Author's Notes: Not only does Snape have to face the fact that he and Mira
have been involved in a horrible plot, the reasons which unknown; he has a
revelation regarding his ineptitude at romance.
Disclaimers: Nothing you recognize from the books or movies belongs to me.
Chapter 58: What a Tangled Web We Weave
In a sudden jerking motion, Professor Snape found himself stumbling back off of the sidewalk in front of the tailor shop. The security wards were in place; his apparition into the apartment was blocked. He was pounding on the door when Sirius Black apparated onto the sidewalk next to him.
"You couldn't get in?"
"If I could have gotten in, I would be in. The anti-apparition ward is in place. I've been able to release all the security wards I taught her, but she must have done something to the lock. Alohomora won't even budge it.
Sirius reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a muggle Swiss Army knife and handed it to the professor.
"Here, it's Harry's, it'll unlock any magical lock"
Snape used the knife to pick the lock on the door. He flung it open and both wizards rushed through the door, immediately caught in what seemed like an invisible snare and yanked upside down by their feet. Sirius swore in frustration at the trap they found themselves caught in.
"She had a bloody anti-gravity mist trap set! Don't tell me you taught her that trick too?"
"Shut up Black, and no, I didn't."
The wizards quickly defeated the booby trap and stood still, looking around the dark store; the only light was the faint glow coming from their wands. Professor Snape saw the owl scrolls in a pile under the owl perch in the corner. With a sinking feeling, he feared she might not be there, or they might be too late in getting to her. Both men tensed, their wands at the ready when they heard a noise upstairs.
"Stay here Black."
"Oh no, you're not going up there alone. We don't know who or what might be up there."
"Spare me the heroics, Black. I need you to cover me while I climb the stairs."
Warily, they walked through the store and into the back room. Professor Snape motioned for Sirius to stay back as he slowly approached the staircase, wand at the ready.
"Mira! Are you up there?"
The only reply was a noise, which sounded like a person moving around the rooms upstairs.
"Mira; if you're there, I need to speak with you."
"Go away!"
"Mira, love. It's me. I'm coming up to find out what's happened."
The moment his foot touched the first step of the staircase, a ceramic vase came sailing down the stairwell and shattered against the wall behind him. Both wizards jumped back out of the way. Professor Snape called back up the staircase.
"Mira, listen to me. I don't know what's happened to you, but you're safe now. Do you understand? We've come to help you"
"Who's with you?"
"Sirius, Sirius Black."
"Stand in front of the staircase, so I can see you. Both of you."
Sirius looked towards Professor Snape with an unsure look on his face. The professor nodded and gestured towards the stairs. They stood with their wands at their sides, peering into the darkness, but could only detect a shadow of movement at the top of the stairs.
"Okay, you can come up, but only one of you."
Professor Snape motioned for Sirius to stand off to the side and cover him while he climbed the stairs. As he reached the top, he noticed that Mira's apartment was very dark. He stepped into the sitting room, trying to see in the dim light radiating from the tip of his wand.
"Stop right there and drop your wand."
"Mira, where are you?"
"Drop your wand. Or do you think that the anti-gravity mist is the only thing I have set to protect myself?"
Snape tried to determine where the voice was coming from, but she seemed to have enchanted her voice to come from all directions at once.
"Mira, it's me. Where are you? Let me see that you're okay."
"You heard me, drop the fucking wand!"
"How do I know it's really you?"
"Well, how do I know it's really you either? Drop your wand or leave."
Snape stood motionless, debating what to do. Drop the wand and trust that it was really Mira, start firing random disarming curses in all directions and hope to hit something, or retreat and come back upstairs with Black as backup.
Logic and common sense clouded by emotion, he reached out and set his wand down on the back of the sofa.
"Good, now walk towards my voice."
Mira's voice was now focused, coming from the direction of the bedroom door. Snape started to walk towards her voice, hoping he had not set himself up for an ambush.
"That's it, keep walking."
He skirted around the end of the sofa in the sitting room, and stepped towards the bedroom door.
"A few more steps."
"Stop!"
Mira said an incantation to light the lamps in the bedroom, and the professor found himself standing in front of her. Before he could turn around, she stuck her wand in the small of his back.
"Don't move a muscle or I swear to God I will curse you."
"Mira, calm down. What's happened?"
"Shut up and step into the light."
