#carrow twins

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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖙𝖜𝖔 𝖒𝖊𝖓 appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second, they stood quite still, wands directed at each other's chests before recognizing each other and putting their wands back beneath their cloaks. They started to walk in the same direction quickly, but not hurriedly, knowing they were dangerously close to being late. 

"News?" Yaxley asked Severus as Severus went over in his mind what he was going to say to the Dark Lord. 

"The best." He replied coolly. 

The lane was bordered drastically differently on either side of Severus. On his left was low-growing, wild brambles. On his right were neat hedges that stood at least twelve feet tall. 

"Thought I might be late." Yaxley said, much to Severus' annoyance. He would have much rather of continued the walk in silence. "It was a little trickier than I expected. But I hope he will be satisfied. You sound confident that your reception will be good?" 

Severus only nodded, focusing on the way the gravel felt under his feet. It grounded him a bet, thinking of what lay under his feet. It reminded him of Elizabeth and how she liked to walk barefoot so that she could feel everything. 

They turned right onto the driveway off the lane. The hedge, Severus noticed, curved with it. He wondered if they were normal hedges then, or if they were magical. Knowing Lucius, probably magical. 

There was a wrought-iron gate in front of the two men and Severus raised his left arm in salute, passing through the metal easily. 

As they continued their walk, there was a rustling sound to their right and Severus couldn't help but look out of the corner of his eye. Yaxley had drawn his wand, on the high defensive, pointing it over Severus's head, but all that was there was a white peacock. 

Severus had to catch himself from smiling. He knew that Elizabeth would have loved the colouring of the bird and would have thrown herself into the research of why the peacock was white and then would have recited every boring detail back to him. But now, those details didn't seem boring at all. 

"He always did himself well, Lucius. Peacocks. . ." Yaxley said in a disgusted tone. 

Severus, who had always had a soft spot for Lucius, despite everything, said nothing. 

The manor house grew larger as they came closer, lights glinting in the windows that Severus knew were diamond-paned. He could hear a fountain playing somewhere on the other side of the hedge, water trickling and swirling. He heard the gravel crackle under his feet as the two of them stepped off and up the stairs, the door swinging inwards. 

The hallways were dimly lit, which made Severus feel at home, like he was back in the dungeons of Hogwarts. Well, besides the sharp-eyed portraits that said nothing and simply watched them as they passed, judging the both of them. 

Severus and Yaxley halted at the same time in front of a wooden door that Severus knew would lead to the meeting that was occurring. Severus reached out and was the one to turn the bronze handle. 

The room was silent, all of them sitting up at the table in the middle of the room. Severus took note that most of the usual furniture was pushed out of the way, carelessly, against the walls. He was sure that peeved Lucius who had the slightest OCD when it came to furniture and precision of where everything should go. 

A fire roared at the back of the room, in a marble mantlepiece which had a gilded mirror placed ontop of it. Severus and Yaxley lingered on the threshold of the doorway. Severus allowed his eyes to get used to the lack of light compared to the outsight and then his eyes trailed upwards to what seemed to be a human figure floating above the table. 

His heart leapt for half a second, thinking it was his wife. But no, it was not Elizabeth. The figure continued to revolve slowly and was silent. None of the others at the table were looking up at it except for Severus' godson, Draco. 

"Yaxley. Snape." A high, clear voice that Severus had long hated said from the head of the table. "You are very nearly late." 

Severus saw that the Dark Lord had seated himself at the head of the table, closest to the fire. All Severus could see now was the silhouette of the Dark Lord. Only coming closer revealed the more defining features of the Dark Lord. Hairless, snakelike, with vertical red eyes, and slits for a nose. Almost as white as a cloud. 

"Severus, here." The Dark Lord said, indicating the chair at his right. The right hand man. "Yaxley- beside Dolohov." 

Severus took his seat. He made sure that his mental shields were solidly up. He had to, the sake of the Wizarding World depended on him being a spy. And even more so- his wife and son depended on it. 

"So?" The Dark Lord asked immediately. 

"My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on Saturday next, at nightfall." Severus said. The words tasted like poison in his mouth, because he knew that it was the right day and time. He begged internally that Elizabeth would have no part in it. 

"Saturday. . . at nightfall." The Dark Lord repeated. He stared in Severus' eyes with intensity. Severus knew that it was a tactic and he did not back down, only gazing back as though it were Dumbledore or McGonagall that he was looking at. 

The Dark Lord finally did something that looked like it could've been a smile while saying, "Good. Very good. And this information comes-" 

"From the source was discussed." Severus finished, rethinking of his conversation with Mundungus, letting his walls down just a little- but only thinking of the parts he wanted the Dark Lord to see. 

