Mrs. Rowling owns the world of Harry Potter. I don't. I only borrow some of her characters to play around with them.
The VW Jetta still belongs to the Volkswagen AG and Sainsbury's belongs to Sainsbury's, I guess. Viktor Schnitter is mine.
Summary:
So far Snape has picked up Harry from Mrs. Figg to take him to Hogwarts.
In London they learn that there was an attack on the Dursleys. After a
heated run-in with Sirius Snape, in a Polyjuice disguise, goes into Diagon
Alley to investigate what has happened.
Not beta-read yet. Sorry for all mistakes.
Unfamiliar Roads
by Clio
Chapter 7- Misery Likes Company
In the car's mirror Harry watched Snape vanishing into the shadows of
the small alley that lead to the back door of Slug & Jigger's Apothecary,
and then he was alone. Some cars passed, but only few Muggles were walking
in the street.
Harry stared out of the window and tried to remember in which part of
London Diagon Alley was. The most times when had been here he was much
too excited to read street signs or look for landmarks.
Although Little Whinging was not that far away, he had been to London
only on a few occasions, mostly to go to King's Cross where the Hogwarts
Express left, and once, in his last year of elementary school, they had
been on a field trip to the Tower of London. His knowledge of the town
was limited, but he was quite sure that the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Ally
were not in the City or in Westminster. He also faintly remembered that
when he had lodged in the Leaky Cauldron three years ago he had heard the
Muggle traffic on Charing Cross Road. So his best guess was that they were
somewhere in Soho right now.
More than half an hour later Harry was almost falling asleep from boredom.
Absentmindedly he rubbed his itching scar when a movement in the alley
Snape had disappeared in caught his eye. Two men stepped into the sunlit
street. They were dressed in Muggle clothes, but some instinct told Harry
immediately they were wizards.
Both men were middle-aged. One was tall and had receding brown hair,
his face looked pockmarked. The other was smaller and a bit chubby. Harry
slid down in the passenger seat until he was positive that they couldn't
see his head through the car's windows anymore. With a wildly thumping
heart he watched the two men standing in front of the alley for a while
and scan the street.
The taller man said something, and both moved towards the car parked closest to the entrance of the alley. The plump man moved his forearm along the side of the car and over the boot. Harry could not see exactly what he was doing.
The other man peeked through the windows into the car. He pulled himself
up and looked into Harry's direction before he moved on to the next vehicle
in the line of parked cars. Harry slid deeper in his seat. The eyes of
the man were briefly skimming over Mrs. Figg's car, and Harry could see
that they were of a strange color, an unnatural and unsettling silver.
Harry tried to control his breathing. The men were still a good 100 yards away, but they were slowly making their way in his direction. Their curious unsuspicious manner suggested clearly that they looking for something.
Harry again lifted his head a bit to look at them. The plump man, whose
hand was adorned with several rings moved his forearm in a strange angle
over the boot of yet another car. He must have hidden a wand in his sleeve,
Harry realized with a start. If those men were scanning the cars
with a wand, they were looking for something magical. Harry's first reflex
was to throw his Invisibility Cloak over himself and hide between the seats
of the car. He dismissed the thought as quickly as it had shot through
his head. Hiding under an Invisibility Cloak surely was a silly idea, if
those men were indeed wizards looking for traces of magic. Besides the
cloak was in the car's boot, together with Harry's school supplies and
a bag with potions bottles Snape had picked up in the flat. Harry swallowed.
If all these items gave away detectable magic signs, the car stood out
like a magical beacon among the Muggle cars around it. He was in a trap.
It was only a matter of time until the two men would notice the old Volkswagen
Jetta.
Why were they searching the street in the first place? Had Snape
run into some kind of a trap in Diagon Alley or set off some unknown alarm
with his presence? Maybe he was already captured by Death Eaters and they
knew Harry was somewhere out here. Harry was worried, but he would
take care of Snape later. Right now he had to get out of the car if he
didn't want to be discovered.
The men were still about 70 yards away. Carefully Harry opened the door
at the driver's side of the car, which was facing to the middle of the
street, away from the men on the sidewalk. Silently he prayed that they
were preoccupied with their task and slipped through the narrow cleft he
had dared to open.
