Chapter 9

Fifteen minutes later, Severus Snape poked his head in the door. Isabelle looked up, and glanced down at her wristwatch.

"Sorry, I forgot about the time," she said apologetically. She tightly locked her office door, and followed Snape to Dumbledore's office where Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Lupin and Black were already seated around Professor Dumbledore's desk. They quickly took the remaining seats.

"How did your meeting with Neville go?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Better than I expected. He seems ready to deal with the past. Unlike some people," she looked directly at Sirius, "I don't see him as a potential Death Eater. He's just a kid with serious issues. I can relate to that. It takes time to work through them."

Professor Dumbledore studied Isabelle. Although he could read her better than most people could, she usually kept her ideas and emotions private. It was as if she guarded part of herself; not that he could blame her. It surprised him that she did voice an opinion about Neville. But, guarded or not, she did have an unusual gift of understanding people, which Dumbledore hoped would help them now. He just had to go about questioning her the right way. If he accidentally offended her somehow, she would retreat into her vast defense mechanisms, which would defeat the entire purpose of this meeting. He sat, thinking for a minute.

"So, which of the children do you think is a potential target of Lord Voldemort?" he asked to the entire group.

"Well, I think we should start with the Slytherin house, and work our way from there," Professor Flitwick said.

"Excuse me? Not every Death Eater is a Slytherin, and I think that's an unfair generalization," Snape snapped.

"Unfair generalization? Let's see here. Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson. And don't forget Draco Malfoy. That kid is dangerous," Sirius replied.

"Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson I agree with. Their families are stupid, but evil. A dangerous combination. But Draco Malfoy? I'm not convinced." Isabelle sighed. "Well, he does have a bit too much of his mother in him."

"His mother? What about his father, who is actually the Death Eater?" Remus said.

"As the old saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Isabelle's response.

"And what do you know of Lucius Malfoy? We," Sirius pointed to himself and Remus, "went to school with him. Half of our work load at the Ministry could be traced back to him. He's pure evil."

"He's not pure evil. Remember, people thought you were capable of killing your own daughter. Trust me on this one, ok?" Isabelle responded in Gaelic, knowing that only Sirius could understand her. She switched back to English. "Yes, perhaps we should monitor Draco, but I don't think he's the most logical target for Lord Voldemort."

"Then who is?" Professor McGonagall asked, curious.

"Ron Weasley."

"What? That's absurd," Professor Flitwick exclaimed.

Isabelle turned to him, staring directly into his eyes. "Is it that absurd? Ron's in the shadow of five younger brothers. There's really nothing that he can achieve that one of his brothers hasn't done before him. His best friends? The famous Potter cousins. And, he's poor."

"Go on," Professor Dumbledore said, intrigued.

"If I was Lord Voldemort, and I am not, I would be worried about the competition, blood-wise. He's the last remaining heir of Slytherin. He's already killed off the heir of Hufflepuff, Cedric Diggory. Which leaves the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw houses. Unfortunately for him, he thought that there was only one remaining heir of Gryffindor, but we all know that there are two. The last of the Potter line – Harry and Hermione. By some bizarre stroke of fate, Harry fancies Cho Chang, the heir of Ravenclaw. It would be far too easy to get the three of them together, and kill them at once."

"But Ron fancies Hermione. There's no way that he would turn her in to Lord Voldemort," Remus said.

"Yes, but she's with Viktor Krum. Every day that they're together breaks his heart. Eventually, that pain could turn into bitterness. That, combined with his jealousy of Harry and his need to be important could very well make him turn to the Dark Lord."

"I see your point," Sirius said slowly, thinking. "But, isn't that the same logic that landed me in Azkaban? That I was bitter about Regina's death and jealous of James' perfect life, so I became a Death Eater to seek revenge?"

"Well, Sirius, you were bitter. And jealous, although you tried to hide it," Isabelle responded.

"Will you stop talking in bloody Gaelic? I think all of us agree with you. But, what do we do about it?" Snape said.

"Take away his incentive to turn to Lord Voldemort. He desperately wants to have something none of his other brothers do. And, not being poor would help him, too. So, I'm thinking that I could offer him a job to monitor my Muggle Studies lab that pays a decent wage. That way, he could afford to buy the things that he wants. Give him some pride. I need the help, anyway."

