Finding Answers

Chapter Three – Memories Revealed

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

I thought I would get this chapter out a few days early. I managed to have a motivational weekend and finished writing out this chapter earlier than I expected. Enjoy!

"You had to be imagining things, Moony."

"I wasn't. It was her."

"Remus –"

"I know, Sirius, but that voice...it sounded like her."

Two hours later, the two Marauders were in their usual spots at the kitchen in Grimmauld Place. Kingsley, Tonks, Moody, and a few other Order members who were involved with the Auror and Magical Law Enforcement departments were attempting to assist with the breakout of Azkaban. Dumbledore had asked for an emergency meeting to take place as soon as they were finished. For the time being, it was only Remus, Sirius, Molly, Arthur, and Bill in the kitchen.

"I don't know who she was," Bill cut in, sitting down across from the other two, "but I had never seen somebody fight like that, other than Mad-Eye. And she gave him a run for his money before the rest of the Order arrived."

"Even if it was Liz," Sirius continued, and Remus could hear how skeptical he was in his voice, "how did she learn to fight like that? Cassie always said Liz was rubbish at dueling in school."

"Maybe she was under the Imperious curse?" Bill suggested.

"Even then it wouldn't effect their dueling ability," Remus answered, shaking his head. "This person was trained."

The three of them were silent for a moment before Molly brought over a tray with cups of tea, handing one specifically to Remus. "I've mixed a pain-relieving potion in yours, Remus dear, it should help with the after effects."

"Thanks, Molly." Remus gratefully took the cup and took a sip. The effects of the potion took the edge off the pain, but it still lingered. He took another sip, which seemed to satisfy the older woman as she went back to bustling around the kitchen once more.

"You going to be okay, Moony?" Sirius asked as Moody, Tonks, and Shaklebolt entered, leading several Order members into the kitchen.

Remus nodded. "Give me a couple of days. Recovering from transformations and the Cruciatus curse don't exactly match."

"You should have never went in the first place," Mrs. Weasley said in passing to her own seat, giving her son a look. Bill sheepishly looked away.

"Sorry, Remus," he said, as his mother continued to glare. "Moody wanted everybody, and it never crossed my mind you were still in recovery from the full moon."

"It's okay, Bill." Remus smiled a genuine smile to assure the young wizard. "I would have gone even if you hadn't come to fetch me. Some people just worry too much."

"And what do you mean by that?" both Sirius and Molly replied, which sent Bill and Remus into a fit of laughter. A sudden, sharp pain in Remus's lungs made him stop laughing and caused Sirius and Molly to both push his cup of tea toward him, which caused the two to glare at each other while Bill laughed in the background.

The calmed down as Dumbledore entered the room, and looked to the old man expectantly. He gave a small, tired small as he sat down, something that was rarely seen. It was a testament to how the war was already start to wear everybody down.

"We're just waiting on one person, and then we'll begin. How are you feeling, Remus? Bill?"

Somehow, by some miraculous feat, only Remus and Bill suffered serious injuries. As all the eyes (including Mad-Eye's magical blue one) turned their heads toward the two, Bill shrugged. "Could have been worse. Got the gash patched fairly quickly, thanks to Tonks. It'll be a few weeks, but I'll manage."

Dumbledore nodded and looked at Remus, who also shrugged. "I'll survive, Professor," he said. "Molly and Sirius will make sure of that." The two glared at him, causing Bill to stifle his laughter as the rest of the table chuckled.

"I'm sure they will," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. A movement at the door took his attention. "Ah, Severus. We weren't sure when to expect you."

Everybody's attention averted to Snape, who walked around the table to the nearest empty seat. "The Dark Lord insisted we all stay for the re-initiation of his old followers, Headmaster," he said.

"I figured as much," Dumbledore replied.

"And let's here what the great Order spy has to say tonight," Sirius muttered under his breath. Tonks elbowed her cousin in the ribs, but as Dumbledore asked Snape about the night's events, Remus found his thoughts drifting.

"From the spies within the Order, she was forced by Voldemort into questioning..."

"We got word today from our spies...they said they tried to infiltrate...she's gone."

Dumbledore's words had haunted him for years, and he had never put the two together.

There hadn't been two spies or three during the first war. Dumbledore had worded it that way to make sure he didn't figure it out.

It was Snape.

Snape had been the one who confirmed Liz's death, who had seen her being revealed as the spy that night.

Something snapped. Remus didn't realize it had been an actual object until he felt the tea that had been in his now broken glass dripped onto his robes. He had been squeezing his glass to tight that it had shattered. Snape had stopped talking and everybody was looking at Remus in concern.

"Remus, are you sure you are alright?" Dumbledore asked in concern.

Remus nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He scourgifed the tea and his robes as Molly repaired the cup and quickly went to fix another cup and sat it down in front of him. Remus ignored the concerned looked that he was getting and tried to focus on the remainder of the meeting.

"Severus, will you please continue?" Dumbledore asked, and the attention returned to Snape.

"After the Order tried to interfere at Twittenham, all of the Dark Lord's followers returned to his headquarters," Snape said. "Those who had been in Azkaban since his first fall in 1981 were rewarded. A few prisoners who hadn't possessed the dark mark and had wished to join him were also initiated tonight."

