a/n: this chapter is dedicated to Fulleree! who helped me get around my writers block! strange how much we think alike! see what you think of this chapter & where i did it justice!

on another note... i've managed to escape my frightening, pyromanical, pitchfork-weilding cousin by posting this chapter within 10 days of the last! LOL! love you cuz! he he!

PLEASE REVIEW! keep that writers block away!

Chapter 36

Lexie looked down at the cloak in her quivering hands. She'd nearly had sex with her teacher… no, her mark. She shook her head and tried to get herself together. She put the cloak down gently on the bed and bent to retrieve some of her clothing from the floor. It was then that she remembered; she was supposed to be following Snape.

"Bloody hell." She muttered as she stuffed one of her feet through the leg of her jeans. Her toes got caught in the rip in the knee and she tumbled to the hardwood floor, swearing loudly. She rubbed her elbow which she had landed on rather roughly, then proceeded to put her foot through the appropriate leg hole. She yanked on her sweater and grabbed the cloak.

Just then there was a crash that sounded like it had come from somewhere in the bar area on the ground floor beneath her. She looked down at the floor stupidly and wondered what could have possibly been going on down there. "Probably a couple of drunks having it out…" she figured as she wrenched the door open and stepped out into the dimly lit hallway.

Lexie turned to close the door and heard tables scraping and loud voices drifting up the stairs. She'd have to be careful when she left… it wouldn't be good to be found here… no indeed.

She hurried to the end of the corridor, only to collide with someone. Once again she found herself back on the floor. Whoever she'd run into hadn't been as unlucky. She looked up, rubbing her forehead which had connected with the other's elbow or something…

"Lexie?" said an astounded voice.

"Sophie!" Lexie gasped.

"What are you doing here?" Sophie Storms asked, extending her a hand.

Lexie took her hand and allowed her boss to pull her to her feet.

Oh, this was bad… this was really bad…

"I er… I was…" Lexie formulated a story as fast as she could. "I was following Snape. I thought he came up here." She lied fluently.

"Really?" Sophie said, sounding confused. "We sent Shacklebolt because we thought you'd missed the page."

"Oh… um… no, I got it. It just took me longer than I'd planned to get out of the castle." And she mumbled something about bed checks and a curfew.

Sophie's eyebrows contracted. "Oh."

"Um… what's going on down there?" Lexie asked, changing the subject before things got sticky.

"We got an anonymous tip that there was some Death Eater activity going on in here. So we're doing a thorough search." Sophie told her.

"So what's all the yelling about?" Lexie wanted to know.

"Oh, that's the bartender. He's yelling because we're destroying his pub and driving away his customers." Sophie replied.

Lexie nodded.

"So… you followed Snape here?" Sophie continued her annoying line of questions which was beginning to make Lexie feel unavoidably uncomfortable.

"Yeah… I got caught up in the Forest for a bit. But I saw him come in here." She said nervously.

"I thought you said you had to avoid whoever was doing bed checks?" Sophie corrected her.

"Oh… er… both. Anyway, I saw him come in here with a woman that I didn't recognize. They disappeared up here. So I followed them. He left a few minutes ago in a bit of a rush."

"That's funny… because Shacklebolt said that after Snape left, he came back in with someone else. Another woman."

Lexie's stomach rolled over. "Did he… uh… get a good look at her?" she asked anxiously.

"No. His vantage point wasn't great, from what he said. He didn't want to get any closer for fear he'd blow his cover. Did you happen to see who he was with the second time?" she pressed on.

"Um… no." she lied vaguely, thinking that, thankfully Legilimency wasn't one of her boss' strong points. Besides, she trusted Lexie… she thought with a pang of guilt.

"Damn." Sophie muttered. "Well… did you hear any of their conversation?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… no. I didn't get close enough to listen while that first woman was in here. I was back there…" she gestured over her shoulder to the darkened hallway behind them. "But uh… there wasn't a lot of talking going on when he came back. It was lucky that I stayed put after he left for a few minutes… or he might've seen me."

"Yeah." Sophie agreed. "You don't think he brought that second woman up here to…" she trailed off.

"Oh… well, I dunno… it's possible I guess." Lexie said uncertainly.

"Imagine!" Sophie laughed, "Snape… with a woman!" she shook her head and chuckled for another moment. "As if anyone would be that desperate!"

"Ha…" Lexie shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting around for something to look at other than her boss. A heavy silence fell for a moment.

"Well… this was a futile attempt at a raid then." She said, sounding obviously deflated and pushing her short blonde hair out of her eyes. "I just wish we could figure out what he was talking about with them this evening." She said, frustrated.

"I imagine it was probably something personal." Lexie blurted out.

"You mean, you don't think it was Death Eater business?" she asked, lowering her voice.

"No… Sophie… I'm telling you – I haven't seen him do anything that would lead me to believe that he's a Death Eater… I honestly think he's clean." Lexie said hesitantly.

Sophie paused and looked at her critically. "Lexie… you say that, but as you'll remember, he has been the one training you to become a Death Eater."

"I know but lately-"

"If I didn't know better…" Sophie said with raised eyebrows, "I'd say you were hoping that Snape was good. Is there something that you're not telling me? Because if there's something that you haven't said… I need you to fill me in. If you're holding out on me… it could compromise your investigation…"

Lexie stared at Sophie. She'd just opened her mouth to speak when…

"Oye! Sophie!" as deep voice boomed from the bottom of the stairs. "We've got something!"

Sophie's eyes shot to the stairs. "Come on. Looks like Shacklebolt's found something."

Lexie followed Sophie down the stairs, happy for the interruption. She knew that she should've told Sophie about her feelings for Snape. She imagined that this kind of complication would've warranted her being removed from the case (as would have so many other things that she'd done throughout the last several months). She really should've taken herself off of the whole mission. Especially after tonight. But what was the alternative? Letting someone else make the final decisions about Snape's loyalties? No. She couldn't let that happen. She'd finish out the assignment and hope that it turned out the way she wanted it to. So she decided to keep her mouth shut and sit on her suspicions and desires for the time being.

Upon arriving down in the barroom, they spotted Kingsley Shacklebolt standing in the doorway of the pub.

"You've gotta see this." He said seriously.

Sophie hurried through the tables and waved her hand carelessly at the bartender who was still ranting about the state of his bar, which did look as though whichever Aurors had been searching it hadn't taken the greatest care in keeping things in order. Chairs were overturned and tables moved helter-skelter around the room. Lexie smiled sheepishly at the man and followed Sophie out the door.

"What's going on Shacklebolt?" Sophie asked as they stepped back out onto the street.

"Jess found a body in the alley just next door." He told her. Lexie's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"What!" Sophie asked, scandalized.

"Come and see."

Sophie and Lexie followed Kingsley around the bar and into the alley that Lexie had been hiding in earlier. He lit his wand and led them behind an overflowing dumpster. Fellow Auror, Jess McGrady, who had rescued Lexie from her run in with McNair the past summer, was standing there as well, her trademark emerald cloak blowing gently in the breeze. Rain was still drizzling down setting the perfect scene for a murder.

She nodded when she potted Sophie and Lexie. At her feet there wasa body lying in a rather unnatural position on the rain washed street. Kinglsey stood over top of the body and pointed his wand at it.

It was the form of a middle-aged man. His eyes were shut and his hand outstretched. Just out of his reach was a wand.

"Cause of death?" Sophie asked seriously.

"At first I assumed it was the killing curse…" Jess began to tell them, "But then I noticed that his eyes were closed… and upon further examination I noticed the blood." She lit her wand and pointed it at the man's abdomen. His light colored t-shirt exposed under his cloak was indeed covered in blood and sporting a rather large rip toward the hem.

"Looks like a stab wound." Jess elaborated.

"A stab wound?" Sophie repeated.

"Do you think he was killed by a Muggle then?" Lexie chimed in curiously.

"No… I doubt it." Kingsley answered. "Muggles can't get into this area. There are barriers."

"So a witch or wizard used a knife to kill this guy instead of their wand?" Sophie asked, puzzled. "But why?"

"It's hard to say." Jess said, shaking her head and looking at the body.

