Chapter 39

Despite the blatant irritation Lexie was feeling toward Snape for letting Natasha have the satisfaction of spending time in detention with him, it didn't do anything to slow time down. Before she knew it, Snape was leading her across the castle grounds.

It was dusk; the sun was sinking below the tree line sending jets of pink, purple, orange and red across the sapphire sky. It was warm and Lexie barely needed her traveling cloak on that particular May evening. But she'd slung it over her shoulders for later; on the offhand chance she'd need it. She'd also tucked her wand away in an inside pocket, because she was certain that she'd need that.

Lexie's hand felt as though it was being caught in a magnetic pull toward the pocket in her black dress pants. Inside that little pocket was her saving grace. The Ministry coin. As soon as she left Hogwarts grounds, it would alert Sophie and the other Aurors and they would be able to track her to her exact location… wherever that might be. It gave her some sense of security… along with the locket that Sirius had given her. Even though she didn't know exactly what it did. She figured it couldn't hurt.

She hadn't seen Sirius again since their one meeting. Though, for all she knew, he might have been hiding out in her bathtub or closet the entire time. This made her uneasy… what if he'd been caught? Surely she would've heard about it. But if he was acting recklessly… and did get himself caught, they would never have a chance to get to know one another. Not to mention the fact that if anyone ever found out that he'd been stowing away in her private room that Snape had set up for her… she'd be in more trouble than she cared to imagine.

She still wasn't sure if she completely believed his story… but a part of her wanted to. It certainly would be nice to have a parental figure that she could depend on and talk to about magic. Magic was sort of taboo in her house, growing up. It came up, but no more than necessary.

When they stopped in the clearing in the forest, which they always apparated out from, Snape stopped her. They hadn't spoken since they left the castle. The trip had been made in absolute and fragile silence.

"Are you frightened?" he asked pointedly, standing in front of her looking more like her teacher again rather than her lover.

Lexie gulped. "Yes." She said honestly.

"As well you should be." He said with a sharp edge to his voice. "What you are about to do should not be entered into lightly. I am going to ask you one last time… are you quite sure you want to go through with this?"

His eyes were locked onto hers. Merlin! Why was it that every time he looked at her, her stomach started behaving that way? The jumping, flipping, churning.

Lexie dug the heels of her hands into her eyes. "I don't have a choice." She said disheartened.

He leaned down so that he was close to being level with her face. "There is always a choice, Miss Bane." He said, putting so much emphasis on the word 'always', that she almost believed him.

"No, Professor… there's not always a choice. This is what I have to do. There are bigger things at stake here tonight than just my well-being. There are causes that need be fought for. And there have to be willing bodies to fight for them" Lexie shouted.

Snape's eyebrows disappeared in the dark as they arched toward his brow. "I had no idea you were so adamant about the Death Eaters cause… just this afternoon you were asking me if I believed in the cause at all. The 'senseless killing' and such… and now you're willing to sacrifice you're life to fight for what they believe?" he said skeptically. "Why the change of mind?"

"It was more of a change of heart…" Lexie said, thinking vaguely of all of the time she'd considered abandoning this mission all together. But she'd been told that, without her evidence to support his innocence, Snape would fry like the rest of the Death Eaters that the Ministry was able to get their hands on. "Regardless…This is my path… whether I've chosen for myself it or not." She said hanging her head as though already defeated.

He'd seen this before. A young, promising person forced into this lifestyle. The physical effects were evident. The sunken face, the hollow, empty, hopeless eyes. The paling of the skin that made him believe on more than one occasion that they were truly becoming transparent; a ghost of a person, neither living nor dead. It always sickened him to watch this transformation… it brought back vivid memories of his own induction… many years ago. The physical and mental toll that it had taken on him was profound. But then, things couldn't have gotten much worse for Severus Snape than enduring seven painstakingly long years of ridicule and torture from his peers. Becoming a Death Eater was the next step in his quest for power over those who had made his life such a living hell.

Still… there was something different about her. She had gotten to him. Though he'd never seen her go out of her way to pick up fellow classmates books in the corridors, he'd also never seen her laugh when someone's cauldron blew up in their face during lessons; giving him the impression that she was not a 'bad' person at all. Most people who went on to become Death Eaters were rotten apples right from the get-go. This was not the case with Alexandra Bane.

