Previously in Chapter 23: Liseli and Tarazet spent Christmas together after reconciling, and she revealed to him that she had been taking potions from Snape's storeroom without specifying why. On the way back to her Hogwarts' quarters, Liseli ran into Snape who mentioned that he had recently learned from one of the Lestranges that the youngest Colburn was purportedly a Death Eater; Liseli replied that he was clearly mistaken, as she was the youngest Colburn.
Chapter 24: New Year's Eve
"Severus, I'm glad you decided to come. Would you like some champagne?" McGonagall greeted him as he entered the professor's lounge.
"How much I will need to drink depends on who else is planning on attending," Severus replied, looking around with a slight sneer frozen into his features. The room they were standing in seemed to be decorated for the professors' New Year's Eve party, with enchanted glittering snowflakes and multi-colored confetti covering the walls. Hagrid, Sprout, Flitwick, Hooch, and Colburn were sitting on several of the vibrantly coloured comfortable-looking couches in the middle of the room, while Vector was standing nearby the appetizer table with Sinistra and Pomfrey.
"I will take that as a 'yes,'" McGonagall replied lightly, handing him a filled champagne flute. She added with a slight smile, "You did choose to be here. Dumbledore is not one to force professors to attend faculty parties against their will."
"Yes, well, nothing says 'Happy New Year' like getting rip-roaringly drunk at your place of employment. Or at least that seems to be what Hagrid thinks," he said, nodding with the same sneer towards the large man.
Hagrid's cheeks had a pink tinge to them as he boisterously recalled to the surrounding professors "—an then it wasn't a cockatrice at all! It was jus' Fang!"
Severus took a sip of champagne, swishing it slightly in its glass as he continued to observe the other professors. He had been hoping to talk with Colburn since their exchange on Christmas but had not seen her in the castle since then. Now, with her sitting nestled in the circle of professors, it would draw too much attention if he were to try and extract her for a private conversation.
"I believe Rubeus, Pomona, Filius, and Rolanda are currently competing as to which of them teaches the most dangerous subject," McGonagall explained, as though noticing the direction of Severus's gaze. "Originally I was also partaking, but I decided to bow out during the first round."
"Pray tell, how does Flitwick plan to compete with a subject which left Hagrid's predecessor missing two limbs?" Severus said as Flitwick began animatedly talking.
"I don't think he plans to actually win the competition," McGonagall replied, her eyes similarly fixed on the other professors. "I believe he just wants another opportunity to tell the story of when one of his students who was learning the Summoning Charm accidentally summoned Filius himself instead of the assigned pillow."
"—and then: whoosh! Suddenly my feet were no longer on the ground, and—" came Flitwick's high-pitched voice.
"I told them they ought to make the competition for most dangerous subject a poll, so other professors could be more involved, but they seem to have decided against that," McGonagall mused aloud.
"I see." Severus lightly ran his finger along the edge of his champagne flute as he watched Sprout take her turn and begin gesticulating. "I am surprised Colburn is not participating. Statistically, professors in her position have had the highest number of deaths and injuries."
"Admittedly. Most of those were unrelated to their teaching in the classroom, though," McGonagall pointed out.
Severus turned his attention back to the group of professors; Sprout's story apparently involved a large, rather toothy plant. Hooch finished the round with an incident which Severus found comparatively unimpressive, one in which a student's accidental magic had caused her broom to vanish when she was several hundred feet in the air.
After a good-spirited debate between Hagrid and Flitwick, Hagrid was declared the winner, and Severus found himself thinking that at least the other professors weren't as dim-witted as he had thought; the Gamekeeper's position was certainly more dangerous than Flitwick's.
The small group seemed to temporarily splinter; Sprout stood up from her seat to chat with McGonagall, while Hooch moved to grab more crab cake from the appetizer table, and Hagrid lumbered over towards the drinks table which Severus was standing by. Severus began to move away from the table to give Hagrid more space when, to his surprise, the large man approached him directly.
"Snape! I didn't even notice yeh were here." Hagrid's cheeks were a rosy red, and his voice was even more booming than normal. "Yeh shoulda been in that round. Potions can be a dangerous subject; I bet yeh woulda had a good story to share."
"Potions frequently involves working with poisonous substances that can result in even higher levels of toxicity if brewed incorrectly," he sneered, as though reprimanding a First Year. "Of course Potions is a dangerous subject,"
Hagrid seemed unfazed, for he simply turned the other direction to face Colburn as she also approached the drinks table and said, "Yeh shoulda shared a story in that round, too."
