/

Chapter sixteen

Shiernov and Snape

/

Later that evening, Hermione and Ron heard Harry out about his confrontation with Voldemort´s snake and warned him that all sorts of nasty gossip had started circulating around the school again. Harry could not care less. He had other, more important things to bother with than slandering, to which he was used to already after all.

The next morning, Hermione was handing out the school timetables to all the Gryffindors, as McGonagall had instructed her to do so. A Head Boy for that year was someone from Ravenclaw.

Harry glanced over his schedule, knowing in advance that he would not be pleased with it. He started commenting it with disgust.

"So, four hours of Potions in total… Well, that will make Snape happy. A two-hour lesson of History of the Dark Magic evolution up to the present day... Merlin, I probably will not survive that. Four hours of Defence, that's okay… Two hours of Charms, fine, three hours of Transfiguration and two hours of Herbology, it's not so terrible. Listen, Ron, do you have any free hours?"

"Yea…h, t…o," his friend mumbled with his mouth full of scrambled eggs.

"Hmm, I don't have any," Harry commented grimly.

"That's what you get for wanting to be an Auror," Ron replied gleefully after swallowing.

/

Angela stared into space, while stirring her coffee. Last night, she and Draco concluded that only Voldemort could send that snake, otherwise, Harry would not have talked with it for so long and then he would not have disappeared with Dumbledore.

She was wondering when they could agree on a date with Harry to discuss what it was all about when someone dropped a pile of timetables for all the Slytherin students on the table in front of her. It spread out to almost a meter long line.

She stopped moving with a spoon, raised her head in surprise, and none other than Snape's eyes buried into hers.

"Hand these out, Rosier," snapped the School Bat in an icy, commanding tone.

"Pardon me? But that´s the duty either of you or of a Head-"

Snape snapped at her harshly: "Don't tell me what my duty is, Miss. I told you to give them away to your classmates."

Angela gritted her teeth and did not flinch in front of his piercing gaze.

"So? Understood?" growled the Head of her House.

She stood up slowly. She did not feel comfortable with Snape towering above her.

"Yes, sir," she reacted stiffly.

Snape sailed away with a wry smirk. Angela started picking up schedules from the table, casting every curse she could think of on that asshole and did not notice Draco´s arrival. She collected them in her arms and only then realized that he was watching her in astonishment.

"What are you doing with those timetables?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Handing them out, what else," she barked sourly and immediately pulled one from the very bottom. "Here's yours."

Draco automatically took it. Angela turned on her heel and walked to the very front of the table to the first years, who began to take their schedules from her almost scared.

It took some time for her to hand them out to the entire Slytherin, while having to hear a number of snide remarks and endure an untold amount of unkind looks, but when she finally returned to her seat, where her coffee had long since gone cold, Draco was still sitting there.

Angela blankly pushed the mug away and poured herself a new one. Then she grabbed some toasts and sausages, but she did not start eating at once. Draco watched her with an unreadable look. He spoke after a moment of silence as she sipped her coffee.

"So, have you considered your answer?"

Angela glared at him. "Do you want to make my already bad mood even worse?" she asked grumpily.

"No. I'm just curious about your reaction on what I told you yesterday," Draco replied calmly.

She was silent for a long, tense moment, just watching him with a sad expression. "Do you want an honest answer?" she asked then quietly.

"Of course I do," he confirmed seriously, even though his stomach was already in a tight knot. "If you can give it to me…"

Angela put the mug aside and leaned closer to him across the table, so that nobody else would hear them.

"I do care about you, little Dragon," she addressed him with that silly nickname softly, her eyes suddenly somewhat dark. "But I have no idea how I should react on what you said without endangering myself or you. I really don't know," she stated with strange emphasis.

He was returning her serious gaze speechless.

Then, leaving the prepared breakfast untouched, Angela got up and left.

Draco stared blankly at the spot where she had been sitting a moment ago, with a very bad feeling coming all over his body.

