It wasn't until many hours later that Em was finally forced to go to bed. Myron had been endlessly fascinated by her stories and she had told him as many as he could stand to listen before he had fallen asleep in his chair. Rebekah, Gabriel, and Thomas had also been in the audience, as well as a few other students who'd come in and not been properly introduced. Sabin listened, too, trying to hide his interest by pretending to work out chess plays. One by one they had dropped off to bed until only Myron remained. Then Em began to tell him the story of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, just because it was one of her favorites. It was shortly after the introduction of Captain Nemo that he fell asleep, at which point Em had tiptoed upstairs and climbed into her cot, sleeping deeply.
Morning had never been one of Em's favorite times, and it was no different when she awoke to a rough pushing. "Get up, get up!" a very frustrated Professor Snape was saying. Em finally sat up, bleary-eyed and yawning.
"Ohh, is it morning?"
"Yes, it's well past breakfast!" Snape said exasperatedly. Doubtless he had been called when the Slytherin girls had been unable to wake Em up. She had half a recollection of such an event.
"Just a minute," Em said, turning back to her pillow.
"You've said that twice now! Get up!"
"Fine, fine, I'm coming. Where's my Kashi and milk? Ack! I need pants! Socks!" Em scrambled about on the floor. "Where are my glasses? I can't see a thing!"
Snape said nothing, scooping to retrieve the gold-and-glass eyewear from the floor and handing it to the girl. She put them on, blinked a few times, and then seemed to realize where she was.
"Ugh, I don't have any clean clothes."
"Here." Snape grabbed a pile of clothing from a nearby bed and held it out. Em accepted the clothes and began to examine them.
"Hrm, I s'pose this'll do. I'll need to get some of my own shirts. Why are you standing in here? I need to get dressed."
"How can I be sure you won't go back to bed?" he snarled.
Em squinted. "Fine." She quickly lifted off the shirt she'd been wearing, revealing her ample bosom and bra. Snape was suddenly forced out of his element and beat a hasty retreat while Em finished changing her shirt and pants. Em slipped her boots back on and pulled on the traditional black Hogwarts robes with Slytherin adornments, joining Snape in the stairwell. The irate potions professor said nothing more, merely led the way to his classroom.
Snape's class was already assembled and Em realized just how late it must be and how big an inconvenience she'd been to Professor Snape. She flushed red.
Snape pointed to a vacant seat. "Sit," he commanded, and began his lesson.
Em remained quiet for the duration of the lesson, ignoring any stares from the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. Thank goodness neither Harry nor Myron were present. Apparently this was a first-year class. Snape was incredibly cruel to them, doubtless crueler than usual because he had lost face thanks to his "guest." The students were very relieved when class finally ended, but Em could feel her stomach tighten into a knot. Angry Snape was not a good Snape.
After the last of the first years had left, Snape approached Emperial. She looked up, nervous and fearful, and was surprised to find that somehow Snape didn't look as angry as she'd expected.
"What am I going to do with you?" he asked. Em looked down sheepishly. "You are far more trouble than you're worth. I trust there will be no more morning fiascos? Though I suspect it was the evening's events and not the morning's that caused Mr. Massey to be late for breakfast. Not only have you embarrassed yourself, you have embarrassed me and my House."
Oh, great, she had made Myron late. "I'm sorry," Em said.
"'Sorry' is not good enough."
"I promise it won't happen again."
A pause, then Snape sighed. "I suspect you have little control in the matter of your sleeping habits. I suggest you come up with a solution which does not rely upon your own willpower to succeed. Do you require a sleeping aid of some sort?"
"I could use an alarm clock."
"An alarm clock. Come along, then. I don't have a class at the moment, so we shall be making an excursion to town."
Em could barely contain her excitement as she obediently followed Professor Snape. The ensuing conversation was restricted to warning of half-hidden steps and other hallway dangers lurking about Hogwarts. Snape took them out the back way into town so no one would see them.
The town was one of the most marvelous places Em had ever seen, second only to Hogwarts and the grandeur and splendor of her precious Kancho's galaxies. Em wanted to linger in front of every window and stare at the tiny moving trinkets there for hours. Somehow Snape maintained what little control he had and dragged her into a wizards' clock shop.
