Besides the pained sighing of the November wind, the clattering of the sign against the brick was the only sound heard on the street. Hogsmeade stood still at such a cold hour of the evening. All the visitors were hidden away in the pubs and restaurants for late dinners or drinks and the storefronts stood dark. Night had settled early and the streetlamps burned a golden yellow that somehow looked sick against the grey air.

The Hogshead sat slanted, crammed between two boarded-up shops. The shingles on the roof lifted and shifted with the unfriendly breeze. Its' brick walls were dark and gnarled ivy squeezed out of the cracks like some greasy puss. The bay window was fogged with grime and covered by thick, dusty curtains. But this evening, a passerby would have noticed a pale hand, painted with the black lace of a delicate glove, drawing the drape aside in the slightest, letting a shaft the red light from within shine out onto the street.

When Severus Snape arrived at the pub, the low murmurs from the few, seated customers ceased entirely for a moment. The scarlet glow of the lanterns on the walls painted his pale face bloody. The wizard did not even remove his cloak, but simply shut the door behind him and strode towards the bar, minding the filthy goat that stumbled across his path.

The thin woman at the window watched him through the dainty veil that hung off of her hat and just barely obscured her fair face. She turned her purse in her gloved hand once and then set off across the room, her slight frame raked by the stares of a few men huddled in the corner.

Snape heard the heels of her pristine boots stop their sharp clacking. Before he could even get the sleepy bartender's attention, her hand was on his shoulder. The professor did not look at her.

"Not here."

"Hm?" He uttered coldly,

"In private." She insisted, her voice stony,

"As you'd have it." Snape murmured,

"Sir?" The witch called across the bar to the drowsy bartender, who grumbled something, "Sir, excuse me." He stood from his stool as swiftly as his old knees would allow. A goat brayed somewhere from below the shelves as the man hobbled over to meet the lady,

"Yes, love?" He croaked, licking his lips

"I'd like a room, please." She said tartly,

"For the night? Six galleons, my dearest."

"For an hour." She cleared her throat,

"One galleon." He was quick to take the coin from her and slip it into his breast pocket. Snape took in a breath and stared ahead, "Under whose name?"

"Ms. Duchossoir."

"Very well." He turned away, showing the balding patch at the back of his head, and rummaged through a cabinet. When he rotated back to the pair, he had a quill and a key in his greasy fingers, "Number Three." He told the witch before handing her the tiny iron key. She took it respectfully and then, without thanking the man, moved towards the stairs. The bartender was left to scribble down her name and gaze after the trailing cloak of Professor Snape.

"Duchossoir." Snape commented blandly, looming over the lady as she jammed the key into the lock. The upstairs corridor of the Hogshead was dark, cramped and dank and there was a horrible scratching noise coming from the room across the way.

"My mother-in-law's maiden name." She replied quietly and quickly,

"Why?" He pried coldly while she opened the door and swept over the threshold, the floorboards screaming, even under her slight weight.

"Severus, if that is rhetorical, you are crueler than I recall. If you are honestly wondering, then you are stupider than I could have conceived." The witch said, her light voice tense as she tossed the key on the bed, "Most of my pride has been stripped from me," Snape lit the single lantern that dangled above the bed with a wave of his wand . Then, he shut the door and looked to her blankly again, while she continued "I would like to keep the little dignity that I have managed to hold onto. I will not see my name in his records for renting a bedroom for one hour...Here of all places..."

"You were the one who chose this above other locations..."

"I was trying to make this as convenient as possible for you."

"How kind. Yes, most convenient for me, indeed, to take time out of my night to come and be assailed by you." He shot softly. The two of them faced each other in the tiny, low-ceilinged room with the bed a welcome barrier between them, "Now that you've made The Vow with me and locked me into your troubles, do you have the audacity to think that you may treat me however your foul moods would like?"

"Just stop." And her stony voice cracked and quieted, "Please. I'm sorry, Severus."

The lady and the professor stared at each other for a moment, until she removed her hat and set it by the key on the threadbare bed.

