Disclaimer - see part 1.
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Wizards Honour
Part 24
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"Keep your mind on your marking, Aurora," Professor Sinistra-Snape scolded herself. "You've almost finished."
She pulled another crumbled, boot-scuffed scroll off the pile and fired a Neatening charm at it. When she opened it she wondered why she'd bothered to charm it at all.
"No," she muttered as she wrote 20/100 on the top corner, "Alpha Centauri is not the planet after Jupiter, Mr Creevy."
After Neatening and marking a few more charts the urge to daydream returned and she sat back in her chair.
Was it only - she consulted her watch - eleven hours since she'd been a single Witch with almost no prospects of having a Wizard to share her life with? And only four hours since she'd been married. That must be some kind of record.
Aurora wondered if she should ask Hermione Granger to research the topic. She bit back a laugh; she'd have to ask Severus his opinion of that idea later.
Ah, Severus. He had to be one of the most annoying, precise, particular, honest, acidic, difficult, unreadable, and surprising Wizards in Britain.
"Thank Merlin," Aurora mused silently, "I can't imagine loving anyone with less character." The quill dropped from the Astronomy Professor's hand as her mind absorbed the realisation that she loved her husband. In hindsight it explained her behaviour the previous night and how quickly she'd accepted his proposal.
"Well, that's unexpected," she said aloud. "I'd best not let him find out too quickly or I'll never win an argument."
Humming happily she fired a Neatening charm at the next scroll on the pile.
~~~~~~~~
That day rumours about Professors Snape and Sinistra spread like wood smoke through Hogwarts. Almost all of them denied the most obvious explanation for the Professors behaviour.
Albus Dumbledore, never one to miss an opportunity, spent the day collecting the most outrageous of them for his 'Cheer Me Up' Pensieve.
The Headmaster had thought he'd heard the funniest rumour (according to a young Hufflepuff, Professor Snape had been bitten on the neck by Fang when he'd tried to steal some of Hagrid's Rock Cakes) when he heard something at supper that forced him to cast a Quietus charm on himself.
"I tell you it must be true," said Seamus Finnegan to anyone who would listen. "Professor Snape's drunk. That explains why he's behaving now like he was at the muggle-New Year's ball. It explains why he was late for Potions and looked so confused. And that's why Professor Sinistra's been sitting really close to him - she's trying to get him off the booze so he doesn't get chucked out of Hogwarts because she doesn't want to run Slytherin House."
"Oh dear," thought Albus as he, unsteadily, sipped his pumpkin juice, "I definitely shall have to buy a larger Pensieve."
~~~~~~~~
"Eeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk!"
Instantly awake, Severus Snape sat up in bed and summoned his wand in one movement. He stared around for the owner of the screeching voice. The room was empty, save for the shadows cast by the moonlight flooding in the tower windows.
Beside him Aurora rolled over and said, loudly, "Peeves, if you go anywhere near that telescope I'll turn you into a ghoul!" She squinted sleepily up at her husband, "Ignore him."
"Does he do this often?" Severus demanded as he scanned the room for evidence of the Poltergeist.
"Occasionally." Aurora stretched, "I think he gets bored at night and I'm one of the few people awake he can annoy."
"That will stop," Severus said firmly.
"Which?" Aurora grinned saucily, "Being awake or being annoyed?"
Severus smirked wickedly and leant down to kiss her. He was trailing kisses down the side of her neck when the room became cold and a loud voice interrupted them.
"I have never been so shocked! How could you?"
"What now?" roared Snape, grabbing his wand off the side table where he'd dropped it moments before and pointing it towards the owner of the voice.
The Grey Lady, Sir Nicholas, the Far Friar and the Bloody Baron were floating in the middle of the room. The Grey Lady was nearly solid with rage.
"Disgusting! How could you be so depraved in Hogwarts?" ranted the Grey Lady.
"Most ungentlemanly," commented Sir Nicholas.
"Shut up and get out of this room!" Snape roared.
