Chapter Four

Newly Weds

Caelyn awoke when bright rays of sun hit her eyelids. Slowly, she opened them, only to snap them back shut. She groaned as she rolled over under the covers. With a few blinks, the night before came back fresh in her memory. She shot up straight into a sitting position, and looked around.

The room consisted of black and slate coloring. It was a standard guest bedroom; dresser, bed, mirror, and door to a guest bathroom. There was an empty bookcase to her left and a door opposite the bathroom in front of her.

She rocked back and forth wondering what to do. Would it be ok if I walked around? Or would he get mad? She chewed on her bottom lips in indecision. Last night he had just left her to fend for herself. A grumpy, very wrinkly house elf had given her supper after an intense interrogation about who she was. Her lips formed a frown in annoyance. Why should I care?

With her mind made up, she flung the covers off herself and searched for her dress. She was forced to sleep in her underwear, due to her lack of pajamas. It took her several minutes to convince herself to get into the bed, the night before, almost naked. The thought of germs and bugs and whatever else might live in the cotton horrified her. Eventually, she decided he had house elves, surly, they cleaned the sheets. Caelyn found her crimson satin dress laid over the chair by the door. She shrugged, slightly annoyed that she had to rewear her clothing due to her new husband's laziness, I guess I'll just have to grin and bear it.

After dressing, she reached for the door carefully just in case she had been warded in. The handle clicked flawlessly and the door swung back freely. She stepped through the doorway and quietly shut the door.

She met a long corridor, but at the end she could see stairs. The floor was cold under her bare feet; she couldn't find her shoes. There was no carpet or even a rug. Caelyn couldn't tell if it was even a wooden floor, and it felt like cement. There were no paintings on the walls, therefor it carried the dreary mood that had appeared in her room.

There were several doors within the hallway, and Caelyn found herself wondering where he slept. None of the doors were ajar, making her grateful she had closed hers. She was nearing the staircase and heard the creaking of a bed. At first, she panicked thinking she was caught, but then she heard a soft snore. The visual image of the frightening Death Eater snoring against his pillow almost made her laugh out, but she held it in with a grin and continued down the stairs.

Sunlight could be seen once she reached the living area, making her skin give a happy sensation of warmth. The house temperature reflected it's mood it seemed. Her eyes wandered about the room. It was unusual however, there was one chair catty-cornered in the far left side. A large intimidating bookshelf stood behind the recliner. Opposite these was a fire place with a large rectangle mirror above the mantle. However, she decided by what she had seen of her husband's demeanor, he must not have had much interest in socialization.

Her stomach rumbled harshly making her nerves clinch in a dull ache. She placed her hand on her stomach to contain the need for food. Although she had been here the night before, she had no idea where the kitchen was; things do look different in the dark after all. Come on, she mentally growled in aggravation.

"What can Mika gets for Mistress Snape?"

A sharp, surprised cry rose from Caelyn as she heard the voice. She had not been expecting to be seen or approached. For a moment, she flinched ready to be drug back into her dreary room, but when her nerves resettled she opened her eyes to see a tiny, frail house elf.

Her stringy blond-like hair was pulled into a small pony tail around her enormous ears. The dress she wore was a faded green one. The elf seemed in as much shock as she was. Her meek hands were cupped over her face, and she was shaking in place.

"Mika is sorry. Mika did not mean to frighten. Mika only wanted to help. Mistress Snape looked hungry," she hurriedly explained in a high pitched voice, it would appear the elf was about to cry.

Caelyn was about to relieve the elf of her fears when she realized that the elf had , in fact, called her "Mistress Snape" twice now. The name felt odd when it hit her ear and her mind replayed it over and over again. As she was falling asleep the night before, she kept trying to remember why the name was familiar. Of course they'd seen each other at school, and they had their "encounter" at the Black Lake. But she had heard the name on many students tongues.

Finally, as she was falling asleep she remembered. He had been Slughorn's favorite student. The boy had been a success a potions like none that Hogwarts had ever seen, yet he also had the reputation for an obsession in the Dark Arts. This had left Caelyn falling asleep with a grin on the thought, Well, at least we have one thing in common.

Her reminiscence ended, and her eyes fell back onto the elf, "No, no. It's ok. I wasn't expecting anyone."

The elf ceased it's shaking and grabbed Caelyn's hand, "Come! Master will want his Misses to eat," the elf now wore a happy expression on her face as she led Caelyn to the kitchen.

The house elf from earlier was in there. He looked at her meticulously as she sat down, but then returned to washing the dishes. Pit pats of Mika hurrying across the floor filled her ears. Not long after, the smell of bacon and eggs caught hold of her stomach. She hated when her stomach growled, it seemed to be such a nuisance.

A plate appeared in front of her and Caelyn did not hesitate to dig in. The food was delicious, the eggs were scrambled, but were salted just enough. The bacon was not overcooked, but just cooked enough that the meat melted in her mouth. It was good to have a meal again. She had not had a breakfast like so since Hogwarts, and her constant search for the Dark Lord had her jumping from pub to pub.

Caelyn noticed that Mika had her head on her hands and was looking at her with a dreamy expression on her face. She imagined the little house elf's legs swinging under the table. Looking around to avoid discovering the truth of the creature's giddiness, she found a clock. It apparently was three twenty-four.

