Hidden Weapon

Adelind looked up at the two men. "What is love?"

Dumbledore looked at Severus, who shook his head as if to say 'Oh no, you take this one.' The headmaster smiled down at Adelind. "'Love is an emblem of eternity: it confounds all notions of time: effaces all memories of a beginning, all fear of an end'*." Adelind felt puzzled. "Love is not only an emotion or feeling, but a way of life. When you love someone or are in love with them, you'll stop at no end to see them happy or keep them safe. The love of a parent or child, the love of a friend, the love of a lover can help you in so many ways."

"Why would you ask me if my father loved me?" Adelind asked, watching the two men before her. Throughout the meeting she'd noticed they way they interacted, in sync with each other without even noticing it, communicated through looks and touches. She suspected that whatever Dumbledore was describing was what they felt for each other. She searched through the few people she'd known in her life and wondered if any of the feelings she'd felt for them could be called love.

"I ask because of everything I know of your Father I believe he is incapable of love. That fact is one of the only weaknesses we can use against him. However, if he did indeed love you then we no longer have that."

"Well there's no need to distress. If love is anything like you've described, I can assure you he did not love me. He treated me as one might a pet, friendly, familial, but with an air of despensibility." Dumbledore practically sighed as this admission.

"Well Ms. Lestrange, you've told quite the tale. I, of course, will offer all that I can to ensure you protection, and I believe you may be able to help us also." The headmaster took his seat across the desk. Adelind smiled, the first smiled she'd given since entering the office, and Severus felt the breath rush out of his lungs. She was so beautiful. Dumbledore went on. "I'd like for you to stay here tonight and tomorrow we can speak again about what we should do. I have a few ideas I'd like to talk to you about, but I think a night rest would be best for all of us. We have rooms available in the north tower and the dungeons, do you have any preference?"

"I'd enjoy a room in the dungeons, if that's easiest sir." Severus was surprised at her answer, no one besides himself resided in the dungeons, preferring the sunlight and the warmth over the chilly darkness the stone walls offered.

"Yes of course, of course. Severus," he glanced up at his name. "Could you please show Adelind to her rooms and have the elves bring her something to eat." They both stood up, and Adelind followed suit.

"Of course Headmaster. Ms. Lestrange, if you would please follow me." They exited the office and descended the staircase together. Upon entering the hallway Adelind pulled back up her hood, as if to hide her self from anyone they might encounter; which there was a slim chance of as most of the teachers were at their summer homes, and it was well past midnight. They walked the quiet hallways and Adelind glanced at the statues and suits of armor that lined the hall. Ciaran slipped out of her robes and into the hood of her cloak. ~We're staying here now?~ he hissed.

~For tonight at least. A lot has happened. I'll tell you about it later.~ At this, the man in front of her stopped shorted causing Adelind to crash into his back. He turned around sharply and it took all of his will power not to grab her shoulders and shake her.

"You're a Parselmouth?" his voice was sharp and caused Adelind to wince.

"Yes, inherited from my father. Does that change things?" She was nervous, and he could tell. In an attempt to soothe the young girl, he lowered his voice.

"No, no. It just startled me. It's very rare you know that right?"

"Well, Father always said it made us special, but he never really went into it. He did teach me to read and write it though." Severus noticed that there was no pride in her voice, she was only stating a part of who she was not asking for the praise she deserved for such a feat.

"That's quite the gift you have. May I ask, who were you speaking to?" Severus listened as she hissed again and slowly pulled out a small yellow snake.

"This is Ciaran, he's a yellow pit viper. My father gave him to me for my coming of age." Severus watched as she gently handled the highly venomous snake. Part of him wanted to pull the snake out of her grasp and kill it right there before it killed him, and another part of him was jealous of Adelind's ability to tame such a deadly animal. Severus watched the two speak in the snake language he secretly found erotic.

"Ciaran says he smells your need to kill him, that you find him to be a threat. Tell me Severus, do you want to protect yourself or me?" She smirked at him, and suddenly Severus could see the family resemblance to her parents. Adelind may have been shy and timid but she was no one to mess with that was for sure. Even if Severus couldn't feel the waves of power pulsing off of her, he could see the strength in her stance, the coldness of her eyes.

"You're quite an interesting person Ms. Lestrange. You continue to surprise." Adelind flashed him another of her breath taking smiles and let him ignore her question. She kissed Ciaran and he slid back into her cloak settling him on her shoulder.

"We've met before you know." She said as they continued down the hall. They came to a staircase and slowly descended, the temperature lowering with each step. Her looked at her questioningly, and she went on. "At a death eaters meeting. You walked into a room just as I was trying to exit and we almost collided. You said to me "Forgive me Madame." It made me laugh because you assumed I was someone's wife." She giggled at the thought, and the sound caused lust to coarse through his veins. 'What am I an adolescent boy?' Severus thought to himself.

