Chapter Seventy-Six: Present Danger

Chapter Seventy-Six: Present Danger

Saturday, 27 March 1999

Severus approached the Hospital Wing, his latest offering in hand. In a large bag, actually, but he didn't want to be seen walking through the castle carrying two dozen red carnations. Before they returned to Hogwarts, Gareth had Apparated with him into Edinburgh and brought him to a Muggle florist's shop that was just a few hundred yards from the Aphrodite's Apple entrance to McTavish Street. After consulting a card there that listed the various symbolic meanings of some of the flowers the shop sold, Severus had decided on red carnations. Gareth said that carnations were rather pedestrian flowers, but Severus thought these particular ones were fragrant. Just in case Poppy might also think that carnations were pedestrian, however, he picked up one of the cards and slipped it in amongst the flowers. He put another in his pocket for future reference. He did not show the card to Gareth, however, who was conveniently chatting up the shop assistant as Severus made his selection.

Severus could feel a blush creep into his cheeks when he thought about the meaning of the flowers. If Poppy thought it was foolish and not romantic, he could claim that the shop put the card into the bouquet without his knowledge. Minerva had told him to be romantic, he reminded himself. And giving flowers to a witch was more unambiguously romantic than bringing her biscuits or glazed almonds.

After arriving back at Hogwarts...Gareth Apparating to the gates ahead of him to keep watch...he'd arranged with the house-elves to set another place at the staff table for lunch, then he left Gareth with Flitwick. Gareth's former Head of House was going to have him help draw the markings out on the Quidditch pitch, and Gareth was pleased to spend time with his favourite Hogwarts teacher.

Severus pushed open the door to the infirmary and was happy to see that there were no students in any of the beds and Poppy was alone in her office, the door open. She looked up as the infirmary door closed behind him, and her face lit up when she saw him.

"Severus! I didn't expect you back until lunchtime...although I see that it's almost that, now," Poppy said, standing and coming around her desk to greet him. "I was rather engrossed in an article about the resurgence of slithering slimepox and lost track of time."

Severus's eyebrow rose. "Yes, fascinating, I'm sure."

Poppy laughed. "Did you have a good morning with Gareth?"

"Indeed. We accomplished what we wished to, I believe. After we were through, we had time for a short excursion into Muggle Edinburgh. I wished to bring you these." Severus reached into the bag and pulled out the bouquet of red carnations. "I placed a slight cushioning charm on them, so I hope they have not been crushed. Since they were a Muggle purchase, we may find it wise to cast a stay-fresh charm on them, as well."

"They're beautiful, Severus, thank you." Poppy held them to her face. "The aroma is lovely. Genuine red carnations, too, not those you find that have been charmed...or dyed...red. I will put them in water immediately."

"I hoped they were . . . appropriate."

"They will cheer up my office today, and then I will bring them to my suite this evening and enjoy them there."

Severus nodded, watching Poppy as she fetched a large vase, filled it with water, and arranged the carnations in it. He swallowed nervously as she found the card amidst the blossoms.

"What's this...ah, the language of flowers. Never can remember most of the meanings, and they seem to vary a lot." Her eyes scanned the list. "Red carnations . . . oh, that is sweet." She turned and looked up at Severus. "Thank you, Severus."

Severus blushed. "I saw the card . . . it assisted me in making an expeditious selection so that we could return to the castle in a timely manner."

Poppy chuckled. "Well, expediency can be a positive motivator, I suppose." She separated a few of the stems so that the flowers were arrayed more symmetrically.

"It also seemed . . . apt," Severus said, not wanting her to think that the choice had been a random one, or insincere.

Poppy looked up at him. "I hope your heart isn't aching too much," she said softly, touching his chest lightly with her fingertips.

"Can you feel it?" Severus whispered. "Can you, Poppy?"

The two stepped apart quickly as the door to the infirmary opened. Severus could have hexed both visitors, despite his general affection for each of them.

"I thought you two were marking the turf for the duel," Severus said.

"We were going to," Gareth replied, "but we ran into Aunt Minerva on the way up the drive. She was with Alastor Moody and an Auror. When she saw me, she surmised you had already returned. She wants to see you."

"Now?" Severus asked. Their meeting had been scheduled for immediately after lunch, just before the duel. "Lunch is in twenty minutes."

"She said she wanted a quick word with you before lunch," Filius said, "so we agreed to let you know. I thought young Gareth here might like to see the duelling hall at my old academy. There will be time to mark the pitch after lunch. The duel isn't until three o'clock, after all. Plenty of time!"

