Disclaimer: Everything recognizable from the Harry Potter universe belongs to J K Rowling, no infringement is intended to any copyright holder
Beloved on this Earth
~ 0 ~
Lois sat cosily on one of the comfy staff room chairs, listening contentedly to the rain drumming noisily against the windows while she was snug and warm by a roaring fire. A few members of staff who were between classes were dotted about the room, also looking sleepily content. It felt safe and strangely comforting sitting here with the soft murmur of voices and the quiet sound of quills scratching on parchment as homework was marked; it made her feel as though she was part of a family again. Looking absently at her watch Los gave a slight groan as she saw the time; she was running late for her Potions lesson with Severus she realised, hurriedly closing the book she had been making notes from and standing up.
'Are you off Lois?' Elena Roupe asked taking a sip of her tea.
'Fraid so,' she said with a tired smile. 'You know what they say - no rest for the wicked.'
'Tell me about it,' Roupe commiserated, holding a large handkerchief to her nose and blowing noisily. 'Lois, while you're up would you be a dear and see if I left my cloak in the wardrobe?' she asked giving a slight shiver, 'I think I may be coming down with a cold,' she explained as Lois gave her a concerned look.
'Sure,' she agreed already walking towards the cupboard.
'Lois, NO!' Remus Lupin's shout came a second too late and Lois stumbled back in horror as her nightmare zombie toppled fully formed out of the wardrobe door in front of her. Even knowing immediately what it was, Lois's heart thundered heavily in her breast as terror froze her breath in her throat. With one move she staggered backwards, instinctively flinging her left arm over her eyes to block the horrific sight, her other hand whipping out to point towards the Boggart as she shouted, 'Riddiculus!' in a panicked tone.
The creature fell back with a loud crack and Remus, the only person other than Lois not frozen in place by the suddenness of it all, continued his dash towards her from the other end of the room. Unfortunately her own backwards momentum and lack of vision caused them to crash into each other at speed, sending them both tumbling heavily to the ground. She landed on top of Remus with a soft huff of surprise, guiltily grateful to him for inadvertently cushioning her fall onto the hard floor. Risking removing her hand from her eyes Lois looked up into the circle of shocked faces now encircling the tangled couple on the staff room floor.
'Lois, I'm so sorry!' Elena was saying quickly, her eyes filled with apology. 'You two all right down there?' Moody barked bending down to pull Lois to her feet, Hugo Quade doing the same for Remus who seemed to be having difficulty in getting his breath back.
'I'm fine,' Lois said hastily, noticing Filius using his wand to urge the Boggart back into the wardrobe, which had now taken the shape of what looked remarkably like one of the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz. She turned dazedly away from the curious sight reaching out an apologetic hand towards the gasping DADA professor. 'Oh Remus I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?' she asked worriedly.
'You might be a tiny thing Lois,' Lupin said with a wan smile, 'but you have very sharp elbows,' he said his hand pressed to his ribs, a pained expression on his face.
'Come on, I'm taking you to the Infirmary,' Lois ordered her training automatically taking over. 'Can you make it on your own, or should I conjure you a stretcher?' she asked oblivious to everything but her patient now.
'Lois, I'm fine,' Remus said trying to brush it off. 'You just knocked the wind out of me for a second, that's all,' he insisted his colour slowly beginning to return.
'Nevertheless, I'll feel better once Poppy's checked you out,' Lois said determinedly already guiding him from the room.
'Er, Lois,' Remus murmured hesitantly as they walked slowly towards the hospital wing, 'do you realise that you didn't have your wand out when you banished that Boggart?'
'I didn't?' Lois asked slowly only now realising that her hands were empty as her adrenaline levels dropped allowing rational thought to return. Damn it to hell, why was this happening to her? She felt a sudden desperate yearning for the time when her biggest worry was the possibility that she might have inherited her family's empathic healing skills. In comparison to this, that suddenly didn't seem so bad anymore. At least being empathic didn't make her some sort of dangerous oddity, it simply made her an Eadon and no one was surprised or wary about their particular abilities, nor would a display of them have resulted in the exceedingly curious look Remus was directing at her now.
What was even more disturbing about the accident in the staff room was the fact that Dumbledore still had no answers for her. After the incident in Severus's bedroom three nights ago, they had both awoken very late the following morning. So late in fact that they had missed breakfast altogether, although truthfully neither of them had been particularly hungry, which was lucky because despite his reassurances the previous night, Severus had had her washed and dressed and on the way to the Headmaster's office before she was even fully awake. Unfortunately, as before, she had been unable to recreate the wandless magic in Dumbledore's presence and they had all been left feeling highly frustrated and in Lois's case, just plain scared by the lack of progress. The elderly Professor had promised to double his research efforts and urged her again not to worry, but how could she not if it kept happening?
'So how did you do that?' Remus asked carefully, jolting her back to the present.
'Mmm, don't know,' Lois mumbled. 'Professor Dumbledore's looking into it for me,' she said in a tone of voice that encouraged no further questions, 'but until we know precisely what's going on, I'd appreciate it if you could not mention it to anyone just at the moment.'
'Okay, no problem,' he said easily obviously picking up on her reluctance to discuss it. 'And I doubt any of the others would have seen anyway. I only noticed myself because I had a front seat view, as it were.' Remus teased in attempt to lighten the suddenly heavy atmosphere.
'I really am sorry,' Lois said again, filled with remorse once more. The full moon had been just under a week ago and Remus still wasn't completely up to par yet. Her guilt eased a little as she suddenly remembered his warning shout just before she had opened the door; he'd obviously known the Boggart was in there so at least some of the blame lay with him. 'But what on earth was that thing doing in the wardrobe anyway? I tell you, it's a damn good job you talked me into that lesson on them, or I think I might have dropped dead from a heart attack when it lurched out at me.'
'Ah, now it's my turn to apologise,' Remus said with a wince. 'I'd just moved it from my office for a class this afternoon because there's more space to manoeuvre in the Staff Room. I meant to put a note on the wardrobe door after I finally managed to get it rammed in there, but I'm afraid I forgot,' he admitted guiltily.
