Spies Like Us

On the way to the gargoyle statue which guarded the secret entrance to the Headmaster's office, they met Reg, who looked very concerned until he caught sight of his best friends together. Then he halted and gave them a very annoyed frown. "Severus! Holy Merlin, where were you last night? When you didn't come back from the library I thought maybe someone had hexed you or something."

Severus raised an eyebrow at Regulus' disapproving tone. Then he drawled, half-sarcastically, "Sorry, Dad, I wasn't aware I missed my curfew. Calm down, Reg. I'm fine. Lily and I . . .we had some things to discuss."

Regulus's eyes widened. "Like what? Tell me you didn't . . .ah . .umm . . .Never mind!" He turned red.

"It's not what you're thinking, Reg," Lily hastened to say, not wanting him to get the wrong idea about her. "I was angry at Sev and it took awhile for him to convince me to hear him out."

"The whole night?"

"Pretty much," she admitted ruefully. "He spent the night in the hallway outside the portrait hole."

"Merlin have mercy!" Reg stared at his friend as if he'd grown an extra arm. "Okay . . .now I really have heard it all. Lily, you better marry him, because for sure he's in love with you, since nobody but a lovestruck fool does such a thing."

Lily chuckled. "I know, Reg. And I am just as crazy about him."

Reg grinned. "Ha! A perfect match! Now, if only I could get Cindy to speak with me." His grin vanished. "But she won't give me the time of day."

"Tell her the truth," Lily urged, dragging Regulus over to a corner next to the gargoyle statue. "Don't lie, Reg, just tell her what you're really up to hanging around those arseholes. That's how Sev convinced me to stay."

Regulus nearly fainted. "Sev! You . . .told?"

"I had to, Reg," Severus defended. "Look, come with us to Dumbledore's office, Lily needs to tell him something important and so do I. It concerns you too."

"Huh? Did I miss something? How does your breaking your promise concern me?"

"You'll see. Now come on." Severus grabbed his roommate by the sleeve and towed him over to the gargoyle. "Cherry popsicles," he said, and the gargoyle spun around to reveal the staircase.

All three got on it and the gargoyle slid back into place just as the stairs began to revolve.

"Come in," called the Headmaster cheerily, and the three entered the office.

"Ah, Severus, my boy! How are you doing? Are your NEWTS studies going well?" Dumbledore was seated behind his splendid mahogany desk, with his feet up, so they could all see his striped rainbow socks. "Lily, Regulus! How nice to see you all! Lemon drop?"

"No thank you, sir," Severus declined. "Headmaster, we need to discuss something urgently with you."

Dumbledore sat up, and his eyes lost some of their sparkle. "Indeed? And what would that be?"

He waved the three to seats in front of his desk.

Once they were all seated, Severus said, "Sir, remember that matter we discussed over the summer, when Reg and I met you in the ice cream shop? Well, Lily has something important to tell you about that matter."

He gestured for Lily to continue. She cleared her throat and said, in a quiet firm voice, "Headmaster, I was born with the gift of Sight. I am an oracle, I can see visions in dreams. And what I See Happens. Almost always. A month ago I kept having the same prophetic dream over and over, until I wrote it down. It concerned me, Severus, and Regulus."

Dumbledore looked very intrigued. "Will you tell me this dream, Miss Evans?"

Lily recited the Prophecy of the Three, as she had come to call it to herself. "Three together shall walk the paths of night, for only by infiltrating the heart of darkness can the dark be defeated. Be swift, be cunning, and be steadfast and you shall never be destroyed. Trust in yourselves and each other and the dark will not triumph. Fail and the dark shall destroy all"

Both the Headmaster and Regulus looked stunned, and Severus fought to keep from snickering inanely. He had forgotten that Reg knew nothing about Lily's vision, and the look on his friend's face was priceless.

"Three?" Regulus repeated dumbly. "But then that means . . .you must become a spy too, Lily."

She nodded, only to be interrupted by Severus's abrupt, "No! Anything but that! It's too dangerous."

"And what you're doing isn't?" Lily spun on him, her emerald eyes shooting sparks. "Cozying up to the Death Eater kids every day, pretending to be their friend so you can report what they say and do back to Dumbledore? They are cruel and vicious, just like their parents, and if they ever found out you duped them, Severus . . .they might curse you to death. Why is it acceptable for you to risk your life and not me?" she demanded. "And don't give me any piddling reason like because I'm a girl, Severus Snape!"

Severus bit his lip to prevent his temper from taking control over his tongue. Lily, dammit, why must you be so blasted stubborn! Can't you see that I don't want you to get hurt? "Fine! It's not acceptable because I don't want you to get hurt, okay?"

She softened a little at his admission, which she knew was not one he made lightly. "Oh, Sev. You just have to trust me. My visions are almost never wrong and this one . . .I know with everything I am that it must be followed. All of us must face You-Know-Who and his bootlickers and only together will we triumph. Together, Sev. You, Reg, and me."

"But Lily! How can you be a spy when you're a Gryffindor?" sputtered Regulus. He gazed at Dumbledore. "Tell her it's impossible, sir! She's lost her marbles."