Tick, tock, ding, dong, bleep, bloop, chkchkchk, whoosh, and ever other noise imaginable came from the various timepieces. Some showed more than merely the time, with complex moving diagrams of planets, stars, and the moon. Others had lunar and solar month and day listed, as well as weekday (one clock featured the addition of "Morkday" to the calendar, though Morkday's position seemed to change every time Em looked at it) and little magic enchantments that reminded you of things you needed to get done. Snape selected the plainest (and loudest) he could find and brought it up to the register.
"Um," said Em, finally tearing her gaze away from a clock with a dozen small hourglasses on it. "Only one?"
"What, one isn't enough?"
"Two, to be on the safe side. What if one breaks, or I need a second wake-up call?"
Snape glowered, muttering about how such clocks never break, they simply malfunction and go awry, but scooped up a second clock anyway.
"Ah, a most fine choice," the clerk said. "One of our most popular clocks! Well-used at Hogwarts I'd dare say."
"Yepyep! That's where we're from!" beamed Em before a patented Severus Snape glare silenced her. He paid the cost and dragged her back out into the street.
"Thank you so much, Professor. I really appreciate it!"
"I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for my House."
"Ooh, go figure," she pouted. "Can't do a bloody thing for anyone else out of kindness, no." It was doubtful if he heard her; her tone had dropped to the level where none but she could hear.
They walked a bit in silence, more uneasy than grateful. Em finally piped up again.
"It's a nice day, isn't it?"
"Hrmph."
"Look at those birds, and those trees, and that gorgeous old topless woman dancing-"
"Where!?" he demanded.
"Sorry, just making sure you could hear me. It really is a nice day though, isn't it? The kind that make you wish you could sit outside all day and just watch the world go by without a care, without a worry, without a fear, without anything. Just you sitting by yourself with the trees and the wind and the insects and the birds."
He seemed to be particularly cross after the morning's antics. "Why would anyone want to do that?"
"Oh, you should try it, it's lovely. Here, come sit here a moment with me."
"We need to get back to Hogwarts."
"How much time do we have? This'll only take two minutes." She grabbed his arm and tugged lightly, just enough to be insistent.
"I said no!" he yelled. He jerked his arm free.
"Severus, wait!"
"I told you not to call me that!"
"Seh-Professor, just sit down a minute, will you? Besides, I'm tired. Two minutes won't kill you!"
"And how do you know!"
She stared at him with an almost blank expression. "That has got to be the stupidest question, and you know it. I'm sitting. Are you going to leave me out here where anyone and anything can get at me?"
This threat resulted in a glare and a low, guttural growl from Snape. Taking that as a failure to offer any real objection, she turned, walked seven long paces to the nearest tree, and sat herself down at its base.
It took Snape about twenty seconds before he stormed off towards Hogwarts.
As she watched him leave, Em couldn't help but to feel a little sad. The feeling welled up inside her until it felt like she might burst. Alone in a strange and unfamiliar place where magic truly existed and dangerous creatures lurked in the woods. Hopefully not along this particular stretch of trees, but Em knew from the books that such hope was most likely misplaced. She brought her knees up to her chin. The day seemed suddenly much colder now that she had no one to spend it with.
Suddenly, the cry of a bird made Em very nervous. She glanced about anxiously and squinted at the trees and bushes in the area. Was that movement? It certainly wasn't Snape. He had disappeared in the other direction. Em craned her neck around, but there was no sign of him. Whywhywhywhywhy did I do that? How stupid can I be? All I'm going to do is drive Snape away, just like I drove Doug away, and Kancho won't be here to fix it all this time.
A different voice: But what else could I do?
It's either now or never with me. All extremes.
But why?
Her inner turmoil was cut short by another avian scream. Just like that, she was on her feet and off running, more tears on her face, no sense of direction, just heading away.
She found herself in a section of the woods that looked almost exactly like the one she had just left. All the woodland areas looked the same. There were no raucous birds, though, so she sat back down against a tree and resumed her fear-mingled moping.
