Prophecy Child

Severus gritted his teeth as he stepped up to the wards at the front door of 12 Grimmauld Place. He knew his role was vital here for his Lord’s agenda, but having to spend hours in close proximity with this pack of… He cut himself off, knowing too much would show on his face if he allowed his thoughts to continue down that track.

He took a calming breath, checked his mental barriers, and knocked.

‘Snivvy. Right on time. Anyone would think you’d-‘ James Potter was cut off abruptly by someone thumping into his back.

‘Oof! Sorry Jamie, tripped on that stupid broken stair again!’ said Lily. ‘Oh. Hi Severus.’ She added flatly. ‘Come in, meeting’s about to start.’

The pair turned and headed down the dark hallway towards the kitchen, while Severus followed more slowly. He glanced at the portrait of Walburga Black, who gave him a small shake of her head. Nothing interesting to check in with her later about, then. Severus gave her a hint of a smile in thanks. She was a most useful spy in the Order Headquarters. Nobody thought she was anything more than a banshee, and they would just draw the curtains over her frame, as if that shut out all sound in either direction. In truth, Walburga would just fall silent and use the opportunity to listen in on private conversations.

It had taken hardly any effort on Severus’ part to befriend the old witch and ask her to keep an ear out for useful information that could be used to destroy Dumbledore or aid the Dark faction. She had been positively gleeful at the thought of gathering gossip, undermining the old man, and having a Dark wizard to chat to semi-regularly.

Severus continued down the dark hallway, trying not to smirk at the heavy atmosphere. Walburga had told him that the house was sentient to a degree, and was not happy about the invaders that had commandeered it as a Headquarters to destroy Dark magic. While the house’s Lord was in prison, it had limited power, but the bitterness of the house practically seeped from the walls, dark and heavy and unsettling. Severus ran a finger lightly along the wall as he walked, and he felt the slight tingle of magic that told him the house recognised an ally. He paused before entering the kitchen, schooling his face and gathering his thoughts.

‘Ah, Severus, my boy! Glad you could join us. Come, sit. Would you like a cup of tea?’ Dumbledore smiled genially, beckoning Severus closer. Severus sat stiffly to Dumbledore’s left, ignoring the teacup set in front of him. ‘Tell us, Severus, do you have any news to share?’

Severus clenched his jaw briefly. Dumbledore knew how much Severus hated sharing his ‘undercover’ work in front of these people, and that he preferred to sit back and wait on other news before adding anything. Calling him out first like this was eminently frustrating, and yet another small power play by Dumbledore, just letting Severus know he ought not be too comfortable, ought not forget why he was allowed to be here.

He bit back a vindictive grin at the thought of what he was about to share, though. This ought to set the pixies among the pretentious-

Severus cut that thought short, lest his mask crack while delivering this juicy tidbit.

‘I have heard some strange whispers. Nothing clear or concrete yet…’ he paused for dramatic effect, noting that Potter was examining his fingernails, and Lily was stirring her tea absently. Dumbledore had on his grandfatherly façade, but Severus could tell he was preparing to dismiss whatever Severus said.

‘I’ve been hearing what I think are allusions to the Prophecy.’

That got a reaction. Suddenly all eyes were on him, riveted and sharp.

‘The boy… he is hidden somewhere?’ Severus asked, carefully modulating his voice so he sounded cautious in asking.

‘He is safe.’ Said Dumbledore reassuringly. ‘He is indeed hidden. I am sure you understand why I cannot give you any more information than that, Severus.’

Severus nodded, adding a hint of relief to his expression. Of course, he knew exactly where the boy was. But he needed to appear like Dumbledore’s pet spy, worried he’d compromise important information if it was handed too freely to him.

Potter, of course, understood no such subtleties. ‘Why are you asking, Snivvy? Bet you want to take the information back to your dirty lord and kiss his feet while you tell him where my son is, don’t you?!’ he snarled, barely reacting to Lily’s hand on his arm.

‘In case you have forgotten, Potter, I was the one to ensure that the boy lived in the first place! I warned you to hide and you refused, so I did what I could to protect- ‘

‘Protect Lily, who you are in love with! She’ll never love you back, you know that right, Snivvy?’

‘James!’ cried Lily, blushing darkly.

‘He needs to know, Lils. You’re far too good for him. And besides, we’re already married. It’s too late, Snivellus.’

Severus tried not to roll his eyes. ‘Merlin’s teeth,’ he muttered under his breath. ‘I shall owl you later this week, Albus, unless anything more urgent comes up.’ Severus stood and left as quickly as he could while still looking dignified. He paused briefly on his way out to whisper to Walburga’s portrait. ‘I’ve stirred a hornet’s nest – listen closely and let me know next time I’m back!’

