"I can't, Snape. I'm in class!"
"I don't care how you do it, just get here." Lena sighed heavily, fogging up the glass face of the mirror into which she was peering. Inside, a very disturbed (and a very young) Severus Snape sat, cradling his throbbing head in his hand and staring at the floor. Then, as an afterthought, or perhaps more of a plea, he turned his obsidian eyes upon her and she knew that this must be serious. Never had Snape allowed such emotion to be displayed to anyone, let alone a woman. "I need you."
"Fine. Give me fifteen minutes to get out of here and find someplace to disapparate. In front of Malkin's shop?"
"Yes that's fine. Fifteen minutes, then." Slowly his image faded away into the glass and Lena was left to find a way out of Reeder Hall, where she was currently supposed to be taking a Mythology Exam. She checked her watch. Five minutes to two. Hopefully Professor Edwards was already inside the classroom and she wouldn't encounter him on the way out.
She gathered up her things, shoved the enchanted mirror into her bookbag, and swung out from the recess in the wall and into the hallway traffic, of which there was very little. There was no way she would be able to blend into the crowd if she did happen to encounter the good professor on her way out the door.
She was just about to round the last corner, and the front door was in sight, when who should happen around the corner but Professor Edwards. Damn him. He had impeccable timing. Thinking quickly, Lena pulled the hood of her black sweatshirt up over her head and turned to "read" the flyers that were posted on the message board in front of her. As she "read" she whispered a quick invisibility charm to render her so uninteresting that Professor Edwards would never even think of looking twice at her. When the threat had passed and the Professor was safely around the corner and on his way to administer the test she hiked up her bookbag on her shoulder and flew out the door.
The subsequent walk to her dorm room was spent trying to think of an excuse that would be acceptable for missing a test. Mother ill? No, her mother had been ill two weeks ago when Lena had needed an excuse to go see the Grateful Dead play in Haight Ashbery. Grandparent dead? No, all of her grandparents had died more than once since she had started attending classes at Pepperdine. This was definitely bad. This little favor that Snape needed was going to cost her a big fat F on her first test of the semester and she hoped, for his sake, that it was something damn important that was causing him to act so irresponsible.
Once in her room she tossed her bag on her unmade bed, undressed, threw on a set of robes and a traveling cloak - it was sure to be a bit colder in Diagon Alley than it was here on the Pacific Ocean - and with a pop, disappeared into thin air.
She turned up a few seconds later in front of Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions and looked around. Diagon Alley was busy today. No doubt the witches and wizards that bustled around her were doing some shopping for the impending holidays. Her own mother used to start the day after Christmas when everything was on sale at drastically reduced prices. Yet, for all the life and activity around her there appeared to be no Severus Snape.
She was just getting ready to go to Florean's and order a sundae when she felt a sharp tug on her elbow and she was being pulled away, down a dingy and deserted alleyway. Under normal circumstances she would have been highly concerned, but the smell of cinnamon was heavy in the air and she knew that that could only mean one thing.
"That's no way to escort a lady, Severus," she said as he released her and she turned to face him. Diagon Alley was bustling by about a hundred feet behind him through a narrow window that was the end of the alleyway, and she got the distinct impression that there was something just as lively going on behind her, though she cared not to turn and see what it was. The walls that rose on either side of them were damp and moldy, and the air smelled like old cheese. Or socks. She wrinkled her nose and wrapped her arms around herself protectively, rubbing her biceps for warmth.
"She's gone. She's left me."
"Left you?" Lena went suddenly still, her eyes wide and her mouth open in disbelief. She looked as if someone had just dropped the H Bomb and she had watched them push the button. "What do you mean she's left you, Severus?"
"She's gone! Gone, Lena. She wants nothing to do with me." He was now the one with his arms wrapped around himself and he was staring at the ground, kicking pebbles with the pointed toe of his black leather shoe.
"It can't be! What happened Severus? You two have been inseparable since the fourth year! You gave her a rock the size of bloody Gibraltar! It can't just be - over."
"Well, it is. And apparently Gibraltar wasn't big enough, because she gave it back." He produced from the vast expanse of black robes that covered him a princess cut diamond in a platinum setting. It was the most beautiful ring Lena had ever seen.
