Sub Rosa

A/N - Okay, the grim bits are starting, so don\'t say you weren\'t warned. Thanks again to my reviewers and my beloved beta, Kate, without whom my commas and semi-colons would be hopelessly lost.

Chapter 55 – Bella Noche

Severus felt the summons with greater irritation than usual. All had been quiet for nearly a month. Valen’s d’s day had been peaceful. He and Kathryn had enjoyed a dinner out and then a long night in and he was feeling as though his life was going far better than he had ever imagined that it might.

He was deep in an experiment with Draco and Hermione and the pain in his forearm hadn’t registered until it had become a burning he could notore.ore. With a muffled curse he had waved them back to work and fled the room. He knew they would inform the headmaster, so he was out the door and off to the forest with no further delay.

This time the blind apparation found him in a pleasant room, where Voldemort sat in a squashy armchair before a roaring fire, with Nagini curled in his lap like a puppy. A puppy with venomous fangs, he corrected him men mentally, as the great head raised to look at him. He guessed that part of Nagini was draped on the floor beside the chair, as the snake was too large to be supported completely by anyone’s lap; well, maybe Hagrid’s.

He moved to prostrate himself and Voldemort smiled and waved him into the opposite chair, allowing him to forgo the usual ritual. This made Severus nervous, as Voldemort in a good mood was always a very bad sign.
On the couch between the two chairs sat Bella, belly rounded with four months of pregnancy and looking wholly miserable. This gave him a petty pleasure that he treasured highly. He made a compassionate noise at her, however. Keeping himself outwardly sympathetic was important; no use having the sick bitch decide to keep the child after all.

“Severus, we have determined that the child is male, whpleapleases me.” Voldemort announced and Severus felt a jolt inside. All this time he had been thinking of the baby as an “it”, a thing, but since Christmas, Lisle had turned his mind to a daughter. He realized that he had wanted a little girl.

Hard on the disappointment was a rush of pride. A son, he was having a son; a boy like Draco maybe, who would follow himund und and watch him with large dark eyes.

“As it pleases you, it pleases me, my master.” He answered with a calm tone that betrayed none of his inner emotions. Voldemort seemed happy with his answer and turned to discuss strategy and targets.

Severus listened, knowing that if his input were wished, it would be demanded and so remained silent
thorough Voldemort’s discourse. He nodded at all the right places, mulling over what needed to be passed on to the Order, but mostly considered the swelling evidence of his future son.

“I think you should name him something strong, Severus.” Voldemort mused suddenly, changing the subject from attacking muggle-borns in Hogsmeade.

“What would you suggest, my master?” Severus cringed inwardly, hoping it wouldn’t be anything stupid, like Voldy Jr.

“Perhaps Cain, or Nimrod, or Quietus.” Voldemort mused. “Eumenides rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?” Bella had a look of horror that cheered Severus right up.

“My family has always gone for star formations.” She inserted with haste, directing Voldemort’s mind away from murderous names.

“Anything but Sirius.” Severus interjected, making them all laugh. How homey this was, here he was thinking of baby names with two insane murderers. Severus wasn’t sure he hadn’t gone mad at some point recently. Chuckling about our dead enemies, planning still more deaths and trying to come up with suitable names for the nexneraneration of Death Eaters.

Severus kept a tiny smile on his face, as though he was pleased with the entire evening, but inside he was bleeding for his unborn son. Harry had better get a move on because he would kill every Death Eater in creation and strangle Voldemort with his own hands before his son became a pawn in this crazy bastard’s game, prophecy or no prophecy.

The fierce protectiveness that welled up surprised even him. This child was already becoming a chink in his armor and Severus was afraid for the future. It was bad enough that the idea of Kathryn being harmed by his past mistakes was a constant fear. She at least was fully grown, deadly dangerous and fully trained. A baby was just so much meat in the grinder of Voldemort’s ambition.

“Orion, Castor or Regulus would be more in keeping with family tradition.” Bella suggested.

“Orion has a nice ring to it.” Voldemort nodded and Bella looked relieved. Severus waved his negligent assent. Ryan wasn’t so bad, he could live with it; he only hoped the boy could.

“Excellent.” Voldemort stroked Nagini, satisfaction veryvery gesture. “Now all we need to do is convince the Ministry to pass a few new laws prohibiting Muggle-borns from attending Hogwarts.” Severus wondered how he was planning to do that. He was also secretly concerned that Miss Granger would be taken from the school where she was proving most useful in his laboratory. “Once we start terrorizing the muggle-borns in earnest, that fool Fudge will withdraw them for their own safety.” Voldemort continued in supreme self-confidence.

