A/N: Snape's Point-of-View

As Tonks looked at Narcissa curiously, she saw her fingers running across her neck and slide under a disillusioned collar, making it appear slightly for the young Auror to see.

It looked like an elegant silver choker, accentuated with a series of emeralds on either side of a small loop in the middle.

"I've been collared as Lucius' since just after our bonding ceremony." Her smile was sadly reminiscent, since they both knew that he was rotting away in Azkaban. Narcissa slipped her fingers off of her collar, and it became invisible once again. "It's good to see that Severus is being true to the traditions that he and my Husband had learned. Of course, he simply told me that the two of you were simply colleagues, but I can understand his need for discretion during these days."

"But he saved me by using Brimstone. I can't repay him for..." Tonks was unable to say two years.

"You're not supposed to, dear. A good Dominant like him will go to the very ends of the earth to ensure the safety of his own. Severus has been almost like family to Lucius and myself because of how strained our own family became after The Dark Lord tried to seize power in 1980." Tonks could hear something like remorse in her voice.

"And I'm the first he's considered like this since Lily." Nymphadora added.

Narcissa's eyes widened only momentarily. "He told you about her? Well, yes. I suppose he would. It appears that after 16 years, he's finally met someone he can open himself up to again. Lucius and I had believed that maybe he had met someone back in 1983, but she just seemed to disappear one day."

Narcissa saw Andromeda coming back from the restroom and she made her face light up in humor, unexpectedly.

"...so then I tried putting Severus in Lucius' lilac robes, and goodness. That man cannot wear pastels. He's no Lockhart..." Narcissa dabbed at her eyes to avoid eye contact as Andromeda came back to the table.

"Oh, what did I miss?" Andromeda asked as she picked up her cup again.

Nymphadora was still taking in what was said, and Narcissa cut in expertly.

"Oh, while you two were off shopping, I was assisting Severus in trying to find something with a bit of color. Obviously, it was a exercise in futility. The man does well in a classic black; I swear that color is his trademark." Narcissa's gentle laughter seemed to ease the tension between the three, even if it was only temporarily.