Disclaimer: I'm not so lucky to own the characters I'm writing about, only
borrowed them and hope J.K. Rowling doesn't mind too much.
---------
6 Argus
The next day passed quite uneventful. He didn't meet Remus at lunchtime. Severus thought that it was likely that the werewolf had a day off or was on sick leave due to the approaching full moon.
He had just left the canteen and was heading for his 'office' when he heard a very familiar voice behind him in the corridor.
'Everyday the same mess. Worse than students. Damn, as if I hadn't anything better to do ... '
Severus stopped and turned towards the disgruntled speaker.
'Argus. How are you. Always busy?' Quite a stupid thing to say to a caretaker whose task was to clean up behind careless wizards, Severus thought, but he couldn't think of anything else at the moment.
'As you can see, Professor. Any idea how to clean a conference room from dragon bogeys in less than an hour?'
'Maybe. But only if you refrain from calling me by this title which I have lost quite some time ago,' the taller wizard complained while they were walking side by side in direction of Argus Filch's office which was also situated in the basement, near the registry. 'Dragons, in here?' he enquired curiously.
'Yes. Only a baby dragon, but bad enough. They confiscated it from somebody who brought it in the country illegally from Brazil. As the dungeons are being prepared for the werewolves today, there was no room and they put it in the conference room. The animal had a cold and was very upset. So it soiled everything in there. I really have no clue how to remove all the mess.'
'Why don't you tell the houselves to use a scorching spell?' the former Potions master suggested.
'No, no. That would leave soot stains. Not that there aren't enough from the bloody dragon already. It's supposed to be a conference room and as far as I know, the Minister plans to project pictures on the walls. I believe you need white walls for that purpose.'
'Project pictures? Like muggles? How interesting. Well, they're wizards. Therefore I would expect them to be able to conjure pictures on black walls. Don't you agree? Anyway, the dragon wasn't your fault. The aurors put it in there. So I wouldn't worry.' Severus was a bit annoyed, that the former Hogwarts caretaker bothered him with his problem, as he couldn't do anything about it. In former times he would have been able to provide him at least with a suitable cleaning potion to scrub the dirt away, as he had done very often at Hogwarts, but nowadays...
'Tell them. Tell them, it's not your fault. That you are not willing to work overtime to clean that up, in your age ... you know, something like that,' Severus suggested. By now they had reached Filch's office which was adjacent to his living quarters.
'Oh yes. Very clever. You could possibly say that to them. But I? I am only the caretaker, who isn't taken seriously,' Argus said indignantly.
'And I am only the registrar. I'll tell you something, Argus. If you don't begin defending yourself against those ... those arrogant wizards ... than they will never take you seriously.'
'And there you are the expert, aren't you? You have only been a squib for three years, haven't you? My experience is somewhat longer and from that I can only tell you that it doesn't work like that.'
They had stopped in front of Filch's office door.
'Care for a tea?' the caretaker suddenly asked.
'Why, yes. Thank you. But weren't you planning on cleaning the conference room? I thought you had less than an hour ...' Severus was quite irritated about the sudden change of behaviour.
'Hm. Don't care.' Argus shrugged his shoulders. 'Maybe you are right. I have often thought about that. Maybe I should give them a bit of a shock from time to time. After all, am only a squib. How am I supposed to clean that in such a short stretch of time, huh?' he grinned maliciously.
'That's the spirit, Argus. But don't tell them it was me who gave you the idea.' Severus tried to give the caretaker a intimidating look, but failed. Argus had never been one to be intimidated by him.
'I don't see a problem by that. What do you think they could threaten you with? Work?' Argus snorted amused.
Severus shook his head and followed the caretaker into his rooms. Damn, he had forgotten that Argus could be nearly as sarcastic as himself. As far as Severus recalled, the older squib had always been like that. Only that not many people had noticed that trait in the bitter man. Severus had, though. Right from the beginning when they had met in his first year at Hogwarts. And the former Potions master was well aware that he had started to copy the caretaker's characteristic behaviour when he was a student. Well, in the run of years he had refined it a bit.
