Disclaimer: See chapter 1 for full disclaimer and notes.
Thanks to my reviewers from ff.net. Shout-out to samson. Your name reminds me of Carnivale. Good times. The next chapter should be up next weekend.
Chapter 17: Caution All Around, Then
"Miss Maclay," a voice said from behind Tara as she was wandering the halls midday.
The blonde girl turned to see a deceptively frail-looking wizard approaching her, his purple robes standing out like a beacon in the dim light shining through the narrow windows that lined the walls.
"Hello, Headmaster," Tara greeted him with a large smile. "How are you today?"
"Very well, very well," he answered as he stopped to stand beside her. "I have spoken to the delightful Miss Summers almost every day of your stay, but I feel as if we haven't spoken in weeks," he said, holding out a bag of candy to her.
Tara took one and popped it in her mouth, her eyes opening wider for an instant as it fizzled on her tongue. The headmaster also put one in his mouth, and Tara saw it spark brightly for a moment.
Dumbledore was peering at her thoughtfully. "I hope you haven't been too restless without your studies or your friends here to occupy your time."
Tara looked at him suspiciously. He simply looked back, the ghost of a smile on his kind face.
"I've had plenty of studies to keep myself occupied, as well as at least one new friend, but I think you already knew that," she replied, smirking.
The headmaster laughed. "Yes, well, I like to stay informed as to the goings-on of all my guests. Which is why I must say goodbye for now. I believe your Mr. Giles should be contacting me within the hour."
"Anything important?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Nothing to be concerned about. Just an update on his findings concerning your situation and other issues I have discussed with him recently."
"Oh," Tara said, filing the headmaster's last statement away to ask Giles about later.
Dumbledore nodded to her and headed off down the hall in the general direction of his office.
Tara looked around to see that the corridor had emptied out. She wandered over to a nearby alcove and gazed out the window at the snow- covered grounds. She could see a few of the older students sitting on blankets near the lake, chatting and studying. As one of the boys gestured wildly, telling a story and making the rest of them laugh, she realized that she needed to talk to Willow. It had been too long since they had last spoken, and even then it had been an incredibly awkward conversation that ended with both of them angry and sad.
Tara was so lost in her musings about Willow and the others back in Sunnydale that she didn't notice the person who approached, stopping to stand next to her at the window.
"Homesick?" the person asked, making her wonder if she was that transparent.
She glanced over at him. "A little."
"Anyone in particular?" he asked.
Hesitating, she turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry, that was too personal."
"No, no, it's okay Professor."
He smiled at her. "How long will it take for me to convince you to address me by my first name?"
"Sorry, Remus," Tara replied, her mood already brightening, "I'm used to using last names with teachers. I've only had one or two who wanted the students to use their first names, and they were all really young."
Lupin raised an eyebrow at her.
"Er, not that you're old," she added, blushing.
The professor laughed, letting her off the hook. "Well, Tara, you're not exactly a student here."
Tara nodded.
"Not counting Snape, of course," he added.
Tara smiled and turned back to the window, looking at the students as they played in the snow.
"Of course," she said, suddenly wondering if everyone had an ulterior motive for conversations with her.
"Tara, I know you don't entirely trust me, but-"
"You know that was just because of your condition," Tara interrupted, frowning.
Lupin waved her comment away, "that's neither here nor there. I just, well, there's no way to talk about this without interfering, but just be careful."
"How so?" asked Tara, now looking at his concerned expression, still frowning.
"In every way," he replied, staring at her intently, "with the situation here at school, yours and Harry's, you have to be on your guard."
Tara opened her mouth to reply.
"I realize that I don't have to tell you that," Lupin continued before she could speak, "with the way you dispatched that vampire."
Tara shrugged, still not sure how to respond to the praise everyone had given her at some time or another, following the vampire attack.
"You should also be careful with our resident Potions Master."
Tara glanced at him sharply, trying to figure out his motivation for saying that.
"I don't presume to know anything of your relationship with him," the older man said, "but he's been through some things-"
Tara cut him off, "I know. He's told me things."
"Oh," Lupin replied, the surprise obvious on his face. "Well then, um," he cleared his throat.
Tara smiled at his awkwardness. "I know you're just concerned, but I think Professor Snape needs a friend."
Lupin laughed.
"What?" Tara asked, confused.
"You really aren't used to calling teachers by their first names."
Tara shrugged, looking past Professor Lupin to see Dawn and the twins coming around the corner. He followed her gaze and stepped away from the window.