Professor Snape stepped forward into Mira's bedroom, and immediately noticed that some kind of a struggle had taken place, the room was in disarray and there was a spattering of blood on one of the walls.
"Mira, what happened? Did somebody hurt you?"
"Turn around and show me your eyes."
"What? My eyes?"
"You heard me, turn around into the light and show me your eyes!"
The professor slowly turned around and inhaled sharply when he saw the state Mira was in. Her hair was disheveled and wild, and she had a bruised and bloody bottom lip. Her arms were bruised in what looked like the pattern of handprints. He reached out towards her but she jumped back and pointed the wand at his chest.
"Stop! I haven't seen your eyes yet. Put your hands behind your back."
He clasped his hands behind his back and looked at her in puzzlement as she stepped very close and stared intently at his eyes, and then his whole face.
"Who did this to you?"
"You."
"Mira, what are you talking about? I wouldn't harm a hair on your head."
"All I know is that you arranged to meet me here on New Year's Eve, but something wasn't right about you. And then you just lost it and went off on me."
"Mira, I can assure you that I did not come here on New Year's Eve. Headmaster Dumbledore and all the heads of house at Hogwarts can vouch for my whereabouts."
"Well, if it wasn't you, who the hell was it. Because it certainly looked like you."
"Looked like me Mira? Are you saying that somebody who looked like me but who was not me, arranged to meet you here and did something to you?"
"Yes. I guess. I don't know! All I know is that you came to visit me but your eyes looked strange, your voice sounded strange, and you smelled different. I pulled some of your hair out, but later on I noticed it had changed color, it turned white. At first I thought it was somebody pretending to be you. But that's not possible. Is it?"
"Mira, love. Where were you the night after your trip to London with the girls?"
"I stayed on at Susan's house, to spend a little more time with Tricia. Why?"
"And you didn't come home that night at all?"
"No, why?"
"Mira, I don't know how to tell you this, but yes, it is possible for somebody to disguise themselves as another that convincingly. I think somebody used magic to pretend to be me in order to deceive you. Who or why, I'm not entirely sure."
Mira sat down on the edge of her bed, and dropped her wand to the floor. She leaned forward and clasped her arms around her knees. The professor looked around her bedroom, and noticed the brooch he had given her, with the blood on the pin.
"Is this your blood, Mira?"
"No, his"
Snape pocketed the brooch and kept looking around the room. He found the scroll with the Hogwarts seal on her dressing table and unrolled it. He recognized the seal and parchment, but realized the handwriting was a poor attempt at copying his, and he certainly had not written the letter. He pocketed that as well and went to Mira's side. He knelt down at her side, and took her hand.
"I need you to come back with me to Hogwarts. I want Madame Pomfrey to look at your injuries, and I need to talk to you some more about what happened. But not here, not like this. Alright?"
She shook her head, and he gathered up a few of her things in her overnight bag. After helping her into a clean robe and wrapping her winter cloak around her shoulders, he handed her back her wand, and walked her into the sitting room. He sat her down on the sofa and asked if Sirius could come up for a minute. She shook her head, and Snape retrieved his wand and went to fetch the other wizard. Sirius helped him go over her apartment once again, trying to find any more clues as to what happened. Black found a button, which had been ripped off of a men's tunic coat. Snape found a clump of silvery hair with a little blood at the roots as well as the voice charm Mira had dislodged in her struggles.
On their way out the door, he turned to extinguish the lamp, and the sight of something glittering in the folds of the curtain caught his attention. He retrieved it and recognized it as a far seeing orb. Pocketing the bauble, he extinguished the lamp and helped Mira down the stairs, and to the floo fireplace. Snape started the fire and activated the floo connection. He spoke with Dumbledore via fire talking, and sent Sirius on through to the Headmaster's office with Mira's overnight bag. He secured the store, and put out a large bowl of water and a tray of owl pellets for Swiftfeather, then secured the owl window. The owl flapped his wings in indignation over being confined indoors. Mira went to his perch and stroked the feathers on his wing.
"Sorry Swiftfeather, but we can't take any chances until we find out what happened and who's behind it all."
The bird ruffled his feathers and settled onto his perch. The professor took Mira gently by the arm, mindful of her bruises, and walked her to the fireplace. He grabbed a large handful of floo powder from the urn on the ground next to the hearth, and wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders. With a flash of green fire, they disappeared from the tailor shop and stepped off the hearth of the fireplace in Dumbledore's office.
