A/N:
CC: hey.. there's a plot here?
Rakka: yes. we agreed on it months ago.
CC: we did?
Rakka: oh, be quiet, and go start writing chapter 6. it's your turn again.
Chapter 4: flashback in a bowl
"So, Remi," Courtney smiled, throwing an arm over Genna as she tried to walk back to the Ravenclaw's common room.
"No, Courtney, you can't copy my essay for Binns' class," Genna sighed.
"Actually, that wasn't what I was going to ask," Courtney lied. "But now that you mention it, drat... Anyway.."
"Courtney," Nikki said in a tone that meant she was starting to lose patience as she rode the staircase that had swung down to right where Courtney and Genna were standing, or rather, where Genna was standing and Courtney was attempting to hide behind her much shorter friend. "How long were you planning to wander around before you met me back in the dorms? We have potions work to do. Let's go."
"Blah, blah blah," Courtney sighed, miming accordingly with her hand.
"Locomotor Mortis," Nikki zapped Courtney, who fell forward, face first.
"Oh, not fair," Courtney grumbled.
"Well, Corky, if you'd kept up on your DADA homework, you'd have known how to block that, as well as the countercurse to fix it," Nikki smirked, leaning over Courtney, who growled. "You brought that upon yourself."
Tyler, who had been approaching from the Great Hall, burst into laughter.
"Haha, Courtney got leg-locked!" Tyler grinned. Muttering another incantation, Nikki got Courtney to hover behind her like a marionette.
"See you guys later," Nikki waved. "We've got potions homework to do."
With that, Nikki dissappeared down the stairs, into the Slytherin dormitories, Courtney right behind her.
"Oh man... this is not going to end well..." Nikki groaned, keeping her hands, which were covered with dragonhide gloves, as close to her face as she could, waiting for the cauldron to explode. "What was Professor Snape thinking, letting us do our potions work in the dormitories? This is such a bad idea.." Nikki sat on a pillow on the floor, her back resting against the trunk at the foot of her bed, Courtney across from her. The two of them had their own room at the bottom of the dormitory, where they were attempting some third year potions, trying to get caught up.
"You sound like Granger," Courtney warned. "All that whining.. maybe you should be in Gryffindor..."
"All that screwing up, maybe you should be in Hufflepuff," Nikki snarled, then returned to reading the directions the professor had written for them. "Say.. what the hat said..." Nikki pondered, then glanced down. "Corky, no, don't add the scarabs yet, its not up to temperature!"
"Bah, it'll be fine," Courtney shrugged, dropping the scarabs.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Nikki caught the scarabs right before they could fall in. "Merlin's arse, woman! Why don't you let me finish this, and you can start on the reading for transfiguration, eh?"
"Why are you all of a sudden so scared to screw up?" Courtney asked, eyebrow raised. "Trying to impress Snape?"
"No, but this is MY cauldron, and OUR room! Don't you remember what happened to Longbottom in first year? Imagine what can happen with a potion considered two years more advanced, especially without a teacher around to help if it gets out of control..."
"Good point. So anyway, what did the hat say that's got you all ruffled?" Courtney played with a lighter.
"Don't play with that near all our potions supplies, you dirk!" Nikki hissed, then added the scarbs to the potion, watched it turn from green to purple, and jotted something down on a parchment. "Anyway.. it wasn't anything huge.. it just said.. it said I was like my father, that's all..."
"You mean your dad was a Slytherin, too?" Courtney raised an eyebrow. "Hey, the cauldron is going to boil over, miss perfectionist. Keep an eye on it, will you?"
"Oops," Nikki turned the fire down. "I shouldn't try to talk and think at once. You'd think I'd know that by now... oh, good!" She grinned when the potion turned so dark red it was almost looking black, like blood. "Awesome, it worked!"
"Well, shove it in a vial so we can go bring it to Snapey poo," Courtney got up and dusted herself off while Nikki filled a vial, turned the fire off completely, and corked it, following her friend up the stairs to the common room.
"So, anyway.. I wonder how your dad went from Hogwarts to a Muggle car dealership," Courtney pondered. "I mean, at least my dad was raised by Roman Catholics, and my mom's a squib, so it makes sense that they live with Muggles.."
"Yeah," Nikki sighed. "Say, you think maybe.. I mean, my mom was the same age as Potter's parents, so she's about Snape's age... you think maybe... he might have known my dad? Since they were both Slytherin, around the same time?"
"We'll have to ask," Courtney shrugged.
"Maybe I'll do the talking, eh? Last time I let you open your mouth, you started quoting the deleted chapters of 'Exodus.'"
"Hey, it was a legitimate question!" Courtney huffed.
"You asked him what color his underwear was!"
"I meant it in a scientific way!"
"You... you dirkweed," Nikki shook her head, exasperated, and knocked on the door to Snape's classroom, as the last of the students filed out. "Hello, Professor Snape?... Hello?"
