Chapter Three
"Isn't She Great?"
I gazed up at the pinnacle of a swaying, towering tree outside of a tiny beacon of light streaming from a tiny crevice in the mammoth stone walls of Hogwarts. "You know you'll be caught," I informed Elle rather half-heartedly.
She glanced down at me, one leg snugly binding the trunk of the tree, the other dangling in a manner fit to shock any creature with a phobia of sky-high places. You can imagine how I was hyperventilating: I am the most eminent coward when it comes to heights. "Honestly, keep quiet!" she hissed, steeling a quick peep at the window the tree grazed against. "I just want to take a tiny little peek inside the staff room."
"Where is all this effrontery deriving from?" I demanded, softly wheezing into my brilliantly bleached handkerchief. It's not a jest, I really do fall short of breath when I see someone so many meters from the earth. "You don't normally find pleasure in these sort of escapades. What's James goading you into?"
With a soft grunt, Elle's vaguely distinguishable chassis ambled itself around a mass of twigs and boughs. "Nothing, truly," she admitted with saintly frankness. "I just---Son of a shrew, did I just sit on a bird?---was keenly intrigued with what the teachers do on Friday nights. Who isn't? Anyhow, it isn't that great of an ordeal.---Whew!---The staff room is barely on the second floor, and if I fall you can catch me." A pant. "You would catch me w---hold a tick, no you wouldn't. Son of a shrew! I should have hired Narcissa to be my henchman, pardon me, henchwoman. Oh, no matter. The ground is shockingly springy in December and I have a lovely backside to cushion my fall."
I swabbed my beading forehead. "Don't say you're going to fall. Please don't. Humor my nerves. Be sweet for once."
"Oh, you know I won't fall."
I blinked.
"I'm quite certain with my statistics I'll plunge."
"Oh GOD." I nearly vomited.
"Tumble, then?"
"Another word and I'll snitch!" I vowed vehemently. "Don't cross me, Elle! I swear to you I will!"
"Of course you'll snitch, you always snitch and it so aggravates me." I saw her plaited mane swing slightly inside the curtain of leaves and I saw her slightly-pointed face poke out to squint with derision. "And I treat that with supreme censure."
"Certain rules must not be infracted if a school is to run properly, Elle, I tell you!"
A profound sigh. "Still...." She zipped out of sight, but her voice plagued me morosely. "But tattling on Frank Longbottom? Fie, Severus, that's like pitching a whimpering mongrel down a flight of stairs. There ought to be qualms for grassing on people, or at least a handful." A throaty chuckle. She had a very guttural tone of voice that never produced a sufficient giggle. It always sounded like a tinny little squeal when she tried. "But I highly approved of telling on Sirius. In fact, I encourage it."
I eyed the flailing bush a little warily. "Er...Elle?"
"Yes, Severus, I'm almost there, what is it?"
Something had been plaguing me for weeks now. "You know...you know that new course Dumbledore set up for every third Saturday? 'Advanced Dark Arts Detection and Defense'? You know, with that---now, what is he, it escapes me---oh yes, Auror Moody?"
"What about it?" Most rustling from the tree. She was progressing steadily.
"Well...I've never taken it...but is it true that he keeps a few pupils behind after each class for an hour?"
"Mm, yep."
"Has he ever asked you to do so?"
"Oh, often." A strained pause. "Sometimes."
"What does he do? Why you? Why you and Frank Longbottom?"
"Where'd you hear about Frank?"
"What do you do?" I persisted.
Elle puffed from behind the veiling limbs. "I'm desperately out of shape. And it's nothing unordinary, we simply go over a few finer points of the lesson. Like a quick little advanced brush up. For the better students. You know, he doesn't keep everybody. Each week, he boots out more and more pupils. Just last week, he tossed out Penny Olive, Zelda Fletch, and Sam Grimsmon. Hacking out students like mad. Cutting everything down to the bone. Escapes me, really."
"Not becoming an Auror, are you?" I tittered softly.
"Well, what if I am?"
I gaped. "Elle-----"
I heard a gasp and saw the brass hinges of the staff room fling open. McGonnogal thrust her head out and roared:
"POTTER!"
Elle emitted a harrowing shriek and slipped from the branch she was poised on. Watching in paralyzed terror, I saw her frail, lanky figure plummet from the tree and collapse on the slushy earth, face in the snow, arm and leg contorted in the most peculiar shapes. McGonnogal gawped, but then turned her enormous eyes to me. "Severus!" she cried.
I croaked. I'd never been so shaken in my life. Elle had fallen. She had. Oh God. She was dead. I knew it. She was. Oh God. I trembled. "Professor...." I whispered. I then crumpled into a similar position on the soggy sod in a faint.
* * * * * * * * * * *
It was midnight. I sat in the Slytherin bathroom, hair still sopping wet and clinging to my neck, sending drizzles running down my neck and spine. The bathroom was still muggy with the steam from my two-hour (no exaggeration) shower. My knees were at my chin and I absently thumbed the limp collar of my pajamas as I read the latest owl from my father. It'd been my third time reading it. I was still a tad wobbly.
Severus:
Greetings. Thomas Riddle brings similar tidings. Your schooling? It should be going along smoothly. There is not such think an unintelligent Death Eater. And I'm certain you are to make a fine one.
I'm not certain if you are aware, but a new breed of stupidity is beginning to germinate amongst the peaceful fools and radicals. Aurors. Tom presses us not to be fooled. Their cheerful missions do not dilute their lethal powers. He calls us to destroy as many as we can, get to the root of the pest before it ripens.
What do you think, my son? I've barely corresponded with you, and we've never spoken, not even when you were home. Always a secluded little lad, you were, almost frightened of me. And I've always been occupied at business. I am hoping that this allegiance will finally form the paternal bond between us that has always failed before.
Hopes that you feel something somewhat similar.
Regards,
Macabren Snape
I blinked quietly.
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*Tell me if it's banal. PLEASE. Always Review. And always floss. And trust me on the sunscreen.*
