Here's the next chapter :) It's Snape's POV (I love him. Really.) Enjoy!
The corridor was empty and silent as Severus Snape was heading towards Headmaster's office, his black cloak fluttering behind him. The game they both played was dangerous and Snape was tired, very tired indeed. Tired of all those secrets, schemes, but most of all tired of that Potter boy. The brat wasn't making any progress in his Occlumency lessons, making it was a total waste of time. Every meeting ended up in a disaster - Potter's mind was constantly wide opened for the Dark Lord; he could as well go and tell him his every secret, every feeling, and it wouldn't make any difference.
The Dark Lord was causing problems too. He was angry that they hadn't made any progress at stealing those blasted Prophecy, the source of Snape's grief and misery. Dumbledore was as infuriating as always, all secretive, ignoring Potter which caused the boy to be even more pushy than usual.
The spring was ridiculously sunny and warm, which angered the Potions Master even more. It altered raging hormones of Hogwart's "gilded" youth. Those stupid kids were snogging wherever they could and Umbridge the Frog spent nearly half of her time chasing them around the castle. What a bunch of idiots.
Taking all of this into consideration, one couldn't be surprised that Severus Snape seriously had enough of this shit.
When he reached the office, he knocked on the door and an old man's voice called: "Come in!"
Dumbledore was sitting in his chair, reading some old, dusty book. When Snape entered, he looked at him from over his spectacles and said:
"Please, sit down Severus. Any news?"
Snape nodded, and sat in the chair, preparing the information.
"The Dark Lord is getting impatient. You know his temper. He spends most of his time with Crouch, it's hard to talk to him in private," Snape scowled with repulsion before continuing:
"That maniac leaves the Dark Lord only to go to his little wife and try to impregnate her, recently he had spent more time doing that. The Dark Lord doesn't mind though, and laughs that Barty deserves some fun after being imprisoned by his father for so long. All of the Death Eaters jeer when they hear about the girl, delighted at the prospect of her being raped and tortured by Crouch. It's disgusting," he made a pause, observing Dumbledore's reaction. The old wizard seemed to be completely unfazed by his words. Wise old bat.
"They never do it with him around, though, he once nearly killed one of the youngsters for such jokes," said Snape, still waiting for Dumbledore to react.
The Headmaster twirled his fingers, furrowing his brows, before saying:
"That's interesting. Voldemort is known to be highly possessive towards his minions and yet he lets his most faithful servant dedicate himself to his wife. I wonder why he's doing that."
"Maybe he knows that Crouch is a complete head case and would never abandon him, even for a woman. He thinks that they are both alike in many ways, so he doesn't accept the fact that Crouch could ever love somebody," replied Snape, thinking about what the Dark Lord told him recently about Bartemius.
Dumbledore chuckled, "And that's his greatest weakness, my dear friend. It will be his downfall."
Snape raised his famous eyebrow.
"Really? You think that Crouch loves his little pet?"
"Oh, I don't think that such sick person can feel real love. No, I think that he's obsessed with her. He likes to play with his prey, to spend time with her, he considers her his property, but he doesn't love her. If he loved her, he would let her go, he would save her. Instead, he holds her captive, to his master's delight," the older wizard smiled mysteriously, "But that doesn't mean we cannot use this to our advantage. An obsession can be very dangerous to both sides of the relationship. Let's hope that it will be Crouch who falls from it, not Rose. Have you seen her recently?"
"Lucius Malfoy has told me that she's alive and well, but frightened. I haven't seen her since October, I doubt that Crouch would let me near his house. They still want to steal that Prophecy - but that's not their only goal. Dolohov has been sent to Albania to look for new recruits. Rowle and Avery are in the Polish mountains, trying to get round local giants. The Dark Lord is gathering dark creatures from all over the world. Crouch is going to bring some Kelpies and Graphorns from Germany, nasty and dangerous creatures."
Dumbledore was silent for some time. It annoyed Snape to no end. What was going inside the old man's head? Minutes passed, when the Headmaster finally spoke.
"We shouldn't be surprised by all of this. I knew that Voldemort would work hard to gather forces, I'm worried though, that he's doing so well in his task."
He fell silent for a second.
"And you say that Crouch is going to visit Germany?"
"Yes, as soon as the Dark Lord commands it," Snape responded, "Why do you ask? It's about the girl, right? She was after all a member of the Order."
