Heir Of Voldemort

Heir Of Voldemort - Chapter Three

One Year Later - Chamber of Secrets Time

"But Albus...surely...who?" Leaning against the wall in the hallway outside of the hospital wing, Severus Snape exhaled a shaking breath.

The petrified form of Colin Creevey, the young Gryffindor first year, had just been found, lying in the darkened halls of the castle by the Head Master, another victim of the creature of the Heir of Slytherin.

The Potions teacher heard Dumbledore's quiet reply. "The questions is not who...the question is how."

"No, Headmaster..." the former Death Eater breathed, straightening up and hastily walking away, his robes flaring about him in the darkness. "It could be who..." He fell silent as he hurried down the long flights of twisting stairways towards the dungeons.

For eleven years, since the fall of the Dark Lord, he had been trying, unsuccessfully, to convince himself to inform someone, anyone, about the fact that Voldemort did - indeed - have an Heir somewhere.

His footsteps sounded deafening in the silent dungeons, as he walked swiftly onwards. His classroom and office awaited him, his sanctuary and hiding place.

When he entered the small, dark room that served as his office, he pushed the door shut, sliding the bolts at the top and bottom of the door into place, adding a sealing charm for security, before sinking down wearily at his desk.

His elbows propped on the lined surface of the desk, he buried his head in his hands, closing his eyes. Once again, he was forced to resort to mental debates, in a vain attempt to keep himself sane.

If Voldemort's Heir was attending Hogwarts, they would only be in their first year now. They would probably have been in Slytherin, but none of the new arrivals there had the potential for the dark arts that would befit a true Heir of the Dark Lord.

If he or she was not in that house, there was always the chance that it would be in Hufflepuff, following the legacy of it's mother, but - as usual - the Hufflepuff first years were hardly anything to brag about.

Running his hands through his hair, Snape sat back with a heavy sigh, the back of his head coming to rest against the high back of his chair. He steepled his fingers together in front of him, tapping his chin with the tip of his forefingers.

There was always the chance that the heir had ended up attending another Wizarding academy, but - somehow - Snape suspected that Slytherin's latest heir was unlikely to go anywhere but the school that Slytherin himself had built.

Again, it came down to the self-recriminations.

He should have informed the Ministry of the situation regarding Cassandra Bones. He should have explained all that had occured in Malfoy's dungeons. He should have helped the poor child in some way.

Child.

A bitter laugh escaped him.

She was barely younger than he was when she was brought before them and their Master, barely graduated from wizarding school, and yet, she - like he - had been cursed with belonging to the dark Lord.

Maybe she had heeded his words, as he had placed the blood vow on her. If she had retained any sense of self and pride in her life, she would have and escaped, taking the poor mite of a child with her.

Merlin only knew that the poor child would be a cursed one in the Wizarding World, thanks to the Legacy of the father.

Even if the little one proved to be a good and true Hufflepuff in breeding, loyal, patient and hard-working, it's father's mark would be as visible on the child as the dark mark was on his Death Eaters.

However, some of the situations that had been occuring of late in the castle had raised his guard. If the Chamber of Secrets truly had been opened once again, who could it be but an Heir of Slytherin himself?

No one, as far as he knew, was a Parselmouth.

No one had been, since Tom Riddle...Voldemort.

Rumours that he had heard in the circle of Death Eaters suggested that - to open the chamber of secrets - meant that you had to have the ability to speak Parseltongue, which only raised more questions.

Sighing, he shook his head. Puzzling over it would not help. No Hufflepuff would willingly have her child turned into a Dark Wizard and she had never been seen since the day Voldemort had vanished, not even among the remaining Death Eaters.

If the worst came to the worst, he knew he could inform Dumbledore, but until the child actually appeared and implied that he intended to destroy the known wizarding and muggle world, there was little Snape could do.

Without the proof - in other words, the child - there was nothing he could do at all.

It was just a matter of waiting.

***

"Alex, hurry up!"

