really belated gift fic for Underlucius, eventually slash, chapter 6 of 8, Part A
Title: Tinkers' Bubble (6/8)
Rating: strong R
Category: Drama, Action/adventure, Mystery, Darkfic, Slash
Main character(s): Snape, Lupin, Tonks
Pairing(s): see author notes.
Era: post-HBP
Length: 3400 words
WARNING: Gore and hospital issues. (Think ER, only worse)
Disclaimer: I think we all know what should go here.
Author notes: Main pairing is Snape/Lupin, but it's still very tentative, mostly due to the presence of a certain Miss Nymphadora Tonks. (If she's a Mary Sue, please don't hesitate to flame me.) All factoids are from Wikipedia and the HP-Lexicon. My eternal gratitude to my beta Timi. Occasional typos are my fault entirely.
Again, notes are at the end of the text.
Tinkers' Bubble
Chapter 6
Hogtied
When the air was so thick and fragrant that Severus could barely breathe, the Headmaster's office materialised from the silvery vapours. A few seconds later, two figures appeared in the middle of the room: Albus and himself, seated at the Headmaster's tea table.
"He's already made two attempts on your life, Albus!" he heard his Pensieve-self exclaim. "Let me take care of it. It would be so simple - a Stunner and a few months under my supervision, until this madness ends."
"It is very kind of you to make such an offer, Severus, but I do not believe Stunning or abducting Draco Malfoy is the best solution to our problem," Dumbledore said, absently stroking Fawkes's feathers.
"You should expel him, then."
"And send him home where Voldemort would probably be waiting for him so he can watch how his mother is tortured to death? No, I don't think so."
"Very well, then invite him for tea and tell him he may go ahead and cast a Killing Curse on you. Or, if he is yet unable to master Avada Kedavra, you might help him come up with other, less stressful but highly effective combative hexes," the Pensieve-Snape hissed.
Dumbledore shook his head ever so slightly. "No, my dear boy, I shall do nothing of that kind. Draco will stay here, and you will watch over him to prevent other, potentially fatal 'accidents.' We need him here, at Hogwarts, because he is planning something else alongside those ridiculous assassination attempts. And I wish to know more about that plan."
"All right then," the Pensieve-Snape said, squaring his shoulders. "I know what I must do."
Dumbledore gave him a sad look. With his miopic eyes twinkling behind his glasses, and the lines of worry etched on his face, he resembled a large owl. "Do you, my boy? You sound a tad desperate."
Reaching into the folds of his robe, the Pensieve-Snape withdrew a scroll of parchment. He placed the scroll on the table. "I have written down everything in here. Please make sure that none of my books enter the possession of Horace Slughorn, as I really dislike the man."
Dumbledore began to chuckle, and gave the scroll back. "No, my boy, our plan does not involve you dying of an unfulfilled Vow. Especially because the Vow inflicted upon you by Mrs. Malfoy can never take effect, unless I give my consent that you can kill me."
"And you are not going to do that. I understand. As the leader of the Order, you are needed on this planet for a few more years," Snape-of-the-Pensieve said drily.
"I am afraind you are wrong, my boy," Dumbledore said. "I give my consent."
The Snape clone gaped at the headmaster. He opened and closed his mouth a few times. Finally, he seemed to regain the ability to speak. "No." He shook his head. "No. No. No. Absolutely not. You are not going to make me responsible for another murder, especially not for yours."
Dumbledore stood up, and stepped closer. "The Unbreakable Vow I forced on you sixteen years ago compels you to do my bidding, Severus. I am not asking you to kill me on Tom Riddle's or Narcissa Malfoy's terms. I am asking you to kill me on my terms, when the time comes." He held up his wizened, blackened right hand. "This injury would kill me anyway in a few years. If we waited for that, I would eventually become a liability. Sooner or later, the deteriorating effects of the Peverell ring are bound to take their toll on my magic. I cannot afford to be weak, Severus. I would like to be gone before that happens. I wish to die knowing I have not hindered the Order's work in any way."
"Well, that can be easily amended. You could always kill yourself," the Pensieve-Severus said in a strained voice. "Drink hemlock tea or eat some of Hagrid's rock cakes. Perhaps you could try both, a guaranteed suicide menu."
