Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, and things, (all Harry Potter nouns) belong to J. K. Rowlings. Desiree Snape and Eleanora Snape are mine.
Chapter 12: In the face of trouble.
After having received the note, Severus found Minerva and the two began searching for Nora. Soon they caught up with Desiree and Harry. "Does anyone have an idea where she would have gone?" Minerva inquired.
Desiree sighed heavily. "I should be able to answer that, but I can't. Harry, do you have any ideas?"
Harry thought for a moment as they wandered through a few corridors, looking up at the rafters for a falcon. "She might have gone to the library."
They followed his statement and quickly dashed to the library. After entering, Severus turned to Minerva. "There's a better way to do this, you know. Send an animagus to find an animagus."
She nodded. "Quite right, but I do not think a cat would be as useful in this instance. I think I know what you're referring to."
Desiree eyed both of them curiously. "Are you saying that another one of us is an animagus?"
Severus cleared his throat. "Unregistered animagus. I can transform into a raven, but I haven't done so in a long time."
Minerva spoke. "But your eyesight, won't that affect-"
"My eyesight has improves somewhat and the spectacles will transform with me anyway. I think this is our best option," he interjected.
He transformed into a beady-eyed raven, blacker than his robes. Then he flew up toward the rafters in search of Nora. He spotted her perched on top of a bookshelf near the Transfiguration section. Flying over to her, he caught her attention and motioned for her to follow him. He led her back to the others and then transformed back into human for.
Minerva watched the falcon as she perched on top of a chair. "Miss Snape, we have been over this before. You need to relax and clear your mind in order to turn back into a human. Concentrate on yourself in human form. That's it, now focus a bit more and," she paused as Nora transformed back into a human, "there you go."
However, Nora found herself sitting atop the back of the chair where she had formerly been perched. The chair fell backwards and she fell on Harry, who had been standing close by. Both on the floor, she quickly got up and help him to stand, blushing with embarrassment. "I'm sorry about that."
"It's alright," he reassured her.
She turned to everyone else. "I'm sorry about all this. I panicked when I couldn't turn back into human form."
Minerva smiled kindly. "Now you will remember. I suggest that you and Mr. Potter return to your respective studying while the rest of us return to our own tasks."
Harry and Nora headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room while Desiree walked back to her rooms. Minerva and Severus walked together for a while. "I think I remember the last time you became a raven," she began.
"That would be because you were the one who caught me, as I recall," he added.
"Yes, you were in your seventh year and spying on the Marauders after you all should have been in bed. It must be a Slytherin stunt," she commented wryly.
"If spying is a Slytherin stunt, then sneaking out is a Gryffindor stunt. But never mind all that, you caught me and brought me into your office, realizing somehow that I was a student and not some other bird," he remarked.
She nodded. "Then we discussed that you would not do that again. I deduced that you were not an actual raven because your actions were too peculiar. Birds do not go people-watching."
He snorted. "I bet you found that terribly funny."
She grinned. "I did. I know both of us have marking to do, so I shall bid you a good evening."
"Good evening to you also," he mentioned. They leaned close and kissed tenderly before parting. I wonder why he never registered himself, Minerva pondered as she headed toward her rooms.
Two days later Severus sat in the infirmary, waiting for Poppy's diagnosis. It had been two weeks and his vision was still quite poor. He looked up at her as she examined his eyes. "You said I would be fine in two weeks. What went wrong?"
She raised an eyebrow and looked away for a moment. "Oh dear, I'm sorry. I told you two weeks, but I meant two months."
"What? Do you mean to tell me that I am stuck with spectacles until May?" he demanded.
"Yes. I am sorry about that. These things take time to heal. You seem to be doing alright though," she tried to reassure him.
He stood and headed toward the door. "If you will excuse me, I have a class to teach."
When the students entered the Potions classroom they found pairs of plastic goggles by their cauldrons. They took their seats and fell silent as they usually did as Severus began to speak. "Class, as you have noticed, all of you have goggles in front of you. Due to recent accidents, all of you will use safety goggles from now on."
