Chapter 25

Tara was beside herself. The first thing she did the next day was get into London and hunt for clove cigarettes. She was up all night anyway, so it was easy to get out before he came to fetch her for breakfast. True to his word, the experience of smoking again was terrible; but she found the second cigarette was as she remembered it, not horrible tasting as the first had been. She had short-circuited his potion's after effect; Snape must have set the ill effects of it at 1.

She tried desperately to get on with her normal day, but she was feeling anything but normal. Severus had emailed her several times wondering where she was and if everything was okay. She was scared now and didn't know if she should answer him, pretending nothing was wrong, or to avoid him completely.

She decided to try to pretend nothing was wrong until she figured out what to do. Avoidance was not entirely possible, and she knew that. He would seek her out wherever she was; she had already been through that.

She took her place beside him in the Great Hall at dinner time. "I wondered where you were, are you allright?" he purred and put his hand over his. He was surprised to find her hand as cold as ice.

"I'm fine!" she snapped, glancing at him quickly, averting her eyes.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing!"

"You're as jumpy as a cat..."

"No I'm not!" she exclaimed, and felt her stomach sink about 200 feet.

Their meals thankfully materialized at that moment. She couldn't think of eating, and picked at hers. Normally, she was ravenous after a full day of work, and Severus wondered if she was feeling well. She gave up, and stole outside for a smoke. He followed her.

"Tara, no. Don't tell me you started that again..." he said, seeing her inhale deeply. She blew perfect smoke rings in his direction. There was something terribly different about her...she was so preoccupied with something.

"Tara--what is going on?" he asked reaching for her. She flinched at his touch, like she was going to jump out of her skin.

"Nothing!" she said, her eyes flashing with something...nothing short of...fear. She dropped her cigarette and crushed it out with her heel. He drew her close to him and she closed her eyes tightly. Calm. Be calm...she told herself. He realized she was trembling.

"You're shaking! What is the matter? Please tell me what is the matter!" he said, and held her at an arm's length and looked into her eyes. She immediately looked down, and he raised her chin to make her look at him. Tears glittered in her eyes now, and fear.

"Let me go," she whispered.

"But why?"

"Please, Severus, I need time to think about things!" she exclaimed and he released her. What else could he do. She ran away from him into the darkness. Just then, Albus Dumbledore came to his side.

"Where did Tara run off to?" he asked Severus. Severus turned to him. "I don't know. She's upset about...something. If I didn't know better, I'd say she is scared about something. Maybe she saw something strange...but I haven't had any signs that he is around..."

"Severus, I can't help but wonder...how much does she know about the history of our world? Does she know anything of Voldemort?"

"As far as I know, nothing."

"Perhaps it's time to tell her. I think that must be the source of her troubled behavior," he said.

"Why do you think that?"

"Hermione Granger mentioned to me that she is helping Tara learn more about her new world. She checked out a book called The Deatheaters. from the library....to learn about our history."

"Oh..." Severus used a curse word he rarely used (but one that Tara used in everyday conversation). That was it; it had to be. She had seen the Dark Mark on his forearm, and must have put two and two together. "Know what it is...she saw...my arm. She must know what it...means."

"How will we explain this?" Severus asked Dumbledore.

"We'll need to find a way," Dumbledore replied, simply, "before she packs her bags and flees!"