Dumbledore stood on the Astronomy tower in the yet cool mid-morning air
watching as the first Magical Creatures class convened below. His mind was
not on the class below him, however. It wasn't even on the barely visible
Dementors guarding the school gates or the reason they were there. It was
focused almost entirely on his newest set of twins.
They were promising to be the most interesting pair to grace the halls of Hogwarts. With a father who was a powerful wizard and quite well known to him, they couldn't help but be anything else. And then they had managed to wreak magical havoc both on the train and at the feast. How many other untrained pre-teens could do such a thing?
Now for the most interesting part, at least to Dumbledore. One twin was a Slytherin while the other a Gryffindor. It wasn't unusual for twins to be put in separate houses, but that it was those particular houses was the unusual part. They were notorious for their rivalry. It went back to before even Dumbledore's time, possibly even back to the original founders, and yet these two inseparable twins were placed in opposing houses.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled brightly as he contemplated the possible scenarios. At worse, one twin would be lost to darkness or perhaps insanity and at best the schism between the houses would be healed. Perhaps if he played these twins properly, he could keep young May Day from sane and have a powerful pair of allies for the battles he knew would come again. After all, this was only the eye of the storm the Wizarding World was experiencing. And even if it wasn't another Dark Lord would rise and Harry Potter couldn't protect the world by himself.
Yes, he would stop the Day Twins from turning and make them his greatest assets next to Harry Potter. HE only hoped their promise for trouble proved vain. He didn't think the school could survive another Fred and George Weasley. Especially ones in separate houses and gifted with such extraordinary power. Perhaps he had better give Snape some free reign to tame these girls.
With a last sigh, Dumbledore turned and strode inside, determined to begin his new venture.
************************************
May ran up the dungeon stairwells hoping to avoid meeting the castle ghosts that her Slytherin roommates had been talking about since the first day of school. She was terrified of ever actually meeting one, especially without her sister, which was a real possibility now that they had been separated. At least Kay would be with her for their first Potions class today. May was terrified of having to be anywhere near the scary man, even though he was her Head of House.
Finally she could see the entrance to the Great Hall and breakfast. Stopping in the doorway, she gazed around the room for her sister. Kay was sitting at the other end of the Gryffindor table. With a sudden grin, May ran forward and yelled, "Kay Day!" just before she leapt onto her poor startled sister, knocking her to the floor.
Kay sprawled across the floor and then grinned suddenly and widely. "May!" she poked her sister, trying to get her off, "I do hope you tried your best to not get in trouble." She was silent a moment before smirking and continuing softly, "after all, you should save that energy for the two of us together."
May giggled, "Don't worry! I've got enough!" With that she bounced up to sit next to where her sister had been sitting and began filling a plate.
"Hello," she chirped to the other Gryffindors at the table, seemingly not noticing their censure of her.
Kay grinned and shook her head, choosing to focus on her sister rather than the rest at her table. She grinned brightly, impishly, whispering to her sister, between bites of food. "I bet we could get away with switching places any time we wanted."
May nodded enthusiastically as she reached for a roll. She opened her mouth to reply, but it came out a loud scream as a ghost with a collar ruffle popped his head through the table.
"KAY DAY," she screeched, falling back off the bench and scrambling to hide behind her twin.
The poor ghost watched her run with a surprised look on his face that quickly turned gleeful. "I can be scary," he enthused.
"And already dead or no I'll kill if you frighten my sister again," Kay hissed darkly, glaring at the ghost. It would have been funny, actually, were it not May hiding behind her, but that thought didn't even enter Kay's head as she glared at the ghost.
The ghost looked surprised at Kay, his mouth flapping open as he tried to formulate coherent words.
"Kill him," drawled a coldly amused voice. "Why, Miss Day, you become more and more violent with each meeting."
Kay turned abruptly at the voice, her glare hardening as she caught sight of Professor Snape, and almost immediately she was on her feet, between him in her sister. It was entirely by instinct, and was something, were she thinking, she probably would not have done. "I'm sorry but that jerk of a ghost scared my sister," she hissed lightly, not sounding at all remorseful.
"You sister," Snape hissed right back, "is a cry-baby who could use a good scare." He looked behind Kay at the sister in question. "And what are you doing eating at the Gryffindor table?"
"Eating breakfast with my sister..." May sniffled in reply, barely managing to meet her teacher's glare.
Kay growled, "What, is there some sort of rule against that?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm and a general dished. All that was going through her mind was that this man was scaring her sister, and didn't care. In fact he seemed to like the idea. She wanted him gone... and that was all there was too it.
"Slytherins do not eat with Gryffindors and that will be 10 points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Miss Day," Snape said as the whispers of the Gryffindors reached his ears. He didn't mind being thought crazy, but he would never have it said of him that he bullied his own house.
Snape grabbed May's bag and threw it to her, "Go sit next to Mr. Malfoy like a good little Slytherin, Miss Day. And if my feet leave the ground, Miss GRYFFINDOR Day, it will be 50 points from Gryffindor."
Kay glared coldly, anger boiling inside her "Don't worry," she hissed, not sitting down, not able to she was so seething with anger. Her eyes closed a moment, and in the vision of her mind' eye was a fire, a fire that didn't burn in actuality. But burn it did, wreathing a serpent and skull in flames. She shook her head then, trying to clear it... Serpent and what?
May squeaked as she became the first, aside from Snape himself, to notice the harsh green glow coming from beneath the tall teacher's robe arm. She knew she wasn't doing it, so that meant--
"What are you doing, Kay," she hissed to her sister, not sure if she was more frightened by her teacher's mean face or his scared face.