The two wizards soon departed for the Room of Requirement so that Filius could show Gareth a replica of the hall where he got his start in duelling, and Severus turned to Poppy with a sigh.

"I'm sorry. I had hoped we would have at least a few undisturbed moments to ourselves."

"That's all right. I'm sure that it must be important, or Minerva would have waited until your meeting this afternoon to speak with you." Poppy placed her palm on his chest. "And if you still have that ache later, perhaps you might wish to see me about it."

One corner of Severus's mouth turned up. "I believe my condition will not have abated so quickly."

"Go see Minerva now. We can talk later." Poppy reached up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek lightly.

"Cailleach." Severus waited as the gargoyle slid aside, somewhat more slowly than usual, he thought. The gargoyle yawned, then stuck his tongue out at Severus before winking at him.

Severus shook his head. If a stone gargoyle could have an attitude, that one certainly did.

When he reached Minerva's office, she was alone, except for Fawkes, who was sleeping in a basket on a small table near her desk.

"I'm glad they found you," Minerva said.

"You could have sent me a Patronus."

"I dislike doing that when I'm with others, you know that, even though Alastor was in the Order. There were also students about. It wasn't so urgent to require that measure."

"If it wasn't urgent, I wish you had waited until after lunch." Severus took a seat in the chair opposite her desk. "I was trying to have a word with Poppy when those two Ravenclaws burst in on us."

"I wanted to speak with you before we meet with Alastor and Auror Plummer," Minerva said.

"Plummer was the one with Moody, then? Gareth said there was someone with him. I'd thought we were only meeting with Moody today."

"We were. There have been developments. And some . . . additional questions. I just wanted to forewarn you that Auror Plummer will also be there. She has questions that Moody does not. Also...and it will be in the evening papers...Pettigrew's mother and grandmother were attacked this morning. The two women were just leaving for their weekly Saturday breakfast out. His grandmother, Clematis Vincent, was Stunned and then Petrified, and it appears it gave her a heart attack. She died." Minerva sighed. "I was in school with Clematis, five years behind her. She was Clematis Longbottom then, of course. We were distant cousins and in the same House, but I didn't know her well. Still, it is a shock. Her daughter fared better. She's in St. Mungo's now, but they'll probably release her later today. I presume they will give her some protection."

"But those two women . . ." Severus shook his head. "They were never Death Eaters. Mrs Pettigrew hadn't a clue about her son until very recently. I'm certain of it. And Pettigrew, as far as I know, never visited his mother or other family after the Dark Lord's return."

"The two were regular visitors to the secure ward at St. Mungo's, however. Every Saturday afternoon. They had certain things they did together every Saturday, and that included visiting Pettigrew for an hour every Saturday afternoon."

"Fulfilling some notion of maternal obligation, I'm sure," Severus said. "Two of them this time. But they must have been easy targets. I doubt they would have been at all prepared for an attack."

"Clematis was never a particularly bright or talented witch. At any rate, there will likely be some questions about where you were this morning. Don't take offence at it, Severus. They will also ask about my nephew, I believe. I understand this, although I think they are foolishly wasting time."

"They think that we might have done this?"

"I doubt they seriously believe that you would collude like that, or that either of you separately has any motive for it. And I have no doubt that both of you have alibis for most, if not all, of the other attacks. They are simply trying to eliminate the more unlikely scenarios first, Shakira said. Right now, she's interviewing Albus about former members of the Order of the Phoenix."

"I hope he tells her where to put her questions!"

"I doubt that he will say very much at all. If he believed that it was a member of the Order, I think he'd be the first one to look into it."

"She should talk to Weasley...not as a suspect, as a source."

"She already has, but before this attack. For both purposes, I believe. They're grasping at straws now, Severus. When you have two innocent and relatively helpless witches attacked on a sunny Saturday morning outside their own home, you have a grave problem on your hands. And Clematis and Virginia were well enough known that word will spread even if the Prophet never publishes their names. The British wizarding world is still recovering from the war, and people are optimistic about the future. That won't continue if we have people afraid to leave their own homes lest some innocent or accidental association links them with some Death Eater."

"I can't think of a single member of the Order who would attack those two," Severus said. "Even if the two women had somehow been complicit with Pettigrew in his activities, no one I know in the Order would ambush a couple of defenceless witches. Not unless the person had gone completely around the bend. Do you know anyone who has become completely unhinged like that?"

Minerva shook her head. "Badly affected, depressed, anxious, even hypervigilant, but not . . . not obsessed with revenge or some perverted sense of justice. I think they would be better off looking closer to home, looking at Ministry employees or relatives of Ministry employees who were killed in those final battles."