"I think Ron would respond to that sort of offer. It would certainly make life easier if we didn't have to worry about one of Harry's friends betraying him. I can't imagine what would happen if Lord Voldemort killed off the rest of the heirs." Professor McGonagall shuddered.

"Well, I think we have matters under control for now. Or under as much control as they can be, under the circumstances. See all of you next week, then?" Professor Dumbledore stood from his desk, escorting the professors out of his office.

-----

Wind whipped around the castle, blowing sheets of rain nearly horizontal as thunder echoed around the halls. On any other Saturday, no student would even dream of going outside in such bad weather. But, today was the first Quiddich match of the year, so students and professors rainproofed their outfits as best as they could, and slowly sloshed to the Quiddich pitch. Inside their locker room, Fred and George were trying to give the team last minute pointers, but they could barely be heard over the howling storm.

"Ok, Harry, you know that as soon as you get the snitch, we get to dry off. No pressure or anything," Fred said.

"And Ron, we need you to keep the score low so that Harry can get the snitch as soon as he sees it," George added.

The Gryffindor team walked onto the pitch, their uniforms soaked within thirty seconds. Fred shook hands with the Ravenclaw captain, and the teams were off. Harry charmed his glasses so that the rain would fall off them, but visibility was so poor that it didn't really matter. The game went on blindly for about thirty minutes, when the rain stopped suddenly. Cheers erupted from the stands, as well as drying charms. Lee Jordan began his commentary, supervised as usual by Professor McGonagall.

"Well, the rain seems to have lifted just in time for the Quiddich match to get underway. Katie Bell has the Quaffle. She passes it to Alicia Spinnet, who shoots – scores! Ten-zero to Gryffindor. Hilary Jones from Ravenclaw has the Quaffle – by the way, Hilary, would you have a drink with me in The Three Broomsticks next weekend? Sorry, Professor. She's just the prettiest girl in the school."

"Lee, please concentrate on the game and not your love life," Professor McGonagall warned.

"Anyway, Jones from Ravenclaw passes the Quaffle to McGill. Ouch! That looked like it hurt." Fred hit Erika McGill, another Ravenclaw chaser, in her rear end with a Bludger. "Spinnet from Gryffindor recovers. Alicia passes to Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor, another of Hogwarts' lovely ladies--"

"Lee!"

"Johnson races down the field. She shoots – oh, no! The Ravenclaw keeper got lucky this time. Still Ten-zero to Gryffindor. Erika McGill of Ravenclaw recovers the Quaffle. McGill passes to Rachel Joyner of Ravenclaw. Joyner – hey! That's a trick move," he shouted as Rachel and Erika executed a complicated passing pattern down the field. "McGill with the Quaffle. Is she shooting or passing? Shooting, Ron! Watch out! McGill misses! But, my buddy Stephen over here wants to know if you'd spend some time with him next weekend, Erika."

"Lee! Are you running a dating service?" Professor McGonagall barked.

"No, Professor."

"Then keep your mind on the game."

"You know, this reminds me of when you used to do the commentary for our Quiddich matches," Sirius said to Remus.

"You said stuff like that?" Isabelle said in amazement.

"Much, much worse," Remus replied with a wicked grin.

"Why am I not surprised?"

They strained to hear Lee's commentary over the chanting, which was growing progressively louder. The game had gone on for two and a half hours, without a single Ravenclaw goal. Gryffindor was ahead 100-zero. No matter what the Ravenclaw chasers did, Ron managed to deflect the shot. It looked like he was completely at home in goal.

"Jones of Ravenclaw shoots again – deflected by the Gryffindor keeper! Ron Weasley, the Gryffindor keeper, in his first appearance, could do something that hasn't been done in centuries – a shutout." The Gryffindor stands were utter pandemonium. "Gryffindor's newest team member is also riding a Firebolt, which is still the fastest broomstick in the world. Hopefully England will invest in some before the next Quiddich Cup, because we could use all the help we can get. Speaking of investing, rumor has it that Ron Weasley's broomstick was financed by working in the Muggle Studies lab. Can I have a job, too, Professor Evans?" She shook her head no firmly. "Can't blame a man for trying. Wait – Cho Chang of Ravenclaw dives – has she seen the Snitch?"

