In His Charge (The morning after Narcissa's marking ceremony)

[_the_ice_queen]

The morning after her marking ceremony, Narcissa was to see Severus. She had been put in his charge along with Draco and Lucius, and she was to be his acolyte. The Dark Lord, it seemed, was too busy for new recruits, particularly the wives of the dishonoured. Severus would see to her assignments and training, exploiting her talents and her wiles

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[stoppered_death]

Snape kept irregular hours at the best of times, and as long as he could remember, it had been rare for him to manage more than a few hours of sleep per night. So it was no great surprise that the knock found him alert and aware. He peered into the Foe-Glass he'd modified to show anyone attempting to gain entry to his quarters, sighed, and put down the ladle and set the stasis-charmed lid on the cauldron, closing the door to the laboratory as he waved the door to the corridor open.

His garb (plain, close-cut robes with narrow sleeves designed not to trail in cauldrons) made it clear that he'd been working, but his low voice betrayed no impatience - or any other reaction - as he murmured, just as he'd done that fateful night at Spinner's End, "Narcissa. What a pleasant surprise." The arch of his brow conveyed the question he didn't bother to put into speech.

[_the_ice_queen]

Narcissa noted the eyebrow arch, figuring he was working or in the company of another. Severus was busy with cauldron and ladle, mortar and pestle, but when wasn't he? Clutching her forearm in pain, she made the point of her visit perfectly clear. Narcissa was never one for guessing games.

"I'm not intruding, am I?" she asked with a questioning look. "May I come in?"

[stoppered_death]

"By all means," Snape replied, adding "Accio Dolor Diminuens Draught." When a tall, slim flask in pale blue glass floated in from the laboratory, Snape caught it and extracted the stopper. "Two drops on the skin, a third on the tongue. No more than that, until this time tomorrow."

His manner was brisk, businesslike, as if this were something that happened every day.

But then, he's lived with his Mark for decades.

[_the_ice_queen]

Narcissa let herself in at his invitation, taking the flask from his hands. She did exactly as he instructed, placing a few drops on the brand as if she were dabbing perfume on her pulse points. Another on her tongue, blanching at the taste. Replacing the stopper, she handed the flask back to him with a ghost of a smile. The draught was working already. Thank Circe.

"Our Lord says I'm to be in your charge. I thought perhaps we could talk? So that I might learn the routine."

[stoppered_death]

One of Snape's slim, shortlived smiles appeared at her compliance; after she dosed herself as directed, he banished the flask back to his research lab.

"'Routine'?" he quoted, eyebrow arching in faint disbelief. "There is none. You will do Our Lord's bidding, whatever that may be, whenever it is expressed. For now, I must prepare; the little matter of freeing your husband from Azkaban."

A coolly-assessing stare. "Unless there was something you needed to discuss now: something so pressing that it could not wait."

[_the_ice_queen]

Narcissa frowned. Severus was always so business-like. Did this man never relax? Circe, if you shoved a lump of coal up his arse in two weeks you'd have a diamond.

"I know as much, Severus. I meant specifically. And as far as Lucius is concerned, you sound as though it was me that put him in Azkaban. It was not so long ago that I was at Spinner's End, asking a friend for a favour. Your tone with me was different then."

[stoppered_death]

"I was at home, then; undiscovered, then; not on the eve of a raid on Azkaban Prison, then." Snape sighs. "And you were distraught enough then to require calming, if I were to get sense out of you."

That intent, assessing look again. "Is that still the case?"

[_the_ice_queen]

Narcissa arched a brow. "Draco was in trouble then. Things have not changed much, but I've taken steps to see that he keeps his head above water." She laid a hand on his chest lightly. "You aren't this guarded with Lucius. Do you resent my presence in his life so much?"

[stoppered_death]

Potion-stained fingers closed gently around Narcissa's wrist; but he let her hand rest there for perhaps ten seconds before lifting it away. "These are old questions, Narcissa," he replied heavily, "long settled between us. I realised decades ago that there is no point in resenting the inevitable. Lucius was the Malfoy heir: he would have married someone. I think you were his best option."

[_the_ice_queen]

Narcissa followed Severus's movement with her eyes, making no effort to free herself from his grasp. "You put it so coldly, Severus," she said leaning forward, a gentle brush of lips against his cheek. "I've often wondered what Lucius saw in you myself." A kiss then. "And I'd wager the reverse were true."

[stoppered_death]

Snape released her wrist, hands cupping the points of her shoulders, determinedly maintaining a little distance between them. Eyes so black there was no telling iris from pupil searched the nuances of Narcissa's expression, and low and level he said, "What are you doing here? Tell me, Narcissa. What, precisely, do you want?"

[_the_ice_queen]

What do I want? Do you require a blackboard and pointer? How is such a brilliant man so obtuse at times?

Narcissa had a lot to say, but she uttered not a word. Just gazed back into those cold. flint-black. eyes.

"I would have thought that obvious. Is it my touch that offends you so? Or the gesture of giving thanks?"

Placing one of her hands on top of his, she moved it to her waist.

[stoppered_death]

"If you can't even bear to speak of it..." Thin lips twist wryly. "Why here, of all places? Why now, of all times?"

[_the_ice_queen]

They were finally understanding one another now.

Why here? As opposed to where? Out in the open?

Why now? Why not?

"Is that why you stopped as well?" Narcissa smiled. "Your other hand, Severus. Put it someplace else."

[stoppered_death]

That ambiguous smirk widened; in an undertone Snape rumbled, "Then all will occur for you as you wished: from now until you leave here."

Only then did the eye contact break: his other hand slid down her back, scooping her closer as it slid lower still, until fingers spread to knead at her arse, as if cataloguing the difference between womanly roundness and a man's flatter muscle.

He leaned down, his head angling with the deftness of a man who's had decades of practice in dealing with far more than his fair share of nose, and returned her earlier kiss.

[_the_ice_queen]

Narcissa groaned at the feel of fingers on her arse. Spreading. Cupping. Squeezing. Even though she had had an encounter with Lucius in Azkaban, any act of tenderness had been forfeit - the circumstances less than ideal.

Leaning into his embrace, she pressed her lips to his, forcing her tongue between thin lips to drag across the jagged edges of his crooked teeth.

Narcissa very deftly slid the wedding band from her finger, slipping it discreetly into a robe pocket before cupping the woollen bulge tenting his trousers.