"Is it true," Danu whispers against Severus' chest as she watches tiny goosebumps raise where her breath had hit his skin. "That You-Know-Who—"
"The Dark Lord." Severus corrects her with a raised brow.
"Is it true that Dumbledore was the only person he was afraid of?"
"Yes. That is true." Severus mutters against her hair.
He had not been himself since the death of Dumbledore, neither of them had. Severus spent the last two weeks in a stupor, barely speaking, not eating unless she forced him to. She would wake in the middle of the night, his side of the bed cold, only to find the small house empty except for her. The immense guilt she herself had felt over his loss was unlike anything she had ever felt before. What if the words she had carried to You-Know-Who were the reason he was now gone? What if the fake artifacts her and Severus brought to Him only days before Dumbledore's death was the literal nail in his coffin? If there was a funeral, she did not know, and Severus did not say. She would have liked to pay her respects to the man who she had grown to regard as a friend.
"What now?" Danu whispers, her voice catching slightly in the back of her throat.
"I have been elected headmaster." Severus answers with a sigh as he leans over her to grab the ashtray off of the bedside table.
They had, for whatever reason, moved into the bedroom across the hall from their usual one. The room had always been locked, and she had not felt it her place to ask what was inside. Unless he had done some major cleaning before bringing her back, there was nothing odd or secretive about the room. It was an ordinary bedroom with a large walnut sleigh bed, two matching tables on either side, and a large chest of drawers next to the door. At the foot of the bed was a simple footlocker, which she had not looked inside, and a stand-up mirror stands proudly in the corner, the edges chipped and desilvering. The room is slightly larger than their usual one, and much cleaner in regard to yellowing wallpaper and dingy curtains. There is no window in this room, but Severus had made up for that by supplying several candles on every surface.
"How do you feel about that?" Danu asks as she props herself up on her elbows to look into his eyes. She takes the lit cigarette from his fingers and takes a small puff before passing it back to him. Since the news, she had begun taking small hits off of his cigarettes occasionally to stave the nausea that came with the pit of anxiety deep in her stomach.
"I have no feelings either way." Severus sighs as he releases the smoke in his lungs and offers her another hit of the cigarette. She shakes her head, allowing him to finish it off.
"I thought it would be McGonagall." Danu admits as she watches him bring the cigarette to his lips once more. His hands are large with deep blue protruding veins, rough callouses, and thin silvery scars. Stereotypical man hands that felt like electricity on her skin when he caressed her; safety and home when he held her tightly.
"It should have been." Severus admits as he stubs the cigarette out in the ashtray balancing on his chest and leans slightly, taking her with him, to place it back on the bedside table.
"I hope it isn't too hard for you." Danu says as she relaxes back down on his chest, his heart thumps lazily against her ear as he traces her spine with his middle finger.
"Hmm." Severus grunts, tickling her back with her own hair as he moves his finger up and down her spine.
"I know that you don't want people knowing about us, bu—"
"It is not that." Severus interjects before she can finish her sentence. "If any of the students, and professors for that matter, found out about our marriage, it will be all over the papers. When Albus was alive, he could have smoothed things over, but now…Now it will make headlines."
"Why didn't you let him break the news to people, then? You always take your ring off before class. I thought you were just embarrassed to have anyone find out about me." Danu admits, her eyes growing heavy from him rubbing her back. She swore he did it on purpose to get her to stop talking.
"I simply prefer my private life to be just that." Severus scoffs, his breath blowing her hair across her neck. "Albus and I discussed it at length. We decided it would be best not to have your name in the papers. Potter does not know that the two of you are related, neither does The Dark Lord, that we know of. We need to keep it that way. As far as The Dark Lord is concerned, your mother is just another nameless Muggle, no one of importance. Potter is sentimental and family oriented, he may use you to get to him. Furthermore, Potter is unaware that Sirius had any children. I must ask that you stay in the Headmaster's Tower this year, unless I am with you."
"Why would he care if Sirius had kids?"
"Because, as I told you last summer; though, you may have been too clouded with anger to recall, Sirius Black was Potter's godfather." Severus admits before turning once more to retrieve something from the bedside table as he cupped her head to his chest. "Speaking of, Albus found this. I forgot to give it to you."
Severus passes her a folded piece of yellowing parchment and watches intently, one brow raised, as she sits up on her knees and unfolds the parchment.