Harry looked down, where Cho was almost on the ground. He blinked, not seeing the Snitch, before realizing that she was trying to trick him into following her for some reason. He scanned the field for ten minutes, before seeing a tiny speck of gold right under Fred's shoe. He bolted for Fred, quickly followed by Cho. Right before Cho caught up to him, Harry grabbed the Snitch in his outstretched hand.

The reaction from the Gryffindor stands almost made them fall down, as students hugged each other, cheered, and raced to the pitch to congratulate the team. A mob of students rushed over to Ron, and lifted him onto their shoulders, carrying him back to Gryffindor Tower for a party. For once, he was the hero because he shut out the Ravenclaw team from scoring. Fred and George nicked mountains of food from the kitchens, and the party went on all day and well into the night. Professor McGonagall didn't even bother trying to quiet the students down, knowing the effort was futile. Everyone seemed to want to talk to Ron, who enjoyed the attention. But, after a few hours, he needed a break, so he walked over to Hermione, who was trying to study in a corner.

"How can you study in the middle of a party?" Ron asked her.

"Huh? Hold on," she said, pulling earplugs out of her ears.

"What are those?"

"Earplugs. They block out sound. I need to get this work done, since the Quiddich match was unusually long."

"I thought you weren't going to come because you didn't have anyone to sit with." Ron was surprised.

"Well, Viktor wanted to see Harry play, so I decided to come with him."

"Oh." His face fell somewhat.

"You played really well, though. Even though I did miss hanging out with you in the stands."

"Really?"

"Really." She gave him a lopsided grin. His heart skipped a beat, as he felt his face turn red.

"No way you're doing homework tonight, Hermione," Fred butted in. "Come on." He pulled her out of her seat, pushing her into the middle of the party. Surprisingly, she laughed, and joined in the madness. What everyone didn't know is that right before Ron interrupted her, she had just finished her homework, anyway.

-----

Isabelle was sitting on top of the Astronomy tower, going over lesson plans, when something caught her eye in the distance. She couldn't quite make out what it was, but it was heading straight for the castle. After a few minutes, the shape became clearer. She dropped her lesson plans on the tower floor, racing through the castle, robes billowing behind her in Snape-like fashion. She bolted down the stairs, and through the grounds.

"Hagrid!" she yelled.

He looked up at a blonde woman running towards him. His weary eyes didn't recognize her until she engulfed him in a huge bear hug, nearly knocking him to the ground. He pulled her off him, looking into her eyes.

"Isabelle Evans. I never thought I'd see yeh again." He began to cry, pulling out a small sheet, and blowing his nose loudly. "Look at yeh. All grown up now. I hear they've made yeh a professor. And you're a fine one, I'm sure."

She smiled. "I'm trying to be one. How was your trip?"

"Fine, fine. I'm headin' up to see Professor Dumbledore now."

"Can a lady escort you to his office?"

"Uh, of course."

"I know you've just come home and everything, but there's something that I wanted to ask you about," she began.

"What's that?"

"Nessie."

His eyes grew large, as he started to laugh. "Ah, she hasn't run for years now. Don' know how to fix her, I'm afraid."

"You still have her?"

"She's in a shed behind my house. She's a real mess, Isabelle."

"That's alright. I know how to fix them. I dated a race car mechanic once. Motorcycles aren't half as complicated. Just don't tell Sirius, ok? It's his Christmas present. Don't tell the children, either, for that matter. Knowing them, they'll slip up and tell him before the end of November."

"Um, are you, and uh, Sirius, um..." Hagrid stuttered.

"Seeing each other?"

"Yeah."

"Not romantically." Hagrid looked incredibly sheepish. "Don't worry," she reassured him. "I get asked that question a lot, for some reason. No clue why. I live with Remus, too. And I actually spend the majority of my time with Severus," she mused to herself, shrugging her shoulders.

They reached the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office. Isabelle gave him another hug.

"Can I come visit you sometime?" she asked him.

"Anytime."

-----

Hagrid threw some wood on the dwindling fire in his large hut. Although he enjoyed spending time with Madame Maxime, and the trip was quite successful, he was happy to be home. He sat in front of the fire, petting Fang, when he heard a loud clamor at the door.

