Concentrate the magic energy into my hand…
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Focusing energy into her right hand, she stood there in the dark dungeon room, taking deep breaths. Good. The power in her right hand felt overwhelming.
Run for it…
Taking a step backwards, she sprang forward and with a little run-up, she quickly neared the stone wall.
Impact.
She hit the stone wall with her fist, breaking through the stone as if it were made of paper. She didn't know what she expected to see, maybe a crack in a stone, or nothing at all, but what she didn't expect was for the stone wall to crumble down like a big flat biscuit that has been sat down on and crushed. The whole castle quaked with the force of her blow. She could hear cries of fear and worry, they all must have been thinking something exploded in the dungeons. Her heart was pounding with fear. Was she to be caught red handed and gibbetted? No. I haven't done anything wrong, she thought. My uncle ordered me to do this. I mustn't fail. She could hear footsteps in the corridor. It was time to act. But her right arm was limply hanging by her side and felt strangely motionless. She took her wand with her left hand, then, and pressing herself against the wall, she directed the last efforts of her calm mind at this one word: Occulto.
The pattern of the stone bricks soon began to spread across the skin of her body and the fabric of her clothes: She fused with the wall so well that no one could ever distinguish she was ever there. Seconds later, Umbridge appeared, shouting: "I swear, whoever's wreaked this havoc will be out of the castle sooner than they could say Madam Undersecretary! This way!" She looked hysterically funny as she was running on her short, fat legs towards a culprit she was bound never to find. Tara had to suppress a derisive sneer, however, the smirk disappeared from her face as soon as she spotted the well-familiar Potions Master, who was following the Under-secretary as slowly as he could possibly afford – but still, his pace was quicker than usual.
"Obviously, there's nobody here, Professor." Snape said derisively and leaned on the doorframe lazily.
"I asked you to search the dungeons, Professor, and I expect you'll do your duty well!" Umbridge shouted from the other end of the corridor. Tara didn't dare to breathe. Snape stuck his head into the dark cave of the newly exposed, half destroyed castle cavity, as if he expected the culprit to hide in the debris. Then his dark eyes searched the corridor briskly and Tara couldn't resist the creeping fear that he might find her. And then, his onyx eyes rested exactly on the part of the castle wall where she was standing. Tara didn't dare to breathe, even to think, because she was afraid he could somehow sense her mind's presence.
"Well, Snape?" Tara could hear Umbridge's unpleasant, shrill voice.
"Nothing." He said icily, not missing a beat, slowly took his eyes off Tara's camouflaged body and walked out of the corridor, following Umbridge's scuttling footsteps and shrill orders. When they were gone, Tara let out a loud sigh of relief, peeled off the wall and with her right hand still somehow dumb, she began walking slowly towards her room. Enough destruction for tonight, she thought. Just as she was rounding the corner, there was a voice that made her jump up half a metre in terror.
"I've always thought you would be the last person imaginable who would be capable of damaging the school property."
She turned around. It was her uncle. The blood in her veins turned cold, but then she spotted his mischievous smile on his thin lips.
"I'm sorry." She whispered shamefully.
"I've always believed that if people break the rules, they usually have a good reason for it." He prompted her.
"I've been carrying out the task you've set me, uncle."
"Successfully, I presume?"
"I doubt it." Said another voice. Snape was leaning on the corridor doorway again, having ditched Umbridge somewhere; his expression now relaxed and slightly frowning, but his eyes bore a spark of curiosity. "When I last checked upon her, Headmaster, she was attempting non-verbal magic like a first-year student." Snape sneered.
"Save your criticism after you will've seen the show, Severus." Dumbledore said calmly. "Unlike you, I don't anticipate failure in advance."
"I don't know if I can do another one, uncle…" Tara began with some hesitation, but Snape's look of contempt put a new flurry of determination into her veins. "I…" She blushed, "I think I've discovered a way for wizards to increase their physical power."
Dumbledore stroke his white beard pensively: "I've heard about wizards attempting to gain superhuman strength before, but that would require an excessive amount of a wizard's magic and an excellent skill to manipulate that magic. Let's see what you have to show us, my dear."
"I'll have to do it with my left hand though." Said she, "my right feels strangely numb."
"You clearly overdid it." Snape smirked. Dumbledore noiselessly vawed his wand and the broken wall repaired itself in an instant.
Just like before, Tara stepped back a little, putting her right foot behind her left to have a better take-off. Running towards the newly-repaired stone wall as quickly as she could, she balled up her left fist and jumping towards the wall, she hit it with all her might. The wall crumbled instantly, but this time, she took even half the neighbouring walls with it, as well as a part of the ceiling.
"I knew the culprit was still there!" They all heard Umbridge screech, and just as the little fat woman was rounding the corner into the corridor, her uncle cast a Disillusionment charm upon her.
