Harry looked around at the small gathering, eyes sober. "We can't let anyone know this. The search will have to continue for him, just as it did for Sirius."
Kingsley nodded. "It will be hard."
"But not impossible," Tonks added. "Dawlish is in charge of the manhunt this time. Scrimgeour won't be blindsided as easily as Fudge was."
Hermione snorted. "You just have to know how to blinker him, that's all. Give him one thing to focus on, and you can slip something passed easily enough."
"Like what?" Harry asked, while Ron said, "Huh?"
"Like you, Harry." Hermione smiled slightly, ignoring Ron. "If he thinks he's got a chance at getting the Chosen One in his camp, Kingsley and Tonks should be able to slip a few wrong tips into the investigation."
"Sending Dawlish in the wrong direction, which gives Snape a bit of a break. Something I think he's in need of," Tonks added.
She had everyone's attention now. "Tonks?" Remus asked, "what do you mean?"
"I thought Dawlish mentioned only catching a glimpse of him once this month," Moody muttered. "How much more of a break does the traitor need?"
Tonks glared at Moody, but answered Remus's question. "He was only seen once for sure, but I don't think he's been promoted in the ranks. The Death Eaters were hitting him as much as they were going after our people." She shook her head sadly. "If he was in between them and an Auror, then they'd hit him to knock him out of the way and some of those curses were not quick healing ones."
"They wouldn't be attacking Snape if he was in favor. Most aren’t that stupid."
"Greyback is, if there is any hint of weakness. He'd take out any competition as soon as it showed any weakness." Remus's voice was tight with emotions he wouldn't voice. "But the others? I can't see them risking themselves unless…"
"…unless Albus was wrong, that killing him would take Snape out of the inner circle and out of favor." Minerva shivered. "An approved target that they could lash out at in between meets."
"Dumbledore couldn't be wrong about this. The one that killed Dumbledore would be handing you-know-who a great victory, not a problem. He'd be thanked, not ridiculed," Arthur was saying as Harry remembered something he didn't want to:
Naturally I do, but as I have already proven to you, I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being - forgive me - rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger.
Harry feared that maybe this was a very good example of one.