Science and Magic

by MrsRJLupin

Cecilia Frobisher is a muggle who has been employed by Dumbledore to work on a potion for Harry to defeat Voldemort. What happens when she is forced to work with Snape? There is a completed sequel to this fic and 3/4 through the last story as of April 18. Feel free to download the audio from my Youtube Playlist: MrsRJ Lupin (a space between RJ and Lupin)

13. A Close Shave

DISCLAIMER: ALL OF THE CHARACTERS AND SCENARIOS BELONG TO JKR AND/OR WARNER BROS.

88888888

Cecilia hurried after Snape, though the back gates of the castle, down the hill and towards the lake. The cool autumn air hit her face as she got outside, and she shivered a little. If she hadn't been thinking about where in the world he was disappearing off to, she would have been thankful that she had pulled a cardigan on round her shoulders before she left.

She followed him across the dew-moist grass at the back of the castle, having to almost sprint in the effort to keep him in sight; she'd thought she's almost lost him twenty minutes ago, but had been lucky to spot him slipping out of the door from the teacher's quarters and into the castle courtyard. He passed the Astronomy Tower now, and headed down the incline. Cecilia paused slightly to catch her breath again before continuing with her pursuit.

Where is it you're going Severus, she though, her heart thumping hard in her chest with the effort. What are you doing that you have to run off like that every so often? She could not see the path she was following due to the failing light and as she fixed her focus on the figure of Snape she stumbled over a hillock and slipped down a small incline.

I'm not going to lose you, she thought determinedly to herself as she ran down the steps close by the Owlery, and as she looked at where Snape was heading fleeting glimpses of the day not too long ago of her walking in the grounds and her eponymous meeting with Hagrid flicked into her mind. Snape was heading into the Forbidden Forest.

Redoubling her speed she hurried to catch him up as he strode away through the evening mist, and as the edge of the forest loomed into view, she paused and considered the situation.

Whatever he was doing, she reasoned, taking in the imposing and forbidding nature of the trees, it had to be something perfidious, or else he wouldn't feel the need to slip off like this. She tried to recall what Hagrid had said about him at the feast, about him having a lot of things on...

Cecilia glanced ahead of her. The trees, just beyond the edge of the Owlery were imposing and forbidding. Hagrid had warned her of the dangers, of werewolves and other horrors, but if she turned back now she would never know what he was up to. She looked up at the trees.

They stood tall and straight, their statuesque presence imposing their inhospitality and, inhaling deeply she shivered as the gloom enveloped her and began to pick her way through the roots of the trees, following the path Snape had taken. He was still just about in her sight.

It was then she noticed outlined in the gloom an emanation, a haze of green. And just on the cusp of hearing too, sounds, like voices whose amplitude, as Snape walked forward, rose. If she could just get beyond here, she would be able to hear what was being spoken and see who it was who was speaking.

Keeping her eyes focused ahead, she stepped forward and almost fell over a tree root. Cecilia stuck out her arms involuntarily to break her fall, but before she reached the ground she felt a large arm grip her round the waist as a hand covered her mouth.

"Mrs Frobisher, you should never have come 'ere," she heard Hagrid whisper near her ear, his hot breath a shock to the side of her head that had become chilled in the cold night air.

"I'm takin' yer out of harm's way," he added, lifting her up and began to head out of the Forbidden Forest with Cecilia under his arm. "You should not of followed Professor Snape," he continued chidingly as they left the forest. "Your scaramangering just might have been the last thing you ever did..."

"Put me down, Hagrid," whispered back Cecilia indignantly. "What were you doing following me in the first place?"

"I was in the Forest, guarding, when I noticed yer," continued Hagrid, as he proceeded towards his hut, now carrying her under one arm. "But I did think I'd credit you with more sense, Mrs Frobisher. You know what Professor Snape has to do, and you know the dangers he has to face." He pushed open the door, and she saw the glow of the fireplace illuminate the rough wooden floor in front of her.

"Look, will you please stop carrying me?" said Cecilia, annoyed. "Why is it any of your business where I go anyway?"

"Because I don't want as you to be killed, Mrs Frobisher, does I?" He swung her round, and dropper her unceremoniously onto a chair and, walking around the other side of the table reached for a log for the fire.

"And if not for your own silly sake, then for all the others as depend on yer." He walked back, throwing the log onto the fire and repositioning the kettle over it. "Tea?" She nodded. Her hair was still damp from the bath she'd taken earlier, and she'd begin to feel chilly.

"What I want to know is why, after all yer know of Professor Snape, would you get it into your mind to follow him? If I hadn't noticed yer, all hell would have broken loose..." He glanced over to Cecilia. "Yer don't know, Mrs Frobisher, do yer?"

She swallowed, about to make a rebuttal but, feeling a touch of humility, glanced down slightly and shook her head.

"What can you tell me, Hagrid?" she asked. "I'm supposed to be working with him, but there seems such a...chasm between us..." Hagrid raised an eyebrow.

"Well it aint none o' my business what you and Professor Snape get up to of course..." he began, then frowned as Cecilia laughed lightly. "No a chasm...a gap..." she stretched out her arms to demonstrate her meaning. Hagrid raised his big bushy eyebrows.

"I mean he's so remote, it's hard to relate to him," she added. "If only he'd managed to do what I'd asked him to do, we would have been miles ahead by now. Anyone would think that he just doesn't care about what we're supposed to do..."

"Well, as I said, ain't none of my business o' course, " said Hagrid slowly, wiping out a couple of tin mugs with a cloth that had seen better days, "and I should hate to tread on the toes of someone as learned as yourself Mrs Frobisher," he placed the cups on the uneven table and reached for the kettle, "as I am sure you have already taken inter account that Professor Snape is not doing business for the Order of the Phoenix and his lack of attention to your work is done just to set you out..." He handed her a tin mug and looked at her, pointedly.

"But..." she began then paused, taking the scalding hot mug from Hagrid and balancing it on the upturned box next to her. Maybe she had been taking things too seriously. Perhaps she had been too focused on the work that she had ignored everything that was going on around her.

"I'm not used to this, Hagrid," she said, in an altogether more humble tone. "This..." she waved her hand in the direction of Hogwarts, "it's hard to adjust to..." she looked down and sighed.

"And I can't promise Dumbledore I won't go where my curiosity takes me if I think I'm onto something but if I end up in trouble as a result, it's like you say Hagrid…but it's not just me..." She sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. God she was an idiot sometimes. When would she learn not everything was open for examination and analysis? Why, when it came to cold hard science did she behave like a headstrong child?

"I di'n mean to talk out of turn..." He looked at her and smiled encouragingly. "Mrs Frobisher…Cecilia...you're bound to make a few mistakes...a muggle here, it's never happened before, not in the history of Hogwarts..." He pulled a chair up next to her. "Look, drink your tea. I'm sure whatever's on your mind, it probably ain't as bad as all that..." She looked up and smiled.

"I need to piece it together. Whatever I don't know...it's hard to explain. It's like talking in two languages some of the time...mugglish and wizardish..." she chuckled wanly at her own lame syntactic joke. "We're talking about the same things most of the time, I know we are, but I need to know what it is before we can understand why, and it's very difficult when he won't talk to me, or just clears off like tonight..." She paused; it was now or never...

"Can you tell me...where was Severus going tonight? I mean it's something to do with the Order, isn't it?" She looked earnestly at Hagrid.

"That I can't tell yer; it's not my place. You'd be better off asking Professor Dumbledore, or Professor Snape himself." He sat down on an overlarge chair, filling it snugly, and took a sip of tea.

"But he went regardless, didn't he?" she persisted. "It wouldn't have been anything to do with what I said to him, would it?"

"All I can tell yer," said Hagrid slowly, "is that Professor Snape went down to the Forbidden Forest tonight because of the Order work he is carrying out. It won't be to do with anything you said to him Cecilia, trust me on that," he added, glancing at her. "How's yer tea?"

Cecilia glanced at the mug. The milk appeared to have added a greenish tinge to it. She lifted the mug uncertainly to her lips, taking a sip.

"It's hot," she said, attempting the best smile she could to illustrate her gratitude. "Thank you, Hagrid." She brushed a stray tear from her cheek.

"How did you know I was there, Hagrid?" said Cecilia, at length. "In the Forbidden Forest?"

"It were pure luck, actually," replied Hagrid, smiling briefly. "Carrying out my gamekeepering, I was, then I noticed you go past the Black Lake. Heard you breathing heavy in the Forest and wham, saved yer."

"Saved me from who?" said Cecilia

"The Death Eaters who Professor Snape was meetin'" said Hagrid. "Oh dear," he added hastily. "I shouldn't 'ave told you that. Dumbledore'll string me up by the thumbs..."

"Death Eaters?" said Cecilia. "Yes, I know about them. The followers of Voldermort." She looked at Hagrid. "Look, Dumbledore knows I know. But I suppose if Severus is meeting them in the Forest, its Order business like you say, so I needn't know."

She sipped her tea again then wished she hadn't. Hagrid's face went from worried to relieved, to confused.

"But if yer know about them, Cecilia, why did you follow Professor Snape? Surely you know what they are capable of doin' to muggles?" She nodded.

"I've seen some moving pictures," she replied. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so impetuous. But I didn't know he was meeting Death Eaters or I wouldn't have followed him." But if he was on a mission for the Order, why didn't he just say so, she added to herself.

"Hagrid," she said, yawning slightly despite herself. "Can you tell me about Voldermort, about the last time he became powerful? I've read the books, but I think I'd understand it better if someone who lived through it were to tell me."

Hagrid got to his feet, and poured some more tea from the huge teapot into his mug. He gestured towards Cecilia's, but she shook her head. She curled her leg underneath her and, despite the warmth from the fire, she shivered.

"Well, they was dark times, dark times," he paced back round to the other side of the table, and picked up his mug. "Yeh have to understand Cecilia, that some wizards were dragged into You-Know-Who's world; some were caught up in the wossname...glamour of it all. Some, though, chose it willingly..." He took a sip of his tea.

"Twenty odd years ago, when You-Know-Who was at his most terrible, no-one was safe, not even wizards. If yeh weren't with him, if yer weren't on his side, he would find yer out. Gods only know how many wizards were tortured, died at his hands. And what he were offering were more power than anyone could imagine for well...just a little thing, to hate muggles; only nat'rl to most wizards on account of muggles being so different from wizards as yer well know, Cecilia. He played on that; played on wizard's suspicions of that difference to take his chance and get a hold o' the whole world. There are wizards even now who, though playin' at respectability and holdin' upstandin' jobs, who are trying to help him return to power."

Hagrid paused and looked across at where Cecilia was sitting, knees still pulled up to her chest, looking earnestly at him. When she had not asked a question or made a comment about what he had said, he took another sip of his tea and continued.

"Well Harry, of course, changed all that. Lily, his mother and him. Never been anything like it before or since. But since You-Know-Who returned to his full power, a few months ago, Dumbledore, well. He knew he had to do something more than he was doing, something big. Otherwise we would be returnin' to those dark times again. But if it makes you feel any better, what Professor Snape was doin' tonight was for Dumbledore; what he always does, it's for the Order...for good…"

Cecilia nodded her head slowly. It was all becoming clear. The key players in this situation were so vitally important to whether You-Know-Who won or was defeated, it was almost too big to comprehend. What it did need was a manager of skill, strength and composure...it needed Dumbledore... Is it any wonder she didn't know the half of it? Would it do herself or her work for Dumbledore any good if she did?

"I think I see now," said Cecilia eventually. "Thank you, Hagrid."

"For what?" he said. "I only said what were true." He stood up and picked up the lukewarm kettle again to reboil the water.

"I still need to ask questions to do this research, though," she continued, shaking her head as Hagrid proffered the teapot. "To do what I need to do there are things that I need to know...and I need to ask Severus things, specifically him because of his extensive knowledge of potions. But I always run the risk of sticking my foot in it; treading on toes. That's why I chose to follow him tonight, to find out for myself the things I've been too afraid to ask…I didn't realise he was on a mission…if only he'd told me..."

