The opportunity came a few days later. Severus hadn't been able to sleep for several nights, and it was becoming annoying. It certainly wasn't the first time; it happened to him a lot, so much so that the common Sleeping Potions had stopped working over time and he had to make his own.
He got out of bed and went to the small sitting room that was part of his private quarters. He opened the wooden cupboard where he kept his personal supply of potions and searched for his Sleeping Draught. He didn't find it.
Irritated, he continued to search every corner of the cupboard, only to remember that he had taken it to the new hospital wing a few days earlier to give it to a girl who seemed resistant to all other Sleeping Potions and was undergoing a slow, extremely painful transformation into a werewolf. Absentmindedly, he had then locked it in the supply cupboard instead of putting it back where it belonged. He muttered a curse and stormed out of his quarters.
The new hospital wing was shrouded in a sleepy darkness. Severus opened the cupboard and immediately recognised the small dark glass bottle he was looking for. He turned it over in his hand and turned to retrace his steps.
As he did so, his eyes fell on a black shadow sitting on the floor in a far corner of the large room. It was absolutely impossible to see who it was. He knew instantly.
He approached her decisively until Omegas' violet eyes looked up at him from below.
"What are you doing here?" he asked curtly.
She blinked. "Trying to sleep."
He raised an eyebrow. "On the floor?"
She let out a huff and shook her head. She paused for a while, tilted her head back and stared up. Severus looked up in confusion. There was nothing above their heads but a grey ceiling.
"Insomnia, if you must know," she murmured. "That's why I can never wake up in the morning."
She let out a dry chuckle that was far removed from her usual imperturbable air.
"Actually, it's this place. I don't like it," she explained, glancing at the white curtains in front of them. "There's… people… waking up all the time. And they expect me to have a… you know. A conversation."
She uttered that last word as though it were an obscenity. Then she raised her head again and continued to stare at the monotonous ceiling as if it were a starry sky.
Only then did it occur to Severus that Omegas might not have a place to sleep. She wasn't like the school teachers who had assigned quarters, or the students who slept in their dormitories, or any of the other guests of the castle who knew Professor McGonagall well enough to ask her for a comfortable bed. After her recovery, she had continued to sleep in the hospital wing.
"Why don't you go to the Slytherin dormitory?" he asked. "You know how to get in."
"The girls' dormitory won't let me in," she replied. "It doesn't recognise me as a student."
"Then go to the boys' dormitory."
She shook her head. "No, there's that boy there," she said softly. "What's his name? The one you dine with…"
"Draco," he replied.
She nodded. "I have a feeling he needs solitude as much as I do. Perhaps more."
Severus couldn't argue with that. He kept his quiet, watching her raised head as though she were returning his gaze. Then an idea flashed through his mind.
An odd idea, at least as odd as the woman sitting before him. He didn't know if it would work, and if it did it would mean saying goodbye forever to the strange cordiality that had developed between them. But it would also mean putting an end to the whole story. To give a solution to the mystery. After a brief consideration, he decided that he was far more curious than interested in pleasantries of any kind.
"Follow me," he commanded.
She finally returned his gaze. She frowned slightly, but obeyed without a word as soon as he turned and made his way out of the room.
They walked to his personal quarters in silence. When they reached it, Severus reluctantly spoke his password; he would have to change it in the future, and he hadn't done so ever since he was assigned the rooms.
"Asphodel."[1]
There was a click and the door opened. He entered decisively; Omegas hesitated on the threshold.
"Come in," he commanded.
She stepped forward tentatively, and he closed the door behind them. With a quick flick of his wand, Severus lit a small lamp in the corner of the room. She looked around, seemingly surprised.
The room was quite pleasant. There were a couple of armchairs with a low table between them. Severus didn't know why there were two, as the room was meant for one person, but they had been there when he inherited it from Professor Slughorn and he had decided to keep them. There was also a fireplace, which had been out of use since the first spring suns had made it unnecessary, a couple of bookshelves, a wooden cupboard and, beyond a small corridor, two closed doors.
Severus walked to the cupboard and took out two glasses. He filled them both and dropped a few dark drops into each. He handed one to Omegas, but she seemed too dazed by her surroundings to notice. He cleared his throat. She snapped back at attention, eyed the glass curiously, took it and sniffed the contents.
"Sleeping Draught?"
He nodded. "My personal version," he explained. "It's not quite at the level of the Draught of Living Death, but it's close."
"Oh," she whispered. She glanced at it again, then handed it back without taking a sip. "No, thank you."
He gave her a stern look. "Why?"