Snape for his part gasped, grabbed his arm and ran out of the Hall, leaving it silent in his wake.
"Wicked," yelled a pair of awed voices. "No one's ever been able to do that before!" May turned to see a pair of twin red-heads.
Kay near collapsed back to her seat as her eyes shot open, "Do what," she half-whispered questioningly, barely able to get her voice louder. Her eyes darted from her sister to the source of the shout that had startled her back into reality. She focused almost immediately on her sister once more, eyes deep with confusion echoing in their depths. "What happened?"
"You sent Snape running like You-Know-Who himself was on his heels," cried one of the twins again.
"You put green fire on his arm," May said to Kay so that only she could hear. "And I think I liked him better scary than scared."
Kay looked startled a moment before grinning to the room, as though she had planned it all. "But at least he's gone," she whispered softly to her sister, forcing herself not to focus. The serpent and skull wreathed in flame, she closed her eyes a moment, grinning impishly as she opened them once more. "Let's finish breakfast," she half chirped, finishing at a whisper to her sister, "and plan some fun."
May nodded and went back to her breakfast, the reactions of those around her a little less cold, "And we have Potions first, so we can walk to class together."
Kay grinned impishly and nodded, "Sounds good to me," she paused taking a bite of her food and swallowing before continuing, "I wonder if the teach will show."
"Of course," May grinned impishly. "He'll want revenge."
Her grin widened as the pair of twins that had spoken before left patting the two on the backs. "We'll be leaving successor s when we go, George," laughed the one. May simply grinned into her hotcakes and continued eating.
Kay grinned proudly a moment and before they left quipped, "Successors? We'll be running the show before you go." She grinned then, leaving them to whatever they might say, but ignoring it as she finished eating her food. She had no idea what she had done, but she now knew this school would be nothing if not interesting...and fun.
May sat in a chair next to her sister awaiting the arrival of her Potions teacher, "Kay Day? When are we going to start looking for Daddy?"
Kay glanced at May, grinning a bit as she whispered, "Any time is good." She glanced around a moment and then grinned back at her once more. "I wonder if we've already seen him!"
"Maybe," May replied, "but how will we know? When we've found him, I mean?"
Kay shrugged lightly, focusing her eyes on her desk for a moment before grinning impishly back at her sister. "I dunno, but I'm sure we'll find out somehow, or maybe he will. Maybe we look enough like Mommy that he will." She was silent then, giving another shrug as her eyes slid around the room.
Suddenly the door slammed open and Professor Snape stormed in, his cloak billowing behind him. He marched to the front of the room and began a speech that sounded to May as though it was well-worn.
Kay tilted her head lightly, listening, at least for the moment. There was plenty of time for mischief later. She let a small smirk slip to May.
Snape directed a dark glare at the two, but as he looked around the classroom he saw that there were an uneven number of each house and let them be, for the moment. Instead he began writing the ingredients for their first potion on the board.
"Well," he asked sarcastically, his dark eyes blazing with a cold fire. "What are you waiting for? An invitation? Get started!"
Kay looked at the board a moment, then back at her desk with a momentary dart to the teacher. She had no idea what some of these ingredients were, and she refused to ask for help. Oh well, maybe she could 'accidentally' cause a small explosion. That'd get people's attention... and it would be fun too...
Reading the labels on their packaged ingredients, May took out all but one of the needed parts. "Kay," she asked as she rummaged through her kit. What's 'boomslang'?"
Kay tilted her head slightly, eyes a bit blank. "boomwha?"
"The last--"
"THIS," Snape interrupted as he slapped down an awful looking clump of matter, "is boomslang. I may yet salvage some intelligence from one of you." He eyed Ma with a calculating look before moving on to give the others their bit of boomslang.
Kay tilted her head lightly, and waiting until the man's back was to her for a moment stuck her tongue out at him for a split second before returning to looking over her ingredients. Oh boy... This looked like so much fun... She hated school.
May grinned at her sister, "Why do you think it's called BOOMslang?"
Kay grinned a bit, an impish expression sweeping across her face. "I think I have some idea." She made a vow to herself then. She was going to study potions, going to figure out what was made explosions, and what could be used for pranks.
Suddenly May giggled, "Wouldn't it be funny if Professor Snape was Daddy?" She continued giggling as she imagined the horrible fate of that happenstance.
Kay almost burst into giggles, doing her best to contain them. "Very," she said softly.
May started the process of cutting up and separating their ingredients, "What do we do if Daddy isn't here?"
Kay shrugged and grinned a bit impishly. "Then we have fun with whoever is here."
"Yeah," May grinned, "there's plenty of pranks for us to play here."
Kay smirked and nodded enthusiastically, thinking about Draco and other Slytherins. "And plenty of people to play them on," she hissed happily.
"An entire school's worth," May nodded, handing Kay the first ingredient to drop in the soon-to-be potion.
Kay grinned a bit, taking the ingredient and dropping it in. Well it was a start. Of course, she was surprised they hadn't yet been scolded by Snape for talking.
As if on cue, a tall dark shadow loomed over them, "Why aren't you further in this potion? Are your pathetic little love lives more important than our class time?"
Kay raised an eyebrow. "Yes, even though they don't exist they are," she quipped, unable to hold it back though she tried. She looked down with a wince that she did her best to not let show, "But we're moving no slower then anyone else." She pointed out after quick glance around, knowing it would do nothing to redeem after the first remark. But oh well, mischief was her business after all.
