Another Dark Star

A/N: My French is rubbish! My apologies to any French, Canadians, etc. for butchering your beautiful language.


Chapter 31

Snape sent Sadira an owl with an apology, but she didn’t reply. He tried to Floo her but she wasn’t in her flat. He had given her a whole 24 hours to calm down and he was beginning to worry.

“Not going soft over a woman are you Snape?” Wormtail asked snidely, still outraged about Snape’s retribution.

“My wife fled our home in a state of distress, while pregnant, and now cannot be contacted. I have every reason to be concerned you imbecile!” Snape barked.

“P-Pregnant?!” Pettigrew’s eyes went large.

“Yes; pregnant, expecting, with child. Were you not listening when the Dark Lord was questioning me about it?” he snapped. “I’m going to have to go looking for her, and woe betide you if any harm has come to her or my child.”


He Apparated directly to her flat from his front room. Judging by the state of the place, and the fact that his apology was still on the table unread with a pile of bills, she hadn’t returned there that night.

While putting some more food out for Xerxes and Nightshade, he wondered where else she might be. She certainly wouldn’t have gone to her father’s, not now. That left Tonks’ flat or the Weasleys’.

He turned and Apparated to Ottery St. Catchpole to try the Burrow first. As he walked through the yard with its chickens he thought about what he would say.

‘“Pardon me Molly, have you seen my wife? I appear to have misplaced her.” Pathetic!’ It suited how he felt.


He knocked firmly on the door and Molly answered it but before he could say anything she frowned at him.

“About bloody time you turned up!” she snapped.

He was shocked; Molly Weasley never swore and detested the habit in her children.

“What do you think you’re playing at Severus Snape? Upsetting the poor girl in her condition; as if she hasn’t had enough to deal with lately. She’s been in tears constantly and won’t tell us anything. It’s as bad as the first time she left you.”

He was forcibly reminded of the time Ronald Weasley received a Howler following the incident with that blasted flying car, he suddenly felt very small in the face of her anger. Then his blood ran cold as he realised the implications of what she said. ‘The first time she left him.’ Did that mean she wasn’t coming back, he’d blown it again? He hoped not, especially as he needed her now more than ever.

“Please Molly, may I see her?” he asked in a small voice. She softened when she saw his concern; the closest to any display of soft feeling or weakness she had ever seen from him.

“Come in then and I’ll call her down. But be warned; you have a lot of making up to do.” She replied, her voice firm, but with none of the reproach that was evident earlier. She stood back from the door and led him to the living room, offering him a seat.

“Thank you Molly.” He said quietly, uncomfortably. She smiled consolingly at him, apparently forgiving him for now as he clearly wanted to make amends.

“Sadie dear, can you come down to the sitting room please?” she called up the stairs and disappeared into the kitchen to give them some space.

Sadira came down the stairs slowly; her curls unruly once more, face tear streaked and red, and still dressed in the yellow sundress from yesterday. He was overwhelmed by a rush of different emotions; relief at seeing her safe, shame that he was responsible for her misery, and an epiphany of love as he realised that even puffy faced and with a mop to rival Granger’s she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to him.

She froze when she saw him, her jaw setting in a display of anger and defiance, as if she expected a fight.

“Sadie, can we talk?” he asked softly. She took a deep cleansing breath, nodded and took a seat in the chair next to him.

He immediately felt a little disheartened that she had chosen not to sit on the sofa beside him; putting physical distance between them to subtly emphasise their position. At least she was willing to hear him out, which was a start.

“Are your cousins about? Will we be overheard?” he asked cautiously.

“Fred and George have left home, Bill’s at work and Ron and Ginny are in Ron’s room hiding from Fleur, who is in Ginny’s room.” She replied coldly.

“Fleur?” he asked puzzled.

“Fleur Delacour, the Triwizard champion from Beauxbatons.” She replied.

“I remember her, what is she doing here?”

“She works at Gringotts with Bill to improve her spoken English. You know what Molly’s like; she couldn’t stand the idea of the poor girl all alone in a strange country so she invited her to stay.” She informed him.

There was a long uncomfortable silence, both just looking at each other with a mixture of longing and regret.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly, almost too softly to be heard.

“An apology? Really? With no preamble, no conditions, no shifting of blame? Well, as miraculous as that is, Sorry isn’t good enough!” she snarled.

He felt his temper rise and clenched his fist, his lip curling, trying to force it down. She was enraging him by not accepting his apology, which she was damned lucky to be getting in the first place. He reminded himself that she was a hormonal woman and more likely to act irrationally and if he wanted to fix their marriage he had to tread softly.

Someone upstairs coughed loudly, so in order to protect his reputation should anyone hear what he had to say, he switched swiftly to French.