Narcissa Malfoy's face was made-up, as usual and the room around her did not suit her. Severus always thought she looked oddest when she was not accompanied by some grand setting. There she was, dressed in a shockingly elegant set of ebony dress robes with a trailing, black feathered cape, and those laced gloves standing in the swirling, stinking dust of this tiny hotel room, with the wallpaper peeling behind her.

"Narcissa, what do you want."

"You say that so...so...I don't know..."

"Well, you called upon me. What do you want."

"Again, that just sounds..."

"I don't care how it sounds." Severus said calmly in his low, bland tone, "It is what it is. We are here. You have asked me to be here. What do you want? We only have an hour, well, you may have more galleons, but I only have an hour..."

"Don't deal with me so strictly." She said softly and bitterly,

"What?" Severus scoffed quietly and then took a simple breath, "What would you like to know about Draco, then?"

"Anything."

"He has been missing my classes and all of his other classes for the past few weeks."

"He hasn't been writing..."

"I'm not surprised."

"Why? Why..."

"Last month there was an incident." He raised a hand swiftly so that she would not interrupt, "A girl somehow obtained a cursed necklace while she was here in the village. It was given to here. " Snape watched as Narcissa's grip on her handbag tightened, "She was bewitched, it seemed, and she was under the impression that she had to deliver the jewelry to Dumbledore."

"Oh..." she breathed solemnly, her shoulders falling in some deep devastation,

"Now, others may be aware that Dumbledore is a target of assassination, but still, no one knows that Draco is to be the assassin. However, I know. And you know. And both of us can assume that this situation a few weeks ago was a poor attempt at murder on your son's part. And both of us are very aware that he must be more careful."

"He's not speaking to you?"

"No."

"But..." She began,

"He's foolish." Snape noted, "You often forget that."

"I suppose."

"He knows I would berate him for such a clumsy effort. And he knows I would be justified."

"Call him in for detention..."

"Did you not think I have already done so?"

"And he hasn't shown?"

"No."

"Oh, Severus, we..."

"He should have been suspended by now."

"And his other teachers?"
"He attends their detentions, I've heard."

"Tell him to write me. I want to help. I want to help him...He went away and now he's changed. This summer he let me help him, heal him..."

"This past summer you used him like a crutch."

"I..." She couldn't deny it, "Now it's his turn to use me."

"He has decided he does not need us, apparently."

"This is not a time for that. You tell him that."

"He will not listen."

"If only his father were here. He'd..."

"Who's to say that he would listen to Lucius, even?"

"I know he would. Lucius made sure that Draco always..."

"Then make him listen to you, now, Narcissa. You know just as well as Lucius does."

"But he won't respond to my owls..."

"A Howler, then, honestly." Snape drawled brutally, "But I doubt that will work either. If a boy has his mind set, he has his mind set. I don't know why we need to discuss that. I can supervise him and, in the end, do what must be done, however..."

"He's going to die." And she sat on the bed, her head in her hands, "My boy is going to die..."

"Narcissa..." She would not answer, "Narcissa." He did not move from his place by the door, but he watched her back shake in the slightest. If she was crying, she was silent, "Narcissa."

"I wish I could just see him and tell him..." She said into her palms,

"Narcissa, I promised you. I will protect him."

"How can you if he refuses you?"

"He is a boy. I have more control over his situation than he could ever imagine."

"Do you promise me?" She turned, her bright eyes tearless,

"I see no need to promise again."

"I do."

"I promise. Are you satisfied?"

"What can we do?"

"You, Narcissa, can do nothing."

"Don't say that." She pleaded,

"Nothing directly. You can stay in the favor of the Dark Lord, that is what you can do."

"Oh..." She moaned through her teeth, looking at the floor,

"It is an honor and a help to you to have him in your home. It's a miracle he even brought himself to grace your doorstep. If he were not there, he would not know how earnest you are in wanted to regain his favor..."

"You talk as though it is a privilege and not a punishment."

"His presence is not a punishment, the damnation he has imposed upon your son is the punishment he intends to bestow. Why would he want you and Lucius to fail? Lucius is a key component in his forces. Essentially, it is all about your husband"

"I know! I know. But as if my child were expendable..."