There was the sound of her eleven year old son clattering down the stairs. She looked around as he hopped into the kitchen, still trying to tug his sneaker onto his left foot, the laces of the one on his right foot flapping on the floor.

"Do you want any breakfast?"

"Do I have time, mom?"

Cassandra glanced at the clock. "Maybe a pop tart," she suggested with a grin, one of the aforementioned breakfast foods popping up out of the toaster. Snatching it, she tossed it from hand to hand, then to Alex. "Everything you need is in your rucksack."

"Thanks mom!" Pecking her quickly on the cheek, the dark-haired boy turned and ran straight back through the living room to the front door, his voice carrying back to her before the door closed. "Love you, mom!"

Chuckling, Cassandra turned back to the kitchen, which she was in the middle of tidying. As usual, Alex had slept in, despite numerous alarm clocks positioned around his room and her calls up to him.

Despite insisting his new years resolution was that he was going to get up early for school every day, he hadn't managed it in the three weeks since term had restarted after the Christmas vacation.

Today was a particularly bad day.

It was only when she had put the video of one of his favourite movies in the player and turned up the volume that he had actually got up, then realised the time and started panicking about being late.

Not that he cared about school.

Alex, being Alex, only went because he could hang out with Willow and Jesse. No doubt, poor Willow would be sitting between them for their test this afternoon and they would come out with decent grades as well.

The two boys had developed a code over the years of their friendship and could take it in turns to spy on their red-haired friend's papers, then tell each other the answers through hand gestures and small actions, like yawns and sneezes.

Beyond the dark-green kitchen door, the living room door clicked shut and Cassandra hummed to herself as she washed the dishes from the previous evening, bubbles and warm water up to her elbows.

"Cass."

A shriek of fright escaped her, a plate slipping from her fingers and shattering on the floor as she whipped around. "Who is it?"

"Just me," Ethan's head appeared, bobbing in mid-air. Before he could get the rest of the invisibility cloak off, Cassandra had thrown herself into his arms and was scattering kisses all over his face, her bubble-covered arms around him.

"You bloody git!" she cried, half-laughing, half-sobbing, claiming a brief, hard kiss. "What are you doing here? You scared me half to death!" The look on her lover's face made her pause, though. "Ethan?"

"Something’s up, Cass," he replied tersely, looking around. "Is there somewhere we can talk?"

"Upstairs - the attic is safe." She replied, quickly, towelling her hands and motioning for him to follow her.

They ran up the stairs and she pulled the attic ladder down, both of the scrambling up and coming to rest in the stuffy room, the dim light filtering through a dirty window. Sitting down on one of the crates, she motioned for him to do the same, as he shrugged the cloak off.

"What is it?"

"The Chamber of Secrets," he replied quietly, his face tight with anxiety.

"What about it?"

The wizard looked down at his folded hands, then back at her. "Its open, Cass."

"But...but it can't be, can it?" She gave him a puzzled look. "That's impossible...You Know Who is gone...I would know if he was back...he's Slytherin's Heir..." A determined look crossed her face. "He can't be back."

"I know, Cass, but all the same, its been opened," Ethan replied, staring straight at her. He looked a lot older and tireder than she remembered. "I've been over it in my head a dozen times and I can't work out what or who is doing it."

The blonde witch ran her hands through her hair. "I...he can't be back, Ethan...he just can't be... and no one else could open it... he told me...only Parselmouths... they're the only ones who can open it... he..."

"What did you say?" Ethan started.

"He can't be back."

"No...about parselmouths."

Cassandra shrugged. "They're the only ones who could open it. He was a parselmouth and he kept whispering to me in that language...thought it was...sexy...he told me those were the words to open the chamber..words only a parsel...Ethan?"

"There is another one..."

"Parselmouth?" The witch paled. "You...you think he had another Heir?"

