A/N-Someone once said that the hardest thing in the world is facing a blank page with a pen in your hand. I disagree. The hardest thing in the world is facing a blank computer screen with a keyboard in front of you.
Disclaimer: I own nothing Potter or anything remotely connected with anything created by the illustrious Joanne Katharine Rowling. I do own Rae, Orion, and Rae's parents, even though they are dead, and I also own my version of M's, P's, P's, Lily's, and Severus' past(s). That's about it. I do not own Lupin, although I wish to God I did....
A/N II-This chapter is dedicated again to Mr. Forde, who has just called me with the offer of a lifetime. Viva la Science! I'm heading to South America!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There I was, making my way up to Dumbledore's office for the second time in a week. What the hell was I doing wrong? Snape was striding along beside me, as silent and unrevealing as a stone.
Snape gave the gargoyle the password, and the panel slid open, the stairs appearing. I started climbing, acutely aware of his presence behind me. A creepy feeling, to be sure. We reached the top of the stairs, and I stumbled again on the threshold; it was beginning to become a pattern with me. Before I hit the floor, however, Snape reached out and grabbed my shoulder, keeping me from falling. Was it just me, or did he keep his hand on my shoulder for a moment longer than was necessary for me to attain my balance, or even appropriate?
Orion turned her head to glare at him, and I got a somewhat distorted view of his face. He was looking quite embarrassed and red. She nipped at his hand, and he quickly let go of my shoulder. I sighed inwardly with relief, and walked into Dumbledore's office.
No one was there, so I seated myself on an overstuffed bright blue chair. A chess board was on a small table in front of it, with a half-played game splayed across it. The chess pieces were standing around looking bored, the knights occasionally taking half-hearted swings at their opponents.
Snape, for some odd reason, reached forward and moved a black castle forward two squares. I shrugged and moved a white bishop one square. Snape grinned maliciously and directed a knight forward, my bishop falling before him. I smiled to myself and moved a pawn. Snape copied my move. We continued in this fashion for a while, when suddenly his forgotten pawn was before me, as a newly resurrected queen.
"Facilis decensus Averni," he commented dryly, and proceeded to tear into the back of my defenses. Castles, knights, bishops, pawns all fell before him. My queen was swept from the board, and then my king was the only one left. I was checkmated. I sighed in resignation and sat back, watching the white king throw his crown at the feet of the black queen.
Snape smiled grimly, and I was surprised at the amount of happiness, if you could call it that, he got out of a simple chess victory. Or maybe it was something, some memory, involved with the classic game? Who knew?
We both looked up, startled, as a door opened in the back of the office and Dumbledore walked in, sitting down behind his desk.
"Hello Rae, Severus," he said, nodding to both of us.
"Professor Dumbledore, why did you want to talk to me?" Orion was flapping around on my shoulder, so I grabbed her and petted her softly.
"I need to speak to Severus first. Rae, if you would be so kind....?" He gestured to the door behind him, and I nodded and stood up to go.
"Wait, Rae..." Snape stood up and turned to Dumbledore. "Professor, I have an idea of what you would like to talk to me about, and I'd like Rae to hear, since it involves her."
I stared at him. Had he lost his mind?
Dumbledore nodded. "Alright, Severus, if you feel you must. Have a seat, Rae. We may be here a while."
I sat, and listened as Severus Snape proceeded to tell us the story of his past.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
((This is from No One's point of view. K? Good.))
"Severus!" A tall man strode through the store, peering through the rows and rows of books, seemingly searching for someone.
The next row over from the man, a small boy was cringing against a stack of books that threatened to topple over on him. His hair was unnaturally short, and spiky. He had a pale look about him, as if he never saw the sun, and his eyes....his eyes were the oddest thing about him. Dark and dead, and as unlike any normal boy's face as anything ever was.
"Severus! There you are." The man poked his head around the corner. "Come on, your mother is waiting for you."
The boy nodded helplessly and stood up, clutching a long thin box. He followed the man out of Flourish and Blotts, and over to the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, where a group of boys his age were standing, their noses leaving marks on the clean glass.
"Look at that!" A tall, thin boy with sandy brown hair and a weary look to him pointed at a broom in the window. "A Silver Arrow 400! It's the newest racing broom." His face took on a dreamy look. "I wish first years were allowed on the Quidditch teams...."
A shorter boy with black hair shook his head. "No, Remus, that hasn't been done for at least seventy years."
"But that won't stop us, will it James?" Another boy with longer black hair laughed and elbowed the second boy.
James swatted at the kid. "Shut up, Sirius."
Two girls walked out of the shop next to Quality Quidditch Supplies, which was The Magical Menagerie. The first girl, tall and slender with long auburn hair, was clutching an owl cage, with a large tawny owl hooting and flapping it's wings around in it. The girl next to her was a short, wiry little thing with cropped light brown hair and a devilish smile, and was holding on for dear life to a black cat that was squirming and trying to claw its way up the front of her shirt.
The girl suddenly lost her grip on the cat and it rocketed out of her arms and dashed straight toward Severus. He bent down and grabbed the cat just as it was about to streak past him. It calmed down instantly and he held it still until the girl came running up to him.
"Kia! Bad cat. Thanks for catching her for me. Are you going to Hogwarts too? I'm Eve Lupin. Who're you?" The girl said all this very fast, while grabbing the cat back with one hand and sticking the other out for Severus to shake.
"Er, yes, I'm a first year, and I'm Severus. Severus Snape." He shook her hand, praying that his palm wasn't sweaty.
"Oh, Snape! My dad works with your dad at the Ministry!" The girl smiled, and Severus felt his heart turn over. In love at eleven. Imagine that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Waaait...let me get this straight. You were in love with my mum?" I sat up on the edge of my chair and eyed Snape warily.
Snape nodded mutely, and continued with his story.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Eve?"
"Oh, hello Severus, didn't see you there." The girl turned from her cauldron and smiled at him.
"Eve...I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to the Christmas dance this year...?" Severus looked at her hopefully.
Eve's face fell. "Oh, Severus, I'm so sorry....I'm already going with someone."
His insides crumbled. "Who-who're you going with?" He croaked.
"Sirius. Sirius Black."
"What?! That good for nothing Gryffindor...." Severus' fists clenched in anger, wanting to pummel something; namely, Sirius' face.