Severus Snape stormed. He fumed, he spit, he glared, he glowered, he sneered, he growled, he muttered, and he sulked. Damn that insufferable girl.
His students must have thought him mad (not that they didn't already, but this time more insane than angry) when he pounded into the classroom ten minutes late, threw down a stack of papers, pointed at a trustworthy Slytherin, barked, "Pass these out," and promptly flew back out again in a flurry of robes. Never mind what they thought. (They didn't matter, or so he told himself. It was a necessary lie, because if he ever admitted that their opinions did matter, he might be able to achieve some form of happiness, and he must never allow himself to do that, because--)
Snape stopped outside of Hogwarts just long enough to give the building a longing and despising glance. His home. He turned away from it in a disgusted flurry of robes and took off in the woods towards the last place where he had seen Em. It was a bit of a walk, but nothing overly exhausting, even at Snape's brisk pace. Of course, once he got there, Em was nowhere in sight, so he fumed a bit more by himself before noticing a large black bird watching his every move.
To anyone else, a large black bird acting as guardian might be considered a mere curiosity, but suddenly Snape found his heart racing. "Shoo!" he cried at the bird, waving his arm in a scarecrow impression. The bird did not respond. That only magnified Snape's fear: it might be a spy for Voldemort, an Animagus-something dangerous foreshadowing his untimely and grisly demise. How long had the bird been there? Had it been following him all day? It was too intelligent to be a mere bird with its unwavering gaze, it had to be something special. Voldemort (or one of his many followers) could harass Snape here outside of Hogwarts, and nobody would be able to do a thing, Dumbledore in particular. Dumbledore was practically the only thing keeping him alive! Snape desperately tried to remember an Animagus who could turn into a crow or a raven or even some avian creature but his panicked mind refused to cooperate. And what if this were merely a magically-generated bird, some form of spell? Or a creature enchanted to be the eyes for a concealed wizard? Snape backed up two steps, stumbled on a branch, then turned and ran.
On cue, the bird took off in pursuit.
Snape ran, the bird flew. He cried out in fear, it said nothing. The chase meandered through the woods at an agonizing pace as the Hogwarts professor wove his way through bushes and low branches in search of a place of safety. Overhead, the bird's flight showed none of the slow, stumbling incompetence of the man below. The bird had only to shift its wings a touch and it soared over the treetops and obstacles, never allowing Snape to leave its sight.
"Get away! Leave me alone!"
Snape tripped, hard, on an upturned root and slammed into the ground. He could suddenly taste blood in his mouth. His hands stung with the impact of his fall. Quickly rolling over, he watched as the bird swooped down onto a nearby branch and continued its silent guardianship.
"What do you want?" he gasped at it, winded. "I-I haven't done-anything-"
Finally, the bird moved without following, swooping to another nearby branch and cocking its head. It seemed to want Snape to follow. The bird waited for a moment more before diving away into the trees and disappearing.
Snape wearily brushed at the dirt and twigs on his robes. What time was it? Time for class, of course. He should be back at Hogwarts teaching, not sitting in the woods terrified of a bird, not looking for some dumb girl, not bleeding and breathless and beaten.
Slowly, he became aware of singing nearby. The words were too faint to make out, but he could tell it was a girl. Great. Either it was the idiot girl he was looking for or some other girl about to rip his eyes out and gorge on his heart. He thought he might prefer the latter.
The singing suddenly stopped, replaced by some spoken words. It sounded like half a conversation. The voice began to approach. Snape let himself relax into the dirt and stared upwards. If he was going to die, let it be gazing upwards and not at the earth.
"… I sure hope you know where you're going," the voice said. It was Em.
"Damn," Snape muttered under his breath, but made no move to rise. Maybe she would be heading past him and simply fail to see him. He thought himself fairly well hidden in the moss and branches and bushes.
"Tuusk, tuusk, vraltinbral tusnanik. Selprindar'en visk talik?" Em was now saying. She was definitely heading straight for him. Within moments she had pushed past the concealing bushes and let out a cry of recognition. "Professor! What in the gods' names happened to you?" she cried as she ran forward. A dark shadow fluttered overhead as the black bird returned to its earlier perch, Em's visage mere moments behind it. "You look like you fell out of a tree! Are you alright?"
