Chapter 38

The next morning, Lexie woke feeling more refreshed and at ease than she had in recent memory. She yawned, smiled and stretched. Fearful that if she opened her eyes, the events of the previous night would evaporate… she squinted one eye open and kept the other shut. She took a peek at the empty spot in the bed next to her and shrugged. She hadn't really expected him to stay. That would've been asking a lot of Severus Snape following an unbelievable, mind-blowing tryst between the sheets.

She clenched her eyes shut again and tried to convince herself that last night had actually happened. After many long months of teasing, flirting and cat and mouse games… she and her teacher, her mark had finally consummated their relationship. Not only was it well worth the wait… but upon considering previous events of the same nature… she couldn't recall any lover that she'd ever had that could've held a candle to what Snape had done for her.

She played the scene over and over in her mind, like a movie trailer that she couldn't get enough of. During the relatively short time she'd known Snape, she'd often wondered what kind of lover he would be. Would he be generous and think only of his partner? Or would he be harsh, demanding and want it exactly the way he wanted it? Both possibilities seemed plausible.

Thinking back, she couldn't remember any occasion (save that one night in Knockturn) that she'd seen Snape with a woman. Would he be awkward? Shy? Would he know how to please a woman? He never held very much stock in what other people thought of his looks. Would that affect his performance? Perhaps he hadn't had many opportunities with the opposite sex at all?

The other possibility was that he was some sort of sexual Casanova. Well versed in the art of pleasing a woman. Lexie had always watched him with great interest in Potions lessons as he demonstrated the correct way to cut up roots, crush and grind beetles and the proper way one was to hold a dagger when cutting up ingredients. His hands intrigued her. There was long, fine, spindly and dexterous. She'd thought more than once about what those hands were capable of. Careful, calculating, steady and well-trained.

The latter had proved to be correct.

Despite the fact that he had undeniably been seeking his own pleasure above her own… it didn't seem to have mattered. He brought Lexie right along with him. It had been… well… it had been… Grrrrrrrrr…

Lexie giggled silently and buried her face in her pillow. Wow. She couldn't believe what a difference that one night had made on her overall wellness. She rolled over and checked the clock and… e-gads! No wonder she felt so refreshed! It was almost 1:00 in the afternoon.

Not keen on the idea of abandoning her Snape sex sheets, she begrudgingly rolled out of bed and trudged to the bathroom. She showered, taking rather longer than necessary… she had no idea what the day before her was going to hold. What would things be like with Snape the next time they saw each other? (Which would presumably be that evening.) Would it be awkward? Would it be comfortable? Would he even acknowledge the fact that it had happened?

She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her torso and another around her hair, wondering if they were still serving lunch downstairs. She went to her room and picked out a pair of Muggle jeans and a t-shirt. She was about to drop her towel and get dressed when a small, hollow laugh from behind her made her whirl around.

What she saw elicited an audible gasp. There was no possible way he could be here… her eyes must have been playing tricks on her. It couldn't have been…

"Sirius Black." Lexie said firmly, trying to stop her voice from quaking.

"That's… Uncle Sirius to you love." Sirius Black corrected her. He was slouched casually in her low cushy chair across the room. He tapped his spindly fingers rhythmically on its arm as he surveyed his niece.

Lexie clutched her towel around her tighter as she noted his eyes surveying her. She shuddered.

"Fuck you." She spat with an acidity that would have made Snape very proud of her.

Black contracted his eyebrows and let out a silent whistle. "Such language! You must've gotten that from our side of the family. Your mother certainly never would've said anything like that." He said, and though it was meant to be a scolding it came out sounding rather like pride.

"Don't talk about my mother." Lexie said threateningly.

He nodded and raised his hands up in surrender. "Alright then, let's talk about you." He said, as though it was a natural compromise. He sat back the chair, completely at ease and crossed his legs.

"You know, I could scream right now and the Dementors would be in here sucking your soul out through your mouth before you could say 'Azkaban'…" Lexie waggled her eyebrow.