In a crouched position he hurried along the other parked cars away from
the men. When he reached the last car in the line he went around its front
and sprinted over the sidewalk into a gateway, that conveniently opened
there. He dashed over a backyard full of dustbins and clothes-lines to
a wooden door which he hoped would lead him to the next street. He quickly
glanced over his shoulder before he opened it. He was not followed. Maybe
the men had not noticed his escape from the car.
The door indeed opened to a dark passage that led him to the next street.
There Harry stopped for a moment to gain some breath. He thought he recognized
the busy street he was standing in as Charing Cross Road, but he was not
quite sure. It would probably be the best if he tried to find the entrance
to the Leaky Cauldron, or at least the alley which held the other entrance
to Diagon Alley Snape had talked about. Once in Diagon Alley he would have
to locate Snape, but that was something Harry would concern himself with
later. For now he followed the street in what he hoped was the direction
to the Leaky Cauldron.
He didn't find the wizard pub, but he soon reached a narrow side street.
Could this be the other end of the alley Snape had gone into? Although
all his instincts screamed not to wander into unknown dark streets, Harry
decided to give it a try and walked into the dim lane.
Somehow he was not surprised when he quickly found the alley looking
very different from the one Snape had disappeared in. This street was lined
by brick walls on both sides, while Harry could remember the alley Snape
went in had gray stone houses on one side. He couldn't see any entrances
and doors. Not even windows. Still Harry continued to walk down the alley
in the hope that it would at least lead him back to the street he had come
from.
When he reached the next street Harry pressed his body against the brick
wall and inched towards the corner. Carefully he peeked around. Really,
there was Mrs. Figg's old Jetta parked further down the road to his left,
and he also could see the lane that supposedly held the entrance to Diagon
Alley he was looking for. Inwardly Harry cursed the property of magical
places to be unplotable and seemingly unreachable if you didn't exactly
know where to look for them. He was sure that he was virtually circling
round Diagon Alley the whole time.
The two men had disappeared. Harry could only see a Muggle pass by on
a bike. Relieved he turned around and scanned the alley to make sure they
were not somewhere behind him. A little further down he could see a woman
in a short skirt, who was in the process of donning bright pink lipstick.
Harry stared at her, his pulse picking up speed again. He couldn't recall
her being there on his way down the street. How could he possibly have
overlooked her?
The woman seemed to have noticed his stares; she packed away her pocket mirror and looked directly at him. "Do you like what you see, young man?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I don't know."
The woman approached Harry and ran a hand over her thigh. "You don't
know?"
Harry was at loss. Where had the woman come from? Was she an illusion,
a distraction created by dark magic? Had he run headlong into some kind
of trap? Fear started to tingle up his spine. Nervously he looked around.
Nobody in sight. He licked his dry lips.
"Um, I guess you are beautiful." He finally said.
The woman giggled. Harry felt his face getting hot.
"What a polite lad you are." She winked at him. "And? Are you interested?"
Harry blinked in confusion. "Interested? In what? I ..."
A heavy hand fell onto his shoulder and he froze. "Is he molesting you,
madam?" an unfamiliar hoarse voice said from behind.
Harry's knees turned to rubber. He forced himself to slowly turn around
and look at the stranger. A sturdy old man was standing behind him. Quickly
he turned to the woman again. They had caught him! His heart began
to thump loudly.
"Little shy darling? No." The woman smiled merrily, which made the thick
make-up on her cheeks peel off in small flakes.
The man grunted in response. In his mind Harry desperately debated whether
he should try to somehow communicate his distress to the woman or if he
simply should attempt to run for it.
He heard the rustle of clothes behind him. Something smelled awfully
burned and then a voice very close to his ear said: "What are you doing
here? Didn't I tell you to stay in the goddamn car?" In his panic it took
Harry a moment to recognize the man behind him as Snape in his Polyjuice
disguise.
He felt Snape move his hand from his shoulder to his back. In addition
to the pressure of Snape's fingers Harry noted something hard digging in
between his shoulder blades. Presumably a wand tip.
"Let's go back!"
The wand poked into his spine. Snape had no bloody right to point his wand at him! After a few paces away from the still grinning woman Harry made a side-step to escape the wand tip. He had not fully completed the move when Snape's hand shot up and snatched his ear.
