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Doing it for the Order Complete	By : Desert_Sea Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 72673 -:- Recommendations : 6 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other characters/things/places created by J.K. Rowling. I make no money from my fan-fiction.

Chapter List
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A/N: Well, I didn’t realise that WTF could be expressed in so many different ways! The commentary has been wonderful. Thank you so much, DSx
OO – ‘You sneaky sneaky biotch’ – I so love being a biotch, a sneaky one at that ;) There has indeed been a little trickiness going on. I’m not sure if my explanation will satisfy, let me know. ‘BTW, I can see what this is fucking with your head’ – totally, I needed to get it out. Out, out . . . damned fic!
Kvarta – ‘I step outside house and there is a new chapter’ – I wonder where this chapter will catch you ;) ‘ppl around me usually debate do I have soul at all or where is it hidden’ – LOL, I think we may be quite similar. ‘never make decisions when conflicted or in emotional turmoil’ – that’s another shortcoming of mine. ‘ok now I'm nitpicking but...that is a counter spell that works ONLY on Sectumsempra’ – thanks for the nitpicking. The research I did said it was a healing spell AND counterspell but I took it out all the same x. ‘why the hell he didn't took out the dagger’ – well that is actually the worst thing you can do as it allows the vessels to bleed more freely. ‘all I can say is either too personal to share or I just lack the proper words’ – I always appreciate your words xx
Anon – Longer chapter this time! :)
Discord_the_lunatic – Good!
Fox – ‘It was so tragic, that I am almost glad the chapter was short’ – I really am sorry that it was upsetting but I hoped the final word would turn that around. ‘What made you do it? Was it the influence of yesterday's Blue Monday?’ – I have been pretty emotional lately which probably made it worse but this was actually the storyline from pretty well the start. ‘Call me deluded, but I still believe you can fix it.’ – You are not deluded. Your fix is coming! And then you can pass on my ‘hello’. ;) And thanks again for the impatient nudge. It always comes when I’m getting close to the end of my next chapter and makes me smile. I’m glad you are on the WIP bandwagon too. It’s this engagement with readers that drives me. I love it. xx
Ali – You’re going to have to explain the Wayne reference to me, I’m possibly being thick. ‘panicking that they will stop serving booze’ – hahah, you read in all the best places! ‘DD...after I have maligned him and called him everything under the sun’ – I’ll be interested in your thoughts on DD after this chappie. ‘Dessie’ – that is absolutely my new name! ‘Magnificent story and plot line’ – you are too kind xx ‘but where is Hermione’ – She’s . . . about ;)
JadedFate – LOL. This one is a little longer so hopefully it will last ;)
Cerrdiwen – ‘hoping for some backstory on how it all came to that moment’ – backstory coming right up! <3

Chapter 30 – Ordering in parts

“So you managed to bring me back safely then?”
Severus’ head snapped up at the sound of the familiar voice. He sighed when he realised where it had come from—the portrait of Dumbledore . . . now hanging behind his desk.
“Just put me down there.” Dumbledore indicated to the spot in front of him. “I had the presence of mind to hang myself up here before I left,” he explained. “What would you call that? When one speaks in the present of the actions of oneself prior to their own death . . . the fourth person, the fifth?”
Severus didn’t respond. Instead he gently lowered Dumbledore’s body onto the desk before propping his hands on either side of his mentor’s pale, bearded face. He still couldn’t quite fathom what had happened.
“It’s not a good look is it?”
Severus looked up, bemused.
“Death.” Dumbledore leaned forward in the painting, tilting his head to appraise himself. “Still, it was the right thing to do, don’t you think?”
“Headmast—” Severus cleared his throat. “Headmaster, I’m afraid I’m at a loss.” He shook his head despondently.
“Of course you are. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable?” Dumbledore waved his arm at his high-backed chair, encouraging Severus to sit. “I have a bottle of whisky in my cupboard if you—”
Severus raised a hand. “No . . . thank you.”
The skinful he’d consumed the night before, together with the events of the morning had left him feeling distinctly nauseous.
“I presume you found the note in my pocket?”
