A/N: Something a little different this chapter. Hope you like it!

Part Two, Chapter Ten

The atmosphere in Dumbledore's office was tense. Behind the desk, the headmaster himself was sat with a grave expression on his face, surveying the man in front of him. The man in question was tall, thin and looked to be in his mid twenties, with long, oily black hair and a hooked nose. He seemed restless, as if he was trying to contain some kind of emotion, and was shifting his weight from foot to foot nervously. Behind him and off to his left by the door stood an elderly witch in green robes and a tall pointed hat, who was watching the scene cautiously. She was thin and severe-looking, and appeared to be waiting to step in should something happen out of hand. On Dumbledore's other side a man was sat in a chair by the window, staring vacantly out towards the lake and seemingly oblivious to the presence of the three other people in the room. His light brown hair was highlighted silver where pale light from the silver crescent moon fell upon it, but there was no light in his eyes. On the contrary, they seemed dead and forlorn, as if he'd resigned himself to misery.

The first to speak was the man stood in front of his desk, and when he did so his voice seemed deliberately calm and controlled. He seemed to be trying to prevent himself from allowing his restrained anger to show through. "Why is more not being done to find Black?"

The question was directed at Dumbledore, who scrutinized the man from behind his half moon glasses before making his reply in the same calm, measured tone. "I have assurances from the Ministry, Severus, that they are doing everything they can to round up the Death Eaters that remain at large. In addition to the protection of this school, finding the man responsible for the death of the Potters is their main priority."

Snape clenched his jaw as he fought to remain calm. "I didn't mean the Ministry, I meant you and the Order. What exactly are you doing about it?"

"Moody and the other aurors are out there now searching for the Death Eaters, as you know."

Dumbledore studied Snape's reaction carefully, and was not surprised to see the frustration that showed through in the way the young man kept clenching and unclenching his fists. Understandably, Snape seemed to be trying very hard to get a grip on the emotional turmoil he was in. "But why not Black specifically? Surely you know something that could help us find him? He could help us!" Snape said, spitting out the last sentence disdainfully as he jabbed a finger in the direction of the man sat by the window, who didn't react at all.

Dumbledore leant forward in his chair to rest his elbows on the desk and steeple his fingers in front of him, and surveyed Snape with a thoughtful expression. "It is important to remember that we do not know exactly what as happened, and since you do not know the exact identity of the informant we can assume nothing about the situation."

"I didn't even know there was an informant until the last minute!" Snape snapped, beginning to lose his composure. "The Dark Lord doesn't tell all of his followers everything, you know. I came to you as soon as I found out, but by then it was…too late." The last part of the sentence was added quietly, as if Snape's anger had subsided into nothing but remorse and regret.

Dumbledore responded in the same calm tone he had been using throughout the conversation. "We must also take into account the fact that Peter Pettigrew has disappeared too, and we must not jump to conclusions until we know why both Sirius and Peter have chosen to vanish."

"Well, why don't you ask him," Snape repeated again, turning to glare at the man sat staring out at the lake.

At last, this provoked some kind of response from Lupin, who turned his head slowly to face the others in the room. "He's gone after Pa…after Black." Lupin spoke the words quietly, as if he didn't really want to believe they were true. "Peter's gone after Black."

Snape turned back to Dumbledore. "There you are then," he said bitterly. "So why aren't there more aurors out there trying to hunt him down?"

Dumbledore gave a small shake of his head. "Severus, we cannot know for sure the identity of the informant. We must not accuse Sirius before the Ministry investigation has established exactly what happened."

Snape again turned to glare at Lupin. "So it could have been him then?" he spat, "After all, we don't know who they chose as their secret keeper. For all we know, he's set his friends up to look guilty and now he's sat there laughing while everyone else runs round after Pettigrew and Black." The final sentence seemed to be more of a mocking sneer than a genuine accusation, but it finally seemed to prompt Lupin to display some signs of life.

Rising quickly from the chair and rounding on Snape, Lupin whipped his wand out and pointed at him. "You dare…how dare you accuse me of that! I would never, you understand? I would never do that to Lily and James!" The dead look in Lupin's eyes had been replaced with one of pure fury.

Snape was just reaching for his own wand, but it was McGonagall, who'd been silently observing the conversation thus far, who intervened. "Boys!" she said, as if they were both still just unruly students she had to reprimand. "Put your wands away and listen to what Professor Dumbledore has said. We cannot know for sure exactly what has happened, and throwing insults and accusations at each other will do nothing to help."

Snape and Lupin glared at each other for a few more seconds, but then did as McGonagall as instructed and put their wands away before turning to face Dumbledore.

Dumbledore gave a sad, heavy sigh before speaking again. "We do not know the identity of the informant who betrayed the Potters, but it is only possible that it could have been one of three men who may have been chosen to act as the Potters' secret keeper. Remus, since you are here and having this conversation with us, can you confirm it wasn't you?"

A flash of anger crossed Lupin's face again, but he knew Dumbledore wasn't really accusing him. "No, I swear it wasn't me."

Dumbledore nodded. "And I believe you, Remus. Which means it must be either Peter Pettigrew or Sirius Black."

There was silence in the room for a few seconds as that final sentence sank in. It was Snape who broke the silence. "Then, if only one of them is guilty why have they both gone on the run?"

Dumbledore observed the two young men in front of him, thinking how they both seemed so close to emotional breaking point, even though they were showing it in such drastically different ways. He sighed sadly again. It seemed this war was going to break them all. "It is possible that one of them, in their anger, has gone after the other, although if we are to take into account all possibilities we must also consider that they may be…"

"In on it together," Lupin finished, his voice barely more than a whisper. He seemed to be trying not to cry.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, it is a possibility. But as I have said, we must not jump to conclusions. Now…" he said, rising from his seat, "Severus, if you wish to continue to be of help it may be best that you contact some Death Eaters and find out where they are and what they are planning, and you may also need to find an explanation for your absence on Tuesday night. Remus…" Dumbledore turned to Lupin, who had his shoulders hunched defensively and seemed to be trying hard to keep it together. "I would suggest that you go home, but it doesn't seem very likely that you would follow this instruction." Lupin shook his head. "Therefore I suggest that you go with Professor McGonagall back to headquarters where I expect Moody will be reporting shortly. I can assure you I will keep you both informed of how the Ministry investigation progresses, but right now I must attend a meeting with the Minister for Magic. I'll let Minerva show you out."

The conversation was officially over, and Lupin and Snape followed McGonagall to the door of the office, making a point of not looking at each other. Dumbledore crossed to the window and waited until they were gone, before taking advantage of his privileges as Headmaster of Hogwarts, and disapparated.

A/N: There you are, something a bit different because I thought it would be important to tell the story of everything else that's going on aside from Gwen and Barty, but we'll be going back to them next chapter. Also, I'm really hoping to get to the part with Martijn soon, but I don't want to introduce him before I'm ready and at the moment it just doesn't feel like I'm going to reach that point in the story for at least a couple more chapters. I hope you don't mind waiting! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed.