I have heard that there are 'lurkers' from other Houses here… I may be a Slytherin, but I am not above flattery or bribes. –was that redundant?- I promise to only take away House points for flames. And as I am feeling generous –not desperate, I said generous- I will award points to any House that a good little reviewer claims they belong to- the same number per review regardless of House. Ok?

For a disclaimer read the one on chapter… fifteen.

Chapter Fifty-three:

Snape and Miss Moody seemed to take turns teaching through the beginning of the week. After Wednesday though they were both present. Friday the blue eyed Professor Snape assisted in Magical Self-defense by demonstrating several wandless methods of disarming an opponent.

Alastor Moody was fastening his robe and waiting for the students to fight their own ways out into the hall. He walked toward Remus Lupin and noticed that the younger man was watching two retreating figures rather intently. "Oh," he said recognizing them instantly, "So she made it after all."

The two passed from sight and Remus faced Moody, "You were expecting her to come, why?"

Alastor closed to top clasp on his robe and regarded Lupin for a moment, "Curiosity. She recognizes that they are the same and different and she is wondering why they are being allowed to interact. Severa is quiet, once she acclimates to the school she will begin to test the limits again."

Remus was the last to leave the room and he closed the door on his way out, "What is the status of Sirius' appeal? Will he be heard?"

"They will hear him," Alastor said, heading for his chambers, "They are required to hear all testimony given by a Witness and Witness testimony is given priority over other cases. When it comes to retrial, I don't expect even Fudge could manage to do anything to counter the testimony of a Witness. Sirius is, at the most, I would say, two weeks from being acquitted."

~

Dinner was nearly over; not that Snape had eaten all that much. When he pushed back his chair and stood he was a little surprised that Miss Moody did the same. 'Damn you, old man. You stole the only thing that I ever valued and now that I have her back she doesn't even know me.' His frustrated bitterness flowed like ground fog around his ankles as he nodded to the Headmaster and left the Great Hall, Severa Moody two steps behind and a half step to his right.

As they descended the dungeon stairs she spoke, "They say you are a Deatheater."

He slowed, and turned she continued to descend until she was two steps above where he stood. His uncovered left eye flicked back and forth as he tried to read her eyes. 'She's tall. Maybe, all of five centimeters shorter than me,' the irrelevant thought echoed through his mind as he saw the wisps of black in the whites of her eyes. He slowly lifted his left arm. At his touch the row of tiny buttons at the cuff of his frock coat undid themselves and he pushed back the layers that covered his arm.

Severa Moody had never actually seen a Darkmark, but being raised by Alastor Moody meant that she could spot one with her eyes shut. The pale scar on his pale arm was not the classical –active- Darkmark, a black line drawing of a death's-head with a snake for the tongue that everyone knew. It was the Darkmark that only an Auror would recognize, an –inactive- link to Voldemort himself. Shaking her head slightly, "All that proves," she said stepping around him and continuing down, "is that you are not being watched right now."

Snape found himself following two steps back and a little to the right, "That is one of the first lies that I learned the truth of. I am watched at all times. Sometimes he is more aware than others… but he is always there."

With a scowl that jerked at his heart it was so Moody she headed for her rooms, "The Dark Lord is not known for his honesty."

He reached around her and placed his hand on the door that led from their sitting room to her private chambers and held it closed, "I was not talking about Lord Voldemort."

'What is he doing,' she could feel The Other beginning to panic at his closeness. *I'm pinned against the door. I don't care what he is doing! Get away from him!*

"You know what I am speaking of, and you know it was not Voldemort" he spoke softly, "The Male is always watching me, just as The Female is always watching you."

"What do you know of…" there was no way to deny it and nothing to be gained by rejecting the offer. And he was offering her something, 'An alliance? Could I free myself with his-'

*What are you doing? He serves the Enemy, you should turn him in.*

Snape took one step back and let his hand fall from the door to his side, "I can help you and you can help me. But first you need to know the truth."

"How?" she turned as she asked him, and saw the answer in every aspect of his face, "How do I know you?"