Eve's eyes flared. "Severus, I will remind you, as I have done thousands of times, that I am a Gryffindor. Not a Ravenclaw, not a Hufflepuff, and most certainly not a Slytherin. Now, if you would let me continue with my potion....?"
Severus turned and stalked back across the room to his cauldron. Of all the unfair things...he'd get back at her somehow.
Remus Lupin, Eve's partner, came back from collecting more ingredients from Professor Simmrin. "What did that ugly git want?" He asked her, dumping some holly berries into the cauldron.
"Remus! Did you measure those out first?" Eve stared down into the potion with horror.
"Yeah, yeah," he said carelessly. "No what was Snape doing talking to my favorite sister?"
"I'm your only sister, and your twin at that. He was asking me to the Christmas dance."
"What?! You didn't say yes, did you?"
Eve poked him with the stir stick. "Of course not. Besides, I'm already going with Sirius, remember?"
"Oh yeah...."
From across the room, Severus watched this exchange with a sort of evil glint in his eyes. He'd make her see what she was doing....after all, they were only sixteen. She couldn't avoid him forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Black, Sirius!"
Sirius ran up to the table, grabbed his packet and plopped down on the floor where he stood, ripping the papers out. Several people started to shout angrily at him until he jumped up and started dancing around, waving the papers in the air. "I passed!" He shouted happily. "Four whole NEWTs!"
Remus laughed and shook his head. "Four," he said. "Four! And he's thrilled. It's a wonder he got any at all; the entire time we were supposed to be studying he was inventing those trick candles we sold to the first years."
James grinned. "Oh yeah, the ones that exploded into candy confetti when you lit them? That was one of out best inventions, if I do say so myself."
"I can't believe that we've finally graduated from Hogwarts. Seven years of our lives we spent there!" Eve said, in a sort of bewildered voice.
"Yeah, but look out, world, 'cause here we come!" James said.
"Correction: here we come on broomsticks!" Lily grinned and hugged James. They had each been signed to play Quidditch for the Liverpool Lions.
Remus was going exploring for more Dark creatures down in Ecuador, while Sirius was going to work for Dumbledore, teaching Transfiguration. Snape, everyone's favorite bad guy, was also going to work for Dumbledore as Potions Master. Eve was the only one of the lot who was going to Wales to go to St. Anthony's, the Wizarding University there. Eve also had met the love of her life there on a visit, who, unfortunately for herself or for him, was a Muggle. Snape had almost set the Potions room on fire when he heard this.
"Lupin, Eve!"
Eve dashed up and grabbed her papers, wisely getting out of the way so Remus could get up to the table.
"Lupin, Remus!"
Remus followed Eve up to the table, took his papers out, and joined her in the happy dance that she was doing.
"Eight NEWTs! Hooray!" Eve jumped up and down, hugging everyone in sight.
Severus Snape hung on the fringe of the crowd, along with a few of his fellow Slytherins.
"Morag?" He muttered to his friend standing next to him.
"Yeah, Severus?" He responded quietly.
"How many NEWTs is it possible to get?"
Morag stared at him. "Nine. Why?"
Severus shrugged and continued sneaking glances at Eve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been six months since they had graduated. Severus and Sirius were deep in their work at Hogwarts, and Lily and James had been living in Hogsmeade since the Quidditch season ended. Remus had come back from Ecuador a week ago, battered and sore. Eve was on Christmas break, and had come to Hogsmeade for a visit with her old friends.
Several things happened at once, two fateful days before Christmas.
Eve opened the door to the Three Broomsticks, her cloak whipping about her in the wind and snow blowing everywhere.
Severus looked up from the butterbeer he was nursing and nearly choked on it.
Sirius whirled around from the bar where he was flirting with Madame Rosmerta.
Remus followed Eve in through the door, shivering in the cold.
Lily and James tripped down the stairs from the rooms above the pub, giggling and as tipsy as lords.
"Sirius!" Eve ran up to him and threw her arms around him, almost sobbing.
Sirius patted her on the back, an odd look on his face. "Uh, hi Eve, good to see you too."
Remus walked over to Sirius, a grin on his face. "She's alright. Don't worry; it's been a long trip from Wales."
"Oooooh."
Lily and James stumbled over and leaned on the bar, laughing hysterically.
"What's with them?" Eve asked, pulling herself together.
"They're drunk," Sirius said shortly.
"Oh," Eve laughed. "I heard they won the league championship."
"Yep. That's why they're drunk."
Severus Snape peered out from behind the giant Christmas tree his table was hidden by, and ground his teeth together. The love of his life had surfaced after six months, and here she was, commiserating with the enemy.
Eve had turned into quite the beauty since he had last seen her. Her light brown hair, which had always been boyishly cut, was now pulled up in an elegant yet practical twist. She had worn glasses since they're fifth year, but now the glasses were thinner, more academic, and hiding eyes of a marvelous deep luscious brown. She had grown taller, and was no longer the shortest one out of their entire class at Hogwarts. Her burgundy robes flattered her slender figure, and her matching traveling cloak swept the ground in a most innocent yet seductive way.
Severus summed up all of his courage, and stood up, clutching his tankard of butterbeer in one hand and smoothing his hair down with the other. "Hello, Eve...?" He called, stepping out from behind the tree.
All five of the friends turned together, staring at Severus.
"Er, Severus?" Eve raised an eyebrow.
"Good to see you again. Care to have a chat?" Severus cleared his throat, and motioned at a table.
Eve shrugged. "I can talk for a little while, but then Remus and I have to go see Dumbledore." She walked over and took a seat at the little table, throwing a look over her shoulder at her comrades as if to say, 'What can I do? He's in love.'
Severus smiled to himself, and sat down across from her. "How's your life been going since June?"
Eve smiled. "Wonderfully. I love my classes at St. Anthony's, and my-"
Severus cut her off. "How nice. Listen, Eve, I was wondering....if you would like to have dinner with me tonight?" He said the last sentence very fast, and stared down into his drink, his ears turning red.
Eve simply stared at him. "You mean you don't know?"
Severus looked up. "Don't know what?"
"That I'm....I'm engaged, Severus." Eve looked down and toyed with the small ring on her slender finger.
"You're WHAT?!"
"Engaged."
