CHAPTER 34: QUARTET
(Severus POV)
The start of term had been worse than uneasy. On the first day of classes, when Severus, Ilya, and Alice, were walking together on their way down to the Great Hall, students they met along the way would either scurry off in a different direction from them, or else, simply stood frozen on the spot, or (like a couple youngsters, probably first years), deliberately lie down on the floor, like people playing dead when faced by a ferocious bear.
And when they did reach said Hall itself to eat their breakfast, Severus could not help but notice that many of the students (including the Marauders, as well as Lily, which actually made the raven-haired young man sad, that he will not be able to pull through with his plan of making peace with her for the meantime.) would quickly finish their meals, either swallowing more quickly or else bringing the food with them to eat somewhere else, and a only a very few students remained.
To make matters worse, on their supposed-to-be very first N.E.W.T.s level Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson for the year (which would consist of all the students from all the Houses who got an Outstanding for their D.A.D.A O.W.L.s examination), Severus and Alice (who were taking the same classes) were the only students who entered the classroom, and they later learned from Professor Flitwick (to the two sixth year Ravenclaws' annoyance), that their new D.A.D.A. teacher (whose identity they did not yet know, and the raven-haired young man remembered that that particular seat was empty during the Sorting Ceremony) was rather busy and would start attending classes the following week. The most irritating part was that that particular information had been disseminated the night before, right after the feast, by the Prefects, yet no one had even bothered to tell them (Though there was also the slightest possibility that they were not listening, or else missed reading the announcement written on the information section in the Ravenclaw common room, but as far as Severus remembered, there was no such announcement placed there.).
The raven-haired young man could not help but be grateful for the fact that he had magecraft training during the summer holidays, as patience, restraint and controlling one's breathing and emotions was among the key concepts which he learned about, and these helped Severus cope with the rumors, fearful looks and suspicious glances which he received from students and teachers alike. The raven-haired young man actually missed the Marauders' antics, as they were now completely ignoring Severus (They were actually avoiding running into him, moving in a different direction whenever their paths were about to cross.), focusing their attention instead on Derrick Wilkes and his company of Slytherins (which the raven-haired young man was formerly part of).
He also could not help but be thankful that he now had Alice as a friend, who actually turned out to be even more of a short fuse than Severus used to be, and while he did not exactly enjoy having to play the role of the pacifist to keep the former Gryffindor calm (How ironic, when I used to be the one who easily loses his temper, thought Severus), he was pleased to hear the black-haired girl voicing out her complaints and sentiments about many of the very aspects that the raven-haired young man himself wanted to literally scream about…
As the week went by, however, the 'Dark Lady,' 'Dark Trio' phobia-euphoria eventually settled down to a point that the other students were now acting almost normally, able to 'tolerate' classes, eating meals, and literally staying at the same place as the three (or one of the three) without acting hysterically panicky, although many students still twitch nervously whenever they had eye contact, and would still leave the vicinity immediately after their purpose (either the lecture or eating or whatever) was achieved…
What made Severus worried the most, however, was not his own predicament, but Ilya's. Even though his girlfriend got the top marks for the entrance examination, she had to start at fifth year since she had not yet taken any O.W.L.s exams, and although they still spent their free time together, the silver-haired girl would have had to attend her classes alone…
And aside from the students and the teachers (including one particularly dangerous silver-bearded old man), they still had other problems to worry about (like Voldemort and Crouch), although Severus was fairly sure that they were safe from said troubles for the time being, within the wall of Hogwarts, having one of the potentially dangerous threats (Albus Dumbledore) keeping the other problems at bay…
Which is why Severus could not help but feel gratitude towards the Ravenclaw Prefect, Rose Ann Walker Garner, who was also the one who helped them out on their first night at Ravenclaw Tower, as she joined their little group. She was friendly, although a bit eccentric, as well as a fifth year who had the same classes as Ilya, and kept her company. She had been tagging along with the silver-haired girl whenever she met up with Severus and Alice during breaks, and sat together with them when they were staying at the Ravenclaw Common Room.
As far as the raven-haired boy could tell, while the blue-haired girl did not seem to have any close friends, she was significantly trusted and respected in her House. Thanks to their new friend, the other Ravenclaws were starting to warm up to them, treating them normally and looking at them as simply fellow students, the fearful, wary, and unfriendly aspect almost gone from their stares. (Some of them, despite being Intellectual Ravenclaws, had even began approaching and asking Severus Snape to do their homework for them, to which the raven-haired young man happily complied, at a reasonable price of course, smirking inwardly at the fact that he had new clients)…
-BREAK-
(Rose POV)
Rose had been staying in the company of Ilya and her companions for a little while now. At first, her purpose was simply to get close enough to the white-haired girl so that she can pry out the information she wanted from her…
Flashback
"You should first try to get to know her better before asking her about it," said the image of an Irish hero to Rose. "Play nice, take it slow, don't act formal, make them… or at least her… your friend… or at least pretend to be her friend until you get what you want."
End of Flashback
At first it was all supposed to be nothing but an act. Having had certain unpleasant childhood experiences, Rose opted to bury herself in books, spearmanship, and magic, focusing on other things instead of petty friendships and relationships. Of course, that did not mean that she completed isolated herself. She was still rather sociable, and her fellow Ravenclaws actually liked and respected her quite a bit, but she remained distant, not wanting to make any close ties, for fear of being hurt… her grandfather's portrait at home and the blue-haired man in the pocket-sized painting was all the company she needed. However…
Flashback
It was Thursday night. The Ravenclaws were at the Astronomy Tower. Professor Louisana Sinistra, having had to go to bathroom, left the students to their own devices, requiring them to observe the constellations of the Northern Hemisphere when…
"WHOA"
"EEP!"
A strong gust of wind suddenly swept passed, sending charts flying all over the place.
"HEY!"
Rose, taken by surprise, found herself chasing after her own chart, which was caught in the wind…
"GOTCHA!" shouted the blue-haired girl triumphantly, jumping up, as she caught the piece of parchment…
"WHA…"
The female Ravenclaw Prefect, in the panic-turned-into-relief moment, failed to notice that she had actually gone over the rails to grab her chart… and having taken one step too far, which was tantamount to jumping off the tower…
At that moment which actually lasted for less than a second, but which felt like a very long time to the blue-haired girl, Rose felt the worst fear she had ever felt in her life. She saw, as if in slow motion, everyone trying to get their charts back, not noticing that someone was actually going to fall off the tower…Rose was going to fall off to her death…
'It's over! I'm going to die!' thought the blue-haired girl bitterly in that moment, knowing it was useless to scream. Even if anyone noticed now, it would have been too late to save her… Rose did not have her wand with her… did not know how to Apparate… she was as good as dead already…
Then she felt a hand latch on into a tight grip on one of her arms… soft… yet with a firm grip…
Instinctively, the blue-haired girl grabbed onto it as tightly as she could…
"ROSE! HANG ON! NEED A LITTLE HELP HERE! DON'T YOU DARE LET GO!" shouted a familiar female voice, as the person, who Rose now saw had silver hair, extended and latched her other hand onto her arm, before, with amazing strength for a girl, pulling her back onto the tower…
"Rose!"
"Hey!"
"Are you alright!?"
Rose now found herself surrounded by her fellow Ravenclaws, worry in their voices, knowing what transpired.
The blue-haired girl, however, was quiet, her ruby-red eyes set on one person…
She was staring at Ilya, who was standing immediately in front of her. The white-haired girl was wincing slightly, her right hand over her left shoulder…
"Thank Merlin you're okay…"
"You could have died…"
"Sorry we're a bit late… but our charts…"
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE ROOT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!" shrieked a female voice suddenly, causing the other students to jump.
The Astronomy Tower became eerily silent, as a chilling, hostile intent was radiating from the silver-haired girl.
"Ilya?" asked Rose quietly, her voice slightly trembling as she saw her cold emerald eyes, all the warmth that was normally there, gone…
Everyone was quiet, shaking in fear. unable to talk, unable to speak, a few students falling on their knees, as Ilya began to talk in a low, but clear voice, that every single person on the tower could here, cold fury emanating from every single word she spoke…
"Thank Merlin you're alright?" began the silver-haired girl quietly. "Are you ok? Sorry we're a bit late? Well, you really should be sorry, you bunch of hypocrites…"
The aura of hostility that was coming from Ilya right now was far more terrifying, compared to the one which Rose had felt from her when she faced Voldemort during the Hogwarts Express incident. This time… there was no doubt about it… she was really furious.
"You knew she was going to die… you saw that Rose was about to fall off the tower, DON'T TRY AND DENY IT!" the white-haired girl shouted the last phrase, as some of the Ravenclaws were about to argue back, but lost their courage once again.
"You knew…" the white-haired girl began again, returning to her low voice, but now it sounded more bitter than cold. "You knew she would have been hurt… you knew she could have been killed… you knew you would have been able to do something to help… but no… all you cared about were your Root-be-damned astronomy charts… well, that's typical of a Ravenclaw I guess… valuing knowledge over the life of a fellow human being… your little charts more important than the life of your friend…"
The Ravenclaws had no retort, the looks of fear on their faces replaced by looks of guilt, the silver-haired girl's words penetrating to the very depth of their conscience…
"Ilya, that's enough," said Rose quietly, as she stood up and approached the silver-haired girl, the warmth back in her eyes, as the blue-haired girl noticed that tears were starting to form on Ilya's emerald pair, not realizing that the same thing could be said about her own normally beast-like, ruby-red eyes. "I'm okay, see? It's al…"
"NO, IT'S NOT ALRIGHT!" shrieked the white-haired girl, causing the blue-haired girl to take a few steps back from Ilya. "AND YOU! JUMPING OFF TO YOUR DEATH SO AS NOT TO LOSE A ROOT-BE-DAMNED-ASTRONOMY CHART?! IS THAT REALLY HOW MUCH YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE, ROSE?! AS VALUABLE AS A PIECE OF PARCHMENT?! IF THAT'S HOW YOU SEE IT I COMPLETELY DISAGREE!"
