When Cassi woke up, she had no idea where she was. She just knew she was no longer in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, despite the unreassuring darkness she was lying in. It appeared that she was on a bed or couch of some sort; it wasn't particularly soft, but to her, it was the most comfortable thing in the world.
She tried to sit up to survey her surroundings, but only made it to her elbows before she was restrained by a firm hand on her arm. She glanced over to find its owner and froze at the sight of Snape sitting in a chair by her head with a book in his hand. Their eyes met, and Cassi just stared. He looked just like the real Snape; but it couldn't be. Snape watched the face he had been afraid he would never see again, expression unreadable. A moment later he shifted and said quietly, "You shouldn't be sitting yet. You're not strong enough." She didn't move, so he set down his book and gently pushed her shoulders until she was lying down again. It didn't take much effort - the girl was frighteningly thin and pale, having lost weight and blood due to excessive starvation and continuous torture. Still staring at him, she tried to ask where they were. Her mind wouldn't let her utter the question - for four days she had trained herself to keep quiet, and she could not so easily break her habit. She still had a looming, oppressive fear that any sounds from her would betray Snape, and so she kept silent. Luckily, Snape knew what she wanted to ask.
He shifted uncomfortably again, sitting back in his chair and picking up his book. "Spinners End," he said, looking at the page in front of him. "I originally took you back to Grimmauld but there were far too many hovering mothers getting in my way, your terrified boyfriends among them." His lips quirked in a tiny smile as he added, "Those twins are afraid of nothing until it comes to you. I call them into detention and the most I get out of them is apprehension - you get injured and suddenly I have two blubbering old ladies on my hands." Cassi smiled a little in response, still silent. Snape looked up at her, then continued quietly, "I wanted to get you out because I knew it wouldn't be restful for you at Grimmauld, but I didn't know where else to take you. My house was the first place I thought of; I can guarantee peace here and I have all the necessary potions here for your healing. I hope this is alright?"
Cassi still couldn't convince herself that it was ok to talk again...surely this was some trick of Malfoy's, some magically imposed hallucination to lure her into carelessness? And yet, whether he was real or imagined, the figure sitting beside her looked so apprehensive that she couldn't help but smile at him to try to reassure him. It seemed to work; he relaxed slightly and nodded, then returned to his book. Her gaze on the ceiling, Cassi sighed mentally and wondered if she would ever really be free from Malfoy.
"Did Malfoy ask questions about the Order?"
It was five days since Cassi was rescued, and a select few of the Order were present at a special meeting to address Cassi's situation. At the moment, Dumbledore was asking Cassi about her time in Malfoy Manor. He stood at the head of the table at Grimmauld, while Lupin sat next to him, Kingsley and Sirius sitting nearby. Cassi sat nervously at the opposite end of the table, Snape behind her with his hands on the top of her chair. His presence was comforting to her, but she still hated this interrogation - she had not spoken a word to anyone since before her capture, so Dumbledore was limited to yes-or-no questions. She still felt uneasy about communicating so much information about such important subjects. Slowly, she shook her head. No, Malfoy had not been very interested with the Order as a whole.
Those in the room exchanged glances. It had been generally believed that Malfoy was under orders to obtain information about the Order of the Phoenix, and now it was becoming obvious that they really had no idea what had happened. "Well then, did he ask anything about the Order?" Cassi kept her eyes on the table as she nodded. Well, yes, it had come up a few times. But Malfoy hadn't focused on that part.
"What about the Minister? A Weasley works in Fudge's cabinet, and it's widely known that you're a good friend of the family." Cassi shook her head again, more urgently this time. They were getting further from the subject. "Was it centered around something pertaining to the Order?" Yes, yes, getting closer.
Dumbledore and Lupin exchanged glances. "Did he seem interested in any particular member of the Order?" Lupin asked, thinking Dumbledore's activities might have been a popular topic. His theory was reinforced when she nodded, and she nodded again when asked if the member was in the room at the moment.
Then he asked quietly, "Was it Dumbledore?" And she shook her head.
The tension in the room eased a little bit until Dumbledore asked sharply, "Was it Severus?" Tension levels skyrocketed again. No one had thought of that, but as they considered it, information about Snape could be just as dangerous as information about Dumbledore in the wrong hands. So many of the Dark Lord's plans had been thwarted thus far because the Order had inside information, courtesy of Snape - if he were exposed as a traitor, Voldemort would be unpredictable once again and exponentially more dangerous.
