Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter Ninety Four

"How can we trust him though?" Esme argued as she paced back and forth in the kitchen. A couple of hours had passed since Snape had left the house, and the two of them were still trying to figure out what to do next.

"Why would he lie? It makes no sense." Regulus pointed out, "He didn't know who the prophecy was about and... You saw his face when I let slip that Lily Potter is pregnant."

"Lily Potter is pregnant?" They both turned to where Piper, Dirk, and Levi were sitting at the kitchen table. They had all urgently come around to hear of the latest developments and help Esme and Regulus figure out what to do.

"I had no idea." Piper admitted.
Esme asked, "Why would you? You haven't seen the girl in over a year."

"Snape must be telling the truth." Regulus carried on regardless, "He has nothing to gain by lying."

Levi suggested, "But what if he's only telling you about the prophecy in order to look good in the hopes that it'll get him some proper protection from the Death Eaters. Then he might not have to be a spy anymore."
"I don't know." Esme folded her arms and halted her pacing, "Snape seems to want to actually take down the Death Eaters as much as we do."

"It doesn't matter anyway." Regulus combatted, "Whatever his motive for telling us, it's irrelevant. The fact is he did tell us and we need to have a plan."
"Even if we're believing Snape, that doesn't mean what he heard is reliable." Esme shrugged her shoulders.

Piper interrupted, "Well you'd need to find out who told the prophecy. You need to find the woman Dumbledore met."
"Or ask Dumbledore himself." Dirk added.

Then, Dirk said something more than a little interesting.

"Oh..." A lightbulb flicked on in his mind and all attention turned to him, "Snape is... He is telling the truth. There is a prophecy."

"What?" Levi scoffed, "How would you know?"
Dirk turned to him, "Because there is a prophecy-well, prophecy record. I heard someone talking about it in the Ministry a couple of days ago. I was... Kind of eavesdropping. But... There is a prophecy about You Know Who."

"So he is telling the truth. We have no reason not to believe him." Regulus sighed with triumph and being proved right.

Esme still wasn't completely certain. "But Snape admitted, and Dirk said the same, that they didn't necessarily hear everything. There could be more to the prophecy that changes our whole understanding."
"That would just about be our luck, wouldn't it?" Piper mumbled as she tied her long hair back into a ponytail.

"So what do we do now?" Dirk asked.
"Well, there's only one thing we can do." Esme confirmed, "We need to take Snape to see Dumbledore."

So that's what they did.

"Are you sure you want us to come in? I mean... I, for one, could just wait here." Dirk offered, rubbing the back of his neck as the group stood outside the door to Dumbledore's office several hours later.

Levi placed a hand on his shoulder, "What are you so nervous for?"
"Oh he's always been intimidated by Dumbledore." Esme explained simply.

Snape was standing a little removed from the group and had been eyeing them all with an air of suspicion when he reminded them, "Are we going to go in? You do remember why we're here, don't you?"
"Alright," Regulus held his hand to the door handle and slowly twisted it, "Let's go in already."