"H-Headmaster?" Umbridge came to a halt and seemed genuinly surprised to see the old man in the dungeons.
"Professor Umbridge," he gave her a polite nod, "I can see that you've taken it upon yourself to find the person responsible."
"That I did, Dumbledore." She breathed out, still trying to catch her breath.
"Well, professor, your search has come to an end. As I was just demonstrating to Professor Snape, I've busied myself recently with discovering some new explosive spells I could make use of."
"And what, pray tell, would you use them for?" Snapped Umbridge and not seemed to be convinced at all.
"You see, professor, Hagrid and I've been contemplating expanding the lake on the school grounds." Said the Headmaster with a kind smile. Snape seemed skeptical and Umbridge looked utterly baffled.
"The lake?" She stated in disbelief.
"Yes, the lake. Professor Hagrid is of the opinion that the giant squid is getting bored when it's on its own in the lake. Currently, Professor Hagrid is looking for a suitable mate—"
"A mate?!" Cried Umbridge. "Headmaster, are you quite serious? This is a school, not a— freak show!"
"Professor Umbridge, Hagrid wouldn't like to hear you said that." Dumbledore gave a concilliatory smile and giving a polite nod to Severus, he added: "Would you care for a late night cup of tea, professor? Perhaps I could explain the situation with the squid…" The wall silently repaired itself again as the Headmaster and the Undersecretary were slowly walking away. When they were gone, the Disillusionment charm lifted itself off her.
"He was joking about the second squid, wasn't he?" Tara asked, her voice tight with worry.
"Knowing Hagrid, he probably wasn't." Snape growled, then, giving her a proper look, he cried: "Are you alright?"
Both Tara's arms were hanging helplessly at her sides. She gave a painful smirk and said: "I cannot move either of my arms – although the right one is slightly better off than the left."
"That must be the side effect of using the magic so differently to how you're usually used to." He mused. "Are you sure you did it right?"
"I don't know," her eyes were fighting the pain that was pulsing in her muscles. "The account wasn't very detailed…"
"Let's get you to your room." He said sternly, and looking at her with hesitation – was he supposed to support her? – he lead the way.
-oOo-
"It seems that I'm unable to use my arms for a while after I magically increase the strength." Tara explained the next day at breakfast. Snape looked skeptical.
"I've never heard of that sort of magic." From a few chairs afar, Umbridge shot them a dangerous look.
"It's true." Tara hissed. "My arms are back to normal."
"But why would they be temporarily immobile? You must be doing something wrong." Said Snape and sipped his morning black cofee tentatively.
"You look as if you smelt something funny. Don't you like my new power?"
"I don't really like women using physical force." He smirked.
"Right. Go back to your cooking in the dungeons, then." She smirked. His nostrils flared and he exhaled angrily, just about to utter something very rude. Then Tara nudged him, taking a side glance at Umbridge: "She's watching us."
"Yeah, she's taking over the castle. With all these interrogations and the teacher inquisitions and what not, I wouldn't be surprised if the Minister wouldn't soon be bestowing the title of Headmistress upon her shoulders."
"He cannot do that!" She gasped and half the staff table cast her disapproving looks. "The Board of Governors elects the Headmaster." She hissed angrily, pretending to mind her own plate.
"Yes, but you're forgetting two important things: Malfoy is its Chairman and the members are Ministry-appointed employees."
"But the Board–"
"They'll soon be all blackmailed, you stupid cow." He snarled. "Better pack your suitcases while you can, Dumbledore's not going to hold much longer."
"But I was asked to keep an eye on Potter!" She hissed angrily.
"Leave him to others." He mumbled, barely audibly. Tara cast him a curious look, but knew she shouldn't inquire more, so she got back to her breakfast.
Unfortunately, Snape's predictions were soon fulfilled. In one eventful evening, Potter's illegal group was discovered and her uncle took the blame on himself. Tara knew damn well why he did so, although Potter looked absolutely heartbroken: The moment Harry Potter would leave the school grounds, the Death Eaters would be hot on his heels. It was essential to keep him at school. And Tara was there to protect him.
However, even Tara's career ended sooner than she thought, not long after her uncle was forced out of the castle: Seeing Umbridge torture one of the fourth-years for being too fond of Harry Potter, she couldn't stand it anymore and threw herself in between them.
"You cannot do that!" She yelled, shielding the poor boy with her own body.
"You get out of my way!" Shrieked Umbridge. "Shut up and get back to your dingy office, mouse!"
"If I have to duel you, I will!" Tara cried, but her soul felt much much smaller in fact.
"Enough!" Shrieked the ugly witch. Then she gave a vicious smirk and added in her normal, awfully sweet voice: "You're fired."
