Chapter Thirty-Five

"It was Death Eaters."

Lily met Sirius' eyes sharply over the Daily Prophet.

He held her look steadfastly; his expression certain and grave and that, along with the information he had just shared made a knot form and tighten in her stomach.

"How can you be sure?"

"I remember." He glanced sideways, downwards at the chair he was still dependent on; "It's been coming back to me. Bits and pieces. I know what I saw. It was them, Lil'."

Lily swallowed, crumbling the newspaper and dropping it onto the table, forgotten, her attention completely on him; "What do you remember? What happened?"

Sirius was quiet a minute, thinking on it, his eyes not on her. Somewhere else. And he spoke quietly, when he finally answered; "I picked up his scent when I was in animal form. I kept finding it, on and off, for a few weeks. But this time was different; it was like he wanted me to follow him."

He gave a humourless laugh; "Because he did, mind you. I was just too damn stupid to see what was happening. So I followed him. Kept going and didn't realise until they had me surrounded that it was a trap."

He met her eyes then and caught the concern in them. He shrugged, rolling his eyes; "Dumb dog."

He drained the rest of the water in his glass, before he went on; "Anyway. They were there; creepy-ass masks and robes and all. I remember them. Barely even had a chance to morph back before the curses started coming."

"Sirius –"

"Hmph." He shook his head, his eyes blackening as he glared in a direction away from her, his mind elsewhere, on someone else; "Bastard led me right to them."

Lily swallowed down her own bitterness at the thought of Peter. Of the man who had willingly turned over their location, her son's life, to those monsters. Who had taken James from them and who now would take Sirius from them too if he had the chance.

She could barely even reconcile the timid, eager-to-please boy he had been only ten years before with the person he had become now.

Lily glanced at Sirius, who had become lost in his thoughts. His mind going somewhere darker, once again. The expression on his features so frequent now, ever since Peter's escape from Azkaban some months before. She wondered again if she should tell him what she knew, what Severus had told her. The true depths of Peter's betrayal; the prophecy.

The prophecy that was not about Harry.

There was no doubt in her mind that Sirius deservedto know. He had been far closer to Peter than she and, as she had been grudging coming to accept over the past year, Sirius was the primary father figure in Harry's life. He ought to know that he had been in danger; that their year in hiding had all been for him.

But, looking at Sirius now, at the darkness in his eyes and considering his current state of mind; the last thing she ought to do would be to add fuel to the fire. Sirius' thoughts regarding Peter were already murderous enough.

And, to add to that, there was no real way she could reveal the prophecy to him without disclosing where she had garnered the information from.

From Severus.

Sirius still wasn't aware of their friendship; that was one issue that prevented being able to reveal her source. And that was only the smaller issue.

Severus hadn't said whether or not it was something he wanted her to keep to herself. She guessed he would prefer that she did, though hadn't thought it appropriate to ask, considering the circumstances. Either way, revealing it would be a betrayal of confidence, even if he did not necessary expect her to keep it quiet.

And, furthermore, Sirius wasn't an idiot. She'd only have to mention the prophecy and Severus' name in the same conversation for him to connect the dots and realise that, yes, he had been right all along; Severus Snape had been a Death Eater during the war.

Much as Lily loved him, she didn't trust Sirius one bit with that piece of information.

Lily drew in a breath, returning to the issue at hand; "Have you told anyone else?"

He shook his head; "No. Not yet."

"Are you going to? The Ministry?"

Sirius looked contemplative; "I don't know. Maybe Dumbledore."

Dumbledore.

Lily still wasn't quite sure what to think about her old Headmaster anymore. The man whom she had admired so much as a child; who she had trusted with her family's life throughout those months in hiding. And, apparently, who didn't trust her enough to reveal the true reason for it. She didn't really understand why he had kept it from them, when the circumstances would have remained the same either way. They still would have been in hiding and, as far as she was concerned, they had the right to know that it was their baby in danger the whole time.

It was a mystery to her but it did make her surer about one thing she ought to keep in mind; don't bother going to Dumbledore for information when you need it.

Death Eaters were rising.

If that was the case, Lily was sure Dumbledore knew something about it.

But, she considered, maybe someone else did too.

"When Sirius was missing…you said you had connections."

It was strange, this newfound openness in their relationship that they had achieved now that the revelations about his past and the prophecy had taken place. Previously, their interactions had seemed isolated, almost an entirely different world to the reality that surrounded them. Their rekindled friendship an escape from it all; outside of their own time together he knew little about her life and she knew very little about his.

