Our Little One

.~*~.Our little one. ~*~.

Chapter Twenty-One

Shadows Strike

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This part of the chapter is from Draco's POV.

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It's been long since I lastly used my ring for this purpose. Well, it's the time for that now. Pressing the ancient seal ring against the mirror's surface, I wait for the familiar mist to appear.

"Has any of our guests arrived yet?" I ask from the mirror.

"Yes, Young Master," the cool voice replies. "Both Jonah Barrow and Clarissa Lupin are here already."

For a moment I think, then make my decision. "Show me Jonah Barrow," I command. After all, the boy's a Black by blood, and by character, too. I'd better check what he's doing first.

To my surprise, nothing seems to have gotten broken yet. Unbelievable. Well, maybe he just doesn't dare; Malfoys do have a certain reputation after all. And that reputation does not encourage anyone to sabotage any Malfoy property.

Jonah looks much like Sirius, the same mischief in his equally light blue eyes, but his hair is short and reddish brown. He looks like he's up to something, but then again, you never know -- all Blacks look like they'd been born up to something, it's something in their face.

Although usually they are up to something.

I hope he's been warned about Olivia's shyness. Some joke could be too much for her -- and if he hurts Olivia, I swear I'll hurt him. And badly. Forget about jokes, even; I've heard Jonah is a true casanova, picking girls left and right and dropping them behind almost as soon.

Anyway, he doesn't seem to be doing anything bad -- not at the moment, at least. So, I command the mirror again. "Show me Clarissa Lupin."

Well, she certainly doesn't look mischievous. Sitting on a chair, she looks mostly nervous. Not a miracle either.

Clarissa has the same golden brown hair as Remus has. Besides that, she doesn't look very much like him in general. Her features are softer, and her face is nearly round, unlike Remus's sometimes even sickly thin, oval face. Her body, however, is not round in any means. She's nearly too thin, like she was anorectic. If there's a too strong blow of the wind, she'll probably fly away with it.

She has rather pretty smile, though. It's something I recognize in her - it's exactly the same warm, light smile that Remus has. Very trustworthy, very friendly, very comforting. You immediately want to tell all your worries to her when she smiles. It's a perfect little I-am-a-Prefect-and-I'll-be-a-Head-Girl-in-no-time -like smile. I bet she's a model student.

At least I know she's a Hufflepuff. The whole family is in that House. In fact, I think Remus is the first one outside Hufflepuff in that family for at least one hundred and fifty years. Ironic, huh? A family of Hufflepuffs and a family of Slytherin have gotten together through Father and his marriage.

Anyway, time to check the next patient. As the silvery mist again appears at the touch of my ring, I ask, "Has Malcolm Snape already arrived?" When I get the positive answer, I ask the mirror to show him to me.

In an instant, a picture of a young boy appears in front of me. He's standing in the middle of some room, scowling. Seems like he's not enjoying himself. Well, considering that it's Malcolm we're talking about here, it's not a surprise.

Malcolm hasn't changed a bit since I last saw him; my only living cousin is just as uninviting as always. He has all the family features of Snape's -- the hooked nose, obsidian eyes and ink-black hair. Other than the eyes, those are features mother has seemed to manage not to inherit, and -- fortunately for me, at least when it comes to the nose -- hasn't transferred to me, either. I shiver at that thought. My face would be completely ruined by that nose. For some people it fits, no doubt -- Severus looks rather handsome if you take a more careful look - but in my face it would be a complete mess.

Yeah, he's a Snape. Only his hair seems to be much thicker and softer than Severus's, and he wears it down, not on a long ponytail like our common uncle usually does nowadays, or gluing it down with various potions like Severus used to do.

He doesn't look bad at all, now when I take a more careful look at him. Maybe we could set him up with Olivia? They'd look perfect together, his black hair with her golden, both equally pale. Besides, his obvious Slytherin pride would do some good for her cautiousness.

Harry's right - I'm horrible. I should let them get to know to each other on their own terms and not to try to lead the events in any way.

Well, they're all here now. It's time to go to inform Father about it.

~*~*~*~

This part of the chapter is from Malcolm Snape's POV.

~*~*~*~

Uncle Severus owes me a big time for talking me into this. What on Earth possessed me when I agreed?

"You'll like Olivia," truly. How could I ever like a girl who doesn't want to be touched? And I do not mean it in any obscene way, like my dear eldest cousin-in-law would. Not touching with any erotic meaning, but as in, she won't even shake a person's hand. I mean, that's not normal! I'm not saying that I'm the most social of people -- rather the opposite -- but at least I can shake hands with somebody if it's expected from me.

Oh, well. She'll probably just kick me out at the same moment I step in. I surely won't complain.

My ears catch some sounds from the next room. Pushing the door ajar, I look in. Jonah is walking into the room -- what the hell is he doing here, anyway? No, don't tell me, I bet he's invited, too -- and sees somebody sitting on a chair in the room. As I saw the other person, I can hardly bite down the curse that wants to escape my lips. What's that git doing here? It's the Lupin girl, for crying out loud!

Well, I guess she might be here, being Remus Malfoy's niece and all, but still... All Hufflepuffs are incompetent, but Lupin is really the best -- or worst, either way -- in that area. She never seems to think before speaking. She probably doesn't. I mean, they call me nasty, yeah, but at least I'm nasty on purpose and not only because I don't pay another thought to what I'm saying!