"To who?" Severus stood up, his chair falling to the ground with a THUD that made half of the pub turn in their seats to stare at him.
"You....you wouldn't know him." Eve shook her head.
"Who is he?" Severus demanded.
"He's a Muggle," Eve whispered, her cheeks flaming red.
Severus sat down, the wind gone out of his sails. A Muggle. Eve was marrying a Muggle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Alright....I'm a tad bit confused."
Snape nodded. "You would be. Let me finish, and then I'll see if I can explain some things to you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Any here who believe that these two should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace." The priest stood on the altar, looking out on the many people congregated before him, confident that no one would stand.
Suddenly, a man who had been sitting alone in the very back pew, stood up, clutching his hat in one hand and a wand in the other. He strode up the aisle, and pushed the bride and groom apart. "I protest!" He said, loudly and clearly.
The groom stared at him. Who was this man? They had not sent him an invitation. He had been sitting on the bride's side, and was obviously completely and utterly mad.
"Severus!" The bride gasped. "What in Dumbledore's name do you think you are doing?"
The man turned on her. "I'm breaking up this foolhardy marriage, Eve, that's what I'm doing. Leave this, Eve," he said desperately. "Come with me. Don't rush into this."
Eve slipped her wand out of her sleeve and pointed it directly at Severus. "Get out. Now."
Severus stood his ground. "No. I'm not leaving until I am forced through those doors, or you are with me."
"You're insane," Eve said calmly. "You're a ranting madman. I'm not going to listen to you. Now get out. I learned plenty of good curses at St. Anthony's, and trust me, I know how to use them."
"Eve...."
"Severus, I will count to three. You must be out of these doors by then, or I will make you get out. One..."
"Eve, listen to me!"
"Two...I'm serious, Severus."
"Eve, no!"
"Three!" Eve whirled her wand above her head and cried, "Forcificus!" A jet of white light shot from the wand, heading straight for Severus. It caught him directly in the chest, and pushed him backwards, making him fly through the air until he hit the doors with a sickening CRACK! He slid down the wall, his head lolling at an odd angle, and came to rest in a crumpled heap on the floor.
"Eve," the groom said nervously, "Maybe we should just call the wedding off, or reschedule it....?"
"No," Eve said, taking one of his hands in hers. "I love you, and we're going to go through with this. Though I'm a witch, as I have just aptly demonstrated, and you're a Muggle, I think that we can live happily ever after."
In the back of the church, Severus woke up in time to hear Eve say these words, and he smiled a very cynical smile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dumbledore coughed, breaking the silence of the room. "Thank you, Severus," he said, standing up. "I think that that was quite enough for Miss Bronwyn to hear today." He offered a hand to help me out of the chair, but I didn't move.
"You...you fanatic!" I said furiously, staring at Snape. "You pathetic, obsessed little stalker! How could you do something as utterly stupid and fruitless as chasing after her all those years?"
Snape shrugged helplessly. "I knew you wouldn't understand," he said quietly. "No one can understand unless they've been in love."
My temper flared, and I stood up, yanking my wand out of the pocket of my robes. "You stupid, self-obsessed, conceited git!" I shouted, Orion taking off from my shoulder in surprise. "Do you have any idea what the word 'love' means? It means to want to be with that person, because you and they have the same ideals and passions! It means to have and to hold, and to love and to cherish! It means to have affection toward someone. It most certainly does NOT mean to be obsessed about! To be infatuated with! To simply want.
"You, my not-so-dear Professor, have no idea of the meaning of love. All you know is your own sick and twisted fantasies about love and who loves you." I turned to face Dumbledore. "Sir, if you are finished with me...?"
Dumbledore smiled bemusedly. "I do not think that it's a matter of whether or not I am finished with you, it's a matter of whether or not you are finished with him." He gestured toward Snape, who was sitting, stunned, in the armchair.
"Yes. May I leave?" He nodded, and I turned on my heel and marched down the stairs, the effect of my exit spoiled by my tripping on the threshold again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~The Girls Dormitory, Gryffindor Tower, Ten o'clock PM, December 24th~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Rae?" I heard Hermione sit up suddenly, in the bed next to mine.
"Unhm?" I muttered into the pillow.
"What did Dumbledore want to tell you, yesterday? I wanted to ask but then Professor Polaris got us a bit too involved in the Defense class."
I sat up too, a bit disoriented in the dark. "Ummmm....not much..." I lied. I didn't know why I wasn't telling the truth; perhaps I felt that it was too personal, even for a good friend to hear.
"You're lying. I can always tell, Rae; now what happened?"
"I should've known," I muttered, sighed, and then launched into a detailed explaination of what had happened in Dumbledore's office that day.
When I came to the end of my diatribe, I knew Hermione would be staring at me in disbelief. It was an unbelievable story, most certainly; after all, who could imagine Snape in love?
"Well....Rae, Snape certainly has a most interesting past that we knew nothing about. It's Christmas Eve; get some sleep and we'll ponder it in the morning. Maybe Harry or Ron will have some ideas about it, because I certainly do not. G'night."
"See you in the morning, Hermione."
~~~~~~The Girls Dormitory, Gryffindor Tower, Seven-thirteen AM, December 25th~~~~~~
"Wake up, Rae, Hermione."
"Ow!" I was hit in the face by what I presumed to be a flying pillow, launched by Parvati. I heard a similar exclamation from Hermione, but, having attached Orion to my shoulder again, my attention was focused elseware. Namely, the pile of presents at the foot of my bed.
"Oh great, just what I needed. Another Weasley sweater," I groaned, holding up the royal blue blob of yarn.
Hermione laughed and said, "Mrs. Weasley sent me one, too. Is anything embroidered on yours? Mine has a book on it."
I unfolded it and smiled. "Yeah, there's an owl that looks a lot like Orion." I put the sweater aside and picked up another box. "Wonder what Ron got me?"
Ron's present proved to be a large box of sugar quills, which was soon joined by a tin of homemade fudge (also Mrs. Weasley's), a book on how the Muggle version of magic differed from the true magic from Hermione, a handmade leather collar studded with jade stones from Hagrid (I assumed the collar was for Orion), another book from Sirius on different species of owl and what their uses were, a mirrior that told you whatever you wanted to hear from Harry, a fifty pound note from Grandma Bronwyn over in Wales (she was a Muggle, so the letter attached explained that I could use it for whatever I wanted, since she had no idea what wizards would buy), and a wonderful pair of silver earrings and a necklace with a silver owl charm from Seamus.