He waited a long time before replying. "Bloody fucking wonderful." Even as he said the pejoratives he knew how wrong they sounded coming from his mouth. He figured he probably did it to drive the girl away, which was reason enough. She didn't seem to even notice.
"Hang on a sec, can you sit up?"
"Yes," he growled, sitting up immediately and regretting it. He winced slightly.
"Tell me where it hurts, I'll make it better."
"Don't touch me. We're going back to Hogwarts. Now."
"But-"
"Do what I tell you to. You've done enough by yourself today." He sounded dead serious about it, too, so Em did not argue and moved back to give him room to get up.
Snape struggled to his feet, trying to conceal any physical discomfort he might be in, and promptly fell back down again with a yell. Em jumped forward and half-caught him, preventing another mouthful of dirt but aggravating his sore ribs. He pushed her away and quickly lay back down.
"Now will you let me try?" she asked.
"No. Now I'm going to do what I should have done earlier and call Dumbledore. You stay where you are." He drove a hand into his robes and returned with his wand held tightly. With a wave and small incantation a miniature view of Dumbledore's office appeared in midair. The Headmaster looked up. "Severus? Where have you been?"
"I'm in the woods outside of Hogwarts. The girl is with me. Send Madame Pomfrey."
"Severus!" Dumbledore started.
Snape closed his eyes and waved his wand again, cutting the conversation short. He would explain himself to Dumbledore later.
For about five minutes, neither Em nor Snape made any significant movements. Then Em began to sing softly.
"Aerlivous jrikralno kresn
Sernekat tremalno kresn
Silzevon ne pralno vicet
Justreval kemeto sinet
"Haerlevan sepralnaki tet
Zustrekan tremalno striket
Temedos tamalnen tozgar
Vesekanar tuner priket
"Aerlivous jrikralno kresn
Sernekat tremalno kresn
Silzevon ne pralno vicet
Justreval kemeto sinet oh
"Krolze vralnen telgeldanen
Prizelgek nolzelne kalnen
Frin dretask promal tuvalel
Setemak djru velseprannl
"Selnelviturkonn, pral dzetalnek
Diise pral nekan, delnatizek
Se prutzelnfal, krebitur
Tren krimegral, krebitur
Selneproizefet,
Telnar zitur.
"Visi bannen pralle dus
Sekrenn drustal neden kuvous
Se pralne kose tilde vat
Sekrussi pes emaldekat
"Vitepalne seprevis
Sukrelnepan du kralhebis
Trsukibat
Trokilbat
Telnebesofann
"Evalmisukonn sallprelltiinaan
Teprek dalne han stounn kamenen
Nain tosavet ebritur
Sen kolvalet temitur
"Salne krubehal
Tozan melep…
Her song came to a sweet, wistful close. In truth, she was not the greatest of singers, her range being somewhat limited, but the words rolled off her tongue in such a pleasant, rhythmic, lyrical fashion is was hard to criticize her. Not hard for Snape, of course, but at the moment he didn't feel like trying. He didn't want to listen to her sing, but he wanted even less to give her an excuse to engage him in conversation. So long as she was singing, she was not talking directly to him.
Overhead, the sky was clear and blue, which made for a nice day but a boring view. Again, Snape did not want to be stuck there watching nothing, but the alternative was moving, which might very well requires Em's help, and he didn't feel like moving. Better just to sit as he was. At least the pain in his ankle has subsided into a dull throbbing and his ribs ached slightly less as time passed. Em started singing again.
"Win dain a lotica
En vai tu ri
Si lo ta
Fin dain a loluca
En dragu a sei lein
Vi faaru les shtai am
En rigalint.
"Win chent a lotica
En vai tu ri
Si lo ta
Fin dain a loluca
Si katigra neuver
Floreria for chesti
Si entina.
This song seemed to suit her singing range even less. Snape grimaced. Better to stop her now. He gave a harrumph for her attention.
"Yes, Professor?"
"Would you mind…"
"Hm?" she said hopefully.
"… Not making so much noise?"
