Fanfiction based in the world of Harry Potter, created by JKR. Her
characters are hers. Original characters are mine. Please see first
chapter for full disclaimers and description.
Thank you to my Beta, Elaine!
Chapter 24: Consequences and Reactions
Warm sunlight fell across the two bodies entwined on the bed. He woke first and lay in silent contemplation of the previous day's events and the newly acquired wife who lay sleeping contentedly in his arms. He did not regret for a moment what he had done, neither the marriage nor the Bonding. Her blind faith still concerned him, but he no longer doubted the strength of her affections. The chances of her being shocked and disillusioned by his past or current behavior were still very great—he still had to maintain his role. They would deal with those issues as they arose. At least now he felt reasonably confident that they could be dealt with!
She was stirring in his arms, the long masses of hair in tangles but still soft and sweet smelling as he rubbed his chin against it. She was making soft, mewling noises of contentment as her arms tightened around him and her body snuggled closer. He allowed himself to be newly bewildered at the wash of affection from her that he could feel through their Bond. It was quite a surreal feeling, even now, to think of himself as inspiring such strong and pleasant emotions in anyone.
However, he felt a sudden stab of near panic as she gained complete wakefulness, and it took a moment to realize it was hers and not his... this Bond thing would take some getting used to! Still, it quickly became his as well. What had suddenly upset her so much? Was she regretting everything NOW? Now when there was no turning back? He leaned back and tilted her chin up to look at him. This was not a time for shyness or secrets!
"Rowena, what is it?"
"Severus... I'm sorry... I didn't even think... It completely slipped my mind... Merlin's beard, Severus, I should have thought of it before! I'm so sorry. I'll see Madame Pomfrey at once..."
"You fool girl, what are you raving about?" he asked, but his voice was softer, his fear easing as he thought he understood.
"Contraception, Severus! I've never needed to give it a moment's thought, so... I just didn't think. I know you don't want children, I swear I wasn't trying to force the issue, it just completely slipped my mind..."
He silenced her with a tender kiss. "My rational Ravenclaw has her moments of failure then. I am glad to know it. Your intellectual capabilities were beginning to weigh heavily upon my mind. I like to have my supremacy in that regard unchallenged."
He smirked at her immediate bristling at his teasing, and kissed her again, "I have taken care of it, Rowena. I am sorry I did not discuss it with you before, but it seemed unnecessary at the time."
"Taken care of it? What have you done, Severus?" she asked suspiciously. "How long have you been planning this, anyway?"
"Ever since the fire at the Burrow I have allowed myself to consider this a possibility. I was by no means certain that it would become a reality, but I did plan for the contingencies. That is when I made arrangements for your ring, and had an important conversation with Poppy.
"There is a simple charm that creates male sterility. A similar charm affects women, but for some reason the one for men is easily reversible, while the feminine counterpart is often permanent. I had Poppy teach me the charm weeks ago, when she was treating my back. She is quite discreet.
"I cannot see myself ever desiring to have children. I'm sorry, because I think you would like them, and that motherhood would suit you. But I am not so cruel or shortsighted as to ask you to take such a permanent measure. So I took care of it."
He pulled her close again and shrugged as he continued, "Besides, who knows? Perhaps one day we will find that we want children after all? I would not wish you to get your hopes up to that effect. But still, had someone told me a year ago that I would be happily married to a Lupin, I would have hexed them to oblivion. I think that proves even I am not completely set in my ways, does it not?"
She kissed him tenderly, "Thank you, Severus. I don't need children, I only need you."
She then grinned teasingly at him, "Besides, I'm not a Lupin anymore. I'm a Snape."
He returned the smile with a warm wash of affection and pride. "Indeed you are, Rowena Snape."
She glowed with pleasure and kissed him deeply. "I have always wanted to be that... to be Rowena Snape. I never dared to hope it would actually happen."
"That surprises me a bit, Mrs. Snape," he teased, his deep voice rumbling against her. "I believe you told me once when we had only just become reacquainted that you could be quite determined once you set your mind to something. This seems to prove your point."
"Well, there is that. I'm sure this won't be your last run-in with my stubborn streak," she said laughing.
"That much is certain," he said, dryly.
Monday morning arrived and their blissful weekend of isolation was over. For Severus it was somewhat of a relief. He quickly learned to control the sending and receiving of emotions through the Bond from his end. The constant awareness of that level of emotional intensity was something with which he would never be completely comfortable. Rowena—sweet Rowena accepted his need to withdraw from her without explanation.
That pure connection was simply too intimate, too overwhelming; it was tolerable; if he was completely honest, it was quite pleasant—when they were alone together. But he buttoned up his emotions as thoroughly as he buttoned his shirt from wrist to throat once it was time to don his more familiar role. He encouraged her to do the same, particularly during her Occlumency lessons with Potter. He did NOT want that interfering prat to know of their marriage!
Breakfast was an interesting event. They arrived at separate times through separate doors, each entering the school corridors through the appropriate public door from their own quarters. He seated himself next to her, as had been his habit all year. Halloween was two weeks away, but already Hagrid had begun to move some of the pumpkins inside. None of this was particularly unusual or entertaining.
No, the thing that caused the fuss was the bloody enchanted candles hanging from the ceiling. Well, the candles themselves drew no actual attention; they were no different on this day than any other. However, if they had not provided such thorough lighting, it might have gone unnoticed.
Rowena, it transpired, was left-handed. He was quite annoyed with himself for not noticing that before. He really was slipping in his powers of observation! But even this, obviously, was not in and of itself remarkable. However, now we come to the point.
When a left-handed woman drinks from a goblet in a thoroughly candle-lit Great Hall, it is almost inevitable that the newly acquired two-carat diamond on her rather small and delicate hand would catch the light and glitter brightly. If said woman happens to be sitting across the table from several other women, it is equally predestined that the sight of this sparkling stone would cause uproar.
This is precisely what happened.
Severus was silently eating his sausages and eggs, irritably contemplating his first class of the day, the Third Years, dunderheads to the last. Rowena was pleasantly chatting with Minerva across the table. She innocently reached for her orange juice and drank.
Minerva's gasp of surprise alerted Hooch. Hooch's low swears drew the attention of Sinistra. Sinistra's squeal of excitement caused Filius Flitwick to stand on his chair to see what the fuss was about. He slightly overbalanced and had to grab onto Hagrid's shoulder to avoid falling into the large serving bowl of porridge. This of course drew Hagrid's notice from the far end of the table. Dylan sat observing in uncharacteristic silence. Albus Dumbledore, the old fool, was grinning like the Cheshire cat, plainly biting his tongue to keep from chortling out loud.
In short order Rowena's hand was being stretched across the table and passed from diner to diner as though it were not quite firmly attached to a very short woman on the other end. Severus studiously ignored the lot of them as long as he possibly could.
Unfortunately, Rowena was quite irrationally and uncharacteristically reduced to blushes and incoherent giggles. She was entirely without the capacity for comprehensible speech.
When Minerva inquired brusquely, "What is the meaning of this?" after examining the ring closely Severus was forced to respond himself.
He raised a brow archly, planted his most disdainful sneer beautifully across his face and assumed the tone of exquisite boredom that he hid behind whenever he was forced to address anything vaguely emotional. "Really, Minerva. I do believe you have seen an engagement ring before?"
Even as carefully as he had sealed himself from her, he still felt the brush of her affection through their Bond. It was merely the most feather- light of touches—he had no doubt that if he had not shielded himself it would have been very strong indeed. Lest she feel the slightest doubt of him even now, he returned the very primal and possessive pride he felt to see her brandishing his ring. She thankfully avoided his eye, but she was smiling radiantly.
