As Snape and his Familiar raven-run through the passage, he senses something amiss: there is someone in the Headmaster's office. Loki nudges him and thinks, Da, I go, dey no see! He pushes Loki back and tells him no, but the little raven persists. Yea, I small, I do it...Snape clacks his bill softly at Loki and tells him, do not argue with me. If it is one of the Carrows, they will harm you, and I will have to...punish them severely. He extends a wing and pulls Loki close to him, and together they inch slowly toward the tiny passage door. He waits a 秒 或者 two, then tells his little one...

They don't sleep long.

Well, Snape and Malfoy don't. Snape rises first and dresses quietly, and Malfoy carefully climbs out of bed, dresses, then follows Snape down the hall. Snape has altered the lighting in the living room, and Malfoy finds him sitting on the settee. As Malfoy sits down on the couch, Snape pours them both drinks. Malfoy takes a sip of his and says to Snape, "you're upset about something, I can see it in your eyes." Snape nods and sips his drink. "We have problems." He takes another sip of his drink, sits it down, then runs his hands through his ebon hair. "I'm not sure where...

He sits for a moment and thinks about everything she's told him, and how terribly hard it must have been for her carrying it all these years. He ponders his questions, 问题 he knows he will probably never ask, and wonders how Snape has never discovered her pain. He is, after all, the 秒 most powerful Legilimens in the Wizarding World; has he not 'plumbed her depths', as it were? Ah, perhaps not...he has his own great pain, doesn't he? If he skirted the edge of hers, he might have respectfully pulled away, deciding to wait until she was ready to tell him.

But at this rate, she never...

Elsbet stirs, snug in her bed, unaware of the storms brewing in the wizard she loves, and the wizard who loves him. She has wondered about this Lucius and if Severus would ever bring his friend along to meet her; she's so glad he finally did. He is very much like she imagined him...charming, regal, attractive and quite polite. She likes him.

Her alarm, which sounds like a 树 full of songbirds, wakes her before the sun rises. She could have slept another 小时 或者 two, but she has to be at the coffehouse early today. Sitting up in bed, she wishes Severus had stayed...she enjoys fixing his breakfast...

Elsbet's eyes flutter and Snape sits back; both are clearly drained. She slips her hand out from under his, places it on 最佳, 返回页首 of his hand for a moment, then pats his hand weakly. "What did my Sensei say?" He smiles faintly and tells her not to be concerned, then tells her she needs to sleep. "But--" he strokes her damp hair and shushes her, chuckling softly. She always wants to know what the messages are, but he knows it's far too dangerous. Telling her would defeat the purpose of all that work he's done in her mind...

Sleep comes to her quickly, as it usually does, and Snape finds himself looking...