'A new familiar?' Severus commented on a fat multicoloured cat who had planted itself in front of him, staring inquisitively.
'Yes. That's Ruffles.'
It was widely known that Argus had a soft spot for cats. On Severus pets had the opposite effect, as he couldn't find anything pleasant in having one around at home. He had never had one as a child and later on had never felt the need. And Ruffle's clearly wouldn't be any help to change the former Potions masters attitude. To the contrary, his staring made Severus nervous. He tried to stare back, but it seemed that his much practised stare didn't have the usual intimidating effect which it normally had (at least on students).
'Is it a Kneazle?' he enquired.
'Oh no. I would never allow a magical pet to live in my quarters. I wouldn't have any control over it.'
Severus wondered how much control Argus had over Ruffles, as the big cat sat in the most comfortable armchair of the whole room, while Argus was perching on one of the armrests. From time to time the animal averted his stare from Severus to give his master a look which seemed to say 'Did you invite him here?'
Severus felt a bit uncomfortable, now that there was no conversation going on and with the staring feline opposite him. He sipped his tea, thinking about how to leave in a polite way, when Argus started the dialogue anew.
'By the way, I got a letter from Minerva. She seems to have settled down at least.'
'Really? That's good to hear. What does she write?' Severus enquired.
'About her brother she's looking after. Seems to be a nice place over there in Ireland where they live. She also asks about you.'
'Yes. That reminds me. I haven't answered her last letter. I didn't really know what to write. Life isn't terribly exciting here.' Severus sighed.
'Oh, just see for yourself. I've got the letter here somewhere. Here you go.' Argus handed him a letter which bore unmistakably Minerva McGonagall's handwriting.
Yes. Argus was right, Severus thought while reading. She finally seemed to have settled down after spending months in a cottage in Hogsmeade and than in London, tortured by nightmares. Well she was certainly not the only one of the people present at the Dark Lord's downfall who was now visited by the terrifying pictures at night which brought back the memories of that day. But she had been the one in whose arms Albus Dumbledore had died.
'She still feels guilty about the fact that she wasn't able to help him, although she doesn't write it explicitely,' Severus commented. 'But there was no way to change what was going to happen. Without Albus, we all would have died, and many more.'
'You know, I have still got dreams about the castle, with everything in ruins', Argus suddenly said.
'Yes, we all have our personal memories,' Severus added and thought for himself, ''and on top of that some have nightmares about a certain werewolf at the full moon''. He was wondering if he would be able to distract his mind enough with the Halloween party to sleep through tonight, but he doubted it. This thought finally brought him back from the sad memories of Albus' and Hogwarts' end to reality.
'I have a party to attend tonight, and quite some preparations to make. So, if you will excuse me. I really have to go now. Anyway, it'll be better if we don't become to miserable about the past, Argus. As for the school, I know that it was a kind of home for most of us, but to tell the truth, I hadn't planned to teach there afterwards anyway. From what I know now, I even doubt that the Ministry would have allowed me to stay there as a teacher without Albus' support. And what about you? I don't recall you beeing too fond of all the hassle with the students either.'
'Yes, too true. But I am still trying to find out who's worse: students or Ministry workers. I haven't made my mind up yet, but I think the students were better predictable ... and ... it was a good place, wasn't it?' Argus objected.
'Yes. A good place.' Severus said while he was on his way to the door already.
--------
He went to the registry only to decide after a few minutes that he would leave to go home. Apart from having nothing to do there, the salad he had promised to provide for the party would require some preparations. So he informed the house elves of his plans, hung his working robe on the peg near the door, grabbed his muggle coat and left his office.
When he rounded the corner to the corridor which was leading to the staircase to the first floor, he suddenly came face to face with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic.
'Oh, how nice to meet you, Snape. We haven't seen each other for quite a while. How are you doing?' The Minister laughed nervously.
