*Snape drags her in indignantly stating that people should not let a thread cool too much* waaaah!
Heh. Sorry for the delay, those that still want to read this. I had to figure out some things about the way the story should go on. Let's hope everything is properly sorted now. Heh. *dangerous gleam in both her and Snape's eyes*
As for my reviewers:
Rickman's Girl: Awww the Diggorys aren't all that bad. You'll see. And fortunately for Alex, he also had his mom to listen to, who does not blame the Potters for her tragedy. And yes, Snape outdid himself.
Angel Baby: here you go, another chapter. And yes, she is good at punching when she needs to.
Black Rose: well, I had to pair him with SOMEONE to have him have a kid. And I do believe that a mix of Potter-Weasley is dynamite. hehe.
Momma-dar: Thank you. I shall try to upkeep it.
On with the story.
___________________
~~~~ Severus Snape ~~~~
There is always quiet before the storm. It's a natural law, therefore I see no reason why it should not apply to the present situation. December is already approaching, and still there has not been much progress about the problem with the pixies. Fortunately, no reporter has stumbled upon the story, and only I, Potter, Lupin and Minerva are knowledgeable. It is an odd, creeping feeling that keeps haunting me, that something is brooding, getting stronger until it is ready to attack and surprise us... Of course it could all be un-warranted worrying on my part, for aside the fact that some pixies have lost their wings, nothing else has been disturbed. Lessons continue properly, and even the Potter girl is not nearly as troublesome as her father had been. Yet, anyway. There is little to fuel my anxiety, in all honesty.
What worries me is that there has been no more pixie wings harvesting since late October.
A harvester stops gathering only when the harvest is all gathered up, or when he has enough. There are still pixies in the forbidden forest. That only leaves the second, far less appealing option.
"Severus, will you join us? Harry has arrived." Minerva's head in my fireplace stops my musings and I nod grudgingly. I am not looking forward to this meeting. I am well aware that I am running a serious risk of being thought of as a babbling idiot.
"Fine. Stand aside, Minerva."
I shake the ash from my robes as I walk in Minerva's office. Potter is there, and so is Lupin, and they are all expecting me with guarded apprehension. This is a very inportant meeting, after all.
Today I will tell them what my research has yielded, my calculations as to what we might be up against. And frankly, it sounds like such a tall tale that I myself don't feel comfortable laying it out for the three other wizards and witch currently watching me frown and scowl back at them.
"So kind of you to finally deign to join us, Potter." I drawl, only to reassure myself with some familiar procedure. Predictably, Harry smirks at me and nods.
"I am pleased to see you too, Severus."
"Severus, please tell us what you have found."
"I do not appreciate being rushed into things, Minerva. This is what I came for, so rest assured that that is exactly what I will do. You wouldn't perhaps have some tea available, would you?" I say lazily back at her, and she purses her lips and conjures up the tea. Albus smiles at me from his portrait. That portrait always smiles at me, and I always glance at it until it does. I still need Albus' reassurance. Pathetic, perhaps, but there it is.
"The pixie wings can be used either fresh or dry. Since there have been many pixies killed over more than 2 days, I believe that they are intended to be used dry. Pixie wings wilt in less than 24 hours, anyway. Dry pixie wings are used for two kinds of potions. One is for physical strengthening-- of great scale. The other for mental strengthening. In sort, in combination, you can make yourself vitually invincible, and capable of controlling and keeping greats amounts of magic in you at any given time, without much of a physical strain."
"So there is possibility that someone is preparing to wield great power?" Potter asks, his eyes darkening with the repercussions of this. I shake my head.
"No, Potter. Someone is preparing to become the new Dark Lord. And that someone is very near Hogwarts, and yet invisible to us."
I sit back and sip my tea, savouring the icy atmosphere at the end of my words. And I haven't even started yet.
~~~~ Lily Potter ~~~~
"Lily, don't you think that perhaps your grudge with Alex is rather silly? After all, it's been so much time." Nigel tells me for the umpteenth time. I swallow and stir my hot chocolate, and side glance at the farthest end of the table in the main hall where Alex is sitting on his own, writing fervently, with a sad expression.
