A/N Yet another chapter
Chapter 11. Things that wail in the night
Long after Ellen had left Severus was still drinking and thinking about the horrible mistake had just made. How could he let her befriend him? But it wouldn't last long, he thought, once she found out about his past and what he had done she wouldn't want to be his friend any more. He picked up the glass Ellen had used and hurled it across the room, as it hit the stonewall it shattered into pieces.
Winter was a horrible time to take messages, especially outside. There was a day in mid January when she had to spend the day taking messages by hand between Hogwarts and Hogsmead. The snow was still deep up to her knees and the day was a mixture of snowstorms and rain. Ellen felt as though she was a walking icicle. The only good thing was wherever she went she was greeted warmly and given hot reviving drinks.
By the end of the day she was exhausted and FREEZING! Trudging down to her room dripping wet from rain and meted snow she noticed that Snape had the fire going in his office. She went in not caring what he said to her she just wanted to be warm.
'Nice day?' Severus asked when he saw her
'Beautiful' she managed to get out though chattering teeth. She went and stood in front of the fire, which was right behind his desk, and started to pull of some of the many layers of clothing she was wearing dumping them on the floor. She knew the best way to get warm again would to get changed out of the clothes she was wearing but she couldn't detach herself from the fire.
Severus couldn't help but feel for Ellen as he saw her shivering in front of his fire.
'Go have a hot shower.' he said putting his cloak around her, and lead her towards her room. She had to admit it was a good idea.
She took off her clothes a pulled back the shower curtain.
'Holy Crap!' Severus heard her exclaim from his room. The door that adjoined his room to the bathroom opened and Ellen's head poked around it.
'Could you help me for a second. There is an enormous spider in the bathtub.'
Severus joined her in the bathroom trying not to notice that all she was wearing was a towel.
'Women.' He muttered 'its probably only as big as a-' He stopped seeing the spider. 'Ok that is a massive spider.' He admitted vanishing it with his wand.
That night Ellen woke with a start and she didn't know what woke her. She lay looking at the ceiling trying to go back to sleep. She was nice and warm now; the shower had really done the trick. She needed to give back Severus's cloak it was hanging off one of the posts of her bed. All of a sudden there was a great wailing scream that rang throughout the castle. Ellen sprang up and went to look out into the corridor. Severus had done the same.
'What on earth was that?' Ellen asked when the wailing stopped. Severus didn't answer but started down the corridor towards the source. Ellen followed him until he stopped outside his office, the door was ajar and Snape slammed it shut again cursing loudly. The action was so violent Ellen thought the door was going to break off its hinges. She again was going to ask what he was doing when he walked, or rather strode, down the hall out of sight.
When Snape returned he stopped again outside his office, the door was again ajar. He went in, crashing the door open. Ellen was standing over the spilled contents of his store cupboard.
'What are you doing?' He asked sharply
'What I do best.' She answered not affected by his tone.
'What is that exactly?' He said sarcastically 'Playing detective?'
'Well yes actually, that is what I do, I'm a detective. Well at lest I will be when I leave here.'
'Any leads Detective? He asked patronizingly
'Well no, I don't because I have no idea if anything is missing or not. So far it is just destruction of property and trespass.'
Snape swept his eyes over the contents of his cupboard. His brow creased in frustration.
'Some items used to make polyjuice potion are missing.' He said at last.
'Ok then' Ellen said ' I have no idea what that is, but no matter. Moving on who would want to take the...items in question?'
'No idea.' He did have some idea but the list of suspects would be very long.
'Ok, That narrows it down.' Ellen said sarcastically. Her attention shifted to something on the floor. Severus followed her gaze but couldn't see what she was looking at.
'What?' he asked Ellen wondering what she had found. She bent down and picked up a single hair.
'Who do you know who is blond?'
Snape rolled his eyes and tugged at her loose ponytail.
'Are you so blond that you have forgotten that you are blond?'
'No,' Ellen sighed 'other than me, and someone who would actually want to steal from you.'
Snape reached down to pick up one of the bottles that had fallen out of the cupboard, and in doing so managed to scrape a long gash down his let forearm on another bottle that had broken.
'Severus!' Ellen exclaimed
'What?' he asked her not noticing what he had done.
'You must never move anything in a crime scene! And your bleeding!'
Severus looked at where the long sleeve of his nightshirt was turning crimson with blood.
'Its just a scratch.' He said trying not to make a big deal out of it.
'A scratch wouldn't bleed like that!' Ellen said not taking her eyes off his wound.' Here let me help.' She went to pull up his sleeve to get a better look
'Why?' He asked suspiciously pulling his arm away.
'Why? Because I'm a vampire.' Ellen opened her eyes wide and advanced on him.
'That is not funny.' Snape said pushing her back unimpressed.
'Sure it is.' Ellen retorted. 'C'mon come here, let me look, your bleeding everywhere.' Snape grudgingly let her pressurize his wound with her hand. 'Do you have a magic potion that with fix this?' She asked looking around.
'Yes, over there on that shelf.' He said pointing to a jar with yellowish liquid in it. Still with a firm grip on his gash Ellen took the jar off the shelf and dragged Severus down the corridor to their bathroom. Why did everything time he saw her have to end in him getting hurt? He thought.
She took her hand away from the cut, her hand soaked in his blood. She turned on the tap and started to pull up his sleeve.
'Stop Fussing!' he said trying to push his sleeve back down
'No, keep still.' She finished pulling up his sleeve. 'Oh god...' She whispered.
Severus's heart fell, he knew what she had seen, his Dark Mark tattoo. It was brighter than it had been in years but not as bright as it could be. He didn't know what she would think of him now. Not that he cared he added to his thought.
'That is the ugliest tattoo I've ever seen. Were you drunk when you got it?' she asked.
Severus didn't answer; he was relived by her ignorance.
'There will be a time when she finds out' he said to himself grimly. Ellen pulled his arm under the running water washing the blood away.
'What was all that commotion about before?' Ellen asked fetching a handful of cotton balls.
'Oh nothing, Potter's egg went off and Moody came to cover it up...' he said vaguely still thinking about who would have broken into his office.
'Ok...and does that have anything to do with your office?' She asked pouring the yellow liquid on a cotton ball and smearing it on his wound, it disappearing almost straight away.
'Maybe.' He said thoughtfully 'maybe.'
'Well never the less I will find out who broke into your office even though the odds are against me.'
'Don't bother it was probably a student it was the last time.' He didn't want her meddling with his affairs.
'Its happened before?' she asked. Severus nodded. 'What does the potion do?'
'If you have part of a person, i.e. a hair or fingernail, and you put it in the potion you physically turn into that person.'
'I see... and who'd want to do that?'
Severus thought, he didn't actually know but there was defiantly foul play afoot.
A/N I'm not sure if this chapter makes sense tell me if it doesn't
