Chapter Sixteen Caroline Bishop Normal Caroline Bishop 2 2 2001-11-09T01:42:00Z 2001-11-09T01:44:00Z 3 1411 8047 Lee Company 67 16 9882 9.4402

A/N: I feel horrible! It's been three months since I posted a new chapter! Oh, please forgive me, everyone. I suppose part of it was ffnet's various troubles, and my own laziness. I PROMISE that I will update more regularly from here on out. I swear it!

Chapter Sixteen

He followed Sylvia, rather hesitantly, to Dumbledore's office. It was still late at night and the corridors were completely deserted, save for an odd ghost here and there.

        "Are you sure he will be in there at this time of night?" Snape whispered to the figure ahead of him.

        "Yes, he'll be there," she answered. "I have never known Albus to get a decent night's sleep in his life."

        "And you know this from personal experience?"

For this comment, he received a cold glare and a, "Don't be cute, Severus."

        "I wasn't," he muttered to himself, hoping she couldn't hear him. He still found it very strange that she and the current Headmaster had, at one point, probably been more than friends.

        When they reached the stone gargoyle that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office, they both murmured, "sugar quills" at the same time, and the gargoyle moved aside chivalrously to allow them inside.

        They were silent all the way up the winding staircase, and it was only when they reached the heavy door that Sylvia spoke again.

        She looked distinctly nervous. "I need to do this," she said, almost as if she was trying to encourage herself.

        "You can do this," he affirmed, touching her shoulder briefly. She nodded, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

        They heard the old man give a welcoming "Come in" and so they did. The Headmaster was sitting behind his desk, poring over what looked to be old pieces of parchment. He glanced up at them briefly and gave a small smile. "Sylvia, Severus, it is a pleasure to see you at this time of night, though I confess that I am not surprised it doesn't happen more often. Is something amiss?"

        "Albus, I get the feeling that you may already know what I am about to tell you," Sylvia began.

        "It's been a long day, hasn't it?" Dumbledore said, an odd note coming into his voice. "I congratulate you on your courage to tell him the truth at last. Is that what this is about?"

        "No, Headmaster," Snape replied, feeling distinctly uncomfortable at Albus' tone of voice.

        "Albus, I believe that someone besides Severus now knows about this," Sylvia interjected, biting her lip a little nervously.

        The Headmaster gave her a shrewd look. "Do you mean Voldemort?"

        She touched her hand to her breast briefly. "Yes, Albus."

        "So he is still there. Harry Potter did not completely destroy him," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

        "He may still be there, Albus, but he is obviously not strong. He is hurt…he needs help…" Sylvia said somewhat weakly. Snape noticed as she took in a deep breath of air, as if trying to calm herself—or, perhaps, alleviate the pain.

        "I would imagine so," Dumbledore replied.

        Sylvia suddenly burst forth with something she had clearly wanted to say for a while. "I'm sorry that I did not tell you sooner." She looked guilty.

        Dumbledore waved aside her comment. "Please, Sylvia, you must know that I expected you to say this. From what I have heard from my information-gatherers," he shifted his gaze to Snape, "Voldemort took too many precautions against death to be completely eliminated. No, he will need to be made mortal again for that to happen." He looked thoughtful.

        "Albus, do you mean that…" Sylvia trailed off as the two stared at each other intently. Snape was reminded of the memory in that club long ago when they had seemed to be the only two people in the world. Dumbledore nodded slightly, and Sylvia looked worried.

        "Dr. Oliver," Snape said, using such a formal title because he was slightly worried at the way they were looking at one another. At his words, both turned to him, a little surprised. "If he…he is still alive, then are you not in pain? As I recall, the Natalis Spell is supposed to tell you when your heir is in need of succor. If your heir," he realized as he said the words that he was dancing around Voldemort's name, but he was still afraid,  "if he is still alive, but he is wounded, don't you feel it? Aren't you—"

        "In constant pain?" she said, finishing the sentence for him. "Don't worry about me, Professor Snape," she added, slightly mocking him and his formal title for her, "I have grown rather used to it. It doesn't bother me much, save for the occasional flare-up now and then."

        "Oh, Sylvia," he murmured, wanting to reach for her hand but too afraid to do so, at least with Dumbledore watching the both of them as closely as an old spinster acting as chaperone.

