Secrets

Chapter 15

The Ministry´s and Department of Mysteries´ `attack force´ spent the better part of three hours searching for a place whose location they already knew. Having had the good sense to apparate several miles clear of the place, for fear of Voldermort´s notorious apparition barriers and magical defences, and to proceed on foot, they very quickly realised that they couldn´t orientate themselves to save their lives. No matter which method of navigation they tried to use, whether magical or mundane, the results were the same. They ended up going round in circles. Compasses went mad, every conceivable variation of the four-point spell failed, spectacularly, and even the constellations in the night sky, the last desperate method of navigation they attempted, seemed to swivel and rotate in the most peculiar fashion, until they once again found themselves miles wide of their intended destination. Eventually it had seemed that the only and last reasonable thing to do was to try and simply go in a straight line. It hadn´t worked. In the end, Phaedra had screamed in frustration, blasted a rock into smithereens, and had announced that now she was going to go back on her own -being the only one there that had a visual and direct knowledge of the landscape. Iole had been obliged to restrain her at wand point.

After a brief screaming match, Phaedra had been convinced to see the error of her ways, and Iole to listen to the voice of reason, which in this case was Felix. He had made a suggestion which was a compromise between Phaedra´s apparent suicidal tendencies and Iole´s refusal to allow anything of the sort. He suggested that they all went back to Drumnadrochit, from where they knew the precise distance they needed to cover and the exact direction they needed to take to find themselves practically outside the house. From there, two thirds of the task force would apparate along with Phaedra, and if they made it there in one piece, one of them would immediately come back and call the others to join them. It was still remarkably risky, but at least the idea didn´t involve the more than distinct possibility of Phaedra apparating alone into the midst of a Death Eater army. Of course it meant that it was entirely likely that around ten people would find themselves splinched, in the best of circumstances, and in the worst, they would find themselves in the middle of a reasonably large explosion. But none of the people there that night were under any illusions about what they were up against, or what they were likely to face. Suddenly apparating right outside Voldermort´s front door, of course, had not been terribly high in their original list of things to try, that evening. In fact, it had featured way down there at the bottom of the list, along with other ideas like: `Walk up to Malfoy Manor and ask for directions´, or `Take a running charge at Voldermort, brandishing a wand and screaming "Freeze in the name of the Ministry!".´ Sometimes, however, there was no choice but to be foolhardy -and there were several Aurors there that night that specialised in that department.

As it turned out, no explosions were involved in the endeavour, and no one got splinched. All they found where the manor house used to be was a piece of parchment pinned onto the tree Phaedra had hidden behind a few hours earlier. It read:

Dear Ms Ranger,

I will be happy to meet you at some later date. When I´m ready. In the meantime, I suggest you try harder. It was a reasonable attempt, but not quite good enough for a pureblood, and someone who has had the honour of wearing the colours Slytherin House.

Please inform the young woman whose animal form is a spider, in the group of Aurors you have with you, that she has caught our attention most efficaciously.

I will let you know when I feel like paying you a visit.

There was the blazon of Slytherin House on the bottom of the page, en lieu of a signature. The parchment crumbled into very fine dust the moment it was touched.

After a couple of very silent moments, Phaedra spun away from the tree and screamed, at the top of her voice, in irrepressible fury and frustration.

`BASTARD!!´

`Well, looks like Aidan won´t have to eat his wand after all,´ Felix mumbled levelly.

`To be honest I would have been happy to watch him chew it down to the handle if that meant that we had ended it all here, tonight,´ Iole said with a sort of flatness that belied the simmering anger she was suppressing.

`Well, yeah. Me too,´ Felix admitted with a disappointed but stoical shrug.

`I can´t believe you´re taking this so calmly!´ Phaedra shouted at the two of them.

`What would you like us to have been doing?´ Iole said acidly.

`At least we learnt that he´s not as invulnerable as he thinks he is,´ Felix offered. `We found him once, we´ll find him again. And it´s a damned good job that, for some reason, he seems to think Phaedra´s an Auror. I wonder how that idea got into his head.´

`Oh that´s Aidan´s work,´ Phaedra said with a dismissive wave of the hand. `Much good that will do me now. Half the Death Eater squad know who I am, including Voldermort.´

`Don´t be so dismissive about it,´ said Iole sharply. `You still have a cover. I wouldn´t have been able to use you any more in this operation if he knew who you really worked for!´

`Oh okay... You´re right,´ Phaedra mumbled irritably.

`I suggest we go back. There´s nothing we can do here,´ the leader of the Auror squad said finally. `Besides, we might be needed back in London.´

`There´s still plenty more to be done here!´ Iole said meaningfully. `The place has to be gone over with a fine tooth comb. Felix, go back to the Department and get me a Tech Team over here, with every gadget and gismo they´ve got, and the Analysis Team from the Haven. Wake them up, all of them, I don´t care. I need them here in half an hour. I need six of you to stay, for security,´ she concluded, turning back to the Auror. `The rest of you can go. But this place is going to be crawling with nerds, in less than an hour and I need some security.´

`Fine,´ the Auror said and turned to his squad to pick the `volunteers´.

`Phaedra, I´m going to need you to stay put for a while longer, I´m afraid. The rest of you lot can go back to your beds. I´ll have more instructions for you in the morning,´ Iole said to the seven of her own team, Lunariors that had been suddenly plucked from other assignments in the middle of the night to be brought into this operation. `I´m never going to hear the end of this...´ she murmured to herself in the end. `Fudge is going to have a field day. It´ll be like Christmas and Halloween, all rolled into one for the idiot. I just hope the Tech and Analysis Teams find something of some use, otherwise...´

`Otherwise what?´ Phaedra interrupted her.

`Oh nothing,´ said Iole dismissively, all of a sudden. `Right, you lot. Who´s staying and who´s going? Okay. You two go over there, the north end, and keep your eyes peeled -as if I have to tell you that here -you two take the south, you the west, Phaedra here and myself will keep an eye this end. And don´t touch anything and don´t use any magic, at all, for any reason, unless you´re actually under attack. Understand? Let´s try and not screw up whatever traces are left here, so the Tech and Analysis Teams actually have a chance, hey? Besides, we don´t want to trigger any of his defences by accident, do we? After all, we don´t know what´s here.´

The Department of Mysteries´ Tech Team was the first to arrive, almost thirty minutes later on the dot. The nerdiest of the two teams, they tended to be the ones that scorned sleep in the same way other people scorned fair grounds: it was trivial and time-consuming. None of them had been asleep. At 2:00 am, their mental powers were just about peaking. After about eight or ten cups of coffee, several cold slices of yesterday´s pizza and a couple of chocolate frogs, they felt at top form. And strangely, only one or two of them were twitching; the younger ones. The rest had become immune to caffeine years ago.

`Alright, gather round! Gather round!´ Iole called to them before they had the chance to start immediately scuttling off in different directions and setting up their equipment with about as much awareness of the precariousness of the situation as a three-year-old. `Right, this is what we know about the area. Keep it in mind, we don´t want to have to call the Accidental Magic Reversal team over here too, and I´m told St Mungo´s is quite full at the moment. We´re also expecting an Analysis Team from The Arcana to be arriving soon, so you are expected to cooperate with them fully -and they with you, of course.´

From somewhere near the back of the motley crew comprising the Tech Team, Seth caught Phaedra´s eye and winked at her, as Iole continued talking.

`Thank you,´ she mouthed silently to him and smiled.

`Phaedra! Come here!´ Iole´s voice made her start, slightly. `Everyone, Phaedra here will inform you of the exact distances and direction it is relatively safe to travel by apparition to. Beyond those, it´s uncharted territory, you´re on you own. You apparate anywhere outside the parameters she gives you and the risk is yours; fully.´

Half way through Phaedra´s little speech which happened with many and varied interruptions for questions, such as: `How do you know?´ -a difficult question to answer in the best of circumstances -the Analysis team arrived. A more different collection of people than the Tech Team there couldn´t have been, although they were as much an odd combination of individuals as their technologically inclined counterparts. Only, the average age seemed to have suddenly shot up by a couple of decades, and the new arrivals looked like they hadn´t left the confines of their office inside some sort of academic institution for most of that time. And they had definitely just been woken up. Most of them seemed quite surprised to have suddenly found themselves in the middle of the countryside, and were regarding their environment with a mixture of bleary-eyed bewilderment and fascination, as if they couldn´t quite remember when the last time they had seen the countryside was. Five out of the eight of them were already smoking when they apparated there; one had a lit cigarette hanging loosely from his lips, another was holding one between thumb and forefinger, and there were at least another three lit pipes visible. Within three seconds of arriving, the sixth person stuck a cigarette between his lips, which lit up instantly, of its own accord, and a seventh one pulled a silver hip-flask from inside his robes, took a swig and offered it to the person standing next to him, who had no hesitation in accepting it.

`Yup,´ the owner of the hip-flask said, whilst wiping his heavy, horned-rimmed spectacles on his robes and then pushing them slowly back up his nose, and squinting interestedly around him. `In my considered opinion we are definitely exactly 50 miles north of the back of beyond.´

`Yup,´ the second man who had just partaken of the contents of the hip-flask said, wiping his mouth. `Exactly. "Here there be dragons"...´

`Dragons? Really?´ another man interjected. `That´s interesting.´

`Not real dragons, you dunderhead! That´s just an expression conveying the idea that it´s an unexplored, remote area,´ one of the only two women in the group exclaimed in exasperation, threw the cigarette butt she was holding down, stepped on it and immediately lit another one.

`Oh.´

`Yes, it comes from the time when-´ another man joined in the conversation.

`Will you all please be so kind as to shut up and come and join us over here?´ Iole´s voice suddenly interrupted them. `Thank you...´ she added, as one by one, the members of the Analysis Team started wandering over towards her, looking distinctly bedraggled, sleepy, suffering from a probably perpetual bad-hair-day, and trailing a blue haze of pipe and cigarette smoke behind them.

* * *

`Good morning.´

`Oh God,´ Aidan groaned as he opened his eyes. `You look almost as bad as I feel. What happened? Did you find him again.´

`Nope.´

`´not surprised.´

`I know. Felix said something about you promising to eat your wand if we found that house a second time,´ Phaedra said with a crooked grin. `Looks like you´re off the hook.´

`It was a safe bet.´

`Not like all the other ones you gambled on yesterday.´

He smiled, lopsidedly.

`I don´t know... The odds were not that good but the pay-off was quite substantial.´

`Give it up. You were just lucky I came back for you.´

`Yeah... Very lucky.´ He smirked knowingly at her. `I reckon I owe you a bit more than a cup of coffee now.´

`I should think so!´

`Ok, ok!... There´s no need to rub it in,´ he said, feigning indignation. `Anyway, why do you look so awful? Didn´t you get any sleep at all last night?´

`Nope. Haven´t even seen a bed in over 24 hours. Came straight here from Scotland.´

`Ah. So that´s where it was.´

`Yes. There´s a Tech Team and an Analysis Team still over there going over the place with a fine tooth comb. But Iole finally let me go about an hour ago.´

`You´ve been here for an hour?!´

`Yup.´

`You´re out of your mind! Go home, right now, and get some sleep!´

`Yeah, that´s right, blame me for wanting to see how you were!´ Phaedra exclaimed. `I wonder why I bother!´ She tried to keep a straight face but found it impossible.