She paused, and swallowed, as the realisation of the monumental oversight dawned on her, making her feel particularly stupid. He had told her; in the summer, when he used to go off in the daytimes, and sometimes in the evening. He told her he was working for the Order…

"Hagrid," she said, after a few moments. "Do you…do you think it would be all right if I were to come to talk to you, if I needed to find anything out? To see whether you think it's suitable or not? Just say if it's not," she added hastily, noticing a shadow fall across his large bushy face.

"Me?" He said, raising an eyebrow. "You want to talk to me?"

"Well, not often, only if you can spare the time. It's just, well. My judgement seems off here, sometimes way off. It would be...it would make me feel...more secure..."

She wondered whether she had gone too far; Hagrid stood up almost as quickly as he had sat down, and turned to look out of the window. Finally, he turned back to look at her, his face solemn.

"Why o' course...yeh...it'd be an honour. Anything that I can do for Dumbledore...anything I can do for you...it must be such a difficult time for you Cecilia, a little muggle suchn' yourself...it means a lot you asking, t does."

Cecilia smiled as relief overcame her. At last, someone she could rely on; someone she could at least sound out before taking a stupid risk, like she had done tonight, who wasn't an Order member, or a best friend or cousin of someone...someone whose opinion she could trust…

"It means a lot to me too," she said quietly, "Thank you for the tea Hagrid, and for being so honest with me. I'm going to have to get back to the castle, now though, or I won't be able to get through tomorrow's lessons…"

"Can't let you go back yet," said Hagrid, "Death Eaters will prob'ly still be out there..." He stopped noticing the look of panic cross her face.

"You could always stay here, if you want to of course...only if you don't think it improper...there's a blanket behind you that Fang has sat on for only a week…" Cecilia nodded wearily. It would be stupid of her to leave now; it really would sour relations between Severus and herself; if she had to wait here till the morning anyway, she might as well have a sleep.

"Thanks Hagrid, that would be great. Are you sure Fang won't mind?"

"Not at all; 'e's just an old softy, really," said Hagrid, getting up and refilling the teapot with the boiled water. Cecilia nodded he gestured towards it, and reached behind her to pull the dark brown blanket off the back of her chair, tucking her legs under her. Despite the chair being wooden and hard, Fang's blanket was as soft as eiderdown, despite it smelling like a musty pair of socks. She took the tea from Hagrid.

"So, these tests you're doing, Cecilia," Hagrid said, changing the subject and sitting back down again. "What is it yer doing?"

"Well," said Cecilia, closing down one part of he mind and opening up another. "We've looked at the biological differences between muggles and wizards, and the heritage between us. I think here must be a scientific reason for the difference between us...probably in the DNA..." she paused, looking into Hagrid's confused face.

"I don't know anything about any Danny A, but if you're a wizard, well - 't's in the blood, 'aint it…? That's all there is to it. Don't tell me it's taken you two months to come to that conclusion Cecilia, when any wizard could have told you. Blimey, 't's no wonder muggles are so far behind wizards, tech'ncly speaking..." he laughed and, as everything fell into place, Cecilia laughed too. It's all in the blood. She put her hand to her pocket, touching the parchment which was Sirius's letter to Harry.

Any wizard could have told her...how ironic then that the one wizard who would have least liked to have helped her out in any way was the very wizard who had done so.

88888888

"Good morning, Cecilia, I trust you slept well?" Dumbledore was sitting in what Cecilia had begun to term in her mind his usual position; seated behind his desk, fingers steepled and looking over his spectacles.

"Adequately," she nodded. It was true; she had been quite snug curled up in Fang's blanket in Hagrid's hut and very reluctant to get up at 5am and go. During the brisk walk over the grounds of Hogwarts Hagrid had informed her that Dumbledore had wanted to see her and despite her protests at looking far from her best to see the headmaster of Hogwarts, he had taken her through an hitherto un-noticed door at the bottom of the tallest tower of the castle whose exit at the top led into Dumbledore's office.

She was now standing before him, Hagrid having departed and, vaguely aware that she smelt of dog, began to feel a little uneasy.

"Why do you need to see me, Professor?" she prompted. Dumbledore smiled.

"Professor Snape and I have been able to obtain the samples you requested of wizard blood. I spoke to him at length about your understanding of the situation Cecilia, and he feels that you appreciate the contentious nature of your request." He rose to his feet. Cecilia waited for him to continue.

"I understand your teaching this week has been somewhat of a hit with many of our students," he said, the corners of his mouth flicking up briefly. "Our plan is working on that front."

"However the students of Slytherin..." began Cecilia. "There have been fewer and fewer all week."

"As I expected," said Dumbledore. "Your cover is a success I'm sure you'll agree; I doubt you will have any Slytherin students by Monday, so horrified they are by your presence, that no-one suspects you are not who you say you are – they would never dream that a muggle would come to Hogwarts and no wizard would pretend to be a squib..." He watched the look of horrified realisation pass over her face.

"Dilys overheard you discussing this with Severus; it is an honourable thing Cecilia, that you put yourself out above what is required of you." He paced back to behind the table. "What ever you need to do with respect to the research you are at liberty to do so," he added.

"Severus will be able to provide some of the samples tomorrow evening; many of the Order members were more than happy to contribute. Speaking of which, you are still a member of the Order. There is a meeting tomorrow night at Grimmauld Place. As this coincides with the arrival of the samples, I took the liberty of asking Minerva whether she would act as a liaison between you and the Order, until such time that you have something which you are happy to present to them. I trust you are happy with this?"

Cecilia sighed with relief. She had half expected Dumbledore to be arranging with her to return tomorrow. Despite what she'd said to Tonks and Remus, she wasn't sure whether she could actually face going back there yet...

"That will be fine," said Cecilia. "I do appreciate the trust that you have in me. There is still a lot for me to understand and for Severus...Professor Snape..." she could feel herself blushing and, reaching into her pocket, changed the subject.

"Yesterday Hermione inadvertently gave me this, it's a letter from Sirius to Harry which I read before I realised what it was. Would you mind returning it for me? I would do it myself only I would prefer to keep Sirius out of the research as far as possible." Dumbledore nodded briefly and extended his hand.

"Consider it done," he said taking it from her. "That's all I need to discuss, Cecilia. You may take your leave to freshen up if that is all on your part. I take it Hagrid's hut was comfortable last night?"

"Professor, I..." she began, but he held up a hand.

"As I said, you are at liberty with respect to your research, as a member of the Order. You do not need to justify yourself, Cecilia. You have already made an astounding effort in adjusting to our ways, I truly hope you will become more used to us."

"Very well," he sat back down at his desk. "Minerva will keep you informed of the Order meeting, and Severus will provide samples tomorrow night." Cecilia nodded again.

"Thank you Professor," she said, turning to go. "Good morning."

"And now we wait," said Dumbledore to himself, as she left.

88888888

The next month went by quickly. She did indeed become more accustomed to the ways of wizards and quickly made parallels between the wizard world and that of muggles. As Dumbledore had predicted, the cohort of Slytherin students rapidly reduced to zero until she was teaching only students from the other three houses and she began to fall into a routine: teaching during the day, and research with either Snape or Harry in the evenings.

The students worked well in her lessons. Hermione's work was consistently outstanding, although they all put in a lot of effort and at times they had gone to great lengths to discover relevant information. They had begun to get better at connecting ideas together and coming up with logical inter-linked arguments.

One piece of homework on historical Britons stuck in Cecilia's mind, which caused her one weekend to make an important discovery of her own. Whether he did have an obsession for cows or milkmaids, Cecilia didn't feel she was in a position to comment on, but Terry Boot seemed to have omitted the most important part of Edward Jenner's life.

Harry had written about Stephen Hawking, although he could not say why he was famous. Seamus had written about the British Monarchy since 1066 and why each monarch was famous, although he seemed to have got the wrong end of the stick regarding "Henry VIII and his six knives".

However the most impressive was Ron, who had written almost three times that of anyone else about Isambard Brunel, explaining that he had got most of his information from Mr Weasley. It was on that basis that she rewarded him with an encyclopaedia of scientists for his trouble with which Ron was delighted although appeared quite shy to come out from his bench to collect it from her.

The students' work prompted Cecilia to search for historical records within the depths of the library one Sunday afternoon. There was a Quidditch match on, and Snape had informed her he wouldn't be available to continue the research on the blood so she took the opportunity to advance her own knowledge. This resulted in her discovery that in fact there were more similarities than differences between wizards and which ran back to just over a thousand years ago.

Before this time, wizards and muggles co-existed in communities together but, over time, muggles became more religious and they became suspicious of anyone who could perform magic. Slowly, bit by bit, ignorance and hatred began to divide them, muggles suspicious of wizards for being able to perform magic and wizards scorning muggles because they could not.

Eventually wizards isolated themselves from muggle world, and banded together to form their own societies. Only a few wizards, believing that they could change things for the better, remained within muggle towns and villages, but to no avail.

Salazar Slytherin, who appeared to be one of the most extreme advocates for the eradication of muggles in Britain had founded Hogwarts over a thousand years ago to maintain the history, culture and education of wizards and had not wished to admit wizards unless they were pureblood, but was outvoted by the other three founders.

Cecilia read the information through three times from the book to ensure she was not mistaken before she concluded that she had made progress however she was less than pleased about her progress with Raymond Lully.

Maddeningly the only thing she could find out about him was in the alumni of Hogwarts which listed a one Raymond Lully born in the 1893 and died in 1956. At least that fitted with the time the Raymond Lully in Pompops Pomfrey's notes had been around, and the brief sentence about him in Sirius's letter but it wasn't a great deal of use. Nor was the fact that being a wizard was in the blood.

The practical research was becoming more useful but also very frustrating. Snape conducted an experiment by using different spells on the blood samples and she had found regardless of the donor cellular reproduction took place in all of them.

But this was about all they had discovered as Snape had barely spent any time with her; rushing off at inopportune moments and not returning for days. His attitude was still cold to their work, although he often spoke to her levelly in his confident understanding of science as they refined the structure of their research plan. Cecilia supposed her lack of suspicion of his disappearances, although sudden and inconvenient, also helped towards a mutual respect that was beginning to form between them, despite their differences.

He refused to work with Harry however, and Cecilia was left increasingly alone to discuss ever more personal details with him, offering on at least one occasion for him to question her, and he spent a good half an hour asking what appeared to Cecilia as being quite odd questions about her life, such as when she was his age, the schoolwork, her friends; her boyfriends, even her favourite colour.

It was Snape's refusal to help her with Harry that meant she often had to retreat to the hospital wing. Although she no longer needed any painkillers, she found got much more tired than usual. Madam Pomfrey never seemed too busy for a chat though, and over the month she exhausted her stock Pompops Pomfrey's notes. She even called on Professor Snobbits to interpret a parchment which appeared to be half written in hieroglyphics.

When not thinking about work, Cecilia played her part of teacher to perfection. She made the effort to engage with school life of the students. Despite not being attached to a House, she watched in amazement and with increasing excitement a Quidditch match played at the last week of September, and found herself standing with Professor McGonagall cheering on Ravenclaw to their 80 - 54 victory against Slytherin while Minerva debriefed her about the latest Order business.

There were some things that began to frustrate her though; Dobby was still relentless in his attention and obsession with Harry, and it took her having to remember to out the chair in front of the fire to stop its flickering, and having to occasionally move it when Tonks popped her head in to say hello.

When Snape disappeared off leaving her sometimes in mid-sentence she couldn't help thinking that despite all of the effort on Dumbledore's part to procure blood samples from different wizards, she might easily forgo the theory part of the research and stem her frustration. It was such an easy test, even Nick could carry it out. If only she had asked for hair samples instead of blood...

And it was ideas such as these that entered her mind, as her thoughts wandered off at a tangent and she experienced a pang of longing for home and for how things used to be.

