Weft of Power, Warp of Blood: A Tapestry of Desire

Nice Girls Walking in the Dark with Strange Men - Part 2


Kiaya huffed in frustration. With every step that she took, the green silk pumps that she was having so much fun wearing sunk into the soft grass of the labyrinth. She was afraid they would be ruined in the course of the walk that she was taking. Not that she really wanted to be tracing the Shepherd’s Path with Lucius Malfoy holding her elbow, but she was. Leaving the crowded terrace had been a mistake, she clearly knew. The only reason she’d done it was her own stubborn pride and flattery and a niggling desire to rebel against the gossiping harpies. Was the gossip self- fulfilling? She genuinely hoped that she wasn’t that foolhardy; she’d have to control her mouth and emotions better than she had been. First, though, she had to get back inside without offending Lucius Malfoy.

She improvised, “Mr. Malfoy, I’m getting a bit chilly. Perhaps we should go back inside?” She tried to make the request as innocuous as possible.

“The night is so warm, I forgot how a lady’s bare shoulders can chill. Please forgive me, Miss Roundtree. If you will allow me?” He stroked his cane over each shoulder, murmuring a Warming Charm.

Immediately, she was warmer, but without an excuse. “That was kind of you, Mr. Malfoy. Thank you.”

He smiled charmingly and said, “You must know that it was a struggle to use ‘Calfacio’ rather than ‘Caleo’.” He chuckled at the play on words.

Resisting the urge to snap at him, Kiaya smiled too sweetly and said, “But that would be cheating, Mr. Malfoy. I’m sure you don’t need a charm to induce passion.”

“Not usually, no. You are a temptation, though, Kiaya,” he murmured, tugging her closer.

“Mr. Malfoy, I think it’s time we went back inside.” She tried to make her words firm, but they seemed to come out as a squeak. To forestall protest, she turned to retrace her steps out of the labyrinth but an invisible curtain of thicker air prevented her from taking more than a few steps.

“I’ve made you uncomfortable with my teasing. I do apologize, Miss Roundtree,” he said behind her.

Kiaya stopped fighting the air and turned to face him. The bubble above them highlighted his sharp cheekbones and turned his white blonde hair to moon-kissed gold. “Mr. Malfoy, I accept your apology, but I think it was a bad choice for me to come with you. I’m sorry for doing that – I think I gave you the wrong idea about me. I would like to go in now. Please release this… spell.”

His shadowed eyes searched her face. “I’m afraid that I can’t do that. It isn’t mine to release. The labyrinth’s designers wanted people to be calm by tracing its lines. To forestall panic, they made it impossible to go back. We must go forward on the path, through the entire trail, to leave.”

She looked at him steadily, trying to ascertain a lie but he looked only apologetic, “All right, Mr. Malfoy. We’ll go on.”

“Thank you. Again, I apologize for making you uncomfortable. I was simply teasing you.” He smiled charmingly.

She had no choice but to smile back – perhaps she had overreacted to teasing.

“Accept my apology?” he asked.

Kiaya nodded, “Of course.”

They wandered the path, chatting about Mr. Basilton for a few moments. Malfoy kept a guiding hand on her elbow but stood a safe distance from her side. Her discomfort eased under the force of his charm and the pattern of the path as they reached the center.

A voice from the outside of the labyrinth said, “Whenever you’re finished with your little stroll, Professor Dumbledore wanted to see you, Miss Roundtree.”

Startled, Kiaya jumped but was held fast by Malfoy’s grip. She recognized the voice after so many years; she searched for the speaker in the darkness.

Snape stepped over the jewel filled trenches of the labyrinth instead of following the path to them. Once he reached the spiral center, he stood several feet away from Lucius and Kiaya.

Lucius greeted him with, “Snape. So nice to see you, though I do wish it could have waited.”

“I was asked to fetch the… lady. I’m sure you understand, Malfoy.”

“Of course, but do you blame me for wanting to keep the lovely lady outside, away from the cretins in the ballroom? She is such an angel, I quite wanted to keep her for myself.”

Snape looked at her. His eyebrow raised, evaluating her, “She is quite lovely. I consider myself quite fortunate to have her to myself this year.”

Kiaya was silent but shocked. Professor Snape thought she was lovely? Lucius Malfoy thought she was lovely? Had the new dress been enchanted to give her a new face?

Lucius asked her if she would be teaching full time, Kiaya replied that she would only be teaching part of the time, though her evenings would be very busy with her research and making the potions needed to sustain the wizard community of Norwich.

