9 years later,
august 26, 2001
With a small nod, Elias thanked Tom for the glass of fire whiskey the bartender put on his table. It was a busy day in The Leaky Cauldron, as was normally the case, so Tom didn't have any time to talk. Not that Elias minded much- he was waiting for someone else anyway- but it was a pity that he and Tom didn't speak all that often.
He took a careful sip of the whiskey. It was good, though not something Elias drank frequently. His line of work wasn't exactly suitable for someone who wasn't constantly aware of their situation, and Elias had leaned the hard way that people with a grunge against you didn't play nice.
As he heard someone approaching his table, he leaned forwards a bit and closed his eyes. Opposite him the chair creaked. Without looking up, Elias nodded in greeting.
'Hello, Elias.' The other person eventually said.
Only then did Elias look up and across the table. 'Hello Severus,' He said, 'you're early.'
'As are you.' Snape countered.
Elias inclined his head. 'I am. Anyhow, thank you for accepting my proposal.'
'Of course. What did you want to talk about?'
'Ah,' Elias said, 'do you not think I was merely offering a nice lunch between two friends?'
Snape lifted an eyebrow. 'We're not friends, Elias. The only reason I even call you by your first name is because my lord's last name is the same as yours.'
'You wound me.' Elias said. 'I thought we really did share something special.'
A sigh. 'Please. Just cut to the case.' Snape said.
'Ah, thank you,' Elias said to Tom, who was once again approaching their table, another glass of whiskey in his hand.
Snape blinked. 'What is this?' He questioned.
'Don't worry about it,' Elias said. 'Now, where were we?' He shoved the glass towards the sour man sitting opposite him.
A little bewildered, Snape accepted the drink. 'You were going to tell me why you invited me to a lunch.'
Elias smiled. 'Ah, right. I suppose I'd just like to ask you how you're doing. You know, what you agree on and don't agree on regarding the new laws, Dumbledore's imprisonment, Voldemort's ideas- don't look at me like that, I'd never tell another soul and even if I did people'd have no reason to trust me.'
Snape was glaring at Elias. 'What do you want that information for?' He spat out.
'Hey,' Elias said somewhat warningly, 'don't. Let's call it an exchange of information. You tell me your views, I tell you what you want to know about what happened nine years ago. And before we say anything at all we throw a quick unbreakable vow in the mix to make sure that no one exploits any of the others answers.'
Snape glared at Elias a little longer. 'Fine.' He eventually said. 'But before we do anything, you tell me why you want to do this.'
With a shrug, Elias answered. 'You've been stewing in your own theories about what happened for long enough, and I figured you'd probably step up and do something soon if I didn't intervene to rectify your -probably wrong- conclusions.'
A long silence hung between the two of them- their beverages forgotten- before Snape grabbed his wand and cast a quick privacy charm. 'Your deal is... acceptable. What kind of unbreakable vow do you propose we use?'
'Nothing too difficult,' Elias said, already taking out his wand and carving a couple of small runes in his hand. 'If you would?' He gestured towards Snape's own hand. Snape nodded and quickly copied the runes on Elias' palm.
They clasped their hands together over the table. Elias immediately bowed his head and started murmuring. After about two minutes, he looked up at Snape.
'Vaetr søgn. Aeva tala. We forbid this conversation from leaving this table. Rád. Laun. Neita segja. Ráda.'
He went back to unintelligible whispers. Snape tensely waited for the spell to finish as Elias murmured on. That wasn't to say that he didn't trust Elias to do it correctly, however blood magic was heavy stuff. A lot could go wrong thanks to even the smallest of things, like if one were to mispronounce a word.
It was thus with a slightly relieved sigh that Snape only felt a small tug on his magic, just as Elias stopped chanting. Elias looked up at him, his breathing slightly heavier than normally.
'I believe that was it.'
'Good.' Snape nodded. 'Now please, do tell me what you know about Potter's death, that I don't.'
Elias looked away. 'I do believe,' he said, 'that it really is important for me to know your views on the current political affairs before I divulge any information.'
'Ah.' A small frown appeared on Snape's face. 'I see.'
Elias smiled a little uncomfortably. 'I do apologize. But I'm afraid it is vital.'
