November 2, 1996

Lucius Malfoy opened his eyes when he felt someone looking at him. Rookwood was back and leaning casually against a wall, his arms crossed.

"What is it, Rookwood?" Lucius asked, weary.

"Couldn't I just come here for the company, Malfoy?"

Lucius glared at him. "You and I both know you are not here to enjoy the company."

Rookwood laughed – a humorless laugh. "Ah, Lucius, Lucius, Lucius," Rookwood said. He cocked his head to the side. "I've been wondering now for a while; why her, why that Mudblood?"

Lucius didn't answer, but to himself he whispered internally, 'because she understood me'.

"I know you won't tell me, dear Lucius," Rookwood said. His voice was soft, a whisper. "Ah, well. It doesn't matter, does it? She's dead, and your son will be joining her, won't he, Lucius? For all your mistakes." Rookwood laughed.

"Get out," Lucius whispered.

Rookwood smirked. "I'm not exactly ready to leave."

Lucius turned away, attempting to ignore the other man. Rookwood, however, would not be denied his entertainment, and he moved to stand within Lucius' range of vision. Lucius gave a groan, but made no move to get rid of the other man.

"She was a pretty little thing, I will admit that," Rookwood said, "Not worth it, though, eh Lucius? I imagine she was good in bed, otherwise why would you have kept her around for as long as you did?"

Lucius growled deep in his throat.

Rookwood was not bothered by any of it. "Narcissa is not aware of all of this, of course. How could she be? I could tell her. Then again, that would be betrayal of this new friendship, but you betrayed the Dark Lord."

Lucius made no motion to show he was even listening anymore.

"Oh, you're no fun, Lucy," Rookwood said and moved across the cell "Fine, I'll leave you."

Lucius did not sigh in relief when Rookwood left, but instead remained on the floor unmovin g until Rookwood was long gone, and then he slowly picked himself up. He didn't notice the figure approaching him at first, until it was standing right behind him.

"Lucius Malfoy," she said. "Could we talk?"

Lucius turned to look at her. He took in her pink spiked hair and height before once more turning away and walking to the nearest wall.

"Go on, talk," Lucius said.

She shifted from foot to foot. "You – you don't have to answer me, I'm just curious. I know I shouldn't even be talking to you, but you interest me, Lucius Malfoy, and I couldn't help but overhear earlier. Are you – did you really –”, she took a deep breath, "betray Voldemort? Is that – is that the reason you're here?"

Lucius didn't answer.

She waited. "I said you didn't have to answer. I guess I'll go now."

"Yes," Lucius said at her back. "Yes."

Tonks stood still. She turned around. "Yes, you betrayed him?"

"Yes," Lucius repeated.

Tonks walked towards him. "I know you were found here. Did he put you here?"

"Yes."

Tonks looked around quickly as if trying to decide something, then shouted out a spell. A wolf-like figure appeared before her and she quickly whispered something to it before sending her Patronus off.

"Come here," she instructed Lucius. He stepped forward and she tapped him on the head, turning Lucius practically invisible. "I'm trusting you, Malfoy," she said, placing another spell on him. "I hope you recognize the spell I just used on you. Just know that I will not hesitate to activate it, even if you did not betray him. This is illegal, what I am doing now, but I think it will be worth it." With that said, she took him by the arm and Apparated to her apartment.

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Whispers erupted around the table.

"Lucius Malfoy," Fred Weasley said in an astonished voice.

Other voices followed his example.

"No, can't be, not that Death Eater scum."

"It has to be a trick – "

" – impossible."

" – he betrayed Voldemort?"

Tonks made everything come to a stop by speaking. "I am not sure that he has truly betrayed Voldemort, but there was something that I saw. My mother always said I was a good judge of character; I want to say that I am right about Malfoy. His circumstances of being found in Azkaban have not been discussed. Everything that has happened around him has been suspicious; if anything, he must be on the bad side of Voldemort."

No one looked convinced, as far as Harry could tell from his spot between his father and Remus. He had sat still and quiet while the rest of them had speculated how wrong Tonks had been to go ahead and do such a thing. He looked towards Remus and noticed that the Lycanthrope was giving the Weasley twins warning glances; he wasn't the only one. Alastor Moody was standing behind them and seemed ready to stop them from doing something drastic. Harry looked at Snape. He was glaring a hole into the wall in front of him and seemed to be ignoring everyone around him as if he was bored. Harry looked next towards the head o f the table where Dumbledore sat, staring at his hands with a calm expression across his face. Harry couldn't help but feel as if Dumbledore had expected someone to bring up Lucius and he was just getting the reaction that he had expected from the beginning.

