Author's notes: If you don't like the runes, just skip over them ;)
I want to thank my readers for leaving constructive criticism. They've helped me with ideas for this rewritten and revised version of my fic. Chapters 1-3 have been severely changed. Harry, Ron and Neville are no longer in Ancient Runes.
The chapters fit canon now and have been changed to account for that. Please either try to forget that they were ever in Runes, or read the chapters again ;)
Beta-reader appreciation: Many thanks to the amazing Splatt. Again, this chapter must have been such a challenge to beta. Thank you for the patience. Thanks to Miss K for reading it over as well.
---
Chapter 3 - Memories Revealed
Neville had to spend his entire afternoon helping Filch, the school caretaker, scrub ink off the walls and floors. Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist, had been so excited with the all the screaming students, who had flooded into the castle from the Quidditch stands, that he had picked up all the inkbottles he could find and thrown them at aimed targets.
They scrubbed in silence, in between Filch's mumbling about Peeves, and Neville had gone over the six Futhark alphabet letters he had learned, at least twenty times in his mind.
Fehu, pronounced 'Fyeh', meaning cattle and wealth. The rune of Freyja, the leader of the Valkyries, Njordur, the God of the Sea, and Freyr, the God of Harvest...
At first he had been very intimidated when he looked into Professor Montage's book. The runes were many and had very strange names. But now Neville regretted that he hadn't chosen Ancient Runes as a subject... He really wished that he had taken it instead of Divination – Professor Trelawney was still acting very strangely and he wasn't sure that he believed in such a thing as an 'Inner Eye'. In his first Divination lesson, Professor Trelawney had said that his Gran wasn't well, but Neville had written to her right after the lesson and found out that she was very healthy! Professor Montage, however, had told him that true Seers did exist and that Nordic Runes were sometimes used to see into the future.
Uruz, pronounced 'Urthur' after the oldest one of the three witches of Fate...
He and Professor Montage had started slowly, taking each rune in each lesson and talk about it for a long time. For every rune she told him a story – a myth, about what the rune meant and what it was most often used for. Neville was fascinated by the stories and the tales of the ancient Nordic Gods. Each of the runes belonged to a God and each had a meaning, a story and a special power. By listening to and reading the stories, Neville had no difficulty remembering.
Thurisaz, pronounced 'Thursi', meaning Giant. The rune of Thor, the champion of the Gods and enemy of the Giants...
He suspected though that she taught him differently than she taught in her lessons. Hermione still talked about how Professor Montage was cold and curt in class, although not as much as in the beginning of the school year, but Hermione enjoyed the subject as well, so she didn't mind. Besides, Professor Montage had often given her House points for being smart and answering questions... That's something Neville had only gotten a few times in Herbology.
Ansuz, pronounced 'Ansar', meaning Spirit of Life. The rune of Odin, the ruler of the Gods.
But one thing was for sure; Professor Montage was nothing like Professor Snape. She was very cold and distant most of the times, but she was also nice and patient. Professor Snape would never help him this way – not that Neville would want him to!
Raidho, pronounced 'Reith', meaning a Journey to Justice. The rune of Forseti, the God of justice.
She sometimes made Neville practice writing the runes and most of the time, while she waited, she would sit by the window, absent-minded gazing onto the grounds. Neville often wondered what she was thinking, but he didn't dare ask.
Kenaz, pronounced 'Kjarni', meaning Fire of Creation. The rune of Freyja and the dwarves.
Neville had been scrubbing a very stubborn spot, concentrating on the tale of the dwarves, when he spotted Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle from the corner of his eye. They walked to him and stopped at a fair distance, waiting until Filch had moved on into the next corridor.
"Hey Longbottom," Malfoy said with his friends sniggering rather loudly behind him. "How are your parents doing? That mad Runes professor would know, wouldn't she?" Neville felt puzzled and stared into Malfoy's pleased face and watched him quickly raise his eyebrow mockingly and walk away.
Neville had stopped scrubbing the floor and continued to stare, open mouthed, in the direction the boys had disappeared into, towards the Great Hall. Mad Runes professor? Professor Montage? Did Malfoy know about his parents? Did Professor Montage know more than she had told him - about his parents?
"Get to work boy!" Filch croaked behind him.
---
Neville knocked hesitantly on Professor Montage's big and dark office door.
"Come in," said a steady voice, followed by the sound of parchment being shuffled.
Professor Montage looked up from her parchment as he entered. "Neville? We didn't make an appointment today...did we?"
"No, not today...I just wanted to talk..." Neville said and looked at the floor as he didn't know how to ask about what was burning on his mind. He looked around the office. He had never been in it before since they always met in the classroom. It was small and round with grey stone walls, and several books and parchment in the shelves. A desk was placed in the middle of the room, covered in parchment and open books, and there was a small white box, with pink flowers on it, sitting on the floor under one of the shelves. It looked very out of place as there were no other personal items decorating the room.
"Have a seat, I'll make us some tea," she said after a moment's silence and lit the fireplace with her wand. She flicked the wand at the kettle standing on top of the mantelpiece and it levitated over the fire, and started boiling after a short while.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked, resting her hands on the desk, and looking at him in what seemed like a patient way.
