Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. Except a few things which you don't recognize from original series or anywhere else.
Author: zimagesto
Title: Harry Potter and the Legacy of Slytherin
Summary: Seventh year at Hogwarts. Contains: the Lord of Darkness, the Dark Lord, a bunch of elves, a lost kingdom and a lot of interesting stuff. Twisted story with a twisted end. Not conventional. Worth reading. R&R
Author's Note: Quite a funny thing, I must say: I haven't written in about a month because I was away and well, I kinda forgot what I wanted this chapter to be about. So, the title 'things found out' came as a surprise to me and then it rung a bell... but what things were found out? I really, really can't remember. Well, I know one of them, but I frankly have no clue which the other was. I feel like a have a hippogriff jumping up and down in my head here with effort to remember! I only know what the Things are definitely not about!
And as I once specified, thinking 'Think, Zimagesto, think!' doesn't help much...;-)
So on to the next chapter! –and fear not, since I forgot, it means it wasn't really important. Just something I kept forgetting –wow, that's a wonder. But I've replaced it... ;-) Hope ya like what I've got in store for you.
Chapter 3: Things Found Out
Harry was by no means a psychologist. In fact, he knew nothing of psychology. But what he did know was that Colt had a definitely great influence on Jane. He had somehow wormed his way into the girl's heart. He would manage to cheer her up whenever she started sobbing again. Surprisingly, all Snape did was rise an eyebrow at his marble friend amusedly –the 'amusedly' part when he thought nobody noticed-.
Yes, Colt was a great influence on the young girl. His caring, yet cheery self helped her through a lot of things. Frankly, Harry could see how the wolf had managed to help Snape as well.
However, the infamous Potions Master at Hogwarts was not as pleased with the constant walking through his house of rampaging students. After their first night in the house, they had started exploring, guided by the safe hands –or paws, rather- of one very specific marble wolf. And Hermione had discovered the absolutely huge library on the ground floor which was done in an old-fashioned style, of course having stairs to be able to get the higher books and the colors being quite dark. She had fallen in love from the very first second.
Then, they had discovered rooms upon rooms with interesting things... and that the Snape Manor was huuuuuuuuuge. As in, really huge. It wasn't how they had all expected it to be, just a large building with one ground floor plus one floor and maybe dungeons. Somehow, they had all gotten the impression that the architecture of the house was simple, that the house looked somewhat like a photo camera or a matchbox that was put on one side and had the height and depth readjusted.
And boy, where they wrong. It was rather like a... Like a... well, Harry didn't know what it was like. An anthill, maybe. The building spread on a great surface and it was clear to everybody why Snape had told them about getting lost. Because it was very possible to do so. There were about ten interior courtyards and there were tons of corridors and rooms that surrounded them. Yep, an anthill. Or a really large labyrinth.
The part of the house they had seen was small compared to the rest and it was decorated in a modern way. The part of the house that was opposite to it was dark and old-looking, mysterious, almost as if nobody ever went through there. Which, Colt told them, was exactly the case. The wolf guided them around the place, to the indoor swimming pool and in the weird-portrait rooms. However, he kept them away from the 'other wing' of the part of the house where they had been in.
"Severus's rooms, stay away if you don't want to be dead" Colt said with a wink.
And then, there were the grounds. Well, they exceeded expectations. They were downright Outstanding, to tell the truth. There was a lake and a part of a forest –"The Forest of Wolves, but the part that's tame, if you know what I mean" Colt had said and had shown them the wall to the real Forest of Wolves-. Then, there were the ornamental gardens which had nearly every type of non-dangerous plant known to them. And then, there were the greenhouses...
"You know what I don't get?" Harry asked himself rhetorically as he entered the manor –no, castle!
"What?" Colt asked.
"Um... Snape seemed to be the kind of a guy who lived in a small dark house, you know?" Harry said slowly, remembering what he had seen in Snape's memories.
"Not small, but dark definitely" Colt agreed. "Everything was dark and shadowy, even in the sunny days..."
Harry shook his head off the other man's memories... but he remembered one in which a girl was laughing at him when he was trying to mount a broomstick. Who was that girl?
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Harry was walking towards the entrance of the castle with a bottle of water in his hand when a smiling raven-haired girl walked towards him.
"Hey, Harry!" she said with a grin.
"Amala?" Harry said, frowning. "What are you doing here?"
