A/N: Welcome to the third installment of Annette and Severus' story! I hope you enjoy this first chapter, as always I do not own Harry Potter, just any

OCs. Please leave a review! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH)

Chapter 1

July twelfth, nineteen seventy-seven would be a night that Severus Snape would never forget.

The silver mask that he wore to hide his identity was stifling, it made him feel nearly claustrophobic. With the eye holes just big enough for him in front of him, but not from the sides, he would have to turn his head to do that. The robes were his go-to color when he was in the Wizarding World, black. An easy color to hide blood, an easy color for hiding secrets. His wand was tucked into the inner breast pocket of the cloak he wore, it was thin, more to keep the rain off of them, then for actual warmth.

Severus turned to glance over at Lucius, the Wizard that was four years his senior, smiled with pride at him. Severus looked away, he could feel guilt and fear twisting his gut into a painful knot. The rain splattering against the silver adder snake that had been engraved as a design, coiled around the mask's eye holes and nose curve, the head of adder snake rested on the bridge of the mask's nose. Lucius had given it to him after Severus had appeared in Malfoy Manor's seating room fireplace.

It had not taken the Half-Blood Prince long to remove a pair of black robes out of his closet, and to get them on over of his Muggle attire, that consisted of second-hand jeans, a second-hand AC/DC t-shirt (the only other one he had, that his beloved Hufflepuff Annette had not "borrowed") and his worn out vans era sneakers. His mother was far too busy with Desdemona to notice him leaving in a such a panicked rush. He had already tucked the bloody portrait letter from Lord Voldemort in the inner pocket of his robes, next to his wand.

He quickly left a note for Eileen, saying that he was going with Lucius to discuss the plans for the betrothed Pure-Blood Wizard's stag party. He took a handful of floo powder from the coffee can on the mantle, stood in the fireplace and announced his destination. In moments he was blinded by bright green flames, and stumbling out of the grey brick fireplace and into the sitting room of Malfoy Manor.

The mask had been in a box made from noble oak, Severus sat down on the black leather loveseat first and handed Lucius over his initiation letter. His blood had dried, but the name and portrait of Baxter Negrescu was still very much visible. Dobby appeared with a tray that held a teapot still steaming from the spout, and two tea cups.

Severus tried not notice that Lucius uncorked a vial with lavender liquid that had navy blue bubbles floating in it. He had not noticed that the vial was also on the tray, he had been far too distracted by his racing thoughts of fear and panic.

Lucius did not hesitate and poured the potion into Severus' tea. The Half-Blood Prince took it with shaking hands and sipped it gingerly. He did not have to try to look grateful for the fact that the older Wizard had spiked his earl grey tea with a Calming Draught.

Lucius set the initiation letter on the coffee table, and folded his hands in his lap. For once his white blonde hair was loose and not tied back, his grey eyes were filled with curiosity.

"Is this target related to your beloved Hufflepuff?" He asked, as he picked up a one of the grilled shrimp-ham crustless sandwiches from off the plate that was on the tray, and bit into it.

Severus took another huge swallow of tea before he could muster up enough courage to reply. "He is Annette's father."

He could see Lucius trying to mask his sneer of delight at the news, as Lucius quickly turned the sneer into a scowl of concern.

Of course, the young Death Eater was enjoying this. What could more thrilling than torturing information about the Magical Law Enforcement from the Wizard that Severus was hoping could one day be his father-in-law? Severus took one of the sandwiches and ate it without hesitation, if he was get information out of Baxter Negrescu, he was not going to do out on any empty stomach, even if his mind and body did not want any sustenance right now.

Lucius Malfoy took the opened ink black envelope from where Severus had set it on the coffee table. In Severus' hurry to get here, he had not noticed a second piece of parchment had been tucked inside. The blood from the portrait had soaked into the second paper, on it where instructions written in Lord Voldemort's spidery elegant script. Severus continued to sip his tea while Lucius read over the instructions.

"Our Dark Lord wants to know if there is a spy among our ranks, one that they would have sent in after graduation three years ago. Deimos Lennox is under suspicion. Supposedly, he went to Durmstrang. Are you efficient in Legilimency, Severus?"

The Slytherin soon-to-be Seventh Year raised an eyebrow, he could feel the Calming Draught beginning to take effect. It made him feel warm and fuzzy, like drinking hot chocolate after being out in the bitter chill of winter. It calmed his thoughts, the fear and panic ebbing away into an almost eerie like calm. "Of course, I am." He had been practicing both Legilimency (the magical means of navigating through the many layers of a person's mind) and Occlumency (the magical means of closing one's mind against Legilimency) since he was nine years old, and had read about it in one of his mother's old Hogwarts textbooks.

He needed to be proficient in it to keep Magical Law Enforcement out of his mind, he had done so his Muggle father would not be put in Azkaban after so many visits to Saint Mungo's after Tobias had beaten his mother. It had been to protect both his parents, and himself. If his father had been sent to Azkaban before Severus had been old enough to hold a job, him and his mother surely would have been starving and homeless.