The way she had spoken to him… through out the year… it had bordered on… kindness. He often received some degree of respect that passed for civility from the other staff members and always Dumbledore of course. But, he couldn't recall the last person who had gotten him a Christmas gift… even if it had been 'borrowed'first, and then simply… improved.

Nor, for that matter, had anyone ever bothered to ask him anything about himself. She'd seemed… interested. And he'd not forgotten that some five months later. She made him feel… well… she made him feel… and that was something that he hadn't experienced in a very… very long time… Being a spy, being what everyone else wanted him to be and never really taking the time to think about who he actually was… playing a different part every time he went from one side to the other … telling boldfaced lies to the ones who meant the most to him… all of the violence, torture and death he'd experienced over the years had all caused him to desensitize himself so that he simply felt nothing at all. Until now.

Yet here she was, walking down the very same path he'd walked down so long ago. Take up the lifestyle that he'd chosen for himself. Doomed to make the same mistakes he made. And still, he didn't stop her.

Somewhere, in an unknown corner of his soul, there was a part of him which selfishly wanted her to go through with this tonight. It would ensure that once the last day of school had ended, that he would see her again. He'd never been one to put a label on how he felt about someone, even after having slept with them. He never called it love, an affair, taking a mistress or a one night stand. But he knew that he certainly didn't want graduation day to be the last he saw of her.

He took her in his arms and was surprised and pleased to find that she circled her arms around his waist. With a crack, they apparated. They were in the woods again. These woods were just as dark and ominous as the Forbidden Forest.

"Where are we?" Lexie asked, detangling herself from him.

He felt a sort of emptiness as she released him.

"An unplottable location." He said vaguely. "Somewhere where no one will find us."

Lexie felt her nerves being stirred up again. She certainly hoped that the coin worked even though this place was unplottable.

"This is your last chance Alexandra…" he said as she looked around.

"What?" she asked.

"There's no turning back after this moment." He said.

"Listen… I need you to tell me something. I need you to tell me that I'm making the right decision. Tell me that joining the Death Eaters is right." She said, going out on a limp and throwing caution to the wind.

He looked at her curiously. "Are you asking me about my loyalties?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes… I suppose I am."

"Why? Why now?" he interrogated.

"Professor… this is do, or die. I need to hear from your mouth what side you're on. You're a spy, after all. I mean… no one really knows for sure…" she trailed off.

"Don't you?"

"No. I mean… I have a feeling I know… but I want you to tell me."

"Am I to understand… that you do not know which side I am on? After all this time?" He paused, "I should not need to bother with formalities Alexandra. If you do not know by now…"

"I don't want to do this." Lexie suddenly blurted out.

"Excuse me?" Snape said slowly.

"I think this is wrong. I think this is a mistake." Snape's unwillingness to answer her question coupled with the fact that she wasn't really sure that the Aurors would be able to find her here… that she might have to go through with this induction had unnerved her. Suddenly, the mission had never mattered less. To hell with the fact that she'd lose her job and Snape would be in no better standing than he was to begin with. This was her life at stake.

"Take me home." She said looking up at him.

"A wise decision…" Snape said. "Took you long enough to make it…" he put his hand on the small of her back and made to pull her close again when…

"Going somewhere?" asked an icy cold voice from somewhere, hidden in the dense growth of trees. A sick chill ran down Lexie's spine. She knew that voice.

"Lucius." Snape said pointedly, straightening up and keeping his hand on the small of Lexie's back.

"Not having second thoughts are we Alexandra?" he asked, stepping into view. He had a long black traveling cloak draped gracefully over his shoulders, his long, white blonde hair, cascading over the cloak like a waterfall of white gold.

"Of course not." Lexie lied fluently, though she shuffled her feet in an attempt to get closer to Snape.

"Lovely. Well then… shall we?" he asked, stretching his hands out in front of him toward a clearing very much like that in the Forbidden Forest which Lexie and Snape had used to apparate this particular unknown place.

Snape put his arm around Lexie's waist and guided her into the clearing. The moon was shining properly now, breaking through the newly budding trees making a kaleidoscope pattern on the ground. In the center of the clearing stood a large stack of wood.

"What? Are we having a barbecue as well?" Lexie thought smartly. Humor; dry humor had always been her best defense mechanism.

Snape's head snapped around to look at her. Perhaps her thoughts were becoming a bit too loud for her own good.

"We'll just wait for the rest to join us then." Malfoy said, sounding sly; as though he knew something that no one else did.

