Wail of a Banshee, Tear of a Dryad
Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me, at least nothing you recognise. It belongs to the amazing, the formidable, the unbelievable… J. K. ROWLING
Chapter Four
The archer Cupid at Hogwarts
Helen climbed the stairs to Dumbledore's office, while Professor McGonagall transported Potter to the hospital wing.
The teacher clenched her teeth. What on earth had happened now that was so important? That oaf's demise. Then she mentally slapped herself. Hagrid had never wronged her in any way. She had found him a bit slow witted, but not particularly unfriendly.
As for Potter… she saw a lot of James Potter in him, which was a reason to despise him, but on the other hand, he was Lily's son, too. The Gryffindor had been her best friend for some time, but thanks to James… Was Mudblood segregation any worse than Slytherin segregation?, Helen asked herself.
She had reached the office and opened the door without knocking.
Dumbledore ignored her rude behaviour and motioned for her to take a seat in one of the squashy armchairs in front of his desk. Three of them were already occupied by Severus Snape, Remus Lupin and young witch, maybe in her late twenties, with long black hair, large blue eyes and a light suntan. Helen's eyes narrowed at the sight of her.
"What are YOU doing here?" she asked sharply. The other woman arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow.
"Paula," Lupin interjected hastily, "I'm sure Miss O'Connor didn't mean to offend you," and to Helen he said, "Miss Antinardi has agreed to take over Care of Magical Creatures."
Helen pursed her lips. "Ah, great! And yes, I did mean to offend her."
The Italian laughed. "Really, Helen, you should set your anger aside in these days." The accent was still quite evident in her voice. Her eyes now narrowed as well and she rose from her chair to stare Professor O'Connor right into the eyes. "Women like you don't make friends easily, remember?" Now the men rose as well. Snape strode over to lay a calming hand onto Helen's shoulder and Lupin took Paula's elbow.
"Please, Ladies," said Dumbledore soothingly. "This is not the time for personal conflict. We must stand together. Now, be seated, all of you!"
They sat down, Snape purposely taking the seat between the two women. Before Dumbledore started talking again, he took Severus took Helen's hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
She gave him a surprised and thankful smile. Then the Headmaster resumed talking.
"You have all heard about the tragic demise of Rubeus Hagrid. Now, therefore, we had to employ a new Care of Magical Creatures teacher – Miss Antinardi. Furthermore, as you no doubt have noticed, Defence Against the Dark Arts is the most important subject this year. Therefore, as we doubt that one person alone can handle that, Professor Lupin has been recalled and will teach the students up to fourth year, Professor O'Connor those above."
Helen's mouth had become very thin. She stood up so abruptly that her chair skidded backwards. "Great, Dumbledore," she hissed. "Call Paula, take away my classes… What do you wanna do? Run a school or make my life living hell?"
Without another word, she turned and ran from the office, with Severus close at her heels.
**
Helen came to a halt in a hallway not far away from the gargoyle that opened the door to Dumbledore's office. She leaned against the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks. She shivered suddenly, some kind of coldness grasping her thin body…
"Helen!" She turned around. Severus was standing behind her, concern obvious in his pitch-black eyes. "What do you want?" she asked weakly, "you are just like them."
He shook his head. "No, little willow, I'm not!"
She smiled. "'Little willow'. You haven't called me that for ages." A smile turned up the corners of Snape's thin mouth. "Yes, well… not since you believed Potter that it had been me who had put the bubotuber pus into you dragon-hide gloves in fifth year."
Suddenly, she started sobbing again and then stepped closer to him, leaning her head against his chest. Severus stroke her hair. Then he pushed her backwards. She turned up her wet face to look at him. He cupped her face with both hands… There was a silent pleading in her eyes and she gave in immediately as Severus bent down and kissed her.
**
The next morning dawned brightly, but the atmosphere was very miserable. The students had been informed about Hagrid's death and, though many had criticised his teaching, he had been quite popular with most of them. Dark looks were shot at Professor Antinardi, though she was clearly not the one to blame. The Slytherins, Pansy Parkinson prominent among them, didn't seem to care that much, but strangely enough, Draco Malfoy didn't say anything. Instead, he kept quite a gloomy expression. At the Gryffindor table, Hermione and Ron sat together, thinking of Harry, who lay still in the Hospital Wing. Hermione sobbed silently and tears ran down her face again. Ron looked very pale as he skidded closer to Hermione and lay a comforting arm around her. She put her head onto his shoulder, thankful for the support.
Suddenly, the doors of the Great Hall opened and Harry came in. He sat down next to Ron, without saying a word. He didn't eat anything, either, just stared at the golden plate in front of him.
The post owls arrived and a handsome screech owl dropped a black envelope in Malfoy's lap. He stared at in, fear obvious in his pale grey eyes. He opened the envelope, pulled out a piece of parchment…
His cry of anguish sounded through the Great Hall, making everybody jump. Then, a loud crash sounded, for Draco had seized his golden goblet and thrown it against the opposite wall. Then he jumped to his feet and ran out of the hall. In a second, Professors Snape and O'Connor followed him, their robes flapping behind them like wings.
**
Paula Antinardi had looked up at the sound of Draco's scream, just like everybody else, and watched Snape and O'Connor following him.
