This is a fanfiction based in JK Rowling's Harry Potter universe. Of course, I am just borrowing her characters. Thank you for reading!
It was an unseasonably cold and wet night for mid fall. Semester was nearly half over and as usual homework was hitting hard and heavy. On this evening Harry had frantically been searching the castle. He had rummaged through his room and the commons area, retraced his steps back to the library and still couldn't find it. Now he was heading to the dungeon. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach because his least favorite classroom is the last place he remembered using it. The last thing he wanted to do was to tell Hermione that he had lost the quill he borrowed from her. The quill Ron had given her at beginning of term. She was reluctant to loan it to him, but knowing Professor Snape would have Harry strung up for not having one, she relented.
Not wanting to see Snape again today, Harry had grabbed his invisibility cloak hoping to sneak into the Potions classroom undercover. He scanned the floor as he hesitantly made his way to the dungeon. He hoped that he would find the quill lying on the stone floor along the way and would not have to return to Snape's classroom. As he got nearer the classroom he saw that the door was open and from it came voices, a girl's and Snape's. 'He must be tutoring tonight. Good, his attention will be focused on that poor girl' he thought to himself as he quickly checked the corridor for people and slipped under the cloak.
Harry approached the open door taking care not to make a sound. Snape was seated at his desk looking over the flagons that Harry's class had turned in earlier in the afternoon. Some were correctly yellow with a layer of frost on top. Some, however, were steaming, one was red, and one was completely congealed. The girl was nowhere to be seen. Harry looked around his desk, fortunately in the back row. Lying near one of its legs was a gold quill with pearl white plumage. 'Thank Merlin!' Harry thought 'this will be easy enough.'
Just as Harry was about to step into the classroom to retrieve the quill he heard the girl's voice again. It seemed to be coming from the storeroom. 'Curious' Harry thought 'Snape doesn't let students go in there unattended.' He suddenly became very interested in who this girl was. Something about Snape seemed very casual which was not a word Harry had ever associated with Snape. 'Come out' he pleaded in his thoughts, 'who are you?'
'I am nearly done marking these abysmal potions. Then I will attend to you. Only the worst two students to go.' Snape replied to the girl picking up a flagon of dark red liquid. Harry knew it was his by its color and the way it was hissing and steaming. 'No marks again Potter.' Snape grumbled holding the flagon up to the light. He then replaced the flagon on his desk. He didn't even pick up the last flagon to mark it. He simply looked over the congealed mess and shook his head marking what Harry thought was probably another zero in the grade register. Harry also knew that was Neville's.
Snape stood up from his desk and swept toward the storeroom. Harry knew he had better get the quill and get out of the classroom before he got locked in. Who knew what kind of charms Snape had put on the door? He slinked the ten feet from the doorway to the desk where the quill had dropped. Snape was still hidden in the storeroom as Harry squatted down and retrieved the quill hiding it inside his robe. He stood and arranged the cloak to make sure he was completely under cover. Still hearing muffled voices from the storeroom he decided to walk up the aisle to look inside. He knew he should just get out, but something about this situation drew him in. Snape was propped against a shelf listening, as the girl spoke, but Harry still could not see her. If only he were closer he could hear what she was saying. Then Snape turned in Harry's direction and began to exit the storeroom.
As if holding the storeroom door until someone came through it Snape stood at the door. Harry knew that this girl must have been using an invisibility cloak too. This sent a panic through him, as it was a variable he had not planned for. He turned and rushed out the classroom door into the dungeon corridor. If he had bumped into the girl his cover would have been blown. Again Snape held the classroom door for the girl. Then he held out a hooked elbow as if to escort her toward the Slytherin common room. Then Harry heard her plain as day. 'Not in the halls, we cannot be seen' the silky female voice said. Snape nodded and began walking. Harry stared at the sight mouth gaping. Did he recognize the voice?
Once Snape and the girl were out of view Harry made his way quickly back up to the Gryffindor common room. The Fat Lady was standing in her portrait telling a riddle to some very flustered first years. 'She won't let us in' one of the first years told Harry. 'Just listen to her riddle and answer it, watch.' He replied.
'Have you heard about the restaurant on the moon?' The Fat Lady asked.
'Hmm…' Harry said, not wanting to upset her by answering too quickly. He thought to himself that she should really find some new riddles. 'Yes, I have it, the food is good, but no atmosphere.' He replied following with the password 'aconite.'
'Very well' she nodded in defeat swinging the portrait open to reveal the common room.
Ron and Hermione were seated next to the fire each working on an essay for Binns. They had moved their chairs close together and seemed to be very deep in conversation when Harry came marching up though he did not notice.
'You are not going to believe this.' Harry said pacing back and forth in front of them as they separated their chairs slightly. 'It's unbelievable. I've just seen, well, I didn't see, but it's unbelievable.'
Hermione stood up taking Harry by the shoulders stopping his pacing. 'What did you not see?' She asked.
'Snape.' He replied.
'Snape?' She inquired. 'Why is that unbelievable?'
'I think he's secretly seeing a student.'
'No way!' Ron said jumping up from his chair.
Harry began telling the pair of his trip to the dungeon.
'Wait a minute, you lost my quill?' Hermione asked.
'Oh, yeah' Harry replied reaching into his robe for it. He had not intended to tell her that, 'Here it is.' He immediately went on with his story changing the subject. Hermione looked irritated.
'You say they were heading toward the Slytherin Common room?' Ron asked. 'That dirty old wizard! Snogging a student, who would see him anyway? Look at him, the greasy git.'
Hermione had her 'I'm going to get to the bottom of this' look fixed on her face as she stared at Harry. 'Oh Ron, get a grip, there are probably lots of Slytherin girls who would be attracted to him. No one is more Slytherin than Snape. Anyway, there's not much we can do tonight so I suggest we get this essay done for Binns. Tomorrow we'll work on finding out who this girl is. Oh, and Harry, make sure you have an extra quill tomorrow.'
Harry retrieved his homework and joined Ron and Hermione in the common room to write Binns' essay.
The next morning seemed to arrive much quicker than it ought. Probably due to Ron and Harry getting tangled up in a rousing game of wizard's chess that lasted well past finishing their essays and Hermione bidding them goodnight. Ron and Harry arrived at the great hall for breakfast a little late. Hermione was already there reading the Daily Prophet. The boys took their regular seats with Hermione and began to eat. As they did she told them that she had already done a little investigation and her first lead was Daphne Greengrass. None of the Gryffindor girls were able to link her with a boy. 'It's common knowledge that she spends a lot of time alone and no one seems to know where she goes. Oh, and she also gets very high marks in Potions' Hermione stated. The trio made plans to watch for her on the marauder's map to see if she wound up with Snape.
After a long day of classes and a good meal the trio made their way to their favorite seats by the common room fireplace. They decided that in order to watch Daphne on the marauder's map they would need to find a more secretive place. After deciding on the library. Harry retrieved the map from his trunk and met Ron and Hermione at the common room portrait hole. The three then walked to the library and found a table to sit at in the Muggle History corner. Hardly anyone ever went back there. Harry tapped the map stating 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' and it came to life. They saw Mrs. Norris wandering the Transfiguration corridor and Filch walking near the Great Hall. They searched the map for Daphne, but did not find her.
'I hope we haven't missed her leaving the common room' Hermione said. They watched the Potions corridor almost exclusively, but also kept an eye on movement near the library. They saw Professor Snape walk into the storeroom and then back to his desk several times.
'He must be grading potions' Harry figured becoming a bit bored with the content of the map. 'Or, maybe he's preparing for tomorrow's class. Did he say what we would be studying next? I could use a head start on it. All these zeros are getting me down.'
'I believe we will be making a serenity draught next.' Hermione said.
'Now there's something I could use' Ron chimed.
'You really should try to relax' Hermione replied solemnly as she studied the map.
Ron looked at Harry with a quizzical expression. Harry shrugged his shoulders. They both knew Hermione was quite high strung herself. Ron began to stare out the window into the darkness and Harry got up to look for information on serenity draughts when Hermione exclaimed 'Oooh, there she is!'
Harry ran back to the table and the trio watched Daphne's steps down the Potions corridor on the map. They looked at each other as she passed the Potions classroom. Harry shrugged. She came up the stairs and made her way through the Entry Hall. She went out the front doors of the castle and onto the grounds.
