Brotherhood of Trust

By R. J. Hardt

000

Prologue

June of 1990

Severus Snape squinted at the parchment in his hands. The lighting in Dumbledore's office was dim and the candle light flickered, making his eyes strain to focus on the script in the dim light. The air smelt faintly of dust, parchment, and beeswax. It tickled at his sinuses, threatening to make him sneeze.

"A thirteenth use for dragon's blood?" Severus mentally tallied and categorized the other potion ingredients on the parchment. His quick mind analyzed how they would have to be combined, their effects, and magical properties. "A cosmetic youth potion? Please tell me you're not so vane Albus. And exactly how does the dragon's blood fit into this?"

"The final ingredient is missing from the list," Dumbledore smiled, impressed and more than a little proud that Severus was able to come close to the potion's true purpose. "And it's not intended for me."

"Why on earth would you need dragon's blood for this?" Severus held the parchment closer so he could better see, squinting. The flourished script and green ink favored by Dumbledore didn't help. He felt an eyestrain headache building, the pain all too familiar. "If I'm to guess what properties the dragon's blood imparts to this potion, I'd say permanence. It fixes the effects of the ingredients it interacts with. Pixy dust imparts change, or illusion, mostly used in de-aging cosmetics. The stink sap is used in medicinal potions, for repairing cellular damage related to ageing. This potion is to impart the illusion of youth."

"The dragon's blood is used to dissolve the final ingredient and to affix it to the stink sap," from behind his desk, Albus smiled. However, it didn't reach his eyes. There was a sad quality to it. "I would like you to brew it."

"Why?" Severus felt his heart skip a beat. He'd only seen that expression on the old man's face several times and each time it didn't turn out well for him. He had a sense that more was going on than an overly complicated cosmetic potion. For the first time in years, he was tempted to refuse a task.

"Do you trust me?"

Severus almost said yes, answering reflexively, but stopped himself. Did he really trust him? He had come to respect and care for the man, but trust him unconditionally? No. "I trust your intentions," Severus sidestepped.

"Please, Severus." Albus took off his glasses, not missing the evasion. "It's important. Please make the potion."

"What does the potion do?" The hair on the back of his neck stood. Albus rarely pleaded for anything.

"Do remember what you promised me nine years ago? What you said you would do for me? For her?"

"You know I do." Snape felt his temper rise. Did Albus trust him as little as he did the old man? Did Albus have to remind him of his past mistakes? "I gave you my oath. Should He return-"

"-when Voldemort returns," Albus interrupted. "I need to increase the protections surrounding her son."

"You promised he was well cared for. You assured me of the blood wards, that he was being watched."

Albus pushed a newspaper article towards Severus. It was from yesterday's edition.

Deatheaters Attack Surrey Neighborhood,

Muggles Left Mystified, Squib Injured

"You left the Boy Who Lived under the magical protection of a squib?" He bit back his temper. Yesterday morning Severus didn't pay the article much mind. It didn't happen often, but occasionally remnants of Deatheaters sparked trouble. Squibs were a favorite target.

"The wards on Harry's home were undisturbed and I believe the attack to be coincidental. However, the time is coming when little Harry will come to Hogwarts. He'll need more protection, preferably from someone close, from someone who can guard him at all times."

"I've agreed to dedicate my life to protecting the child. I'll watch over him while at school."

"That won't be enough. What about the summers? Hogsmead weekends? They came close to his sanctuary, but next time we may not be so lucky."

"Preposterous!" Suddenly Severus knew the purpose of the potion. "It's impossible to de-age someone. Glamors can be seen through. Potions temporarily apply an illusion, again easily seen through or reversed. Transfigurations can be undone and wear off. This potion will never work!"

"As I said, the potion is missing one last ingredient," Albus opened his desk drawer and pulled out a blood red object. He set it on his desk with a heavy thump. It was a smallish stone, almost like a ruby, but iridescently glowing with an inner magical light.

"Put that thing away!" Severus hissed in a vain attempt to steer this conversation away from Albus's foolish new plan and towards a slightly older but just as foolish plan. Little did he know, the stone was paramount to the conversation at hand. "You said you were planning on securing that thing in a vault at Gringotts until it could be destroyed!"

"The Philosopher's Stone works by distorting time, essentially reversing or stopping localized time for the consumer of the Elixir of Life."

