Disclaimer - It's not mine. It never was.
A/N : Okay. I hope you guys enjoy this one. Remember to leave me a review telling me your opinions. Later. Oh, and a special thanks to….
MooNi13 : Okay. Okay. Calm down. J Here it is. And I know how you feel about reading other fics when you're in the middle of another. I hate that. Later.
Journal Snatchers
Sable managed to avoid any and all conversation with Remus for the rest of the week, which was amazing considering that the scrimmage had been on Wednesday, and it was now Sunday evening. He had sought her out that night, but she had locked both the portrait hole and the entrance to her room from the hall. By now, the entire school had heard about the little incident in the hallway. Lily had heard that the only reason Sedera did it was because she and some of her friends had been playing an on going game of 'truth or dare' and she had been dared to snog Remus the next time she saw him. Well, the girl had guts, because she had admitted it to Cunningham and he had obviously let her off, so Lily figured the story was true. When she told Remus about it, he had tried to talk to Sable, but it was useless. She only came out of her room for classes, no other time. Lily even tried to reason with her, but it was pointless, she was being as stubborn as anyone had ever seen her. She wouldn't speak to any of them during classes, and she disappeared the second she had any free time. It had been going on like this for four days, and no one had been able to get through to her. Snape was sitting on the sidelines, laughing his merry little head off the entire time. He watched as the drift began to widen between them, and he waited. Waited to make his next move, which would put her right in the palm of his hands.
Snape saw Sable as she left the confines of Hogwarts and went out to the lake. She spread a thin blanket over the ground and sat down on it, her back against the willow tree that was nearby. He saw when she pulled out a diary and a quill. He pulled his cloak on his shoulders and decided to join his victim for a little while.
Sable sat under the tree, writing everything in her journal. It wasn't her normal journal. This one was a present from her parents for her eighteenth birthday. The book was bound by leather and the creamy white pages were lined in a golden ribbon. Sable's neat, cursive handwriting flowed from one page to another. Her thoughts, feelings, desires, everything was in that book. It was her most personal possession. Everything that anyone wanted to know was in that book. If it ever got to someone else's hands, she could be in big trouble. Because of that, she had put a locking spell on it.
She shivered at the amount of information in the little book. Knowing that it was dangerous to leave the ledger lying around, she stuffed it back into her bag and leaned up against the bark of the tree. The sun was warm and comforting. There were no little children around bugging her for help. The Marauders were somewhere else, thankfully out of her hair for the time being. Lily was somewhere with the Headmaster. She tried to relax, but it wasn't happening. As she shifted her weight again, she heard the shuffle of nearby leaves. She opened her eyes and saw the pale, angular face of Severus Snape looking down at her.
"Am I interrupting anything?" he asked. Sable shook her head and sat up, motioning for the boy to sit down.
"Nah, have a seat." she said. "I can use someone to talk to right now." Snape acted surprised, but said nothing.
"What's wrong?" he asked, knowing what was the bother.
"I'm not sure." she admitted. Snape cocked his head to one side and frowned.
"Yes, you are." he said. "It's Potter and the others, isn't it?" Sable nodded and hung her head in defeat.
"How'd you know?"
"Well, you aren't on speaking terms with any of them. I saw that in class yesterday when you wouldn't speak to Lily. You haven't been in the Hall for a meal for the past few days, and they're not out here right now with you." he said.
"Jeez, I didn't know it was that visible." she said glumly. "Have you been watching me?"
"It's visible to someone who knows what to look for, Sable." he said quietly. Sable nodded, understanding what the implied meaning was. He looked around and noticed her book bag near the blanket. "You come out here to do work?" he asked. Sable shook her head and pulled out her journal.
"No, I came out her to write." she said. "It helps me clear my head when things get hectic." Severus nodded in agreement.
"That's not your normal journal, is it?" he asked.
"No, it's not my Potions journal, if that is what you're asking." she said, putting the book back. "This is the journal my parents gave me. I keep it with me at all times, mainly because I'm afraid someone will steal it from me."
"What kind of information do you have in there that you must keep on guard at all times?" he joked. Sable frowned and shoved the book in the bag, shutting the clasp.
"Information that would get me into a lot of trouble, my friend. A lot of trouble." she said sadly. "And if I told you, I'd have to kill you." Snape smiled and shook his head in mock disbelief.
"So, our Potions Mistress isn't as good as everyone thinks she is." he teased. Sable laughed and nodded.
"I'm not everything people think I am, Severus. In fact, there's a whole lot more to me than most people realize." she said quietly.