Minerva was stunned into momentary silence, while the rest of the table erupted into a loud hum of surprised chatter. When she found her voice, it was to question him with the air of a Professor who had just caught a student cheating at an exam.
"Great heavens, It's not YOUR engagement ring, Severus?" She didn't even bother to keep the incredulity out of her voice.
Albus saved him the need to answer. The Headmaster was smiling broadly, plainly enjoying himself to the fullest. "Well, of course it's Severus's ring, Minerva, dear! Who else's would it be? I hardly believe you've grown that unobservant over the years."
She made a small noise of disbelief, though she was smiling now, looking at Severus and Rowena approvingly. "You mean, who else would have him, don't you Headmaster? Well, it's about time I would say."
"Minerva, be nice," Albus chided. He turned to regard Rowena. Severus was scowling at Minerva, deliberately avoiding the gaze of his Headmaster and friend. "I, for one, am very happy for you both. When you're ready we'll do a lovely wedding and reception right here at Hogwarts if you like. Something grandiose and flashy, I think. I believe I can find out where Professor Lockhart acquired those adorable cherubs a few years back, Severus—you do remember them, don't you? And the singing dwarves were so entertaining!"
This earned Albus the most dangerously dark look from Severus that he was capable of under the circumstances. The old man was having far too much fun with this!
The rest of the table chimed in with their well-wishes and congratulations. Hagrid even got up from his seat and came around to shake their hands, which Severus barely deigned to allow.
Of course all this fuss drew the attention of the students in the Hall. If there was a person in Hogwarts that didn't know by the end of the day that Severus Snape was engaged to Rowena Lupin, it would have to be because they were unconscious or avoiding all other human, ghost, or portrait contact the entire day.
Colin Creevey even made his way to the end of the Gryffindor table so that he could be close to the Head table... he had to have a picture, of course!
The students could talk of nothing else, as might be surmised. In Rowena's class, the girls were even brave enough to ask to see the ring, which invariably induced various giggles, sighs of longing, envy and appreciation. There was not a wizard-born girl who did not know the meaning and significance of a Fire Diamond, and they quickly spread the word among the muggle-born.
None of them truly understood or at all envied her for her choice of fiancé. In fact, some of the muttering was simple incredulity that those two should be matched at all! Snape was... well, SNAPE, after all.
Rowena, in contrast, was nice and friendly. She maintained order in her classes and didn't hesitate to take points, assign extra homework, or even dish out detentions when necessary. But she did it with a fair and even hand, and was just enough more lenient than McGonagall to have earned the reputation of being the nicest Professor in the school, or at least a close second to Professor Flitwick. Her classes were admittedly a bit dull unless your name happened to be Hermione Granger, but no one could argue the 'nice' issue.
In Snape's classes the excitement over the news manifested itself in excessive whisperings when his back was turned, a definite increase in schoolgirl giggling, and appraising, doubting looks from the rare intelligent student. Obviously some of the latter variety suspected love potions or other duplicity in the event. The logic was something along the lines of this: Rowena was simply too rational and too nice to have consented to have someone like Snape without powerful magical coercion!
The exception to this bunch, of course, was Hermione Granger. That annoying know-it-all had the audacity to smile pleasantly at him when she entered the room, tell him very sincerely that she was "very happy for you both"; and then proceeded to make her potion flawlessly so that he was robbed the pleasure of snarling at her with justification. He felt that in light of the circumstance, it would be beneath even him to do so without reason.
It was fortunate for him that the majority of his students gave him plenty of opportunity for snarling, house point deduction and detentions. He assigned these latter to the purview of Filch. He was not about to let student punishments inconvenience HIM now that he had something more pleasant to do with his free time!
The first genuine problem out of all of this, of course, was Harry's Occlumency. Harry had known Rowena fancied the greasy git, but he seemed to feel that this new development was a betrayal of sorts. There wasn't anyone in the school he hated more than Snape, though Malfoy was admittedly a close second. He had come to trust Rowena to a degree. Not a LARGE degree, by any means, but more than any other faculty or staff currently in residence at Hogwarts, with the possible exception of Hagrid.
She'd been inside his head. He'd been inside hers. It was an unpleasantly vulnerable sensation to practice Legilimency and Occlumency to this degree with anyone. By this new development, she had shaken his already dubious trust.
Unsurprisingly the lesson did not go well. He arrived with the same bitter, angry attitude that he had presented to her on his first lesson. He was vicious in his Legilimency attempts until her head throbbed from the exertion to keep him out. He had increased greatly in strength, and the vengeful anger that fueled his efforts made every attempt seem like a savage attack. However, his Occlumency was weak in his anger, and he raged at her mentally when she breached his shield.
Her concern for him heightened as she saw the anger, hate, and vengeance inside him. All of the teachers had been voicing worry over the boy. His truest friends remained true—the Weasleys, Hermione and Neville—but they had to actively seek him, as he even avoided them. He was isolating himself in bitterness and grief. No one seemed to be able to reach him.
He was becoming remarkably like another boy she had known long ago, who allowed himself to be consumed with thoughts of vengeance, anger and hate. Merlin's Beard!
She cut the lesson short and returned to her quarters, deep in thought.
Severus entered her quarters through the private door to find her pacing, agitatedly. The thing that he found most interesting was not that she was doing this, but that she was not currently sending any particular emotion. Apparently his rational Ravenclaw had regained some of that much touted reason since the scene at breakfast. Dwelling on puzzles of logic was an effective way to dampen emotions, though he knew she did not do this on purpose for that effect.
When she saw him, she stopped her pacing and behaved as every new bride should do. She smiled warmly, quickly found her way to his arms and kissed him hello quite thoroughly. However, her mind was not to be distracted from the problem at hand; not even by the lure of marital delights they had only just begun to explore together.
She sat down on the couch, obviously leaving room for him to join her there if he chose, and began at once without preamble. He was not going to like what she had to say.
"Severus, we are losing Harry Potter. I think you are the only one who can help him."
He made a noise of derision and scowled darkly, "Losing the idiot boy to what? And why on earth should I care or want to help him?"
"Vengeance. Grief. Anger. Take your pick. He is isolating himself from everyone he cares about or who cares about him, and dwelling on the darkest thoughts imaginable. He's so bitter!"
"You have not answered the second part of my question. What does it matter to me? Why do you imagine I would wish to help him, even if I am capable of it?" He did not sit next to her on the couch, and did not open himself to their Bond. He instead sprawled rather lazily on one of the chairs and cloaked himself in concealing boredom. She was obviously touching a nerve!
She made a noise of frustration, "Severus—you know better than anybody else where that leads! He won't listen to any of his friends. They've all worked to keep secrets from him to keep him 'safe'—much like Remus did to me when we were kids. He's furious with them. Nothing they say or do will reach him.
"YOU could reach him! You've been there; you know what he's going through. He hates you. You hate him. All the more reason why he would believe what you say—he would know you weren't doing it to be nice or friendly or anything."
He scowled silently at the chessboard on the coffee table and said nothing.
"Severus... he doesn't have the resources you had to pull him out of this! He has friends now, since he's come to Hogwarts, but he has no solid foundation to fall back on. He doesn't remember his real parents, and spent the most important part of his childhood totally unwanted and unloved. He was HATED in fact. No effort was made to give him any sort of moral or ethical foundation. You had your mother—he had nothing!"
"Do NOT bring my mother into this, Lup..." he caught himself with a small smirk and corrected, "Snape. He also was not beaten to the brink of death on a regular basis. That hardly seems to me to qualify as a 'solid' foundation.
"I doubt very much that he would listen to what I had to say. I also doubt very much that I would be willing to tell him anything that might be of use to him. He already knows too much about me for my comfort."
She knew she had come to an impasse, at least for the moment. Harry had indeed breached Severus's privacy on more than one occasion to her certain knowledge. That was not something Severus was likely to forgive or overlook.
Besides, discussing Harry Potter was not tops on her list of things she would like to do with her new husband. "Will you at least think about it? I don't know if you could make a difference, but right now I do know that no one else can."
"I will consider the problem," he said, noncommittally.
"Thank you, Severus."
She smiled radiantly at him and then went to her shelf and retrieved some rolls of parchment. When she returned to him, she boldly sat on his lap, presented him with the parchment and kissed him soundly.
He raised a brow inquiringly, but accepted her body, her kisses and the parchment without argument. She stopped kissing him long enough to unroll the papers and explain.
"Think of it as a wedding present," she said. "Hermione told me that Fred and George have invisibility cloaks. I know Harry has one, too. It seems to me that those three enjoy getting into trouble far too much to have them wandering around in those cloaks with impunity. These are wards for your lab and office; well, anywhere you want to use them, actually."
Grinning brightly, she explained, "This one will cause the exterior of the cloaks to glow very softly, if they enter the warded area. The wearer won't know they're glowing, but you'll be able to see the outline. I thought you might like the opportunity to catch them red-handed. It's fairly short-acting I'm afraid, so you need to reset it whenever you're working in your lab."
He gave a dark chuckle as he looked at it approvingly, "Your Slytherin nature is showing itself again, Rowena."
She blushed at the praise—for such a statement from him was indeed high praise—and showed him the other ward, "This one is simply a minor alarm charm, modified to be silent and personal, so that only you will know when the alarm's been tripped. This has to be renewed every day as well, but you'll know whenever an unauthorized person enters the warded space."
"Impressive. I knew there was a reason I married you," he teased, dryly.
Pouting, she pretended to be affronted. It was a very inadequate pretense, as he opened himself to their Bond, and she could feel his pride and affection washing over her. "And here I thought you married me for my physical appeal," she teased in return.
He nuzzled her neck and began nipping at her ear and the tender flesh behind it. "That was merely a secondary consideration, I assure you," he murmured against her skin, finding his way back to her lips.
She heard his sudden intake of breath at the same moment that she felt a painful surge of heat at her waist where his arm rested against her. She realized his mark burned when the Dark Lord called him, but she didn't realize the heat was that intense!
She stood quickly off of his lap and looked at him worriedly, her heart pounding now in fear for him. He grabbed her shoulders and gazed intently at her.
"Rowena, you must close yourself to me while I'm gone. The Dark Lord must not sense our Bond. It's not enough for me to close myself; you must do so as well. It can be dampened by willful control, much like Occlumency," he said urgently.
Nodding, she looked at him fearfully, "Why is He calling you now? He knows you have class in the morning... He doesn't usually call you in the middle of the week, does He?"
He sneered unpleasantly, "I am His slave, Rowena, His puppet, as are all His Death Eaters. He calls me when the whim strikes Him. I suspect that one of our students has passed along news of our 'engagement', and now I am called to explain."
She felt frustration and anger well up inside of her, but it wasn't hers. It came from him, through their Bond.
"Rowena, I hate this. I truly hate that what we have must be hidden as though it were shameful, that I must go now and feign indifference to you. It was selfish of me to marry you, to Bond with you under these circumstances. My bondage to the Dark Lord sullies what you have given to me. I should have waited..."
She silenced him with a kiss, striving to dampen her fear for him. "No, Severus. I'm glad you didn't wait. Please don't regret this... regret us... "
He shook his head. "No, Rowena, I have no regrets in that regard. My selfishness will not allow me to be sorry you are mine. I merely deplore the circumstances surrounding us. Seal yourself now, wife. I will return."
He kissed her once more and allowed her to feel the strength of his affection for her for a final instant. He then immediately and completely closed himself to their Bond and quickly left the room.
He never knew where the summons would bring him. Voldemort trusted no one, and so could not use powerful concealing magic such as the Fidelius Charm. That required pure trust of the Secret Keeper to be effective. Instead the Dark Lord maintained many different hiding places. He lived in cloaked luxury in each of them, but chose where to be at any given moment completely at random.
The magic of the Dark Mark drew the summoned follower so that it was possible to Apparate to Voldemort's location—or as near as Antiapparition wards would allow—without the Death Eater truly knowing their own geographical location upon arrival. In this way the Dark Lord made it difficult for his followers to accidentally or intentionally betray his location.
Severus pulled his hood up more securely upon his arrival, and adjusted his mask for more comfortable visibility. He hated the mask, yet was grateful to hide behind it, adding another layer of concealment as he walked the dangerous line. This location was merely a rather small house on an isolated moor. Dementors lurked in shadows nearby; he could feel their presence even if he could not see them.
Cautiously steeling himself for what was to come, he approached the house. He felt with his tongue the small disk he had tucked against his cheek to ensure its presence. It was a device of his creation that gradually seeped a Veritaserum antidote. There was no way of knowing what had the Dark Lord in such a rage this time. The burning of his Mark had not ceased or decreased in intensity since it called him nearly half an hour ago, which was certain proof that He was in a towering rage indeed.
He entered the building with his innate feline stealth and grace, to find several other cloaked and masked figures already there. A few of them displayed the hunched stance and heavy breathing that spoke of the Cruciatus Curse. None gave any sign that betrayed either their identity or that suggested they recognized the new arrival.
The Dark Lord was raving from the chair near the fire. His rage was such that the room reeked heavily of fear, and each Death Eater cowered visibly when the glaring red eyes regarded them in turn. The cold, high-pitched voice grated against the nerves like a sharp object scraped against a chalkboard. "I want Azkaban breached! I am tired of waiting! Last year only 10 of my faithful were trapped in there, and we retrieved them all easily! What is the delay?"
Severus allowed the words to wash over him as he stored the information, preparing for the questions to come. Well, at least His primary rage was not over news of his 'engagement' to Rowena. Still, he was sure it would come up eventually. This was going to be a lengthy interview.
Rowena took stacks of papers to grade and student essays to examine with her as she went to the room in the Hospital wing where Severus would return. She forced herself not to consciously think of him or be afraid for him—it would make it that much harder to seal herself from their Bond. The technical work, anything that required rational thought, would help keep her mind occupied.
It was late in the evening when she retreated to the ward, well past student curfew, and so she encountered no one. She left the door open so she could quickly summon Poppy if it became necessary, and then tried to immerse herself in grading papers.
A different distraction to that effect arrived near midnight, in the form of one Harry Potter. He came into the room, pulling off his invisibility cloak when he saw her there.
He was pale and sweaty, the scar on his forehead standing out livid red against his ashen skin. He was trembling, and sat heavily in the other empty chair in the room. He looked at the empty bed, and then at Rowena and asked hurriedly, almost breathlessly, "He's not back yet?"
Rowena didn't know quite how to respond to this—how in Merlin's name had he known Severus had gone?
"Harry, what are you doing here? You need to return to your dorm at once!" This was not the time to play understanding teacher, or even compassionate friend. She realized THIS was the sort of thing that Severus meant when he complained that Potter felt rules didn't apply to him. This was going completely around the bend!
"I was hanging out in the halls tonight and I saw him leave. He always rubs his arm when he thinks no one is looking; when it's burning him. So I guessed where he was going." He looked directly at Rowena, with an air of concern that was incongruous to the recklessness of his actions.