"This way, Potter!"
"Ow! You are hurting me!"
"I know." Snape drawled in his unfamiliar hoarse voice and kept dragging Harry physically along with him. "Didn't I tell you to stay put in the car? Do you think I want to play hide-and-seek with you in here London?" He hissed under his breath.
"There where two men, and they were searching for something. I don't ..."
Snape suddenly halted and dropped his hand. "Two men?" he interrupted Harry. "Two? Are you sure?"
Harry nodded vehemently.
"Describe them!"
"One was sturdy and wearing a lot of jewelry. He was scanning the parked cars with a wand."
"Mulciber" Snape murmured.
"The other was tall and balding and something was strange about his
eyes and his face."
Snape seemed to be lost in thought. Harry studied his Polyjuice altered
face. The frown that played over the features seemed to be alien on the
merry face. The man who - willingly or not - had donated his hair was obviously
not a thinker.
Above Snape's right ear the hair looked singed, as if he had recently
stood to close to a flame.
He turned to Harry again. "Those eyes were strange, you say. Like two of Professor Moody's magical eyeballs?"
Harry shrugged. "Could be. He was very far away, though."
Snape nodded slowly. "Erlkoenig."
"Huh?"
"His real name is Viktor Schnitter. Must still be around here somewhere."
Snape said pensively. "We have to get out of here. Quickly."
He looked anxious, but Harry couldn't tell if this was Snape's genuine
expression or if it was an illusion created by the unfamiliar Polyjuice
face.
When they reached the car and Snape unlocked the passenger's door Harry's
gaze fell on a heap of garbage, that piled around two overflowing dustbins.
He gasped. From behind the garbage a hand was poking out. A human hand,
which had a ring on each finger and looked decidedly dead.
"Get into the car, Potter."
When Harry didn't respond Snape turned around to him. His gaze followed
Harry's until it came to rest on the hand behind the garbage. To Harry's
utter horror he strode forward and kicked vigorously against the wrist.
The arm didn't move. Snape sighed, and with the tip of his boot he pushed
a litter bag against the hand to hide it from view.
"Now, get into the car already." Snape's voice, although not his own,
was dangerously smooth and low.
Harry only gaped at him and tried to sort out his thoughts. There was
a body behind the dustbins, and judging by the jewelry on his hand and
Snape's reaction it was the man who had scanned the cars with his wand.
The one Snape had called Mulciber. He must have confronted Snape here by
the car when he had returned from Diagon Alley. That would explain Snape's
singed hair. A curse must have brushed him.
"You dueled!" Harry blurted out. Snape only narrowed his eyes and looked at him coldly. Harry pointed towards the dustbins. "That's Mulciber, right?"
Snape nodded. "Two points to Gryffindor. Now get in there," he
hissed and made a threatening step towards him.
Harry obeyed. He didn't like to admit it, but he felt more than a little
uneasy.
When Snape had finally pulled the car into the street, Harry worked up the courage to ask: "Did you kill him?"
"Pardon?"
"Did you kill that man? Mulciber?" Harry demanded from Snape, who stepped onto the break.
"Mind what you are saying, Potter!" He menacingly stared at Harry, who stubbornly held his gaze. Surprisingly Snape looked away first.
"No," the car picked up speed again, "of course not."
Harry felt oddly relieved.
" Petrified him. Felix Mulciber never was quick with his wand."
Somehow Harry had the strong impression that Snape and Mulciber had known each other quite well. "Nice friends you have," he remarked but Snape didn't respond.
"Where are we going?"
Snape glanced quickly at Harry, than he mumbled irritably "I don't now."
Harry looked up in alarm. Snape was focussing his attention to the traffic
in front of him, but Harry could sense something wasn't quite right. It
was highly uncharacteristic for his haughty Potions teacher to admit he
didn't have a plan.
After fifteen minutes of apparently aimless driving through the streets
of London, Snape steered the car into the spacious parking lot of a Sainsbury's
supermarket.
"Why are we stopping here?" Harry asked.
Snape turned towards him. His Polyjuiced face radiated anger. "Just
give me a moment to think, will you!" he spat.
Harry shrunk back. Snape's gaze lingered on him for a bit, and Harry
thought saw the expression on the unfamiliar Polyjuice face change from
anger to something akin to weariness before he turned his attention back
to the dashboard. Snape stopped the engine, lowered the window a bit and
lit a cigarette.