Snape's chair creaked as he shifted in it. 'Well... what is there to say?' He began. 'My lord's raise to power came as no surprise, though I do confess I thought it would be slightly more violent. His subsequent placement of himself as Minister was only a logical next step. How he changed our laws though, was not something I saw coming. Or at least, not precisely. I can't deny that our community benefits from the more definite separation from the muggles, although the laws set in place are quite harsh. For now, he is upholding his treaties with various different races, which is good.
'The fate he gave Dumbledore was not one I had envisioned him getting, but a fair lawsuit in which his misdeeds were explained to the public did wonders for not making him into a martyr. A life long imprisonment was only just, in his case...'
'Yes,' Elias agreed, 'the trial was very pleasing. I believe I can discern no serious malice towards any one of the Dark Lord's plans, correct?'
'Yes,' Snape said, 'for I do not feel any.'
Elias nodded. 'All right. However your vow to protect Potter was stronger than that feeling?'
'Yes...' Snape frowned, 'always, but what does that have to do with anything?'
Swirling his drink, Elias sighed. 'Well... correct me if I'm wrong, but your vow is still active, yes?'
Snape stiffened. 'Why would you think that?'
'Because I am the only one alive to know what happened back then.'
'And you say that my vow should still be active, as a consequence of what happened.'
Elias inclined his head. 'If I'm correct, then yes.'
Both men were quiet for a moment, taking a moment to sip their drinks. Finally Snape spoke up. 'You are not mistaken. But it is at peace. The vow, I mean.'
Absentmindedly scratching his chin, Elias nodded slowly. 'That would make sense...'
After it became clear Elias wouldn't say anything else on the matter without prompting, Snape rolled his eyes. 'Fine. I'll bite. Why is that so?'
Elias stared at Snape expressionlessly. His eyes were searching for something though, and after a moment it seemed like he had found what he was looking for. He relaxed slightly and leaned back in his chair. 'Because even though Hadrian Potter is dead, I'm still alive.'
Snape sighed. 'You are not being any clearer in your explanations, Elias.'
'No,' Elias said, 'you just don't get it. Isn't it obvious by now? Hadrian Potter is dead, but I'm alive, so your vow still stands. Severus, I am Hadrian Potter.'
'No,' Snape immediately rebutted, 'that's impossible. You... you can't possibly be him. He is... was a child. A smart one, and too mature for his age, but he was undoubtedly a child. You on the other hand, are -excuse my language- a cold blooded killer. You and him, you can't be...'
The green eyes assassin had grasped Snape's wrist, effectively de-railing the man's train of thought. 'There is no other explanation, Severus, and you know it just as well as I do.' He glanced down at his body. 'I could change into the form I used to pass for Hadrian, if you wanted me to...'
Shaking his head, Snape held up one hand. 'That's quite alright, thanks. But please, do tell, how even would that be possible? You want me to believe you are, in fact, an eleven year old?'
'No. I'm... somewhere in my late thirties, early forties by now. I think. It's hard to keep track.'
'How so?'
'I'm spread out over three different time lines,' Elias said flatly. 'Time gets blurred now and again.'
Snape was quiet for a bit, a frown on his face. 'Tell me,' he suddenly said softly.
'What?'
'We had a deal, didn't we? So tell me. Tell me all of it. No secrets anymore. Seriously, what happened?'
Elias sighed into his glass, which seemed way too empty all of a sudden. He did, unfortunately, feel the pull of his spell. He supposed he could probably work around it, but before he did something of the sort, he paused. Did he really want to?
His immediate answer, a solid "no", surprised himself. Looking up at Snape, Elias bit his lip, then stared back down at his glass. He sighed again and swirled the last little bit around before downing it. He looked at Snape.
'I think I need a refill.'
The refill was arranged quickly, and soon the precious amount of time Elias had to think over an answer was gone. It was now, or never. With quiet resolve, he took a small sip of fire whiskey and looked Snape in the eyes. He smirked.
'Well, I suppose it all started in my seventh year, during what was later referred to as the Battle of Hogwarts...'
Definitely the end this time this time
1625 words
(Ancient Norse used in the secrecy spell)
Vaetr søgn = no report
Aeva tala = Never talk
Rád = agreement
Laun = secrecy
Neita Segja = refuse to say
Ráda = rule