Ethan's laugh was strained. "Here's the irony," he said. "The Parselmouth at Hogwarts...its none other than Harry Potter." Cassandra stared at him in confusion. "Something tells me that he wouldn't be the one setting the Monster of Slytherin on people." "But how...?"

The wizard shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, Cass," he replied wearily. "The boy is in Gryffindor, but it keeps everyone off our trail for a while." Cassandra jolted at his words. "And yes, that's why I'm here."

"How do you know all this is happening, Ethan?"

Ethan gave her a watery grin that she remembered very well. "I have a spy at Hogwarts...a very reliable spy, who knows I'm protecting something, but doesn't know what." She gave him a suspicious look. "Flitwick. I never lost touch with the old fellow."

"And he told you all this?"

"He's been keeping me up to date on everything that has been happening." The wizard ran his fingers through his unruly brown curls. "They've had some people petrified, but no fatalities so far. Potter transpired to be a Parselmouth, so he became the prime suspect, but I don't believe that anymore than I believe that McGonogall would go to a Disco."

Cassandra couldn't help grinning at that image, but it faded quickly. "What about the Death Eaters? Have you heard anything about any of them?"

"Actually, yes," He glanced around, as if checking for spies. "Apparently Dumbledore has a former Death Eater on the staff at the..."

"WHAT?!?" Cassandra was on her feet in a heartbeat. "Bloody hell, Ethan! They have a Death Eater actually working at Hogwarts and you're wondering who would be able to open the Chamber of Secrets..."

"A former Death Eater, Cass," He rose, laying his hands on her shoulders and gently forcing her to sit again. "Old Flitwick trusted me not to say anything to anyone else, but I have to tell you. He was a spy for the Ministry until the fall. You Know Who didn't even know."

Huge brown eyes stared up at him fearfully. "I'm not liking the sound of this..." she whispered hoarsely. "Who was it?"

"I-I shouldn't say."

"Ethan."

He looked away. "Severus Snape."

"Snape...oh God...no...no, he can't be...he would have told them about me by now..." She stared at him frantically. "It was him! I knew I recognised his voice! I knew it...I didn't put two and two together..."

"What are you babbling about?" Ethan face was etched with concern.

"The blood vow," A shaking hand ran over her face and she shook her head. "Ethan, he was there..." Her voice was shaking so badly he could barely understand her. "He knows who I am and what Alex is...a spy...a spy for the light side...they know Voldemort has an Heir...he knows who I am..."

The older Wizard's face seemed to drain of blood, his throat dry and clicking as he tried to swallow. "Shit..."

"Bloody understatement of the year...oh God...what if they try and take Alex?" Tears spilled down her pale face. "What if they find us? If he's told the Ministry, they'll be after us...and the Fidelius thing can't fool all of them..."

Her best friend and lover gathered her quickly in his arms, hugging her tightly. "That'll never happen, Cass," he whispered, kissing her brow. "Flitwick didn't say anything about them knowing about an Heir. If they find out, I'll be the first to know outside of the school and I'll let you know before they can even think about starting to look for you."

"But if things get too bad, Ethan..." She pulled back, staring wildly up at him. "If he comes back, he's not going to let his Heir go undiscovered and by then, the light siders would be looking for us too."

"Only if Snape cracks."

"And do you think he will?"

The wizard sighed, sitting down and lifting her into his lap as he had so many times before. "If I remember Snape right, the only person he would tell anything like this to is Dumbledore. He hated the Ministry as much as we do."

"But what if he does, Ethan?" She was shivering painfully. "The Ministry is powerful...they could put out a Muggle alert for me and - even if the Fidelius spell affects Wizards - it won't affect muggles...they could find us that way..."

"Don't be so negative, Cass," he said quietly. "If the worst comes to the worst, I could always contact Severus."

"Y-you knew him?"

Ethan smirked. "Where do you think I got my supplies for my naughty potions?" he inquired, his eyes dancing. "He had a veritible black market of illegal supplies running during his time at Hogwarts for those who knew where and when to get to it."