"Uh...I was helping Mr. Filch cleaning yesterday and Malfoy... I was just wondering...he said something and I just..." He was very nervous, but his previous experience with the professor had made him more confident in talking to her. She had never been mean to him, or put him down.
"What did Mr. Malfoy say?" She looked at him intently, with slightly narrowed eyes, as if expecting something bad.
"He said the Runes professor would know how my parents are doing...I don't know what he meant," he said and glanced back at the box on the floor.
"I see," she said after a moment, as she pushed herself from the desk, and poured tea into two cups with the levitated kettle. A thin line of steam rose from the cup she handed to Neville.
"You...you said you didn't know my parents...so, how would you know how they're doing?" Neville asked and brought the cup to his lips, but put it back down, thinking that it might be too hot to drink just yet. He had often burned his tongue before.
There was a long pause and Neville thought for a minute that she hadn't heard him, but then he realized she seemed to be struggling with some thought or other – her eyes looked both sad and angry at the same time and she kept giving her head a small shake, as if to rid it of some unwelcome memory. Then, with a deep sigh, she looked across at Neville, and began to speak.
"Well, since Mr. Malfoy clearly knows, and I'm certain I know who told him..." she paused with slightly narrowed eyes before shaking her head again, "I might as well tell you." She took a sip from her cup, building up Neville's curiosity with her pause - although that was probably not her intention...
"Just over thirteen years ago I was attacked by Death Eaters, just like your parents were. I was tortured half to death by the Cruciatus Curse. A year and a half ago I woke up in a hospital bed and I didn't know where I was, or remember what had happened." She said all this rather quickly, as if she had decided to say it all before she could stop herself. She took one deep breath before continuing. "It was explained to me that I'd been asleep for twelve years. The healers called it Adsensus Lethargus, or 'Reality Coma'. I regained my memory shortly after I woke up." She paused again for a moment and looked into her cup, tracing it with her finger absent-minded. "I was cared for in the same room as your parents, Neville. Another patient told me about what had happened to them."
Neville stared at her with an open mouth. "The Cruciatus Curse? And you woke up? ...And you're all right..."
"Now don't get your hopes up Neville," Professor Montage said quickly and placed her cup on the saucer. She caught his eyes and continued, "My circumstance was very different from your parent's."
"What do you mean?" he asked, the hope in his chest slowly and painfully dying.
"I can't tell you exactly how, but your parents have been awake for many years. The healers say that each case is different when it comes to long term victims of the Cruciatus Curse. Your parents half-woke up after a very short Adsensus Lethargus and they still haven't reclaimed their reality. I woke up after a long sleep and I'm fully recovered...well...almost." She frowned a bit, and cast her eyes quickly on the wall before looking at Neville again. There was a long moment of silence where they simply looked into each others eyes, Neville thinking about what she had said, and she probably wondering if Neville fully understood what she had just told him.
"The healers thought it a miracle..." she said at last, broke the eye-contact and gazed into her cup again, stirring her tea thoughtfully and taking another sip before looking at him.
He thought she must have felt his disappointment as she sighed quietly and added, "I'm very sorry Neville. I do remember you visiting them. In fact, you were there when I woke up for the first time. I couldn't see you because of the curtains, but I could hear you talking to them."
Neville looked at his cup - it was still full, but the tea was getting cold.
"They kept me for a month after I woke up," Professor Montage continued, "but they couldn't find anything wrong with me, so I was free to leave. I've been going in for check-ups regularly, and I sometimes stop by your parents to see how they're doing. They'd be glad to know that you weren't harmed..."
Neville looked up at her. For a brief moment he thought he'd seen actual warmth in her eyes...
"Gran," Neville said, "always has to introduce me when we go and visit...they never remember..." he looked down into his palms and felt a tickling tear run down his cheek.
"Yes, I'm afraid that's the side effect for those who have lost their contact with reality," she said softly and gave him a moment to think about what had been said.
"Neville, I think you should go back to your common room now," she said quietly and glanced at him with a forced smile. Neville sniffed heavily and wiped his tears away with his sleeve, but just then they were interrupted by a commotion in the hallway outside. Filch's voice could be heard bellowing down the corridor; from the sound of things, Peeves still had some inkbottles left, and appeared to be accompanying the creative lyrics he was chanting with the occasional smash of a bottle.
Filchy, Filchy, Filchy Filch,
Filchy, squibly, flying fist...
"Yes Professor," Neville said, still thinking about what she'd told him. He closed the door quietly behind him, checked from which direction the angry voice of Filch was coming and set off down the opposite corridor, deep in thought.
---
Isolde didn't stay at Hogwarts over Christmas. Nobody, except for Dumbledore, knew where she'd gone; no one saw her leave, no one saw her come back, but on the last night of the holidays, she once again walked into the Great Hall. Snape noticed that she wasn't exactly smiling, but she was looking rather pleased about something, still wrapped in her winter coat and holding many large and old looking scrolls in her arms. The first thing she did was approach Dumbledore and ask to have a private word with him.