His tone left room for no arguing and the entire class simply nodded complacently. At the end of class, he announced their homework. "I want a three-foot essay on the difference between a memory potion and a truth-telling serum. Longbottom, don't forget that you have detention for the remainder of the school year."
Neville returned at the end of the day to serve his weekly detention. He was handed Casio's Cauldron Cleaner and what appeared to be a dingy, grey toothbrush. "Today, you have three hours to clean all the cauldrons, and you are not to use magic, as if it would do you any good anyway," Severus sneered.
After Neville's detention, Severus was still at his desk marking papers when Minerva entered. He looked up as she approached him. "I thought you'd be rid of those by today."
He sighed heavily and picked up another piece of parchment. "Poppy told me I would only have to wear them for two weeks, but apparently she was not saying what she was thinking because it would seem that she meant two months."
"I'm sorry. Is there anything you would like me to do?" she inquired.
"Actually you could take half of this stack and help me with the grading. Even though the glasses are working, I still must take longer than I used to in marking," he mentioned.
She agreed and the two finished marking in record time. "What was Mr. Longbottom's detention for today?" she inquired as they left his classroom.
"I had him cleaning cauldrons with a toothbrush," he explained.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Don't you think that was a bit harsh?"
He looked at her indignantly. "Would you rather I had taken away his eyesight temporarily?"
There was a tremor of bitterness in his voice. "I know you're upset, and frankly I would be too, but it was an accident."
Sighing, he nodded. "You're right. By the way, how has Nora been getting along lately?"
"She had been doing quite well, actually. The girl also seems to be helpful for Mr. Potter. I only hope that the last event does not present too many complications for him," she stated as they decided to head to the Great Hall for dinner, walking arm in arm.
At the end of June when the last event took place, Harry found himself in a maze with creatures and riddles. As Nora watched Harry and Cedric, she heard someone behind her. She tried to use her mind to find out the person's intentions, but the perpetrator had the ability to block her. A hand clamped over her mouth and she was dragged off by someone with an uneven gait.
She soon found herself tied up in Moody's office as he left abruptly. She would have transformed into her animagus form, but a sickeningly sweet smell filled the room as the door was shut, triggered by the locking mechanism. Harry, why didn't you listen to me? She knew before loosing consciousness that some sort of tranquilizing perfume had been used.
After Harry had returned with Cedric's body, Moody invited the boy to his office, seemingly wanting to question him about the events where he had gone and what he had seen. He froze when he noticed Nora tied up in a chair, coming to as the tranquilizer wore off. Moody dragged him into the room and tied him to the chair next to hers.
She did not miss the crazed look in Moody's eyes. "Now that I've got both of you, I can finally eliminate two threats in one shot. Potter, your time has finally come, and I relish killing you myself. And young Nora here, do you have any idea why we need to get rid of you? Let me tell you something: your presence here is a failed transaction of your grandparents."
"What do you mean?" she inquired.
"You'd have to ask your mother about that, if you were living that much longer," he retorted.
Harry struggled but to no avail because the ropes were bound by magic. "Let her go! I'm the one you want, she means nothing to you!"
Moody cackled. "I think we'll be killing her first, just to see how long it takes someone to bleed to death the muggle way."
"I don't think so. These magic ropes only hold us as long as we're in human form!" Nora shouted.
"Young lady, I don't think you're in any position to-" she cut him off by transforming into her falcon form and flying directly at his face.
Suddenly Albus, Minerva, Severus, and Desiree burst in the door. "If you harm my daughter at all, I'll use a time-turner and take you back to the Aztec Empire as a human sacrifice!" Desiree yelled.
Nora changed back into human form and freed Harry as the others restrained the man impersonating Moody. With a vial of truth serum, Severus interrogated him and they discovered he was really the son of Barty Crouch. Once he had been taken to the Ministry of Magic for trial and sentencing, the staff attempted met to discuss Voldemort's return and new safety precautions.
Desiree had been excused from the meeting to see that Harry and Nora were safe. Before Nora followed Harry into the Common Room, her mother stopped her. "Are you alright?"