"Well, I should go prepare for my next lesson," he told her, "Just remember that caution is always a sound choice." He walked off down the hall, nodding a greeting to Dawn and the Weasleys as he passed.
When the three teens reached her, Tara was still frowning and going over Lupin's last comment in her head.
"Maybe she's a robot," Dawn said to the boys as they stopped next to Tara.
The randomness of this comment couldn't help but draw the troubled blonde girl into the conversation.
"Um, who's a robot?" she asked, not sure if she even wanted to know.
"Hermione," Dawn replied, looking as nonchalant about it as she possibly could, considering the accusation she was making.
The twins, on the other hand, looked as if they couldn't decide whether to laugh or be frightened. They were studying Tara's reaction to Dawn as if it would give them some hint as to whether she was kidding.
"Is she acting like the Buffy robot?" Tara asked.
The twins exchanged a worried look.
"I dunno," Dawn replied, "all I know is Fred heard that she's been seen in two classes at the same time. Or something like that. Neville told him."
"She's got enough books to be taking twice the normal class-load," Fred, presumably, said.
Tara furrowed her brow. "Is she acting kind of perky and single- minded?"
The twins just looked confused.
"Maybe Ron built her to play chess with," Dawn said, pointedly, at Tara.
The older girl rolled her eyes, laughing.
The twins were looking between Tara and Dawn as if they were speaking a different language.
"So there are two Hermiones now?" the other twin asked, trying to clear up the confusion.
"Oh, I know this!" Dawn shouted, causing everyone to jump noticeably, "they're both Hermione!"
~-~-~-~-
Twenty minutes later, Tara had made her way down to the beautiful snowy grounds, after helping Dawn recount stories of Sunnydale to two impressed Weasley boys. Tara had the feeling that the twins wouldn't mind living in Sunnydale for awhile, if only for the wild tales they could bring back to the wizarding world.
The grounds were empty of students, and almost serene, but for the wind that created flurries every few minutes.
Tara trekked through the already half-formed path to the lake, standing near the spot she had observed the students at earlier. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, practicing a meditating technique that she had learned years before, as a way to focus her energy before performing a particularly complex spell. Though, in this case, it was just a technique to help her think. She quickly came to the conclusion that it was time to read the letter that had been waiting in her desk drawer ever since it arrived from Sunnydale.
She sighed and gave up her meditation after a few minutes, when she realized that Willow wasn't the problem. The problem was that she wanted desperately to talk with Snape about the entire situation, but after what he had revealed to her, it seemed an almost taboo subject.
Tara was ripped from her thoughts by a loud growl from directly behind her. She whipped around just in time to receive a blow to the head, which knocked her back to the edge of the lake. She narrowly missed cracking her head on the ice, instead landing on a large drift that had gathered along the bank. The thing that had attacked her came into view, and she let out a shrill scream, desperately hoping that someone was near enough to hear.
The large horned demon stepped closer to where she lay, its growl building up to a low roar. It pounded a fist to its chest and said something to her, which came out as another menacing growling noise.
Tara closed her eyes tightly and concentrated on where she hoped Professor Snape would be at this time of day. She muttered a chant to herself, all the time wishing she had practiced this technique with Willow more often.
Air whooshed past her head as she rolled to the side, barely missing the demon's large fist coming down on her head.
Opening her eyes wide, she stared directly at it. She held up a hand, her open palm facing it.
"Quiesco!" she shouted, a bright blue light shooting out of her arm and wrapping around the demon, halting it in its tracks.
The demon stood completely still a foot in front of her, its arms outstretched in front of it, a snarl frozen on its face.
Tara fell back on the snow, her breathing growing deeper as she slipped into unconsciousness.
~-~-~-
The first thing she notice when she awoke was that she was considerably warmer and more comfortable than when she had passed out. She slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the brightness of the room she was in. She raised a hand to her head and rubbed her eyes, flinching as she felt a tender spot on her forehead, where she had either been hit by the demon or hit the ground, she couldn't remember which.
She heard the sound of a chair moving somewhere off to the side, and then a hand grabbed hers, squeezing briefly.
"There was a demon," she said, her voice coming out in a loud whisper.
"It's been captured," the person told her.
She immediately recognized the low voice. "Professor Snape?"
"I thought I had finally figured you out, and then I underestimate you for yet a third time," was his reply.
"What happened?"
She finally managed to get her eyes to adjust, turning her head to look at him. He was sitting in an uncomfortable looking wooden chair that he had pulled up next to her bed. Her bed in the infirmary, she discovered, looking around. Her eyes again fell on the Professor, who dropped her hand and sat back up in his chair.
