(Disclaimer: see the beginning)
Hello all! First off—OH MY GOD, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! You guys are awesome, which makes me really bummed that it took me so long to get this chapter done, but it finally is! And I made it really long for you guys!
And now that I'm on break, more are definitely coming.
As always thank you to my betas McGonagall's Bola and Emilia Wolfe.
Hope you enjoy! ^-^
Chapter 19
The minute Severus walked into the headmaster's office, he knew that he'd been had. At seven o' five in the morning, the only people present for the seven o' clock staff meeting were Flitwick, Minerva and Smith—a mousy-looking man who had taken up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year.
That meant that either all of the other teachers were held up by some disaster in the hallway or Albus had lied to him about the meeting time. Since the portraits absolutely lived to spread gossip, he knew he would have heard about an accident occurring, which canceled out that option.
So, Albus had lied to him. Damn.
He wasn't particularly upset by this. Albus lied to him all the time about when the meetings were meant to start. It was his trivial attempt to get the spy there on time, if not earlier. It never worked (this time excluded) and this vexed the Headmaster to no end, which, Severus confessed, was partially why he was constantly late. The other reason was that he absolutely loathed sitting around, twiddling his thumbs, while he waited on the others. He had too much to do to be idly sitting by.
So he waited to the very last second before heading out of his office. Being a spy and the Head of Slytherin, it wasn't hard to figure out the real time of the meeting. All he had to do was go to another teacher, ask a portrait or get a House Elf to tell him.
That was what he had done this time. He had gone to Vector to get the real time because he "forgot" and she had said seven. Needless to say, he would never go back to the little traitor for information again. So much for Slytherins sticking together.
Sullenly, he walked over to the fireplace to take a seat away from the others. He pushed his chair back a little until it was firmly tucked into the room's corner, giving him a perfect view of the whole room. Unfortunately, it also gave him a full view of Smith, who was directly across from him, tapping his foot as he waited for the meeting to begin.
Severus tsked in disgust. Smith was another in a long line of absolute failures when it came to the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. He wasn't all that bad, but as wizards went he was just totally underwhelming, which was hard to be in a world filled with wonder and magic, but there it was. He was completely dismissible, with his plain robes, his dull brown hair that was parted to side, and a terrible habit of saying "sorry" all the time, even if he only bumped into a chair. He even had a boring name. It was…
Severus had to think it over. Norbert, no—Norman…Ed?
It didn't matter. The man wasn't going to be back come September so there was no point in even trying to figure it out. Severus could see it in his very terrified eyes. He couldn't take the chaos of dealing with children or the everyday mishaps that came with living in a semi-sentient castle.
It wasn't a complete loss for the school. As far as professors went he was only passably good at his job. He tended to focus on just defense against dangerous creatures rather than showing the children how they could defend themselves in a duel.
Naturally, this made Smith less than useless in Severus' opinion. They were on the cusp of war, a war that the children would most likely get sucked into. They needed dueling practice, not banal facts on how to outwit a Sphinx.
Smith suddenly looked up, paling when he noticed that Severus had been staring at him. With a weak cough, he cleared his throat and nervously looked to the side. His stumpy fingers drummed on his armrest.
Severus smirked. Utterly useless.
A spark hit his right foot. From across the room Minerva tapped her wand against her palm, a frown of disapproval pulling down the corners of her mouth. Severus gazed back, unapologetic. It wasn't his fault that Smith had a wet noodle for a spine.
"Ah, Severus! So glad to see you taking the staff meetings seriously. And a full twenty minutes early too!"
Severus cut his eyes at the headmaster, who had just walked into the room. "What did you bribe Vector with?" he growled, jumping straight to the point. Using his normal Slytherin tactics never worked with Albus. He found it best just to demand answers from him.
"I have no idea what you mean, my boy."
"Don't play games, old man! What did you give her?" Severus demanded, not at all fooled by Albus' innocent act.
Minerva and Flitwick looked on in amusement, well used to the easy banter that took place between the staff and the headmaster. Minerva even went to so far as to join in, threatening the headmaster with, "it better not have been more than the three bottles of Scotch you gave me to stop telling Severus the correct time."
Severus swiveled in his chair to send a glare to McGonagall as well. "Et tu, Minerva?"
