A/N: All right. No amount of apologies are going to make up for how absent I've been lately with this fic, but I'm truly sorry. If you've been with me from the start, then you know I will never abandon a fic once I post it. It may just take a really long time for me to update. :) Re-reading this fic, I decided I need to refocus this story a bit as I sort of got off an a tangent there. Expect some changes to occur soon to get us back on track. As always, enjoy. :)

Revelations

Navigating the maze that was Aurora's room was becoming a nightmare. He thought he had fairly good night vision, but bumping into yet another stupid object proved this was false. He mumbled yet another curse under his breath and trudged forward to where he hoped her nightstand was. A part of him considered drawing his wand and casting a weak Lumos just to ensure he didn't bump into anything else, but he didn't want to risk waking her. And judging by her loud snores, if they could even be considered snores, she needed her rest.

When he finally reached the nightstand beside her a few moments later, he let out a silent sigh of relief. He gently placed the pear-shaped bottle of florescent yellow liquid next to her wand and slowly turned away. As he took a step forward, he paused briefly when he noticed Aurora had suddenly become silent. He turned his head sharply to her, his eyes trying to cut through the darkness to see her. Had she stopped breathing? He drew his wand and quickly cast a weak Lumos. When the low, gentle light emanating from the tip of his wand revealed her staring up at him in drunken confusion, though, he winced inwardly. He had woken her.

"Severus?"

"Yes?" he replied quietly, trying to ignore the urge to flee invading his every being.

"Am I dreaming?"

It'd be so easy to reply that yes, she was dreaming. So freaking easy. But it was also cowardly, he knew, and he was anything but cowardly. In fact, looking back on his life so far, he had always chosen the harder path for himself, it seemed. Why would he start taking the easier path now?

"No, Aurora. You're not." He exhaled loudly and met her eyes. "You should take that potion now, so when you awake later you're not feeling so ill." He glanced down at his feet when she turned to look at the bottle of Hangover potion he had brewed for his own stores long ago.

"Is it going to taste like crap?" she asked, holding the filled bottle in her hands.

He snorted, shaking his head. Had it been anyone else saying that, he may have bristled at the insinuation, but it was her, his ultimate conundrum.

"Of course it will." He crossed his arms, staring down at her. "After all, what better way is there to teach you a lesson in the consequences of partaking in certain frivolities as drinking a bottle of Absinthe than to brew you the nastiest potion of all?"

"Git!" she scoffed before she tossed one of her pillows at him. "As if I haven't learned it with your mother finding me in bed with your dad."

"That may be," he drawled, holding the pillow she had tossed at him and glancing down at it, "but I would like to ensure that for myself as well. After all, if we are to engage in a relationship, as you so desperately desire—"

"As I so desperately desire?" she squawked, interrupting him and nearly flying up from the bed in obvious outrage as the bottle clunk down beside her on the nightstand. "Excuse me?! I'm not the one sneaking into your room at night!"

He raised a brow at her.

"Don't give me that! I'm not!"

"Maybe after, you know, I hurdle Severus," he replied smoothly, repeating her earlier words that she had spoken to Demetri outside his rooms. He watched the color drain from her face and waited patiently for her reaction. He was anticipating either anger or shock. "That was your voice I heard earlier, was it not, Aurora?" He all but purred her name.

She looked like she was the one about to flee the room now. However, she held her ground for a moment before a strange look overtook her face. She then laughed silently at something she must have thought before she drew herself up and stared deep into his eyes with a grin.

"You've got me there, but there's just one thing you're missing, my dear, sweet Severus."

His eyes narrowed on her. The way she had said his name was downright chilling and cold. He drew in a steady, even breath, though. "Oh? And what's that, Aurora?" he replied, returning her grin.

"Unlike you, I'm not afraid to throw myself out there for you. In fact, if we're honest, I've made it so obvious over the years how truly and madly in love I was with you. Yet you were too enamored with Evans to see it over this obnoxiously large nose of yours," she stated, tapping his nose with her finger. He blinked in response. "And even now, when you've decided that you'll maybe consider a romantic relationship with me, even now, you hesitate. You find yourself struck dumb by me. And for what?" she asked, taking a step closer to him. "Fear of rejection?" Another step closer with their chests now touching. "Fear of loss?" She lifted her head up just a bit, and he could feel her breath against his face now. "Fear of finding out that you're not the incredible prick you make yourself out to be but actually a human being?" she whispered with her lips mere inches from his. "Oh, my, how horrible that must be!" she mocked.

