VM- Scene Two, Take One

It was certainly one of the best things that had happened to him in... in a long time. One could do only so much to avoid boredom when in such a self-aggravating position, and the deadly monotony of Hogwarts didn't help matters one bit. It had been more than four months, almost five, and Lord Voldemort was sick of being stuck to the back of Quirrell's head.

That afternoon, the disloyal ex-Death Eater known as Severus Snape had slipped Quirrell a note, telling him that he would meet him in the corridor where they now were. As the Dark Lord expected, Severus was late; it was already midnight.

It was a good thing for him that he had this surprise meeting to distract him. The smelly Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was the place he frequented most, unfortunately. Quirrell had a knack for making the classes long, boring and utterly useless.

~I'm not that bad a teacher!~

Ah, yes. The only company he had. Quirrell could read his most superficial thoughts and vice versa, which meant telepathic communication. Sometimes he thought that he would have been more entertained if he could have shared Dumbledore's head. Sure, he hated the old man, but it would have been much more interesting to maintain interesting philosophical debates with a ready mind. But no, here he was, having memorized half the DADA theory of Hogwarts and listening incessantly to Quirrell's mind-babble.

~I resent that comment, Master.~

#Why, we are bold today, are we not?#

Defence Against the Dark Arts. Now, what was that? The subject was completely ridiculous. Defence? Come on! They should have been teaching Dark Arts, not bloody pointless Defence. Oh, why couldn't they have hidden the Philosopher's Stone in Durmstrang? Those were sensible people; unafraid of a little pain to get whatever they wanted.

#Why didn't you become a Durmstrang Professor, Quirrell?#

~Before you showed me the right way, my master, I agreed with Dumbledore's idealism. Besides, I studied at Hogwarts.~

#What house? Hufflepuff?#

~Yes.~

#How unsurprising.#

Hufflepuff. What a source of embarrassment for Quirrell's family, to have one of them become a Hufflepuff, the house where all substandard students were thrown into. And they actually said that they were loyal people, hard workers. Rubbish. Just a nice little euphemism to designate the lowest point of wizarding society.

~Do you need to be so cruel to me?~

#That is not cruelty, my dear friend, it's reality.#

~Still...~

The mere thought of himself having turned out as a Hufflepuff was enough to make Voldemort shudder. Anything but that. He would have readily accepted the idea of being a stupid Gryffindor before arriving to such extremes. At least Gryffindors had some bravery, a treat he valued. Then again, Gryffindor courage often became so predictable that they became easy to manipulate. Pull a few strings here and there, and you'll have any Gryffindor doing whatever you want.

The legendary Gryffindor thickness had led to many idiotic situations to the members of that house over the centuries. Only a Gryffindor would enchant snowballs to follow a Professor and bounce off the back of his turban. One day he would get the Weasley twins for it, Voldemort swore.

A swishing sound broke through the Dark Lord's train of thought. It was very faint.

#Quirrell, you idiot, did you hear that?#

~Hear what?~

#Never mind. I suppose you weren't paying enough attention... Wait. I sometimes forget that you were a Hufflepuff. Of course you don't pay attention.#

It had sounded like some sort of cloak. He tried to look around with Quirrell's eyes, but he found he couldn't.

#Could you please explain to me why your eyes are CLOSED?#

~I was trying to hear that sound you mentioned.~

#And you have to close your eyes to do that?#

~Well, it helps.~

Now it was probably too late to do anything about it. Where was he? Ah, yes. Hufflepuff worthlessness and Gryffindor foolishness. The Ravenclaws were far more respectable than the other two. The wizards assembled under the sign of the raven were those who had the brains but lacked the guts to be in Slytherin. The Ravenclaws were nowhere nearly as easy to fool as the others. They had a streak of intelligence that made them powerful allies.

Then there were the Slytherins. Pride and joy of the Wizarding world. Unequalled in talent and cleverness; unsurpassed in wit and perseverance.

~And quite misunderstood.~

#Oh be quiet.#

At that precise moment, a cloaked figure appeared from the shadows of midnight. About time Snape decided to drop by.

"Ah, Quirrell, I see you had the wits to come."

Wits? Of course he didn't. Fortunately for him, Lord Voldemort gave him strength.

#Don't stand rooted to the spot, you foolish Hufflepuff, say something!#

"I d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus..."

#Amazing.#

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private. Students aren't supposed to know about the Stone, after all."

Voldemort could feel Quirrell's fear. He was trembling from head to toe, mumbling something that even with their mind meld couldn't be understood.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

~What do I tell him, yes or no?~

#ARE YOU DAFT OR WHAT? FEIGN IGNORANCE!#

"B-b-but Severus, I --"

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell."

#This keeps getting better and better. The greasy-haired git thinks he's a menace.#

"I-I don't know what you..."

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

Snape suddenly did something unexpected. He looked sharply to his right and squinted at the shadows. Yes, now he could hear it too. Very faintly. Next time Quirrell took a shower, he would make sure he cleaned his ears. This was ridiculous.

Snape reached a hand to the faint swishing noise, and attempted to grasp the darkness.

#What an idiot. What could possibly be there?#

After looking somewhat disappointed, Snape grasped the front of Quirrell's robes and slammed him against the wall. Back of the head included.

#OUCH! MY FACE!#

Hadn't the turban been there, he was sure that he would have fallen unconscious.

"We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

With a final glare, Snape left Quirrell looking petrified, while the Dark Lord shook his head metaphorically, trying to bring the feeling back to his face. His nose had received the bulk of the hit. He was sure that it now looked as if he had slits for nostrils.

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A/N: Damn FFnet… it just wouldn't let me log in. For a week. But neither did Hotmail, so I guess it was my computer. Because I couldn't use Hotmail, I couldn't send this chapter to beta; that means, grit your teeth and bear with all the grammar mistakes I left behind.

Alquamor – I have no intention of dying twice, thanks. Come to think of it, I have no intention of dying, period.

Ravenclaw – No, no, I don't give up. Sometimes my life gets hectic and I can't update, but I don't give up! :)

PajaroNegro – Hmmm... are you Spanish? Because I am…

Green Pig PROUD Hufflepuff – You have a naughty mind, you know that? I only support one Draco ship: Draco/Not-a-Gryffindor.

Note that Voldie's opinion is NOT mine. I don't think that of dear old Helga's House.

Temporary Insanity – Oh! Oh! Plot bunny! Thanks! But, of course, it won't be Harry with the space-time-eraser machine, it'll be Voldie!