Smith, who was not used to the familiar manner in which the staff talked to each other, shifted anxiously in his seat. The movement caught Severus' eyes and the Potions Master inwardly smirked, viciously glad that the Defense professor was feeling so out of place among them.
Albus cleared his throat, taking a seat behind his desk to look more authoritative. "I confess, I haven't the foggiest idea what you all are talking about. I would never stoop so low as to bribe my teachers. Severus there's no shame in—"
"He switched my Hogsmeade weekend to next week instead of the last week of school." Septima waltzed into the room, confidently taking a seat beside Minerva. "I'm sorry, Severus, but it was either play along or risk my sanity. You know how the last Hogsmeade visit gets."
The last Hogsmeade visit was indeed as horrid as Septima made it out to be. Having been one of the unfortunate souls who had to chaperone it before, Severus reluctantly conceded to her point. He would have done the same thing as her in order to save himself. Slytherin loyalty only went so far.
"Fine," Severus snapped, "but I expect a bottle of Fire Whiskey."
His fellow Slytherin nodded, having expected as much. "Very well."
Behind her, a large group of teachers came in.
"What's this about Fire Whiskey?" Pomona asked, always looking for a good bit of gossip.
"Septima's traded her loyalty for a better Hogsmeade weekend. So she had to bribe her way back into Severus good graces," Flitwick informed the Head of Hufflepuff happily. Pomona instantly looked to Severus.
"Is that what this is about? Severus' tardiness?"
Poppy wagged a finger at him and he suddenly felt like he was a student again, being reprimanded for fighting in the halls. "Really, Severus, Albus wouldn't have to go to these lengths if you just showed up on time."
Snape crossed his arms defensively, straightening in his chair. "I'm a busy man," he grumbled, "I can't keep setting my work aside to come running every time Albus decides to call a meeting because one of the little brats sneezed the wrong way."
This comment earned him a few smothered snickers, including a reluctant agreement from Poppy, who looked at the headmaster accusingly.
Albus' eyes widened a bit, and, realizing the tides were shifting in Snape's favor, he quickly changed the subject. "Alright, seeing as it is close to seven-thirty anyway, why don't we start?"
"Aren't we going to wait for the rest of the staff?" Filius asked.
The other professors looked around curiously. The Charms professor was right. There were still a good number of teachers missing.
"No, I've only called a few of you here today because this meeting only concerns one student that you all share," Albus explained.
Damn, Severus thought, knowing exactly whom they were there for. There were nine other professors here besides him (excluding Poppy and Irma), and he only knew of one student that had the audacity to try and take that many subjects.
"Hermione Granger," Albus confirmed, and Severus sunk a little further in his seat, unable to suppress a sneer of irritation. The other professors nodded in understanding, moving forward a little. They were always eager to talk about the annoying know-it-all.
"It's been about eight or nine days since she returned from her internship in Australia," the Headmaster continued, "and I just wanted to check in with you all on her progress. I know she is undertaking the very ambitious task of graduating early and has already tested out of some of her sixth year courses."
"By my last count, she has already completed four of her ten finals," Minerva said, pulling out a small scrap of paper from her robes. Adjusting her glasses she read the list out loud. "Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, Advanced Arithmancy, and History of Magic. Did I miss anything?"
Bathsheda spoke up. "She's completed my final exam, as well. Came in last night to get it done." The Ancient Runes professor flushed with excitement. "And she finished it in a fraction of the time allotted too! Only twenty minutes!"
"Same here!" Septima chimed in, looking entirely too pleased. "I handed her the test and before I could even look up she was already done. We even had a lovely discussion over the differences in using the Chaldean method versus the Agrippan on multilayered equations."
Septima shot an envious look to the Charms professor. "I tell you, Filius, if Miss Granger hadn't already decided on pursuing an apprenticeship with you, I'd be snatching her up before you could even blink! I still might try to persuade her to switch."
Filius laughed good-naturedly, despite the jealous grumblings going on around the room—though, why they were jealous, Severus had no idea. He couldn't imagine why they would want to hear Granger's pestering questions all day.
"You can try, Septima," Filius said, "but I doubt she'll change her mind. Miss Granger and I have already started drawing up her study plans for next year."
Aurora hummed thoughtfully. "So, is she going to attempt to take her NEWTs in the summer then? That's quite a lot of pressure, though, if the way her testing went with me is any indication of how she'll fare, then she'll do amazing. Might even break a few school records."