“Sadira, je t'aime. Pas tombons dehors au-dessus de ceci. J'ai dû faire ce vœu, pour assurer ma valeur en tant qu'espion. Je ne pourrais pas faire le Seigneur Foncé me connaître étais peu disposé à les faciliter. Je jure à toi que je ne ferais jamais tout ce qui vous blesserait qu'étaient il pas absolument nécessaire.” He began.

He dropped to his knees before her and took both her hands in his.

“Ne partez pas au-dessus de ceci. Ma vie est vide sans toi dans elle. Vous êtes mon monde entier ; toi et notre bébé. Je t'aime plus que la vie elle-même.” He said softly.

“Je t'aime aussi, mais vous m'avez vraiment blessé. Vous pourriez mourir, tous pour Narcissa baisant Malfoy !” She cried.

He cut her off with a kiss, which she softened into, reciprocating warmly.


“Ah! eet is so sweet. ‘Ee eez more charmeeng zan ‘ee looks zis professeur of yours.” Fleur remarked to Ron and Ginny. They were all hunched on the stairs, trying to listen in.

“All I know is, he must have hurt our Sadie pretty bad to make her cry and I definitely heard the name Narcissa Malfoy. If he’s cheated on her with that shrivelled up, po-faced old cow I don’t care if I am underage, I’ll hex him till he cries.” Ron whispered darkly.

“No you wouldn’t you big wuss. One, you’re scared of him and Two, he’s a Death Eater and would murder you before you got your wand out of your pocket.” Ginny hissed. “What did he say to her Fleur?”

Fleur gladly repeated what he said, in great detail to a fascinated Ginny and a disgusted Ron.


“I don’t think we’re alone anymore.” Sadira said when she heard a creak on the stairs.

“Will you take a walk with me?” he asked.


She nodded her assent and took him on a walk through the same field that Bill and Charlie had learned to fly on when they were all so young. She, being mortally terrified of heights, had never been tempted to try and learn to play. Perhaps, given tutoring by the talented cousins, she could have been Slytherin’s star player had she not been hindered by her phobia.

“Well, are you going to explain?” She asked him. He sighed and launched into as honest an explanation as he dared.

“Draco Malfoy has been inducted into the Death Eaters this summer. The Dark Lord has given him a difficult task to perform to prove his usefulness. It is not expected that he will complete it; he means to punish Lucius for his incompetence at the Ministry by watching his son fail and die. Draco has been told that if he fails, his parents will die. Narcissa was desperate and needed help. Knowing I have always shown favour to Draco and trusting that I was still loyal to the Dark Lord and her husband’s friendship, she came to me begging for assistance.”

“Unfortunately, Bellatrix insisted on coming with her. You have no idea how much she hates me; she has always suspected I am a traitor and she keeps looking for proof so she can gain favour with the Dark Lord. She is fanatical and begrudges anyone else who appears in his favour. Narcissa asked me to make a Vow to protect Draco, to help him where I can and to complete the task in his stead should he prove unable. Dumbledore had already insisted I complete the task in Draco’s stead, so I was not promising her anything I was not already prepared to do.” He explained.

“Well, what is this dangerous job both sides so blithely send you on?” she asked bitterly.

“I cannot tell you that, not yet. I am truly sorry Sadie, but it isn’t safe. I do not wish to do it, but I gave Dumbledore my word. I can only ask that you trust in me and continue to believe in me no matter what you hear. I will be exposed as a spy, and not for the Order. I will end up going deep undercover, despised and untrustworthy again.
You must stay strong. People will doubt both of us and it pains me to say you face more heartache to come. You cannot tell a soul what I have told you already. Are you prepared for this?”

“No, but I will be strong; for you and the baby. I have always trusted you my love, and always will.” She assured him, reaching up and kissing him slowly, burying her fingers in his hair.

“Am I forgiven?” he asked, smirking.

“For now.” She replied, placing her hand in his as they made their way back to her Aunt’s, stealing kisses on the way.


They came across Molly in the yard, hanging out her washing.

“Thanks for looking after me Molly. I know I can always rely on you.” Sadira greeted.

“I take it you two have made up then?” Molly asked with a smile.

“Yes, all this deception is hardly conducive to a happy marriage but I knew he was a spy when I married him. I can hardly ask Dumbledore not to send him undercover just because I don’t like it, when he’s the only source we have. I shouldn’t hold his secrets against him.” She replied.

“Don’t you two think you’re getting away so easily, you’ll both stay and have dinner with the family.” Molly insisted. Sadira looked warily at Severus. “Even if it’s just so I know you and that baby are getting enough to eat.” She went on.

“That is most gracious of you Molly, we’d be glad to join you.” Severus replied, shocking Sadira and pleasing Molly.

