Chapter Two

'That ought to do,' Lucius said grandly, rolling up the missive he had finally completed after seven tortuous attempts. He wound a silver and green ribbon around the scroll and pointed his wand at it to tie it in a bow, blinking rapidly in disappointment as his efforts reduced the whole sorry mess to a pile of smouldering ash instead.

'Can't you do anything properly?' Severus demanded, swiping uselessly at the air in front of him, which had begun to fill with the fumes from the burnt ribbon. 'I'm meeting Alice, and now I'll stink of burnt...' He trailed off, watching Malfoy's crestfallen look. 'Give it to me,' he snarled at the hapless Lucius. 'Give me over that ink and parchment, and I'll do the ruddy thing for you.'

'I haven't got any more ribbon,' Lucius pointed out disconsolately.

'Here, use this,' Snape hissed, tugging a piece of red cord from his pocket. It was the one Alice had bound his wrists with during a little experiment the other night, and Severus hadn't really wanted to part with it, but he was becoming a little concerned about Lucius's lack of success in the wooing of Molly Prewett. It would usually be about now that Lucius would begin whining if he didn't get what he wanted; that was the step that normally preceded vindictive, the last step before vicious. Severus wasn't at all sure how the order would run in affairs of the heart though; he hadn't known Lucius had been in possession of a heart until Molly Prewett had broken it.

'It's red,' Lucius said, eyeing the cord suspiciously. 'What is it anyway?'

'Of course it's red; your ladylove is a Gryffindor,' Snape replied, ignoring the trickier question, not that Lucius would even remember he had asked it. 'Now what d'you want this to say?' he asked, his quill poised over the parchment.

'My dearest one,' Lucius began as Severus rolled his eyes heavenward. 'Do me the honour of meeting me tomorrow night at eight o'clock... You may lower your eyebrows, Severus,' he snapped, breaking off for a moment. 'I know how to charm a lady.'

'I'm not the one without a date for the Yule Ball,' Snape countered, the quill hovering again above the parchment, glad at least that Lucius hadn't opted for "nymph divine" or some such drivel. 'On you go though; I'm quite happy if you want to sound like Arthur Weasley leafing through a book of love poems.'

'We'll see who has the last laugh, Severus. Merlin, and in fact all the Death Eaters, won't stop Molly Prewett beating a path to my dorm once she understands my feelings for her.'

'I'm not sure that Merlin was Death Eater,' Snape replied dryly.

'Of course he was,' Lucius said with a hard look. 'Don't treat me like an idiot, Severus.'

Severus found himself without a reply for once.

Lucius was just stuffing the scroll into his doublet when the door to the Slytherin Common Room opened, and the Black sisters came in, almost causing him to topple the table and spill the ink in his panic to be away from them.

'I wondered if I could speak to you later, Lucius,' Narcissa asked, smiling winsomely from below her thick eyelashes, the way her mother had taught her to look beguilingly at a man of her fancy. 'I'm a bit stuck with my Potions work, and Bella's got a date with Rodolphus tomorrow night, so I was wondering if you could...'

'Get Severus to do it,' Lucius replied, backing towards the door. 'I've got something on.'

'So have I, if you recall, Lucius,' Snape retorted, not bothering to point out that there possibly wasn't anyone alive who knew less about Potions than Lucius. 'In fact, I've made myself late by helping you already.'

'Helping him do what?' Narcissa asked, not bothering to point out to Snape that she was talking about the next night; the last thing she had on her mind was a Potions lesson. 'I hope you're not brewing love potions, Lucius,' she teased.

*****

'Are you going to put a couple of kisses at the bottom of that?' Kingsley asked as Arthur blew on the green ink to dry it.

'Don't you think it smoulders enough?' Arthur asked a little doubtfully, kissing the parchment anyway in misunderstanding of what Kingsley meant.