Aidan held her gaze for a moment in his smiling eyes.

`Well, now you´ve seen how I am, go home. And don´t come back again until you´ve had at least ten hours´ sleep.´

`Is that an order?´ Phaedra enquired meaningfully.

`Absolutely.´

She rose from her seat, clicked her heels, saluted sharply and said:

`Yesss, Ssiirr!´

`Are you going to obey this one in the same way you obeyed all the other ones?´

`No, this time I´m really going to go and get some sleep,´ she replied, relaxing abruptly again, and placing both hands on her hips.

`Well, one order out three, is better than nothing, I guess,´ Aidan murmured in mock exasperation.

Phaedra sniggered.

`You´re one to talk.´

`I beg your pardon!´

`Give it up. I know all about your record on obeying orders. It drives Iole up the wall like nothing I´ve seen, but she still values you highly, so I guess there´s something to be said for insubordination.´

Aidan looked deep into Phaedra´s eyes for a second and then the corner of his lips curled up slowly in a shrewd smile.

`I think we´re going to get on just fine,´ he said. `And here I was thinking that Ravenclaws were all for the rules!´

`In much the same way that all Slytherins are evil,´ she replied without missing a beat.

Aidan chuckled quietly.

`You´ve seen my file.´

`Of course.´

`Of course,´ he agreed with a faint nod. `Now get the hell out of here and get some sleep, and let me get some too.´

She grinned at him, turned on her heel and headed for the door. Suddenly she stopped and turned again.

`It´s good to have you back,´ she said, smiling warmly at him for the first time, and walked out.

* * *

Three days later the Analysis Team was still analysing, although the Tech Team had gone home after just one. All the analysis was now happening back inside the offices the Team seemed to have been inhabiting -full time -for the past ten to twenty years. The Techies had given them all the information all their gadgets were capable of picking up and it was up to the Analysts now to try and make any kind of sense out of it. It had been hard going, but by day three they had been able to give one or two interesting titbits of information to Iole -and they were still working on it, with the invaluable assistance of a veritable plantation´s worth of tobacco products and the entire annual production of alcohol of a small Mediterranean island. They were promising yet more breakthroughs to come; and Iole was keeping her fingers crossed that they would come through with their promise, because the Ministry was nipping at her heels like a pack of hungry hyenas. Fudge had as much spine as a jellyfish and the Malfoy family still held a great deal of sway in political circles; they and others of their kind. Even though it was common knowledge where their loyalties lay, it was as yet impossible to prove anything; mostly because no one in any real position of power was willing to try. It was entirely more likely that they would try to pin the blame on someone else; someone had to take the blame after all. That fateful Friday had seen the sort of bloodshed and casualties the Wizarding world hadn´t seen in over fifteen years. And the muggles had paid a hefty part of that price too. The fallout was quite dramatic. It was much easier to focus on the losses, than what the consequences would have been if certain people hadn´t been doing their damnest for months to prepare against just such an eventuality. It also was much easier to blame it all on the alleged incompetence of an anonymous, faceless, Head of an obscure Department no one trusted anyway, than to actually try and find the people responsible. That would take too long, would cost too much and the Ministry needed a scapegoat now.

Iole had her hands full, and most Arcana employees hadn´t seen their homes in almost forty-eight hours. Dumbledore was doing his best to pull all the political strings he could too and throw his weight around as much as possible, but despite his reputation and the kind of respect and awe his name carried with it for most sensible people, on a political level, he didn´t hold as much sway as one would expect. Fear had yet to reach that level of insufferability at which people stopped caring anymore, stared it in the face and calmly gave it the finger. At this point, the Malfoy family, and everyone like them, held more power than Dumbledore. People were afraid and very confused; and hence they were willing to be led and assuaged. Eventually, they would stop believing a word anyone, of any authority whatsoever said to them, and they would start trusting nothing but their own eyes, ears and common sense. But there was going to be a great deal more blood and tears spilled before they reached that point. In the mean time, the only thing anyone in any position of power and with any intelligence to speak of could do was to try and contain the fallout, and always be one step ahead of the morons. They had to try and do what everyone else should have been doing.

* * *

At Hogwarts, things were only now beginning to struggle to return to some semblance of normality -as much as that was conceivably possible. Ron, Hermione and the Twins had been subjected to long-winded and mostly rather unpleasant discussions with Dumbledore, Iris and McGonagall. Their parents had been called over to visit, to satisfy themselves that their children were safe and unharmed and to give them a piece of their minds, but other than that they had got off very lightly; for the time being. McGonagall had informed them that, under the circumstances, she had decided that Snape should be the one to pass judgment on them, and she had given him carte blanche on the matter. He had the all-clear to decide on any punishment for them whatsoever, barring actual expulsion from the School. Dumbledore and herself did not believe that was necessary. But the `Terrible Four´ had not yet been allowed to see him and receive their sentencing. This had been due to the fact that all the adults didn´t feel it was yet wise to have Snape´s blood pressure shooting through the roof the moment he set eyes on the lot of them. And they all knew him well enough to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it would.

It was not till a week later that Ron, Hermione and the Twins were led to Snape´s office by McGonagall, to face the music. The walk there had seemed unnaturally long, and more nerve-wracking than they could ever remember it having been before. Hermione thought she was going to have a heart attack, and Ron looked pretty much like he was in the high-risk group for a stroke. Even the Twins looked jittery, and that was definitely a first. The fact that they had met Filch along the way, who had sniggered knowingly as they went past, hadn´t helped.

McGonagall opened the door to Snape´s office and waited for the small group of Gryffindors to walk in ahead of her. They were not entirely surprised, in retrospect -after a fraction of a second´s contemplation that is -to find Iris already there too. Snape was sitting behind his desk, elbows on the chair´s armrests, fingers laced loosely in front of him, staring coldly straight at them. She was standing on his left-hand side, by the edge of the desk.

`I have since decided that it is only fair that Professor Raveneye has a say in this too,´ McGonagall informed them, from the door. Four pairs of very apprehensive eyes turned and looked at her for a moment. She didn´t say anything else, and she didn´t walk into the room either. She only looked at them meaningfully, then nodded curtly to Snape and Iris and left, closing the door behind her. Ron, Hermione, Fred and George turned slowly back to face Iris and Snape. It was very hard not to notice the shadows under Snape´s eyes, and how thin his face seemed to be; and pale; very pale; which was something that seemed not to be affecting the searing power of his stare, however. It was as terror-inducing as always; as was, in fact, the whole image they were faced with. It had a definite whiff of a judge and executioner about it -what with the invariably black outfits, Snape sitting in his intricately carved, high-back chair behind a desk and flanked by a standing, equally shadowy, dark-haired figure.

Ron gulped. Then he gritted his teeth and waited. Whatever happened now, they deserved it. And he knew that Hermione was thinking along exactly the same lines.

`Fred,´ said Iris suddenly, after an entirely too long pause. `I´ll start with you. 50 points... awarded to Gryffindor.´

Four jaws dropped simultaneously.

`George,´ she continued relentlessly, `50 points awarded to Gryffindor. Hermione. 50 points. And finally, Ron... 75 points awarded to Gryffindor.´

They stared at her; all four of them; speechlessly.

`And,´ she added, after a moment. `Two hours detention a week, for the rest of the year, to be served with me.´

They were still staring.

`That´s all from me. Professor Snape?´ she said flatly, without taking her eyes off them for a second.

Slowly, they forced their eyes to swivel round to Snape. It was difficult; and their jaws were still hanging open. For a very long moment he didn´t speak. He just kept glaring at them coldly.

`Mister Fred Weasley, 30 point from Gryffindor,´ he said quietly, levelly, in the end. `Mister George Weasley, 30 points deducted. Miss Granger. 30 points deducted. Mister Ron Weasley, 40 points from Gryffindor.´

Wide eyed and staring, they gaped at him while their minds, very slowly, processed what had just happened. Their eyes only widened even more and their jaws dropped even further as it sunk in. He had deliberately allowed them to keep a profit in points.

`Also, four hours´ detention a week, to be served with me, for the rest of the year... And the entire length of the next school year, for Miss Granger and Mister Ron Weasley. As Misters Fred and George Weasley will, hopefully, be graduating at the end of the year, they will only serve this detention for the remainder of this year.´

Ron´s and Hermione´s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

`And this is all while I´m feeling remarkably lenient. You have all got off very, very lightly indeed. Now get out of here before I change my mind,´ Snape growled menacingly.

It took them a moment to pull themselves together sufficiently for their brains to communicate effectively with the rest of their bodies, but once said routes of communication were re-established, they didn´t need telling twice. All four of them scuttled out of there so quickly, Snape almost smiled.

`That was almost as satisfying as I had imagined it would be,´ he purred after a moment. The faintest smirk was teasing the corner of his lips.

`Almost?´ Iris enquired with a smile.

`I should have taken more points off. You were entirely too generous with them.´

`I awarded exactly as many points as we had agreed,´ she said, still smiling in amusement.

`Yes. Well, I changed my mind. It was too generous.´

`You gave them detention for a year and a half,´ Iris pointed out cheerfully.

`A year and three months,´ Snape corrected her. `I had promised myself it would have been for the entire rest of their school career. With that in mind, I think I was remarkably lenient.´

`I completely understand,´ Iris agreed, nodding sagely, and pursing her lips to stop herself from laughing out loud.

* * *

`Do you know what I find absolutely astonishing?´

`No. Please do enlighten me.´

`You´re drinking your second, triple espresso, and you´re still not twitching,´ Phaedra said flatly, and sipped the regular, albeit rather strong, filter coffee she was holding. `I mean, your heart hasn´t popped out of your chest yet, and I´ve been looking at your throat, and I can´t even see a pulse at all, you know... you can usually see a faint throbbing on people´s necks, high up, just under the side of the jaw there...´ she gestured with her hand lightly from a distance. `Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. Are you sure you´re still alive?´

Aidan´s eyebrows rose slowly and his lips quivered.

`I am simply a very, very calm person,´ he said smoothly and with his lips still threatening to curl up in an amused smirk. `Ask Iole, she´ll tell you.´

`I´m sure.´

`And you´re still looking.´

`Yes. Still can´t see it. I think am sitting here having coffee with an undead creature from the black lagoon.´

`I assure you, it is definitely there,´ Aidan said with exaggerated flatness. `I may lack other qualities, but a pulse, I do have.´

`That´s what you say. I bet you it´s only till nightfall that you look normal, and then I´ll be proven right; when your eyes turn red and you grow fangs and you start going for people´s necks.´

Aidan burst out into laughter.

`You think I´m joking?! I am not. No one, no one with a pulse can drink two triple espressos in under two hours and not start twitching; and that includes Seth and his mates who drink coffee in the same way other people drink water.´

`I think I may have to meet this friend, Seth, of yours. He sounds like an alright guy,´ said Aidan, still laughing. `Besides, I owe him one now too, don´t I; and he and his friends sound like they know how to live. I think I may have to take them out for coffee.´

`I think that´s the worst idea I´ve heard in a long time. You will all die from caffeine poisoning -or a heart attack.´

Aidan was still laughing.

`Right! That´s it!´ he exclaimed between chuckles, downed the rest of his espresso in one go and got up. `I´m never taking you out for coffee again. You are impossible, and you are not letting me enjoy my espresso. We´ll just have to go get some alcohol instead. Come on,´ he said and, grasping her hand hauled her up from her seat. `You´re not going to keep on complaining about that too, are you?´ he added as he steered Phaedra firmly away from the coffee-shop and down the street.

`I don´t know. Can´t promise anything. It all depends,´ she snickered.

`I´m sure we won´t have this same problem with alcohol,´ said Aidan resolutely. `A couple of tequilas and you´ll feel so much better.´

`I´d rather have a couple of whiskies if you don´t mind.´

`Whatever rocks your boat. Glenmorangie alright?´

`Laphroaig.´

`Fine. Whatever you want, just as long as you stop complaining and start having fun.´

`I´m not complaining. I was simply making an observation. It´s not my fault you don´t seem to have blood pumping through your veins and a pulse!´

`Stop provoking me, or I´ll show you just how efficiently my blood gets pumped through my body,´ he growled playfully in her ear.

Phaedra laughed.

`And tell me, is it enough to power both your centres of thought at once, or only one at a time?´

`Why you cheeky little... End of discussion, right here! We are in a public place and I can´t be held responsible for the consequences if this conversation continues,´ he said as he steered her in through a door. It was a wonderful little muggle bar, in an old building with its original oak panelling, warm, soft lighting and a tasteful, minimal, décor. They had abandoned the Diagon Alley idea, in the light of recent events, and had opted for a more low-key excursion into muggle-land instead. Neither of them could afford the risk of being spotted, by any number of unpleasant people wearing black, in the company of the other right now. If Iole had even known that they were out in public together she would have blown a gasket, even though it was in muggle-land, where the chances of running into a Death Eater that knew either of the two of them were smaller than lightning striking twice in the same place. It was still a risk, albeit a small, calculated one. Both of them, however, were used to taking much more impressive gambles than this in their everyday lives. They could live with a thirteen million to one chance of getting spotted.

* * *

Iris woke up. She breathed in deeply, slowly, but didn´t open her eyes. She didn´t know what time it was, and frankly, she didn´t care. She just lay there, relishing the wonderful, comfortable warmth, listening to all those minute, little sounds that can so easily be mistaken for silence. She listened to the occasional faint creaking of the wood, the almost inaudible crackling of a dying fire in the fireplace, the soft rustle of the bedclothes as she stirred imperceptibly, the sound of her own breathing, and the slow, steady heartbeat in her ear. After a few moments she sighed softly and a faint smile touched her lips. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Tilting her head back a fraction, she regarded what was there for a moment. Then she looked back down again, and gently fingered a pale reddish line which seemed much angrier than it really was, as its faint, pink edges faded into a pallid, milky-white.

`Does it bother you that much?´ came the soft, low voice, like crushed velvet, to break the silence.

`No... It doesn´t bother me at all,´ she breathed back. `Not in the way you mean, at least,´ she added and shifted her head again to look up at Snape as he lay there on his back, black hair spilling over the white pillow, eyes still closed, chest and midsection bare with the bedclothes flung back to cover him only from the waist down.

`Yes... yes... I know. Poppy could have got rid of it,´ he said quietly in the same even tone. `I didn´t want her to.´

Iris looked back down at the healing scar her fingers were still caressing, on his sternum.

`I know. I´m just wondering if you´re sure.´

`I´m sure.´

`Ok.´

She fell silent for a while, listening to nothing but his heartbeat under her ear, as she lay with her head on his chest. `You have another scar on your back,´ she said after a while.

`Yes.´

`Don´t suppose you care to tell me about it?´

`No. Not right now.´

`Some other time?´

`Maybe.´

`Ok... By the way... I have to go to France.´

`When?´

`Soon.´

Silence.

`It will probably have to be for a while. Don´t know how long for yet.´

`Before the end of term?

`I don´t know.´

`Right.´

Silence expanded for a few moments, and the sound of the fire, and the creaking wood, her breathing, and his heartbeat all somehow seemed to become louder. It was rather blissful, she considered; or at least would have been if she could make her mind stop thinking for two consecutive minutes.

`Oh, and I forgot to tell you. Black came in to see how you were like three times that first night in the hospital wing. He asked me not to tell you he was there, but I told him to go get a brain transplant if at all possible. I told him you had a right to know. He didn´t seem to agree with me...´ Iris paused for a moment, listening to Snape´s heartbeat slowly starting to pick up speed. She managed to control her sudden urge to grin and continued speaking instead, wondering how much more it would take before he would erupt. `Anyway, he really was quite distressed, especially while we all thought you were going to die on us, even though he was making all these ludicrously male efforts not to let on. He´s alright, really...´

`Really?´

This time Iris grinned.

`Uh huh. He brought me tequila and everything, when I most needed a really stiff drink. Very thoughtful. He´s a bit overbearing, indiscrete and tactless, but alright really... He didn´t make a nuisance of himself either; he buggered off after a half-hour or so to go patrol the grounds or something. Looks like he´s going to be around for a while too, so I guess you´ll be running into him eventually...´

`Iris will you please shut up and just let me enjoy this one, single, bleeding moment of relative peace and happiness?!´ Snape suddenly exclaimed, finally opening his eyes for the first time and glaring at her in exasperation. `Do we have to discuss Black, and every other unpleasant subject that never seems to be far from your mind, right now?´

A minute and a half. It took him a minute and a half from the moment the name Black was mentioned, to erupt. Well, it was an improvement. Last time she had mentioned the dreaded word, he had flown off the handle within seconds. There was hope for them yet.

Iris´s eyes glinted and she smiled deviously, running her fingertip lightly down the slight dip of his muscles down the centre of his chest, then over the small curve of his upper-most abdominal and the scar, then down and over the next three faint curves of his abdominal muscles and further down. There was not an ounce of fat in his body. It was all sinew and muscle, and pale, white skin.

`No,´ she purred slyly. `What would you rather do instead?´ she asked as she slid her hand under the bedclothes, running her fingers over the curve of his pelvis and down his thigh.

He suppressed a moan, closed his eyes again and let himself lie back down with a sigh. Damned woman, he thought. It was pointless even attempting to remain angry, so he didn´t even try.

`Oh, I don´t know... Seems like you may have hit on a good idea right there...´ he said flatly, his voice low, even and silky.

`What, you mean right here?´ she asked wryly, and immediately he gasped. Then he began chuckling silently, eyes still closed. At that precise moment she realised what she had been doing. She had been trying to make him laugh. She only realised it after she had succeeded. It struck her because it was the first time she had seen him crack anything more than a smile. She had never seen him laugh before, and something told her it wasn´t going to be something she would be seeing very often in the future either. At least now she knew what it was like -and that it was actually possible. Her lips parted in a warm, beaming grin as she looked up at him. His eyes were closed.

`You´re a disgrace,´ he muttered.

`Who, me? Never!´

`Heaven forbid,´ he smiled, eyes still firmly shut. `How could that idea possibly have crossed my mind?´

`Don´t ask me!´

She wasn´t entirely sure how it happened, but the next moment she found herself on her back and staring up, from a distance of no more than ten inches, straight into Snape´s eyes, as he lay on top of her. She had yelped and giggled as he had flicked her over, but she only realised that in retrospect.

`I think it might have had something to do with last night,´ he rumbled quietly.

`When you were more than a bit shameless yourself.´

`I count myself as having been sorely provoked. As indeed I have been again now.´

`So you´re going to be shameless again?´

`Guess,´ he said menacingly, his eyes gleaming keenly as he leaned down towards her.

* * *

The next three and a half months went by without major incident, either in Hogwarts, the rest of the Wizarding or the Muggle worlds. Mostly, people spent that time on damage control and on trying to recover. Iole had given the Ministry enough information to help her retain a precarious grip on her position, for the time being, whilst still managing to keep the really sensitive facts out of their-and consequently Death Eater -hands. It had been a very easy equation to solve. Voldermort had found out, in the space of four hours, not only what the Ministry were about to do, but who was going to be doing it. It didn´t take a genius to figure out how that had happened. Consequently, she kept as much from the Ministry as was possible, without ending up having to take the blame for being the only one that seemed to have been trying to do something useful.

At Hogwarts, things had returned to normal, more or less and, strangely, most of the more gory details about what had happened that April, had somehow managed to not reach the general population. As far as Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Twins were concerned, that was a first. Even though they had done their outmost to keep as much of this to themselves as possible, things generally did tend to get out. It was the first time that, to their knowledge, this hadn´t happened. Some of the older Gryffindors knew some more details, but they would have rather stuck their hand into a cauldron of boiling toads´ guts than let anything slip to the Slytherins, for example. They had also found that their total of six hours´ detention per week had not been exactly what they had expected it to be; i.e. a sentence to hard labour for their sins. They had gutted barrels-full of toads, for Snape, and chopped up ingredients, and had stood there stirring cauldrons for hours on end, and had cleaned up the potions classroom more times than they cared to remember of course, but after about a month of this, one evening, Snape had strode in, had glared at them as usual, had flicked his robes away from his feet, had strode over to go and sit behind his desk, laced his fingers in front of him, glowered at them some more, and after several seconds finally decided to speak.

`Today, you are going to learn how to make Noctis Visus. It is a potion which allows you to see perfectly, both in utter, complete darkness, and under any other conditions of poor visibility, such as dense fog, or smoke, etc. It has the sole side-effect of making your eyes turn blood-red, temporarily; and if I even so much as suspect that you have used it for some inane prank, I promise you that you will be expelled, instantly. Is that clear?´

All four of them gawped at him stupidly.

`Let´s assume that it is. I should also warn you that while you´re attempting to brew this, you should try to keep your wits and concentration about you, because it is highly volatile, and if you mess it up, like you so often do, it is likely that that will result in a quite spectacular explosion -which won´t be at all harmless! Now, as Noctis Visus has the unfortunate side-effect of making one look like a vampire, I would not suggest that you use it in public, especially if that is muggle public. It can be used very effectively in combination with other potions in combat, as, for example, the Nebula potion which one can use to create conditions of poor visibility, thus hindering one´s opponents. Unlike spells which produce similar results, the Nebula potion, being a potion, cannot be dispelled. Its effects will either wear out naturally, or through a counter-potion... Both of which you will learn to make in due course.´

Ron and the Twins were still gawping at him, wide eyed. Only Hermione finally managed to clamp her mouth shut, gulp and then hesitantly raise her hand.

`Please, Professor, but... erm... why are you going to teach us how to brew this?´

`Considering the fact that you don´t seem to have been even trying to keep yourselves away from the front line of this war during the past five years, Miss Granger, and that, at this stage, whether you want to or not, you are as much involved in it as your friend Mr Potter, I think you are going to need it.´

Hermione´s mouth dropped open again.

`Oh and of course, you are going to learn how to brew Noctis Visus. That does not mean that you are going to get to keep the finished product -assuming you actually manage to produce an active potion, that is. Not while you´re in this School! I promise you, if you attempt to brew and store this while you´re in Hogwarts, I will know about it, and that will mean automatic expulsion as well. Have I made myself clear?´

It took them a few seconds before they finally managed to nod mutely.