There were two boxes left at the bottom of the pile, and the tag on one said it was from Uncle Lupin. I eagerly untied the ribbon and yanked off the top. Inside the box was a beautiful set of dress robes and a cloak, the exact same shade as my sweater. There was an intricate pattern of embroidered vines and leaves on the neck, sleeves, and hem.
"Oh, wow Rae!" Lavender gasped in admiration. "Those are really nice. Who sent them to you?"
"My uncle," I said simply, not wanting to say more. Hermione raised an eyebrow as if to say, "Whoah."
There was one small box left on the floor. There was no tag attached. I opened it and sat there, staring at the gift that had rolled out into my hand.
A chess piece. One single solitary chess piece. A black pawn.
"What the...." I muttered, and turned the piece over in my hands. A note was folded in the box underneath it. I picked it up and read it.
"Facilis descensus Averni," I whispered. Where had I heard those words spoken before? I looked closer at the scrap of paper. There was a name scribbled at the bottom of it.
"Donovan Brooke," I said aloud. Brooke. I knew that name. It was the name that made me feel as if an icy hand had taken my heart and sqeezed it firmly. It was the name that I always, always heard in the Dream and made me shiver just to hear it.
"Rae?" Hermione appeared next to me, and saw the chess piece in my hand. "Oh...."
"It's him, Hermione," I mumbled. "He's back."
"Who's back, Rae?" Hermione looked over my shoulder at the note in my hand.
"The man who murdured my parents."
~~~~~~Third Floor Corridor, Ten forty-six AM, December 25th~~~~~~~
I had pleaded a headache when half of Gryffindor Tower started begging me to go outside for a snowball fight, and now I was standing outside of the secret room in the Charms corridor. Why had I backed out of the fun and games? I asked myself, already knowing the answer. Because you needed to be alone and when you want to be alone you push people away. That's why you backed out.
I sighed, and the portrait in front of me smiled. The man in front of it was young, almost a teenager, and even when he smiled his eyes still looked out upon the world with a great sorrow. "What's wrong now, Eve?"
"Adam, how many times do I have to tell you, my name is Rae! Eve was my mum." Adam the portrait had been there forever, and was always mixing students up with thier parents.
"And how many times do I have to tell you, Miss Bronwyn, that you look far too much like your mother." Adam put his hands on his hips and stared at me defiantly.
I threw up my hands. "Look. I'm in a bad mood. Can't you just let me in?"
"What's the password?"
"Bubble-gum. Happy?"
Adam smiled and swung forward. I slipped through the hole and pulled the portrait down behind me, standing up and surveying the large hidden room that our little group had stumbled upon a year ago.
We had been running from Filch (I think it was something to do with the Ton Tounge Toffee we left on his desk) and Adam the Portrait had told us the password to the room he was hiding. We had found it empty but for a piano, an easel with canvas, a large pad of paper and a pen, and about five really comfortable easy chairs and couches. Seamus jokingly called it the Arts Room.
All of us now had our own little section in it. I had enlisted the help of Harry and Ron and dragged the piano over into the north corner, next to the window. The top of the piano was now littered with old homework papers and tests of mine, along with a few wizard photos of my parents and me and my friends. Hermione had brought in a small writing desk from an abandoned classroom, and now her desk was completely covered in packets of stapled together looseleaf papers. It turned out that Hermione was a very good creative writer. Ron had claimed the easel for his own, and he now did sketches of whatever suited his fancy. Whenever Adam made us mad we always threated that we'd replace him with one of Ron's paintings. Harry and Seamus mostly sat around on the couches, although sometimes I'd come in to find Seamus banging away on my piano, or Harry attempting a drawing of something on Ron's easel.
We were almost never in there together, although once or twice we had called meetings or we had just walked in to find another friend there. It was our secret room, one that no other student or teacher knew about. We were fairly certain that even Dumbledore did not know about it.
I sighed and walked over to the piano, plopping down on the bench and placing my hands on the C chord. I did a few finger warm-ups, as I have always been taught to do, and then I set into playing.
There is a beautiful piece written by a wizard who lived decades ago. It has no name, and it's chords and arrangements are forever shifting. The pianist has no way of knowing when the notes are going to sound right or wrong, so she must play through all of it. That is the song that I played whenever I came in here. Sometimes I would start with it, or just play a few notes of it, or fiddle around with the chords, but I always played that song.
I heard the portrait open behind me, and my hands jerked in dischord. I spun around and found myself staring into the face of Draco Malfoy.
"Malfoy?" I said in surprise.
"Bronwyn? What are you doing in here?" He stared at me with surprise that matched my own.
I didn't answer. "Have you been in here before?" I demanded.
He shook his head. "No, I was just walking by and that portrait out there suddenly started ranting on and on about a pianist and bubblegum and arts, and so I said "Bubblegum? What?" And he just opened and I saw you sitting there playing the piano so....." He shrugged.
"Oh..." I said slowly, and turned back to the piano, starting again from where I had left off.
"That's the piece I heard you playing at the Halloween feast," he said suddenly.
"Yeah," I said, Orion not taking her eyes off of the keys. Dumbledore had invited anyone who could play an instrument to be in an ensemble, and play during the Halloween feast. Myself, a third year Gryffindor, and a few Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and one Slytherin had signed up. I had done this peice as a solo, and gotten a standing ovation.
Draco sat down on the couch, and I slammed my hands onto the keys and turned angrily around. "Look, Malfoy," I said harshly. "This is a Gryffindor room, and if Harry or Seamus or Ron walked in and saw you sitting there, they would *not* hesitate to beat the snot out of you. And I, for one, would not stop them. I suggest you leave. As in, now."
He stood up, on hand digging in the pocket of his robes. I reached for my wand, sure that he was going to curse me, but he only flung a white chess peice at me.
"Snape told me to give that to you if I saw you today," he said gruffly, and then turned and fled out the portrait hole.
I bent down, Orion's claws digging sharply into my shoulder, and picked up the chessman. It was a white pawn.
I stared at it for a long moment, and then threw it swiftly across the room, where it crashed into the wall and shattered into a thousand tiny fragments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~Fin~*~
Hope you liked it, sorry it took so long for me to post.