Jonah, of course, doesn't seem to mind this at all. "Clarissa!" he exclaims, hugging his friend. "How did you ever manage to get here?"

The little girl smiles a bit. "Uncle Remus told Dad that if he didn't let me come to meet his daughter, he'd never ever talk to him again."

"Really?" Jonah asks, looking surprised. "I wouldn't believe that of him!"

"Well, he did," she laughs. "And how did you get here? I know perfectly well that your family likes Malfoys even less!"

"Easy," he grins. "I went to visit Uncle Sirius and then they helped me to sneak in here." So it really was him I saw in the garden in the Black Manor when I was coming here.

I decide this is the moment I should make my presence known. I cough politely and step into sight.

"Woah!" Lupin cries, jumping backwards. Then she calms down and looks angry. "Snape! Of course. You're always sneaking in shadows and scaring the hell out of people!"

"Interesting description, Miss... Lupin, am I right? I don't think we've been introduced." I raise an eyebrow. Jumpy little Hufflepuff. Not a miracle she didn't make it to even Gryffindor at least -- although I don't know what would be worse, to be a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff. Fortunately, I don't even have to know.

Jonah laughs. "Calm down, Clarissa," he advises. "And Malcolm, you know pretty well you have that shadow-lurking characteristic."

"How nice of you, Jonah," I snort. Always the cheery goofy Gryffindor. Couldn't he be serious at least once in his life? "Please, tell this jumpy little creature that I have no intentions of eating her. I'm not a vampire."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Jonah grins. He probably thinks he's funny. "Clarissa, this is Malcolm Snape, my cousin-in-law. He's not that bad if you know him, although I'm pretty sure even he doesn't know himself. And Malcolm, this is Clarissa Lupin, my friend. Forgive her, she's been raised to dislike Snapes."

"So have you," I point out. "I can recall that time in Uncle Severus and your uncle's wedding when your mother told you not to 'go near that terrible-looking boy, he'd probably eat you alive', and meaning me."

Jonah laughs. Oh, Circe, how I hate his laugh! "Merlin, Malcolm, we were about seven back then! And you looked like you'd want to eat someone, you can't deny that. And I still came to you, didn't I?"

"Very true." Really. He practically ran to me right after his mother had said that and asked if I could eat his little sister. "For some reason it didn't surprise me. I've never met a Black by blood who'd be capable of following rules or instructions."

"I'm not a Black. I'm a Barrow."

"Where's the difference?"

"As nice as it would be to listen to your little conversation more," somebody says behind us, "I believe somebody's waiting for you."

We all turn around and see Lucius Malfoy. He's leaning on the cane he always has with him, and he looks half amused, half irritated.

"Sure, Lord Malfoy," Jonah smiles, always the happy gentleman. Damn him and his Gryffindor behaviour.

"Say Lucius," he replies. "I don't want to hear any 'Lord Malfoys' from my daughter's guests." Raising his eyebrow, he added, "Of course, when you are not her guests any longer..."

I can't help but smirk. Married to a Gryffindor, maybe, but still a Slytherin by heart, this Lucius Malfoy.

We follow him through the corridors of the Malfoy Manor. I notice with slight interest that even though every place is indeed decorated with the traditional forest-green velvet, there's no silver to be seen anywhere. Well, considering that the Second Master of the Manor is a werewolf, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised, even though it is indeed shocking that a Slytherin, and a Malfoy on top of it, would let anything come to the way of his family pride.

At last we reach a door that seems to be the right one, considering that... Lucius opens it. Inside we see a sitting room with two people inside. One of them is a brunet man with expensive-looking robes and a lot of silver in his hair, friendly amber eyes watching us intently. Remus Malfoy, no doubt. Just as obviously the girl sitting in an armchair next to him, her hair only a tad more reddish than the not greying parts of his hair and a snake pendant hanging on her necklace is Olivia Malfoy.

Lupin, of course, is immediately ready to be cheerful. "Hello, Uncle Remus," she greets happily. "And you are... Olivia, right?"

"Right," the other girl says and smiles nervously. Really nervously. Oh, great. Another shy little princess to deal with. Of course I knew of the touching prohibition, but I almost thought they were joking. Apparently not. I hope she's as sufferable as Uncle Severus told me, or I'll be dead before this day is out.

"Olivia, this is my niece, Clarissa Lupin," the brunet Malfoy man tells her. "And this is Sirius's nephew, Jonah Barrow, and Severus's nephew, Malcolm Snape." He turns towards us. "This is Olivia Malfoy, our daughter." He smiles happily at the girl, who's still eyeing us a bit warily.

"Severus's nephew, eh?" she says then. I nearly jump in the air in surprise. She actually dares to speak! "Then you must be okay."

"Thank you," I reply her a bit dryly. "Many people say that I'm just like my uncle, and they don't mean it as a compliment."

"Why not? He's nice!" she exclaims, looking genuinely surprised. I think I could like her, after all. "How couldn't someone like him?"

"Well... Last autumn, one of the first year Gryffindors told me he was glad we wouldn't be taught by him, because all his relatives had told him that Severus Snape is the most annoying bastard on earth," Jonah says.

"If I'm not terribly mistaken, that guy you're talking about is a Weasley," I snort. "Maybe an adopted one, but still a Weasley. And they're all bastards themselves." I notice Lucius's glance, and say defensively, "What? They are!"

