Chapter 17- A Lost Alliance
"Have you noticed Professor Sanchez and Snape lately?" Ron asked one morning at breakfast, but Harry wasn't listening. It was early November now and the sky above them was a bright gray. Ever since Harry's 'meeting' with Dumbledore, he still was never told the information that he missed. It was constantly on his mind. What could he have wanted to tell him? For the past few weeks a number of possibilities came up in Harry's mind.
Did he think Harry was unsafe to be around other people? Did he think he was going crazy? Did he think he needed to be sent to St. Mungo's?
"Harry." A voice snapped him out of his ramblings. He looked up and saw most of the Gryffindors in his years huddled in a circle. Ron was gesturing for him to come over. He slid down the bench and saw that the crowd was gathered around Hermione, who was looking at the headline of the Daily Prophet. He read the headline:
'Dementors of Azkaban Go Over to the Dark Side.' Underneath it was a moving picture of Fudge and many other ministry officials standing in front of Azkaban prison, looking very stressed.
Underneath the photo was a small caption, which read:
'Dementors, the guards of Azkaban prison are suspected of supporting You-Know-Who when they are spotted fleeing the site of a tragic muggle massacre with many unknown Death Eaters. Story continued on page 2, 3 and 4.'
"I can't believe it," Ron said as they walked down many flights of stairs towards the dungeons.
"I know Ron," Hermione sighed, "If the suspicions are correct, and Vol-Voldemort's been able to recruit the Dementors, who knows who else he could convince, or who he already has. But there's no hard evidence and I don't think..."
"Hermione," Harry interrupted, "I know your all for innocent until proven guilty and what not, but look at the facts. There was a major muggle killing, the Dark Mark was conjured, and the Dementors left the scene along with a bunch of Death Eaters. I don't think there's anything in their defense."
"Plus the fact that all of them suddenly disappeared from Azkaban," Ron pointed out. "They're probably afraid of facing all the media."
"I didn't know Dementors had emotions like fear," Cassie said as she pushed open the door into Snape's classroom.
"Potter and friends," Snape's voice snapped from the front of the class. "Hurry up and take your seats, we will need all time possible to finish the Polyjuice Potion today."
Harry quickly took his seat next to Cassie at the table where Malfoy was already sitting, drumming his fingers monotonously on the desk.
"What's he got up his pants?" Harry hissed as he copied down the notes Snape had written on the board.
"Sanchez," Malfoy and Cassie chorused.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Honestly Harry, didn't you hear anything any of us said during breakfast," Cassie said, in a very Hermione-like tone. He honestly didn't know. He was too busy thinking about Dumbledore, so he just shook his head as Cassie rolled her eyes.
"You gotta open up your ears once in a while."
"Otherwise how would you hear about the little kitties you have to rescue from trees, Potter?" Malfoy drawled.
"Put a sock in it Malfoy I'm not in the mood," Harry grumbled.
"Oh, I'm sorry hero boy. If Potty is a little bit cranky today then I guess I should leave him alone. How could he save the world if he was in a bad mood?"
"Better a little cranky today than a foul prat everyday of my life."
"Is that all you can come up with?"
"Why? Is it too hard for you to comprehend? Should I repeat it slower?" Harry had to admit to himself, he had gotten better at taunting Malfoy over the years.
"Comprehend? Great vocabulary Potter, but I suggest you don't use words you can't spell."
"I'll spell something out for you..." He murmured quietly.
"Helloooo," Cassie said, waving her hands, "I'm still sitting right here you know..." Harry ignored her. He was locked in a heated argument and he wasn't going to back down now.
"That sounded like a threat Potter," Malfoy growled. "You could never take me on."
"Really Malfoy, how strong could a little fuzzy ferret be?"
"Why are you talking about ferrets?" Cassie asked, but Harry barely heard her this time, he was on a roll.
"Please Potter, that whole ferret thing was two years ago. I bet Crabbe could come up with a newer insult than that and he can barely read."
"Crabbe can read?!?!" Cassie exclaimed.
"Crabbe may be able to insult you better but I bet Goyle is less of a girl than you are. You and your shiny pristine hair. Only creepy freaks obsess over their hair like that. Creepy freaks and girls who think they're princesses." 'Ok,' Harry admitted to himself, 'That was lame. Very lame. But Malfoy's NOT gonna get the last word in.'