Severus tried not visibly flinch as he felt Lucius trying to use Legilimency on him. The Slytherin graduate of Hogwarts tried to slip his way around Severus' mental barriers. In his head, Lucius seemed to be in the form of snake with white and blonde scales and storm grey blue eyes. He was trying to slip through any cracks or to slither through any open spaces. But Severus was not a fool, he strengthened those barriers, turned them to steel, and watched with satisfaction as Snake Lucius was screwed by barbed wire or long metal spikes. Lucius shifted into a different form, this time a peacock with white and blonde plumage, and the same determined storm grey eyes. Of course, Severus was prepared and once again thwarted the Pureblood Wizard's efforts.

Severus' mind refocused on the sitting room in Malfoy Manor. He sipped more of tea, not trying to hide in the least the satisfied smirk on his lips. Lucius only raised his tea cup in a sort of salute, and finishes off the earl grey. Before Lucius can bring himself to raise his own mental defenses, Severus is in his mind like a snake chasing after a mouse.

He sees flashes of a young Lucius perhaps seven or eight of age, peaking into his parents' bedroom from a crack in the slightly ajar door. his mother, is heavily pregnant. Her russet colored hair is plastered to her forehead with sweat. Another scream of anguish breaks past her lips. There are two midwives in the room with his mother, and one of the female House Elves is in the room as well, sitting quietly in the corner, her massive bat-like ears are flopped down, but she does not press her hands to ears, afraid that it would be rude.

Lucius' mother had been in labor for quite a while, the young heir of the Malfoy legacy glances up at the grandfather clock in the hallway. It has been nearly four hours since his mother went into labor with his baby sister. The Pureblood child had grown bored of his comics and toys, and wanted to see what was taking his sibling so long to join him in the world.

Suddenly his mother lets out an unearthly hollow of anguish and heartbreak. The House Elf's face is crestfallen and she pops out of the room with a snap of her fingers. The midwife witches look sollum, their eyes filled with sadness, even with the face masks, Lucius can tell that there is something horribly wrong. His mother's sobs practically break Lucius' own heart. His father rushes from where he had been in the manor's library, the House Elf in her curtain dress following after, ringing her long hands as she does.

His father's long white blonde hair is pulled back into a braid, that goes down his back. Abraxas Malfoy's moss green eyes are filled with sorrow as he hugs his wife to his chest, she sobs loudly in his chest, her thin fingers digging into the fabric of his robes.

The House Elf take Lucius by the hand and leads him away from the door. Lucius takes one final glance at the now wide-open door. His little sister has the same hair as him, white blonde and looks as soft as a duckling's fuzzy down. But he knows there is something wrong, she is not crying. She is not moving. His little sister is completely still like a doll.

Severus is yanked into another memory. This time Lucius is thirteen, he and his father, are both wearing long black robes with silver buttons. The day is sunny and not a cloud in the sky. But Severus can tell by Lucius red rimmed eyes, that this not a happy memory. Lucius and Abraxas are standing in front of two gravestones. One is freshly covered with dirt, the other has plenty of grass, and has a bouquet of daisies leaning against the black granite.

The gravestone with fresh dirt has words engraved into his white marble surface. Concordia Malfoy: Beloved Wife and Mother. 1938 - 1974

The other gravestone has the words engraved into it. Felicitas Malfoy: Beloved Daughter and Sister. 1961-1961

The Seventh Year Slytherin is thrown out of Lucius Malfoy's mind so fast, it makes the younger snake's head spin. Lucius's face is creased with anger, his storm grey-blue eyes are steeled with an emotion so terribly close to betrayal, that Severus can feel the blood draining away from already pale face.

"Do not ever look into my mind again, Severus." his voice is cold, bitter, the words a snarl like a cornered beast.

Severus could only bring himself to nod, after he swallowed down the lump of fear in throat. As the seventeen-year-old Wizard closed the clasp of his cloak against his breastbone, Lucius stood in the entryway of Malfoy Manor waiting for Dobby to bring him his Death Mask. The young House Elf popped in front of his master, holding a box made out of white birch and golden clasps.

Lucius lifted the mask to his face, and just like how Severus' had, the silver mask seemed to mold to Lucius face. No need for strings, and only the wearer could remove it. Lucius mask was shaped like the face of a male peacock.

Once his mask was secured, Lucius turned to Severus. A smile of excitement on the Malfoy heir's face. "Do you know where to find the target?"

Severus held back a sigh, if the Calming Draught was not flowing through his system right now, he may have just apparated out because of the panic and the fear. "Yes, I know exactly where the target is." Deep down in the pit of his stomach, as it twisted painfully with guilt, he wish he did not know Baxter Negresgru as well as he did.

Now, Lucius and Severus stood across the street from The Leaky Cauldron. The rain had been going on throughout the day, but with it now night, the rain clouds blocked out the stars and moon above, leaving the only lights around them being passing vehicles and the lamp-posts.

They watched and waited like eager starving snakes, ready to strike. They apparate again to the back of the Leaky Cauldron, to the open courtyard where the brick lies in wait for someone to tap their wand, so it may open up to Diagon Alley. Severus can hear the noises from inside of the bar. The shouts of drunkards, the horrible off-key singing of old sea shanties, and Irish ballads. The roar of celebrating Quidditch fanatics, as the match between Wales and Turkey plays over a radio, that must have been modified with magic in order for everyone in the bar to hear it the noise.

