Mollified by these words, Snape had a sudden urge to apologize as well, to take some of the weight from Dumbledore. But, hadn’t he displayed enough weakness in front of this man already? Instead, he rubbed his hands together briskly, trying to warm them, and moved back to the rows of seats. He picked up a piece of parchment that was lying forgotten on the floor and, sitting down in the chair recently vacated by Weatherby, twisted round to face Dumbledore once more.
"Ah, yes, the message," said Dumbledore. "It arrived at almost the same time as the Ministry's owl. Tell me what you know."
"Once the Veritaserum is ready, I am to proceed to the Longbottoms' village, with my accomplices, and question everyone we meet. Once we have discovered the Longbottoms' whereabouts, we are to immediately inform the Dark Lord." He glared at the crumpled piece of paper in his hand, and continued, "Are they well-concealed? They'd better be."
"Not as effectively as I would like. Frank will not trust the only charm that would be of any use to him. He says that he can look after himself with his wand, and that 'half-a-dozen Aurors are better protection than some complicated old-fashioned spell that hardly anyone has heard of.' I tried to dissuade him, to no avail." Dumbledore shook his head.
"But this could be useful," said Snape, slowly. "I do not know of all the Dark Lord's plans, but he wants me to be ready to apparate by his side, the very second I receive his call. Usually he would delegate tasks such as this to the inner circle of the Death Eaters, but it looks as though he wants to deal with these children himself. The opportunity is too good to ignore -- the Dark Lord out in the open, vulnerable for the first time in months."
"There will be no Death Eaters to protect him, then, when he makes his move?" asked Dumbledore.
"Apparently not. He let slip something about not wanting any of his followers to know about the prophecy," Snape replied, shuddering as he recalled the interview in the pine forest.
"And yet he uses you?" said Dumbledore, puzzled.
Snape paused. Should he tell Dumbledore? He had managed not to think of this since his last meeting with Lord Voldemort, and he had hoped he would never have to. "He -- that is -- I -- think that there will be no further need of me after this mission is complete."
"Did he say that?" asked Dumbledore sharply.
"No," said Snape, "but I inferred as much." He looked sidelong at Dumbledore, unwilling to meet his gaze. "And so did you, I think."
Dumbledore said nothing in response to this. And indeed, thought Snape, what could he possibly say that would be of any comfort, now? Glancing at his hands, he noticed that he had spent the last few silent minutes automatically refolding the message. He put the battered paper bird to one side and, trying to concentrate on the positive, the fact that he was working towards his master's defeat, he said, "On the day itself, my guess is that I will either hear from him after he has dealt with the Potters, or just before he attempts to attack the Longbottoms. You tell me that the Potters are as safe as they can be, and that they have taken precautions against the spy in their midst. I'm assuming that they think it must be Black, of course."
"I am not at liberty to say," said Dumbledore, frowning.
"Well, anyway, if he tries to go to the Potters first, he will presumably fail to find them and will then go on to the Longbottoms. You say they are not untraceable, and so he will be able to get very near to their hiding place. If I send word to you, the moment he contacts me, then you will be able to prepare the Aurors. With surprise on your side, you should have no trouble in either capturing or defeating him. If he should go to the Longbottoms first, then the plan will still work, because he will still have to summon me and I will still be able to alert you."
Dumbledore nodded, but the frown was still there. "I reached a similar conclusion when I read your message this afternoon. But -- many things could go wrong with that plan, Severus... I still do not see how the prophecy..." His voice died away, as though he were sunk in thought.
Snape did not see any problem with the words of the prophecy. He knew, from his own investigations, that it had been something about 'one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord' being born in July. Snape abhorred the idea of attacking infants, but it made sense to him that his master would want to eradicate any perceived threat. After all, the successful outcome of his counter-plan hinged on Lord Voldemort's desire to tackle his potential enemies himself. A thought struck Snape.
"Are you going to confront him in person?" he asked.
There was no answer. A few seconds' thought showed Snape why. If he was to be tortured or questioned by the Dark Lord, then it would be better that he knew as little as possible of Dumbledore's intentions. He should have realised that Dumbledore wouldn't answer. He shouldn't have asked. Wanting to hide his blunder, he quickly said, "So, is this to be our plan, then?"
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded, seriously. "As yet I can see no other way and I fear that we do not have enough time to formulate a better one."
They stood up, and Snape closed his mind to the possibility that this might be the last time he met with Dumbledore.
"There remains only the question of retrieving your wand," said Dumbledore.
"My wand!" exclaimed Snape. "I forgot! Moody took it! It's probably destroyed by now. Alastor Moody --"
"-- handed it in at the security desk, as he was supposed to under Ministry guidelines," interrupted Dumbledore smoothly. "You will find it in the Atrium. There are signs to guide you there."
This was "goodbye" then? So be it. No doubt Dumbledore had preparations of his own to make. And -- Snape checked his watch - the time!
"My Veritaserum will be ready within half an hour," he said. "I must go!"
"I will walk with you," said Dumbledore, seeing Snape's anguished expression.
They both walked quickly towards the door, and Snape tried to think of something useful to say, something that would let Dumbledore see how grateful he was for the chance he had been given. Reaching the door, Dumbledore gravely opened it and ushered him through. He turned to face Dumbledore, wondering just exactly what he was going to say.
Before he could open his mouth, however, Dumbledore had grasped his right hand and said, "Good fortune go with you, Severus. I will await your call." They shook hands and then Dumbledore suddenly laughed and said, "Oh my hat! I've left my flask of tea under my seat! You go on, Severus. I will only be a moment."
Snape smiled in return and walked slowly along the corridor, listening out for Dumbledore's footsteps, waiting for him to catch up. They came to him, then, the right words. He returned to the chamber, wanting to speak to Dumbledore immediately, before he lost his grasp on what he wanted to say. He opened the door, and then stopped, overcome. The room was empty. Demonstrating that he knew just how difficult this parting would be for Snape, Dumbledore had gone.