Crossover: Harry Potter / Twilight
Summary: Absolute AU – Crossover story.
After being chosen as one of Triwizard Tournament champions, Bella discovers that she is growing more closer to Severus Snape than she thought. While trying to figure out his secrets, she realizes that the Dark Lord is coming back to his power, and it means that the world is about to change.
A/N: The fourth story in my "Silent Mind" series. Sorry for ignoring Cedric Diggory, but I hate killing characters (the good ones). Please, R&R! And, sorry, there will be no Cullens or even the wolf pack! They don't fit in this plot – the one that I had formed in my head, I mean. I do apologize for delay, but my PC died in natural death and it took me time to bring it back into life.
Greetings to GoddessxNyte and another new fan, Dendule95. Ladies, thank you! You're my angels of inspiration! You can follow me on Twitter – LilySnape_27. I spend a lot of time in there and can chat with you all about the latest info on following sequels, share ideas and such.
I do not own any of characters, they belong to J. K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer. I just borrowed them and mixed up together.
Characters: Severus Snape, Bella Swan
Shakespear sonnet (129.)
The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action: and till action, lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight;
Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,
Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait,
On purpose laid to make the taker mad.
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
Chapter 1 – A New Companion
I stood in front of my house and admired it for a moment.
It was the middle of August, and the rebuilding was finished at last. After one and a half month of hard work, The Haven finally looked like a suitable place for living. From the outside it took only a little bit of repair work, like fresh paint and new windows with white frames which nicely contrasted with dark brown wood.
Inside, however, was completely different story. More than half of interior was beyond repair and had to be replaced. Thankfully, Dumbledore arranged about a dozen of house elfs who appeared into my living room to help by rebuilding the walls, putting on a new roof and fixing old, rotten stairs. Slowly the worn out and long-abandoned house turned into nice and quite cosy place where to live from both inside and outside.
While the elves were working inside of house (I gave them only those tasks I could not do myself), I began to lay out the garden in the backyard. It took a bit of magic to plant the trees and decorative bushes exactly where I wanted them, but the result was worth the effort. Some of the plants were magical, some not. Small green fence lane led from back door into the garden, and in the middle of it I even made a small, decorative pool with stones marking its edge. A few water-plants grew in the bottom – the magical ones.
This was my real private hiding place – another, smaller haven within The Haven. I slowly walked into the garden and inhaled the scent of various plants. It was fragant and sweet, yet not too obtrusive. It always gave me a peace and solitude I longed at times.
I already began to plan spending Christmas in here; hopefully not alone, but accompanied with my friends. There were a few people who visited me, like Professor Dumbledore and Hagrid, even Professors McGonagall and Sprout (she helped me with advises of how to better take care of various plants I put in my garden). The one person I actually was looking forward to see, however, did not came, not even once.
Sometimes, though, I felt a bit of lonely in here, especially at nights. Living all by myself was completely new thing for me, a new experience, and I needed the time to get used to the feeling. I hate to complain, but one thing was seriously missing in this place – a friend, companion, someone to whom I could talk in late evenings, sitting at fireplace.
The sun was slowly disappearing behind the trees, colouring the hills of Scotland in soft red and pink colour. Along with the sun, the warmth was gone, too. I shivered and walked back inside, with a flick of wand creating the flames into the fireplace, and the living room immediately filled with a pleasant warmth. Today I felt a bit lazy, so I did not bothered much with cooking, instead fetching a couple of sandwiches and tea, then I settled on the couch, wrapping in afghan, and picked up one of Snape's books. This one was about Animagus, and it contained detailed information of how to learn this particular magic, dangerous as it may be.
The warmth from the fireplace, silence and calmness made me a bit drowsy after a couple of hours, so I put the book aside and settled more comfortably, letting my gaze travel around the room. The life in wizarding world was not so bad, especially now when I had my own place where to live. I smiled in content, and closed my eyes, slowly drifting off.
