Arianrhod's Vessel

once more, we find ourselves here when we should be somewhere else. i know you\'re there. i can hear you panting. not to fret. i have much more story to tell. but first, i have to let you know that very little you read here will actually come from my own mind. much of it is owned by the talented j.k. rowling and i\'m only borrowing the characters and places because i\'m bored and letting me out on the streets is a bad idea. i\'ll put them back.... eventually.

there is no smut yet. i\'m getting there. still kind of building back story. as yet, that\'s all i\'m doing. but i invoke all kinds of warnings, just cos i can. there are things that will happen that will probably squick people out, so i\'ll try to keep you informed ahead of time. please take all warnings seriously.

finally, if you find that you like this, please feel free to let me know. it isn\'t necessary, but it is appreciated.

Chapter Four: Deep, Dark Secrets
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her body shook with fear and anger. There was another emotion, though. One she didn\'t understand. But it had been brought on by the feel of his hands upon her body, touching her bottom and her breasts. Her insides felt as if they were on fire, the source of the flames that were eating her alive centered low in her belly, between her thighs. It was confusing and frightening, as she couldn\'t recall ever experiencing anything so intense in all of her life. She knew that he felt her fear, given the look on his face.

She didn\'t want him to know about anything other than the fear. She didn\'t want him to know that she was curious about what he was doing to her. That she felt an overwhelming need to throw herself at him and discover what it was that he was doing to her. And that scared her more than anything in the world. Something told her that strong emotions were bad, but she didn\'t know what it was or why. Fear, she knew, was moderately safe. Fear could mask so many other feelings and it was an effective way of pushing people away. Literally.

She had found, over the years, that she could use her emotions as a sort of phyiscal weapon. Not that she wanted to wield them like a sword and injure people. But she could use them to protect herself when she felt overwhelmed and threated. Like she did now. She let the fear gather and form until it was a solid wall of emotion. And she sent it forth.

She watched as Lucius stumbled back from her, his eyes wide as he stared at her. She turned and fled the room, moving out into the hallway so that she could give in to the tumble of confusing emotions that all warred for dominance within her. Anger won out, bursting forth in a powerful wave that would have shaken the building\'s foundations if it had been directed at the house. Instead, she watched in horror as the power of her rage slammed full on into a beautiful white cat.

Lucius found her huddled over the beast, her hand stroking its fur while she tried to stop crying long enough to think. \"I\'m sorry, kitty. I\'ll make it right. I swear I\'ll make it right,\" she told it in a soft voice. Her brain scrambled to figure out what she should do and then it finally came to her. She didn\'t care that he stood behind her, watching her. She only did what she had to. She put her hands over the body, growing quiet and calm all at once. Her hands warmed and a pale golden light poured from them, down into the small body to fill it with the magic she possessed.

When she lifted her hands away, she was tired and scared. The animal didn\'t move. \"Please, kitty. Please wake up,\" she whispered, her small hands stroking along its sides gently.

\"Nisha,\" Lucius\' voice was gentle in her ears. He put his hand on her shoulder as if to draw her away from the furred body before her. She didn\'t allow him to, merely continued to pet the still animal. \"The cat is dead. There\'s nothing you can do for it.\"

\"No! He\'s not dead!\" she insisted, shaking her head. She stared at the cat a moment, pushing her will into it\'s body. She was the who had killed it. She was the one who had to bring it back to life. Silence reigned for a few more moments, then the most exciting thing happened. The cat\'s tail, previously still, began to twitch. The head lifted. A pair of disdainful green eyes opened to look up at her and the man standing directly behind her. It stood to it\'s feet and sniffed the air, then turned and strutted away, his tail high in the air as he ignored them.

Her shoulders slumped and she cried loudly as relief washed through her. She\'d done it. She\'d brought the cat back. It didn\'t lessen the guilt for having hurt the poor animal one bit, but she at least didn\'t feel as if she\'d recklessly ended the innocent animal\'s life. Then the joy overtook her and she stood, smiling up at Lucius. He wore a confused, befuddled, drunken expression on his face. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, then hurried up the stairs, drunk on the knowledge of her power.

