Chapter 13: Revelations and Disney
It was about 8 0'clock when Sophie arrived back at Hogwarts and the breathtaking view of the castle welcomed her as she flew up to the Headmaster's window.
"Everything go well?" asked Dumbledore after he let her in
"Yes thanks, sir. Just a bit tired from the trip." Answered Sophie as she sat down
"Excellent. And how is Sirius?"
"He's well. Going a bit stir crazy though..."
"Yes, but I'm afraid it's far too dangerous for him to be out of the house right not – what with the ministry still looking for him and Voldemort knowing about his animagius form."
"Yes but, sorry sir, but why doesn't he just use a glamour? He needs to be getting out of that house. I know what it's like to be caged up and if he doesn't get out soon he's going to lose it and do something extreme."
Dumbledore sighed to himself. He knew Sirius was suffering, but he had far too many other concerns to think about, then one man stuck inside his house. Still, Sophie had a point; and knowing Sirius he needed to get out him of that house as soon as possible. "Maybe I could have him check out some underground rumours in London…?"
Dumbledore then told Sophie he would see what he could do and wished her a good night. He watched as she slipped out of his office and moved down the stairs; seemingly pleased at being able to help Sirius out. Dumbledore sat behind his desk and tiredly rubbed his face; the war hadn't even officially begun yet and already things were getting complicated.
Sophie, meanwhile, had decided that she would drop off Harry's things before going in search of Sev. She was just about to walk straight up to the Gryffindor portrait hole, when she realised it would seem 'a bit sus' if she just handed over a mysterious package after not being seen for a couple of days… So instead she flew round to the fifth years' dormitory window and hid the mirror, book, and the two letters under Harry's pillow before slipping out again and flying round to the portrait hole.
"Password?"
"Sorry, I don't know it. But can I ask to see if Harry Potter is in?"
"I shall go look for you." sniffed the Fat Lady importantly and walked out of her frame, disappearing from view. Sophie was left standing there, feeling a bit awkward, staring at the empty canvas until the Fat Lady appeared again and swung forward revealing the Gryffindor Common room. All of the Gryffindors inside turned and looked at Sophie before seeming to establish that she wasn't a threat and went back to their own conversations. She was about to step tentatively forward when Harry walked up to her, looking slightly confused.
"Hey, Harry. Sorry but I've got a message for you from Sev –about your last piece of homework…"
"Hey, Sophie and yeah; I knew he wasn't going to pass it." Sighed Harry - quickly catching on to the cover story. "I guess he just marked it, huh?"
"Yeah..." She glanced back at the common room behind Harry, pretending to feel awkward discussing this in front of everyone (which wasn't hard to fake) and Harry, being the gentleman he is, obliging stepped forward and closed the portrait hole so they could speak privately about whatever punishment Snape had in store for him. They then walked down the corridor into an empty classroom and closed the door behind them.
"So, I'm guessing you just got back?" began Harry
"Yeah, and I have a couple of letters for you from Sirius and Remus and a book on 'Occ-lu-mency' and a mirror."
"What's occ-lu-mem-thing? And why a mirror? Is this about my hair? Remus knows it doesn't lie flat."
"I've no idea what occulmency is… but the mirror is a two-way thing. You say Sirius's name and you can talk to him – he has an identical mirror with him back in London. That way you two can talk instantly and not have to go through me."
"Wow! That's a great idea. Thanks, Soph"
"It was Sirius's idea actually, but no probs. I've already put them beneath your pillow in your dormitory. Now, pretend to look annoyed when you go back in. I need to go find, Sev. Night, Harry."
"Night Sophie, and thanks again."
They parted ways, Harry going back to his common room and Sophie down to the dungeons. She was relieved that Harry had his stuff and that she hadn't been too obvious about it; "Sev must be rubbing off on me..."
When Sophie entered the Slytherin Head of House Quarters she was greeted by the sight of Severus fast asleep on the sofa in the main living area. He had obviously been waiting for her but had fallen asleep ("The war is taking a lot out of him" – thought Sophie sadly). Severus's book was resting (where it had fallen) on his lap and Sophie smiled to herself and moved across the room as quietly as she could before jumping, as loudly as possible, on to the cushion next to him.
Severus jumped awake, his hand automatically reaching for his wand, before he realised what had made the noise and then scowled at the grinning teenager sprawled next to him.
"Evening"
"That is not how you wake someone up." Glowered Sev "How was your trip? The mutt mistreat you?"
"Yeah, the trip was good; long but good. And Sirius was fine, Remus was there too."
"Probably trying to keep Black from doing something stupid."
"Missed you." Admitted Sophie as she sunk into the sofa and lent on Sev's shoulder.
Severus didn't quite know what to do with this display of affection and so just awkwardly moved to accommodate her better and replied "It's been far too quiet around here without you coming in and out." And Sophie knew that that was his way of admitting he had missed her too.