"If anyone can do it, 'Ermione can," Hagrid proclaimed, proudly.
"When's her next test?" Aurora asked the room.
Pomona brought a hand up. "She's taking her final with me around one, during the lunch break."
Smith blinked owlishly. "So soon? Is it normal for a student to be so advanced? I'll admit that Miss Granger really seems to know what she's on about in my class, but isn't she rushing a bit too much?"
Severus snorted at that. It wasn't very hard to do well in Smith's class. A brainless Troll could do the work that he assigned.
"Well, she'll want as much time as possible to study for her NEWTs, wouldn't she? If she's taking them in August, then she'll only have three months to cram in an entire school year's amount of work," Pomona replied.
"As much as I believe in her capabilities, Professor Smith does bring up a good point. I don't want to see Miss Granger run ragged trying to keep up with her impossible schedule. There's only so much a Time-Turner can do!" Poppy commented.
Bathsheda tapped her chin thoughtfully. "She has been a little frazzled as of late."
"She has! Why, just yesterday she hexed Mr. Potter for standing too close to her!" Minerva remarked, almost shamefully, as if she couldn't believe one of her precious Gryffindors were capable of doing such a thing.
Severus could believe it. Only this time he wholeheartedly approved of said behavior and found it particularly hilarious, even if it left him a little curious as to why she had done it.
"You can hardly blame the girl for hexing him, Minny," Pomona came to Granger's defense. "From what I saw, the boy has been hanging onto her like Devil's Snare ever since she's gotten back—she was only gone for two weeks, for Merlin's sake!"
Minerva straightened her robes. "Well the two have always been close."
Aurora leaned in, her eyes lighting mischievously. "Yes, but how close? I've always wondered about those two…"
"Oh, no, no, no! Everyone knows that Mr. Potter is interested in Ginevra Weasley. The two have been inseparable all year!" Pomona corrected her eagerly. "Mark my words we'll be hearing wedding bells shortly after those two graduate."
Septima worried her lip. "But I thought Miss Weasley was going out with Mr. Thomas."
Pomona waved her hand flippantly. "Oh, no, dear. Where have you been? They broke up ages ago…"
With growing agitation, Severus watched the tittering group of witches exchange gossip like it was mana. Rubbing at his temples, he had to wonder again why Albus didn't allow him to drink during these meetings.
The last thing he wanted to do was waste his time, ruminating over whether or not Potter was interested in the Weasley girl or Granger. Did his colleagues really have nothing better to do than squawk over who would be popping out babies in the next five years with who? There was a war going on, and teenage love was the least of their concerns at the moment.
Especially for Miss Granger. He didn't like the vexing Gryffindor, but even he knew that she had too much sense to get caught up in any romantic drivel, especially with the angst-ridden Potter. She had too many responsibilities and was far too practical to get stuck in that particular trap.
Thankfully, Albus took it upon himself to steer the wayward teachers back to the matter at hand. "As much as I would love to continue this conversation, there are still a few things I would like to cover before you leave."
When the room quieted down and he was sure that he had their attention again, the Headmaster continued. "Miss Granger's schedule has indeed been a little busy, but I felt that it was best for her to get as many subjects out of the way as possible. I also have complete faith in her abilities and know that she will be able to finish the rest of her finals without endangering her health. However, I have already let her know that if she feels like she isn't ready to take a test yet, then she is more than welcome to reschedule accordingly."
He looked around the room to see if they were all agreeable to this. His gaze lingered on Severus just a bit more than the others. "Now, I've talked to Miss Granger about staying in the castle during the summer. That way she will have the study materials she needs to do well on her NEWTs."
"It's a good idea. She'll certainly get more done here than at her on own house," Bathsheda noted.
"But there would be little to no faculty around in the summer to watch her," Irma pointed out.
Minerva immediately came to her pupil's defense. "Miss Granger is a legal adult, and a smart witch. She'll be more than capable of taking care of herself."
"And we know that she is a trustworthy individual. She wouldn't abuse the freedom we would be giving her," Aurora added.
