Chapter
Four
~ In
which there is serious danger ~
“Behind you,
Ginny,” Severus whispered, laying a hand on her shoulder.
Ever so
slowly, the smaller Gryffindor turned her head, catching sight of a
wide-mouthed Slytherin on the way. Her eyes travelled further and she felt
herself freeze.
Perched upon
a fallen log was an enormous salivating black dog. It would have looked like a
normal bull-mastiff except that its eyes glowed a dull red. Two others were
standing behind it, just as large as their leader.
Ginny let
out a slight whimper. The three beasts responded with a blood-curdling howl.
“The
Firebolt!” Snape cried, his voice going higher than he’d intended. “Get up to
the treetops!”
As quick as
lightning, all three students scrambled onto the broomstick. The smallest dog
gave a howl of rage and leaped towards them.
“
But a
piercing scream stopped the broom in mid-flight.
“WAIT!”
Draco roared to Severus, staring in horror at the still figure below them.
Ginny had
been jerked off by the sudden acceleration of the broom and had fallen to the
ground, hitting her head on a sharp stone.
“RELASHIO!”
the Slytherin yelled, pointing his newly drawn wand at the slavering beasts.
A burst of
fiery sparks hit the lead dog with a sizzle. The huge beast shrieked in pain
and the smell of singed fur stopped the others just about to spring.
“MOBILICORPUS!”
came another voice strongly, making the body of Ginny Weasley jerk suddenly
into the air.
Draco
grimaced as Snape fought to direct Ginny’s body higher. Their
barely-functioning broom was sinking lower and the two unhurt dogs were
growling louder.
“She’s not
going to make it!” cried Draco in panic.
“SHUT
UP!” yelled Snape, his head hurting from concentration.
Without
warning the burnt dog gave a snarl and the closest dog’s eyes glowed bright
red. With a throaty howl it leapt up at Ginny’s floating body. His mind
suddenly blank, Draco gritted his teeth and threw himself at the beast with an
answering snarl. Boy and beast hit the ground with terrific force, winding them
both.
Severus gave
a shout of anger and dove the broom down, catching the barely conscious Ginny
over his shoulder. But the roughed-up broom couldn’t take it any longer and the
two Gryffindors were also flung to the ground. “Ginny, REDIVIVUS!” Snape
cried immediately, pointing his wand at the body next to him.
Without
waiting for her response, the black-haired boy leapt up, throwing himself on
the animal smothering Draco. Severus rolled the startled brute off the other
boy and closed his hands around its neck.
“You’ll
pay,” Snape hissed, his abnormally strong fingers wringing the great beast’s
neck. “I know what you are, I know who—AAARGH.”
“SEVERUS!”
It was like a pain he hadn’t experienced for so long, not since he had
served the Dark Lord…
“Hang on,
Severus!” came a distant voice.
Draco
searched wildly for his wand, but in vain, for it had fumbled from his grasp
when he’d leapt. Ignoring the stupidity once more, he threw himself at the
beast digging into Severus’s back. To his horror, the beast anticipated this
and rolled out of the way, and Draco ploughed into a hunched-over Severus.
Draco stared at the drooling fangs and tried to reach Severus’s wand instead.
“ST—”
“STUPEFY!”
came Ginny’s scream to his side, cutting him off.
The foaming
brute slumped to the ground. Draco’s head whipped around as he searched for the
other creatures, finally spotting them on the ground. He let out a sigh of
relief as he recovered his dropped wand, and walked shakily over to his
companions. Ginny was already stooped over Severus’s body, trying to roll him
off the strangled dog. Ginny looked up as he came over and gave him a small
smile.
“We need to
wash his bite before I close it,” she said softly, motioning to a nasty wound
in Snape’s back.
Draco nodded
weakly and lifted his wand. “Mobilicorp—”
“It’s all
right,” cut in Snape with a groan. “I can manage…”
Ginny bit
her lip and helped the larger boy up. Snape grimaced and tried to focus on
something besides his back. His eyes wandered around the scrubby clearing,
noticing that the dog he had strangled to death had lost the red light in its
eyes. He felt a rush of hatred in the pit of his stomach and looked away.
“Is that one
only stunned?” he asked his companions, pointing to the one that had bitten
him.
“Yeah,”
Draco assented, glancing at Ginny, but then noticing the bloody, disfigured
body of the other one. “What the hell happened to that one?”
Ginny
suppressed a shudder. “Well, it was coming straight at me,” she muttered.
“Diffindo?”
Snape asked, picking up the battered Firebolt.
Ginny
continued to stare at the mangled body. “Yeah,” she said. “It was the only
thing I could think of…perhaps it was a bit much…”
“It deserved
it,” replied Snape at once, casting a backward glance at his seemingly dead
beast on the ground. “Come on then.”
His two
companions followed him silently for some distance.
“A stream!”
Ginny cried gladly, running to the surface and turning it crystal clear. Relief
washed over her face as she started cleansing Snape’s nasty looking bite before
closing it up.