`Splendid. Oh, and if so much as one word concerning this is mentioned to anyone outside this room who´s name is not Dumbledore, Raveneye or McGonagall, I will make you all regret the day you were born; and I absolutely mean that!´

After that evening´s detention, it didn´t come as a very big surprise when, the next time the four of them saw Iris, in detention once more, she announced that they were now going to begin combat training.

`Forget duelling,´ she had said. `Combat is not a gentlemanly sport. No one is going to count to three and say "go", and most definitely no one is going to bow and wait for you to take the proper stance. The most powerful spell is not the one that always wins. In these lessons, you are going to learn how to think in terms of combat. You are going to learn how to use your brains to confuse, to evade, and outwit your opponents. And the first rule of combat is "Foresee their next move, and don´t do what they expect you to do". Big explosions are very spectacular and effective, but predictable. On the other hand, no one expects to suddenly go blind in mid incantation, or to have a small rock come flying into their face, or a root to jump out of the ground and grab them by the leg, or their necktie to suddenly catch fire. If they don´t expect this, then they won´t be prepared to block, or evade it. You distract an opponent for two seconds and they´re yours. You´ve won. So, lesson number one. Don´t underestimate the small spells, or the small things you can do. All you need to do is learn how and when to use them.´

Since Iris´s speech hadn´t involved any comment on whom they were allowed to discuss this with or not, Ron and Hermione automatically concluded that discussing this with Harry wasn´t a problem. Not that Snape´s words had convinced them of the opposite. It was immediately assumed that Harry couldn´t possibly count in the list of people that were barred from finding out what they were learning with Snape. The reasoning behind this was the notion that Snape couldn´t possibly have expected that they would keep all this from Harry, hence he had not seen reason to include him in the list of people with whom it was acceptable to discuss this. Besides, Harry wasn´t that big on potions, so it was highly unlikely that he would take much interest in what the two of them had been learning to make. On the other hand, Harry was rather interested in combat training, so, whatever Ron and Hermione learnt with Iris got immediately transmitted to him. The three of them spent the next one and a half months practicing together... as Iris had expected.

During this time, after April, one of the matters with which Iole had occupied herself extensively had been the establishment of a new cover for Phaedra. The wheels in that direction had been set into motion pretty much immediately, within one or two days, but, a full-proof cover, or at least as full-proof as it could ever be, took a long time to set up. In this particular case, it was even more difficult than usual because of the a priori knowledge that there were snitches everywhere in the Ministry, only no one knew who they were.

The first thing that Iole had arranged had been for Phaedra´s details to miraculously appear, overnight, in all of the Ministry´s records of active Aurors; and make it so that it seemed that these had been there for at least the past two years. It hadn´t been easy. Making her details spontaneously appear, had been easy, and arranged more or less instantly. What took a few weeks was altering everything, every single written record to make it appear as if these had been there all along. They started with the more obvious sources people could get their hands on, and slowly but meticulously worked their way back to the most confidential of documents that the Minster himself would have had trouble laying his hands on. And then of course, there was a plausible background story to set up for her; one that wouldn´t collapse instantly upon closer inspection. Not only did they have to come up with the story itself, including where she had trained, with whom, when she had graduated, and all the rest of those things that anyone trying to verify someone´s position would immediately start looking up, but they also had to miraculously produce key personalities from Phaedra´s imaginary past, that would be available to corroborate the story if anyone ever started snooping about. And then those people had to have imaginary backgrounds set up for them, just in case these were checked up too, only these were not as extensive and meticulously planned. It was presumed that if someone got through three layers of information that all added up, there would be a point at which they would eventually be satisfied, and it was deemed that this was it.

Iris´s new version of her life as a still active Auror had been slightly easier to arrange and set up. The fact that she had spent half her life in a different country, had indeed started out as an Auror -even though that career had only lasted about a year -and she already had enough contacts to corroborate most of this, both in England and France had made doctoring all the records a lot easier for Iole. The new version of things, however, included a few more details that needed to be established from scratch, and that had meant that Iris had had to travel to France for a couple of weeks initially, before the end of term, and before setting up shop there for the rest of the summer after the end of term. It had been decided that, given her unique position and relationship with Beauxbattons and Madame Maxime in particular, she would act as a sort of unofficial, undercover liaison between the two countries. Dumbledore and Iole had come to the conclusion that, since Fudge was refusing to do the sensible thing and involve other countries in this now obviously enormous problem that would apparently soon start spreading beyond Britain´s borders, (as indeed it had already, even though the Norwegian Minister for Magic had not `officially´ been informed) they would get on with it themselves. Iris would provide the French with all the information they needed -and was considered safe to divulge -for them to know what they were looking for, and prepare themselves. In return, the French would set up their own intelligence network and keep Dumbledore and Iole personally and constantly informed of any and all suspicious activity.

This little arrangement meant that Iris had to spend the entire latter half of the summer in France, under the pretence of assisting her old school, of her own free volition, to prepare for war with an unfamiliar enemy. There was no point trying to keep this information from Voldemort, in fact, it was better if he found out about the fact that the rest of the wizarding world was starting to catch on. However, this also meant that it was likely that during the next academic year Iris would have to travel to and from France quite frequently, and although no definite arrangements had yet been made on that score, the possibility of her having to move there permanently had not been entirely dismissed. Both Dumbledore and Iole preferred to keep her permanent base in Britain, but they were willing to consider alternatives.

By early June, Iole, with Dumbledore´s help had managed to successfully negotiate similar arrangements with other of their foreign counterparts. By mid-summer, operatives would be taking up permanent posts in Norway, Austria, Hungary, Italy and Greece. Negotiations were still underway with Russia, Germany, Spain and Holland. They didn´t expect to be able to get all these countries to agree to such an arrangement, but the more of them that joined in, the better. And they hadn´t even attempted any sort of negotiation with countries outside the continent, yet. They had decided that, for the time being, keeping this whole thing within the European continent at least was a good idea.

For obvious reasons, Snape had only been informed of parts of this whole endeavour -the parts that they wanted Voldemort to find out about. He knew that Iris was going to France as a sort of diplomatic/military liaison on Dumbledore´s and her own behalf, to impart to them her knowledge and skills as a British Auror who was familiar with the enemy; even though no one was actually making much effort to convince Snape that she was an Auror any more -but they were not telling him outright what she really was, either. The dreaded `L´ word and the Department of Mysteries were never mentioned in his presence. He knew that Dumbledore had been making efforts to negotiate similar arrangements with other countries, but he was not being told which countries had joined in so far, and he knew that more negotiations were going to take place in the future. Besides, the issue of whether Dumbledore would allow Snape to go to Voldemort at all, if and when he was called again, had not even been decided yet. Despite the wonders of the potion-making art, and Aidan´s remarkable performance, Dumbledore -and everyone else with half a brain -were not entirely convinced that it was a wise thing to attempt. There was simply no way of knowing for sure whether Voldemort had fallen for it. The most appalling thought of all was the one which said that, the only way they could ever know would be if Aidan was called first, went there, and returned in one piece. If he went there and never came back, then that would be a certain way of deducing that Voldemort hadn´t, in fact, fallen for it. Although the chances of Aidan being called first were from slim to non-existent, no one could even bring themselves to secretly hope that he would be. So, instead, Dumbledore had postponed making any decision on the matter whatsoever until such a time as he was forced to. Which meant that he had spent the last three months avoiding bringing this topic up in front of Snape at all. He had simply refused to discuss it. He had, of course, discussed it with Iris, and McGonagall, and Iole, but that hadn´t been much help either. McGonagall was dead set against it, Iole was all for it, and Iris, for perfectly understandable reasons was as torn as Dumbledore was. In the end, Dumbledore had declared that he would cross that bridge when he came to it -which he was secretly hoping, along with Iris and McGonagall, that that would be `never´.

The fact that, by mid-July, Aidan was still living in London in the same flat he had been occupying since March, in full view of muggles, wizards and Death Eaters alike and was still alive and hadn´t been assassinated, or disappeared off the face of the earth, led most people to believe that Voldemort had probably fallen for his story. This deduction was by no means conclusive, but it was used by several people to put their very agitated minds at rest -or some semblance of rest.

* * *

The last day of term, at Hogwarts, came as a mixture of relief and disappointment for Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Twins. They would be going their separate ways again, and in the coming year, the Twins wouldn´t be there any more. They had successfully managed to graduate, without getting expelled three months before their graduation, and they were positively jubilant at the prospect of independent life, finally, with no one looking over their shoulders all the time, or any more detentions to serve -even though this last batch had been rather more enjoyable than they had expected.

Hermione was happy she would be spending some time with her parents again, and Ron was simply grateful he wouldn´t have to gut any more toads for the next month and a half. Harry was not remotely happy he would be going back to the Durlseys again, but he would only be staying with them for a short while. It had been arranged, he wasn´t entirely sure how, that he would spend three weeks with them, and then he would move in with the Weasleys again. He suspected that Dumbledore thought he wouldn´t be safe enough with the Durlseys to stay there for the whole of the summer holidays.

At the end-of-term feast, the night before leaving Hogwarts for the summer, the four of them sat together as usual near the front of the Gryffindor table, and distracted themselves from all these thoughts by eating their way through simply silly amounts of food, and discussing Fred and George´s possible career choices. During Dumbledore´s customary speech near the end of the feast, in which he congratulated the graduating students and wished them all the best for the rest of their lives outside Hogwarts, he didn´t neglect to mention the fact that the school would now seem much emptier and quieter without the presence of the Weasley twins, and that they would be sorely missed. At which point, as if by prior arrangement, all four pairs of eyes simultaneously gravitated over to Snape, to notice that, not only did he not seem remotely saddened by the idea of the Twins leaving, but looked positively relieved instead. He looked as close to happy as any one of them had ever seen him before. He had almost sighed, then had looked down, apparently focusing on the goblet in front of him, in an attempt to stop himself from smirking happily. As they watched, they saw Iris glance discreetly at him, then saw her lips start curling up in amusement, then begin quivering, then she looked quickly away again, cleared her throat softly and pursed her lips to stop herself from grinning, and took a sip of pumpkin juice instead, with exaggerated casualness. Even McGonagall noticed, and had rolled her eyes theatrically, before tittering silently and discreetly to herself.

`You´d have thought that the rest of his life´s happiness depended on you two leaving here,´ Harry shook his head, popped a glazed cherry into his mouth and chuckled. `Imagine what he´ll be like when I graduate,´ he added and snorted.

`When we graduate, Harry, all three of us, we,´ Ron corrected him and grinned wryly. `I mean, we only almost got him killed this year. What´s he got to be sore about, right?´

`Ron!´ Hermione exclaimed and kicked him under the table.

`Ok, ok! I´m shutting up now,´ he said and picked up a glazed cherry himself.

`No, no... I do see your point. You´re right, of course,´ Harry agreed with Ron.

`Will you two stop discussing this in public?!´ Hermione hissed at them. `Besides, I don´t think this is any joking matter!´

`You don´t think so?´ Ron enquired with raised eyebrows and a totally blank expression on his face. `And here I was thinking that it was the funniest thing ever. Can´t you see me all stitched up with laughter and everything?´

Hermione glowered at Ron, then rolled her eyes and turned away from him again. She hadn´t yet become used to the `new´, `improved´ Ron. The new model included a `witty remark´ apparatus, and dripped sarcasm when faced with... well, life, in general. She wasn´t sure she liked the change, but she at least understood perfectly well why and how it had come about. At least he wasn´t like this all the time; only when provoked -usually by the obvious, like her last comment had been.

