The air in the room was heavy, Albus staring down at the ring on his desk. One small ring had caused so much damage. The conversation had left him with a mix of relief and regret.

Across from him was his Head of Slytherin, hair hanging in front of his pale face. His eyes were dark, and after all the years that had passed, they still made Albus uneasy. "How do I keep this from her?"

"Pardon?"

"That her best friend has a year to live," he said, his voice void of any emotion.

Albus stared blankly at the man across the room from him, stroking his beard out of habit. It was a topic he hoped to avoid. The thought of Minerva's reaction to his impending death was one of the few things that could still bring tears to his eyes which had slowly become immune to emotion. "You keep it as you keep everything else. Or, you end things."

"So easy for you to say, isn't it, old man?"

"You knew the job when you took it. We made a deal."

"A one-sided deal," Severus retorted.

"Over the years, I warned you two of the consequences of a relationship I shouldn't have allowed to go on." Severus didn't say anything. Albus hated having to say what he said, but the three of them knew the romance was a bad idea from the start. But, he'd loved that woman so much he couldn't bear to see her let down. She was one of his few weaknesses left, Albus knew. For the first time in years, Albus allowed himself vulnerability. He leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. The silence in the room was deafening. He knew he had to open up to get anywhere with the Slytherin. It was something he owed the man who had long paid his debt. With so little time left, he knew he'd regret not allowing himself a moment of weakness. It took him a long few moments to decide to offer the invitation into his mind for the evening, an invitation so rare nobody except Minerva and Gellert had ever received it. It was the only way to keep the man on his side, a man so close to the edge at all times. "Sit, Severus."

"I'm tired of following your orders."

"Severus, I ask as a friend."

"You are not my friend."

"Then sit for Minerva's sake. Perhaps that is a reason we can both agree on."

Severus finally, reluctantly, sat down across from him. Albus summoned two bottles of Brandy, sending one to Severus with his wand and keeping the other to himself. "A bottle each." Severus raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and moved not an inch. "Ask me anything."

"What?"

"I said, ask me anything. When the bottles are done, we go back to normal. Until then, we talk about any and all of it."

"Is this a game, old man?"

Albus nodded. "In a way I suppose."

Severus used his wand to undo the bottle and took a sip. They sat in silence for what felt like hours until Severus spoke. "Who does your greater good benefit?"

"Getting right to the point, aren't you?" Albus asked, amused by the Potion Master's boldness. Though, he expected nothing less.

Severus took a sip again. "Was the question clear enough?"

"Aye," Albus laughed. "The many."

"Am I one of the many?"

"No," Albus said truthfully.

"Are you?"

"No."

Severus sighed. "If you're doing all of this for some grand plan, how the hell are you different from Voldemort? Why do I continue to be a slave to you?"

The question stung, but Albus had always known the eerie similarities he bore to the Dark Lord. Perhaps it was his lust of power in his youth that had made him pour his heart and mind into making up for the damage to the world he had already done. Trust and love had brought him and the world an enemy almost as formidable as Voldemort. He had trained himself to think less of individual relationships and only of a person's actions on the world outside. Focusing on protecting the one he loved had done more damage than good. Slowly, Albus had committed himself to developing a mindset that did not allow him to be emotionally tied to individuals. People could be pawns, and people best served the world when they acted as such. Individual wants and needs did nobody good. Love and emotion clouded judgment. It was why he knew that nobody could understand him. Too many people, like Severus, let those things cloud them.

The man across from him was emotional and selfish. He focused too much on others and how he felt about them. The only similarity Albus saw between himself and Severus was their soft spot for Minerva. Finding such a strong and bold woman in tears all those nights ago had forged a friendship he'd never been prepared for.

"I'm not," Albus finally admitted. "Our definitions of good are the only difference."

"And to you, that definition justified all of what you've done to those of us that are not part of your greater good population?"

"I suppose it does," Albus replied.

Severus slammed his bottle down. "How are you so removed?"

"I taught myself to be," Albus said, matching his emotion with frankness.

"What was the point of this? Asking me to sit? You aren't giving me anything."

"Severus, the most honest I can be is this. I'm not giving you some inspirational lecture about the greater good. We see the world differently. I want a world free of evil and hatred. There is nothing I as an individual yearn for. I have to remove myself from those around me to see the bigger picture."

