The Mirror of Erised
Chapter Thirteen
By Jewel Little Bird
Snape and Filch were sitting in the latter's office playing, ironically, Scrabble. Filch was winning with 218 points. Snape had 15.
"'Zoomancy'," Filch said, putting down his letters. "Let me see, that's a double letter scor for the M, a triple word score thanks to the Z, and a 50 point bonus for using all my letters, which means I have... 80 points."
Snape looked murderous. "'Zoomancy' isn't a word!"
"It is. If you want, however, you can challenge it."
"I will," Snape growled, picking up Filch's copy of the Unabridged Webster's Dictionary (it was somewhere between seven and eight inches thick). Within thirty seconds, Filch's score had become 298 and Snape had lost yet another turn.
Filch reached into the cloth bag for another seven letters. "Any idea why Dumbledore told us to keep an eye on the whore?"
Snape didn't need to ask who "the whore" was. Filch obviously liked Fleur enough to give her a nickname (his nickname for Snape was "killer"). "Nope." Snape thought for a minute. "Shouldn't we be doing that?"
"Don't worry. I told Mrs. Norris to ignore Hagrid and to watch Fleur like a hawk. She'll come running to us if there's a problem." He examined the letters in his hand. "Ooh, we ARE lucky today...."
"Out of curiosity, you haven't happened to memorize the dictionary, have you?"
"Reading the dictionary is an excellent cure for my insomnia." Filch put down six of his letters. One was a blank. "'Qadi'. Let me see, that's...." He paused.
There was an urgent scratching noise at the door. The two looked at each other, jumped up, and ran to the door, yanking it open.
Mrs. Norris meowed imperatively, and then took off like a shot. Snape and Filch followed her at a dead run. The cat led them through a maze of halls and hidden corridors, finally reaching the seventh floor on the south side of the castle. She dashed through an open door. Snape and Filch skidded to a halt.
Fleur was standing on the edge of the window, completely expressionless. "Do you zink," she asked quietly as the two men stared at her in shock, "zat I would black out before I 'it ze ground?" She bent her knees, preparing to jump.
"WE'RE NOT ABOUT TO LET YOU FIND OUT!!!" Filch shouted as they sprinted forward and hauled her back into the room. She didn't resist. "Dumbledore has a hard enough time finding Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. We don't need you you make it worse!"
She looked from one to the other then burst into tears.
Uncomfortable, they led her back to her room. Snape, who had been walking around with a set of emergency potions ever since Dumbledore told him to watch Fleur, forced her to drink the Draught of Dreamless Sleep, then, with the help of Filch, bundled her into the blankets.
They walked in silence to Filch's office, leaving Mrs. Norris to stand guard over Fleur. Once inside, Filch sat in deep thought while Snape paced, the game forgotten.
"Why would she want to jump?" Snape snapped, unnerved by the silence.
Filch gave him a look. "Isn't it obvious? We've had to keep an eye on her ever since that Death Eater attack in Muggle London the day after Christmas. Her family must've been there and...." His voice trailed off.
Snape whirled on him. "That's no reason to go and end her life!"
"Nor is it a reason to die when a woman who didn't even know you existed is murdered," Filch replied quietly.
"I never - !"
"Really?" He reached into one of the drawers and pulled out an old rope that had been tied into a noose. The noose part looked as if it had been sawed through quickly. "Remember this? I do."
Snape's mouth snapped shut.
"It was a damn good thing I found you when I did, too, otherwise you really would've terrified the kids the next morning. Probably would've given them nightmares." Filch put the rope back.
Snape's eyes narrowed. "I still don't understand why you did it."
"It was only fair, right? You wouldn't let me poison myself, so why should I have let you hang?"
"Why do you keep the rope?"
"Why do you keep the poison bottle?"
Snape sighed then finally sat down. For a few minutes, there was complete silence. He looked down at the game board, then at Filch. "'Qadi' isn't a word."
"Want to challenge it?"
The game continued with Filch at a round 320 and Snape still at 15, the later having lost another turn once again.
