Oddie sat in Minerva's office next to Severus. Their chairs faced Minerva who sat in her own seat with her head in her hands and her elbows on her desk.
"I'm sure it isn't as far fetched as you believe it to be Minerva." Severus spoke steadily. "I was counteracting the jinx that he was putting on the broom, but my focus was broken by the fire and fortunately so was Quirrel's. Harry Potter is alive and that is what matt-"
"Anyway!" Oddie interjected angrily. "Harry's broom wasn't the only thing that was jinxed out there!"
Severus raised a curious brow. "What do you mean?"
"A fucking bludger was aimed at Minerva's face, that's what!" Oddie eclaimed, her body visibly shaking. Minerva looked up to be met with piercing blue eyes once again.
'If looks could kill.' Minerva thought cooly to herself.
"I'm sure it was just a rogue bludger, Oddie." Minerva tried to placate. "This happens all the time."
Minerva watched as Oddie's hands shook and twitched; even Severus was staring at them. Noticing this, Oddie clenched them together and proceeded to rub and twist them as if she were trying to warm them up.
"Minerva..." Oddie paused before continuing. "You know just as well as I do that there is a barrier that keeps bludgers from harming spectators. The only times that there isn't one is during national or championship games."
Minerva glanced away from Oddie in thought. "Well, who's in charge of putting up the barrier?" Oddie asked the two professors.
"The only person that makes sense would be Hooch." Severus stated quietly.
"Would she do something as drastic as that? Why would she in the first place? Maybe someone's framing her?" Oddie offered in thought. Minerva looked back to Oddie with a questioning look.
"You would defend her?" Oddie's eyes widened ever so slightly.
"No. I'm not defending her, I'm merely stating that she can't possibly be that stupid. If that barrier wasn't up then she would be the immediate suspect and no other due to the fact that it is her responsibility."
"Unless Hooch has something personal against McGonagall." Severus chimed in. "There are alot of gossipy professors and students at this school don't you think?" Severus continued, sending Minerva a pointed look.
"What are you getting at Severus?" Oddie demanded.
"Perhaps Minerva should explain." With that Severus stood up.
"Sev, we can find some proof against Quirrel during the Christmas break yes? We can hound him all we want if the students and teachers are sparce." Oddie stated happily as her blue eyes shone mischeviously.
Severus only smirked before leaving the room. With that, Minerva could've sworn that the room froze over. Cautiously she met Oddie's gaze.
Minerva couldn't stop herself from noticing what a beautiful shade of blue Oddie's eyes become when she's angry.
"What did he mean Minerva?" Oddie asked quietly, but Minerva didn't fall for the false sense of security that it tried to bring. Minerva didn't answer, but merely looked away. Oddie sighed before standing up and moving around Minerva's desk to where she sat. Oddie took a hold of Minerva's chair and pulled it back so that Minerva faced her. Kneeling down, Oddie called her name quietly .
"Minerva..." Minerva sighed in response causing Oddie to sigh as well. Oddie placed a gentle hand on Minerva's cheek and slowly pulled her face closer to her own until their lips barely grazed one another's. Minerva couldn't stop the moan that escaped her lips as she leaned forward seeking Oddie's lips. Oddie moved back and began to stand while pulling Minerva up with her.
Oddie placed her hands on either side of Minerva's face and looked into her eyes. "Minerva, tell me what's wrong." Minerva huffed quietly before gathering herself together. She walked towards her office window and looked down into the courtyard. Students were milling about on their way to lunch.
"There isn't really anything wrong Oddie."
"Must I ask Hooch her opinion on this?" Oddie asked with a raised cynical brow.
"You will do no such thing!" Minerva snapped as she spun around to face Oddie, only to be mere inches from her. Minerva gasped quietly from the close proximity.
"And why not?" Oddie whispered. "Why shouldn't I Minerva?"
Minerva could only stare up into Oddie's penetrating stare. She already knew that Oddie has already come to the assumption that Hooch has in some way proved to have something against her. Minerva knew that she believed it the moment that the idea left Severus' lips. Minerva sighed again before turning to look back out the window.
Minutes passed before Minerva felt a weight drop onto her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye Minerva saw a stray strands on glistening white hair.
"She hasn't been hurting you, has she?" Oddie asked quietly, sounding rather defeated. Minerva huffed at the thought.
"Please, do not insult me." Minerva hitched up her shoulder sharply successfully tossing Oddie's head up a bit to get her attention. Minerva turned to face Oddie fully and didn't relent from Oddie's gaze.