May threw in another ingredient and began stirring the cauldron as the two fused together in the small amount of water already boiling. Snape watched her with narrowed eyes before replying, "We will be testing your potion on your sister here, Miss Day, so maybe now you could spare some attention towards making it."
The grouchy professor began stalking away as he threw over his shoulder, "And that will be 10 more points from Gryffindor."
Kay did her best not to giggle as she turned back to May "Well," she muttered, watching the potion, her eyes darting to her sister periodically, "I have a feeling I'm going to be costing Gryffindor a lot of points." With that she worked more on helping with the potion, still grinning. She annoyed the man, of that she was certain, and proud.
*************************************************
May sat curled in a corner reading her Potions textbook. From what she could tell, this was the only way she was ever going to learn the skill, since her teacher seemed to hate her and her sister. Sighing, she ignored the babble of the room around her and concentrated on the textbook.
"What's this," drawled a coldly amused voice. "A little Mudblood wanna be?"
May looked up into the scowling, ferret-like countenance of Draco Malfoy as she felt her heart drop swiftly into her stomach. His grey eyes glittered like dirty icicles in the sunlight as his hand darted out to snatch her Potions book away.
"Studying for Potions," he continued, encouraged by the sparkle of fear he could detect in his victim's wide green eyes. He laughed, echoed by his Crabbe and Goyle from behind him, and waved the book casually around as the room quieted to watch the night's entertainment. "You shouldn't bother. You don't belong here and you'll just be giving this up for your miserable Muggle life again."
"Will not." May whispered weakly as she followed the book with her eyes, wondering if turning the bully's hair pink again would just make things worse or better. She wished with all her might that she was with her sister now. Kay was much better at confrontation and May herself was always braver when she had her sister to depend on.
"What was that," Draco snarled, amusement lacing his voice. He was enjoying having a captive victim to play with; he just needed to make sure she knew she couldn't escape him.
"I need my book back," May said a little louder, though her voice held a tremor of fear that might reach 8 on a Muggle Richter Scale. "I need to study for Potions, so Professor Snape won't be so angry."
Draco's eyes flared in malicious joy at the opening he saw and he threw the book over his shoulder. It soared unseen past the stupidly grinning faces of his goons and straight into long, tapered fingers.
Draco leaned in closely, smiling as a cat that has caught its prey might, "Snape-"
"Would just happen to be standing behind you, Mr. Malfoy," the cool, silky voice of the Potions Master interrupted the boy.
Draco jumped and turned, attempting to remain confident even as he tried to escape detention, "P-Professor. We were just helping May here study for her Potions class."
"Without her textbook," Snape asked, delicately arching an eyebrow even as he raised the Potions book.
"Um.I.She." Draco sputtered, unsure how to escape this.
"Perhaps you would do better if you studied your own Potions, Mr. Malfoy," Snape told his student quietly. "I do not believe your father to have be overly please d by your performance last term."
Draco gulped, his eyes darting between Snape and the small girl behind him before shoving past Crabbe and Goyle and making for the boys dorm with as much dignity as he could under the circumstances. Crabbe and Goyle followed as quickly as they could without stumbling over their robes along the way.
Snape watched them go with narrowed eyes before turning to the rest of the common room, "And what exactly makes you think that this is any affair of yours?"
Conversation quickly started up and heads disappeared so fast that May was certain most of them would have headaches before too long. She watched with wary eyes as Snape turned back and contemplated her silently. He wasn't as scary as she had first thought, the incident at breakfast had confirmed that for her, but she still wasn't sure how he should be treated.
"At least you're promising to not annoy me as badly as most of my students as far as your grades are concerned, but don't think you can do any better in my class simply because you happened to open a book," Snape finally snarled softly, his obsidian eyes sparkling.
"No, sir," May said, though she hoped to prove the man wrong.
"They will attack you again. I suggest you find a protector."
"My sister protects me."
"Your sister's in Gryffindor, girl," Snape snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously. "You need a Slytherin to defend you from Slytherins! Gryffindors have no power here!"
"I can take care of myself," May told him miserably. She had always hated being yelled at, especially by someone she already feared and knew held power over her.
"Like you did in the Great Hall at the Sorting," Snape asked viciously.
May remained wisely silent and he sighed before raising his wand and pointing it at May's Potions text. He whispered a few words that she could hear before holding it out to her with a sneer.
"Here's your book, girl," he told her and she reached to take it. "I will have you expelled if I EVER find out that you do not have it on your person. Understood?"
May nodded fearfully and thought she caught a flicker of something human cross her cruel professor's face. He leaned down and whispered so that only she could hear, "This will protect you until you have the means to care for yourself."
May's eyes widened as Snape straightened and began crossing the common room to the exit. Hugging the book to her chest and feeling as though she must, she called out to him, "Professor Snape, I'm sorry." She stopped uncertainly as he looked back at her expectantly. She bowed her head to the floor and watched him watch her through the black veil of her hair until he finally snapped back around and continued out.
May sighed and curled back up in her corner, eyeing the room warily. She was sure what she should think of her professor now. Was he a friendly adult? She still didn't think so, but she no longer thought him exactly mean. A mean man wouldn't protect her, would he? Of course, she didn't think he was being entirely characteristic just then either.
*********************************************
After classes Kay sat in the common room of the tower, comfortable in the couch, but her thoughts constantly drifting to her sister. She hoped she was all right, all alone with the pack of Slytherins. Why had that stupid hat separated them? Yeah, she was doing well enough on her own, but she missed her sister more then anything.
"Hey," piped one of the twins from earlier as they flopped down next to her on the couch, "What is your name?"
"Yeah," said the other on her other side. "Besides the Terror of Snape."