A crooked smile twisted across his mouth. "But you won't."

"You don't think so?" Lexie asked smartly.

"No." he said, using his hands to push himself out of the chair.

"Why not?"

"Sheer… curiosity…" Black said matter-of-factly. "You know, it wasn't easy tracking you down. After your parents dropped you off at that monastery, you all but disappeared off the face of the earth. After their deaths… I inquired about you at every church and orphanage both here in London and all over Italy. When I finally found myself standing in front of the nun who'd taken you in… she wasn't exactly keen on the idea of divulging your whereabouts to me despite my claims of being your uncle and last living relative. She said you'd already been adopted and taken abroad. I tried to… persuade her… to tell me what I needed to know so that at least I could have one glimpse of you, but I was rather pressed for time."

"Right, you had some serial killing to do." Lexie quipped.

"Which brings me to my next reason for being here." Black said conversationally. "I've come here to tell you something. And I would appreciate you to listen with an open mind, despite what you might have heard." He said, holding up a finger, as Lexie looked more than ready to object.

"But first… do put something on. These dungeons have always been such a cold, dank place to have to room. Wouldn't want you to catch pneumonia… now would we?" he said in a parental sort of way.

Lexie looked at him skeptically.

"I have no intentions of attacking you Alexandra. Change, then we'll talk."

Lexie backed toward the bathroom, still clutching her towel and clothing tightly.

"Uh-uh…" Black stopped her.

"Behind the screen will do. Wouldn't want you running off or getting any ideas about calling for help." He gestured to an old-fashioned changing screen in the corner.

Lexie complied. Once she was behind the screen she said, "It might not have occurred to you… that I don't want to hear anything you have to say… regardless of whether or not you're my 'last living relative'."

She began yanking on her clothes as fast as she could as she could no longer see him from behind the opaque screen.

"It wasn't a request." Black said. His choice of words had been frighteningly like something that Snape would've said.

Lexie emerged moments later, fully clothed and scowling fiercely to find Black in the chair he'd been sitting in before. She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked around. Where was her wand?

"See now? Nothing to worry about." Black said, referencing the fact that he'd let her change without interfering. "If you're looking for this…" he said, holding up her wand in his hand. "I think I'll just hold onto it for safe keeping until we've finished our little chat."

He smiled and twirled the wand around between his fingers. His hair was ragged, dirty and uncombed, hanging in long curtains around his shoulders. His face looked hollow, sunken and bordering on malnourished. Apparently this is what life on the run from the law did to a person. Showers and food were few and far between… if at all.

"I know what you must think of me." he began, taking to staring at the floor, rather than looking at her. "The story seems to be consistent each time I hear it. Apparently everyone in our world thinks that I am indeed a mad, raving lunatic, serial killer. But I want you to know… that I am not." He said earnestly.

Lexie snorted.

"I want you to know what really happened that night that the Potters were killed."

"I know what happened." Lexie said, her voice rising. "You sold them to the Dark Lord, then went after Peter Pettigrew and did him in along with a street full of Muggles!"

"It's not true." He said. "When Lily and James realized that Voldemort was planning to kill them, they went into hiding. And, as I'm sure you know, when a person goes into hiding, they must appoint a secret keeper. This person is the only one who knows their whereabouts. And as long as the secret keeper… keeps their silence, those in hiding can never be found."

Black looked up at her. "I was supposed to be Lily and James Potter's secret keeper. But they changed at the last minute… upon my suggestion… they made Peter their secret keeper instead. Peter betrayed the Potters… and told Voldemort where to find them." He paused. His eyes seemed distant and sad, as though looking back on the events with regret.

