Chapter 2: Questions and Answers

a/n: Thank you for the follows and reviews! It is motivating to know that you want to hear more. This chapter was super fun to write so I hope you like it. I forgot to mention that the idea of the secret tattoo came from the novel "The Birth of Venus" by Sarah Dunant.

Minerva had been resting in an arm chair in front of her fire. Madam Pomfrey had released her a few hours ago from the infirmary. She was feeling much better and she was contemplating joining the teachers for dinner in the great hall when she heard a short, crisp knock on her door.

As she opened the door she was not terribly surprised to see Severus Snape standing before her. They hadn't been alone together since the night of the accident and she felt her face flush a little in his presence. She knew he had questions for her and it was probably best to get them over with in the privacy of her sitting room then in front of the staff, or heaven forbid the students. Granted, she was not prepared to give him the answers to the questions he was most likely going to ask but she did want to give him the chance to inquire.

"So, you have come to check in on the invalid?" Minerva asked as she stepped into her room allowing him to enter . Severus hesitated slightly, in all the years he had been teaching with Minerva he had only crossed the threshold of her chambers a handful of times and usually in the company of Albus Dumbledore.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"I am" she said as she motioned for him to sit in the chair opposite hers by the fire. She wasn't surprised when he accepted her invitation to sit, they both knew he had much on his mind that he wanted to ask her about.

"I wanted to thank you again, Severus. If you weren't there, I am not sure…well…let's just say I am not sure what would have happened." She instinctively raised a hand to her stomach where the gash had been. Thanks to his potions, it was now only a slightly raised pick scar.

He simply nodded and tried to keep from staring at the top of her dress, trying ever so hard to get a glimpse of her intricate tattoo. He now understood while all her dresses were buttoned all the way up to her neck. She sat down in the chair next to him and let the silence fill the room. She wasn't going to bring it up if he wasn't brave enough to ask. Minerva instead busied herself with procuring tea for them both.

Finally, he broke the silence. "Minerva, we have known each other for quite some time now and yet, we know so little about one another" Severus said.

So, it was a heart-to-heart approach he was going to take, Minerva thought. "We are both very private people, I thought you preferred it that way?" she responded.

"I generally don't care enough to concern myself in other's affairs and you are right, I don't like to openly discuss mine" he began "Some people, however" he paused and looked directly in her eyes…."INTRIGUE me."

Minerva raised an eyebrow at him and sat in silence for a moment. She could admit to herself that she was similarly intrigued by Severus but she never imaged she could break through his walls and therefore she never tried. Severus had a giant "KEEP OUT" sign on the walls around him and he wasn't shy about parading that sign for all to see. If he wanted to peak into her secret garden then he needed to allow her to peek inside his.

"I must admit, Severus, I find you intriguing as well" she said. As she did the electricity in the room grew a little more pronounced. She raised her tea cup to her face to take a delicate sip but mostly it was an excuse to hide her eyes and break the tension.

Severus felt she was toying with him now. She was drawing him in and pushing him away all in one fluid movement. The sides of his mouth began to curl in an inward smile. There were very few people in this world that he would want, let alone allow, to toy with him in that manner. He wasn't sure why but with her, he took great pleasure in the game. He decided at that moment, he was going to sit here all night until he finally "won" the game. He wanted to know her story, her past, her pain, and most of all, he wanted to see her mark again. Even if he needed to let her in deeper than anyone else, he was willing to make that trade.

Her walls were just as tall and strong as his but they were more of a pleasant stroll through a park that looks so inviting but you can't seem to find the arch in the wall that lets you inside. It had been quite a long time since someone placed a gentle hand along that stone wall and slowly, deliberately, carefully traced their hand around the wall to explore its surface and find the hidden door. She felt Severus extending his arm, looking for a place of contact to start his journey along that wall. She had no plans of allowing him near or through the secret door, but for some reason she was not quite clear on, she wanted Severus to try.

Severus made a slow, deliberate gesture of filling his tea, crossing his legs, and rested his back on the chair. Once he felt he looked the picture of total relaxation he raised his eyes to hers once again and said "Ok, what would you like to know?"

Without a hesitation she asked "Why does Albus trust you so implicitly?"

Well, Severus was not prepared to answer that and his immediate reaction was the challenge her back "Why do you put so much faith in Albus's opinions?"