'It's okay I forgive you. I got you back anyway didn't I?' she managed to ask lightly, her worry making it very difficult to concentrate on responding normally.
He gave a half laugh, stopping abruptly as it caused him pain. 'That'll teach me,' he said with a wry smile.
They made the rest of the trip in silence and on reaching the Infirmary Lois quickly left Remus with Poppy, her rising panic levels making her unable to wait any longer to speak to Severus about what had happened. Unfortunately her journey to the dungeon was halted when she came across Elena Roupe at the end of the corridor. Much as she didn't want to stop and chat, she was prevented from continuing on with just a smile when Elena gave a relieved sigh and made a beeline for her.
'Ah, Lois, good you are okay? I wanted to tell you again how sorry I am about your accident with the Boggart. I cannot believe I forgot it was there,' she said with annoyance her voice gruffer than usual.
'Elena, honestly, don't worry. The Boggart was good practice and as for the fall, it was poor Remus who took the brunt of it, I won't even have a bruise,' Lois assured, about to make her excuses and be on her way, when she noticed the dark flush on the other woman's cheeks.
'Are you okay Elena,' she said eyeing her with concern. 'You really don't look well at all. Do you want me to get you some Pepperup Potion now that you're here?' The DADA professor quickly opened her mouth to reply, but was prevented from doing so by a bout of painful sounding coughing which racked her large frame.
'No, there is no need,' Roupe said in a hoarse voice when she finally gained control of herself once more. 'I prefer not to take medicines unless absolutely essentially – it makes the body weak. This will pass,' she said waving a vague hand towards her head and body, which started her off coughing again.
'Elena are you sure you wouldn't like me to check you over?' Lois asked worriedly looking into the other woman's eyes, which were glittering with fever.
'No! That is not necessary I assure you,' she insisted quickly backing sharply away as Lois moved towards her, her arm outstretched ready to place an assessing hand on her forehead.
'Okay,' Lois said slowly, slightly hurt by Roupe's obvious doubt in her capabilities, but not wanting to make an issue of it. The important thing was that Elena got treatment if she needed it. 'Well if you change your mind, make sure you see Poppy okay? There's no shame in falling ill. Now, I'm afraid I've really got to get going Elena. I'm in a bit of a rush actually,' she said a slight frown appearing as she remembered why she had been hurrying.
'Oh, of course, don't let me delay you and thank you Lois for your concern, but I am fine, truly,' Elena said apologetically obviously misreading the reason for her frown. 'By the way,' she said as the two women separated at the staircase, 'although I regret being the cause of it, that was a very impressive piece of magic back there. Keep up the good work!'
Lois smiled her thanks for the compliment, her air of gloom immediately returning as she began her descent down the stone steps to the dungeon.
***
Severus sat in his empty classroom examining the small box sitting open on his desk. The single diamond surrounded by a circle of glowing Slytherin green emeralds sparkled brightly even in the darkness of the dungeon. His grandmother's engagement ring – probably the only relative he had fond memories off – retrieved from Grinogotts just this morning and awaiting a willing finger to place it on, namely Lois's.
Merlin's beard, this was it - he, Severus Snape, was going to propose. He sucked in a deep gulp of air in an attempt to combat the rising nausea that image caused and closed the ring box with a sharp snap, utterly disgusted by the cold terror flooding his body. This was worse than a bloody summons from Voldemort! With a deep sigh he pinched the bridge of his nose and wished with sudden longing for the good old days when you could simply go out and buy yourself a wife - providing you had enough gold and livestock that was. If he had been living back in those times he could have just handed over three oxen, maybe a couple of hens and a large sack of money to her father and been setting off on his honeymoon before Lois knew what had hit her. Nothing that easy now of course, now it took a lot more than wealth and a mercenary father-in-law to procure a wife. Now he actually had to involve Lois in the decision making process and therein lay the problem.
What if she says no? A treacherous little voice whispered for what seemed like the millionth time. He tried his best to ignore it, but the question was a valid one and not easily dismissed. Quite apart from the crushing disappointment such a response would cause, there were other, deeply worrying, repercussions connected to a refusal. Would it mean an automatic end to their time together? Did a no equal immediate severing of all romantic ties, or was there the option to continue on as they had before, simply never speaking of the humiliating incident again? Damn it, why weren't there universally agreed rules about this type of thing? Some kind of instruction book that clearly outlined the protocols of a suitor's allowed actions following refusal of a marriage proposal. If the author had an ounce of compassion, Oblivate would surely be listed as a perfectly acceptable first response, followed swiftly by the administration of a particularly potent Love Potion, or maybe even use of the Imperius curse if things were looking exceptionally grim.
Enough! He ordered himself firmly as the panic really began to take hold; she wasn't going to say no, not if his research was right, which it always was. He had spent the last few days carefully studying Lois's every reaction to him and replaying their entire relationship over and over in his head. After taking into account pretty much everything she had ever said or done, he had come to conclusion that unlikely though it was, all of the evidence pointed to the fact that she really did love him. Better still, Lois being Lois, he was equally sure that for her love and marriage went hand in hand, so realistically the likelihood of her turning him down was slim. His churning stomach began to thankfully settle as his confidence grew. He would take her out tonight to eat in Hogsmeade and at the end of the meal he would propose and she would say yes. There was absolutely nothing to worry about.
But what if she says no?
The hideous spiral of doubt was about to start all over again when a quick rap on the door had him hastily returning the box to his robe pocket, very glad that he had when Lois entered almost immediately.
'You're late,' he informed her coolly, truthfully not knowing whether she was or not, and saying it only to give himself time to regain control of his wayward emotions. Right now he wasn't too far off placing an Irremovable Charm on the ring and forcing it onto her finger. It would certainly be a lot easier on his nerves than the more traditional approach was proving to be.
'Sorry,' Lois said glumly walking towards him. 'I had a bit of an accident in the staff room and it put me behind.'