Lexie sneered at his aura of superiority. She didn't think she could stomach much more of him this evening, and they'd only just met up.

In the moments that followed, which seemed like an eternity, Lexie was suddenly very aware of her humanity. She was standing with a man that she had intense feelings for in a beautiful patch of forest, the stars twinkling happily above them… birds and insects making beautiful music that did not properly accompany the dark, evil night and what was about to happen in it.

She took a deep breath. This might be the last time she got to enjoy a breath of fresh air or see the stars… or say something to someone that she'd been needing to say… If things went amiss tonight… she could be dead within the hour.

Just then, with a whooshing sound, and a whisk of wind that looked like a tornado touching down, a dark, cloaked figure hit the ground behind Malfoy. Then another behind Snape. Then another… another… another, until there were just about ten others besides Malfoy, Snape and Lexie.

Lexie looked around. They were surrounded. She was completely surrounded by Death Eaters. She only hoped that Sophie and the other Aurors were position. She'd given them plenty of time. The coin felt cold and oddly dormant in her pocket. It wasn't supposed to do anything now that she was off grounds… still… it left her with an ominous, feeling of foreboding.

Her eyes darted from one white-masked face to another. She swallowed. Her throat was bone dry.

C'mon Lex… be brave… now's the time to get it all together.

Malfoy brushed past Lexie to move to the middle of circle. As his shoulder came in contact with her, Lexie saw red. Literally. Flashes of a vision. A vision of blood. A lot of blood. Her stomach lurched. Whose blood would it be? Someone was going to shed a fatal amount of blood that night.

"Welcome… ladies and gentlemen." Malfoy began, turning around in the center of the circle with open arms. "When our great Lord fell… fourteen years ago this July… he left it up to his most loyal servants and followers to continue his noble work. These tasks have included recruiting and admitting new members, amongst other things… in order to keep our ranks strong in his absence.

"As you all know… we are here for the induction ceremony for Alexandra Bane… who has been trained by our very own Severus Snape." He gestured to Snape.

Snape had an ugly, disgusted look on his face which he reserved mostly for Malfoy… and Harry Potter.

"Alexandra has been blessed with extraordinary gifts… she has the ability to see the future… a rare gift, one which we lack within our immediate circle. She is also very advanced in her wandless, silent magic and very capable of performing highly complicated spells without the use of her wand or incantations." Malfoy said, glowing proudly.

"I think we are very lucky to have her. But I could go on all night gushing about how wonderful our newest potential member is… but we have business to get on with." He said, rounding on Lexie.

"Alexandra… I'm sure you've been instructed by Severus about the tasks which you must complete in order to be admitted into our circle?" he asked.

"I have." She replied.

"Very well… then, without further ado…" Malfoy stepped backwards and pointed his wand at the stack of wood. It flared up into an instantly roaring, crackling orange fire. Lexie and Snape both jumped back a step to avoid being caught on fire.

It was like a scene from a Ku Klux Klan rally. Several cloaked figures, in black, rather than white, standing around a blazing fire in the middle of the woods. Sparks were rising into the air. All were bathed in a sinister orange glow.

"Alexandra!" Malfoy said loudly over the commotion the fire was making. "I will now ask you to perform the Imperius curse."

"But sir…" Lexie said uncertainly… "Who am I supposed to use it on…?" Lexie said, stalling for time. She was beginning to wonder how long Sophie was going to let this carry on before they all came charging in to save the day. Were they waiting until they'd seen someone do something illegal? Because if that was the case, she would be the first one to do anything of the sort. Unless something drastic happened… soon.

"Ah… I think we'll just have your mentor stand in… as we, I'm sure, have no willing volunteers." Malfoy said. Lexie could see his blinding white teeth sparkling in the firelight.

Lexie turned to face Snape. The shadows on his face were prominent. Had this been any other occasion, it might have been romantic. He nodded at her. And she nodded back. An unspoken understanding for what she was about to do to him.

The seconds that followed in which Lexie and Snape only stared at each other seemed to last an eternity. Lexie willed herself to do what she needed to do. She wouldn't harm him… not if she could help it. The Death Eaters looked on eagerly, openly drooling at the mouth.

Lexie drew her wand and pointed it at Snape's chest. "Bow!" she said aloud, bending her wand toward the ground. She gritted her teeth and tried to keep an even face; blank of all emotion. She watched Snape bend, like a willow tree, until he was bowed before her.

