Hello everyone! I would like to first off make an apology. My computer died this week taking everything I had written with it, so the tardiness of this installment was what followed. Joy to viruses… :P
I was astonished by the number of reviews! I believe the last number was thirteen! I am used to Fiction Press where if you get even a single review you are lucky. Whey I say astonished, I mean in the happiness way possible of course. Who could possibly complain about reviews !
Ten points are awarded to the house of your choice for the correct guess of the "Mystery Man"! I will not list names here, but you should know who you are. This person should be fairly obvious in this chapter.
Now on with the story!
"Smashing Realities and the Likes" Chapter Two
Severus stared at the strange Muggle. Odd creature that one was. Quite rude in all actuality, didn't the man know how to knock? Of course not, he reasoned with himself as the stated Muggle glared at him, all Muggles were rude and American Muggles were worse. At least British ones were understandable, these Americans had the strangest accents.
He grinned at the poor Muggle's expression, he truly was ignorant. What had Daniel called him, Jack? Yes, that was it. He resisted rolling his eyes a second time and turned his attention to the man he had come to Muggle America to get.
"Please explain to the Muggle and his meager excuse for a mind that I mean neither you nor him any harm." Severus was known for his bitter drawl and he used it with a precision he was also known for. He internally grinned. He was known for a good many things, and most of them weren't pleasant, as he hoped this Muggle named Jack would soon find out.
The Muggle's face contorted into a wonderful impression of a beet, but he managed to stay calm. Much different from other Muggles he had seen, the logical part of Severus' mind told him. But as often happened in Severus' mind, logical was displaced with emotional. He forced himself to be silent and listen to the presumed friends.
Daniel was sitting on his bed dressed in what appeared to be yesterdays clothing looking haggard and sleep deprived. As Severus watched him interact with Jack, more and more of the friend that had long ago left the wizarding world could be seen to him.
Severus was not one to ever admit one as his better, but even he could do it when the honor was warranted. And in Daniel's case it was.
Daniel was a Diviner. Not a fraud like that pathetic excuse for a witch Trelawny, but a true Diviner. There had been many a time in their past that his predictions and readings had saved Severus from harm, perhaps even death. He owed the man at least the privilege of a good title. The students would have a field day if they ever knew about this, he thought grudgingly.
Jack, the Muggle who had rudely barged into the bedroom, was still standing as he had been a few minutes ago, tense and ridged and with his hands clutched around the Muggle contraption Daniel had called a 'gun' with practiced ease. Dressed in some form of odd camouflage that he had seen a Muggle 'photograph' of Daniel in, he gave off an odd impression. With gray hair cut short and several lines running across his face he was closer to Severus' age than Daniel's, but none the less, he did not seem all that old.
Daniel spoke up before the Muggle could respond. Thankfully. "Severus is an old colleague, he was a Professor of mine years ago. We were just talking, Jack." When had Daniel gotten so good at lying? Years had past, yes, but what had happened for him to gain that so un Daniel-like ability? Severus listened to the side conversation more closely.
"Yeah, sure, Daniel, that's why he was threatening you!" The Muggle had sarcasm that could almost compare with his own. Almost.
Daniel sighed and the appearance of exhaustion was doubled. Severus watched concern grow in the Muggle's face and the anger he was feeling towards him diminished slightly. The Muggle cared for his friend, that at least was something.
"Jack, I'm tired, I don't want to talk about this. I think it would be best if you left now." Daniel truly had changed. He was harsher now, it was if reality had finally set in for him, the world was harsh and sometimes you had to be harsh back . Severus wasn't sure if the change was a good thing or a bad one, but none the less I was evident in his every action.
"Daniel, do you know what day it is?" Oh, that Muggle knew how to manipulate words. It didn't mater thought, he was still a Muggle, and therefore still liken to an animal.
The younger man looked at Jack in confusion. "What are you talking about Jack?" He pushed his silly little wire things further up onto his nose and gritted his teeth.
"I mean Daniel, that today is Monday and we had somewhere to go." Severus knew a good lot about deception and this was a very poor job at it. "Somewhere to go" phaw! But he did wonder what the Muggle meant, it was not every day he was lied to by more than small children.
Daniel swore some Muggle word Severus was not familiar with and threw Jack an apologetic look. "I hadn't realized." Yes, Severus thought to himself as he watched the silent conversation between those two continue, there was something going on here that he didn't know about. And that was unacceptable. For a spy like himself the idea that some Muggle, he cringed at the thought, would be able to beat him at his own game was disgusting. Past disgusting even.
"Severus," Daniel continued, "could you wait a day or two," A day or two! Didn't that Diviner realized what had happened! There was no time for silly Muggle things, their clock had run out and was ticking into the negatives and any of that time he was using was so precious that not one hundred galleons could have bought it.
Severus did try, he really did, to keep his emotions under check, but he found that it was nearly impossible under the circumstances. "NO I CAN NOT!" He roared. "You have obviously not been using your talents lately!" Two could play at deception, he thought coyly. He ignored the Muggle's reaction to his outburst.
Daniel glared at him in a way he had not thought possible. "What ever it is you wanted to tell me will have to wait." There was a certainty in his voice that caught him off guard. What had his old friend been doing that was so important? He forced his curiosity down, took a breath, and sent out a glare that could have stirred the dead in their graves.
"I will wait." Where those words came from he did not know, but as he thought back , they were the right ones. Not because he would wait, that was a silly question, He would simply cast a "point me" and then apparate, but because he would then be able to speak to Daniel alone, with out that blithering Muggle.
His young friend shot him a thankful and relieved look that worried Severus. He really had to find out what that Diviner gone Muggle had been doing over these years. But most importantly, he had to be informed. The last that silly Diviner knew, Voldemort had been killed by a child. This was no longer the case and hadn't been for a long time, but now he was needed. That silly Diviner he had come to know as a friend would save them or condemn the wizarding world to a fate greater than doom, life with Voldemort as a leader.
"Lock the door behind you," Daniel called out to him as he and his Muggle pet jogged out of the room. Severus growled, then sat down where Daniel had just vacated.
Damn those silly Muggles!
Well, that is the end of Chapter Two of "Smashing Realities and the Likes"
I do hope that no one minded terribly that I made Daniel a Diviner (More on that subject will be revealed in later chapters) but I had already read one or two stories where he was Harry Potter and the idea didn't click for me.
Thank you again to all my reviewers! As all you authors know, they truly do help! SO please, if you haven't yet reviewed or even if you have, I implore you, click the little button again! I beg on my hands and knees, I need reviews to continue my work.
Once again, the next chapter will be up in five to ten days time, depending, in part, to the reviews I receive and input.
Oh, and in your reviews, could you please tell me what you think of the chapter length and point of views? Thank you very much!
The Balrog.