For the second time in his life, and that night, he felt his heart get yanked out of its place. This time though it was a sort of cancerous hope that he had harbored for nearly twenty years that did the tugging. The hope that he could undo what had been done… and make them pay for their idiocy. "Come with me. Don't ask. Don't think. Just come when I go."

Miss Severa Moody closed herself inside her rooms and tried not to seriously think about what she almost knew and what Snape seemed to be offering. Snape dragged himself to his bed and succumbed to asleep during the fifth round of second-guessing his own actions.

~

Walking in to breakfast Monday morning Albus signaled Alastor to wait a moment before entering. The retired Auror gave a nearly imperceptible nod and they met again in an unused classroom not far away.

"Severus didn't come in Sunday night to play our usual game of chess." Albus did not sit in one of the discarded chairs and so neither did Alastor.

"Related to that outburst Wednesday night?" Moody asked.

"This morning Miss Moody came to my office and asked to have her proper title instead of being referred to as though she were an inferrior. She suggested that as you are technically not teaching a class you could be addressed as Mister Moody and she as Professor Moody. I am not looking forward to making this announcement."

"That's it then," for all his bravado Alastor couldn't compose himself enough to hide his feelings from his best friend. "She has made her choice and now we are just racing the clock." As they were exiting the former Muggle History classroom he swore rather violently under his breath. Albus slanted him a reproving look, "sorry," he mumbled.

"I can not condone your choice of words," Albus murmured in response as they entered the Great Hall, "but I heartily agree with the sentiment."

No one gave too much thought to the Headmaster's announcement of the change in title of address for the two faculty members in question. What they called the co-head of Slytherin or Huffelpuff really didn't affect them all that much. There were six who were deeply affected by the implications that the change in title held, two did not appear to be present, two for health reasons probably should not have been present, and Albus and Alastor would have done anything to undo what they knew had been done.

~

"Mis- Professor Moody?" Hermione caught herself and tried again to get the attention of the distracted woman.

Coming back to the here and now she acknowledged the annoying little Gryffindor and suffered through a too long question that was worded with a far too superior an air. "Perhaps if you were in an accelerated program, Miss Granger, you would not feel so confined by the ineptitude of your fellow students. You are, sadly, not in such a program and will there for have to suffer through the Fifth Year curriculum before everyone is able to grasp the mutability of inactive ingredient substitution."

Neville nearly dropped his stirring ladle in the cauldron full of nearly botched Weight-reducer Potion, 'Hermione is rather bossy sometimes, and she tends to take over my half of our work. But she doesn't do it because she thinks she is better than me,' he thought with some indignation. 'She does it because she thinks I need protecting, from myself,' he added with a slight knock at his own ability, he knew he wasn't the class ace.

"Mister Longbottom," Snape called.

Neville had been so focused on one of the professors that he had forgotten the other. 'A big mistake there. They cover for each other better than Filch and Mrs. Norris.'

"Mister Longbottom, what have you done?" Snape asked, with an evil mirth. He was setting Neville up. Giving the palely glowing brew a few slow stirs, with an almost experimental caution. He opened his mouth to inform the class that what had actually been created was a form of luminescent paint that was most commonly used to accent nurseries, when his Assistant rather abruptly stepped into the hall and made for her rooms.

Neville and Hermione had gotten the desk furthest to the front left corner of the class; it was also the desk closest to the door. When Snape's head snapped up and he watched Professor Moody exit Hermione was double checking her notes. Neville though had been waiting for the cutting remarks to begin and so was watching Snape's face. He wasn't sure, but he would have sworn that he saw concern dart across Snape's face, 'He almost looks afraid,' Neville thought. But then the glimmer was gone and Snape was his usual venomous self, for the rest of the period.

Chapter Fifty-four:

When the next Potions class started and she didn't show up, Snape began to worry, 'This is foolish, It will protect her, It must.'

