Here's chapter 1, sorry it took a while to come out. Life happens.
Thanks to Jen for being such a great beta!!!
Please read and review, my email is KSparks321@aol.com
Chapter 1
The next three weeks moved painfully slow. Right after receiving the letter from Lucius, Severus headed for Professor Dumbledore's office to inform him of the recent events. Not surprisingly, it seemed Professor Dumbledore already knew there would be a get-together and hinted in his always annoying way that he knew exactly what was going on. Still, the meeting took two hours and they drank tea while Severus told Dumbledore of his suspicions of a large-scale attack coming. Dumbledore just nodded his head, stared at his cup, and said, "I know, I know." Trying to get around the old man's way of giving half-answers, Severus got right to the point and asked how Dumbledore knew all of this. His only reply was "Do you think you're the only person I have on the inside?" With that as the last comment, the meeting ended.
'That man is beyond frustrating sometimes,' Severus thought as he headed back to his office. 'What he has up his sleeve is such a mystery. How did he know there was to be a "celebration" at the Malfoy's? He has someone else on the inside, but who? I have not seen anything at the meetings that would give me any indication that someone else is spying too. On the contrary, at the Dark Revels I always seem to be the only reluctant one in attendance, which I explain as an unwillingness to get dirty.'
Severus was left with his thoughts and got no more answers over the next weeks. The current situation bothered him so much that he had all of his stores organized and stocked for the upcoming year and was starting to work on refining his lesson plans by the week of the party. Professor McGonagall knocking on his classroom door interrupted his obsessive streak. The sound of the knock broke him out of his reverie and he replied with a quick "What!"
"Well honestly, Professor Snape, I would think that after all these years you would have something at least halfway decent to say to a colleague," McGonagall stated regally as she strolled up to his desk.
"You are mistaken, Professor. I have nothing to say to you or anyone else at this time. Thank you and good day," Severus said curtly as he looked back down at the notes he was making.
"Oh you insufferable man! Here I am coming down here with news and you have the nerve to be that rude to me! I should just leave now and let you think about it," she said as she started to turn back toward the door.
"No, stop right there. Just tell me right now and it will save both you and I the time of having another…conversation later," Severus stuttered out, absolutely desperate to find out what Minerva knew.
"Well alright. I'm not usually one for gossip, but this just seems so promising that I had to find out what was going on. I just came back from the Diagon Alley branch of Florish and Blotts where I was looking for a fascinating ancient text dealing with animagi and the phases of the moon. I'd been looking for it for years now and just received an owl yesterday from the manager telling me they had a copy on reserve for me."
"Get on with it, Minerva, you are babbling," Severus warned with disgust.
"Oh, right then," she said, straightening out her thoughts. "So, as I was paying for the book, I overheard a couple of old busybodies talking about a young lady they had seen earlier that day. It seems this woman was dressed all in black. But these older ladies were talking about the style of the dress, not really the color. They said that her robes were very revealing, and everyone avoided her on the street because this young woman looked like a dark witch. They also talked about her accent and how it was definitely English. She appeared to be about 21 years of age with long, wavy, brown hair and brown eyes. The worker at the apothecary said she came in and knew exactly what she wanted and had an attitude. When he asked where she wanted her purchase sent, she replied that she did not have an address and would take her purchase right now. The ingredients she bought are very powerful, Severus. The old busybodies only knew a partial list, but they told me she bought dragon's blood, mandrakes, bezoars, and powered unicorn horn. I'm worried. Who is this girl? She had to have been a Hogwarts student, but we keep track of everyone. No girl would be bold enough to go right into Diagon Alley and buy such things!"
"Minerva, relax before you have kittens. Even if this girl is English, she may not have gone to Hogwarts, there are other wizarding schools, you know. And who is to say she was buying the ingredients for dark purposes. Most ingredients have multiple purposes. I, for one, think you are making a huge fuss over nothing. So unless you hear something more concrete, I will bid you good day," Severus said as he rose from his chair and went into his private rooms, leaving Professor McGonagall standing in the same place with an angry expression on her face.
Despite his demeanor toward McGonagall, this information really did bother him. The mystery girl had to be making something dark. Those ingredients put together were very powerful, but try as he might, Severus could not think of a potion that consisted of all of them together. He sat frustrated at his desk.
He brooded over Voldemort's plans. Something new was being developed and Severus did not like it. He knew of no one who could research and make a potion out of the named ingredients. He did not understand why he had not been the one called on to make the potion for he had never let the Dark Lord down in that fashion before. He knew all of the Potions Masters in England, and most of Europe and there were no young girls. The youngest was currently 75 years old. The only hope for Severus to get answers now would be the Malfoy's party. At least the party was coming soon and the information would be current. With this, Severus got up and headed to the Great Hall for dinner.
