Dumbledore leaned against the back of his chair, listening to the epic tale Lara Birk had brought to him. Severus was gazing out of the window, looking for anyone suspicious who could be searching for her. Surely they would be wondering where she was by now, or perhaps they, like her, didn't think she'd be the one to take to the spell.
"Then I started thinking about everything that comes along with this," Lara said as she reached the end of her tale. "I just can't be responsible for so many horrible things."
"Well, you certainly are correct...you have gotten yourself into quite a mess," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Can you help me?" Lara pleaded. She squeezed her hands together, begging them to stop shaking.
"I may be able to, but you must answer a few questions of mine," Dumbledore began. "For one...this other child, the one he fears. When will it be born?"
"The end of summer some time...July or August," Lara replied.
"How can you be sure?"
"We're not sure...he's following the prophecy."
"But why go through so much trouble unless he has concrete proof?"
"He's not one to take too many chances. If someone told him a black dog would kill him, he would have every black dog he could find killed immediately. He found out someone is being born who will destroy him, he's going to do everything he can to try and stop it."
"As harsh as it sounds, why not simply kill the child?"
"He's vain as well. Where is the glory in killing a child? But an excuse for a line of descendants of his pure blood...now there's something of legends."
"And you gave yourself freely to this spell?"
"If I didn't...I would be dead now. You do not live under his wing without the possibility of being crushed when you disobey."
"You said the girl who is pregnant with the boy has already come forward...what it her name?"
"Why do you need to know that?" Lara asked as she eyed the professor. It was one thing to ask for help, it was another to endanger the lives of others. No matter how badly she wanted this to end...she didn't want anyone to get hurt either.
"I need to know for my own purposes...for the child's future, for the well being of everyone, I need to know who the boy is to be."
"Her name...is Narcissa," Lara said with a deep sigh.
"Malfoy's wife?" Severus interjected for the first time since entering the office.
"Yes...I don't know what the boy's name will be, but his mother is Narcissa Malfoy."
"Why am I not surprised?" Severus said with a scoff.
"Malfoy," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "And can you explain this spell being cast on the two children to me? How does it work? Is there anyway we can prevent it?"
"The only way to break the spells on the children is by death..." Lara said quietly.
"Death...death...death...death," echoed through Zora's mind as she slowly began to drift back to consciousness.
She looked to the plain white ceiling and blinked her eyes several times. This was not the first time or the last time Zora would dream about her mother, but that didn't make it any easier to witness.
She threw her legs over her beds and eased herself onto the floor, careful to balance her as she stood. Her legs no longer hurt when she walked and weren't as stiff and easier to manage as she walked. She strolled down the long row of empty beds to the sealed wall at the end of the wing. She placed her hand on the cool surface and felt nothing but cold death beneath her fingertips. She removed her hand quickly from the wall and began to ease back to her bed.
She climbed into bed and gazed out of the window. The horizon was turning a bright shade of blue as the sun began to approach. It must have been close to five in the morning. Zora smiled as she thought this was the time she usually stopped reading and began preparing for her lessons; never sleeping through the night if she slept at all. She missed the feeling of being capable of staying awake for full weeks without even feeling tired. Then she remembered how great if felt to actually be able to sleep, the feeling of a bed and pillow beneath you, the warmth of a blanket over you...all feelings she could now experience each night. All comforts she could take with the hell of her dreams.
"Awake already?" Severus asked as he approached her bed.
"Eight hours is all I need, I went to bed early last night," she replied, not breaking her gaze at the rising sun.
"That's good," he replied although there was no smile in his voice.
"I dreamt about my mother again last night," Zora said as he sat in the chair next to her bed.
"Oh? What did you see?" Severus asked casually.
"Her telling the story to Dumbledore," Zora replied as she watched the sky begin to turn pink as the sun became more brilliant. "Do you remember it?"
"Of course I do, I was there wasn't I?" he said coldly.
"Yes, you were. You weren't surprised it was Narcissa?"
"Not at all, they were always close to the Dark Lord," Severus replied.
"What about my mother? Was she close to him?"
"Not really...more obedient than friendly. She'd do just about anything for him," Severus said.
"Was...was she weak?" Zora asked as if it pained her to say it. Voldemort's words had pained her mind ever since they were spoken. She always posessed a perfect image of her mother in her mind, and the Dark Lord had shattered them that night.