"I just realized" she said with a grin "that I needn't worry about the Ministry. I never broke the law! Neither did Severus!"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, maintaining his frown.
"I mean, silly, there's nothing in the world that they could possibly find against either of us in this relationship" she said with a grin. "I'm not underage anymore! There's nothing the Ministry might have against us! And the school rules say nothing about a teacher and a student being together."
"Oh, um, well, congratulations" Harry said.
"Where is he?" Amala asked.
"Who? Ah, Snape" Harry said. "He's in his dungeons –his, um, his lab. It's on the right side, on the ground floor, first door on the left, you go underground. If you can't find him there, dinner is in about half an hour, the dinning room is on the ground floor, on the left, first on the left."
"Thanks" she said with a grin and walked to Severus's lab.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Severus was brewing something in his underground laboratory, carefully measuring his ingredients. He smiled to himself, as he usually did when he was taking care of a potion and he was sure everything would turn out fine.
He threw some unicorn hairs in the simmering cauldron and adjusted the fire under it. He then collapsed on his favorite armchair and relaxed in one second. He had at least two hours before the potion would be ready for the next step. Meanwhile, what would he do?
He just relaxed for five minutes. The potion he was just brewing was an experiment, actually. He'd never tried it before... And if it worked and he would be able to combine it with another, the results would be great...
Yep, he was very intelligent.
And a great Potions Master.
Before he could let his ego drown the whole room, the door to his very own private dungeon-laboratory opened and a very, very familiar person slid inside.
"Hi, Severus" she said with a very mischievous smile.
"Amala?" he asked, gaping for a second before gathering himself up. "What are you doing here? What is the Ministry going to..."
"I've been studying the law... and the school rules" she said with a smirk, cutting him off intentionally. "And guess what I read?"
"What?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously and forgetting to get up from his armchair. She decided to take care of that problem and went to him and sat on his lap.
"Well, it is not against any law that a person under seventeen be dating any man whatsoever" she started with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "And the school rules say nothing about a relationship between student and teacher being forbidden"
"But both rules and law definitely say something against a relationship of... sexual nature between a 16 year-old and a 39 year-old" he mused.
"That's just it Severus" she said with an even more mischievous glint. "We didn't break the law or rules"
"But how do they know we won't now?" the Potion Master asked.
"We can't do it now" she said and burst out in laughter as he eyed her disbelievingly. "Alas, being underaged disappears when you turn 17, you know"
His eyes turned wide as he watched her say that.
"Wasn't your birthday on the 19th of July?" he questioned slowly.
"July?!" she said, frowning. "So that's why you sent me no happy-birthday anything! I thought you were afraid the owl might be intercepted by the Ministry! No, my birthday was on the 19th of June! And since the underage business lasts until you're 18 in Romania, I had completely forgotten it's different here"
"Oh, bother" Severus said, rolling his eyes.
"Yep" she said and put a small kiss on his lips. Which said small kiss turned passionate.
Finally braking apart, the two smiled at each other and Severus said slowly:
"Well, I'm really sorry for mixing up your birthday... If I'd have known, I'd have definitely sent you my gift"
"Oh, I don't mind getting one later" she laughed. "You're forgiven"
"How about I give it to you now?" he asked, purring in her ear.
"What? Now?" she asked, frowning and feeling a bit less certain. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well..." Severus said and took out his wand from his pocket. "Accio!"
Her eyes grew wide as a small package rushed in his hand.
"You have something for me?" she asked, gaping slightly.
"Of course" he replied, smirking. "Bought it on my last trip to Diagon Alley... I'm not sure you'll like it, but..."
He handed it to her and she opened it curiously. Inside was one of the most delicate and nice silver chains she had ever seen with a silver medallion attacked. It was shaped like an eye, but instead of being horizontally attached to the chain, it was vertically attached to it and it held a crystal in it.
"It's wonderful" she breather and took it out of the box. "I really love it!"
"I try my best" he replied with a somewhat kind smirk, if such a thing did exist, and kissed her.
"Well, don't you want to see how it looks on me?" she asked with her excited smile.
"Of course I do" he replied and put it around her neck. "There... You look extraordinarily beautiful. As always..."
She smiled back at him in return and put a kiss on his lips. One that he was not all that eager to end. And neither was she, as a matter of fact. She gasped against his mouth as one of his hands slid under her blouse... she definitely didn't mind, though, and she felt her body shiver a little.