Snape was a man of many words, but he couldn't think of a single one. It felt like his heart would stop beating when he realized the implications of Dumbledore's words.

"The stone will dissolve in dragon's blood. Dissolve it and add it to the potion five minutes before consumption, one dram's worth of serum for each year. Your body will revert to what it was when you were about ten. Nicolas assures me you will retain your memories despite the physical changes."

"No!" Severus slapped the parchment and newspaper article onto the desk. Fawkes jumped on his perch, startled, at the sound. Balefully, the bird glared.

"He needs more than a distant body guard. Last May he apparated a short distance. Several weeks before that, he transfigured his teacher's hair. Protecting the boy is only half of what needs done. He needs guidance and training to control his magic."

"I can aid you and the boy best by watching over him from inside the threat. We both know that."

"I disagree. Your talents would best be utilized at the boy's side."

"Using me to tutor and babysit the brat is a waste! Don't throw away the opportunity of having a set of eyes on the inside. Without my contacts through the Nott's and Malfoys you would have never known about the activities in Albania."

"The probability of your not surviving increases the longer you maintain this guise. I need you alive. I want you to live."

"We both know I signed up for my own death the moment I joined Him. I signed it again when I came to you. I signed it a third time when you had me testify at those trials. Whether it happens five years from now from His return, or nine years ago from a dementor's kiss is inconsequential."

"I had originally planned on asking you to return to Voldemort at his return," Albus sighed. "I once believed in your need to pay penance for your actions. I was going to allow this self-destructive path. However, that was before I came to know you, before I've seen your soul."

"My soul? Rubbish. Spying was the deal we made, in exchange for protection for Lilly's child."

"I would have protected Lilly and her child regardless. She was in the Order, already under my protection when you came to me."

Severus hadn't realized it nine years ago, but of course knew that now. "Regardless, I traded my life for Lilly's child."

"No, not exactly. You swore only your loyalty to me, to do as I ask. We both assumed I would eventually ask espionage of you, but circumstances have changed." Albus pushed the stone across his desk towards Severus. He glared at it, refusing to touch it. "I've made my decision. No more espionage. It's all too likely your efforts will be in vain."

"No. The risk is worth it," unconsciously he grasped his marked forarm. The mark was still there, speciously faint, nearly invisible. Its dark magic thrummed under his skin. "In any case, the mark can't be erased. The mark is forever."

"You're right, it can't be erased. Even if it could, a magical imprint on your soul will remain, much like a curse scar. However, I believe the physical manifestation of the mark, the tattoo, will not survive. You'll literally be in your ten year old body, as it was years ago. You'll age again from that point in time."

"No." Snape refused to entertain the possibility of ridding himself of the mark, of being free from Him. Suddenly, he realized he was grasping his wrist and let his arms drop to his lap for a moment. Then he crossed his arms, as if self-consciously trying to decide what to do with his hands.

"Severus…."

"STOP ASKING ME OLD MAN!" Snape stood and began to pace. "You do not realize what you're asking of me! Every time I see the brat's name, his blasted picture is in the paper, or in a history text it all comes back! He reminds me of James Potter. He reminds me of Lilly. He reminds me of Him. He reminds me of the things I did. I cannot bear... no, especially Potter's son."

"Regrettably, I've help you refine your occlumency in preparation for your foolish plans of redemption. I've witnessed your pain. I've seen your innermost thoughts and memories. I know the gravity of what I'm asking of you to do, and I know what I'm asking you to give up. I also know what you'll gain from this."

"I can't do it. I'm not strong enough."

"Your skills in occlumency are prodigious, Severus. I'd never met a child capable of learning the skill on their own. But you're using it in a way it isn't meant to be used," Albus sighed. It seemed that he was tire of this old argument. "The unhealthy suppression of your emotion is such that it erupts periodically. I find it perplexing that you allow James Potter to be a catalyst for this."

"We've had this argument before, and I don't need The Lecture now."

"Your emotions run deep and I understand why you're driven to occlumency. But it's unhealthy. It keeps you from working through them, ultimately stunting personal growth."

"We've been through this."

