Disclaimer : All Harry Potter characters are the property of JKR. But all original characters (Wenny, Carl, Dray, Emma, Shane, Russo, etc.) are the property of FaithInSnape & her friend. lol
Written by: 'WennyG' (AKA 'FaithInSnape') & 'Carl'
Chapter Fifty-One: Strangers At The School
They continued walking down the hall for a bit and then heard someone talking in one of the unused classrooms. Wenny stopped walking and dropped Carl's hand, then stepped a little closer to the doorway to see if she could make out who the voice belonged to. Unfortunately, it was a bit muffled, since they were hearing it through the closed door. She glanced over to Carl to see if he could tell who it was.
When Wenny stopped, Carl walked slowly and quietly towards the door and put his ear to it. Then he looked over at Wenny curiously. "Snape?" he mouthed to her, thinking it sounded like him. But he couldn't quite make out the other voice.
She nodded slightly, then listened for a moment more, trying to pick up the other voice. It sounded a bit familiar, one that she was sure she knew. Draco Malfoy? She looked at Carl, "Malfoy?" But why would Snape and Malfoy be talking in an unused classroom? Snape was Malfoy's Head of House. They could just talk in the common room or Snape's office, couldn't they?
About that time, it sounded as if someone were approaching the door. Wenny grabbed Carl's hand and pulled him into a nearby classroom, waiting until the two had walked past the room before peeking out. Once it seemed they were out of earshot, she turned to Carl. "Any idea what that might've been about?"
Carl shook his head after thinking for a moment. "None," he said quietly. Although, it wasn't really the first time that he had seen the two talking. "And what would they be doing talking in an empty classroom after hours?" he asked curiously as he peeked out of the room and down the hall. He took her hand again and walked out into the corridor after seeing that Snape and Malfoy left the hall.
"I don't know. It's rather odd, isn't it?," she asked, thinking outloud. The evening was getting weirder by the hour. First, Dumbledore was gone, then the Room wouldn't open for them, and now Snape and Malfoy talking in an unused classroom after hours? Something was definitely going on. "Should we try to get in touch with someone? Like maybe some of the Order members or something? Ask them what's going on?"
"We could," he said, thinking. "McGonagall's in the Order, isn't she?" he asked, wondering how else they could possibly get in touch with anyone else. An owl would take too long, and he didn't think he could come up with anyway else. He found himself wondering where the Order members had all gone to and if Professor McGonagall would still be awake.
"Yes! She is!," Wenny said, having had forgotten all about Professor McGonagall. At least they had one Order member, other than Snape and Dumbledore, that they could go to. Assuming she was still in the castle.
They quickly walked through the corridors towards McGonagall's office and upon reaching it, Wenny turned to Carl. "Let's hope she doesn't ask why we're out of our houses after curfew," she said with a slight grin. McGonagall was notorious for being a stickler for the rules. Particularly curfew.
Wenny knocked on the Professor's door, hoping the old lady would be around.
"That'll be the day," Carl muttered, grinning as they made their way to Professor McGonagall's office. He looked at the door after Wenny knocked on it, hoping the Professor would be there. If not, he wasn't sure what they would be able to do next.
Professor McGonagall came to the door and opened it. She looked from Wenny to Carl and back again for a moment before saying anything. "What are you kids doing out of your common rooms after curfew?" she asked, eyeing them both. Carl had to hide a grin and tried not to roll his eyes as he looked at McGonagall. "We're sorry, Professor. We just didn't know who else to go to."
Wenny also had to fight not to grin or laugh at the Professor's first question. Some people were just so predictable.
"Who else to go to? About what, pray tell?," the elderly lady asked, still curiously looking between Carl and Wenny.
Wenny wasn't quite sure how far back to go with their story. Did the professor know that the Order Headquarters had been discovered and attacked? Did she know they had run for their lives back to the school? She glanced around to be sure no one was in the area, then decided not to risk it. "Well, it might be better if we wait to tell you inside your office," Wenny said quietly.
Professor McGonagall nodded and then opened her door wider to let them both in and then closed it after them. "I must say I am glad you both made it back in one piece," she started. "I was terribly worried when I got word that headquarters had been attacked."
Carl went inside with Wenny and then turned back around to Professor McGonagall and listened to her talk. "So you know about what happened?" he asked her curiously. "And is everyone alright?"
"Oh yes, they're all fine. In fact, some of them should be here soon," she said, glancing at a clock. "So what was it that you wanted to tell me?"
Wenny waited for a moment, trying to decide what to tell the Professor. "Well, we just saw Professor Snape and Malfoy, er, Draco Malfoy talking in one of the unused classrooms. We couldn't hear what they were saying, but by their tones, it seemed pretty important. They both sounded a bit desperate. Do you have any idea what they might have been talking about?"
Carl was relieved to hear that everyone was alright and let out a sigh of relief and then watched Professor McGonagall and waited for her to answer Wenny.
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips in thought. "No, I can't say that I do," she said.
Carl couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or not.