"Are you intentionally trying to get a rise out of me, witch?" He was holding himself back by just a thread. He could feel her lips brush against his briefly as they both stared one another down, and his head was swarming with thoughts. He could smell the Absinthe on her breath. See the dilation in her pupils and their angry redness. Hear her unsteady breaths. Feel her trembles against him.

"Of course not," she said with a scoff, pulling back and turning away from him. "Because you wouldn't know what to do with me even if you did have me, Severus," she stated with a soft laugh.

He grabbed her arm gently to stop her and frowned when she looked at him and rolled her eyes. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, Severus, that when love is in involved, you haven't a clue. That if it was a class taught at Hogwarts, you'd have failed it spectacularly. In fact, I think you'd likely be even below a Troll-level for a grade."

"Well, forgive me for not wanting to take advantage of a woman when she's inebriated," he snidely replied, frowning at her.

"I'm not drunk!"

"Says the woman who drank a bottle of Absinthe by herself," he drawled.

She pulled her hand back from him and grabbed the bottle he had brought in from her nightstand. "Once again, my adorable git, you prove that you can't see me over your obnoxiously large—"

"When did you drink it?" he interrupted, noticing that the bottle was now empty. She had been sober this entire time?

"When you were busy fondling the pillow, love," she replied with a shrug and sarcasm.

He stared at her, unable to speak or move. Then all of this was . . .

"See? You wouldn't know what to do with me if you had me."

His mind raced with various thoughts. Was she wanting him to make a move? But she had just drunken herself into almost oblivion earlier. While the potion would get rid of her hangover and metabolize the alcohol in her system quicker, she wasn't likely fully sober. She wouldn't be until likely tomorrow night. But she seemed to be clear minded currently, knowing what she wanted. Which was what exactly, he wondered.

"Are you . . . propositioning me for sex?"

"Honestly!" she cried throwing her hands up before she whirled around and went back to bed.

"You are!"

"You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. Was I flirting with you? Yes. Was it so we'd end up shagging? No. Call me old-fashioned, but I would appreciate a date first before we make that jump."

"Then why were you flirting with me?"

"I don't know. I felt like it." She then huffed, drawing the covers up. "Must you always dissect everything? Can't you just do something because you feel like it just once in your life without thinking?" She rolled her eyes. "Course you can't. Forgot whom I'm talking to here."

"You're acting like a sullen brat. Perhaps if you were clear about what you were hoping to achieve, I could—"

"Do nothing. Like always. Because you have to sit there and think about the possible ramifications of any little action on your part."

He frowned, crossing his arms and looking down at her on the bed. Why was she acting like such a brat now? If she didn't want sex, then what was it? What was he missing? The longer it took for him to speak, the more frustrated she was becoming it seemed. He glanced towards the door before he sighed. He wasn't going to leave her angry. He wanted to figure this out. Even if it killed him.

"You care deeply for me. I see that, Aurora. I truly do. However, as you yourself stated, I, I know nothing about love, about what I'm expected to do, what you want from—"

"I don't want anything. Circe!"

"Judging by your tone, you do, though. And I'm too dense to see it. So perhaps—"

"Don't you fucking dare, Severus Snape!" she snarled, pointing at him. "Don't you dare finish that stupid, ridiculous sentence!"

"I don't understand! Clearly I don't! And if you won't tell me, then I'm . . . I don't want our relationship to turn into a bickering hatred where we wish the other jumped off a cliff or something." He paused when he noticed her demeanor change. "I don't know what we are to one another right now. I admit that I do care for you. More than I did before when we were students. I admitted that earlier." He could see her relax more and filed that away for future knowledge, trudging forward. "But we're not official boyfriend and girlfriend, though. And perhaps I'm mistaken, but it's my understanding that friends, if that's what we are to one another, don't snog each other senseless, so your flirting with me earlier couldn't have been to get that action either." He saw her eyes dart to the side guiltily. So that was what she had been wanting from him. "However, I admit that hearing your words, feeling your lips brush against mine, it took everything in me not to kiss you again. To hold you in my arms. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, though."

