Three Marks of Power

A/N: I had this story completed at one pint but then my computer freaked out and had a meltdown, so please let me know what you think so I can decide if I should bother working on it.

Chapter 3

Alex and Severus never lost eye contact as Lucius smoothly extricated Draco and Hermione from the room leaving them with Albus who was busy patting himself down, in search for more lemon drops no doubt. As he found one, he popped it into his mouth as the silence stretched.

“Miss Marcellus,” Severus finally broke the tension as he raised one eyebrow, “Would you like me to escort you to the castle?”

She narrowed her beautiful eyes at him but when she would have refused—after all, she was not that easy—Uncle Albus decided to interject himself into the conversation, “That sounds like a champion idea Severus. I cannot take her myself as I still have to set up a guard schedule for Sirius and the wards for his room. Then I have to perform the binding ceremony for him and Nymphadora, which I doubt the two of you would wish to attend seeing as Sirius was supposed to stand with Remus, though now I think on it, Remus will probably want Kingsley or Harry to stand for him.” He finished thoughtfully. Turning to Alex he said in full dotty-old-man-routine which never fooled her for a minute, “I know Minerva is anxious to see you again and made me promise to send you along to her chambers for tea and conversation the minute you arrived.”

Alex wanted to hiss at him, but resigned herself to being accompanied by the striking Potions Master. She was understandable nervous about being alone with him as she may be surprisingly inexperienced in the romance department, but she was not stupid enough to misunderstand the look in his eyes whenever she met is obsidian gaze. It definitely didn’t help her equilibrium that she felt a large thrill when she saw that expression.

But she was smart enough to sense that this man would gladly take her over completely if she let him, and she was to independent to let any man do that let alone the one she would eventually marry--even if she was wildly attracted to him. She realized then that she was indeed going to have to marry this wizard, but she was stubborn enough to not want to make it easy. She had nothing really against marriage and deep down, she was just leery of the kind of marriages her friends from school had made. Marry in haste, repent in leisure and all that. She didn’t know one that was actually happy now that the first rush of lust was over.

She just wanted a marriage like her own parents had had, one of equal partnership and unbelievable passion. Even after forty years of marriage and ten children, her parents still acted like newlyweds up until the day her mother had died when she was sixteen.

Therefore she graciously allowed Professor Snape to take her arm and lead her out of Grimmauld Place after saying their goodnights to Albus. They said not a word as they reached the sidewalk but then Alex suddenly remembered her promise to call her brother Bobby as soon as she arrived. Pulling up short, Severus looked at her in askance and she nodded towards a phone booth a short distance away as she asked, “Would you mind if we stop for a moment? I had promised Bobby I would call him.”

“Of course, they would want to know that you and Miss Granger arrived safely.” Severus said. He knew he would if he were in their place. Not knowing if she knew how to use the Muggle device, he asked delicately, “Do you require any help?”

She smiled as she answered, “No but thank you. Wizarding society in America is not as separatist as it is here. We use Muggle things like electricity, which is easier on the eyes than candles, and telephones, which are faster and less bothersome than owls.”

“Really?” he asked with his eyebrows raised. He had never been to America so he had no idea what the wizarding culture there was like. He had just assumed it was the same as Britain.

They reached the booth and she placed her call while he retreated down the sidewalk a short distance to give her some privacy. After about five minutes though, he heard her say exasperatedly, “Alright, alright already. Yes, he’s right here.” Placing her hand over the mouthpiece, she told Severus with another eye-roll, “It’s Bobby. He is insisting on talking to you.”

Taking the phone from her, he put it to his ear and said “Hello? Bobby?”

He heard Bobby Marcellus’s unmistakable baritone give a tinny laugh as he replied, “How the hell are you old man? Jake and I were glad to hear you and Lucius turned back to the right side, though we were sorry to hear about Cissy. She was a grand lady.” He finished with a sorrowful tone.

“Yes, she was.” Severus replied, “How the hell are you?” He asked wanting to change the subject. If Bobby was in front of him, Severus would probably insist on taking him to a small pub he knew around here and catch up, not to mention pump him for information about his sister.

They exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes while Severus kept a close eye on Alex as she wandered down the sidewalk to give him privacy to talk. As it turned out, he did not need to ask Bobby any questions about his sister when Bobby said with seriousness, “I need you to do me a favor Severus, can you?”

“Sure Bobby, depending on what favor it is and if it’s legal.” Severus replied knowing full well he was dealing with a fellow Slytherin after all.

“It’s nothing like that, I just want you to keep close to my sister until Jake and I get there next week.” Bobby said.

