Harry Potter Fanfics

Order Matters

Title: Order Matters
Author: MeiBruges
Site: Archive of Our Own
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34593289

February 1981

Hogwarts castle was soundly asleep while the Headmaster's office was still lit, the windows dark, as Fawkes stood quiet and Severus sat tensed, staring down Albus Dumbledore.

"You're not serious," Severus said.

Dumbledore, seated opposite him at the large wooden desk, never changed expression. His aged face was unreadable, and his pale blue eyes fixed Severus with piercing intensity.

"You are serious."

To that, Dumbledore did answer: a single nod, which made his long, silver hair and beard crinkle slightly.

Severus hated it all.

He hated Dumbledore for having made him sit down to converse. He hated the seat for being too comfortable. And he hated the crystal candy tray for still resting innocuously on the desk between them.

"Why?" Severus asked. At twenty-one, he'd not yet learned to keep the annoyance from his voice, at all times. "Why now? I've been spying for over a year. Why do you want me to join the Order now ?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Because I fear we may have someone in our circle... secretly working for Tom."

Severus felt his stomach knot and his mind freezing still for a moment.

"Who is their Secret Keeper?" he asked quietly. "It is you, I hope."

"That," answered Dumbledore, "is a matter between them and me."

The air in Dumbledore's office felt suddenly thick and the padded seat inexplicably insufferable. Severus stood to his feet.

"You don't want to trust me, don't trust me, fine. But" - he tried suppressing the anger in his voice - "it'd better be you."

Dumbledore never betrayed a hint of an answer, and Severus would have spun round and left the office. But something held him back.

"How would my joining the Order have anything to do with the traitor you suspect?"

"I'm glad you asked."

"I'm sure you are."

"You've been spying on Tom for a while now..."

"I have, yes."

"You have," Dumbledore continued, unperturbed by the edge in Severus' voice. "And with Tom believing you are his double-agent, you have worked your way up in his ranks quickly. Remarkably so, I dare say."

"Go on..."

"And yet, you are not in his innermost circle of trust, are you?"

"No..."

"Well," Dumbledore said. "I believe we can arrange that."

"You believe that if I were to join the Order..."

"I believe," Dumbledore confirmed. "If Tom saw you infiltrating the Order of the Phoenix, and not only the margins of my trust, he would perceive you as an invaluable asset. It could propel you into a position closer to him."

For a fraction of a second, the earth must have spun swifter, because Severus felt the ground slide from under his feet.

"It would bring you closer to him," Dumbledore said carefully. "Closer to his trust."

"And to his scrutiny," Severus murmured.

"That too."

"I'd be risking..." he tried finishing the thought, but couldn't find his voice.