Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own any of the characters in this story. They
are all creation of the wonderful J.K. Rowling. The only characters I do
own are Angeline, Lyle, and a few lesser characters that will pop up to
visit from time to time.
A/N: I have been slightly discouraged that I have reached Chapter 8 and have only received one review… Is anyone out there? I'm lonely…:sniff:… At any rate, thanks a bunch, Tina, for the review. To everyone else, PLEASE R/R. I need the input…No, actually I thrive on it.
~Chapter 8~
The next few weeks went by smoothly and without incident. When October arrived, Dumbledore announced that due to increased security measures, a weekend trip to Hogsmeade would be allowed for third years and above. Everyone talked excitedly about their plans and what they were going to buy.
Harry sat with his friends around the Gryffindor table doing homework when the owl post arrived. Hedwig dropped a letter on the table for Harry. He excitedly tore the letter open, hoping that his godfather had written.
"Well, what does it say?" Hermione whispered. Harry began to read the letter to Hermione and Ron.
Dear Harry,
Greetings! I hope that your school year is going well. Serius told me about your last letter. He has a few suspects as to who allowed the troll into troll into the school, but he wants to do a little background work before mentioning any names. He also said to be careful in Hogsmeade this weekend. The Ministry of Magic has put up an anti-apparation field and they have bumped security up to a high level, but do not let your guard down. Please keep me informed of ANYTHING unusual in or out of school. When Serius is back from his secret assignment, he will write and let you know when to meet him. Til next time.
Sincerely,
R. Lupin
Harry folded the letter up and placed it in his bag.
"I wonder what Serius is doing," Harry muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Before his thoughts could travel any further, Fred and George plopped down next to him, smiling mischievously.
"Going to Hogsmeade this weekend?" George asked.
"Yes," came the simple reply.
"Should we show him, Fred?"
"What are you two up to now?" Ron asked curiously from across the table.
"Patience my little mischief maker in waiting," Fred laughed, prolonging their secret a bit longer. Finally, he held up a small black satchel.
"Well, go on then. Open it." Ron's curiosity was overcoming him.
George smiled evilly. "Alright then." He reached inside the bag and pulled out a wand.
"A wand! You had to be mysterious for a wand?!" Ron rolled his eyes in an irritated manner.
"Not just any wand," Fred began. "This is our new nad improved batch of trick wands."
"And as our biggest investor, Harry, we want you to have the first finished products." George handed him the small black bag. Inside it were five wands, each a different color. "Each one has a different spell that it casts on the person it is waved at. It only works once, but the wand is edible after the spell is cast. Oh, and the spell wears off in one minute." The twins smiled their most proud smiles.
Harry smiled in an impressed manner. Last year Fred and George had everyone in school turning into canaries, and it had been a big hit. Harry had no doubt that these wands would be just as successful.
"We have an appointment at the joke store in Hosgmeade this weekend. Mr. Salister said if he was impressed with our wands and candy that he would buy a trial shipment. If sales go well, he's going to hire us until we're able to start our own store!"
"Wicked cool!" Ron proclaimed, slightly embarrassed for allowing too much enthusiasm show in front of his brothers. "Does mum know?"
"No, and don't go tellin' her either. You know she just doesn't understand us creative types." The twins smiled approvingly at one another. "Well, til later then. Oh, and Harry," George turned and put on his best emotional face, "Please, use them wisely. They're special, you know." George pretended to wipe a tear form his eye and then the twins were off, whispering and collaborating all the way.
"Mental, those two," Ron sighed.
"But at least they have ambition," Harry offered. He placed the black bag in the pocket of his robes and proceeded to write a reply to Remus Lupin.
*******************************************************
The weekend came, and all of the third years and above who had permission headed into Hogsmeade. There was a large number of teachers and faculty remaining at the school, and Dumbledore requested that at least five of the faculty go into town for security reasons. The five chosen proceeded down the hill shortly after the students
As Snape walked towards the Three Broomsticks with McGonagall, Hagrid, and Flitwick, he glanced inside Honeydukes. At least half of the students were crammed around the counter causing the three workers to scramble about like ants. In the corner, at a small table, reading a book, he saw Angeline. Snape allowed a half grin to come to his face.
"Are you coming, Severus?" Minerva McGonagall had stopped to see what was causing Snape to lag behind.
Quickly becoming embarrassed, he answered, "Yes. You three go ahead. I'll be there in a moment."