"My Lord." Severus looked over at Yaxley, who was leaning forwards towards the Dark Lord. His blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail and some thought him and Lucius were related. Severus supposed in a way, they were, but not directly. "My Lord, I have heard differently." 

Yaxley waited and when the Dark Lord said nothing, he took it as a sign to continue, "Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the thirtieth, the night before the boy turns seventeen." 

Severus started to smile. "My source told me that there are plans to lay a filed trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be the first time; he is known to be susceptible."

"I assure you, my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain." 

"If he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain. I assure you, Yaxley, the Auror Office will play no further part in the protection of Harry Potter. The Order believes that we have infiltrated the Ministry." Severus said slyly. 

"The Order's got one thing right, then, eh?" Amycus wheezed down the table. It echoed around the room and died. 

 Yaxley was persistent and Severus was starting to get annoyed. "My Lord. Dawlish believes an entire party of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy-" 

The Dark Lord finally lifted a hand and Severus waited, wondering what would happen next. A foolish part of him almost hoped the Dark Lord preferred Yaxley's over his. That the Dark Lord would not put Death Eaters in the sky on the day that Severus knew it would. He was so sure that Elizabeth would participate and she would be in danger. 

But he knew the Dark Lord preferred his. His source was much better. More trustworthy. 

"Where are they going to hide the boy next?" The Dark Lord asked. 

"At the home of one of the Order. The place, according to the source, has been given every protection that the Order and Ministry together could provide. I think that there is little chance of taking him once he is there, my Lord, unless, of course, the Ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which might give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break through the rest." 

He was glad the houses were so protected. He trusted Elizabeth enough to know when things would break and that she would get herself and their son to safety when it happened. 

"Well, Yaxley? Will the Ministry have fallen by next Saturday?" The Dark Lord questioned softly. 

Severus watched all of the heads besides Dracos' turn towards Yaxley once more. The man squared his shoulders defensively and replied, "My Lord, I have good news on that score. I have- with difficulty, and after great effort- succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse." 

One of the things Severus hated the most about these Death Eaters was the way they build everything up dramatically as though expecting their master to be impressed. 

Regardless, the others looked impressed enough to make up for it. Some, even patting him on the back. 

"It is a start." The Dark Lord nodded just slightly. "But Thicknesse is only one man. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our people before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's life will set me back a long way." 

"Yes- my Lord, that is true- but you know, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down." 

Severus felt another prick of uncomfortableness that he pushed aside for the time being. Loving Elizabeth had softened him and he thought of the aftermath. When Thicknesse realized he had become a pawn for the Death Eaters. 

"As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has converted the rest. At any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry will be mine before next Saturday. If we cannot touch the boy at his destination, then it must be done while he travels." 

"We are at an advantage there, my Lord." Yaxley continued and Severus wanted to bang his head against the table. The meeting would go much quicker if Yaxley just shut up. "We not have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter Appartes or uses the Floo Network, we shall know immediately." 

"He will not do either. The Order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with the place." Severus said in a bored tone. 

"All the better. He will have to move in the open. Easier to take, by far." The Dark Lord said, looking up at the body. "I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors than his triumphs." 

Severus felt a little shock at the admission. And he knew that the others felt similar. 

"I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best-laid plans. But I know better now. I understand those things that I did not understand before. I must be the one to kill Harry Potter, and I shall be." 

Severus nearly flinched, hearing a sudden wail flow throughout the house. In the Malfoy dungeons and he thought of Elizabeth again before setting hard walls down in his mind. 

"Wormtail, have I not spoken to you about keeping our prisoner quiet." Severus watched the man that he hadn't believed to be alive before scurry from the room. Perhaps if he had believed, Sirius Black would still be alive. And while he cared nothing for the man, Elizabeth had loved him dearly. 

"As I was saying. I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter." 

The silence around the table was deathly quiet. Even Severus did not dare move an inch, lest he feared the Dark Lord take his. Not having a wand in the Wizarding World was a greater punishment than perhaps anything else Severus could think of. 

"No volunteers? Let's see. . . Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore." The Dark Lord whispered. 

Severus looked over in time to see Lucius look up. He looked sick, Severus noticed, paler than the last time he'd seen the man. "My Lord." 

"Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand." 

Severus watched Lucius give the slightest of jerks, looking at his wife who did not look back at him. Lucius then drew out his wand and handed it over. 

"What is it?" 

"Elm, my Lord." 

"And the core?" 

"Dragon- dragon heartstring." 

"Good." 

Lucius hand jerked for a second, quickly drawing it back to the table, but not quick enough for the Dark Lord to not notice, "Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?" 

There was laughter around the table, but Severus was not one of them. Lucius was perhaps the closest thing to a friend he had. 

