A/N: Oooookay...um, yeeeeah...this should be quite interesting. Potions are ruined, Snape gets pissed (what else would he do?), and...Just read already, I'm not going to tell you all of it! *rubs hands together gleefully*
Disclaimer: I suppose I really should put one in, huh? Obviously, what's mine is mine and what isn't, isn't. That includes Homer Simpson, too. lololol
Chapter 13: Potions and Propositions
Leena opened the letter casually while Hermione waited for a response. When she got none, she said impatiently, "Well? What is it?" Leena smiled mischievously and replied, "It's a letter," and went back to reading. The raven was flapping around the dresser, pulling various pieces of jewelry out of the safety box. Hermione went to go rescue what she could. Leena's brow furrowed as she went over the cryptic letter again.
As I said earlier, you can come to my quarters and ask questions or advice. If you are having trouble slipping away, let me know; I'll find a reason to give you detention. At that, Leena smirked, she could just imagine one of his reasons for punishments: breathing irregularly, looking suspicious, a potion just a shade to thick...I need to talk to you about a very important subject. It is most imperative that I speak to you as soon as possible. Whichever night you choose, don't make it any sooner than Friday.
She put the letter down, thinking. She thought he had covered all that he needed to, so what was this "very important subject"? Hermione glanced quickly at it. She couldn't read the spiky handwriting upside down. Without warning, it burst into harmless, blue flames that reduced the parchment to a small pile of white ash, surprising both girls. Leena muttered to herself, "Typical, I should have known..." and dug into her backpack for a spare bit of parchment and her quill. Hermione watched the raven fly over to her friend's shoulder docilely as she scribbled a response. Once attached to the letter, the raven flew out the window and was lost in the swirls of darkness easily. Hermione shook her head as if to clear it, too many odd things were happening to one person. She would sort it out eventually, but she needed to get sleep more. Leena watched the spot where she had last seen the raven disappear to for a moment then said, "D'you think we should tell the 'Prophets' that impending doom has passed yet? Or should we let them figure it out on their own?" Hermione snorted as she collected her toothbrush and pajamas. "They should be able to foresee that it's passed by now, don't you think?" she said jokingly. Leena raised an eyebrow and smirked again in that unnerving way. It was so familiar...why couldn't Hermione place it? She was usually so good with remembering faces. All confusing thoughts were pushed out of her head as she shuffled to the bathroom, stifling a yawn.
***
Transfiguration next morning put everyone in a fluster, even Hermione was having difficulties. "Why would anyone want to change breadsticks to kazoos is beyond me," Ron grumbled. "Cheer up, Lupin's class is next!" Harry said brightly. Lupin was at the door waiting for them as the filed into the room and took their seats. Lupin glanced around, then said, "Everyone's here. Good, I don't think you'd want to miss any classes for a while. Our topic of study this year is the Dark Arts." The class sniggered at his mistake, and he smiled tolerantly. "Isn't this the Defense Against the Dark Arts class...?" Leena whispered hesitantly between giggles. Lupin ignored it, then continued, "The Dark Arts that I'm talking about have to do with the night, not with the ones you are thinking of. Can anyone guess what kinds of magic I'm talking about?" Hermione's hand shot up while everyone else rolled their eyes. "Necromancy," she said promptly and Lupin nodded. "Necromancy is correct, we shall be talking about that and re-animation spells. Can anyone name how one might reanimate a dead person?" Again Hermione's hand waved around, but Lupin said, "How about giving somebody else a chance, Hermione? I'm sure they'd like a chance to answer a question or two..." and she put her hand down, looking disappointed. Leena glanced around, then put her hand up. Lupin looked mildly surprised, but called on her.
"Zombies can be brought to life, much like mummies, and vampires are a good example as well," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. Hermione looked at her in surprise. Lupin nodded, then elaborated on what she said for the rest of the lesson while they copied down notes. The bell rang for lunch and Lupin called after them, "Don't forget to read Chapter 13 in your books and summarize it for me!" as the Gryffindors went out the door, chattering. Ron dug his schedule out of his bag as soon as they were seated at the table and groaned. "Prepare thyself, Potions is next," he said, grimacing as he jabbed his fork into his macaroni pie. Harry and Hermione both groaned in unison and Leena looked perplexed. "Why should I prepare myself, what's wrong with Potions?" she asked confusedly. "You poor thing, I forgot! You haven't been through the last four years of it...You'll see soon enough, never fear," Ron said sympathetically. She raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of pumpkin juice.