"Well, that's an insult," she said, taking the ring from his pale palm and examining it closely. "I helped you pick that big bastard out." Though she could see in his face that he didn't want to laugh, he was having trouble stifling the halfhearted smile that was tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I don't suppose you'd like to let me have it instead," she asked, taking the ring and biting it between her top and bottom teeth, pretending to check for authenticity.
"No," he answered, suddenly serious again. He took the ring from her teeth, brushing her lips with his bony fingers as he did. "We're going to get rid of it. I got a letter from Professor Dumbledore this morning. He wants to see me. And when I arrive the first thing I plan to do is to throw this big bastard, as you so eloquently put it, into the lake. Maybe one of the merwomen would enjoy it instead."
"I see," Lena answered, looking at the ground again. "What does Professor Dumbledore want to see you about?"
"I don't know, but it's not really Professor anymore. It's Headmaster now. I was hoping it would be the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. He always knew how I wanted to teach that class."
"Well, tell him hello for me." She pawed at the ground with her left foot, not wanting to ask what she really wanted to ask.
"Don't be ridiculous. You're coming with me."
She looked up at him then, her eyes alight. "Really?"
"No, you daft cow. I'm just saying that to get you all excited because I take great pleasure in dashing your hopes and dreams on the rocks of my bad attitude."
Her mouth hung open and it was quite clear that she didn't know what to say.
"Of course you're coming with me."
"Then what are we doing down this disgusting alleyway?"
"You've got to be kidding me. Miranda has been sending her henchmen out to spy on me all day. I don't want them going back and telling her what I'm up to. If Dumbledore wants to see me for what I hope he wants to see me for, then I've got a chance to disappear from her world altogether, which is exactly what I want to do."
"Fine. So, what are we doing down this alleyway again?"
"Disapparating in private."
"Ah."
"Ready then?"
"Hang on." Lena ran up the alleyway and turned the corner, leaving Snape to wait for her in the alleyway. She returned ten minutes later with a package from Madam Malkin's.
"What's that," Severus asked, pointing at the package which was wrapped in nondescript brown paper and tied with nondescript brown string.
"Just a little something I picked up for Dumbledore."
"Very well. Set?"
"Set." And with a smile and a pop between them they were gone.
"I don't care how you do it, just get here." Lena sighed heavily, fogging up the glass face of the mirror into which she was peering. Inside, a very disturbed (and a very young) Severus Snape sat, cradling his throbbing head in his hand and staring at the floor. Then, as an afterthought, or perhaps more of a plea, he turned his obsidian eyes upon her and she knew that this must be serious. Never had Snape allowed such emotion to be displayed to anyone, let alone a woman. "I need you."
"Fine. Give me fifteen minutes to get out of here and find someplace to disapparate. In front of Malkin's shop?"
"Yes that's fine. Fifteen minutes, then." Slowly his image faded away into the glass and Lena was left to find a way out of Reeder Hall, where she was currently supposed to be taking a Mythology Exam. She checked her watch. Five minutes to two. Hopefully Professor Edwards was already inside the classroom and she wouldn't encounter him on the way out.
She gathered up her things, shoved the enchanted mirror into her bookbag, and swung out from the recess in the wall and into the hallway traffic, of which there was very little. There was no way she would be able to blend into the crowd if she did happen to encounter the good professor on her way out the door.
She was just about to round the last corner, and the front door was in sight, when who should happen around the corner but Professor Edwards. Damn him. He had impeccable timing. Thinking quickly, Lena pulled the hood of her black sweatshirt up over her head and turned to "read" the flyers that were posted on the message board in front of her. As she "read" she whispered a quick invisibility charm to render her so uninteresting that Professor Edwards would never even think of looking twice at her. When the threat had passed and the Professor was safely around the corner and on his way to administer the test she hiked up her bookbag on her shoulder and flew out the door.
The subsequent walk to her dorm room was spent trying to think of an excuse that would be acceptable for missing a test. Mother ill? No, her mother had been ill two weeks ago when Lena had needed an excuse to go see the Grateful Dead play in Haight Ashbery. Grandparent dead? No, all of her grandparents had died more than once since she had started attending classes at Pepperdine. This was definitely bad. This little favor that Snape needed was going to cost her a big fat F on her first test of the semester and she hoped, for his sake, that it was something damn important that was causing him to act so irresponsible.
