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speak of it,’ Narcissa continued, her eyes still closed. ‘He wishes none to know of the plan. It is … very secret. But –’
    ‘If he has forbidden it, you ought not to speak,’ said Snape at once. ‘The Dark Lord’s word is law.’
    Narcissa gasped as though he had doused her with cold water. Bellatrix looked satisfied for the first time since she had entered the house.
    ‘There!’ she said triumphantly to her sister. ‘Even Snape says so: you were told not to talk, so hold your silence!’
    But Snape had got to his feet and strode to the small window, peered through the curtains at the deserted street, then closed them again with a jerk. He turned round to face Narcissa, frowning.
    ‘It so happens that I know of the plan,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I am one of the few the Dark Lord has told. Nevertheless, had I not been in on the secret, Narcissa, you would have been guilty of great treachery to the Dark Lord.’
    ‘I thought you must know about it!’ said Narcissa, breathing more freely. ‘He trusts you so, Severus …’
    ‘You know about the plan?’ said Bellatrix, her fleeting expression of satisfaction replaced by a look of outrage. ‘ You know?’
    ‘Certainly,’ said Snape. ‘But what help do you require, Narcissa? If you are imagining I can persuade the Dark Lord to change his mind, I am afraid there is no hope, none at all.’
    ‘Severus,’ she whispered, tears sliding down her pale cheeks. ‘My son … my only son …’
    ‘Draco should be proud,’ said Bellatrix indifferently. ‘The Dark Lord is granting him a great honour. And I will say this for Draco: he isn’t shrinking away from his duty, he seems glad of a chance to prove himself, excited at the prospect –’
    Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape.
    ‘That’s because he is sixteen and has no idea what lies in store! Why, Severus? Why my son? It is too dangerous! This is vengeance for Lucius’s mistake, I know it!’
    Snape said nothing. He looked away from the sight of her tears as though they were indecent, but he could not pretend not to hear her.
    ‘That’s why he’s chosen Draco, isn’t it?’ she persisted. ‘To punish Lucius?’
    ‘If Draco succeeds,’ said Snape, still looking away from her, ‘he will be honoured above all others.’
    ‘But he won’t succeed!’ sobbed Narcissa. ‘How can he, when the Dark Lord himself –?’
    Bellatrix gasped; Narcissa seemed to lose her nerve.
    ‘I only meant … that nobody has yet succeeded … Severus … please … you are, you have always been, Draco’s favourite teacher … you are Lucius’s old friend … I beg you … you are the Dark Lord’s favourite, his most trusted advisor … will you speak to him, persuade him –?’
    ‘The Dark Lord will not be persuaded, and I am not stupid enough to attempt it,’ said Snape flatly. ‘I cannot pretend that the Dark Lord is not angry with Lucius. Lucius was supposed to be in charge. He got himself captured, along with how many others, and failed to retrieve the prophecy into the bargain. Yes, the Dark Lord is angry, Narcissa, very angry indeed.’
    ‘Then I am right, he has chosen Draco in revenge!’ choked Narcissa. ‘He does not mean him to succeed, he wants him to be killed trying!’
    When Snape said nothing, Narcissa seemed to lose what little self-restraint she still possessed. Standing up, she staggered to Snape and seized the front of his robes. Her face close to his, her tears falling on to his chest, she gasped, ‘You could do it. You could do it instead of Draco, Severus. You would succeed, of course you would, and he would reward you beyond all of us –’
    Snape caught hold of her wrists and removed her clutching hands. Looking down into her tear-stained face, he said slowly, ‘He intends me to do it in the end, I think. But he is determined that Draco should try first. You see, in the unlikely event that Draco succeeds, I shall be able to remain at