Talk continued on. Harry could hardly even make out half the voices around him. Everyone was muddled up, but they were all talking about the same thing. They were all in agreement with each other that Lucius Malfoy could not possibly be on their side without some sort of good reason that only benefited him.

Harry hadn't looked at Dumbledore again after his first glance, so when Dumbledore stood up, Ha rry missed it. When Dumbledore spoke, however, everyone stopped and turned to look at him. Harry looked towards the Headmaster and found his eyes seeking the man's hand, but found it whole and completely different from the hand he had seen not that long before.

"Lucius Malfoy," he announced, "hates Voldemort as much as the rest of us."

"What?"

"No, that can't be."

Dumbledore allowed a couple of them to say something to the people around them before he once more spoke, directing it to Tonks. "Bring Lucius here, Tonks," he said. He quickly wrote something down on a piece of parchment he had extracted from a pocket from his robes, and handed it to her before turning to Kingsley. "Go to the Ministry and owl the Minister. Inform him that Lucius Malfoy has gone missing from Azkaban, but convince him to keep this secret in any way that you can." With that said, Dumbledore looked towards Snape. They shared some sort of silent conversation and Snape nodded. Standing quickly, he left the room.

"I won't stand for this, Albus!" Molly Weasley said. "He is a Death Eater, and that man will not set a foot in this house!"

Albus looked at the Weasley matriarch calmly. "Molly, there are things you don't know about this entire matter."

"Well then, explain them to us, Albus," Emmeline Vance said.

"I imagine everything will be explained as soon as Tonks brings Lucius," said Dumbledore, starting to get up. "You are all welcome to remain here, or leave if you do not want to see Lucius Malfoy. I know he has caused many of you pain with everything he has done, but there are always two sides to the spectrum."

A couple of the Order members still looked unsure, but said nothing and remained seated. Fred and George Weasley looked excited. Their elder brother stood and walked across the room, but he too made no move to leave. Arthur Weasley however, walked pu rposely out of the room. His wife followed a moment later. A few others stood up and left, three of them excused themselves at having limited time to remain at the meeting. However, most of them remained behind.

"Shouldn't Potter be at Hogwarts?" Alastor Moody asked suddenly as if he had just then noticed Harry.

"I have given Harry permission to come to certain meetings. This, for instance, has a lot to do with him," Dumbledore said. He was twirling his wand in his fingers.

Harry couldn't handle just sitting at the table anymore, and stood up, walking to the only window in the room. He looked outside and noticed just how dark it had gotten. The moon was almost n on-existent in the sky, being just a thin crescent-shaped line. He allowed himself to remain by the window while they waited for the elder Malfoy. Harry could hear the whispers from behind him, all of them concerning Lucius Malfoy, all speculative to what Malfoy could be plotting by pretending to have betrayed Voldemort.

A couple towards the end of the table were talking not about Lucius, but Tonks and chuckling about how only she would be willing to bring back a Death Eater because of her soft heart. Harry turned his attention to the other side of the room after hearing that and noticed at once that Dumbledore was in a deep conversation with Remus, but that no one else was aware of it. Throughout the kitchen, private conversations went on.

When the door opened they all turned to look towards it as if waiting for Lucius Malfoy to just st roll right in, but instead it was Snape, who carried some sort of wooden box which he handed to Dumbledore quickly. Dumbledore nodded and put it away without a word. Most people in the room had not noticed the exchange, and Harry wouldn't have as well had it not been for the fact that his eyes nearly always strayed towards Dumbledore's hands.

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He looked very different from the man Harry had seen in his vision just two months previous . Harry was surprised to notice that just two month in Azkaban, if it had even been that long, had changed Lucius so decidedly. Lucius wasn't his usual glossy self. He didn't wear the extravagant robes that were a custom for him, but instead he wore a pair of faded, worn, and dirty robes. His hair didn't have its usual sheen, instead it was lank, matted with dirt, and tangled. His face was most changed; his skin was paler than was normal, containing almost a gray tint to it. Under his eyes one would find bags, and stubble covered his chin and made him look older than he really was. But in his eyes – he held pain.

When Lucius stepped into the kitchen with Tonks following him, everyone looked towards him and stared at his form as he made his way inside.

