The outburst that McGonagall unleashed on him the next morning, when he was forced to tell her what had happened in the Room of Requirement, could have been far worse than the one he had received about Omegas' expedition to the Arch. But he never knew.
He watched her purse her lips and flare her nostrils, her hands resting stiffly on her hips. He saw her open her mouth and assume she was spitting out venomous words, but he couldn't hear them. He sat at the table where he had sat countless times before, wearing the same impassive expression he always wore—rigid, stern, solemn—but he wasn't really there. Severus was still in his quarters, and in his mind, Omegas' words drowned out every other sound.
"TO HELL WITH THE DAMNED ORDER! I don't care what it says, I don't care what it decides, I don't care about its missions or its members. I don't belong here."
He had memorised them at that point.
"Why should I care? I'd leave right now if I wasn't trapped in this bloody castle."
He heard the sound of her bag returning to her shoulder and then a door slamming.
For the first ten minutes, Severus had hated her. He had fought the urge to knock over the low table between the two armchairs and had finally let it win. What was the point of holding back? What was the point of staying calm? No one else was there.
He had told himself he was relieved, even happy, that everything was back to normal. His quarters were his again. He could turn them upside down if he wanted to.
Severus had sat in the armchair, looking at the empty one in front of him. Good, he had told himself. Let it stay empty, forever.That's the way it should be. Then he had started drinking, and the anger had slowly given way to self-hatred.
It was his fault. He had let that woman influence him. He had let her into the castle, into his office, into his quarters—into his life. She had done as she pleased and then left. Like everyone did.
Self-loathing turned into real self-pity. He was the problem, it couldn't be a coincidence. She should have left for good when he had tried to give her Veritaserum, the thought. Then when he had poked around in her memories. She had been far too patient, too kind bearing his disgusting, nauseating presence for so long. The kind woman.
Self-pity turned to pain after a few hours. She was gone. The only person he had wanted to spend time with in over twenty years was gone. The person with whom he had agreed, with whom he had shared thoughts, ideas, space, time, pain and even joy for those few months, was no longer there.
Around sunrise, Severus had given in and summoned his Patronus. Now it caused him so much pain, for so many reasons, that he could have sat in the armchair and listed them all night. Not only did he miss his doe, but the sight of that silver snake no longer gave him the slightest bit of joy that he had tried to hide from himself every time he had summoned it.
The snake hovered around his head and stopped in front of his face. He remembered the first time he had seen it slithering across the damp ground of the Dark Forest. The moment he had decided to bring her to the castle, not knowing that she would end up trapped. He wondered what would have happened if he had let her go that night. Perhaps it would have been better. Perhaps he would have suffered less.
He took another sip and the pain turned into something worse. Where was Omegas? Where was the woman who risked her life at least once a month? For all he knew, she might already be dead. He had allowed her to leave a castle protected by the Fidelius and Enagisis Charms—a place where she might have been unhappy, yes, but at least safe. If she were dead right now, he wouldn't even know it.
"I told you she needed to be controlled!"
Professor McGonagall's words brought him back to reality. Yes, she did need to be controlled. He should have controlled her, prevented her from putting herself in danger. Instead he had let her walk out of there in the middle of a war with nothing but a velvet bag. He had let her take a full Sectumsempra, allowed her to perform dark rituals, watched as a Cruciatus Curse tore through her chest, let her enter the Ministry of Magic while it was controlled by Death Eaters. He had let her be poisoned, talk to Voldemort's snake face to face, and finally watched as she killed with the Killing Curse. He wondered if she had felt her soul break. He wondered if she felt as broken as he did.
"Professor, at least the snake is dead!" Harry remarked.
Severus turned to him and read a look of pity on his face. Harry Potter was sorry for him. If he hadn't been so busy feeling miserable, he might have been pissed.
"Yes, indeed, Mr Potter. It's dead," she replied, turning back to Severus. "That doesn't excuse the way you have chosen to…"
But his mind had wandered again. All he could see at that moment was the image of an eleven-year-old Omegas, covered in blood, sitting on a small chair and ignoring Professor McGonagall's scoldings, just as he was doing.
He saw her cunning smile, and for a moment had the urge to return it with one of his own.
"You should see the other one," he heard her say.
He wondered how things would have turned out if he had said just one word to her. Perhaps they could have been friends.
He heard Nagini's voice asking, "Who is he?" And Omegas' voice answering, "A friend."
A friend… it had taken him over twenty years to hear someone call him that again. And now she was gone. He would never be a friend again.
