Rose Among the Thorns: The Third Evans Sister

By Jedi Blu, Lady at Large

Standard Disclaimer Found In Previous Chapters

Italics are thoughts, emphasized words, or letters.

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: For Better, Or For Worse?

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The first week of the honeymoon went by quickly as they finished transferring all of Rose's belongings to their new home, as well as the things she had inherited from her mother and father. They also transferred all of her funds into a joint account at Gringotts and looked into the financial status of the stocks Rose's father had left to her. Soon the Snapes had everything a'right and could begin to enjoy their home.

Of course, every few hours one or the other would get playful and they'd pause in their work to enjoy each other's company.... In the back yard, in the meadow, in the forest, in the attic, in the laboratory, in the kitchen, in the bedroom.... Whether it was in the middle of the day or late at night, the timing mattered little to them. Rose also proved to be very adept at lovemaking and a quick learner. Severus did not have one complaint and found, not to his surprise, that he had never enjoyed being with anyone as he did with Rose.

They went out to Diagon Alley on the third morning of their second week together, with Rose determined to purchase a small dinner table. Picnics were all very well and good, she had said, but she was tired of having them on the floor in the kitchen.

The two split up, Severus decided he would run over and check on business since he was in town anyway, and it didn't take Rose long to arrange for the table she wanted to be delivered to her home. She then wandered off to Flourish and Blotts, wanting to check and see if they had a book in she had been waiting for.

She was standing in the medical aisle, pouring over Wizened Wizards Medical Monthly, when she felt someone tap on her shoulder. Rose turned curiously, her lips pursed in annoyance at being bothered, when she looked up to see the man who stood behind her.

Sirius Black, handsome as ever, was gazing evenly down at her. "Hello, Rose," he said softly, his light eyes giving away no emotion. "I understand congratulations are in order."

Stiffly, Rose stepped away from him and folded her arms across her chest. "I wouldn't expect them coming from you, Black, and I doubt they'd be very sincere. But yes, Severus and I are married."

He remained expressionless. "He's lucky, then. He has someone he deserves."

It wasn't a compliment, and Rose knew it. She tilted her chin up, gazing evenly up at him. "Thank you, I am flattered you think I am a match for his brilliant mind and power."

His disgusted frown was answer enough for that remark. "I've tried to think up a good wedding gift, but the only thing fitting this union would be a pet snake or two," he said softly, narrowing his eyes at her. "They would suit you, especially if I managed a poisonous breed."

She would not rise to his bait, she knew how his mind worked and he was not the best when it came to stinging arguments. His gift was in response, not an initial attack. She had seen that once all ready. So Rose allowed herself to smile at him, charmingly so, and shrugged. "Your words can't hurt me, Black. I don't understand why you would bother to gain my attention only to try and bait me into an argument. It's childish, and it won't work. Tell me, what do you hope to gain from this conversation?" she asked sweetly, tilting her head to one side as a curious little girl might've. "What's your secret?"

Bristling, Sirius could only glare at her for a moment before leaning closer to her, speaking softly. "I don't understand you, and I don't understand why I feel the need to confront you every time I lay eyes on you. I was once drawn to you in attraction, perhaps now it is only because you're an interesting sight...like Muggles go to a freak show I come to look at you and wonder what sort of creature you are."

Rose chuckled and shook her head at him, not in the least intimidated. "You have such a way with words, Mr. Black, but I grow tired of listening to you. If you're going to threaten me then do so, I have other business to attend to today."

He was ready to answer, perhaps with another biting remark, when someone cleared their throat from behind him.

"I think you'd better leave Rose alone, Padfoot." It was James Potter, giving his friend a disapproving frown. "Stop harassing her."

Sirius shot one more glare at Rose before turning and storming past his best friend, out of the shop.

James offered Rose a tentative smile. "I hope he wasn't bothering you too much, Rose."

"He wasn't. I could've handled it myself," she returned, feeling defensive.

"I'm sure you could have, but I wanted to help you. We're family now, after all." He shrugged then offered her a parting wave before turning and leaving the bookstore as well, with Rose standing in mute surprise.

Sirius was waiting for James when he came out of the shop, clenching his fists and frowning darkly at the world in general.

"That was stupid, Padfoot," James said softly when he came to stand beside his best friend. "Very stupid. She's a married woman, she can't stand the sight of you, so why are you still obsessed with her?"

"I'm not," Sirius barked, short with his friend. "I don't give a damn about her, or about Snape. I just find them both disgusting and would love to hex them into the last century."

