Book 5: Chapter 7
Dangerous Games
On the last day of the holidays, Dumbledore knocked on the door to Severus and Alethea's quarters.
"Albus, hi," said Alethea opening the door to him.
"I think I'm still not really used to seeing you so at home in here."
"Oh but I am," she winked and showed Dumbledore to a chair.
"And just what have you been up to?" he gestured towards the carving knife in her hands.
"Oh, just doing some cooking. Can I get you something to drink?"
"How very domestic," he snickered. "But no thank you dear, I just wanted to have a word with Severus."
"He's been in the library, he should be back fairly soon though… speak of the devil." She grinned as Severus walked through the door, a small stack of books in his arms.
"I will never understand some of those Muggle terms," he complained. "What is that one supposed to mean anyway?"
"Oh I don't know, it's just a saying. Anyway, you have a visitor." she gestured to Dumbledore.
"Hello Headmaster, what brings you to our happy abode?"
"There is a matter I need to speak with you about Severus, and a rather large and important favour that accompanies it."
"I'll take that as my cue to give you some privacy," Alethea said.
"Of course not Alethea," Dumbledore said. "It is Order business that brings me here. I am probably also correct in assuming that whatever I talk to Severus about he will no doubt mention to you later anyway."
Severus sat down on the lounge opposite Dumbledore and crossed his long legs. Alethea remained in the small kitchenette quietly preparing their lunch.
"This is regarding my concerns about Harry's apparent mental connection to Lord Voldemort, the one we have spoken about," Dumbledore said. "I believe the time has come for the boy to learn Occlumency."
"Do you really believe it is necessary Headmaster?"
"I have been thinking about it and yes. If Harry can see into Voldemort's mind then it is only a matter of time before Voldemort will become aware of the connection and find a way to use it to his own advantage. Severus, I want you to be the one to teach him."
"Me?" Severus scowled. "But you are skilled enough in Occlumency and Legitimency, why can't you do it yourself?"
"I am still wary of getting too close to Harry in case Voldemort realises and uses my connection with the boy to get at him." He handed a roll of parchment to Severus. "Here's a letter explaining everything to Sirius, I dare say that without it you would have a hard time convincing him to allow you free access to Harry."
Dumbledore stood and pulled a small parchment from his robes and handing it to Severus before he turned and left the room. Severus strode over to the closet by the door and pulled out his travelling cloak.
"You're not going to do it now are you?" Alethea poked her head around the corner.
"I am just going to tell the boy what to expect."
"There's no need for you to go over there now; if you wait until he's back at school tomorrow you can at least avoid Sirius."
A look crossed his face that indicated to Alethea that a confrontation with Sirius was exactly what Severus had in mind. She presumed he couldn't resist the urge to rub his special assignment in his old enemies face.
"If you're going then I'm coming with you," Alethea said grabbing her own travelling cloak and chasing Severus out the door.
When they arrived at Grimmauld Place, Sirius met them at the doorway and eyed Severus suspiciously.
"What are you doing here Snape? There's no Order meeting planned; tonight this is just a house, a house that you're not welcome in."
Severus slapped the parchment from Dumbledore into Sirius's hand and pushed past him into the hallway. Molly Weasley came in through the kitchen and smiled when she saw Alethea.
"Well hello," Molly said. "What brings the two of you here?"
Sirius, who had opened and read the note, glared menacingly at Severus.
"Molly," Sirius said. "Go and get Harry, tell him Snape wants a word."
She blinked and looked from Sirius to Severus and Alethea.
"Okay," Molly said cautiously and begun climbing the stairs.
"Please see that he hurries, we cannot stay long." Severus called up the stairs behind her.
Sirius went through into the kitchen and held the door open indicating for Severus to follow. Once the two men were in the kitchen, the door was firmly shut behind them. Alethea watched as Molly came down the stairs moments later with a bewildered looking Harry behind her. Alethea said hello to him as he pushed his way into the kitchen.
"Molly, I'm so sorry about what happened to Arthur."
"Oh thank you dear, as you can imagine it was a bit of a fright to see someone you love so helpless. But at least it looks like he's making a great recovery."
"I'm relieved to hear it."
"The big problem was the snake's poison," Molly said matter-of-fact. "There was something in it that kept busting his wound open again. They said that if the medics had got to Arthur any later it would have been too late to have been able to do anything at all."
