Wishes
By Airelle Vilka
Chapter 12 On to the Bed-Chambers
Intelligence had served Airelle well over her years as an Auror. However, there were some instances where that would not help. There was no time to plan; and consequently, raw instinct took over. Adrenaline pumped in her veins as she pulled her wand from the cumbersome cloak Snape had given her and whispered, "Ne Vidi!"
Quick thinking. Maybe you aren't so hopeless after all, laughed a voice in her head as the Illusion swept over herself and Snape, effectively making them invisible. Well, unless the person who would come in could sense Illusions on sight. Like Dumbledore. In that case, they were doomed to be discovered.
The cabinet door was still open. Blast it. Now whoever entered was going to know the room had been disturbed, and--
One thing at a time, Vilka. One thing at a time.
Airelle and Snape stood next to the cabinet, pressed to the wall. The Illusion had made them invisible, but not intangible, after all. And smacking into something 'not there' was definitely bound to rouse suspicion.
"Ouch, stop it, will you?" floated a voice as two figures entered the room. They removed their cloaks, and Airelle nearly gasped.
It was Alica Tylon and Tracy Patts, the two Ravenclaws. But why were they here, in the dungeons?
"Sorry," Alica was saying. "But it's not my fault you walk so slow."
Tracy ignored that comment. "Are you sure no one saw us?"
"Positive," replied her friend happily. The passage door had slid shut. "No Slytherins lurking about tonight."
"Good," said Tracy. "I was afraid Malfoy would be onto us, the slimy git."
"Yeah," murmured Alica, rubbing her arms from the chill. Both girls were dressed in nightgowns and their hair was sticking out every which way. It reminded Airelle of herself in the morning.
Snape had narrowed his eyes, and Airelle tightened her fingers on his shoulder. Not now, she thought, as if they had a telepathic link. You'll scare them to death, and anyway, we do not want to be seen here.
His arm relaxed under Airelle's grip as Alica added, "I thought Malfoy knew about our little prank planning too."
"Well, he does not, it seems," answered Tracy, smoothing her unruly black hair and failing. Her eyes squinted into the room, and it was then, apparently, that she realized something.
"Oi, Alica, look here!"
"What?"
Tracy swiftly crossed over to the cabinet, drawing in a sharp breath. She stopped two feet or so away from Airelle. "Someone's been here," she said warily.
"You mean, the cabinet—"
"Yes," said Tracy, picking up the book Snape had been holding from a shelf. "It's been opened."
Alica looked around anxiously, then walked closer to her friend. "Well, at least now we know it's not a curse in there, just a few books."
"But why would they put such a lock on the stuff that even we had given up on trying to pry it open?" whispered Tracy, leafing through the pages. She did not, thankfully, gasp at the writing or come upon the words 'Flight From Death.' Thankfully.
"Dunno," muttered Alica, looking over Tracy's shoulder (which was easy, since she was about two heads taller than the other). "But hey… d'you think they… could still be here?"
Tracy looked up quickly, and her dark eyes scanned the room, passing over Airelle and Snape effectively. "Don't be silly, they'd show themselves by now." But now she did not sound very certain.
"I wonder what this all means," said Alica curiously, but Tracy closed the cabinet door and glanced around some more.
"C'mon," she muttered nervously, "we'll look at this later. Right now, we'd better go back to bed. And maybe think of a new scheming base."
"Should we take some books with us?" offered Alica, but her friend shook her head.
"No, whoever came in here could miss it, and then we're going to be in more trouble than we like."
Grinning, Alica followed Tracy out the passage. Airelle almost exhaled, when suddenly, the two came back in.
"On second thought," Tracy was saying, eyes shining, "perhaps we do need to figure out what's so special about these books."
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" asked Alica as her friend removed a thin specimen of a book from the cabinet. "What if that thing's got a curse on it?"
"Don't worry, I'll sweep-check it for Dark Magic using that manual I bought in Diagon Alley."
"YOU BOUGHT IT?" Alica sounded indignant, and her bangs bounced on her head. "I thought we were SAVING our money for Hogsmeade!"
"Couldn't resist," laughed Tracy apologetically, and walked out the door, book under her arm. Alica's eyes went around the room again. She paused for a second, blinking in the direction of Airelle's face-- then shook her head, and followed her friend, leaving Airelle and Snape in a very bad mood.
"Are they crazy?" the Potions Master growled when the echoes of the two girls' footsteps had withdrawn. "Taking Voldemort's books is suicide." He had purpled with rage. "I'll take so many points off--"
"To follow now is too suspicious. We'll get it from them later," Airelle assured, wanting to get outside. The ghastly thickness of the room was making her feel light-headed and claustrophobic at the same time. Snape sensed it, and muttered, "Yes, we'd better leave before our beloved Dumbledore shows up."