She fell asleep with a smile on her face and happiness filling her heart.

Nisha awoke from the dream feeling a mixture of happiness and sorrow. That had been the moment when it all had changed. Lucius had changed toward her. The next day, he\'d been more curteous and solicitous with her. Looking back on it, he\'d been wooing her. At the time, she\'d been too young to see it. But now, with age and experience on her side, she knew what he\'d been doing. He\'d been priming her to his touch. To his voice. He\'d been doing everything in his power to draw her to him as a moth was drawn to a flame.

He\'d succeeded.

It hadn\'t taken him long to slowly coax her into seeing him as more than just a father figure. By words and deeds, he\'d brought her thoughts of him to those of a suitor. It hadn\'t taken much for her to see him as the handsome, suave and sophisticated man who had saved her from the streets. The feelings he\'d engendered in her had confused and frightened her and she\'d tried very hard to ignore what it was she had felt. She\'d been able to do so for a while. But then things had changed and she\'d been unable to hold him at bay.

Turning her head to the left, she sighed with relief to find that Lucuis wasn\'t there. The chair still remained next to her bed, as if waiting in silence for Lucius to return and take up his place in it. Weak sunlight poured in through the sheer panels hanging over the windows, letting her know that the day was nearly at it\'s end. She\'d been asleep for a long time, it seemed. Lucius had laced her drink with a sleeping draught. Arrogant man.

Her stomach rumbled, the noise loud in the still of the room. She sighed, then sighed again when she realized that she had to go to the bathroom. There was no way she would be able to make it across the floor without help. Unless she crawled. Getting out of bed would be difficult, no matter which route she chose. But it was either that or try and hold it. She didn\'t even want to think about the look on Lucius\' face if she had an accident in his bed.

\"Ah, I see you have woken,\" a dark voice, soft and silky, washed over her from somewhere in the vicinity of the doorway. She managed to glance toward it and frowned. A tall man, with pallid skin and a large nose, stood in the opened door. He watched her with sharp black eyes that glittered like obsidian in the fading light. He wore all black, his hair hanging around his face almost limply. \"How do you feel?\"

\"I\'ve felt better,\" she told him. \"Did Lucius send you to babysit me?\"

\"No, Nisha. He asked me to sit with you until he could return from his meeting,\" he replied smoothly, settling into the chair that Lucius had occupied not all that long ago. She watched as he studied her, almost as if she were pheasant under glass and he was trying to decide which way would be best to carve her up.

\"I\'m sorry you got stuck with watching over me, Mr. Snape. I know how much you like your solitude,\" she said, trying to keep the sadness and anger from her words. \"And, if memory serves me correct, you didn\'t care much for me all those years ago.\"

\"You have an excellent memory, Nisha,\" he confirmed her words with a nod. She thought she heard some sort of admiration in his tone. Which she knew to be a lie, because he\'d detested her and made her life a living hell when she\'d been little more than a teenager finding out that she\'d been born with an innate sexuality. When she\'d learned what it meant to be desired and to desire. \"However, that is neither here or now. So it is best we forget about it. Seeing as we are in the present, let us start anew.\"

She watched him warily. There seemed to be sincerity in his eyes, but that didn\'t mean anything. She\'d known people who could lie with their eyes. Deciding that she was too tired to care about his motives, she sighed and closed her eyes. \"I don\'t need any one to watch over me, Professor Snape. I\'m a big girl now and I can take care of myself.\"

\"So I see,\" he commented lazily, his dark gaze flicking over her back pointedly.