Severus rolled his eyes. Yes, because it's not as if Miss Granger has ever stolen ingredients from a teacher, snuck into the Restricted Section to experiment with potions outside of her level, or snuck out of the school to go on some idiotic rescue mission…
"Exactly my thoughts on the subject," agreed Albus. "I'm more than confident that Miss Granger will make us all proud…Now!" He clapped his hands together. "I believe that covers everything, so, you are all free to go. Have a marvelous day!"
Severus was one of the first teachers to get up and head for the door after the dismissal. He had nearly gotten his hand around the doorknob when Albus called him back.
"Severus, a word if you will. Minerva, Filius, would you stay as well?"
Snape longingly watched the other professors leave, before throwing himself into the nearest chair. He had been so close to freedom. So close!
"What did you want, Albus?" he growled.
The headmaster gestured for them to take back their seats. "Due to the sensitivity of Miss Granger's predicament and the amount of work on her plate, I've given her permission to use your Floo, Minerva. So you might see her coming and going more often."
"Why would she need my Floo?"
Albus took a moment to think over his answer. "There are certain books in the Black residence that she wouldn't have access to here at Hogwarts."
Dark Books, you mean, Severus thought, not at all surprised that Granger might have to use…less sanctioned methods to get Miss Rosier's research working again. He was, however, a little amazed that Albus would let her. Gryffindors—Albus included—were usually so black and white about the magic in their world. Anything that tended toward the "dark" was immediately labeled as evil.
"You mean to tell me that you want her delving into black magic?!" Minerva looked horrified by the very idea.
"She will not be performing dark rituals, Minny, but she might have to branch out for her research. It is as you said before, Miss Granger is an adult, fully capable of handling herself," Albus assured her.
"Dealing with dark magic is an entirely different thing from being left in a dusty old castle, Albus."
Filius placed a calming hand on her arm. "Now, now, Minerva. If Miss Granger can take care of herself in a Soul Book for two years, then she'll be able to do this."
Severus snorted. "That was more luck than any skill on her part."
"I beg your pardon!" Minerva immediately bristled, despite her earlier reservation. It was apparently fine for HER to think of Granger as a hopeless lamb, but nobody else could.
"That's enough," Albus interjected before the two Heads of Houses could get their wands out. "The decision has already been made, and I've already talked to Miss Granger about it. Minerva, if you feel so uncomfortable with this, then we can have her use Filius' Floo instead."
Minerva sighed in defeat. "No, no, it's fine. My office is closer to her, and it would be more believable if she were seen coming and going from there than from Filius' office. There are only so many times we can use her apprenticeship as an excuse."
"Good!" Albus said, with a little too much cheer. "Now that that is settled, I wanted to—"
—A sharp pain in Severus' left arm lashed at his skin. Gripping his arm, he abruptly stood from his chair. "Albus," he said to the man curtly, nodding his head towards the door.
The Headmaster's eyes immediately lit with understanding. "Very well," he replied, deadly serious now, "Do you remember the plan?"
"Of course."
"Then, be safe, my boy."
Without another word, Severus swept out of the office and down to his quarters so he could get his mask and cloak.
When Severus finally arrived at Lestrange Manor, he was escorted to the dining hall instead of the ballroom, where the other members of the Inner circle were already seated. Thankfully, the Dark Lord seemed too preoccupied with the writhing man on top of the dining table to pay attention to his entrance.
Removing his mask and pulling down his hood, Severus took the empty chair beside Malfoy.
"Severus, I'm glad you could make it before the festivities were over," Lucius whispered to him in amusement. His low tones were easily covered by the agonizing screams coming from the man in front of them.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. And who would be our guest tonight?"
"Jason Mimbler from Magical Defense. Our Lord wasn't pleased with Rabastan's progress in getting the girl."
"And Rabastan?" Severus noted that the Death Eater in question was still sitting among them, beside his brother, completely fine, if a bit winded.
"He pointed the finger at Mimbler for not complying with his wishes to use the Auror department, of course. He was punished first, but not as severely."
"Hm. Clever man."
"Do I detect a hint of disappointment, dear Severus?" Lucius continued looking forward, but his mouth quirked up in an amused smirk.
Severus affected a put-upon sigh. "Just an involuntary reaction to being surrounded by disappointing peers, who unfortunately know how to clean up their messes too well."
Lucius let out the smallest of laughs. "Too true, but then again we have all been in that hot cauldron. No doubt, by the end of the night you will have to do your own cleaning, Severus," he said, raising his voice on Severus' name so that the Dark Lord could hear him.
