The last few shafts of dying sunlight pierced the narrow, high windows of the small room, illuminating a large wooden table covered with mysterious looking bottles, jars and bundles of herbs. Shelves containing yet more exotic items obscured the walls of the room. Amid the usual ingredients one would expect to find in a potions laboratory, lace-fly wings, dragons blood, boomslang skin and many other similar items; there were other slightly more surprising objects. For instance, the equipment that looked suspiciously like muggle chemistry apparatus – a colourless gas was being condensed into a red liquid, and then evaporated again, of its own accord. Adjacent to this sat two small, ancient looking glass bottles, one of which contained a thick, deep red liquid, looking awfully like blood. The other was rather more remarkable, holding a dazzling fluid with the appearance of molten silver which was producing a light of it's own.

In the light provided by both the bottle and the feeble rays of the fading sun, a dark haired woman was bent over the table, her focus on the ingredients she had been preparing for the last few hours. Her concentration was so great that she had not noticed the dwindling light, or the fact she had missed two meals while working on her task. Patiently she chopped, diced and shredded vast amounts of numerous ingredients, occasionally stopping to check the progress of a translucent blue potion bubbling in the cauldron beside her.

Presently she heard a sound, which broke through her absorption, the sound of someone knocking on the front door of the manor she was currently inhabiting. Straightening up, she strained her ears to hear the conversation between the unknown visitor and Blinky, the house-elf. At such a distance the voices were just about identifiable, though she could not pick out any words. The high tones of the house-elf contrasted the deeper, yet still feminine tones of the caller. After a moment, a third voice joined the exchange, and, with a sigh of relief, the woman turned back to her work. If Blinky had decided to bother her mother with the guest then it wouldn't be something she had to handle herself. A good thing considering that she didn't want to leave the cauldron, which was simmering gently beside her.

Therefore it was with a great deal of surprise she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps approaching the room in which she was working. As she watched, the door crept open and Blinky edged inside.

'Pardon miss, but you is having someone wanting to see you.' The house-elf looked around nervously. It was not often she was permitted in this part of the house.

'Who is it? You know we don't allow anyone in here.' The woman glared down at the house-elf, wondering what had caused this unusual lack of obedience.

'But I'm not just anyone' an oddly familiar voice purred from behind the door. With an uneasy feeling she stared at the door as it swung open slowly to reveal none other than the escaped Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange, her dark features framed by the frolicking candlelight from the hall.

The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife as the two women scrutinized each other. Finally the quiet was broken by Blinky whimpering and scrambling out of the room. Bellatrix sent a disdainful look after the retreating house-elf, then snapped the door shut behind her.

'What do you want?'

'Is that any way to greet an old friend, Little Snake? Medusa was considerably more delighted to see me.'

Bellatrix knew she was pushing it. There were very few people who could call Selene Sinistra by that particular nickname and remain able to tell the tale. However, she needed to know if she still had any power over the woman currently stood glaring at her. Another tense silence fell as the look on Selene's face changed from outright hostility to a cooler, calculating gaze. Bellatrix smiled to herself. Her Little Snake had never been good at masking her emotions. Quite unusual for a Slytherin really, she mused.

'My mother always approved of our friendship. I do believe she would have preferred it if you'd been her daughter and not I.'

Bellatrix smirked as Selene continued.

'Excuse my abruptness. I was just extremely surprised to see you again. Of course you are always welcome here, Bella.'

'Of course' Bellatrix agreed, still smirking. 'But I will admit to this being more than just a social call. There is something I want from you.'

'And what is that?' Selene enquired cautiously, distracted for a moment by the hissing of the potion she was in the middle of brewing.

'A great honour, Little Snake.' Bellatrix spoke as she watched Selene add a handful of some indefinite substance to the cauldron. She was not offended, being well aware that Selene was concentrating on her words just as much, if not more, than on the potion.

'Through me, you have come to the attention of the Dark Lord himself.' Watching closely, she saw Selene stiffen slightly, faltering a little in her stirring of the potion, which had now turned a intense red.

'He is pleased by what he has learned of you, and is willing to allow you to enter into his service.'

'Into his service? Exactly what do you mean?' Selene asked sharply, looking Bellatrix in the eye, her potion forgotten. Its red glow illuminated her face, casting her features into sharp relief.

'I mean that you may finally become one of us; at long last, a Death Eater. Given that you pass our little loyalty test of course. You must prove yourself both useful and worthy before the Dark Lord will accept you into the fold, but I'm sure you expected that...'

This was the moment of truth. Bellatrix watched Selene closely for any sign of what she was thinking, not that that was difficult with Selene displaying her feelings like an open book. Her wand lay on the table, mere centimeters from her hand. If she decided to fight, Bellatrix knew she had to be ready. Few managed to defeat Selene Sinistra in a duel without coming away with major injuries themselves. Not since her early school days, anyway.

Fortunately Bellatrix had little to worry about. The thought of refusing had only briefly flown through Selene's mind. To refuse an offer as direct as that would be a death sentence. If she did manage to fight off Bellatrix, something she could not be sure of doing, her beloved potions lab would be ruined. And for nothing. There would be no way she could run from the Dark Lord's followers forever. But to join the inner circle... Well, she could be very useful to Albus Dumbledore.

