Yay! I've finished yet another happy chapter! Aren't you proud of me! Best wishes to all of my reviewers, and hopefully I'll have the next part out sooner! I just realized that I have also hit a rather important story landmark: my first flame. Therefore I would like to take this opportunity to say that all flames will be ignored, so there's no point in posting them to begin with. Constructive criticism is welcome, but to simply say that you hate something with no proper grounds on which to hate it is not only a sign of ignorance, but stupidity. If this particular person had read more than just the first chapter, which I suspect they did not, the problems about which they were complaining would have been cleared up… but alas… they did not. Oh well. It's their loss.
So it is with these wise words of… wisdom… heh… that I bring you all the next chapter! Isn't it lovely! Okay, I'll be quiet now…
Chapter Five: EmeraldConfess what you crave
A life without pain
You'd kill for the taste
But the hurt still remains
Still they don't know who you are
Just be still my emerald
I'll be waiting for you
Do exactly what you're told
I'll be waiting for you
Ashamed by the threats
You pierce the embrace
Afraid and alone
In a dark lonely place
Did you always want to be?
Did they try to steal your soul?
Did they hurt you with deceit?
Can't you come in from the cold?
Be still my emerald
I'll be waiting for you
— Emerald by The Tea Party
Harry had, by no means, kept the events of the previous days a secret, though because of the nature of Snape and Seraph's mission, only he, Ron and Hermione knew what was really going on. They were quite enjoying Snape's absence one day, in Potions; they sat in groups and flipped systematically through their textbooks, supervised by the Bloody Baron, ghost of Slytherin House.
"Where's Snape?" Malfoy had asked immediately upon entering the dungeon, sorely disappointed to find that his head of house and favorite professor was absent.
Harry had merely grinned, enjoying the fact that he knew something Draco didn't. "I mean, Seraph wasn't exactly being discreet… They kept sneaking these strange looks at each other," said Harry wryly with a grin, one afternoon at lunch in the Great Hall. "They're probably snogging in some forest or other,"
"Eeeww! Thanks for that, Harry!" Ron said, looking horrified. Hermione laughed. "I mean," Ron continued, "why would someone as good looking as Seraph go for someone like (grimace) Snape?"
"Some women like the 'tall, dark and brooding' type, Ron." Ginny said from across the table.
Ron's expression was not eased. "Ginny, I think that's the singular most disturbing thing I've ever heard you say."
"I think it's cute," said Hermione.
"Nutters, all of you…" concluded Ron.
Contrary to popular belief, however, Severus and Mavet were not snogging in a forest (not yet, at least), rather they were flying overhead, the beat of Mavet's wings keeping in time with that of Severus's Thestral. They had traveled quite a distance, and Severus soon caught sight of a familiar stone figure on the horizon. Mavet angled her wings downwards, signaling their descent.
"That's where we're going?" asked Severus, somewhat skeptical. "Stonehenge?"
"Yes." Mavet confirmed. "I need to pick up something that I hid here, not too long ago."
As Severus's Thestral touched down on the grassy plain outside the giant stone circles, Mavet flared her wings, choosing instead to land atop one of the great figures. She leapt down inside the circular monument, and Severus dismounted to accompany her. Mavet strode to the center of the inner circle and looked around, until she was facing Severus once again.
"Which element do you have the greatest control over?" she asked, eliciting a blank stare from the black-robed man.
He thought for a moment, and then said. "Water."
"Figures… You were always the intellectual type." At once, she turned to the west and extended her arm, fingers stretched wide, palm down. She threw back her head and hissed to the night, an ancient tongue that stirred shivers within Severus's soul. There were too many consonants, and not enough syllables to contain them all, yet it was strangely beautiful and mesmerizing as Severus stared, unable to wrench his attention away. There was a glow emanating from the western marker stone and something forced it's way up from the earth beneath it. It hovered for a moment, in the air as Mavet walked towards it, and then settled into her grasp. She brought the bundle back to Severus, and he realized that she was carrying a massive broadsword, too heavy it seemed, for her to be handling as lightly as she was. "To Keep Silence." Mavet said cryptically as she presented the sword in its gleaming silver scabbard to the mortal before her. "An enchanted sword, possessed of the powers of water. Use it well." And with that, she walked back to the center of the circle, leaving Severus to examine the beautiful weapon at his leisure. Extricating it from its scabbard, the silver blade gleamed up at him, bearing the inscription 'To Keep Silence' in unmistakable Latin, the hilt encrusted with aquamarine and mother of pearl. He lifted the sword easily in one hand, a weapon that should have weighed over twenty pounds, yet felt like less than five. It's power seemed strange, as well, Severus discovered; like an extension of his own, much like his wand.
Not wanting to interrupt Mavet's apparent second ritual, the Potions Master sheathed his sword, as the Angel turned this time to the east and repeated the incantation. The second sword she retrieved a sword of similar shape and girth to the one Severus now held. The scabbard was, again silver, and the silver hilt was encrusted with deep emeralds and pale jade. "To Will." Mavet announced as she bound it to her hip. Severus did the same, and buckled the Sword of Water at his side.
"Air?" he asked, as she returned. "I would have thought you'd be the fire type."