My darling Rose,
I cannot put into words how much I have missed you. I have never forgotten the summer we spent together, as I am sure you have not either. I am sorry I did not write sooner. I apologize for any pain this may have caused you.
Lily tells me that we have a daughter, and you have named her Danu. The name we discussed on the rooftop late one night when you asked me what I would name my children if I ever had any. You would not believe the smile I had when Lily told me her name. Don't think I have forgotten that conversation, or any conversation we had, for that matter. I remember everything. The time spent with you was the happiest of my life.
Danu Iris Black.
That name is a masterpiece. The perfect name for a perfect girl.
I wish I had been there for you; I wish that I could hold our daughter. James gave me the photo of you and her together, I carry it with me everywhere. Do not laugh, but I kiss it goodnight every night. I pretend that I am kissing you both goodnight. I am sure she is as beautiful in person as you are. Remus and James told me that they held her, and for that, I am jealous.
I have a small apartment, it is not much, but I dream of a day when you and her are here with me. It is currently the only thing holding me together at the moment.
I hope that you can forgive me for my foolishness and allow me to be a father to our girl. I cannot promise that I will be a good father, but I will try my best.
All of my love to you and our girl,
-Sirius Black
Danu reads the letter as tears sting her eyes. At one point, Sirius had wanted her, had even loved her. What changed? What made him not write to her, not take her in his arms the one and only time they had met? Had Azkaban truly stolen every ounce of love and compassion within him, or was she simply not what he had expected her to be? Would he have been a good father, as he was fearful of not being in the letter? Would he have held her when she had a nightmare, told her bedtime stories? Would he have been there on the platform her first day of Hogwarts, and cheered when he received news of the house that she had been placed in? She would never know, because all of it was stolen from the both of them. Severus pulls her in to his chest and holds her as she sobs over what will never be.
—
Late one night in July, Severus left while she slept and stayed gone for three days. On the morning of the fourth day, he burst through the front door, filthy, panting, and his clothes ripped. He had been flying, that much was obvious from his windblown and dead moth filled hair. Wherever he had been, whatever he had been doing, she was unsure she wanted to know. He was traumatized, borderline catatonic as she led him to the kitchen for coffee. His hands shook as he chain-smoked and had her continuously reheat the coffee he hadn't even touched.
Things were changing, their world becoming darker than she could have ever predicted. If this was a taste of what the first war had been like, she understood why Sirius hadn't wanted her around.
Severus no longer took her with him when he met with You-know-Who, for that, she was thankful. She could tell when he called, which was often. Severus would grip his left forearm tightly, a pained expression on his face, and flee the room as if he had just witnessed something vile.
His demeanor was not the only to have changed. While he had once kept his face clean shaven and his hair neatly trimmed, he now allowed days, even weeks to pass without shaving, which left him with salt and pepper stubble on his face, and his hair now hung well below his collar bones. Unless he was called upon, he did not allow her out of his sight, to the point where he even showered with her, and sometimes stood outside of the restroom when she would excuse herself. Severus had been thin but had lost such a substantial amount of weight in just a few short weeks that the clothes he had purchased only months prior now hung loosely on his body. His black eyes were bloodshot with deep blue bags beneath them due to never sleeping more than an hour or two at a time before jerking awake.
"I can no longer protect you out there!" Severus snapped late one night, slamming his clenched fists upon the dining table causing her to jump and drop the teacup she had been clutching. She had only asked if he wanted to talk about what had been bothering him. She didn't ask any follow up questions, not that she had even had the opportunity to before he was called upon once more.
Despite being together nearly every moment of their lives, Severus was not truly present, and as time passed, he became further drawn into himself. He would sit in the sitting room, a book opened in his hand, but his eyes staring off into the distance. Hours would pass without him turning the page before he would finally allow her to take the book from his hands and massage the flesh between his thumb and forefinger in order for him to even relax his hands.
"Severus." Danu whispers as he stands at the kitchen sink staring out of the window, he had been holding his hands under the scalding hot tap for nearly five minutes. His hands were red and steaming, yet he did not move.
"Severus!" She shouts a bit louder as she pulls his hands from under the tap. He moves his head down to meet hers slowly, his mouth open slightly, his eyes unfocused. For a moment, he looked as though he hadn't recognized her.