Colburn politely smiled in response as she filled her champagne glass halfway. "I've only had this position for a few months; I'm afraid I don't have many stories to share yet."
"Maybe that's for the best, since we were sharin' stories about things that went wrong an' all," Hagrid said with a loud laugh.
Severus took another sip of champagne and silently hoped that Hagrid would return to one of the various colourful couches in the lounge soon; then he might have an opportunity to quietly corner Colburn.
Instead, Hagrid looked between Severus and Colburn with a wide smile before heartily clapping a hand on each of their shoulders; Severus felt his knees almost buckle, and Colburn visibly staggered from the force of the large man's hand.
"It's so great so many people came to the party," Hagrid started, a wide smile crinkling his eyes as he regarded both of them. "Just so great. An' both of yeh, both of yeh are just great. Colburn, it's so great to finally have another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who actually cares fer the students, who actually knows what they're doin'."
Severus silently thought that if they weren't in public he would have already hexed the man's hand from his shoulder.
"An' Snape-" Hagrid continued, turning towards him with a warm expression, "-Snape, yeh have a real stick up yer arse some of the time, but yer still great. Yer Dumbledore's man. Yer Dumbledore's man! An' that's just great."
Hagrid beamed at both of them, as though there was nobody else in the world whose company he would have preferred at that moment. Severus silently wondered just how much champagne the man had had.
Colburn directed a polite smile towards Hagrid before gently removing his hand from her shoulder and beginning, "That's very nice of you, Hagrid, but I'm afraid I actually have to leave. I only intended to stay for a short bit; I have plans with my brother to celebrate New Year's Eve."
"Have fun," Hagrid said with another broad smile.
Seeing a fleeting window of opportunity, Severus waited until Colburn had left the room before quickly following her into the corridor. "Oh, Colburn," he called out, and she paused in her steps, before turning to look at him with a mildly quizzical expression.
"Hello, Snape," she said. Then an amused smile twitched at her lips, and she added, "Or should I be calling you 'Dumbledore's man?'"
Severus frowned slightly. Given that she was unaware of his role as a spy, it was likely she failed to realize the significance of Hagrid's words and thought he was simply referring to Severus's position as a professor. "I was hoping to have a word with you Colburn," Severus said lightly. Rabastan's words on Christmas day that the youngest Colburn was a Death Eater were still playing on repeat in his head.
"I assumed as much," she replied, beginning anew her brisk steps towards the entrance of Hogwarts. "I would prefer to not be late, so if you insist on talking with me now, it will have to be while walking."
"Have I told you before about my Death Eater allies?" Severus began in a low voice, deciding to cut to the chase.
"No. You have no reason to, and I have no interest," she replied, a suspicious look forming on her face. She glanced up and down the quiet stone corridor they were in before quietly adding, "If you have a wish to be arrested, I suppose it is beyond me to stop you, but do you truly want to talk about your...activities in public like this?"
"There are no more than a handful of students staying in the castle over the holidays, and seeing as it is an hour to midnight I guarantee you they will all be in their respective common rooms nestling ill-gotten flasks of butterbeer," Severus drawled, before continuing with a business-like briskness. "I was wondering whether I had emphasized to you before how much I valuemy allies."
Colburn nonchalantly replied, "Funny, I thought 'ally' was the word Death Eaters use for the people they backstab as they claw their way to the top."
Severus supposed the Death Eaters did have a reputation for not always being entirely helpful to each other, mainly because of the numerous Slytherins whose ambition had gotten the better of them. "Perhaps, but I am not one to betray my allies," he smoothly replied.
"Fascinating, but of no relevance to me," Colburn replied in a bored tone.
Severus frowned. He had been hoping that – if Rabastan had indeed been referring to Colburn in his accusation – she might reveal her status as a Death Eater if she thought it could benefit her. Either there was nothing for her to reveal, though, or she merely thought revealing such a fact to Severus would not be beneficial. Deciding to take a different approach, Severus abruptly began, "Why did you miss the Opening Feast at the beginning of the school year?"