"Well…" She giggled. "I can't fall into a Draught of Living Death kind of sleep in the hospital wing, can I?"
"Of course not," he replied. "You're staying here."
She froze. She stared at him wide-eyed and seemed to be trying to stammer something, only to give up and keep staring. Severus, rather uncomfortable, averted his gaze quickly. He flicked his wand again and one of the armchairs turned into a small, soft bed, complete with pillow, sheets and blankets.
"The bathroom is the door on the right, if you need it," he declared. "You sleep on the armchair. My hospitality has its limits."
Before she could find the words, he had disappeared behind the door to his bedroom.
When Severus woke up the next day, he had completely forgotten about her. He left his room to go to his office and found Omegas still sound asleep in the transfigured armchair. He could do nothing but watch her in silent awkwardness for far longer than he would have liked. No one but him had slept in his personal quarters for seventeen years. The only thing that convinced him to let her sleep and head to his office was the prospect of his evening plans.
She joined him when the morning was almost over. She entered and gave him a cordial smile, for the first time since he had met her without dark shadows under her eyes.
"Good morning," she greeted.
"Good morning," he replied. He did his best sound just as polite. All he managed to sound like was oily. "Slept well?"
Her smile took on a cheerful edge. "Wonderfully."
"Didn't prevent you from waking up well past eleven, I notice," he observed wryly.
She chuckled. "Old habits die hard." She approached his cauldron and peered inside. "What are you brewing?"
"My supply of Sleeping Draughts ran out last night."
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Well… let me help you, since I'm partly responsible for that."
She took her cauldron and placed it beside his.
"You said… you said you had a personal recipe?" she asked vaguely.
He raised his head slowly and gave her a long, piercing look.
"Oh, come on…" she muttered. "It's just a Sleeping Draught!"
Severus gave her a smirk that held considerable smugness. "It worked brilliantly, didn't it?"
Omegas met his eyes. Her broad, polite smile faltered for a moment.
"Yeah…" she breathed, quickly lowering her head. She directed a mortified glance at her shoes. "Please?"
His smirk took on a wicked edge. "I'll tell you if you give me the recipe for your Anaesthetic Potion," he said, in a tone that brooked no argument or negotiation.
She looked up at him. She swallowed hard and seemed about to protest; eventually, she just sighed.
"Fine," she mumbled. "That seems fair. If you swear never to tell anyone," she added, wagging her finger at him.
He nodded slowly. He pulled some parchments out of a drawer and handed one to her.
"Write it down."
They wrote down their recipes and exchanged parchments. They got to work immersed in the usual silence—one that was unexpectedly broken by Omegas' voice a few minutes later.
"So…" she murmured sheepishly. "Uh… thank you."
Severus shot her a furtive glance.
"For last night, I mean," she clarified. "It… it did actually work brilliantly. It was nice to sleep through the night, you know? It hadn't happened for a while."
He continued to work as if she didn't exist.
"Anyway…" she went on. "I suppose I'll need to find a different place to sleep, won't I? Or I'm afraid I won't be able to—"
"You know my password," he cut her off.
She turned to him in stunned silence. "Sorry?"
"You know my password," he repeated, "I haven't changed it. If you want to come back, you can." He gave her a blank look. "That's what you've been so astutely trying to obtain, isn't it?"
Omegas met his sardonic look with one that seemed slightly frightened. Then it quickly shifted into something different. It was as if her politeness wavered for a moment. She narrowed her eyes and studied him.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice suddenly monotone.
He didn't answer.
"This isn't out of kindness," she claimed. "You're not kind."
He couldn't really argue with that.
"It's not because you feel indebted, is it?" she pressed. "Because I saved your life? Because I really don't like it when—"
"Do you want to sleep in the hospital wing again?" he snapped.
She looked up at him, her expression now entirely impassive.
"No, I don't."
"Good," he said curtly. "Then work in silence."
He bent back over his cauldron, and she didn't say another word until lunchtime.
The day passed normally. In the afternoon, Omegas left the office earlier than usual, as it was her turn to guard the shield. At dinner she spent the entire evening at the Hufflepuff table with Tonks, while Severus ate alone at the High Table. He hoped with all his might that she wouldn't tell Tonks where she had spent the previous night and where she intended to spend the next, for he really didn't want word to get around that he had suddenly become polite. Anyway, as usual, Omegas was mostly silent and listened to her talk.
After dinner, he returned to his quarters alone. He opened the door, sat down in his armchair, and waited. He had to wait a while, as she didn't arrive until after eleven o'clock. When he heard her whisper "Asphodel" and the door click open, Severus rose and stood in front of the wooden cabinet, his back to her.