"We did enough of that during school," James said, keeping his voice low still in an attempt to calm his friend. "Drop it Sirius, and grow up like the rest of us. There are much more serious things in the world to worry about than Rose and Snape."

"Right." Sirius sighed and smiled wearily at his friend. "Like the Order."

"Like the Order," James agreed. "C'mon, buy you a firewhiskey."

"Thanks, mate."

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Severus Snape sat up in bed, his back to the headboard, holding Rose against him and playing gently with her hair, curling one lock around his finger only to let it loose to do so again. He had just imparted information to her that was dangerous, and exciting in his opinion. She was now silent, running her finger along the outline of his tattoo after finally having received the explanation for it. She hadn't asked before…perhaps because she hadn't wanted to know. At the moment the tattoo was as warm as the rest of his skin, and not the fire he described it as when he was being summoned.

"You joined He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Rose whispered at last, shaking her head in surprise. "You're a Death Eater." It wasn't a question; it was a cold statement of fact.

"I am," he answered with an indifferent tone. "The Dark Lord is powerful, and by following him I am in the wake of such power. I have learned a great deal from him."

Rose shuddered, snatching her fingers away from the tattoo. "Have you? Like what? Killing Muggles 101?"

To her surprise, Severus chuckled. "No. I'm not a cold-blooded killer, Rose. Everyone's wrong about that point; some of the Death Eaters do get over-zealous in their actions and spells but they never kill without reason. And I have yet to be involved in anything like that. Mostly I'm a researcher and a lab worker. It's become a great deal like a job; I get paid for a lot of what I do. My Lord also seeks my opinions on things; he says that a fresh mind is a valuable tool."

The witch nodded mutely, staring down at the blankets which covered her body. She could feel his arm, the one with the tattoo, slide around her waist and pull her closely to him. She felt her eyes prickle with tears even as her mind was torn asunder with conflicting arguments. "This is what you were talking about on the train. This is the project you want my help with."

He didn't answer except to place a kiss at the nape of her neck. "I could use you, Rose," he whispered onto her skin. "Your expertise with healing potions and concoctions, your prowess with medical magic…. I can handle it all on my own, but juggling too many things at once...I don't need to become sloppy. Your talent would be appreciated, you would be paid handsomely, and we would work together for a very powerful wizard."

"I don't know, Severus." She shuddered and turned to press her cheek against his chest, curling herself closer to him. "This is a war and I don't know if I want to be a part of it."

"It's behind the scenes, Rose," he whispered. "I doubt you'll ever see any fighting and the Death Eaters keep their secrets well."

Rose thought of her sister; Lily would most certainly not approve of taking part in this war, especially on this side of things. But Severus had woven a convincing story of power, loyalty, and a fierce pride in ancient magic. "This wouldn't be just a job. It would be choosing sides, and it's the side that most the world fears and hopes will lose...."

"That doesn't mean it will. The Dark Lord has a vision and a dream for the wizarding world. He's tired of hiding from muggles and wants to show the world that magic still exists. He wants to be the right hand of kings and queens, as wizards were in days long past." Severus tipped her chin up, forcing her beautiful green eyes to clash with his obsidian pools. "As wizards and witches should have been before the world became crazy with the need to burn away every trace of magic left. Muggles destroyed what was, afraid of those who held power greater than their own. They made wizards and witches outcasts, killing any they thought possessed a gift with magic. The Dark Lord wants to make it right again and show them that magic was never a myth but always a truth just beyond their grasp."

The young woman shivered, staring into the eyes of the man she had married with slight fear. "He sounds like Hitler, Severus."

Severus winced and pulled away from her, putting several inches between them. "He is nothing like that racist muggle pig. The Dark Lord doesn't wish to exterminate anyone, he wants only to bring the power of magic to the surface of the world once more." For an hour more Severus lectured her, rehearsing to her every word that Lord Voldemort had ever breathed to his followers, using every gesture and argument he could to convince Rose to follow his path.

In the end she asked to think about it. He had, to her surprise, become angry. What was there to think on, he had demanded. Was she with him or not?

He stormed out on those words, shrugging into a shirt after pulling on trousers. He flew out of the cottage, burning with frustration and anger.

Rose sat alone for long, lingering minutes in the cottage. It was dark outside, approaching midnight. She was tired and emotionally drained from arguing with Severus. She didn't like arguing with him, that much she had learned that night.

"For better or for worse," she whispered to herself with a dry smile. "I wonder if this is the worse." She climbed out of bed and pulled on one of his shirts, it fell to her knees and the sleeves went further than her finger-tips. She buttoned it hastily and then went out into the night with a sigh of resignation.

