The two of them had returned to Hogwarts that morning, a week and a half before the start of term. She had spent the day helping him rearrange his classroom to better suit his style. While he had managed to keep his old private brewing room and living quarters, he had lost his classroom. This did not bother him much as the room was constantly freezing. He had gotten used to it after a year or two teaching there, but the cold had been making his hands and knees ache for the last three years.
"Well, that's depressing." She mummers as she steps back from a photo of a small child who had been unfortunate enough to encounter a werewolf. A shutter runs through her body when she glances over to another of a woman shrieking after being hit with a Cruciatus Curse.
"Yes, well…" Severus responds, taking a step back to ensure a detailed diagram of an Inferi was straight on the wall.
"I'm glad you're the one who will be teaching them this year, with everything happening right now. Last thing they need is another Quirrell or Lockhart. I suppose Moody wasn't terrible. He at least made it seem real." His wife rambles on, unaware that Moody was actually Barty Crouch Jr. disguised as Mad-Eye Moody using Polyjuice Potion.
"Will you teach me?" She asks, turning her attention to him as he rearranges his new desk.
"Teach you what?" Severus asks, looking up from the quills he was lining in the desk drawer and raises his brow at her.
"Anything that didn't teach me." She steps up on to the platform and makes her way around his desk, her finger leaving a trail in the dust as she slides it across the top. She looks up at him, her eyes full of trust.
"That was my intention." Severus replies, looking down his nose at her. "Although, it will be challenging considering anyone with ears will know what you plan to do."
"Yeah." She sighs, looking down at her feet. "Is there something wrong with me? Is that why I can't do it?"
"We are not having this conversation again. You are not a partial Squib, because there is no such thing. I should know. I'm the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." He smirks down at her and raises one brow.
"I don't think that falls under Defense Against the Dark arts. Quite the opposite, actually." She giggles and wraps her arms around his waist.
"I think we are finished here." Severus says, prying her arms from his waist and offering her his arm instead. "Come with me."
Severus leads his wife through the castle, her arm linked in his. He learned at the beginning of the summer to slow his stride significantly so that he was not dragging her behind him as they walked.
"Walk like you have a purpose in life!" His father's voice rang in his ears, prompting him to hold his head high and walk as if he were the most important man in the room. Tobias Snape was a horrible man but knew firsthand how tough life would be for a poor boy with bad posture.
No other faculty had arrived, and many of the portraits were off doing who knows what. The few that remained in their own frames looked down at them with suspicion but did not say a word. He would be lying if he said it didn't give him a bit of satisfaction having them see. He leads her to the Clock Tower and allows her to go ahead so that he can catch her should she get too close to one of the many gears spinning near the stairs. Finally, they reach the top. The clocks pendulum swings softly behind them, creating a whooshing sound and a gentle breeze that shifts her hair back and forth on her shoulders as she leans over the railing to look at the courtyard below. She grips the banister tightly and leans over, her hair spilling around her face, her toes barely touching the ground. His heart stops for a moment, afraid she will let go and fall headfirst below. The sun sets low in the sky, casting a beautiful orange glow around her. The breeze rolling through wafts the scent of her into his nostrils, and he breathes in deeply, savoring the smell. Coconut hair, coffee breath, and her natural scent that he couldn't quite place, but was far from offensive.
"I used to come up here a lot." She sighs, pulling herself back over the railing.
"You are afraid of the giant squid, but would come to the Clock Tower?" He asks, teasingly.
"Again, I am not afraid of the giant squid. I simply do not wish to see it next to my bed."
"My bed." He corrects her with a smirk.
"Our bed." She argues back, a grin plastered to her face. He huffs, letting her have this one.
"There is something I wish to discuss with you." She raises her brow at him, the ghost of her grin still on her face. "How do you tell if a liquid is Veritaserum?"
Severus looks down at her, his face somber and serious. Her smile fades as she creases her brow in concentration.
"You…you can't." She finally answers after a moment of thinking.