"The Sword of Fire isn't here, at the moment, or I would have taken it. Air suits me fine as well, however." The Angel stepped towards Severus, closing the distance between them, and forcing Severus back against one of the many monumental pillars. She placed her hands on his chest, and leaned upwards to press her mouth softly against his, coaxing his lips open with a flick of her tongue so she could press herself into the warm, reciprocating cavity. Severus took the opportunity to explore her mouth as well. She tasted strangely of honeysuckle, he discovered pleasantly. After a moment, they parted, and the Seraph closed her eyes and laid her head over Severus's heart, content to listen to the pulse of his life and the breath of his being, enveloped in the warmth of his arms.
Severus said nothing. He simply stroked her silky ebon hair, tracing the line of her jaw.
"Would you be my partner?" she asked, her voice breathy against his robe.
Severus didn't quite understand. "Your lover?" he asked.
Mavet laughed. "Well, that's one aspect of it." She sighed. "You would be my Lieutenant, companion, friend… lover, if you so wish. I would grant you powers ethereal in exchange for your loyalty and devotion. You would have dominion over my power and life eternal so long as you chose to remain with me."
Severus remained still. "This sounds vaguely reminiscent of a pact with the Devil," he said suspiciously.
"Indeed, that is how mortals know of it. Lucifer and I are the only two Angels who practice partnership regularly, yet others have been known to do this from time to time. Though, Lucifer bastardizes the agreement, twisting it into a form of servitude that is often forced upon unsuspecting mortals. This is where your concept of a Devil's agreement comes from."
"But your version states that this Lieutenant of yours could step down at any time?"
The Angel of Death looked up at her friend, and held him at arms-length. "Severus Snape, always looking for a back door." She smiled warmly. "Yes, you are free to go whenever you desire."
Severus felt scared all of a sudden, an unusual emotion for him. He felt like he was standing at the edge of a great, fathomless abyss, with no one to hold him back, and a voice beckoning him to leap. "How long do I have to decide? He asked finally.
"That depends on how long you remain alive."
"That sounds vaguely threatening."
"It doesn't have to be," Mavet sniffed indignantly.
Severus breathed again. "Why is it that only you and Lucifer accept partners regularly?" he asked, this time on impulse.
Mavet shrugged. It seemed too casual a gesture that it didn't look right on her. "I can't answer for him, but loneliness, I suppose. Of all the Angels in Heaven, He has been banished, and it is part of my duty to reside upon the Earth and guide lifeless souls to their proper place. I am thought of as something of a black sheep to many of my fellows," she admitted. "Though I rank above most of them," she said with a grin.
"I think you'll have to give me a while to decide." Severus concluded. "I'd like to finish this and possibly retrieve this weapon of yours before I agree to anything else."
Mavet pouted. "All work and no play, huh?"
"You can be extremely childish, sometimes. You know that, don't you?" Severus said as he re-mounted his winged steed.
"But of course, Good Sir." And Mavet spread her wings, leapt into the air, and soared off with Severus hot on her tail.
"So what was her given name again, Harry?" asked Hermione thoughtfully.
"Something with an 'M', I think… Ma… Ma… Mavet! Yeah, Mavet, that's it." Harry answered.
"Why does her given name matter so much, Hermione?" asked Ron, as he crossed his arms and laid his head down on the table in front of him. It was the day after Harry's revelation at lunch, since which, Hermione had decided to do some investigating of her own. This was the basis of the trio's presence in the Hogwarts library that morning, with Harry and Ron slouched lazily in their chairs, and Hermione bent over a pile of books.
"Well, she is an Angel, isn't she? Maybe her name means something in particular… or tells us something about her… I don't know, maybe I'm being stupid." Nevertheless, she continued to flip idly through the massive collection of titles.
"Well… If it did mean something, it probably wouldn't be in English, would it?" asked Ron with a drowsy expression. "What language do you think they speak in Heaven?"
Hermione simply gaped at him. "Ron, you're brilliant!" She leapt over to another shelf of books, and began rapidly evaluating each of them. A moment later she returned with several dictionaries, one Latin, one French, and a few others that were unbeknownst to both Harry and Ron. "Ah," she said as she opened the first one, nearly halfway. "Mavet: Hebrew for 'Death or the Destroyer."
"Well, I already told you that she was the Angel of Death," Harry said in exasperation. "What more do you want?"
"Well, do you know what the Angel of Death's purpose is, by any chance? Maybe that would give you a clue as to why she's here." Hermione flicked open another book and read: 'The Angel of Death acts as a mediator between the substantial world, and the ethereal world, also called Heaven and Hell. It is said that the Angel's duty is not only to lead expired souls on to their next life, but also to bear the wrath of God by punishing the wicked and those who have committed mortal sin.'
"So she's here to kill Voldemort and his Death Eaters…" Harry surmised. "But then why was she going on about rescuing some weapon? And now she tells us that the Devil is involved?
"I don't know…" Hermione said, still staring at the book before her. Suddenly something occurred to her. "Wait. If she's here to punish the wicked, then why's she hanging around Snape?"
Ron shook his head. "Come again? I don't follow."
"Snape used to be a Death Eater, didn't he?" Hermione asked rhetorically. "So he's probably done some pretty bad things… maybe even killed a few people. Wouldn't Professor Seraph then be out for his blood? Even if he's reformed, he's still probably committed mortal sin. That's pretty major. I'd have bet pretty heavily that Professor Seraph would have either gone after him already, or simply shunned him to begin with. But she's been pretty chummy with him, and Harry thinks that they may even be romantically involved. Something about that just doesn't seem right to me." Hermione sighed, resting her head in the palm of her hand. "I hate to say it, guys, but I think I'm starting to worry about Professor Snape."
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