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Trial by Water

Severus Snape was familiar with the area. It wasn't that far from where he grew up. It was within apparation distance at least. Then again, Hereford was about as far away from Hogwarts as a wizard could get and still be in the Midlands. Severus felt ridiculous for answering the floo and agreeing to come. Why would Lord Black want to meet in an all too common public house in the middle of the afternoon? Severus knew the local apparation alley. He did not like the worn-out shops lining the street, but he had chosen his glamour well. The public house was where Black described it.

Severus saw Lord Black as soon as he entered. Black was dressed in muggle clothing complete with denim jacket and sitting with his back to the window. Severus thought it was the typical theatrics for the entitled pureblood. Severus Snape was surprised when Black smiled and stood as Severus approached the small table. Black even extended his hand. Severus took it since he did not want to cause a scene. He would play his part.

Snape was about to call a waiter when he saw that Black had already ordered. Severus started to object when he noticed the label on the tea. He hadn't seen that label in years. He remembered collecting those tea cards as a child. Animating one of the tea cards was his first case of accidental magic, or at least the first magic he remembered. Black even remained standing until Severus sat down.

Lord Black waved his hand across the table. "I took the liberty of ordering, unless you'd prefer something else."

The tea was fine. Severus cast a privacy charm. He wasn't there for tea.

"You said you wanted to talk about Draco Malfoy," Sirius said.

"Yes. Thank you for coming."

Sirius needed a moment to compose his thoughts. He would only get one chance.

"He is now Lord Malfoy. I'm worried about Draco. He is going to be labeled for what his father did. I can reduce that, but I cannot stop all of it. There is going to be a Reparations Commission. They will investigate claims against the Death Eaters. I want to nominate you to be on that Commission. I need to know if you're interested. I want Draco to work for you. Since you are Draco's godfather, I need your agreement before I nominate the two of you."

The look on Snapes face asked the question for him. Severus left unasked the question of why Black was now concerned about young Lord Malfoy.

Sirius said, "Finding the victims who are alive is the easy part. It is harder to see the differences between the Death Eaters. They aren't all the same. My brother was one of them. So were you.

"I.. I have to ask a question before I nominate you. I have to ask who you killed to get your mark."

Severus wiped his lips with the napkin.

"So the polite conversation is over. That didn't last long." In fact, it lasted longer than Severus Snape expected from Lord Black.

Black answered quickly. "Professor Snape, this is the toad in the teapot. I thought it best to remove it before it brews for too long," he said.

Severus considered walking away. More than his pride was at stake. The outcome would affect Draco as well.

"I broke the neck of a rapist in Newham. The muggle attacked my friend's sister. She was a squib, and it went rather badly for her after that. They had to obliviate her so she could heal."

Sirius waited. Severus Snape knew it wasn't that complicated to understand. He had to kill to obtain his dark mark. Someone who needed killing presented himself and he used the unexpected opportunity. He had examined the woman's memory so he knew precisely how her attacker looked and acted.

"I was disillusioned. I broke his neck and then threw the body in front of a lorry. Lord Voldemort did not believe me until I showed him the spells from my wand."

Both men sat back from the table. Sirius Black had heard accounts like this before. The Aurors had another name for this. They called it a 'public service homicide.' Violent people often had unexplained accidents. Most went unsolved. Snape's story was probably the best outcome of a bad situation.

"Professor, times have changed, or at least styles have. We are now calling Voldemort by his muggle name, Tom Riddle."

"Oh, are we?" Snape said. The pureblood now thought himself the arbiter of speech, did he.

"Riddle was a man, not a Lord, and certainly not a god," Black said.

Severus had extremely strong opinions about Tom Riddle. "I know exactly what he was. He was an insecure man who wasted his irreplaceable talents on revenge and domination."

"Unlike us," Sirius added. Snapes insecurities were the talented man's greatest liability.

"Exactly like us," Severus argued. The sparring and hidden meanings with Lord Black were becoming tiresome.

Sirius smiled. "I take that as a yes." Lord Black sat back and picked up his tea as if the matter of the Reparations Commission was settled.

Severus was surprised that the offer was still open after he and Black had traded jabs.

"Perhaps. A qualified acceptance? I reserve the right to withdraw if the committee is filled with soft-hearted dunderheads," Severus explained.

Lord Black nodded. "Hmm. They have a Baron Mayhew leading the Commission. He was the Solicitor General, then the Attorney General for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Sirius blinked. "Hardly a dunderhead," he concluded.

"He is a muggle, but his niece received her letter last month."

"Oh, gods," Severus said.

"Exactly."

Severus summarized the situation. "The ministry in charge of the Statute of Secrecy must be going insane." They would be pawing the ground to go after Mayhew.

