The Mirror of Erised
Chapter Twenty-Three
By Jewel Little Bird
"Do you have any idea just how much I want to strangle you at the moment?" Snape growled as he paced Filch's office. Filch was setting up the Scrabble game, setting a place for a third player. Fleur would be arriving any minute now, conveniently invited by Filch.
"Probably as much as I wanted to strangle you when you 'accidently' left a half-starved newborn kitten on my office desk 15 years ago," Filch replied. He grinned broadly. "If you're allowed to force something on me, why not let it go the other way around?"
"If I remember correctly, you still have that cat, and Fleur is different. I sure as hell don't plan on 'keeping' her."
"You never know, you might have a change of mind. I certainly did; I planned on weaning Mrs. Norris as soon as I could and giving her to someone else." Filch looked at him, his look betraying his confusion. "You know, you never told me where you got her."
"Ironically, at the edge of Hogsmeade near the Shrieking Shack. Her mother was dead from lack of food. Mrs. Norris was the only kitten I saw, so I assume that she was the only offspring that resulted."
Filch nodded then glared at Snape. "Stop pacing and sit down. You'll wear a hole in the floor." As the Potions Master did so, Filch pulled out the Unabridged Webster's Dictionary and dropped it on the table with a "thud." "This game should help improve her English, and I'm sure you'll feel better knowing that she'll probably be worse than you."
At that moment, Fleur cautiously opened the door, peeking in. She'd been very careful around Snape ever since the bathing room incident, seeming to sense that if she mentioned it at the wrong time, he'd proceed to chase HER around the school with a pair of scissors (how the story of him chasing Filch got out was anyone's guess).
"Have a seat, wh-Fleur," Filch said like a gentleman, nearly calling her "whore" but catching himself. Snape sighed; he'd rather wanted to see Fleur shred the caretaker. "We've just finished setting up the game."
Ten minutes later, Filch was in first place with a lovely score of 233 and Fleur was in second place with 95. Snape had an all-time low score of 2. Fleur had learned quickly never to try and challenge any word that Filch put down. Snape wondered how long it'd be before he learned his lesson.
The game was doing one good thing, though; Fleur seemed to find it highly amusing that Snape was terrible at this game. Snape couldn't help but notice that there was a big difference between her depressed and happy.
Fleur, at the moment, was moving her letters around, seeming to be thinking hard. Suddenly, she beamed. "Oh!" She put down five of her letters, looking proud of herself. "'Qwerty'!"
"That's not a word," Snape said, sitting up straight.
She looked at it, thinking. "Oui, it is."
Filch said nothing, looking at board and pretending he wasn't paying attention.
"No, it is not." Snape grabbed the dictionary. "I challenge it."
She shrugged, nonplussed. "Okay."
"You've already lost your turn," Filch said with a grin. He'd played before Fleur. "You sure you want to lose a second one?"
"'Qwerty' is not a word," Snape insisted, flipping through the dictionary. He stopped on the page he wanted. "'Quotable'," he read, his finger under each word as he said it, "'quotation', 'quote', 'quoth', 'quotidian', 'quotient', 'Qur'an', 'q.v.', and... shit." He ground his teeth. "'Qwerty'."
Fleur giggled. "I told you!"
"What the hell is a keyboard?" he asked, reading the definition of the word.
"Somezing zat 'as to do with Muggle computers," Fleur replied happily. "I 'ave a Muggle penpal in America." She thought for a minute. "Actually, I guess you could call her a Squib since she's got a wand now."
Stupid game, Snape thought to himself as Fleur counted up her points. Foiled again.
@
End of Chapter Twnety-Three
"Do you have any idea just how much I want to strangle you at the moment?" Snape growled as he paced Filch's office. Filch was setting up the Scrabble game, setting a place for a third player. Fleur would be arriving any minute now, conveniently invited by Filch.
"Probably as much as I wanted to strangle you when you 'accidently' left a half-starved newborn kitten on my office desk 15 years ago," Filch replied. He grinned broadly. "If you're allowed to force something on me, why not let it go the other way around?"
"If I remember correctly, you still have that cat, and Fleur is different. I sure as hell don't plan on 'keeping' her."
"You never know, you might have a change of mind. I certainly did; I planned on weaning Mrs. Norris as soon as I could and giving her to someone else." Filch looked at him, his look betraying his confusion. "You know, you never told me where you got her."
"Ironically, at the edge of Hogsmeade near the Shrieking Shack. Her mother was dead from lack of food. Mrs. Norris was the only kitten I saw, so I assume that she was the only offspring that resulted."
Filch nodded then glared at Snape. "Stop pacing and sit down. You'll wear a hole in the floor." As the Potions Master did so, Filch pulled out the Unabridged Webster's Dictionary and dropped it on the table with a "thud." "This game should help improve her English, and I'm sure you'll feel better knowing that she'll probably be worse than you."
At that moment, Fleur cautiously opened the door, peeking in. She'd been very careful around Snape ever since the bathing room incident, seeming to sense that if she mentioned it at the wrong time, he'd proceed to chase HER around the school with a pair of scissors (how the story of him chasing Filch got out was anyone's guess).
"Have a seat, wh-Fleur," Filch said like a gentleman, nearly calling her "whore" but catching himself. Snape sighed; he'd rather wanted to see Fleur shred the caretaker. "We've just finished setting up the game."
Ten minutes later, Filch was in first place with a lovely score of 233 and Fleur was in second place with 95. Snape had an all-time low score of 2. Fleur had learned quickly never to try and challenge any word that Filch put down. Snape wondered how long it'd be before he learned his lesson.
The game was doing one good thing, though; Fleur seemed to find it highly amusing that Snape was terrible at this game. Snape couldn't help but notice that there was a big difference between her depressed and happy.
Fleur, at the moment, was moving her letters around, seeming to be thinking hard. Suddenly, she beamed. "Oh!" She put down five of her letters, looking proud of herself. "'Qwerty'!"
"That's not a word," Snape said, sitting up straight.
She looked at it, thinking. "Oui, it is."
Filch said nothing, looking at board and pretending he wasn't paying attention.
"No, it is not." Snape grabbed the dictionary. "I challenge it."
She shrugged, nonplussed. "Okay."
"You've already lost your turn," Filch said with a grin. He'd played before Fleur. "You sure you want to lose a second one?"
"'Qwerty' is not a word," Snape insisted, flipping through the dictionary. He stopped on the page he wanted. "'Quotable'," he read, his finger under each word as he said it, "'quotation', 'quote', 'quoth', 'quotidian', 'quotient', 'Qur'an', 'q.v.', and... shit." He ground his teeth. "'Qwerty'."
Fleur giggled. "I told you!"
"What the hell is a keyboard?" he asked, reading the definition of the word.
"Somezing zat 'as to do with Muggle computers," Fleur replied happily. "I 'ave a Muggle penpal in America." She thought for a minute. "Actually, I guess you could call her a Squib since she's got a wand now."
Stupid game, Snape thought to himself as Fleur counted up her points. Foiled again.
@
End of Chapter Twnety-Three