Harry and Sirius were gone, but the headmaster was waiting for them by the fireplace.
"I hope you don't mind, I sent them home. Harry has been under some strain lately, and I felt that the less he was involved in this, the better. Now, come sit by the fire for a minute while I make some arrangements."
Professor Snape approached the old wizard and asked if he could take Mira directly to the chambers she had stayed in during her holiday visit at the school. Madame Pomfrey could attend to her there, in a setting she felt safe and comfortable in. He also asked the headmaster to give him some time alone with her before debriefing him on what was seen and found at the tailor shop. Consent given, Professor Snape walked Mira down to the guest chamber and inserted the key, which he had found on her key ring with the rest of her keys. The door opened to reveal the familiar golden room, which she had spent the Christmas holiday in. A house-elf had already brought her overnight bag down and set it on the floor next to the wardrobe. The professor requested a pot of tea be sent over. The tea service materialized on the small table against the sitting room wall. He sat with Mira before the fire, and listened to her hazy account of what happened, until Madame Pomfrey arrived to examine Mira's injuries.
After a quiet examination in the bedchamber, the healer witch detailed Mira's injuries to the professor. She had been roughed up quite harshly, but suffered no serious harm. She also calmed his fears and said that whoever roughed her up had taken no inappropriate liberties with her while she was unconscious. She detailed the fact that Mira had been subjected to a poor attempt at the Obliviate curse, and it had not fully taken, hence her dream-like memories of the attack. Mira's arms would be sore for a few days, but the healing salve should take care of her bruises in a couple of days. Professor Snape thanked the woman and showed her to the door.
He placed the jar of healing salve inside Mira's bag and opened the secret passageway to his private chambers. Propriety be damned, he did not want to leave her alone that night, not even a few short steps away. She could spend the night in his private chambers, and if anybody felt it inappropriate, they could answer to his wand. He took her through to his chambers, sealed the passageway to the guest suite, and had her sit in the chair in the corner of his bedroom while he drew her a warm bath.
While the large stone bathtub was filling, he went into his laboratory and gathered up a bowl full of various dried flowers and herbs. He tied them up in a piece of cloth and dropped the bundle into the steaming water. After the water was infused with the healing botanicals, he helped her out of her robe, and into the bath. While she soaked in the warm soothing water, he noticed the full extent of her bruises and the sight made him seethe with anger.
The Professor had a good idea of who was behind the attack, but wanted to discuss it with Dumbledore before drawing any more conclusions. He would know for certain once the far seeing crystal could be examined more closely. After allowing her a good long soak in the bath, he brought her a towel and the overnight bag he had packed for her. Her healing salve applied and a mild sedative potion administered, Snape settled her down in his large bed and sat at the edge until she fell asleep. He then went into his sitting room and contacted the headmaster via the fireplace. Dumbledore arrived at the Potions wing within minutes, for a debriefing.
Professor Snape showed the headmaster the items taken from Mira's apartment. The bloody brooch, the button, the forged scroll, the lock of hair, the voice charm, and the far seeing orb, as well as the hair elastic he had found in his own pocket.
The two wizards agreed. It had to have been the Malfoys. The platinum blonde hairs, the motivation for such a heinous deception, and the knowledge and ability to brew the polyjuice potion all led to the same conclusion. Dumbledore suggested that professor Snape get Flitwick's help in accessing the images captured by the far seeing orb. But Snape reminded the old man that the images captured by the orb weren't to be shown indiscriminately, and he did not want the orb leaving his possession. He wasn't quite sure he was going to tell Mira about it or about his own deception. He decided it would serve no real purpose to inform her, at least not now.
Both men agreed that it would be best for Mira to remain at Hogwarts until the matter was resolved. If Lucius Malfoy really was back on the scene, and being assisted by his wife; Mira would be safest at the castle. In the morning, Dumbledore would contact her family and arrange for some more of her things to be brought to the castle and for the village girl who helped at the shop to take over for a while.
A short time after he left the professor, Dumbledore had a far sight viewing crystal delivered to the potions laboratory via house-elf. Professor Snape carried the device into his sitting room and set about trying to bring the viewing crystal and seeing orb into synch. If he could figure out the correct alignment of energies, they could be united as a set and he would be able to see what, if anything, was captured by the device in Mira's apartment.