        "Albus, I am sorry to have disturbed you at this time of night, but I thought that this news was important," she said, almost ignoring Snape's outburst.

        "Please do not consider it an intrusion, Dr. Oliver. You are always welcome in my office. And I wish you both a good night," Dumbledore said merrily, but he looked weary and his face was lined with care.

***

Snape didn't quite know what to do with himself for the next several days. He didn't remember being this winsome with Cassandra, but perhaps this had been because he had not felt that she reciprocated so strongly any kind of passion for him as he did with Sylvia. He floated through his classes, much to the shock and surprise of his students, and kept giving Grayson Oliver extra points for rather ridiculous things, such as 'good analytical thinking' and 'keen grasp of potion making'.

        The excavation at the archeological site had begun again as the ground slowly thawed and he often wandered out to the great maw in the earth where Sylvia, Sophie, and Rosamund spent so many hours a day. He was always greeted warmly by Sylvia (although she often warned him not to touch anything), and Sophie smiled at him as though her face would break with happiness.

        The only dismal face in the array was continually Rosamund's. She would glare at the two other women and would occasionally cast pitiful glances at Snape, as though asking him to help her. He certainly did feel pity for her, because he knew how she felt. He remembered all too well the pain of feeling unloved and alone.

        One day he decided to ask Sylvia about Rosamund. He was surprised to find that she tried to skirt the question.

        "Sevy, I don't know what you mean. There is nothing wrong with Rosamund. What on earth gives you that idea?" she asked. The two were comfortably ensconced in Sylvia's bedroom, talking earnestly on the bed as they were wont to do. The discussion had veered from the normal topic of philosophy to many different things, and finally to Rosamund.

        "Come, Sylvia, you can't tell me that you don't notice how sullen she always is. What happened to her? When did she become this way? She seems so sad."

        Sighing, Sylvia began the story. "It was in the 18th century. I was in Rome with a…friend…of mine, and she came to visit me. She fell promptly in love with my, uh, friend, and asked him to run away with her. But he was in love with me, and rejected her. She was pierced to the core, and she came to me in deep anguish, telling me that neither of us should seek out our One, that we should remain immortal forever and love only one another.

        "I could not accede to this. She doesn't understand what it is to be the eldest of the Three, but I constantly feel it when Nature is imbalanced. I could not live forever with that feeling. I needed to find my One, and I tried to explain it to her, but she was too hurt to listen. She left and I did not see her again until earlier this century."

        "Do you think she will change her mind when she finds her One?" Snape asked, watching Sylvia's face closely.

        "I don't know, Sevy. I don't know what to do for her. I don't think she wants to find her One, and I do not think she will trust him. I really feel that it's my responsibility to make sure that she settles down. I have always felt that way."

        "But—but mightn't it be centuries before she finds her One?" Sevy asked. Somehow the idea of Sylvia waiting this long to give up her immortality was not pleasing to him.

        "I suppose it might, but I don't think it will be. I always had the notion, and I know it sounds odd, but I thought that she would find her One before I did." She looked embarrassed to have said such a thing out loud.

        "Obviously she did not," Snape said a little more harshly than he had intended.

        "It is not over yet," Sylvia replied cryptically, and a strange look came into her eyes. He then saw her inevitably touch the mark right over her heart.

        "You cannot tell me that this has something to do with him…you cannot tell me that everything has something to do with him!" Snape said angrily, and her head snapped up.

        "I said nothing about him, Sevy! It is you, I think, that supposes that everything is related to him, because he is the one thing that frightens you!" She sounded suddenly defensive.

        "And what if he is? Is it not a mark of my courage that he is the only thing that frightens me? As I see it, there is nothing more terrifying than him, alive and malicious, and scheming to return to his full power," Snape said, becoming defensive himself.

        She sighed. "Oh, Sevy, it all comes full circle, doesn't it? I cannot escape him, and I will never be able to, will I?"

        "What if you won't?" he asked rhetorically. "Will any of us?" So the two sat, brooding on the thought of an evil man, alive and malicious, and scheming to return to full power.

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Okay, not the best ending of a chapter, I know, but I ran out of ideas. Anyway, there are some subtle hints in there, hints which I hope to follow up in an eventual sequel. I hope you liked it! Oh, and thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! Y'all are the best!