"But he...I thought he was Slytherin..."

"Not all Slytherins were bad, Cass," His hand was moving softly on her tangled blonde hair as he spoke, his voice quiet. "I actually got on reasonably well with him, when he wasn't putting together dark potions."

"This coming from a demon-worshipper?" She tried to make it sound glib, but failed.

"Trust me on this, Cass. Some of the things he could produce even went beyond my code of loose ethics," he sighed. "Poor Severus. He got roped into the Death Eater Squad by those Slytherins who picked on you so much."

"Do...do you think you could ask him not to tell anyone, Ethan? Please?"

A grin crossed Ethan's face. "I'm sure I could," he replied, still holding her close to his broad chest. "Its been a while since I paid dear old Sevvie a visit and I do actually need a new stock of tail of roachworms."

"You and your weird ingredients," Cassandra muttered.

"Of course."

"How will you contact him?"

The wizard sighed, rocking her gently. "I'll apparate across to Salt Lake City," he replied. "I'm sure I'll find some fireplace I can use to contact him there."

"Salt Lake City?" she echoed skeptically. "Are you sure that's the right kind of place?"

Ethan's grin was contagious. "Luv, I don't know what tourist books you've been reading, but every single person in that city is a witch or wizard. Its the American version of Hogsmeade and its only weird because of that, which is why muggles find it so amusing. They think it’s for other reasons."

"A confundus charm on the whole city, eh?"

"How did you guess?"

She reached up to kiss him on the cheek. "Let's just say that I'm picking up some sneaky habits and things from you, Ethan," Her fingers loosened the buttons of his shirt, as their lips met briefly and she stroked her other hand through his curly hair.

"Luv, we shouldn't..." he protested feebly as his shirt slid off his shoulders and he let it fall to the floor. "What about your husband?"

Brown eyes met green. "I don't give a damn about him, Ethan," she replied softly, pausing only to peel off her T-shirt, his hands going behind her and flicking the hooks of her bra free in a matter of seconds.

Straddling his lap, she claimed his mouth in a fierce kiss, her bare breasts pressing hard against his chest. His hands spread on her smooth back, holding her firmly to him as he started to kiss his way down her neck.

Somehow, the Wizard managed to stand, his hands hooked under her jean-clad buttocks and lift her, her legs and arms around him, then climb down the ladder from the attic and walk the length of the hall to the bedroom.

Placing her on the bed, he had gazed down at her for several long moments, until she raised her hands to him in invitation and he joined her, their lips meeting again, as she whispered. "I love you."

In the soft warmth of the South California winter morning, the couple made love together for the first time in over a year. Followed by the second, third and fourth time, both weeping for the need and relief of being together once more.

In the warm security of her lover's arms, as afternoon approached, Cassandra fell asleep, murmuring happily.

Rising as she slept and kissing her closed eyes tenderly, Ethan whispered a soft "I love you" before dressing and disapparating.

***

"Mom, I'm home!"

The house was silent, which struck Alexander as very strange. He looked around the living room and kitchen, but there was no sign of his dad anywhere. Everything was neat, orderly and...silent.

Normally, mom would be waiting for him.

"Mom?"

Tossing his rucksack on the couch, he ran up the stairs, getting more worried when no reply came. She was usually so obsessional abouty making sure he got home okay that it was weird not to find her watching for him from the window.

Even napping on the couch.

She had never not been there before.

"Mom?"

The bathroom was empty with no sign that anyone had been in there since he had left for school that morning. Scratching his head, his hair more mussed than usual, he made his way towards his parents' bedroom.

Normally, he avoided it, in case dad was about, but if mom was in trouble...

Nervously, he pushed the door open and peered around, a sigh of relief escaping him.

His mother was in the large bed, curled up under a sheet, one arm bent up under her head and she looked more peaceful than she had in a long time. Her golden hair was spread around her like a cloud and she was smiling in her sleep.