McGonagall nodded, using all of her self-restraint to suppress the grin trying to stretch across her face. She, much like the rest of the staff, was well aware of Snape's behavior around Angeline. No one dared to comment or give advice, however, because Snape was an extremely private person. He was much easier to get along with when people were not asking nosey questions or showing too much emotion. Those kinds of things made him uncomfortable and thus irritable. McGonagall nudged Hagrid and Flitwick, who were not hiding their smiles very well. "Come along you two. Mustn't keep Madam Hooch waiting." When they rounded the corner, then and only then did she allow herself an approving giggle.
Snape entered Honeydukes and received a few horror-stricken stares. Honeydukes is simply the last place that any student would expect to see Snape. He approached the table to see where Angeline sat and proceeded to talk nervously. "What are you reading?" In the back of his mind he could not help but feel completely goofy. He had not felt so out of sorts since he was first a student at Hogwarts and had his first crush.
Angeline looked up, a bit startled from being so absorbed in her book. She smiled warmly at Snape. "Oh, hi! It's a muggle book, poetry and literature," she held the book up for Snape to see the cover.
A twisted grin came to his face. "Interesting taste. Not many mages use their time off to read."
"You spend quite a lot of your time, free and otherwise, doing the same I've noticed."
"True…" Snape cleared his throat, "Some of the professors and I are meeting down at the Three Broomsticks. Would you care to join us?" Snape stood a few seconds pondering just how ridiculous he must sound.
"I'd love to. I haven't really had the opportunity to get to know them yet." She stood to join Snape. He extended his arm to her which she accepted in a graceful manner, and he escorted her out of Honeydukes and into the street.
Ron and Harry, who were sitting at a table across the room eating candy and drinking Butterbeer, had watched the entire thing and were laughing so hard that tears streamed down their faces. Hermione sat scowling at them both. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves," she lectured. "I think it's perfectly wonderful for Snape and Professor Atwood to have a little romance in their lives. It might be just the exact thing that he needs to make him less cranky all of the time."
"Well, we never said anything was wrong with it," Ron managed between giggles. "But did you see how uncomfortable he was just asking her to go with him? Besides, do you really think that she likes the greasy bat, or is she just being nice?"
Hermione smiled devilishly.
"What do you know, Hermione?" Harry asked accusatively.
"Professor Atwood told me a secret," Hermione gleamed.
"Well, go on then. What kind of secret?"
Hermione leaned in close and proceeded to whisper with a huge grin across her face. "Well, we were talking about the Yule Tide ball. She's never been to anything like it and wanted all the details of last year's ball."
Ron and Harry shrugged and Ron interrupted, "Some secret."
Hermione punched Ron and continued. "Anyway, one conversation led to another. Professor Atwood's never seen a Quidditch match. Can you believe it? Well, eventually we were talking about crushes, and she told me that she really liked Snape. She was a bit reluctant to tell me. She said the whole situation was sort of like the childhood that she never had."
"That's disgusting," Ron had a sick look on his face. "How could someone not know about Quidditch?"
"Oh, honestly!" Hermione retorted.
********************************************************
Snape and Angeline entered the Three Broomsticks and spotted the other professors sitting across the room in a corner. They proceeded to the table to join them.
"So glad you two could join us!" McGonagall greeted them as they sat down. "We were just discussing this year's Quidditch teams."
"Delightful! This is the first time I've ever had the opportunity to see a Quidditch match. I understand that Hogwarts' teams are very competitive."
"Ter say the least," Hagrid spoke up. "Suma da games can get violent." Hagrid smiled, "But that's what makes um special."
Angeline looked a little confused but decided quickly that Hagrid must be joking.
"I've heard that the Slytherins are getting brand new Firebolt 2X models from Malfoy's father," Madam Hooch chimed in, looking curiously at Snape.
"If they are, Lucius has not said anything to me about it," Snape answered Hooch's underlying interrogation.
"Did your wizarding school not have Quidditch teams, Ms. Atwood?" Flitwick squeaked curiously from across the table.
"No. Our student population was only about ten students to every professor. We didn't really have enough students for even a soccer team."
"Soccer?" Flitwick asked.
"A muggle sport."
"Oh… What school did you attend?"
Angeline shifted nervously. "Venificus Venustas." She received blank stares from everyone except Snape. "It's in the United States."
"The United States? I didn't know that such a university existed there. Are they not registered with the ministry?"
"Where exactly is it located?"
The questions came bombarding from all angles. Angeline's stomach lurched. "It's a rather secretive university reserved for a need to know basis. I would appreciate it if none of you mentioned this outside of the professors at Hogwarts."
Sensing her discomfort with the topic, they each agreed and quickly changed the topic.
"Has Albus found out anything regarding that troll that got in last month?" Flitwick lowered his voice to a squeaky whisper.