*I must protect you as well...* whispered The Other in his head. *Or I can be anything you want me to be…*

The door opened and Professor Severa Moody walked in as though nothing was odd about an instructor missing half of a class. 'I didn't eat enough breakfast to throw up that much,' she gritted her teeth and choked back the lingering dry heaves. Suddenly aware that there was someone behind her, she pivoted and managed to nearly plow into Professor Snape's chest.

He only raised his left brow into a questioning arch, but he could see that she knew what he meant. 'I don't need you any more,' he stabbed at the link they shared and found some pleasure in the pain that radiated back to him like an echo. 'Together we need no one. We never did and we won't again.'

~

"She took his mark," she said slipping noiselessly into the sitting room. "Why, couldn't I influence her enough to stop her?"

He had pushed the scarf down this time and it hung around his neck. "He ran into a dead end so I decided to give it a try," he put down the translation he was working out. "He has never been as good at ancient Phoenician as me." He got up and grabbed a cloak from the rack by the door, "I can tell him what it means," he shrugged, "but that doesn't mean he will listen. Are you suited up?" he changed the subject.

"Flog me," she flopped into the chair he had vacated and began to look over his work. The light suddenly disappeared and didn't come back until she was able to untangle herself from the folds of the cloak he had thrown over her. She huffed at the straggly bits of hair that had fallen into her eyes.

"Fine, go see if Black and Lupin are interested in seeing the lake," he nudged her out of the chair. "I'll finish this," he snatched back the document, "and get my stuff on and meet you on the way."

~

Remus rolled his eyes as he opened his door, "Why can't you use the chime?" he sighed, before realizing that he was addressing the female.

"He wants to know if you and Black are interested in seeing the lake," she shook the hair from her eyes with a practiced toss of her head. "Black isn't here," she observed when Remus didn't respond. "Where is he?"

"How do you know Sirius isn't here?" Remus asked abruptly.

"He told me Black was usually here in the evenings," she placed a hand on one jutting hip. "I thought I'd check here first, but his scent is over eight hours old, Black ate lunch with you but then left when you went back to your classes."

"He who?" Lupin caught the mention and tried to drive the conversation that way.

Her brow furrowed and her eyes dimmed the pupils waxing round, "He is the other. Well," she waved her free hand in a dismissive gesture, "he's the Other, Other but that's not going to mean anything to you. It doesn't mean much to me, yet."

'The Other, Other?' "Sirius is probably in his room." Lupin stepped into the hall when it was obvious that she was not going to check on her own, "I'll see if he hasn't run off somewhere."

As it happened Sirius had already gone out and chased Mrs. Norris up and down the halls, to work off some of his boredom. He latched onto the prospect of getting to go outside, and maybe swimming in the lake, as though it were the Quiditch World Cup. After transfiguring a pair of swim trunks for himself and Lupin he grabbed a warm cloak Dumbledore had given him, it was a bit chilly with Autumn setting in.

She was waiting where she had been left; it served no purpose to invite them only to loose them in the halls. "If you're ready now," she raised a soot-black brow and swept down the hall ahead of them.

"Hey," Sirius called, "I thought we were going to the lake." They were heading further into the dungeons. Even though there were many secret passages in this portion of the school, the most direct rout to the lake was through the Main Hall and out the double doors.

"Smeagol Lake," the bright eyes of the male suddenly flashed into being further up the passage. He explained, "I named it myself," before Black could say he had never heard of Smeagol Lake. Waiting for the small queue to pass he took up the position of rearguard.

Smeagol Lake turned out to be a fair sized subterranean body of water in the middle of a large room that had a definite cave-like feeling, and a small rock island in the center. The walls of the cave/chamber were patchily covered with glowing slime. The pale yellow and blue were obviously different types of algae, but they lived mixed together and the surface of the water reflected their light patterns.

"Anything living in the water?" Sirius asked, attempting to decide if a swim were still worth trying.

"Nothing that's interested in you," the female gave Black a look that made him think she was questioning his manhood. Letting her robe and cloak drop to the floor she took two quick steps to the edge and dove into the black water in her full Garom uniform. Her eyes illuminated the underwater world and she explored the various nooks and boulders for several minutes, coming up for air less frequently than Black and Lupin were comfortable with.

