When Snape catches up with his loved ones, he spies a very happy sight: Ted Tonks, seated beside his wife, at the table with them, safe and sound.
He's glad for that.
Several tables away from them are Blood and Sand, a male and female mated pair of Silhouettes who form a Union with Grifter, another of Snape's favorite people. They helped bring Andromeda to safety, so it makes sense that they would have been searching for Ted. But there's no sign of Grifter, and Malfoy is clearly disturbed. Blood and Sand are as well, and after conveying his relief to Ted and the others, he goes immediately to Malfoy's side. "What has happened?" He asks, "Where is Grifter?" Malfoy, his arms tightly folded, bites his lower lip, and Blood closes her eyes. "We couldn't get everyone," she says, "we got Dirk Cresswell, and Ted, Dirk's at a safe location with his wife and sons, but we couldn't get the boy or the goblins."
Snape feels something slightly odd come over him, something he's not accustomed to feeling. "What boy?" Malfoy chews his lip and looks almost apologetically and tells him, "one of Harry's friends." Of course, there's only one person who comes to his mind, and that odd feeling comes to him again. Partly because he knows that particular boy well. And the boy's family... "Not...Weasley..." Malfoy shakes his head just once. "No, Dean Thomas." Snape is about to ask them if there was any sight of any other children when Grifter appears. He's in a bad state. Snape has never seen this Silhouette show much emotion so it is quite disturbing to him, on multiple levels, to see the other man weeping.
"I couldn't get 'im! I couldn't get the boy!" His partners hold him tightly and try to comfort him, but he is diswrought. "The Snatchers killed one of the goblins, they took the other and the boy! If they kill the boy--" Together, they get him calmed down and the Silhouettes explain what happened. After some time, Snape urges them to take Grifter to Bea, because he can not think of any other way he'll remain calm. It's also the only way Snape can think of to prevent Grifter from doing anything too reckless. After they disappear, Snape and Malfoy remain apart from the others to have their brief discussion privately.
"They will likely take the boy to the Manor, yes?" Malfoy nods almost absently. "Yes," he says softly, "he's Harry's friend, they'll...oh, Severus...Riddle will want to know what he knows about Harry, if he knows where--" Snape nods and folds his arms tightly, teeth clenched. The thought of the Dark Lord torturing Dean Thomas for information on Harry's whereabouts makes him physically ill. How long could he hold up if it's as bad as what he knows Ollivander has suffered? And they have a goblin. But which goblin? And which was killed? If it's Griphook either way, it could be bad for them. He sighs and Malfoy wants to lean against him...the fair wizard needs some kind of warmth, some small comfort, but with Tonks' parents at the table, and they're already not sure of him...
He is heartened, however, when he feels Snape's loving mental touch. It is enough, for now, and as they turn back to the table Malfoy thinks, I wish we could get them out, somehow, the Wandmaker and the boy. Snape nods only slightly, knowing full well what would happen if they attempted such a thing. Remus rises and comes around the table to meet them and queitly says, "I know it sounds bad, but Dean is a smart boy, I'm certain he won't do anything unwise. And," he pauses as Tonks rises with her parents, "from the description Ted gave, the goblins are Gornuk and Griphook." He shakes his head and frowns slightly, then slides his arm around his wife's waist as she stops beside him. "Every innocent death is a terrible loss, but you both know how the goblins are. Every gobiln who dies in this will come back to haunt us, sooner or later."
Snape and Malfoy exchange glances; the werewolf's words have already occured to them, and more than once. "Are you going back to Hogwarts tonight?" Tonks asks softly, glancing back at Elsbet quickly, then back at Snape, and the Dark wizard nods. Something in his black, impenetrable eyes makes Remus uneasy and he wants to press, but there isn't time. Andromeda and Ted pause to thank Snape for the safe haven, and for everything he's done for their daughter and son-in-law. "You'll never know how much we appreciate it, Professor." Ted says, and Snape tells them that he's relieved they are safe now, and that if they need anything at all, they need only ask. Andromeda tells Snape, "I'm very happy for you, Professor. She's a wonderful lady. She loves you so very much."
