Angelica's Sorrow

A/N - Deb LOL - I hate Lucius! Can you tell? I\'m glad you like Narcissa. I have a hard time dealing with the idea a mother (or father) that doesn\'t protect and love their young. I really do appreciate your taking time to review and my beta and I enjoy them a lot. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!


CHAPTER ELEVEN

\'What is that infernal racket?\'

Either one of the house elves was doing a tap dance in his chambers, or he was having a very strange dream. Sleep reluctantly allowed him to open his eyes. This wasn\'t his bedroom. Where the hell was he? Severus\' torso shot up, which wasn\'t a wise move as every muscle in his lower back and legs reminded him of the abuse they received such a short time ago. An involuntary moan of pain escaped his mouth. Merlin\'s robe, he was getting soft, next thing you know he\'d be crying like a baby. The Cruciatus Curse was much worse, but he\'d never whimpered like that!

\'That infernal racket, again!\'

Poppy stuck her head around the screen. The noise stopped with her.

\"What shoes do you have on, woman?\" he ground out between clenched teeth.

\"Why in the world would you want to know that?\"

\"The noise they make is enough to raise demons from the darkest pits in hell!\"

Poppy\'s eyebrow rose in a fair imitation of his own. \"My, my. Aren\'t we in a good mood this morning. I knew I should have put a massaging balm on you last night. Feeling the effects today, are we?\"

\"I have no clue what you are feeling, Madam, nor do I care. Please leave and allow me to dress.\"

\"I will, on the condition you lose the cranky attitude. It\'ll make it more fun for me, anyway.\"

\"At the risk of gaining a headache, I\'ll ask. What will be more fun?\"

\"Why, having to strip the clothes back off of you of course,\" she said with a suggestive wink.

Snape\'s mouth opened and closed at least twice before an indignant, \"Madam!\" found it\'s way past his frozen vocal cords. His expression of shock sent Poppy into gales of laughter which echoed off the high ceilings and rebounded down around his ears.

\"Relax, Severus,\" she gasped, holding her sides. \"I only plan on putting balm on you.\" Laughter again rang through the room. \"I\'ve seen your skinny legs too many times to be anything but professional. Stay there, I\'ve got to go get it from the ward. No arguing, or I\'ll tell the Headmaster I won\'t allow you to continue today.\"

Her laughter continued until it abruptly cut off as she entered the floo. Gods, Severus sincerely hoped Albus wasn\'t in his office right now. He\'d ask why Poppy was laughing her fool head off and no doubt she would tell. Then he would tell Minerva and before you knew it the whole bloody staff would know. Oh, Poppy was in for it now.

\'Skinny legs, indeed!\'

Severus flipped the covers back, tugged at his nightshirt and really looked at his legs. Very lean and muscled, yes, but hardly skinny. A few more scars than he recalled, but acceptable looking. Comments on his nose or hair didn\'t bother him but he\'d always been quite fond of his legs, they served him well. Where did she get off, calling his legs skinny!

When this was all said and done he would have to think of a suitable revenge for Madam Pomfrey. Hmm, unless something presented itself in the meantime. After all, they were basically living together, Severus grinned in anticipation.

Angelica was tired of being disturbed. This was the only home she had left. The silly bickering between the woman and the dark wizard irritated her beyond belief. The woman\'s laughter startled her. She hadn\'t seen that coming at all. Curiosity caused her to draw closer and fine tune things a bit. Why, they really cared about each other. Friends? She withdrew as the woman left.


Severus hated to admit it, but her balm had worked wonders. He\'d have to try and take at look at it when she wasn\'t around, wouldn\'t do to ask her where it came from.

\'Doesn\'t smell half bad, either. Must be the reason she hadn\'t asked for any liniment for - who knew how long. Wonder if there\'s enough left on my legs to scrape off a sample?\'

Snape rose from a small table they used for meals. At least half of the breakfast Poppy had brought him remained on the dishes. He pulled his wand, preparing to clear the clutter.

\"Don\'t you dare!\" Poppy hollered as she walked swiftly to the table from Draco\'s bedside. At least she had changed shoes.

\"I don\'t believe we have elves available to clear them for me.\"

\"I want to check how much you\'ve eaten. I\'ll take care of the cleaning up from now on.\"

\"Poppy, I\'m mortally wounded. You don\'t trust me.\"

She glanced at the dishes on the table. \"With good reason, it appears. You need to finish.\" Poppy folded her arms across her chest and glared.

\"I have eaten enough.\"

\"Enough for a mouse perhaps, or a rabbit, not a grown wizard!\"

\"I am not a child whose nose you need wipe!\"

Albus had entered while this conversation was unfolding. \"Now, now. What seems to be the problem?\"

Poppy turned her attention to the Headmaster. \"He\'s not eating enough to keep a bird alive.\"

\"Severus, are you ill?\"

\"Not yet. If she keeps trying to coddle me that may change.\"

\"Coddle you! Why I -\"

\"Poppy, please.\" Albus interrupted. \"Yelling will not improve the situation.\"

\"He hardly ate anything yesterday, Headmaster.\"

Severus held up his hand for a moment of truce. \"Did you mean what you said about cleaning up?\"

\"Of course.\"

\"Very well. I will eat whatever amount you deem sufficient, as long as you accept the consequences.\"

\"What do you mean by that?\" Poppy asked suspiciously.