"Well, that's something I won't argue about," he replies. "At least most of them are really bastards. But there are better ones among them, you know."

"Not anyone under the name of Weasley," Jonah says, surprisingly joining on my side. It really is surprising. We're usually arguing about everything and anything.

"Well, Harry was going to ask Charlie Weasley to be his best man," mentions Remus, raising an eyebrow and smirking. Obviously you cannot be married to a Slytherin without it rubbing off.

"And as Draco was going to ask Malcolm here," Olivia then says, collecting her courage at last, "doesn't that mean that they're equal in bastardness?" Woah. A clever girl, she is. There's hardly anything I can say to that.

Obviously, Jonah can. "Well, as Malcolm is a bastard," he says, "that just works to prove my point."

"Excuse me," I say. "My parents were indeed married by the time I was born, and well before that, too. Considering that you were born only seven months after your parents' wedding, I think you're more a bastard than I."

"I see that you're getting on very well," Lucius says dryly. "Very well. We're leaving you here with each other -- although we will be watching you," he says warningly, looking especially at Jonah and me. Rather unsurprising, that.

Then both he and his werewolf husband leave. And we're left all by ourselves.

Splendid, indeed.

*

"Get away," Olivia says with a shaky voice, pointing at the door. "Get away from here, Barrow or Black or whatever you are, and fear for your life if you ever come back."

Jonah looks stunned for a moment. Then, however, he gets back to his feet and hurries towards the door.

I watch the only person left in the room besides myself with great interest. The Malfoy heiress has her eyes closed, trembling slightly. She has her arms wrapped around herself, seemingly trying to collect herself.

"I think it's Calming Potion on the shelf," I mention after a moment. "Do you want me to get it for you?"

After a moment of silence, she replies, "Please do." As I then give her the phial, she immediately drinks its contents. Sitting down in a chair, she works hard to relax and let the potion do its work. Nailing her eyes then sharply at me, she says, "You'd better not try anything like that, or it's a window you fly against -- or, rather, through."

"Have no worry," I reply dryly. "Only boys for me, remember?" Sure, I'm bisexual, but at the moment I'm more leaning towards gay. And anyway, I do not want a repeat of that blow directed at myself.

Stupid Jonah needed it, anyway. Blacks and instructions again. We'd been told not to even attempt to touch her -- and our famous ladies' man dares to pinch her bottom! Really, some people never know what is appropriate. Well, maybe Jonah has learned something about making daring moves at girls who don't want them. We got the most impressive example of a Ciddle's magical surging. My not-so-dear cousin-in-law flew right against the nearest wall with enough force to drop the candles from the chandelier above his head on the wall.

Now it's just the two of us. Clarissa Lupin had to leave just because she's so thick and annoying -- although I don't think Olivia'd say that as the reason. Our dear little Hufflepuff made a comment about Slytherins being nasty. When our hostess then reminded her about the fact that one of her parents and her "uncle" Severus are both Slytherins, Lupin just shrugged and said that they were just good-looking enough to have gotten married to a Gryffindor. When she then in all her Hufflepuff self-righteousness and the prejudices she'd learnt from home announced that Lucius had seduced Remus when he was still underaged and thus began his relationship with his now-husband as a phaedophile, the Young Lady of Malfoy told her to leave and not come back. As soon as Lupin had left, three vases in different corners of the sitting room blew up. Magical surging, I assume. It's a small miracle that Olivia controlled herself even as long as she did -- I would have blown up Lupin if I was in her place.

Now she looks distracted. "I think I've met you before," she says. "Of course I've seen pictures of you at your home, but I do think I've seen you somewhere else, too."

"Well, when I was little, I and my Mother lived in the Muggle World for some time," I say cautiously. "She says she did it to stop me from becoming as narrow-minded as my Father is, but I think she was just trying to annoy him."

That seems to ring a bell to Olivia, as she suddely snaps her fingers. "Now I remember it," she says, smiling. "You were Malcolm Halliwell, right? We were on the same class once!"

Now, this makes me interested. "Yeah, I was known as Halliwell when I attended a Muggle school," I reply. "Or, rather, schools -- I managed to go through three schools before Mother finally gave up hope of me getting along with those ignorant Muggle brats." But I don't seem to remember her from any of my classes. Not a miracle, though -- I've never been too good with faces, even less with names. But still...

Then, suddenly, I remember it. A shy girl, always hiding in the corner. She was just as much an outsider as I was, although for a very different reason. While I was nasty to everyone, she was too shy to talk to anyone. Her hair has become darker since we were just kids -- she was almost a blond back then -- and got a reddish tint to it, but her eyes are still the same -- pure silver. I have to wonder where she's got them from. "And you were Olivia Darkholm, right?"

She nods. "That was my name when I was little," she admits. "Well, actually that was my name until Father and Dad adopted me, which wasn't until last November." With a small smile, she adds, "You never listened to Miss Cardoniel, did you?"

"She always thought I'd done something wrong, even those rare times I hadn't," I reply, shrugging slightly. "Our dear teacher obviously hated me, so I just decided to hate her back."

"But you were always bullying others," she points out. Touche, that I was. But it's besides the point.

"I never bullied you, though," I remind. "And before you can ask, it was because I noticed you were also having magical surging. I didn't comment on it because Mother had told me that as there were no other Pureblood children in my class, I shouldn't say anything about anybody's possible magical surging as they'd be too young to understand being Muggleborn yet."