'Were you hurt?' he asked sharply, his glance quickly roving over her and all thoughts of romantic dinners flying clear out of his head.
'No, not me,' she said hurriedly, 'I opened the stupid wardrobe door where Remus was storing a Boggart for his classes and didn't know it was there. When it jumped out at me I panicked and flattened him in the rush to flee,' she confessed still slightly embarrassed over her cowardice.
'Was he hurt?' he asked in a voice which plainly said he hoped he was.
'Sorry - nothing serious,' she mocked before her expression drooped once more. 'There was something else though,' she admitted miserably.
'Well?' he prompted when she didn't immediately continue.
'I banished the Boggart without my wand,' she said almost in a whisper, before her eyes lifted to his, panic clearly shining in their depths. 'Dumbledore said this would fade Severus, but it doesn't seem to be getting any weaker and now I'm really starting to get scared. What if I accidentally hurt someone? What if… what if I transfigure you into an ant in my sleep? I could roll over and squash you and no one would ever know what had happened! Perhaps I should stay in my own rooms until we figure out what this is,' she offered mournfully. 'At least when I'm awake I have some control over my thoughts.'
'Wait a moment - do you even know how to transfigure someone into an ant?' Severus asked promptly, rolling his eyes in exasperation when she shook her head no. 'Well then thank you for the very generous offer, but I believe I will continue to take my chances - for the moment the benefits seem to outweigh the risks by a not inconsiderable amount,' he said sardonically and the comforting familiarity of his gentle mockery soothed her panic far better than hours worth of reassurance would have from anyone else. 'I am positive we will find an answer to this, it's simply taking more time than we initially imagined,' he assured matter of factly, 'and until then, all we can do is wait and keep Dumbledore informed.'
'Now?' she asked half hoping to put if off.
'I see no reason to delay,' he said standing and heading for the door, turning when he reached it to give her an impatient look. 'Well – are you coming?'
She nodded walking reluctantly to his side and gave a soft sigh of pleasure when he pulled her to his side for a quick hug before opening the classroom door. The journey to Dumbledore's office was carried out in silence until they reached the stone gargoyle. 'Jelly Babies,' Snape said in a disgusted tone shaking his head as the large statue swung open.
'Enter,' Dumbledore called from his room at their knock and Snape pushed the door open allowing Lois to precede him inside. Unfortunately the Headmaster was not alone. Snape and Alastor Moody, who was sitting in a chair by Dumbledore's desk, exchanged dark looks.
'Headmaster, I'm sorry I can see you're busy. We'll come back later,' Snape said distantly already grabbing Lois's elbow to hurry her from the room.
'No need Severus, Lois,' Dumbledore assured him amiably walking towards them. 'I believe we are all here for the same reason after all,' he said with a small smile, successfully detaching Lois from Snape and guiding her to a chair next to Moody. She gave the Dark Arts professor a cool nod in greeting as she sank cautiously down beside him.
'The same reason?' Snape questioned sharply moving to stand at Lois's side and ignoring the chair Dumbledore produced for him, a sour expression on his face.
'Indeed Severus,' Dumbledore said calmly before turning his attention towards Lois. 'I understand you had another episode today Lois?' he asked quietly.
'Oh, yes I… did,' she admitted with a startled glance at Moody who had obviously delivered the news. 'Although at the time I was so scared I didn't even realise I hadn't used my wand until Remus pointed it out later,' she confessed. 'I had hoped, as we'd discussed Professor, that it would be gone by now, or at least be weaker.'
'Mmm,' the Headmaster said thoughtfully, 'I must confess, I too hoped that your… ability would have burnt itself out by now. As it hasn't, I think it's time we had some outside assistance, hence Alastor's presence.'
'I'd be interested to see another example,' Moody suddenly said into the awkward silence that had fallen; neither Snape nor Lois particularly relishing input from the ex-Auror.
'If you were in the staff room today you will have already seen it Moody.' Snape answered in a hard voice.
'It's okay Severus, I don't mind,' Lois said quickly. 'Quite frankly I'd give a demonstration naked on live TV singing, "I'm just a girl who can't say no," at this point if it would help give us some idea what's going on.'
'I don't think that will be necessary quite yet,' Dumbledore twinkled. 'Perhaps if you could start off by telling us what exactly happened today?'
'Well, I accidentally opened the wardrobe that had a Boggart in it. I'd been studying them with Remus recently so I just automatically shouted "Riddiculus" and held my hand out, but I didn't have my wand in it.'
'And you say it would have worked if she hadn't used the spell Albus?' Moody questioned, obviously deciding to bypass both Lois and Snape for information.
'It always has previously, so I can only assume it would have done in this instance too,' Dumbledore replied. 'Is it still working now Lois?' he asked and out the corner of her eye she saw Severus's head whip round to face her as he realised he hadn't thought to ask that himself.
'Yes,' Lois admitted reluctantly. 'Or at least it was on the way down to the dungeons.' She cringed as she felt the sharpening of three pairs of eyes upon her.
Dumbledore rubbed his hands together with enthusiasm, lowering them with an apologetic grimace when Lois gaped at him dumfounded. 'Ah, yes, I'm sorry Lois I don't mean to seem insensitive. I do realise how much this upsets you, but I can't deny that I'm keen to see your ability in action as it were, not purely out of curiosity, but because more importantly it might help us discover how you are able to do this.' Lois heaved a deep sigh but nodded her agreement. 'Excellent! Now, I think perhaps we should try a more delicate piece of magic than banishing a Bogart this time - that way we can ascertain your level of control. We'll also be able to see whether extreme emotions are the only thing powering the skill now that you're calm – or rather calmer,' he amended when both Severus and Lois's eyebrows shot up. 'Let's see, why don't you try levitating this tea cup?' he suggested pointing to the china cup and saucer on his desk.
'Okay,' she agreed taking a steadying breath, her heart beginning to race uncomfortably. When she had her choppy breathing under slightly better control, she focussed on the cup saying the spell clearly in her head. To her horror, and Moody and Dumbledore's delight, the cup rose easily into the air, smooth and slow, without a single drop of tea being spilled.