He says, "I'm...very lucky, I know. I could never have hoped for such a blessing." They take their leave and he watches them go, then turns to Malfoy. "Are you alright?" Malfoy shuts his eyes tightly and takes a deep breath. "I could feel his distress, Severus. If Dean Thomas dies, Grifter will never forgive himself." Snape grips Malfoy's shoulder and asks him if he could see what their friend had seen, and he tells him, "I didn't try, I didn't want to intrude..." Snape tells him he understands, then walks with him back to the table. Elsbet and Therion rise and Snape enfolds his lady in his cloak, his powerful arms barely hiding the tremble he feels in his heart.
He doesn't want her to know how worried he is; if he's worried, she will be as well, and he would much rather depart this evening with her in a peaceful frame of mind. Therion gathers up the bag of chocolates and Andromeda's gift to Elsbet and the lovers turn toward home. He hands her the gift and she knows how much he would have liked to have a keepsake, but he knows Andromeda had no way of knowing that he and Sirius had been friends. Snape asks her what it is and she shows him; an old image of a very young, very happy Sirius Black, laughing and grinning at someone that can't be seen. Snape restrains his gut reaction from showing, in fact, he looks away for a moment and notices Malfoy is doing the same.
Not looking.
It's too painful for them...for Malfoy, it's the guilt over something he doesn't realize he's not to blame for; for Snape, it's the reminder of the last time he saw Lily Evans alive.
"It was a Tuesday, as I recall," he says softly, at last mastering his stinging grief. Oddbit doesn't need to know how badly this hurts. She looks up at him with wonder in her bright blue eyes, and looking into her eyes brings a calmness to the threatening emotional storm. Malfoy and Therion both look at him as well, and as he takes a deep breath, he manages a very, very faint smile. "We were in London. Well, they were in London, and I happened to be there as well," he says quietly. "I had been in Diagon Alley and had just come out of the Leaky Cauldron...it had rained, or a water main had broken, I can't recall that now, but there was water everywhere. Lupin had slipped and--" She laughs suddenly, nodding. "Remus told me that! He said James had actually nudged him and he slipped, and he grabbed James and they fell, but it was James that wound up in the mud."
Snape won't tell her he had to hide because he was laughing so hard, but when she laughs again, he's sorely tempted to. "I'm glad Remus wasn't hurt, but that prat James deserved it, I think. Imagine 'nudging' your friend into the mud, just so you could get a laugh!" She hooks her arm around Snape's waist and there's a new spring in his step that he can't hide. He doesn't have to tell her the rest of the story, because this moment is just too sweet. He thinks those words will hang forever in his heart...her joyous voice saying that prat James...Therion laughs because he simply can not contain it anymore. Finally, he asks Snape who took the picture. "I'll bet it was Nolan Creevey, wasn't it?" Snape nods. "Yes, he seemed to have a nack of turning up when least expected..."
He decides not to tell Elsbet that Potter nearly hexed Nolan when he thought he'd taken a picture of him muddied, because the only thing that stopped Potter from doing it was Lily. But then, just as they're nearing their little house, Therion says, "I'd have paid him for a picture of James Potter sprawled in a puddle of mud." Malfoy bites his tongue and doesn't tell them that there was such a picture; Mulciber found it in Creevey's house when Death Eaters searched it, looking for information on the Potters. There were pictures of Snape as well, but Malfoy snagged them before anyone had noticed he'd found something. Those pictures were still somewhere in the Manor...
As they enter the house, they're greeted by two hungry ravens, and the conversation is quickly over. Elsbet takes the picture of the laughing Sirius into her room as Therion heads into the kitchen. He puts the bag of chocolate in the fridge and takes out enough meat to feed Cambion and Loki. He straightens and realizes Snape and Malfoy are gone, then hears the bedroom door slide closed. He accio's the little food and water dishes to him and washes everything, fills them, then drops them carefully into their holders as he goes passed the ravens' nook. They thank him quietly and he nods, then peers into the other bedroom.
Elsbet is laying on the bed with her shoes off and her back to the door. He asks her softly if he can come in and she tells him, "of course," and he can tell she's crying. As he approaches the bed, he sees she has placed the picture of Sirius on the nightstand, and he asks her if she would like some company. She nods and he sits down on the side of the bed, takes off his jacket and tosses it onto the chair, slips off his shoes, then lays down beside her. He puts his arm around her and asks her if she's alright and she tells him no. She rolls over and snuggles against him, her heart heavy with sorrow, and he holds her to him. "Shall I shut the door?" He asks, and she nods slightly, and Therion gives the door a mental command to close.