"I went into Voldemort's head a little while ago. He was... um... questioning Snape," he said simply.
Rowena looked at him in open-mouthed shock. She forced herself not to dwell on the sort of methods that would be used to 'question' Severus... she HAD to keep herself sealed from their bond! Worrying about what was happening to him would not help her in that regard.
"Great bloody dragon bollocks! What in the hell did you do that for? What have we been trying so hard to do with your Occlumency? To keep you OUT of His head! And Him out of yours!" She was so upset, she was nearly shrieking in rage.
"Listen, He didn't know I was there, okay? I can tell. I've been thinking about it once I sort of figured out how he was getting in my head last year. When I saw Snape leaving I thought I might try it out—it seemed like a good time, when Voldemort was distracted with other thoughts." He trailed off, but he was plainly distressed by what he had seen.
Rowena made a valiant effort to be rational and placating, while still impressing on him the foolishness of what he had done. Sweet heavens above—what if Harry's foray into the Dark Lord's mind caused him to discover the truth of Severus's loyalties? She had to get him to stop messing around in things way over his head!
"Harry, it's not safe and you know it. He could detect you at any moment, and then try to control you. He could find out the things you know about Albus and the Order, school security, Severus, all sorts of useful information. Things that could affect the lives and safety of many other people! You could have gotten Severus killed at that moment!! If you're inside his mind, he can get inside yours. You must never, ever do that again! And whatever you DID see in there tonight, you need to tell Albus at once."
He stood up and paced the room, his agitation for the moment beyond words.
"I won't promise not to do it again... you don't know what I saw, what I found out. And I'm not telling Dumbledore anything without talking to Snape first! I'm tired of Dumbledore always trying to protect me and shut me out of things. He plays around with other people's lives. He locked Sirius away for the last year of his life... he keeps secrets and moves us all around like pawns—even Snape! It's like Dumbledore and Voldemort are playing this huge chess game, and we all get to be the pieces used in the middle. I'm done—I've had enough! I'm not playing by Dumbledore's rules anymore!
"Snape's at least honest about being a damn sneaky bastard! He's the only one that really knows both sides... Besides, what I saw relates to him, more than anybody else. I'll only tell him—he can decide what to do with it after that."
He flopped himself back in the chair and buried his face in his hands. Rowena was shocked to silence. She had no idea that Harry's anger at Albus had gone this far. However, she was not surprised that he had sought out Severus—she continued to feel very strongly that there was a great deal of similarity between the two. At least one of them was beginning to recognize it!
"Harry, I think you should go to bed. You can talk to Severus in the morning. I'm sure he'll be back soon, but he'll be tired, he might need medical help... I don't know if he'll be willing to talk to you for a while. He'll be furious when he finds out what you've done," she said, trying to reason with him.
"Why don't you just tell me what is so urgent, and I'll tell him for you? I think that would be safer for everyone concerned, don't you?"
"NO WAY!" Harry said, emphatically. "He'll be furious enough as it is—I'm not telling anyone else anything. It won't wait. I'm staying right here."
He flopped mulishly back into the chair in the corner, crossed his arms over his chest, and fell silent. He occasionally rubbed absently at the scar on his forehead, as Rowena had seen Severus do to the mark on his arm. She finally succeeded in making him wait in the main room instead of this one. Severus's temper towards the boy would not at all improve if Harry was allowed to see him injured and vulnerable!
It was the best she could do. She resigned herself to severe unpleasantness when Severus returned, and attempted again to absorb herself in grading papers.
She didn't have long to wait. He was curled protectively against himself when he appeared with the telltale 'whoosh' that announced his arrival. Rowena went to him at once and immediately ascertained that he had suffered very extensive use of the Cruciatus, but could find no other injuries. That was enough—it was the worst damage she had yet seen him suffer. How he had managed to articulate the command word for his Portkey was a mystery. It took multiple uses of her "Solicify" charm before he could move at all, and a pain relieving draught from the store-cupboard before he could sit up.
Once sitting, he seemed to rapidly improve. She brought him hot tea and sat silently next to him, her arms tightly wrapped around him. Now that the need for action and the worry of waiting was over, the emotion washed over her as it always did. She fought back tears as she buried her face against his chest, the scent of fear and exertion from his ordeal mingled heavily with the usual comforting fragrance that was Severus. He allowed the embrace and wrapped one arm around her as he sipped the tea.
At last he spoke, his voice plainly strained, "Rowena, I need to speak with Albus immediately. Return to our quarters, I will be there when I can."
With great trepidation, she said, "Severus... before you talk to Albus... Harry came in a while ago. He says he has to talk to you, he says it's urgent. He won't tell me what it is, and he says he won't talk to Albus. He's waiting outside."
"Bloody raving Gryffindor fool!" Severus hissed angrily, "What does he want? I sincerely hope you took a healthy measure of house points for being out of his dorm past curfew? A month's worth of detention with Filch perhaps? Imbecilic boy!"
She attempted a small smile and shook her head, "No, I thought I would save you the pleasure of his punishment. I hoped it would be satisfying enough to prevent you killing him outright. He's done something incredibly stupid..."
"So what is new? Nearly everything he does outside of direct supervision is reckless and stupid. Very well, send him in—I'm in no condition right now to kill him properly—when it comes to that I intend to enjoy it to the fullest. He's as safe as he will ever be with me."
The boy entered the room uncertainly, glancing around when he saw the empty bed. Severus had gone to the window seat and was leaning lazily against the frame. He'd be damned if he'd let Potter see in him any display of weakness!
He glowered darkly at him. Harry met the glare fully, but there was an air of concern about him that irritated Severus further.
"Professor... are you alright?" he asked, almost timidly.
"Potter, get to the point," Severus sneered dangerously. "Why are you here? Why do you imagine I would wish to hear what you had to say?"
Harry frowned back and shrugged. "You're the only one I can talk to. Voldemort goes out of his way to hurt the people he knows I care about."
Snape snorted in understanding, "Ah, but you can speak with me because of our mutual animosity, is that it? Very well. At least this shows you do occasionally make the effort to engage your miniscule intellect in your actions."
"Yeah, and if Voldemort decides that I am too close to you and kills you for it, it won't matter to me," Harry retorted angrily.
Snape merely raised a brow and inclined his head in an ironic bow, "Again the feeling is mutual, Potter."
Harry started pacing in his distress, and spoke quickly, "I was in his head when he was... questioning you... what he was thinking about had very little to do with the questions he was asking..."
Severus heard him out without interruption. When he had finished, he grabbed the boy firmly by the arm and bodily dragged him to Albus's office.
"You will tell the Headmaster precisely what you have told me," he ordered.
It was a mark of the severity of the situation, the gravity of the information, and the turmoil that arose from it that neither the Headmaster nor the Potions Master addressed the issue of house points or detention. Instead they dismissed him as soon as his information was given and remained up half the night in earnest and worried conversation.
A/N: Real life work and end of school year kid stuff is interfering with my writing time a bit, sorry. As you know, I like to update a minimum of once a week, preferably twice a week. Hopefully I will be able to pick up the pace a bit again soon.
There is plenty more to come, so please check back often. Some things you will see in future chapters include whatever "Luke" and Dylan are up to, more Death Eater attacks—there will be some deaths, sorry, but I promise it will only be 'red shirts' (does anyone besides me know the Star Trek reference?); more Malfoy social interaction, some severe changes at the Ministry that will affect the wizarding world, etc. Katrina is not forgotten in the least, and Severus and Rowena will not be forced to hide their marriage forever. I think it might be funny if Albus succeeded in forcing a "grandiose" wedding, don't you? I doubt it will happen, but you never know!
