Willow lingered outside of the Gryffindor common room, attempting not to stare at the house-elf pacing in circles in front of her.
"You are being a friend of Harry Potter, Miss Willow?" Dobby asked. He seemed intent on calling her Miss Willow, despite her insistence to the contrary.
"Never met him, er, Dobby. But everybody says he's a nice guy."
"Oh nice Harry Potter is. He be freeing Dobby from service. I'se never had as good a friend as Harry Potter. Every year Harry Potter gives Dobby new socks." He pointed to the garish pair on his feet.
"Why doesn't he give you a matching pair?" Dobby looked at her strangely.
"Harry Potter does, Miss Willow. Why would Dobby where them together?" Willow couldn't figure out how to respond to that.
At that moment, Grey walked out of the common room with two students in tow, a red-haired boy with freckles and a brown-haired girl. The girl spoke first.
"Hi Professor Rosenberg. I'm Hermione Granger." They shook hands. "This is Ron Weasley." Willow and Ron shook; she could tell the red-head was trying not to stare at her. Well, somebody finds me attractive still, she laughed to herself, thinking of Tara's abrupt departure. "We're Harry's friends. Mr. Grey said you guys are going to try and find him?"
"I told you, Hermione. It's just Grey. No mister." She looked at him, slightly annoyed, as if to say 'You're a teacher. You get respect whether you want it or not." Willow almost chuckled.
"We're going to try," Willow told Hermione. "And if we aren't in class, call me Willow. I'm not old enough to be Professor Rosenberg." Hermione nodded. "Do you guys know where he might be?"
"He owled me two days ago, said he would meet me at the train," Ron said, clearly distraught. "We waited until the last possible second…"
"Which was so dangerous!" Hermione cut in. "As if he couldn't find us on the train. Then I had levitate you, breaking the no-magic rule…"
"Look, 'Mione, I could've made the ruddy jump…"
"Not without your stupid broom…"
"Still didn't need your help…"
"Enough." Grey's voice came out whisper-quiet, sending shivers up three spines. Dobby merely looked on, eyes wide. "Dobby, take a walk for a minute."
"Sir?" The elf didn't understand.
"I need to speak with them in private. You need to not hear." Willow shot him a look, but Dobby got the message and disappeared with a snap of his fingers.
"That was way rude, Grey."
"Look, Willow, Dobby means well, but …" he looked to Ron and Hermione for help.
"He gets us in worse trouble than we would've anyway," Ron said. "He got Harry's arm broken in a Quidditch match one time, and we had to steal a car to get to school another time." Willow didn't know quite how to respond to that. Knowing what Quidditch was wouldn't have made it better, either. For some reason, though, she wasn't bothered too much. Ron kind of reminded her of Xander.
"He means well," Hermione said. "He just overreacts because he loves Harry, who got him released from slavery."
"Slavery?"
"Don't ask her," Ron said. "We don't have time for a lecture on the rights of house elves." Hermione glared daggers at him, but said nothing.
"Can we get to the point now?" Grey asked. Everyone leaned in expectantly. "You two know I'm the Deputy Head of Gryffindor. You heard what Dumbledore said about security, right?" Ron and Hermione nodded. "I'm here to keep an eye on you and Harry." Their eyes went wide. "Not to keep you out of trouble, since I think Dumbledore finds your assistance very helpful. I won't stop your midnight wanderings and I won't confiscate your invisibility cloak. I don't take away points and I don't hand out detentions for being out and about after hours. Are we clear on that?" They nodded again, taken aback by his directness. Hermione couldn't believe a teacher would have such a blatant disregard for the rules. The glint in his eye and even tone of his voice frightened them as he continued. "But I must insist on a few things. I'm in the club now, with the three of you. This isn't negotiable. If strange stuff starts to happen, WE will investigate it. If you have to prowl the castle looking for clues, WE will look for them. If Malfoy starts trouble with you, WE will kick his ass." The last line brought a smile to Ron's face and a frown to Hermione's. "Don't frown. I'm not a teacher. I'm a guard. Big difference."
"Didn't think you could say that many words in a row, Mister silent-and-grumpy," Willow said, smiling at Grey's effort to befriend the kids.
"Yeah, well, just remember them all when they get in trouble and you need to get Giles to bail them out." She gave him a horrified, I'm-not-involved look. "You think I let you hear that because you're not in on the need to know? Besides, the things you don't know about me would fill up a pretty large book."
"But I can't…"
"What, break rules? You're telling me the Slayer never broke school rules?"
"No, it's just … hmmph." She said, hands on her hips. She hated channeling her inner geek, but there it was.
"Don't worry about it, Professor," Hermione said. "No one can stop it anyway. Believe me, I've tried. It's better to just hope you don't get in trouble with someone like Snape then to try and stop Harry and Ron. What?" Ron was looking over her shoulder in fear. Hermione turned slowly, coming face-to-chest with the black-robed potions master himself. He spoke before Willow or Grey could intervene.
"Miss Granger," he snarled. "What exactly do you mean when you say 'someone like Snape'? I'll remind you that if you lie to me, I will be forced to use a truth potion of a most unpleasant variety."
"I-I-I … b-b-ah …" Hermione stuttered, mortified.
"What was that?" His glare threatened to melt her in place.
"You leave her alone, buster!" Willow shouted at him. She stepped between them and gave Snape a look of utter loathing. "We were having a private discussion that is absolutely without a doubt none of your business, but here you are threatening a student just like they said you do. How could you, you stupid, ignorant …" Her rant halted as Snape's face flushed crimson.
"How dare you speak to me in front of the students that way," he hissed. "I'll have your job for this."
"I think not." Grey had remained apart from the discussion, gauging Snape for himself. He knew all about the rumors; in thirty seconds, he saw they were all true. Snape gave him an evil look filled with anger, which Grey met with stony impassivity.
"It doesn't much matter what you think, knuckle-dragger. You're a bodyguard. I am a full professor here and in this school…"
"We won't always be in this school, will we Severus?" Grey eased into Snape's personal space. He was several inches shorter than the darker man, but somehow seemed more menacing. "You're a bully, but not a coward. According to Dumbledore, you're useful. Fine. I don't give a shit." Hermione gasped at the swear. "I'm here to keep these kids safe. From everything. Give them trouble, and we'll see how much of a 'knuckle-dragger' I really am. And Willow? Not my job to keep her safe." He leaned even closer to Snape's face. Ron idly wondered if Snape's hook nose might poke Grey's eye out. He was loving this. When Grey spoke, his voice dragged over the stone hall like a knife.
"You do anything to make her uncomfortable and they'll have to call out the hounds to find your pieces."
Snape stepped back, unable to respond. No one had ever emasculated his authority that way before, let alone threatened to chop him into bloody bits. He spun and walked off without another word.
The group stood quietly for a minute or two.
"Wow," Willow said. She couldn't believe Grey had done that.
"That was so great! I wish Harry had seen it! He would've…" Ron trailed off. "We still have to find Harry."
"I know," Grey said. "If anyone knows where he might be, it would be you two. Any ideas?"