She inhaled a deep breath and crossed her arms, her mind trying to decide what to do. She knew she wasn't allowed to properly answer their questions, but she also knew she wouldn't be teaching there very long, and that by being honest she could maybe, just maybe make a difference to one of them.
She moved around to the front of her desk and sat on it, her legs swinging casually as she surveyed the thirty faces that were looking at her, not knowing if they had pushed her too far or if she was going to humour them.
"Charms and bloodlines," she repeated, testing their words in her mouth. "Why do wizards and witches try to charm their blood?"
She was with the seventh year Slytherin and Gryffindors, thirty more-or-less adults, several of which towered over her now, but all of which were looking at her as though she were a parent about to share some family secret.
"As we all know," she began, and saw some of their shift in excitement or lean closer to hear her better. "At the discovery of magic, all wizards and witches were deemed "sang pur", that is 'pure of blood'. There was no Statute of Secrecy at the time, you all know that the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy was made law in 1692 after the witch-burnings across Europe, and, contrary to belief, wizards and witches married muggles. Meaning that even in the first wizarding families, the bloodlines were often mixed, and many descendants were half-blood. Does anyone know why there was a sudden change in attitude? Why did many families suddenly become obsessed with keeping their bloodline "pure"? Yes, Yendell?"
The tall, blonde haired Jamie Yendell raised his hand confidently.
"It was after the Statute of Secrecy, wasn't it Professor? Isn't that when families cut off ties to the wizarding world?"
Two Slytherins near the back sniggered and Serena heard a muttered comment, "shame your ancestors loved muggles too much."
She rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw. "Urne and Harrington, if you aren't mature enough to have a real discussion about serious issues, then I can find a spot for you with my first years next period. You all asked me to talk about this, so I am. You can at least shut your mouths and listen if you haven't got anything productive to say."
She gave them her best glare and turned back to Yendell. "Yes, you're exactly right. The Statute drew a distinct separation between the wizarding and muggle world, and incidentally, a rather bi-hazard consequence, was that wizards suddenly gave great importance to their bloodlines."
"But what choice did they have?" said Urne, shrugging. "If they hadn't, we'd all have dirty blood by now, although some of us do, ey Suttings?"
"Watch your mouth," Sarah Suttings from Gryffindor frowned at him, and several of her classmates murmured agreement.
"Well, it's true. Those who are pure need to stay pure," Urne insisted. "Of course they do."
"They don't have a choice," Harrington interjected, nodding with agreement.
"There is always a choice," Serena interrupted quietly, and many heads turned back to her.
"What does she know?" Sebastian Jenkins muttered sharply at the back of the classroom.
"Yeah," muttered Harrington.
Serena found it interesting to simply sit back and let them the debate between them for a while. She felt as though no she was on a knife edge, she had a choice, should she reprimand them and put a stop up to these personal attacks on her life, or was this an opportunity? Would she be able to show them that there was another path?
There was more mumbling from the back of the classroom and several of the 7th year Slytherins sent her furtive looks. When she heard the words 'blood traitor' she decided to act.
She cleared her throat and leant forward, her hands clasped together in a relaxed stance; she wanted them to know that she was not angry.
"So what is a blood traitor?" She voiced out loud, repeating their words. Almost all of the class shifted their attention immediately back to her, suddenly looking fearful and waiting for punishment. She noted that the boy who had said the words looked guilty and a pink haze tinged his cheeks.
"Go on, go on", she continued lightly, "I'm not angry or offended, I am indeed what is more commonly known as a 'blood traitor'. So let's see your opinions. What is a blood traitor for you?"
Her question hung awkwardly in the air for almost a minute before Harrington spoke confidently.
"A pureblood who marries a non-pureblood."
"A pure blood who marries a non-pureblood," she repeated thoughtfully. "So tell me this then Harrington, who are you going to marry, your sister or your cousin?"
A chuckle rang out amongst the students, but Serena shook her head as the boy opened his mouth to retort.
"I'm not teasing you, this is the reality that nobody talks about. There are very few wizarding lines with 100-percent pure blood today, the reality is that if we want to keep magical blood in magical people then we would have died out already, or been stuck marrying relatives… all of us. It is just no longer possible. I'm sure if you all spend an extra hour in the library this evening it won't take you long to look up the genealogy of your classmates, and I think you will be surprised at how few of them have the pure blood they proclaim.