Severus nodded.
“And I see you recovered the invisibility cloak.” He gestured to the silvery fabric that had slithered to the floor as Severus had entered the office.
“Yes.” Severus sank into the chair, suddenly exhausted.
“I suppose you want to know how this all transpired?”
“Actually, I . . .”
“She’s fine.”
Severus sagged with relief, nodding almost imperceptibly.
“Asleep . . . Being cared for most capably by Miss Patil.”
Severus propped his head on his hand, the energy continuing to drain from him like grains of sand trickling through an hourglass.
“I understand that you would like to see Miss Granger—possibly even more than your desire to converse with a painting whilst sitting beside a corpse . . . but there are a few items that we need to discuss.”
Severus’ eyebrows hitched up in acknowledgement. “Of course.”
“She came to see me yesterday evening.”
His heart instantly squeezed.
“Quite upset . . . almost inconsolable as it turns out.”
“We—”
Dumbledore raised his palm. “No need to explain. She was here for nearly three hours in the end. Needless to say she was rather thorough and quite . . . candid.”
Severus’ gaze dropped to the floor.
“It seems your past is unwilling to let you go. And . . . fortunately . . . Miss Granger happens to feel the same way.”
Severus blinked. It took him a moment to process Dumbledore’s words.
“Are you suggesting—?”
“Well not initially,” Dumbledore admitted. “I suspect if you’d been anywhere close by when she’d first arrived, you may have found yourself divested of a certain part of your anatomy. However . . . throughout the course of our discussion, she posed a number of questions which I chose to answer with equal candour.” The old Wizard’s blue-eyed gaze intensified. “Severus, I’m afraid that I broke my vow to you . . . I told Miss Granger your story. All of it. And I’m not sorry.”
Severus’ mouth opened, but no words came out.
“She cried . . . she said she’d never imagined your life to be so tragic . . . she cried for what you’d had to endure. We both did.”
Severus swallowed down the lump of sorrow that seemed to have been with him permanently over the past day.
“And she changed her mind. She revealed that she’d intended to present herself as the sacrifice to break the enchantment . . . and that she’d already owled Draco to request that he meet her. But . . . she also admitted that she was in love with you.”
Severus inhaled suddenly, doing his best to hold himself together.
Dumbledore regarded him soberly. “As I said . . . she was very candid.”
He gave the tormented younger wizard a few moments of reprieve.
“In the end, she remained conflicted . . . she no longer wished to follow through with her plans . . . but she was still struggling to see a way forward with the enchantment hanging over you both. It was clear that she was still very much in love with you and so . . . I made a decision . . . And here is the outcome.” He gestured to his ash-grey body, the dagger still embedded to the hilt.
Severus shook his head. “Was there nothing else that could have been done?”
“Of course there was.” Dumbledore’s voice rose. “But nothing that would have been nearly as effective.”
He dragged a hand over his beard. “I must admit that I was a little concerned about the Polyjuice. But, knowing the nature of the enchantment and its intimate invasion of the body, I suspected that the transformation would be sufficient to satisfy the dagger’s identification requirements. I suppose it was quite fortunate that I was correct in the end . . . otherwise that could have been a bit of a waste.”
He regarded his body contemplatively for a long moment before sighing.
“And then we have the fact that I was rapidly succumbing to the fruits of my own foolishness.” He looked sadly at the blackened claw curled against the side of his corpse.
“I would have continued to treat you,” Severus replied earnestly.
“Still . . . it was inevitable.” Dumbledore’s painted hand dropped resignedly onto the arm of the chair in which he sat. “The curse was consuming me—a little more each day. I didn’t wish to be completely eroded by it as I’d indicated from the beginning. And asking another to assist my exit in the final stages would have been . . . unconscionable.”
Severus averted his gaze. He’d sensed that it was something he might have been asked to do. Perhaps something he should have volunteered for—the final obligation to his close friend and mentor. But he was now unsure of how he would have responded if asked. In recent months he seemed to have inherited a particularly self-righteous, bushy-haired conscience that was muddying the normal clarity of his decision-making. He sighed. It served no real purpose to ruminate on such thoughts anyway . . . Dumbledore was dead.
