Professor Snape's head was pounding all through dinner. The week had been long enough with the newest educational decree banning all clubs and student organizations, and with Umbridge's insufferable hem hem lingering in his classroom as she inspected his teaching. The witch was driving Snape up the wall with her interference, and each interaction ended with dose of headache potion. To close a long week was a lovely Hogsmeade trip. The potions master wanted nothing more than to retreat to his dungeon and sit back in his leather chair with book and a glass of whiskey. Unfortunately, the Order of the Phoenix laid claim to his evening.
Following dinner, Snape exited through castle's the large front doors. Quickly he strode down the path to the massive gates. Once outside of Hogwarts he apparated to London, landing just outside of Number 12 Grimmuald Place. He was lucky enough to miss one of Molly's dinners, but that also meant he was the last one there. Snape knew that he was not welcome amongst the other Order members, not that it bothered him, but he hated the way the group's cheerful camaraderie dropped from the air the moment he stepped through the door. Instead the meetings turned into duel of wits between Sirius and Snape, and the rest of the group sat silently by in a depressed fog. Definitely not the way Snape wanted to spend his Saturday night.
Taking a deep breath, Snape stepped through the front door, careful not to disturb the damnable portrait of Mrs. Black. Typically his entrance triggered some sort of warning and the crowd in the dining room would be scowling before he even reached the room. But this meeting had another addition, a distraction from the dungeon bat.
Despite the room being a flurry of activity and laughter, the first thing that Snape's eyes were drawn to was Eliza standing to the side trying desperately to blend in with the wall. It seemed almost ironic to Snape that she was so reserved when her sheer presence held such command in the room. Despite her petite stature, Eliza seemed to tower above the crowd. She stood arrow straight and held her head high. The witch's clothes also set her a notch above the others. Like Snape, she preferred dark robes that were tailored and covered her from neck to ankle. At this meeting she was clad in well-fitting robes of deep purple with a black strip running along her wrists and the edge of the high collar. Black dragon hide boots, embossed with a scrolling design, covered her legs beneath the skirt. Her hair was drawn back in a tight braid. Instead of jewelry, Eliza wore a large silver pocket watch dangling from the high waist of her skirt. The look was severe, but is gave her gravity that her shyness lacked.
"So Snivellus, did you come to this meeting to leer at Eliza or do you have something useful to contribute?" It was clear that Sirius had begun drinking long before the others arrived.
Snape's lip curled. "If 'useful contributions' are compulsory, why are you here, dog?" He desperately wanted to hazard a glance at Eliza to see her reaction to his quick retort, but he kept his eyes fast on Black.
Sirius jumped up from his seat, knocking his chair to the ground as he stood unsteadily, ready to fight Snape with wands or fists. The potions master rolled his eyes. This wasn't the first time that Sirius had foolishly threatened him, and frankly, his outbursts were weak. Raising his own wand, just in case, Snape open his mouth to send another mocking insult his way.
Suddenly a spoon flew across the room and popped Sirius on the side of the head. "Oi, Sirius! Put a sock in it and sit down!"
Both men turned incredulously to the source of the spoon and were quite surprised to find Eliza standing with her arms crossed tapping her foot impatiently. "I have potions that need my attention so don't waste my time," she snapped, waving her silver pocket watch.
From there the meeting moved forward without a hitch. Arthur and Kingsley discussed guarding the prophecy, earning an eye roll from Snape (they were out of their minds to believe that a single wizard could keep the Dark Lord at bay). Lupin told them about his failed attempts to talk the werewolves into turning their backs on Voldemort. There was even mention of Hagrid and his journey to visit the giants. Snape's scowl deepened as he thought of how foolish all these men were. If any of them had even spent a moment with the Dark Lord, they would understand his power, his magnetism. Instead, the Order was made up of dreamers and fools with Snape serving as their only connection with reality. Of course he was not much better. In reality, the nagging voice in the back of his mind reminded him, there was no logical way that they could defeat Voldemort, but he dared to dream that they just might succeed.