"Good evening," he said.
"Good evening," she replied quietly.
He turned carefully, holding two glasses already filled with elf-made wine.
"A drink?" he asked.
She pondered. She shifted her gaze from the glass, to his face, to the glass again. Eventually, she walked slowly to the armchair, sat down and accepted the offer with a nod. He sat opposite her, handed her the glass and watched her take a sip with a barely concealed smirk.
"So…" he said softly.
"So," she repeated.
He studied her, his eyes piercing, while Omegas' face remained stubbornly fixed in its usual cunning smile.
"I have been informed by sources well known for their ability to stick their noses where they don't belong…" he began, "that you are in the habit of referring to the Dark Lord by his given name."
She gave a crooked smile. "Ah. I suppose your sources have round glasses and a scar on their forehead."
Severus nodded cautiously.
"I see," she murmured, taking another sip.
"I've only met one person in my life who has referred to him by that name." He paused, as if to give importance to the next sentence. "And I assure you, I've known many powerful people."
She raised an eyebrow in a silent 'I don't doubt it.'
He leaned forward on the edge of the chair and spoke clearly, enunciating each word.
"What was the nature of your relationship with Albus Dumbledore?"
Omegas widened her eyes and shuddered suddenly.
"I…" she breathed. "Complex."
"Hm…" he mused, taking a slow sip. "I'm afraid I'll need a more detailed answer."
Omegas shivered again. She seemed to be holding her breath.
"Very… complex," she rasped.
Severus frowned. He waited patiently, his eyes fixed on her, but nothing happened. He quickly shifted from surprise to irritation and rose ungracefully from the chair.
"Very well," he said coldly, with an air of meaning the exact opposite. "Then tell me who you are."
Her face turned a deep pink. "I am… Omegas," she gasped. She was forcing the words from the depths of her throat.
"I know that," he retorted angrily. "But Omegas what?"
She turned a deep crimson. She stopped breathing altogether; her eyes were so wide he was sure they would pop out of their sockets. She opened her mouth, but only managed a muffled sound. He leaned towards her in eager anticipation, his heartbeat quickening.
"N… no."
Severus stepped back in utter astonishment. He studied her: she was paralysed, clutching the glass so tightly that it might shatter at any moment. The options at that point were to either do something or let her choke.
In a melodramatic gesture and with a muttered curse, he turned his back to her, his black robes billowing in the centre of the room. He quickly pulled a third glass from the cupboard, reached out to her and replaced it with the one she was holding. It was quite difficult; she was gripping it so tightly that it seemed to be fused with her skin.
"Drink," he commanded, sitting back down in front of her.
With great effort, she raised her arm just enough to place her lips on the rim of the glass and gulped down the entire contents in one go.
She coughed and inhaled air as if she had just emerged from underwater. He let his eyes sweep over her with a mixture of anger, disbelief, and a well-concealed note of wonder.
Omegas lowered her head, cleared her throat and let out a low, raspy laugh.
"Wow!" she panted. "You were good! Sweet Salazar… I usually notice when something is put in my drink!"
She looked up at him and gave him that sinister grin again. It was the same he had seen that night in the hospital wing.
"I'm sorry, Severus," she whispered.
That was the first time she ever uttered his name.
"I learned to control Veritaserum ages ago."
Severus' lost control of his jaw. It was just a moment, a fleeting instant; but that jaw dropped.
"How?"
"Ah, well, it's not pleasant," she murmured. "It's like having your head shoved down a toilet. But it's manageable."
She leaned in close and fixed him with a violet stare that was just a shade darker than usual.
"The secret is to give vague answers that aren't exactly lies, but aren't the truth either," she explained. "Towards the end, though, I was choking. As you may have guessed, my last name isn't 'No'."
She laughed again with jovial detachment, as if she'd been teased rather than nearly killed.
"Anyway, thanks for the antidote."
There was a long silence. Severus had expected a lot of thing from that exchange. He'd considered every scenario that he had deemed plausible. Being faced with unsettling amusement hadn't been one of them.
"So that's why you brought me here, isn't it?" she asked. "You saw an opportunity to interrogate me and you took it."
It didn't sound like an accusation; on the contrary, her look implied that she would have expected nothing less from him.
He didn't answer. She didn't seem to need it, for his black eyes conveyed enough.
"Good," she said.
She looked around, stood up, reached for the wooden cupboard and poured herself a drink as if she were at home.