"No...for her to go through everything she did, I'd say she was quite strong, perhaps a tad too 'act first, think later', but still strong."
"I want to see her portrait before I leave," Zora said.
"I can't do that...we never quite know where it is," Severus replied quietly.
"What do you mean you don't know where it is?" Zora asked with a twinge of annoyance in her voice, but still not breaking her gaze with the sun.
"It moves...it's a living painting. It goes where no one will see it, it doesn't like to be looked upon, but once you see it...it haunts you. It can be in two places at once, or no where at all."
"How is that possible?"
"A lot of things are possible in the wizarding world."
"But not likely," Zora smiled faintly as the sun began to form into a full circle over the horizon.
"What are you doing? Staring contest with the view?" Severus asked with his usual exasperated tone that Zora was quite accustomed to and more than happy to ignore.
"If the sun makes my powers go haywire...then it means I still have them. I'm trying to see if I still have them."
"It's too soon to tell."
"Then when is it the time? It's been a month since I woke up and still nothing!"
"I know...I know this is hard for you," Severus said and Zora caught his tone as forced gentleness.
"Bullshit!" she said as she finally tore her eyes from the sunlight, spots of blue and green in her vision and at last fed up with his sarcastic tones. "You don't know anything about what I'm going through right now! None of you know!"
"If you dare speak to any of the Weasleys like that...they'll throw you out without a second thought," Severus said calmly.
"Well, maybe they'll know what stupid things not to say...maybe they'll be sensitive and compassionate, unlike some people I know who can't stop using their classroom tone with me."
"Don't confuse compassion with pity, because that's what you're going to get - pity," Severus said as he shifted slightly in his chair.
"No...that's all I get from you and everyone else. I see it in your eyes, all of you. You pity me for losing it...you feel sorry for me because I can barely walk. I'm sick of it."
"Obviously you're feeling more like yourself if you can argue about the stupidest things...feeling well enough to take a journey I hope?" he added as he stood from the chair and walked out of the Infirmary.
"Gladly, I'll leave this afternoon!" she shouted at him as the door closed.
Zora stood in her dormitory room. The five beds looked cold and unwelcoming as did the rest of the damp cold dungeon. She wondered how she survived living here for an entire year as she carefully placed her belongings into her trunk. She reminded herself that she was rarely here throughout the year. Most of her time was spent in her training room with Severus and the other professors. She could hear footsteps approaching although it did not frighten her, it was probably just Severus coming to insult or yell more. He was on edge and Zora couldn't tell why...part of her didn't want to know anymore.
"I'm sorry," his stiff voice echoed from the open doorway.
"I know," she replied as she began refolding her T-shirts and placing them in the trunk.
"I didn't mean to be cross with you earlier...this situation is all very new to me, I'm still not accustomed to it," he explained although there was a lack of emotion in his voice, not that it was unuasual.
"It's not new," Zora replied with a clam anger, "it's been here a year. Hell, it's been here almost seventeen years," she added as she calmly folded a pair of jeans and set them in the trunk.
"I'm sorry for that too...I didn't mean to be absent."
"Then what was your intention on bringing me there? To visit every Sunday? Someone came and got me out...that's all that matters, even if it wasn't you. Let's not talk about it anymore," Zora said finally as she lightly shook her head, trying to knock her bitter anger away.
"I won't have you leaving this castle angry with me," Severus said after a long pause.
"Then I'd never leave," Zora said as she final turned to look at his face. "Why didn't you just leave me?"
"Because he would've found you and-."
"No...that night...why didn't you just leave me alone in the Infirmary? Leave me at peace. It would have saved the world a lot of trouble of doing it later. Now, I'm here...weak and completely confused. Why didn't you just let me die on that bed?"
She could see he was baffled by her statement. He didn't know what to say, so he stood and stared at her.
"I have my reasons," he said finally in his cold yet familiar tone.
"Well...isn't that informative," she sneered as she turned back to her packing.
"I didn't want you to die...it's a selfish reason, but it was reason enough for me...satisfied?"
"I wanted to die, Severus...I was ready to go," Zora continued bitterly as she slammed her clothing into her trunk with increasing force, her cool calm slipping. "I still have to deal with everything that was coming to me only now it's so much worse."
"Now it should be easier without your ties to Draco," Severus replied.
