distribution: Wic, WLS, Bite Me, NHA, OADNT, Twisting - anyone with permission for the earlier Pale Serpents. Otherwise please ask first.
notes: AU season 7, Willow did not return to Sunnydale from England, but is instead the DADA Professor for Hogwarts, AU 5th year for Draco.
Willow had not returned last night. Not slipping quietly into the building in order not to disturb anyone, not shuffling blearily inside in the wee hours of the morning. She just hadn't returned at all. She'd left yesterday, having said that her friend and the closest that she'd had to a mentor, Rupert Giles, one of the Slayer-Watchers, had encountered some troubles with the Council, and wanted her to help try to sort it out.
Severus was not happy about the whole mess. Not only because the Watcher's Council were almost as skilled at denying danger as Cornelius Fudge, but because something, a hint of that greater connection that witches and wizards were supposed to have was screaming at him that Willow was in danger. It had taken him far too many years, but he'd eventually figured out that while it didn't catch everything, if that little corner of him 'felt' something that strongly, screamed this loudly, it was serious. And those reactions were never wrong. If that corner said trouble - Vodemort is evil, don't drink the red bottle, something is wrong with that woman, then there was something bad. Very rarely did that tiny corner have good things to say, the most memorable exception being Dumbledor.
Narcissa had been trying to cultivate Willow. Granted, there was a slim chance that she only wanted a friend, a confidant, someone to spend time with away from her husband. And perhaps Neville Longbottom would learn to make a proper potion, and the Weasley twins could stay out of trouble for a week. Possible in theory, but very unlikely. Narcissa meant trouble, even if only from her husband Lucius Malfoy or... hadn't Willow said they'd gone shopping with Kiarran? The possibilities for trouble merely expanded when adding a vampire to the equation.
He had the feeling that Narcissa didn't intend to hurt Willow, but instead hoped that Willow would help her to achieve something that would incidentally include the removal of Lucius Malfoy. But... He remembered Narcissa very clearly from his days as a student. She'd been his Potions partner, and while she was intelligent, and had a phenomenal memory, she was... bluntly, she was self-centered and ambitious. She'd never been in the habit of doing things without some gain for herself.
"Professor Snape?" Draco's voice was unexpectedly lacking in arrogance.
Looking behind him, he saw Narcissa's son leaning against the doorway, looking perfectly presentable, but his eyes were... darker, rather troubled looking. "Is something out of place, Draco?"
"Yes. Professor Rosenberg. We... I was trying to get a bit of assistance with one of the section of our reading, but... she's not here. I even asked one of the House Elves if she was anywhere on the school grounds, and it said that she wasn't." His small frown, and the tightness of his eyebrows betrayed Draco's worry.
A small, petty part of him wanted to chastise Draco for having such an interest in Willow, but he shoved that portion downwards. Draco had a good point - Willow wasn't here. "She went to London yesterday with her mentor. It was only expected to take a few hours."
"What happened?" Draco's voice was small.
"I hesitate to guess. Wi -Professor Rosenberg has a way of attracting trouble to herself. I fear that something... unfortunate has happened to her." Severus shook his head, trying to conceal his own worry. "I suppose we could speak to Professor Trelawney, but... Her grasp of the present, like her grasp of the future, is often rather imprecise."
"She was babbling - something about swords and blood and green flashes bouncing. And she thinks Professor Rosenberg will come face to face with death before midwinter, and I should avoid one eyed dark haired strangers." Draco scowled, clearly wanting to call the woman an utter loon.
Nodding, Severus looked out again, frowning as he noticed one of the carriages approaching the castle. "A carriage... Perhaps we should go learn who is here."
Severus felt very surprised when the first figure to emerge from the Thestrial-drawn carriage was Narcissa, her hair pulled into a simple braid, her gown a simple ash gray. She reminded him of her younger days, when they'd both been students. The other person was Willow, looking quiet and unhappy and a bit pale.
"Now here we are, and I'm sure that Severus can find or make you a few potions if you're still unsettled. I'm sure he can make more of that remedy for over-extension if you need more." Narcissa was smiling a little, the expression almost gentle and entirely out of place on her. Immediately, Severus began wondering what her plan was, and how Willow was connected.
"Mother..." Draco looked as if he was quite surprised, and uncertain if this was a good surprise or a bad one. "I see you've met Professor Rosenberg, this year's instructor for Defense."
Narcissa smiled at her son, as if she was measuring him against some unknown mental list, and he came out with a favorable rating. "Draco... yes, I've met her. She's quite unusual, especially compared to some of the previous Defense instructors... eminently capable as well. You could learn quite a bit from her. Especially, it appears, about protective shields."