'Very good,' Dumbledore said guarded excitement in his voice. 'You can lower it now.'
Lois concentrated again and the teacup floated safety back to the table.
'Amazing,' Moody breathed, staring at Lois with an almost greedy look in his eyes. 'Try something else,' he demanded and Lois placed a hand on Severus's arm as she felt him stiffen protectively beside her.
Noting her move Dumbledore spoke quickly, obviously hoping to avoid a clash between the two Professors. 'Why don't we see if distance has any effect shall we?' he said into the tense silence, standing up to move a large book from the desk and carrying it into the room next door. 'Lois, could you see if you can retrieve it now?' he asked when he returned.
Within seconds the book was flying through the open door screeching to a halt next to her.
'Apparently distance is not a problem,' he said softly.
Although she was trying not to let it show, especially with Moody watching her so avidly, Lois was beginning to feel very panicky indeed. She was already worried about inadvertently causing an accident while she was waiting for this skill to disappear and now it looked as though it may not go away at all! Her hands twisted nervously in her lap, the rough action pulling her ring from her finger and sending it rolling across the carpet. She moved to stand, but before she could, she felt a weight on her shoulder as Severus pushed her back into place, indicating he would retrieve it for her. His hand lingered possessively for a moment on her shoulder squeezing gently, an action that the other two wizards in the room noticed with very differing emotions.
'Lois, I don't want you to worry about this,' Dumbledore said comfortingly as Severus moved away, her agitation plain to see, 'it is simply something we have yet to understand. Magic comes in many forms and all of us that possess it have the capacity to cause terrible harm, but it is only truly dangerous when the witch or wizard wielding the power allows it to be. I am still convinced that your new ability can be harnessed, but even if it cannot, I have absolute trust in your integrity and judgement.'
'Thank you,' she said sincerely touched by his faith in her, but not feeling a whole lot better. For once even his quiet confidence couldn't soothe the ragged edges of her fear.
'Do you feel up to trying something else? Perhaps lighting a fire in the hearth?' he questioned, eyeing her assessingly. 'I really would like to explore your ability while we have the opportunity.'
Lois bit back the instinctive refusal and shifted her gaze to Severus who had remained on the other side of Dumbledore, to find him watching her intently. Although his expression didn't change, she knew him well enough to recognise the banked concern that gleamed in his eyes. His silent support seemed to steady her and it was with renewed strength that she turned and concentrated on the fire as she had with the cup. This time however, despite the spell being easier, nothing happened. She blinked in surprise looking over at Dumbledore. 'It didn't work,' she said in a startled tone.
He tilted his head to one side. 'Could you try again?' he asked.
She concentrated all her energy on the fireplace, and managed not even a spark. 'Perhaps it will just disappear with time,' she said in a pleased tone, slightly reassured that the ability at least appeared to still have limits.
'Perhaps,' Dumbledore said thoughtfully, 'but I would prefer if we had a more definite explanation for why it is happening at all.'
In the pause after the Headmaster's words, Snape moved back towards her and handed her the ring, which slipped onto her finger. Dumbledore's gaze narrowed on her hand for a second before he looked back up. 'Lois, forgive me please,' he smiled, 'one last attempt at the fire?'
She nodded slowly, cowardly preferring to let sleeping dogs, but she obligingly gritted her teeth and silently said the spell once more. To her horror, the second she thought, "Incendio" the flames roared spectacularly into life in the fireplace.
'Damn!' she hissed feeling even more annoyed when Dumbledore suddenly beamed.
'Lois may I ask where did you get that ring?' he questioned, his smile still in place.
'Oh, I found it in with my mother's belongings,' she replied confused. 'I assumed it was her wedding ring; it has my parents initials on it.'
'I see.' Dumbledore smiled again. 'Would you mind if I had a look at it?'
She handed the ring over to him curiously and watched as he examined it closely, twisting the inner ring, his eyes softening as he read the inscription before handing it back. 'Try lifting the teacup again,' he said, 'but don't put the ring on this time.'
'You think it's the ring?' Lois questioned excitedly, her forlorn expression disappearing in an instant as she twisted to glance hopefully at Snape, who was also sitting straighter in his chair, a watchful gleam in his dark eyes. Please let it be the ring, she prayed turning back to the Headmaster.
'We shall see.' Dumbledore smiled, his blue eyes serene.
Lois placed the ring carefully on the desk edge and concentrated on the cup. Nothing. She jammed the ring quickly back onto her finger and concentrated again. Perhaps a little too hard she realised with a quick, 'Sorry!' as the teacup smashed into the ceiling at high speed splattering everyone below with cold tea.
'It must be the ring,' she said feeling almost sick with relief, swiping a hand distractedly across her face to mop up the tea that was trickling down her forehead. 'That's why it didn't work that morning with you Professor – it was with the rest of my jewellery at the Three Broomsticks; I didn't get it back until after breakfast.'
'What about the other night?' Severus questioned sharply. 'If the ring is causing this, why didn't it work when you told me about it?'
'Well by the time I woke you up,' she said attempting to keep her voice lowered, but knowing it would be no use within the close confines of the office, 'I'd already taken all my jewellery off. After the bath?' she muttered quieter still, as both Moody and Dumbledore looked on with undisguised interest. 'And the next morning you barely gave me time to get dressed before dragging me off to see Professor Dumbledore. I was lucky to be wearing shoes, let alone anything none essential!'
'Still,' Moody butted in, a malicious smile betraying his pleasure in Snape's obvious discomfort over the unexpected airing of their personal life, 'that doesn't explain why it hasn't happened more often.'
'Yes it does!' Lois insisted, utterly delighted by this answer to her ability and not about to see it slip out of her hands. 'I don't wear it all the time, and I haven't exactly been going around trying to do wandless magic, as a matter of fact I've done my level best to pretend it never happened at all! No this has to be why!' she said turning back towards Dumbledore beseechingly. 'What do you think Professor?'