Dumbledore looked at him closely.
"I have a feeling Severus, that you harbour some grievance against me. Why is that?"
"Why?" Snape grinded out, "You bloody well know why. You had let this child into the Order despite of the fact that half of it was against the idea. Then, you knew that the Dark Lord wanted her and yet you left her without protection. She has been abducted that very evening when you had spoken with her and you didn't lift a finger to prevent it. What if they tortured her to get information?"
"She was kept away from the Order's business. Death Eaters wouldn't get much from her," Dumbledore interrupted calmly.
"Oh, I see," Snape scoffed, "It doesn't matter whether she's raped, tortured, killed. She doesn't know anything, so it's perfectly safe for us, so don't worry."
"It's not like that, Severus."
"Then what's all of this? Why did you let her join the Order? Why did you abandon her? Do you plan to rescue her, now that Crouch will be away?"
"My, my Severus, I thought you didn't like the girl. Do you care for her?" Dumbledore asked.
"I don't like anyone in this world and you know it. It's just surprising that such good-hearted and skilled wizard as you has let an innocent girl be kidnapped by the Dark Lord right under your nose. You could have prevented it, but you didn't and I want to know why," Snape said angrily. The room fell silent, as it tends to do in the Headmaster's office.
"And she was good at Potions, one of the few out of this bunch of idiots," he added after a moment of hesitation. Dumbledore chuckled.
"That's quite a praise coming from you."
"Don't change the subject."
The Headmaster sighed.
"Very well," he said and stood up to put the book he was reading earlier on the shelf. Then, he started to pace back and forth around the study.
"As you know, I have a plan regarding Harry and his part in destroying Voldemort. I'm close, very close to finding out Voldemort's most precious secret, the secret that explains why he survived the Killing Curse which rebounded from Harry. If I'm right, it will be extremely hard to kill him, but not impossible. Harry will need any help he can get and you must be the one to protect him most."
Snape snorted.
"That's very much like you - you don't tell my everything and expect me to trust you blindly-"
Dumbledore cut him short, "Both you and Harry will understand when the time comes. Now I have something else to tell you."
"If Harry fails and my plan crumbles, we have to be prepared. I have a backup plan, which is very risky, but must be executed without delay in case everything else falls down," he said before sitting again in the chair. The fire was slowly dousing in the fireplace, its' crackling being the only sound in the room for a minute.
"There's an old muggle myth," Dumbledore spoke again, in a silent voice, "A myth about a woman who had a strong sense of duty and justice, who was loyal to her morals and was willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good. She left behind a relic, the Amulet of Ananke. A strong, magical artifact, able to grant any wish beside bringing back the dead and immortality. They say that the Amulet disappeared when its first owner died, but I found out that is not the true. In this book I had been reading before you came, it clearly pointed out that the artifact belonged to one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight."
"The twenty-eight British families that were still truly pure-blood by the 1930's,"whispered Snape, knowing very well that such a treasure would be priceless for both sides of the war. And to know that it was in pure-bloods possession...
"I found some old diaries in Shafiq Manor. The family descended from Egypt, where they got their hands on the Amulet, never using it. The last member of the house died 2 years ago, but I've made it in time to gather some interesting knowledge from him. He said that one of his ancestors lost the artifact in a gamble. It was 400 years ago. Guess who was the winner."
Snape felt his mouth go dry. He understood now why Rose Clifton had been staged as a bait.
"Crouch," he whispered in a hoarse voice, "It was Crouch. I've told you by the end of the summer, that the Dark Lord wants to award him. That he wants his blood to be passed down."
Suddenly he felt sick. The old bastard knew that Crouch had the artifact, that he needed a wife to please his Master and carry on the bloodline. He found a pure-blooded girl, lured her into the Order and gave her to that maniac, in hope that she'll survive by some miracle to retrieve the Amulet.
"You did it on purpose," Snape said, his voice getting stronger, "You let her think that she's a part of the Order, a part of us, while in reality you were just using her to get what you want. You knew that her parents died, that she was alone, that no one would miss her and try to find her. A perfect nark. But what if something goes wrong? What if Crouch finds out? What if she gets killed or worse? You don't care about that, do you?"