/

"You´ve just started your final year here at Hogwarts – and in some cases I'm extremely grateful for that – and at its end, you will take the NEWT exams. Based on that, your lessons will be separated depending on your future career choice. Every Tuesday, all of you will attend as last year, but during the next two hour session on Thursday only the future Aurors and Hit Wizards will be here," Snape stated with undisguised disdain in his voice at the start of their first Potions lesson, glaring at Harry as usual. "But that doesn't mean I won't make the same demands on others," he hissed in addition, and his gaze shifted to Angela for a change, but she did not notice that at all.

Snape continued his march between the two rows of silent benches as he followed on his speech.

"During the upcoming year we will cover some of the most difficult topics – various poisonous potions, some possible to reverse with antidotes, while others not. Regardless, we will be using ingredients that you cannot handle with bare hands, so protective gloves will be necessary. Moreover, your long-term tasks will include Polyjuice Potion, Liquid Luck potion – Felix Felicis, Veritaserum, and Death-Cap Draught," Snape paused, glancing around the hushed classroom.

Then he took a black notebook from his desk and the atmosphere in the room tensed up.

"We will devote the first lesson to a small repetition, which will show us whether you have been able to get anything into your head during the past six years," he said contentedly, while everyone tried to make themselves as small as possible, almost hiding under their desks.

"What do we need to add to the Deflating Draught to avoid any excessive effect… Potter?" Snape asked with a smirk.

Miraculously, it was a perfect question for Harry. He had more than had a good reason to remember this.

"Seven spider legs," he replied sourly.

Snape did not move an inch.

"Which substance of living creatures is strictly forbidden while making legal potions… Weasley?"

Ron clenched his fists under the table, desperately trying to remember.

"Um… Unicorn blood?" he tried then.

"Are you asking or answering me, Weasley?" the professor drawled.

Ron tensed a bit as the Slytherins laughed in response to Snape's remark.

"I answer, sir," he retorted.

"You're lucky for once then. Which two basic ingredients belong in Skele-Gro potion… Rosier?"

Only silence answered him. Snape grimaced and slowly made his way to her desk.

"I see that Rosier still keeps on her bad habit of not listening when someone asks her something important!" he snapped, slamming his notepad over her desk at the same time.

Angela raised her head in surprise, but was clever enough not to say anything.

"What is the answer to my question, Rosier?" Snape asked with a dangerous smile.

Harry figured it was about time to repay Angela for helping him the same way once.

He asked you about two basic ingredients for Skele-Gro potion, he sent to her in his mind.

His girlfriend straightened up: "That answer is: a broth from the fruits of horsetail berries and thorn tree leaves," she answered slowly.

Snape, who was certain that she had not heard his question at all, stiffened somewhat.

"But it took you some time, Rosier," he growled, turning away from her.

At that moment, Angela looked back at Harry and rewarded him with a grateful smile.

For the second part of the lesson, Snape had assigned them to make the Essence of Insanity, which they had to turn in by the end of the class, so unfortunately there was no time for any more inconspicuous smiles.

/

Harry and Angela had another lesson together no sooner than the next day. It was, of course, the Defence Against the Dark Arts. As soon as Shiernov walked into the classroom, dressed as usual in a combination of black and red and with a thick pile of folders in her arms, all the students immediately fell silent.

"Good morning," the professor greeted them and took her seat right on the desk just as she did during their first lesson last year. However, Harry noticed that she seemed to be tired.

"I'm glad we all got to meet here again and I hope you share my pleasure," she began with a small smile. "Though some of you almost did not make it," she added extremely quietly, and Harry noticed that she was looking at Angela, who returned her stare confused.

Then Shiernov reached behind her and picked up a long piece of parchment.

