A/N: Thank you for the reviews, they keep me writing.

Chapter 22: Cursed Ink

Professor Snape stepped out of the flames with Zoltan Kun in his arms. The headmaster's office was quiet, as though all the whirring instruments had gone to sleep. The only sound was a gentle clinking of metal. Snape deposited the sleeping boy on a velvet ottoman.

Dumbledore stood in a far corner of the crowded room, dwarfed by the gothic cabinet beside him and flicking through a bunch of keys. After finding the correct one, he unlocked the tangle of chains enveloping the cabinet. Its tall doors opened to reveal an intricate box in the style of a church tabernacle. With a flick of Dumbledore's wand, the box melted away. Four vials of potions hovered in its place. He took one and turned to Snape.

"You know what this means, Severus, you're losing his trust."

"And how do you suggest I regain it?" Snape replied, his voice tight. "I will not give her to him."

"Did I imply that you should? I know you've learnt from your past mistakes." Dumbledore looked over at Kun. The boy's breathing had become fainter, and he looked pale, almost gray, like he'd been carved into his sleeping position.

"This is my fault," Snape said. "I believed the Dark Lord when he told me he'd abandoned this plan. I was naively confident in my position."

"This is not the time to assign blame and indulge in self-loathing," Dumbledore replied. "Three years ago no one recognised the signs in Miss Weasley. This time we both saw them and did nothing." Dumbledore walked towards Snape and asked "Do you know how he did it?"

"With letters." Snape took the drawstring bag from his pocket, opened it, and let its contents tumble onto the headmaster's desk. "I believe the possession grew with their correspondences as it did with Miss Weasley and her enchanted diary." Dumbledore moved closer to peer at the pieces of paper. There were about fifteen in total, some crumpled like discarded drafts of essays and others flattened from being kept in the pages of heavy books.

"Has Voldemort ever spoken of any plans to circumvent the Owl Screen?"

Snape flinched at the Dark Lord's name.

"No, not in my presence."

Dumbledore continued to scrutinise the letters, leaning forward with his hands clasped behind his back, squinting through his half-moon glasses. He looked old and frail. Snape swallowed. He wanted to tell him to stop reading, to be more afraid.

"Shall I wake the boy?" he asked instead. He took Kun's wand from the holder strapped to the boy's forearm.

"Not yet, we need Fawkes," Dumbledore replied. A minute later, the windows opened and an unnaturally warm breeze swept into the room, followed by the golden phoenix. Dumbledore pointed his wand at the sleeping boy and erected a shimmering shield around him. "Now you may wake him."

"Evigilo," Snape stated.

Kun's eyes shot open. His pupils were black slits. For a moment he lay still, then he said in a cold voice that was Kun's and at the same time wasn't,

"You have caught him." He sat up calmly. "No matter, I am but a shadow." Suddenly, his cool expression contorted with fear. He clutched at the wand-holder on his forearm and jumped from the ottoman. The shield knocked him backwards.

"We're not going to harm you, Zoltan," Dumbledore said. "We're going to rid your mind of Tom Riddle."

Dumbledore raised his wand again. The potion vial flew towards Kun. His neck muscles visibly strained as magic forced his head to tilt back. His jaw opened with a jerk and the vial tipped its contents into it.

Kun shook his head violently, his eyes scrunched and his limbs twitching, grunting in pain. The veins around his lips grew black and spread up his face and down his neck, like fast growing vines. Then the black lines stretched down his shirt to his hands clasped in fists. Fawkes screeched and Snape found himself looking away. The words on the letters began to overflow with black ink and run down the pieces of paper, dripping onto the desk. Dumbledore raised a hand to Snape as if to say, "not yet".

Kun continued to twist and moan on the ottoman until with a final jolt he fell still, his eyes closed and his jaw slack. Dumbledore dissolved the shield and Fawkes swooped over and landed beside the boy. The bird's tears dripped from his eyes into Kun's mouth and Kun's veins began to fade.

"Do you believe the unicorn tears will have been enough to protect him?" Snape asked.

"I have faith in your calculations, Severus. I think the basilisk venom will have targeted Tom's presence and the tears will have shielded Mister Kun. Along with Fawkes' tears it should've been enough, but only time will tell."

"You were right to prepare the potion."

"It is not you who I don't trust, Severus, it is Tom Riddle."

"Somnus," Snape muttered and once again Kun fell into a deep sleep, with Fawkes still crying above him.

