Betrayed With a Kiss

Chapter One: Musings

"Some people never know
You can't just let it go
Or try and work it out some other way
Some people never learn
My life ain't their concern
And nothin's gonna change come what may."
-Bryan Adams "Another Day"


After the meeting had adjourned, Severus swept out of the house as always, not even bidding farewell to the others. Dumbledore and several others of the order left soon after. It was not long before out of the thirty-five who had attended the meeting only three Weasleys, the dream team, Lupin and Moody remained, and the table was shrunk to its normal size.

"How about that report of Snape's, eh, Remus?" Moody said whilst nursing a bottle of firewhiskey.

Ron, overhearing Mad-Eye's question, commented, "Isn't it strange that the git would be so agreeable about you goin' back to Hogwarts? He hates you, almost as much as Harry!"

"It is strange," Remus replied.

"Leads one to thinkin' that the ole Death Eater is up to somethin', doesn't it?" Moody suggested.

"Dumbledore trusts him, Alastor," Molly Weasley spoke up, "And so should you. Severus Snape sacrifices more than anyone else for our cause. The least you could do is give the man some respect."

"The man doesn't deserve our respect. He didn't have to join Voldemort in the first place." Moody spat, his magical eye spinning around to look at each of the witches and wizards around him.

"And he didn't have to turn back either," Hermione pointed out, earning herself quite a few shocked looks. She had never before spoken to any of the Order with such a lack of respect before.

Moody did not answer this time; instead it was Ron who spoke out against the Order's spy, "The guy's a git, Hermione. I'd bet my broomstick that Snape's just waiting until He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named regains enough power to betray us all. All he cares for is himself. Not you, not me, and definitely not the order."

"Ronald Weasley!" Molly rebuked her son, "If you want to ever play Quidditch again, I suggest you watch your mouth. Because if I here one more word, I repeat one more word, against that poor man your broomstick will be locked away for the rest of your adult life!" Remus watched her carefully; the same speculation on his mind that currently occupied the others, 'Since when did Molly Weasley care so much about Snape?'


Severus sighed as he lowered himself onto the black leather armchair that sat nearest to the fireplace in his quarters at Hogwarts. With a flick of his wand, a fire was started and he sank back into the chair closing his eyes.

Of course the headmaster had to pass him over for the DADA position again. And to hire Lupin! It was bad enough that the old man couldn't trust him to the job, but to hire the werewolf that tried to kill him! That was going way too far!

Severus knew they'd expected him to react differently to Dumbledore's proposal to Lupin. Maybe that's why he reacted in the way that he did.

He was so bloody tired of fighting for something that he knew he could not win. It had never been about the job, as most believed. It was about the trust which would come with Dumbledore giving it to him. Yes, the old man trusted him to teach Potions (a subject which Severus did enjoy immensely) to the children, but to trust him to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, despite his shady past... That would be the ultimate act of faith on Dumbledore's part, and every time the man hired another imbecile to teach the post it was glaringly obvious to Severus that the man did not fully trust him.

Funny how it was with the light side. One mistake (even if it was a huge mistake...) and he was branded forever as "Dark". He chuckled humorlessly. The dark side, on the other hand, perhaps was a bit too forgiving. He had been proven as a traitor to the Dark Lord in the past and yet, here he was back in Voldemort's inner circle.

Being a master Occlumist did help in that regard. Being able to convey false (and some not so false) feelings of hatred towards those that stood beside Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter had been the deciding factor for Voldemort's absolution in the end, and had it not been for that... Well, Severus would definitely not be in the position to ponder that, now would he?

His eyes wandered to an ornately designed silver dagger lying on his mantle place, the orange light from the fire's light glinting strangely on the blade. The hilt was carved with emerald studded snakes, the intricate creatures looking so real that despite their size Severus often found himself feeling as if they were ready to strike at a moment's notice.

The dagger was truly the work of a master.