Lexie's mind instantly darted back to the cocktail party at the Malfoys, when she'd seen that beautiful dagger… the one Malfoy had called the "Serpent's Blade". The one used to steal a witch or wizard's powers through stabbing them. She bit her lip.

It was as though Sophie had read Lexie's mind. Suddenly Sophie rounded on her.

"You don't think…?" she said slowly.

Lexie took Sophie by the elbow and steered her away from the others. She had made it a point to tell Sophie about the Serpent's Blade in her next meeting after having been at the Malfoys. She took advantage of this evidence pointing against Malfoy to evade attention from the fact that Snape had been the one to take her there that evening and the implications which that simple fact held.

Sophie had immediately set up a search of the Malfoy manor. The Ministry had been keen to search any wizard's house which was rumored to have harbored any sort of Dark artifact. Especially now that the Dark Lord's most faithful follower had escaped from Azkaban. Ironically, the search had yielded no results and Malfoy was not indicted.

Yet the fact remained… the dagger had been there. It was likely that Malfoy had received a tip of his own, warning him of the search and stashed his Dark items away in a safe hiding place that searchers wouldn't have found.

"It could've been the Serpent's Blade I suppose… but there's no evidence that Malfoy was here tonight." Lexie said thoughtfully.

"Who said it had to be Malfoy who stabbed that bloke back there?" Sophie gestured to the dead body behind them.

"What do you mean? You think someone else has the dagger?" Lexie asked, confused.

"I think a particular someone has the dagger." She replied seriously.

"…What? Snape!" Lexie gasped.

"Exactly." Sophie agreed.

"No. No way. It couldn't have been him." Lexie said, shaking her head and feeling the blood drain from her face.

"Why not?" Sophie asked instantly, sounding anxious and crossing her arms standoffishly.

"Well, I saw him leave. He never would've had time." Lexie said pointedly.

"You know Lexie… I find it odd that you saw Snape leave… but you didn't get a good look at that second woman."

"Sophie I'm sorry!" Lexie said, raising her voice. "I just didn't! But that's not the issue!" she said, trying to steer the conversation away from her whereabouts earlier that evening.

"No. You're right. The issue is that Snape was with you the night at the Malfoys when he gave you that big speech about how that dagger came by him and what it was used for. What if, when Malfoy heard about the raid, he ditched the dagger… maybe gave it to one of his confidants? One of his confidants that is in a position where his belongings wouldn't be searched?" Sophie said, piecing together an… actually completely logical scenario.

"I think that Malfoy did give that dagger to Snape and told him that if the opportunity arose to try it out, that he should. And I think he did."

Lexie was shaking her head. In all reality, Sophie could've been right. There was a big enough gap in time between Snape leaving and her standing there shaking, getting dressed, falling down and running into Sophie in the hallway for Snape to run into that man in the alley and stab him. Her heart didn't want to believe it, but her head was telling her that it was possible.

"Shit!" Lexie swore out loud, coming out of her daze suddenly.

"What?" Sophie asked.

"Snape will be on his way back to the castle!" she said horrified.

"So? What? Is he expecting you? It's nearly midnight?"

"Yes… don't ask… I just told him I'd meet him in his office. He's going to wonder where I am…. I have to go!" she said, rushing off.

"Hey!" Sophie yelled as Lexie turned the corner. "Keep in touch!"

Lexie's heart was racing. If Snape beat her back to the castle, she wouldn't be waiting for him in his office like she said she'd be. That'd make for some tricky questions to answer when she got back. She could only hope that whatever Snape had been summoned to do took longer than it took her to get back. It had been almost an hour.

She sprinted back to the outskirts of town, stopped, turned and apparated. She actually crumbled to the ground upon arriving back at the edge of the forest. She pushed herself to her feet and dove back into the jagger bush that had scratched her up on her way out that evening. She stumbled through the forest at top speed and dashed across the grounds to the dungeon entrance to the castle.