"The next thing to do is to figure out how to find Voldemort," the Headmistress said.
The outburst was over and the meeting was once again just a meeting.
"We have to assume that, the moment the snake—or Nagini, or however you want to call her—was killed, he felt it. In all likelihood, he will be more desperate than ever to hide. Any ideas?"
No one spoke. The sudden silence finally gave Severus some peace. This was how he wanted to be: quiet, still. Alone in his head.
When Harry Potter broke it, Severus hated him more than ever.
"I think we should leave the castle."
An anxious murmur spread through the table.
"Harry, no!" cried Hermione.
"Absolutely not," Ginny replied.
"Why do you always have to be such an idiot?" Draco interjected.
"It's the only thing that makes sense," Harry protested. "We don't know anything! We don't know where he is, or what's happening out there. We haven't had anyone at the Ministry since we stole the Arch and Kingsley was seen. How can we hope to find him if we stay locked up here?"
"But we're safe here!" Draco pointed out.
Harry slammed his fist down on the table and the other jumped up. "This is no time to be safe!" he barked.
The two boys looked at each other. Severus could see the expression on Harry's face change slowly from one of anger to one of mild guilt.
"Look, I know it's scary. I understand that. Out there is your father and a bunch of other people who would try to force you to go back. I know you're afraid—"
"I'm not afraid!" Draco burst out, jumping up from his chair.
There was a tense silence. Draco glared angrily at Harry, then cast furtive glances at the rest of the Order. After a moment, he sat back down uncomfortably and let out a frustrated sigh.
"You want to go out, Potter?" he sneered. "What do you think will happen? That we'll go for a walk and find him wandering around Diagon Alley?"
He scoffed and crossed his arms.
"Fine, let's go. Without a plan, with all of England controlled by Death Eaters, looking for someone who might be on the other side of the world."
"Well, what do you suggest we do?" the other retorted, raising his voice again.
"Not this!"
Two distinct voices cleared their throats at the other end of the table, accompanied by the raising of a pair of hands. Everyone turned their gaze to Fred and George Weasley, seated next to each other with their legs crossed and their usual mischievous air.
"Yes, Weasley?" said Professor McGonagall.
They exchanged a knowing look and nodded at each other.
"We still have Potterwatch," Fred said. "Lee never stopped keeping us informed."
"The Resistance has been recruiting people, while you have been sitting here in the castle," George continued.
"You sat in the castle too!" Ginny pointed out.
"We did, Ginny," George said.
"But unlike some, we weren't sitting on the Chosen One's lap," Fred observed.
Ginny blushed and shot him a dark look.
"You want to get to the point?" Harry interrupted.
They smirked. "We use the Umbridge Method," they said in unison.
McGonagall let out a scoff of annoyance at the mere mention of the name.
"And what would that be?" Hermione asked.
"We cause trouble," Fred explained. "We organise riots, lead protests and spread the word of the Resistance through Potterwatch and Lee."
"Until Voldemort is forced to come out," George continued. "He'll come to us, Horcrux or no Horcrux. He can't stay hidden while the Resistance risks taking control of the Wizarding World, can he? Eventually, he'll try to stop us. He'll come here."
"And you'll kill him," they concluded in unison, turning to Harry.
The table fell into a pensive silence once more as every pair of eyes shifted towards the twins.
"Causing trouble…" Sirius mused. He smirked in turn and let out a chuckle. "I like it. Simple, clear and always effective."
Severus rolled his eyes, feeling an urgent need to declare the idea utterly idiotic.
Truth be told, he didn't think it was. If properly organised, it could indeed be an effective strategy for forcing Voldemort and his regime to make the first move. The Order, hidden in the castle, was the only remaining resistance force. If they could make their presence known outside too, Voldemort would be left with no choice but to act.
"Very well," Professor McGonagall declared. "Fred and George Weasley, Sirius, and you too, Miss Granger."
Hermione jumped.
"You will be the brains behind this initiative. Anyone who can leave the castle without being killed is encouraged to go home and recruit as many people as possible. Spread the word to those who are not here. Severus, it is your job to decide who can and cannot leave. You are still the Secret Keeper."
Severus nodded reluctantly. The last thing he needed was to have to deal with children barely out of their teens asking for permission to leave Hogwarts. After the previous night, he didn't feel qualified to judge when it was appropriate to let someone out of the castle.
"Let's get to work," the Headmistress ordered.
Thus began the subversion. In the early days, the Order met mainly to evaluate the ideas of Fred, George, Sirius and Hermione; some of which, Severus had to admit, were quite good. To his great satisfaction, most of those approved were Granger's work and not Sirius'.