That night, he took an alertness potion and stayed up all night, working on the crystal, and keeping an eye on Mira as she slept. The next day, Dumbledore sent word to Mira's cousin telling her to arrange for the shop girl to watch the store, as Mira would be staying at the castle for a while. He also requested that some of her clothes and other necessities be packed and put on one of the school carriages at the train station. After the carriage arrived, house-elves saw to unpacking her things and fixing up the guest chambers for an extended stay.
Mira bided her time helping Professor Sprout in the greenhouses, while Professor Snape worked tirelessly on the far seeing crystal. He worked on it while she was away with Professor Sprout, and with the continued use of alertness potions, while she slept as well. On the fourth day, he cracked the code and brought the crystal and orb into alignment with each other. He watched the slightly fish-eyed view of Mira's apartment. Whoever had placed it there was stalking her with voyeuristic obsession. Watching her sleep, watching her bathe, watching her dress and undress. Her most vulnerable and intimate moments. As uncomfortable as watching his lover's private activities play out through the crystal made him feel, he was not prepared for the last scenario recorded by the device.
He watched with growing uneasiness as Narcissa Malfoy entered the room and began setting the stage for her ruse. He sat, transfixed to the viewer, unable to look away yet horrified by what he knew was going to be shown. He was repulsed at being duped into bedding this woman with whom he had a thorny past. But also, he was ashamed at how he treated her during the rendezvous.
He realized, that at the time, it wasn't Narcissa, it was Mira, the woman whom he claimed to love. But in the scenario playing out before his eyes, he treated her as nothing more than a mistress. Had he just bothered to sit with her and talk with her and ask her about her trip into London, maybe Narcissa would have slipped up and exposed the whole ruse. But, he had gone to her with one thing, and only one thing, in mind. He regretted how he had used her, and how he often took her for granted.
He struggled with that aspect of his life. He never really had a serious romantic relationship. Not even the affair with his first lover ventured much farther than the physical. Women either used him for power or he used them for pleasure. Love was something new. He didn't know how to cultivate a relationship. Memories of his parents' relationship were of no help. They had a stereotypical highborn arranged marriage. A favorable merger of two family bloodlines. Love, much less affection, was never even part of the equation. Having been raised to enter into a marriage based in familial duty, not love, he felt as if he were muddling through it and swore at himself for being so inept.
His attention drawn back to images in the crystal, he wondered to himself: Why the ruse? Why after all these years, would she go through the risk and trouble to do this? That was something the crystal could not show him. He did know that the Malfoys were a pair of very twisted individuals and they thrived on playing mind games and orchestrating elaborate revenge scenarios.
Realizing that Lucius had been sitting at home, watching his wife come to another man in the body of another woman made his stomach turn. Was this merely some form of erotic game for the Malfoys? And the thought of Lucius Malfoy, sitting and watching Mira at her most intimate and vulnerable moments, caused him to hurl the far seeing orb across the room in a fit of rage, where it shattered against the stone wall. It was destroyed evidence, but evidence that had the potential to cause further harm. It was best that Mira never knew of the crystal and orb, and with the orb destroyed, Lucius could not access the images ever again.
Besides, the professor had already made up his mind. If he got to Lucius first, there would be nothing left of him to bring into court for an inquiry. Had it not been for Dumbledore's constant checking on him to make sure he didn't leave to try anything foolish, he would already have paid a visit to the Malfoy country estate. Dumbledore managed to convince the professor to wait. He would alert the ministry that there was a credible report that Malfoy was not dead but alive and committing more acts of treachery. They would start surveillance on the Malfoy's country estate as well as their supposedly unplottable city residence, which seemed to have been abandoned shortly before the battles. Once the ministry determined where Lucius was holed up, and who all was assisting him, they would make their move to bring him in for trial. But, Professor Snape was forced to give his word to Dumbledore that he would not act on his own. Dumbledore feared that the disturbing dreams Harry was experiencing could be related. He didn't mention the dreams to Professor Snape just yet, but kept them in mind as he tried to figure out what it all meant. And until he knew what the professor's role in all of this was, he wanted to proceed cautiously
That night, after supper, Professor Snape made a point to sit down with Mira and ask her how her afternoon in the greenhouses went, and to carry on an actual conversation with her. He found that it was easier than he had expected it to be, and surprisingly pleasant to carry on a discussion not related to anything of great consequence. Not that he had any desire to spend time in the teachers' lounge, making inane chit-chat with Professor Sprout over tea and biscuits. After all, he did have his limits.