Someone knocked at the door, startling me out of sleep. Frowning, I reached for my wand and glanced at the clock – it was half past midnight. Whoever was there, it was not a human being, because the Sensory Charms would have worked otherwise – I had to put them around the whole ground because in spite of local people fear of this house, there were some curious Hogsmeade's inhabitants who tried to enter the territory just to take a peek at the lunatic witch who chose to live in this haunted house. However – until now, no one ever dared to approach The Haven in the night time.
"Homenum Revelio!" I whispered, entering the hallway.
The spell was supposed to reveal any human's presence – just in case if anyone managed to mess with the charms that guarded my safe refuge. Nothing happened. The knock repeated, this time more quietly, as if the knocker was unsure whether or not he (or she) should be here. I pulled the dressing gown tighter around myself, unlocked the door and lit up my wand to see who or what was there.
"Forgive me for disturbing you so late – " a squeaky voice trailed off as a small creature appeared in the wand light. It had bat-like ears and round, green eyes. It took me a second to recognize the same house elf Harry set free two years ago.
"Dobby?" I blinked in confusion.
"Missy knows Dobby?" the elf looked surprised.
"Well, yeah, I saw you once. In Hogwarts, when one night you visited Harry in hospital two years ago, remember?" I smiled, when Dobby's face lit up in joy by mentioning Harry's name.
"Dobby remembers you now!" he beamed, taking a good look at my face. "You were there, keeping a company for Harry Potter. He said you're one of his best friends. Dobby is happy to finally meet you in person, Missy!"
"I'm happy to meet you too. Harry told me a lot about you. But – why are we standing on threshold? Come on in, Dobby!"
The house elf hesitantly walked inside, glancing around as if no one ever invited him inside of house like an equal. Then I remembered what Harry told me about Dobby's previous life with Malfoy family, and realized that maybe that was just it. As soon as this thought entered my mind, it only increased my determination to make Dobby to feel welcomed.
"Here, have a seat, Dobby, and tell me what brings you here in such hour?" I casually led the elf into the living area and motioned towards the couch.
"Harry Potter said you were his friend, but he did not mentioned that you're also a very kind and generous witch," Dobby looked at me in awe, carefully perching on the very edge of couch.
"Now you're exaggerating," I shook my head, chuckling. "So, mind to tell me what's going on?"
Dobby suddenly looked a bit nervous, wringling his hands in lap. "I was wondering, Missy, if you would need a house elf?"
"Are you looking for a job?"
"Yes, Missy, Dobby has been looking for it since Harry Potter set him free," Dobby nodded, then his face fell. "But no one wants Dobby, because Dobby is a free elf and wants to be paid for his work."
"That's just another thing I would never be able to understand about the wizards. Why to deny the payment when it's honestly earned?" I frowned.
"Dobby went to Hogwarts, but Professor Dumbledore told Dobby to come here first and try his luck. He says Dobby might be happier in here."
"Wait, so Dumbledore sent you?" I asked, a bit surprised. "Well, I would love to help you, but I'm afraid I cannot afford to pay you too much."
"Dobby doesn't want too much," the elf shook his head. "Dobby would be very happy with one galleon in week."
I stared at him, then rubbed my ears to be sure I did not misheard. "One galleon? That's not enough, Dobby. Considering how much the house elfs can do – no, Dobby, I'm going to give you five galleons in week, that much I can afford. And you will have the weekends off."
"Five galleons?" Dobby exclaimed in horror as if the idea about having so much money would terrify him. "No, no, no, it's too much for Dobby! One galleon and one free day in month would be very enough."
I chuckled. The house elf was very stubborn one. "Okay, how about this? You say, one galleon, I say – five, then let's settle for the middle way – three galleons. And Sundays off. It's called compromise."
Dobby thought for a second, then slowly nodded. "Dobby is very, very grateful, Missy!"
"Whoa, hold it right there, Dobby! Don't call me Missy or Miss Swan – I'm fed up with being called that in school. Just Bella, okay?" I tried not to sound too strict. "I mean, if you will work for me, I would really like us to be friends. And friends are calling each other by names. If you would call me Miss Swan, then I would have to call you Sir Dobby."
Dobby gaped at me. He obviously never received the permission to call his Master or Mistress by their given names. I sat in silence, waiting. Then, ever so slowly, Dobby gave another nod in agreement to use my first name.
