AN: Ah, screw it, I'm going to post this, but don't expect another one for
a while b/c this one is a lot. Don't know if I've told you but i got the HP
sheet music, and i figured out where Family Portrait came from. It's
actually called "Leaving Hogwarts" on the soundtrack. I just figured it
out, and I've had the thing for like, two weeks (which makes me wonder, did
I tell you this? I must have.) Anyway, all you "I wanna romance" these two
chapters are it. No sex, sorry, I can't do it. there are some other ones
out there that can suffice, but mine just ain't gonna be it. I'm a good
girl, really I am. lol...er, maybe not. Hear Alan Rickman's wonderous
speech at that Variety Club Award and then it'll make you wonder...what
*does* go on beyond the doors of the set? Daniel's cute-sounding, anyway.
Going through pubery, eh? Don't feel bad, so am I. Lol...EVIL HORMONES!
Nah, just learning the lessons are bad. Binge Drink in moderation. Purging
is easier after the first time. PMS is our way of getting back at men. Live
and learn, then die. Life's little lessons.
Read "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" if you want a laugh. That book is soooo cute. Anyway, you shall love me for doing this, but here's the currently unedited chapter 9, and beware: this will probably be revisited for revisions, b/c I have not revised this at all.
Chapter Nine: Won't Even Recognize It Anymore
She tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come. It's hard to look in the mirror a few minutes ago and see yourself close to thirty—then, look in it again and see yourself not even as twenty! She couldn't believe how young—or, for that matter, how good she looked. No wonder Snape looked at her the way he did…Emilia forgot the way she looked when she was younger.
Which explained Snape's appearance as well. He really had it going for himself when he was younger, she noted. "What happened to us?" she said, not taking her eyes off the water.
"It appears we stepped into some sort of Age Line that does the opposite of a normal one," he said, leaning back away from the water. "They covered it well with a Water Charm." Emilia nodded. The only thing that ran through her mind was could this be reversed?
Not that she didn't enjoy the prospect of being young again, but she was young still. She couldn't even drink legally yet. And the teachers…they already didn't accept her because of her age. It took her a long time to get to the age she was at before, and she quite enjoyed being able to be an adult. Now, technically, she wasn't even out of school yet. Seventeen was the last year of Hogwarts. Standing up straight herself, she said, "We've got to tell Dumbledore."
Snape's head snapped up. "You two!" he shouted sharply. "Out from behind those bushes! Now!" Two young boys stumbled out of the bush at the sharpness of Snape's voice. Emilia looked up, and saw it was Potter and Weasley. What were they doing…? Snape's face was contorted with anger, and he didn't look at all convincing as he usually did. "What are you two doing here?"
Emilia looked on as Potter helped Weasley to stand. "Nothing, Professor," he said casually, and his face was completely normal, totally not flushed. Unless he was completely unabashed about himself and Weasley, he seriously wasn't doing anything.
"What were you two doing?" Snape sneered, glaring at that both.
"Nothing," they replied quickly. "It's not against the law to walk around, is it?"
He eyed them suspiciously. "Potter! You wouldn't happen to know a Water Charm, would you?" he said softly.
"Yes, Professor," he said defiantly. Potter glared back at Snape. Emilia watch with interest. She'd always heard that he hated the Potter boy the most above all of his students. This would be a prime opportunity to take points away, she thought.
"And a Reversal Age Hex?" he said sharply.
"A—a what?" Potter said, looking confused. He looked at Weasley, who shrugged. Emilia watched him mouth, "Hermione'll know."
"Why aren't you at dinner?" Snape continued.
"None of your business, Professor," Potter replied stoutly.
"Five points from Gryffindor for your tongue!" he snapped angrily. "Now, go back to the Great Hall!" He pointed to the pathway they had just come from. Potter looked at Emilia, and turned his head sideways. Weasley whispered something and the two of them walked away.
"Why did you do that?" Emilia said angrily. "You didn't see them around here earlier, and you must have known no sixth year could have done it!"
"That Potter boy," he said darkly, "know more spells and hexes than any sixth year. And he manages to get away with everything. Dumbledore's Golden Boy," he added, saying the name like a dirty word. He turned his head promptly to her. "Well? Aren't we going to tell Dumbledore what someone's gotten away with?"
Emilia glared at him. "Don't be a prat to me because you've had a bad comeuppance," she snapped at him sharply. "And yes, I do want to tell Dumbledore." She turned and walked up a different path, not bothering to see if he was following. Soon, he was walking right next to her. Emilia felt extremely short. That or he was a little bit taller than he was before.
Emilia walked into the Great Hall slowly, as not to attract attention. Dinner was in service, and the chatter was quite magnifying, considering the quietness of the outside. They walked up to the table, and sat down. The Hall seemed unusually quiet, and there was a random clattering of silverware everywhere. The band continued to play a lulling tune.
"Emilia?" Minerva whispered, looking at her oddly.
Emilia felt herself blush furiously red. "Professor Dumbledore," she said, "I think—"
"Someone's used a Reversal Age Hex," Snape interrupted, taking a goblet of juice. Minerva turned to see him, and her mouth dropped even further opened.
Emilia looked at her and said, "Minerva!" Immediately, she straightened up and turned back to her food. The other two teachers at the table kept staring at them. Emilia wished they wouldn't do that. It made her feel extremely self-conscious.
"Wait until after the meal, and then we'll fix this mishap," Dumbledore said softly, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice. "Nothing can be done until we get into my office later. Until then, please, eat," he said, waving his hand at the table.
Snape picked up the menu, still looking at Dumbledore with suspicion, like there was something he could do right now, but decided against speaking up and turned to his plate to order something quickly. Emilia couldn't bring herself to get any food, but she ordered something out of politeness. Minerva was quiet, and then she turned to Emilia, her face full of questions. "What happened to you two? You look…extremely younger."
