They stood like that for at least five minutes, the headmaster staring at Kat and Juliet, Kat barely in the door, Juliet right behind her, and Hermione in the back wondering what the heck was going on. Then, Dumbledore smiled, a large, happy smile, maybe it didn't all have to happen the way it did after all.
"Miss. Willows, Miss. Callista, if you would, take a seat, I would like to know just how you got here today." Dumbledore said, putting aside whatever it was he had been working on and gesturing to two chairs in front of his desk. Kat, having been in the headmaster's office many times before, merely shrugs and sat down. Juliet however hesitated, but sat down anyway. Hermione awkwardly stood by the door, unsure of what was going on.
"Erm, headmaster, uh, we'd like to know what's going on, you see, we were practicing potions, and, erm.. Then we were outside, and everything's changed around" Juliet said, Kat smirked, Jules wasn't usually this brave.
"Well Miss. Callista, it seems, if I am not very much mistaken, you have come forward in time, about 20 years forward in time" Dumbledore answered. Kat raised a skeptic eye brow, and thought about what she had seen today.
"So, it's 1997?" Juliet asked, a bit confused, that might just have been the after effects of the potion though. The headmaster nodded.
"Hey, in that case, can I go look for myself? I want to see myself as an auror!" Kat said, standing up.
"I'm afraid I cannot let you do that Miss Willows, we wouldn't want you to end up killing off your past or future self, and we can't have you changing fate" Dumbledore said calmly. "Now, how did you get here?" he asked as Kat sat down again.
"My abysmal potions skills, Sir. Jules was helping me and my potion blew up, then we were here, outside" Kat answered, it all made sense now, Hermione gasped.
"Professor, could she have accidentally made a time warp potion?!" the brown haired girl asked, awe in her voice. Dumbledore smiled at Hermione, then looked from Kat to Juliet, this was not going to be a good thing.
"Indeed Miss Granger, I do think that it what has happened." Dumbledore said, still looking at Kat and Jules. More pronounced though was the fact that he was looking at Kat, she was a prankster, and he remembered well the fact that she had hated Severus in school, it had almost gotten to the level of the marauders and Snape. But Severus had never whole heartedly retaliated toward Kat, as to why the headmaster could only guess.
But this presented a problem, the only way to get them back was a potion, they needed to work with the potion's master. "I will ask you two to please go with Miss Granger to the potions master, explain to him that he needs to make a potion to bring you back to your time, he will know what is needed" Dumbledore told them, and nodded his head as a way to dismiss them.
Kat nodded and stood, Juliet nodded also, and said "Thank you headmaster" she went to stand, but fell down again, those injuries again.
"Ah, here" Dumbledore said, picking up his wand he muttered a few words and healed Juliet and Kat with a spell.
"Thanks Sir!" Kat said with a smile, well, at least she hadn't been bored all this time. Kat and Juliet headed out of the office in front of Hermione, who followed them. Once they were back in the corridor Hermione took the lead, saying "This way" and sounding like she was in charge. It was lucky she had her back turned, or she would have seen Kat role her eyes and Juliet restrain Kat from taking out her wand.
"Who's the potions master anyway?" Juliet asked, attempting to keep things civil.
"Professor Snape, he isn't that pleasant" Hermione replied, still leading the way to the dungeons.
"Snape?" Kat stopped in her tracks "As in Severus Snape?" when Hermione nodded Kat went on. "Your saying that I have to get help from Snivellus? Oh, this is bloody brilliant!" she proclaimed, her mood obviously not a good one. Juliet sighed, she just hoped Snape wouldn't hold a grudge for 20 years. Hermione raised an eye brow but continued on the way to Professor Snape's office, that was where he would most likely be.
Kat had a cold expression on her face as she followed after Hermione, Juliet just followed, hoping Kat and Snape wouldn't kill each other until after the potion was made. They reached the door and Hermione knocked, it was a few moments until they heard someone say "Enter" in an annoyed voice. Hermione walked away then, she didn't need to be there for this.
Kat opened the door and let Juliet walk in first, then she followed her friend in, and set an icy glare at her enemy, Severus Snape. "We need to go back in time 20 years, the headmaster told us you would help" she stated coldly as the professor looked at them, seemingly stunned.
Snape soon snapped out of it though, and, having understood what had happened, said "Come with me" in a voice just as cold as Kat's. He led them into his private store room and to a cabinet toward the back, it was full of books, he looked through these and finally picked up one that looked particularly unpleasant. He leafed through the pages until he found the correct potion and set about getting the correct jars of ingredients.
"Take these into my office" he said, handing the girls some of the jars, he couldn't carry them all himself. Kat rolled her eyes and Juliet and Kat exited the store room and went into his office, Kat putting the jars down on his desk.
Meanwhile, in the store room, Severus Snape was thinking about something he hadn't thought of in quite some time. She was there, right in the next room, should he say something? Maybe if he did her fate would be different. He was having emotions he had thought long buried, thinking thoughts he had suppressed so much he thought he no longer was capable of them. But she hated him, he knew, he had known that for 22 years now, but he had to do something.
Just seeing her, she may have been acting coldly, but she was there. He was an adult now, he'd tell her, he had to. When he had been younger it had seemed so all important to keep it a secret, when her best friend Juliet had found out he had made sure she wouldn't tell. But now, now he knew that if he never said anything things wouldn't even have a chance at changing. So he would tell her, he decided, he had to.