This homesickness came to a head the Friday after the Ravenclaw-Slytherin match, three days before her birthday, when she received a letter from Amy. Inside was a card from her mum and one from Libby, decorated lovingly by Freya using milk bottle tops and tissue paper to make pretty flowers. Dobby had woken her up early with an envelope and danced round enthusiastically while she opened it.

Using all the cunning she had the conscience for, she urged him to look for Harry saying she needed him that evening for work, trying to hold back the tidal wave of emotion for as long as she could as he hopped out of the door.

She sobbed when she eventually looked down at the letter in detail. Not only was there Freya's pretty card, wishing her Aunty Celia a happy birthday but a picture of her goddaughter, dressed beautifully in a lilac dress that she knew Libby would have bought from Rackhams, as she did every year. Freya was wearing the bangle she had left in the summer, and she had, in the three months that she had seen her, grown.

Wiping away a few tears she looked at the words on the page. Amy was talking about her new job, and how she had split up with Patrick. The message from Libby told her how Tippex had had 4 little black kittens, and she had to stop Freya from taking them to school with the intention of supplementing her pocket money. She looked at everything around her on the bed, trying to stem the flow of tears, and stood up, beginning to pace.

"I have to go home," she said to herself, trying to calm herself down "Just for a little while. I need to see Libby, and check what Amy's done to the house. Hug little Freya who's not so little any more." She raised her pyjama'd arm to her cheek, catching the torrent of tears that began to fall.

"Why the hell didn't I ask for hair samples? I could have gone to see Nick, and it would have been a break..."

She sat back down on the bed and let the tears fall. Why was she like this? It wasn't as if she'd get back and a living breathing Tim would be there, waiting for her. Was it him she as still missing? Or was it home? Perhaps there still was time to go home. Maybe if she could convince Dumbledore she needed to do that as well. It might come to that actually, if we didn't get round to all the tests.

"Oh Tim," she said aloud. "I do so miss you..." But if it was her husband she still missed, well, there was nothing she could do about that. She stared down at the floor for what seemed like an age, mulling things over in her mind.

"Cecilia? Are you all right?"

Cecilia jumped, her mind returning to the present: Remus's voice was coming from the hearth. She quickly moved the chair and sat down on the flagstones, still pyjama-clad.

"Yes, I am Remus," she said carefully. "Just...thinking of home a bit. Anyway, how are you? Haven't heard from you for ages."

"Oh fine, fine." he said. "How's the research going? Found anything useful?"

"Not yet," she sighed. "I have found out that wizards and muggles used to live together, thousands of years ago. But Severus hasn't been able to spend as much time as we'd planned on the actual practical. I'm actually considering another way of testing the samples, and get a visit home. Kill two birds with one stone."

"I wonder if anyone has ever actually done that, killed two birds with one stone. I mean, is it actually possible?"

"Well," she said, "you'd have to get the right trajectory. If the stone hit the first bird in the head, the angle it bounced off the head would have to be...what?" She stopped, realising that Remus was laughing.

"You," he said, still chuckling. "It was a joke, you didn't have to get all mathematical on me. Hey, watch it," he said, moving his head out of the way in mock-reaction to the book she threw in his direction. It permeated the flame, landing at the back of the fireplace, undamaged. "At least that's stopped you looking so down, Cecilia." He paused briefly and changed the subject.

"Did you get all of the samples by the way? Dumbledore said you were still in need of one."

"We still need a half-blood sample, one of a grown person where one of their parents was a muggle, rather than a muggle-born," she said, retrieving the book. "Not that it's going to make much difference at this rate though, with Severus's Order work."

"What Order work?"

"Well the reason he keeps on leaving half way through work, sometimes we haven't even had a chance to start...The only other chance we have is to test the DNA of the samples we have; but it'd mean me leaving and going back into the muggle world for the tests to be carried out. They would be done in a day though."

"I don't know when we could get you the sample," said Remus carefully. "Most of the Order's busy, but I'll ask Tonks. She knows people..."

"Bet she does," said Cecilia, grinning.

"How are you yourself? I noticed you haven't been to any Order meetings. Coping with a rabble of wizard children?"

"Not too bad. I imagined worse," Cecilia said wearily. The truth was most of the time she was tired out, and when Snape cancelled their meetings at short notice it meant she had to think on her feet and rejuggle her priorities. Even if she hadn't felt so bad, multitasking had never been one of her strong points.

"You're a very bad liar, Cecilia," said Remus. "I've taught Hogwarts students, remember? That they keep you on your toes is an understatement. I'm just concerned about why you're upset."

"That's sweet," she said, smiling. "It was just a letter I got off Amy, my sister. Reminded me of what they're all doing while I'm here. That and my masterpiece of a birthday card off my goddaughter." She pulled Freya's card off the bed and angled it to the fire to show him.

"Oh that's right, Tonks mentioned it was your birthday on Monday, and that you were going out..."

"Yes, 29," said Cecilia. "An old woman". Remus snorted.

"Come off it, you're in your prime."

"Past it, more like," said Cecilia. "Anyway, can you let Tonks know I'm still up for it, if she is? I won't be at tomorrow's meeting." There was a pause.

"Cecilia, you not coming to the Order meetings has nothing to do with Sirius, has it? Because you know he's sorry for what he did..."

"Look, I can understand he's your friend and everything, but can't see us getting pally this side of the next century, Remus. It's not what he did it's..." She stopped as she watched Remus's face fall. She wanted to tell him about Sirius's attitude in the letter to Harry, but couldn't bring herself to do it. He was his friend after all, and he'd already borne a lot of her criticism.

"Anyway, are you coming out with us on Sunday then? Tonks did mention you might."

"That would have been great," said Remus, "but sadly...no...I have Order business of my own to complete. To which I must return presently, I fear."

"Before you go," said Cecilia, trying not to make her voice sound too urgent. "Your book, Mysterious Mythology. I'm not sure if Tonks told you, though I asked her to, some of the pages were torn out...I noticed a few weeks ago and told her. I'm not sure who did it, or what happened, I'm dreadfully sorry, Remus..." She frowned, and looked down.

"Yes she did tell me. Not to worry Cecilia. Sometimes things like that do happen to magical books, it's not very well understood. There's a whole section on the phenomenon in the Hogwarts library, or there was when I was a teacher. Biblioinflamore, it's called. At least they should be there, unless they've burst into flames themselves..." Cecilia laughed.

"As long as you're sure," said Cecilia. "Otherwise I'd hate you to think I've deliberately damaged your book."

"Just out of interest, do you know which part of the book was damaged? Was it anything in particular?"

"It was a story about some learned men, scholars, who travelled by the light of the full moon, to each others' houses for dinner once a month and talked about magical inventions. Is it important?"

"No, I don't think so, I just wondered. Anyway, I really must be going. Tonks said she'll meet you at the Three Broomsticks at 9.30. She asked me to ask you if you could find your way there on your own..."

"Yes, no problem," said Cecilia. How is it that he's got an answer for everything? Why can't he at least have the good grace to have a character flaw so she could use it as an excuse to bring up Sirius and get it off her chest?

"Well, goodbye then" he said.

"Bye" said Cecilia, smiling a little.

She sat by the fire for a few minutes after it dimmed. That was it, she thought as she stared into the space where Remus's head had been. I'm going to tell Dumbledore I do need to go back home, and take the blood and hair samples for a DNA test. Otherwise we could both be here till Kingdom come...

88888888

Her resolution and subsequent guilt at requesting to leave Hogwarts was almost broken that evening. She had only taught two lessons that day and began work early on the research.

Not only had Snape brought the sample that she'd mentioned to Remus that they needed, but he did not leave the whole evening.

He was, of course, his usual self, bringing caustic sarcasm to bear on her periodically, but that was tempered by the discovery they were making.

The major difference they found was that the lymphocytes in every sample bar her own and that of the squib responded to the transfiguration spell. The cells changed in response to this and on closer inspection she discovered that it was specifically the nucleus of the cells that changed.

She encouraged Snape to try other spells, all ones involving the changing of something to something else. The blood samples themselves were not changing, but the nuclei in the white blood cells most definitely were.

When they tried other spells, she noticed too that the mitochondria changed, in all but her own and the squib sample, increasing in size to accommodate something...what? What were the mitochondria in the wizard samples doing that they weren't doing in the squib and muggle samples?

"It's the energy store," said Snape. "You've mentioned it yourself. And it makes sense because of the energy in the wand."

"But how is it being controlled? It has to be controlled in the blood or else the concentration of energy from the spells would distort the cells. We've already seen that they function in every way like muggle samples, so if they did not, we would be an altogether different species." She paced around to the other side of the table to where the microscope was.

"What is it you're doing," she said aloud to the blood sample sitting innocuously under the lens, as she thought.

"There must be some control mechanism for the energy. The energy can't be entering the cells directly; there must be a cell organelle or a process in the witch or wizard what controls the mitochondria. Either that or..."

"Or it is transferred thorough the witch or wizard to something else," finished Snape, acidly. "I am sure you were going to say that, Cecilia, I was merely aiding you in thinking joined-up..."

"Actually I wasn't" she said coolly. "Besides, the only way we could test that is if we could test the blood while it was still inside a witch or wizard, which we obviously can't. Or...oh hang on, I've just thought of something..." she quickly went to the box of equipment stored underneath the table.

"I'm going to set up the other microscope. It has a digital imager so I can see the nucleus in the lymphocyte and the mitochondrion I saw just now."

When she was ready she instructed Snape to try the same transfiguration spell as before. The results were incredible. The mitochondrion swelled as if absorbing something, presumably energy. Almost at the same time, Cecilia saw the nucleus in the lymphocyte darken, as if performing mitosis and become pale again. But the cell was not ready to reproduce yet; it was not at the correct stage. But by darkening, the chromosomes in the nucleus must have...changed position...so the DNA must have...rearranged itself...

"What was the spell supposed to do," said Cecilia slowly. "If you'd used it on me, what would have I become?"

"A sticky mess on the floor, because you are a muggle and you are weak," said Snape bluntly. "But if you were a wizard, that spell would have transformed you into a rabbit...what is it? You seem all...agitated..."

"I think I have it," said Cecilia. "And if I'm right, then so are you about muggles..." She turned the eyepiece towards him.

"Can you perform that same spell and look down the microscope? You need to look at the crosshair for the lymphocyte and the small lens at the top for the mitochondrion..."

"The only way I can do that is if I dislocate my arm," he said icily. "Which I am very much prepared to do for the sake of your science, Cecilia, but if you can think of another way, I'd me most obliged."

"Be sarcastic all you like," said Cecilia. "I'm giving you a chance to prove your disparaging comments about muggles true. Now, I know spells can reflect off mirrors," she reached back down into her equipment box.

"If I angle this right, you should be able to get the spell to the right angle for the sample," she tilted it to one side, ignoring his narrowing eyes.

"Right, the same again, and this time, the spell should hit the sample in the right place." Snape inclined his head towards the microscope, glancing up at her doubtfully.

"Lapineverto" he said and, as before, lilac sparks flashed out of the end of his wand. Cecilia looked at him intently. An aeon passed until he spoke.

"Fascinating..."

"Did you see it?" Cecilia hopped from one foot to another, not dissimilar to Dobby in her room first thing in a morning.

"The nucleus in the lymphocyte performed mitosis shortly after the mitochondrion absorbed the energy. Is that what you saw?" He looked across at her from the microscope eyepiece. She nodded.

"Now, if we try the others," she said. "You said if that had been me, I would be a sticky mess on the floor. Shall we see what would happen to my lymphocytes?"

She stepped forward between Snape and the microscope as he stood aside, and leaned over to replace the sample.

"Lapineverto."

Slowly, Cecilia nodded.

"The lymphocytes, in fact the leukocytes too have completely broken up...they're...mush..."

She pulled away from the sample. Almost imperceptible to the naked eye, if she hadn't noticed before, was a tiny white patch. Under the microscope it represented a few thousand cells. She scanned the rest of the sample.