"The sooner we start, the better, because some quite difficult and not inconsiderable items were added to your syllabus. Since you are surely interested, I will be more specific, so… This year we will focus on the most complex Defensive Magic, also on rather nasty but not forbidden incantations and duels with each other, of course, if possible non-verbally. As comes to Offensive Magic, we will go through Blasting Curses, Exploding Charms, on perfecting Expulso and Diffindo Spells and so on…" Shiernov looked around her class. "Headmaster Dumbledore agreed with the Department of Education at the Ministry that in these dangerous times, you should also get acquainted with some more dangerous spells, which you shall use only if you find yourself in a great peril. Therefore, we will also take some time with Confringo, Fiendfyre, Firestorm and Obliviate."

The students widened their eyes at the professor.

"Anyone can be threatened and Professor Dumbledore wants you to know and handle any possible form of defence," Shiernov concluded.

The classroom began to hum slightly as the students began to chat excitedly.

"Well, let's start with repetition, shall we?" the professor interrupted, and the class groaned instead.

/

Finally, after the demanding two-hour session, the bell rang and everyone began to pack with relief. When almost everyone was already out in the corridor, Shiernov hold Angela back. Harry heard her and stopped outside the door.

"Rosier!"

Angela turned to Shiernov with a strange suspicion: "Yes, Professor?"

"Come to my office today after classes, please."

"But why? Did I do something?"

"No… Just come, all right?" Shiernov replied coldly.

"Yes, I will," Angela nodded and followed the others outside.

Harry waited for her and immediately asked her in his mind: What does she want from you?

I have no idea…

/

After the short knock, Margaret waited a moment to reconsider what she wanted to say one more time, before inviting her student to come in.

"Sit down, Rosier," she motioned to the chair across from her.

The young witch reluctantly obeyed.

"What do you want to talk to me about, Professor?" she asked carefully.

Shiernov let a gap of silence form between Rosier´s question and her answer, staring into the girl´s eyes.

"Do you know what you did, Angela?" she asked bluntly.

The girl winked. "Excuse me? I have no idea what you´re up to."

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about… You know what I am, right? I can see it in your eyes."

Angela sneered a little. "Yes."

"And Mr Malfoy knows as well, although I don't know how he figured it out…"

"I told him," her student shrugged somewhat recklessly.

"I see… And why didn't you report it?"

"I suppose Professor Dumbledore knows whom he hired as a professor."

"Well, you´re right about that… Anyway, to get to the point – I'm in contact with others of my kind, so I know what you have committed yourself to, and I've been wondering about your sanity ever since."

"What do you care about my commitments?" Rosier reacted sourly.

Margaret supressed a sigh. "Listen, Angela. In my opinion, you are an intelligent and capable girl who, although arrogant, will definitely become an excellent witch. And you want to throw away your chances like this? Do you have any idea what awaits you?"

"I know. You basically taught us that last year," Angela answered calmly.

"And yet..."

"Yes, even so," she retorted. "I'm willing to do anything for my friends."

"But you'll ruin your own life and future!" Shiernov urged on her.

"I didn't really have much of a choice. At least, like this I gained some time and lives of my loved ones! What can you know about it?"

Stunned Shiernov was silent and Angela stood up. "I better go now. I just have one more question."

"Yes?" she raised her head slowly.

"Does Snape know about this too?"

"No, he does not. Professor Snape is among the…. let's say he´s an outcast," replied the half-vampire.

"Then don't even tell him, please," Angela requested and turned to the door.

"Wait a moment," the professor stood up as well. "If you need anything, you can come to me anytime, all right?"

The young witch nodded solemnly: "Thank you, Professor."

/

Angela was thoughtfully heading down the hall away from the Defence classroom and suddenly none other than Snape appeared in front of her at the stairs. She frowned when he did not move out of her way and was about to walk around him when he unexpectedly grabbed her arm.

She looked at his hand, then into his mocking eyes and felt the anger bubbling up inside her. She did not notice Harry climbing the stairs toward them.

"Would you like anything, sir?" she gritted between her teeth questioningly.

"Don't you know how to greet your professors properly, Rosier?" Snape asked with a wry smile.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for neglecting you. Now, please, let me go!"

But Snape kept squeezing her. "Didn't your mother teach you how to treat your elders?"