Disclaimers: Nothing you recognize from the books or movies belongs to me.
Chapter 58: What a Tangled Web We Weave
In a sudden jerking motion, Professor Snape found himself stumbling back off of the sidewalk in front of the tailor shop. The security wards were in place; his apparition into the apartment was blocked. He was pounding on the door when Sirius Black apparated onto the sidewalk next to him.
"You couldn't get in?"
"If I could have gotten in, I would be in. The anti-apparition ward is in place. I've been able to release all the security wards I taught her, but she must have done something to the lock. Alohomora won't even budge it.
Sirius reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a muggle Swiss Army knife and handed it to the professor.
"Here, it's Harry's, it'll unlock any magical lock"
Snape used the knife to pick the lock on the door. He flung it open and both wizards rushed through the door, immediately caught in what seemed like an invisible snare and yanked upside down by their feet. Sirius swore in frustration at the trap they found themselves caught in.
"She had a bloody anti-gravity mist trap set! Don't tell me you taught her that trick too?"
"Shut up Black, and no, I didn't."
The wizards quickly defeated the booby trap and stood still, looking around the dark store; the only light was the faint glow coming from their wands. Professor Snape saw the owl scrolls in a pile under the owl perch in the corner. With a sinking feeling, he feared she might not be there, or they might be too late in getting to her. Both men tensed, their wands at the ready when they heard a noise upstairs.
"Stay here Black."
"Oh no, you're not going up there alone. We don't know who or what might be up there."
"Spare me the heroics, Black. I need you to cover me while I climb the stairs."
Warily, they walked through the store and into the back room. Professor Snape motioned for Sirius to stay back as he slowly approached the staircase, wand at the ready.
"Mira! Are you up there?"
The only reply was a noise, which sounded like a person moving around the rooms upstairs.
"Mira; if you're there, I need to speak with you."
"Go away!"
"Mira, love. It's me. I'm coming up to find out what's happened."
The moment his foot touched the first step of the staircase, a ceramic vase came sailing down the stairwell and shattered against the wall behind him. Both wizards jumped back out of the way. Professor Snape called back up the staircase.
"Mira, listen to me. I don't know what's happened to you, but you're safe now. Do you understand? We've come to help you"
"Who's with you?"
"Sirius, Sirius Black."
"Stand in front of the staircase, so I can see you. Both of you."
Sirius looked towards Professor Snape with an unsure look on his face. The professor nodded and gestured towards the stairs. They stood with their wands at their sides, peering into the darkness, but could only detect a shadow of movement at the top of the stairs.
"Okay, you can come up, but only one of you."
Professor Snape motioned for Sirius to stand off to the side and cover him while he climbed the stairs. As he reached the top, he noticed that Mira's apartment was very dark. He stepped into the sitting room, trying to see in the dim light radiating from the tip of his wand.
"Stop right there and drop your wand."
"Mira, where are you?"
"Drop your wand. Or do you think that the anti-gravity mist is the only thing I have set to protect myself?"
Snape tried to determine where the voice was coming from, but she seemed to have enchanted her voice to come from all directions at once.
"Mira, it's me. Where are you? Let me see that you're okay."
"You heard me, drop the fucking wand!"
"How do I know it's really you?"
"Well, how do I know it's really you either? Drop your wand or leave."
Snape stood motionless, debating what to do. Drop the wand and trust that it was really Mira, start firing random disarming curses in all directions and hope to hit something, or retreat and come back upstairs with Black as backup.
Logic and common sense clouded by emotion, he reached out and set his wand down on the back of the sofa.
"Good, now walk towards my voice."
Mira's voice was now focused, coming from the direction of the bedroom door. Snape started to walk towards her voice, hoping he had not set himself up for an ambush.
"That's it, keep walking."
He skirted around the end of the sofa in the sitting room, and stepped towards the bedroom door.
"A few more steps."
"Stop!"
Mira said an incantation to light the lamps in the bedroom, and the professor found himself standing in front of her. Before he could turn around, she stuck her wand in the small of his back.
"Don't move a muscle or I swear to God I will curse you."
"Mira, calm down. What's happened?"
"Shut up and step into the light."
Professor Snape stepped forward into Mira's bedroom, and immediately noticed that some kind of a struggle had taken place, the room was in disarray and there was a spattering of blood on one of the walls.