Meanwhile, Aurora, who winced at the anger in Severus' voice, held up her hand and pointed at the ring. The Fat Friar understood instantly. The Friar beamed happily at her and, much to Aurora's surprise, so did the Baron.
"Typical Slytherins. No morals," said Sir Nicholas. He didn't see the Bloody Baron's smile turn to a scowl but Sir Nick did see the Baron's sword as it was swung at his head.
"Scurvy dog!" cried the Baron as the Gryffindor ghost ducked.
"Missed me!" Sir Nicholas wafted backwards and into the corner of the bed.
"Get out!" Severus fired a spell at the Gryffindor ghost.
"Excuse me," the Fat Friar said quietly to the Grey Lady as Sir Nicholas was bounced around the room. "But why are we bothering them on their wedding night?"
"Because it is most immoral for -". The Grey Lady stared at the Snapes. "Did you say Wedding Night?" She nibbled at her spectral lip.
"You're right, Brother," Sir Nick said as he bounced upside-down across the room. "I can see the wedding rings." Snape dispelled the charm and Nearly-Headless Nick flipped over and adjusted his head.
"Oh!" The Grey Lady curtsied. "Terribly sorry." She zoomed away through the far wall. Sir Nick muttered, "Sorry," and followed her.
The Bloody Baron and the Fat Friar both congratulated the couple and then followed their fellow ghosts.
Severus and Aurora sat silently for a moment then Aurora began to laugh. "Definitely awake and annoyed."
~~~~~~~~
Remus Lupin stared at the mangled, wet, half-buried mess that had been his brand new edition of 'The Daily Prophet'. He raised his wand at the dog that quickly lowered its leg.
"That does it, Padfoot! You've eaten my slippers, dug holes in the garden and now this! I! Have! Had! Enough!" Lupin's voice was shaking with anger.
The big black dog whined apologetically.
"Don't bother. I've heard it all before." Lupin fired a spell at the dog, forcing Sirius Black to revert to human form.
"You have three choices, Sirius." Lupin ranted at his friend. "You can live as a dog in the garden, permanently. Or rejoin the human race and behave as a responsible adult, which I know you can do." Lupin raised his wand and pointed it at Sirius, "Or, you can go back to the cave you were starving in."
"Remus, you don't mean that." Sirius smiled encouragingly. "It was just a news-scroll."
"Do you have any idea how many meals I had to miss to pay for that subscription?" Remus snapped, instantly regretting he'd spoken.
"Why didn't you say something?" Black said quietly.
"I just did." Remus sighed self-consciously.
"This is all bloody Snape's fault." Sirius grumbled.
"I beg your pardon?"
"He's the one who got married and," Sirius grimaced, "made me lose my temper."
"Did he?" mused Lupin, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Well I hope it works out."
Sirius was about to yell at Remus for saying something nice about his schoolyard enemy but thought the better of it when he saw the warning gleam in Remus' eye.
"Wonder what she was thinking?" Black grinned, "Imagine having to kiss Snape."
"No, thank you," replied Remus dryly. "I'll stick to dreaming about Miss Witch of the Year, if you don't mind."
"Urgh!" Sirius shuddered, his mind full of images of Snape and Sinistra. "Snape kissing! Yuck! I've got to wash my mind out now."
"You thought of it." Remus scolded his friend cheerfully. He turned and walked towards the cottage's back door.
"You don't have to sound so damn happy about my suffering, Moony." Sirius growled sulkily as he stomped after his friend.
"I consider it payment for my copy of the Prophet." Remus laughed.
"Bloody Snape," muttered Sirius. "This is all his fault."
~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile at Hogwarts -
To be continued
Author's Note - I found so many mistakes in 23 that I've reposted it. :(
Thank you for all your comments. I'm kicking myself that anyone appreciates my sense of humour let alone anyone likes this quirky story enough to comment on it.
I'm sure there will be a few comments about 'poor Snuffles' after this chapter. Well, he is reacting to freedom and catching up on all the pranks he missed. Once he has calmed down he'll be more sensible. :)
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Wizards Honour
Part 24
---------------
"Keep your mind on your marking, Aurora," Professor Sinistra-Snape scolded herself. "You've almost finished."