Kay grinned a bit impishly up at the two, green eyes sparkling brightly, "Kay Day, though I do like 'Terror of Snape' a bit better... has a nice ring to it."
The twins laughed, their laughter ringing through the tower common room and making their eyes sparkle mischievously. Soon one twin sobered and looked around the room, "Where's your sister?"
Kay bit her lip for a moment, anger tracing her features. "Stupid sorting hat put her in Slyrtherin," she muttered, forcing herself to a more cheerful demeanor directly thereafter. "Of course, this will give us lots more ways to reek havoc. I mean, think about it," she finished off, a full impish grin on her face.
The twins looked startled at each other over her head before grinning broadly. "I LOVE the way you think," they told her simultaneously. "By the end of this year, this school isn't gonna know what hit it!"
Kay grinned impishly and brightly. "That," she said gleefully, "is exactly what we have in mind!" She grinned to them once more, green eyes bright and full of undeniable mischief. "You two have been here a while. Picked up a few tricks, I do hope you won't find having a first year or two tagging along to be too much trouble...."
The twin on her right casually slapped a hand down on her shoulder and leaned back, "That, m'girl, should be the kind of trouble we like. Right Fred?"
"Right, George," replied the other with a grin. He leaned back and cocked his head. "The marauders re-"
"Hello boys," piped up a familiar voice from behind. The three turned to see Harry's bright green eyes staring back at them with a strange look to them. "I don't think Kay needs any lessons in mischief."
"Harry," grinned Fred. "Blimey, but your startled me better than Filch ever did!"
Harry didn't know why, but he suddenly very much wanted to protect the small girls he'd met before, though he doubted they really needed it after that display earlier. Still, they'd only get a bad reputation if they were seen cavorting with two known twin pranksters so early on. So, he opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted when George exclaimed, "Wicked! Harry, did you know how much you resemble Kay here?"
Kay grinned a bit, her eyes darting to Harry, and focusing on him for a long moment. Kay tilted her head lightly, she hadn't actually spent that much time looking at Harry really, and they were right. He did bare some odd resemblance. "Wow," Kay questioned softly, "he's right you know?"
Harry blinked down at her, taking inventory. They did share the same black hair and small facial structure. She was even small for her age and skinny just as he always had been and probably always would be. The twins also shared bright green eyes as him, though not the same shade of emerald; theirs were more hazel with golden specks that sparkled in a couple random spots on their iris.
"You're right..." Harry breathed, before wandering off to find Hermione and Ron for reassurance. His life was becoming interesting again - that never boded well.
Kay grinned a bit as Harry left and giggled softly, turning her attention back to the twins. Yes, this would definitely be a fun year, her and her sister would find some way to be together as much as possible at least... And to cause as much trouble as possible.
The boys moved to stand, "Get your sister..."
Kay tilted her head slightly before speaking softly in reply, "May..."
"Get you sister May to meet us at the Astronomy Tower at 8 tomorrow night. We'll show you a few secret passages around here..." they finished with a twinkle in their eyes before exaggerating a yawn and heading up to the boys' dormitories.
Kay nodded enthusiastically, smirking as the older boys left. She was practically bouncing in her chair. She couldn't wait to tell May! This was going to be fun. Her line of thought froze. She sure hoped May was all right, and wished they could be together. She climbed slowly to the girls' dormitory, and when the lights were out she curled up in the bed, missing her sister, and worried about her. Why had they been separated? ************************************************
Snape sat before his softly crackling fireplace, his face set in stern lines that he was unwilling to relinquish even in the sanctuary of his own home. He'd learned long ago that even the most sacred of places could be infiltrated and was now used to living as though they already had been.
At the moment, however, it was not the infiltration of his chambers that worried him. It was the infiltration of his house that troubled him this night.
May Day, the raven-haired little Muggle born witch with eyes like the ones that haunted his dreams when he managed to find sleep - She had become a Slytherin. She had dumped Skunk Liqueur on him, turned him green then PINK, thrown him across a room like a rag doll and she was one of HIS students. By all rights, he should make her life as miserable as he made Potter's!
But those eyes. Those eyes haunted him. They made him do things he hadn't done in years. He had protected her, he would always protect the children of his house, especially the weakest, like May, but he normally wouldn't actually tell them he was protecting them. Just have them expelled when it became clear their stupidity would lead to a quick demise if they remained.
He wondered if the hat was perhaps mistaken in placing such a powerful, yet dependent witch, who was Muggle born even, in the most ambitious and biased house in the entire school. Surely the hat had finally come unglued!
But no, the hat had never made a mistake in its entire use, even Sirius Black, the infamous murderer, had shown his own streak of Gryffindor-brand courage. There had to be SOME reason the chit was placed in his house. He just had to ensure she survived long enough for him to discover it.
Perhaps he should arrange for her education in the ways of a Slytherin. Perhaps Draco Malfoy? It might soften his ways if he was made to take her under his wing. And surely he would want someone capable of an intelligent conversation to be with?
And then there was Sara Killensley and Raewyn McGowan, the other two Slytherin girls of her year. The three of them might make an awesome fighting force if he could bring them together.
The only problem would be separating her from her twin and Potter, who she had apparently taken a shine to. If she stayed with them, they would never let her go later without a fight and there were already too many of those in the halls. His only option was the forceful separation of them in classes and meal times. If he could keep them apart then and find ways during their free times.
Yes, it might work. She may be Muggle born, but he would see to it that she did not disgrace the Slytherin house. Gryffindor had enough power without one of HIS students adding to it.