He gathered up the rest of the things needed for the potion and headed into his office again, to see Kat talking with Juliet, when he entered she looked up. "Snivellus, if you poison me, or do anything wrong, I swear, it won't be a pleasant experience for you" Kat told him, giving him a death glare. Juliet just shook her head and looked away.
"Miss Willows, if you intend to get back to your time so you can have a future without us hexing each other to bits, I believe we will need to be at least civil toward each other, if you think you can handle that" Severus replied. His defenses were kicking in, you insult him he insulted you back, it was almost instinct with him, he didn't want it to be with her though.
Kat rolled her eyes "Whatever you say, Snape" she said, saying his last name like it was a swear word, but at least it was an improvement. Kat remembered all the horrible things he had said and done, remembered the greasy haired kid who was way too in-to the dark arts, and she hated him, simply because she thought he hated her.
Severus chose to ignore that and started the potion, carefully measuring everything and putting it into the cauldron. This was a very complex potion, everything had to be done just so. So he worked, choosing to ignore Kat and Juliet's conversation, eventually all that was left was to stir it for 20 minutes, then let it simmer for 5. He looked up from his work at Kat, who noticed his gaze and asked "what?!" defensively, she thought he was glaring at her.
He closed his eye, biting back a retort, and said "Miss Callista, would you please stir this counter clockwise while I have a word with Miss Willows?" to Juliet. Juliet gave him a confused look until he looked her in the eyes and nodded, then she seemed to understand. Juliet nodded and started stirring the concoction. Kat raised her eye brows and said "Whatever" and went out into the hall with him, he led her into an empty class room and shut the door.
Severus was just relieved that she had agreed to talk with him, he noticed she had one of her hands in her pocket, she probably had it on her wand, in case he decided to hex her, well, she was in for a surprise. He turned to her and looked at her, suddenly not knowing what to say exactly. She had made him back into that quiet school boy, turned him into that from the dangerous, intimidation potions master.
"Well?" Kat said after a few minutes passed by. Severus had been looking into her eyes, but now looked away.
"Look, Kat, I know you think I hate you, and you hate me. But… I don't hate you, I.. I've liked you since fifth year" Severus admitted, looking down, expecting her to slap him or something, but that never happened.
"What?" Kat asked in a quiet voice, not believing what she was hearing. No, this wasn't right, she only pranked on people and hexed people who disliked her, but, if he had liked her for that long… She suddenly felt really guilty.
Surprised and glad that she hadn't slapped him, Severus looked up again. He looked into Kat's eyes again, and said "I didn't really notice you until fourth year, and ignored you when I did, then the next year, I just, started seeing you around a lot more, you were so beautiful. I developed feelings for you, you were kind, and brave, and smart, and funny, and outspoken. Then you started hanging around Black more, and you started teasing me like he did, except, you never humiliated me like the others, you always seemed to make sure there wasn't a big crowd around to see. You teased and tormented me, but my feelings for you never changed, I took to looking at you when you weren't looking.
"Juliet noticed this, and I made her promise not to tell you, and I waited to see if you would figure it out. The only reason it ever seemed that I hated you was because I thought you hated me, I was probably right. I couldn't just stand there and take it, I had to do something, so I tried to act towards you the way I did toward Potter and Black, but couldn't bring myself to curse you, so I used words. I'm sorry for that now, and I know you'll probably hate me anyway, but I needed you to know"
Kat looked, if anything, shocked. "Um.. I.. Err.." her brain wasn't working well enough for her to formulate a sentence. She was flattered that he felt that way, especially after all she had done to him. She was shocked too, he didn't hate her, she could tell he wasn't lying. She broke the eye contact and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry I was so horrible to you" she said in a quiet voice, Kat was never quiet.
Severus still looked at her, he said "It's alright, I forgive you". He saw that she was looking at the floor, and on an impulse he moved his hand to under Kat's chin and lifted her face up so she was holding her head high, like he remembered her doing in school. Well, she knew now, now all that had to happen was to get her back to her time…. "Oh Shit!" he said before turning and exiting the class room and going into his office, where he found Jules still stirring the cauldron, he had her stop and set the heat of the fire to let the concoction simmer.
Kat followed after him, looking thoughtful, she looked at Juliet face, and instantly stopped looking thoughtful, because she laughed.
"Shut up! My arm fell asleep!" Juliet told her laughing friend, Jules was rubbing her arm and had a look on her face like she had just lost someone she loved. Five minutes passed and Severus poured the potion into two goblets, turned to them, and said "You have five minutes until that goes bad." But Kat didn't want to go for some reason, she looked at Severus, and he looked at her.
"OH LORD! Get a room you two!" Juliet exclaimed, looking between the two. "Look, if you guys want to be happy forever, all Kat has to do is be nice to Severus when we get back, hurry up! Only three minutes left!"
Kat looked at Juliet and smirked, then looked at Severus again and said "I think I will, bye… Severus" then she downed the potion, Juliet doing the same, they started to fade into nothingness, as Severus watched them fade, he thought "I just hope everything is fine, and at least she knows, but, hey! She called me Severus!". This was a good day for the potions master, sure, he could hold a grudge for a really long time, like with Black and Potter, but with crushes, the amount of time he could hold them made him holding a grudge look like a second.
Kat and Juliet landed under the same oak tree they had been under in the future, and looked around. Kat spotted him first, there he was, Severus. Kat turned to her friend and said "What do I do?!". Sure, she found out he liked her, she basically heard him profess love for her in that class room, that didn't stop the feeling of hatred she had toward him, all she knew was she didn't want to hate him anymore, so she looked to Juliet for answers.