Seeing Tara's shocked voice, the witch cackled: "Yes, I wanted to do this for months. The moment you first got in my way, in fact."
"All right." Tara smirked, turning on her heel and marching through the corridors. She could feel the eyes of the students on her back, but she didn't care. There was only one thing on her mind now: Revenge.
"So, you finally managed to get yourself sacked?" Snape said as he joined her. Tara noticed he was holding his wand in his hand. Was he getting ready for something, too?
"Shut up, or I'll punch you too, Snape." Tara said, and, stopping in front of Umbridge's office, she took a deep breath. Then she sprang towards the wall, and the Potions Master could only take one shocked step backwards as she shattered the entire wall into pieces. Although the door had a big number of protective spells placed onto it, it was buried somewhere beneath the debris, intact – Umbridge charmed the door, but not the entire wall.
"Students wreaking havoc in the castle!" They could hear Filch screeching as he hobbled towards them. His eyes were grotesquely popped out as he saw the entirety of Umbridge's office exposed.
"Wh-Who did this?!" Yelled the schoolkeeper, his chin trembling. "Oh, Madam Headmistress won't be happy about this, no, she won't be happy at all." Filch smirked, and it suddenly seemed he enjoyed the situation immensely. "She'll have to do a thorough investigation, she will, and the little rogues will have to spill the beans, they will, oh, I wish she let me use my thumb-twisting chains, oh, I hope she will."
"No interrogations shall be necessary, Mr Filch." Said Tara calmly, took another sprint across Umbridge's office, and shattered the outer wall with her left hand.
"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" Yelled Umbridge and as she was raising her hand with her wand, there was a flash of red-and-golden flames, and Dumbledore's voice bellowed through the Entrance Hall: "I've never truly left the school, Dolores!" Then Tara touched the fiery phoenix's tail feathers and vanished.
-oOo-
"You messed up." Her uncle said, looking truly angry for the first time Tara knew him. They were sitting in Hog's Head and Aberforth wasn't particularly happy to see his brother scolding his beloved great-granddaughter.
"I might have." Tara retorted, "but I disagree with your abominable policy to give all the special attention and support to Potter only. There are other children who needed to be protected, too."
"Don't play the hero here, Tara." Her uncle scolded.
"Hey," Aberforth meddled in the argument, facing Albus directly face to face. "She has more guts to face evil than you've ever had, than you ever will. So don't lecture her what she should or shouldn't've done. From what I've heard, the Potter boy is one piece of a brat and the bitch is wreaking havoc in the school. I hear the bigger kids talking about it all the time in the inn, that she's torturing them and locking them up and not giving them enough to eat and what not. If someone messed up, it was you. It was always you."
Her uncle shot her a glance: It was the strangest look Tara ever received, there was everything – hurt and pain, anger and sadness, hatred and love. Before he disappeared in another shot of golden flames, she heard him say: "Stay here. Don't go anywhere, they're looking for you. Stay here."
-oOo-
"Miss Henley's gone." He murmured, and leaned on the cold mirror in his bathroom. He wasn't really fond of her, God forbid, but he doubted he could ever get any closer to her: The only person who could teach him how to approach her, and the only person who was educating him regularly about various tastes and distastes of women was now gone. Will he miss her? No, he didn't think so. She was bearable enough, but he sure wouldn't miss her.
-oOo-
"I'm asking you again, Snape: Who taught her to use superhuman strength? Was it Dumbledore?" Snapped Umbridge. The Potions Master was sitting cross-legged in one of her armchairs, looking comfortable and undisturbed.
"I'm telling you – I don't know." Snape said calmly.
"I know damn well you're friends!" She yelled, spit flying in every direction.
"We're nothing like that." Snape said, his eyes cold, his voice levelled. "She's Dumbledore's pet and she's been chasing me since the day she was hired here – I don't know why. I hold nothing but contempt towards her."
-oOo-
Days turned into weeks and weeks into months – and he suddenly found himself staring at her empty chair at the staff table. She has gotten under my skin, he thought angrily, but he had to admit he missed her. He tried to fool himself, he tried to convince himself that he missed just the secret advice that she was giving him, but he knew he was making a fool of himself. Yet, he didn't want to cease trying to win Rose's heart – or to get himself acquainted with her, at least.
"I've made up my mind." He growled one evening and smashed the Potions and Poisons tome on the top of the essays he was supposed to be marking.
"Good for you." Said his painting lazily. The dark-haired, beautiful woman really didn't seem to be much concerned.
"I'm going to go there, Emma. I'm going to see her."
"Careful, the barman won't like it." Said Emma.
"What are you talking about?" Snape asked sharply.
"What are YOU talking about?" Said Emma, annoyed.
