Chapter Thirty-Eight

Faith Expelled

It was an early class on Monday morning that distracted Jennifer into not hounding Severus the next day, but he wasn't surprised when she was banging on his office door by noon. Sighing, he opened the door and she barged in, so absorbed with what was bothering her that she didn't immediately notice there was someone else in the room.

"Severus, we need to have a talk about last night. Now I don't know what you put in my drink but that was completely… Aurelius!" Jennifer said, her anger turning into surprise as she bit her tongue. Aurelius gazed at her fixedly, and it was quite evident that she was not the only one angry about last night's events.

"Mr. Snape, might I have a few words with Professor Craw alone? I'll speak with you later on the subject," he said, Aurelius nodding and getting up, warily passing her and stepping out of the room. Severus quickly shut the door behind him.

"Professor Craw, Mr. Snape has just been telling me a rather alarming tale about having a few words with you late last night and then waking up out of his bed this morning in one of the back hallways. Prefect Xavier found him, in fact. Now, might I ask what it is that you know about this incident?" Severus said in such a manner that it stopped Jennifer dead in her tracks. If he was handling this as a school matter, she was in deep trouble.

"Oh, Severus, really, this was a personal matter and you know it!" Jennifer protested.

"Yes, well, I'm not sure Dumbledore would agree with you."

"What? You went to Dumbledore about this?" Jennifer said, completely aghast.

"Well, no, not yet, but I'm thinking about it. I am, after all, in charge of security, and you did deliberately give an unauthorized potion to a student," Severus said sternly.

"How is it unauthorized? I had a parent's permission! My own!"

"You didn't discuss it with me!" he snapped.

"And you didn't discuss lacing my tea last night, either! Talk about hypocrisy! You know, I could just as easily go to Dumbledore about you deliberately tampering with another staff members drink!" Jennifer pointed out.

"At least I didn't do it to a student! And I also didn't leave you in a back corridor in the school all night, either!"

"I wasn't planning to leave him there all night, but you drugged me before I had a chance to put him back! I was only going to leave him there long enough for me to do what I had to so that no one was seeing double! Good stars, what a mess! What are we doing?" Jennifer said in disbelief. "This is getting out of hand. You should be on my side!"

"And you should be on mine!" Severus snapped. "Aurelius came to me as a student and you have no business interfering in that. I take care of my own, as you should be doing with your house! Tell me, when was the last time you actually used a conference to see to some of your house student's needs?"

"Stop making this about work!" Jennifer demanded.

"Well, at least I'm actually doing some!" Severus retorted. "Now I want to know every single detail of what you were doing in my student's form written and on my desk tonight, and I don't want to hear of you harassing my student in any way! If you don't comply, I will most definitely be going to Dumbledore to let him sort all of this out, and I can assure you he's not likely to be forgiving of a Potion Master intentionally knocking out a student for any reason!"

Jennifer stared at Severus for a long time as if she had never seen him before, struck speechless and coming to the conclusion that he was not going to back down. In fact, he seemed to be poised for the fight of his life. Uncertainty took hold and Jennifer found herself retreating, heading out the door and slamming it behind her. Severus finally took a breath, slumping into his chair. He gazed up at the portrait of his wife on the wall, but the painting was refusing to look at him, marching out of the frame. He let out a long drawn-out sigh, pulling himself together enough to grab a stack of papers to mark for his next class.

No one, faculty or students alike, missed the change in Jennifer over the next few days. Her usually cheerful classes were anything but, and she never appeared at meals. Severus, on the other hand, came to meals more often and seemed even more enthralled with his work than usual, staying in his office late nearly every night to finish his last revisions on OWLS and his research project, only stepping out to judge the sparring tournament, which had gotten down to the last four students in each class.

Down the hall, Andrew and Alicia had kept up their art classes, blissfully unaware, it seemed, that anything was amiss, finally putting down their brushes and heading back to their rooms with homework on their minds. Alicia, especially; the next day was the last review for their last major test, and Alicia was quite certain that whatever was on the last test would be quite heavily covered on finals.

Zoë and Zack, however, had other ideas in mind. Why didn't they just give it up, Alicia wondered. In a month school would be over, so why did they still insist on pushing their limits? Still, the constant escorts of the older students had stopped the downward spiral of points, and had got them over a hundred and twenty points to give them a very solid fourth place in the standings. But Alicia knew that if her cousins were determined to cause trouble, they would find a way. When she saw their grinning faces as they sat down for Defense, the first ones to arrive in class, Alicia was convinced that they had found a way to do just that.

Professor Snape strode in from his office, looking as if he had slept in his robes. Descartes cawed out a greeting to him while Severus scanned his class, frowning. It was more than evident that he was not in the best of moods. He squinted at the Black twins, who were being unusually quiet.

"Hand up your work please, I trust there won't be any off color remarks in the margins this time," Snape said, squinted at Zack who merely smiled at him and handed his up. "Tomorrow will be your last chance to repair whatever pathetic marks you have before the final. I trust you will all pay careful attention today. As always, not everything I cover will be on the test nor will I cover everything on the test, but if you're one of those students who tends to miss class or daze off, you may be able to manage a pass for this exercise if you get these fundamentals. So, as we covered last week…" he said, picking up a piece of chalk and turning to write on the board.

But the moment the chalk touched the board, a blaring "WE!" bellowed out from apparently nowhere, making most the class jump at the sound, including Snape himself, who was very much not amused.

"Settle down!" he snapped. "All right, who's trying to disrupt the class this time?" Snape asked, looking directly at Zack, who shrugged. Severus frowned skeptically. "Well, perhaps I'll just make sure there's no temptations, then. Wands under your desks, hands on your desks, now." Alicia sighed and got out her wand, following the instructions while glancing over at Zoë, wondering what was going on. "Let's try again, shall we?" He said, turning back around and beginning again.

But the moment the chalk hit the board again, a chorus of "DON'T!" rang out and Snape jumped away, hearing a chuckle start behind him. Quickly he whipped around to see everyone looking at him quite serious, but Severus sighed, frowning at the chalk before switching it around in his hand so he could stand with his back to the board looking at the class as he made a long line with the chalk. Several people held their ears, then as the line of the song finished out with, "NEED NO EDUCATION!" Severus smiled a very thin, dangerous smile.

"How very creative of someone," he said, his eyes flashing as he looked over at the Blacks, who merely smiled back thinly. "In that case, I will let you guess what I was going to put up and you'll have to review on your own the hard way. Everyone open to chapter Thirty-eight and copy out the entire chapter word for word before the end of the period. Anyone who does not finish will risk losing five points each for your house. My, I suppose that means Gryffindor would be back in the negative if you don't finish, doesn't it?" Severus said with a sinister smile, Zacchius meeting his gaze almost challengingly. "Well, what are you waiting for? Begin!"

But as soon as Zack and Zoë's quills hit the paper, the blaring music came out again in tune with their quill's movements. They kept writing despite Severus' protests until he finally had to grab them out of their seats at about the same time the song asked for the teacher to 'leave those kids alone,' Severus had shouted for everyone else to keep their eyes on their papers as he dragged the two of them out and nudged them in the direction of McGonagall's office. But when he got there, he found it empty and he frowned, knowing quite well she normally had a conference that period.

"Very well, since Weasley has class, I suppose you can take this up with Dumbledore," Severus said. "March!" he ordered. Instead of being more concerned, Zoë especially behaved more excited to be seeing the Headmaster himself, making Severus all the more annoyed about the entire situation. But as he neared the study, he heard his name and saw Jennifer heading towards him, looking worried.

"What are you doing out of class?"

"I got an urgent note from Dumbledore, didn't you? Why are they with you?" Jennifer asked puzzledly. "Is this about you two?" Severus frowned, wondering if he hadn't missed an owl in the shuffle and climbed up the stairs, finding both Minerva and Hermione there with an arm around Andrew.

Dumbledore blinked in surprise to see the twins, looking at Severus questioningly.

"Why is Andrew here? What's going on?" Severus asked.

"You didn't get my note?" Dumbledore inquired.

"I was handling a class disruption," Severus snapped, Minerva frowning at the twins disapprovingly. "Is something wrong?" Dumbledore nodded to Hermione.

"Well, I was worried about Andrew when he didn't make it to Charms this morning and went looking for him. He was in the art room. Apparently he'd been painting all night…" Minerva said, hesitating. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"He finished the painting?" Severus asked, aware that beside him Jennifer's face had paled and wavered in stunned silence after reading Hermione's face.

"Please tell me this is some sort of nightmare," Jennifer said. "You can't really believe that painting shows what you think it does! I don't care what Aurelius has gotten himself into! He wouldn't cast an Unforgivable curse on his own brother!" she snapped angrily.

"You may want to step over here a moment, Jennifer," Dumbledore said quietly, and reluctantly the two of them went over to glance at the painting. Beside the armor was the crudely painted but unmistakable figure of Aurelius, waving his wand as if casting on the painter. It was Dumbledore, not Severus, who had moved quick enough to catch her, setting her down in his own desk chair while Jennifer gazed at the painting with the emptiness of someone who had just been struck by a fatal blow. "Hermione, I think you had better escort these two to the other office and deal with that matter separately. They do not need to be witnesses to what I must now do. Minerva, please let Severus and Jennifer's classes go, and fetch Aurelius Snape."

"I believe he's in the middle of a test with Professor Scribe…"

"That doesn't really matter now," Dumbledore said in a tone that sent chills through both the Black children as they were lead out.

"Mum? Are you all right?" Andrew asked worriedly, but Severus gentle but firm glance quieted him. Dumbledore turned to Andrew smiling sympathetically.

"The question is are you all right?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes! I'm fine! Really, I think everyone's making too big of a deal out of this. Can't we just forget the whole thing? I mean, no hard feelings and all that! Let's just forget it," Andrew blurted out.

"It's much too late for that," Severus said in a low voice.

"Yes, I'm afraid your father is right," Dumbledore said. "If someone is capable of casting such a spell upon another student, let alone their own brother, than I must act. That is, if he truly was the one who did this."

"It was," Jennifer said softly, nodding to herself as she gazed at the painting. "Somehow, I know it was him."

No one spoke then, and Jennifer was only vaguely aware of Severus moving to Andrew's side, sharing a few private words with him before taking a stance behind his chair. Several moments later Jennifer heard the door open, but she couldn't bring herself to look around.

"Aurelius," Dumbledore said, stepping in front of the desk. "There is something very serious that we need to talk about." Aurelius glanced briefly between his parents, his mother still refusing to look at him, then gazed at his brother before he sighed, turning back to him.

"What do you want, Dumbledore?" he said in such a cocky tone that Severus hissed. "Sorry, Professor Dumbledore," he corrected in such a snide tone that Jennifer looked over in sheer disbelief.

"Do you happen to recall the day we discovered your brother in the art closet, Aurelius?"

"I don't think I've been Obliviated since then, no," Aurelius said, his mother getting up and walking over to face the wall.

"It is good that your brother wasn't either," Dumbledore said evenly. "He has finally managed to make a breakthrough. Apparently, whoever ordered him not to tell anyone specifically implied telling with words, not art. He painted this…" the Headmaster said, turning it around.

"So now a piece of bad art is an accusation? Please, don't waste my time. Even if he could say anything, it's his word against mine," Aurelius said.

"Jennifer, would you happen to have any Veritaserum handy?" Dumbledore asked.

"I have," Severus said, his eyes flashing.

"What? You can't do that! I protect other's secrets other than my own. I protect yours, Dumbledore!" Aurelius reminded him.

"If that is what it will take, Aurelius," Dumbledore said quietly, but Aurelius backed away only to discover McGonagall was standing behind him.