He had taken a few pulls when he suddenly pressed his hand to the side
of his face. Harry saw that the Polyjuice Potion was wearing off. Snape's
face twitched oddly and his whole body shook for a second or two, and then
he had changed back from an old man into, well, Snape.
To Harry's relief the Muggles in the distance were still busy storing
away their groceries. None of them had noticed the magical transformation
in the car.
Harry watched Snape gingerly touch his nose and his cheekbone. He brought
up his other hand, which was still holding the cigarette, and rubbed his
face with both hands. When he took them away Harry saw that the weariness
he had detected in the Polyjuiced face was also clearly visible in Snape's
own features.
Slowly he finished his cigarette. After he had tossed the butt out of the window Snape finally addressed Harry. "The news from Hogwarts are rather disturbing."
Harry's eyes widened. "What happened?"
"Nothing, according to the Ministry." Snape held up a hand to quell Harry's questions. "I talked to Mundungus Fletcher. He is an old friend of Albus, and quite a reliable source. He told me about the events in Hogwarts."
"Did they attack the school?" Harry asked hurriedly.
"No. The Death Eaters are not outright attacking Hogwarts or Hogsmeade as Albus has feared. They have taken to a strategy of pinpricks. Things happen in Hogsmeade - a house collapses, a fire breaks out, the river Hog floods the cellars and gardens. There even was an Acromantula from the Forbidden Forest turning up in the village. It killed some people before Hagrid arrived from the castle and brought it down."
Snape watched Harry closely for a reaction before he continued.
"All these accidents seem to be unconnected. Mundungus says that Albus doesn't believe in a mere coincidence. After some people have disappeared without a trace Albus has opened the gates of Hogwarts for all citizens of Hogsmeade who seek refuge. The Ministry apparently refuses to send Aurors or Hitwizards to Hogsmeade to investigate the incidents."
Harry opened his mouth, but Snape continued before he had a chance to
say anything.
"I don't know if the Ministry fails to see the gravity of the situation
or if they don't act because they want to play down the whole thing. Had
there been an open Death Eater attack, Hogsmeade would be swarming with
Aurors. But as the things are now the Dark Lord seems to act out a very
clever plan. He can spread fear and destruction in Hogsmeade and keep the
staff of Hogwarts busy without a single Hitwizard showing up. Of course
Albus feels obliged to help solving the problems in the village. That keeps
him distracted from anything else that goes on. Very clever indeed."
Harry cleared his throat. "We will go to Hogwarts and help, won't we?"
"Ah, always the Gryffindor, aren't you!" Snape sneered at him, but the expression didn't hold its usual venom. "We won't do such a foolish thing. At least not until the situation in Hogsmeade is clear. If Albus indeed allows people from the village in the castle, he must have lowered the protection wards, maybe even the Anti-Apparition field is down. Hogwarts probably is not a very safe place now."
"But maybe they need help!"
"Don't you understand Potter? With all those people in the castle you don't know whom you can trust. Any of them could sell you out to the Dark Lord."
"What do you mean, sell me out?"
"Voldemort wants you. He has set a price on your head, Potter." Snape's
hand shot up and he pressed two fingers against Harry's forehead. " Remember,
not every wizard is as well off as you. Murders have been committed for
lesser sums."
Harry jerked his head away. The skin on his forehead crawled where Snape's
cold fingers had touched him. He had to fight the urge to rub the spot.
Snape smiled. Harry felt queasy all of a sudden. Would Snape possibly
deliver him to Voldemort for money or to worm his way back into the good
graces of his old master?
Snape's smile faltered. "The same is true for me, though. The Dark Lord
wants to see me dead, too."
There was a moment of silence, then Snape said: "It also would put Albus in a very precarious situation if he granted me access to Hogwarts."
The last comment perked Harry's interest. "A precarious situation? How?"
Snape sighed and leaned back against the headrest. He turned his head until he looked Harry directly into the eye. "The Hitwizards are looking for me as the Dursleys' murderer."
Harry gasped. "But that's not true!"