"So what was so special about this poison?"
"They seemed to think that …"
Just then the front door burst open and Arthur bounded in flanked by the twins Fred and George.
"I'm all cured!" he beamed and opened his arms wide as Molly rushed in to hug him.
Ron, Hermione and Ginny came rushing down the stairs and everyone gathered around Arthur excitedly.
"So are you okay dear, no lasting effects?"
"I'm completely fine," Arthur pried his wife from him so that he could embrace Ginny.
"Oh Arthur, I'm so happy!" Molly threw herself onto him again, squashing Ginny in the process.
"How are you feeling?" Alethea asked him.
"Never better," he replied. "Not something I'd like to experience again in a hurry though; I can't imagine anything being more painful."
"Are you sure you're fine Dad?" asked Ron, still looking concerned.
"Well, I could use a nice hearty lunch. That hospital food leaves a lot to be desired."
He led the way into the kitchen and upon entering; they saw Severus and Sirius with their wands draw and pointed at each other. Harry was standing between them, his arms raised to keep the men apart. Severus looked at everyone standing in the kitchen doorway looking shocked.
"Merlin's beard," Arthur frowned. "What's going on here?"
The men lowered their wands quickly.
"Six o'clock Monday evening Potter," Severus said then pushed past the crowd in the doorway and headed out the front door.
After he had left, everyone looked from Sirius to Harry before they all slowly turned their attention to Alethea. She pursed her lips then shrugged before tentatively following Severus out the door.
Back in their quarters Severus paced his usual line between the fireplace and the bookshelf.
"Should bother I asking what that was about back there?" Alethea asked.
"No," Severus replied through gritted teeth.
"Fine," Alethea passed him and entered the kitchen.
"You are angry with me," Severus said following her into the kitchen.
Alethea sighed. "This is just getting a little tiresome all this between you and Sirius. I know I can't understand it but it's still hard to have to put up with."
She left him in the kitchen and went to bed.
If Severus' first Occlumency lesson with Harry was any indication, Alethea intended to spend a great amount of time in hiding. Severus had returned to their quarters in one of the foulest moods Alethea had seen him in for a long time, slamming the door forcefully behind him. Alethea looked at him past a raised eyebrow but Severus just scowled as if daring her to ask how it went. Alethea decided instead to ignore it, returning her attention to the parchments she was marking at the kitchen table. For the next hour she listened to Severus pacing in front of the fire and muttering loudly to himself.
As his lessons with Harry continued throughout the term, Alethea watched as Severus' moods grew darker and darker each evening as he returned. When she wasn't tip-toeing around Severus' moods in their quarters, Alethea was trying to tread lightly around Harry as well; in her classes Harry seemed tired and irritable. Even during mealtimes the two would often be glaring at one other. It seemed to Alethea that Severus and Harry were somehow feeding off each others hatred.
"What concerns me the most," Alethea said to Minerva as the two sat drinking tea in the older teachers' office one evening. "Is that Severus can look at Harry with the same look as he does Sirius, and I know how he feels about him."
Whenever Severus had Occlumency lessons with Harry, Alethea could be found sitting with her friend drinking tea or playing chess.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Minerva replied. "After all, it's not like Severus has anything to be angry with Potter about, he hasn't done anything to him; the poor boy is only unfortunate enough to remind him of his father and Godfather."
"I wish Albus would do the lessons himself."
"He has his reasons," Minerva smiled. "And as always we follow his instructions without ever asking why."
"I just hate seeing Sev go through doing this, which he obviously hates, on top of everything else; this last year since You-Know-Who resurfaced has put so much pressure on him."
"But he comes home each night to you and you remind him what he is fighting for."
Several nights later Severus was in his office when the familiar burning on his forearm alerted him to Voldemort's call. Without telling Alethea he was going, he left the castle quickly and disapparated. When he reappeared he was immediately grabbed from behind by large hairy arms.
"Snape!" the man said as he held him tight. "How did you ever manage to avoid Azkaban?"
When he was finally let go, Severus turned around quickly.
"Mulciber? How …"
'Welcome to the celebration Severus," came the cool voice of Voldemort. "As you can see, our ranks have just been boosted."