Wenny watched the Professor and then glanced at Carl. She wondered what he thought of the Professor's answer. "Well, I guess that was all we wanted to tell you...?," Wenny said, not quite sure. She looked over to Carl to see if he had anything he wanted to add.
"Very well, then. If that is all, then I expect you both will go straight to your separate houses," she said, giving them both a somewhat stern look. McGonagall always seemed to know when students had plans that didn't exactly follow school rules.
Wenny quickly gave Carl an 'if you have anything to add, do so now before she runs us out of here' look.
Carl had alot of things that he could probably ask Professor McGonagall, beginning with why Dumbledore wasn't there and then possibly asking more about Snape. But he decided to keep those questions to himself, doubting he would get any straight answers from Professor McGonagall anyways. He slowly nodded his head.
"Very good," McGonagall said, going back over to the door and opening it again. "Good night," she added, motioning for them to walk back out the door. She was still giving them a bit of a strict face, clearly meaning for them to go straight to their separate common rooms.
Wenny walked out of the Professor's office without speaking, then glanced back to watch her shut her office door. She grinned a little at how predictable the old woman was. Though, Wenny had to give the lady credit. She was sharp.
"Well, that didn't really get us anywhere," Wenny said with a sigh as they started down the corridor. Once they were a fairly good distance from McGonagall's office, Wenny took Carl's hand. "I suppose we just go try the Room again."
Carl nodded his head slowly. "Yeah," he said quietly. He could use some rest, even if it meant just laying down on the bed at least and not actually getting any sleep. He held onto Wenny's hand as they walked back up to the Room of Requirement, and then stopped just around the hall and listened. He thought he heard footsteps, and he turned to Wenny curiously, hoping he wasn't so tired that he was imagining things.
Wenny noticed Carl's look and stopped. She heard the footsteps, too, and glanced around for somewhere for them to go. Even if they had been near one of their houses, they both wouldn't be able to go in. But they weren't near either house and they weren't quite to the corridor where the Room was. Then it hit her, the footsteps seemed to be coming from the corridor that the Room was on. Maybe it was whoever had been in the Room earlier?
Wenny pulled Carl around a corner, since there didn't seem to be any unlocked classrooms nearby. Hopefully, whoever it was, would simply go the way Wenny and Carl had just come from.
Carl leaned against the wall, listening intently to the footsteps. He could tell that whoever it was, they weren't students. But what would professors be doing in the Room? He had to hold back a grin at the thought. He was curious, but had to stop himself from peeking around the corner.
After a moment, he could tell that they were heading the way that he and Wenny had come from. So Carl looked around the corner and saw their backs. They definitely weren't students, he thought.
Wenny watched Carl, then peeked around the corner herself. The people walking down the corridor couldn't possibly be students, but she didn't recognize them as any of the professors either. Of course, she wasn't seeing their faces, but surely she would recognize her professors regardless.
She looked at Carl, a bit nervous. "Who do you think they were?," she whispered. She wanted to get inside the safety of the Room now more than ever before, but she was somewhat afraid to move from their current spot.
He shrugged, not wanting to think on the thought that he was going with. "Maybe they were some of the Order," he said quietly, not really believing it himself. Professor McGonagall had said that they would be arriving there, but then again, it didn't really look like any of them.
Wenny wasn't quite convinced that those people had been Order members. Then again, she was sure there were plenty of Order members that they hadn't met. But why would they be coming from the Room? Wouldn't they have simply been able to come in through the Entrance Hall?
"Do you think it's safe for us to go into the Room now?," Wenny asked, still watching the strangers walking down the corridor. She looked at Carl, hoping he would know what to do.
"Well, we're not going to get anywhere by just standing here," Carl said quietly, taking her hand again and then walking back into the next hall. He could still see the strangers a little and watched them curiously. He saw them pull out their wands, and he narrowed his eyes a bit. "Wenny, now I'm quite sure those are not Order members," he said quietly.
Wenny knew Carl was right, but she figured she'd wait until they were inside the Room before asking him all of the questions that were suddenly flooding her mind. Like, who were those strange people, if they weren't Order members? And what had they been doing in the Room? And most importantly, why were they here at Hogwarts?
She walked the rest of the way through the corridor with Carl, and then stopped outside the Room. As usual, she figured she'd let him handle the required routine for accessing the Room. She took a deep breath, desperately hoping the Room would let them in this time.
Carl watched the figures until they turned turned down the next corridor and then turned to where the door to the Room should be. He took a deep breath before he began walking infront of the wall. He closed his eyes during his third walk past it and then stopped and slowly opened his eyes to see if it had worked.
Wenny watched Carl walk past the room, but when he was finished, she didn't see the door appear. She sighed, "why isn't it opening? Try it again?" What were they supposed to do if they couldn't get in the Room? Well, they could go to their own houses, but she really didn't want to. She wanted to be with him. And besides, she didn't want him to go in Slytherin house. It was too dangerous for him. Especially now.