"Hagrid! Are you in there?" came a female voice.

He opened the door, and Harry, Ron and Hermione let themselves in, sitting at the oversized table. He looked at Hermione as if seeing her for the first time.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him.

"No, no. I just remember yeh when yeh were a little baby and yer father would carry you around everywhere after yer mum died. You look just like her. Don't know why I never saw it before."

"Don't worry. No one did," she replied. "How was your trip?"

He began telling them about his trip, and all the interesting places he visited throughout the summer and fall. In between stories, he offered them treacle fudge, which they all refused politely. After a few minutes, Ron and Harry started talking about the Quiddich season. Hermione was about to doze off when she heard someone knocking on the door.

"Come in," Hagrid hollered. Isabelle walked in, shutting the door behind her.

"Oh, hi, y'all," she said to the children.

"Hi," they replied.

Isabelle turned to Hagrid, pulling him into the corner. "Which shed is it?" she whispered.

"Second one on the right," he replied.

"Remember – it's a secret," she said, giving him a mild secret-keeping charm, just in case he was tempted to tell.

"I promise," he assured her.

"Sorry I can't stay and chat, but I have some work to do. Good night," she said, walking out the door.

"Night," they called after her.

After visiting with Hagrid for about an hour more, Harry, Ron and Hermione headed back to Gryffindor tower. Ron had a shift to work in the Muggle Studies lab, Hermione needed to find a book on Repelling Charms in the library, and Harry was determined to find Cho and ask her if she wanted to have a drink with him on Saturday. Hermione had been bugging him for weeks about keeping his end of their deal, and time was running out quickly.

-----

The entire Hogwarts castle was utter chaos, as students and teachers exited en masse for a day off in Hogsmeade. After two months of being cooped up on the grounds, everyone was ready for a break. The only sad faces belonged to the first and second years, and the teachers who had to stay behind to monitor them, including Snape, who gave anyone detention if they so much as looked crossly in his direction. After three poor Hufflepuff girls got five days of detention, everyone stayed at least ten feet away from him.

Harry and Ron quickly walked around Snape, trying not to draw attention to themselves, and walked out onto the castle grounds. They followed the rest of the student body into Hogsmeade, and quickly ducked into the candy shop.

"Hey, look at these," Ron said, examining a bag full of crawling gummi worms. Harry stared at the worms moving inside the bag for a minute, and had to walk away, sick to his stomach. The prospect of meeting Cho at The Three Broomsticks in an hour was making him queasy. Ron followed him, carrying the worms and toothflossing stringmints.

"Here," he said with a wicked grin, handing Harry the stingmints. "You'll need these for later." Harry's face turned an odd shade of green, but he took the stringmints and paid for them. They walked in and out of stores, buying assorted things. Finally, it was time for Harry to meet Cho. On their way to The Three Broomsticks, Parvati Patil walked up to them, batting her eyelashes coyly.

"Hey, Harry. Hi, Ron." She gave Ron a dazzling smile, which made his ears turn pink slightly.

"Hi, Parvati," he said, giving Harry a funny look. Harry just shrugged his shoulders, and they started walking again. She followed them, chatting cheerfully, until they got to the pub's entrance, where Cho was already waiting for them.

"Hi, Harry." His already queasy stomach flipped when she took his hand to lead him inside the building. Right before they walked inside, Cho stopped and turned around. "Hey, do either of you want to join us?"

Before Ron or Harry could say anything, Parvati grabbed Ron's arm, and steered him to a table right in the middle of the pub. Harry and Ron asked the girls what they wanted to drink, and walked up to the bar with their order.

"Sorry, man," Ron told Harry apologetically. "She didn't give me a chance to say no."

"That's ok," Harry replied. "It's hard to have a private conversation in here, anyway."

"I don't know. Look over there." He pointed to a corner table, where Charlie and Fleur were deeply engrossed in conversation, completely oblivious to the world around them. After a minute, they paid for their drinks, and walked back to the table, where Parvati and Cho were laughing and joking like old friends.