@
End of Chapter Thirteen
Snape and Filch were sitting in the latter's office playing, ironically, Scrabble. Filch was winning with 218 points. Snape had 15.
"'Zoomancy'," Filch said, putting down his letters. "Let me see, that's a double letter scor for the M, a triple word score thanks to the Z, and a 50 point bonus for using all my letters, which means I have... 80 points."
Snape looked murderous. "'Zoomancy' isn't a word!"
"It is. If you want, however, you can challenge it."
"I will," Snape growled, picking up Filch's copy of the Unabridged Webster's Dictionary (it was somewhere between seven and eight inches thick). Within thirty seconds, Filch's score had become 298 and Snape had lost yet another turn.
Filch reached into the cloth bag for another seven letters. "Any idea why Dumbledore told us to keep an eye on the whore?"
Snape didn't need to ask who "the whore" was. Filch obviously liked Fleur enough to give her a nickname (his nickname for Snape was "killer"). "Nope." Snape thought for a minute. "Shouldn't we be doing that?"
"Don't worry. I told Mrs. Norris to ignore Hagrid and to watch Fleur like a hawk. She'll come running to us if there's a problem." He examined the letters in his hand. "Ooh, we ARE lucky today...."
"Out of curiosity, you haven't happened to memorize the dictionary, have you?"
"Reading the dictionary is an excellent cure for my insomnia." Filch put down six of his letters. One was a blank. "'Qadi'. Let me see, that's...." He paused.
There was an urgent scratching noise at the door. The two looked at each other, jumped up, and ran to the door, yanking it open.
Mrs. Norris meowed imperatively, and then took off like a shot. Snape and Filch followed her at a dead run. The cat led them through a maze of halls and hidden corridors, finally reaching the seventh floor on the south side of the castle. She dashed through an open door. Snape and Filch skidded to a halt.
Fleur was standing on the edge of the window, completely expressionless. "Do you zink," she asked quietly as the two men stared at her in shock, "zat I would black out before I 'it ze ground?" She bent her knees, preparing to jump.
"WE'RE NOT ABOUT TO LET YOU FIND OUT!!!" Filch shouted as they sprinted forward and hauled her back into the room. She didn't resist. "Dumbledore has a hard enough time finding Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. We don't need you you make it worse!"
She looked from one to the other then burst into tears.
Uncomfortable, they led her back to her room. Snape, who had been walking around with a set of emergency potions ever since Dumbledore told him to watch Fleur, forced her to drink the Draught of Dreamless Sleep, then, with the help of Filch, bundled her into the blankets.
They walked in silence to Filch's office, leaving Mrs. Norris to stand guard over Fleur. Once inside, Filch sat in deep thought while Snape paced, the game forgotten.
"Why would she want to jump?" Snape snapped, unnerved by the silence.
Filch gave him a look. "Isn't it obvious? We've had to keep an eye on her ever since that Death Eater attack in Muggle London the day after Christmas. Her family must've been there and...." His voice trailed off.
Snape whirled on him. "That's no reason to go and end her life!"
"Nor is it a reason to die when a woman who didn't even know you existed is murdered," Filch replied quietly.
"I never - !"
"Really?" He reached into one of the drawers and pulled out an old rope that had been tied into a noose. The noose part looked as if it had been sawed through quickly. "Remember this? I do."
Snape's mouth snapped shut.
"It was a damn good thing I found you when I did, too, otherwise you really would've terrified the kids the next morning. Probably would've given them nightmares." Filch put the rope back.
Snape's eyes narrowed. "I still don't understand why you did it."
"It was only fair, right? You wouldn't let me poison myself, so why should I have let you hang?"
"Why do you keep the rope?"
"Why do you keep the poison bottle?"
Snape sighed then finally sat down. For a few minutes, there was complete silence. He looked down at the game board, then at Filch. "'Qadi' isn't a word."
"Want to challenge it?"
The game continued with Filch at a round 320 and Snape still at 15, the later having lost another turn once again.
@
End of Chapter Thirteen