\"Fuck off,\" she snapped heatedly. She was tired and the pain was once more returning. And she still had to go to the bathroom. She had to get up and get out of bed. She didn\'t want him to look at her as she struggled to make it to the toilet before her bladder and kidneys exploded. It had been embarrassing enough to allow Lucius to escort her to the bathroom earlier when she\'d vomited. To have Snape stare at her while she crawled toward the toilet had absolutely no appeal. \"Why don\'t you go find some poor child to terrorize some more?\"

\"I thought that I already had,\" his voice was soft and full of some emotion she couldn\'t name. With great effort, she ignored him. Turning her head was difficult, but she managed it. It seemed the more she laid still, the worse her back got. She was going to have to stop laying around and actually move if she didn\'t want to rip the scabs open each and every time she had to get up for the bathroom. Heaving a sigh, she reached for the edge and pulled. \"What are you doing, Nisha?\"

\"I\'m getting up. What does it look like?\" she retorted hotly.

\"What ever for? It will only mean more pain for you,\" he commented as if she didn\'t know it.

\"Because I have to. Do you have a problem with that?\" she nearly snarled the words out at him. It took some effort, but she finally got her arms under her and pushed herself into an upright position. Her back screamed when she swung her legs around so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed.

\"You are only going to make the wounds worse by moving,\" Snape told her, his voice sounding closer than before. She ignored him and stood, remaining in place for a few moments while her body adjusted to the slow ripple of pain that rode along each and every nerve ending so that it felt like she was burning with slow, agonizing pain.

\"Well, until you figure out a way to go to the toilet for me, it would seem that I don\'t have much of a choice,\" she ground out, her teeth clenched together.

\"Then allow me to assist you. Lucius would not be happy if you were to injure yourself further on my watch,\" his hand curled around her arm in a gentle but firm offer of help. She turned her head to look at him and frowned, knowing that nothing she did or said would convince him to leave her alone. It appeared that she would have to suffer through his help.

Snape kept his hand on her arm, but allowed her to do most of the work. She was grateful for that. At least he was treating her with some semblence of dignity. Or perhaps he wanted as little to do with her as possible. Either way, she was glad when he stopped at the door to the bathroom and allowed her to complete the journey to the toilet on her own. She closed the door on him and hobbled to the toilet, settling down on the seat with a soft sigh.

\"Lucius has been looking for you for a very long time,\" his voice told her through the door. Nisha frowned and refused to ask the logical question. She didn\'t think she was ready for the answer.

~*~*~*~*~

Lucius stared around the room, taking note of the faces that lifted mildly curious gazes to the door where he stood. A slow smile spread across his lips as he looked at all of the men there who he knew frequented Roger Finch\'s establishment. The Birdcage was the best known and most well kept secret of the upper crust. Any man worth his weight in Galleons had visited The Birdcage at one time or another, married or not. Wizarding wives knew of the brothel\'s existence and said nothing. Finch was a stickler for cleanliness, so there was never the need to worry about one\'s spouse bringing home something infectious and potentially dangerous.

It was because of his high standards and his women, all lovely and clean, that his establishment had become the most sought after brothel in all of Britian and Europe. Men came from all over and shelled out lavish amounts to spend just an hour with one of Finch\'s birds. His nickname for them all. The women were all skilled in each and every area of the arts of pleasuring people and they took both men and women. There was no arguing or hesitation. It was because of these reasons that he was the wealthiest and most successful of all the brothel owners.

The Dark Horse Gentleman\'s Club was the most elite and prestigious men\'s club in all of England. None other could compare, either Muggle or Magical. And it was a well known fact that every Wizard who belonged to The Dark Horse knew of the Birdcage and enjoyed the delights to be found between the thighs and lips and hands of the women there. So they all knew Roger Finch. And they all knew of the pride he took in his girls. And soon they would all know just how miserable a man he truly was.

