Chapter 19: Our Hands Will Never Meet Again

January 12, 1996

Remus Lupin

It was a cold Sunday morning, and Lupin was vertical much earlier than he would have liked. But Molly had sent him a Patronus the afternoon prior, asking him if he would mind taking Harry and her children back to Hogwarts… just she had neglected to mention that Tonks was to form the other member of the escort party.

Lupin froze in the kitchen's doorway when he saw her sitting at the table, happily engaged in conversation with Molly. Today her hair was bobbed into a sleek black cut, the charm of which looked out of place against the stern old-fashioned Muggle walking suit she wore.

Damn.

He hadn't seen her since that New Year's fiasco, after which she had kissed him. From the blue, utterly incomprehensible… that she would ever have considered kissing one such as him… but that she would do it- it was incredulous, yet it had happened. What to do, what to say, all concepts of that vanished as he could only breath in her scent, her taste… like butter and roasted chestnuts. And then she was gone, and he was left dumbfounded, with no understanding of how or why… if it were just some impulsive, childish urge, or if meant something. He kept being drawn back to that time when they had held hands in that same kitchen. "You are the bravest man I know." She'd said. He'd been right- Tonks really didn't know him at all. Even the idea of looking at her again filled him with terror.

Thankfully Lupin had been occupied with running another errand for Dumbledore that took him out of the country for a week. The distance and the time allowed him to push the incident to the dusty shelf right at the back of his head. If he tried hard enough, he could even pretend it hadn't happened. But no longer, for the moment she turned around, and her beautiful face broke into a happy smile upon seeing him… well. He could he not remember her lips…?

Lupin forced his legs to move numbly forward and he set himself across from her, returning her grin with a watery, uncertain smile. Molly served them both a bountiful breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast before hurrying off to haul her children out of bed.

There was a silence- which was extremely unusual for Tonks, because she just didn't do silence.

She tentatively cleared her throat. "You, uh, okay?"

"Oh. Yes. You?"

"Yes, I'm okay-" she broke off in confusion. "Look, I hope you didn't mind what I did before, you know, on New Year's. I was just all excited and you had been so impressive, AND it was New Year's."

So it didn't mean anything? Lupin struggled not to feel hurt, but he was never good at controlling his feelings. He made a valiant effort though.

"Oh Tonks, of course you are fine. It, uh, surprised me, I suppose."

"You completely vanished after I kissed you, though." Tonks frowned, lowering her voice. "Sounds a bit deeper than surprise, if you ask me. After all, it's not like you didn't kiss back."

Lupin cringed. That was true.

Tonks stabbed a sausage with her fork, and waved it in the air as she continued talking. "I mean, I liked kissing you."

"Tonks!" Lupin whispered, quite shocked. He ran his hands through his thinning hair. "Come on now, what do you want here? We have a job to do."

"Oh, I know." She smiled, and looked him dead in the eye. "Hey, Remus. This isn't going to change anything, I promise. We can say it was just a one off, if you like, although I reckon that's not what you want. We are pretty decent friends and that isn't going to stop, I'm not gonna to allow that. But I wouldn't mind getting to know you better in other ways."

She seemed so confident, so cool. But was it his imagination, or did that faint flicker beneath her eyes suggest a tinge of nervousness? Yes, it had to be his imagination. Tonks was never nervous.

"Of course, Tonks." Lupin didn't know how else to respond. Of course he wanted her… he had to admit it to himself now, if to no one else. But it would be pointless, she could never desire him for anything lasting, and he could never provide her with anything real. "We are such good friends, I don't want to lose that."

And he certainly wasn't imagining the fallen look that crossed her face.

"Cool!" she said with a brightness that might be called unnatural. "Then let's make plans. How should we get the kiddies back to Hogwarts?"

"Oh… uh, well, I don't think side-along Apparition will work this time, since we don't have as many adults as when we got stranded at St. Mungo's the other week." Lupin began to eat quickly, eyes firmly fixed on his meal. His gaze had gotten him into too much trouble already.

"We could try the Night Bus!"

"Uh…" Lupin recalled several bumpy, messy rides with a shudder. "Do we have to?"