"But he still has ties to me," Zora replied as she shook her head, the long strands flying about as they shook.
"We're still trying to find something to remove it," Severus said.
"You've been looking for sixteen years...it's not there," Zora said as she began adding her books to the trunk, satisfied as the loud clunks erupted in her ears.
Zora looked around the room and noticed that there was suddenly nothing left to pack. She really would have to leave now...she would have to say goodbye. She slowly closed the lid of the trunk, feeling all anger she felt towards Severus melt away at the thought of leaving him. He was the closest thing to a parent she had ever had and perhaps she the closest to a daughter? She would probably never know how he felt about that.
She turned and let out a deep calming breath as she began to drag her trunk to the doorway.
"You're still angry with me?" he asked, refusing to move from the doorway.
"No," she replied, slowly shaking her head.
"I hoped not," he sighed with relief and a hint of a smile. "One day...you will understand why I did what I did and I hope you truly forgive me then. I didn't know bringing you back would be so hard for you but it is better than before, isn't it? I know you see things clearer and they make more sense...you understand why you cannot even be friends with Draco?"
"Yes," Zora smiled as she nodded her head.
"Then it's an improvement from before," he smiled his rare smile.
"How could I have been so stupid?" she asked as she remembered her actions from just months earlier.
"You weren't stupid..." he assured her in a strange tone...an attempt at comforting, Zora guessed, "you were under the spell, you thought it was Romeo and Juliet I'm sure...but now you know better and you must stay away from him, understand?"
"Of course," she smiled.
Severus gave her a nod and a crack of a smile, although it did not suit his face. She returned his smile, more from amusement that happiness. She was definitely going to miss him. He took a step closer and gave her a tight embrace. The gesture was tender and loving and felt as though he had not exchanged such an embrace in years.
"I'm going to miss you," she whispered with a smile.
"My abuse and mistreatment?" he asked as he pulled away. "Please, you'll be sleeping all day, being served breakfast in bed, surrounded by people your own age, and not to mention decent cooking."
"And I'll just get fatter and fatter until my butt explodes," Zora laughed.
"Just rest this summer, get your strength back...we'll worry about exploding butts when you get back," Snape replied.
He finally stepped aside from the doorway and allowed Zora to pass through the opening. She dragged her trunk all the way up to the entrance hall where a carriage being led by one of Hagrid's winged horses stood.
"Then I started thinking about everything that comes along with this," Lara said as she reached the end of her tale. "I just can't be responsible for so many horrible things."
"Well, you certainly are correct...you have gotten yourself into quite a mess," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Can you help me?" Lara pleaded. She squeezed her hands together, begging them to stop shaking.
"I may be able to, but you must answer a few questions of mine," Dumbledore began. "For one...this other child, the one he fears. When will it be born?"
"The end of summer some time...July or August," Lara replied.
"How can you be sure?"
"We're not sure...he's following the prophecy."
"But why go through so much trouble unless he has concrete proof?"
"He's not one to take too many chances. If someone told him a black dog would kill him, he would have every black dog he could find killed immediately. He found out someone is being born who will destroy him, he's going to do everything he can to try and stop it."
"As harsh as it sounds, why not simply kill the child?"
"He's vain as well. Where is the glory in killing a child? But an excuse for a line of descendants of his pure blood...now there's something of legends."
"And you gave yourself freely to this spell?"
"If I didn't...I would be dead now. You do not live under his wing without the possibility of being crushed when you disobey."
"You said the girl who is pregnant with the boy has already come forward...what it her name?"
"Why do you need to know that?" Lara asked as she eyed the professor. It was one thing to ask for help, it was another to endanger the lives of others. No matter how badly she wanted this to end...she didn't want anyone to get hurt either.
"I need to know for my own purposes...for the child's future, for the well being of everyone, I need to know who the boy is to be."
"Her name...is Narcissa," Lara said with a deep sigh.
"Malfoy's wife?" Severus interjected for the first time since entering the office.
"Yes...I don't know what the boy's name will be, but his mother is Narcissa Malfoy."
"Why am I not surprised?" Severus said with a scoff.
"Malfoy," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "And can you explain this spell being cast on the two children to me? How does it work? Is there anyway we can prevent it?"
"The only way to break the spells on the children is by death..." Lara said quietly.
"Death...death...death...death," echoed through Zora's mind as she slowly began to drift back to consciousness.
