There they were again, all together, in that sombre mansion. Mrs Black's portrait still tormented them every time someone made a loud noise. And the plaques with house-elves heads now included Kreacher's - he had died, apparently from natural causes, a few months after Black's disappearance.

They were all gathered around the kitchen table: Minerva McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Moody, Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, Elphias Doge, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape and Harry Potter. When Harry arrived, each one of them had approached to greet him and say words of comfort. Lupin had led him to the table and sat at his side. Snape, on the other side, observed everything attentively, and heard when the werewolf said to Harry, "I'm going to stay with you, Harry. And tomorrow we'll go together to St Mungo's."

Snape tried to keep cool. He knew that he should be thankful to Lupin for taking care of Harry at such a difficult moment, but he couldn't help the anger. And the jealousy. It wasn't fair that he couldn't be the person staying with Harry!

"Dumbledore, do you think it's wise to let Harry take part in the meeting?" asked Shacklebolt.

Snape saw Harry clenching his fists, in helpless anger.

"We will not discuss any secret matters tonight, Kingsley," said Dumbledore. "And the boy is alone, there's no one else here besides us. The Weasleys are like a foster family to him, and his best friend is in the hospital. I think he needs to listen what I am going to say as much as you all."

"How is Arthur?" asked Lupin.

"He has gone straight from the Ministry to St Mungo's. The poor man, he was in a state of panic," answered Tonks.

"How could this happen, this attack?" Lupin seemed unsettled. "Severus, didn't you hear anything, didn't you know they were planning such a thing?"

"Of course I didn't, or I would have told you. This attack could not have been decided in an 'official meeting', otherwise I would have been called. Either it was one group's isolated initiative, an attempt to earn the Dark Lord's favour, or the Dark Lord suspects me and decided not to call me to the meeting," Snape replied.

"Probably they have found out that Harry was going to spend his holidays there and decided to attack. What they didn't know was that we had sent Harry to learn Apparation at Severus's house," commented Dumbledore.

"But Albus, who besides us knew that Harry would go to The Burrow?" asked McGonagall.

"Everybody knows that I always spend the last days of my holidays at the Weasleys'" snapped Harry. "It could have been anyone. Draco Malfoy, for instance."

Snape made an offended face, but didn't say anything.

"It's true," said Dumbledore. "However, the date of the attack seems to indicate that, if Harry was effectively the target, they might have deduced that he wasn't at the Dursleys' any more, and concluded that he was at the Weasleys'."

"It is quite simple," said Snape. "They could have been watching Mrs Figg's and Mundungus Fletcher's movements closely. When both of them stopped scouting the Dursleys' area, they concluded Potter wasn't there any more."

"Well thought, Severus," said Dumbledore.

"What I want to know is what the Order's going to do to stop Voldemort. We can't have people being attacked like that," complained Harry.

"It's exactly at times like these that we most need to keep calm and think with our heads, not with our hearts, Harry." The Headmaster gave Harry a deep look. "We are all sad and worried about what happened. But the worst thing we can do is launch an unorganised attack against the Death Eaters."

"We are too vulnerable," commented Moody. "Anyone can hit us. We must fortify our defences."

"Wise words, Alastor, wise words. And you, Severus, I think you should talk to Lucius Malfoy as soon as possible, and find out who initiated this attack. Talk to Lucius first, and check if your position is safe; don't talk directly to Riddle."

Snape nodded. Not one piece of advice that wasn't obvious. Albus is only beating around the bush here, he thought. And Harry is almost bursting in anger.

"But what's the plan to destroy Voldemort?" insisted Harry.

"We have to be calm. This is not the best time for making decisions. We need to know who is behind this attack. Besides, as Alastor said very well, we must fortify our defences."

~* ~* ~

That night, Snape decided to sleep in his dungeons, at Hogwarts. It would have been too depressing to sleep in the cottage without Harry.