Lucius moved to a table that was unoccupied and one of the wait staff moved to his side quickly. The man nodded when Malfoy placed an order for scotch on the rocks, then hurried off to fill it. While waiting for his drink, Lucius\' brother-in-law pulled out the chair opposite his and sat down. \"You look positively knackered, Lucius. Care to tell me what troubles that bleached brow of yours?\"

\"I have just come from a most disagreeable meeting, Rodolphus,\" Lucius began, secretly pleased at the opening provided for him. He didn\'t care much for his in-laws. Bella was twisted and her husband could only be described as deranged. But trust Lestrange to open up the conversation for him just the way he wanted it. As any well bred person would, he waited until the waiter had brought his drink and he\'d had a sip of it before continuing. \"I was at the Birdcage, enjoying a spot of pleasure because, as you know, Narcissa is off visiting someone, and I was startled to hear the most horrible screaming I\'ve ever had chance to hear.\"

Soft, subtle chuckles rose at that statement from a few of the men. Those who did so knew that Malfoy had heard some horrific screaming in his life. Being a Death Eater, that kind of thing came part and parcel with the job. But the chuckles told him he had the room\'s undivided attention. Any time anyone spoke about The Birdcage, it garnered the attention of everyone present. The stories that had been told of the place over the years were legend and Lucius was surprised that the paper hadn\'t been peeled from the walls with all the raucous tales passed back and forth in the room.

\"Screaming?\" Walden Macnair asked from his table. \"Obviously you mean the unpleasant kind.\"

\"Of course,\" Lucius nodded, sighing and leaning back in his chair dramatically. \"Naturally, since I was concerned, I rushed to see what was going on. I was shocked with what I found.\"

\"And what was it, Lucius?\" an old, graying Wizard he couldn\'t put a name to asked.

\"A young girl,\" he replied. There were a few lascivious looks passed from one to another until Lucius continued with his tale of woe. \"Not from that, I assure you. The door that the screaming was behind was locked. I must admit, in my haste, I blasted the door off the hinges.\"

He glanced around, feigning a look of disbelief and deep sorrow. They were all hooked. He knew some of these men got off on inflicting pain. But he was going to add a few twists and turns to his story. They were ripe for the picking and he\'d do just that. He\'d pick them all and plant the seed of doubt and ruin Roger Finch without trying. No one touched a Malfoy\'s property and remained unscathed.

\"What did you find, Lucius?\" someone called out, anxious for the story to continue.

\"I have to admit, I was shocked and thought that perhaps I was seeing things. But I wasn\'t,\" he sighed and sipped his drink again, in a manner that suggested he needed it to fortify him before continuing. He paused long enough to make each and every one of them want to throttle him for waiting, then sighed and shook his head. \"Roger Finch was beating a young girl with a cane. Her back was already bloodied and bruised and still he kept on. The poor child was scared, screaming in pain, tears pouring down her cheeks.\"

\"He was beating one of his birds?\" Rodolphus asked, puzzled as to why that would make Lucius seemingly so upset.

\"No,\" he shook his head again. \"He was beating a child. The poor girl couldn\'t have been more than twelve or thirteen years old. Her clothes were tattered on the floor, torn to shreds when he tried to force himself on her. If I hadn\'t come along when I had... I shudder to think what that monster would have done to her.\"

\"You mean he was going to rape the girl?\" the old Wizard asked.

\"I believe so,\" Lucius replied softly. He knew he was laying it on a bit thick, but he needed to. He wanted to make sure that all of these men knew that Roger Finch was an animal and had to pay for his sins against Nisha. Once they left, all of the men present would make sure to tell their friends. It would get around and soon, Roger Finch would be destitute. There was no better way to pay the arrogant little arse back for what he\'d done.

\"Bastard,\" someone spat.

\"Shite head,\" someone else chimed in. Oh, there were those who would think he\'d been wrong and wouldn\'t condemn Finch right off. They\'d continue to go to The Birdcage. Every time they saw Roger Finch, though, they\'d think about what he\'d said. They\'d try to forget all about Lucius\' claims. But they\'d still think about it and wonder and, eventually, they\'d stop going for fear of finding out that the brothel owner was the foul little monster they were hoping he wasn\'t.