"Mira, what happened? Did somebody hurt you?"
"Turn around and show me your eyes."
"What? My eyes?"
"You heard me, turn around into the light and show me your eyes!"
The professor slowly turned around and inhaled sharply when he saw the state Mira was in. Her hair was disheveled and wild, and she had a bruised and bloody bottom lip. Her arms were bruised in what looked like the pattern of handprints. He reached out towards her but she jumped back and pointed the wand at his chest.
"Stop! I haven't seen your eyes yet. Put your hands behind your back."
He clasped his hands behind his back and looked at her in puzzlement as she stepped very close and stared intently at his eyes, and then his whole face.
"Who did this to you?"
"You."
"Mira, what are you talking about? I wouldn't harm a hair on your head."
"All I know is that you arranged to meet me here on New Year's Eve, but something wasn't right about you. And then you just lost it and went off on me."
"Mira, I can assure you that I did not come here on New Year's Eve. Headmaster Dumbledore and all the heads of house at Hogwarts can vouch for my whereabouts."
"Well, if it wasn't you, who the hell was it. Because it certainly looked like you."
"Looked like me Mira? Are you saying that somebody who looked like me but who was not me, arranged to meet you here and did something to you?"
"Yes. I guess. I don't know! All I know is that you came to visit me but your eyes looked strange, your voice sounded strange, and you smelled different. I pulled some of your hair out, but later on I noticed it had changed color, it turned white. At first I thought it was somebody pretending to be you. But that's not possible. Is it?"
"Mira, love. Where were you the night after your trip to London with the girls?"
"I stayed on at Susan's house, to spend a little more time with Tricia. Why?"
"And you didn't come home that night at all?"
"No, why?"
"Mira, I don't know how to tell you this, but yes, it is possible for somebody to disguise themselves as another that convincingly. I think somebody used magic to pretend to be me in order to deceive you. Who or why, I'm not entirely sure."
Mira sat down on the edge of her bed, and dropped her wand to the floor. She leaned forward and clasped her arms around her knees. The professor looked around her bedroom, and noticed the brooch he had given her, with the blood on the pin.
"Is this your blood, Mira?"
"No, his"
Snape pocketed the brooch and kept looking around the room. He found the scroll with the Hogwarts seal on her dressing table and unrolled it. He recognized the seal and parchment, but realized the handwriting was a poor attempt at copying his, and he certainly had not written the letter. He pocketed that as well and went to Mira's side. He knelt down at her side, and took her hand.
"I need you to come back with me to Hogwarts. I want Madame Pomfrey to look at your injuries, and I need to talk to you some more about what happened. But not here, not like this. Alright?"
She shook her head, and he gathered up a few of her things in her overnight bag. After helping her into a clean robe and wrapping her winter cloak around her shoulders, he handed her back her wand, and walked her into the sitting room. He sat her down on the sofa and asked if Sirius could come up for a minute. She shook her head, and Snape retrieved his wand and went to fetch the other wizard. Sirius helped him go over her apartment once again, trying to find any more clues as to what happened. Black found a button, which had been ripped off of a men's tunic coat. Snape found a clump of silvery hair with a little blood at the roots as well as the voice charm Mira had dislodged in her struggles.
On their way out the door, he turned to extinguish the lamp, and the sight of something glittering in the folds of the curtain caught his attention. He retrieved it and recognized it as a far seeing orb. Pocketing the bauble, he extinguished the lamp and helped Mira down the stairs, and to the floo fireplace. Snape started the fire and activated the floo connection. He spoke with Dumbledore via fire talking, and sent Sirius on through to the Headmaster's office with Mira's overnight bag. He secured the store, and put out a large bowl of water and a tray of owl pellets for Swiftfeather, then secured the owl window. The owl flapped his wings in indignation over being confined indoors. Mira went to his perch and stroked the feathers on his wing.
"Sorry Swiftfeather, but we can't take any chances until we find out what happened and who's behind it all."
The bird ruffled his feathers and settled onto his perch. The professor took Mira gently by the arm, mindful of her bruises, and walked her to the fireplace. He grabbed a large handful of floo powder from the urn on the ground next to the hearth, and wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders. With a flash of green fire, they disappeared from the tailor shop and stepped off the hearth of the fireplace in Dumbledore's office.
Harry and Sirius were gone, but the headmaster was waiting for them by the fireplace.
