Snape knocked again. Nothing. Not in her room nor in the Great Hall, not in Hogsmeade, and not in the corridors. Curfew had passed so she should be here. He was growing worried, what if she had been attacked? What if she was cursed? He rushed to the potions room to grab a few supplies before searching the castle once more.

Lyria stared at the moonstone and lavender mixing in her cauldron, if her predictions were correct then the lavender would strength then effects of the moonstone and could aid in making the antidote more powerful.

She tapped her wand against the cauldron and a burst of glittery purple dust erupted. Yup, definitely stronger. She wrote her observations down in Snape's notebook, focusing on every detail. The more occupied her mind the less she could dwell on the dark path that lay before her.

Of course the Ministry was involved, of course he was behind the attacks, she didn't know why it had taken her so long to connect the dots. If he could gain control of Hogwarts his path to controlling the Ministry would be much more clear. If only she could figure out what professor or student he was working with!

She had ruled out the Headmaster's, even though Karkaroff had been a Death Eater he had sold out long ago. He would never be trusted with something so important. Fontaine was too American in all honesty, European Wizard politics would hardly involve him.

Lyria had thought through every professor at Hogwarts, none seemed like they would be the type to sell out to someone who followed the Dark Lord. Even Severus, a slytherin, refused to call muggleborns mudbloods, and Dumbledore surely wouldn't allow a death eater to teach.

Perhaps one of the Ilvermorny professors…

She had gotten lost in her thoughts and the ingredients in front of her had spoiled. She would have to make a new batch.

As she gathered more viles from the shelves her mind turned to Snape. She wouldn't be able to avoid him forever. She didn't want to be avoiding him at all in fact, quite the opposite. She longed to be in his arms again, but alas… if he questioned her she would surely lose her position at Hogwarts and she would have nowhere to go but back to the Ministry. It was a lose-lose situation.

Opening the door to the classroom Severus immediately relaxed. Lyria sat at a table scrawling notes in his black notebook.

"Lyria there you are." Snape's relief was mixed with frustration, "I've been looking for you everywhere where have you been?"

She looked up at him and immediately started to clean up her work station. With a wave of her wand the cauldron was empty and clean, ingredients returned to their spots on the shelves, and her other supplies piled in the corner.

"Hello Severus, I was just researching some ingredient interactions." She tied up the notebook and made to leave.

"Lyria wait, why are you avoiding me?"

She blushed slightly and continued to the door as she spoke. "I'm not avoiding you, it's just late and I have to-" suddenly her progress towards the door was impeded as Snape cut in front of her and trapped her against a nearby wall.

Lyria should have been afraid, angry perhaps at the act of aggression, but she wasn't. Instead she found herself blushing as she discovered she had been aroused by his actions. She suppressed her feelings immediately, though it was difficult with him standing so close to her.

Lyria had to leave, before he started asking questions. She tried to duck under his arm but he stopped her.

Hand on either side of her head he looked at her desperately.

"Is it because of what happened last night? I'm sorry I should never have brought you-"

"No Severus it's not that at all." Her answer came before she could stop it. "I just…" she trailed off.

"Then you must know I have questions to ask you."

His eyes were intense as he stared down at her. Oh how she wanted to tell him, she wanted to tell him everything, but she couldn't. She closed her eyes tight to avoid his stare and put up a wall in her mind just in case he knew legilimency.

One of Severus' hands left the wall and tilted her chin up towards him.

"Lyria look at me," hesitantly she did, not being able to resist the kindness and care in his request, but still she kept her mental block in place.

"I know that man that appeared works in the Ministry. If you're right about the attacks, if you're right about a Ministry agent trying to harm the students at Hogwarts we must know. Do you suspect the Ministry because of this man?"

She nodded, the action looked like it caused her pain.

Severus pressed for more information, "Did you work for him?" She nodded again.

"What's his name?" Lyria hung her head and tried to keep tears from falling.

Severus kept one hand delicately under her chin, he moved his other to her arm and felt her shaking. "Lyria," he said softly. "Please you can trust me, who is he?"

Tears fell down her cheeks, she was done. Once Severus told the Headmaster she would be accused of aiding the Ministry in the attacks. But she could refuse no longer.

"Edmond Rose."

Understanding came crashing over Snape. Of course, Rose had been placed in the Ministry when Severus first joined the Death Eaters, he must have remained in place after the Dark Lord fell. That's why he recognized him, but then…

Eyes wide he gripped Lyrias arms, "Lyria he is dangerous, he was a Death Eater, he-"

"I know he is. I know- wait." Her fear disappeared and turned to anger. "How do you know that?"

Snape realized his mistake too late. She grabbed his left arm and forced up the sleeve, revealing a faded but ever-present dark mark.