She pulled another crumbled, boot-scuffed scroll off the pile and fired a Neatening charm at it. When she opened it she wondered why she'd bothered to charm it at all.
"No," she muttered as she wrote 20/100 on the top corner, "Alpha Centauri is not the planet after Jupiter, Mr Creevy."
After Neatening and marking a few more charts the urge to daydream returned and she sat back in her chair.
Was it only - she consulted her watch - eleven hours since she'd been a single Witch with almost no prospects of having a Wizard to share her life with? And only four hours since she'd been married. That must be some kind of record.
Aurora wondered if she should ask Hermione Granger to research the topic. She bit back a laugh; she'd have to ask Severus his opinion of that idea later.
Ah, Severus. He had to be one of the most annoying, precise, particular, honest, acidic, difficult, unreadable, and surprising Wizards in Britain.
"Thank Merlin," Aurora mused silently, "I can't imagine loving anyone with less character." The quill dropped from the Astronomy Professor's hand as her mind absorbed the realisation that she loved her husband. In hindsight it explained her behaviour the previous night and how quickly she'd accepted his proposal.
"Well, that's unexpected," she said aloud. "I'd best not let him find out too quickly or I'll never win an argument."
Humming happily she fired a Neatening charm at the next scroll on the pile.
~~~~~~~~
That day rumours about Professors Snape and Sinistra spread like wood smoke through Hogwarts. Almost all of them denied the most obvious explanation for the Professors behaviour.
Albus Dumbledore, never one to miss an opportunity, spent the day collecting the most outrageous of them for his 'Cheer Me Up' Pensieve.
The Headmaster had thought he'd heard the funniest rumour (according to a young Hufflepuff, Professor Snape had been bitten on the neck by Fang when he'd tried to steal some of Hagrid's Rock Cakes) when he heard something at supper that forced him to cast a Quietus charm on himself.
"I tell you it must be true," said Seamus Finnegan to anyone who would listen. "Professor Snape's drunk. That explains why he's behaving now like he was at the muggle-New Year's ball. It explains why he was late for Potions and looked so confused. And that's why Professor Sinistra's been sitting really close to him - she's trying to get him off the booze so he doesn't get chucked out of Hogwarts because she doesn't want to run Slytherin House."
"Oh dear," thought Albus as he, unsteadily, sipped his pumpkin juice, "I definitely shall have to buy a larger Pensieve."
~~~~~~~~
"Eeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk!"
Instantly awake, Severus Snape sat up in bed and summoned his wand in one movement. He stared around for the owner of the screeching voice. The room was empty, save for the shadows cast by the moonlight flooding in the tower windows.
Beside him Aurora rolled over and said, loudly, "Peeves, if you go anywhere near that telescope I'll turn you into a ghoul!" She squinted sleepily up at her husband, "Ignore him."
"Does he do this often?" Severus demanded as he scanned the room for evidence of the Poltergeist.
"Occasionally." Aurora stretched, "I think he gets bored at night and I'm one of the few people awake he can annoy."
"That will stop," Severus said firmly.
"Which?" Aurora grinned saucily, "Being awake or being annoyed?"
Severus smirked wickedly and leant down to kiss her. He was trailing kisses down the side of her neck when the room became cold and a loud voice interrupted them.
"I have never been so shocked! How could you?"
"What now?" roared Snape, grabbing his wand off the side table where he'd dropped it moments before and pointing it towards the owner of the voice.
The Grey Lady, Sir Nicholas, the Far Friar and the Bloody Baron were floating in the middle of the room. The Grey Lady was nearly solid with rage.
"Disgusting! How could you be so depraved in Hogwarts?" ranted the Grey Lady.
"Most ungentlemanly," commented Sir Nicholas.
"Shut up and get out of this room!" Snape roared.
