Eavesdropping
When the Dark Lord had ordered him to follow Dumbledore to his destination tonight, this was not the place that he had thought Dumbledore would go. I'd thought he would go to a more sophisticated establishment to indulge in his peculiarities, was the derisive thought that flitted through Severus' mind and nearly escaped his mouth, but he caught it before it did. His Master did not want him to be seen or heard and so he would not be. As Severus stood outside the door and listened to the conversation going on behind it the sneer on his face grew even more pronounced. Why would Dumbledore be interviewing this two-bit hack for any position at Hogwarts? Everyone knows that Divination is full of smoke and mirrors! And then he heard it, a voice that was too deep and harsh to belong to Dumbledore, but what was it saying? He strained to hear the words and as he did the sneer dropped from his face and his eyes grew wide with fear. Did the Dark Lord know that this is what I would be hearing tonight! And then, taken by surprise, the cloth at the back of his neck was grabbed by a hand too strong to break free from, and he was dragged into the room to face Dumbledore and the bug-eyed woman who was with him. The barman shook him roughly and yelled in his ear, "And look at what we 'ave 'ere, Dumbledore! A sneaking, greasy, snooping bastard!" Severus knew a moment of fear when Dumbledore's bright blue eyes examined him, but he had long practiced keeping his shields in place when faced with a powerful Occlumens and so Dumbledore could see nothing. "Like hell I was! I only came up the wrong stairs, and this dump is bloody well confusing I'll have you know!" It was a feeble excuse at best and all the occupants of the room (with the possible exception of the pseudo-Seer who still looked drained from her foray into the future) knew it. But it was still the best chance he had of getting out of the pub with his bollocks still intact and he was well aware that the barman was just itching to have a go at him. "Let him go Aberforth," said Dumbledore with an air of resignation, "If he heard nothing then he knows nothing, and if he heard Sybill…well, I am sure we will be made aware of it soon enough." The barman reluctantly let go of Severus, "Yer a lucky one this time!" Severus raced out of the room and made his way through the bar and out into Hogsmeade. The Dark Lord must hear of this now, I've no choice but to go to him! And so Severus turned and disappeared.