There was a bit of applause and laughter among the Death Eaters surrounding her. Snape was shaking a little, struggling against the curse, yet he remained in the commanded position, until Lexie finally lifted the curse.

"Very good… very good indeed!" Malfoy called from the other side of the fire. He was pacing predatorily. "An excellent example of the Imperius curse! Expertly executed! Well done Alexandra! And an interesting choice to boot. The student finally getting her chance at controlling the teacher!" he applauded along with the rest of the Death Eaters.

Snape straightened up and pushed his hair out of his face. He looked at her. But she couldn't say anything. He looked so humiliated. Being forced to bow to her… but there were worse things she could've forced him to do. She hoped he knew that. And she had a feeling that he did.

"Moving on!" Malfoy said, striding between Lexie and Snape, breaking their visual connection. "We will next need to see the Cruciatus curse. I think Severus will do for a guinea pig for the time being…" Malfoy said, stopping briefly to smirk.

There was a round of laughter.

"Nothing you're not terribly familiar with… is it Severus?" Malfoy said, clapping him on his shoulder. Snape looked murderous.

When Malfoy moved off, Lexie had time to make eye contact with Snape again. She looked at him pleadingly for instruction and thought as loudly as possible… "I can't do this…"

He looked at her and tilted his head and frowned severely. "Yes, you can. Do it." Seemed to be the response.

Lexie shook her head, no.

Snape nodded his head once, yes.

"Come now Alexandra! We haven't got all night!" Malfoy laughed, and the Death Eaters muttered in agreement.

Lexie looked around wildly. Where were Sophie and the other Aurors? Surely they weren't going to allow her to go through with this. Having Snape bow to her was one thing. Torturing him was quite another; especially pending his innocence.

She flexed her fingers around the handle of her wand and looked at her feet. She shook her head and drew a deep breath. How long would they expect her to hold him under the curse? He was supposed to be on of them… why would they subject him to this sort of punishment?

But there was no more time for thought. The natives were growing restless. She raised her wand and pointed it at Snape's heart. He puffed his chest out and set his jaw firmly. She knew he was no stranger to being cursed. After all, she knew Malfoy had cursed him once before. Still…

"Crucio!" she said aloud. A jet of green light flashed from the tip of her wand and connected with Snape's chest. His body convulsed and he collapsed to the ground with a sickening thud. His face was screwed up in pain. He writhed and shook on the grass but never made a sound. He never cried out or even emitted a growl of pain.

A cold, high-pitched female voice called out from somewhere behind Lexie, "Traitor! Finally getting exactly what you deserve! Twitch Snape! Twitch like a little girl!"

Lexie couldn't hold the curse any longer. She was never sure just how long she'd managed to keep it connected. It could've been hours… or mere seconds. She dropped her wand to her side and lifted the curse. She doubled over, coughed, choked and tried to keep herself from vomiting. She spit the saliva welling up in her mouth on the ground next to her and brushed her hair from her eyes which were tearing badly with tears that she would never shed.

There was a roar of appreciative laughter and applause again along with a chorus of well-done's, bravo's and encore's.

Snape was gathering himself up off the ground gingerly. His lip was quivering. Whether he was in pain or simply furious, she couldn't tell. He seemed aware of the catcalls coming from his peers but remained silent.

She wanted to go to him. She wanted to cry. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was and ask if he was alright. But she didn't. She remained rooted to the spot, trembling badly. She knew the other Death Eaters were surveying her and her actions, but she didn't care. The Aurors would be arriving any moment now and she'd be able to put all of this behind her.

Malfoy swished around the fire, his long cloak coming dangerously close to being caught in the embers, to stand behind her. "Extraordinary!" he said aloud.

He leaned down next to her ear and said, "I didn't think you had it in you. But now comes the real test."

"So far so good!" he said to the other Death Eaters. Lexie watched him darkly as he circled the fire again, clearly enjoying being in control of several other people as well as the general goings-on.

"For your final proficiency… the Killing Curse… one last task, and we will burn the dark mark onto your arm and you will become one of us! One of the most elite, prestigious groups known to wizard kind!"

He whirled around dramatically. "Whenever you're ready." He said, grinning sadistically.

Lexie blinked. "Are you suggesting that I kill him?" she asked, gesturing to Snape.