"What do you remember?"
She thought back on the demon attack, ignoring the pounding in her head.
"A demon attacked me. Um, a Fyarl demon, I think. Mr. Giles was turned into one before. It looked like he did that time."
Snape raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't interrupt.
"I tried to get a message to you, but I couldn't tell if it worked, and then I used what was left of my energy to stop the demon with a spell."
She rubbed her head again, soothing the pain momentarily.
"Your spell worked nicely," Snape said, "and I received the message, though I believe running out in the middle of class after hearing your voice in my head may have confused the first years I was in the middle of teaching."
Tara smiled briefly.
"How did you do that?" Snape asked, handing her a small vial of something that she hoped was for the pain.
She swallowed it quickly, surprised at its sweet taste, the surprise changing to relief as her headache died down. "Which part?"
"Well, both, actually," he replied, taking the vial from her, putting it back in his pocket beneath his robes.
"Well, the telepathy thing was something I was practicing back in Sunnydale, but the freezing spell was one that I've only read about before."
Snape looked surprised.
"I panicked," Tara said, sheepishly, "and it was the first thing that came to mind."
"Well, it worked nicely," Snape replied, looking equal parts worried and impressed.
"I think being here, in this school, makes my power work differently. I feel stronger."
They fell silent and contemplated recent events for a moment.
The silence was interrupted by the infirmary door banging open, much to the dismay of Madam Pomfrey, who had just appeared from an adjoining room.
Dawn burst through, followed by Giles, Dumbledore, and Professor Lupin.
Snape stood quickly, moving to the corner of the room as the teen ran over to Tara, hugging her and looking her over, making sure she wasn't seriously injured.
The other three new arrivals joined Dawn at Tara's bedside. Lupin glanced over at Snape, who had intercepted Madam Pomfrey and appeared to be discussing the potion Tara had taken earlier with her.
Tara assured Dawn and Giles that she was okay, laughing as Giles predictably took his glasses off to clean them and muttered in disapproval of the attack.
Dumbledore raised a hand, silencing everyone, including Snape and Pomfrey.
"It appears," he said, when he was sure he had their attention, "that we have a problem."
Dawn sighed. "When do we not?"
Thanks to my reviewers from ff.net. Shout-out to samson. Your name reminds me of Carnivale. Good times. The next chapter should be up next weekend.
Chapter 17: Caution All Around, Then
"Miss Maclay," a voice said from behind Tara as she was wandering the halls midday.
The blonde girl turned to see a deceptively frail-looking wizard approaching her, his purple robes standing out like a beacon in the dim light shining through the narrow windows that lined the walls.
"Hello, Headmaster," Tara greeted him with a large smile. "How are you today?"
"Very well, very well," he answered as he stopped to stand beside her. "I have spoken to the delightful Miss Summers almost every day of your stay, but I feel as if we haven't spoken in weeks," he said, holding out a bag of candy to her.
Tara took one and popped it in her mouth, her eyes opening wider for an instant as it fizzled on her tongue. The headmaster also put one in his mouth, and Tara saw it spark brightly for a moment.
Dumbledore was peering at her thoughtfully. "I hope you haven't been too restless without your studies or your friends here to occupy your time."
Tara looked at him suspiciously. He simply looked back, the ghost of a smile on his kind face.
"I've had plenty of studies to keep myself occupied, as well as at least one new friend, but I think you already knew that," she replied, smirking.
The headmaster laughed. "Yes, well, I like to stay informed as to the goings-on of all my guests. Which is why I must say goodbye for now. I believe your Mr. Giles should be contacting me within the hour."
"Anything important?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Nothing to be concerned about. Just an update on his findings concerning your situation and other issues I have discussed with him recently."
"Oh," Tara said, filing the headmaster's last statement away to ask Giles about later.
Dumbledore nodded to her and headed off down the hall in the general direction of his office.
Tara looked around to see that the corridor had emptied out. She wandered over to a nearby alcove and gazed out the window at the snow- covered grounds. She could see a few of the older students sitting on blankets near the lake, chatting and studying. As one of the boys gestured wildly, telling a story and making the rest of them laugh, she realized that she needed to talk to Willow. It had been too long since they had last spoken, and even then it had been an incredibly awkward conversation that ended with both of them angry and sad.
Tara was so lost in her musings about Willow and the others back in Sunnydale that she didn't notice the person who approached, stopping to stand next to her at the window.
