"Breakfast is at 7:30. Lunch at 12:00, and Dinner at 6:00." Snape began.
"each meal is announced by a house...servant."
"Jawohl" Krista replied, looking around.
"I hope..." Snape began, knowing his choice of words would either spark an interest, or seem bland. "That you would remain out of the...basement. it is certainly not a place for a Princess."
he'd done it. the familiar spark of his daughters adventurous spirit burst into flame, dancing in her eyes.
"Vater, Mutti said there was something of great interest you wished to speak with me about?" Krista switched topics immediately. ~let him think I wont go to the basement~ she thought.
"we shall discuss it at dinner. Now; I believe you have some unpacking to do?"
Krista nodded, curtsied once more, then raced up the stairs to her room.
It was a huge room, bright and breathtaking with a fantastic view of the lake behind the manor. ~fit for a Princess~ she sighed, taking a seat on her bed.
Truth was, Krista hated being a Princess. it was that stupid title that forced Krista and her father to be so distant all these years. since she was a tiny child, she always dreamed of leaping into her fathers arms, cuddling up in her fathers embrace, and falling into a gentle comforted sleep. Instead, she was raised with the Proper etiquette of a German Princess.
Silently she unzipped her duffle bag and pulled out her famed backpack.
at the palace in Germany, they called it 'the divine backpack.' a small pack, more of a purse in size then a backpack; that had accompanied Krista on more adventures then she could count.
Silently she placed the pack on her back, then reached back into the suitcase.
the next thing to emerge, was her two guns, tucked safely in a gun belt with a huge square buckle. she clicked the belt around her waist, then reached back into the bag.
this time a pair of boots emerged, shiny, black parajumper boots with zip- up sides. she changed to them from the designer boots she'd been wearing, and dove back into the bag.
now a pair of half-fingered gloves appeared, and quickly took their places on her hands.
Finally with a flourish, she pulled her hair into a pony tail and looked into the mirror.
along with what she'd just added, she wore a blue belly shirt with long sleeves that flared at the end, deep blue flare jeans that laced up on the sides, a thick fabric banded watch, on her left wrist, and of course, the delicate necklace around her neck.
looking into the Mirror, she noticed how much she looked like the famous adventuress, Lara Croft.
~hell.~ she thought, looking in the mirror. ~i'm in Britain, why not?~
So with her best 'try it and die' facial expression, she drew both Pistols, and smirked at the Mirror.
"My name." she began, her voice dripping with a perfect British accent. "Is Croft. Lara Croft."
She suppressed a grin, and replaced the pistols. then she left the room silently.
~objective one~ she thought, walking down the halls, looking in each door. ~determine Fathers Location~ she checked each room silently, finally finding him in the library, pouring over a huge book. ~good~ She thought, sweeping off down the hall silently. ~keep reading...now. For that basement~
She found the door after a few minutes, and silently descended the dust covered steps, careful not the slip. the steps were made of stone narrow, and spiraling.
at the bottom of the steps, she heard a creaking sound from farther on. in a flash her guns were both in her hands, as if they'd magically appeared there.
Eyes scanning the area, she considered for a moment going back. but then the urge was squashed by the famous 'desire for truth'.
The basement turned into a giant maze, which suited Krista just fine, as she lived for adventure.
the deeper into the corridors she went, the darker the area became. it wasn't long before her left gun was switched for her purple pen-light.
She'd gone through about half of the dark corridors when she noticed a strange crack on a floor. kneeling down, she holstered the other gun and wiped the dust away. the crack soon turned into a 90degree angle, which turned into two attached 90 degree angles, then into a perfect square.
"Hm...a trapdoor, Herr Vatti?" she whispered, highly intrigued now. she pulled the trapdoor open and looked down. golden light shot up from the room, almost blinding her from the sharp contrast she'd been in.
she saw the floor seemed pretty safe below, and not a long drop, maybe 7 to 9 feet. she carefully jumped down and looked around the room.
the walls were of stone, but lined with wooden shelves. the shelves contained seemingly thousands of bottles, vials and flasks, containing all sorts of colorful liquids, powders, and things Krista couldn't identify.
she looked to the center of a room, where a large cauldron sat. several smaller cauldrons sat nearby.
a fire raged at one end in a small fireplace, and standing next to the fireplace, Her father?
"Five minutes from bedroom to here. Impressive. I figured you'd do some unpacking first." her father smirked, firelight dancing over him. "your reputation suggested you're quite the adventuress. but I didn't know you were this good."
"I have a strange desire to know the truth" she smiled, still looking around the room. "telling me not to go somewhere is like holding up a sign that says -WALK IN! COME ON! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!-" she paused for a moment. "and the reason for this room?"
"Chemistry" Snape waved his hand dismissivly. "you know I teach Chemistry."