"No, sir. Because I was raised by my aunt," retorted Angela, trying to get out of his grip.

"Then you should know how to behave, especially around me," Snape hissed.

"What do you mean by that?" Angela snapped.

Snape was about to reply, but a cold voice cut him off.

"Good afternoon, sir!" Harry greeted loudly, glaring at Snape with a murderous shine in his eyes.

The School Bat finally let his student go.

"Go ahead, Potter!" growled the professor, while Angela rubbed the sore spot on her hand.

"I'm going, sir. You're just standing in my way," Harry replied calmly.

Angela had to hide an amused smile behind a veil of her hair.

Snape smirked dangerously: "I deduct ten points from Gryffindor´s score for your incredible audacity, Potter," he announced icily and started down the stairs, his black cloak billowing behind him.

"Serve yourself," Harry hissed after him.

"Idiot," Angela relieved herself louder once he was out of earshot.

"What does he have against you?" her boyfriend asked confused.

"I'd like to know that too..." she wondered.

"Well, we'd better ditch the Bat, shall we?" Harry suggested, taking her by the waist. "How about a little evening walk?" he winked conspiratorially. "It's not so hot after the storm and I miss you."

"Me too. But you better let me go. Someone might see us," Angela squirmed in his grip.

"So half past nine in the Entrance Hall?" Harry demanded her agreement. "I'll take the Cloak."

"Alright then," Angela agreed with a laugh.

/

It was getting dark when Snape could not stand it and headed briskly to the office of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Originally, he wanted to ask her at dinner, but there was always someone listening, so he decided not to. He burst into her office and registered her standing with her back to him, looking out the window at the Forbidden Forest.

"You still haven't learned any manners, Severus!" Margaret addressed him coldly before he could open his mouth. Snape smirked. She only now turned to him. "You walk in here one more time without knocking and I'll rip your head off," she warned him without a hint of humour in her voice.

Snape just folded his arms and remained silent. Shiernov sat down gracefully, crossing her legs and glaring at him defiantly.

"So, what do you want again?" she hissed grumpily. "I don't think you came here just to sneer."

"What was Rosier doing here?" asked Snape harshly.

Shiernov only raised her eyebrows in astonishment: "She´s my student, you know that. It's not that unusual that she was in my office."

Snape leaned both hands on her desk. "And what was her reason for staying with you for so long?"

Margaret slowly stood up.

"Severus, you need a wizarding psychiatrist," she said coldly. "Are you spying on her or something?"

"It's none of your business!" snapped Snape.

"Just as it´s not your concern what she was doing here!" Shiernov shot back. "Now, please get out of my office!"

"You're kicking me out?" Snape challenged her in a dangerous voice.

"Exactly!" growled Margaret.

Snape straightened up, turned on his heel and slammed the door behind him.

"Idiot!" Shiernov swore just like her student a while ago.

/

Angela stood in the shadow of one of the columns in the Entrance Hall, waiting patiently. A moment ago, she had seen Dumbledore personally locking the gate leading out to the school grounds as he did every night. She was surprised to find out that he was using a more difficult spell which she did not know, so she assumed they would not be able to get out so easily. Who knew what Harry would say to that…

Her thoughts were interrupted by familiar hands covering her eyes from behind. She laughed softly and let herself be pulled under Harry's cloak. Then in its safety, Harry grabbed Angela´s chin and kissed her lovingly.

"Good evening, my beautiful lady."

"Good evening to you too, my lord," she reacted chuckling, but then she pointed to the gate. "Unfortunately, we probably won't get out."

"How comes?" wondered Harry.

"I saw Dumbledore. He uses a spell on it that I have never seen in my life. I can't get this open."

"Well, that´s a little problem then," her boyfriend agreed.

Still, they went to try. Exactly as expected, their attempts did not budge even with one bolt.

"What about the windows?" proposed Harry.

To their surprise, the windows on the ground floor were also securely locked.