Severus looked around him; he noticed that several more figures than usual dressed in black and sporting white Death Eater masks.
"You looked shocked," Voldemort continued. "What a wonderful night it is for a master to have his loyal servants back home where they belong."
"My Lord," Severus knelt low and kissed the hem of his robes. "Your ingenuity knows no limit. Do I take it then that all Death Eaters have been rescued from Azkaban?"
"All ten of them."
Severus felt himself shudder as Voldemort laughed out loud.
"Come and get yourself a drink Severus, celebrate with us."
Voldemort backed away and was lost in a sea of black robes. All around the room men and women were laughing, making toasts with wine and ale and talking about who they would terrorise with their new found freedom. A wave of nausea swept through Severus' body and he felt like he was going to throw up. He swallowed a mouthful of bile and forced himself to grin, smiling and nodding towards several others in the room. After he was sure all were convinced of his happiness and that no one would miss him, Severus left, apparating back to Hogwarts.
He raced across the castle grounds and only just made it into his dungeon bathroom before he began throwing up violently into the toilet. After a few moments Alethea entered, her eyes sleepy.
"Oh sweetheart," she wet a towel and began dabbing it on the back of his neck. "Are you alright?"
Severus gave a final cough and pulled the towel from her, using it to wipe his mouth and face.
"I have been to see the Dark Lord," he sat against the toilet and stretched out his legs. "Ten prisoners, all Death Eaters, have broken out of Azkaban."
"What? How?"
"Just like he planned," Severus shook his head. "The Dementors. Dumbledore tried to warn the Ministry but they wouldn't listen."
"What does it mean now then if the Dementors have shown their allegiance to You-Know-Who?"
"I dread to think," Severus struggled to his feet. "I must let Dumbledore know what has happened."
"Will you be okay?"
Severus reached out to stroke her cheek then turned on the tap and rinsed his mouth.
"It is not going to be easy but yes, I will be fine."
Alethea was enjoying a coffee in the staffroom when Pamona Sprout entered looking worried. She sat down close to Alethea and looked around to check that no one would overhear them.
"Alethea, I just overheard something and I think you should know."
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes, well I mean no," Sprout started to turn pink. "Really I hate to gossip like this but you're such a good woman and that woman, well she's a…"
"What woman? Pomona, you can tell me."
Sprout sighed. "Umbridge. I overheard her talking to some Ministry official. Not that I was eavesdropping mind you, they were walking near the greenhouses and I just think they didn't see me. Anyway, the man must have been gathering information on the staff because he was asking questions about all of us."
Alethea clasped her hands around Sprout's.
"What did you need to tell me?" Alethea said patiently.
"Umbridge was talking about your relationship with Severus, saying how inappropriate it is for the two of you to be living in the same quarters," she shook her head slowly. "She said something about you sending a bad message to the students."
Sprout took off her hat and began turning it over in her hands.
"I'm sorry but I thought you should know."
"Thank you Pamona, I do appreciate you telling me."
Alethea stood up and headed out the staffroom door.
Her head was swimming angrily and Alethea had made it to Umbridge's office without remembering how she got there. She pushed her way through the door and slammed it loudly behind her. Umbridge looked up, startled, then she let her face turn to stone.
"I would appreciate you knocking on my door before you enter next time," she smiled sweetly.
"Really? I would have thought you weren't aware of common courtesies like that."
"What do you mean dear?"
"I mean that if you have any comments about my personal life then say them to my face."
Umbridge glared back at her.
"Alright then," she said. "Your relationship with Severus Snape is inappropriate."
"We're both adults so what we do is no business of yours. We've always been nothing but discrete, no one has ever complained to us," Alethea fumed.
"And if the students were feeling uncomfortable would they come to tell you?"
Alethea wanted desperately to say yes but she honestly wasn't sure if she could.
"I thought so," Umbridge said smugly.
"If you are so concerned about the bad example we're setting how about thinking about focusing on the good message we're sending - about being able to maintain a strong and loving relationship, or being able to separate our personal and professional lives?"
Umbridge was still smiling but her eyes glinted menacingly. She stood up and walked to the door.
"I have a class to teach," she said. "Perhaps you would like to sit in on it. You can tell them about the difficulties faced by purebloods having to always clean up messes caused by Mudbloods."