"I was talking about Rose Gallagher." Said he. Just the sound of her name escaping his lips aloud made him tremble.
"I was talking about Tara Henley." Said the girl.
"I don't need her anymore." He said coolly. "She gave me all the advice she could and besides, I've got you if something was unclear. Let her stay in Hogsmeade where she belongs."
"I cannot believe you said that." Whispered the girl on the painting and as Snape was shutting the door of his bathroom to shave, she let one single tear escape her beautiful brown eye.
-oOo-
It was dark in Waterford. The street lamps were alight, and it was raining. Rose just parked her car on the driveway next to her house and was just walking towards her entrance, carrying a big handbag and multiple shopping bags, when she noticed someone watching her from the pavement. She turned sharply around, and saw a man standing tentatively amongst the bushes. He was watching her.
"Who are you?" She called, her voice a bit shaky.
"I live a few houses from here." Said the man. His voice was deep and relaxed, although it quivered with nervousness here and there. "I was just taking a stroll when I saw you park your car and I noticed that when you were getting out, you dropped your purse."
"Really?" Rose said, looking at the blackness of the asphalt, and indeed, her black leather purse was there, laying in a big puddle of water. "Blimey, you're right!" Rose chuckled nervously, and tried to squat down to pick it up, which was no easy feat when you are weighed down by bags and have your highest heels on. The man quickly marched towards her and picked up her purse for her.
"Here you go." He said sternly, but then, a nervous smile spread across his lips.
"Thank you." Rose gave a smile and tried to turn around a bit so that he could slip it into her already full hands.
"I think you can't hold more than you already do, why don't I slip it here into the bag together with the cauliflower?" The man suggested and Rose nodded with a shy smile.
"Ehm, would you – would you open the door for me? I've got my hands quite full at the moment." Rose asked politely, and tried to finger her keys in her handbag.
"Maybe I could hold some of the bags for you instead?" The man suggested. In spite of the rain, he was standing there in brown trousers, white shirt and a grey waistcoat and seemed more dry than it should have been possible. But Rose didn't notice anything of that; she was searching for her keys. When she finally found them and opened the door, she thought it would be impolite not to invite the new neighbour for a cup of tea.
-oOo-
Tara was sitting in her small bedroom in Hogsmeade. Her big, brown eyes were silently staring at the illuminated silhouette of the castle. Where are you now, Severus? She thought and a tear fell down her cheek. I haven't seen you for so long… Have you forgotten my name? Have you forgotten how I looked like? Where are you now, Severus? Have you figured out my painting yet? Or maybe you don't think about my painting at all? Maybe you threw it away? Maybe you were summoned tonight? I wish you weren't. I always worry so much about you, when you are summoned. Don't play dumb, Severus, I know you are a double agent. My uncle is a brilliant man, does anyone think he would be fooled so easily? You must be a double agent. But on whose side are you now, Severus? I think it's on ours. Especially because of Harry. If you weren't, he could've been killed by your hand long ago. Where are you now, Severus? I'm thinking of you. Her dark pink lips quivered. She curled up on her bed, drawing her knees under her chin. She knew that her papa couldn't know. He could never know that the man his dear great-granddaughter was in love with was the same man whom he caught on the stairs eavesdropping and who has, up to that day, been banned from the inn when Tara was nine. He could never know that the man his great-granddaughter was thinking about was a Death Eater.
-oOo-
"Your house is impeccable." Said Snape. Rose was bringing a tray with the tea and some cookies into the living room and set it on the coffee table in front of him. Then she sat down in an armchair and pulling out a small notebook, began scribbling into it. Snape raised an eyebrow.
"I have a slight problem with my short-term memory." Rose explained with an abashed smile. "What was your name again? I'm sorry."
"Severus." He said sternly. "Severus Snape."
"What an unusual name!" Said Rose.
"Yes, you've asked me about it before, remember?" Snape tried to prompt.
"No, I'm sorry, I don't." She said apologetically.
"Well, my quirky father thought it sounded somewhat dignified." He said.
"Well, interesting." Rose said, trying to establish the conversation, "and did you say what you did for a living?"
"No, I didn't." Snape replied. He didn't know why or how, but he was slowly losing patience with her. Something was terribly wrong, this wasn't how he imagined their first encounter to be like. She wasn't as easy to talk to as Lily was. Their whole conversation seemed forced and awkward – despite the fact he had been rehearsing their encounter on the driveway so thoroughly.
"I'm a teacher."
Earlier that year, Snape and Miss Henley decided it would be best to stick to the truth as close as possible, so he would reveal as much as he possibly could about himself – except the fact he was a wizard, of course.
"You said you were a… GP? That's a type of doctor, right?" He guessed. "Like a doctor for everything?"
"Haven't you been to a GP before?" Rose asked him, quite astonished.