Some of the other teachers looked curiously at each other as Dumbledore and Isolde walked to the entrance of the Great Hall. Snape walked silently towards them and stopped close enough so that he could hear what they were saying.
Isolde handed the scrolls over to Dumbledore. "Ah, excellent work, Isolde," said Dumbledore as he examined them thoughtfully. "I'll have a look at them this evening and we can hopefully start working on them before Christmas next year, after I've gathered more facts. You should rest before the students arrive, you must be exhausted after the journey."
With that, Isolde bid him good night and walked up the stairs. Snape watched her disappear around the corner and tried to imagine what all that was about. Where had she been? What was she doing for Dumbledore? It was a while before he realized that Dumbledore was looking at him. Snape kept his calm as he met his eyes, and didn't even bother to pretend that he hadn't overheard the conversation.
"Severus, I will need your help on this...research we're conducting. I will talk to you further when we start working on these," Dumbledore said and lifted up the scrolls.
Feeling greatly disappointed with the lack of explanation, Snape calmly said "Yes, Headmaster," and left for his dungeon.
---
In February there was another Sirius Black incident inside the castle. This time he had entered the Gryffindor boys' dormitory and woken up Ron Weasley. The teachers spent the night searching the castle for Sirius. Again, he was not found, nor was there any lead to how he'd gotten in. After the castle had been searched extensively, some of the teachers returned to their private chambers while others were guarding the corridors.
Isolde was one of those who wasn't on patrolling duty and lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what had just happened. Sirius Black...Sirius Black... Just thinking his name made her angry! The arrogant, self-absorbed, murdering bully, Sirius Black! She thought about what she would do and what she'd say if she met him. She had never been able to forgive him for killing Lily. Lily had been her very best friend for many years and it still hurt thinking about her... Everyone had had time to come to terms with her death, everyone but Isolde, as from her point of view, Lily had been alive and well a year and a half ago. At first she hadn't understood why He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had killed her, but as soon as Dumbledore explained to her about Sirius's betrayal...
From these thoughts she fell asleep and started dreaming. Her dreams were strange and blurry until just before she woke up, when she dreamt memories – an incident from the past she hadn't thought about in a long time...
James and his friends were sitting in the shadow of a tree, along
with Lily and some other Gryffindor girls. She waved at Isolde and
called her over. As Isolde reached her she noticed Snape sitting
near by, with soaking wet hair. She looked towards the Quidditch
field and saw that Sirius was emerging from it. It was Friday
afternoon in their fifth year and they had just taken the Potions
OWL. It had gone well for all except for Peter, who sat there
complaining about it to Remus Lupin.
"Are you ready for your Advanced Flying exam, Izzy?" Lily asked with
an anxious smile.
"Yes, I am. I mean, it shouldn't be very difficult, should it?
It's just basic manoeuvres..."
Lily must have seen her perplexed expression while she looked at
Snape. "It was Sirius and James again," she answered before Isolde
could ask. "They cast an Aqua Bubble Spell on him a moment ago, and
a big one too. I think Snape's still trying to think of a way to
get back at them."
"Hey, look who's still there," Sirius called a few feet away from
them, smirking in the way only he could. Everyone turned to look at
Snape, who seemed to be pretending that he hadn't heard Sirius,
keeping his eyes fixed on the exam paper, but not moving them.
"James, what do you say?" Sirius continued, "Should we wash his hair
again?"
"I -" James started.
"Don't even think about it!"
"Aw, come on Izzy, we're just having a bit of fun. Besides, it's
only Snivellus."
"Fun!? I don't see anything funny about bullying people. And stop
calling him that!" she said and placed her hands on her hips.
"And how are you going to make me?" he asked in a derisive way, now
standing directly in front of her.
"You think you're so clever, always hanging around your friends.
Here's an idea – why not challenge him to a duel one-on-one, instead
of four-on-one?" Isolde said in a loud voice, catching the attention
of the nearest people. She felt very uncomfortable standing so
close to Sirius.
"It's not like he's Mr. Innocent - he does his share. Why are you
protecting him anyway? He's never lifted a finger to help you, has
he?"
Isolde thought about the time she'd asked Snape to help her with the
Proteco Spell earlier that year. Sirius offered to help her, but
Sirius had had something completely different on his mind when they
got together to practice.
"Well, it's not like you've helped me either, is it?" Isolde
snapped.
"You're just playing hard to get, just like your friend here, Lily,"
he answered with a sweet smile as he jerked his head in Lily's
direction. "Will you meet me in the south tower tonight?" he asked
bluntly, and lifted his eyebrow teasingly at her.
"No, I will not!" Isolde answered in a dignified voice.
"Aw, that stings," Sirius said, holding his hand over his heart, his
head leaning to one side. She knew that he loved teasing her,
almost as much as James loved to tease Lily.
"Well, as much as I enjoy this conversation," Isolde said with
sarcasm, "I have a practical flying exam to attend."
"Flying exam?" he asked with a short laugh. "Where were you last
Tuesday?"