She pulled the door open cautiously, thankful that no one had bothered locking it. And, come to think of it… why hadn't anyone locked it? It was after hours and there was a deranged serial killer on the loose. She imagined that it didn't relock itself after being opened. She'd neglected to lock it after leaving. But then again, it was lucky that she hadn't. Otherwise she would've been locked out. But her uncle was the least of her worries at the moment.

She made her way quietly down the hallway to Snape's office and found the wards to still be set. She lifted them and silently let herself inside. Either Snape hadn't gotten back yet, or he was back and had reset them after returning.

But upon entering the office, she found Snape nowhere to be found. She reset the wards herself and moved further inside. She found it odd that Snape wasn't back yet. Surely whatever he was doing couldn't' have taken an hour? But then, she didn't know what he'd been summoned for… it might take all night. Or he might be in trouble… Her mind was going a hundred miles an hour. So much had happened tonight.

Lexie drew her wand and lit a fire in the fireplace. She crossed the room and curled up in a high back chair, pulling her legs up underneath her. She pulled Snape's cloak tight around her. She'd put it on just after leaving Knockturn Alley. It smelled of him. She inhaled deeply. It smelled of cedar, musk and chemicals. It tingled the inside of her nose and gave her chills.

"I hope he gets back soon." She thought. But then another thought occurred to her. When Snape returned, she'd have to find out whether or not he'd been the one who'd stabbed that man in Knockturn.

"Merlin…" what would happen if he couldn't give her an explanation of where he was? She rubbed her forehead between her eyebrows and squinted her eyes shut. It was then that she realized just how tired she was. But she couldn't go to sleep… no… not until he got back and she knew he was safe.

Confusion didn't even begin to describe how she felt at the moment. She was sick with worry. Being summoned by means of the Dark Mark was never a good sign. The likelihood of it being something dangerous was good. She wanted him to be safe. But if he had murdered that man, could she really look at him the same?

Her thoughts finally exhausted her and she surrendered to sleep.

Lexie awoke some hours later with a start. She sat up and detangled herself from Snape's cloak. She looked around the office, he wasn't there.

"I wonder what time it is." She said standing up and stretching, looking around somewhere for a clock. She finally found a small clock on the wall beside Snape's desk.

Her first class was to start in ten minutes. And it was on the other side of the castle. Lexie raced to the door and stopped. She listened carefully on the other side for signs of Slytherin traffic making their way to class. The corridor was silent. And upon exiting, she found it deserted. She dashed back to her room, having only enough time to change her clothes and grab her books before sprinting off to class.

She looked for signs of Snape as she raced through the corridors, but found none. Of course, he could be in class. Perhaps he'd made it in, decided not to wake her and was sitting in his classroom preparing to teach his first class?

She made it to Charms just as tiny Professor Flitwick was closing the door. He scolded her for her tardiness but she barely heard him, mumbling an apology as she took her seat.

Natasha, whom she hadn't been on speaking terms with since she'd moved rooms, turned around and surveyed her.

"You look like hell." She said bitterly.

"Thanks for noticing." Lexie spat as she opened her book and began leafing through to find the page they were supposed to be on.

Natasha didn't have time to get any more jabs in at Lexie, for Flitwick had begun teaching.

Lexie spent the duration of the period worrying about Snape's whereabouts. Between classes, she listened intently to conversations in the corridors; hoping to hear someone complaining about Snape assigning them homework over the weekend and dreading to hear that Snape was not teaching his class today. Oddly enough, no one even mentioned his name.

She worried her way to lunch. She sat down at the Slytherin table in her usual spot, muttering a hello to her friend Carrie who always sat behind her with her boyfriend Oliver at the Gryffindor table.

She glanced up at the head table, where the teachers sat and found Snape to be absent. Her stomach dropped. She'd hoped that at least he'd be back for lunch. If he wasn't here now… he could've been injured somewhere… or worse. She stared at the selections for lunch and found herself pointedly not hungry. And nauseas. A door opened near the teachers' table and Lexie's head snapped up to see who it was.

"Damn. McGonagall." Lexie grumbled to herself as Professor McGonagall took her seat next to the headmaster.

