Yes, it is still all Rowling's work, except for what you don't recognize.

I want to thank the people who have left reviews and encouragement: Arysta, Ezmerelda, Senya, Risa, Carol and esp. Ramos who has beta read the following chapter for me.

Chapter Two

What They Saw

Prof. Snape fascinated Iolanthe. He had worn a dark mark (the shadow of it was still there in his aura) yet it had never reached into him to corrupt him as it did others. Somehow he had been mortified, purified, even rarified: put through the grinder of life and spit out the other side. It was on occasions like this that Iolanthe truly appreciated her ability to read auras, and, in certain cases, even see a human soul. However, she still relied on Quinn to give her visual reference points. She found that it helped anchor her during an investigation. When she received the picture of Hermione, she showed it to Quinn first.

"Well, she's a looker, alright," said Quinn. "Schoolgirl clothes don't hide her figure at all. Say, you remember that Dietrich DVD we played last week? Blue Angel? That's who this professor reminds me of, the old duffer in the film."

Iolanthe took back the picture and examined the girl's aura. She was no Lola; in fact, she was one of the more powerful witches she had ever seen. This was a very interesting evening, indeed.

Then Iolanthe let her senses roam. Slightly to the left of her, that would be North, and that's where the girl was. There would be no problem tracking her. Iolanthe gave Snape the good news. She watched as a turquoise and gold bubble of sheer joy swirled over Snape's heart.

"Oh does he ever love her, though it seems to be rather platonic," thought Iolanthe. "It's amazing how he can keep all that feeling out of his voice. I bet he has a perfect poker face, too. I'll have to ask Quinn later."

After Quinn had appeared to Snape, Iolanthe decided some drastic action needed to be taken if they were not to be there all night. She retrieved a pensieve from her desk drawer and placed it in front of him on her desk.

"Of course, you know what this is."

"We don't need that. I did nothing wrong."

"I didn't say you did. We keep it around for some of our clients who may find it a bit difficult remembering or expressing what they saw. It can be a great time saver. And of course, we erase the contents immediately after use. There is no way it could fall into the wrong hands. It would spare you having to talk about this distressing issue."

Snape opened his mouth and then closed it. Slowly he put his wand to his head and removed the first few strands. It didn't take long before he signaled he was done. He stood up and walked over to look out the grime encrusted window.

"Quinn, you do the honors first."

Because Snape couldn't hear Quinn's report, the room seemed silent for a long time. Quinn entered the memory and then recounted what he saw to Iolanthe.

"They were in a laboratory in a basement or dungeon. The professor was watching the girl chopping something. He snuck up behind her and she startled and cut herself. He took her hand and put her finger in his mouth. Not very sanitary, if you ask me. She put her other hand on his face. Then he let go off her finger in order to kiss the palm of her hand. They stood like that for a while, simply ogling each other. He then snapped out it and gets this murderous look. He turned puce and was yelling at her about how she might of died from being so careless. She screamed right back at him that she wouldn't have cut herself if she hadn't snuck up on her. Quite a row they had! Interesting, she then says that she loves him, calls him a few choice names, and runs out the room. And Old Stoneyface here, the look on his mug was priceless, totally priceless. After she runs from the room, he then threw everything to the floor. I'm not sure but I think there were tears in his eyes. Well, he sure fooled me; I felt for certain that he must have done something pretty bad to her. It was just a tempest in a teapot."

"Thank you, Quinn. My turn." Iolanthe reached out her hand and felt for the bowl. She tapped on it with her wand and the story played itself again for her.

She made mental notes as she watched. "When it starts they are both content. They are covered with warm rosy glows -- rosy pink, not passionate red or purple. At this point it would be safe to say that while they are not intimately involved with each other, they do enjoy working together. Snape becomes alarmed about something and quickly comes up behind her. She startles when she feels his breath on her neck. Then she's in pain from the cut. Snape panics and grabs her hand. But then the attempt to help her goes astray and leads to some mild erotic feelings, all lilacs and lavenders. Ah, she feels it too and she touches his face. Their hearts are both racing and their breathing is shallow and. Oh Gods! Silvery iridescent colors collects above him and then her, stretching out, and reaching out to each other. The two souls meet, and where they first touch, little golden sparks flare. After they've totally merged, it explodes and breaks down into droplets that then reenter their respective owners."

Iolanthe swallowed and tried to contain her excitement. She doubted that should she live to 200 she would ever witness such a thing again. And she had promised to destroy the pensieve recollection? She wanted to show Snape, but he'd only see what Quinn saw. And would he believe her if she told him what she saw? Not very likely.

The memory continued to play out until Snape was left alone. Iolanthe tapped the pensieve again and the memory was destroyed.

She wiped a tear from her eye and turned to Snape. "So you had a lover's spat?"

"Don't say that," snapped Snape. "I never touched her that way. She's my student."

"Big on denial, ain't he?" muttered Quinn.

"Can you explain why you simply didn't bandage her wound?"

Snape cleared his throat. "She was assisting me in preparing an extremely dangerous substance for use in classes. I noticed that she had removed one of her gloves. I came up to tell her to put on her glove back on and she cut herself. Satan's Weed is only poisonous when in the bloodstream; the enzymes found in saliva neutralize the toxin."

"Ah, so maybe he could have spit on her finger instead?" quipped Quinn.

In an ice-tinged voice, Snape murmured to himself. "Silly, silly girl. She was just a child carried away by the moment."

Snape shot her a look filled with malice. "If that's all?" He threw a heavy bag of coins on her desk and turned to leave.

"Yes, I do have a further question. You said that she might be in danger?"

Snape stared at her and his left eye began to twitch. "Miss Granger is a friend of Harry Potter."

"Ooh. I wondered why her name seemed familiar. I don't get out much, but there was quite a bit of to do around the destruction of He-who, well, Voldemort."

"Not all of the Death Eaters were captured. I can think of several individuals still at large who would kill her without a moment's hesitation simply to get back at Potter."

"Well, lucky for her then that Flitwick's charm works so well. Don't worry Professor, we'll find her and get her back. I should have my report for you by day after tomorrow. Here's my address, you can pick me up at 7. Flowers are optional." She winked.

"You make it sound like a date." He growled.

"Well, suit yourself. I take it you don't get out much either."

Snape almost flew out the room. Viola counted to ten and then collapsed in her chair in a fit of laughter.

"Here now, Vi, you're not serious about the date stuff?"

"Oh, no. I just couldn't resist giving him a good tweak. Oh Gods, what a wondrous night. I've seen the most amazing thing. You only read about it in folklore and legend, but it's real. And I saw it. I just wish someone else had the same ability."

"Why? There are many aura readers. What's so special?"

"It was their souls, Quinn. Most aura readers can't see them except for tiny glimpses here and there."

"So what did they, umm, their souls do?"

"They joined, and then they consummated. Oh it was glorious. Quinn, I need a double latte frappe to celebrate. This was just too rich."

"I think you need to settle down, missy. Maybe a little stroll down to the Silver Fife Pub instead?"

"No, no, the game's afoot."

"As said by Sherlock Holmes. Best played by Basil Rathbone, I might add," trumpeted Quinn.

"I need the floo powder, thank goodness we are still hooked up. Can you find where we put the stuff?"

"What, you can reach the Granger girl by floo now?"

"Oh, no. But we don't have to go to her. She's coming to us. I can feel her presence growing stronger by the minute. At this rate, I think she should be in London in less than two hours. We'll give her some time to settle in and then we will drop by for a little visit, hopefully with an old acquaintance of hers. Oh, she's a lucky girl, as lucky as a girl can get. And me, oh I think this night can only get better!"

"Who are you visiting this time of night by floo?"

"Be patient and you shall see," Iolanthe grinned.

AN: Please read and review. There is more to come.