The pale wizard's gaze snapped up from his victim, finally pulling his wand away from Mimbler in his distraction. His red eyes narrowed, noticing the newest addition to the table. "Ssseverusss…jussst the wizard I wassss looking for."
Snape threw a quick glare at a maliciously grinning Lucius, before addressing the Dark Lord. "My Lord," he murmured, bowing his head respectfully.
"I was notified that the Mudblood hasss returned to the ssschool. Why did I not hear anything from you?" Voldemort hissed.
Hiding behind a false façade of calm, his voice came out steady as he asked with the just the merest hint of confusion, "My Lord, did you not receive the message I sent to you through Pettigrew?"
"A message?" the Dark Lord asked.
"Yes, my Lord" Severus continued, letting the barest amount of fear shine through. "Dumbledore has been watching me closely since the Mudblood's return. I couldn't come to you in person, so I sent a message through Pettigrew to inform you that I had information."
It wasn't a lie. He had sent Pettigrew a letter about Granger's return. Both Albus and he had felt that it would be too detrimental to his position to hide the witch's presence in the school from Voldemort. At the end of the day, he still needed to be seen as valuable to the psychopath. Unfortunately, the sensitive nature of Granger's new task also meant that she had to remain under the Dark Lord's radar. So Severus was stuck straddling a fine line between exposing Granger and hiding her away. An almost impossible task to take on, had Snape not known what a predictable rodent Pettigrew would be.
Although he was far from brave, the wayward Gryffindor was still just as brash as the rest of his house and Snape knew that anything he sent to the sniveling coward would never make it to the Dark Lord.
Severus was his old school rival and someone who openly mocked and cursed him in front of the other Death Eaters. He had known that Pettigrew would jump at the first opportunity to take revenge. He would see the letter and immediately destroy it in some misguided attempt to make the Potions master look incompetent.
From the terrified look on Pettigrew's face, it would seem that that was exactly what the pathetic wizard had done—so predictable.
Snape almost felt sorry for setting the other man up, but then he remembered that Pettigrew was a sorry excuse of a man, and he quickly got over that small bout of pity.
"Does Severusssss speak the truth, Peter? Have you audacsssiouly dessstroyed my mail?" the Dark Lord asked in a deadly whisper, then before Pettigrew could answer, he screamed, "LEGILIMENS!"
A high-pitched scream fell from Pettigrew's lips as the Dark Lord bulldozed his way into his servant's mind. Severus suspected from the way Pettigrew was thrashing in his seat that Voldemort was being especially harsh in his inspection. In a matter of mere seconds the Dark Lord was out of Pettigrew's mind and said wizard was a gibbering mess lying on the floor.
Displeased with what he had seen, the Dark Lord threw a Burning Hex at him as well. When he was finally done with dealing with the riff-raff, he turned to his spy.
"Severussssss…" he began and it was the only warning he gave before he was pushing into Snape's mind as well.
Unlike Pettigrew, Snape knew better than to put up any mental resistance and immediately allowed his shields to drop, so the Dark Lord's entrance only caused a minor sting.
He pushed several mental images to the front of his mind, primarily of him writing out the letter to Pettigrew about Granger's return, and meetings that he had staged with Albus, where they discussed the girl's desire to graduate early. He also threw in a couple more mundane scenes of him berating a student, of him drinking in his rooms and of him watching Granger suspiciously, to make his thoughts appear more random and less practiced. The important information about the Soul Book and Granger's connection to it was safely tucked away in the deepest recesses of his mind.
The strain of keeping his secrets tightly guarded while also keeping up a constant stream of non-lethal memories for the Dark Lord to peruse was beginning to wear on Severus' mind. The pressure was building up. A sweat broke out on his face, his breaths came out in strangled gasps, his vision became cloudy and he fought a desperate need to empty the contents of his stomach onto the table in front of him.
Severus was nearly about to pass out, when the Dark Lord finally slipped from his mind. He greedily sucked in a lungful of air.
"So the Mudblood is trying to graduate early…" The Dark Lord leaned back in his chair. "Is she working on something for Dumbledore?"
"I do not believe so, my Lord. From what I gathered, she wanted to get her Charms mastery early so she could help Potter or some nauseating dribble like that."