Snape grimaced. "Truth is in the eye of the beholder, Potter. Voldemort has his agents in the Ministry, among the Aurors, anywhere. I guess it didn't take much to convince them to suspect me. After all I was indeed seen in Little Whinging the days before the attack. And Mundungus tells me they have even dug up my robes in Arabella's house as discriminating evidence."
"But I know it wasn't you! We could go straight into the Auror post in Diagon Alley and I could testify for you. I can tell them you were with me all the time."
Snape raised an eyebrow. "Like you told everyone Pettigrew was alive in your third year at Hogwarts and that Voldemort had come back in your fourth year?"
"Well, ..."
"Touching as this may be, Potter, there are things even the Boy-who-lived
can't change."
"What are we going to do now?" Harry asked quietly.
"I will have to stay away from the Wizard world until it is safe to
return to Hogwarts. I have already owled Albus from Diagon Alley that we
will leave London."
Harry thought about how a mere couple of hours ago he had refused to
go with Sirius because his godfather was still wanted by Muggle and Wizard
authorities. And now Snape was in almost the same situation - at least
until Albus Dumbledore could pull some strings and clarify the situation.
It dawned Harry that maybe he had made the wrong decision in the morning.
At least it would have been fun to be on the run with Sirius. With Snape
it probably would be a horrible experience.
On the other hand no-one forced him to stay with Snape. Harry himself
had no reason to avoid the wizarding world entirely. Maybe he could go
to the Weasleys? They surely wouldn't turn him away when he showed up at
their doorstep. But then he would place them in great danger. To turn to
the Grangers for help was out of question. As Muggles they would be easy
prey for the Death Eaters. And if Snape was right about the reward Voldemort
would pay for his head, he couldn't even cross Diagon Alley without putting
himself in danger.
Snape seemed to guess his thoughts. He sighed and said: "I'm not happy
about all this either, but after all I'm your teacher, even if school is
not in session. I feel obliged to keep an eye on you." Snape looked intensely
at Harry. " I would strongly advice you to stay close to me until Hogwarts
is safe again. Which is hopefully soon."
Harry stared back at Snape. All the thoughts rushing through his head
in these seconds came down to one - Dumbledore trusts him. To his
own surprise he nodded slowly. He felt like sealing a pact with the devil.
In an afterthought he stuck out his hand. "Promise you don't take away
points from Gryffindor during that time?" It was a silly thing to ask.
Harry was very aware of that, but somehow it seemed to be the only way
he could think of to ask Snape for some kind of a temporary truce.
Snape looked down at Harry's hand. With a sardonic grin he shook it.
The oddness of the whole situation struck Harry. Here he was in a Muggle
car in front of a Muggle supermarket shaking hands with Snape, who seemed
to find this highly amusing. Snape's smirk unnerved him. Had there been
a catch in his proposal? Quickly Harry withdrew his hand and cleared
his throat.
"Why do we have to leave London?"
"The police in Little Whinging believes the explosion at the Dursleys was an accident, but it is very likely that there still will be inquiries. They might look for both of us."
Harry remembered Sirius mentioning something along those lines.
"But since no crime was committed they will hopefully not launch a nationwide
search. It should be sufficient if we put some more distance between ourselves
and Surrey."
Harry nodded. It sounded reasonable. He only wondered how Snape knew so much about the Muggle police. It was very unlikely that he had seen mystery show on TV. Suddenly Harry remembered something he had seen in said shows. "If we stay in a hotel, we will have to show some ID. The Muggle police could track us easily that way."
Snape shrugged, "Then we won't stay in hotels."
Harry waited for Snape to elaborate, but he only stared at the steering wheel lost in thought. Harry had the feeling that he hadn't told him everything yet.
"There is more, isn't it?" He asked.
Snape lifted his gaze from his hands on the wheel and watched the entrance of Sainsbury's with hooded eyes. "Arabella Figg is dead." He said flatly.
"No."
"Yes. She died alongside your poor excuse of a family." It came out
as an accusation. Snape's voice sounded strained. "She tried to protect
them when the Death Eaters came."
Harry suddenly remembered the headline in the Muggle paper yesterday
night - 'Four dead in Little Whinging gas explosion'. He simply
had not realized that it had said four, not three. But how could Mrs.