"I understand." was all he said. Sable nodded and looked out over the lake. The two teenagers sat there for a few more minutes before Snape broke the silence that had penetrated the air around them.
"Well, Ms. Robbins, I am afraid that I must be off. I must finish some essays for a certain Arithmancy Professor before she has my head on a silver platter." He stood and bowed to her, causing her to smile.
"Professor Trish can be rather testy at times." Sable agreed. Snape nodded and turned to walk back to the castle.
"Severus!" Sable called out. Snape turned around and looked back at the girl. "Thank you." she said. Snape nodded and turned to go back to the castle, an evil grin plastered to his face.
Next to Sable, a boy with brown hair and blue eyes watched from underneath an invisibility cloak as his friend smiled at his number one enemy. She began packing up her things, and he watched as she left with a lighter heart than she came with.. Only when she was gone, did he allow himself to come out from under the hiding garment. And only then did he realize exactly what had happened the day before. He also realized that the only way to get Sable to listen to reason was to corner her and force her to listen. With that thought in mind, he made his way back up to the castle and into Gryffindor Tower with little difficulty.
The Gryffindor and Slytherin Houses were sitting in Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall later that week when Severus Snape and Cody Flint decided to put their plan into action. Snape had relayed the information about Sable's diary to Flint the day after it had happened. He had found it rather amusing that she would confide in a book, rather than her dear friends. The diary would be very useful, especially if it contains as much information as Sable had let on. Snape glanced around the room and noticed the sitting arrangements of the wonderful Gryffindor 'Dream Team'. Pettigrew and Black were sitting in the back of the class on the last two rows. Potter and Lily were sitting in front of them, and Lupin was sitting in front of Lily. Sable was as far away from the entire group as she possible could be, closer to the Slytherins than to her own house mates. Professor McGonagall was walking in between the rows of students, helping with the days lesson of human to animal transfiguration. The students were practicing turning their partners into different types of animals. With the way Sable was clutching her wand, she was probably thinking about some rather painful transformations she would have like to put some people though. Obviously, the grudge was still being held against the others on her part. 'Perfect.' Snape thought.
He signaled to Flint and the Qudditch captain aimed his transfiguring spell towards Pettigrew. The flash of purple light lept across the room and surrounded the unsuspecting Marauder. His partner, Sirius Black, jumped back and pulled away from the spell, not knowing what was going on. Professor McGonagall seemed to have not noticed the abrupt change, as she went on speaking with another student. Sable's eyes flickered over to the others, but went wide when she saw Peter change.
Peter's features quickly changed from that of a human to that of a satyr, a half human, half goat creature. He immediately began running around the classroom in panic. Since satyrs were naturally flighty creatures, Peter had taken on the mentality of the creature also, as was expected from the spell. Professor McGonagall had explained that any animal the students were transfigured into would also retain a slight mental functioning similiar to that of the animal they were. For example, a person transfigured into a dog would be happy and playful. Whereas a person transfigured into a snake would be mean and threatening.
The entire class turned to look at the damage done by Flint's ill-aimed spell. Peter was quivering in the corner, trying to shy away from all of the people in the classroom. Sirius jumped up and made for Flint.
"You slimy git, change him back!" Sirius yelled.
"What are you yacking about, Black?" Flint sneered, "I didn't do anything to him."
"You're lying!" he said. The two boys seemed to be ready to fight it out to find the answer. However, Professor McGonagall intervened and made Sirius go back to his seat. When the temperamental teenager was safely back in his seat, she turned to a very frightened Peter and said the counter curse for the spell.
Some of the other students were getting up to look at the scene. Snape waited until Sable and her partner had left the desk before dipping his hand into her bag, searching for the leather cover of her journal. By now, McGonagall had calmed Peter enough to change him back to his original self. He went back to his seat, glaring daggers at the Slytherins.
When Sable returned to her seat, she and her partner, Allen Baker, completed the transfigurations in record time. Soon enough, the bell rang for the end of class. Sable gathered up her belongings and left the classroom in a hurry, going straight for her spot in the library. It seemed like that was the only place left in the school that she could get some peace and quiet. She waved at Allen and wove her way down the hallway toward the library without a word of acknowledgment to anyone else in the room.
Snape watched the girl leave the room in a huff. She hadn't spoken to any of the other Gryffindor students, so he was assuming that the fight was still on. He looked over at Flint, who had a rather devious look to his eyes. The Quidditch captain nodded and they left for the dungeons of the castle, Sable's journal firmly tucked away in Snape's bag.
****Later, after dinner****
Snape pulled the journal out of his bag and put it on the desk in his room. On the cover of the journal was a saying that he had heard only a few times before.
