Now They Know

Harry Potter had spent the last hour bored and frustrated. He sat in Professor Snape's unused bedroom under his Invisibility Cloak, simply waiting to see if anyone would come exploring. For a long time there was nothing. He had moved his chair next to the door, pulled an Extendable Ear from his pocket and listened. It was very dull. Voices came and went near his door, and finally he heard people coming within range.

"Only forty-five minutes more, Sev," said Zelda. "I can't wait to deprogram after this is done, but I need to sit. I'll be over here with Piers."

"This should teach us both a lesson about social occasions," he hissed softly. "Never again, my girl."

A moment later, Harry heard a new voice.

"Interesting gathering," said Professor Davis. "How soon can I go back to my comfortable office?"

"Solomon, please don't leave before those bloody witches," muttered Severus. "Trelawney was blatantly rude to Zelda and there was something in Sinistra's eye that I didn't like."

"Ah, the joy of an Unspeakable's career," said the Potions teacher. "I'll return to blissful obscurity at the end of the school year. No more dealing with those idiot women."

"You're a competent teacher, Solomon," said Severus. "Are you sure you don't wish to stay?"

"Without your assistance I'd have been hopeless at teaching. I've enjoyed being free to do research in my spare time, but I'm not a very good teacher. Have you thought about coming to Mysteries?" asked the younger man. "With your scholarly approach, I think you might make a valuable contribution to our research."

Startled, Severus said, "I never imagined that the Ministry would wish to employ me. Now that I'm married to Zelda, I'd only be bringing her to their attention. I don't trust politicians."

"Politicians disturb me too. I try not to think about how they might use my work against living people," replied Davis seriously. "Fortunately, or perhaps not, there are few discoveries of practical significance."

"Come eat something," said Severus. "The hags have finally left the vicinity of the buffet table."

The voices faded, leaving Harry to think of Professor Snape leaving Hogwarts soon. He disliked it. Adults should stay where they belonged, he thought, feeling oddly unhappy. He reeled in his Extendable Ear and went back to his chair.

The door opened suddenly. Harry froze under his cloak, trying not to breathe.

Professor Trelawney came in and Harry could see that she must have ignored the food on the buffet table and only taken liquid refreshment. She looked smashed and was holding a half-full glass.

"Stupid bloody witch… Zelda Snape! How could he be such a fool?" she muttered, hiccoughing. "Pregnant, they said. Inconceivable! He was destined for me!"

Harry cringed as the Seer lurched close to his chair, but she didn't touch him. She did sink down on the bed and toss back the contents of her glass, looking quite disturbed. She fell back on the bed abruptly and passed out.

Suddenly the room, actually quite large, seemed far too close for comfort with a wheezing, gurgling Seer passed out in it. He stealthily rose and headed for the door. Opening it, he slipped out to the drawing room.

Zelda was sitting on the couch with Professor Clearwater, deep in conversation, and he spied Professor Snape across the room.

He flattened against the wall as Professor Sinistra swept by him and peered into the guest room. Normally she exuded a cool, gracious demeanor, but now there was a cruel glint in those dark eyes. With a cynical cackle, she closed the door and left the party without saying goodbye.

It seemed the remaining guests had no intention of leaving soon. Harry decided he'd had enough, so he slipped into the Snapes' bedroom, where Rowena woofed softly until she scented Harry. He threw off the cloak and knelt to hug her.

"You're lucky to be alone," he said. "I'm going to see Draco now. Stay here, it's almost over."

He left the cloak on Zelda's dressing table and entered the sitting room.

The Slytherins were sitting at the table and they looked up hopefully when Harry walked in.

"What're you doing here?" asked Draco. "Did you learn anything?"

Harry shuddered and said, "Trelawney passed out drunk on the bed in the spare room and there's no way I was staying there any longer."

Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other, trying to imagine it, but Draco, looking at Harry's nauseated expression, collapsed in cynical laughter with his head on the table.

"Shut it, Malfoy," said Harry dispassionately. "It was disgusting."

Draco raised his head and smirked, then put his head down, his shoulders still shaking with mirth.

Harry looked at the other two, who were sitting and looking rather bemused.

"Does he often act like such an ass?"

Just then the door opened and Zelda entered.

"All clear, guys. Harry, how did you get in here?"

"Magic," he said hastily. "Did you check the spare bedroom yet?"

'No. Um, why?" she asked suspiciously.

He rolled his eyes, muttering, "Follow me."

All the students went along as they crossed the drawing room. Molly and Severus joined the procession, looking curiously at each other. Harry flung the door open wide.

