Imperio!

Both wizards stared at her, appalled. Severus recovered first, and said, "Zelda, that is a horrific suggestion! I cannot subject you to the Imperius Curse. You'd hate the experience."

"I'll dedicate myself to hiding from all the bad guys, all the time," Zelda replied, "but in case it ever happens, I want to know what it feels like. I need to see if there's any way I can resist it."

Harry watched, wondering how long before Professor Snape would give in. He thought Zelda was making a good point, although - being a Muggle - she would probably prove to be helpless against it. But then again, she had turned out to be a pretty good Legilimens, so maybe… He snickered a little; knowing Professor Snape, his nemesis, had met his match… and the sound recalled them to his presence.

"Go now, Potter," Severus said repressively. "Zelda will be here for a few more days, so you know how to find her."

"Okay," Harry said. He almost ran from the room, torn between worry and laughter, wondering what Professor Snape could make Zelda do under the Imperius that she wouldn't want to do.

The door snapped shut behind him, and Severus was left staring at Zelda, feeling ill. He rose from his chair and paced restlessly across the room. "I cannot, Zelda," he said. "I've seen too much… the Imperius is torture."

She rose and went to him, putting her arms around his waist. He embraced her and said, "I love you, my girl. I said that I would never force you to do anything, and this is force. I cannot."

"Severus, beloved, that's why I'm asking you to do it. I can't trust anyone but you," she pleaded, and her expression was haunted. "I think I know what I'm asking. I'm sorry to ask you, but if I can learn how to resist it, I must. You know that, don't you?"

"I hate it. It cannot be merely a little game between us. I'll be forcing you to do things that normally you could not bear," he said, holding her and trying to imagine what he could stand to force her to do.

"Do it now," she told him in a voice that brooked no refusal.

A bell rang, far away, almost inaudible. Horrified, nauseated for what he was about to do, he took his wand out slowly - and pointed it at her. Summoning all of his will, he said; "Imperio!"

Zelda suddenly felt strangely happy… and relaxed. She smiled eerily at him, and when he gave the order, she began stripping her clothes off, feeling more delightful as she obeyed him.

Severus watched her strip herself naked without hesitation. He could not encourage her to fight it, or he would prevent her from resisting it on her own.

She stood before him, relaxed, and he said coldly, "Put on these shoes, Zelda and go down to the Great Hall to have lunch with the staff, naked."

Zelda stepped into a very sexy pair of heels he had just conjured, and smiled vaguely at him. She did not know why Severus wanted her to go down to lunch naked and wearing these pretty 'fuck-me' shoes, but she started walking toward the door. Suddenly, a thought came to her that doing this might be embarrassing… and she stopped briefly, staring at him in confusion.

"Go now, Zelda," Severus said firmly, keeping his horror out of his voice. For one moment, he had thought… but as he watched, Zelda reached for the door and opened it, stepping out into the corridor. He strode to the door, snatching up his black cloak as he went. He wondered if she would ever forgive him, but as he reached the doorway, he realized she had stopped again, and he thought that surely now, she must be fighting the Curse. She looked so vulnerable… a small naked Muggle woman alone in the immensity of Hogwarts, in a corridor where anyone could see her. He fervently hoped Peeves was far away. He felt repulsed at his actions as he glided silently after her.

Zelda was confused. She was going down to lunch in the Great Hall, but something was wrong. She stopped and looked down at her body, remembering a voice, saying, "have lunch with the staff, naked…" But, what? Why? She shook her head as if to clear it, and realized she felt chilly; she should have brought a sweater. 'Goddess,' she suddenly thought, 'I'm naked! Where am I?'

She turned around and took a step back toward her room, but Severus said harshly to her, "Zelda, go to lunch."

She turned around, thinking, 'Minerva will be shocked if I come down like this, I can't walk around Hogwarts without clothes on.' However, she began to walk toward the stairs again, even as she thought it.

Severus crept up behind her, preparing to stop her before she went down the stairs, but at the top step, she hesitated again. There were voices coming from below, and Zelda froze, eyes wide with horror. She turned back toward her room and began to run. Severus threw the cloak around her and scooped her into his arms, removing the spell.

"Zelda, I'm sorry," he whispered. He carried her rapidly back to the room, kicking the door to the room open. He brought her in and closed the door firmly. He stood still then, holding her tightly.

Zelda shivered, trying to grasp what had just happened to her. She began shaking, and wrapped her arms around her bare body under the cloak, feeling completely violated. He felt her reaction and held her tighter. She began to realize what she had done, that it had taken a long, humiliating time before she even hesitated to do what he had ordered… and she had almost done it. Almost walked into the Great Hall naked, for everyone to see.

Severus carried her to the bed and sat down, cradling her close. He felt her heart pounding wildly, as though she had run a long way, and he felt like a monster. He held her, sunk in misery, his face expressionless.

Eventually, a little of the tension leave her body. In a thin little voice, she said, "So that's the Imperius Curse… very interesting." She stirred and looked up at him, and seeing his complete lack of expression, she knew he was remorseful. "It's okay, Sev. I asked for it… and now I understand."

"It had to be something you would hate. People have been made to kill, to commit suicide, to torture and betray those they love under it," he said levelly, remembering his own dreadful experiences of the Imperius Curse.

Zelda shivered, and said, "But now, nobody saw me, did they?"

"No, sweetheart. But if it had not been me, and you had been completely unable to fight it, you would have gone to lunch as though nothing were wrong."

She shuddered and rose to her feet, stumbling as she stood in the ridiculous shoes. She sat on the bed and tugged them off her feet, throwing them against the wall, and then wrapped herself tightly again in his ugly black cloak and rocked back and forth.

Severus made no move to touch her, because he saw in her eyes how victimized she felt. Although he realized that she had learned from this, he had hurt her, and she would not easily recover herself. He strode to the window, and stared blankly out of it.

Suddenly, Zelda was beside him and she hugged him. "Severus," she said gently, "I needed to know. I did fight it a little, finally, didn't I?"

He had been so seized by self-loathing, that he had forgotten that part. "You did fight it," he said, raising a curious eyebrow.

His rigid features saddened her, the stress and pain of the past half hour were there to see, and she knew that he craved her forgiveness.

"Thank you," she said simply. "I'm glad you did it, but… where'd you get the idea for the horrible 'fuck me' shoes? I hope you did it because you knew I'd hate it, and not because you like 'em," she said, a faint smile brightening her face as she led him back to bed.

Severus twitched slightly, saying guiltily, "You looked, as you would say, adorable, but I was sure that you would also hate them. But Zel, I would have stopped you."

"Hey, I know. It's okay, I'm alive, if extremely unnerved," she said, and tossed off the cloak, climbing into his lap naked and sighed contentedly when he held her close. "I'm not really hungry, are you?"

"Not for lunch," he said. "We have so little time, why on earth am I sitting here fully clothed?" He removed his clothes and opened the bedclothes, smiling faintly when she hopped in and looked invitingly at him. He took Zelda in his arms and cuddled her close, too shaken for desire at that moment. His gaze swept her face, and he sought again for forgiveness.

"You feel guilty about everything, don't you?" she asked with a worried frown. "I can't think of any way you could have made me understand it without doing this, and thinking of all the truly horrible possibilities, this was the kindest option."

"You are the one… I never wished to hurt you, but I hurt you now. I'm terribly sorry," he said stiffly.

She studied his stern face, feeling sad that she had asked it of him, and kissed him. "Sparing me now could make things worse later. I think you know that. You're amazing, Sev; you're the bravest person I know, and I feel very lucky."

Her blue eyes were shining when he dared to look at her, and he could let go of his remorse. She understood and, most amazingly, she still loved him. "Thank you, my girl," he murmured.