"You got any other ideas? Anyway, I already have a disguise all sorted for it." Tonks shook her hair out, and the previously black hair was now an iron grey, and wrinkled were pressed around her mouth and forehead. "See? Madame Tonks, at your service."

Lupin had to laugh. "Please don't make this a default look. You remind me of an old teacher I once had in school."

"Scary, am I?" Tonks raised one eyebrow to an extraordinary height, and she indeed looked the very image of Ms. Carsdell, who used to teach Arithmancy.

"Terrifying." He confirmed. "You look like you are about to take to smack me with your wand." Ms. Carsdell had a very painful birch one.

"Hmm, that's tempting…" Tonks teased.

She was persistent in making him blush. "Shut up, Tonks."

Thankfully, before anything could escalate, Sirius, looking bleary-eyed and cross, appeared in the door-way. Or maybe he'd been there for some time.

"Coffee?" Lupin said quickly, gesturing towards the coffeepot on the table. Being around Sirius these days was like waiting for a bomb to go off. Hopefully he'd keep it together until Harry left.

He took the grunt he got as an assent.

"So, how you doing, mate?" Tonks patted her cousin on the back.

"Oh… just swell." Sirius's sarcastic tone was withering.

"Good to see you too." Lupin muttered.

Sirius huffed, planting himself heavily down into a chair. "It's that bloody Snape."

"What 'bout 'im?" Somehow, Tonks managed to get a few words out between all the egg she was shovelling into her mouth.

"He turned up yesterday, no notice at all, slick and self-satisfied, and announces that he's going to be teaching Harry some stupid mental magic. My godson locked up with that prick for hours every week. I don't trust him."

"Mental magic?" Tonks swallowed a mouthful with a concerted effort. "Wad' you mean?"

"Occlumency." Lupin's mouth gaped. "Of bloody course. How didn't I figure it out before?" So that's how he did it.

"Occlumen- what?"

"You ought to know about this- I don't know why no one has told you. Dumbledore made it a point to educate all members of the First Order back in the last war." Said Lupin.

"Yeah, so Tonks, there is basically this really old magical training that wizards don't do any more." Sirius picked up the narrative, his eyes hooded in shadow. "Legilimency, got it? Basically mind-reading. That was Voldemort's big power?"

"It's not mind-reading, really." Lupin interjected, tone didactic. "It was more like scanning memories. A very useful way to collect information."

"Yeah, Voldemort could rape every secret out of your brain, if torture didn't work." Sirius said darkly.

"It is very difficult to learn to protect oneself against the invasion of the mind, against a skilled Legilimens. One can construct artificial walls without much training, but having them punctured repeatedly them can cause brain damage overtime." Lupin closed his eyes and tried to recall what Dumbledore had told the Order all those years ago. "Occlumency is both the art of keeping a Legilimens out of your mind, and also the art of preventing them from seeing certain memories. It is safer for an Occlumens to redirect the memories."

"Did any of you get training in it?" Tonks looked horrified, her breakfast forgotten.

Lupin scrunched up his nose. "It was near the end of the war. I think a few members did. Lily Potter was one of them. Moody is a fair shake at it. But most people, me included, kind of forgot about it. It's a very obscure branch of magic, and if Voldemort was the only Legilimens known to us, we felt there was nothing doing. Because trying to hide your memories from Voldemort? That's impossible. Legilimens is rare enough, but Dumbledore said that he didn't know anyone more skilled in the art of mind invasion that Voldemort. Anyway, it's a horrid art to learn. For most wizards who don't have the innate ability to control their mental doorways and paths, the only way to learn is through increased resistance to invasion… which, as Lily told me, is awful. Dumbledore ransacked her brain for every private or embarrassing or painful memory she had. She did it for three months before she went into hiding from Voldemort, and she only just was beginning to learn. It's hard."

"So why is Harry learning it?" Tonks asked.

Lupin and Sirius exchanged dark looks.

"Why do think?"

"Oh- yeah. Snake dream. Got it." Tonks hung her head down, before shooting it straight back up. "Crickey, Snape must be one hell of a wizard to be fooling Voldy. Because Voldemort's got to be using Legilimancy on him, right?"

"Very likely." Lupin had not considered this component of Snape's spy-work. But of course, it made so much sense. "It must be extremely difficult for him."

Sirius's expression suggested he was biting back a scathing remark.