Albus took a long sip and winced at the strong taste of the brandy. It had been a while since he'd had a drink. It burned as it went down, but it was the most alive he'd felt in months. "I am using who I need to to accomplish that. Every one of you serves a purpose. I'm not here pretending it's more than that. If it was anyone else, why, I'd find a colorful saying to inspire you or bring you to my cause. I've become quite good at that." Hoping Severus could hear the genuineness in his voice, Albus continued. "You're a pawn. The Order are pawns. I have found ways to use you all. And, no, I haven't thought about the consequences my actions have on your personal lives." Severus was quiet still. "We were both bitten by love's sting in our youth, Severus. We just learned different lessons."

Severus took a sip of his brandy, staring still. Albus thought that it was the first look of satisfaction he'd ever seen on the man's face. "I do think that is the most honest you have ever been with me."

Albus cocked an eyebrow. It had clicked. "You've seen right through me from the start, Severus. I'm not evil, far from it. I want goodness, fairness. But, I'm not afraid to use you, no."

"Did you even try with Lily?"

"I did," Albus said. "None of us could have suspected…"

"Enough." Severus summoned a chess board to the desk between them. "If we're going to drink and talk, best we have something to do. Your move first." Albus couldn't remember if he'd ever played a game of chess with the man. Most of their meetings had been full of anger or distaste on both sides. And when there were none of those feelings, it was strictly business. He'd never particularly liked Severus. And, he knew Severus didn't like him. They needed each other. Yet, he cared for the man in an odd way. Somehow, after all of Albus's own accolades, he'd always wanted the respect of Snape. "Do you care for me?"

Albus was taken out of his thoughts at the question he'd just been pondering in his own mind. "I care about you. Do I care for your personality? Not quite."

"The feeling, I assure you, is mutual."

"I respect you. And, I like that you have made my Minnie happy all these years."

Severus's mouth twitched into what was the closest one could label a smile on Severus Snape. "I enjoy doing it." Severus made his move. "In what way do you care about me?" Despite the man's husky, intimidating voice, the man asking the question seemed to Albus that of the young boy he'd met all those years ago, longing to fit in and for someone to love. It was such an innocent question from a man with a nothing but innocent past. Perhaps that's what kept Albus from truly hating him, that last little bit of child in Severus.

"In a complicated way, you mean more to me than as a pawn." Albus held up his queen and made a move.

"Touching," Severus muttered.

"Do tell me, Severus. What are your feelings about me?"

Severus made a move of his own and looked up. "I could never figure that out."

Albus nodded. "A complicated relationship between two equally complicated men."

"I don't hate you," Severus said. "I harbor resentment towards you- for a great deal of things. But, you've been a constant in my life. For that, there is affection, I suppose. I know you benefited from our deal. And I know I'm another puppet in your game. But, you've done me some good that I believe wasn't part of that plan, showed me some kindness for the sake of it. I am thankful for those small moments."

Albus raised his bottle. "Correct. I'd never pin us as friends. But, I suppose you've caught my soft spot for you."

"I can't stand you," Severus said, with a hint of humor.

"We're different people who see the world quite differently. For a man such as yourself, you have quite a romantic view."

Severus sneered. "By your friendship with Minerva, you know that's not true."

"Not romantic in your actions," Albus clarified. "Romantic in the sense that you value love above all, even above duty."

"I value people as people," Severus replied. He moved his queen. "Not as pawns."

"And there's the difference."

"What gave you such a horrid outlook on life? You always put on such a grand show, but you're rather cold. I don't like many. I'm liked by even less. But, when I do find myself affectionate towards someone, I don't use them."

Albus leaned back and took a generous sip of his wine. "You know the story of my sister." Severus nodded. "It was that. I vowed I shall never feel any of that pain again, and the only way I could do that is to detach."

"Are you lonely?"

"Quite," Albus admitted. "I have enjoyed the company of a few men over the years, but not in some time." He took a long swig of his bottle, noticing he still had about half left. "Something I always wanted to ask you is: why Minerva?"

The edge of Severus's mouth twitched again. "I never wanted it."

"I know."

"My goal was not to muddle with our agreement…especially not after Lily…I valued the respect you showed me…truly." It was so rare to hear Severus stammer. "Minerva just…happened."

"The age difference: you could have had someone much younger, much more…firm. I love her dearly, but you could have gone for someone younger to take care of whatever needs you had."

"Could I?"