"You know very well that I was in the hospital wing, after your Fire-
crab attacked me in our exam last Monday," she said and looked at
her left hand. It was healed now, but it had burned really badly.
Sirius had been showing off as usual, and had been careless. Of
course the teacher hadn't seen it and thought it had been a mishap –
and not Sirius's usual reckless behaviour. Fortunately though, it
had happened at the very end of the Care of Magical Creatures OWL.
Isolde turned on her heel and walked towards the Quidditch field,
where the exam was to take place. As she reached it she heard
Sirius, James and Peter laughing. She looked back and saw Snape
glaring at them, dropping his bag and then walking away from them,
towards the Quidditch field.
The broom was ready for her to mount. The examiner was waiting for
her while she put her book bag down and mounted the broom.
"Right. This is Advanced Flying Examination. You are to do these
manoeuvres," he handed her a piece of parchment with instructions.
"When I blow the whistle I want you to kick off the ground and do
your first manoeuvre. Are you ready?" Isolde looked over her
shoulder and saw Snape standing in the shadow, watching her. In the
distance she saw Sirius, also watching, while his friends were still
laughing under the tree. Isolde heard the sound of a whistle and
she kicked off the ground.
She directed the broom upwards. Her first task was to go into a
sharp dive and pull up just before hitting the ground. When she was
high in the air she directed the broom downwards at a good speed.
When she was half way from the ground she lost control of the broom.
It started flying on its own. It zoomed to the right, then to the
left, taking a swoop downwards and then flying up. Sirius, Lily,
James and Lupin were running towards her, but Snape was already
standing in the middle of the field. The examiner didn't quite know
what to do and kept shouting instructions.
"I can't control it," she called back and let out a yell as the
broom swooped down and knocked the examiner down. The broom took
her up into the air again, and looking down she saw that the
examiner wasn't moving.
The broom turned swiftly in the air and took another dive towards
the middle of the field. "SNAPE!! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!" she
shouted, terrified that she would harm more people.
But Snape didn't move. He stood firmly in his place, pulled out his
wand and shouted "ACCIO!"
Isolde felt that she was being pulled sharply off the broom. She
was being pulled with great force towards Snape, at a very rapid
speed. She landed forcefully in Snape's arms and he fell backwards
at the impact. They rolled on the ground, until Isolde was lying on
her back with Snape on top of her. They looked at each other and he
seemed rather surprised at his own accomplishment. All Isolde
managed to do was to sigh a quiet "...wow..."
He stood up and mumbled "No problem," while dusting his robes.
"Izzy! Izzy!" Lily came running. "Are you all right!??"
Isolde, was still sitting on the ground, looking up at Snape. She
slowly wiped away the few drops that had fallen on her from his
hair.
"Izzy?" Lily kneeled down next to her.
"What...?" She turned her head towards Lily, still wrapped up in
disbelief of what had just happened.
"Are you all right?" Lily asked in a worried voice. "How did this
happen?" she said as she pulled Isolde to her feet.
"Ask him." Snape pointed at Sirius, smirked at him and walked away.
"Me?" Sirius turned to Isolde after narrowing his eyes at Snape, "Do
you think that I'd intentionally harm you?" he asked in a rather
shaky voice. His face was very pale.
"You were hinting it under that tree!" Lily hissed at him.
"No - no, I wasn't..." He looked at the broom that was lying in
pieces beside Isolde.
"You said that she'd look at you differently if you saved her of a
flying broom."
"I just meant if I would save her, that's all," he turned his head
towards Lily.
"Then why did you explicitly say 'flying broom'?!" Lily shouted
angrily. When he didn't answer she added, "Well, your plan didn't
work, now did it? Snape stole your thunder, didn't he?!"
A watchful James, a very pale Lupin and a seemingly unconcerned
Peter were standing behind Sirius.
Sirius's voice grew dimmer, "Snivellus should keep his big nose out
of other people's business. What was he doing here anyway?"
"Well," Lily answered angrily, "He probably heard you talking and
assumed that you'd put a jinx on her broom! You know, I really
should report you!"
"Where's your proof?" James had stepped in, crossing his arms in
front of him after ruffling his hair with his hand. He raised his
eyebrow at Lily.
"You saw Sirius walk from the field earlier!" she answered, taking a
step of determination in his direction.
"That doesn't prove anything. Snivellus could have jinxed the
broom. Anyone could have done it." He smiled at Lily's fury,
clearly enjoying arguing with her. Isolde could see Lily's face go
red with anger.
"Lily, you really should calm down," James continued, "You should
take Izzy to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey clean her from
top to bottom. She was, after all, touched by that git."
Isolde didn't say anything. She heard the examiner moan a few feet
away from her and she slowly looked at Snape, who had collected his
bag from under the tree, and was walking up the stairs of the
castle.
The dream changed into a flash of another memory...
She was lying on the floor and could taste blood when she swallowed.
She turned her head and saw a faceless man in a black robe. Blood
was dripping from his clutched hand...