~Evelyn
Disclaimer: I own nothing Potter or anything remotely connected with anything created by the illustrious Joanne Katharine Rowling. I do own Rae, Orion, and Rae's parents, even though they are dead, and I also own my version of M's, P's, P's, Lily's, and Severus' past(s). That's about it. I do not own Lupin, although I wish to God I did....
A/N II-This chapter is dedicated again to Mr. Forde, who has just called me with the offer of a lifetime. Viva la Science! I'm heading to South America!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There I was, making my way up to Dumbledore's office for the second time in a week. What the hell was I doing wrong? Snape was striding along beside me, as silent and unrevealing as a stone.
Snape gave the gargoyle the password, and the panel slid open, the stairs appearing. I started climbing, acutely aware of his presence behind me. A creepy feeling, to be sure. We reached the top of the stairs, and I stumbled again on the threshold; it was beginning to become a pattern with me. Before I hit the floor, however, Snape reached out and grabbed my shoulder, keeping me from falling. Was it just me, or did he keep his hand on my shoulder for a moment longer than was necessary for me to attain my balance, or even appropriate?
Orion turned her head to glare at him, and I got a somewhat distorted view of his face. He was looking quite embarrassed and red. She nipped at his hand, and he quickly let go of my shoulder. I sighed inwardly with relief, and walked into Dumbledore's office.
No one was there, so I seated myself on an overstuffed bright blue chair. A chess board was on a small table in front of it, with a half-played game splayed across it. The chess pieces were standing around looking bored, the knights occasionally taking half-hearted swings at their opponents.
Snape, for some odd reason, reached forward and moved a black castle forward two squares. I shrugged and moved a white bishop one square. Snape grinned maliciously and directed a knight forward, my bishop falling before him. I smiled to myself and moved a pawn. Snape copied my move. We continued in this fashion for a while, when suddenly his forgotten pawn was before me, as a newly resurrected queen.
"Facilis decensus Averni," he commented dryly, and proceeded to tear into the back of my defenses. Castles, knights, bishops, pawns all fell before him. My queen was swept from the board, and then my king was the only one left. I was checkmated. I sighed in resignation and sat back, watching the white king throw his crown at the feet of the black queen.
Snape smiled grimly, and I was surprised at the amount of happiness, if you could call it that, he got out of a simple chess victory. Or maybe it was something, some memory, involved with the classic game? Who knew?
We both looked up, startled, as a door opened in the back of the office and Dumbledore walked in, sitting down behind his desk.
"Hello Rae, Severus," he said, nodding to both of us.
"Professor Dumbledore, why did you want to talk to me?" Orion was flapping around on my shoulder, so I grabbed her and petted her softly.
"I need to speak to Severus first. Rae, if you would be so kind....?" He gestured to the door behind him, and I nodded and stood up to go.
"Wait, Rae..." Snape stood up and turned to Dumbledore. "Professor, I have an idea of what you would like to talk to me about, and I'd like Rae to hear, since it involves her."
I stared at him. Had he lost his mind?
Dumbledore nodded. "Alright, Severus, if you feel you must. Have a seat, Rae. We may be here a while."
I sat, and listened as Severus Snape proceeded to tell us the story of his past.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
((This is from No One's point of view. K? Good.))
"Severus!" A tall man strode through the store, peering through the rows and rows of books, seemingly searching for someone.
The next row over from the man, a small boy was cringing against a stack of books that threatened to topple over on him. His hair was unnaturally short, and spiky. He had a pale look about him, as if he never saw the sun, and his eyes....his eyes were the oddest thing about him. Dark and dead, and as unlike any normal boy's face as anything ever was.
"Severus! There you are." The man poked his head around the corner. "Come on, your mother is waiting for you."
The boy nodded helplessly and stood up, clutching a long thin box. He followed the man out of Flourish and Blotts, and over to the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, where a group of boys his age were standing, their noses leaving marks on the clean glass.
"Look at that!" A tall, thin boy with sandy brown hair and a weary look to him pointed at a broom in the window. "A Silver Arrow 400! It's the newest racing broom." His face took on a dreamy look. "I wish first years were allowed on the Quidditch teams...."
A shorter boy with black hair shook his head. "No, Remus, that hasn't been done for at least seventy years."
"But that won't stop us, will it James?" Another boy with longer black hair laughed and elbowed the second boy.
James swatted at the kid. "Shut up, Sirius."
Two girls walked out of the shop next to Quality Quidditch Supplies, which was The Magical Menagerie. The first girl, tall and slender with long auburn hair, was clutching an owl cage, with a large tawny owl hooting and flapping it's wings around in it. The girl next to her was a short, wiry little thing with cropped light brown hair and a devilish smile, and was holding on for dear life to a black cat that was squirming and trying to claw its way up the front of her shirt.
The girl suddenly lost her grip on the cat and it rocketed out of her arms and dashed straight toward Severus. He bent down and grabbed the cat just as it was about to streak past him. It calmed down instantly and he held it still until the girl came running up to him.
"Kia! Bad cat. Thanks for catching her for me. Are you going to Hogwarts too? I'm Eve Lupin. Who're you?" The girl said all this very fast, while grabbing the cat back with one hand and sticking the other out for Severus to shake.
"Er, yes, I'm a first year, and I'm Severus. Severus Snape." He shook her hand, praying that his palm wasn't sweaty.
"Oh, Snape! My dad works with your dad at the Ministry!" The girl smiled, and Severus felt his heart turn over. In love at eleven. Imagine that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Waaait...let me get this straight. You were in love with my mum?" I sat up on the edge of my chair and eyed Snape warily.
Snape nodded mutely, and continued with his story.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Eve?"
"Oh, hello Severus, didn't see you there." The girl turned from her cauldron and smiled at him.
"Eve...I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to the Christmas dance this year...?" Severus looked at her hopefully.
Eve's face fell. "Oh, Severus, I'm so sorry....I'm already going with someone."
His insides crumbled. "Who-who're you going with?" He croaked.
"Sirius. Sirius Black."
"What?! That good for nothing Gryffindor...." Severus' fists clenched in anger, wanting to pummel something; namely, Sirius' face.
