Chapter Seven

Embracing the Dark Arts

Severus was in his lab looking over his plans for a stronger form of a Wolfsbane potion. Fenrir Greyback was getting a bit riotous and the Dark Lord was getting rather annoyed with the whole affair. The beast had sought out - attacked - three Death Eaters wives in the last full moon. Werewolf gene combined with an already lustful man was never profitable. Therefore, Voldemort ordered Severus to increase the strength of the Wolfsbane potion to keep his followers, whose significant others were attacked, tame. Riddle had asked him of the status of his marriage. Severus knew if his master knew he had not bedded his wife then Riddle would have considered him ungrateful of his "gift." He had relied on his natural Slytherin abilities.

"I have had some well appreciated female interaction," he had replied to the Dark Lord with his trademark satisfied smirk.

This, after all, was not a lie. He had kissed Lily, and she was indeed female. Severus, most of all, had appreciated it immensely. Riddle had taken his answer in good nature and they moved onto more professional matters. His master had explained to him that this potion was to pacify his lower followers. Riddle had even stated that if the men were idiotic enough to let their wives roam freely, they deserve to be attacked. But his master was never one who tolerated stupidity.

Perhaps the girl - Caelyn I mean - will be willing to help. He had a hard time referring to her by her name. Old habits die hard I suppose. There had been far more conversations in the past week. The uncomfortable and unnerving silence had been lifted and now the silence was of sweet comfort.

He had not heard from Lily. Hurt had overwhelmed him. The urge to write her had come many times, but he pushed it away in fear of only making things worse, but the company that Caelyn offered was of much assistance - it served for a temprary distraction. He had been furious, along with pained, the first few days, and he silently fumed in his office, but after Thursday he had given up his marathon of self-loathing and had started his research.

With the final bit of the instructions to his new potion recipe, he sat back in his chair and ran his cramped hand over his face. He was surprisingly fed up with working. Severus Snape rarely was tired of his potions and research, but his Slytherin blood did require a little mischief. Truthfully, he just wanted some fun, as all boys in their twenties did.

He dropped his quill and stood up promptly. His wand was currently laying on the table and he snatched it up. Swiftly, and most of importantly silently, he climbed the stairs and made his way through the lab door. When he reached the main level, his eyes searched his home for a familiar red head.

She was taking notes on a piece of parchment. The book was laid out on a coffee table. Her eyes darted from her writing to the book and back. It was obvious she was completely unaware of the world around her. He aimed his wand at her carefully, "Levicorpus," he whispered.

A short sharp cry ruptured through the house and Caelyn was now flipped upside down, hanging by her feet in mid air. Her eyes darted around furiously as her arms made angry attempts to retrieve her wand, "What the hell?" she yelled loudly.

Severus could not hold it in any longer and his laughter erupted from inside. He met Caelyn's gaze and she crossed her arms, "What are you four?" Not offended at all by her comment, he continued to howl in laughter. He noticed that slowly she started to smile too.

Once he calmed down, and he was sure he did not have hiccups, he started to stand, but heard, "Finitae Vivicius!" Severus' vision blacked and he stopped. Now her laughter could be heard. Not only was he surprised that she had gotten the better of him, but she had used one of his spells he had been tinkering with. There was no use fighting it, he wasn't stupid. With a defeated, yet comical, sigh, he fell back to a sitting position. He rested his chin on his hand and looked in her direction with a smirk.

A few moments later he heard, "Come on! My legs are falling asleep," she whined, which only made his smirk wider.

"I can't exactly let you down if I can't see you, now can I?," he chuckled, and he heard her grumble, "What was that?"

"I say you're a sly git," she laughed, and the darkness was lifted from his eyes, "Now put me down," she giggled, slightly swinging in mid air.

He flicked his wand lazily, and she fell onto the couch -which he recently added to his living room decor- with a plop. He stood up and threw himself onto his recliner. It happened to be his favorite spot in the house. The young witch pulled herself up and ran her fingers through her now ruffed up hair.

"So you were going through my notes," he stated. The woman's eyes widened and she genuinely looked as if she was in trouble, "Don't look so distressed. I actually feel quite better knowing that my wife is just as fascinated in the darker realm of magic as I."