"I think so but," she paused, knowing the question she needed to ask was not one she wanted to ask, "he said something about me being a failed transaction of my grandparents."
Her mother sighed and pulled her daughter close for a hug. "Your grandparents wanted to keep a good social status with everyone, no matter what the price was. Sweetie, they loved you, and that's why they didn't go through with what was discussed. Status demanded that you would become a deatheater, but they changed their minds, and that's why they were killed in the car accident. That's also the same reason you must be very careful never to be too noticeable. They will be after you even more now than before. In some ways you have as many risks as Harry does."
Nora wiggled away from Desiree and made her way into the Common Room, her mother knowing that if Nora had wanted to talk more, she would have. Harry sat in a chair with his head in his hands, dealing with his own problems. I know you're angry about his death and I know you feel responsible. You're not. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, she told him mentally.
He looked over and their eyes met. "You were right all along and I chose not to pay attention to it. It's my fault he is dead because I did not recognize the signs. I also do not know how I'm supposed to beat Voldemort. Cedric should never have been involved. Why didn't the cup just pick my name? Why did it have to pick his? This mess is-"
"Play chess with me," she interjected.
"I'm grieving for a friend while the worst enemy ever is trying to destroy the world and you want me to play chess?" he asked incredulously.
She nodded. "It may help to take your mind off things for a while."
They sat down on the floor and he set up the board. Nora began the game and looked intently at the wood pieces Harry had found. The white set was carved from birch while the black set was out of mahogany. "Pawn to g4," she called. When it did not move, she put her hand forward and moved it with wandless magic and looked up at Harry. "Why isn't it moving by itself?"
He smiled slightly. "Not every chess set in England is Wizard's Chess."
She began laughing, but suddenly began crying. Worried, he moved toward her and touched her shoulder. "And I thought I was having difficulty with current events. What is wrong?"
"I'm sorry, I'm not myself today," she managed. He noticed that whatever was bothering her had upset her enough that she was shaking. Without hesitation he wrapped his arms around her.
"I am unable to do what you can. You'll either have to tell me or broadcast to me what the problem is," he relayed.
She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face on his shoulder. "Mom explained what that man meant when he said that my presence was a failed transaction from my grandparents. I thought they loved me. Harry, because of my abilities they were going to hand me over to the deatheaters for training to maintain their own social status! They were killed in a car accident because they changed their minds and because those who killed them expected me to be with them."
He held her, completely speechless. Never in his life would he wish such trouble on the friend she had become to him. Then he remembered her boggart. "I think I understand now why your boggart was yourself as a deatheater. I have gotten to know you and I do not think that you would ever join them. I think, if anything, their boggarts would be you fighting against them."
As she looked up at him, he was relieved when she smiled. "I believe it was your turn, Harry." They returned to the game with the understanding that both of them needed a distraction.
Severus and Minerva met for tea after the meeting, hoping to find a distraction as well. They sat on the couch, sipping steaming cups of chamomile tea, staring into the fireplace. "Why kill Cedric Diggory? He was innocent! He had so much promise," Minerva lamented.
"Voldemort likes killing for the sake of killing. I can't believe that I did not see Crouch's deception," Severus remarked as he took a drink of his tea.
Minerva sighed and glanced over at him. "He fooled all of us, even Albus and Mr. Potter."
"Something tells me that Nora suspected, but she did not realize what it was that she suspected," he surmised.
She set the teacup down and rubbed a sore spot on her neck. "We can't spend the evening in hindsight. We should go over the safety strategies again for the next school term. We must concentrate on fighting now. His period of dormancy has come to an end."
He set his teacup down and massaged his temples. "Minerva, where did you put that Samurai chess set?" he asked.
She understood and retrieved it from a drawer in her dresser. They played chess for the rest of the night, not discussing recent events or the future, hoping silently that the next school year would be different.
(I apologize for the long gaps between updates lately. I have been taking midterms. My thanks to Quill of Minerva, Leta McGotor, and excessivelyperky for reviewing :D)