"Who wants to get rid of her?" he asked, deeply disgusted.

Professor Trelawney was snoring loudly, her glasses fallen awry on her face, her mouth slack.

"Oh," said Zelda, enlightened. "Um, well, I think this calls for magic. I'm out of it."

Severus and Molly looked at each other.

"I'm a married man. It would be wrong for me to do it," he said firmly.

Molly, torn between irritation and laughter, said, "I'll do it, but you both owe me for it."

"Goddess, Molly, we already owe you," said Zelda, laughing. "We could ask Dobby to do it, but I think even he'd draw the line at that."

"He'd probably toss her into the Room of Requirement," snickered Harry.

Zelda turned to the young men and made shooing gestures.

"Come on, there's tons of food left. Let's leave them to deal with this last little problem."

They headed for the buffet, filled plates with food and returned to the sitting room table.

"Did you have any company in here?" asked Zelda.

"Professor Tonks poked her head in and laughed when she saw us," said Goyle. "Otherwise, all we did was listen."

"Goyle!" hissed Draco, but it was too late.

"Listened?" asked Zelda, eyeing them cynically. "And what did you hear, Gregory?"

Harry and Draco looked on in horror as Goyle actually told a coherent story for the first time in his life.

"Well, I didn't know teachers could be so hateful. Professor Trelawney said you were common and that you weren't right for Professor Snape. Professor Sinistra said she could've had Professor Snape any time she wanted to lower herself, and then she told Trelawney to ask if you're pregnant."

Harry watched to see how Zelda would take this rudeness. Her eyes flashed, but then she chuckled.

"You guys must've wanted to puke," she said. "Don't tell anyone what you heard, okay? It'll just make things worse."

"Madam Pomfrey seems to like you," said Crabbe earnestly, wanting to make it better. "She did say to the others she thinks you're pregnant, so I s'pose they'll all know soon."

"I expected that," she said.

"Professor Tonks likes you too, I think," said Goyle, dimly aware that he'd given bad news.

"I know Tonks and she's fantastic," said Zelda. "Was there anything else?"

"Not really," said Draco. "A lot of rubbish. We finally just did homework until Potter got here."

Severus entered, frowning when he saw the students sitting with Zelda at the table.

"These poor boys probably need to be Obliviated after the foul tales they've heard," she said lightly.

"Ah… I'll be happy to oblige," he said softly.

"I was kidding!" she chuckled. "Do you want something to eat? Or something to drink, perhaps?"

"No thank you," he replied. "Did they learn anything helpful?"

"Only that Professor Trelawney's more ghastly than I thought," said Harry. "Oh, and Professor Sinistra looked in and saw her there, passed out. She laughed and went away."

"Charming," said Zelda. "They talked together for so long, I thought they must be best friends or something."

"They do have something in common," said Draco, his mouth twitching as he tried to control his smirk.

Severus's black eyes narrowed, but he didn't ask. He was afraid he knew and the thought of discussing such things with students appalled him.

"Never mind that, and never speak of it again," said Zelda. "Anyway, it's done now and I have every intention of hiding out in peace here when I'm at Hogwarts."

"Will you still come here?" asked Crabbe.

"Sometimes, on weekends," she said kindly. "I have a job of my own, you know."

The boy looked at her confusedly. In his experience, wives and mothers didn't have jobs of their own.

"What job?" he asked.

"I'm a teacher. I teach eleven and twelve year old Muggles," she said.

"You don't have to work if you're married, though," he persisted.

"But I love teaching," she said. "I couldn't just walk away from my students the minute I got married."

"What do Muggles learn? They don't do magic," asked Goyle.

"Mathematics, science, reading, writing, social studies, Spanish, music and art," she replied, amused. "At my school, at least."

"You teach all that?" asked Draco, quite surprised.

"There are teachers that take my class for Spanish, music and art. I teach the core curriculum," she said.

"Muggle schools are different," said Harry.

"I teach in a day school, so students go home every night," she said. "It's different. But I really need to go and put my feet up for a bit."

"Can we come see you again?" asked Crabbe, hesitant but stubborn.

"I'd like that," she said with a smile. "But please excuse me now."

She stood up and walked slowly to the couch.

Rowena had been sleeping in front of the fire, but when Zelda sat down on the couch, the dog leaped up and curled up by her feet.

"We'll be off," said Harry, with a last look toward Zelda. "See you later, Professor."

Severus walked them to the door, cynically amused at the grouping. The sight of Potter with this trio was quite funny, he thought. He wished Sirius Black could see it.

