Further Investigation

Disclaimer: Except for an OC, the characters here and the world in which they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling.

Snape followed Katherine through his quarters, with his towel still around his waist, as she almost ran from his rooms. He sat heavily at his desk as the door to his office shut behind her. He sank his head into his hands and wondered what he would have done if he had caught her.

"Aren't you a bit underdressed for work, Headmaster?" asked the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black.

"Don't get your breeches in a twist," answered Armando Dippet. "Can't you see he's upset? This must have something to do with the lovely young thing we caught all too short a glimpse of last night and just now."

"She's not that young." Snape's voice was muffled by his desk where his forehead rested.

"But she was lovely," answered one of the portraits further away from the desk.

The head on the desk lifted slightly and sank back down again with a bang. "I thought you were supposed to help me. This is more like torture."

Several voices spoke up at once. "We didn't think you needed help last night."

"You seemed to have things rather...ah...well in hand."

"She wasn't complaining."

"You both seemed to be enjoying yourselves."

The banging on the desk started to develop a rhythm. "It doesn't have to do with that," the current Headmaster stated. He raised his head and looked around at the portrait directly behind his chair. "She knows about the sword."

Dumbledore had been enjoying the banter between Snape and the portraits, but now his face took on a more serious expression. "From what I know, she won't say anything without a clear reason."

"The Dark Lord feels she's harmless and that Dolores is controlling her. She is supposedly looking for Potter. I suspect, however, that some professional pride has her investigating me still. She wants to know what happened on the tower that night and why."

"Poor Severus, to be the focus of a pretty woman's attentions!"

Snape's eyebrows came together. "She figured out how I feel about Lily. What if she starts blabbing something to the wrong people? Albus, your carefully constructed plans could be destroyed."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take. Katherine is quite savvy. She will figure it out, but she's trustworthy. She won't say anything that could cause a problem."

"How well did you know her?"

"Well enough, I'd say."

Severus looked hard at the portrait and sighed. "You know far more than you're telling. How involved were you in whatever happened when her husband died? I found that all the records of that event had been modified. The only thing I believed was that you leaned pretty hard upon the US Department of Magical Investigation to get them to take her."

"I'll tell you just as much about her as I will tell her about you."

"Nothing, then."

"You've always been one of our brightest."

Dilys Derwent spoke up. "Perhaps you should find a way to show her how you feel."

"How do I feel, Dilys? On the strength of a handful of encounters and one night of...whatever that just was. Don't try to tell me it was love."

"Of course it wasn't love. I've seen more real affection between a pair of mating...well, it doesn't matter," she hastily added, seeing his ever-darkening face. "You feel something for her. That's what matters."

"It's not love. It's nothing like what I felt..." He stopped himself. "Nothing like what I feel for Lily."

"You're evenly matched, Severus, and she fascinates you. You should show her that."

"I'll think about it." Snape glowered up at the portraits and stood. "Now, if it's all the same to you, I believe I'll dress for the day?"

"Of course, Severus," answered Dumbledore brightly.

He stomped to his private rooms, knowing they would discuss him behind his back the instant the door closed.

After the holidays, Katherine spent her time tracking Harry Potter for the Ministry and secretly updating her files on Severus Snape. It was absurdly easy to figure out where Potter had been. The Muggle news agencies had several stories about random thefts of food and clothing late at night. The Ministry never gave the Muggle press any credence, so Katherine spent her official time following up on leads that had been tortured out of Half-bloods or brought by wizards and witches hoping to curry favor. Katherine did her best to prevent the torture of some of those poor souls. Even when Katherine knew where Potter had been, it was easy enough to admit that there was no seeming pattern to where Potter and his friends would go.

She kept her distance from Hogwarts and its Headmaster. It was not clear to her exactly how she felt, but she knew that if she spent more time with him she would be in danger of having serious feelings. She had sent a curt reply to his note during the first week of the new year. He had invited her to private dinners at the school as well as a weekend away. On the afternoon that the new atrium of the Ministry was being dedicated, Katherine had to skirt the edges of the crowd to avoid Snape. The refusal she sent to his invitation to attend the Valentine's events at the school was no more than the word "regrets". There had been a few other communications since then, but she sent those back unopened.

