Chapter 13

Severus stalked with purpose back to his cottage. No sooner had he strode back into his cottage at Spinner's End, he then Apparated straight away into the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest and made his way swiftly up to the Headmistress's office. Minerva McGonagall was headmistress of Hogwarts, and he thought she was more than deserving of the position. Once he'd fully recovered from his war injuries, the staff had tried to cajole him into resuming the role of headmaster as gratitude for all he'd done, but he had no intentions of reprising his stint; it had been a necessary position at the crux of his job as spy, but he had no ambitions for it himself, and he knew Minerva would be much better suited for the long term, being both older and more experienced in the day to day running of the school. He'd also declined the Order of Merlin, First Class, that the Ministry wanted to award him. "You can give it to me when I'm dead," he'd spat at a bemused-looking Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new Prime Minister, when told of the honour.

He'd only agreed to return to Hogwarts on two conditions: firstly, that he could be deputy head, and secondly, that he could continue to fill the position of the (no longer cursed) Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Minerva had noted sagely that if anyone was qualified to take the role, it was him, as the bravest and longest-suffering survivor of the war, and had made him blush when she all but knocked him over with a hug so fierce he thought she would snap him in two.

He made his way up the spiral staircase and entered the room without knocking. It would be empty; Minerva undoubtedly would be off on a well-deserved summer break, and it was very late. The only people who tended to inhabit Hogwarts in the summer months were Filch, Hagrid and the ghosts. The glow of the waxing moon shone through the windows and reflected off the large mahogany desk in the darkness. He waved his wand and lit the lamps on the wall. He noticed that all of the portraits were fast asleep, some snoring and wheezing gently, one of which looked particularly restful and content – the portrait he'd come to see, the portrait of Albus Dumbledore. He cast a Muffliato charm so he could speak without the other portraits overhearing as he stood in front of the painting.

"Albus," he muttered.

The man in the portrait continued to snooze, his rasping breath making his great white beard undulate. His half-moon spectacles had slipped right to the very edge of his Roman nose, balancing precariously.

"Albus!" he hissed, and the man in the painting awoke with a snort, blinking in confusion and pushing his glasses back up his nose with one hand, looking for the source of the interruption of his sleep. As soon as his eyes fell on Severus, his face crinkled into a smile of recognition.

"Severus, my dear friend! What brings you here so late? Shouldn't you be topping up your tan somewhere?" he asked ironically and smiled sleepily at the dark man. "If it's Minerva you're after, I'm afraid she's in Norway fishing for Giant Freshwater Plimpies –"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Albus. I need to ask your advice." He looked pensive and anxious, which automatically shook any traces of slumber away from Albus' demeanour.

"Ask away," he replied, eying him with concern as he sat in the headmistresses chair and took a deep breath.

"What do you know of Wicca?" he asked after a moment.

Albus raised his white, bushy eyebrows in surprise. Of all of the things he was expecting to hear from the mouth of Severus Snape, questions of Muggle-magic were as far down the list as the topic of the most notable Hufflepuffs in Quidditch history.

"Muggle-magic? Well, historically, it was intertwined with wizarding magic up until the middle ages."

Severus looked at him, mouth open. This was, apparently, news to him.

"In ancient times, Muggles and wizards would perform magic together, right up until the time of the medieval witch hunts," Albus continued. "As you know, that's what drove our kind into hiding and initiated the Statute of Secrecy. Alas, the Muggle practitioners used a different kind of magic so were unable to hide and suffered great losses as a consequence. From that point on, Muggle-magic and wizarding ability became totally separate branches of magic. I believe there is a residue left over in Wiccan practice from the association with wizardry still, such as the use of wands, brooms and cauldrons in their rituals." He smiled benignly at the dark man, whose face had now knotted into an expression of deep confusion.

"How do you know all this?" he asked, genuinely shocked. "I have found nothing about Wicca in the library, despite extensive research."

"I wouldn't expect you to have found any information there," Albus chuckled. "I only became aware of Wicca and its history through my time at the Wizengamot. Wicca is recognised as a branch of magic within wizarding law; however, it is the property of Muggles and as such completely separate. We can neither enforce nor control it, in accordance with the Statute of Secrecy."