Her own change had been a bit more subtle, on the outside at least. Inside it was just as radical as Ron´s was on the surface. She had found, almost literally overnight, that she had lost her reckless brashness. It was gone, irretrievably, and in its place she had found a cold, calculating, focused anger; not at the world in general, as Ron´s seemed to be, but against a very specific part of the world´s population which included, but did not exclusively consist of people wearing a lot of black all the time, and hoods, and masks. If possible, she had become even more serious than she had been before. Both of them had grown up by several years in under three months. It would take a bit of getting used to, all around.

`Will you two just stop it?!´ Harry exclaimed. `You´ve been at each others´ throats for almost three months now. Enough is enough!´

Ron and Hermione turned and looked at each other and frowned slightly.

`We´re not at each others´ throats,´ said Ron confusedly. `Are we...?´

`Of course not,´ said Hermione, looking equally perplexed.

`Well you sound as if you are!´

`Really?´

`Yes,´ the twins said in perfect unison, making both Ron and Hermione turn to look at them.

`Well... I mean... Ok, I might be a bit sharp, occasionally,´ Ron admittedly sheepishly. `But I don´t mean anything by it...´

`I know... and... I know that I have the rather annoying habit of stating the obvious, sometimes... Doesn´t mean that I think you need to be reminded of the obvious...´ said Hermione.

`Well, I mean, I know that really...´

`I´m glad... because I really don´t...´

`Yes, I know...´

`Ok, you can stop this now, because it is getting rather sickening!´ Harry exclaimed after watching the both of them patiently for a while.

`Yes, it is,´ George agreed with his mouth full of cake.

`We get the idea. Glad that was cleared up and everything, but now you need to stop,´ Fred joined in through a rather full mouth himself.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, shrugged and then grinned.

`Ok,´ said Ron, and his eyes fell on the Teachers´ table again, as he was turning back to the massive piece of cake in front of him with thoughts of devouring it. Vaguely he noticed that Iris was holding a quiet conversation with McGonagall, and Dumbledore was talking with Flitwick.

* * *

Phaedra got out of bed, pulled a dark blue, long, silk robe on, not bothering to close it round the front, and padded barefoot towards the door of her bedroom. The silk robe, trailing along behind her heels made her look as if she was gliding.

`Water, juice, or tea?´ she asked as she walked.

`Coffee.´

She stopped, just outside the door, and turned around again.

`I´m not giving you any more coffee. You´ve had quite enough already, and I am not concerned about your health here, but mine. Your options are water, juice, or tea. What´ll be?´

Aidan´s lips parted in an amused smirk, and he chuckled as he pushed himself up into a half-sitting position, on the bed, leaned back on the pillows and laced his fingers in his lap.

`Tea,´ he said.

Phaedra rolled her eyes, turned round again and walked away.

`And you´re not to transfigure it into coffee, either!´ she called from the kitchen. `I need to get some sleep tonight. Some of us have to go to work tomorrow!´

`Whatever makes you think I´d do something like that?´ Aidan called back.

`Past experience,´ Phaedra yelled.

Aidan laughed, and Phaedra grinned happily as she stirred milk into the tea. There were many reasons why meeting in Phaedra´s flat, rather than Aidan´s was a good idea. Most of these involved issues of secrecy, and the avoidance of unwanted and unexpected visitors. God knew that even here they had been forced to turn the place into a mini-fortress, complete with ward charms, alarms, and temporary apparition barriers. It was only to be expected of an `Auror´, anyway, to turn their home into some sort of fortified stronghold. Even Death Eaters would think twice about attempting to storm an Auror´s house. They were as safe here, as they could ever expect to be as long as they continued seeing each other and this war continued.

She carried the tea, and a glass of juice for herself, back into the bedroom, walked over to the bed, set the steaming mug down on the bedside table next to Aidan, stood there, looking down at him with a wry smile and took a sip of her juice. His eyes glinted mischievously for a second, as he lay there, looking up at her. Then he reached out, slid his hand inside her robe and ran it up her thigh, slowly, and over her hips; it lingered there for a moment, then glided back, and round over her buttocks.

Still smiling deviously, she took another sip of her juice, then set her glass down next to the tea.

`Your tea´s going to get cold,´ she said with mock innocence.

`Uh huh,´ he said quietly.

* * *

Ron looked blankly down at the cake in front of him for less than a second, and then his head snapped back round again. The last image he had seen through the corner of his eye as he was turning to his cake replayed itself in his mind, in an effort to catch his attention, and only then did he realise that there had been something wrong with the picture. Iris had been talking to McGonagall, Dumbledore to Flitwick, and Snape... Snape had suddenly gone rigid. His eyes had widened slightly and had focused unseeingly on an invisible spot in the middle distance, his gaze, as piercing as always, seemed to have reverted in onto itself. He seemed to have stopped breathing. Ron turned back round just in time to see Iris, too, turning to look at Snape as he very carefully forced himself to start breathing again, and slowly clenched his left hand into a tight fist. His knuckles started turning white.

Ron grasped Hermione´s hand.

`What?!´ she said and looked up at him, only to see Ron staring, wide-eyed towards the high table. Her brow creased and she slowly turned too.

Iris´s eyes flitted from Snape´s face, to his clenched fist and back again.

`Severus?´ she whispered, as she leaned towards him discreetly. She could feel her heart-rate starting to pick up speed, but it showed nowhere, either in her expression or her demeanour.

Snape´s lips had become a pallid, slim, tight line, and not only had his knuckles turned completely white, but the faint blue veins on his hand were standing out now, and seemed about to burst through his skin. He forced himself to take another deep, strained breath and his eyes to travel towards her and focus briefly. He didn´t need to say anything. Just, very carefully, and slowly, he began pushing himself up from his seat. She nodded imperceptibly at him, before he turned and disappeared through the small door behind the high table.

`Oh,´ breathed Hermione and stopped her hand from flying to her mouth just in time.

Iris turned, almost immediately, and whispered something in McGonagall´s ear. McGonagall stopped with her goblet half-way to her mouth, seemed to take a moment to compose herself again, and then she too nodded, whispered something back and then, with exaggerated casualness set her goblet down in front of her. Iris slowly pushed her chair back, rose from her seat, and followed Snape unhurriedly from the Great Hall. All this, from the moment Ron had turned the second time, had taken the grand total of about fifteen seconds.

`Shit,´ breathed Ron, as he watch McGonagall, in turn, lean over and whisper something to Dumbledore. He nodded quietly, expressionlessly, but stayed where he was.

`What?´ Fred asked, through yet more cake.

Ron and Hermione turned and looked at each other, then over at Harry, and then the Twins. Harry was observing them through narrowed eyes.

`Anyone else saw that?´ Ron enquired with forced lightness.

`Yup,´ said Harry.

`Saw what?´ asked George. He was still looking down at his plate and picking up the remaining crumbs by squashing them under his forefinger.

`You think it was what we think it was?´ Ron asked Harry, ignoring his brothers entirely.

Harry licked his lips, grimaced, sighed, and said:

`Yes.´

`Great,´ said Ron, and looked back at Hermione who just shook her head sadly and decided to occupy herself with examining the wood grain of the table rather than anything else.

Iris closed the door leading out of the Great Hall behind her and strode quickly over to Snape who had just stopped, a few yards down the narrow hallway, with his back to her. His head was lowered and he was holding his left arm up against his chest. She didn´t say anything as she caught up with him, she just grasped his arm and pried it away from his chest. He resisted and immediately found himself being pushed back up against the wall and Iris glowering up at him from a distance of a few inches. He had never seen her so angry before.

`Cut it out!´ she growled. `We´re not going to go through this again. Let me see!´ she concluded and pulled his arm down, pushed his sleeve up and examined the black, glowing, dark mark on his forearm.

`It´s not as bad as last time,´ he said, the strain obvious in his voice. `I will get used to it in a while.´

`Shut up,´ she said sharply and whipped her wand out. `Tolere,´ she said, touching the mark with the wand, and pulling it away again hurriedly, as smoke started rising up from its tip. `Now, we´re going to go to your office, and sit there, nice and quietly, make some tea, and wait for Dumbledore. He said that you´re not to go anywhere before he sees you. In fact, he hasn´t yet decided whether you´re going to be going anywhere at all.´

`What?!´ Snape hissed.

`You heard me. I know that it´s very hard for you to override your obvious suicidal tendencies, but that doesn´t mean that the rest of us have to cheer you on while you take a running leap off the cliff. So, we´re all going to go have a small chat, before Dumbledore decides what you´re going to be doing.´

Snape glared at her furiously. The pain had obviously subsided considerably, because the blazing fire had returned to his eyes. He looked positively enraged.

`You have all been discussing this, without involving me in these discussions all this time, and have not even come to any decision yet?´ he growled. `What exactly have you all been waiting for?´

`This!´ said Iris, grasping his arm again, and showing it to him. `And it isn´t what `we´ have all been waiting for; it´s what Dumbledore has been waiting for. This wasn´t exactly my decision to make. I was merely asked for my opinion.´

`Which was?´

`This is not the place to have this conversation, Severus. I will tell you everything you want to know about what I think of all this, in your office!´

`Fine,´ he growled again, still glaring at her, and turning round headed off down the corridor towards his office.

She inhaled deeply, shook her head imperceptibly, composed herself and followed him. Neither of them noticed the one small shadow in the hallway that was just that little bit darker than the rest and which had just acquired a pair of wide, gleaming eyes, as it poked its black shaggy head carefully out into the light. It waited a few moments, until the two retreating figures had disappeared round a corner, and then took a couple of more steps forward its shape flowing and changing as it moved. The second step was taken by a man, with shoulder length black hair, and dark grey robes. He was still looking in the direction in which Snape and Iris had disappeared. Then, he walked back into the shadows, turned and leaned with his back against the wall, folded his arms across his chest, and waited. After a couple of moments, he seemed to have blended into the background so successfully, one could have walked right past him, without even noticing. Standing still was a skill, and Sirius had learnt how to stand still very, very well.

Five minutes later, Dumbledore appeared through the door, closing it softly behind him. He hesitated for a moment then, with his hand still on the door handle, he turned his head slowly and looked straight at Sirius, standing, perfectly immobile, exactly where he had been five minutes earlier. An imperceptible smile touched the corner of Sirius´s lips, before he pushed himself away from the wall and approached Dumbledore. Almost; he´d almost had him there, and he hadn´t even been trying that hard. But the thought was gone from his mind so quickly he literally forgot that it had occurred to him in the first place.

Dumbledore looked into Sirius´s eyes sombrely, expectantly.

`He´s not happy,´ Sirius said simply.

`I didn´t think he would be... It all sounds a bit like we´ve been conspiring behind his back.´

`Well... you have... sort of...´

Dumbledore pursed his lips sadly and shook his head as he looked down at the floor. He seemed to be thinking.

`I think he wants to go...´ Sirius added, tentatively, after a moment.

`Yes... I had been expecting that...´ Dumbledore sighed.

`Have you... decided... yet?... What you´re going to have him do?´

`No,´ Dumbledore said simply and, turning his back on Sirius started walking slowly away.

`So?´ Snape asked, sitting rigidly upright in the high-back armchair behind his desk. `What was your opinion?´ He was still fuming.