"I'm not a Muggleborn, though," she says, leaning back in her chair. "I'm a Ciddle. My father hated me for it -- or, my foster father, really. He's not in any way related to me."

"What do you mean?" I ask, my curiousity raising its head immediately. "And how do you know you're not related?"

For a moment she hesitates. Then she starts to quietly tell her tale.

"My foster father used to be a Death Eater. However, he displeased Voldemort, who drained his powers -- and cursed him so that every child of his would be a Squib." With a sigh, she continues, "So naturally, when my magical surging began, he realized that I wasn't his. He hated me for being somebody else's, and he hated my mother because he thought she'd cheated on him. She hadn't, however. Father and Severus just recently found out that my mother was one of the victims in a large Death Eater raid several years back. She wasn't killed, but she was raped." With a dry voice, she continues, "And I'm a direct consequence of that rape."

I whistle in fascination despite myself. "A nice beginning for a life," I mutter dryly. Really. And here I was thinking that my mother cursing my father whenever she hears his name is bad.

Olivia, however, merely shrugs. "I survived it," she says quietly. "And it's not like I was going back to either of them."

I don't know why she's being so open with me. Maybe she just trusts me -- why on Earth, I can't understand for my life. Perhaps it's because I resemble Uncle Severus, or even because we were classmates once. Probably I'd say that she's just overdosed with the Calming Potion, however. Yeah, that's it. It's not like my mother even trusted me completely -- she knows me too well to do that.

Deciding that it's time to move to some less depressing matters, I ask, "By the way, do you have your own laboratory? If so, could I maybe see it?"

In an instant her eyes light up. Yes, I definitely do like her, the little I ever like anyone. "Of course I have a laboratory," she replies. "Come on, let's have a look at it!"

*

Remus and Lucius watched attentively through the mirror as Olivia voluntarily reached out a hand for the dark-haired teenboy. When the boy grasped on the hand, causing their daughter not to get frightened but instead to smile even more, they, too, both broke into a wide smile.

*

"Malcolm?" asks a quiet voice from the doorway. I raise my eyes from the preparations I'm doing to some ingredients. It's Sunday, the second day I spend in the Malfoy Manor -- Jonah and Lupin left yesterday, almost as soon as Olivia had kicked them out of the room. Well, I can't blame her, really. Lupin was being annoying -- although I'd consider her annoying no matter what -- and what Jonah did was just unforgivable.

"Yes, Lucius?" I ask back, raising an eyebrow. Olivia, too, stops her own work and turns to look at the older one of her parents.

"As you probably know, Olivia's going to give her testimony tomorrow," the Lord of Malfoy says, walking in to the laboratory. As I nod, he continues, "Would you care to stay for a few days, to support her? I've already firecalled Headmaster Dumbledore, and if you accept, he doesn't have any problem with you staying here for a bit longer, either."

For a moment I hesitate. Then I look into Olivia's shining eyes, and again at the tall, blond man. I know what answer they both expect from me -- they, and the three ghosts that are currently peering through the walls. Olivia's ghost friend Laura, Lucius's great-great-grandfather, and some woman I don't recognize all look very interested.

"Yes," I hear myself saying far before I've ever thought the matter through. "Yes, I'll still stay for a couple of days."

*

"Your full name, age, and current working position?" Severus asked, with a hint of steel as well as amusement in his voice.

"Olivia Amber Malfoy, fifteen, a Potions Mistress in training."

"Who are your current guardians?"

"Lucius and Remus Malfoy."

"Do you have any problem with the fact that one of your guardians is a werewolf?" Mr. Lyncay asked then.

"No, of course not," Olivia said. "With the Wolfsbane Potion he is completely harmless."

"You put a lot of trust in a simple potion," Weasley commented, raising his eyebrow.

"At first, it isn't 'simple' at all," she replied dryly. "In fact, the Wolfsbane Potion is considered one of the most complex potions ever -- why, I've no idea. And second, I'm going to be a Potions Mistress. That wouldn't amount to much if I didn't trust my potions, now would it?"

"Indeed," snorted Severus dryly. "Now. Do you trust your guardians?"

"I could safely trust my life into their hands."

"Have either of them ever threatened you?"

"No," came the short and simple answer. Neither of them had, after all.

Weasley, however, was more cunning than that. "And have you ever felt threatened by either of them?" he asked slyly.

Olivia bit her bottom lip. "Yes, I have," she admitted quietly.

It seemed to take all strength Weasley had not to shout out in triumph. "Why is that?" he asked.

Olivia's eyes flashed with a light that seemed to be coming from somewhere inside her. "Because I'd never known of a family life where no one gets beaten."

"And was there a reason to feel threatened?" asked Severus, surprisingly calm, considering the situation.

"No, there wasn't. Neither of them have ever raised a finger to hurt me."

"Do you have any friends outside your immediate... family?" asked Weasley then.

"Yes, I have," Olivia replied calmly. Pointing over her shoulder, she added, "Malcolm Snape is my friend."

"And for how long have you known each other?" asked Mr. Lyncay, obviously paying attention to the fact that the darkhaired teen hadn't been seen in the courtroom ever before.

However, Olivia had a response ready to this, too. "We met for the first time on the first day we went to school," she replied calmly. "We were classmates in the Muggle school I attended to when I was little."