Draco
watched in silence, hesitating slightly as he approached the larger boy. “Look,
I’m sorry for being such a fool. I know I shouldn’t have jumped off the sodding
broom—”
“Then why
did you?” cut in Snape irritably, the pain of his wound just starting to sink
in. “Of all the stupid things you could’ve done – tackling the thing in midair
–”
“What?”
Ginny interrupted this time. “Did you really?”
Draco glared
at Severus as Ginny went off into peals of laughter. Snape glared at them both
in equal annoyance, when a sudden rustle brought them back to their situation.
A wave of irritation rushed over Snape’s face as he whipped his head around,
searching for the cause of the noise.
“Still up
for that race?” he asked, his eyes darting around the shadows.
Draco and
Ginny nodded uneasily.
“Let’s go.”
***
“Stop!”
hissed Snape, throwing his arms out against his two panting companions.
The two
students froze and clenched their wands tighter.
“What is
it?” Draco growled between breaths.
To their
shock he gave them both a broad smile. “Hogwarts,” he breathed, pulling back a
branch.
They were
standing on the edge of the forest, right at the back of the Quidditch change
rooms.
“Back where
we started,” Ginny murmured, placing a hand on the cool wall.
The three
students pushed their way out of the undergrowth and stood in the warm sunshine.
The great castle that was Hogwarts rose magnificently before them. Ginny felt
her knees go weak and Draco felt exceedingly tired all of a sudden. Snape
looked for the familiar glint of the Headmaster’s window and felt a feeling of
satisfaction swell up within him.
“WE MADE
IT!” Ginny shouted suddenly, making the two boys jump violently.
All three
students exploded into hysterical guffaws, running at the castle and punching
the air.
“We made
it!”
“To
Hogwarts!”
“And we’re
still alive!”
“No thanks
to you!”
“Oh, shut
up, Malfoy!”
“Finally!”
Severus crowed, giving them both a clap on the back but then stopping suddenly.
Draco and
Ginny also skidded to a stop and grinned at him breathlessly. Snape nodded
towards Hagrid’s cottage about a hundred yards away, at four rapidly
approaching figures.
“GINNY!”
came a roar.
Ginny’s face
lit up as she recognised the running figures. “Ron!” she laughed, running
forward to meet them.
Draco
wrinkled up his nose and looked sideways at Severus. Snape shrugged. “Yeah, let’s
go—”
“SEV!” came
a bellow, drowning out whatever the black-haired boy was about to say next.
Snape froze
and turned around to meet the enormous Gamekeeper. He hastily shook Hagrid’s
hand before the big giant could pull him into a hug.
“SEV!
Where’d yeh go? What happened? Everyone’s bin lookin’ for yeh; Dumbledore—”
But the
sound of three loud voices all talking at once drowned out even Hagrid’s
booming one.
“WHERE
HAVE YOU BEEN?!”
“WE’VE BEEN
LOOKING F’YOU FOR AGES—”
“WHERE
HAVE YOU BEEN?!”
“MUM AND
DAD’VE BEEN GOING MENTAL—”
“WHERE
HAVE YOU BEEN?!” they all finally cried at once, glaring at Ginny
half-angrily, half-hysterically.
Ginny looked
at them all dazedly, feeling quite overwhelmed. Hermione glared at her slightly
tearfully and suddenly gave her an enormous hug. “We were so worried…”
Ron looked
at her white-faced and gripped her shoulder very hard, as if he thought she was
going to suddenly disappear again. “Everyone was!” he said tightly.
Ginny still
felt slightly dazed. “Really?”
“Of course
we were,” a familiar voice agreed emphatically, making her heart beat faster.
Ginny turned
to meet the warm green eyes that she’d dreamt about since she was eleven. Harry
Potter gave her a relieved grin.
“Are you all
right? Do you need to sit down?” he asked, his grin fading slightly.
Ginny
blushed violently and tried to say something but her tongue seemed to be stuck.
To her surprise a deep voice spoke.
“We were
port-keyed at least forty miles into the
Harry, Ron
and Hermione spun around to face the speaker in shock.
“How—”
“I’m sure
Ginny will explain later, but right now we’ve got to report to the Headmaster,”
Severus cut in dispassionately.
“Hang on,”
said Ginny desperately, before her tongue froze again. She blushed violently
once more and presented Harry with the battered Firebolt. “Sorry it’s all
beaten up… If it’s any consolation… it saved my life.”
Draco gagged
loudly at this but Harry stared at the broom, barely recognising it. “My
Firebolt…” His stare transferred to Ginny and he smiled. “I can’t believe you
brought it back all that way. You didn’t need to– I’m just glad you’re all
right.”
Draco
scowled and Severus grabbed the Firebolt instead. “It needs to be examined for
further dark magic,” he said nastily, ignoring Harry’s mutinous frown. “I’m
sure Dumbledore will let you have it later… what’s left of it anyway.”