"Snape had to bring Longbottom to the infirmary again," Ron gestured to the hole burned clean through the thick stone floor, tucking a long strand of his hair behind his ear. "Say, aren't you two.."
Nikki looked down at her Slytherin t-shirt, then over at Courtney, who was wearing a t-shirt that read 'kiss me, I'm evil.' Suddenly, it occurred to her that they weren't making the best first impression with the redheaded Gryffindor.
"We're the new kids," Nikki forced a smile. "You probably already got to know my charming buddy Tyler.."
"Yeah," Ron laughed a little. "I'm afraid so. Say, aren't you his sister?"
"Yes," Nikki nodded. "And sometimes girlfriend, apparently."
Ron looked a little puzzled, then disgusted.
"So," Nikki smiled as Courtney bit back a smirk. "You think if we wait here, Snape will show up?"
"Yeah," Ron said quickly and nodded, more a jerk of the head than a gesture, before walking off at top speed.
"In the immortal words of Pierce Williamson," Nikki grinned at Courtney, "Yes, incest is best."
"Say, he's gotten rather cute, hasn't he?" Courtney glanced off toward where Ron could still be seen in the crowd, as he was a foot taller than most everyone in it. NIkki sighed, stepping into the classroom, and sat down on one of the stools toward the front. Courtney, having lost sight of Ron as he headed up a set of stairs, sighed and followed Nikki in to the class, but something caught her eye across the hall, in Snape's office.
"Courtney, stay where I can see you," Nikki warned, seeing Courtney looking out into the hall.
"Snape's office door is open," Courtney pointed out.
"Good for the door. Don't go in," Nikki sighed.
"But Snape is paranoid. And with good reason-"
"Meaning it's likely jinxed, and you'll loose a limb if y ou try to go in," Nikki added.
"...If that doors open, then what if some Gryffindork put something in there? Like, stinkbombs or something?" Courtney was still standing in the classroom doorway, staring out into the hall at the open door.
"Courtney," Nikki sighed, "Even if someone did, we don't know enough magic to be able to fix it. The best thing we can do is stay right here until Snape comes back, and scare off anyone who feels the urge to go in there in the meantime."
"Nikki.. there's something glowing... hey! I've got an idea!"
"Courtney!" Nikki carefully put the vial of potion down, then walked after Courtney, who was standing in the empty hallway, peeking into the office.
"It's his pensieve," Courtney whispered. "Hey.. if your dad was a Slytherin, around the same time as Snape..."
"Courtney, don't! You read Order of the Phoenix," Nikki warned. "Don't you remember what happened when Harry went in there?"
"Yeah, it was awesome!"
"Until Snape busted him! He threw jars of picked animals at him! We can't afford to get on his bad side this early in the year, Corky. We need to pass."
"No, you're missing my point, Nikki," Courtney's tone wasn't joking anymore. "Remember what Harry saw? His time in Hogwarts. Maybe we can see who your dad is. Aren't you curious?"
"I want to know, but not badly enough to do something that stupid," Nikki sighed, shaking her head. When she looked up, Courtney was in the office, looking down into the pensieve, wand in hand. "Courtney, no! Get back here!" Nikki grabbed Courtney's arm, trying to pull her away from the glowing stone basin. Courtney touched her wand to the silver, glowing memories, and they were both drawn in.
"Here we are, Hogwarts! Yes!" Courtney giggled, looking around at the History of Magic classroom, nearly twenty years earlier.
"You are going to get us into so much trouble," Nikki moaned, pale as though Snape was already standing over them.
"Well, we might as well get what we came for, if we're going to get into trouble either way," Courtney smirked.
"We are so screwed," Nikki grumbled. "Come on, let's find Snape."
"Aren't we supposed to be looking for your dad?"
"I don't know what he sodding looks like! Besides, we need to follow Snape, since it's his memories," Nikki pointed out, and began wandering through the room as though it were present time, peeking around tables and such, in search of the potions master.
"There he is," Courtney pointed to a desk toward the front just as class ended, where a young Severus Snape was getting up, moving to leave class, following the other students out the door. As they followed him down the hallway, he fell in step behind a girl with platinum blonde hair, a fellow Slytherin, around his age. She waved, as though trying to get someone's attention.
"Tracey, wait up!" the blonde called, and a girl in Ravenclaw robes, with thin, deep brown hair turned to face them. Nikki stopped short for a moment. It was her mother.
"Hi, Narcissa," Tracey smiled.
"Where are you going?" Narcissa asked conversationally.
"I.. I have plans," Tracey seemed overwhelmingly interested in her feet.
"You aren't going to sneak off to see him again, are you?" Narcissa frowned with distain. "He's trouble, Tracey."
"Sod off, Cissa," Tracey sighed. "It's nothing, really."
"That crowd he runs with... troublesome bastards, every last one of them," Narcissa sighed, tossing her long, pale hair back over her shoulder with a quick jerk of her neck. "Honestly, Tracey, you shouldn't have anything to do with them. Especially him."