"Oh. Of course." A moment. Then: "FLEW IN FROM MIAMI BEACH BOAC, DIDN'T GET TO BED LAST NIGHT! ON THE WAY THE PAPER BAG WAS ON MY KNEE, MAN I HAD A DREADFUL FLIGHT! I'M BACK IN THE USSR! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW LUCKY YOU ARE, BOY! BACK IN THE USSR!"
"EM!!!!"
"Oh the Ukraine girls really knock me out, they leave the West behind! And Moscow girls make me sing and shout! That Georgia's always on MY-MY-MY-MY-MY-MY-MY MIND!"
"If you're going to sing it, at least sing it right!" he shouted.
She stopped. "What??"
He recited in a fast and angry monotone, "It goes: On the way the paper bag was on my knee, man I had a dreadful flight. I'm back in the U.S.S.R., You don't know how lucky you are boy, back in the U.S.S.R. Been away so long I hardly knew the place, gee it's good to be back home, leave it till tomorrow to unpack my case, honey disconnect the phone." It was hard to recite without allowing the least bit of whimsy to slip in, but Snape managed to do so beautifully.
Em's mouth dropped open. Snape could just make out her expression from the corner of his eye if he turned his face a bit. It was both satisfying and disconcerting. "What?" he demanded.
"You know the Beatles?"
"Obviously better than you do."
She purpled. "I didn't have any time to prepare!"
"Either don't sing or sing it right," he repeated, looking straight up once again. A few moments later he heard movement and turned back to see Em rising to her feet an approaching. "What do you think you're doing?"
She plopped down on the ground next to him with her legs crossed and pulled back her sleeve. "Try not to move. This may sting a bit." Before Snape could object, she held her bare hands out in the air over his body and began to chant under her breath. Her brow furrowed with effort.
Slightly, ever so slightly, her hands began to glow. First her palms, then her fingers, finally her fingertips. Snape felt a stinging warmth spread over his chest and gave a gasp of mingled surprise and pain. It did sting, but within bearable limits. The whole affair lasted about thirty seconds before Em stopped her chanting and dropped her arms to her side. The pain in Snape's ribs had deadened and was barely noticeable now. There was a tingling sensation in his hands so he brought them up to his face and saw that the most minor of the scratched there had mended, and the larger cuts were visibly smaller. The skin was still new and tender.
"Well," Em chirped, "I suppose that was better than nothing."
"You…" he said, more awed than accusing. He meant to add "I thought you were a Muggle," but never quite managed.
"Yes, me," she agreed. "A little bit of healing Etoh taught me, a gift from the goddess Marfa. I wasn't sure if it'd work--this isn't Lodoss by a long shot--but it seems to have worked just fine. A little bit better than usual, in fact. Normally I can't get cuts to knit that much, but I guess the already magical nature of this dimension… It usually just lessens pain."
Snape absorbed that, scrutinizing his hands. Then he said plainly, "I sprained my ankle."
"Sorry, that's a little beyond my skill. I'm really the most basic of healers. Etoh's far more skilled than I am."
From the trees, the black bird cawed. Snape had forgotten it was still there.
"What's that, Corvus?" said Em, turning to look at the bird. She waited as if listening. "He says Madame Pomfrey's coming," she informed Snape, then ordered, "Go bring her to us, Corvus. Circle her twice and then fly back." The bird cawed once more and took off for the skies.
"That bird-is yours!?"
"Well, yes, I think so. All black birds are in a way. That one has an old soul, a soul I'm familiar with. He's my Corvy, my most beloved friend, and he's always with me when I need him. Even here! Amazing, huh? In my home dimension, he was a computer, but he passed away and now exists as a bird. I think it's a crow. Ravens have yellow beaks, don't they?"
"I wouldn't know."
"Well, in any event, you can trust Corvus. He's a good bird and a loyal friend. Oh, look, here comes Madame Pomfrey…"
The large, normally jovial nurse came into view. She was riding on her broom and accompanied by Dumbledore and McGonagall on their respective brooms. Corvus was sitting on the headmaster's shoulder.
"Must everyone see me like this?" Snape grumbled under his breath. Em patted his shoulder reassuringly.
"Hi guys. Good afternoon, Headmaster Dumbledore."