He tried to involve himself as little as possible. Not only because Sirius Black was given the floor a little too often for him to bear without feeling the need to vomit, but also because every time his sleep-deprived brain tried to participate, a whole new series of painful thoughts swirled through his mind.
Omegas would have liked it, he thought. She would have had better ideas. They would have had fun together, thinking of ways to sabotage the Death Eaters. That was exactly the sort of thing she would have enjoyed.
As he received the students from the last two years in his office, making sure they were not Muggle-born so they could leave the castle without risking arrest, Severus kept wondering where she was. Who knew, he wondered, if she had managed to get involved in the subversion. Did Omegas know about Potterwatch? Why had they never talked about it when they could have?
Assuming she was still alive, he thought.
He suddenly felt the need to leave the castle. It was an idea—a stupidly dangerous, senseless and potentially fatal idea—that he had entertained quite a few times recently. The more time passed, the more the idea began to resemble a desire, then an urge.
Severus was the last person who should have left, he knew that. Not only because he would have risked his life, something he cared less and less about. But because if he died, Voldemort would have total control of the Elder Wand. He couldn't let that happen. That was the only thought that kept him imprisoned within those walls.
As the ideas finally turned into actions, Severus kept well away from them at first. He didn't care. He spent his time locked away in his office or quarters. He would only emerge when the time came to fight.
Over time, news of successful rebellions spread throughout the castle until they could no longer be ignored. Each time a Death Eater vanished, each time a law of Voldemort's regime was broken or circumvented, and each time someone caused trouble in the Ministry and got away with it, the whole castle celebrated. It annoyed Severus to no end. There was nothing to celebrate. Nothing to rejoice about. Nothing to justify the sudden joviality he had to endure upon setting foot in the Great Hall for a meeting.
"The Wizengamot is losing members," Sirius said cheerfully, slamming a copy of the Daily Prophet down on the High Table. "Ever since Brunhilde Stokke disappeared just before the trial of those two Muggle-borns." He chuckled and shook his head in amusement. "They refuse to appear in court. They're terrified. They're scared that the Resistance will take them out too."
"Good woman, Brunhilde," Fred remarked with grin. "Lee told me they cast a memory charm on her. She thinks she's a retired singer. Lee's parents are threatening to kick her out of the house."
"Why?"
Fred shrugged. "She's a rubbish singer."
Sirius burst out laughing.
"Have you heard about the statue at the entrance to the Ministry?" asked Charlie Weasley a few days later, as he and his brother Bill walked down the corridor that led to the Great Hall. "Apparently someone managed to get in during the night and decapitated both the wizard and the witch."
"Yes," Bill replied. "They did a pretty good job. The heads refuse to reattach to the bodies. Nice spell!"
"Three robberies at Gringotts in one week!" exclaimed Hermione excitedly some time later. "I think the Goblins are on our side. Well, not all of them, of course, but certainly some. Three vaults of three known Death Eaters broken into!"
"Have you heard Celestina Warbeck's speech?" said Mrs Weasley. "Total support for the Resistance. What a delightful woman!"
"Of course," Ginny replied. "Didn't she flee the country with her husband and children? Easy to talk from a private island in the Maldives!"
Her mother silenced her with a wave of her hand and resumed eating.
Severus, eating alone a few seats away at the professors' table, wished she would stop. That they would all stop. This sudden newfound cheerfulness made him feel nauseous.
"Have you seen this, sir?" Harry asked him suddenly, placing a page of the Daily Prophet in front of him.
Severus shot him a glare, the kind that suggested he would have preferred to be left alone; then he glanced down at the article the boy was pointing to and read it.
A shocking revelation from a rising star of French Quidditch: Is the Ministry of Magic losing credibility abroad?
Apolline Moreau, a young player for the Quiberon Quafflepunchers, revealed details of her behind-the-scenes visit to the Ministry of Magic in London a few weeks ago as part of the latest campaign to promote women's Quidditch.
"Disastrous," she confessed to our reporter a few days ago. "Awfully disorganised. A scandalous reception, to put it mildly. They didn't even bother to provide an interpreter. I couldn't say a word! Luckily I had my correspondent with me. And the security? Oh, don't even get me started on the security flaws at the British Ministry of Magic. If I had wanted to, believe me, I could have hidden in the ladies' toilets and stayed there well past closing time. Nobody would have noticed! It was an experience not to be repeated".