"Probably.

"There is another problem," Sirius said.

There always was, particularly with Black. "We were about to run out of them?" Severus asked.

"I took Draco to Malfoy Manor."

Severus cocked his head since he didn't see a problem with Lord Malfoy visiting his home.

"To the basement," Sirius Black added.

"Not the sub-basement?" Severus could barely believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah."

"You took him to the dungeon without asking me," Severus said. It could be either a question or an accusation. Only Snape's self-control kept it from being a shout that would overwhelm the privacy charms.

"I did."

"Explain yourself." Lord Black had done well to meet in a public house. Severus wanted to draw his wand and hex the idiot.

Sirius knew he didn't have much time before he would use up Snape's patience.

"You read the newspapers. I am trying to keep Lord Malfoy on this side of The Veil and out of Azkaban. I asked permission from Amelia Bones. I was there beside him and we were only in the room for a minute. I know you are his godfather. I'm not questioning that, but I did not want you there. I thought you would have a problem waiting outside and didn't want an argument in front of the Aurors.

"Draco gave testimony about physical evidence of a crime and is now logged as a cooperative witness by the investigators. I took him to a mind healer when we were done. I stayed with him. That was part of the plan."

"Why? Why would you do such a thing? You wanted to break him before you rebuilt him?" There were sure to be legal charges over what happened at Malfoy Manor. It was good that they strengthened Draco's official legal position, but Black was making excuses for the inexcusable.

Lord Black had to take a breath so he wouldn't tell Severus to sod off. "I needed to know. I had to be sure before I extended the family magics to protect Draco. I'm worried he will consider himself a victim like so many of the other Death Eaters. Victims lash out and do horrible things. I had to put a stop to what he imagined was happening down there. He has seen too much already."

"Unlike us," Severus said. Black had to see that he was wrong to take Draco to that chamber of horrors. There were other ways to get Draco's testimony.

"Exactly like us," Sirius argued. Surely Severus saw that he was being overprotective of Draco, that other people could want what was best for him?

"I want Lord Malfoy to help you on the Reparations Commission," Sirius added.

Lord Black wanted to move on, but Severus wasn't settled with what happened to his godson.

"Why this sudden interest in Lord Malfoy? You have your own godson to look after."

Sirius knew the answer, but it was hard to explain in words. "I don't know what Lilly Potter did to save Harry, but it was a miracle. Harry has every right to feel jaded after what happened to him. He doesn't. Draco is different. He thinks the world owes him. I had to show him what I saw."

"I don't see it. To what possible purpose?" Severus asked. He was clearly angry with Black.

"I want to rub his nose in every dirty detail of the victims and the perps. I want to erase the feeling of entitlement and victimhood," Lord Black said. Those were the same feelings that the Potters had slowly erased after Sirius had run away from home.

"So he accepts being a common laborer when you're done?" Snape said. Technically, it was a question. It felt like an accusation.

"So he feeds himself by helping others, just like us," Lord Black answered. Draco had a life of work and discovery ahead of him, but he had to reach out and grab it.

"I'm his godfather. I'll see he doesn't starve," Snape corrected.

"I meant feed his soul, not his stomach," Sirius explained. It sounded simple, but the distinction held a young wizard's life in the balance.

"I'm thinking about building a company to investigate magic and electricity. We think we're superior to the muggles, but if we can't use electricity and electronics, then we are going to fall further and further behind," Sirius said.

The drawings for his remodeled home came from a machine. Sirius had watched it, and it seemed like magic the way the drawings and notes appeared from a screen onto a page larger than a parchment. He hated the idea of the muggles doing things that a magical couldn't do. Witches and wizards walked through London every day without causing blackouts. It was well past time to explore the boundaries of where magic and the muggle world could co-exist. Even their failures could lead to important products and spells.

Severus Snape leaned forward. His interest was clear.. if he could put down his concern for his godson.

Professor Snape knew the modern world had evolved past quills and parchment. More important was that the muggles would hunt wizards down and lock them in a ghetto if magicals became a threat to the technology that kept the modern world alive. Sirius marveled at the sophistication of the scanners and the electronic adding machines at the local grocery store. It would take a long list of spells to accomplish the miracle that a young muggle took for granted and handled with ease.

Severus observed the changes in the muggle world. Some of the muggles had elaborate boxes of electronics in their homes. He had even heard them talk about electronic computers. The magical and mundane worlds were sure to collide.

Sirius said, "Whoever solves that problem will be so rich that the Malfoy estate will look like a cheap pub."

Black mentioned a cheap public house. Severus spread his hand and indicated their surroundings.