About twenty minutes later, Hermione walked by the pub with Viktor. She suddenly stopped in front of the window, staring at Ron with Parvati. She didn't know what hurt worse – that Harry and Ron didn't invite her along, or that they seemed to be having such a good time without her. Especially Ron. Parvati looked up, saw Hermione in the window, and put her arm possessively on Ron's, giving Hermione a triumphant look.

"Is anything wrong?" Viktor asked her.

"No, nothing's wrong," Hermione lied.

He gave her a funny look while looking down at his watch. "Well, it's my turn to play babysitter back at the castle. Want to come back with me?"

She looked inside The Three Broomsticks, and then back at Viktor. "Yes," she said, sadly turning around to walk back to Hogwarts.

-----

Sara O'Neill sat on a park bench, idly watching the people walk by. She enjoyed people watching, especially on days where the Hogwarts students and faculty invaded the town. The whole area radiated a restless energy. She couldn't imagine teaching at Hogwarts, being cooped up for months with all of the children. A young woman quickly walked by her with someone who must have been her boyfriend, by the way he had his arm around her shoulder, talking quietly to her. There was something about this girl that seemed strangely familiar – especially those unusual grey eyes. She shrugged it off, and opened the newspaper to the Style section, stretching out her legs in front of her. Suddenly, she heard a horrific thud, as someone tumbled to the ground in front of her.

"Oh, my goodness! Are you ok?" she asked, as the person painfully sat up, holding his head in his hands. "I'm so incredibly sorry. I didn't realize that someone would trip over my foot."

"That's alright. I should have been watching where I was going," he replied, stopping the bleeding in his nose.

"I'm so sorry," she repeated, blushing. She instantly recognized him as soon as he looked up at her. Sirius Black. He was four years ahead of her at Hogwarts, and she doubted that he remembered her.

"Sara O'Neill? Is that you?"

She smiled and nodded. He stood up and carefully sat on the park bench, trying to keep his head from spinning. When he looked over at her, his head started spinning for a completely different reason. He remembered Sara as a gawky, freckle-faced fourteen year old girl with her nose always in a book. And now – now, she was positively stunning, with beautiful strawberry-blonde hair that glowed in the sunlight.

"So, what are you doing now?" he asked casually.

"I own the jewelry store here in town. Mostly I do custom work, like the family jewelry that some wizarding families still give as a tradition."

"Really?" he said thoughtfully, narrowing his grey eyes. The same eyes as the girl who walked past her earlier, Sara realized. She must be his daughter. What was her name again? Something unusual, but she couldn't remember what it was.

"Really. Would you let me take you to lunch as my way of apologizing for nearly breaking your nose?"

So, that answers the question of whether or not she's seeing anyone, Sirius decided. He hadn't been on any type of date since before Regina died. Between being the single parent of an infant, Azkaban, being on the run, and trying to raise two teenagers, he hadn't found the time to develop a relationship with anyone new. Not that he wasn't lonely, of course.

"Only if you let me pick the place," he replied.

"It's a deal. Where do you want to go?"

He thought of all of the places in Hogsmeade, realizing that no matter where they decided to go, someone from Hogwarts was bound to see them. And with all of the negative publicity that the family received, the last thing that Sirius wanted to do was to add to it. Not to mention that he wasn't quite sure how Hermione or Harry would react to the idea of him dating someone, and he didn't want either of them to find out secondhand.

"Well, it's my day off, so I'd like to go somewhere that isn't full of either teachers or students," he said slowly. "And, the only place that I know of that fits that description is my house." He looked at her face to gauge her reaction. She thought for a moment, and smiled.

"Sure," she replied. They walked through town to the faculty grounds, chatting.

-----

Isabelle walked through the town square, admiring all of the festive Halloween decorations. She drew her cloak tighter around her body to fight off a chill. Scotland was much, much chillier this time of year than Virginia. She turned down an alleyway to make a short cut to her favorite clothing boutique when she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head. Her vision went blurry, and then everything was black.

When she came to, she slowly opened her eyes. The room was dark, lit only through narrow beams of light streaming through closed window blinds. She realized that she was lying down on a bed and that someone had taken the time to place a blanket on top of her. She suddenly had the eerie feeling that someone was watching her, and tensed up.

"Wh-who's there?" she murmured through dry lips.