"If a few coarse words were enough to 'hurt' me, then I would've quit this position a long time ago." Minerva held herself up at her full height and huffed loudly.
Oddie chuckled in response. "I suppose so Minerva, but a bludger to the face would've certainly 'hurt' you. Minerva, I feel you aren't taking me as seriously as I would want you to. That bludger, if it made contact, you would've..." Oddie's eyes widened slightly and she paused, looking to the side for a moment as if she heard something. It was a full minute before she looked back to Minerva. "We should go to the Great Hall...who knows what crazy rumors will spread if we are seen to be absent for the whole lunch hour." Oddie stated emotionlessly.
"Odd-" Minerva began.
"Come along Minerva." Oddie stated quickly while she held an arm out for Minerva to take. Minerva stared at Oddie wearily and noticed that Oddie would no longer meet her gaze. Cautiously, Minerva took Oddie's arm and without a moment's hesitation, Oddie began to stride out of Minerva's office with the owner herself in tow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why are you-... in such a-... rush, Oddie?" Minerva stated breathlessly. Oddie looked down at Minerva for only a moment and immediately regretted it when they made eye contact.
'Guilt...?' Minerva thought to herself as Oddie quickly redirected her line of sight ahead of her.
"I merely didn't want you to miss lunch Minerva." Oddie replied void of any emotion whatsoever. The lack of compassion in her voice made Minerva flinch. Minerva gathered herself and calmed her breathing. Once she accomplished that, Oddie pushed the Great Hall doors open. The Hall was bustling with happy chatter and clattering utensils upon plates and dishes. Oddie walked forward calmly and escorted Minerva all the way to her seat.
Curious glances were sent her way due to the usually cheery disposition of the white-clad professor being absent. Severus stared at Oddie's odd demeanor as did Albus. After Minerva was seated, Oddie left the Great Hall through the back door without looking back or speaking to anyone. Moments later, Severus stood calmly and exited through the same door.
Severus strode down to the dungeon and into his potions classroom. There sitting cross-legged on one of the student desks was Oddie. She was staring blankly across the room towards the miscellaneous shelves that held various ingredients.
Severus closed his classroom door quietly behind him before walking to the desk near the front right side of the classroom where Oddie was sitting. He walked passed her only to pull up a chair nearby the table and seat himself.
Minutes of silence passed between them before Oddie spoke up.
"4 people out of 10." Severus perked up at the ratio. "4 people out of every 10 during an attendance of over 500 are at risk of death or injury during a Quidditch match if foul play becomes involved. I didn't even realize it fully at first Sev...The speed that bludger was going at...She would've died from the impact." Oddie looked down to the side towards Severus before throwing her legs over the edge of the table to face him properly.
"She could've died today Sev and for what? She doesn't even realize it! She acts as if it were nothing serious!" Severus raised an eyebrow in return, but remained silent as he charmed forth biscuits and milk tea. "Sev, do you really think Hooch was the one who jinxed that bludger?"
"I cannot say for sure to be honest." Severus replied quietly before taking a sip of his tea. Oddie grabbed a biscuit while Severus continued to speak. "She may have been in charge of the barrier, but that doesn't exactly mean she was at fault. I've known her, albeit not personally, for years. I do not think her capable of murder."
Oddie hummed in thought as she continued to nibble on her biscuit. "What did you mean about the rumours Sev? Minerva refused to clarify." Severus shook his head slightly before taking another sip.
"Hooch has in a way been bullying her. Nothing physical ofcourse, merely snarky under handed comments here and there. It has gotten the attention of some of the staff and even a few students. I'm honestly surprised that you didn't know about it." Severus stated simply.
"And how long have you known this?" Oddie asked edginess obvious in her tone.
"A while now." Severus responded quietly. "I thought it unwise to tell you when she was avoiding you. You see it used to be somewhat severe, but as time went on, the snide comments seemed to die down as you two stayed apart."
Silence passed between them as Oddie thought this over.
"But we suddenly-"
"Began speaking again, yes." Severus quipped while nibbling on a biscuit. Oddie groaned and ran a hand down her face.
"We've only been on speaking terms for what? A day? That's if I include up to this moment Sev!"
"How long did she stay with you?"
"Maybe an hour or two..." Oddie mumbled.
"Perhaps your room is being monitored?" Oddie glared at Severus lightly.