'I'm inclined to agree with you Lois; this does make the most sense. And if indeed it is the ring that has been causing these incidents, then it really is the most amazing piece of equipment,' he said consideringly reaching over to pluck the plain gold band from the desk where Lois had hurriedly placed it after the teacup incident. 'Do you know where it came from?'
'Originally? No,' Lois said with a shake of her head. 'As I said it was just there in with the rest of her jewellery and I thought it was unusual. Plus I liked the fact that it belonged to my mom and she would have worn it too. I never really had much to remind me of her growing up. I suppose my dad didn't want to risk letting me have any of her stuff because he was worried it might have been bewitched,' she hurried to add, not wanting anyone to think she was criticising him.
'Can I see it?' Moody asked into the silence, his magical eye fixed hawk-like on the ring. Dumbledore held out his hand palm up and Moody practically snatched the tiny object from him, immediately letting out an annoyed snort when he was unable to get the small circle past even the top of his little finger. 'What do you reckon Albus?' he asked looking over at the old wizard. 'Think an enlarging spell will damage it?'
'I shrunk it,' Lois admitted. 'It was too big for me so Filius taught me a charm to reduce the size - it doesn't seem to have done it any harm,' she pointed out with a shrug.
Moody pulled his wand from his robe sleeve and within seconds the ring was large enough for him. Lois watched amused as he slipped it on and scrunched his eyes tight shut like a child making a wish before blowing out his birthday candles. After a moment his eyes cranked back open and he looked disappointed at the bookcase.
'What were you attempting to do Alastor?' Dumbledore questioned his eyes twinkling at the Aurors obvious disgruntlement.
'Just a summoning spell for a book,' Moody said in a disappointed tone, turning to face the fireplace and apparently trying again, although this time he didn't close his eyes Lois noticed. He had slightly better luck with his second attempt, very small flames flickering in the grate before almost instantly extinguishing. He pulled the ring off his finger and passed it to the Headmaster with displeasure. 'Give it a try Albus,' he grunted. 'Won't do much for me.'
Dumbledore placed the ring carefully on his index finger and stared over at the cup he had already repaired after Lois's accident. It rose slightly from the desktop, with none of the smooth grace of Lois's attempt, rocking alarmingly before slamming back down with a crash. With a quiet, 'Oh dear,' the ring was handed solemnly to Severus who, like Moody, was able to manage only a feeble flicker from the fireplace and nothing more. 'Well, it doesn't appear to work too well for any of us,' Dumbledore said thoughtfully. 'You've been able to use your mother's wand since you came here haven't you Lois?' he questioned bushy white eyebrows raised.
'Yes, it's always worked fine for me so Poppy said there was no point in replacing it,' Lois said managing to hide her surprise – this wasn't the first time the Headmaster has startled her with his unexpected knowledge of even the most insignificant of matters within the school.
'Hmm. Well, although I can't be certain until we've carried out more research, I would say the most likely explanation seems to be that the ring works in the same way as a wand, but in an amplified manner.' Dumbledore concluded. 'Wizards can use any wand, but the results vary greatly. By the look of it, this ring takes it a step further; my guess would be that it has been aligned for Eadon blood lines only – a safety catch if you will.'
Lois tried to appear both astounded and intrigued by what Dumbledore was saying, which wasn't hard because she was feeling both of those emotions. However, her curiosity was utterly eclipsed by the explosion of joy that had taken place now that it seemed almost definite that she wasn't causing the magic, or at least not without help. As long as she never wore the ring again, which unsurprisingly she had no intention of doing, she couldn't accidentally cause anyone harm.
'But where did it come from?' she heard Snape ask suddenly, apparently happy to go along with Dumbledore's theory as to how it worked. 'If someone had the skill to make such an item in the first place why is this the first we've heard about it?'
'Well as I told Lois before, her grandfather worked in the Department of Mysteries. I can only imagine it was something he developed there. Perhaps your mother was helping him test it, or perhaps he was worried about her safety because of her work and Voldemort's rise,' he theorised with a slight lifting of his shoulders. 'As to why we have never seen another, I'm afraid I have no idea,' he admitted his brow creased with contemplation.
'I have,' Moody interjected cynically. 'It would be just like those damn idiots to develop something as powerful as this and then keep it a secret. Magic like that could have really put us over the edge fighting Voldemort and we find out about it years later by accident! There's probably hundreds of them sittin' in a locked Ministry lab somewhere gathering dust!'
'It might not have had anything to do with the Ministry,' Lois said fairly, finding it difficult to believe they could be that incompetent, despite the many complaints she had heard about Fudge. 'Maybe my grandfather made it himself and then died before he was able to tell anyone about it.'
'Possible,' Moody conceded in a hard voice. 'Conall didn't trust those buffoons he worked with in the DoM any more than I did; arrogant fools always thinking they're above everyone else,' he muttered disparagingly. 'Spend so much time being secretive they probably don't know what they've got half the bloody time!'
'Couldn't you ask them Professor Moody?' Lois asked reasonably. 'You used to work for the Ministry, once you show them what we've found they might be able to make more, or if you're right, they might already have some developed.'
'What? I'm not telling them nothing! If they knew we had something like this they'd commandeer it like a shot. No, no, there's some people I can ask outside of the Ministry and Fudge's influence,' he said with a meaningful look at Dumbledore. 'If we can figure out how this works, we might be able to start producing them in bulk. Oh…ah, would it be all right if I kept the ring for a while?' he asked with sudden diffidence as he glanced over at Lois.
'Certainly,' she said promptly, mostly because she realised how important a weapon like this could be in the war against Voldemort, but also because she was highly relieved to have such a powerful piece of magic out of her hands. 'But if it's possible, I'd appreciate it if I could have it back when you're finished with it,' she said quietly not really wanting to lose it altogether, even if she wouldn't ever risk wearing it again. 'Of course if you could take the magic out if before you do, that would be even better!' she said with a wry smile, forgetting for a second in her bubbling relief that she didn't actually like Moody very much.
