55

What happened to you?" Harry asked as he came through the door, as small grimace on his face. Chancing a glance in the mirror, Snape saw a swollen, purple eye and a red gash marring his forehead. He remembered that he had not bothered to fix his injuries after his encounter with Miss Potter the previous evening.

"Your sister did not take my visit very well." Snape offered by means of a response.

"If truth be told," Hermione Granger's voice came from behind him, "I'm surprised you came back in one piece."

"And I'm surprised you came back at all." Ron followed Hermione in. "I knew it was too much to hope." he sighed, sitting down next to Harry.

"As I was saying," Snape continued tersely, "your sister did not take my visit well. Are you satisfied?" Sirius and Lupin came in the room and joined the trio at the table.

"Glad to see she's still on form then, Snivellus." Sirius sneered as he caught sight of Snape's eye. "I still can't believe you let him do this." He said, turning to Harry.

"We had to know, Sirius." Lupin told his friend in a sombre voice.

"Then why not ask her?" Sirius said as if it was the most obvious thing to do, his temper rising slightly. "That would have saved her the mental scarring of having your ex-Professor, the greasy bat of the dungeons, coming on to her."

"Do you think for one moment, Black, that she would have told you anything had you asked her outright?" Snape spat, his dislike for Sirius plain on his face. "She concealed this from Harry, from you, from her friends, from her teachers and from Dumbledore. She is very capable of lying and is a more skilled Occlumens then we give her credit. How else do you think she could hide a secret like that when the most accomplished Legilimens is your Headmaster?" he sneered.

"She hid it because she was afraid." Sirius growled, his anger threatening to boil over.

"I hate to have to join the dots for you, Black, but Lucius Malfoy was doing more than looking at her when she managed to find out that little part of the Dark Lord's plan." His thin lips curved into a cruel smile, before transforming into a grimace as Sirius lunged across the table at him. He was sure he would have had a second black eye and even more substantial damage had Harry and Lupin not been holding him back.

"Just tell us what happened." Lupin said calmly.

"I went to Malfoy Manor last night, like you asked, on the pretence of doing some research. I provoked her, as you asked, to see where her loyalties lie." He tried to put what he had done as delicately as possible. "As a result, I ended up becoming very intimate with a very large, very solid dresser."

"So what did you find out then?" Harry asked. "In all probability, she could have reacted like that with anyone who repulses her, it doesn't mean anything."

"I assure you, it does." Snape replied ominously. "She does believe that he cares for her and, at this point, I'm not inclined to argue."

"He's Lucius Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed. "He doesn't care about anyone but himself!"

"Things are not always as they seem, Miss Granger. I thought you of all people would have realised that long ago." He told her in a curt voice; very much the Professor they all loathed but could not help respect.

"What makes you think different then?" Sirius asked incredulously. "Do enlighten us Snivellus." He drawled.

"If you paid attention, you will have noticed that she has acquired certain things that only the richest can afford. Namely jewellery."

"She could have bought those herself; she's richer than you think you know." Harry countered.

"I wager she probably could, but I would be disposed to say that they came from a far richer pocket."

"Fine, so what makes them so special then?" Harry demanded; his arms folded.

"The one she was wearing last night." Snape explained. "I've seen it before. Narcissa had it very early in her marriage; a gift on her twentieth birthday, just after her marriage in fact."

"What's your point?" Sirius asked, obviously exasperated at having to listen to Snape.

"The necklace is a family heirloom, passed down to the Malfoy women on their twentieth birthday." Snape explained. "He must have sent it to her."

"But she didn't get any unexpected parcels." Hermione said logically.

"Do you think she would have opened it in front of you?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow at Hermione.

"But she isn't even a Malfoy!" Ron pointed out. "What's the point of passing something like that on if it isn't to someone in your own family?"

"Can't you see Weasley? He's marking her as a Malfoy, as something that belongs to him. Although I do think that he has too much respect for her to even consider her as a possession."

"How do you know all this from just seeing how she reacted to your advances?" Lupin asked curiously, peering at Snape with his pale blue eyes.

"I have visited Lucius in Azkaban twice since he was arrested." Snape admitted. "I believe that he trusts no one else."

"And what has he told you?" Harry asked, very interested.

"He has spoken of your sister." Snape said, being careful not to give away too much. "He said that she is a beautiful, intelligent and remarkable young woman."

"Oh please," Hermione snorted, "that's all for show."

"You would think so," Snape agreed, "but I have seen different."

"Explain."

"Did you know she's tamed a unicorn?" Snape asked nonchalantly, pretending to be disinterested.

"Impossible, no one has ever tamed them." Ron retorted in disbelief. "Hagrid taught us all about them; they won't even go near humans."

"I saw it Mr Weasley, and to prove it, I can show you this." He held out the bottle with the silvery thought glistening inside of it. "You do have a Pensieve in this house, I presume." Sirius nodded and took them upstairs to the dusty cabinet where he kept his family's Pensieve. Snape poured the contents into the bowl and, with a few prods of his wand, the surface cleared and they looked into the misty depths. Sure enough, galloping beneath them was Kathryn perched on the back of a gleaming white unicorn.

"How?" Hermione mouthed as they gaped at the memory they watched.

