Beneath the Covers / DRAMIONE (COMPLETE)

A Tragic Tale

Remus took charge at once, getting rid of Hermione's birds, and sending the miserable Harry and Ginny to the Hospital Wing in the company of Hannah. Then Professor Snape took over.

"Draco, Granger, you are coming now to my office, where I shall deliberate what your punishments will be for your transgressions," he snapped.

"Punishments, Sir?" Hermione gulped.

"Yes," the professor replied sternly. "Someone has to keep order in this school."

"I think I'll come along too," stated Remus. "Check that the punishments are reasonable, and such."

Snape glared at the werewolf.

"You are no longer a teacher, Lupin. You can't prevent me disciplining students, especially one of my own house, and..." Here he turned his killer stare on Draco, "My godson."

"I know," Remus replied easily. "We need a catch-up, anyway, Severus."

"Do we?" Snape rolled his eyes.

"Yes," said Remus firmly. "Considering Dumbledore's absence, you are the next person I wish to speak to."

"Why did you come all this way?" Hermione questioned curiously.

"I'd like to discuss that in private, if you don't mind," Remus answered evenly, without looking at her.

Draco shared a look with Hermione, and the group remained in silence until they reached Snape's rooms.

*

"Surely thirty points from each house is a tad severe, Severus," Remus pointed out, once settled in an armchair. "They didn't really cause that much damage."

Draco and Hermione shifted uneasily. Severus gave the two a disdainful look and then returned his gaze to his former enemy.

"Draco trashed his common room. Tables upturned, parchment everywhere, ash all over the carpet. He even managed to stick wax on the ceiling."

Snape's tone was of disbelief, not disappointment. Hermione eyed Draco, annoyed – she hadn't known to what length he would go to to cause chaos.

"Really?" Remus sounded amused. "I suppose thirty points is reasonable, then. Look, Hermione, Draco, can you leave us? We need to discuss some... business."

"If it's Order business, I want to stay," Hermione said obstinately, surprising herself with her vehemence.

"Me too," Draco declared. Snape rolled his eyes again.

"Severus?"

"I don't see why they can't stay. They know most things anyway," Snape sighed, rubbing at his temples and sitting down opposite Remus.

"Really?"

"Draco knows quite a lot about my past life as a result of me being his pathetic godfather, and Granger decided to come to me to ask about house rivalries, and so I showed her the DADA OWL exam memory," Snape explained, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"Oh, Severus," Remus said quietly. "Alright, you two can stay."

Draco and Hermione looked around and awkwardly sat down on a sofa. Both Remus and Snape occupied the armchairs by the spitting, dying fire.

"Dumbledore let something slip the other day," Remus began lowly. "There is something that can defeat Voldemort – getting rid of his Horcruxes."

Snape paled dramatically, but Hermione and Draco just looked at both men in confusion.

"What are Horcruxes?" Draco asked tentatively.

Remus responded, given that the Potions Master was currently massaging his forehead in silence.

"Horcruxes are the darkest of all magic. It is when a witch or wizard commits a fragment of their soul to an object, in the hopes of attaining immortality. I don't really know much more about it..."

Snape spoke, though his voice was harsh.

"Horcruxes can be hidden in human beings as well as objects. And the ritual for making a Horcrux – the first act is murder, the supreme evil, and then there are others; terrible, terrible crimes of nature. Horcruxes are usually protected by Counter-Charms and Jinxes. If the Dark Lord has Horcruxes, those will need to be sought after and destroyed before he, too, can be killed as a mortal."

Hermione shivered.

"Hasn't anybody gone to look for these? Dumbledore, perhaps?" She inquired.

Snape rubbed at his eyes. Remus looked drawn and tired.

"I did suspect," began the Potions Master, "that something of this kind was what the Dark Lord was using to escape death."

"Then why haven't you gone to look for them?" Draco exclaimed.

Both Hermione and Snape drew in deep breaths: Hermione at Draco being so rude to a teacher, and Snape because it was a question he didn't want to answer.

"Why? Tell me!" Draco was insistent.

Remus tried to calm him down.

"Draco, Severus may not want to divulge that information."

"But I want to know!"

The raised pitch of Draco's voice caused the professor to look up with sad eyes.

"The answer to that is the same as the one to 'why do I stay at Hogwarts?'," he stated.

"So, what is the answer?"

"When I graduated from Hogwarts, I joined the Death Eaters," Snape said blandly. Hermione winced, although she was the only one that did. "I worked for the Dark Lord, and I worked hard. But then they started hunting down a child, a baby boy. They were searching for a baby born at the end of July. The two most famous of these were Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter, children whose parents had defied the Dark Lord thrice."

Hermione gasped and Remus looked uneasy. Draco remained steadfastly stone-faced.

"They began searching for them because I – stupidly, wrongfully – overheard a prophecy – a prophecy told by Professor Trelawney to Dumbledore. Realising my mistake, I hastened to Dumbledore. He agreed to protect Lily and, in turn, Harry and James, but I had to pay the price. I had to do anything the man said.

"And then, Lily was murdered, and so was James. I was ordered to protect Harry, to watch over him whilst he was taught here. I had to stay as a Potions professor, to teach incompetent children, because I owed Dumbledore, and the Ministry would arrest me if I even tried to leave. I can't go out searching for the Horcruxes – I'd be arrested on sight. And even if I wasn't arrested, the Dark Lord would kill me for betraying my master."

There was a silence for a few moments. Hermione sat back, feeling faint. Remus looked troubled. Draco appeared as though he might cry, his face white with fear. As if in response, there came a knock at the door.

"Enter," said Snape, quiet and unflinchingly emotionless.

Filius bustled in, and was unfazed to see the four of them there.

"Severus, it's Death Eaters. We must fight. Now."

*****

A.N. So Severus finally divulges everything to Draco, Hermione and Remus. We now know why he stays at Hogwarts. But why have the Death Eaters come knocking? Find out next! In the meantime:

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