'You're a good girl Lois,' the old Auror said gruffly standing to pat her shoulder roughly, apparently surprised by her easy acquiescence. Lois exchanged a quick look with Severus who seemed equally taken aback at the sudden softening in Moody's attitude.
'Umm, you're welcome,' she said awkwardly, looking back at him to find him still staring at her, a pensive expression on his grizzled feature.
'Actually I've been meaning to tell you… talk to you, for a while Lois,' he said, stopping abruptly and shooting an aggrieved glance at Snape, obviously displeased with his presence. For her part, Lois was exceedingly grateful that both Dumbledore and Severus's were in the room - Moody had been cold and distant with her since their first meeting and although she didn't like to admit it, she was still very uncomfortable around him. She guessed he must have read at least some of that in her expression, because he made no attempt to ask to speak to her in private. He did however, glare with extreme dislike at Snape who raised his eyebrows mockingly before making a production of settling himself comfortably on his chair and stretching his long legs out in front of him, obviously ready to enjoy the show. With an annoyed grunt Moody turned dismissively away from the younger man, plainly deciding to pretend he didn't exist and focussing on Lois once more.
'You'll have read the story that scurrilous hack wrote about you and your family?' he asked his lips pursing with disgust, but not waiting for her to answer. 'It wasn't true what she said about your granddad - if you were worried?' he said fixing her with a hard stare as if daring her to dispute him. 'I saw him myself – afterwards and it was one of the Unforgivables that got him, no way he could have done that to himself. No way he would have done that to himself,' he muttered under his breath.
'I didn't think he had,' Lois assured him surprised by his vehemence and wondering why he was telling her this in the first place. 'Professor Dumbledore had already told me what had happened, so I assumed it was just a journalist trying to spice up an old story with a bit of innuendo.'
Moody gave a quick nod. 'Good, good.' His face twitched slightly as he fell silent watching her intently for a moment before his gaze dropped from hers. She assumed the odd conversation was over and was just about to rise from her chair when he spoke again, his expression tight, the words sounding as though they were dragged from him. 'He never forgave me, Conall, for your mom and uncle, and I don't expect you to either,' he interrupted himself to say quickly, raising gnarled hands in the air, 'but I swear to you, the area was clear when we left. I honestly didn't think there was any chance they'd return. I should have done,' he said with bitter self-disgust.
'Alastor, you can't…' Dumbledore tried to interrupt, but Moody shook his head violently and the Headmaster silenced allowing him to continue.
'Back then you see, the war had only really just begun and Voldemort had his troops far better prepared than ours. The Ministry was recruiting and training Aurors and Hit Wizards as fast as they could, but it had been a long time since they'd needed them and we weren't as…ready as we could have been. By the time of the Monkswood raid, we were stretched to breaking point. The attacks never seemed to let up; day, night, Muggles, wizards; they just kept coming and coming.' His face was grim as he remembered that time, but with an impatient huffing sound he schooled his features into blankness before meeting her rapt gaze once more. 'But it wasn't carelessness Lois, us going, we didn't have any choice. We'd been called to another raid and there just wasn't enough of us to spare anyone to stay behind. And anyway, the mediwizards had it under control, truthfully there wasn't a hell of a lot more we could do. Now like I said, I'm not tellin' you this expecting forgiveness,' he said sharply, 'and I know it means less than nothing now, but I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I should've told you that right off. You had to grow up without your mother and your uncle, never knowin' you was a witch and that's my fault,' he said his voice laden with regret and his head bowed obviously expecting to be rebuffed, but grimly determined to apologise anyway.
Looking at the normally straight and proud man and seeing the tormented expression on his harsh features, Lois felt a stab of pity that she could not ignore. 'Well I'm not my grandfather Professor Moody,' she said quietly, 'but if it helps I've never held you responsible,' she said honestly realising now that his guilt over her mother's death was the reason for his unfriendly attitude, interspersed with surprising bouts of concern over her relationship with Snape. She should have spoken with him about it as soon as she read that stupid story in the Daily Prophet instead of cowardly avoiding him; it would have spared them this.
'You haven't?' he asked with disbelief, his head shooting up to search her eyes, a look of relief spreading over his battered face as he accepted the truth of her words. 'You didn't inherit your granddad's temperament that's for sure,' he said with a gruff bark of laughter.
'So the two of you were friends?' Lois asked curious now.
'Best friends; practically grew up together we even got sorted into the same House,' he said with a half smile. 'Both went into the Ministry when we left Hogwarts – different departments of course, and I was best man at his wedding. He was a good man Conall, but hard,' he shook his head with regret. 'Never spoke another word to me after….'
'I'm sure he would have forgiven you eventually Professor,' Lois said consolingly when he trailed off. 'If he hadn't died himself so soon afterwards.'
Moody gave a disparaging snort. 'You never knew your granddad Lois,' he said regretfully, 'but if you had, you'd realise that if he'd lived to be two hundred he'd never have forgiven me. He was a stubborn old bas– bugger, right to the bitter end,' he amended with an apologetic look, grudging respect in his voice.
'But you said the two of you had been friends nearly all your life!' Lois protested slightly shocked. However much pain he'd been in, how could he have turned his back on friendship with that much history? The way he spoke, it sounded as if they'd been practically brothers!
'Don't get me wrong Lois, he really was a good man, one of the best, he just had that one fault. He could never see that people were fallible, probably because he so rarely was. Once you made a mistake he didn't forget and he hardly ever forgave. He was always hardest on those he cared for most, so I suppose in a way it was a compliment,' he said with a dark smile. 'I've – I've got some old pictures of him and your grandmother. Probably a few with your mom and uncle when they were kids too. I could show them to you sometime. If you wanted,' he said quickly, an endearingly uncertain expression on his disfigured face that she had never seen before. Despite her first loyalty being to Severus, she couldn't find it in her heart to reject him after what he'd just put himself through.