For a moment the only sound was their footsteps walking in unison down the stone hallway, Colburn's shoes making a distinctive click-click-click sound against the flagstones. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye before pensively replying, "I had a personal matter to attend to. Why do you ask? "
"It must have been a terribly important matter to risk ruining your first impression on the staff and students of Hogwarts by not showing for the most important dinner of the year," he said lightly. "It may interest you to know that I recently looked through the Daily Prophet for that date, to see if there was a Death Eater attack that evening."
"There wasn't," she promptly replied. "There was nothing in the Daily Prophet at the start of the school year."
"No, there was not. However, the Daily Prophet does not have the capacity or the desire to detail every single Death Eater attack that occurs, so I decided to skim some of the regional newspapers. It appears there was indeed a Death Eater attack that evening. In southern Scotland, to be precise, from 6:45 to 7:40 in the evening. Do you know what time the Opening Feast ended?"
Her eyes narrowed. "I should hope you are not implying that – "
"The Opening Feast is scheduled every year to end at 7:30 in the evening," Severus continued, rather as though she had not spoken. "It never does. If I had to estimate, I would say it normally ends approximately 20 minutes late. Coincidentally, you appeared right after it ended. Also known as about 10 minutes after the Death Eater attack ended, or just enough time for someone to wash the blood from their hands and then Apparate."
Colburn spun towards him, livid. "I do not have blood on my hands!"
"Guilty conscience?" Severus hummed.
"You can tell as many tall tales as you like, Snape, but I consider my personal life to be private," Colburn angrily tutted. "I am not going to detail it to you just because you enjoy creating ridiculous accusations."
"Well, clearly the 'personal matter' that occupied your time that night had not provided food, because you were eating when we first introduced ourselves that night. A bit odd to be eating supper that late at night, isn't it?" he pushed.
The click-click-click sound of her steps continued as she replied with an edge to her voice, "You could be the next Gilderoy Lockhart; you spin the most creative tales."
Given that any comparison to Lockhart was inherently insulting, Severus had to fight the urge to derail the conversation by rebutting with an insult of his own. Instead he began anew, "Do you remember when we went to Honeydukes together, on a Saturday evening?"
"Yes. I was buying a birthday gift for my nephew," she replied as they began descending a flight of stairs. They had barely stepped off the staircase when it began swinging in another direction. "I would not have thought that would be enough to brand me a Death Eater, but apparently everything looks different under the scrutiny of Severus Snape."
He continued speaking as though he had not heard her second line, "I found it odd at the time that you seemed to be not the least bit worried about the possibility of a Death Eater attack, but I attributed it to you being more foolish than I had given you credit for. Now though, I wonder if it was because you know exactly how to conduct yourself in a Death Eater attack."
"Or maybe it was because as a pureblood who has two Death Eater brothers, I know I am not the intended target of such attacks," she replied wearily, crossing her arms.
"Perhaps. Although I found it interesting that, upon reflection, I realized I have never actually seen your arms bared – "
"Have you ever seen McGonagall's arms? Sinistra's?" Colburn interrupted. "We are all professors, Snape. It would be unprofessional to wear sleeveless robes, not to mention impractical in winter."
"Yes, but if you will recall, I gave you a healing salve for your hands once, after one of your brothers had cursed your wand," Severus pressed. "Given that you specifically avoided showing so much as your wrist when applying the salve, I believe your habit of not baring your arms stretches beyond merely trying to maintain a professional appearance in front of the students."
"Having been raised to prefer a certain level of modesty does not make me a – a – well," she trailed off, glancing both ways down the empty hall they were walking in.
Severus had to grudgingly admit to himself that modesty as an explanation had occurred to him earlier. He knew that in traditional families, like Narcissa's, it was considered unacceptable for women to show their arms in public. It was a pity he could not use Legilimency to see if that was indeed the case with her family, though; the fact they were walking side-by-side meant it was impossible to unobtrusively maintain eye contact long enough for him to attempt such Legilimency.
They had just reached the entrance to the castle, when the click-click-click sound of Colburn's steps stopped as she turned to look at him. "Were you actually planning on following me all the way to where the Anti-Apparition barrier ends?"
"I did have one last question I wished to ask you, so if you are walking that direction then, yes, I suppose I will," he smoothly replied.
She gave a tired sigh in response and, conjuring a simple cloak, wrapped it around her shoulders. Wordlessly, she opened the entrance doors to be greeted by a flurry of snow. "Well, I suppose snow on New Year's Eve is fitting for a holiday of new beginnings."
"You can see Thestrals, can you not?" Severus abruptly said, determined to not let the conversation slide away.