Lyria threw away his hand and ran for the door.

"Lyria wait! You don't understand, I don't-"

"No! You're one of them!" Her cloak flowed around her as she turned to him. Her hair was falling out of her braid and she had a wild look about her, Snape could almost feel the heat of her anger as her blue eyes lit like flames.

"He probably sent you! Is that it? Did he tell you to charm me? To gain my trust? Is that why you took notice of me?! Here I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, but no, you're working for him!"

He stood there flustered, there was so much to explain, "It's not like that! I left a long time ago, I was a spy for Dumbledore." Secrets he had promised to keep came spilling out as he tried to make her understand. "I promise I don't know Edmond any more. I-" he stopped as Lyria pointed her wand at him and she shouted "Legilimens!"

Instinctively he started to block the presence in his mind but realized that this was the best way to have her understand.

Memories swirled and Snape pulled himself to the side as Lyria explored them.

That night on the hilltop outside Hogsmeade, the prophecy, the Dark Lord beginning his search for Lily, her broken body in his arms, his promise to Dumbledore, he laid it all out for her to see.

Severus could feel her searching for something and eventually a new memory arose, this time of a dark circle around Voldemort,

"Rose, you're report." hissed the Dark Lord.

A tall man with a dark red beard spoke up "We have agents in all the major Ministry Departments. Crouch and I have secured the Magical Law Enforcement Office and should soon be able to protect your efforts in London as well as provide you access to any area you wish."

"Very good Rose..." The last letters of the name turned to a hiss in You-Know-Who's mouth.

"Lucius?" The dark lord turned to the blonde man you bowed before his master.

"Yes my Lord?"

"You will aid Mr. Rose in securing the Ministry, I want you to apply for the position in the Department of Mysteries. We will need access soon…"

"Of course My Lord."

"Very well… Another year and we will put our plan into action…"

"My Lord?" Rose spoke up again and Voldemort turned sharply to him. Without waiting for permission Rose began to speak. "Should we not act now? The Minister is weak, we needn't wait a year, if we can garner support quickly in the Department of Mysteries we could-"

"Silence…." A chill ran over the group as the command lingered in the air.

"I appreciate your ambition Rose, you are a worthy member of Slytherin House and a true pureblood... but it would be unwise to move against the Minister before disposing of Dumbledore. We will need to infiltrate the castle first. Focus your attention on spreading my followers throughout the Ministry. The castle will be handled by others, and that, is where you come in Severus…"

The memory faded and Lyria pulled back from Snape's mind.

Lyria fell to her knees, the combined effort of the intrusion and the information she was trying to process sucked the strength out of her. Snape hadn't been lying. He wasn't spying on her and he wasn't assisting Rose. Did that mean his care for her was genuine? Rose had been placed on Voldemort's orders, he was meant to overthrow the Ministry, no wonder he was trying to do it again… his Master may be gone but the resources were still in place.

Snape watched as Lyria tried to process everything she had seen. He had half a mind to return the gesture and enter her mind but knew the action would just make things harder for her. Instead he walked over and gently helped her from the ground. Before he could speak Lyria threw herself against him. She wrapped her arms around his middle and held on tight as she began to sob into his chest.

Quietly he said "That's the only time I met him, I promise." He held onto her as she cried, saying nothing more.

They stayed entwined that until Lyria's tears slowed, Severus stroked her hair, holding her tight, he tried to let her know without words that whatever she was going through he would be there to help.

Eventually Severus led her from the classroom and into his rooms.

As Lyria shed her cloak and sat in the corner of the couch Snape collected wine and glasses before joining her.

She accepted the drink gratefully and took a long sip before facing him.

"I'm sorry Severus. I shouldn't have done that."

He sat next to her, "I understand why you did, it was the fastest way to find out the truth." She nodded but did not seem comforted by the comment. "Besides I am impressed with your skill, I had no idea you knew legilimency."

"Well," She smirked, "Rose taught me all sorts of things he thought I would need to use one day."

Severus tread carefully with his next question. "You know now why I recognized Rose, but I still don't understand how you know him. Did you just get randomly placed in his department?"

She shook her head and clutched tightly to her glass.

"Then he chose you specifically, Rose was a very smart wizard, that's why the Dark Lord trusted him with something as important as the Ministry. I thought he had left after the Dark Lord fell but I should have known he wouldn't give up power so easily."

Lyria scoffed. "He certainly is smart in his grabs for power, no one at the Ministry has ever suspected him."

"Then how did you find out he was a Death Eater?"

"It's... complicated." She stared down into her now empty glass, avoiding his eyes.

"I have time." Snape took a drink from his glass and then refilled Lyria's to make his point. She smiled a bit and conceded.