Thank you to my Beta, Elaine!
Chapter 24: Consequences and Reactions
Warm sunlight fell across the two bodies entwined on the bed. He woke first and lay in silent contemplation of the previous day's events and the newly acquired wife who lay sleeping contentedly in his arms. He did not regret for a moment what he had done, neither the marriage nor the Bonding. Her blind faith still concerned him, but he no longer doubted the strength of her affections. The chances of her being shocked and disillusioned by his past or current behavior were still very great—he still had to maintain his role. They would deal with those issues as they arose. At least now he felt reasonably confident that they could be dealt with!
She was stirring in his arms, the long masses of hair in tangles but still soft and sweet smelling as he rubbed his chin against it. She was making soft, mewling noises of contentment as her arms tightened around him and her body snuggled closer. He allowed himself to be newly bewildered at the wash of affection from her that he could feel through their Bond. It was quite a surreal feeling, even now, to think of himself as inspiring such strong and pleasant emotions in anyone.
However, he felt a sudden stab of near panic as she gained complete wakefulness, and it took a moment to realize it was hers and not his... this Bond thing would take some getting used to! Still, it quickly became his as well. What had suddenly upset her so much? Was she regretting everything NOW? Now when there was no turning back? He leaned back and tilted her chin up to look at him. This was not a time for shyness or secrets!
"Rowena, what is it?"
"Severus... I'm sorry... I didn't even think... It completely slipped my mind... Merlin's beard, Severus, I should have thought of it before! I'm so sorry. I'll see Madame Pomfrey at once..."
"You fool girl, what are you raving about?" he asked, but his voice was softer, his fear easing as he thought he understood.
"Contraception, Severus! I've never needed to give it a moment's thought, so... I just didn't think. I know you don't want children, I swear I wasn't trying to force the issue, it just completely slipped my mind..."
He silenced her with a tender kiss. "My rational Ravenclaw has her moments of failure then. I am glad to know it. Your intellectual capabilities were beginning to weigh heavily upon my mind. I like to have my supremacy in that regard unchallenged."
He smirked at her immediate bristling at his teasing, and kissed her again, "I have taken care of it, Rowena. I am sorry I did not discuss it with you before, but it seemed unnecessary at the time."
"Taken care of it? What have you done, Severus?" she asked suspiciously. "How long have you been planning this, anyway?"
"Ever since the fire at the Burrow I have allowed myself to consider this a possibility. I was by no means certain that it would become a reality, but I did plan for the contingencies. That is when I made arrangements for your ring, and had an important conversation with Poppy.
"There is a simple charm that creates male sterility. A similar charm affects women, but for some reason the one for men is easily reversible, while the feminine counterpart is often permanent. I had Poppy teach me the charm weeks ago, when she was treating my back. She is quite discreet.
"I cannot see myself ever desiring to have children. I'm sorry, because I think you would like them, and that motherhood would suit you. But I am not so cruel or shortsighted as to ask you to take such a permanent measure. So I took care of it."
He pulled her close again and shrugged as he continued, "Besides, who knows? Perhaps one day we will find that we want children after all? I would not wish you to get your hopes up to that effect. But still, had someone told me a year ago that I would be happily married to a Lupin, I would have hexed them to oblivion. I think that proves even I am not completely set in my ways, does it not?"
She kissed him tenderly, "Thank you, Severus. I don't need children, I only need you."
She then grinned teasingly at him, "Besides, I'm not a Lupin anymore. I'm a Snape."
He returned the smile with a warm wash of affection and pride. "Indeed you are, Rowena Snape."
She glowed with pleasure and kissed him deeply. "I have always wanted to be that... to be Rowena Snape. I never dared to hope it would actually happen."
"That surprises me a bit, Mrs. Snape," he teased, his deep voice rumbling against her. "I believe you told me once when we had only just become reacquainted that you could be quite determined once you set your mind to something. This seems to prove your point."
"Well, there is that. I'm sure this won't be your last run-in with my stubborn streak," she said laughing.
"That much is certain," he said, dryly.
Monday morning arrived and their blissful weekend of isolation was over. For Severus it was somewhat of a relief. He quickly learned to control the sending and receiving of emotions through the Bond from his end. The constant awareness of that level of emotional intensity was something with which he would never be completely comfortable. Rowena—sweet Rowena accepted his need to withdraw from her without explanation.
That pure connection was simply too intimate, too overwhelming; it was tolerable; if he was completely honest, it was quite pleasant—when they were alone together. But he buttoned up his emotions as thoroughly as he buttoned his shirt from wrist to throat once it was time to don his more familiar role. He encouraged her to do the same, particularly during her Occlumency lessons with Potter. He did NOT want that interfering prat to know of their marriage!
Breakfast was an interesting event. They arrived at separate times through separate doors, each entering the school corridors through the appropriate public door from their own quarters. He seated himself next to her, as had been his habit all year. Halloween was two weeks away, but already Hagrid had begun to move some of the pumpkins inside. None of this was particularly unusual or entertaining.
No, the thing that caused the fuss was the bloody enchanted candles hanging from the ceiling. Well, the candles themselves drew no actual attention; they were no different on this day than any other. However, if they had not provided such thorough lighting, it might have gone unnoticed.
Rowena, it transpired, was left-handed. He was quite annoyed with himself for not noticing that before. He really was slipping in his powers of observation! But even this, obviously, was not in and of itself remarkable. However, now we come to the point.
When a left-handed woman drinks from a goblet in a thoroughly candle-lit Great Hall, it is almost inevitable that the newly acquired two-carat diamond on her rather small and delicate hand would catch the light and glitter brightly. If said woman happens to be sitting across the table from several other women, it is equally predestined that the sight of this sparkling stone would cause uproar.
This is precisely what happened.
Severus was silently eating his sausages and eggs, irritably contemplating his first class of the day, the Third Years, dunderheads to the last. Rowena was pleasantly chatting with Minerva across the table. She innocently reached for her orange juice and drank.
Minerva's gasp of surprise alerted Hooch. Hooch's low swears drew the attention of Sinistra. Sinistra's squeal of excitement caused Filius Flitwick to stand on his chair to see what the fuss was about. He slightly overbalanced and had to grab onto Hagrid's shoulder to avoid falling into the large serving bowl of porridge. This of course drew Hagrid's notice from the far end of the table. Dylan sat observing in uncharacteristic silence. Albus Dumbledore, the old fool, was grinning like the Cheshire cat, plainly biting his tongue to keep from chortling out loud.
In short order Rowena's hand was being stretched across the table and passed from diner to diner as though it were not quite firmly attached to a very short woman on the other end. Severus studiously ignored the lot of them as long as he possibly could.
Unfortunately, Rowena was quite irrationally and uncharacteristically reduced to blushes and incoherent giggles. She was entirely without the capacity for comprehensible speech.
When Minerva inquired brusquely, "What is the meaning of this?" after examining the ring closely Severus was forced to respond himself.
He raised a brow archly, planted his most disdainful sneer beautifully across his face and assumed the tone of exquisite boredom that he hid behind whenever he was forced to address anything vaguely emotional. "Really, Minerva. I do believe you have seen an engagement ring before?"
Even as carefully as he had sealed himself from her, he still felt the brush of her affection through their Bond. It was merely the most feather- light of touches—he had no doubt that if he had not shielded himself it would have been very strong indeed. Lest she feel the slightest doubt of him even now, he returned the very primal and possessive pride he felt to see her brandishing his ring. She thankfully avoided his eye, but she was smiling radiantly.