"Well, Dobby, in that case – welcome to The Haven!"
We both walked around the entire house, looking for a decent place for Dobby – I tried to talk him into occupying one of spare bedrooms, but Dobby stubbornly resisted, eventually settling down in one first floor room which originally was meant to be a storage. Well, at least I talked him out of sleeping in cupboard which was his first intention.
A few shrinking spells arranged the furniture from the upstairs spare bedroom (there were four in total – too much for one person, unless a friend wants to sleep overnight) so that now it fit Dobby's small height. I critically eyed the weird clothes he was wearing – since Dobby was a free elf, he did not had to wear towel or dirty pillow bags. He had tried to fetch some clothing, but it was so unfitting that I decided to pay a visit to Hogsmeade tomorrow and buy some decent clothes for the elf.
"At what time Miss Bella would like to have her breakfast?" Dobby asked, when I bid him good night and headed to upstairs.
At first I did not understood the reason of his question, but it slowly occured to me that Dobby already was filling the role of house elf. Only then I began to realize how serious he was taking his duties. If I had asked him to deliver the breakfast in bed, he would definitely do just that. Some people would consider it to be normal thing, but I just was not used to be taken care of so much.
"What – I don't – er, Dobby, I don't have particular day schedule," I sighed, when the elf lowered his gaze. To encourage him, I kneeled down so our faces were in the same level. "Look, this is your first day – actually, night in your new home. Get some sleep and tomorrow we'll talk about your duties. You see, I'm a Muggle-born and kinda used to do things on my own. The first one who wakes up, makes the breakfast – and don't feel guilty for sleeping in. You look like you had spent a lot of time, travelling around."
"But – "
"No 'buts'," I placed a hand on elf's tiny shoulder. "Now, go to sleep. See you tomorrow, Dobby!"
The house elf gazed at me with his round, green eyes that glistened slightly as if he was about to cry. He did not, though, only bowed before me, bidding good night, and then entered his new room. I stood up and headed to my bedroom. Before crawling under blanket, I wrote a letter to Harry and told him the news. Since he felt rather fond of the elf, I assumed he would be happy to hear that Dobby has gained both home and job. And I gained a new companion.
Talk about wish coming true.
The next few days went quite peacefully. Well, more or less.
Next day after Dobby's arrival, I Apparated to London to buy the new school books, and to retrieve my car. "Leaky Cauldron" bartender Tom did a good job by taking care of it, but now there was no point of keeping it in London anymore. I also went through a few stores in Muggle part of city and bought some clothes for Dobby. Of course, they needed to be shrinked to fit his size, but now he looked much better in his new black T-shirt (with red dragon picture on chest), khaki pants, a pair of sneakers and socks (Dobby's favourite piece of clothing, because Harry freed him with a help of sock). The elf's outfit was completed with nice hat for winter time – I wanted to buy a baseball cap too, but decided against it, because Dobby's large ears would not fit under it.
"Dobby is happy for the clothes, Miss Bella!" the elf beamed, glancing at himself in front of mirror.
"It's a Muggle style, I hope that's okay," I watched him, a bit concerned.
"Oh, these clothes are beautiful! Miss Bella is very generous," Dobby happily walked around, testing his new shoes. "Dobby never received such wonderful gift from anyone!"
"Well, you better start to get used to it," I smiled in spite of worry that nagged into the deepest corner of my mind since I received the latest "Daily Prophet" earlier this morning.
The headline "Terror at the Quidditch World cup" with black and white moving picture that showed a snake twisting out of hazy skull's mouth in the sky covered the whole front page. The article said about both Dark Mark appearance for the first time after thirteen years and how Voldemort's former followers, so called Death Eaters caused a chaos in camping site.
A week ago Ron wrote that his Dad got the tickets to the Quidditch World Cup final match for the whole family, including Harry, Hermione and me too, but since I was too busy with the finishing touches of rebuilding The Haven, I decided to refuse. While I enjoyed watching the Quidditch games, the sport had never been my personal top favourite interest anyway.