`My opinion is that you shouldn´t go,´ Iris replied flatly. `At least not the first time.´

Snape´s eyebrows rose cynically.

`Excuse me?´ he said.

Iris sighed, closed her eyes and forced herself to stay calm. She knew exactly how this was going to come out sounding.

`You don´t have to go. You can come up with any number of plausible excuses why you couldn´t get away from Hogwarts without arousing suspicion; which is a luxury other people don´t have. They have to show up. I simply don´t think there´s any point in losing two people at once, if it turns out that Voldemort hasn´t fallen for the story. I think it would be wiser to... test the waters first.´

As she spoke, Snape´s expression slowly changed into a cold glare of contempt.

`You want to use White as a guinea pig? Send him in and see if he comes back in one piece before you come to any decision? Do you have any idea how contemptible that is? I was under the illusion that White is a friend of yours... a close friend of yours...´

Iris finally erupted.

`You have no idea how difficult it has been for me to even contemplate a course of action like this! And you have no idea how close I and Aidan have been, and are, and what it feels like, having to recommend this course of action to Dumbledore when asked what my opinion is!´ she shouted, getting up from her chair. `I left him there to die, three months ago, and now I find myself again in a position where I am forced to recommend a course of action that might very easily result in his death. The simple fact of the matter is that Aidan´s going to be going, if and when he´s called, it has already been decided, and I had no part in making that decision but I have no choice but to accept it. With that a priori fact in mind, I find that the only logical, intelligent thing to do would be to not risk both of your lives at the same time, if it´s not strictly necessary. Contemptible or not, and emotional issues aside, this course of action is the only reasonable one, under the circumstances, as far as I can see. It is, however, nothing more than my humble opinion, and you might be happy to learn that I don´t think Dumbledore has been convinced.´ She stopped, and just stood there, glaring at Snape in barely contained fury, brow furrowed, eyes wide and blazing with rage. She suddenly had an overwhelming urge to turn round and walk out the room. For a couple of seconds, no more, the thought occurred to her that she really couldn´t deal with this, and walking away, now, would have been the best option all around. She would leave for France the next day, and by the time she came back, everything would have sorted itself out, one way or another, and most of all she would get a couple of months to pull herself together again. When she came back in the autumn, she would be able to deal with whatever turn matters may have taken in the meanwhile. And then her mind produced for her, in rapid succession, a number of alternatives of how things might have sorted themselves out by then, complete with visual representations, and she instantly began calming down again.

Snape sat there, holding her scalding gaze calmly for those few seconds, watching the blazing anger slowly die down in her eyes. A glimmer of it remained, in the darkest depths of her gaze, but she was clearly under control again by the time he decided to speak.

`We don´t even know if he´s been called. We cannot plan around that,´ he said with a calmness that he hoped would make her sit down again. `It is impossible to plan around his movements. Even if you can find out eventually if he has been called or not, which I´m sure you can, it will take too long. Besides, no matter what excuse I come up with, if I don´t appear, and he does, it will surely arouse suspicion. It can end up having the opposite effect of what you hope for. If I don´t show up, I might actually be jeopardising his position. Voldemort has practically taken his word for it, that, despite appearances, I´m as loyal a Death Eater as there ever was one. How do you think it will look for him, if I fail to show?´

Iris sighed slowly and dropped back down into her chair, leaned her elbow on the armrest and rubbed the ridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger.

`I know...´ she said. `I´ve thought of that too. It´s very risky. Yet... my argument still stands... Either way it´s a risk. Only this way, instead of two corpses, we might only get one. And I hope that I´ve made it clear that it´s unbearably difficult for me, even saying that.´

`Yes, it is very clear. All I can say is that I wouldn´t like to be on the wrong end of your wand when you´re angry, and I´m glad we don´t seem to get exhibitions like that last one very often.´

That managed to finally tease a cantankerous half-smile out of her, but he continued speaking before she had a chance to intervene.

`The alternative way, however, although still a risk, I grant you, offers more opportunities of maintaining the act, and reinforcing the story. White needs me to corroborate his story -which you have so thoughtfully provided me with, in great detail -and I need him to corroborate my story. And then we can both corroborate your story, and all the other stories we have been independently feeding Voldemort over the past few months, and hopefully will be in the future. There won´t be any corpses.´

`I´m glad to hear that you think so,´ Dumbledore said quietly from the door. Both Snape´s and Iris´s heads snapped round to look at him. They hadn´t heard him come in, or had any idea how long he´d been standing there. `From what I gather, Iris must have presented you with her opinion on this matter, and you disagree with her assessment, Severus?´ Dumbledore continued, gliding slowly across the room and coming to stand next to Iris, in front of Snape´s desk.

`Yes,´ said Snape levelly. `Although I don´t see why we couldn´t have had this conversation earlier, Albus.´

`Because I wasn´t ready to make a decision,´ said Dumbledore calmly. `And there was no point having you fretting, and getting upset over it, until such a time as it was strictly necessary.´

`I see...´ said Snape, frowning heavily and starting to get irritated again. This whole issue of people not wanting to involve him in the decisions that actually involved him was more aggravating to him than practically anything else he could think of, and that included Sirius Black.

`So, now that the time has come to make this decision, and we have both heard the arguments on both sides, what is it you want to do, Severus?´

`I would think that that just became obvious.´

`So you think you should go,´ Dumbledore insisted gently.

Snape pursed his lips and just scowled at him. He couldn´t understand why Dumbledore needed to hear him say the word `yes´, when he knew perfectly well what Snape wanted.

`I take that is a yes,´ Dumbledore ceded eventually. `And you don´t think that Iris´s argument is valid?´

`It is perfectly valid. But, as I just said, it would take too long to find out whether White has been called or not, and even then, the chances of this whole plan backfiring spectacularly are rather high.´

`I see...´ said Dumbledore pensively. `And, if Voldemort hasn´t in fact fallen for Aidan´s story?´

Snape scowled at him again, then sneered and rolled his eyes.

`Then we´re fucked, both of us, and you can all start looking for new spies.´

Iris closed her eyes, sighed silently, and rubbed the ridge of her nose again. Sometimes she just wanted to reach out and slap him. But she controlled herself, and said nothing.

Dumbledore regarded Snape closely for a few moments, then nodded quietly.

`Then, if you are prepared, Severus, you may go,´ he said, looked into his eyes for another couple of moments and turned to leave, patting Iris´s shoulder gently as he walked past her, without another word.

Snape followed Dumbledore to the door with his eyes, watched him walk out and close the door behind him, and then he slowly turned back to look at Iris. He found that she was already looking at him, silently. They just sat there for a few moments, looking at each other.

`It just had to happen today, didn´t it?´ Iris finally said, flatly.

Snape´s lips curled up slightly in a faint sneer.

`Did you seriously expect that it would have happened any other day? I mean, you are a disciple of the infuriating Mr. Murphy, are you not?´

Iris couldn´t help but smile self-deprecatingly, and she raised one eyebrow.

`Well... you know... dum spiro spero, and all that...´ she said sardonically. That made him smile... properly.

`It´s probably why it´s nice having you around... Incorrigible optimist that you are...´

She snorted derisively at that sheer, blatant fiction that had just served as a description of her character.

`You´re lucky no one that knows me well heard that, because they would have instantly concluded that you have finally gone round the twist.´

His left eyebrow rose slowly, sarcastically.

`And that would have been untrue... how?´

She didn´t reply to that; she just smiled sadly at him and then looked down at her hands. When she looked back up again, she wasn´t smiling any more, but the sadness had gone too.

`Go,´ she said levelly. `You mustn´t be late,´ and she rose from her seat. He didn´t move, but kept on watching her as she headed for the door. `If you come back before dawn, you know where to find me. Madame Maxime´s sending someone to pick me up tomorrow very early so, if you´re not back by then... Well... we´ll see... Maybe I´ll get to say goodbye properly later on tonight after all,´ she said, turning to look at him again as she spoke those last words. She shot him a brief smile and pulled the door open.

`Iris,´ his voice made her turn, instinctively, but she instantly found herself turning back to look at the door in surprise, as it flew free from her hand and slammed shut again. By the time she turned back to face Snape, he was standing right in front of her. `Just in case I´m a bit late...´ he said with quiet wryness and, sliding his hand round the nape of her neck, leaned down and kissed her. `... give my regards to Madame Maxime...´ he concluded as he drew slowly away from her again, a sly gleam lighting up the depths of his eyes for a moment.

Iris tried desperately to control the knowing, sarcastic smile that threatened her composure.

`I will make sure I relay to her your very best wishes, Severus dear,´ she said with exaggerated flatness. `I´m sure she will appreciate it deeply,´ she added in an equal, mocking tone, looked deep into his eyes, a faint smile flickering across her lips for a moment, she reached up, touched his face briefly, then spun around and walked out the door.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Iris came down from Dumbledore´s office. It had been a more or less pointless discussion, since they had gone through it all before -repeatedly -but since she was leaving the next day, she had thought it would have been a good idea to go through it just one more time to make sure everyone was clear on things. It was unlikely that the plan would have the occasion to be set into motion any time within the next one and a half months, but... one never knew. It was always best to be prepared. Voldemort rarely called his team together twice in quick succession, but then again, who knew how Voldemort´s mind really worked; and besides, they still didn´t know if this was a full blown convention, or if he was just calling certain people. It could be either. And it was always possible that something like this would be repeated in the near future. Even though any attempt at locating Voldemort was by definition a long-shot, Iris and Dumbledore had at least taken certain precautions before she had to leave. They weren´t going to attempt anything just yet, the precariousness of the situation once again forcing them to err on the side of caution. But maybe next time... if there was one... Then maybe Dumbledore would ask Snape to take Hades with him... maybe... and then call Iris, and tell her to send Maeve out after them. By now Maeve had been effectively linked with Hades. She would be able to find him anywhere. It would take time, but she would be able to home in on him like a homing pigeon -a very large, black homing pigeon.

Since it was impossible to follow the bird´s route by sorting through its memories -they were simply too many and confusing images of flight stored in its mind for someone to be able to effectively piece together a coherent flight path and direction from them -Iris would have to be sharing with Maeve throughout the whole journey, her human mind processing and remembering the landmarks, the direction, the route in a way that was communicable to other humans; no matter how long that journey took. It was not the best possible plan, but they were hard pressed to find another one. They were not expecting to get any significant information from this in the near future, but they still held a secret hope that, eventually, it would provide them with something of import; after several flights out over Britain... or wherever Voldemort happened to be at the time. It was certainly better than nothing.

She rounded the corner leading to the entrance of Ravenclaw tower, on her way to her room to finish her packing, and she found herself face to face with five teenagers loitering with intent by the staircase. She stopped short and sighed deeply, shook her head slowly and pursed her lips. She glowered at them under lowered eyelids, expectantly.

`Now what?´ she asked

`Erm...´ Ron said and cleared his throat.

Iris looked from him to the others, waiting for the explanation which she had already miraculously divined.

`Erm...´ Hermione repeated.

`Is this going to take all night?´ Iris asked levelly.

`We were just wondering...´ Harry began but was interrupted by Ron.

`About Professor Snape,´ he said all in one breath, `he´s been called again, hasn´t he?´

Iris´s lips tightened and she regarded Ron through narrowed eyes; then she passed her piercing gaze over the rest of them, one by one.