***
The way down to the dungeons could best be described as walking to an execution, Leena found out. They found the Slytherins lined up outside of the door, waiting for Prof. Snape to let them in. Draco had his associates with him, as always, and the pug faced girl was hanging all over him. Draco looked somewhat less than amused by the latter. Looking around for an excuse to get her off, he saw Leena and jumped at the chance. "Leena! Hi!" he said enthusiastically, leaping towards her. Leena smiled back. The pug-girl put on a distasteful face and said in an annoying, whiny voice, "Draco, aren't you going to introduce me to your little friend? I don't believe we've met." Draco rolled his eyes and deadpanned, "Leena, this is Pansy Parkinson. Pansy, Leena Riddle." Leena smiled again, extending her hand, but Pansy dismissed it with a sniff. "Aren't you a Gryffindor?" she sniveled and Leena nodded, disliking her more and more by the moment. "Tuh," Pansy scoffed and turned her back, hissing to Draco, "I can't BELIEVE you just greeted a Gryffindor. You, of all people..." and she walked off to her gang of Slytherins. Draco rolled his eyes again as the door to the class room opened, Snape towering over them all.
Once they were all paired off and seated, Snape took the roll, glancing disdainfully over each student as they mumbled a response. Upon reaching Leena's name, he met her eyes and sneered. "Ah, yes, I was forgetting...we have a new student in here..." he said quietly, "Soon we shall see exactly how much, or should I say, how little, you actually might know." The Slytherins sniggered appreciatively and Leena frowned; this was not the person she knew. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at her with a mixture of pity and apprehension on their faces. The lesson wasn't bad while they took notes on belladonna and it's uses, but it went downhill from there. Luckily, she was paired up with Hermione for the time being; she didn't know what she would have done if she was paired otherwise.
Hermione went to the student supply cupboard to get the essence of belladonna, caterpillars, powdered seashell, and what not while Leena set up the cauldron. Hermione came back with an armload and whispered, "Let me show you what to do, Snape might liquefy you in two seconds flat..." Leena nodded, keen not to get into trouble on her second day. Neville was frantically slicing his caterpillars, hoping to get it over with the least amount of trouble. He was working with Blaise Zambini, whose look could have disintegrated stone. Harry and Ron were methodically taking turns with the paring knife, cutting the caterpillars and scoring the slugs by turns. Hermione separated the ingredients in the order that they were to be put in while Leena cut asphodel root in thin strips. Hermione picked up her knife to start on the caterpillars, but then stopped. How could she be using the knife if Leena was using it to cut the roots? Chancing a glance over, she saw Leena using an intricately ornate dagger, not a paring knife. Figuring it to be personal property of her partner's, she didn't question it. Snape however, did.
Standing over Neville for the sole purpose to make him shaky, he gazed over the room to make sure no fights were brewing with the potions. So far, so good...until he caught site of Leena with one of her daggers. Good Lord, what was she going to do? Silently, he swept over to her cauldron and peered right over her head. "And where might you have gotten that exquisite tool, Miss Riddle?" he said silkily. "Ouch!" she yelped as she slit her finger and crimson blood flowed. "Do you always sneak up on your students to surprise them into hurting themselves?" she snapped. Arching her eyebrows in a way that would have made Mina proud, "No wonder nobody likes you..." Hermione stared unbelievingly at Leena; how did she even dare to speak this way to him? "Be that as it may, only one knife per table and it should not be provided on the student's part. I do not allow weapons in my class. 5 points from Gryffindor," he growled, "Give it to me." Scowling, she handed it to him without a word. She watched as he stalked away to Harry and Ron's work table, sliding the dagger into his belt. Hermione took a look at Leena's finger, expecting to see blood still, but there wasn't any trace of anything at all. Odd, to say the least, as there were drops of blood splattered on the table. Still keeping an eye out for him, Leena pulled her other dagger out of her left sleeve and continued cutting the roots. Hermione shook her head, hiding a smile. Her partner was asking for it, she just knew it. "You're going to get us into sooo much trouble if you get caught!" she whispered. Leena just smiled a devilish grin and continued to cut.