Zelda gathered him into her arms and held him. She realized that he would do whatever was needed, even if he suffered deeply for it. She resolved to lighten his burden if she could, but for now, she could only love him, and there was nothing he needed more. She began rubbing his back, kissing and petting him, and he eventually smiled contentedly into her eyes, telling her without words how much he loved it. The movement from comfort to passion was deliciously gradual; a healing that was necessary so they could move forward, unburdened by regret for the past hour.

Afterward, they held each other and Zelda said thoughtfully, "Sev, what does it mean that I, a Muggle, could manage somewhat to resist the Imperius Curse? Did you really force me?"

"What you experienced was precisely what many wizards and witches have felt. I did not spare you," he replied thoughtfully.

"I haven't had time to ask you, but what makes some people magical? Do wizards study human genetics at all?" she asked curiously.

"What we have always been told is that one is either magical, or not," he said, "Although I imagine that this question may be studied in the Department of Mysteries. I have never found this explanation adequate to explain why some wizards are extremely powerful, and some are not. Much must be attributed, I believe, to the individual's will and intelligence, but not everything."

Zelda pondered a moment, and said, "Muggle scientists have learned that the human genome is immensely complex. In the past, people believed that one gene might be what causes one human characteristic, but it's not that simple. I wonder if your magical ability is a lucky combination of many bits and pieces, where I merely have one bit of magic somewhere in my genetic makeup."

"It is an interesting idea," Severus replied, "although it would mean there are perhaps other Muggles like you."

"Like Michael?" she queried, and saw him nod thoughtfully.

"A person born with some magical ability, but living in the mundane world, would not be able to acquire the knowledge to understand and use that ability," he said thoughtfully, "but could theoretically pass it on to children."

"Hence your so-called Muggle-borns, like Hermione," Zelda said. "Her parents each probably carry magic in their genes, and a fortunate combination gave her not only her magical ability, but her drive to achieve. But unless her parents have an ability that is hard to ignore, they'd probably be unaware of it."

Severus studied her eyes as he asked, "Was it difficult for you, being capable of Legilimency?"

"I've had a little time, since you left me, to think about it and talk with Michael," she said, "and for most of my life I pretended to myself I couldn't see things. When I was a little girl, before I knew it was rude to stare, I could tell when someone was lying. I saw people's terrifying thoughts and emotions, and I couldn't control it."

"Are there others like you?"

"Michael's the only one I know who's like me, but there are many stories of people with a magical ability, and many people who are frauds," she said. "At times in the past I've used my ability, but never trusted it completely, and at times I've hated it. Seeing people's thoughts has made me prefer to be alone, mostly."

"Is this why you seemed to accept that I am a wizard so easily?" he asked, kissing her hair and pulling her closer against his chest. "It seemed odd that you were not afraid of me, once you learned the truth."

"I didn't doubt anything I saw in you, and what I saw was a very good man, Sev," she said with a smile. "I'll never really understand magic, except perhaps my own small piece of it, but that doesn't bother me. Wizard or Muggle doesn't matter to me when I look at a person."

"Wizards generally judge the value of a person according to his magical ability," he ventured.

"And his pedigree," she snorted. "I don't know why you brought Nature's Nobility for me to browse, but it certainly was enlightening. Knowing that magical folk can be as idiotic as anyone else is probably not a wise thing to let Muggles learn."

"Only one Muggle, my girl," he replied. "I am not an impulsive man, but bringing those books to you was an impulsive act. I suppose I wished to see if you would be frightened, once you realized something of what my world is."

"If you're asking, then, yes, I'm frightened and well aware that I don't belong here, dear boy. The Imperius Curse has reinforced that understanding. But I had to see for myself," she explained, "and, Sev, I want to help you."

"Your existence helps me," he said softly. "Come here, my girl." Severus kissed her, and then they slept briefly, holding each other close.