It was only two days later that Severus returned to Grimmauld Place for another meeting. This time, he arrived a couple of hours early. He wanted to be sure he arrived before anyone else who might have showed up early too.

The house looked entirely different when he was the only one inside. Cleaner, brighter, less oppressive. He followed Walburga’s directions to the third floor library, where there were other portrait frames she could move to. Severus settled himself in an armchair, nodding his appreciation at a positively ancient house elf that popped in to deliver tea.

‘Good morning, Walburga. Lovely to see you again.’ Severus began.

‘Yes, yes, lovely – let’s skip the pleasantries.’ Walburga said impatiently. Severus raised a brow, but held his tongue. ‘After you left, there was quite a bit of nonsense from that young man who looks like he was dragged backwards through a bush – Potsley? His shrew wife was carrying on too, and that blasted old Dumbledore was waffling about nothing. He assured the Potsley’s he’d go and check on the boy, make sure he was alright. That scruffy layabout didn’t even seem to care! Just continued to rant about you! Really, how that fool has a Lordship is beyond me. His ancestors must be rolling in their graves.’

 Severus considered her information for a while, then tentatively spoke up. ‘I appreciate your information, Walburga. I had thought perhaps you might have something a little more…’

‘Oh, certainly.’ said Walburga. ‘Well, only two days ago, Dumbledore said he would go and check on the boy. And now another meeting has been called. If the boy was fine, would the old man not just send an owl to the parents and reassure them? Why another meeting? I’ll tell you why – something has happened to the boy! I’d stake galleons on it!’

Severus’ expression turned into a smug smirk.

‘You already know!’ gasped Walburga, outraged. ‘What is it?! What has happened?!’

‘Walburga, I’d like you to keep an ear out for any mentions of a prophecy.’ Severus said instead, brushing his trousers off and making to stand up.

‘No – you sit right back down, young man! Tell me what has happened! I’m a poor, lonely old woman with no family left to speak to…’ Walburga cried, hand thrown dramatically over her eyes. She gave a not-so-subtle glance at Severus, checking to see if her hysterics were having any effect. She dropped her hand at his smirk. ‘Insolent child. You were planning to tell me already, weren’t you?’

Severus gave a slight snort. ‘Indeed. You have provided me with much useful information, it is only fair that I do the same for you. Besides, none of those fools would try to speak with you, and legilimency is not effective on a portrait. There was a prophecy made about Harry Potter, supposedly about the boy defeating an enemy. The Dark Lord is Dumbledore’ s enemy, of course. But Harry Potter is no longer under Dumbledore’s thumb. He is in the Dark Lord’s home, and will soon learn who sent him away from his parents to live in an abusive home. Dumbledore may have created his own downfall.’

Walburga blinked, processing. Then, she smiled, wider and wider. A laugh began, growing louder and wilder until she was cackling madly, and suddenly, she disappeared from her frame. A moment’s silence, then Severus could hear the faint cackling laughter drifting up from her main portrait frame by the front door. A moment later, he heard the front door open, and the cackling laughter increased again, louder and more manic.

Faint voices, too hard to hear, were apparently trying to work out what on earth the laughter was about, and trying to work out how to shut Walburga up. Severus glanced around, unsure how to go about ‘entering’ the house without any of the Order members realising he’d been there early. A door to his right creaked open slowly. After a pause, he said quietly, ‘I am an ally of Walburga Black. Are you showing me safe passage?’

The door creaked a little further open, and Severus hesitantly walked towards it, then descended the stairs slowly, wand out and ready. He opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, and stepped out into the front garden, just out of sight of the front door behind a large bush. He murmured his appreciation to the house and made his way to the front door.

It was uncanny stepping into the house he had been in moments before, and noting the changes now that Order members were inside. Back to its dark, heavy atmosphere, threatening and watching and waiting. Severus held back a shudder and made his way to the kitchen, past Walburga’s cackling portrait, covered by curtains that were doing nothing to block the sound.

‘-being serious! Surely we could just destroy the portrait!’ shouted Potter.

‘It is a magical portrait, it cannot be destroyed by ordinary means! And no, before you suggest it, we are not casting Fiendfyre to destroy it. I don’t care how much you hate that horrid old witch, we are not resorting to Dark spells!’ snapped Lily.

‘Quite right, we shall just have to wait for her to stop. Perhaps I shall cast a ward over the door to the ki- Severus, my boy! Glad you could join us!’