Lo and behold, there were also tiny white patches. She looked back through the microscope and moved the sample underneath to where the white patches were. The cells were the same as those she saw before with the cell walls collapsed.

"Look," she said. "Look at my sample. You were right, muggles are weaker. This is the effect of magic on muggle tissue samples. The DNA in wizard samples changes so you change with the spell. For muggles, the mitochondria don't seem to accommodate the energy and the cells it controls are completely destroyed..."

Snape examined the samples again. Eventually he spoke.

"It's not often you allow me to be right, Cecilia. I will take it as a compliment. So, we now have scientific evidence of the adverse effects of magic on muggles." Cecilia nodded.

"We need to continue the tests, with different types of spell. It's amazing, though." She approached Snape, and looked down at his hand, in which he still held his wand.

"You say the spell...the energy is transferred through your wand to the person...or in this case the sample..." Without thinking, she took it from him and held it. His face turned to Cornish granite as he watched her hold his wand.

"It's strange to think...wands specifically for their owner...I mean..." she swished it as if she were Tinkerbell in a pantomime. "To me, in my hands...it's just wood and core...the atoms making up the molecules of wood; protein, cellulose, glucose in the solidified sap, all atoms...to you..." she looked back at Snape, "you can change the whole world..." She took in his expression and knew she had overstepped the mark.

"That's very philosophical, Mrs Frobisher," he said icily. "I'll have that back thank you," he said, swiping it from her hand as she extended it towards him.

"I cannot believe we are the only people to investigate this," she said, changing the subject. "If you agree Severus, I think the best course of action would be to carry on with these experiments, perhaps to see the effects of potions on the cells? It would be good to see the effects of Veritaserum on the blood sample, see what might have happened to me if my metabolism hadn't have slowed down."

"Very well," he said, but not as coldly as last time. "I will bring out a selection which has different effects. If magic interacts with the DNA we will be able to see to what extent. However I will not be able to continue with this work until Sunday afternoon."

And without waiting for a reply, he glanced between his wand and Cecilia, and stalked out of the classroom.

Back to the good old days then, thought Cecilia, as she leaned back over the microscope and began to make a sketch of the cells...

88888888

Most of Saturday Cecilia spent in the library again. She had spoken to Madam Pince that morning about the types of books she was looking for and she gave Cecilia a set of books covered in dust which she had removed from a high bookshelf in the restricted section. It had taken her three sets of ladders to fetch them.

Cecilia had asked why she hadn't used magic to remove them, and Madam Pince explained that some magic spells can interact with the magic contained on the pages, with disastrous results. She went on to describe the health and safety exam that you had to pass to become a librarian in a wizard library and how, unless you knew what you were doing, selecting a book from a shelf might result in loss of limb.

It was quite tedious sitting there, reading through the information on many of the pages. She knew she must persevere; when she had originally begun, in the summer, she had found all of the wizard books fascinating. Now, she was just trying to search for specific things, such as any mention of genetics, inheritance and Raymond Lully. And what else would she be doing anyway? She couldn't carry out the blood sample analyses without Snape.

Taking a bite of her sandwich salvaged from Friday's supper roll and some cheese that had been put out for breakfast in the Great Hall she mused at the scale of her task. She must get through these; she'd been through all the other books Madam Pince had obligingly looked out for her, and had been most patient with her sitting there looking through the work, often long after everyone else had gone.

As she turned the pages, looking across the lines of the text, Cecilia mused at how much easier her task would be with a scanner of sorts, something handheld, not complicated, to look for particular words. It certainly would save her a lot of time, though she supposed such a device had probably never been needed until now. She expected there was possibly a spell that wizards could use to do that for them, health and safety, permitting of course.

Several hours later, and she had finished the second of the three volumes. To keep herself entertained, Cecilia had planned and designed her scanner, complete with the colours of the outer casing and eventual retail price. That's how bored she was with not a hint of anything medicinal, biological or Lullyish in sight.

By the time she reached the second chapter in the third volume, Madam Pince came across and told her she was closing the library; it was half past ten.

"Would it be OK to borrow this? It would be really useful to finish it," said Cecilia earnestly. "I won't damage it or anything," she added.

"I'll tell you what, I'll just get rid of these few students, and you can stay; I'll leave you with the key and you can lock up. I'm afraid I can't stay tonight, I have to Floo to my sister's because my mother is not well. Would that be OK with you, Cecilia? I'd prefer it if these books didn't leave the library, they are the only ones of their kind."

Cecilia nodded, and glanced at the group of students who Madam Pince was heading towards the door. Hermione was amongst them, and when she noticed Cecilia she smiled and walked over to her.

"Have you been here all day? You look awful, really tired,"

"Thank you Hermione, I'll take that as a compliment," she said, trying to ignore the way the girl automatically assumed an adult role in their conversations.

"How's the schoolwork going? What work have you got on at the moment?" She glanced down at the books Hermione had under her arm.

"Arithmancy essay for Monday, potions and Muggle Studies for Tuesday, of course. Oh and I'm helping Ron with his Divination. A load of tosh if you ask me, but I think both he and Harry thought it was an easy option. If you like though, I could stay and help you with whatever you're doing," she said hopefully, glancing at the huge book open on the desk behind Cecilia.

"Thank you for the kind offer Hermione, but I won't keep you. It shouldn't take me long to finish now." Hermione turned to go.

"Goodnight Mrs Frobisher," she said as she left. Madam Pince handed her a set of keys.

"This is for the restricted section and that is for the main door. Are you OK with that, Cecilia?"

"Fine," she said, "Thank you Irma, I'm very grateful."

"My room's round the corner from yours, next to Professor McGonagall, if you could just slip them under the door, I'd be much obliged. Goodnight"

"Of course, goodnight," she said, as Madam Pince turned out of the door and left, towards the main first floor. Cecilia returned to the table where the third volume lay open with an inch-thickness of pages on the left-hand side already done and another four to go. She sighed inwardly and resigned herself to the task.

There must be something here, she said, as the lights from the candles cast shadows across the pages. Somewhere here there will be something I can use. She glanced across at her notebook, the next black page flattened against the rest where she had been leaning on it during the day.

I'd be really happy if I could write something on you, she thought, glancing across at it. Then I wouldn't feel as if today was wasted. She turned over to the next page and began to glance across it, settling back into the routine she'd had during the long day. Just then, a figure by the library door caught her eye.

"Hello," she called. "Who is it?"

When no-one answered she began to get up, and made her way to the door. She peered round, but couldn't see anyone. She turned back.

"Hello Lady," said Dobby, making Cecilia jump.

"Dobby!" she gasped, and stepped back, trying to regain her composure. "Are you looking for me?" He nodded, and held out his hand. In it was a sandwich, which he handed to Cecilia.

"Dobby spoke to Miss Granger, a friend of Harry Potter. Dobby told her that Dobby was looking for Lady, and Miss Granger told Dobby, that Lady had been in the library all the day and had not had anything to eat. So Dobby said to himself, Dobby is making Lady a sandwich because whatever Lady is doing in the library it must be important for her to stay all day with no food and if it is important it is for Harry Potter. Dobby wants to know that Lady is all right..." he looked down, shyly.

"Thank you Dobby," said Cecilia. "That's very kind of you. You didn't have to but, I'm glad you did..." She placed the sandwich next to her notebook.

"Lady is well, isn't she?" said Dobby. "Dobby still comes to draw Lady's bath, every day!"

"I know you do Dobby, and I am most grateful." Instead of returning to her chair, she brought the sandwich Dobby had given her and sat cross-legged on the parquet floor so they were face to face.

"What's troubling you Dobby? You seem anxious?" She tore one half of the sandwich in half again, and offered it to him. He looked surprised, but took it anyway, his ears perking up with delight.

"Nothing, Lady. Except...Lady hasn't been to see Dobby, or the other house elves in the kitchen for such a long time. Dobby wonders whether Lady has been offended..." He looked mournfully at her, and Cecilia smiled.

"No, not at all," said Cecilia, as kindly as she could. "You know I am working with Professor Snape...and Harry," she added, seeing his eyes glaze over in fear. "If we are to get to the bottom of everything we need to, we have to work hard. And of course I have to teach students. Professor Dumbledore believes it to be of great benefit to the students." She reached over and patted his hand. "I promise to visit soon; I enjoy visiting you all as well, you know." Dobby's face perked up again.

"Does Lady mean that?"

"Of course, Dobby, I'm looking forward to ironing some sheets, I wouldn't miss it."

"Then Dobby will tell Winky and Bingo..." he began to jump around, sandwich still in hand. "I will let Lady finish her important work for Harry Potter." And with that, he skipped out of the door of the library. Cecilia sat where she was for a few minutes, and finished her sandwich before returning to the table.

What an extraordinary creature she mused, as she glanced at the pages again, always so pleased to see her, to do anything for her.

As she scanned the next page, a word caught her eye. The one that followed it was of more use and she wondered what it meant… "Reciprocator". And beside it, the word, "Lully". At last! All those long hours spent trawling through two useless volumes; this was finally the reward...

She read the paragraph which contained "Lully". Try not to get your hopes up; she told herself, it might not be anything to do with Raymond Lully. The paragraph mentioned something about the employment of a person or persons called Oswald T…then she couldn't read some of it…then a date, 1956, and the name "Lully".

She recalled the alumni entry for a Raymond Lully...who had died in 1956. But what did "Reciprocator" mean?

At a loss, she copied down the paragraph, making a note underneath to ask Severus or Poppy about it. She was just about to go onto the next sentence when she heard a noise.

"Dobby?" she said, looking up. There was no-one there.

"I can't come down to the kitchens tonight, I've got to finish this," she said looking back down.

"And what would a filthy squib like you want to be going down to the kitchens for anyway?" said a voice like a silken dagger from in front of her. "To poison the food? We'd better stop you then, because that's what will happen if you touch it with your filthy squib hands..."

Cecilia looked up quickly. Draco Malfoy stood in front of her, and behind him stood two other Slytherin students whom she recognised as the two who had followed Draco out of her classroom in their first lesson.

"And just what are you three students doing out of your beds at this late hour? Mr Malfoy?" she said, with all the courage she could muster. Despite them being only children, they were far bigger than she was, and there was a true hint of menace in Draco's voice...

"We could ask you the same thing, Mrs Frobisher...don't move..." said Draco mockingly as she took a step towards the door.

"You don't like wands, do you Mrs Frobisher?" He laughed, as he followed her line of sight to Crabbe and Goyle's wands, which were aimed directly at her.

"It's not the wands," she said defiantly, looking back at Draco. "Wands don't kill people, it's the wizards behind them that do."

"Strong sentiments indeed, for a filthy squib, but who said anything about killing? Tell me, Mrs Frobisher, was your husband ashamed of you, powerful wizard like him, that his wife was a damp squib? Did you hide it from him, then spring it on him later? I bet that was a shock. He really must have loved you for it not to bother him…" Crabbe and Goyle laughed at what they thought was her discomfort.

"I don't have the first idea what you're talking about Mr Malfoy, so I suggest you, Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle return to your dormitories." She tried again to take a step towards the library door. This time Draco pulled out his wand.

"Don't make me angry," he said threateningly, frowning at her. "You wouldn't like it when I'm angry..."

"Why?" said Cecilia, laughing in spite of the situation. Are you going to get all muscley and green, and get too big for your robe, she thought to herself. She stopped laughing when Draco held the tip of his wand at her throat.

"Don't find it so funny now, do you, squib?" he looked down at the book on the desk. "What's this, light reading?" When she didn't answer, he looked back at her.

"I said, squib, what's this?"

"It's a book, I was reading it for historical value." At least it wasn't a lie.

"And what do we have here?" He reached down and pulled her small canvas bag from of the floor. There was very little in it, but what there was clattered all over the table. Her diary fell onto the floor, as did her powder compact, a present from Tim on their first wedding anniversary. She winced as the glass smashed.

"Just a load of junk. Nothing properly squibbish in here. So, where is it?"

