'Till Death Do Us Part

Thanks go to my "terrific trio" of betas: Doug, Al, and Yael. I couldn't have done it without you.

'Til Death Do Us Part

by Parker Brown-Nesbit

Chapter 4

Severus sat in his dungeon office, the fruits of his arduous labour set out before him. A year's worth of potions recipes for each of his seven classes. He had taken his time, making sure that each potion was useful, something to remember for the future. He wanted his students to be challenged by the receipts he'd chosen, but not challenged beyond their depths. His first class was less than a month away, and doubts were starting to creep into his mind. Why did I ever agree to this? What am I doing here? Whose idea was this anyway, the headmaster's or Damara's? Who am I kidding? I'm not a teacher... am I? Do I honestly think I can stand before a class and teach them anything? The students...How can I make them understand that potions making is an art, much more subtlethan waving a wand about? Surveying his work once more, a smile of satisfaction crossed his face. He took a blank sheet of parchment and began to try to put into words exactly what potions making was.

You are in this class are here to learn potions making. the subtle art and science exact science of potions making. There is no fancy wand waving here. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, most of you will not believe many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I assure you, it is.

He continued, crossing out a line here, a word there, until he had an introduction that would set the right tone. How could he convey what he felt for the subject in mere words? From his first class with Galloway, he'd been passionate about the subject. If it had been humanly possible, he would have memorised every potion there was to know. He loved the subtleness, the preciseness, the patience required to make a potion. Could he even come close to describing what Potions making was?

Several hours later, he had written something that produced exactly the effect he aimed for. Something that conveyed his love for the subject and a bit of what potions making was.

It was only after he had finished the task he'd set for himself that he allowed his mind to focus where it had wanted to be ever since he'd last seen Damara. In her office. In his arms. Devastated by what Malfoy had done to her, yet proud of the fact that she had fought back. He picked over what his actions should be as one would pick over a half-healed scab. He had sent Merlin with a note the next day, but the raven had come back, still bearing the note on his leg. That worried him. Had Malfoy done something to herthat she didn't receive his note? He'd half a mind to go visit the manor to find out what had happened to her, but realised that doing that would most likely enrage him further and put Damara in more danger.

I should just stay away, he mused, anything to keep her safe. Headmaster Dumbledore's words echoed in his mind. 'I also want you to keep a watch on Damara... Marius Malfoy is a dangerous man...' All fine and well, he thought, but did the headmaster know that Marius Malfoy is also a jealous man? That he thinks Damara and I are - as if she could ever want me, much less fall in love with me. But she trusted me enough to tell me what happened to her. Not that I gave her that much of a choice. He chewed on the end of his quill, worrying the problem over, seeking a solution to it. If I could convince Malfoy that he has nothing to fear from me, that I'm merely attempting to get her to come over to the Dark Lord's side... that might work. He smiled to himself. 'Yes, Severus, that just might work,' he said to the walls.

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'...he can't just have disappeared off the face of the bloody earth, Alastor! He's got to be somewhere. We'll find him, and his damnable little sidekick as well,' Damara was saying as she, Alastor, and Frank walked down the corridor to their respective offices.

Damara and Alastor had been suddenly called away on a lead. Igor Karkaroff had been sighted in Norway of all places, and they had gone to check it out. The fact that they couldn't find him, even though they'd checked all his known hangouts (and additional places, simply on Damara's gut feelings), had made Alastor Moody particularly difficult to be around for the past few days.

Once in her office, Damara started the mundane task of updating files. She wasn't too keen on this part of the job; she much preferred to be out there, doing what she was trained to do. She reached for the file on Karkaroff and found it missing. Thinking she'd merely laid it under another file, she searched again. And again. It was nowhere to be found.

She met Alastor and Frank as she was walking the few steps to Moody's office.

'Are any of your files missing, Damara?' Frank asked.

'Yeah. I was just going to ask Alastor if he'd seen - '

Moody added, 'I was just coming to ask you the same thing.'

All up and down the corridor, doors opened, heads poked out, and the same question was asked, "I've got files missing. Has anyone seen them?"

Moody raised his voice slightly. 'Meeting in the staff room in ten minutes!'

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Marius sat in his study, a stack of files before him. They'd been handed to him the day before by one of the more junior members of the circle, and this was the first time he'd had a chance to look at them. He opened the first one and nearly spat out his drink. The entire file was written in code. He'd seen other files, so he already knew that they were kept in code. But this was one he'd never seen before.