Severus
smirked slightly but motioned impatiently to Ginny and flicked his head at
Draco. But Ginny was still being interrogated by her brother, with Hermione
giving cries of horror every now and then.
“But what I
don’t get is,” Ron burst out finally, after interrupting Ginny every time she
tried to explain something, “ –HOW DID YOU TRAVEL FORTY MILES THROUGH
THE BLOODY FORBIDDEN
Ginny looked
taken aback at her brother swearing and paused. Ron, Hermione, and even Harry
were gazing at her with barely concealed admiration. Ginny looked at her shoes.
“Oh…well, we wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for these two,” she said
loyally, glowing at Draco and Severus.
Harry, Ron
and Hermione stared at the two boys incredulously while Draco and Severus gave
them their best scowls.
“Hurry up!”
Snape snapped, glaring at an unfortunate Ginny.
“Yeah, talk
it up, Weasley…” Draco muttered, giving her a dirty look.
Ron opened his
mouth to yell something when his best friend laid a hand on his shoulder. “Not
now, Ron,” Harry murmured, throwing Draco a dirty look in return. “Ginny needs
some rest.”
Ron’s face
turned worried again. “Ginny, d’you want us to carry you back to the castle—”
“Ron, I’m
fine.”
“No, but you
might be feeling ill, and you could’ve caught something out there in that
creepy—”
“Yes,
there’s lots of nasty bugs out there, I read about it in One Million and One
Life-Threatening Disea—”
“Hermione!
I’m fine—”
“Now I’m
your brother, and I think you need a long rest with plenty of—”
“It’s just
that we care,” put in Harry hastily, seeing Ginny turn red.
“Yeah,
Gin’,” Ron replied soothingly, patting her on the back. “I mean, if I’d been
stuck with Malfoy along with loony Death Eaters on my tail, I’d be out of my
mind right now.”
Ginny opened
her mouth indignantly but it was another voice that spoke.
“Look, Weasley,
if you weren’t such a blithering idiot you would notice that she was
OK—” it took Ginny a few seconds to realise that Draco was talking to her
brother and not her, “—and what’s more, Ginny’s probably handled it better than
you ever could’ve, you great stinking—”
“Don’t you dare
call my sister by her first name, Malfoy,” Ron spat, whipping out his
wand.
“RON!” bellowed
Ginny, waving her hands in her brother’s face. “Stop it!”
Harry and
Ron stared at her dubiously, along with Hermione who was giving her a hard
look.
“Look,
Dumbledore’s expecting us,” Ginny carried on, a slight flush appearing at the
back of her neck “So Severus and, erm… Draco and I… should start going.”
Hermione’s
look turned disbelieving, along with Harry and Ron who stared at her in slight
horror. The freckled boy reddened and rounded on Draco at once, grabbing his
shoulder roughly.
“You
watch yourself, Malfoy,” he hissed, right next to the scowling Slytherin’s
ear.
A steely
grip on Ron’s shoulder made him turn slightly.
“You
watch it, Weasley,” Severus Snape snarled, giving Hagrid a glare as he moved to
intervene.
Harry sent
Snape a furious look and rounded on Draco. “Trust you to chum up with
another Crabbe slash Goyle counterpart,” he sneered, giving Snape his most
disgusted look.
Severus
turned white and clenched his fists, but it was an unlikely source that
intervened.
“Harry!
How…how could you?” Ginny stammered, giving the rage-filled Snape an
apologetic look. “Severus saved my life…more than once, and yes, even Malfoy!
Show them some respect… please.”
Harry, Ron
and Hermione stood there, dumbfounded once more. Hagrid scratched his head, looking
quite surprised himself.
“Now, if you
don’t mind, we’re going to see Dumbledore,” Ginny finished off determinedly.
And with that, the flushing Gryffindor turned her heel and marched away.
Snape and
Draco smirked at each other. “If, you don’t mind,” Draco drawled,
jerking himself from Ron’s grip and setting off after Ginny. Snape crossed his
arms and followed silently, unable to stop himself from sniggering at their
expressions before he left.
Ron sat down
hard on the short grass. “She’s gone mad,” he murmured faintly, shaking his
head.
“She was acting odd,” Hermione muttered in
agreement.
“I guess
being stuck with them for a week, really changes a person,” Harry added,
gazing at Ginny’s retreating figure with raised eyebrows.
***
“Er…I’m sorry
about—wait! Where are you going?” Ginny exclaimed, as Severus pulled them
behind an enormous tapestry.
“Shortcut to
Dumbledore’s office,” Snape answered, revealing a hidden passage opening out to
a narrow corridor. “I don’t want a lot of nosy students breathing down my
neck…”
“How did
you—”
“I’ve stayed
here holidays remember? Since there was no one here, I had free reign over the
castle…lots of time to explore.”
Snape smiled
to himself. At least he’d been ready for that one.
Ginny looked
somewhat satisfied and continued. “Well, anyway, I’m sorry about all the fuss
that happened earlier—”
“It’s all
right,” Snape cut in, casting a sidelong look at Draco.
