Author's Note: This took me WAY to freakin' long to update, and I apologize. If it's any consolation, it's a long chapter. But thank you for sticking with this story; thanks also for the adds and reviews. You guys are made of awesome and win! -PM

Chapter Four: Of Lovers, Malcontents, Eggs, and Seekers

"So how was it?" Sarah asked the next morning at breakfast.

"Quick. A bit painful. And there was blood." Chase grinned. She had returned to Ravenclaw Tower at dawn, still sore from her and Damien's night of romance, but happy. "I can't wait until we get a chance to go back and do it again. Did I mention he's not lacking at all?"

"I still can't believe you went through with it. D'you know how much trouble you'd have been in if anyone caught you?"

"It was part of the appeal." But as she said it, her eyes swept the teacher's table, and what she didn't see relaxed her. No one besides Sarah had known about the plan, and none of the teachers, not even Severus (whom Chase had expected to be suspicious, at least), had any clue that two prefects had broken at least ten rules last night. Chase mentally shrugged it off, and finished her coffee. "Well, I'm off to the library. There's a book in there with the potion recipe I'm looking for, I just know it."

"Your uncle would have it," Sarah pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure he does, but..." She sneered and lowered her voice to a perfect imitation of Severus's. "'I am not helping you out in this tournament; it's against the rules'. Bloody typical," she added in her normal voice.

"In that case, good luck."

Chase nodded, hoisted her bag on her shoulder, and left the Great Hall, not sure a big grin wasn't plastered across her face. All things considered, she thought things couldn't have gone better last night. Now if only they'd go as well today, looking for that potion. It probably wasn't going to be in the Restricted Section... Probably the underwater section, yes; that seemed more likely.

A quick search of that section quickly proved Chase right, and as she was walking down to the dungeons to test the recipe, a copy of Pertinent Potions for Perilous Predicaments clutched in her hand, she saw Harry Potter heading toward the library. Should I tell him how to get the egg's clue? She considered for a second, then, stowing the book in her bag, turned around and trotted toward him. "Harry? Harry!" She called.

He turned around. "Oh. Hi, Chase," he said dully.

"Something wrong?" As she drew level with him, Chase thought Harry looked a little heartsick... Or hacked off, his expression was a bit difficult to read.

"It's nothing," he said. "You look happy."

"I don't usually?" When he didn't answer, she said, "Never mind. Have you figured out the egg's clue yet?"

"Er... No."

"In that case..." She looked around and, noticing a group of Beauxbatons students walking by, turned to a window so that her back was to them. Harry followed suit. As Chase pretended to be interested in something outside, she tilted her head toward Harry, making sure her hair blocked her mouth, and muttered, "Draw yourself a bath and take the egg with you. Use the prefects' bathroom; you'll have more privacy and there's another hint in there. Password's 'pine fresh'."

Harry blinked. "Why are you telling me this?" He muttered back.

"Tit-for-tat," Chase said calmly. "You told me about the dragons, remember?" When Harry didn't answer, she said, "Take it or leave it; doesn't matter to me. See you around, Potter." She turned away from the window and headed to the dungeons.

"Professor!" Chase called, knocking on Severus's office door. "I need to monopolize the lab and make a gigantic mess for an hour or so."

"That had better be a joke," Severus growled as he opened the door.

"You're such a lovely, sweet-tempered bloke, you know that?" Chase said, grinning as she pulled the book out of her bag. "But I'm only partly joking. Have you got any motherwort?"

"Not in the students' storeroom," he said, and went off to his private stores to get it. "What else do you need?"

"Gillyweed, common mallow, grindylow blood, kelpie hair." Chase said, grabbing all except the gillyweed from the students' stores as she said them. She set up her cauldron and propped the book open to the recipe. "And some firewhisky, if you've got any."

"Don't push your luck." He handed her the bottles of gillyweed and motherwort.

Chase tied her hair back into a ponytail and began prepping her station.

Some time later, Severus asked, "Did you open that gift from your mother?"

"No, I didn't," Chase said shortly, the familiar surge of contempt rising in her chest, though her hands remained steady as she sliced and chopped the ingredients.

"When are you going to grow up and accept her apology?"

"It has nothing to do with maturity, Severus. She left me, and maybe if she'd made any effort to get in touch I might have an incentive to forgive her. But she didn't. What am I supposed to make of that?" She paused to light a low fire under her cauldron. "Unless you've got some new information for me about her?"

"No, I don't," he said, and from his tone Chase knew he was telling the truth.

Neither of them spoke for a while, then Severus said, "Chase, we need to talk about what you're going to do when the Dark Lord returns."

"Severus, we've been over this," Chase said, looking up briefly from stirring the contents of her cauldron. "People say You-Know-Who's body was destroyed the night he tried to kill Harry Potter. How can he come back if he hasn't got a body?"

