~*~ Closing In . . . ~*~

He kept his eyes on her all through breakfast the following morning. Again, they sat side by side, but her mind was not with her body. Instead, he was sure that she was thinking towards the past . . . thinking of last night and all the events that had led up to it. Several times through the meal, his eyes followed her gaze, noticing that she was glaring off towards the Gryffindor table. Or, to be precise, she was glaring at what sat at the table's side, curled on the cool floor at the feet of Potter and his friends. Audrey was staring ice daggers at a big black dog, and that dog was returning the look at interceding intervals, when not looking at Snape himself with the same hateful eyes. For the moment, however, Severus did not care. He was worried for Audrey, and was under request from Albus to be civil to the Animagus pretending to be Potter's dog.

When breakfast ended, he and Audrey made their way to their neighboring classrooms. They stayed silent for it, keeping to one another's pace.

"I still cannot believe," Audrey broke the silence, her voice a hiss as she turned to him, "that it was Pettigrew who committed the crimes that Black was incarcerated for."

"I share the sentiments, but . . . it is true." Snape replied to the revelation she'd been given the night before by Albus, his eyes resting on a tiny silver snake shaped ring that curled about Audrey's left big toe. As always, her feet were bare upon the cold floors. He still could not comprehend that she was not freezing, charms or no charms. Though she was a witch, and a damned fine one at that, he still wanted to demand she put shoes on. The very idea of her being ordered to do anything made him want to smile. It was a moment before he realized that he, indeed, was smiling.

"You find this funny?" The smirk on her face made her lovely features harsh in the dismal corridors. "Or did you imbibe in some odd potion instead of your coffee this morning?"

"Neither, Audrey." His face went blank then, save for his trademark look of pure disdain. "Perhaps it's just your ever cheerful presence that is poisoning my mood."

"You do me far too much justice. Anyway, we both have classes to teach."

"Until lunch then?"

"Yes, until lunch. You would care to join me then?" She gave him a coquettish look that he'd not seen from her in ages.

"One would be led to believe so." He replied, sweeping away from her, robes billowing dramatically behind him as he went.

She smiled at his back, then turned to her own classroom door, her mind swiftly returning to the night before with Narcissa and the meeting with Dumbledore's circle afterwards. Those two very different occurrences had given her knowledge of her fate that she'd not had before. Some of the news, however, was very old indeed, or at least long hinted at. It came as no surprise to her that Severus had gone back to Voldemort and the Death Eaters as a spy for the Headmaster's order. It also did not surprise her when he related his experience of being reinstated into the Dark Lord's graces. He had been incessantly tortured at every meeting, horridly threatened with death as well, and was still held under great suspicions by those old colleagues who delighted in seeing his agony when Voldemort sanctioned them to make him squirm. Severus was living in the shadows of fate, knowing very well that his next few breaths could well deliver him into the embrace of death or the hell fire of Voldemort's wrath. She took a deep breath at the thought of Severus being tortured and killed, knowing well that would happen if he was indeed found to be the spy he truly was. Sitting down, she realized she was dizzy, her mind spinning with fear that she should lose him for a whole life time. Already they had missed many opportunities to find their meanings with one another, and she did not want to wait for what lie beyond the grave to do so. However, she had no time to think such thoughts, she had no time to worry. For, at that moment, her classroom was filling with pupils who needed to be given the materials to protect themselves from a fate such as her own.

It was only a little while later that such pupils annoyed her to great extent. It was one pupil in particular that caused her face to turn redder than a Weasley's hair. Potter, it seemed, thought that his superstar status sat him above school rules. He'd brought a large pet into class with him -and though it was common knowledge between herself, the boy and the 'pet' in question - Sirius was still in the guise of animal before the school, and she didn't think it right that the rule should be broken. It would not, she reasoned with a smirk, be fair to the other students with large pets that Potter should have his dog with him at all times, while their furry companions stay cloistered away in the dorms during the day. Lark stayed seated as Sirius, in his dog form, crossed her path to join Harry at his place in her room, but her eyes roamed the floor with him.