“Yeah,”
Draco smirked, “–the look on their faces when you said you were going off with
us…”
Draco’s voice
drained out to an uncomfortable silence. The only sound now was the faint echo
of footfalls on the stony floor.
“I did mean
it…” Ginny began in a small voice. “I mean… I never thanked you, Severus… and
you, er, Draco. I wouldn’t mind, you know… We could still talk and er…”
There was an
awkward silence as Ginny trailed off and no one replied.
Severus felt
a strange feeling swell up in his stomach as his thoughts drifted back to the
last few days. All the pain and Death Eater attacks aside, it would not be
those instances he’d remember in the years to come. It would be the smaller,
almost insignificant moments - Draco and Ginny gathering food, falling out of
trees, laughing and fighting at the same time… Severus started to rub his right
palm unconsciously.
“Blood on
blood,” he mumbled to himself.
Draco and
Ginny continued to gaze at the stony floor, vague memories of that night
wisping into their minds.
“Well, at
least we know that the oath worked after all,” Ginny murmured.
“Yeah, but
like I said earlier,” Draco sneered, though rather half-heartedly. “I was
hoping to get more than just a sore left hand.”
To his shock
Ginny collapsed on the spot. Draco dropped to her side in alarm, only to
discover that she was silently laughing.
“Sore… sore
left hand!” she gasped for air, getting to her feet and starting to move once
more. “Well, I don’t know what you were expecting when you got stranded in the
forest with a beautiful girl, but I assure you, Draco, a sore left hand was the
most you could’ve expected.”
Severus
rolled his eyes at the childish innuendo but started sniggering at Draco’s
pained expression.
And although
Severus felt they’d have answered a hesitant not really when asked if
they were friends, he knew that something strange had happened in that moment.
Something had changed.
The three
students reached the end of the passage and blinked at the sudden light, as the
thick tapestry was pulled backwards by Albus Dumbledore himself. Severus, Draco
and Ginny trooped quickly out, to find themselves standing in the same corridor
as the statue that led to the Headmaster’s office.
“I’m afraid
the whole school has headed down to the Entrance Hall to get a look at you, but
I assume you’d rather come upstairs and have a chat?” Dumbledore inquired, his
eyes twinkling at Severus.
Draco and
Ginny looked at him reluctantly, thinking of the enormous welcome that awaited
them. Not to mention it was probably time for lunch…
The
Headmaster seemed to read their minds. “Yes, I have a small meal prepared for
my hungry travellers, and also, I’m sure your parents would like to drop by to
make sure you’re all right…”
All three of
their faces lit up at the mention of food, but then Draco remembered something,
something that made his body feel numb.
“My father…”
he began.
“Yes, yes,
please tell me everything upstairs, come along now,” Dumbledore interrupted
briskly, whispering the password and gesturing them to the stairs.
When all
three were seated, (which didn’t take long as the food was sitting next to the
chairs) Dumbledore spoke in an unusual, serious tone.
“Now, I
wouldn’t be pulling you up here if it wasn’t vital you told me exactly what
happened. I know you are hungry, tired, and generally uncomfortable, but would
you please recount all the details of your disappearance.”
Draco
shrugged and Ginny scratched her head. Snape looked at them and sighed. “You
two can eat, I’ll tell the story…”
And he told
Dumbledore in as much detail as he could remember, all about their weary
journey, helped out by a few comments between mouthfuls by Draco and Ginny.
He began
with how they had all ended up in the Quidditch change rooms, the fight over
the Firebolt, the sudden disappearance, the story that he told Draco and Ginny
about his ending up there (while flashing the Headmaster a meaningful look),
their encounter with Voldemort, Draco with his father (Dumbledore looked
incredibly sombre at this account), the single Death Eater incident, the
centaur (the Headmaster’s face brightening), the oath (turning thoughtful),
their last trek through the forest and finally the encounter with the horrible
dogs. And all through this, each had added comments about small hardships they
had come across, from the poisonous snakes to the swamps of quicksand.
When they
had finally finished, Mr and Mrs Weasley, along with Bill and Charlie Weasley
popped out of the fireplace, demanding an explanation and throwing themselves
onto Ginny as soon as they saw her. And so they had to tell the whole story
again for their benefit, and again when the Heads of Houses and Cornelius Fudge
turned up, and once more when everyone demanded to hear it a second time, it
was so unbelievable.
Luckily, on
the third time Dumbledore had bewitched a quill so it wrote down everything
that had been said by the exhausted trio. A copy was made for the Weasleys, the
Minister of Magic, and a special one each for Draco, Ginny and Severus, and
finally one for Dumbledore himself.
The Heads of
Houses departed for the Great Hall and Fudge departed via Floo. The Weasleys
said their reluctant and tearful (mostly on behalf of Mrs Weasley) goodbyes,
and were the last to leave. Before he left, Arthur Weasley shook hands with
Severus and then, hesitantly, with Draco.