It had been a Christmas gift to Severus from Lucius Malfoy, many years ago when Severus was in his first year at Hogwarts and Lucius, his fifth. The two had been close friends ever since a fateful encounter on the train, when Black had attempted to attack Severus, only to be thrown across the compartment into one Lucius Malfoy. Lucius had toppled into the next compartment, Black falling in after him.

He distinctly remembered the vague feeling of dread when he realized he had just knocked over an older student and a prefect, no less. But instead of anger, Malfoy reacted with laughter, shoving the mutt off of him and inviting Severus to join him in his own compartment.

The dagger had sealed their friendship and had also taken it into the next level: brotherhood. The two had joined Voldemort together, though they had not known what they were getting into. At first being in the Dark Lord's service had been less, well, gruesome. The Death Eaters had not yet earned their name, and being one did not entitle murder and mayhem, rather it was about political power and what the purebloods felt was the best for the wizarding world: eliminating the presence of muggle-borns. Of course at first it hadn't been about killing them, just keeping them out of the wizarding world and refusing to teach them magic. There was no way they could actually know about the reality of magic anyhow, so it would not drastically effect the muggle-borns themselves.

But then the game had changed. It had been so gradual that Severus had not even seen it coming. They were soon ordered to kill and torture, and punished severely should they fail. By that time it was far too late to back out, as they had already been branded with the Dark Mark.

Lucius had found it easier to accept than Severus himself had. He had always been the more ambitious of the two. While Severus had found his loyalty to this cause weaken, Lucius's had been strengthened. Both wizards had risen up in rank, however, and both quickly reached the inner circle. They both had the necessary intelligence and skills to ensure their favour in the eyes of Voldemort, and had been two of the most trusted of his followers.

Severus found his faith shattered when he was first asked to kill a child. Yes, he had killed men before, but they were able to defend themselves. A child though, was defenseless against a wizard of his caliber, even any wizard at all. He threw himself at the mercy of Albus Dumbledore, showing the old man his mark and confessing his sins. He had firmly expected to be taken to the dementors, but Dumbledore had other ideas. Severus became a spy for the light, and the rest was ancient history.

Severus and Lucius stayed close through it all, even after the older man had learned of Severus's betrayal when Voldemort was defeated. Even though they both knew that they may ultimately stand on separate sides they remained brothers, not in blood, but in something much deeper than that: a camaraderie so deep that even though Severus was loathe to call it love, it was indeed just that. It was a love one holds for his brother, so close and endless that even something such as this war could not break it apart.

And now Lucius was in Azkaban. The others of the Order mourned for the loss of that mutt, Black, but he mourned for the bad guy. None of them could understand why he was so close with the enemy, but how could one be anything but that with a childhood friend? While the others had each other to mourn with, he had no one. The ones he held so dear stood on the other side, and he knew that in the end one way or another he'd be fighting against them. And that was more terrible than the fact that one's loved ones may ultimately die in this war. For who really wants to be the one at who's hand said loved ones died at?


TBC...

A/N: I actually planned to write more on Remus in this chapter, actually I had this whole scene planned out just for him... Well the story itself had other ideas and here's chapter one for you all!

Sorry if the whole long explanation of Sev and Luci's relationship bothered you, but all that really had to be said. 'Cause their relationship is very important to the whole plot...

As for the title: a couple of people were confused at the meaning of the title, "Betrayed With a Kiss". This does not indicate that there will be any dementors in the story! The term "betrayed with a kiss" was first used in the Bible. I hope you are all familiar with the story of Jesus' crucifixion, otherwise this might confuse you a bit. When the elders of the Jewish church began to see Jesus as a threat to them, they decided to arrest him and crucify him. But they could never get him alone. So when Judas, one of Jesus' twelve apostles and close friends, told them that he would show them where to find Jesus alone for money, they jumped at the chance. Judas lead the elders to Jesus and they told him to greet the one who was Jesus. He greeted Jesus with a kiss (as people did back then when greeting their rabbi or spiritual teacher). The title is more symbolic than anything. It merely means that someone is going to be betrayed by one they loved and trusted and in a terrible way.