A Merciless Affection

Obligatory Disclaimer: I'm not doing this for the money. Because if I were, I wouldn't be doing it. That make sense? Also, there are lines of dialogue in this chapter that were taken from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Those are definitely not mine.

A/N: The next three chapters (this one and the two after) form a sort of sequence, so I'm going to try to get them all uploaded before I move (Saturday!). Mind you, they may not be posted that soon, but I'm trying.

As always, I wouldn't have nearly as much fun doing this without . And I couldn't manage it at all without Lady Whitehart and cecelle. Thanks, to you all!

In this chapter, we begin to see how Sarah's presence in Snape's life will start to change some of the events of HBP. Naturally, Snape's background is different, so there's no house in Spinner's End. But I think the difference in location is sufficiently unsubstantial to affect the basic course of history. Okay, maybe I'm deluded. But there it is. (I guess I do subscribe to Terry Pratchett's theory about the basic course of history--read Mort if you don't know what I mean. My favorite Discworld book.)

There's a couple of literary references, for those who like to catch such things.

Chapter 51: Now, How You've Repaid Me

"We could take him in," Cornelia Grimm said. But there was a hesitancy in her earnestness, and she was looking, not at Sarah, but at her husband, Jacob.

In the few days Sarah had spent in the rooms above Grimm's Grocery, she had become fond of Miriam's oldest daughter. Cornelia was an innately cheerful soul. Unlike her sister Flora, who had inherited their father's dour expression, if not entirely his gruff personality, Cornelia smiled readily and often. Even with the two of them side by side, one would be hard-pressed to tell that Flora was the younger. And Cornelia's enthusiasm with her little niece, Melanie, who was no more than two, was almost infectious. Even the somber Flora smiled occasionally as she watched them play.

So Sarah's heart rose at Cornelia's suggestion. True, Jacob was scarcely less grim--apt to his name--than Severus. But among the three families of his nearest relatives, the Grimms had been, almost from the first hour she had spent with them, her own most hopeful choice for Severian's guardians.

"But could you stand to give him up again?" Jacob glanced up from the Evening Prophet and adjusted his spectacles.

Cornelia's expression faltered. "We might have a child of our own by that time."

Sarah knew, from the potions she had seen in the household, that Cornelia was trying to conceive.

"An' if we don't?" His bushy eyebrows went up. "Besides, your sister's already feeding one. It'd be as easy for her to take on another."

"There are potions...." Cornelia protested.

Jacob folded his paper roughly and said, with a trace of sarcasm, "Right, there's always potions." He got up from his chair and was stalking toward the door when there came an unexpected knock.

Jacob's eyes went instantly to Sarah. Any sharp sound outside had been causing that reaction in her hosts, even in Jacob's parents, who looked at her with vague distaste every time she encountered them.

"Who is it?" Jacob demanded.

"Sam," answered a small voice on the other side. He was the Grimms' shop boy. "I gots a note fer yer missus' cousin."

Miriam had made Sarah over carefully before leading her out of the flat the other morning, with a change of clothing and hairstyle. She was no longer Severus Snape's seedy mistress. Now she was the daughter of a cousin of Miriam's in Bristol, come down to London looking for work. 'Sarah Snaith' was a far more believable persona, both in education and manners, and the family connection meant that no one would think twice about her suddenly taking up with Miriam's nephew.

Jacob let the boy in, and he handed over a folded scrap of parchment before ducking out again.

"He's back!" Sarah said, unable to contain her joy as she perused the note. Her spirits fell a little as she took in the details of the ruse he had planned--an early tea at Miriam's tomorrow for their "first meeting." But as she finished reading, she blushed. He would remove the restrictions on his Floo connection at ten o'clock tonight.

Jacob took the note and studied it. "This'll please Mum and Dad. Though he don't say when you'll be moving back altogether."

"Jacob!" Cornelia chided, and took the note herself. "It'd look odd if she's seen moving in with him the first day they met. That'd bring her to Connor's attention right quick."

Jacob shrugged. "All the same. An' think on what other attention we'd be getting if we take in his son."

"This is my family we're talking about," Cornelia said testily, her lips forming an unaccustomed frown. "You'd do the same for yours."

Jacob sighed. "Right," he said, but this time he did not sound derisive...just weary.

* * *

"How did you get away so quickly?" Sarah asked, when Severus paused long enough in kissing her to lead her back into the bedroom. She had expected him to be away for a week at least.

"I had no reason to dawdle." He smirked.