"I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late. . . What is it about my presence in your home that displease you, Lucius?" 

"Nothing- nothing, my Lord!" 

"Such lies, Lucius. . ." 

Severus thought for a moment that the Dark Lord was simply prolonging the 's' on Lucius' name before realizing that it was the hissing of the snake climbing up the head chair. Despite being the head of Slytherin house, Severus actually quite detested the reptile. The Dark Lord started to stroke it. 

"Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?" 

"Of course, my Lord. We did desire it- we do." Lucius replied quickly. 

"My Lord, it is an honor to have you here, in our family's house. There can be no higher pleasure." Bellatrix crooned at him. Severus near rolled his eyes. 

"No higher pleasure. That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you." The Dark Lord said. 

"My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth!" 

"No higher pleasure. . . even compared with the happy event that, I hear, has taken place in your family this week?" 

Severus caught himself from sighing in exasperation. 

"I don't know what you mean, my Lord." 

"I'm talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And yours, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud." 

Hearing Remus' voice was enough to send an electrical jolt straight to Severus' heart. Anyone directly related to Elizabeth and hearing their name from the Dark Lord's mouth always terrified him for a few seconds. Always afraid they would be dead or captured and he wasn't there for her. 

The jeering laughter was enough to distract the Dark Lord so that Severus could compose himself, letting a smirk crawl onto his face. 

"She is no niece of ours, my Lord. We- Narcissa and I- have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries." 

"What say you, Draco? Will you babysit the cubs?" 

Severus felt pity for his Godson, seeing the terror on his face as the jeering grew louder, until the Dark Lord cut it off. "Enough! Enough. Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time. You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest." 

"Yes, my Lord. At the first chance!" Bellatrix said excitedly. 

"You shall have it. And in your family, so in the world. . . we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of true blood remains. . .but, I implore you, Bellatrix. Elizabeth Kane-" and here, Severus' heart leapt. "- is now part of that blood. But unlike the other branches, she is to be cultivated, not cut away. Am I understood?" 

"Yes, My Lord." Bellatrix said in a whisper and the Dark Lord turned back to Severus. 

"What are the chances of Elizabeth Kane participating in the removal of Potter?" 

"I do not for certain. Judging the way she is treated by the Order, I would say very low. I doubt her father would allow her to take part in the flight to the Orders house. I would be shocked if she were there." Severus replied calmly. 

The Dark Lord nodded once and was quiet once more. Then, after some time, he flicked his wand at the figure above, which seemed to come to life. Once more, The Dark Lord addressed Severus, "Do you recognize our guest, Severus?" 

Dread immediately filled him as he looked up, keeping his face impartial. Long blond hair hung down and she was wearing simple, patchy clothes. Her brown eyes on the other hand, were full of terror and he hated it. Her soft voice was cracked as she begged him. "Severus! Help me!" 

As though he could help her in a room full of Death Eaters while he still had a part to play. 

"Ah, yes." Severus managed to say in a neutral tone. 

"And you, Draco?" The Dark Lord asked but the boy simply shook his head in a jerky fashion. "But you would not have taken her classes. For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage who, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizarding." 

Severus felt chills roll down his spine as he lowered his gaze to look around the room. He quickly imagined that after this meeting, he would go home to Elizabeth. 

"Yes. . . Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about Muggles. . . how they are not so different from us. . ." 

His son would be fast asleep in a small crib, with a baby monitor in his and Elizabeth's room. Elizabeth would be laying on top of the covers, wearing dark purple lingerie, reading a book that she would be so immersed in that she wouldn't notice he had entered the room. 

"Severus. . . please. . . please." 

"Silence." The Dark Lord said. "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of Wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defense of Mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. Wizards, she says, must accept these thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the purebloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance. . . she would have us all mate with Muggles. . . or, not doubt, werewolves. . ." 

Severus heard the silence and felt that roll of apprehension in his stomach. He himself was in love with what the Wizarding Community- on this side at least- as a Half-breed brat. And he loved her deeply. 

He kept his gaze on Charity, his heart pounding in his chest. Only his promise to Dumbledore and to Elizabeth kept him from attempting to pathetically save her. "Severus. . ." 

Just like Dumbledore. 

'Severus, please.' 

"Avada Kedavara." 

The flash of green blinded Severus for only half a second before Charity had fallen to the table. Several of the Death Eaters had jumped back but Severus was not one of them, frozen to his seat. Her brown eyes continued to condemn them. 

And as Voldemort dismissed them from the meeting, Death Eaters leaving the Manor, the Malfoys retreating further into the house, and Severus heading out to an empty home- he knew those eyes would haunt him for the rest of his life.