The corner of Malfoy's mouth twitched into a half smile. "Why… I suppose I am."

Lexie actually let out a bark of laughter, "You can't kill him! You need him! He's your spy."

Malfoy paused, but continued to smile. "He's replaceable."

Lexie's stomach dropped. He wasn't kidding. He actually expected her to do this.

"Go on then." He instructed.

Snape stood tall and looked as though he was preparing himself for death. Lexie marveled at the fact that he wasn't objecting. Where had the strong, formidable, man she'd known all this time gone?

She shook her head. "I can't. I won't."

"Sorry?" Malfoy asked raising his eyebrows. "Are you refusing to complete your last task?"

"I suppose I am." Lexie said a tone of mock disappointment.

"I knew she couldn't! She's nothing more than a foolish schoolgirl with a crush on her teacher! Let's kill her instead!" said the female voice that had taunted Snape earlier.

"No, no…" Malfoy said parentally, waving a hand at her to stop. "You once told me that if it came down to it… you could kill someone. Are you retracting that statement?"

"No… I said… that if he or she deserved to die… or put someone that I cared about in danger… that I could kill them… I believe those were the words I used." She said, quoting herself from the night that Malfoy had drugged her with the truth serum.

Malfoy simply looked at her.

"That being said… I don't think…" Lexie began pensively, planning her strategy with not much thought of the repercussions. "That I'd have any problem killing you." She was facing him now. Dark eyes latched onto ice blue.

"Excuse me?" Malfoy laughed.

"I said…" Lexie said defiantly, "That I could kill you right now and not bat an eye." She raised her wand and pointed it at Malfoy.

"Do you love him?" Malfoy said suddenly after a long pause.

Lexie faltered. She wanted to look at Snape for instruction, but knew that he couldn't help her answer this question.

"Yes." She said simply, and truthfully.

"I knew it… do you have any idea what sort of man you're in love with? The things he's done…?" Malfoy asked.

Lexie never got a chance to answer him. A twig snapped in the woods, causing all heads to turn. Lexie forced her eyes to focus on the area that the sound had come from. She felt her heart lighten. Perhaps she wouldn't have to kill Malfoy after all… it had to be the Aurors.

But suddenly a forearm was crushing against her neck from behind. Malfoy's lips were on her ear, "Kill me will you?" he hissed.

Lexie dug her nails into his arm and made ready to throw him from her; as Snape had trained her to.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Malfoy tisked. "Don't move. If you so much as swallow… I will cut your throat."

Lexie felt a cold, sharp sensation just below her jaw. She looked down, without moving her head. The blade gleamed in the firelight.

"Recognize it?" Malfoy asked.

Lexie glanced at it again. She could see the black and silver handle with the emerald serpent. She sneered and didn't reply.

"Answer me!" Malfoy commanded.

"The Serpents Blade." She growled.

"Very good. As you were so interested in it… I thought it only appropriate to bring it along tonight… incase of just such an occasion."

Lexie was confused, but didn't say so. Malfoys hand was fumbling around inside her robes, she wasn't sure if he was trying to grope her or find her wand. It turned out to be the latter. He took her wand and tossed it across the clearing.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" Malfoy said, addressing the rest of the group who were closing in around them. Everyone except Snape, who stood his ground. "I feel as though it is my duty to inform you… that we had a spy in our midst tonight."

The Death Eaters muttered amongst themselves. Some of them looked at Snape.

"No, no. Not Snape. This one… right… here." He said pushing the side of the dagger into Lexie's neck.

An overwhelming sense of doom washed over Lexie. How on Earth had he found out? He couldn't possibly know about her and what she was doing.

"Yes. Every – single – word… that she's spoken since our first meeting has been a lie. She isn't even going by her real name. Are you Miss… Black?"

Lexie's stomach lurched.

"Isn't that your real last name?" Malfoy demanded.

Lexie tried to control her shaking, for fear of slitting her throat. "Yes." She breathed. She looked at Snape. His eyebrows had contracted and his lips were slightly parted.

"If you don't believe me… I can give you proof of her heritage. Just look right… here." He said taking Lexie's locket in his free hand and holding it out for all to see. "Marked with the Black family crest. It has the power to protect its wearer from most jinxes and mild spells… luckily… I don't plan on using simple jinxes… or mild spells on you this evening Alexandra… I have something much more… interesting… and…" he thought for a moment, "Ironic… in mind for you.

