The three of them took a seat in McGonagall's office, with Lucia and Severus sitting next to her across from Minerva. Lucia was careful not to make eye contact with Severus. She couldn't bear to see what his reaction would be when she told the truth.
"Now Severus, I think you should explain why you are here before Lucia." Minerva said, gesturing for him to begin.
"Cecilia Prescott attacked a fifth year student, Priscilla Zabini for, and these are her words not mine, 'stealing my boyfriend.'" Severus droned dully, clearly no longer concerned or interested in the situation.
"You mean the boyfriend that refuses to acknowledge her because of her blood status?" Lucia asked, still not looking at him.
"I suppose that may be the one." He answered, boredly.
"What was the nature of the attack?" Minerva asked.
"A full body bind followed by a handful of hexes. From what Madam Pomfrey explained after I escorted Priscilla to the hospital wing, she may be out of class for a few days at most."
"It seems Lucia may have an understanding of the situation. Perhaps the two of you can delegate detention and also work to prevent this from occurring in the future?"
Lucia cringed, knowing very well that Severus would likely not wish to spend any amount of time with her after he knew the truth.
"As for you Ms. Sometimes, would you care to explain why you came to see me at this ungodly hour."
Lucia glanced over at Severus, not wanting to meet his eyes.
"I had the same dream again, but this time I talked to her. The woman pretending to be me." Lucia said, her eyes downcast.
"What dream are you referring to?" Severus asked.
Lucia struggled to begin her explanation, her bottom lip trembling. She glanced pleadingly at Minerva, hoping she could relieve at least some of the burden of explanation.
"Perhaps it would be best if you showed us both your dreams? Perhaps there are details you didn't notice?" Minerva said.
Lucia nodded pathetically. A cabinet in the wall opened, revealing a Pensieve. She approached the metal basin entombed in rock. The silvery liquid glowed in the low evening light as she placed her wand to her temple and extracted both memories.
The silvery film swirled around the bowl, taunting her. Lucia turned to face them both, beckoning them to surround the Pensieve. Severus stood beside her and he felt his hand graze hers. She savored the sensation, knowing it may be very well be one of the last moments he is willingly in her company.
All three of them delved into her first memory, following Severus and Lucia into the Trophy room. Severus glanced at her in question, but Lucia could barely acknowledge him, instead gazing at the door that she knew she would walk through at any moment.
The rest of the memory played out. Lucia watched her dream self interact with the imposter. It was almost like having a dream within a dream, or a nightmare within a nightmare.
She could hear Severus inhale sharply next to her when she called him "My love" and then Minerva gasped as she watched him pale and die.
The dream shifted into her next dream and the three of them watched as Lucia begged and sobbed the imposter. The real Lucia felt fresh tears running down her cheeks and snuck a glance at the real Severus, his expression unreadable.
The memory faded and they were sucked back into the office. Between the three of them, the silence was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"Ms. Sometimes, it seems you left out some details during our initial discussion." Minerva commented.
"What do you mean?" Lucia asked.
"You did not mention that you and Severus were romantically involved."
"We are not." Severus said, his tone impassable.
"I didn't- I wasn't sure." Lucia answered.
"Whoever or whatever possessed you seemed to be under that impression." Severus said, the tension clear in his voice.
"I just didn't think at the time that it was relevant. I thought it was avoidable. And certainly after tonight, I don't think there is much chance of it at all." Lucia said
"Have you been able to discover more from the nightgown dear?" The portrait of Albus said, making Lucia jump with fright.
Albus was dressed in hs nightcap, paying close attention to the events unfolding before him. A handful of the other portraits were yawning and looking down at the three of them.
"Just a name, which led me to another name and who knows if those will lead to anything?" Lucia said, feeling the frustration rising in her throat.
"What were the names child?" cried another portrait by the name of Phineas Nigellus Black.
"Euphemia Webber." Said Severus.
"And Isabella Webber." Lucia added, thankful that Severus's participation in the conversation. She half expected him to storm out or shut down. Or even to yell at her. "She was a student that graduated in 1232, a member of Ravenclaw house."
"That was well before my time." Albus said. "Perhaps Brian would remember. That was during his time as headmaster. Brian! Brian wake up my good man." Albus called, looking above him at the other sleeping portraits. "Brian!"
"What! Did I fall asleep during chess again?" Cried a sleeping portrait named Brian Gagwilde.
"No, Brian. I was wondering if I could ask you about a former student." Albus asked politely.
"Ahh yes, I do love reminiscing about the good old days. You know we didn't have wars then."
"Yes, you have mentioned that." Albus rolled his eyes.
"Under my time, there was no such thing as dark wizards."
"That's because they all hated muggle borns."
"It was a simpler time. When I was a headmaster-"
Minerva cut him off, "Headmaster Gagwilde, as much as I would love to hear about the golden years, I believe Professor Sometimes needs some information regarding a specific student, Isabella Webber."
