29

Medea's Revenge

by snapegirlkmf

Medea's triumphant chuckle echoed in the stillness, coming as it did right on the heels of Severus' gasp of pain.

Lily at first could not comprehend the gloating look upon the other's face, her head seemed wreathed in a hazy red mist. She blinked and looked at her hand blankly, wondering why it hurt. There was blood on her knuckles. Confusion mingled with a fierce desire to attack, she loathed her former husband for hurting her over and over with his callous disregard of her feelings, his casual breaking of their marriage vows. James deserved to pay . . . three times this had happened now . . . three times . . . She lifted her eyes to stare at his face, his bloody handsome grinning face . . . and saw Severus instead, dripping blood onto the steaming tiles, his brilliant eyes reflecting his astonishment.

"Sev . . .?" she whispered. " I thought . . . no!" she backed away a step, a sudden realization flooding her, and with it horror.

"Oh, yes!" mocked the other woman, her voice low and filled with satisfaction. "Stupid bitch! He is mine. And only mine!" She glared at her rival, smirking. Then she reached out to caress Severus' shoulder.

He jerked away, pressing a towel to his face while muttering a standard Blood Halt charm. His hand closed over Medea's wrist in a grip like iron. He was furious, and he slammed up his Occlumency shields, blocking the compulsion she tried to weave about him. "Let her go, you scheming hag!" He shook the other like a rag doll. "Let. . . . her . . . go!"

Medea looked startled. "Stop it! You're hurting me!" she whined.

"I don't give a damn! Release her, you bloody bitch! Quit playing games."

"Why?" she shifted from petulant child-woman to virago. "I like playing with her pathetic mind! Such fun, to tamper with the supposed love match of the decade! You were mine first, Severus Snape! Until you threw me over for her!" she spat. "And no one rejects me and walks away unscathed. No one." Her eyes burned into his, filled with the need to hurt, shards of ice reflecting an endless hatred.

"I'm not your toy, Medea. Your lust power won't work on me, it never did." Severus growled. "You've used the reverse on Lily, and by all that's sacred-" he broke off abruptly as she pulled hard, trying to free herself from his grip. His eyes shifted down to her wrist. "Merlin's bones! You're a Jester!" He cried, using the term for a follower of Dumbledore, his eyes riveted upon the tattoo on the underside of her arm, an evil carnival mask with a jester's cap of red and gold.

"That's right, darling!" she purred. "After you broke it off with me, Sevvy . . . he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. The chance to get revenge . . . on you and anyone else who has ever slighted me or mocked me for being what I am . . . but especially you who clung to the memory of pitiful ginger haired witch who threw you over for pretty-boy Potter! And now you'll pay! He's coming, you know," she giggled softly. "Coming to the carnival! Lots of laughs, lots of fun, and lots and lots of innocent children!"

Severus paled, recalling suddenly that Remus had planned to bring his children and Severus' to the Halloween carnival. He spat another curse and growled, "Insane bitch!" Then he used wandless magic to bind the squirming part-veela with chains.

Medea screamed and writhed, but couldn't break free. She attempted to ensnare Severus with her power, but her mind probe met with a blank wall that she couldn't penetrate. Then she reached out to Lily with her power, using her loathful glamour to make the apothecary attack her husband again. But even that attempt failed, since Lily was consumed by guilt over what she had done to Severus, and her emotions overwhelmed Medea's urgings of anger and hate. "A pox on all apothecaries! You all should drown in your own cauldrons!"

"Shut up, you scheming tart!" Lily suddenly cried. She lifted her head, her eyes gleaming with regret, distress, and a cold hard anger. Then she marched up and punched out Medea, knocking the brazen Jester down. "That's for trying to seduce my husband!" She hauled the bloodied woman up and drew back her fist again. "And this is for making me hurt him—"

Severus caught her arm. "Lily, don't. She's not worth the effort. She means nothing to me. She never did," he continued, as much for Medea's benefit as his wife's. "I never loved her, and I only felt desire because she glamoured me into it. Nothing between us was ever real."

