Beneath the Masks

Ah, dawn.

Loki yawns and stretches, then leans over and picks playfully at Cambion. Hungry, Cambion thinks as he wakes and picks back at his little friend. Where your Da? Loki hops out of the nook and creeps quietly to the alleged guest room to see if they're all still sleeping. He thinks it's silly, calling it a guest room, since they're all sleeping in it, and Cambion's Da isn't a guest.

Hmmmm.

Only Lusus n' Els in kama now, sleepin'. Where Da?

Loki looks in the other room, but no one is there, then creeps carefully into the bathroom. He hops back, then turns around and runs back into the front...

It is 5:30 in the morning; Severus Snape and his mga manliligaw are safely nestled in a warm bed, wrapped in each others' arms, sound asleep. Deep within the Inner Sanctum of the Silver Temple, Thomas Aqualine, herein known as Brother Nodus, sits facing three other Brothers.

Trelane, Secundus, and Locutus are madami than mildly displeased although it is difficult to tell that they feel anything at all. "Brother Nodus," Secundus begins, "it seems of late you have begun to assume you have madami power in this Order than you actually do. Are you perhaps unhappy with your position within this Order, Brother?"...

They're both absolutely stunned sa pamamagitan ng what the two wizards have already accomplished. They've increased the size of the master bedroom and moved it over, and what had been the bathroom has been recycled, essentially, and remade into the 'guest room'. The rooms are about the same size, and there is a nice, albeit short, hallway that separates them. At the end of the hallway is an arched door that opens into what will be the bathroom. "Well," Snape says, "what do you think?" Therion grins widely and nods. "I like it very much, it's amazing, truly," he says and Elsbet marvels at the bed. It looks...

sa pamamagitan ng the time they reach home, Elsbet already has Loki is his own little nook, right outside the kusina so that he can watch her. She's already set out the pagkain and the plates; as they walk in, Elsbet is making fresh juice for their dinner. "You see," Snape says to Therion, "she'll spoil you if you let her." She blushes and tells them to wash up, and Malfoy gives her a grin and a teasing, "yes, dear," as he goes passed the breakfast bar. She giggles as she comes out of the kusina and tells Therion he can leave the book in the living room. He takes it in and lays it carefully in the center of...

Elsbet hugs Snape tightly, and Malfoy embraces them both. Therion takes up his companion and slips silently out of the little room, leaving them to have some privacy. But they don't stay. Snape leads them out and glances at Malfoy as they pass sa pamamagitan ng Therion, who's attempting to pull the great Encyclopedia from behind his counter where he'd stashed it in a rush. He tries to open the cabinet to put it back in its place, but he can't; he can't manage to rub the lock and speak the spell. He wants to ask them to stay, but the tindahan is barely comfortable for him to sleep in. He doesn't want to be left...

Sunlight casts a warm glow on Elsbet through the small windows in the arched ceiling.

She wakes alone.

She knows Severus went back to Hogwarts, she didn't expect him to be here. But Lucius...Ah, she reminds herself, he's probably gone to see Therion. As she lays in that marvelous kama she thinks about how strange and ironic this all is, and how wonderful it is as well. Three years ago, she couldn't have imagined she would be where she is now, or be as happy as she is. She knows she's incredibly fortunate; things could have turned out so much differently so very easily.

If she had succumbed to her...

As Snape and his Familiar raven-run through the passage, he senses something amiss: there is someone in the Headmaster's office. Loki nudges him and thinks, Da, I go, dey no see! He pushes Loki back and tells him no, but the little raven persists. Yea, I small, I do it...Snape clacks his bill softly at Loki and tells him, do not argue with me. If it is one of the Carrows, they will harm you, and I will have to...punish them severely. He extends a wing and pulls Loki close to him, and together they inch slowly toward the tiny passage door. He waits a segundo or two, then tells his little one...

They don't sleep long.

Well, Snape and Malfoy don't. Snape rises first and dresses quietly, and Malfoy carefully climbs out of bed, dresses, then follows Snape down the hall. Snape has altered the lighting in the living room, and Malfoy finds him sitting on the settee. As Malfoy sits down on the couch, Snape pours them both drinks. Malfoy takes a sip of his and says to Snape, "you're upset about something, I can see it in your eyes." Snape nods and sips his drink. "We have problems." He takes another sip of his drink, sits it down, then runs his hands through his ebon hair. "I'm not sure where...

He sits for a moment and thinks about everything she's told him, and how terribly hard it must have been for her carrying it all these years. He ponders his questions, tanong he knows he will probably never ask, and wonders how Snape has never discovered her pain. He is, after all, the segundo most powerful Legilimens in the Wizarding World; has he not 'plumbed her depths', as it were? Ah, perhaps not...he has his own great pain, doesn't he? If he skirted the edge of hers, he might have respectfully pulled away, deciding to wait until she was ready to tell him.

But at this rate, she never...

Elsbet stirs, snug in her bed, unaware of the storms brewing in the wizard she loves, and the wizard who loves him. She has wondered about this Lucius and if Severus would ever bring his friend along to meet her; she's so glad he finally did. He is very much like she imagined him...charming, regal, attractive and quite polite. She likes him.

Her alarm, which sounds like a puno full of songbirds, wakes her before the sun rises. She could have slept another oras or two, but she has to be at the coffehouse early today. Sitting up in bed, she wishes Severus had stayed...she enjoys fixing his breakfast...

Elsbet's eyes flutter and Snape sits back; both are clearly drained. She slips her hand out from under his, places it on tuktok of his hand for a moment, then pats his hand weakly. "What did my Sensei say?" He smiles faintly and tells her not to be concerned, then tells her she needs to sleep. "But--" he strokes her damp hair and shushes her, chuckling softly. She always wants to know what the messages are, but he knows it's far too dangerous. Telling her would defeat the purpose of all that work he's done in her mind...

Sleep comes to her quickly, as it usually does, and Snape finds himself looking...