On the way back to the sitting room, he Vanished the remains of the buffet and any other evidence of the bloody party. When it was clear again, he went to check on Zelda.

The room was blessedly quiet when he returned to it, and Zelda was already snoring gently. Rowena raised her head to look at him, thumped her tail and then resumed her nap. He smiled. Even sleeping, Zelda's presence soothed him. He went to the bookshelf and took down Dilys's book. This was a good time to review those chapters on potion effects during pregnancy. He sat down in a chair that was close to the couch, where he could keep an eye on his small family, and began to read.

&&&&&&&&&

Sunday afternoon was cloudy and dim, but Zelda wanted to get out for a walk. Now that most of the staff had met her, Severus saw no reason they must stay indoors for the entire day. There was something else he must also do as soon as possible.

"I'm sure Mr. Filch knows of your existence by now and it's extremely remiss of me not to have formally told him."

He escorted Zelda up to the Great Hall, where lunch was just ending and they found the rather hunchbacked caretaker sourly watching students depart.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Filch," said Severus, "I'm glad to have found you. I've kept it secret from everyone, but I must now inform you of my marriage. Perhaps you remember my wife, since you met her last summer."

Argus Filch stared in some surprise at Zelda, who held out her hand to him in a friendly fashion.

"It's good to see you again, Mr. Filch," she murmured. "You look well and I hope your cat is doing well. Severus told me she was wounded when Hogwarts was attacked last summer."

"She's fine, around here somewhere," he croaked, his pale eyes watering as he shook her hand. "Will you live at Hogwarts now?"

"I have a job at another school, but I come here with my husband on weekends," she replied. "I should also say that I have a dog that comes with me, but she stays sometimes with Hagrid and I won't let her get free or be a nuisance to you or Mrs. Norris."

The old caretaker grunted suspiciously, but when several small students ran by him, shrieking gleefully, he had his opportunity.

"I have to go," he muttered grimly, taking off to follow the rule breakers.

"Mission accomplished," she said softly.

A crowd of older students was leaving the Great Hall and Zelda saw Draco and his friends among them. A tall, handsome, black-skinned young man stared, and then said something to the group. Draco replied, rather reluctantly it seemed, and they all headed for the Snapes.

"What's this?" asked Zelda.

"Slytherin seventh years. Be careful," was all Severus had time to murmur before the group was upon them.

"Hello, Draco, Gregory and Vincent. Who are your friends?" she asked warmly.

""Meet the rest of Slytherin's seventh year, Mrs. Snape," he said. "This is Pansy Parkinson, Milicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass. Ladies, the new Mrs. Snape. And this is Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott."

"It's delightful to meet all of you," said Zelda. "My husband has spoken very highly of you."

"Lovely to meet you," said Blaise Zabini, raising her hand to his lips and kissing it.

"Severus, you never told me what a charmer Mr. Zabini is," Zelda said, her eyes sparkling wickedly.

"Perhaps because he never had the unmitigated gall to kiss my hand, so his charm escaped me," said her husband grimly.

The girls all giggled cynically. They seemed to know Professor Snape very well and to be used to his forbidding manner.

"Does the entire school know of my existence now?" asked Zelda.

"I should say so," said Pansy, with a cool smile. "The staff's been talking about you for the past few days, so of course we all know. Are you going to live here at Hogwarts?"

Zelda rolled her eyes. "I teach at another school, so I only come to visit here occasionally. You'll hardly even know I exist."

"Was it you that was almost flattened by the Bludger at the game last week?" asked Milicent, a very large girl.

"Actually, I thought it was heading for Draco, but who knows?" said Zelda with a smirk.

While they'd been speaking together, other students were forced to walk around the large group in order to pass. Many slowed down to stare as they did so, but a voice behind them suddenly made them move along.

"What is the problem here?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Zelda smiled easily and said, "I'm the problem, Professor. My husband is introducing me to some of the students, but we'll be happy to clear the corridor. Sorry."

"We were just leaving," said Severus forbiddingly.

"Delightful to meet you all," called Zelda as he hustled her away.

"Will we actually run now?" she hissed.

"My impudent wife," he replied softly. "Decorum at all times."

She snorted and rolled her eyes at him.

"Let's fetch Rowena and go for that walk now," she said. "That was intense, wasn't it? I want air!"

&&&&&&&&&

Once they were out on the snow-covered grounds, she released Rowena to romp in the snow. She then turned to him as they walked.

"Should I wash my hand?" she asked. "I've never had my hand kissed by a teenage boy. That was icky."