Snape answered. "Some child tried to obviously play a trick," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Emilia frowned at him. He had no right to act that way. He was just being irritable because something happened to him that he couldn't get fixed right away. So he'd have to spend a few hours a little younger—at least he wasn't underage. Emilia couldn't find why he wouldn't want to stay this way, anyway. He was twenty- two now, she thought, by looking at him. He could do all the things other adults could and was still of age to do the rest. At least he wasn't trapped in childhood still!
Minerva looked very taken aback. Emilia glared at him. "That was uncalled for, Severus!" she snapped at him. "You may act like that toward me, but you don't need to act like that to everyone. Or is it, you don't know any other way?"
"I don't know any other way," he replied dryly, narrowing his eyes at her. Dumbledore coughed, and everyone turned to look at him. He stood, and cleared away some of the empty tables to create room for dancing. The band struck up the keys, and soon a fast dance was playing. Students began to move into the dancing area, and Dumbledore sat down.
"This is a school formal—if you can't behave above a third year, I think you need to leave," he told them softly, mostly aiming at Severus, who was never able to cope with anything. He got the hint and looked extremely self-pitiful. Emilia lowered her head in shame. Minerva touched her hand carefully, and laughed.
"He's always an ass," she said in an undertone, so that Dumbledore (who was getting up with Professor Sinistra to dance) wouldn't hear. "Thanks, though."
Emilia smiled. "Had to get even with him…he doesn't take change well, does he?" she said, looking at him. He was sitting across the table, and he was looking fiercely in a certain direction. Trying to catch someone doing something inappropriate instead of letting them have fun, no doubt.
"So…how does it feel to be seventeen again?" Minerva asked, looking over at the dance floor. She was interesting in dancing, Emilia could tell, but wasn't quite ready to go so soon after she ate. Emilia smiled. It'd been so long since she's wanted to dance.
"It's…the same as it was then," she said finally, trying to think of redeemable answer. They talked a bit longer, about the décor and the rest of the Great Hall. Emilia talked about her excursions in the garden, what it looked like, and what happened after she met Snape. Even Minerva had something to say about his appearance.
"He does look rather different, doesn't he?" Minerva said, looking at him. Emilia nodded. "He's almost…cute? Is that the word?"
"About him?" she said incredulously, looking at Minerva with an odd expression on her face. "This is Severus Snape we're talking about here."
Minerva sat straight up. "Oh, shut up, Emilia," she snapped playfully, and the song ended. Dumbledore walked over, and smiled at them.
"Oh you bumps-on-a-log, why don't you get up and dance?" he said breathlessly. "Emilia, would you care to dance?"
Emilia stood up. "It's been so long, Professor…" she said, and looked pleadingly at Minerva. She didn't want to dance at all, but Minerva shook her head. Minerva shrugged, and stood herself.
Dumbledore furrowed his brow. "Call me Albus, Emilia," he said happily. "It's just a two step, that's it." Minerva had moved over to the other side of the table now. "And you too, Severus," he said.
"What?" Snape said, looking up to see all three of them staring at him. Emilia had a look of malicious laughter on her face, Minerva was standing next to him, and Dumbledore was smiling kindly. "No. Absolutely not!" he said, standing quickly. "I don't dance! I'm not going to—"
Minerva took his arm. "Shut up, Severus," she said merrily, dragging the protesting Snape into the floor. He was resisting with all his might. He had the look of contempt on his face, which he threw at Emilia fervently, as if were her fault he was about to dance.
Minerva waved her hand at them, and Emilia was trying to choke back laughter. Dumbledore turned to her. "Shall we dance?"
The color drained from Emilia's face. "You were serious?" she squeaked. "I can't dance!"
"Sure you can," he said, taking her hands like a father teaching his little girl. They went out into the middle of the dance floor, and they started to do a very untimely two-step. "Isn't his fun?"
Emilia smiled weakly. "Sure it is, Dumbledore," she said meekly, and glanced at Minerva and Severus, who seemed to be dancing quite well. Emilia had a sudden fit of jealousy. Jealous for what, she didn't know. She turned her attention back to what she was doing, and found that the two- step wasn't too bad or hard to learn. It was actually kind of fun. She started to laugh at herself, and Dumbledore took this as having fun.
The song soon ended, and they found themselves right next to Minerva and Severus. Both of them looked breathless. Minerva looked at the two of them, and laughed. "Time to switch," she said, handing off Snape to Emilia, who stood there a little confused.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Emilia said to Minerva, pointing very obviously at Snape. He tsked angrily at her, and cross his arms.
"Dance, Emilia," she said cheerily. "It's not hard." Dumbledore and Minerva smiled at them, as the band paused before beginning the next song. "Please, do dance with him!"
Emilia smiled and turned her head. "It's not for me to decide," she said to herself, as her face fell. He was standing there, looking at her with a "Well, what are you going to do?" look on his face.
Why could he take this one up, she thought darkly, as she walked over to him. "There's not going to take no as an answer," she said quietly.
"Never stopped you before," he snapped. "I'm going to sit down." He looked at her, and turned to walk away. But he stopped when he saw her face. It was totally downcast, like she'd been in this position before. The kind of position where your two "friends" ditch you and someone else on the dance floor. You don't want to dance, but you resign to do anyway. The other person walks away, though, making you feel silly and worthless. Yes, it was painfully obvious she'd been in this position before. And Emilia, well, her face never did hid any secrets.
Snape suppressed a sigh. He didn't know why, but maybe he'd actually dance with her. "Emilia, come here," he said.
She looked at him with this odd sort of face she usually got when something was suspicious. "Why?"
"Because you have to come over here to dance," he said, taking a couple steps forward. "Put your hand on my shoulder."
"I know how to dance," she said softly, and her face was a pleasant shade of red. She put her hand gently on his shoulder, and the other one she held out for his hand. He noticed she stood as far away from him as she could stand and still be able to dance. He smiled. Well, he didn't know he had this kind of power over her, he noticed, as her face was a determined red. She was cute when she blushed.
