No Good Deed
" Just for this moment
As long as you're mine
Come be how you want to
And see how bright we shine
Borrow the moonlight
Until it is though
And know I'll be here holding you
As long as you're mine"
As Long as Your Mine - Wicked
CHAPTER 2
"Gertrude Carrow!" Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House called.
A mummer ran throughout the hall as the timid eleven year old stepped towards the Sorting Hat.
"Well, well, you come from a long line of Slytherins I see. Yet, you are different. Not only for your looks are different but your emotions as well. You are brave, and courageous, even if you are too timid to see it . Yes, I think you will do well in GRYFFINDOR!"
Gertie struggled not to cry, as she had failed at even the simplest task of being sorted into Slytherin. No doubt, her father would make her pay. As she took her seat at the table, everyone slowly inched away from her. After all, it isn't everyday that you meet a girl with pointed ears and paper-thin skin.
The best way to describe Gertrude Carrow was as a hologram. Each time you looked at her her skin took on a different color and appearance. If she was outside, it shimmered a light gray with hints of red and purple. If she was inside her skin was more of a bluish gray, with touches of green.
Gertie sat quietly watching the rest of the Sorting ceremony. She watched as a shy boy by the last name Lupin was sorted, as well as a beautiful red headed girl named Lily Evans was sorted into her house as well. A timid boy with a crooked nose, almost achieved the same level of gossip as she as he was sorted into Slytherin. At least his family would be proud, Gertrude thought as he took his place at his House table.
She ate alone and in silence, while she listened to the whispers around her. It seemed nearly the whole hall was talking about her. She shifted her food around her plate, and pretended that it did not bother her. As she made her way with the other first year Gryffindors to the Common Room, she wished they all would just shut up.
She was the last to enter the room, and grew tired of the commotion, so she decided to put an end to it.
"Look at her skin." A boy shouted.
"Oh my god! My skin! It must have been something I ate!" She said sarcastically.
"Look, I know I am different, so why don't you just leave it." Gertie said now with a little more passion.
"Settle down, settle down." Professor McGonagall said as she entered the common room.
"First years, here are your room assignments, you will find your things have already been taken up for you." She said, as she left them to look over the assignments. Gertie noticed that the Evans girl was already quite popular. She had managed to gather a crowd of admires within mere hours of her arrival.
"Lily, who are you rooming with?" Another girl asked her. Gertie felt a twinge of jealousy towards the girl. Lily was well dressed and groomed. Her hair was in a tidy French braid, and she had an aura of strength, which drew others towards her.
"Her." Lily answered pointing a finger at Gertie, looking positively mortified.
"Oh dear." The others cried.
Gertie, had had enough. She ran up the stairs to her dormitory, and slammed the door. Later that evening she cried herself to sleep, taking in no notice of her roomate's entrance.
ooo
On an abandoned street called Spinner's End, Gertrude Carrow huddled under a lamp post while keeping a watchful eye out on a small house covered in old cobwebs.
Gertie chewed on her bottom lip, hoping that the years of absence would not cause her job to become more difficult than it already had to be.
Finally, after nearly an hour of standing out in the chill of the night, she received her cue. The door opened, and a tiny rat scurried out the door and down the street. All Gertie could think was what a coward Petigrew was.
She casted a quick warming charm, and pulled her black hat down as far as it would sit on her head attempting to hide her disfiguring skin. As she reached the door, she hesitated, but knew she had no choice. She waited a few moments and then finally the door opened only a crack to reveal one onyx eye and a strand of black hair.
"What do you want?" Severus snapped, unknowing who was calling at this hour.
"Severus, is it safe? I need to speak to you." Gertie said, now looking him straight in the eye. Severus almost stumbled back before whipping the door open and yanking her in by her wrist.
"Gertie, what on earth are you doing? Why? I thought…" Severus struggled for words for the first time in a very long time.
"I can explain, but first, is it safe?" She asked again.
"Yes, here sit. My god, you have been gone for 15 years, and now to just show up here at my home! Who do you take me for Gertie?" Severus hissed at her.
"Look, Dumbledore and I agreed that it would be safer if I stay hidden. But, Dumbledore is dead now, and I can no longer be kept safe by him, or by anyone. It is time for me to finish what everyone believes I did in the first place." Gertie said quickly.
"Dumbledore, is dead because of me! He made me kill him, I had no choice! Dumbledore would just as much used me than actually care for me. He hid you from me! He knew you were the one thing that made me stay loyal to him, he knew that as long as you were gone he could trust me! Dumbledore means nothing to me now."
"Severus, please you don't know what you are saying. Dumbledore did not do this to spite you! And you are a fine one to talk about using people, Severus Snape! Or shall I remind you of our youth."