Willow chuckled a little, but she sounded as if she was considering something ironic, rather than amusing. "Bounce a couple... well, bounce some nasty curses off shields, and they think it's impressive, raise the dead and they think you've moved to the Twilight Zone."
"Curses? Does that mean that Trelawney..." Draco glanced at Professor Snape for a moment, and then back at his mother and Willow. "Does that mean that Professor Trelawney was right? She said something about blood, green flashes, and swords."
Severus felt his stomach tighten at the reminder of Sybyl's ramblings, and that little corner felt worried. Swords and blood and green... "Would it be rude to ask what delayed your return?"
Willow smiled at him, still looking drawn, as if she'd exhausted her magics recently. But he'd felt her power, what could have done that? It would take something monumental, unless she'd simply learned a trick to make herself look more powerful than she really was.
"I was on my way back to the Leaky Cauldron when I was ambushed by a group of.. well, I guess evil wizards, and one witch. They were trying to kill me, casting these nasty feeling curses... One spell bounced from my shield and just... all that was left of the wizard it hit was a pair of smoking shoes. Nasty." She shivered, clearly remembering the events. "Kiarran... Narcissa's uncle, happened by, and he... well, he saved me. Sharp broadsword, lots of practice using it... The rescue was just in the nick of time."
Part of Severus wondered just how coincidental that rescue had been. Could Kiarran have somehow arranged the attack? He had few doubts just how the vampire would have made the rescue, sword slashing and probably biting. How many wizards had the vampire killed? Thinking of Kiarran, or of Willow in danger made him feel uncomfortable, so he tried to move from then to now. "I am most pleased that you are unharmed."
"Does this mean you don't want to help me with the section over animated corpses?" Draco's voice was soft, as if he was trying not to upset Willow, or perhaps his mother.
Willow looked thoughtful, and then smiled gently at Draco. "Actually, I think I'd like a bit of breakfast first. If you could meet me in the library in an hour, we can go over that section again. The author of the book was just... he needed a good editor."
Severus offered a thin smile, resisting the urge to reach out, to touch her and make certain that she was really alright. "Perhaps you could join me for breakfast?"
Her eyes almost seemed to sparkle, and she smiled back. "I think that would be good. I've had... I don't feel up to the Great Hall with many people yet."
"You'll be just fine now, Willow. I think... I think Severus will take good care of you." Narcissa smiled, and it almost seemed as if there was something soft in her eyes, some trace of genuine affection.
"Thanks for bringing me back, Narci." Willow smiled at the other woman, looking as if it hadn't even crossed her mind that the entire thing could have been fabricated, could have been arranged.
As he accepted Willow's hand on his arm, noticing the nearly imperceptible trembling, Severus frowned. "They were trying to kill you... are you certain that you're alright?"
Her dry chuckle sounded strong enough. "Tired, and I was pretty frightened, but... I'll be fine from that. As long as... well, it's just low magic reserves. Rest will bring them back. And I can rest magically while teaching, or helping Draco understand the section on animated dead. It doesn't tell them how, just how to deal with them."
Remembering the times when his own magical reserves had run out, the horrible emptiness and the feeling of shaking frailty, sometimes accompanied by nausea, Severus frowned. Did Willow mean to hide her weakness from the whole world? Was he included, or was it simply the fact that they were in the hallways? Did Narcissa plan to use his too apparent concern for Willow against him somehow? He didn't know.
The few things that he was certain of included his relief at her return, the fact that Narcissa was plotting something, the hope that she might help Draco step out of his father's shadow to become his own person, and the fact that it made him feel warm inside that Willow's hand was on his arm, that her shoulder or hip would occasionally brush his body. He just didn't know what he could do about it. Any of it.
But Willow was back, once more safe. There would be time to try to figure out Narcissa s plot later, to figure out who and why had ambushed her, to learn if the Watcher s Council was finished with their problems. And he could try to find a way not to let his thoughts and dreams be clouded by dark red hair, or green shadow eyes that had seen far too much. Or maybe maybe it would be safe enough to let her into his dreams, as long as he didn t press for dream and reality to match?
Perhaps it would be safer if he focused on unraveling the clues to uncover Narci s plot. How much had she changed from the girl he d known in school? How much of that change was real, and how much a mask to conceal herself from her husband and his chosen allies? He would have trusted the Narci he d studied with not to lead Willow into grave danger, although Narci had possessed a mischeivious streak and a taste for pushing boundaries, coupled with a skill at avoiding many consequences. Not by blaming others, but by simply not getting discovered in the wrong. He would have had faith in the Narci of twenty years ago, but he didn t know the Narcissa of today. Would she still be a good friend, one of the few that he d had in school? Or was she now a cold, calculating woman seeking power and prestige? He didn t know, and that burned, because the answers to everything else depended on that, depended on what sort of woman Narcissa had become.
end Missing Persons