---
To be continued in chapter 4 – Malfoy's Mischief
I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me ;)
I want to thank my readers for leaving constructive criticism. They've helped me with ideas for this rewritten and revised version of my fic. Chapters 1-3 have been severely changed. Harry, Ron and Neville are no longer in Ancient Runes.
The chapters fit canon now and have been changed to account for that. Please either try to forget that they were ever in Runes, or read the chapters again ;)
Beta-reader appreciation: Many thanks to the amazing Splatt. Again, this chapter must have been such a challenge to beta. Thank you for the patience. Thanks to Miss K for reading it over as well.
---
Chapter 3 - Memories Revealed
Neville had to spend his entire afternoon helping Filch, the school caretaker, scrub ink off the walls and floors. Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist, had been so excited with the all the screaming students, who had flooded into the castle from the Quidditch stands, that he had picked up all the inkbottles he could find and thrown them at aimed targets.
They scrubbed in silence, in between Filch's mumbling about Peeves, and Neville had gone over the six Futhark alphabet letters he had learned, at least twenty times in his mind.
Fehu, pronounced 'Fyeh', meaning cattle and wealth. The rune of Freyja, the leader of the Valkyries, Njordur, the God of the Sea, and Freyr, the God of Harvest...
At first he had been very intimidated when he looked into Professor Montage's book. The runes were many and had very strange names. But now Neville regretted that he hadn't chosen Ancient Runes as a subject... He really wished that he had taken it instead of Divination – Professor Trelawney was still acting very strangely and he wasn't sure that he believed in such a thing as an 'Inner Eye'. In his first Divination lesson, Professor Trelawney had said that his Gran wasn't well, but Neville had written to her right after the lesson and found out that she was very healthy! Professor Montage, however, had told him that true Seers did exist and that Nordic Runes were sometimes used to see into the future.
Uruz, pronounced 'Urthur' after the oldest one of the three witches of Fate...
He and Professor Montage had started slowly, taking each rune in each lesson and talk about it for a long time. For every rune she told him a story – a myth, about what the rune meant and what it was most often used for. Neville was fascinated by the stories and the tales of the ancient Nordic Gods. Each of the runes belonged to a God and each had a meaning, a story and a special power. By listening to and reading the stories, Neville had no difficulty remembering.
Thurisaz, pronounced 'Thursi', meaning Giant. The rune of Thor, the champion of the Gods and enemy of the Giants...
He suspected though that she taught him differently than she taught in her lessons. Hermione still talked about how Professor Montage was cold and curt in class, although not as much as in the beginning of the school year, but Hermione enjoyed the subject as well, so she didn't mind. Besides, Professor Montage had often given her House points for being smart and answering questions... That's something Neville had only gotten a few times in Herbology.
Ansuz, pronounced 'Ansar', meaning Spirit of Life. The rune of Odin, the ruler of the Gods.
But one thing was for sure; Professor Montage was nothing like Professor Snape. She was very cold and distant most of the times, but she was also nice and patient. Professor Snape would never help him this way – not that Neville would want him to!
Raidho, pronounced 'Reith', meaning a Journey to Justice. The rune of Forseti, the God of justice.
She sometimes made Neville practice writing the runes and most of the time, while she waited, she would sit by the window, absent-minded gazing onto the grounds. Neville often wondered what she was thinking, but he didn't dare ask.
Kenaz, pronounced 'Kjarni', meaning Fire of Creation. The rune of Freyja and the dwarves.
Neville had been scrubbing a very stubborn spot, concentrating on the tale of the dwarves, when he spotted Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle from the corner of his eye. They walked to him and stopped at a fair distance, waiting until Filch had moved on into the next corridor.
"Hey Longbottom," Malfoy said with his friends sniggering rather loudly behind him. "How are your parents doing? That mad Runes professor would know, wouldn't she?" Neville felt puzzled and stared into Malfoy's pleased face and watched him quickly raise his eyebrow mockingly and walk away.
Neville had stopped scrubbing the floor and continued to stare, open mouthed, in the direction the boys had disappeared into, towards the Great Hall. Mad Runes professor? Professor Montage? Did Malfoy know about his parents? Did Professor Montage know more than she had told him - about his parents?
"Get to work boy!" Filch croaked behind him.
---
Neville knocked hesitantly on Professor Montage's big and dark office door.
"Come in," said a steady voice, followed by the sound of parchment being shuffled.
Professor Montage looked up from her parchment as he entered. "Neville? We didn't make an appointment today...did we?"
"No, not today...I just wanted to talk..." Neville said and looked at the floor as he didn't know how to ask about what was burning on his mind. He looked around the office. He had never been in it before since they always met in the classroom. It was small and round with grey stone walls, and several books and parchment in the shelves. A desk was placed in the middle of the room, covered in parchment and open books, and there was a small white box, with pink flowers on it, sitting on the floor under one of the shelves. It looked very out of place as there were no other personal items decorating the room.
"Have a seat, I'll make us some tea," she said after a moment's silence and lit the fireplace with her wand. She flicked the wand at the kettle standing on top of the mantelpiece and it levitated over the fire, and started boiling after a short while.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked, resting her hands on the desk, and looking at him in what seemed like a patient way.