Severus smirked. "Can you see them questioning Madam Scrimgeour?"

Minerva gave a short chuckle. "No, she'd not be a likely candidate. But they must have sufficient clues that they could narrow the suspects more and not flail about questioning you." She looked up at her grandfather clock. "We are going to be late for lunch. As we have several guests today, that would be unfortunate."

"Gareth told you he was staying?" Severus asked as they stood.

"Yes, and in addition to Moody and Plummer, Remus Lupin will be joining us."

"Remus? I thought that Tonks..."

"I had been going to have him seated beside you, but since Gareth is here, you'll likely wish him in that place. As for Tonks, she will be arriving a bit later, before the duel begins, but Lupin needed to refresh his memory of classic old-style duelling rules, so he came up this morning and spent some time with Filius. Last I saw him, he was headed out to see Hagrid. He'd probably be pleased to sit beside him."

"But Tonks is duelling Moody."

"Was. Remus is now."

"Is Tonks pregnant again?"

"No, but the baby's been fussy and Tonks is exhausted. I think Remus is, too, for that matter. But he persuaded her to wait and do a demonstration duel next year, instead. From the way it sounds, I think she was too tired to protest."

Severus was pleased to see that Moody was seated nowhere near him at the staff table, but not as pleased to see that he was between Poppy and Sprout. He really didn't want the man anywhere near Poppy, though for no identifiable reason. Remus was sitting beside Hagrid, and Plummer was between Olivia Ouellette and Caspar Lloyd. Gareth and Flitwick hadn't yet arrived.

"My nephew's late again," Minerva said with a shake of her head. "I thought he'd outgrown that, but put him and Filius together, and who knows when their stomachs will remind them that it's dinner time. I'll give them five more minutes, then send Blampa to find them."

"I believe they are in the Room of Requirement," Severus said as they took their seats, leaving the one between them free for Gareth. Their meal immediately appeared before them.

"Worser and worser, as my brother Malcolm used to say."

"Gareth has always seemed quite prompt to me," Severus said.

"Mm, but he can become engrossed in something and time just passes by without him noticing it at all." She twitched a smile. "I was a bit like that when I was young, myself. My mother used to say that a rampaging dragon wouldn't disturb me unless it set my book on fire."

Minerva was on the verge of calling Blampa when the two errant wizards entered the Hall. Gareth was gesticulating broadly, and Filius was nodding and smiling.

"It appears they enjoyed themselves, anyway," Minerva said, smiling.

Filius took his usual seat, and Gareth proceeded down the table and took his place between Severus and his aunt, stopping and greeting Vector on his way.

After Gareth had exchanged a few words with Albus and started in on his lunch, Minerva leaned over and whispered something to him. His eyebrows rose. She whispered something more, and he put down his fork, finished chewing, swallowed, then said, softly but audibly, "The bloody hell they will."

"Shhh!" Minerva shook her head.

Gareth let out a huff and picked his fork back up. "An alibi . . ." he muttered.

Severus continued to eat, but he glanced down the table toward where Auror Plummer sat. She was engrossed in conversation with Ouellette and Lloyd about something, and it didn't appear that she had overheard Gareth's comments.

"Good thing we met early today," Gareth said softly, turning toward Severus. "Though how they could conceive it might be you baffles me."

"I doubt that is the case," Severus answered in a low voice. "The Headmistress explained it. I shall wait and reserve judgment."

"Hmph."

"You enjoyed your visit with Filius?" Severus asked.

"Yes, although now it looks as though I won't be able to help him out on the pitch, and I'd wanted to do that."

"It shouldn't take long. Or she could go out to you," Severus said.

"Yeah." Gareth reached for the pitcher of water. "Sorry about interrupting earlier, mate. But looks like it was good we found you."

"Just so," Severus replied. Now that he had time to get used the notion of Auror Plummer asking him about the attacks, he wasn't offended any longer...particularly knowing that they had questioned Arthur Weasley, too. Minerva had been wise to tell him in advance and give him time to adjust to the idea. It would have been foolish for the Ministry not to eventually question him about the attacks...he might have some information that might be useful to them. He knew the players on both sides of the war, after all. If they hadn't questioned him soon, it would have been negligent of them. In fact, he wondered why they hadn't talked to him before then.

An hour later, Severus wondered why Plummer had bothered to question him at all.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Professor," she said, standing.

"I believe you will find Mr McGonagall down on the Quidditch pitch with Professor Flitwick," Severus said, standing as she did.