McGonagall leaned forward. "Albus believes that the Death Eaters had something to do with it. He has not discovered how or why it happened yet."
"You don't think it has sumat ter do with getting vengeance on Dumbledore, do ye?" Hagrid furrowed his eyebrows.
"That's doubtful," Hooch offered. "The Death Eaters were probably just trying to make Albus angry. We know they've been trying to get inside the school ever since You-Know-Who came back, and every year he's been stopped. They're probably just blowing off steam."
Snape spoke for the first time in a while. "The Death Eaters do not, unfortunately, just blow off steam." Angeline noticed that Snape was clutching his arm unconsciously. "If they did indeed allow the troll in, then someone would have to be on the inside searching for information to send out. Voldemort obviously wants something from the school." Angeline noticed the other professors flinch at the mentioning of Voldemort's name.
"Severus is right. I'd say that the six of us need to be on the lookout for whatever it is that might be of interest to You-Know-Who." McGonagall turned up her drink.
Just out side, Fred and George were excitedly counting their money. Mr. Salister had been exceptionally pleased with their presentation and had paid for the first boxes of their labor. Fred looked across the way and saw the professors sitting around a table in the Three Broomsticks. "Ugh! Professor Atwood's sittin' there next to ole Snapey. Poor woman's got no taste," he said, shaking his head.
George stopped dead in his tracks. "She can't possibly be next to Snape."
"What do you mean? I see them with my own two eyes."
"But he's walking down the road there!" Both twins did a double take. "Which one is the real Snape?"
"I don't know, but here come McGonagall and Sprout, too!"
"McGonagall's in there with the others, but I don't see Sprout."
"Shh! Snape's coming over here."
"What are you two up to?" Snape glared down at them. "Not thinking of pulling any more of your little pranks are you Mr. Wealey?"
"No, Sir, Course not," Fred offered.
"I should hope you two are truthful. You wouldn't want Gryffindor to suffer mass point loss again this year." He walked off as quickly as he had come. Seconds later, the professors came out of the Three Broomsticks. Fred and George stood staring at all of them, mouths gaping open.
"What are you two up to?" Snape sneered down at them.
"Talk about eerie," Fred muttered.
"What?"
"N-n-nothing, Sir." George pushed Fred and both boys walked briskly down the road, occasionally looking back over their shoulders.
"Now what do ye s'pose that was about?" Hagrid asked while scratching his head out of confusion.
Angeline absorbed everything and remained in a pensive mood all the way back to the school.
A/N: I have been slightly discouraged that I have reached Chapter 8 and have only received one review… Is anyone out there? I'm lonely…:sniff:… At any rate, thanks a bunch, Tina, for the review. To everyone else, PLEASE R/R. I need the input…No, actually I thrive on it.
~Chapter 8~
The next few weeks went by smoothly and without incident. When October arrived, Dumbledore announced that due to increased security measures, a weekend trip to Hogsmeade would be allowed for third years and above. Everyone talked excitedly about their plans and what they were going to buy.
Harry sat with his friends around the Gryffindor table doing homework when the owl post arrived. Hedwig dropped a letter on the table for Harry. He excitedly tore the letter open, hoping that his godfather had written.
"Well, what does it say?" Hermione whispered. Harry began to read the letter to Hermione and Ron.
Dear Harry,
Greetings! I hope that your school year is going well. Serius told me about your last letter. He has a few suspects as to who allowed the troll into troll into the school, but he wants to do a little background work before mentioning any names. He also said to be careful in Hogsmeade this weekend. The Ministry of Magic has put up an anti-apparation field and they have bumped security up to a high level, but do not let your guard down. Please keep me informed of ANYTHING unusual in or out of school. When Serius is back from his secret assignment, he will write and let you know when to meet him. Til next time.
Sincerely,
R. Lupin
Harry folded the letter up and placed it in his bag.
"I wonder what Serius is doing," Harry muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Before his thoughts could travel any further, Fred and George plopped down next to him, smiling mischievously.
"Going to Hogsmeade this weekend?" George asked.
"Yes," came the simple reply.
"Should we show him, Fred?"
"What are you two up to now?" Ron asked curiously from across the table.
"Patience my little mischief maker in waiting," Fred laughed, prolonging their secret a bit longer. Finally, he held up a small black satchel.
"Well, go on then. Open it." Ron's curiosity was overcoming him.
George smiled evilly. "Alright then." He reached inside the bag and pulled out a wand.
"A wand! You had to be mysterious for a wand?!" Ron rolled his eyes in an irritated manner.
"Not just any wand," Fred began. "This is our new nad improved batch of trick wands."
