Midnight Petal

A/N: I would like to dedicate this chapter to my first ever reviewer, Alabaster Princess. Thank you so much for your kind remarks and big thanks for pointing out the mistakes. You´re my hero:).

Chapter 2

Dumbledore´s statement shocked Severus so much, he remained speechless for almost a minute. He could feel his body tensing, sweat breaking on his forehead. He reached for his wand, gripping it tightly. His eyes never left Dumbledore. The old man was just standing there, unmoving, watching Severus with concern. Snape´s brain was on overdrive, trying to grasp a hidden meaning of this situation.

"You must be joking," he finally snarled, threat clearly detectable in his voice. Dumbledore raised his hands in apologetic manner. "Indeed I am not, as we are both aware. Severus, please, let us discuss this matter in a friendly atmosphere. I can imagine you must be feeling resentfull, anoyed perhaps, but I am hoping you will understand the reasons why I am asking you to do this, only if you give me a chance to explain."
"I sincerely doubt you can give me a sensible explanation," Severus barked, still clutching his wand, but he let himself relax a little, confident there must be a way around this. Dumbledore probably just wanted to shock him into action, so his brain cells would get a kick out of it and produce some ingenious solution to their problem. Well, it wasn´t working. His mind remained positively blank except for the images of him murdering Dumbledore in about fifty different ways.

"What have I done to deserve this foul treatment, Albus?" he asked in a whisper. "Why do you want to punish me?" Dumbledore shook his head. "Dear Severus, I don´t have a slightest intention to punish you for anything. I held you in high regard. It is an honor to work with you, an honor to call myself your friend.

"There must be a reason why you chose ME as a scapegoat!" Snape hissed, untached by Dumbledore´s flattery. "Let us not use such a pejorative vocabulary," Dumbledore retorted. "If you want to know the motives, which led me to the conclusion you will be the perfect adept for this task, I will not hesitate to share them with you."

"First of all, you are a very skilled wizard. If we want to discover what secret talents miss McDawlish possesses, I cannot imagine a better suited 'seeker' than you are. Secondly, the life you lead forced you into isolation. Your dungeon home is a perfect hiding place. It is well guarded, shielded from the outside world and big enough for two people. You and your wife will have a complete privacy there, you will be free to experiment while trying to develop her abilities. Last but not least, there is no question Voldemort will try, and I mean try very hard, to find miss McDawlish once he learns about the prophecy. From all the possible candidates I contemplated for this job, I trust you the most. I am confident you will not betray our secret as you have proved yourself trustworthy on more than one occasion."

"Thanks for trying to boost my ego," Severus said sarcasm dripping from his voice, "but as much as I pride myself on beeing a capable wizard and competent spy, I cannot see myself as a prospective partner. I´m rather sure any young girl would rather let me perform an Avada Kedavra spell on her than let me marry her. Maybe I could become her guardian? If she is still underaged..." "She isn´t", Dumbledore interrupted, "she turned seventeen this spring. And while the idea of guardianship is interesting, marriage will solve more than one problem. It will give the girl a new identity, you can live together without arousing too much controversy and if anything unfortunate ever happens to you, she will inherit all your belongings, thus preventing them from falling into inadequate hands.

Severus swore under his breath. There he was, his sweet old Dumbledore, scheming, playing his games again, using people as puppets in a pursuit of 'greater good'. To hell with him. "Why should I comply to take a part in your latest game?" he demanded. "You want me to sacrifice my freedom, my privacy, my dignity even! Where is the reward in it for me?" "There is none," Dumbledore responded, "apart from the fact, that you will gain an interesting companion and, if the prophecy is right, a powerfull ally in your crusade to avenge Lilly´s death."

Severus winced at the mention of Lilly´s name. Dumbledore was the only person in this school, who knew about Snape´s affection for Harry Potter´s late mother, and between them an unspoken agreement established, that neither of them will ever talk about her again. Dumbledore watched Snape clench and unclench his jaw muscles. He was prepared to plead miss McDawlish´s case for hours or days if required, but judging from Severus´s attitude, it wouldn´t take that long to win him over.

Snape flashed his black eyes at Dumbledore before he finally spoke. "She will not want me. I´m sure of it. You can´t honestly expect a 17 years old girl to jump at a chance of marrying much older man without love. Not to mention my dark past and recent involvement in a fight against the greatest evil of our times. That is, if she knows about it." "Yes indeed," Dumbledore smiled, "if your bad-teacher persona doesn´t scare her your spy activities might. Luckily for you, Severus, I have already consecrated miss McDawlish into our predicament. She agreed to help us.""You mean she agreed to marry me?" Snape breathed out disbelievingly. "What I meant was she is ready to help us fight against Voldemort. I did not dare to request her consent with the marriage without knowing if you are willing to accept her hand. Now, Severus, miss McDawlish is waiting outside my office. She remains oblivious as to the reason why I summoned her here. Should I call her in and pop the question on your behalf?"

Severus suppressed a sneer. Dumbledore appeared more and more cheerful every second. Why was the old man so sure the girl would agree with such a ridiculous arrangement he didn´t know. He willed himself not to think about the emotional outburst they were likely to witness in a few minutes time. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Then he nodded curtly in headmaster´s direction and whispered: "Do it."