Now even Severus's eyes widened. He seemed to have hard time not laughing. The others, however, looked surprised and shocked at the same time. This certainly wasn't what they expected.

"So you've been friends all your life?" asked Robert, who was the first one to get over his shock as well as determined to get the questioning back to them.

"Sadly, no," Olivia replied, shaking her head. "We lost contact when Malcolm was transferred to another school. I only found him again just recently, thanks to Father, Dad, and Severus."

"And with Severus you're referring to...?" asked Severus levelly.

"Severus Black," Olivia finished. "He's Father's best friend, and married to Dad's best friend, Sirius Black."

"Do you have any other ties to him?"

"Yes, I have. He's tutoring me with Potions, as well as helping me to understand my gift in Seeing," the girl replied.

"And do you like him?" Severus asked then. He seemed to be greatly enjoying himself.

"Of course," Olivia replied lightly. "Do you honestly think Dad and Father would let anybody I don't like tutor me in an almost daily basis?"

"Has he taught you to brew the Wolfsbane Potion?" asked Severus with a completely straight face -- something only he could manage in this situation.

"No, he hasn't," Olivia answered truthfully. "Father taught that to me."

"What's the most complex potion he has taught you, then?" Weasley asked, more for the sake of getting the questioning to his own hands than to make the Malfoys look bad.

"Well, that must be the Patronus Potion," she replied after a moment of thinking.

"And what's your Patronus?" Mr. Lyncay asked curiously, probably not even meaning anything with it.

Olivia swallowed, her eyes lowered to the ground. Then she looked up to the lawyers and said, with a quiet but clear voice, "My Patronus is the Dark Mark."

For a moment everybody, from the jury to the judge, just stared at her, wide-eyed.

Then, Weasley caught up to action. "Your honour," he said to the judge, his voice a bit shaken but still firm, "I demand taking the child away from Mr. and Mr. Malfoy's care until this trial is over due to firm suspicions that they might be training the child in Dark Arts."

The judge brought a hand up to her temple, as if in attempt to clear her thoughts. Then she said, very slowly, "Your demand is well reasoned, Mr. Weasley. Beginning this moment, Olivia Malfoy shall not spend any amount of time in either Remus or Lucius Malfoy's presence outside this courtroom until the trial is over."

Remus bit his bottom lip, squeezing tightly Lucius's hand. The blond man maintained a calm facade, but his hands were slightly trembling. Olivia shot them an apologetical look, her wide grey eyes saddened.

"Have either of your guardians ever taught you or told you to do something they've told you not to reveal to the other, or to somebody outside your family?" Mr. Lyncay asked then, eyeing her sharply.

"Yes," admitted Olivia quietly. "Father has."

"And what has he taught to you, then?" questioned Weasley. He sounded almost triumphant.

"He told me to use a book that instructed me to cause explosions in sake of learning. I couldn't tell this to Dad, because he has bad experiences about explosions and could have overreacted."

"So your... eh... father purposefully put you into a potentially dangerous position?" Weasley asked slyly.

"No!" she exclaimed, shocked. "Absolutely not. He placed strong shielding charms on all my laboratory robes to keep me from being harmed."

"And were those charms strong enough to keep you safe in case an explosion occured?" continued Mister Lyncay.

"Yes!" exclaimed Olivia in response. Then she managed to summon tears into her eyes. "I don't know why you can't just believe me," she whispered, tears glinting in her eyes. "They'd never hurt me, neither of them would ever do something that might harm me. They're basically the only parents I've ever had -- and the only ones I want to have!"

"Miss Malfoy," Robert said, trying to get a calming tone to his voice, "have either of your guardians ever taught or told you anything that you might have considered wrong or even suspicious?"

"No," replied Olivia immediately, trying to wipe away the tears that still continued to fall. "I've never had to question anything they've told me."

"Have either of them ever told you that Muggles are worth less than Wizards?" Severus asked, well knowing the answer already. "Or that Muggles or Muggleborns should be killed or otherwise destroyed, or at least controlled?"

"Of course not. Rather to the opposite; they're always telling me that all people should be considered equal."

"Have they ever taught you anything that could be used to harm people?"

"No! They'd never teach me anything like that!" Tears were flowing down her cheeks with seemingly no intentions to stop.

But the questioning had to go on.

*

Lucius was a bit restless when he returned home. He had a feeling that he shouldn't have left at the first point, but he'd just had to be alone for a while. So, after taking Remus to the Manor and making sure he couldn't hurt himself, he'd headed to the Diagon Alley. There he'd gone to the Magical Menagerie once again and, using Remus's Soul Potion -- the only potion the werewolf had brewed all by himself after they'd got married -- as a "bait", found a pet for his husband. He hoped that it would calm Remus down a bit.

As he glanced around the sitting room, not seeing a hint of the werewolf, he forced himself to calm down. 'He's fine,' he thought to himself. 'It isn't like he could have hurt himself.'

And that was true, he'd personally seen to that. Unknown by Remus, he'd used his ring to seal both the mirrors and doors in the whole Manor. The only two places Remus could get to were their bedroom, the sitting room, and Olivia's room. Not even a single balcony was within his reach, and none of the windows would open or even break -- he had heard from Sirius that Remus had once tried to kill himself by jumping from a window on the fifth floor, only being saved by his incredible werewolf abilities. Just as well none of the mirrors in the Manor could be broken, and not even a fire could be lit before he was present. Remus couldn't do anything about it. He might be the Second Master of the Manor, but Lucius was the Master, and nobody could come over his control over the Manor's own inner magic.