"Mr. Potter?" She began, letting her eyes shift to the papers turned in from her last class.

"Yes, Professor Windsong?" Harry's voice did not sound concerned at all, he had just turned from a light conversation with the girl forever at his side. The know-it- all named Granger.

"Whose your new friend, miboy?" Lark then decided to look up at the pupil in question. Her eyes glanced down at the dog at his side after this, then went back to the scarred boy. "And when did this school admit beasts among the students? Unless Lupin was not an isolated case?" The whole room seemed to upset at that little remark, but she was in no mood to care. She wanted Black out of her sight at that second, for both he and the boy knew her feelings exactly. Lark had expressed them quite clearly the evening before, in front of the whole assembly in Dumbledore's office. She'd work with Black when she absolutely had to, and no more than those times. A truce with someone that you hated could only allow for so much, and though she had given him a curse to feel what had befallen her heart, she was still not satisfied enough to look on him in any form with nothing but half tamed loathing in her heart. "Well, Potter?"

"Go back to the dorms, boy." Harry told the dog. This shocked the Animagus, his friends and his teacher. Still, Sirius complied, giving Windsong a little growl as he went. And even though the scene was easily solved, she still took it as affront from both Black and young Potter.

"I will be seeing you after class, Mr. Potter." She hissed. Malfoy turned and smirked at the boy. "Would you care to join him, Draco? I'm sure Filch can help me find an ample number of shackles to hang you both from the ceilings for a few hours, if I ask politely enough."

"Seems she's been taking lessons from Snape." Ron Weasley whispered to Granger, thinking he'd not been heard.

"No, Weasley, she's always been like this. She's never needed help from me." Snape stood in the door.

"Such a compliment," Windsong smiled, giving Snape a little curtsy, "deserves much thanks. And now a request. What brings you to this neck of the dungeons, Professor?"

"I need to see Malfoy for a moment." He gave her a look that only she could read as worried. "Can you spare him for a . . . matter of time?"

"Yes," she nodded, not looking away from Severus for a few moments. Then her eyes went to Draco, and she felt emotion well up in her chest for the boy. Narcissa's son. "Draco, please go with your Head of House."

"Collect your belongings, Mr. Malfoy." Snape's voice was grave. It made Lark look over at him again. "You will not be returning to class today." The room went silent. She was searching his face for clues, and all she could get was the sorrow of it from his eyes. This was not, most clearly, about Lucius. Then . . . Narcissa? Her heart thudded in her chest. "Professor Windsong, I would like to see you as well when you can spare a moment." Narcissa, her mind screamed. He'd seen what I was thinking, and he's confirmed it! Voldemort or Lucius or both knew we met last night!

"Of course, Professor Snape." She merely nodded, surprising herself with how calm she sounded. Then, she looked at Draco as he passed her. Severus gave her a look that she knew was meant as support. He's telling me to go on with class, she promised herself. Then, he gave her a little bow, and was gone from the classroom, young Malfoy at his side. Taking a breath, she started the class.

When it was over, she dismissed Potter as he came up to her desk to have his punishment.

"Get out of my sight." Was all she had to say to Harry.

~*~ When the Walls Fell ~*~

Lunch came and went, with only a note popping up on her desk to make excuses as her class let out before it. His note was short, to the point and still apologetic -which there was no need to apologize for something like this. It was, of course, what she expected -so she merely read it, nodded to herself, and looked forward to when Severus would ask for her. They would talk then, and she would find out what had really happened. Lark truly hoped that she was only jumping to conclusions about Narcissa, though something deep inside of her soul said that her assumptions were correct. So, as the day past . . . and took it's sweet time in doing so . . . it seemed a shadow had fallen upon her, and her mood stayed fouler than that of Severus on a daily basis. The students must have thought that the two of them had been comparing notes. Not that she cared what they thought, that is. Her mind was just processing information, listening to chatter and gossip to pass the time. In some of it, she hoped to find the answers to her questions, but all she heard was that Draco had been in the counseling session with Snape all day long. Whatever it was, the students said, it had to have been very bad. Well, Lark thought, at least these kids aren't blind to one another. That could serve as something. The way she served as Slytherin head of house while Severus was talking to Draco? Or maybe not. Her mind was roaming, she knew it . . . and how she hated it when that happened. Half way through the wait, she found herself going to Dumbledore's office. She stood before the entrance, ready to give the password -as all teachers were told it so they could speak with him in private if need be - when McGonagall met her.