"You remember what happened to Quirrell four years ago. He can share another wizard's body."

"Touché," Chase admitted.

"But that wouldn't explain why it's coming back..." He seemed as though he'd thought out loud with that statement, and rubbed his left forearm almost unconsciously.

Chase looked at the potion's directions, gave it one last stir, and left it to simmer as she turned to Severus. "What does the Dark Mark do, just mark you as a Death Eater?"

"It was his means of calling us," Severus said, snapping out of his thoughts. "When it burned black, every Death Eater was to apparate to his side. That it's becoming clearer and darker is a sign that he is returning. It hasn't been this dark since the last time he was powerful."

"Well, let's say you're right and he is coming back," Chase said. "I can understand why you want to keep away from him, but why are you so concerned about me? If you're not returning to him-"

"It has nothing to do with whether or not I'm returning to him. It has everything to do with you staying off his radar."

Chase scoffed. "Severus, contrary to what you might think, I'm not stupid. I wouldn't join You-Know-Who in a million years."

"You say that now," Severus said. "And it has nothing to do with you being stupid or not. The Dark Lord has ways of making people join him that even the best and brightest wouldn't see coming."

"So what should I do? Cower at home until he's gone? Your cloak would be enough to cover us both, I'm sure."

"Quit being a smart aleck, for starters," Severus growled. "Next: If Dumbledore offers to hide you, let him. He'll make sure you're well out of the Dark Lord's reach."

"What about Damien?"

"What about him?"

Chase looked at Severus with open disgust. "And you think I'm the idiot. Has it escaped your notice, Severus, that my boyfriend is Muggleborn? Or that according to You-Know-Who's creed, Muggleborns are the scum of the earth, fit only for killing and torturing? I'm not going anywhere without Damien, and that's the end of it."

"You can discuss the matter with him. If he wants to go into hiding with you, I can't see why he wouldn't."

"I can think of six reasons."

"Oh?" Severus smirked.

"His mother, Laurie, Jessica, Rachael, Sadie, and Mackenzie." Chase ticked them off on her fingers. "He's not going to leave them, especially if they could be in danger from You-Know-Who."

"All Muggles will be in danger when the Dark Lord returns," Severus said, as though that settled the matter.

"You're asking an awful lot of Damien, you know." Chase looked at the potion recipe again and turned off the heat. "And I don't understand why we should hide, anyway. It's not like you're going back into You-Know-Who's service-"

"I am, in some capacity."

Chase dropped her ladle on the table with a clang. "Run that by me again?"

"I'm going to spy on the Death Eaters for Dumbledore," Severus continued. "I'm the only person who can, given my, ah... Certain qualifications."

"I see," Chase said, though she wasn't sure she did. "Well, I'll talk with him and see what he wants to do. This whole situation's going to be tricky."

Severus nodded.

XXX

The morning of Chase's eighteenth birthday, January 21st, dawned bright and cold. She got a few gifts from her friends and happy wishes through the day, but it was Damien's suggestion that they revisit their special room in the Transfiguration corridor that Chase really wanted to hear. Just after midnight, she left Ravenclaw Tower to meet Damien at the main staircase.

"Damien, knock it off," she mock-scolded as he lifted some hair off her neck and planted a line of little kisses down it once they reached the landing.

"Come on, it's just a nibble."

Chase giggled and turned to him. "You, sir," she said, putting her arms around him, "are incorrigable." She smacked his butt playfully. "Besides, you've gotta eat your veg before you get dessert."

"Wait a minute, I've gotta eat what before I get dessert?" A devilish grin spread across his face as Chase realized her mistake too late. She stuck her tongue out at him and pulled him in the direction of the room.

A sudden clattering and wailing stopped them both. Damien pulled Chase into the shadows between two suits of armor, and as extra insurance, Chase cast a Disillusionment Charm on them both. Barely breathing and definitely not moving, they watched as a Triwizard egg spun around on the marble floor. Then they heard Filch's cry of "PEEVES!" and Chase knew she and Damien would be stuck where they were for a while.

"Egg?" Filch said quietly. "My sweet-" (Oh great, that flea-ridden atrocity is with him, too, Chase thought disgustedly) "-this is a Triwizard clue! This belongs to a school champion! Peeves! You've been stealing!" Filch's pouchy face appeared, tearing aside the tapestry that hid the stairs. "Hiding, are you? I'm coming to get you, Peeves. You've gone and stolen a Triwizard clue, Peeves; Dumbledore'll have you out of here for this, you filthy, pilfering poltergeist!"

Chase groped the air around her midsection until she caught Damien's hand. "One squeeze is yes, two no," she breathed. "Did you see Peeves on the way down here?" Two squeezes. "Neither did I."