Hermione added the ingredients to the cauldron, stirring occasionally. Neville was going to pieces. Everyone else's potion was a nice warm orange colour, but he and Blaise were having trouble to keep it even one colour consistently. Blue, green, chartreuse, magenta, indigo, red, mud, baby pink, violet, and grey swirled around in chunks of gunk that refused to dissolve. Snape's face was oddly twitching as they frantically tried to correct the damage. Moving onward, he saw Draco and Pansy and decided to see what they were up to. Murmuring his compliments, he shifted his glance around the room again and saw Leena with another dagger. What on...oh yes, that's right: she had two, one for each arm..."Miss Riddle, I specifically told you no weapons in my class! Now hand that one over and-" **BLORK** Snape whipped around, yelling, "What the HELL is going on in here?!?" Carefully, Leena slid her dagger out of his sash and out of sight, just as he strode over to Neville's table. Both of them were sprouting mould over every visible part of the skin and the desk was collapsing into a pile of wood dust and fungus.
***
Later at dinner, the Gryffindor fifth years were somewhat subdued as they anxiously awaited news on Neville. Snape had been absolutely livid. As Hermione had said, "I didn't think he could get possibly anymore vindictive, but..." and everyone within earshot had agreed wholeheartedly. Dumbledore was keeping further away from Snape than he usually was, they noted with interest. Snape was viciously stabbing his food, teeth bared as he looked at it. 'Stupid...stupid....blundering, idiotic, pig-headed FOOL! NITWIT! IMBECILE! Moron, clumsy, no-good walking disaster!!!!!!!' he thought with every thrust at his mutilated food. "Severus..." Dumbledore began warningly. Snape looked up at him indignantly, pushing his fork through the sludge that he made. "Able a potions master that you might be, I honestly don't see that particular concoction that you've made there on your plate as being useful to anyone. Or anything, for that matter. So either eat it or go away from the table, it isn't particularly appetizing to look at." Snape scoffed, "You are sending me away from the table? Like...Like an eight-year-old???" Dumbledore calmly took a sip from his goblet, then replied, "Since you insist on acting like one, what do you expect?" Snape paused, grimace firmly in place. "That was below the belt, Albus," he snapped coldly and stalked away from the table in a flurry of black robes. Dumbledore sighed.
Snape paced the dungeons, not caring where he ended up. How could anyone be so...so...incompetent?!?!? Students on their way back to the common room edged cautiously around him, acting like he had a bomb strapped to him. Without warning, he turned around and punched the stone wall, scattering students like chicken feed. Massaging his knuckles and muttering to the wall itself for making his hand hurt, he didn't notice a slight shadow behind a suit of armor. Laughing coldly, she cut him off mid-gripe. "It's your own fault, you know, that you hurt your precious hand," Mina said, coming out of the darkness. "If you have a point, feel free to come to it, Mina, because I'm really not in the mood for being chastised by a 14 year old girl..." he snarled irritably. "15, get it right," she smirked, "I just thought you'd like to know that you are in the Ravenclaw section of the school; you left the dungeon area about ten minutes ago. "Fascinating, remind me to send you a card and flowers for my rescue," Snape growled. Raising an eyebrow, she said, "Are you always this charming? Or am I just lucky tonight?" Turning away from the wall to glare at her, he said agitatedly, "Put it this way, forewarned is forearmed: Believe me when I say this, I get much worse..."
"Ah," she said after a while, "I'll leave you to your thoughts, then." And she walked away into the dark hallways. "Women..." he muttered, "always being nosy..." He turned sharply on his heel and stalked back to his chamber.