"When I heard the news that Lily and James had been killed… I was devastated. It was my fault that they died. If I, myself had kept their secret… they might still be alive today. I was engulfed in rage… I knew what I had to do. I had to find Peter… and make him pay for what he did. I had all intentions of committing one murder. But before I went to seek him out… I went to the monastery that you'd been dropped off at. When the nun wouldn't tell me where you were… I had one last thing to do. I went to the Potters… and tried to see Harry. Hagrid was there… but he already had orders to take Harry directly to Dumbledore so that he could live with his Muggle relatives.

So I went in search of Peter. When I found him, I confronted him in an alleyway. He denied having betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort and before I could even raise my wand, he yelled out for as many witnesses to hear as possible that I had betrayed Lily and James. Then… before I could curse him… he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself… and sped down the sewer with the other rats. You see, Peter was an Animagus… we all were. Me, James, your teacher, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. But before he did… he cut off his finger. Left it as a sick sort of souvenir and evidence of his alleged demise."

He stared at her for a minute. Probably trying to decide if she believed even a fraction of what he was telling her.

Lexie was staring just as intently back at him. She was trying to will herself to read his emotions. It was working… she felt an overwhelming sense of grief, regret… and guilt.

"Let's say… just for fun… that I might believe you." Lexie began cautiously. "How can I be sure that you're telling me the truth? That you're not just using me to somehow remain in the castle to get to Harry Potter?"

"Help me." he said quickly.

"What?"

"Help me find Peter." Black said, leaning forward anxiously.

"How? If he really did transfigure himself into a rat, how on earth are we supposed to find him! There are millions of rats on this earth… we could never even know where to begin?"

Sensing the potential of an ally… he continued at once.

"We know exactly where to begin. Last summer there was an article in the Daily Prophet about the Weasley family winning a bunch of gold and taking a trip to Egypt. In the picture, there was a rat sitting on one of the boys' shoulder. It was missing a toe…" he said significantly, raising his eyebrows.

"…So?..." Lexie cued him to continue.

"Peter is missing a finger…"

The lights came on.

"Peter is alive and well. He's been masquerading as the Weasleys pet rat for twelve years. And he's in this castle somewhere right… now."

It all added up. Was it even possible that the entire wizarding world was wrong about her uncle? Or was it that she wanted to believe him? Could her judgment be clouded by the possibility of having her uncle, her blood relative, in her life?

"If what you're telling me is true… you have to go to Dumbledore. Tell him what you've told me. He'll know how to catch Pettigrew and convince the Ministry that you're innocent." Lexie reasoned.

"No. That's not possible. I have to catch Peter myself. If I can present him, in human form to someone… anyone … they'll have no choice but to believe me. That is, until they give Peter a dose of Veritaserum… then he can tell them the long, sordid story for himself."

"OK." Lexie said, shutting her eyes and trying to get things to all fall into place in her mind. "If we can't go to Dumbledore," she noted the usage of 'we' rather than 'you'… "Then what am I supposed to do to help you?" she asked.

"Believe me." he said, it was a painstaking plea. "Just believe that I'm telling you the truth. I risked everything by coming here to you… for the chance to see you… the beautiful young woman that you've become. And to try to convince you that your uncle is not a murderer. Just say you believe me." his heart was breaking. Lexie could feel it. And she knew, somehow, that he was telling the truth.

"I believe you." She whispered.

Black bowed his head into his hands for a moment, in which Lexie stared incredulously at him.

When he finally looked up, his eyes were brimming with tears. "Thank you." He said softly. "Your confidence means everything to me."

"Well…" Lexie began, not really knowing what to say. "You're welcome."

They sat in silence for some time until Black finally spoke again.

"Now… unless I've made a drastic miscalculation… might I ask… what are you doing in magic school? You ought to have graduated years ago." He said, changing the topic and shocking Lexie into inability to speak.

She blinked. "Er… I can't tell you that."

He laughed, a real laugh this time. It was deep and booming, almost joyful. "I just told you practically my entire life's story… and you can't tell me why you're hanging around attending classes at Hogwarts years after you've graduated?"