"Are you playing Devil's Advocate Sev? Do you think it's Hooch or not? As of this moment, you are indirectly accussing her." Severus shook his head solemnly.
"I am merely bouncing ideas off of you." Oddie sighed, exasperated.
"Who else could've-"
"Quirrel perhaps?" Oddie rose a curious brow. "Maybe he is trying to throw you off his trail? You and Albus are his main threats as of now. Everyone here knows that Minerva means alot to you. You, my friend, wear your heart on your sleeve." Oddie nodded slowly in understanding.
"When he failed to get rid of Minerva, he moved on to Harry which would in turn cause Albus to falter."
"But you made it difficult for him..." Oddie mumbled.
"But I made it difficult for him." Severus concurred.
"So he failed in both attempts, but we still don't know this for sure. We do know for a fact that he was jinxing Harry's broom, but I'm not sure about the bludger..."
"Perhaps we can find out for certain over the Christmas break hm?" Severus stated with a small smirk touching his lips. Oddie nodded resolutely before throwing another biscuit into her mouth and sipping down some tea.
"Why would he see me as a threat Sev?"
"Dumbledore told us that a 'dear friend' of his would be joining us amongst the staff this year. Perhaps he's pegging you down as a threat through affiliation."
"Perhaps." Oddie mumbled in response.
"I never got to ask you my question." Severus stated after a few minutes of silence passed between them.
"Shoot, Sev."
"You are the Secret Keeper for the methods of Immortality that you, Albus, and Flamel found." Oddie hummed to urged Severus on.
"How is it that there is written word on the Philospher's Stone and how is it so many people know him for such a feat?"
"Ah, yes, that was a bit of a far stretched loophole. You see, Nick always wanted to live up to his lineage. Each Flamel throughout history has created a method or item through alchemy to be passed down the family line. He made it well known that he created such a thing mainly because he had no intent on having children nor dying. So there was no one to pass it down to along with the binding effect of the Secret that kept him from doing so anyhow." Oddie bit into another biscuit and sipped some tea before continuing.
"We decided that so long as no one knows how to actually make it, having it's existence known wasn't enough to break the binding effect of the Secret."
"What of Albus?" Oddie looked at Severus oddly for a moment before replying.
"He made a deal." Severus nodded silently.
"And you?"
"I...uh...natural substance...?" Oddie stated, unsure. "It's difficult to speak of Severus."
"Sorry..." Severus apologized quietly.
"Quite alright Sev." They continued to nibble on biscuits and sip tea until the cacophony of student voices in the halls of the dungeon began to resonate through the area.
Mere moments later there was no indication that their little tea party took place.
"See ya later Sev." Oddie called over her shoulder as she left the classroom; Severus only hummed in acknowledgement as students began to fill into his classroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the way of escorting Minerva to her classroom, Albus was watching Minerva out of the corner of his eye.
"If you are going to say something Albus, just do so." Minerva snapped haughtily.
"She is merely concerned for your safety Minerva." Albus replied calmly.
"I'm no child Albus! I've been through wizarding wars! I don't need her protection."
"That is true Minerva, but there isn't anything wrong with her wanting to protect what she cares about, no?"
"No." Minerva mumbled quietly. Albus chuckled fondly knowing how deeply rooted the woman's pride was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minerva was in her afternoon class teaching students about the useage of the Avifors spell along with how and when such a spell can come in handy, that was before her doors suddenly slammed open causing many students to jump along with Minerva.
A small, brown bunny with a backpack began to hop towards the front of the classroom to Minerva drawing the attention of all the students. Minerva saw at first glance that this was indeed not Oddie, but she wouldn't be surprised if the darling little thing belonged to her.
Once the tiny bunny was at her feet she scooped it up with a small smile touching her features. The tiny creature barely filled out Minerva's palm. Minerva opened the little pack on the bunny and found a little rolled up parchment.
Minerva slowly retrieved it. She moved to her desk to place the little darling down before continuing to open the attached note.
'Sorry for earlier. His name is Hot Chocolate.' Minerva couldn't help, but giggle lightly at the sentiment and the silly name. Moments of cooing later, she remembered that she wasn't the only person in the room. After transfiguring a pen into a small cage and placing Hot Chocolate within, she continued her lesson, ignoring a few wide eyed stares and curious looks, as if nothing out of the ordinary occurred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before long the holiday break came around. Children were exiting the school bringing their belongings with them, all excitedly chattering over what they will be doing over the break and what kinds of presents they expect to get. Ghosts wandered the halls singing gentle christmas carols.