“And, of course,” Dumbledore continued, “we can’t underestimate the impact of destroying the enchantment on Voldemort’s vitality. He was foolish enough to use his own blood to create it—which may have assured its potency but at the same time left him vulnerable. And to accept Lucius’ assurances that it was unbreakable was equally unwise. You were always so steadfast under their questioning—under torture, Severus. Clearly they suspected nothing.”
Severus’ face remained grim. “It appears not. But I doubt the Dark Lord will be as complimentary of my efforts when he discovers that the enchantment has been undone—and at the hand of Draco Malfoy no less.”
“Perhaps.” Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgement. “Or perhaps not. As I see it, Draco can either admit to knowingly breaking the enchantment by attempting to sacrifice Hermione Granger or unknowingly breaking the enchantment by killing Albus Dumbledore . . . perchance in his sleep . . . to win the Dark Lord’s favour. I’m quite confident of the version he will choose.”
Severus was beginning to see that the great wizard had given this decision far more consideration than he’d originally insinuated.
“He is to be expelled, then? The Azkaban guards called in?”
“No. His role in my death will stay between ourselves and Professor McGonagall. It was not done purposefully.”
“And yet he’d sought to kill another student. Is that to be disregarded too?” Severus’ voice rose.
“Severus.” Dumbledore shook his head sadly. “If you had seen the boy you would understand. He was utterly distraught. He kept retreating—sobbing that he could not go through with it. He apologised profusely for everything he had ever done to Miss Granger—some of which I was unaware of. In the end I had to force his hand.”
Severus’ head was buried again in his own hands. He was having trouble visualising the moment of her death; despite now knowing the truth. He also felt extremely guilty. The relief at realising that it wasn’t her was eating into him—especially considering that it superseded his sense of loss for the person he was supposed to be closest to in the world. Or had she taken that place in his heart too?
“Perhaps you can identify with him, Severus? A young man, taught to hate, one also living with regret?”
Severus continued to stare at the floor.
“You will invite Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy to view my body in order that they may inform the Dark Lord. Despite the enchantment’s demise, which the Dark Lord will assume was somehow linked to myself, I’m confident that Draco will be embraced and trusted. He’ll be safe.”
“And myself? Do you expect the same?” Severus finally returned his gaze to the painting.
“No—you’re no longer safe. Therefore, I believe it is time.” Dumbledore leaned forward in his chair. “You are not to return to the fold of the Dark Lord.”
“But how will we obtain the information that we require? Knowledge of his plans is crucial to ensure our ongoing protection.”
“Draco’s loyalty to Vodemort has been completely eroded. Keep your door open to him. Trust him. And he will come. But never ask of him what I asked of you. It must be his own choice, not a condition—a manipulation that I regretted every single day.”
Severus closed his eyes.
“Before I died, I told you that it was too much. I was referring to myself. I’d asked too much of you. And that was the foremost reason for doing what I did. You deserve to be free Severus—of the Order’s expectations, of my demands, of the ghosts from your past. ”
A single tear trickled down Severus’ cheek.
“You deserve to be happy. And I happen to know that a certain someone wishes the same for you. In fact, she has expressed a hope for happiness for you both . . . together.”
Severus wiped a hand across his face.
“This is all getting rather sombre and I didn’t mean it to be.” Dumbledore sat back in his seat. “Despite being dead, I’m actually feeling rather invigorated. I should tell you about how you nearly caught me stealing your ingredients for the Polyjuice potion. It was a very close call. You thought I was a student and came storming down the corridor after me. I only just managed to get away.” Dumbledore chuckled.
Severus’ lips curled into a faint smile. “And you managed to perform the brew yourself too?”
“Now you must recall that I did actually teach you some of what you know. You rapidly surpassed me, of course, but I still have a few brewing tricks up my sleeve.”
“Which begs the question . . . how long have you been preparing for this?” Severus frowned.