***
Breakfast the next day was taken with a restrained air. Everyone was dying to know what had happened to Neville. Hermione's juice was almost knocked over as a large owl delivered a letter and a newspaper to her. "It's from Viktor!" she announced, blushing furiously. Ron rolled his eyes and Harry gave him a warning look, then asked, "So how was your trip to Bulgaria? I forgot to ask you." After reading her letter quickly, she answered with high colour in her cheeks, "Oh it was wonderful! His parents are so nice! But quiet, though, they really didn't speak that much. Oh well, I guess they don't like to talk that much. It was a bit boring after awhile to talk about almost nothing else but Quidditch..." Ron was deliberately chewing his bacon louder and louder to drown her out. "Oh, stop it!" Hermione said, unable to take it any longer and she smacked him on the back of his neck. "I hope you choke!" she finished while Ron bugged his eyes out, struggling to swallow as Leena and Harry laughed. "Who's Viktor, anyway?" Leena asked before they could do anything else. "Hesmibyfwend," Hermione said softly and turned her attention to the Daily Prophet. "Wha...? Sorry, didn't catch that, Ron was choking too loud!!!" and Leena gave him a death-glare. "I think she meant that he was her boyfriend," Harry chuckled. Ron's face clashed horribly with his hair. "Jealous, aren't we?" Leena said tauntingly. "Get stuffed," Ron muttered as both he and Hermione scrunched down in their chairs, bright red foreheads just barely visible. "No thanks, I'd rather not," Leena quipped. This time, she was on the receiving end of the death-glare.
***
Neville was released Friday morning, with a grubby tint to his skin still. Blaise was still covered in fuzz, he reported sheepishly. "Just be glad it's not a Potions day," Harry said optimistically. Neville mumbled an answer and shuffled off. Ron chuckled, "Poor bloke...It's gotta be tough, eh? To have as many accidents as he does." Hermione responded by burying her head in another enormous volume about ancient runes. Leena grinned into her porridge.
***
At nine o'clock at night, Snape made his round of the dungeons, making sure everything was locked tight. Nothing was out of place, and he moved on to the Slytherin common rooms. "Heir Apparent" and the wall slid apart, allowing him access into the room bathed in green light. He was met with a raucous party. "Third years and lower in their dormitories. NOW." He snapped irately, crossing his arms menacingly. Quickly, the younger students dispersed to get ready for bed and Snape turned slowly to face the older students. Each and every face regarded him with caution, as he stared coldly into each person's eyes. "If I hear you through the hallways and walls again this year, I will be most displeased and won't hesitate to punish you. All of you," he whispered dangerously. He swept imperiously out of the dungeons and back up to his chambers, sighing. Last year, the only way he managed to get them to control themselves was by saying that the Gryffindors and Slytherins were too hard to tell apart now; both Houses were so loud. That shut them up rather quickly and kept them that way until the end of the year party.
He stopped outside his door, rubbing his temples tiredly. If this was the end of the first week and he was already this tired, how was he going to cope with the rest of the year? He pushed open the door and took some bread out of his pocket to give to Loki, who was busy dismantling the newspaper. Snape didn't realize that his door to his bedroom was slightly ajar until he lifted the latch and nothing happened. Full of suspicion, he pulled out his wand and proceeded with caution. He was caught off-guard anyway when the knife embedded itself neatly in the door jam, 3 inches away from his ear. "Oops...sorry, da...thought it was someone else..." Leena trailed, looking amused but sheepish. Snape just blinked and pulled the dagger out, examining it. "I wondered what happened to it since I took it away from-Did you just call me da?!? Dad, I can understand, but 'da'? What kind of a name is that?" he snapped. Chuckling, Leena replied, "Would you rather I called you 'daddy-waddy-boom-boom-pop-pops'? Because it's not a problem to change it." It was all Snape could do to resist throwing the knife right back at her.
"You came at a good time. I've been informed by one of my superiors that we will be sent on missions together throughout the school year. Some of them will take place during the full moon, but that presents a slight problem. Some will be easy to accomplish, others will take time and perseverance. It's all to be part of your training," Snape said, settling himself on his bed comfortably while Leena plunked herself on the floor. " From my other father, I suppose...Oh yeah! I forgot, I had some questions to ask you: What happens if you're a werewolf?" Snape sneered, but avoided the question. The set up was too perfect to miss. "Ask your precious Defense professor about it. Isis[1] knows that he's had enough experience with it..." Leena gave him a quizzical look, but nothing more. "Just so you know, I'm trying to work on another form for being an Animagus. Should be interesting to see what occurs," she said, "And speaking of Isis, I might come down here to study History sometimes; we're working on Ancient Egyptian magicians and deities."