"ALRIGHT! THAT'S ENOUGH MS. EMIYA!" shouted a commanding female voice, which belonged to the Astronomy Professor, whose arrival no one noticed, being too occupied with what the silver-haired girl was saying….
…..
The Astronomy class was cancelled for the rest of that evening, as Professor Sinistra, who apparently heard (and/or seen) enough, was an understanding person, and dismissed the Ravenclaws, while asking one of the students to take Ilya to the Hospital Wing, and a certain blue-haired girl gladly volunteered for the task.
A painful silence passed between the two, as they walked towards the Hospital Wing…
The blue-haired girl could tell. Even though they had been in each other's company for only a few days, Ilya had undoubtedly considered her a friend, while she, in turn…
"I'm not going to apologize to you, Ms. Garnet," said Ilya in a cold tone, as she pretended to wipe the sweat from her forehead with her hands, but Rose knew that she was actually wiping away the tears that were forming in her eyes. "And if you… "
The blue-haired girl was unable to take it any longer. She knew what those words might mean, and she was frightened, afraid, that she will lose something important... something precious she had never noticed she now had… something which she might end up losing... something she might not be able to get back… There was no way she could allow it. Not a chance…
"I'M SORRY! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!" cried Rose, as she fell on the floor on her knees, crying, as she had not done in a very, very, long time, the last time she did was during her first visit to her grandfather's grave, having shut her heart from other people for over five years…
"Rose," the blue-haired girl heard Ilya speak, hearing her wince amid the tears, as a pair of arms gently wrapped themselves around the blue-haired girl.
"Ilya?"
"There is nothing for you to apologize to me for…" said the white-haired girl in a gentle tone.
"But…I…" sobbed the blue-haired girl.
"Just never forget," whispered the white-haired girl in a motherly, firm, though rather raspy voice, as Rose felt Ilya's hand gently stroking her blue hair. "Whenever someone is hurt... that someone is not the only one who is hurting… for her friends who care and worry for her… will also be in pain…which is why one should value her own life… for in the eyes of her friends it is precious… and whenever they see her hurt… her friends are also hurt… and if she dies… a part of them also dies along with her…"
End of Flashback
-BREAK-
(Rose POV)
"Whaa…"
It was Sunday morning. A certain blue-haired girl was feeling rather annoyed, as she felt that someone was shaking her awake.
"What do you want?" inquired Rose in an irritated tone.
"Oh, good morning Rose," said a female voice, which belonged to a black-haired girl named Alice, as she placed her mouth nearer her ear, so as not to disturb their other dorm mates. "Perfect timing… you wanted to know what we're up to this early, right?"
"Yes, I'm actually quite curious," replied the blue-haired girl, trying to keep a straight face, who felt half-excited, half-irritated, though she could not help but smile.
"Excellent," said Ilya quietly, who was also already up, a gentle smile appearing on her face as she looked Rose straight in the eye. "Now, if you'll excuse me… I'll just go and wake Sev… meet you in the common room in ten minutes…"
The white-haired girl left the girl's dormitory and headed off for the boy's sleeping quarters…
"Alice, you can go on ahead to the common room without me," said Rose to the black-haired former Gryffindor. "I'll just get changed first…"
"Are you really sure you want to go with us, Ms. Prefect?" inquired Alice teasingly. "I mean… who knows what we may be up to this early… considering the fact that there's a guy tagging along with us… "
Rose could not help but notice a familiar voice snicker, which thankfully Alice did not seem to notice, undoubtedly coming from the portrait of a perverted, womanizing, Irish hero, under her bed, but chose to ignore it…
"I doubt it," said the blue-haired girl in response, as she began to pull off her nightwear to change into the same type of attire that Alice and Ilya were wearing, gym clothes, (or in other words, attire that would allow greater mobility and flexibility)…
The black-haired girl opened her mouth to speak, but Rose cut her off…
"Look, I know they're together, but the way they've been acting, I doubt they've gone that far…"
"Are you sure?" inquired the black-haired girl, a mischievous smile plastered on her face…
"And even if they are doing it," said the blue-haired girl, who was starting to get rather irritated, feeling rather thankful she had plenty of experience with this kind of talk from the portrait of Cu Chulainn, which allowed her to counter well enough when it comes to such conversations. "I doubt they'll let anyone else join in…"
"You got me there," nodded Alice in agreement. "I was actually surprised when I first found out, but contrary to what I first believed, Severus is actually quite a nice guy once you got to know him. Pity that a certain someone I know just had to let her prejudice get the better of her… she has no idea just how nice a catch was the one she let go of…"
"Her?" said Rose inquiringly. "Are you talking about…"
"Anyway," said the black-haired female suddenly, as she let out a huge yawn (Fake, thought the blue-haired girl.). "I think we better go… they're probably waiting in the common room for us by now… best not to leave them by themselves too much unless you'd like to…"
"Alright, I get it already," replied Rose irritably, as she headed towards the door, to the Ravenclaw Common room…
"OUCH!" groaned a male voice loudly.