Alethea pulled out her wand and pointed it at Umbridge's neck just as the latter opened the door to reveal a classroom full of students. They were staring at Alethea and Umbridge in a mixture of shock and amusement. Alethea whipped her wand back into her pocket and walked quickly from the room, keeping her head low. Umbridge watched her leave, her head cocked to the side and a smile on her face.
"How can she get away with saying things like that?" Alethea asked Minerva when she found her supervising students in the library. "Not that anything she said will matter in the end because I'm the one who drew a wand on her."
Minerva sighed. "I'd like to tell you not to worry about it but with that woman who knows what she'll do."
"Thanks," Alethea groaned.
Fred and George Weasley approached them.
"Do you mind if we have a word with you Professor Validus?" asked Fred.
"In private?" said George.
"Um, okay."
Alethea followed them to an empty table and sat across from them.
"You've always been good to us Professor," began Fred.
"Yeah," agreed George. "You've looked away many times when we've been a bit…"
"Mischievous," concluded Fred. "But what makes us the happiest is that since you've been here, we haven't had to put up with any of Professor Binns' tedious lessons."
Both boys simultaneously pretended to fall asleep at the table, snoring loudly.
"Thanks boys, I think," Alethea grinned.
"We heard about your little incident," George whispered.
"With Umbridge," Fred continued. "Students talk you know."
"But don't worry; we want you to know that we're on your side."
"Really?" Alethea raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," the boys answered together.
"And we wanted you to know that there's a way you can get back at her without any repercussions."
"If you were interested that is," George winked.
Alethea looked at them thoughtfully then shook her head.
"Thanks guys but I couldn't. Thank you for your… thoughtfulness nonetheless."
Fred and George looked at each other then leant closer to Alethea.
"We've always had a lot of trust in you," said Fred.
"Which is why we can tell you that we're planning something," George smiled.
"Something that you could use as a decoy if you needed."
"Well, thank you for the heads up," she grinned getting up from the table.
"Just think about it Professor and should you need any ideas," said Fred.
"Don't hesitate to ask."
Alethea's head was swimming; her day had so far been an interesting one to put it mildly. She pushed her way past the entrance doors and breathed in the cool air. Alethea was already feeling better as she began walking in the sunshine. She saw students in a nearby courtyard, some sitting on benches, some playing exploding snap and others practicing minor spells. She was walking past a bench where Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in deep discussion. Alethea slowed down when she overheard what they were talking about.
"Well it's worth considering isn't it?" asked Ron. I mean do we really know if Snape is on our side?"
"We've been through this," Hermione said. "We trust Dumbledore, Dumbledore trusts Snape and that's all we need to know."
"That's because Dumbledore believes Snape's turned," said Ron. "But what if he double turned, or triple…"
"We don't know," Harry frowned. "We can only hope that Dumbledore's right."
Alethea stepped out from behind them.
"I think you should all keep your opinions to yourselves," she said bitterly. "Look at you, sitting here questioning someone else's loyalty when you've got no idea at all what's really going on."
Alethea stormed off before the students could respond.
That evening Alethea didn't see Severus until dinner. He sat beside her, his hand resting on her knee and eyeing her with concern.
"Are you alright this evening?"
"Not really," she pushed the food around on her plate with a fork.
"So are you going to tell me what has happened?"
She shook her head. "After dinner."
Once dinner was over, Severus and Alethea walked together down into the dungeons. Inside their quarters, Severus sat her in a chair and knelt in front of her.
"So tell me what is upsetting you."
Alethea proceeded to tell him first about her altercation with Umbridge then of the run-in with the kids.
"You cannot let yourself get upset every time a student says something you don't like."
"But what about Umbridge? She won't let me get away with that."
He shrugged. "Maybe, but she wouldn't be able to make an issue about our relationship if we were married."
Alethea was confused, her head began to feel light.
"What?" she said shakily.
Severus took her hands in his. "We should get married."
Alethea frowned at him. "That's hardly a decent reason to get married," she said.
"We don't need any reason other than how much we love each other. Alethea, I can't live without you."
She stared at him, unable to determine whether he was serious or not.
"Us getting married would have nothing to do with Umbridge," he continued. "The reason wouldn't be because of her, only the timing."
Alethea was still speechless but Severus looked at her hopefully.
"Alethea, will you marry me?"