Minerva was stunned into momentary silence, while the rest of the table erupted into a loud hum of surprised chatter. When she found her voice, it was to question him with the air of a Professor who had just caught a student cheating at an exam.
"Great heavens, It's not YOUR engagement ring, Severus?" She didn't even bother to keep the incredulity out of her voice.
Albus saved him the need to answer. The Headmaster was smiling broadly, plainly enjoying himself to the fullest. "Well, of course it's Severus's ring, Minerva, dear! Who else's would it be? I hardly believe you've grown that unobservant over the years."
She made a small noise of disbelief, though she was smiling now, looking at Severus and Rowena approvingly. "You mean, who else would have him, don't you Headmaster? Well, it's about time I would say."
"Minerva, be nice," Albus chided. He turned to regard Rowena. Severus was scowling at Minerva, deliberately avoiding the gaze of his Headmaster and friend. "I, for one, am very happy for you both. When you're ready we'll do a lovely wedding and reception right here at Hogwarts if you like. Something grandiose and flashy, I think. I believe I can find out where Professor Lockhart acquired those adorable cherubs a few years back, Severus—you do remember them, don't you? And the singing dwarves were so entertaining!"
This earned Albus the most dangerously dark look from Severus that he was capable of under the circumstances. The old man was having far too much fun with this!
The rest of the table chimed in with their well-wishes and congratulations. Hagrid even got up from his seat and came around to shake their hands, which Severus barely deigned to allow.
Of course all this fuss drew the attention of the students in the Hall. If there was a person in Hogwarts that didn't know by the end of the day that Severus Snape was engaged to Rowena Lupin, it would have to be because they were unconscious or avoiding all other human, ghost, or portrait contact the entire day.
Colin Creevey even made his way to the end of the Gryffindor table so that he could be close to the Head table... he had to have a picture, of course!
The students could talk of nothing else, as might be surmised. In Rowena's class, the girls were even brave enough to ask to see the ring, which invariably induced various giggles, sighs of longing, envy and appreciation. There was not a wizard-born girl who did not know the meaning and significance of a Fire Diamond, and they quickly spread the word among the muggle-born.
None of them truly understood or at all envied her for her choice of fiancé. In fact, some of the muttering was simple incredulity that those two should be matched at all! Snape was... well, SNAPE, after all.
Rowena, in contrast, was nice and friendly. She maintained order in her classes and didn't hesitate to take points, assign extra homework, or even dish out detentions when necessary. But she did it with a fair and even hand, and was just enough more lenient than McGonagall to have earned the reputation of being the nicest Professor in the school, or at least a close second to Professor Flitwick. Her classes were admittedly a bit dull unless your name happened to be Hermione Granger, but no one could argue the 'nice' issue.
In Snape's classes the excitement over the news manifested itself in excessive whisperings when his back was turned, a definite increase in schoolgirl giggling, and appraising, doubting looks from the rare intelligent student. Obviously some of the latter variety suspected love potions or other duplicity in the event. The logic was something along the lines of this: Rowena was simply too rational and too nice to have consented to have someone like Snape without powerful magical coercion!
The exception to this bunch, of course, was Hermione Granger. That annoying know-it-all had the audacity to smile pleasantly at him when she entered the room, tell him very sincerely that she was "very happy for you both"; and then proceeded to make her potion flawlessly so that he was robbed the pleasure of snarling at her with justification. He felt that in light of the circumstance, it would be beneath even him to do so without reason.
It was fortunate for him that the majority of his students gave him plenty of opportunity for snarling, house point deduction and detentions. He assigned these latter to the purview of Filch. He was not about to let student punishments inconvenience HIM now that he had something more pleasant to do with his free time!
The first genuine problem out of all of this, of course, was Harry's Occlumency. Harry had known Rowena fancied the greasy git, but he seemed to feel that this new development was a betrayal of sorts. There wasn't anyone in the school he hated more than Snape, though Malfoy was admittedly a close second. He had come to trust Rowena to a degree. Not a LARGE degree, by any means, but more than any other faculty or staff currently in residence at Hogwarts, with the possible exception of Hagrid.
She'd been inside his head. He'd been inside hers. It was an unpleasantly vulnerable sensation to practice Legilimency and Occlumency to this degree with anyone. By this new development, she had shaken his already dubious trust.
Unsurprisingly the lesson did not go well. He arrived with the same bitter, angry attitude that he had presented to her on his first lesson. He was vicious in his Legilimency attempts until her head throbbed from the exertion to keep him out. He had increased greatly in strength, and the vengeful anger that fueled his efforts made every attempt seem like a savage attack. However, his Occlumency was weak in his anger, and he raged at her mentally when she breached his shield.
Her concern for him heightened as she saw the anger, hate, and vengeance inside him. All of the teachers had been voicing worry over the boy. His truest friends remained true—the Weasleys, Hermione and Neville—but they had to actively seek him, as he even avoided them. He was isolating himself in bitterness and grief. No one seemed to be able to reach him.
He was becoming remarkably like another boy she had known long ago, who allowed himself to be consumed with thoughts of vengeance, anger and hate. Merlin's Beard!
She cut the lesson short and returned to her quarters, deep in thought.
Severus entered her quarters through the private door to find her pacing, agitatedly. The thing that he found most interesting was not that she was doing this, but that she was not currently sending any particular emotion. Apparently his rational Ravenclaw had regained some of that much touted reason since the scene at breakfast. Dwelling on puzzles of logic was an effective way to dampen emotions, though he knew she did not do this on purpose for that effect.
When she saw him, she stopped her pacing and behaved as every new bride should do. She smiled warmly, quickly found her way to his arms and kissed him hello quite thoroughly. However, her mind was not to be distracted from the problem at hand; not even by the lure of marital delights they had only just begun to explore together.
She sat down on the couch, obviously leaving room for him to join her there if he chose, and began at once without preamble. He was not going to like what she had to say.
"Severus, we are losing Harry Potter. I think you are the only one who can help him."
He made a noise of derision and scowled darkly, "Losing the idiot boy to what? And why on earth should I care or want to help him?"
"Vengeance. Grief. Anger. Take your pick. He is isolating himself from everyone he cares about or who cares about him, and dwelling on the darkest thoughts imaginable. He's so bitter!"
"You have not answered the second part of my question. What does it matter to me? Why do you imagine I would wish to help him, even if I am capable of it?" He did not sit next to her on the couch, and did not open himself to their Bond. He instead sprawled rather lazily on one of the chairs and cloaked himself in concealing boredom. She was obviously touching a nerve!
She made a noise of frustration, "Severus—you know better than anybody else where that leads! He won't listen to any of his friends. They've all worked to keep secrets from him to keep him 'safe'—much like Remus did to me when we were kids. He's furious with them. Nothing they say or do will reach him.
"YOU could reach him! You've been there; you know what he's going through. He hates you. You hate him. All the more reason why he would believe what you say—he would know you weren't doing it to be nice or friendly or anything."
He scowled silently at the chessboard on the coffee table and said nothing.
"Severus... he doesn't have the resources you had to pull him out of this! He has friends now, since he's come to Hogwarts, but he has no solid foundation to fall back on. He doesn't remember his real parents, and spent the most important part of his childhood totally unwanted and unloved. He was HATED in fact. No effort was made to give him any sort of moral or ethical foundation. You had your mother—he had nothing!"
"Do NOT bring my mother into this, Lup..." he caught himself with a small smirk and corrected, "Snape. He also was not beaten to the brink of death on a regular basis. That hardly seems to me to qualify as a 'solid' foundation.