Severus swallowed hard. Just those simple hormones of twenty-two, that's it. He put his hand in her own, and his other around her waist—but pulled her closer. Her face was almost but not quite level with his, he finally noticed, and her face was sort of leveling off as just magenta…this made him smile wider. So it was like that, was it?
The music had started to play, and slowly the two of them dance on the floor. Severus knew how to waltz, and apparently, so did Emilia. Severus noticed, she fit quite comfortably in his arms.
Emilia willed herself to stop blushing. The last time any man held her close like this was when she was in her final year at the final ball…and that was all a joke in itself. Her face finally began to feel cool, and she noticed that Severus really could dance well.
"This'll give them something to talk about," he said, pulling her closer. Emilia turned her head away from him.
"What will?" she said to his other side, backing off a bit.
"Us. Dancing, I mean. Can't you see them?" he said, and Emilia could feel his head glancing around. Emilia looked around, and she did see people looking at them.
"Gee, thanks Severus. Any nervousness I had was just multiplied by ten," she replied sarcastically. "Anything else you want to tell me? Like I forgot my dress robes?"
"If you did, I certainly wouldn't be holding you this loosely," he said quietly. Emilia looked at him with an odd sort of smile.
"Gee, thanks a lot Severus," she said dully, and felt herself being moved closer than before. What the hell was Severus playing at? Not that she was complaining…. This twenty-two year old self she was dancing with was quite cute. She could admit that now, at least. She wasn't going crazy…yet.
But this was Severus! Did she have other feelings for him, or was this seventeen year old hormones? Ugh, another thing to be thankful for in adulthood…none of these damn hormones. The song ended as quickly as it started, and Emilia found herself wanting to stay right where she was, but instead she found herself pulling away. "Thank you," she said dryly.
"Oh course," he said, bowing. She gave him a sarcastic smile and walked back to the table, where Minerva and Dumbledore were now seated as a pause.
Emilia took her seat, and looked at Minerva. "That was cruel," she said as soon as she sat down.
"Thank you," she laughed. Severus glanced at Emilia one last time, then turned to Dumbledore to talk. "I've never seen him take to anyone like this," she said at last, looking at Severus.
"What?" Emilia sputtered, as she was drinking some pumpkin juice.
"I think he likes you," she said quietly.
Emilia felt herself blush. "Shut up, Minerva," she snapped. "That's not even funny to joke about. You know how much I dislike him."
"Yeah. It was so apparent when you danced," she said dryly, looking at her with a sly smile on her face. "You looked like you absolutely hated it."
Emilia turned her head away quickly. She knew it was pink again, but she wasn't going to give Minerva the satisfaction of knowing this. Quite frankly, if Minerva was going to be like this, she didn't even want to talk to her at all. She glanced up, and saw the Severus was looking at her. She turned her head sideways and he shrugged, turning back to Dumbledore, who was chatting avidly. Sighing, she looked beyond him and at the students dancing and all-in-all having fun. Minerva nudged her in the ribs.
"Sorry, touchy subject," she said, grinning. "Care to explain the little exchange of faces?"
Emilia glared at Minerva. "Will you shut up already?" she said exasperatedly. Minerva smiled and sat up properly. Shrugging, she took a long sip from her goblet (Emilia suspected it had a bit more than just pumpkin juice at this point, judging by the way she was acting).
"Want to take a walk, then?" Minerva said, eyeing Severus and Albus, who had just stood and were making their way out to the gardens (no doubt to check out the place where they were when the spell had taken place).
"What are you implying?" she said in an undertone. "I don't want to. I want to sit here until I'm changed back or you sober up, whichever comes first."
"Are you implying that I'm not quite straight?" she said defiantly, her accent faulting a bit. "I'm perfectly sober!"
Emilia shrugged. She wasn't going to argue with Minerva in all her unstableness. "Fine, Minerva, you're sober. I don't want to follow anyone, though."
Minerva stood up. "Who cares what you want," she said, pulling Emilia up by the arm. "We shall follow them. If Albus finds a way to change you back, you'll do well to be there."
Emilia protested greatly, until finally a student came up, looking quite embarrassed. Emilia stopped struggling, and Minerva stopped forcing her to go. "Yes, Mr. Weasley?" she said, not mistaking that red hair for anything.
He glanced over his shoulder to see his other twin (Emilia couldn't tell which one it was standing here versus the other one) and Lee Jordan, their best friend. "Do..." he turned back around at them. "Do you want to dance with me?"
Emilia smiled triumphantly. She got out of Minerva's grip, and said quite happily, "Sure." Minerva looked put out, but then she straightened herself.
"Well, I'll go and be the good friend and see what else I can do for you," she said huffily, walking out of the Great Hall and into the gardens. Emilia smiled.
"Thanks, Mr. Weasley," she said, standing up properly. "I really appreciate you interrupting us." This time she wasn't sarcastic at all. She was quite thankful that she didn't have to listen to Minerva's tittering about "what possibilities they could have together". She prepared herself to sit down when an arm caught her shoulder.
"I really did mean it," he said, blushing slightly.
Emilia looked up at him guiltily. Now walking with Minerva would have been fine! "All right, then," she said hesitantly. He did, after all, interrupt her in her time of need. What little price did she have to pay just by dancing with him? It wasn't even like he was a fourth year or anything. He was...
...just...
...as physically as old as she was...
which was unnerving in itself.
He led her onto the dance floor, and just be it her luck, it was a slow song. Emilia resisted frowning. He looked at her (and she still didn't know which one it was, Fred or George?) and smiled. Emilia smiled weakly. Okay, this was getting weird: that was all that ran through her mind. Very odd indeed.
Fred or George took her hand and kind of got a little waist happy as he pulled her in. Emilia steadied herself and took a small step back. "Very funny, Mr. Weasley," she said, trying to sound firm and strict. Minerva-like, even. She was definitely not used to this attention from men. It was very odd, and she did not like it at all. Well, maybe from Severus she didn't mind, but otherwise it was totally unwelcome, she thought with a small smile. God, did she hate hormones. Because that's what she was relying on as the sole stem of these confusing and unwanted feelings from him. Just hormones, right?
