In the vast, white Borderlands, a pitch-black creature flickered past like a little ball of fur.
While Sean's soul was running through the world beyond the Veil, his body lay quietly asleep.
Dumbledore leaned in the doorway, the ends of his beard slightly upturned.
"Yes—dreams are a marvelous thing. They can reach any country… except another wizard's dream."
Carrying a warm, homey magical lantern, Dumbledore checked once more that the student was fine, then stepped out into the corridor where the night wind blew.
"But accidents always happen… so it seems I'm in for a pleasant dream tonight?"
In the distance, Dumbledore's tall figure cast a blurred shadow on the wall—then another shadow slid over it, covering it.
"Dumbledore?"
Snape, on patrol, studied him with a cold face. For the first time, the old wizard looked a little unnatural.
"Ah, Severus. Good evening," Dumbledore said, putting on his usual smile.
Snape gave a soft, contemptuous snort and didn't answer. He turned and headed straight for the hospital wing.
Besides the hospital wing, what else on the second floor would draw Dumbledore out?
Had their "Savior Potter" broken a leg again?
Hah.
Snape's robes billowed, black cloth rolling like waves under the moonlight.
Dumbledore stayed where he was. He glanced at the knight's portrait on the wall, then at the bright, spotless moon outside the window. He said nothing; the wrinkles on his face slowly, naturally eased.
After a few dozen seconds—perhaps minutes—
Dumbledore still stood there with his fingers interlaced, as if waiting for something. Sure enough, before long an angry, suppressed roar rang out:
"Dumbledore!"
It was Snape. He strode toward Dumbledore, rage visibly flaring across his features.
"What did you do?!"
"Ah, Severus. Calm down," Dumbledore said softly.
"He should be in the dungeon for detention… not with you, and not in the hospital wing…"
Snape closed in, voice forced out through clenched teeth, cold as a blade.
"Severus—just an accident," Dumbledore explained.
"An accident? Hah. The kind of 'accident' that always happens?
The greatest white wizard of this century—since when do you stoop low enough to use a fool?"
Snape stared him down.
"You needn't think so poorly of me, Severus. You know I don't deserve those titles," Dumbledore said slowly.
"…Let him go," Snape finally spat after a long silence.
"Severus."
For the first time, Dumbledore looked pained.
"I thought you'd understand."
The corridor was silent; their voices didn't even disturb the owl lingering by the stained-glass window.
"He's stupid enough to be used. I'm not.
You think everything is inevitable, Dumbledore—and the stupidest thing of all is that someone else thinks like you."
Snape's gaze was ice-cold. In his mind flashed the cursed arm on a hospital bed—the source of it all.
A fear he had never felt so sharply rose up, whispering in his ear. If that man were a knight, Snape was sure he would say:
"Ah, Severus—how do I make you understand?
This is what must be faced. What will be faced…
Because loving someone—yes, it's like creating a faith… worshiping a god who could fall from the heavens at any moment…"
They fell quiet, until Dumbledore shook his head.
"How many men and women have we watched die over the years?
Hogwarts has been lucky—but things don't always go well."
His gaze turned deep, as if he'd remembered something.
"It won't be him!" Snape snapped, fury spilling over.
"An interesting topic, Severus. When an avalanche comes down, it doesn't care whether you're a rabbit or a snow fox."
Dumbledore tapped his small forearm with a finger.
Another long silence.
Dumbledore looked at Snape, then finally let out a sigh.
"I think, in at least one respect, our goals are the same, Severus.
We must leave some hope for the future… I want you to understand that, again.
There is no other way—none—that someone in danger becomes him instead of me.
I am not the greatest wizard of this century. If I could, I'd happily share that title with the wizards who can't wait to claim it.
But Severus, you know who I most want to see inherit what comes next.
If you feel this conversation has given you what you wanted, then we'll part here… I should rest. Old men tend to miss their pleasant dreams."
Snape stood in the corridor's shadows. He understood much from Dumbledore's hints, explicit and otherwise—but he still couldn't help demanding:
"If that's the case… why did you still let him go with you?"
"…Mm."
Dumbledore looked a little awkward.
"I was forced to, Severus."
"You mean… he insisted on going with you, to face all our hard fights—putting himself in the most dangerous place…"
Snape sneered, but his voice sank lower and lower, until he realized he'd stumbled onto the truth.
"Yes. That's right, Severus," Dumbledore added, seeing Snape's expression shift.
"Sean Green…"
The name sounded like it was ground out between Snape's teeth.
Dumbledore cheerfully popped a lemon drop into his mouth and watched Snape stalk off toward the hospital wing.
With Severus, he was always willing to say a little more.
Severus Snape—he had fought alongside Albus Dumbledore for many years now. And in places Snape didn't see, his heart had already begun to change—steadily, irreversibly—toward the direction Dumbledore most wanted.
They had become the same kind of person.
When that change began, even they likely couldn't say.
But Dumbledore had always believed that when the world changed enough to truly need them, Severus Snape would become the last young wizard he placed his hopes in.
"I believe in Severus."
In the years to come, that would stand as proof of Dumbledore's unwavering will.
The night was remarkably clear—especially now that it held a little more expectation.
Dumbledore set off toward the Headmaster's office in good spirits, only to stiffen abruptly when he saw a face that had apparently just returned from the hospital wing.
"Minerva—ah. You're still awake?"
Dumbledore put away the lemon drop.
"A Ravenclaw student has spent the night out. Their name has just appeared on the leave list. Don't tell me this is your doing, Headmaster Dumbledore."
Her voice was dangerous.
Dumbledore found it very hard to keep feeling cheerful.
~~~
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