"I think Harry has some stored away," she muttered as she pointed her wand at Aideen and her friend barely flinched, barely whimpered, just half-sat, half-lay on Snape's lap, almost cuddling him, or being cuddled by him. Or only held by him. She was in a bad way, it seemed though and so she hurried, took her from his lap and could just hold her up after her charm and with a quick nod, she apparated away.
48. State of Affairs
In a state of affairs objects fit into one another like the links of a chain.
In a state of affairs objects stand in a determinate relation to one another.
The determinate way in which objects are connected in a state of affairs is the structure of the state of affairs.
Form is the possibility of structure.
The structure of a fact consists of the structures of states of affairs.
The totality of existing states of affairs is the world.
The totality of existing states of affairs also determines which states of affairs do not exist.
The existence and non-existence of states of affairs is reality.
(We call the existence of states of affairs a positive fact, and their non-existence a negative fact.)
States of affairs are independent of one another.
From the existence or non-existence of one state of affairs it is impossible to infer the existence or non-existence of another.
(Wittgenstein, 1918, translation by Pears/McGuinness )
This was a part he utterly disliked. Crouching low behind a bush, hiding, blending in, waiting. But it was necessary and he cursed himself for acting so rashly. So rashly before he could tell Granger to re-erect the wards, before he could tell her to apparate somewhere she wouldn't be immediately seen. Such as it was, he had been too worried about Aideen, too shocked by her shock and by the way she had been kept.
The cellar had been wet and damp and dark. Very, very dark. He had been glad he had carried that lighter with him and could, this way, at least shed a little light. The door behind which the horrible scream was let loose, was kicked in swiftly. He did not have to have magic to kick a door in, after all. And there she had sat, huddled, her arm hanging limply by her side, and it almost seemed as if she had tried to shrink away from it, to forget it was a part of her. Her eyes had been huge and almost hollow and it was only a brief glint in them that had occurred just the moment she had stopped screaming when he thought she recognised him. Then a gasp of hers and he had found himself talking soothingly to her, idiotic phrases, it's alright, you're safe, everything will be fine, we're getting you out of here now. She had let herself be picked up easily and her eyes had focused on him and a little light had fallen into the cellar, in the dungeons, and he barely noticed that the lighter had burned his finger and then burned against his thigh as he put it in his pocket again.
"Severus," Aideen had whispered, her voice rough and raw.
"Yes," he had said softly, and as quickly as he had been able, he had carried her outside. It was time enough later to think about what he had seen down there, how much her appearance had shocked him and how quickly he had bellowed commands without thinking that Andromeda Tonks would maybe especially test the wards and then a missing one would be very obvious. On the other hand, he still had the matter of surprise on his hands. She couldn't know that it was him and she probably underestimated him — without his magic. She probably thought he wouldn't dare to come near without a wand. And that would be her downfall.
If Granger didn't give them away. He berated himself for acting so stupidly and sat, basically in the bush, waiting for Andromeda Tonks to show up, wondering whether he should tackle her outside, or follow her inside the house.
.
Time to think — none. He had no idea whether Snape had already found Andromeda or not but it was best not to take any chances really. She hadn't had any time anyway, had merely given Aideen to a nurse, well had put her in a wheelchair and with a whispered, 'I'll be back soon,' she had shoved the wheelchair in the arms of the next nurse before she had run out again. There was a time for explanations and a time when explanations could wait — and this was clearly the latter.
She even told that to Harry — in those exact same words when she rummaged around his potions cabinet and with a cry of triumph, took the small vial of Veritaserum before leaving again.
Oh but apparating to where? He hadn't informed her properly. Was Andromeda in the house? Wasn't she? If she wasn't — oh — she had forgotten to recast that last ward and if she tested them, she would notice. Of course if she only walked through them, she probably wouldn't. But, oh, he would skin her for that. He however, wouldn't skin her for another foolish attempt at apparating. He wouldn't be able to find fault in her apparating anymore. There had been a bush, or a bit of shrubbery just outside the apparition wards and she focused her mind on those — and apparated, hearing only the first part of Harry and Ron shouting after her. Oh yes, Ron had been there, she remembered during her apparition. And he would certainly think her odd for not even saying hello but only pillaging Harry's potion cupboard. Time to think about that later. Time for explanations later.