"Why can't you?"
"Because it is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. There is no way to know unless you ingest it." Her face is an open book, full of confusion and a twinge of fear as she looks up into his eyes.
"Precisely." Severus reaches into his robe and pulls out a small glass vial with a silver topper marked Veritaserum. He passes it to her, allowing her to examine it. "This is important. If it has a silver stopper such as this one, it is not real. It came from my hand. Veritaserum is meant to have a cork and be dipped in black wax. It is protocol from the Ministry. This is nothing more than water with a drop of Calming Drought. Not enough to hinder your mind, but enough to relax you."
"Okay." She whispers, her voice small and shaky. She grips the vial tightly in her hand, sighs deeply, and passes it back to him.
"There will be moments this year where I must ask too much of you. Do as I tell you, say precisely what I tell you to say, and you will be fine. Do you understand?" Severus tries to relax his face to ease the concern plastered on hers but is unable to. He must convey the importance of what he is saying to her.
"Ye—yes. Yes, I understand."
"I need you to trust that Albus and I to know what we are doing. We will tell you exactly what needs to be done. You must do it; you must play the part. Albus and I cannot penetrate your mind. The Dark Lord more than likely will not be able to either. This will anger him, and that is where the fake Veritaserum will come in. There is only so much I can do, only so much protection I can offer you."
"Why can't you pen—" She begins, he holds up his hand to stop her.
"I do not know why we cannot penetrate your mind. And before you ask, no there is nothing wrong with you. No, there is no such thing as a partial Squib. And IF there were, you are not one." Severus takes a breath and runs his hands down his face and looks out over the courtyard before taking a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it. He takes several strong drags and finally looks back down at her biting the skin around her thumb nail. He gently removes her hand from her mouth and looks down into her eyes. "Do you trust me?"
"Dumbledore knows, right?" Her face turns white, and she trembles slightly, her eyes flicker to his left arm quickly before returning to his face. "He knows everything, right?"
"Albus knows." Severus assures her.
"I trust you." She says, her blue eyes full of emotion as they stare into his.
"I will not lock you in the room this year. Although, I am trusting you to be smart. Do not go gallivanting around the castle bragging about being married to a professor. It is vital that the everyone be left in the dark in regard to everything that we will discuss, everything that we will be doing. Just because your mind is inaccessible, does not mean that everyone else's is. I must ask that you limit your excursions until after curfew, or during classroom hours. You may use my private brewing room any time you wish, and I will arrange a greenhouse key for you."
"Thank you, Severus." She says, smiling up at him slightly.
"This is important, we will meet Him tonight. You passed Dumbledore on his way out of the castle; he is ill and incredibly weak. He stopped briefly to tell me that he will return by the start of term but did not speak to you. You do not know where he went. This is all you know; do not add anything to the story. You know this and nothing more. You will assure Him that you will get more information."
Severus leans against the door frame and watches as his wife, wearing nothing more than a towel wrapped tightly around her body, combs her damp hair in the bathroom mirror. The strands catch the candlelight and dance like flames as her hand moves the comb gently through, the ends curling ever so slightly as they dry. He steps behind her and takes the comb from her hands; he rather enjoyed combing her hair, it was soothing to him. He gathers small sections of her hair and runs his fingers through it directly behind the comb, then places the freshly combed section gently on her back before moving on to the next. She watches him in the mirror, her face frozen in terror. Her hair had grown long since he had cut it months prior. It was now down the middle of her back, and healthier than he had ever seen it. Severus finishes combing out her hair, she sighs deeply, turns, and wraps her arms around his waist, her head resting in the center of his chest. She is much shorter than him, her head barely reaches his shoulders. She had told him once during the summer, after he had made fun of her height while she struggled to reach something in a cupboard in the kitchen, that her height was perfect compared to his, because she liked listening to his heartbeat. He had never liked being touched, he avoided it as much as possible, but with her, it felt natural. It felt comforting.