“I thought you hated social gatherings of any form?” she whispered as they went inside to wait in the living room.

“I do, but you have missed your family lately. I know how important they are to you; this is for you.” He replied magnanimously. She beamed at him and he smirked inwardly, knowing he had just made up for their row completely.


When Ron came down to ask his Mum how long till dinner, he was surprised to see Snape still there sprawled out on the sofa with Sadie sat between his legs, his hands resting on her abdomen while she held up the paper for them both to read. He looked strange; kind of peaceful, almost... happy.

“What’s Snape doing here?” he whispered.

“Professor Snape, dear.” She corrected. “I invited them to stay for dinner.

“What?! Why? Don’t we see enough of him at school?” he asked incredulously.

“Ronald Weasley, enough of that! Fred and George are coming later and they haven’t seen her since the memorial service. The poor girl has just lost her father. She needs to be with her family now. You will just have to deal with the fact she married him.” Molly admonished.


Meanwhile in the living room, Fleur had decided to join the couple. She sat in the chair next to Sadie while Severus was distracted at the other end of the sofa with the paper.

“Sadieera. Eet ‘as been good to ‘ave anuzzer woman near my age to speak to. Especialement one ‘oo speaks French. I will be sad to see you go, but I am glad you and your ‘usband ‘ave made up.” She said conspiratorially.

“Thanks Fleur, it was good to finally meet you too. I heard a lot about the Triwizard Tournament from the boys.”

“Yes, well, I was ‘opeless. I came last in evairy task.” She said dejectedly.

“I doubt I would have put my name in at all.” Sadira reassured her.

“You went to ‘ogwarts too, yes?” she asked.

“Yes. I was Head Girl in Ron’s first year. Harry’s too obviously. Proud Slytherin I was.” She replied fondly.

“Ees eet not strange to ‘ave married your former professeur?” Fleur pried curiously.

“I suppose to other people it might seem strange, but we were always more like friends than teacher and pupil.” She replied nonplussed.

“And now Molly tells me you are to be a muzzer also?”

“Yes, the baby’s due in January. I’m staying at the Ministry until December, then I’m going on Maternity Leave. I’m going to miss it you know, even those idiots Mason and Taylor.” She replied wistfully.

“’Oo are zey?”

“Oh, just a couple of morons, I mean Aurors who were in the same class as Tonks and I when we trained. They keep winding us up, so we keep getting them back,”

“Zat Tonks, she ees so clumsy. ‘Ow did she evair become an Auror?”

“I often ask myself the same question. I even tried to teach her some grace by teaching her to dance, but she killed my toes.” Sadira chuckled at the memory.

“They ‘ad a Ball at ‘ogwarts for ze Tournament. Eet waz wondairful.” Fleur said dreamily.

“I heard. I remember my Graduation Ball, seems like just yesterday.” Sadira sighed.

“Did you dance wiz many boys?” Fleur asked, enjoying the gossip.

“No, just one. And Severus.” Sadira admitted.

“You danced wiz ‘im? At your Graduation?” Fleur asked, shocked.

“Oh yes. We had been having a secret affair for some time by that point.” Sadira whispered conspiratorially. “It was wonderful; believe it or not he’s actually a very good dancer.” She grinned.

“'Ow romantique, and you both speak French, non?”

“Severus taught me actually, when he took me on holiday to Paris. Now that was romantic.” She sighed happily at the memory.


The two young women continued to gossip and chat for some time, until Arthur and Bill arrived from work.

“Feeling better Sadie?” Bill asked cheerfully, then noticed why. “Oh, good evening Professor.”

“Evening Severus, I am glad you two got your little misunderstanding sorted out.” Arthur said jovially. Snape looked up but said nothing, uncomfortable in this scene of domestic bliss. They were all soon seated at the table, waiting for Fred and George.

“Well...this is nice.” Arthur said, quite redundantly. Sadira giggled nervously and it broke the tension.

“Mum, we’re here!” called Fred, or was it George?

“Just in the nick of time, as usual.” Bill called back.

“Is Sadie still here or has the daft old bat come to his senses yet?” the other twin (most likely Fred from that remark) called as they both walked into the dining room...

And stopped dead when they noticed who was sat at the table. Everyone stared between the twins and Snape in shocked silence.

“I believe you can take this as proof that I have indeed come to my senses. Now if we can, for once, ignore the blatantly disrespectful insult for your mother’s sake, we can perhaps continue with our meal.” Snape said icily. His features were calm as usual but there seemed to be a hint of amusement in his eyes under the surface.

The twins, emboldened by the fact that they had gotten away with it, and remembering he wasn’t their teacher anymore, chose instead of resting on their laurels, to push him further.