She couldn't eat. She was too worried. She wondered if there was someone she could talk to about Snape's absence… but there was no one. There was no one in this entire blasted castle that she could confide in. She flopped her head down on her arms on the table and thought perhaps she could catch a nap. Merlin knew she needed one.

"You look like hell." Said a soft voice from behind her.

She nearly fell off of her seat when she realized who it was. Snape. He was standing behind her giving her an odd look. His eyes were tired, but he looked particularly smug.

Suddenly she felt an overwhelming sense of anger. She swung her legs over the side of the bench and brushed past Snape, heading toward the entrance hall. She didn't know where she was going; only that she was too angry to be in his presence at the moment. How could have been back and not let her know that he was alright? Her blood was pumping quickly and she could hear it pulsating in her ears.

"Miss Bane." She heard his voice call after her, but she didn't stop. She was heading up the stairway to the second floor, still having no set destination.

He called to her again, but she just walked faster. She could hear his footsteps behind her. His legs were longer than hers… he was gaining on her.

She felt his hand grab her arm, and before she knew it he had pulled them into an empty classroom. He pointed his wand at the door, locked it and said, "Muffiado."

"Why are you avoiding me?" he said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Lexie shook her head. "I can't talk to you right now." She said vaguely, trying to master her urge to yell.

"And why is that?" he asked, raising a black eyebrow into his hairline.

"I'm too angry with you… please, I have to go." She said, trying to side-step him. But he blocked her.

"Angry with me?" he repeated. He seemed to think for a moment. "Does this have anything to do with last night?" he said, lowering his voice.

"Of course it does!" she said, losing control and shouting. "It has everything to do with last night!"

"I'm sorry… I was under the impression that you were tearing at my clothing just as eagerly as I, yours." He said, sounding satisfied.

"Not that!" Lexie said, exasperated. How dare he not know why she was angry! Wouldn't it have been common courtesy to let her know that he was alright?

She was breathing heavily and now fighting the urge to cry. "I waited for you… I waited for you all night… you never came back. I've been worried sick. And you stroll in and want to crack jokes about my appearance. What happened? Where'd you go?"

Snape sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know I am not at liberty to discuss those matters with you, Miss Bane." He said and Lexie noted the return of her surname.

"Oh! OK, you're at liberty to hop into bed with me, but you're not at liberty to discuss why you had to leave in the middle of it?" she asked, her eyes brimming with tears… but she wouldn't succumb to them.

"Keep your voice down… that spell won't help us if you're shrieking breaks the window." He said sarcastically.

"I am sorry that you had to worry." He said pointedly. "However, I returned in the wee hours of the morning and went to bed. How was I to know you were going to wait up all night for me in my office?" he asked dryly.

"Because I said I would. I said I would… and that should mean something to you!"

"It does." He replied softly.

He waited a moment in which he watched her shoulders rise and fall shakily. He wanted to reach out to her, but he had other matters that needed to be attended to first.

"What happened after I left?" he asked

Lexie faltered. "I got dressed and left." She lied.

Snape's eyebrow went again. "Really? And… you didn't see anything out of the ordinary on your way out?" He asked skeptically.

Lexie tried to remember how long it had been before the Aurors came bursting in downstairs, but everything was so jumbled. So she lied again, trying to remember to keep her mind closed. Snape couldn't find out about her interaction with the Aurors.

"No…. why?" she asked, turning the questions back to him.

"I was informed that there was a raid which took place there last night. Ministry of Magic Aurors, acting on a tip that there was Death Eater activity going on in the pub." He said, staring hard at her.

"I didn't see anything." She said confidently. "Though… I did hear someone talking at lunch about a murder that took place next to the pub we were at last night. Do you know anything about that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Snape surveyed her. "Why is it, that each time I try to see your thoughts, your mind is soundly closed?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Why is it that when I asked you about a murder that took place right next to the pub, probably not long after you left, you avoided the question…? I need to know if you had anything to do with that." She said, praying that his answer would be satisfactory enough to convince her and Sophie.

"You honestly believe that I left you in that room to go and murder someone in an alley and then disappear for the rest of the evening?" he asked.

"I… I don't know. I hope not…" she trailed off and dropped her gaze to the floor.