"Good evening, everyone," Lucius said the moment he was standing by Dumbledore.

No one said anything to return his greeting.

Lucius looked around the room with an unreadable expression then he sat down on the nearest empty chair. He put his hands together on the table as if to show that he wasn't up to anything, and then he turned to Dumbledore as if speaking to an old friend. "I didn't believe anything would come of this time, all things considered. How is Draco?"

"As well as the boy can be, Lucius. What else did you expect after things went the way they did? This was as unexpected to me as it w as to you, believe me," Dumbledore said passively.

For some reason, the easy flow of conversation seemed to infuriate the other Order members, for they glared towards Lucius and Dumbledore, though they said nothing. Harry almost found it amusing, but when Lucius had exhausted whatever small talk he had been making with Dumbledore, he turned and almost immediately found him as if he had been seeking him out.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Lucius said in his drawling voice before he chuckled. "How I've been longing to see you."

Harry looked away from the elder Malfoy's intense stare and looked instead towards the other side of the room where he found Snape's eyes on him. He looked away from the Potions M aster’s gaze as well and instead kept his eyes trained on the table.

"Has Malfoy always been on such good terms with you, Albus?" asked a tall man Harry didn't recognize from somewhere near the middle of the table.

There was grumbling coming from around them and Harry felt as if everything was going to go bad if Lucius Malfoy's spying wasn't explained to them soon, and even then he doubted many would accept Malfoy. Half of them didn't even accept Snape and he had been spying for them for years with their knowledge.

"Lucius Malfoy," Dumbledore said cutting through all the noise, "has been a spy for the Order for many years now. Most of the information we have gained has been because of Lucius, not Severus. In fact, due to Lucius' closer role within the Death Eaters, we were able to figure out where Voldemort was after last year. However, his role has been compromised and Lucius was sent to Azkaban."

Most of the Order looked around angrily.

"And you thought this would be something that the rest of us did not need to know, did you?" Moody asked gruffly as if he couldn't believe it.

Arguments began almost at once. It took a few moments before Dumbledore could stop the conversations. Afterwards, he began to explain the purpose of Lucius Malfoy.

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Harry stepped out of the fire and spotted it at once. The book looked as beaten up and worn as it had the first time he had seen it and, like that first time, he was drawn towards the book with its written-on-margins; the property of the Half-Blood Prince. He knew it was Snape's, considering that the book was in Snape's quarters, but he wasn’t entirely sure that the stuff written within was actually Snape's. He would never have pegged Snape as the kind of person to write all over a book, or for that matter, create spells. He seemed to treasure his books, and clearly this book had not been well taken care of. Had it been Snape's, it would have been well taken care of.

Harry opened the book at random and found himself looking at the potion he had completed just the week before with Draco Malfoy. He flipped to the next page and sighed; he didn't want a Love Potion. He flipped a few more pages, looking for something that would catch his eye and stopped when he noticed a spell, squished in the corner of a yellowing piece of parchment. He could just make out the word ‘Sectumsempra’.It was a non-verbal spell, he noted, from the abbreviation in the parenthesis. He looked towards the words written underneath the spell, hoping that he had put some sort of explanation under it. Instead, all he found was ‘for enemies’.

Harry closed the book slowly, keeping the spell in the back of his mind to maybe use at a later time against a Death Eater, if no one else. He put the book back where he had found it and sighed, closing his eyes as he sat down with his back leaning against the chair. He wanted to forget hearing about Lucius Malfoy and listening to the plans for finding somewhere for him to hide out for the next few months. He wanted to stop thinking about the fact that the man was no longer in Azkaban and instead under the protection of the Order. He wanted to stop thinking about all of this because he felt as if there was something he had missed, something that had come of this night; it was as if something was going to happen.

The fire turned green and Snape stepped out of the fire carefully. Harry opened his eyes and watched him. Snape looked tired, much too tired than usual, and seemed to be in a bad mood, not that he was ever in an extremely good mood.

"A drink, Harry," Snape ordered, falling into a chair.

Harry brought out his wand and waved it at the cabinet in the corner. It unlocked itself and a bottle of firewhiskey flew into Harry's hand.

"Not that one," Snape said without even looking at Harry. "The one near the back."

Harry nodded and this time directed the bottle to Snape, who poured himself a glass and then took a long drink from it as he set the bottle down on the floor.

"What happened?" Harry dared to ask after Snape had drowned his first glass and was going for another.

