Disclaimer: I own only Katrina and Maggie. The rest belong to the esteemed J.K. Rowling.
He stormed through the doors of the great hall and out into the entranceway. He scowled as he stopped to watch Filch examining each of the twenty muggle-like bags which were stacked in the hallway. Damn that Umbridge woman for forcing him into this. Instead of enjoying a quiet Saturday down in his room working on formulating some new potions, he was being forced to escort some idiotic fifth-year students to their Advanced Muggle Studies class.
"Good morning, Severus," came a quiet voice at his side.
He turned slowly, speaking as he did, "Minerva." His scowl deepened as the Transfiguration teacher smiled slightly. "And no, it is not a good morning."
She laughed quietly, "And here I thought you'd be glad to have your least favorite class leaving the castle for a week."
"Ah, but I am the one who is being forced to escort them to Professor Smith's residence," he growled quietly, watching the Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years nervously entering the entry hall.
"What!" McGonagal said, obviously louder than she'd intended as she spun to face him.
He glared at her as a couple students turned to look at them. He moved to speak but she cut him off.
"I just remembered something I needed to do." With that, she smoothly left the hall, headed in the direction of her office.
Ready to snarl aloud, Snape advanced on the students who were now grabbing their bags from the pile. Obviously Filch was finished his inspection. Snape waved the sniveling man off as he towered over the students. He glanced over the group for a minute before speaking, noting the irritated looks of his own house. He couldn't blame them. The thought of a week inside a muggle home disgusted him as well. The Gryffindor's weren't nearly as disgruntled, though he watched with enjoyment as they squirmed under his glare.
"We are leaving now and will be doing a portion of our traveling through muggle means. I expect you all to remain silent. The slightest sound from any of you and I will deduct points from your house." He silently grumbled, having earlier memorized the directions to the house where the students would be spending a week. They would take a port-key from Hogsmeade to the London home of a retired Hogswart teacher. From there, they would take a muggle bus. "Come along," he said as he opened the doors to the castle and stepped outside.
-- --
Minerva McGonagal was in a startled state as she hurried back to her office. Snape had never taken students to the Advanced Muggle Studies class before, and for good reason. She was well aware of the history between the Potions master and the other teacher. She also knew that Dumbledore would never send Snape to escort the students to that lesson.
Entering her office, she grabbed some parchment and penned off a hasty letter to Dumbledore. She didn't know where he was at the moment, but she knew that her own owl could find him.
She sent off her owl and contemplated ways to avoid the return of the sure-to-be-livid Potions master.
-- --
Harry exchanged looks with Hermoine as they got on the muggle bus. There were not many in their class, beyond themselves, who had been raised in muggle homes. They could see the discomfit with which Snape and the Slytherins mounted the bus. Even some of their fellow Gryffindors looked uncomfortable.
Their head of household, Professor McGonagal had given them some of the details. She'd also mentioned that normally they would be going without their wands, but that this year they would keep their wands with them. She had also mentioned that the house where they would be staying was warded so that magic was completely useless there. It was the same with potions and any other enchanted items.
Harry glanced again at Snape and was again startled by the muggle clothes he was wearing. Snape was wearing a black turtleneck shirt and a pair of black jeans. All of the students, too, were dressed in muggle clothes and it was a strange sight. This is not to say that they didn't draw attention, for people seemed to be intimidated by Snape and they silently moved out of the group's way.
As the bus proceeded to move, Harry glanced out of the window, wondering what this class would be like but knowing that it would be nice to be out of the castle for a while.
-- --
Snape glanced at the parchment with the directions again once he'd exited the bus. He looked around at the rundown row houses lining this street and wondered if he'd somehow made a mistake. Catching sight of a street sign, he knew that he hadn't. This was indeed Oak Street. Now he needed to figure out which way to go to get to number 29.
He quickly directed the class to follow him as he strode off to the right, occasionally glancing at the numbers on the homes. There was number 29, looking no better kept than its neighbors. He strode up the handful of steps leading to the door, the class following uncertainly behind him.
Raising his hand to the door, he could feel the magical wards covering this home and was sure this was the correct place. He pushed the button to the side of the door as the instructions stated and he waited.
-- --
Katrina glanced up as she heard the ringing of the doorbell reverberate through the house. "Maggie, can you check who is there?" she called once she'd turned off the shower. She snatched a towel from the rack and began drying off, deciding she'd been in there long enough. She grabbed her robe and pulled it on as the running footsteps of her daughter reached the bathroom door.
"Mum, there's a class outside!" Maggie announced breathlessly.
Katrina opened the door, startled. "A class? But there was no word of a class coming today. That is so strange." She toweled off her hair as best as she could as she headed quickly for the front door. She didn't bother looking at the monitor next to the door, she simply pushed the button which would release the front door locks. She turned to Maggie, "Stall them a moment while I run and get dressed."
She ran up the stairs and into her bedroom.
-- --
Snape heard the front door unlocking and he turned the handle, pulling it open and ushering the students through before him. He gave a last glance around the street before he himself entered, pulling the door closed behind him.
He ignored the startled muttering of the students as they found themselves standing on the grassy lawn of a large three story home. The house was surrounded by a short chain-link fence which ran around the property, forming a large yard. Beyond the fence was a grey nothing. The property was at least 4 times the size it had appeared to be from the street and Snape found himself impressed by the work someone went to in hiding this place.
He was also suitably impressed with the anti-magic warding which he felt the moment he had crossed through the door. The layering of the magic was so exquisitely worked he knew that Dumbledore himself must have arranged it. The complexity of combining the space-increasement charm and the anti-magic ward was mind-boggling. He strode through the students and led them to the front door of the red-brick home before him.
There was no button to push here, so he simply raised his hand to knock. He was unsurprised when the door opened immediately. He found himself facing a tall, lovely girl of fifteen or sixteen with long, straight black hair and pretty hazel eyes.
"Please," the girl said, opening the door wide and gesturing inside, "Come in. My mother will be downstairs in a moment."
He again ushered the students in ahead of himself, slowly following them inside. The living room was large with high ceilings. There were a handful of couches and chairs scattered through the room, arranged so that small groups of people could sit and face each other. A bookcase was against the opposite wall and he glanced briefly at the assorted items there. There were a handful of books, some pictures in frames, and a couple small, silver-colored statues. He looked over to the fireplace before looking back at the bookcase. Something about those statues was triggering a long-buried memory. An auburn-haired woman with hazel eyes. She was unwrapping a small box that he had handed her, slowly pulling out a small statue of a winged horse. She laughed in delight as the horse shook its head and flapped its wings. Snape shook his head, pushing the memory away. He slowly approached the bookcase, intent on getting a better look at the statues, when footsteps sounded on the staircase that he now had his back to.
He turned smoothly, glanced at the woman briefly, looked towards the students, then his eyes shot back to the woman on the stairs as his brain caught up to what his eyes were seeing. He gaped at her, his eyes wide in shock. He was oblivious to the others in the room as his eyes met her equally shocked hazel eyes. "Katrina?" The word was barely a whisper, but it may as well have been a shout in the silent room.
A/N: I have most of this story written and I will try to update as quickly as possible.