She landed, more or less gracefully on a spot of grass just behind the bush but her knees were a bit weak after that many apparition in so few minutes and she had to use both her hands on the ground to steady herself. Only — one hand didn't feel grass — one hand felt...jeans.
"Shit," she muttered and turned her head slowly. Yes, lovely, she thought sarcastically, while her left hand was firmly on the ground, her right one was, of course, because what other way could it be, on Severus Snape's jeans-clad thigh.
"Granger," he growled. "Retake your apparition-licence if you cannot do it without falling all over other people."
"I'm not usually like that," she snapped. "And it's not my fault that you sit almost where I land."
And — actually, but she would never say this — she must have done something right if she apparated almost on him again.
"Will you remove that hand of will you continue to feel me up?" he hissed suddenly and Hermione, immediately, snatched her hand back. She had quite forgotten that it was there — and it had been a nice feeling, really. His leg had been warm and muscles and...oh no. No. Not now. Later. Or never. Not now thinking about it. And it had just been a hand on a bit of jeans anyway. Nothing special. And no, it would not remind her of his him on her. No.
"There," she said and handed him the Veritaserum, "Harry had some. Will you explain what you intend to do with it?"
"I won't drink it," he hissed again, "use that brain of yours."
"Andromeda Tonks?" she said, "but why..."
She looked at him just in time to see him rolling his eyes, then sighing in what seemed like defeat. "Because I want some answers."
"Will you call the Aurors then?"
There was a moment of silence when he stared straight again, then turned his head to her, his finger on his lips to signal silence. "No," he whispered softly.
"You can't kill someone with Veritaserum," she muttered, "even if you overdose."
Again, he rolled his eyes. "Granger, I have been a potions master for a long time. I do know that."
"Sorry," she whispered contritely, "then what?"
He smirked at her and was about to open his mouth to reply, when they were both startled the faint pop of apparition. Hermione hadn't expected Andromeda Tonks to look like the last time she had seen her, minus of course, Teddy in her arms, but she did. She looked just as friendly, just as normal as Hermione remembered. Oh but Snape was about to get up and she couldn't let this happen, she raised her wand only slightly, and wanted to just sent a little Stunner, when the wand was pushed down roughly and he glared at her silently. He shook his head, then pointed at the spot where she still crouched and mouthed 'Stay.'
Well, she almost did, only shifted a little so she could actually see through the bush and could aim her wand at the woman at the same time. The Stunning Spell was on her lips but she did not yet fire it, wanted to see what Snape had planned, wanted to see how this all played out.
And, in the depth of her mind, she knew she trusted him to manage this alone. He had enough experience to probably handle that woman. She watched in eager anticipation — even if he wand twitched and even if she wanted to rush to his side and help him.
.
She walked with arrogance, with the superior air of someone he had not planned thoroughly and was too secure in thinking they had all under control. And if he were in his position, thinking that nobody had yet made the connection to her, he would have probably felt the same way. Well, not him, but other people, maybe. He would do this all a bit differently, but then again, he had absolutely no reason to abduct anyone.
The Veritaserum was heavy in his pocket. It would be enough for his entire plan. Even a bit more. He hadn't asked where she had got it from so quickly but he didn't care at this moment.
At this moment, it was more important that he had almost reached Andromeda and had the pepper-spray securely in his hand. She just walked through her wards, then stopped, probably when she noticed the missing one. This was his chance. She stood still and the moment she turned around, the pepper-spray landed in her eyes.
Andromeda Tonks screamed in pain and fell to her knees, tried to fire curses at him but missed and he could easily get behind her, force her body completely on the ground and her hands behind her back, the wand thrown away from him, away from her.
"Didn't expect to see me, did you?" he drawled. "Not that you can see me." He bound her as she screamed and cursed and tried to kick and a moment later, Granger, of course, was by his side.
He took a quick look at the young woman, Andromeda Tonks's hands bound behind her back, the nodded towards the woman's legs. "Paralyse them but for heaven's sake don't break them or stumble over them," said he mockingly. She scowled and he had to bite back a smirk. This was going just as planned. Not that he hadn't thought it would but, well, it was nice to see it going so swimmingly.