Carl sighed and then tried it again, although knew if it didn't work the first time, it probably wouldn't work the second. He looked back at the wall, but the door still wasn't there. He looked back at Wenny. "I guess this means we follow the rules for once," he said with a shrug, although not really wanting to go back to his dorm.
She sighed again when the door still didn't appear. "Carl, you can't possibly go into Slytherin," she said, looking at him worriedly, "it's much too dangerous for you now." She knew she was practically begging him, but Malfoy punched him for simply dating a Hufflepuff...what would he do now that they had escaped his incompetent father yet again? He wouldn't be nearly as nice this time. "We'll just have to find somewhere else to go," she said decidedly.
Carl leaned against the wall for a moment and looked at her. "I'm not afraid of Malfoy," he told her. Although he still didn't want to go to his own common room, just because he didn't want to leave Wenny, not because he wouldn't face Draco. He sighed and then walked towards her and took her hand. "You're right, we'll just find somewhere else to go instead."
Wenny rolled her eyes when he said he wasn't afraid of Malfoy. She knew he wasn't afraid of the boy, but some people weren't afraid of dragons. That didn't mean dragons, or Draco Malfoy, couldn't or wouldn't harm them. But she wasn't going to argue about that at the moment. Their first concern was finding somewhere to go, and not being seen by a professor or those strange newcomers.
"Any suggestions of where we should try first?," she asked. Not being able to use the Room was a definite disappointment. What other place would allow them to be together without worrying about being caught?
Carl thought for a moment. "Well, we could try an empty classroom, but I don't think that would keep us from getting caught any more than being outside or the dungeons or the towers," he said, looking at her and still thinking. "Where do you want to go?" he asked her.
Wenny thought for a moment, "hmmm, well...what do you think of maybe trying one of the Towers? Professors wouldn't really go up there in the middle of the night, would they?" She wasn't about to say it, for fear that he would think her cheesy or too girly, but she also thought it might be sweet to sleep under the stars with him.
"The Towers it is," Carl said with a grin before turning around and starting to walk down the hall, holding Wenny's hand. It actually wasn't a bad idea. The towers seemed like they would be a good place to go other than the Room or out on the grounds. After a moment, he put his arm around Wenny as they continued walking down the corridor.
Wenny smiled a bit when she felt Carl's arm go around her, and then looked over at him. She wondered if he knew what she had been thinking, as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Before they turned the corner towards the entrance to the Towers, she stopped them and peeked around the corner to make sure no one was around. She hated the thought of them being caught and made to go to their separate houses, and hated the thought of running into those strangers even more. She didn't know why, but she got a feeling that they weren't Order members and that they were up to no good.
Carl smiled as Wenny kissed him on his cheek. He too looked around the corner and, after deciding it was clear, walked through the entrance and then made their way to the Towers. He looked around for a moment. As long as he and Wenny and the strange people who had come from the Room were on opposite ends of the castle, he felt like it was at least a bit alright.
Once they were up on the Tower, Wenny walked to the edge and looked down at the grounds. Everything was so dark that it was almost impossible to make out the faces of anyone who may have been walking around down there. But she wasn't particularly worried about it. And she also wasn't too worried about them being discovered here on the Tower either, as she didn't think many people came up there outside of classes and such. She turned back around and grinned a little as she hopped up to sit on the ledge.
Carl smiled at her and stuck his hands in his pockets as he watched her for a few moments. Then he walked over to her and gave her a soft kiss on her lips before kissing her neck. "We both need to loosen up a bit," he said quietly with a grin as he continued to kiss her neck for another moment. Then he sat up on the ledge next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.
Wenny laughed quietly as Carl kissed her neck. He knew exactly what to do to make her forget about everything going on around them and she loved him for it. She watched him as he sat beside her on the ledge and then glanced over her shoulder as he put his arm around her. "Ya know, that would be a really horrible fall," she said. She wasn't afraid of heights, especially with him holding on to her, but for some reason, the thought of falling from the Tower had suddenly come to her mind.
He looked back behind him and then to her again. "Don't worry. I wouldn't let you fall," he said with a smile and then he kissed her forehead. Something caught his eye on the grounds and he looked towards it. He thought he had seen movement, but he just ignored it, not wanting to be worried with anything else at the moment.
Wenny saw Carl look towards the grounds, "what is it? Did you see something?" She glanced towards the grounds, but didn't see anything, so she looked back to him. She hoped that, if he had seen someone down on the grounds, he would say it was just a professor or even Hagrid. Maybe they were both just a bit paranoid. But after everything they had been through, who could blame them?
"I just thought I saw something," Carl said quickly, looking back at Wenny and smiling at her. He couldn't even be sure that he had seen anything. It was possible his mind was just playing tricks on him since he was a bit paranoid and extremely tired.
Then he looked back to the grounds and definitely saw something this time. It was a person, and then he saw a spark of green light. It shot up towards them, and Carl quickly jumped back off the ledge and helped Wenny down. He saw the light go up into the sky above them and form a figure. A skull with a snake going through it. "This can't be good," he said quietly, staring up at it.