"I-I'm never ill." He said quickly, "so I don't really know who my GP would be."
And the dialogue went on. More strange silences, more hastily answered questions, more instances where Rose wasn't able to remember what they had been talking about, innumerable moments of her scribbling into her notebook. At the end of their tea-date, as Snape called it affectionately in his head, despite the fact they'd spent about an hour chatting together, they didn't seem to know a great deal of information about each other and they awkwardly settled on a date somewhere in June, because Rose went away for a conference and wouldn't be returning until the end of May.
-oOo-
"You don't leave me any other option!" Umbridge cried and with her wand pointed at Harry's forehead, everyone knew what she was about to do. His friends could do nothing, they were held firmly by the Inquisitorial Club members who enjoyed the situation immensely.
"You cannot use an Unforgivable Curse on him!" Hermione squealed and received a violent punch from Crabbe as a result. On that account, Ron began to wrestle with Goyle to free himself and to punch Crabbe into his face to avenge Hermione.
"Stop the bickering or I'll use one on you as well!" Cried Umbridge and with her hand trembling, she turned her wand against Harry again. "You don't leave me any other option, Potter. I have to do it – for the Ministry! You are a dangerous element!" She hissed and took a deep breath. Then, suddenly, the door of her cabinet blew open: The hinges cracked and the wooden board of a door flew to the side. A Stunning Spell followed, hitting Umbridge into her chest and shoving her against the wall.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry gasped, although the silhouette standing in the churning cloud of dust was but a black shadow. Potter knew it was his Headmaster, no one else could produce such a powerful blow with his spell. The Slytherin students immediately released the Gryffindors who didn't even attempt to wrestle their wands back. They all stood in an awkward silence, awaiting their punishment by the Headmaster. Harry knew they were safe. Everything was alright, Sirius was going to be safe. Dumbledore came to rescue them.
To their big surprise, they heard a familiar soft voice saying: "Potter, haven't I told you not to get in trouble?! You were going to get yourself killed!"
"She wouldn't kill him, would she?" Hermione wondered.
"She could've done it. Potter, what were you thinking?!" Miss Henley stepped into the room, her hand stretched out with her wand pointed at everyone and at no one.
"It's just the secretary." Sneered Malfoy and was just about to grab Ginny again when he was petrified by a quick spell sent by Miss Henley.
"If I was just a secretary, Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have hired me, Mr Malfoy." She said and glanced at the other Slytherins who instantly shrunk in size. "Professor Dumbledore knew it, Potter. He knew she would end up harming you, sooner or later. I have kept an eye on you for the whole year and when he had to leave the castle and Umbridge put herself in charge, I knew she would attempt to revenge herself. And I also knew that your disrespect for rules will give her the opportunity to do so."
"But why? How? I don't understand." Ron's face was completely blank. "You served as a spy for the whole year when it would have been easier not to hire her at the first place."
"Right, Mr Weasley, but Professor Dumbledore didn't hire her, she was put here by the Ministry. The Minister thinks Dumbledore wants to take over his office, and Umbridge was his way of knowing. So Professor Dumbledore put me as his secretary to shield him a bit from her sniffing around, and I have to say, she gave me hell of a time sometimes."
"We have to go." Harry said abruptly, and Miss Henley's eyebrows cocked up. "Someone's in danger, and we have to save him."
"May I know who that someone might be?" She asked casually, fingering her wand.
"No, you may not." Harry retorted. The others gave him a sharp glance.
"I'm afraid you're not going anywhere, Potter, unless the Headmaster allows it." She said.
"You are not my babysitter." Harry snapped.
"Wrong, Potter, this is exactly my job. If you insist on leaving, I'll have to tie you to your chair for your own safety."
At this precise moment, all the Gryffindors wrenched their wands from the Slytherins and there were two Stunning Spells hitting Miss Henley square into her chest. She landed on a chair which got smashed under the weight of her body. Consequently, all the Slytherins were stunned and while the rest of the Gryffindor party was recovering from what had just happened, Hermione knelt beside the still-unconscious Umbridge and was already using a Memory spell on her.
"Hermione, what are you doing?" Harry asked, puzzled. His friend gave him an annoyed look and said: "Harry, when Umbridge wakes up, she'll realise what has happened and has Miss Henley put in Azkaban in no time. She was trying to protect you, over all, didn't she, Miss Henley?"
"Yeah, you're right." Harry mumbled. "Let her think someone broke in here and got them all Stunned, including Miss Henley. But… Will she be alright? Miss Henley?"
"We'll see." Said Hermione, and watching the others use Umbridge's fireplace to Floo to the Ministry. Right before she stepped into the fire, she bellowed: "BURGLARS! THIEVES! HELP!"
There was the sound of footsteps on the corridor and before Filch and Snape entered the office, Hermione was gone.