She nodded. "I have no doubt that he will corroborate your statement about when you departed the castle this morning, and as prior to that a few hundred people saw you at breakfast, it seemed unlikely in the extreme that you could have had anything directly to do with this morning's incident," she said. "In fact, the MLE simply needed to be able to eliminate you as a potential suspect. No one believed you to be even complicit in these attacks, but we needed to cross your name off the list for reasons better than our own instincts in the matter."

Severus inclined his head in acknowledgement. "If I may be of further use to you, you know where I am."

Auror Plummer smiled. "We do. Thank you again."

Severus waved his wand and opened the door to the Headmistress's office for her. Beyond ascertaining his whereabouts for a few of the attacks that had occurred outside the school day and asking him whether he had any ideas about any people on either side of the war who might be engaged in these attacks, she had questioned him very little. He had been with Poppy on two of the occasions, and on one, he'd left Poppy and immediately gone to see Gareth, who was waiting for him in the rain at Spinner's End. Plummer said that she would confirm the alibis with the matron and McGonagall. Severus had no doubt that Poppy would remember the occasions, as they had been having their fling at the time. Fortunately, neither of those attacks had been in the dead of night, in which case he would simply have said that he was asleep in his quarters and not brought Poppy's name into it.

Severus thought he might have been of more use if Plummer had told him more about the nature of the various attacks and who the victims were, but other than confirming what had been in the papers...that the attacks had all taken place when the victims were engaging in some routine arrival or departure from home, with the exception of Lucius, who was confined to his house, and that until that morning, all of the victims had been alone...she had told him almost nothing. She had asked him whether there had been anyone who had taken a sudden unusual interest in his activities as a Death Eater or questioned him about his former fellow compatriots in Riddle's army. His mind flew to Helena Benetti. But her interest was far from unusual, and she hadn't pressed him for any details; she had, in fact, declined to hear even what he had been willing to tell her.

As for Plummer's question about who else knew where Lucius lived, it was difficult for him to avoid mentioning Gareth McGonagall's name. If she learned that Gareth had accompanied him to Leeds when he visited Malfoy that August and he didn't mention it, it would seem more suspicious than admitting it. He had, after all, mentioned to both Lucius and Narcissa that he was meeting McGonagall after seeing them, and they were unlikely to have forgotten that. And McGonagall didn't know precisely where Malfoy lived, only that it was somewhere on Cooper Street within walking distance of Furculum Way.

After the door had closed, Moody, who had sat silently in one corner of Minerva's office during Plummer's interview, got up and crossed the room.

"Good job, Snape. I'll fetch the Headmistress."

Severus shook his head. "No need. I'll do it." He remembered Poppy smiling down into the carnations he'd given her, and with a quick stab of his wand, his panther sprang forth, fully corporeal, and disappeared through the ceiling. "Much more efficient, don't you agree?" Severus asked mildly before sitting back down, pleased to see that his casually cast nonverbal Patronus had clearly impressed the older wizard.

"Much," Moody said with a nod. "I thought you cast a deer. 'Swhat Dumbledore told me."

"That was my former Patronus. The Headmistress knew of the change, but she no doubt recognised that we would be unlikely to send or receive such messages from each other."

Moody nodded and sat back down, this time in a chair beside the fireplace beside the one that the Auror had vacated.

"Good job you have easily verified alibis," Moody said.

"She only asked for a few."

"Mm. The others were at times when you have duties that would make it difficult if not impossible to have actually been present for them."

Severus nodded. Meals in the Great Hall with hundreds of people certainly provided a solid alibi, as did his teaching schedule.

"Hope Pomfrey remembers," Moody said. "Were they scheduled meetings? Would she have a record of 'em?"

"I doubt she has a record of them." He certainly hoped she would remember them. He could not forget them. "She will remember, though."

"Good woman."

"Indeed."

"How did it go?" Minerva asked as she came down the stairs.

"Fine. I believe Plummer is on her way to confirm my alibis. Since they are with Madam Pomfrey and your nephew, I do not believe it will take her long."

"She'll be staying for the duel, in any event," Minerva replied. "I asked that she remain...an additional wand if there should be any problems with security."

"Who do you have on the gates?" Moody asked.

"Shunpike and Rath, as on the previous occasions. The Mannings and Cahill have volunteered to remain out on the grounds during the duel itself, and we have hired a few additional off-duty Aurors to patrol with them. It doesn't seem likely that these people...or this person...would attack anyone at an event like this, though. It would be a complete departure from any of the previous attacks."

"Unless he could lure his victim away from the crowd somehow, I think you're right," Moody said.

"You believe it is just one person, then?" Severus asked.

"Aye. At most, the person may have an accomplice who does not participate in the attacks, though I think even that is unlikely."

"Perhaps I should patrol..." Severus began.