Oddie sat in the Great Hall watching an interesting game of Wizard's chess between Harry and Ron while waiting for a letter that she was expecting from Ben.
"Knight to E-5." Harry ordered as his knight piece moved on it's own to the position specified.
"Queen to E-5." Ron countered smugly. His Queen piece, which was a woman sitting on a chair, made out of polished wood moved forward until it was right in front of Harry's Knight piece. The little wooden woman then stood up, picked up her chair, and hit the opposing piece with it causing the Knight to shatter. Oddie chuckled as she did for each piece that was destroyed.
"That's totally barbaric!" Hermione exclaimed, who's approach went unnoticed until she spoke up.
"That's wizards chess." Ron stated with a satisfied smile before looking at the large luggage that Hermione dragged behind her. "I see you've packed." Ron commented.
"I see you havent." Hermione quipped.
"Change of plans. My parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. He's studying dragons there."
"Good, you can help harry then. He's going to go and look in the library for information on Nicholas Flamel."
Oddie raised her eyebrows in interest, but chose not to comment.
"We've looked a hundred times!" Ron whined in complaint.
"Not in the restricted section." Oddie began to laugh uproariously, drawing curious glances from all around, but soon calmed down.
'Just like Albus, Nick, and I...'
"Do you three just ignore the fact that I'm a professor?" Oddie chuckled out quietly.
"Oh it's not that professor! It's just that..." Hermione began. All three of the children leaned in closer to Oddie causing her eyes to shine with amusement.
"We trust you." Hermione whispered, causing Oddie to chuckle happily.
"I'm happy to hear that." Oddie stated simply.
"Professor," Harry spoke lowly "Do you know who Nicholas Flamel is?" Oddie stared into the boy's earnest eyes, but before she could come up with an excuse, a falcon's cry rang through the air. Oddie looked up to see her falcon swooping down towards her. It's black feathers had a fiery red shimmers amongst them giving the falcon an illusion of being a flying ball of fire.
The three children stared at it in awe as it came to a slow stop in front of them with a brown leather tube attached to it's back. Oddie stroked the side of it's neck gently when it landed before reaching for the leather tube. The top of the tube popped off easily and Oddie retrieved the parchment that was encased in it.
She unravelled it calmly, smirking at how the trio were leaning over trying to see what was written. Oddie chuckled and quickly scanned the letter for anything innappropriate, knowing how Ben can be at times, before placing the letter down on the table so that everyone can see.
'Dear Tin Can, I can feel it now Tin Can! Inspiration is on the horizon! Here's the med bill that you've been begging me for. The Doc says I should try to soak up the sun rays but only in small amounts. I've been indoors most the time though, working on some pieces and what not. He also says that I shouldn't take so many hot baths (as if I'm going to stop) I may be sick, but I MUST BE CLEAN! How's the job, Tin Can? Ever get the Cat to talk to you again? How's my Big Brother? How's...the research? I mean, I won't keep my hopes up, but I've been feeling more sluggish lately; it kinda scares me. Sorry. Forget you read that. Obliviate! Haha. Doesn't work that way does it? Heard the Follower is trying to find out where I am...Do you think I'll have to move again soon? Merry Christmas Tin Can. I'll give you your gift the next time that we meet.
Love,
The Barra-barra-barracuda'
Oddie shook her head and smiled at Ben's familiarity. She missed him, but she still had research to do. She would feel guilty if she returned to him without anything to give him hope. Oddie began to look over the other parchment he sent, medical treatments assigned by the doctor and their fees. Oddie scowled lightly before folding the bill back up.
"Tin Can? Barracuda?" Oddie chuckled quietly at the confused looked on Hermione's face.
"They are merely nicknames Miss Granger, nothing more. Anywho, you best be heading for the train or you'll miss your ride."
"Oh right! Goodbye! Happy Christmas!" Hermione called over her shoulder before rushing off to catch the train home.
"Why Tin Can Professor?" Harry asked.
"It's a long story Harry; I'm afraid I have to run and write a reply for this silly man." Oddie got up from the table and gave both the boys soft noogies on their heads. "Merry Christmas boys."
"Happy Christmas Professor!" The two boys called simultaneously. As Oddie walked away, her falcon pushed off from the table and glided towards her to land on her shoulder, nibbling gently at her earlobe asking for a treat.