Mind Games of Water
By: Lynn Metallium
Disclaimer: I am but a poor little American girl and I do not own Harry Potter and co., that privilege goes to the wonderful J.K. Rowling, (my hero! XD) so please don't sue me and all that stuff because I would be sad and cry and you wouldn't get any money because I had to use it all for college XD
Author's Notes: At the end, as eager as I know you all are XD
Chapter 3
Snape would have killed for a shot whiskey right now. Hell, he would have massacred the whole town for a bottle of the liquid. The dark haired man was cold, he was wet and he was utterly furious. The rain had stopped in the early morning hours and in the bare light of dawn, Severus Snape was forced to admit that he had no idea where he was. He also had no idea how he or the boy wonder had ended up there…where ever there was. And personally, that smarted on his ego.
It wasn't often that the older man had to admit to himself he didn't know something and it was even rarer that he would admit it out loud. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had let something like that pass his lips. Very little came out of his mouth that wasn't sarcastic or bitter now days. Not that he was complaining. He personally had no qualms about the words he spoke, even when the made first year Hufflepuffs dissolve into tears.
After being kicked out of the inn so to speak, the older man had led the brat to the edge of town to take shelter under a grove of pines. At least here the rain wasn't as heavy, but everything had been long soaked all the same, and there was nothing left to make any sort of fire. Potter had settled on the ground and fallen into an uneasy sleep almost the moment they had found a place under the trees.
Severus meanwhile had spent the whole night awake and rather uncomfortable staring out into the dark. He was disturbed to say the least about last night's incident with the wand. His wand had been nothing more than a useless stick. At first he had thought that someone had simply stolen his wand and replaced it with the foolish stick, but after several trials of wandless magic and an attempt to disapperate, he found that nothing seemed to be working along the lines of magic. The results of such experiments left him feeling insecure and very moody.
After working on that little problem, a long list of objectives for today had started to collect inside his head in a neat, meticulous manor. First on that list was to find out where they were, followed very closely by how he had gotten there. After those very important questions came the easier needs as far as Severus was concerned. He would need to find food, shelter and the nearest train or bus station to Muggle London.
Only one small thing continued to nag at his mind. The words of the woman from the inn last night, when she had asked him for a white card, were worrying him like the plague. What in Merlin's name was a white card? What would he, a potion's master need with a white card, whatever it may be. Was it some form of identification? Oh how it irked him, he hated not knowing everything that was going on. He hated being left in the dark like this.
The professor's thoughts ran off as the light of the sun broke through the trees, effectively blinding him. With a growl he turned to stare over his shoulder at the boy behind him, the thorn of his existence so to speak.
"Potter, I suggest you get up this instant, unless you'd prefer a less than pleasant wake up call-"
Severus held himself back, barely, from rolling his eyes at the boy as he rolled over and fixed a bleary eyed questioning stare at the older man.
"Professor Snape?" He looked totally confused, which made Snape want to smirk with some sort of sadistic glee. "What are you doing in my bedroom?"
"Snogging you senseless, really Potter, why else would I be in your bedroom?" Snape replied smoothly, not even batting an eye when the youth sat up abruptly with a wide eyed flushed stare. "Oh don't get your hopes up Potter, I want nothing to do with scrawny prepubescent boys, least of all, you."
The boy looked a little shocked then a flash of hurt slipped momentarily across his face, or maybe that was only embarrassment. Either way it didn't affect the older potions master.
"I'm sorry sir. I forgot where we were…" He trailed off, looking a bit uncertain as he looked about the pine grove. "Speaking of which, where is this…sir."
"That is what we will be finding out, right now. Get yourself together Potter. The sooner we find out where this abysmal place is the sooner we can return to Hogwarts."
The walk back to the town was quiet and uneventful. Harry trailed silently after the other man, skirting the large puddles that had appeared in the muddy road overnight with the heavy rain. His body ached with cold. Despite the sun, his clothes still had a cold, damp feeling to them. He didn't bother to say anything to his professor, mainly because there was little the older man could do about it anyway.
