The Slithering Sides of Severus Snape:

Doe was sitting in the auror office late one afternoon when a sliver of parchment landed on her desk.

Doe opened it gingerly with her wand. Moody had made her wary of everything.

The parchment only had a scribbled letter on it. She read it quickly.

There will be an Order meeting tonight at 713 Wishmore St. 8:00 p.m.

Memorize this .

- Dumbledore

As soon as she had read it, the parchment set itself on fire and vanished. The Fidelius Charm. Dumbledore had found a new way to ensure that the location of the Order's headquarters remained a secret. Dumbledore must have made himself secret keeper.

She could see the address clearly in her head, but every time she tried to think about it directly. She couldn't. It was a very rare and tricky bit of magic.

Sirius stuck his head into my cubicle, " Did you get?"

She nodded, not wanting Sirius to finish that sentence in fear that someone was listening.

He sat down on the edge of her desk.

" Do you know where it is?" Sirius asked her.

She shook her head, " You?"

Sirius also shook his head.

" Can you believe what Lily and James told us?" Doe asked him.

" No, I can't" Sirius said, " But I couldn't believe that they thought we would stop talking to them"

" I know" she said shaking her head, " As if we would ever let that come between us"

Sirius crossed his arms, " I would die first"

" So would I" Doe agreed.

She thought back to when they all pledged themselves to Lily and James and realized one of them was not quite as adamant about it.

" Sirius, can I ask you something" she said turning to face him.

" You know you can" Sirius said kicking his feet up onto the desk.

" You don't think" Doe started and then changed her mind, " Did you notice Peter was acting a little oddly when we talked about that? About rather dying then stopping seeing each other. You don't think he disagrees do you?"

Sirius looked extremely shocked, " Wormtail? No way" he said shaking his head firmly, " Peter's just a little fearful that's all. He values our friendship just as much as you or I"

" And you're sure?" Doe asked him.

Sirius nodded, " Doe, I'm sure"

Doe turned back to the file on her desk. She knew Sirius well enough to know that he wouldn't say it to her unless he was positive.

" Do you reckon Rabastan was there the other night?" Sirius asked, " At Headquarters"

She shuddered, " I hope not, I wouldn't want to be that close to him again"

Sirius teeth clamped shut, " I would, I'd like to kill him"

" No you don't" she told him firmly, " You're not the kind of person who desires killing"

Sirius mumbled something under his breath but saw her expression and quieted instantly.

" You're right" he told her quickly.

" There's enough death and evil in the world right now without me having to worry about you trying to do someone in, okay?" she told him.

Sirius grinned, " Worry about me often do you?"

She rolled her eyes, " Oh yes Sirius as soon as I've finished fantasizing about you"

Sirius laughed, but Moody who had been passing her cubicle at that exact moment, turned to them and said " I wonder what Lupin would make of that"

Sirius roared laughter.

" I was kidding!" Doe called after Moody.

Moody just grumbled something and walked into his office.

" I hate you" she said to Sirius.

Sirius grinned, " Whatever you say, Meadowes"

They stayed at the ministry until just before the order meeting.

Sirius and Doe left the ministry and apparatted to the address that they had been given. It was an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. It was very small and dilapidated and appeared to be the only house on the street.

" Were sure this is the right place?" Sirius asked.

Doe nodded, " This is it".

They walked forward towards the house and tried to walk through the small front gate leading to the front door.

They instantly were shot back, as if there was some sort of shield charm.

" What the bloody hell?" Sirius said helping her to her feet and rubbing the spot on his head which had smacked against the pavement.

" You're bleeding" she said pointing my wand to the small stream of blood on his forehead.

" Tortego" she said and waved her wand. The blood vanished.

Sirius ran his hand over the spot on his forehead, " Thanks"

The door to the house opened and Slughorn appeared in the doorframe.

" Ah, Alastor it's Ms. Meadowes and Mr. Black" he called into the house. Moody walked into the doorframe with James at his side.