"And as our biggest investor, Harry, we want you to have the first finished products." George handed him the small black bag. Inside it were five wands, each a different color. "Each one has a different spell that it casts on the person it is waved at. It only works once, but the wand is edible after the spell is cast. Oh, and the spell wears off in one minute." The twins smiled their most proud smiles.
Harry smiled in an impressed manner. Last year Fred and George had everyone in school turning into canaries, and it had been a big hit. Harry had no doubt that these wands would be just as successful.
"We have an appointment at the joke store in Hosgmeade this weekend. Mr. Salister said if he was impressed with our wands and candy that he would buy a trial shipment. If sales go well, he's going to hire us until we're able to start our own store!"
"Wicked cool!" Ron proclaimed, slightly embarrassed for allowing too much enthusiasm show in front of his brothers. "Does mum know?"
"No, and don't go tellin' her either. You know she just doesn't understand us creative types." The twins smiled approvingly at one another. "Well, til later then. Oh, and Harry," George turned and put on his best emotional face, "Please, use them wisely. They're special, you know." George pretended to wipe a tear form his eye and then the twins were off, whispering and collaborating all the way.
"Mental, those two," Ron sighed.
"But at least they have ambition," Harry offered. He placed the black bag in the pocket of his robes and proceeded to write a reply to Remus Lupin.
*******************************************************
The weekend came, and all of the third years and above who had permission headed into Hogsmeade. There was a large number of teachers and faculty remaining at the school, and Dumbledore requested that at least five of the faculty go into town for security reasons. The five chosen proceeded down the hill shortly after the students
As Snape walked towards the Three Broomsticks with McGonagall, Hagrid, and Flitwick, he glanced inside Honeydukes. At least half of the students were crammed around the counter causing the three workers to scramble about like ants. In the corner, at a small table, reading a book, he saw Angeline. Snape allowed a half grin to come to his face.
"Are you coming, Severus?" Minerva McGonagall had stopped to see what was causing Snape to lag behind.
Quickly becoming embarrassed, he answered, "Yes. You three go ahead. I'll be there in a moment."
McGonagall nodded, using all of her self-restraint to suppress the grin trying to stretch across her face. She, much like the rest of the staff, was well aware of Snape's behavior around Angeline. No one dared to comment or give advice, however, because Snape was an extremely private person. He was much easier to get along with when people were not asking nosey questions or showing too much emotion. Those kinds of things made him uncomfortable and thus irritable. McGonagall nudged Hagrid and Flitwick, who were not hiding their smiles very well. "Come along you two. Mustn't keep Madam Hooch waiting." When they rounded the corner, then and only then did she allow herself an approving giggle.
Snape entered Honeydukes and received a few horror-stricken stares. Honeydukes is simply the last place that any student would expect to see Snape. He approached the table to see where Angeline sat and proceeded to talk nervously. "What are you reading?" In the back of his mind he could not help but feel completely goofy. He had not felt so out of sorts since he was first a student at Hogwarts and had his first crush.
Angeline looked up, a bit startled from being so absorbed in her book. She smiled warmly at Snape. "Oh, hi! It's a muggle book, poetry and literature," she held the book up for Snape to see the cover.
A twisted grin came to his face. "Interesting taste. Not many mages use their time off to read."
"You spend quite a lot of your time, free and otherwise, doing the same I've noticed."
"True…" Snape cleared his throat, "Some of the professors and I are meeting down at the Three Broomsticks. Would you care to join us?" Snape stood a few seconds pondering just how ridiculous he must sound.
"I'd love to. I haven't really had the opportunity to get to know them yet." She stood to join Snape. He extended his arm to her which she accepted in a graceful manner, and he escorted her out of Honeydukes and into the street.
Ron and Harry, who were sitting at a table across the room eating candy and drinking Butterbeer, had watched the entire thing and were laughing so hard that tears streamed down their faces. Hermione sat scowling at them both. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves," she lectured. "I think it's perfectly wonderful for Snape and Professor Atwood to have a little romance in their lives. It might be just the exact thing that he needs to make him less cranky all of the time."
"Well, we never said anything was wrong with it," Ron managed between giggles. "But did you see how uncomfortable he was just asking her to go with him? Besides, do you really think that she likes the greasy bat, or is she just being nice?"
Hermione smiled devilishly.
"What do you know, Hermione?" Harry asked accusatively.
"Professor Atwood told me a secret," Hermione gleamed.
"Well, go on then. What kind of secret?"
Hermione leaned in close and proceeded to whisper with a huge grin across her face. "Well, we were talking about the Yule Tide ball. She's never been to anything like it and wanted all the details of last year's ball."
Ron and Harry shrugged and Ron interrupted, "Some secret."