With a smile that would have scared even the Bloody Baron had anyone seen it, Snape stood and changed for bed. Soon after he settled in to sleep - and dream of dancing green eyes and what might have been.
They were promising to be the most interesting pair to grace the halls of Hogwarts. With a father who was a powerful wizard and quite well known to him, they couldn't help but be anything else. And then they had managed to wreak magical havoc both on the train and at the feast. How many other untrained pre-teens could do such a thing?
Now for the most interesting part, at least to Dumbledore. One twin was a Slytherin while the other a Gryffindor. It wasn't unusual for twins to be put in separate houses, but that it was those particular houses was the unusual part. They were notorious for their rivalry. It went back to before even Dumbledore's time, possibly even back to the original founders, and yet these two inseparable twins were placed in opposing houses.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled brightly as he contemplated the possible scenarios. At worse, one twin would be lost to darkness or perhaps insanity and at best the schism between the houses would be healed. Perhaps if he played these twins properly, he could keep young May Day from sane and have a powerful pair of allies for the battles he knew would come again. After all, this was only the eye of the storm the Wizarding World was experiencing. And even if it wasn't another Dark Lord would rise and Harry Potter couldn't protect the world by himself.
Yes, he would stop the Day Twins from turning and make them his greatest assets next to Harry Potter. HE only hoped their promise for trouble proved vain. He didn't think the school could survive another Fred and George Weasley. Especially ones in separate houses and gifted with such extraordinary power. Perhaps he had better give Snape some free reign to tame these girls.
With a last sigh, Dumbledore turned and strode inside, determined to begin his new venture.
************************************
May ran up the dungeon stairwells hoping to avoid meeting the castle ghosts that her Slytherin roommates had been talking about since the first day of school. She was terrified of ever actually meeting one, especially without her sister, which was a real possibility now that they had been separated. At least Kay would be with her for their first Potions class today. May was terrified of having to be anywhere near the scary man, even though he was her Head of House.
Finally she could see the entrance to the Great Hall and breakfast. Stopping in the doorway, she gazed around the room for her sister. Kay was sitting at the other end of the Gryffindor table. With a sudden grin, May ran forward and yelled, "Kay Day!" just before she leapt onto her poor startled sister, knocking her to the floor.
Kay sprawled across the floor and then grinned suddenly and widely. "May!" she poked her sister, trying to get her off, "I do hope you tried your best to not get in trouble." She was silent a moment before smirking and continuing softly, "after all, you should save that energy for the two of us together."
May giggled, "Don't worry! I've got enough!" With that she bounced up to sit next to where her sister had been sitting and began filling a plate.
"Hello," she chirped to the other Gryffindors at the table, seemingly not noticing their censure of her.
Kay grinned and shook her head, choosing to focus on her sister rather than the rest at her table. She grinned brightly, impishly, whispering to her sister, between bites of food. "I bet we could get away with switching places any time we wanted."
May nodded enthusiastically as she reached for a roll. She opened her mouth to reply, but it came out a loud scream as a ghost with a collar ruffle popped his head through the table.
"KAY DAY," she screeched, falling back off the bench and scrambling to hide behind her twin.
The poor ghost watched her run with a surprised look on his face that quickly turned gleeful. "I can be scary," he enthused.
"And already dead or no I'll kill if you frighten my sister again," Kay hissed darkly, glaring at the ghost. It would have been funny, actually, were it not May hiding behind her, but that thought didn't even enter Kay's head as she glared at the ghost.
The ghost looked surprised at Kay, his mouth flapping open as he tried to formulate coherent words.
"Kill him," drawled a coldly amused voice. "Why, Miss Day, you become more and more violent with each meeting."
Kay turned abruptly at the voice, her glare hardening as she caught sight of Professor Snape, and almost immediately she was on her feet, between him in her sister. It was entirely by instinct, and was something, were she thinking, she probably would not have done. "I'm sorry but that jerk of a ghost scared my sister," she hissed lightly, not sounding at all remorseful.
"You sister," Snape hissed right back, "is a cry-baby who could use a good scare." He looked behind Kay at the sister in question. "And what are you doing eating at the Gryffindor table?"
"Eating breakfast with my sister..." May sniffled in reply, barely managing to meet her teacher's glare.
Kay growled, "What, is there some sort of rule against that?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm and a general dished. All that was going through her mind was that this man was scaring her sister, and didn't care. In fact he seemed to like the idea. She wanted him gone... and that was all there was too it.
"Slytherins do not eat with Gryffindors and that will be 10 points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Miss Day," Snape said as the whispers of the Gryffindors reached his ears. He didn't mind being thought crazy, but he would never have it said of him that he bullied his own house.
Snape grabbed May's bag and threw it to her, "Go sit next to Mr. Malfoy like a good little Slytherin, Miss Day. And if my feet leave the ground, Miss GRYFFINDOR Day, it will be 50 points from Gryffindor."
Kay glared coldly, anger boiling inside her "Don't worry," she hissed, not sitting down, not able to she was so seething with anger. Her eyes closed a moment, and in the vision of her mind' eye was a fire, a fire that didn't burn in actuality. But burn it did, wreathing a serpent and skull in flames. She shook her head then, trying to clear it... Serpent and what?
May squeaked as she became the first, aside from Snape himself, to notice the harsh green glow coming from beneath the tall teacher's robe arm. She knew she wasn't doing it, so that meant--
"What are you doing, Kay," she hissed to her sister, not sure if she was more frightened by her teacher's mean face or his scared face.
Snape for his part gasped, grabbed his arm and ran out of the Hall, leaving it silent in his wake.
