Chapter 4

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Severus woke up the next morning with a feeling of dread heavy inside him. Today the Death Eaters had a meeting so they could show their master what they had found and he was worried. Sure he had the job to tell the Dark Lord, but Severus never knew how much he expected of him. The past few meetings the Dark Lord had shown favor to him, so all he could do was hope what he had was enough.

Mechanically, Severus rolled out of bed and got dressed for the day. He had slept in past noon knowing that he would be having a long night. The Dark Lord's meetings usually started in the late afternoon and ended when he finished getting information out of everyone, which could take all night. When he didn't get the answers he wanted, he made sure they knew how mad he was.

Having two hours until he was to be in the meeting and one and a half until he was to start traveling, Severus debated how to best use his time. He went into his small, dank kitchen and prepared a brunch of pumpkin juice and toast while thinking over all the information he had acquired over the past week. His compilation on Dumbledore was, admittedly, small and seemingly made up of pointless details to create a hazy overview picture of the man, but surely his lead for a job at Hogwarts would alleviate some of the Dark Lord's anger and frustration. A job at Hogwarts would put Severus right under the man' s crooked nose for a whole school year.

Severus cleaned up his breakfast, putting his dishes in the pile to be washed. They could be done with a flick of his wand but he did not care about the mess or the kitchen enough to bother with it. He moved on into the sitting room and pulled a book at random off the darkly stained bookshelf. He had been flipping through it for over a minute before he realized it was his old potions book, one of the few things he had kept after completing his 7th year. Most of his second hand belongs had gone to the trash, he did not wish to ever see them again because of the horrid memories from school he associated with them, but he had kept his potions book partly because it could be useful for day to day use and partly because it had been his best class, something he had always excelled at over Potter.

Severus checked the time again and quickly put the old book away. He grabbed his black traveling cloak to disguise his Death Eater robes and set off at a brisk pace to a muggle-free area to which he could disapparate from. It would not due for him to be late.

Agonizing screams rolled off the walls and into Severus' ears. Stone-faced, he watched as Rastaban Lestrange fell to the ground in a pain only the Cruciatus Curse could cause.

"You mean to tell me you found nothing on the Longbottoms in the entire week I gave you?" Voldemort hissed, his eyes ignited with fury. Rastaban raised his hand as if he meant to interject.

"My Lord I-"

"Crucio!"

As Rastaban fought the pain, Severus darted his eyes around the room. Only the newer Death Eaters seemed to be flinching at the sight of one of their own on the ground. The rest-like Severus-knew that this happened quite often. The Dark Lord raised his wand once more when Severus remembered something.

"My Lord?" Without lowering his wand, Voldemort turned and looked towards the voice.

"Severus?"

"I saw the Longbottoms yesterday while I was waiting for Albus Dumbledore in Leaky Cauldron. They and the Po- some other members of the order were meeting together." Severus suddenly realized what he did.

"The Longbottoms were with whom, Severus?" He couldn't say the Potters. If he did, his master would surely start a search against them.

"The Prewett brothers my Lord." He quickly continued. "The Longbottoms had brought along their son so the meeting between them and the Prewetts must not have been anything Order related. I wasn't completely listening as I was watching for Albus, but what I did manage to hear was just small talk." Voldemort lowered his wand and Severus let out the breath he realized he had been holding in.

"Very good, Severus. Rastaban, back in your seat."

"Thank you my Lord." Everyone waited as he got himself up off the ground and pulled himself into his seat.
"Now Severus," The Dark Lord said, turning to face him once again. "What did you find on Albus Dumbledore?"

"Unfortunately, My Lord, Albus either knows he's being followed or is just antisocial. Every day he goes to the Leaky Cauldron and orders something to drink and then leaves once it closes." Severus could tell the Dark Lord was about to say something about his lack of information. He needed to hurry up. "However, Albus is currently the headmaster at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I found out that he is in need of teachers this school year and I am in the process of applying. That way, I can always gain insight to him and other Order members."

Voldemort was silent for a moment and Severus held his breath until his master began to speak again.

"And what will happen if he knows your position as one of my loyal followers? Are you prepared to convince him otherwise?" Severus could feel everyone's eyes on him as they waited for his answer.

"I'm prepared."

The cool air was very much welcomed by Severus as he stepped out of Malfoy Manor once more. The Dark Lord was not in a good mood and Severus did not desire having to spend any more time than absolutely necessary with him at the moment as the Dark Lord was not entirely pleased with his information. He had expected more, Severus knew it. He would just have to try harder on his attempts on spying on the old man. Perhaps he could follow him with the use of a disillusion charm? That might work…

The meeting had been a relatively short one today so Severus decided he had the time and want for a drink from the Leaky Cauldron, but promised himself he would not get drunk tonight. He had been drinking far too much lately. He disapparated to the pub and sat down at the bar. He ordered a butterbeer, nothing to strong, and looked around him at the various people. None of them looked extremely happy, understandable of course. The public was terrified of the Dark Lord and probably for good reason. Severus had begun second guessing his choice to join the Death Eaters lately, but it did not matter. He could not back out now.

Severus finished his butterbeer fairly quickly but did not linger. He got up and walked toward the door to leave. He was about to reach for the door handle when someone opened it from the other side. He stepped back just as they stepped in. And much to his surprise it was -

"Lily." He said. She paused for a moment. Her face turned confused for a moment but then flattened out with no expression.

"Severus."

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Her voice had an edge to it and Severus could tell she was not interested whatsoever in talking to him. Rather than dragging on the awkward conversation Severus decided he would end it quickly for her.

"I'm sorry to bother you. I'll let you go you are probably busy and I as well have places to be." Liar he thought to himself, he would be just going back to his house and do nothing, "It was nice to see you again."

"And you." Lily said, relief coloring her tone.

And with that Severus went his way and Lily hers. Wasn't that familiar Severus thought to himself as he turned on the spot and left behind Lily Evans once again.