If a dog jumps into your lap it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing it is because your lap is warmer. -A. N. Whitehead
"Tch." Kerri made a disproving noise in the back of her throat as she looked over the essay in front of her. Dipping her pen in the vial of red ink she had borrowed from Professor McGonagall, she began to cross out huge chunks of it. "You would think that a fifth -year would know the difference between Ginger and Juniper!" she complained to Willow. The little cat was crouched on the desk in front of her, watching the quill pen closely.
She'd managed to teach a week of classes, surviving in spite of Umbridge, her still-looming detentions next week and the bubotuber incident in the first-years class. Snape was recovering swiftly, but Dumbledore thought it best that he stay in the Hospital Wing for a full week. She'd protested, of course, but to no avail. So now she was stuck teaching the rest of his classes, and grading his essays. She growled and took out her frustration on the poor, defenseless piece of parchment.
So absorbed in the grading was she that she nearly fell out of her chair in shock and scored a great thick line across the paper when someone knocked on her door. She glared at the offending line, pulled out her wand and attempted to fix it. However, a few sad wisps of smoke were all she could produce. Guess my luck's run out again. She smacked the tip of the wand against the desk in annoyance, but stopped quickly when it began spitting sparks at her. Willow backed up and looked at her reproachfully.
Suddenly remembering why she'd caused the mess in the first place, Kerri hurried over to the door, hoping her visitor hadn't left yet. She opened it to a faceful of confetti and two very familiar claps on her back.
"Congratulations on your first detention!" the twins crowed.
"Wha?" she sputtered, wiping glitter from her eyes.
"In honor of your first detention-"
"-Week of detentions-"
"-And first mouthing-off to Toad-Woman-"
"-Absolutely brilliant-"
"-Well, for an amateur, at least-"
"-Anyway, we were saying-"
"-We're taking you to Hogsmeade!"
"C'mon, the others are waiting."
"I-eh-wha-why?" was all that Kerri could get out as Fred and George grabbed her and spirited her off down the hallway.
"You did warn her, didn't you?" demanded Hermione as Kerri was dragged up to the front gates a few moments later. The twins looked hurt and started to protest. She blinked at the glitter still clinging to Kerri's hair and shook her head. "Nevermind. I don't want to know."
"C'mon, you slowpokes! They're leaving!" Ron waved his arms frantically at them. As they jogged over to him, Kerri looked around. "Where's Harry?"
Both Fred and George winced. Ginny glanced at them in worry then ducked her head close to Kerri's and whispered, "He's not really feeling up to going." she paused, then, prompted by Kerri's questioning look, continued. "You didn't hear? Umbridge got him, Fred and George banned from the Quiddich team...permanently."
"What?" Kerri's shriek of outrage made heads whip around all over. Blushing a deep scarlet, she clapped a hand over her mouth, suddenly feeing the weight of those eyes. Did they have to stare so? The dozens of unfamiliar faces were making her panic. "S-sorry. Sorry." As she tried to keep from looking at anyone, she felt her foot come down on a round rock. Involuntarily, she yelped again, falling through the hands that grabbed for her. She hit the ground, curling up in terrified, pained embarrassment. Stop looking at me! Stop, please! Stop...
"Miss Harper, if you continue to shriek like that, I will inform Hagrid to add you to his curriculum. That decibel clearly does not belong in the human range." A slow, silky voice threaded its way into her terror. As unwelcome as it was, she mentally grasped onto it like a lifeline, clinging to its familiarity.
Looking up, she saw Professor Snape standing over her with a sneer. Reaching down, he pulled her roughly to her feet, ignoring the indignant yells of her friends behind them. Holding her at arms length, he looked her up and down, a cursory inspection for injury that nonetheless brought heat to her cheeks. "Do you mind?" she hissed at him.
He released her at once. "Just making sure that you didn't manage to sever a main artery or something of the like," he said coolly. "I wouldn't put that past you, really."
"Says the man who just spent the last week in the Hospital Wing." she retorted quietly, adjusting her skirts. "Speaking of which, why are you here?"
He sighed. "Poppy though I ought to 'get some fresh air before I wither away.' Unfortunately for me, she said it in Albus' hearing. Thus, I am burdened with the dubious pleasure of escorting this lot to Hogsmeade. And you? Don't you have papers to grade, Miss Harper?"
"I'm going with my friends." she snapped, "They invited me, and I'm going. You can grade your own ruddy papers because I am this close to burning the lot of them-"
"Very well."