Tonks, still with the wrinkles and the iron-grey cut, traced the grain of the wooden table with the tip of one finger. "So, Snape's got to be in quite a bit of danger, huh? What with teaching Harry how to close his mind to Voldemort when Voldemort's already got a doorway into it. What if Snape gets found out? I bet Voldy's got all sort of tortures ready for people who betray him." A repulsed expression flickered across her face, and Lupin was once again struck by her heart. It was true… why had Dumbledore asked Snape to teach Harry, considering the risk?

Sirius, however, had thoughts foremost in mind. "It's Harry you should be concerned about, what with Snape getting his scrawny clutches on him."

Tonks turned a dark glare onto her cousin. "Oh pack it in, would you? Snape's on our side, and you know what? I'm starting to think he won't be much longer if people like you keep being so downright horrid about him."

Those two had never had stiff words at all, as far as Lupin could recall. In fact, they'd been so utterly overjoyed to discover each other as Blacks on the same side, and they'd gotten along at a rollicking rate in the past few months, Sirius's sour modes aside. Sirius also seemed rather shocked at her tone.

"Look here, Tonks, Snivelly is-"

"Why do you call him that stupid name?" Tonks had her arms crossed over her chest, and together with the stern get-up, she looked every bit Ms. Carsdell. "Snivelly? What does that even mean? It's not like he ever cries or has a runny nose. Isn't that kind of kiddish behaviour?

"Stop being silly, Tonks." Sirius's handsome brows drew together angrily. "I've known Snape a lot longer than you, and if there was ever a prime candidate for a Death Eater, it's him."

"But that's just it." Lupin whispered. He had so many memories of the past months return to him, things he had seen, things Snape had said…

"Prefect Lupin, hiding away in a book or staring at the floor, while his friends tort-"… "You have misjudged many things about me, Lupin…"… "I am not kind. Never"… "You should NOT have seen that."… "I haven't earned your kindness. So I hate it."… "…if you hear something and see something that I have done in my assumed role as Death Eater, I highly doubt that this 'trust' you claim to have will hold steady."… "Am I not a human to you?"

"You don't know him, Sirius. None of us have any idea who Snape is." Lupin said. "You knew him when we were children, and you barely knew him at that. Just exchanged insults and hexes with each other. How do you know what his life was life, what his thoughts are? We have no idea what happened to him, why he is where he is now. We have got evidence upon evidence about whose side he is on. You need to just let your hatred go, and give Snape a change to prove himself… although it's not as if he hasn't already."

Sirius didn't look at Lupin, didn't snap back with a crabby retort. He just seemed to vanish into his cup of coffee, his face awash with brooding frowns.

Lupin and Tonks could only look commiseratingly at each other and return to their breakfast quietly.

But the quiet was not to last.

Through the glass, tarred up window of the kitchen swooped a silvery form, which Lupin immediately recognized as Shacklebolt's iconic Patronus. The lynx leapt upon the table with an elegant spring, before turning to Lupin with an open mouth and speaking in Kingsley's rich voice.

"Fudge tried to cover it up, but the news will be out tomorrow. The dementors left Azkaban last night- they have likely joined Voldemort's ranks. Ten Death Eaters are now on the loose, including Bellatrix Lestrange- keep the boy safe."

The Patronus, message delivered, vanished into silver drops of light.

Sirius leapt up, knuckles whitening around his wand. "Bella- fuck." He turned to Lupin. "I'm coming with you."

"Sirius-"

"NO! I swore I would protect Harry, and on my watch, he nearly died, twice. Once with all those Dementors around the lake, and then at the Triwizard Tournament. Last time Harry was in danger, I was locked up here and if it wasn't for ruddy Snape, he could be dead. I can't hide like a coward while every moment is another moment that my insane cousin and her screw-loose friends could use to harm Harry."

"Mate!" Tonks leapt up, tugging Sirius down into his chair by the sleeve of his robe. Her face was pale but her lips were set with resolution. "Me and Remus would sooner eat our own intestines than let anything happen to Harry. You need to stay here."

"Spare me the dirge. 'Stay here', 'stay safe', 'stay hidden'." Sirius growled. "C'mon, Moony. At least let me go out in dog-form- I'd love to sink my teeth into Bella's throat."