“You know I will Bobby.” Severus assured the man on the telephone as his own gaze swept up and down her form as he thought of some very interesting ways he could keep his promise. Gods, he never realized he had such a dirty mind. He also wondered if Bobby knew just how close he was going to get to his little sister.

“Good. She doesn’t know that many people there besides Albus and Minerva so I feel better knowing that there is someone I can trust to watch her.” Bobby sighed with relief. “She is our baby sister and she’s very special to all of us, as ornery as she is, she has a good heart. But be careful.”

“Why should I be careful?” Snape asked curiously.

Bobby laughed as he informed him, “Watch what you say. If you offer to drop her off in Diagon Alley and tell her to do some shopping, make damn sure you are halfway down the street and have your wand in your hand when you do. And don’t, whatever you do, DO NOT order her about. You just may end up in a prolonged stay at St. Mungo’s due to the viciousness of her hexes. She won’t do anything deadly, but that doesn’t mean she won’t make it highly humiliating or extremely painful. Or both. And you will not see it coming. She is not only wicked fast, she’s sneaky. She was supposed to go to Hogwarts but my Dad, after talking to my Uncle Edverard decided at the last minute to send her to Salem Academy.”

“Why wouldn’t he just send her to Hogwarts?” Snape was curious. After all, if Jackson Marcellus and Albus were friends, it should stand to reason he would send his daughter to someone he trusted.

Bobby snorted with more laughter as he answered, “Because Alex is Uncle Edverard’s favorite and he made my dad finally face facts he had been in denial about for years concerning Alex’s true nature. It was bad enough that he had two sons in Slytherin, but to realize that his only daughter would likely be one too was a little too much for Dad’s poor little Gryffindor heart to handle. She’s scary now, what do you think she would have been like as a fully trained Slytherin?”

Severus started thinking even more lewd thoughts along the lines of putting a whole lot of Slytherin in her, after all the emblem of Slytherin was a serpent for more than one reason, but he wisely said nothing about that to Bobby. He had known way back in school that Bobby was the most fiercely protective about Alex when Black had made some smart-ass comment in class one day about the kind of sister that would have a Slytherin for a brother and got sent to the hospital wing for almost a week when Bobby retaliated. Severus snickered when he remembered that after his release from Madam Pomphery’s care, he had just wound back there again for the afternoon when the Gryffindor brother had heard about whatever it was that he had said.

Severus and Booby talked for a few more minutes before Severus gave the phone back to Alex, who wasted no time in ending the call as it was getting chilly. As they continued to the Apparation Point, the silence stretched between them before Alex broke it by asking, “Did Bobby tell you to keep an eye on me?”

Severus didn’t quite know how to answer that. To say yes would imply that neither he nor her brother thought she was capable of looking out for herself, but if he said no, then she would surely know that he was lying. Getting caught in a lie by a woman he was hoping to convince to marry him was definitely not a wise move. And she undoubtedly knew her own brother enough to ascertain exactly what the two of them had talked about.

Biting the bullet as the Muggles would say, Severus answered truthfully, “Yes, he did ask me that.”

She huffed and muttered something to herself and Severus decided to distract her in a way that would allow them to get to know each other better short of some very carnal activities that ran through his head. “Would you care to get a drink before we head back to the school?”

She gave him a shrewd look and nodded her head. Taking her arm, he led her to a pub he occasionally frequented when he felt the need to have a drink after Order meetings. After they sat down in a booth and ordered their drinks, each of them stared at the other as if daring the other to bring up the marriage business.

Instead, he asked her about how her brothers were doing and after a while, it seemed to put her at ease. The topic moved on to other subjects and he found her to be an intelligent and amusing companion. Before they knew it, it was time for the pub to close. They had been talking for more than three hours and they both knew that they had better return to the castle before Albus and Minerva sent out a search party.

The sexual tension was palpable between the two of them as he gathered her close to his body for duel Apparation. Holding her in his arms felt so right that he was surprised that he had the presence of mind to not splinch the two of them. As they popped into existence at the front gates of Hogwarts, she stumbled and Snape clutched her closer. As the bulge in his trousers came into firm contact with the cradle of her pelvis, he had to hold back a groan.

Noticing the heavy lidded look in her eyes, he could hold himself back no longer. He leaned forward and kissed her hungrily. She responded at once by wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning into his lanky frame more. When her whimpered moan reached his ear, passion exploded between them and Severus’s hands started to roam freely over her body.

Her hands left his shoulders and ran down his back to cup his arse and pull him more firmly into her. Severus skillfully unbuttoned her outer robe. Pulling the neckline of her tank-top down with an impatient yank, he popped one heavy breast out which puckered invitingly in the chilly air. She panted heavily as he gazed at her for a moment before he swooped down and captured the rose colored nipple in his mouth.