That had changed. It started out gradually; the odd comment here, when someone couldn't keep their troubles to themselves enough not to cause enquiry; the odd confidence shared there, when they would give in and reveal it.

But now, things were different. His role as a Death Eater and the subsequent reveal of the prophecy seemed to have opened, for lack of a better word, the floodgates.

For, now, he was becoming fairly certain he knew a great deal about what was going on in Lily's life. In the past few weeks he had learned more than he cared to know about Sirius Black's state of health and recovery, further insights into her relationship with her son, with whom she had finally appeared to manage to connect with properly, and, most of all, a very clear understanding of exactly where Lily's head was at these days.

And, for most of the past few weeks, her mind had been on the past. The Dark Lord. The war. Or, rather, though she didn't know it yet, the future.

Severus couldn't tell her, that much was obvious; he couldn't tell her that the Dark Lord was guaranteed to retur. While he had asserted to Dumbledore not so long ago that he was no longer the boy who had gone crawling to him for help during the war, he would never forget what the old man had done for him.

Lily would not be alive if Dumbledore hadn't helped him.

And if Lily had not lived…had she died because of something he had done…

Well, Severus wasn't entirely sure what would have happened but he was quite certain he wouldn't be where he is now. His life would be quite different.

He owed all of this to Dumbledore. All he had. Dumbledore had helped him, even if he had been less than warm about the arrangement in the beginning. Had allowed him the chance to fix his mistakes, his numerous mistakes, and had vouched for him when the time came; Azkaban or freedom.

At the time, Severus had not really been concerned either way about his own life. He had been tremendously grateful that Lily had survived, yes, but the dark depression that had gripped him during that final year of the war was still ever present at the time. Not to be driven away until sometime later, as time went on and purpose began to give his life meaning. If he was sent to Azkaban, as he deserved, back then he did not care.

He cared now, though.

Dumbledore had given him a second chance.

And he wouldn't break his own side of the bargain now, only because he suddenly had everything he had ever wanted.

Severus met Lily's eyes; well, almost everything.

What had she said?

Ah. Connections.

"Yes. I did." He confirmed.

"What did you mean by that?"

Severus cleared his throat, reaching for the next ingredient of the potion they were working on and tossed it carelessly into the potion; "Given what you now know about me, I think you already know."

Lily only gave an uncertain nod and went quiet, as she seemed to think on the response.

It was almost freeing, being able to speak with her so candidly. Gone were the days when he had had to conceal so much from her; in the recent past, yes, when she had not known about his role in the war but also the distant. All the way back to Hogwarts and even before.

When they were still little children, back in Spinners End, she had asked him if it had made a difference to be muggleborn. When he had stated no, it didn't, that little lie, meant to reassure her, set the foundation for seven more years of omitted truths and guilt and misunderstandings and, eventually, real lies, which all culminated in that day.

Perhaps if he had been straightforward with her from the beginning, if they had just talked with one another openly, then –

Severus broke off from the thoughts, useless as they were, for there was no changing any of it now.

They could speak with one another now, that is what mattered. Things were different; things had changed. They, he mused with some amusement, had actually grown up.

Severus heard Lily uttered a quiet 'muffliato' before she went on, even though they were the only two people in the room.

"Do they know about you?"

He glanced at her.

"The others. Do they know you defected?"

Severus gave a quick, single shake of his head; "No."

Silence.

He shrugged, looking away from her as he focused back on the potion ingredients he was preparing; "I suppose there may be speculation. I know several of them question Regulus' loyalties. Being a close friend of his, I doubt that I would escape the same consideration."

"So, if something was going on. If they were…if they were planning anything, you'd know about it?"

Severus met her eyes, looking at her closely, his curiosity piqued at the question as he realised that this wasn't just another of their casual talks; "Has something happened?"

His mind inadvertently went to the prophecy, to Neville Longbottom, to Harry Potter. Dumbledore had not yet revealed anything regarding the memory he had extracted from the boy to him; he wasn't sure if that meant the efforts had been futile or if there was something he was concealing from him.

Both were just as likely as the other.

Lily turned to face him more fully, giving up on the pretence that she was focused on the potion they were working on; "It's Sirius."

Severus forced himself not to grunt or sneer or scowl.

In some matters, he had grown up, he mused. His feelings about the mutt, he doubted would ever change, no matter how many years passed.

