seat," Dumbledore said. "We can start discussing how best to deal with Voldemort."

The Council group sat down opposite the wizards. Dumbledore and Sinclair positioned themselves a little away from both groups. Trying to play the role of neutral peacemakers, Willow thought.

"There is something we need to deal with first," Faye said.

"Are you sure now is the best time?" Eric said.

"We need to get this out now," Faye said. "Dawn's right, the longer we put this off the harder it will be."

"What do you need to tell us?" McGonagall asked.

"Oscar and Felix over there didn't want us to tell you this," Faye said. "But I prefer to be honest in this situation."

"Ms Haughton …" Dumbledore started anticipating what she was going to say.

"Just Faye," Faye replied.

"You agreed," Sinclair said.

"We lied," Willow replied. "Just like you lied to Sophia about the existence of the Order of the Phoenix." She nodded towards Dumbledore, "and you lied to them," she pointed at the Order members, "about the magic outside your enclaves. Your little manipulation games and need to control everything is the reason Lupin is dead. The games end now."

"I would prefer to discuss this privately Willow," Dumbledore said.

"No," came the reply. "We do this now. I don't work for you and I haven't decided whether or not I even like you yet. We're going to tell your friends the truth. Or I'm going to get annoyed again."

Dumbledore and Sinclair shared a quick look. They both nodded. "Very well."

"What is it?" Snape asked.

"Eric and I were involved in the attack on this house," Faye said. "Eric was outside with the support team when the attack began. I was the first one through the door. I took the upstairs. I captured Moody."

"You helped kill Remus," Sirius said through clenched teeth.

"Yes," Faye answered in a quiet tone. "I didn't know. I should have. I'm sorry."

"Not good enough," Sirius answered. He got up from his chair and began advancing on Faye.

"Sirius," Dumbledore rose from his chair his wand out. "Sit down."

"She killed Remus," Sirius said. "You expect me to sit down. I want these murderers out of my house."

Faye stood up to meet Black.

"Sirius," Dumbledore said.

"Stay out of this," Sirius replied. He stood in front Faye. He towered above her. "You killed my friend."

"I'm sorry," she replied.

Dumbledore raised his wand. Willow looked over at him. "Faye can take care of herself," she said.

Dumbledore looked at her and nodded lowering his wand and then focused his attention on Sirius. "Sirius if you are going blame anyone for what happened. Blame me. They acted on the best information they had."

"She killed Remus," Sirius said. He swung his fist and then stumbled forward as all he met was empty air. He spun around to see Faye standing five feet away from him. "How?" He didn't see her move and didn't remember hearing the sound of apparating.

The other wizards reached for their wands and stopped.

"Looking for these," Willow said holding up three wands. "We're not here for a fight. We told you because we're trying to be honest with you. We want to help. Tom Riddle is a killer. He's murdered hundreds of people as you say. He has to be stopped. Working together we can do that."

"I don't work with killers," Sirius said. He lunged forward to try and tackle Faye. She simply sidestepped him and caught his arm as he came forward. A fraction of second later he found himself lying face down on the floor. His arm was pulled up behind his back and Faye's foot was planted firmly on his back pinning him to ground.

"I'm sorry about your friend," she said. "If I could take back what happened I would." She released his arm and stepped back. "I don't want a fight."

Sirius pulled himself off the ground and looked like he was preparing to make another lunge at Faye.

"Sirius!" Sinclair snapped. "Sit down. Albus is right. If you are going to blame anyone for what happened. Blame us. They did not know. Besides it should be obvious that you cannot hurt the woman."

"If I had my wand …" Sirius said.

"It would be in Willow's possession," Dumbledore said.

Sirius looked over at Willow and was shocked to see her holding three wands. She looked at him. She then opened her hand and the three wands flew back to their respective owners.

"How did you do that?" McGonagall demanded.

"Magic," Willow replied. "I would have thought that was obvious."

"You don't have a wand," Weasley said. "I didn't hear you speak any spell. How can you do magic without a wand?"

"Like I told your friend earlier," Willow replied. "I've never needed one and up until I met Sinclair's granddaughter I never met anyone who did need one."

"Impossible," McGonagall said.

"Merely different," Snape said. "Your magic does not work precisely the same as ours, does it Ms Rosenberg?"

"No it does not," Willow replied. "We don't have time to go into all the technical details. But it's enough to know that I and the others I work with, don't need wands to perform our spells."

Snape nodded digesting that piece of information. "Black. Sinclair is right. These people are victims of other peoples' secrets. Sit down. Let's hear them out."

Sirius looked around the room. Dumbledore was still standing, as was Faye. The other members of the Order were seated and nodded at Snape's comment. He gave a quick nod and returned to his chair. "I'll listen," he said. "But I still don't trust these people."

"Ms Rosenberg," Snape said. "We are ready to listen to what you have to say."

-----

Very late that night Severus Snape was sitting in his office back at Hogwarts. He heard a knock on his door.

"Enter," he said.

Minerva McGonagall entered the office.

"Severus," she said. "I'd like to ask you some questions."

"Of course," Snape replied. "Sit down."

McGonagall took a seat. "You were remarkably civil to the Council's representatives following the incident with Black. That is out of character for you. I want to understand why."

"Our world is about to change Minerva," Snape said.

"What do you mean Severus?" McGonagall asked.

"You may be a Gryffindor," Snape said. "But don't be dense Minerva. Do you think these Muggles will go away once … once Voldemort has been dealt with?"

"They have no reason to stay," McGonagall replied.

"We failed in our duty Minerva," Snape said. "The Dark Lord killed dozens if not hundreds of Muggles. Sinclair is right. They will never allow that to happen again. And they have no reason to believe we can stop it from happening again."

"You think they will try and take over," McGonagall said.

"Doubtful," Snape replied. "But they are going to demand far more access to our world. They will be much more quick to strike at any perceived threat."

"But Dumbledore would never allow such a thing to occur," McGonagall countered.

"You've known Dumbledore far longer than I have," Snape said.

"Yes."

"How did he treat Ms Rosenberg and her friends?" Snape asked.

"He treated them with respect," McGonagall answered.

"You're being dense again Minerva," Snape said. "He treated them as equals. In all the years we have known him, has he ever treated us as true equals? Colleagues, yes. Friends, occasionally. But never as equals."

McGonagall nodded. "No, he's never treated us as true equals," she acknowledged.

"And yet he treated Rosenberg as an equal," Snape observed. "Even deferred to her opinion in how to deal with Black. Tell me Minerva, in all the years you have known Dumbledore, how many people have you seen him treat as an equal."

"I could count them on one hand," she replied.

"Sinclair was the same way," Severus noted. "They both know what's coming. Sinclair is right. There are six billion Muggles out there. And they are not happy with the Wizarding world. We either work with them or they will destroy us."

"It can't be that bad," McGonagall was shocked at what Snape was saying.

"I don't yet know if it is bad or not," Snape replied. "But one thing is clear. We can no longer think of ourselves as separate from the rest of the world,' he paused. "Voldemort has forced us to wake up to the world."

"You speak You-Know-Who's name," McGonagall observed.

"Ms Winston is right," Snape replied. "It is 'pathetic,' as she said, that we are scared of his name. The man is to be feared. But allowing ourselves to be paralyzed by his name," Snape rubbed his arm where the Dark Mark was hidden by his sleeve. "I've allowed Voldemort to take too much from me already. She is right, I will not allow him to control my fear. I owe her a debt for making me see that."