Severus' eyes widened. Of course, that explains why the owls didn't come!

"I am rather curious, Severus. Why the sudden interest in Muggle-magic?"

Severus sighed. There was no point beating around the bush. "I was foolish enough to involve myself in a ridiculous Wiccan rite this evening."

If Albus' eyebrows reached any higher, they would have blended in with the thick mass of white hair at his forehead.

"Merlin's beard, Severus! You? Practicing Muggle-magic?"

Severus closed his eyes. He was going to have a field-day with this, wasn't he?

"As unlikely as it would seem that I would somehow get involved with this form of inferior magic, regrettably, that is what happened, and that's why I need your advice," he answered coldly.

Albus looked carefully at the man over his wire-framed glasses, blue eyes glittering. "Wiccan magic is not inferior, Severus. Just different."

Severus scowled.

"And what rite was it that you got involved with?" he continued, his fingers pressed together at the tips, a curious expression on his face.

Severus scowled even more.

"It's known as the Great Rite," he answered reluctantly. Albus stared at him blankly for a few moments and, to his chagrin, burst into peals of deep, bellowing laughter.

"I hardly see what's so funny," he snapped with annoyance.

Albus wiped his watering eyes with a finger, his chuckles subsiding. "Oh, that was a good one, Severus. I haven't had a laugh like that in years. Not since the Weasley twins created U-No-Poo." Severus stared up at him with a face like thunder. Albus faltered, his face falling.

"You're totally serious, aren't you?" he asked timidly. Severus nodded, glaring.

"Then it appears I need to offer you my sincere apologies," he answered politely, regaining his composure. "And who was the lucky Wiccan lady?"

"I will come to that in a moment," he said with irritation. "I trust you are aware of the Great Rite involves?"

Albus' eyes twinkled with merriment. "I believe it involves the balance of the male and female union," he inflected euphemistically.

Twinkly-eyed fucker is really enjoying this, isn't he? thought Severus savagely.

"That is correct," he replied through gritted teeth. "However, there appears to have been some... unexpected reactions from the rite, which you may be able to enlighten me on."

"Do go on," Albus encouraged, fingertips pressed together once more.

"At the... zenith of the rite, a cage of fire was invoked, which appears to have bound myself and the Wiccan." Albus could tell that they'd come to the heart of the matter, and this was what was really troubling Severus.

"Bound? In what way?" asked Albus, brow furrowing.

"Strong emotions of affection were conjured. The flames indicated to me that we are bound together irrevocably by these emotions, just like the flames when performing the Unbreakable Vow."

Albus began to laugh again, but this time in a gentle, sympathetic way.

"Dear boy, are you telling me you think the flames, and your 'strong emotions of affection', as you so delicately put it, were conjured by the rite itself?"

Severus nodded imperceptibly.

"You are judging the rite from a wizarding point of view. This is a Wiccan rite. The feelings of 'affection' you have described are what activated the flames of the ritual; as opposed to the ritual activating the feelings of 'affection'."

Severus looked thunderstruck. "What?" he bellowed in disbelief.

Albus smiled kindly. "That is to say, you and your Wiccan lady must have had feelings for each other before you enacted the rite, in order for the cage of fire to be produced. I can only offer my congratulations, Severus. It's about time you found some happiness."

"This cannot be... She could not... She does not even know me," Severus started, slumping forwards onto the desk and resting his forehead on his hands.

Albus looked sternly at his friend. "Severus, is it really so hard to imagine a woman could have genuine feelings for you?"

"She knows nothing of me, Albus. I have done unspeakable things. I was a Death Eater," he said quietly.

"It matters not what you were, but what you are now. Yes, you can be cantankerous, obstinate, rude and downright unpleasant. But you are a good person, Severus, if not a particularly nice one at times. You have proved that a thousand times over during the war. And good people deserve love in spades. If you have any sense at all, you will seize this opportunity for happiness and stop trying to ambush it with your unfounded and ridiculous bouts of self-loathing!"

Severus scowled up at the man. He really does know me so well, he thought.

"It's not that simple," he muttered dully.

"What could be simpler than two people in love?" Albus countered.

Severus sighed. "There was another reaction from the rite."