He's glad for that.
Several tables away from them are Blood and Sand, a male and female mated pair of Silhouettes who form a Union with Grifter, another of Snape's favorite people. They helped bring Andromeda to safety, so it makes sense that they would have been searching for Ted. But there's no sign of Grifter, and Malfoy is clearly disturbed. Blood and Sand are as well, and after conveying his relief to Ted and the others, he goes immediately to Malfoy's side. "What has happened?" He asks, "Where is Grifter?" Malfoy, his arms tightly folded, bites his lower lip, and Blood closes her eyes. "We couldn't get everyone," she says, "we got Dirk Cresswell, and Ted, Dirk's at a safe location with his wife and sons, but we couldn't get the boy or the goblins."
Snape feels something slightly odd come over him, something he's not accustomed to feeling. "What boy?" Malfoy chews his lip and looks almost apologetically and tells him, "one of Harry's friends." Of course, there's only one person who comes to his mind, and that odd feeling comes to him again. Partly because he knows that particular boy well. And the boy's family... "Not...Weasley..." Malfoy shakes his head just once. "No, Dean Thomas." Snape is about to ask them if there was any sight of any other children when Grifter appears. He's in a bad state. Snape has never seen this Silhouette show much emotion so it is quite disturbing to him, on multiple levels, to see the other man weeping.
"I couldn't get 'im! I couldn't get the boy!" His partners hold him tightly and try to comfort him, but he is diswrought. "The Snatchers killed one of the goblins, they took the other and the boy! If they kill the boy--" Together, they get him calmed down and the Silhouettes explain what happened. After some time, Snape urges them to take Grifter to Bea, because he can not think of any other way he'll remain calm. It's also the only way Snape can think of to prevent Grifter from doing anything too reckless. After they disappear, Snape and Malfoy remain apart from the others to have their brief discussion privately.
"They will likely take the boy to the Manor, yes?" Malfoy nods almost absently. "Yes," he says softly, "he's Harry's friend, they'll...oh, Severus...Riddle will want to know what he knows about Harry, if he knows where--" Snape nods and folds his arms tightly, teeth clenched. The thought of the Dark Lord torturing Dean Thomas for information on Harry's whereabouts makes him physically ill. How long could he hold up if it's as bad as what he knows Ollivander has suffered? And they have a goblin. But which goblin? And which was killed? If it's Griphook either way, it could be bad for them. He sighs and Malfoy wants to lean against him...the fair wizard needs some kind of warmth, some small comfort, but with Tonks' parents at the table, and they're already not sure of him...
He is heartened, however, when he feels Snape's loving mental touch. It is enough, for now, and as they turn back to the table Malfoy thinks, I wish we could get them out, somehow, the Wandmaker and the boy. Snape nods only slightly, knowing full well what would happen if they attempted such a thing. Remus rises and comes around the table to meet them and queitly says, "I know it sounds bad, but Dean is a smart boy, I'm certain he won't do anything unwise. And," he pauses as Tonks rises with her parents, "from the description Ted gave, the goblins are Gornuk and Griphook." He shakes his head and frowns slightly, then slides his arm around his wife's waist as she stops beside him. "Every innocent death is a terrible loss, but you both know how the goblins are. Every gobiln who dies in this will come back to haunt us, sooner or later."
Snape and Malfoy exchange glances; the werewolf's words have already occured to them, and more than once. "Are you going back to Hogwarts tonight?" Tonks asks softly, glancing back at Elsbet quickly, then back at Snape, and the Dark wizard nods. Something in his black, impenetrable eyes makes Remus uneasy and he wants to press, but there isn't time. Andromeda and Ted pause to thank Snape for the safe haven, and for everything he's done for their daughter and son-in-law. "You'll never know how much we appreciate it, Professor." Ted says, and Snape tells them that he's relieved they are safe now, and that if they need anything at all, they need only ask. Andromeda tells Snape, "I'm very happy for you, Professor. She's a wonderful lady. She loves you so very much."