Minerva retorted "Why does my faith in Albus's opinion bother you so much?"

Severus held Albus in rather high esteem along with most of the wizarding community but for some reason he was a little bothered by Minerva's utter devotion to the man. Then it struck him, there must be much more to their relationship. That made him even angrier and his tone was very accusation when he asked "Is HE the one that gave you that mark?"

His question made Minerva roll her eyes and huff in frustration. "Why does everyone assume that there is more to our friendship than respect?" she said in a rather perturbed manner.

Severus smirked a little as he killed two birds with one stone. One, she was not or did not have an intimate affair with the esteemed Albus Dumbledore and two, as he suspected, the mark was a remnant of an intimate relationship. "So a lover gave you that mark" he said as he stared into her eyes.

"I never said that" she tried to counter but there wasn't much bravado in her statement to convince Severus that he was wrong. Minerva realized that the rapid fire questions were causing her to let her guard down so she stayed mute for a moment but she was having trouble meeting his eyes.

Severus tried a different angle "Who knows about your mark?" he asked.

Finally Minerva hit her limit and said rather forcefully " Stop! This is ridiculous. I am not playing a question and answer game with you all night." She stormed up and moved to the window.

They were both silent for some time. The tension in the room had died down. Minerva looked up to the stars, she had kept her secret protected from all other living souls. If she was going to share it, she never expected it to be with a man like Severus. However, the more she thought about it, she realized that she wanted to share it with him. She wasn't sure how to explain it, but with everything he had been through she felt he was one of the few people who might understand. Most of all, he was one of the few people that might forgive her.

She leaned on the ledge for emotional support as she said "Yes, he was a lover."

When he didn't respond she turned her head towards him and continued in a hushed voice that was barely audible "he was the most amazing and devastating thing that has every happen to me."

After a moment, She turned her whole body towards him and leaned her bum against the window sill. He was still in his chair but he was no longer relaxed. He was a rapt attention. The world has stopped spinning and they simply staring into each other's souls.

Severus's mind was moving at a frantic rate both trying to process the information and imaging a younger Minerva and an intense, emotional, physical, all-encompassing relationship with someone. Who was he, what was he like, what was she like, and all he wanted was more and more. He wanted the details of her life, he started to imagine her with a lover and he knew that she would be fire-storm of passion and lust. He started to feel a tightening under his ropes. He stood up immediately and moved to her side table where a bottle of fire whisky sat. He raised it up in her but still didn't utter a word. She nodded her head yes and he grabbed two glasses from the top shelf and moved back to the sitting area.

Instead of returning to the chair where he was sitting before, opposite of where she had sat, he placed the two glasses side-by-side on the table in front of the couch. He sat down, poured the whisky, and waited for her to join him.

She slowly moved away from the window sill and sat down next to Severus. It wasn't a large couch so there was very little space between them. She picked up the whiskey and took an inviting sip. She held onto the glass like a shield over her heart as she rested her back against the arm of the couch. She now had a little more space between them.

Severus still sat very straight but he turned his head to face her. He wanted to make this as easy as he could for her so he started with a simple question. "How old were you?" he asked.

Minerva appreciated Severus' approach. He could have asked "who" or "what happened" but he was starting with questions she would be comfortable answering. He was going to trace every inch of the wall before he knocked on the hidden door.

She crossed her legs to provide another barrier to his probing. She was going to answer him. She knew he was going to get the whole story out of her but she needed it to be this way. He needed to work for it. She needed him to work for it.

"I was not a naïve, impressionable young lass if that is what you are thinking. When I meet him I had been in love before and I would fall in love again after" she paused as she took another sip of her Whiskey. She loved the sensation of fire rolling down her throat. She rested the glass on her knee and stared at the rim. She could feel his glare and could sense that he was waiting for a better answer then then that.

She swirled the large ice cube in her drink and watched the whirlpool it created when her voice got much lower and took on a husky tone. "I was 35 when I met him"

When it was clear that she wasn't going to elaborate he filled his glass and topped hers off. He wanted her to relax so he mimicked her position by leaning back on the arm of the couch so there was a little more space between them. Their knees were close to touching but their bodies had space to breathe.

"That was during the first Wizarding War" he also could have said that was the year he became a Death Eater but he thought that wasn't going to help her open up.