A severe blow for Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, who merely denied Miss Moreau's words without making any further statements.
Severus suddenly felt like smiling again. Not only was she alive, but in her own subtle and elegant way, she was still working for the Order. She was still part of the Resistance. He held the page in his hands for so long that he forgot Harry was standing in front of him. He jumped when the boy spoke again.
"She's helping us."
Severus looked at him. He didn't like the smirk on his face at all. "Of course she's helping us," he grumbled.
He rose from the table, half his dinner still on his plate, and walked to his quarters.
From that moment on, Severus listened carefully. When news of a successful action arrived, he was one of the first to attend the next meeting; and when he read in the Daily Prophet that four Death Eaters admitted to St Mungo's had been accidentally given a Shrinking Potion so strong that it had turned them back into infants, and for which there seemed to be no antidote, he was more than convinced that Omegas had a hand in it.
It didn't take long for the rebellion to have its effect. One windy autumn night, one of those nights Severus had decided to spend in his office rather than return to his quarters, knowing he wouldn't sleep anyway, he suddenly heard a great commotion outside his door and several pairs of legs moving along the corridor. He cursed as he forced his tired body to get up from the chair and reach the door. He opened it to see at least half a dozen people running frantically towards the stairs that would take them to the ground floor. He followed the crowd to the main entrance and then out the castle doors.
When he reached the park, he saw the last thing he wanted to see: Dementors. They were looming ominously at the edge of the barrier, their black cloaks billowing and their decaying hands reaching out. There weren't many of them, he noted; certainly not enough to force him to intervene. He stood by while several members of the Order summoned their Patronuses to drive them away.
Some time later, he told himself that they must have been sent on reconnaissance; from that moment on, more and more of them began to arrive at all hours of the day. The members were forced to drink large quantities of Wideye Potion day and night to prevent them from feeding on the shield.
Severus managed to avoid going to the park for a while by pretending that he had to prepare the Wideye Potion in response to a sudden demand from members of the Order. Eventually, however, he was forced to leave his office and join the others in fighting the Dementors.
Many of the members of Dumbledore's Army had left the castle to fight outside. It was the first time since the night she had left that he was glad that Omegas wasn't there. At least he was sure she wouldn't have been able to see his Patronus. He kept to the back of the castle, making sure he was as isolated as possible while he fought a couple of Dementors at the edge of the shield.
No one seemed to notice him—or, if they did, they didn't care. They were all too busy summoning their own Patronuses to stop and watch someone else's, and too focused on that to even notice that the Dementors were behaving strangely. Not Severus, though. He observed them closely in the darkened park.
One night, he saw a few of them sneaking around the barrier, but he stopped chasing them away. He stood and watched as they fed on the shield. They didn't seem too convinced, he thought. In fact, it almost seemed as if they were trying to draw attention to themselves. As if their presence was… a distraction.
"Expecto Patronum!" shouted a voice a little further away.
A silver stag pirouetted above his head. Severus turned and gave its owner a grim look.
"Potter."
"Professor," he greeted him. "Why didn't you send them away?"
He raised an eyebrow and curled his lips. "I know what I'm doing."
Harry approached him slowly.
A horrifying thought struck him. Harry had seen her. He had witnessed her transform in the Chamber of Secrets and was one of only two people in the world who knew his history. He had seen his Patronus before it changed; he understood its meaning.
"How long have you been here?" he asked quietly.
Harry offered him a weak smile. "All night," he replied.
Severus felt himself sink. He fought the urge to shout at him; then, the urge to strangle him. As Harry's green eyes fixed on him, he felt the need to hide. He felt a guilt he hadn't experienced in years.
They stood staring at each other, their gazes loaded with unspoken words, until the silence became unbearable. The boy and the Professor opened their mouths at the same time, but neither could speak. Someone from the other side of the castle had screamed. They quickly turned around, exchanged one last furtive glance, and walked towards the opposite edge of the shield.
The Death Eaters had finally arrived. Outside the castle entrance and beyond the barrier's edge, three hooded figures—eerily similar to the flying Dementors—raised shield charms to defend themselves from the Order of the Phoenix's attacks.
Severus watched them closely. They hardly moved, except to occasionally wave their wands in protection, while at least a dozen Dementors loomed menacingly on the other side of the shield.
"No!" he thundered.
He advanced on Sirius, Lupin and Ron Weasley, who were still in the midst of their attack.
Sirius ignored his warning and glanced at him up and down. "Switching sides again, Snape?"
Severus considered pushing him over the barrier and feeding him to the Death Eaters.