"Hush!" Damien hissed.

"Filch! What's going on?"

Severus! Chase's stomach turned icy. If he caught her and Damien out of bed at this hour, they were done for. Severus looked livid, standing there in a long, gray nightshirt (if the situation hadn't been so dire, Chase might have laughed at the sight).

"It's Peeves, Professor. He threw this egg down the stairs."

Chase barely drew breath as Severus hurried up the stairs and stood beside Filch.

"Peeves?" Severus said softly, staring at the egg in Filch's hand. "But Peeves couldn't get into my office..."

Why did Severus have a Triwizard egg in his office? Chase thought, bewildered.

"This egg was in your office, Professor?" Filch said, looking as confused as Chase felt.

"Of course not!" Severus snapped. "I heard banging and wailing-"

"Yes, Professor, that was the egg-" Filch began.

"-I was coming to investigate-"

"-Peeves threw it, Professor-"

"-and when I passed my office, I saw that the torches were lit and a cupboard door was ajar! Somebody has been searching it!"

This caught Chase's attention; why would someone search a professor's office? More importantly, who would?

"But Peeves couldn't-"

"I know he couldn't, Filch!" Severus snapped again. "I seal my office with a spell none but a wizard could break." He looked up the stairs; for a moment, Chase thought he was staring right at her and Damien; then she remembered that they were Disillusioned and completely invisible to both Severus and Filch. Then he looked back down the corridor. "I want you to come and help me search for the intruder, Filch."

"I... Yes, Professor, but-" Filch looked around hopelessly. Mrs. Norris weaved around his legs. "The thing is, Professor, the Headmaster will have to listen to me this time. Peeves has been stealing from a student. It might be my chance to get him thrown out of the castle once and for all!" He visibly brightened at the idea.

"Filch," Severus said through gritted teeth. "I don't give a damn about that wretched poltergeist. It's my office that's-"

He stopped talking abruptly, and then Chase heard it, too: The trademark clunk, clunk, clunk of Mad-Eye Moody's wooden leg. Had she thought things couldn't get any worse? They were worse. If Severus didn't catch them, Moody and his magical eye would. Moody stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He looked up and Filch and Severus while they looked down to Moody. "Pajama party, is it?" He growled.

"Professor Snape and I heard noises, Professor," Filch said. "Peeves the Poltergeist throwing things around as usual. And then Professor Snape discovered that someone had broken into his off-"

"Shut up!" Severus hissed.

Moody took a step closer to the bottom of the stairs. His eye was traveling over Snape, Filch, and (Chase nearly let out a despairing moan) stopped, for the briefest of seconds, right where she and Damien were standing. His mouth opened slightly in surprise. It's over, thought Chase wildly. No more prefect privileges. No more Tournament. We're going to be chucked out on our arses-

"Did I hear that correctly, Snape? Someone broke into your office?"

"It is unimportant," Severus said coldly.

Chase blinked down at him. Severus was saying that his office being broken into wasn't important? And to Moody, of all people? Who are you, and what did you do to Severus Snape?

"On the contrary," Moody growled. "It is very important. Who would want to break into your office?"

"A student, I daresay," Severus said tensely, a vein flickering at his temple. "It has happened before; potion ingredients have gone missing from my private stores. Students attempting illicit mixtures, no doubt."

"Reckon they were after potion ingredients, eh?" Moody said softly. "Not hiding anything else in your office, are you?"

"You know I'm hiding nothing, Moody, as you've searched my office pretty thoroughly yourself." Severus's voice had gone soft and dangerous, the vein at his temple pulsing more rapidly still.

"Auror's privilege, Snape," Moody said, his mutilated face twisting into a smile. "Dumbledore told me to keep an eye-"

"Dumbledore happens to trust me!" Severus said through clenched teeth. "I refuse to believe that he gave you orders to search my office."

"'Course Dumbledore trusts you," Moody said coolly. "He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me, I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, you know what I mean?"

Almost convulsively, Severus seized his left forearm with his right hand. Chase realized, with a thrill of fear, that he was clutching his Dark Mark; with another, she realized that Moody, being a retired Auror, knew that Severus had been a Death Eater.

Moody laughed. "Get back to bed, Snape."

"You don't have the authority to send me anywhere!" Severus hissed, letting go of his arm; Chase could tell he was angry with himself for giving away his Mark. "I have as much right to prowl this school after dark as you do."

"Prowl away," said Moody menacingly. "I look forward to meeting you in a dark corridor sometime. You've dropped something, by the way." He pointed; Chase's eyes followed. Moody was pointing at an ancient piece of parchment lying some fifteen feet away from where she and Damien were standing. As Severus reached for it, though, Moody cried out "Accio parchment!" and the parchment flew from Severus's long fingers into Moody's scarred hands.