Moody walked straight through the shield no problem and held his wand up to them. His wand pointed at her and James' pointed at Sirius.

" What?" Moody asked, " Is your patronus?"

" A gazelle" she told him.

Moody lowered his wand.

" What do we call ourselves?" James asked Sirius.

Sirius grinned, " Besides brilliant and unreasonably attractive? That would be the Marauders"

James lowered his wand too, a smile plastered across his face.

" Its them" James told Moody.

" Come in then, hurry" Moody growled. Sirius, James and Doe followed him into the house.

Though from the outside, the house seemed to be a one or two bedroom shack, the inside had been charmed to resemble an eight bedroom victorian farm house, complete with a parlor and lavish dining room, where the rest of the Order was already seated around a long table.

Doe sat down in the empty seat next to Remus.

" So I see you got the full inquisition?" Remus said.

Doe nodded, " Yeah, Sirius and I got knocked backward with that shield charm"

Remus flinched, " It got me too, But Moody was even more persistent, I had detail my full moon transformation before he decided it was me"

She blinked in confusion, " Why so many extra precautions?"

" I'm betting it's because of the attack, Dumbledore wants us as safe as possible" Remus said.

She frowned, " Unfortunately, this wont protect us all the time"

Remus frowned at her words, " But it's start"

She offered him a small smile. Remus always tried to look for the silver lining. He could sometimes be the eternal optimist.

She placed her hand on his knee and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

" Lupin" Professor Slughorn said to him from across the table, " see me after the meeting, I've got something to show you"

" Sure, Professor" Remus said to him.

Slughorn nodded and turned back to Professor McGonagall.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore had walked into the room with Hagrid and sat down at the table.

Everyone fell silent, their conversations dying out as they turned their attention to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore turned to the group, " I'd like to thank you all for coming tonight. I know the attack a couple of weeks ago may have frightened many of you, but it pleases me to see most of you have returned anyway"

Doe noticed Mundungus was not present.

" Tonight's meeting will be to discuss a few things but I think the most important thing we have to discuss is the addition of a new member. I hope you will all welcome him with open arms and open minds" Dumbledore said firmly and waved his wand. The door to his right opened, and someone strode out.

As soon as Doe saw who it was, she tensed in anger.

Severus Snape strode out of the room and sat down in the empty seat next to Dumbledore.

His presence was met with an uproar.

" Snivellus!?" James demanded.

" NO" Sirius roared.

" He's a death eater!" Caradoc had said through clenched teeth.

Doe was furious. Anger was flowing through her. Remus seemed to notice because he took her hand and gripped it tightly.

Doe had given Severus all the chances she could. He was a Death Eater. He had tried to kill her the year before. There was no way he had switched sides.

From her other side Lily had pursed her lips, and Peter had gone stark white.

" Quiet" Dumbledore said loudly, " Severus Snape was a death eater but has switched to our side at great personal risk and is to be treated with the respect that you would offer any other Order member"

" Switched sides my arse" James said angrily, " he's always been obsessed with the Dark Arts"

" He'll probably try to kill us all as soon as your back is turned" Sirius implored.

Severus sneered, " Don't flatter yourself, Black. I don't have the time to waste on you"

" I said enough" Dumbledore said sternly, " Severus Snape is on our side and he is now a part of the Order of the Phoenix. Moving on, -"

Dumbledore had gone on to discuss other Order business, but Doe was barely listening. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Snape. At one point, he caught her glance and returned an equally as terrifying stare.

However, she thought she noticed him throw a few furtive glances at Lily and her stomach.

When the meeting ended, Dumbledore left quickly.

Remus went to talk to Professor Slughorn, and James & Sirius were engaged in a heated conversation, about Snape no doubt.

Doe stood at the end of the table, a slight distance away, still eyeing Snape reproachfully.

He noticed and made his way over to her.