He exits the room to retrieve the gown he had purchased for her during the summer when he had gone to pick up his new robes for the upcoming school year. The silk fabric cool and smooth against his hands as he hangs it on the back of the bathroom door, he watches her use her wand to dry the rest of her hair. The loose waves spring to life as the strands dry, she takes each strand and pins them randomly low on the back of her head, leaving shorter strands to frame her face. Her hands shake as she reaches into a cloth handbag behind the sinks faucet to retrieve her makeup. Carefully, she applies a black line to her eyelids, finishing the line with a sharp point. She paints her eyelashes with a black wand, and her lips a deep reddish purple, the color vibrant against her porcelain skin.
Severus removes the dress from the hanger, cradling the elegant fabric carefully in his arms so it does not drag the floor, doing his best to ignore the slight burn in his left arm as The Dark Lord called to them. True to his word, he had done everything he could to keep his wife from receiving her own Mark. Severus vouched her, swore to be responsible for her; the same as Lucious Malfoy did to keep Narcissa's arm clear. He unzips the sipper running down the length of the back portion of the dress and helps her step into it. Goosebumps prickle along her spine as he carefully zips the dress for her. He leaves the room once more to retrieve a red velvet box from the top drawer of his desk, and a pair of black closed toe high heels with a thin ankle strap. Once back in the bathroom, he pauses a moment, admiring the woman before him. The dress hugged her body perfectly; the black silk a beautiful contrast to her pale skin, the skintight fabric amplifying her round backside, the deep V of the bodice showing off her sharp collarbones and small bosom, the slit in the side showing off her long shapely legs. He places the high heels on the sink and opens the red box, inside a strand of pearls hugs a matching bracelet and set of earrings.
Severus removes the necklace from its protective case, the pearls cool and slick between his fingers. He stands behind his wife and drapes them around her neck, moving the baby hairs from the nape of her neck with his pinky finger to clasp the silver hook. He watches in the mirror as she brings her hand to her neck to run her fingers along the pearls.
"Are your ears pierced?" Severus asks, busying himself with removing the bracelet from the box.
"No." Her voice barely a whisper. She watches as he clasps the bracelet onto her right wrist.
"I did not think so. I have never seen you wear earrings." He kneels on one knee and bends hers slightly to place the shoes on her feet, ensuring the strap is fastened snugly around her ankle.
Severus leads his wife through the front entrance of Malfoy Manor. She clutches his arm tightly as she trembles.
"Breathe." he whispers out of the corner of his mouth. "I am here."
She nods tightly and lets out a shaky breath. He continues on through the manor, their steps echoing off of the marble floors beneath them. Tonight, will be a private affair, only The Dark Lord, Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Draco will be present. All eyes are set on them as they walk through the parlor door. Severus holds his head high, leads his wife to the table, and pulls out the chair for her to sit. She sits shakily, never taking her eyes off of him as he takes his seat at the foot of the table to he left to her, directly across from The Dark Lord.
"Severus," The Dark Lord hisses, his snake eyes boring in to his, "How good it is to see you and your lovely wife." Bellatrix makes a strangled laughing sound in the back of her throat but stops as soon as The Dark Lord narrows his eyes at her.
"My Lord." Severus nods, he places his right hand palm up on the table, an invitation for his wife to take it should she need reassurance. She does, and he squeezes it gently. His left hand grips the tables edge tightly.
"If I may, My lord." Bellatrix begins, The Dark Lord nods, allowing her to continue. "If you were truly as devoted to your wife as you like to make us believe, then tell us, why do you not wear a wedding band?"
"Simple, Bella. I do not care for jewelry. That is all." Severus states plainly, staring into her eyes and daring her to strike. Her nostrils flair, she opens her mouth to speak but is cut off.
"Enough." The Dark Lord hisses to the both of them before raising a glass of wine to his lips.
Narcissa stares catatonically off into the distance, Draco stares at his hands in his lap, his wife does the same. The only ones brazen enough to look at one another are him and Bellatrix. He will rip her to shreds.