She cried out at the ferocious sucking sensation before bringing one small hand around to cup his hardened member intimately. He groaned loudly without taking his mouth off of her and ran a hand up her thigh while thrusting into her hand in a hard movement.

Before his hand could work its way past her panties, he dimly heard the sound of someone coming. Giving her well-used nipple one last pull, he reluctantly withdrew from her. Setting her a few inches away from him, he made sure she was steady before withdrawing his hands.

She gazed at him with a dazed expression and he said, “Someone is coming for us.”

Her face cleared and she started to rebutton her robes. Severus shielded her by standing between her and the gate until she was composed once again before turning around to see the huge form of Hagrid.

He greeted them both with a slightly embarrassed expression that told Snape without words that he had if not seen some of their activities, at least suspected he had interrupted something. He left them to go back to his hut and the couple slowly made their way to the front doors.

After Hagrid left, Severus waited a moment before saying smoothly, “I apologize Alex. I should not have let it get that far. Not while we were out in the open where anyone could have seen us.”

“You don’t have to apologize Severus.” She said softly with a downcast look.

It suddenly occurred to Snape that she doubted her own desirability which made him stop and grab her arm. Turning her to face him, he stated emphatically, “Make no mistake Alex. I want you. I want to take you to the nearest bed—hell, the nearest horizontal surface would do, and make you completely and utterly mine. I want to make you scream my name as I take you over and over again until the both of us are too exhausted to move, but I do NOT want to embarrass you by letting the two of us get caught fucking out in the open like teenagers.” He pulled her closer and kissed her softly, “I want you. And I want you for my wife. I would never allow anyone to confuse the witch I want as a witch that is just some fling that is so casual that I wouldn’t care about getting caught and thereby allowing people to gossip about her. I was just not expecting it to be so—,” he found that he couldn’t find the words.

She relaxed as she smiled at him, “I know. I wasn’t expecting it to be like that either.”

They kissed gently once more before he cleared his throat and said half teasingly, “We should go before Minerva hexes us on sight.”

Alex chortled and said, “Yes, I suppose we should.”

They continued on their way in companionable silence. Minerva met the two of them on the front steps and shrewdly took in their flushed and rumpled appearances as well as their joined hands. Albus was going to be beside himself with glee when he found out how well his little matchmaking scheme was working, at least in their case. The old fart was going to be impossible if Malfoy Sr. and his arranged love interest got along so well.

Suppressing her smirk at the sight of the young lovers, she made no mention of it as she exclaimed, “There you are! Albus thought he was going to have to send someone from the Order to look for the two of you!” She chivied them into the castle clucking the entire way. She couldn’t help but smile as they gave one last lingering look at each other before the three parted at the foot of the Grand Staircase. Severus watched them go up the stairs with a hot, possessive look in his black eyes before going to his chambers to relieve the pressure in his trousers.

Minerva, talking quietly with Alex, found herself in a bit of a quandary. She wanted both Alex and Severus to find happiness, together if the God’s granted. Alex, no matter what she said about needing no man, longed for a family deep down and no one deserved happiness as much as Severus in her opinion. The man had been far too lonely for far too long, not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

But Minerva was no fool. She knew that they both had tempers to be wary of. No relationship between such volatile people would be free of fireworks, which carefully nurtured, could be passionate indeed. But even Minerva had heard the rumors of Severus’s sexual proclivities. It was rumored that he could exhaust the entire population of the brothels of Hogsmead and Diagon Alley when he was in the mood. The rumors of his size were also well talked about. Poppy, who patched the Potions Master up after a meeting with Voldemort frequently, was stubbornly tight lipped about the matter, but it was said that Severus Snape was hung like a Hippogriff.

Minerva was also one of the few in Alex’s life that was privy to the fact that the girl, no matter how beautiful, was still a virgin, therefore not equipped to deal with a sexually demanding man who from all accounts, could pound a witch through a few mattresses and left hardened whores sore and walking bowlegged.

Severus was a good man, no doubt about that, but he was not a gentle man and Minerva worried that Alex would not be able to sexually handle him. She knew that the old saying that sex wasn’t everything was not entirely accurate. That was for those who went unsatisfied to comfort themselves with. Minerva was old enough and experienced enough to know that sexual satisfaction was a very big part of a relationship.

But seeing the happiness in Alex’s, and also in Severus’s eyes, she decided not to say anything. She would just have to trust Severus to not be too demanding in the bedroom until Alex was accustomed to the situation. She was going to have to trust him to be gentle and understanding… at least at first.

Minerva tried her best to lose her worried look.