Eve's eyes flared. "Severus, I will remind you, as I have done thousands of times, that I am a Gryffindor. Not a Ravenclaw, not a Hufflepuff, and most certainly not a Slytherin. Now, if you would let me continue with my potion....?"
Severus turned and stalked back across the room to his cauldron. Of all the unfair things...he'd get back at her somehow.
Remus Lupin, Eve's partner, came back from collecting more ingredients from Professor Simmrin. "What did that ugly git want?" He asked her, dumping some holly berries into the cauldron.
"Remus! Did you measure those out first?" Eve stared down into the potion with horror.
"Yeah, yeah," he said carelessly. "No what was Snape doing talking to my favorite sister?"
"I'm your only sister, and your twin at that. He was asking me to the Christmas dance."
"What?! You didn't say yes, did you?"
Eve poked him with the stir stick. "Of course not. Besides, I'm already going with Sirius, remember?"
"Oh yeah...."
From across the room, Severus watched this exchange with a sort of evil glint in his eyes. He'd make her see what she was doing....after all, they were only sixteen. She couldn't avoid him forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Black, Sirius!"
Sirius ran up to the table, grabbed his packet and plopped down on the floor where he stood, ripping the papers out. Several people started to shout angrily at him until he jumped up and started dancing around, waving the papers in the air. "I passed!" He shouted happily. "Four whole NEWTs!"
Remus laughed and shook his head. "Four," he said. "Four! And he's thrilled. It's a wonder he got any at all; the entire time we were supposed to be studying he was inventing those trick candles we sold to the first years."
James grinned. "Oh yeah, the ones that exploded into candy confetti when you lit them? That was one of out best inventions, if I do say so myself."
"I can't believe that we've finally graduated from Hogwarts. Seven years of our lives we spent there!" Eve said, in a sort of bewildered voice.
"Yeah, but look out, world, 'cause here we come!" James said.
"Correction: here we come on broomsticks!" Lily grinned and hugged James. They had each been signed to play Quidditch for the Liverpool Lions.
Remus was going exploring for more Dark creatures down in Ecuador, while Sirius was going to work for Dumbledore, teaching Transfiguration. Snape, everyone's favorite bad guy, was also going to work for Dumbledore as Potions Master. Eve was the only one of the lot who was going to Wales to go to St. Anthony's, the Wizarding University there. Eve also had met the love of her life there on a visit, who, unfortunately for herself or for him, was a Muggle. Snape had almost set the Potions room on fire when he heard this.
"Lupin, Eve!"
Eve dashed up and grabbed her papers, wisely getting out of the way so Remus could get up to the table.
"Lupin, Remus!"
Remus followed Eve up to the table, took his papers out, and joined her in the happy dance that she was doing.
"Eight NEWTs! Hooray!" Eve jumped up and down, hugging everyone in sight.
Severus Snape hung on the fringe of the crowd, along with a few of his fellow Slytherins.
"Morag?" He muttered to his friend standing next to him.
"Yeah, Severus?" He responded quietly.
"How many NEWTs is it possible to get?"
Morag stared at him. "Nine. Why?"
Severus shrugged and continued sneaking glances at Eve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been six months since they had graduated. Severus and Sirius were deep in their work at Hogwarts, and Lily and James had been living in Hogsmeade since the Quidditch season ended. Remus had come back from Ecuador a week ago, battered and sore. Eve was on Christmas break, and had come to Hogsmeade for a visit with her old friends.
Several things happened at once, two fateful days before Christmas.
Eve opened the door to the Three Broomsticks, her cloak whipping about her in the wind and snow blowing everywhere.
Severus looked up from the butterbeer he was nursing and nearly choked on it.
Sirius whirled around from the bar where he was flirting with Madame Rosmerta.
Remus followed Eve in through the door, shivering in the cold.
Lily and James tripped down the stairs from the rooms above the pub, giggling and as tipsy as lords.
"Sirius!" Eve ran up to him and threw her arms around him, almost sobbing.
Sirius patted her on the back, an odd look on his face. "Uh, hi Eve, good to see you too."
Remus walked over to Sirius, a grin on his face. "She's alright. Don't worry; it's been a long trip from Wales."
"Oooooh."
Lily and James stumbled over and leaned on the bar, laughing hysterically.
"What's with them?" Eve asked, pulling herself together.
"They're drunk," Sirius said shortly.
"Oh," Eve laughed. "I heard they won the league championship."
"Yep. That's why they're drunk."
Severus Snape peered out from behind the giant Christmas tree his table was hidden by, and ground his teeth together. The love of his life had surfaced after six months, and here she was, commiserating with the enemy.
Eve had turned into quite the beauty since he had last seen her. Her light brown hair, which had always been boyishly cut, was now pulled up in an elegant yet practical twist. She had worn glasses since they're fifth year, but now the glasses were thinner, more academic, and hiding eyes of a marvelous deep luscious brown. She had grown taller, and was no longer the shortest one out of their entire class at Hogwarts. Her burgundy robes flattered her slender figure, and her matching traveling cloak swept the ground in a most innocent yet seductive way.
Severus summed up all of his courage, and stood up, clutching his tankard of butterbeer in one hand and smoothing his hair down with the other. "Hello, Eve...?" He called, stepping out from behind the tree.
All five of the friends turned together, staring at Severus.
"Er, Severus?" Eve raised an eyebrow.
"Good to see you again. Care to have a chat?" Severus cleared his throat, and motioned at a table.
Eve shrugged. "I can talk for a little while, but then Remus and I have to go see Dumbledore." She walked over and took a seat at the little table, throwing a look over her shoulder at her comrades as if to say, 'What can I do? He's in love.'
Severus smiled to himself, and sat down across from her. "How's your life been going since June?"
Eve smiled. "Wonderfully. I love my classes at St. Anthony's, and my-"
Severus cut her off. "How nice. Listen, Eve, I was wondering....if you would like to have dinner with me tonight?" He said the last sentence very fast, and stared down into his drink, his ears turning red.
Eve simply stared at him. "You mean you don't know?"
Severus looked up. "Don't know what?"
"That I'm....I'm engaged, Severus." Eve looked down and toyed with the small ring on her slender finger.
"You're WHAT?!"
"Engaged."
"To who?" Severus stood up, his chair falling to the ground with a THUD that made half of the pub turn in their seats to stare at him.
