DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Potterverse characters. They are owned by JK Rowling.
Aurelia and a handful of other characters you don't recognize, along with the story, though, are mine.
Timeline: HBP and beyond.
And I really want feedback. Be it to let me know spelling/grammar errors or just that you're reading and want to hear more. The creative juices tend to flow much faster with feedback. :)
Aurelia.
Severus and Aurelia apperated with a loud pop. Aurelia stepped back from him and bowed her head, taking a deep breath. Apperating always made her queasy. The last thing she wanted to do was ralph all over Severus Snape. From what Albus had told her about him, he wasn't one to suffer fools, or young women barfing on him.
Once she was sure she wasn't going to vomit, she looked up and took in her surroundings. They were standing on a narrow street lined on either side were small cottage-like houses. Severus approached one about a quarter of the way down the street. It was an older house made of red brick and dark wood.
"Albus usually wards them with—" Severus cut her off as he took down the wards with no help. "Or never mind. Because you've got it."
She had to jog to catch up with him at the door on the side of the house. He held his wand out in front of him and opened the door with a quick Alohomora.
"Wait here," he instructed and disappeared into the house.
Aurelia wrapped her coat tighter around her body. Judging by the cooler temperature they must be somewhere north. She wondered for a moment why Albus had sent someone. This was the first time, ever. Albus always over saw any movement.
A dog barked a few kilometers off but other than that the night was silent. She shifted her weight and was almost about ready to ignore Severus and follow him into the house when the door opened again. This time he held it open for her to enter.
The side entrance led directly into the kitchen. It was plain but large enough, outfitted with what looked like all new appliances. To the right was the dinning room and the living wrapped around the kitchen in an "L" shape. She truly hated Albus' tastes in interior decorating. The furniture was hideous. Beyond the living room were two bedrooms, a bathroom and a staircase that led to the basement.
Aurelia pulled the shrunken suitcases out of her pocket and threw one to Severus. Who was following her tour of the house silently behind her. Without waiting for his reaction she entered the larger of the two bedrooms to unpack. By the time everything was out of her tote and back in close order as it was in the previous house, she went to the next room over.
Severus had that room completely unpacked and he was looking at the photos of wizards and witches on the wall. He didn't look at her when she entered the room.
Aurelia finally got a good look at the man standing before her. He was tall and lean, but his figure was hidden by his robes and surrounded him menacingly. He looked tired. Not the I-didn't-get-enough-sleep-last-night tired, but the too-much-stress-over-too-much-of-my-life tired. And he looked sad, like he knew something that he wanted to share, but couldn't.
"These two are dead," he said pointing at a witch and a wizard. "Killed a few days ago at their home."
They were both silent for a long moment, neither having anything to say. People, real people were dying at the hands of a madman.
Finally she spoke, "What's happened? Why did Albus send you?"
He looked like he was about to say something and then at the last moment thought better of it. Which meant he knew exactly why Albus was acting out of character.
"Is there anything else you require?" he spoke, effectively breaking that train of thought.
She shot him with what she hoped was an unimpressed glare. It didn't seem to phase him in the least. "No," she finally said sighing. "I think I can manage from here."
She followed him out to the living room and he opened the front door, instead of the door they had entered earlier. He quickly explained the wards he had placed and recommended she placed her own once he had gone.
She sighed once the front door closed. She was alone again.
Severus.
Severus woke with a start. The stench of fear and sweat accosted his nostrils. It took longer than he would have liked to realize he was in his own bed, in his chambers, deep in the dungeons of Hogwarts.
He viewed his nightmares as a weakness. He had no control over the hells his subconscious drug out once he was asleep. And if he had no control, it was a weakness. The fact that these weaknesses terrified him, that was simply unacceptable.
He tore the blankets off the bed and made his way to the bathroom, stripping off sweaty clothing as he went. The house elves would have everything cleaned by the morning.
Naked, he stood in front of the mirror, leaning on the cold porcelain of his sink. He stared at his reflection until he could no longer recognize himself. Then, he allowed his mind to wonder back to the causes of the nightmares. It wasn't the Dark Lord that sparked them, the Death Eaters or the atrocities that either committed. It wasn't the atrocities he knew he himself was going to commit. It was the ghost of a man staring back at him right now.
In his younger years, before he had gone to Dumbledore to be punished for his deeds, every time he took a life, he would return home and purge his stomach. It wasn't until recently, when he knew where his loyalties lie and he killed with Dumbledore's permission did he stop vomiting after he took a life.
The old man even encouraged it. That bothered him more than the act itself. The atrocities bothered him less when his heart fought for the light side.
The growl that erupted from deep within his throat even startled himself. He shook his head effectively ending the moment of reflection. It would get him no where to worry about his soul now. It was no longer his. He had lost it a long time ago at the foot of the mad man who was once a boy named Tom.
He pushed himself away from the sink and climbed into the shower. The water was so hot it almost scalded. But he wanted that. He needed a reminder that he could still feel. And unbidden, his mind went to Aurelia. She elicited a feeling, a few actually.
She was young and innocent. Albus had made sure she was untouched by the ward that was currently raging. But Severus didn't agree with that choice. She was a prisioner being held by a man who was trying to keep her alive. And Severus was helping him.