Severus stood glaring out into the darkness, twenty yards away from the cottage and in the meadow, with his arms firmly folded across his chest. He did not so much as flicker an eyelash at her when Rose slid up next to him and put a gentle hand to his shoulder.

"Severus," she began, softly. "Why are you so upset with me? I asked a reasonable thing, I only asked for a bit of time to think this out. It's a big decision, it's choosing sides for a war. Any sensible person would ask for what I have."

"Don't you trust me?" he bit out, turning his cold black eyes down on her for a moment. "Don't you trust that I would weigh out the merits of this to determine what the risks and rewards are?"

"It's not a matter of trust," she responded, putting the palm of her hand against his cheek, meeting his icy stare with the warm green of her own. "It's a matter of choice. Whatever I decide, I want to be the only one I have to blame for it. I want to be the one to blame for the consequences; I want to be the able to accept my failure or success as mine alone. I don't want to blame you for a mistake later down the road. I'm not sure what else I can say to you to make you understand."

He shook his head and broke eye contact, staring off into the trees. "What more do you need to know? What more can I do to help you make this choice?" Though sarcasm dripped from the final word Rose knew her husband well enough to realize he would do anything she asked of him. That was his way, to close himself off emotionally or sneer at what he did not understand. It was his only defense against a world he believed had no use for him. Despite his initiation into the Death Eaters he still lacked that final bit of confidence that could make him one of the greatest wizards in the world.

Sucking in a quick breath, Rose hesitated before making her answer. "I would like to meet this Dark Lord, I would like to hear from his own mouth what his vision is."

Severus, to her surprise, nodded at once. "Then I'll need to teach you some Occlumency."

"He's a Legilimens?" Rose shook her head, bemused. "I'm not surprised. You don't trust him completely then?"

He met her eyes squarely and in a tone that caused her to shiver he replied, "I don't trust anyone completely."

And Rose knew she was included in that cold, blanket statement.

And there you have it.

SNEAK PREVIEW: Chapter 38, entitled A Death Eater At Home is one of those irritating chapters that is only around to move the story along faster. Oh, and Severus gets a black eye. Chapter 39, June 1980, finds the Snapes beginning to struggle with their marriage and we get a tiny peek of a proudly expecting Lily Potter. Chapter 40…Snape fans won't like it. I'll just give you the title. Pretty self-explanatory: The Failure of Severus Snape.

To My Reviewers:

Kiss-of-Cuteness: Thank you, glad you appreciated the non-graphicness of last chapter. :-) Yes, I'm a HUGE fan of Princess Bride, the 'Good Parts' version. I love alluding to that book…. Watch for more from it.

Evil Duckie of the Blacklagoon: You make me smile. Thank you so much for the continued reviews.

Loraliant Angelisa Snape: No, I haven't answered your questions and I haven't the time today, either. You're lucky to get a chapter out of me! :-D Mid-terms.

Rae Roberts: Don't you DARE say a disapproving word about my parenthesis! You'll hurt their feelings! Thank you for your reading and I'm glad you're enjoying things. Now I've posted, where's YOUR next chapter?

Turtle: Thank you! I love reviews!

Emikae: Sorry I haven't emailed you yet. I'll try and do that today, but in the event you see this first, you're MORE than welcome to post a link to my story. It would be an honor, and a writer always loves to increase her readers. Thanks!

Dnd4ever: Does your name mean something significant? Hope you got your FF.N troubles resolved!

Rinny Z: You're a nut shy of a squirrel, kiddo. S'ok, I love you anyway. Leaving things to your imagination was probably the best thing I could've done…I don't know if my writing could've lived up to your expectations.

Maya)-sleepy: Nosy mothers. It seems everyone WAS really happy with how things were done in the end. I'm glad, I was nervous about that.

Nabenabe: Ah! You've been with me through the beginning and I'm grateful for your honest praise! Tasteful, eh? Good! Thank you a thousand times over!

Lydia: Will email after next week's mid-terms are over. Have a hundred essays due and a ton of tests. Kill me now. College. Yuck. Anyway, thank you. I tried to throw in as many things as I could that would make the Honeymoon chapter work, candles, ticklishness, and I didn't want to deal with the Dark Mark right away. I do need to go edit the first few chapters. When I started this story I wasn't 100 clear how it was going to end so I left a lot of vague stuff in the first chapters. Hm. TTYL!

See ya next week! I hope!

-JB-