Sarah doubted that he ever dawdled, except for brief moments with her.

"The headmaster urged everyone to finish up their school responsibilities quickly this year."

Whether or not there was anything of significance in that fact, neither of them gave the matter any thought in the dizzy enjoyment of their increasingly improvised lovemaking.

* * *

With Severus back, even the danger from Connor seemed to recede a little. The man had--to Sarah's considerable distress when she learned of it--attempted to break into the empty flat. But having expected exactly that, Severus had left some rather nasty spell traps in place inside the cunningly weakened wards. Now, rumor had it, after nursing his injuries for a day or two in his filthy room at The Mermaid's Tail, and with no indication of when his enemy was expected to return, Connor had retreated back to Manchester. Leaving Severus to carry on a distressingly sedate courtship with his aunt's cousin by day and a still-secret affair with his wife by night.

But before the week was out, their peace was shattered again--not by Connor, but by a ghost phoenix lighting up their darkened bedroom. With a flick of his wand, Severus gained access to the message it carried.

"What is it?" Sarah cried, as Severus leaped out of bed, throwing on his robes in desperate haste.

"The headmaster is injured. Go back to the Grimms." And with no more instruction than that, he left the flat, the pop of his Disapparition just outside the door causing it to rattle on its hinges.

It was not until two days later that Sarah learned what that summons had portended.

* * *

It was a long two days. The reports of Death Eater activity in the Daily Prophet became increasingly alarming. The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, had been killed in her own home, the Dark Mark left floating ominously above the house, a mocking warning that the Dark Lord's servants were above any law the Ministry could make. And there were other murders, and disappearances too. Ministry Obliviators were frantically trying to cover up all the magical activity, to prevent the Muggles' finding out, and Ministry owls were showering educational leaflets down on the wizarding populace (although not, Jacob Grimm remarked in disgust, in Knockturn Alley), but there was no doubt that the situation was out of control.

The Ministry had managed to secure Azkaban after the defection of the dementors, but now it appeared that those horrible creatures were roaming through Britain--breeding, said the Prophet's experts on the subject. Cornelius Fudge was daily vilified by the same reporters who had danced to the Ministry's tune all last year. It was almost certain that he would be hounded out of office.

It was--according to the elder Mr. Grimm--as if the Dark Lord had never left.

The reaction in Knockturn Alley was difficult to gauge. Certainly, the panic that was being reported in the Prophet was not happening here. Instead there was a tenseness, even a hint of excitement. And while there was no open joy at all these troubles, it was not uncommon to hear sentiments such as "served 'em right, din' it" expressed without shame in conversations on the street. More than anything, it seemed as if none of it really mattered to the inhabitants of the Alley. Which, Sarah could not help concluding, was probably very close to the truth.

Until Severus returned, Sarah had been assuming that Dumbledore's injury had resulted from an attack like those reported in the papers. The truth was, in some ways, more disturbing.

"If he had told me what he was trying to do, I would have remained at Hogwarts to assist him," Severus snapped, pacing the little kitchen. "It's extremely hazardous to destroy a powerful Dark object."

What the object was, however, he would not say.

"It's enough for you to know that the headmaster was injured. Something the Dark Lord will no doubt find encouraging."

"Is Professor Dumbledore going to be all right?"

"To put it bluntly...probably not." He passed a hand across his brow. "I was able to prevent the damage from spreading, but he has been weakened by it. Any further encounters with Dark magic may set the curse working again."

"He can't...just avoid...?" It was terrible to think of Dumbledore, a wizard powerful enough that even the Dark Lord feared him, being disabled like that.

"I have warned him," Severus said. "But doubtless he will do as he sees fit."

"But this is terrible!" Sarah said, curling fearfully around her unborn child. "How can we hope to win without Professor Dumbledore fighting for us?"

"I have warned you as well, Sarah!" The harsh expression he had worn while he spoke of Dumbledore's injury was now turned upon her. "You must be prepared for the possibility that we will not win. It is only by very good fortune that the Dark Lord did not call you before him when he agreed to permit you to continue as my protégée. You cannot hope that you will never encounter him again. If you were summoned at this moment, you could not possibly--"

"I know!" she snapped back, resentful of the betraying tears that streamed down her cheeks. "It's been too long. I can't do it at a moment's notice." She fought to school her face into the proper mask, to fill her eyes with the necessary emotions, while her true self retreated into the depths. She looked up at Severus. She knew her expression was imperfect, but he would not find fault in her eyes. "There," she said. "There, damn you."