"Well… you're right. I did graduate years ago." Lexie said, carefully navigating around the details of her assignment while indulging him just a little. "All I can say… is that I'm working. And I need to have your word that it won't get out that I'm not actually a student here." She said, feeling guilty at having told a fugitive what she was doing at Hogwarts before she'd told anyone else.

"Working?" Black said curiously. "I see… I guess I can't expect you to tell me everything about you in one sitting." He said… and he wasn't offended.

"I haven't told anyone what I'm doing here. You're the only one who knows that I'm working and not attending school at all." Lexie said.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know that requires me to delve into my personal life?" she asked.

He looked at her for a moment. "Actually… I was wondering if you were going to ask me how long I'd been hiding out in your room?"

Lexie's stomach jumped up into her throat, which had suddenly gone very dry. "How… er… how long have you been hiding in my room?"

"Long enough." He said, looking stern and fatherly again. "I must say… as beautiful and intelligent as you are… I don't think much of your choice of company."

Lexie swallowed. Shit.

"You were here last night." she surmised.

"Yes." He admitted. "But you and your… guest… were too preoccupied to notice me. I hid in your bathtub for most of the night. luckily, I was able to close the door and not have a front row seat."

Lexie covered her face in her hands. She felt herself blushing. No one was supposed to know about her and Snape, least of all her estranged, accused murderer, fugitive of an uncle.

"I'm sorry you had to see that…"

"I'm sorry you had to live that." He said immediately. "Snape is a dangerous man Alexandra. He's not just a teacher you know… he's not who you think he is."

"I'm beginning to figure that out…" Lexie said vaguely.

"I want you to be careful with him… despite the fact that I've loathed him since we were at school together, think that he is entirely too old for you and not nearly good enough to kiss the ground my niece walks on… there are other reasons why you shouldn't keep his company." Black said seriously. (No pun intended)

"I know. I've done my homework… figuratively speaking." Lexie told him, and meant it.

"Ah…" he said as though something had just occurred to him. "So that's what you're doing here. You're doing some investigating on Snape."

Lexie blinked stupidly, again. "How… how could you possibly have figured that out?"

"I wondered how long it would be until the Ministry started doubting his true loyalties. They'd been going on Dumbledore's say-so for years now."

"Listen… I know you've really got no one to tell all this to right now… but again, I need your word that this will stay between us." Lexie pleaded.

"You have it." He said, nodding agreeably. "But I need to have yours that you will watch your step around him. I know it's not my place… but I don't like the road you're going down with him, as I said, for many reasons."

"You have mine." Lexie said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I know what I'm doing. Don't worry."

"That's my prerogative as an uncle. I'll always worry about you."

Lexie smiled and so did he.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Lexie whipped around to look at it.

"Lexie! Are you in there?" Her friend Carrie's voice came from outside. "Let's go to lunch!"

"Shit. You have to go… you have to hide." Lexie said in a hushed voice.

"Done." He said and slipped back into the bathroom. But before he closed the door, he peeked out and said, "If I'm not here when you get back… I'll be off looking for Peter."

"Stay out of sight." Lexie told him, pushing the door shut.

She crossed the room, checking over her shoulder to make sure that the bathroom door was closed properly so that Sirius wasn't visible. It was. She opened the door and put on her best 'pleasantly surprised' look.

She and Carrie set off for lunch together, meeting up with Oliver Wood in the entrance hall. Her mind was positively swimming. She felt dizzy. Over the course of the last twelve or so hours, she'd slept with her potions teacher, potentially compromised her entire investigation that she vaguely remembered being given, and met her last living relative. Who just so happened to be Sirius Black… the man that their entire world believed to have killed twelve Muggles and one wizard. Despite having had more than enough sleep the night before, she suddenly needed a nap… and a good stiff drink.

She sat down behind Carrie and Oliver, who were petting each other and giggling rather more than necessary for lunchtime. She surveyed her options for lunch. She glanced up at the head table and suddenly lost her appetite. There he was. In all of his black-robed glory… Snape was having lunch as well.

