Too Far Gone (Don't Save Me Book 4)

Chapter 42: Suspicions

It was finally time for the students to return home for the holidays and Harry stopped me in the corridor.

"Are you planning on coming to the Burrow?" he asked as Hermione and Ron approached us.

"Oh, uhm..." I struggled to find the right words to say as I hadn't really made any plans for the holidays, though visiting the Malfoys was at the top of my list, particularly after the situation with Draco at Slughorn's party.

"I really need to discuss something with the Order..."

I sighed. "Yeah, I'll be there, Harry."

He smiled and hugged me before leaving with Hermione and Ron. I felt a presence behind me before Severus wrapped his arms around my waist.

"What was that about, love?"

"Harry... he says he needs to discuss something with the Order. He's asking me to come to the Burrow."

He hummed. "Well, I suppose it's as good a place as any for you to be during the holidays."

"Will you be at Malfoy Manor?"

"I wasn't planning on it... not if you're not there."

I turned to face him. "Would you go for me? Please? Just to be sure Draco's safe? I promise I'll be along shortly. I just... I also have to be there for Harry."

He rolled his eyes, a small smile pulling at his lips as he sighed. "The things I do for you, you insufferable woman."

I chuckled, kissing him softly before packing my trunk and heading to the Burrow.

***

Molly greeted me warmly when I arrived, sending my trunk upstairs with a flick of her wand.

"The children should be along shortly. We're taking shifts and Tonks has been assigned to retrieve them from King's Cross. I nodded and began helping her prepare supper. About a half hour later Tonks arrived with the kids and Harry hugged me. Harry requested me in the living room and Ron took over helping his mother with dinner as I made my way into the living room where Harry, Tonks, Remus, Sirius, and Arthur were waiting.

Harry began explaining what he'd overheard the night of Slughorn's party and I struggled to maintain my composure as I listened to the conversation.

"Voldemort has chosen Draco Malfoy for a mission?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded. "I know it sounds mad..."

"Has it occurred to you, Harry, that Snape was simply pretending to offer Draco help so he could find out what he was up to?" Remus reasoned as Sirius scoffed.

"That's not what it sounded like," Harry argued.

"Perhaps Harry's right, Remus," Tonks began, her voice soft. "I mean... to make an Unbreakable Vow..."

"It comes down to whether or not we trust Dumbledore's judgment. Dumbledore trusts Snape, therefore I do."

"Dumbledore can make mistakes. He said-."

"You're blinded by hatred!" Remus interrupted.

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!" Remus sighed, calming himself. "People are disappearing, Harry, daily. We can only place our trust in a handful of people. If we start fighting amongst ourselves, we're doomed."

Harry turned to me as Sirius spoke. "You've been awfully quiet over there, Y/n. Harry said you were there that night with Snape and Draco... What are your thoughts on this?"

"I don't have any," I answered, wiping my palms on my pants.

"Merlin," Sirius whispered as he watched me carefully. "You know... don't you... what Draco's been ordered to do? You know about the vow, don't you? You... you know what happens with these vows, Y/n... so why would you believe Snape?"

I sighed, nodding, as I struggled to keep the tears from falling. "I know about the task Draco has been ordered to fulfill. I know about the Unbreakable Vow..." My voice broke slightly and I looked away from them as I took a breath. "And I'm well aware of what happens if he breaks it... just as I am aware of what happens if he keeps it."

"Can we trust him?" Remus asks, though I can tell he's not simply asking out of his own curiosity, rather he's asking to shut everyone else up.

"For the hundredth time this year," I growled. "... yes. We can trust him."

Sirius scoffed. "Oh, well then. Y/n says we can trust him, so everything must be fine and dandy. Let's invite the ol' Death Eater out for brunch!"

"That's enough!" I hissed, before turning to Harry.

"I understand you harbor a great deal of resentment toward Severus because of what happened at the ministry but-."

Harry scoffed. "He nearly got Sirius killed! All that talk of him being a coward and hiding in his house! If you hadn't been there, Bellatrix would've killed him!"

I sighed. "I don't know what you want me to say, Harry... I'm not okay with what happened but that doesn't mean I don't trust him when it comes to this."

"Harry, you must realize that Severus has protected Y/n countless times, just as he's protected you," Remus reasoned.

"Do you honestly like Snape?" Harry retorted.

"I neither like nor dislike Severus. We shall never be bosom friends, perhaps; after all that happened between all of us as children... there is too much bitterness there. But I do not forget that during the year I taught at Hogwarts, Severus made the Wolfsbane potion for me every month, made it perfectly, so that I did not have to suffer as I usually do at the full moon."

"But he 'accidentally' let it slip that you're a werewolf, so you had to leave!" Harry argued but Lupin simply shrugged.

"The news would have leaked out anyway. We both know he wanted my job, but he could have wreaked much worse damage on me by tampering with the potion. He kept me healthy. I must be grateful. Besides, Severus and I have buried the hatchet when it comes to what happened that year. He has apologized and I've forgiven him."

"Well, I haven't," Harry muttered. "He wouldn't dare mess with the potion with Dumbledore and Y/n there!"

Remus sighed, a sad smile pulling at his lips. "You are determined to hate him, Harry... and I understand. With James as your father, with Sirius as your godfather, you have inherited an old prejudice. But you really should try, Harry... at the very least for your godmother."

Harry rolled his eyes. "She loves him enough for the both of us."

"Shouldn't that be reason enough for you to try?" Remus reasoned. "The very fact that she loves him should be reason enough!"

Sirius placed a hand on mine as Arthur interrupted Remus and Harry. "Alright, that's enough. This isn't helping anything. The point is Dumbledore and Y/n trust Severus and that's reason enough for us to trust him too."

"Thank you, Arthur," I said, smiling at him before standing and heading back to the kitchen to help Molly as Sirius went outside for a walk.

Severus's POV

"My Lord... shouldn't we think this through?" I asked, trying to reason with him. "Y/n is there... if something goes wrong and she gets hurt..."

"Nothing will go wrong, Severus," he hissed. "Our friends have strict orders when it comes to Y/n. They will make certain she is out of the way."

"My Lord-."

"That's enough, Severus!" he yelled and I stopped talking, knowing there was nothing more to say. I only hoped I could warn Y/n in time.