Severus presses himself further against the cool brick walls, deeper into the shadows. He knows that if he doesn't get the information that the Dark Lord needs, he will lose his in with the Death Eaters. He will lose his one chance to the take down the Wizard known as Voldemort. But Severus also knows that Lucius will make sure with every fiber of his Pureblood being, that he would not allow the Half-Blood Prince to fail.

Baxter stumbles out of the pub and out into the courtyard, the light from inside the Leaky Cauldron iluminates him from the back. There is the copious thundering noise of cheering and hollering as the match finished, and it is announced that Wales has won. But Baxter does not seem to care about that, the tall and muscular Wizard, that is built like an ox is still wearing his Magical Law Enforcement uniform, his wand tucked into the holster around his waist.

The father of the Witch that Severus' loves turns back around, his partner, Elpis Cartwright wraps her arms around his neck and places a kiss to his cheek. Her blonde curly hair is twisted up into a messy bun, most of it now loose and framing her face. Even with her height, she is still three inches shorter than Baxter.

His face becomes creased with guilt and shame when Elips places another kiss upon him. This time on his mouth. He does not return the token of affection. She whispers something that Severus can not make out, but from the way Baxter's face pales, the Snake can tell it is not what he wants to hear.

"We were so careful." Baxter finally blurts out, and Elpis simply shrugs.

"Not careful enough." Elpis says it with a smirk on her lips, nearly delivish in nature.

Before Baxter can say anything else, Elpis apparates out with small faint pop, like bubble wrap being punctured. That is when Lucius strikes, the former Slytherin uses their target's dismay and panic to his own advantage. He nonverbally casts Confundo, the spell hits Mister Negrescu full force, he does not even have anytime to grab his own wand, or try to defend himself.

With Baxter disoriented, Severus quickly casts Petrificus Totalus. He could feel his heart stop for split second as Baxter drops like a ton of bricks. His body rocks back and forth for a moment like a plank of wood, the only thing the petrified Wizard can move is his eyes. Just as Severus regains his composure, he, Lucius, and their captured Magical Law Enforcement Officer disapparate with the sound of a popped balloon behind them.

They do not undo the full body-bind curse until they have removed Baxter's blackthorn wand that had a unicorn mane hair as its core, and was indeed very flexible. A powerful wand for a Wizard such as him. They wait until Dobby has completed tying him to a chair the House Elf had brought from the dining room and down into the cellar. It has been soundproofed by Severus casting Muffliato.

Even with Baxter being so drunk, he should have been blacking out. The father of Annette is only green in the face, looking ready to vomit at any moment, and angry. Ready to kill, angry. Probably ready to relive his stomach of alcohol and his dinner of fish and chips, doing side-along apparition side effects. Angry with himself for being caught off guard and being captured by a rookie Death Eater and another who is still a fledgling.

Severus quickly brews him an anti-nausea potion with the help of the young House Elf, Dobby. The magical being born into a life of servitude, is more than happy to get Severus what he needs to craft it. Mostly because Severus is polite and softly whispers a thank you, once he is finished with brewing the mixture. The Half-Blood Prince serves the anti-nausea potion to Baxter in a teacup. Baxter becomes less green in a matter of ten minutes. Lucius is impatient, pacing back and forth like a caged beast. The Death Eater is impatient to get the information that his Dark Lord so desperately desires, and he does not like it in the least that Severus has been kind, and has made sure that their informational source does loose the contents of his stomach all over the cement floor.

Severus waits for Dobby to bring back a second chair from the dining room and sits down across from the man, who he hoped would give him permission to marry his daughter.

Legilimency does not work on Baxter at first, the former Ravenclaw's high proficiency in Occlumency keeps the Slytherin out of his mind with ease. Baxter's mental shields are strong, too strong. It's like trying to get through a wall made out of diamonds. Severus leans back against his chair, willing himself not look defeated and exhausted in front of the Magical Law Enforcement Officer.

Severus prepares himself to craft a sleeping potion, a mind as heavily guarded as Baxter's should be less so once he is asleep and dreaming. But before Severus can ask Dobby to gather him the herbs and other pieces that are needed. A bit back cry of agony almost makes Severus drop the vial he has put the sleeping potion in.

He had not heard it at first, but now he does.

There is a devilish smile on Lucius face as he repeats the unforgivable curse aloud. "Cruico!"

It takes until the fourth try, but Baxter cries out. Screaming as if his very mind on his fire, as if his brain is being burned to a crisp. Severus stops Lucius from using the unforgivable curse a fifth time, he sits down in the chair across from Baxter again.

The mental shields that the Pureblood Wizard had up are now shattered like glass, but at least his mind is still intact. With Severus' mastery in legilimency, he is able to sift through Baxter's mind like sand slipping through his slender fingers.

For the first time, Severus gets to see his beloved Annette through the olive green eyes of the man that helped bring her into this world.