He posed another question after noting that she’d be spending her evenings in Norwich rather than Scotland. “Tell me, have you spent any time looking into your lineage? You certainly bear a strong resemblance to a certain family I know,” he chuckled.

“Well, not really. That kind of thing was never really important to my Mum, though I think that’s because one of her great grandmothers was a Muggle,” she shrugged. “The people in my family have been bakers and chefs almost exclusively for several generations, I think, though anything is possible.” Kiaya thought the resemblance was coincidence and happenstance. After all, light colored eyes weren’t noteworthy and weren’t most blondes pale if they lived in England? She did rather think her light hair was her best feature but it wasn’t really worth any kind of fuss.

He kissed her hand again and said, “You may not have Malfoy blood in you after all. It’s been said that the Malfoy family looks like a group of fallen angels – but you, dear lady, are heavenly.”

Kiaya thought to herself that Mr. Malfoy looked like a fallen angel content to rule in an evil hell rather than serve in heaven. She managed to catch the thought before it escaped her lips and said only, “Oh, I’m nothing special, I’m just a baker’s daughter and potion brewer.”

Severus interrupted, clearly annoyed. “Miss Roundtree, if you’re not going to come inside, do let me know so that I don’t waste anymore time out here when I could be inside eating mertlap caviar and pretending to drink cheap champagne.”

“Oh! I’m sorry, Professor! Excuse me, please, Mr. Malfoy. Duty calls,” she flustered.

She slowly inched her way towards Snape and gratefully latched on to the excuse. She took his elbow, which he didn’t offer. He led her to the first trench, walked over it and looked to her expectantly. It seemed that the thick air didn’t manifest when one cheated on the labyrinth. She looked from the stone plants to the amethyst trench, to Snape, then hiked her skirt up to her knees and stepped over the divide. Both men visibly admired her legs but she didn’t notice as she hopped over each of the trenches to quickly get to the sides. When she reached the flat ground, she turned back to smile at Lucius, who bowed gallantly. Snape pressed his hand to the small of her back, subtly drawing her closer. He looked over his shoulder and smirked at Malfoy.

Just as they turned to walk away, Lucius called, “Snape, would you please come to my home tomorrow? I have some,” he paused and looked at Kiaya, “business that I need to discuss with you.”

Snape nodded once. Lucius disapparated with a crack. The noise gave Kiaya a jolt, immediately followed by another in the distance, signaling that he had apparated at the entrance of the ballroom.

“Er… oh my…” Jasmine was speechless, her head was spinning from the shock of Darian’s unexpected revelation.

Jasmine’s blue eyes widened as Darian lifted her chin with a light nudge of his fingertips. When he tentatively brushed his lips over hers, she closed her eyes and experimented with returning his caress but found that it felt merely pleasant. Sirius’ lips had claimed hers, even in the gentlest of kisses and turned her bones to butter. This kiss was nothing like that and she felt as though she was somehow betraying Sirius by doing it. She ducked her head away from the kiss and slipped out of Darian’s gentle embrace. “I….”

“Shh, I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I had really planned on a long courtship preceded by a great deal of friendly teasing– but I sort of got out of hand. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s all right, it’s just that…” Jasmine couldn’t complete the sentence; she was at a loss for words on how to let the man down gently but still feeling that she needed something to take her mind away from Sirius. Her mind spun with a jumble of phrases and images, the first of which was imagining that perhaps the topiary azalea unicorn was staring at her, waiting for her to say something – anything to make the man go away. “Darian, you’re Emily’s brother. I… I can’t say that I never thought about what it would be like to kiss you, because it would be a lie, but I was sixteen years old. All girls do that to their friend’s brothers. I… I….”

“I know, I’m sorry. Look, come sit down here with me,” he indicated the mosaic bench. “We can maybe talk about it? Like adults? Perhaps you’ll let me beg a little?” His charming smile was in shadow but she knew it was there.

She couldn’t help but giggle, he was an old friend but she didn’t want him to get his hopes up. She just wasn’t ready for anything new and the longer she was outside, the more startlingly obvious that became to her.

She watched the slowly tossing head of the unicorn topiary, feeling drawn to its serenity and power. Gulping, she said, “I think maybe we should go back.”

“I really would like you to sit with me for a bit,” he said, his voice hardening almost imperceptibly.

Her eyes narrowed, “It’s getting late. I would like to go back now.”

“Of course,” he sighed. “I’ve come on too strong. I’m sorry.”

“No… No, you didn’t. It’s me. Really.”