"Uh...I was helping Mr. Filch cleaning yesterday and Malfoy... I was just wondering...he said something and I just..." He was very nervous, but his previous experience with the professor had made him more confident in talking to her. She had never been mean to him, or put him down.
"What did Mr. Malfoy say?" She looked at him intently, with slightly narrowed eyes, as if expecting something bad.
"He said the Runes professor would know how my parents are doing...I don't know what he meant," he said and glanced back at the box on the floor.
"I see," she said after a moment, as she pushed herself from the desk, and poured tea into two cups with the levitated kettle. A thin line of steam rose from the cup she handed to Neville.
"You...you said you didn't know my parents...so, how would you know how they're doing?" Neville asked and brought the cup to his lips, but put it back down, thinking that it might be too hot to drink just yet. He had often burned his tongue before.
There was a long pause and Neville thought for a minute that she hadn't heard him, but then he realized she seemed to be struggling with some thought or other – her eyes looked both sad and angry at the same time and she kept giving her head a small shake, as if to rid it of some unwelcome memory. Then, with a deep sigh, she looked across at Neville, and began to speak.
"Well, since Mr. Malfoy clearly knows, and I'm certain I know who told him..." she paused with slightly narrowed eyes before shaking her head again, "I might as well tell you." She took a sip from her cup, building up Neville's curiosity with her pause - although that was probably not her intention...
"Just over thirteen years ago I was attacked by Death Eaters, just like your parents were. I was tortured half to death by the Cruciatus Curse. A year and a half ago I woke up in a hospital bed and I didn't know where I was, or remember what had happened." She said all this rather quickly, as if she had decided to say it all before she could stop herself. She took one deep breath before continuing. "It was explained to me that I'd been asleep for twelve years. The healers called it Adsensus Lethargus, or 'Reality Coma'. I regained my memory shortly after I woke up." She paused again for a moment and looked into her cup, tracing it with her finger absent-minded. "I was cared for in the same room as your parents, Neville. Another patient told me about what had happened to them."
Neville stared at her with an open mouth. "The Cruciatus Curse? And you woke up? ...And you're all right..."
"Now don't get your hopes up Neville," Professor Montage said quickly and placed her cup on the saucer. She caught his eyes and continued, "My circumstance was very different from your parent's."
"What do you mean?" he asked, the hope in his chest slowly and painfully dying.
"I can't tell you exactly how, but your parents have been awake for many years. The healers say that each case is different when it comes to long term victims of the Cruciatus Curse. Your parents half-woke up after a very short Adsensus Lethargus and they still haven't reclaimed their reality. I woke up after a long sleep and I'm fully recovered...well...almost." She frowned a bit, and cast her eyes quickly on the wall before looking at Neville again. There was a long moment of silence where they simply looked into each others eyes, Neville thinking about what she had said, and she probably wondering if Neville fully understood what she had just told him.
"The healers thought it a miracle..." she said at last, broke the eye-contact and gazed into her cup again, stirring her tea thoughtfully and taking another sip before looking at him.
He thought she must have felt his disappointment as she sighed quietly and added, "I'm very sorry Neville. I do remember you visiting them. In fact, you were there when I woke up for the first time. I couldn't see you because of the curtains, but I could hear you talking to them."
Neville looked at his cup - it was still full, but the tea was getting cold.
"They kept me for a month after I woke up," Professor Montage continued, "but they couldn't find anything wrong with me, so I was free to leave. I've been going in for check-ups regularly, and I sometimes stop by your parents to see how they're doing. They'd be glad to know that you weren't harmed..."
Neville looked up at her. For a brief moment he thought he'd seen actual warmth in her eyes...
"Gran," Neville said, "always has to introduce me when we go and visit...they never remember..." he looked down into his palms and felt a tickling tear run down his cheek.
"Yes, I'm afraid that's the side effect for those who have lost their contact with reality," she said softly and gave him a moment to think about what had been said.
"Neville, I think you should go back to your common room now," she said quietly and glanced at him with a forced smile. Neville sniffed heavily and wiped his tears away with his sleeve, but just then they were interrupted by a commotion in the hallway outside. Filch's voice could be heard bellowing down the corridor; from the sound of things, Peeves still had some inkbottles left, and appeared to be accompanying the creative lyrics he was chanting with the occasional smash of a bottle.
Filchy, Filchy, Filchy Filch,
Filchy, squibly, flying fist...
"Yes Professor," Neville said, still thinking about what she'd told him. He closed the door quietly behind him, checked from which direction the angry voice of Filch was coming and set off down the opposite corridor, deep in thought.
---
Isolde didn't stay at Hogwarts over Christmas. Nobody, except for Dumbledore, knew where she'd gone; no one saw her leave, no one saw her come back, but on the last night of the holidays, she once again walked into the Great Hall. Snape noticed that she wasn't exactly smiling, but she was looking rather pleased about something, still wrapped in her winter coat and holding many large and old looking scrolls in her arms. The first thing she did was approach Dumbledore and ask to have a private word with him.
