Dear Reader, I know that this is a LOT of Alex, but I swear on my copy of OOTP that this chapter is necessary. Thank you, Escaped.

Chapter Thirteen

Severus unbuttoned his coat and adjusted the shirt beneath for the third time with an exasperated sigh. He could easily recall meetings with Voldemort that had caused him less anxiety. He had been much more comfortable in his relationship with Alex when it had been limited to visceral response and basic survival. But, if he failed to keep the information flowing from her, if he backed off in the slightest, Lucius would be there to fill the breach in more than one sense, and that was absolutely unthinkable. He would poison the egotistical bastard first.

Wishing that, just once, he could leave the damned Order and the Death Eaters out of some aspect of his life, he apparated to Knockturn Alley. Only a few seconds passed between his knock on the door and Alex's appearance. In an instant, she had flung the door wide and greeted him with a dazzling smile, the picture of health, and he again congratulated himself on a job well done. No sign remained that she had been deathly ill a few days before.

"Severus, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you!"

"It's good to see you as well, Alex."

"Come in, come in."

He didn't bother hiding his astonishment at the extreme difference in the appearance of the shop, and it seemed to please his hostess to no end.

"Not a bad place at all, is it?" she asked, beaming.

"I am overwhelmed."

"Hopefully, my customers will be equally impressed."

"When do you plan to reopen?"

"Three days."

He tilted head in disbelief. "And you think that's possible?"

"Sure it is. I just need to clear up a few matters with the Ministry." Her displeasure with this was evidenced by her tone. "They seem to find endless amusement in plaguing me with questions and directives about what I can and can't sell." Her eyes narrowed slightly. " Bureaucratic bastards."

"You aren't planning on dealing in illegal items, are you?"

"Why? Are you planning a raid?" she asked with a charming grin.

"Alex--"

"Severus, you're killing me. Come on up." She took his hand in her own before he could protest and started off toward the stairs.

Once she was settled on the sofa, Severus tapped his wand twice on the side table and produced two silver goblets. From an inner pocket he drew a bottle of deep red wine and proceeded to fill the glasses, passing one to Alex. "I'm fond of having a drink before dinner. You?"

She very rarely indulged, but it was difficult to refuse him when he was gazing at her expectantly with those intense eyes. She took the glass without hesitation. "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome, Alex."

Taking his seat beside her, he added, "May I ask why you refuse to be called Alexandria?" He wanted to ask as well why the one person who seemed to be exempt from this rule was Lucius Malfoy, but he had promised himself for the sake of his temper that he would keep her lust for Lucius out of the conversation.

"Alexandria was my mother's name. My father named me after her when she died and spent the remainder of his years confusing the two of us."

"I thought that you and your father got on well."

That piercing gaze of his was making her nervous, which made her mouth dry, which enticed her to begin draining her glass rapidly. She knew that it was a bad idea, but the wine was good and the company even better. "You misunderstand me. I loved my father. But, when my mother died, I was the biggest part of her that he had. It often escaped him that I was a completely separate entity."

"And, that didn't ruin your relationship with him?"

"No. It caused the occasional bit of friction, but most of the time we maintained a pretty close friendship."

"You must be very forgiving."

"I don't look at it that way. He was very open about his own weaknesses and understanding about the weaknesses of others. He taught me to be the same, so I never blamed him for being who he was. As a matter of fact, the only argument we ever had was over a wand."

Severus raised his brows in question.

"It was my first year of school, and my father had decided that I should inherit my mother's wand. Understand that after years of trying to live up to her image I was ready to break away, to be the witch that I was born to be, not just a shadow of my mother. Great Merlin, we fought for days! He got so angry toward the end that he even threatened to hex me." She let out a raucous laugh. "My own father!" She chuckled a bit longer as Severus eyed her carefully, judging her reaction to the drink. After a moment, she continued. "In the end, I relented. I decided that it wasn't worth the animosity my insistence was causing."

"So, it was your mother's wand that you lost to Lucius?"

"Nope, my father's. Confusing, isn't it?" she giggled wildly, and Severus gave a tiny half-smile as he glanced down at his full goblet. Not knowing whether Alex would be the type to drink much, he had added a second, more powerful intoxicating agent to the wine, but it would seem that it hadn't been necessary after all.

"Your father's?" he prompted.

"My mother's wand was snapped when I was expelled from school, hence my great excitement over recently acquiring my own." At this, she clumsily pulled her wand from it's pocket on her trousers. Before she could even give it a wave, though, Severus snatched it from her hands, his eyes having suddenly flown wide. He knew from personal experience that wielding a wand when inebriated was potentially disastrous.