Bored with the prattle of the meeting, Snape allowed his gaze to wander over to where Eliza stood half in the shadows. She remained silent through the meeting, and as he looked at her, he wondered if she was even listening to what was being said. Eliza seemed to be in her own world holding her wand in front of her face. A bluish light was streaming from her wand to her head (or was it the other way around?), and in it seemed to be little bits of opaque light shifting and rearranging. Snape had never seen such a spell and was absolutely mesmerized as he watched the little shapes move around in the light surrounding her head. Even more fascinating, he thought as he watched, was that no one else seemed to notice. Narrowing his eyes, he studied the light for any clue of what it could be.
Suddenly, as if she knew she was being watched, Eliza switched off the light and fixed a hard stare back on Snape. Flustered, he was unable to stifle the small gasp that escaped his lips. The entire room fell silent and every member of the Order turned to look at him. Snape felt the panic rise in him as he glanced at the eyes now staring at him, and back to Eliza's insufferable smirk.
"Was there something you wanted to say, Severus?" asked Molly kindly. Past her, Snape could see Sirius was having a difficult time remaining composed. Just seeing that scum find pleasure at his discomfort was more than the professor could stand.
"I was just wondering if we were going to continue with this prattle all night. Unlike some people here-" he gave Sirius a pointed look "I have work to do. If there is nothing more that is relevant to discuss, I will take my leave."
"Not so fast, Snivellus. We do have another matter to discuss. Like how you will be helping Eliza," answered Sirius.
Snape sat back in his chair in defeat. He had a feeling that this is why the Headmaster ordered him to attend this meeting. The other Order members turned to face Eliza, who looked as though she had just swallowed a snitch. With all faces turned expectantly towards her, she slowly stepped forward into the light.
"What exactly do you need help doing," asked Arthur. The others nodded in agreement with his question. Eliza's most recent bout of research was a bit of a mystery to several of the Order members.
"Well I need to get into St. Mungo's for two different things," Eliza began hesitantly. "I need to find some research materials from their medical library, and I need to collect all of my previous research and experiment records from the archives."
"I thought we brought your research notes to you," questioned Sirius.
Eliza shook her head. "You brought me my personal notes. I need my documented research so I can review what went wrong in the experiments and move forward."
Snape was growing more and more agitated. As far as he could tell, he was the only one in the room that didn't know what in the world Eliza had been working on before. "I may be of more use to you if I knew what exactly it is that you are attempting to do," Snape said icily. When Eliza didn't answer right away, he narrowed his black eyes at her, silently demanding an answer. With her lips pursed, Eliza flickered her gaze to Sirius who responded with a brief nod.
Fixing her own cold glare on Snape, Eliza finally conceded and revealed the nature of her work. "I am working on a potion that will prevent the drinker from being killed by the Avada Kedavra spell. I was working on it fourteen years ago when Voldemort found out about it. After incessant harassment to join the Death Eaters, they decided to try another solution." Snape audibly gulped when he realized just what that other solution was. Eliza wouldn't join the Death Eaters, so they brutally murdered her family. It was a popular retribution amongst the Death Eaters and it made Snape absolutely sick.
"Needless to say," continued Eliza," With the Ministry being as shaky as it is right now, they would be highly suspicious if I showed up and began that research again. Especially if they are denying Voldemort's return."
The Order members sat silently, each brainstorming their own solution to the problem. After a few minutes, the silence was broken by Tonks. "Can one of us just go to the medical library for you?" Snape shook his head silently. They had so much to learn.
"Only St. Mungo's employees can go into the medical library. And with the ministry being on high alert, they will be watching for break-ins," answered Eliza gently.
Tonks' face broke into a wide grin. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a worn wallet and began flipping through it. Finding what she was looking for, she pulled out a card and slapped it on the table. Snape leaned forward slightly and saw that it was an ID card for St. Mungo's.
"I've used this disguise a few times, never at St. Mungo's, but I am convincing enough. She's a healer in the long-term ward, so the ministry doesn't spend much time worrying about that." To prove her point, she morphed her face and hair to fit the image on the ID. In a matter of seconds, Tonks was a middle aged witch with frizzy blond hair and a bulbous nose. Although he would never say so, Snape was actually rather impressed with the young auror. The solution would work perfectly, and with the library's incredible magical database, any idiot would be able to find the necessary books.
