MUDSNAKE
by Flye Autumne
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: SECOND IMPRESSIONS
S -
The trial date should be in the next two to three weeks depending on which strings are pulled. Girl is back at school. It was the best option.
M.
"So, Dora, how's work been?"
Tonks jumped, spilling peas all over the table. "Er, it's been alright. Stressful, a bit, but, er, good."
Ted Tonks sent her a reproving look from across the table as he cleaned up the peas with a flick of his wand. "You sure? You seem a bit more stressed than usual."
"I'm fine, Dad. It's just been busy, that's all."
Tonks hastily took a bite of roast beef to (hopefully) avoid more questions. Andromeda and Ted exchanged The Look. Oh Merlin, what did I do now?
"Dora, I can tell something's up."
"Mum, I'm fine. Truly."
"Dora - "
"Dad, stop." Tonks stabbed her roast beef with slightly more force than necessary. "I can deal with it. I'm fine."
"Don't look fine to me," Ted muttered.
"Please stop nagging," Tonks could hear the whine in her voice and hated herself for it. "Just let me eat in peace. Please."
"Dora - "
"What now, Mum?" At this rate I'm never going to finish my dinner.
"There is something we need to talk about."
Oh bugger. "What?"
"Why are you owling with my sister?"
By Merlin's saggy left - "Er, what now?" she asked hastily through a mouth full of peas.
"Why are you owling Narcissa Malfoy?"
How in the name of Merlin did she find out about that? Tonks swallowed. "I was curious."
"What do you mean, curious?"
Tonks shrugged uncomfortably. "You never talked about her, and whenever I asked questions, you'd ignore them. Bellatrix...I can understand not talking about her, but Narcissa? Sure, she's married to Lucius Malfoy, but she was never a Death Eater or anything. I've got no cousins on Dad's side of the family, but Narcissa and Lucius have a kid. I was curious, y'know. What it would have been like, growing up surrounded by family other than the two of you."
Something in Andromeda's face changed. "Our family is perfectly fine the way it is," she said, voice cold. "You have no idea what it was like, growing up in that hellhole. You never met my mother. Narcissa and Bellatrix - they embraced every single twisted thing Mother told them. I - I pretended to go along with it. You have no idea - no idea - " Andromeda paused, clearly trying to compose herself. "You had no business to go owling my sister."
Tonks stifled the urge to shout. The double standards were ridiculously unfair! "I do, actually. I -"
"Stop lying, Dora. I know this wasn't just 'curiosity.' What's going on with the Malfoys?"
"I - it's for work."
Andromeda quirked an eyebrow. "For work." Her voice was flat. Unbelieving.
"Yes."
"How so?"
"Need to know."
"Dora - "
"It's Tonks, Mum. Not Dora," Tonks gritted out. "And I can't tell you because it's strictly confidential."
"Do you really expect me to believe that pile of thestral shit?"
Tonks could feel her hair prickling. "It's not a 'pile of thestral shite,' Mum. It's. My. Bloody. Job."
"Now young lady - " Ted began.
"Don't 'young lady' me! I'm training to become an Auror, remember? Remember how I explained to you twenty seven different times that half of my work is confidential? Which means I cannot and will not tell you about it?" Tonks was fuming. "You can't expect it to be the way it was when I was in Hogwarts. I'm not a stupid little kid anymore. I have a job now. I have my own flat. I have my own life outside of these four walls. I have responsibilities because I'm a bloody grownup!"
"Dora - "
Tonks abruptly pushed her plate away. "I'm leaving. I don't want this anymore."
"Sweetheart, you can't possibly -"
Tonks turned on the spot and apparated away with a sharp crack, re-appearing in a park about half a kilometer from her flat. Sniffling slightly, she swiped a hand across her eyes. Stupid, stupid, stupid. How had her mum figured out about the letters? How could she have been so careless as to leave evidence behind?
Constant Vigilance! Moody's voice echoed in her mind.
Tonks shook her head. So much for that. She climbed the stairs of her flat, unlocked the door, and wandered over to the cold box. Yes, tonight is the perfect night to drown my sorrows in yesterday's Chinese takeaway.
M -
Right there, under his nose? Did you not listen to a thing I told you? Are you feeling right in the head?
S.
S -
I understand your concerns. Trust that I have the situation under control.
M.
Severus viciously crumpled the letter and sent it into the fire. Mad. He has to be completely and utterly stark raving mad. The girl was right under Albus' nose! He could easily -
Severus clamped down his Occlumency shields and took a deep breath. Control yourself. Look at the situation rationally. Realistically, there's nothing Albus can do. The details of the case are closed, and he spends most of his holiday sequestered in his office.
Glaring at the fire, Severus stood and stretched before heading down to his potions laboratory. While it wasn't nearly as nice as the one he had at Hogwarts, the Spinner's End lab was completely functional and would suit his purpose well enough.