"If I tell you, you must promise me that when Dumbledore finds out you will help me maintain my apprenticeship here. It's the only way I have stayed away from Rose. If Dumbledore suspects me and kicks me out I am afraid Rose will come for me."

"Lyria many people work in the Ministry, that does not immediately implicate them in the crimes of one man. The Dark Lord is gone, anything Rose does is pointless and you obviously did not want to be aiding him."

"Maybe… Either way he still plans on taking over the Ministry in the Dark Lords name."

"I don't understand how you know this." said Snape, Rose had been so well undercover...

"He's my father." It was a whisper, but the sentiment came through loud and clear.

Snape stared in awe, "How can that be? I thought you were muggleborn?"

"So did I. My mother is a muggle, she kept me hidden from him. They eloped and she became pregnant with me, only then did she find out my father was a wizard. When my mother told him of the pregnancy my father freaked out, saying he couldn't taint his family name with a half-blood child. I don't know if he ever loved her, but the prospect of having a child scared him. He attacked my mother and left, thinking he had ended her pregnancy, but her body kept me. When I was born she hid me from the wizarding world until my letter came when I turned 11. She was afraid that if Rose found out about me he would try to recruit me into his efforts, turn me into a wizard like him, or kill me."

Snape kept quiet and listened intently.

"My mother had told me I had a muggle father, and that he had left before I was born. When I started at Hogwarts she still hadn't told me about Rose, I guess she thought if I didn't know then I wouldn't go looking for him or something like that. But the summer before my sixth year I came across his name and asked my mother about it. That's when I learned exactly what happened."

"So is your name…"

"Lyria Rose Artemis. My mother thought that giving me her married name as a middle name would keep me safe. My last name is her maiden name. My mom died right before I started my sixth year. Perhaps that's why she told me the story, she didn't want to leave without me knowing the truth."

"I'm sorry…" said Snape quietly. Lyria took a deep breath and continued. It felt good to confide in someone, even if he would surely never talk to her again after this.

"When I graduated from Hogwarts he found me, I'm not sure how. But he offered me a job at the Ministry and I couldn't refuse the opportunity. Suddenly I had a job, a father that wanted me, and I thought things were starting to look up. I worked for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department of Mysteries, I oversaw many projects that I thought were Ministry sanctioned. In addition to my work my father trained me, I learned Occlumency, Legilimency, and various aspects of Dark Magic, I became familiar with the inner workings of the Ministry. He said it was all to help me become a better leader." She paused.

"Did you know he was a Death Eater?"

"No. Not at first anyway. I began to suspect him when he started to teach me Dark Magic, he began using techniques I knew that Death eaters had used in the past, and as I got to know him his feelings became clear. He was ambitious, cunning and manipulative. I almost fell for it. I started to believe in this new world order he would talk about. With only the most talented people running the Wizarding World. When I had completed a year in my position he took me into the Department of Mysteries with a group of other Wizards and Witches from the various positions. That's when he revealed that it was all a plan to get things ready for the Dark Lord's return. He told everyone that I was a long-lost child of the sacred Rose family and that I should be welcomed into their circle. Obviously he didn't think to ask who my mother was, if he had maybe he wouldn't have been so quick to invite me in. My father is smart when it comes to the big picture but somewhat oblivious in other matters. He said that since no one knew who I was I couldn't be traced to the Dark Lord, I would be the perfect candidate to replace the Minister once he was overthrown."

Lyria wanted to continue, but her throat closed as she remembered the feeling of being surrounded by followers of the Dark Lord. The betrayal she had felt when she learned her father didn't care about her at all, he had just wanted to use her as a pawn.

Severus saw her struggling and moved closer to her. He set down his glass and put one hand on her thigh to reassure her. She seemed to appreciate the gesture, giving him a small smile. Glass drained once more, she set it down on the table and moved to touch his sleeve. Instinct told him to pull away, but Severus let her push back the sleeve and draw her fingers over his mark.

"I didn't know what to do, I was surrounded, if I revealed my true feelings and refused I was sure they would kill me. So I agreed to their plan. My father had me pledge myself to him and the Dark Lord, he couldn't give me a mark like yours so he did the next best thing."

She withdrew her hand and rolled up her own left sleeve. Severus saw nothing until she waved her wand and the makeup that covered her mark disappeared.

The mark was dark black, about the size of his own but obviously newer. Instead of a skull there was a rose, and wrapping around the stem of the rose was a thick snake like the one he wore.

Severus looked at her questioningly, asking permission, she nodded and he reached out and touched it. The snake began to move slowly, winding in a constant pattern around the stem.

Lyria lay her arms next to Severus', both branded by a Master they didn't wish to serve.