"Severus, that is an idea that, were you to hear it from another in your position, you would agree was completely daft," Minerva said lightly.

"That would be a way to get him off by himself. Not a good idea," Moody added. "Look, Snape, Plummer couldn't be as frank with you as she might have liked." He pulled a sheaf of parchments from his capacious over-robe pocket, selected one of them, and handed it to Snape. "This is a full list of known victims, with two that I've added. The first two on the list. Think they were overlooked, but the MLE is treating them as separate incidents. I only had sketchy details on the one from this morning, but that one's there, too. See what you make of it, if anything jumps out at you."

Severus took the parchment and glanced over it quickly, then began to read it more carefully as Minerva stood and looked over his shoulder.

Friday, 21 August 1998 – Lester Michaels – aged 99 – Wizard's Croft, Bournemouth

Attacked from behind, 18.15, as he returned home from work and was unlocking his front door. Stunned then hit with a concussive curse, possibly Massuelius, to the back. Suffered broken ribs, soft tissue injury; recovered fully. Works for Ministry Weights & Measures office. No known Death Eater activities. No known criminal ties. Great-great-nephew of Godfrey Stearns, known Death Eater now serving a life sentence in medium security facility.

Attacked in the dark, 22.15, as she took her dog out before bed. Dog's peculiar behaviour put her on her guard, and she ducked a Stunner. Massuelius struck her in right hip. Victim recalls loud Disapparition just before she passed out. Daughter of Jonathan Carver, who abandoned his family in 1966, presumably at the time he became a Death Eater. Carver was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Received "odd" letter three days prior. Attacked 19.30 whilst feeding the stray cats in the alley behind his back garden, as he did every evening at the same time. Struck with Massuelius and Petrified by unknown assailant who fled when neighbours reacted to Whittaker's scream of pain and stepped out onto a balcony. Loud Disapparition described by witnesses, but they were unable to see the relevant area of the alley because of the depth of the gardens combined with the height of the garden walls. Whittaker works for Eylops Owl Emporium taking care of the owls and sweeping up. No known personal Death Eater involvement. Blameless reputation in Diagon Alley. Sister's husband, Wilbur Pleasance, serving life sentence in facility for his participation in the Battle of Hogwarts and murder of three Hogwarts defenders. Whittaker had only very rare contact with his sister and her husband.

Attacked as he arrived home from late shift at work, 23.20. Petrified and struck by concussive spell, likely Massuelius. Still recovering from attack, with poss. permanent disability. Received letter via Owl Post accusing him of complicity in escape of Azkaban prisoners, 10 March. Unblemished record with Ministry, first with MLE, then with Azkaban Security Services. Now supervisory guard at Ministry's Dartmoor security facility. Married to Carmella Rosier. CR's two half-brothers were Death Eaters; Jack, the oldest, died in Azkaban, February 1987; brother Maurice escaped an Auror raid in October 1980, remained a fugitive. MR arrested following Battle of Hogwarts; committed suicide, 2 June 1998.

Mother and grandmother of Peter Pettigrew. Attacked 07.45 as they were leaving for breakfast before their Saturday activities. CV died after being Stunned and Petrified. VP Stunned, hit with Massuelius, glancing blow to left shoulder.

Severus looked up from the list. "The person might be a shift worker. Perhaps someone whose shift changes every few weeks or months. The switch from Fridays and Saturdays to Tuesday and Wednesday then back might indicate different days off. The timing of the attacks could be for the sake of the perpetrator's schedule as much as for the victims' schedules."

Moody nodded. "Makes sense. And the victims? Notice anything about them? Know any of 'em besides Malfoy?"

Severus shook his head thoughtfully. "Nancy Harrison . . . wasn't she Nancy Fletcher?" At Minerva's confirmation, Severus said, "I knew her slightly in school. I had no idea that she was Carver's daughter."

"Her mother had remarried," Minerva said. "Fletcher was her step-father's name."

"I met Virgil Rosier a few times, but didn't know him well. I taught Anthony Stearns, but never saw him after he left Hogwarts...other than a few times in Diagon Alley, but never to speak to. He certainly wasn't a Death Eater. I presumed that he was related to old Stearns, but I didn't know how. Whoever this is who's doing it knows more about their relationships than I do. Of the other relatives . . . Maurice Rosier was an active Death Eater, rejoined after Riddle's return. I knew him from the early days, as well. I didn't know he had a sister, though, let alone one with a husband who worked at Azkaban. I would not have thought that would be a recommended position for Huffy."

"Huffy deserved it on his own merits," Moody said gruffly. "He scarcely knew his wife's brothers. They were almost twenty years older than she; weren't even at their wedding. Can't avoid hiring anyone who has unsavoury relatives; that'd eliminate about half of the Ministry if they did that."

Severus glanced at the list again. "The person obviously acquaints himself with the habits of his targets, learns when they come and go, attacks them when they are alone...did these people live alone, too?"

"Some of them. Huffy's married, obviously. Michaels and Rosier lived alone. Rosier had a care worker, but she only came and checked on him midday, got him his lunch, made sure that he'd taken his potions, and then she'd leave. The granddaughter was a somewhat irregular visitor, two, three times a week, usually in the morning. Stearns has a girlfriend who sometimes spends the night, but she doesn't live with him. Harrison lives with her husband, but he travels a lot for his work and wasn't home at the time. Tally'd had a roommate, but he'd moved out a few weeks before. Whittaker's mother had lived with him until about six months ago, when she got married and moved in with her new husband. Whitaker's a bit, um . . ."

"He's slow, but very sweet," Minerva interrupted. "Never hurt a soul in his life. Only managed one OWL, in Care of Magical Creatures. He probably would have achieved an Outstanding in it if he could read and write better. But he's very talented with creatures of all sorts, and he's got a heart of gold. Anyone who knew him would know him to be an innocent, a true innocent."

"Probably someone who doesn't know him personally, then," Moody said.

"Probably," Severus agreed. "I'd say that whoever is doing this, he's also probably frustrated that there are so few good targets. Even so, it's strange . . ."

"What is?" Minerva asked, thinking that the entire business seemed strange.

"That he'd start with targets who were so . . . attenuated, so distant from the actual Death Eaters . . . even Rosier. Virgil Rosier was a Death Eater, true, but he'd not been involved in any of the most recent activities or the Battle of Hogwarts, since he had spent the last couple decades in Azkaban. He was also pretty old...his death does fit the pattern, but it could be that he really did die of natural causes. And the other early attacks . . . they're hardly people I would choose if I were going on a hunt for escapees from justice. But he's become . . . better at finding targets. It's as though he had to . . . had to exact revenge, was driven to it, and he took the best targets he could find. He didn't wait to find specific people. He took those he could find, vented his desire for revenge on them, and continued to look for better targets. Escalating both the violence and the frequency of the attacks to try to satisfy his urge to exact his notion of justice, all while looking for new and better targets. And now we have Vincent and Pettigrew this morning. They could be seen as prime targets, much better than the earlier victims. Those two, and Malfoy and Huffy, as well. Whatever we may know about the innocence of the two witches, they are not only more closely related to a Death Eater than the previous relatives were, but they showed some loyalty toward Pettigrew, visiting him weekly."

"But how could they know that?" Minerva asked.

"The two did the same things every Saturday, week in, week out," Moody replied, "including visiting Pettigrew. Snape's right...the targets were chosen and then watched."

"I would say that whoever it was, he likely started by watching the targets' homes. Perhaps after that, following them and determining their other habits." Severus shook his head. "Someone first had to have discovered the identities of these people...probably knew the Death Eaters they were connected to, and moved from there...then he tracked down where they lived and watched them coming and going long enough to be able to know when to attack them. Might have been only a few times, or it might have been over the course of weeks. I doubt the person has that much patience, though, unless they had a good target, better than the early ones, one worth being patient for. A target like Malfoy. Learning where Narcissa worked, then following her, discovering where they lived . . . it's strange though, the timing of that one."

"Why?" Moody asked. "Malfoy was always at home. Timing wouldn't matter."

"No, but that's precisely it . . . he attacked the house. He could have killed two Malfoys. If he found Lucius through Narcissa, which I agree is likely, then he also knew Narcissa's schedule. This attack took place before she would arrive home. Either the person had to attack at that time for some other reason...work or family obligations...or he deliberately attacked at a time when Narcissa would not be at home. When I visited Malfoy in August, Narcissa arrived home from work, and it was a little after five, I think. Why didn't he kill her, too? He only would have had to wait a half hour. He hasn't cared about whether he's killed women before, or how closely implicated his victims were in their relatives' activities. And his last victims, those two older witches...that certainly shows that he won't hesitate to attack witches directly. He'd also attacked Nancy Harrison as she walked her dog. That he wouldn't attack Narcissa indirectly is puzzling."

"Could be as you said, the timing is driven as much by the perpetrator's schedule as by the victims'."

"But if that were so . . . certainly there would be some time when he could attack the house when both Malfoys were at home. If he'd attacked in the middle of the night, they'd have been asleep and likely would have been killed."