"-and no matter what you say-what?" It took a couple of seconds for Kerri's brain to catch up with her mouth. She blinked at him blankly. "What?"
"I said, 'Very well.' You're quite sure you didn't hit your head after that rather amusing fall? By all means, be out of my hair for several hours. Just don't get yourself lost or snatched by a roaming Death Eater." Snape shrugged, hen began to walk past her. He stopped as a thought had occurred to him, turned, and placed a hand on her shoulder. He bent to whisper in her ear. "I will, however, require your presence at the Three Broomsticks at three-o-clock this afternoon. Do try not to be late once in your life."
Kerri twisted about to look him in the face, but only caught a quick glimpse of his eyes as he straightened and stalked off, throwing a sneering glance at the cluster of Gryffindors as he passed. "Bugger you." she muttered to herself as she watched him go, "You could have just asked."
After getting of the train in Hogsmeade, Kerri was in awe. She's never imagined such a beautiful place existed. The twins teased her briefly about acting like a muggle, but she only waved them off as she ran from store window to store window. When she came to Honeydukes, she let out a cry of delight and dove inside.
By the time the others caught up with her, she was already happily nibbling away at a fist-sized hunk of chocolate. She explained to them as they filled their own bags of goodies that it had been the only candy allowed inside the Auror headquarters and she'd developed quite the addiction.
"You should have met Professor Lupin." said Ginny absently as she examined the displays. "Do y'think Harry would like some Chocolate Frogs?"
"I suppose so, but you , 'Mione and Ron know better than I. Wasn't Lupin the werewolf?"
Yeah, but he was ten times the DADA teacher that Umbridge will ever be!" announced Ron as he leaned over Ginny's shoulder to get a fistful of frogs.
"Oh, no, I didn't mean-that is, I-" Kerri stopped, flustered and tried again, "I wasn't saying that there was something wrong with being a werewolf."
" 'Sokay. Didn't think you were. Y'know Kerri, you ought to try some of the candy that George and I make sometime."
Kerri looked over Fred's shoulder at Hermione, who was frantically making 'no' gestures and grinned weakly, "Er…thanks, but…um…" she cast about for a change of subject. "Er…So Professor Lupin really liked chocolate?"
"Always had some." said Ron around a mouthful of frog. "'Course, most of it was because it's a Dark Arts remedy. Dementors, you know."
They paid for their candy and wandered out of the store. Kerri cast a quick look at the huge clock in the center of town. Good. Only noon. She had plenty of time before she had to meet Snape. She looked back down in time to see the rest of her group duck into Zonko's. Ginny stopped at the door and waved to Kerri.
Joke shop? No thanks. I'd be too tempted to actually use the stuff I bought. "I'll meet you back out here. I just want to walk around some more." she called over to the redhead. Ginny nodded and disappeared inside.
Sticking another chuck of chocolate in her mouth, Kerri wandered next door to examine the windows of Gladrags. She really needed a new cloak after what happened to the last one. She surreptitiously glanced in her purse, then grimaced at the prices. Maybe the next time she got to Diagon alley, she could go to the second-hand shop. Or maybe one of her friends had a spare one. She shivered. Definitely needed one soon. It was November after all.
"Why am I not surprised that you forgot your cloak, Miss Harper?"
"Why am I not surprised you couldn't pass up a chance to make a snarky comment, Professor Snape?" She turned to see him glowering down at her.
"You do realize, Miss Harper, that were you a regular student, your house would be in the negative values for points?"
"I doubt I'd care even if I were." She stepped a little closer and hissed under her breath, "In case it slipped your mind, my cloak was sacrificed to hold your ungrateful hide together, Professor." She felt her stomach twist somewhat at the memory.
Something flickered in the back of Snape's eyes, before it was quenched by another sneer. "Yes, I do remember. It was wool, wasn't it? Not very high quality either, given how I itched for a week afterward. I suggest you purchase something a little better next time, if you can keep from spending your money on those cats of yours?" He waved away her indignant look and headed off to deduct points from a pair of Gryffindors who had just run by.
Kerri clenched her fists in fury. It was all she could do not to pick up a rock from the path and fling it at the black-haired head in front of her. As she stood there, trying to decide whether to scream or cry, she heard a footstep behind her.
Stomach clenching, Kerri spun around…to see the cheerful, open face of a boy not much older than herself. He beamed down at her and said, "He ain't changed much, has he?"
"N-no," she found herself stammering, "I-I suppose not. Were you a student at Hogwarts?"
"Aye. Only, what, two years back? Had ol' Snape there as a professor, same as you. Didn't mouth off quite as much, though."