"Women's faults are many. But men have only two. Everything they say, and everything they do." Severus smirked and shook his head. He tried to open the book, but found that it was sealed shut. 'I didn't think she was stupid enough to leave it unguarded.' he thought. He pulled out his wand and tried to find a countercurse for the spell. After a good half-hour of backfiring spells, he finally got it open.
He opened the journal and found page after page of Sable's neat, flowing writing. He looked at one particular entry that had been written in green ink, and smirked. 'I always knew she was a Slytherin at heart.' he thought. He settled in for the night, and flipped to the beginning of the journal. She must have just started it, because the first entry was on September 1st.
September 1st
Well, I'm back at Hogwarts, and it feels so much like home. The past two years at Salem have been horrid. I think everyone was happy to see me today, even though the boys didn't recognize me at first. Lily recognized me as soon as she saw me on the train. The boys were a little slower to remember, but they found out at the Sorting. I think Sirius wanted to kick himself for not recognizing me sooner. The big Prat!! He always was a sucker. Still is obviously. But's it's okay. I still love all of them.
They all seemed happy at the Sorting...everyone by Remus. I hope nothing's wrong with him. Then again, Luna's gonna be out in her glory tomorrow. Maybe he'll feel better once she's gone. I know I always do.......
Snape looked up from the book with a start. He rubbed his eyes and read the last paragraph over again to make sure he wasn't imagining anything.
"She's a wolf!????" he said. "I can't believe it. There is no way in Hell that girl is a wolf!!!" He turned back to the page and continued to read.
September 4th
I am too excited and confused to write yesterday. Basically, I told everyone about the lycanthropy potion.... they FREAKED!! I tried to hide from them, but Remus found my room while he was searching the DADA corridor. I still hadn't figured out how he got the password. When I told him I was immune, he kissed me. Go figure. He is so infuriating!! How he's trying to avoid me. Wonderful!!!
Well, I ran into my rival today. Severus Snape is still the same as when I left two year ago....almost. He's changed some how, and I don't mean physically. But, I can't put my finger on it. He's colder now, more reclusive. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm reading too far into it. At least our old rivalry is still there. That'll give us something to talk about.
"Yes, my dear," he said, "that will undoubtedly give us something to talk about." He flipped through a few more pages and landed on another promising looking entry.
September 11th
Treble is questioning my reasons for working on my lycanthropy potion. He says I don't have anyone to test it on. Little does he know, there are more lycanthropic people out there than he knows. And I have my experiment in plan already. I just have to wait until the right time to administer the potion. Does he realize what this potion would do for my friends and family. Mom and Dad would be so proud of me if I could find something to help them during the transformations.
"Her parents are wolves?" Severus asked no one. "This is definitely going to please Lord Voldemort." The door to his dorm opened and Snape through the diary under a pile of papers. He looked up and saw Cody Flint, his room mate, enter the room. He nodded to the other boy and pulled the book out from underneath the pile fo papers.
"Find anything useful?" Flint asked. Snape nodded and grinned.
"Yes, actually I have." he said.
"Well..."
"Her parents are lycanthropic, and she knows about Lupin being a werewolf, too." he said. Flint nodded and grabbed some fresh clothes, he had just come back from Quidditch practice.
"I figured she knew about Lupin. Her parents are a surprise though."he asked. "What else?"
"I think she may also be lycanthropic." Snape said. Flint stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the other boy.
"You're kidding me, right?" he said. "Robbins can't be a wolf, she doesn't exhibit any of the symptoms."
"Are you sure about that, Flint?" Snape asked. "Where was she the last time we had a full moon?" Cody couldn't answer the question, and he sat down on the bed. Snape continued on as though he wasn't waiting for an answer. "She also has her own room somewhere off of the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor. I'm guessing it's some type of laboratory, since she never works in the dungeons after class."
"Lord Voldemort will be pleased with this information." Flint said. Snape nodded and put the journal in his desk drawer.
"We can finish reading over this later," he said. "I believe we both have some place to be at the moment?" Flint nodded.
"Yes, Lord Voldemort had another meeting planned this evening. Perhaps we should take the journal with us, to show we have proof of what we are telling him." Snape shook his head and threw on a cloak.
"Not yet, Flint." he said, "Let's make sure we are on the right track before we bring the journal up into the picture. If the information in the book is misleading, Voldemort will have our heads on a silver platter." The other boy nodded and they quickly slipped out of the castle to the Slytherin locker rooms where two brooms were waiting to carry them to Hogsmeade.
A/N - Okay. How was that one? Any better? I hope you guys are enjoying the story. I know I really love this story. Don't know why though.
