“Not much, the limits that have been imposed by us by the Maker have seen to that. They can’t take the risk of his being around forever and amassing the wisdom to see just about any plot imaginable through.”
“But think of the good…”
“And the bad…”
“Will they lose?”
“I wish I knew, and I pray to God that they don’t.”
“Could you possibly…?”
The tapestry of Salazar Slytherin snorted in derision, “he may be my descendent, but anything I told him he would twist to meet his own insane plans. The madness of his mind is frightening…”
The portrait of Albus Dumbledore sighed heavily. The outcome of all this was still uncertain, and they could only wait and hope.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dierna approached the reception desk nervously. She was desperate to make a good impression with al-Rashid, but wasn’t quite certain what was expected of her at this point.
“Can I help you?” The receptionist looked up from the letter she was opening, her short blue hair falling into her eyes.
“I have an appointment, my name is…”
“The 9:30, Adelaide Snape, someone will be here for you shortly,” the young woman rattled off, turning her attention back to the letter in her hands.
Dierna looked around the plush entry room for a place to sit while she waited. This certainly hadn’t been what she was expecting. The rows of offices stretching back behind the reception desk. It appeared to be more bureaucracy than anything else.
“So sorry, didn’t mean to keep you waiting,” a woman, not too much older than Dierna breezed into the room from a set of doors marked ‘authorized personnel only’. She tapped the silver lettering on her navy blue lab coat, “Lisa, fourth year apprentice,” she held out her hand. “Tour starts this way, try to keep up.” She turned on her heel and headed back to the doors she had come out of, making a rather rude gesture to the receptionist when she was sure the neon-haired girl wasn’t looking.
“What about…” Dierna started to gesture back to the office area they were leaving.
“That’s the boring part girl. Trust me, you don’t want to end up behind one of the desks, not if you’re as talented as I’ve heard you are. This is where the fun is. Fourteen labs, each overseen by a Master, each one overseeing apprentices of varying levels and conducting their own research, all overseen by al-Rashid of course. He actually runs lab 15 himself, but not a lot tends to get done there, he’s so busy overseeing this facility as well as the ones in Constantinople and Cairo and writing up reports and such. Come on then, you’re slowing down.”
“I’m sorry, but is that…?”
Lisa grinned, “we stock the largest supply of unicorn blood on the continent, as well as a number of other things. It does take some getting used to. Here we are, lab 7, my home away from home. Literally, we have full facilities here, showers, cots the whole deal, sometimes we don’t leave here for days if we’re working on a particularly difficult project with a looming deadline.”
“Wow…” Dierna felt her jaw drop as she walked into the pristine work area. Everything you could ever wish for in a lab, and some that were beyond belief, was here. “This is impressive.”
“This is my fellow fourth year, Claudia, I’ll let her explain things to you while I run some reports upstairs.”
Claudia wore the same navy lab coat as Lisa, it seemed to be the standard dress of all the researchers. Dierna couldn’t help but think that she would dearly love to have one of those lab coats and that she would look damn good in it.
“Basically, our lab focuses on medical research,” Claudia explained to her intent audience, “as do 4, 8, and 12. We mainly work on the degenerative diseases, mental, physical etc… 4 works on wound related healing agents, 8 on sleep and mental disorders, and the guys in 12… well its all men over there, we’re not quite sure what they do all day.”
“You and Lisa live together, don’t you,” Dierna said dryly.
“Roommates for all four years, how’d you know?”
“You both talk really fast,” even drier.
Claudia laughed, “Circe, I hope you end up in our lab, although looking at your scores and research interests you’d do well in 4 too. Come on, this has to crystallize for awhile,” she adjusted the level of the flame under the cauldron she was working at, “let’s go over to 12 and harass the guys until lunch, then I’ll take you to the cafeteria and introduce you around a bit more.”
“What do you think?” a nondescript man, just starting to bald, in a navy lab coat looked down at the clipboard in his hand.
Al-Rashid nodded slowly, “she will do well I think.” One of the best decisions he had ever made was to have certain devices installed so that he could keep an eye on all of the labs from the comfort of his office. It was important for monitoring safety levels, and to observe the interactions of his staff. When working in such a volatile field as potions it was beyond important that each lab ran seamlessly. He smiled to himself as Lisa rejoined her roommate and the prospective employee in lab 12. His grin widening as Dierna managed to talk the lab 12 ‘boys’ into letting her help prepare a test sample.