"And you are?" asked McGonagall.
"This is Severus's relative I was telling you about," said Dumbledore.
"Emperial Teal Atreides-Piett, or Em Atreipie for short."
"And speaking of Severus," Madame Pomfrey jumped in, "what have you done to yourself, professor?"
"It was--"
"It was my fault, I'm afraid," Em said quickly. Snape just as quickly cut her off.
"It was her bird," he clarified. "It was following us."
"A bird," repeated McGonagall.
"Quite an amazing creature, that," said Dumbledore, smiling at the crow.
"Yes, well, I thought so, too, and in the course of our fleeing I tripped." Snape screwed up his face in distaste.
"And I healed Severus!" Em announced.
Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "Oh, dear, not well enough." It was both a condemnation and a consolation for Em. She busied herself with her supplies and spells and quickly had Snape back in his original condition. (Snape's robes, on the other hand, remained grisled and dirty from the adventure.)
McGonagall looked on with some amusement. "What I would like to know is why you were running from a bird," she said.
"Death-Eaters!" offered Em enthusiastically.
"Animagi!" answered Snape at precisely the same time. Both exchanged horrified looks. "Death-Eaters!?"
"Well, if it's Voldemort's forces, they would be Death-Eaters!"
"Perhaps there is something you should know about Professor Snape's past," Dumbledore began.
"You mean how he was a Death-Eater? Yeah, I know that already. But he's not any more, so they could be after him."
"Shh!" chided Snape. "You don't know who might be listening!"
"Well, maybe I don't but I'm sure Corvus does. He would have told me if anything were wrong. Don't worry, Professor, I promised I'd look after you and I have!"
Snape couldn't quite recall when she had promised that, but it had probably been last night when she had been babbling and he'd tuned most of her words out.
Seemingly from nowhere she sang, "Tal meneskuul domari, sun vraltibaler. Soulmann voltisku talmarin, tep vomalenu salpeder," and grinned. Corvus let out a shrill cry. "Yeah, that's right, Corvy!" she giggled. McGonagall looked more skeptical than ever.
"All set," Madame Pomfrey said. At long last Snape stood. Em rose with him.
"I'm hungry," Em said.
If Severus Snape weren't so purposefully antisocial, he would have agreed.
Back at Hogwarts, Em had a marvelous time regaling her adventures that day to Myron and the Slytherins she had managed to befriend. She even sat with the Griffyndors and told it again at dinner, plus plenty of embellishment including heroics by Snape. Few could believe her wild tale, and with good reason. Who would believe that Professor Snape would stand bravely in front of a herd of menacing crows to protect someone, even a family member?
When all was said and done, only one other person did believe her outside of the Hufflepuffs, and that was Harry. He knew most of her tale was blown completely out of proportion, of course, but after dinner they had a nice chat in an unused classroom where nobody could hear.
"Okay, so maybe it was only one bird, but that doesn't mean Snape was any less a hero. He did come back to save me," Em was saying. "He's really not such a bad man."
"I know," said Harry. "You might not believe this, but Snape saved me once."
"I'd believe it, Harry. I even half remember the occasion. Ah, it was that Quidditch game, wasn't it?"
Harry looked at her inquiringly. "Were you there?"
"Yes, ah, no-In spirit. I was there in spirit."
Harry didn't know quite what to make of that, but he did not inquire further.
"He was chanting a counterspell to Quirrel's curse and Hermione lit his robes on fire," Em recalled. "Not the greatest charitable act, but everyone has to start somewhere."
"Right," Harry agreed, somewhat distant. "In any event, I have to get back to my studies."
"Sure thing, Harry. Oh, and--Harry?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you. For talking with me and not judging Snape too harshly."
Harry couldn't help but to smile. "My pleasure."
"You do know that's part of the reason he despises you, right?"
The statement caught Harry off-guard. "What?"
"You talked to me, now I'll tell a little something to you. You're so kind. You're nice. You're friendly. Just the kind of great person I'm sure your parents would have wanted - no, the kind they do want you to be. And that makes Snape mad. Because he'd rather be you than himself. Y'see?"
"Yes," Harry sighed, "I see. I won't give up, though. I'm sure if there's good in him it'll surface once he realizes I'm not anything special."