"I was young and foolish."
"I thought the Half-Blood Prince was never foolish." She mocked.
"Shut up." Severus hissed and turned his head from her.
"Look, I am in trouble, and I need your help."
"Your preaching to the choir, Gertrude. Please enlighten me, why, pray tell, should I help you? You are no more than dead to me Gertrude." She flinched at this, and squeezed her eyes tight, to make the pain stop.
"I was captured today by the Ministry." She said as he stood to walk out of the room. He paused and turned his head back towards her.
"If you were captured, why are you not in Azkaban. And please tell me that you did not do something foolish, but knowing you and your Gryffindor persona it is only natural."
"I plead Distitera." She said softly.
"You did what? Are you insane? You have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were innocent! And who do you have as your witnesses? Black? He is dead. Dumbledore, dead." He nearly yelled.
"I have you." She said now standing inches away from him. She took hold of his hand as she said this. He flinched and pulled away.
"I cannot testify, I am a guilty man too, if you have not forgotten."
"I plead Distitera for you as well." She said after a moment's hesitation.
"What! And I thought the night could not get any worse!" He said, now leaving the room. He now paced the kitchen furious, and exhilarated all at the same time. Gertrude was alive, and she had come to him. She had also betrayed him, and that hurt him.
The kitchen door creaked open and Severus watched as Gertrude's petite figure flowed into the room.
"Listen, I know that there were things that perhaps should have been unsaid, things that were never resolved, but I am asking for your help." Gertie said sincerely.
Severus remained silent but looked into her eyes. They were glistening, with the same sadness and pain that he felt.
He took her hand, this time not withdrawing. She leaned in towards him softly. His taller frame wrapped elegantly around her. His other hand stroked her cheek as a tear fell. Two creatures who had experienced lives of hardship and pain, found comfort in each other.
The pair began to kiss, slowly, gently at first, then their passion increased. Quickly they escalated in their heightened sense of euphoria and bliss.
As things heated up, Gertie withdrew and looked at Severus.
"What's wrong?" He asked, somewhat out of breath from the excitement.
"Nothing, its just for the first time, I feel wicked." She said softly.
ooo
Gertrude Carrow sat alone at the table at breakfast reading over her father's latest letter.
"How dare you disgrace the House of Carrow! A Gryffindor of all things! What did you tell that bloody hat! Gertrude, you better pray that your sister is sorted into Slytherin next year. Do not bother to come home for Christmas, I will be taking Cecile to a specialist in Oslo."
Father
If she wasn't already use to her father's abuse she might have found the letter more appalling, however this was not the first time her father was disappointed in her. In fact, she was a disappointment all together. She was disfigured and distasteful. Her mouth got her into more trouble than she ever bargained for, and worst of all, it was her fault her mother was dead and her sister's paralysis.
As she sat in silence she noticed another boy her age sitting alone. It looked like he was crying, or at least had been. He must have gotten sorted into the wrong house too.
ooo
Months passed, and Gertie soon realized that not only was she unpopular, she was downright detested. If she had enough fingers to count the number of times she ate, studied, and played alone her hands would be the size of Asia. Her most common nicknames were "Freak" "Weirdo" and "Wretched", although on occasion she would hear the rare "Odd" and "Disgusting".
She found her only comfort in her studies. She spent nearly all her free time in the library, which probably did not help her image either. The only friends she had were her books, but she did not mind.
"Oh no, there she is." Lily whispered to one of her friends, Susan McDougal.
"Quick, maybe if we turn and leave quickly she won't see us." Susan said in response.
"God, she is just awful, Lily. How can you stand being her roommate, you poor poor thing. You must be a martyr." Her other friend Jenna Davies said loud enough for Gertrude to overhear.
"It is trying, however I somehow manage. Look, lets just get our books and get out of here." Lily said, not much into poking fun at her misfortuned bunkmate.
As much as Gertrude loathed Lily, she had to admit the girl left her mostly to herself, never really prying or prodding into her personal life.
Gertrude gathered her books and made her way back to her room. But, as she stacked her books too high she managed to run directly into the door, causing her books to go flying. Laughter filled the library, while Gertie held back the tears.
She quickly tried to gather her books. As she reached for one, she noticed someone had beaten her to it.
"Here, you dropped this." A small Slytherin boy with a hooked nose said to her.
"Yes, I see that." She responded harshly.
"You really should be more careful. What are you doing with a restricted book anyway?" The boy snapped back.
"I don't really see how that is any of your business." Gertie said back.
"Fine, next time I won't bother." He said practically throwing the book back on the floor.
"Good!" She said as she picked up the book and hurried on her way feeling a twinge of guilt for acting the way she did. She did not mean to yell at the boy, but she was not use to gestures of kindness.