"We... we should go" she said after awhile of really, really enjoying herself.
"And why is that?" Severus asked, not looking too happy at the thought of leaving.
"Well, Harry said that you'd be having dinner soon and..." she said.
"Harry?! You ran into Potter?!" Severus cut her off surprised.
"Yeah" she replied. "When I came"
"How did you get here, anyway?" Severus continued his questioning, only now realizing that it was not normal for her to be there.
"I Apparated?" she replied, suddenly looking sheepish.
"You can Apparate?!" he asked, raising his eyebrows, but not being all that surprised.
"Um... Yes?" she said, looking really sheepish.
"How?" Severus asked. "And since when?"
"For a year and a half and I learned it from my parents. It's not illegal in Romania to learn it or to practice it even without registering" she replied and then frowned. "Or at least I hope so"
"Anything else I don't know about you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Mm... Yeah, many things" she replied. "Hey, don't cut my head off for it, ok? So, shall we go?"
"Of course" he replied as she got up from his lap and smiled at him. He got up too and looked at his simmering cauldron. "I'll have to finish that sometime... Tomorrow, maybe"
"What is it?" she asked curiously.
"Revelation potion" he replied. "It..."
"I know it" she said with a smile. "For five minutes, a person acts the way he wants to deep inside. But... why are you doing it? I mean, it's a nice potion and all, but it's supposed to be difficult to make and surely you have nothing to gain out of giving it to anyone"
"Well, I'm trying to combine it with another potion" Severus replied with a small delighted smile at her knowledge.
"Which one?" she questioned.
"The Animal-Turning one" he replied and smiled expectantly at her.
"What for?" she asked with a frown. "It would probably show the animal that the drinker is most connected to"
"Precisely" he replied with a mysterious smile.
"Why?" she asked again in a confused fashion.
"Think about it" he replied.
"Um... I don't know" she replied with a frown. "Tell me why! Please..."
"So that one could see what he or she would look like as an Animagus in animal form"
Amala's eyes widened at the revelation and she smiled.
"You're one crazy and very smart wizard, did you know that?" she asked and her eyes started to twinkle. "Please let me try it when you get it right"
"It is possible that I won't get it right, maybe it is impossible to melt these two potions together" he said with an amused smile.
"Oh, come on, Severus, you're the best potion brewer around" she replied. "If there's anyone who can do it, it's you"
"Why, tank you" he replied with a half-sarcastic voice and offered her an arm. "Shall we?"
"Of course" she replied and happily took it.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Five minutes later, when they entered the dining room, everybody was surprised to see them together, arm in arm, Snape actually smiling for a change. Of course, he smiled for a quarter of a second after they entered and then went back to being his usual, dark and bastard self. Amala kept smiling, though.
"So, hey, Amala, nice to see you again" Ginny said with a smile and a concerned look towards the Potions Master.
"Nice to see you too" the girl replied as both she and Snape sat down –next to each other of course. And unfortunately for Neville, he was just next to his Professor. Ron let out a breath as Amala sat next to him. "Where's Jane?" she asked concernedly.
"She's out with Colt, she should be back here soon" Ginny replied.
"Who's Colt?" Amala asked with a frown.
"Professor Snape's wolf" Draco replied. "An animated marble statue that has a great personality"
"Jane is out sitting by some statue?" Amala asked, her frown getting deeper.
"No, he's showing her the nicest places in the forest" Draco replied and Amala looked at him confusedly and was about to ask something more when the two in question entered.
"Hello, sorry I'm late" Jane said and smiled at them, truly happy. "We lost track of time"
Amala stared at the brownish wolf that entered behind her, very much alive.
"New person!" the wolf said and made his way to Amala. "I'm Colt, who're you?"
"Um... hi, I'm Amala" she replied and he grinned a wolfish grin.
"Are you really? Heard about you, kid, and only good stuff" he said and turned his head towards Snape. "You have some explaining to do, Severus."
"After lunch" he replied with a friendly smile.
"Ok" he replied and lied down by the door. "I'll be waiting"
"That you will, my friend" Severus said with a nice smile and, when Neville eyed him in a weird way, he glared dangerously towards the boy.
