Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, things, and ideas (all Harry Potter nouns) belong to J. K. Rowlings. Mordecai and Elisabeth are mine.
Chapter 20: Appearances can be deceiving.
Minerva did not talk to Severus for the entire summer. Tired of her silence, he had left during the middle of it to buy herbs on the continent. He returned the night of the Welcoming Feast and was just in time to catch the end of the Sorting Ceremony. He watched as Minerva called the students' names, but as she returned to the table he noticed that she was limping. He also observed, much to his chagrin, that Alastor Moody was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
At the close of the meal, Minerva waited until she thought that everyone had left, not wanting the entire school to watch her limp back to her room. She turned abruptly as someone caught her elbow just before she passed through the doorway. "Severus whatever it is, I do not have time for it nor am I in the mood," she snapped.
He sighed and glared at her with irritation. "Woman, it is plain to see that you have injured yourself and I merely wanted to help you. However, I can see that we are still not on speaking terms."
As he let go of her elbow and began to move away, she placed her hand on his shoulder and they faced each other again. "I'm sorry," she paused and pulled back her robes enough to reveal black two-inch high heeled shoes. "One of the heels broke as I was walking and I hurt my ankle. I managed to fix the shoe, but I did not feel like bothering Poppy for something so trivial," she explained frankly.
If we could only get past last year, then we could go back to playing chess and talking. I don't think I can stand another month of silence. "Minerva, I know that you are still upset with me, but I may have a few potions that could help," he offered.
Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to just listen to him, she thought as her ankle continued to plague her. "Alright, shall we go then?"
They walked down the empty hall with their arms linked, her leaning on him. When they reached his quarters he immediately led her to a chair and found her a footstool. After he made sure that she was settled he dashed over to one of his cabinets and retrieved a cerulean vile.
"This should dull the pain," he said as he handed it to her.
"Thank you," she responded before she downed the liquid. The citrus taste surprised her. "This doesn't taste nearly as repulsive as some of the potions Poppy uses."
He smirked. "What she asks for are standard potions. I add flavoring to anything I would drink myself."
She laughed and shook her head. "Don't you think that sounds rather devious?"
Her laughter brightened his mood. "I suppose it is, but we know that I am a scoundrel. How does the ankle feel now?"
"Much better, thank you. I suppose I should be going," she stated after moving her ankle. However, she made no move to stand.
He walked over to her. "I know I'm not the most pleasant company, but could I persuade you to stay for tea?"
I suppose it is time that we finally resolved a few things. "Yes, that would be nice," she agreed.
After disappearing into his kitchen, he returned shortly with two cups of orange spice tea. He handed her a cup and sat near her on his couch. After a short silence as both of them studied their reflections in their tea, Severus spoke. "Minerva, I know you're still upset with me over what I did to Lupin. I will always do what I think is best, even if it conflicts with what other people think, but what I did was a bit harsh. All I am asking is that you understand that I am apologizing for not finding a better way to handle things, and that you stop this war of silence between us."
She had never heard him sound so sincere and it was at that moment when she realized that she missed him. "Alright Severus, I won't stay angry with you anymore. I… have missed you."
"Thank you, Minerva I-"
"But that doesn't mean that I am at all excusing you. I would expect better behavior from you in dealing with your colleagues," she cut in.
He sighed heavily, gritting his teeth. "Woman, you don't make things easy in the least. People tend not to apologize when you make it such drudgery."
She smirked. "I suppose. Now what do you think of Moody?"
He snorted in disgust. "Our esteemed Headmaster has hired one of the most psychotic aurors in existence!"
"Oh Severus, he's not that bad," she commented.
"Every time he looks at me with that freakishly blue eye of his, he seems to be looking for something. And do you remember what I've said on the mental instability of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers? Mad-eye Moody is one of the most paranoid wizards to still be breathing!" Severus complained.
Minerva was laughing so hard that she had to set her teacup down. He only scowled at her. "My, you do make an entertaining argument. You probably would have made a more sane choice, but Moody is who Albus picked."
"And if having Moody here looking over my shoulder won't be bad enough, now we have to deal with this Triwizard Tournament business. Why in the name of Merlin must we host this?" he protested.
