"There has been an incident. I shall be waiting for you in my private quarters. Bring Lupin."

With a flash of green embers, Isabella and Remus appeared in Severus' sitting room. They stepped out of the grate, brushing soot and Floo powder off their shoulders, their eyes sharp as they searched the dark room. Something had happened with Talia, it was the only explanation that came to their minds for Severus to have called upon them so suddenly.

The sitting room was empty, and fear gripped Isabella as she began to imagine all of the horrible things that could have happened to her daughter. She held Remus' hand tightly, trying and failing to calm down. Not knowing what was wrong with her daughter or what had been done to her— it was pulling at her heartstrings. She felt a heaviness in her chest that pressed down on her heart, and every breath she took was shaky, her lungs feeling as if they were about to burst.

It had only been one day away from home, what could have possibly happened to Talia!?

Remus was in a similar state as his lover, though his outward appearance exuded nothing but calmness. However, inside his being, his wolf was raging, pacing back and forth in his mind like a caged animal, howling and demanding to know what was wrong with its pup. It could feel that something was wrong, that something horrible had happened, and the more seconds passed without any knowledge of the situation, the more Remus struggled with his other half. He needed to keep a level head, for he knew that Isabella was slowly loosing it. One of them needed to be the voice of reason, but if another moment passed without knowledge of his daughter's health, all hell would break loose.

SLAP.

Severus' bedroom door burst open, hitting the stone wall behind it with a resounding slap that startled Isabella and Remus. A shadow stood in the doorway, and one sniff of the air let Remus know that it was Severus… and that the Potions Master was livid.

"Isabella… Lupin," Severus said curtly, a foul scowl on his lips as he quickly turned around and stepped back into his room, not another word said.

"Not good," muttered Isabella, allowing Remus to lead her into Severus' bedroom with a hand on her lower back. Severus was angry, his eyes were dark, and his hands were shaking. She could feel his magic crackling angrily around him, and it made her nervous.

What had happened?

There was a sniffling lump in Severus' unmade bed, piles of blankets and sheets forming a protective cocoon around the figure that was so obviously crying. It was Talia, and she held on tightly to one of her uncle's pillows, hugging it against her chest and burying her face in its soft fabric, inhaling the comforting scent of ginger roots and spices.

"Natalia," said Remus softly, catching the scared scent of his daughter, her salty tears stinging his nose.

Talia yelped in surprise from under her cocoon of blankets, and Isabella disentangled herself from Remus and rushed to her daughter's bedside.

"Talia," she cooed, sitting down on the edge of the bed and placing a hand on her daughter's cheek, "what's wrong? What has happened to you?"

"Severus," said Remus stiffly, his hands balled up at his sides, "we would appreciate an explanation."

"I'm sure you would," sneered Severus. "Your daughter has been traumatized."

"What?" cried Isabella, "What do you mean she's—"

"Let me start from the beginning," hissed Severus, and that he did. He explained everything that had transpired between Talia, Draco, and Professor Moody, and Isabella and Remus listened with a mixture of surprise and enraged expressions on their faces.

"Where is that… man," spat Isabella, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Albus is currently talking to him," said Severus, "no doubt he's getting a warning and a rundown on how we do things here."

"He deserves more than a warning," said Isabella viciously, gently stroking her daughter's hair away from her tear stained face.

"And Draco?" asked Remus, "is he… alright?"

"I'm surprised you even care," said Severus with an incredulous look.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I may not be overtly… fond of Draco, but no one deserves to be so brutally bullied like that."

"Could have fooled me," scoffed Severus, before quickly saying, "Mr. Malfoy is currently in my classroom awaiting punishment."

"You're going to punish him?" asked Isabella indignantly, "after what that man did to him?"

"What do you suggest?" asked Severus, quirking an eyebrow.

Isabella hesitated for a moment, before looking at Remus and saying, "Stay with Talia. I need to go see to Draco."

Remus nodded, saying nothing. He knew how much Isabella cared for the boy; he couldn't really understand what Isabella saw in him, but there was something there that Isabella deemed worth saving, and Remus would respect her affections for the Malfoy heir.

The boy was kind to his daughter—it was enough for Remus to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Hurry back," said Remus softly, giving his lover a small smile, before he took her place sitting on Talia's bedside, stroking his daughter's hair tenderly, and assuring her that he'd drive away all her nightmares.

Severus led the way out of his private quarters, Isabella's arm looped around his to keep up appearances should they run into anyone. They walked in silence for a moment, before he made the split second decision of shoving her into the nearest broom cupboard and sealing the door behind them.

"Severus, what the fuc—"

Severus covered Isabella's mouth with his hand, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

"Do not make a sound," he hissed darkly, "just look."

Isabella remained silent as Severus took his hand away from her mouth, and she watched him intently as he began to unbutton his left sleeve. A silent gasp left her lips as she saw the dark blotch of ink on his inner forearm, moving around as if it were alive.

The tattoo had faded throughout the years; the skull and snake had been nothing but a blurred smudge on Severus' pale skin… but now…

"Severus—"

"Just look," Severus hissed darkly, but his eyes softened.

Shakily, Isabella placed her hands on his forearm; her index finger tracing the spidery black lines that danced underneath his skin. Its original shape and coloring still had a few ways to go before the tattoo was restored to its former glory, but the fact that the mark was no longer dormant was the real problem.

"You know what this means," Severus said softly, his face pale, his eyes losing their eagle-like sharpness.

"He's coming back," Isabella whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "Severus, when did this start?"

"The first week of August," Severus said softly, a haunted expression crossing his features, "The mark, it burned one night. It started with a tingle, and then it felt like snakes were slithering underneath my skin. I thought nothing of it because it couldn't possibly mean that… that He was back, but then Lucius… he came to me one night, while you and Talia were sleeping… he showed me his mark, and told me things."

"Severus?" Isabella whispered, raising her hands and cupping her cousin's hollow cheeks. "Tell me it's not true. Please, tell me that it is not true…"

"He's coming back, Isabella," Severus said gravely, "Lucius confirmed it."

AN: Well, this chapter took a turn for the worst... an unexpected turn, no?
My reasoning for it (other than the fact that I wanted Voldy's imminent return out there) is that it was something that Sev couldn't hide anymore, and also that Moody's confrontation with him about the whole Talia thing made Sev think... I'm not making much sense, am I? Sorry about that. My muse has turned into a Trekkie and just... Dr. McCoy, GOD DAMN.

I'm distracted.