“You’re good
lads,” he said sincerely, giving them both small smiles, “If there’s anything I
can do for you…”
Snape smiled
politely back and Draco shut his mouth firmly and shook his head.
“You’re good
lads,” he repeated finally, stepping backwards into the fireplace.
Dumbledore
rubbed his hands together. “And now I think you can go.” He smiled, shooing
them out the door. “I’m sure everyone at the feast will be dying to know your
story also.”
All three
companions exchanged broadening smiles. They had been sitting in his office for
several hours and, although they had tried to listen attentively to everything
the Headmaster was saying, all they had really heard was one word:
Feast.
***
“Hang on,
will you!” Ginny exclaimed, all three students cascading down the stairs with
the black-haired boy in front as usual.
“You two had
all that food in Dumbledore’s office,” Snape argued, refusing to slow down as
he thought of the feast ahead.
“That was
long forgotten!” Draco counteracted, shoving in front of the other boy with a
triumphant cry.
“Wait!”
Ginny yelled once more, putting on a sudden burst of speed. “We look awful!
Shouldn’t we stop off at –oof!”
Snape
stopped suddenly, making both Draco and Ginny collide into him and knocking
them all into a heap on the stairs.
“Watch out,”
muttered Snape annoyed. “What’d you do that for?”
“ME?!” Draco
countered indignantly, shoving the larger boy off him.
“Get off!”
bellowed Ginny, whose robes they were still standing on.
“Yes,
perhaps we should tidy up a bit,” Snape said thoughtfully, smoothing
down his short hair and ignoring the other two’s glares. “After all, what kind
of long lost heroes are we, if we don’t enter in style?”
Draco
smirked, forgetting their accident. “Prefects bathroom ahead,” he declared,
sprinting down once more.
Ginny
grinned to herself and followed a running Snape. “I hope it’s empty…” she
murmured, catching up and standing in front of a creamy picture of a lemon.
Draco
whispered the password and climbed through the gap, leaving the two Gryffindors
outside.
Snape looked
at Ginny a trifle smugly. “Didn’t you know? Draco’s a Prefect.”
Ginny
blinked at him. “Oh, well… good for him…”
Clambering
through the portrait hole, Ginny looked around in awe. Immediately starting
towards the massive sunken-in bath, she came to a sudden stop. “Er…is this a
boy’s bathroom?”
Draco tested
the frothy water with a finger. “Yeah, but there’s no one in here. They’re all
probably waiting in the Great Hall.”
Snape
started to undo his robe and Ginny gaped at him. “Er…but what…what about
you…er, you two?” Ginny stuttered, turning a violent shade of puce as Snape
bared his chest.
“What?”
replied Draco blankly, removing his shoes.
“See-you-in-a-bit!”
Ginny yelled suddenly, jumping into the only closed shower cubicle and slamming
the door.
“What’s with
her?” Draco mouthed to the larger boy. Peeling off his outer robes, Draco
plunged into the bath with a sigh.
Severus soon
followed, taking care not to reveal his Death Eater tattoo. The water was so
warm and relaxing he soon forgot all else, until his thoughts were interrupted
by a loud blaring noise seeming to come out of nowhere.
“Play
something else, you dratted thing!” he heard Draco growl.
Severus spun
lazily to look over at Draco, who was irritably prodding some sort of stone
lion with his wand. The lion had a defiant look on its face and the sound of
bagpipes droned from its open mouth.
“One of the
Slytherin prefects charmed it last year,” Draco explained. He hit the lion with
his palm. “Although the bloody thing’s supposed to produce music.”
The lion
started playing an angry fast tune, as if to say it was producing music.
“Hey! I like
bagpipes!” came a muffled shout from the shower cubicle.
“Yeah, but
you’ve got bad taste!” Draco yelled back, but giving up on the smug stone lion
in disgust. “Sounds like someone’s beating a house-elf…”
“Bagpipes are
all right,” Severus yawned.
“ –And the
house-elf’s beating a kneazle,” continued to moan Draco, now under a cloud of
shampoo. “And the kneazle’s being violently ill…”
Severus felt
too lazy to care. “Just make it stop if you don’t like it.”
“Don’t you
dare!” came Ginny’s answering shout.
“I can’t,”
muttered Draco bitterly, as the stone lion steadfastly ignored his wand
movements. “The bloody thing hates me now… for absolutely no reason…”
After half
an hour of complaints about bagpipes, and the resulting water fights that thus
ensued, all three teenagers left the bathroom soaked and slightly more
dishevelled than when they’d entered. The trio glanced at each other and burst
into snorts of laughter.
“To the
Great Hall!” Ginny cried dramatically, whipping Draco in the face with her wet
hair.
“Race you!”
Snape said hastily, seeing the young Slytherin turn red.
“On your
marks—”
“—Get set—”
“GO!”
***
“Where is
she?!” hissed Ron, jabbing the table with his fork.
The whole
school milled around in the Great Hall, including teachers and the Headmaster
himself. Word had spread like wildfire and Dumbledore had come down and given
them a short recount on what had befallen Ginny, Draco and Severus. Although
they didn’t know it, their disappearance had caused an enormous uproar in the
magical community.
