A one time thing {Severus Snape}

Chapter 41: It's only blood

But then, in a fraction of a second, she had seen something – a shadow – a reminder – a ghost perhaps, of what he had been; what he would never be again, of that she was sure. But it remained true that he could be that way again, and she'd seen it in his eyes. It was still there, locked away in some deep place inside him.

But did that change anything? Did it really matter?

No, not to her. He was still the man she married, the man she would love till the last breath left her body. Things were no different. She had seen in his eyes something that she knew with certainty she would never see first hand but things were different as well.

So what made it so different from yesterday?

She knew now that Odile's power lay in her ability to unlock the darkest part of him.

Meg closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

The sudden rising noise of thirty or so students heading towards the classroom pulled her out of her thoughts and had her on her feet, facing the door before they arrived.

Not one of the students would ever tell by looking at her that inside she was confused and unsure.

Snape still sat in the chair by the fire long after the last teacher had left the room, his fingers still steepled below his chin, his face dark but blank to the thoughts racing through his mind.

His first class wasn't until later that morning, and it meant he could wait until then till he had to emerge from his thoughts. Breakfast didn't even enter his mind.

He'd seen the flicker of fear in her eyes. It had been what had made him step away from her.

Had she really been afraid of him?

He gave a mental snort at his inane question. Of course she'd been frightened of him. Only a halfwit wouldn't have been, and Megan was no one's fool.

He had been telling her only the truth, and if she didn't like it, well that was just too bad wasn't it?

He would move heaven and earth to protect his family.

Snape shut his eyes momentarily at his own thought process; his family, his wife, his child and his niece. A few years back and none of that would have even raised his eyebrow. But now? Now he realised that he would stop at nothing to protect them.

Megan had accused him of being petty. This had nothing to do with revenge. Revenge would be an added pleasure but it wasn't the driving force behind his actions.

He knew Odile; or rather he knew what she could be capable of. He knew that had he backed down and accepted the clause of the will without even trying to assert himself, then Odile would have taken it as a sign of weakness on his part, and he was certain that she would have gone in for the kill.

No, this wasn't revenge. This was protecting his back. He was almost certain that when it became common knowledge why Odile hadn't got the inheritance either, Lucifer would undoubtedly divorce her. Odile would loose all and every means of standing that could be used against him and his family. All, except her abilities as a Black Witch. He knew she headed her own coven, but he knew that the other witches in her coven were in good standing in society. None would risk their reputation in order to back Odile once she had been disgraced. Besides, he sneered, he had no doubt that the moment Odile fell there would be a pitch to gain her leadership over the coven. No, he was sure Odile would have no help from her coven, which just left her own individual powers. And here he was comfortably certain he could not only match her powers, but also exceed them.

Which just left Megan's reaction to him.

He sighed and moved a hand to wipe it over his face. He didn't want her to be frightened of him, but, then again, it had been something that he had expected to see from her long ago.