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Chapter 14: "Permaparitio"
"Oh Severus!" she cried as she clung to him sobbing. "I do love you, Darling," she crooned as he held her and stroked her back. How is this possible? She thought, as she sat happily enfolded in the arms of the man she loved.

"I'm a bloody brilliant wizard, Love, that's how," he said softly, kissing the top of her head. Melodia smiled through her tears and hugged him tightly.

Looking up into his dark eyes, she teased, "I keep forgetting how you like to show that ability of yours off, Shaggy."

He laughed softly, "I know you do, that's why I find it so amusing," as he kissed her forehead, and squeezed her lovingly.

Just then Harry arrived back in his room. He stood rigidly still, staring at them in complete disbelief.

"YOU!" he said aggressively as he drew his wand and glared at Snape.

Melodia quickly rose to her feet, "NO HARRY!" she shouted stepping between them. "What are you doing? You know Severus is not guilty now!" Harry didn't move, but his face changed at the sound of her voice.

The three of them stood wordlessly for a moment, until Severus broke the silence.

"Put the wand away, Potter. I assure you-you will not need it," he said matter-of-factly.

Unsure of just what to do, Harry hesitated, then reluctantly lowered his wand, but his eyes remained fixed on Snape's face.

Melodia was relieved to see that Harry was willing to cooperate.

"Can I trust the two of you not to kill each other if I sit down now?" she asked cheekily, looking from one to the other.

"Of course, Love." Severus answered respectfully, slowly moving toward the foot of the bed with her.

"Yeah, I guess," Harry relented, then stuffed his wand into his back pocket once more. He still couldn't believe that Snape was here, in his room. He stared in disbelief as Melodia cuddled lovingly next to him while sitting on the foot of his bed.

"Thank God," she said as she wrapped her arms around her lover.

"Um...Melodia?" Harry asked in a cautious tone, "Are you two...er..." he couldn't bring himself to finish the question he was dying to ask. "I mean, I've never seen...." Again words failed him and he felt foolish. Severus shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of his student, but did not break eye contact.

"Why yes, Potter. How observant of you! What a shame you cannot demonstrate your observation skills that way Potions class." he sneered sarcastically.

Harry glared angrily at him and retorted, "Really? Well I think it's a shame that you behave like a such a BULLY in Potions class!" Snape's eyes narrowed dangerously and he was about to retort, but was cut off quickly.

"That's quite enough!" Melodia ordered. "Dear God! I can see that I have my hands full with the both of you," she said wearily.

"Yes Harry," she said firmly, looking directly at him as she spoke. Severus and I are...involved," she offered politely.

"Now. With that out of the way, I suggest it's time to call a truce," she said flatly.

Neither of them made an attempt to speak. Severus tightened his embrace of Melodia. His face became expressionless.

Harry pulled the chair from his desk and sat across from them, still amazed at the sight of them sitting together that way.

She rose to her feet and walked to the window then turned to face them again focusing on Harry first.

"Now, Harry, what is all this cheeky behavior towards, and drawing you wand on Severus? You know better than that now, I should think. He made no effort to reply, but looked shamefully at his shoes and nodded.

Severus sat smirking satisfactorily at her admonishment of his student.

"And why are you sitting there looking so happy with yourself, Severus? You promised me to try harder with Harry, did you not?" she said meaning it more as a statement than a question.

Severus scowled slightly, but remembering his promise to her, nodded in begrudging agreement.

Melodia was somewhat relieved and confident about moving forward, so she asked Snape, "How did you know where I was Severus? And why are you here at all?" her face now shadowed with wonder.

"Dumbledore sent me," he replied. "He said I should start looking here first; therefore I did. I apparated from Headquarters, to the street, just beneath that window," he said as he motioned toward the curtains. "I noticed that the light was on, and waited until I detected movement in the shadows indicating that someone was in here, so I apparated again," he finished tonelessly. Melodia studied his face as he spoke.

"Then much to my chagrin, I discovered you; alone on the floor sobbing about something being 'awful'," he added almost as if asking a question. "What was that about anyway, Loddie?" he inquired looking into her eyes.

Believing Severus would not approve of her actions, she faultered with her next. "I...er...saw what happened the night that Uncle Albus was hurt and it upset me. That's all." She hoped he couldn't detect how nervous she was.

"And just how were you able to witness this scene?" he asked knowing full well how, but wanting to hear it from her.

"Well...Harry let me see it in the Pensive, but...." Severus jumped to his feet.

"HE DID WHAT?" He demanded then shot a hateful look in Harry's direction.

"Stop it, Severus, I asked him to take me there. I...just had no idea how... horrific it actually was. It upset me more than I anticipated that it would, and that was all there was to it," she tried to sound reassuring.

"I see, he said coolly, "and that is why you were in a heap on the floor in tears, mumbling apologies, I suppose?"

"Looking at him pleadingly, she pulled him back down to sit with her, "Please, Darling, don't be angry at Harry, as I said, I asked him to let me see. I...wanted to see what he saw... first hand." Snape looked to Harry, this time as if asking for confirmation.