"If my stay in these quarters depends on my ability to satisfy your curiosity, I'll have to give you my answers sparingly." She sat back in the armchair and sipped her drink. "I like it here."
Severus swallowed. A feeling he had rarely experienced in his life took hold of him. He'd misread someone's face. That woman was not naive. She was cunning. She was clever, and possibly dangerous.
"Will you answer my questions?" he asked, miraculously managing to regain some solemnity.
She nodded. "The ones I think I can answer if, and only if, you ask them properly," she pointed at him. "No Veritaserum."
Severus studied her violet eyes with extreme caution.
"And no Legilimency," she added.
They stared at each other for another few seconds. He nodded.
She smirked. "Good," she said, giving a lazy wave of her hand. "Go ahead."
He leaned back on the edge of his chair. He was now fully immersed in the conversation and there was no point in trying to hide it.
"Who was Albus Dumbledore to you?"
Omegas' expression changed immediately. It didn't shift back to her old politeness, though. She grimaced in annoyance and a touch of disgust.
"Dumbledore saved my life," she replied. "He took me away from my father when I was eleven. My father didn't want me to go to Hogwarts."
"Was he a Muggle?" he asked.
"No."
"Then why—"
"He didn't want anyone else to have control over me," she said flatly. "The idea that I could go to school and other people could tell me what to do and what not to do… tell me what was right and what was wrong… it drove him mad. I belonged to him completely. Or so he would have liked."
They exchanged another long glance. Both of their expressions were now completely devoid of emotion. There was only a hint of reminiscence in her gaze, nothing more than a thirst for answers in his.
"Dumbledore took me," she continued. "He knew my father, he knew how to deal with him. Twice he gave me a way out. The first time, when he took me to Hogwarts. Then… long after I had finished my studies, he gave me the means to travel. In return, I did a few favours for his contacts."
"His contacts?" he asked.
She nodded. "His contacts, yes. He knew a lot of people all over the world. Powerful people in trouble. He sent me to help them."
"What kind of help did you offer them?"
She gave a knowing smirk. "I have some… let's call them 'peculiar skills'."
He narrowed his eyes. "What kind of skills?"
"I'm resilient," she explained. "You must have noticed by now. I resist pain. I resist Veritaserum. These are useful qualities to have in certain circumstances."
"What circumstances?" he pressed.
Omegas looked him straight in the eye. "At war," she declared.
Severus parted his lips. Now that was the information he'd been looking for.
"You are a soldier," he stated.
She nodded slowly. "I am a soldier."
He paused for a long time, pondering. He shifted in his seat and leaned forward again.
"But why did Dumbledore send you to fight?" he asked.
She shrugged. "He must have had his reasons."
"Hm…" he murmured sceptically. "Dumbledore would never have sent one of his own to risk her life all over the world. It wasn't like him."[2]
At those words, Omegas fell quiet. There was a hint of bitterness in the next look she gave him.
"I don't believe Dumbledore ever thought of me as one of his own," she explained.
He frowned. "Why?"
She kept not answering. She rose from the chair, turned and put her glass back in the cupboard.
"That answer is part of a much more complex discussion, which I am afraid we will have to postpone. Otherwise, I may soon find myself without a bed to sleep in."
Only then did Severus realise that accepting the rules of her game meant giving her permission to stay there. He remained seated, considering what to do.
He didn't want her there. He didn't trust her; there was something wrong about her. Something he couldn't quite place, but which had a lot to do with that sinister grin he couldn't quite grasp. On the other hand, though… having her around the castle where he wouldn't be able to control her might have been even worse.
Eventually, he stood up, twirled his wand and transfigured the armchair he had been sitting in into a small bed. Now standing in front of each other, the two exchanged one last penetrating glance.
"Goodnight, Severus," she said softly.
"Goodnight, Omegas."
He turned and headed for his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
Severus did not close his eyes that night. Omegas, on the other hand, was in a deep sleep when he finally decided to leave his quarters and go to breakfast. Later that morning, she appeared in his office with her usual cordial manner, and for the rest of the day and the days to come behaved as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Severus could not pinpoint what was out of the ordinary about what had happened within those walls. After all, it had just been a conversation. Tense, of course. As were most of his conversations with anyone. One thing was certain, though: from that night onwards, he was never bored again.
[1] "Asphodel" is the same flower he mentions during his first Potions lesson in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. According to Victorian flower language, it means "My regrets follow you to the grave".
[2] The fact that a man like Dumbledore sent Omegas to risk her life around the world, in the middle of ongoing wars, to save people, is not out of character. It will be explained… eventually.