Some of the other teachers looked curiously at each other as Dumbledore and Isolde walked to the entrance of the Great Hall. Snape walked silently towards them and stopped close enough so that he could hear what they were saying.
Isolde handed the scrolls over to Dumbledore. "Ah, excellent work, Isolde," said Dumbledore as he examined them thoughtfully. "I'll have a look at them this evening and we can hopefully start working on them before Christmas next year, after I've gathered more facts. You should rest before the students arrive, you must be exhausted after the journey."
With that, Isolde bid him good night and walked up the stairs. Snape watched her disappear around the corner and tried to imagine what all that was about. Where had she been? What was she doing for Dumbledore? It was a while before he realized that Dumbledore was looking at him. Snape kept his calm as he met his eyes, and didn't even bother to pretend that he hadn't overheard the conversation.
"Severus, I will need your help on this...research we're conducting. I will talk to you further when we start working on these," Dumbledore said and lifted up the scrolls.
Feeling greatly disappointed with the lack of explanation, Snape calmly said "Yes, Headmaster," and left for his dungeon.
---
In February there was another Sirius Black incident inside the castle. This time he had entered the Gryffindor boys' dormitory and woken up Ron Weasley. The teachers spent the night searching the castle for Sirius. Again, he was not found, nor was there any lead to how he'd gotten in. After the castle had been searched extensively, some of the teachers returned to their private chambers while others were guarding the corridors.
Isolde was one of those who wasn't on patrolling duty and lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what had just happened. Sirius Black...Sirius Black... Just thinking his name made her angry! The arrogant, self-absorbed, murdering bully, Sirius Black! She thought about what she would do and what she'd say if she met him. She had never been able to forgive him for killing Lily. Lily had been her very best friend for many years and it still hurt thinking about her... Everyone had had time to come to terms with her death, everyone but Isolde, as from her point of view, Lily had been alive and well a year and a half ago. At first she hadn't understood why He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had killed her, but as soon as Dumbledore explained to her about Sirius's betrayal...
From these thoughts she fell asleep and started dreaming. Her dreams were strange and blurry until just before she woke up, when she dreamt memories – an incident from the past she hadn't thought about in a long time...
James and his friends were sitting in the shadow of a tree, along
with Lily and some other Gryffindor girls. She waved at Isolde and
called her over. As Isolde reached her she noticed Snape sitting
near by, with soaking wet hair. She looked towards the Quidditch
field and saw that Sirius was emerging from it. It was Friday
afternoon in their fifth year and they had just taken the Potions
OWL. It had gone well for all except for Peter, who sat there
complaining about it to Remus Lupin.
"Are you ready for your Advanced Flying exam, Izzy?" Lily asked with
an anxious smile.
"Yes, I am. I mean, it shouldn't be very difficult, should it?
It's just basic manoeuvres..."
Lily must have seen her perplexed expression while she looked at
Snape. "It was Sirius and James again," she answered before Isolde
could ask. "They cast an Aqua Bubble Spell on him a moment ago, and
a big one too. I think Snape's still trying to think of a way to
get back at them."
"Hey, look who's still there," Sirius called a few feet away from
them, smirking in the way only he could. Everyone turned to look at
Snape, who seemed to be pretending that he hadn't heard Sirius,
keeping his eyes fixed on the exam paper, but not moving them.
"James, what do you say?" Sirius continued, "Should we wash his hair
again?"
"I -" James started.
"Don't even think about it!"
"Aw, come on Izzy, we're just having a bit of fun. Besides, it's
only Snivellus."
"Fun!? I don't see anything funny about bullying people. And stop
calling him that!" she said and placed her hands on her hips.
"And how are you going to make me?" he asked in a derisive way, now
standing directly in front of her.
"You think you're so clever, always hanging around your friends.
Here's an idea – why not challenge him to a duel one-on-one, instead
of four-on-one?" Isolde said in a loud voice, catching the attention
of the nearest people. She felt very uncomfortable standing so
close to Sirius.
"It's not like he's Mr. Innocent - he does his share. Why are you
protecting him anyway? He's never lifted a finger to help you, has
he?"
Isolde thought about the time she'd asked Snape to help her with the
Proteco Spell earlier that year. Sirius offered to help her, but
Sirius had had something completely different on his mind when they
got together to practice.
"Well, it's not like you've helped me either, is it?" Isolde
snapped.
"You're just playing hard to get, just like your friend here, Lily,"
he answered with a sweet smile as he jerked his head in Lily's
direction. "Will you meet me in the south tower tonight?" he asked
bluntly, and lifted his eyebrow teasingly at her.
"No, I will not!" Isolde answered in a dignified voice.
"Aw, that stings," Sirius said, holding his hand over his heart, his
head leaning to one side. She knew that he loved teasing her,
almost as much as James loved to tease Lily.
"Well, as much as I enjoy this conversation," Isolde said with
sarcasm, "I have a practical flying exam to attend."
"Flying exam?" he asked with a short laugh. "Where were you last
Tuesday?"