"Yeah, that's true, she wanted to see it," he answered truthfully.

Seemingly satisfied with their story, he pulled her close again, "Why would you want to witness that, Loddie?" he asked more gently this time.

She smiled slightly and said, "I just wanted to try and understand it better, by seeing everything from Harry's perspective. I thought it would help...things," she finished cautiously.

Harry spoke up in an attempt to break the tension, "You said Dumbledore sent you here. Why?" hoping to change the subject.

Severus shook his head, knowing that it was passed time to move forward.

"I've come to bring news of the Weasley wedding," Severus continued evenly. "It appears that due to our impending mission, it has been temporarily postponed; therefore, we are to immediately return to headquarters. The Weasleys are to arrive with Miss Granger shortly thereafter, if they have not already."

Harry was startled by this news. "Ron never sent me word of that!" he said suspiciously, looking at Snape contemptuously.

"No, he did not, Pot..." he hesitated as if choking on his next, "Harry," he managed. "We only received word of it this afternoon, after Melodia had left." He reached into his cloak and pulled out an envelope. "Here...take this," he said as he handed Harry a letter, which bore the Hogwarts seal.

"Dumbledore asked me to give this to you," he advised smoothly.

At this point, Harry really thought he was losing it. Snape actually called him by his first name, and seemed almost pleasant about it.

"Thank you,... Professor," Harry said smiling cautiously as he took the letter from Snape's outstretched hand. He examined the envelope carefully, then opened it.

Inside was a letter scrawled in what Harry knew was unmistakably Dumbeldore's handwriting.

Dear Harry,

By now, I trust my niece has spoken to you at length in regards to the matters at hand.

I have sent Professor Snape to escort you both to Headquarters immediately, as Bill Wesley and his bride to be have decided to postpone their wedding until this unpleasantness has come to an end.

I shall expect to see you all as quickly as possible.

I am, yours most sincerely.

Albus Dumbledore

Harry read the letter again but found it hard to believe that Dumbledore was alive.

"I still don't understand. Why was this 'act' necessary?" he asked anxiously waiting a response.

"I'm sure Melodia has advised you that it is the Headmaster's wish to explain the balance of this information to you personally," Snape insisted.

Harry knew there was no point in arguing. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that Snape was actually trying to be civil to him.

Since that was clearly a first, he saw no reason to antagonize him now.

"Ok. But I still have one more question. For Melodia, he added quickly as he noticed Snape's aggravation surface again.

"What is it, Harry?" she asked curiously.

"Well, Professor Snape told you how he got into my room, but you haven't said how you did that....er....thing you did to get here."

Severus looked interested in hearing the answer to this question.

Melodia smiled broadly, "Oh, that! It is a charm I learned in Sorcery School, Harry. It enables me to become permeable, and transparent."

"Perm...what?" he asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Per-mee-a-ble," she pronounced effectively for him. "It means that I am able to penetrate walls, closed doors, and even glass," she informed them.

"So you can make your body pass through anything?" he mused.

Suddenly, Severus appeared as anxious for her reply as Harry was.

"Yes," he said sitting up a bit straighter, to indicate she had his full attention. "I'd like to hear the answer to his as well, Love.

She smiled at them and explained, "I don't know for sure. I have only used it a few times." She began to laugh as she described the first time she tried the charm.

"Years ago, while I was in Muggle school, I was a assigned a term paper to write. It had to be exactly 1500 words, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. In itself, that was hard enough, but to make things worse, I had the worst English teacher in the world. He was very strict and seemed to hate everybody."

Severus glared at Harry warningly, expecting a cheek at any moment.

Harry only smiled slightly getting the gist of the look he had just received and continued to listen.

"I had heard other students complain about his class, so I figured being magical, I would have an edge," She said reminiscently, "So I waited until after school when all of the students were gone, and stood outside his door peering in at him."

"He was grading other papers, and I decided to check out his grading system, so I put the charm to use. I entered the classroom through the walls and stood behind him while he finished grading them."

Severus gave her a stern look, "Thank you Miss Dumbledore for giving my students pointers on how to cheat!" he teased as he squeezed her hand.

"So did it help you with your paper?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Unfortunately not," she admitted, "I still got a C+ but it was loads of fun," she added mischievously.

"Serves you right!" Severus said mockingly, "Had you been my student you would not have faired so well," he scolded.

"Show me how you do it!" Harry insisted. Melodia hesitated and looked at Severus for his approval.

"You might as well demonstrate," he said wearily, "I imagine the knowledge may prove useful for me as well," he added looking in Harry's direction again.

Melodia slipped out of her lover's embrace and stood in the center of the room. Very softly she murmured, "Permaparitio".

Immediately she faded into the apparition Harry had seen earlier that evening.

They watched, completely enthralled, as she passed through the door into the hallway and back again. Then she moved to the window and passed in and out to demonstrate the way she entered the room earlier.

Severus was stunned in to silence.