"I'm worried about you." Danu whispers as she cradles his scalded hands in hers and gently pats them dry with the tea towel from the ovens door handle.
"Don't." Severus murmurs as he looks away sheepishly. He doesn't take his hands from hers and allows her to bring them to her lips and kiss them gently before sitting him down at the dining table.
"I love you; I care about you. I promised Dumbledore I would look after you. You took care of me, please, Severus, let me take care of you. You aren't alone. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."
Severus bends forward to rest his head between her breasts and wrap his arms around her waist as a child would with their mother. He trembles slightly, his breathing heavy as if he were trying not to cry. Danu cups the back of his neck with one hand, the other smoothed the hair from his face before running her thumb over his temple.
"I'm here, Darling. I'll always be here for you." Danu whispers against the top of his head, each of them unraveling yet trying desperately to be strong for the other.
—
Severus let her keep the copy of The Daily Prophet with his somber face on the front page instead of tossing it in the fire as he had threatened when the owl delivered it that morning. Danu thought he looked handsome; shocking, but handsome. He merely scoffed when she told him so, but she couldn't help but notice how his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink as the words left her mouth. She folded the paper and placed it carefully in the bottom of a small wooden box he had given her, the photo of her and her mother, and the letter Sirius had written to them placed securely on top.
Life above ground, in the headmaster's tower, was wildly different than below ground in the dungeons. For starters, she could actually breathe in fresh air as soon as she woke. It wasn't constantly cold and damp, and she could throw the curtains open and see the sky instead of a murky pond. Severus hates the light shining in through the window in the mornings, and usually throws a pillow over his eyes as she throws the curtains open. Danu takes her coffee at a small iron table on a balcony overlooking the grounds each morning, the late summer sky on her face for the first time in what felt like years. Directly next to the small patio table is a steep, winding staircase leading down to the balcony attached to the headmaster's office. Danu doesn't go down there often. When she does sneak in, Severus is having intense conversations with the portraits of past headmaster's. He seldom leaves the office unless completely necessary. If he had even given a welcome speech when the students arrived, she did not know about it.
The Headmaster's Office looked just as it did when Dumbledore was headmaster, except for his portrait that now hung in the center of the room. The double staircase on either side of the claw footed, headmasters desk, which she had never been up before, was actually a large library with over-sized chairs, lounges, several tables, a large granite fireplace, and a brewing station on the far back wall. Severus explained that Dumbledore had used the space for staff meetings, and a place for the prefects and heads of houses to meet. He had it changed in the weeks leading up to their arrival to better suit their style and needs.
The headmasters quarters themselves are immaculate. A round bed with a tufted headboard and curved bench seat at the foot sits in the center of the room. A gorgeous cream colored duvet with the Hogwarts crest embroidered in golden thread makes the bed, pillows of every shape and size are piled so high she didn't think it possible for either of them to fit in the bed, much less both of them. Across from the bed is a white marble fireplace with carvings of each houses emblem along the mantle. Two gargoyles, identical to the ones lining the tower entrance sit proudly on either side of the hearth. In front of the fireplace is a large fainting couch, the fabric embroidered with hundreds of Hogwarts emblems in gold and burgundy thread. A polar bear skin run beneath its feet, it's mouth and eyes wide open and staring at the entrance to the room. A floor to ceiling tapestry of each houses emblem line each wall, wrought iron candelabras taller than she is stand in front of each tapestry. Up a steep staircase hidden behind the Ravenclaw tapestry is a small kitchenette equipped with a gas stove, a small icebox, and a small round dining table.
Behind the Slytherin tapestry is the entrance to their own bathroom; however, bathhouse would be a more fitting word. The entirety of the back wall was fitted with at least a dozen shower heads in varying heights and positions. The bathtub, which was constantly filled, looked more like a swimming pool, with marble mermaids perched around the exterior, their hands outstretched to hold soaps and washrags. Marble fish spit soaps, shampoos, conditioners, oils, lotions, and fragrance out of their mouths when you turned a knob on their backs. She could never remember what was inside of which fish, and relied heavily on Severus to fill his hand with whatever she needed before plastering it into her own waiting hand. Danu loves watching him wade nude through the pool, the muscles in his back pulling as he reaches his arms over the edge to reach soaps and towels.