'Moody. It had to be him who developed the code,' he muttered under his breath. Sighing in exasperation, he started to work on deciphering it.

He was still at it two hours later when Lucius came into his study, so quietly that he didn't know he was there until his work was obscured by his brother, leaning down to kiss him on the lips.

'Lucius, we are in trouble,' he said, after he broke off the kiss. 'These files - '

'What about them? They can't be that impossible to - ' he looked at one of them, and then at the attempts his brother had made at deciphering it. 'Oh. It can't be impossible, though, can it? Did he charm them?'

'I thought of that. If he did, it's no charm I've ever heard of.' He rubbed his eyes. 'I hate to think of the Dark Lord's reaction if we don't get him this information.'

Lucius put his arms around his brother's neck, and whispered in his ear, 'Leave it for a while. You've been working far too hard.'

Marius looked at him and smiled. He knew what Lucius had in mind and it wouldn't do any harm to take a break from all of his hard work. He got up from the chair and led his brother upstairs.

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There were nervous whisperings from everyone as Moody walked into the staff room.

He cleared his throat and said, 'I want a list of the files each of you is missing. On my desk no later than 5.00.' He looked at each of them in turn, as if trying to discern which of them had betrayed his confidence.

Several of them squirmed, uncomfortable under his gaze. Heads turned to look at each other, words of protest dying on their lips. None of them had seen him quite so disappointed or so angry.

'Rest assured. I will find out who the traitor is. I'm instituting new rules. From now on, you will not be given the charm to get into another person's office. If you need information from someone, you'll have to ask him or her personally. Constant vigilance!' he barked, and everyone jumped.

He looked around and saw that almost everyone was in a state of semi-shock. Who was the traitor? They were a tight-knit group; Auror training was hard on both mind and body, and the work itself was no easier. The men and women within the various teams depended on each other. They had to. Sometimes it was a matter of life or death. And if they couldn't trust their partners... They took an oath at the end of training to uphold the Auror's Creed. Who had decided to renege on that oath? How would the work they did be affected by not knowing if they could trust each other?

No one had any protests to make. It was a sombre group that left the staff room to go to their offices and comply with Moody's order.

Alastor corralled Damara, Frank, and Simon as they were nearing their offices. 'I need your opinion on what's happened. Could you please come into my office?'

They complied, and he closed the door for privacy.

'Any ideas on who it was?' he asked.

'Not a clue,' Damara said, shaking her head. She had entered the force with high ideals and now, it seemed, those ideals were being turned upside down.

'Could it have been an accident?' Frank asked, 'A visitor maybe?'

'You mean maybe someone was with one of the Aurors, and overheard the charm?' Simon asked.

Damara tilted her head, considering. 'I'd like that explanation better than thinking it was one of us.'

'Me too,' Alastor said, 'Good point, Longbottom. I'll have to consider that.' He turned to Simon and asked, 'Anything to add?'

'Er, no. I agree with Mr. Longbottom though. I don't think it could be one of us.' His voice shook slightly. It was the first time he'd ever been asked his opinion on something, and frankly, he was nervous about being asked what he thought. .

They were released then to go back to their respective offices.

Damara sat at her desk, pondering the situation. Would Severus know anything about this? It's a possibility. She thought for a moment, scribbled a quick message to him, and then went up to the owlery to send him the note.

#############################################

When Damara arrived home that evening, Malfoy was not there to greet her, as had become his custom. Stopping a passing house elf, she asked where the master was.

'In his study, Mistress,' the elf answered, 'where he has been all day.'

She smiled and thanked the elf, then went to find her husband.

He was bent over some parchment, platinum blond hair shining in the candlelight, totally oblivious to everything around him.

She stepped into the room and said softly, 'I'm home.'

Malfoy started at her voice, took a deep breath, and casually slid a book over the parchment he had been working on. 'Hello, how was your day?' he said, rising to cross the room and give her a kiss on the cheek.

As he kissed her, she stiffened slightly. Hoping he didn't notice, she answered, 'Fine. Nothing much happened, really. Oh, we had some files go missing, but Alastor's taken care of that. Security is so tight you must have permission to sneeze.' She smiled inwardly. Tell that to your master. 'How was your day?'

'Anything I can help you with?' she offered.