He did not bother to probe her gaze. Instead he dropped down on the bed beside her and took her abruptly into his arms.

"I wish they would all go away," she whispered fiercely against his chest.

Severus said nothing. There was, after all, nothing reasonable to say.

* * *

Their open courtship soon reached a point where they were able to spend large portions of the day together. And since there were few public courting spots in Knockturn Alley, inevitably she ended up in his rooms.

As pleasant as it would have been to spend that time in bed together, it was impractical for a number of reasons. One was the thinness of the walls--there was enough casual interest in Professor Snape's new girlfriend that rumors that he was already bedding her would have run rampant from the tongues of the building's other occupants. Another was the fact that she was, from the perspective of both sides, officially his apprentice, and her education in the subject of Potions had been badly neglected for the past month.

Consequently, they spent their "courting time" studying. Severus had filled one of his trunks with books and journals, and Sarah--unable to handle many of the ingredients called for in the Dark potions--pored over them while Severus paced or brewed.

She also spent far more time than she would have liked bent over the sink, heaving. Her stomach, squashed up against her ribs, was ridiculously sensitive, and the potions they were studying required terrible ingredients and sometimes equally terrible procedures. She knew The Collection and Preparation of Human Ingredients from cover to cover now, but at the cost of both peace of mind and peace of digestion.

The fact that it was only her present condition that prevented her from having to make these potions herself was reason enough to wish that she could keep Severian safely in her womb permanently, whatever the discomfort.

Their nights, however, continued in study of a more pleasant nature, although they had reached a point where desperate desire had given way more practical realities. As often as not, they were content merely to sleep curled together, Severus's hand balanced protectively over his son.

* * *

It was on such a night, just as she was drifting off, that Sarah was reawakened by a horribly familiar voice on the street outside. There had been sounds of women quarrelling, but that was hardly anything unusual, and she had been too sleepy to go to the window to observe the fight. But now, with dreadful clarity, a woman said, "This is a bawdy house! Cissy, you cannot possibly..."

That voice was unforgettable--it had featured far too often in Sarah's nightmares.

"Bella!" Sarah hissed, struggling to sit up. All the threats the woman had made came rushing back to her memory, and she felt for her wand.

But Severus was already up, throwing on his robes over his nightshirt. "Why should Narcissa come here?" he whispered, troubled. "Bellatrix I understand, but...."

He slipped out into the kitchen. Sarah came to the bedroom door. There were footsteps--more than one person--on the stairs, and the low squabbling of women's voices. Narcissa Malfoy, she remembered, was Bella's sister, as well as Draco's mother. Severus lit the lamps with a wave of his wand.

There was a knock at the outer door.

With a quick signal to Sarah to shut the bedroom door--she was, she realized, without her illusion belt--Severus lowered the wards and reached for the handle. Sarah pushed the bedroom door closed and slumped against it, her ear pressed to the wood.

"Bellatrix," Severus said. "I might have known you would call on me before long. But I hardly imagined you would bring your sister here, of all places."

"Severus!" said the other woman's voice, low and desperate. "Please, may I come in?"

"Of course, Narcissa." There was a brief and uncomfortable pause, and Sarah guessed from the footsteps that Bella had come in as well, a supposition confirmed a moment later when Severus said, with mild disdain, "And you as well."

"Are we alone?" Narcissa asked in a whisper.

"Of course he's not alone," Bella said mockingly. "Come out, Sarah!"

Before Sarah could even think what to do, let alone get off a spell, purposeful footsteps strode across the floor, and the door was pushed open with force. She slid painfully over the floorboards, unable to get up or get out of the way in time. Severus was already threatening, "Bellatrix!" But Bella knocked Sarah's wand from her hand before she could use it, then grabbed the girl by the hair and hauled her to her feet. Sarah cried out in pain.

"Don't - touch - my - wife!" Severus said. He had his wand pointed at the dark-haired woman, and a furious expression on his face.

Sarah did not know if his words had been intentional, or whether they had merely slipped out, but she gasped as Bella let her go and stepped away. She leaned against the doorframe, trying to remain upright, her scalp throbbing.

"Wife, is it?" Bella asked. She had drawn her wand faster than an eye blink, threatening him with it. But now she turned both eyes and wand upon Sarah, who was protectively covering her tender head with one hand. "So, girl, you've decided not to keep your agreement."

