All characters in the story are the property of J. K. Rowling and Bloomsbury Books, with the exception of Eleanora Sterling and a few supporting characters, who are my own creations. This story is created purely for the entertainment of myself and other like-minded readers and no copyright infringement is intended.
By mentioning J.K. Rowling in this story I do not intend to present her as a fictional character or to imply that the Harry Potter books are not her own 100% original works.
This is probably the hardest thing I have ever undertaken with no hope of monetary gain... so please don't sue me!
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Chapter 54: Snape's ReactionSeverus woke a couple of hours later, and joined me out on the deck, where I was now enjoying another cup of coffee - a hot one, this time. He was wearing an old robe of mine, a black satin kimono with green embroidered dragons on it that he had found in my closet. It looked so good on him I decided he could keep it.
I had printed out Welkin's letter and now gave it to him to read. There was much frowning and muttering. At one point he put the paper down and exclaimed, "There are Weasley fingerprints all over this."
"You mean Ron Weasley? I thought Welkin said it was a young lady."
"It would be his younger sister, Ginny. Her father, Arthur, and her oldest brother Percy both work in the Ministry. Their family never had any money -- too many damned mouths to feed. And Ginny was one of Potter's little sycophants, so it stands to reason she'd want to write a biography about her 'hero'. And now it appears she's managed to get rich off it."
He finished reading the message and sat back with a sigh. "Damned right nobody here is going to find out about this, but I have a good mind to tell Lupin everything if and when he communicates with you."
"Now, why would you want to do a thing like that? Just to get these people in trouble?"
"That damned Weasley girl deserves everything she gets as far as I'm concerned. How could she have been so careless? And as for Welkin, I should think he'd be experienced enough to know better," he spat.
"Algernon just wanted to help two people out, it looks like to me. Besides, how could he have known that anyone from the Magical dimension would ever learn of it? Or even suppose that the books would have become so popular? Children's books don't usually make the best-seller lists, you know."
"They did? Where does it say that?"
"I was doing a little bit of research on-line after I read the letter, and you would not believe the extent of the popularity of these stories! Adults apparently read them as well as children, you know. There are all kinds of web sites about the books, and about Hogwarts, both official, and unofficial. Apparently there's going to be seven books in all, covering the time up to when Potter graduates from Hogwarts. Book number five is due out, but there seems to be a hold-up."
"That's good news. Perhaps Miss Weasley is suffering from writer's block," said Severus with a sneer.
"Well, Ginny didn't actually write these books herself, if it's her; it seems she just supplied this Rowling woman with the story line. Algernon says that Rowling had already started writing the books when he met her. In fact from what I've read about her, supposedly she wrote the first book while she was still living in Portugal, before Algernon even met her in Edinburgh."
"She must have re-written it after talking with Ginny, then. The least she bloody well could have done is change all the names! I wonder what she's written about me? If her information came from Ginny it can't be anything good."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to buy the books and find out for ourselves. But promise me, you won't say anything about this to Dumbledore or Lupin, at least not until we can read the books and assess the damage. It sounds pretty harmless to me in the scheme of things. No one here would ever believe these aren't just fairy stories, and why get Dumbledore all excited about it and put some well-meaning folks into hot water, if there's no harm done?" I said reasonably.
"Oh, very well," he agreed with a sigh. "I promise not to do anything about it until I know all the facts. Can we buy these books here in town?"
"I'm pretty sure we could. I need to do a few things around town today anyway."
Now we really were hungry and I started thinking about the eggs Angie had said were in the fridge. "I think I'll fix us some breakfast, anyway. Help yourself to some coffee, though I think it's pretty well stewed by now."
Severus followed me out to the fridge. "What is there?"
"Angie said she had some things for making omelettes. Does that sound good?"
"Ah, step aside, woman, the omelette just happens to be one of my specialities."
Sev rummaged around in the fridge for ingredients while I watched. Angie had left a non-stick pan out on the counter; he found whatever else he needed and expertly began chopping mushrooms and grating cheese. "Do you have any basil in your garden? And a clove of garlic, perhaps?"
"I have sweet basil and chives; I'll go and get some," I replied happily. Well, I'll be darned, he really can cook!
He evidently had no problem coping with my gas stove - I assumed it would be the sort of thing he'd be used to - and soon had things underway. Within five minutes he had two splendid looking cheese, tomato and mushroom omelettes plated and cut a couple of wedges of focaccia to go with them - slightly warmed, I noticed. Another little trick of his?
They were the best omelettes I had ever eaten. "Mmmm! This is heaven. Now, if I had made these, they'd be burned on the bottom, the tomatoes would be all runny and the mushrooms would be raw. These are just perfect!"
"What did I tell you? Time and temperature."
"Great! Well, you're hired. You can do all the cooking from now on. Except tonight, we're eating out."
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A/N:
Well, this was a pretty short chapter, so I'll make up for it by writing a long note instead. : )
Working out the dates, Potter and his friends supposedly graduated in '98, and Ginny Weasley was a year behind them. The first book was published in '97 so I'd have to assume it was written in '96 or even earlier, so Ginny would still have had to have been a student when she started writing her biography of Harry and collaborating with J.K.R. and would not even have known how everything was going to turn out for him when she started the project! (That's real hero worship for you - so convinced of his future greatness she started his biography before he even graduated!)
And yes, shadowycat, she was a really bad girl, or perhaps just incredibly naive!
A while back Kit Cloudkicker asked if Sirius Black had ever been cleared. Gulp! It really hadn't occurred to me to establish that but I suppose if he was still going around Hogwarts disguised as a dog then he must not have been cleared yet. Will I be required to tie up all these loose ends in one big "Happily Ever After" extravaganza at the end of my story, or will I be forgiven for leaving out this little detail?
Just remember I'm not the one who wrote the books in the first place and I'm not collaborating with Ginny Weasley, either! : )
- Grey Lady
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