"Homesick?" the person asked, making her wonder if she was that transparent.
She glanced over at him. "A little."
"Anyone in particular?" he asked.
Hesitating, she turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry, that was too personal."
"No, no, it's okay Professor."
He smiled at her. "How long will it take for me to convince you to address me by my first name?"
"Sorry, Remus," Tara replied, her mood already brightening, "I'm used to using last names with teachers. I've only had one or two who wanted the students to use their first names, and they were all really young."
Lupin raised an eyebrow at her.
"Er, not that you're old," she added, blushing.
The professor laughed, letting her off the hook. "Well, Tara, you're not exactly a student here."
Tara nodded.
"Not counting Snape, of course," he added.
Tara smiled and turned back to the window, looking at the students as they played in the snow.
"Of course," she said, suddenly wondering if everyone had an ulterior motive for conversations with her.
"Tara, I know you don't entirely trust me, but-"
"You know that was just because of your condition," Tara interrupted, frowning.
Lupin waved her comment away, "that's neither here nor there. I just, well, there's no way to talk about this without interfering, but just be careful."
"How so?" asked Tara, now looking at his concerned expression, still frowning.
"In every way," he replied, staring at her intently, "with the situation here at school, yours and Harry's, you have to be on your guard."
Tara opened her mouth to reply.
"I realize that I don't have to tell you that," Lupin continued before she could speak, "with the way you dispatched that vampire."
Tara shrugged, still not sure how to respond to the praise everyone had given her at some time or another, following the vampire attack.
"You should also be careful with our resident Potions Master."
Tara glanced at him sharply, trying to figure out his motivation for saying that.
"I don't presume to know anything of your relationship with him," the older man said, "but he's been through some things-"
Tara cut him off, "I know. He's told me things."
"Oh," Lupin replied, the surprise obvious on his face. "Well then, um," he cleared his throat.
Tara smiled at his awkwardness. "I know you're just concerned, but I think Professor Snape needs a friend."
Lupin laughed.
"What?" Tara asked, confused.
"You really aren't used to calling teachers by their first names."
Tara shrugged, looking past Professor Lupin to see Dawn and the twins coming around the corner. He followed her gaze and stepped away from the window.
"Well, I should go prepare for my next lesson," he told her, "Just remember that caution is always a sound choice." He walked off down the hall, nodding a greeting to Dawn and the Weasleys as he passed.
When the three teens reached her, Tara was still frowning and going over Lupin's last comment in her head.
"Maybe she's a robot," Dawn said to the boys as they stopped next to Tara.
The randomness of this comment couldn't help but draw the troubled blonde girl into the conversation.
"Um, who's a robot?" she asked, not sure if she even wanted to know.
"Hermione," Dawn replied, looking as nonchalant about it as she possibly could, considering the accusation she was making.
The twins, on the other hand, looked as if they couldn't decide whether to laugh or be frightened. They were studying Tara's reaction to Dawn as if it would give them some hint as to whether she was kidding.
"Is she acting like the Buffy robot?" Tara asked.
The twins exchanged a worried look.
"I dunno," Dawn replied, "all I know is Fred heard that she's been seen in two classes at the same time. Or something like that. Neville told him."
"She's got enough books to be taking twice the normal class-load," Fred, presumably, said.
Tara furrowed her brow. "Is she acting kind of perky and single- minded?"
The twins just looked confused.
"Maybe Ron built her to play chess with," Dawn said, pointedly, at Tara.
The older girl rolled her eyes, laughing.
The twins were looking between Tara and Dawn as if they were speaking a different language.
"So there are two Hermiones now?" the other twin asked, trying to clear up the confusion.
"Oh, I know this!" Dawn shouted, causing everyone to jump noticeably, "they're both Hermione!"
~-~-~-~-
Twenty minutes later, Tara had made her way down to the beautiful snowy grounds, after helping Dawn recount stories of Sunnydale to two impressed Weasley boys. Tara had the feeling that the twins wouldn't mind living in Sunnydale for awhile, if only for the wild tales they could bring back to the wizarding world.
The grounds were empty of students, and almost serene, but for the wind that created flurries every few minutes.
Tara trekked through the already half-formed path to the lake, standing near the spot she had observed the students at earlier. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, practicing a meditating technique that she had learned years before, as a way to focus her energy before performing a particularly complex spell. Though, in this case, it was just a technique to help her think. She quickly came to the conclusion that it was time to read the letter that had been waiting in her desk drawer ever since it arrived from Sunnydale.