'Come on' Harry said as he led his friends out of the Library to follow Daphne.
'But Harry, Snape is still in the Dungeon, she walked right past, why do you want to follow her?'
'Let's just find out what she's up to.' He replied.
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances and trailed after Harry. The three followed Daphne's steps as she wound down to the lake. The trio took refuge behind a tree and watched as Daphne seated herself near the water. She was well bundled and looked as if she was settled in for a while. Then she began to shake. Harry was not sure what she was doing. Then the sound of sobbing reached his ears. Hermione too had heard and pleaded with Harry to go back to the castle as this seemed like intrusion and none of them had dressed for being outside on a cool fall evening anyway. After a few moments Harry nodded to Hermione and Ron who had an extremely pained look on his face as though he might bolt from the scene at any moment.
The three made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. They settled in to do their homework. Harry slipped up to his dorm room once in awhile to check the map. At no time that evening had Snape been near Daphne. In fact he had been alone the entire evening.
The trio continued to watch Daphne for the rest of the week and through the following weekend and there was no sign of her being in the company of Snape at any time other than her potions class. She did however steel away to the lake nearly every evening by herself.
Harry began to wonder if he had imagined it all. He knew that he had heard a female voice and that Snape had conversed with it, but maybe he was just cracking under the enormous load of homework he had. It just did not make sense that Snape would be in the company of a female.
Another week of classes went by. The trio was busy as ever with homework. Quidditch was also taking up a lot of time. They were practicing nearly every day now with a match coming up the next weekend against Slytherin. Harry had nearly forgotten about his encounter with the mysterious voice.
Harry and Ron found themselves sitting in the common room the Friday night before the match. They were each trying to convince the other that they were not nervous. They had even attempted to talk about homework, which was completely out of character since they had no classes the next day. Feeling restless Harry opted for a late night stroll through the castle. He took out the map to see if an attempt would be prudent.
Filch appeared to be working in his office and Mrs. Norris was with him. Knowing that was a rare occurrence Harry felt the time was ripe to walk the halls. He continued to study the map. Everything seemed to be quiet. As he raised his wand to return the map to blank he noticed that Snape was leaving the potions classroom and there was someone with him. The name read Lavinia Snape.
'Ron! Ron! Look at this. There's someone walking with Snape' Harry exclaimed. He jumped to his feet. 'Come on, let's go see.'
Ron being nervous already jumped to attention and looked at the map. 'They're heading toward his quarters. We'll never make it in time. Who do you suppose it is, his mum?'
'No idea' Harry replied.
Seeing the commotion from her favorite study table across the common room Hermione decided to see what the boys were playing at.
Ron and Harry were staring intently at the footsteps heading toward Snape's quarters when Hermione appeared.
'What's going on?' she quarried.
'Look' Ron said pointing to the two Snapes on the map.
Hermione's jaw dropped. 'Lavinia? Do you suppose that is who you heard with Professor Snape the other night Harry?'
'I don't know for sure. I wonder who she is?'
'Could be anybody' Ron said. 'Mum, sister, aunt, cousin….'
'Wife' Hermione broke in.
'You're cracked Hermione, no one would marry Snape. Uugh.' Ron replied giving a shudder.
'You'd be surprised Ron' she told him rolling her eyes.
They watched the map until the pair disappeared into Snape's private quarters, which were not plotted. For some time the trio stood in stunned silence. Hermione tried to change the subject asking about the Quidditch match. Harry and Ron mumbled on about that for some time and then the three decided they had better get some sleep. Harry kept a close eye on the map hiding it partially under his pillow. The moonlight was just enough to see by. When he could finally hold his eyes open no more he muttered 'mischief managed' as he tapped the map and closed his eyes.
Once again morning came too quickly. Madam Hooch had scheduled an early game due to the tendency for rain to move in after midday. Harry and Ron walked down to the Quidditch pitch after breakfast. After changing into their playing robes they waited for their fearless leader to give them her last words of strategy before kick off. The locker room had been very quiet. Gryffindor had lost some power with Angelina gone. Luckily, Alicia had been able to step in as captain and maintain some consistency. Ginny had taken Angelina's place as chaser, Ron was Keeping and Harry still Seeking. This was the first match of the year. They had not wanted to face Slytherin so early. Malfoy was presenting a strong, if not devious, side.