'No,' he said, too hastily. 'I'll get it sorted out. On my own. Without your help, you meddling bitch. He glanced up at the clock. 'We have just enough time to change for dinner.'

Rising from the chair, he took her hand, again not noticing that she flinched slightly at his touch, and led her out the door.

I wonder what you're really working on, Malfoy? For some reason, I don't think they've anything at all to do with legitimate Malfoy business. Did I get too close to finding out what they were? Meddling bitch, am I? We'll just have to see about that. I think a little late-night excursion is called for.

They ate their meal in a silence so heavy it hung like a shroud around the room. The house elves picked up on the tension between their master and mistress and were extra careful about the service. They had found out from prior experience that when their master was angry or upset, he had a tendency to take it out on the nearest one of them. Their mistress was different. She would raise her voice, but would never hit or kick them. For good measure, they kept out of the way as much as possible.

#############################################

After the meal, Malfoy retired to his study, door firmly shut behind him, while Damara went across the hall to the drawing room.

She wanted - no - needed - to be alone with her thoughts. The day after the rape, after Severus had left, Alastor had taken a good hard look at her and sent her home. She had been recalled when Alastor had gotten word of a lead on Karkaroff. She had come from Norway directly back to the office.

I can't believe I broke down in Severus's arms. Me, the one who doesn't show her emotions except to her closest friends. Gods, I feel like such a fool! I just hope he will forget all about it. When did I start trusting him? Do I trust him? She thought hard on that one. I do. I can't explain it, but I do. Well, it's done. No use crying over spilt milk - or spilt tears in my case. I haven't heard from him, though. Surely he would have owled. Or did he owl while I was away? Why is Malfoy so jealous? Surely he doesn't think that Severus and I - well, yes, he does. He as much as told me so when he raped me. Why is he so damn jealous when he doesn't even like me, much less love me? Could I convince him that it's not what he thinks between the two of us? What would he believe? Now, about those files. Was there anyone around who shouldn't have been? Visitors? She mentally ticked them off on her fingers. Jenna - can't be her, she comes around quite often to take Frank to lunch. Not Rebecca, nor Emmala, either. Wait a minute. Three weeks ago... Crouch's kid came by, just when I was opening the door to my office. Rookwood was with him, said he'd given him a job for the summer... There had been rumours about the kid and those he ran around with. Known Death Eaters, the rumour had it. Rookwood had explained that he'd helped the kid land the job, as his father wouldn't lift a finger for him. She decided to owl Moody about her suspicions. She glanced at the clock. It was time she went to bed.

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She had gone up to her bedroom, lain down, and had even managed to sneak in a nap before getting up again. She quickly dressed all in black, and as a precaution, put on her Invisibility Cloak. Galadriel was at her side as she crept downstairs to Malfoy's study.

She had waited until midnight just to ensure that no one would be about. The door to Malfoy's study opened with a whispered 'Alohomora.' She took a deep breath and whispered again, 'Lumos.' Wasting no time, she went straight to his desk and looked underneath the book that lay there.

Well, well. Looks like I've found where those files went. She tapped her fingers on the desk, thinking. If I merely take them, he'll know for sure that they are important.

But she couldn't take a chance that Malfoy would be able to decipher them. Moody had created this little gem of a code himself and she didn't think her husband could figure it out, but one could never be too careful. She found the drawer where the parchment was kept, took out several pieces, and started writing. She had charmed her quill to reproduce each person's handwriting.

Galadriel stood guard while she rewrote the information contained in the stolen files. They now contained nothing harmful to her division. Luckily, to a Sassenach, all Gaelic looks the same. And as for the other language that makes up the code... thank the gods not many people can read Elvish. An hour later, she had finished. She carefully rolled up the parchment containing the real files, put them in the pocket of her robes, took her wand, and headed for the door.

She had almost reached the door when it opened and her husband walked in. She quickly extinguished her wand, but unfortunately, not before he saw it.

'Who's there?' he asked

She hardly dared to breathe. Slowly she edged her way toward the door, Galadriel following quietly. There was a chance she could get cleanly away; being so much shorter than he, she could just sneak out under his arm.

'Tabby? You know you're not supposed to have a wand. Incendiarum.' The room was filled with candlelight.

Good. He thinks it's Tabby. Maybe I can...

He was close to her now, so close she could feel his breath on her face. He reached out toward her...