The ice in the woman's voice set the girl trembling all the worse. She was not certain that Severus could stop Bella in time if the woman chose to fire off a deadly curse.

"Bella, no!" A slender woman with long, pale hair--Narcissa Malfoy, it appeared--stepped forward, her own wand drawn. "Severus, I didn't want her to come with me..." Then, as she got a good look at Sarah for the first time, she stated the obvious in a shocked tone. "She's pregnant!"

"The Dark Lord has already decided to entrust me with her training, Bellatrix," Severus said, ignoring Narcissa for the moment. "Or do you intend to challenge his orders?"

"You lie!" Bella's face, as her disbelief slowly faded, showed what a blow this information was to her. "You...you've used the...this situation to your advantage!"

"I assume you refer to the fiasco at the Ministry?" Severus said silkily. "Yes, I used your foolish failure to my advantage, Bellatrix. You would have done the same."

"You were not there!" Bella protested heatedly. "But then, you are always absent while the rest of us run the real dangers, are you not, Snape?"

"That's not fair!" Sarah said, fear and anger stiffening her spine. While they had been arguing, Sarah had spied her wand lying on the floor, but Bella's demeanor suggested it would be unwise to reach for it just yet. "You think it's easy to pretend to Dumbledore?!"

"If it is a pretense," Bella scoffed. "I warned you before: there is no reason to trust his loyalty!"

"Then you believe the Dark Lord himself is mistaken in me?" Severus asked. "You really think I could deceive him, Bellatrix? The most accomplished Legilimens the world has ever known?"

Bella's expression faltered.

"And I told you before," Sarah said, with as much coldness as she could muster. She bent with deliberate and obvious care to retrieve her wand, not taking her eyes from Bella's any longer than necessary. "If I ever see a hint of his disloyalty, I will kill him myself."

Bella snorted, although she glanced at Sarah's wand hand uneasily. "Your lover? Your...husband--did I hear correctly, Snape? Yes, Narcissa," she turned to her sister, "the girl is pregnant--until a few weeks ago she was his student! Do you trust him now?"

"I have no choice!" Narcissa said, in tears. "Lucius is in jail. No one else can be there to help Draco--"

"Narcissa!" Bella hissed. "The Dark Lord himself told you not to speak of the plan to anyone!"

"If the Dark Lord has forbidden you to speak of it," Severus said quickly, "you must obey him."

Narcissa gasped, in audible desperation.

"There, you see!" Bella said triumphantly. "Even Snape agrees!"

Sarah dared take the first free breath she had drawn since the two woman had arrived. Whatever Narcissa wanted, she would not even be permitted to ask for it. They would leave. And then the only thing they would have to fear was Bella's desire for retribution...which might still be held in check by her fear of the Dark Lord. Sarah shot a glance at Severus. What she saw there made all her relief evaporate in an instant.

He turned away purposefully, moving around the flat. He had reestablished the wards as soon as the women had entered, but now he brandished his wand at each of the walls, the ceiling and the floor, murmuring, "Munio silencio!"

"What are you doing, Snape?" Bella asked suspiciously.

"Perhaps we can all be a little more...civil?" he said smoothly. "As followers of the same cause?" In a pointed gesture, he put his wand away, indicating that the others should follow suit. When even Bella, glaring furiously at him, had done so, he went on, "It so happens that I already know of this plan. Do you think that the Dark Lord would hide this from his spies inside Hogwarts?" He inclined his head vaguely in Sarah's direction. "But if we had not known, you realize, Narcissa, you would have been guilty of the greatest treachery to the Dark Lord."

Sarah heart beat a frantic staccato. She knew of no plans that involved Draco--not the Dark Lord's plans, at least--despite the fact that Severus was usually more open with her these days about such information. Regardless, it was logical to assume that if this plan involved Draco, and if Narcissa had approached Severus for help, it had something to do with Hogwarts. But if the Dark Lord had not told him, if he were only pretending now, fishing for information.... Doubtless it was a risk he had taken successfully before, but she had never had to stand by watching it.

Narcissa had started slightly at his accusation, but now she said, with a triumphant glance at her sister, "I thought you must have known about it!"

Bella's returning look was contemptuous.

Severus pointedly ignored the female Death Eater. "What is it you wish to ask of me, Narcissa? I fear that Draco is less willing to accept my help than he once was."

"He is my only son!" Narcissa pleaded, tears flowing vigorously from her eyes. "He is still a child!"

"The boy is not shrinking from his task," Bella said. "He seems eager to prove himself. He is sixteen years old, not an infant! Your weakness shames us all!"