He gave her a lopsided grin and started to dance. All that ran through her head was the Muggle Broadway, "Anna and the King". Mentally she smacked herself, and forced herself to dance properly. He, at the very least, looked like he was enjoying himself. No one seemed to want to question her appearance, or the fact that she was young again (or, perhaps younger still). She didn't mind it, but still she would have expected some sort of questioning by now, not some passes made at her. His brother swung by with Miss Johnson (she assumed this one was Fred and the one she was dancing with was George, because on many occasions she's caught him and his girlfriend Angelina Johnson in a room or two), and gave him a devilish sort of grin. George Weasley returned it, and swung Emilia back around.
"What are you doing?" she said as he dipped her, pulling his head close to hers.
"Just some holiday cheer," he replied. "Nothing to be concerned about, Professor." He lifted her back up, and smiled widely. It seemed those two twins were constantly all smiles. Not that she minded it, but they had a tendency to be smiling about all the wrong things, and not to mention, they were practical jokers. She wouldn't be surprised to walk out with a "Kick Me" sign on her back.
"What are you two planning?" she said quietly as they swung past gawking students. Emilia felt extremely self-conscious. Even more so than when she was dancing with Severus (which, again, wasn't too bad of a thought).
"Absolutely nothing," he replied again. Everything was a quick "nothing" from them.
She raised an eyebrow. The song ended, and Emilia pulled back a little, letting him go. "Quite, then. Stay out of trouble, Mr. Weasley." She paused for a moment, reached up behind her, and felt something there. She pulled out her wand and flicked whatever was on there off, which said, "Here was Snape for the greatest run ever."
Emilia blushed furiously, and looked at the Weasleys. They started to laugh. Emilia didn't even smile. She walked over to them, and held out the piece of parchment. "You had better hope with all the money in Gringotts there is nothing else in there or your beds will be so cursed whoever you lay tonight will be covered in spots tomorrow morning," she said fiercely and quickly, still not smiling.
Their faces fell, and the waved their wands quickly to get rid of whatever was on there. She smiled sweetly, and shoved the paper into his chest. "Thank you," she said. They nodded, and turned around. She grinned and pointed two signs onto their backs: "Will work for a brain," and "I tried to think once: look how I came out" which had a picture of a troll underneath.
Emilia laughed as she turned away, and went outside. Anything was better than being bombarded by either those twins or any other students queuing up to dance with her. She gave one last glance at them, and saw that people were pointing and laughing at them. They were still completely oblivious. It made her laugh even harder.
She walked out into the gardens again, keen on finding Minerva. She stopped when she saw that Severus was the only one there. The other two had disappeared, and she didn't know where they went.
Emilia walked up cautiously to Snape, who was still examining the ground. "Er, Severus, do you know where Minerva went?"
He shook his head, still looking at the ground. "I think they went that way," he said, pointing in the direction she had just come from, which showed that he was of no help to her at all.
"Are you even paying attention to me?" she said sharply, and he finally looked up. She put her hand on her hip and waited for his answer. He slowly raised himself up (he was bent over) and finally reached his full height, which ended up being two inches taller than her. She took a step back, and kind of smiled meekly. "Like I was saying," she said, looking up now at him, "Where is Minerva?"
"She went off somewhere. I don't keep tabs on the woman," he snapped at her, crossing his arms. "Was that all you wanted?"
No, her mind raced. I want to...damn hormones, she thought quickly, before that thought entered her mind. "Fine, be a prat," she said sharply, turning away and crossing her arms angrily. If he was going to be a jerk, well then fine, she wasn't going to co-operate then neither.
He threw his hands up in the air. "I was being bloody serious! What did you want?" he said exasperatedly. He gave her a withering look.
Emilia uncrossed her arms and she pointed in the direction of where he'd pointed. "Do you know what sort of ridicule I got in there?" She suddenly got a fun idea. "I want to show you something," she said.
"Don't you think that's going a bit fast?" he said dryly, walking next to her as they made their way back to the Great Hall.
She looked at him. Punching him on the shoulder gently, she said, "My God Severus, you have a very twisted mind."
"If you knew what I was talking about, then you have one just as equal," he replied softly.
She gave him a very sardonic smile. "Ha-ha," she said. "Come on," she said, as she entered the Great Hall, and sat down casually at the table they were at before. He came up and sat next to her, turning to look where she was pointing.
The Weasleys didn't get wind of what was on their backs, and were still right where she had left them. He read the signs, and laughed. Emilia looked at him. She'd had never ever heard him laugh before. It was...almost cute. It was a deep laugh, but far from booming. It was sweet, and she wondered why he didn't laugh more often.
And she wondered why she was thinking these thoughts. She must be going out of her mind. Emilia looked away from Severus and back at the two Weasley boys. "What brought this on?" he asked. "Something must have made you do that."
"Nothing gets by you, does it?" she said quietly. "Well, if you must know..." she paused in suspense, smiling widely.
"Yes, I must, I must," he replied monotonously, smirking.
"They had a sign on my back that said, 'Here was Snape for the greatest run ever.'" She said simply (and rather quickly, she noticed). Severus' eyes got rather large and then he turned to the Weasleys, standing up.
"No! Sit down," she said, reaching up to grab his arm but ended up grabbing a bunch of robes, and pulled down on them. "I took care of it in my own way."
He sat down, grumbling. "I refuse to let that sort of thing happen. It's not fair to me," he said. "And you," he added in an afterthought.
"Well," she said slowly, "you act like the meanest teacher on campus and you expect...what?"
"Respect," he snapped. "I didn't come in here for a character debate, Emilia." He scowled at her.