"You'd be undoing years of conditioning to the contrary. Isn't that special?"
"Perhaps, but it's a kind of special anyone can be."
"And how about the way you've stood against Voldemort, something Snape could never do?"
Harry had no adequate answer. "Ron and Hermione-"
"But in the end, it was always you and him. You are something special, Harry. Someone with enough good in them to maybe make others special, too."
Harry grinned. "That works," he said. "I think I can live with that kind of special. But that didn't start with me. I got it from my parents."
"Didn't they both go to school with Snape?" Em said coyly.
"Yes," said Harry, not quite knowing where she was going with this.
"Well, then, you're continuing their work. Maybe not your father's work-we all know of the rivalry between him and Snape-but I think maybe your mother's work. I can't be sure, it's just a hunch."
"No, I think you may be right. And wrong, too. Snape and my dad may have been rivals, but I think my dad was doing the same thing in his own way. Like how school chums have a reunion later in life and laugh about all the pranks they pulled on one another."
"Good point. Hm. I've kept you too long."
"Don't worry about it. Hermione will get me up to speed on anything I've missed." He turned to leave, then turned back. "You've said a bit much, so I think it's only fair that I say something more."
"Oh?"
"I think you've got that kind of special, too."
Em's cheeks flushed at the compliment. "Between the two of us, one's bound to succeed."
"Right, then. Have a good evening."
"You, too, Harry." The door closed behind Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, and left Em sitting alone in the quiet room, contemplating it all. She sincerely hoped both she and Harry were right.
Harry hadn't gone far when he ran into Dumbledore. "Ah, hello, Harry," beamed the headmaster. Harry smiled in return. "You haven't by any chance seen Miss Emperial, now have you?"
"Em? She's in that classroom there, sir." He pointed towards the door he had just come through.
"Thank you very much."
"My pleasure, Headmaster." They walked past one another towards their respective destinations. Dumbledore paused at the door, listening for any commotion and going over what he had to say. The room was beyond quiet. He knocked, heard a welcoming sound, and entered.
Em was sitting at the table looking surprised to have been discovered here. She seemed to be just leaving. "No, no, sit down," Dumbledore gently instructed her. "Harry told me you were in here. I though we might have a chat."
"This isn't one of those optional kinds of chats, is it?"
"I'm afraid it is not."
Em sighed. "Well, okay then. I'm obviously not doing anything else." She sat back down in her chair.
Dumbledore whisked another chair from nearby and positioned it opposite her. "Where to begin," he sighed, sounding very old in that moment. Em fidgeted. "I suppose I should being with a few rules. One, you are not to leave the Hogwarts campus for any reason without myself present. Two, you are not to threaten the students for any reason or to engage in combat with them. Three, you must go to bed when the others do, and four, if I hear of any more disruptions, you shall be sent elsewhere. Do you understand?" She started to object, but Dumbledore raised his finger. "Those are the terms under which you may remain at Hogwarts."
"Yes, Headmaster, sir," she said.
"And then there is the matter of what we shall do with you during the day. You certainly cannot remain in Professor Snape's classroom all day. It disrupts his classes. I'm afraid I don't have a solution to that problem. In the past, visitors have gone to normal classes, but since you're not a wizard…"
"What about Muggle Studies? I could help out with that. I may not be from this dimension exactly, but your Muggle world and my world are very similar. I could be an assistant to that professor."
"Yes, perhaps that might give you something to do! We shall go ask in the morning. For now, though, I suggest you get some sleep."
The Muggle Studies professor turned out not to be open to the idea of an assistant, but relented under mild pressure from both Em and Dumbledore and slightly sharper pressure from Snape, who was eager to be rid of the nuisance the girl represented. Em started her job as assistant that very afternoon.
It instantly became obvious why the Muggle Studies professor didn't want an assistant. Em had heard that Muggle Studies was fraught with inaccuracies, but she had no idea to what extent. After a day of classes during which Em had spent every chance she could correcting the professor (much to the horror of the students, many of whom were raised in Muggle homes and knew better themselves but didn't dare try such theatrics), said professor returned Em to Dumbledore and stated, "Either I stay and the girl never sets foot in my classroom again or I leave."