The Firebolt
had been traced and revealed to have been tinkered with dark magic, and since
Ginny had been going to fetch it the day she disappeared…
Hogwarts had
been in chaos, and no one knew where to start looking since they had left no
clue to their whereabouts. It was widely rumoured that Voldemort had risen once
more, and now Albus Dumbledore himself had confirmed it during his tale.
The past
several days had been nervous unsettling ones, and with students being ushered
to each class by teachers, it was just like when the Chamber of Secrets had
been opened. It was enough to shake anyone’s nerves, but when the news had
reached Hogwarts that the three lost students were safe, students and teachers
alike were so overjoyed that they threw up their usual Saturday activities and
celebrated.
It was
because of this that the whole school was waiting with baited breath as three
awkward figures stumbled uncomfortably through the doorway.
Severus
Snape stared around at the sea of expectant faces around him and his smile
dissipated.
A roar like
the sound of an enormous wave crashing hit them full on. All of a sudden they
were drowning in a sea of students all rushing to whack them over the shoulder
or shake their hands or pat them on the head or simply roar even louder in
their ears. Snape gasped for breath and struggled to get out but was pushed
even further under by another magically appearing swarm. Ginny was laughing and
crying at the same time, her voice ringing with emotion as she hugged her
friends and her brothers all at once. Draco was being pummelled by the
Slytherins, the older years congratulating him and slapping him on the back,
the girls staring at him adoringly. Snape noticed, to his utmost disgust, that
he also had an enormous girl troupe trying to get as close as they could to the
‘mysterious new boy’.
“Will
everyone please resume their seats?” rang a clear voice from the other end of
the hall.
Severus sent
the Headmaster a relieved look as everyone moved reluctantly back to their
chairs. A burly Ravenclaw offered to carry Ginny to her seat but she graciously
denied, grinning widely at Draco and Severus. Draco rolled his eyes and peeled
a hysterical Pansy Parkinson off him.
Dumbledore motioned for them to come towards the front and smiled
slightly. The three travellers strode forward, feeling slightly awed at all the
attention transfixed upon them.
Ginny sent
Harry and Hermione a hurt look as she walked past them. “Why didn’t you come to
welcome me?” she whispered.
Harry winked
at her and Hermione smiled. “Party in the common room afterwards,” she
whispered back.
Ginny glowed
at them and soon found herself standing in front of a serious-looking
Dumbledore. Her smile evaporated and she looked in alarm at the unusually
sombre Headmaster. Dumbledore nodded at them and raised his arms to the rest of
the hall.
“I have
briefly recounted the chain of events that led to the disappearance of these
three students. Now that they have returned, there is no use denying it any
longer.” Dumbledore’s eyes seemed to bore into every single person’s in the
room. “Voldemort has returned.”
The unlikely
trio at the front looked at each other soberly, their encounter with the Dark
Lord playing slowly in their minds.
“But—” the
tone of Dumbledore’s voice changed dramatically, “—we must not be discouraged
in the face of such evil—” he turned to the three companions and smiled
slightly, “—and we should always hold on to our successes, and ever always
celebrate them.”
A ragged
cheer arose from the school, the atmosphere lightening considerably.
“And so,”
Dumbledore continued, holding up his hands again for silence, “it’s time for
the old points awarding—” the hall’s cheer rose up again, “—and I’m sure you’ll
all agree; for acting with courage, cunning and showing pure willpower in an
utterly bizarre and chilling, devoid-of-their-fault circumstance, I award Ginny
Weasley, Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape… fifty points each!”
It was as if
they had just walked in again, the roar of cheering was as deafening as before.
Harry and Hermione were punching the air wildly, with Ron, Fred and George
leaping on the table and cheering with pride. There was a lot of whistling and
bellowing from the Slytherin table. Even the other two tables were cheering
uproariously, but the unlikely trio stood stock-still and looked at each other
wide-eyed.
“But…but we
didn’t do anything,” Ginny whispered.
“DIDN’ DO
ANYTHIN’, SHE SAYS!” Hagrid boomed heartily, slapping Professor McGonagall on
the back and giving a chuckle.
A wave of
laughter started up in the hall while Professor McGonagall replaced her
spectacles.
“But it’s
true…” Ginny said, looking at Draco and Severus.
“Oh well…”
Draco grunted, torn by the prospect of fifty points.
Dumbledore
smiled. “Of course, you haven’t heard.”
But a chorus
of voices cut in first.
“The
Ministry’s caught several—”
“Dozens!”
“Yeah,
DOZENS of Death Eaters—”
“At the far
side of the
“They stuck
out on account of a huge Dark Mark—”
“Most of ‘em
stupidly Disapparated to the edge of the forest—”
“VERY
stupidly!”
“Yeah, right
into Aurors loving arms—”
“And one
blabbed—”
“Seems they
were going to some hollow—”
“And so off
popped the Aurors, Charlie was with them—”
“And Bill!