Severus doubted that Fudge would do anything of the sort; the idiot was too frightened of Dumbledore right now to spit without getting permission first. His will had been utterly crushed last spring and he had gone from hostile to fawning in the blink of an eye.

He also seemed to think that Dumbledore and Harry would take care of everything for him and he was unwilling to change the status quo in any way. Severus did not think that he would change that stance; in fact, he would probably cling all the harder to it as his fear mounted.

They discussed targets for the rest of the evening and then Severus helped Bella stand. He pulled her fthe the soft couch and escorted her through the door.

They emerged into a hallway and Bella headed to the left. He saw no window, so he couldn’t tell where they were, but he noted every detail. He thought that it might be a muggle hotel, from the layout and the numbers on the door. There were paintings on the walls, but they stayed static as he passed them.

“My ankles are starting to swell and I am nauseated every morning.” She complained.

“I will send you potions to relieve both of those things.” He returned solicitously.

“Oh thank Merlin, I am growing to despise this process.” She shuddered as she caught sight of herself in a mirror as they paced down the hallway. She came to a stop at one of the doors and turned the knob with relief. “If this is only four months, I can’t imagine how horrible I will feel at nine.” She continued her grumbling. Severus followed her into her suite, curious about where they were, hoping to get a look out of a window. The curtains were drawn tightly across the far wall however.

“I will send those along to you immediately, Bella.” He moved to apparate and she cauhis his arm.

“I hear that your girlfriend warned Narcissa off, but that she was fine with me.” That Bella had managed to misconstrue the whole conversation to suit her own desires surprised Severus not at all.

“No, she said she understood my orders.” He smiled coldly, pried Bella’s fingers from his arm and apparated as fast as he could.

The sight of Kathryn’s sleepy face turned up to greet him an hour later reminded him why he put up with all of this.


Two nights later he was cursing his youthful stupidity again as he huddled in the cold March air, watching for anyone to come out the back door of a muggle residence, with Shiv shivering beside him.

The house was a simple middle-class row house like the dozen others on its block. The shrubbery was high and well trimmed. The yard was neat and tidy with the exception of a child’s tricycle abandoned on its side.

He knew that somewhere inside that house, the tricycle’s owner was being slaughtered along with his mother and father. The parents and younger brother of a muggle-born witch who worked in the Ministry, they had been targeted for their relationship to her and the shock value of their deaths. Shiv stirred restlessly besidm, hm, his blade hungry for blood.

Severus was praying for someone to escape the house and fall into his arms, he wanted desperately to salvage something of his soul from this. This night the gods laughed at him and he waited in the cold for no reward. Green flashed three times inside the darkened house and a moment later the Dark Mark rose above the sheltered suburban street.

With a grunt of disappointment, Shiv apparated away and moments later Severus followed.

His report to Albus was brief and angry. He paced the office, Kathryn watching him from her usual chair.

Albus’ compassionate gaze resting on him was hard to bear this evening. His own feelings of frustration, guilt and anger were too strong.

“Is there no way to protect the families of Muggle-borns?” Kathryn asked with cool tones, which were easier on his raw nerves than Albus’ warmth.

“There are too many of them and Voldemort no longer announces the targets days before the attacks. I am lucky if I can save one or two of them and that can only happen if they flee out the back door.” Severus shook his head.

“What about some sort of alarm system, or magic detector in the houses of the Muggle-borns’ families? Something that would alert Aurors to come immediately?” Albus leaned back in his chair, contemplating Kathryn’s idea.

“That is something that can be worked on.” Albus nodded, obviously thinking hard. “In fact, I may have one or two ideas of how to go about it.” His eyes unfocused as his mind drifted back in time. “When Grindelwald was attacking, we had a series of mirrors so that we could talk to one another over long distances. That way if one of was under attack the others could come to our aid.”

“Maybe a mirror in the front hall that keeps watch and alerts us if Death Eaters enter?” Severus scrubbed his face with his hands, weariness aching in his bones.

“Magical objects in Muggle homes?” Kathryn raised an eyebrow at him. “The Ministry would never condone it.”

“Damn the Ministry!” Severus shouted and swept his arm across a table full of delicate instruments, knocking them to the floor. The flash of rage was gone as quickly as it came and he stared in horror at the twisted metal and broken glass. “Albus…” He looked up helplessly at the older wizard. Kathryn reached out to him and squeezed his hand in warm understanding.

“Not to worry, Severus.” He rose, with a sad smile on his face as he walked over to the mess. “It wouldn’t be the first time I have repaired these.” His gentle tones eased Severus’ guilt and the three professors began to carefully cast “reparo” on the items.

“If only every problem were so easily mended.” Albus sighed as he placed a sextant, gleaming and freshly repaired, on the table.