Special thanks to Diana for her insight and perfect suggestions and to those of you who reviews here and to me personally.
Chapter 22 - Tête-à-Tête
Sophie sat studying the antique wizard that occupied the seat directly across from her. She and Dumbledore had really not spoken much since she had arrived. Her intuition told her there was no need, that this ancient sorcerer would know everything there was to know without her having to tell him anything. Still, he had requested this meeting and a status report on all that she was doing. She was all too eager to comply.
"You seem nervous." He noticed she was rubbing her hands.
"No, not really. Just a little anxious, I suppose," she admitted and smiled shyly.
"I hope I am not the cause of this condition," he twinkled.
She gave him a sly grin. "I can't explain why, but being here reminds me of a few…. youthful indiscretions that landed me in front of my middle school principal... my father…or one summer..... the chief of police."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at the last part of her confession. She laughed.
"It's not what you might think. It was a little matter of a protest where I got a bit carried away," she said.
"Carried away....Is that what you young people are calling streaking in front of the magistrate at a political rally?"
She was astounded. "There really isn't anything you don't know, is there?"
Now It was his turn to laugh, and then he sighed, "Oh how I wish that were true. No, I just make it a habit to know everything about the people I allow into Hogwarts. I cherish this place and the people within it. That is why I wanted you here as much as it seemed you wanted to be here. It is why I have asked you here now. I can see your presence has had an effect on several students …….and even some of the faculty."
She gave him a crooked smile as she attempted to keep her blush from reaching Weasley proportions. "I have made myself available to them as best I could. I have tried to be an asset. I have not accomplished nearly what I had hoped I would, but we I have made some headway anyway."
"Why don't you update me on your progress?"
Sophie took out a notebook with some information she had recorded for this meeting. "I have spoken to 143 students in total. The vast majority of these consisted of one to three meetings. Of the 143, 57 were Hufflepuff, 43 were Gryffindor, 42 were Ravenclaw, and 1 was Slytherin. Of the students I have seen 63% were female and 37% were male. There are 12 students I meet with regularly. Many students expressed fear and anxiety around the death of Cedric Diggory, but few are actually willing to admit that the revival of Voldemort had any bearing on their lives. It seems that if their parents are in denial, they choose to be also. The added courses, however, have made them more aware and on some level, they know they are preparing for battle. None deny that they believe he has returned. Save one, there is no student that I have met thus far that I feel is taking an active role in pursuing a career as a Death Eater. I do have a list of about 8 potential students I feel are borderline and about 22 that I feel can be easily swayed due to an affinity to weakness and poor judgment in the past."
Sophie handed a list to Dumbledore who scanned the page not seeming too surprised at what he saw. Sophie continued. "Many students express the normal concerns all teenagers have: poor self image, unrequited love, lack of self esteem or self confidence, rebellion issues, issues with parents or those in authority, a sense of being stuck between becoming an adult while still being a child. Very basic and routine tendencies. For the most part what we have is a group of typical teenagers dealing with typical teenage angst. There are two very distinct exceptions, first being Draco Malfoy."
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes as she spoke. "Am I to assume he is the one you believe to be in active recruitment?"
"I'm afraid so. Active, but not….enthusiastic. It has been difficult to get information from Draco but, mostly thanks to the efforts of Professor Snape, Draco has finally begun to give some detail of the happenings in his life that have caused the events up to now. As we left it some weeks ago, we are allowing Draco time to decide what his course of action should be. We are basically asking him to betray his father to regain control of his life. Considering how much he has to lose by doing so, we are not rushing him. The decision is his and his alone. I am hopeful that he will decide to seek our help, and with that, I am also confident that he can help us persuade more members of his house to seek the same sanctuary. I feel that my being a Muggle has been the main reason why they have not come to me, mixed with the fact that they have a general distrust of anyone not in their house, of course. Frankly, they do not trust each other much either. My relationship with Professor Snape has caused him to fall out of favor with some of them as well.