"Oh Severus, don't be such a stick in the mud. This is to promote unity between the schools, as well as encourage student moral. Not much will change in how we as staff members run things, except for the Yule Ball on Christmas," she explained.
"Hmm, if I set up for it, maybe I will not have to chaperone hormonal teenagers who can't dance," he mused.
She chuckled. "Are you afraid that you can't dance?"
He glared at her. "No, and if- how did we end up on the subject of this bloody ball anyway?"
Having finished her tea and glanced at the clock on the mantle, she set the cup down for the last time and stood. "Dancing is not that bad, but I'm afraid that this time I really must be going. It's late and we both have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," she reminded him.
He understood and walked her to the door. "Goodnight Minerva," he said.
"Goodnight Severus," she replied. He was not sure if she would be receptive to it or not, but he pulled her into a gentle hug. She hugged him as well and then left.
Nearly a month later when Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived, the students of Hogwarts were fascinated by the new arrivals. Elisabeth and Mordecai listened with keen interest as the tournament was explained. She sighed when she heard that only seventh-years were allowed to participate.
"I can fly well enough on a broom. Why does it have to be a seventh-year?" she complained.
Mordecai dealt her a wry half-smile. "Lisa, you seem to have forgotten the part where there are very dangerous elements to this tournament. Sometimes I wonder how on earth you ever ended up in Ravenclaw in stead of Gryffindor."
She crossed her arms and smirked at him. "I told the hat that I wanted to be in the same house as the boy with dark eyes because he looked interesting." Mordecai did not know how to respond and she sauntered off before he could figure out whether or not her statement was true.
Defense Against the Dark Arts had gone better for Elisabeth, the presence of Moody seeming to erase the boggart incident from her classmates' minds. While the fourth-years would be learning about the Unforgivables, Elisabeth and Mordecai were learning about dark creatures. Moody had spent the class talking about vampires and how to identify them.
As the class ended and everyone headed for the door, Moody stopped in front of Mordecai's desk and stared at him with his blue eye. "What is it, Professor Moody?" the boy inquired.
"Something about you looks familiar," the crotchety old man admitted.
Elisabeth ran up and tried to pull him along. "Cyrus, we have four essays to research."
"Lisa, I'm coming. I just need to fix my quill," he explained, his quill having snapped in half as he took notes.
She dashed on ahead as he repaired his quill and placed it back into his bag. "Constant vigilance with that one," Moody said as Mordecai left, referring to Elisabeth.
Mordecai caught up to Elisabeth in front of the library. "Why on earth were you in such a hurry to study? Usually I try to convince you to study because you lose interest after a while," he pointed out.
Her face reddened and she averted his eyes for a moment. "Remember how I was late to our first class?"
He nodded. "You said you were at the library catching up on some work."
"Constantine, my cat, got loose in the library and I tried to look for him. I think he's probably still in there, but I need help," she admitted sheepishly.
"Why didn't you just try the item retrieving spell?" he questioned as they passed through the doorway.
Her eyes widened and she slapped her forehead. "I can't believe I did not think of that! All the time I spent this morning looking for that cat the muggle way and I could have just used the spell!"
Soon she had her cat in her arms and Mordecai was trying not to laugh. "Sometimes your muggle habits worry me."
She rolled her eyes as they walked out of the library. "Oh please. What worries me is Professor Moody. He seems so strange. What did he say to you?"
"He said that I looked familiar and his blue eye is disturbing. There is something very peculiar about that man," Mordecai remarked.
A week later they were genuinely studying for a few quizzes, sitting on a bench in the hall when Severus and Minerva walked by and stopped, having just exited the staff room.
"I cannot believe that Albus wants me to chaperone it! I don't even like chaperoning trips to Hogsmeade. What makes that man think that I would want to chaperone such a large gathering of students who want loud music and can't dance?" Severus protested.
Minerva scoffed. "Honestly Severus, if I have to hold dancing lessons and chaperone this event, you might as well be part of the festivities."
"Woman, I want no part in it!" he argued.
"The reason that you wish to Christmas in the dungeons is that either you wish to shield yourself from watching Gryffindors dance better than Slytherins, or you simply cannot dance and watching students dance would bring bad memories for you," she teased.