"Oh yes, Isabella, what a delightful young woman. She was, if I remember quickly, quite adept at household charms and was on track to becoming an excellent wife for any lucky wizard. Looked quite a bit like you actually, though she was taller."
Lucia barely held back a gag.
Brian continued. "I believe she was quite good friends with the black girl, oh what was her name." The portrait looked to be considered for a moment. "Ah yes, Narcissa Black. I believe, Albus, she was one of the ancestors of a student that you had by the same name."
Lucia felt Severus stiffen next to her. The name sounded familiar to her but she couldn't quite place it.
"Of course, I believe you may know her as Narcissa Malfoy." Albus said to Severus particularly.
"She's my great great great gre- oh fuck it - granddaughter." Phineas Black said.
"I am well aware who Narcissa is." Severus snapped.
"Severus!" Minerva reprimanded, shooting him a glare.
"As much as I appreciate that information, I don't think that brings us any closer to solving this problem." Lucia said, once again feeling defeated.
"Perhaps I cannot help you, but maybe Narcissa can." Phineas said.
"Narcissa hardly holds knowledge about someone her ancestors knew hundreds of years ago." Severus scoffed.
"No, not Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa Black for whom Narcissa got her name. Her portrait used to be near mine in the Black household, before the three girls got married and split households. I believe the portrait of Narcissa was placed in the Malfoy household and mine was given to dear Walburga and Orion, some of my favorite great great great grandchildren."
Lucia visible shivered at the pure incest of the black family, wondering how any of their children had managed to survive without any major mental disorders or deformities. Wizards and witches were not immune to the same genetic problems muggles experienced. Witches such as Bellatrix were a prime example of this.
"I do not exactly have easy access to the Malfoy manor." Lucia said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
A moment of thoughtful silence fell over the room for a moment before Severus spoke up. "I do."
Lucia looked at him, surprised at him presumably offering up his help.
"Really? Could you- could we go there?" Lucia asked.
"I suppose I could come up with an excuse. I did promise Narcissa I'd come and check on Draco occasionally, Merlin knows the boy needs someone other than Lucius around."
"But how would you explain me attending?" Lucia asked.
"You could be his date, his new lady friend he wishes to introduce to his oldest friends." Minerva said with a smile.
"I hardly think they'll fall for that." Severus scoffed.
"I could be your apprentice, a future potions mistress?" Lucia offered up. "Or we could tell them the truth."
"I think it is probably best that you are my apprentice." Severus said, much to Minerva's chagrin.
"You should contact them immediately, preferably before the Christmas Holiday. Who knows when this vision will come to fruition." Albus said.
Severus nodded and got up to stand, but Albus called for him to speak with him for a moment.
Minerva walked Lucia into the hallway, putting a hand on her shoulder gently as the passage closed. "You know, I kept you at Hogwarts for more than just thinking your best chance of figuring out the curse would be here." She said.
Lucia looked up at the tall woman quizzically. "What do you mean?"
"Severus never seemed to like people. It typically takes people years to even get him to say something amiable. I have yet to make him smile and I've been his colleague for nearly two decades." Minerva explained. "And yet you appear and within a matter of days you have shocked him, put him in his place and he seems happy."
Lucia flushed, not knowing how to respond to the situation.
"Severus may be alive, but is he truly living? He certainly was not over the summer when I went to visit him." Minerva explained. "I taught him as an angry and sad teenager and saw him turn into an even angrier and sad adult. I have wished for him to find peace all these years and saw a chance in you. Do not let his pigheadedness ruin that for both of you." Minerva clasped both her hands. "I know better than most that a second chance at happiness is truly rare and beautiful."
The sound of the passageway opening again caused Minerva to drop Lucia's hands and they both glanced at the emerging figure.
Severus walked past them both in long strides, not wishing either of them goodnight.
"Severus!" Lucia called, hoping he would glance back. When he didn't, Lucia turned to McGonagall who waved the back of her hands at Lucia, gesturing for her to follow him.
Lucia took off toward him at a light jog, running in front of him right as he reached the first set of stairs. The stairs shifted right as she got on them and she almost careened off the side, had Severus not grabbed her and pulled her back onto the landing. Her body was pressed against his for just a moment before he recoiled from her as if she would burn him..
Severus attempted to call the staircase back, but it seemed to have a mind of it's own, choosing to stay across the stairwell from them. They had nowhere to go and nothing to do but wait for it to come back.
"Severus," Lucia said, as gently as she could. "Could we please talk about this."
"I'm not sure what there is to talk about." Severus said coldly. "You're going to kill me and apparently Minerva isn't going to do anything to prevent it."
"I don't think we can prevent it. Especially after this last dream, it seems like whoever she is will kill you regardless of me being here or anywhere else."