"So, let's go back to Harrington's definition of a blood traitor. You have all known me the longest and as I'm sure you will remember, I do believe it was common gossip at one point, I was once engaged to be married to a pureblood. So why have you labelled me a blood traitor?"
"Perhaps she wasn't then, but she is now with that filthy wolf," muttered Axel Zabini under his breath.
She sighed heavily, "Zabini, please enlighten us as to the meaning of your delightful words, have you been following my private life in The Daily Prophet?"
There was another murmur around the classroom and Zabini shifted uncomfortably. Surprisingly, it was a Gryffindor who spoke.
"I believe what Zabini means professor, is that one cannot be pure of blood if one is associated with a werewolf."
Serena couldn't help but smile down at her hands. "Firstly, I would strongly advise you all to stop reading Rita Skeeter. Secondly, are we now including werewolves and perhaps other magical creatures in our definition off being a blood traitor?"
"It's not really about blood professor, is it? said Harrington sharply. "I mean, being a werewolf, I mean, it's worse than being muggle born, isn't it? I mean, it's disgusting."
"Harrington shut up," hissed Jenny Fellingway, but Serena waved her down.
"No, no that's ok Fellingway," Serena smiled, "you won't get into trouble for anything you say today, I find it always productive and useful to have the opportunity to express our thoughts in public without judgement. So what do you all think of Harrington's stance on werewolves? Would anyone like to express their opinion?"
Several more people shifted uncomfortably again but nobody spoke.
"Come on," she smiled lightly, "don't be shy now, how about you Jones?"
James Jones, one of the usually more outspoken Gryffindors shifted in his seat and cleared his throat.
"Well, I mean, they are sort of dangerous, aren't they? I wouldn't want one near my sister I know that. It's a disease. They're contaminated. It's not normal."
"They're disgusting," interrupted Zabini, "Jones just doesn't have the balls to say it."
"Zabini," Serena said casually, "let's imagine that I am contaminated with Dragon Pox. If I come now over to your table and I spit in your pumpkin juice, and contaminate you, who's the disgusting one? You or me? I contaminated you willingly. Although that's not always the case. It could have been a mistake, I didn't have access to the right medicine perhaps? Or just maybe it gave me pleasure to contaminate you. What I want you to understand is that werewolves are human beings. Just one minute ago you were a conventional, healthy, uncontaminated human being. If I chose to spit in your pumpkin juice has that changed you and your personality? Has it made you evil? Has it made you vicious? Has it made you dangerous? Perhaps," she answered herself. "What I want you to understand is that just like human beings, there are good human beings and there are bad human beings and there are very simply human beings who make mistakes. I would encourage you all to keep that in mind next time you hear about someone being bitten, or maybe when you are reading Rita Skeeter's next article.
"Can we move back to the original question. So we have gathered that a blood traitor could be someone one who marries outside of non-pureblood families, although we have already seen that staying within pure bloodlines is almost impossible these days. We have also had the age long debate about werewolves and blood contamination, which incidentally you could write about in your essay on purifying spells. So let's continue with our definition, what else makes a blood traitor?"
This time there was no awkward pause and she saw several hands shoot into the air, from both houses.
"Yes, Applebee?" Serena nodded in her direction and she began speaking immediately.
"A blood traitor could also be somebody of pure blood who supports muggleborns and muggles, Professor."
"Yes," Serena said nodding, "very true."
"But it doesn't really matter does it," said Harrington sharply. "Either way, we don't get to decide. It all depends on our family name and our blood. You don't get to suddenly choose to love mudbloods and werewolves if you're in Slytherin. Imagine if someone did that! We'd cast them out!"
"Firstly Harrington," Serena said calmly, "can you please watch your language. That word will not be tolerated in in this classroom or in this school for that matter. And if I focus on the meaning of your words I can see that Slytherin heads are nodding their agreement. So why aren't you agreeing Gryffindors?"
"Of course they are not agreeing," one of the quieter Slytherin boys said softly.
"Continue, Pikes," Serena nodded encouragingly.
"Well why would they agree? They don't even have an opinion because they have never been confronted with such a situation. If you are put in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, it is very rare for your family to care are about who you will befriend; a muggle born or a half-blood or a pure blood. No one cares."
"Why is that? Serena asked nodding in agreement. "Why do do Slytherins in general have more pressure?"