It would be a slow death, but it would be worth it. Lucius would watch Finch\'s life crumble out from under him. Perhaps he\'d be magnanimous and offer to buy The Birdcage from him when the man was desperate. It would be nice to have a little extra income on the side. He knew it would make Narcissa happy to find that she could spend more money if she wished. He was going to enjoy this immensely. He would see that Nisha was avenged.

\"The poor child was physically and mentally scarred from the attack. I had to take the memories of the event from her so that she could calm herself. Then I made sure she was taken to St. Mungo\'s for treatment,\" Lucius told them, trying to hide the smile that threatened to stretch his mouth. He was such a bloody fine actor. They were buying into his story almost blindly. Then again, many of these men were ready to believe the worst about everyone. So it wasn\'t that far-fetched to think that they would see the bad, despite the fact that he was exaggerating much of his story.

\"A child? I never thought that Finch would fancy children. The man is a pervert. He should be taken out and beaten,\" the old Wizard said with decided finality to his voice. Ideas from an older age. Lucius hid his grin. The thought wasn\'t a bad one. But it wouldn\'t be enough to truly make Finch pay for what he\'d done. Lucius was a Malfoy. A Malfoy neither forgave, nor forgot. A Malfoy destroyed.

And Lucius was going to destroy Roger Finch.

~*~*~*~*~

Severus watched as Nisha crawled slowly up onto the bed. He\'d offered to help her, use magic to levitate her and save her some pain. She\'d turned him down in as cold a voice as she could. He didn\'t suppose he could blame her. In all of their previous encounters, he\'d never been kind or gentle to her. And she recalled that. She\'d told him point blank when she\'d been a girl, on the cusp of womanhood, that he was mean and cruel and he\'d never find someone to care about him if he continued to act like that. He\'d laughed at her childish notions then. He didn\'t think they were so funny now.

Since she\'d left the first time, Lucius hadn\'t been the same. And Severus knew why. Somehow, in the few short months Nisha had spent with Lucius and Narcissa, the Malfoy patriarch had lost some part of his cold heart to the girl. Not that he was possessed of the all consuming love written about in songs and prose. But he\'d fallen in love with her in some small way. When Nisha had run, she\'d taken part of Lucius with her. He\'d never really recovered from it. And now, she was back and Severus knew that things would be hard on them both.

There were things about Nisha that they didn\'t know and that they knew she wouldn\'t discuss. She was the most secretive person Severus had ever met in his entire life. And he had met many people who kept secrets. Only one or two people of his acquaintance seemed to have perhaps mastered the art of keeping secrets better than her. For such a feat, and at such a young age, she already had his grudging respect.

He could still see the child hidden within the woman. Much had changed over the time she\'d been gone. And yet, things were still very much the same. He could see the same sorrow and determination in her eyes that had been there thirteen years ago. She\'d lost her childish form to the ever moving hands of time, becoming an alluring and mysterious young woman who could capture and hold the hearts of a legion of men with a single glance. It had been so long ago when he\'d first met and still he could recall it as if it were yesterday.

\"Severus, a pleasure to see you,\" Narcissa smiled warmly at the tall, dark man as he passed over the threshold and into the manor. She was smiling, something he hadn\'t seen her do since she\'d heard from the best Medi-Wizards and Witches in the world that she would never be able to conceive and carry a child. It was an honest, genuine smile that made her look younger than her years. Softer. \"Please come in and make yourself at home. Lucius is in his study. Please. Follow me.\"

Severus inclined his head and fell into step behind Narcissa. She was positively exuberant, an enticing sway to her hips that he knew was part of her natural gait. Something had happened to cheer her extensively and he wondered if that wasn\'t why he\'d been called here. Together, they moved through the halls in silence until they stood before the closed door of Lucius\' private study. Narcissa lifted a pale, elegant hand and rapped lightly on the thick panel of wood to announce their arrival. Then she reached for the knob and gave it a quick turn with a flick of her wrist. The door swung open and she motioned Snape inside.