"And still you got closer to me, talking with me, making me think-" Severus stopped himself mid statement.
"Making you think what?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters! I wasn't making you think anything. I tried to be professional, to keep a distance. But I'm so lonely here and you are - you're my favorite person to talk to." Lucia admitted, looking shyly at her bare feet.
"How can I believe that after you have lied to me."
"I'm not lying anymore. No more lies. Look into my mind if you want. You can see exactly how I feel. I promise I won't stop you."
Severus stopped for a moment. He appeared to almost consider it, reaching for his wand momentarily before his hand rested at his side. "You are a terrible liar." He said.
Lucia laughed in relief. "Oh I know. Trust me, it's been so hard not to tell you. I've felt terrible. I didn't want you to hate me."
The staircase began moving back to where they were standing and Severus looked down at the witch by his side before quickly averting his eyes. "Your dressing gown has come undone."
Lucia looked down and noticed her tie had loosened, revealing a fair amount of own of her breasts which were thankfully covered in a bra. She quickly resecured the gown, making sure to tie it tightly and cover herself properly.
Severus began descending the steps to the dungeon. Lucia had half a mind to follow him when he invited her to his chambers, saying it was nearly morning and they'd be leaving for Diagon Alley in a few hours anyway.
Lucia nearly cried from happiness, sure their trip to get ingredients had been cancelled in light of this new information.
His office was particularly cold as the chill of early October had first settled in the dungeons of the school. Severus lit a fire and conjured a cup of coffee for Lucia as well as an energizing potion and motioning for her to sit down on the loveseat across from his armchair.
Lucia sat awkwardly, stretching her cold feet toward the fire and sipping her warm coffee with the perfect amount of milk.
Severus finally settled onto the armchair across from her with his tea, conjuring a handful of books on possession to sit on the coffee table in front of them.
"Can you tell me how the dreams started?" Severus asked.
"The dreams about you or just in general?"
"In general. How did they begin?"
"Well, it's really hard to say since I was so young. I remember having really terrible nightmares which were, in retrospect, likely visions. The first I really remember was when I was 4 or 5." Lucia began. "It wasn't until I saw the Potters die that I knew the dreams really happened."
Severus's expression saddened for a moment but he nodded for her to continue.
"My grandmother told me that many women in my family from generations back have had these visions and encouraged me to help people, but I chose to take the dreamless sleep potion instead as soon as I got to Ilvermorny. It was making studying difficult and I already felt like an outsider."
"What do you think she meant when she told you to look at what happened to the men?" Severus commented.
"I did notice that in certain generations the husband would die very young, but this was well before the 1900s. People, especially muggles, died young regardless. Many of the couples on a specific side of my family only ever had one child which made it easy enough to track, so I have been following that line as far back as I can."
"Were there more daughters than sons?" Severus asked.
"I want to say yes, but I'd have to confirm that to be sure. I also have not been able to trace all the way back to Euphemia so there are many branches of my family tree that I am exploring."
"May I recommend possibly following the lines with husbands who die young first?" Severus recommended.
"That would be the same line that only has one child."
"That doesn't seem like a mere coincidence."
"No, I didn't think so either."
"Do you think this insidious force has been murdering the men in your family for generations? Perhaps out of revenge as she stated?"
"It's possible, though I don't know why she would kill you. Hypothetically, that would mean you were a father and she…" Lucia trailed off.
"There are many ways to prevent that from happening," Severus said. "Including keeping a professional distance."
"Yes, professional distance." Lucia said, glancing around his chambers, the irony not lost on her.
She had been drunk the only other time she had been inside them and did not take them in properly. She noted the large bed, larger than her own but then again she was a very small woman, covered in black sheets and a black duvet that he had not made, likely in haste to get up and deal with his misbehaving students. The nightstand was covered in books, most notably a large anthology of Edgar Allen Poe, which Lucia found quite surprising. There was also a nearly empty bottle of dreamless sleep potion on the table. She noted the bookshelves were full of a variety of books, but primarily potions material. Many of the older tombs had cracked spines. It was overall a plain but fitting chamber for Severus Snape and she found she liked it, though thought a few paintings and perhaps a throw pillow might make it seem more inviting.
"When did you start having the dreams again?" Severus asked.
"After Ryan died." Lucia said. "I couldn't live with the guilt of my possibly having saved him, if only I had stopped taking the potion. I thought I could do some good like my grandmother said so I quit taking it and the visions began again, but I didn't ever recognize a person in the dream until Albus. And the rest you know." Lucia explained.
"Had she appeared in any of the other dreams?" Severus asked.
"Never. I don't even know who she is. She could be Euphemia and just be lying."
"Possibly Isabella as well."
"Either way she's a fucking bitch." Lucia said and Severus snorted into his tea.