“Send an owl to Severus for me,” he told his assistant, “inform him that I am honored to welcome his daughter as one of my apprentices. We’ll see what happens,” he added to himself, “maybe I’ll spend some more time in 15 and put her there. She has the Snape hands, steady as a rock and completely fearless…”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Missy’s bed is all turned down now and the lamps are lit,” Misty twitched the edge of her pillowcase robe fretfully as she beckoned to Olivia, who was sitting silently watching her mother, whose chest rose more and more shallowly as the days went by.
“You heard the House Elf,” Draco stepped forward from the shadows, where he had retreated to give Olivia some privacy, “time for bed little snake.” His voice was overly warm as he tried to compensate in some way for the emotional turmoil he could see in Olivia’s face. “Come on, I’ll take you back down to the dungeons,” he held out his hand.
“I will take her, you is needed here tonight,” Misty took Olivia’s hand protectively leaving Draco to wonder what the House Elf meant.
He didn’t have to wait long. Less then a minute later a rather disheveled Professor McGonagall came bursting into the Hospital Wind demanding to know Severus’ whereabouts.
“He’ll be here any moment,” Madame Pomphrey responded, unfazed, “he always comes at this time.”
“Then I shall wait for him here,” McGonagall said tersely, “you’d best stay as well Mr. Malfoy, no doubt we’ll have use for you. You can help the aurors I’m sure…” she trailed off, speaking more to herself than to Draco as she worried the letter in her hand.
“Can I ask…?”
“No,” she cut Draco off before he could finish the question, “Severus needs to be informed first.”
It was a small, grim-faced group that was waiting for Severus when he arrived. While Minerva was the only one who was informed of the situation, her mood had worn off on the others. “No, Severus, it’s not that,” she quickly calmed the potion master’s worst fear as she saw his eyes drift towards his wife. “But you’d best read this.” She handed over the letter.
Severus tried to read anything in the eyes of the Headmistress, and could tell that the letter held unwelcome news. He had to read it twice before the full meaning of it set in. “Nimue left Greece days ago, no one has heard from her since…”
“Every available member of the Order will start searching. We will find her Severus,” Minerva promised. She didn’t feel that it was right to tell him the other news that she had received, that another of his children was in danger. She hoped to have that situation resolved before he found out about it. Someone had already been sent to Rome with instructions to get both Harry and Dierna out of there as soon as possible. Somehow Voldemort was getting more and more information as security became tighter and tighter. The spy had to be pinpointed, and soon, or they would all be destroyed.
“I’ll go myself,” Severus looked ready to blast anyone who tried to stop him out of the way.
“We still need you Severus,” Minerva said firmly, moving to block his path.
“How many of my family am I supposed to let them kill?!”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Here principessa, try this.”
Dierna rolled here eyes at the young man across from her as food continued to be passed around the large table. She couldn’t quite remember what his name was, but as promised by Lisa and Claudia, the boys from 12 had been more than attentive to all of the ladies present, “you, sir, are a flirt.”
“And you, my beautiful…”
“Am spoken for,” Dierna inserted smoothly before he could get too ardent in his declarations of love.
“The best ones always are.”
“Don’t worry,” Lisa said as she poured the wine with a liberal hand, “a little more of this and they’ll forget all about us and remember only their undying love for Quidditch.”
“And when they have a little more, they’ll actually go out and try to play Quidditch,” Claudia added.
“They are too hard on us, the ladies, don’t listen to a word they say about us,” another of the young men pleaded. And so the rest of the late night dinner continued. Lisa and Claudia were always ready with a hex when the boys became too amorous. It was loud and encompassing, but Dierna was somewhat distracted. She kept feeling as though she was being watched. But she could never quite lay her eyes on whoever she thought it was that was watching her.
Until one of them let themselves be seen. Dierna stiffened slightly, gave a small nod in response, and made her lengthy goodbyes to her new friends. She no longer dreaded leaving Hogwarts, not when she could look forward to life in Rome.
She slowly crossed the restaurant, sure that there was only one reason for their presence. “Where is Professor…?”
“Harry is here,” Ron Weasley said in a low voice, his eyes constantly moving over the crowd.
“My mother?” Dierna was aware of the other aurors moving in.
“No chance, but we have to get you and Harry out of here, it’s not safe. The spy found out where you and Harry are, Deatheaters could be on their way here now.”
~~~~~~~~~~
It was Argus Filch who found the crumpled body by the lake. He had taken down a bucked of fish for the giant squid who had been feeling a little under the weather. His broken cries for help coming up the hill alerted the gathering search party before they had the chance to set out.
He wouldn’t meet the potion master’s eyes as he handed Nimue’s body over. “She’ll make it, won’t she?” he asked as Madame Pomphrey hurried over.
Poppy tried her best to cover her worry as she tried to examine her, while keeping up with Severus’ long stride as they headed towards the infirmary. “I’m sure she will be, we’ll just have to set her down and have a look.”
