Chapter 10

Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy were punctual. They were in the Forbidden Forest, precisely where the ex-spy had taken the Dark Mark and sealed his fate. It was a starless new moon night, and the sky looked like a huge black blanket that covered the world. The screams of Bellatrix Lestrange insulting Angelica mixed with the sound of the wind and the hoot of an owl. Severus and Draco illuminated the pathway with a simple cast of lumos and followed the voice of the witch. The pair arrived just in time to witness Angelica being tied with ropes to a tree and spitting in the Black sister's face, her hazel eyes shimmering wildly against the darkness like those of a cat. Draco felt relief at the sight of his cousin being very much alive, although fear was still his main emotion. By his part, Severus felt a sudden wrath at seeing the trapped muggle. He was somehow relieved and proud that she was such a fighter, yet concerned that her reckless attitude may get them all killed.

"You filthy-"

"Long time no see, Lestrange," Severus interrupted the pureblood witch. However, he wasn't looking at her but at Angelica.

Angelica's eyes widened and locked with his. The gold in her orbs radiated hope, hope that turned into terror in a fraction of a second.

Bellatrix faced him and smirked wickedly.

"I see you received my post," she taunted him, glancing sideways at her nephew for a second.

"Obviously."

"Now, Snape. Don't be an arse. I could always break the branches with a simple jinx if you get me mad," sing-sang the crazy woman, pointing above her.

Draco and Severus followed the indication with his eyes, only to see that the babies were tied with ropes on a bough from the same tree Wilson in which was tethered. Both wizards shuddered at the sight. The only consolation was that the babies appeared asleep as they were making no sound.

"You are a lunatic, bitch!" bawled Angelica, trying to break free yet failing miserably.

"Ah, ah, ah, filthy muggle. I'd keep quiet if I were you…" she mocked.

"Let them be, Lestrange. They are not worthy of your time. You have us. If memory serves me well, that was what you wanted," he said slowly, a cold expression on his face.

"Goddamn, Severus! Just take Draco and go! She has us! She will kill us and then she'll kill you too! It's a trap! Save yourselves, dammit, before it is too late! She put a spell to prevent you from apparating! You need to run and don't look ba-"

Bellatrix waved her wand and casted a jinx that impeded the woman to speak.

"Oh, thank Merlin! I should have shut you up a long time ago… My ears are going to explode…" the witch whined. "So? You won't believe this foolish muggle, would you, Snape?" Severus didn't reply, and Bellatrix simply smirked and demanded, "Give me your wands."

"Let the babies free first."

The witch did, surprisingly. Ezra and Samuel floated, guided by Bellatrix's wand, until they landed on the ground.

"Now their mother."

"Not until you give me your wands," she commanded.

Bellatrix wanted to have something that prevented them from running away at the last minute. Severus set his wand on the ground and kicked it towards the witch and Draco followed suit. The Death Eater stepped on their wands. She cracked an evil grin and pointed her wand at the twins.

"You should have listened to the muggle! Now she's going to see them die before I kill her too! And you are going to watch!"

Severus and Draco exchanged a knowing look. In a matter of a second, Draco took Ezra and Samuel and flew away, the same way his godfather had taught him earlier. Simultaneously, Severus accioed the wands non-verbally, stupefied Bellatrix and hurried to loosen the ropes that fastened Angelica, all while muttering the counter-spell to let her speak.

"We are going to go now. Hold me," he enjoined.

"My babies!" she cried out.

"Draco's got them. Come on!" he urged.

Angelica didn't hesitate then, and Severus flew away from the scene with the muggle clinging to him. Once they were far away, he apparated. They appeared in a forest, close to Andromeda's house. Draco was waiting for them with two scared wailing babies in his arms. Angelica sighed, relieved, and let go of the wizard immediately, embracing her babies.

"Shhh… Mama is here. Everything will be fine," she choked, some tears escaping her eyes.

She dried them off quickly, and met Severus's black eyes. She had only two words for him: thank you. The moment she pronounced them with her emotion filled voice, Snape felt that everything had been worth it. Warmth was spreading across his chest, creating in him a sense of satisfaction. Their eyes were locked, and for a moment, he felt like only Angelica was there with him, as if the trees, Draco and even the babies had dissolved.

"We must get to our Aunt's place…" said Draco, pulling Severus back to reality.

Angelica nodded and together, they marched towards the house. When they knocked, Angelica was still shaking like a leaf, and truth be told, Draco was slightly trembling too. The only one who looked as composed as ever was Severus. Andromeda opened the door, and her first thought was that she had already helped them enough. Nevertheless, when she spotted that both her niece and nephew looked juddered, her expression softened.