"This is ridiculous professor," interrupted one of the Gryffindor prefects. "They don't have any extra pressure, they just have prejudices and are born with discriminatory remarks coming out of their mouths-"
"No extra pressure!" shrieked Jenny in outrage. "I see why you think that," she huffed. "Look at your family, they've had dirty blood for generations. Whereas my entire family are counting on me to keep my line pure."
"Who are you calling dirty blood?"
"Wait, wait," rushed Serena, holding out her hands in a peaceful gesture. "Did you just listen to what Jenny said? I know you felt insulted by her words, which, were indeed, insulting, but did you listen? Did you hear her explain the pressure she feels already at her age to marry into a pure blood family?"
Silence fell upon the room
"Oh come on, she has a choice. "
"Oh do I?" Jenny hissed angrily.
At this, Serena leant forward and looked Jenny directly in the eyes. "Of course you have a choice, Jenny. You all do, every single one of you. The problem is that the choices are not easy. It is difficult to set aside prejudices and ideas we have been brainswashed to believe. It may seem unnatural to us to start questioning things we think we have always known. It may be preconceived ideas depending upon which house we are sorted into at 11 years old, it may be expectations our parents and families have set for us, it may be bigger than that entirely. It may be ideologies and groups who encouraged us to think in certain ways even if our souls tell us differently. There is always a choice."
Whilst many students were now hanging off her every word, Jenny only tutted and looked away angrily. "What do you know?" The young woman muttered.
"What do I know?" Serena repeated incredulously, her eyebrows raised. "Surely you know exactly what I know about the situation you are in?"
"Many heads around the room nodded but surprisingly Jenny's and several others did not and she was met with confused, scornful glares."
"My surname is Lake," Serena said clearly. "Again, if you spend a little time in the library this evening you will see that I, too, belong to one of the few remaining pure blood lines. Lesser known, and much smaller than most. And obviously, I assure you, that despite what my parents led me to believe, if you dig a little deeper, I have several great grandparents with rather sketchy looking marriage certificates.
"What I am trying to convey to you is that I grew up in a situation much like the one many of you live every time you go home and have lived since you were a baby. I grew up being coached in the Dark Arts, and my parents were ready to choose my husband for me before I had even hit puberty.
"I won't go into details, and I am only telling you all of this because it is soon the end of the school year and you are all adults before me today. And I also think that this may open some of your eyes or, at least, I hope so. That you will know that there is a choice, no matter how difficult it is to make. But I can tell you that I chose my own fate, I chose not to follow my parents. And there hasn't been a single day where I regretted my decision.
"If any of you have doubts, if you want to get out, educate yourselves, talk to people, my door is always open…
"Anyway," she said briskly, eyeing all of the wide-eyed and stunned faces in front of her. The faces that were soon to be the next generation of wizarding adults. A generation that may well change the face of this war. She cleared her throat, "the bell is about to ring, and as we have done lots of talking and little work today, you will all write me 8 inches on blood charms and their origins for next Tuesday."
To much grumbling and moaning, the bell did indeed ring, and the students filed out a little calmer and more pensive than usual. Serena let out a long breath and sat down heavily behind her desk.
"What on earth was that about?" A dry voice rang across the classroom.
She raised her eyebrows, not looking up from her diary.
"Listening to my lessons, professor Snape? Surely you have more interesting things to do?"
"And how intriguing your lessons are," he drawled, walking slowly and purposefully down the aisle between the desks. "Do you make a habit of sharing your personal details with your students?"
She rolled her eyes. "I'd barely call them personal details," she replied just as dryly. "I didn't tell them anything most of them don't already know. And we both know that I could have given a lot more detail where my bloodline is concerned. I just hope..." She sighed and looked up at him tiredly. "I just hope maybe one of them might recognise themselves in my story..."
She could see in his eyes that he agreed and he gave her a small smile.
"Well if you're done babbling about things I could have just read in the Prophet, I need your assistance with Podings' university application."
Serena sighed, "I have already spoken to Podings about this, if he doesn't pass his Charms and Transfiguration NEWTs they will never accept him, I talked to Minerva about it and she was in agreement with-"
Serena trailed off, her eyes on Severus who had suddenly stiffened and pressed a hand to his chest.
She glanced at the door to make sure no one was there.
