A/N: This is a slash fic i.e. M/M. If you do not like the idea of homosexuality in general or Snarry in particular…now is the time to back down.

The Harry Potter world belongs to Ms. Rowling. This is purely for the purpose of self satisfaction and entertainment to the like minded.

WARNINGS: AU, Snarry, M/M, MARRIAGE FIC.

The Things They Say

They say that the best place to hide is in plain sight. And so that's what he did.

He snorted to himself. They also say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. But he had never put his faith in what they said. He never knew who they were. So he did not believe them. After all, it was they who had said that half knowledge is a dangerous thing. Out of all things they had said over the time immemorial, this one was the only one by far, that had appealed the most to him. So he discarded the rest of what they said, and clung to the last one only.

Until now…..

Now, he knew that he should've followed every other single thing they said and ignored the last one. Now he knew that the quest for knowledge is a dangerous thing. Now he realized that it was folly to be wise, when ignorance could've been bliss. Alas, he had learnt the lesson the hard way. Life is a strict teacher after all!

And that was why he was now sitting on the upper berth in the middlemost compartment of a scarlet and black train with an invisibility potion and magic dampening potion in his system, with his feet dangling down though no one could see them, obviously!... while shame…overwhelming shame was eating away at his mind. How could he have forgotten that one simple fact, when he took precautions against the most unlikely tight spots he might ever get into?

He wanted to bang his head. This was so shameful! In all his years of excellence and exacting standards, never once had he failed to achieve to achieve anything short of impossible. But now…

His brow was wet with the beads of perspiration. Flashes of his ungraceful, atrocious spying at dawn came back to his memory.

***********FLASHBACK***********************

He was scouring through the dark dingy abandoned wing of the Malfoy Manor, in hope of finding a chink through the protective armor of the place. He knew...that when time came, he would have to use every one of his resources to save his hide.

The silent step of the graceful being went unnoticed by every death eater that guarded the place. He slowly reached to the edges of the wards. An inch more and the whole manor would be alerted of his presence. He could hear the hum of the wards and feel the power in his knees. So he slowly inched sideways…feeling…yet not touching the surface. He was looking for a weakness…if there was a chink he could slowly work on it…gradually increasing the hole size…weakening the structure…it would require patience and that was something the potions master had always had.

He now reached the less obscure parts of the manor…there was no light and the inhabitants were sleeping like logs…He reached nearer to the semi lake that was about a mile away from the Manor's centre. The water was deep and cool. Any unfortunate who'd stumble would freeze to death. But Severus was not afraid…He transfigured the log of wood into a raft and sat on it. The wards were shimmering on the surface of the water… it was like they were forming a rigid wall, without a proper base. And yet the wards were so impressive, so foolproof….Severus was sure he had never seen something more static in his life…except, it wasn't static. The magic was rippling and fusing…continuously changing and modifying…improvising the structure. Severus was sure he'd never find even a scratch on this magical barrier. But he wasn't a spy for nothing. He knew where to look for the weakness…he knew where chaos formed from uniformity just as many a philosopher knows where uniformity is formed from chaos. He looked at the base…right where the water was meeting with the magic, dancing over its surface…almost meeting..but not yet…

Severus understood what he had to do. The barriers were clearly above the water surface. They didn't extend to beneath it. So if he could just swim under the water for about a couple of minutes or so...he could cross the wards. Severus removed his outer robe and set it carefully on the raft. He took out his wand and murmured almost melodiously an obscure charm that transfigured his limbs into silvery fins and covered his face with scales….for in spite of the freezing cold even the water spirit would grant her hospitality to one of her own….and a merman was one of her beloved after all…

Severus smirked and drank a warming potion for good measure. A smug twinkle not unlike the one he had often seen on the visage of a certain blue eyed old man lit up in his eyes. It was at times like these that he felt really proud of himself….being a potions master had furnished him with a caldron full of solutions for just about every problem he might encounter…

Severus dived without a single splash on the ripple-less surface and swam deeper. He ignored the colorful fish that swarmed around the newest addition to the lake. With slow sure strokes he carefully searched the surface for the magical touch of the wards. He noticed the swimming patterns of the trout and baby squids. He soon discovered the place they were all trying to avoid…there…he'd found the opening. Severus swam towards the darkest part of the lake right underneath the magical wall. Slowly, but confidently he recalled to his mind every single swimming lesson he'd had and aligned his body in a streamlined fashion. He went towards the wall and like adventurous canine digging under the restraining fences, he swam so deep that he almost touched the lakes surface and with an almighty stroke came soaring to the surface gasping for breath. He looked back and saw the ward wall behind him..shimmering in all their glory…not once stopping to notice that they had been outsmarted.

That was when he froze.

Severus quickly tried to open his eyes so as to prevent reliving that absolute terror and shame.

Too late.

His traitorous mind had already started supplying him with that scene. Because…standing in front of him, with bemused looks on his face was…

Crabbe!

Of all the shameful ways he could end his career (as well as his life) it had to be that…that enormous wretch of a wizard who couldn't hold a wand straight!

But Severus was a Slytherin…self preservation was in his blood.

It took him a micro second to remember that in spite of catching him red handed, Crabbe didn't recognize him. That meant his face still retained the scales he had charmed. A discreet glance over himself showed that most of him was still underwater…fins and all…

And moreover Crabbe looked frightened.

With a smirk that would have sent even the Marauders running…he rasped his voice and said…

"Who dares to enter my territory?"

Crabbe turned sickly shade of green (which made him sick internally, for a normal Crabbe was disconcerting to see…a terrified Crabbe….well, ahem) and tried to inch away, inadvertently, dropping a heavy bag from his shoulders.

"F-F-forgive m-me s-sir, Mr. L-Lake M-monster sir. I d-didn't know you was here sire. I s-shall go'way immediately."

And he fled for all he was worth. Severus wasted no time in getting out and dressed, and was about to apparate away..when he saw the bag.

Curiosity killed the cat they say…

But Severus as a rule did not listen to anything they say (except for one, that is) and went on to investigate. He found a variety of antique goods, in various states of disrepair, which Crabbe must have helped himself to from the store rooms of Malfoy manor. Severus remembered what they say about the thief bitter by a scorpion and chuckled to himself. He dropped the bag and turned to apparated away. The last thing he saw before he disappeared into thin air was the enormous backside of Crabbe which he was trying..albeit unsuccessfully to fit under the fence of the enormous peacock park.

It wasn't quite until the time Severus reached the gates of Hogwarts that he figured out why the weather was uncommonly cold….

He had forgotten to put on the outer robe he had left on the raft. And Crabbe would surely go back for his loot.

Severus Snape shuddered to think.

I need a beta for my story. Anyone interested can PM me...