"I doubt very much that he would listen to what I had to say. I also doubt very much that I would be willing to tell him anything that might be of use to him. He already knows too much about me for my comfort."
She knew she had come to an impasse, at least for the moment. Harry had indeed breached Severus's privacy on more than one occasion to her certain knowledge. That was not something Severus was likely to forgive or overlook.
Besides, discussing Harry Potter was not tops on her list of things she would like to do with her new husband. "Will you at least think about it? I don't know if you could make a difference, but right now I do know that no one else can."
"I will consider the problem," he said, noncommittally.
"Thank you, Severus."
She smiled radiantly at him and then went to her shelf and retrieved some rolls of parchment. When she returned to him, she boldly sat on his lap, presented him with the parchment and kissed him soundly.
He raised a brow inquiringly, but accepted her body, her kisses and the parchment without argument. She stopped kissing him long enough to unroll the papers and explain.
"Think of it as a wedding present," she said. "Hermione told me that Fred and George have invisibility cloaks. I know Harry has one, too. It seems to me that those three enjoy getting into trouble far too much to have them wandering around in those cloaks with impunity. These are wards for your lab and office; well, anywhere you want to use them, actually."
Grinning brightly, she explained, "This one will cause the exterior of the cloaks to glow very softly, if they enter the warded area. The wearer won't know they're glowing, but you'll be able to see the outline. I thought you might like the opportunity to catch them red-handed. It's fairly short-acting I'm afraid, so you need to reset it whenever you're working in your lab."
He gave a dark chuckle as he looked at it approvingly, "Your Slytherin nature is showing itself again, Rowena."
She blushed at the praise—for such a statement from him was indeed high praise—and showed him the other ward, "This one is simply a minor alarm charm, modified to be silent and personal, so that only you will know when the alarm's been tripped. This has to be renewed every day as well, but you'll know whenever an unauthorized person enters the warded space."
"Impressive. I knew there was a reason I married you," he teased, dryly.
Pouting, she pretended to be affronted. It was a very inadequate pretense, as he opened himself to their Bond, and she could feel his pride and affection washing over her. "And here I thought you married me for my physical appeal," she teased in return.
He nuzzled her neck and began nipping at her ear and the tender flesh behind it. "That was merely a secondary consideration, I assure you," he murmured against her skin, finding his way back to her lips.
She heard his sudden intake of breath at the same moment that she felt a painful surge of heat at her waist where his arm rested against her. She realized his mark burned when the Dark Lord called him, but she didn't realize the heat was that intense!
She stood quickly off of his lap and looked at him worriedly, her heart pounding now in fear for him. He grabbed her shoulders and gazed intently at her.
"Rowena, you must close yourself to me while I'm gone. The Dark Lord must not sense our Bond. It's not enough for me to close myself; you must do so as well. It can be dampened by willful control, much like Occlumency," he said urgently.
Nodding, she looked at him fearfully, "Why is He calling you now? He knows you have class in the morning... He doesn't usually call you in the middle of the week, does He?"
He sneered unpleasantly, "I am His slave, Rowena, His puppet, as are all His Death Eaters. He calls me when the whim strikes Him. I suspect that one of our students has passed along news of our 'engagement', and now I am called to explain."
She felt frustration and anger well up inside of her, but it wasn't hers. It came from him, through their Bond.
"Rowena, I hate this. I truly hate that what we have must be hidden as though it were shameful, that I must go now and feign indifference to you. It was selfish of me to marry you, to Bond with you under these circumstances. My bondage to the Dark Lord sullies what you have given to me. I should have waited..."
She silenced him with a kiss, striving to dampen her fear for him. "No, Severus. I'm glad you didn't wait. Please don't regret this... regret us... "
He shook his head. "No, Rowena, I have no regrets in that regard. My selfishness will not allow me to be sorry you are mine. I merely deplore the circumstances surrounding us. Seal yourself now, wife. I will return."
He kissed her once more and allowed her to feel the strength of his affection for her for a final instant. He then immediately and completely closed himself to their Bond and quickly left the room.
He never knew where the summons would bring him. Voldemort trusted no one, and so could not use powerful concealing magic such as the Fidelius Charm. That required pure trust of the Secret Keeper to be effective. Instead the Dark Lord maintained many different hiding places. He lived in cloaked luxury in each of them, but chose where to be at any given moment completely at random.
The magic of the Dark Mark drew the summoned follower so that it was possible to Apparate to Voldemort's location—or as near as Antiapparition wards would allow—without the Death Eater truly knowing their own geographical location upon arrival. In this way the Dark Lord made it difficult for his followers to accidentally or intentionally betray his location.
Severus pulled his hood up more securely upon his arrival, and adjusted his mask for more comfortable visibility. He hated the mask, yet was grateful to hide behind it, adding another layer of concealment as he walked the dangerous line. This location was merely a rather small house on an isolated moor. Dementors lurked in shadows nearby; he could feel their presence even if he could not see them.
Cautiously steeling himself for what was to come, he approached the house. He felt with his tongue the small disk he had tucked against his cheek to ensure its presence. It was a device of his creation that gradually seeped a Veritaserum antidote. There was no way of knowing what had the Dark Lord in such a rage this time. The burning of his Mark had not ceased or decreased in intensity since it called him nearly half an hour ago, which was certain proof that He was in a towering rage indeed.
He entered the building with his innate feline stealth and grace, to find several other cloaked and masked figures already there. A few of them displayed the hunched stance and heavy breathing that spoke of the Cruciatus Curse. None gave any sign that betrayed either their identity or that suggested they recognized the new arrival.
The Dark Lord was raving from the chair near the fire. His rage was such that the room reeked heavily of fear, and each Death Eater cowered visibly when the glaring red eyes regarded them in turn. The cold, high-pitched voice grated against the nerves like a sharp object scraped against a chalkboard. "I want Azkaban breached! I am tired of waiting! Last year only 10 of my faithful were trapped in there, and we retrieved them all easily! What is the delay?"
Severus allowed the words to wash over him as he stored the information, preparing for the questions to come. Well, at least His primary rage was not over news of his 'engagement' to Rowena. Still, he was sure it would come up eventually. This was going to be a lengthy interview.
Rowena took stacks of papers to grade and student essays to examine with her as she went to the room in the Hospital wing where Severus would return. She forced herself not to consciously think of him or be afraid for him—it would make it that much harder to seal herself from their Bond. The technical work, anything that required rational thought, would help keep her mind occupied.
It was late in the evening when she retreated to the ward, well past student curfew, and so she encountered no one. She left the door open so she could quickly summon Poppy if it became necessary, and then tried to immerse herself in grading papers.
A different distraction to that effect arrived near midnight, in the form of one Harry Potter. He came into the room, pulling off his invisibility cloak when he saw her there.
He was pale and sweaty, the scar on his forehead standing out livid red against his ashen skin. He was trembling, and sat heavily in the other empty chair in the room. He looked at the empty bed, and then at Rowena and asked hurriedly, almost breathlessly, "He's not back yet?"
Rowena didn't know quite how to respond to this—how in Merlin's name had he known Severus had gone?
"Harry, what are you doing here? You need to return to your dorm at once!" This was not the time to play understanding teacher, or even compassionate friend. She realized THIS was the sort of thing that Severus meant when he complained that Potter felt rules didn't apply to him. This was going completely around the bend!
"I was hanging out in the halls tonight and I saw him leave. He always rubs his arm when he thinks no one is looking; when it's burning him. So I guessed where he was going." He looked directly at Rowena, with an air of concern that was incongruous to the recklessness of his actions.
"I went into Voldemort's head a little while ago. He was... um... questioning Snape," he said simply.
