AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the reviews, you guys! Keep em coming! I'm working on this as much as I can. Posting two chapters today since I haven't updated in a while.
Freddie sat in Snape's chair at his desk, wondering and worrying about him. She found herself worried about Potter as well and wondering what Dumbledore had meant when he said that he was not Alastor Moody. Could it be an impostor sent to hurt Potter? Or had someone placed Moody under the Imperius Curse? Was it possible that the Dark Lord was somewhere close by, pulling strings, still trying to get his hands on the boy on the very night He returned?
She'd never met Harry Potter in person and most of what she knew from him came from Snape. That he was arrogant and reckless, like his father James who he so closely resembled, and that he was a liar as well as a thief. Freddie knew James Potter had made Snape's life miserable in school and she couldn't help but wonder how much of Snape's dislike of Harry Potter was just resentment, though of course she kept these thoughts carefully hidden from him. Still Snape was sworn to protect Potter. He had promised Dumbledore he would do whatever it took to keep him safe. Even if he hadn't promised Dumbledore, he would have done it anyway – because he was Lily's son. And Lily Evans Potter, who had been killed by the Dark Lord 13 years ago, was the first and only woman Snape had ever loved...before Freddie. Lily was the reason it had taken him so long to admit he had feelings for her, why it was still difficult at times for him to say the words 'I love you' out loud. Freddie never faulted him for that or resented Lily in any way. In a weird way she had come to care about Lily too and by extension her son. She didn't want to see Harry Potter harmed.
As it turned out Freddie did not have to sit with her worries very long. She had expected Snape to be gone for hours, but the door to his office opened not 30 minutes after she'd arrived. She jumped up as he swept in and headed straight for his desk.
"What happened?" she asked quickly. "Is Potter alright?"
"He's alive. I've got to get a bottle of Veritaserum," he answered, drawing his wand to unlock one of the drawers of his desk. "Then go the kitchens to find a house-elf named Winky and return to Moody's office."
"What? A Truth Potion and a house elf?" she asked, confused. "I don't understand. What about Moody?"
"Dumbledore's orders are often confusing but I find it best not to question them," he said, taking a small vial of clear potion from the drawer and closing it. "Moody was going to kill Potter but we arrived in the nick of time and stunned him. Albus seems to think he's an impostor – he knew the real Mad Eye Moody would never take Potter from his sight after what happened tonight." Snape pocketed the potion along with his wand and headed back for the door. "I've got to go, I've got to find the house-elf. He sent Minerva to find a dog in a pumpkin patch. I'm sorry, Winifred, I'll be back to explain everything as soon as I can. I promise."
"...Okay," she said because there was really nothing else to say as he was already halfway out the door. "Be careful."
She didn't know whether he'd heard her or not as the door shut behind him. Freddie sighed again and sank back down into his chair. There was nothing for her to do but worry and wait.
Over an hour passed before she saw Snape again. She had tried to fill the time by reading some of the books Snape had in his office, but she hadn't been able to concentrate. She was half-heartedly leafing through the fourth year Potions essays that were piled on his desk when the door opened. Snape walked slowly into the room, looking as pale as he had when the Mark first burned, but he didn't seem to be in any pain. Freddie rose from the desk as he shut the door behind himself and cast a few nonverbal charms. She was going to relinquish his chair to him but he waved his hand absently and sank into one of the seats in front of his desk.
"Are you okay?" Freddie asked as she sat back down because as much as she wanted to know what happened, what she was most worried about was him. He'd never let her sit in his chair before.
"I'm..." she thought he was going to say 'fine' but he shook his head. "It has been a long night," he said instead. "And the worst is yet to come."
"You have to go tonight?" she asked, trying not to let her anxiety show. "To Him?"
"Yes. Albus told me to go now 'if I'm prepared'," he said and let out a hollow, mirthless laugh. "As if one could ever really be prepared to face the Dark Lord...but I wanted to see you before I left."
"I'm glad you came here first," she said softly. She immediately got up and came around the desk to him. She put a tentative hand on his shoulder, then he quickly wrapped his arms around her. He rested his head against her stomach a moment and she heard him exhale shakily. She hugged him tight and leaned down to kiss the top of his head, something he usually did to her. When he finally pulled back to look up at her, his dark eyes looked troubled.
"I wanted to fill you in on the night's events so far before I have to..."