However, after reading about the events in the World Cup, I worried about my friends. Were they alright? Did they manage to avoid Death Eaters? Had anyone got hurt? All those questions whirled in my mind, keeping me on the edge to the point Dobby began to worry if I was feeling alright.
"I'm fine," I replied for tenth time. "I'm a bit nervous, that's all. Have you seen this morning's newspaper?"
"About You-Know-Who's followers? Oh, yes, Dobby read that. It's so terrible," the elf shuddered, then he gave me a look of compassion. "Miss Bella is worried about the people who were there?"
"Yes, I am worried about Harry, Hermione, and Weasley family. They were there to see the Quidditch final game," I sighed. "If only I knew they are alright."
"Can Dobby do something to make Miss Bella feel better?" the little elf spoke quietly.
I looked at him and shook my head, smiling sadly. "I don't know, Dobby, but if anything comes in mind, you'll be the first to know."
The elf went to the kitchen in much better mood – one of his main tasks (he practically begged me to allow him to do it) was cooking. While Dobby prepared the dinner, I sat down and wrote a letter to my friends, knowing that they all will remain in The Burrow until the September 1st. After we ate (Dobby sat at the table along with me – another house rule from my part) I asked if Dobby could deliver my letter and get an answer as well, and he joyfully agreed. Knowing how much he liked Harry, I offered him to stay there for a while and spend some time with Harry. Dobby was overjoyed and promised to return within next two days.
When he was gone, I felt even more nervous than before. To keep myself busy, I went down to the basement, where I made my own potion laboratory. It was another place of my own refuge – in here I could fully devote to the amazing sensation of exploring and experimenting, trying to create something new or improve already existing things.
Today, however, I merely practised with some potions that were rather tricky – the antidotes. Every single ingredient I chose and prepared very cautiously, just like Snape would. Amazing, how he managed to become not only my teacher but someone to look up to as well. There were so many things I could learn from him – in professional meaning. Must admit that lately I seriously began to consider the option of taking apprenticeship with him.
At that precise moment an owl suddenly knocked against the basement's small window. I let the bird in and untied the letter that was attached to her leg. The owl hooted impatiently and ignored the snack I offered. Shaking my head in amusement, I looked at the letter which was sealed with Hogwarts coat of arms, but it rather seemed to be informal one, because the handwriting was all too familiar.
Speak of the devil, I thought, opening it and reading the words, written by no one but Severus Snape. It was request for permission to visit me in The Haven. Strange, why would he ask permission? Neither Dumbledore, nor the others asked for it – they merely showed up on my threshold. However Snape was the only one person who could appear in front of my house in the middle of night without risking to receive a well-aimed hex upon his head.
I scribbled down a quick answer, saying that he can come to visit me at any time. When the owl took off with the letter at her leg, I told myself that it was merely curiousity that made me to write such words – but it was not quite that. The truth was that I... missed him. This realization shocked myself with its suddenness, but it was sincere nevertheless. I longed not only for our private lessons, but also for his snarky comments, dry sense of humour, for his mere presence.
Hogwarts was very close, so I knew he would receive the letter very soon – and I knew he was in the school due to the seal on the letter. The brewing completely forgotten, I run upstairs to change into better attire – when I was alone, I wore only a pair of torn jeans and old, faded T-shirt. And it was not something I wanted Snape to see me wearing.
I just had finished to dress up, when the Sensory Charms went off, indicating that someone had appeared within my yard. With a flick of wand I removed the spell, then run downstairs, when there was a knock at the door. Already knowing who was standing on the other side, I smiled and ran to welcome the visitor.
"Good afternoon, Miss Swan!" Severus Snape stood in a doorway, greeting me with his usual smirk. His black eyes scrutinized me up and down, but the features remained still.
"It's nice to see you here, Professor!" I stepped aside, allowing Snape to enter the house.
He ignored the greeting (not very surprising) and slowly walked deeper inside, scrutinizing the new look of former Shrieking Shack. I closed the door and followed him, wondering what brought him here in first place. Snape walked into the living room and stopped so abruptly I nearly run headfirst into his back. He seemed taken aback at the interior of the room. I stood behind him, leaning against the door frame, and waited.
