Chapter 17:
"Bena?" calls Remus's voice as I cross the flagstones to the dungeons. I turn to face him, but say nothing.
"I saw Severus. He's back, then?" Closing my eyes, I respond in the affirmative. We stand there awkwardly, both at a lost for words. Before I can think of an adequate response, I feel a presence behind me.
"Enjoy your evening, Bena?" Minerva McGonagall has appeared from the dungeons. My heart stops in my throat, hurt that Severus has turned to her in his need. I will myself not to rise to the bait, all the while cursing my luck at running across not one, but two of my colleagues.
"It was enlightening. Thank you for the inquiry, Minerva. Please, both of you excuse me. I am exhausted, it being nearly dawn." Minerva is about to rail at me when Remus stills her with a stern look. My face is drawn, and I feel tears running down my cheeks. I had not meant to cry, but the sheer overwhelming course of events has worn me down. I am reserving all my strength for my husband.
She miraculously heeds the advice and the two of them leave me alone. Steady steps take me to the heavy wooden door leading to our rooms. I mutter the password but find the door won't budge.
Fine. If Severus wishes to play petulantly, I will play right back. I begin banging wildly upon the door. When I receive the expected response, that is to say, none, I step up the stakes. He will hate me for it.
Three months before out wedding, Severus and I had a huge falling out over the Malfoys and Voldemort. He, of course, supported them; I, of course, did not. As I was still madly in love with him, after two weeks absence, I decided to win him back. I sat outside his window at the Malfoy's, pulled out a ukulele and sang, in a delightful warble, "Loving you is easy 'cause you're beautiful. And everything that you do, aaaaahahahahah."
Within seconds, then, as now, Severus's face appeared in front of me. I struggle to keep a smile from my face. He glares at me and reaches a hand out to me. I am pulled inside, the door slammed quickly behind me.
Severus strides past me, clad in his dressing gown, not the brown one I had given him, but a newer dark blue one. He says nothing, but his expression speaking volumes. All traces of amusement have left my face.
"Sit." He commands. I sit.
"Explain." He commands. I explain.
"I do not understand."
"I am not surprised." I answer wearily. My explanation took the hefty portion of an hour. My throat is raw from everything I have abused it with these past fourteen hours.
"All these years, all this time, you were his and you did not tell me."
"Severus, I could not. Albus swore me to secrecy. I would have thought you, among all wizards, to understand the importance of an accord reached with him."
"I understand that. What I do not understand is that you chose him over your own grandfather. Over your own parents." His voice is so cold, attempting to figure me out.
"Because my grandfather bowed to his brother's plans. My parents, for their part, could not have cared less. Do you remember me once, in all our years of acquaintance, mentioning my parents?"
"No."
"Precisely. They did not care about me, and I did not care about them. I was left up to my grandfather and great-uncle. And Aberforth and Albus raised me as Albus saw fit."
"Why? Why was Albus given free reign?" He has now come to point I have been dancing around for the past hour.
"Because of a prophecy." I answer guardedly.
This has, at least, piqued his interest. Severus leans forward in the chair, his eyes now glinting in the dying firelight. "At last, we are getting somewhere."
My eyes browse languidly over the room, searching for some sort of stalling option. Albus and I had not discussed revealing the prophecy to anyone. Severus, however, is not willing to let go of the carrot dangling in front of him
"Bena." He says menacingly. I swallow. Gasping at straws, I blurt out the first thought that enters my head.
"Where have you been for the past two days?"
I inhale sharply, seeing the disdainful sneer that settles on his lips. In sooth, I am quite interested in his recent whereabouts, and I hope he will indulge me.
He does. "Working on potions."
"Where?"
"Not here. At Malfoy Manor. Lucius is able to keep a well-stocked lab hidden in the cellar of the house. Whenever the Dark Lord is in need of a less-than-appropriate potion, I go there to brew it."
"What were you brewing?"
"Ah. Ah, Bena. Quid pro quo. And I believe I asked my question first." He reprimands lightly. This is it, then. In two scant weeks I have been depleted of my royal flush. Tossing my last card on the table, I look him directly in the eye and recite dryly the words Albus told me years ago.
"When the tutelage of the savior is falling to an end, the wise and white bumblebees will join together once more. The wisdom of the white shall give light to the wise, and the expulsion of evil will be delayed three seasons."
"I have heard those words before." Severus says, surprise evident in his voice. I tilt my head sideways, startled at this proclamation. "When was the prophecy made?"
"I do not know. Well before I was born. Albus told me was informed of its existence when he first came to Hogwarts to teach Transfiguration. An old acquaintance at the Ministry told him of it. When he found out I was to be born, he influenced my parents' choice of names for me. With the birth of Harry Potter, it became evident that I would play no small role in future events involving the boy."
Severus has no answer for this. He sits back in his chair, his long fingers steepled together. "The boy arrives back at Hogwarts tomorrow. The Dark Lord has a plan to capture him. It is to take place the day after."