Dumbledore pondered for a few more minutes before saying gravely, "While I find Lily's prophecy disturbing, to say the least, I must admit that it seems a valid one. But first I must make certain of it."

"How can you do that, sir?' asked the young oracle.

"I must go to the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. There, every true prophecy uttered by a Seer is recorded at the moment it is spoken. If your vision is true, Miss Evans, the prophecy will be there with your names upon it."

"Can we go with you, sir?" asked Regulus.

"I have no need to see what I already know," Lily said quietly.

"I trust Lily." Severus said. "But you go on and take a look, Reg."

"All right." He looked questioningly at their aging mentor. "May I, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore nodded. Then he held out his arm. "Very well, Regulus. Take hold of my arm, lad. This will only take a moment or two."

Reg grasped the old wizard's purple sleeve and an instant later they vanished.

"How did he do that?" Lily cried, amazed. "Apparition isn't supposed to be possible in Hogwarts."

Severus shrugged. "Maybe for the Headmaster, that doesn't hold true." He clasped Lily's hand in his own, his eyes meeting hers with a deep and abiding worry in their depths. "I wish none of this had to happen. I wish you and I could just be together, and forget all the secrecy and lies and spying. I wish we could say to hell with all of this and go off somewhere and live a normal life." He laughed mockingly, but his laughter was directed at himself. "I sound like an idiot, don't I?"

"No. You sound like someone forced into a role he never wanted to play, but now has to. Sev, I wish the same, but what will be shall be. All we can do is accept it and make the best of it. I promise I'll be careful, Sev. If you'll promise me the same."

"I promise. But I still don't like it. Being a spy is dangerous and dirty work, not like in the movies. It's not like James Bond." He cautioned. "Every time I go to one of their meetings, I'm afraid I might do or say something and blow my cover and get myself killed. But I pledged myself to Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix."

"Why, Sev?"

"Because someone had to watch Reg's back and who better than me?" he replied honestly. "He got compelled into joining and Dumbledore needed a new pair of spies and thought we were perfect because no one would suspect two teenagers, especially Slytherin ones. We both agreed, because we hate Old Tom as much as anyone."

She pursed her lips together and gave him a look of disapproval. "I'm not sure I like that idea, Severus, but I trust that you're old enough to make your own decisions and don't need to ask anyone's permission. I was going to be angry with Dumbledore for forcing you into this position, but now I see that you agreed to it willingly. Won't you give me the same courtesy?"

He heaved a sigh. "I guess so. But even the thought of something happening to you . . .I'd rather die a thousand times over. I know you can take care of yourself, Lil. I know you're not some meek hothouse flower, that you can take down any boy at school if you want to, but . . .all my life I watched while my father hurt my mother and I couldn't do a damn thing. I was too small or too scared or too much of a damn coward. But with you it's different. I don't know if I could stand by and watch you get hurt without doing anything."

"Then I'll just have to make sure I don't put you in that position, Sev," she murmured, her heart aching anew for the torment he had suffered and still did.

"How? A spy has to be objective, Lily, he can't afford to let anything get in the way of his mission."

"And I won't. We'll figure it out. Dumbledore probably has some idea of how it will work. All for one, Sev."

"And one for all," he recited. "Damn Three Musketeers!"

Before they could speak further, Dumbledore and Regulus returned. Reg looked slightly green, he had never done well with Sidelong Apparition, but the shocked disbelief was gone from his features.

"It's a true prophecy," he mumbled. "I saw it."

"As did I," Dumbledore said gravely. "You have a true gift, Lily, to predict accurately at such a young age. But then, they say oracles are born, not made." He seated himself behind the desk again and poured a cup of tea from the steaming pot on the tray floating next to the desk. "Tea, anyone?"

They all accepted this time, and while the tea settled their nerves, Severus addressed the issue of Lily joining the Order of the Phoenix and becoming a spy like he and his best friend were. "I just don't see how it could work when everyone knows she is a Gryffindor. And a Muggleborn."

"Very true, Severus." Dumbledore agreed. "Lily as she is now could never serve as an agent. But what if Lily were no longer herself?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Regulus asked.

"It means I'm going to have to disguise myself," Lily told him, her voice catching briefly with excitement. "Right, sir?"

"Yes, my girl. You are quite correct. Once again, I must ask you children to do the work of grown men and women. It would appear that Fate has chosen you for a special destiny, and far be it for me to tempt Fate." The Headmaster looked suddenly sad. "I may wish it were not necessary, but there it is. In order for Lily to help with your covert operations, she must become another person entirely, a person who is not connected to you two save by acquaintance only. I will teach you how to cast Glamour Charms, my girl, that cannot be removed except by yourself or in the event of, Merlin forbid—your untimely death. Those combined with Polyjuice Potion should work."

"Polyjuice Potion? But who would I become?" Lily queried.