"Unfortunately, Draco may be our only lead. Currently, he is doing everything he can to keep his meetings with me a secret. If we can get him to openly admit he is seeing me, then I feel we have a better chance of getting them to open up as well. From what I have been able to gather from our conversations, there is some training of the younger forces going on and many of the other students are involved. I also suspect that the four Slytherins who did not return to school this year are missing because they did not survive the training."
Dumbledore let out a deep sigh; he had suspected as much. He did not speak as Sophie continued.
"I am hopeful that we can reason with Draco. I am aware time is short and that we have simply been lucky that there has been no attack yet, but we are at a delicate point with him. He could easily revert back to his prior propensities and that would not help anyone. I have written down some of the specifics of our conversation for you. I need to stress that I am only giving you this information because up until now Draco has been coming to me as recompense for his unauthorized activities. Should he decide to seek our assistance in his current situation, I will invoke my right as a doctor and his as my patient for confidentially as I do with the others in my care. I will gladly give you my impressions of the students, but none of the particulars of our conversations."
Dumbledore slowly nodded in agreement. "Of course."
Sophie paused before she continued. "The other student I feel we need to keep a close eye on is Harry Potter."
Again Dumbledore did not seem surprised at the information.
"Harry has refused any help from me despite my attempts to engage him in conversation. I have made little headway despite the relationships I have fostered with his closest friends. He has come to speak to me on one occasion only and made it quite clear that he refuses help from me or anyone else around him. He has a deep seated guilt over the death of Cedric and claims full responsibility. I believe you have discussed this with him also."
Dumbledore concurred. "He spoke to me about that right after the Tri-Wizard Tournament and subsequently last month when we had a conversation by the lake. It took some work on my part to actually get anything out of him. I commend you for what you were able to ascertain. There are some violent battles being fought in that boy's mind."
"He has an unwavering, if misguided sense of what he feels he needs to do and will not be dissuaded. I fear he will attempt something drastic. I suggest keeping a close eye on all his activities if you are not already doing so. I do not think he will seek me out. I think we need to find an authority figure he feels close enough to be able to confide in and someone I could use as a proxy to treat him. He will not speak to me directly. He sees me as someone who is trying to prevent him from doing what he feels he is predestined to do and someone who could endanger those he cares for he most by wanting him to include them in his plans. We need someone who can talk to him as a friend and to whom he will listen without it seeming like he is in therapy."
Dumbledore considered her proposal. "I see. It is an interesting strategy."
She smiled. "Sometimes we need to get a little creative. He is heading down a very destructive path, and we need to put up a roadblock. Do you have any ideas?"
"Oh, I think I can thank I can come up with a few candidates." He was not looking forward to telling Severus of his nominees. Speaking of Severus…
"Tell me Dr. Young, how is my Potions master? It seems you have been consuming much of his free time. I have not seen him outside of the occasional meal in weeks." He had a warm smile on his face. Sophie could not stop it this time – she was blushing like a Weasley.
"Yes………well……we have spending a lot of time together lately."
"I do not mean to pry, Sophie," he spoke her name as her father used to; it made her relax instantly. "I just wanted to let you know that I was very pleased with your relationship. It has been a while since I have seen him so happy. I am assuming he is happy because he has not taken points from Gryffindor in a long time, and it used to be a given they would lose at least fifty points this time of year.'"
"Why this time of year?"
He just smiled. "His birthday is coming up, isn't it?" she asked.
"You are quick, aren't you?"
She let out a chuckle. "He doesn't seem to be the type that would have an aversion to birthdays."
"We tried to give him a surprise birthday party one year. He was so startled he hexed half the room before he realized what was going on. "
They both laughed at this. "I am glad you told me. I would have hated to miss an opportunity to harass him."
"I am certain you will make the most of it."
A plan began to formulate in Sophie's mind even before she left the office.