"Would you like something to drink? I didn't mean to hit you that hard," came a deep voice from the corner.

"Lucius," she said, relieved. "Haven't lost your flair for the dramatic, huh? Yes, water would be lovely."

"Expecting someone else?"

"I certainly wasn't expecting you. It's been a long time. How would you know that I was in town?" she asked, slowly sitting up and taking a sip of water.

"Draco wrote home about the day trip to Hogsmeade. And it has been a long time, Isabelle." He sighed. "Now I know why you left things the way you did." Lucius Malfoy sat down on the edge of the bed, and placed his head in his hands. He was the image of a broken man.

"I am sorry, Lucius."

"Don't be. We knew from the start that it would never work."

"That's not true, and you know it."

"It is true. I knew you were using me, but I thought it was to get back at Remizov. Imagine my surprise when I discover that my mistress is Harry Potter's aunt," he said bitterly. "And the only reason you wanted me was so that I would tell you my plans to bring Harry to Lord Voldemort. Which I did, of course, like a fool. Tell me, Isabelle, was it ever about anything other than keeping Harry alive? Was it ever about me?"

"Not at first. But then, things changed. You have to believe that," she said, stretching her hand out to touch his face. His fingers gently enclosed hers, as he pulled her towards him. He held her, stroking her hair, while she cried on his shoulder. "Do you ever wonder what would've happened if we were different people? If I wasn't an Evans, and you weren't a Malfoy?"

"Every day. You know what I think about?"

"What?" She smiled at him. Lucius didn't realize how much he missed her smile until now. It was like pure sunshine.

"That beach house in Brighton, remember?" She nodded. "How we used to spend our days out on the water, and watch the sun set over the sea. I can't go there now without thinking of you. Before you left, I had planned to leave Narcissa, or otherwise dispose of her, so that I could be with you. Since you loved that house so much, I figured that we could move there, with Draco, and Katrina, and whoever else came along."

"Katrina," Isabelle said hollowly. "I'm afraid Sergei took care of that part of your dream."

"Did he know?"

"No, he had no idea about us. He is just that evil."

"Why didn't you ask for me? You know I would have been there for you." Lucius knew why, but he wanted to hear her say it. She didn't say anything. "It was because of Black, wasn't it?"

"Yes. You know he escaped from Azkaban the same day Katrina was born. I never expected him to escape, but as soon as he did, I knew that it was only a matter of time before--"

"Before you exposed your true identity to help him. You sacrificed me for him."

"It's not that clear-cut, Lucius, and you know it. We made choices long ago that make our relationship impossible."

"You could have refused to expose your identity for him."

"And allow the man who killed Lily to kill her only son? And deny Sirius the opportunity of raising his daughter? You could have left Lord Voldemort's service to be with me."

She stuck a nerve. "If I leave Lord Voldemort's inner circle, they will kill my entire family. You know that. I have no choice but to do his bidding."

"Yes, I hear that you are embezzling funds from Gringotts' bank to finance Lord Voldemort's operations."

"Unfortunately."

"I tried to convince Sirius to take control of the bank from you, so that you wouldn't have to be in that position. He wouldn't hear a word of it."

"Perhaps he does not find your tactics as persuasive as I did," Lucius spat.

"It's not like that between Sirius and I."

"He's not your lover, then?"

"No. There has been no one since you. I'm not sure there ever will be anyone else."

"There will be. You know how I know that?"

She looked in his sorrowful blue eyes. "How?" Isabelle said softly.

"Because your heart is too full of love to be without someone to share it with. Me, I must content myself with my bitter existence, but you will move on. And I will not stand in your way. I love you too much for that." His voice choked. "No matter what happens, or how we meet again, please know that I would never hurt you. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."

"We're the epitome of star-crossed lovers, aren't we? Shakespeare himself couldn't have written a more twisted story of fate than ours."

"I know I am fortune's fool," he said, tilting her face up, and gently kissing her. She willingly responded, wrapping her arms around his neck. Their kisses became deeper, more passionate, as they released two years of separation. Almost instinctively, Lucius lowered her on the bed, like he had done so many times before. Suddenly, he stopped, sitting up.

"What's wrong?" Isabelle said, confused.