Hermione punched Ron and continued. "Anyway, one conversation led to another. Professor Atwood's never seen a Quidditch match. Can you believe it? Well, eventually we were talking about crushes, and she told me that she really liked Snape. She was a bit reluctant to tell me. She said the whole situation was sort of like the childhood that she never had."
"That's disgusting," Ron had a sick look on his face. "How could someone not know about Quidditch?"
"Oh, honestly!" Hermione retorted.
********************************************************
Snape and Angeline entered the Three Broomsticks and spotted the other professors sitting across the room in a corner. They proceeded to the table to join them.
"So glad you two could join us!" McGonagall greeted them as they sat down. "We were just discussing this year's Quidditch teams."
"Delightful! This is the first time I've ever had the opportunity to see a Quidditch match. I understand that Hogwarts' teams are very competitive."
"Ter say the least," Hagrid spoke up. "Suma da games can get violent." Hagrid smiled, "But that's what makes um special."
Angeline looked a little confused but decided quickly that Hagrid must be joking.
"I've heard that the Slytherins are getting brand new Firebolt 2X models from Malfoy's father," Madam Hooch chimed in, looking curiously at Snape.
"If they are, Lucius has not said anything to me about it," Snape answered Hooch's underlying interrogation.
"Did your wizarding school not have Quidditch teams, Ms. Atwood?" Flitwick squeaked curiously from across the table.
"No. Our student population was only about ten students to every professor. We didn't really have enough students for even a soccer team."
"Soccer?" Flitwick asked.
"A muggle sport."
"Oh… What school did you attend?"
Angeline shifted nervously. "Venificus Venustas." She received blank stares from everyone except Snape. "It's in the United States."
"The United States? I didn't know that such a university existed there. Are they not registered with the ministry?"
"Where exactly is it located?"
The questions came bombarding from all angles. Angeline's stomach lurched. "It's a rather secretive university reserved for a need to know basis. I would appreciate it if none of you mentioned this outside of the professors at Hogwarts."
Sensing her discomfort with the topic, they each agreed and quickly changed the topic.
"Has Albus found out anything regarding that troll that got in last month?" Flitwick lowered his voice to a squeaky whisper.
McGonagall leaned forward. "Albus believes that the Death Eaters had something to do with it. He has not discovered how or why it happened yet."
"You don't think it has sumat ter do with getting vengeance on Dumbledore, do ye?" Hagrid furrowed his eyebrows.
"That's doubtful," Hooch offered. "The Death Eaters were probably just trying to make Albus angry. We know they've been trying to get inside the school ever since You-Know-Who came back, and every year he's been stopped. They're probably just blowing off steam."
Snape spoke for the first time in a while. "The Death Eaters do not, unfortunately, just blow off steam." Angeline noticed that Snape was clutching his arm unconsciously. "If they did indeed allow the troll in, then someone would have to be on the inside searching for information to send out. Voldemort obviously wants something from the school." Angeline noticed the other professors flinch at the mentioning of Voldemort's name.
"Severus is right. I'd say that the six of us need to be on the lookout for whatever it is that might be of interest to You-Know-Who." McGonagall turned up her drink.
Just out side, Fred and George were excitedly counting their money. Mr. Salister had been exceptionally pleased with their presentation and had paid for the first boxes of their labor. Fred looked across the way and saw the professors sitting around a table in the Three Broomsticks. "Ugh! Professor Atwood's sittin' there next to ole Snapey. Poor woman's got no taste," he said, shaking his head.
George stopped dead in his tracks. "She can't possibly be next to Snape."
"What do you mean? I see them with my own two eyes."
"But he's walking down the road there!" Both twins did a double take. "Which one is the real Snape?"
"I don't know, but here come McGonagall and Sprout, too!"
"McGonagall's in there with the others, but I don't see Sprout."
"Shh! Snape's coming over here."
"What are you two up to?" Snape glared down at them. "Not thinking of pulling any more of your little pranks are you Mr. Wealey?"
"No, Sir, Course not," Fred offered.
"I should hope you two are truthful. You wouldn't want Gryffindor to suffer mass point loss again this year." He walked off as quickly as he had come. Seconds later, the professors came out of the Three Broomsticks. Fred and George stood staring at all of them, mouths gaping open.
"What are you two up to?" Snape sneered down at them.
"Talk about eerie," Fred muttered.
"What?"
"N-n-nothing, Sir." George pushed Fred and both boys walked briskly down the road, occasionally looking back over their shoulders.
"Now what do ye s'pose that was about?" Hagrid asked while scratching his head out of confusion.
Angeline absorbed everything and remained in a pensive mood all the way back to the school.