"Perhaps it's someone who does know Narcissa," Minerva said. "Someone who wants Malfoy dead, for whatever reason, but has some personal reason for not wanting to kill her?"

"That's possible," Moody said. "Though the person hasn't shown any sentimentality before. Killing a simple-minded fellow as he's feeding stray cats hardly shows any sentimentality."

"On the other hand . . ." Minerva took the list from Severus. "Is it possible that these attacks don't have anything to do with revenge against Death Eaters at all?"

The two wizards looked puzzled.

"There have been the letters, though," Severus said, "and all of the victims do have ties to Death Eaters, even if we would not consider them guilty associations."

"It's probably a silly idea," Minerva said, "but . . . have either of you ever read Agatha Christie?"

"When I was young," Moody said. "Foolish books. Locked rooms, suicides that weren't suicides, that sort of thing."

"Mmm . . . but she did have some ingenious ideas, not that the quality of her work is important. It's just that I'm put to mind of one of her books, the ABC Murders, I think it was called. Something like that. The point of the plot was that the murderer wanted to hide the real target and actual motive for his murder by murdering several seemingly unrelated people for no rational motive. Maybe there's only one true target here, and we're looking at it the wrong way. Perhaps the other attacks were . . . not a cover-up, like in the book, but practice?"

Severus shook his head. "I would agree with you if it weren't for the attack on Malfoy, which was so different from the others..."

"Any chance that was done by some other person and isn't related to the other attacks at all?" Minerva asked.

"That's possible," Moody said, "but it is a possibility that I don't like to contemplate...that there are two different people, or groups of people, out targeting presumed Death Eaters."

"Well, it was a thought," Minerva said.

"Have to look at all the possibilities," Moody said with a nod.

"It is possible that until he attacked Malfoy, none of the other attacks were meant to be fatal. It could be that he might have no compunction about injuring Narcissa Malfoy, but he didn't want to kill anyone but Lucius," Severus said. "It could very well be that Malfoy's the only one who was the victim of a murderous attack, despite the other deaths...and the first two might not have been attacks at all. But if they were, their age and medical conditions made them more fragile. The younger victims weren't cursed with anything that is necessarily fatal, although Massuelius can be if aimed properly. Either the person has lousy aim or he didn't care about killing them, he only wanted to injure them. Send a message, to them or to the Ministry."

Minerva nodded. "That makes sense to me."

Moody nodded. "We do think that the other fatalities were unintentional, although when you go about casting curses, it's hardly a surprise if someone dies. I have one more thing for you to look at, Snape. More for your . . . personal edification than anything else." He pulled another parchment from his sheaf and handed it to Severus. "Copied out from the relevant sections of the letters to the Ministry. This is from the first one, the one we received last week. We got another one on Wednesday."

"The Ministry protects them. You are implicated in the murders of all the children, all the husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, all the children. And there is one who is amongst the worst, and you have made him a hero. A hero with a heart of evil. He fooled everyone and is still fooling everyone. He chose well and was saved to live on in evil. Evil lives on amongst our children, and evil will draw them closer, this 'heroic' evil. Heroic evil will create more evil. Protect him and allow this and it will all happen again, all the murder and all the pain. Bring him to justice, make him pay for the murders of our children. Do not ignore this warning! He is a clear and present danger to us all, and he must be stopped before he strikes."

Severus nodded. Minerva's outstretched hand snatched the parchment from him before he could give it back to Moody.

"And the second one?" Severus asked.

Moody hesitated, watching as a look of alarm crossed Minerva's face. "It's more of the same, really."

Severus held out his hand, and Moody put the next parchment into it.

"Take care, or you will find another Dark Lord rising. Evil draws evil whilst appearing innocent.

"You have blessed a wicked man. You have excused him, you have lauded him, and you have created a place for him amongst our children. He will bring ruin to everyone, he will destroy what you believe he saved. He tried to destroy it before. He drew evil into the school, he brought death to our children, our brothers, our sisters, and he will bring it again. He has committed murder upon murder. He fooled everyone, he fooled Voldemort, he fooled Dumbledore, he fooled McGonagall, and he fools you all still. He never abandoned evil. He murdered and murdered, never leaving his evil behind him. Do you forget the dead so soon? Do you condone evil and death? This man lives still on death, on the deaths of others, he is a Death Eater. He feeds upon it, and he grows in evil, a devil in your midst. He looks the devil himself in the face and laughs. It is the worst evil, the evil blessed as innocence, as saviour. You don't understand that he did not save you. He killed our children. He lives on their deaths and on his lies. He lied and even the greatest wizards and witches don't recognise his lies. You see him and don't see his evil, but it lurks there behind his black eyes, the black eyes of Death! Bring him to justice! He must pay. He will pay. You must make him pay. The Darkness must not rise again."