"I remembered it because you have one of the most heavily occluded minds I've ever encountered. Far stronger than any of the other death eaters." Severus stiffened. "I never got the whole way in, but I got in enough to know you were a spy. In fact, you were one of the ones who gave me the strength the escape." They reached a lone door at the end of the hallway, and Adelind grabbed his arm and looked up into the eyes of the man who'd helped her in ways she couldn't explain. "Thank you." She whispered.

Severus could only nod, shocked at the look of trust in her powder blue eyes. He reached for the door knob and pushed open the door slowly. Adelind walked into the rooms and looked around. The sitting room was done in light browns and cremes with plush couches and chairs that faced a marble fire place. "Wonderful," she breathed taking it all in.

"You're room is through that door in the back, there's a bathroom attached to that." He snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared with a tray of food. "I see the headmaster has already spoken with you," he said to the elf. "Please just place it on the sitting room table. Thank you." The elf popped away while Adelind unclasped her cloak and draped it over the back of a chair. Underneath the blood red cloak she wore femininely tailored robes that showed off the swell of her breasts and thighs and the slimness of her waist. Severus could see the diamond choker that glittered at her throat.

Adelind seemed to noticed him looking at it and said, "A gift from my father. He wasn't the most pleasant of men, but he did seem to enjoy decorating me. I think he liked to show off his wealth." Severus snorted in agreement. "Would you like to join me for a late dinner. Or perhaps early breakfast," she glanced at the clock above the mantle.

"Thank you, but no, I've had a long day and would like to get back to sleep. If you need anything we passed the door to my chambers back in the hallway, please do not hesitate to ask. You may also call the house elves to you." And with that he left, leaving Adelind to finally relax after what felt like hours of tension. Part of her still expected Dumbledore to come tearing into the room to throw her out all the while screaming about the spawn of Satan under the roof of Hogwarts.

Adelind picked up a cup of tea and walked into the room Severus had indicated to be the bedroom. She gasped when she entered and almost dropped the cup in her hand. It was if that room had rearranged to fit her tastes, and she had a feeling that was exactly the case. An enormous black wrought iron bed stood in the middle of the room complete with heavy black curtains and crimson bed coverings. A large black chest of drawers stood at the opposite wall towering over the bed. The walls were a dark mocha color and on the left wall hung quite possibly the largest mirror Adelind had ever seen.

She walked before it and set her tea on the night stand next to the bed. With the wave of her hand she undid the buttons at the back of her robes and slowly slipped off the garment. The yellow snake came tumbling out of the fabric as she tossed it on the bed, giving an annoyed hiss, but Adelind ignored it. She looked at herself in the mirror for the first time ever. She'd caught her face in reflections before, but never with such clarity. Her father had always told her that she didn't need her beauty to distract her from her goals in life. He was always quick to tell her that indeed she was beautiful and that one day she would be able to sit in his throne and revel in the fact, but for now it was best she didn't know about it.

She reached out to caress the reflection of her pale skin. Nineteen years of forced night were to thank for her startlingly white skin and her short slender body. Her straight black hair hung to her waist, hair she'd inherited from her mother. Slowly she ran her fingers through it, seemingly feeling it for the first time. Glancing farther up she stared into her own eyes. Eyes the color of ice, her father had said they were a gift from him, although he himself had red eyes. She had never told him, and would never admit it, but she'd always found her fathers eyes hypnotically gorgeous. One of the reasons she favored the color crimson so much.

Slowly Adelind hooked her fingers into her panties and slid them down. As she stepped out of them, she gazed at the reflection of her smooth white thighs which lead up to a nest of curly black hair. She ran her fingers through the nest and a strange feeling shot through her body. Oddly enough she found herself thinking of the man down the hall, and the intensity of his eyes when they looked at her. She reached behind her back and unhooked her lacy black bra. Her father had let her keep ordering catalogs in her room, with the money to buy to her hearts content, which was the reason she had to thank for such pretty under garments. She tossed the bra away and looked at her breasts. She thought they were pretty decent sized, too small to make her appear top heavy but large enough to spill over her hands when she held them. She looked at the salmon pink of her nipples, which were hard from the chill of the room.

At that thought she wandlessly started the fireplace up and slipped beneath the covers of the bed that was much too large for her.

~I've always told you you're beautiful.~ Her familiar hissed.

~This is the first time I've ever thought about believing you.~

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*~ Germaine De Stael
Also Adelind means Noble Serpent. I thought that Voldemort might name his prodigy something a little close to home.

BTW Harry and the gang will be in this story. There's no way I could leave those cuties out! They just won't be the main focus. I hope you all like Adelind, she's been bouncing around in my head for months now. I'd love to her your comments and suggestions for her. I live for reviews and criticism (as long as it's friendly :]) so please let me know what you guys are thinking! Thank you!!!