"Where's Potter?" Hissed Snape, helping Miss Henley get up. Filch was already supporting Umbridge, who was still staggering and seemed unable to walk straight.
"I don't know, they… They stunned me, they… Potter said that someone was in danger and that they had to rescue him." She said in a soft voice. Professor Snape's eyes widened. He propped her up against the wall and said:
"Filch, be so kind as to take Madame Headmistress to the hospital." Snape growled. Filch threw him a disdainful look and supported Umbridge's half-conscious form across the corridor away from her nearly destroyed office.
He turned back to Miss Henley, whose knees trembled violently: "I have to check with the others. Try to get to the hospital wing."
"Wait," he heard her say, "if that is true– If the Ministry is really where they went– If it is true what the others said, that the Department of Mysteries is– If the Department of Mysteries is where they went, you need my help. I know the place well. Quick, make haste, check what you have to check and help me get to London. With my help, they can find Potter in no time."
He nodded: "I'll get you to London."
"Can you make a Portkey?"
"No, but the Headmaster can."
"Should we alert him?"
"That Potter's wreaking havoc again? I don't think so. If the Headmaster had to intervene every time Potter's up to no good, he would be constantly hot on his heels. Come on!"
"There's one thing I know for sure." She breathed out as they ran through the corridors. "Whomever is supposed to be at the Department of Mysteries, they're not there. You just don't hide a living person in there somewhere, for whichever reason that would be. The area is a number one priority for the Ministry, whomever is there that should not be there for longer than an hour, they'll know–"
He casted her another pensive look: "I know."
They ran up staircases and dashed through corridors and finally they burst into Dumbledore's office. They found the man ready for departure, fully dressed and pointing his wand at a crystal goblet.
"Miss Henley, I've just created a Portkey for you, it will take you to the Grimmauld Place. Get as many members as you can – without Sirius Black of course – and take them straight to the department. The rooms are full of intricate confusing mechanisms and you're the only one who can manage to get through. You don't have to participate in the imminent fight, I know I'm already asking too much–"
"No problem, sir, I'll gladly do anything I can to help." Miss Henley gave a polite smile.
"Severus, I don't think it would be proper for you to–"
"Neither do I, Headmaster." He answered curtly.
These were the final words Miss Henley could hear before she disappeared.
She arrived at Grimmauld Place and the world around her spun violently. She could see two men jump up from the kitchen table, however, her vision was blurred and her stomach was turning. Her knees got weak and she ended up on the floor.
"You're Dumbledore's secretary, aren't you? What happened?" The man with long hair asked. He looked seriously concerned.
"I am to get as many members of the Order as I possibly can. We have to go to the Ministry right now, Potter's in danger." She breathed out and was thankful for being helped onto a chair.
"What do you mean, Harry's in danger?" The other man, the blue-eyed one with a short moustache, asked.
"He said he had to save someone at the Department of Mysteries. I worked there, I know the place well and I know what he says is not possible. His friends stunned me and they all got away, probably to the Ministry." She explained and was grateful for the glass of Firewhiskey the long-haired man handed her.
"Merlin's beard!" Cried the other one and ran out from the kitchen.
"You did well to tell us." Her companion looked at her with a sympathetic smile. "It's probably a trap, Remus went to get the others, we'll arrive at the Ministry straight away and we'll save Harry from whomever is waiting for him there."
"It's the Death Eaters, isn't it?" She asked. "They lured him there so that they could trap the boy and bring him to You-Know-Whom."
"I'm glad you too believe that he's back." The man gave her another smile and a pat at her hand. "We must save him, that's the most important thing right now."
"Oh, Professor Dumbledore said that Sirius Black was not to go." She remembered suddenly and the man's smile disappeared.
"Why, that's me– Don't tell me he expects me to sit here on my butt till the others save my godson!" He cried.
"Sirius Black is not to go." She repeated stubbornly.
"Look, Dumbledore's Sheep, I greatly appreciate what you did, but you're not holding me back here. I can decide for myself whether I go or not!" He snapped.
"Sirius, behave yourself." Remus cut him short and there was a bunch of other people running into the kitchen and getting ready.
"Where are we going?" The pink-haired witch asked.
"To the Department of Mysteries." Said Miss Henley and got up.
"You're not going with us, it's too dangerous." An old man gave a harsh growl. She suddenly recognised the famous Auror, Alastor Moody.
"I worked there. If you want to find the boy real quick, you need my help."
"Brilliant, let's go!" Cried Remus and they all disappeared in the fireplace, one after the other.
"This way!" Cried Miss Henley as they turned another corner.
"Wow, we're really lucky to have you, all these black corridors seem the same to me!" Cried the pink-haired witch. Suddenly, they arrived at a room which began to turn the doors on the walls as soon as the last member of the group entered.
