Hello all! Sorry for the wait, preparing for the Comic Expo took all of my time last week but hopefully this extra long chapter should make it up to you all :)
Harriet stepped through the Floo and onto the mantle of The Burrow's fireplace with a bottle of white wine in one hand and a trifle in the other. Saturday night had finally arrived and, with it, the Weasley's celebration of Bill and Fleur's daughter, Victoire's, sixth birthday. She had been commissioned by Molly to bring the adult dessert, seeing as Fleur had offered to bring the birthday cake, and it was a task Harriet had not taken lightly. The five layer English Trifle had taken most of the afternoon to put together, not that Harriet minded. The witch was grateful for the distraction from her awkward interaction with Jonathan, at least until she had talked it through and sought the advice of Hermione. Now all she had to do was snag a second alone with the witch, though this was easier said than done with the Weasley brood.
"Harriet? Come on through dear, we're in the kitchen!" Mrs. Weasley's voice carried along with the sound of plates and silverware clinking together; the young witch had made sure to arrive early enough to help with setting up the traditional tent and long table on the lawn. The witch smiled at the sudden burst of nostalgia, a Weasley gathering was exactly what she needed.
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Severus shuffled his latest pile of notes into an organized stack while catching a glance at the clock on the wall of his kitchen. The wizard had finally managed a minor breakthrough in his research that afternoon, Maddison Belby had sent Damocles notes along after their brief correspondence and based on these notes, the Potion Master had drafted a list of potential ingredients for his altered formula. However, it was only half past six and two of the flowering components, Evening Primrose and Moonflower, could only be harvested at night. Severus rose to pour himself a mug of coffee; it had been a long day and the night looked to be even longer at this point.
Though perhaps the crisp evening air would do him some good.
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Dinner had been an energetic affair filled with singing, cheering, and children's laughter. Victoire alongside her cousins, Fred and Molly Weasley, chased each other about the yard armed with a multitude of, harmless, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products. Though Fleur had scowled at the appearance of the trick candy and toys amidst the other birthday gifts, she had calmed down the moment George had inexplicably turned into a rather large and surprised Canary. Harriet smirked at George's son, Fred, whose eyes had lit up at the sudden transformation. The witch caught the surreptitious high five he exchanged with Percy's daughter, Molly, who was just as mischievous, to the despair of her parents, as her cousin.
Harriet began to busy herself with gathering empty plates and silverware only to be interrupted as Mrs. Weasley cleared the table with a wave of her wand and knowing air, sending the dirty dishes back into the kitchen. Hermione quirked an eyebrow at her friend's insistence at helping with something, though this was a habit of the witch, she wasn't normally so unrelenting. Harriet had grown accustomed to being, essentially, adopted into the Weasley family but as the clan grew and more grandchildren came into the world the witch began to struggle with her place in it. The young teacher had taken up the mantle of 'helper' to, as she saw it, allow the Weasleys to celebrate amongst themselves while she faded into the background; a fact that did not go unnoticed by Mrs. Weasley or Hermione. The bushy haired witch, nudged her husband and motioned for him to take Rose from her knee; it was time for some investigating.
8
Hermione found the brunette in the kitchen, clearing up the leftover food.
"Harriet...come back to the party," the witch turned slightly in response to her friend and set down the plate full of carved ham.
"I'm just clearing up a few things, since Molly wouldn't let me take care of the dishes-"
"She just wants you to relax with the family. Sit back, enjoy a glass of wine...destress from whatever seems to be bothering you…," Hermione trailed off, letting her last statement hang in the air for Harriet to absorb. It wouldn't do to push the witch into discussing her problems, but perhaps it would be necessary.
Harriet sighed and nodded slightly, "I know...actually I'm glad I have you alone for a moment, there is something I wanted to talk to you about...and, to tell you the truth, I was hoping you'd follow me in here," the witch finished with a grin. Hermione rolled her eyes and grinned back, of course she had been trying to grab her attention, well that was one mystery solved. Harriet motioned for her friend to follow her into the sitting room, but not before collecting two wine glasses, both topped up from the bottle of white wine Harriet had brought with her that afternoon.
8
"It was just...very sudden, I had no idea what to say for a moment…," Harriet murmured with a sigh, sweeping the raven locks away from her eyes, "I still don't really know what to say".
Hermione stared pensively at the carpet before them, "Perhaps you need to ask yourself if Jonathan is someone you could consider as more than a friend...could there be an attraction there? Or romantic feelings?"
Harriet nodded unsmiling, she had never considered his feelings towards her let alone what she felt about the man. This had bothered her substantially; her obliviousness had put her into an uncomfortable situation that could potentially destroy the one friendship she possessed that lay outside of the wizarding world, it something she did not want to lose.
