Chapter 8

The sight of his now-clear forearm tore Severus away from his reverie. “I do believe,” he said slowly, “that you and I have just performed some very, very powerful magic indeed.”

He turned away from her coldly and walked to the sofa, grabbing his robe and wrapping it around him with haste. “I should not have done this. The Ministry’s notification will be here any minute. I will be punished.” He ran a hand through his hair with desperation.

“I don’t understand,” she replied, anguish in her voice. “This was my ritual, not yours.”

He spun at her, fury flashing in his eyes. “Did you not see the flames? Only my magic could have produced such an effect,” he scoffed. “So I have successfully performed magic in front of you, and therefore I have broken the Statute of Secrecy.” He put his hands to his face and rubbed his temples, breathing deeply.

“How will they know,” she asked quietly, snakes of dread knotted in her stomach, not really knowing who “they” were, or even what the Statute of Secrecy might be.

“They know. They always know.” Severus strode to the window and opened it, looking out for his impending owl.

“Will someone come?” she asked, and he detected the fear in her voice.

Snape struggled to keep calm, but his voice was icy. “They’ll send an owl. The punishment is mine and mine alone. You are, apparently, the innocent party in all this.” All that’ll happen to you is that you’ll be Obliviated, and then you can run along back to your normal life, he thought bitterly.

Sarah paused for a second. She was sure she’d heard him say an owl was coming, but that couldn’t be right. Unless it was an acronym for the wizard police, like Officers of Wizarding Law. Yes, that’s probably it, she thought. She stepped gingerly towards him. “I should not have asked this of you,” she said gently, wanting to touch him again but afraid of his dismissal.

His obsidian eyes fixed upon her. “No, you should not have,” he said in a low, menacing growl. “The ritual we just performed was not about death and rebirth, or the balance of nature, was it?”

Sarah flushed, looking down.

“The most powerful rite in Wicca, you said. I bet that effect had never been documented before. There was no mention of a cage of fire in your ”Book of Shadows”, was there?” His black eyes shone malevolently, and she shook her head imperceptibly, guilt washing over her with a tide of nausea.

“Because the rite we have just performed has somehow bound me to you, and you knew that would happen before you asked me, didn’t you?” He could barely contain the rage in his voice.

“No, it wasn’t like that – “ she began, but Severus cut her off.

“Well, why don’t you tell me what it was like, exactly. Performing love spells in the woods? Trying to ensnare the affections of the first man to cross your path?” he sneered venomously.

Sarah flushed again, her eyes widening in anger and surprise. “You’ve been spying on me! You - you evil, perverted – “

“And yet, magically binding someone without their consent is neither perverted nor evil, I presume?” he asked silkily, not denying her accusation. The steely look of cold fury in his eyes made her look away. She had no answer for this; he was totally right.

By the Goddess, it wasn’t supposed to turn out like this, she thought, feeling sick to her stomach. Why had Wicca shown him to me, if he is not my love? As a warning, perhaps? He’d been spying on me, he’d all but admitted it. How could I be so foolish? During the ritual, I thought I saw love in his eyes, but now all I see is hate. She gave a little sob.

Severus turned away from her again, breathing deeply. How was I supposed to know my magic would somehow activate her rite? It was supposed to be her ritual, her pathetic Muggle-magic, not mine, he thought ruefully. Wanton little harlot tricked me, bound me to her no less, coerced me into showing my magic and will in all probability now leave me ruined or exiled! And all that from a Muggle girl. A Death Eater would have been proud of causing that kind of carnage in a night’s work. How the hell am I going to reverse a ritual like that?

Severus began pacing up and down, his hand raking distractedly yet again through his damp, dark hair. “Where is it? Bloody owl should be here by now,” he snapped. “And don’t you want to put some clothes on, girl?” he roared.

He hadn’t meant for it to sound as harsh as it did, and he could see that she was hurt as she physically recoiled from his words with embarrassment as if stung, trying to cover up her body from him. He once again saw how young and vulnerable she was and, with great effort, quelled his anger.

“It wasn’t – I did not mean – “ Severus began, frustrated, trying to focus his thoughts on the immediate situation. He drew breath. “You must understand that this one act of magic could ruin my life. I’m now waiting for an owl to deliver my fate. I will at the very least be jailed. I may even be exiled. All because of your whimsical desire for love! In my world, we tend to take the notion of love and consent a little more seriously,” he said coldly.

To his great surprise, Sarah rounded on him. “In your world? What is this world? The world in where your magic is infinitely better than mine! I have been trying to give you answers to whatever ridiculous questions you have plagued me with all day, and all you come back with is anger and superiority! I gave you a chance to see my magic first hand, to give you more knowledge of Wicca, and I also gave you a chance to say no. I’m SORRY that the power of the Great Rite was such a surprise to you, and I’m SORRY you feel like taking all the credit for the magic it produced! I am a WITCH, sir, even if you think I am not!”

As she shouted the last line, several things happened at once. The window slammed, the altar candle pulsed bright red and the silver veil swept up off the floor, covering her naked body. In the echoing silence they gaped at each other for a moment with their mouths open.

“Your magic…” she started.

“No, your magic. I did not do this,” he said quietly.

“What? How?” Sarah looked at her hands as if she was seeing them for the first time.

Severus closed his eyes. This is why the Ministry owl has not come, he thought. What have I done?

“Sarah,” he started slowly, eyes opening wide with the realisation suddenly dawning, “I believe that the ritual was so powerful, that I have somehow transferred some of my power into you. And, from the look of my… tattoo disappearing, some of your power appears to have been transferred into me.”

Sarah looked scared. “Will the owls come for me too?” she asked, her voice trembling.

Severus let out a bark of a laugh. “No, the owl will not come for you. And I think it will not come for me either,” he added thoughtfully.

“I don’t understand,” she said and gazed at him imploringly.

He sighed. “There is much you do not understand. There is much I do not understand. Come; get dressed and we will start from the beginning. There is much to discuss; this will be a long night.”