"Liar!" Medea bawled. "You loved me once! I know it."

"Never. And you never loved me either. Your kind only loves one thing—yourself. You can think about it in your cell in Azkaban." Then he called for the bath attendant, who came cautiously into the room, his eyes bulging. "Summon the Auror on duty, boy. Tell him I've caught a Jester."

"Y-yes, sir!" the boy stammered and raced away.

Severus quickly dried himself with a charm and retrieved his clothing and dressed hastily. His nose was beginning to throb a lot, but he kept his wand trained on Medea, who was practically spitting fire.

Lily was also glaring daggers at the woman, though she was careful not to meet Medea's eyes. "Sev, I'm so sorry. Let me see how bad it is," she murmured, guilt nearly strangling her. She couldn't figure out how she had been ensorcelled by the Jester, who were so named that because they often laughed while killing people.

"Later, Lily. It can wait," Severus said curtly. He didn't mean to be short with her, but Medea had him on edge and he all he wanted was to be rid of her for good.

Luckily it was still rather early in the morning, and so there was no crowds of witnesses or curious onlookers demanding to know what was going on. The Auror on duty that day, Jack Mellow, arrived in crackle of displaced air, the bathhouse attendant in tow. "What seems to be the trouble here, Mr.-?"

"Snape," Severus replied. He proceeded to explain what Medea was and how she had ambushed him.

"Put up a bit of a fight, did she?" Jack queried, indicating Medea's face, which sported a fat lip and a bloody nose. "Not to worry, sir, we'll have her on the way to prison soon enough." He grabbed Medea roughly by the chains about her, tossing a long blue cloak over her and growling, "Cover yourself, you hussy!"

"Watch yourself with her, Mellow. She's part veela and she knows how to use her powers." Severus warned.

Jack snorted. "They won't work on me. I don't fancy women that way." He dug in his pocket and pulled out several pieces of parchment and a refillable quill. "Please write down what you just told me, Mr. Snape. And you too, Mrs. Snape." He then looked at the boy. "You can come with me, young sir, and tell me your version of events."

"Yes, Auror Mellow," the boy said respectfully. He looked at Medea and shuddered.

"Meet me back at headquarters. I'll go on ahead with the prisoner." He dragged Medea close and they Apparated away.

When he returned, Severus and Lily handed him their statements and Severus also made sure to mention Medea's threats about Dumbledore invading the Halloween carnival. "Thanks for the tip, we'll check it out," Jack reassured them, then he left, taking the bath attendant with him.

"Come on, Lily. Let's go back to the room." Severus said, and they Apparated there.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

Once there, Lily gently examined Severus' nose and mended it with a quick "Episkey!" It had not been badly broken, but even so Lily felt awful. "I didn't mean to hit you," she kept saying. "I just . . . I saw you standing there and then I saw her. . . .that's when it all went crazy . . . .you became James, that time when he . . . was sleeping with that tramp Monica . . .and all of a sudden I was so angry and hurt . . . I felt as if I were going to explode, I loathed you, and next thing I knew I punched you." She backed up and sat down on the bed, her eyes staring at the floor, her hands clenching on her thighs. "I don't understand how I . . . could have allowed her to make me do that. She didn't even say a word."

"She doesn't need to. Medea's powers are innate, they work at her whim. Most people know of a veela's effect on men, they can make a man desire them to the exclusion of all else. But they have another power, the opposite side of the coin, that they use on women to make them loathe a particular man. You didn't know, and I had nearly forgotten myself. Medea's a master at manipulating emotions, especially when you're insecure and vulnerable over certain things, because of how James treated you. She would have found you an easy mark, Lil. Only a master Occlumens could have kept her out."

"But Sev, I wasn't even near her . . .!"

"Yes, you were. When we were on line yesterday. All it takes is a moment to look in her eyes and she can read you and set up a compulsion. She told me once how quickly she can snare someone, it's one reason I broke it off with her. When you opened the door, she triggered it. I never expected her to go after you, or that she was a Jester, though maybe I should have. She was always a vindictive bitch."