I hope the spells still work, thought Miss Henley. Aloud, she just cried: "Commuto!"
The wall with the door began to turn again and when it stopped, she said: "We don't know where they are, any suggestions where they might have been lured to?"
"If there is a room with all the Prophecies, that would be it." Said Remus.
"Ok, it's the second door on the left. Let's go!" Cried Miss Henley and she was glad no one questioned her going with the group. She was determined to do the right thing and to fight anyone who would harm Potter, just as she promised Professor Dumbledore to do.
"Potter, I'm gonna get you to the exits as fast as I can!" Huffed Tara as she ran behind the black haired boy who, thanks to his fit frame, was always a bit faster than her.
"But I don't wanna get away, I wanna kill Bellatrix–"
"That's what Professor Dumbledore told me to do!" Yelled the secretary and as they rounded the corner. Suddenly, a spell shattered the wall above their heads. One Death Eater was pursuing them and was drawing very very close.
"RUN!" Tara bellowed and gave Harry a mighty push into the small of his back. The boy staggered, and as the Death Eater cast another spell, Tara quickly conjured a shield spell to deflect the spell from Harry and shouted: "NOW!"
Reluctant to leave her behind, Harry continued to run into the atrium.
"Stupid girl." Hissed the Death Eater, "do you really think you can face me alone?"
"I will do my best." Said Tara through her gritted teeth and the battle of spells began. The Death Eater was very skilled with his wand and he used nonverbal spells which made the situation for Tara even hotter. As she tried to deflect his jinxes and fire her own, preventing herself from saying them aloud – it was a long time ago when she needed to use nonverbal spells and she wasn't that deft in them – it seemed to her that his jinxes are of mild nature, and she began wondering why was the Death Eater so easy on her. Just as if he could read Tara's hesitation in her mind, he gave her a mighty blow with a Corpus Venti charm. As Tara was struggling to make her diaphragm work, she could hear his throaty, derisive laugh. Then she managed to end the spell with a non-verbal Finite, when her wand jumped out of her hand. She was disarmed.
"I wonder whether Dumbledore will miss his favourite pet?" He whispered. Tara's ears coloured in anger. Although bereft of a wand, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, she thought. Taking a step back, she kicked off the ground and was now literally flying toward the man. In a split second, she overcame the distance which was separating them, about twenty metres, and with her hand mightily clenched into a tight fist, she gave him a punch into his stomach. The poor villain flew through the air and only the nearest wall was able to stop him, having formed mighty cracks itself as a result of his impact.
And then she could hear the bellowing of Remus and Sirius who were drawing dangerously close as their running footsteps echoed in the Ministry corridors: "The aurors have all the Death Eaters, Tara! We're almost there!"
"I guess here the fun ends, Miss Secretary." She could see Severus Snape's smirk as he made his silver mask disappear with a wave of his hand in front of his face. He had great difficulty to talk, and Tara noticed there was a trickle of blood coming out of one corner of his mouth.
"S-Severus…" She whispered in amazement. The sound of footsteps was getting nearer and nearer. Snape's smirk froze on his lips. But suddenly, something strange happened: He saw the office kneazle of a secretary running towards him, and then she pushed him gently against the wall again, as he was just about to try to get up, and pressed herself insufferably close against him. No, pressed wasn't the right word. She clung to him like a Muggle plaster cast clings to one's skin, and she stretched her arms and legs to the sides to touch the wall. And then – he couldn't believe his eyes – they went invisible. The black bricky design on the Ministry wall spread across her arms and legs and when it reached her torso, it began to spread across him as well. He could feel her breasts being pressed against his chest into pies, but he was too taken aback to allow his body react as it probably would otherwise. He could see her gaze fixed at his face and he could feel her shallow, rapid breath at his neck, but he feared to move. He didn't dare to breathe, because he didn't know how effective the spell – or whatever it was that she did – was at cancelling noise. Black, Lupin, Tonks and several other Aurors ran by, panting, and he could hear their voices as they ran, believing they would find the secretary further in the Ministry lobby. And finally, there was silence. The bricky design spread back at the walls where it belonged.
"A bit taken aback, are you?" She asked, and now it was her turn to smirk. He couldn't manage a word. The only sounds he was capable of were a stummering: "How– When– Why–"
"I don't want them to take you to Azkaban." She said matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious answer on the world. Then she grabbed his hand and pulling his gobsmacked body after her, she hissed: "Come on, let's get you out of here, Mr Death-Eater."
And opening a secret passage behind a painting of a Victorian-dressed witch holding a candelabra, she dragged him behind to safety.