...she tried to move away, but she wasn't fast enough. His hands met cloth and pulled.

'You!' He grabbed her by the shoulders. 'Explain yourself. And it had better be good.'

What would Severus do in this situation? OK, Sutherland, think like a Slytherin. 'I thought I'd work on those files that were frustrating you so much.' Galadriel sat down by her side, not moving, yet keeping a close watch on Malfoy.

'In the middle of the night?'

'I wanted to surprise you with them tomorrow - this--morning. I could ask you the same thing.' She looked him straight in the eyes. 'Isn't this my home too? Is there any reason why you're so suspicious?'

'No,' he said quickly. Too quickly. He looked around the room as if searching for something - or someone.

'No, Marius, I'm not hiding anyone in here, least of all Severus Snape.'

How did she know I was thinking of that?

'Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go back to bed.'

She was gone before he could stop her. He had his doubts about her veracity, but decided to ignore them. He moved to the desk and looked at the parchment files he'd shoved away earlier. Yes, they were all there. At least she hadn't discovered them... Yet.

With a sigh, he decided to work on them some more. Maybe this time the code would make sense. He had woken from a nightmare in which he had to face his master and admit that he had been unable to glean any information from the files because that bastard Moody was too clever by half. The Dark Lord had been angry with him and subjected him to several tortures, up to and including the Cruciatus Curse. He had no wish to have his dream become reality.

The sun was just showing the first rays of a new day when, exhausted and still no closer to figuring out the code, he gave up and went to bed.

#############################################

He stood before the Dark Lord waiting for instructions. Voldemort had said nothing for the past few minutes, and Severus was beginning to feel the faintest trace of worry creep up from his gut to his throat.

'I want you to make a potion,' Voldemort smiled at him. 'You do love making potions, don't you, Severus?' The voice was almost a caress. 'I do not remember its name, but it is one which causes instant death and leaves no trace of itself behind. I mean to use it on a very special person.' There was a slight emphasis on the words "very special."

He knew the potion in question. He'd read about it in one of his books, but which one? It produced the same effect as Avada Kedavra, but one did not have to be near the victim at all. 'Very well.' He inclined his head in a nod.

'That is all. You may leave.' Voldemort Disapparated.

#############################################

He sat in his favourite armchair in the main room of his cottage. All around him were crumpled sheets of parchment. A half-drunk cup of tea sat forgotten on the stand next to his chair. 'I know it's in here somewhere! If only I could find it,' he said aloud. He was answered by Merlin's 'caw.' He looked over at the raven. 'If you're so smart, why don't you come over here and find it for me?'

He resisted the urge to throw the book he was searching in across the room. Why the Dark Lord wanted him to brew this particular potion, the gods alone knew. It was an obscure one, rarely brewed, mostly because the ingredients were so rare. He remembered some of them, but not all, and not the proportions. He had been searching his vast collection of books for hours, and still nothing. Why the Dark Lord could not use one of his, Severus's, potions, he had no clue. Sometimes, the workings of Voldemort's mind were impenetrable. Of course, his search wasn't helped by the fact that his mind kept straying to Damara. In his arms. Crying. It had taken all the self-restraint he possessed not to have Apparated with her back here and damn the consequences. Not that that would have solved a thing except to further enrage Malfoy. He rubbed his eyes. He would continue the search tomorrow. He knew there was a copy of Moste Potente Potions in the library at Hogwarts, but if he was honest with himself, he really wanted to see Damara with his own eyes. He had decided not to send Merlin with the note again. She could say anything at all in her answering note. Searching for the recipe was a valid excuse to see her. Besides, he no longer had a copy of the book he thought the damn potion recipe was in. It had been destroyed in the fire that had gutted his parents' house just after he left home. He'd always meant to buy another one, but the book was hard to come by.

#############################################

'Well, have you been able to produce the potion, Severus?' the voice was almost a hiss.

It was a day later. He had received the summons rather suddenly, but followed orders. He had thought that others would be there, but when he Apparated at the Dark Lord's side, he was the only one present for the audience.

Severus met the red eyes of the Dark Lord calmly, despite his inward fear. 'Not yet, my lord. It is a very obscure - '

'Silence! I do not want excuses, Severus. I want results. You have twenty four hours.'

'My lord, I can't search - '

'Crucio.'

Severus shut his eyes against the pain. He'd gone too far.