"When Professor Dumbledore said that you managed to completely change this poor excuse for a house, I thought he was exaggarating," Snape finally said, turning to me. There was astonishment in his face. "In fact, it was the main reason of my visit – I had to see it myself. You put a great effort in this house."
"Well, the house elves from Hogwarts helped me," I shrugged, slightly blushing. "It's not like I did it all alone."
"But the main idea was yours. I also heard that you did the planning and arranging works, so basically the elves merely followed your instructions."
I could not argue with that. A sudden idea crossed my mind, and I motioned for Snape to follow. "Come with me, Professor, I'd like to show you the best part of The Haven."
Snape's eyebrows shot upwards, yet he said nothing and followed me outside to the garden. I felt both excited and nervous to hear his judgement. Well, knowing Snape, I would not be surprised to hear nothing good, but it did not quite mattered. If there was anyone with whom I wanted to share my private hiding place, it was Snape.
"Did you made all this?" it was Snape's first question upon entering the garden.
I nodded, watching how he took in the small, green paradise I made for the moments of peace. His gaze travelled over the plants, at times he leaned down to do a closer examination, when he came across the magical ones. We walked around the entire garden, until finally reached the pool. There was a stone bench, and we sat down, for a moment simply marvelling into the silence and peace that surrounded the garden.
"When I said earlier that you put a great effort in this place, Miss Swan, it was understatement of the century," Snape finally said. "If anyone would have told me that Shrieking Shack would once look like this, I'd ask how much Firewhiskey the speaker had drank."
His usual smirk was back, but it did not bothered me anymore. His words contradicted the expression on his face. I merely smiled, staring at how the sunlight made the water sparkle. It was kind of surreal to sit here, next to Snape, marvelling on the beauty of peaceful surroundings.
"Professor, you said that seeing the house was the main reason. Was there any other reason?" once again the words escaped before I could help it.
Snape did not answered for a while. When I already lost the hope to receive any kind of response, he suddenly stood up, walking to the very edge of the pool.
"Did you read the "Daily Prophet"?" he asked, staring down at the water.
"About the events in Quidditch World Cup?"
"Oh, that. I did, yeah," I shook my head. "I just don't get it – how could that happen at all? I mean, there were so many wizards – why they just couldn't stun them? I read there were only a dozen of those Death Eaters. A dozen against thousands, yet most of them just fled – "
"Don't ever underestimate the Dark Forces!" Snape spat, his eyes glowing dangerously. "That might be the one fatal mistake the one one can make by coming across a Death Eater!"
I jerked backward from his sudden outburst and raised my hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, I do estimate them! I really do! There's no need to be so – " I paused, unsure of how to better describe his tone.
" – harsh?" Snape ended the sentence for me, then sighed deeply. "My apologies, Miss Swan. I shouldn't lose my temper like this."
"It's okay, I'm just trying to understand why, Professor," I narrowed my eyes, watching Snape pacing back and forth. He looked utterly nervous, even more than last year when Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban and broke in Hogwarts twice.
Snape sighed, then sat back down next to me. "The Dark Mark hadn't been sighted for thirteen years. We don't know what does it means, but whatever it is, it's nothing good. Some are suspecting that the Dark Lord might rise again."
It all made sense, but one thing I could not understand, so I asked him: "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want you to keep your eyes open and be alert! That's why I came here – to warn you!"
"And that's it?" I frowned. Did he really came here to say only that? He could simply write a letter, he did not had to bother to come here at all. Not that I was not happy to see him, quite in contrary, but his behaviour still managed to kick me out of balance. "You're not going to explain, why?"
"No, I guess not. At least for now," Snape stood up again and turned to leave, taking the final glance around the garden. "You really turned this dump into an outstandingly beautiful place on earth, Miss Swan. I'll see you in the Welcoming Feast in 1st of September."
With that he turned and left, but I remained alone, utterly confused. Would it really be so hard to speak in full sentences at least for once? One day, I swear, one day he will drive me insane!