Lucius sat behind his desk, pouring over a book of considerable size. It was surprising. Not that Malfoy didn\'t like to read. Severus knew that was not true. But the man was more the kind to act, not think. Severus took a seat in a chair near the desk. Narcissa withdrew, pulling the door shut behind her. Silence fell over the room for a short while until Lucius snapped the book closed and settled it on the desk before him. He was grinning from ear to ear. \"What ever plan you have boiling in that debious mind of yours, I want no part of it,\" Seveurs commented before Lucius could say anything.

\"Severus, my friend. Surely you\'d hear me out first,\" he replied good-naturedly, not bothering to hide the fact that he was planning something.

\"Very well. But the answer remains no,\" the Potions Master shook his head. Before either of them could say anymore, there was another soft rapping at the door. Both turned to it as the knob rattled, then the panel swung wide. Narcissa entered the room, her hands on the shoulders of a girl before her.

Severus stared at the child with a faint snarl on his face. She was an older girl, probably in her mid-teens by the look of her. She had thick hair that had been pulled back into a braid and away from her face. Her dress was a golden brown color that complimented her hair and eyes. Those eyes, he noted, were exotic looking, despite the sadness and confusion that seemed to lurk within their depths.

\"Severus, I would like you to meet Nisha. Nisha, this is my friend Severus Snape. He\'s a teacher,\" Lucius announced pleasantly. The girl turned those odd eyes up to him and stared at him a few moments, then smiled and dipped into a slight curtsey.

\"Mr. Snape,\" she said pleasantly.

\"I am not available for private tutoring, Lucius,\" he snarled, turning back to the grinning man behind his desk.

\"I don\'t need a tutor,\" the girl\'s voice said firmly behind him. \"I know enough, Mr. Snape.\"

Severus ignored the girl. \"If she needs an education, send her off to Hogwarts and to Dumbledore. He seems to be forever taking in strays and coddling them under the large and never ending wing of his protection.\"

\"That is not why I called for you, Severus,\" he replied with a smile, then looked to Narcissa and the girl. \"Why don\'t you two ladies find the kitchens and see what treats the House Elves have? I\'m sure Dobby will have something special for you, Nisha.\"

The girl nodded and cast one last glance at Snape, confusion marring her features a moment. Then Narcissa was leading her away. The door shut behind them, leaving Lucius and Severus to silently watch one another. The moments ticked away until the tension that had been building on the air, much like a pregnancy that had been purposely sped up, hung heavy and painful between them. It was as if there were some kind of entity growing between them, foreign and foul, waiting to strike when they were least expecting it.

\"Lucius...\" Severus began, then stopped.

\"I don\'t want you to tutor her in magic, old boy.\" the blond laughed. Severus scowled at him a moment, his mind turning over other possibilities as to his presence at the manor. One reared up and slapped him in the face, making his scowl carve deeper into his face and his eyes grow harder.

\"Really, Lucius. I thought you had enough companionship without going off to sully a child,\" Severus spat at him. He knew that Lucius was randy, that his proclivities were sometimes questionable. But a child? Severus wouldn\'t stand for it.

\"What would you say if I told you I\'d found a way for Narcissa to become pregnant with a child?\" he asked, the joy he felt flowing out with each and every word he spoke. Severus gave Lucius a skeptical look. \"That child, as you call her, is the key.\"

\"What the bloody hell are you on about, Lucius?\" Severus asked, not in the mood for games.

\"I saw Nisha do the most curious thing only three nights ago. I believe it is the answer to our problem.\"

\"Do go on,\" Severus nodded, intrigued despite himself.

\"She gave life back to a dead animal,\" Lucius told the other man. \"Narcissa\'s cat. Damned beast. You know I can\'t stand it. But its been a source of comfort for her in this trying time. Three nights ago, something happened and the cat died. I found Nisha crying over the silly ball of fur. When I told her it was dead, she wouldn\'t listen. Then she put her hands on it and it came back to life. I swear, as I\'m standing here and Merlin is my witness, she brought it back to life.\"

\"Have you been at the bottle, Lucius?\" Severus asked with mild amusement in his tone.