\"I mean, if I am forced to consume more than my system will tolerate, it will undoubtedly reappear. In other words, my dear Madam Pomfrey, I will vomit.\"

Severus turned on his heel and strode toward the fireplace. \"If we are quite done discussing my eating habits, I need to obtain the potion required for todays efforts.\" He threw in some powder and vanished without another word.

\"That man is going to drive me insane one of these days.\"

\"You have to admit, he does keep us on our toes.\" Dumbledore\'s twinkle was very evident as he graced her with one of his better smiles. \"Besides, you got him back for quite a bit this morning, didn\'t you?\"

She had the grace to blush. \"It was rather fun.\"

\"Tell me, how is Mr. Malfoy today?\" He walked over to the occupied bed.

\"There\'s no change that I can detect.\"

\"Good. Come and have a cup of tea with me before Severus returns. I have a few other questions and we may as well be comfortable.\"



While the Headmaster was grilling Madam Pomfrey to see if she was aware of Angelica, Severus was in his laboratory preparing to pack up the potion Salazar designed to handle memories. He paused with the full rack of potion vials in his hand, considering Angelica\'s words from the day before. She hadn\'t actually done anything physical and he really didn\'t think she could. However, the fact remained she could project words into his mind. What else could she do? Could she cause him to break the vials? Snape replaced the full rack on his table and removed only one. Best not take the chance. One vial was enough for a week\'s worth of doses, no need to risk them all. He placed it in a side pocket of his frock coat.

Snape walked through to his chambers. He didn\'t relish obtaining the other item needed for the alteration he planned in Salazar\'s program. It was too private. In order to view and then separate the memories, he needed two wands. One to obtain the strands from the larger pensieve and the other to send them to the smaller receptacle. Without the second wand the strands would undoubtedly return to the larger vessel and he didn\'t know enough about the potion to risk putting them directly back into Draco\'s head. He hadn\'t realized this in time to purchase a new one.

He walked to the wardrobe in his bedroom, opened it and removed a long, slender box from the top shelf. An antique dealer would have given a great deal for the box alone, but what was inside was worth many times more. The wand had been handed down from father to son for many generations in his family. Attuned to the Snape lineage, it would no longer be of use to anyone when he was finally dead and gone.

\'Pity, it\'s a marvelous wand.\'

Severus tucked the box under his arm and closed the wardrobe. Time to return and begin. He had prepared as well as he could.



A strange looking object occupied the space of the high stool he had used the day before.

\"Albus, what in the name of all that\'s holy is this monstrosity? A new form of torture you propose to try on me?\" Severus questioned as he slowly circled the - could it possibly be a chair?

\"Not at all. Poppy told me how much trouble you had with your back and legs this morning and we thought this might help ease the strain.\"

\"I think I would prefer the stool, if you don\'t mind. I won\'t have to maintain the posture that was required before. Movement will not affect the sifting. You can leave the padded seat though and maybe the back rest.\"

Dumbledore waived his wand and the tall stool, with requested modifications, returned. To the left of the stool, a table with the two smaller pensieves. A further wave of his wand placed a comfortable looking chair facing the stool.

\"If you\'re sure you don\'t require a footstool to go along with that chair, Headmaster, I think we\'re ready,\" Severus said as he climbed on his perch.

\"I don\'t recall anything saying this had to be unpleasant. Besides my bones are much older than yours and require a bit of pampering,\" Albus stated as he settled in the chair.

\"Just don\'t fall asleep on me, old man.\"

\"Never fear. I will be here and alert.\"

Snape pulled the box out from under his arm and placed it on the table. He heard a sharp intake of breath from Dumbledore as he opened the box.

\"Is that what I think it is, Severus?\"

His eyebrow raised as he glanced at the Headmaster.

\"Undoubtedly. I don\'t, however, care to discuss it right now.\"

He drew the dark ebony from the velvet interior and laid it on the table next to his slightly lighter colored wand. Severus drank a measured amount of potion, picked up the wands and waited. He preferred the older one in the left hand, there that was better.
Still, he waited.

\'Maybe I prepared the potion incorrectly? Nothing seems to be happening other than my mind appears to be crystal clear. Why is Poppy moving so slowly? Dumbledore\'s saying something, but it sounds all wrong. I can\'t understand a word the old man is - Of course!! Salazar was bloody brilliant! My mind is being accelerated. No wonder he was able to go through thirty-six years of memories in a matter of months. Too bad he left a lot to be desired when it came time to document his findings.\'

Snape watched his left hand move towards the first of the smaller pensieves. The next time he would have Poppy or Albus give the dose after he had settled himself. It was taking forever for his body to respond to his command. Now, the right hand to the larger one. Another eternity passed. Finally, the wand touched the first of the strands floating to the surface.