They had a nice dinner after which the students were off to tell Amala about what had happened while they had been at Snape manor–or castle? Of course, Snape was off with Colt and they both seemed to have a very important discussion.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Ah, so that's what's up with Colt" Amala said and rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. "Finally, I get it"
"It's not that hard to get" Ron said in a friendly way that was probably meant to make her feel better.
"Even you understood everything, haven't you, Weasley?" Draco sneered.
It had taken about half an hour of the others talking to her in order for her to understand everything from Colt to the new book Hermione was reading. Neville was kind enough not to mention the plants he was working on.
They had finally passed the urge to tell her everything now, so she could relax in that very comfortable armchair that was in the huge hall where Colt had stayed as a statue, waiting for the 'master of the manor' to appear and to tell Amala where she would be spending the night. She had brought he luggage and had given it to Inkle when she had arrived.
"And what happened at Number 12?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Not much really" Amala replied. "I mean, really, not much. You parents miss you, Hermione and Neville... Your grandma hopes you're still alive"
They all chuckled at that, some of them wondering if she knew of Neville's boggart... and the way he had defeated it once.
"Well, I'm writing to her, so she must get the point" Neville muttered. "And plus, Snape's been a lot less mean to me since I've started taking care of his plants in the greenhouse. No offense to house elves, but they don't really know how to take care of all of them"
"And they wouldn't have time to do it, either, this place is huge" Ginny added and turned towards Amala. "We should give you an honorific tour of the hugest manor I've ever seen after he tells you where you sleep tonight"
"Probably in his bedroom" Draco said with a smirk and all the eyes turned towards him. "You aren't underage anymore, you know that right?" he asked, an eyebrow risen.
"Ugh, Malfoy. Sometimes, we can do without such mental images" Ron said, making a disgusted face.
"Hey, Amala!" they heard a voice and turned their heads only to see Colt walking towards them at a fast pace, Snape on his left. "Let me show you to your bedroom"
Amala got up and the wolf grinned at her, reaching the group of students.
"Show me" she said with a mischievous smile. Colt lead her towards the place where the others had their bedrooms in and Ron smiled wickedly at Draco.
"You were wrong, Malfoy" he said with a lot of satisfaction.
"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't" he replied smugly and Ron's face fell.
"What is this all about?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You don't want to find out, sir" Ginny said, daring to smile at the Potion Master who just raised his eyebrow.
"I don't, do I?" he muttered and left in the direction of his laboratory, the others getting up and going after Amala.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
They were all getting ready for dinner and Amala was very happy about her room. She had a huge double bed –in cream sheets- and flowers on a table and a few armchairs... A very lovely bedroom indeed. It reminded her a bit of someone, she just couldn't tell who.
She smiled to herself as she slipped on her slippers –and she just loved saying that out loud. Soon, she was muttering to herself "let me slip on the slipping slippers, 'cause I'm sleepy and I'll slip on the slippery stairs" and laughing. She was in a good mood when she met with the others and they went downstairs chatting happily, but her mood increased even more as she saw the tall house elf –Krowcher, she remembered- open the door to the dinning room which was wonderfully decorated. There were candles everywhere and roses on the table and everything was just...
"I never knew the slimy git could be romantic" Ron muttered to himself.
"He is, but this is not his work" said a voice from the table and they all saw Colt grinning at them. "This is my work. And school or no school, Ronald Weasley, you should pay some respect for your teachers!"
Ron scowled at the wolf as he grinned even wider and said further:
"That's Professor Slimy Git, you get it?"
They snickered and sat down, leaving one chair at the end of the table for Snape to take. The chair at the other end of the table was unanimously given to Amala.
In less than three minutes, Snape himself arrived and jerked back at the sight of his... romantic dining room. Then, he walked towards the end of the table, sat down and asked with an unreadable face and with an unreadable voice:
"Who did this?"
"Why, Severus, Inkle, of course" Colt replied with a grin. "He was more than happy to do it"
"At whose order?" Severus inquired further.
"Mine, you should know that by now" the wolf replied carelessly. "Enjoy!"
To Harry's surprise, Snape muttered to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear:
"That wolf's sleeping outside tonight"
They chuckled to themselves and hoped that that had been a joke and tucked into the food that appeared on the table Hogwarts-style: some very nice soup, then some pasta and at desert chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream. After their dinner, Snape excused himself, saying he needed to work on a potion and if they desired to, Granger, Malfoy and Wright would be allowed to help. All three of them accepted to do so and went to the laboratory with their Potion Master who told them to make Animal-Turning potion but without adding anything from any animal in it. He was working on a completely different thing and they could all see that from the fuchsia bubbles that were bursting out of his cauldron.