"Please," Tracey scoffed. "Who would you pair me with? Pettigrew?"
"He's be a better match," Narcissa sighed. "At least he's pureblood. And he's less dangerous than the rest of his crowd, you have to give him that."
"Honestly," Tracey sighed. "I couldn't care less if he's pureblood or not. I like him, okay?"
"I'm telling you, he's more trouble than he's worth," Narcissa sighed, walking away.
"Use a name, already!" Nikki growled in desperation. "Give me a bloody name to work with, here!"
"We've got to follow her," Courtney grabbed Nikki's arm, trying to drag her after the girl who, in a huff, was now storming off go meet with her mysterious boyfriend, who both girls agreed had to be Nikki's father.
"But we can't!" Nikki sighed, pointing over at Severus, who had fallen a few steps behind, reading as he walked. Growling to herself, Courtney gave up, knowing they wouldn't be able to go follow, until, surprisingly, Severus turned in the same direction. Eagerly, they followed him down the hallways, and toward the library, eyes open, peering around every possible corner, looking for Tracey, but to no avail. Sighing, they followed Severus into the library, where he scanned the shelves, grabbed a book, sat down at the nearest empty table, and started writing. Courtney started cursing at the top of her lungs, yammering about how incredibly boring Severus was, and how she wished he was secretly in love with Nikki's mother and stalking her, as that would make their little mission so much easier. Nikki sat on the table where Severus worked, watching him write, sighing with defeat, when she thought she heard something around the corner.
"Courtney, be quiet."
"Why? No one can hear me but you, I mean, sodding hell.."
"Shut up! I think I hear something.."
Nikki got up from the table, and went around the corner of the bookshelf, only to stop short in abject terror. Courtney rounded the corner, and a few more vulgarities escaped her mouth, this time, in a whisper.
Tracey was leaning against the bookshelf, moaning slightly, her mouth clamped tightly on that of a man about her own age, in Gryffindor robes, with chestnut hair. From the angle where they stood, the two girls could only see part of his face, but Nikki, without ever having met him before, knew exactly who he was.
Remus Lupin.
Nikki fell to her knees, and felt the cold stone of Severus' office under her, but didn't even seem to notice that they were back where they belonged, that image burned into the back of her eyelids. Courtney grabbed Nikki's arm, trying to pull her to her feet.
"Hurry up, we need to get out of here before Snape comes back," Courtney hissed. Nodding blankly, Nikki let Courtney pull her to her feet, and they headed back into the Potions classroom, Nikki sitting back down on the stool in front of their vial of Potion, staring at it as though she wasn't even really alive anymore.
"Nikki... that couldn't be right... you're not..."
"What couldn't be right?" Snape asked, coming up behind them silently. "If it's your Potion, then I'm not even gong to ask why you're here."
"No, no, the Potion came out fine," Courtney forced a smile. "We were.. umm.. discussing our History essays, right, Nikki?"
Nikki nodded, still not speaking. Snape took the vial of potion from in front of her, inspecting it.
"Looks adequate, which isn't saying much, as it's only a third year level assignment, but certainly progress. Let me get you your next assignment, so that you can move on."
"Professor Snape, sir?" Nikki said softly.
"Yes, Miss LeComte?"
"I was just wondering.. did you know my mother, when she attended Hogwarts?"
"What was her maiden name?" Snape asked absentmindedly, writing something down on a slip of parchment.
"Tracey LeComte," Nikki said calmly. Severus paused, the quill in his hand hovering over the parchment for a moment, before he cleared his throat, and continued writing.
"She was the same year as I was, only Ravenclaw," he replied calmly. "I didn't know her well, but I did have a few classes with her, and a mutual friend. Why do you ask, Miss LeComte?"
"Just curious," Nikki sighed. "I recently found out that she lied to me about who my biological father is, so I thought that maybe, if you knew her, you might have some clues for me, but if you didn't know her well.."
"She didn't really converse much with Slytherins, aside from Narcissa Malfoy -then Miss Black- but I did speak with her a few times. She was more fond of Gryffindors than Slytherins, though, I know that much."
"She was friends with Potter's parents, wasn't she?" Courtney said quietly.
"Till the day she left," Severus sighed. "A shame, really. She was too smart for that crowd. So much wasted potential.. Well, here's your next assignment. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class starting in a few minutes, and need to prepare."
"Thank you, Professor," Nikki nodded, taking the piece of parchment, and stashing it in her pocket, following Courtney out the door. Courtney turned toward the common room, but Nikki passed her, heading for the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Courtney asked.
"Go on without me," Nikki sighed. "I have to speak to someone."
Fifteen minutes later, Nikki was at the door to Professor McGonnagal's office.
"Well, hello there, Miss LeComte," Minerva smiled. "Can I help you with something?"
"Yes," Nikki said softly. "I need to speak to the Headmaster."