"You don't do normal small talk, do you?" Colburn dryly replied as they stepped out into the snow. "Weather, and the like?"
Distractedly thinking to himself that perhaps he should have also conjured a coat given the cold, he said, "Are you avoiding my question?"
"I have decided I won't dignify any more of your ridiculous questions with a response," she said, pulling her cloak more firmly around herself.
"Do you want to hear what I suspect you would answer?" he taunted.
There was a sharp gust of wind that swallowed her response, but Severus thought it bore a strong resemblance to the word "No."
"I suspect you can see Thestrals," he replied, elevating his voice to be heard over the wind. "And I suspect that if somebody asks you, you reply that you can see them because you have seen some close family member pass, likely a parent. Which would be a lie because if your family was indeed traditional enough that they raised you to never bare your arms, it is highly unlikely they would maintain a good relationship with any daughter of theirs who chose to become anything but a housewife."
"You have spun an amazingly large number of stories based off of a single mention of a Colburn who was a Death Eater. Bravo," Colburn replied dryly. The stone path they were walking on was alternately snowed over and cleared, and as the wind died down he could intermittently hear the click-click-click of her steps.
"Lestrange did not merely mention a Colburn who was a Death Eater. He specifically said the youngest Colburn was a Death Eater, and that he had brought this youngest Colburn to their first Death Eater meeting," Severus rebutted. "As you informed me, you are the youngest Colburn."
"And, as I informed you, Rabastan must have misremembered the ages of my brothers and me," she replied in an annoyed tone. "You also seem to be forgetting the crucial piece of information that I have nothing against Muggles or Muggleborns."
"As you yourself told me, not all Death Eaters join for reasons related to Muggles," Severus promptly retorted. "Some people — particularly if they are young - join in a misguided attempt to prove themselves. They are then distraught to find that belonging to the Death Eaters is both more grim and more of a life-long contract than they had ever imagined."
"I'm not interested in your autobiography," she replied in a clipped voice.
"I was not describing myself," he snapped, annoyed that she was trying to reflect his probing back onto himself. They were now approaching where the Anti-Apparition barrier ended, when a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Colburn, how did you know which Lestrange I was referring to? I never used Rabastan's first name."
The evenness to the click-click-click of her steps momentarily broke before resuming. She coolly replied, "I assumed. Rabastan Lestrange may have graduated before I even started at Hogwarts, but he was still a legend in the Slytherin common room. From the way the older boys talked, they made it sound as though he had recruited half of the people who joined the Death Eaters. It's no wonder he would know all of the people who are and are not Death Eaters."
Severus shot her a suspicious look. "Tell me, if I were to ask Lestrange if he had ever met one Liseli Colburn, would he reply, 'Who?'"
A sour expression appeared on her face. "I never said that I had not met him before. Knowing a Death Eater does not make me one, though. Otherwise merely talking to you would be enough to brand me one." They had apparently just crossed the boundary of the Anti-Apparition barrier, for before Severus could reply Colburn continued in a forcibly polite tone, "Enjoy the rest of your evening" before disappearing with a crack!
The wind began whipping at Severus's face as he frowned and silently contemplated their conversation. On the one hand, it was true that the entire brunt of Rabastan's accusation rested on him having correctly remembered the Colburns' birth order and that was something that not even Severus had recalled correctly. This alone was enough to make him have the nagging thought that perhaps Rabastan had indeed been referring to a different Colburn. On the other hand, there was the equally nagging thought somewhere at the back of his mind that Colburn did not seem to be acting entirely innocently.
Severus shook his head and began walking back to the castle.
…
A/N: My original plan was to wait until I had finished all of the chapters in the current arc and then do a flurry of updates, but since I'm still working on them and it's been a while since I've posted, I thought I would put up this chapter just to let you all know that I'm still writing and haven't forgotten about this story! Unfortunately I don't have a firm estimate yet when I'll be posting the next chapters, though.
Anyway, many thanks to kci47 for being the best beta anyone could ask for. And in case you're particularly curious, the various things Snape refers to in this chapter are all things that the readers have seen occur in earlier chapters, specifically: Ch1 (opening feast), Ch9 (trip to Honeydukes), Ch14 (Liseli's ability to see Thestrals), Ch16 (Liseli not showing her arms and knowing why some DE join), and Ch22 (Rabastan's initial accusation).