And Dad!”
“Yeah, they
outnumbered the robed-rotters five to one—”
“Dad caught
one single-handedly—”
“But we had
no idea—”
“NO IDEA—”
“That you
had anything to do with it—”
Dumbledore
smiled at them congenially. “Thank you Fred and George Weasley, and I might
also add that your return has opened up the eyes of the Wizarding community,
and especially the Ministry.”
But their
heads were still in a whirl with the sudden news.
“What
about...?” Snape’s voice trailed off as he gave Dumbledore a meaningful look.
The
Headmaster shook his head. “Alas, Voldemort himself and his inner circle
weren’t traced, even some minor cat’s paws escaped. But we did get the
majority, so cheer up, make yourself merry! It is only four o’clock and we have
a long celebration ahead of us!”
The hall
cheered as mountains of food started appearing on the long tables. Draco, Ginny
and Severus suddenly remembered their hunger and gazed at the banquet in
anticipation.
“C’mon,
Gin’!” chorused Fred and George Weasley.
Ginny beamed
at them and turned to their scarlet table. She looked uncertainly to Draco and
Severus and then back at her table.
“See you
round I suppose,” Draco said stiffly, and moved off to the stamping Slytherin
table.
Ginny sent
Severus a hopeful look. Snape scowled and followed her reluctantly to the
Gryffindor table. He seated himself right at the end and began to shovel down
food as fast as he could.
“Hullo
there!” came a cheery voice next to his elbow.
Snape looked
up as a blonde boy plonked himself down on the seat next to him. He was
unfamiliar to Snape, yet he was far too large to be a first year.
“Oh!” the
boy said extending a hand. “My name’s Philip Woodley! I was next up for Sorting
after you, remember? I just transferred.”
Severus
ignored the boy and hoped he would move away. He couldn’t remember seeing him
at the Sorting, but then there had been more exchange students than usual this
year. He was just about to resume eating
when something large and wet landed on his plate. Much to his disgust, a large yellow
toad was burrowing around in his mashed potato.
“Sorry about
that!” came the cheery voice once more. “Thorn’s like that y’know, loves her
mash.”
Severus
fixed him with a steely glare.
“Here, Thorny, come on, girl, get out of the
angry boy’s ‘taters,” Woodley coaxed, prodding the toad with his carrot.
Severus
opened his mouth to say something cutting when the boy gave him a sudden wink.
“I think she likes you, what did you say your name was? Scrape or something
like that—”
“I didn’t
say,” Severus cut in with barely-concealed rage, “ –and its Snape,
weren’t you listening to the Headmaster?”
“Oh, yes!”
Woodley replied instantly, sending him an admiring look. “But I’m just terrible
with names! Ha ha!”
Severus ignored
him and pushed his toad-filled plate away in distaste. He had just reached for
a new one and was piling it up once more when Woodley clutched him violently.
“What is
it?” he cried in alarm, all of the instincts of the forest kicking back into
gear.
“Thorn did a
trick!” cheered Woodley, picking up the fat toad and dancing it across the
table.
“What year are you in?” Severus
demanded, in his most withering tone.
“Fourth
year!” whooped Woodley, flipping the alarmed toad, oblivious to the glare Severus
was giving him.
“Yes,
I can tell,” sneered Snape in distaste, specks of gravy flying
everywhere.
“Maybe we’ll
be in the same classes together?” said Woodley, turning his attention back to
Severus.
“I am
in fifth year,” Severus said snootily. “We don’t associate with younger years.”
“Are you
really?” asked the other boy. “But what about the other missing girl? She’s a
fourth year – I know because we’re a girl short and—”
“Well, she’s
more mature than most of your year,” cut in Snape with a scowl, looking
at Woodley as if he was something gooey in the bottom of one of his cauldrons.
To his
annoyance, the twinkling boy just gave a wink and nudged him hard in the ribs.
“Mature, eh? Know what you mean, she looks like she’s got a temper though! Say
no more!”
“Look,
will you just leave me alone?” Snape replied dangerously, grinding his
teeth.
“No need to
get your robes in a twist, Scrapey old boy! Here, I’ll give you a hold of Thorn
if you—”
But at that
moment Snape gave a strangled roar and threw himself on the alarmed Mr Woodley
and started pummelling him with his juice goblet.
“GO IT,
WOODLEY!” came a roar.
“SNAPE,
SNAPE!” came an answering chant.
“Severus!
No!” screamed the unmistakable voice of Ginny Weasley.
“C’ARN,
WOODO!”
“Watch it,
Pip!”
“SLAUGHTER
HIM, SEVERUS!”
The last
cheering bellow had come from the other side of the room, where Draco Malfoy
was dancing around on the Slytherin table, his eyes bright and his goblet
raised to the ceiling.
“Philip
Woodley, SEVERUS SNAPE!” came a shout from the staff table.
The two
scuffling boys leapt to their feet and stared in horror. Minerva McGonagall
descended towards them like a very tall and thin, enraged bull ant.