"They can't do anything, you idiot!" he snapped. "Look at them. They can't get past the shield, they can't attack. But they will if you morons let the Dementors consume the Enagisis Charm."
He pointed to the hooded figures sucking on the golden dome above their heads.
"He's right, Sirius," Harry said. "They're trying to distract us."
Sirius suddenly stopped casting spells at the Death Eaters, as did the others. He approached Severus with measured steps, meeting his gaze with pure hatred—a look that was returned in kind.
"You could have acted instead of talking, couldn't you?" he said scornfully. "What's the matter? Did you forget how to summon a Patronus?"
Severus returned to his impassive expression—a sign that there was no grim look in his repertoire fierce enough to express the anger he felt at that moment.
"I'm on guard at the back, Black. This isn't my area," he hissed dangerously. "I wouldn't dream of depriving you of the opportunity to show off your immense abilities. On the other hand…"
He stepped closer until their faces were just inches apart and gave a cruel grin.
"If you waste time arguing with me and a Dementor gets in, the responsibility will be entirely yours."
Sirius stiffened, his jaw clenched and his fists tight. Without saying another word, he turned around and continued to fight the Dementors above him.
Severus shot cold glares at each of the onlookers, reserving a particularly fierce one for Harry. He turned on his heel and headed back to the other end of the castle grounds.
From that day on, the number of Dementors continued to grow, but the Death Eaters remained the same three. They would arrive, position themselves in front of the shield and defend themselves against sporadic attacks launched by members of the Order. Several hours later, they would turn and be swallowed by the night beyond the Forbidden Forest.
Severus continued to keep an eye on them, and the more he did so, the more their bizarre behaviour disturbed him. He didn't like it at all. The unsettling patrols around the borders of Hogwarts had all the hallmarks of a plan, and when Lord Voldemort had a plan, it usually meant that something terrible was about to happen.
Most of his colleagues, however, did not seem to share his concern. In fact, many of them were even amused by the sight of the three helpless Death Eaters standing there powerless.
"Why are they doing this, sir?" Draco asked him one evening as they both watched the hooded figures in the park.
"I don't know," he replied.
He heard the boy swallow. "I don't like it," he muttered.
"Neither do I."
Severus turned to look at him. Only then did he notice the horrified expression on Draco's face.
He frowned. "What is it?"
The boy swallowed again and hesitated for a moment. "I… I think that one is my father," he said, pointing at the tallest hooded figure.
Severus turned to look at the three Death Eaters again. The one in the middle could easily have been Lucius Malfoy, given his height and build. He turned back to Draco; the boy was terrified.
"He can't get in," he said. He was trying to reassure him, but his tone remained as cold as ever.
"He will, sooner or later, if they keep sending Dementors," Draco objected.
Severus had no argument against that. He raised his head and looked him straight in the eye.
"He won't hurt you."
The boy turned to face him and seemed slightly surprised. For a moment, it almost looked as though he was about to smile.
That interaction made Severus deeply uncomfortable for a variety of reasons. It wasn't just his usual difficulty with others seeing the true feelings behind his mask. It was the deep sense of responsibility that he had been trying to ignore for years. He knew that the time would come when he could no longer ignore it, and he dreaded that moment. He could feel it approaching.
Draco was his godson—and the boy knew it. It had never been a mystery. But it had never needed to be addressed either. Now, however, with Narcissa dead and Draco turning his back on Lucius, the situation was starting to demand urgent attention. Severus wasn't ready for it.
He was forced to look away. "Go to your dormitory," he commanded. "You're not on watch."
"Right," said the other. "I could, actually. I've been able to summon my Patronus for a few months now."
Severus turned again, briefly betraying a hint of genuine astonishment. He raised a sceptical eyebrow.
"Are you now?" he challenged.
Draco gave him a cheeky grin and pointed his wand at the shield. "Expecto Patronum!"
A large silver dragon flew into the air and attacked two Dementors behind the barrier. Severus watched as it hovered, driving them both away with a single beat of its mighty wings.
He turned back to the boy. "Show-off," he remarked.
Draco laughed.
The exchange reminded Severus that there were other people in the world he cared about besides Omegas. Not many, but some, and one of them was trapped in the castle with him, terrified that his own father might harm him. Suddenly, he disliked the stubborn presence of the three Death Eaters on the outskirts of Hogwarts even more.
The following night, at the same hour, only one hooded figure appeared at the shield, rather than the usual three. Severus had a distinct feeling that something sinister was about to happen—and he was right. After standing motionless in front of the dome for a few minutes, as they had done for days, the Death Eater finally did something different: they removed their hood.