Severus partially held back a sneer, playing his role perfectly. ‘Have none of you considered manners? Of course not, look who I’m speaking to!’ he muttered the last just loud enough to be heard easily. Before Potter could retort, he stepped back into the hallway.

‘Lady Black? Are you quite alright?’ he called politely.

‘Who goes there?’ came the reply, the cackling stopping abruptly. Severus was glad nobody could see his face. Walburga certainly knew how to perform her role.

‘I am a friend of… Orion? We are about to have a meeting, and your laughter is rather loud. Would you mind terribly keeping it down a little?’

‘My apologies. I wish you success in your meeting.’ came the equally polite reply.

‘Much appreciated, Lady Black.’ Severus stepped back into the kitchen, holding his blank façade with an iron will.

A dozen stunned faces gaped openly at him. Even Dumbledore looked shocked.

‘How did you do that? And why did you say Orion?’ someone asked blankly.

Severus raised an eyebrow. ‘Manners? Surely a lack of manners is not a prerequisite to join this group – although it may explain why many of you look to Potter as a leader, as he is the most poorly mannered person I know. As for Orion Black, it was the only name I could think of aside from Sirius, but I didn’t think she’d want his friends here. Not that there are any of those here, right?’

Severus relished the flinches from multiple people at the mention of Sirius Black –  particularly from Potter and Lily. Guilt lingered longer on Lily’s face, but Severus felt none of his own guilt for putting it there.

‘Remarkable, my boy.’ Dumbledore said patronisingly. ‘Well done. Indeed, manners can open many doors – and silence many mouths, it seems!’

The group chuckled half heartedly at his joke, and settled in slightly uneasy silence, waiting for Dumbledore to call the meeting to order.

The old man was looking around at everyone, but Severus could see the slight tightness around his eyes that betrayed his discomfort.

‘I am aware that it has only been a couple of days since our last meeting, however circumstances have brought us back together again quickly. I’m afraid it’s not good news.’ Dumbledore paused, eyes flicking over the group. His eyes fell twice on Severus, who began to brace himself for however the old man intended to twist the situation to take the heat off himself.

‘I went to check on young Mr Potter last night, to ensure his wellbeing after Severus informed us that he had heard of some plans. Alas, I found evidence of foul play, and young Harry is missing.’

The uproar was expected.

The uproar being directed largely at Severus was, unfortunately, also expected. Dumbledore had done a very good job of overselling Severus’ tip-off just enough to make it seem more significant than what Severus had actually said, and had made it seem as if Severus was at fault for not knowing more. Dumbledore’s own involvement looked like that of the discoverer of a crime, not the perpetrator that Severus knew him to be.

‘Where is my son, Snivellus?!’ roared Potter, surging to his feet, wand out and pointed at Severus.

Severus was on his feet in an instant, wand ready and eyes intent on his quarry. He was almost disappointed when Dumbledore put a stop to it.

‘Sit down at once!’ he ordered, and everyone hastily obeyed. Severus and Potter were a little slower to sink back down, but soon everyone was seated. ‘Fighting amongst ourselves will not bring young Harry home. We must pull together to find him.’ Dumbledore intoned gravely. Severus kept his eyes from rolling by sheer force of will.

‘If we intend to find him, we need more information, Albus. Where was he? What protections was he under?’

‘Oh of course you’d love to know that information, wouldn’t you, dirty Death Eater!’ shouted Potter.

‘The boy is already gone! If the Dark Lord already has him, then what does it matter where he was before – it will only give me somewhere to begin searching.’

Potter was silent at that, no decent argument coming to mind.

Dumbledore contemplated Severus for a moment, before saying. ‘Surrey. A muggle house. I will show you the location later.’

‘Why does he get to know? You can’t be serious, Albus?!’ cried Potter.

‘Because Severus knows more spells to track the boy than anyone else here.’ Dumbledore said simply, but his unspoken meaning was clear. Severus is already contaminated by Dark magic, might has well have him keep using it rather than tainting anyone else.

Potter shut up at that, but he still gave Severus a baleful glare. ‘Dirty Slytherin bastard.’ He muttered, just loud enough for Severus to hear.

‘A dirty Slytherin bastard who may be your only chance to find the son you haven’t checked on in how long – three years? Think he’ll know who you are if we find him?’ Severus couldn’t resist taunting.

Potter flew to his feet again, shouting incoherently and looking about ready to climb over the table and fist fight Severus.

‘My, Potter, what an unsightly temper you have. No wonder Lady Black shrieks when you enter her home. I believe I shall take my leave. Owl me when you are free to go to Surrey, Albus.’

Severus exchanged a wicked grin with Walburga on his way out, and he heard her cackling start up again as he shut the front door.