"Where's what?" she said, in half exasperated tones. "What is it you want, Mr Malfoy?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Mrs Frobisher. It might work on our dear head of house, but not with me. Your wand, Mrs Frobisher. The fake wand that squibs have to carry as a mark of their disability? I want to see what it looks like."

"I don't have one," she laughed. "Dumbledore has it," she added quickly. Was that right? Did squibs have to carry a fake wand? If it were true, it sounded quite insulting, but she'd have to play along just in case.

"So you see, Mr Malfoy, there's nothing here for you. Why don't you and your friends go off to bed, you've had your fun, and it was all a big joke." She attempted a smile despite her growing terror.

"On the contrary," said Draco, circling the edge of the table until he stood on the same side as her and began edging her towards a bookcase. "I haven't given up yet. I'm still going to have my fun, and teach you a lesson too." Cecilia's eyes darted towards Crabbe and Goyle who were also heading her way.

My god, she thought, they're only children. But they're terrifying. Imagine if I had been seen by Death Eaters that night I followed Severus, I think I would have died of fright long before they would have done anything to me. Whatever happens now, I'm personally going to kiss Hagrid and that birds-nest of a beard of his for dragging me back.

"So, Mrs Frobisher, if that's your real name. What is your name, by the way?" She looked between all three boys. They were clearly enjoying this. She was determined not to be scared; she knew that as a squib they couldn't hurt her, they were only trying to humiliate her. They wouldn't use magic. Or at least, they probably wouldn't...

"Elizabeth," said Cecilia quickly. "And you're right, this isn't my real name, not my maiden name, anyway."

"Which was...?"

"Mitchell. When I met my husband, I obviously took his name. I mean, you're right of course." She hung he head slightly as if out of humiliation. "It's dreadful being a squib. I was the only squib in the village…" There, that hamming up seemed to knock the wind out of Draco's sails. But not for long, though.

"So…Elizabeth," he said, in a sarcastic tone, looking her up and down. "Who gave you permission to wear wizard robes? You know you're not allowed, and yet...you do..." He pointed his wand down to the clasp of her robe and flicked his wrist slightly. The metal bar slipped out of the loop and the fabric of her best Emaness robe, her only Emaness robe, gathered round her feet.

"There, that's better. Looking more and more like the muggle you're supposed to be now. You know, I actually feel sorry for muggles? I mean they can't help it". Draco repositioned the wand by her throat again, and she knew her eyes were betraying the terror within.

"They go around in their own little lives, oblivious to the real world. Yet you, of a wizard family have the audacity to come to Hogwarts and try to tell us that muggles are just like us." Cecilia glanced down as something ran over her foot. It was a mouse.

Draco looked down too, and pointed his wand. A stream of yellow light rushed out of the end of his wand and Cecilia gasped: the mouse squeaked with fear and was dead.

"We obviously can't do that to you, much as we'd like," he looked into her shocked face, leeringly. "But when we've finished, you're going to wish we had, Elizabeth Mitchell..." He poked his wand firmer into Cecilia's throat. She swallowed.

"Finished what? Mr Malfoy, I suggest you stand away from that member of staff." Cecilia looked between Draco's head and the door. Severus Snape stood in the doorway, his wand raised.

"I noticed you were out of your beds so I suggest, unless you wish to spend the rest of the term in detention every evening with the headmaster, you return there. That goes for you two," he said slowly, his eyes narrowing towards Crabbe and Goyle. With one final look, Draco reluctantly lowered his wand and, looking between Cecilia and Snape, said, "Don't know what you see in her, sir," before leaving the library closely followed by his friends.

He glanced down the corridor before approaching Cecilia. She was shaking, her knees unwilling to hold her up any more. He looked her up and down before offering her his hand, but instead she threw her arms round him, and began to sob heavily. Heaven knows she wouldn't have chosen Snape for a comforting hug, but she was hardly thinking about anything other than what might have happened if he hadn't arrived.

Not knowing what to do, Snape stroked her hair vaguely, until the sobs became less intense sniffs, and Cecilia stepped away, wiping her face with her hand.

"Dobby apparently, was concerned for your welfare. I did in fact warn you against telling the students."

"I didn't," said Cecilia, between ebbing sniffs. "I don't know how they knew. They seemed to think my husband was some powerful wizard..." she sniffed some more and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

"Thank god, Severus," she hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you came to find me. I don't know what they would have done, otherwise."

Whereas I do, thought Snape to himself. Malfoy appears to have become somewhat proficient in his father's ways...

"What on earth possessed you to remain in the library? Madam Pince had already left the castle."

"I was looking for Lully," said Cecilia, stepping towards the table. "I'd just found him when they arrived. You weren't going to be available tonight, Severus, you told me, so I thought I'd use the time wisely." She stepped away from Snape and looked at him curiously.

"How did you know where I was?"

"I didn't. I was carrying out my usual evening duties and realised the students were out of bed. They were probably looking for some sport. Then that idiot house elf found me. I knew sooner or later they'd come after you." He rolled his eyes at the look of shock on her face.

"Of course, Cecilia," he said coldly. "It's like putting a pack of hunting dogs in with a fox, or another analogy muggles would be familiar with. You seemed to have fielded it well, Elizabeth Mitchell, and not given anything away."

Cecilia continued to stare a little longer, then finally nodded. That was the most important thing of course. That's why she was there. And just then, a plan crystallised in her mind. She took a few steps over to the desk, treading on the glass that was her compact. She looked down.

"Well, it's only a possession," she said bravely, and looked down at the book, pretending to leaf through the pages. "It's in here somewhere…Lully.."

"Did it mean something to you? The compact?" Snape bent down and picked up a couple of the broken pieces. Cecilia looked up.

"Tim gave it to me, not long after we were married. All in the past now, it's only a possession…look," she said pointing to the page. "Does this mean anything to you?"

Snape glanced across the page.

"Lully….Oswald T. …1956…1956…"

"What?" she said, seeing his eyes glaze over. "Is that year important? It matches the death date of a Raymond Lully in the Hogwarts almanac, but...?" she prompted.

"The year of the goblin riots," said Snape. "You know about them. However, Oswald T.; the name is not familiar to me. It would have been better with a surname. However we are in the right era if it is the same Lully from Poppy's grandfather's notes."

"What about "Reciprocator"? Does that mean anything to you?"

"Not in the slightest," said Snape slowly. "However someone from the Order may know. I will make enquiries at the next meeting."

"Blast," said Cecilia, defeated. "Then I've still got the rest of the book to go though," she said, sitting back down, "there still might be something." Snape looked at her aghast.

"You don't seriously mean to tell me that you intend to remain here? You are shaken, Cecilia, it is far better if you return to your room, I feel." She shook her head.

"I intend to finish the job before our work tomorrow. If I give up now the likes of your students will have won. I will do it, Severus," she said, in response to his look of disbelief. "If you want to make sure I'm safe you may join me." She intended it to be a rebuttal and was astonished when Snape sat down beside her.

"I feel it best to warn you that I will not be able to continue with our research as we intended tomorrow," he said. "Perhaps it would be wise to return to bed; then you will have the whole day tomorrow to complete it." She shook her head again.

"I have plenty of other things to carry on with tomorrow, Severus," she said, looking down at the page. "Like preparing the blood samples for a DNA test. I was going to suggest it to you tomorrow, but seeing as you won't be there, it might as well be now."

"Continue…"

She now had his full attention, and she looked at him with determination.

"If we return to our original hypothesis, that being a wizard, or not, is determined by genetics, which also seems to be supported by historical evidence, it would be helpful to send the samples for DNA testing." She exhaled, congratulating herself on choosing her word carefully. Nowhere had she mentioned anything about her leaving Hogwarts. She decided to add the details later.

"In order to do this, I need to make sure the samples are selected carefully from the original donors, to give us the full range of results."

"You mentioned before Cecilia that other tissue could be used, such as hair? If I remember correctly, a few weeks ago…"

Cecilia thought back. Yes…he was quite right. When he walked in on her taking a bath. When she'd followed him and spent the night at Hagrid's.

"If you feel hair would be less risky to wizards, then this would work."

"It makes little difference," said Snape. "There are far greater potions that could be made using hair samples than blood, to cause a wizard to do any number of things. Blood is merely superstition to the less enlightened magical beings. However…I feel from the point of view of the donors, and from those closest to young Potter," Cecilia noticed him flinch, "that hair would be less controversial." Cecilia nodded, and returned to the book. He stared at her.

"What?" she said, after a few minutes.

"Do you still intend to finish those tonight?"

"Yes, Severus, I do," she said stubbornly.

"In that case I believe the best course of action is for me to remain with you through this pointless task in order to maintain your wellbeing."

88888888

It was Sunday evening. Cecilia had finally gone to bed at 3 o'clock, having insisted that she went through every last page of the book. Snape had sat steadfastly next to her, glancing towards the library door periodically, something which Cecilia felt was more for her benefit than for any actual purpose.

He'd made the effort to walk her back to her room, along the corridors but, following his brief suggestion that her presence was too irresistible to Malfoy, he'd made no other mention of the incident. Neither had Cecilia, who had spent most of the day writing a plan of what she intended to do with the blood samples next, and a brief note about DNA testing, with plausible outcomes.

It struck Cecilia how extraordinary it was, as she dressed ready to meet Tonks in the Three Broomsticks, that their professional relationship was so compatible, when their cultures and outlooks were so different. She knew she wasn't trying especially hard to get along with him, and she got the impression the feeling was mutual. It was like the ability for bees to fly; the physical laws precluded it...yet they flew...

She smoothed down her long-sleeved shirt across her hips; it fitted well now, not like it used to, when there was more room. Cecilia hadn't got much choice though; she hadn't planned on evenings out when she packed all those months ago, and it was either the blouse and a pair of plain black trousers or her hideous sundress and a cardigan.

Brushing her long hair, she was actually quite glad she could leave it loose for a while; normally she tied it back when she taught, and it was impractical to be down while she worked. Looking in the mirror above her desk, she smiled to herself. Could be worse she thought, considering everything.

As she teased out the knots in her hair, she wondered if she should tell someone where she was going. Snape had been quite annoyed when she had left before the start of the school year with Tonks, yet she had felt far more threatened by the actions of Malfoy and his cronies last night that had taken place inside the castle than anything that could have happened when she was in the presence of a powerful witch like her.

Pushing some long strands of hair behind her ears, she bent over the desk and opened one of the drawers of her desk, and pulled out some large gold galleons, glancing over their surface as she pocketed them inside her brown cord jacket. For their size they should have been renamed quinquerimes, she thought to herself. They were far too large to be just galleons.

With one last look in the mirror, and hearing the school clock effect nine sonorations, she headed towards the door, then paused. Maybe she should leave a note for Dobby, just in case he decides to worry again, and disturb Snape.

She hurriedly dashed off a few lines on the back of some parchment on her desk telling the house elf not to worry but she was on an errand for Harry, and then left, hurrying down the corridor towards the secret passage.

The autumn air was moist on her face as she appeared on the other side of the castle wall. She looked up as the castle briefly, taking in the majesty of the architecture, and how grand it looked as lights shone out of the windows here and there, crowned by the borrowed light of the full moon.

What would she be doing were she at home, she wondered while she crossed the castle grounds towards Hogsmeade, as she had done with Tonks just over a month ago.

Probably sitting in the Hagley Arms with Libby, while Derek babysat, with Tamara and Emma, or back at her place for a girl's night in deciding on whether it was going to be a Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp night...

She would probably be wearing a shimmery top; new from M and S yesterday, or a simple dress. Well, that had been what she used to wear for girly nights when she had been with Tim; after their separation, and his death, she had barely been out of the house, let alone out with her friends.

At least wizards and witches could change their appearance, which begged the question, if they could do that, why did they need to go to the trouble of buying clothes at all when spells existed to permanently alter them?

As she walked towards the ever-nearing lights of Hogsmeade through the chilly evening air, she considered science and magic in the context of clothing and concluded that although wizards could make things happen by magic, science was full of far more wonder when you considered what had to come together to make fabrics. Even some muggle people would have trouble believing that some of them originally derived from oil.