"Missus Snape," The Dark Lord hisses, she jerks slightly and tightens her fist in his hand, he smooths his thumb over the back of her hand in an attempt to calm her. She raises her head to look around, careful to avoid His eyes. "Tell us, how are you settling in at Hogwarts?"
"We only arrived this morning." Severus interjects. The Dark Lord narrows His eyes at him.
"I was speaking to your wife, Severus." The Dark Lord objects, Bellatrix snickers. Severus cuts his eyes at her and sneers.
"Missus Snape, as I was saying."
"I…I have not had a chance to settle in." Her voice is low and shaky, her hand trembles in his.
"Have you seen Dumbledore?" He places his elbows on the table and stares down at her, as if daring her to make eye contact with him.
"Only briefly." She whispers.
"Please, go on." The Dark Lord hisses, Bellatrix giggles beside him, he cuts his eyes to her once more.
"He..he passed us in the hall. He was leaving the castle. He said—he told Severus that he will return by the start of term. He did not speak to me." Severus squeezes her hand once more, telling her that she had done well.
"And?" Bellatrix asks, her eyes narrowed at her.
"He—he was weak. He seemed to be very ill. I don't know any more than that." Her voice was slightly stronger, but still cracked halfway through the sentence.
Mistakenly, she makes eye contact with The Dark Lord. Before Severus can stop it, she screams loudly, clutches her head, and slides from the chair and crumbles to the floor. Everyone jumps to their feet, staring down at her. Severus crouches next to her on the cold marble floor, he picks her up under her armpits and puts her back in her chair. She grips her head in her hands and pants heavily. Severus stands guard behind her chair, his hands gripping her shoulders, Bellatrix cackles next to him, Draco has backed himself against the wall, eyes darting between her and The Dark Lord, Narcissa settles back in her seat, eyes becoming distant once more. The Dark Lord stalks towards them, his snake eyes full of fury.
"Severus." The Dark Lord begins, he grips her chin in his hand and lifts her head up to meet his, she trembles and stiffens her shoulders. "Who taught this girl Occlumency?"
"No one, My Lord." Severus answers, The Dark Lord eyes him suspiciously.
Severus can feel Him enter his mind, can feel him riffling through his memories to find anything. He pushes the memory of attempting to use Legamency on her in The Shrieking Shack, another of him telling Albus that he could not access her mind, the final of Albus telling him that he could not access it either. He feels The Dark Lord retreat, leaving his brain feeling cold and numb.
"Interesting." The Dark Lord hisses, Bellatrix presses herself against the Dark Lord's back, eyeing his wife like she were a piece of meat.
"How can we trust her, My Lord?" Bellatrix whispers in His ear, smirking at Severus.
"Silence, Bella!" The Dark Lord snaps, Bellatrix slinks back from him slightly before straightening back up again. "Very interesting."
Severus hugs his wife tightly against him at the Malfoy Manor entrance gate and apparated to the first place that comes to his mind; Clagmar Coast. It was this very cliff that he met Albus the night he had gotten word of The Dark Lord's plan to harm Lily. It was here he had broken down and begged Albus to protect her, where he agreed to be Albus' man. He releases his wife; she bends and pants trying to catch her breath. The night is bright, the waning gibbus hangs so low in the sky one could almost reach out and grab it. There are no manmade lights as far as the eye could see, the stars and moon shining brightly in the sky cast a silver glow across the rocky cliff. The sea below roars, slapping harshly against the cliff, the hiss from it nearly deafening. Despite how high up they are, they are still misted with droplets of seawater as the waves crash against the rocks.
She attempts to take a step, the heel of her shoe catches on a pebble on the uneven terrain. She rolls her ankle and makes a high pitched noise; Severus catches her elbow before she hits the ground and pulls her up. He angles his body behind her so that she can lean against him, she bends and undoes the strap around her ankle and kicks her shoes off completely before beginning to pace. The crunch of the pebbles beneath her bare feet making him shudder.