#############################################

She was in her office when the pain hit. Severus... who's doing this to you? Gods, it hurts! She breathed in deeply, trying to focus past the pain. The glass on her desk suddenly shattered, drenching the files spread there. 'Damn!' she swore aloud. Muttering a charm to dry the files, she shook her head to clear it, and got back to work.

#############################################

Damara was wakened from a sound sleep by the timid knock on the door.

'Who is it?' she called sleepily.

'Tiggy, Mistress. There is someone to see you in the library.'

She got up, went to the door, and opened it.

'Who is it, Tiggy?'

'Mister Snape,' the elf squeaked. 'I showed him into the library.'

She smiled at the thought.

'Tell him I'll be down in a few minutes, please.'

Tiggy curtseyed and closed the door behind her as she left.

She was dressed in five minutes.

He was idly reading titles of books when she came into the room. He turned as he heard her footsteps.

'Severus, what a pleasant surprise,' she smiled. She hoped that she sounded casual, as though his dropping by the manor was a normal occurrence.

He took a few steps to stand closer to her, drawn not only by her smile, which was warm and welcoming, but also by her eyes, those arresting mismatched eyes that had always been able to see past the sarcasm and misanthropy to pierce the very fabric of who he was; the "him" he so arduously kept hidden from the world.

He studied her closely. He hadn't seen her since that morning in her office. The bruises on her face had been healed, but he could still see them vividly in his mind's eye. He suddenly realised he'd been holding his breath and let it out in a rather large sigh. She seems to be fine - thank the gods for that. There was, however, a question that remained to be answered.

'Why did you send Merlin back without even answering my note?' he asked, not bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice.

'Merlin? I never saw him. But I was recalled almost immediately after Alastor sent me home. I didn't even have time to owl you,' she said, and proceeded to tell him about the last few days. Maybe I'm not a fool after all.

'No, Damara. You may be many things, but never a fool,' he murmured.

Neither of them really was aware of who instigated it, but the next moment they were pressed tightly together, lips meeting in a kiss.

The kiss was one of promise, questioning, and gratitude. Damara broke it off before things got totally out of control. Not that she wanted to, but 'I don't know where Malfoy is, and you still haven't told me why you're here,' she said as she broke the contact and stepped back slightly.

Severus was reluctant to let her go. Her lips were warm and welcoming and her body was a perfect fit against his. But she was right. Duty sent out her siren song to them both.

Um, yes... about why I'm here...' he stammered.

'You mean it wasn't to ravish me?' she teased.

He bristled, and then met her eyes. There was laughter there, but he realised it wasn't directed at him, and laughed.

'No,' As much as I would love to. 'I need to find a recipe for a potion.' He related the order Voldemort had given him. He paused and asked hopefully, 'You wouldn't happen to have a copy of Moste Potente Potions by any chance?'

'As a matter of fact...' she walked over to the appropriate shelf and took down a worn copy of said book. 'He's only given you twenty four hours?'

He nodded glumly as she turned to face him.

'Well, then, I think we'd best get down to work.'

'Lucius's library is better. Maybe you can ask him.' Damara muttered some time later.

She was sitting on the floor, thumbing through Moste Potente Potions. She wished, and not for the first time, that the bloody book had an index. Severus was sitting in the armchair next to her, searching through Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Egyptian Magic But Were Afraid To Ask. They were both so engrossed that they didn't hear the door open.

'My, aren't we cosy.'

They both looked up to see both Malfoys standing just inside the door.

'Hello, Marius, Lucius.' Damara spoke to them and went back to thumbing through the book she had in her lap.

'You,' Marius spat as he looked at Severus, 'like a male dog, always following a bitch in heat.'

'Your wife is certainly no bitch, Marius,' Severus answered quietly. He rose from the chair, pulling his wand out of his pocket, holding it at the ready, muscles tensed, waiting for whatever Malfoy had in mind.

'My, we certainly do jump to her defence quickly, don't we?' Marius said, sneeringly. 'Did she come running to you to tell you what she claims I had done to her?

Marius took several steps across the room until he stood beside Damara. He grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. 'I believe I made my feelings clear the other night, Damara,' he whispered fiercely, 'or maybe you just weren't paying attention.' He tightened the grip on her arm.

'Marius,' she said sweetly, with only the slightest hint of a pout in her voice, 'Severus came to us for help finding the recipe for a potion. I thought you'd be happy that we could help?'