"A one night stand here and there as well all do. It's the culture of the staff."

Severus snorted and moved a pawn. "I have never been a part of the staff culture."

"We both know that's not true," Albus pointed out. "I know you're more intertwined with them than you care to admit."

"That's Minerva."

Albus smiled at the thought. "So why did it 'just happen'?"

Taking a sip, Severus held up the half-finished bottle. "A long night of this."

"Quidditch?"

"Precisely."

"A night of passion? Who had won."

"Gryffindor."

Albus laughed at the thought. "That will do it."

"The rest just happened…it became, or, perhaps had been love for quite some time. More than just two lonely people…"

"And that is why I have been so against the relationship."

"You weren't at the beginning," Severus pointed out. "Do you remember that dinner in the Great Hall you arranged?"

For the first time that evening, Albus was able to laugh. "Yes. I was never going to come. And, you're right. I wasn't against it, because, frankly, I thought it was a fling. Both of you needed some relief, and at that point I thought the partnership could be good. As Rolanda pointed out to me on several occasions, you both needed to burn some energy."

Severus rolled his eyes. "When did that support change?"

"When I realized you two were in love."

"I met Malcolm."

Albus sighed. For the first time, he felt pain in his chest at the idea of him losing Minerva. He'd never once thought the relationship would leave the castle's halls. "When?"

"St. Mungos."

"That's dangerous"

"It was an accident."

"You must contain this."

"I have been. Even when…"

Albus looked up as Severus trailed off uncharacteristically. "When what?"

Severus took a rather large swig. "It's starting to set in."

"When what?"

Severus stared at him. "When Karkaroff tried to assault her."

Albus felt his stomach drop and he put his pawn down. Nausea set in, but it wasn't from the alcohol. "He what?"

"You were too busy that year," Severus snapped. "Keeping the ministry happy."

"He tried to…"

"Filch found me in time."

Albus wanted to throw up. "Did he…?"

"No," Severus said. "Just ah, her robes were ripped…" Severus stole an extra turn, but Albus didn't care. "She won't speak of it, so don't bother asking her. It was a moment of weakness for her," Severus continued, his voice cracking. "Please leave it be."

"I'm sorry."

"You should be." His chess opponent looked up at him with dark eyes. "Was that part of the greater good too?" Severus's calmness was maddening.

"No," Albus said quietly. They continued to play, but Albus found they were drinking more slowly. It didn't seem either was ready for the conversation to end. Albus had lost much of his thirst after finding out about what had happened to Minerva, right under his nose. No doubt, because of his choice to bring the Triwizard Tournament back.

"Am I to die, Albus?" Severus finally asked, breaking the silence they'd become equally comfortable and uncomfortable in.

"It's not necessary in the plan, no."

Severus put down the piece he was about to move. "What?"

"As you said, I have a soft spot for you," he replied truthfully. "There is great risk of death, but death is not necessary for the defeat of Voldemort."

"I…"

"Thought I wanted you to die? Contrary to what you believe, I don't want you to die. Your life is at risk; that's the nature of the thing. I won't deny that, but your death is not what is necessary." Albus hoped that his slight slip wasn't apparent to Severus. It was not the time to discuss the plans for Harry.

"Minerva?"

"Merlin, no," Albus cut in.

Severus sat back in his chair, and Albus saw a single tear slip down his cheek. "All this time, I…"

"I'm not saying you won't die."

"I know," Severus replied, covering his face with his hands. "I know it's likely, but I…" It was the most he'd ever heard the usually well -spoken man stutter.

Feeling awkward, Albus reached out and put a hand on his arm, wincing at the black that was overtaking it. "Tell me something, and then it seems we've reached the end of this evening of honesty…what are your plans if you were to live through this?"

Severus looked up. "I've always assumed I would die."

"You still could," Albus said honestly. "Don't think it's not likely."

"I thought it was inevitable. It will always be likely."

Albus stood up and got his favorite candy bowl. "Answer the question, and I think that will be my last."

"There was a night this summer…Minerva came to Spinner's End. We…well we did what I suppose normal people do. Simplicity is what I want."

Albus smiled. "I think we all do."

Severus took a candy. Albus had never seen him eat one before. "A truce?" Severus asked, holding up the wrapper.

"A truce." Albus lifted the bottle he had and Severus lifted his to clink. Albus finished what was left of his bottle, and Severus did the same. The game finished and so did their evening.