Chapter 28: Serpent's Inquiry

1415 West, Canterbury Lane, Wizarding World...

Rain had been coming down for hours in steady but moderate sheets. The wind had decided to pick-up and cars splashed rather large puddles as they passed. It was this lovely backdrop that had been the setting for a long awaited discussion between Hogwarts Potions Professor Severus S. Snape and the lovely socialite and heiress, Sasha Thoreau. There had been history between them. Not all of it so flattering the last Snape could recall. Still, she had been the only woman left that could answer his question as about the existence of a secret son. Snape steeled himself and approached the ritzy apartment belonging to the woman in question.

He knocked on the door feeling more than a little uneasy as he stood on her steps trying hard to bury the anxiety that suddenly crept upon him. He had not seen this woman in years. Sasha Thoreau had been a fifth year Slytherin when he had been attending Hogwarts. He was a year older than she had been and the girl was quite smitten with him. She went on and on about preferring the dark brooding types. A 17 year old Severus Snape had been hell bent on hating the world and everything in it at that time.

Sasha was from a wealthy family but had half-blood like himself but she had all the feminine wiles of Narcissa Malfoy and various other girls in their house. Most of the time, the ever brooding Severus had ignored her. She would follow him around like a love struck puppy and still he would ignore her. It was nothing personal. Narcissa had been betrothed to Lucius and Lily had been with Potter. The young wizard had reached the end of his rope in the wake of his lesser emotions.

It never seemed to effect Sasha. Despite his ill temper and dark associations, the young witch continued to see him out. She had been so forward and direct in her manner that teen Severus had mistakenly assumed she had been with her fair share of wizards. It all came to a rather forgone conclusion when Lucius smuggled vintage Muggle rum into the house and got drunk right along with Severus.

The drunken young wizard had been on his way to the loo when Sasha had appeared in the darkened halls. The rum had been quite affecting last he recalled and it had been difficult to navigate.

{ Severus had been finding it difficult to keep his balance as he shuffled through the dark and empty halls, or at least he thought they had been empty. Sasha Thoreau had shown up rather suddenly and helped him into the loo. Severus did not mind the assistance because of the drink's influence and smiled rather drunkenly at her lack of shame. The dark haired witch had the makings of a "real looker" when she came of age. Her dark eyes washed over him for a second or two and they finally ended up in the loo. Severus laughed drunkenly as he stalked up to the urinal. A girl had really entered the boy's bathroom. He had no idea why he thought her bravery funny but for some reason it had been.

"I-I believe I can handle thissss mysssself thank you." he said gaining at least a small measure of control over himself.

Sasha remained silent and watched as he answered natures call in a rather private fashion shifting so that he was out of her view when he relieved himself. When the wizard had finished his business she watched as he flushed the loo and made his way over to the sink. He had been aroused but made no attempt to acknowledge it.

The dark haired witch had been watching him still when his obsidian eyes suddenly fixed on her. A feeling of nerves and uncertainty washed over her as he seemed to advance on her in slow meticulous steps. An eerie smirk spread across his pale emotionless face.

"Why are you always there?" he asked his voice dripping with ice.

It had not seemed bother Sasha in the slightest.

"Y-You needed help." she replied trying to steel herself against his fast apparent wrath.

"I am not talking about tonight." he replied. "Why do you follow me?"

"I-I don't rightly know." she replied looking him in the eyes.

Severus glared daggers at her and left the bathroom, he had not been staggering as much and Sasha concluded that it was with great effort that he hadn't fallen with all the swift movement he had been doing.

Possibly out of concern, Sasha thought it best to make sure that he had been alright. The Slytherin witch followed him down what appeared to be abandoned corridors and stopped when he went through the door to a room that she had never seen before. She had been quite surprised when she approached it and found the words: Lair of The Half-Blood Prince written in black on it's surface.

She took a moment and tested it for wards. She knew Severus to be overly cautious and cynical. Given his new status as a death eater she had also thought him to have gone a bit dark. As young as she had been she couldn't understand why such an intelligent and quiet boy like Severus had been so sad. After the tests came back clear she tried the old door handle. Much to her surprise it had been unlocked.

With careful steps, Sasha made her way inside the darkened room. She missed the sign that had been present on the mat on which she stepped to enter. {Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.} Apparently, Severus had been as cynical as they come even in those days. The witch made her way into The lair of The Half-Blood Prince.

Severus watched her his eyes picking up her cautious movements as he awaited in shadow like a panther stalking it's prey.

Sasha had only jumped when the door suddenly slammed shut behind her.

"What are you doing here?" came the less than thrilled voice of Severus Snape.

Sasha steeled herself once more.

"I came to see you." she said. "T-To know how you were doing."

"Lies." he said irate. "You don't give a damn about me...your here because you want something."

Sasha had been silent.

She closed her eyes when she felt the irate and drunken wizard suddenly swoop in close to her. The effect his body had on hers was astounding considering this was the first time he had even acknowledged her presence.

"What is it that you want?" asked Severus, his anger descending into a taunt.