The sun was rising over the black lake and Lucia could see the rays shining through the windows, casting waves of light on the walls of his chambers.
"Breakfast will be soon." Severus commented.
"Can we skip it? I don't want to face the students." Lucia said.
"Of course, I can call a house elf to bring us food." Severus said.
"You can do that?" Lucia asked.
"Of course." Severus looked at her as if she had said something terribly obvious. "Winky!"
A house elf appeared in front of both of them. Her bat-like ears amused Lucia and she thought the elf looked rather darling in her blue blouse and skirt.
"Master Severus sir, how can Winky help you?" The elf's voice was high pitched and squeaky, making Lucia want to pinch her cheeks.
"Could you please fetch Lucia and me some breakfast. Oatmeal?" He asked Lucia and she nodded. "And I will have the quiche."
"Of course sir!" Winky disappeared and then reappeared with the dishes as well as a plate of fruit.
"Thank you Winky." Lucia said, gratefully accepting the food.
Winky disappeared and Lucia glanced up at Severus.
"House elves aren't very popular in America. Our history with slavery is… well it's less than ideal and I think the idea left a bad taste in our mouth. Even with voluntary elves like they have at Hogwarts, many families would prefer not to have them for appearance sake." Lucia explained.
"They enjoy serving." Severus said flippantly.
"I always thought they were just immensely loyal and that often meant that wizards took advantage of them." Lucia shot back, a little harshly.
Severus' eyebrow rose and he nodded in concession, making a note of her strong feelings on the subject.
"Well if you'd feel better, I can show you to the kitchens sometime so you can prepare your own food." He offered.
"I would rather not poison myself." Lucia commented.
They ate the rest of their meal in silence and Lucia looked thoughtfully at the books on the table.
"Do you think-That wasn't me right? In the dream?" Lucia asked.
Severus put down his cup of coffee on the coffee table and picked up the first book entitled "Possessions Most Putrid" and opened it to midway through the book.
"There are examples of spirits possessing the living, especially those related to the dead. I think, perhaps, with your psychic ability being particularly strong, your link to her is easier for both of you to access. I do not imagine she wants you to see these dreams and possibly discover a way to stop them." Severus explained, handing her the book.
She glanced over the pages, revealing little to no information about how to actually get rid of a spirit. "But how do I banish her? I don't want this living in me for the rest of my life. I don't want my children to deal with this."
"That I am not sure of. Potter successfully fended off the Dark Lord during a possession. I loathe to admit it, but he may be a better source regarding the subject than I would be."
"He doesn't exactly know me. He just knows me as the drunk girl that is dating his professor."
"We aren't 'dating'." The word sounded foreign coming from his mouth.
"I know that, but it probably seemed that way. Besides, I was flirting with you quite a bit." Lucia sent him a wink.
Severus flushed for a moment, still not used to the coy winks she shot him every now and then before he cleared his throat. "I have a meeting with the order over Halloween weekend that he is meant to attend. I can attempt to ask him then."
"Oh Severus, you are just a bundle of resources this evening! I have no idea what the order is but they sound lovely." Lucia cried, genuinely thankful at his willingness to help.
Severus nearly chuckled at her enthusiasm. "It is my life we are trying to save."
"Yes well, let me grateful regardless." Lucia looked at the clock, noting it fast approaching 9 am. "Should we go to Diagon Alley? I would like to beat the crowd if we could."
Severus nodded before looking once more at her clothing. "Perhaps a change of clothing is in order? And I could use a shower. Admittedly standing over boiling potions does make my hair quite, what is the word Potter used? Greasy."
"Oh Severus, you look handsome regardless." Lucia teased, standing up to head back to her chambers before casting a quick disillusionment charm. "Too many students roaming about. I wouldn't want one to see me in my dressing gown."
Lucia walked back to her chambers thoughtfully. Never had she been more thankful for Severus, as he seemed to be not only forgiving of her but also willing to help. She also understood that he was in quite a difficult situation. He was supposed to die and the only way to stop it was to help the person that was going to kill him, or at least the vessel.
Her thoughts lingered on his comment about professional distance, noting that she was never very good at maintaining that. She was always one to step over boundaries. She was overly friendly with students, giving them advice on how to avoid getting caught past curfew and which classrooms were left unlocked and seldom checked. She drank with Aurora once a week usually and sometimes got a bit too tipsy, resulting in her serenading one of the castle ghosts at one point. And with Severus she was perhaps a little in love with him. It wasn't full blown yet, but she knew it would be at some point. She got the feeling he might love her a little bit too, especially after her conversation with McGonagall. And that scared the shit out of Lucia.
Notes:
Hello all,
thank you guest for consistently reviewing. I appreciate it even though I don't speak Italian. Google translate tells me you are enjoying the story and the makes me so happy.
Plot is going to keep going sporadically with some fluff inserts.
Hope you enjoy!