"Yes, but with what?" Abruptly the Dark Lord stood, pushing his chair back roughly. "Bellatrix!"
"Yes, my Lord." Said witch looked up to her master with hopeful eyes.
"Get this worthlesssss rat out of my ssssight!" He sneered down at the drooling mess at his feet, sending a vicious kick to Pettigrew's side. "No need to be gentle. Perhapssss with a proper punishment he'll learn not to dessstroy thingssss that don't belong to him."
"With pleasure, my Lord!" Bella waved her wand over Pettigrew's body, and thick ropes appeared, tightly binding his limbs together. "Getty!" she screamed when she was done.
The small House Elf popped into the room, trembling before her mistress. "Yes, mistress? What cans Getty be doing for you?"
Bella pointed to Pettigrew imperiously. "Take this vermin down to the dungeons. The Dark Lord wishes to speak to him privately."
When the wizard was finally dealt with, the Dark Lord turned back to Rabastan, shoving his wand against his throat.
"As for you, Lessstrange, I am giving you one more chance," he hissed, leaning forward menacingly. "I want the Mudblood. Do whatever you need to do to get her, but do not fail me again."
Rabastan nodded, too terrified to say anything else. Turning to the rest of his inner circle, the Dark Lord snarled out, "Leave!" before storming out of the room.
Severus winced, his migraine throbbing painfully when the door slammed behind their furious leader, only to open and slam closed again when Bella rushed after him like a lost puppy.
"Well, that was certainly an eventful evening," Lucius drawled, picking at his nails.
Severus, who was still a bit woozy from having someone punch their way into his mind, only grunted in response. Slowly, he stood from his seat to head to the door himself. After surviving two terrible meetings (one admittedly more painful than the other) all in one morning, all he wanted to do was fall into his bed and hide away from the world for a day or two. Or at least until his head stopped pounding.
A silver cane landed on his shoulder halting him. "Severus. Heading off so soon?" Lucius inquired.
"As it is a school day and I still have brats to teach, yes, I suppose I am," he snapped back.
Lucius brushed off his brusque tone easily. "Very well. Give Draco my best, will you?"
Snape sneered at his old friend. "I suspect you don't need me to keep you in contact with your boy. He was the one who informed our Lord about the Mudblood, was he not?"
"My, my, Severus. No need for hostilities. A little bit of healthy competition surely never hurt anyone before. Besides, you were well able to handle yourself today against Pettigrew."
Severus snorted. "Pettigrew is a half-witted worm that believes himself to be clever. He did most of my work for me."
Lucius threw back his head, and laughed. "Yes. A rat living in a pit of vipers. His life expectancy was never long to begin with."
"Exactly. I was just pushing him along. Now," Severus said, gathering his cloak around him, "I must be off. Until next time, Lucius."
"Of course, my friend," Lucius purred, his eyes glinting.
Severus watched him only for a second more, before sweeping out of the room. He had neither the time nor the patience to play any of Malfoy's games today.
Narcissa was sitting in front of her vanity, one of her small spider earrings rolling in between her fingers. The tiny, but beautifully carved, silver insects, with their glimmering black diamonds, were her most treasured items. She had more extravagant pieces that were ten times more expensive and even more eye-catching to be sure, but these little earrings held a special place in her heart.
Lucius had given them to her in her fifth year. A gift for their very first date. She could still remember his arrogant smile, when he presented the jewelry to her the day of the Halloween dance.
She had been working on her Charms homework, outside by the Black Lake, when a rose suddenly appeared in front of her. She didn't need to look up to see who was holding the rose. Only one man had been persistently dogging her steps for the past week. Her heart traitorously skipped a beat.
"Lucius, to what do I owe this honor?"
"It's a beautiful day, Miss Black. It would be a terrible waste to spend it indoors, so I decided to take a little stroll," he explained, elegantly kneeling down to take the seat next to her.
They were so close that she could feel his body heat against her side. She was tempted to scoot over a bit to create some much needed space, but she knew that doing so would only make her appear nervous and she refused to allow herself to appear weak in front of him.
Instead, she subtly cast a Shocking Charm on her robes that would give the presumptuous prat a nice present if he tried anything else.
"And you just so happened to choose the Lake of all places? Exactly where I'm sitting?"