"Nothing's wrong. That's the problem. I came here today to tell you goodbye, and, well, look at us."

"You have a funny way of saying goodbye to someone," she said, blinking back tears.

"Don't cry, Isabelle. We knew this day would come," he pleaded, trying not to cry himself. He felt like his heart was being torn out his chest. She had no idea how much he wanted to stay with her, to show her exactly how much he loved her.

"I know. Staying here would only put off the inevitable." She stood up, and walked to the door, shaking. "Goodbye, Lucius," she said, closing the door behind her, fighting the impulse to walk back into the room.

Tears stung Isabelle's eyes as she blindly walked out of the inn, and onto the street. She quickly walked through the town, numb to her surroundings. She didn't realize where she was walking until she bumped into the cemetery gate. Fumbling with the latch, she opened the gate. She walked the familiar path through various family plots, until she reached a large plot under a shade tree. The latch to the plot was rusty, but she managed to open it after a couple of tries. She walked past several graves, stopping at a small headstone in the far right corner. Isabelle collapsed in front of Katrina's tiny grave, sobbing hysterically. Mercifully, she fainted.

Two hours later, large raindrops began to fall. The rain pelted her face, slowly waking her up. In the darkness, Isabelle stood up on unsteady legs, and turned to walk home. She pulled her hood of her cloak over her head, so that no one would recognize her as she stumbled through town, still crying. Instead of turning for her house, she walked to a small cabin on the other side of the faculty grounds, and made a feeble knock at the door.

Severus Snape opened the door, and widened his eyes at the pitiful sight in front of him. Isabelle was soaked from head to toe. Her cloak was dirty and rumpled, like she had rolled around in the dirt for hours. When she looked at him, her red, swollen face highlighted the pain in her eyes.

"What happened to you?"

"Lucius." Her legs buckled, and she tumbled into the living room, partially unconscious.

His jaw clenched in anger, as he bit back the words he truly wanted to say. "What about him?" he asked, trying to keep his temper in check.

"H-he was i-in Hogsmeade," she managed to stammer out.

"For business or pleasure?" he said sarcastically.

"Severus, please don't."

"Don't what? Don't say that you knew what you were getting into when you decided to have an affair with him? Don't say that it's your fault you got attached to him? Or that--"

"That what? That it's my fault that I live in fear that either Sergei or Sirius will find out that--?"

"That Katrina's father could be Lucius Malfoy," Snape finished. He raised an eyebrow at the look on her face. "Isabelle, you are a scientist. You cannot ignore simple biological realities. Katrina could not have had green eyes if Remizov was her father. Black and green eyes cannot combine that way. Blue and green eyes, on the other hand, can."

"I am a chemist, not a biologist, nor am I a geneticist. However, I do know that two blonde parents cannot have a child with black hair. Katrina's hair looked exactly like Sergei's."

"And she had Lucius' dimpled chin."

"I have a slight dimple in my chin. She could have gotten that from me."

Severus changed the subject. "What did Lucius want?"

"To say goodbye. Nothing more."

"Did you want something more?"

"No. Yes. I don't know. I'm just so confused, Severus. I don't know what to think about it all." She slowly got up from the floor and walked to the couch, limping slightly.

"Hip bothering you?" he asked, clearly concerned.

"A little," she admitted. "I blacked out for a little while, and I think I fell on it."

"Blacked out?"

She smiled at his pained expression. "I'm fine. Really." She could tell that he was not convinced in the slightest. "It's my heart that's hurting me, not my hip." She told him what happened earlier in the day with Lucius. When she finished, Snape looked at her with an odd look on his face.

"You lied to him, Isabelle, whether you meant to or not."

"What are you talking about?" She was completely befuddled.

"You did sacrifice him for Black. You didn't expose your identity for Harry, because you said that you would teach him wandless magic regardless of whether or not he knew who you were. It was all for Sirius, wasn't it?"

Isabelle had a faraway look on her face. "No, it wasn't for him, Severus. It was for someone else."

"Who?" He crossed his arms across his chest.

"Regina."

He paled slightly. "What does Regina Potter have to do with anything?"

"Regina Black. You never forgave him for that did you? Don't look away, Severus. You thought that I didn't know? All of those times you took me to the cemetery, you never once left her gravesite. And the way you treat her daughter, the way you hate her because she looks so much like Regina."