She looked to the plain white ceiling and blinked her eyes several times. This was not the first time or the last time Zora would dream about her mother, but that didn't make it any easier to witness.
She threw her legs over her beds and eased herself onto the floor, careful to balance her as she stood. Her legs no longer hurt when she walked and weren't as stiff and easier to manage as she walked. She strolled down the long row of empty beds to the sealed wall at the end of the wing. She placed her hand on the cool surface and felt nothing but cold death beneath her fingertips. She removed her hand quickly from the wall and began to ease back to her bed.
She climbed into bed and gazed out of the window. The horizon was turning a bright shade of blue as the sun began to approach. It must have been close to five in the morning. Zora smiled as she thought this was the time she usually stopped reading and began preparing for her lessons; never sleeping through the night if she slept at all. She missed the feeling of being capable of staying awake for full weeks without even feeling tired. Then she remembered how great if felt to actually be able to sleep, the feeling of a bed and pillow beneath you, the warmth of a blanket over you...all feelings she could now experience each night. All comforts she could take with the hell of her dreams.
"Awake already?" Severus asked as he approached her bed.
"Eight hours is all I need, I went to bed early last night," she replied, not breaking her gaze at the rising sun.
"That's good," he replied although there was no smile in his voice.
"I dreamt about my mother again last night," Zora said as he sat in the chair next to her bed.
"Oh? What did you see?" Severus asked casually.
"Her telling the story to Dumbledore," Zora replied as she watched the sky begin to turn pink as the sun became more brilliant. "Do you remember it?"
"Of course I do, I was there wasn't I?" he said coldly.
"Yes, you were. You weren't surprised it was Narcissa?"
"Not at all, they were always close to the Dark Lord," Severus replied.
"What about my mother? Was she close to him?"
"Not really...more obedient than friendly. She'd do just about anything for him," Severus said.
"Was...was she weak?" Zora asked as if it pained her to say it. Voldemort's words had pained her mind ever since they were spoken. She always posessed a perfect image of her mother in her mind, and the Dark Lord had shattered them that night.
"No...for her to go through everything she did, I'd say she was quite strong, perhaps a tad too 'act first, think later', but still strong."
"I want to see her portrait before I leave," Zora said.
"I can't do that...we never quite know where it is," Severus replied quietly.
"What do you mean you don't know where it is?" Zora asked with a twinge of annoyance in her voice, but still not breaking her gaze with the sun.
"It moves...it's a living painting. It goes where no one will see it, it doesn't like to be looked upon, but once you see it...it haunts you. It can be in two places at once, or no where at all."
"How is that possible?"
"A lot of things are possible in the wizarding world."
"But not likely," Zora smiled faintly as the sun began to form into a full circle over the horizon.
"What are you doing? Staring contest with the view?" Severus asked with his usual exasperated tone that Zora was quite accustomed to and more than happy to ignore.
"If the sun makes my powers go haywire...then it means I still have them. I'm trying to see if I still have them."
"It's too soon to tell."
"Then when is it the time? It's been a month since I woke up and still nothing!"
"I know...I know this is hard for you," Severus said and Zora caught his tone as forced gentleness.
"Bullshit!" she said as she finally tore her eyes from the sunlight, spots of blue and green in her vision and at last fed up with his sarcastic tones. "You don't know anything about what I'm going through right now! None of you know!"
"If you dare speak to any of the Weasleys like that...they'll throw you out without a second thought," Severus said calmly.
"Well, maybe they'll know what stupid things not to say...maybe they'll be sensitive and compassionate, unlike some people I know who can't stop using their classroom tone with me."
"Don't confuse compassion with pity, because that's what you're going to get - pity," Severus said as he shifted slightly in his chair.
"No...that's all I get from you and everyone else. I see it in your eyes, all of you. You pity me for losing it...you feel sorry for me because I can barely walk. I'm sick of it."
"Obviously you're feeling more like yourself if you can argue about the stupidest things...feeling well enough to take a journey I hope?" he added as he stood from the chair and walked out of the Infirmary.
"Gladly, I'll leave this afternoon!" she shouted at him as the door closed.