He started to close the door, but a squeak from the hinge made her stir and she opened her eyes, squinting at him sleepily. "Alex?"

"Mom? Are you okay?"

A broad, lazy smile spread across her face and she sat up, holding the sheet against her upper body. "I'm great, honey," she replied, extending her right arm and laughing as he ran to her and hugged her. "I was just a little tired."

"You look real happy," he noted, sitting down on the mattress beside her.

"I guess I just needed to get some rest, or something, sweetie," she smiled fondly at him, mussing his hair with her fingers. He swatted at her hand, grinning back at her. "So, how did the test go?"

"Willow aced it, which means I didn't do too bad," he replied, an impish look on his face. "If I do bad, its only cos Jesse can't remember the difference between the codes for the multiple choice papers."

"And you didn't make it too obvious?"

"Mom!" He looked almost offended that she would imply such a thing. "I'm a professional!"

"So how many did you not copy?"

"Enough so I can pass, but get away with it without looking like I was copying from Will," He looked around when the doorbell rang. "I guess that's Jesse and Willow..." He looked at his mother with concern. "You going to be okay, mom?"

"I'll be fine, sweetie. You go and have fun with your friends."

He nodded and darted out of the room, pulling the door closed as he went. Cassandra smiled fondly as he thundered down the long flight of stairs and she heard the front door crash shut behind him.

Lying back on the bed, she arched her slim body sleekly, the white sheet silky and cool against the contours of her body. She felt satisfied, content and pleased with herself for the first time in months.

"Love you, Ethan," she murmured to the air, before drowsily letting herself fall asleep again.

***

"Good evening."

Snape almost yelled in fright, whirling around, papers scattering from his desk with the draught from his cape. A muffled obscenity slipped passed his lips and he stared down at the fire in sheer astonishment. "Ethan Rayne?"

"One in the same, Sev," The face in the flames flashed a familiar smirk at him. "Got time to have a visitor?"

"Here?"

"In Hogwarts?" Snape nodded. "No. Not secure," The face looked around furtively. "Do you remember the old farmhouse where we used to meet, just outside Hogsmeade?" Snape nodded an affirmative at the code. "There in no less than five-sixteenths by the second highest twenty-fourth nine."

There was a popping sound and Ethan's head vanished from the flames, but Snape was still staring at the flames in shock.

Ethan Rayne.

It had been a dog's age since they had seen each other.

Since he had gone to the dark side and Ethan had gone demon-follower.

Recalling what the wizard had said, he groaned.

Trust Ethan to give him less than ten minutes to get from Hogwarts to the hidden and little-known back room of Honeydukes, where he used to sell his rare - and occasionally extremely illegal - ingredients for potions.

Leaving papers scattered across the floor, he swung his travel cloak off a hook, pulling it on as he ran into the darkened hallways, his footsteps sounding deafening to him as he hurried towards the main doors.

The moonlight was slanting in through high windows that lined the walls, gleaming on the checked floor of the hall and he pulled the huge, heavy main door open, slipping out of the gap into the grounds.

His feet flew as he ran across the open ground, aware that he had probably been spotted by at least Filch, and - if not him - Professor Dumbledore. It was certainly going to take some explaining when he returned.

Sneaking out at midnight, running around like a lunatic...

He could always claim it was part of a new fitness regime.

Or that he had lost the plot.

Why was he even bothering with Ethan Rayne and his call?

Because they were old school 'chums'? No. They had never been that friendly. Because it would be a chance to reminisce about the good, old days? Emphatically not. For one thing, there had been no good old days to reminisce about. Because of what then?

He couldn't say.

Panting, he realised he had reached the edge of the grounds of the school and - with great relief - disapparated.

He apparated straight to the hidden room of the closed sweet shop, the basement in pitch darkness. Reaching for his wand, he felt a hand grab at his shoulder and tried not to jump with the surprise. "Ethan?"

"Sev."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was shopping?" Snape snorted. "That would be a no, then."

