Disclaimer : see prologue.

Chapter reread by somigliana. Thanks!

Chapter 3: Traps for a Dark Wizard.

Severus was walking aimlessly in a nocturnal London, thinking about his quandary: how to fool the Dark Lord and to make him believe that the faux codex, which would soon be in his possession, was his Horcrux?

He turned the question in his mind as many times as he turned street corners. Two hours later, he still hadn't found a solution. Or rather, the obvious one that had come to him was just unthinkable. If he implemented it, he knew that he wouldn't be whole anymore, an idea that he abhorred with passion. It was one thing to want to live at any cost, but to part from a piece of himself … he almost felt like those religious people who believed that if they were buried with a limb lacking, said limb would still be lacking when God resurrected them; a lost piece of oneself was lost forever, with no hope of ever being recovered.

Two hours of thinking in circles finally convinced him that he valued his life more than not being whole, and thus his decision was made: he would create his own Horcrux to fool the Dark Lord. All he needed now was a victim. A Muggle would do, he decided, and prey wasn't rare in London, even at this late hour. He set his mind into hunting mode.

He spotted a teenager, obviously a junkie, who was wandering alone, lost in his inner world. It was easy to drag him to a quiet place – a park, and to kill him. Avada Kedavra had been a long-time friend for Severus. What was more difficult was the next part. Anticipation and fear of the unknown had him in an adrenaline-induced stupor. He noticed that his mind had dissociated what he was doing from what he was feeling. It was like his first kill.

With a slightly trembling hand, he placed the tip of his wand to his heart and spoke the incantation: "Anima Dispergere." He moved his wand in a gracious arc from his heart to the codex that he had put on a nearby bench. A white glow followed the tip of his wand, like the luminous path of a fairy. The beam then seemed to embed itself in the codex. All the while, Severus felt as if a physical part of him had been wrenched from him. He knew it was only a spiritual part that had been torn away from him, but he felt the loss just as acutely.

Suddenly, things were back to normal. Severus stood, exhausted, in the London night. He could now go to his Master and present him with a Horcrux, while his mind buried the horrible act that he'd just committed deep in the depth of his subconscious.

Severus was in presence of the Dark Lord for the second time in two days, but he'd never felt such fear before. He observed the Death Eater etiquette and bowed to his master.

"Severus," the Dark Lord acknowledged him. "I suppose that you have succeeded in the task that I had assigned to you?"

"Indeed, my Lord. Here it is." Severus held out his hands, the codex lying on his open palms.

The Dark Lord took the ancient book with reverence and went out of the room to put it somewhere safe. Severus knew to wait for his return. He didn't wait long.

"I shall reward you, my faithful servant. I have acquired a first edition of Cornelius Agrippa's book De Occulta Philosophia. It will be a gift to you from your Lord."

Severus was speechless. That book, in its first edition, was impossible to find; it'd been censored by the Ministry nearly as soon as it'd been published – Dark Magic was the official reason. That was really a great reward, for the knowledge contained in this book would allow Severus to use the elements as he'd like.

"I am most grateful, my Lord," he managed to say.

"You may retire now, Severus. You will meet with Bellatrix in the morning for the details of our next action; she will lead it with your help."

Severus bowed. He went back to his home to glean a few hours of sleep before he went in search of Bellatrix Lestrange.

Severus found Bellatrix in her home the next morning. It must have been as Unplottable as Grimmauld Place was, for no Auror had ever found it.

She must have received orders from the Dark Lord, for she let him in without a comment, just a grim face. It was clear that her dislike of him hadn't wavered a bit. She led him to a small and uncomfortable lounge. She didn't lose time with niceties and tackled him immediately about the Dark Lord's project to abduct Kingsley Shacklebolt in order to use a part of him in a Polyjuice Potion. The final goal of the action was to approach and murder the Prime Minister.

Bellatrix and Severus were both leaders of the group which would abduct the Auror the following week, when he would go and visit his mother in St. Mungo's Hospital, but one could feel in the air around them that each wanted to be the only leader. They argued about every detail – who would go with them, who would watch guard, who would stun Shacklebolt, who would take him to the place they had yet to chose, etc. In their rivalry, they came to use petty arguments.