'I'd really like that,' she said and he coughed loudly, grunting something about, "sorting it out soon then." Lois's half smile swiftly evaporated with a wince when she raised her eyes to find herself pinned squarely by Severus's accusing gaze. She debated for a second hanging around to attempt to soothe his ruffled feathers over her fraternising with the enemy, but promptly decided against it - she was in too good a mood right now. In fact, she couldn't have felt any better if Filius had just performed a hundred Cheering Charms on her and she didn't want to risk spoiling it attempting to mollify Severus. She'd make it up to him later.
Decision made Lois turned to address the three men. 'Well, I'm afraid I'm really going to have to go - I was supposed to meet Sorrel out in the greenhouses ten minutes ago,' she said with a wide smile, refusing any further eye contact with Severus's and looking as though the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders, which it had. 'You don't need me anymore do you?' she asked and when Dumbledore assured that they didn't, she departed the room with a spring in her step, unable to stop herself from pausing briefly by Severus's side to reach up to drop a quick peck on his cheek on the way out of the door. Because she was so intent on not meeting his gaze, she missed the fleeting softness that slid over his features at her action. She also missed the sharpening of Moody's expression at the sight and the coldly calculating stare he levelled on an oblivious Snape once she'd gone.
***
'Hold it there a minute Snape!' Severus came to an automatic stop at the abrupt order and turned to see Moody glaring down at him from the top of the staircase above him. After Lois's cowardly dash for the greenhouses, he had quickly made his own excuses to Dumbledore having no desire to be in the same room as Moody, let alone talk with him. Unfortunately it seemed he wasn't going to escape a confrontation as easily as that. He considered for a moment ignoring the command and simply continuing on his way, but he knew the Auror's dogged nature would only have him hounding him throughout the castle. Might as well get it over with now, whatever it was. Stifling a sigh, he waited impatiently as the thunk, thunk, of Moody's wooden leg brought him ever closer, finally silencing when he came to a halt a bare foot away from him.
'Did you want something Moody?' Snape asked coldly when the other man didn't speak and simply stood staring at him with contempt he didn't bother to hide.
'There's a lot of things I want Snape, but right now what I really want is to know what you think you're playing at with that girl.'
Snape made an impatient sound waving his hand at the Dark Arts Professor with disgust, even though he'd half expected this. 'Don't waste my time Moody. You really are out of your mind if you think that just because you've conned Lois with your sob story means I have any intention of standing here and discussing my personal life with you –'
'Spare me your offended dignity Snape,' Moody sneered, 'it's not a discussion I had in mind, just thought it was long past time for a few home truths, that's all. I've seen the way you act around her, and hard to swallow though it is, it's become apparent to me that you've actually got something resembling real human emotions for her. If I'm right and you do, you'll listen to what I've got to say because it's important; for her, not you.'
Snape stiffened but remained silent, his gaze trained on the older man with burning hatred, reluctantly forced by his warning words into remaining to see where this was going.
'Her grandfather would be rolling in his grave if he knew what she was doing right now,' Moody said suddenly, his face twisting with distaste. 'He never even really got over her mother marrying a Muggle and if he could see her with the likes of you…' he growled insultingly.
'And why exactly are you telling me this Moody?' Snape interjected in a carefully bored tone. 'You can't honestly believe I have any interest in her grandfather's opinion on the subject; the man is dead and unsurprising I don't particularly care if he's doing handstands right now. Oh, wait; please don't tell me you're saying this in the foolish expectation that it might push me into doing the noble thing and release her from my diabolic clutches?' Snape derided, his black eyes glinting scornfully. 'My grandfather would be rolling in his grave.'
Moody's magical eye flashed warningly at Snape's mockery, his hands clenching into fists at his side, clearly itching to pull his wand or even just throw a good punch. He finally regained control with obvious difficulty, pleasing Snape no end. 'No, the last thing I'd expect is for you to be honourable Snape,' he finally spat. 'But you can't honestly tell me you believe scum like you is fit to even lick her boots.'
Snape privately couldn't have agreed more, but there was no way he was giving Moody the satisfaction of seeing that his slur had hit its mark and he managed to keep his face expressionless by the tightest of margins, only a slight tick in his jaw giving him away.
Unfortunately Moody noticed things others would not and he focussed gleefully on the tell tale sign, satisfaction lighting his wizened features. 'Yeah - you know it,' he said cruelly. 'Which begs the question – if that sewer you call a conscience is involved enough to recognise you're tainting her just with your presence, why are you still prepared to put her life at risk?'
'She will be perfectly safe with me,' Severus snarled before could stop himself.
'Think so? Got something I've been wanting to show you Snape,' Moody said with a horrible sort of smile that made Severus certain he didn't want to see it, whatever it was, but morbid curiosity and a strange sense of fatalistic dread held him still. Considering his trepidation, he was surprised therefore when Moody reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out two white pieces of card. Examining each in turn, he nodded in satisfaction before handing one of them to Snape.
Carefully hiding his reluctance, Snape reached out to take the offered object, recognising it immediately as a photograph once he had it in hands. Focussing on the glossy print the first thing he noticed was the odd camera angle. It took a few turns of the picture before he finally had it the right way up, only realising it had been taken looking down on the subject, when he spotted the tips of the photographers feet shuffling restlessly at the bottom of the frame. But still, what was it? Obviously something dead judging by the large amount of blood covering the pulpy red mass, perhaps some kind of animal carcass?
'Don't recognise him?' Moody's harsh voice interrupted his deliberations. 'You should; you used to know him quite well I believe.'
So it was a man, Snape accepted staring dispassionately down at the sickening image he held in his hand. Even with that new information it still took a second for his brain to process what he was seeing. It was a human, but really he wouldn't have known that if he hadn't been told. Part of the difficulty lay in the fact that the picture was in close up showing only a portion of a body, the torso, he realised, finally recognising the musculature of the chest and abdomen. What truly made it almost impossible to identify was that the skin had been completely flayed from it, the freshly exposed muscles obscured by wetly gleaming blood that oozed inexorably from the dead flesh.