"He isn't in his office, dear." Minerva began. "He's gone away on some business. And he says that you are to speak to Severus about Draco."

"Aren't you just the convenient secretary?" Lark hissed, raising her eyebrow. Not waiting for an answer from the unsurprised woman, she turned on her heel and stalked away. The tension was killing her, it seemed, making her snap at everyone. She'd apologize to Minerva later though, if she said anything at all. Minerva knew her well enough to understand how she acted. After all, Severus was worse than she was . . . that she knew from observation. And that was probably why Albus wanted Severus to tell Lark whatever news was to be told. Snape would know how to handle her, even if she didn't know how to handle herself. If there were anything to speak of where she would need to be 'handled' after the telling of it. So far, nothing had leaked out . . . not from the newspapers, nor from the students, and it seemed that when anything happened in or out of Hogwarts that everyone in the old halls knew it the second afterwards. This was a strange happening indeed, if no one spoke of it yet. No, she heard their unease as she walked by a few of the younger Slytherin students who were talking, they are still talking about Draco. There is concern there too. Still, these ones are young, they must look up to him. She shakes her head and walks on, seeking shelter in her room where she knows Severus can reach her when the time comes for them to meet.

The second note had appeared just as evening fell and the students were heading into the last meal of the day. Lark had been curled up in her comfortable chair, starring at her hawk as she waited. The little scroll had popped up onto the table near her side, and she had scrambled to get at it. Unfurling it in a mere second, her eyes scanned the parchment quickly. Still to the point and precise, asking her to come down the corridors of the dungeon to his rooms. There, they would talk. Flinging it aside, she left her chair and went about feeding Horus, then was on her way to meet Severus.

~~~

His room was dim as always, only a small fire crackling in the hearth and two candles to light the room. It was the way he liked it, and why shouldn't he have his quarters as he liked them to be? The mind of Severus Snape was not on these little matters at the moment though. His thoughts were upon the boy who'd just left his office not but fifteen minutes ago, young soul heaped in mourning and a dreamless sleep potion already working it's magic in his veins. Draco would be asleep as soon as he hit his pillow in the Slytherin dorms. There, he would find some relief. At least one of them would. Snape knew well that he had another trail of fire on his way, and then a few others after that as well . . . but the others after this next would have to wait for another day. Now, he had to put all his energy into bracing himself for Audrey's reaction to the news of Narcissa's death. She would not be taking it easy, and as he had seen in her eyes that she had pretty much figured it out, the mystery of it all would have probably worn away on her good judgment by now. He was glad that she was coming here, so that he wouldn't have to drag the woman away from anything stupid she might try. Like going to find Lucius to kill him, just as Draco had threatened to do himself. That had been an unexpected surprise, hearing such a thing from that boy. Not the thought of murder, no . . . but the want to kill Lucius. Severus had always believed that it was Lucius the boy worshipped, not his dotting mother. He had been wrong, he'd seen that this day. Maybe some good would come from Narcissa's death . . . it might have enough affect on her son to make him turn away from the Death Eaters, after all . . Draco had forsaken Lucius as his Father already.

A knock on the door interrupted his chain of thought.

"Enter." He called out to the visitor, knowing well who it would be. Sure enough, a second later it was Audrey who stood in his sitting room. Her face was a mask for her emotions, and her green eyes burned into him with the questions that Draco had voiced only hours earlier. "I take it you have guessed by now at what has kept Draco in my company for so long?"

"Is . . . she . . . Is Narcissa . . ." She sputtered, trying to control herself. He merely nodded. "How did it happen?" Audrey finally cried out, launching herself into his lap. He was a bit shocked at first, but soon, his long fingers were running through her hair to comfort her as best he could. Of course she would know, he told himself. And of course, she'd known she could unleash her thoughts to me.

