Chapter 4: The Ravenclaw and the Slytherin

Aeowyn opened her eyes to a room much darker and much warmer than the dungeon she remembered being in last. She sat up and attempted to stretch her fingers, but discovered that her arms and hands had been bandaged tightly. Panic started to set it as she looked at her arms. However, after feeling a cold metal pressing against her wrist, she realized her bracelet was still on her arm. Aeowyn looked around slowly, finally remembering that this was Infirmary. (Headless Nick had told her about how he had had an explosive argument with Peeves, the castle Poltergeist, here.) Glancing at the night sky out of the window, she swung her feet over the bed, letting them touch the cold stone that made the floor. She sauntered across the room and looked in a mirror, sneering with her upper lip at the sight before her. She had cuts and bandages all over her face. She sighed and said aloud, "Well, isn't that a pretty face." Aeowyn, really not caring about her looks, shrugged and decided to leave the Infirmary.

Before she had taken two steps, her lungs flared in anger and Aeowyn found herself on the floor. She seethed with defeat as she attempted to push herself to her feet with her hands, but failed when she realized she could no longer use them, bandaged as they were. But Aeowyn was not ready to give. With the aid of her elbows, she managed to roll over on her back. She pushed up with the back of her head and leaned forward, landing on her knees. With a sight less than grace, she pushed herself to her feet with her knees, wobbling slightly. "I guess I'm not ready to leave the Infirmary. " She made her way slowly back to her bed, finding that she was actually relieved when she crawled beneath the covers and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Aeowyn opened her eyes to find herself on a warm floor. The bandages on her hands and arms were gone and she sat up quickly, staring wide-eyed at the ground beneath her. It looked as if she were sitting above space; there were billions of stars and miles of black night sky beneath her, yet the floor was still solid. She stood up slowly, eyeing a figure approaching her. Aeowyn recognized the person immediately: it was herself.

Aeowyn realized what was going on. "I'm dreaming aren't I?" she asked with a proud smirk.

The mirror image of Aeowyn grinned back evilly. "You got that right!" The figure looked like Aeowyn in every way, except for her clothing. The mirror image wore long, dark robes and carried a staff with a bronze eagle perched on top of it in her right hand.

Aeowyn walked forward, coming face to face with her mirror, awaiting an answer. When she received none, Aeowyn asked the mirror image, "Well? What's this dream about?"

The duplicate smiled again, just as unpleasant. "You tell me. How long has it been since you've slept a sleep so peaceful? You've had nightmares since you were seventeen."

"Maybe things are changing," Aeowyn pointed out with a smile. "My life seems like it's starting to finally go right! I know I'm going to love it here at Hogwarts!"

The mirror circled Aeowyn like a cat. "What about this Farus fellow?"

Aeowyn managed a chuckle. "Farus? He's nothing more than another Gilderoy Lockhart," she said, referring to the Professor who had taught the Defense Against the Dark Class several years ago. "A pompous windbag."

Aeowyn's mirror returned to her position in front of Aeowyn. "And Professor Snape?" she questioned with a seethe.

"Severus?" Aeowyn asked. "Why should I worry about him? His wardrobe may be as black as ink and his personality more sour than a lime spiced with lemon, but he's certainly no cause for concern."

"You feel nothing for him?"

Aeowyn scoffed. "You're a joke! You know we've sworn off man handling!"

Aeowyn's duplicate nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then we know where we stand. Good evening, self."

Aeowyn smiled. "Good evening, self!"

Was that a scream I heard? A peaceful sleep? Merlin! How long has it been since I've had one? Oh, what does it matter? It's time to get up, anyway!

Aeowyn opened her eyes at her mind's command. Her gaze trailed to a window, where she realized it was still dark. She noticed, without looking, that her hands were no longer bandaged and she sighed in comfort. She closed her eyes and rolled over, grabbing for her stuffed caterpillar. Her hand landed on an oddly rounded object, the feel of it woolen. She opened her eyes, looked up, and then slowly drew her hand away from Severus' knee.