Dumbledore nodded. "Thank you, Severus." Snape nodded and shot Sirius and Remus a smug look as Dumbledore's attention was taken from him as Mad-Eye spoke up. For once it wasn't Sirius who was clinching his fists underneath the table, but Remus. Sirius raised an eyebrow at his best friend, but held his thoughts to himself as Dumbledore spoke again.

"I'm sure this will be in Daily Prophet tomorrow. I would think that something as big as a breakout at Azkaban is too important for the Ministry to try and deny. We should start reaching out to those who will be most effected by this breakout. People who were victims, lost loved ones, or were remotely threatened by the escaped death eaters, let those know we can help protect them and see if they would be willing to fight. If Voldemort is starting to build up his followers, it's time we have started to do the same."

The meeting dispersed soon after and Sirius looked at Remus as there was a commotion of members leaving the table and making their way to the floor and the front door. "What the hell was that?" he asked lowly so nobody else could overhear.

Before Remus could reply, Dumbledore's voice broke through the chatter. "Severus, I need you to stay for a second, if you please." As Snape hung back as the rest of the Order filed out of the room, Remus took his opportunity. Despite his body's protest, he jumped from his seat and before anybody could react, had slammed Snape into the wall and had his wand at his throat.

"Remus!" Several people yelled, but he stayed still, glaring daggers at the man in front of him.

"It was you that confirmed it, wasn't it?" he snarled.

"What the hell has gotten into you, Lupin?" Snape yelled, struggling to get away.

"It was you! You were the one who told Dumbledore that night!"

"You've obviously been addled by too many transformations," the Potions master sneered, which just caused Remus to push his wand into the man's throat farther.

"Remus, let him go!" Sirius and Kingsley both tried to pull the two apart.

"Not until he admits it!"

"Lupin, you're not making any sense. Release Severus," Kingsley said.

"You were the spy who told Dumbledore Liz had been captured!"

There was definite silence as Snape stilled for a second, but didn't show any kind of emotion or confirmation of Remus's words. Sirius and Remus finally managed to pull the two men apart, and Dumbledore stepped between them to make sure no more incidents happened.

"Remus, what has gotten into you?" Moody asked. "You're not youself, man."

"Well, it's not everyday you find out your wife may still be alive," Sirius snipped with a glare at the ex-Auror.

"Don't get an attitude with me, Black."

"Enough, Sirius, Mad-Eye. Perhaps an explanation is in order," Dumbledore replied. "Remus?"

Remus lowered his wand and his shoulders slacked. "I think Liz is still alive," he admitted. "So I've been looking into her disappearance and...tonight after the breakout, I swear she was the one who cast the Cruciatus Curse on me."

There were mixed expressions in the room. Most looked skeptical, a few looked astonished, and the rest looked like Remus had finally lost his mind.

Only Dumbledore and Snape seemed to confirm what Remus was saying. As Remus went to raise his wand again, Bill and Sirius forced Remus into a chair and Dumbledore looked at Severus.

"I think a recount of that night's events will help put things into persepctive," Dumbledore said, looking at Snape expectantly.

Snape leaned up from the wall he'd been pushed again, and looking at Remus, reluctantly recounted the memory.

"The Dark Lord had summoned us late one night for an unexpected meeting..."

Snape apparated outside of Voldemort's headquarters at the same time that Lucius Malfoy had arrived. The two nodded in acknowledgment as they donned their masks.

"Do you have any idea what this is about?" Lucius asked.

"Does the Dark Lord really nee a reason to call us?" Snape asked. "Perhaps a mission has risen and he needs us."

But as they reached the barren piece of land where they had stood so many times before, they saw they all had been summoned. Glancing at each other, the two entered the circle, taking their assigned spots. Snape looked around, noticing that all were attendance. There were no hostages in sight, which he didn't know was a good or bad thing.

As the final few death eaters closed the circle, Voldemort stood in the center, looking around. "My servants, I'm sure you are wondering as to why I called you at such a late hour." Each member wisely held their tongue. "It would seem that lately several of our raids have been thwarted by Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix. While I'm positive that nobody would dare turn against me, I do believe we have a spy in our midst."

Snape was positive that his heart almost stopped. There was a murmur among the circle, and Voldemort held up a hand to silence them. He walked around, looking at each of his followers, as though studying. As he stopped in front of Snape, he stood perfectly still, silently praying, wishing –

Voldemort pointed his wand not at Snape, but to the trees above their circle. There was a popping sound, a rustling of branches, and a thud as something hit the ground. "Lucius, Rudolphus, bring this spy to me," he commanded.

The two death eaters stepped out of the circle and dragged a woman in front of Voldemort holding her up. The fall had apparently done something to the girl's leg. Rudolphus grabbed a handful of her hair, forcing her head up, and Snape felt his heart falter again at the sight of Elizabeth Lupin.

"Well, well," Voldemort said. "Who do we have here?"