"I hope you don't mind, I sent them home. Harry has been under some strain lately, and I felt that the less he was involved in this, the better. Now, come sit by the fire for a minute while I make some arrangements."
Professor Snape approached the old wizard and asked if he could take Mira directly to the chambers she had stayed in during her holiday visit at the school. Madame Pomfrey could attend to her there, in a setting she felt safe and comfortable in. He also asked the headmaster to give him some time alone with her before debriefing him on what was seen and found at the tailor shop. Consent given, Professor Snape walked Mira down to the guest chamber and inserted the key, which he had found on her key ring with the rest of her keys. The door opened to reveal the familiar golden room, which she had spent the Christmas holiday in. A house-elf had already brought her overnight bag down and set it on the floor next to the wardrobe. The professor requested a pot of tea be sent over. The tea service materialized on the small table against the sitting room wall. He sat with Mira before the fire, and listened to her hazy account of what happened, until Madame Pomfrey arrived to examine Mira's injuries.
After a quiet examination in the bedchamber, the healer witch detailed Mira's injuries to the professor. She had been roughed up quite harshly, but suffered no serious harm. She also calmed his fears and said that whoever roughed her up had taken no inappropriate liberties with her while she was unconscious. She detailed the fact that Mira had been subjected to a poor attempt at the Obliviate curse, and it had not fully taken, hence her dream-like memories of the attack. Mira's arms would be sore for a few days, but the healing salve should take care of her bruises in a couple of days. Professor Snape thanked the woman and showed her to the door.
He placed the jar of healing salve inside Mira's bag and opened the secret passageway to his private chambers. Propriety be damned, he did not want to leave her alone that night, not even a few short steps away. She could spend the night in his private chambers, and if anybody felt it inappropriate, they could answer to his wand. He took her through to his chambers, sealed the passageway to the guest suite, and had her sit in the chair in the corner of his bedroom while he drew her a warm bath.
While the large stone bathtub was filling, he went into his laboratory and gathered up a bowl full of various dried flowers and herbs. He tied them up in a piece of cloth and dropped the bundle into the steaming water. After the water was infused with the healing botanicals, he helped her out of her robe, and into the bath. While she soaked in the warm soothing water, he noticed the full extent of her bruises and the sight made him seethe with anger.
The Professor had a good idea of who was behind the attack, but wanted to discuss it with Dumbledore before drawing any more conclusions. He would know for certain once the far seeing crystal could be examined more closely. After allowing her a good long soak in the bath, he brought her a towel and the overnight bag he had packed for her. Her healing salve applied and a mild sedative potion administered, Snape settled her down in his large bed and sat at the edge until she fell asleep. He then went into his sitting room and contacted the headmaster via the fireplace. Dumbledore arrived at the Potions wing within minutes, for a debriefing.
Professor Snape showed the headmaster the items taken from Mira's apartment. The bloody brooch, the button, the forged scroll, the lock of hair, the voice charm, and the far seeing orb, as well as the hair elastic he had found in his own pocket.
The two wizards agreed. It had to have been the Malfoys. The platinum blonde hairs, the motivation for such a heinous deception, and the knowledge and ability to brew the polyjuice potion all led to the same conclusion. Dumbledore suggested that professor Snape get Flitwick's help in accessing the images captured by the far seeing orb. But Snape reminded the old man that the images captured by the orb weren't to be shown indiscriminately, and he did not want the orb leaving his possession. He wasn't quite sure he was going to tell Mira about it or about his own deception. He decided it would serve no real purpose to inform her, at least not now.
Both men agreed that it would be best for Mira to remain at Hogwarts until the matter was resolved. If Lucius Malfoy really was back on the scene, and being assisted by his wife; Mira would be safest at the castle. In the morning, Dumbledore would contact her family and arrange for some more of her things to be brought to the castle and for the village girl who helped at the shop to take over for a while.
A short time after he left the professor, Dumbledore had a far sight viewing crystal delivered to the potions laboratory via house-elf. Professor Snape carried the device into his sitting room and set about trying to bring the viewing crystal and seeing orb into synch. If he could figure out the correct alignment of energies, they could be united as a set and he would be able to see what, if anything, was captured by the device in Mira's apartment.
