Against All Odds
Chapter Eleven
Koneko-chan says!
Stefani: *reads over reviews for previous chapter* *completes sentence* Ahem. "And for the record, others may think Cho should be chained inside a boiling cauldron of oil, but I don't find any fault with her… really, I don't. [Nor do I have a problem with Pansy Parkinson. The characters are there without much explanation on personality just for fanfiction writers to mold them to be what they will. And Pansy is going to live goddammit!]" *smiles sweetly*
Heero-chan: *shakes head*
Chibi-Relena: *stares*
Nanashi: … (Well, that certainly isn't unusual…)
Stefani: Anyway, now that I have given you the previous chapter, are you less inclined to come after me with chainsaws yet? Well now… I know there wasn't much of a cliffhanger ending in the previous chapter (I've never been good at those… *sigh*) but… as it is, if someone would like to find that aforementioned punch bowl (complete with Draco-ferret) it would be much appreciated. *grins*
Nanashi: *groans* More of them?
Stefani: *cocks head* Y'know, you're right… there are beginning to be a lot of stolen bishounen hidden in my closet now… but I'm sure I could fit him into the bathtub… *walks away pondering this thoughtfully*
~*~*~*~
"Where did you get one of these?" he repeated, still staring at the glittering reflections of the firelight on the gold. Hermione wriggled uncomfortably, "Uhm…" she managed, unintelligently.
"Daisy, even my family has only one of these… they're so indispensably rare you can only get one from the Ministry…! How the hell did you manage to get one of these?!"
Hermione snatched at it, but he managed to keep it out of her grasp. Pansy seemed to have faded into the background, almost completely forgotten as Hermione sat back, unable to get at it, and unwilling to start a tussle over it. "McGonagall gave it to me… she got it dispensed from the Ministry because I wanted to take so many extra subjects in our third year and I got it only because of my 'immaculate record'." She snorted, "As if breaking several dozen school rules alongside Ron and Harry could be counted as immaculate."
He nodded slowly, sitting back. "So that's why…" he muttered, staring at the Time-Turner again.
"Why what?"
He looked up again. "Did you think people wouldn't notice? I've seen you in double Arithmancy with the Slytherins, and then hear you talking in the halls later about your Charms class during the same time. People were bound to notice. I'm not surprised Potter and Weasley let that thought travel through their thick skulls."
Hermione shook her head vehemently, eyes flashing in that very same way they always did when she was defending someone. "They did suspect. I wasn't careful enough… and then that whole thing with Sirius and Crookshanks, and Scabbers." She cringed, remembering the horrible memories. She'd hated being on the one side and both of her friends on the other. She had wanted to do what was right… but that hadn't gone over well with either of them.
"Ah, that whole fight with your two boyfriends."
"They're not my boyfriends! They're my best friends… and I stopped using it after that year."
Draco grinned, "So you actually are the same age as me. Eighteen, right?"
Hermione blinked, "You mean… you've used it too?"
"Obviously. Think I'd let that trinket sit there in my father's study to gather dust? Made the best of it. Stopped after a while of course… got bothersome being all dodgy of myself."
Hermione took the now-empty mug from Pansy's hands, and stood up, placing it on the mantle for the house elves, all the while looking thoughtful. "But what are we going to do about her?" she asked, gesturing to Pansy. "We've got to tell the professors, don't we?"
Pansy let out a shriek as soon as the words had been spoken, and cowered, drawing herself into the couch as much as was humanly possible. "No! No, no, no, no, no!"
Draco, for once agreed with her. "Do you honestly believe, Daisy, that they'll take kindly to a girl who's been working Dark Magic, who's supposed be dead, and who's stolen her wand back by some, unimaginable miracle? She'll be in Azkaban, which was where she was headed in the first place."
Hermione read between the lines however, and she nodded solemnly. "And you don't want her to go." Her voice was hollow.
"I wouldn't even wish it on Potter, Daisy. And that's about how much I think about that place." He told her frankly, sensing exactly what was running through her head. Pansy was listing her head to the side now, watching the two of them, as they argued.
"We can't just hide her here, from Dumbledore and from the Ministry!"