She nodded in understanding and sat down in the chair that was next to his. He gazed at her for a long moment, then began.
"When I returned to Moody's office with the Veritaserum I found Dumbledore and Potter waiting with an unconscious body I recognized – though it was not Moody. It seems a former Death Eater, Bartemius Crouch Jr-"
"I've heard that name before," Freddie interrupted. "Doesn't he work for the Ministry?"
"You are thinking of Bartemius Crouch Sr, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. During the first war he was Head of Magical Law Enforcement and next in line to be Minister of Magic until it was discovered that his son, Barty Crouch Jr, was a Death Eater. He sent his son to Azkaban where everyone believed he died. But tonight Barty Crouch Jr was lying on the floor of Moody's office. He'd been using Polyjuice Potion to pass for Moody all year. He kept the real Moody locked up in a trunk so he would have a steady supply of his hair for the potion. It seems that is why Moody- that is to say Crouch- kept breaking into my office. He was stealing ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion. I thought it was Potter and his friends..." Snape shook his head slightly before continuing.
"Dumbledore had me give Crouch the Veritaserum and he was forced to tell us his tale – how his father helped him escape Azkaban as the last request of his dying mother, swapping her body for his. He kept him confined and hidden in his house for years, with the help of the Imperius Curse and the Crouch's house-elf named Winky. It seems the younger Crouch escaped his father's control during the Quidditch World Cup and he set about finding the Dark Lord. Wormtail was with Him." He said the name through clenched teeth because they'd learned last year that it was Wormtail who had betrayed Lily and James' location to the Dark Lord and gotten them killed. "They devised a plan for Crouch to infiltrate the school, disguised as Moody. He hoodwinked the Triwizard Cup into spitting out Potter's name, forcing him to participate in the tournament. And tonight he turned the Cup into a Portkey that delivered Potter – and unintentionally Diggory – into the hands of the Dark Lord. Diggory was killed instantly because he was not supposed to be there, but the Dark Lord used Potter and Wormtail to create a potion that restored him back to full power." Snape inhaled sharply and Freddie waited a moment for him to continue. "Potter dueled the Dark Lord and won. I'm not sure how, Albus didn't have time to tell me the whole story. After hearing Crouch's story Albus sent me to fetch Minister Fudge, who was still on the grounds after the tournament trying to make sense of everything. It took me a while to find him and tell him everything, but when I told him we had the Death Eater responsible for multiple deaths in custody...he insisted on summoning a dementor from Azkaban to accompany him to interrogate him."
Freddie shuddered slightly at the mention of dementors, the soul-sucking guardians of the prison where her parents were confined. She'd only seen dementors once in her life, but once had been enough for her to dedicate weeks to mastering the Patronus Charm, the only thing that could keep them at bay. She had a sinking feeling she knew what Snape was going to tell her next.
"Minerva and I tried to stop him. There's no way Albus would ever allow a dementor to step foot inside this school, he hates them. But Fudge felt it was a matter of his personal safety and Dumbledore had taken Potter to the Hospital Wing so I had no choice but to follow Fudge and the dementor inside," he said. Freddie thought she saw him shiver slightly and she wondered if he had any chocolate stashed in his desk. No doubt he was still feeling the aftereffects of his encounter with the dementor and she knew chocolate would help, but Snape shook his head. "I don't have any chocolate," he said, having read her mind. "I'll be fine. Crouch on the other hand..."
"It sucked out his soul?" she asked, feeling a little sick at the thought. The dementor's kiss was said to be truly terrible to witness.
"It is. It was. Terrible... Minerva went berserk shouting at Fudge. I do not think I've ever seen her so angry. She was shouting at him all over the castle, all the way to the Hospital Wing looking for Dumbledore."
"Was he mad about the dementor?" Freddie asked. She had never seen Dumbledore truly angry before.
"Yes. Especially as it means that Crouch can no longer testify on why he acted as he did and for whom he did it. ...Fudge thinks he was a raving lunatic. He stubbornly refuses to believe that the Dark Lord is back," he said with a sigh. "Which makes things all the more difficult. We all tried to convince him otherwise, but the Minister is a stubborn man. Potter even tried to tell him the names of the Death Eaters who returned tonight- our friend Lucius was among them."
"Your friend," Freddie muttered darkly and a ghost of a smile crossed Snape's face. "Were you surprised?"