"Ach...and the Cauldrons?"
"Frequently the chemicals are rather dangerous. the cauldrons are the strongest pot I could find, they don't melt....often."
"Ach so." Krista replied, narrowing her eyes in a way that showed she knew he wasn't telling her the whole truth.
then she saw a vial of a purple liquid. cautiously, she holstered a pistol and looked at the vial. "this looks like Sturz." she observed.
"I'm sorry, Sturz?" Snape asked, as Krista turned the vial over and gazed through it at the firelight.
"a concentrated Sleep-aid, Tranquilizer with wormwood root, causing immediate sleep, while in the stupor its a sort of truth elixir. it also causes a memory wipe, which allows the administrator of the elixir to, shall we say edit the memory for up to twenty minutes before the elixir was administered."
"actually, That's exactly what that is." Snape smirked. "only I call it downfall."
"which is what Sturz translates to." Krista retorted ,looking at the other liquids.
"Come." He suddenly ushered her towards the ladder from the room. "it must be nearly dinner. and you're still not unpacked."
Bewildered, Krista climbed the ladder and allowed Snape to pull her back to the main hall.
"now, Princess or not, go upstairs and unpack your things." he demanded, then swept from the hall.
Once upstairs, she stared amazed at the room. all of the suitcases were gone, and all of her clothing, books and whatever else, was arranged neatly in the room, although all of the drawers, cabinets and closets were open so she could see what was in each of them.
"Erm..." Krista mumbled, looking around the room. there was no way... she'd only been gone for ten minutes! for the amount of crap the servants had packed, she would've been here for at least three hours unpacking.
suddenly a squeak and a scratching sound came from a part of the room over by the grand window. Krista walked over to the window, drew her right hand pistol, and pulled back the curtain, eyes wide.
and screamed.
the creature, whatever it was, screamed too. it appeared to be female, with huge saucer eyes. the nose reminded Krista of A puppet, and it wore a pillowcase for clothing, the Snape family crest dead center.
Krista stopped screaming after the initial surprise. now her pistol was trained directly between the plate sized eyes. "what are you?" she demanded.
"I is a Dawn Mistress! Dawn is a House-elf!" she wailed, as freaked as Krista felt.
"what are you doing in my room?" Krista Pressed.
"Dawn is wanting to unpack the mistress's things! then Dawn is wanting to announce Dinner!"
"wait." Krista suddenly rose the gun sideways to show she was holding up her hand in the 'stop' motion. "so you're a...Servant?"
"Yes Mistress! Dawn has been serving Master Snape all of Dawns life! as Dawns mother did, and Dawns mothers mother, and Dawns mothers mothers mother!"
"okay. I get the point. are you the only...ah...house elf here?"
"No! of course not! the Snape Masters have many House elves! house elves to clean, and to cook...and some house elves just to clean up Master Snape's messes! Dawn has heard that Arkie is happy now that he has those two extra arms, Arkie says he is able to clean more!"
Krista stared at the elf, confused. "potions? you mean his chemicals?"
"Yes, the master makes many Potions! and you is his daughter! do you make potions as well also?"
"ahh, I suppose. I took chemistry in school." Krista shrugged.
suddenly the house-elf gasped, her huge eyes looking at a clock behind Krista. "OH NO! is past six! Mistress must get to dinner, or the Master will be mad at Dawn!" she pulled Krista towards the door, grabbing Krista by her pistol. "I'm coming." Krista yanked out of the elves grasp, not deciding weither or not she trusted this creature. she returned the pistol to it's holster but kept her hands over the guns, ready to draw them In case this elf decided to attack.
she followed the elf down to the dining hall, and looked at her father, who watched expectantly.
"what, was that all about?" Krista asked as the Elf scampered over to Snape. "and why do you have...elves in your house?"
"Is the master wanting anything of Dawn?" Dawn asked, huge eyes glowing in reverence to Snape.
"I assure you, they are quite tame." Snape replied, waving Dawn away. then suddenly he looked at dawn. "Wait. Dawn come here."
immediately the elf was back at his side. "If we are interrupted at any time this evening; I will see to it that the lot of you are put through the most painful curse imaginable." he Snarled. "make sure that all of your...friends understand this. I do not want to see ANYONE except my daughter."
"Yes Master! Dawn will informing other house-elves!" Dawn squeaked, then zipped out of the room.
"So. Now that you know I have elves living in my house, are you ready to hear the rest of it?" Snape began calmly. "Or would that be too much for one night?"
his natural talent of using words that bite Insulted Krista. as if she couldn't handle the truth?
"I can Handle anything you can throw at me." She smirked at her father.
"I don't know if you can handle everything I'm about to throw." Snape quickly retorted.