Kerri blushed and hung her head. The boy laughed and stuck out a hand. "I'm Dillon, miss. I help Ma and Dad with the sweetshop here."
Kerri took the proffered hand, but couldn't resist a glance at his left forearm, hating herself all the while for being so suspicious. It was as unblemished as the day he was born, and she breathed a sigh of relief. "P-pleased to meet you, Dillon. I'm Kerri." She noted, with some pride, that her voice barely shook at all. "I'm studying potions with Professor Snape."
"Ah, I overheard some of the Weasleys talking about you last Hogsmeade trip. I must admit that I was curious about you." The slightest touch of color infused his already rosy cheeks. "Um…I don't mean to impose, but could I invite you over to the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer? That is if you don't want to look around Hogsmeade some more."
Kerri debated for a moment. She did come to Hogsmeade with her friends, but it seemed rude to turn down such a nice boy. After all, it was a small village, the others could find her fairly quickly if they needed her. And maybe it would show Professor Snape a thing or two if he saw her carrying on a conversation with a complete stranger. Perhaps it would show him she wasn't a complete failure after all. Part of her was slightly bothered by this thought. Why should she care what Professor Snape thought of her? And why should she use this poor boy to change his opinion?
Shut up! she told herself fiercely. I have every right to spend some time with a boy my own age! I'm doing this for myself and no one else! I deserve a normal life, the kind of life that's been denied to me up until now. Why can't I have it? A life away from the Aurors and away from Professor Snape?
And why am I not completely sure I want it?
She managed to squelch her doubts, somewhat, but not enough to be able to return Dillon's open, honest smile. Stretching her mouth into the closest parody she could manage, she said, "I'd be happy to join you, Dillon." After a moment of hesitation, she took his proffered arm and walked off with him, determined to enjoy herself.
Little bitch. Snape watched the pair wander off toward the Three Broomsticks. When the boy had asked her to join him, he'd noticed several barely discernable emotions flicker across Kerri's face. He was certain the boy hadn't caught any of them. He remembered Dillon Honeydukes from his classes. A friendly boy, if a bit simple, sorted into Hufflepuff, of course. Granted, the boy didn't have the advantage of having spent nearly three months with the crazy little thing and her various personalities.
Indecision, anger, and one quick flash where she looked at the boy as if he were a choice ingredient for one of her potions; appealing, but merely in a clinical, useful sense. The flickers of emotions meant, as best he could tell, that she wasn't sure if she should accept the invitation, but for some reason she had concluded that it was in her best interest. Likely using the poor, stupid boy as a way to get back at him, Snape thought. For what, he was unsure. Decidedly Slytherinish, oddly enough. He would have never considered her a possible candidate for his house before now. He'd always figured her more for Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.
Considering this new development, Snape stared absently through the Gladrags window. A thought tickles the back of his brain. Perhaps I…it was her own fault…she hasn't the money…she made the decision, she should live with the consequences…Albus will kill me if I don't… He scowled furiously, and turned his back on the display. I won't be beholden to her for anything…but I won't give her the easy way out either!
Kerri was actually beginning to enjoy herself. Dillon had regaled her with stories of his school days, and she'd responded in turn, wishing she had more stories of her own to tell. She'd already gone through the majority of her three months at Hogwarts, minus the Death Eater attacks, when the others showed up to rescue her. The seven of them had spent an amusing couple of hours chatting away and sipping butterbeer. Ron discovered that Dillon had been the keeper of the Hufflepuff Quiddich team, and began grilling him on his favorite plays. They all bemoaned the loss of a good fraction of the Gryffindor team (Dillon none too seriously), and expressed horror at what the ministry had done to the school.
When Kerri left to get the next round, Hermione followed her.
"So, what do you think?" the frizzy-haired girl asked.
"Of the butterbeer? It's a little sweet for my taste, really, but not bad."
"No, silly! Of Dillon! The poor boy's been making eyes at you the whole conversation."
Kerri sighed and leant against the bar. "Honestly? I have the same thoughts about him as I do the butterbeer. I've never dealt with sweet in a human being before, and it's a touch overwhelming." Hermione gave her a 'you're joking' look. "No, really. The Aurors aren't much for cuddling, and I went straight from them to Professor Snape, who's about as sweet as quinine." She shrugged. "It's not unpleasant, and I could get used to it, but would it be an unkindness to lead the poor boy on while I'm making up my mind?"