Snape didn't say anything at first, but then he answered. "I never would have thought that the Order would do something so stupid. To allow Lucius Malfoy to remain outside of Azkaban, this will not go unpunished."

Harry gasped. "He – he'll hurt you?"

Snape merely nodded as he took a sip of his drink. "I am not sure how this will be my fault, but he is already angry with me."

"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"

Snape didn't say anything. He instead stood up and sat his glass down, moving towards his bookshelf as if he were looking for a book, but stopped in front of it and did not extend his hand to grab any of them.

"How much do you know about your ability to talk to snakes?"

Harry hadn't expected that question, and thought quickly as he said, "Someone asked me much the same question on Halloween."

Snape's eyes narrowed.

"My ability was passed on when the Killing Curse backfired, Dumbledore told me. He believed that some of Voldemort’s abilities were passed on to me when he attempted to kill me."

"So they came from the Dark Lord?"

Harry nodded, but added, "The thing is, even though Dumbledore is right most of the time, he could also have gotten this wrong. I may never know if it was my own ability to talk to snakes, or Voldemort’s ability that I just – I don't know – took on."

Snape suddenly grabbed a book, but did not open it, or even look at it. Instead, he reached into the spot where the book had previously rested and ran his hand along the back of the shelf. Harry watched as it slid backward and then turned on the spot, before sliding forward again. Different books now sat on the shelf, and Harry could tell that these books did not just contain theories on Dark magic or the mention of spells without the incantations; these were books on the Dark Arts, books that taught someone how to do Dark spells. Snape looked at the titles and picked two out and motioned for him to take them.

Harry hesitantly stood up, and took the books. Dread fell over him.

Snape picked out two more books and then turned around and walked back to where he had been sitting. Harry took his seat once more, still holding the books on his lap.

"For a long time I wondered," Snape said, "what makes certain people have the ability to talk to snakes? I am not the kind of person that will leave something unanswered. I have many times spent years looking for an answer to not only this question, but so many others. Is it genetics? Is it passed down in some way through a family line? So many questions unanswered, and it all begins with the beginning of magic."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I discovered two years ago," Snape said, "that in the beginning, magic came from the earth. It was given to those that were known to deserve it, and so the gift of speaking to snakes was also given to those that either needed it, or deserved it, even though some records state that it was at first a curse. A young boy put the curse on his best friend and he could only, after that, talk to snakes and no one else. His children could speak to both snakes and humans, and from there they came. However, most famous Parseltongues have been Dark Wizards. Salazar Slytherin was the last one before Voldemort, and they are related directly. Then there is you."

Harry shifted in his chair, "And a first year Gryffindor."

Snape looked startled for a moment. "What is her last name?"

"Copperfield," Harry answered. "She's a Muggle-born."

"Just like – " Snape trailed off.

"Like who?" Harry asked.

Snape shook his head. "No one," he said as if he had just gotten some deep understanding of something before he opened one of the books and flipped to the table of contents.

Harry didn't want to bother him, and he knew a dismissal when he heard one, but he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to go back up to the Gryffindor tower. He looked towards the room he had used before September and got up, leaving the books Snape had handed him on the nearest table. He headed to the room, glad that he had thought to leave clothes there just in case.

He had just reached the door when he felt Snape's eyes on him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Going to bed," Harry returned.

"Here?"

"I'm too lazy to walk back to Gryffindor tower," Harry responded.

Snape didn’t seem to know what to do, before he asked, "Your friends will not wonder where you are?"

"They will simply imagine that I got up early and went to help Remus or that I headed down to breakfast; they've known me to do that before."

Snape nodded and turned back to his book, but stopped. "Harry," he said. "I know this is completely off topic, but I meant to mention it the other day. Lately, you're very hesitant as to what to call me outside of class. I have noticed it, you know. "

Harry bit his lip in a very Hermione-like fashion. He realized he had been ignoring calling Snape anything unless he was in class and he had to address him as Professor or Sir, but he hadn't thought much of it. It was just something he tried to ignore, and now Snape had brought the subject up.

"You can call me Severus, if that helps, if you don’t know what to call me."

Harry coughed. "Se – Severus?" He said out loud.

"That does happen to be my name. Though I would advise you use it only within these quarters or when we are alone."

Harry nodded and turned to walk to his room.

"Goodnight, Harry," Snape – no, Severus – said.

"Goodnight, Se – Severus," Harry said, stumbling over his father's name.