Fortunately the weather was holding well. The sun was shining brightly and the wind was pleasant. Conditions were nearly perfect, cool, but that was to be expected. Now that Lee Jordan was gone Seamus had taken over announcing duties. McGonagal had quite a job keeping his tongue in line.
Madam Hooch released the balls and the game was underway. Gryffindor got the quaffle first Chasers passing back and forth up the pitch toward the Slytherin goal. Ginny took the shot and scored. '10 points to Gryffindor' Seamus screamed. 'Damn fine flying Weasley.' McGonagal scolded Seamus and threatened to relieve him of his duties. Harry was exhilarated. He thought there could be nothing better than playing Quidditch.
The match played on, both teams scoring, mostly trading off. Gryffindor had fallen behind by 20 points though. Harry had been circling the pitch high above Slytherin's rings when he saw a sliver of gold streaking by midfield. Harry put his firebolt into a dive heading straight for the snitch. Malfoy, who had been tailing him, followed suit and the two found themselves in a very familiar position jostling for the snitch. The ensuing dive was filled with foul worthy offenses. Ultimately, Harry came up with the snitch leading Gryffindor to a big win.
Seamus, Dean, and Neville led the Gryffindors back to their common room for a post game party. This is when the house missed Fred and George the most. No one added life to a party like the twins. When the team arrived back at the common they were greeted by resounding cheers. Everyone had his or her share of butterbeer and rousing conversation about the match. Ron was hailed for his saves and Harry for catching the snitch. Once the party was over the rest of the day was spent working on homework and relaxing. Of course Harry still watched the map when he could, but saw nothing of interest other than Mrs. Norris chasing Neville back to the common room. He did have to be careful not to let anyone but Hermione and Ron see the map. Hermione had been studying the situation and mused 'do you think that this only happens on Friday nights? Wasn't it a Friday night when you came across this mystery woman the first time and then again when you saw her on the map?'
'Yeah' Harry replied. 'You may be on to something. Both incidents were on Fridays. I think I may find myself wandering the potions corridor next Friday evening.'
Harry spent the next week bouncing ideas of how to uncover the mystery girl off of Ron and Hermione. Ron was much more supportive of Harry's ideas than Hermione. She felt he must keep his presence a secret. She was uncomfortable with intruding in a professor's private affairs, especially this professor. Harry, however, wanted to bump into her and really uncover who she was. After all of the scenarios that he imagined over the week on Friday Harry still did not know what he was going to do.
Once Harry saw Professor Snape go into the Potions classroom he started to get nervous. He couldn't imagine what he was going to do or say. He did not even know if she would show up. When he could wait no longer he slipped the map and his invisibility cloak into his robe and headed to the potions corridor. He found a spot beside a statue where he would not be noticed, slipped under the cloak with the map and waited.
Long after his bum had gone numb he noticed Lavinia Snape's footprints on the map. She was walking from Snape's quarters to the Potions Classroom. Harry popped to his feet nearly displacing the statue. He waited for two Slytherin girls to enter their common room and slipped out of the cloak. He checked the map one more time. Lavinia was walking toward Snape's desk. Harry quickly blanked the map and ran to the doorway of the classroom. He reached the doorway just in time to see Snape stand up. He leaned forward his nose leading and as he did a face appeared from thin air and the two kissed. Then the female face disappeared again. Shocked by what he had seen Harry backpedaled fast and bashed into the door causing it to fly open wide. For a brief moment Snape caught his gaze. Harry turned to get away, but was frozen by a bellowing voice.
'Potter!' Snape called.
Harry turned back to meet a familiar loathing pair of eyes.
'Spying are you Potter?'
'No, no sir, I, um…' Harry's mind was spinning to come up with something. 'I just came to talk to you about Occlumency.' Harry could see the veins in Snape's temples throbbing. His nostrils were flared and he seemed to be growling more than talking.