He nodded and offered his hand. “I understand. I promise that I won’t do anything else that will make you uncomfortable.”

With a soft smile, she crossed back to him, reaching for his hand. “Thanks, but…” she said softly.

Before she quite understood what was happening, Darian’s wand was in his hand, pointing at her. “Are you really sure you can’t stay with me? I’d really like it if you had a seat with me.”

“But...”

Belatedly she reached for her own wand but his hand manacled her wrist.

“Ouch! Darian, stop it, you’re hurting me!”

“I want you to come sit with me, Jasmine. I really must insist,” he said. Eddelson’s once pleasant voice was now that of a stranger, and his brown eyes were cold when she looked up at him. His strong hand tightened around her wrist as his wand lifted to point at her chest.

“You’re scaring me. This isn’t funny. Think about what Emily would say. Please stop it,” she softly begged.

“Darling, there’s someone I want you to meet. To do so, we’re going to need to sit down here for a bit.” He twisted her closer to him, tugging her arm behind her back. Without her wand, Jasmine was helpless to do anything but struggle in vain. He was a lot bigger than she was. “I’d quite fancy a bit of a snog, but I really don’t think that would be a good idea under the present circumstances,” he mused and gently shoved her toward the bench.

She had only taken a couple of forced steps when a voice behind her yelled, “Stupefy!”

A red flash filled the area as she whirled around, but Eddelson still had her hand clamped behind her back. She tripped over her skirts before she could see what was happening, feeling her shoulder wrench. Eddelson’s falling body dragged at her. With a shriek, Jasmine fell to the soft grass, her hair tumbling into her face. When she shoved her hair out of her face, she saw Darian lying on the ground, his eyes closed and mouth slack. He was still breathing.

“Obscuro!” said the voice.

The bubble of light was extinguished; the garden was plunged into darkness. Jasmine couldn’t help but panic from the ground where she’d fallen. “Who’s there?” she cried.

Silence answered.

She knew someone was watching her. He, whoever had stopped Darian was there, watching her. “Who’s there? I know you’re there!” she commanded, almost yelling. There was only silence.

Panic started to well. “Please come out! Who are you?” She struggled to stand but Eddelson had fallen on her skirts. The sound of her breathing, quick and loud in her rising panic, filled the small corner of the Garden. Wrenching her skirts from underneath Darian, she fell back again when they came free, knocking her head on the bench. Stars bloomed behind her eyes as she grabbed her head and tried to reach for her wand tucked in its holster on her leg.

“Lumos!” she said, trying not to give in to the panic. A small beam of light appeared at the end of her wand, though she wasn’t yet holding it. Before her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she grabbed it, holding her wand out and up in front of her. There was no one else there except Eddelson, crumpled on the grass.

“Where you born stupid or did you learn it somewhere other than in my class?”

Kiaya froze, her mouth agape, letting the full meaning of Snape’s words wash over her. Shaking her head to clear it, she asked, “What did you say?”

His strong hand had captured her elbow as he dragged her back to the ballroom. He tugged her along at a pace more suited to his long legs than her short ones. “I asked, were you born…”

“I heard you the first time!” she snapped.

“Then I must add ‘inattentive’ to your list of faults.”

“How dare you!”

“Audeo is my family motto, Miss Roundtree – never forget that I do dare. You carelessly walked away from a safe ballroom with a complete stranger. The worst that could have happened is indescribable in mixed company but it usually involves rape and murder. The least that could have happened to you is to have your already questionable reputation sullied even further. Or were you actually looking to become Malfoy’s next mistress?”

She looked stunned and began desperately, “Questio… No, he only asked me to see the roses because I didn’t dance with him.”

“The rose garden is on the left side of the patio or is your nose so insensitive that you didn’t smell them when you walked out of the ballroom?” he asked with a sneer.

She blushed and said defensively, “Of course I smelled those roses. I assumed that, since he offered to show me the rose garden and didn’t go there, that he meant another one. I was just trying to be polite.”

“Polite is it? Basilton isn’t even cold yet and you’re already looking to be ‘polite’ with another man? Have you no shame or do you have a black widow complex?” He looked down at her in disgust. “I’ll warn you, Malfoy won’t die conveniently when you’re done with him, plus his wife, son and assorted cousins would inherit before his whore would.”