"Shouldn't you be protecting Potter in the atrium right now?" Was the first sentence he managed to utter. He sounded grotesque, so confused and out-of-the-ordinary that he wondered why wasn't she laughing at him yet.
"Professor Dumbledore has the situation fully under control over there." She stated, as if it were the most obvious thing on earth for her to know what the other people were doing at the exact moment. She continued to drag him through the barely lit corridor as quickly as his confused feet allowed him to go.
"Can you walk?" She asked with concern, as she spotted his sore body staggering after her.
"Are you his incarnation, or how exactly do you know where he is right now?" He asked – too harshly and too cheekily, as he realised seconds later.
"Stop your wittering or I'll damp you back where you deserve." She snapped at him and for the first time – for the second time if he didn't count the incident at the Great Hall with the pumpkin juice – she managed to silence him. So he stumbled behind her in the dark corridor, grateful for her help and willing to be dragged wherever she deemed was safe for him to go. He didn't ask, he didn't object, because he realised that only her firm faith in Dumbledore's choices – in Dumbledore's conviction that he, Severus Snape, was uninvolved and on their side – only her firm belief had him zigzagging the Ministry walls for safety right now. He realised that should he be found by Lupin and the other Aurors, his career at Hogwarts would have been over. So he resolved to trust her explicitly, without any questions, as she had done with him long ago.
"Mind your head." She said, but it was too late, in the next second, he hit his forehead against a stony arch which held a wooden door, too low for any ordinary person to walk through – and as he stepped into the light, he realised they were being passed by unsuspecting Muggles on a busy London street.
"How did you– When did you–"
But in the next moment, he found himself being squeezed by the too familiar forces of Apparition, and he felt her hand gripping his so tightly he was convinced she would make his hand sore.
As he landed in the fresh, dewy grass near Hogwarts, he couldn't even believe he nearly escaped conviction.
"The others will hate me for this." He breathed out as he stood up next to Miss Henley who was looking at him with an amused glance.
"Would you rather keep them company?" She winked and started to walk towards Hogwarts. He stood, watching her in disbelief. She behaved as if nothing happened. As if she just hadn't broken any wizarding law by helping an escapee Death Eater. As if she hadn't tricked the dark wizard hunters and as if she hadn't pressed herself against him in the most inappropriate manner. As if she didn't use her secret knowledge of the Ministry – a knowledge she had probably sworn never to make use of again as she stopped working as an Unspeakable. As if she hadn't just imparted this secret knowledge indirectly onto a Death Eater. As if she hadn't literally kidnapped him back to Hogwarts. As if she didn't punch him in the stomach so hard that he would swear his body must have suffered multiple injuries.
"What are you waiting for, Professor Snape?" She asked him with a smile, apparently enjoying his befuddled expression.
"It's Severus." He blurted out the first sensible thing that came to his mind and walked slowly towards her, stretching out his hand. She must think I'm a complete idiot, he thought.
"Tara." She gave him a wide smile and her eyes twinkled. She shook his hand cordially and turned to the castle again. With much hesitation, he said: "Thank you, Tara."
"Uh-uh." She whimpered and her cheeks went purple. As the adrenaline in her veins faded, she was back to her timid self.
-oOo-
"Dumbledore, I want Tara initiated into this." Snape marched into the Headmaster's office and his attitude suggested he would accept no compromise.
"So you two have at last became friends, hm?" Asked Dumbledore, who tried to look peacefully above it all, but he couldn't, because his cursed hand hurt him more than usual that day.
"I don't want her to think I'm a murderer as everyone else will think. I don't mind everyone else, but I do care what she thinks." Snape said, avoiding eye contact.
"So is it about something more than a friendship?" Albus leaned across the table with a wide smile and for a tiny moment forgot about the immense pain.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Snape snapped, but then continued in a milder tone. "I don't want her to think I killed her uncle. When you kill someone's family member, they take it quite personally. I don't think she would be nice and compliant when I become Headmaster, and this would inevitably lead to trouble. I don't know how to run the school, Dumbledore, she does. I would be a fool to turn her against me."
"You're right." Dumbledore nodded.
"Besides, I need to protect her. She once mentioned to me that the Death Eaters and especially the Dark Lord would love to play with her if they ever knew who she was."
"Doesn't that have to do with the fact she's my niece?"
"No, she told me that even before you told her you were her uncle."
"Severus, I have been kept in the dark about Tara's immediate family and past life as completely as you have been. You can ask her later. Do you happen to remember whether she's in Voldemort's bad books?"
"Not herself personally, definitely. It must have something to do with who her parents were. If they ever offended the Dark Lord somehow and were eliminated as a response, I know nothing of it."
"I'm still glad you decided to keep Tara here anyway. She'll be safe here. Hogsmeade will be swarming with Death Eaters and the poor girl wouldn't be safe with Aberforth."