Severus moved to stand closer to Damara. 'Marius, don't be foolish,' he said in a silky voice, 'I have been instructing Damara in the Dark Arts on the Dark Lord's orders. She has proven to be a most willing student.' For the gods' sake, play along, he cautioned her silently.

'Well, Snape, I see you're good for something at least,' Marius said, voice dripping with sarcasm. 'Here all this time I thought you were trying to get my wife into your bed.'

Lucius looked at Damara with something akin to respect. 'Who would have thought it, and you Moody's lapdog at that?'

'There's a lot you don't know about me, Lucius,' Damara said, coolly. She held his gaze for a moment, then added, 'Severus was the only one who could see the possibilities.'

'Well then, we'll leave you to it. Happy hunting,' Lucius said.

He ushered his brother out of the room, a hand on his back. As they left, Lucius whispered something in Marius's ear, and Marius laughed, a low, husky laugh. Then the door closed on them.

Severus looked at Damara and raised his eyebrows. 'Don't they make a cute couple,' he said, sneeringly.

'I think they do,' she smiled at him, mismatched eyes twinkling. 'They take the phrase "brotherly love very seriously.'

Severus looked at her incredulously. 'You don't mean...'

'Oh, but I do.'

'Marius and Lucius?' He couldn't believe what she had just insinuated. File it away, Severus. Something to remember.

Damara had regained her seat, and he reached down and touched her on the shoulder. 'I hope you don't mind. I just thought of it yesterday.'

She looked up, smiled at him, and said, 'It's bloody brilliant. He'll never suspect - or at least I hope he won't. Gives you a good excuse to be here, too.' She turned the page in her book. 'Found it!' she all but yelled.

She held the book out to him, and he took it, looked at the page, and smiled the biggest smile Damara had ever seen from him. He leant down and kissed her forehead.

'You've just saved me from a hell of a lot of pain. Or worse.'

She got up and sat on the arm of the chair, looking over at the list of ingredients. 'These are going to be hard to find. And you've only got how long?'

'I do have sources for rare ingredients. He said I had twenty-four hours. Whether that was to find the recipe or to find the recipe, find the ingredients, as well as making the thing, I have no idea.'

He spent the next few minutes at the desk, copying down the ingredients to the potion. He had his hand on the doorknob, ready to leave, when he remembered that he had something to tell her. He cast a silencing spell on the room, and put a locking charm on the door to ensure no one could come bursting in.

'Be on guard, Damara. I want you to be very careful around your office.'

'You found out who broke in?' she asked eagerly.

'It wasn't a break-in. It was someone who works there. Just started a few weeks ago, as a matter of fact.'

'Crouch's kid? He's the only one I know of...' Realisation hit her like a troll's club. 'Damn it! I literally gave him the password that opened the office doors!' Suddenly restless, she began pacing back and forth.

Severus continued, 'Crouch was told to steal from all of the offices, but the theft was aimed at you, Longbottom, and Moody. Somewhere in your surveillance you've managed to come across some very damaging information on someone.'

'So have other Aurors', she pointed out.

'I know. Do the names Avery, Rosier, Wilkes, and Karkaroff mean anything to you?'

'Obviously. They're the Death Eaters we're tracking hardest right now. '

Severus glanced at the clock on the mantel. 'I must go pay a visit to Knockturn Alley. I'll be in touch if I hear anything else,' he said. He kissed her on the forehead and warned again, 'Please, Damara, be careful. If anything happened to you...' his throat constricted and he was unable to finish the sentence.

#############################################

They lay together, Lucius's head on Marius's shoulder, limbs still entwined.

'How goes the decoding work? Are you any closer to figuring it out?' Lucius asked sleepily.

'No, and I'm becoming increasingly worried. Our master is not the most patient of men, you know.'

Lucius placed a kiss on his brother's neck. 'Why don't you use Damara?'

'Mm. Do you think she's - ' he let out a small yelp of pleasure as Lucius hit a particularly sensitive spot, just behind his ear.

'Snape vouched for her.' Lucius broke off his ministrations to answer. 'I doubt seriously if he'd lie about something like that. He hates Gryffindors, remember? He'd take great pride in turning one of them to the Dark Lord's side. Especially as she's an Auror. And Moody's lap dog, to boot.'

Why not? Why not take Lucius's advice and use her knowledge? With a satisfied smile, he began kissing his brother.