He went to hug his wife, but Lily drew away from him. "Don't! Don't touch me, Severus. What if she's still in there somewhere . . . watching?"

"She's not. She has to be close to you to make her glamours work." Severus soothed.

Lily wrapped her arms about herself, shaking. She wanted nothing more than to allow her husband to comfort her, but she dared not let him near her. "I can't . . . trust myself. Damn my temper and my stupid insecurity. I know you're not James, I know you'd never cheat on me . . . and yet . . . deep down inside I feel like I'm not good enough . . . for you, or . . . any man."

"Oh, Lily. You'll always be good enough for me," Severus told her earnestly, while damning Potter to Hades for causing her to think that way. Though it had been over seven years ago, James' infidelity and insensitive behavior had harmed Lily's self-esteem badly, and a part of her still questioned whether or not she was good enough to hold a man's attention and respect, if she could make a man love her. "Remember the first night we were married, and you asked me if I found you desirable? Do you remember what I said then?"

"You said . . . no other woman in the world could hold a candle to me. You said I was the only woman you ever looked at twice and there would never be anyone else for you but me." Lily whispered, tears slowly trailing down her face. "But not now. I hurt you . . . I broke your nose . . ."

"It's been broken before, by my father." Severus shrugged.

"I don't care! It's my fault . . . I should have known what she was doing . . . instead I let my temper rule me and you suffered for it."

"Lily, don't do this. Stop blaming yourself for something that was beyond your control. Medea knew exactly what she was doing, she's done this before. Don't you see? She wants us to be at each other's throats, to argue. She loves strife and anguish. Come here, please."

But Lily scooted to the other side of the bed, further away from Severus. Her ears heard Severus' words, but they were eclipsed by fear and guilt. Medea had used her like a weapon to get back at Severus. She had always thought nothing could come between her and Severus, but she had been wrong. She had been jealous when she had seen the way Medea had looked at Severus, jealous that Severus had once been hers, and Medea had known it and used it against her. She couldn't trust herself any more. Feeling sick to her stomach, she curled up in the middle of the bed. "Go away, Severus."

"No. I'm not leaving you like this."

She lifted her head and stared at him. "I need to be alone. Please go."

Severus hesitated. Finally, seeing that he wasn't going to get anywhere, he agreed. "But I'll be back for supper." He walked through the door. "I wish you wouldn't do this. I still love you, Lily."

Lily didn't answer. Instead she stared at her hands, still flecked with dried blood, and she wept. She had sworn that this marriage would be different than her previous one. That it would be perfection, or as near as it could get. Only now it was all changed. She did not know how Severus would ever trust her again. Or how she would trust herself.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

Severus returned in an hour-and-a-half, and found Lily sound asleep. He gently washed he face with a cool damp cloth, erasing the marks of tears upon her cheeks. He wished he could erase as easily the memory of Medea's meddling from her mind. He stroked her cheek, running his finger lovingly down her face, tracing the curve of her neck and then her shoulder. He loved her so much, he could not stand it when she was in pain, especially over something that had happened because of him. He should have driven Medea away the first time he had set eyes on her. He should have warned Lily to beware of her, let his wife know she had been stalking him. But now was too late for regrets. Medea had sown the seeds of mistrust and discord, much like her mythological namesake. Severus hoped and prayed he could get his stubborn wife to forgive herself, for he didn't wish to sleep alone. He wanted Lily back—his confident, loving, exuberant wife, his brilliant apothecary witch who had stolen his heart away when she was thirteen and had kept it ever since.

"I will not lose you because of her!" he hissed, his words barely audible. "I promise you that, Lily."

He bent and kissed her sweetly, reverently. On her forehead, her eyes, her lips. "You belong with me, Lily. You've never belonged anywhere else. And neither have I."