"I take offense to that! I can obsess over my hair a little bit but I'm NOT a freak and I DON'T think I'm a princess. We girls just take extra care." Cassie whined.
"Rather be a girl with great hair than a scraggly guy with a mop head."
"Helloooo..." Cassie said again. "Anybody care you've just offended me? Are you even listening?"
"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't listening. Did you say something princess?" Malfoy asked, suddenly turning his attention away from Harry. Cassie scowled at him.
"Who me?" She said sarcastically. "Oh no." She frowned. "Not a word."
"Today, most of the class is just used to allow the potion to simmer," Harry heard Snape bellow from the other side of the classroom. "So in the mean time..." But Snape was cut off by a noise from the entrance to the classroom. Professor Sanchez was standing at the back of the classroom, leaning against the door.
"Professor," she said sternly. "May I talk to you?" Snape looked at her questioningly at then glanced around the classroom.
"So in the mean time, just....talk amongst yourselves or something. BUT BE WARNED. Mess with any potion ingredients and you will surely pay for it in time." Then he stormed out of the classroom, following Professor Sanchez.
As soon as the door closed behind him there was a great amount of chatter amongst his classmates. Many of the girls were whispering and giggling and most of the guys were chuckling madly.
"What the hell is so funny? Cassie! You know what's going on. Tell me," Harry pleaded.
"Oh so NOW you wanna listen to me," she complained. "This must be how Hermione feels..." she mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing. Anyway, the story flying around school is that there's some kinda relationship going on between Sanchez and Snape. They've been seen walking to meals together, taking breaks together and Parvati swears she saw them walking out of an empty classroom on evening."
'Snape? And Sanchez? Together? What the hell!?!"
"But...but...then why...why was he so cranky at the start of class then...you said it was Sanchez...what...what..." he stammered.
"Well people have been saying that the past few days they've hit the rocks. They glare at each other during dinner and they avoid almost all contact with each other. So what I'm guessing is, they were a couple for a while but Snape had some kinda commitment issues, then..."
"Alright. I've heard enough and you've gone into gossipy girl mode. So...just...stop...please...it stings my brain just thinking about it...the whole school's gone crazy..."
"I bet you could read their minds and find out what's going on," Malfoy said, still staring at the door.
"I bet I could too...but I can't." Cassie said.
"Aren't you dying to know what's going on?" Harry asked. He sounded somewhat childish but he didn't care. Although the whole situation sickened him to the core, he couldn't help but wonder what else was going on.
"Actually, the idea itself disturbs me. And I thought you weren't interested anymore Harry," she replied.
"It'll be fun..."
"You can't guarantee that."
"You can't deny what you know you want..."
"How do you know I even want to know?"
"You could blackmail Snape for the rest of his life," Malfoy chimed in. This made Cassie think it over for a minute.
"Okay," she said cheerily as she closed her eyes in concentration. When she opened them again they were glowing a light shade of blue and it seemed as though she were almost staring through the wall.
"Snape's got some kind of commitment issues..." She said in a dull tone.
"Snachez is upset...they've had an argument...she wants to make up...she's sorry...he's still angry...wants to forgive...can't...too stubborn..." Her normal tone of voice returned, "What the?" Her eyes flashed purple and then back to their normal brown. She looked around the room mysteriously.
"What happened?" Harry asked excitedly. "What's up with the two of them?"
"Two of who?" Cassie asked, a very confused look on her face.
"Snape and Sanchez," he reminded her. "You know, strict teachers, look alike, work at this school, standing outside the classroom right now..."
"Oh! Them...I haven't a clue what's going on with them."
"What do you mean you don't have a clue? You just read their minds!"
Harry was confused and apparently so was Cassie, Malfoy however was giving Harry one of those 'how could you not know what's going on?' looks.
"That was her vision face stupid," Malfoy said, rolling his eyes.
"How could it be her vision face!? She just told us what's going on in their heads!!"
"Well she wasn't reading her minds brainiac. I think she'd remember if she did."
Harry scoffed inside his head. Did Malfoy really think he was stupid enough to believe Cassie would read minds without remembering?
"So...what happened?" Harry asked.
"I saw them. They're coming. They want you," Cassie stuttered, pointing at Harry.
"Who?" Harry was getting a bit freaked out now.
"The Dementors. The Dementors are coming for you."