Emilia threw her hands back. "Fine!" she snapped, standing. "Fine! Have a jolly good time by yourself. I was only trying to show you something I thought was funny." Emilia glared at him contemptuously. "You only know how to act really bad to people, don't you? Sarcasm and acting like an asshole is all you really know."
Severus stood up, and looked down at her (like it was some sort of big thing to be taller than she was), and said softly, "You only know how to be a naïve little girl who is extremely melodramatic and acts very much like a tramp." And with that, he walked out of the Great Hall, leaving Emilia to feel somewhat foolish and even more confused, because Severus Snape only spoke the truth, and that would mean what he just said was completely true.
Read "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" if you want a laugh. That book is soooo cute. Anyway, you shall love me for doing this, but here's the currently unedited chapter 9, and beware: this will probably be revisited for revisions, b/c I have not revised this at all.
Chapter Nine: Won't Even Recognize It Anymore
She tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come. It's hard to look in the mirror a few minutes ago and see yourself close to thirty—then, look in it again and see yourself not even as twenty! She couldn't believe how young—or, for that matter, how good she looked. No wonder Snape looked at her the way he did…Emilia forgot the way she looked when she was younger.
Which explained Snape's appearance as well. He really had it going for himself when he was younger, she noted. "What happened to us?" she said, not taking her eyes off the water.
"It appears we stepped into some sort of Age Line that does the opposite of a normal one," he said, leaning back away from the water. "They covered it well with a Water Charm." Emilia nodded. The only thing that ran through her mind was could this be reversed?
Not that she didn't enjoy the prospect of being young again, but she was young still. She couldn't even drink legally yet. And the teachers…they already didn't accept her because of her age. It took her a long time to get to the age she was at before, and she quite enjoyed being able to be an adult. Now, technically, she wasn't even out of school yet. Seventeen was the last year of Hogwarts. Standing up straight herself, she said, "We've got to tell Dumbledore."
Snape's head snapped up. "You two!" he shouted sharply. "Out from behind those bushes! Now!" Two young boys stumbled out of the bush at the sharpness of Snape's voice. Emilia looked up, and saw it was Potter and Weasley. What were they doing…? Snape's face was contorted with anger, and he didn't look at all convincing as he usually did. "What are you two doing here?"
Emilia looked on as Potter helped Weasley to stand. "Nothing, Professor," he said casually, and his face was completely normal, totally not flushed. Unless he was completely unabashed about himself and Weasley, he seriously wasn't doing anything.
"What were you two doing?" Snape sneered, glaring at that both.
"Nothing," they replied quickly. "It's not against the law to walk around, is it?"
He eyed them suspiciously. "Potter! You wouldn't happen to know a Water Charm, would you?" he said softly.
"Yes, Professor," he said defiantly. Potter glared back at Snape. Emilia watch with interest. She'd always heard that he hated the Potter boy the most above all of his students. This would be a prime opportunity to take points away, she thought.
"And a Reversal Age Hex?" he said sharply.
"A—a what?" Potter said, looking confused. He looked at Weasley, who shrugged. Emilia watched him mouth, "Hermione'll know."
"Why aren't you at dinner?" Snape continued.
"None of your business, Professor," Potter replied stoutly.
"Five points from Gryffindor for your tongue!" he snapped angrily. "Now, go back to the Great Hall!" He pointed to the pathway they had just come from. Potter looked at Emilia, and turned his head sideways. Weasley whispered something and the two of them walked away.
"Why did you do that?" Emilia said angrily. "You didn't see them around here earlier, and you must have known no sixth year could have done it!"
"That Potter boy," he said darkly, "know more spells and hexes than any sixth year. And he manages to get away with everything. Dumbledore's Golden Boy," he added, saying the name like a dirty word. He turned his head promptly to her. "Well? Aren't we going to tell Dumbledore what someone's gotten away with?"
Emilia glared at him. "Don't be a prat to me because you've had a bad comeuppance," she snapped at him sharply. "And yes, I do want to tell Dumbledore." She turned and walked up a different path, not bothering to see if he was following. Soon, he was walking right next to her. Emilia felt extremely short. That or he was a little bit taller than he was before.
Emilia walked into the Great Hall slowly, as not to attract attention. Dinner was in service, and the chatter was quite magnifying, considering the quietness of the outside. They walked up to the table, and sat down. The Hall seemed unusually quiet, and there was a random clattering of silverware everywhere. The band continued to play a lulling tune.
"Emilia?" Minerva whispered, looking at her oddly.
Emilia felt herself blush furiously red. "Professor Dumbledore," she said, "I think—"
"Someone's used a Reversal Age Hex," Snape interrupted, taking a goblet of juice. Minerva turned to see him, and her mouth dropped even further opened.
Emilia looked at her and said, "Minerva!" Immediately, she straightened up and turned back to her food. The other two teachers at the table kept staring at them. Emilia wished they wouldn't do that. It made her feel extremely self-conscious.
"Wait until after the meal, and then we'll fix this mishap," Dumbledore said softly, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice. "Nothing can be done until we get into my office later. Until then, please, eat," he said, waving his hand at the table.
Snape picked up the menu, still looking at Dumbledore with suspicion, like there was something he could do right now, but decided against speaking up and turned to his plate to order something quickly. Emilia couldn't bring herself to get any food, but she ordered something out of politeness. Minerva was quiet, and then she turned to Emilia, her face full of questions. "What happened to you two? You look…extremely younger."
Snape answered. "Some child tried to obviously play a trick," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Emilia frowned at him. He had no right to act that way. He was just being irritable because something happened to him that he couldn't get fixed right away. So he'd have to spend a few hours a little younger—at least he wasn't underage. Emilia couldn't find why he wouldn't want to stay this way, anyway. He was twenty- two now, she thought, by looking at him. He could do all the things other adults could and was still of age to do the rest. At least he wasn't trapped in childhood still!
Minerva looked very taken aback. Emilia glared at him. "That was uncalled for, Severus!" she snapped at him. "You may act like that toward me, but you don't need to act like that to everyone. Or is it, you don't know any other way?"