Severus refilled her glass as soon as it was empty, not waiting for a request. "And why were you expelled?"

Alex closed her eyes and shook her head slowly as if to clear it. There was something nagging her, a voice in her head warning her to stop babbling and start asking some questions of her own, but she had never really talked to anyone about her life. There had been no one to talk to, and she wanted very much to tell him everything, to confess and be forgiven by this solemn man in black.

"I was busted selling explosive potions to some wealthy, bored seniors."

Severus raised an eyebrow. Volatile potions were among the most controlled magical items in the wizarding world. Even he would have a hard time obtaining them. "Where did you acquire such things at that age?"

"An associate of my father's. He had asked me to make the arrangements for him because I had easy access to these customers." She scowled at her glass. "He was furious when I was caught."

Severus didn't care for the tone her voice was taking or the deep line etched between her brows as she took another long drink. "What did he do?"

"He was a very temperamental man, rigid, you know. My father had suggested the arrangement in the first place, once again getting me confused with my mother. Now she was a great smuggler! Do you know she used to make exchanges of hundreds of thousands of galleons for cursed gems right outside the door of the damned Bureau of Magical Law Enforcement?" Alex threw her head back in laughter and Severus took the opportunity to refill the newly-emptied glass. Slowly, she quieted, gazing into his face with a suddenly grave expression. "But, I'm not her, Severus. I was only fifteen. I screwed up. I got caught, and he took the loss out on my Dad."

"He killed him?"

Alex nodded, staring into her glass once more.

Severus dreaded to ask the next question. "And what did you do?"

She spoke methodically. "I took my father's wand and his boot knife and tracked his killer to a run-down third floor apartment. I stacked the dumpsters in the alleyway, enchanted them so that they wouldn't fall, climbed up and squeezed through the bathroom vent. He was sleeping when I found him." Her bottom lip trembled a bit and she lowered her head further, a curtain of hair obscuring her face, her silence absolute. Severus was positively aching to reach out and run his hands through that mane, pull her body close to his, and smother her in kisses, but it would have to wait. This was the kind of information that he was certain Lucius would want. He needed to know everything she would tell him. Surely she would desire comfort after telling such an emotional tale.

"Alex, what did you do?" he asked again, knowing the answer and hating it, but needing to hear it anyway. Even he, branded with the mark of the foulest wizard to ever live, had never taken a life in cold blood, much less at such a tender age.

She raised her head and gazed up at him, eyes glazed from the wine. "Nothing the son of a bitch didn't deserve. Then I took his delivery schedule, and his gold, and his merchandise, and his bag full of tricks." She swayed a bit, but steadied herself with a hand on his thigh. Severus took a long, deep breath. There was plenty of time for that later. Patience. "After I made his first drop successfully, the buyer spread the word to other buyers and I was well on my way to a new career. I made drops for a few years, then I was hired to make some ac--, acqui--," she irritably fumbled for the word, "--acquisitions, and that turned out to be where I excelled." She paused to lean closer, nuzzling his chin and brushing her lips against his face, just barely coherent enough to see that he was responding as color began rising to those customarily pale cheeks. "I learned that being small and quick and quiet are major advantages in slipping around guards and into unwarded crevices." She seemed to hesitate at the look of dissaproval in Severus' eyes. "There's no honor among thieves, you know. I did what I had to do. He took my life, I took his, a fair trade if ever there was one." She spoke the words evenly, but the hand holding her glass shook with emotion.

Severus slid the goblet from her fingers and gazed at the far wall silently for a while, not knowing exactly what to think of this information. She had all the best Slytherin qualities, ruthlessness, intelligence, and pragmatism. It was a shame that she was also a murderer. Or was she? Avenging her father's death was understandable, and his killer would have slaughtered her in a fair duel. Was it really anything he wouldn't have done in her place? He would have to tell Lucius, quickly. The Dark Lord would of course see the advantage in having an experienced thief in his pocket, thus giving him more reason to insist that Lucius leave her be.