Figg be dead? Two days ago he had sat at her table, even now he was
sitting in her car. 'Have an eye on the Dursleys' Dumbledore had
told her when Harry had overheard their floo conversation. Another person
who had died because of Voldemort's hate for him.
Harry turned to see Snape staring out of the window, his lips pressed
into a tight line.
"Did you know Mrs. Figg well, Professor?"
Snape nodded and continued watching the Muggles at the parking lot.
If Harry hadn't known for sure that Snape was a heartless bastard he would
have thought that the death of Arabella Figg affected him - more than all
the other news he had learnt in Diagon Alley.
Harry scratched his head. "She used to baby-sit me when I was small, but I know very little about her," he mused. " I think she really likes animals. She fed what must have been stray cats from all over England. Every day."
"Yes, I know." Snape didn't turn his gaze away from the Muggles in the
parking lot. "She fed all strays, who everyone else would have chased away
from their grounds, and even tended their injuries and illnesses when necessary.
Never asked questions."
Harry had the distinct impression that Snape was not talking about cats.
He didn't quite know what to say. Trying to avoid to stare at Snape, his
gaze fell upon the paper bag which was stashed away in the door of the
car. Carefully he pulled it out and opened it. It was the bag with cookies
Mrs. Figg had supplied them with. Harry's throat constricted painfully.
Nevertheless he took a cookie and offered the bag to Snape.
At first Snape glared irritably at Harry when he held the bag into his
line of vision, but then he took a chocolate cookie.
"Was Mrs. Figg part of the Order of the Phoenix?" asked Harry.
Snape nodded. "She was a contact person, of sorts."
" Really? What kind of contacts?"
"She gathered information from the, let's say, shadier elements. People
contacted her when they wanted to bring something to Dumbledore's attention,
for example. Anonymous."
The conversation ceased for a while. Harry pondered Mrs. Figg's role
in the Order and how this fit into the picture of a nice old lady with
too many cats he had in his mind.
"Err, Professor, is that how you met Mrs. Figg - as a contact person?"
"Yes."
Harry waited patiently if Snape would say more. This was after all quite a personal question. His patience was rewarded.
"She was the first person I asked for..." Snape cleared his throat. " ... for assistance when I realized that I had made some rather foolish choices."
"You got in touch with Mrs. Figg?" Harry was surprised. He fumbled a bit for the right words, afraid that Snape would become angry again. "I always thought ... I imagined you went to Dumbledore when - you know - when you wanted to switch sides." He almost whispered the last words.
"It's Professor Dumbledore for you." Snape sneered. "You can't look beyond your Gryffindor horizon, can you, Potter?"
Harry bit his lip. He wouldn't raise to Snape's bait.
"You don't simply march onto Hogwarts grounds and into the office of
the Headmaster when you are a Death Eater. He would have killed me on the
spot, and rightly so."
Harry again scratched his head. He had never regarded Dumbledore as
someone other than a gentle, wise and sometimes a bit eccentric person.
"Arabella trusted me. We had had some ... business before. It took her quite some time to convince Albus that I truly wanted to switch sides, as you put it."
" The Headmaster didn't believe you?" Harry's eyes grew wide. A couple of times he had tried to figure out how Snape had become Dumbledore's spy. This was an option he had not imagined.
"Of course not. It took Arabella half a year to convince him to meet
with me."
Harry swallowed. He would ask Snape the question foremost in his mind, now or never. "Um, ... but, why does Prof. Dumbledore trust you so much today then?"
"That, Potter, is a matter between the Headmaster and myself."
Harry let out a sigh of frustration. "Professor Dumbledore has said the very same when I asked him."
Snape's mouth quirked and slowly melted into a thin-lipped smile. "Did
he say so, indeed."
Harry nodded. Snape continued to smile, but his eyes regarded Harry
with a very calculating look. Then he turned away and started the car.
"Right, Potter. Before we leave London we should drive by the flat and
check, if maybe Arthur or Albus have returned my owls."
Harry was still pondering the conversation he just had had with Snape, when they pulled into the street the flat was in. He was jerked back into realty abruptly.
The road before them was blocked by fire trucks and ambulances. Many people with and without uniforms were busily running around.