"I remember them; the Druids, Celts, Egyptians and their history was my minor at University; Potions were obviously my major."
"So if I need help on either subject, I can just pick your brain? Neat!"
"Don't think you're getting off that easily, I expect good grades in return for the favor."
"umm...we'll see about the grade aspect..."
"Then forget picking my brain."
"D'oh!"
"Huh?"
"It's a Homer Simpson quote."
"A what?"
"It's a Muggle thing, da..."
***
"Professor, can I talk to you?" Leena asked the following DADA class. "Sure, what about?" Lupin said distractedly, shuffling papers about on top of his desk. "I meant later tonight; it's sort of personal..." At those hesitant words, Lupin's ears automatically sharpened. He stopped rifling through his papers and looked up to see his student chewing her lower lip uncertainly. "I have time now, if you want..." he said gently. Leena tossed a worried glance over her shoulder towards the door, debating whether or not to talk now, and Lupin caught a glance at her sharp profile; it was ridiculously familiar. Something about the hawk-like nose or something...He was dragged back into reality by a gasp as she pressed an ashen finger to her lip: it was bleeding in two spots. Lupin did a double take as he saw the slightly noticeable fangs and wondered why he didn't see them before. Leena took her finger away from her lip and it healed instantaneously, without any scarring. Lupin stared disbelieving. Harry stuck his head inside the door and said, "Leena, you coming? Lunch isn't going to wait forever!" She nodded, then said, "Uh, that's ok Professor, I have to eat something or I'll drop from exhaustion. Later tonight I'll come, alright?" And she left before Lupin could reply.
"So what was that all about?" Harry asked once they all settled down for mutton soup and biscuits. "Just a bit of a problem with the homework, nothing more," Leena said off-handedly. Hermione finished buttering her biscuit and remarked, "You know, Leena, I do believe you are speaking more distinctly than before...Just wait, I'll bet that if you ever go back to America, your friends will say that you have an accent." "Peachy-keen, wouldn't you say? Jolly good!" Leena said brightly, in an overly-obvious accent and her friends smiled.
***
From the High Table, Lupin watched as Leena and her friends laughed as they ate. Picking at his food, he was perplexed. What did she need to talk about, why was it so important to keep it a secret, how did her lip heal that fast, and why did it, while we're on the subject... He continued in that train of thought for quite sometime until he heard Severus scoffing at him for something or other. "Earth to Lupin! Go teach, lunch is over," he heard Severus say as if from far away. "Hmm," he agreed absentmindedly and got up from the table. "Oh, for heaven's sake, man, where's your brain?" Severus snapped as he pulled Remus' napkin from around his neck. "Right-o, Severus..." and Lupin left a very confused Snape behind.
The rest of the day flew by in a daze as Lupin pondered what could possibly be the matter with Leena so that she wouldn't ask her mentor? Then he remembered exactly who her mentor was and then he wasn't surprised at all that she would search for another's advice. Still though, she seemed to bring out the best in Severus (that'd he'd seen, anyway) and the doubts began to creep back in. He looked out a window on one of second floor corridors and saw the Gryffindor Quidditch Team practicing hard. Fred and George Weasley had been named Co-captains and were putting on a strong front this year. Ron had managed to make the Team as Keeper and was thrilled. Lupin had shared Harry, Ron, and Hermione's happiness when they had found out the results from try-outs. The dusk had set the sky aflame with bold colours and he let the light wash over him, forgetting his vexations for the glorious moment. Sighing, he looked at his pocket watch and decided to head towards his classroom to wait.