'I don't think you could say "My dearest one" is smouldering,' Lupin offered. 'The "Do me the honour" bit sounds as though Lucius composed it though, although he'd probably have opted for "nymph divine" or some rubbish.'

'It'll appeal to her Slytherin side,' Kingsley reasoned. 'Here, Arthur... look what I filched from Bella's pocket in Potions class.'

Arthur beamed his thanks as Kingsley handed him a piece of green velvet ribbon. 'Perfect,' he said, rolling the scroll up and tying the ribbon in a neat bow, just as the Common Room door opened and Molly Prewett came in with her Ravenclaw friend, Alice Proudfoot.

'Who's writing love letters,' Molly joked, nodding to the scroll Arthur was trying to stuff under his robe without squashing it.

'Love letters?' Remus scoffed. 'He's eighteen, what would he want to write love letters for?'

'Only teasing, Remus,' Molly replied, before turning her gaze on the object of her fancy. 'Alice is probably meeting Severus tomorrow night again, Arthur... quite the little item they are... and as I'm at a loose end, I was wondering if you could help me with my Muggle Studies again.' She gave him the benefit of her sultriest smile, which seemed only to have the effect of reducing him to a quivering wreck. 'It's just that I keep getting fellytones mixed up with eckeltricity.'

'Ah, sorry,' Arthur gasped out, 'I've got something on.'

'Not a date, I hope, you naughty boy,' Molly teased.

*****

'Who's it from,' Alice asked as she dragged a brush through her long chestnut hair.

'I don't know,' Molly said, pretending to herself that she didn't already know it was the scroll Arthur Weasley had been trying to hide under his robe. She thought that one had been tried with a green ribbon though, not the red cord she was toying with.

'Open it, Molly,' Alice urged. 'Hurry up... I need to hurry and meet Severus; you know what a grumpy snake he is if he's kept waiting.'

'Oh... oh... "My dearest one, Do me the honour of meeting me tomorrow night at eight o'clock at the edge of the Dark Lake, beside the twin willows. You would make me so happy if you were to join me for a walk under the stars. Yours in hope, a love struck admirer." Oh... oh, Arthur, how eloquent,' Molly said, clutching the scroll to her breast, her eyes shining with happiness.

Alice hugged her, and kissed her cheek affectionately. 'Go get him, Molly,' she said. 'Well done, girl.'

*****

'Who's it from?' Bellatrix asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. 'That looks like the ribbon I lost.'

'I'm sure Lucius doesn't need to pick your tatty old ribbons off the floor, Bella,' Narcissa snapped. 'I'm quite sure he can buy his own.'

'Well, aren't you going to open it?' Bellatrix asked, her eyes flashing in a mixture of malice and curiosity. 'How do you know it's from Lucius anyway?'

'I just do.' Narcissa hugged the scroll protectively to her chest. 'Go away, Bella. I can read it for myself, thank you.'

'Don't be stupid. I'm your sister; we're supposed to share things,' Bella replied.

'I don't remember you sharing Rodolphus's letters with me, so I've no intentions of sharing Lucius's with you.'

'He's thick, Narcissa,' Bella reasoned. 'I bet Severus had to write it for him anyway.'

Narcissa untied the ribbon, unable to wait any longer, and knowing Bellatrix wasn't about to give her the privacy she wanted. She unrolled the scroll, sighing in happy relief that it was indeed a love letter. 'Oh... oh... "My dearest one, Do me the honour of meeting me tomorrow night at eight o'clock at the edge of the Forrest, at the stony path on the far side of Kettleburn's cottage. You would make me so happy if you were to join me for a walk under the stars. Yours in hope, a love struck admirer." Oh... oh, Lucius, how eloquent,' Narcissa said, clutching the scroll to her chest, her eyes shining with happiness.

'Oh, well,' Bellatrix said in resignation, giving Narcissa a grudgingly congratulatory peck on her cheek, 'I suppose you deserve him. Well done, little sister.'

*****