"Uncomfortable? Why would that make me uncomfortable?"

"Because we haven't officially defined what our relationship is."

"What's to define, Severus? I love you, and you're confused." She sighed and allowed her head to fall back against her pillows. "Just go. Let me wallow in my misery please."

He considered doing as she requested, but found that his legs didn't want to cooperate. In fact, his mouth seemed to work instead.

"You're badly mistaken. I'm not confused as to my feelings for you. I've been clear from the beginning since we reconnected that I care for you. I also don't want to lose you as a friend. And in response to your frustration with me for not moving fast enough, keep in mind I'm playing catch, will you? I'm not the expert you are in romance. But I am trying, Aurora." He then turned and left.

A few days later, Severus frowned as he noticed Demetri give a slight nod to his father before she left the kitchen. He couldn't be certain, but he was fairly confident the two were up to something. When Tobias caught his eyes and forced a smile, the young man felt his stomach drop. That was never a good sign.

"Bout time ya got up. Want one? Just made it," Tobias said, holding out a cup of steaming tea.

"No thank you." Severus brushed past and reached for the latest edition of the Daily Prophet from the table. He sighed inwardly when he saw that the paper was still going on about the Ashmores' newly discovered descendants. Didn't the Prophet have anything else to talk about than that? He was sick of seeing his photo plastered everywhere.

"Think they got my good side this time. What do ya think, son?" Tobias joked, setting the cup down in front of Severus as he sat down at the table.

"You say that every day, Dad," Severus replied, pushing the cup of tea to the side.

"Sev, come on, son. Ya need to drink." Tobias then sighed heavily. "Just humor me, will ya?"

Frowning, Severus grabbed the cup and brought it to his lips. However, the moment he inhaled the steam, he paused and then set the cup down, his eyes darting to his father.

"Since when are you in the habit of drugging me now, Dad?" When he caught Tobias's wince, he pushed the cup far from him and glared.

"It's not—"

"What? It's not laced with an aphrodisiac? Because I smell at least four different ones in that tea, Dad." He crossed his arms and frowned. "I take it this plan of drugging was yours and Demetri's to get me to be with Aurora?"

"Well, yer mum helped too."

Severus's brow rose. His mother helped?

"Don't look so shocked. Ya two have more sexual tension between ya than a pair of drunken Nifflers, son."

Since when did his dad know about Nifflers?

"What? Did I get that wrong?" Tobias asked before he shrugged. "That's what El said at least."

"So then, what, all of you have been discussing this and plotting on how to get us together?"

"Not plottin'. I mean, it ain't like we're all gathered at a table in an evil lair or nothin'. Just, ya know, ya got to admit that she is good with Harrison. And she ain't afraid of ya either. All good things."

"I see."

"Ya ain't got to be like that, son. We're just lookin' out for ya. And, well, shit, she does have a good heart. Not to mention when ya two are 'round another, well, ya bring out the good in both ya."

"Perhaps you haven't noticed, but it's not like she wants to be around me lately."

"Shit, son, that's just cause yer avoidin' her. Not the other way around. Now, how about ya go to the library and see if maybe she'll go on a walk with ya around the grounds? Ya two can talk."

A walk around the grounds? That was his father's brilliant plan today? Severus glanced out a nearby window and frowned. While they hadn't been attacked so far since coming to the manor, it didn't mean that the threat was past them by any means.

"Come on. Ya know I'm right, son."

Hardly. In fact, what he did know was that they were getting desperate now if they were resorting to drugging. But he had to admit that he was missing her.

"Well?" Tobias prodded, giving him a knowing look.

Severus rose from the table, though, and left the room without another word. It wasn't for them that he was going to find and talk to her. It was for himself. He had been avoiding her long enough. And staying away wasn't giving him the answers he was needing.

He headed to the library where he knew she was. It had become her sanctuary these past few days he knew. As he turned a corner, he paused as he heard his mother's voice inside the library.