Severus let out a slow breath. "I do think that the letter-writer is referring to me," he said softly.

Minerva took the parchment from his lax fingers. She took in a sharp breath as she read.

"The children . . ." Minerva whispered.

"I know it must disturb you, Minerva," Alastor began.

"It does, but it's not that. He repeats it. He mentions other people, too, but he repeats that."

"Which would make sense, since it appears he's talking about me," Severus said. "I work here, with children. The final battle was here at Hogwarts. Children died. I . . . I let the...I let Riddle onto the grounds. He told you that himself. Anyone who was here that day would know that, or be able to surmise it from what he said. The Death Eaters present knew that I dropped the wards before I Apparated to him." Severus turned his head and gazed with unseeing eyes out at the bright spring blue sky and the wispy clouds scudding across the top of the mountain opposite the castle. "It is all true, all of it . . . this person is writing about me."

"About his distorted view of you," Moody said. "When I read this piece of melodramatic claptrap, I knew that it was no one in the Order, but the MLE is still questioning them all as suspects. We all know you, Snape. We know what happened. This is only one small strand of the truth, not the entire picture. But," he added as he took the parchment from Minerva, "you need to be careful. You need to watch your back. Be suspicious of everyone, especially anyone who doesn't know you, or doesn't know you well, who suddenly expresses interest in you and your activities...now or when you were a spy."

Severus nodded and sighed, returning his gaze to meet Moody's for a moment. "Of course. I am accustomed to being . . . cautious."

"You don't want to take this lightly," Minerva said. "He tried to kill Lucius and almost succeeded. Clematis Vincent is dead."

"I will be wary, but I doubt that he could firebomb Hogwarts castle. He wasn't even particularly effective with Malfoy's house. If it weren't for that Portkey around his ankle, Malfoy would have escaped with very little injury. And of the others, the only ones who died were already in fragile health, or were older. I am more than a match for this wizard."

"He might be getting better, though, Severus," Minerva said. "And you're right, he might not have cared about whether he killed the others. He might have been simply sending a warning, or punishing them in proportion to their perceived crimes. He obviously has you marked out as something special. The one who is responsible for children's deaths and who is now a threat to more children. Don't underestimate the danger to you, please, Severus."

"I don't believe I am. I don't live alone in a house or flat somewhere, commuting to and from work daily, doing the sorts of things these people do regularly. I will take care when I do leave the grounds, but as that is irregular and unscheduled, and few people know about any of these outings in advance"...Severus shrugged..."under the current circumstances, I think that I am a difficult target for a wizard such as this. When summer comes, then we shall see. It may be that the person is captured or killed before then, with some luck."

"He'll make mistakes, Minerva. He'll be caught," Moody added. "Snape's right. He's safe here. Safer than he'd be anywhere else. Strangers stand out here. If anyone came in looking for him, someone would notice him before he could get very far. As long as Snape doesn't begin leaving the grounds regularly on a predictable schedule and watches his back when he is out, he will be a very difficult target to reach."

Minerva nodded. "I know you're right, but I do hope you don't leave the grounds unless you must, Severus, or go anywhere you might become an easy target."

"I have already determined that, Headmistress, as you are aware. And it is hardly as though I get away very often as it is. You needn't worry that I will suddenly begin taking unnecessary risks or walking about Diagon Alley with a big sign on my back saying, 'Curse me, please, I have the eyes of the devil.'" He smirked.

Moody snorted a laugh, but Minerva furrowed her brow and shook her head. "Your sense of humour is improving, Severus, but not very much...besides, I believe he said you had the eyes of death, not the devil." She grinned wryly.

Severus snickered and Moody laughed out loud.

"Time for us to go," Minerva said briskly as her grandfather clock chimed the half hour. "The duel starts in thirty minutes, and it wouldn't do for one of the participants to be late."

"I will meet you in the stadium, Headmistress," Severus said, standing. "I have a stop to make first." Poppy was waiting, Poppy . . . Thoughts of incompetent assassins fled as he hastened his way to her.

~ End of Part Seven ~

. . . to be continued . . .

Author's Note: The card that Severus found at the florist's shop indicates that red carnations signify "my heart aches for you." Depending on what source you look at, the same flowers can have different meanings in the "language of flowers."

NEXT

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Paying Court

Severus finds courting a challenge.

Rated T.

Characters: Severus Snape, Poppy Pomfrey, Nymphadora Tonks Lupin, Remus Lupin, and others.