"Now, Alexandra…You may not know this… but your father was a traitor!" He whirled around again, so that everyone could see his face as he spoke. "Her father… was none other than Regulus Black! He joined our ranks and appeared to be a very promising member! However, something spooked him and he betrayed us. But… we couldn't have that, now could we? So he, of course, was killed. He along with your mudblood mother.

"Her name was Muriel… did you know that? Not a very Italian name for an Italian woman." He said pointlessly.

"Don't talk about her." Lexie spat.

"Very well… let's move on then." Malfoy said agreeably. "Just after they were killed, it was rumored that they had a child. A child, whose whereabouts were unknown. Normally, killing the child of a traitor would've simply been sport. However, Regulus was quite a powerful wizard, from a good bloodline. His heir would have certainly inherited some of his exceptional abilities; a theory which you proved to be correct. A likely future Death Eater candidate… So a search began to find you, his only child. I was lucky enough to come across the monastery where they left you. However… the nun was… uncooperative at best. All I was able to discover was that the child had been taken abroad with a foster parent and that no other information was to be released. But I had more pressing issues at the time to be getting on with. So the search was abandoned. Until I met you…

"You met all of the characteristics so perfectly that I couldn't help but be reminded of that search I'd conducted all those years ago." Malfoy said, sounding boastful and impressive.

"But that's not even the half of it!" he went on. "Let's get everything out in the open here, shall we? You're not a student either, nor could you be, as you're… how old? Twenty… three?" Malfoy guessed.

Lexie chanced a glance at Snape again. His eyes widened. She couldn't even begin to fathom what was going through his head right now. All of the lies…

"This young lady that we're all looking at right now… is exactly like her father. A traitor… I can tell you with complete certainty, that she not only never intended on becoming a Death Eater, but she is in fact, a spy for the Ministry of Magic!"

There was a sharp intake of breath from the others.

"You know, I knew something wasn't right about you from the start. So I started making inquiries. I began at the Ministry. I'm rather a higher-up there, incase you didn't know. I have many connections inside the ministry. Rumor was that the Aurors office had assigned an American to some sort of secret mission involving a certain Potionsmaster at Hogwarts and his… loyalties. It had to be top secret of course, for Dumbledore had already vouched for him. If he ever found out that the Ministry was conducting an investigation on his confidant, it would sever ties between the headmaster and the Ministry for sure."

Malfoy rounded on Snape, forcing Lexie to look at him.

"Did you know, Severus? Did you know that the one you've chosen to bed was actually spying on you for the Ministry? Actually conducting an investigation to discern which side you're on?"

Snape said nothing. Lexie wanted to cry. This was the last way she wanted him to find out about why she'd come to Hogwarts. She wanted to be the one to tell him… at a time where he would be sure to listen to her entire explanation.

"After having been told that last little bit of information… everything seemed to fall into place. The powerful witch, daughter of Regulus Black, raised in America had returned to London and taken a position at the Ministry of Magic. Being as talented and resourceful as she is, well trained in Occlumency and the power to read others emotions, she was assigned to go to Hogwarts posing as a student to get close enough to Snape to find out if he was still loyal to the Dark Lord. Isn't that right Alexandra?" Malfoy asked.

Lexie shut her eyes and couldn't stop a single tear from squeezing out of the corner and running down her cheek.

"Yes." She said in a whisper.

Snape was shaking his head. Still silent.

"But you know… tonight isn't a total loss… I think two things can be gained here!" Malfoy said jovially.

"Let me introduce you to our newest Death Eater candidate!" he said waving his free hand toward the woods behind them; while never relinquishing the dagger's position under Lexie's chin.

Out of the woods, where the sound of the twig snapping had come from, strolled a tall, lean, feminine figure. Lexie would've dropped her jaw… if it wouldn't have cut her throat open.

"Natasha Zaizen!" Malfoy said proudly. "My protégé! I've been training her all year long… since Snape passed her over in order to take Alexandra instead."

Natasha came to a halt just in front of Lexie and surveyed her smugly.

"Funny how things work out, huh love?" she said and ran her index finger down the side of Lexie's face, scratching it with her nail.

"Fuck you." Lexie growled.

"I always knew you weren't our kind." Natasha said. "But… all I had to do was bide my time. Lucius approached me not long after Snape told me he'd found someone else to train instead. It's a shame though…" she began striding around the fire to where Snape stood.