"Okay! Okay, fine, I admit it. Andrew had been following me again… he'd been following me for weeks, thanks to him!" Aurelius shouted, pointed at his father who merely stared expressionlessly back. "He was asking for it, so I did it! Besides, I needed a Gryffindor's help to get the Sword. I had been planning to get the twins to do it, but then Andrew came so I cast the Imperius Curse on him, but that's all. I'd never do anything to hurt him."

"What happened to the Sword, Aurelius? The Sword you had Andrew steal for you?" Severus demanded.

"I gave it to someone who actually cares about me!" Aurelius snapped back at him. "The two of you never cared about anything but your stupid careers and that pathetic toy mudblood!"

"Enough!" Dumbledore boomed, causing even Aurelius to cower a bit as he stood over him. "You have cast an Unforgivable Curse within this school upon a fellow student, and this is something I cannot possibly overlook. In fact, it would be well within my rights to send an Owl to the Ministry for such a crime, but out of respect for your parents, and because of what they and others will have to endure because of your selfish acts, I will merely ask you now to hand over your wand, for you are no longer welcome to attend this school."

Aurelius looked hard at Dumbledore's serious, disappointed face before glancing at his parents…Severus with a steady hand on Andrew who looked as if he were going to cry outright and his mother, still standing with her back to him, tears on her cheeks.

"Fine. I don't want to be apart of this stinking school anyhow, and I never liked the wand," Aurelius said, handing it to Dumbledore. "I'm going to pack."

"You won't be allowed back in your rooms," Dumbledore told him. "I'll have your things sent home."

"Yes, perhaps I should be taking you there. I don't relish what we're going to have to tell your grandfather about this," Severus said, turning to get his cloak.

"What? That's not home. I'm not going back there. What do you expect me to do all day?"

"I expect we'll have to enroll you in a Muggle school! Now I suggest you be very quiet, before I lose what little restraint I have left!" Severus snapped.

"Oh, well, we can't have that, can we? We can't have everyone thinking you're as poor of a father as you are a teacher! Well, I've news for you! I've no intention of going anywhere I'm not wanted or appreciated anymore!" Aurelius shouted storming towards the door. Jennifer turned around in alarm.

"What do you mean by that? Where do you think you're going?"

"To the only person who has ever made me feel like I'm anything other than a lesser son! I'm going to Malfoy's!" Aurelius said, dashing out the door.

"No!" Jennifer said hurrying towards the door only to be stopped by Severus, pulling her back even though she was struggling to get free.

"Jennifer… Jennifer, we can't stop him!" Severus told her sternly.

"Let me go! He can't do this!" Jennifer said, kicking him hard.

"If we take him home he'll just leave the moment our back is turned!" Severus snapped. "It's too late, Jennifer! He's lost to us!"

Jennifer suddenly froze, her face paling again as she looked at Severus with pure cold anger.

"How could you of all people dare to say that? How could you stand there and allow this to happen?" she demanded. "It is not too late and I am not giving up! And the only thing I think I've lost tonight is my faith in you!"

"Where are you going, Jennifer? Please, you mustn't do anything too drastic! You're not thinking clearly," Minerva said, gently taking her shoulder before she made it to the door.

"I'm going to talk to Danny," Jennifer snapped. "And Minerva, I want my own set of rooms, otherwise, I'll be in my office," she said coldly. "You wanted to handle this professionally, Professor Snape, fine. You've now got your wish." With that, Jennifer took off, leaving Minerva to look back over worriedly between Severus and Andrew, both plastered with the same horrified expressions on their faces.

"It's times like these when I really feel like disappearing," Andrew murmured. Dumbledore gazed at him silently. Severus forced himself together.

"Yes, why don't you and I go have a talk?" Severus said. Andrew nodded slowly, getting up and going over to his side, Dumbledore and Minerva smiling at them encouragingly as they walked towards the door.

"You know, I haven't lost faith in you, Father," Andrew said softly, breaking an uncomfortable silence hanging over the room. "I haven't lost faith in Aurelius either."

"Good," Severus said solemnly. "Neither have I," he added, leading the two of them to his office.