—
Danu makes her way down the staircase overlooking the headmaster's office after retrieving a book to bring back up to the balcony to read while Severus was busy with paperwork of some sort. Halfway out of the room, a familiar voice stops her.
"My dear," Dumbledore begins, addressing her directly for the first time in nearly two weeks. "Have you met Phineas?"
Dumbledore leans forward in the chair he was sitting in and gestures to his left, to a portrait of a noble looking man with narrow blue eyes, black hair, a pointed beard, and thin eyebrows wearing elegant green and silver robes. Something about him looked familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place it.
"No, I have not." Danu answers, gripping a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover tight to her chest. Turning her head slightly, she catches sight of Severus looking up from his papers, one eyebrow raised in question.
"Phineas," Dumbledore begins as Phineas makes his way closer to the frame. "Meet your great-great-….perhaps one more, great-granddaughter. Missus Danu Snape."
Phineas eyes her up and down, a puzzled look on his face as Severus stands suddenly and makes his way over to where she stood, he places one hand on her shoulder and grips it firmly as Phineas opens then closes his mouth twice before scrunching his brow and bringing his fist to his chin.
"Pure blood?" Phineas asks, his narrow eyes glued to hers as if he was willing her to change up her bloodline.
"Half-blood." Severus announces proudly before she can speak. "Problem, Phineas?" He raises one brow at Phineas, daring him to say a word against her.
"Worthless. Pathetic. That so called great-great-grandson of mine couldn't do one simple thing correctly." Phineas mutters to himself as he rolls his eyes. "At least tell me you were a Slytherin!"
"Ravenclaw." Danu announces just as proudly as Severus had moments before, pushing out her chest and straightening her back in defiance.
"Could be worse. Impeccable taste, I'll give you that, even if he is a half-blood he's got Slytherin in him." Phineas replies, gesturing towards Severus with his chin. "Perhaps your children will take after Snape and I and continue on with the family legacy that your disobedient father so proudly disregarded."
—
Severus had taken to training her harder than he had the previous year, often becoming irritable if she is unable to cast the spells quickly enough for his liking. She had been able to produce most of them during her time as a student, in a controlled environment with a training dummy, but it was far different with Severus as her teacher, yelling at her to do it faster, do it better, do it stronger. She had mastered Arresto Momentum, Alarte Ascendare, Depulso, Descendo, Flipendo Maxima, Fumos, and Immobulus enough for his liking, but still could not get Finite or Stupefy out as fast, or as strong as he would like. When they weren't dueling, they were brewing. Box upon box of various healing potions lined the back wall of their library and had begun to spill over into the office itself. He was preparing for something.
"There is one more." Severus begins as he lifts the training dummy with his wand. "Only use this when it is absolutely necessary."
Danu watches as Severus makes his way to her side, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, his jaw clenched.
"Sectumsempra." Danu watches as Severus creates a zig-zagging pattern with his wand, slashes in the training dummies fabric appear in the same pattern Severus had drawn with his wand as it topples to the ground.
"What was that?" Danu breathes, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and horror. If the spell could do that to a dummy, what would it do to a human? What would be considered necessary enough to use that?
"A spell of my own invention." Severus admits, eying her intently with scrunched brow.
"You invented that?" Danu asks, stunned that Severus could ever be responsible of such destruction, intrigued by the fact that he had invented it himself. She knew, of course, that all spells had been invented by someone, she simply had not met anyone who had invented their own, that she knew of.
"That is what I just said." Severus replies as he turns to lift the dummy from the ground once more.
"How?"
"Intent." Severus remarks dryly before gesturing for her to lift her wand. "Your turn."
"Sectumsempra." Danu mutters, feeling slightly guilty of the damage she was to inflict upon a lifeless dummy. She moves her wand hand in a large Z motion, and watches as the dummies head pops off and falls to the floor with a loud thump.
"Co—could that happen to a person?" Danu asks as she turns her attention to Severus, her mouth hangs slightly open as she realizes that he would be expecting her to use this spell on another living person.
"Decapitation?" Severus asks as he lifts the dummies head from the ground and places it on the nearest table before turning back to her. "No. Though, it would be deadly if you sliced their throats, their head would presumably remain attached. As I said, use it only when absolutely necessary."
"What would be considered absolutely necessary?" Danu asks as she watches Severus pace to the window and stare out, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Life or death." Severus sighs, his voice barely a whisper.