"He is, to the Dark Lord, at least. He is without much skill, he is young. There is nothing to lose if he dies, we have gone over this..."

"I still don't understand! I cannot believe I'm saying this, but from his perspective, how can it be efficient?"

"Don't attempt to understand, the Dark Lord works in..."

"If you want Albus Dumbledore dead, send my sister. Send somebody, anybody...Logic would say..."

"He wants Draco to attempt first."

"Oh!"

"It's for Lucius' wrongs, as I've said. Now, I don't want to repeat anything I've said before for the remainder of this conversation. Please, I don't know how many times I can tell you the same exact things." There was a pause. She sat miserably there on the bed, staring blankly at the stained throw rug. Then, her gaze found his again,

"Why won't he answer my owls?"

"What does it matter, why?"

"I just..."

"Narcissa, I can only guess."

"Then, guess, please. At this point you see him more than I do, know him better, even..."

"He might like to regain your family's honor on his own. He might be disillusioned to think that the Dark Lord believes he can accomplish this..."

"But, what if I..."

"He wants to feel as though he is doing this alone." Snape said bluntly. The word 'alone' seemed to hit her in the face like a spray of water. The witch blinked,

"Why on earth would anyone want that." She asked, a new, numbed pain flooding her voice and paralyzing the air in the room,

"He may see that as a way of growing up."

"No, that's just a way of growing cold." Narcissa stared into Severus' black eyes, "I'm his mother."

His gaze was relentless and she willed herself not to glance away this time. He folded his hands as if waiting for her and then he decided to break the silence,

"You'd like me to write you everyday, wouldn't you?"

"I would." She uttered,

"You've never lived alone, have you?"

"No." Narcissa still would not look away, "Now with my sister in and out, it's as if nobody..." Snape stood still, "Severus, I've never had an evening where I thought, 'In a week, I'll still be waking up to an empty home'. It was just business trips for him before. And then, at least I had a house elf to talk to. Something to talk to..."

"Did you just call me here to hear a voice? To see a face?"

"You..." She stared, "Maybe." And finally she looked to the floor again, scolding herself, "Look at me. What am I doing...Severus, I'm so sorry. This is so embarrassing."

"It really is." Snape uttered.

Narcissa folded, bringing a hand to her face. She wanted him out of the room. She wanted his hand on hers. And she hated herself. She should have called Wormtail if she was seeking comfort. He would have given her sympathy blindly for every wrong, twisted reason in the world,

"It is embarrassing." Severus went on, "You are a strong witch. To see you reduced to this..."

"What do I do?"

"Stop dressing as though you are a widow, for a start. I know you. Once you make the public believe something, you can believe it. Make them believe you are happy and you will be happy."

"You don't know a thing..."

"I know a few things." He said, raising his thin hand to silence her again, "And that trait of yours, Narcissa, is one of them. Stop your mourning. It is a temporary situation. The Dark Lord will bring him home again."

"And then he's likely to kill him!"

"Then prepare yourself for the worst and know how to function best on your own, really."

"I'm not strong without him."

"That's a lie. You are not allowing yourself to be strong without him and that's what's embarrassing."

"How anyone can expect someone to be strong alone is beyond me, Severus. It isn't possible. I don't care if it's my husband or my son, I need somebody because I am a human being. I am strong, but everything has been taken from me..."

"Your sister..."

"To hell with my sister!"

"Now, you don't mean..."

"To hell with her! She has everything she wants right now!"

"That's an assumption."

"She doesn't understand!" the witch was yelling by now,

"You have her to keep you company..."

"I don't want her! Not at all! Not right now...And it's not company I'm after. You say that so patronizingly."

"You're never satisfied, are you?"

"Not lately! No. And I won't be satisfied until...It's been..." She took a breath, "Nearly six months since he was taken away. Think of it. Soon, I'll be counting years! Years alone. You're telling me to be strong, endure. Well you have no idea what you are talking about. I've had someone my whole life-"

"Why am I here?" Snape said icily, "You're rambling."