"What can I say? I'm drawn to beauty," the blonde Slytherin purred in her ear.
"Is that the excuse you give when you pull out a mirror every five seconds?" she quipped back effortlessly, her quill still scratching out notes.
Lucius smiled at her slyly. "Did you just call me beautiful, Miss Black? I'm flattered."
She blushed deeply, mentally cursing her slip of the tongue. Not that she would try to deny it. Then she'd look like a fool. Anyone with eyes could see that Lucius was a fine male specimen.
With his long, silky blonde hair that seemed to capture and absorb the light around him, inviting you to play with the smooth strands that rolled down his back in a neat queue. His eyes were a like grey jewels, they were so clear and bright, his jaw was strong, his nose straight and his cheekbones high. His features could nearly be considered feminine if there wasn't also this visceral sense of masculinity that oozed from his pores.
No Lucius Malfoy was gorgeous and all the more deadly because he knew it.
"I'm not blind, Lucius. I just don't see why you should think your appearance would mean much to me." She set her book down to look him in the eye. "A dragon is a beautiful creature to watch from the skies, but never a good guest to have at dinner," she said, quoting one of her mother's favorite sayings.
Far from being offended, Lucius was utterly amused. His laughter caressed her ears and she couldn't control the shiver of pleasure that traveled down her spine.
"First I am beautiful and then you compare me to a mighty dragon…and you wonder why I seek you out," he teasingly whispered. His hot breath tickled her ear seductively.
'Too close!' her brain warned her, just before her Shocking Charm went off.
With a suppressed yelp, Lucius jumped back. His look of anger was quickly replaced by one of confusion, then mischievous appreciation. "Clever, clever, you."
She stared at him, unable to entirely hide her uneasiness. She had expected him to do some form of retaliation for hexing him, but instead he was looking at her with what looked suspiciously like admiration. Her heart twisted in her chest, as she peered into those clear grey eyes. Gods, they were gorgeous…
"Why are you here, Lucius?"
"Isn't it obvious? The Halloween ball is tonight."
Her pulse sped up in anticipation. "Why should that bring you out to the lake?"
"Not to the lake—to you."
"Oh?" she squeaked out, before clearing her throat and straightening her face. She picked up her quill and notebook just so she wouldn't do anything rash, like grab his face and kiss him. "And why would you want to see me?"
"To ask you to the dance, of course." He picked up a lock of her icy blonde hair, jumping a little from the Shock Charm again.
"Why do you keep touching me, if you know that you will only get hurt?"
"Because, my dear," he purred, moving closer to her, "the pain is completely worth it if I can hold even a piece of you."
'Oh he's good,' she thought, closing her eyes and just allowing herself to savor the moment. She would hex him again later to make her point, but for now, she just soaked the moment in.
With her eyes closed, she hadn't noticed him picking up his wand and silently casting a Finite Incantatem over her body, dispelling her protection. It wasn't until he wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her back against his body that she finally came back to reality. But she kept her head, not putting up a fight to his forwardness...yet.
"How presumptuous of you, Lord Malfoy," she whispered, fingering her wand in her pocket. There was only the barest of threats in her tone. She probably would have been angrier if it hadn't felt so heavenly being wrapped up in the arrogant sod's arms.
"I do apologize, Miss Black, but I can't seem to help myself around you," he replied, taking a lock of her hair again and wrapping it around his finger. "By the way, you have not given me my "yes", yet."
She decided that would say yes. She couldn't deny the attraction she felt for this cunning Slytherin, and she was intrigued by the idea of where this could go, but she wasn't going to make it easy for him. She was a Black, after all, and she deserved to be properly wooed and flattered before she gave her assent. "And why would the heir of Malfoy house want to go to the dance with me?"
Lucius huffed in amusement. "My dear, it is as you said. I'm the heir of the Malfoy house, the King of Slytherin, and as such, I deserve the best—and that's you," he said, rather arrogantly. "I can be seen with no less."
"Oh? Then I'm to be a pretty bauble?"
Again he smirked. "I believe I said, the best, Miss Black. Your looks only encompass a small portion of that."
"Oh?"