"Wicked," yelled a pair of awed voices. "No one's ever been able to do that before!" May turned to see a pair of twin red-heads.
Kay near collapsed back to her seat as her eyes shot open, "Do what," she half-whispered questioningly, barely able to get her voice louder. Her eyes darted from her sister to the source of the shout that had startled her back into reality. She focused almost immediately on her sister once more, eyes deep with confusion echoing in their depths. "What happened?"
"You sent Snape running like You-Know-Who himself was on his heels," cried one of the twins again.
"You put green fire on his arm," May said to Kay so that only she could hear. "And I think I liked him better scary than scared."
Kay looked startled a moment before grinning to the room, as though she had planned it all. "But at least he's gone," she whispered softly to her sister, forcing herself not to focus. The serpent and skull wreathed in flame, she closed her eyes a moment, grinning impishly as she opened them once more. "Let's finish breakfast," she half chirped, finishing at a whisper to her sister, "and plan some fun."
May nodded and went back to her breakfast, the reactions of those around her a little less cold, "And we have Potions first, so we can walk to class together."
Kay grinned impishly and nodded, "Sounds good to me," she paused taking a bite of her food and swallowing before continuing, "I wonder if the teach will show."
"Of course," May grinned impishly. "He'll want revenge."
Her grin widened as the pair of twins that had spoken before left patting the two on the backs. "We'll be leaving successor s when we go, George," laughed the one. May simply grinned into her hotcakes and continued eating.
Kay grinned proudly a moment and before they left quipped, "Successors? We'll be running the show before you go." She grinned then, leaving them to whatever they might say, but ignoring it as she finished eating her food. She had no idea what she had done, but she now knew this school would be nothing if not interesting...and fun.
May sat in a chair next to her sister awaiting the arrival of her Potions teacher, "Kay Day? When are we going to start looking for Daddy?"
Kay glanced at May, grinning a bit as she whispered, "Any time is good." She glanced around a moment and then grinned back at her once more. "I wonder if we've already seen him!"
"Maybe," May replied, "but how will we know? When we've found him, I mean?"
Kay shrugged lightly, focusing her eyes on her desk for a moment before grinning impishly back at her sister. "I dunno, but I'm sure we'll find out somehow, or maybe he will. Maybe we look enough like Mommy that he will." She was silent then, giving another shrug as her eyes slid around the room.
Suddenly the door slammed open and Professor Snape stormed in, his cloak billowing behind him. He marched to the front of the room and began a speech that sounded to May as though it was well-worn.
Kay tilted her head lightly, listening, at least for the moment. There was plenty of time for mischief later. She let a small smirk slip to May.
Snape directed a dark glare at the two, but as he looked around the classroom he saw that there were an uneven number of each house and let them be, for the moment. Instead he began writing the ingredients for their first potion on the board.
"Well," he asked sarcastically, his dark eyes blazing with a cold fire. "What are you waiting for? An invitation? Get started!"
Kay looked at the board a moment, then back at her desk with a momentary dart to the teacher. She had no idea what some of these ingredients were, and she refused to ask for help. Oh well, maybe she could 'accidentally' cause a small explosion. That'd get people's attention... and it would be fun too...
Reading the labels on their packaged ingredients, May took out all but one of the needed parts. "Kay," she asked as she rummaged through her kit. What's 'boomslang'?"
Kay tilted her head slightly, eyes a bit blank. "boomwha?"
"The last--"
"THIS," Snape interrupted as he slapped down an awful looking clump of matter, "is boomslang. I may yet salvage some intelligence from one of you." He eyed Ma with a calculating look before moving on to give the others their bit of boomslang.
Kay tilted her head lightly, and waiting until the man's back was to her for a moment stuck her tongue out at him for a split second before returning to looking over her ingredients. Oh boy... This looked like so much fun... She hated school.
May grinned at her sister, "Why do you think it's called BOOMslang?"
Kay grinned a bit, an impish expression sweeping across her face. "I think I have some idea." She made a vow to herself then. She was going to study potions, going to figure out what was made explosions, and what could be used for pranks.
Suddenly May giggled, "Wouldn't it be funny if Professor Snape was Daddy?" She continued giggling as she imagined the horrible fate of that happenstance.
Kay almost burst into giggles, doing her best to contain them. "Very," she said softly.
May started the process of cutting up and separating their ingredients, "What do we do if Daddy isn't here?"
Kay shrugged and grinned a bit impishly. "Then we have fun with whoever is here."
"Yeah," May grinned, "there's plenty of pranks for us to play here."
Kay smirked and nodded enthusiastically, thinking about Draco and other Slytherins. "And plenty of people to play them on," she hissed happily.
"An entire school's worth," May nodded, handing Kay the first ingredient to drop in the soon-to-be potion.
Kay grinned a bit, taking the ingredient and dropping it in. Well it was a start. Of course, she was surprised they hadn't yet been scolded by Snape for talking.
As if on cue, a tall dark shadow loomed over them, "Why aren't you further in this potion? Are your pathetic little love lives more important than our class time?"
Kay raised an eyebrow. "Yes, even though they don't exist they are," she quipped, unable to hold it back though she tried. She looked down with a wince that she did her best to not let show, "But we're moving no slower then anyone else." She pointed out after quick glance around, knowing it would do nothing to redeem after the first remark. But oh well, mischief was her business after all.
May threw in another ingredient and began stirring the cauldron as the two fused together in the small amount of water already boiling. Snape watched her with narrowed eyes before replying, "We will be testing your potion on your sister here, Miss Day, so maybe now you could spare some attention towards making it."