"yes" she said and she took another sip. Severus watched her drink, watched her throat as she swallowed. His eyes followed her neck to where he knew the marking was inked onto her breast, sternum, and stomach. He wanted to trace it with his fingertips.

Minerva could feel him starting at her body. She realized that she wanted him to see her, to touch her, to…Merlin's Beard the whiskey must be taking its tool. But instead of putting it down, she brought it to her lips again and slowly, patiently, took another sip. He was staring at her lips now and she began to feel a dull ache between her legs.

She placed her glass down on the table as an excuse to shift her position to try and alleviate the slow ache. She uncrossed her legs, it didn't help much, so she crossed them again. She assumed he would mistake her restlessness for nerves in confiding her tale so she continued "It was a troubling time, no one knew whom to trust. A dark power was rising and everyone was taking sides, playing both sides, or just trying to get out of the way."

"I was alone, I had walked away from a potential great love of my life a few years prior and I was still in a dark place. He wasn't the light to pull me out, he was a battered, beaten, soul that I was drawn too."

It was after the words left her mouth that she realized that could easily describe her relationship with Severus. That only intensified the ache between her legs and a slow pool of heat began to form.

The way Severus began to look at her was making her a little lightheaded. She downed the rest of her whiskey, to build up the liquid courage to continue. Now she wanted to describe every detail to him. The way she felt when touched by a dark and mysterious man, she wanted Severus to want her the way her former lover had.

She no longer had a drink in her hand so she rested her left arm on the back of the couch. Her arms were long and they didn't quite reach him but it placed her inside his personal space. She used her index finger to trace the top of the couch as if she was running her finger down a man's chest. "We had a passionate love affair the summer of 1970. We would go our separate ways during the day, but come together at night in a storm of intimacy. Deep down, we knew that it would die abruptly and quickly so we savored each night together".

She paused again and this time moved her eyes from her finger to his face. Severus could feel her gaze but was not prepared to meet her eye. If he did, he was rather sure he would transition from undressing her with his eyes to undressing her with his hands.

Severus placed his glass on the table and again, copied her position. He draped his right arm on the back of the couch. There arms now overlapped but they still didn't touch.

"Why were you so convinced it would end so quickly?" he asked. They were both now staring at their overlapped hands.

Minerva took a deep audible breath, and held her head a little higher as she said "Because he was a Death Eater and I was training to become an Auror"

Severus eyes snapped instantly to her face. His stare was now more of utter shock. She didn't cower under his glare, not the brave Minerva McGonagall. "yes" she said when she saw his bewildered look "I knowing had a passionate affair with a follower of Lord Voldermort".

"Does Dumbledore know?" he asked.

"No, you are the only other living soul that knows?"

Severus wasn't sure why it mattered that she entrusted him with a secret that she hadn't shared with Albus but it DID matter to him. It mattered a lot.

The atmosphere in the room changed as the weight of Minerva's confession took hold. Severus felt empowered by her secret and his desire for her had never been stronger. He wanted to see her mark, he wanted to see her body, he wanted to connect with her soul.

There arms lay side-by-side on the back of the couch and he leaned his long fingers towards her upper arm and barely touching her skin he traced and imaginary "S" on her arm, similar to the shape he imagined on her chest. He heard Minerva's quick intake of breath as his fingers gently caressed her arm. "Did he brand you?" he asked.

His touch was like fire on her arm and her intake of breath sounded so loud in the otherwise silent room. She quickly reposed "no, he never hurt me in that way"

"He had already been branded with the dark mark when I met him but we never openly discussed it. On our last night together, I asked him if it hurt when he was marked. He said yes, it was part of the process, accepting the pain as a sign of loyalty and devotion. I then asked him to mark me with a sign of my loyalty and devotion"

At this point Severus was now running his fingers up and down the length of her arm in the pattern that matched the mark on her chest, at least what he saw of it. He was aching for her now and his erection was evident, Every word she uttered drew him more under her spell.

He took his shot "May I see it again?" he asked.

He held his breathe while waiting for her response. She pondered for a moment and then stood up and started to walk away. Damn he thought, I ruined it.

She was about five steps from the couch when she turned around and asked "Are you coming or not?"

a/n: If you have the time, please review. Thanks!