Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

The Prize	By : Kvarta Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Het - Male/Female Views: 3468 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling. This story is purely for entertainment purposes, no money is being made from it.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
TO KNOW THY ENEMY
Couple of days later Poppy announced arrival of new Minister. It was late noon when he heard stomping of heavy footsteps and excited voices of Weasley and Potter in front of the door.
“Subtle as a heard of hippogriffs.” thought as he watched door open, but to his surprise, only Kingsley walked in the room, leaving his escorts outside. Snape observed him carefully, trying to decide whether new Minister considered him helpless, harmless or if this was some sort of bargaining tactic. Kingsley came close to the bed, pulled up the chair and sat on it extending his and to Snape.
“He wants to bargain.” he accepted outstretched hand
- Severus. –
-Minister – he wrote
- I am glad to see you alive and well. Even more so, glad to see you out of Azkaban. We believed, in all honesty, that you abandoned our side. –
- As you should. That only means I played my part well. –
- Too well. You escaped Azkaban by the skin of the teeth. – Minister fell silent so he waited patiently – I am glad to see that you have strong supporters now. Harry is the fiercest of them all. –
- Oddly enough, one would presume that he would be the first to slip the noose around my neck. –
- You were willing to sacrifice your life in order to save his, save us all. –
- Albus and his brilliant ideas. I had the “honor” to send the boy in to his certain death. There was a time when I seriously considered no to do it at all. –
- In the end you did. That is the reason Albus chose you and not any of us. He knew you would have strength to do it. What you did took courage, kind of courage we lacked. –
- Is that so? How brave one has to be to send a boy to the monster, no matter how annoying that boy is? How brave one has to be to kill weak, defenseless old man? To… -
- It takes more courage to stand aside and do nothing, to do the right thing no matter how wrong it seemed, when the only thing you wants is to help. –
- Maybe you are right, maybe not. –
- Severus, we know each other for a long time… -
- You are right; we know each other too long for you to play this game with me. –
- Severus? –
- You are new Minister, in a time when things are not as safe as they appear. Yet, you are alone in the room with a Death Eater, the one nearly convicted for murder. Am I harmless or too weak? –
- You are a war hero. You are fellow member of the Order, also a … friend. I do not need protection among Order fellows and friends. –
- So was the Peter once. This is unofficial visit then. –
Minister sighed, he glanced at the man in front of him, change was subtle but present. Snape’s eyes were still deep, dark tunnels, but glimmers of emotions loomed in them. His body, leaned on a pillows, sharp features looked more relaxed and somewhat softer. Kingsley thought that Snape looked more human now. Snape’s mind however was still sharp.
- I would say that this visit is both official and unofficial. For now, I talk to you as a friend. –
- Tell me…friend…would you visit me here if there were no official reason? – he shoved the parchment towards Kingsley who winced at those words
- Are you that far-gone Severus, that you refuse any good intention toward you? –
- I do not need pity Kingsley. – Snape’s face was a mask of scorn
- I do not pity you Severus. Never did. I am, however, sorry about my actions towards you. I do not even want to imagine what you had to go through, but I do not pity you. –
- We all make our on beds. My fate and actions, I shaped them with my own choices, good or bad. –
- I do respect Albus greatly and do not diminish his role in this war, but I can’t condone the way he used you. –
- That was my decision. –
- He manipulated you my friend, you know it and I know it. He never meant for you to survive. –
- Neither did I. Thank you for stating the obvious. –
- However, you survived and you beat the odds. –
- And wizarding England is ecstatic from joy, I’m sure. Albus is making a portrait parties in that honor. –
- We allowed his portrait to testify, he spoke greatly about you. –
- And touched your hearts so profoundly that you spared me of Azkaban and the Kiss. –
- He portray you as caring and devoted to the cause. Devoted to the task of keeping students and Harry safe and alive, as much as it was humanly possible. –
- Kingsley, we both know what the real reason behind my freedom is. –
- You are a war hero. Spies have their important role in every war, and we won’t dismiss it. Same as we did not dismiss Lupin’s role. –
- It is easy to glorify the dead. –
- One thing is for sure, you are still difficult to talk to, my friend. –
- Only, when someone tries to manipulate me without my consent. – smirked Snape
- All right then. – sighed Kingsley – Let us talk about official matters. –
- It is about time. –