'Fine. Thanks,' Severus answered curtly. When he had first recognized Fudge he had only been midly irritated, but now he felt anger building up inside him. Anger which would probably be difficult to control if he kept conversing with the Minister, so he thought about a way to get as quickly away as possible. But Fudge had other ideas.
'Oh. While you are here, I can as well ask you. The expert for potions, haha!' The head of the magical community seemed to get even more nervous. Swet was building up on his forehead. 'We have a room down here. It's supposed to be used as a conference room,' he went on importantly. 'It's completely soiled. A dragon was kept in there. Very thoughtless of these aurors. Anyway, as Filch doesn't seem to be competent for a simple task as cleaning it, what would you suggest?'
'Me? Pardon me, but I believe I am only the registrar here. Cleaning wouldn't be any of my chores in this institution. If you should be asking for a potion to solve the problem I will have to disappoint you, Minister. It has been three years now since I have brewed one. Just in case you should have forgotten, I am not able ... '
'Yes, yes. I know that,' Fudge cut in impatiently. 'I was just wondering, because at Hogwarts there must have been an awful lot of mess and dirt with all the children. Surely you would have known some remedies... Dear me. Now I really am in trouble. I need a completely white wall for a presentation. What am I going to do? Take the risk of making a fool of myself and the whole Ministry if I try to project on a black wall?'
Severus had crossed his arms to prevent his hands from balling into fists, but otherwise had been able to keep his composure. He had even managed to bear his trademark indifferent expression.
'Indeed. As far as I recall it, dragons have been illegal to keep for some years already, especially at a school. So we most certainly never had one at Hogwarts. I think you will have to take that risk. Speaking of risks, I was always under the impression that you liked 'taking risks', didn't you? If not for yourself, then for others. Maybe it's about time to risk something in connection with your own person.'
By now, Severus was staring hard into Fudge's eyes and had to fight the urge to bend down on the wizard who was at least two heads smaller than him. But the staring was about all the Minister was able to bear. What hadn't impressed the caretaker's cat, was menacing enough to leave the Minister sweating and blinking nervously.
'What are you talking about? What risks?' the intimidated wizard asked. He was bearing an expression of fear on his face that told Severus that he was expecting an attack of some sort any minute.
'Good bye, Minister.'
Severus turned on his heels and left Fudge standing in the corridor with a bewildered expression. It was just as well that he hadn't understood the quotation. It wouldn't do any good to prompt the man further. The fact that he had been able to intimidate the Minster gave Severus some satisfaction although he was seriously beginning to doubt the man's intellect. The wizard was in posession of a wand and Severus was only a squib and as such almost defenseless. A flick of the Minister's wand would have been enough to pin the former Potion's master to the wall. Accompanied by these thoughts Severus headed to the underground station which was situated near the Ministry.
-------------------------------- Author's Notes:
Wow; I got reviews! They really make my day. Chocolate muffins for all, there you go. Thank you so much :-)
I hope it's not too boring without much action in the first chapters, but all these characters keep coming out of nowhere while I am thinking about the story, and somehow they all want to be included.
As for zippy zany's suggestion to have Snape venture into the world of bio- chemistry or the like ... brilliant idea, as it would be very close to potions, and I have no doubt that Severus would be competent to do so, but unfortunately, my knowlegde about that subject is very limited, so I wasn't thinking about it when I started the story. Anyway, I was more interested in the relationship between Lupin and Snape. If anybody is interested in a really good Severus/Remus non-romance which deals with potions and the search for a cure for lycanthropy, please read shadowycat's 'Bound by the Moon' and the sequel 'Shadow of the Moon'.
As for my English, as I said on my profile page: it's not my native language, so you should be prepared for awkward sentences or vocabulary now and then. I wouldn't mind a beta-reader, if anybody volunteers... I must admit that I use fanfiction to improve my English (shame on me), at least that's what I keep telling myself as an excuse for spending hours in front of the computer... but I cannot stop anymore, it's too addictive.