His thoughts were interrupted by something falling heavily into his lap. Upon redirecting his gaze, he discovered that it was Alex's head. He sighed irritably. Damn. Perhaps an unaltered wine next time. Carefully, he lifted her head as he slid from his seat, then stooping to lift her petite form he carried her the short distance to her bed and laid her gently down atop the black satin. He would have simply levitated her, but his hands sought excuses to touch her instead. As he gazed down at her sleeping form, the memory of what had transpired between them in that bed began to burn in his mind, and he found himself deeply aroused at the thought of taking advantage of her intoxication. He seriously entertained the idea for several moments before he reminded himself that that was the kind of behavior he detested in Lucius Malfoy, acting on his more primitive urges, taking whatever he wanted without caring whether he had the consent of the other or not. The realization was enough to make him quickly put a safe distance between himself and the object of his desire, before he changed his mind.

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The first thing Alex was aware of was a hammer striking her temples repeatedly. The second was that her mouth was full of a bitter-tasting cotton. It was, therefore, with great reluctance that she hesitantly opened her eyes. The room would have been pitch dark were it not for the single candle perched on a stunning silver candlestick, made in the likeness of two entwined serpents. Beside this, she spied a small, round bottle of golden liquid and a roll of parchment bearing a familiar green seal. This, she opened first.

Dear Alex,

I'm sorry that I was forced to leave, but I had business which had to be attended. I suspect that you are not feeling exceedingly well as you imbibed a bit too much wine this evening. The bottle beside this letter is filled with my own personal hangover cure. It should work wonders for the discomfort.

I do not know if you recall all that you said to me this evening, therefore I shall remind you that you spoke of your father's demise, his associate's fate and your subsequent career as a dealer in acquisitioned goods. Allow me to assure you that I will hold this information in the strictest confidence, and I do not judge you for your decision as I am fairly certain that I would have done the same in your position. In what I am coming to learn is your typical manner, you managed to spin straw into gold that day. For this, I hold you in even higher regard.

As to one other matter, I retrieved this candlestick from my quarters as I feared you would awaken in the night, confused and frightened. It lights itself in darkness and extinguishes when there is sufficient illumination. It is my desire that you consider it a gift.

I hope that I shall see you again soon.

Sincerely,

Severus Snape

Alex wasted no time in swallowing the potion that Severus had left and in a matter of moments the hammer ceased to strike her temples, the fog lifted from her brain, and the nasty taste was replaced with the sweet flavor of honey. It also left a vigorous tingling in her skin that seem to completely revitalize her. Still, she wouldn't be completely herself until she had had a long, hot shower and she retired to the washroom to indulge.

Once out, she headed straight for her desk, candlestick in hand, and began to write.

Dear Severus,

Once again, I find myself writing to apologize for my lack of basic civility. I cannot express to you how humiliated I am that I invited you for dinner in an effort to get to know you better and became inebriated before I even served the main course. I feel that I've made a complete ass out of myself, not that that's unusual. But, I also made a mockery of the feelings I wished to express to you. Can you ever forgive me?

May I also thank you for the lovely gift? It is a strange comfort to have something of yours in my home, particularly something so beautiful. I should also tell you that your hangover cure is a triumph. Not only did it rid me of all those horrid symptoms, but I feel better than I have in days. Bravo, Severus! You never cease to be an amazement, and I can only hope that this continues as I thoroughly enjoy wondering how you will next dazzle me.

As to whether I remember what I told you, I'm afraid I remember all too well; another remarkable side effect of your hangover cure, I suppose. I can only hope that you really do understand my reasons. I'm not ashamed of what I did, but I didn't mean to pile all of that on your head at once. I would have preferred to wait until we knew one another a little better.

I also remember being so close to you that I could feel the heat from your skin through your robes. I remember being fascinated watching your eyes fall into shadow as the light through the window began to fade into night. I remember struggling to concentrate because I wanted you so badly. As sweet as it was, perhaps next time you should leave the wine at home.

Sincerely,

Alex

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Amsev: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I appreciate you.

Snapekisser: I was thinking about your review on the way home from work tonight actually and berating myself for having not yet responded to it. I am toenail scum. I admit it. It meant a great deal to me. It was the first one to make me cry, but I really did appreciate it. Perhaps part of the reason I haven't responded is that I just don't quite know what to say, but I'll write you. I promise.

Arwen78: I hope that dinner at Alex's doesn't disappoint you. I know it drags a bit, but it was necessary, I promise. And, you're right. A relationship with Severus that concerns his fellow Death Eaters (particularly Lucius Malfoy) is not destined to be 'hunky dory'. Keep reading, please.

Alynna Lis Eachann: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. Subtle, hmmm? Thank goodness! Sometimes, I feel like I'm grabbing the reader by the front of her shirt and screaming in her face.