The grouchy professor began stalking away as he threw over his shoulder, "And that will be 10 more points from Gryffindor."
Kay did her best not to giggle as she turned back to May "Well," she muttered, watching the potion, her eyes darting to her sister periodically, "I have a feeling I'm going to be costing Gryffindor a lot of points." With that she worked more on helping with the potion, still grinning. She annoyed the man, of that she was certain, and proud.
*************************************************
May sat curled in a corner reading her Potions textbook. From what she could tell, this was the only way she was ever going to learn the skill, since her teacher seemed to hate her and her sister. Sighing, she ignored the babble of the room around her and concentrated on the textbook.
"What's this," drawled a coldly amused voice. "A little Mudblood wanna be?"
May looked up into the scowling, ferret-like countenance of Draco Malfoy as she felt her heart drop swiftly into her stomach. His grey eyes glittered like dirty icicles in the sunlight as his hand darted out to snatch her Potions book away.
"Studying for Potions," he continued, encouraged by the sparkle of fear he could detect in his victim's wide green eyes. He laughed, echoed by his Crabbe and Goyle from behind him, and waved the book casually around as the room quieted to watch the night's entertainment. "You shouldn't bother. You don't belong here and you'll just be giving this up for your miserable Muggle life again."
"Will not." May whispered weakly as she followed the book with her eyes, wondering if turning the bully's hair pink again would just make things worse or better. She wished with all her might that she was with her sister now. Kay was much better at confrontation and May herself was always braver when she had her sister to depend on.
"What was that," Draco snarled, amusement lacing his voice. He was enjoying having a captive victim to play with; he just needed to make sure she knew she couldn't escape him.
"I need my book back," May said a little louder, though her voice held a tremor of fear that might reach 8 on a Muggle Richter Scale. "I need to study for Potions, so Professor Snape won't be so angry."
Draco's eyes flared in malicious joy at the opening he saw and he threw the book over his shoulder. It soared unseen past the stupidly grinning faces of his goons and straight into long, tapered fingers.
Draco leaned in closely, smiling as a cat that has caught its prey might, "Snape-"
"Would just happen to be standing behind you, Mr. Malfoy," the cool, silky voice of the Potions Master interrupted the boy.
Draco jumped and turned, attempting to remain confident even as he tried to escape detention, "P-Professor. We were just helping May here study for her Potions class."
"Without her textbook," Snape asked, delicately arching an eyebrow even as he raised the Potions book.
"Um.I.She." Draco sputtered, unsure how to escape this.
"Perhaps you would do better if you studied your own Potions, Mr. Malfoy," Snape told his student quietly. "I do not believe your father to have be overly please d by your performance last term."
Draco gulped, his eyes darting between Snape and the small girl behind him before shoving past Crabbe and Goyle and making for the boys dorm with as much dignity as he could under the circumstances. Crabbe and Goyle followed as quickly as they could without stumbling over their robes along the way.
Snape watched them go with narrowed eyes before turning to the rest of the common room, "And what exactly makes you think that this is any affair of yours?"
Conversation quickly started up and heads disappeared so fast that May was certain most of them would have headaches before too long. She watched with wary eyes as Snape turned back and contemplated her silently. He wasn't as scary as she had first thought, the incident at breakfast had confirmed that for her, but she still wasn't sure how he should be treated.
"At least you're promising to not annoy me as badly as most of my students as far as your grades are concerned, but don't think you can do any better in my class simply because you happened to open a book," Snape finally snarled softly, his obsidian eyes sparkling.
"No, sir," May said, though she hoped to prove the man wrong.
"They will attack you again. I suggest you find a protector."
"My sister protects me."
"Your sister's in Gryffindor, girl," Snape snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously. "You need a Slytherin to defend you from Slytherins! Gryffindors have no power here!"
"I can take care of myself," May told him miserably. She had always hated being yelled at, especially by someone she already feared and knew held power over her.
"Like you did in the Great Hall at the Sorting," Snape asked viciously.
May remained wisely silent and he sighed before raising his wand and pointing it at May's Potions text. He whispered a few words that she could hear before holding it out to her with a sneer.
"Here's your book, girl," he told her and she reached to take it. "I will have you expelled if I EVER find out that you do not have it on your person. Understood?"
May nodded fearfully and thought she caught a flicker of something human cross her cruel professor's face. He leaned down and whispered so that only she could hear, "This will protect you until you have the means to care for yourself."
May's eyes widened as Snape straightened and began crossing the common room to the exit. Hugging the book to her chest and feeling as though she must, she called out to him, "Professor Snape, I'm sorry." She stopped uncertainly as he looked back at her expectantly. She bowed her head to the floor and watched him watch her through the black veil of her hair until he finally snapped back around and continued out.
May sighed and curled back up in her corner, eyeing the room warily. She was sure what she should think of her professor now. Was he a friendly adult? She still didn't think so, but she no longer thought him exactly mean. A mean man wouldn't protect her, would he? Of course, she didn't think he was being entirely characteristic just then either.
*********************************************
After classes Kay sat in the common room of the tower, comfortable in the couch, but her thoughts constantly drifting to her sister. She hoped she was all right, all alone with the pack of Slytherins. Why had that stupid hat separated them? Yeah, she was doing well enough on her own, but she missed her sister more then anything.
"Hey," piped one of the twins from earlier as they flopped down next to her on the couch, "What is your name?"
"Yeah," said the other on her other side. "Besides the Terror of Snape."
Kay grinned a bit impishly up at the two, green eyes sparkling brightly, "Kay Day, though I do like 'Terror of Snape' a bit better... has a nice ring to it."