"If I can't. I'll tell you to stop." she stated plainly. "Now, until that moment, continue."
"Jawohl" Krista replied, looking around.
"I hope..." Snape began, knowing his choice of words would either spark an interest, or seem bland. "That you would remain out of the...basement. it is certainly not a place for a Princess."
he'd done it. the familiar spark of his daughters adventurous spirit burst into flame, dancing in her eyes.
"Vater, Mutti said there was something of great interest you wished to speak with me about?" Krista switched topics immediately. ~let him think I wont go to the basement~ she thought.
"we shall discuss it at dinner. Now; I believe you have some unpacking to do?"
Krista nodded, curtsied once more, then raced up the stairs to her room.
It was a huge room, bright and breathtaking with a fantastic view of the lake behind the manor. ~fit for a Princess~ she sighed, taking a seat on her bed.
Truth was, Krista hated being a Princess. it was that stupid title that forced Krista and her father to be so distant all these years. since she was a tiny child, she always dreamed of leaping into her fathers arms, cuddling up in her fathers embrace, and falling into a gentle comforted sleep. Instead, she was raised with the Proper etiquette of a German Princess.
Silently she unzipped her duffle bag and pulled out her famed backpack.
at the palace in Germany, they called it 'the divine backpack.' a small pack, more of a purse in size then a backpack; that had accompanied Krista on more adventures then she could count.
Silently she placed the pack on her back, then reached back into the suitcase.
the next thing to emerge, was her two guns, tucked safely in a gun belt with a huge square buckle. she clicked the belt around her waist, then reached back into the bag.
this time a pair of boots emerged, shiny, black parajumper boots with zip- up sides. she changed to them from the designer boots she'd been wearing, and dove back into the bag.
now a pair of half-fingered gloves appeared, and quickly took their places on her hands.
Finally with a flourish, she pulled her hair into a pony tail and looked into the mirror.
along with what she'd just added, she wore a blue belly shirt with long sleeves that flared at the end, deep blue flare jeans that laced up on the sides, a thick fabric banded watch, on her left wrist, and of course, the delicate necklace around her neck.
looking into the Mirror, she noticed how much she looked like the famous adventuress, Lara Croft.
~hell.~ she thought, looking in the mirror. ~i'm in Britain, why not?~
So with her best 'try it and die' facial expression, she drew both Pistols, and smirked at the Mirror.
"My name." she began, her voice dripping with a perfect British accent. "Is Croft. Lara Croft."
She suppressed a grin, and replaced the pistols. then she left the room silently.
~objective one~ she thought, walking down the halls, looking in each door. ~determine Fathers Location~ she checked each room silently, finally finding him in the library, pouring over a huge book. ~good~ She thought, sweeping off down the hall silently. ~keep reading...now. For that basement~
She found the door after a few minutes, and silently descended the dust covered steps, careful not the slip. the steps were made of stone narrow, and spiraling.
at the bottom of the steps, she heard a creaking sound from farther on. in a flash her guns were both in her hands, as if they'd magically appeared there.
Eyes scanning the area, she considered for a moment going back. but then the urge was squashed by the famous 'desire for truth'.
The basement turned into a giant maze, which suited Krista just fine, as she lived for adventure.
the deeper into the corridors she went, the darker the area became. it wasn't long before her left gun was switched for her purple pen-light.
She'd gone through about half of the dark corridors when she noticed a strange crack on a floor. kneeling down, she holstered the other gun and wiped the dust away. the crack soon turned into a 90degree angle, which turned into two attached 90 degree angles, then into a perfect square.
"Hm...a trapdoor, Herr Vatti?" she whispered, highly intrigued now. she pulled the trapdoor open and looked down. golden light shot up from the room, almost blinding her from the sharp contrast she'd been in.
she saw the floor seemed pretty safe below, and not a long drop, maybe 7 to 9 feet. she carefully jumped down and looked around the room.
the walls were of stone, but lined with wooden shelves. the shelves contained seemingly thousands of bottles, vials and flasks, containing all sorts of colorful liquids, powders, and things Krista couldn't identify.
she looked to the center of a room, where a large cauldron sat. several smaller cauldrons sat nearby.
a fire raged at one end in a small fireplace, and standing next to the fireplace, Her father?
"Five minutes from bedroom to here. Impressive. I figured you'd do some unpacking first." her father smirked, firelight dancing over him. "your reputation suggested you're quite the adventuress. but I didn't know you were this good."
"I have a strange desire to know the truth" she smiled, still looking around the room. "telling me not to go somewhere is like holding up a sign that says -WALK IN! COME ON! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!-" she paused for a moment. "and the reason for this room?"
"Chemistry" Snape waved his hand dismissivly. "you know I teach Chemistry."
"Ach...and the Cauldrons?"