He took off his boots and lay down on the bed beside his wife, drawing her against him, taking advantage of her sleeping state to hold her. He hoped sleep would have put a different perspective in her head when she woke. Inwardly he cursed both the insidious Jester and her ex-husband, for re-opening old wounds and causing them to bleed afresh. He wished that he had potions enough in his apothecary store to heal her. But all he had was his words and his heart.

He nestled closer to her, sinking into sleep.

Only to be wakened a few hours later by James firecalling him.

He woke instantly and slipped from the bed, trying not to disturb Lily. "James? What's wrong? Is it one of the children?"

"Uh . . . sort of. Severus, I hate to tell you this, but we were attacked at the carnival by Dumbledore and his Jesters."

"Damn it all! I warned Jack to hurry and tell them about it." Severus snarled, dashing his hair out of his eyes. "Was anyone hurt? Where are the children?"

"Only a few people were injured, the Aurors were pretty quick to respond. The children are in my safe room, they're all fine, so don't panic. How did you know about Dumbledore's attack?"

"Because we captured a Jester here at the conference." Severus said shortly. "She admitted he might strike there."

James' eyebrows went up. "What a coincidence! So when will you be home?"

"Why? Getting sick of my little imps already, Potter?"

"No, but Rosie really misses you. So does Harry and Eric."

"Tell them that Lily and I shall be home shortly." Severus instructed. "Did they behave for you?"

"They were good, Snape. I didn't have any real problems," James assured him. "I'll see you later. How did you two enjoy the conference?"

"It was . . . interesting," was all Severus could say, not wanting to speak about Medea and the trouble she had caused. "Goodbye."

"Bye," James said, then withdrew his head from the flames.

"What's happened?" Lily asked, sitting up.

Severus turned around. "That was James. He wanted to tell us that Dumbledore and his laughing nitwits struck the Halloween carnival they were all attending."

"Oh, sweet Merlin! The kids! Were they all right?"

"Yes, James got them all to safety. None of them were harmed."

Lily exhaled sharply in relief. "Thank heaven! Severus, I've had enough of this place. Let's go home. I want to see my babies again, and Harry. They must have been terrified when Dumbledore attacked. I hope Eric doesn't have nightmares. Or Harry and Rosie either."

Severus nodded. "All right, love. Let' 's go home."

Perhaps at home Lily could find the balance she so sorely needed, and begin to heal.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

"Mummy! You're home!" Eric squealed and raced over to hug Lily.

Lily picked him up and hugged him tightly. "Eric, sweetie, I missed you so much!" She cried. She adored both her sons, but Eric reminded her a good deal of Severus as a boy, and enjoyed his quietness, especially now, when she was wrung out. Eric had always had a calming effect on people.

"Da, I missed you!" Rosie shrilled, and she launched herself at Severus the minute he opened the door to the cottage at Godric's Hollow. Severus knelt and scooped her up, tossing her high in the air.

She let out a laugh and then wrapped her arms tight about his neck.

"Hello, Rosebud!" he smiled at her. "How's my little girl?"

"Good. We went to a carn'val an' bad Dumbles scared me n' Eric n' Draco n' everybody! But Uncle Tom and James saved us. An' Harry hid us in the secret room."

"I hope you thanked James and Uncle Tom."

"I did, Da."

"Good girl." He looked over at James. "Thank you for keeping my children safe, James."

"You would have done the same for me, Sn—Severus." James said.

Severus set Rosie down and Harry came forward and hugged him. "Da, I'm so glad you're home. Halloween was fun, 'cept for when Dumbles showed up. Teddy got lost too and Dad and Uncle Remus went to look for him. But Dad told me I had to look out for Rosie, Eric, Draco, and Tessa with baby Zoey and hide them in the secret room. He said it was real important and I did it."

Severus ruffled Harry's hair and said, "You're a brave boy, Harry, and I'm proud of you for looking after your brother and sister and your friends. Now go say hello to Mum, she's missed you too."

Beaming, Harry raced over to demand his share of hugs from Lily, who happily obliged him.

