Shadow-Walking (1/?)
::Disclaimer:: I only own Summer Bailey and Arlé Reed and all of their families... A large apology goes out to JKR, wherever she is, for tormenting her characters in this fanfic (but if I were her I wouldn't be complaining too much: after all, how many of us have fans writing fiction with our characters?)
::Spoilers:: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, "Harry Potter, the Phoenix, and the Snake" (a story of my own creation)
::A/N:: This is going to be a previously undetermined amount of chapters about my new favorite character, Snape, and Summer Bailey, a character of my own creation. This story will be enhanced and will enhance the story "Harry Potter, the Phoenix, and the Snake", again of my own creation, but it is not essential to read that story to understand this one. Fortunately, I think all of you reading this are Harry Potter fans and would not turn down the thought of reading something about Harry Potter, even if it is one of my scatterbrained works. This begins the summer after GoF, and will finish wherever I want it to... I'll try not to repeat many scenes for those of you that are actually reading my other story. I'm sure I've bored you beyond belief with this Author's note so without further ado, Shadow-walking.
::Prologue::
A dark cloudy night looked down upon a group of wizards sitting at a table, eating, and laughing. The Great Hall looked very empty without the students sitting at their House Tables, and it sounded just as empty as it looked. The youth lent the Hall a lively quality which none of the Professors could quite fill.
Albus Dumbledore watched as his fellow staff members laughed at a punchline that Flitwick had just proclaimed, and noted one face that was not alight with laughter. Indeed, Severus Snape had nothing to be happy about; what with the Dark Lord's return... Albus sighed and took a large sip of his wine, eyes not straying far from the tall lanky form of his Potions Master.
It had been a little less than a month since that tragic turn of events that had brought about this unwanted return, and Albus still wondered what he could have done to stop it...
Albus knew that Severus had felt the pull of his once-Master, Voldemort, several times since then, but the fact that he hadn't spoken of it to him had disturbed him greatly. His Dark Mark had been placed on him in his days at Hogwarts, as Voldemort had begun his rise to power, and the Mark had dubbed Severus one of Voldemort's followers.
But Snape had turned against his Master, and for reasons known only to Dumbledore and himself, had decided to become a double-spy, informing Albus about Voldemort's many dealings. Whether Voldemort knew of this of not, Albus wasn't sure, and this worried him sometimes.
He was snapped out of his reverie by the loud creak of a door; looking about, he noticed that all conversation had stopped and many of his staff had clutched wands tightly in their hands. He stood and watched as the cloaked figure pulled the hood off and flipped auburn hair out from beneath the cloak, and walked up with a slight limp.
"Summer Bailey," Dumbledore called in greeting, stepping up in front of the figure and clasping its hand warmly. The teachers behind him visibly relaxed, but continued to stare at this stranger with various degrees of interest.
"Albus Dumbledore," she greeted with a soft accent.
"I'm glad you could make it," Dumbledore said, leading her over to the long table. She was rather pretty, he had to admit, with her hair falling lightly on her shoulder in gentle waves.
"I am pleased to introduce all of you to Summer Bailey, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Unfortunately, we need this position more than ever now, and hopefully she will stay with us for a long period of time."
He pointed out each teacher in turn, and was pleased to see that they all seemed to like her—even Snape, who had detested all five of Dumbledore's previous choices for the position, each for different reasons.
When he introduced Snape to Summer, he noticed that they were hesitant to shake hands, although their light chatter told him that they could get along nicely. He wasn't quite sure if Severus had withheld his hand or if Summer had withheld hers...
And when he caught a faint smile lightly touching Snape's features, he swore that he would keep those two together for as long as he could; Snape hardly ever associated with the other teachers when he didn't have to, and this was absurdly unlike him.
After all of the pleasantries were over, Summer gladly took a seat beside Snape.
Albus tuned back into the conversations floating around the table, knowing that if Snape caught him staring at them he would ask questions.
"Where are you from, Bailey?" McGonogall asked, leaning into the table to see Summer better. "I don't ever recall any Baileys coming through Hogwarts."
"I went to Durmstrang for two years and then switched to home-tutoring." This sent flurries of whispers up and down the staff table, for they knew that Durmstrang preferred male students and taught the Dark Arts as a specialty. This compounded with the fact that she was home-tutored, was cause for alarm—except that Albus had found her worthy for the position.