For once, Airelle didn't complain, and they left. But that did not stop her from wondering just what those books had being doing in the cabinet in the first place. Dumbledore would leave them there for a good reason, she thought. Hopefully.
Airelle had never been in her friend's private quarters before, and was anxious to see what sort of charms and hex wards he had put on the entrance to block unwanted visitors. Or visitors in general, since Airelle guessed not many people would go in there of their own free will.
They stood in front of the entrance, Airelle shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She had recognized the residue of at least three charms on the door-handle. If she was not mistaken, one of them included the Expelliarmus Spell, intended to throw the person backwards if he or she rattled the knob. Of course, how could Severus Snape not put his favourite spell on the door to his bedroom…
"Airelle?" Snape called from the far side of the room.
His friend turned around and pushed her headband back, which was sliding again. "Yes?"
"Come here a second."
She crossed her arms. "All right, if you plan to use me as another lab rat, I'm not going to--"
Snape raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!" Airelle was lifted off her feet like a rocket and smacked into a wall that her friend had, apparently, protected with a Cushion Charm for the occasion.
"Holy smokes!" she coughed, staggering up and grinning like she'd seen the biggest ice-cream cone in her life. "What was THAT?!"
Snape, looking very glad that she'd forgotten to yell at him, said, "It's a defense spell I've picked up from the books. Good for dueling and disarming."
Airelle's eyes gleamed with pure joy. "Very well then, we shall have a fair deal."
"What?"
"You teach me how to do that, and I won't kill you for using it on me."
Snape disarmed all the charms (there were twelve in total), and allowed his friend to enter the room first. She had expected a lavishly decorated chamber, with carved wall-figures, carpets, and the like…
It was a tiny little bedroom, equipped with the bare necessities-- a desk, a chair, a wardrobe, and a flat bed in the far corner. A single candle gleamed lonesomely on the desk, illuminating a stack of papers and a grimy shot-glass.
Airelle's shock was interrupted by the loud bang caused by Snape's shutting of the door. She turned toward the Potions Master, eyebrows suddenly furled.
His dark eyes bore into hers. "Disappointed?" he asked softly.
Airelle stared at him. Then at the little barren room. Then at him again.
"Of course not," she grinned. "I have not seen the whole thing yet. Best not to judge until you observe with your own eyes, after all. So, where's the real entrance?"
A smile flickered across his thin lips, and his eyes resumed their usual glitter. "You're good," he said slyly, but did not move an inch from his spot. Airelle, for her part, smiled widely back.
"No," she answered. "I just know your tastes too well. You cannot have changed that much since Graduation."
"That is frightening in itself," he replied. "Care to join me on the bed?"
However much she was unnerved by the question, Airelle did a good job in giving him a blank Auror-face. "Certainly."
He led her across the room, blowing out the candle as they passed the table. Thrown in complete darkness, Airelle felt odd. She still had not perfected her ability to see in the dark; Snape, she knew, could do it perfectly…
She heard his voice as they approached the bed. "Watch your foo—"
There was a thump. "Ouch!"
"Too late," mused Snape, guiding her as if she were blind, onto the covers. They were cold and uncomfortable; Airelle doubted that he'd ever used them.
Once certain that both were safely seated (with Airelle still rubbing the toe she'd bruised and fighting the urge to swear profusely as only an ex-Auror could), Snape asked, "So, what shall we do now?"
"I do not know," replied Airelle out of the darkness. "Although I must admit, this is the best opportunity to snog I've ever had."
Snape had lost his control, apparently, and emitted strange noises, as though he were trying hard not to laugh. "I am delighted you think that way," he choked, "but I'm afraid we did not extinguish the light for that purpose. Just watch."
"Believe me, I would, if I could see."
"Don't get smart," he chuckled sardonically. "It was a figurative statement."
Airelle did not reply as slowly, the wall behind them began to creak and rumble.
"Serpent wine," said Snape nonchalantly. The edge of the bed jumped sharply at the password, and the two toppled backwards into the gap that had opened between the stones.
The first words that came out of the Illusions professor's mouth when she had finally glanced up off the floor were: "Now this is more like it."
After careening down a dark dry tunnel for an agonizingly long thirty seconds, the sight before her was definitely worth it. A light green marble walkway, so clean it looked spit-shined, snaked through the low-ceilinged room and towards another, smaller door on the far side. The total space was about that of a good-sized backyard, around seventy-five by twenty feet. Other than the thin line of marble, the entire floor was covered with a meadow of hunter-green carpet, so thick a person's foot would sink in it up to the ankle. Magically lit torches illuminated silver-edged tapestries on the stone walls. Most depicted battles, and there was a giant one that had a winding serpent in coils, and sewn words: Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est—Knowledge Itself Is Power. It did not really fit the picture, but seeing that the serpent was often a symbol of wisdom, Airelle could guess where it came from. The aforementioned tapestry hung on the wall to their right, directly above a gigantic and dead fireplace, its edges supported by flying buttresses in the shapes of carved snakes. Typical.