The Halloween party will be next (not much action either I'm afraid).
---------
6 Argus
The next day passed quite uneventful. He didn't meet Remus at lunchtime. Severus thought that it was likely that the werewolf had a day off or was on sick leave due to the approaching full moon.
He had just left the canteen and was heading for his 'office' when he heard a very familiar voice behind him in the corridor.
'Everyday the same mess. Worse than students. Damn, as if I hadn't anything better to do ... '
Severus stopped and turned towards the disgruntled speaker.
'Argus. How are you. Always busy?' Quite a stupid thing to say to a caretaker whose task was to clean up behind careless wizards, Severus thought, but he couldn't think of anything else at the moment.
'As you can see, Professor. Any idea how to clean a conference room from dragon bogeys in less than an hour?'
'Maybe. But only if you refrain from calling me by this title which I have lost quite some time ago,' the taller wizard complained while they were walking side by side in direction of Argus Filch's office which was also situated in the basement, near the registry. 'Dragons, in here?' he enquired curiously.
'Yes. Only a baby dragon, but bad enough. They confiscated it from somebody who brought it in the country illegally from Brazil. As the dungeons are being prepared for the werewolves today, there was no room and they put it in the conference room. The animal had a cold and was very upset. So it soiled everything in there. I really have no clue how to remove all the mess.'
'Why don't you tell the houselves to use a scorching spell?' the former Potions master suggested.
'No, no. That would leave soot stains. Not that there aren't enough from the bloody dragon already. It's supposed to be a conference room and as far as I know, the Minister plans to project pictures on the walls. I believe you need white walls for that purpose.'
'Project pictures? Like muggles? How interesting. Well, they're wizards. Therefore I would expect them to be able to conjure pictures on black walls. Don't you agree? Anyway, the dragon wasn't your fault. The aurors put it in there. So I wouldn't worry.' Severus was a bit annoyed, that the former Hogwarts caretaker bothered him with his problem, as he couldn't do anything about it. In former times he would have been able to provide him at least with a suitable cleaning potion to scrub the dirt away, as he had done very often at Hogwarts, but nowadays...
'Tell them. Tell them, it's not your fault. That you are not willing to work overtime to clean that up, in your age ... you know, something like that,' Severus suggested. By now they had reached Filch's office which was adjacent to his living quarters.
'Oh yes. Very clever. You could possibly say that to them. But I? I am only the caretaker, who isn't taken seriously,' Argus said indignantly.
'And I am only the registrar. I'll tell you something, Argus. If you don't begin defending yourself against those ... those arrogant wizards ... than they will never take you seriously.'
'And there you are the expert, aren't you? You have only been a squib for three years, haven't you? My experience is somewhat longer and from that I can only tell you that it doesn't work like that.'
They had stopped in front of Filch's office door.
'Care for a tea?' the caretaker suddenly asked.
'Why, yes. Thank you. But weren't you planning on cleaning the conference room? I thought you had less than an hour ...' Severus was quite irritated about the sudden change of behaviour.
'Hm. Don't care.' Argus shrugged his shoulders. 'Maybe you are right. I have often thought about that. Maybe I should give them a bit of a shock from time to time. After all, am only a squib. How am I supposed to clean that in such a short stretch of time, huh?' he grinned maliciously.
'That's the spirit, Argus. But don't tell them it was me who gave you the idea.' Severus tried to give the caretaker a intimidating look, but failed. Argus had never been one to be intimidated by him.
'I don't see a problem by that. What do you think they could threaten you with? Work?' Argus snorted amused.
Severus shook his head and followed the caretaker into his rooms. Damn, he had forgotten that Argus could be nearly as sarcastic as himself. As far as Severus recalled, the older squib had always been like that. Only that not many people had noticed that trait in the bitter man. Severus had, though. Right from the beginning when they had met in his first year at Hogwarts. And the former Potions master was well aware that he had started to copy the caretaker's characteristic behaviour when he was a student. Well, in the run of years he had refined it a bit.