"How do you think the Voldemort would react to the news of my suicide?" Dumbledore asked, smiling.
"He wouldn't believe it," the Pensieve-Snape admitted after a short pause. "He would think either Draco or I had leaked information out to you, helping you to organise your own death and go into hiding."
"Exactly, my boy," the Headmaster said, popping a lemon drop in his mouth. "Whereas, if you killed me, you could gain Tom's trust and Mrs. Malfoy's unending gratitude.You would simply have to wait until Draco comes too close to accomplishing his task."
"Do you realise you are asking me to give up the chance of ever redeeming myself?" the Severus clone hissed.
"It would appear so, my boy," Dumbledore said, "but I will arrange -"
"Oh, shut up, old man," the Snape clone hissed, standing so abruptly that he knocked back the chintz armchair he had been sitting in. "Fine; I'll do what you want because I am bound to obey. But I refuse to be fed any lie telling that I would benefit from this in any way. Good evening." He pivoted on his heels and quickly left the office, slamming the door behind himself.
Dumbledore remained in his seat, having resumed petting Fawkes. "Well, my eternally young friend," he said at length. "What do you think?"
Fawkes trilled and ruffled his breast feathers.
The Headmaster smiled at him. "Yes. I think it went rather well, too. But I do not think I should be proud of it."
The memory slowly faded back into the silver mist. The mist seemed to congeal and crawl back inside the Pocket Pensieve.
"Merlin's underpants," Tonks breathed. "Remus, we must take the memory to Kingsley, he's an expert on authenticity charms."
Lupin nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. But it seemed authentic to me." He turned to Snape, and the pity in his eyes was nauseating.
Tonks re-sealed the tin and pocketed it, the werewolf stood up and walked over to Snape.
"Finite Incantatem. Diffindo."
Go to Part B
NOTES
[1] Hemlock tea: Snape is thinking of poison hemlock (conium maculatum), the same substance with which Socrates was killed. After ingesting hemlock, the plant's alkaloid, Coniine, paralyzes the muscles which control breathing, and soon after that paralyzes the heart's muscle tissue as well. However, its effects wear off fairly quickly, which means the victim may be brought back to life if someone does CPR on him/her during the critical stage.
Rating: strong R
Category: Drama, Action/adventure, Mystery, Darkfic, Slash
Main character(s): Snape, Lupin, Tonks
Pairing(s): see author notes.
Era: post-HBP
Length: 3400 words
WARNING: Gore and hospital issues. (Think ER, only worse)
Disclaimer: I think we all know what should go here.
Author notes: Main pairing is Snape/Lupin, but it's still very tentative, mostly due to the presence of a certain Miss Nymphadora Tonks. (If she's a Mary Sue, please don't hesitate to flame me.) All factoids are from Wikipedia and the HP-Lexicon. My eternal gratitude to my beta Timi. Occasional typos are my fault entirely.
Again, notes are at the end of the text.
Tinkers' Bubble
Chapter 6
Hogtied
When the air was so thick and fragrant that Severus could barely breathe, the Headmaster's office materialised from the silvery vapours. A few seconds later, two figures appeared in the middle of the room: Albus and himself, seated at the Headmaster's tea table.
"He's already made two attempts on your life, Albus!" he heard his Pensieve-self exclaim. "Let me take care of it. It would be so simple - a Stunner and a few months under my supervision, until this madness ends."
"It is very kind of you to make such an offer, Severus, but I do not believe Stunning or abducting Draco Malfoy is the best solution to our problem," Dumbledore said, absently stroking Fawkes's feathers.
"You should expel him, then."
"And send him home where Voldemort would probably be waiting for him so he can watch how his mother is tortured to death? No, I don't think so."
"Very well, then invite him for tea and tell him he may go ahead and cast a Killing Curse on you. Or, if he is yet unable to master Avada Kedavra, you might help him come up with other, less stressful but highly effective combative hexes," the Pensieve-Snape hissed.
Dumbledore shook his head ever so slightly. "No, my dear boy, I shall do nothing of that kind. Draco will stay here, and you will watch over him to prevent other, potentially fatal 'accidents.' We need him here, at Hogwarts, because he is planning something else alongside those ridiculous assassination attempts. And I wish to know more about that plan."