"I don't know any other way," he replied dryly, narrowing his eyes at her. Dumbledore coughed, and everyone turned to look at him. He stood, and cleared away some of the empty tables to create room for dancing. The band struck up the keys, and soon a fast dance was playing. Students began to move into the dancing area, and Dumbledore sat down.
"This is a school formal—if you can't behave above a third year, I think you need to leave," he told them softly, mostly aiming at Severus, who was never able to cope with anything. He got the hint and looked extremely self-pitiful. Emilia lowered her head in shame. Minerva touched her hand carefully, and laughed.
"He's always an ass," she said in an undertone, so that Dumbledore (who was getting up with Professor Sinistra to dance) wouldn't hear. "Thanks, though."
Emilia smiled. "Had to get even with him…he doesn't take change well, does he?" she said, looking at him. He was sitting across the table, and he was looking fiercely in a certain direction. Trying to catch someone doing something inappropriate instead of letting them have fun, no doubt.
"So…how does it feel to be seventeen again?" Minerva asked, looking over at the dance floor. She was interesting in dancing, Emilia could tell, but wasn't quite ready to go so soon after she ate. Emilia smiled. It'd been so long since she's wanted to dance.
"It's…the same as it was then," she said finally, trying to think of redeemable answer. They talked a bit longer, about the décor and the rest of the Great Hall. Emilia talked about her excursions in the garden, what it looked like, and what happened after she met Snape. Even Minerva had something to say about his appearance.
"He does look rather different, doesn't he?" Minerva said, looking at him. Emilia nodded. "He's almost…cute? Is that the word?"
"About him?" she said incredulously, looking at Minerva with an odd expression on her face. "This is Severus Snape we're talking about here."
Minerva sat straight up. "Oh, shut up, Emilia," she snapped playfully, and the song ended. Dumbledore walked over, and smiled at them.
"Oh you bumps-on-a-log, why don't you get up and dance?" he said breathlessly. "Emilia, would you care to dance?"
Emilia stood up. "It's been so long, Professor…" she said, and looked pleadingly at Minerva. She didn't want to dance at all, but Minerva shook her head. Minerva shrugged, and stood herself.
Dumbledore furrowed his brow. "Call me Albus, Emilia," he said happily. "It's just a two step, that's it." Minerva had moved over to the other side of the table now. "And you too, Severus," he said.
"What?" Snape said, looking up to see all three of them staring at him. Emilia had a look of malicious laughter on her face, Minerva was standing next to him, and Dumbledore was smiling kindly. "No. Absolutely not!" he said, standing quickly. "I don't dance! I'm not going to—"
Minerva took his arm. "Shut up, Severus," she said merrily, dragging the protesting Snape into the floor. He was resisting with all his might. He had the look of contempt on his face, which he threw at Emilia fervently, as if were her fault he was about to dance.
Minerva waved her hand at them, and Emilia was trying to choke back laughter. Dumbledore turned to her. "Shall we dance?"
The color drained from Emilia's face. "You were serious?" she squeaked. "I can't dance!"
"Sure you can," he said, taking her hands like a father teaching his little girl. They went out into the middle of the dance floor, and they started to do a very untimely two-step. "Isn't his fun?"
Emilia smiled weakly. "Sure it is, Dumbledore," she said meekly, and glanced at Minerva and Severus, who seemed to be dancing quite well. Emilia had a sudden fit of jealousy. Jealous for what, she didn't know. She turned her attention back to what she was doing, and found that the two- step wasn't too bad or hard to learn. It was actually kind of fun. She started to laugh at herself, and Dumbledore took this as having fun.
The song soon ended, and they found themselves right next to Minerva and Severus. Both of them looked breathless. Minerva looked at the two of them, and laughed. "Time to switch," she said, handing off Snape to Emilia, who stood there a little confused.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Emilia said to Minerva, pointing very obviously at Snape. He tsked angrily at her, and cross his arms.
"Dance, Emilia," she said cheerily. "It's not hard." Dumbledore and Minerva smiled at them, as the band paused before beginning the next song. "Please, do dance with him!"
Emilia smiled and turned her head. "It's not for me to decide," she said to herself, as her face fell. He was standing there, looking at her with a "Well, what are you going to do?" look on his face.
Why could he take this one up, she thought darkly, as she walked over to him. "There's not going to take no as an answer," she said quietly.
"Never stopped you before," he snapped. "I'm going to sit down." He looked at her, and turned to walk away. But he stopped when he saw her face. It was totally downcast, like she'd been in this position before. The kind of position where your two "friends" ditch you and someone else on the dance floor. You don't want to dance, but you resign to do anyway. The other person walks away, though, making you feel silly and worthless. Yes, it was painfully obvious she'd been in this position before. And Emilia, well, her face never did hid any secrets.
Snape suppressed a sigh. He didn't know why, but maybe he'd actually dance with her. "Emilia, come here," he said.
She looked at him with this odd sort of face she usually got when something was suspicious. "Why?"
"Because you have to come over here to dance," he said, taking a couple steps forward. "Put your hand on my shoulder."
"I know how to dance," she said softly, and her face was a pleasant shade of red. She put her hand gently on his shoulder, and the other one she held out for his hand. He noticed she stood as far away from him as she could stand and still be able to dance. He smiled. Well, he didn't know he had this kind of power over her, he noticed, as her face was a determined red. She was cute when she blushed.
Severus swallowed hard. Just those simple hormones of twenty-two, that's it. He put his hand in her own, and his other around her waist—but pulled her closer. Her face was almost but not quite level with his, he finally noticed, and her face was sort of leveling off as just magenta…this made him smile wider. So it was like that, was it?
The music had started to play, and slowly the two of them dance on the floor. Severus knew how to waltz, and apparently, so did Emilia. Severus noticed, she fit quite comfortably in his arms.