"You know very well that I was in the hospital wing, after your Fire-
crab attacked me in our exam last Monday," she said and looked at
her left hand. It was healed now, but it had burned really badly.
Sirius had been showing off as usual, and had been careless. Of
course the teacher hadn't seen it and thought it had been a mishap –
and not Sirius's usual reckless behaviour. Fortunately though, it
had happened at the very end of the Care of Magical Creatures OWL.
Isolde turned on her heel and walked towards the Quidditch field,
where the exam was to take place. As she reached it she heard
Sirius, James and Peter laughing. She looked back and saw Snape
glaring at them, dropping his bag and then walking away from them,
towards the Quidditch field.
The broom was ready for her to mount. The examiner was waiting for
her while she put her book bag down and mounted the broom.
"Right. This is Advanced Flying Examination. You are to do these
manoeuvres," he handed her a piece of parchment with instructions.
"When I blow the whistle I want you to kick off the ground and do
your first manoeuvre. Are you ready?" Isolde looked over her
shoulder and saw Snape standing in the shadow, watching her. In the
distance she saw Sirius, also watching, while his friends were still
laughing under the tree. Isolde heard the sound of a whistle and
she kicked off the ground.
She directed the broom upwards. Her first task was to go into a
sharp dive and pull up just before hitting the ground. When she was
high in the air she directed the broom downwards at a good speed.
When she was half way from the ground she lost control of the broom.
It started flying on its own. It zoomed to the right, then to the
left, taking a swoop downwards and then flying up. Sirius, Lily,
James and Lupin were running towards her, but Snape was already
standing in the middle of the field. The examiner didn't quite know
what to do and kept shouting instructions.
"I can't control it," she called back and let out a yell as the
broom swooped down and knocked the examiner down. The broom took
her up into the air again, and looking down she saw that the
examiner wasn't moving.
The broom turned swiftly in the air and took another dive towards
the middle of the field. "SNAPE!! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!" she
shouted, terrified that she would harm more people.
But Snape didn't move. He stood firmly in his place, pulled out his
wand and shouted "ACCIO!"
Isolde felt that she was being pulled sharply off the broom. She
was being pulled with great force towards Snape, at a very rapid
speed. She landed forcefully in Snape's arms and he fell backwards
at the impact. They rolled on the ground, until Isolde was lying on
her back with Snape on top of her. They looked at each other and he
seemed rather surprised at his own accomplishment. All Isolde
managed to do was to sigh a quiet "...wow..."
He stood up and mumbled "No problem," while dusting his robes.
"Izzy! Izzy!" Lily came running. "Are you all right!??"
Isolde, was still sitting on the ground, looking up at Snape. She
slowly wiped away the few drops that had fallen on her from his
hair.
"Izzy?" Lily kneeled down next to her.
"What...?" She turned her head towards Lily, still wrapped up in
disbelief of what had just happened.
"Are you all right?" Lily asked in a worried voice. "How did this
happen?" she said as she pulled Isolde to her feet.
"Ask him." Snape pointed at Sirius, smirked at him and walked away.
"Me?" Sirius turned to Isolde after narrowing his eyes at Snape, "Do
you think that I'd intentionally harm you?" he asked in a rather
shaky voice. His face was very pale.
"You were hinting it under that tree!" Lily hissed at him.
"No - no, I wasn't..." He looked at the broom that was lying in
pieces beside Isolde.
"You said that she'd look at you differently if you saved her of a
flying broom."
"I just meant if I would save her, that's all," he turned his head
towards Lily.
"Then why did you explicitly say 'flying broom'?!" Lily shouted
angrily. When he didn't answer she added, "Well, your plan didn't
work, now did it? Snape stole your thunder, didn't he?!"
A watchful James, a very pale Lupin and a seemingly unconcerned
Peter were standing behind Sirius.
Sirius's voice grew dimmer, "Snivellus should keep his big nose out
of other people's business. What was he doing here anyway?"
"Well," Lily answered angrily, "He probably heard you talking and
assumed that you'd put a jinx on her broom! You know, I really
should report you!"
"Where's your proof?" James had stepped in, crossing his arms in
front of him after ruffling his hair with his hand. He raised his
eyebrow at Lily.
"You saw Sirius walk from the field earlier!" she answered, taking a
step of determination in his direction.
"That doesn't prove anything. Snivellus could have jinxed the
broom. Anyone could have done it." He smiled at Lily's fury,
clearly enjoying arguing with her. Isolde could see Lily's face go
red with anger.
"Lily, you really should calm down," James continued, "You should
take Izzy to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey clean her from
top to bottom. She was, after all, touched by that git."
Isolde didn't say anything. She heard the examiner moan a few feet
away from her and she slowly looked at Snape, who had collected his
bag from under the tree, and was walking up the stairs of the
castle.
The dream changed into a flash of another memory...
She was lying on the floor and could taste blood when she swallowed.
She turned her head and saw a faceless man in a black robe. Blood
was dripping from his clutched hand...
---
To be continued in chapter 4 – Malfoy's Mischief
I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me ;)