Sasha let out a labored breath.

"Say it!" demanded Severus. "Say what you came here for!"

"I-I came here for..." started Sasha. "I came here for you."

Severus laughed at this.

She had come here for him alright. He could feel the heat radiating off of her hot little body.

"If that's true then you have just made the biggest mistake of your life." he replied in an icy tone. "Very well...I shall give you what you came for...if only to have you turn tail and run like the others."

Sasha had been about to protest his callous manner when she found herself lifted off the floor in a gruff manner and carried over to a bed that she had not see when she first entered.

The witch's mind seemed to shut down as Severus spelled both of their clothes off and towered above her in the bed. His obsidian eyes glowing in a combination of utter rage and unyielding heat. She had not been able to utter a word before he maneuvered his pale form between her thin legs and plunged himself deeply inside her warmth.

Sasha had been in a good deal of agony but she said nothing as Severus began to thrust wildly in anger. The Slytherin had simply lied there taking all the rage and frustration the pale wizard had been seemingly living with for quite some time. In his haste to punish the witch for her interest in him, he had not noticed that she had been untouched.

It had been nearly an hour of his angry antics before he looked down to see the blood but by then the pain had subsided and Sasha had been lost in the bliss of pleasure as he continued. For a moment Severus had considered that he should apologize for his arrogance but something in him would not allow it. She brought this on herself, had been the reasoning for his callous approach and he stick to it.

Yet another hour passed before the rush of release took hold and Severus left the young witch lying in bed unable to gather her thoughts. He cast a few cleansing spells and kicked her out of his room. She said nothing as she got dressed and took off without another word. The young wizard had forgotten to give the witch a contraceptive potion or cast the spell before he engaged her but it had been of no consequence to him.}

Despite his treatment, Sasha came back to him. More times than he could count and he never once harbored any affection for her. She seemed to love him and it only made him that much more repulsed by her despite his frequent habit of bedding the young witch. The longer they were in each other's orbit the darker Severus became. She was needy and submissive, a terrible combination when one took into account of his rage and bitterness. The whole scenario had reminded him too much of his upbringing with him taking on the role of his father Tobias, although he never raised his hand to Sasha, he would hurt her in other more damaging ways.

The whole show of fire and ice came to a head when Sasha retaliated against his increasingly detached behavior and slept with Sirius Black. Severus had been so angry when he found them together that he very nearly struck them both with killing curses. Sasha had only wanted to make him feel like he made her feel, it had not been her intention to drive him away.

Severus took off in a blaze of hatred.

He ended up botching a mission for the dark lord and received what was to be the first round in many many forms of punishment from the despot and he had still been human at the time. Sasha saw him at school the next day and he looked terrible, he had been more pale than usual, with fresh bruises and a slightly visible limp.

After hours Sasha had found him licking his wounds in his usual dark corner of the castle. He grabbed his wand and trained it on her the rage still coming off him in waves as she approached him. He told her that "he no longer required her assistance and that if she wanted a shag he was sure that Black would suffice." The Slytherin witch had been floored when she got a look at his pale torso being riddled with gashes and welts. Blood had been every where as he tried to clean himself up and bandage his wounds.

{ Sasha had been quite unnerved at the sight of the soon to be scar ridden Severus. He growled pulling what appeared to be broken glass from one of the gash sites. Her heart had gone out to him despite his not wanting anything to do with it. She couldn't help but wonder if this was why he kept people at a distance. Perhaps, he had been protecting her in some way. She had not had the chance to think much on it because the sound of his irate voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Leave." he said annoyed. "Our association has been concluded."

"S-Severus..." said Sasha weakly not knowing what else to say.

"I SAID LEAVE!" shouted Severus clearly still enraged. "STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"}

Unable to stop the tears Sasha took off without so much as a glance back in his direction. From the on she had become just another face in the crowd until the dark lord started with his need to have those deity forsaken revels. She joined the ranks of the Slytherin women who were whored out to the high ranking death eaters as rewards for their loyal service. She had been passed between both Lucius and Severus by then. Her spirit broken and her body used until the war had ended.

When it was all over she simply returned to her life. Rich and as desirable as ever she put the war and it's traumas behind her. She never forgot how Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy had saved her life from a very irate Voldemort who saw fit to unleash Peter Pettigrew upon her for her insolence. Both wizards had been the highest in rank and their requests seen as pro their station. So when Pettigrew thought to have his way with her for Voldemort's amusement. Both Severus and Lucius pulled rank and made claims to the witch first. The despot had allowed it. From there Severus Snape had not seen Sasha Thoreau in many months following the end of the war, though he wished her well. He had no reason to contact or see her out. Until now.

Presently, Severus stood outside her door in the pouring rain not at all enjoying being soaked or cold. The dour Potions Professor knocked on the door once more despising having to make this trip but he had to know. He had to know if Sebastian Prince was indeed his child and Sasha was the only woman left of the four that he had any type of romantic involvement with. Lily had been dead for years and her only child had been Potter's. Narcissa had given birth to Draco and he belonged to Lucius. Bellatrix LeStrange had met her end quite some time ago and it was Severus himself that put the bitch out of her misery. She died a rather childless husk of the woman she once was. That only left Sasha.