"Are you ok?" She said in a low voice. "Have you been summoned?"
Severus, whose eyes had glazed over, shook his head slowly, frowning deeply as though he was trying to understand something. Then, suddenly his eyes widened, and he looked at her.
"The unbreakable vow," he almost whispered, before turning sharply on his heel. "With me!" He snapped as he marched back up the aisle, his wand in hand. Serena grabbed her own and ran after him, her heart pounding.
"What-" Serena stuttered, but Severus wasn't listening. She hurried alongside him, as the busy corridors parted before him, one look sending students scattering to the sides.
They marched down the corridor and then Severus broke into an almost-run, up four sets of stairs and along another corridor. She was just going to ask him what on earth was going on when a horrible, blood-curling scream echoed through the corridor.
"MURDER!"
Severus slammed his shoulder into the boys' toilets and Serena staggered after him, her wand in her hand, realising that it was Moaning Myrtle that was screaming and the danger seemed to be coming from the toilets.
She ran after Severus, crouching slightly, ready to counter any attack, but the scene she found made her drop her wand to her side.
Draco Malfoy, barely unrecognisable, was sprawled on the floor of the bathroom, under the sinks, pouring out bright crimson blood onto the stone floor.
Many thoughts pounded through her head in that instant, but the answers were quickly before her.
"Professor!" her eyes found Harry Potter, soaked in sweat and water and trembling violently.
"Harry?" she stuttered, stumbling forwards, watching as Severus fell to his knees next to Draco and began murmuring a song-like counter curse.
"Professor, I didn't mean to! I- I didn't know what that spell did! I never meant…"
But Serena stopped listening. Having decided that there was no immediate threat, she dropped to her knees next to Severus, and observed the injuries with wide eyes.
This was dark magic, she realised immediately as the hairs on her arms stood up and she felt a tingling in the back of her neck. This was a dark and dangerous curse. She cast a few diagnostic spells over the boy who was ghostly white and twitching unconsciously. She didn't recognise the spell at all, but Severus was steadily murmuring the counter curse, concentrating intently on siphoning the blood back into Draco's body.
Serena looked at Harry and frowned. "How..?" she left her question hanging, but Harry looked too shocked to answer.
"Professor Lake," Severus said eventually in a quiet voice. Serena noted a sheen of sweat on his forehead and a flash of dangerous anger behind his eyes.
"You need to escort Mister Malfoy to the hospital wing immediately. He is out of danger, but he will need an equilibrium potion."
"Of course," she murmured, levitating Malfoy's body carefully, and looking between Harry and Severus. She didn't know if it was wise to leave the two of them alone, but she had no choice.
She shot a warning glance to Severus and left the scene, noting that her hands were tinged in Malfoy's blood.
Thankfully, the bell had rung and students were back in classes, so she met no one as she hurried up to the hospital wing with Draco's limp body floating before her.
What on earth had that spell been?
How had Severus recognised it so quickly?
And most worrying of all, how had Harry known it?
Was he training himself in the Dark Arts to try and overcome the Dark Lord? Was he going to fight dark with dark? If so, it was a disaster, and she needed to shock him out of it.
She explained quickly to Poppy what had happened when they arrived at the hospital wing, but surprisingly Severus did not come up to join them until half an hour later.
He checked with Poppy that Draco was well and then jerked his head to Serena, indicating they should leave.
They walked in silence back to Severus' quarters.
"Did you find out what happened?" she asked immediately, once they were in the safety of his rooms. "What did the unbreakable vow feel like? What was that spell?"
Severus pulled off his cloak, which she noticed was slightly damp, and turned his back to her.
"Please," he drawled curtly, "you sound like Granger with your incessant questions."
She rolled her eyes at him and waited.
"Potter crept up on Malfoy and they duelled. And precious Potter hit him with that curse… he's all innocent and Gryffindor when it suits him, and then as soon as no one is watching, he's as sly and vicious as his father. If I hadn't have felt the tug of the vow, Draco would have been killed! And what would have happened to saint Potter then!"
Serena realised that he was as angry about Potter's future as he was about Draco's life. She thought it was strange, but she filed that information away for later.
"What has happened to Potter? Does Minerva know-"
"No," Severus said curtly, sitting down in his armchair. "I have dealt with Potter. He has detention with me every Saturday until the end of term… Gryffindor can say goodbye to the Quidditch cup and Potter his social life."