Emilia willed herself to stop blushing. The last time any man held her close like this was when she was in her final year at the final ball…and that was all a joke in itself. Her face finally began to feel cool, and she noticed that Severus really could dance well.
"This'll give them something to talk about," he said, pulling her closer. Emilia turned her head away from him.
"What will?" she said to his other side, backing off a bit.
"Us. Dancing, I mean. Can't you see them?" he said, and Emilia could feel his head glancing around. Emilia looked around, and she did see people looking at them.
"Gee, thanks Severus. Any nervousness I had was just multiplied by ten," she replied sarcastically. "Anything else you want to tell me? Like I forgot my dress robes?"
"If you did, I certainly wouldn't be holding you this loosely," he said quietly. Emilia looked at him with an odd sort of smile.
"Gee, thanks a lot Severus," she said dully, and felt herself being moved closer than before. What the hell was Severus playing at? Not that she was complaining…. This twenty-two year old self she was dancing with was quite cute. She could admit that now, at least. She wasn't going crazy…yet.
But this was Severus! Did she have other feelings for him, or was this seventeen year old hormones? Ugh, another thing to be thankful for in adulthood…none of these damn hormones. The song ended as quickly as it started, and Emilia found herself wanting to stay right where she was, but instead she found herself pulling away. "Thank you," she said dryly.
"Oh course," he said, bowing. She gave him a sarcastic smile and walked back to the table, where Minerva and Dumbledore were now seated as a pause.
Emilia took her seat, and looked at Minerva. "That was cruel," she said as soon as she sat down.
"Thank you," she laughed. Severus glanced at Emilia one last time, then turned to Dumbledore to talk. "I've never seen him take to anyone like this," she said at last, looking at Severus.
"What?" Emilia sputtered, as she was drinking some pumpkin juice.
"I think he likes you," she said quietly.
Emilia felt herself blush. "Shut up, Minerva," she snapped. "That's not even funny to joke about. You know how much I dislike him."
"Yeah. It was so apparent when you danced," she said dryly, looking at her with a sly smile on her face. "You looked like you absolutely hated it."
Emilia turned her head away quickly. She knew it was pink again, but she wasn't going to give Minerva the satisfaction of knowing this. Quite frankly, if Minerva was going to be like this, she didn't even want to talk to her at all. She glanced up, and saw the Severus was looking at her. She turned her head sideways and he shrugged, turning back to Dumbledore, who was chatting avidly. Sighing, she looked beyond him and at the students dancing and all-in-all having fun. Minerva nudged her in the ribs.
"Sorry, touchy subject," she said, grinning. "Care to explain the little exchange of faces?"
Emilia glared at Minerva. "Will you shut up already?" she said exasperatedly. Minerva smiled and sat up properly. Shrugging, she took a long sip from her goblet (Emilia suspected it had a bit more than just pumpkin juice at this point, judging by the way she was acting).
"Want to take a walk, then?" Minerva said, eyeing Severus and Albus, who had just stood and were making their way out to the gardens (no doubt to check out the place where they were when the spell had taken place).
"What are you implying?" she said in an undertone. "I don't want to. I want to sit here until I'm changed back or you sober up, whichever comes first."
"Are you implying that I'm not quite straight?" she said defiantly, her accent faulting a bit. "I'm perfectly sober!"
Emilia shrugged. She wasn't going to argue with Minerva in all her unstableness. "Fine, Minerva, you're sober. I don't want to follow anyone, though."
Minerva stood up. "Who cares what you want," she said, pulling Emilia up by the arm. "We shall follow them. If Albus finds a way to change you back, you'll do well to be there."
Emilia protested greatly, until finally a student came up, looking quite embarrassed. Emilia stopped struggling, and Minerva stopped forcing her to go. "Yes, Mr. Weasley?" she said, not mistaking that red hair for anything.
He glanced over his shoulder to see his other twin (Emilia couldn't tell which one it was standing here versus the other one) and Lee Jordan, their best friend. "Do..." he turned back around at them. "Do you want to dance with me?"
Emilia smiled triumphantly. She got out of Minerva's grip, and said quite happily, "Sure." Minerva looked put out, but then she straightened herself.
"Well, I'll go and be the good friend and see what else I can do for you," she said huffily, walking out of the Great Hall and into the gardens. Emilia smiled.
"Thanks, Mr. Weasley," she said, standing up properly. "I really appreciate you interrupting us." This time she wasn't sarcastic at all. She was quite thankful that she didn't have to listen to Minerva's tittering about "what possibilities they could have together". She prepared herself to sit down when an arm caught her shoulder.
"I really did mean it," he said, blushing slightly.
Emilia looked up at him guiltily. Now walking with Minerva would have been fine! "All right, then," she said hesitantly. He did, after all, interrupt her in her time of need. What little price did she have to pay just by dancing with him? It wasn't even like he was a fourth year or anything. He was...
...just...
...as physically as old as she was...
which was unnerving in itself.
He led her onto the dance floor, and just be it her luck, it was a slow song. Emilia resisted frowning. He looked at her (and she still didn't know which one it was, Fred or George?) and smiled. Emilia smiled weakly. Okay, this was getting weird: that was all that ran through her mind. Very odd indeed.
Fred or George took her hand and kind of got a little waist happy as he pulled her in. Emilia steadied herself and took a small step back. "Very funny, Mr. Weasley," she said, trying to sound firm and strict. Minerva-like, even. She was definitely not used to this attention from men. It was very odd, and she did not like it at all. Well, maybe from Severus she didn't mind, but otherwise it was totally unwelcome, she thought with a small smile. God, did she hate hormones. Because that's what she was relying on as the sole stem of these confusing and unwanted feelings from him. Just hormones, right?