'Don't lie to me Potter. I have already seen the truth and you have seen too much. We will have a visit with the Headmaster.' His tone softened ever so slightly, at least the growl left. 'Lavinia, would you please accompany us?'
'Of course.' Came a silky familiar voice from nowhere.
Professor Snape led the party to Dumbledore's office. He growled the password and the three rose with the stairs to the door, which opened immediately upon their reaching it. Dumbledore was seated behind his desk as if awaiting them.
'Come in' he said ushering them to three chairs that he had conjured in front of his desk.
'Headmaster' Snape said his intense gaze not leaving Harry for a moment 'Potter has once again put his nose where it does not belong.'
Harry had kept his eyes on Fawkes since they entered the office. He had not noticed that the woman had removed her invisibility cloak. She raised her hand to gather attention. 'Severus, may I have a word with you privately?' she said when everyone looked her way.
Looking rather taken aback he said 'of course' and the pair went back through the door to have a private moment.
Harry fidgeted nervously in his chair and then asked 'Who is that?'
'That is Professor Snape's wife, Lavinia. Saint of a woman for putting up with him.' Dumbledore replied.
'I was afraid of that.'
The pair returned to the office. Snape looked slightly less infuriated. Dumbledore motioned for them to be seated then he turned away. Harry sat quietly looking at Dumbledore's back. The Headmaster then turned around and leaned down resting his palms on the immense desk.
'Severus, we knew this day would come. The day when a student found out about your clandestine personal affairs. Frankly, I'm surprised it has taken so long.' His gaze turned to Harry. 'Harry, I hope that you did not come by this information in a manner unbecoming a gentleman such as yourself.' Harry looked down at his shoes. 'Well, suffice it to say, this is not common knowledge. Let me give you just enough information to squelch your interest.' He began to pace behind his desk appearing to search for words. 'Lavinia worked for the Ministry. You may have heard her voice on one of your visits there. She did announcements. She is a friend of the Order and of course Professor Snape's wife. What you may not know is that many of your professors are married and spouses do visit the castle frequently though they generally do not leave their quarters or take extended stays. Due to the nature of Professor Snape's business with the Order we have found it necessary to bring Lavinia semi-permanently to the safe confines of the castle. Now, I know that I warned the two of you about coming out into the castle.' Snape's gaze became much less intense and it was his turn to fidget in his chair. Harry thought he looked rather like a child being scolded. 'Harry, you will have to keep this information private. If certain students found out they could make mention of it to their parents. This would be most unfortunate. Currently the Death Eaters believe Lavinia to be missing. You know who can be trusted.'
'Yes sir' Harry said.
'You may carry on with your business. Discretion would be my advice to you Severus.' Snape nodded. Harry turned to get a good look at Lavinia, but she was already under the invisibility cloak. The group began their walk to the staircase.
'Oh and I think now would be a good time to start Occlumency lessons again' Dumbledore said to Harry and Professor Snape.
Harry openly cringed at the thought. As Harry and the Snapes descended from Dumbledore's office Professor Snape informed Harry that should he slip and tell anyone of Lavinia's whereabouts he, Harry, would find it very uncomfortable to be alive.
Harry went back to the Gryffindor common room to find Ron and Hermione once again crowding closely over homework. He explained to them the situation. Ron stared at Harry in disgust still not able to believe someone would marry Snape. Hermione listened with an 'I knew it look' then asked 'Well, what does she look like?'
'That's the thing, I didn't get much of a look at her.' He thought hard about it and said 'She was tall, I think and fit, very Slytherin looking with black hair, black eyes and dark green robes. That's all I can remember. I'm really foggy about any details.'
'There must be a charm on her identity as well, I assumed there would be.' Hermione replied.
'Was she pretty? Ron asked.
'Why do you want to know Ronald?' Hermione snapped at him.
'Yeah, like I said I can't remember details, but I have a sense that she was in a very Snapey sort of way. The bad thing is that I now have to take Occlumancy from Snape again. I think Dumbledore knew I'd told Snape that's why I was there.'
'Well, maybe Snape won't be so awful to you now that you know his big secret.' Ron supposed wondering why Harry and Hermione were looking at him mouths gaping.
Harry felt a sense of impending doom wadding his stomach in knots for Snape was sure to get even.