"And now my own son- Damn it! I wish I didn't know what it was like to have anybody at all! I envy you, Severus! I really do!" She shrieked at the ceiling. Then, she clenched her hands together and turned away, sharply, "Maybe it wouldn't hurt as much if I never..." She stopped.

Narcissa heard the doorknob twist,

"Don't."

She heard the floorboards cry when he moved from the door,

"What." His voice came like a stake in her back,

"Please."

"Why."

"I...just..."

Her heart was beating quickly for some reason. She couldn't move. Something was battering against the walls of her chest in a horrible frenzy. And then, Severus spoke.

"I became as strong as I am only after I realized that people are temporary things. I am strong because I did know what it was like, I'll have you know, and I realized that that will never last. And, so, I focused on learning how to be content in my own company."

"Severus..."

"Don't say my name that way. I am not the one who came here for sympathy."

"I didn't come here for-"

"Why even attempt to try to fool me..."

"I..." She hiccupped angrily, "I'm trying to fool myself, then. I don't like being like this."

"So, stop."

"How?"

"I just told you."

"No..." she whimpered, "I can't think of being alone forever...Not now. I just can't."

"Prepare for the worst."
"Is there no hope? Really? Honestly?"

"You came to me for hope? I am a practical man, Narcissa. You have seriously misjudged me."

"No, I mean...I need this. I needed this. You telling me this."

"Then accept it."

"It's hard."

"So?" He said through his yellow teeth,

"I'm sorry." She rummaged through her handbag and took out her wrinkled handkerchief, "I just need to get used to the idea." She wiped her eyes carefully and then said, "Severus, I would do anything to protect them. I just want my family safe and with me."

"And you will do everything in your power. You'll do your very best."

"Of course."

"Grief is hindering you."

"Yes."

"Don't grieve for things you have not lost. Once you lose something, then I can respect you and your misery. But this is entirely counterproductive. Your husband is alive, your son is alive. You are dead, Narcissa. You are the inactive and therefore, dead. How you can help your family is by using this time, now, to be at your best and support them in their trials. If all you can manage to do is be glamorous, then so be it. But I am sure you are capable of far more than that."

"Thank you." She was staring at the floor,

"Is that all?" He asked

"I..." she shook her head 'no' subtly, "Yes."

She was a wilted thing at the edge of the damp mattress, her white-blonde hair like some tattered wedding veil down her back and over her eyes. She was breathing easier now and when she sat up, at last, she turned to the dark professor and begged nobly,

"Please, sit with me."

"I have papers to grade."

Silence.

"Just sit, please."

"I'm sorry, Narcissa." He said slowly,

"Severus." Her bright eyes glowed in the bare lamplight, "Please."

He moved to Narcissa and sat down beside her, staring at the wall, focusing on the tilted, scraped up painting over the small dresser. It was a landscape painted in spring. It moved, only slightly, when the twilight breeze shook some of the violet flowers in the foreground.

Narcissa drew in a sharp breath beside him.

"I am doing everything I can to help you." He said dryly,

"I don't know why you're doing it." The lady's voice was smaller than it had ever been,

"Neither do I." He lied.

He knew exactly why he was aiding her son and it was not for her. Every deed was for Dumbledore. And every deed for Dumbledore was, of course, for Lily Potter. He remembered that when Narcissa's warm hand found his.

"Thank you."

He didn't turn to her,

"You're welcome."

"Lucius respected you." Her fingers shifted on his knuckles. Her glove was horribly soft, "Now I truly understand why. You can talk straight, think straight..."

"One does ones best."

And so they sat, breathing together, never meeting eyes, not speaking again until Narcissa whispered,

"I wish I hadn't come here."

"Well, you did." Snape said flatly,

"You shouldn't see me like this. Nobody should."

Severus looked to her hand on his.

The thin thread of a scar snaked up his fingers, to his wrist, and disappeared beyond the cuff of his shirt. Beyond her glove, he knew that she bore the exact same brand.

"You sound like me, now." Severus said before silence overtook the room again.

Narcissa held his hand just a little tighter.