It is getting more and more difficult to still be angry at him, but he has made no effort to bridge the rift between us, and I still don't feel that I was to blame for anything that happened. I sigh.
"He doesn't want to be friends with me, Nigel. His father forbids it, anyway. I don't mind." I say as I sip from the cup, and Nigel clicks his tongue as he starts sketching again on his parchment.
"I think he's ashamed, Lils. And by glaring at him, I doubt he will find it in him to come talk to you." Nigel says thoughtfully, as he passes his hand in wide arcs over the paper.
"Hey, he is the one that called my father names. He should be."
"Isn't that your dad?" Nigel makes me look to the Hall entrance. I smile at dad weakly, but I am not sure what he is here for, and he looks rather pale, his stance betraying his worry. I wave at him and he comes over.
"Hey, snapdragon. How are you doing?" he says as we hug. I love it when he calls me that.
"I'm okay dad. What is going on? will you tell me?"
"Nothing is going on yet. How would you like to spend Christmas here?" he says and smiles.
"Here? but everyone leaves for Christmas!"
"This time, I think it will be full." my dad gives me one of those guarded smiles, and my eyes widen.
"The Headmistress is keeping everyone here? Then there must be serious trouble!"
"Remember Lily-- no.."
"..disobeying of the rules..." I sigh as I chant it with him. It is rediculous. He keeps saying it in every letter, but really, when I think of what he used to do at my age, I feel like yelling at him.
Dad is however satisfied and he ruffles my hair, nods to Nigel with a 'nice seeing you again, Nige' , and walks away, looking around him warily.
It is a few seconds after that I start babbling to Nigel.
"There is serious trouble brewing. Hogwarts is like a magic fortress. D'you think they are expecting any kind of attack or something?"
"You bet. But I doubt we can find out from your dad, or Professor Lupin."
"And no question about Snape, either..." I mutter.
"Nelly had no business being where she was when we were caught."
Both I and Nigel turn to look at Alex. He looks tired, and sad.
"Why?" Nigel asks. I still feel some anger in me and almost pout.
"I asked Professor Sprout after Herbology, about night plants and harvesting. She looked at me oddly and said that no herbal plants exist in the hogwarts gardens except for those she tends to. She never holds night sessions. So Nelly couldn't have been out there for a lesson."
The plot was beginning to thicken-- and Alex had started it again.
For me it was enough proof for truce, and I smiled at him as he did.
~~~~ Severus Snape ~~~~
I resent my deprivation of my much-needed break of student-free Christmas. Now the usually serene christmasy castle is crawling with the little tykes. It makes me feel foul.
Of course I can see the reasoning behind the action-- they are safe here in Hogwarts, and most will have much more chances of completing their assignments. But I am deprived of my peace of mind.
Lily Potter crosses my path and flashes me a smile with twinkling green-blue eyes. That is most unnerving. Up to now she had been subdued and gloomy, but decidedly manageable. She has not earned another detention since that first one in September. But now, I get the feeling that she will.
Of course, seeing her I am reminded that her birthday is very soon, and I must yet again rack my brains for a gift to give her. I know her much better now-- at least as a student. She has a fine brain, and she is unexpectedly good at Potions. She is also quite capable of holding a grudge for a long time. She has given that boy Diggory quite a hard time re-accepting him. I glance over my shoulder surrepticiously and catch her laughing with him and Veris. I do hope this is not yet another trio forming.
But what to give her? A potion, of course. Definately not a prank one-- there is no telling what she might think of doing with it. But what?
Then I nod to myself. She doesn't need pranks anymore-- she needs something she can use, if the need arises.
~~~~ Lily Potter ~~~~
It feels so nice to all be friends again. And the castle is so pretty in the christmas spirit! I have already stashed the presents I plan to give to Nigel and Alex. I toss and turn in my bed, giggling with exitement. Tomorrow is Christmas day! Presents time. I glance at my clock on the table. Still 3 hours to go until everyone wakes up.
My thoughts drift to the reason we are all still here, and my spirits are somewhat dampened. It is tandalizing knowing that something is wrong, and having no clue as to what that is. Yesterday we tried following Nelly around, but she did nothing fishy, unless talking about sexy boys and what Snape might be wearing under his robes counts.