He looked his usual solemn self, though Aeowyn noted a slight surprise in his eyes at her touch and a rosy flush to his cheeks. "Well rested, I presume?"

"What are you doing here?" Aeowyn asked. She noticed that Severus had pulled a chair beside her bed to sit in and had been engrossed in a book entitled Potions for the Master. A small lamp was burning brightly on a nightstand beside her bed.

Severus placed the book on the nightstand and turned to her. "I was passing by the Infirmary on my way to see Minerva." He looked at her, his lips slightly parted. "I heard you scream and then you were talking in your sleep."

"Oh," Aeowyn said, blushing angrily, afraid she had said something she knew would get her in trouble. "What was I saying?"

Severus shook his head, attempting to get his hair out of his face. To no avail, of course, it gracefully fell back down in his eyes. "You said something about peaceful sleep and how it had been a long time since you had had one."

Aeowyn growled deep in her throat, cursing how he had caught her off guard. "Brit! Every sleep is a peaceful one," she snarled, hugging her pillow.

"I was wondering… Why were you screaming in your dreams? And what would be in the back of your mind that would make you have such dreadful sleeps?" he prodded.

Aeowyn sprang up angrily. "And what would be in the back of your mind that would make you have such a dreadful attitude?!"

Severus stared at her mutely. She must not know that I used to be a Death Eater. My horrible past must be oblivious to her. Even if I were to ever tell her, now would certainly not be the time. But what is she hiding? "It is in my nature to be thus." He got up from his chair and turned to leave, but was stopped by a timid question:

"You were in Slytherin, weren't you?" Aeowyn asked. "When you went to school here?"

Severus turned back around to face her. "Yes," he answered, amused at her sudden interest in his boyhood. He returned to his seat beside her bed. She was in the process of laying back down, obviously growing paler. Severus supposed she wanted to stay awake and conversation certainly would do the trick. "Did you have the same four houses at your school in America?"

Aeowyn nodded and replied, looking up at him, "Yup. It might make you proud to hear that Slytherins are just as miserable and spiteful in America as in England."

Severus let out a chuckle and he noticed that Aeowyn actually smiled when he did so. "And you? What house were you in?"

"Ravenclaw," she replied proudly. "I know what you're thinking. Ravenclaws aren't known for much. But I'm still proud to say I was one." Severus noted that she had turned on her side to face him, her hair strewn out in a beautiful ring of fire about the pillow. He licked his lips nervously. "I was on the House Team, too," she said with a smug smile.

"Indeed?" he questioned, thankful to be driven away from his rambling thoughts. "And what were you?"

"Chaser; six years. Scored six hundred and twelve goals," she said with a smile. "We actually had a match go on for three days once. The captain of the team and I were the only ones who didn't want to be replaced, so we played for three days straight. After the match was over, we collapsed, dead on our feet. He absolutely loved Quidditch. He went on to play for the American team, you know," Aeowyn said, remembering her friend. She then looked at Severus and said, "Sorry. This must be boring."

"Not at all," Severus proclaimed, staring into her eyes.

Aeowyn wished Sanguis were here. Why does he keep staring at me like that?! Remember your promise, Aeowyn! "Forget it," she said nastily, turning on her other side, her back facing him. "I told you, remember? No opening up!"

"You told Farus that you were from muggle descent…?" Severus questioned, sounding unusually interested. "What were your parents?"

"None of your business," she snarled.

"Eowine," Severs said softly.

She slowly rolled back over and looked at him, giving him a pernicious glare. "At least pronounce my name right! Sheesh! It's A-Oh-Win," she explained as though he were an under-educated schoolboy.

"My apologies, Aeowyn," Severus said as he took Aeowyn's left hand and held it in his. "Aeowyn, we are not opening up to one another. We are being friends," he replied, cautiously. "Nothing more."