She nearly choked on her food as she realized morning was actually mid afternoon, "Does he always sleep this late?"

Mika shook her head quite vigorously, "Oh no Mistress Snape. Master is always up before dawn, but Master had to serve You-Know-Who every night for a weeks. Grimm told Mika to let Master and Mistress sleep."

Master and Mistress. Caelyn didn't like the way it sounded, but she ignored it. This house elf was the only accommodating person in this house so far, and she didn't want to lose an ally.

"So he is gone most of the time?" she asked curiously pushing the crumbs around on her plate with her fork.

The house elf's expression turned solemn and her ears lowered against her head, "Master is here, but Mika never sees him. Master stays in his office."

Caelyn nodded in thought and handed her empty plate the the elf with a smile. The creature perked up and skipped to the sink. The elf bumped into Grimm as she did, making him scowl at her.

She stood up and stretched with a yawn. There seemed not too much to do, but in Caelyn's mind she figured that it was her house, and she had just as much right to explore it.

The foyer was what met her first, she looked around. The only two places to go where the dinning room - which she just came out of - that was to her left, and to her right was the living room. Looks like I'm headed back up stairs.

With a spring in her step, she headed up the stairs trying to tip toe as to not wake the man upstairs. The long corridor was stretched out in front of. There were four doors on the right and three on the left. She slipped passed his bedroom door and headed to the back.

The first door turned out to be just a spare room. The second was locked, tightly with a spell. Of course, this had caught Caelyn's curiosity. But after a few minutes of continued failure. Caelyn decided she'd try another day. The last door was a room with an owl in it.

She went inside and closed the door behind her. The owl hooted happily as it saw the person coming up to it. It was a silver owl, not grey, but actually had a silver shine on its feathers. Slowly, she reached her hand out to it, not sure if the owl would bite at her or not. However, the cheery owl hopped onto her arm.

This brought a smile to Caelyn's face. She stroked the animal's head feathers and it made a sound of contentment. She suddenly remembered she didn't know the owls name.

"His name's Winston," a voice answered her thought. She spun around, making Winston flap in protest. He was standing there in muggle clothing: long shorts and a t-shirt. This surprised her, and she was too lost for words. Wow, that was unexpected. Now I won't have to hide my own muggle clothes. Crap, what if he thinks I'm snooping or something?

"Don't ask me why that's his name. Apparently, Lucius thought that was a proper name for an owl, and once you name an owl they are stuck to that title forever," he explained with a smirk on his face. Winston flew across the room and landed on his shoulder. The man smiled and gave him a scratch on the head. The owl purred in delight and rubbed against his cheek. Caelyn was still as a loss, her mouth stood there slightly open and she just stared at him.

He drew his wand, making Caelyn's heart speed up for a moment, but then when he flicked it her body felt much better. She looked down and saw that she was wearing clothing like his. Her body felt much better not being contained in a slim fitting dress. She started to thank him when he caught her, "That's probably more comfortable. I assume you have already eaten, so I'll leave you to it. I'll be in the kitchen." And with that he was gone.

After a few minutes of being dazed, Caelyn continued her search of the house. She made it to the door that laid between her room and his. To her surprise the door flew open effortlessly at her command. It appeared to be an office. A large wooden desk sat directly in front of her. Her feet actually met a rug and was happy for the warmth on her toes. A fire was cackling to her left, making the air toasty and inviting. That made this room her favorite in the house now.

Like a little kid at Christmas, she giggled in delight and threw herself into the chair behind the desk. It spun as she landed in it and she kicked off, allowing her body to enjoy the whooshing sensation.

The chair slowed and Caelyn came around to face the desk. She tilted her head in curiosity as there was a piece of parchment sprawled out on top. It was written on:

My dearest Lily,

I received your wedding invitation today. It must be surprising hearing from me, and I know you've read about me and my actions in the Daily Prophet. Therefore, this letter is guaranteed to anger Potter, but as you well know I do not care. Listen Lilly, please hear me out. I will

The letter ended there. Caelyn's eyebrows furrowed in response. He will what? Who is Lily? Her head turned to the side, Maybe his sister I suppose. She then thought no more of it and tossed it back to the top of the table where it had laid before. There were books in this room as well. Only now one caught her eye.

There was no label, but it was a satiny blue colored cover, which looked as if it had been somewhat aged. Caelyn reached up on her tip toes and slowly scooted the book out of bookcase. It landed in her hands with grace and she sat back in the chair. It was no wonder he spent all his time in his office, there were so many interesting looking things to read. The table of contents held only a few items: Drink of Death, Drink of Life, Drink of Despair. She turned to the page which the Drink of Dispair was located.

Her eyes began to scan the effects. The book explained that whomever was to drink the potion would see "terrible things," this being equivalent to the feeling of a Dementor. It also creates a burning sensation inside the body, similar to the Cruciartus curse, but to a watered down degree. The potion would also dehydrate the body to which the drinker could not call out for help.

She began to search the ingredients that it called for. Many of them would be impossible to acquire. For instance, two drops of Basalik poison. Where am I going to get Basalik poison? The rest listed were nearly as impossible to find. Realizing that her idea was futile she marked the place in the book and replaced it back to the shelf.