It took Cecilia almost an hour to reach the Three Broomsticks. As she pushed open the door, the handful of occupants stared in her direction and she suddenly felt far less confident about her expedition away from the relative security of the castle. Her immediate regret was that she hadn't worn her robe, and it stuck out like a sore thumb.

She surveyed the pub and inhaled with trepidation: No Tonks. Quickly she moved towards the bar where the landlady whom she recognised from before, smiled at her. Cecilia stuck her hand into her pocket.

"One butterbeer," she said, as the name of the wizard beverage appeared in her mind. "Er, could you tell me whether Nymphadora Tonks has been in tonight?"

"Ooh," said Madam Rosmerta. "She won't be happy to hear you've used her first name." She reached under the bar for a glass, then looked back up examining Cecilia's face.

"I know you, you were with Tonks a few weeks ago," Madam Rosmerta pulled the malt-coloured drink into the glass, where it foamed.

"Have you seen her? We were meant to be meeting up, after my undercover operation," added Cecilia, glancing at her clothes as if to indicate she didn't normally dress like this.

"Not tonight," she said. "Two sickles," she added. Cecilia pulled out a galleon from her coat pocket.

"You haven't got anything smaller, have you?" she asked. "Otherwise you'll take all my change..."

"Sorry," replied Cecilia apologetically, and Madam Rosmerta shook her head as she counted out the coins. Just then, another witch came behind the bar.

"You're not waiting for Tonks, are you?" she said, glancing at Cecilia, who was about to leave. Cecilia nodded.

"She Floo'd in earlier, asked me to pass a message on to the witch in the muggle clothes disguise," continued the witch. "She said she was sorry, but something urgent came up that she can't get out of tonight. She said she'd make it up to you though."

"Thanks," said Cecilia, her hopes falling. She had been looking forward to seeing Tonks that night, to catch up on everything. Find out how everything was going at Grimmauld Place and the Ministry. To get off her chest the events of last night.

Taking her drink and sitting down in a high-backed bench, she decided to finish it in any case and head back. At least she could get a good night's rest before teaching the next day, and at least she'd had some practical experience on her own in the wizard world...

She contemplated the lessons of the previous week. Most of them had gone well, she reflected. The fifth years were getting on well with their historical scientists, as were most of the lower years. She felt that giving the sixth and seventh years more investigation-based topics would keep them busier, but what had been getting her down was their sheer appetite for work. Often she would be shattered because of the preparation for those lessons.

Lost in thought for a good three-quarters of a pint it wasn't until the someone who had sidled up beside her five minutes beforehand spoke that she realised they were there.

"Good evening," said Snape, looking down at Cecilia. "Waiting for someone?"

"Severus!" she exclaimed, truly surprised. "Er, yes...but...well this is a surprise...yes...I was waiting for Tonks...we'd arranged for a birthday drink...but it turns out she can't make it." She waited for him to make a disparaging remark about either Tonks or herself for leaving the castle and was taken aback when none came.

She was even more taken aback when Snape enquired whether she would like company, proceeding to buy two more butterbeers when she agreed.

"So, you're going to be...how old tomorrow, did you say?" he said, setting down the drinks on the table.

"I didn't," said Cecilia. "Twenty nine, if you must know," she added, looking down.

"Really? That does surprise me," said Snape. "I took you for much younger, Cecilia."

Cecilia was speechless; she didn't know what to say.

"Was that supposed to be a complement, or a dig at my ignorance?" she asked, guardedly. Snape looked at her in surprise.

"I believed you to be younger, Cecilia, however I don't recall mentioning anything about your cognitive skills which are exceptional for anyone, regardless of magical ability," he added.

In anyone else, Cecilia would have taken the blatant praise as an attempt at a chat-up line. But it felt different with Snape. From her experience, he did not say things lightly, and it was rare that he complimented her at all. All she could do was not to analyse.

...and the evening progressed...

If their conversation was a train, its journey would have been thus:

Starting out with work, as Snape made himself comfortable next to her, Cecilia discovered that he had not got much further with Lully; Snape explained he had made an effort to pursue Lully in the official magical history records at the ministry of Magic, along with anything connected with an Oswald and also "Reciprocator", however the searches often took a long time to complete, despite Sturgis Podmore overseeing them.

It took in medium term research plans and made a whistle-stop tour of science where Cecilia described what enzymes did in chemical reactions in the body, and Snape added cross-links to potions, hypothesising that if molecules existed in the potion ingredients, why wouldn't they react in a similar way in such reactions?

Another brief stop was made at the concept of DNA testing, which Snape agreed was worth considering, and Cecilia smiled contentedly, knowing that as long as the line of argument was logical, he could give no just reason why, eventually, she could not return home and get Nick to test them for her.

Had anyone to whom Cecilia and Snape were strangers looked in on the course of the conversation that evening, they would not have suspected that these two people were anything other than close friends. It had crossed Cecilia's mind more than once that they got on well together providing the topics they discussed strictly adhered to research work, science, potions or teaching.

A few butterbeers later and a couple of hours having passed since Snape had joined her and, besides themselves and Madam Rosmerta, the Three Broomsticks was empty.

Cecilia had even forgotten her disappointment at Tonks not appearing as she and Snape discussed the relative merits of their own personal former teachers. She told him how frightening Simmonds was when she and Libby were eleven, and Snape told her how Binns had been teaching the history of magic at Hogwarts for over eighty years of his life and nearly fifty years of his death.

He told how he had managed to pass his history of magic exam by studying solidly for six weeks in the summer using notes he had made in the year above's classes using a quill he had bewitched into a million-word dictation quill using his own recipe, meaning he was always a year ahead and that he had more time to concentrate on potions in his seventh year.

"So there is some practical use to magic then," laughed Cecilia as she "other than just to make your lives easier..."

"You would only say that from the point of view of a scientist. Muggles need science, that is clear. But it is your lives, in the same way that magic is ours."

Cecilia paused. She knew they were straying outside of unspoken areas of agreed conversation which could be dangerous. If he had been a different person...a muggle...she would have little reason to doubt his debating skills. As he was...

"It's true," she said, spinelessly. "One day, if you're up for it, in the future when this is all over I'll arrange for you to visit a muggle school. Then you can see what it's like..." She paused, as his expression froze. Oh no…

"What ceases to amaze me Cecilia is your optimism that this will all come to an end. If you only knew the power of the Dark Lord, I am not sure you would be so quick to box up your generalisations..."

"That's fair enough," she said, lying through her teeth. And there it is, that something, thought Cecilia. The thing that prevents Snape from being able to go that one step further. To be able to meet others on their level. Not just with me, she added to herself, she'd seen it with other staff members and the students too. As if something is holding him back...

...and just as the thought entered her mind, Snape stood up quickly, and glanced at Cecilia urgently. The train had reached the end of the line.

"I'm sorry Cecilia, I must leave. Order business," he said simply. "I did explain yesterday, Cecilia. However my presence is required imminently, so I am afraid you will have to find your own way back to the castle..."

Cecilia watched him as he retreated from the pub. Why would he go so suddenly? What had she said?

Then she realised he had been holding his left forearm again, just as he had done before...the night he met the Death Eaters in the Forbidden Forest.

"Not this time," she thought to herself, as she watched him retreat. "I want to know what you're up to..."

Buoyed by alcohol in the butterbeers and disregarding her own mental caveats which were now jumping up and down metaphorically in her mind, Cecilia stood up and followed Snape through the Three Broomsticks' door and down towards the Forbidden Forest...

88888888

...thirty minutes later an outraged Cecilia was crouching behind a rocky basalt outcrop just on the outskirts of the Forest, listening in fascinated horror as Snape participated in what she assumed was a Death Eater meeting.

She had followed Snape as far as she'd dared, which was far further than she would ever have done if she had not had a drink, and she had overheard a circle of wizards in masks talking.

Inchwise, Cecilia crept forward until she could detect what was being said. Not much of it meant anything to her, but she listened anyway, in order to gain enough evidence to take to Dumbledore.

She could barely believe it. Less than an hour ago, she was sitting in a pub having a discussion with him about science and magic, and now...Snape was telling them all about what lessons the students had been taught, when various professors would be absent from Hogwarts, even Harry's whereabouts at certain times in the week.

She wanted to call out and stop Snape from talking; try to stem the flow of treachery from his lips. After all she had done, more than some would have, she had put her heart and soul into their research, only for Snape to hand it all on a plate to the enemy. If only she could hear all of their conversation, then at least she might be able to understand some of it...

"...as you very well know Lucius, the Dark Lord is unable to be present..."

"...nor I fear too many of his followers..."

"...yet the Dark Mark burns, Crabbe, you know that not one of us can withstand its beckoning..."

"...I am here..."

"...Avery, how kind to drop by...should we take from your absence that you have been intending to lie to us...don't...say another word...I can see into your deceitful mind..."

That expression, thought Cecilia...the way that one of hem had spoken...why did it sound familiar?

"...Lucius, please..."

"...your father only did so much to hide the trail; we really thought you could do better..."

"...but the manuscripts...when the blood traitor died..."

"...yes...?"

The last voice...to Cecilia it sounded like a woman...

"...we couldn't find them..."

"...we've been over and over this, Avery...next time, you will be answering to the Dark Lord, consider this a dress rehearsal..."

The one called Avery fell to his knees. The Death Eater called Lucius began to torture him.

She heard Snape utter something under his breath, wand in hand. Within seconds, Avery was on the floor, writing in agony and screaming...

"...do not fail this time, Avery..."

"...how long do we have?"

"...we are far from a connection..."

No...screamed a voice in Cecilia's head. Severus, what are you saying? Don't tell them that...

"...it must be sooner..."

"...is all prepared?..."

"...Halloween...we attack then..."

"...more casualties for their Pleez Force to investigate, I fear..."

With the last statement, the Death Eater laughed, and was joined by the rest. What was that, thought Cecilia, something about an attack? She swallowed, and sank back behind the rock.

He'd said something about the police...she thought back to a conversation she'd had, on her first day at Grimmauld Place...they'd said wizard police were called Aurors...that means...

...they were planning to go after muggles on Halloween...the bright lights of the image she had seen of Tonks's work...the twisted face of the man before he died...they were planning muggle baiting...she didn't know how, but she had to stop them...

Before she had time to think, she realised that the group of Death Eaters were moving towards her. She could hear a thump-thump across the ground, getting nearer and nearer...

Dizzy with rising fear, she wondered whether she could risk a look. Maybe they were heading in a different direction...

...slowly she got to her knees and turned...

...to see a huge dog standing before her, baring its teeth; saliva dripping from its mouth...

Forgetting the predicament that was approaching behind three feet of basalt, she stared at the dog. Its eyes looked glazed as if mad; its fur filthy and matted. Before she could decide what to do, it growled again, opening its jaws...

...Cecilia crouched further down, looking at the ground, waiting for it to strike...

...then she felt a sharp tugging on her left arm...

Cecilia opened her eyes. Sirius Black was pulling her by the wrist.

"Come on, quickly you fool, or there won't be time..." he urged gruffly, pulling her up from her half crouched position. She had no choice but to do so and run in the direction he was pulling her, much quicker than she was prepared for and she stumbled forward.

Sirius pulled her up roughly, and her knees scraped the hard ground. He barely gave her time to balance before turning in the direction of the castle, leaving the voices of the Death Eaters behind her, the ground still uneven. It took everything Cecilia had to remain upright.

They ran up a hill, and were now quite far enough away from the Death Eaters that the rising panic in her chest had subsided. Sirius pulled her down crouching on the hard earth.

"Don't you realise how dangerous it is out here?" he said reprovingly, looking past the trees in the direction they had come. "All manner of things are lurking out here..."

Cecilia said nothing: her head was fuzzy; a combination of the effects of the butterbeer and the flight they had just made.