As Flitwick was explaining the House Cup and the Quidditch Matches, a gasp halted their conversation. Looking around, Albus spotted the recluse Divination professor, Sybil Trelawney. She had her hands clasped to her mouth and was staring with wide eyes at Summer. She came around the table to Summer's chair, put her hands down, and muttered, "Summer Bailey."
Summer was staring at the wispy Sybil with narrowed eyes, and if wondering if she had ever seen this woman before.
Albus saw Snape lift his eyes to the ceiling and sigh exasperatedly; Severus didn't think too highly of Sybil nor of her "Inner Eye."
"Summer," Albus said, "This is Sybil Trelawney, Divinations professor."
Summer's eyes widened at the word "Divinations", making Albus think of the Muggle expression, "like a deer caught in headlights."
Sybil didn't see this though; she had closed her eyes and began, in a misty voice, "My dear, much fire do I see... In both your past and future. And a Mark... a strange Mark on you arm that offers you much trouble..." Her eyes opened slightly and she whispered, "Death lurks in every shadow, dear..."
Summer said, "And all of this I know and have heard before."
Sybil's eyes narrowed and her voice became colder. "Perhaps you truly are a danger to the students here."
Summer rose from her chair, pushing it back into Sybil, whose various chains and glittery jewels clinked softly.
"Stop reading my thoughts," she hissed, and moved swiftly around the chair to stare, inches away from Sybil's face. As she glared, her eyes were filled briefly with a flare of supernatural red sparks. Sybil gasped in recognition of those sparks.
"So it's true," Sybil growled, all mistiness gone. "You are..." her eyes flicked briefly to Albus, who merely cocked one eyebrow at her as if to continue. "... One of those things."
"Yes, if you mean 'things' to be Elementals." Several teachers gasped softly at this remark, but Summer pretended not to notice. "A rather confrontational Elemental, too."
The tension increased between the two women until Sybil looked away uneasily. Summer stared at her for a long moment and then turned to Albus.
"Could you please show me to my quarters?" She asked, trying to ignore Sybil behind her.
Dumbledore nodded and soundlessly led her out of the Great Hall, trying not to smile as he recalled a certain Professor who had had much the same response to Trelawney.
And judging by the brief glance at Snape's face, he remembered as well.
::Please review!::
::Disclaimer:: I only own Summer Bailey and Arlé Reed and all of their families... A large apology goes out to JKR, wherever she is, for tormenting her characters in this fanfic (but if I were her I wouldn't be complaining too much: after all, how many of us have fans writing fiction with our characters?)
::Spoilers:: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, "Harry Potter, the Phoenix, and the Snake" (a story of my own creation)
::A/N:: This is going to be a previously undetermined amount of chapters about my new favorite character, Snape, and Summer Bailey, a character of my own creation. This story will be enhanced and will enhance the story "Harry Potter, the Phoenix, and the Snake", again of my own creation, but it is not essential to read that story to understand this one. Fortunately, I think all of you reading this are Harry Potter fans and would not turn down the thought of reading something about Harry Potter, even if it is one of my scatterbrained works. This begins the summer after GoF, and will finish wherever I want it to... I'll try not to repeat many scenes for those of you that are actually reading my other story. I'm sure I've bored you beyond belief with this Author's note so without further ado, Shadow-walking.
::Prologue::
A dark cloudy night looked down upon a group of wizards sitting at a table, eating, and laughing. The Great Hall looked very empty without the students sitting at their House Tables, and it sounded just as empty as it looked. The youth lent the Hall a lively quality which none of the Professors could quite fill.
Albus Dumbledore watched as his fellow staff members laughed at a punchline that Flitwick had just proclaimed, and noted one face that was not alight with laughter. Indeed, Severus Snape had nothing to be happy about; what with the Dark Lord's return... Albus sighed and took a large sip of his wine, eyes not straying far from the tall lanky form of his Potions Master.
It had been a little less than a month since that tragic turn of events that had brought about this unwanted return, and Albus still wondered what he could have done to stop it...
Albus knew that Severus had felt the pull of his once-Master, Voldemort, several times since then, but the fact that he hadn't spoken of it to him had disturbed him greatly. His Dark Mark had been placed on him in his days at Hogwarts, as Voldemort had begun his rise to power, and the Mark had dubbed Severus one of Voldemort's followers.
But Snape had turned against his Master, and for reasons known only to Dumbledore and himself, had decided to become a double-spy, informing Albus about Voldemort's many dealings. Whether Voldemort knew of this of not, Albus wasn't sure, and this worried him sometimes.