She stared at him and felt herself growing hot around the collar. Suddenly his eyes were on her. Oh Merlin… she gulped and felt her face flushing. His eyes were calculating. If she hadn't known better, she would've sworn he was trying to burn holes in her head. Her stomach flipped and leapt and suddenly, she couldn't remember what had possessed her to eat at all. Goosebumps were jumping up all over her skin and she was immensely thankful that he wasn't close enough to see the effect he was having on her. The corner of his mouth twitched. A dark eyebrow arched. And he returned to his conversation with McGonagall, who was next to him.

Lexie looked around, wondering if anyone had noticed her sudden change in behavior. It didn't appear as though anyone was paying her any attention at all, which she was most glad about indeed.

In the blink of an eye, Lexie was sitting on the end of her bed and evening had set upon the castle. After lunch, she'd returned to her room to find Sirius gone, having left no clue as to if or when he'd be returning. He did however leave her something. Lying on her bedside table was a long silver chain and beautiful locket with the initial "B" engraved on it. The note, in an untidy scrawl read simply, "For protection… - Sirius" She had no idea what the significance of the locket was, only that perhaps tonight would be the perfect time to try it out… she'd need all of the 'protection' she could get.

She didn't know what had happened to the rest of the afternoon… it was just… gone. Sophie had popped her head into the fireplace at some point to assure Lexie that everything was set for that evening and to instruct her to put her Ministry-ordered coin in her pocket before she left so that they could discern her exact location.

Snape hadn't given her an exact time to be ready, so she started preparing… but the further along in the process of showering and dressing she got, the less coordinated she seemed to become.

"A fine time to start with that damned clumsiness Lexie…" she thought to herself.

It wasn't until she'd tried for the third time to clasp her locket around her neck that she realized that something might actually be wrong with her. She was sweating profusely and trembling. She was having a hard time breathing and feeling terribly dizzy. She was holding the locket out in front of her face and could see her hand shaking like a leaf. She had to have been having some sort of an attack.

So with as deep a breath as she could manage, she went to the fireplace and opened a small clay pot on the mantle. She tipped the floo powder over instantly, but managed to scrape enough off the floor to toss it in the fireplace and poke her head in.

"Snape's office." She said with a cracking voice.

He looked up from his desk as flames leapt up in the grate.

"Hi…" Lexie said lamely and breathlessly.

"Good evening." He said in his oh-so-silky voice. "What can I do for you Miss Bane?" he said, not getting up.

And… we're back to the surname.

"Can you… could you come over here for a minute?" she said, suddenly feeling near tears.

"I'm rather busy at the moment… what do you need?" he asked, looking back down at whatever was lying in front of him on his desk.

"I just need… I just need you."

"Can this wait?" he asked, still examining what was presumably an essay.

"No… it can't. Please… it'll only take a second." Lexie said, suddenly feeling like the clingy girlfriend that every man hated.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" he asked, finally looking at her. She could see a slight crease in his brow, which could have potentially been concern.

"I… don't know." Lexie said, feeling herself shaking worse than ever.

"Alright." He said and pushed his chair back.

Lexie pulled her head out of the fireplace to make way for Snape's entrance. She sat down on the hope chest at the end of her bed and tried again to put her necklace on… and failed. It dropped to the floor. She leaned over and tried to make her fumbling fingers close around the locket. But they didn't seem to want to cooperate.

There was a burst of flames and Snape stepped regally from her fireplace. There was suddenly a strong hand retrieving her locket from the floor. She looked up at him looking down at her.

"I don't know what's wrong with me…" she said, shaking her head. "I think I'm having some sort of an anxiety attack."

Snape watched her with hooded eyes. "Stand up." He commanded.

She did. "Now, turn around." Again, she obeyed. He gathered her hair from around her neck and draped it over her shoulder. He reached around her and clasped the necklace shut.