She tried to think. There was a dog...then Black...why is he here? She looked between her wrist and his hand, as Sirius watched out over the hillock. If I can just gauge when he is distracted, thought Cecilia, then I can get away...

Waiting a few seconds, she built up the courage to pull...he was looking further afield now, as if the Death Eaters had changed direction. Slowly, she was about to slip her wrist out of his grip, but she wasn't fast enough. Sirius spun round and grabbed it, looking at her with intent.

"Oh no you don't," he said, giving Cecilia a firm stare and ignoring her pleas to let go.

"Haven't you registered yet in your tiny mind anything I've been saying? Do you really think you can get past eight Death Eaters on your own?" He gestured in the direction he had just been looking.

"I don't care I..." she gasped, "...just let me go..." Ignoring her, Sirius gripped her wrist tighter. She winced.

"Come on, " he said, "We have to hide. There's no going back to the castle now..."

They rounded a hill at the back of the Castle grounds, hurrying further and faster away from it. Cecilia noticed as they passed, a path trailing in the direction of Hagrid's hut and she wished she had done what Severus had said earlier, returned to the castle, or at least gone and spoken to Hagrid.

Just as Cecilia thought she wouldn't be able to keep up with Sirius's pace any longer, he slowed as they neared a solitary tree, whose branches of the tree were swaying, as if caught by the wind. This struck Cecilia as odd because the night air was quite still.

Sirius stopped, and pulled his wand from his robe, pointing at the tree. "Immobilus", he said, and suddenly a dull ache of apprehension began to form in Cecilia's chest. Oh heavens, thought Cecilia, looking at it, then following her eyeline down to his arm. The last time she remembered seeing Sirius he was holding his wand...

"Come on," he said urgently. "Down there..." He gestured towards a small entrance between the roots of the tree. Cecilia froze. Sirius began to raise his wand again. On cue, the mournful wail of a wolf penetrated the air and he gave her a "told you so" look.

"Like I said, it's dangerous out here," he said menacingly, flicking his wand towards the hole. "Come on, quickly." Cecilia looked at it and took a step.

The only thing round here that is dangerous Black, is you she thought, walking towards the base of the tree, hopes diminishing of a last-minute getaway.

Sirius followed close behind her, edging her roughly inside when she hesitated. He stepped forward and led her down a small passage where thick and muscular roots protruding from the walls.

Once or twice Cecilia stumbled in the dark; Sirius pulling her up by the wrist which he still had firmly gripped firmly in his hand. Ahead of them was the light of an old house, and they entered a decrepit room, ancient furniture thick with dust and hung with cobwebs.

Cecilia shivered as logic pervaded her mind. If he was trying to keep her safe, she couldn't see how. They could easily have slipped back to the castle, or to Hagrid's hut. What was the reason for them coming to this old deserted house? Unless...

Urgent panic began to rise now, and Cecilia tried again to desperately yank her hand back from Sirius, heading towards the door and out the way they had just come in.

"Mrs Frobisher, that was extremely foolish," intoned Sirius, managing to get a grip on her hand as she attempted to leave. With his other hand he gripped his wand.

"Careful or I may have to use this." You coward, thought Cecilia, looking between the wand and his face as Sirius wrestled a firmer grip on gripping her by wrist again, and pulled her back through, throwing her onto the dusty floor. She fell heavily, grazing her legs.

"Get up, get up," said Sirius, wand still aloft, looking back out through the door of the room. The silence that reigned was interrupted by a mouse running over the floor. Raising his wand, a bolt of yellow light hit the mouse, and it died, just like the one that Draco Malfoy had killed. Cecilia looked open-mouthed at Sirius as realisation flooded her mind. She knew she'd recognised it. The light of the spell was the same light she remembered flashing through the Grimmauld Place kitchen...

"Rodents," he said simply. Then he saw the look of terror on Cecilia's face, and glanced between the tip of is wand then back at her. He lowered it.

Cecilia tried to make for the exit a second time, but this time Sirius was too quick, and grabbed her round the waist, wrestling her to the floor. She screamed, but he pushed her down, trying to cover her mouth with his hand. Cecilia bit it, hard.

"Ahhh!" yelled Sirius, letting her go. "You silly woman, what did you go and follow him for? How long do you think it would have been till they'd have found you, a minute?" he looked down at her crossly, rubbing his hand. "I save your life and this is the thanks I get?"

He began to pace across the entrance to the room, glancing across at her sporadically.

"But Severus..." she said, thinking about why she'd followed him. "He keeps rushing off...I thought he was doing work for the Order...but he's a Death Eater! We've got to tell Dumbledore before they act on his information..." Sirius looked at her, and continued pacing.

"Of course he's a Death Eater " said Sirius, still pacing. "And that's what I've been telling Dumbledore for ages: it's only a matter of time before he betrays us all..."

Cecilia said nothing. Dumbledore knew?

"Dumbledore knows?" she said, eventually. "He trusts him?" Sirius laughed, mockingly.

"That's Snivellus's saving grace, isn't it? A reformed Death Eater. A teacher at Hogwarts. Respectability. A double agent is what he is. On Dumbledore's side, supposedly."

Cecilia looked at the floor. So that was it, was it? A double agent. Feeding lies to the enemy to contain them; mislead them...unable to help that man Avery because so much was at stake...

Her mind tried to allocate this new piece of information into her picture of Snape. He was helping Dumbledore, not betraying them. She thought about everything that had gone on, his behaviour and how he'd acted. Now the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

Slowly, the tightness in her chest began to recede, and the memories of the evening, of their closeness that had made her feel like the traitor for doubting him. She glanced at Sirius.

"I've still got to get out of here, I need to warn Dumbledore. I heard them, heard what they said. There's going to be an attack at Halloween on muggles." As she spoke, she got up, and moved towards the door. Sirius looked at her and moved in front of her, looking her up and down.

"Sit," he ordered, pointing towards the broken piano stool. Cecilia stared back at him, glancing at his wand again.

"Sit down, Cecilia" he repeated, but this time his voice had softened.

"Why?"

"You can't leave yet, it wouldn't be safe.

"But the Death Eaters have gone now...they were waiting for one of their number...Avery...they've gone to London...to meet others...

"There are other things lurking around out there, my dear..."

"Like what? Werewolves?" she said, sceptically. He jerked his head back towards her; a look of shock crossed his face momentarily.

"Yes," he said simply. "We have to wait until dawn..."

"Well, if it's a choice of staying here with you, or facing imaginary werewolves, I think I'll take my chances with them, thanks." Cecilia sat down on the dusty piano stool, and folded her arms again.

"You really don't like me, do you?" Cecilia laughed, scornfully.

"Why do you say that, Black?" said Cecilia, throwing him a look of contempt. "What reason would I have? Now let me think! Could it be that the last time we saw each other, you were trying to do me in? Excuse me for inferring from your actions tonight that you weren't trying to finish the job!" She folded her arms tighter and glanced to one side. Sirius walked towards her.

"I can tell you've been around Snivellus," he retorted, "The sarcasm's catching..."

"No, that's me I'm afraid, a stupid muggle and whatever else you'd like to call me, it's got nothing to do with Severus." She looked back at Sirius. "Shame on you for being so rude," the teacher in her added. "Besides, until you explain to me firstly why you think I need your protection I'm not staying here another minute" Cecilia got to her feet, then paused.

"How come you knew where I was anyway? I thought you weren't able to leave Grimmauld Place? And what was that mangy dog doing there?"

He said nothing, looking down at the dusty floor.

"Well if you can't justify your kidnapping of me, Black, then I am actually leaving..." she declared, taking the moral high ground and wondering whether he would call her bluff.

"How long do you think you could survive out there?" he said quietly, walking in front of her. "Do you know what will happen if a werewolf catches you?"

There was a long pause.

"Enlighten me..."

"They don't kill you straightaway," he said, his dark eyes shimmering in the half-light as he paced round her.

"First, when they've caught you, and I must say, I've never seen anything run as fast as a werewolf after its prey, it will paw you. And by that I don't mean in a soft fluffy animal way; the last time the Ministry found a person pawed by a werewolf it took them three days to identify the body..."

He stopped, taking in her dumbfounded expression. Werewolves didn't exist, she knew: Severus had told her that. So why did Black's story sound so real?

"Should that not kill you," he continued, continuing to pace round her, "then the werewolf tearing your throat out, or disembowelling you would quite possibly finish you off."

Cecilia opened her mouth to speak, but her throat was so dry, all that came out was a dull cough. She swallowed.

"So, if that's the case, Black," she said, with all the courage she could muster, "how come these so-called werewolves didn't get you?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, I was in the form of a dog. And Mr Snuffles wasn't best pleased at the "mangy" part of your description."

"You were the dog?" she said, astonished.

"I'm an Animagus." He paused, allowing the information to settle in. "Animagi can transform into other animals. It comes in very handy as a disguise, and offers some measure of protection, I can become a dog..." And before her very eyes, Cecilia gasped as Sirius's form receded, and the big black dog which had stood before her earlier that evening stared back at her.

"How did you do it?" asked Cecilia eventually, shaking her head in disbelief. Sirius reappeared before her.

"It's quite complicated; you are supposed to register your Animagus form with the Ministry when you do it, but we...I never did. That's why I can move around un-noticed."

"But what about your clothes?" she pressed. "When you transformed, you weren't a dog with clothes round you, yet when you changed back, you were clothed..." Unless it's part of the spell, she mused. It must be, else it wouldn't make sense. Sirius laughed, grinning at her.

"The legendary Cecilia Frobisher and her scientific mind..." he said, mockingly. "Is there any point in my simply saying that it's magic? I am quite convinced you won't accept that as an answer..."

"But there must be some sort of code, a program in you spell that means they are there or not..." Cecilia began to pace round the dilapidated room. If it's genetic, there must be something that controls the outer of the clothes. Clothes aren't part of you, you're not born with clothes... Sirius rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Only a muggle could ever think like that," he said, conceding defeat. She gave him a contemptuous look.

"But why do your clothes reappear though?" she persisted. "They are matter, after all, substance..."

"Probably for the same reason yours don't after you've had a bath..." he stepped away from Cecilia, with a gleam in his eye, watching the horrified expression form on her face.

"What did you say?" Her mind raced. Had he said what she thought she'd heard him say? Had he spied on her in Grimmauld Place? What else had he done while she'd been there, apart from attempting to kill her?

"And a mighty fine body too...lovely legs..." he indicated her figure by giving an outline of it with his hands.

"Black? You...spied on me?" The shock of his acknowledgement had brought her down to earth so hard, that that was all she could manage.

"Yes" he said, playing on her shock. "I have been. Making sure you were all right. I had no choice Cecilia," he continued, as she took a couple of steps towards him, "I told Dumbledore to tell you I was sorry for what I did...I wanted to tell you myself...but still Remus wouldn't let me near you..."

"You mean...you've been spying on me in my room here? At Hogwarts?" Sirius began to chuckle, then noticed her expression.

"It's not like I haven't seen it all before, you know. You have a very nice body, from the little I've seen of it, Cecilia. Well padded bottom..." Sirius stepped closer, and she could feel his hot breath on her cheek. Cecilia could feel his eyes, scanning her body as he approached...

The slap came out of nowhere; Sirius hadn't been expecting it and he stepped back slightly, in shock. Cecilia folded her arms resolutely, and sat back down on the piano stool.

"Well I hope you had a very good look," she said quietly, "then you will also have seen what it was you did to me," she bowed her head. "Madam Pomfrey thinks I'm lucky to still be able to walk after what you tried..."

Silence reigned for a few minutes: Cecilia continued to stare at the floor, and Sirius held his stinging cheek. Eventually, he spoke.

"I suppose I deserved that..." he said looking at Cecilia. She looked back up at him.

"When can I get out of here?" she said.

"I told you, we have to wait for the morning...because of the..."

"...werewolves," she finished sardonically. "Come off it, Sirius. The last thing I thought you were was a liar..."

