Welcome to my first ever Fanfic gang!! I'd like to thank Riley for writing
Pawn to Queen, my inspiration for even beginning to tackle JKR's
characters. I do love them so, especially my kindreds in Slytherin.. Let
the games begin!
Chapter 1
Advice
"Albus, I need to talk to you," he said, entering the Headmasters office with his usual swirl of robes. "There is a problem with a student which I feel I can no longer handle on my own, as much as that disturbs me"
The old Headmaster raised his eyebrows. It was indeed a rare occasion that Severus Snape came to him for anything, let alone a mere problem with a student. Snape always handled his duties as head of Slytherin house so effortlessly and effectively, although his house held the most challenging students by far.
"It's nice to see you too, Severus, what seems to be the problem?" He asked mildly, motioning the other man to take a seat in one of the large comfortable chairs in his study. Shaking his head irately, the Potions Master continued to pace back and forth across the carpet.
"You hear rumors from the students all the time, about other students, other professors, even yourself. I have learned to take them lightly, ignore most of them even. Yet, when I hear the same tale four or five times, all from different sources, both boys and girls, I begin to get concerned over the matter, and felt the need to investigate the source." He winced a little and rubbed his temple before continuing. "The rumors were indeed disturbing, even the most vicious of my students wouldn't fabricate such a thing, I believe."
At this the Headmaster looked up from under his tall hat with interest. "Would you care to fill me in on which student this matter concerns?"
"It's one of my fifth year students. She is the one with no parents; her mother was killed last year in one of Voldemort's attacks. She never knew her father. She had always been a loner, kept to her self and kept out of trouble, avoided conflict... an excellent student actually, highly dedicated with top-marks in Potions, even over that Granger girl."
"Ahh..." Dumbledore nodded his head. "Yes, Cassandra Caliga if I'm not mistaken.... Dark - haired, fair skinned smallish girl? A most delightful first-year student she was. I was quite shocked she wound up in Slytherin House, to be honest with you. No offence taken, I hope," he said, secondarily
"None intended, I'm sure." Snape's reply was sharp. "Never really thought she fit in myself, but with Malfoy and cronies to keep an eye on, I didn't really focus too much unwanted attention on her."
"Clearly that has changed?" Albus asked, eyebrows raised.
"Indeed. I became aware of rumors of odd behavior, rumors from the students in her dorm of waking up at night to find her gone... Not once in a while, but every night! Now, breaking school rules and wandering around the school during these times without supervision is a dangerous thing. I decided it might be in my best interest to investigate these matters to prevent a tragedy of some sort. I use precious little sleep time every night Myself, you see."
The old wizard nodded knowingly. Yes, he was well aware of Severus Snape's nocturnal habits, the reasons why sleep betrayed him so often.
"I went down into the common room at about midnight, when all students (unless studying for OWLS or NEWTS) should be well off in their beds by that point, and all was quiet. At first I thought nothing was amiss, until I went over by the fire, which was still lit, even though the room appeared empty. In one of the chairs by the fire, there was a crowd of the children's pets - cats, frogs, even an owl! I thought this was extremely strange, and was about to shoo them away when I realized that under the blanket was the girl, shaking and sobbing under her breath... She was whispering something I couldn't quite make out, in obvious distress."
"What did you do, Severus?" Albus asked quietly. Teenage pendantics were something that they were accustomed to at Hogwarts; this did not sound TOO terribly out of the ordinary although it was intriguing that all the animals would come to her. He would have to look into that.
"I stood for a moment, mesmerized by this strange scene. I slowly approached the chair, and was about to ask if she was alright, when her cat (the small gray, one-eyed one) shot up her from around her neck, hissing and spitting at me, and launched himself onto my shoulder. I swatted him off - very sharp claws, I might add; and by that point, she had leapt up from the chair, apologizing profusely for the actions of her cat, and ran out of the room to the girl's dormitory." Severus sneered, shaking his head. "Bloody cat, if it hadn't have been for that, I could have worked out what was troubling her so much earlier than now."
"There's more?" Dumbledore asked
"Indeed. Much more."
"Well, I'm making some tea, care for some Ogden's, Severus?"
Severus looked appreciative for a moment. "It would go down very well tonight, I'll tell you."
Pouring the drink, Albus looked over at Snape stalking around his study and thought to himself for a moment. 'I have not seen him this worked up in a long while... not since... However, that was over 20 years ago now. He must be gravely concerned indeed to come to me over this, and that is of great importance as it is a great shot to his pride', but Severus had begun speaking again.
"After that, I kept a closer eye on the girl, and did notice that she was not looking very well. I could not pin point it, but there were hollows under her eyes, and a haunted look about her I had never noticed before. I wonder, was it always there? Some days, she would come into the Great Hall, sit down, I would take a drink of tea and when I looked up again, she was already gone. How strange, that she should eat so fast when the other students had barley filled their plates yet. I went to talk to Poppy about her strange behavior, and she just said it was something I would learn about teenage girls. She did not say anything else, and seemed to think my concern was some kind of cute paternal thing." Severus snorted at this "I take my charges seriously, but I do not get involved on a personal level!"
Albus just raised his eyebrows and lifted his cup of tea 'well, my man, you seem to be breaking that rule this time!' He thought, knowing that to say it out loud would drive the other man out of his office, and crush some of the trust he had spent years establishing with this tortured soul.
"So, I tried having Cassandra stay after class on our Friday afternoon Potions class. Her hands had been shaking dreadfully all class, and for the first time, her potion didn't work out. There was things spilled everywhere, a dreadful mess, and it was clear that she wasn't focusing, and was distraught about something." Severus shook his head "the look she gave me when I asked her to stay after class - I might as well asked her to dance with a dragon! She looked completely horrified, and kept going on about how she didn't mean to spill the armadillo bile into her dragon's blood - it was like dealing with bloody Longbottom! I couldn't very well reassure her with the whole pack of Gryffindors in the class, so I went quietly over beside her and spoke in undertones. I tried to let her know it was not about Potions, and there would be no points taken from Slytherin. I thought I was being helpful but at that she got even more distressed - I though she was going to be sick in the Potions lab, so I excused her to the washrooms, and she didn't return back to the class."
Severus shook his head, running his hands through his thick black hair and rubbing the back of his neck as he paused to down the majority of the glass of Fire Whiskey shaking in his hand.
Albus scratched his head, frowning out from under his bright white eyebrows. "Have you seen her since, Severus?"
"No - when I went to the Great hall for dinner, she wasn't there. I asked a few of the fifth year girls if they had seen her, and they said that they hadn't seen her since our potions class. When I went to the dormitories that night, I checked into the girl's chambers, and she seemed to be asleep in her bed. Now I am going to have to talk to her tomorrow morning, being as it
Saturday and I'll tell you, I am dreading the conversation. It was like looking into the eyes of a cornered hare! What am I to do Albus?" Severus finally collapsed down into a chair, glaring into the fire as he took a final swig of the Fire Whisky, grimacing a little as it went down.
"Something is clearly going wrong, and more so than the 'usual teenage girl' situation that Madame Pomfrey spoke of. If she will not speak to you whom she knows, and I would assume, trusts more than that rest of us on staff, than sending her to talk to me would only make the situation far worse. This is indeed a serious situation Severus. You were right in coming to me. In many cases, I would suggest bringing in the parents, but that is not an option in this case. She never knew her father, and her mother is gone. That really does leave it up to you Sev... but how do we get her to talk with you and not feel interrogated? I truly believe that is why she ran out of the class. She felt she would be asked a great deal of questions without an answer, and that would anger you."
"Why would that anger me? I am only concerned for her welfare and I want the best for my entire house and all the students in it. I don't understand where. "Severus was building into a tirade.
"You reputation precedes you?" The Headmaster cut him off. "You aren't known as the cuddly grandfatherly type, Severus, as much as I am sure you will be shocked to learn that. I believe that is a façade that you enjoy at times."
A slight smile played on Snape's lips... "Yes, well. Point taken."
"Now it is my turn to tell you what I know in this matter." Albus began.
Severus looked up sharply "What do you mean?"
"You're not the first to come and talk to me about Miss Caliga, my friend. All of the other Professors have filtered through my office this past month to discuss with me why a Prefect is not completing assignments, is failing tests, is failing to show up for class.... You're concerns are not unfounded." Severus had been staring into the fire, and now swung around sharply at this news. "But, she is top student in Potions still, why was I not told about these other problems? Why am I always the last one to bloody well be told anything around here?"
"Well, the others felt that a direct approach would be the best way to handle it. However, they got about the same response you did. A hasty apology, and a runner from the classroom." Dumbledore sighed. "This is a new scenario for all of us, it is imperative that we find out the root of the problem, or problems, as the case might be. Minerva in particular expressed concerns over the girl's health, both physically and emotionally. She felt that Miss Caliga might be in a severe depression."
Snape dropped his head to his hands and gave a slight groan. "No wonder I'm plagued with migraines." He growled "Look at what I have to deal with in my house! Death Eater wanna-bes, bullies and lackeys, and now suicidal girls." Closing his eyes, he shook his head, massaging his temples at the same time.
"I suggest that you locate Miss Caliga and try to work some of this out this evening. I do not believe this is something we should wait on, and I know you would agree with me Severus." Dumbledore replied.
"But she will be asleep. It's past midnight! " Exclaimed Snape.
"You will find that we are not the only ones up in this castle tonight, and I am quite sure that Miss Caliga will not be in her bed, and I highly doubt we will find her in the common room either... she was too easily found there last time." Albus winked at the intense brooding figure preparing to leave his room. "Good luck Severus, this parenthood bit is hard work, isn't it?"
"Thank-you headmaster." Snape scowled as he rose and went to sweep out the door.
"Oh, and Severus."
"Yes?" He stopped, hand on the door.
"Anytime you need help, come and get me. I am grateful to still be needed after all these years." The twinkle was back in his eye, and Snape returned it with something between a wry smile and a sneer.
Advice
"Albus, I need to talk to you," he said, entering the Headmasters office with his usual swirl of robes. "There is a problem with a student which I feel I can no longer handle on my own, as much as that disturbs me"
The old Headmaster raised his eyebrows. It was indeed a rare occasion that Severus Snape came to him for anything, let alone a mere problem with a student. Snape always handled his duties as head of Slytherin house so effortlessly and effectively, although his house held the most challenging students by far.
"It's nice to see you too, Severus, what seems to be the problem?" He asked mildly, motioning the other man to take a seat in one of the large comfortable chairs in his study. Shaking his head irately, the Potions Master continued to pace back and forth across the carpet.
"You hear rumors from the students all the time, about other students, other professors, even yourself. I have learned to take them lightly, ignore most of them even. Yet, when I hear the same tale four or five times, all from different sources, both boys and girls, I begin to get concerned over the matter, and felt the need to investigate the source." He winced a little and rubbed his temple before continuing. "The rumors were indeed disturbing, even the most vicious of my students wouldn't fabricate such a thing, I believe."
At this the Headmaster looked up from under his tall hat with interest. "Would you care to fill me in on which student this matter concerns?"
"It's one of my fifth year students. She is the one with no parents; her mother was killed last year in one of Voldemort's attacks. She never knew her father. She had always been a loner, kept to her self and kept out of trouble, avoided conflict... an excellent student actually, highly dedicated with top-marks in Potions, even over that Granger girl."
"Ahh..." Dumbledore nodded his head. "Yes, Cassandra Caliga if I'm not mistaken.... Dark - haired, fair skinned smallish girl? A most delightful first-year student she was. I was quite shocked she wound up in Slytherin House, to be honest with you. No offence taken, I hope," he said, secondarily
"None intended, I'm sure." Snape's reply was sharp. "Never really thought she fit in myself, but with Malfoy and cronies to keep an eye on, I didn't really focus too much unwanted attention on her."
"Clearly that has changed?" Albus asked, eyebrows raised.
"Indeed. I became aware of rumors of odd behavior, rumors from the students in her dorm of waking up at night to find her gone... Not once in a while, but every night! Now, breaking school rules and wandering around the school during these times without supervision is a dangerous thing. I decided it might be in my best interest to investigate these matters to prevent a tragedy of some sort. I use precious little sleep time every night Myself, you see."
The old wizard nodded knowingly. Yes, he was well aware of Severus Snape's nocturnal habits, the reasons why sleep betrayed him so often.
"I went down into the common room at about midnight, when all students (unless studying for OWLS or NEWTS) should be well off in their beds by that point, and all was quiet. At first I thought nothing was amiss, until I went over by the fire, which was still lit, even though the room appeared empty. In one of the chairs by the fire, there was a crowd of the children's pets - cats, frogs, even an owl! I thought this was extremely strange, and was about to shoo them away when I realized that under the blanket was the girl, shaking and sobbing under her breath... She was whispering something I couldn't quite make out, in obvious distress."
"What did you do, Severus?" Albus asked quietly. Teenage pendantics were something that they were accustomed to at Hogwarts; this did not sound TOO terribly out of the ordinary although it was intriguing that all the animals would come to her. He would have to look into that.
"I stood for a moment, mesmerized by this strange scene. I slowly approached the chair, and was about to ask if she was alright, when her cat (the small gray, one-eyed one) shot up her from around her neck, hissing and spitting at me, and launched himself onto my shoulder. I swatted him off - very sharp claws, I might add; and by that point, she had leapt up from the chair, apologizing profusely for the actions of her cat, and ran out of the room to the girl's dormitory." Severus sneered, shaking his head. "Bloody cat, if it hadn't have been for that, I could have worked out what was troubling her so much earlier than now."
"There's more?" Dumbledore asked
"Indeed. Much more."
"Well, I'm making some tea, care for some Ogden's, Severus?"
Severus looked appreciative for a moment. "It would go down very well tonight, I'll tell you."
Pouring the drink, Albus looked over at Snape stalking around his study and thought to himself for a moment. 'I have not seen him this worked up in a long while... not since... However, that was over 20 years ago now. He must be gravely concerned indeed to come to me over this, and that is of great importance as it is a great shot to his pride', but Severus had begun speaking again.
"After that, I kept a closer eye on the girl, and did notice that she was not looking very well. I could not pin point it, but there were hollows under her eyes, and a haunted look about her I had never noticed before. I wonder, was it always there? Some days, she would come into the Great Hall, sit down, I would take a drink of tea and when I looked up again, she was already gone. How strange, that she should eat so fast when the other students had barley filled their plates yet. I went to talk to Poppy about her strange behavior, and she just said it was something I would learn about teenage girls. She did not say anything else, and seemed to think my concern was some kind of cute paternal thing." Severus snorted at this "I take my charges seriously, but I do not get involved on a personal level!"
Albus just raised his eyebrows and lifted his cup of tea 'well, my man, you seem to be breaking that rule this time!' He thought, knowing that to say it out loud would drive the other man out of his office, and crush some of the trust he had spent years establishing with this tortured soul.
"So, I tried having Cassandra stay after class on our Friday afternoon Potions class. Her hands had been shaking dreadfully all class, and for the first time, her potion didn't work out. There was things spilled everywhere, a dreadful mess, and it was clear that she wasn't focusing, and was distraught about something." Severus shook his head "the look she gave me when I asked her to stay after class - I might as well asked her to dance with a dragon! She looked completely horrified, and kept going on about how she didn't mean to spill the armadillo bile into her dragon's blood - it was like dealing with bloody Longbottom! I couldn't very well reassure her with the whole pack of Gryffindors in the class, so I went quietly over beside her and spoke in undertones. I tried to let her know it was not about Potions, and there would be no points taken from Slytherin. I thought I was being helpful but at that she got even more distressed - I though she was going to be sick in the Potions lab, so I excused her to the washrooms, and she didn't return back to the class."
Severus shook his head, running his hands through his thick black hair and rubbing the back of his neck as he paused to down the majority of the glass of Fire Whiskey shaking in his hand.
Albus scratched his head, frowning out from under his bright white eyebrows. "Have you seen her since, Severus?"
"No - when I went to the Great hall for dinner, she wasn't there. I asked a few of the fifth year girls if they had seen her, and they said that they hadn't seen her since our potions class. When I went to the dormitories that night, I checked into the girl's chambers, and she seemed to be asleep in her bed. Now I am going to have to talk to her tomorrow morning, being as it
Saturday and I'll tell you, I am dreading the conversation. It was like looking into the eyes of a cornered hare! What am I to do Albus?" Severus finally collapsed down into a chair, glaring into the fire as he took a final swig of the Fire Whisky, grimacing a little as it went down.
"Something is clearly going wrong, and more so than the 'usual teenage girl' situation that Madame Pomfrey spoke of. If she will not speak to you whom she knows, and I would assume, trusts more than that rest of us on staff, than sending her to talk to me would only make the situation far worse. This is indeed a serious situation Severus. You were right in coming to me. In many cases, I would suggest bringing in the parents, but that is not an option in this case. She never knew her father, and her mother is gone. That really does leave it up to you Sev... but how do we get her to talk with you and not feel interrogated? I truly believe that is why she ran out of the class. She felt she would be asked a great deal of questions without an answer, and that would anger you."
"Why would that anger me? I am only concerned for her welfare and I want the best for my entire house and all the students in it. I don't understand where. "Severus was building into a tirade.
"You reputation precedes you?" The Headmaster cut him off. "You aren't known as the cuddly grandfatherly type, Severus, as much as I am sure you will be shocked to learn that. I believe that is a façade that you enjoy at times."
A slight smile played on Snape's lips... "Yes, well. Point taken."
"Now it is my turn to tell you what I know in this matter." Albus began.
Severus looked up sharply "What do you mean?"
"You're not the first to come and talk to me about Miss Caliga, my friend. All of the other Professors have filtered through my office this past month to discuss with me why a Prefect is not completing assignments, is failing tests, is failing to show up for class.... You're concerns are not unfounded." Severus had been staring into the fire, and now swung around sharply at this news. "But, she is top student in Potions still, why was I not told about these other problems? Why am I always the last one to bloody well be told anything around here?"
"Well, the others felt that a direct approach would be the best way to handle it. However, they got about the same response you did. A hasty apology, and a runner from the classroom." Dumbledore sighed. "This is a new scenario for all of us, it is imperative that we find out the root of the problem, or problems, as the case might be. Minerva in particular expressed concerns over the girl's health, both physically and emotionally. She felt that Miss Caliga might be in a severe depression."
Snape dropped his head to his hands and gave a slight groan. "No wonder I'm plagued with migraines." He growled "Look at what I have to deal with in my house! Death Eater wanna-bes, bullies and lackeys, and now suicidal girls." Closing his eyes, he shook his head, massaging his temples at the same time.
"I suggest that you locate Miss Caliga and try to work some of this out this evening. I do not believe this is something we should wait on, and I know you would agree with me Severus." Dumbledore replied.
"But she will be asleep. It's past midnight! " Exclaimed Snape.
"You will find that we are not the only ones up in this castle tonight, and I am quite sure that Miss Caliga will not be in her bed, and I highly doubt we will find her in the common room either... she was too easily found there last time." Albus winked at the intense brooding figure preparing to leave his room. "Good luck Severus, this parenthood bit is hard work, isn't it?"
"Thank-you headmaster." Snape scowled as he rose and went to sweep out the door.
"Oh, and Severus."
"Yes?" He stopped, hand on the door.
"Anytime you need help, come and get me. I am grateful to still be needed after all these years." The twinkle was back in his eye, and Snape returned it with something between a wry smile and a sneer.