"I have here the hair of someone who was once very dear to me, someone who no one alive now remembers." Dumbledore said quietly. He removed a small silver filigree box from the top drawer of his desk, it was slim and about the size of a mirror compact. He opened it and inside was several locks of silvery blond hair. "This hair belonged to my little sister, Ariana. She died when she was about your age, Lily. Use her hair in your potion and you shall become her doppelganger for a time. It is a disguise that no one will be able to penetrate save myself and my brother Aberforth. But I shall inform Abe of our little deception, he is an Order member too, and then we must come up with an identity for you."

"It should be something simple, that you can remember easily," Reg said.

"Quite right, Mr. Black. The more complex a lie, the easier it is to slip up and be caught out." Dumbledore advised. "But first, I must ask you to swear the same oath, Miss Evans, that Severus and Regulus have."

Once Lily had sworn the requisite oath to the Order, the Headmaster said, "I think it would be safest if you were an orphan, your parents purebloods who died of wizard cholera when you were very young. You were raised by foster families until you were of age to attend Hogwarts, then you were Sorted into Ravenclaw. I shall teach all of you a Memory Altering Charm so you can use it upon the young Death Eaters, it is a form of wandless magic, and change their memory so they will recall Lily's new persona as a classmate of theirs. I want your word that you will use it only upon them for that purpose, and not upon anyone else unless it is a matter of life and death."

The look he gave them was quite stern and they all promised they would do as he said.

"You may tell the others that you felt oppressed by your peers and wanted to show them that you were stronger than they were and so you joined Voldemort's side. He loves corrupting vulnerable and bitter young adolescents. Is that satisfactory to you?"

Lily nodded. "But what shall I call myself?"

All of them thought hard.

Then Severus said, "Lily, wasn't your grandmother's name Zoey? Why not use her name as your alias? You can remember it easily."

"Yes. That's a great idea."

"And for your surname, why not the name of a poisonous magical spider?" Dumbledore asked. "A nightdusk is very venomous. One bite can kill."

Lily grinned. "I like it. Zoey Nightdusk."

"Good. That's settled then. Lily, I want you to meet me here at 7 PM every Monday and Thursday so I can teach you the Glamour charm. As a matter of fact, perhaps I should teach all of you, but at different times. Severus, you and Regulus should come on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Order meets every Friday evening, but you are not required to attend. I shall keep you informed of what is discussed. For now, please concentrate on your studies, and at the next meeting of your new friends, Severus, you can introduce Zoey."

"All right. Lucius usually has a meeting once a month."

"That should be enough for you to learn what you need to know," said the Headmaster. "I owe you three a great debt and wish you the best, by Merlin's holy grace. What you learn today may well save your lives and the lives of your friends and family tomorrow."

"Speaking of my family, sir, may I tell them what I am doing?"Lily asked.

"I do not think that is wise, child. What you do not know cannot be tortured out of you."

"I wouldn't tell my parents, they would never understand," Lily said swiftly. "But what about my sister? She already knows about the prophecy, I told it to her first."

The old man considered for a long moment. "Very well. You may tell your sister a very brief version, nothing too detailed. And it will be your responsibility to make certain she does not betray you inadvertently."

"I will, sir."

"What about me telling Cindy?" Reg asked. "I'll make sure she won't say anything. Otherwise I might lose her, because she thinks I've become a Death Eater. Fair's fair, Headmaster."

Dumbledore looked slightly annoyed. But he acquiesced to Reg's request. "Very well. But no one else, mind. The more people who know your agenda the more risk you have of your secret being leaked out. Secrecy is your greatest ally."

"We understand, sir," Regulus reassured him. "I can trust Cindy."

"And I can trust Petunia," Lily said.

Severus checked his watch. "It's nearly time for class."

"Drat! We missed breakfast and I'm starving!" moaned Reg.

Dumbledore clapped his hands and a large tray filled with everything from porridge to bacon omelets and creamed chipped beef on toast appeared on the table in front of them. For drinks there was hot cocoa, pumpkin juice, and orange juice. "Here you go, children. Take your time and eat, don't rush. I shall give you all a pass if you need one." He waved his wand and three passes signed by him popped up in their laps. "Now, I must go and speak with Professor McGonagall. Don't worry about clearing up, the house elves will see to it. I shall see you later."

And with that, he departed, leaving the three newly inducted spies to eat a very pleasant and filling breakfast, during which Severus and Regulus filled Lily in on the Sons of the Iron Mask.

"Although, they won't be able to call themselves that for much longer," Regulus predicted. "Because rumor has it that Bellatrix and Narcissa, my cousins, want to join and so do a few other girls. Which is why no one will remark if you join as Zoey."

"They could change their name to The Children of the Iron Mask," Severus said. Then he went over the list of members and the initiation ceremony, which he said Dumbledore could reverse the effects of.

When they had stuffed themselves, in the case of Reg and Lily, Severus never ate as much since he was used to small portions, they took their passes and bookbags and left the office, each heading to their respective classes, having promised to meet in the library afterwards.

Hope you all liked! Sorry I haven't updated this in awhile, I was working on my 2 other fics and had work and a funeral to attend before I found a free moment.

Next: The infamous werewolf prank is played upon Severus by Sirius and James, but this time the aftermath will not be the same!

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