"Well, looks like we are done with secret walks," Angela said disappointedly.

"Wait, I just thought of something..." Harry mused.

"What?"

"Windows on higher floors probably won't be secured like that, right?"

Angela shrugged: "Maybe, but..."

"Come with me," he cut her off and still under the Cloak, they headed towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Harry, what do you want…"

"Don't ask, you'll see," Harry interrupted her questions and left her waiting at the beginning of the corridor that led to the portrait of the Fat Lady. In a few minutes, he was coming back with a broom in his hand. Angela's eyes widened at him.

"You want to…"

"Yeah," Harry nodded before she could finish, pointing his wand at the nearest window. "Alahomora!" he muttered decisively, then turned the handle on the window. It opened easily. "Problem solved!" he grinned.

Angela was still watching his actions in disbelief.

"I rather hide the Cloak in my pocket, it might fly off," decided Harry, and to prove his words, he took it off Angela and stuffed it into his sweatshirt.

"And now I'm going to take you on something better than a walk," he stated with a smile and mounted his Firebolt. "Let's get on, my lady! We don't have all night to do this!" he challenged Angela.

With a chuckle, she shook her head, but obediently settled down behind him. She grabbed Harry tightly around the waist, rested her head on his back, and they flew out of the window and whirled up into the sky.

/

An hour of carefree flying later, the two of them lay on the soft grass, holding hands, watching the twinkling stars and listening to the gentle rustle of wind-blown waves on the lake.

Harry loved these moments, as he loved Angela herself. When they were alone together, wordlessly enjoying each other's presence. But then his other self started poking him to break that precious peace again. He did not have many opportunities to try to get what was bothering Angela out of her.

He fought against it for a while, but in the end, he could not hold it in. He let go of her hand and raised himself on his elbow to get a good look at her. Hundreds of stars were reflecting in her eyes.

"Angela?"

She focused on him somewhat unwillingly.

"What are you still hiding from me?" he asked quietly.

The almost seventeen-year-old brunette frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Don't pretend you don't understand, Angie. Something has been bothering you for a while now and you don't want to tell me anything about it.''

Angela remained silent and watched her boyfriend intently.

"If you confide in with your troubles, you might feel better," Harry added.

She sighed and sat up. "Okay. You're right, Harry. I… I promised to do something, in the unspecified future. But I can´t tell you to whom or what it was."

"Can't or won't?" Harry urged.

Angela looked at him strangely.

"Both," she replied quietly then. "But don't tell me that you told me everything about yourself. I'm sure there's still a lot I don't know about you, and don't try to tell me that´s not true."

Willy-nilly, Harry had to admit that: "Well, yes, but that doesn't mean…"

"That I also have to hide something from you?" Angela interrupted him. "Harry, I believe you, but anyone can have a secret they don't want to share. Someday… someday you'll find out anyway," she added gloomily.

Harry pondered her words for a while. "And if I told you my secret, would you tell me about yours?"

She sighed. "I will gladly hear you out, but I can´t reveal mine to you yet. Please, please, can you understand?"

At this point, Harry could not do anything else than give up. "All right. I get it. We won't talk about this anymore. For now," he emphasized.

"I totally agree," Angela nodded. "We'll have to go back in a bit anyway, so… I don´t want to argue with you for the rest of the time we have."

"Oh, yes? And what else would you like to do?" he asked, leaning closer to her.

"Will you dare to guess?" she whispered provocatively.

"No. I will dare to do it right away," he stated a bit harshly, brought her down to the grass again and sealed her lips with a heated kiss.

She let him keep the upper hand, sighing softly in his mouth, when Harry´s hands ran down alongside her hips, soothing them gently.

"Your intuition is good, Mr Potter," Angela whispered, when he allowed her to breathe again.

"Then I shall trust it more from now on," he reacted meaningfully.

She smiled: "You should do that," she confirmed and circled her arms around him, pressing herself against his body as closely as was only possible.

Naturally, Harry did not protest against that in the least.