The "Support Harry Potter" party thrown by Rubeus Hagrid on school grounds proved to be her undoing. After the fight that had ensued at the Gamekeeper's cottage, Katherine was sent to find out if Harry Potter himself had been at the party. She did this with bad grace, pointing out that it would be nearly impossible for Potter to be in Hogsmeade or on the grounds of Hogwarts with all of the Death Eaters and Dementors in the area, but Dolores Umbridge was adamant.

Katherine sighed in relief to see her old Potions Professor, Horace Slughorn, at the gate of the school. He accompanied her to the Gamekeeper's hut. "Welcome, welcome!"

"Thank you, Professor."

"Little Katie Asher. I should have realized that you would be so talented from your Potions grades. Do you care to become an after-the-fact member of the Slug Club?"

Katherine smiled and shook her head. "My work takes me all over. I'm not sure I could make it to the meetings."

"Quite all right, my dear."

Katherine walked up to the hut and started looking around. As far as she could tell, Potter had not been there in months. "So were you there the night of the murder?"

"I was downstairs and helped chase the Death Eaters away, but missed all of the action."

"I see."

"I couldn't believe it at first. Severus was one of my students, and one of my best ones at that. I like to think I'm a good judge of character."

"I'm sure a lot of people thought the same thing, including Dumbledore."

"Poor Albus. I think he was starting to go a little dotty. That year he wasn't at all what he had been previously, what with the cursed hand and all."

"Oh?" This was something new. "Dumbledore had a cursed hand?"

"It must have been cursed. That hand was all black and looked as though someone had burned it. It was his wand hand, too. Albus could do amazing things with a wand, and even injured he was capable, but there was no denying that whatever had happened had taken the edge off."

A new voice came from the doorway. "Thank you, Horace. I'll take over from here."

"As you wish, Severus." Slughorn gave his former pupil turned current boss a sidelong glance. Then he slid out of the cottage and walked quickly back to the school.

"Well?" demanded the Headmaster.

"Harry Potter has definitely been here, but not in months."

"Excellent. If your work here is done, you can spare me a few minutes in my office." The hand under her arm was not making a request.

"I...I don't think that's wise."

His chuckle slid over her like silk. "Where is your sense of adventure? You provoked me at every turn and now nothing for two months?" He tilted his head close to her ear. "Or is this a new way to provoke me?"

Before she could recollect her thoughts, he was leading her up the stairs. She noticed that the students were strangely quiet in the halls as they moved between classes. Snape led her to his office and then up into his bedroom. Katherine walked over to a window and looked toward the lake.

"I'm not sure..." she started.

He came up behind her and put his hands on the windowsill at either side, surrounding her with his robes. "You're wearing the same skirt you wore the first time I saw you," he murmured into her ear.

His breath on her neck did things to her. "It's one of my work outfits."

"It's working on me."

He was too close. She turned around, thinking to get away. He reached for her and kissed her. As before it was a dare, and Katherine matched his kiss with her own intensity as he pulled her toward his bed. They joined together with as much intent to test each other as to give or receive pleasure. Their passion exploded around them and left them sated yet still cautious as they looked across the bed from each other.

"You will stay for dinner." His tone of voice made it a command.

She shook her head. "I can't. Dolores will want me to report..."

Severus sat up, pulling up the sheet, and called for a house-elf. "Go to the Ministry and tell Mistress Umbridge that Mistress Stanton will not be at the Ministry for the rest of the day. She will file her report later."

"Yes, Master Headmaster."

The elf was gone with a crack, and Severus turned back around. "It took too long to get you here. I'm not letting you go so easily." He shifted on the bed, moving toward Katherine.

She met him in the middle.