He is looking at me suspiciously again. I wonder if he is going to give me another potion for my birthday. And if he does, if it is going to be a prank one. If it is, I'll try it on that git Avery, that hexed my inkbottle seconds before I handed my essay to Snape, and he took 10 points for sloppyness. Sometimes I hate the old bat.
I jerk awake by the noise from my alarm clock. I didn't notice I had drifted off. I eject myself from my bed and pad down to the main hall in my pjs.
"PRESENTS!" I holler as lots of us stream into the main hall for the first round of 'merry Christmas'.
Professor Lupin enters through the portrait hall and chuckles.
"Indeed, time for presents. Everyone get dressed and come down to the main Hall. The house elves have gathered all the presents under the big christmas tree, and we are going to distribute them in 10 minutes. Be there."
~~~~ Severus Snape ~~~~
This is not right. SOmething can't be right, even when everything seems properly in order as boisterous waves of screaming, rosy-cheeked students wash into the main hall and crowd around the christmas tree. Minerva is wearing her best scottish outfit for the occasion, and has a new red feather on her hat, that probably came from some unfortunate rooster.
But why do I feel so restless? And why does this feeling skyrocket when Lily Potter runs in happily with her friends?
SOmething should not be done, and once again I am unable to predict it, and all I can do is watch and hope I can react fast enough.
~~~~ Lily Potter ~~~~
"Look at Snape! Who pissed in his soup this time?" Martha Bents, a fellow Gryffindor mutters as we sit down, fidgety as ever.
"He does look sour. Perhaps he was made to come out here." Alex smirks.
"Or perhaps he's looking for someone to give detention to." Nigel smiles, noticing how the professor's eyes keep flicking here and there, and finally resting on me. The times our glances have locked are very rare, and I am never keen on them. The black eyes are just so eerie, and I don't know what to make of it-- except whatever it is that is going on, is has to do with me, and it is not detention that the grim man is thinking of.
Professor Flitwick comes forth to distribute the presents, calling out the names and floating them to their receipient.
"Tony Liams!"
"Bella Donately - Blitz!"
"Alex Diggory!"
He catches the box with delight.
"Its from ma." he says with a grin and opens it. Inside are small round popcorn balls. Alex looks delighted.
"Popcorn balls! Here try them! Better than even chocolate frogs at times!" he offers the box to us and we take one ball each. It is delicious, but the chocolate frog still reigns in my mind.
"Lily Potter!"
My box is from grandma, and it has a pair of mitten and a big sweater in a blue and green colour with a big L in the front. I smile weakly, yet still put it on. Grandma is a dear.
"Nigel Veris!"
Nigel got a glass Moodswing orb from his mother, and it swiftly changed into blue, the colour of content when Nigel held it in his hand.
By the time most presents were distributed, I was in possession of a new broom from daddy (still believing that every student should have a cool broom), chocolate muffins from ma (my favourites), a book on quidditch from uncle Ron (still not convinced I couldn't care less), a bix box of chocolate frogs from Alex (who is only too aware of my weakness) and a Rainbow quill from Nigel, who likes pretty stationary.
And yes, I even got one from Professor Snape: a book on 'Vital Potions' and a rather exquisite brewing set with ingredients, along with a scrawl in his spidery hand of 'don't waste it, many returns, S.S.'
We are all ready to attack our Christmas breakfast when Professor Flitwick says:
"Oh, I hadn't noticed that last gift. It's for Lily Potter!"
I catch the package as it floats to me, bewildered. Everyone I know and from whom I'd expect a present has already given me one. It is wrapped with silver wrapping paper and it doesn't rattle.
"Well, open it!" Alex tells me exitedly, wearing the pointy hat with spiders hanging that his grandmother sent him.
Burning with curiosity, I do, seconds before I hear Professor Snape yell:
"Don't open that!"
I see a greyish red mist snake around my hands swiftly. Searing pain runs through my body and I scream like I never have before. Then, I see and feel no more.
______________________
And that's that. He he... like all Potters, trouble finds them anyway. *chuckles* Please tell me what you think of it. I am afraid that this is not entirely good a chapter... and so I need your second opinion.