Everything had looked much different last night in the dark, but in the new morning light, the little town was busy with activities. The place seemed nothing like London with its dirt streets and outdoor market place. Harry had never had the chance to travel much with his aunt's family, obviously, but from his pool of selective knowledge, he could tell this place was way behind any civil advances made in the last fifty years it seemed. A chill crept up the teen's spine as he stared about him, watching women in heavy woolen gowns shove herds of children down the street and men in coveralls working hard to open the stalls that lined the streets. Nervously the so called boy wonder began to crowd up against Snape's heels, nearly treading upon him more times than one. Of course, it wasn't long until Snape came to a sudden stop to observe the city, causing Harry to run right into the older man's back.
"Mr. Potter-"A snarl rose from the dark haired professor's mouth as he glared down at him with a irked look of malice. "Can you not pay attention to where you are going?"
"I-…er…I'm sorry sir-"Harry tried not to gulp and give his most hated professor a reason to continue terrorizing him for his mistake. It wasn't completely his fault he rationalized with himself, trying to make a bad situation look better than it really was. He just felt uneasy here. The air was filled with tension and the people were starting to stare at the tall man in dark robes with a scrawny boy with odd things attached to his face.
"Me's be think'n you's be looking rather lost there…" A hand touched the side of Harry's arm, causing him to jump in surprise, nearly falling on his behind into the mud. Snape's hand came down on his shoulder, steadying him, surprisingly, after their recent spat. The two stared blankly at each other for a moment, an uneasiness falling between the older professor and his young student.
"I's be begg'n you's pardons sirs- I's be meaning no harm's-" The old man stood there, nervously rubbing his arm and wincing away slightly, as if he expected to be smacked on the head at any moment. Harry looked at him wide eyed, momentarily forgetting Snape standing behind him. Glassy blue eyes stared back at him, almost milk white and echoing with a broken spirit. Again, the boy couldn't help but feel a chill racing up his spine. These people…
"You are forgiven…" Snape's voice broke through Harry's thoughts and gave him time to quickly look away before he became sucked back in to the old man's stare.
"Me's be think'n you's be new in town-" The man rubbed his hands together in a nervous gesture, his eyes swiveling around from side to side with a toss of his head.
"Yes, you would be correct. We would be ever so grateful if you could tell us where we are," The dark haired man's voice was laced with distain for the creature in front of them, that much was obvious to Harry. He spoke to him with the same tone of voice he used when speaking to the class as if they were but scum on the bottom of his shoe.
The old man suddenly leaned in very close to Harry, his stale breath washing over his face, making the brunette wrinkle his nose in disgust as he lowered his voice to a whisper.
"I's saw her…"
"Excuse me?" Harry managed to stutter out, drawing back once again from the man in front of him, only to find himself pressed slightly against the other man behind him.
"I's saw her, I saw's her bring you here-"His speech seemed to clear slightly, but only for a moment.
"What are you saying-?" Snape narrowed his eyes at the man. "Explain yourself-"
"Me's be think'n, had been long times. Long times since I's seen her."
"Who you fool old man? Who did you see?" Snape was obviously getting close to the end of his rope, his face was starting to turn the shade of red it tended to turn before he kicked Longbottom out of the classroom. Harry had seen it many times, and he knew, in about two minutes, it wasn't going to be pretty for the old man.
"I's seen her. Ysaelin I's seen. I's seen her brought you here," the old man nodded, a smile spreading across his face as if he had just done the best thing in the world for them both.
Snape's hand clenched into a fist, shaking slightly, as he tried to control himself before he did something rather unpleasant to the old man. Harry could feel his professor shaking behind him and it certainly did nothing to make him feel comforted. He could only hope he wouldn't Avada Kadabra the poor old man.
