"You?!?!" exclaimed Snape, "Help me?!?!"
"Give me some credit!" Draco sneered, as if Snape was the child there. "At least I got here on time... you're late" he spoke as if he was enjoying every second of tormenting him.

For the life of him Snape could not figure out two things, one why Voldermort would send a boy to assists him and two why was the room filled with badgers if it was a transfiguration accident?

"Fine, Draco. Then answer me this question. What is this room?" Severus asked.

"Well" snorted Draco, "the ministry is trying to produce more badgers because as you know, when the skin of a badger is made into a bridle, it gives the rider magical powers over the horse, they're thinking of using them to control Pegasus' offspring."

"Oh," Severus replied shortly, angry that Draco was in on something that he was not. "So how do we get out? I'm sure this is not the room the Dark Lord has directed me to!"
"No, but it is the room he directed me to."
"Well do you know why he has sent you in here? Forgive me, Draco, but your letter was destroyed earlier before I had a chance to read it. I've not exactly been completley filled in on what I'm supposed to do," Snape said shortly.
"What letter?" Draco asked, "I never sent you a letter!"
"Hmmm...guess we'll table that for the moment," mused Snape, "and concentrate on the mission at hand. Are we to steal all these badgers then?" queried Snape.
But before Draco could answer, a door on the opposite end of the room opened and a figure stepped into the badger-filled room.

It was hard to make out who had entered the room, the figure was swathed in swirling dark robes complete with a hood drawn over the face.
"Who's there?" Snape hissed quietly.
"It is I, Igor Karkaroff." said Igor.
Snape looked stunned. "Karkaroff, what are you doing here? I thought you died!" Snape replied.
"Well, as they say, news of my demise has been greatly exaggerated." replied Karkaroff.
Snape looked unsure of whether to be confused, annoyed, or what. "Let me guess, you're in on this too? Pardon for for questioning the dark lord, but what is happening??"
"We can seriously compromise the MInistry of Magic's plans for controling the winged horses if we work together quickly on this, and we're to plant clues to lead them to conclude Harry Potter is involved." Said Igor.
Snape couldn't help but grin at this. This was a chance to get that Potter in trouble. Wouldn't it be great if the Ministry expelled him, he thought to himself. Turning to Igor and Draco, he said "Well, what are we waiting for then?"
Draco sneered. "That's just what I was thinking. If you'd shown up when you were supposed to, Snape, we would've been almost done by now!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" snapped Snape, "What's our first step?"
Draco glared at him. "Are you serious? He didn't trust you enough to tell you?" he burst out laughing.
Snape returned the glare. "Oh, and I suppose you're going to tell me that he trusted you?" he asked Draco.
Draco sneered instead. "I could always just leave here, tell the dark lord I've told you clear instructions and watch you fail...what do yo ureckon to that plan Karkoroff?"

"Stop that foolishness BOY!" snarled Karkoroff, "This is too important to Our Lord to play petty games!" and then, with a snap of his wand and a low spoken incantation, turned Draco the Badger back into Draco the Wizard.

"You?!?!" exclaimed Snape, "Help me?!?!"
"Give me some credit!" Draco sneered, as if Snape was the child there. "At least I got here on time... you're late" he spoke as if he was enjoying every second of tormenting him.

For the life of him Snape could not figure out two things, one why Voldermort would send a boy to assists him and two why was the room filled with badgers if it was a transfiguration accident?

"Fine, Draco. Then answer me this question. What is this room?" Severus asked.

"Well" snorted Draco, "the ministry is trying to produce more badgers because as you know, when the skin of a badger is made into a bridle, it gives the rider magical powers over the horse, they're thinking of using them to control Pegasus' offspring."

"Oh," Severus replied shortly, angry that Draco was in on something that he was not. "So how do we get out? I'm sure this is not the room the Dark Lord has directed me to!"
"No, but it is the room he directed me to."
"Well do you know why he has sent you in here? Forgive me, Draco, but your letter was destroyed earlier before I had a chance to read it. I've not exactly been completley filled in on what I'm supposed to do," Snape said shortly.
"What letter?" Draco asked, "I never sent you a letter!"
"Hmmm...guess we'll table that for the moment," mused Snape, "and concentrate on the mission at hand. Are we to steal all these badgers then?" queried Snape.
But before Draco could answer, a door on the opposite end of the room opened and a figure stepped into the badger-filled room.