"Would my word be good enough for you if I said that I didn't?" he tilted his head to get her to look at him. But she didn't. "Very recently, it doesn't seem that it counts for much with you…"

She finally did look at him. "You honestly didn't? That wasn't what you were summoned for?"

"No." he answered shortly.

"And you can't tell me what you were summoned for?" she pressed.

"No."

She bit her lip. Then went on with her questions. "I heard that that man was stabbed last night. But it was in Knockturn… Muggles can't get in there… everyone thinks it was a wizard. Do you think it could've been the Serpent's Blade?"

Snape frowned. "I think that is entirely possible." He said after a pause.

"But… that would mean that Malfoy was in Knockturn while we were there…" she surmised.

"Not necessarily. Not long after our last visit to the Malfoys, the Ministry conducted a raid on the Malfoys' house. Lucius was tipped off by one of his connections within the Ministry and made sure that all of his… possessions… that would have gotten him into trouble were conveniently missing at the time the raid was conducted. One of his trusted connections is likely to be holding the Serpent's Blade for him. It wouldn't surprise me if one of them decided to try to use it while it was in their possession."

Sophie had been right… at least up to the part where she assumed it was Snape that had the dagger. Of course… he could always be lying. She didn't know why… but she believed him when he said that he was innocent.

"Now… there are other matters that we need to discuss." Snape said, changing the subject, for Lexie seemed to be mulling over his answer and considering the possibility that he actually was telling the truth.

Lexie frowned in confusion.

"I received word this morning via Muggle post that the nun at the Monastery where you were dropped off was attacked two nights ago."

"What!" Lexie gasped.

"She was badly beaten… and it looks as though magic might have been used… though, it didn't go into detail… the circumstances make me believe that the culprit could've been a witch or wizard."

"Oh my gosh… is she ok?" Lexie asked as her brain began to work overtime again.

"She'll live." Snape said, sounding relatively unconcerned. "The question is… what they wanted? It is possible that it's someone who is trying to discover your heritage."

"Someone would beat up a nun to find out who my parents were?" Lexie said, astonished, wondering what kind of a monster could do such a thing.

Snape tilted his head as though to say, 'Could be'.

"So they don't have any idea who did it?"

"No… but I have my suspicions." Snape said mysteriously.

"Any chance you're going to let me in on them?"

"No. For the moment, you are safe. And that is top priority. I've spoken with Lucius… and your initiation is set for next Saturday."

Lexie felt as though someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on her. Next weekend! She hadn't even decided for certain which side Snape actually was on yet! She couldn't go through with the initiation! That meant that she only had one week to decide if Snape was good or bad and get out of that school before she had to be branded with the Dark Mark… or worse… participate in the initiation tasks.

She nodded distractedly.

"So… we will need to meet once more before Saturday in order to go over the ceremony and discuss a few last minute details. In the meantime…" he said, stepping closer to her and she felt the heat of his body for the first time since last night. She shivered.

"I want you to consider this again… long… and hard… are you sure you want to go through with this?"

She looked up at him and opened her mouth to respond but he shushed her with his hand.

"I do not want an answer now." He said sternly. "I said I want you to consider it very carefully. I have told you before… I do not believe that you are cut out for the lifestyle of a Death Eater. I stand by that statement." He said taking her by the arms, just above the elbows. She let him pull her closer.

"If I didn't know better…I'd say you were trying to talk me out of this Professor…" she said skeptically, looking up at him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I am."

Inwardly, Lexie gasped.

"There's something you're not telling me…" Lexie said, trying to milk his true allegiance out of him.

He smirked. "A wise woman once said, 'There are many things I don't want you to know.'…"

Lexie smiled at him. He was quoting her. And had he just called her wise?

"It's time for class to start." He said, completely ruining the moment, and knowing it perfectly well.

He released her and went to the door. She followed him and made to exit the room. But he put his hand on the framed and held the door shut.

"Again… I am truly sorry… that we were interrupted last night."

All she wanted him to do was just hold her. Just for a minute. He'd salvaged the conversation by saying something like that.

"Me too…" she whispered.

And with that, he opened the door and held it open for her as she left.