Authors notes: I don't own the characters, just the story.
Chapter Two
The rain had yet to stop in 3 days and the sky was as dark as night of the horizon, so no sun was night. Just as the light had been sucked out of life so had the warmth, and many of the blooming flowers and trees were beginning to go back into their wintertime slumber. The golden shimmer of the Quidditch hoops that could be seen from the south windows of Hogwarts Castle had been absent for far to long and the quidditch players from all houses brooded together in the Great Hall, putting aside rivalries for half-witted humor and quasi-amusement until the pitch dried up. Most of the Teaching Staff had been unaffected by the weather, while some used it to their advantage. Professor Minerva McGonogall had all her classes turning rubber hoses into umbrellas and raincoats. Hagrid and Professor Sprout had been given time off since all their classes were temporarily suspended due to weather.
The most constant thing that remained in the castle was the ever disconsolate Severus Snape, Potions Master. He was constantly on edge and if one so much as breathed the wrong way in his class, it was instant detention and 50 points from one's house. He had stopped eating in the Great Hall a few years before and only ventured into it for chaperoning duties and during Owl Post delivery during breakfast, a great mystery to the students since he never received mail, not even a Daily Prophet. On this day, like all the days before it, Professor Snape arrived to the Great Hall by way of a small door behind his chair. The always unenthused Professor took his seat quietly, if a bit late, and waited for owls to begin swooping in.
Across from the large, black lake of Hogwarts, Madelaine sat on a small faded red bench with her bag over her head to prevent the pelting rain from getting in her ears or on her head and thus avoiding being ill. The showers however, had different plans and soaked through her bag and the point of leaving it over her head was gone, and so she sat, waiting for her escort to return with something other than walking as an option for transportation. When Hagrid finally returned to her, she was wet through and needed to go somewhere warm.
"I couldn' find anything Maddie. Is walking alrigh' with yeh?" He asked, handing her his umbrella.
"Yes, It is fine with me. Anything so I can get changed into something dry." She replied and took the umbrella and opened it. The pair began to walk toward the castle, unnoticed in the torrents of rain the were coming down faster and harder by the minute. The dark blues and greens of the Forbidden Forest were hidden through the rain and the castle could barely be seen. Howling winds rushed past them, nearly knocking Madelaine down twice. She was soaked through to the bone and wanted to retreat to the warmth of the castle. This thought helped her stay warm inside. By the time they had reached the castle, both of Madelaine's shoes had been discarded in the thick, sticky mud and her clothes stuck to her like plastic wrap on yesterdays dinner. Her face was roseate with anticipation and exertion and she was having trouble hiding the mixed look of sheer elation and despair at being back at Hogwarts. As she took a deep breath, her chest heaved and she pushed open the door to the main corridor in the Castle.
"Thank you Hagrid. I'll see you later." She turned and smiled to Hagrid.
"Of course yeh will. But for now, I'm off to the Great Hall for a bit of food and to deliver this to Professor Snape." He nodded to her as she continued down the lengthy passage to the dungeons and Hagrid went onto the Great Hall. The plush carpet on the long corridors felt divine under her tired and cold feet and by the time she had reached Severus's quarters she didn't notice the cold anymore, and had dried off significantly. Madelaine gazed up at the large stone gargoyle guarding the arched door to Severus's rooms. She had been here one last time a month before she had left for America. He had changed the password, but she had obtained it from Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, so she could claim a few more of her forgotten personal things.
"If I know you, it hasn't changed." she whispered to herself and out loud clearly demanded, "Amor avium". The Gargoyle guard moved to the right to allow her passage down a rather small and dank way to the grand oak door that took her to his rooms. It took her eyes a while to get used to the crepuscular chambers. She smiled to herself in personal satisfaction as she moved into the sitting room, a dark, foreboding room decorated with heavy tapestry and near-ebony wood and lit a fire with a quick 'incendio' and moved to his closet to find something much warmer to wear. Through the yards and yards of varying textures and weights of black upon black fabric, she found a pair of jeans and a dark blue sweater, the was slightly to long in the sleeves, and a bit to tight in the chest. Just like she had bought it. Her wet clothing were disposed of in a small wicker basket in the pristine white bathroom that he kept immaculate. A newly freshened up Madelaine curled up in the armchair by the fire and began to look at an old leather bound book she saw sitting on the small, cherry-wood table between the chairs. She had no interest in Drawing Parallels Between Ancient Arithmancy and Modern Alchemy so she laid it to rest, conjured herself a drink and waited.