Albus stared at him keenly, waiting for him to continue.

"The rite... transferred some of my wizarding magic into her whilst simultaneously removing the Dark Mark."

Now it was Dumbledore's turn to look shocked as Severus rolled up his sleeve and walked towards the painting, holding out his forearm for the portrait to see.

"Exceptional," Dumbledore breathed. "Quite extraordinary. Only the most Light sort of magic could surely have made that happen. Only a ritual involving very deep and powerful love."

Severus knew Albus would say something along those lines; it was just as he'd assumed himself. But the notion of love didn't sit easily with Severus Snape. The only love he'd known was obsessive, tortuous and unreciprocated. He was relieved Sarah was not bound to him by magic, as the issue of consent troubled him no end, but finding out their feelings for each other were totally genuine was hard to digest, as Snape viewed himself as habitually unlovable.

Severus made a non-committal noise of agreement, before pressing on. "The bigger issue here is that she now has wizarding abilities."

"Are you quite sure about that?" Albus asked carefully.

"Absolutely. She produced a Summoning charm by accident, and then I taught her to perform the Lumos spell with my wand. She is now a witch in our sense of the word."

Albus thought for a moment. "Well, transference of power, although rare, is not unheard of. Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, for example. You are a powerful wizard, Severus, so it does not seem to far-fetched that this could have happened."

Severus took a deep breath and strolled towards the window. The moon was beautiful, reflected perfectly in the still black waters of the Great Lake. "That's not the problem. The problem is in the matter of her education, and my position within this school. She will need to be educated, it is law. It is inappropriate to have feelings for someone who will be educated here."

Albus snorted. "How old is the lady in question?"

"She's twenty-five."

"And have you discussed anything about her magical education with her?"

"Well, it has been mentioned. She has a full-time job in a Muggle library, and I believe she is reluctant to give that up."

"Naturally," Dumbledore mused. "And having a twenty-five year old woman running around in a school uniform could be somewhat distracting for the other pupils, not to mention the teachers," he said with a quirk of a smile.

"Quite," replied Snape archly. There was about a minute of silence whilst Dumbledore closed his eyes in thought, head bowed slightly.

"The details of this should, of course, be worked out between yourself and Minerva. However, it would appear to me that, all circumstances taken into consideration, Miss..."

"Sarah," Snape answered. "Her name is Sarah."

"...Sarah would benefit from studying here part-time. I would suggest she concentrates on five subjects only, as five subjects are required in order to continue to NEWT level, should she progress that far. She can have lessons on Saturdays and have the evenings during the week to complete her homework. Therefore, the other students would never have to be aware of her, and she does not have to compromise her life in the Muggle world, or her feelings for you." He smiled at Severus.

Severus glanced up at the old man. "Is it not inappropriate, with me being deputy headmaster..."

"As long as she does not take your subject whilst here, and any grievances are handled by Minerva, I cannot see that being a problem. She may well be Sorted in to your house, but we will deal with that if it ever arises."

Severus looked relieved, like a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"How much does Sarah know of the wizarding world?" Albus asked.

"Very little. I did not have much time to go into depth, and I wanted to consult with you before revealing too much."

"I am glad you sought my advice, Severus." He smiled again. "Without wishing to sound impertinent, I think it may be a good idea if you coach Sarah for the rest of the summer on the basics of magical subjects before she enrols properly for the start of next term. This will give her a head start and help her decide what subjects she wants to take. It will also allow us to assess her progress before she starts, so her lessons can be tailored to suit. I presume you would be so kind as to take her to Diagon Alley to help her purchase the necessary books and equipment?"

Snape nodded quickly.

"Oh, and don't forget to give her a copy of Hogwarts: A Revised History straight away. She needs to know what a brave man she's fallen in love with." Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled genially at the dark man, and Severus managed a grateful smile in return.

"Thank you, Albus," Severus said quietly.

"No trouble at all, Severus. When will I get to meet this delightful lady of yours?"

"I will bring her in tomorrow," Snape replied, making his way to leave.

Albus beamed at the receding figure, happiness radiating off him in waves.

"I'm looking forward to it very much," said the old man, tears welling up in his crinkly blue eyes.

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Author's note: I loved writing this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it too.