"Do you honestly think that crackpot Fudge will do anything more than throw her into Azkaban? Come on Daisy, you're much more intelligent than that!"
"So we should just hide her here in our dormitories for the rest of her life? I didn't think you were that much of an idiot!"
"No… I'll tell Dumbledore myself… but not now… not now…" Pansy repeated quietly, looking up between the two, her hands reaching up and twisting at the tail of dark hair over her shoulder with her fingers.
Hermione turned to her, placing her hands on Pansy's shoulders awkwardly, unused to talking to the Slytherin without exchanging insults. "Why not? What happened since you were locked up and Nagini gave you… gave you… wait, what did she give you?"
Pansy seemed steadier now, and she explained, "She's a snake… she gave me one of her fangs, and said I could do magic. One spell. She gave me a choice… and I took it. I knew you had a Time-Turner, Hermione… and I used the Summoning Spell…" she shivered. "It took so long I thought it wouldn't work, and that Nagini was trying to trick me…" She shook her head, her ponytail bouncing unfamiliarly and she reached up instinctively to touch it again. "Then I went back… and I found my wand, just before they were going to lock it up… and I had to escape. Someone must've seen me… I ran down, through the dungeons. I got lost." She snorted, disgusted at herself, "A Slytherin, being lost in the dungeons. But they went down so far… and I found… I found…" she looked up at the two of them, her eyes wide with remembered horror, "It was a crypt… and there were names scrawled on the walls… stained… red… all over the walls… over and over…"
Awkwardly, Hermione placed her arms around the shaking girl, as she relived the horror in the telling of it, "They were the names of the four Founders… they were there… and it wasn't… wasn't right…"
"What do you mean 'right'?" asked Draco, apprehensively, curls of a sickening feeling slowly twisting around his stomach.
"They were… still… rotting… like they'd died only a little while ago… and it's been hundreds of years since they died… and there were things laughing at me… all around the room, and I couldn't get away from that horrid laughter for so long…" She shuddered. "The door disappeared behind me… I was stuck, and the walls were glowing… a horrid green, and shadows were dancing… all around me… and I was so scared, all by myself…" Hermione's grip around her shoulders tightened as she attempted to comfort the terrified girl. There was no wonder, she had still been in shock.
"But I found a way out… and I had to climb… and I thought I would never get out…" The worst part was over, and she was slightly calmer now, taking deep breaths in between her sentences.
"Then what happened?"
"Nagini… that girl, she found me. Tried to bring me inside… but I was still scared of her… I cast a Confusion spell, got away. Cho Chang was there… she saw me… I had to spell her too… and I got here… and… and…" she shook her head, "And I found you."
"You missed something." Draco told her, and she looked up at him.
"You did." Hermione agreed, "If someone saw you, how did you have enough time to make that corpse there in your room?"
"My what?" she stared at the two of them blankly, "I'm not dead."
"But… the professors! They found… they all found…"
"They found your body, Pansy. They found it in your room, Professor Sa Lai and the others."
"I didn't do it!" Pansy stood up, standing in front of them, her hands clasped within each other. "I'm not dead, and I'm still here and I only took the Time Turner and my wand. Why would I even try to fake my own death when I knew I was coming back?!"
"Then who did?" Hermione replied slowly, watching Pansy through probing, the mild suspicions in them quite hidden in order not to bruise the girl's feelings anymore. Hell if what she was saying was true, then for sure, she had handled enough whilst Hermione was lying unconscious in the hospital wing.
~*~*~*~
"What do you mean you knew?" he asked, his voice still low, still silky, but with an undertone of complete rage.
Dumbledore's expression was still mild, but his eyes were not sparkling. "I mean that of course I knew that Miss Whetlyn was a lamia. I even know whose. Professor Trelawney is not the only one in this castle who has the Inner Eye. There is much in the future that I see… and which I fear will come to be unless I do something about it… I believe Miss Whetlyn is the key."
"She is in league with the Dark Lord."
Dumbledore smiled sadly, "So were you, Severus. So are so many parents of the students in this school. It's not something we can completely turn our faces away from."
Severus flinched as if he'd been physically struck. "And, if you would so believe, is Miss Sa Lai."
Severus looked up, his eyes widening. "And you choose her to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"
Dumbledore smiled, and for a moment, he looked old, old beyond reckoning as weariness settled down on his shoulders. "She is like you Severus, when she was still human she was working for Voldemort as a Dark Mage, a very powerful one. Too powerful, that she worried Voldemort himself, and so he had her made into a vampire. He limited her to the confines of the night alone, and though she has managed to work around it, keeping her talisman against the sunlight on her at all times, she is still weak while the sun is still in the sky. And she was furious at the change. That was how I found her, Severus, during one of my routine trips to the Asian countries. And she agreed to help me, because of her anger. It took a long while for her to change from joining us because of bitterness to actually wanting to help our cause." His eyes were deep blue as he smiled slightly, "She is willing to do everything to help us now, Severus. And I trust her as much as I trust you."
Snape was stopped for a moment, as he swallowed the words he was going to say, and instead dropped the subject, and finding another. "What about that girl, the new Slytherin… Miss Nagini Whetlyn?" he paused, his eyes widening. "Nagini…"
Dumbledore nodded, "You know she is a lamia. She is also the daughter of the Basalisk that was hidden in the Chamber of Secrets, and the right-hand of Voldemort."
"You knew this and yet you accepted her into this school? You let her be near the same boy you've been trying to protect all these years?" Snape waved an impatient hand towards the exit to Dumbledore's office, "I have her right now working on the Veritassium with Harry Potter, all by themselves in the dungeon. What would you say if she were to kill him right then and there?"
"Go see them then. Do not harm the girl. She has as much a part to play in the future as Harry Potter."
Severus growled several muttered words as he exited Dumbledore's office in a flurry of dark robes. He knew well of his past mistakes, of what he'd done before. And he hated the fact that all of the Potters that he ever had to know were all celebrities, all Golden Boys who would never be punished. And he hated the fact that he had to protect this one.
"So you heard." Severus Snape turned at the sound of the new professor's voice. And he was vaguely surprised… there was no dreaminess or vagueness of her tone, she was completely and utterly serious. And very, very blunt.
"Yes." He replied shortly. "And I'm sure you already knew about me."
She shrugged, "Who amongst the Dark Circle did not? Although I was surprised… you were the only one traitor who has not perished under the Dark Lord's power."
"Then what are you?" his words were pointed, sharp and she knew it.
"I was talking of when I was still Lord Voldemort's pet Dark Mage. When I was still human." Her words were short, and tinged with bitterness. She turned away, heading towards her classroom. "Now excuse me. I have a class to get on with, and you have two students in need of your watching. One of which, I must hasten to add is balancing very precariously between darkness and light. If you should even think of harming her in order to protect that boy… you will be doing more harm than good." Her voice changed to something slightly sardonic, "And we both know you won't have the experience to deal with both sides of war against you…" She disappeared through the door, and Severus shook his head. There were more sides to that woman than you would expect. He had been sure she had been a slightly less eccentric Trelawney. Apparently not.
He continued on his not-so-hurried pace to the dungeons where the Dark Lord's lamia and Harry Potter awaited, in the relative unsafety of a potions' classroom where all the ingredients might prove to be hazardous if the girl had slipped something into the potion as it was brewing.
As it was, Harry and Nagini Whetlyn, our resident evil, were currently hard at work concocting the Veritassium… without any extra ingredients. Nagini, though had not been equipped with hands herself for the first few thousand years of her lifetime, had certainly read enough and observed enough to know what to do. Not to mention she had had everything explained to her, for no other reason than the fact that one day it might be useful. How she had had no idea. Apparently this was the time for her studies to come to her has useful, though tedious it had been to listen to the practitioners talk. They had always lorded it over her, simply because of her lack of ability in their 'realm of magic'. It had been a hard instinct not to rip off their limbs with her teeth simply to show them that yes, indeed, she did have an ability that could render them useless. The Dark Lord had been amused by this pastime of hers and had indulged it, he had even been amused when she had torn apart one of the lesser potions masters and had used his mangled body as a warning to anyone else. It was quite clear. Don't mess with the Dark Lord or you'll tangle with the Basilisk's daughter.
However, she had had to quell that instinct because it would not do to destroy all his potions' masters. Once in a while was all right, to make an example and they could be replaced. But too many made more wizards fearful of the job than ever before.
And so, it was with great skill that she helped prepare the ingredients for the potion. Why though? She thought to herself as she went through the mechanical motions. These are preparations for the War against Voldemort. Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix will be using it against my master… and I will be branded a traitor… She shuddered at the thought, shuddered at the memory of Severus Snape's treachery which had affected the entire Dark Order. And she well recalled the rogue Dark Mage, whom she recognized as soon as she had been introduced to the school. But she had said nothing… for she had known full well that the woman could read minds. And skilled though she was at other things, shielding her mind had been something her master had excelled at. Not her. And more than once, when magic had failed to be of use to her, she had seen that Mage tear a man to pieces with her bare hands, though her slim frame never belied the hidden strength.
She looked up from her work only when the Potions Master swept in, in a flurry of black robes. He stopped in front of the worktable, staring down at the ingredients they were still preparing. "Professor, how much of this did you want us to make?" she asked him, gesturing to the multiple ingredients laid out on the sturdy wooden table.
"Enough for twelve vials." He replied briskly, and he stood there for a moment, watching the two of them work, Harry going off to the storeroom to retrieve more of the necessary ingredients, Nagini continuing to work on preparing them.
Slowly, he backed away, and he went to his own desk, clearing the way for the many rolls of parchment, assignment from the second years' that had been handed in that day. It was second nature to keep his hands from shaking, but the temptation to continue looking up at the girl who could not be trusted was almost unbearable. But he was Severus Snape. Nothing more need be said.
Harry brushed another lock of hair out of his eyes as he carefully measured the beaker of faintly glowing green liquid. Nagini found herself with her hands full with the cutting up of something that vaguely reminded her of pig intestines. She grimaced… they probably were. What a waste of a pig…
And oh, what a scene of romance. Complete with unwilling chaperone.
~*~*~*~
Ron Weasley found himself with absolutely nothing to do but play Wizard's Chess with Seamus Finnigan. Which just goes to show just how bored a body can be. Because Seamus Finnigan did not have a good grasp on the game and Ron had beaten him more times than he needed to count. In other words, Ron Weasley was bored.
Oh sure, Hermione got to make out with the enemy (he shuddered at the thought), and Harry got to have both a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin around him without being called a cheat. And all he got was a night out in the Gryffindor Common Room playing chess with a guy that would never amount to anything even if he were appointed Dictator of the World.
Wait… had there ever been a Dictator of the World? The chess game was compromised as Ron suddenly found himself straining to remember the basics of the Muggle Studies class he had taken a year ago.
There had been a—Rudolf?—who had come close, he recalled.
No… Rudolph was a horse.
Or was that a deer?
He shook his head, before glaring back down at the chessboard again. Enough about Muggle history, he had a chess game to win.
He found to his amazement that Seamus has very neatly cornered his king between Ron's knight and Ron's queen.
Well, as much as he'd like to drag the game along, there really was only one thing to say really… "Checkmate." The words sounded dull even to him.
Seamus stared at the bored, denial written all over his facial features, "What?" he cried out, "How's that checkmate? Doesn't that tall one only move in straight lines? And that horse one… doesn't it move diagonally?"
There was nothing much more to say.
"No."
"I still think you're cheating…" muttered the other boy as he glared intently at the chessboard where Ron's pieces were attempting to make faces at the opposing sides' pieces (and failing miserably since they were not made with faces, but the overall effect was understood).
Ron snorted, "I don't need to cheat to win a game of Wizard's Chess."
Especially against you, he added in his head, though he tried hard not to think it. It wasn't Seamus's fault that he was a complete failure at the most simplest of wizarding games. He sighed, that Slytherin girl was rubbing off on him.
"You know what? Forget this… I'm going to go and catch up on my sleep… McGonagall already laid into me for falling asleep in her class this morning… might as well fall asleep before I start taking a nap in Snape's class."
The two boys shared a moment of grimacing at the thought of the Potions teacher before Ron ascended the staircase and made for his bed. He had thoughts that were long overdue for pondering.
Unfortunately, as soon as he had flopped onto his bed, he noticed, far too late it seemed that he had flopped on top of something entirely different from bed as well. A muffled shriek brought him back from Thinking Land (a place he only very rarely visited), and he very nearly shrieked himself.
She (he was very sure she was a she because she wasn't exactly hiding anything to be considered otherwise) stretched, mouth parting slightly and seemed to yawn, before looking up at him with large, large eyes.
She also seemed to be rather visibly affronted, after having been almost been collapsed on by him.
"Oh my god!" he cried out as he leapt up, and looked around him frantically for help of any sort as he had no idea what to do in this type of situation.
"Um… er…" he mumbled, as she yawned again, rolling over onto her back. "Who are you?"
There was, of course, not an answer from the enigmatic female, as she continued to watch him, unperturbed by his uneasiness, as well as his inability to handle such situations.
"Hey Ron what happened? I heard you scream—oh… Oh! I see…" Seamus trailed off, his eyes transfixed on Ron's bed. "Wow, she's gorgeous…"
But Ron grasped only the insinuated insult. "Scream? I did not scream… I'll tell you that was very much a manly bellow."
Both Seamus and the uninvited female rolled their eyes at him.
The Irish boy slowly ran a cautious hand over her face, and she closed her eyes, rubbing her face against his hand with a soft sound of contentment. "Are you going to stay here with us, Miss?" he asked her, looking into her eyes.
Ron interjected, "She most certainly is not! She's making herself home on my bed, not yours!"
Again, she and Seamus both shared an identical expression, they glared at the poor redhead.
"I am not sharing my bed with her! She is not staying! And I want to sleep!"
Seamus picked her up delicately in his arms, "Fine, I'll take her with me. Seems you can appreciate a nice girl even if you fall on one."
"Hey! Don't take her away from me!"
"But you just said…"
"You're not taking something that belongs to me!"
Seamus rolled his eyes, letting her fall back onto Ron's bed, and turned away shaking his head. "She's just a cat Ron."
Ron picked her up, holding her close, "Then she's my cat unless someone claims her," he replied, before sitting down defiantly on his bed. The cat's fur was of burnished copper, and it shone in the candlelight, glowing with dark red highlights in it, gloriously thick and incredibly touchable.
Seamus smiled, before turning away, "Knew you were the kind who'd love even a random cat who finds themselves in your bed."
Ron glared at him, "Shut up."
"You know very well you would have very unceremoniously dumped the darling in Hermione's hands if I hadn't tried to take it from you."
"Leave now, Finnigan." The command in his voice was imperial, making the other boy laugh, and bow out.
Ron resumed stroking the cat's long, soft fur. "Where'd you come from?" he asked her, and she meowed softly, rolling herself deeper into his lap, curling herself up into a contented little ball. He smiled… he liked this little furball, even though he was not really a cat person. He'd never really had a fondness for cats after meeting face-to-claw with Hermione's overzealous Crookshanks in the pet shop.
"Well, if there's no one who belongs to you… I guess I can hold that position for a little while," he told the small cat softly, smiling as he stroked her soft fur.
That was when he saw the note, lying rumpled where the cat had been batting at it between her paws before he'd come in. Lifting it into the light he read aloud, "An owl may be useful, but a cat, your cat, will forever be there for you. Her name is Alyssa."
He blinked, then looked down at the shifting colors of the cat's eyes. "You'll always be with me?" he asked her softly, "I'll be glad of that, I think. I guess you're mine… Alyssa."
The cat purred softly, nudging his stomach with her head.
Ron never did notice the small rose tattoo on the bottom of one hind paw.
~*~*~*~
End of Chapter.
Stefani: *winces* Ooh… that took a long time…
Chibi-Relena: I'll say.
Nanashi: Angel will be pissed.
Heero-chan: UPLOAD! UPLOAD!!!!
(even Muses, my Muses, will go insane and OOC when faced with the danger of Angel-chan's wrath)
