Chapter 28

Protection

Patience watched her brother demonstrate the parameters of the wand work necessary for a Surface Scouring Spell. Patience no longer had to use Gwynedd to send her owls, since Luther had brought his owl Vanya when he came to live in with her. Therefore, she no longer had a daily need to have her shoes cleaned, but the spell was still immensely useful and consequently a reasonable basic charm with which to begin. Luther had spent the last two months working on theory and rudimentary wand movements—insisting that Patience not use her wand for anything that was not strictly necessary until he had taught her proper wand management.

They had begun actual spells at the beginning of that week and Patience was surprised to see that when she cast the Illumination Spell to relight the lamp, one which she had thought she already knew, that the lamps not only lit more quickly but they remained lit until extinguished. Patience had remembered her husband's criticism of her casting of this particular spell, which was why this was the first that she had requested Luther to teach her. They were supposed to spend the next two days on the Surface Scouring Spell, but since all five of Patience's attempts at the spell had no more affect than a Muggle waving a stick, both siblings felt that more time might be more realistic.

"He said he might come, Luther. He did say so."

Luther reached out and grabbed the tip of Patience's wand, which she had been waving carelessly. "Careful! You do not want to accidentally Scour the entire ceiling; you could take the paint off. And yes, I know that he said he would come. You have reminded me four times already this afternoon. Proper wand etiquette, Patience, is essential."

Patience made a face at her brother, but she dutifully tucked her wand in her pocket as she said, "If you want me to read what Eva wrote then you had better be nicer, Luther."

Luther did not look as if he appreciated his sister's joke as he frowned. "You didn't tell me that she had written today. She looked depressed at her brother Harry's wedding, you know. I've worried how she would feel now that she's given Harold the push, since she still has to attend all these weddings."

"You could hardly expect her to be happy, Luther. Her father was not impressed that he had already spent the money on the marquee for May and paid the booking fee for the dinner."

Luther looked extremely displeased as he muttered, "Stupid old fool. He should be relieved to have rid himself of a prospective son-in-law who would have done nothing but make his daughter's life a burden to her."

"Well you can understand why Mr Rosser is anxious. He has paid for two weddings already, since Philippa's family couldn't manage a Knut and Carrie-Louise's family has refused to pay for a wedding before Carrie-Louise and Edward are at least 22."

"That doesn't mean that he ought to make his daughter feel guilty when she has done nothing wrong. It was hard enough for Eva to break off her engagement."

Patience laid a hand on her brother's shoulder and said, "I know, Luther. I do know."

Luther glanced at his sister and said, "Yes, you do know, don't you? It took far more courage for you to do it, didn't it?"

Patience took a deep breath and looked pained as she said faintly, "Yes, probably, since I knew Mother would…well you know what Mother did."

"Yes, now I do. You know, Patience, I ought to tell you that I went to see them last week."

Patience looked hurt. "Oh, well…you may see them if you like, Luther. I wouldn't stop you."

Luther held up his finger and said, "No Patience, that was not what I meant. I have been thinking about everything you told me and it has been bothering me. I went to see Father. I felt as if I needed to hear what he had to say about it."

Patience sat bolt upright in her chair and exclaimed, "Luther!"

"Well, Patience, I think that a part of me didn't want to believe it had been quite as you told me. I did not really want to accept that I had ignored my own sister being poisoned by our mother. You know that I never disliked you, Patience, but you were so much younger and a girl and for a while it seemed like you might even be a Squib, so I think I dismissed you."

"Yes, Luther, I know."

"But Govan was a right little sh*t and I protected him despite all of the things he did. I never did anything for you."

"Govan was your twin, Luther. He was different."

Luther shot up from his chair and angrily knocked over a candlestick, as he said, "He was a bloody sap addict, Patience. He was a rotter—he stole from me and almost certainly from our parents. You don't know the number of times that I bailed him out of trouble. I mean real trouble Patience, not just getting into a few fights. In fact, if it hadn't been for Shipley he would have ended up in Azkaban that one time."

Patience's brows were brought together in a look of pain as she gently touched her brother's shoulder. "I had no idea that you knew what Govan was really like, Luther. You never seemed to do."

Luther shrugged his sister off and said derisively, "I would have been incredibly thick not to have known Patience. I didn't know everything, but that was only because I didn't search out information since I hated everything I found out."

"I haven't told you what Govan did to me. Do you know?"

"I know he taunted you mercilessly and I did nothing. There did not seem any point; Govan did what he wanted. I had no real control over him."

"No, well he didn't do the truly horrid stuff when you were there, Luther. He waited until you were gone. He tried to kill me once, you know. On the morning of the wedding he pushed me down the front stairs. He didn't like that I was getting gold that he wanted—as if Severus' settlement were really mine."

Luther looked at his sister and seemed for a moment as if he would speak, but then turned away and threw out his wand hand, so that a cupboard opened and a silver box flew through the air. Luther caught it in his other hand and opened it up. "I didn't know, Patience. I cannot say what I would have done if I had known. I got this for you when I was at the house."

Patience saw her old jewellery box filled with several pieces that used to be hers, which her mother had taken from her when she had refused to marry Bobby Fleming. "Where? Why?"

As he picked up a walnut from a bowl and crushed it in his hand, Luther snapped, "Because it was yours. I discovered that Mother had it and brought it to you. I don't want to talk about what went on there. Just understand that I won't be going back."

