Chapter 3
I snuck back into the house so that Aunt Agnes could not demand that I show her my new robes. I really didn't want to go back to Diagon Alley to get new ones, and anyway, though I wouldn't admit it, I actually liked my new dress robes. They made me look and feel very mature, even elegant, for once.
When I was back in the safety of my room again I unwrapped the robes and laid them out on my bed. Without really realizing what I was doing so, I reached my hand under the mattress of my bed, the only hiding place I had, and grasped for the handkerchief. I felt the my hand slide against the smooth silk and I pulled the handkerchief out and held it up to my cheek.
"What am I doing?" I suddenly jerked myself back to reality and threw the handkerchief onto the bed. It fluttered for a moment before landing softly on top of the red robes. The S.S. initials seemed to be laughing up at me and mocking me for being so silly.
You'll get over it, I told myself. After this year you'll never see him again, and then you won't have to worry about acting rashly.
"Out of sight, out of mind," I said as I returned the handkerchief to its hiding place. "And anyway, you don't like him! You don't!"
Yes you do, said the voice.
The days leading up to Agnes's soiree crept along more slowly than I ever thought possible. With each passing day Aunt Agnes grew nastier, her tongue became sharper, her temper shorter, until the morning of August the thirteenth when she had reached the peak of her stress level and her head was ready to implode.
I was down in the large, stainless steel kitchen amongst the bustling house elves, most of whom were hired for the day from a House-Elf Rental Agency, minding my own business and helping myself to some toast with strawberry jam. Fanny and a few other elves were ironing some white lacy table cloths at the large wooden table, so I sat down to join them.
"I can help you with that if you'd like, Fanny, I like ironing."
"No! No, Miss Meta. Miss needs to enjoy her toast and then get ready for the party."
"Oh, yes, thanks for reminding me. I'm so excited that I fear I will wet myself," I said sarcastically and took a bite of toast.
"FANNY!" A loud, screeching voice gave me a start and I dropped the piece of toast I was holding face-down onto the pristine tablecloth.
"Oops."
"OOPS? OOPS?" Aunt Agnes was livid.
"I'm sorry, you scared me," I said meekly. Aunt Agnes's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head and a vein was bulging out of her temple.
"GET OUT! GO STRAIGHT TO YOUR ROOM BEFORE YOU CAUSE ANY MORE TROUBLE AND STAY THERE UNTIL I SAY YOU CAN COME DOWN!"
"It's a simple spell, here," I said, raising up my wand.
"NO!!!" She screeched. "NO, GET OUT--NOW!"
"Okay, okay." I got up out of the chair and peeled my piece of toast off of the table cloth, then went up to my room. "Don't get your knickers in a twist," I mumbled as soon as I was out of earshot.
So, the rest of my day was spent confined to my room, with Aunt Agnes sending Fanny up every few hours to make sure I was getting ready.
"How can I even begin to get ready, Fanny? It's ten-thirty and the party doesn't start until eight!"
"Fanny doesn't know, she's only the messenger, Miss."
Being bored stiff and confined to a single room for eight hours does things to your brain. That day I painted my toes, painted my nails, gave myself a facial, did my hair in four different styles and did my makeup twice, taking it off after each time.
Around siz, Aunt Agnes let me come down to the kitchen for a bite to eat, watching me closely so I wouldn't gum up any of her sparkling cleen glasses or plates with my fingerprints.
"But won't there be food at the party?" I asked, looking at the plate of bread and a hunk of cheap cheese.
"Yes," she said impatiently. "But that is for the guests, and besides, you don't wnat to look like a pig, do you?"
"Oink, oink," I muttered to her back as she walked out of the kitchen.
"I expect you to be completely ready in ONE HOUR!" She yelled back.
After my satisfying meal, returned to my cell, er, room, to change into my dress robes and make a final decision on my hair and makeup, not that I really cared.
"Oh, if Franco could only see me now," I said, looking in the mirror. I decided to wear my hair down, in loose waves, and my makeup simple, a bit of black eyeliner, some blush, and a hint of gloss. It took me quite some time to achieve the desired hair style. I kept making the spell too strong and turning my hair into a mass of corkscrew curls.
"Are you ready?" Agnes yelled down the hall.
"Yes!" I lied, trying the spell again for the twentieth time.
"You better be!"
"Oh, shut up," I said and grimaced at my head, which now resembled a frizzy mop. "Follicula!" I said returning it to normal. "Okay, one more try. Follicula!" I concentrated on loose waves and sent just a hint of magic out of my wand. A stream of gold magic flowed out of the wand and onto my head. The gold flowed into my chin-length hair, creating soft waves. "Hmm, not too shabby, I suppose."
I dashed down the stairs and almost fell on my face when my feet hit the floor.
"Be more careful, it's just been waxed," Aunt Agnes said, and then did a double take. "Your robes!"
"What's wrong with them?" I asked, looking down at myself.
"You look like a tart!"
"I do not! It's only a bright color!"
"Only a bright color? Only a bright color? What will people think?"
"Don't worry, they probably won't even notice me."
"Let's hope not," she snapped. "Now, I expect you to be on your best behavior. Don't speak unless you are spoken to, and if you have to say something, talk about the weather or your schoolwork, don't say any of those stupid, silly things you usually say, do you hear me?"
"Loud and clear."
The guests began to arrive at eight. Aunt Agnes immediately went into "cheery hostess" mode. Her constant smiling was nauseating, and she mostly introduced me as "Howard's girl" with a scoff in her voice each time she said it. After about an hour of false smiles and small talk, I had had enough. I knicked a few cream puffs off of the large table that had been set up in the ballroom and snuck off into the hall to escape all of the boring talk and tinkling of champagne glasses. I sighed and slumped onto a bench to eat my cream puffs.
"Hiding?" Said a familiar voice.
"Oh, I didn't know anyone was here--" I said, slightly suprised. I looked up and saw a man in dark green robes leaning against the wall and holding a glass of champagne.
"Professor Snape?" I said, realizing who it was. "Er, would you like a cream puff?" Well, at least I was being hospitable.
Snape looked slightly amused and stepped forward to take the cream puff from my outstretched hand.
"Thank you."
"I didn't know you were coming to my Aunt's party, Professor," I said, trying to break the awkward silence.
"I've known your Aunt for quite some time, actually," he said.
"Oh, that's unfortunate," I said, before I could stop myself. Oh, bugger.
To my astonishment, Snape didn't look offended, but instead let out a short laugh. "That's why I'm out here. I'm not particularily fond of that sort of thing," he said, motioning towards the ballroom and taking a bite of his cream puff.
"Me neither," I said in agreement, and also took a bite of my cream puff.
We must have looked quite odd, two social outcasts escaping the hustle and bustle of the party, one young, one older, both sitting together in a comfortable silence, eating cream puffs.
I snuck back into the house so that Aunt Agnes could not demand that I show her my new robes. I really didn't want to go back to Diagon Alley to get new ones, and anyway, though I wouldn't admit it, I actually liked my new dress robes. They made me look and feel very mature, even elegant, for once.
When I was back in the safety of my room again I unwrapped the robes and laid them out on my bed. Without really realizing what I was doing so, I reached my hand under the mattress of my bed, the only hiding place I had, and grasped for the handkerchief. I felt the my hand slide against the smooth silk and I pulled the handkerchief out and held it up to my cheek.
"What am I doing?" I suddenly jerked myself back to reality and threw the handkerchief onto the bed. It fluttered for a moment before landing softly on top of the red robes. The S.S. initials seemed to be laughing up at me and mocking me for being so silly.
You'll get over it, I told myself. After this year you'll never see him again, and then you won't have to worry about acting rashly.
"Out of sight, out of mind," I said as I returned the handkerchief to its hiding place. "And anyway, you don't like him! You don't!"
Yes you do, said the voice.
The days leading up to Agnes's soiree crept along more slowly than I ever thought possible. With each passing day Aunt Agnes grew nastier, her tongue became sharper, her temper shorter, until the morning of August the thirteenth when she had reached the peak of her stress level and her head was ready to implode.
I was down in the large, stainless steel kitchen amongst the bustling house elves, most of whom were hired for the day from a House-Elf Rental Agency, minding my own business and helping myself to some toast with strawberry jam. Fanny and a few other elves were ironing some white lacy table cloths at the large wooden table, so I sat down to join them.
"I can help you with that if you'd like, Fanny, I like ironing."
"No! No, Miss Meta. Miss needs to enjoy her toast and then get ready for the party."
"Oh, yes, thanks for reminding me. I'm so excited that I fear I will wet myself," I said sarcastically and took a bite of toast.
"FANNY!" A loud, screeching voice gave me a start and I dropped the piece of toast I was holding face-down onto the pristine tablecloth.
"Oops."
"OOPS? OOPS?" Aunt Agnes was livid.
"I'm sorry, you scared me," I said meekly. Aunt Agnes's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head and a vein was bulging out of her temple.
"GET OUT! GO STRAIGHT TO YOUR ROOM BEFORE YOU CAUSE ANY MORE TROUBLE AND STAY THERE UNTIL I SAY YOU CAN COME DOWN!"
"It's a simple spell, here," I said, raising up my wand.
"NO!!!" She screeched. "NO, GET OUT--NOW!"
"Okay, okay." I got up out of the chair and peeled my piece of toast off of the table cloth, then went up to my room. "Don't get your knickers in a twist," I mumbled as soon as I was out of earshot.
So, the rest of my day was spent confined to my room, with Aunt Agnes sending Fanny up every few hours to make sure I was getting ready.
"How can I even begin to get ready, Fanny? It's ten-thirty and the party doesn't start until eight!"
"Fanny doesn't know, she's only the messenger, Miss."
Being bored stiff and confined to a single room for eight hours does things to your brain. That day I painted my toes, painted my nails, gave myself a facial, did my hair in four different styles and did my makeup twice, taking it off after each time.
Around siz, Aunt Agnes let me come down to the kitchen for a bite to eat, watching me closely so I wouldn't gum up any of her sparkling cleen glasses or plates with my fingerprints.
"But won't there be food at the party?" I asked, looking at the plate of bread and a hunk of cheap cheese.
"Yes," she said impatiently. "But that is for the guests, and besides, you don't wnat to look like a pig, do you?"
"Oink, oink," I muttered to her back as she walked out of the kitchen.
"I expect you to be completely ready in ONE HOUR!" She yelled back.
After my satisfying meal, returned to my cell, er, room, to change into my dress robes and make a final decision on my hair and makeup, not that I really cared.
"Oh, if Franco could only see me now," I said, looking in the mirror. I decided to wear my hair down, in loose waves, and my makeup simple, a bit of black eyeliner, some blush, and a hint of gloss. It took me quite some time to achieve the desired hair style. I kept making the spell too strong and turning my hair into a mass of corkscrew curls.
"Are you ready?" Agnes yelled down the hall.
"Yes!" I lied, trying the spell again for the twentieth time.
"You better be!"
"Oh, shut up," I said and grimaced at my head, which now resembled a frizzy mop. "Follicula!" I said returning it to normal. "Okay, one more try. Follicula!" I concentrated on loose waves and sent just a hint of magic out of my wand. A stream of gold magic flowed out of the wand and onto my head. The gold flowed into my chin-length hair, creating soft waves. "Hmm, not too shabby, I suppose."
I dashed down the stairs and almost fell on my face when my feet hit the floor.
"Be more careful, it's just been waxed," Aunt Agnes said, and then did a double take. "Your robes!"
"What's wrong with them?" I asked, looking down at myself.
"You look like a tart!"
"I do not! It's only a bright color!"
"Only a bright color? Only a bright color? What will people think?"
"Don't worry, they probably won't even notice me."
"Let's hope not," she snapped. "Now, I expect you to be on your best behavior. Don't speak unless you are spoken to, and if you have to say something, talk about the weather or your schoolwork, don't say any of those stupid, silly things you usually say, do you hear me?"
"Loud and clear."
The guests began to arrive at eight. Aunt Agnes immediately went into "cheery hostess" mode. Her constant smiling was nauseating, and she mostly introduced me as "Howard's girl" with a scoff in her voice each time she said it. After about an hour of false smiles and small talk, I had had enough. I knicked a few cream puffs off of the large table that had been set up in the ballroom and snuck off into the hall to escape all of the boring talk and tinkling of champagne glasses. I sighed and slumped onto a bench to eat my cream puffs.
"Hiding?" Said a familiar voice.
"Oh, I didn't know anyone was here--" I said, slightly suprised. I looked up and saw a man in dark green robes leaning against the wall and holding a glass of champagne.
"Professor Snape?" I said, realizing who it was. "Er, would you like a cream puff?" Well, at least I was being hospitable.
Snape looked slightly amused and stepped forward to take the cream puff from my outstretched hand.
"Thank you."
"I didn't know you were coming to my Aunt's party, Professor," I said, trying to break the awkward silence.
"I've known your Aunt for quite some time, actually," he said.
"Oh, that's unfortunate," I said, before I could stop myself. Oh, bugger.
To my astonishment, Snape didn't look offended, but instead let out a short laugh. "That's why I'm out here. I'm not particularily fond of that sort of thing," he said, motioning towards the ballroom and taking a bite of his cream puff.
"Me neither," I said in agreement, and also took a bite of my cream puff.
We must have looked quite odd, two social outcasts escaping the hustle and bustle of the party, one young, one older, both sitting together in a comfortable silence, eating cream puffs.