Therefore, he managed somehow to stay calm as he walked to the nearest mirror, the overeager saroth jumping up and down on his shoulder, waiting to get to his true master. With light sky blue mane and tail and a fur of so dark blue that it was almost black, he seemed to be a negative image of Olivia's Ssaratha.

"Where is the Second Master of the Manor?" demanded Lucius from the mirror.

"He is in the Young Lady's bedroom," replied the familiar cool female voice. Just what he'd expected, then. It was so like Remus to go to mourn their -- temporary, he had to keep telling himself -- loss in Olivia's bedroom, where he could feel at least a little bit nearer to her.

"Take me there." And after that command, Lucius stepped through the mirror, expecting to see his husband on the other side.

He stared in horror at the sight in front of him. Remus indeed was there. However, the werewolf lay on the floor, something shining around his neck. A quick glance at the open jewellery box told him that it was one of Olivia's silver necklaces. Seemingly Remus had attached it to one of her earrings and then pulled it partly through the ring, creating kind of a hanging rope made of silver. One of his gloved hands -- otherwise, he couldn't have handled the jewellery -- was still holding the necklace, having pulled it tightly around his neck.

Lucius struggled agains tears. "Remus," he said quietly. "Oh, Salazar, Remus..." Hastening to get to his husband's side as well as he could, ignoring the pain the half-running caused to his leg, he kneeled down next to the werewolf. A simple grip and a quick yank broke the thin necklace. He threw the remains of it, as well as the earring, away in disgust.

Desperation fought determination in his eyes as he began to quickly cast scans over his unconscious husband. He had to know whether the damage could be fixed. It wasn't like Remus could have really hung himself with the thin chain, no; the thing Lucius feared most was that the silver could have damaged the werewolf's throat and the veins on his neck so that he'd be unable to breathe, or his brain couldn't get enough blood.

To his great relief he noted that no permanent damage had been done to his beloved husband. Now whispering the strongest healing charms he could think of, he held the werewolf's body tightly against his chest. Then he whispered, "Enervate."

After a moment, Remus drew a deep breath, and then his eyelids fluttered open. "Lu-Lucius?" he asked quietly. "I -- I am sorry -- I'm so fucking sorry --"

"Shh, Remus," murmured Lucius, fighting against tears. "Don't say anything. You'll be fine, and Olivia will be fine, and we will be fine. She will come back."

"We'll lose her, Lucius," Remus whispered raspily. "She's never coming back, we'll lose her, and, Lucius, I just can't take this anymore... We've lost all our children, we always lose them... Have I done something wrong? Is it because of me that we always have to lose them? Is it because I'm a werewolf, is my bad luck infectuous?" Then, he broke into tears, sobbing hoarsely as he cried.

Lucius held his husband tightly against himself, not saying a word.

*

Olivia ran through the halls of the Snape Manor, not knowing where she was going to. She'd taken her Blocking Potion, sure -- Severus would have killed her otherwise -- but she didn't want to see anybody at the moment. She couldn't.

They'd taken her away again. She had known what her answer would lead to, but she had been unable to lie, the spells had been binding her too tightly. And now they thought that she'd been taught Dark Arts -- which was the one thing her guardians, no, parents would never do -- and they'd taken her away again.

What could she do? What had she done, to deserve this? She'd been happy with her two fathers, happier than she could ever remember being, and now they were seemingly determined to make her unhappy again, Weasley and his companions.

Throwing open a door to yet another room, she stormed inside, looking for a place to hide. However, as soon as she entered the room, a weird feeling came over her.

'This place is evil,' she thought. 'Bad things have happened here... Very bad things...'

Then her surroundings seemed to fade away, and before she could even wonder why the Blocking Potion hadn't worked, she was inside a memory.

***

There were two people in front of her in the room. One of them was a teenager boy, looking much like Malcolm -- in fact, he was almost a carbon copy of the young Slytherin, his hair was just shorter. And knowing that this couldn't be Malcolm, he had to be Severus when he'd been younger. The same black eyes, black hair, harsh features and the nose -- there was no mistaking him.

The other person was a man, maybe a couple of years older than Severus was in her present time -- and almost just like him in appearance. He, too, had the pale skin, piercing onyx eyes, jet-black hair and familiar facial features. It was more than obvious that this was Severus's father. She no more doubted what they said about Snape males all looking just the same way, with the exception of Draco -- well, Narcissa probably wasn't even a Snape, at least she suspected something with the woman looking so drastically different from her siblings -- and she no longer wondered what Malcolm would look like when he got older, either.

"I will not become a Death Eater," said the young Severus stubbornly, bravely facing his father. Bravely, for the elder Snape was truly a frightening sight.

"Oh, yes, you will," the man said harshly. "You have only one more chance, boy. For the last time: Will you become a Death Eater?"

"No." The answer was cool and steady, although the teen's voice wavered a bit.

"Then I suppose I'll just have to force you into it." And with that, he pointed his wand at his son. "Stupefy." And, in front of Olivia's horrified eyes, he started to tear the boy's robes off.

Olivia felt sickened. Not only because of what she saw, but much more because she knew what this would lead to. She tried to tear her eyes away from the sight, but it did no good. She couldn't turn away, she couldn't look at anything else. Even closing her eyes wouldn't help; she wasn't really seeing this by her eyes but by her mind. And her mind's eyes she couldn't close, couldn't shut her Inner Eye.