Hermione shook her head. "I have news for you, Kerri. Most people in this world aren't like Snape. I wouldn't want to live here if they were. Dillon is a nice man. A kind, sweet, loyal man. I think that you would have to have a very good reason not to let this chance slip through your fingers. And I don't think you have one."
Kerri glanced over her shoulder and hissed, "Hermione, you're making it sound like a life decision!"
"Isn't it?"
"Alright, alright, I'll give him a chance. Who knows, I could get to like sweet. Considering the alternative…"
"Which you had better get used to, Miss Harper, if you intend to get anything done under my supervision."
Kerri winced and spun around. "Do you enjoy sneaking up on me or something?" she demanded.
Snape crossed his arms and stared down his nose at her. "Not especially. If you actually paid attention to the world around you it wouldn't seem as though I was. Now, if I may intrude on your precious social time? Or have you forgotten that I need to speak with you? You did at least manage to be in the right place at the right time, though in the wrong company."
She glared at him. "Just a moment. Hermione, do you have a quill?" Uncertainly, Hermione dug in her robes and pulled out the asked-for item. Kerri thanked her and marched over to the table where the others sat. Scribbling her owling address on a napkin, she handed it to Dillon with a smile. She returned, gave the quill back, and looked at Snape expectantly. "What did you need Professor?"
He pointed to a corner table. "Sit."
She sat.
He joined her a moment later. "What did you give to Mr. Honeydukes?"
"That, Professor, is none of your business. What did you need to talk about?"
He shrugged, dismissing his question as unimportant. She was to get no satisfaction in denying his curiosity. "We have obtained all of the ingredients necessary for the brewing of Veritaeserum. If you have no objections, I would like to start brewing as soon as possible. You will meet me in the dungeons every evening this week and-"
"Professor," Kerri interrupted, "I have detention with Professor Umbridge at that same time."
He looked at her with some surprise. "Really? How in Merlin's name did you manage that?"
"Er…I…um…I insinuated that she was a less than adequate teacher."
"Miss Harper, the truth if you please."
She hung her head and muttered something.
"Louder, Miss Harper. I am not sitting on the floor."
She sighed. "I told her she was incompetent and nosy. Then I asked her what the hell her problem was. She took it…poorly."
"I can imagine." Snape said dryly. "I'll have to have a word with her." Kerri looked up at him in surprise. "You are not her student, nor the student of any other professor at Hogwarts. The task of assigning your punishments belongs to me and me alone."
Lucky me…thought Kerri.
Snape saw her wince again. "I would consider myself lucky if I were you, Miss Harper. Dolores has a particularly sadistic streak. My detentions, at least, do not leave the student permanently harmed. That isn't to say that they are not…unpleasant. I'll convince her that our potion brewing sessions are your detention. The fact that they will last for more than a month should be enough to appease her."
"Um…Thank you?"
"Your gratitude is overwhelming, Miss Harper."
Kerri laced her fingers together and looked suddenly uncertain. "Um…Professor, if I could ask you something?"
"Yes?"
"While I was teaching your classes, I had another run-in with Draco Malfoy. Um…he said something that seemed to indicate that there was something wrong. Do you know-"
"I'm afraid that that is none of your business. It is something that will remain between him and me as student and Head of House. You will know if and only if he ever elects to tell you." At approximately the same time Hell freezes over. he added mentally.
"Oh."
The whistle announcing the arrival of the train back to Hogwarts sounded. Snape stood. "You had best bid farewell to your new friend. I'll need to go make sure we don't leave anyone behind, for all the loss that would be."
And students began exiting the Three Broomsticks, cold air begin to waft in. Kerri shivered again. The sun was going down, and the air was really beginning to have a bite to it. She rubbed her arms rapidly, hoping that the train would be nice and warm. Suddenly, a heavy warmth enveloped her. Reaching around herself, she found the black hem of a cloak on her shoulders. She glanced over at Snape to see him regarding her with mild annoyance. The faint spicy scent of potion ingredients invaded her nose, and she realized in shock that it was his cloak. Protesting, she tried to give it back.
Brow furrowed, he merely plopped it straight back onto her shoulders. "I have the magical ability to transfigure myself a replacement. You do not. You will, however, return it to me the instant we get back to Hogwarts because I know it will become one great mass of cat hair otherwise"
She stammered out her thanks, which he waved off, frowning. "Go get on the train, Miss Harper," he instructed. "Now. I haven't the patience to herd you there along with the rest." As he stalked off, the others joined her, looking at the cloak in surprise.
Kerri just shook her head, bewildered as they. "I honestly don't know what to make of that man sometimes."