'Only four more days…'
Please read and review, my email is KSparks321@aol.com
Chapter 1
The next three weeks moved painfully slow. Right after receiving the letter from Lucius, Severus headed for Professor Dumbledore's office to inform him of the recent events. Not surprisingly, it seemed Professor Dumbledore already knew there would be a get-together and hinted in his always annoying way that he knew exactly what was going on. Still, the meeting took two hours and they drank tea while Severus told Dumbledore of his suspicions of a large-scale attack coming. Dumbledore just nodded his head, stared at his cup, and said, "I know, I know." Trying to get around the old man's way of giving half-answers, Severus got right to the point and asked how Dumbledore knew all of this. His only reply was "Do you think you're the only person I have on the inside?" With that as the last comment, the meeting ended.
'That man is beyond frustrating sometimes,' Severus thought as he headed back to his office. 'What he has up his sleeve is such a mystery. How did he know there was to be a "celebration" at the Malfoy's? He has someone else on the inside, but who? I have not seen anything at the meetings that would give me any indication that someone else is spying too. On the contrary, at the Dark Revels I always seem to be the only reluctant one in attendance, which I explain as an unwillingness to get dirty.'
Severus was left with his thoughts and got no more answers over the next weeks. The current situation bothered him so much that he had all of his stores organized and stocked for the upcoming year and was starting to work on refining his lesson plans by the week of the party. Professor McGonagall knocking on his classroom door interrupted his obsessive streak. The sound of the knock broke him out of his reverie and he replied with a quick "What!"
"Well honestly, Professor Snape, I would think that after all these years you would have something at least halfway decent to say to a colleague," McGonagall stated regally as she strolled up to his desk.
"You are mistaken, Professor. I have nothing to say to you or anyone else at this time. Thank you and good day," Severus said curtly as he looked back down at the notes he was making.
"Oh you insufferable man! Here I am coming down here with news and you have the nerve to be that rude to me! I should just leave now and let you think about it," she said as she started to turn back toward the door.
"No, stop right there. Just tell me right now and it will save both you and I the time of having another…conversation later," Severus stuttered out, absolutely desperate to find out what Minerva knew.
"Well alright. I'm not usually one for gossip, but this just seems so promising that I had to find out what was going on. I just came back from the Diagon Alley branch of Florish and Blotts where I was looking for a fascinating ancient text dealing with animagi and the phases of the moon. I'd been looking for it for years now and just received an owl yesterday from the manager telling me they had a copy on reserve for me."
"Get on with it, Minerva, you are babbling," Severus warned with disgust.
"Oh, right then," she said, straightening out her thoughts. "So, as I was paying for the book, I overheard a couple of old busybodies talking about a young lady they had seen earlier that day. It seems this woman was dressed all in black. But these older ladies were talking about the style of the dress, not really the color. They said that her robes were very revealing, and everyone avoided her on the street because this young woman looked like a dark witch. They also talked about her accent and how it was definitely English. She appeared to be about 21 years of age with long, wavy, brown hair and brown eyes. The worker at the apothecary said she came in and knew exactly what she wanted and had an attitude. When he asked where she wanted her purchase sent, she replied that she did not have an address and would take her purchase right now. The ingredients she bought are very powerful, Severus. The old busybodies only knew a partial list, but they told me she bought dragon's blood, mandrakes, bezoars, and powered unicorn horn. I'm worried. Who is this girl? She had to have been a Hogwarts student, but we keep track of everyone. No girl would be bold enough to go right into Diagon Alley and buy such things!"
"Minerva, relax before you have kittens. Even if this girl is English, she may not have gone to Hogwarts, there are other wizarding schools, you know. And who is to say she was buying the ingredients for dark purposes. Most ingredients have multiple purposes. I, for one, think you are making a huge fuss over nothing. So unless you hear something more concrete, I will bid you good day," Severus said as he rose from his chair and went into his private rooms, leaving Professor McGonagall standing in the same place with an angry expression on her face.
Despite his demeanor toward McGonagall, this information really did bother him. The mystery girl had to be making something dark. Those ingredients put together were very powerful, but try as he might, Severus could not think of a potion that consisted of all of them together. He sat frustrated at his desk.
He brooded over Voldemort's plans. Something new was being developed and Severus did not like it. He knew of no one who could research and make a potion out of the named ingredients. He did not understand why he had not been the one called on to make the potion for he had never let the Dark Lord down in that fashion before. He knew all of the Potions Masters in England, and most of Europe and there were no young girls. The youngest was currently 75 years old. The only hope for Severus to get answers now would be the Malfoy's party. At least the party was coming soon and the information would be current. With this, Severus got up and headed to the Great Hall for dinner.
'Only four more days…'