At last, Severus's father finished his task. After binding the now naked teen's wrists and ankles to the floor with various spells, he casted one last charm. "Enervate."

Severus instantly came to, his onyx eyes widening with fear as he realized what was going to happen. "No," he said quietly. "No, Father... Don't do this."

"You had your chance, boy," the man said rashly, kneeling down in front of him. He'd shed his own robes some time before, now only clad in a shirt and trousers. "Now you're going to regret your choice." With these words, he unzipped his trousers, then crouched even further.

A second later, Severus screamed. Loudly.

And Olivia still couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight.

***

"What happened, Severus?" asked Lilian quietly as Severus Apparated to the place.

"It went all wrong," Severus said, sighing a bit. "After they heard of Olivia's Patronus, the question took one wrong turn after another. We couldn't get it back to our hands, and at last the questioning had to be interrupted as she was crying too much to answer to anything." Glancing around himself, he added, "Where is she, anyway? I told Malcolm to take her here as I had to stay for still some time."

"Yeah, they Flooed here some time ago," the witch replied. "Olivia rushed off the same second. I tried to ask Malcolm what happened, but he just muttered something and ran off -- searching for her, no doubt."

"Fuck," muttered Severus under his breath. "This place is may not be even half as big as the Malfoy Manor, but with some bad luck we won't see either of them for hours without a full search party. If they keep moving, it'll probably take even more time."

However, just then one of the mentioned teens chose the moment to be fitting to throw the door open and run inside. "Uncle Severus," said Malcolm hurriedly. "Olivia's in one of the sitting rooms, but she's not normal. She's just standing there, staring in front of her, looking very pale. I tried to talk to her, but she didn't respond."

Now, Severus frowned deeply. "She should know better than forget her Blocking Potion," he muttered. "What room she was in?"

"It's the one right next to the west wing's stairway to the second floor. You can see the roses in the garden from there," replied the teen.

In an instant, the elder of the two wizards went deathly pale. "Merlin," whispered Severus. "Malcolm, now listen to me, and carefully. I cannot enter that room, or go even near to it -- even with the Blocking Potion, the memories there are far too strong for me to avoid. Therefore, you have to go there, take Olivia and carry her here. Don't try to wake her from the trance, it'll be no use. Just bring her out of there as soon as possible."

The boy gave him a weird glance, but left immediately to do as he'd been told. Severus sighed deep, running a hand over his eyes. This was exactly what he had been fearing all this time.

"What is it, Severus?" asked Lilian confusedly. "What shocked you so much?"

"You don't want to know," murmured Severus quietly. "Believe me, you don't really want to know."

"Oh, yes, I do," she said firmly. "Answer me now, baby brother. What is it that Olivia's Seeing?"

"Have you ever wondered just why I became a Death Eater in the first place?" he asked seriously. As she nodded mutely, he continued, "Well, our Daddy dearest forced me to it. And before you can ask how, well..." Sighing even deeper than before, he said quietly, "He raped me. He raped me, and said that he would tell all his Death Eater friends do it if I didn't take the Dark Mark. I had no choice, Lilian. I couldn't have born it again."

"Oh, Severus." Tiny tears glimmering in the corners of her eyes, she wrapped her arms around her younger brother. "If I had known, I would have killed the bastard."

"I don't doubt that," he said, swallowing a bit. "Which is precisely why I didn't tell you or Narcissa. I needed you to be near to support me, not rotting away in Azkaban."

"And what did Sirius say?" she asked quietly. "I can't imagine him taking it too well."

"Believe me, he didn't," the wizard replied dryly. "At first he was mad at me for taking the Mark. When I then managed to explain it all to him -- I had to use a bodybind on him to keep him from storming off -- he vowed to kill the bastard. I managed to talk him out of it, but most time it took from me to convince him of the fact that even though I had been raped, I knew he wouldn't hurt me and thus didn't mind bottoming."

Lilian snorted. "Men," she muttered. "Always only thinking about sex." At last releasing her brother from her embrace, she said then, "Well... Shall we go to see where my dear son is with our guest?"

They soon found them. Malcolm was half carrying, half leading Olivia towards the sitting room where they'd just been, looking very worried -- the expression just as rare on his face as it was on Severus's. The girl still didn't seem to have completely broken out of the trance, but she was at least walking on her own, which meant that she wasn't completely inside the vision anymore. As soon as her eyes met Severus, however, she rushed towards him, almost falling down on the way.

By the time she reached the Potions Master, Olivia wept comfortlessly despite the fact that he clumsily drew her to his arms, trying to soothe her. At last she'd clamed down enough to say, "I -- I Saw your father --"

"I know what you Saw, Olivia," murmured Severus, his voice thick with tears he would never shed. "It wasn't a pretty thing, what my father did to me. Not a pretty thing at all."

"What happened?" asked Malcolm, frowning slightly as he watched the Ciddle and the Potions Master. All he understood was that this had something to do with Seeing, and there his knowledge ended.

Lilian sighed. "Let's go somewhere where we can all sit down," she said, "and then we'll explain."

*

Some time later Olivia was rather calm -- at least calmer than before. Her cheeks were still wet with tears, but at least she wasn't crying anymore.