Hagrid walked into the Great Hall with a smile that was nearly hidden beneath his full beard. He gave a slight nod to Sir Nicholas as he passed the Gryffindor table, decked with Scarlet and Gold banners and ignored the sneer and nasty glances coming from the Slytherins against the left wall. The enchanted ceiling was dark and dreary, and the candles that lit the Great Hall had to be increased in numbers and light to adapt to the dark days that were sure to lay ahead, weather-wise. In the head of the room, in the center of the professors' table sat Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a gray old man with a lively and knowing twinkle in his deep, kind blue eyes, and he had the appearance of one's grandfather, which helped in running in school comprised of 11 to 17 year olds. Hagrid approached the Professors' table with a cocky swagger that was very against his character, and bent down at the waist to mumble something half-heard by Dumbledore and half-heard by the rest of the staff. Albus nodded carefully, after piecing together the missing pieces of the message. Hagrid nodded back to him and walked around to his chair at the end of the table next to Professor Sprout who immediately began telling him the benefits of adding various muggle herbs and spices to fertilizers or hippogriff foods. Dumbledore waited for Hagrid to take his seat before slowly standing to speak.
"I apologize but my supper with you has been cut short by certain circumstances. Enjoy the rest of your meal." He smiled to the rows of children who immediately went back to eating and discussing what circumstances could have possibly chased the headmaster away from dinner. Dumbledore pushed his chair back under the table and proceeded towards Severus Snape's chair. He lay an aged hand on Severus's shoulder. "I need to speak with you." Snape stood up stiffly, glaring around the room, picking out which children he was bound to be seeing at detention that night. Following Albus out of the Great Hall and into the main stairway, he began to wonder what the so-far silent Headmaster wanted to speak with him about. The pair proceeded down the lengthy corridor until reaching a stopping point of a large stone phoenix. Albus' office. 'Happy hippo treat' being the password, the twosome climbed the steps and made their way into the small circular sitting room. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, let out a small squak, letting him know that he had just hatched. Severus took a seat across from the headmaster, sinking into an opulent azure chair.
"Your silence amazes me Albus. Please enlighten me as to why I am here." Severus began calmly, entwining his fingers into one another and resting them in the lap, as if he was anxiously awaiting something.
"Would like some tea Severus?" He stalled slightly, but mostly he offered out of manners.
"No thank you. I'm fine." Severus replied thickly. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife and served up with a thanksgiving ham, but both men seemed to stay distant, as if each was expecting the other to find out on their own what was going to happen or what was going on. Albus sighed and fought mentally with himself briefly on how to break the news that had been delivered to him just moments earlier by Hagrid.
"Severus, Hagrid informed me earlier of a former student of Hogwarts having recently arrived back at the castle." He started slowly, timing himself by tunes in his head to keep from speaking fast or letting out to much information at once.
"And? Are they looking for some type of an apprenticeship with me because you know how I feel about things like that. I have enough trouble dealing with people like Longbottom and educating the other students in my classes, the capable ones without watching Longbottom and any apprentice."
"No, no it has nothing to do with that, although she did have quite a mind about potions from what I remember." Albus laughed to himself as he remembered the kind of trouble Madelaine had gotten herself into without the help of her friends or a certain heart-sick potions master.
"Who is this keen potions student then? Refresh my memory because so far I am at a loss as to who this person is or what they want." He said, pinching the bridge of his nose, either preventing a headache or willing one to come so he could excuse himself.
"Oh Severus, she came back at your request, Wouldn't you know that?" Albus asked in a truly wondering tone. Severus looked up at him from the chair, his obsidian eyes burning into the Dumbledore's, looking for some sign of jest or misunderstanding, but found none.
"Where is she?" He attempted to ask, but his voice caught in his throat at the anticipation of seeing her again. Severus didn't know what to make of it, thoughts flew through his mind at an unhealthy pace and he couldn't grasp a hold of one long enough to make any sense of it or elaborate on it.
"I don't know. Maybe you should have a drink and go to bed. Worry about it in the morning, She's no doubt in one of the house's extra rooms or in a guest bed somewhere. Maybe even with Poppy, but we don't know, so don't worry yourself over it. Save that for tomorrow otherwise you could make yourself sick."
Severus nodded thoughtfully and slow before he stood even stiffer before, ready to go down to his rooms. He left the Headmaster with a stern, pensive look on his face and made his way down to the dungeons before collapsing in the corridor.
Curled up in on a small lounge, Madelaine had given up waiting, and fallen asleep long ago. Although she had been hungry, her mental and physical exhaustion had finally caught up with her and she lay in a tight ball with a thick white blanket draped loosely around her. The fire was no more than a warm crackle and hiss every so often and the once distinct shadows dancing on the walls were not of physical beings manifest in the room, but of memories fliting across rooms and time and emotions. Severus made his way into his rooms, surviving his mild anxiety and heaviness of heart for her, to see the light amber light of a dying fire before his eyes and wound up like a napping cat, Madelaine. His jaw locked and he cocked his head to the right, letting a strand of black hair fall across his face in a sort of curious manner. He approached her, hands out, not sure of whether to scoop her into his arms or strangle her to death and leave her in the Forbidden Forest for the food of the vicious scavengers that roamed among the thick trees. He could feel beads of sweat pour down his face as he backed into a chair and stared at her, and in the last flickers of bisque light against her face Severus realized, much to his dismay, that he hadn't been sweating because of murderous thoughts, or because of anxiety. He was crying.