Some of her stress lines disappeared after Nimue was safely settled on a hospital bed and Poppy could see that most of the damage would be easily repaired. “Out, every one of you,” she started pushing the gathered crowd away even as she erected a privacy curtain with a wave of her wand.
“Don’t you dare,” Severus started as the mediwitch started prodding at him to move.
“Her body is covered with lacerations Severus and I have to see where and how deep all of them are. You have to leave. I’m just as stubborn as you are and the longer you argue with me the longer she’s going to lay there without any medical attention.”
Severus’ eyes narrowed, but he stalked to the other side of the infirmary in a swirl of black. Nimue had found her way to Hogwarts, and he couldn’t imagine how she had managed it. All he could think of was the blood he had seen on her, and how still she had been during the trip to the infirmary. He couldn’t even bring himself to visit Morgan. Their youngest natural child had nearly died, and he was convinced that it was his fault.
“Severus,” Poppy wiped her hands on her apron as she approached the professor, “we need to talk.”
“Is she alright?” he asked urgently as he grabbed Poppy by the shoulders.
“Yes Severus, she’ll be fine. But you have to know, there are some things I can’t fix, not with our supply status being what it is. She’ll probably have scars, some on her face. Not quite disfiguring, but not flattering either. And the bones in her left foot were completely crushed, I’ve done what I can, but she may still have a limp. If she does, we can always remove the bones completely and give her a dose of skelegrow… provided I ever get any again, trade being what it is…”
“But she is fine other than that?” Severus pressed. Needing to know that he would not lose a child in addition to his wife.
“Awake and asking for you,” Poppy said with a small smile.
Severus gave the nurse a curt nod in response as he stepped around her.
“Hi Dad,” Nimue said weakly as her father stepped around the curtain. Poppy had propped her up with a mountain of pillows, but sitting up was still exhausting.
“What could have possibly possessed you to run away from Greece? I hope you realize exactly how much trouble and worry you have caused. This is by far the most irresponsible stunt you have ever pulled, and is frankly something that I would have never expected out of you.”
“It’s good to see you too.”
Severus seated himself on the edge of her bed with a sigh. “You have put me in a very uncomfortable position. If I continue to be angry with you I will undoubtedly feel guilty about it, because of what you have endured the last few days. However, you have also pulled one of the stupidest stunts I have ever heard of.”
“But I’m here now, and I’m fine.”
“You were sent to Greece for your own safety.”
“Well I wasn’t happy there,” Nimue said, the family scowl falling into place.
“In the name of Merlin, you apparated without a license, let alone any instruction! Do you know what could have happened to you?! Let alone the fact that you wandered around the countryside of Britain for days on your own!”
Nimue managed to push herself up a little bit more, “but I wasn’t happy! My place is here!” She fell back against the pillows, “and I’d like a mirror, Madame Pomphrey refused to bring me one, and she took my wand, because she said she was scared I’d try to do something I shouldn’t.”
Severus silently conjured a mirror, against his better judgment but not wanting to upset Nimue any more, which he handed to his daughter. He watched her violet eyes grow large and dark as she examined her face and tentatively traced a finger down the long slashes that marked her face and the purple bruises that mottled her skin.
“What happened to you?”
Nimue put down the mirror, “I’m not really sure. I remember following the stream that the lady told me to follow…”
“What lady?” Severus interrupted, his brows coming together.
Nimue shrugged, “I don’t know, I’ve never seen her before. She told me I would come to no harm.”
“You have hardly come to ‘no harm’ as she put it,” Severus said darkly. “Continue.”
“It’s all a bit fuzzy at the end. I remember something hitting me from above, and I remember hearing screams. I was so disappointed because the school was finally in sight, and I was sure I had ruined everything…” she trailed off in whisper as her throat threatened to close with emotion.
Severus, uncomfortable in a position where he felt he had to offer comfort, stood, “I believe it is time for you to rest, if there is anything else you think of we can discuss it tomorrow.” He removed several of the pillows and helped Nimue to lie back down. “I wish I could give you something for the pain…”
“Madame Pomphrey explained that her supplies are running a bit low, I’ll be fine.”
“Right then, be sure to let Poppy know if you need anything though. We might be able to come up with something.”
“Dad, you won’t send me away again, will you?”
“No,” Severus said as he turned to leave, “this family has been severed enough as it is.” He stopped by Poppy’s desk on his way out. “Well?”
“Charlie said it had to be the lasas, but that someone or something pulled them off of her.”
Severus scowled, and decided that he’d best take a stroll around the lake to see if he could find out any thing else.
~~~~~~~~~~