He was snapped out of his reverie by the loud creak of a door; looking about, he noticed that all conversation had stopped and many of his staff had clutched wands tightly in their hands. He stood and watched as the cloaked figure pulled the hood off and flipped auburn hair out from beneath the cloak, and walked up with a slight limp.
"Summer Bailey," Dumbledore called in greeting, stepping up in front of the figure and clasping its hand warmly. The teachers behind him visibly relaxed, but continued to stare at this stranger with various degrees of interest.
"Albus Dumbledore," she greeted with a soft accent.
"I'm glad you could make it," Dumbledore said, leading her over to the long table. She was rather pretty, he had to admit, with her hair falling lightly on her shoulder in gentle waves.
"I am pleased to introduce all of you to Summer Bailey, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Unfortunately, we need this position more than ever now, and hopefully she will stay with us for a long period of time."
He pointed out each teacher in turn, and was pleased to see that they all seemed to like her—even Snape, who had detested all five of Dumbledore's previous choices for the position, each for different reasons.
When he introduced Snape to Summer, he noticed that they were hesitant to shake hands, although their light chatter told him that they could get along nicely. He wasn't quite sure if Severus had withheld his hand or if Summer had withheld hers...
And when he caught a faint smile lightly touching Snape's features, he swore that he would keep those two together for as long as he could; Snape hardly ever associated with the other teachers when he didn't have to, and this was absurdly unlike him.
After all of the pleasantries were over, Summer gladly took a seat beside Snape.
Albus tuned back into the conversations floating around the table, knowing that if Snape caught him staring at them he would ask questions.
"Where are you from, Bailey?" McGonogall asked, leaning into the table to see Summer better. "I don't ever recall any Baileys coming through Hogwarts."
"I went to Durmstrang for two years and then switched to home-tutoring." This sent flurries of whispers up and down the staff table, for they knew that Durmstrang preferred male students and taught the Dark Arts as a specialty. This compounded with the fact that she was home-tutored, was cause for alarm—except that Albus had found her worthy for the position.
As Flitwick was explaining the House Cup and the Quidditch Matches, a gasp halted their conversation. Looking around, Albus spotted the recluse Divination professor, Sybil Trelawney. She had her hands clasped to her mouth and was staring with wide eyes at Summer. She came around the table to Summer's chair, put her hands down, and muttered, "Summer Bailey."
Summer was staring at the wispy Sybil with narrowed eyes, and if wondering if she had ever seen this woman before.
Albus saw Snape lift his eyes to the ceiling and sigh exasperatedly; Severus didn't think too highly of Sybil nor of her "Inner Eye."
"Summer," Albus said, "This is Sybil Trelawney, Divinations professor."
Summer's eyes widened at the word "Divinations", making Albus think of the Muggle expression, "like a deer caught in headlights."
Sybil didn't see this though; she had closed her eyes and began, in a misty voice, "My dear, much fire do I see... In both your past and future. And a Mark... a strange Mark on you arm that offers you much trouble..." Her eyes opened slightly and she whispered, "Death lurks in every shadow, dear..."
Summer said, "And all of this I know and have heard before."
Sybil's eyes narrowed and her voice became colder. "Perhaps you truly are a danger to the students here."
Summer rose from her chair, pushing it back into Sybil, whose various chains and glittery jewels clinked softly.
"Stop reading my thoughts," she hissed, and moved swiftly around the chair to stare, inches away from Sybil's face. As she glared, her eyes were filled briefly with a flare of supernatural red sparks. Sybil gasped in recognition of those sparks.
"So it's true," Sybil growled, all mistiness gone. "You are..." her eyes flicked briefly to Albus, who merely cocked one eyebrow at her as if to continue. "... One of those things."
"Yes, if you mean 'things' to be Elementals." Several teachers gasped softly at this remark, but Summer pretended not to notice. "A rather confrontational Elemental, too."
The tension increased between the two women until Sybil looked away uneasily. Summer stared at her for a long moment and then turned to Albus.
"Could you please show me to my quarters?" She asked, trying to ignore Sybil behind her.
Dumbledore nodded and soundlessly led her out of the Great Hall, trying not to smile as he recalled a certain Professor who had had much the same response to Trelawney.
And judging by the brief glance at Snape's face, he remembered as well.
::Please review!::