Episode Ninety
Gwen threw her hair impatiently into a ponytail. It was growing back faster than she thought possible since Draco's haircut and was at that obnoxious stage where you debate for months if you want to cut it again or just leave it and let it grow out because it keeps getting in your face. She always hated her hair in her face and she never understood women who wore their bangs over their eyes.
She wrapped her arms tight around her chest and stared out the large windows of Dumbledore's office.
"You've got a violent temper." Snape said with a smirk from behind her. He had her cornered by the windows and there was no chance for escape from his verbal barrage.
"I know that." She said not bothering to turn and face him. She had figured he might follow her after her grand exit from the tent.
"Did you ever wonder where you got it from?"
Gwen looked at Snape impatiently over her shoulder. She really didn't have time for this discussion. Dumbledore would be coming shortly and she only wanted enough time to say goodbye. She needed to get away for awhile and sort things out.
Snape made an impatient noise. He wouldn't take her silence as an answer. "No, not really." She huffed. "If that's all the pre-game advice you have then I'll thank you to leave already. I expect Dumbledore will up soon enough."
"Your father was a death eater." Snape said, dropping it like a bomb.
Gwen faltered. She looked at Snape, deeply into his eyes trying to discern the truth. She closed her eyes and placed a cool hand to her forehead, covering her face with open fingers. "Is this true?" She asked, hardly certain she could believe any answer Snape could give her.
"I know firsthand." He said rolling up his sleeve and revealing the Dark Mark to her.
Gwen was amazed. Not only was he telling her the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard, but he was revealing one of his darkest secrets to her, implying some amount of trust. She looked away, trying to make sense of what he was saying.
"Did he never wear short-sleeved shirts around the house?" Snape asked, almost laughing. "I could provide you with more evidence than just my word. I know you won't take that."
"You mistake my silence for annoyance. And no, my father never wore short-sleeves." She took a breath. "It's only that the possibility of such a thing has never been suggested before. It's a bit much to take in."
"I think he's been trying to tell you."
She turned her head almost in slow motion. "How did you know about the dreams?"
"You seem to trust that an empty looking hallway in Hogwarts is indeed empty."
"You eavesdropped."
"Not intentionally. But since then I have found reason for concern. You can barely concentrate on your work."
"I plan on taking a leave of absence." She informed him coolly.
"And is this your way of making up for his mistakes?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You. You can't tell me that little display out in the tent wasn't to meet your own goals. Leave of absence? You want to single handedly wage war with the Dark Lord. You think he will be so easy to overthrow?"
"No Severus. And I don't plan to wage a war. Where is this coming from?"
"This is coming from months of steady observation. There's something entirely unreal about you."
"There's nothing unreal about me."
"Keep telling yourself that Princess. If you believe that maybe you believe your daddy will come back to life."
"My father paid for his mistakes. With his life. And I'm going to pay for my own. But I'm not doing this for him."
"If you strike at him without anyone's help you won't come back."
"I'm not going to strike at anyone. Why do you care anyway?" She snapped.
Snape was thunderstruck. He had no words to explain why he cared. He never really liked Gwen and ordinarily didn't get along with her except for that one time a few summers ago when she asked him to work on a sleeping potion with her. Somewhere between then and here he became concerned for the young woman's life.
Maybe it was her fearlessness that worried him. She had a super-man complex and those individuals are usually the first to die in times of conflict. If you think you're invincible, you shouldn't leave home. And then he thought maybe she was invincible. There had been a rumor circulating the death eaters a few years back, he still had friends who hadn't turned on him when he turned. A very few, but they still spoke to him about important matters. But that was just a rumor. Harry Potter was the only child immune to the Avada Kedavra curse. There couldn't be another one.
Gwen was facing him now, leaning against the window her face calm and full of import. Snape's silence had surprised her. He was actually taking the time to think of a way to explain himself, or at least that's what she thought he was doing. He wasn't really trying to come up with an explanation, he was trying to come up with a reason.
"You obviously need some more time to think through this issue." She said finally. "I'm not final jeopardy, there's no time limit."
"There might be." He said slowly. "There are some things you should know before you leave."
She heaved a sigh, looking for all the world like an impatient child tired of waiting for dessert. Severus didn't think he was the right person to tell her all he knew of her father however. He hadn't been so close to the man that he understood his motives, which appeared strange when Gwen was a child and later as Snape's last remaining loyalties communicated the rest, the odd story seemed downright ludicrous.
"What if your father isn't who you thought he was?"
"I already know that." Gwen said thickly. "Just to what extent…"
"No." He interrupted with calm forte. "I mean wasn't who you thought he was. What if he's another person entirely?"
Gwen looked dumbstruck. This sounded like it was right out of a cliché romance novel. "Severus." She said, realizing that she was using his first name for the second time in her life and being shocked by the familiarity of the whole situation. Since when, she thought, was she on a first name basis with the Potions' Master?
"I don't say this to anger you Guenivere." He said, suddenly much softer. He was bordering on tender and this unnerved her more than anything Snape had ever said before. "I say this because I need you to think and to dig. I can't tell you all I know. I'm not even sure I know enough to make sense of it. But I think you can find it. I think you can find out the truth. Maybe you could wade through your mother's estate. There might be some papers there of importance."
Gwen could see now where this might be heading. "And you want me to postpone my other plans in order to search through these papers?"
Snape looked at her, the thought had crossed his mind and again he felt the odd sensation of caring for this girl. He couldn't explain it to himself where it sprung from. Perhaps his years of coolness had left a great reservoir of emotion and somehow this girl was tapping into it. He couldn't respond to her because Dumbledore returned, surprised to find Snape standing before his desk.
"Can I help you Severus?" He asked cordially.
"No thank you, Albus. I was just leaving."
Snape left, trailing question marks with the billowing of his midnight robes. Dumbledore sensed the tension. Something important had just happened and he had inadvertently interrupted it.