Zora stood in her dormitory room. The five beds looked cold and unwelcoming as did the rest of the damp cold dungeon. She wondered how she survived living here for an entire year as she carefully placed her belongings into her trunk. She reminded herself that she was rarely here throughout the year. Most of her time was spent in her training room with Severus and the other professors. She could hear footsteps approaching although it did not frighten her, it was probably just Severus coming to insult or yell more. He was on edge and Zora couldn't tell why...part of her didn't want to know anymore.
"I'm sorry," his stiff voice echoed from the open doorway.
"I know," she replied as she began refolding her T-shirts and placing them in the trunk.
"I didn't mean to be cross with you earlier...this situation is all very new to me, I'm still not accustomed to it," he explained although there was a lack of emotion in his voice, not that it was unuasual.
"It's not new," Zora replied with a clam anger, "it's been here a year. Hell, it's been here almost seventeen years," she added as she calmly folded a pair of jeans and set them in the trunk.
"I'm sorry for that too...I didn't mean to be absent."
"Then what was your intention on bringing me there? To visit every Sunday? Someone came and got me out...that's all that matters, even if it wasn't you. Let's not talk about it anymore," Zora said finally as she lightly shook her head, trying to knock her bitter anger away.
"I won't have you leaving this castle angry with me," Severus said after a long pause.
"Then I'd never leave," Zora said as she final turned to look at his face. "Why didn't you just leave me?"
"Because he would've found you and-."
"No...that night...why didn't you just leave me alone in the Infirmary? Leave me at peace. It would have saved the world a lot of trouble of doing it later. Now, I'm here...weak and completely confused. Why didn't you just let me die on that bed?"
She could see he was baffled by her statement. He didn't know what to say, so he stood and stared at her.
"I have my reasons," he said finally in his cold yet familiar tone.
"Well...isn't that informative," she sneered as she turned back to her packing.
"I didn't want you to die...it's a selfish reason, but it was reason enough for me...satisfied?"
"I wanted to die, Severus...I was ready to go," Zora continued bitterly as she slammed her clothing into her trunk with increasing force, her cool calm slipping. "I still have to deal with everything that was coming to me only now it's so much worse."
"Now it should be easier without your ties to Draco," Severus replied.
"But he still has ties to me," Zora replied as she shook her head, the long strands flying about as they shook.
"We're still trying to find something to remove it," Severus said.
"You've been looking for sixteen years...it's not there," Zora said as she began adding her books to the trunk, satisfied as the loud clunks erupted in her ears.
Zora looked around the room and noticed that there was suddenly nothing left to pack. She really would have to leave now...she would have to say goodbye. She slowly closed the lid of the trunk, feeling all anger she felt towards Severus melt away at the thought of leaving him. He was the closest thing to a parent she had ever had and perhaps she the closest to a daughter? She would probably never know how he felt about that.
She turned and let out a deep calming breath as she began to drag her trunk to the doorway.
"You're still angry with me?" he asked, refusing to move from the doorway.
"No," she replied, slowly shaking her head.
"I hoped not," he sighed with relief and a hint of a smile. "One day...you will understand why I did what I did and I hope you truly forgive me then. I didn't know bringing you back would be so hard for you but it is better than before, isn't it? I know you see things clearer and they make more sense...you understand why you cannot even be friends with Draco?"
"Yes," Zora smiled as she nodded her head.
"Then it's an improvement from before," he smiled his rare smile.
"How could I have been so stupid?" she asked as she remembered her actions from just months earlier.
"You weren't stupid..." he assured her in a strange tone...an attempt at comforting, Zora guessed, "you were under the spell, you thought it was Romeo and Juliet I'm sure...but now you know better and you must stay away from him, understand?"
"Of course," she smiled.
Severus gave her a nod and a crack of a smile, although it did not suit his face. She returned his smile, more from amusement that happiness. She was definitely going to miss him. He took a step closer and gave her a tight embrace. The gesture was tender and loving and felt as though he had not exchanged such an embrace in years.
"I'm going to miss you," she whispered with a smile.
"My abuse and mistreatment?" he asked as he pulled away. "Please, you'll be sleeping all day, being served breakfast in bed, surrounded by people your own age, and not to mention decent cooking."
"And I'll just get fatter and fatter until my butt explodes," Zora laughed.
"Just rest this summer, get your strength back...we'll worry about exploding butts when you get back," Snape replied.
He finally stepped aside from the doorway and allowed Zora to pass through the opening. She dragged her trunk all the way up to the entrance hall where a carriage being led by one of Hagrid's winged horses stood.