He gave her a lopsided grin and started to dance. All that ran through her head was the Muggle Broadway, "Anna and the King". Mentally she smacked herself, and forced herself to dance properly. He, at the very least, looked like he was enjoying himself. No one seemed to want to question her appearance, or the fact that she was young again (or, perhaps younger still). She didn't mind it, but still she would have expected some sort of questioning by now, not some passes made at her. His brother swung by with Miss Johnson (she assumed this one was Fred and the one she was dancing with was George, because on many occasions she's caught him and his girlfriend Angelina Johnson in a room or two), and gave him a devilish sort of grin. George Weasley returned it, and swung Emilia back around.
"What are you doing?" she said as he dipped her, pulling his head close to hers.
"Just some holiday cheer," he replied. "Nothing to be concerned about, Professor." He lifted her back up, and smiled widely. It seemed those two twins were constantly all smiles. Not that she minded it, but they had a tendency to be smiling about all the wrong things, and not to mention, they were practical jokers. She wouldn't be surprised to walk out with a "Kick Me" sign on her back.
"What are you two planning?" she said quietly as they swung past gawking students. Emilia felt extremely self-conscious. Even more so than when she was dancing with Severus (which, again, wasn't too bad of a thought).
"Absolutely nothing," he replied again. Everything was a quick "nothing" from them.
She raised an eyebrow. The song ended, and Emilia pulled back a little, letting him go. "Quite, then. Stay out of trouble, Mr. Weasley." She paused for a moment, reached up behind her, and felt something there. She pulled out her wand and flicked whatever was on there off, which said, "Here was Snape for the greatest run ever."
Emilia blushed furiously, and looked at the Weasleys. They started to laugh. Emilia didn't even smile. She walked over to them, and held out the piece of parchment. "You had better hope with all the money in Gringotts there is nothing else in there or your beds will be so cursed whoever you lay tonight will be covered in spots tomorrow morning," she said fiercely and quickly, still not smiling.
Their faces fell, and the waved their wands quickly to get rid of whatever was on there. She smiled sweetly, and shoved the paper into his chest. "Thank you," she said. They nodded, and turned around. She grinned and pointed two signs onto their backs: "Will work for a brain," and "I tried to think once: look how I came out" which had a picture of a troll underneath.
Emilia laughed as she turned away, and went outside. Anything was better than being bombarded by either those twins or any other students queuing up to dance with her. She gave one last glance at them, and saw that people were pointing and laughing at them. They were still completely oblivious. It made her laugh even harder.
She walked out into the gardens again, keen on finding Minerva. She stopped when she saw that Severus was the only one there. The other two had disappeared, and she didn't know where they went.
Emilia walked up cautiously to Snape, who was still examining the ground. "Er, Severus, do you know where Minerva went?"
He shook his head, still looking at the ground. "I think they went that way," he said, pointing in the direction she had just come from, which showed that he was of no help to her at all.
"Are you even paying attention to me?" she said sharply, and he finally looked up. She put her hand on her hip and waited for his answer. He slowly raised himself up (he was bent over) and finally reached his full height, which ended up being two inches taller than her. She took a step back, and kind of smiled meekly. "Like I was saying," she said, looking up now at him, "Where is Minerva?"
"She went off somewhere. I don't keep tabs on the woman," he snapped at her, crossing his arms. "Was that all you wanted?"
No, her mind raced. I want to...damn hormones, she thought quickly, before that thought entered her mind. "Fine, be a prat," she said sharply, turning away and crossing her arms angrily. If he was going to be a jerk, well then fine, she wasn't going to co-operate then neither.
He threw his hands up in the air. "I was being bloody serious! What did you want?" he said exasperatedly. He gave her a withering look.
Emilia uncrossed her arms and she pointed in the direction of where he'd pointed. "Do you know what sort of ridicule I got in there?" She suddenly got a fun idea. "I want to show you something," she said.
"Don't you think that's going a bit fast?" he said dryly, walking next to her as they made their way back to the Great Hall.
She looked at him. Punching him on the shoulder gently, she said, "My God Severus, you have a very twisted mind."
"If you knew what I was talking about, then you have one just as equal," he replied softly.
She gave him a very sardonic smile. "Ha-ha," she said. "Come on," she said, as she entered the Great Hall, and sat down casually at the table they were at before. He came up and sat next to her, turning to look where she was pointing.
The Weasleys didn't get wind of what was on their backs, and were still right where she had left them. He read the signs, and laughed. Emilia looked at him. She'd had never ever heard him laugh before. It was...almost cute. It was a deep laugh, but far from booming. It was sweet, and she wondered why he didn't laugh more often.
And she wondered why she was thinking these thoughts. She must be going out of her mind. Emilia looked away from Severus and back at the two Weasley boys. "What brought this on?" he asked. "Something must have made you do that."
"Nothing gets by you, does it?" she said quietly. "Well, if you must know..." she paused in suspense, smiling widely.
"Yes, I must, I must," he replied monotonously, smirking.
"They had a sign on my back that said, 'Here was Snape for the greatest run ever.'" She said simply (and rather quickly, she noticed). Severus' eyes got rather large and then he turned to the Weasleys, standing up.
"No! Sit down," she said, reaching up to grab his arm but ended up grabbing a bunch of robes, and pulled down on them. "I took care of it in my own way."
He sat down, grumbling. "I refuse to let that sort of thing happen. It's not fair to me," he said. "And you," he added in an afterthought.
"Well," she said slowly, "you act like the meanest teacher on campus and you expect...what?"
"Respect," he snapped. "I didn't come in here for a character debate, Emilia." He scowled at her.
Emilia threw her hands back. "Fine!" she snapped, standing. "Fine! Have a jolly good time by yourself. I was only trying to show you something I thought was funny." Emilia glared at him contemptuously. "You only know how to act really bad to people, don't you? Sarcasm and acting like an asshole is all you really know."
Severus stood up, and looked down at her (like it was some sort of big thing to be taller than she was), and said softly, "You only know how to be a naïve little girl who is extremely melodramatic and acts very much like a tramp." And with that, he walked out of the Great Hall, leaving Emilia to feel somewhat foolish and even more confused, because Severus Snape only spoke the truth, and that would mean what he just said was completely true.