"What's happened?" she asked, skipping the greetings.

"Your psychologically unbalanced sister found us and kidnapped your niece and her sons. We have escaped, but we cannot return to the house you offered us," Severus recited in his silky voice. "It isn't safe."

"And you expect me to help you again," finished Tonks for him, her eyebrow lifted.

She wanted to shut the door in their faces and forget about them. Yet, she knew that she would never forgive herself if she abandoned Angelica, the kids, and even Draco after the events she had been informed of. She stepped aside and beckoned them to enter.

In the end, Andromeda told them she would allow them stay with her. She had enough space, and the truth was that she felt lonely since Ted passed away and Nymphadora settled down with Remus Lupin. Having the babies around and getting to know Angelica seemed a good plan, even if she had to endure Severus. She deemed that as long as he minded his own business, everything would be fine. What bothered her was her relationship with her nephew. Narcissa had cut ties with her years ago. She would have abhorred that Draco was under her roof now, but she couldn't forsake him.

Andromeda set up a room for Angelica and the twins, and transfigured a crib along with some baby supplies. Angelica put her sons to sleep and sat on the bed. The events of the day flashed in her mind as if they were a muggle movie, only this time she was the main character and the actions weren't fictional. She began to cry unwittingly. She wasn't very loud, but the weak weeps were enough for Draco and Severus to hear her. After all, each of them had a room of their own which was close to her and the babies.

"We should talk to her," suggested the youngest.

"It's late," was all Severus said, "I just wish to rest."

"Likewise, but if she doesn't stop crying, Samuel and Ezra will wake up and then none of us will get any sleep," argued the boy.

Severus groaned, seeing his logic. He nodded and assured him that he'd take care of her and that he should go to bed. Draco was only happy to comply. Severus knocked on her door, softly so as not to wake the babies. Angelica's whimpers ceased abruptly, and he interpreted it as an invitation to come in. He adjusted the door and sat next to her.

"What do you want?" she asked.

She didn't sound bitter, angry or sarcastic, as usual. Instead, there was a worn-out tone overpowering her voice. It blocked him from making a snarky remark. In its place, he whispered, "I want to know if you are okay."

She seemed taken aback for the request, and she simply shrugged and gulped, "I am fine."

Severus snorted, "I don't even need to use legilimency on you to fathom that you are an appalling liar. If you want your lies to be believable, the first rule is to keep eye contact. Keep your voice steady. Never shrug. It gives the impression you are making up an excuse. Don't swallow too hard. Usually, your mouth goes dry when you lie, and that's why the body reacts lik–"

"I can see you're a human polygraph. Can you skip the lecture?" she interrupted him, ignoring the magical term she wasn't familiar with, "I don't need you to point out everything I do wrong."

"Well, that's too bad, because I am going to keep indicating everything you did wrong today, starting by opening the door to a bloody Death Eater when I gave you detailed instructions."

"Sod off, Severus. I am the first one that regrets doing that, okay?" she confessed bitingly.

There was a long silence, and it became more awkward as the time went by. Severus couldn't take it anymore, so he shook his head and asked, "Why did you do it in the first place, Angelica? I thought you were more intelligent."

His tone had been far from soft, but Angelica answered him anyway, being used to it. Her voice was so low Snape had to make an effort to listen to her version of events.

"Somebody rang and I saw that it was Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds."

"The muggle neighbors?"

"Yes. Mr. Reynold was badly injured and they asked me if they could enter while they waited for an ambulance to arrive."

"Why couldn't they wait in their own home? They live next to Andromeda's place."

The woman sighed, "They said that they had lost the keys, so I let them in. I looked for the first-aid kit and when I returned, Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds weren't there. I think they had somehow transformed themselves to look like them, but they had been those same Death Eaters that came home the first time around."

"Polyjuice potion…" muttered the man under his breath, more to himself than to her.

In any case, the woman kept talking, as if she hadn't heard him.

"They made fun of me, said that my weakness was that I always helped people in need… They had Ezra and Samuel," she held back a sob then, and Severus felt her body shuddering against his, "I freaked out. The only thing on my mind was to get my gun and defend myself and the kids. I managed to dodge their incantations and catch my weapon. They were disconcerted at first when I pointed it at them… They even laughed. I was so nervous I wasted two shots, but I hit the man. The witch got mad, and when I pulled the trigger, I realized I had run out of bullets. I was petrified, and that's when the woman caught me. She wrote the note and then apparated away with me and the babies."

"The blood in the note was not yours, then," he assumed. "It was Fenrir's."