"If he knew you're a Muggle, he'd curse his own lips off," said Severus.

She sighed and said, "Wow. Such a beautiful young man to be so horrible."

"I believe Draco doesn't trust any but his minions, Crabbe and Goyle. He knows them all intimately and I trust his knowledge of them."

"Then I do too. This has been a really weird weekend," she said. "I'll be glad to go home after the meeting."

"Will you be all right during the meeting?" asked Severus. "Shall we ask someone to stay with you?"

"I'd love it if Harry would come. Do you think he'd mind?"

"Alone?"

"I trust Harry almost as much as I trust you," she said. "I want to relax and feel safe while you're gone."

"He'll be pleased, I believe. He was jealous of Draco and his friends after the Quidditch last week."

"Poor kid. The Chosen One," she said, shaking her head. "What a life he's had, Sev. Will you see if he'll come?"

"Whatever you wish, my girl," he promised.

He pointed his wand toward the castle and she watched a flash of silver form the shape of a bird and rush out of the tip.

"A Patronus…" she murmured. "What is a Patronus?"

He smiled, still startled and comforted by the shape his Patronus had taken then previous summer.

"A Conjured protective creature than can defend a wizard from Dementor attack. Dumbledore devised a way for Order members to communicate using them. It's very convenient and extremely rare," he said.

"And Harry can do it," she said, seeing a large silvery animal rushing toward them.

"He seems to have discovered how to do it himself, that day last summer. A surprising achievement."

"Well?" she asked.

"He'll be down in half an hour," said Severus.

Rowena had run toward Hagrid's cottage and then turned to run back to them, panting and wagging her tail.

"What a lovely dog she is," said Zelda. "Thank you again for saving her life."

"She repays us every day," he said. "Did I mention that she once drove the dreadful Sibyll away? I gather she does not care for dogs."

"Never trust a person who dislikes dogs," Zelda pronounced sententiously.

"Indeed," he replied, smiling at her absurdity. "We should start back so you'll be there when Potter arrives."

"Okay," she said, turning around agreeably. "Rowena! Come!"

The dog pranced playfully through the snow and fell in by her side.

Severus held her hand as they returned, walking through the murky evening.

"Um, Sev… I hate to ask, but did you know your female colleagues were interested in you before you met me?"

"My mind was on one thing, assisting Dumbledore and seeing the Dark Lord defeated. I never imagined surviving that day."

"I won't insult you by mentioning the great Seer, but you should know the Sinistra was heard by your students to say she could have had you any time she wanted," said Zelda slowly.

Honesty was difficult. He took a deep breath and said, "I noticed her, but only because I was lonely. I knew she despised me. I don't know if I would have…"

His voice died and he gripped her hand harder.

"Dear boy, was that hard to say? Before you met me, it's all your business. I'm sorry I asked," she said. "Something about her rubbed me wrong, though, and I'm not sure why. I hope she can't hurt you."

They entered the castle and fell silent until they were safely at home. Their rooms were warm and bright. Zelda smiled as she walked through their bedroom to the sitting room.

"I love this place," she declared. "It's a pretty dungeon, isn't it?"

"Beautiful," he said mockingly, appreciating her bright eyes and happy smile more than the décor.

The jewel-like colors decorating the rooms were a fitting backdrop for his lovely wife, he thought. He flashed briefly back to dark days when he'd taught, spied and opened his thoughts to no one but Albus Dumbledore. He'd had no idea what Professor Sinistra was really like, but had longed, out of wrenching loneliness, for someone to touch him. He was glad he'd never touched the witch.

"Kiss me, wife, and I'll go to the meeting. Prepare for our departure and we'll go home as soon as I return," he told her.

She obliged, hugging and kissing him enthusiastically.

I'll be ready," she said, caressing the faint scar on his thin cheek with her thumb.

"Good," he murmured.

Rowena barked, signaling Harry Potter's arrival. Severus opened the door to his wife's guest.

"Hello, Professor," said Harry.

"Potter," replied Severus. "The meeting should be brief, I hope. Thank you for coming."

"I'll come any time Zelda wants me," the young man said grimly. "I want to talk to you, but there's no time now. May I see you tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yes," said Severus, his attention sharpening. "Potter, have you learned something?"

"Some little things I think you should know."

"All right, tomorrow at one o'clock."

Severus nodded and closed the door behind him, wondering what Potter was up to. He'd find out soon enough, he thought, mentally preparing for the social blather that would accompany the staff meeting. He couldn't wait to go home with Zelda.