But he had to. Just like with the girl, Albus was in control. They were at the old man's mercy. Perhaps that was why he felt such a strong attraction to her. Either that or her shapely backside.
He cut that train of thought off quickly. That was something better left unexamined.
He had visited her three times since first relocating her to Helmsdale. Obviously it was never his own accord. Albus always insisted that she needed something, be it information, potions ingredients or food.
She had served as an adequate distraction for him, keeping his mind off of Draco who refused to even admit he had a problem he needed help with. With Lucius in Azkaban, Draco had taken a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. But still, he was just being stubborn. A lot of Severus' problems could be helped if Draco would just confide in him.
He sighed and turned the water off. By the time Severus climbed out of the shower, his skin was red and blotchy. Back in his rooms, he glanced at the grandfather clock next to his desk. It was a quarter after two. He rolled his eyes when he realized he had already made the decision to visit the girl again.
Meticulously he dressed himself in his teaching robes, buttoning each button individually and by hand. He knew it would take a fraction of the time if he used magic but he liked the familiarity of it as well as the tedium. He let a sardonic smile grace his lips. In the end, Albus was going to have his way, but until then, he was more than willing to defy him in every way he could think of.
Severus.
He was only mildly surprised to see the light on in her study. She had moved a couch and coffee table into the room and was pushed up against the wall across from the weapons table. She was wearing her knickers and tank top again.
Did she not believe in pants?
She was chewing on the end of a ball point pen, her feet up on the table, a book on her lap and a coffee mug in her hand.
"Albus thought you could help me with a project."
Aurelia startled and spilled the cup.
"Shit!" she jumped off the couch, trying to keep the hot liquid from scalding her flesh. "Don't you knock?"
Severus smirked and pulled a handkerchief out of his robes. She took it without so much as a thank you. She quickly wiped off her legs before dabbing the already warping page of her book.
He plucked the book from her hands. "Go change your clothes." Severus pretended not to notice her glare until she left the room, then he let his amusement show on his face. He shook his head, not sure why the same actions when exhibited by one of his students enraged him, but this girl just amused him.
Still chuckling to himself, he pulled a chair over to the table and with a quick drying charm, he sat down and began reading her writing. About halfway through the second page of magic theory, a folder with his name on it caught his attention.
There were about a dozen other folders on the table with other names he recognized, but he ignored those and picked up his file. It wasn't as thick as Potter's folder, but he wouldn't expect it to be. He was too private for that.
On the inside flap was his basic information hand written in her same scrawl, but neater than in her journal. Birthday: January 9, 1960. Wizard status: Half-Blood. Parents: Eileen Prince (witch) and Tobias Snape (muggle). Attended Hogwarts September 1971-June 1978. Hogwarts Professor and Sltytherin Head of House August 1981-present.
The rest of the information was written in a more messy scrawl. Potions, curses, dueling, Occulumens, Legilimens. Became a Death Eater in 1979 or 78 with a question mark underlined three times. Patronus: unknown.
Severus flipped through two of his published articles for an obscure Potions Journal and a news clipping from the Daily Profit. He recognized the photos from the article, they were from Karkroff's Wizengamots trial.
The last two pieces of papers were hand written potions instructions. The handwriting Severus recognized as Dumbledore's, but the potions were of his own creation.
Severus looked up and Aurelia was watching him from the door way, now clothed in the familiar sweat pants and tank top.
"Is there anything you would like to add? Fill in any of the holes?" she asked with a hopeful smile.
"A doe," he said simply, putting his folder back in the pile.
"Pardon?"
"My Patronus is a doe."
She made a soft sound of approval and entered the room.
"Did you have any formal education?" he asked, holding her journal up.
"Not wizarding." She said reclaiming her seat on the sofa. "I attended a Muggle University in Glaslow for a year before I had to move. Albus taught me most of the hands on, otherwise I've had a lot of time to read."
"Albus was never very good at potions."
She smiled. "No, I assume that's why you're here."
"Yes. He would like us to create antidotes for a few new poisons that have been showing up."
"And he sent you here at three in the morning?"
Severus couldn't stop the smirk from forming. "No, he sent me just after dinner."
"Rebel." She smirked. "So what kind of potion would a world class Potions Master need my help with?"
"The poisons were specifically designed where an antidote would require to brewers. It decreases secret betrayal if you have to ask someone else for help."
"If these are new poisons, how do you know this?"
"Because I created them."
It took her a moment to respond. When she did, she couldn't keep the smile from her lips. "Well, then, I guess that makes you the expert."
This response surprised him, but he didn't comment. Most people in their right mind would be disturbed with him creating potions that were specifically designed to kill. Maybe she wasn't in her right mind.
"And Albus couldn't help you?"
Severus turned his chair so he could look Aurelia head on. "Our previous attempts to find an antidote have proven … fatal."
Aurelia's jaw dropped. "Have you been poisoning living things?"
He simply ignored the question. "We're not sure why the antidotes aren't working. They should be. And Albus had been otherwise engaged as of lately so he recommended I leave my research with you and see if you may be able to work out where we are failing."
"Without poisoning things," she muttered under her breath.
"Well, that part is up to you," he chuckled.