—
Danu wakes with a jolt as a crash of thunder shakes her to her core. She reaches out blindly, Severus' side of the bed ice cold. A gust of wind rips through the room as she looks towards the balcony doors, she notices Severus standing there, wind whipping his robes around his body, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Severus?" Danu whispers, a puff of white coming from her nose and mouth as she wraps the blanket around her body, the late October air chilling her to the bone.
Severus doesn't reply, nor does he move a muscle as she makes her way to him. She reaches out and touches his hand gently, he opens one and takes her fingers in his, his hands cold as ice. He sighs slightly as she rests her head on his back and does her best to wrap them both in blanket wrapped around her body.
"Come to bed, Severus. It's late, you're freezing." Danu begs, her voice vibrating against his spine.
"There is a fire." Severus murmurs as the thunder booms. A flash of lightening illuminates them in the darkness as the rain finally breaks, deafening them both as she attempts to pull him back away from the open doorway.
"The fire is out, Severus. Please, come to bed."
Severus pries his hand from hers, and without even turning, flicks his wrist above his shoulder. The fire springs to life, engulfing the half-burnt wood within before settling down slightly. Danu grips his hand and tries to pull him from the doorway once more as the howling wind changes directions to spray them both with ice cold rain from the opened doors. Severus doesn't budge.
"There is one thing I would like for you to do for me." Severus' deep voice booms above the crash of thunder.
"Anything, Severus. I would do anything for you." Danu pleads as she tugs on his hand once more.
"When I am gone, take the Black name as your own."
"What are you talking about? Please, come to bed Severus. You're shivering."
"It has always been my intention," Severus begins, ignoring her completely. "To have the name end with me. I would appreciate it if you would change your name back to your own in the event of my death. Let the Snape name die with me."
"I would hope that you aren't expecting to die any time soon." Danu says, her stomach lodged in her throat at the mere thought of him being gone.
"Humor me." Severus sneers as he turns towards her, his eyes dark and emotionless, the crease in his forehead smoothed. Dark circles beneath his eyes indicating that he had not slept at all that night, despite lying down with her hours earlier.
"If- and I hope it doesn't happen any time soon, that were to happen, I will do that for you." Danu says forcefully, desperate to get him away from the door and out of his now soaked clothing.
Severus allows her to pull him away and shut the doors behind him. He stands timidly in the center of the room, water puddling at his feet. His hair is slicked back with rain and dripping on to his shoulders as she runs to the bathroom to fetch a towel.
Danu dries him and changes his soaked clothing as he stands before her motionless. Afterwards, he allows her to sit him before the fire as she brings him a cup of his favorite tea, orange and cinnamon spice with a teaspoon of honey. Severus sits on the fainting couch before the fire, his long arms resting on his knees as he leans forwards slightly, the mug of tea cupped tightly in his hands. He watches the steam roll from the mouth of the cup as she combs his tangled hair.
"Severus." Danu begins as she kisses the top of his head. "Let me help you."
"You can't." Severus spits between clenched teeth.
"You don't know that unless you let me." Danu makes her away around the couch to sit on her knees on the floor before him. She takes the still full mug from his hands and grips his now warmed hands firmly in her own.
"I am fine." Severus protests as he attempts to rip his hands from her own, she holds tighter, not allowing him to get away.
"You are not fine." She whispers as she looks into his coal black eyes. "I love you, Severus Snape. Let me help you."
—
Severus has his chest pressed tightly to her back, his teeth scraping against her neck as his hand cups her breast.
Danu moans and arches her bottom against his growing erection. He hadn't touched her, hadn't been inside of her in so long. She hadn't tried to make love to him, not in the state that he had been in for so many months, she let him come to her as he was known to do on occasion. He had been gone all day, called upon by You-Know-Who. Whatever he had done while there left him ravenous. He burst through the door as she lay on her side reading in bed, the late autumn storm that had rolled through sending rain pattering against the glass door. Severus didn't wait for her to greet him before he slid in bed behind her and snaked his ice cold hands up the silk nightgown she was wearing, before he ripped it from her and tossed the book she had propped up on his pillow onto the floor with it. She could feel him undoing his own robes and shimmying them off of his body without having to remove his mouth from her body.
"Roll over." Severus growls into her ear as he grips her shoulder firmly to turn her on to her back.