"Crouch won't know. He's not aware of having such treasure, if he was, he would give it immediately to his lord and master. Rose doesn't know either. I couldn't risk Crouch using Legillimency on her. I want him to think that she's completely loyal to him, that she's wholly in his possession. I've already gained that, given what you say is true. Now we must contact her and she'll search for the thing, she'll extract information from him and strike when he less expects it," Dumbledore said calmly.
Snape was shocked. He clenched his fists, before saying:
"You are aware of the fact that she has one chance in a million to succeed? That it's nearly sure that she'll get caught and she'll suffer even more before Crouch finishes her off? Merlin knows what he's doing to her right now and you're fine with that!?"
"And what of thousands of other people? If the suffering of one girl can save thousands of others, then I'm willing to make that sacrifice. Voldemort must be destroyed before he ruins the world we know. If he wins, Rose would die either way as a blood traitor," said Dumbledore, not showing any sign of remorse.
"You. Bastard," Snape said slowly. "You made her a blood traitor by pulling her inside the Order. She would be safe, if it weren't for you."
Dumbledore looked tired. He fell silent for a moment, burying his head in his hands. It seemed like Snape's words finally had gotten to him.
'He has the prick of conscience. Serves him right,' thought Snape. The old man looked at him.
"Please, understand me, Severus. There was no other way to get inside Crouch's house. As you said, he wouldn't let you near, he doesn't trust you. If there was another way-" the Headmaster told him in a begging voice.
Snape scowled.
"Spare me. I don't understand you and I don't want to. Rose Clifton is to die, that's the only thing I know. Now, you want me to deliver her the message?"
Dumbledore looked at him sadly.
"Yes," he whispered. "When Crouch will be in Germany, you'll go to his house pretending to have some business with him. You'll ask for his wife, to tell her what you want from her husband. If she's clever, she'll send Winky away. She's Winky mistress, the house-elf will obey her. You'll cast Muffliato on the door and tell her what she needs to know."
Snape smirked coldly, "Very clever, I must say. I can't wait to see her face when I tell her that she's been betrayed by her dear Headmaster and that no one's looking for her."
"Sirius wanted to find her," said Dumbledore, "It was hard to convince him that it's impossible to do, that the Death Eaters probably killed her by now."
"Black, always playing the hero. Why that doesn't surprise me," scoffed Snape, "Is it everything?"
The older wizard sighed, "Yes, that's all for now. You may go."
Snape left the study in a hurry. The corridors were empty and dark, nearly as dark as his thoughts were right now.
'I hope he doesn't get any sleep this night. I hope he hears her cries and screams while Crouch rapes her again and again,' he thought, 'I hope he sees her like I saw her at Riddle Manor, frightened, curled up on the floor while the Dark Lord threatened her and the Death Eaters jeered. She was completely defenceless. Just like Lily was. He didn't save her and now he sacrifices another innocent woman for the greater good.'
Dumbledore was a genius, a brilliant wizard. Old and experienced. He must have seen in his life thousands of young girls such as Lily and Miss Clifton. Many of them are probably dead by now and he doesn't care. Such old and wise people tend to get indifferent of suffering of the others. They've seen so much misery that it doesn't make any difference to them that one other person dies.
Severus Snape lied in his bed, wondering about Headmaster's words. What was the life of one witch, compared to life of thousands, maybe millions? Was she so special? Would someone miss her, even if she died? Did they have a right to sacrifice her, even for the whole world's sake? What will she tell him, when he informs her of her fate? Will she get pale? Will she cry? Feel abandoned, betrayed? Will she get angry, mad, will she curse him and the whole Order? Will she faint? Maybe she'll go straight to her husband to tell him the truth.
Maybe she thinks that Crouch treats her better than everyone else could. Maybe that's the truth. Severus didn't tell Dumbledore one thing, the thing that Lucius told him not long ago. When he, Bellatrix and that beast Greyback were in Crouch's house, the girl was terrified. She clung to her husband like a small child. And Crouch nearly killed Greyback for laying a hand on her. Would she hold onto him like that, if he really was so cruel to her? Comparing Crouch and Dumbledore - who would she choose?
Snape didn't know. He felt that it will be extremely hard to tell her what was awaiting her. He cursed Dumbledore for putting him in such situation.
'Lily wouldn't let them do such a thing. She'd protect the girl like a lioness she was. Merlin, how I miss her."
With that thought, Severus Snape fell asleep, plagued by the green eyes and sweet laughter of the girl with red hair. The girl who died.