Meanwhile, Aurora, who winced at the anger in Severus' voice, held up her hand and pointed at the ring. The Fat Friar understood instantly. The Friar beamed happily at her and, much to Aurora's surprise, so did the Baron.
"Typical Slytherins. No morals," said Sir Nicholas. He didn't see the Bloody Baron's smile turn to a scowl but Sir Nick did see the Baron's sword as it was swung at his head.
"Scurvy dog!" cried the Baron as the Gryffindor ghost ducked.
"Missed me!" Sir Nicholas wafted backwards and into the corner of the bed.
"Get out!" Severus fired a spell at the Gryffindor ghost.
"Excuse me," the Fat Friar said quietly to the Grey Lady as Sir Nicholas was bounced around the room. "But why are we bothering them on their wedding night?"
"Because it is most immoral for -". The Grey Lady stared at the Snapes. "Did you say Wedding Night?" She nibbled at her spectral lip.
"You're right, Brother," Sir Nick said as he bounced upside-down across the room. "I can see the wedding rings." Snape dispelled the charm and Nearly-Headless Nick flipped over and adjusted his head.
"Oh!" The Grey Lady curtsied. "Terribly sorry." She zoomed away through the far wall. Sir Nick muttered, "Sorry," and followed her.
The Bloody Baron and the Fat Friar both congratulated the couple and then followed their fellow ghosts.
Severus and Aurora sat silently for a moment then Aurora began to laugh. "Definitely awake and annoyed."
~~~~~~~~
Remus Lupin stared at the mangled, wet, half-buried mess that had been his brand new edition of 'The Daily Prophet'. He raised his wand at the dog that quickly lowered its leg.
"That does it, Padfoot! You've eaten my slippers, dug holes in the garden and now this! I! Have! Had! Enough!" Lupin's voice was shaking with anger.
The big black dog whined apologetically.
"Don't bother. I've heard it all before." Lupin fired a spell at the dog, forcing Sirius Black to revert to human form.
"You have three choices, Sirius." Lupin ranted at his friend. "You can live as a dog in the garden, permanently. Or rejoin the human race and behave as a responsible adult, which I know you can do." Lupin raised his wand and pointed it at Sirius, "Or, you can go back to the cave you were starving in."
"Remus, you don't mean that." Sirius smiled encouragingly. "It was just a news-scroll."
"Do you have any idea how many meals I had to miss to pay for that subscription?" Remus snapped, instantly regretting he'd spoken.
"Why didn't you say something?" Black said quietly.
"I just did." Remus sighed self-consciously.
"This is all bloody Snape's fault." Sirius grumbled.
"I beg your pardon?"
"He's the one who got married and," Sirius grimaced, "made me lose my temper."
"Did he?" mused Lupin, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Well I hope it works out."
Sirius was about to yell at Remus for saying something nice about his schoolyard enemy but thought the better of it when he saw the warning gleam in Remus' eye.
"Wonder what she was thinking?" Black grinned, "Imagine having to kiss Snape."
"No, thank you," replied Remus dryly. "I'll stick to dreaming about Miss Witch of the Year, if you don't mind."
"Urgh!" Sirius shuddered, his mind full of images of Snape and Sinistra. "Snape kissing! Yuck! I've got to wash my mind out now."
"You thought of it." Remus scolded his friend cheerfully. He turned and walked towards the cottage's back door.
"You don't have to sound so damn happy about my suffering, Moony." Sirius growled sulkily as he stomped after his friend.
"I consider it payment for my copy of the Prophet." Remus laughed.
"Bloody Snape," muttered Sirius. "This is all his fault."
~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile at Hogwarts -
To be continued
Author's Note - I found so many mistakes in 23 that I've reposted it. :(
Thank you for all your comments. I'm kicking myself that anyone appreciates my sense of humour let alone anyone likes this quirky story enough to comment on it.
I'm sure there will be a few comments about 'poor Snuffles' after this chapter. Well, he is reacting to freedom and catching up on all the pranks he missed. Once he has calmed down he'll be more sensible. :)