\'Ah, there we go. Eyes need to close, too confusing seeing slow moving Poppy. Shut up, Albus!\'

Lucius laughing, face seeming to grow far away and then closer. Severus realized it was a very old memory of Draco as a baby. Lucius apparently playing with him. It was quickly released and guided into the smaller pensieve. Here was one at Hogwarts, flying on a broom, holding something in his hand while taunting Potter. Released. Severus became adept at giving a glance into the memory and releasing it if it didn\'t reveal what he sought. He lost track of the number that had flown through his mind when he skidded to a halt. Miss Granger was in this one. What was she doing? Apparently Draco was spying on her and Miss Weasley while they were holding, what to them, was a private conversation in the library.

\"I don\'t see the problem, Hermione. You\'re of age, your NEWTs are over so you don\'t have the \'I have to study.\' excuse anymore.\"

\"Oh, sure. Waltz up to him and confess my undying love, right?\"

\"Why not?\"

\"Oh, Ginny, please. I can\'t.\"

\"Then you\'ll never know will you?\"

\"Sometimes I think that might be better than knowing there\'s no hope at all.\"

Draco\'s arm hit a precariously placed book and knocked it off on the floor. \"Damn.\"

Snape\'s thoughts echoed and added, \'Clumsy oaf!\'

Draco walked around the bookshelf, pretending he hadn\'t heard the conversation.

\"Ginny, my love. I\'ve been looking for you all over.\"

\"Don\'t Ginny, my love me. Where were you last night? I waited an hour for you to show.\"

\"Well, Professor Snape chose that particular time to remind me to be careful and it turned into a mini lecture about watching my back. Couldn\'t very well tell him to sod off, now could I? He\'s not only my head of house, he\'s my godfather.\"

He remembered that night. Draco had been getting very lax. Miss Weasley was apparently the reason. Surprising, he really did seem to love her. Released.

\'Have to quit doing that, takes too much time. Ha!! Potter flung on his arse! No, don\'t stop. Release. Keep going. Bloody hell, it\'s tempting to see the ones that include Hermione. No. Release.\'

He steeled himself to skip them as quickly as possible. Looking at her in Draco\'s memories wouldn\'t help her physical body. More flew by.

Something or someone was touching his right hand. It was being lifted. His eyes slowly opened. Dumbledore was standing, holding his right hand away from the strands as Poppy moved the first of the smaller pensieves. She finally replaced it with the second one and he was allowed to continue.

Albus moved to the full pensieve as Snape\'s eyes again closed. He didn\'t quite know what was happening inside Severus, but the amount of memories he had moved in three hours was amazing. It had to be at least six months worth. The only problem seemed to be one of communication. It had been touch and go there for a moment when Severus didn\'t respond to Albus\' warning. The pensieve had been close to overflowing. Raising Snape\'s hand himself had been an idea born of desperation, but it appeared to work.

\"Poppy, could you start returning these to Mr. Malfoy. I don\'t feel comfortable leaving the sifting unsupervised. It was too close to disaster for my taste.\"

\"Of course. I don\'t have anything else to do at the moment.\"

Dumbledore returned to his comfy chair and studied the Potions Master. Severus had told him that movement would not affect the sifting, but he hadn\'t moved. Not a muscle, just his eyes under the lids, as if he was dreaming.

Angelica drew closer as the dark wizard continued sifting through the strands. The woman was placing them back in the boy\'s head. Angelica touched them lightly. They were untainted. She couldn\'t believe it for a moment, he had told her the truth.

Albus gradually became aware of satisfaction around him. Strange, it wasn\'t coming from Poppy, or Severus and it sure wasn\'t coming from Draco. It only took a moment for him to realize it had to be Angelica. With Snape out of it for awhile and Poppy unable to detect her, he had no basis for comparison. It would have to wait. The second pensieve was nearing its limits. Had another three hours gone by already? It was time to stop. He rose and again removed Severus\' right hand wand from contact with the strands.

It didn\'t take as long for his eyes to obey him this time, Severus thought. The potion must be wearing off. Had it only been seven hours? It seemed like months had passed since he took the potion. Albus swam into view as his eyes finally focused on the outside world. He was saying something to him but he still couldn\'t tell what it was.

Poppy and Albus were both trying to help him off the stool. Not as bad as yesterday. No knots, just a little stiff. Felt like he had been awake for a damn long time.

\'Oh bloody hell! Would the woman never learn.\'

Poppy was trying to feed him again. He\'d eat a little and then she could go hang. Bed sounded good.

\"He\'s exhausted, Headmaster,\" Poppy said after they got Severus to his bed.

\"Yes, I\'m surprised you were able to get that much food down him. Is Mr. Malfoy accepting the returned memories? Any problems?\"

\"No, it\'s taking awhile, though. We may need help putting them back. Could the other professors take turns so it\'s an on going process?\"

\"Excellent idea, my dear. Wish I\'d thought of it myself.\"

On the other side of the screen Severus wished they would shut up. Their voices droning on at such a slow speed were keeping him awake.

\'Can\'t even eavesdrop properly for Merlin\'s sake.\'

He slowly drifted off to sleep as his mind finally wound down to normal speed.