Cassi nodded and shut her eyes. Yes. Oh, yes, Malfoy was very interested in Snape.
That man closed his eyes too. Fate was too cruel. He had finally made his peace with his past and was ready to reconcile himself with Cassi, but of course he had to be exposed as a spy - and, of course, it had to be Cassi that had led to his downfall. He would be hunted down, probably tortured, and then he would be killed, all because Cassi had certainly let something slip about him. Snape wasn't angry at her - he couldn't be - but he did not want to be torn away from her. There was no doubt that she had betrayed him. If a Death Eater wanted answers, he got answers. That would explain why she wouldn't speak to him. She must feel guilty... Snape hoped that he could get Cassi to open up to him once again, one last time before he was found and killed.
Lupin took over the questioning, since Dumbledore seemed to have forgotten where he was as he brooded over this turn of events. "Did Malfoy want to know about Snape's participation in the Order?" A nod. "Did he suspect Snape was a traitor to the Dark Lord?" A nod. "Did he ask you specifically where Snape's loyalties lie?" A nod.
The room grew deathly still. "And what did you tell him?" Lupin asked quietly. He slid a piece of parchment and a quill to her. "Write it down if you have to." Defiantly, Cassi lifted her gaze and shook her head firmly. "You mean to say that you told him nothing?" Kingsley asked incredulously. She nodded. She felt Snape's hands tighten their grip her chair. Dumbledore walked around the table to stand next to her. He bent down to eye level and asked her seriously, "Did you say anything at all to Malfoy?" She looked the headmaster in the eye and shook her head. He probed again, "Did you say a single word to him, concerning any topic?" Still keeping eyes contact, she shook her head again. She saw Dumbledore's eyes flash to where Snape was standing, and she wanted to turn and see what was happening. But she kept looking into Dumbledore's light blue eyes, and eventually he turned to the others with a short laugh.
"Well," he said with a lighter note in his voice, "it appears that we have escaped the beak of the hippogriff unscathed. Malfoy learned nothing of Severus, and we remain a threat to the Dark Lord." Virtually everyone in the room sighed in relief - except Snape. There was no room in his head or heart for anything but one thought - What did she suffer because of me?
Snape and Cassi were back at Spinners End after an emotional day of interrogations and revelations. Snape helped Cassi walk to her makeshift bedroom - even after five days, she was still dangerously thin and not altogether steady on her feet. And she had horrifying nightmares. She had no idea that Snape knew about them, but he did. He had installed her in the living room, since she could not climb stairs in her condition, and had then decided to stay in the adjoining library himself. He wanted to be close to her in case the nightmares became too much and she needed him. He made sure she was comfortably settled on her couch, then he retreated to the library. He had to get a grip on everything he'd learned today.
He stared out a window as he thought about the interrogation which he had had to perform. He had confronted Cassi after the Order meeting, hoping to ease his conscience concerning her tortures. No such luck. He had been appalled to learn of the things Cassi had endured, and he felt crushing guilt. Cassi had endured starvation, beatings, interrogations, the bloody Cruciatus curse, for him. Because he had let himself get too close to her. He'd never felt more guilty for anything in his life, and that included the time he called Lily a Mudblood.
So Malfoy wasn't after the Order at all, he reviewed to himself as he sat on the edge of his couch, head in his hands. He wanted to know about me. He suspects me. He somehow knew that Cassi knew the truth about me...and she stood up for me. That was the part that blew him away. That Cassi had tried to keep his secret touched him, but the fact that she actually succeeded meant that she was very, very determined to keep him safe. Which meant she really did care what happened, which might mean...
No, he told himself sternly. Don't even go there. There's no reason to expect her to love you... His own arguments sounded half-hearted, even to himself. He knew very well that he would not be going back to ignoring and forgetting her. He lay back on the couch and stared at the ceiling.
He knew he loved her. It was about time to see if the feeling was mutual.
A/N: Hello to my readers! If you've made it this far, thank you for sticking with Cassi and Snape all this way. Sadly, the next chapter will be the last. It's time to see if all this was worth it!
Thank you again to all of you; you inspire me like nothing else!