"And ours, too," she said bluntly.
Severus' eyes widened for a second, as though the thought hadn't occurred to him, but then he shrugged. "Hardly. You're in France this Saturday and babysitting for Remus the next."
She sighed, trying not to think about how little time they might have left together. "Anyway, I am rather surprised at the punishment. It seems rather light, especially for you."
"What would you have me do?" Severus asked sharply. "You know very well I can't expel him. Going to Minerva would only annoy her."
"Or raise questions," she said quietly, eyeing him closely. "What was that curse, Severus? Why aren't you as worried as I am that Harry Potter is using dark magic?"
"I stopped worrying about anything Potter did a long time ago," he drawled, crossing his legs and picking up a book from the pile next to his chair. "Actually, I tell a lie,' he corrected, "I never started."
She frowned and he gave a heavy sigh.
"Potter says he didn't know what the spell did," he said quietly.
"And you believe him?"
Severus nodded slowly, looking down at the obsidian ring on his left hand and twisting it around, deep in thought.
"And since when do you believe a single word Harry Potter says?"
He grimaced, and when he spoke his voice was slow and deep and purposeful, as though he tasted every syllable before pronouncing it out loud. "Because that spell was of my creation."
Serena sat down on the sofa, stunned and confused.
"I believe…" Severus continued quietly, looking at her with dark eyes. "That Potter has acquired one of my old textbooks, in which I would occasionally note spells I invented, amongst other things. It would also explain why he has been excelling in potions, whilst I know he has as much aptitude for the subject as Neville Longbottom."
"You'd left your old textbooks in the potions classroom? Is that how he got hold of it?"
Severus nodded curtly.
"And this is the kind of curse you were developing at school age?" she raised her eyebrows. "I didn't recognise it at all, never mind know where to start with the counter curse."
"Don't pretend that you weren't capable of worse. We both know how powerful you were and are."
She grimaced. "So Potter read the spell in one of your old books, not knowing it was yours, I assume, and decided to test it out on Malfoy? Jesus, don't we teach them anything? Using a spell when he didn't know what it did, and when he didn't even know the counter-curse! I mean, really…"
"And Potter's stupidity is only just hitting you, is it?" he said dryly.
"I imagine you searched his belongings and found nothing?"
"Obviously."
She looked at Severus carefully and saw he was hovering somewhere between anger and shock. She didn't know what the tug from an unbreakable vow felt like, but if it was anything like their soul bond, he must have been unnerved.
She got to her feet and moved to sit on the arm of his chair, threading a hand around the back of his neck and squeezing his shoulders tightly.
"It's not your fault you know," she said quietly, "Potter was idiotic to have used a spell without knowing what it did, and both he and Draco are very lucky to have had you there today…"
He grunted, but did not move away from her touch. She knew that anything linked with his past caused him pain, and she could imagine a young Severus, inventing dark spells in the hope to impress his Death Eater peers.
"Now then, I'm on dinner duty," she said kissing his temple, "but I'll see you back here around eight o' clock? I imagine you don't fancy eating in the Great Hall?"
Instead of answering, Severus' arms slipped around her waist and pulled her quickly down so she sat in his lap, her legs dangling helplessly over the arm of the chair.
She inhaled sharply and gave him a reproachful, yet teasing look.
"You could have warned me!"
He smirked and brushed her hair away from her face tenderly, but when his eyes met hers they were dark and serious.
She felt a gentle caress in the forefront of her mind, and he pushed a question towards her, seemingly unable to voice it out loud.
Do you think less of me?
No! she thought urgently and forcefully. "Absolutely not," she whispered, cupping his face with one hand and stroking his cheek with her thumb. Then, she raised her eyebrows in a teasing way and grinned wickedly. "You should know some of the spells I created at that age… I invented a testicle tangling curse, I can tell you, my victims couldn't sit for weeks!"
Severus snorted, but his eyes were still soft and serious. "You really are quite the sadist," he said quietly.
"Only when I want to be," she smiled. "And I'm going to be late for dinner. I'll see you tonight."
He held her with strong arms for just a second longer and her eyes met his again, questioningly.
I love you, he murmured in her mind.
She kissed him on the lips sweetly and slipped off his lap. "I love you too, Severus," she whispered, before picking up her cloak and heading to dinner.