"Mine is less powerful than yours, I can hide it behind makeup or even a spell. But should the Dark Lord return my mark will burn same as yours. It also responds to my father's mark, he can summon me. I don't know how he did it."

She was looking down at their arms. Her tears had stopped but he could see how the burden of her past haunted her. Much as his haunted him.

"After the ceremony I received McGonagall's offer I took it immediately. I thought that if I left maybe my father would move onto a different victim. Get some other Death Eater to work for him." Snape rested his hand over her mark as she continued to speak.

"My father doesn't know you were a Death Eater, or at least does not remember. If he did I am sure he would have reached out to you."

"That's not surprising. The Dark Lord was the only one who seemed to consider me a valid follower. The rest dismissed me, I'm fairly easy to overlook."

"What do you mean?" She looked up into his eyes, curiosity burning through the pain.

"I am not pure-blood."

She looked genuinely taken aback, "Really? But thought… I guess I assumed…"

"Most people do." Snape shrugged his shoulders and tried to brush it off, picking up his glass and taking a long drink. Lyria noticed the feigned nonchalance and pressed.

"Mother or Father?"

"My mother was a pure-blood. One of the sacred twenty-eight like your family. When she became pregnant and married my father she was shunned from the house of Prince. I was a constant reminder of the life she had lost. I was part of the Prince family, but only in name, they never accepted me." Something about Lyria's own confessions about her past made him feel as though he could confess his, and he found himself telling her things that he had never told anyone.

"My mother resented my existence, I was her tie to the muggle she had married. I can't blame her, torn between two worlds. And my father, well, he was as confused and conflicted as she. I just got caught in the middle. I had no place in the muggle world and I ruined the wizarding family name just by existing. I was the only Half-Blood Prince."

Snape went to drink again but his glass too had been emptied and he set it aside.

"I know how you feel. My father must not know that I am half-blood. Probably bedded so many women he isn't sure who I might belong to. Even if he did know I doubt he would admit it to anyone."

After a long moment of silence Lyria whispered "Thank you."

"For what?" Neither looked at the other, they just continued to stare into the fire.

"For listening. I know that your feelings toward me, whatever they were in the past, have probably changed. But before you never speak to me again I wanted to thank you."

"Never speak to you?" Snape looked at her, genuinely confused, "Why wouldn't I speak to you?"

"Because I was weak, where you turned spy for Dumbledore and worked to make your wrongs right I just ran away. When I accepted McGonagall's offer I thought it was my ticket out. I didn't even think that the attacks could be linked to my father. I was too focused on my position here and forgetting about what happened at the ministry. You're more of a Gryffindor that I could ever be. I don't expect you to-"

"Lyria stop, that's not true at all. Look at me," She turned her head to him, and in that moment Severus wished he could take away all her pain, make right all her wrongs, hide her from the world, but knew he could not. Instead they would both have to try to balance their lives, torn between what they were expected to do and what they wanted to do.

Both wanted to live their lives for themselves, but both were bound to serve a Master they had not chosen.

"Lyria, thank you for trusting me. I don't think any less of you. I know what you have been through, and I know nothing I can do or say can make it easier, but what I can do is offer you support and guidance." His hand drifted across her cheek, he shifted closer to her so their legs were touching as he looked into her fiery blue eyes.

" "You're not alone." He thought back to the words he had heard Rose's boggart speak over her and decided there was a much better sentiment that could be conveyed. "He who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose."

Lyria couldn't help it, she leaned into him and their lips met. Where their first kiss had been one of lust and tension, this one was full of love and caring. Severus' hand wrapped around her head and pulled her to him, Lyria's hand did the same. Neither could get close enough to the other. All the loneliness, the pain, the demons of their past faded away as they kissed.

Lyria shed one last tear, not out of sadness, but from the overwhelming feeling of being loved and cared for. She knew in that moment that Severus saw her, truly saw her, and loved her not in spite of her flaws, but because of them.

Severus knew that Lyria understood him, she truly heard him, accepted him and wanted to be there with him. She trusted him as he trusted her, and it was the first time Severus had ever felt his love truly reciprocated.

After who knows how long they broke apart and rested their foreheads against each other. Neither wanted to move. In fact they wished to stay like that forever, in that moment of love and understanding. But Lyria's eyelids grew heavy as emtional exhaustion swept over her. She leaned back momentarily only to place her head on Severus' shoulder, where she lay as he held her tight. After a few moments, Snape stood and held out his hand. Lyria took it wordlessly and followed him to his bedroom.

She removed her robes but remained in her undershirt and panties as Snape took off his outer layers, leaving his trousers and his loose white shirt.

They climbed into bed and fell asleep in each other's arms. Whatever lay ahead they would face it together.

A/N "He who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose."

— Anne Brontë