"Shh. Do you want the children to hear?" Lupin looked at his friend's desperate face, and was stirred with pity. "Sirius, I know how much Harry means to you. I love him too. For his sake, you know what your duty is. Trust us to look after him."

Sirius's gaze dropped. "I do. I do, Moony. But I'm his godfather. And I'm useless for him."

At the moment, the subject of their conversation walked into the room, and they fell silent. Now with the addition of a nausea inducing bus trip, there was the distinct possibility of being set upon by crazed Azkaban escapees. He exchanged a worried glance with Tonks. They did need more backup, but still… he couldn't risk Sirius. At least the twins were handy with the wands- and Harry was himself more powerful than he realized. But against adult Death Eaters and possibly Dementors too, however weakened? Would it be enough?

The children ate quickly, and amidst much noise and confusion, Tonks and Lupin slipped out to the front of the house, having lost their own apatite for breakfast.

"I can't believe it. The dementors, all gone." Tonks muttered, scrambling around in her pockets for something. It was a Muggle cigarette. She offered Lupin one, but he shook his head. It was a habit he'd broken years ago and he had no desire to worsen the weak chest he'd given himself from it.

"Suit yourself." Tonks slipped one between her teeth and wordlessly lit it with her wand. She breathed in, and gently out, smoke clouding out from her nostrils to freeze into the winter morning air. "I mean, Merlin, Dumbledore said it would probably happen, but it didn't really hit, you know."

"We'll be fine." Even now, Lupin gripped his wand a little tighter. "We just have to do it as quickly as possible. On the bus and off. No talking to anyone."

Tonks puffed again, the acrid scent filling the air. "How come we didn't know about this?" she turned dark eyes on him. "Isn't Snape our spy?"

"Maybe he didn't know." Lupin shrugged. "Or maybe Dumbledore didn't want him to tell us. After all, it's not like there would have been anything we could have done against Death Eaters and a whole flock of Dementors."

"Hmm. I still would have tried though." Tonks dropped the cigarette and ground her heel on it.

"Maybe that's why we weren't informed." Lupin mused. "It would have been a bloodbath."

"And now it's more likely to be in the future." Tonks muttered. "Mother has told me tales about Aunt Bellatrix's exploits. I don't want to have to see them in person."

It was soon time to leave, and they bundled the six children onto the bus with as much subtleness as was possible when it was being conducted by a nosey parker such as Stan Shunpike. As the bus bolted through traffic at a break neck speed, and as all the passengers made sure to keep their necks firmly unbroken, Lupin found his thoughts to be tumbling about him like a waterfall (rather of like one of the passengers' vomit).

There was Tonks and the kiss- he tried to avoid looking at her during the bus trip… that was one thing. And then Sirius and his frenzied need to get out… that was starting to seriously scare Lupin. And Snape. Lupin imagined what it must be like, week after week, standing before Voldemort and having his mind, as Sirius had said 'raped'. What he must be going through… but most of all, Lupin was thinking about Harry. He glanced over at the boy, who was leaning at a 40° angle against a grab handle as he tried to keep his footing amidst the chairs sliding all over the bus. Voldemort's access to Harry's mind must have been serious, otherwise Lupin couldn't imagine why Dumbledore would risk Snape's life so. Harry had to learn… although how good of a teacher Snape would prove, Lupin couldn't say.

The Knight Bus was officially a nauseating nightmare, and for the fifth and hopefully final time, Lupin promised himself 'Never again.' But they got through to the end of the ride eventually, and Lupin was delighted to discover he didn't even lose his breakfast.

As the bus jolted to a screeching halt at the entrance to Hogwarts and the children crawled out with relieved sighs, Lupin muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "Great idea, Tonks."

She jostled his shoulder indignantly. "Didn't hear you coming up with any other plans, oh lord superior." She muttered back, clutching her belly.

Lupin sent the children off with handshakes, but when he got to Harry, he had to pull him aside. "…Listen, Harry, I know you don't like Snape, but he is a suburb Occlumens and we all – Sirius included – want you to learn to protect yourself, so work hard, all right?"

"Yeah, all right." Harry seemed extremely glum, but at least looked Lupin in the eyes.