"Periodically your occlumency shields snap and your emotion breaks free. Rather than deal with them, you bottle them behind new shields," Albus patently continued. "Occlumency is draining, both in mind and magic. You can't do this indefinitely. Eventually your shields will shatter and you won't be able to bring them back up, leaving your mind and magic venerable to damage. I know what I speak of."

"I've had enough of this. Good evening." Severus turned towards the door, bottling his anger again. They had this argument before, and he refused to have it again.

"Fine Severus. I didn't want to do it this way. You've left me with no choice." Albus abruptly stood, holding his wand aloft as he incanted. "Invictious. You owe me a debt. I invoke thee, both of fidelity and life."

Severus froze, his hand on the doorknob. The words weren't loud, but they reverberated through his soul, like a gong. Albus called upon Old Magic, its influence thick in the air, filling the room with power.

"Almost nine years ago you begged me to protect Lily's life. You extended that request to her son, as you knew she'd fight to the death for her child. To this day, I continue to protect the boy, and will add to those protections through you."

Snape swallowed. For the first time in a decade he was afraid of Albus, a man he had come to think of as a close friend and mentor.

"You swore an oath of unconditional fidelity to me, to protect Harry Potter, and of loyalty to the Order of the Phoenix."

The air felt even thicker with magic.

"I shielded you from ministry prosecution and continue to shield you from Azkaban."

"Albus, please…." Each one of Albus's words sent a shard of ice through Severus's magic, leaving him cold and betrayed. He had to support himself against the wall, his occlumency useless and forgotten. Emotion swirled in his mind, freezing thought and reason.

"You will de-age yourself with this potion. You will use your youth to find a way to position yourself proximate to Harry Potter. You will use your position to protect him. You will tutor him in the necessary defensive skills and magics for him to survive an upcoming war. After you've established your new role, you will reduce the use of your occlumency to only when necessary. Recompense me by doing as I request, as you had vowed, so mote it be."

Snape's legs gave out and he slid down the wall, to sit on the floor. The one person he thought he could trust had betrayed him. He had once trusted his mother, but she was dead. He trusted Lilly, but she threw away their friendship over a rash mistake made in youth. Finally, he trusted Albus Dumbledore, but no longer. He also lost his only friend.

"The mark on your arm doesn't define you. Your soul is clean Severus, shielded by love," Dumbledore said. "Your love for Lilly drove you to make a mistake in your youth. That same love kept you from committing the atrocities your marked brethren committed. Love then drove you away from Voldemort."

Severus said nothing. He just glared at an unseen point across the room.

"I'm sorry it's come to this Severus. I've come to care for you. I don't want to lose you to this foolish notion of martyring yourself as my spy. I'm doing this as much for you as I am for Harry. I only hope that someday you'll realize this."

"Am I to assume I'm to follow the child to Hogwarts as a student?" his voice was quiet but strained.

"Yes."

"I don't have the money to pay for tuition." It was absurd. His life, his identity, his very reason for living, was coming apart and he was worried about money.

"Hogwarts will never refuse a student for lack of funds," Albus replied. Once, Severus would have described his voice as 'concerned' but no longer. "However, I don't think money will be a problem. It'll take several weeks for the potion to brew. I've been working on this project for the last year or so, and we'll use the remaining time for us to firm up the details."

It hurt that Albus referred to the systematic dismantling of his reason for existence a 'project.' It stung that he had been working on this 'project' behind his back. Slowly he climbed to his feet. His legs shook, but he took the six steps to Albus's desk. He pocketed the parchment.

"I'll begin that potion now. I don't keep dragon's blood in my stores. It'll have to wait." The amount of dragon's blood needed to cover the stone would cost a small fortune, certainly more than what was in his vault. He had the speclized permits needed for using dragon's blood, but not the financial means to procure it.

"I'll procure the blood. I trust you still have the research permits?"

"Then I'll take my leave," Severus stiffly nodded as he turned towards the door. "Owl me when you're ready for me to add the blood to the stone. Until then, I have a potion to brew and some affairs to put in order.

"Severus…."

"DON'T YOU DARE!" The numbness suddenly gave way to anger and resentment as his shields cracked a bit. Numerus nick-knacks rattled around the room. A glass on the desk cracked and water trickled out. "I will do as the magic demands, but no more."

"Very well," Albus said, but the words were lost as Snape slammed the door behind him. Severus never saw the tears in the old man's eyes.