The rest of the Order members also seemed to approve of this idea and Tonks' disguise was met with admiration and excited chatter. Snape watched Eliza as she smiled weakly at the young woman. Her expression was intriguing, making the Potions Master wonder what unspoken sentiment was behind the smile.
"Alright, so we can get the research materials, but how are going to get Eliza's research documents?" asked Moody, breaking through the momentary excitement of Tonks' revelation. Again, the others in the room sat quietly thinking of ways to get into the archives.
Before could stop himself, or even think about what he was about to say, Snape heard his own voice offering up a solution. "I will take Mrs. Slope to St. Mungo's. We will go together under the pretense of resuming research as partners. We can tell the ministry that we are continuing the research, after her long sabbatical for international potions research, for academic purposes and publication. The Dark Lord will no doubt find out that she has resumed her work, so I will be able to feed him false information about the potion."
The Order members stared at him wide-eyed. It was the first time that the Potions Master had ever volunteered for a mission. He usually paraded in and smugly informed them that Dumbledore had assigned him a special, top-secret task. For once, Snape was brainstorming and discussing ideas like a real Order member.
Rolling his eyes, annoyed that others were staring at him like the buffoons that filled his potions classes, Snape turned to Eliza. The woman was also looking at him, but with an expression of admiration and deep thought. Snape could feel himself shrinking back inside, wanting nothing more than to hide in the shadows once more. The only other people who had ever looked at him with that expression, that look of unadulterated admiration and recognition of his intellect and abilities, were Dumbledore and Lily. Thinking of her name made his stomach flip.
"You know, that might just work," Eliza said softly, tapping her chin with her finger while she stared off into space. "They will only release the paperwork to me, and the ministry probably knows that most of you are Order members…I think we can make this happen, Severus." Eliza gave Snape a wide grin. It was a little unnerving to see her smile like that, and Snape was not the only on squirming with discomfort. To make matters worse, he couldn't help the little half smile that crept onto his lips.
"Great, we have that all figured out," said Sirius loudly, reminding Snape to resume his usual sneer. "You two can work out the details. I think it is time for another round of firewhiskey."
Slowly, the Order members began filtering out. Not wanting to be the last one in the room with Lupin and Sirius, Snape slipped out of the dining room door. As he walked down the hallway, Snape saw Eliza standing in the drawing room. Immediately, he was taken aback by the massive tapestry hanging on the wall depicting the Black family tree. Even though he had been to Grimmauld place more times than he cared to remember, Snape had never seen any of the rooms besides the hall and the dining room. Eliza stood across the room with her back to the door. She was staring a burn mark that was connected to Narcissa Malfoy's name. Beside Narcissa was another burn mark, and beyond that was the scowling face of Bellatrix Lestrange. Snape was sure that the burn mark between the sisters used to be the face of Andromeda Tonks. Apparently her muggle husband was not well received in the Black family. But Snape was confused to see another mark beside the girls. As far as he knew, there were just three sisters in that family and no brothers.
As Snape stood staring at the mystery burn mark, Eliza turned around, surprised to his black eyes studying the wall behind her. Quickly, Eliza strode forward and stood directly in his line of vision.
"I will send you and owl when we are ready to visit St. Mungo's. I am thinking that it would be best to wait until next weekend," she said in a dismissive tone. Snape couldn't miss the get-out-of-here message in her voice. Nodding curtly, Snape flapped down the hallway and out of Grimmuald Place. Once he was in the alleyway, he turned on the spot and apparated back to Hogwarts' front gates.
As he made his way to the dungeons, he managed to dish out detention to a couple of students and successfully avoided Dolores Umbridge. Collapsing in his favorite chair, Snape summoned a glass of firewhiskey and stared into the fire. Between keeping Umbridge at arm's length and doing duties for both the Order and the Dark Lord, Snape could not understand why he volunteered to do yet another job. To make matters worse, the professor had a feeling that Dumbledore had arranged this partnership for reasons other than defeating the Dark Lord.