" Have you got something to say Dorcas? Because if you do, I suggest you say it" Snape snapped.

Doe looked very pointedly at his left arm, where she knew the Dark Mark was burned into his skin.

" I haven't got anything to say to you" she said crossing her arms.

Snape smirked, " You know, you seem a tad put out" he said icily.

" Put out? No. Enraged perhaps, I don't know how you managed to convince Dumbledore of your lies, but I wont be fooled so easily" Doe told him angrily.

Snape made a face and his expression became much colder, " And here I thought all of you Gryffindors had the noblest of intentions"

" I haven't forgotten that you tried to kill me" Doe snapped at him.

Snape pursed his lips, " You assaulted me if you recall"

" Assaulted?" Doe said in disbelief, " Is that what you call it? Because how I remember it I exposed you as a Death Eater and you become murderous"

Snape rolled his eyes, " If I had any intention of killing you, you wouldn't be standing here right now"

" Oh, lucky me" Doe said sarcastically, " thank you for choosing to spare me"

" I see that spending time with your little friends has bred arrogance within you, I never thought I'd see the day" Snape snapped at her.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

" Is there a problem here?" Remus asked coming over to her.

Snape's eyes darted from Doe to Remus and a cold smile formed on his lips, " Ah, Lupin. You're looking scarred if I may say. Been out for walks in the moonlight?"

Remus tightened at the jab. His face contorting slightly in pain.

" I swear to Merlin" Doe said her wand raised at Snape.

Snape rolled his eyes again, " Oh I'd love to see what your going to do"

Sirius and James had both come over now.

" Get out of here Snivellus, no one wants you here" Sirius snapped.

" One again Black, your arrogance astounds me" Snape said coldly, " I was engaged in a conversation with Dorcas, not you"

Sirius narrowed his eyes, " Trust me, she doesn't want to talk to you anymore than I do"

Snape and Sirius stared at eachother for a moment, both clutching their wands.

" Sirius, he isn't worth it" Doe said pulling Sirius away from him by his shoulder.

" Lucky you have your little protector around isn't it, Black?" Snape said coldly before turning on his heels and walking away.

Sirius moved forward trying to raise his wand. Doe grabbed his arm yanking it down.

" Sirius, don't." she told him.

Sirius was white with anger, " I hate that snivelling git" he snapped.

" There is no way he is on our side" James agreed angrily.

Lily clutched at her stomach looking really nervous.

" I can't believe he betrayed the Death Eaters" Peter said quietly.

Doe turned to Remus, " Let's go home okay?" she said.

Remus nodded, " Okay".

" Were going to go" Doe said to the group.

" Be careful" Lily added quickly.

" We will" Doe assured her, taking Remus' hand and leaving the house.

Once they were outside, they walked down the street to apparate back into the apartment.

They went into the bedroom. While Remus was getting ready for bed, she went into the kitchen. She came back into the room, clutching a mug of Hot Chocolate. She handed it to Remus.

He took it appreciatively, and kissed her forehead.

Doe wrapped her arm around his waist, " You know Snape was out of order right? You didn't listen to a word he said right?"

Remus shook his head, " No I didn't"

" You're twice the man he is" she told him, her hand resting on his shoulder.

He ran his thumb across her cheek, " Thank you"

They sat down on the bed, leaning against the pillows and pulled the blankets around them. He let her rest her head on his chest.

" I don't know how Dumbledore let Snape in the order" she said in frustration.

" I'm sure he had his reasons" Remus said. He clasped her hand in his.

" But he's a Death Eater, what motivation would he have to switch sides?" Doe asked.

Remus shrugged, " I don't know. But Dumbledore obviously trusts him, and we have to be able to trust Dumbledore"

Doe sighed and closed her eyes.

She didn't want to trust Snape, but Remus was right. She had to trust Dumbledore. She fell asleep that night, hoping that Dumbledore had real concrete evidence for trusting Severus Snape.