"We will talk with the boy tomorrow," Dumbledore said. "In the meantime, inform Remus of the situation and ask him to guard Gryffindor tower. Tom may have decided to infest the mind of more than one of my students and we cannot compromise Harry's safety. Minerva has been informed and is maintaining the castle's defences."

"Does the "situation" include Miss Feral?"

"Yes, we require more eyes on her now." Snape's jaw twitched in response but he didn't reply. As he turned to leave Dumbledore added, "I know you do not wish for him to know but-"

"-It's not about me, it's about the safety of the girl and winning this war."

"Do you not trust Remus?"

"It doesn't matter, it's not my decision to make," Snape stated. "Professor," he acknowledged with a nod and left the room.

Snape marched down the hallways towards the north of the castle where Lupin had his chambers. He swirled his wand in front of him and a silver thread spilled out.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath. The night with the sióg had helped his silent casting, but apparently the effect had worn off, or his happy memories were fading away. "Expecto Patronum," he pronounced loudly and a white doe jumped forwards. The headmaster requires your assistance, I will arrive at your chambers in five minutes to inform you of the situation, he mentally told his patronus before it leapt away.

Snape met Lupin halfway up the North Tower, still shrugging into his tattered robes.

"Morning, Severus" Lupin greeted, "What's happened?"

"Zoltan Kun has been possessed by the Dark Lord," Snape answered. "We need you to guard Gryffindor Tower in case he has other plans for tonight." Lupin's face went white.

"How did you find out?" he asked.

Snape turned and began walking west. Lupin followed.

"He slipped veritaserum into Róisín Feral's drink."

"What? Why would Voldemort be interested in Róisín Feral?"

"Because she's the sióg."

Lupin stopped in his tracks.

"The sióg is in Hogwarts? When was she in the Department of Magic?"

Snape continued walking and Lupin hurried to catch up.

"She did an internship in the bedevilled and blighted magical artifacts department last summer."

"Is she stable? Does she have a partner?"

"She has a partner."

"Who?"

Snape stared straight ahead as he walked.

"Me"

They turned a corner towards Gryffindor tower. For a minute, the only sound was their footsteps as Lupin struggled to reply. Finally he asked,

"How did Voldemort do it?"

"Do not speak that name in my presence," Snape hissed.

"How did he do it?" Lupin pressed.

"I found cursed letters in Mister Kun's room. Their words glowed from a human presence revealing spell. I suspect they hid a shadow of his soul."

Lupin took a moment to digest the information, then he asked,

"Wasn't Kun the one who fought last weekend?"

"Correct. He's had mood swings all year which I mistakenly chalked up to hormones. His fellow Slytherins were mocking him."

"For being gay?" Lupin supplied.

"My house isn't known for its tolerance," Snape conceded. "It's one of the reasons I didn't expel him after last weekend."

"You think it wasn't him fighting, but Vol-, He-who-must-not-be-named?"

"I suspect the Dark Lord's disgust at the boy's sexuality caused him to lash out."

"I heard a boy was injured. How bad was it?"

"Kun threw a crucio."

"He did what!?" Lupin barked. "Why wasn't I informed?"

"There's no need for hysterics," Snape drawled, "The curse didn't land. The safest place for any student, especially a Slytherin, is behind these walls and I'm reluctant to kick any out."

"Where's Kun now?"

"In the headmaster's office. We have dispossessed him of the Dark Lord."

"How?" Lupin asked, surprised.

"With a dispossession potion."

"I didn't know that existed."

"It didn't, until I invented it."

"Ahem!" the Fat Lady interrupted. "Password?"

They had arrived at Gryffindor Tower. Lupin hesitated and glanced at Snape.

"Butterbeer," Snape said and turned to his colleague, "Did you think the only thing preventing me from assaulting your favourite student was the Gryffindor password?"

Lupin sighed.

"Of course not, Severus, I'm just on-edge."

Snape whipped his wand like a lasso, casting a wide-ranging muffilato.

"Only myself, the headmaster and Professor McGonagall know about the sióg," Snape said gravely. "The rest of the Order cannot know. The Dark Lord would torture every last one of us to find her. After Potter, she is our biggest liability. If He does find her, he will kill me, but not before I kill you. Understood?"

"Some of the Order don't believe you're fully on our side," Lupin replied. "I do. However when you threaten my life I see where they're coming from." Snape sneered and turned to leave. "I won't tell the rest of the Order," Lupin said to his back. The potions professor descended the spiral staircase they had come from. Lupin rubbed his hand against his scarred face and took out his wand.

Deep in the Department of Mysteries, a former unspeakable watched as the quill stopped scratching a piece of parchment, and a few drops of black ink leaked from its nib.