"Ready," muttered Granger a moment later and nodded at him. He picked Andromeda Tonks up and threw her over his shoulder, still blinded but cursing him in very colourful language and she tried to wriggle down but Granger had astonishingly done this right and she couldn't move her legs at all. Not that he wouldn't have been able to bind her legs with the leftover rope as well but at least this way, Granger could do her little something. Apart from apparating on his person, or underneath his person.
No, he wasn't thinking about her little hand on his thigh — even if he thought she should redo her Apparition licence.
"Snape you f..."
"Language, Mrs Tonks, language," he drawled coldly. "In a moment, you can say all you ever wanted to say."
Granger followed him when he carried her, like a sack of potatoes, into the old house, into the disgusting smell of dead house elves and sat her down on a chair. He pulled out the leftover rope and bound her hands and legs to the chair as well.
"Undo the charm, Granger," he said softly, staring into the bloodshot, probably itchy eyes of the former Miss Black. "Open your mouth, Andromeda," he said icy cold and with as much venom in his voice as he could muster.
"You traitor!" she spat — literally — but missed him by a few inches. "You betrayed all of us. You killed him! You killed my child!"
"Open up, now, or I'll force you," he said threateningly and advanced towards her, towering over her, his hands nearing her face. She didn't leave him any choice really and he doubted that she could see clearly already, so he could easily grab her cheeks in his hand and with a little pressure on them, her mouth opened. With his free hand, he let two drops of Veritaserum fall into her mouth.
"You did not bring Calming Draught?" he asked Granger but she seemed to swallow, then shook her head. "Sorry."
He grumbled, then stepped back from her and waited half a minute.
"Your name?" he asked, sounding almost bored.
"Andromeda Lucilla Tonks, née Black," she spat under the influence of that very lovely potion.
"Good. Age?"
"Forty-six," she ground out, her eyes having a rather interesting pink colour.
"Nice, nice," he drawled. "So let's get down to it then. Did you abduct Aideen Callaghan?"
"Yes," she said.
"Why?"
"Because Draco deserved it."
"What did he deserve?"
"To have her taken from him and then being blamed for it," she said slowly.
Severus swallowed hard, almost gulped. This was not quite what he had expected. He hadn't thought she was that — cunning. "So you wanted to make it look like he had done all this to her?"
"All this and worse!"
"How?" Granger asked, standing beside him now, her face pale and her curls askew — probably from all the apparating.
"I have pictures."
"What pictures?"
"Of her being tortured. There will be more pictures."
"There won't be, she's gone," Granger hissed angrily.
"Granger, let me do this," he said sternly, then turned to Andromeda Black again. "Why did you do it?"
"He deserves it! Just like his father would have deserved Azkaban but he could wriggle out of it again, couldn't he? And you! You're still alive. You should be rotting in hell, Snape."
"That's nice to hear and you're probably correct. Did you kill Salvatore Scabior as well?"
"He killed himself."
"Did you cast the Imperius on Lucius Malfoy and Salvatore Scabior?"
"Yes."
Severus took another deep breath. This was not the woman he had expected to see. He wasn't sure yet whether she had truly gone the way of her older sister and had gone absolutely mad or if this was some sort of weird revenge thing, if this was only because of her life.
"So you killed Salvatore Scabior because he killed your husband, correct?"
"Correct," she said, her eyes growing even pinker now.
"And you put the Imperius on Lucius and dare I say it, on Hestia Jones."
"Yes," Mrs Tonks replied.
"Why?" Granger shrieked. "Why?"
Severus glared at her but that Tonks woman already opened her mouth to answer. "Lucius destroyed my family. If he hadn't infected Cissy and Bella and all the rest with those idiotic thoughts, we could be a proper family who kept out of this, Bella would still be alive and she wouldn't have died on the hands of Molly Weasley and Cissy is absolutely insane for loving him and for believing him and that spawn of theirs. Infected with their ideas that they were something better. My Ted was a prince among men. He had honour and he had grace and none of this pureblooded shit. Lucius brought those ideas back into the family. They were buried until he came and wooed Cissy. It was his fault that my parents believed him and the rest of the family."