"You....you wouldn't know him." Eve shook her head.
"Who is he?" Severus demanded.
"He's a Muggle," Eve whispered, her cheeks flaming red.
Severus sat down, the wind gone out of his sails. A Muggle. Eve was marrying a Muggle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Alright....I'm a tad bit confused."
Snape nodded. "You would be. Let me finish, and then I'll see if I can explain some things to you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Any here who believe that these two should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace." The priest stood on the altar, looking out on the many people congregated before him, confident that no one would stand.
Suddenly, a man who had been sitting alone in the very back pew, stood up, clutching his hat in one hand and a wand in the other. He strode up the aisle, and pushed the bride and groom apart. "I protest!" He said, loudly and clearly.
The groom stared at him. Who was this man? They had not sent him an invitation. He had been sitting on the bride's side, and was obviously completely and utterly mad.
"Severus!" The bride gasped. "What in Dumbledore's name do you think you are doing?"
The man turned on her. "I'm breaking up this foolhardy marriage, Eve, that's what I'm doing. Leave this, Eve," he said desperately. "Come with me. Don't rush into this."
Eve slipped her wand out of her sleeve and pointed it directly at Severus. "Get out. Now."
Severus stood his ground. "No. I'm not leaving until I am forced through those doors, or you are with me."
"You're insane," Eve said calmly. "You're a ranting madman. I'm not going to listen to you. Now get out. I learned plenty of good curses at St. Anthony's, and trust me, I know how to use them."
"Eve...."
"Severus, I will count to three. You must be out of these doors by then, or I will make you get out. One..."
"Eve, listen to me!"
"Two...I'm serious, Severus."
"Eve, no!"
"Three!" Eve whirled her wand above her head and cried, "Forcificus!" A jet of white light shot from the wand, heading straight for Severus. It caught him directly in the chest, and pushed him backwards, making him fly through the air until he hit the doors with a sickening CRACK! He slid down the wall, his head lolling at an odd angle, and came to rest in a crumpled heap on the floor.
"Eve," the groom said nervously, "Maybe we should just call the wedding off, or reschedule it....?"
"No," Eve said, taking one of his hands in hers. "I love you, and we're going to go through with this. Though I'm a witch, as I have just aptly demonstrated, and you're a Muggle, I think that we can live happily ever after."
In the back of the church, Severus woke up in time to hear Eve say these words, and he smiled a very cynical smile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dumbledore coughed, breaking the silence of the room. "Thank you, Severus," he said, standing up. "I think that that was quite enough for Miss Bronwyn to hear today." He offered a hand to help me out of the chair, but I didn't move.
"You...you fanatic!" I said furiously, staring at Snape. "You pathetic, obsessed little stalker! How could you do something as utterly stupid and fruitless as chasing after her all those years?"
Snape shrugged helplessly. "I knew you wouldn't understand," he said quietly. "No one can understand unless they've been in love."
My temper flared, and I stood up, yanking my wand out of the pocket of my robes. "You stupid, self-obsessed, conceited git!" I shouted, Orion taking off from my shoulder in surprise. "Do you have any idea what the word 'love' means? It means to want to be with that person, because you and they have the same ideals and passions! It means to have and to hold, and to love and to cherish! It means to have affection toward someone. It most certainly does NOT mean to be obsessed about! To be infatuated with! To simply want.
"You, my not-so-dear Professor, have no idea of the meaning of love. All you know is your own sick and twisted fantasies about love and who loves you." I turned to face Dumbledore. "Sir, if you are finished with me...?"
Dumbledore smiled bemusedly. "I do not think that it's a matter of whether or not I am finished with you, it's a matter of whether or not you are finished with him." He gestured toward Snape, who was sitting, stunned, in the armchair.
"Yes. May I leave?" He nodded, and I turned on my heel and marched down the stairs, the effect of my exit spoiled by my tripping on the threshold again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~The Girls Dormitory, Gryffindor Tower, Ten o'clock PM, December 24th~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Rae?" I heard Hermione sit up suddenly, in the bed next to mine.
"Unhm?" I muttered into the pillow.
"What did Dumbledore want to tell you, yesterday? I wanted to ask but then Professor Polaris got us a bit too involved in the Defense class."
I sat up too, a bit disoriented in the dark. "Ummmm....not much..." I lied. I didn't know why I wasn't telling the truth; perhaps I felt that it was too personal, even for a good friend to hear.
"You're lying. I can always tell, Rae; now what happened?"
"I should've known," I muttered, sighed, and then launched into a detailed explaination of what had happened in Dumbledore's office that day.
When I came to the end of my diatribe, I knew Hermione would be staring at me in disbelief. It was an unbelievable story, most certainly; after all, who could imagine Snape in love?
"Well....Rae, Snape certainly has a most interesting past that we knew nothing about. It's Christmas Eve; get some sleep and we'll ponder it in the morning. Maybe Harry or Ron will have some ideas about it, because I certainly do not. G'night."
"See you in the morning, Hermione."
~~~~~~The Girls Dormitory, Gryffindor Tower, Seven-thirteen AM, December 25th~~~~~~
"Wake up, Rae, Hermione."
"Ow!" I was hit in the face by what I presumed to be a flying pillow, launched by Parvati. I heard a similar exclamation from Hermione, but, having attached Orion to my shoulder again, my attention was focused elseware. Namely, the pile of presents at the foot of my bed.
"Oh great, just what I needed. Another Weasley sweater," I groaned, holding up the royal blue blob of yarn.
Hermione laughed and said, "Mrs. Weasley sent me one, too. Is anything embroidered on yours? Mine has a book on it."
I unfolded it and smiled. "Yeah, there's an owl that looks a lot like Orion." I put the sweater aside and picked up another box. "Wonder what Ron got me?"
Ron's present proved to be a large box of sugar quills, which was soon joined by a tin of homemade fudge (also Mrs. Weasley's), a book on how the Muggle version of magic differed from the true magic from Hermione, a handmade leather collar studded with jade stones from Hagrid (I assumed the collar was for Orion), another book from Sirius on different species of owl and what their uses were, a mirrior that told you whatever you wanted to hear from Harry, a fifty pound note from Grandma Bronwyn over in Wales (she was a Muggle, so the letter attached explained that I could use it for whatever I wanted, since she had no idea what wizards would buy), and a wonderful pair of silver earrings and a necklace with a silver owl charm from Seamus.