Rowena looked at him in open-mouthed shock. She forced herself not to dwell on the sort of methods that would be used to 'question' Severus... she HAD to keep herself sealed from their bond! Worrying about what was happening to him would not help her in that regard.
"Great bloody dragon bollocks! What in the hell did you do that for? What have we been trying so hard to do with your Occlumency? To keep you OUT of His head! And Him out of yours!" She was so upset, she was nearly shrieking in rage.
"Listen, He didn't know I was there, okay? I can tell. I've been thinking about it once I sort of figured out how he was getting in my head last year. When I saw Snape leaving I thought I might try it out—it seemed like a good time, when Voldemort was distracted with other thoughts." He trailed off, but he was plainly distressed by what he had seen.
Rowena made a valiant effort to be rational and placating, while still impressing on him the foolishness of what he had done. Sweet heavens above—what if Harry's foray into the Dark Lord's mind caused him to discover the truth of Severus's loyalties? She had to get him to stop messing around in things way over his head!
"Harry, it's not safe and you know it. He could detect you at any moment, and then try to control you. He could find out the things you know about Albus and the Order, school security, Severus, all sorts of useful information. Things that could affect the lives and safety of many other people! You could have gotten Severus killed at that moment!! If you're inside his mind, he can get inside yours. You must never, ever do that again! And whatever you DID see in there tonight, you need to tell Albus at once."
He stood up and paced the room, his agitation for the moment beyond words.
"I won't promise not to do it again... you don't know what I saw, what I found out. And I'm not telling Dumbledore anything without talking to Snape first! I'm tired of Dumbledore always trying to protect me and shut me out of things. He plays around with other people's lives. He locked Sirius away for the last year of his life... he keeps secrets and moves us all around like pawns—even Snape! It's like Dumbledore and Voldemort are playing this huge chess game, and we all get to be the pieces used in the middle. I'm done—I've had enough! I'm not playing by Dumbledore's rules anymore!
"Snape's at least honest about being a damn sneaky bastard! He's the only one that really knows both sides... Besides, what I saw relates to him, more than anybody else. I'll only tell him—he can decide what to do with it after that."
He flopped himself back in the chair and buried his face in his hands. Rowena was shocked to silence. She had no idea that Harry's anger at Albus had gone this far. However, she was not surprised that he had sought out Severus—she continued to feel very strongly that there was a great deal of similarity between the two. At least one of them was beginning to recognize it!
"Harry, I think you should go to bed. You can talk to Severus in the morning. I'm sure he'll be back soon, but he'll be tired, he might need medical help... I don't know if he'll be willing to talk to you for a while. He'll be furious when he finds out what you've done," she said, trying to reason with him.
"Why don't you just tell me what is so urgent, and I'll tell him for you? I think that would be safer for everyone concerned, don't you?"
"NO WAY!" Harry said, emphatically. "He'll be furious enough as it is—I'm not telling anyone else anything. It won't wait. I'm staying right here."
He flopped mulishly back into the chair in the corner, crossed his arms over his chest, and fell silent. He occasionally rubbed absently at the scar on his forehead, as Rowena had seen Severus do to the mark on his arm. She finally succeeded in making him wait in the main room instead of this one. Severus's temper towards the boy would not at all improve if Harry was allowed to see him injured and vulnerable!
It was the best she could do. She resigned herself to severe unpleasantness when Severus returned, and attempted again to absorb herself in grading papers.
She didn't have long to wait. He was curled protectively against himself when he appeared with the telltale 'whoosh' that announced his arrival. Rowena went to him at once and immediately ascertained that he had suffered very extensive use of the Cruciatus, but could find no other injuries. That was enough—it was the worst damage she had yet seen him suffer. How he had managed to articulate the command word for his Portkey was a mystery. It took multiple uses of her "Solicify" charm before he could move at all, and a pain relieving draught from the store-cupboard before he could sit up.
Once sitting, he seemed to rapidly improve. She brought him hot tea and sat silently next to him, her arms tightly wrapped around him. Now that the need for action and the worry of waiting was over, the emotion washed over her as it always did. She fought back tears as she buried her face against his chest, the scent of fear and exertion from his ordeal mingled heavily with the usual comforting fragrance that was Severus. He allowed the embrace and wrapped one arm around her as he sipped the tea.
At last he spoke, his voice plainly strained, "Rowena, I need to speak with Albus immediately. Return to our quarters, I will be there when I can."
With great trepidation, she said, "Severus... before you talk to Albus... Harry came in a while ago. He says he has to talk to you, he says it's urgent. He won't tell me what it is, and he says he won't talk to Albus. He's waiting outside."
"Bloody raving Gryffindor fool!" Severus hissed angrily, "What does he want? I sincerely hope you took a healthy measure of house points for being out of his dorm past curfew? A month's worth of detention with Filch perhaps? Imbecilic boy!"
She attempted a small smile and shook her head, "No, I thought I would save you the pleasure of his punishment. I hoped it would be satisfying enough to prevent you killing him outright. He's done something incredibly stupid..."
"So what is new? Nearly everything he does outside of direct supervision is reckless and stupid. Very well, send him in—I'm in no condition right now to kill him properly—when it comes to that I intend to enjoy it to the fullest. He's as safe as he will ever be with me."
The boy entered the room uncertainly, glancing around when he saw the empty bed. Severus had gone to the window seat and was leaning lazily against the frame. He'd be damned if he'd let Potter see in him any display of weakness!
He glowered darkly at him. Harry met the glare fully, but there was an air of concern about him that irritated Severus further.
"Professor... are you alright?" he asked, almost timidly.
"Potter, get to the point," Severus sneered dangerously. "Why are you here? Why do you imagine I would wish to hear what you had to say?"
Harry frowned back and shrugged. "You're the only one I can talk to. Voldemort goes out of his way to hurt the people he knows I care about."
Snape snorted in understanding, "Ah, but you can speak with me because of our mutual animosity, is that it? Very well. At least this shows you do occasionally make the effort to engage your miniscule intellect in your actions."
"Yeah, and if Voldemort decides that I am too close to you and kills you for it, it won't matter to me," Harry retorted angrily.
Snape merely raised a brow and inclined his head in an ironic bow, "Again the feeling is mutual, Potter."
Harry started pacing in his distress, and spoke quickly, "I was in his head when he was... questioning you... what he was thinking about had very little to do with the questions he was asking..."
Severus heard him out without interruption. When he had finished, he grabbed the boy firmly by the arm and bodily dragged him to Albus's office.
"You will tell the Headmaster precisely what you have told me," he ordered.
It was a mark of the severity of the situation, the gravity of the information, and the turmoil that arose from it that neither the Headmaster nor the Potions Master addressed the issue of house points or detention. Instead they dismissed him as soon as his information was given and remained up half the night in earnest and worried conversation.
A/N: Real life work and end of school year kid stuff is interfering with my writing time a bit, sorry. As you know, I like to update a minimum of once a week, preferably twice a week. Hopefully I will be able to pick up the pace a bit again soon.
There is plenty more to come, so please check back often. Some things you will see in future chapters include whatever "Luke" and Dylan are up to, more Death Eater attacks—there will be some deaths, sorry, but I promise it will only be 'red shirts' (does anyone besides me know the Star Trek reference?); more Malfoy social interaction, some severe changes at the Ministry that will affect the wizarding world, etc. Katrina is not forgotten in the least, and Severus and Rowena will not be forced to hide their marriage forever. I think it might be funny if Albus succeeded in forcing a "grandiose" wedding, don't you? I doubt it will happen, but you never know!