"Can't we have some light, Ethan? I know you, you know me - do we need the darkness?"

He heard a chuckle. "Still scared of the dark, eh, Sev?" Fabric rustled behind him and he heard a whisper of a spell. The tip of a wand lit up near his face and he turned, squinting at the Wizard behind him.

The crates, boxes and dusty shelves of the sweet shop above them were put on display by the soft, fuzzy, white light glowing at the tip of the taller wizard's wand, a mouse or two scuttling away into the shadows.

"Better?"

"A little," Snape muttered, trying not to show his relief. As Ethan had noted, the greasy-haired wizard was afraid of the dark, especially when he was uncertain of his surroundings and the threat they posed.

Hardly surprising, considering his previous career choice.

"What are you doing here, Ethan?"

The sandy-haired Wizard moved around to sit on a crate opposite the Potions Master. "A friend asked me to come and have a word with you," he replied quietly. His expression was grave. "You know something that could put all of us in serious danger."

"Us? A friend? Who?"

Ethan held up a hand. "You were a Death Eater, Sev," he said quietly. Snape shook his head, his mouth suddenly dry. Only a couple of the other teaching staff were meant to know that. It was a closely guarded secret. "I know you were."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ethan."

"Don't waste both our times by lying, Sev. I have it on good authority that you were," There was no judgement in Ethan's green eyes. "The fact is that I know you spied for the ministry as well." Snape swallowed hard. "You didn't tell them everything you know, did you?"

"What are you talking about?"

Ethan did not reply, withdrawing a small blade from his pocket and piercing his left palm with it. A horrified look crossed the Potions Master's face, recognising what his former associate was doing, his face paling.

"Stop."

Turning his hand over, Ethan watched a drop of scarlet trickle down his palm and drip onto a small goblet in his hand. "Hmm?"

"Ethan, stop it."

Green eyes rose. "Do you remember what this is, Sev?" He murmured.

"N-no."

"Don't lie, Sev. I'm only making sure of something, before I blab my secrets to you."

Snape lowered his head, his hands shaking. He turned his own left hand over and stared at the faded scar on the centre of his palm. "The opening phase of making the Death Eaters Blood Vow," he muttered.

"So it was you!" Relief flooded Ethan's taut face. Snape looked up, confused. "Listen, Sev, this is very important. You remember little Cassie Bones, the blonde runt I looked after when I was at school?"

"How could I forget?" A look of distaste curled his lip. "She was the one that all the Slytherins were told to pick on."

"And..."

"You already know, so why do I need to tell you?"

"Know what?" Snape groaned, realising that it wasn't about to be made easy for him.

"That she went to You Know Who," Ethan raised a brow and the Potions Master quailed under the cool expression. "All right, she was taken to You Know Who. I still don't see why I should care about this."

"Because you made a blood vow, whether you wanted to or not," Ethan said quietly, his eyes fixed on Snape's face which had gone rigid. "You vowed to protect her and the child Voldemort left her with."

Snape's mouth was bone dry. "I-I...how could you know?"

"Because she told me, Sev," Ethan's voice was low and quiet. "She put a name to a voice and she asked me to come and see you."

"She's alive? And safe?"

The hopeful look in Snape's eyes drew a small smile from Ethan. "She's fine, Sev," he replied softly. "She and her son are living in secret, but I've been keeping her informed of what has been going on in our world," Green eyes met black. "She wants you to know that she took your advice and she wants you to pretend to know nothing about Alex. She wants him to be raised as a normal little boy."

"Normal? The son of You Know Who?"

"Lets say that the poor kid is definitely blessed with his mother's looks," Ethan chuckled. "He's harmless and would never dream of using magic. All Cass wants to know is that the Ministry won't show up one day and throw him into Azkaban."

Snape nodded. "I don't blame her for wishing it to be so," he remarked. "That's why I hadn't told anyone before. I hoped she would have taken my advice...its a relief to know she is safe, after all."

"So no one knows about her?"