And that's how Dumbledore found them an hour later; when he had come down to speak to Severus (Having not received an answer to his Floo Call). Both of them fast asleep on the sofa, Sophie quietly breathing in Severus's lap and with Severus's arms wrapped protectively around her. The Headmaster couldn't bring himself to disturb them and so simply smiled sadly to himself and acquitted the room. He would speak to Severus about his next mission tomorrow night.
The next morning dawned and despite having sore backs and necks, Sophie and Severus were both quite cheerful. (Except no one but Sophie could tell that Snape was feeling happy)
From across the Great Hall Sophie could see Draco subtly motioning for her to join him outside and so grabbed a napkin and filled it with toast before walking outside towards the lake, with Draco by her side.
The morning air was cold and crisp as they stood beside the lake, watching the steam rising off the water and evaporating into the cloudless, November sky. Sophie watched the scene in front of her with wonder for a moment before glancing expectantly at Draco; who coughed before deciding to get straight to the point, in a most un-Slytherin like fashion.
"I know what you've been doing. You're delivering messages for Dumbledore."
"Really?" Asked Sophie, trying to appear slightly amused at the very idea, whilst on the inside she was having a "minor" panic attack.
"Yes. But I don't think anyone else could have worked it out, I only figured it out because I talk to you so much and so I… notice when you disappear. Also because you said that Severus was worried about the latest decree. Do you deny it?"
"I think we had better talk to Sev about this…"
"Do you deny it?" insisted Draco fiercely
"Fine. No, I don't deny it. But I've only gone once so far, the other trips were to make it seem less suspicious when I did start going."
"Clever. So, you support Dumbledore then." He paused "As does Sev I suspect; a double, double agent - very sneaky" he approved
"Are you going to tell anyone this information? Your father?" asked Sophie, stalling for time as she started planning ways to get Draco to Sev, so he could modify his memory. "That is if he hasn't already owled Luci-"
"No."
"What?"
"I said, no. I haven't told anyone and I don't intend to. I've decided that I don't care about the war anymore and if you throw your lot in with Dumbledore, then I'm doing the same."
Sophie didn't know what to think and just settled for staring at Draco incredulously
"I've given it a lot of thought since I worked out what you were doing and I've decided that I don't want to be against you. Ever. And… maybe muggles aren't so bad. The way you talk about them and the things you've shown me prove that they aren't completely worthless." Draco added grudgingly "I'm not saying I like them." He clarified "But you've made me realise that ruling over them or destroying them aren't such good options either and even though I believe that wizards and witches should be separate from them…there are clearly some benefits, and profits to be made, by having muggles around."
"You've been doing a lot of thinking, haven't you?"
"Yeah. Look, you know my father has raised me to believe that Wizards are the best and that we should rule over all other races. And that the Dark Lord is the one person who could, well can, get us there. But I don't want to be like my father, I'm my own person. So if you need any help, with whatever you're doing to help Dumbledore, then please know that you can come to me." Finished Draco sincerely
"Draco. Drake, I don't know what to say… Thank you. I've hated the idea of being against you too."
"Because I love you." she thought desperately but didn't dare voice her inner thoughts; "One miracle at a time." She reminded herself.
They were leaning very close to each other, their lips almost touching. But neither went for it, both afraid of pushing the other two far too soon.
"If there's anything I can do, just tell me" Murmured Draco
Sophie felt the static tension buzzing in the air and so quickly changed topics.
"Actually, there is an idea I've been toying with..."
"Yeah?" asked Draco hopefully
"Well, we want to try and get people to realise that muggles 'aren't so bad' - So that the Dark Lord doesn't have such a large recruitment base here at Hogwarts."
"Oh." Said Draco, disappointed
"Yeah, so… would you help me set up a Friday movie night in the Slytherin common room?"
"I suppose I did say you could come to me for help…" He sighed but perked up at the idea of an evening cuddling with Sophie "It will need to be announced carefully though." Said Draco, now getting into full scheming mode. "It needs to be a success…"
"We have all week to work on it and right now, you need to get to class. Or you're going to be late."
"Right. See you after classes then."
"Bye!"
And Draco took off at a run and Sophie watched him go, her mind dazed by what he had told her. She sat down on the ground and turned back towards the lake, her remaining, toast had already gone stone cold and so she tossed it into the lake, where it was quickly devoured by the Giant Squid.
She knew that Severus didn't have a class until second period and so standing up walked back up to the castle, intent on informing him of Draco's change of heart and their sudden need of Hogwarts's friendly movie operator…
Friday came and Draco and Sophie had organized their 'movie night' event. Severus had agreed to go back to Spinner's End to retrieve and transfigure the necessary equipment. (For although video VCR players didn't work at Hogwarts, old fashioned, hand cranked reels and projectors still did and a simple spell was all that was required to keep them turning.) Draco had got Pansy and a few of his other close friends to throw their support in behind the idea and then Sophie announced to the common room that she wanted to share something from her childhood with the Slytherin's on Friday night at 7 O'clock.