"The problem is," Sirius muttered as she took a breath and went under again, "she looks so Human and acts so Human, I keep forgetting she's a Garom."

"The word Garom comes from the ancient Atlantean word picture that was meant to convey the idea of a square based pyramid."

Remus was sounding rather upset but Sirius was at a loss as to why. He stupidly shook his head

Lupin continued, "Four thousand years ago a Muggle army conquered a peaceful land where the inhabitants had god-like power. The Muggles saw at once how useful such power could be, if made to serve them. The ones that were bred with Muggles were the first Wizards the others were force bred with Weres and Sidhe and others. The Garoms started off human, and until they were wiped out in the fifteen hundreds they were still able to have fertile Magic baring offspring when mated to a Wizard," Remus told him.

"Hey," Sirius held his hands up defensively, "I'm not saying they're Creatures, just that they're Exotics at best."

"You are such a stupid prat sometimes," Remus snarled.

"What?" Sirius mouthed as Remus pushed past him to place his cloak and robe on a large rock that didn't have too much of the luminescent algae.

"My best friend was bitten by a Vamp almost a thousand years ago," the male said from a nearby rocky ledge he had been laying on. He didn't open his eyes or stir at all, there was nothing to betray his presence except his voice. "He had been a rather powerful Medi-Wizard, with a small family scandal about his great-grandmother having had an affair with a satyr. When he crossed-over he became a freak an outcast and an Exotic. Lupin, he's right, you are being stupid… he's only half Human as it is."

"Aren't you going in the water?" Sirius was venting frustration on an uncaring ear, and he knew it.

"I'm letting her get a lock on the place," he stretched and jumped to the floor. "Sometimes you need to find a safe place to hide before you can figure things out." He stripped down to his Garom uniform and lay his clothes beside the female's. Dilating his pupils so that the man before him wouldn't need to squint, he stared hard into Sirius' brown eyes, "This place is safe. I hope you never need it. If you do, she will protect you," he turned and started for the water.

"She? The female you mean, why would I need her protection?" Sirius questioned, not without a little macho disbelief.

He looked back over his shoulder as his eyes regained their inhuman light, "Not her," he waved a hand at the water. "Her, she will protect you here," his hand swung out to include the very walls and stones of the room, and the entire castle around them. "This chamber is near her heart."

Sirius could think of anything to say before the male dove under the surface of the water. He felt a hand clamp onto his heart and squeeze the blood from it, 'Remus is only half Human, and I was trashing him… I wasn't thinking. I didn't-' he gritted his teeth. 'Harry and Remus are all I have left. I have to keep them.' He went in search of his best friend, praying Remus would accept his apology.

~

Laughter, a sound almost never heard in the corridors of the dungeons, bounced back to the four sopping wet figures as they made their way back to more familiar territory.

"Ok-ok-ok," Remus wiped his eyes to clear the tears, "so you had a nightmare about being chased by the carts at Gringots, and you were afraid of Goblins for a whole year?!" he was laughing so hard he needed to lean against the wall.

Sirius was trying to look offended, he was just glad that Remus had accepted his apology, "Yah well you were afraid of the Bloody Baron!"

"Nearly everyone is," the male smirked as he continued down the hall.

Sirius shot him a nearly withering look, "And what were you afraid of as a child?"

He stopped walking and became thoughtful, "The hall your rooms are on," he was hardly more than breathing the words and Sirius and Remus sobered. "Second Year, he did something- well he let the other Slytherins do something, and James… I think he was trying to sneak into the Potion Master's storeroom and he caught them and scared them off. He never forgave James for saving me."

"What did they do?" Remus asked with hardly any more volume than the tale had been given.

"They locked me in a dark room and-" he hesitated a fraction of a second, "wouldn't let me out." He gave a halfhearted grin and chuckle, "I was eight years old and afraid of the dark."

Sirius and Remus made it to their beds before midnight.

~

"Oh my god!" Remus jerked upright and suddenly awake at one am, "He was seven years old when he first came here!"