"Incendio!" said Snape, brandishing his wand, and it roared to life, spewing forth spectacular bursts of flame, illuminating the room much better than the torches. Upon closer inspection, Airelle realized that the tips of each tongue of fire were speckled with a tinge of emerald green. Of course, what else could you expect from a Slytherin?
In front of the fireplace stood a single armchair, with a poker leaning against it… and beyond that… ah, the bed. Airelle had never seen anything even remotely like it. It was a four-poster, like hers, but how different! The wood was gleaming mahogany, (although somewhat charred with the years of use and existence next to a flame), and each of the four posts supporting the bed was engraved intricately with designs Airelle could not yet distinguish from where she stood. Heavy drapes, so green they looked almost black in the light, served as curtains and seemed to pile up in endless folds, held back with exquisite silver ropes that could be loosened to let the material down and around the bed. She could not see if anything was under it. All Airelle's eyes were able to get into view were several pillows in front of a dark headboard, and carefully placed green sheets. The light of the fireplace shone, danced, and reflected off them, and Airelle immediately guessed they were silk.
The left side of the room (from the marble path) was no less marvelous than the right. The walls there had fewer tapestries, but in the spaces between were hung various weapons, mostly old and rusty swords, crossed as it had been done in the old days of the knights. And the best thing of all was the instrument directly across from the fireplace—a Muggle instrument. It was a mini-organ, set right into the wall, complete with wind tubes, several rows of keys, and even a small rotating bench. It was nice to know even pure-blooded Slytherins appreciated Muggle work…
"Airelle, how long will it be until you close your mouth?" asked Snape, and there was amusement in his voice. "I am afraid you may start drooling inadvertently."
"Oh, right," she mumbled, grinning. "But you know," –and with this said, she stepped onto the marble walkway-- "you could always drop Potions and be an interior decorator. Because this--" She dropped her arms at her sides, unsure even where to take her next sentence. "This is…"
"Something no one but you, me, and Dumbledore have ever seen," finished Snape for her, motioning towards the fireplace and walking deeper into the room. His black robes seemed to swish in motion to the dance of the flame. He was really at home here, Airelle realized…
"You didn't just bring me here to help me with the Runespoor incident," she murmured, more to herself than to her friend. "You also invited me… into your home."
He turned around, and gave her an inscrutable look. "Perhaps," he said. "But it is only fair; you gave me invitation to your house so many times, and I never returned the favour."
Airelle did not know what to say to that, so she was silent, and shrugged. Snape looked at her for a while, then turned back in the direction of the bed.
"I remember making plans to have a room like this ever since I was young," he said. "My parents were rich, and would give me anything I wanted, but… I wished to earn these things myself. And I did." His arm swept in a gesture that circumvented most of the room. "This is all here because of my work. Splendid, isn't it?"
"Modest, aren't you?" laughed Airelle, walking down the marble path, her footsteps barely audible even with the silence in the room. "Gosh, someone's turning into Lockhart…"
"That is not funny," Snape growled, turning to her, but his eyes betrayed the smile that should have twisted his mouth upwards.
"I must say, though," said Airelle, shaking her head as if still making sure this was all real, "I just cannot believe… I knew your taste for the elegant was present, beneath your stark exterior… but I never thought it went this far. It's… magnificent."
"I do most of my thinking here, and most of my work upstairs," said Snape, obviously referring to the stacks of papers on the desk they'd seen earlier. "This is a different world, entirely. But I do keep some of my most dangerous and greatest potions in this room, which is why I brought you here to keep an eye on you. Now," he continued before Airelle could interrupt him with a question, "it is best we get started right away."
"As always, business first, Professor," grinned Airelle, crossing her arms and giving him an otherwise serious look.
Snape's smile was humorless this time, and he pointed towards the door on the other side of the room, slightly to the left of the bed. "While I check something, you must go and clean yourself before you drink anything I give you. I have added a potion to the bathwater that shall remove the traces of the Runespoor juice, which is now invisible to the human eye and very gummy, off you. You had some blood on yourself too, after you fell, so I suggest you clean it."
Airelle stared at him, as though she had not heard any part of the conversation but the word 'bathwater.'
"You… have a bath??"
Snape frowned. "Do you really think I'm THAT opposed to human hygiene?" he asked. "Now, get on with it."
And Airelle went on the marble path towards the little door alone.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Sorry if this is short… I promise the next one will be long. :) Don't you love Snape's bedroom? That's the type I'd love to have… (whispers) Snape included…wipes drool off keyboard