That night, he took an alertness potion and stayed up all night, working on the crystal, and keeping an eye on Mira as she slept. The next day, Dumbledore sent word to Mira's cousin telling her to arrange for the shop girl to watch the store, as Mira would be staying at the castle for a while. He also requested that some of her clothes and other necessities be packed and put on one of the school carriages at the train station. After the carriage arrived, house-elves saw to unpacking her things and fixing up the guest chambers for an extended stay.
Mira bided her time helping Professor Sprout in the greenhouses, while Professor Snape worked tirelessly on the far seeing crystal. He worked on it while she was away with Professor Sprout, and with the continued use of alertness potions, while she slept as well. On the fourth day, he cracked the code and brought the crystal and orb into alignment with each other. He watched the slightly fish-eyed view of Mira's apartment. Whoever had placed it there was stalking her with voyeuristic obsession. Watching her sleep, watching her bathe, watching her dress and undress. Her most vulnerable and intimate moments. As uncomfortable as watching his lover's private activities play out through the crystal made him feel, he was not prepared for the last scenario recorded by the device.
He watched with growing uneasiness as Narcissa Malfoy entered the room and began setting the stage for her ruse. He sat, transfixed to the viewer, unable to look away yet horrified by what he knew was going to be shown. He was repulsed at being duped into bedding this woman with whom he had a thorny past. But also, he was ashamed at how he treated her during the rendezvous.
He realized, that at the time, it wasn't Narcissa, it was Mira, the woman whom he claimed to love. But in the scenario playing out before his eyes, he treated her as nothing more than a mistress. Had he just bothered to sit with her and talk with her and ask her about her trip into London, maybe Narcissa would have slipped up and exposed the whole ruse. But, he had gone to her with one thing, and only one thing, in mind. He regretted how he had used her, and how he often took her for granted.
He struggled with that aspect of his life. He never really had a serious romantic relationship. Not even the affair with his first lover ventured much farther than the physical. Women either used him for power or he used them for pleasure. Love was something new. He didn't know how to cultivate a relationship. Memories of his parents' relationship were of no help. They had a stereotypical highborn arranged marriage. A favorable merger of two family bloodlines. Love, much less affection, was never even part of the equation. Having been raised to enter into a marriage based in familial duty, not love, he felt as if he were muddling through it and swore at himself for being so inept.
His attention drawn back to images in the crystal, he wondered to himself: Why the ruse? Why after all these years, would she go through the risk and trouble to do this? That was something the crystal could not show him. He did know that the Malfoys were a pair of very twisted individuals and they thrived on playing mind games and orchestrating elaborate revenge scenarios.
Realizing that Lucius had been sitting at home, watching his wife come to another man in the body of another woman made his stomach turn. Was this merely some form of erotic game for the Malfoys? And the thought of Lucius Malfoy, sitting and watching Mira at her most intimate and vulnerable moments, caused him to hurl the far seeing orb across the room in a fit of rage, where it shattered against the stone wall. It was destroyed evidence, but evidence that had the potential to cause further harm. It was best that Mira never knew of the crystal and orb, and with the orb destroyed, Lucius could not access the images ever again.
Besides, the professor had already made up his mind. If he got to Lucius first, there would be nothing left of him to bring into court for an inquiry. Had it not been for Dumbledore's constant checking on him to make sure he didn't leave to try anything foolish, he would already have paid a visit to the Malfoy country estate. Dumbledore managed to convince the professor to wait. He would alert the ministry that there was a credible report that Malfoy was not dead but alive and committing more acts of treachery. They would start surveillance on the Malfoy's country estate as well as their supposedly unplottable city residence, which seemed to have been abandoned shortly before the battles. Once the ministry determined where Lucius was holed up, and who all was assisting him, they would make their move to bring him in for trial. But, Professor Snape was forced to give his word to Dumbledore that he would not act on his own. Dumbledore feared that the disturbing dreams Harry was experiencing could be related. He didn't mention the dreams to Professor Snape just yet, but kept them in mind as he tried to figure out what it all meant. And until he knew what the professor's role in all of this was, he wanted to proceed cautiously
That night, after supper, Professor Snape made a point to sit down with Mira and ask her how her afternoon in the greenhouses went, and to carry on an actual conversation with her. He found that it was easier than he had expected it to be, and surprisingly pleasant to carry on a discussion not related to anything of great consequence. Not that he had any desire to spend time in the teachers' lounge, making inane chit-chat with Professor Sprout over tea and biscuits. After all, he did have his limits.