Dinner had been eaten and they were dawdling over the coffee when she chanced asking. "What's this about Dumbledore having a cursed hand?"

He frowned and then brought out a slim box. "This made me think of you."

"Surely you knew about that hand? Do you know how it happened or what it meant?"

His only answer was to look at her evenly with that empty stare. He nodded toward the box.

With a sigh Katherine opened it to see a diamond-studded chain and then lost her breath. "It's beautiful."

His look turned teasing. "You're not going to tell me you can't accept it or some such drivel, are you?"

She shook her head and smiled thoughtfully as she traced the necklace with her fingertip. "I couldn't be so mundane, not with you." She looked up at him. "So how do you manage ten thousand Galleon bets and jewelry of a similar cost on a teacher's salary?"

He smiled enigmatically. "I was wondering when you would ask that. I suppose you observed that there's a piece of my record that's been obscured?"

"The Potions master under whom you apprenticed." He watched her think for a moment. Lucius Malfoy had mentioned that Snape was wealthy, and now Severus was tying that fact to his master... "Nicolas Flamel?"

"Bright girl."

"If you had access to the Philosopher's Stone, you must have also made..."

He stood and walked around the table. "Let's see that necklace on you."

She knew she had gotten as close to the truth as he would let her... for now... and put her hand to her throat. "Oh, no... it wouldn't look right with this sweater."

"Then we'll have to get rid of the sweater."

A while later they were lying on the bed, again apart, but only by an arm's reach. Katherine touched the jewelry around her neck. "Why?"

He reached over to straighten it. "You've proven that I can trust you."

"It wasn't a matter of..."

"I know that," he quickly said. "Your companionship gives me a great deal right now. You can't imagine how lonely it gets."

Katherine's face looked pensive. "I think I can understand better than someone else would. I don't have a side in this war, not the way everyone else has. When it's over, that will be it, though, won't it? We'll go our separate ways. You will go back to mourning your losses, and I'll go on to...to whatever might come along." She tried to say it lightly and smile, and kept all but a trace of melancholy from her voice. "As Cole Porter would say, 'It was great fun, but it was just one of those things.'"

"What if I was whatever came along?"

She looked at him without speaking.

"I needed you to see that picture. I needed to see what feelings you have for me. I needed to know that it wasn't just about your investigation." He sat up and then moved closer to her on the bed. "Katherine, come away with me. Whatever the outcome, let's escape it together." She sat up and backed away. "I don't want to go back to what I was before I met you." He moved closer to her and she moved farther back. "We are compatible in so many ways." He moved closer yet, and she couldn't go any farther back. She was at the edge of the bed and somehow couldn't leave it. "We have similar half-blood backgrounds. We both grew up in the working class Muggle world."

He was close enough to touch her, but could tell she was frightened. "Let's go away together. We can have marriage and children..." He saw her wince and changed his tack. "Or we don't have to do that. Just be with me. I think you are the only one who could understand."

Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut. He edged ever so slightly closer. "I don't know," she finally said quietly.

"You don't know what?" His whisper was almost a caress.

"Can I trust you?"

"Haven't I trusted you?" His hand cupped the side of her face, the tenderest gesture that had yet passed between them. He looked into her eyes and saw wariness and a great deal of pain hidden far beneath. He had his own mind arranged in a similar manner, and realized they were alike in ways he didn't know, but wanted to find out. A bitter look was now around the edges of her face and he let it go.

"Never mind," he said, trying for a light tone and achieving a sarcastic one. "Perhaps it's not as I thought. I won't keep you if you don't want to be here."

Her response was a look that made him close the distance between them.

Katherine was in the habit of meeting with Kingsley every few days. For her it was a way of touching base with reality. Spending time working for Dolores Umbridge defied the limits of Katherine's imagination, and she needed time to relax away from the delusions of the other witch. For Kingsley, it was a way of obtaining information that he could use at the best time and place.

"Whatever did you decide about that cryptic note you sent me? Is he a fool?"