"Not at all. Lucius knew the Mark had been growing clearer all year, he was excited... but Potter's testimony did not matter to Fudge either. The Minister believes what that woman has been writing about him in the Prophet all year."
"That Potter is 'disturbed and dangerous'? Even I knew those were rubbish. Rita Skeeter always writes the most contrived, ridiculous articles."
"Yes. Unfortunately some people believe what they want to believe and Fudge does not want the Dark Lord to be back. I even showed him the Dark Mark, how clear it is," he said, absently flexing his left arm. "But everything I said after that fell on deaf ears. He looked disgusted and he left immediately afterwards, after a few choice words to Albus that I fear are a sign of more trouble to come. If Fudge doesn't believe the Dark Lord is out there a lot of people are going to follow his lead. Dumbledore is already making plans to combat this. Sirius Black was in Potter's hospital room," he said bitterly, his face turning an ugly shade of red. Sirius Black had been the best friend of James Potter and was another of Snape's tormentors from his school days. The two still hated each other viciously. "He's an Animagus, he was the dog Albus had Minerva fetch from the pumpkin patch! I could scarcely believe it when Albus said he expects us to trust each other. As if I could ever trust him," he snarled and Freddie nodded sympathetically. She'd heard more than her fair share about Sirius Black from Snape.
"Why was he there?"
"Black was a member of the original Order of the Phoenix," he said with a slight sneer. "Albus sent him to round up all of the old Order members that he can find. Without the Ministry on our side we will need as many of them as we can get."
"They were Dumbledore's army in the first war, right? You told me about them."
"More like a secret society, but yes. It was founded by Dumbledore and composed of witches and wizards who fought back against the Dark Lord when he returned to England during the First Wizarding War. Of course back then we had the Ministry on our side... Things will be much more difficult this time around. I only hope that-"
A knock on Snape's office door interrupted him. He and Freddie exchanged a look before he rose to remove the enchantments. This better not be a student, Freddie thought to herself, but when Snape opened the door to reveal a very serious-looking Albus Dumbledore her heart sank.
"Ah, Severus, I thought that you would be here," he said, glancing past Snape to give Freddie a slight smile that didn't quite meet his worried eyes.
"Yes, headmaster, I was just..."
"Saying goodbye?" Dumbledore asked with a small, sad smile.
"Filling her in," Snape responded, looking back at Freddie. She could tell he didn't want to leave yet and she wasn't ready for him to either. She couldn't say the things she wanted to say to him in front of the headmaster.
"I wanted to have a word with you before you leave," Dumbledore said to him. "I'll give you a moment. Meet me on the grounds whenever...whenever you're ready, Severus."
"Of course, headmaster."
Dumbledore shut the door behind him as he left and Freddie immediately sprang to her feet. "Severus..." There was so much she wanted to say, but suddenly she was at a loss for words. She didn't want him to go at all, but she couldn't say that. She knew he had to go and saying it wouldn't change anything. Besides she had told Snape that she could handle this. She had to be okay with him returning to the Dark Lord or he might try pushing her away again. Still she was worried and his words from earlier echoed in her mind - 'I may be killed as well, if I do not get the opportunity to explain my absence tonight.'
"I know," Snape murmured quietly and he crossed the room to take her hands in his. "I know, Winifred."
"Please be careful, Severus," she said, her throat feeling tight. "Just...come back to me."
"I will do my best," he said softly. He kissed her forehead gently and she had to close her eyes to keep from crying. "...You could go home and wait for me there. I'll come as soon as I can."
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm going to wait right here until I know you're safe. I don't care if I have to sit here all night. Please don't tell me to go."
"Okay," he agreed simply and he pressed another long kiss to her forehead.
"...If anything should happen to me," he said with his lips still brushing her skin and she struggled to choke back a sob. She was glad he wasn't looking at her because it was all she could do to keep her tears at bay. "...Just know that I love you."
She couldn't make herself speak, all she could do was nod. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him, but she was so worried, so terrified that this would be the last time she ever saw him...
"It'll be fine," he said gently, but she knew he was just trying to reassure her. There was no guarantee the Dark Lord wouldn't kill him on the spot. He couldn't promise that. "I'll be alright. I've done this before, after all."
She nodded again and he kissed her once more before letting her go. She watched helplessly as he turned and walked to the door. He didn't look back at her but maybe that was easier for him.
"Just please come back to me," she whispered as he walked through the door.