Severus Snape was making his way to his office. He heard faint music floating the air. He started when he realized it was coming from him. He was humming. Humming!?! Shrugging his shoulders, he continued on his way. He had not been himself as of late, a fact that many people noticed and chose to comment on. The female portion of the faculty seemed to get the most pleasure out of teasing him on his extracurricular activities. They were taunting him as if he were a hormone driven teenager.
Well….He smiled. He really didn't care what other people thought. It had been a long time since he felt this connection with another person, and he would not ruin it as he had almost done previously. He still castigated himself for almost pushing her out of his life.
He was now thinking of today: his birthday. He had never liked celebrating it. It was not a matter of aging but of being in the spotlight. Not since he was a Death Eater did he crave attention. This year, however, he felt he wanted to celebrate. Maybe he would take Sophie out on another flight. She loved it so much the last time. He was contemplating possible destinations when he arrived at his office and opened the door.
He was met with the warm glow of candles on a cake set alight on his desk. Standing behind it in a long black wizarding robe stood Sophie who began to sing some old Muggle tune, "Happy Birthday to you…." Her voice was deep and flirtatious. Towards the end of her serenade, he let out a laugh as he was fairly positive no one ever referred to him as "Dear Severus" in his life.
Having closed and locked the door behind him and quickly invoking a Silencing Charm to deter passing individuals who would decidedly to join in, he moved over to her.
"You have to make a wish and blow out the candles….It is a Muggle tradition."
"I am familiar with the process." He paused, looking down at the confection and gently blew out the candles. Running a finger in the frosting and bringing it to his mouth, he tasted the sweetness. "Lemon. My favorite. How did you know?"
"I have been told the house elves do their job very comprehensively," she grinned.
He took notice of her attire. "That robe seems a tad too big for you."
She smiled, "It's part of your birthday present." He looked at it closer. It was black; the material was a heavy velvet; the trim was embroidered with green and silver threads running along the seam. It was striking.
"When did you find the time to make this?"
"It wasn't easy, I tell you. I only found out about your birthday a few days ago. I worked around your classes. I actually still have quite a bit of work to do on it, but I did want you to see it today. It is probably the best one I have ever made."
He ran his hand over the material. "You appear to have a knack for choosing the most wonderful gifts."
"There is another part of your birthday surprise."
An eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips, he purred, "Oh really?"
"Really." She unbuttoned the robe and removed it, allowing it to pool around her feet. Severus's eyes traveled from the fallen garment up a bare leg and decidedly naked body.
He licked his lips. "Those are some very powerful candles. Remind me to order a case." He was captivated by her laughter, by the blush in her cheeks, and by the delight in her eyes. How warm he felt just being with her. Speaking of which, it was the dead of winter, he couldn't help but comment, "It is an especially cold February day. You must have been experiencing quite a draft under that robe."
"Ah, the things we do for love."
Putting his arms around her waist, he pulled her towards him and kissed her, savoring her taste mixed with the sweetness of the frosting. He rubbed his face into the crook of her neck and ran his fingers up the length of her back. As he inhaled the aroma of vanilla and almonds he decided it was time for a birthday treat. After adding a Locking Charm to the Silencing one, he picked her up and propped her on his desk. "I think you have altered my opinion of birthdays."
She gave a husky laugh. "That was my master plan." She started to remove his robe.
"You had a master plan now, did you?" He dropped his robe on the floor and began to unbutton his shirt.
"I always have a plan." She started to unbuckle his trousers as he removed his boots.
"And what else does this plan entail?" Now he was almost completely naked.
"A lesson…One hundred and one alternative uses for lemon frosting." She ran her finger along the frosting and spread it across his lips. She then leaned forward and licked the cream away before sucking on them. When she finally pulled away, she found him smiling out of the corner of his mouth.
"Let me see if I understand the nature of this lesson." He proceed to run his finger along the frosting. Excruciatingly slowly he began to smear it down her torso, from the valley of her breasts to her navel; she arched her back as he used his tongue to retrieve the icing.
"You are a quick learner, aren't you?"
"I try."
She licked her lips in anticipation. "I think you missed a spot."