After a moment a voice he could hardly recognize answered on the other side.

"Who is it?" it called.

The Potions Professor sighed.

"Severus Snape." he replied finding his voice lost in the wind.

"Who?" asked the voice behind the door once more.

"Professor Severus Snape, from Hogwarts." he replied hating to spell out his own title to a door.

Snape steeled himself as he heard the clicking of the door and Sasha herself had answered it.

The witch had been average in appearance compared to before the war and seemed to have been quite comfortable in her solitude before the disturbance. Her dark eyes fell on him immediately and she gave him the courtesy of a small smile. He noted she wore her hair in a rather messy ponytail and looked to be bundled in her housecoat.

"Severus." she said softly. "Do come in."

She opened the door wider and he entered at her behest.

"It's been so long." she said looking him over. "Can I get you anything?"

"No thank you Sasha." he replied. "I was simply in the neighborhood when I thought to ask you a question."

Sasha smirked at this.

"I don't doubt you have questions Sevy." she replied in a playful tone. "But this in the neighborhood business is laying it on a bit thick don't you agree?"

Snape shook his head.

Slytherin through and through.

"Alright, Sasha." he replied evenly. "I came all the way over here to ask you a question."

Sasha smiled warmly.

"See was that so hard?" she asked.

"You have no idea." replied Severus. "Anyway...this is going to sound strange...especially coming from me but...did you at any time during our association become pregnant and not tell me?"

Sasha looked at him in confusion for a moment.

"Are you feeling okay Severus?" she asked. "It's not like you to bring up the past."

"Just answer the question Sasha." replied Snape.

Sasha let out a labored sigh.

"Sevy, I was not pregnant during our time together." she replied honestly.

Her answer did little to clear up the confusion behind his eyes. The Slytherin witch had been curious as to why he had even asked.

"Why does this mean so much to you?" asked Sasha.

"It doesn't." replied Snape defensive. "It's just a question."

Sasha knew better than to press him further but she knew it was lying.

"One more thing Severus." she said.

Snape raised an eyebrow puzzled as to where this would lead.

"I'm listening." he replied.

Sasha looked him over for a moment considering her approach.

"Why couldn't you ever love me?" she asked.

Snape had been utterly shocked by her question.

"You can't be serious." he said too stunned to censor himself.

"It's just a question Severus." she replied. "You took my virginity and treated me like rubbish the least you could do is answer."

Snape had wanted to protest but considered what she was looking for.

"Sasha, It was nothing personal." he said evenly. "You and I were like fire and ice...there was no way that anything good would have come of our association...I told you that from the beginning."

Sasha sighed.

"Yes I suppose you did in so many words." she replied.

"If it is any consolation, I apologize for my callous manner and for my selfishness the night I took you." replied Snape meaningfully.

Sasha couldn't believe her ears. Never in all her years would she have ever believed that Severus Snape would apologize for the way he treated her. Least of all after she betrayed him with Sirius Black. There was certainly something different about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She was sure it wasn't a side effect of the war, he had never made an attempt to acknowledge her existence before.

"Why thank you Severus." said Sasha accepting his apology. "Whom ever this new woman is in your life...I can see that she's had a profound effect on you."

Snape looked at her confused once more.

"I beg your pardon." he replied.

Sasha smiled warmly at him.

"Your secret is safe with me." she said sweetly. "I may not have been able to reach that iceberg you call a heart but clearly this woman has...and dare I say she's done a fine good job of it if she can get you to apologize for something that happened year ago."

Snape glared at her for a moment. She had been un-phased. It seemed that whatever this dream woman was doing to him it was effecting his waking self as well. One thing was for sure, he now knew that Sebastian Prince was no son of his. Still, it did not answer why the boy had looked so much like him. Even worse, Lucius had been using his form for a polyjuice potion...Lucius what have you been up to. Snapping out of his thoughts, Snape turned his attention back to Sasha.

"Well, I have my answer." he said rising to his feet. "Do take care of yourself Miss Thoreau."

Sasha smiled warmly.

"You do the same Professor Snape." she replied.

Snape made his way out of the door and to a safe apparation point. In a flash he was gone and Sasha Thoreau had no doubt that she had seen the last of him. Perhaps, they were never meant to be anything more. She turned and headed back inside her apartment and closed the door behind her. The rain had still been coming down and it was very cold out.

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Potions Classroom, Hogwarts ...

Night had fallen before Hermione knew it and she found herself scrubbing cauldrons once more in the potions classroom. Professor Snape had been sitting at his desk like before grading papers. He had not looked up once from his work and outside of no more than two words unless it was in greeting or dismissal. He seemed to have something on his mind as of late and it sapped all of his attention. The sandy brown haired Gryffindor witch continued scrubbing. Whatever it was it must have been a good deal important.