"Do not misunderstand me. You are a rose among weeds, by far the most beautiful creature in the school, aside from myself. That much is a given, but you also have an incredibly sharp mind, with an even sharper tongue. Even Though you are only a fifth year, you have my fellow seventh years coming to you for help with their work. You have the respect of all of Slytherin house. You have grace, charm and a musical laugh that would make a Nymph jealous. And you come from a family that is as ancient and pure as my own. You, my dear, are perfection, the Queen to my King, and I must have you."
She turned around in his arms, unable to stop herself any longer. She leaned in closer to him. "And if I refuse?" She wouldn't refuse him. Not now, not after what he had said to her. How could she?
He leaned in as well, his hands burying themselves in her hair. "You won't."
"You think you know me so well?"
"No, not yet. Bust just as you are the best, so am I. We would be settling for lesser beings if we chose anyone else." He reached into his robes to pull out a small black, velvet box.
She looked at him curiously. "What is this?"
He opened the box, revealing a beautiful pair of silver spider earrings with black diamonds in the center. She gasped, fingering the dark gems appreciatively.
"I will be wearing black and silver tonight, and thought it would be best if we were matching. We'll be a stunning pair."
"I still have not agreed to go on this date with you," she answered.
He chuckled, bending lower so that their lips were only a hair's length apart. "My dear, did you think that I was talking about only tonight? You misunderstand me."
He brushed his lips against hers in the softest of caresses. "I am a Malfoy, Narcissa. We play for keeps."
Even after all these years, that memory still warmed Narcissa's heart. Reverently, she put the earrings on, admiring the way they glinted undertake glow of her candlelight.
Lucius had been right. They had made a stunning pair that Halloween night. They had danced and moved together as if they were made for one another. They were perfect for each other, and they continued in their perfection long after they had both graduated, and gotten married. She took pride in the envious stares from both men and women as they walked into a room together. She reveled in it...in her life and in her happiness.
But then the Dark Lord came and it all changed. There were afraid for their future so they gave him money, helped to raise him up, not even realizing that they were destroying themselves in the process. There had been an unspoken relief between them when he had first died over a decade ago, a hope that they could go back to the paradise that they had created for themselves, but it hadn't lasted.
Now the Dark Lord was back again, and Narcissa had her eyes open this time. She could see her home, her family, deteriorating before her very eyes. Her husband, her Lucius...she couldn't pretend to be ignorant of the dark path that he was walking.
Every day under the Dark Lord's services, she saw more and more of that charming, arrogant boy that had asked her to the Halloween Ball slip away. He was becoming a stranger, a malicious, cruel stranger that happened to wear her husband's face, and she feared that there was no way to save him.
Was he past the point of no return?
She clenched at the silver spiders on her ears. Gods, she hoped not, but she couldn't ignore the evidence around her that suggested her Lucius was gone and that her beautiful baby boy was slowly heading towards the same fate.
She grabbed a picture from her vanity, a tear falling down her stoic face. In it, Lucius stood proudly with his arms clasped behind his back and his head lifted high. A five-year-old Draco was standing beside him, valiantly trying to mimic his father's pose, shooting looks to the other man to make sure that he was getting it right. The older Slytherin must have been aware of this, because he sneaked a look at his son. His gaze softened just a fraction, obviously pleased by his son's adoration.
Carefully, she put the picture frame back down. The Dark Lord would not be able to understand why she would chose her family over his reign, but these two men, her boys, they were her everything. She had worked hard to build the life she had, to build the family that she had and she was not going to let the Dark Lord take that away from her.
Reaching into her vanity drawer, she pulled out a plain-looking envelope.
"Mitty," she called out, and a second later her House Elf popped into her room, bowing low.
"What can Mitty be doing for the Mistress?"
Narcissa handed the Elf the envelope. "Make sure this letter gets to Severus Snape. Do not use any of our owls. I want no one knowing that this letter is coming from the Malfoy manor, so rent an owl or something like that. I don't care how you do it, just make sure you're discreet. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Mistress!" Mitty chirped, bowing again before she popped out.
When the elf was gone, Narcissa swept out the door to leave as well. She had no time for tears or regrets. There was a lot of ground that she needed to cover if her plan was going to work perfectly.
Okay! There we are! Severus is having a bad day, Voldemort is pissed off and Narcissa plots. Hoped you liked it, especially my portrayal of Lucius/Narcissa—because there will definitely be more of them later on down the road.
Next chapter: More Severus and Hermione! Woooo
As always, please review~