Yo! So, as of the second of February, 2023, this chapter has been fully rewritten and this note is mostly for the benefit of old readers who may be doing a reread and wondering why the hell this chapter is so different.
Initially, this chapter was written in Violet's POV and focused on her first few years of school. I've since changed my mind on where I'm going with the plot and have decided to cut out her POV for the time being, which meant this entire chapter was useless. I couldn't delete it because these sites don't like sending out notices for deleted and reposted chapters, which would make things annoying when I eventually updated, so I just rewrote the chapter instead.
Hope that makes sense and thank you to all readers so far!
Summer break was more than a little unpleasant for Severus. Being a spy was a lot more difficult than he'd been expecting it to be. It was exhausting, stressful, and at times, somewhat terrifying as well.
He'd always known it was something he would have to do one day, but even knowing that didn't make it any easier. And on top of everything, he still wasn't sure which side he actually wanted to support.
Severus hadn't had any problems siding with the Dark Lord and had willingly been marked as a Death Eater. He'd done terrible things in that position, some of which he regretted and others which he honestly didn't. But then the Dark Lord had become obsessed with the prophecy and Potter, and the results of that were the reason why Severus had defected from the dark.
Joining the light had been the last resort. With Lily's life in danger, Severus hadn't been able to think of any other way to save her besides having Albus Dumbledore's protection.
His decision to defect to the light never had anything to do with Dumbledore or his ideals. All he'd wanted to do was keep Lily alive and safe-keep Lily's family alive and safe. But he'd never actually trusted Dumbledore. Not when he'd first joined him, and not now.
And so, when he'd first answered the Dark Lord's call upon his return, Severus had gone in with an open mind, curious to see how his lord might have changed over the years. But he'd left that meeting disappointed.
The Dark Lord hadn't changed. In fact, his obsession with Potter had only grown. Because of this, helping Dumbledore was the lesser of two evils. The Dark Lord wanted Potter dead. Dumbledore wanted Potter alive.
But even then, Severus was stuck as a double spy, serving two masters he didn't like or even trust.
It was for Potter, he told himself. All of it. Everything. He would do whatever he had to, even if he hated it, so long as she was kept safe.
The Order of the Phoenix had reformed.
While Severus knew all about the group, having fought against them previously, he'd never been part of them before, but now that he was, he was far from impressed.
They didn't trust him, of course, and he didn't care about that in the slightest. Frankly, it was amusing. The problem was that the majority of them seemed to be incompetent. Very incompetent.
Potter was doomed if they were the ones meant to guard her.
And guard Potter was exactly what they were going to do. They were going to take shifts to stand outside of Potter's house, intercept any post she sent or received, and follow her if she ever left the house, no matter where she went.
Severus wasn't sure if he was relieved or not when he was assigned a different task. The Dark Lord didn't trust him entirely just yet, so the further he stayed away from Potter right now, the better.
Black wouldn't willingly harm Potter, but he was forbidden from leaving the house for his own safety-the dementor's kiss upon discovery was threat enough. Lupin wouldn't willingly harm Potter either, at least while he was in human form, but he was being sent to attempt to recruit other werewolves instead of being put on guard duty.
Moody and Shacklebolt were alright, though neither of them trusted Severus much at all, and Bill and Charlie Weasley were soon going to join the Order as well, once they were able to tie all loose ends with their respective jobs in Egypt and Romania.
Severus did notice something interesting though.
He, Lupin, Black, and one or two others weren't given Potter's address. They weren't told why either. Did Dumbledore not trust them enough to tell them, or was there some other reason for it?
Between spying on the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters for Dumbledore, and spying on Dumbledore and the Order for the Dark Lord, Severus was kept extremely busy. So, when he first got the news of Potter's expulsion from Hogwarts, he was more annoyed than anything else. But he calmed quickly and when he did, he soon grew confused.
The story he was told was that Potter encountered two dementors in her Muggle neighbourhood and in an attempt to save both herself and her Muggle cousin, conjured her Patronus to run the creatures off. Due to being underage and casting the spell in front of a Muggle, however, the Ministry swiftly expelled her from school.
The decision made no sense.
While it was true Potter had broken two separate laws, there were special clauses that allowed one to cast spells if one was in danger. If there truly were dementors attacking, and Potter certainly had no reason to lie about that, then she had every right to cast the spell if it meant keeping her and her cousin safe from them.
"It's a trap, I expect," said Dumbledore during the emergency Order meeting he'd called. "Cornelius and the Ministry as a whole refuse to accept Voldemort's return. As I'm sure you've all noticed, there have been many attempts to slander both me and young Violet in the past couple of months and I assume they've begun to realize those attempts aren't managing to stop me. In light of this, they seem to have hatched a new plan, and their attempts to expel Violet are it."
"Then, she's really expelled?" asked Lupin worriedly.
"Not anymore," said Dumbledore. "I've been able to convince them to reverse their decision and hold a hearing for her instead. That is how such a situation would typically be handled regardless. They will listen to Violet's side of the story and fortunately for us, we have a witness as well.
"If they deem her innocent after that, she will be free to return to Hogwarts. If not, they will once again expel her and if that happens, I doubt there will be anything even I can do."
"What about the dementors though?" asked Black with a frown. "Why'd they attack Violet? And what's the Ministry saying about them?"
"They do not believe dementors were attacking, to begin with," said Dumbledore with a sigh, "and there are no records of dementors being sent to her neighbourhood. I checked the records myself. As for why they attacked her, I cannot say."
"Do you know anything about this, Severus?" asked Molly Weasley, concern painted across her face.
"I do not," said Severus. "As far as I am aware, the dementors do not work for or with the Dark Lord, though he has been attempting to recruit them, and nor has there ever been plans to use said dementors to attack Potter. I doubt the Dark Lord would do this at all, considering Potter losing her soul would mean her losing her will to fight, and that is the opposite of what he desires." He removed a loose thread from his sleeve, then continued.
"While I have not been told what happened when he returned, he has mentioned to me and others that he greatly enjoyed his 'duel' with the girl. He wants her to fight him. An empty shell cannot fight."
Black made an angry sound, but Lupin nodded slowly. "That does make sense. It's true Violet losing her soul would make her much easier to kill, but her attempts to fight back probably amuse him. If he likes it that much, I can't see him doing something like sending dementors after her."
Tonks folded her arms, her hair shifting through various shades of blue. "Do you think someone else sent them after her?"
"It's certainly possible," said Dumbledore with a nod. He sipped from the tea cup Molly had placed in front of him at the start of the meeting. "It could have been someone from the Ministry, a Death Eater acting without his lord's orders, or perhaps a dark sympathizer who simply isn't a Death Eater at all. And as frustrating as it may be to admit, there is also a chance that this was simply an oddly timed coincidence."
That was unlikely, but certainly possible, Severus had to admit. Potter was nothing if not a magnet for danger.
"While dementors are meant to be stationed at Azkaban, it's impossible to say that every single one is. I think it unlikely for there not to be stragglers." Dumbledore drank more tea, then said, "And if someone other than Voldemort did send them, well, it's certainly very alarming. Few have the power to control dementors like this."
"What do you think this means, Albus?"
Dumbledore sighed heavily. "I really don't know, Arthur."
That's it for now. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!