Old Feuds
The following day, when everyone was sitting for breakfast the owl came in
with the post. Amongst them was a huge, beautiful owl, and it landed in front of Faith.
She took the letter and spoke gently to him. He hooted, and flew out of the room.
Harry and the others watched her as she opened her letter. Faith frowned as she read it
and sighed.
"Bad news?" asked Malfoy. She shrugged.
"Nothing I can't deal with. My mother thinks that I'm going to die out here!"
Malfoy and a couple of the other boys laughed. The Slytherin girls glared at Faith in
disgust. She wasn't well liked.
There was a scream from the Hufflepuff table, and everyone turned to look. Half of
the table was standing on there seats, while other backed away. The rest of the hall
moved to get a closer look. There was a large snake on the table, moving towards one
of the girls. Malfoy looked scared, and Harry was amused. He was just about to step
forward when Faith swept through. She spoke to the snake in parseltongue, and told it
to come to her, and it slithered to her and entwined its large body around her arm and
neck. She spoke softly and soothingly, with a smile on her face.
"Relax," she said to the large crowd," he's mine. His name is Serpent. Cool isn't he?"
"I can think of many things it is and cool doesn't come into it," muttered Hermione.
Harry shrugged, he wasn't too bothered, but everyone else was looking at Faith with
horrified expressions on their faces. Harry knew that it wasn't necessarily bad, but he
couldn't help but think that this made her even more dangerous.
"See? Nothing to worry about. Its just a dumb snake," said Malfoy, hiding his fright
with a laugh. But he was too close to the snake, and it went to bite him. He moved just
in time, and the snake's jaws snapped together with a loud clash. Malfoy looked so
stunned that Harry and several others started to laugh. Faith looked highly amused
too.
"You should be more careful who you call, Draco," she said with a smirk that
reminded Harry too much of Snape.
The bell rang and everyone rushed for their bags, before dashing off to
their lessons. The Griffindors and the Slytherins had DADA again, to Harry's delight.
When they arrived at the classroom, Snape and Sirius Black were standing locked in
an argument, while Lupin looked on, anxiously.
"You'd better not be playing us," hissed Sirius, "because I'll not let you get away
with it."
Snape glared at him, "Breaking into school grounds, and threatening staff, Black?
Sounds like something for the Ministry to me. Whether Dumbledore likes you or not."
Sirius gave him an ugly look, as the students looked on in interest.
Sirius opened his mouth, but Lupin had noticed the gathering outside and interrupted
them.
"Maybe we should leave this for another time?"
Sirius and Snape glanced at the students, then back to each other. Snape swept out of
the room first, and Sirius muttered something to Lupin, who nodded. As Sirius
strolled out of the room, he smiled at Harry.
Faith was watching the scene in front of her with interest. Was this really the
infamous Sirius Black? He had had her father in a right twist! She smiled to herself,
curiosity forming inside of her. There was definitely something going on between him
and her father. He was much more attractive in real life than he was in the pictures.
She knocked into him intentionally, and gave him one of her cool, sinister glares.
Sirius looked at her, curiously, as he left the room. Faith smiled as she entered the
room. Maybe this year wasn't going to be so bad after all.
As Sirius walked down the corridor, he frowned in concentration, trying to
think if he had met the attractive girl before. She looked slightly familiar, and yet,
surely he would remember such an amazing girl. He shook his head, and tried to push
her out of his mind. He had more important things to deal with, namely Severus
Snape.
Snape was organising his room for his next lesson with the first years. As he
was collecting some potions from the storage cupboard, his door flew open and he
spun around, dropping the potions and whipping out his wand. Sirius Black was
standing in front of him, with his wand pointing directly at Snape. The two of them
glared at each other.
"What do you want now?" asked Snape, through gritted teeth.
"I want to know that you are keeping up with your part of the deal, Snivillus. I don't
trust you. You had better be making the potion for Lupin perfectly."
"Or what, Black?" Snape looked amused," what are you going to do? Any wrong
move and you'll be back in Azkaban!"
Sirius sneered at him, "For you I would even risk that. If I find that you've been
hurting any of my friends, in any way.lets just say that you won't be able to regret
it. After all, you do have a tendency to turn on your masters."
Snape whispered a curse at Sirius, and immediately the two of them became locked in
a raging duel. Snape drew Sirius' wand out of his hand, and hit him with a painfully
strong force. Potions and jars were smashing around the two of them. Sirius saw, in
that moment, just how powerful Severus Snape had truly become. Snape's eyes were
wild with fury, and Sirius was minus his wand- he was at Snape's mercy, and Snape
knew it. As Snape advanced on Sirius, his cruel eyes lit up in way that would have
alarmed even the greatest of wizards. Sirius could now no longer see Snape, but the
Death Eater he had once been, and Sirius knew that he had to do something and fast.
Snape smiled at Sirius, and Sirius knew that he had been right all along- this was not a
man to be trusted, but an evil servant of the Darkness, who was to be feared. Snape
raised his wand, and Sirius rolled, allowing the curse to miss him by inches. He darted
behind one of the desks, snatching his wand, as he went. Sirius pointed his wand at
Snape and hit him with a curse powerful enough to knock them both of their feet.
As they both scrambled to their feet, bruised, bleeding and in immense pain, they
simultaneously raised their wands at each other. Both stood, panting, and glaring at
each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.
The door flew open, and Faith waltzed in. Behind her were a group of First years,
Harry, Ron, Draco, and Crabbe. Her eyes took in the scene, and her wand was in her
hand and pointed at Sirius before anyone could register what was going on. Neither of
the two men seemed to notice their audience, as Sirius' glare pierced through Snape,
and Snape's sinister gaze appeared to burn straight into Sirius. To the students in the
corridor, the scene looked terrifying, and the look on Snape's face induced more
terror in them than most had ever known. The only one that looked calm, and relaxed
was Faith, it was as though she had been previously prepared for a fight.
"What's going on, Dad?" asked Faith, uncertainty lacing her normally cool tones.
Her voice seemed to shake Snape form his daze, and he turned to her, his wand
still pointed at Sirius.
"Its nothing," he told her, knowing that she was probably thinking that the Dark Lord
had something to do with the fight, "just an old feud."
She nodded, and began to lower her wand. As she did so, Professor Dumbledore,
McGonagall and Lupin entered the room. Dumbledore looked tired, and McGonagall
looked positively furious. Lupin looked ill, his fear for his friend was obviously great.
"I suggest that you take the First Years, Professor Sprout," said Dumbledore, as the
other teacher entered the room," the rest of the students shall return to their lessons.
Yes, you too Harry, Faith. You can talk about this later," he added as Harry started to
protest. Harry stepped back, but Faith didn't move, her wand was still clutched in her
hand. Dumbledore looked at her, and she raised her chin defiantly. Her eyes darted
over to Snape, and he nodded slightly. She lowered her wand, and backed out of the
room. She didn't seem to want to turn her back on the scene. She stepped out of the
room, and headed towards her next lesson.
Dumbledore looked around the room, and shook his head, as he closed the door on the
bustling corridor.
The following day, when everyone was sitting for breakfast the owl came in
with the post. Amongst them was a huge, beautiful owl, and it landed in front of Faith.
She took the letter and spoke gently to him. He hooted, and flew out of the room.
Harry and the others watched her as she opened her letter. Faith frowned as she read it
and sighed.
"Bad news?" asked Malfoy. She shrugged.
"Nothing I can't deal with. My mother thinks that I'm going to die out here!"
Malfoy and a couple of the other boys laughed. The Slytherin girls glared at Faith in
disgust. She wasn't well liked.
There was a scream from the Hufflepuff table, and everyone turned to look. Half of
the table was standing on there seats, while other backed away. The rest of the hall
moved to get a closer look. There was a large snake on the table, moving towards one
of the girls. Malfoy looked scared, and Harry was amused. He was just about to step
forward when Faith swept through. She spoke to the snake in parseltongue, and told it
to come to her, and it slithered to her and entwined its large body around her arm and
neck. She spoke softly and soothingly, with a smile on her face.
"Relax," she said to the large crowd," he's mine. His name is Serpent. Cool isn't he?"
"I can think of many things it is and cool doesn't come into it," muttered Hermione.
Harry shrugged, he wasn't too bothered, but everyone else was looking at Faith with
horrified expressions on their faces. Harry knew that it wasn't necessarily bad, but he
couldn't help but think that this made her even more dangerous.
"See? Nothing to worry about. Its just a dumb snake," said Malfoy, hiding his fright
with a laugh. But he was too close to the snake, and it went to bite him. He moved just
in time, and the snake's jaws snapped together with a loud clash. Malfoy looked so
stunned that Harry and several others started to laugh. Faith looked highly amused
too.
"You should be more careful who you call, Draco," she said with a smirk that
reminded Harry too much of Snape.
The bell rang and everyone rushed for their bags, before dashing off to
their lessons. The Griffindors and the Slytherins had DADA again, to Harry's delight.
When they arrived at the classroom, Snape and Sirius Black were standing locked in
an argument, while Lupin looked on, anxiously.
"You'd better not be playing us," hissed Sirius, "because I'll not let you get away
with it."
Snape glared at him, "Breaking into school grounds, and threatening staff, Black?
Sounds like something for the Ministry to me. Whether Dumbledore likes you or not."
Sirius gave him an ugly look, as the students looked on in interest.
Sirius opened his mouth, but Lupin had noticed the gathering outside and interrupted
them.
"Maybe we should leave this for another time?"
Sirius and Snape glanced at the students, then back to each other. Snape swept out of
the room first, and Sirius muttered something to Lupin, who nodded. As Sirius
strolled out of the room, he smiled at Harry.
Faith was watching the scene in front of her with interest. Was this really the
infamous Sirius Black? He had had her father in a right twist! She smiled to herself,
curiosity forming inside of her. There was definitely something going on between him
and her father. He was much more attractive in real life than he was in the pictures.
She knocked into him intentionally, and gave him one of her cool, sinister glares.
Sirius looked at her, curiously, as he left the room. Faith smiled as she entered the
room. Maybe this year wasn't going to be so bad after all.
As Sirius walked down the corridor, he frowned in concentration, trying to
think if he had met the attractive girl before. She looked slightly familiar, and yet,
surely he would remember such an amazing girl. He shook his head, and tried to push
her out of his mind. He had more important things to deal with, namely Severus
Snape.
Snape was organising his room for his next lesson with the first years. As he
was collecting some potions from the storage cupboard, his door flew open and he
spun around, dropping the potions and whipping out his wand. Sirius Black was
standing in front of him, with his wand pointing directly at Snape. The two of them
glared at each other.
"What do you want now?" asked Snape, through gritted teeth.
"I want to know that you are keeping up with your part of the deal, Snivillus. I don't
trust you. You had better be making the potion for Lupin perfectly."
"Or what, Black?" Snape looked amused," what are you going to do? Any wrong
move and you'll be back in Azkaban!"
Sirius sneered at him, "For you I would even risk that. If I find that you've been
hurting any of my friends, in any way.lets just say that you won't be able to regret
it. After all, you do have a tendency to turn on your masters."
Snape whispered a curse at Sirius, and immediately the two of them became locked in
a raging duel. Snape drew Sirius' wand out of his hand, and hit him with a painfully
strong force. Potions and jars were smashing around the two of them. Sirius saw, in
that moment, just how powerful Severus Snape had truly become. Snape's eyes were
wild with fury, and Sirius was minus his wand- he was at Snape's mercy, and Snape
knew it. As Snape advanced on Sirius, his cruel eyes lit up in way that would have
alarmed even the greatest of wizards. Sirius could now no longer see Snape, but the
Death Eater he had once been, and Sirius knew that he had to do something and fast.
Snape smiled at Sirius, and Sirius knew that he had been right all along- this was not a
man to be trusted, but an evil servant of the Darkness, who was to be feared. Snape
raised his wand, and Sirius rolled, allowing the curse to miss him by inches. He darted
behind one of the desks, snatching his wand, as he went. Sirius pointed his wand at
Snape and hit him with a curse powerful enough to knock them both of their feet.
As they both scrambled to their feet, bruised, bleeding and in immense pain, they
simultaneously raised their wands at each other. Both stood, panting, and glaring at
each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.
The door flew open, and Faith waltzed in. Behind her were a group of First years,
Harry, Ron, Draco, and Crabbe. Her eyes took in the scene, and her wand was in her
hand and pointed at Sirius before anyone could register what was going on. Neither of
the two men seemed to notice their audience, as Sirius' glare pierced through Snape,
and Snape's sinister gaze appeared to burn straight into Sirius. To the students in the
corridor, the scene looked terrifying, and the look on Snape's face induced more
terror in them than most had ever known. The only one that looked calm, and relaxed
was Faith, it was as though she had been previously prepared for a fight.
"What's going on, Dad?" asked Faith, uncertainty lacing her normally cool tones.
Her voice seemed to shake Snape form his daze, and he turned to her, his wand
still pointed at Sirius.
"Its nothing," he told her, knowing that she was probably thinking that the Dark Lord
had something to do with the fight, "just an old feud."
She nodded, and began to lower her wand. As she did so, Professor Dumbledore,
McGonagall and Lupin entered the room. Dumbledore looked tired, and McGonagall
looked positively furious. Lupin looked ill, his fear for his friend was obviously great.
"I suggest that you take the First Years, Professor Sprout," said Dumbledore, as the
other teacher entered the room," the rest of the students shall return to their lessons.
Yes, you too Harry, Faith. You can talk about this later," he added as Harry started to
protest. Harry stepped back, but Faith didn't move, her wand was still clutched in her
hand. Dumbledore looked at her, and she raised her chin defiantly. Her eyes darted
over to Snape, and he nodded slightly. She lowered her wand, and backed out of the
room. She didn't seem to want to turn her back on the scene. She stepped out of the
room, and headed towards her next lesson.
Dumbledore looked around the room, and shook his head, as he closed the door on the
bustling corridor.