- Poppy informed me that your voice is on the mend and you can use it now. – Snape nodded – Why do you still write? – Snape just grinned and motioned him to continue talking – As you already know, you are a war hero, with all the benefits and shortcomings the title bears. I believe that you got a heads up form Harry about benefits. Minerva informed me about your refusal to be reinstated in Hogwarts, I presume that you plan to utilize your pension. – Snape nodded again – In addition to pension, your vault is returned in your possession with all that was left in it, and the addition or reimbursement for yours years of service as a spy. Also, your muggle bank contacted Gringots about payment on to your muggle account. Money from sale of your home in Spinner’s End is on it and they want to know… -
- I will take care of that. – said Snape and Kingsley winced at the sound of his voice
- When your case for the Wizengamot was prepared, we checked all information we could get about you, in that time we discovered that you sold your home. As a part of benefits we decided to award you new housing in wizarding London, near Diagon Alley. You are free to buy new home at your leisure if you find this accommodation unfitting to your needs. However, we did our best to arrange your house so you have all that you may need. –
- And what that might be? –
- It is a two-story house. Lower part is transformed to a potions laboratory; room that watches on the street, even can be fit to a small apothecary if you wish so. On the second floor, above laboratory is four-room apartment with joint kitchen and dining area and rather comfortable bathroom. Fully furnished, one of the rooms, we fitted as library and workroom, one is a living area, and remaining rooms are bedrooms. Of course, you can change the arrangement and purpose of the rooms as you see appropriate. Laboratory has basic arrangement but you can change that too. You are free to take commissions or open Apothecary. I have to warn you, if you decide to open Apothecary,… -
- I lose my pension. – finished Snape and Kingsley nodded
- Yes, that does not apply to commissions since they are not regular source of income. Your Potions Mastery is still active, so if you decide, you can take apprentice. – Snape snorted with disdain – If you decide to use pension, you will receive suitable amount of galleons monthly, enough for decent if not rich life. –
- You mentioned shortcomings. –
- I did. As a recipient of Order of Merlin and title of War Hero, you are in obligation to attend to all official events in connection to the War. You also have obligation occasionally to give statements to press, politely. –
- I changed my mind, take me to Azkaban, I will voluntarily sign any paper you push under my nose. –
- I am afraid that you have no choice in this matter. No more than Harry, Ron and Hermione have. –
- I was under impression that I am free. –
- Free of all charges. Title of hero does not come without price. –
- Too high price. One can hope that some poor sod will find enough mercy in heart to put me out of my misery soon enough… - cough stopped him mid-sentence.
- Your house is under heavy wards and you will have appointed guards to watch your house and to escort you to all official events. –
- I refuse to... –
- Severus…. –
- I survived so far, do you honestly think that I am defenseless? –
- We can sort out details about that later on. There is one more thing I wanted to discuss with you. –
- That mysterious woman of yours. – purred Snape, looking Minister under the eye
- Yes. – Minister shuffled uncomfortably, taking a picture from his pocket – Does she looks familiar to you? – Snape carefully looked at picture for few minutes
- No, I did not met her. If she is working for him, she never attended meetings. Order would be informed about her or Albuses portrait at least. –
- And there lies the problem, no one knows her. When I say no one, I am not talking about Britain. We extended our search worldwide, muggle and wizarding means. Nothing. Officially, she does not exists. All we know is that she appeared out of the thin air. –
- Human with wings that glows. – smirked Snape mockingly
- Strangely, as it sounds, it is true. I looked Hermione’ and Ron’s memories. I witnessed her magic, experienced her magic first hand. –
- New enemy? – asked darkly
- We don’t know. I does not appear that way, but we can’t dismiss that possibility. We are in a big predicament with her…she… -
- Her name? –
- She won’t tell us. She refuse to tell us anything about her. In addition to that, all our methods to force her talk, failed. Only thing we know about her,… she is hell-bent to talk to you. First time I’ve seen her, she told me that she will give all information we want to know to you. –
- Ah. –
- What is that supposed to mean? -
- We are coming to the real reason why I am a War Hero instead in the Azkaban. –
- Severus… - Kingsley paused in discomfort under Snape’s gaze – You are free and glorified, no one can touch you now. Is it so important why? –
- You would be poor a spy Kingsley. No, it is not important at all. Do continue, please. – whispered Snape. Kingsley observed him carefully, man’s features shifted from relaxed to so familiar, cold and impassive, mask.