`Why do you say that?´ she asked finally in the same flat tone.

All five of them shot looks at each other, as if trying to come to some mutual consent about how they were going to handle this.

`We er... noticed...´ Hermione suggested finally.

`Yes, erm... we´ve kind of seen this before and... well, now it´s not very hard to spot... if you know what you´re looking for,´ Harry backed her up.

`And you were looking for it? Why?´

`No, no!´ Ron said hurriedly. `We just happened to notice...´

`Yeah,´ Fred said. `It´s not like it´s blindingly obvious or anything,´ he added quite truthfully since he hadn´t noticed anything at all, until Hermione had kicked him under the table.

There was a small, rather uncomfortable pause, as Iris quietly examined their faces.

`I find your alleged perceptiveness worrying. You´re not all up to something again, are you?´

`No, no!!´

`Not at all!´

`NO!´ all of them blurted out simultaneously, hurriedly, with exemplary vigour.

`That´s good to know... In which case, why are you all here asking me about this?´

`We just, er... wanted to know...´ said Ron hesitantly.

`Why?´

`We´re... well... worried...´ Hermione admitted. `We just wanted to know.´

`So you could all just worry a bit more, or go out and do something stupid again?´

George didn´t quite manage to stifle a snigger and Ron, Hermione and Harry all turned simultaneously and glared at him. He pulled himself up, looked down at his shoes and cleared his throat.

`We´re not up to something, honestly,´ Harry said. `We really just wanted to know.´

Iris´s gaze started to soften slightly as she regarded them thoughtfully. She sighed softly and finally her eyes returned to their usual unguarded astuteness.

`Yes,´ was all she said, in reply to a question that had been asked two minutes earlier. `And if I find out that you´re all up to something after all, I´m going to personally thrash you to within an inch of your lives. Now, is there anything else?´

They all looked down at their shoes, shuffled around uncomfortably for a couple of moments, then shot furtive glances at each other.

`Erm...´ Hermione said.

`Yes?´

`Erm... is he going to be alone?... I mean... ehm... what about your friend... Aidan?... Would he have been called too?´

Iris´s eyes narrowed again.

`I don´t know.´

Hermione shot Ron a quick sideways glance which he met, and shook his head imperceptibly.

`Anything else?´

Hermione motioned meaningfully to Ron with her eyes and he pursed his lips and shook his head again for a moment, then sighed slowly in resignation.

`We were also wondering how long you´re going to be away for...´

Iris´s eyebrows rose and then her eyes narrowed even more.

`And how exactly do you know that I´m going to be away? I don´t remember discussing this with you.´

Ron looked down at his shoes again and cleared his throat, while Hermione examined her hands with intense absorption.

`Erm...´

`You haven´t been using that cloak again, have you?´ Iris asked dangerously.

`No, no!!´ all of them piped up hastily.

`We just overheard Professor McGonagall discussing it with Madam Hooch as they were walking down the corridor,´ Harry volunteered quickly.

`It´s just that, you will be back soon, right? You will be here next year?´ Ron asked.

Iris examined them all closely for a second.

`And Sirius told us that you´re an Auror...´ Harry suddenly blurted out. `He said it´s no secret and he was surprised we didn´t know already; only, that well... made us worry a bit...´

`Yeah, we sorta thought you might be going off somewhere to some dangerous mission and stuff,´ Fred offered, with a rather noticeable hint of excited awe in his voice.

`Yeah!´ George agreed.

`Yes,´ Hermione joined in too, `and then we thought that, if you´re gone, who´s going to... keep an eye on... erm... things... here... You know... ehm, especially now...´

Iris´s mind raced, analysing what she had just heard, the cogs and wheels in her brain spinning furiously. So that´s what Sirius had said, huh? Feeding the kids false information, and feeding it in such a way that virtually guaranteed the news would travel the grapevine like wild-fire, not only throughout the School, but throughout the bleeding country. Very smooth; very sleek... Okay... She mentally tipped her hat to him, even though she shuddered to think what else was currently going on that she wasn´t aware of. And what was that Hermione had just said? It struck her with some horror with a second´s delay. The damned girl had done her sums and solved the equation; not that it was that hard to do now, admittedly; not after what Sirius had told them. If Hermione had worked out that she was in Hogwarts mainly for the purpose of watching Snape, then it was safe to assume that the four boys knew too.

Her eyes narrowed into mere slits of calculation and drilled into Hermione´s head. Hermione gulped.

`Come with me,´ Iris said flatly, all of a sudden. It was an order that was impossible to disobey. Her tone of voice seemed to have a direct, immediate effect on one´s limbs which instantly complied, independently of one´s brain, and started following her down the corridor. She led the small group into her office and closed the door behind her. She turned to look at them all and noticed with some satisfaction that Ron, Hermione and Harry had just blanched. Fred and George on the other hand, seemed perfectly unfazed.

`Think very carefully now, and don´t think I won´t know if you´re lying,´ she said. `Have you told anyone at all about this theory of yours?´

Ron gulped. He didn´t like the look on Iris´s face.

`Er, which one? That you´re an Auror?´

`No. That I´m here to keep an eye on "things", as you so tactfully put it.´

They all looked at each other and then shook their heads vigorously.

`Are you quite certain?´

This time they all nodded vigorously. Iris kept regarding them through narrowed eyes for a few more seconds.

`Right. In which case, it´d better stay that way. Your fantastical theories are all well and good, but can do an enormous amount of harm, whether they´re true or not, if they become rumours. I don´t know how you came up with that theory in the first place, but the reason I am at Hogwarts is not that. I was simply hired as an extra security measure. Is that clear?´

They all looked at her dumbly for a few moments; the expression on Ron and Hermione´s face very clearly conveying that they weren´t even remotely convinced by this explanation. Iris knew that there wasn´t a thing she could say that would change their already made-up minds about this; and she wasn´t sure she could blame them either -not after everything they had seen, heard and been told. The best she could hope for was that they would realise the severity of the situation and keep their mouths shut. Finally, the spark of understanding lit up behind Hermione´s eyes, very closely followed by Ron´s and then Harry´s and the Twins´.

`Ah, well, right...´ Ron said, whilst clearing his throat.

`Hm, yes...´ said Harry.

`That´s what we meant, of course,´ Hermione explained belatedly.

`Of course,´ George joined in with the general consensus.

`It was always clear that that was the case!´ said Fred with exaggerated indignation.

`What else could an Auror be doing in Hogwarts, except be hired as extra security? Right, Professor?´ George said, smiling beatifically.

`Right.´

`And, erm.. ahem... is this common knowledge too?´ Hermione enquired carefully.

`Yes it is.´

Hermione nodded silently.

`And er... is Aidan an Auror also?´ she suddenly added, and everyone froze, falling silent very abruptly, as if waiting for a lightning bolt to strike the ground where Hermione was standing.

`No,´ Iris said evenly, without a hint of hesitation. `He isn´t.´

`Okay,´ Hermione said, beginning to breathe again after a couple of seconds, at the same time as all the boys sighed in relief. There hadn´t been a lightning bolt after all. In fact, Iris hadn´t so much as blinked. Her reply had obviously been completely truthful. That was a relief. One less lie to worry about....

`Now, I hope this is all,´ said Iris meaningfully.

`Yes,´ they all replied and started scuttling off towards the door. Only Ron paused.

`You will be coming back next year though, won´t you?´ he asked quietly.

Iris turned to look at him.

`It isn´t certain yet,´ she said after a brief hesitation, and decided to give him something more after seeing the look on his face. `Probably. I have to keep an eye on "things", remember?´ she added and winked imperceptibly at him. `And I have to keep you lot out of trouble. You´re all a walking disaster waiting to happen.´

The grin on Ron´s face as he headed for the door was strangely reminiscent of a Cheshire cat.

`Have a nice summer and stay out of trouble, ok?´ Iris said as they walked away.

`We will!´ they all confirmed, minus the Twins, who wouldn´t stoop to such an obvious lie now that they were independent adults -almost.

She didn´t believe them for a minute, but she shook her head, closed the door to her office and headed off once more towards Ravenclaw tower, wondering whether she should kill Sirius Black, or thank him. After all it wasn´t easy perpetuating a lie like the one that served as her current identity. What he had done -probably at Dumbledore´s request -would go a long way towards keeping the show up. Rumour was so easily and often believed over truth, it was unbelievable. If everyone was convinced of something, they couldn´t all be wrong, could they? On the other hand, the terrible five had now figured out what she was really doing there... That was worrying. Their ability to attract and stumble blindly into trouble was outright frightening. And what if they let something slip?... However unlikely that was, it was even more terrifying. She decided that she might be forced to flip a coin to help her decide whether killing Black, or thanking him was the thing to do. Although she was rather leaning more towards the killing option at the moment...

She walked into her room and slumped down heavily in her armchair. She sighed, let her head fall back to rest on the chair´s back and closed her eyes for a few moments. Unbidden, the image of Snape apparating into the vast marble hallway of a manor house, somewhere out there, sprung to her mind, and a sudden, empty feeling at the pit of her stomach made her heart contract. She immediately opened her eyes again, forcing the image away from her mind, and got up to finish packing. No point dwelling on it. She had her job to do, he had his. That´s how things were.

* * *

Phaedra sat down on the edge of the bed, casually, and tipped her leg sideways, letting Aidan´s hand travel up the inside of her thigh, while she ran her fingertips over his shoulder and down the side of his back, feeling every faint swell and ripple of his muscles.

`Are you insatiable?´ she whispered, with a soft, sensuous smile on her lips.

`No,´ he breathed back. `I´ve just never had the chance to test my limits.´

`I find that worrying...´

He smiled at her and, reaching up, cupped the side of her face in his hand and kissed her, deep and long and with gentle, quiet ardour.

`... and hard to believe,´ she added with a sigh as he pulled away from her again.

`You need to trust me more,´ he whispered.

`Can´t do that,´ Phaedra whispered back.

`Why not?´

`Because you lie for a living -literally.´

Aidan paused for a moment and looked up at her. She smiled lovingly at him and caressed his face.

`And it´s the "living" part that worries me most of all... Or, "not living", as the case may be...´

`I lie very well,´ he said quietly, matter-of-factly, but with a genuine, warm smile on his lips.

`You are living proof of that, I know.´

`And you lie for a living too.´

`Yes. That´s why I know exactly what I´m talking about.´

`So you also know it can be done successfully.´

`Or not.´

He smiled at her, slipped his hand round her waist, drew her to him and kissed her again.

`I am very, very good,´ he said playfully.

`And very modest.´

`That too. And I think we should forget all about this for tonight, because I want to make love to you right now, and not start worrying about you; which is something that happens whenever this fucking job is mentioned.´

`I´m very, very good too,´ Phaedra teased him quietly.

`I know.´

`And modest.´

`Yes.´

`And you drive me insane.´

Aidan stopped short and his eyes darted up to meet hers.

`In a good way... of course!´ she added with a smile.

He chuckled, his bright blue-green eyes creasing up in amusement.