She didn't show up for an hour and a half, so Lupin went to his chambers. Either she forgot, or had gotten cold feet, or had actually gone to ask Severus after all. Just as well, as he was tired. He closed the doors with a soft click and went into the washroom to change up for bed. Emerging clad in pajama pants and nothing else, he retrieved a well-worn book from his desk and rummaged around for his reading glasses. From the corner, he heard a soft whispering of cloth and a slight cough. Turning his head slightly, Lupin saw a dark shadow that had not been there before and dropped the book with a **THUNK** "Jesus, Severus, you nearly gave me a heart attack! Haven't you heard of knocking?!?" he exclaimed angrily. A female voice with an American accent floated across the room as the shadow moved into the light. "Severus? Now I've heard everything," Leena said playfully, arms folded comfortably. "Leena..." Lupin began, heart thumping wildly, "Don't do that. Please!" Leena laughed good naturedly. "You startled me," he finished. "I seem to have that effect on people," Leena agreed and she eyed Lupin with a cool stare. He felt like a bug under a microscope. "Forgive me for not wearing anything more suitable, but you didn't exactly give me a time when you'd stop by and I figured since you didn't show up, I'd go to bed," he said, more to break the awkward silence more than anything. "What did you want to ask me about?" and he pulled out a chair for her to sit in. She ignored it.
"Lycanthropy..." she whispered, ashamedly, averting her eyes.
***
By the time they had finished their talk, the torches in the hallway brackets were reduced to glowing embers for the night. Now Lupin knew a bit more about Leena and her relationship with Severus. In return, she knew more about her "unfortunate condition" and about the Wolfsbane Potion she would be expected to take. He returned her to Gryffindor Tower and then went storming down to the dungeons, torches throwing flickering shadows weirdly across the passages. Without bothering to knock, he barged in the potion master's chambers with a resounding **BANG** as the door hit the stone wall. "I figured I might be seeing you sometime in the near future..." a cold voice drawled from behind the chair and Lupin heard a small **thwack**. Amber eyes blazing, he marched over to where Severus was sitting in his version of pj's (pajama pants and an undershirt), feet up on the edge of the desk, elbows resting on the knees, playing darts. "Oh, please, you're starting to sound like Sybill..." Lupin began irritably. **thwack** "Is that so," came the haughty response. "That little stunt you pulled was somewhat less than amusing, Severus. (**thwack**) You did it on purpose, didn't you?!" Lupin was close to shouting now. **thwack** "I'll have you know **thwack** that I sent her in your direction **thwack** because you're the bloody Defense professor and you **thwack** dear boy, should teach the Dark Arts and its animals, not I." Snape punctuated his last phrase with a particularly vigorous throw, landing the dart right in the middle of..."Oh, Severus, how childish...," Lupin said, following the dart's path, but couldn't contain his smile. The picture of Harry from Rita Skeeter's article was tacked up right over the dart board's bull's-eye, Harry's face one big 'oh' of surprise, emerald eyes blinking astonishedly.
Lupin shook his head; how like Severus to act like that. "Was there ever a doubt in your mind, Lupin? I was debating whether or not to use a picture of your little 'Marauders' group..." Snape said with a hiss, pulling the darts out of the board and back to the desk with his wand. The last dart wasn't a dart at all, but a dagger. "Severus, I want to discuss Leena with you."
"Because why?"
"Because I'm worried about your daughter, that's why"
Snape's black eyes immediately got an icy edge to them. "My what?" he spat, standing up to his full height to face him. Lupin raised his chin defiantly, glaring up at the taller man with the same intensity. "You heard me," he said quietly, "I figured it out. Leena's your daughter; she looks like you and acts like you too much not to be. There are some bits I don't understand, though...like how Mina is blonde and shorter than the both of you?" Severus stared down his nose, ice meeting fire. "'Tis no concern of yours. And it shall remain so," he replied poisonously. Remus still glared at him, trying to make the most of his 5'11" height. "Pleasant dreams, Severus, I'll see you in the morning," he said in clipped tones. The door closed much more softly this time as Severus watched him go.
[1] I can't help it, I love ancient Egypt!
A/N: Well, Lupin's in it more than I expected....I tell you, the characters have a life of their own! *grins* Not like that's a bad thing, but boy is he inquisitive lately. I like him like that, though. And I put my boys in their jammies, how cute!!! Lolol Next chapter, we'll see how Leena reacted to it and for those of you who want more of Mina, I'll see what I can do; she's not terribly important at the moment. Cheers!