"We all have difficulties in life. Wallowing in self-pity isn't going to help that. And burying your head in books? Do you truly believe that will help you in your goal?"

"Why does everyone think I have a goal?" Aurora exclaimed with a huff of air. "I'm trying to figure this out."

"Let me help you, dear," his mother replied in feigned sweetness. "You like Severus. He has never been in love, so he hasn't a clue what to do. To get him, you have to be near him and pretty much lead and guide him, Aurora. And you can't do that from sticking your nose in books. So, go out there and find him. Because if we have to hear the both of you moping around one more day, we're going to lock the both of you in a room and not let you out until you talk to one another. Do you understand me?"

"We're not moping!"

Severus nodded silently outside the room. They weren't.

"And for the record, Eileen, my sticking my nose in books is not to avoid him. It's to figure out this whole scenario of what the hell is going on."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself, dear," Eileen replied clearly not believing her. "However, a duck is still a duck."

Severus then heard something slam down and heard footfalls heading in his direction. He took a step back and winced when he saw the door angrily fly open. When Aurora was revealed, he gave her a faint, apologetic smile. She, however, didn't seem to want it. In fact, she grabbed his arm and pulled him behind her, which he obediently followed.

"Your mother is driving me mad," she stated a few moments later when they were out of Eileen's earshot.

"She has a habit of doing that unfortunately," he replied quietly as they wandered the halls of Ashmore manor. "Did you learn anything today?"

"Not really. They seem to be your typical Pureblood family based on their book choices. There's a few Dark books, but I don't know. Nothing dealing with necromancy, dark rituals, or the like."

He nodded slowly. He had a feeling of that.

"There were some interesting books on sex magic, though, but more to deal with conception and rebirth than anything."

"Oh?" He fell in step with her, noticing that her earlier annoyance had disappeared.

"Yeah. One book claimed that there was a foolproof position to ensure pregnancy. And surprisingly it wasn't missionary."

He snorted and shook his head. "I'll keep that in mind."

"So, were you getting the whole 'You need to talk to one another speech' like I just got?"

"Yes." He decided to keep the whole drugging to himself for now.

"We're not avoiding one another. We're just focused on our mission." She then stopped and turned to him. "Right?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Severus?" She gently rested her hand against his arm.

He motioned towards the front door. "Let's go for a walk."

"All right." She followed him outside, clearly confused by his behavior.

They walked around the manor's right side and headed towards the dead garden. In its hey-day, the garden was probably full of colors and life, vibrant and exquisite. Now, it was filled with dead leaves, wilted plants, and naked trees.

When he noticed her veer off to the left, he paused and watched her head towards the lone tall, green, wilted plant in a sea of brown. He followed her a moment later.

"Wolf's bane, isn't it?" she asked when he joined her.

"It is." He watched her glance around.

"It's filled with old potions ingredients." She pointed to their left. "Mandrakes." Then over to their right and up. "And that's asphodel. And over there is dittany."

He nodded. "They must have grown their own ingredients."

"Why haven't we found their stores then? If they had this large of a garden, wouldn't they have stored the harvested ingredients somewhere to brew with? We found no labs, though."

He frowned and thought on it. She was right. They had fully explored the manor and hadn't found any potions labs or storerooms filled with collected ingredients. So where did all their potions' ingredients go?

"It's strange, isn't it?"

"It is," he agreed before he sighed. "Perhaps they moved it all offsite after the attack."

"But why?"

He shrugged, turning away to look back at her. However, as he did, he caught movement off in the distance. He quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back protectively.

"Severus?"

"You have your wand with you, right?" he asked, brushing off her confusion.

"Of course. Why? What's going on?"

"There's someone near the tree line watching us," he stated softly, turning his wrist to cause his wand to slide from its holster into his hand. "On two?" He knew he didn't need to explain to her his plan as he saw her wand slip into her hand as well.

A second later, they both Disapparated from the lifeless gardens.

When they reappeared, it was a hundred feet away from before. They both pointed their wands at the hooded figure in front of them that had been watching them earlier.