"Exactly." Sirius confirmed the comparison.

Severus let his mind wander. 'Magic' was many things. It encompassed runes and potions, to spells and charms. Wizards and witches showed wide differences as well. The way they might interact with the world was beyond description. The fact that a simple doorbell continued to work did not mean that wizards were safe to be around a radio that amplified small signals traveling through the air. Wizarding wireless was a small miracle that bridged the gap. The things now called computers were beyond belief.

Ritual magic and blood magic were so powerful as to be in a magical class by themselves. Fortunately, those arts were not practiced on the streets of London. There probably weren't enough Obliviators in the entire department to undo such a display.

"Wouldn't that be a project for the Unspeakables?" Severus asked.

"It should have been. We need to reach out to the best minds we can find, both muggle and magical. We need muggles to understand magic, and wizards to understand science. The ministry won't do that. You're a half-blood. I'll work out the exceptions to the statute."

Sirius had other motives as well. He knew that Severus Snape had been a spy for at least a decade. As much as he disliked the man, he could not deny that spies had to make decisions on their own. Spies also wanted more than one source of information and they developed trusted sources to get what they needed.

"Can you and Draco work with people who know things you don't understand? How comfortable are you at being wrong?" Sirius asked. That was the make-or-break question as far as he was concerned.

"What does being wrong have to do with this?" Severus wasn't being obtuse. He simply didn't see the connection yet. It was easy to take offense at Black's assumption, but Severus put that aside for the moment.

"We are going to be in over our heads. We have to make mistakes and move on. This project will fail if we don't."

Snape took that in. Several revolutionary potions had been discovered when a brew behaved in unexpected ways. Failed potions were dangerous but there were safeguards when you were conducting research.

"And you want to include Draco?" Professor Snape asked.

"This only sounds like a technical problem. It always comes down to the right people in the right places. We're sure to fail along the way. That is acceptable if we're making progress," Sirius said. They needed to think like a Marauder and find ways around the obstacles that got in their way.

"You're not the perfect man for the job, but you're good enough if you can get people to work with you." Sirius thought that was the second issue that would get in Snape's way. He wanted someone who could make a decision but who also played well with others. No one was perfect.

Lord Black leaned forward and lowered his voice. "For Draco, this is bigger than any back-room-deal that Lucius ever put together. It is bigger than any potion you've ever brewed. This is one of the largest opportunities on the continent. We'll have to fire Draco if he doesn't perform. Could you do that?"

Severus started to answer several times. Silence won out each time he started to speak. Until the waitress delivered their food, they drank their tea straight, undiluted by conversation.

Professor Severus Snape took a bite of his sandwich. He had a lot on his mind and he chewed over what he had learned. Not the least of his questions was if he should be on the Reparations Commission at all. There was a chance that both he and Lord Malfoy would end up in Azkaban. That was a concern. One way to divine their future was to apply to the commission and see how the committee responded.

Severus would prefer to receive the committee's decision by owl and read the message as he sat in a cafe in France. That was better than seeing the commission's summons delivered by a team of Aurors with their wands out. Information was the ultimate currency.

He thought about working with Draco and concluded he needed a middleman between them. He did not see how he could be both a direct supervisor at work and a Godfather the rest of the time. He knew Draco would need guidance.

Severus considered his situation. He was neither rich, nor poor. His position at Hogwarts paid his bills. He saved the rest. Unfortunately, Voldemort was always alert for money that would increase the Dark Lord's power in society. Severus would continue to put his money in long term investments that were securely untouchable. He would continue to do so until he was sure that Riddle was gone.

Severus Snape's father had never earned much money and had spent a fair bit of what they had on drink. Severus wondered what it would be like to earn more than a teacher's salary. He did enjoy having the summers to himself and that argued against taking a new job. On the other side of the scales, the new job might be exactly what Draco needed. Draco's accomplishments could eclipse his father's.

A thought struck him from out of the blue.

Oh, Merlin. Would Black be on the Reparations Commission as well? Severus Snape was sure that Black was doing this simply to torture him again.

HPHPHP

Author's Notes- Finite!

That wraps up this story. Thank you for giving it your time and attention. I gave you about 70-thousand words. Please leave a few of your own. Your comments help me write better stories.

This long story came from two simple questions. What would happen if an adult stood up to Dumbledore? Also, what if Alastor Moody practiced the "constant vigilance" he preached? The story wrote itself from there. I tried to stay true to the characters for everything else.

I am not bashing JKR in the slightest degree. She was writing for children while I wasn't. She had to keep a villain alive through seven books and I didn't.

For every scene I wrote, there were several scenes I could have written and decided to leave out. What scene did you miss the most?

Slow