Dumbledore was most apologetic and Em did her best to mimic him. After the professor had left, Em looked shyly at Dumbledore.
"I hope this doesn't count as a disturbance…"
"My dear, I haven't the slightest idea what you were thinking when you upset the Muggle Studies classes, but I would be most interested in finding out."
"Well, er, it's just that everything was so wrong."
"Oh?"
"Yes! Analyses of our nonmagic culture by 'non-Muggles' makes no sense. Haven't the formerly Muggle wizards ever tried to correct this?"
"Occasionally, Miss Atreipie, occasionally. A good deal of them are too polite to correct a society which has in essence adopted them, and wizards from Muggle families have not always enjoyed a high place in society."
Em wrinkled her nose distastefully. "That's stupid."
"A good many things we all do are stupid." He gave her a pointed look.
"True," she agreed, averting her gaze with admittedly comic guilt.
Professor Snape chose that moment to make his entrance, slinking in quietly as opposed to his normal flourish of robes and slamming doors.
"Ah, Severus, we have been expecting you."
"Good evening, Professor," Em said, trying to sound as obedient as possible. Not good enough, for when Snape whirled on her she very quickly found out his quiet entrance had merely been an attempt to control his anger.
"Miss Atreipie," he hissed. "What have you done now?"
Em shrank back in her chair.
"In all fairness, Severus, the young lady was merely attempting to correct generations of prejudice against those of Muggle descent," Dumbledore intervened. "A bit presumptuous, we have both agreed, so now let us set that aside. I fear your classroom may be the only place we can keep Miss Atreipie out of trouble."
Snape stiffened. "What about Defense of the Dark Arts?"
"I should think not," said Dumbledore wisely. Some of his wisdom seemed to have rubbed off on Em, because for once in her life she kept her mouth blissfully shut.
"Remus would enjoy her company." Meaning: he might (and it would surely be a burden to put on the teacher who has the position I want), but I don't.
"Yes, Miss Atreipie is quite charming, but the subject matter of his courses might encourage more mischief, I'm afraid." Meaning: I know what you're up to.
Snape was clearly not believing Dumbledore's feeble excuses, but the underlying order was there: you brought her here, so she is your problem. Snape could have argued that he had not brought her here, but the mere fact that her presence was inextricably tied to his was damning enough.
"Very well then," he conceded. "She will sit in my classroom."
"I should hope she does something more besides merely sit. We have the girl's feelings to take into consideration." The headmaster waved his hand in Em's direction. She was still cowering in her chair and trying to avoid Snape's ire.
"Then I shall come up with something for her to do."
"Excellent. I am pleased that we see eye to eye on this, Severus. Is this arrangement agreeable to you, Emperial?"
Both Hogwarts faculty members looked at Em who, having been calmly addressed for the first time since Snape's entrance, shrunk into her ball a little bit more and nodded quickly. "Uh huh," she squeaked. The adults felt suddenly relieved.
"Well, then, it's arranged," beamed Dumbledore cheerily. "I shall see you both at breakfast. Goodnight!"
"Goodnight, Headmaster," agreed Emperial.
Snape took the opportunity to look cross. "Come along, girl." She jumped out of her chair and followed him out of the office.
"Well, that went well," she said once they were clear.
Snape grimaced. "There will be no further talking," he instructed, making it clear that she was not home free yet. The rest of their walk went quietly. Snape deposited Em in front of Slytherin with only the password and a terse wish for her uneventful sleeping and then marched on alone before she could return the farewell.
Em stepped into the Slytherin Common Room and was relieved to see at least two welcoming faces. Myron and Corvus.
"The others have all gone to bed, it's best you did the same," Myron said, cheerful but tired. Em suddenly wondered how he had ended up in Slytherin with such a clearly Hufflepuff disposition.
"Okay." She held out her arm and Corvus flew to her obediently, perching as if he had always been there and were merely an extension of her arm. Myron smiled.
"That's a very nice bird you have there."
"Thank you. His name is Corvus."
Feeling guilty for having made Myron stay up to greet her, she went directly to bed.