"Really, Bellatrix, I wonder how it is that the Dark Lord still trusts you enough to conduct such an important operation."

"He trusts me enough to take care of one of his most precious … objects …"

Severus interrupted her, "I can only hope that you have hidden it well, and that Potter will not be able to put his hands on it."

Bellatrix looked utterly outraged; she hadn't seen the trap Severus had set up for her. "It is hidden in this very house, where only a Black or a Lestrange can come in uninvited." She shut up abruptly, realising what information she'd told a man that she perceived as a rival.

Severus felt elated at Bellatrix's confession. He had very useful information to pass to Miss Granger. And the Order happened to have a Black in their ranks – Nymphadora Tonks; Bellatrix had overlooked that fact. He ensured then that the meeting ended quickly, left the house and began to think about a way to contact Miss Granger without either of them being caught.

The simplest things were always the better, Severus mused. He Charmed his letter into a copy of the Daily Prophet that only the girl would be able to turn back to its original form. He wrote her that he would meet her at two a.m. tonight in her parents' garden.

She understood the message, for she was there, pacing silently on the terrace. She startled at the sound of Apparition, but she was soon composed again.

"Good evening, Miss Granger. I am glad to see you here."

He could see that she was on her guard.

"Well, sir, you asked me to be there. Do you have something new to tell me so soon after our last meeting?"

"You never thought that I would uphold my part of the bargain, did you?" He saw in her eyes that he was right and felt an unexplained sadness. "As you can see, I've kept my word. Helga Hufflepuff's cup is in Bellatrix Lestrange's custody, as I have already told you. It is in the house where she is currently residing. I also know that only a Black or a Lestrange can enter the house without a formal invitation. You will need Nymphadora Tonks for this task." He wouldn't tell her about Shacklebolt's planned abduction; it'd be the same as advertising his treachery to the Dark Lord in the Daily Prophet.

Amazement could be read on Hermione's features as she took in the precious information she was fed with. "Why are you telling me this? Excuse me, but I really have a hard time to believe you'd betray Vold … You-Know-Who just in exchange for my testimony. It doesn't make sense."

"And does wanting to quit the Death Eaters make sense? I told you that I want freedom. Should I have to tell you in Chinese to have you understand this?"

"What is it about being a Death Eater that makes you want to quit?"

Severus knew the answer to her question, but he wasn't ready to tell her. Not everything at least. He sighed and began pacing. "I do not want to spend my life watching my back permanently. Being a Death Eater means any of them envy you when you are in favour with the Dark Lord, and dreams to see you fall from your pedestal only to take your place." He wasn't about to tell her about his loneliness.

Hermione's doubts, born of too much thinking about their last encounter in the basement of the orphanage, were swept away for good in the darkness of the night. A feeling she'd never thought that she'd have for her loathsome ex-teacher was rising in her heart: compassion. She could hear his longing for a more "normal" life in his voice.

"How can I reach you?" she asked him. "You'll want to know when we're going to retrieve the Horcrux, so that you'll be occupied somewhere else."

"Just use the same spell I have used on my letter."

She nodded, and then he was gone, as abruptly as the last time, without so much as a good-bye.

Their next meeting was requested by her. She could just have sent a letter to tell him they were going to make their move Sunday evening, but she wanted to see him again, like a kind of reassurance that he wasn't going to change his mind again, that he was now on their side for whatever reason of his. She also wanted to ask him about an obscure spell Death Eaters had used against two Aurors. It was a spell which could physically bind two persons, making them Siamese twins. She wanted to know the counter-curse, just in case. That unexpectedly led to a debate about the Dark Arts and their applications. Severus was so in need of conversing with a human being that he couldn't help but immerse himself in the conversation. Hermione never imagined that he was involved, though from afar, in the assassination of the Prime Minister.

After that, every upcoming event was used as an excuse to meet: the success of the mission at Bellatrix Lestrange's home, the destruction of the Horcrux, preparations for the onslaught on Voldemort's hide-out, etc. Before they realised it, they were on a first name basis. They didn't quite give up the formality in their meetings, but a growing warmth emanated from their words. When Hermione told Severus the date of the attack of the Order, each occupied the other's mind full time. But the moment wasn't right to act upon their barely acknowledged feelings; the time had come to set a trap for the Dark Wizard.