It was hard to make out who had entered the room, the figure was swathed in swirling dark robes complete with a hood drawn over the face.
"Who's there?" Snape hissed quietly.
"It is I, Igor Karkaroff." said Igor.
Snape looked stunned. "Karkaroff, what are you doing here? I thought you died!" Snape replied.
"Well, as they say, news of my demise has been greatly exaggerated." replied Karkaroff.
Snape looked unsure of whether to be confused, annoyed, or what. "Let me guess, you're in on this too? Pardon for for questioning the dark lord, but what is happening??"
"We can seriously compromise the MInistry of Magic's plans for controling the winged horses if we work together quickly on this, and we're to plant clues to lead them to conclude Harry Potter is involved." Said Igor.
Snape couldn't help but grin at this. This was a chance to get that Potter in trouble. Wouldn't it be great if the Ministry expelled him, he thought to himself. Turning to Igor and Draco, he said "Well, what are we waiting for then?"
Draco sneered. "That's just what I was thinking. If you'd shown up when you were supposed to, Snape, we would've been almost done by now!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" snapped Snape, "What's our first step?"
Draco glared at him. "Are you serious? He didn't trust you enough to tell you?" he burst out laughing.
Snape returned the glare. "Oh, and I suppose you're going to tell me that he trusted you?" he asked Draco.
Draco sneered instead. "I could always just leave here, tell the dark lord I've told you clear instructions and watch you fail...what do yo ureckon to that plan Karkoroff?"
"Stop that foolishness BOY!" snarled Karkoroff, "This is too important to Our Lord to play petty games!" and then, with a snap of his wand and a low spoken incantation, turned Draco the Badger back into Draco the Wizard.
Draco brushed himself off, thankful to be back in his human form. He glared at Karkaroff, and despite his anger at him, grumbled a "Thanks."

"Now Karkaroff, if you would please illuminate me as to what we're to do?" asked Snape quickly. "We've spent far too much time here as it is, I fear we may be detected."

"Now Karkaroff, if you would please illuminate me as to what we're to do?" asked Snape quickly. "We've spent far too much time here as it is, I fear we may be detected."

"The Dark Lord wishes for us to steal some of the badgers in this room," Karkaroff said matter-of-factly as he surveyed the creatures moving about on the floor.

Snape refused to let the other two know his confusion, but he was wondering what a man as powerful as his master wanted with badgers... he realised they must have some symbolism or power, but for the life of him he could not figure out what that may be...

I edited the story for punctuation and typos, hope I caught everything. Maybe it's time to think about a [temporary] title. What do you think?

Quote:

Severus stirred his coffee with his wand before picking it up. He lifted the cup up to his lips and took a sip. "Ouch," Snape growled as he burnt his tongue on the hot coffee. He placed the cup on the table, added more milk and then took another sip. Before he could take another sip of the adulterated coffee, an owl arrived bearing mail. "Yes, what do you have?" Severus asked shortly, untying the small parcel attached to the owl's left foot. "Hmmmm," he mused. "It's from Malfoy, wonder what he wants." Snape began scanning the letter, and at the end, he just sat it on his desk, astonished. He performed a simple jinx checking spell; he could never be too safe nowadays, everyone was cursing each other like there was no tomorrow. After finding it clear, he opened it carefully. Before he could start reading it, however, the owl started pecking at his arm. "Stupid owl... Gerroff!" he shouted and jumped up so suddenly that the coffee, which had been improperly placed on an unsteady table, was tipped over, ruining the letter from Draco. Severus picked up his wand muttered a few words and the liquid flew back into the mug. Sadly, he knew of no spell to return the letter to normal, and cursed under his breath, wondering if it had been important. Severus went over to the writing desk, picked up a quill and began writing a reply to Draco explaining that the letter was not able to be read. Draco wouldn't like it, he always had been stubborn but regardless, if it were important he wouldn't mind writing it again. He sighed as he finished the letter and gave it back to the owl. He poured himself some wine and sat back down on the sofa. The owl however, instead of leaving, just glared at him. Confused, Snape gave it a little push, at which point he could swear the owl’s eyes went red. "My Lord," said Severus, standing up as the owl turned into Lord Voldemort. "I see you destroyed the letter. How careless of you. Well, I guess I shall have to tell you your mission in person," Lord Voldemort sneered. "I've a plan to overthrow the Ministry of Magic and you are needed if it is to succeed," said Lord Voldemort. "Of course, my Lord. Just tell me of my mission and I will complete it," Snape replied solemnly. Voldemort sat down. "May I get you a drink my Lord?" "Elf made wine will do, Severus," replied Lord Voldemort. Severus gave him the drink and waited to be asked to sit down. He beckoned at the seat. "Sit," he said, and Severus followed the order. "I have with me an Invisibility Cloak for you," Lord Voldemort said, beckoning this time at a cloak which had just appeared from nowhere. "It will be needed tomorrow. During the lunch hour, when all the Ministry of Magic staff are away, you'll wear this Invisibility Cloak as a precaution to being seen," started Lord Voldemort. "You will sneak down to the Department of Mysteries, which is why I have prepared you a map of the department." He once again looked at the coffee table and saw a map which had just arrived. "It is as accurate as we could get, although the Ministry may have a few surprises that we are unaware of. What I require is here," he said as he pointed at a little red dot on the map. "Do not come out of the Ministry without it." With that Voldemort changed back into the owl and flew out the window. Severus sat down, ran his fingers through his hair and picked up the map. What he was to get, the Dark Lord didn’t say. What if he couldn't find it, or there was nothing to prove that this item was special? If he brought the wrong thing, well... there was no kidding himself about what would be done. He finished the bottle of wine himself and fell into a deep sleep. He woke with a start the next morning. *** He woke up on his sofa, late and with a deep hangover. He groaned and turned towards the clock, which read 11:30am. Cursing his luck, he got up and briskly but methodically charmed himself and his clothes clean. His eyes dropped to the items left by the Dark Lord himself - the Invisibility Cloak and the map - and picked them up unsteadily. He disapparated with the cloak on and soon found himself in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. He looked at the map and set off. Walking along the corridor, he barely looked up from the ground. He narrowly dodged many members of the Ministry, although the closer he got to his destination, the less the staff around. He came to the door of the Department of Mysteries, and took a deep breath, then turned the handle. As he shut the door behind him, it closed and the room span. When he looked back, the door was gone. This was it... no turning back. Severus looked down at the map, trying to figure out which door he was supposed to choose. The map showed that there were two black doors and a white one in the middle, yet there were two white doors with a black one in the middle. Having had to go through the left black one, he cursed, unsure which door to attempt. He pushed the black door, after taking a deep breath, and when he saw what was inside, he gasped. Around him were at least fifteen doors in a circular pattern, and when he looked back, the door he had came from had disappeared. The map showed that there should just be one door at the end of the corridor, so he realised he had gone through the wrong door and must get back - yet which door? Snape cursed, and finally decided to just choose a door at random. He took a deep breath, and decided to go through a yellow door with black spots. He turned the door knob slowly and looked inside with a deep sense of worry and regret, as he was sure he would get it wrong. He closed the door quickly, since the room was for some reason filled with badgers. What were badgers doing at the Ministry? Snape was confused. He glanced around the room at all of the creatures running about, and finally noticed a white badger that stood out among the rest. "Hmmm..." mused Snape, "white animals mean ‘pay attention’, but to what?" The white badger noticed Snape staring at it, and it wandered over to where Severus was standing. "Professor," said the white badger, "this is really embarrassing, but I’m Draco, Draco Malfoy!" "Malfoy? What are you doing here?" Snape hissed. The badger looked like it sneered. "It was the Dark Lords orders, but some idiot messed up with the Transfiguration spell, and I turned into," he hesitated. "A badger!" he spits the word from his mouth and looks like he wouldn’t believe his bad luck. Snape sneered, not even trying to hide the fact that it was funny. "What did he send you for?" he asked, not bothering to even offer to change him back. "To help you retrieve what he has sent you here for, of course," Draco spoke back matter-of-factly. "You?!?!" exclaimed Snape. "Help me?!?!" "Give me some credit!" Draco sneered, as if Snape was the child there. "At least I got here on time... you're late," he spoke as if he was enjoying every second of tormenting him. For the life of him, Snape could not figure out two things, one why Voldemort would send a boy to assists him and two why was the room filled with badgers, if it was a Transfiguration accident? "Fine, Draco. Then answer me this question. What is this room?" Severus asked. "Well," snorted Draco, "the Ministry is trying to produce more badgers because as you know, when the skin of a badger is made into a bridle, it gives the rider magical powers over the horse, they're thinking of using them to control Pegasus' offspring." "Oh," Severus replied shortly, angry that Draco was in on something that he was not. "So how do we get out? I'm sure this is not the room the Dark Lord has directed me to!" "No, but it is the room he directed me to." "Well do you know why he has sent you in here? Forgive me, Draco, but your letter was destroyed earlier before I had a chance to read it. I've not exactly been completely filled in on what I'm supposed to do," Snape said shortly. "What letter?" Draco asked, "I never sent you a letter!" "Hmmm...guess we'll table that for the moment," mused Snape, "and concentrate on the mission at hand. Are we to steal all these badgers then?" queried Snape. But before Draco could answer, a door on the opposite end of the room opened and a figure stepped into the badger-filled room. *** It was hard to make out who had entered the room; the figure was swathed in swirling dark robes complete with a hood drawn over the face. "Who's there?" Snape hissed quietly. "It is I, Igor Karkaroff," said Igor. Snape looked stunned. "Karkaroff, what are you doing here? I thought you died!" Snape replied. "Well, as they say, news of my demise has been greatly exaggerated," replied Karkaroff. Snape looked unsure of whether to be confused, annoyed, or what. "Let me guess, you're in on this too? Pardon for questioning the dark lord, but what is happening??" "We can seriously compromise the Ministry of Magic's plans for controlling the winged horses if we work together quickly on this, and we're to plant clues to lead them to conclude Harry Potter is involved," said Igor. Snape couldn't help but grin at this. This was a chance to get that Potter in trouble. Wouldn't it be great if the Ministry expelled him, he thought to himself. Turning to Igor and Draco, he said, "Well, what are we waiting for then?" Draco sneered, "That's just what I was thinking. If you'd shown up when you were supposed to, Snape, we would've been almost done by now!" "Then what are we waiting for?" snapped Snape, "What's our first step?" Draco glared at him. "Are you serious? He didn't trust you enough to tell you?" he burst out laughing. Snape returned the glare. "Oh, and I suppose you're going to tell me that he trusted you?" he asked Draco. Draco sneered instead. "I could always just leave here, tell the Dark Lord I've told you clear instructions and watch you fail...what do you reckon to that plan, Karkaroff?" "Stop that foolishness, BOY!" snarled Karkaroff. "This is too important to our Lord to play petty games!" And then, with a snap of his wand and a low spoken incantation, he turned ‘Draco the Badger’ back into ‘Draco the Wizard’. Draco brushed himself off, thankful to be back in his human form. He glared at Karkaroff, and despite his anger at him, grumbled a "Thanks." "Now Karkaroff, if you would please illuminate me as to what we're to do?" asked Snape quickly. "We've spent far too much time here as it is; I fear we may be detected." "The Dark Lord wishes for us to steal some of the badgers in this room," Karkaroff said matter-of-factly as he surveyed the creatures moving about on the floor. Snape refused to let the other two know his confusion, but he was wondering what a man as powerful as his master wanted with badgers... He realised they must have some symbolism or power, but for the life of him he could not figure out what that may be…