“For this?” Dumbledore’s gaze strayed upwards. “Oh, a few months now. I recovered one of Miss Granger’s hairs from her chair after that first meeting. I had a feeling, even at that time, that I may need to step in at some stage. In fact, I originally considered I may need to consume the Polyjuice to attend the Death Eater gathering.”
“Please tell me you didn’t?” Severus hand was over his face.
“Of course not.”
Severus released a long sigh of relief.
“But I was there.”
“What?!”
“Do you really think I would send Miss Granger along to something like that alone?”
“But . . . where were you?”
“Oh . . . around.”
“Around? Not—”
Dumbledore waved his hand dismissively. “It wasn’t anything I hadn’t already seen before. I’ve lived a very long life, you know.”
“Yes, but . . . you might have made it known that you were there.”
“How?” Dumbledore rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Did you want me to tap you on the shoulder and whisper, ‘Keep it up Severus old chap, nearly there!’?”
“Of course not, but—!”
“I just made sure that there was a plan. It turned out that Miss Granger had, of course, come up with something brilliant and I left as soon as it seemed you were both safe.”
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, quite unable to believe that the events of the morning could get any more bizarre.
“And in regards to your question about whether I would have substituted myself in her place for you. The answer is ‘no.’ You may be a handsome man, Severus, but there are only certain sacrifices that I’m willing to make.”
Severus chuckled. And Dumbledore joined him. Soon they were both roaring with laughter. It went on for several minutes, both slumped helplessly in their seats. And even after that, it took some time for them to compose themselves.
Dumbledore sighed contentedly as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “Bloody hell I needed that.”
“As did I.” Severus rubbed his chin appreciatively.
Sitting up straight in his chair, Dumbledore suddenly fixed his gaze upon the younger wizard. “I want you to succeed me—as Headmaster.”
Severus’ face turned serious. “But what about Professor McGonagall?”
“She agrees. We both believe that you are most suited to take Hogwarts forward in this difficult time. Minerva is well aware of the actions I have taken today. Of course she tried to dissuade me but I was adamant that this was the right course to take. She is completely behind you and will ensure that the entire staff are united in their support. She also agrees that you should nominate Miss Granger as the representative for the student body—to bring the houses together. They are a formidable bunch and I am confident that, as one, you will succeed in bringing down the Dark Lord. Will you accept the position?”
Severus was quite dumbfounded. “Of course, Albus . . . It would be an honour.”
“And finally . . . I think it’s about time you revoked the Dark Mark.”
Severus pulled up his sleeve, tracing his thumb over the raised lines.
“Do you recall the exit ritual?”
“Yes.”
“Very good. It will ensure that you are removed from Voldemort’s services once and for all. And since he also imbued this enchantment with his own blood, destroying it will further diminish him. When his power over the Death Eaters is removed, his numbers will further dwindle, and you will be perfectly positioned to take the steps required to destroy him.”
Severus considered the Mark. It was another of his deep regrets, something else he wished he’d never conceived, but perhaps there was to be something positive to come from it also.
Dumbledore chuckled. “I very much doubt that when Voldemort took possession of a set of books stolen from Hogwarts’ most brilliant student, he realised how badly it would come back to bite him—worse than a nasty nip from that vile serpent of his I suspect.”
Severus regarded him with a knowing smirk. “Most brilliant student?”
“Well, now, I could never tell you that. I didn’t want to risk inflating your ego.”
Severus snorted.
“And you should probably make the most of the title as I doubt you’ll be holding it much longer. Miss Granger is set to break all records if her past performance is anything to go by.”
Severus nodded. “No doubt.”
An amiable silence settled over them.
“Oh, go on then.” Dumbledore waved towards the door. “I know you’ve just been humouring an old man—allowing him time to bumble through his final wishes. You’ll have to reverse the sleeping spell I put on her,” he called after Severus who was already at the door. “And not that you’re likely to give me a second thought but Minerva should be by soon. We’re going to work out how best to alert the rest of the school to my untimely demise. No doubt—”
But the rest of his words were lost as Severus closed the door and started striding quickly toward Gryffindor Tower.
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Doing it for the Order *Complete*

Doing it for the Order Complete