\"Damn it, Snape! I swear she brought the cat back to life. And, to prove it to you, I\'ve put the memory in a pensieve for you to look at,\" Lucius told him, lifting a dome cover up to expose the shallow basin to view. Severus could see the swirling gray matter filling the bowl. He lifted a brow. His only reply was a curt gesture of Lucius\' hand toward the dish. Nodding, Severus took a breath and slowly lowered his face into the mist of Lucius\' captured memory.

A moment and an eternity later, the dark-haired man stared across the desk at his light-haired friend in mild shock and deep curiosity. Lucius was nodding, a crooked smile tilting up one corner of his mouth. Silence once more prevailed for several long minutes. \"You see what I mean?\" Lucius finally asked. Severus nodded, still stunned beyond words. Never in his life had he seen the like as the memory he\'d just witnessed.

\"Truly and amazing thing,\" Severus agreed.

\"I need you to help me find some manner of spell or potion or charm or ritual that will put this in my favor. I need to use her gifts, what ever they are, to get Narcissa pregnant. I can\'t stand her sorrow any longer. It eats at me daily until I fear that what little sanity I still possess will flee. Please, Severus. I\'m begging you to help me.\"

Lucius was earnest. Snape knew his friend would never ask unless he was desperate. Sighing, he nodded his head. \"Of course I will help. If it means this much to you, I shall do what ever I can.\"

\"Thank you, Severus. This will mean so much to us. To both of us,\" Lucius said, his voice soft and gentle with his honest emotions. With the gratitude he felt. Snape nodded and stood, already thinking about which books he would need to look through to find pertinent information.

\"I shall contact you when I have anything that might be of use,\" he said absently as he pulled the door open. Lucius nodded, not bothering to respond with words. Severus stepped out into the hall to find Nisha there. Narcissa was nowhere in sight, but that didn\'t bother him. He didn\'t need her to show him the way out.

\"You don\'t like me, do you?\" she asked with all the straight fowardness of an adult. Severus crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her a moment. \"Its okay if you don\'t. I don\'t think I like myself much, either. I don\'t think my Mum or Dad did. If they\'d liked me, I wouldn\'t be lost and alone in the world, would I?\"

\"It is nothing personal. I simply detest children,\" he told her, wondering why he would feel the need to explain anything to her. She only nodded, still staring up at him with those big eyes of hers. The more he looked, the more he realized that she was the single most intriguing person he\'d ever laid eyes on. There was something about her that called to him. She moved, her body containing all the grace of a caged tiger or lion, and there was a sudden tightening low in his body.

It took Severus a moment to realize that he was feeling a deep, unexplained lust. Just watching Nisha move, all grace and almost ethereal in her actions, made him hard and hot with wanting her. He was disgusted with himself. She was a mere child. He shouldn\'t be experiencing such feelings for her. His disgust made him scowl at her harder than he normally would have, then he turned and stalked away from her, moving for the door with his robes billowing behind him like ink clouding a pool of water.

He made sure to slam the entrance door behind him as he stepped outside.

Nisha groaned as she settled herself on the bed, drawing his attention to her. He watched, noting the paleness of her thighs against the gold tones of the bedding. The discolorations were plain to see. Deep, dark purples and blues that circled black marred the insides of her thighs. Severus could clearly make out the imprints of fingers in the bruises where hands had forced her legs open. There were more, larger discolorations further up, near the battered flesh of her mons. His lips tightened down.

\"Stop looking at me like that!\" she snapped, drawing his gaze away from further proof of her humiliation and abuse.

\"Like what, Nisha?\" Severus drawled lazily to hide the anger he felt. He had done heinous things in his life. But he couldn\'t stomach it anymore when someone else did it than when he did. Roger Finch had beaten and raped Nisha as if she were nothing more than a ragdoll. Were it up to him, the man would already be dead.