Snape's thoughts were filled with turmoil, what was the man trying to say to them? He had seen them? The potion master's eyes suddenly widened in surprise as the gears finally clicked in place. Ysaelin. He had seen Ysaelin bring them here. That uncouth daughter of a hussy! The dark haired man's eyes narrowed as he tried to contain his anger.
"Where did she go?" He managed to spit out of his mouth, his heart hammered furiously inside his chest. When he found that girl, she was going to be in a world of pain.
"She comes, she goes-"The old man shrugged his shoulders with a blank look. "She brings, she leaves-"
"What is that suppose to mean?" Snape grounded out.
"Means what means-" He shrugged again, staring up at him with his glassy eyes. "Me's thinks it's been long times since she comes here."
The dark haired potions master tried to control himself. He needed the information this simple minded fool had, however accurate or inaccurate it was. Having some information was better than none.
"Why did she bring us here?" The boy seemed to finally find his tongue again while the older man was forced to struggle for control of his temper.
"Can't say," The old man shrugged again. "Me thinks tis not my's place, but my's name Tale. I's helps you, ok?"
"Help us?" Snape raised an eyebrow at the scrawny looking thing in front of them. How could he possibly help them at all? He seemed hardly able to speak a normal sentence, much less help anyone who had been stranded here. "And how do you propose to do that may I ask?" His voice was rather frosty but the other man seemed to ignore the tone that was directed at him.
"I's help you get cards-"He nodded vigorously. "You's need."
"Cards?" The insolent boy's eyes lit up as he stared at the man. "You mean like, a white card?"
"This is utter rubbish-"Severus lifted his hand to rub the bridge of his nose. There was no way this man could help him and it was foolish to get the boy's hopes up. With a snarl he grabbed the back of the brunette boy's sweater to start hauling him away. He would find his own information, with someone who could speak some proper English.
"Wait! Sir! He said he could help us! We need help!" The Potter whelp squirmed against his grip on the back of his shirt. How dare he speak up like that, he was nothing more than a child.
"Must I remind you Mr. Potter, who is the professor, who is your superior, even here? I said lets go-"The dark haired man hissed. All of this was giving the potions master a sever headache. He wished he was back in his quiet dark dungeon, preparing to take a long nap.
"I's get you white card, green card, red card, yellow card," Tale nodded quickly, causing his shaggy hair to fall into his face as he reached for the boy's hand, grabbing it tightly and pulling. For a moment Severus refused to release his grip. He didn't want to look weak and loose this fight to the boy and a fool, but things were looking rather bleak for him. Severus was a proud man and his inner demons were screaming against letting himself be forced to submit to these so called lesser beings.
"Please professor, he can help, I know he can!" Ah the ever optimistic Potter. He held back making a sickening face at the young boy who was ever so "perfect". Snarling slightly through his clenched teeth, his eyes flittered down to stare at the green orbs staring back at his. They pleaded with him to let this man, Tale, the fool he was, to help them. He had no choice, he secretly admitted to himself, but he just couldn't find himself saying it to them. The dark haired man was a stranger in this world and there was no way he could obtain the information they needed without looking like a complete fool or even gaining danger to himself and the boy.
Swiftly he released the boy's sweater, tucking his hands back in his robe without a word, not even a nod of the head. He would never say out loud that he agreed to the man's help. It was better to bend to one fool than look like a fool in front of many others he decided as they followed Tale up the dirt streets, enduring the looks the boy wonder continued to shoot back at him as if he couldn't believe his professor was really following him. A swift glare of doom kept the looks to a minimum but he couldn't seem to get them to stop altogether, and so he wondered as they continued onward, was he loosing his touch? Or was the boy just becoming more insolent….
Author Notes: It's amazing, I didn't die! A brand new chapter well over six months later Oo;; Sorry, I don't know what happened to me. I just never felt like writing here at college and then my dear friend Usagi showed me something she had written and I was like, I MUST WRITE! And so, you've gained a new chapter, I don't find it to be very great, but at least its moving along again…I hope I keep up with the inspiration flash and give you all another chapter before the end of the month!
Lynn