She sighed and gave up her meditation after a few minutes, when she realized that Willow wasn't the problem. The problem was that she wanted desperately to talk with Snape about the entire situation, but after what he had revealed to her, it seemed an almost taboo subject.
Tara was ripped from her thoughts by a loud growl from directly behind her. She whipped around just in time to receive a blow to the head, which knocked her back to the edge of the lake. She narrowly missed cracking her head on the ice, instead landing on a large drift that had gathered along the bank. The thing that had attacked her came into view, and she let out a shrill scream, desperately hoping that someone was near enough to hear.
The large horned demon stepped closer to where she lay, its growl building up to a low roar. It pounded a fist to its chest and said something to her, which came out as another menacing growling noise.
Tara closed her eyes tightly and concentrated on where she hoped Professor Snape would be at this time of day. She muttered a chant to herself, all the time wishing she had practiced this technique with Willow more often.
Air whooshed past her head as she rolled to the side, barely missing the demon's large fist coming down on her head.
Opening her eyes wide, she stared directly at it. She held up a hand, her open palm facing it.
"Quiesco!" she shouted, a bright blue light shooting out of her arm and wrapping around the demon, halting it in its tracks.
The demon stood completely still a foot in front of her, its arms outstretched in front of it, a snarl frozen on its face.
Tara fell back on the snow, her breathing growing deeper as she slipped into unconsciousness.
~-~-~-
The first thing she notice when she awoke was that she was considerably warmer and more comfortable than when she had passed out. She slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the brightness of the room she was in. She raised a hand to her head and rubbed her eyes, flinching as she felt a tender spot on her forehead, where she had either been hit by the demon or hit the ground, she couldn't remember which.
She heard the sound of a chair moving somewhere off to the side, and then a hand grabbed hers, squeezing briefly.
"There was a demon," she said, her voice coming out in a loud whisper.
"It's been captured," the person told her.
She immediately recognized the low voice. "Professor Snape?"
"I thought I had finally figured you out, and then I underestimate you for yet a third time," was his reply.
"What happened?"
She finally managed to get her eyes to adjust, turning her head to look at him. He was sitting in an uncomfortable looking wooden chair that he had pulled up next to her bed. Her bed in the infirmary, she discovered, looking around. Her eyes again fell on the Professor, who dropped her hand and sat back up in his chair.
"What do you remember?"
She thought back on the demon attack, ignoring the pounding in her head.
"A demon attacked me. Um, a Fyarl demon, I think. Mr. Giles was turned into one before. It looked like he did that time."
Snape raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't interrupt.
"I tried to get a message to you, but I couldn't tell if it worked, and then I used what was left of my energy to stop the demon with a spell."
She rubbed her head again, soothing the pain momentarily.
"Your spell worked nicely," Snape said, "and I received the message, though I believe running out in the middle of class after hearing your voice in my head may have confused the first years I was in the middle of teaching."
Tara smiled briefly.
"How did you do that?" Snape asked, handing her a small vial of something that she hoped was for the pain.
She swallowed it quickly, surprised at its sweet taste, the surprise changing to relief as her headache died down. "Which part?"
"Well, both, actually," he replied, taking the vial from her, putting it back in his pocket beneath his robes.
"Well, the telepathy thing was something I was practicing back in Sunnydale, but the freezing spell was one that I've only read about before."
Snape looked surprised.
"I panicked," Tara said, sheepishly, "and it was the first thing that came to mind."
"Well, it worked nicely," Snape replied, looking equal parts worried and impressed.
"I think being here, in this school, makes my power work differently. I feel stronger."
They fell silent and contemplated recent events for a moment.
The silence was interrupted by the infirmary door banging open, much to the dismay of Madam Pomfrey, who had just appeared from an adjoining room.
Dawn burst through, followed by Giles, Dumbledore, and Professor Lupin.
Snape stood quickly, moving to the corner of the room as the teen ran over to Tara, hugging her and looking her over, making sure she wasn't seriously injured.
The other three new arrivals joined Dawn at Tara's bedside. Lupin glanced over at Snape, who had intercepted Madam Pomfrey and appeared to be discussing the potion Tara had taken earlier with her.
Tara assured Dawn and Giles that she was okay, laughing as Giles predictably took his glasses off to clean them and muttered in disapproval of the attack.
Dumbledore raised a hand, silencing everyone, including Snape and Pomfrey.
"It appears," he said, when he was sure he had their attention, "that we have a problem."
Dawn sighed. "When do we not?"
