Mend Me

Nineteen

Severus watches as Lucius Malfoy paces the length of the drawing room, his figure reflecting in the crystal chandelier and bouncing off of the mirror lined wall. Lucius stops, stokes the roaring fire once more for good measure, and continues in his trance, the thump of his step reverberating throughout the room. Someone, or rather something, had carelessly pushed all of the usual furnishings against a back wall, entrapping the large pipe organ Severus was partial to playing on occasion behind several oversized leather chairs and chaise lounges. The putrid smell of decaying roses mingled with smoke billowing from the marble fireplace, making Severus smoke cigarette after cigarette in a vain attempt to keep the stench from gagging him. In all the years he had known the Malfoy's, he had never seen the home in such a state of disarray.

Narcissa enters the room, clutching the hand of a visibly shaken Draco. The Malfoy family portrays themselves as fearless and noble, but deep down, they are all weak. Each and every one of them. There was once a time when Severus looked up to Lucius, thought him to be a God. Now, he saw him for what he truly was, a coward. Severus wanted to shake him before The Dark Lord arrived , tell him to get it the fuck together, that they were all terrified but didn't go sniveling about it, but he knew Lucious would only find a way to pick it apart, feed him to The Dark Lord to keep the heat off of himself.

There is to be a new professor at Hogwarts this year, one hand-picked by Lucius Malfoy himself; Dolores Umbridge. Umbridge is a stout, toad like woman with a high pitched, shrill voice that makes Severus want to gouge out his own ears. On top of that, she is vile, power hungry, sadistic, and narcissistic. Her hobbies include, but are not limited to, torture, humiliation, and complete annihilation of Muggle kind, despite herself being a half-blood. Severus vows to himself and The Order to do what he can, when he can, to protect the students from her as discretely as possible. Despite missing her, he is ever so thankful that Miss Black is no longer a student at Hogwarts, and thus, exempt from Umbridge's tyrannical reign.

—

It has been one month and three days since he last laid eyes on Miss Black. The first several weeks, it took everything in him to keep from knocking on her door, asking her to tea, gifting her yet another book. But, he held his ground. He is not, and will not be, romantically attracted to her. She simply fills a void within him that he cannot begin to understand. The girl is humble, kind, and utterly brilliant. He finds being near her peaceful; relaxing to an extent he has yet to experience in another person, even Lily. Lily came with stipulations, even before acquainting herself with Potter and his merry gang of bullies, there was still Petunia to compete with. Petunia wished Lily to be more like her. Normal, as she put it, less of a freak, as she liked to scream at the top of her lungs. Severus had row after row with Petunia, each resulting in the silent treatment from Lily for days on end. Miss Black had none of that, he did not need to compete for her company, company she herself seemed to enjoy. Severus wished to tell her that she made his days brighter when she was near, but for now, he simply had to keep her safe, and that meant staying away. He feared her reaction if she ever saw the Mark on his arm, heard the rumors floating around that he was actually a Death Eater. He could not tell her the truth despite the inability to permeate her mind, it was far too great of a risk.

Madam Rosmerta took a liking to the girl over the previous summer when she stayed at The Three Broomsticks after he caught her living in The Shrieking Shack. She offered Miss Black a part time job there at the inn while she awaited her position at St. Mungo's set to start this upcoming spring when one of the fellow herbologists was scheduled to retire. Severus knew from Madam Rosmerta's weekly correspondents that Miss Black was unharmed. Miss Black had written to him on several occasions since the end of term. Inviting him to tea, inviting him to dinner, and even inviting him to see her new home, he had not replied to any of them, and eventually she stopped writing altogether.