"All right. I'll be seeing you, Harry." Lupin clasped his shoulder and set to move off towards Tonks, but felt a hand grab his wrist that stayed his steps.

"What is it, Harry?" he looked in surprise at the boy.

"Um. Just… back in the Shrieking Shack, you know, when Snape turned up and we knocked him out, did you check for a concussion?"

"What?" Lupin blinked.

"Yeah, uh, head trauma can cause concussions, but there are spells to check for it." Harry seemed to blush a bit. "Did you maybe do them nonverbally or something?"

"Oh… ah, I can't remember." Lupin strained to recall the details of night, but as it had been less than an hour before his transformation when Snape's incapacitation had occurred, he knew his brain was not the clearest. Lupin himself had not seen the aftermath of that night, of course, having been off loping through the Forbidden Forest with the wolf madness robbing him of every last wit. He'd been utterly exhausted the following day- additionally, having to resign and pack to leave the school within hours of his return to human form did not aid in his recuperation. He had no idea what happened to Snape, other than the fact that the man was obviously well enough to tell everyone that he was a werewolf. "Uh, probably not. But he was fine, wasn't he?" he asked, a shade of anxiety tinging his voice.

"Oh, uh. Yeah, I guess so." Harry frowned, and then walked after his friends. "Uh, bye then!"

"Take care." Lupin called out after him, confused beyond belief.

Now, while Harry had many excellent character qualities, Lupin had picked up that perceptiveness wasn't exactly one of them. So if Harry had brought up the idea of Snape suffering a concussion that night, there was likely to be some factual reason behind why he'd mention it. But Lupin had no way of knowing… he winced, recalling the sickening thud as Snape had slid to the floor… if Snape had got a concussion, and Lupin hadn't treated him for it… his medical knowledge was rusty, but he has pretty sure it usually resulted in pain and disorientation. He'd ask Snape… he wanted to walk to him anyway, which was kind of funny… but those days in November where he'd spent getting to see the man behind the prickly barbs- well, it had piqued Lupin's interest. And yes, he had to admit, he now felt a great deal of respect for Snape after seeing the boggart.

Dear Severus,

I cannot wait until we are able to use your Mind Messengers to communicate, but until then, Kingsley showed me how to use your paper charm for secrecy. I suppose it isn't needed for this letter, but I was dying to try it out.

Anyway, I haven't seen you for a while, unless you count those hurried gulp sessions when you give me my Wolfsbane. So I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner some time? I am free this coming Friday afternoon, and I know some safe Muggle pubs and restaurants where we can talk undisturbed. Although if you aren't a fan of Muggle venues, I am sure we can think of some more appropriate location. There are things I would like to discuss with you.

All the best,

Remus (or wolf, whatever you like).

January 12, 1996

Severus Snape

It would not do to expose a spy to possible risk of discovery, not even if the Dark Lord himself was going to brave it. Lucius told him afterwards what it had been like- standing on the rocky shore of the island, threatened by walls of waves on one side and the black tower soaring up in the sky. They could only see this because of the Eye-Sharpening potion Snape had provisioned- for in the height of winter, even the early evening was as deep and dark as a midnight hour. They stood, eight Death Eaters flanking the Dark Lord- Lucius spoke of the eerie sensation that came when a flock of dementors swooped down from the tower, the night vision potion casting blue and sage-green light around their ghastly forms, piercing through the thin rotten gauze that wrapped their frames, and revealing bodies made of bone and oblivion emptiness. Lucius could not describe it clearly enough. They came down to the shore, their typical hostile postures strangely subdued, as if they already knew who stood before them, with his narrow bare feet and his black hooded robes. And when he spoke, when the Dark Lord let his words flow, filled with promises and commiserations, when he told them how he understood how hungry they were, not allowed to taste anything but the scant scrapings of near but empty souls. 'Sssoon you will have more, you will feed on all the souls that wizardkind has locked you away from. You think this is the wizarding prison? You know as well as I do that it is more than that. You are not guards. The Ministry have made you prisoners here on this Island, and they fling you for food those who they do care for. But give me some of those skinny meals, and I will make them weapons, and together we will liberate you and you will drift across the whole Earth and no one will hem you in or chase you with their familiars of Light. Will you rise with me?'