Aeowyn's eyes narrowed at him. "Well, if we're being friends, then why are you holding my hand?!" She snatched her hand away and snorted through her nose, rolling back over in bed. Jeez! What a pig-headed fool! Aeowyn and Severus sat in silence for the next several minutes, not daring to speak to each other. After quite some time had passed, she heard Severus rise from his seat and head for the exit to the Infirmary. She had no intentions of stopping him this time and let him walk out the door. Aeowyn quickly fell into a deep sleep filled with nightmares.

Aeowyn left the Infirmary the next morning, feeling a million times better than she had the previous night. She had asked Madam Pomfrey had long she had been in the Infirmary and the soft-faced nurse had replied, "One week." Aeowyn had allowed her eyes to go wide with shock. All the way back to her room, she continued muttering to herself.

"How could I have been in there so long? Merlin, I had only been cut in a few places!" Aeowyn suddenly felt filthy, not having a proper bath in a week. "Agenda one: take bath. Agenda two: Ponder." She reached her password-keeper and immediately gave him the most secret words, climbing quickly through the porthole. With a panicky screech, Sanguis flew into her arms and she hugged him tightly. "Oh, Sanguis! Who's been feeding you?" Sanguis looked at Aeowyn, then pulled at her grasp, indicating that he wished to be let go. She obliged and he flew over to her desk, picking up an envelope in his mouth. Sanguis made a shrieking sound and glided back to Aeowyn, dropping the letter in her hand and resuming his perch on her shoulder. "Huh," she queried. "I wonder who wrote this." She opened the envelope and took out the letter inside.

Miss Sevor,

Please accept my deepest apologies for what happened to you when we had that scuffle in my classroom. If I had known you were to land on all of those broken bottles, I surely would have taken the blunt of your ire to prevent the pain you were forced to endure. I would also like to apologize for the way I acted last night. I do not know what came over me, but I did not act in the fashion of a gentleman.

Aeowyn and Sanguis looked at one another. "Since when does Severus act like a gentleman anyway?" Her solemn face cracked into a smile and she began laughing like a maniac. When her laughter subsided, she straightened the bracelet on her right arm and continued reading:

I would like to request if you would do me the honour of sitting next to me during the Sorting Banquet? It would give me great pleasure to sit beside the most beautiful woman at Hogwarts.

Aeowyn sneered and raised an eyebrow. "What's he playing at?" She glanced at the last part she had read and scoffed aloud. "And what's with spelling 'honor' with a 'u'?" she questioned, as though it were more important than Severus' comment of her being "beautiful". She decided to finish the letter, hoping it would bring her more mirth.

Lastly, I would like to speak with you privately some time in the future. There are certain things that I wish you to know, before you find them out by yourself. This is strictly a meeting of two colleagues, nothing more. If we are to work with each other for a whole year, we must be able to understand one another. I look forward to the Sorting Ceremony.

With Care,

Severus Snape

"What an oddball," Aeowyn said with a snort. She crumpled the letter and threw it behind her, forgetting the matter all together. She headed towards the bathroom and shut the door in Sanguis' face. He cried out and as Aeowyn turned the water on, she shouted, "You want to watch me take a shower?! Pervert!" Sanguis, understanding his master's jokes, seemed to smile and flew over to the closet to catch a quick nap. Before his eyes shut, Aeowyn hollered, "So, who brought that letter, Sanguis? Surely Severus couldn't have found his way into my room, not with a password like mine!" With some thought, she replied to herself, "I guess he gave it to you, huh?" She heard Sanguis squeak a reply that she had learnt over the years meant 'Yes.'

After some twenty minutes of a well-deserved shower, Aeowyn exited her bath with a towel wrapped around her body. "Holy Merlin! It's freezing in here!" She giggled unexpectedly and bolted up the stairs to her bedroom and leapt into her small bed, covering up quickly. Aeowyn sighed happily, snuggling down in the blankets' warmth. "Sanguis, this is heaven!" She smiled and closed her eyes, with no intention of going to sleep.