"He remembers what happened when he was away." Lily glanced in the direction of the door, her volume dropping slightly as she went on, meeting his eyes again; "He said it was Death Eaters."

Severus tensed, unable to help himself.

"I don't know anything about that."

His tone was snappier than he intended, surprising both of them.

Lily's shoulders dropped and her eyes flashed slightly in her indignation; "I didn't think that you did."

He supposed there were some raw nerves.

"What I meant to ask, was if you had heard anything about the Death Eaters forming again? I mean, if they don't doubt your loyalties then wouldn't you be…I don't know, invited or something?" Lily paused, seeming to contemplate the question with a bemused frown; "I don't know how these things work."

Severus' lips twitched at her words; "No, Lily. I was not 'invited'." He resumed his cutting, as he went on to add; "When the war was going on, there were a great number of people under the Dark Lord's control and not all had the opportunity to interact with one another. It was almost impossible to know outside of your own small circle just who was loyal to the Dark Lord and who was on the other side."

He added the ingredient to the cauldron and reached for the next.

"Add to that the fact that Death Eaters were masked; there were some imprisoned following the war that even I was surprised to learn had been loyal to him."

He met her eyes and then shrugged; "And also some whom I was not surprised about, despite never having had the opportunity to see them in the Dark Lord's circles myself."

"Oh." Lily shrugged; "I just presumed. I remember hearing during the trials…others would offer up one another's names in exchange from leniency."

Severus hesitated, wondered if she had ever heard his name come up during such trials. Although she knew the truth now, anyway, so it was irrelevant.

"Hence the reason for secrecy."

Lily seemed to accept the information, albeit with disappointment, and as she turned her attention back to the potion at hand, Severus made a mental note that he would have to relay the new information to Dumbledore. If Sirius Black had, indeed, been attacked by a group of Death Eaters rather than just Pettigrew alone, then Lily's concerns were not unfounded.

Death Eater activities weren't something he had the luxury to ignore, even if they were unconnected to the Dark Lord.

Although, judging by the slight sting that now accompanied the return of the vibrant Dark Mark branded on his forearm, he doubted that it was all just a coincidence.

Sirius had wanted to go to Dumbledore immediately after his realisation, following his discussion with Lily, but he had already promised Harry that he would accompany him into Diagon Alley that afternoon to look at broomsticks, after he had told him he could have a new one for his birthday the following month.

They went alone. Just the two of them.

While he and Remus appeared to be mending the rift between them since his return, he still resented that he had become so dependent on him due to his present condition. As such, when Lily had suggested that he ask Remus to accompany them he had resolutely refused; he could handle himself for one afternoon, surely.

It was not as if he didn't have magic on his side, after all.

And, besides, he hadn't had the chance to spend any proper time with Harry since he'd returned. And he really didn't want his Godson to start seeing him as incapable, an invalid.

Already, the boy had taken to making him sandwiches, offering him glasses of water, offering to fetch the Daily Prophet for him when it was merely a few feet away.

"Mum was really, really mad." Harry was talking about an event during the time he was away; when he, along with Malachi Redway, his nephew whom he had never met, had gone searching for him. The story was vaguely familiar, as if Harry had already told him about it before, though Sirius couldn't recall it.

He listened, regardless, smiling and nodding along with the boy's enthusiasm as they made their way through Diagon Alley. He ignored the pitying looks in his direction as he passed the various witches and wizards in the street; it was a busy Saturday afternoon.

"You're Malachi's uncle too, you know," Harry pointed out, as they rounded a corner; "He looks like you."

Sirius' smile became a little more forced, a little tighter at the statement. He had never seen Regulus' son. Had never really seen Regulus properly for years though, he remembered, his younger brother had come to see him while he had been recovering in St Mungo's.

At first, Sirius had wondered if it had just been a dream. The torture he had endured from the Death Eaters not only rendering his memory of them somewhat broken and temporarily unable to recall, but the events which had followed in the immediate aftermath.

But, after time, the memory had come back to him. He had woken up the first time and it hadn't been Harry, or Lily, or Remus who had been there with him then. It had been Regulus.

He remembered the startled look in his brother's eyes when their eyes had met; how the younger man had stumbled from the room without a word, though he had been speaking quite comfortably to him before he had realised Sirius was awake.

"- to Professor Snape's room."

Sirius was abruptly yanked from his thoughts at the escape of Snape's name from his Godson's lips.

Sirius looked at Harry sharply; "Snape? What…what was that Harry?"