After they considered they did enough brewing for one night –or rather, after Snape considered they did enough brewing for one night- they went to bed. All but one of them.
"What are you doing tonight?" Severus purred in his girlfriend's ear as the two... 'intruders' left his lab. He was behind her, his arms circling her waist as he leaned over her shoulder.
"Sleeping?" she asked amusedly.
"Where?"
She smirked to herself.
"Maybe Draco knows you better than we thought..." she said playfully and he frowned.
"What does he have to do with anything?"
"A comment he made" she replied and smirked.
"What comment?" he inquired further.
"You don't want to know" she replied in the same playful tone.
"What did he say?" Severus asked, becoming curious. Maybe this was what Ginevra had been talking about before.
"I'll tell you... tomorrow morning" she replied and he growled. She raised an amused eyebrow. You didn't hear Severus Snape growl every day.
"Fine. But where do you intend on sleeping?"
"In that beautiful bedroom you gave to me" she replied teasingly. "After all... If I'm 17 doesn't mean I'm more mature than at 16..."
Severus kissed her neck gently and moved up to her ear, slowly biting on her earlobe.
"I can feed you some of my Revelation potion" he purred.
"That won't help too much, it only works five minutes" she replied leaning onto him, starting to give up to his gentle touches.
"On the contrary, it works for five hours" Severus replied and she gulped as his tongue somehow ended up on her earlobe. "It was an ingredient that reduced its effect in time..." Amala was wondering how she could still understand what he was saying... his hands were exploring her body in a way they hadn't done before... And his tongue was back at her ear. She gasped in surprise as it slid in, but before she could ponder on it, she understood.
"Whoa" she moaned, leaning into Severus.
"You wouldn't imagine that from a simple ear, would you?" he asked and she could feel his smirk. "The ear has many... nerves. It can cause more pleasure than expected."
"You're so right" she said, wondering if it came out as a moan.
"I could show you some other very interesting parts of your body" he continued his whisper and one of his hands lay over her breast.
"Since when are you... wow" she half-asked, leaning into him and smiling at the ceiling, eyes closed.
"Since the ministry can't shoot me down for touching you in any way I want" Severus replied and smiled against her ear.
"They couldn't shoot you down for this before" she said mischievously.
"No... But you seem to want to go forward... and a part of 'forward' is something they would love to shoot me down for" he replied. "Actually, I wasn't quite sure where they drew the line. It would have really hurt me to see you want more, want to give you more and not be able to do it"
"What if I don't want to move forward?" she asked, suddenly feeling less at ease.
"Then we stop here" he replied. "We do whatever you want"
That calmed her down a little. His hands had stopped touching her and were now resting around her waist again. She relaxed slightly and felt him ask in a calmer tone:
"So? What are you doing tonight?"
She turned her gaze towards him and their eyes connected. She let out a small sigh and said slowly:
"Dunno, what am I doing tonight?"
But before he could reply, she pressed her lips to his for a few seconds.
"How about you tell me?" he asked with a smirk.
"How about I meet you somewhere?" she asked, smirking herself.
"How about in front of where Colt's statue should be?" he continued the small game.
"How about after everybody goes to sleep?"
"How about you tell me when that is?"
"How about at one a.m.?"
"How about it being quite late?" he said, raising an amused eyebrow.
"How about me not caring?" she said, shaking her head slowly.
"How about hiding this from your friends?"
"How about me sleeping in my own bedroom tonight?" she said innocently.
"Fine by me if it's fine by you" he said after pondering for ten seconds about it.
"Fine by me if it's fine by you too" she replied and chuckled. "Now, how about we go to our rooms?"
Severus laughed.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Hello, Severus" said Amala, descending the stairs. "You're half an hour early"
"So are you" he replied visibly surprised. "I was just on my way to the kitchen, what is your excuse?"
"They've let me go to bed early" she replied with a smile and reached him.
"Surprising" he replied, raising an eyebrow. "I truly cannot believe it"
"I can" she chuckled. "Colt said that you were a 'night owl' and so we would not be able to scout the manor after our own free will, but if we got up early tomorrow morning, it would be guaranteed you'd be asleep and we could relax."