Snape knew what he was supposed to expect. He had seen long term inmates of Azkaban before, after all. Back in 1981, when he waited for his trial, he had glimpsed their dead, papery skin, their hollowed cheeks and despairing eyes… but he had also known what the other Death Eaters had been before their imprisonment, and when the Dark Lord and the other Death Eaters returned with those wafts of bone and rag, wrapped up around just barely breathing humans… Snape forced himself to feel nothing- or at least, to show nothing.

He had been waiting for them, with nearly an entire seasons' stock of potions at the ready. Tents had been set up by Narcissa Malfoy in the forest, and within the largest of those, fifteen beds had been lined neatly up against the walls…

She was at Snape's side as the Dark Lord returned, triumphant. Behind him, the darkly clad Death Eaters supported their emaciated comrades- Dolohov, Jugson, the Lestrange brothers, Selwyn... But one jailbird wasn't hanging like a broken doll to a strong arm- they were walking alone, head raised high, despite their shuffling, halting gait. Even from the distance, Snape could recognize her- despite the drastic change that had been wrought upon her appearance.

"Bella!" Narcissa broke away and raced up to her sister, tears springing from her eyes. In times past, Snape might have expected Bellatrix to rebuff such familial advances, but weariness must have overcome her, for she all but collapsed in Narcissa's arms.

"Ssseverus." Directed the Dark Lord. "Attend to my servants."

Snapping into action, Snape had the prisoners brought into the tent, laid down onto the beds. Narcissa gave them all food ("not too much, not too rich." He'd had warned her), and Snape was casting diagnostic charms upon them and administering the appropriate healing potions. As the hour hands flicked over, some of them seemed to recover energy and ask questions. Long years of disuse had broken and torn many voices into harsh croaks, but they did their best to answer what they could. Some of the dark wizards had not even realized that the man who walked ahead of them, so tall and regal- was the one they had all been waiting for.

"I knew it was him." Bellatrix's once beautiful, crystalline voice was cracked and full of gravel. "I felt him all these months- I was always waiting for him to come back."

"You never lost faith." The Dark Lord had overheard her, having crept into the tent unannounced. "You always were so truly loyal to me, my dear Bellatrix- I will not forget it." He reached down and touched her cheek briefly, before stepping back. "And when you are recovered, I will have a task for you, as I know you are already eager to perform in my service."

"Anything, my Lord." Bellatrix croaked, clasping her dirty hands to her chest.

"I need the paperssss. You know the ones."

"Of course." Bellatrix said. "I will find a way into the vaults to recover them, my Lord. I swear it."

"Rest now." The Dark Lord nodded his head almost gently, and moved off to speak to some of his other newly released followers.

Snape, who had paused from conducting his diagnostic spell on the woman when the Dark Lord appeared over his shoulder, now continued his task without a comment. Papers? Vaults? Snape knew this was something he would be informing Dumbledore about, but at the same time, he felt a personal straining curiosity. He wondered if Bellatrix would be able to tell him what it was all about…

But Bellatrix's focus was elsewhere, she appeared not even to have recognized who her Healer was. "What happened to him?" she murmured, her dark eyes filling with something more than the wearied depression that the Dementors had left her with.

"The Dark Lord? What do you mean?"

"Why is he… his body…?"

Snape thought he might understand now that strange, odd expression in the witch's face… if he read it correctly… well. He stowed that information away for use at a more appropriate time. "His body was destroyed, but that is of no matter." He said without sympathy. "It is the mind and the magical core that remains, and they are more important than anything else. He is our Lord."

Bellatrix turned her unsteady vision onto Snape- her dark hair exploded around her face in tangles, such a departure from her previously sleek pools of black that had foamed their way down her back. "Wait? Snape?"

Sensing what was coming, he handed her a Revitalization Potion and a Dreamless Sleep. "Drink, and then sleep. You are of no use to the Dark Lord like this."

Despite her weakened state, the women propped her skinny elbow up against the pillow to bring herself into a sitting position. "How dare you be here? I heard from Rookwood that old Dumbledore had you set free… and that you are still teaching at his school in his pay! You have no right to stand here!"

"Be silent." Snape felt an urge to roughly push her back into her pillow, but with the favour that the Dark Lord had shown, antagonization of her would be unwise. "I serve the Dark Lord. I am sure he will explain everything at a later stage. I am sure you can ask your questions at a later time. Heal for now."