"My mistake," he said. "It's mine. Must have dropped it earlier."

Chase thought vaguely that if she stopped trying to make sense of this whole scenario, her life might be less complicated, if only for a bit.

"Potter," Severus said quietly.

"What's that?" Moody asked, folding up the parchment and pocketing it.

"Potter!" Severus snarled, looking up the staircase where the parchment had been laying. "That egg is Potter's egg! That piece of parchment belongs to Potter! I have seen it before. I recognize it! Potter is here! Potter, in his invisibility cloak!" He began making his way up the stairs, groping at the air like a blind man.

Chase shook her head. Of all the students Severus could have a hard-on for punishing at this school, doesn't it have to be Harry Potter...

"There's nothing there, Snape," barked Moody. "But I'll be happy to tell the Headmaster how quickly your mind jumped to Harry Potter."

"Meaning what?" Severus spat, pausing on the stairs with his arm still outstretched.

"Meaning that Dumbledore's very interested to know who's got it in for that boy." Moody limped nearer to the bottom of the stairs. "And so am I, Snape. Very interested."

Severus looked down at Moody. After a moment, he slowly lowered his arms. "I merely thought," he said in a voice of forced calm, "that if Potter is wandering around after hours again -it's an unfortunate habit of his- he should be stopped. For... For his own safety."

"Ah, I see," Moody said softly. "Got Potter's best interests at heart, have you?"

Severus and Moody stared each other down for a moment. Mrs. Norris, still weaving around Filch's legs, meowed loudly. Then Severus said, in a curt voice, "I think I will go back to bed."

"Best idea you've had all night," Moody growled. "Now, Filch, if you'll just give me that egg."

"No!" Filch said, clutching the egg. "Professor, this is evidence of Peeves's treachery-"

"It's the property of the champion he stole it from," said Moody. "Hand it over now." Filch did, looking as though someone had forced him to swallow a lemon.

Severus swept past Filch and Moody, obviously in a towering temper. Filch chirruped to Mrs. Norris and they too disappeared behind the door. Moody waited until they were out of earshot before turning back to the staircase. "All right," he growled. "Potter, Grant, and Carter, front and center. Cloaks and Disillusionment Charms off. Now!"

Chase lifted the enchantment off Damien, and they both stepped out from the shadows. In an instant Harry Potter appeared as well, his leg caught in the trick stair halfway down the staircase. "Harry!" Chase said, shocked. "So my uncle was right." She and Damien raced down to the stair above the trick one and pulled Harry free. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," he said, then he turned to Moody. "I was figuring out the egg's clue, Professor."

"I surmised as much, Potter," Moody said. "But you two," he growled, turning to Chase and Damien. "Doesn't take a genius to figure out what you were up to, either. You could have your prefects' rights stripped from you, at the very least; you'd be lucky not to be expelled. And you, Carter, you're a Triwizard champion. I thought you'd be a little smarter than that."

Damien's face flushed, and he looked down at his shoes. Chase, also embarrassed, looked directly at Moody. "I don't care if you tell Flitwick," she said. "But please, don't tell Snape. He'll kill me."

"And me," Damien said, not looking up from his sneakers.

"Don't worry about it," Moody growled. "You're not the first pair of lovebirds sneaking around this castle, and you won't be the last. But you'd best return to your common rooms now. I have to talk with Potter about this fascinating parchment of his..."

Chase and Damien nodded. The mood had been shattered; neither of them was eager to get caught by someone else -McGonagall, perhaps, or Severus- who wouldn't be so forgiving. Especially Severus, not with how angry he already was at Moody.

"Chase," Damien said, stopping at the portrait of the Fat Lady. "What was that your uncle grabbed on his left forearm?"

Chase glanced at the Fat Lady; she looked like she was asleep, but Chase was taking no more chances tonight. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

Damien nodded. "Good night." He kissed her on the forehead, then turned to the Fat Lady. "Wake up," he called.

The Fat Lady jerked awake and straightened up indignantly. "Don't even think of saying the password out loud until she's gone," she said, pointing at Chase.

"I was just leaving," Chase said coolly, and turned on her heel and strode off to Ravenclaw Tower.

"What gets shorter the longer it lingers?" The eagle-headed knocker asked.

"Time," Chase said.

"Correct." The door opened and Chase headed up to the seventh-year girls' dormitory, where she pulled on her pajamas and fell into bed. The question of how she would tell Damien that Severus had been a Death Eater, would go back into You-Know-Who's service if You-Know-Who came back, and that that would necessitate them and Damien's family to go into hiding, kept her tossing and turning sleeplessly for hours.