"That wolf..." Severus muttered and shook his head.
"Hey, he's on your side!" Amala said playfully.
"I know, but sometimes..." he shook his head again. "Where is he anyway?"
"In Jane's bedroom" Amala said slowly. "He has a really good influence on her, you know"
"I do not doubt it" he replied, looking in her eyes. "Colt has a way of fixing broken hearts"
"I can see that Jane's better now" she replied. "So, what'd you want to get from the kitchens?"
"A glass of water" he replied. "And perhaps something to eat"
Amala started laughing and he raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.
"The Horror of Hogwarts himself, the Great Potion Master and the Fear of All Non-Slytherins is going down to his kitchens to have a midnight snack before meeting his girlfriend. Don't you believe it ruins your perfect horrible appearance? It makes you seem quite human"
"Ha, ha, I'm laughing myself to death" came the dry reply. "Would you like to join me?"
"Why of course, I could use a warm glass of milk while I wait for you to devour your most unfortunate meal" she said, her eyes twinkling.
"I think I'll just forget the food" he muttered darkly. "I rather dislike the vampiric jokes"
"Hey, didn't mean to offend you" she said and grabbed his hand. "I thought you were taking them as really good jokes. Plus, think about it: it might even be a compliment"
"Pardon?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean it. Look at the vampires in movies, yeah, they're dark, but they also have that... something, that charisma, that power... Maybe it's a compliment" she said with a wink and he sighed helplessly.
"Anyway it may be, I really couldn't care less right now. Now, shall we?" he said with a smirk and took her arm.
"Sure, count Snapela" she replied and chuckled at his growl.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Pay up" Draco said towards Ron with a huge smirk.
"Damn" the other replied and took a sickle out of his pocket and gave it to the blond. "Guess you were right"
"Exactly my point" Draco said with a brand new smirk. "See? It was a great idea to let her go early and where did she go? Straight in the arms of one Severus Snape"
"Maybe she won't spend the night there" Hermione said with a mischievous smile. "And then you owe us all one galleon each. Well, except for Ron, of course, he was thick enough to bet that she wouldn't go meet him tonight"
"Not one chance of her coming back" Draco laughed. "I'll be rich!"
"Well, perhaps he is right and he should be rich" Jane said and everybody raised an eyebrow towards her. "Otherwise, it's going to be frustrating, not having a huge fortune to match the huge ego"
"Hey" Draco muttered.
"Oh, well, I'm placing the wards up in case she comes back we can hear her" Hermione said with a huge smile and left out the door.
"You know" Draco commented, watching her back disappear, "sometimes I really wonder if Potter and Weasley weren't too much of an influence on her. She's starting to scare me"
/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Come up to my room" Severus murmured into Amala's ear.
"Told you, I should be going back to my room" she replied, although she leaned into him.
"Your mouth speaks one thing, your eyes speak another" he said with a small smile.
"Either way, I should and will go to my room now" came the reply. "No matter what you say –or do- that is where I'm going."
"Then perhaps I should join you?" he practically purred.
"That's not exactly what I had in mind" she said and shook her head. "Bloody Slytherin" she muttered and he chuckled.
"Now, why would you say that?" he asked amusedly. "Very well then, I will walk you to your bedroom"
"That I cannot refuse" she replied.
They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached her room.
"I have a feeling you won't allow me in" he murmured in her ear somewhat playfully.
"Your feelings are quite fine tuned, I see" she replied with a chuckle. "Well... goodnight Severus"
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Draco said, seeing the red orb that appeared in the middle of the room, much to the amusement of Colt.
"Pay up, Draco, pay up" Jane said with a smirk towards the blond.
"Darn" he muttered again and took out a leather bag and paid them all a galleon each. Meanwhile, Mark Evans suddenly seemed quite contradicted about something. Draco shot him a look and asked, raising an eyebrow:
"What's up kid?" the blond asked.
"I was suddenly wondering..." Mark said and everybody turned towards him. "How on Earth could I not have noticed it before..." he murmured, gazing at Draco amazedly.
"Notice what?" Draco sneered.
"You're not at home with your parents" Mark said slowly and Jane let out a small gasp.