"I don't believe anyone will be able to answer that." Lupin said quietly as they stowed the pensieve away.

"My point is," Snape went on, "you should not underestimate her. If she has the determination to tame a unicorn, then she has the determination to see this through to the very end."

"We will bear that in mind, Severus, thank you." Lupin nodded.

"If you'll excuse me, I have things to do." Snape swept his cloak about him and, with a curt nod, disapparated.

He reappeared miles away, on the north coast of Scotland; looking out at a dark, dismal island surrounded by ferocious seas. He tugged his cloak tighter about his body for, even though it was the height of summer, the warmth and sunlight never toughed this place. It was forever cold, bleak and lifeless. He shuddered as he caught sight of one of the eerie floating guards that patrolled the fortress island. It was inaccessible by Portkey, apparition or Floo and the only way across the perilous strait was in a rickety Muggle boat. He boarded and tried his best to make himself comfortable on what promised to be an uncomfortable ride. The ageing hull stank of seaweed and there was not a pane of glass intact; causing the wind to whip painfully through at every opportunity.

The entire island was rocky and barren. Nothing could survive in such hopeless conditions; even the few wizard staff operated very short shifts so as not to be exposed to the dismal place longer than they could cope. Trying desperately to stay warm, Snape announced himself to the wizard at the entrance and was swiftly led into a small, windowless, sparsely furnished room. He waited, sitting uncomfortably in the rickety wooden chair that was provided, until he heard voices outside the room.

The man he had come to see entered, although Snape would have confessed that he looked quite different to normal. His perfect mane of blond hair was matted in places and held loosely back with what looked like a shoelace. He was dressed in plain black robes, the deal Miss Potter had made with the ministry obviously affording him slightly more substantial robes than the other prisoners, and a thin beard was beginning to appear. He looked thinner that normal and his demeanour, while still arrogant and elitist, seemed weaker. His eyes, cold and grey as they had always been, seemed to be the only part of him left unchanged.

"Severus, you're looking well." He greeted Snape with a shake of his hand.

"I wish I could say the same for you, Lucius." Snape replied with a wry smile. "But you are still sane, which has to be a bonus."

"Yes, I suppose my sanity is something worth having. Although a good nights sleep in a comfortable bed would not go amiss." He took the seat opposite Snape. "So, I must confess I have waited longer for your return than I thought I would. Did you finally pluck up the nerve to do as I asked?"

"It was not a question of having the nerve," he said through gritted teeth, "it was merely waiting for the opportune moment."

"The opportune moment took two weeks to arrive?"

"Yes. Potter asked me to do the exact same thing."

"Potter asked you to do that?" Lucius asked interestedly.

"They're afraid of where her loyalties lie."

"And where exactly is that, old friend?"

"I will show you." Snape withdrew his wand and, in seconds, had invaded Lucius' mind. He noted how, despite weakened by the Dementors, he worked hard to keep his mental walls up against invasion. Snape did not bother trying to break them down, not caring for what was behind, and simply showed him what had happened the previous day. Lucius' mouth curved into a smile as he watched her lash out at Snape and he swelled with pride as she refuted his claims. Once the vision was over, Snape withdrew from his mind and waited for him to speak.

"I do hope that cabinet isn't too damaged." He said with a smirk. "Although I didn't expect you to come back alive."

"I think I am lucky that she has agreed to stay in that house or I suspect I would've had to go into hiding." Snape admitted. "Have you seen Friday's copy of the Prophet?" Snape asked, steering the conversation elsewhere.

"Ah yes," Lucius smirked again, "her little trip to Gringotts."

"You see what she's doing of course?"

"Of course."

"She's trying to put pressure on Fudge to give a trial date." Snape almost whispered. "I do believe that she's grown tired of waiting."

"She appeared in public dressed in the finest clothes, travelling in my car and carrying my cane." Lucius reeled off. "The wizarding public doesn't want her to have such privilege when they believed she betrayed them. The public outcry will be huge, the vicious editorials will resume and Fudge will be forced to announce a date before he is forced out of office again."

"A very cunning scheme for a Gryffindor." Snape was definitely impressed by her shrewd tactics. "There must be a drop or two of Slytherin blood in there somewhere."

"You forget who she learned from."

"True, although, you're not doing too well at the moment." Snape commented dryly.

"At least I don't have to suffer Fudge badgering me constantly." Lucius retorted.

"Touché." There was a small knock on the door, indicating that Snape's time was up.

"One more thing." Lucius said as Snape stood.

"Yes?"

"You watched over Draco whilst he was at school, now watch over her." Lucius asked.

"I don't think she would like to be anywhere near me and I could give you a list of curses as long as my arm that she will use the next time she sees me." Snape gingerly touched his swollen eye. "And I do not wish to look like this all the time."

"I'm not asking you to stand vigil at the manor gates." Lucius said tersely. "I merely want you to make sure that she is alright, even if it is through her brother. Please."

"Very well." Snape gave in. "But I blame you if I end up in St Mungo's." He was about to leave, but he decided to ask the blond man one more thing.

"If you speak with her, apologise for me. My actions and words were deplorable." He shook hands with Lucius once more before sweeping out of the room and heading for the ramshackle boat that was bashing off the rocks.