[Disclaimer: I do not own what JK Rowling created]

Author's Note:

I do believe this story is taking longer than 'Keeper of Secrets' or 'A Summer of Secrets'. Mostly, I've read through both again and have decided they're definitely not up to standard, and I'd like for this story to be better. The introduction of Helena Everly was a spur of the moment whim. I'm not actually entirely sure where I'm going with her, just know that it'll be pretty damn interesting. Not to mention a bumpy ride for all involved. Namely Helena, of course. Morag'll probably get dragged in somehow, she has a habit of that, doesn't she?

On A Crooked Path

Chapter Six: Once Upon A Dark Night

by Adele Elisabeth

Helena sat bolt upright in her bed, silhouetted by the moonlight, catching her breath and trying hard not to scream, or to weep.

That dream again...that nightmare.

Helena had been the one unfortunate enough to happen upon her father's body. He was laid out carefully in his study, the Dark Mark burned into his chest and blood everywhere...

The magical sound-proofing had meant her screaming had gone unheard, and she'd been found hours later, trembling and weeping uncontrollably in a corner of the study, staring at what was left of her beloved father.

And now, almost every single night since, she relived it.

It wasn't fair, it wasn't. How could anyone be so cruel -- to someone who had once loved them so much? To the father of their children.

Helena knew exactly who it had been.

Since then, there had been attempts on her life. She had barely survived, but her death was not where it ended.

With her father gone, the only person who could really uncover anyone else as a fraud, Helena wasn't just going to be killed, she was going to be replaced. Helena had discovered this purely by accident, receiving a letter intended for Thamala when the messenger mistook her for her cold-hearted twin. It would be staged so that her body would be placed in Thamala'...wherever she was, and Thamala would be put into her chambers -- with none the wiser.

Helena had immediately gone to her grandmother, also a Helena -- her namesake, as it happened. Helena-Marie Everly had a met Albus Dumbledore years ago, and they had kept up with each other through letters. Helena-Marie would trust Hogwarts' Headmaster with her life -- now she trusted him with her granddaughter's life.

Sometimes, when she was all alone, Helena wondered if she really was safe here. She was terrified, and that was putting it mildly. She didn't go anywhere without at least one blade on her, and never once did she put her wand down. Helena-Marie had always been close to her granddaughter, closer to her than to any of her other grandchildren, or indeed any of her children. She had known that Helena wouldn't be satisfied with being protected -- Helena Everly wanted to know how to protect herself. So the aging witch had called in favors and Helena was trained in various styles of fighting.

Now...Helena hated to admit it, but she had felt safer with her grandmother near. It was strange, as it was not as though Helena-Marie could reasonably be expected to protect anyone.

This Dumbledore person didn't strike her as much better, but she knew better than to second-guess her grandmother.

For now...for now she would just try to get some sleep.

Tomorrow she'd ask Madam Pomfrey for some of that Dreamless Sleep potion.

***

Morag sat up, staring at her moonlit reflection in the mirror. Next to her, Draco slept, unaware of her midnight musings.

He'd become a regular guest in her chamber, and not just for...extracurricular activities. There was a pleasant sense of security in being able to roll over and have someone to cuddle up to, to reassure oneself of...well, Morag wasn't sure what exactly she was reassuring herself of, but it was pleasant, none the less.

It wasn't as though they were likely to get caught (again), seeing as how none of the other girls came into her chamber (without permission, anyway), and Draco generally got up before any of the other boys (and was usually dressed and washed well before them).

Besides...Morag's mother had been married and pregnant at her age. Morganna's mention of hypocrisy had made that fact unavoidable. Not that she didn't know the story by now anyway, it just...it was more real.

In any event, Morag Lillith Snape (and why the hell couldn't she be Lillith Morag, anyway? Lillith was such a nice name) needed reassuring of some description, especially now.

Voldemort.

She hadn't defeated Voldemort the last time, nobody had. They'd just...pushed him back. For a little while. Who knew what happened next?

And what part did that Everly girl have to play in it?

And then...what with the twins and all...

With a long-suffering sigh, Morag lay back down in the circle of Draco's arms and tried to get back to sleep.

***

Morganna had tried to sleep, but she couldn't.

Something, you see, had gone wrong with her pregnancy. The babies...she nearly lost them. What had to be done in the end...it wasn't certain she would keep them.

Madam Pomfrey had called in a specialist mediwitch and her team, and they had taken the babies out of the womb. Specially-designed spells and round-the-clock care meant that their growth and the like would speed up. By late afternoon tomorrow, it was expected, they would be the same size as babies that had been born dead on time.

Bad choice of words, perhaps.

In any case, they would be bigger, and after a few weeks of care, healthy, too.

Morganna just wanted to see her babies.

She and Severus had named them, but not the names previously decided on.

Julian Sebastien Snape and twin sister Lowella Isabelle Snape.

There was no scar from where the babies were taken out, and the following spells that had been performed on her had had the interesting side-effect of giving her back her figure.

She wasn't entirely sure that she liked that completely. Oh, it was nice to know she was...back to normal, as it were, but...it seemed as though if she lost Julian and Lowella, there'd be no trace of their ever having been.

What frightened her most right now was not Voldemort, indeed, You-Know-Who seemed like the least of her worries. It was the idea that her beautiful babies might not survive.

Was it her fault?

What had they done to deserve this?

It's too much, too soon...

***

Author's Note:

Well...that was morbid.

I have no idea what on earth prompted me to write any of that.

Well...the last part was probably to avoid having to work out exactly when Morganna would give birth and all that, because I'm too lazy, but anyway. It could have been worse. She could have lost the poor darlings.

And, I know, I decided on the names ages ago...but I changed my mind. I found Lowella, oddly enough, in an interesting if slightly odd book called 'Bride of Pendorric'.

By the way, I was watching 'Dogma' last night and kept getting this image of Severus Snape as the Metatron. Well, he's got the sarcasm down pat...

Made for some truly bizarre dreams, I'm telling you now. Not exactly unpleasant, mind you (well, one part was definitely unpleasant), but bizarre.

Imagine a world where Alanis Morisette is god, where Salma Hayek is a thousands year old stripper, where Alan Rickman complains sarcastically, Chris Rock is speechless and the fate of the world is in the hands of Jay and Silent Bob...

Well, that was more or less what it said on the ad.

Good movie.

Yes, I do realise how completely irrelevant all of that just was. Sue me.