Before too long had passed, she decided to "fall from heaven" and get dressed. She put on her usual green work robes and brushed through her hair three times, carelessly, before heading for the door. She believed it was lunchtime after all and on this particular day she was starving! Aeowyn made her way quickly to the Dining Hall, Sanguis fluttering madly behind her. She broke into a sprint, yelling at Sanguis, "Betcha I can beat ya!" Sanguis accepted the challenge and put on an extra burst of speed. Aeowyn, giggling madly as she raced her best friend to lunch, caught up with him quickly. "You slow old bat!" she taunted, running out in front of him. He squeaked out what Aeowyn took as an insult. "Oh, I am, am I?" She caught sight of the doors to the Dining Hall and sprinted, flying ahead of Sanguis. He was, however, not far beyond. They both ran into the Hall, laughing and squeaking their heads off, ignoring the other Professors in the room completely. Aeowyn was doubled over, laughing hysterically and shouting at Sanguis, "Ha ha! I beat you!"

Professor Dumbledore showed a twinkling in his eyes as he said to Severus and McGonagall, "She certainly adds a bright light to our staff."

"She is childish," Severus muttered coldly, staring intently at Aeowyn as she approached the table, attempting to catch her breath. "A little out of shape, Miss Sevor?" he asked coolly.

"Ha!" she shouted to his face. "I'd like to… huff… see you… huff… do that!" Aeowyn put her hands on her hips and grinned at Dumbledore. "Morning, Albus!"

"Ah, it is more near noon, Aeowyn," he replied with a gentle smile.

Aeowyn looked puzzled, as though she didn't know what to say. Her smile faded and her lips pursed together, as though she were pondering. Suddenly, the smile grew back on her face and she shouted, "Good noon, then, Albus!" Aeowyn walked around the table and took a place next to Dumbledore, leaving a seat empty between her and Snape.

"I trust you are doing much better?" Dumbledore asked.

Aeowyn stopped piling food on her plate and sat back, refusing to eat until she had spoken with Dumbledore. "Surely! But… why may I ask was I in the Infirmary for so a week?"

"You lost a remarkable amount of blood," came the reply. "You did not wake for three days and then you yourself saw what happened that night you tried to walk out the Infirmary."

"Fell flat on me face!" she shouted with a smile, faking a British accent. Dumbledore and Minerva chuckled at her imitation and even Severus could not hide a smile. "Who fed Sanguis?" she asked quickly.

"I asked Severus to look after him for you," Dumbledore said with a bit of pride in his voice. "Sanguis was extremely uncooperative. Especially when he realized it had been a week since you were gone. He took a liking to the taste of Severus' fingers, I believe."

Aeowyn glanced at one of Severus' hands, which rested on the tabletop. She saw tiny scratch marks and scars on his fingers from Sanguis' attacks. He withdrew his hand slowly from the table and put it out of sight. She looked at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "But thanks for taking care of him!" she said graciously.

"Your bat understands English, I presume?" Severus asked, ignoring Aeowyn's gratitude. "When Albus said you were in the Infirmary…"

"How did he get out of my room?" Aeowyn questioned curiously. "Nobody could have discovered the password for my door."

"Of course not, Aeowyn," Dumbledore said. "Your rooms are your only privacy. No Professors would infiltrate them without proper cause. I sent Fawkes, my Phoenix, to open the window for Sanguis. Sanguis flew directly to me with Fawkes and I explained everything to him. It seemed he could understand every word I said."

Aeowyn patted Sanguis on the head as he clutched onto a peach, sucking on it noisily. "I won't deny it: he's smarter than most pets. And I'm really proud of him."

"Perhaps Miss Sevor would prefer to eat than talk?" Severus interjected, much to Aeowyn's delight. "She has had nothing but Madam Pomfrey's food for a week, which is not much to celebrate on." Poppy gave Severus a harsh look from her spot.

"Of course," Dumbledore said curtly.

Aeowyn didn't hesitate. She immediately began shoveling the food in her mouth, stunning the others at the table. They could not believe that a girl of her stature could put away so much food and not be the size of The Fat Lady (the portrait who guarded the Gryffindor's porthole). "Incredible! Kudos to the House Elves!"