She turned to Lupin, who sat next to her. The werewolf looked extremely grave.
"Do you know what happened?" she asked.
He considered the matter for a few moments.
"I am afraid he just received word about the death of his mother. Narcissa Malfoy was poisoned a few days ago and transported to St.Mungo's, but obviously, they were not able to do anything about it. The poison was one rarely seen or something…"
Paula shook her head sympathetically. "The poor boy… no mother, a swine of a father…"
Remus Lupin couldn't help but grin at her description of Lucius.
**
Draco had his face pressed against the stone wall of the Entrance Hall.
Why? Why? The question echoed in his mind. He had known that his mother, devoted to Lucius, had been a bad person, a Death Eater, just like a lot of their friends. But still… WHY? She had been the only person who had cared about him at least a little. He remembered the last letter she had sent him.
"…sometimes sacrifices are necessary for the cause you believe in…whatever our Lord demands has to be done, even if it requires the life of a devoted follower…"
He had thought she had been talking about his father's imprisonment, but in truth, she had been talking about her own death.
They had made Narcissa Secret Keeper for the Death Eater hideout, and now that she was dead, she had literally taken the secret to the grave. Nobody would ever find them…
"Draco…?"
He turned around to find the Professors Snape and O'Connor standing behind him, both looking extremely worried. Without another word, Professor O'Connor pulled Draco in her embrace and, strangely enough, he let it happen. He held onto the small, fragile woman, trying to pretend that he was five years old again and that this was his mother…
Severus watched Helen comforting Malfoy, the son of the man she loathed nearly as much as the Dark Lord himself.
Just then, the doors of the Great Hall opened and the Gryffindor trio entered the Entrance Hall, closely followed by Professor Dumbledore and Paula Antinardi.
Immediately, Draco pulled away from Helen and wiped the tears of his face.
Dumbledore led them over to the other three.
"Mr Malfoy?" he asked softly, "are you all right?" Malfoy nodded curtly. He hated himself for his weakness. Crying in front of Potter, really.
Harry raised his gaze to meet Malfoy's. "Sorry, 'bout what happened", the bespectacled boy said finally.
Malfoy scorned. "Don't pretend. You always wished for me and my family to go to hell."
Harry felt his temper rising immediately. What good was it, showing compassion, if it was thrown right back in your face?
"True," he spat, "but that doesn't mean I don't know what it is like to lose someone close to you. After all, it was your dear auntie who murdered my godfather!"
"And I commend her for it!" Malfoy shot back.
"BOYS!" Dumbledore said sternly. "That's no way to treat each other. Stop this ridiculous fighting right now!"
"Oh for heaven's sake!" yelled Professor O'Connor suddenly, "For once, stop meddling, Dumbledore!"
Everybody fell silent. Snape put his hand to his forehead in a gesture of exasperation, Paula stared at Helen as if she'd gone mad and Dumbledore looked seriously taken aback by this rudeness. The students just couldn't believe their ears.
"S-sorry?" Hermione finally croaked.
"You heard me!" Helen spat.
Paula swung back her magnificent black hair before shouting, "Are you insane? What are you attacking Albus for, he's right in demanding peace!"
Professor O'Connor was now so angry she seemed to be giving off heat. Her black eyes were glowing strangely and she looked sinister, even with the cute flowers in her shining brown hair.
"Well, then," she hissed, "maybe he shouldn't try to put so many enemies in one room, should he? I can't stand half of the staff and as for you," she pointed at Paula, looking ready to curse her into oblivion, "I'd rip you apart if I could!"
Professor Antinardi just smiled mirthlessly.
"My, my…"she teased, "such a violent nature… wonder where you've got it from? Your father, maybe?"
There was a moment of silence, then, suddenly, Helen leapt forward and Snape had to grab her around the shoulders to restrain her.
"HOW DARE YOU!" she screeched.
Harry, Ron and Hermione backed away, utterly surprised.
Helen O'Connor was now straining against Severus' grip, throwing every insult at Paula that she could think of.
Dumbledore finally saw fit to interject.
"HELEN, stop acting like a schoolgirl!" But Helen ignored him and he grabbed her upper arm himself now, saying, "Helen Riddle, stop it this instant."
She fell limp suddenly. "Great," she mumbled. "Reveal it to them. Make them hate me even more…"
She shrugged of Snape's hands and walked away slowly.
Dumbledore himself seemed shocked at having let slip this piece of information.
"C'mon," Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione. They hurried back to Gryffindor Common Room.
Once inside it, Harry heaved a great sigh.
"Could you explain to me what just happened?" Ron asked, looking bewildered.
"Ron, didn't you hear Dumbledore?", Hermione said impatiently.
Ron's forehead creased as he tried to see what she was hinting at.
"I know now why her face seemed familiar," Harry said slowly. "Her last name, Ron, is Riddle. And she reminded me of the sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle. Alias Voldemort.
You see?" he said in a hoarse voice, "Her name isn't O'Connor and while her mother might have been a dryad, her father is Voldemort!"
TBCA/N: Hehe! Surprise? Well, isn't that a nice young woman? *winks*
All right, tell me what you think. Now the romance should be conspicuous. And now, hit that review button. Whoever guesses who'll hook up with Paula Antinardi will get a lollypop…