"She acts nothing like her mother."

"You hate Gracie for that, too. Because you see her father in her. You loathe her because she is Sirius' daughter, not yours."

"You assume too much," Snape said angrily, but the truth of her words showed clearly in his eyes.

"Do I?" she said through narrowed eyes.

"As I said earlier, what does she have to do with your decision to expose your identity?" His eyes begged her to answer his question, and to leave his feelings for Regina Black alone.

"When she was dying, she asked to see me. Among other things, she made me promise two things. One, that I wear the wedding dress that she designed for me when I got married. We were playing around with designs one day, and came up with one that suited me. I think she was doing a lot of wedding dresses at the time. Anyway, she was really adamant about it, but I'm not really sure why. Well, I eloped, so I didn't have time to have the dress made, and I broke my promise to her. After that, I swore that I would keep the second promise at all costs."

"Which was?"

"To keep the family together, no matter what. She said that I was the only person now that could truly understand Sirius. She asked me to make sure that he was happy. So, when you asked me if I wanted to expose my identity, I was torn between two worlds. I love Lucius, or the closest thing to love that I can feel. But, I had to give Sirius the opportunity to choose whether to find Gracie and I or not – for Gina's sake." They sat quietly for a minute, with Isabelle's head resting on Snape's shoulder. Isabelle suddenly noticed the suitcase sitting beside the door.

"I thought you weren't leaving until Halloween," she said.

"Plans have changed. I can't wait until Tuesday anymore. I have to leave tomorrow."

"Why?"

"You know I can't tell you that."

"Have Dumbledore send me instead," Isabelle said in a quiet, yet determined voice.

"What? Absolutely not."

"Why not? My business is finished here. No one needs me, or would even miss me if I'm gone. If you die, then Dumbledore loses his best connection to the Dark Lord. If I die, it doesn't really matter."

Severus placed his hands on her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. "How can you even say that? It does matter if you live or die. The children need you, Isabelle. You just can't walk into their lives, and walk back out again. They love you."

"They will get over it."

"Oh, yes, like you got over Regina, Lily, James and Sirius walking in and out of your life."

"You forgot Remus. And, that's different. They were the only parents I had."

"You're the only mother either Harry or Hermione have. It is no different."

"Sirius is their guardian, not me. My relationship to either of them depends on his goodwill. I'm sure that if he found out about Lucius and I, he would kick me out of the family, which would be traumatic for the children. So, I want to leave on my own terms."

"You don't know what he would say."

"Oh, sure. Like he'd want his only child to be raised by a who--"

"Enough, Isabelle. Everyone makes mistakes. Your precious Sirius isn't perfect, either. He, of all people, should not pass judgment on you."

"What are you talking about?"

"He never told you? Why am I not surprised?" Severus mused.

"Told me what?" He didn't say a word. She narrowed her eyes. "You have never hesitated to insult him in the past. Why wouldn't you take advantage of this opportunity to discredit him? Who are you protecting?"

"You. I am trying to protect you."

"From what?"

"From this. All of it. Have you ever had a happy moment in your life? A happy, normal moment, where you didn't have a care in the world?"

"Lots of them. Every time I dance, it's like the rest of the world doesn't exist. It's just me, and the music. Other than that, no. Why do you think I want to go in your place? To protect the children, so that they can grow up to do all of the things I never did. And never will."

"You are only thirty years old. You are much too young to be giving up on happiness."

"Why not? You did."

"Yes, I did." He sighed. "And it was a mistake. I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself out of guilt. You did what you had to do under the circumstances. I don't agree with what you did. But, that doesn't mean that you don't deserve to be happy. You're not going."

"Fine," she said listlessly. "Who cares what I do anyway?"

"Have you heard a single word that I've been saying?" Snape raised his voice. "I care about you, Isabelle. Do you think I've been taking care of you for fourteen years for my health? Child, there's nothing that I haven't done or wouldn't do for you." She smiled through her tears. "There, that's much better. Why don't you go home and take one of those four hour baths that you like so much."

She looked down at her bedraggled appearance. "I think I need it. Thanks, for everything." She gave him a big hug, and set off for home.