"Frequently the chemicals are rather dangerous. the cauldrons are the strongest pot I could find, they don't melt....often."
"Ach so." Krista replied, narrowing her eyes in a way that showed she knew he wasn't telling her the whole truth.
then she saw a vial of a purple liquid. cautiously, she holstered a pistol and looked at the vial. "this looks like Sturz." she observed.
"I'm sorry, Sturz?" Snape asked, as Krista turned the vial over and gazed through it at the firelight.
"a concentrated Sleep-aid, Tranquilizer with wormwood root, causing immediate sleep, while in the stupor its a sort of truth elixir. it also causes a memory wipe, which allows the administrator of the elixir to, shall we say edit the memory for up to twenty minutes before the elixir was administered."
"actually, That's exactly what that is." Snape smirked. "only I call it downfall."
"which is what Sturz translates to." Krista retorted ,looking at the other liquids.
"Come." He suddenly ushered her towards the ladder from the room. "it must be nearly dinner. and you're still not unpacked."
Bewildered, Krista climbed the ladder and allowed Snape to pull her back to the main hall.
"now, Princess or not, go upstairs and unpack your things." he demanded, then swept from the hall.
Once upstairs, she stared amazed at the room. all of the suitcases were gone, and all of her clothing, books and whatever else, was arranged neatly in the room, although all of the drawers, cabinets and closets were open so she could see what was in each of them.
"Erm..." Krista mumbled, looking around the room. there was no way... she'd only been gone for ten minutes! for the amount of crap the servants had packed, she would've been here for at least three hours unpacking.
suddenly a squeak and a scratching sound came from a part of the room over by the grand window. Krista walked over to the window, drew her right hand pistol, and pulled back the curtain, eyes wide.
and screamed.
the creature, whatever it was, screamed too. it appeared to be female, with huge saucer eyes. the nose reminded Krista of A puppet, and it wore a pillowcase for clothing, the Snape family crest dead center.
Krista stopped screaming after the initial surprise. now her pistol was trained directly between the plate sized eyes. "what are you?" she demanded.
"I is a Dawn Mistress! Dawn is a House-elf!" she wailed, as freaked as Krista felt.
"what are you doing in my room?" Krista Pressed.
"Dawn is wanting to unpack the mistress's things! then Dawn is wanting to announce Dinner!"
"wait." Krista suddenly rose the gun sideways to show she was holding up her hand in the 'stop' motion. "so you're a...Servant?"
"Yes Mistress! Dawn has been serving Master Snape all of Dawns life! as Dawns mother did, and Dawns mothers mother, and Dawns mothers mothers mother!"
"okay. I get the point. are you the only...ah...house elf here?"
"No! of course not! the Snape Masters have many House elves! house elves to clean, and to cook...and some house elves just to clean up Master Snape's messes! Dawn has heard that Arkie is happy now that he has those two extra arms, Arkie says he is able to clean more!"
Krista stared at the elf, confused. "potions? you mean his chemicals?"
"Yes, the master makes many Potions! and you is his daughter! do you make potions as well also?"
"ahh, I suppose. I took chemistry in school." Krista shrugged.
suddenly the house-elf gasped, her huge eyes looking at a clock behind Krista. "OH NO! is past six! Mistress must get to dinner, or the Master will be mad at Dawn!" she pulled Krista towards the door, grabbing Krista by her pistol. "I'm coming." Krista yanked out of the elves grasp, not deciding weither or not she trusted this creature. she returned the pistol to it's holster but kept her hands over the guns, ready to draw them In case this elf decided to attack.
she followed the elf down to the dining hall, and looked at her father, who watched expectantly.
"what, was that all about?" Krista asked as the Elf scampered over to Snape. "and why do you have...elves in your house?"
"Is the master wanting anything of Dawn?" Dawn asked, huge eyes glowing in reverence to Snape.
"I assure you, they are quite tame." Snape replied, waving Dawn away. then suddenly he looked at dawn. "Wait. Dawn come here."
immediately the elf was back at his side. "If we are interrupted at any time this evening; I will see to it that the lot of you are put through the most painful curse imaginable." he Snarled. "make sure that all of your...friends understand this. I do not want to see ANYONE except my daughter."
"Yes Master! Dawn will informing other house-elves!" Dawn squeaked, then zipped out of the room.
"So. Now that you know I have elves living in my house, are you ready to hear the rest of it?" Snape began calmly. "Or would that be too much for one night?"
his natural talent of using words that bite Insulted Krista. as if she couldn't handle the truth?
"I can Handle anything you can throw at me." She smirked at her father.
"I don't know if you can handle everything I'm about to throw." Snape quickly retorted.
"If I can't. I'll tell you to stop." she stated plainly. "Now, until that moment, continue."