She summoned every bit of willpower she had to master her rage before it mastered her. Eyes flashing and barely able to speak, Kiaya ground out, “I loved Mr. Basilton as a teacher and only a teacher. I was his student and only his student. Nothing else. What I do with someone else is none of your business and if you ever- ever even think that I had something to do with his death, I shall hex you into oblivion.” She was shaking with rage and the almost irresistible urge to slap Snape. Her eyes were tearing up, not from sadness but rage and her face was turning an unbecoming shade of red.

He stared at her, his black eyes fathomless in the dim light of a glowing bubble. Almost imperceptibly, he nodded his head, acknowledging that he knew she had nothing to do with Basilton’s death. “Stay away from Malfoy,” he instructed starkly.

The command set Kiaya’s teeth on edge. “You needn’t worry about my virtue, I can take care of myself,” she proclaimed, whirling towards the ballroom.

“I’m not worried about your virtue, idiot child, I’m worried about Hogwarts and the headmaster being called into question for hiring a slut,” he called before catching up to her in two long pantherlike strides.

“Did you muck up a Wit Sharpening potion and drink it anyway or were you simply unloved as a child?” she goaded venomously, without looking at him. She didn’t want him to see that she was crying, even if they weren’t tears showing that his words hurt her. Extreme anger always made her cry. Kiaya considered it a weakness and hated herself for it.

Snape jerked her to a halt and spun her to face him. The green silk of her skirt and petticoats twisted around her legs. His powerful fingers dug into the tender flesh of her upper arms, holding her immobile. He brought his face very close to hers. “Mind your manners around people that are older and smarter than you, you stupid little bint,” he hissed.

Breathless from his attack, with her arms screaming in agony, Kiaya gaped at him but refused to bend. Her hands raised to press against his chest, fingers curled into defensive claws. His robes were made of heavy velvet and she knew she wasn’t doing any damage with her short nails. She tried to wriggle away from him, but Snape was too strong and held her fast. His coffee-scented breath was hot on her face, his expression predatory. Belatedly, Kiaya felt a tingle of fear through her anger.

“Get your hands off me,” she snarled, attempting to master ‘cool contempt’. His grip hurt but she didn’t take time to feel pride in keeping the pain out of her voice. Her chin lifted in feminine challenge.

He glared at her. A vein was throbbing in his neck. His eyes narrowed as they bored into hers. Silent tears of rage slipped down her cheek but she didn’t acknowledge them. Nor did he.

Seconds turned into minutes as they stared at each other; his hands crushing her upper arms. Neither moved. The bubble was no longer bobbing along the gravel path. Instead, it was still, hovering over a small fountain a butter-colored imitation of the silvery moon above their heads. The reflection of it in the water was beautiful, but neither of the combatants noticed.

Eyes like dark tunnels glared at her; there was a gleam of malice in them. The feeling that she was caught by a dangerous predator solidified. Images of hungry dragons, bloodthirsty panthers and poisonous cobras crowded her mind, colliding with the overwhelming feeling that Snape wanted to strike her into submission when he was finished staring into her soul. Kiaya denied the overwhelming urge to cower or run to safety and never look back. Fear grew into a heavy ball in front of her heart, destroying the normal rhythm. Her heart sped up but her breathing became shallow. She felt new perspiration cooling on her upper lip and under her eyes. Stubbornly, she refused to give into terror – it was, after all, only Snape. She used that as a mantra for several interminable seconds. Her jaw clenched but she didn’t look away. The fear eased slowly until she felt like she could speak.

“Leave me alone, Snape. I’ve done nothing wrong and trying to intimidate me won’t work,” she said quietly, determined never to look at or speak with Snape again unless forced to at school – then it would only be perfunctory. His eyes lost the unholy gleam and he took a step back. His hands loosened though he did not release her.

A woman’s shriek rent the air, followed by a voice shouting for help and calls of, “Who are you?”

Snape released her arms but grasped her wrist like a naughty child as he listened intently then broke into a run, dragging Kiaya behind him.

“Jasmine! Where are you?” yelled Snape as he veered onto another path. The light bubble bobbled above and behind them, its enchantment unable to keep up with their speed or anticipate each twist and turn Snape made.

“Severus! I’m here! I’m here! In the topiary garden!” Jasmine called back, still scanning the garden for the other man while holding her aching head. No one was there.

Snape burst through the hedge, followed by a woman in green. He looked at Eddelson on the ground and rushed to Jasmine. Releasing Kiaya, he knelt in front of the tiny redhead, tugging her into his arms. “Are you alright? You screamed. What happened? We heard you….”

“I’m okay. I think. I’ve just hit my head when Darian…” she couldn’t finish. Instead, she clung to her best friend.