She nodded and when he noticed she wasn't planning on giving him more information, he asked what had happened until midnight. After all, Ezra, Samuel and Angelica had been at the mercy of an unhinged witch with lethal skills.

"She starved us… She didn't give us water. She kept taunting me about being the biggest dishonor of the Rosier family…" she murmured.

Although she was looking at him, Severus felt like her eyes weren't watching him, as if she was replaying the events in her mind.

"So she knows your parentage."

"Apparently," she said cuttingly.

"Did she do anything else?" he inquired with a strange softness in his usually stern voice.

"No," assured Angelica.

She didn't realize she had shrugged. She didn't acknowledge she had broken eye-contact. She definitely didn't perceive she had gulped after cracking the negative adverb.

"I thought you paid attention when I told you what actions to avoid when lying, Angelica," was all he said.

Angelica blushed, knowing he had caught her evading the truth again. After some deliberation, she rolled her sleeves up, hoping that what he'd see there would satiate his curiosity. Thanks to the little light emitted by the lamp on the nightstand, Severus could seamlessly read the words filthy muggle craved on her left forearm and disgrace on her right one. The wounds had started to scab.

"A knife," she susurrated.

Snape saw how she was trying hard to be strong in front of him. He couldn't begin to imagine what this woman had endured at Bellatrix's hands. Unconsciously, his fingers grazed around the words that would leave a scar. She retired her arms brusquely, as if his touch had burned her.

"Sorry," he mumbled, feeling like an idiot.

"No, don't apologize. It's just that…it still hurts. I… You wanted to know if I was okay. Well, I am not okay. I had a horrible day and I killed a man," she said, losing some luminosity in her eyes. For some reason, Severus hated that sight of hers.

"It was in self-defense. He was an evilly sick werewolf. He bit children just for fun, so that they'd turn into werewolves too. You actually did both the wizarding world and the muggle world a favor by putting an end to his life," murmured Severus coldly.

Angelica wasn't convinced. She kept shaking her head and explained, "I've been scarred for life, and not only on my skin. I still took away somebody's life. I thought I was going to die. I thought I had failed my sons. When you and Draco came, I felt like I was dragging you to your own death too."

Severus's glance was directed to her wounded arms, reading the awful words over and over again. He knew what she meant by being scarred not only on her skin. Her soul wasn't left intact after the experience. That was why he had been against killing Dumbledore himself in the first place, but he had had no choice. Angelica hadn't had a choice either. Now both of them were scarred souls. Perhaps, they were more similar than he wanted to admit. Severus cleared his throat and attempted to light up the mood by saying, "Thankfully, my intellect is superior to the dunderheads I had to teach Potions to for years, and I was able to plan a way to get us out of that mess."

She chuckled trough her tears at his comment. Severus felt like that was a beautiful sound that he had seldom had the pleasure to listen to. Suddenly, he yearned to freeze time and forget about their trouble, and only focus on the way her shoulders shook and her nose crinkled adorably. His wish didn't come true, and when her gurgles subsided, she whispered, "Thank you again. I don't even want to think what would have happened if you hadn't saved my family."

His mouth went dry at her words, but he managed to gulp and say, "I took a vow."

Angelica smirked and teased with a twinkle in her striking eyes, "I think that isn't the only reason, Severus. You swallowed hard. Are you sure you aren't hiding the truth?"

So, Angelica wouldn't have been a dunderhead at school. She was a fast learner. He stared dumbfounded at her for some time, something which only served to amuse the woman.

"Cat got your tongue?" she quipped.

The comment made him recover from his numb state. He actually felt relieved that her sarcastic mode was on again. It reminded him of the Angelica he had met, instead of the crying mess he had come into.

"Hardly," he muttered, "I simply have nothing else to say."

The muggle smirked at him, a clear sign she didn't believe him. Slowly, her lips contorted and transformed the smirk into a smile that didn't show her teeth. He stared mesmerized at her fleshy lips, not really understanding why. Either, she didn't seem to notice or she chose to ignore that, for she mumbled whole-heartedly, "Thank you for talking to me and making me feel better, Severus. I really needed that."

Severus gave a nod and stood up, disregarding the shock he felt upon her words. He was about to leave, but halted in the doorway. Without turning around to face her, he murmured loud enough for her to hear, "You may be a muggle, but you aren't filthy and you definitely aren't a disgrace. Assisting people in need is not weakness. Kindness isn't weakness, it is strength. Trust me, I know it. I find it immensely hard to be kind. You are a strong woman, and your scars make you even stronger."

With that said, he abandoned the room. It was Angelica's turn to feel dumbstruck.