He added a Calming Draught to her mix of potions in her lap, and stepped away before she could gabble at him further.

He joined Lucius, who had just finished helping Narcissa feed their liberated compatriots. "I was expecting fifteen…" Snape said in an undertone, glancing dark eyes towards the empty beds. "Where is Mulcibar the Elder… Cassandra Celrose… in fact… where is Nero Pyrites?"

Lucius hung his head. "Dead. But no one knew about it. Cassandra has been dead for five years now, and her mother was never even informed."

"And Pyrites?" Snape recalled that trusted lieutenant of the Dark Lord, one who would rarely be seen far from his master's side. He recalled those pretty, petite features and those sharply tailored robes… his cream coloured silk gloves… the last time Snape had seen him, those gloves had been crimson with blood…

"Gone." Lucius said heavily. "Those Dementors carried him out along with the rest, but they neglected to say they had swallowed his soul and left his body to starve. He was covered in his own filth… he must have died that way."

Snape repressed a shiver.

"Was the Dark Lord, er, bothered by this?"

"The Dementors are our new allies so the Dark Lord could hardly start any kind of argument, now could he?" Lucius sighed. "He looked at the body and said it was 'regretful'."

Regretful.

"Severusss." A voice hissed in his ear, but Snape did not tense up, or cram to increase his Occlumenic shields. They were already firmly in place, as they had been all evening.

"My Lord." He bowed.

"I wish you to prepare more restorative draughts." The Dark Lord said quietly. "The strongest you can make. I am not going to remain weakened here any longer."

In a louder voice, he now addressed the whole tent. "It is time… for a change in scenery. This forest will not harbour so many of my followers without raising suspicion, and my servants cannot recover in the dank mould that it provides. I have need of an… abode…" his bloody eyes narrowed, and he gazed around at each and every face. No one stepped forward. Snape was at least glad that he had been disinherited from any pureblood estates he might have once claimed hold to. He had nothing to offer his Lord.

"Luciusss."

Of course.

Lucius certainly paled, but immediately recovered himself. "I would be honoured, my Lord, if you took up residence in Malfoy Manor. You and all my fellow comrades."

"Why, thank you." The Dark Lord sneered, a mocking smile curling across his face. "I am humbled by your loyalty. You and dear Narcissa, of course." He flicked a gaze to the woman, who stood as still as a statue. "We move tomorrow." He said with an imperious wave of his hand. He left the tent, Wormtail waddling after him.

When Snape returned that evening, questions and plans swirling in his mind, he set himself to wonder the subject of the papers the Dark Lord had spoke of. Could they be plans that had been written up in the previous War? Maps of the Ministry, which had yet to be breached… magical research papers, or possibly ancient texts which conveyed the secret to the Dark Lord's continued existence…? Snape flexed his thin hands endlessly. He had to find out what they were.

He distracted himself by researching the Cruciatus salve that he still had set to perfect, and by the time he went to his bedroom to sleep in preparation for a new term of teaching, he was almost dead on his feet. He crawled his way out of the shower and into a nightshirt, and was about to disillusioned the lights when he noticed a letter lying on the mat next to his fireplace.

He looked suspiciously at it. Either Lucius, Dumbledore or Lupin would have sent it, but he rather disapproved of sending floo mail. It was extremely unreliable, and near as likely to burn up in the fire than to make its way to its intended recipient. Only Lupin would be stupid enough to send mail such a way.

Snape heaved a long-suffering sigh, and opened the letter to see what the wolf had to say for himself.

Upon scrutinising it, he found the right corner of his mouth jag up into a sneer. Lupin was obviously dimmer than a bag of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder? Dinner? A talk? Did he think he was Dumbledore, ready to entertain him with long chats and endless cups of tea and lemon drops? Who did he think he was to Snape, a friend? Had he forgotten their history? Well, Snape had not.

Angrily, he shoved the letter back into its envelope and grabbed a Muggle pencil from his bedside table. Across the back of the envelope, he scrawled, "Not happening. Wolf." And then hurled it back through the floo, caring little if the floo aborted it to dissolve into the flames or if Lupin was to read the blunt, final response. Snape only slightly more hoped for the latter occurrence.