'A new familiar?' Severus commented on a fat multicoloured cat who had planted itself in front of him, staring inquisitively.
'Yes. That's Ruffles.'
It was widely known that Argus had a soft spot for cats. On Severus pets had the opposite effect, as he couldn't find anything pleasant in having one around at home. He had never had one as a child and later on had never felt the need. And Ruffle's clearly wouldn't be any help to change the former Potions masters attitude. To the contrary, his staring made Severus nervous. He tried to stare back, but it seemed that his much practised stare didn't have the usual intimidating effect which it normally had (at least on students).
'Is it a Kneazle?' he enquired.
'Oh no. I would never allow a magical pet to live in my quarters. I wouldn't have any control over it.'
Severus wondered how much control Argus had over Ruffles, as the big cat sat in the most comfortable armchair of the whole room, while Argus was perching on one of the armrests. From time to time the animal averted his stare from Severus to give his master a look which seemed to say 'Did you invite him here?'
Severus felt a bit uncomfortable, now that there was no conversation going on and with the staring feline opposite him. He sipped his tea, thinking about how to leave in a polite way, when Argus started the dialogue anew.
'By the way, I got a letter from Minerva. She seems to have settled down at least.'
'Really? That's good to hear. What does she write?' Severus enquired.
'About her brother she's looking after. Seems to be a nice place over there in Ireland where they live. She also asks about you.'
'Yes. That reminds me. I haven't answered her last letter. I didn't really know what to write. Life isn't terribly exciting here.' Severus sighed.
'Oh, just see for yourself. I've got the letter here somewhere. Here you go.' Argus handed him a letter which bore unmistakably Minerva McGonagall's handwriting.
Yes. Argus was right, Severus thought while reading. She finally seemed to have settled down after spending months in a cottage in Hogsmeade and than in London, tortured by nightmares. Well she was certainly not the only one of the people present at the Dark Lord's downfall who was now visited by the terrifying pictures at night which brought back the memories of that day. But she had been the one in whose arms Albus Dumbledore had died.
'She still feels guilty about the fact that she wasn't able to help him, although she doesn't write it explicitely,' Severus commented. 'But there was no way to change what was going to happen. Without Albus, we all would have died, and many more.'
'You know, I have still got dreams about the castle, with everything in ruins', Argus suddenly said.
'Yes, we all have our personal memories,' Severus added and thought for himself, ''and on top of that some have nightmares about a certain werewolf at the full moon''. He was wondering if he would be able to distract his mind enough with the Halloween party to sleep through tonight, but he doubted it. This thought finally brought him back from the sad memories of Albus' and Hogwarts' end to reality.
'I have a party to attend tonight, and quite some preparations to make. So, if you will excuse me. I really have to go now. Anyway, it'll be better if we don't become to miserable about the past, Argus. As for the school, I know that it was a kind of home for most of us, but to tell the truth, I hadn't planned to teach there afterwards anyway. From what I know now, I even doubt that the Ministry would have allowed me to stay there as a teacher without Albus' support. And what about you? I don't recall you beeing too fond of all the hassle with the students either.'
'Yes, too true. But I am still trying to find out who's worse: students or Ministry workers. I haven't made my mind up yet, but I think the students were better predictable ... and ... it was a good place, wasn't it?' Argus objected.
'Yes. A good place.' Severus said while he was on his way to the door already.
--------
He went to the registry only to decide after a few minutes that he would leave to go home. Apart from having nothing to do there, the salad he had promised to provide for the party would require some preparations. So he informed the house elves of his plans, hung his working robe on the peg near the door, grabbed his muggle coat and left his office.
When he rounded the corner to the corridor which was leading to the staircase to the first floor, he suddenly came face to face with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic.
'Oh, how nice to meet you, Snape. We haven't seen each other for quite a while. How are you doing?' The Minister laughed nervously.