"I probably should get some of my things from the Manor," she said quietly. "Clothes, at least -- and Ssaratha."

Severus nodded slowly. "Now, you must not wear your Malfoy clothes," he said seriously. "Green and silver, even if they are the Malfoy family colours, are also the colours of the Slytherin House, as well as a snake is a symbol for them both. And Slytherin is, however unjustifiedly, often associated with Dark Arts. In fact, it'd be good if you managed to look like a Muggle. You can manage that, can't you?"

"Considering that I lived fourteen years as a Muggle, I think I could."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Malcolm said, trying to lighten the mood. All this crying was making him uneasy -- besides, both his mother and Severus would have skinned him alive if he'd said anything truly nasty. "From what I remember, your taste for clothes was horrible even back then."

"We were just kids, Malcolm, for the love of Rowena. My mother picked the clothes for me!"

"Keep telling that to yourself, and one day you might even believe it," the boy said, teasing her. Then he added more seriously, "I could go to get your things, if you want. But you must tell me what you need."

"Ask the house-elves," Olivia said, managing a small smile. "Thoward should know at least, just ask for anything I had the last time I was there... But don't let them pick any robes in the Malfoy colours or with snake decorations, you heard your uncle. Oh, and be sure to bring Ssaratha, too," she added.

"Will happen." And with that, he walked to the fireplace and Flooed away.

*

Sirius blinked as he curved his motorbike in the air. He did have his safety helmet on, Severus would have killed him otherwise, but he had a firm suspicion that he'd get the lecture of his life even this way. However, Sirius did not care. He needed to let his thoughts fly for a moment.

It was hard. It was really hard. Just when they'd thought that everything was starting to go well, this had happened. Sure, they could prove that the Malfoys hadn't taught Olivia any Dark Arts -- how could they have? She couldn't even use a wand properly -- but he was worried about how this would affect them, especially Remus. It wasn't that long from the last full moon, and there was no telling what Remus would do.

The moon was shining brightly from the clear night sky, lighting his way. It was easy to navigate -- ironic or not, he'd always been able to tell his direction from the stars. The air was cold and brisk, but not too cold. In fact, the wind whipping him was almost exactly the pleasant, cool kind of air he liked most.

Suddenly, he saw a dark figure in front of him. He managed to catch a glimbse of the stranger, and almost shouted out aloud in surprise.

Then there was a blinding flash of light, and then, he knew no more.

*

"'I'm going for a motorbike ride. Don't worry. - Sirius.' Truly, what was he thinking? How could I not worry?" Severus muttered to himself. He'd just come home from the Snape Manor -- where Olivia was now pretty calm, although still very upset and sad, and Malcolm was not being himself at all -- just to find a note from his husband. Relying on his internal clock, he knew that it was late already. Sirius should have returned already.

Frowning a bit, Severus reached his hand inside his robe. Pulling out the tiny bottle he always had in a chain under his robes, he looked into the potion, at the same time feeling the bottle with his hands. Sirius's face was reflected clearly in the Soul Potion, even though he looked a bit distracted. The bottle also felt pleasantly warm. There was no reason to --

Just then, he shivered. The bottle had suddenly gone terribly cold. It then quickly gained back its warmth, but it was then cooling fastly. Horrible images filling his mind, Severus reached for his wand.

Forcing himself to calm down so he wouldn't get splinched, Severus grasped the bottle of his husband's Soul Potion even tighter into his hand. Concentrating on it and the faint magical trace of Sirius it still had, he Disapparated to search for his beloved.

When he got to the place, he smelt something burning. Looking to the direction the smell was coming from, he saw Sirius's precious motorbike lying on the ground, in flames. 'Well, it was about time,' was his first thought.

His next second, however, he realized that he should search for Sirius, not celebrate the damned motorbike's fate. A quick glance told him that the Animagus was not on his motorbike -- a thought that both relieved him because of the flames and agonized him, because that meant that Sirius had flown somewhere.

Then his eyes caught Sirius lying on the ground some way from his damaged vehicle. Severus gasped in shock. "Sirius! For Merlin's sake, no..." He ran to the unmoving form, feeling hot tears stinging in his eyes.

His legs shaking, Severus knelt down next to his husband. Shaky fingers searched for a pulse. Soon, he found it, but it was uneven and weak, so weak...

This terribly reminded of the one time before, as he'd found Sirius just the same way.

Trying to gain back his senses, he hurriedly dragged Sirius further away from the motorbike, knowing that it might explode at any moment. It took him some effort, considering that Sirius was both taller and heavier than he was and that he'd never been very strong, but desperation gave him strength. Just as he'd got them both behind a large rock nearby, the flames found the motorbike's gas tank, causing a loud explosion. Crouching behind the rock, Severus shivered slightly.

At last he gained back enough of his senses to do something useful. Drawing the needed phial from the bag on his hips, he threw a Flame-Deadening Potion at the rapidly growing fire. When it was under control, he drew his wand again. Sending out the wizarding version of an emergency call, a spell that would help both Aurors and mediwizards locate them, he then sat down next to his injured husband.

"You fool," he muttered, fighting against tears. "You damned bloody Gryffindor fool. You'll have to walk over my dead body if you ever want to drive a blasted motorbike again!"

However, watching the usually so cheerful Gryffindor just lying there without a sign of life in his body, he couldn't help but wonder whether Sirius would even walk ever again.

Or if he could breathe.