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CLAWS OF A RAVEN
by
Tyde
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Chapter Seven
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Due to the Triwizard Tournament the year before all the house Quidditch teams were quite a bit out of practice. They all fought for time on (or rather above) the field for training sessions. A few black eyes were magically removed by those in the know in the first few weeks of term after rival teams came to blows.
Hermione joined the team (in an unofficial manner of course) as the Mediwitch and would repair various injuries from black eyes to sprained wrists. It never ceased to amaze Ron (who was the new Keeper) just how much she could learn from a book. Katie Bell, the new captain of the team, through all her years of lusting after Oliver Wood had also picked up quite a few tips on how to coach a team and put them through hell in training. Fred started to joke that maybe Oliver never left and had in fact disguised himself as Katie to keep them all in order.
The first game of the season was Slytherin versus Ravenclaw. Professor Palgetti was quite excited about the whole thing as she hadn't seen a Quidditch game in years. The last game she went to, and she really had to go back in her memories for this one, was the championship match between the Falmouth Falcons and the Caerphilly Catapults.
The Catapults had won the game, but the Falcons (as was their reputation) had beaten the other team. Literally, with their clubs. As the Falcons were her husband's favourite team she'd pleaded with Julian to not take her to any games after that. They would no doubt repeat a performance like that at every opportunity. But these were students playing, surely they wouldn't be as rough. Would they?
She wound her Ravenclaw scarf a little tighter about her neck. Although the weather on ground level had yet to transform into typical end of October weather it was cold up in the stands of the stadium and the wind was taking it's chance to whistle through the gaps in her clothing. Sorora sat in-between Professor Flitwick who was terribly excited (he'd been a Seeker in his day, and a damn good one at that!) to see Ravenclaw trounce Slytherin and Professor Sprout who was eager to see Slytherin go down also.
A few drunk seventh year Slytherins had snuck into Greenhouse Three and urinated all over the new Mandrake shipment she'd received for the second years to study. The Mandrakes had gone on a 'growing up' strike and were now content with throwing dirt and spitting in the face of anyone that came near them. It was very frustrating. She screwed up her face at the captain Marcus Flint and presumed correctly that he was one of the culprits. He may have been very dense but he was cunning all the same. She looked forward to a bludger hitting him in the face and knocking those ridiculous teeth of his out.
The game commenced in the ordinary fashion and was fairly even matched for the first ten minutes or so. Ravenclaw managed to get a few goals past The Slytherin Keeper Bletchley and the Quaffle somehow managed to smack Flint in the back of the head while he was trying to run Chang off the course. Sprout had jumped up and clapped her hands with glee as did Flitwick. Clearly Flint wasn't a well-liked student among the teachers. McGonagall offered a little smile at the antics of her colleagues.
But just as it seemed the Ravenclaw team was gaining an edge the Slytherin team began beating heads, brooms and legs in an attempt to score. Although most of the violence was legal there were a few fouls and the game had to be stopped several times for Madam Hooch to reprimand Flint and his cohorts. Malfoy sniggered at her words and was more careful about his blatant fouls against his opposite Seeker.
Halfway through the match Sorora felt a little shiver down her back. "Blast that wind" she muttered under her breath as she tucked the end of the scarf down the front of her robes. She shivered again but this time the professor knew it wasn't from the wind.
For some reason she looked over at the stadium seating where her brother was. (Dumbledore had suggested maybe they sit in different ones as their glares may cause the tower to melt. He's said it with a tone of mirth but neither Sorora nor Severus thought it was funny, just necessary). Her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw who was sitting right next to him. Lucius Malfoy.
He had changed considerably since she'd last seen him. If possible he now looked even more sinister. He twirled a cane between his fingers, the top of which was decorated with a silver snake, it looked downright dangerous.
Sorora turned away quickly with a sharp intake of breath but managed to catch that the two of them were talking. Whatever could they be talking about? His son had just knocked little Cho Chang into a goalpost and the junior Malfoy lip was curled up into that typical sneer. Lucius however didn't seem to notice Draco's accomplishments – not even when he caught the Snitch and ended the game. He was too engrossed in a conversation with Severus Snape as the victory cheers of Slytherins engulfed the stadium.
As she stood up to leave she glanced in his direction and he was staring right at her. She shrank back into her seat and clutched the armrest tightly. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and then dared to look over again. He was gone and her brother was looking at her with a smile on his face.
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Sorora stayed in her quarters all of Sunday, not even coming out for meal times. Professor Sprout sent her some food through the fireplace which she gratefully accepted. She planned her lessons for the week and tried not to focus on the nightmares that had returned.
Seeing Lucius Malfoy in the flesh after all these years had been literally terrifying. Most would say the same about Voldemort, but she'd never met him. Of course he was ten times worse than Malfoy and she hoped she never would met the one that to most people could not be named. By Monday she had recovered somewhat and was quite happy to rejoin the rest of Hogwarts.
It was as she was heading to one of her classes that she'd absentmindedly taken a wrong turn and ended up near the dungeons, and just metres from her cranky older brother.
