A soft place to fall.
The laughter echoed down the halls, the recently repaired stonework reverberated with the sound.
"Minerva, you can't be serious, I have heard the position is cursed, teachers have never lasted more than a year."
"Don't be daft girl, only a few have actually died, this year we hope to change that. Some simply left whilst others were not quite suited for the position" Minerva McGonagall, the new headmistress sighed and went on, "This year should be different with Voldemort dead, the curse should be broken." They were not quite sure of that, this was the first year the position had been offered since the events of a couple of years ago.
The small woman broke in,
"Then why have you offered it to me? I thought you liked me Minerva?" the smile on the other woman's face belied the rebuke.
Their robes made swishing sounds as they walked, the sun streaming through the windows. It was almost the start of the new school year and the castle had an air of expectancy about it, Filch was cleaning the floors and walls, the gardeners were planting the gardens and school supplies were coming in by the carriage load.
They heard footsteps coming toward them and around a corner swept an imposing figure, all in black, professorial robes sweeping behind him. He swept past them with a curt nod to the Headmistress, a flick of the eyes at her companion and continued down the hall behind them.
"Oh Professor, Professor Snape... I would like …" but he was gone, his long legs taking him quickly around another corner.
Dear me, she sighed... "Sorry my dear, he is not quite the social creature we would like especially now; however, we understand now many more things we didn't before..."
Allegra, the woman that Minerva had been speaking to thought inwardly… so, that's him, the spy no one knew about, the real hero of Hogwarts. Of course, everyone knew the story now, of Severus Snape, the double agent who became Dumbledore's most important resource in the fight against Voldemort...
She turned to Minerva, curious now, "Why is he still here? Why does he still teach? It was my understanding that he only did this to provide not only Voldemort information but to assist in the teaching of the Potter child, it can't be easy on him, the rumours, the speculation and gossip."
"It might be bad here"' said Minerva sadly, "however it so much worse out there in the community, at least here he is surrounded by people who understand him, who went through it together. Even though he proved his loyalty to Dumbledore repeatedly, many in the wizarding world still believe he fooled him and should be tried along with the rest of the Death Eaters"
"Even with the records of the Pensive?"
"They can be altered you know... I don't believe it of course, I trusted Dumbledore, but you will never change everybody's opinion, even with the facts right in front of them. It's mainly those parents of children who died, we lost so many enrolments when we announced he would still be teaching... He has nowhere else to go... after his hospital stay he moved back into his family home at Spinners End, horrible place, all dank and mouldy.." she shivered, remembering the visit "It took some convincing to agree to him coming back, he refused of course, however with the growing anger against him and the eventual burning down of his home, he really had no choice. I know he could have disappeared but the possibility of being found out and exposed must have been as terrifying"
"Oh... how terrible," she thought of having all things stripped from him, his dignity, his privacy, his home... "so he resides here full time?" she knew personally of devastation and loss,
"Yes, he has quarters in the dungeons, he seems to prefer it being away from the rest of the castle populace."
"He is quite tall, isn't he?" she mused, having a short person's perspective,
"Yes, quite the tattybogle," Minerva used an old Scottish word, it was now up to Allegra to figure out what it was. A game they had been playing for years.
They walked down the stone stairs both with their private thoughts. McGonagall finally broke the silence
"So, will you take the job on? I can't think of many more qualified than an ex Auror..."
"Ah Minerva, you should know you are never an ex Auror, just on hiatus, the job is your life, it's just the degree in which you practice it." she smiled wistfully... maybe this would be good for her "I would also need residence, I have no home here in England, no family, no real friends," she put a hand on the teachers arm, "except you of course."
"I should think so" the other woman said gruffly, her eyes peeking from the glasses on her nose and the stern face softening somewhat. "That's not a problem, most of the teachers stay here during the week and only head home on the weekends, back to their families."
"So that's a yes then?"
"You already knew the answer you Scottish Harridan."
They walked on discussing the details, the friendship rekindled.
oOo
She started unpacking her few belongings in the rooms that had been assigned to her. She was happy with her quarters, a cosy room with a cheerful fireplace, a comfy overstuffed sofa and a nice armchair. Some bookshelves and an armoire in the corner. The bedroom replete with a beautiful four poster bed with a dressing table, a set of drawers and the best of all, her own bathroom. She almost swooned finding a rolltop bathtub, ornate clawed feet, with a rise at one end, complete with silver taps, oooh she sighed... even a separate shower and a hand basin. What luxury, she ran her fingers over the edge of the bath, imagining it full of steamy hot water with bubbles and petals of violets….
There was a knock at the door, "I must remember to ward that" she thought absently and walked reluctantly away from visions of long soaks with a book. She opened the door to a young woman who was holding a small parcel.
"Hi," the girl said warmly, she was in her twenties maybe, taller than Allegra, brown straight hair with brown eyes and an easy smile that Allegra knew was genuine, "I'm Cynthia, Cynthia Hooper, Muggle studies." she handed her a small package and looked expectantly at her. "You are Allegra, aren't you? I am new as well."