“DETENTION!”
she roared, and seized them both by the ears and pulled them out of the Great
Hall.
A storm of
clapping rose from the table as the two flushing boys were yanked past. Philip
managed to throw his toad to another fourth year before he went, and soon they
were away from the noise and were heading upstairs along an old dusty corridor.
“Let go of
me!” Snape hissed, outraged and humiliated by being pulled away by his own
colleague.
“You should
be setting an example, Mr Snape,” McGonagall grated, twisting his ear
harder.
“Oh no,”
groaned Woodley. “Not the Trophy Room…”
McGonagall stopped
outside a door and looked sharply at Philip.
“Don’t tell
me you’ve had a detention already, Mr Woodley?” she asked disbelievingly.
From the
look of Woodley’s crestfallen face, it seemed he had.
“Now, I will
be calling Filch to ensure he looks over you while you work,” McGonagall said
sternly, shoving the two boys into the Hogwarts Trophy Room. “There are the
cleaning tools in the corner, and there’s no point using magic in here as your
wands will refuse to work.”
And with
that, the still-outraged witch slammed the door while the two boys moaned in
complaint.
After a
slight pause, Woodley rubbed his cheek. “That’s quite a punch you pack there,
Scrape.”
Severus felt
like desperately punching him again, but restrained himself and took to glaring
at him instead.
He looked
rather like Draco, Snape noticed, picking up a wet rag and moving to a trophy.
He had the same blonde hair, although it was brighter and thicker, and the same
pointed face. In fact, if he wasn’t always grinning like an idiot and his eyes
were a cold grey instead of a twinkling green, they’d make a strange match.
Woodley
looked up and caught Snape’s eye. “All right?” he said good-naturedly, as if
they hadn’t been bashing each other ten minutes ago.
Severus
scowled in response and went back to cleaning his trophy. To his surprise, it
was already sparkling clean, as were nearly all of the rest. He looked at the
other boy.
“Yeah.”
Woodley grinned. “I cleaned most of ‘em two nights ago. That Squelch really
breathes down your neck…”
Severus
grunted. The stupid boy must be talking about Filch.
“What did
you do to get the detention?” he asked grumpily, throwing his rag back and
slumping against the wall.
“Oh, you
know…” Woodley shrugged distractedly, finishing off the last of the trophies
and perching lightly on the bench. “Got lost…”
Severus
grunted once more. He couldn’t be bothered asking for the details.
“So tell me,
what was it like out there in the woods?” asked Woodley wistfully, after a long
pause.
Severus
shrugged. It had been the best time he’d had for ages. “All right,” he
said stiffly.
“I grew up
in the city you know,” sighed the other boy.
Snape gave
him a scathing look, hoping he’d take the hint that he didn’t care.
“I was
home-schooled,” Woodley went on, not noticing the other boy’s sneer. “I didn’t
even know this place existed…”
“How could
you not?” Snape replied rather scornfully. “Every wizard in
Woodley
shrugged lightly, looking embarrassed. He was just about to reply when the door
burst open and Filch stomped nastily in.
“Aha! Not
working are we?” he accused, glaring at the two boys.
“We’re
finished!” replied Woodley cheerfully, giving him a whack on the shoulder and
slipping past him.
“See you,
Argus,” Snape said vaguely, and also pushed past.
Filch stared
disbelievingly around at the sparkling trophies. “Cheeky stinkers,” he muttered
under his breath, his plan of yelling at the boys for the rest of the evening
vanishing into nothing.
***
Severus was
welcomed in the Gryffindor common room by a cheerful roar and numerous
crackers. Swiftly backing out of the portrait hole, he decided to pay
Dumbledore a visit instead. He still had
to fill him in on the details of the
Severus left
in great disgust, ignoring the invitation to stay. He walked back down to his
old quarters, sitting himself down in his armchair by the fire. Although it
felt good to be back amongst his old things, the stark, chilly atmosphere
familiar and comforting, he still felt restless. He poured himself a glass of
Firewhiskey to relax, and soon found himself dozing.
It was about
midnight when Snape decided to creep back to his dormitory to retire. However,
whenever he tried to close his eyes, vivid images of their time spent in the
forest would replay in his mind.
His thoughts
eventually drifted to the Woodley boy. During the scuffle he had looked quickly
up when he’d heard Draco’s voice cheering him on. Draco hadn’t looked at all
like the sneering boy who’d once been his student, his face full of mirth and
his hair tousled about.
Then Draco
had been pulled down by that new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Snape
smiled to himself as he remember her chasing him around the Hogwarts grounds,
only to grab a pile of robes with Dumbledore’s name on them. It seemed so long
ago now. Everything before the forest seemed so distant and vague, but he could
still remember those flashing grey eyes as she had struggled to hold him down.
He would be looking forward to Defence Against the Dark Arts this year.
And with
that last thought in his mind, Severus Snape fell asleep with a slight smile
playing on his thin lips.
***