Selene Sinistra was not someone you would ever imagine fighting for the light, at least not if you knew her well. Her interests tended towards the dark side, demonstrated by her willingness to brew and test illegal potions on live subjects. Under Voldemort she would have no problems continuing with her research, unhampered by the need for secrecy. Unfortunately there was one thing Selene Sinistra despised – to be controlled or owe absolute allegiance to another being. Which happened to be the one thing Lord Voldemort demanded from all his followers.

These thoughts streaked through Selene's mind, concealed from Bellatrix's watchful eye. Selene allowed her face to register shock, slowly replaced by a growing, satisfied, smirk. She grinned inwardly at her fellow Slytherin's arrogance. Just because Bella had been able to read her every thought while they were at school didn't mean she still could. A lot had happened to Selene in the time since then. Enough for her to master the art of masking her feelings for one.

'Just tell me what I am required to do. I'm sure I will not disappoint.'

'It is for the Dark Lord to decide whether you disappoint him. You will make no assumptions.' Bellatrix snarled. She waited until Selene looked sufficiently contrite, before continuing. 'He has a very special task for you. One that you alone are ideally positioned to carry out. How close are you to Severus Snape?'

'Severus? Well... we work together. He is the head of house, and I am the junior professor.' Selene raised an eyebrow at the route the conversation was taking.

'Are you friends?'

'We're... acquaintances. I don't think Severus has anyone he'd really call a friend. I mean, we're on first name terms, and we occasionally share a bottle of wine after a house meeting. But other than that we don't spend time together when not to do with official Hogwarts business.'

'Well I suggest you start. I take it you are aware of Severus's past allegiances?'

'He was accused of being a Death Eater, if that's what you mean.' Selene answered carefully, a little unsure of where the exchange was heading.

'He was a Death Eater. A most useful one too. A little before the events with the Potter child, he managed to convince Dumbledore of his change of heart, and desire to help the old fool by becoming a spy for him. It was that which kept him out of Azkaban while the rest of us suffered.' Bellatrix paused to glower at the thought of the cowards who escaped, and Selene took the opportunity to interrupt.

'He was spying on you for Dumbledore?' She asked, surprised. 'So I take it you want me to teach him that no one betrays the Dark Lord and gets away with it?' A predatory grin lit her face at the thought. 'I have a new poison I've developed that I'm dying to test on a human subject...'

'Listen to me, Little Snake. I admire your enthusiasm, but wait for your instructions! We don't want you doing something that might displease the Dark Lord now, do we? Severus gained Dumbledore's confidence, allowing him to spy on the trusting fool, for us. A very useful position to have a Death Eater in, as I'm sure you will agree. Severus is continuing in that capacity as we speak, trying to find the location of the Order headquarters.

'Unfortunately, he appears to be having little success. The Dark Lord is getting suspicious. Is this lack of information purposeful? Perhaps Severus is not as loyal as we previously thought. Normally anyone suspected of being a traitor would be dispensed with immediately, but Severus is too useful. You are to scrutinize his every movement. Do whatever you must, but find out where his loyalties lie.'

Selene frowned, trying to take in the large amount of information that had been thrown at her. Severus Snape, a spy? She knew about his sinister past of course, but not of his current actions. Whose side was he really on? She realised she knew the man far less well than she originally thought. This was going to be an interesting assignment.

'How am I to find this out?' she asked, not really expecting an answer. Still it was better to let Bellatrix think she needed her help. She'd seem less of a threat that way.

'That's for you to work out. Demonstrate to the Dark Lord that you actually have a use! We already have enough mindless followers, we need Death Eaters who can sort out problems by themselves.'

Selene nodded, her mind already on the problem. The cauldron hissing again drew her attention and she quickly added the next series of ingredients, while Bellatrix swept the room with her eyes. Noticing the bottle of silver fluid she sauntered over and examined it closely. Reaching out a hand to pluck the bottle from the shelf, she stopped abruptly when she felt Selene seize her arm. Looking at the younger woman, who had a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth, she raised an eyebrow.

'Please don't touch that. It's rather rare, and it would be... problematic replacing it if you accidentally spilled it.' Selene remonstrated, releasing Bellatrix's arm.

Bellatrix snorted with amusement, and turned to look at the bottle once more.

'You always were protective of you potion supplies. What is this anyway?' she asked lazily. 'It's pretty.'

'Unicorn blood' Selene smirked at the look of surprise on Bellatrix's face.

'How on earth did you get hold of that? Surely you didn't collect it yourself...'

'Of course not.' Selene laughed. 'What do you take me for? And do you really expect me to reveal my sources? Let's just say I can be very persuasive.' She shared a conspiratorial grin with Bellatrix, who moved towards the door.

'I suggest you utilize that persuasive nature of yours in your task. I'm sure you'll have your work cut out for you with Severus.' With a final smirk, she disappeared through the door, leaving Selene gazing thoughtfully at the floor.