Patience leant forward and kissed her brother's cheek, saying, "I cannot tell you how much this means to me, Luther."

Luther laughed hollowly and said, "It is very little, very late, but you are welcome." Luther watched his sister's reaction and realised suddenly that she had quite lost all interest in him and was looking at something behind him. He turned his head and saw Snape with a sour look on his face, standing in the doorway to Patience's private sitting room.

"Severus! I had begun to think that you weren't coming."

Luther noticed that his brother-in-law's hands were clenched tightly as Snape replied, "But as you can see, I have. If you are quite finished with this family scene then perhaps you might excuse us, Patience. I have several things to discuss with your brother before you and I talk."

Luther realised with surprise that Snape was jealous—wildly jealous in fact. It was ridiculous, but quite true. Luther was also beginning to suspect that his sister was far from indifferent to her husband. It had not escaped his notice that she had fallen into a depression after Snape had left in January to return to school. He had also heard her crying in her room after Snape left the morning after having taken Patience to the RAS. Luther had wondered whether Patience's hope that Snape would find another plan to protect their child than their separation was not only due to her fear of being abandoned.

Luther, who was well aware that Severus Snape was violently in love with Patience, thought that his brother-in-law was a fool to push Patience away now when she had some fledgling feelings for him. If some incredible chance ever allowed him to get Eva, Luther would fight a legion of dragons with his bare hands if it would allow him to keep her. Even if they died together but in love, it would be better than living miserably apart. However, Luther understood that Snape was a very different wizard and that Patience was not in love with Snape. Perhaps Snape was right to do what he was planning. Luther did not know what Snape was really doing for the Dark Lord and therefore could not fairly second-guess Snape's decision.

Twenty minutes later, as Snape opened the door to his library; he was feeling both apprehensive and angry. His mood, which had already been horrible due to Umbridge's progressively monomaniacal policies at the school, had sunk into even darker depths when he had walked into his wife's private rooms and found her and her brother talking. It was clear that Luther cared about his sister, about which Snape should be pleased since this would tie Luther closer to Snape. Yet when Patience had kissed her brother's cheek, Snape had felt a sudden desire to hex Luther until he could not stand.

His wife was asleep in his favourite chair with her obnoxious animal curled in her lap on top of one of Patience's ubiquitous romance novels. It had done him no good to display his raw emotion before, since she had clearly been happy to see him. He ought to have said something encouraging. He wanted her to want him and it did not matter how foolish it was to persuade her to care now that he must leave her.

As Snape shut the door behind him softly, Patience sat up in her chair and smiled sleepily at him. "Is everything all right? Nothing has happened, has it?"

Snape crossed the room and stood beside her, uncertain what his next move should be. "No, nothing that concerns you."

"I am glad you did come. I need to talk to you. I have made a muddle of Eva. She doesn't believe it at all."

Snape had expected nothing less, but he was still irritated at this further proof that Hufflepuffs were useless at intrigue. "Tell me what you did."

Snape settled himself in the stiff Jacobean chair to listen to her, but he found himself watching her as much as listening. She looked as if she had been unhappy. After Patience had described the two times that she had tried to mislead Eva into believing that Snape was tired enough of her that the marriage might fail, Snape heavily breathed out through his nose and asked, "You are telling me everything that you said?"

Patience flushed and stammered, "N-no. She thinks that, I mean she told me and I agree with her that…well we've sorted out that you…"

Snape closed his eyes and mentally spoke several curses as he realised what his wife was saying. "Your friend told you that I care for you."

Patience nodded and added, "Yes, but I…I can tell that you do, Severus."

Snape looked at his wife searchingly before saying coldly, "I see. Yes, I can see how it would be hard for your friend to reconcile the idea that a man who cares for his wife could want a separation after only five months of marriage."

Snape stood up from his chair and looked round the room before he walked over to the narrow cupboard where he kept his better liquor. He shakily poured out a small goblet of Bloodwhisky and then quickly tossed it down.

"There will be persons who will suspect that I do care for you, Patience. I have never assumed differently. The fact is that anything less than sending you out of the country is going to be risky. I do not know that I will be able to protect you effectively, Patience. However, this is the best that I can do under these circumstances. I cannot take you away from Britain myself, since I must remain here."

"Are you saying that I should leave the country? Am I and the baby in that much danger?"

Snape snarled, "Of course you are. Haven't I explained to you how things are? What other reason would I have for giving you up, Patience? If anything else goes wrong then perhaps I will have to make you disappear, I do not know. Can't you understand what being the wife of one of the Dark Lord's servants means for you? I am not Lucius Malfoy—his wife has a place in her own right and Lucius has less need to worry about the support of our colleagues. I have much to hide, Patience; my feelings for you are only the half of it."

Patience, who had risen from the chair and moved several steps towards her husband when he had begun to speak, stopped short as if she were waiting for him to come to her. Snape reached out one hand, pulled her forward so that she fell into him lightly, and then folded his arms about her. He was preparing to speak again when he felt his wife's body begin to shake with sobs. Snape pulled back slightly to look down at her and saw that Patience was clutching the front of his robes and hiding her face in their deep folds.

"I'm so scared. What are we going to do, Severus? I'm scared."

Snape placed his hand on his wife's head and said in a deep, emotion-filled voice, "We will do what we must, Patience. That is all that we can do."