\"Like the cat about to eat the canary,\" she was now settled on the bed as comfortably as she could be, one hand dragging the sheet up over her bottom.

\"I have no such thoughts in my head. You are perfectly safe from me,\" he retorted, quelling the need to prove to her that he wouldn\'t just eat her. He wanted to devour her and take that which drew him to her as a moth to the flame inside of him, so that he would always know what it felt like. His scowl returned with a vengence. \"Go back to sleep, Nisha. You can do little else at the moment.\"

\"Fuck you, Snape,\" she snarled at him and closed her eyes, completely missing the look of lust that came over him with her words. She had no idea that fucking her was precisely what he wanted to do. He frowned and stalked over to once more take the chair so that he could watch over her.

~*~*~*~*~

Nisha was sleeping when Lucius returned. She lay on her stomach, her hed turned away from the door. Severus sat in the chair that Lucius had occupied earlier. The dark man was leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees and his hands steepled together before him. He was watching the sleeping figure on the bed with a great deal of intensity. \"I trust you were successful in your task?\" Snape asked without looking away from the woman.

\"Roger Finch is as good as finished. Everyone listened to my sob story with a great deal of curiosity. And soon, they\'re going to make sure that all of their friends know just what the man is,\" Lucius told him and grinned evilly at the thought of taking Finch down.

\"Good,\" Severus nodded and once more fell to silence, contemplating what he\'d discovered. Lucius allowed him to remain silent for only a few moments.

\"Well?\" he drawled, setting his cloak, cane and gloves aside.

\"I could not discover a thing, Lucius. Her mind is clouded,\" Severus told him, no small amount of disgust in his tone. Lucius knew the Potions Master prided himself on the ability to slip past the defences of anyone he met and pluch information from their head with all the ease of the most accomplished cat burgular.

\"Completely? You couldn\'t find a way in at all?\" Lucius asked, obviously full of disbelief.

\"Nothing. It was like standing before a brick wall. And it is something done unconsciously. Naturally. I could not find one chink in her armor,\" Severus sighed, angry with himself for failing. Lucius stared in shock. Never before had he known Severus to not accomplish drawing out the information he\'d set out to gain. \"We know that Finch beat her. That much is blatantly obvious. What is less noticeable, but no less real, is the fact that he forced himself on her. There is vicious bruising on her thighs, as well as some other tell-tale signs.\"

\"Roger Finch raped Nisha?\" Lucius asked in a tone of voice that was soft and full of deadly intent. Severus nodded wordlessly. \"Then the son of a bitch will die.\"

\"I am quite certain he will,\" Severus nodded.

\"Thank you for your help, Severus,\" Lucius dismissed him.

\"You are welcome, Lucius,\" Severus stood and moved for the door. He stopped before going through. \"Ther eis something else you should know, Lucius. I do not believe Nisha is human,\" he informed the other man, then slipped through the opened doorway. Lucius watched Severus go, then turned to stare silently at the prone figure on the bed.

Nisha held back the gasp, her eyes wide with shock. It was going to start all over again.

end chapter four.
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as always, i wish to give thanks to my usual bunch of supporters. they are the ones who make me realize that i don\'t want to give in when i start thinking about it. they know i love them and that this wouldn\'t happen without them. they will always have my eternal gratitude.

this is self-beta\'d, so if you find mistakes, they\'re all mine. please don\'t hurt me. i\'m only a mere human, no matter what i think. i can only do so much.

and finally:

to Narcissa Black: Draco will play into this story later, no fear. so you\'ll get to see how things go there. and no, i don\'t think Narcissa likes that she needed help, but she isn\'t above asking for it again when she wants another child. i\'m glad you find the idea intriguing and hope you continue to do so. it\'s going to get odd later on, i think, if the bunnies i have now are anything to go by. and i went back and fixed that error right away. thanks for pointing it out for me.

to jo: here you go. hope this is to your liking.

to Julie: is this soon enough? hope you like this one, too.