A murmured word got him through the wards, and minutes later he was busy dicing valerian sprigs. Severus placed the sprigs in a stasis-charmed jar and labeled it with the date. There was a ding from the other side of the lab - and that would be the latest batch of Forgetfulness Potion. Severus strode over the cauldrons, grabbing his colorscope as he went. The potion made using the fresh valerian sprigs was the appropriate shade of deep orange, whereas the ones made with valerian sprigs from stasis jars were more pale in color. Interesting. The stasis charm isn't an end all be all for freshness.
Severus summoned parchment, a quill, and ink, and started calculating. The fresh valerian sprigs result in the most potent potion, then there's a sharp decline once the sprigs have been in stasis for over six months. Interesting. Now, if I assign values to the point, then take the inverse and plot it…
Severus drummed his fingers idly. I'm definitely onto something here.
Dumbledore fiasco forgotten, Severus immersed himself in his research. It was always a good day when he proved the dunderhead editors of Potions Monthly wrong.
Dear Nymphadora,
We will do everything in our power to aid you in your endeavor. On an unrelated note, if you ever wish to have a spot of tea, there is a nice new tea shop in Diagon Alley. As pleasant as our correspondence is, I would love to meet you in person.
We wish you the best of luck.
Yours,
Narcissa
Hermione woke up in a cold sweat. The nightmare was fading, leaving her with nothing but a jumble of images, a feeling of fear, and the sense of a hand clenched around her wrist. Shivering slightly, Hermione reached for her wand.
"Tempus." The numbers flashed 3:30 am. Bugger.
Hermione slid her wand back onto the bureau and squashed her pillow into a better shape. Lying down, Hermione closed her eyes, only to see the jumble of images again.
Breathe.
Hermione shook her head to clear it. Everything will be fine. She rolled over in another fruitless attempt to fall asleep.
The fear was still there.
Going for a walk might help. Hermione sat up, pulled on her robe and searched around the room for her slippers. She tiptoed down the stairs into the common room, then out the door. With any luck there wouldn't be any professors patrolling.
Hermione wandered aimlessly through the corridors as the cold night air slowly dissipated the remaining vestiges of her nightmare. Feeling better, Hermione turned to head back to the dungeons when she spotted an open classroom door. Huh. That's odd. Perhaps against her better instincts, Hermione snuck inside. The room clearly hadn't been used for a while. The desks and chairs were covered in sheets, and there was a large mirror dominating the back end of the room.
Hermione did a double take. What is a giant free-standing mirror doing in an unused classroom? Walking closer, Hermione could make out an inscription etched into the gilded frame.
"Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi," Hermione sounded out quietly. "What in the name of Merlin does that mean?" She shuffled closer to the mirror. Perhaps there were more clues - oh.
Hermione whirled around. "Professor Snape? Are you there?" There was nobody. Hermione bit her lip and gazed back into the mirror. Mirror-Hermione was dressed in a dark green set of flowing witches' robes. She was smiling - and so was Mirror-Professor Snape. He was wearing his usual teaching robes, but the expression on his face - it was one Hermione had never seen him wear before. He looked happy.
Mirror-Hermione smiled and waved, twirling happily. Mirror-Professor Snape looked pleased and ruffled Mirror-Hermione's hair before pulling her into a hug. She - I - look happy.
Hermione sank to the floor, watching the scene in the mirror with the laughing girl and the smiling man. They look like they belonged.
It could have been minutes, or perhaps it was hours, when a cold breeze swept the room, jerking Hermione back to the present. She shivered, and pulled her gaze away from the mirror. Pulling her robe closer to herself, Hermione walked out of the classroom and back to the Slytherin dorms.
Albus Dumbledore sat down heavily. He had never thought - no, he had never dreamed this would happen. The girl had looked so tired. So gaunt. And then the mirror...Albus shook his head, trying to clear the image of the girl's elated face from his mind. The shock. Then the hope.
It was disturbing, to say the least. How could a student, a first year student, have experienced enough strife to make the Mirror Erised such a beacon of hope?
Could he have been wrong? The thought was troublesome, and Albus pushed it away.
But then why, said a nasty little voice in his mind, did she think Professor Snape was there? Wouldn't she only say that if she saw him in the mirror?
And you know he said she had a less than ideal home situation, the nasty voice continued. What if it was worse than you thought? What if you, the mighty Albus Dumbledore, made a mistake? What if she is so starved for attention that she looks up to Severus - Severus, of all people! - for attention?
Stranger things have happened, Albus reasoned.
And stranger things have come back to haunt you, the nasty voice argued. And more mundane things as well.
I regret - Albus began.
Don't make the girl another one of your regrets. Remember Ariana.
Albus froze. I -
Remember.
The girl isn't Ariana! She's -
You don't need that weight on your conscience. Could you live with that?
Albus swallowed. I -
Think on it.
Albus stood and exited the classroom, ignoring the small girl who waved at him from the mirror.
A/N: And the drama heats up! A big thanks as usual to my betas and all you lovely folks who leave me reviews! We passed the 400 review mark last chapter, which may or may not have made me do a happy dance around my house…
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