"Only the other surviving Death Eaters," Snape replied, rubbing his cool hands together. "I don't think they would be too keen to run around telling everyone, until they knew they had either the father or the son to lead them."

Ethan's relief was palpable. "Alex would never do that, so unless old You-Know-Who manages to come back, you're safe," Snape nodded. "Do you think he will?"

"You do know what happened here last year, don't you?"

"The incident with the Philosopher's Stone?"

Snape's expression tightened. "Dumbledore didn't let too many details out beyond the staff, but its impossible not to say that Voldemort must be regaining strength, if he was able to possess young Quirrel's body."

"And what on earth is going on with young Potter?"

The Potions Master's lip curled. "He's far too similar to his father, that boy. He's broken almost every school rule in the last year and a half and its just like James and that bloody werewolf. Dumbledore thinks he's marvellous and when Dumbledore thinks that, nothing anyone can say will change his mind," Ethan nodded sympathetically.

Potter and his little group - while younger than Ethan - had been the bane of any normal pupil's existance. They were popular, witty, good-looking - in other words, the very kind of people who annoyed the ones who were either too tall or too greasy or too interested in demon-worship.

It was only made worse because the quartet could get away with anything, anything at all.

"Is it true that he's a Parselmouth?"

"Indeed," Snape's thin lips curled in a cold grin. "That was a bit of a nasty surprise for old Dumbledore. He had to have a chat with the Sorting Hat, who admitted it only didn't put Potter in Slytherin because Potter asked to be put somewhere else."

"That's odd..."

"That's Potter," Snape's voice was bitter. "I can't help hoping that the Monster of Slytherin will catch up with him next."

"But that would be far too obvious a target, unless it is You Know Who controlling it," Ethan leaned on his knees thoughtfully. "You know, you're going to have to keep me updated with everything that's going on here...especially dark rumours."

"So you can protect Bones and her baby?"

"Not so much a baby now, but yes," Ethan smiled faintly.

Snape fingered his dark, dusty robes for a few moments, a brief silence descending. "May I ask you something, Ethan?" The older wizard nodded, motioning for him to do so. "What is he like? The boy?"

"I've only seen him in passing. He's a strong, resilient little sod," He groped in his capricious pockets for his wallet, withdrawing a picture that he had absconded with from Cassandra's dressing table. In it, Cassandra had her dark-haired son wrapped up in a hug and they were both laughing. "He's almost twelve already..."

Snape took the picture, illuminating his own wand and staring at the motionless picture in astonishment. "This is him?" he asked, shaking his head. The boy looked frighteningly normal, with unruly black hair, sparkling brown eyes and a broad grin. "This is You Know Who's son?"

"Surprising, isn't it?" Ethan murmured. "I thought you might want to see it so you know what and who you'll be protecting, before I have to destroy it. I can't risk any dark siders getting a hold of it or finding them."

"And he doesn't do any magic?"

"None."

Snape nodded, then handed the photograph back. "Good," He said firmly. "You tell her I won't reveal her secret as long as she keeps herself concealed. The child deserves to be free from the curse of his father."

"And if You Know Who returns?"

"I know nothing. I saw nothing. I haven't seen her since she fled."

"Thank you," Ethan offered a hand, which Snape shook. "I don't care what anyone else says about you, Sev, you're a good man."

"And you're a complete lunatic," Snape replied with a faint smile.

"Nice to know that I haven't been forgotten," Ethan chuckled. "Now, though, we both better go. Dumbledore'll be waiting for you, no doubt and I need to get out of the country again. It'll be safer for me to get gone while I still can."

Snape nodded, rising and smoothing his dust-streaked robes down. "Good luck to you, Ethan. I can't help thinking you'll need it."

"Likewise, Sev," They clasped hands once more. "Keep safe and don't do anything stupid."

"Like poisoning Potter?"

"Exactly," They exchanged wry smiles, then - in a heartbeat - the basement of the small shop was empty.