"It's true," he said, wide eyed. "You don't believe me?" Their eyes met briefly and the thoughts Cecilia had had, the first time she saw Sirius filled her mind. Sorrowful...yet reckless...handle with care... Cecilia stemmed her thoughts, mentally shaking her head, and looked back down.

"Cecilia" he said, "I am sorry for what I did. It was wrong, I was mistaken...impetuous..." Their eyes locked again. Cecilia smiled a little. He actually did look sorry.

Sirius stood up. "Well I'm glad I did check your room tonight; I'm not sure you are fully aware of what Death Eaters might have done to you, should they have found you," he added.

"Believe me, I have a good idea," she replied. "But I didn't know Severus was going to join me in the pub. I was supposed to be meeting Nym- Tonks for a drink, but she couldn't make it..." She looked down at the floor again.

"Are you sure there's no other way out?" she asked hopefully. Sirius shook his head.

"Here," he said, throwing her his coat. It was brown and a bit muddy and about fifty years old.

"Try and get some sleep," he added, sinking into the corner of one of the rooms, closing his eyes. Cecilia looked back at the coat. It smelt of dog. That figures, she thought, as she sat with her knees up to her chest on the floor by the piano, pulling it over her.

I still don't trust you, Sirius, she thought, surprised by its warmth. But I can feign sleep when my life might be in danger, so there's no harm in acting.

"Comfortable?" asked Sirius, opening his eyes and looking at her.

"I wouldn't say that," she replied, then added, "but warm...thanks..."

"So Severus isn't a traitor then..." she said, after some time.

"As much as it pains me to say this Cecilia, no he is not. There's nothing I'd love nothing more than to get rid of the greasy git and never have him darken the doors of my home any more than they are already dark. But sadly, his role in the Order is too valuable."

There was a pause.

"Did you say he found you in the Three Broomsticks?"

"Yes," said Cecilia. "I was waiting for Tonks, I thought she might be late. Remus said 9.30, but I thought I'd hang on a bit."

"You spoke to Remus?" Sirius sat up, and stared at Cecilia.

"Yes, Friday," she said, "Not that it's any of your business," she added.

"And does my darling cousin know of your secret liaison?" he said, teasingly. Cecilia sat up, and stared at Sirius, feeling quite grateful that it was dark and he couldn't see her blush.

"We only talked," she said quickly. "He was kind enough to want to know how I was, if you must know." Sirius's eyes widened, and he chuckled slightly.

"Mrs Frobisher, have we touched a nerve?"

"Remus said he was quite shocked that someone he considered his best friend would behave like you did."

"How many more times do I have to say I am sorry?" said Sirius, defensively. "It's going to be a long night if were going to be arguing about this..."

More silence.

"Do all fires connect to the Floo?" said Cecilia. "It was bizarre when Remus first spoke to me from it, and then the flickering over the last few weeks. Now I know it was you spying on me. I thought I was going mad..."

"Well probably", said Sirius, yawning, "and I suggest you wear a little more when stepping out of the bathroom, in future..."he said, "not that I minded the view I must say," he added as Cecilia huffed her disapproval.

"And just how long have spying on me?" she asked indignantly.

"Long enough to know that you look really sexy in your pink and blue stripy pyjamas and fluffy bunny slippers, and when you put on that green stuff on your face, there's a significant improvement…"

Cecilia pulled a face at him in the dark.

"Seriously though, I really did just want to check you're OK," he said, evenly.

"You really don't trust Severus, do you?"

"Yes I've noticed you're on first name terms with him. I'm not going to apologise for making sure you are safe, though and Harry too. You can't help not fully understanding everything that's going on around you..."

But that doesn't mean I'm incapable, Black, thought Cecilia and the phrase she had read in Sirius's letter to Harry sprang to the front of her mind. So you truly believe I can't comprehend what's going on simply because I'm a muggle? she thought crossly.

"...,just because Dumbledore trusts him, doesn't mean he wouldn't try anything..." Sirius continued.

"I trust him more than I trust you," she fired back, sitting up.

"After what you saw tonight?"

"Well, after what you just told me, yes," she said, leaning forward in Sirius's direction. And not about Severus, she added silently.

"I can't believe I'm stuck here with you for a whole night," she said, irritably. "It's going to be so much fun. And before you call me a stupid muggle again, perhaps you could evaluate your actions as to the letter you sent to Harry?"

"Letter?" Sirius got to his feet quickly. "What do you know of a letter?" He moved over to her.

"Telling him if anything happens to you your hopes were with him," she continued provocatively. "I mean, not putting any pressure on him at all are you?"

"And who are you to be telling me anything I should be saying to Harry? I'm practically the closest family he has!" Sirius stood up, leaning towards her.

"Well I'm not sure you know much about families, Black, but they don't go around adding more pressure to a child who is under so much pressure as it is."

"You don't need to tell me that!" he shouted, making her jump. Cecilia got to her feet and they stood face to face.

"Well perhaps I do...I possibly have had a smidgeon more experience with children than you..." She paced over to the four poster bed and, arms folded, sat down heavily.

It collapsed, covering her in dust, cobwebs and old cloth. Sirius burst out laughing. He crossed the room to where Cecilia was fighting the cloth which covered her and coughing heavily because of the dust and held out a hand. When she finally got her head and arms free, she took it.

"That's the funniest thing I've seen all year," he said, chuckling as he helped her grumpily to her feet.

"Then you can't have got out much," she retorted, then instantly regretted it. She looked into his beautiful dark eyes. He continued to laugh, and she smiled too, thinking what a sight she must look.

"Are you OK?" he said, still chuckling.

"Fine," she said, thinking of the one or two bruises she would be sporting in the morning. She leaned down to feel her leg. There was a small trickle of blood which she quickly wiped it away with her finger before sitting back down on the floor, knees to chest on Sirius's coat.

"We used to come here, all of us, to the Shrieking Shack," said Sirius, his laughter waning. "Harry's father James, Remus...Peter..." he frowned. "This is the most haunted house in Britain you know." Cecilia smiled, resisting the challenge to argue. He sat down next to her.

"Us four, sneaking off at nights for a laugh, hanging out here while the other good students were tucked up safely in their beds."

"The Marauders," said Cecilia, as the knut dropped. She glanced up at Sirius's confused face. "Tonks told me. Minerva gave you the name," she added, smiling knowingly.

"More often than not we spent our time thinking up new and unusual set-ups for dear old Sniv-" she caught her look, "Snape..."

"Bully..." said Cecilia. She sighed, exhaustion overcoming her. "Can't believe got to stay here, with you..." she goaded again, despite her creeping exhaustion. "Peeping Tom," she added mischievously.

"Hey," said Sirius in tones of mock-injury. "That's what comes of sticking your nose in where it's not needed, you strange, strange woman. However," he continued, turning to face her, "from what I see you do to prepare for lessons that aren't even of consequence is admirable..." she frowned at him.

"Not of consequence...?"

"I mean, you don't need to do them..."

"That's where you're wrong, Black," she said quickly. "How else will the next generation of wizards and witches realise that muggles as you so politely call us, are not threatening to them? What else can I do to prevent another Voldermort –" she pointed in the direction of the door, "or his followers from appearing again? People I know might die then. People I live and work with. I'm afraid you're quite wrong, Sirius, my lessons are of consequence..."

"Do you have any children Cecilia?" asked Sirius quietly. Cecilia could feel the colour draining from her face. She turned away, and looked at the wall.

"I apologise," he said eventually, when she said nothing. "I suggest you get some rest," he added, retreating to the corner of the room. "Keep my coat, if you wish, it's turned much colder; there'll probably be a frost..."

Cecilia pulled the coat round her shoulders, without saying a word. Damn you Sirius Black, she thought, as she wiped a tear from her cheek. Damn you...

88888888

Cecilia was awoken by something touching her shoulder. Turning to one side, she was about to push Dobby away, then she started – a huge black dog was nuzzling her. She blinked as the weak sunlight penetrated the room around her, and she sat up, and looked at herself; her hair full of dust, clothes torn and filthy.

The dog transformed into Sirius Black, and Cecilia sighed as she stood up. The events of the last night then cascaded over her. She glanced at him, suspiciously.

"Mr Snuffles was checking to make sure everything was all right," said Sirius, watching her glimpse at the exit.

"So I can go now?" she said. He nodded, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Only if you want to," he added, with a wink.

"Believe me, I want to," said Cecilia, narrowing her eyes.

They emerged into the early morning sunlight, and Sirius led her to the entrance of a secret passage that he explained to her would take her to a door in the oak panelling by the portrait of the Fat Lady.

They walked over the land between the Shrieking Shack to Hogwarts in silence, each of them glancing at the other as they went and Cecilia considered the way in which Sirius had treated her. Ignoring his obvious personality discrepancies: arrogance; narcissism; prejudice; conceit; vanity...she actually hadn't felt out of control or vulnerable last night, all in all. Not like she'd expected she'd feel. Perhaps this was a new start, she thought. He might have actually realised he had gone too far.

Soon they reached a passage hidden behind some bushes. Cecilia recognised where they were, and remembered passing this side of the castle the previous night on the way to the Three Broomsticks. The passage continued under the basalt rocks that were the very foundations of Hogwarts, until it narrowed and darkened, with only a circular door at the end.

"Just through there, and you're back," said Sirius, pointing to the door. "You need to climb over there, then up." He smiled at Cecilia.

"Last night," said Cecilia, turning to Sirius. "Thank you. I would have been in trouble if Mr Snuffles hadn't arrived..." she smiled indicating a touch of familiarity before turning to go.

"Don't mention it," said Sirius. "By the way, be careful with that door..."

Cecilia turned back. "Why?"

"It's been there for over a hundred years, and I don't think it has seen the likes of anything that big before," he chuckled, and slapped her on the bottom.

"How dare you!" Cecilia blushed and spun round, seeing the smirk on his face. "I'll thank you to keep your hands to yourself, Black" she said, indignantly.

"Now, now Mrs Frobisher, however can I resist, with something as big as that? Don't forget I've seen it in the flesh, so to speak."

Cecilia raised her hand; he deserved the slap that was coming to him this time, the arrogant so-and-so. But Sirius was too quick for her, and he caught her wrist.

"You shouldn't go round doing things like that, Cecilia," he said softly. "It hurt last time..."

Suddenly, he took her hand and kissed the back of it, and looked back deeply into her eyes as he did so, his own full of sorrow; regret.

Then he pulled her closer, and leaned in, pressing his lips firmly to hers, a long full kiss, making Cecilia gasp. She allowed him to pull her closer, feeling the warmth of his body through her clothes...his muscular chest...his heartbeat...the tingly sensation running down her spine giving her an irresistible urge to...

Just as suddenly, she pulled away and continued the slap which had been so rudely interrupted.

"Ow," said Sirius, looking confused. "What was that for?"

"That...was for trying to kill me in the summer," she said, brightly. "Now I think we're quits, Mr Black." She turned to go. "Thank you again for showing me back."

"It was a pleasure, Cecilia," said Sirius, rubbing his cheek. "I'm sure we'll see each other soon...goodbye." Cecilia turned towards the door and began to proceed into Hogwarts, contemplating the way she had to go when she reached the Gryffindor floor.

"Cecilia..." She turned back round. Sirius was beckoning her from a few yards down the passage. She walked back to him.

"Yes?" she said. Sirius smiled, and grabbed her hand.

"For the research," he said simply, looking straight into her eyes. Without waiting for her to reply turned he strode back down the passage towards the grounds, without turning back. Cecilia watched him go then looked down into her hand. It was a lock of his hair.

Never had Cecilia walked so fast through the corridors of Hogwarts, down the stairs and back across the first floor, into the teacher's quarters and straight into her own room. Slamming it behind her, she leaned against it, her heart racing almost as fast as her mind. She stood there for a while as she tried sort out her chaotic feelings.

The school clock chimed six o'clock. Cecilia looked down at Sirius's hair in her hand, and her mind cleared. With her back still against her door, at 6am on her twenty-ninth birthday, she smiled...

88888888