Liz didn't speak, but struggled against the two death eaters despite her broken leg. Lucius spoke up, addressing Voldemort. "My Lord, I believe she is Elizabeth Mallory, now Lupin, who is a Ministry correspondent for the Daily Prophet," Malfoy said. "She was in charge of writing about the confirmed servants who had been sent to Azkaban."

"And an unregistered owl animagus? Tsk tsk, a Ministry employee should know better." Voldemort paced in front of her as Liz glared at him. "So you have been the one to leak the locations of my attacks, has it?" She refused to speak, which angered the dark wizard in front of her. "You will answer me! Crucio!"

Liz's screams filled the air outside the majestic mansion that stood nearby. Voldemort released the curse from the woman, whose knees had given out and Lucius and Rudolphus were struggling to keep her upright.

"Are you part of Dumbledore's Order?" Voldemort demanded. "How long have you been intercepting my letters?" When Liz still refused to answer, she was put under the Cruciatus curse again. Lucius and Rudolphus released her as she was tortured, until Voldemort released her again and demanded for her to be picked up.

"You have a fighting spirit in you," Voldemort said. "That, or you're completely stupid. I've yet to decide which. Do you care to speak now?"

"Go to hell," Liz managed to ground out. Snape felt like any other situation he would have rolled his eyes, but he had to admit the former Hufflepuff had guts to talk to Voldemort like that. She was rewarded with another Cruciatus Curse, and was kept under the spell until her voice went hoarse and she was on the verge of unconsciousness.

Voldemort smirked. "Lucius, Rudolphus, take this...thing up to the mansion. Bellatrix, you go with them. I'll want to interrogate her further, and I believe that with some convincing, we can use her to our advantage. So I expect her to alive, Bellatrix. "

Bellatrix stepped forward with a gleeful cackle as Lucius and Rudolphus dragged the limp girl toward the mansion. Snape could only watch in confusion and slight guilt as Voldemort dismissed the remainder of his followers.

The others in the room had gone silent, looking between the two, ready to stop any kind of altercation that was about to happen. Remus had gone pale at Snape's recount of the night Liz disappeared.

Instead of rounding on Snape however, Remus jumped back to his feet and rounded on Dumbledore. "You mean to tell me," Remus growled. "That the entire Order searched for weeks, and I searched for years when he knew the entire time where she was? And you never thought to ASK HIM UNTIL NOW?!"

Dumbledore bowed his head. "At the time, Remus, we had only known she had disappeared," he said. "Severus was deep undercover and couldn't release too much information. I honestly did not know, nor did I think to ask once the war had ended."

"I did try to get your wife out, Lupin," Snape added, glaring at the werewolf. "But the Dark Lord always had a guard around her to ensure there was no escaping or rescue possible. The Lestrange Mansion at the time was under a Fidelus Charm, and I had no idea who the secret keeper was. So before you try to curse me or kill me, do remember I did attempt to bring her back."

"And you didn't think to tell Remus after the war ended?" Sirius asked angrily.

Snape glared at Sirius. "Funny, I didn't think this involved you, Black," he snapped.

"Liz was Cassie's best friend, you greasy, sodding excuse of a human being! So was Rose! Don't you think there were other people who would have needed some kind of closure?"

Remus felt rooted where he stood as Sirius and Snape started to yell at each other. All of this new information, and thinking back on all of the attempts to find Liz and find out what had happened to her, and the answer had been at Hogwarts all the time with Snape. He didn't know exactly how to feel. There was anger, of course, and feeling slightly stupid for never putting two and two together for never figuring it out before now.

"Always thinking about yourself, as usual, should have expected nothing less out of you, Snivellus." Sirius was saying.

"You're one to talk, Black, getting yourself locked up and taken away from your entire family because Potter decided to trust the wrong person."

"Enough!" Dumbledore's voice rose over everybody else. Snape and Sirius stopped yelled at each other, but continued to glare.

"Headmaster, I think it would be best if we resumed our conversation at Hogwarts," Snape said, aware that many people in the room were now glaring at him.

"Yes, I think that would be wise." Dumbledore nodded. "Remus, I know today has been a trying time. Perhaps some rest will do and we'll discuss this later when tempers have calmed down."

Sirius suppressed a snort, but Remus nodded. He stood up and walked past everybody, feeling like he was in a catatonic state. He stopped outside the door for a second and turned toward Snape. Once again before anybody could react, his fist contacted with Snape's nose with a sickening crunch. As Snape gave a startled yell and his nose started to pour blood, Remus continued on his way upstairs, wanting to do nothing more than wake up from the nightmare he found himself trapped in.

I know Voldemort would have more than likely killed Liz instead of holding her hostage, but I need her alive in flashbacks for plot reasons, so just bare with me, okay? And I know Dumbledore probably had more than one spy in Voldemort's forces, but once again, for plot reasons, Snape is the only one in this tale.

Thank you to all the people who have favorited and decided to follow this story! Since this is AU OotP, some aspects of later chapters of that novel, as well as HBP and DH may or may not exist in this verse. So expect to see Harry and Sirius communicate again soon, and not through a fireplace.

I'll be updating this story in between my other short story, which can be found on my profile.

Reviews are appreciated (and a nice way to let me know what you're thinking of the sequel so far!)