"You worked so hard to get close to him… that you lost sight of her your original goal and fell for him instead… you fought me tooth and nail for him all year… but look who's with him now." She said circling her arm around the back of Snape's head and touching his opposite cheek.

"Don't touch me!" he barked, causing her to retract her hand as though she'd been bitten. He looked as though he was going to be sick.

"Regardless… I... win…" she said pointedly to Lexie.

"No… you lose." Said a voice from behind her.

Suddenly the leaves in the woods behind them were positively crackling as feet trampled over them. Twigs were crunch and people were yelling things like, "This way!" and "They're over here!"

"MASKS!" Malfoy shouted.

Sophie storms stepped out of the woods, flanked by Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad Eye Moody. Had she seen Malfoy? In person?

Malfoy had already flipped his mask down into place securely and stepped backwards, away from the Aurors. The other Death Eaters were faltering, they began shuffling to the other side of the clearing and drawing their wands; unsure of whether to fight or flee.

"WANDS!" Malfoy ordered. He kept a tight grip on Lexie and never dropped the knife from its position.

"This is your fault…" He hissed into her ear. "And for that… you'll pay."

And with that, he jammed the dagger painfully into her back. She gasped. Muscle and sinew ripped and tore. Lexie felt a sickening feeling as he drew the dagger out of her… it was as though the life had left her instantly. She knew that Malfoy had robbed her of her powers via the Serpents Blade. She was also vaguely aware of the words Malfoy had uttered regarding the fact that no one had ever survived being stabbed by the Serpents Blade. She crumpled to the ground, face down in the grass.

Spells were shooting across the clearing wildly as the battle raged. Red, green, gold. People were screaming. Someone dropped to the ground right next to Lexie, but she barely noticed. She could feel the blood pooling on her back. The edges of her vision were growing foggy. The pain was going away. She was so sleepy… and it was so dark. Where was Snape and was he ok? That was the last thought she had.

Snape was in fact, staked out behind a tree, not far from her. He dared not fire a spell, for fear of giving away his true allegiance. He risked a glance from around the trunk and saw Lexie, face down, exactly where Malfoy had dropped her. He stepped back behind the tree and waited for the battle to subside.

When the curses had tapered off a bit, he emerged and went to her. He placed his hand on her back where Malfoy had stabbed her. Her robes were ripped wide open and he could see her back. It was bleeding badly. He put his hand on it only to find that her cloak, robe and shirt were all soaked in blood around the wound entrance. His hand was dripping as he examined it. He gently turned her over. Her eyes were closed.

Careful not to further irritate the wound, he lifted her up, supporting her back with one arm, above where the knife had entered and using the other arm to cradle her legs. He'd only taken about three steps toward the wooded area when a voice called out to him.

"Put her down Snape." Sophie Storms said in a frightening tone.

He sighed. Then turned slowly around, showing surrender.

"I want you to put her down on the ground right now… step backwards and put your wand on the ground."

"Ms. Storms… she has been stabbed. She is bleeding profusely and needs immediate medical attention. She doesn't have much time." He said, briefly looking down at Lexie's continually paling face.

"I'm well aware. But you have another appointment, rather than St. Mungo's." she said, looking murderous and sporting a nasty gash on her left cheek.

"What are you talking about?" Snape asked, exasperated.

"Azkaban."

A/N: OK - so, what do we think about this? did it feel rushed to you? b/c i kinda think it did. i'm still contemplating some revisions. was it clear enough where malfoy was talking & talking & talking? was all of that talk necessary? i feel like it got a little bit muddled in there... kinda wordy... confusing. did it? i DESPERATELY need reviews on this chapter! if you feel it necessary - copy & paste it into a document & fix my errors! or simply suggest them to me. or you can tell me it's great! ha ha ha! anyway - the last chapter has ALREADY been written in a notebook i have lying in my car - so it's only a matter of typing it & posting it now! but im' not going to do that until i get a sufficent amount of reviews on this chapter - b/c i think it's important to know what my readers think about all of the explanations in this chapter before just throwing the ending up there & saying "OK! i'm done!" - SOOOOO! PLEASE review! maybe it's not as horrid as i'd thought... let me know!

(P.S. - i had to remove this & add a couple more things to the chapter - that's why there are 3 alerts for those of you WONDERFUL readers who have me on your author or story alert lists! which i GREATLY appreciate!)