- We have to seek your service once more. We are willing to offer you a handsome sum for your skills as a … liaison. –
- What you want to say…, you want me to be a spy once more and extract information from her. You want me to break her? –
- Yes. – Kingsley nervously fidgeted on the chair
- My dear Minister, you have to learn when to be diplomatic and when to put all carts to a table. For example, now would be time to play with open cards. – mocked Snape, cough stopped him but soon as he caught his breath again, his voice rang cold against the walls – What is in for me? –
- A very handsome reimbursement. –
- I will not say no to the money, but that is not what I am after. –
- What are your conditions? –
- First, I want to get out of here, as soon as possible. I do not want visitors, wherever I am. You will appoint one person to carry my reports and messages to you. –
- That is acceptable, it will be arranged. –
- Second, I want to be placed as near as possible to her holding, I do not wish to travel back and forth. – he paused to cough again
- She is in the Ministry; we transformed one holding cell to accommodate her prolonged stay. The only accommodation I can offer is similar to hers I’m afraid. –
- Smart move. – chuckled Snape, look of pure amusement mixed with scorn on his face – Third, I do things my way. No rules, no pressure. One note to hurry me up or pressure me to speed up and I am walking away. –
Kingsley looked troubled but nodded all the same. Snape smirked inwardly
“They are desperate. Let us see how desperate they are.” – Forth, by no means you are even to indicate me to use force or cause her any harm if I do not see it necessary. IF I deem her as harmless, she you will release her to go from wherever she came. –
- Severus…. –
- The fourth one is a deal breaker Kingsley. Take it or leave it. –
- And what if she is enemy? –
- In that case, she is all yours. –
- You are aware that I can’t say yes so easily to that demand? She did save your life… -
- You are using THAT as an excuse! One would presume that I am grateful for being still alive, I suppose, but that cannot be further from the truth. It is safe to assume that she would not harm me. You never asked if I want to thank her PROPERLY for saving my life. – Snape’s voice sounded menacing and dark, Kingsley shivered – You are Minister Kingsley, are you not? Deal with Wizengamot on your own time. I want my demands granted now, or the deal is off and you freed me for nothing. –
- I have no choice but to accept them. Severus, you are aware that this will put all your actions under the strict observation. –
- As supposed to what? My action would be under strict observation in any case. I will not harm another living thing, without dire need to do so, ever again Mr. Minister. – hissed Snape dangerously, Kingsley could not but wonder what did war do to this man
- We are on the same side Severus, Ministry won’t show distrust to its friends. –
- Mhm, just tread carefully Kingsley, you do not want me as other than your…friend. –
- We have agreement and I will honor it. –
- Good. When you place me in my temporary housing, I want all records about her, pensieve and all memories about her, no matter how insignificant you see them. –
- Anything else? –
- My things… -
- What we could rescue from ruins is already in your new home, as well as things from your old home. I’m afraid that some of the things are still at Ministry, you warded them so heavily that we did not manage open them before trials. – Kingsley cleared throat and Snape smirked
- That… - he started but lung-ripping cough stopped him. Poppy stormed in the room
- That is enough of chit-chat boys. Severus take your medicine. – Snape rolled his eyes and Kingsley chuckled
- I will arrange all as we agreed as soon as possible. Poppy if I may have word with you. –
When he was alone, Snape sank back in to the pillows, satisfied with his achievement. He will finally meet that strange woman and get the chance to ask her a nagging question that kept him awake in night.
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The Prize