SUMMARY: Life is a masquerade in which we all wear masks. Draco Malfoy wears one. There's only one person with whom he lets the mask slip. His mate. The problem is, she's refusing to take hers off. What's behind the mask?
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HP, NOR ANYTHING ELSE YOU MAY RECOGNISE. I do, however, own Zara and her past :DDDD
Thanks to 'HermioneandMarcus' and 'bloodrose's dance' for reviewing Chapter 2! 3
So, it has been brought to my attention that there is some confusion about Zara's friendship with Remus, Severus and Sirius. DO NOT FRET! I plan on addressing that in this chapter :)
Previously on "Masquerade":
""... Don't ask me about what I am, there's a law that says I legally can't tell humans, so don't push me. That's really all I have to say." She caught Severus' eye and gave a small smile. "
Chapter 3:
Zara's POV:
"What's through there?" The billion-and-somethingth question was issued from Zara's mouth. The meeting at Grimmauld Place had ended hours ago, and now Zara and Severus were at Severus' place at Spinner's End. She was amusing herself by exploring, woefully ignorant of his plans to cheerfully murder her and bury her in the pathetic excuse for a garden if she kept interrogating him for much longer.
"My parent's rooms." He replied in a dangerously quiet voice that let her know she was treading on thin ice. Obligingly, Zara shut her mouth, and for a few blissful minutes, was silent as she continued to poke her head into every room in his childhood home.
Eventually, they settled themselves in an old living room, the interior of which had clearly seen better days. After flitting about for a bit, Zara decided on a book and sat down on the couch next to Severus. For a long time, the neglected room was filled with only the noise of a page turning. Until-
"Sev?" With a sigh, the addressed closed his book and looked at her.
"Yes, dear?" He said in a mockingly cheerful voice.
"Why do you still live here? After all these years, especially with your childhood-" His temper flared instantly.
"My childhood? What's that supposed to mean? Just because I didn't-" She rolled her eyes.
"You know what I mean Sev, stop feigning ignorance. It doesn't suit you." A dark look appeared on his face. "I'm serious. Why haven't you sold this place and get as much distance from it as possible? That's what'd I would do in your position. That's what I have done. Why are you still here?" Said Zara. "You don't have to stay."
"Yes I do." His voice was unexpectedly tired sounding, as though he'd thought about this so much he was weary of the subject. "I lived here when I met her. And now she's gone. A part of me feels like... If I leave, I'm..." He trailed off.
"Leaving her behind?" Questioned Zara gently.
"Yeah." His shoulders slumped, as if in defeat.
"Lily made a stupid mistake in choosing someone else. One I'm sure that on some level she regretted." She tried to comfort him. "Lily and I were friends, but unlike me, she chose to let rivalries get in the way. I remained friends with all of you, but she chose to take sides. It was her decision."
"She was my mate. I should have done something, I should have fought harder for her. Maybe then she would still be alive and I wouldn't feel every day as though I should be dead."
"No, Sev, you don't know that. It does no one any good to dwell on the past, no matter how attractive a prospect it may be."
"Why are we having this conversation again? The last time, you said it would not happen again."
"That's because last time, you said you would try and move forward." She chided Severus. "That didn't happen and, somehow, I don't think I'll be able to get you to promise that again, because you're sober." She ignored the pointless glare sent her way.
"The point is, I'm not moving house." He drawled, bringing their conversation back to the beginning, then changing the subject entirely. "So, how does that memory spell work exactly?"
"It... What? Why the sudden subject chan- you know what, never mind. Do you mean the one affecting Sirius Black?"
"Why, do you have others you haven't told me about?"
"What? That's ridiculous!" Her eyes darted away from his and back. "Um, yeah so the memory spell. Right. It's a long story."
"I've got time." He smirked. She shrugged.
"You asked for it. My kind was supposed to have been wiped out centuries ago by because of wizard kind doing experiments on us. We're supposed to be extinct. Only, the Royal Family saw what the wizards were doing to my kind, and made a law forbidding us to tell any human of our existence. Most of us either left earth and returned to our home world, or went into hiding in the Muggle world.
"The King of that time then borrowed magic from various powerful wizards and other magical creatures and made a spell. The memory spell I told you about. Basically it affects all humans, and if one of my kind were to come into contact with a human, then after about five years, the human, or humans, forgets them entirely.
"How you asked earlier about whether or not the spell was still active, (A/N, See Chapter One) the end of the war is not relevant to it. The spell remains intact until someone convinces King Ryan -the current king- to abolish the law." Zara paused and grinned, a knowing smile, before continuing. "The only reason that you and Remus still remember me is that neither of you are human."
The was a long silence as Severus let this new information sink into his brain. He stood up and put away his book, Zara following suit slowly.
"What about Dumbledore?" He asked.
"What about Dumbledore?" She parroted.
"How does he remember you?"
"Oh. Well he was smart. My family told him what we were when we first came here, back in the 70's, just after Jenni and I had inherited. We had to, so that he would understand why we were only taking the classes that did not involve wand lore. I actually asked him that, how he remembered me, and he told me that as soon as I graduated, he put all his memories of me and my family in a pensive and kept them there. Every four years, he's been watching the memories again, sort of like refreshing them, to cheat the spell. Once the law is lifted, which could be any time soon, I'll tell him, and he won't have to do that anymore." She wandered into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, parched after all her talking.
Severus shook his head, as though breaking a chain of thought. "Let's call it a day. Guest bedroom is, well, you know where it is. If you need anything, don't wake me up." She outright laughed at the mock threatening expression in his face as he muttered a 'good night' and shuffled on up the stairs.
Thoughtfully, Zara sipped at her water, gazing without seeing at a cupboard door. Her thoughts were focused solely on her family, or rather her solitary family member. She wondered how her sister, Jenni, was faring which her new situation. She was completely unaware, perhaps for the better, of the upheaval going on in another part of the country due to her.
Ugh. There's so much talking in this chapter. But things needed to be explained, hopefully everything is a lot clearer now, and you got an insight into the friendship of Zara and Severus.
But guess what?
NEXT CHAPTER will be in DRACO POV!
REVIEW and let me know what you think! 3