"Where are we?" She pants. Her back is to him, the moon casting a silver aura around her body.
"Clagmar Coast."
"Why?" She snaps, spinning around to face him.
"I thought you would like some air." He answers simply, raising one brow at her. She doesn't speak, only pants, her shoulders hunched up around her neck. "It is an isolated area; peaceful. I would be happy living here. We can come again in the daylight, if you would like."
"Let's do it."
"Tomorrow, then. If it is not raining."
"No. Let's just stay. We don't have to go back. We can just live here, away from everyone. Away from the war." She begs, he voice high pitched and cracking, he realizes she is crying.
"I am not a coward." Severus sneers through his teeth at her.
"I never implied that you were!" She shouts at him above the crash of the oceans waves.
"If you would suggest we hide, sit back on the beach with our feet up, while everyone in our world is tortured and killed, then perhaps it is you who is the coward." He spits at her as he grabs her by the wrist.
He doesn't even bother pulling her against his chest, or stopping to pick up her discarded shoes, he apparates once more. He drops her off outside of the Hogwarts gates and stomps off without her, leaving her alone and barefoot in the dark. Severus finds himself leaning against the Clock Tower banister chain smoking in the dark when he hears someone's footsteps on the stairs behind him. He does not need to turn to know that the stride belongs to Albus. He stubs his cigarette butt on the banister and drops it in the growing pile at his feet.
"I've just seen your wife. She looks beautiful tonight. You are a lucky man, Severus." Albus says as he takes his place next to him. Severus only huffs. "I must say, she was rather upset. She asked if I knew where you were. Don't worry, I didn't give you away."
The two of them lean against the banister in silence for several moments, watching the darkness below. Severus lights another cigarette and sighs deeply.
"You know, there was another prophecy the night you overheard the interview with Sybil." Albus begins, breaking the silence. "Follow me to my office, and I can show you in the pensive."
Severus follows Albus as they make their way through the castle to his office. The journey taking twice as long as Albus felt the need to stop and say hello to any portrait still awake at that late hour. Finally, they make their way to the pensive. Severus watches as Albus presses his wand to his temple and extracts a bluish silver mist that he deposits in the water. Severus grips the edge of the pensive and plunges into the memory.
He is in the smoky pub with them, knowing that in real life, he would have been dragged away from the door feet from him only moments before. The mood is somber, evidently, Sybil has just delivered the final lines to the Potter Prophecy. Thet sit around the table, cupping their mugs in their hands, no one daring to speak. Just then, Sybil's eyes glaze over and bulge from her head.
"The one to brighten the tortured Prince arrived in June under a Capricorn moon. They will appear as a lost love and bring with them hope to a darkened world. They will become a savior and confidant to the Prince."
Her voice comes out in a deep, horse tone that is not her own. She clears her throat harshly, refocuses her eyes, and stares at Albus with her mouth slightly open. Albus begins to say something, but the memory fades, leaving him floating in a grey mist. Severus straightens and raises his brow at Albus, curious as to why he should want him to hear this prophecy.
"It took many years, but I have finally come to realize that this prophecy is yours, Severus." Severus laughs out loud at this and wipes his eye for emphasis. "Your wife, if I am not mistaken, was born in June, under a Capricorn moon. I always knew you referred to yourself as Prince during your Hogwarts days. Your mother's maiden name, is it not? It wasn't until I saw her under the sorting hat that I knew for sure. She appears as a lost love, does she not?"
"So, you are saying that it is fate's fault I was forced to take a child bride?" Severus sneers at Albus, his nostrils flaring.
"She is an adult, Severus."
"Barely!" Severus rages. "If circumstances were any different, you know as well as I do that there would have been questions; an inquiry into the matter of a professor marrying his student less than a year after she graduated!"
"Do not be too hard on her, Severus. She is not a coward. She is a frightened young woman who had less say in this than you did."