Severus, who had long since left his post at the back of the castle to watch the scene as he did every night, widened his eyes when he recognised Bellatrix Lestrange. Why had Voldemort's favourite Death Eater been sent alone on a mission to breach the Order of the Phoenix's shield?
There must be something behind it. He took a step towards her; he knew he wouldn't get any concrete answers, but he hoped to be able to read her intentions. But something stopped him before he could reach her.
Sirius Black, as always standing guard just before the Death Eaters, seemed to take Bellatrix's appearance as a personal attack. After all, she was the woman who had killed him. As soon as she removed her hood and he recognised her, he stopped fighting the Dementors and started firing spells at her.
"Sirius, no!" Lupin shouted.
But he didn't listen.
Bellatrix defended herself in a way that Severus deemed both lazy and unconvincing. There was no trace of her usual mad ferocity. Deaf to the others' warnings, Sirius continued to hurl curses at her until one finally hit her squarely in the chest, sending her crashing to the ground.
A great cry of joy rose up as Sirius levitated her body within the shield's perimeter. Severus and many other members of the Order who had witnessed the scene rushed over.
"Is she… dead?" Draco asked hesitantly.
"Of course not," Sirius replied, giving himself an air of importance. "She may be the key to finding out where Voldemort is. Harry," he said, nodding to his godson, "take her with the others. We'll interrogate her as soon as she wakes up."
Harry nodded approvingly and levitated Bellatrix above his head. He and Sirius exchanged a complicit look that caused Severus to roll his eyes as the boy made his way towards the castle doors.
"Well done, old chap," Lupin congratulated, patting his best friend on the back.
Sirius chuckled. "Told you t I'm not losing my touch!"
Lupin shook his head and returned to fighting the Dementors. Sirius shot Severus a cheeky glance, which he returned with a cold stare. He turned and walked towards the entrance.
"Potter!" he shouted.
The boy, almost at the stairs, stopped suddenly. "Sir?"
Severus caught up with him. Glancing from him to the Death Eater hovering above his head, he realised that he didn't really know what to say. He knew that any display of concern would be seen as an attempt to discredit Sirius' heroism. He couldn't even quite explain why he felt that something was amiss. He stood in silence for a few moments, considering what to say.
"Be careful."
Harry nodded and ran up the stairs with Bellatrix in tow.
In the days that followed, an unpleasant atmosphere of celebration pervaded the castle. Everyone seemed convinced that capturing Voldemort's most loyal Death Eater was a resounding victory. Severus didn't even bother voicing his concerns. No one would have listened to him anyway.
Sitting in silence in his office, waiting for the afternoon to turn to evening and for his turn to fight the Dementors, he missed Omegas more than ever. She would have understood, he told himself. She would have believed him. If she had been there, they would have been theorising about Voldemort's intentions, and perhaps even come up with a solution already. He could have watched her pace the room, as he had seen her do when devising her plan to enter the Arch.
For the first time since his miraculous return, Severus was faced with a puzzle and had no one to share it with. How wonderful it had been, he thought, to talk to someone who could keep up with his train of thought. Yes, she would have known. She would have had a theory—one good enough to convince him.
Lost in thought, with his gaze fixed on an undefined point in the room, Severus found himself talking to Omegas in his mind.
"Think," she said softly. "Three Death Eaters patrol the castle's perimeter. Riddle's most loyal follower turns up alone to face the entire Order of the Phoenix and is predictably captured. Why?"
"She wanted to be taken," he replied.
"Yes. But why?"
"To spy on us?" he suggested.
She shook her head. "No, not to spy on us, Severus. What could she possibly see, locked in the Room of Requirement?"
Severus pondered. "To talk to the others?" he tried again.
"Possibly," she said. "But to what end, if she cannot report the information she gathers to her master?"
He didn't answer. He watched her walk around the desk and stop a hand's breadth from his nose. He felt her kneel in front of him and rest her hands gently on his arm.
He froze. He wasn't sure he could control where that thought was going. Omegas brought her lips close to his ear as she tightened her grip on his left arm.
"Think," she whispered.
"Sir?"
Severus was startled by Harry Potter's voice. He rose from his chair as though caught doing something he shouldn't have been. He shot him a glare.
"What is it?" he asked brusquely.
He finally noticed the look of pure panic on the boy's face. He was pale, sweaty. Frightened.
"What is it, Potter?" he urged.
Harry swallowed hard. "I… I can't find Draco."