"Come in" Allegra replied "I've barely unpacked though, don't expect too much" they walked inside to the living area,
"Thank you for the gift", she said opening it, it was a small box of chocolates, "How lovely" she said, "Would you like tea or…"
"Tea would be nice, thanks", Allegra looked around, oops she thought, how does that work here?
Cynthia, noticing her hesitation, "Oh, just call for the house elves, they seem to know what we want, here, let me"
After calling on the elves, they chatted away for a while, she seemed nice enough Allegra decided, she wasn't going to invade the other woman's thoughts, and check. She needed to remember to keep out of other people's heads.
"So, it looks like both of us are in controversial positions," Cynthia went on, "The last muggle studies teacher was murdered, and they haven't continued with classes until now as no one wanted it." she continued "And of course, Defence against the Dark Arts... well… "she stopped, looking expectantly at her, "Well you know," the sentence went unfinished. She lowered her voice "I can't believe he is still here, teaching, he scares me..." her voice trailed off unsure as to whether to continue. "he doesn't come out much, apart from classes and the mandatory meals. You barely see him, have you met him yet?"
"Minerva and I passed him in the hallway the other day, he didn't speak to us though" she was getting into uncomfortable territory, her fingers started to pinch the fabric of her long skirt.
"Hmpff... he doesn't speak to anyone if he can help it" she replied, "He does have a few that call him friend, Minerva of course, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Professor Flitwick, some of the other teachers are ok with him, but he doesn't socialise."
"I am sure that's his business" Allegra replied curtly, the young teacher was making the mistake of youth, she couldn't see how someone could be different from themselves, how life experience changed you. She herself knew how cruel people were and sometimes letting people in hurt more than shutting them out.
"Oh, yes, yes, I didn't mean..." she looked abashed, "I must let you get back to your unpacking, it's been lovely." they both rose, Allegra thanked her for the chocolates, thinking Minerva would love them with her sweet tooth, and saw her out. She closed the door behind her, placed a few wards on the door.
Socialising wasn't one of her strong points, she was not one for small talk or gossip, held very little credence in rumours and refused to participate. As an Auror, she found that most people made opinions of others due to their own failings, placed their own motivations and desires onto others. Muggle, Wizard, all had their own prejudices, their own reasons for liking or disliking someone. It used to be her job to sort truth from deception, motivations and desires.
She finished unpacking, waved away the empty teacups and sat back down, I've been away too long she sighed, the recent events had shocked her... whilst she had been aware of the rise of Voldemort the brutality of the battle and the viciousness of his followers had shocked her. Her last assignment was undercover, complicated and had become messy necessitating her to disappear for many months. If she had known half of what was going on, she was sure she could have been some help. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had kept much to himself, unable or unwilling to ask others and instead relying on the Boy who Lived, and the unfortunate spy. I am sure he had his reasons she sighed, his history with Grindelwald and his own youthful pure blood fervour had probably played a part. As he himself had espoused many of the same ideals as Tom Riddle, he may have believed that people would not trust him, and so had endeavoured to play a dangerous game of 3D chess. The unfortunate downside of this was that many lives had been destroyed and damaged to achieve that end. Even Harry, deliberately placed with his Aunt and Uncle was in no less shaped by the headmaster's machinations. He knew it would be hard on the boy, knowing Petunias prejudices. Maybe he believed that living in such conditions would make the boy self-reliant, quick witted and resourceful. If he had been placed in a loving home, would he have been able to make the hard decisions? To be able to do what was necessary? Merlin knew, for what was done, was done, she had learned this as a hard lesson. You can't take back the choices you make, once done you either take responsibility and move on, you simply can't second guess yourself.
Then of course there was Snape, he seemed interesting, she liked interesting people, it was hard not to pick apart a life lived and see how cause and effect made ripples in people's lives. She had read his file, (she had read everyone's) the poor boy, placed in a school house not of his choosing, amongst boys who were bullies and sycophants to the upper class, the purebloods. Looking at his grades through the years, he should have been in Ravenclaw, not Slytherin, his half-blood lineage made him a target for those who thought blood status all important. With his outstanding grades and poor life skills, a mentor could have saved the boy years of anguish, if the teachers had done their jobs properly, he may never have made the choices he did. Obviously he was going to gravitate to those who were stronger, and they sought to use his talent for their own ends. A tome repeated through history and all areas of life, of the disenfranchised finding family in the most unlikely and sometimes the worst of places. A mistake made by many to the detriment of more. Dumbledore was exceedingly fortunate that he found someone to turn, to make his spy. Someone who was in so much anguish, so much pain and so little self-worth he would do anything,. Fortunate for Dumbledore, not to his unlucky victim though.
She shook herself from her reverie, noticing how late in the day and how cold it had become. It was time to get ready for a new year. She placed her schedules, programmes and notes on the couch and started to go through them ready for the next day.
oOo