The headmaster pushed back from his desk and stood. Freddie quickly did the same. She wondered where they had to go but was surprised when instead of heading for the door, Dumbledore walked over to one of the empty portraits on the wall.
"Dilys?" he said as Freddie joined him. "I'd like to introduce you to someone."
A woman wearing a light blue dress appeared from the side of the frame. Silver ringlets framed her familiar face and it didn't take long for Freddie to place her.
"I know you," she realized. "I pass by your portrait every day at work."
"Miss Gray, this is former Hogwarts Headmistress Dilys Derwent," Dumbledore introduced. "Dilys, this is Freddie Gray."
"You work at St Mungo's?" the witch asked, looking intrigued. "Are you a Healer?"
"Actually I work in the Potions lab there."
"I see. Back in my day we Healers had to brew their own potions to treat patients."
"A few of the Healers still do," Freddie said, not sure if she should be offended or not. "They insist on brewing everything themselves. But the Potions lab does important work. Because of us the Healers are able to see more patients in a day and work more efficiently. And we keep the entire hospital well-stocked with the potions they use most often – Blood-Replenishing Potions, Wound-Cleaning solutions, Skele-Gro. Things like that."
"Miss Gray is the Assistant Potion Master," the headmaster said. "She advanced very quickly to the position, going from intern to Potion Master's assistant in just four years."
"That is impressive," Derwent agreed. "It is a noble profession, to be sure."
"Thank you," Freddie said.
"Miss Gray has agreed to join the Order of the Phoenix in the fight against Voldemort," Dumbledore said and Freddie couldn't help but wince at the name. "I believe her skills and her position at St Mungo's will be of great use to us in the future. I thought it prudent the two of you should meet. Miss Gray, if you ever need to get a message to me in a hurry you can go to Dilys. Similarly if I need to pass information on to you I can send Dilys directly to your office – assuming you have a portrait of some kind she can travel into?"
"Yes, sir. I have a photograph of my kneazle, one of Ada, and one of Daniel and I when we were young."
"Those will work," the headmaster said with a nod.
Suddenly Freddie felt the familiar presence against her Occlumency barrier that meant Snape was trying to contact her. He shouldn't have been able to tell she was there, not since she'd perfected her Occlumency. Curious, Freddie opened her mind.
Come here, was all that his voice said, then his presence was gone so quickly Freddie almost wasn't sure he'd really been there.
"I'll go check out the photographs now so I can familiarize myself with their location," Derwent was saying. "It was nice meeting you, Miss Gray. I suppose I'll be seeing you around."
"Nice to meet you too, Headmistress."
"Call me Healer Derwent. I haven't been headmistress in quite some time," the witch said, then she stepped out of her painting and disappeared.
"She hasn't been a Healer in quite some time either, has she?" Freddie said and Dumbledore chuckled.
"True," he said with a smile. "But she did marvelous things for both institutions in her lifetime. She had an illustrious career at St Mungo's, then became one of the most celebrated Heads of Hogwarts."
"Yes sir. I didn't mean to come off as disrespectful," she told him, but she was thinking about Snape. She wanted to go down to the dungeons and see him.
"You're free to go, Miss Gray," Dumbledore said, again seeming like he could read her mind. "I'll be in touch when I need you again."
"Yes sir," she said, quickly heading for the door. "Thank you Professor Dumbledore."
Freddie made her way through the castle, wondering how Snape had known she was there. And Dumbledore – had he been reading her mind? Was her Occlumency slipping? She didn't think so. Maybe Snape hadn't really been in her mind at all. Maybe she'd imagined it. It had been so quick, less than five seconds. She hadn't felt any thought or emotion from him at all, just the words 'Come here'. Of course that wasn't so unusual.
She tried to reach out to him with her mind as she descended the Grand Staircase, but his mind was completely shielded. She wasn't even sure that he was in his office until at last she reached the dungeons and knocked on his office door.
"Come in," he said from within and his voice sent a thrill through her as she opened the door. Snape was sitting at his desk and he looked up when she entered. His face betrayed no emotion as he looked her over slowly, his eyes lingering on her disheveled clothes.
"What are you doing here?" he asked finally after she shut the door and secured the wards.
"Wh- you asked me to come, didn't you? I didn't imagine that?"
She approached his desk uncertainly but didn't sit down.
"No, I meant why are you here? In the castle?"
"I had a meeting with Dumbledore," she answered. She saw his eyes narrow slightly and his nostrils flared.
"Were you going to tell me?"
"Were you going to tell me that you begged Dumbledore to send me into hiding?" she asked darkly. "You told him to lock me up! To put me in a safe house and not tell anyone where I was, not even you."
"To keep you safe," he said grimly. "If I didn't know your location then no one could torture it out of me."
"That wouldn't happen," Freddie said, shaking her head. "Even if I did have to go into hiding for some reason, I know you wouldn't give me up. You've withstood the Dark Lord's torture before, more times than I know. Besides...I don't plan on putting myself in any position that would make the Dark Lord hunt me down."
"But you're insisting on going to work for the Order! You don't know what could happen."
"Neither do you," she said quietly, finally sitting down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "We talked about this last night, Severus. I can't sit idly by while people are being killed. I can't sit back and do nothing while you're putting yourself in danger every day. I have to do this."
He gazed across the table at her silently for a minute. She couldn't read his expression but his eyes glittered oddly.
"...What did Albus want?" he asked finally.
"He wanted to introduce me to the portrait of Dilys Derwent. She was a Headmistress and a Healer – her other portrait is at St Mungo's."
"I know who she is," he acknowledged with a nod.
"Right. Dumbledore said he could pass information to me at work through Dilys and vice versa. That's all really. He hasn't asked me to do anything yet."
"So why do you look as though you've been dueling?"
"Well I was dueling. Earlier, with Ada. She wanted to practice. She wants to fight back against the Dark Lord as well. I told Dumbledore."
"You dueled with Miss Leroux? Here?"
"In the Shrieking Shack," she said with a nod. "I knew we were least likely to be disturbed there so I took her there after lunch."
"So you have been here since this afternoon?"
"Pretty much, yeah. You couldn't tell?"
There had been a time when he knew where she was at all times, without even trying. He'd described it once as his subconscious reaching out for hers without him realizing it.
"No, I had no idea. You protected your mind well, I'm proud of you."
"Thanks," she said with a quick smile. "So how did you know I was in Dumbledore's office?"
"Minerva mentioned she saw you. She came down to discuss one of my students."
"Does she know? About us?"
"Albus may have told her," he said. "I asked him not to tell anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. I would like our relationship to be kept as discreet as possible, even among the Order members. Especially the Order members. It is safer that way."
"I understand," she said with a nod.
For a moment he just gazed at her again, but his expression seemed much softer now. He looked tired, though.
"It has been a long day," he said finally, rising from his desk. "A long two days actually. ...Would you like to come in?"
He walked over to the hidden entrance to his quarters and tapped it with his wand.
"Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly as she stood. She'd thought last night might have been a one-time thing.
"I would not have offered otherwise," he said dryly. She smirked slightly and followed him into his quarters.