Harry looked at him, frowningly, the little boy realising that his Godfather hadn't been listening; "Professor Snape. Dumbledore sent us to his room until mum came to get me."

Why would Dumbledore send the boys to Snape's room, of all places?

Sirius didn't realise he'd voiced the thought out loud until Harry shrugged and answered, disinterestedly, as they carried on walking; "Because they were looking for us together."

Sirius vaguely wondered why it wasn't Regulus looking for the boys with Lily, while Harry went on.

"Do you know Professor Snape? He's really…" Harry broke off, looking like he was trying to think of a word to describe him.

Sirius could offer a huge number of less-than-flattering adjectives to describe Snape, at the best of times, but was almost dumbstruck by the fact that here was his Godson attempting to find some of his own. When, when and why would Harry ever have the opportunity to meet with the man?

His immediate thoughts reminded him that Harry had just said that it was Snape's room where he was sent to when he had run away; that the subsequent meeting would more than adequately provide the opportunity to make an acquaintance with him long enough to form an opinion.

But something in his gut told him it was something else; that he didn't know something.

"Harry, how do you even know him?"

Harry, who had still been attempting to come up with a word to describe Snape, met his eyes. He shrugged; "I don't know him. Mum does though."

Sirius hesitated, before tilting up his chin; "From work?"

Harry looked contemplative for a moment and then nodded; "Uh huh. They work together." He hurried away from him, spying broomstick in a nearby shop window. He pressed his nose against the glass, pointing at one; "Look at that one, Uncle Sirius!"

Sirius approached more slowly, thoughtfully; "I see it."

Harry gave him a bright smile, looked back in the window, and then back at Sirius; "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Harry," he forced a smile and ruffled his hair.

Harry looked at him, thoughtfully for a moment, before he nodded in a child-like, dramatic understanding; "Uncle Remus doesn't like him either."

Puzzle pieces began to click together for him then; if Remus had formed an opinion, if Harry knew about Snape, something was going on. And he had a pretty good inkling of what it was.

He remembered Snape from Hogwarts; not just the skulking, brooding, dangerous boy he had been in the later years but also the little twerp from the train. Who had spoken about Slytherin so proudly as little Lily Evans had listened on, eagerly.

And he remembered a few months before, back when Lily had just started the Fellowship, a conversation the two of them had had with Julia when the latter had revealed that Snape had been helping her with…whatever it was they were doing.

Something Lily hadn't bothered to disclose; even that Snape was working with her at all.

Harry went on, oblivious to his thoughts with the innocence of the child that he was, turning back to look inside the shop window; "Mum likes him though. She likes him a lot."

"How do you know that?"

Harry glanced at him over his shoulder; "She smiles at him bigger than she does at anyone else."

Before Sirius could respond or even form a thought in response to the statement, the ground shook beneath them and a roar erupted from one of the buildings nearby, and he and Harry found themselves thrown forward; he from his chair to the ground and Harry through the window he had been peering into, as rocks and debris showered down around them.

Suddenly, it was chaos.

Screams were everywhere but he heard them dully, through the ringing in his ears after the explosion; he reached up and grasped the edge of the sill, crying out his Godson's name; "Harry!"

He hauled himself up, ignoring the cutting of glass into his arms and chest as he pulled himself up the ledge to look into the broken window. Harry was sprawled out on the counter on the other side but he was conscious. Shaken but breathing; blood oozing from several cuts on his face and shoulders.

Seeing Sirius seemed to shake the boy from his shock and a little sob escaped him; "Uncle Sirius?"

He cursed his inability to stand, instead just reaching a hand to him and drawing him out and down onto the street outside as terrified witches and wizards ran around them; the screams continuing as they did so.

"Over here," Sirius' voice was coarse, as he attempted to crawl into a little nook nearby, encouraging Harry to get in to the small space first. He awkwardly drew himself in after him, shielding him with his body from the chaos outside.

Sirius quickly checked over him, thankful he had managed not to lose his wand in the confusion, and cast the basic healing charms he had learnt during his time in the Order. They weren't advanced but they were enough to seal up the cuts that lined Harry's face to stop the bleeding.

It was only then that he allowed himself to take in the events going on around them; spotted the robes, the masks that had plagued his dreams for the past few nights as his memory returned to him.

Death Eaters.

Some people were fighting back; most were running.

The street was awash with curses; some bodies falling.

There were screeches of laughter; yells; hailing cries 'to the Dark Lord'.

And then, with a final spell shot towards the sky, the haunting appearance of the Dark Mark in the sky above.