When Snape failed to react to his revelation, a flash of disappointment ran across Moody's face, which almost immediately faded leaving him looking disturbingly superior once more. 'Still haven't worked it out? Fine friend you are Snape; that's Igor Karkaroff you're looking at. Aurors found him like that three days ago, old mate of mine let me have the pictures for my scrapbook. Funny thing is, the Ministry's been searching for him on the quiet since he went missing from here after the Triwizard Tournament last year, and they weren't able to find even a sniff of him. Doesn't seem Voldemort had as much trouble does it?' he asked with a harsh laugh.
'Obviously not,' Snape said impassively. What had Moody hoped for with this? Did he think it would scare him? Snape knew better than anyone what fate awaited him if Voldemort ever discovered his dual role and he didn't need any photographs to convince him of the danger he was in. 'Well, incredibly interesting though that was Moody, I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me,' Snape said disdainfully, 'I have classes to teach and….'
His words trailed off as he spotted the smug smile that was slowly unfurling on Moody's scarred face. With escalating unease, Snape unwillingly reached forward to take the second picture that Moody was silently holding out towards him.
This time the photograph had been taken at a wider angle allowing more of the room to be seen. It was immediately apparent that Karkaroff hadn't been the only one to incur the Dark Lord's wrath that day, because he could now see another equally unidentifiable form lying a short distance away from the first. Suddenly in the background of the shot, the lone pair of legs that until then had been only just visible, entered the frame fully as a young Auror ran across the back of the picture, looking distinctly green around the gills and holding a hand to his mouth. Snape gave a little snort of disgust and lifted his head to raise questioning eyebrows at Moody, who was happy to provide an explanation.
'The second body there is Karkaroff's sister Hilda, and that,' he said pointing to a small gelatinous mass of flesh on the far left of picture that Snape had so far missed, 'is apparently not as they first thought a dismembered part of a third body, but is in fact Hilda's pet Kneazle, Olga.'
'She was a Death Eater too?' Snape heard himself asking, not recognising the name and wondering distantly why he was still standing here.
'Hilda? No. Matter of fact, she despised what Karkaroff had become; gave evidence against him at his trial although I don't suppose you'd know that. Too busy hiding behind Dumbledore's skirts about then weren't you?' he mocked, but didn't wait for a response to his gibe. 'I'd say this was probably the first time the two of them had been in a room together for twenty years. Not much of a family reunion was it?' he asked with black humour. 'As to why Voldemort took the time and effort to track her down and kill her too, who knows? Perhaps he didn't realise there was no love lost between them, perhaps he meant it as a message to any others who might consider betraying him, or perhaps he was just being thorough. Either way the end result is the same – one less piece of evil scum rattling around on the earth and two more innocents dead.'
With a sick lurch Severus finally saw what Moody had been trying to accomplish. Not to make him fear for his own life, but for Lois's. His dawning horror must have shown in his face, because Moody grinned triumphantly. 'So now you get it Snape. When he comes for you – and he will – I want to make sure she isn't anywhere in the vicinity. For the moment the only people who know about your association with her is the rest of the staff, but it won't be long before the students catch on and you can be sure they'll be taking that bit of gossip home. And once it's there,' he shrugged expressively clearly enjoying himself, 'well, you'll know better than anyone I suppose about the unsavoury connections some of your precious Slytherins family's have got.'
Snape shook his head in fierce denial and turned to walk away, but was stopped by Moody's hand shooting out lightening fast to grasp his arm tightly. 'You can't just ignore this Snape. Think how angry Voldemort's going to be when your little double cross comes to light. After seeing what he did to old Igor, I hate to think what he might do to you,' he said with grim pleasure, which faded as he spoke again. 'Hate to think what he'd do to her,' he pressed his magical eye glinting manically as he focussed on Snape's grey features.
'Then I'll stop spying,' Snape said swinging round to face him fully, wrung into giving a response when he had intended none.
'And what about all that critical information you provide,' Moody mocked. 'Ready to turn your back on the cause are you? What would Dumbledore say if he could hear his blue-eyed boy now?' he disparaged.
'I. Don't. Care.' Snape bit out between gritted teeth.
'That sounds about right,' Moody scorned, his lip curling with disgust. 'But do you really think it's going to make a difference now anyway? You can't seriously imagine that when Voldemort's going through his list of disloyal Death Eaters, he'll get to your name and say, "Don't bother about Severus, I hear he's finally found himself a woman and stopped spying against me now." He shook his head almost pityingly. 'No, you made your bed a long time ago Snape and now you've got to lie in it, but she doesn't.'
With a feral snarl Snape shook himself free of Moody's restraining arm, the sudden murderous gleam in his black eyes so violent that the ex-Auror, who could happily face down half a dozen Death Eaters without breaking a sweat, took an instinctive step backwards. Snape however barely even noticed. With a final blistering glare he turned on his heels and strode quickly down the corridor, his black robes billowing furiously behind him.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A/N Okay folks, well I know it's been forever but you did say last time you didn't mind long chapters, so I took you at your word! I'm glad I mentioned it now because you wouldn't believe the difficulty I've had trying to keep these things pared down; I won't bother anymore :) Thinking about it though, I suppose everyone who objected to the length of the chaps sensibly abandoned ship a looong time ago, so double thanks to all you brave souls who've stuck with it! And just in case anyone cares and doesn't remember (and why would you remember it's from ages back!), the details about Lois's grandfather, mother and uncle's death are mostly from chapter eight and fourteen, the ring was found in chapter ten, shrunk in chapter fifteen and owled to her in chapter eighteen, the bath they shared was from chapter 23, and finally the newspaper article Moody refers to is from chapter fourteen – phew!
Jelselmium – Actually Lois has been to a Quidditch match, I was just too frightened to write it! And yes she does know that Snape tried to hand Sirius over to the Dementors, but it would have been Snape's sanitised version of events; (knocked unconscious by the very students he was trying to save from an escaped murderer who was being assisted by a werewolf), so she wouldn't know precisely how dangerously unhinged he was just then :) As for Hagrid, both he and Harry should be showing up in the next chapter, fingers crossed.