"…I TOLD YOU NOT TO WEAR THOSE ANYMORE!" shouted a female voice furiously, which could only belong to one person.
"Oh…choud mowning Mnalice, choud mowning Nrose," greeted a raven-haired young man, who was wearing a pair of baggy old trousers, and whose face was currently being picked on by a pair of white hands, which immediately let go, their owner realizing the arrival of two other people in the room.
"You know if you keep that up, you'll probably end up waking the entire House," said Alice teasingly.
"Sorry about that, I forgot," replied the white-haired girl sheepishly. "And Sev… please go and get changed… "
"But…"
"If you don't want to, I'll help you do it for you…"
"Okay fine! I'll be right back…"
Rose could not help but smile…
Things were different now. How Ilya knew that the blue-haired girl was a descendant of the Hound of Ulster, Cu Chulainn, all the other things she had thought of asking while she was at it… no longer mattered. The white-haired girl might tell her or might not tell her, but Rose no longer cared. Before, her course of action was centered around that particular objective… Now, it hardly held any significance… For right now, all that really mattered…
Was that she had three new friends who she was sure would never turn their backs on her…
-BREAK-
(Multi-person POV)
"Haaa…haaa…haaa…haaa…"
It was six o'clock Sunday morning, about a week after term started. Four people were resting under a tree, after running thirty laps around the lake.
"Do the three of you really do this every morning?" inquired a blue-haired girl, exhausted-looking (and indeed, truly exhausted), as she lay down flat on the grass, the clouds in the sky now tinge with a red-orange color…
"Only since arriving at Hogwarts, actually," replied the white-haired girl to the query. "Before coming here, Sev and I normally do running exercises in the afternoon… still, I must admit I'm surprised that you two are actually having trouble keeping up… especially you Alice, after I what I saw you do on the train… and even though you've already been running with us for a week…"
"Easy for you to say," panted a black-haired girl named Alice, who had one hand grabbing one of the lower branches of the tree for support. "With all the homework the teachers piled up on us last summer, we barely had time to do anything else…"
"No, I believe you could have balanced things had you tried, like me and Sev," said the silver-haired girl, who was also panting, but her breathing was far less heavy than either Rose or Alice, pointing at the raven-haired boy, who, despite the fact that he was still noticeably breathing heavily, was now jogging in place. "He probably had the same amount of homework as the two of you, while I had to do a lot of studying for the entrance exam, but we were still able to continue with our physical exercises. All it would have taken you was a little time management..."
"Ilya," said Alice suddenly, as she stared at something in the distance.
"Anything wrong?" inquired Rose, though she also felt something, and the expression on her companions' faces was enough to answer her question.
"I can see that," replied the white-haired girl, as she approached her boyfriend. "Sev…"
"Yeah, I know," said the raven-haired young man, who without even looking, also noticed the four familiar magical signatures headed their way, two likely to be hostile, one seemingly rather between friendly and neutral, one playing safe, trying to seem neutral but still detectable as hostile…
They were still about a hundred yards away, walking in the direction of Severus and company…
One werewolf…
One cowardly stuttering midget…
One rather handsome-looking (compared to his three companions at least), with a dog-like bark…
One messy-haired boy with eyeglasses…
The Marauders…
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Alright, another Chapter out. And again, I would like to state that there are a lot of things which I have to do, so I might not be able to update this often, but I will try to do so at least once a week.
Still, I must admit that aside from my job, a lot of time I spend in front of the computer is either eaten by watching p**n, reading manga, and indeed, a lot of time reading other fanfics.
Oh, and by the way, just for clarification, the Professor Sinistra in this fic is not Aurora Sinistra who was the Astronomy teacher during Harry Potter's era. When I checked the HP wiki for the profile on said Professor... well, she was just too young, so I opted to create a sideline OC who shares the same family name but overall, a different person...
Anyway...like always, I hope you enjoy this chapter...
Later then, people...