“Well, Professor, our dear beloved Sadie was in quite a state when she arrived yesterday. We just wanted to make sure you started treating her right.” Fred said facetiously.

“Yes, it’s no good for a woman in her condition to go getting all upset. It’s your duty to look after her.” George added.

Molly looked ready to murder them, Arthur and Sadie looked simply surprised and Ron and Ginny expected their formidable Potions Master to explode. Snape however merely looked at them curiously and nodded a small bow.

“I suppose I count myself suitably chastised. I am relieved to find you pair have finally found some maturity and comprehension, and I am glad you are so protective of Sadira. For that I thank you.” He replied levelly.

“Ok, can we all sit down and eat now before someone dies of shock!” Sadira said comically.


The meal was passed in a slightly uneasy manner but pleasantly enough in that there was no open warfare.

“How’s Harry?” Sadira asked Ron quietly, to his great surprise.

“Oh, I dunno, a bit ... upset I suppose. We should be having him over soon.”

“Good, the lad needs his family around him now. We’re the closest thing he’s got now.” Ron nodded his agreement to that statement. “Keep an eye on him, will you? He’ll have enough to deal with without this grief on his shoulders.”

“I always do.” Ron replied vaguely.


“Right; Fred, George. I want a word with you two in private.” Sadira asked when she saw they had finished also. They exchanged worried looks, wondering if they were going to get killed for talking back to Snape.

“Don’t panic, I have a business proposition for you.” She said with an enigmatic smile. The boys exchanged identical wicked grins.

Severus regarded her with a puzzled and slightly concerned look but she placed a hand reassuringly on his knee as she stood and left the table. He watched them warily as the twins’ faces looked intrigued, then wary, then shocked, then settled on happy. They both shook hands with her and hugged her. She returned looking quite pleased.


“Thanks for everything Molly. I think it’s time I got off to bed now though, I’m a bit tired.” She said, pressing a kiss to her aunt’s cheek as she passed.

“You’re always welcome dear, both of you. Go ahead and use the floo in the kitchen if you want.” She replied as she continued clearing the plates from the dining table.

“Good to meet you Fleur. I hope you enjoy your time here, keep in touch.” She said amiably to the French girl who smiled appreciatively.

“Eet was good to meet you also Sadieera. I ‘ope we become good friends.” She replied, pressing Sadie with two kisses to her cheeks continental style, which Sadie reciprocated.


When Sadie and Snape arrived at her flat, he helped her to undress and wrapped her firmly under the sheets with him.

“Thank you for being so understanding with my family. I really appreciate it.” She said, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck contentedly.

“What business did you have to discuss with your miscreant cousins?” he asked, kissing her shoulders.

“I offered them the opportunity to expand their range to include ‘adult only’ products.” She smiled, returning his affectionate advances. He raised a brow inquisitively at this. “I said I’d give them the recipe for ‘Quadruple P’ in exchange for a percentage of the profits on the product, rather than a lump sum.” She grinned.

“About time your Potions genius was put to good use. I always said that recipe was worth a fortune.” He said approvingly, beginning to run his hands over her skin softly.

“They actually thought it was something I stole from you at first. It took me a while to convince them I invented it myself in 6th year. I assured them it has been well tested and approved by an expert.” She grinned, pinning him to the mattress and tracing her tongue lightly over his chest.

“What did they say to that?” he asked, cupping her breasts and stroking her nipples.

“I think it made them a little uncomfortable, and they changed the subject to flavour. I told them it can be made in strawberry, chocolate, banana, toffee and vanilla. They were pleasantly surprised at the variety.” She grinned, sitting up and running her hands down his torso.

“I don’t suppose you have any lying around?” he asked, feigning nonchalance but his body’s reaction betrayed him. She grinned mischievously.

“I think I have some somewhere. Strawberry if memory serves.” She replied.

“Your favourite flavour I believe.” He replied hopefully.

“Oh yes. Try the bedside cabinet.” She murmured. When he spied the pale pink potion his face lit up.

‘Thank you God.’ He thought to himself as he downed the potion and his wife disappeared beneath the sheets.


_________________________________________________________________________________________


Translation:

“Please Sadira, I love you. Don’t let’s fall out over this. I had to make that Vow, to ensure my value as a spy. I couldn’t let the Dark Lord know I was unwilling to aid them. I swear to you I would never do anything that would hurt you were it not absolutely necessary.” He dropped to his knees before her and took both her hands in his.

“Please, don’t leave over this. My life is empty without you in it. You are my whole world; you and our baby. I love you more than life itself.” He said softly.

“I love you too, but you really hurt me. You could die, all for the sake of Narcissa fucking Malfoy!” She cried.