He says, "I'm...very lucky, I know. I could never have hoped for such a blessing." They take their leave and he watches them go, then turns to Malfoy. "Are you alright?" Malfoy shuts his eyes tightly and takes a deep breath. "I could feel his distress, Severus. If Dean Thomas dies, Grifter will never forgive himself." Snape grips Malfoy's shoulder and asks him if he could see what their friend had seen, and he tells him, "I didn't try, I didn't want to intrude..." Snape tells him he understands, then walks with him back to the table. Elsbet and Therion rise and Snape enfolds his lady in his cloak, his powerful arms barely hiding the tremble he feels in his heart.
He doesn't want her to know how worried he is; if he's worried, she will be as well, and he would much rather depart this evening with her in a peaceful frame of mind. Therion gathers up the bag of chocolates and Andromeda's gift to Elsbet and the lovers turn toward home. He hands her the gift and she knows how much he would have liked to have a keepsake, but he knows Andromeda had no way of knowing that he and Sirius had been friends. Snape asks her what it is and she shows him; an old image of a very young, very happy Sirius Black, laughing and grinning at someone that can't be seen. Snape restrains his gut reaction from showing, in fact, he looks away for a moment and notices Malfoy is doing the same.
Not looking.
It's too painful for them...for Malfoy, it's the guilt over something he doesn't realize he's not to blame for; for Snape, it's the reminder of the last time he saw Lily Evans alive.
"It was a Tuesday, as I recall," he says softly, at last mastering his stinging grief. Oddbit doesn't need to know how badly this hurts. She looks up at him with wonder in her bright blue eyes, and looking into her eyes brings a calmness to the threatening emotional storm. Malfoy and Therion both look at him as well, and as he takes a deep breath, he manages a very, very faint smile. "We were in London. Well, they were in London, and I happened to be there as well," he says quietly. "I had been in Diagon Alley and had just come out of the Leaky Cauldron...it had rained, or a water main had broken, I can't recall that now, but there was water everywhere. Lupin had slipped and--" She laughs suddenly, nodding. "Remus told me that! He said James had actually nudged him and he slipped, and he grabbed James and they fell, but it was James that wound up in the mud."
Snape won't tell her he had to hide because he was laughing so hard, but when she laughs again, he's sorely tempted to. "I'm glad Remus wasn't hurt, but that prat James deserved it, I think. Imagine 'nudging' your friend into the mud, just so you could get a laugh!" She hooks her arm around Snape's waist and there's a new spring in his step that he can't hide. He doesn't have to tell her the rest of the story, because this moment is just too sweet. He thinks those words will hang forever in his heart...her joyous voice saying that prat James...Therion laughs because he simply can not contain it anymore. Finally, he asks Snape who took the picture. "I'll bet it was Nolan Creevey, wasn't it?" Snape nods. "Yes, he seemed to have a nack of turning up when least expected..."
He decides not to tell Elsbet that Potter nearly hexed Nolan when he thought he'd taken a picture of him muddied, because the only thing that stopped Potter from doing it was Lily. But then, just as they're nearing their little house, Therion says, "I'd have paid him for a picture of James Potter sprawled in a puddle of mud." Malfoy bites his tongue and doesn't tell them that there was such a picture; Mulciber found it in Creevey's house when Death Eaters searched it, looking for information on the Potters. There were pictures of Snape as well, but Malfoy snagged them before anyone had noticed he'd found something. Those pictures were still somewhere in the Manor...
As they enter the house, they're greeted by two hungry ravens, and the conversation is quickly over. Elsbet takes the picture of the laughing Sirius into her room as Therion heads into the kitchen. He puts the bag of chocolate in the fridge and takes out enough meat to feed Cambion and Loki. He straightens and realizes Snape and Malfoy are gone, then hears the bedroom door slide closed. He accio's the little food and water dishes to him and washes everything, fills them, then drops them carefully into their holders as he goes passed the ravens' nook. They thank him quietly and he nods, then peers into the other bedroom.
Elsbet is laying on the bed with her shoes off and her back to the door. He asks her softly if he can come in and she tells him, "of course," and he can tell she's crying. As he approaches the bed, he sees she has placed the picture of Sirius on the nightstand, and he asks her if she would like some company. She nods and he sits down on the side of the bed, takes off his jacket and tosses it onto the chair, slips off his shoes, then lays down beside her. He puts his arm around her and asks her if she's alright and she tells him no. She rolls over and snuggles against him, her heart heavy with sorrow, and he holds her to him. "Shall I shut the door?" He asks, and she nods slightly, and Therion gives the door a mental command to close.