"I am his mother!" Narcissa snapped at her sister. "I cannot help...." She turned back to Severus, as if more hopeful of sympathy there. "Why did the Dark Lord choose my son for this task? If it was to punish Lucius...."

"Narcissa, if you are imagining that I can persuade the Dark Lord to change his mind...."

The woman burst out sobbing. As ridiculous as she was making herself, Sarah could not help feeling a twinge of sympathy for her. If it were Severian who had been assigned whatever task Draco had been given.... She exchanged glances again with Severus. He frowned.

"If Draco succeeds," Severus said soothingly, "he will be rewarded; he may even redeem his father--"

"But he won't succeed!" wailed Narcissa. "Even the Dark Lord himself--"

Sarah's breath caught. Does the Dark Lord intend for Draco to kill Harry Potter?

"Cissy!" Bella hissed.

"I only meant that...that no one has ever succeeded. He's only a boy, Severus! How can he possibly...surely the Dark Lord intends for him to be killed trying!"

No doubt, Sarah thought ruefully, he intended that very thing. But could it possibly be Potter that Narcissa meant? Surely one boy had a greater-than-even chance to kill another, if he were trying to do so in secret instead of in an open duel. And the only person who had ever tried to kill Potter before was the Dark Lord....

When Severus did not immediately respond, Narcissa's whimpering went up a note. "Please, Severus! You have always been Draco's favorite teacher. And Lucius's friend."

How little had Lucius told his wife about either the true nature of that friendship or the recent strain upon it?

"Please, I beg of you--!"

Severus cut Narcissa off firmly. "The Dark Lord will not change his mind, and I am not stupid enough to try to persuade him."

Particularly, Sarah thought, if Severus is not supposed to know about this at all. But if that really were so...if the Dark Lord had indeed failed to inform his spy of a plan involving Hogwarts.... A chill began creeping up from her bare toes.

"Surely, Narcissa, you realize precisely how angry with Lucius the Dark Lord is?" In spite of the woman's increasingly strident weeping, he went on, "Your husband was supposed to be in charge that night. And instead of retrieving the prophecy, he permitted himself to be captured, and many others with him. The Dark Lord was forced to enter the Ministry himself, revealing his return before he was ready to do so. No one," Severus shot a disdainful look at Bella, "dares speak for Lucius...or for his son."

Bella's lips had formed a snarl, but it faded quickly as Narcissa turned her reddened and reproachful eyes upon her sister. Despite Bella's bold words earlier, her distress at her inability to protect her nephew was, just for a moment, etched clearly on her face.

"If I had a son," Bella said haughtily, "I would not hesitate, I would not ask--"

"It's true," Narcissa said, lowering her head, clutching at her hair. "I dared not--" she made a low moan-- "I dared not say...anything in his presence."

"You were wise." Severus shook his head. "There is nothing I can do, Narcissa."

"But Draco will be killed!"

Severus did not answer. His face was set in an expression that Sarah recognized as the one meant to hide any pity he might be feeling.

Narcissa's eyes, now roving in wild desperation of any help, lighted upon the pregnant girl standing in the bedroom doorway. She drew two long, shuddering breaths, and then suddenly she threw herself to her knees. "Please, Severus! If he were your child, your son...!" With her long, blonde hair flowing back and her hands clenched together before her, her face streaked with tears, Narcissa Malfoy seemed the very picture of a grieving Madonna. "Please, I'll do anything!"

"You abase yourself, Narcissa!" Bella lunged to her sister's elbow and tried to force her to stand. "Groveling before--"

"Let me alone, Bella!" Narcissa shook off her grip.

Severus had turned away, as if ashamed of the woman's behavior himself, but Sarah could see, as the two women could not, the trace of a smirk on his lips before he mastered himself. Is he so pleased, she wondered with a sinking heart, to have a highborn woman groveling at his feet? But a moment later he caught her eye. There was concern in his dark gaze, and her hand followed the brief flicker of his glance to touch the curve of her stomach.

"It might be possible," he said, turning, "for me to help Draco." He extended a hand to help Narcissa rise. But she caught hold of it tightly, as if she never meant to let go.

"Of course!" she gasped. "You could do it! Oh, Severus, you could do it instead of Draco!"

"I said help, Narcissa!" His face was hard again. "Do you suppose the Dark Lord would hold your son blameless if I had to act in his place?"