"Well, what, you wanted me to be there? My father's a Death Eater, you must know that" Draco said, shaking his head as the others got Mark's point. Where had he been? "I mean, come on"
"Then, where were you for the beginning of summer?" Hermione asked in a very calm tone, not seeming as surprised as the rest of the others who were hitting their heads against the wall and asking themselves how come they hadn't noticed such a simple thing.
Draco's mouth closed and he sighed.
"Caught me" he said slowly. "I wasn't at home"
"Where were you?" Jane asked, raising an eyebrow. However, the answer did not come from Draco, but from Ginny.
"Here" she said, the others watching her wide-eyed.
"How do you know?!" Ron asked, frowning deeply.
"Guess!" she said in a duh tone.
"She's right" Draco said slowly. "I was here since the beginning of summer. I emptied my vault at Gringotts the first time I got in Diagon Alley and I now have a nice fortune that my parents gave to me in better times."
"So, that was it" Hermione said slowly. "I'd been wondering. After all, you couldn't have been all this safe now if it hadn't had been with some interesting turn of events"
Draco looked at her as if seeing her for the first time.
"Oh my God, a Gryffindor that thinks!" he said awed and without any hint of sarcasm, making the others, and especially Ron, glare at him. "Hey, don't look at me like that, she has the mind of a Ravenclaw... Or recently, of a Slytherin. Tsk, tsk, Granger, you're starting to act like a Pureblood, what'll happen next?"
"Is that... Meant to be an insult?" Neville asked slowly. "I don't get it"
"Oh, never mind, it's quite late, maybe words don't come out of my mouth as they should" the blonde said dismissively.
"Maybe? They definitely don't" Ron replied sarcastically.
"Oh, shut up, Weasel" Draco said, rolling his eyes. "You really suck at the sarcasm..."
The door opened and they all turned to look towards the intruder. He was tall, dark and glaring. Just the way they liked him.
"Who put wards in my house?" Snape asked, glaring at his students.
"Oh, shucks" Mark said and took out his galleon, holding it over to Hermione. "You win"
"What on Earth are you talking about?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow and watching the others shake their heads.
"He lost the bet" Ron said as if that explained everything in the world.
"Oh, really?" the Potion Master said in sarcasm. "And what was the bet about?"
"That you'd see the wards" Jane explained with a hint of a smile. He glared at her. What were they trying to do, confuse him by answering in turns?
"Which were there in the first place why?" he insisted.
"So we could check up on another bet" Draco replied, taking up his cue. "Professor, they took away my money!"
Snape smirked evilly and shook his head, getting himself ready for revenge.
"How many times have I told you not to bet, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked smirking. "But next time, please refrain from warding my house"
There was a collective 'yes, sir' as Snape exited. Hermione smiled smugly while Mark was thinking that he hadn't lost anything that he had ever truly had. Draco, however, didn't seem too pleased.
"You still have that sickle" Ron pointed out and smirked thinking that Draco's face when he said it was worth every knut.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
AN: I still have no clue about what I wanted to say as a second 'thing found out'. It had something to do with OotP and something I'd missed out talking about. If you guys have any clue as to what it may have been, please, please tell me! I'm wrecking my brains here trying to remember.
Also, feed me! No, thanks, I'll pass the chips, I'm more interested in reviews.
Review replies:
Tsuetsu: Thanks and I don't know about ending up in the Wolf Forest, they just might do it. But no, not now, I don't think... And I quite like Colt myself ;-)
Inu-kokoro: Thanks! I like Colt too, he's got that certain dose of optimism –no wonder Severus brought him to life, no? And... the secret about Monica coming out? Well, yes, in a way... ponders yep, it does sort of come out, now doesn't it? As for the Ministry, they're quite thick. But they'll have their payback. That's a promise ;-)
Skillz: thanks!
Alcapacien: Hey! I want a talking wolf statue too! takes out pen and paper Dear Santa, I know it's kind of early but I want you to know that this Christmas all I want is one alive wolf statue. Thanks. There, all done. All I have to do is wait. And as for Remus... hmm... I think he and Colt would get along quite well.
Eiggizlulu: Wow... Thanks! You've just made my day –or rather night, since it's quite late as I read your review- feel tones better. big goofy grin
marauder#3: Thanks! I really hope this story goes just as smoothly myself. It better, or I'll... Well, I've no clue what I'd do.
GamingGuy84: Thanks for your very kind review and sorry for the long delay –been to France and remained computerless for awhile.