"He's really growing up, isn't he?" James asked, looking after his son fondly.

"Yes, he is," Severus agreed. "Like someone else I could name."

James raised an eyebrow. "You mean . . . me?"

"Yes, Potter. You've finally started taking responsibility for someone besides yourself and it shows. You should be proud too."

For some reason, those words filled James with a warm glow. He had come to respect Severus during the last year and hearing the apothecary say that really meant a lot to him. "Thanks . . . Uncle Severus."

"You're slipping . . . Jamie." Severus said softly.

James coughed, blushing slightly. "That was on purpose."

"Of course." Severus agreed. "Well, I'm sure we'll hear all about the raid in tomorrow's paper. Right now I'm tired and I know Lily is too. We'll be going along home now, James."

"You sure you won't stay for supper? My house elf cooks very well."

"Thank you, but no." Severus shook his head. He bent and picked up Rosie and told her to say goodbye to James.

She did so, and then they gathered all the children's belongings and Flooed back to their flat.

Once they were home, Severus and Lily made supper and the children ate. Then they handed out the presents they had gotten for the children at the conference. Rosie loved her rag witch and wanted to sleep with her. "I'm gonna call her Heather, Mummy!" she told Lily as her mother tucked her in.

"That's a lovely name, Rosie." She kissed her baby and whispered, "Close your eyes and sleep, love."

Eric was excited about his new self-stirring cauldron and recipe book and Harry loved his brand-new potions kit, which was just like a grown wizard's. "Can we practice some tomorrow, Da? Can we?"

"Yes, once I finish up in the shop for the day," Severus agreed, though he was not looking forward to going to work tomorrow.

Then he went to say good night to his daughter, switching places with Lily.

After the children were safely in bed, Severus went to read in the den as was his wont. He kept waiting for Lily to join him, as they usually spent this part of the evening discussing various drafts and solutions or sometimes griping about the occasional impossibly rude and annoying customer.

But after an hour he went into their bedroom, and found her lying in bed. "Lily? I thought you were going to come into the den and talk about the new techniques you learned at the conference?"

"I'm too tired tonight, Severus," she murmured, not looking directly at him. "I just want to sleep."

"All right." Wearing a rather hurt expression, he retreated to the den.

Some three hours later he came to bed, finding her asleep. He lay next to her, reaching out an arm to hold her, but she shrugged it off and turned away.

"Dammit, Lil," he whispered. But he remained still, not attempting to touch her. It was Lily's right to refuse him if she chose, and he would respect her choice. His heart aching, he turned away and tried to fall asleep. "Rot in hell, Medea Argentin!" he muttered angrily.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

The next morning Lily woke to Eric shaking her shoulder and asking, "Mummy, can you wake up? Please? I'm hungry."

"Mmm." Lily groaned and opened her eyes. She had not slept well, dreaming of Medea laughing and telling her that Severus belonged to her alone. She quickly banished that vision to the back of her mind and forced herself to smile and be cheerful, for she didn't want to upset the children with her gloominess. "All right, Eri. Let's start breakfast."

"Yay! I'll go wake up Rosie and Harry." Eric said, then scampered off.

Lily and her children had a pleasant morning and afternoon together. She helped her sons use their cauldrons and make some potions, and then spent some time with her daughter, showing Rosie how to dress and undress Heather and play with the doll's cauldron.

Severus closed up the shop and came up for supper. Lily had made hamburgers that night and all of them ate heartily, enjoying the crispy chips and tasty corn. "This delicious, Lily," he told his wife.

"Oh? It's just hamburgers," Lily shrugged.

Severus handed her the copy of the Prophet. "Look, Medea's been imprisoned. And here's the story about the attack at the carnival."

Lily took the paper and read it. "Good. It's where she belongs."

"Who's that, Mum?" Harry asked.

"A very bad woman. A Jester." Lily replied. "Your da got her put away for life."

"Cool, Da! Are you a hero?" Harry asked, looking over at Severus in awe.

"No, Harry. I'm just an apothecary." Severus said modestly.