"But you'll help him?" Narcissa's eyes were wide and shining with hope, and she got to her feet, still clinging to him earnestly. The woman's fawning adoration sent an unaccustomed stab of jealousy through Sarah's gut.

"If Draco permits it," Severus cautioned.

"No!" Narcissa begged. "He doesn't know, he hasn't any idea how dangerous this is!"

"I will do my best to protect him." Severus extricated his hand from her grasp. "More than that I cannot promise."

"No, of course not!" Bella scoffed. "Fine words and clever evasions. Just as he uses with the Dark Lord. Just as he uses with all of us."

Narcissa's eyes widened. "You must promise me, Severus! Otherwise I shall go mad with fear!"

Severus seemed to hesitate for a moment, then he let his expression thaw slightly. "I promise you: I will protect Draco to the best of my ability, Narcissa. But you must warn him not to resist my help."

Sarah had been anxiously wondering, as both women failed time and again to speak clearly about Draco's secret task, how Severus meant to discover the truth behind it. She felt almost certain now that he did not know, because he had spoken even less openly of it than they did. But she suddenly realized the gambit he had just played, in agreeing to watch over Draco. Draco knew of the task, and if Severus was to help him.... Of course--the thought came with a cold chill--he might well be placing himself in a position where he would actually have to help Draco complete the task...or fall under suspicion. And if he was not supposed to know about the task to begin with.... Sarah's mind whirled with all the grim possibilities. Had he gotten in over his head?

"Will you...will you swear an Unbreakable Vow to protect him? To help him?" Narcissa asked, her eyes eager with her need to press for more. "I cannot endure this without feeling sure...."

Bella's demeanor, which had become almost bored in her disgust, shifted so suddenly that everyone was aware of it. She had scented prey--it was in every line of her. "An Unbreakable Vow?" she sneered. "Prove his devotion to our cause?" She laughed her horrible laugh. "Now you will see, Sarah, where his loyalties really lie!"

"I WILL NOT!" Sarah shouted. Panic at the possible outcome of this turn in the conversation wracked her so violently that it was testimony to the strength of his training that she was able to maintain her proper projection of self at all. "I will not permit my husband to bind himself to any other woman with any sort of vow! Least of all one that.... YOU!" She pointed a trembling finger at Bella. "How do I know you have not put your sister up to this? How do I know you have not agreed together to word such a Vow in such a way that you can twist it to his death?"

Bella's face paled of its triumphant flush, and her voice became defensive again. "Narcissa is not capable of such pretenses."

"And you!" Sarah rounded on Narcissa Malfoy. She was tempted to slap the woman's face; only the tear streaks restrained her. "How dare you ask such an indecent thing? If you do not trust Severus to keep his word, then why come here at all?"

"Sarah..." he said warningly, behind her. The note in his voice hinted that she might have cost him the chance to obtain vital information. But she did not care. An Unbreakable Vow meant death to the one who swore it, if he did not fulfill its terms. No one could ask such a thing without making it clear that they valued the deed above the other's very life. However innocent Narcissa's intentions might have been in trying to save her son, she had gone too far....

"I will make sure Draco fulfills his task!" Sarah said. "Even if he dies doing it!"

Narcissa's sudden, sharp keening was muffled only slightly when she lowered her face into her hands.

"Bellatrix," Severus said sharply, "get your sister out of here. Now!" He drew his wand and gestured at the door. It flew open, the wards dropping.

Bella's face was etched with hatred, although it was not clear that all of it was directed at the pair opposite her. She urged her weeping and now unresisting sister to the door. But she turned at the threshold for a parting shot:

"I'm not finished with you. Either of you!" she snarled.

Severus raised his wand and slammed the door in her face.

A/N: If anyone is interested in my thought processes as I was rethinking the events of "Spinner's End," here are the assumptions I made:

1. On account of Sarah, Bella has developed a much more personal grudge against Snape. She's more interested in seeing him fall because he's interfered with her than because she doesn't trust his loyalty to Voldie.

2. Although Bella still doesn't trust Snape, she has developed some doubts in her "Snape is a traitor" theory. Bella, like Voldie, trusts Sarah's loyalty to their cause completely. Despite Bella's attempts to brush off Sarah's trust in Snape as a foolish fondness for her lover, Sarah's unquestioned loyalty to Voldie makes it a little harder for Bella to accuse Snape convincingly.

3. Because Sarah has, in some ways, improved his position with Voldie, Severus is less worried about Bella's accusations than I believe he was in the original "Spinner's End."