His statement seemed to have made her relax. The mood in the room lightened as she sat up and a grin appeared on her face, "Maybe a little."

A bundle of questions suddenly started to pop into Severus' head. "A little?" he laughed out, "Ok, explain the Angorio spell you created and so wonderfully cursed the Marauders with."

Severus watch her grin turn into a malicious smirk. He had never actually seen a spell render someone unconscious; potions doing the same were a dime a dozen. Perhaps this marriage could be quite academic, he thought to himself.

"Well, when your schooling is quite oscillated, you have to fill in the time with something. I always found myself in the Restricted Section, and my love sprung forth," she threw her hands out as she explained, amusing Severus, "and I needed a spell to defend myself when that awful Black boy would pop out of corners. Carried a mirror, I did, for a while, till I came up with this spell. The teachers hadn't ever seen or heard the spell, so they didn't know why he kept showing up unconscious in the corridors," she explained with a triumphant tone in her voice.

He, himself, felt a swell of pride for his wife's intellect. Regulus had been the one to start the meetings at Hogwarts. These were strictly for those wishing to become Death Eaters. Lucias and Severus, being very close friends at the time, were happy to help orgainize such events.

Regulus had been known for his repulsive obsessions with girls. There was no simple asking of a date. If the boy showed interest in a young woman, she better be prepared. Severus remembered a Ravenclaw who had even claimed that Regulus had taken her without her consent, but she "mysteriously" disappeared - as if Severus didn't know - shortly after.

He shifted in his chair, "Yes, Regulus was always much like Greyback in that manner. Have you ever tried different spells?" He began -gently- to use his superior Legillimental skills on her; his curiosity was getting the better on him.

Again, the girl rubbed her head as she was about to speak, making her stop. This caused Severus to become more intrigued, "Does that hurt?"

He noted that Caelyn looked slightly confused. She answered slowly, as if unsure, "No," she started, "I don't even know what it is that is hurting, but I do feel faint all the sudden. It's highly uncomfortable."

Severus pulled back immediately, "Oh, I am sorry," he gazed at her in curiosity.

She had seemed to find this funny. Her next words were full of light sarcasm, "You're apologizing for my headache?" But then she must have realized that the pressure was gone because she made an odd expression.

"I have never had that reaction while using Legilimency," he explained, lightly tapping the arm of the chair.

Not long after, the girl put two and two together, "Oh," was all she said, "I forgot that existed. However, I don't think that it's ever been used on me." Her face fell, "People never have had a reason not to trust me."

The words stung Severus a little. This had not been his intention at all, he just wished to see her feelings on the matter. Legilimency was just one of the Dark Lord's favorite way to interrogate people. If used right, it could be painful, but apparently his wife was susceptible to even the mild version of the spell. Now he wished for a few moments earlier when they had been laughing joyously with each other. "No, that was not my reasoning. I guess I have a lot to learn socially," he tried to make a joke, "I just feel that it is easier to see what someone feels and see the events that led them to it, than to speak freely. Speech is so often misinterpreted."

He watched her as she a thought for a moment, he could practically see her mind raking through his words, but she accepted his explanation with a nod. Inside he was relieved, he didn't need another woman angry at him. Hell hath no fire like a woman scorned after all. Severus would have to be cautious in his approaches off using his magic on her.

"Have you thought of presenting your spells to the Dark Lord?" Severus offered, both trying to get more information and praise her at the same time, "He'd appreciate the initiative and impress him greatly."

Her eyes wandered around the room as she thought this over, "Plus it would make me look really good," Severus kidded nudging her with his sock covered toes. She giggled, making him feel much better, and swatted away his foot. Lily used to love to banter and he welcomed the comforting physical contact. However, no one knew this, and it would remain so in order to keep his shallow soulless appearance among his colleagues.

"Do you Slytherin boys ever grow up?" she wittily replied, with a malicious grin he adored, "It's not all about you."

"Of course it is," Severus chided, "With my unmatched skills and devilish good looks, how could it not be," he grinned and watched as his wife blushed from across the room, again, a trait he enjoyed so much.

"Well, as tempting as that offer is, I don't think I'd be that much help," she smiled and stood up, "I can't create spells all willy nilly like you can, dear husband. I have to have a reason to."

Severus met her stance, "Well then, dear wife, let's create that need."