"Who are you?" Severus demanded, trying to catch a glimpse of the person's face. Judging by the person's figure, it seemed to be a woman underneath the heavy dark robes. However, the person was covered from head to toe and hidden under dark garbs.

"Aurora Sinistra, daughter of Orin and Syra Ophelia," a cold voice finally spoke from beneath the hood. "Tell me, girl. How's your mother these days? Still a blood-sucking bitch like always?"

"He asked you a question," Aurora replied, not taking the woman's bait.

"As did I, girl." An icy laugh then echoed before the hood turned to Severus. "Do you know her family, Severus? Has she told you about them at all? About what they are? The abominations they are?"

"Who are you?" Severus repeated.

"The question you should ask yourself, my dear boy, is what the hell is she?" the woman stated before she waved her left hand dismissively towards Aurora.

Severus whirled back to protect her, only to realize Aurora didn't need it. The woman's spell hit her in the chest, but it didn't seem to affect Aurora in the slightest. In fact, she instead only sighed heavily and shook her head.

"If you've finished playing games . . ." Aurora stated just as coldly as the woman had spoken.

"Fascinating."

"Who are you?" Severus repeated once more.

The woman then reached up and pushed back her hood, revealing a witch with deep grey eyes and salt-and-pepper curls in her late 70s.

"Diana Selwyn. My niece was Emma Selwyn, your great-grandmother."

"I see." He glanced to Aurora, noticing she was looking back at him. "Why have you been watching me?" he asked turning back to Diana.

"Because you are one of the last connections I have to my niece, Severus."

"Then you're the reason people have been trying to attack me, to set me on this dark path for some reason."

"For some reason?" Diana laughed coldly. "Oh, my dear boy, it's for the grandest of all reasons." She took a step towards him, stopping when Aurora's wand dug deep into her throat. "That worthless Gaunt descendent tried to recruit you in the womb because he knew, oh my boy, he knew of the blood in your veins, the power in your core."

"So, it's power then, lovely," Aurora remarked with a bored sigh.

Diana, too, seemed bored with their conversation then. She whirled around a second later, slamming Aurora back against a tree.

"There. Now, the magical folk can talk in peace without the riffraff joining in," Diana exclaimed, brushing her robes off before she turned to Severus. When he went to move to check on Aurora, Diana pulled him back magically. "Ignore her. She's fine. Just unconscious."

Severus's eyes flashed angrily before he slashed his wand at Diana. However, his spell was easily waved away.

"You truly care for her, don't you?" Diana scoffed, shaking her head. "You don't even know that girl! What she is, Severus! You could be great, one of the powerfullest wizards in the world, and instead you just want to be a pathetic sap in love with her?"

"I don't want power."

"Of course, you want power. Everyone wants power, silly boy!"

"I don't. Not anymore." When he saw the look of horror spread across the elderly witch's face, he knew she understood. "You can tell whomever you've got on this mission of yours, they'll fail every time. I no longer want power. I don't want any bit of it. Do you know why, Diana?" She took a step back from him. "Because the last time I wanted power, I found myself enslaved to a madman. And then enslaved to another. I lost everything I cared about, and I'll be damned if I let it happen again. Do we understand one another?"

"No. It's not supposed to—"

"Be like this?" he finished for her before he scoffed. "Whatever you think should happen, it won't. I'm not the man you think you know. Not anymore. I will not give in to the darkness you want me to do, Diana. I've become so sick of that life, and I'm so ready for a different one."

"But with you—with you, Severus, I could have her back. We could have everyone we ever lost back. Don't you understand?"

"Don't you?" he replied flatly.

She took one last step from him with horror-filled eyes. "I just want her back. That's it. I just want my niece back." She then turned on her heels and Disapparated away.

Frowning, Severus turned away once she was gone and returned to Aurora's side. He looked her over and waved his wand down her to ensure that she didn't have any spinal fractures. When he was certain that she didn't, gently, he picked her up into his arms and carried her back towards the manor. It'd hit him much later that night while sitting next to Aurora's bedside what Diana meant by her words. That only he could bring back the dead. That he had done it already once before in another timeline. That he was expected to do it again by those who had been watching him. That this was the role they wanted him to play in their sinister plot this time.