"He is handsome and he always makes me laugh...but there's something missing…".
Though unsaid, Harriet knew exactly what it was. Jonathan was just not someone who had ever raised her ire. In the entirety of their working relationship they had never once argued or even disagreed on a single subject. Passion was what she wanted. Someone who could keep Harriet on her toes; she wanted what Ron and Hermione had found in each other.
"There's something else," the brunette whispered suddenly, keeping her eyes on her knobby knees, "I had a dream...a very unsettling dream".
Hermione shuffled closer, curious and keen to understand what was rattling her friend to such a degree.
"I was in my classroom waiting for Jon to drop off some papers and suddenly...this-this man had entered the room. He kissed me, Sn- um...this man who has never really been nice to me. He is the complete opposite of Jonathan in every way come to think of it...except maybe in intelligence...". Harriet trailed off suddenly as shock overtook her. It couldn't be right, her dream had meant nothing.
There was no way that Snape was the person she...
"Oh Harry…"
Harriet kept her emerald eyes focused on the floor as her ears and cheeks flamed in embarrassment, she refused to meet the warm brown eyes that would be filled with understanding. Hermione placed a hand on her friend's shoulder in, what she hoped was, a comforting gesture. While the bushy haired witch had some inkling into her friends feelings for some time, it was still a little surprising to finally hear aloud.
"I should go," Harriet said suddenly, shaking her head as if to dislodge the racing thoughts from her brain. The overwhelming need to be home and underneath every blanket she could find to hide herself from the world was so strong the witch almost upended the wine glass Hermione had been balancing on the couch cushion.
"Wait, Harriet! Don't rush off, this is nothing to be ashamed of, I thought you wanted to-"
But with a 'pop', Hermione found herself speaking to an empty room.
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Severus Snape scanned the empty field once more before consulting the crude diagram of the Moonflower plant. Muttering a Lumos charm, a distinctive white bloom with slightly pin-wheeled edges came back into crisp view on the parchment he carried. The Potions Master had left his home an hour prior to begin his search for the plants, and while it had been easy to find the first specimen, the Moonflower was exceedingly difficult to spot.
A 'pop' farther up the road captured his attention. Severus instinctively griped his wand tighter; the sound could have been anything realistically, a car backfiring in town perhaps, but he was not taking chances and knew exactly what sound an apparating wizard made. Severus crouched slightly as the sound of footsteps edging closer and closer announced the presence of-
"Of course. Trust a Potter to interrupt an important evening of research and specimen gathering with her presence," Severus hissed with a sneer as he straightened to his full height. The girl stopped in her tracks, a mixture of fright and surprise etched on her young features before it was schooled into a grimace.
"Just what I need right now" she muttered under her breath.
Severus' eyes narrowed as he scoffed, "In the habit of taking midnight strolls are you Potter?" His jeer was met with a stony silence as the visibly irritated witch huffed and attempted to walk away. "Have you been drinking?" the wizard continued, "or have you always been this abysmal at finding the appropriate apparation spot?"
"What's it to you?" she called out with a frustrated growl, turning her head slightly as she continued forward in the direction of Mill Green Cottage. This man was the last person she wanted to have an extended conversation with, especially considering what she had discovered about herself and her traitorous emotions. Already she had been so out of sorts that her apparation trajectory had been thrown off by a good five hundred metres.
"I am unconcerned about the welfare of an intoxicated woman stumbling around all night in the dark. However, if you insist on letting whatever ghastly incident fate has in store befall you, I must also insist that you keep the noise to a minimum as I require absolute concentration for my task ahead".
At this Harriet did stop. Was there a small hint of concern beneath the riddled rhetoric the man was espousing? The witch mentally shook herself, of course not, though it did give her pause.
"I'm not drunk," she muttered petulantly. Severus continued to scan the parchment and the field, feigning ignorance to her statement. Harriet sighed, turning fully around to face the man with cautious curiosity.
"What sort of specimens are you gathering?" She asked softly after a moment's hesitation; the question fell on deaf ears. Harriet rolled her eyes in exasperation, and began to turn around.
"I am looking for Moonflower...thus far I am finding it difficult to locate".
"Would you like some help?"
Severus raised his head and regarded her, his expression shuttered, black eyes glittering in the low light. Gooseflesh riddled the witches bare arms as memories of failed Occlumency lessons ripped through her; she felt just as exposed now as she felt all those years before.
"Very well".
Woah! Stay tuned for some more Severus/Harriet interaction. Seems like we're finally getting somewhere with these crazy kids!
As always please review :)