"All right then," the Pensieve-Snape said, squaring his shoulders. "I know what I must do."
Dumbledore gave him a sad look. With his miopic eyes twinkling behind his glasses, and the lines of worry etched on his face, he resembled a large owl. "Do you, my boy? You sound a tad desperate."
Reaching into the folds of his robe, the Pensieve-Snape withdrew a scroll of parchment. He placed the scroll on the table. "I have written down everything in here. Please make sure that none of my books enter the possession of Horace Slughorn, as I really dislike the man."
Dumbledore began to chuckle, and gave the scroll back. "No, my boy, our plan does not involve you dying of an unfulfilled Vow. Especially because the Vow inflicted upon you by Mrs. Malfoy can never take effect, unless I give my consent that you can kill me."
"And you are not going to do that. I understand. As the leader of the Order, you are needed on this planet for a few more years," Snape-of-the-Pensieve said drily.
"I am afraind you are wrong, my boy," Dumbledore said. "I give my consent."
The Snape clone gaped at the headmaster. He opened and closed his mouth a few times. Finally, he seemed to regain the ability to speak. "No." He shook his head. "No. No. No. Absolutely not. You are not going to make me responsible for another murder, especially not for yours."
Dumbledore stood up, and stepped closer. "The Unbreakable Vow I forced on you sixteen years ago compels you to do my bidding, Severus. I am not asking you to kill me on Tom Riddle's or Narcissa Malfoy's terms. I am asking you to kill me on my terms, when the time comes." He held up his wizened, blackened right hand. "This injury would kill me anyway in a few years. If we waited for that, I would eventually become a liability. Sooner or later, the deteriorating effects of the Peverell ring are bound to take their toll on my magic. I cannot afford to be weak, Severus. I would like to be gone before that happens. I wish to die knowing I have not hindered the Order's work in any way."
"Well, that can be easily amended. You could always kill yourself," the Pensieve-Severus said in a strained voice. "Drink hemlock tea or eat some of Hagrid's rock cakes. Perhaps you could try both, a guaranteed suicide menu."
"How do you think the Voldemort would react to the news of my suicide?" Dumbledore asked, smiling.
"He wouldn't believe it," the Pensieve-Snape admitted after a short pause. "He would think either Draco or I had leaked information out to you, helping you to organise your own death and go into hiding."
"Exactly, my boy," the Headmaster said, popping a lemon drop in his mouth. "Whereas, if you killed me, you could gain Tom's trust and Mrs. Malfoy's unending gratitude.You would simply have to wait until Draco comes too close to accomplishing his task."
"Do you realise you are asking me to give up the chance of ever redeeming myself?" the Severus clone hissed.
"It would appear so, my boy," Dumbledore said, "but I will arrange -"
"Oh, shut up, old man," the Snape clone hissed, standing so abruptly that he knocked back the chintz armchair he had been sitting in. "Fine; I'll do what you want because I am bound to obey. But I refuse to be fed any lie telling that I would benefit from this in any way. Good evening." He pivoted on his heels and quickly left the office, slamming the door behind himself.
Dumbledore remained in his seat, having resumed petting Fawkes. "Well, my eternally young friend," he said at length. "What do you think?"
Fawkes trilled and ruffled his breast feathers.
The Headmaster smiled at him. "Yes. I think it went rather well, too. But I do not think I should be proud of it."
The memory slowly faded back into the silver mist. The mist seemed to congeal and crawl back inside the Pocket Pensieve.
"Merlin's underpants," Tonks breathed. "Remus, we must take the memory to Kingsley, he's an expert on authenticity charms."
Lupin nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. But it seemed authentic to me." He turned to Snape, and the pity in his eyes was nauseating.
Tonks re-sealed the tin and pocketed it, the werewolf stood up and walked over to Snape.
"Finite Incantatem. Diffindo."
Go to Part B
NOTES
[1] Hemlock tea: Snape is thinking of poison hemlock (conium maculatum), the same substance with which Socrates was killed. After ingesting hemlock, the plant's alkaloid, Coniine, paralyzes the muscles which control breathing, and soon after that paralyzes the heart's muscle tissue as well. However, its effects wear off fairly quickly, which means the victim may be brought back to life if someone does CPR on him/her during the critical stage.