Last Witness: Detached (Snape Love Story)

Dark Lord's New Shadow

Dumbledore kept on writing the letter to the Ministry, explaining in a very polite way why he didn’t want to step down from being the Headmaster in Hogwarts.

“I’m sorry Severus, feel free to sit down and start,” he said apologetically to the rather exhausted man.

It was obvious that the man gladly accepted the chair, waiting a little bit.

“The Dark Lord doesn’t want to get involved in the affairs of the British Ministry of Magic anytime soon; instead he is recruiting abroad. He’s taken on someone new already, some mysterious operative that he refuses to introduce to the rest of the Death Eaters. Yaxley is the only one that has ever met him.”

Dumbledore paused a little, shaking the churned up bits of ink from his quill:

“Is he any good?”

The man in front of him grimaced:

“According to what Malfoy heard, this operative has been given only one order from the Dark Lord: convert or kill; and whoever it is, he’s apparently excellent in it. He doesn’t leave any traces, he doesn’t do any mistakes…. The Dark Lord has already gained allies in India, Russia, and France; now it’s my understanding that this diplomatic assassin is in Egypt. I would advise to pass a warning to Bill Weasley and see what he can find out.”

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows:

“You believe that this operative might try to infiltrate our own ranks?”

The man sighted:

“It is hard to tell; Voldemort doesn’t know that the Order of the Phoenix has been reinstated. But Weasley has a very desirable position in the bank: he oversees so many transactions through the wizarding world that it would be easy to become rich overnight. If I were this operative I would make Bill one of my targets.”

Dumbledore nodded and reached for another piece of parchment:

“I wil alert the Order then.”

The two men sat in silence. One was near sleep and the other one carried on writing letters. They felt no need to disturb one another; it wasn’t until Dumbledore sent both letters that he spoke again:

“Is there anything… personal that you would like to talk about Severus?”

The younger man stirred under the piercing gaze of bright blue eyes. Dumbledore could see that he was torn between his identity as a Death Eater and being himself. Facing Voldemort again after he has taken so much away from him couldn’t be easy either. He looked at him kindly:

“You are Severus Snape, the perhaps bravest and most valuable member of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society that battles Voldemort. You serve as a double agent even though you know that if anyone discovered where your allegiance truly lies would bring you a slow and painful death. You have saved hundreds of lives…”

“But I didn’t save the life that mattered to me the most.”

The young man stood up with hatred and some kind of new strength that seemed to overcome the fatigue he exhibited in the past few minutes.

Dumbledore felt the need to apologize for touching this ancient wound that would perhaps never heal but the man clearly didn’t want to hear it. He wasn’t given a chance to speak.

“I will find out who this operative is and if it proves to be necessary, I will dispose of him on behalf of the Order. With that task Headmaster I would like to ask permission to leave for an infinite period of time to start this… investigation.”

Dumbledore only nodded and watched the young man leave, strangely recalling all the memories he had of him. The emotions that swirled him upon that reflection were hard to define. Was there guilt because he could have paid him more attention when Severus was a student? Yes, guilt was there among any others and Dumbledore hoped that one day, he would have the chance to repay him for all that he’s done.