'Fine. Thanks,' Severus answered curtly. When he had first recognized Fudge he had only been midly irritated, but now he felt anger building up inside him. Anger which would probably be difficult to control if he kept conversing with the Minister, so he thought about a way to get as quickly away as possible. But Fudge had other ideas.
'Oh. While you are here, I can as well ask you. The expert for potions, haha!' The head of the magical community seemed to get even more nervous. Swet was building up on his forehead. 'We have a room down here. It's supposed to be used as a conference room,' he went on importantly. 'It's completely soiled. A dragon was kept in there. Very thoughtless of these aurors. Anyway, as Filch doesn't seem to be competent for a simple task as cleaning it, what would you suggest?'
'Me? Pardon me, but I believe I am only the registrar here. Cleaning wouldn't be any of my chores in this institution. If you should be asking for a potion to solve the problem I will have to disappoint you, Minister. It has been three years now since I have brewed one. Just in case you should have forgotten, I am not able ... '
'Yes, yes. I know that,' Fudge cut in impatiently. 'I was just wondering, because at Hogwarts there must have been an awful lot of mess and dirt with all the children. Surely you would have known some remedies... Dear me. Now I really am in trouble. I need a completely white wall for a presentation. What am I going to do? Take the risk of making a fool of myself and the whole Ministry if I try to project on a black wall?'
Severus had crossed his arms to prevent his hands from balling into fists, but otherwise had been able to keep his composure. He had even managed to bear his trademark indifferent expression.
'Indeed. As far as I recall it, dragons have been illegal to keep for some years already, especially at a school. So we most certainly never had one at Hogwarts. I think you will have to take that risk. Speaking of risks, I was always under the impression that you liked 'taking risks', didn't you? If not for yourself, then for others. Maybe it's about time to risk something in connection with your own person.'
By now, Severus was staring hard into Fudge's eyes and had to fight the urge to bend down on the wizard who was at least two heads smaller than him. But the staring was about all the Minister was able to bear. What hadn't impressed the caretaker's cat, was menacing enough to leave the Minister sweating and blinking nervously.
'What are you talking about? What risks?' the intimidated wizard asked. He was bearing an expression of fear on his face that told Severus that he was expecting an attack of some sort any minute.
'Good bye, Minister.'
Severus turned on his heels and left Fudge standing in the corridor with a bewildered expression. It was just as well that he hadn't understood the quotation. It wouldn't do any good to prompt the man further. The fact that he had been able to intimidate the Minster gave Severus some satisfaction although he was seriously beginning to doubt the man's intellect. The wizard was in posession of a wand and Severus was only a squib and as such almost defenseless. A flick of the Minister's wand would have been enough to pin the former Potion's master to the wall. Accompanied by these thoughts Severus headed to the underground station which was situated near the Ministry.
-------------------------------- Author's Notes:
Wow; I got reviews! They really make my day. Chocolate muffins for all, there you go. Thank you so much :-)
I hope it's not too boring without much action in the first chapters, but all these characters keep coming out of nowhere while I am thinking about the story, and somehow they all want to be included.
As for zippy zany's suggestion to have Snape venture into the world of bio- chemistry or the like ... brilliant idea, as it would be very close to potions, and I have no doubt that Severus would be competent to do so, but unfortunately, my knowlegde about that subject is very limited, so I wasn't thinking about it when I started the story. Anyway, I was more interested in the relationship between Lupin and Snape. If anybody is interested in a really good Severus/Remus non-romance which deals with potions and the search for a cure for lycanthropy, please read shadowycat's 'Bound by the Moon' and the sequel 'Shadow of the Moon'.
As for my English, as I said on my profile page: it's not my native language, so you should be prepared for awkward sentences or vocabulary now and then. I wouldn't mind a beta-reader, if anybody volunteers... I must admit that I use fanfiction to improve my English (shame on me), at least that's what I keep telling myself as an excuse for spending hours in front of the computer... but I cannot stop anymore, it's too addictive.
The Halloween party will be next (not much action either I'm afraid).