She looks up into his black eyes as they soften slightly at the sight of her beneath him. He kisses her hard on the mouth, their teeth scraping together slightly on impact. Severus reaches between their body and thrusts a single finger inside of her, her back arches at the sudden invasion as he begins to wiggle it inside of her. He bites her bottom lip as she pants and squirms beneath him, desperate for more. Just as a storm begins to brew within her to match the raging storm outside, he removes his finger from her and stares down at her.
Danu props herself up on her elbows and stares at him, mouth open in confusion. He had worked her up, got her good and bothered, then stopped without a single word or explanation. Severus smirks down at her, an expression on his face she had never seen before.
"Tell me that you want this." He demands.
"What?" He had never acted this way before; never had he been demanding while they lie together.
"You heard me." Severus says as the firelight dances in his dark eyes.
"I want this." Danu whispers as she leans forward and takes his bottom lip between her own. "I need you."
Severus presses her back against the mattress and lines himself up against her, the warmth and hardness of him making her squirm against him to hurry him along.
"Why?" Severus asks as he stares down at her menacingly.
"Because…because I love the way you feel inside of me." Danu answers breathlessly as he finally pushes his way inside of her, filling her to the brim.
Severus growls against her lips as he pumps in and out of her harshly. Danu wraps her legs around his waist and clutches on to his shoulders as his heart pounds against his own. Suddenly, he leans back on to his knees and stills himself inside of her. Her legs fall to his side, opened wide around him. He pries her hand from his shoulder, kisses her index finger as he stares into her eyes, then leads it down between the two of them. Severus watches, slowly rocking into her, as he guides her fingers in tight circles on her swollen clit. The act making her cheeks redden, but the storm within her grow to something she had yet to experience.
"Just like that." Severus mumbles as he picks up speed once more. He grips her hand tightly, not daring to let it go.
"Severus. Severus don't stop." Danu pants as her legs begin to tremble and her stomach begins to clench.
Danu comes undone around him, one of her hands between her legs in an act she had never allowed him to see her preform, she had always waited until he was away to touch herself. It never felt anything like this, never had it been so all consuming, so mind numbing. Her legs tremble as he takes her hand from between her legs and pins it above her head. He moans against her neck as he continues to pump in and out of her, his movement becoming choppy and irregular.
"You feel incredible." Severus growls against her neck before moaning deeply and collapsing on top of her.
Their naked bodies stick together as they both pant against one another's neck. Danu scratches his back lightly with her fingernails as he shudders once more on top of her, then rolls over on to his back and throws his arm across his eyes. She rolls on to her side and runs a finger up the thin trail of black hairs that run from his navel down to his groin, stopping just before she gets to his public bone. His rubs jut with each labored breath he takes, his Adams apple dances in his throat as he swallows repeatedly.
"What was that about?" Danu giggles slightly as she scoots down to lay her head on his chest.
"Was that not adequate enough for you?" Severus mumbles between breaths.
"More than adequate." She admits as she runs her fingertip along his ribs.
"Then why must you ask questions?" Severus asks with a breathy laugh as he removes his arm from his over his eyes and pulls her tighter against him.
"God, I love you." Danu admits as she buries her face in his chest and smiles brightly.
"Hmm." Severus grunts before kissing the top of her head and taking her left hand in his, their rings clinking together slightly.
Severus hadn't taken his wedding band off once that year on the rare occasion that he had left the headmaster's tower to deal with something below. If anyone had noticed him wearing it, he did not say, and she had not read it in the papers.
He makes to sit up suddenly, pushing her gently from his chest before placing his index finger beneath her chin and kissing her gently on the lips. It was the first time he had ever willingly kissed her when they weren't actively making love. Her heart skips a beat as she leans in for another, Severus runs his fingers through her hair before turning from her to search for his pants. Once he had located them, he digs deeply in to the pocket for something before turning towards her new jewelry box that he had gotten her months before. She watches as he lifts the lid and retrieves the silver chain for holding vials of potions he had gotten her for Christmas the year before. Severus attaches whatever he had retrieved from his pants to the end, then comes to her to secure it around her neck. Danu takes the vial in her hands and holds it up to the firelight in an attempt to identify the yellow watery liquid within. She was unable to, and looks up at Severus expectantly.
"Anti-venom. Don't that off for any reason." Severus demands before reaching into his sock drawer to produce a vial of Contraceptive Potion for her.