"Of course not. As I guessed, he was incredibly sly. He's pulled a scam that has the Goblins laughing at him. He gets the last laugh because they can never admit what they know. I simply overheard it while at my year-end audit at Gringotts."

Kingsley thought for a moment, piecing the bits of information together. "Interesting. So tell me about this scam. Does it involve an object and do you know where that object may now be?"

"I have it from the horse's mouth that any object that might be involved is in the hands of the person to whom it rightfully belongs."

"That's hard proof to refute, if it's true."

"It only makes the tower incident more confusing. By the way, if you get the chance to ask around, I've heard that Dumbledore had a cursed hand and that Snape apprenticed under Nicolas Flamel. What do you know about either thing?"

"Everyone saw that Dumbledore had a blackened hand. I never heard much speculation about it. He acted as if it were nothing at all. As for Flamel... It's believable, but I don't recall ever hearing about it. I'll ask around."

"Where does this end, Lucius? I give her some jewelry, I coax her to take a few days with me in an undisclosed location...no, Lucius, I'm not telling you where...and then what?"

"Why don't you marry her?"

"Because I don't intend to marry anyone. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because, dear friend, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say. The girl interests you to the point of distraction. Even when she was supposed to turn you in to the Ministry, you risked her doing that to meet her at the fund raiser last summer. You invited her to dinner, but not to the New Year's gala. When she crashed the party, it took you about five minutes to whisk her away to your rooms, leaving the rest of us to only imagine what you did with her. You did acquire carnal knowledge of the girl, didn't you?"

"Lucius, dear, don't be so crude. Severus, what do you think of this robe?"

Narcissa held up a shapeless black dress robe that would cover everything from chin to ankle and wrist.

"That's not what I had in mind, Narcissa. Please remember that we will be in a tropical location...no, Lucius, I'm not telling you where. I don't see why I should marry a woman just because I enjoyed her company on a hand's count of occasions."

"Then marry her because you can't stop thinking about her and she's the only woman who's driven you to such lengths since I've known you." Lucius looked at the robe appraisingly. "I guess Severus doesn't have as developed a fantasy life as we do, my dear. If you wanted to get that for yourself, I would love to charm it from your lovely frame tonight and then..." He whispered something into his wife's ear that made her blush.

"Lucius!" she said before whispering something into his ear. He stepped closer and said something unintelligible that made her giggle.

"Are you two here to help me or arrange your own romantic life? How do you carry that out with your distinguished house guests, anyway?"

"Our one house guest has business that takes him to the Continent these days." Narcissa looked up. "I'm sorry, Severus, dear. Really, I think the things we've already selected should be adequate for what you describe. The only thing I would add is this." She held up elegant champagne-colored dress robes that would be form-fitting but not snug. He sucked in his breath. Narcissa continued, "I know it's not necessary for the sort of thing you have described, but one never knows what events may come up, do they?"

"No, they don't. It's all perfect, Narcissa, thank you."

Lucius spoke up again. "You do feel something for her, don't you? Do you enjoy her company?"

Severus thought a minute as Lucius watched his wife step into the dressing room. "I've never encountered a woman who meets me so evenly in every way before."

"In every way?"

Snape sighed. "Yes, if you must know, we're evenly matched everywhere, including the bedroom. I can't wait to see her again, yet I worry that when I do, she may finally best me at something."

Lucius looked over Severus's purchases at Madam Malkin's and let out a low whistle. "She's not at all like the girls one buys off with dinner, is she?"

"Not to me," answered Severus.

"Clearly, you should consider something longer term than what you have currently in the works. By the way, old friend," said Lucius, "you know the Dark Lord is not oblivious to her existence. As long as Dolores keeps her in control and as long as the witch keeps you happy and on task, he is willing to have her on hand. For her own sake, however, you had better not let her get in the way of your real job."

"I get the message."

A/N: That is indeed a direct quote from Cole Porter's song "Just One of those Things."

Thanks as always to Trickie Woo, who beta reads.