The Master of Death

Chapter42: False Conclusions

Back in Hogwarts Snape cursed himself that he couldn't stay longer in Malfoy Manor. But to ignore an outright dismissal of the dark Lord? He could've jumped out of the second-story window and it would've hurt less. But Greyback's appearance had promised urgent news and yet. Snape would just have to wait and ask Lucius about it in three days.
Three days! Severus cursed his breath as he headed for the dungeons. He had already looked forward to a nice cup of tea and a book in the silence of his own quarters. Maybe even a few glasses of Odgen's before he would have to exchange one hell for another. But no, he had to start the task the dark Lord had presented him with, given that he wanted to have even the slightest chance of finishing the damn potions in time.
It was possible, that he couldn't deny. He wasn't the youngest potions master in over a century for nothing but the slightest mistake and he would have to start them over. A day longer wouldn't have hurt anyone.
Besides, the Azkaban escapees would hardly mind. After all these days with soul-sucking creatures around them, the stay in Malfoy Manor had to be the equivalent of a holiday.

Snape passed a group of Hufflepuffs who quickly shuffled aside when he strode past.

Why couldn't he have just shut up when the dark Lord asked him about Black? Thanks to this he was expected to be successful while playing nurse. Not that Severus doubted his own abilities but the mutt's working state of mind was none of his doings.
Severus had never even considered offering Black any help to battle the repercussions of his incarceration.
For all that it was worth, he would contently watch the remaining members of Potters little gang dwell in their own misery for the rest of their lives. But unfortunate circumstances demanded that he be civil. In two of those cases, the circumstances were called Albus Dumbledore. Though that surely didn't mean that their forced truce did extend to more than what Severus would describe as "not hexing each other in front of Dumbledore's eyes".
That being said, Severus overlooked Lupin's potion schedule religiously during the times the werewolf was not spying among his kind.
Slytherins were not known for their stupidity and Snape would pick the man over the mindless beast anytime. He did not want to repeat the experience of coming face to face with a fully grown werewolf ever again.
So while brewing wolfsbane for Lupin might be a necessity, the notion of assisting Black had never even once occurred to him.

Severus entered his quarters, slamming the door behind him shut with a bit more force than absolutely necessary.

The man could go and jump in the lake. A deep dark lake, full of grindylows and kelpies for all that he cared. But it wasn't like Black would ever ask Severus for his assistance. The mutt was too much of a Gryffindor for that. Too stuck-up and prideful to ever even consider it.
And Severus thanked Merlin for it.

He walked over to his desk, quickly writing a note for Minerva to inform her that he had returned before he threw a handful of floo powder into the fireplace. His stock had really begun to run low, maybe he should've paid more attention to it beforehand and stopped at a shop in Diagon Alley. With a flick of his wand, the piece of parchment floated towards the fireplace, before it disappeared in the green flames. As he was heading for his personal supply room of potion ingredients, his thought process resumed again.

After what Severus had seen today, the lack of impact the Dementors appeared to have had on Black's mind during his incarceration could be a family trait. After all, someone who was already insane could hardly become a different person. Bellatrix was the proof of that. Severus clenched his jaw. And now he barely had time to start his potions before he would have to turn up at Grimmauld Place. Jumping from one crazy Black family member to another. What a day.

Meanwhile, in Wiltshire, the dark Lord turned around, picking up his glass of wine from a side table in the process, before he casually sat down in his chair and directed his gaze at Greyback.