"So if you all can be here on time, that would be great, and food will be provided."
Draco made it clear to the house that he supported what Sophie was planning on doing and so by the time 7 O'clock came around almost the whole House was crammed onto the arm chairs, sofas and floor with blankets as Sophie revealed the projector. Most of the House didn't know what the projector was, and so assumed it was a 'Lunio thing', as for the few Half-bloods who did recognise it – they stayed quiet. Content to see how things would go.
Pansy, Blaise and Sophie then handed out bags of buttered popcorn and Draco dimmed the lights and turned the projector on.
"Walt Disney Pictures Presents, 101 Dalmatians" flashed across the 'screen' (which was actually just a bed sheet that Severus had charmed to be stiff as a board and float against the far wall)
The Slytherin's watched the animated movie with awe, despite quickly realising that the story was about some non-magical dogs. Just like Draco, most were entranced with the movie and Draco smirked to himself as he and Sophie snuggled up together on the sofa at the back - (Where they had reserved a seat for themselves) whilst Pansy shot them amused looks from time to time. Once the movie was over a few Slytherins (Who appeared to be unimpressed with the subject matter) went off to their dormitories, whilst the rest stayed for the second movie. (The Lion King – Sophie decided that simple story lines that didn't need much muggle knowledge would be a good starting point) By that point it was almost 10 and Severus came in to tell the First and Second years to go to bed. Who did so, whilst grumbling and grouching all the way (a few other older students went up to bed at the same time.) And Severus joined them for the last movie to be played; Blazing Saddles - which was obviously a huge success, despite many students struggling to understand the many references. [A/N: because seriously who doesn't enjoy a Mel Brooks film?]
When it had finally finished it was after midnight (and a few people now had massive headaches) so the whole House went off to bed.
Sophie had decided that she would simply allow the few Slytherin half-bloods to inform the rest of the House that they had been watching a muggle invention via gossip, then to tell them herself. That way she could make the whole thing appear to be an innocent gesture and not a scheme designed to ultimately destroy Voldemort.
She hugged Draco and thanked him, Pansy and Blaise for their help and then returned to her own room with Sev; a pleased smile plastered across her face. In fact she was already planning future movies to show the Slytherins; Chicken Run, Aladdin, Grease and Star Wars… Not to mention watching Home Alone at Christmas. The possibilities were endless…
The next few days passed very quickly as the divide between the Slytherin's usually united House began to show. A few Slytherins, mostly those from 'old dark families', were insulted that they had been shown muggle entertainment under false pretences. Whilst the rest either didn't care or were supportive of learning more about muggle culture. For as Draco pointed out to Marcus Flint at breakfast the next day; muggles could be a good source of income and if they didn't know how to blend in how could they have a hope of manipulating and benefiting from such a huge market?
In fact the first and second years had taken to singing 'I just can't wait to be king' as they ran down the corridors and whilst pretending to plot world domination. And when Umbridge gave detentions to said first and second years, a very brave fourth year started singing 'Cruella De Ville' and was promptly joined in by the surrounding Slytherin's until Umbridge had turned bright purple in indignation and stormed off.
This feat that was witnessed by two, incredulous Hufflepuffs and soon the news of it quickly spread throughout the whole castle. (Resulting in lots of muggleborn and half-blood students singing said song, whenever Umbridge passed them in the halls)
"Cruella De Ville, Cruella De Ville
If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will
To see her is to take a sudden chill
Cruella, Cruella De Ville
The curl of her lips
The ice in her stare
All innocent children had better beware
She's like a spider waiting for the kill
Look out for Cruella De Ville
At first you think Cruella is a devil
But after time has worn away the shock
You come to realize
You've seen her kind of eyes
Watching you from underneath a rock!
This vampire bat
This inhuman beast
She ought to be locked up and never released
The world was such a wholesome place until
Cruella, Cruella De Ville"
But the high spirits of the students only meant Umbridge's mood got worse, as did her detentions. But nothing short of getting even with "that upstart half-breed" would satisfy her. So she began plotting her revenge with delighted malice. Sophie had better start watching herself…
"For no one messes with Dolorous Jane Umbridge and gets away with it!"
A/N: I would just like to thank everyone for reading my fic and for leaving such fantastic and supportive/ constructive comments – Makes my day whenever I get a new one.
I know it's been a while since my last update… but I had my Mock Exams and my Final exams to do – and couldn't justify writing fanfiction over studying… Still there all finished now and I can finally crack the whip on this fic!
Thanks People, DFTBA - PhantomShadowCat