It was then that he noticed her hampered breathing and uncontrollable shaking. He ran his hands over his shoulders and down to her biceps. He closed his hands over her arms and pulled her back into him. Leaning down to whisper in her ear, he said, "Relax. Stop shaking… that's enough."

Feeling him there with her, helping her and not ignoring her at all, (as she feared he might following last night's events), calmed her. He placed a kiss on her neck, just below her jaw line and she lulled her head to the side, allowing him further access. She couldn't suppress a smile as he sucked gently on the side of her neck. Thinking back, she couldn't remember the last time she'd had a hickey. Yummy…

When he finally spoke, it was again a low rumble right next to her ear. "Everything will be fine. You can still change your mind you know?" he suggested, tightening his grip around her which was now on her midriff.

"I'm not changing my mind." She said decisively. "Can I ask you something?" she said, a thought suddenly occurring to her.

"Mmm…" he obliged.

"Do you believe in the Death Eaters cause?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean… all the senseless killing? The torture… all of that…" she was glad she wasn't looking at him. She wanted him to just answer and not examine her motives.

"That is what Death Eaters believe… yes. As for senseless killing… it is not senseless to them."

Them.

"It is a necessary action that must be taken to meet their ultimate goal of ridding the world of dirty blood; to have a pristine race of witches and wizards. The torture… is simply their way of going about it. And its purpose is twofold; sometimes torturing their victims into madness… at the same time instilling a sense of fear into the community, which they translate into respect."

Their, their, their, they…

She sighed and relaxed back against him. He held her for a moment before saying, "I need to get back. I have a student coming in for detention before it's time to leave."

"Really? Who is it?" Lexie asked, relatively unconcerned as she was very much enjoying the cuddling that had been missing from last night's copulation.

"Your former roommate." Snape said slowly.

He felt Lexie pulling away. "What?" she asked, enunciating each letter.

"Miss Zaizen."

"You gave her detention with you!" Lexie blurted out, wrenching herself out of his hands to turn and face him.

"I felt it was only appropriate that she does detention with me as it was me that she felt it necessary to disrespect during our lesson on Wednesday. She needs an attitude adjustment and I plan on giving her one." Snape said in an offhand way.

"Really?" Lexie said, no longer feeling shaky, but angry. "Maybe you should just give her a weeks worth of detention with you. Maybe that'd do the trick."

Snape smirked. "Are you suggesting that I am choosing to give her detention for the same reason as I chose to give you detention over the course of the year?" he asked, sounding rather complacent.

"Maybe I am." She said sassily.

"Rest assured…" he said, stepping forward and touching her face. "You were in detention for an entirely different reason." He said, and she knew exactly what he'd meant by it.

"Be ready by 10:00." He said, and with a swish of his cloak and a burst of flames, he was gone.


A/N: I'm really sorry it took me so long to get this up! i was under the dilusion that i'd be able to crank this chapter out in no time. unfortunately, i was wrong... i've been wrong before you know... i actually had to do a little research to make sure i had all my facts straight... i think i do - if i don't - someone send me a private message & let me know. there was also a lot of dialogue in the middle there - which was necessary and made for a nice mix after the recounting of events from lexie's thoughts toward the beginning.

i wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH - to everyone who reviewed! we surpassed my hopes for 10 reviews! i think, the last i checked there were about 14 of them! that just blows my mind! i'm so happy that everyone took the time to let me know what they thought! PLEASE CONTINUE! review review review! next chapter is the initiation... i forsee... (rubbing temples in a trelawney-ish way) 2 more chapters... i think we can wrap it up in 2! i'm so excited - i know i say this all the time - but HOLY CRAP... I'VE NEVER EVER, EVER FINISHED A STORY BEFORE! i must 've started 100 of them... & never have i finished one... i might just do it this time! keep me motivated by reviewing!

kudos to puddlemere - for reminding me that i'd promised my readers a new chapter in 3 days & that it had been about a week! lol - thanks for kicking my ass back into line!