He was towering over a group of Gryffindors that had been making too much noise waiting to go into their next class. Snape had just started to met out punishments to them, (a detention here, a handful of points there) when Palgetti walked up to him. It hadn't occurred to her until that very moment that she wished to speak to him.
"Professor Snape. Could I see you in my office for a moment?"
His eyes flashed angrily at her. "Can't it be some other time?" Hermione looked from one to the other interested to see how they would handle their hostility in front of a group of students.
"I'm afraid not. It's very urgent" a small smile twitched at the corners of her mouth but she kept it suppressed.
He tossed his hair out of his eyes and swept his cloak over a few Hufflepuffs so they'd copped it full in the face. "Very well"
No sooner were they in her office did he explode.
"Just what do you think you're doing undermining my authority like that?" Snape's knuckles were white as he gripped the edge of a chair. "I've got classes to teach and so should you. Stop butting in where you don't belong"
"I saw you talking to that bastard Malfoy at the Quidditch match on Saturday. What were you talking about?"
"As if it's any of your business. Who made you my personal keeper? I'm surprised you even looked in that direction long enough to ascertain such information. And calling him a bastard now, while he's safely miles away, so very brave of you" If you could see sarcasm it would have been dripping from the corners of his mouth and forming puddles on the floor. "I saw you cringe from Lucius at the match. He only had to look at you and you started to shake. Memories coming back to you now dear sister? Shivering and shaking like a lost puppy in front of Lucius Malfoy. He could have killed you, Voldemort told him to. But he didn't kill you because he thought the humiliation would be far greater. And I can tell you now, it's been worth it! What the hell were you trying to prove then?"
"I was proving that I cared. Someone had to care after Mum and Dad disowned you" She'd hit a raw nerve and she knew it. His face flashed a ridiculous purple colour.
"They did not!" Snape was starting to lose his cool; a trickle of sweat had beaded on his forehead and was threatening to fall. He wished he could take that retort back. He didn't want to admit that it bothered him. He hadn't thought about his parents in a long time. It was hard to think about people that despised you so and it always filled him with such emotion, raw feeling emotion – the kind he could do without.
"Wake up Severus, they never wanted to see you again after Barty Crouch told them what he'd discovered. Their only precious son a Death Eater. A follower of the most evil wizard in the world. A wizard that killed a dozen or so of their friends! I was trying to put my bloody family back together! Mum and Dad were never the same after you became tainted in their eyes. I could never impress them with anything I achieved. They were like zombies. I thought if I could bring you back to them, if I could get you away from those bloody friends of yours that finally they would notice me. That maybe then I wouldn't just be that girl that lived upstairs, that finally I would be Sorora. Their daughter and the saviour of their beloved son who had been horribly brainwashed. I was sick of being ignored. I was sick of feeling like I didn't matter"
"So you set out to save me from myself, is that it? Oh the great and powerful Sorora come to save little Sevi huh? What a load of bollocks. I was more than capable of looking after myself. I couldn't give a damn what Mother and Father thought, I disowned them long before they ever disowned me. I gave my heart to the Dark Lord because that's what I wanted to do. He let me be what I wanted to be. There were no rules in his family. I was happy there and then you came along to ruin it all. Lucius never looked at me the same after you had to meddle. He didn't just laugh behind my back he'd laugh right to my face. So now I spend my life sucking up to that prat of a child Draco to try and curry favour again. Don't even try to talk to me about your pain, I've got it in bucketloads" He swept the hair out of his face and breathed heavily.
They looked at each other for several moments before the Potion's master stormed towards the door of the classroom. A directive from Sorora's wand slammed it shut in his face.
Her eyes blazed and her lips twisted cruelly. "Lucius Malfoy is nothing but a murdering tyrant. And Merlin help him the day he turns around and finds me standing there, more than a match for him and his silly parlour tricks. You stay on this path and you'll turn into him. Just see if you won't!" Her anger was barely concealed under a choice selection of words, her hands shook and she thought her legs might give way.
"Stop living in the past, Sorora. I can more than look after myself. Stay away from me and my classes or you'll have more than just stupid first years to deal with!" and he stalked off, blasting open the door with his wand and bubbling up with the urge to give anybody he saw a detention, be in student, ghost or even teacher!
Sorora slid to the floor fresh tears decorating her cheeks. She'd been hoping against hope before but now it was blatantly obvious. Her brother had a heart of darkness and there was nothing that would change it.
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Author's note: I've forgotten how old Katie Bell was and whether or not she should have left Hogwarts by now. So let's just pretend that she's still there okay, if the books prove me otherwise. The same with Flint. I figure he's stupid enough though to have to repeat a year if necessary.
CrinkleCutRuffles – okay I won't tweak your nose. It's a fine line though. Is that enough Cranky!Snape for you? :o) You know how I much I love his crankiness as well so he won't be terribly submissive again. Well maybe just once. I've been sitting on this confrontation scene almost since I started the first chapter and I finally got to slot it in somewhere. Hope you like it! When you said submissive to Dumbledore I couldn't help conjuring up a little Dumbledore/Snape S & M scene. Weird.