There were two boxes left at the bottom of the pile, and the tag on one said it was from Uncle Lupin. I eagerly untied the ribbon and yanked off the top. Inside the box was a beautiful set of dress robes and a cloak, the exact same shade as my sweater. There was an intricate pattern of embroidered vines and leaves on the neck, sleeves, and hem.
"Oh, wow Rae!" Lavender gasped in admiration. "Those are really nice. Who sent them to you?"
"My uncle," I said simply, not wanting to say more. Hermione raised an eyebrow as if to say, "Whoah."
There was one small box left on the floor. There was no tag attached. I opened it and sat there, staring at the gift that had rolled out into my hand.
A chess piece. One single solitary chess piece. A black pawn.
"What the...." I muttered, and turned the piece over in my hands. A note was folded in the box underneath it. I picked it up and read it.
"Facilis descensus Averni," I whispered. Where had I heard those words spoken before? I looked closer at the scrap of paper. There was a name scribbled at the bottom of it.
"Donovan Brooke," I said aloud. Brooke. I knew that name. It was the name that made me feel as if an icy hand had taken my heart and sqeezed it firmly. It was the name that I always, always heard in the Dream and made me shiver just to hear it.
"Rae?" Hermione appeared next to me, and saw the chess piece in my hand. "Oh...."
"It's him, Hermione," I mumbled. "He's back."
"Who's back, Rae?" Hermione looked over my shoulder at the note in my hand.
"The man who murdured my parents."
~~~~~~Third Floor Corridor, Ten forty-six AM, December 25th~~~~~~~
I had pleaded a headache when half of Gryffindor Tower started begging me to go outside for a snowball fight, and now I was standing outside of the secret room in the Charms corridor. Why had I backed out of the fun and games? I asked myself, already knowing the answer. Because you needed to be alone and when you want to be alone you push people away. That's why you backed out.
I sighed, and the portrait in front of me smiled. The man in front of it was young, almost a teenager, and even when he smiled his eyes still looked out upon the world with a great sorrow. "What's wrong now, Eve?"
"Adam, how many times do I have to tell you, my name is Rae! Eve was my mum." Adam the portrait had been there forever, and was always mixing students up with thier parents.
"And how many times do I have to tell you, Miss Bronwyn, that you look far too much like your mother." Adam put his hands on his hips and stared at me defiantly.
I threw up my hands. "Look. I'm in a bad mood. Can't you just let me in?"
"What's the password?"
"Bubble-gum. Happy?"
Adam smiled and swung forward. I slipped through the hole and pulled the portrait down behind me, standing up and surveying the large hidden room that our little group had stumbled upon a year ago.
We had been running from Filch (I think it was something to do with the Ton Tounge Toffee we left on his desk) and Adam the Portrait had told us the password to the room he was hiding. We had found it empty but for a piano, an easel with canvas, a large pad of paper and a pen, and about five really comfortable easy chairs and couches. Seamus jokingly called it the Arts Room.
All of us now had our own little section in it. I had enlisted the help of Harry and Ron and dragged the piano over into the north corner, next to the window. The top of the piano was now littered with old homework papers and tests of mine, along with a few wizard photos of my parents and me and my friends. Hermione had brought in a small writing desk from an abandoned classroom, and now her desk was completely covered in packets of stapled together looseleaf papers. It turned out that Hermione was a very good creative writer. Ron had claimed the easel for his own, and he now did sketches of whatever suited his fancy. Whenever Adam made us mad we always threated that we'd replace him with one of Ron's paintings. Harry and Seamus mostly sat around on the couches, although sometimes I'd come in to find Seamus banging away on my piano, or Harry attempting a drawing of something on Ron's easel.
We were almost never in there together, although once or twice we had called meetings or we had just walked in to find another friend there. It was our secret room, one that no other student or teacher knew about. We were fairly certain that even Dumbledore did not know about it.
I sighed and walked over to the piano, plopping down on the bench and placing my hands on the C chord. I did a few finger warm-ups, as I have always been taught to do, and then I set into playing.
There is a beautiful piece written by a wizard who lived decades ago. It has no name, and it's chords and arrangements are forever shifting. The pianist has no way of knowing when the notes are going to sound right or wrong, so she must play through all of it. That is the song that I played whenever I came in here. Sometimes I would start with it, or just play a few notes of it, or fiddle around with the chords, but I always played that song.
I heard the portrait open behind me, and my hands jerked in dischord. I spun around and found myself staring into the face of Draco Malfoy.
"Malfoy?" I said in surprise.
"Bronwyn? What are you doing in here?" He stared at me with surprise that matched my own.
I didn't answer. "Have you been in here before?" I demanded.
He shook his head. "No, I was just walking by and that portrait out there suddenly started ranting on and on about a pianist and bubblegum and arts, and so I said "Bubblegum? What?" And he just opened and I saw you sitting there playing the piano so....." He shrugged.
"Oh..." I said slowly, and turned back to the piano, starting again from where I had left off.
"That's the piece I heard you playing at the Halloween feast," he said suddenly.
"Yeah," I said, Orion not taking her eyes off of the keys. Dumbledore had invited anyone who could play an instrument to be in an ensemble, and play during the Halloween feast. Myself, a third year Gryffindor, and a few Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and one Slytherin had signed up. I had done this peice as a solo, and gotten a standing ovation.
Draco sat down on the couch, and I slammed my hands onto the keys and turned angrily around. "Look, Malfoy," I said harshly. "This is a Gryffindor room, and if Harry or Seamus or Ron walked in and saw you sitting there, they would *not* hesitate to beat the snot out of you. And I, for one, would not stop them. I suggest you leave. As in, now."
He stood up, on hand digging in the pocket of his robes. I reached for my wand, sure that he was going to curse me, but he only flung a white chess peice at me.
"Snape told me to give that to you if I saw you today," he said gruffly, and then turned and fled out the portrait hole.
I bent down, Orion's claws digging sharply into my shoulder, and picked up the chessman. It was a white pawn.
I stared at it for a long moment, and then threw it swiftly across the room, where it crashed into the wall and shattered into a thousand tiny fragments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~Fin~*~
Hope you liked it, sorry it took so long for me to post.
~Evelyn