Severus doesn't stick around to further argue with Albus, he slams the door behind him and stalks back to the dungeon to his room. He had expected his wife to be there waiting for him to return, or at the very least, any sign that she had even been in the room. Earlier that day, he had a plump chaise lounge brought into the room for her, he had been worried about her spending another long year with her feet tucked beneath her in the chair. While he was capable of sitting in a chair like a normal adult would, she was not. Severus lies back on the lounge with his ankles crossed. Once again, he finds himself chain smoking, flipping the ashes and stubbing each cigarette out in the ashtray propped on his stomach. Three thirty rolls around, and his wife stumbles into the room. She reeks of alcohol; he can smell it from across the room. Her hair had fallen completely, the black on her eyes smeared beneath her eyes like a raccoon, her lipstick completely gone.
She stalks past him and slams the bathroom door, locking herself inside. Severus stubs his cigarette out and sits up on the lounge, staring at the bathroom door with one brow raised. She emerges after several moments of fumbling in the locked bathroom, wearing a black nightgown. She doesn't say a word to him as she walks past him and buries herself beneath the blankets on the bed. Severus sighs deeply and pinches the bridge of his nose. It was always him that ran away, never her. Then again, he had called her a coward and left her barefoot and alone in the dark.
"You are not a coward." He mutters.
The only response is her rolling over in the bed. Severus stands and makes his way to her, her red hair spills across the pillow like molten lava. He reaches out and trails his middle finger across her forehead, moving the hair that had spilled across her face behind her ear.
"Don't touch me!" She shouts at him and scoots further into the bed.
Severus recoils as if she bit him and nurses the hand that had touched her against his chest. He sits on the bed next to her, the weight of him on the mattress causing her to pull into him slightly. She huffs and scoots away once more. Severus leaves the room and makes his way across the hall to his private brewing room. Inside he reaches the top shelf on the left, where he kept a few brewed potions, fumbles blindly for a moment, and produces a vial of Hangover Drought. By the smell of her, she would be needing it desperately.
"Sit up." Severus demands and he towers over her in the bed. She doesn't respond or make any movement to obey.
He puts his hand beneath her shoulder and lifts her from the bed in one swift motion. She makes a growling noise at him, her eyes red from tears and fury. Severus pops the corn on the vial with his thumb and pinches er cheeks to force her mouth open. He pours the vial in to her mouth and claps his hand to her mouth.
"Swallow." He demands. Her eyes narrow at him in defiance. "Swallow it. Now. If you bite me, you will regret it."
Finally, she swallows, and he removes his hand from her mouth. She slinks back down in the bed and throws the blankets over her head.
"I came to speak to you, and you were not here. Where were you?"
"Why do you care?" She murmurs, her voice muffled beneath the blanket.
"Because like it or not, you are my wife." She scoffs at this but makes no move to answer him with words. "You come in, after three in the morning, drunk, and won't tell me where. You. Have. Been."
This gets her attention; she springs up into a sitting position and slams her clenched fists on to the mattress.
"You have some nerve!" She grits through her teeth, her eyes bulging from her eyes from rage. "You left me, again, to go to whatever it is you do whenever you run off!"
"I was with Albus."
"Funny. Considering I was with him, too." She sneers at him as she narrows her eyes. Her chest rises in falls as she breathes deeply, her collarbones popping from the skin.
"Yes, so I heard. So, I'm expected to believe that it was Albus who got you drunk?" Severus raises his brow at her and smirks slightly.
"Yes, actually. It was Albus."
"You are not a coward." Severus repeats, his voice smaller than he intended.
"I heard you the first time you said it." She spits at him, her words venom.
"I am sorry." She doesn't say anything, only watches as he slowly makes his way back to her. He reaches out timidly and smooths the hair from her forehead once more. "I apologize for all of my actions tonight. I apologize for saying that you are a coward."
"I am, though. I am a coward." Her voice cracks with threatened tears as she leans into his hand on her head. "I want to be strong. I want to be brave, like you."