"'Kudos'?" Minerva repeated, as the Professors stared oddly at Aeowyn.

Aeowyn stopped eating and looked at them. "Yeah. You know? Kudos!" They returned her reply with blank faces. "My compliments to them!" she said with a term that they would recognize. They nodded, finally understanding.

"The students shall be arriving next Sunday," Dumbledore pointed out.

Aeowyn jerked her head to him. "What is today?"

"Friday," Severus replied. "We have one week before those little-"

"Ah, ah, ah, Severus," Dumbledore warned. Severus held his tongue, but muttered audibly to himself while he prodded his lunch with a fork.

"…and I'd like to pick up some more Butterbeer from Hogsmeade," Aeowyn heard Farus say from the other side of the table.

Aeowyn looked at Dumbledore. "Professor-I mean… Albus?" she asked.

"Yes, Aeowyn?" he returned with a smile.

"What is Hogsmeade?" Aeowyn asked, receiving a surprised hush from the other teachers at the table. "Sorry… I don't know what it is."

Dumbledore placed a hand on her shoulder, grinning softly. "I believe it is better for you to find out, than for us to tell you. Perhaps you would like an escort?"

Aeowyn stared hesitantly at Dumbledore. "I don't think so. I can take care of myself. If you just tell me how to get there, I am pretty sure I can find it."

"I believe I would prefer you to have a guardian, Aeowyn. The students have not arrived yet and security is low, and please-" he begged interrupting her "-allow an escort to go with you for me."

Aeowyn sighed. She would do anything Dumbledore asked of her. "All right, Albus. I'll allow somebody to go with me."

Severus lifted his eyes from his meal and said, "I will-"

"I shall accompany Miss Aeowyn!" Farus offered from his seat.

"Very well then!" Dumbledore said. "When are you going, Farus?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. Right about two," he replied, giving Aeowyn a handsome smile. "Is that okay for you, Aeowyn?"

Aeowyn grinned back at him, hiding her displeasure. She muttered to Severus, "About as okay as being a muggle." He chuckled. She looked at Severus, giving him a soft smile, which he (much to Aeowyn's surprise) returned most cordially.

Damn that Farus! Severus said to himself. That is okay, though. Who says I was not planning a trip to Hogsmeade tomorrow around two myself? He chuckled lowly to himself, then stopped immediately. Wait a minute… what am I saying? Go to Hogsmeade with that childish witch!? I must be losing my edge…

"Something wrong Severus?" Aeowyn asked, wavering.

Severus glared at her, gazing deep into her amber eyes. What is she playing at? Who does she think she is, asking me if something is wrong? "Nothing, Miss Sevor. I am quite all right." What in Merlin's…?! Who do you think you are, replying to her so courteously, Severus?! I need to go read a malevolent book… "If you will excuse me," he said as he rose to his feet.

"Ah, Severus!" Aeowyn stopped him. "We could… have that chat now… if you're up to it," she offered with a smile. You know… he does have this chilling, handsome air about him… … Oh no, Aeowyn! Don't even think about it! Men are tactless trolls, remember?! "Of course, I have a lot of work to do before Sunday," she corrected herself coldly.

Severus glowered at her, noticing her distant reply. "I do not think so. Some other time, perhaps?" Without another word, he left the table.

Aeowyn let out a snarl and slumped down in her chair, muttering to herself. "Stupid Slytherin… doesn't know his ass from his head." She paused and then tried to mock Severus by saying, "Arse." She chuckled to herself and looked up at the door. "Maybe I should apologize…" Aeowyn felt Sanguis crawl up her leg. She looked at him and then said aloud, "Nah!"

Okay, before you start asking questions and saying, "They don't have the same Four Houses in America!" Trust me. This is my fanfic and I know what I'm doing, nee? :D So, there will obviously be an explanation! Read on to find out and uh… the little button at the bottom… push it… and review… please? Come on! You know you want to! ^_^