The twins laughed, their laughter ringing through the tower common room and making their eyes sparkle mischievously. Soon one twin sobered and looked around the room, "Where's your sister?"
Kay bit her lip for a moment, anger tracing her features. "Stupid sorting hat put her in Slyrtherin," she muttered, forcing herself to a more cheerful demeanor directly thereafter. "Of course, this will give us lots more ways to reek havoc. I mean, think about it," she finished off, a full impish grin on her face.
The twins looked startled at each other over her head before grinning broadly. "I LOVE the way you think," they told her simultaneously. "By the end of this year, this school isn't gonna know what hit it!"
Kay grinned impishly and brightly. "That," she said gleefully, "is exactly what we have in mind!" She grinned to them once more, green eyes bright and full of undeniable mischief. "You two have been here a while. Picked up a few tricks, I do hope you won't find having a first year or two tagging along to be too much trouble...."
The twin on her right casually slapped a hand down on her shoulder and leaned back, "That, m'girl, should be the kind of trouble we like. Right Fred?"
"Right, George," replied the other with a grin. He leaned back and cocked his head. "The marauders re-"
"Hello boys," piped up a familiar voice from behind. The three turned to see Harry's bright green eyes staring back at them with a strange look to them. "I don't think Kay needs any lessons in mischief."
"Harry," grinned Fred. "Blimey, but your startled me better than Filch ever did!"
Harry didn't know why, but he suddenly very much wanted to protect the small girls he'd met before, though he doubted they really needed it after that display earlier. Still, they'd only get a bad reputation if they were seen cavorting with two known twin pranksters so early on. So, he opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted when George exclaimed, "Wicked! Harry, did you know how much you resemble Kay here?"
Kay grinned a bit, her eyes darting to Harry, and focusing on him for a long moment. Kay tilted her head lightly, she hadn't actually spent that much time looking at Harry really, and they were right. He did bare some odd resemblance. "Wow," Kay questioned softly, "he's right you know?"
Harry blinked down at her, taking inventory. They did share the same black hair and small facial structure. She was even small for her age and skinny just as he always had been and probably always would be. The twins also shared bright green eyes as him, though not the same shade of emerald; theirs were more hazel with golden specks that sparkled in a couple random spots on their iris.
"You're right..." Harry breathed, before wandering off to find Hermione and Ron for reassurance. His life was becoming interesting again - that never boded well.
Kay grinned a bit as Harry left and giggled softly, turning her attention back to the twins. Yes, this would definitely be a fun year, her and her sister would find some way to be together as much as possible at least... And to cause as much trouble as possible.
The boys moved to stand, "Get your sister..."
Kay tilted her head slightly before speaking softly in reply, "May..."
"Get you sister May to meet us at the Astronomy Tower at 8 tomorrow night. We'll show you a few secret passages around here..." they finished with a twinkle in their eyes before exaggerating a yawn and heading up to the boys' dormitories.
Kay nodded enthusiastically, smirking as the older boys left. She was practically bouncing in her chair. She couldn't wait to tell May! This was going to be fun. Her line of thought froze. She sure hoped May was all right, and wished they could be together. She climbed slowly to the girls' dormitory, and when the lights were out she curled up in the bed, missing her sister, and worried about her. Why had they been separated? ************************************************
Snape sat before his softly crackling fireplace, his face set in stern lines that he was unwilling to relinquish even in the sanctuary of his own home. He'd learned long ago that even the most sacred of places could be infiltrated and was now used to living as though they already had been.
At the moment, however, it was not the infiltration of his chambers that worried him. It was the infiltration of his house that troubled him this night.
May Day, the raven-haired little Muggle born witch with eyes like the ones that haunted his dreams when he managed to find sleep - She had become a Slytherin. She had dumped Skunk Liqueur on him, turned him green then PINK, thrown him across a room like a rag doll and she was one of HIS students. By all rights, he should make her life as miserable as he made Potter's!
But those eyes. Those eyes haunted him. They made him do things he hadn't done in years. He had protected her, he would always protect the children of his house, especially the weakest, like May, but he normally wouldn't actually tell them he was protecting them. Just have them expelled when it became clear their stupidity would lead to a quick demise if they remained.
He wondered if the hat was perhaps mistaken in placing such a powerful, yet dependent witch, who was Muggle born even, in the most ambitious and biased house in the entire school. Surely the hat had finally come unglued!
But no, the hat had never made a mistake in its entire use, even Sirius Black, the infamous murderer, had shown his own streak of Gryffindor-brand courage. There had to be SOME reason the chit was placed in his house. He just had to ensure she survived long enough for him to discover it.
Perhaps he should arrange for her education in the ways of a Slytherin. Perhaps Draco Malfoy? It might soften his ways if he was made to take her under his wing. And surely he would want someone capable of an intelligent conversation to be with?
And then there was Sara Killensley and Raewyn McGowan, the other two Slytherin girls of her year. The three of them might make an awesome fighting force if he could bring them together.
The only problem would be separating her from her twin and Potter, who she had apparently taken a shine to. If she stayed with them, they would never let her go later without a fight and there were already too many of those in the halls. His only option was the forceful separation of them in classes and meal times. If he could keep them apart then and find ways during their free times.
Yes, it might work. She may be Muggle born, but he would see to it that she did not disgrace the Slytherin house. Gryffindor had enough power without one of HIS students adding to it.
With a smile that would have scared even the Bloody Baron had anyone seen it, Snape stood and changed for bed. Soon after he settled in to sleep - and dream of dancing green eyes and what might have been.