Snape stopped the car. Behind the fire engines Harry could see a house
burning. It was the big tenement house the Muggle flat they had used was
in. Bright orange flames were blazing from the roof and almost all windows
above the ground floor. Harry quickly glanced at Snape, only to see him
stare unbelievingly at the burning house.
A police officer stepped to the side of the car and motioned at Snape to lower the window.
"Sir, you can't drive through here. Please turn around."
Snape blinked confusedly.
"Unless ... Do you live here?"
Quickly Snape had himself under control again. "No. No, I don't live here," he said hastily. "We merely wanted to visit someone. Further down the street." He made a vague gesture with his hand. "It's not important."
The officer nodded. " Then I must ask you to clear the road."
Snape did as he was told. He turned the car and slowly drove away from
the scene. Harry twisted in his seat to have better look at the house.
He wondered if the nosy neighbor was alright.
"To your left, Potter," whispered Snape, who was watching the commotion
in front of the house in the mirror.
Harry looked at the houses on the opposite side of the street. There, on an immaculate white wall, a graffiti was sprayed in fluorescent green paint for wizards and Muggles alike to see. It was an ugly grinning skull with a snake protruding from its mouth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Viktor Schnitter is not named after Victor Krum. He is named Viktor for a reason, thought, but I don't want to get into that right now. 'Schnitter' means 'reaper', as in Grim Reaper. He will reappear later. :)
I'm sorry about Mrs. Figg. She has really grown on me, but she was
doomed to death from the very beginning. I fear I'm guilty of a little
bit of cheesyness when Snape about her.
Currently I'm without a beta-reader. I want to apologize for all mistakes, strange sounding sentences and all not-quite-fitting vocabulary. Blame them on the Microsoft Word Thesaurus, my hopeless out of date Langenscheidt dictionary and my insecurities at writing in a language that is not my native one.
I'm a slow writer, but I plan to continue this story, if my time
allows. If you leave your email with your review I will notify you when
the next chapter comes out.
BTW, I really desperately need a beta-reader!!! Isn't there
anyone out there who thinks he/she could do that job? It doesn't take much
– my updates are rare, and if you are American or English, you sure have
a better feeling for your language better than I do.
Thanks for all your great reviews!
Deity, Lady Laura, SnapesMistress7, aniwda, jaws, kate,
fabnikki: Well, pulling Snape and Harry out of their usual environment is the idea of this fic. I think it is their only chance of dismissing their usual behavior as well.
faerychild713: I know, updates are rare. Sorry. If you leave
me your email address in your review I can send word to you when I have
a new chapter ready.
Blizzard: I'm sorry, there won't be more of Mrs. Figg. She was never meant to be have a big role in the story, but then I couldn't stop writing. I hope we will see her in Book 5.
Glasen Dauthi, bluebird161221: My native language is German, but since I'm a potion researcher like dear Severus I have to use English on a daily base. A lot of credit also has to go to the proofreading function of "Word" and to the great beta-readers, who taught me more about writing-style than most of my school teachers.
Boromir: Thanks for your review for my waaay old story East of Eden. You seem to be the only one who has ever guessed where Ddore took Snape before his trial.
Legacy Lady: Well, thanks for your very enthusiastic review. It makes me blush every time I read it. I'm very happy to hear that you seem to get the same mental images about proper Snape/Harry behavior from the books as I do. I enjoy writing their dialogues.
googleduckie: Indeed things can easily spin out of control, even if you are a wizard. And this is just the beginning. ; )
Moonchild: I'm properly ashamed for not updating often enough. I hope my characters are believable, but sometimes I seriously doubt it and I take out big parts of already written dialogue.
Tegan: Sometimes I'm a little insecure about Harry's character. After all he is 16 in my story, and teenagers are a bit hard to predict in their behavior.
Zardiphillian Beryllix: Of course Snape would look after Harry. No way he would let him wander around in London on his own.
Azalais Malfoy: High praise, coming from Caesar. Thank you. I wish I would have the writing abilities to create such an intriguing parallel universe as you do in your stories.
Warlady: I try do my best with Snape's character, which I have adopted as my alter ego. ; ) I'm glad you see him the same way as I do. Thanks for your heartwarming review.
Cheshire: I'm not sure if Harry really knows himself why he
chose Snape over Sirius. Maybe because the author prefers Snape and Harry
stories over Sirius and Harry stories?