He glared at her indignantly. "I'll have you know that can dance quite well. Slytherins have always danced better than Gryffindors."
She leaned close to him, their noses almost touching. "Then prove it," she said with a smirk. Then she took a step back and walked off.
"Meddlesome woman," he muttered before heading off in a different direction.
As the Transfiguration Mistress and the Potions Master passed by, Elisabeth grinned mischievously, causing Mordecai to raise an eyebrow. "What are you smiling at?"
She giggled. "I'll bet that no one else has ever noticed."
He rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about? Snape and McGonagall walk by and you act as though you've been privy to some new secret."
"Don't you see it? Those two like each other. Why else would a person put so much effort into insulting and teasing the other?" Elisabeth pointed out.
Mordecai stared at her wide-eyed. "Are you mental? Those two have one of the biggest house rivalries going since the beginning of the school! There is a logical reason why they argue," he countered.
"And what would that be?" she pursued.
"I… don't know at the moment, but I highly doubt that they are in the least bit attracted to each other. It's… it's the most preposterous thing I have ever heard," he exclaimed.
She was laughing so hard that she nearly fell off the bench. "Cyrus, where is your sense of romance? I suspect that those two have had eyes for each other for years. Age doesn't mean as much in the wizarding world as it does in the muggle world."
He sighed and shook his head. "My sense of romance is stuffed in a drawer, where it belongs. You, as usual, are letting your imagination run away with you," he scolded.
She scoffed and smirked at him. "Would you stop trying to imitate Snape? It really is disturbing when you do that, whether you realize it or not. I was only having a bit of fun. Honestly, sometimes you can be such a wet blanket," she said as she sighed dramatically.
"I resent that! The only thing I do that could be considered like that is how I try to keep you out of trouble," he defended.
She giggled. "Cyrus, I was joking. Would you go to the Yule Ball if we were in our fourth year?" He nodded and she continued. "Whom would you take as your date?"
"I would take Ginny Weasley, but she's already going with a four-year Gryffindor," he complained.
Elisabeth knew that would be his answer. "You do realize that you don't interest her, I hope. Do you even know how to dance?"
He sighed in defeat. "No. I suppose it sounds pathetic, wanting to go to a dance when I do not know how to."
She shook her head and smiled at him. "Before you go home for the Christmas break, I'll teach you how to dance," she offered.
He considered the idea for a moment and then he smiled and nodded. "It sounds like an interesting idea."
A few days before the students were to leave for the Christmas holiday, they met in the Ravenclaw common room. Elisabeth had brought a muggle CD player that was battery powered. Mordecai entered the room and eyed the device with curiosity. "I suppose that will do."
She smiled and approached him. "I brought classical muggle music by a composer named Mozart. Now," she paused and positioned him, placing one of his hands at her waist and taking the other one in her hand before placing her other hand on his shoulder, "I will lead first to show you how it is done and then I will let you lead."
Counting aloud as they turned and listened to the music, she showed him the steps and the turns. After a few minutes she instructed him to do as she had. "Alright, one… two… three…, sorry, one… two… oops, three…, one… two… three…" he attempted.
"Ouch, that was my foot. Owe, that was my other foot. Blast, that was my other foot again," Elisabeth complained as Mordecai kept tripping on her feet.
"How many feet do you have?" he inquired, still keeping to the counting of the pace.
She sighed and shook her head, grinning wryly. "I am not leaving this room until you improve, but you owe me a bucket of warm water to soak my feet in after this."
The dance lesson continued well past the dinner hour. It was 8:30 in the evening when they finally stopped. Elisabeth sank down into the sofa while Mordecai claimed a chair. After resting a moment, he disappeared for a while and returned with the bucket of warm water that they had discussed earlier. He set it down in front of her and she raised an eyebrow.
"Thank you, but I was only joking. The point is that it was a success," she told him.
He smiled and returned to the chair. "I should be thanking you. This whole thing was your idea."
She took her shoes and socks off, allowing her feet to soak. "In that case, you're welcome and Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas," he replied as he watched her doze off. She may be the craziest, unpractical friend I have, but she is also my best friend, he thought to himself.
(My thanks to Annette-Rose, DD2, Leta McGotor, and Isabelle () for reviewing :D)