“What happened, Jas?” he asked, commanding an answer. He cradled her head to his shoulder, carefully threading his fingers through her hair, checking for injuries.

Jasmine, still in shock, allowed herself to be cuddled for a moment before speaking. “That’s Darian Eddelson, you know, Emily’s brother? We were walking, talking about Emily, then he just… got weird. He was flirting with me and didn’t want to take no for an answer. When I said that I wanted to go back, he grabbed my hand then dragged me in here, then he was on the ground. I guess… it just happened so fast, I don’t know what happened, really.” Tears trembled on her lashes as her words tumbled out. Jasmine tried to maintain control of herself. She refused to shatter now of all times, when it was all over with.

“He attacked you?” Severus demanded, looking ready to kill. Despite that, he held the tiny woman like something soft and fragile. Over the top of her head, he scanned the area in the dim light.

“Yes, I think. He … he wanted me to sit with him. There…” she pointed to the bench that was magically rearranging the picture on its seat from a summer’s afternoon by the lake to a winter snow scene. “I didn’t even want to come in here… he kissed me and I didn’t like it and then he…” she sighed. “I don’t know. There was someone here, though. They Stunned him but wouldn’t come out. I don’t know who it was but… Can we please just go home now?”

He nodded and stood, helping Jasmine up then slowly guided her to Kiaya before releasing her. “Do you have your wand?”

Kiaya nodded, “Yes, of course.” She hiked her skirt up on one side without thought of modesty in light of the situation. Her wand was strapped to the outside of her thigh, in a green garter expressly made for that purpose. After retrieving it, she shook her skirts back out but held her wand defensively, hoping she’d remember the proper incantations should she need them.

Jasmine looked at Kiaya’s dress and said the first thing that popped into her head “That’s my dress.”

Shocked, Kiaya sputtered, “Er... well, I got it from Three Flowers…”

“Yes, I know. I made that dress. I’m Flowering Jasmine…. I mean Jasmine Swan. Who are you?” Her voice sounded dull and her eyes were glazed.

Realizing that the other woman was probably in shock, Kiaya gentled her voice. “I’m Kiaya Roundtree, I’m a new teacher at Hogwarts. Potions, with Professor Snape.” She wrapped one arm around the other woman’s shoulders.

“Oh.” Jasmine stood still, allowing the embrace.

Snape looked down at the redhead and tucked a strand of her hair behind her shoulder. He glanced at Kiaya, “Take her to the headmaster. Tell him exactly what you saw here and what she said. Do not leave her alone, for even a moment, until you get her to him,” instructed Snape.

Kiaya nodded her acquiescence and turned away, still holding Jasmine. The other woman had started trembling. Kiaya murmured reassuring nonsense words to calm her as they stepped onto the path.

“Keep your wand out, Miss Roundtree. Use it on anyone or anything that gets near you and ask questions later,” Snape called to their backs.

She waved and kept murmuring reassurance to Jasmine, wondering who she was and why Snape treated her like spun glass. She idly noted that they were about the same height, which delighted a part of her, since she’d always been the shortest adult that she knew.

Jasmine stopped and looked over her shoulder at Snape. She was regaining her calm. “What are you going to do with him?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just go inside and tell Dumbledore. I’ll take care of it.”

“Is he a…?”

Snape slashed the air with his hand, “I’ll take care of it. Go back inside and stay with Dumbledore.”

She nodded and they resumed their trek back into the ballroom in silence, Jasmine leaning slightly on the other woman. She, too, silently noted that they were about the same height, though the blonde- what was her name- was a hair shorter. She sank back into her thoughts of Darian, wondering what she would tell dearest Emily.

Snape stood still in the dark. Without looking around, he asked in a normal tone, “What happened?”

A voice came from the shadows, “He was manhandling her, so I Stunned him. He’ll be out until you wake him.”

“His sister is an old friend of hers. I know them both. It seems out of character for him.”

“Eddelson was chatting her up and then tried to drag her to the bench. You might want to have a look at it,” said the voice.

Snape walked to the bench but didn’t touch it. It seemed perfectly normal, mosaic tiles and black concrete, which probably meant that either Eddelson was trying to help himself to a beautiful woman, or the bench was a portkey. Without changing expressions, Snape said to the owner of the voice, “I thought I told you to leave her alone.”

The hidden man answered, “When was the last time I did anything you wanted, Snivellus?”

Snape changed the subject, “Why were you here?” He spotted Eddelson’s wand on the ground and, looking at it thoughtfully, put it in his pocket.