"You're a hero to me, Da," Eric declared.

"Me too! Me too!" Rosie joined in.

"Me three," Harry added.

"I agree," Lily added.

Severus just shook his head. But he began to hope that Lily would stop pretending he wasn't sleeping next to her.

That night, she sat with him briefly before going to sleep, but when Severus went to kiss her good night, she shook her head. "No, Sev."

"Why not? Isn't a man allowed to kiss his wife?"

"Yes, but . . . I can't . . ."

He sighed exasperatedly. "Lily, stop punishing yourself like this. It's done and over with. You're letting her poison our relationship. Can't you see that?"

"No. I'm saving you."

"From what?"

"Me." With that, she turned and went inside the bedroom.

"Lily, for heaven's sake!" he called after her. He returned to the chair, falling asleep in it some two hours later.

Page~*~*~*~*~*~Break

Tension began to mount in the Snape household. Severus and Lily were polite to each other in front of the children, though they continued to sleep apart from each other. This went on for weeks, with both of them growing more and more snappish. Severus tried repeatedly to get Lily to talk to him about what had happened that day, but Lily refused. "Dammit all, Sev, I told you I don't want to discuss it!" she yelled one evening and then shut herself in the bedroom.

"Da, why are you and Mum cross all the time?"Harry asked.

"It's just . . . your mum and I are having a disagreement about something right now and it's taking a bit for me to convince her about something." Severus said, not wanting to go into details.

"Oh."

"She'll come round eventually," he said.

But Lily's mood darkened, until even Rosie and Eric realized something was wrong. One day, Harry approached Lily and said, "Mum, can I ask you something?"

"What is it now, Harry?"

"Are you and Da going to get a divorce?"

Lily gaped at him. "What? Harry, where did you ever get that idea?"

"Well, you and Da act like you don't love each other anymore. You don't hug or kiss each other and you used to, Mum. All the time. And how come Da sleeps in the den sometimes and not in your room? I just wondered 'cause . . . I don't want you and Da to get divorced." Harry said, sniffling.

"Oh, Harry! I would never divorce your da! Not ever!" Lily reached out and hugged him, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. Had she really gone that far?

"But do you still love him?"

"Yes, son, I do. And I always will." Now what? How can I tell him about what's bothering me? He'll never understand. Merlin, but I need help. She kept having flashbacks about that afternoon, and her loss of control, even if it had been due to a spell influencing her, horrified her. Even when she had discovered James cheating on her, she had not reacted with such violence. She had slapped him twice across the face after catching him in bed for the second time, knocking off his glasses, but she hadn't broken anything, though she had been furious and hurt. For her to have done such to Severus, who had been innocent of any wrongdoing, made it ten times worse. I can't risk myself that way again. I hate what I'm doing to you, Sev, to us, but it's the only way I can protect you.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

The Snape children weren't the only ones who noticed something was wrong, either. One night not long after Harry's questioning of Lily, Cissy asked Remus a question of her own. "Remus, have you noticed something different about Sev and Lily?"

"Different? How so?"

"Well, for one thing, neither of them have been to see us since the potions conference."

"Maybe they're just busy," mused the werewolf.

"Lily always makes time to see me, even if it's only for an hour," Cissy objected. "And Draco mentioned to me last week that Rosie told him her mum and da are sad."

Remus frowned. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Narcissa said firmly.

Remus cocked an eyebrow. "And just how do you propose to do that?"

"I'll invite them all over for supper. Then I can get Lily alone and sort this out and you can do the same with Severus."

"How do you know that anything's the matter?"

"I just do, Remus. They need help, and if they're not going to come and ask for it, then I'll have to wriggle it out of them. Rosie's not stupid and for her to come out with something like that. . . Remus, there's something wrong."

"I suppose you're right. Guess I'll go over tomorrow and ask Sev for dinner."

Cissy grinned at him. "Thank you, love." Then she kissed him, slowly savoring their time alone together. Until the baby interrupted them with an impatient cry.