Chapter Thirteen: Their tongues are silver forks/There's a lack of wisdom, you can here it on their breath
A fresh invitation sat on Rowena's desk, green was seal unbroken. She sat in the desk's high stool, the one without a back on it. She had teased Severus about his bad posture once, and afterwards, every chair (save the armchair) had been replaced with hard backed chairs and stools.
She finally took the invitation in hand and broke the seal. The familiar writing jumped out at her, bold and harsh of line. She read over the contents, then penned a short reply. The owl that waited in the window took the offered letter and departed. Rowena held the discarded envelope in her hands for a long, silent moment, then in a second, tore the thing to shreds.
As she dressed, she quietly took stock of her brother's various vials. Severus kept several poisons in small black vials, unmarked and illegal. Most did not even need to be ingested to have affected. Even breaking them open on the floor was enough for one to kill off the entire room. Once her dress's many layers were in place, she slipped a few into small little pockets. Her wand slipped into another.
"Don't trust your fellow wizards?" Albus Dumbledore stood framed in the door, hold her cloak over his arm.
"This?" she asked, holding up a final vial. "It's here to put me out of my misery during Fudge's speech." She pulled out a long velvet box. Inside were a pair of identical knives, thin and plain. "Now, these…" One disappeared up a sleeve, the other into a hole in a side dart.
Dumbledore shook his head sadly when she took the cloak from him and swung it over her shoulders. She stood on tip-toes and kissed the furry cheek. "Don't worry, grand-papa," she teased. "I'll be home before midnight."
The New Year's ball couldn't have been any duller. After a 35 minute speech by Fudge (those poisons were really looking good), the dinner had followed. She thought that the House Elves had outdone themselves for the sheer blandness of the food.
"Let my old taste buds soon forget / the taste of this here food," she sang softy to herself, while she played with her wineglass. Several couples were already dancing out on the floor, and Rowena briefly regretted not dragging someone along as a partner.
Three newcomers caught her eye. Lucius Malfoy, with Thug One and Thug Two. Lucius's ever-present sneer was in place, until he locked gazes with her. Then a quick look of glee came over him before being replaced by sadness. Oh, here we go, she thought to herself as the snake slithered over. What lies will come from thy forked tongue?
"I am surprised to see you celebrating, Miss Snape," he said as he slipped into the empty seat next to her.
Rowena narrowed her eyes, and said, "I don't follow you."
Lucius frowned. "Why, I heard that your dear brother was past on, or very nearly."
Rowena tilted her head. "Wherever did you hear that? I assure you, Severus was still his fighting self when I left."
Lucius sneered slightly, his version of a smile, Rowena supposed. "Word is out in a few of the shadier areas he frequented that he was killed, some say by the Dark Lord. I am overjoyed that they were wrong."
"Of course they are wrong, Lucius. It takes quite a lot to knock one of us of the playing field."
Malfoy stood up briskly. "Again, always a pleasure to chat, Miss Snape. My regards to your brother." He started to move away.
"Lucius," she called out, rising slightly. "Where did rumor have it that my brother died? Surely not in duel; I would have heard about it if that was the case."
He turned, eyes cold. "Why, at Snape Manor." He paused, waiting to see her reaction. When she only smiled and shook her head, he made his way out of the hall.
"Could he have been telling the truth, do you think?" Remus Lupin asked later that evening in the Headmaster's office.
Rowena, still coifed and bejeweled, sat in one of the armchairs and absently swirled a last bit of wine in the fluted glass. "Hardly. Severus never goes to the manor. He hates it there." She paused, for a moment, then shook her head. "I can't see any reason why he would go there. It's been closed off since August. Even Giltz came with me."
"Giltz?" Remus asked.
"The house-elf of my family. Ancient thing." Rowena shook her head. "Even worse than Kretcher for cleaning."
Lupin smiled wanly, but didn't say anything.
Dumbledore shifted uncomfortably, but continued on. "Is there any news, from Arthur or yourself?"
Remus brought his eyes up to meet the Headmaster's. "Nothing new. I caught the same , rumor about him being dead this morning. Arthur hasn't heard anything, either. We're drawing blanks, here, there--"
"--everywhere, over hill and under hill…" Rowena muttered, before tossing down the rest of the wine. "Good night, gentleman," she added before swept from the office.
"You don't think that Severus is already dead and they've dropped the body somewhere?" Lupin asked quietly.
"We would have heard about it by now," Albus murmured.
"Unless they want to make us uncertain, doubt our own information."
"Games within games, that was Tom's specialty in school. We could second-guess everything from where he plans to strike next, to our own names. It would only succeed in dividing us more than we already are."
Lupin sighed, rising. "I take it Durmstang is still not responding to overtures?"
"That is a delicate way of putting it, Professor Lupin."
Author's Note: The Over hill and under hill is a reference to Bilbo Baggins' name game with Smaug in "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien.