Ch.13 Of Slytherins & Gryffindors
"Two of them. Can you believe it?! Two!"
"Alright Ron! I heard you the first time" said Harry as he entered the Gryffindor common room through the portrait hole.
" Coincidence?" Hermione asked enigmatically as she followed him into the room.
They were returning from the first Dueling Club session. All around them they could see groups of students huddled together discussing 'The' duel, as it was fast becoming known as well as the point Ron had just emphasised; the presence of TWO Weirdsisters at Hogwarts.
"Speaking of 'co'-incidents..." said Harry whose mind was occupied by other matters now, having discussed the duel from every angle with Hermione already, " What do you make of Reive?"
At this, Ron snapped back to attention out of his wonderment, and said, "Yeah, I wonder what the Slytherins are upto now? Trying to find out our playing tactics you reckon?" He was talking about the Quidditch match that was looming ahead : Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. It would be Ron's second; the first had been against Hufflepuff-a pushover. He was the team's keeper.
" I don't think her actions were supported by the House" was Hermione's observant comment.
" But she IS a member of their team" Ron protested. He rather liked his theory. It fit well with his view of the mindset of a Slytherin. He didn't really relish the idea of having this stereotype destroyed. Too complicated that way.
However, Harry knew one thing about Slytherins was certain; that they were unpredictable and yet rarely did anything that wasn't somehow to their advantage (which in itself wasn't necessarily a bad thing). The latter seemed to support Ron's theory but the former didn't; there was something here that he was missing. While pondering over the mindset of Slytherins thus in order to find out the motives of one, he suddenly realised that he was basing his observations not on Malfoy but Snape!
This train of thought led him to think about how much he really knew his nemesis. Hardly at all was the answer. Then he remembered Draco's reaction to Reive's action. It had been a little too mild, almost as if he had expected and maybe even approved of it and was just trying to maintain the appearance of enmity outwardly! Harry suddenly shook his head. /No way! Draco wants to be friends?!/ But he had wanted to, way back in his first year at Hogwarts.
"What are you thinking? It's late and we've got Quidditch practice tomorrow morning!" said Ron as he attempted to drag Harry out of his armchair.
" Well, I've got a prefects' meeting too tomorrow", said Hermione as she made her way to her own dormitory. "Good night."
With his head swimming with strange thoughts, Harry went to bed and had a strange dream, in which he, Ron, Reive and Draco were playing a friendly game of Quidditch on the school pitch, while music played in the background one minute and the next they were dueling fiercely in teams of two.
...
The week passed in rather a hurry, yet, Yana barely noticed the flow of time. She was too busy enjoying the Dueling club sessions. The students were very enthusiastic; what more could an instructor ask for? Indeed, she was the envy of the other professors at the school.
She was also rediscovering the pleasures of the company of a Slytherin; she realised she had been missing the usual daily arguments between Myra and herself. Even as a band they seemed to have made a pact to almost always disagree with each other. If it hadn't been for Eva, they would never have reached any decision without resorting to thumb wrestling or tossing coins/wands. Now, having to once again collaborate with the Slytherin provided ample opportunities for those rather childish arguments.
She personally though it a pity that none of the Gryffindors or Slytherins; the traditional rivals, had followed in their pioneering footsteps and forged ties with each other. However, she was beginning to see promising signs in Reive and Malfoy junior. The 'handshake' at the first Duel meet had not gone unnoticed by her.
When she told Myra about it, she merely widened her eyes in surprise. However, before she could utter a word, another voice spoke up enquiringly;
" Draco Malfoy? And Potter?"
It was Severus. He had actually turned around in his chair to look at the two professors in the staffroom. McGonagall was the only other occupant who sat at a desk quite a bit of a way off and was engrossed in writing something.
" Here comes the party pooper" Yana muttered to herself.
"Beg your pardon?" Severus asked in his silky voice. He had got the gist of what she had said.
" Ooh it was just something about how old habits die hard."
Myra grinned wryly and answered his query in the affirmative. "Interesting. And potentially dangerous" was his rejoinder, after a few pensive moments.
" Does the man always talk in riddles?" said Yana exasperatedly to Myra and then to Severus, " Are you related to a sphinx perchance?"
Severus gave her a condescending glare as he elaborated, "We cannot be sure of where Malfoy Junior's loyalties lie."
" But isn't risking the wrath of the entire House too high a price?" Yana asked, smiling at Myra, finally grasping Snape's meaning. She knew firsthand what the consequences of going against the popular opinion of the powerful Slytherins were like. If the Slytherins hadn't been convinced that Myra was using their friendship only as a means to 'get a better strike at the opponent', things would have been very ugly at school.
" For spying on Potter? I think not. Many would...and have...killed for the chance."
" But what if the unexpected has happened? What if Draco is really rethinking his priorities?"
Yana snorted softly at Myra's idea and it sounded suspiciously like, 'As if!'
" Stepping out of his father's shadow you mean? I wouldn't bet on it. It's not an easy task to accomplish." said Severus, seemingly agreeing with Yana, much to her surprise.
Myra wondered whether he knew this from personal experience.
" But he is his father's son."
"That, in itself, is a paradox."
"Here we go again. This is not the sphinx-appreciation club!" Yana exclaimed in exasperation. "Or a Riddle club" she added as an afterthought.
" No, this is the Anti-Riddle club" Myra said as she got up from her chair and walked to the door, a sheaf of parchment in hand. She had a class with the sixth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.
It took Yana a moment to understand what Myra had said. When she finally did, she sighed audibly and said, " What happened to plain old, mono-sense language?"
" The Slytherins." The answer came from an unlikely source. She looked up to find Severus leaning against the back of the chair he had been reclining in moments ago, his arms folded in front.
" Indeed. We seem to be agreeing a lot lately. Are you feeling quite alright?" she asked him, feigning concern.
" Never better. The question is, do you feel up to a little wager?" he said, cocking his head slightly. His facial expression was akin to that of someone who was rubbing his hands in anticipation.
" On?"
" The outcome of a certain Quidditch match?" the question was a rhetoric; the lifted eye-brow though...
Thus, Yana found herself faced with an interesting opportunity. /I won't have much to lose; and quite a lot to gain/ she thought to herself, grinning slightly at the prospect.
Severus took the grin to mean an affirmative answer, and stated his terms. She was to wear green at dinner after the match, in honour of a Slytherin victory, as well as dye her hair green.
She stared at him with round eyes. Seemed as if they were on the same wavelength, in a weird sense. " Funny, I was about to propose the same thing."
" That I wear red?" he asked incredulously, as if nobody could dare think about it, let alone speak it aloud.
/Well you asked for it, moron!/ she thought to herself. Aloud she said, "Oh no, maroon will do quite nicely. Or a red -wine colour." She simpered at him, knowing she had cornered him quite neatly.
She could understand why he wanted to make her dye her hair green. Her gloriously red head had always been a vibrant testament of her loyalty to Gryffindor. However, she thought the appearance of the Potions Master in anything other than the customary black robes would be shock enough for the students and didn't venture to ask him to dye his hair red too.
" And that you wash your hair and wear it ...differently." she said suddenly as inspiration struck.
The incredulous look changed to one of indignation.
" Well, you can hardly expect less! You're lucky I don't ask you to dye your hair red too!" she said before he could utter a word of protest.
" Fine." The smirk returned.
" Better schedule a shopping trip to Hogsmeade soon, Professor!" she called after him as he swept out of the staffroom, black robes billowing characteristically. And she cackled softly to herself. Prof. McGonagall, momentarily distracted, looked up questioningly.
...
The match had been spectacular. And a close one to boot. Yana had been torn between rooting for Gryffindor and cheering for her protégé who was playing on the Slytherin team. Both Reive and Harry had been in fine form.
The Slytherin team had played admirably well, even Yana had to admit. One of their best performances to date. While Reive and the chasers raced to get the score up, the beaters and the seeker Malfoy sought to distract Harry as often as possible from spotting the snitch. The new Gryffindor keeper, Weasely, gave up a few unnecessary goals to the Slytherins; at one point it looked as if the Weasely twins were seriously thinking of strangling their own brother. However he wasn't entirely incompetent. Just beaten by better form.
The Gryffindor chasers found themselves rather helpless, as the Slytherin beaters, who seemed to have grown an extra pair of eyes, kept them separated quite successfully. The Weasely twins were the only ones who had really posed a formidable obstacle to the chasers, Reive being the only one able to out-maneuver them. It was due largely to them that the Gryffindor chasers had managed to post a score enough to ensure them a victory when Harry finally managed to catch the snitch, after dodging Draco and the beaters. Even then, the Gryffindors had won by a mere ten points! The score alone gave an idea of how effective the Slytherin onslaught had been.
However, the spectacle of the match paled in comparison to the sight that met the students disbelieving eyes, when both Prof. Snape and Prof. Blizzard, conspicuous in their black robes in the sea of green that was the Slytherin stand (their scarves being the only hint of green), turned up at dinner in the Great Hall wearing maroon robes!