"Bena?" calls Remus's voice as I cross the flagstones to the dungeons. I turn to face him, but say nothing.
"I saw Severus. He's back, then?" Closing my eyes, I respond in the affirmative. We stand there awkwardly, both at a lost for words. Before I can think of an adequate response, I feel a presence behind me.
"Enjoy your evening, Bena?" Minerva McGonagall has appeared from the dungeons. My heart stops in my throat, hurt that Severus has turned to her in his need. I will myself not to rise to the bait, all the while cursing my luck at running across not one, but two of my colleagues.
"It was enlightening. Thank you for the inquiry, Minerva. Please, both of you excuse me. I am exhausted, it being nearly dawn." Minerva is about to rail at me when Remus stills her with a stern look. My face is drawn, and I feel tears running down my cheeks. I had not meant to cry, but the sheer overwhelming course of events has worn me down. I am reserving all my strength for my husband.
She miraculously heeds the advice and the two of them leave me alone. Steady steps take me to the heavy wooden door leading to our rooms. I mutter the password but find the door won't budge.
Fine. If Severus wishes to play petulantly, I will play right back. I begin banging wildly upon the door. When I receive the expected response, that is to say, none, I step up the stakes. He will hate me for it.
Three months before out wedding, Severus and I had a huge falling out over the Malfoys and Voldemort. He, of course, supported them; I, of course, did not. As I was still madly in love with him, after two weeks absence, I decided to win him back. I sat outside his window at the Malfoy's, pulled out a ukulele and sang, in a delightful warble, "Loving you is easy 'cause you're beautiful. And everything that you do, aaaaahahahahah."
Within seconds, then, as now, Severus's face appeared in front of me. I struggle to keep a smile from my face. He glares at me and reaches a hand out to me. I am pulled inside, the door slammed quickly behind me.
Severus strides past me, clad in his dressing gown, not the brown one I had given him, but a newer dark blue one. He says nothing, but his expression speaking volumes. All traces of amusement have left my face.
"Sit." He commands. I sit.
"Explain." He commands. I explain.
"I do not understand."
"I am not surprised." I answer wearily. My explanation took the hefty portion of an hour. My throat is raw from everything I have abused it with these past fourteen hours.
"All these years, all this time, you were his and you did not tell me."
"Severus, I could not. Albus swore me to secrecy. I would have thought you, among all wizards, to understand the importance of an accord reached with him."
"I understand that. What I do not understand is that you chose him over your own grandfather. Over your own parents." His voice is so cold, attempting to figure me out.
"Because my grandfather bowed to his brother's plans. My parents, for their part, could not have cared less. Do you remember me once, in all our years of acquaintance, mentioning my parents?"
"No."
"Precisely. They did not care about me, and I did not care about them. I was left up to my grandfather and great-uncle. And Aberforth and Albus raised me as Albus saw fit."
"Why? Why was Albus given free reign?" He has now come to point I have been dancing around for the past hour.
"Because of a prophecy." I answer guardedly.
This has, at least, piqued his interest. Severus leans forward in the chair, his eyes now glinting in the dying firelight. "At last, we are getting somewhere."
My eyes browse languidly over the room, searching for some sort of stalling option. Albus and I had not discussed revealing the prophecy to anyone. Severus, however, is not willing to let go of the carrot dangling in front of him
"Bena." He says menacingly. I swallow. Gasping at straws, I blurt out the first thought that enters my head.
"Where have you been for the past two days?"
I inhale sharply, seeing the disdainful sneer that settles on his lips. In sooth, I am quite interested in his recent whereabouts, and I hope he will indulge me.
He does. "Working on potions."
"Where?"
"Not here. At Malfoy Manor. Lucius is able to keep a well-stocked lab hidden in the cellar of the house. Whenever the Dark Lord is in need of a less-than-appropriate potion, I go there to brew it."
"What were you brewing?"
"Ah. Ah, Bena. Quid pro quo. And I believe I asked my question first." He reprimands lightly. This is it, then. In two scant weeks I have been depleted of my royal flush. Tossing my last card on the table, I look him directly in the eye and recite dryly the words Albus told me years ago.
"When the tutelage of the savior is falling to an end, the wise and white bumblebees will join together once more. The wisdom of the white shall give light to the wise, and the expulsion of evil will be delayed three seasons."
"I have heard those words before." Severus says, surprise evident in his voice. I tilt my head sideways, startled at this proclamation. "When was the prophecy made?"
"I do not know. Well before I was born. Albus told me was informed of its existence when he first came to Hogwarts to teach Transfiguration. An old acquaintance at the Ministry told him of it. When he found out I was to be born, he influenced my parents' choice of names for me. With the birth of Harry Potter, it became evident that I would play no small role in future events involving the boy."
Severus has no answer for this. He sits back in his chair, his long fingers steepled together. "The boy arrives back at Hogwarts tomorrow. The Dark Lord has a plan to capture him. It is to take place the day after."