except that when you edited it, you left out the parts about why LV wanted the badgers........

Did I? hmm, can't seem to find it now either...I'm really sorry, but I've been reading and editing fics almost all day, I guess all I need is a decent break. I just hope that this is my only faux pas of today, don't want the authors complaining about my work...

Would you mind pointing me to the missing part? [or wait a day until my eyes recovered from staring at a screen for too long]


*says it and runs out to the balcony with a cup of coffee and her book*

Now Karkaroff, if you would please illuminate me as to what we're to do?" asked Snape quickly. "We've spent far too much time here as it is, I fear we may be detected."

"The Dark Lord wishes for us to steal some of the badgers in this room," Karkaroff said matter-of-factly as he surveyed the creatures moving about on the floor.

Snape refused to let the other two know his confusion, but he was wondering what a man as powerful as his master wanted with badgers... he realised they must have some symbolism or power, but for the life of him he could not figure out what that may be...

"Yes, um, so are there certain badgers that the Dark Lord wishes us to steal, or do we just pick some ourselves?" Snape asked, trying to sound as if he was following the Dark Lord's plans, when in reality, he was clueless as to what they were going to be doing.

"The ones with red eyes... that's the only means of telling if they're the ones with the condition..." Draco replied, not realising the confusion Snape was clearly facing.

Now Karkaroff, if you would please illuminate me as to what we're to do?" asked Snape quickly. "We've spent far too much time here as it is, I fear we may be detected."

"The Dark Lord wishes for us to steal some of the badgers in this room," Karkaroff said matter-of-factly as he surveyed the creatures moving about on the floor.

Snape refused to let the other two know his confusion, but he was wondering what a man as powerful as his master wanted with badgers... he realised they must have some symbolism or power, but for the life of him he could not figure out what that may be...

"Yes, um, so are there certain badgers that the Dark Lord wishes us to steal, or do we just pick some ourselves?" Snape asked, trying to sound as if he was following the Dark Lord's plans, when in reality, he was clueless as to what they were going to be doing.

"The ones with red eyes... that's the only means of telling if they're the ones with the condition..." Draco replied, not realising the confusion Snape was clearly facing.

Snape glanced around the room and noticed that there were only 4 badgers with red eyes. "Is four going to be enough?" he asked, not knowing what condition Draco was talking about.

Draco looked at him as if he were mad. "Two would be enough of course... but imagine what we could do with four!"