~*~ Ending the Masquerade ~*~

 "I shouldn't have accepted her invitation to that meeting." Lark stated, looking up into Severus' dark liquor eyes. She was still kneeling, her head in his lap, his hands running through her hair. They'd already talked about her meeting with Narcissa and how their mutual friend had been found. "She'd still be alive."

"Audrey, you know as well as I do that if she wanted to meet you, she would have found a way even if you'd refused the invitation." He replied, his voice serious. Watching as she heaved another sigh, he reached out and took her chin in his hands, and made her look up at him with no option of looking away. "Listen to me. Self pity does not suite you in the slightest, nor does blaming yourself for the actions of others. She chose her path, as we have each chosen our own. You should at least honor her enough as to see that she was her own creature."

"You don't know how well I understand that." Her tone was harsh, but it didn't phase him in the slightest. He released her from his hold, and she rose from her knees. Lark looked at him for a few minutes, with eyes that he could not read, then she turned away and peered into the dying fire.

"Then act like it." Severus stayed in his chair, his hands crossed over one another in his lap. His voice had been gentle, but the lacing of a challenge lay within. When she turned to face him, he was smirking at her. Lark's shoulders sagged, and she merely nodded. Before she could fall to the ground, and he could tell that she was going to by her failing posture and disregard for her bare feet, he'd caught her up in his arms. Then, her own arms were around his neck and she was crying into his shoulder, showing emotions the way that no one outside their own house would believe a Slytherin could. How should they know though? The snakes mourn in private among those they trusted, if ever among anyone. He sat back down in the chair, his Audrey curled in his lap as she cried harder, mumbling incoherently about the past and what she should and shouldn't have done.

My Audrey? He asked himself as he held her. Severus' arms went tighter around the woman, as he sat wondering if it were true. Again, he gazed down at her, and he found her looking up at him in return, her beautiful features streaked with the salt of shedding tears.

"I still can't believe she's gone." Lark whispered after a few moments of silence and staring.

"And you won't for awhile." He replied, caressing her cheek gently. "Just don't ever think yourself guilty for her death. There are others responsible for it."

"Yes . . . but, why couldn't I have been there to help, the way you helped me when I was being condemned to die under the symbol of skull and snake?" Her eyes were so full of pain, that he could not answer her with words for a few minutes. She pressed her face back into his shoulder.

"It must be," he began, his voice taking on a haunted edge, "because it was her time. And when that comes . . . there isn't much one can do."

"I've never known you to believe in fate."

"And I've never known you not to have an answer."

"On the contrary, there have been times . . . and you were there for me in each one of such instances." Her words were almost inaudible, but he heard them clearly. They both thought of their shared past, and when he had saved her life. For a moment, she stared up into his eyes, then she leaned towards him. Before he knew quite what was happening, their lips were locked together, and their eyes were closed as they answered one another's lonely souls there in the dimming light of his sitting room. At that moment, the game he had started years ago had ended in his soul, and Severus was finally ready to finish the masquerade of his emotions towards her. However, would he have time to prove it? Even as those thoughts ran through the back of his mind, he was glad to just be there in her arms. Glad to just be kissing her with long pent up passion and feeling.

In the shadows of the sitting room, a woman stood unseen. Her body was translucent and grayish white, but her features were clear. She was tall, and in life she'd been pale and blond. Lingering for a few more moments, Narcissa watched her two friends. The smile on her face portrayed her thoughts, though no one was around to pay attention to it. If she must be without me, let her be with him. And then, she faded from that darkening place. Narcissa Malfoy had a visit to make to her sleeping son. However, she was determined to watch with none of them knowing. The other ghosts had understood her wish, and not even Dumbledore knew of her presence here. Or, so she thought.

******

More Soon!