`The feelings are mutual,´ he murmured as he raised himself up on one arm and leaned down to kiss her again. His lips were almost touching hers when, gasping sharply, he suddenly doubled over and rolled away from her, his breath instantly turning into a rough groan, as he clutched his left arm. Unthinkingly, she threw her arms round his shoulders and leaned down over him. Her heart had just skipped several beats, and when it started working again, it was racing so hard she could feel it pounding against her ribcage. At least that´s what it felt like.

His eyes were closed tight and his face scored with pain; a pale, purple vein stood out down the centre of his forehead and seemed ready to burst through his skin. The knuckles of his right hand as it grasped his left forearm tightly were starting to turn white. With a jagged intake of breath he forced himself to open his eyes again. He seemed unable to let go of his arm and she could feel his body shake slightly from the tension, beneath her.

Quickly, she reached out pried his hand away, with difficulty, from his forearm, baring the black, glowing Dark Mark. Her heart skipped several more beats and something that felt like fire slid through the pit of her stomach.

`It´s ok,´ he managed to breathe, roughly. `I´ll get used to it in a minute.´

She didn´t know what to say to that, so she kept quiet, and she just stayed where she was, arms wrapped gently round him, feeling the tension in his body very slowly dissipate, to a point where he could at least breathe normally again. After thirty seconds, or so, he slowly rolled onto his back, still breathing laboriously, his body gleaming with perspiration; but he was calming down, she could feel it.

`Is it always like this?´ Phaedra asked quietly after a few more seconds.

Aidan nodded imperceptibly.

`Usually. Sometimes more, sometimes less...´

She looked down at him in silence for a few moments, while he fought to regulate his breathing.

`When does it stop?´

`When I go.´

Several more seconds of silence stretched out unbearably as she tried to loosen the knot into which her intestines seemed to have tied themselves up; it was beginning to hurt and seemed to have caught fire too. She swallowed down a large, uncomfortable lump that had lodged itself in the middle of her chest and watched him while he rolled and struggled up, to sit at the edge of the bed. Then she got up too, walked across the room, carefully separated his clothes from hers, from the dark heap on the floor, draped them over her arm, carried them to the bed and laid them out beside him. He watched her while she did that, then slowly looked up at her. She seemed completely expressionless, but for the almost imperceptible tightness round her mouth and the tension round her eyes. Gingerly, she sat down again on the very edge of the bed, beside him, looked into his eyes for a moment, then cupped his face in her hand and kissed him gently.

`Are you quite sure you want to keep on seeing me?´ he whispered, his face mere inches away from hers.

`Is that a rhetorical question?´ she smiled at him.

`Only, this is going to be happening quite a lot, in the foreseeable future.´

`It was always part of the package.´

He searched her eyes for a moment. She smiled again.

`I´ll wait for you right here. Just make sure you come back.´

`I might not be back tonight.´

`I can wait. If I´m not here and I´m at work, you just make sure you send me word. Talk to Alice. Alice can always find me.´

Finally he smiled at her, the strain still evident in his face.

`So you trust me then?´

`No.´

His smile broadened, creasing up his eyes again, and making them somehow deeper in colour.

`But you´ll risk it?´

`Yes.´

`You´re not very smart.´

`No, I´m not. How´ bout you?´

`One of my five thousand virtues is brains. The other is modesty.´

Her smile widened.

`I know,´ she said. `That´s why I like you... Now get a move on. Mustn´t keep the Master waiting.´

Phaedra closed the door behind him as he left, and stood there for a second, staring at the wood grain blankly. Then she turned round and glanced at the clock on her mantelpiece. Briefly she wondered whether she should contact The Haven and let them know that Aidan had just been called. It was late though, Alice might not be there at this hour; not to mention the fact that it would be hard to explain how she knew. Iole still didn´t know that Phaedra and Aidan were seeing each other `socially´, so to speak. She sighed, ran her fingers through her short, black hair, roughing it up in the process, paced the floor for a couple of minutes, and then finally made up her mind. This was too important.

She threw the robe off her shoulders and got dressed hurriedly. She activated all the wards and the alarms in the house, physically and magically locked the place up behind her, and disapparated from the second floor corridor. She lived on the third floor, but that corridor had a newly acquired apparition barrier. She would go to The Haven herself and see whether she could find Alice, or Iole, or both. After all, she lied for a living. Surely she would be able to come up with some explanation as to why she knew. If neither Alice or Iole were there, then she wouldn´t risk sending a message by owl. The chances of it being intercepted and deciphered were from slim to non-existent, but she wasn´t going to risk it, nevertheless. They would just have to wait for Aidan to get back and write his report... If he wasn´t back by mid-afternoon the next day, then... well, then she would go and have a long chat with Iole. And then... she thought about dedicating her life to wiping out all Death Eaters from the face of the planet, but she had already done that, so she supposed that she would just have to go on doing it; maybe with a little more zeal, if that was at all possible, and some imaginative and torturous methods. She suddenly saw herself turning into a female version of Mad Eye Moody. Oh well... she would just have to go on hoping that Aidan would come back in one piece and save her from that fate. Somehow she didn´t think she was going to get any sleep that night after all...

* * *

It was close to three in the morning when Iris finally drifted off to some semblance of sleep. She hadn´t even bothered getting undressed. She had lain on her bed, over the covers, and closed her eyes. She had a fire burning in the fireplace and the room was warm and comfortable, and she lay there thinking only for about an hour and a half. Then she had finally drifted off, with Hecate curled up next to her, in the nook her body created as she lay on her side. Hecate´s relaxed, steady breathing, the warmth of her silky fur, and having another heartbeat in the room was what in the end made her relax enough to fall asleep. Less than an hour later she woke up again. Hecate was still there, sleeping, curled up into a tight ball, and seemed like she hadn´t moved a muscle in two hours. For a couple of seconds Iris lay there, with her eyes closed, silently still, trying to remember why she woke. There had been something... As the memory returned, heat slid through her stomach and she slowly opened her eyes and listened. She was impressed by the almost perfect silence in the room; there was nothing but the occasional quiet crackling of the fire, her own breathing, and the faintest, almost inaudible sweep of fabric in motion. No footsteps, no breathing, no nothing. The corner of her lips curled up imperceptibly. If it wasn´t for the unmistakeable presence that seemed to rend the air in its passing, she probably would not have woken up. She closed her eyes again and stretched out with the rest of her senses drinking in the sensation avidly, committing it to memory, making sure she would never ever forget what it felt like.

A couple of moments of complete and utter silence stretched out. It wasn´t so much a silence, since there hadn´t been any perceptible sound before, either, but rather a cessation of movement. The air settled and became still, and the presence even more palpable than before. It was as if the air itself kept its distance from it. Iris let the sensation imprint itself in her mind. Then, Hecate stirred and, inexplicably, awoke. She rolled onto her side, stretched, yawned, raised herself up to a sitting position, ready to curl up on her other side again and was very carefully and silently scooped up off the bed with nothing but a faint brush of black fabric on Iris´s arm. Iris´s lips curled up just that little bit more. Strangely, Hecate didn´t make a sound but accepted her new position on the armchair with good grace.

The bed moved ever so slightly as it adjusted to the presence of a new weight on it, and heat washed over Iris´s back as Snape lay down behind her, draped his arm round her midsection and she finally felt his breath on the nape of her neck. She slowly slipped her fingers through his, clasping his hand gently, and drew it closer up against her body. They lay like that, eyes closed, silently for what must have been minutes. It was so quiet, and dark, and private that, for those few moments, it was easy to imagine that the outside world was light years away, and that all the troubles of the universe had miraculously disappeared. It was only for a few minutes. The comfort of darkness was something they both sought out, but not for its illusory qualities; it was because in the darkness it was so much easier to be truthful; to oneself and to others. Morning only brought more lies.

`White was there,´ Snape breathed quietly in the end.

She didn´t speak for a moment.

`Is he okay?´

`Yes.´

`And you?´

`Just tired,´ he said after the briefest pause.

`Then sleep,´ she whispered gently. `We have a few hours.´

`The sun will be up soon.´

`It doesn´t matter. I won´t wake you when I leave.´

`It matters to me. I want to say goodbye properly.´

`You already have.´

Silence stretched out, and he gently pulled her closer up against him, their bodies merging together in a crescent shaped pool of darkness, as the seconds ticked on slowly.

`Will all this madness ever end?´ she breathed, almost inaudibly, in the end.

His fingers tightened carefully round hers and he pulled her even closer.

`Not very soon,´ he murmured, his lips brushing the nape of her neck as he spoke and his breath washing her skin with warmth.

* * *

She left him sleeping in the morning. She only stood next to him for a moment, and observed his sleeping features. He seemed so calm. The lines of tension in his face had eased, the curve of his lips had lost most of its tightness, his pale, wiry body was relaxed. The scar on his sternum was nothing but a faint line, not much more than a tone darker than his skin. At some point a couple of hours ago they had ended up undressed and under the covers. Some time after that they had slept. She had woken up only slightly later than she had planned, due to her infallible internal clock that served as an alarm. And the first thing she did upon waking was to cast a Silence charm around him.

She slid out of bed, showered quickly, dressed, got her last few things together (her trunk had mysteriously disappeared some time before dawn, obviously taken care of by the House Elves and probably waiting for her downstairs). It was time to go.

As she looked down at him, she felt the very corners of her lips tip up imperceptibly. Reaching out carefully, she drew a stray strand of hair away from his forehead with nothing more than a whisper of a touch. She contemplated the sagacity of her leaning down and kissing him softly, but decided against it. He was a light sleeper. She didn´t want to wake him. She turned round, Hecate following closely by her heels and Maeve fluttering over to perch on her shoulder, and headed out the room. She dispelled the Silence charm from the doorway, then very carefully pulled the door shut behind her and made her way downstairs.

Slowly, Snape opened his eyes and stared flatly at an invisible point which seemed to be located somewhere in the middle distance, but was most likely inside his head. He didn´t move. He just listened to the footsteps moving away from the door and disappearing into the distance. Then he listened to the silence for a few minutes. Then to the unmistakeable sound of galloping hooves and rattling wheels and then the whoosh and flapping of enormous wings as the Beauxbattons carriage took to the air. His expression didn´t change. His eyes remained fixed on that same point in front of him. Then he slowly closed his eyes again. After a couple of seconds, a barely noticeable, fleeting crease round his eyes, that was gone so fast it might have been imaginary, suggested a smile.

The Silence charm had been a good idea. But there was nothing that could have made up for the absence of the warmth and the weight of her body, and her presence next to him. He had woken the moment she had slipped out of bed. He was a light sleeper.

He rolled slowly onto his side and suggested to himself that he should try and get another hour´s worth of sleep. It was probably a waste of time even trying, but he didn´t feel like leaving the warm comfort and privacy of that bed just yet. He inhaled quietly, deeply, and her scent, like jasmine and white musk, washed over him, and suddenly her presence returned. It was his last thought before he drifted off to sleep, and the first thought that entered his mind as he awoke again, an hour later. He opened his eyes and wondered if his own bed still smelled like that. He would have to take care of that, quickly. This wasn´t the sort of distraction he needed right now. The next couple of months were going to be busy, and difficult; very difficult. The last thing he needed was his bed smelling like jasmine and white musk.

The thought of the Weasley twins leaving Hogwarts for ever, and him never having to see them, ever again, slipped into his mind. The corner of his lips tipped up. If one tried looking closely enough, there was an up side to everything; even to a day like this.

THE END