Once in her room she tossed her bag on her unmade bed, undressed, threw on a set of robes and a traveling cloak - it was sure to be a bit colder in Diagon Alley than it was here on the Pacific Ocean - and with a pop, disappeared into thin air.
She turned up a few seconds later in front of Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions and looked around. Diagon Alley was busy today. No doubt the witches and wizards that bustled around her were doing some shopping for the impending holidays. Her own mother used to start the day after Christmas when everything was on sale at drastically reduced prices. Yet, for all the life and activity around her there appeared to be no Severus Snape.
She was just getting ready to go to Florean's and order a sundae when she felt a sharp tug on her elbow and she was being pulled away, down a dingy and deserted alleyway. Under normal circumstances she would have been highly concerned, but the smell of cinnamon was heavy in the air and she knew that that could only mean one thing.
"That's no way to escort a lady, Severus," she said as he released her and she turned to face him. Diagon Alley was bustling by about a hundred feet behind him through a narrow window that was the end of the alleyway, and she got the distinct impression that there was something just as lively going on behind her, though she cared not to turn and see what it was. The walls that rose on either side of them were damp and moldy, and the air smelled like old cheese. Or socks. She wrinkled her nose and wrapped her arms around herself protectively, rubbing her biceps for warmth.
"She's gone. She's left me."
"Left you?" Lena went suddenly still, her eyes wide and her mouth open in disbelief. She looked as if someone had just dropped the H Bomb and she had watched them push the button. "What do you mean she's left you, Severus?"
"She's gone! Gone, Lena. She wants nothing to do with me." He was now the one with his arms wrapped around himself and he was staring at the ground, kicking pebbles with the pointed toe of his black leather shoe.
"It can't be! What happened Severus? You two have been inseparable since the fourth year! You gave her a rock the size of bloody Gibraltar! It can't just be - over."
"Well, it is. And apparently Gibraltar wasn't big enough, because she gave it back." He produced from the vast expanse of black robes that covered him a princess cut diamond in a platinum setting. It was the most beautiful ring Lena had ever seen.
"Well, that's an insult," she said, taking the ring from his pale palm and examining it closely. "I helped you pick that big bastard out." Though she could see in his face that he didn't want to laugh, he was having trouble stifling the halfhearted smile that was tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I don't suppose you'd like to let me have it instead," she asked, taking the ring and biting it between her top and bottom teeth, pretending to check for authenticity.
"No," he answered, suddenly serious again. He took the ring from her teeth, brushing her lips with his bony fingers as he did. "We're going to get rid of it. I got a letter from Professor Dumbledore this morning. He wants to see me. And when I arrive the first thing I plan to do is to throw this big bastard, as you so eloquently put it, into the lake. Maybe one of the merwomen would enjoy it instead."
"I see," Lena answered, looking at the ground again. "What does Professor Dumbledore want to see you about?"
"I don't know, but it's not really Professor anymore. It's Headmaster now. I was hoping it would be the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. He always knew how I wanted to teach that class."
"Well, tell him hello for me." She pawed at the ground with her left foot, not wanting to ask what she really wanted to ask.
"Don't be ridiculous. You're coming with me."
She looked up at him then, her eyes alight. "Really?"
"No, you daft cow. I'm just saying that to get you all excited because I take great pleasure in dashing your hopes and dreams on the rocks of my bad attitude."
Her mouth hung open and it was quite clear that she didn't know what to say.
"Of course you're coming with me."
"Then what are we doing down this disgusting alleyway?"
"You've got to be kidding me. Miranda has been sending her henchmen out to spy on me all day. I don't want them going back and telling her what I'm up to. If Dumbledore wants to see me for what I hope he wants to see me for, then I've got a chance to disappear from her world altogether, which is exactly what I want to do."
"Fine. So, what are we doing down this alleyway again?"
"Disapparating in private."
"Ah."
"Ready then?"
"Hang on." Lena ran up the alleyway and turned the corner, leaving Snape to wait for her in the alleyway. She returned ten minutes later with a package from Madam Malkin's.
"What's that," Severus asked, pointing at the package which was wrapped in nondescript brown paper and tied with nondescript brown string.
"Just a little something I picked up for Dumbledore."
"Very well. Set?"
"Set." And with a smile and a pop between them they were gone.