The voice answered, “That’s none of your business, just be glad that I was.”

“You could have been seen,” accused Snape into the shadows.

The voice replied, “She didn’t know it was me. She didn’t see me, She didn’t hear me except for the spells. You should be grateful that I was here.”

Snape looked in the direction the voice was coming from.

Sirius Black stepped out from behind the unicorn topiary. Snape only inclined his head – it would be the only thanks that Sirius would get, but it was enough for both men. It certainly didn’t mean the end of the war, though.

“I can’t imagine what you think you’re doing skulking about in the bushes. Your very nature suggests that it’s impossible for you to achieve any kind of stealth.”

“Fuck you, Snivellus. This really isn’t the time for your special brand of bullshit.”

“Tsk tsk. What happened to your sterling manners in London?” Snape mocked, not bothering to look at Black. Instead he scanned the ground, looking for any kind of clue to the events of the evening. He muttered, “Lumos.” The tip of his wand glowed.

Sirius pointed his wand at the light bubble he’d switched off.“Inluminare,” he commanded. It glowed once again. “No one’s watching. I don’t have to be polite to you,” Sirius scoffed, also investigating the bench but not touching it.

Snape said conversationally, “Dumbledore said that you’re not to leave the house. You seem to have slipped your collar.”

“I just went out to stretch my legs,” said Sirius defensively.

“And ended up three hundred miles from where you started out?”

“It was a long walk.”

“Still trying to be a hero, hmm? We may need to have Dumbledore tighten your choke chain.” he sneered.

Sirius sounded resigned, “I’m not trying to be a hero. If I were, she’d have known I was here. She didn’t.”

“Since you seem to be out of your cage, are you asking to be killed? If you are, I’ll be happy to help you with that.”

Finding nothing of interest with the bench, Sirius stood and looked at Severus. He quietly said “Get in line, she’s first.”

Snape did nothing to disabuse him of that opinion; instead he said “Be a good boy and go back to your hiding place. As usual, you’re useless here.”

Sirius looked to the house, hesitating.

Snape fondled his wand and said, “Get out of here, Black. I think I hear your mummy calling you.”

“Sod off, Snivellus,” Sirius spat and disapparated.

Jasmine and Kiaya got back into the ballroom without incident and immediately located Professor Dumbledore. Jasmine stepped into his waiting embrace without hesitation; Kiaya was confused but did not ask who this woman was, that she had two powerful wizards ready to embrace her as family. Instead, Kiaya spoke for the silent and still trembling Jasmine, dutifully explaining everything she’d seen and heard after her argument with Snape. Dumbledore listened intently, interrupting only for clarification and thanked Kiaya gravely. He dismissed her so that he could speak with Jasmine alone when her story was finished.

A worried looking Professor McGonagall led Kiaya to a refreshment table to nibble on cucumber sandwiches while thanking her for returning Jasmine safely. Before Kiaya could ask who, exactly, Jasmine was, McGonagall warned her off of Lucius Malfoy. “He’s not a nice man, though as his son may be in your class so I hope you haven’t upset him in any way. Draco Malfoy is a little monster and could make life rather difficult.”

“I’ll remember that,” Kiaya said quietly, exhausted. “Mr. Malfoy wasn’t so bad, a bit pushy is all. I was actually trying to come back inside when Professor Snape came along.”

McGonagall replied “Good, I’m glad he got to you before Malfoy did anything improper. Please do not go anywhere alone with him again, though, Miss Roundtree.”

“I’ve learned my lesson, Professor. I won’t do anything to make you send Professor Snape out after me again,” she vowed.

Dumbledore led Jasmine to them, tucked protectively under his arm. “Minerva, please make sure that Kiaya is escorted back to Norwich. I do not want her going alone. I am going to take Jasmine back to the Garden and see that she gets settled.” He nodded his goodbyes and led the beautiful redhead away, ignoring the gossiping ballroom.

Severus crossed back to Eddelson, squatting down next to him. He stared at the other man’s face for several moments, then dragged the left sleeve of the unconscious man’s crimson robe up to the elbow. A skull and snake glared evilly up at him, pale skin gilded by the moon. The mark was a familiar dull gray outline. Snape stood and hauled him up by his collar. Eddelson’s head lolled to the side.

Snape pointed his wand and muttered, “Mobil-fucking-corpus”. He guided Eddelson to the bench, wrapped his arm around the young man’s waist, sat on the bench and clutched the tiled seat. “One, two, three.”