Chapter 3
"Things Can Always Get Worse…"
I knew it… I knew it." Sophie said, pacing nervously back and forth behind her desk, shaking her head. "I knew you weren't ready to go back out into the field." She said, as though scolding herself.
"That's not true Sophie! I was ready. It just so happened that he chose tonight, of all nights, to confront me. There was no way of knowing he'd alter his behavior tonight. It could've been any night." Lexie offered. Seeing no improvement in her pacing boss' mood, she pressed on, hoping she could convince Sophie to let her keep her job.
"Sophie… listen… I know this is two screw-up's in two consecutive missions… but, Snape didn't even get my name. I didn't tell him anything, I swear!" Lexie said anxiously.
Sophie was pacing more nervously than ever with her hand shielding her eyes, as one shields their eyes from the sun, or, consequently, their eyes from someone they're disgusted with. "That's not the point Lexie." She replied. "He's seen your face now. From what you've told me, he was quite close to you. He could pick you out of Diagon Alley, the week before Hogwarts fall term begins."
"Maybe he'll forget what I look like?" Lexie said uncertainly.
"No… no… not Snape. He's like a bloody elephant. He never forgets." Sophie said ominously.
"How is it you know so much about Snape, Sophie?" Lexie asked, suddenly interested.
Sophie stopped pacing and clasped her hands on the back of her desk chair. She sighed and let her eyes wander as one does when they are reflecting on their past. "Snape and I were at school together. And well…" Sophie pursed her lips and tilted her head slightly to the side, "Let's just say, we weren't study buddies."
"You went to school with Snape!" Lexie repeated, stunned.
Sophie nodded.
"Well then wouldn't you know if he was a Death Eater… I mean, in school wasn't he - "
Sophie cut her off, "People change Lexie. Particularly after they graduate from school. It was evident from Snape's actions that he wasn't going to be helping old ladies across the street, mentoring a child or winning any awards for being a nice guy… but that certainly doesn't prove he's done anything wrong. He can be a slimy, creepy, old git and it doesn't make him a Death Eater." She said, as though she regretted it deeply. "If it were that easy, I would've carted him off to Azkaban myself and thrown the key into the middle of the English Channel."
There was a pregnant pause in which Lexie waited to see what Sophie's next move would be. Finally she spoke.
"The problem is, now… he knows your face. He knows it well enough to recognize you if he sees you behind him on the street, no matter what he's up to." Sophie said sitting down in her chair. She heaved out a breath that blew her bangs up in the air. "So… you'll no longer be able to tail him." She thought some more. "Still," she continued on, to herself more than to Lexie, "You know him better than anyone else… it'd be a shame to terminate your investigation on him just because your street cover has been blown. What we need is a different scenario in which you can observe him."
"I think I can help you there." Said a voice from the doorway. Both women looked up. There, leaning on Sophie's filing cabinet, just inside the door was Alastor Moody; one of the Ministry's top Aurors. Eccentric and often referred to as "Mad-Eye", half the cells at Azkaban prison were full thanks to the hard effort and exceptional talent of Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. Though his methods were often frowned upon and he was thought to be an extreme conservative, who was hard pressed to let go of "the old ways", Moody was respected by everyone who'd ever stood in his presence.
"Alastor?" Sophie addressed him. "What do you mean?" she asked eagerly.
"May I?" Moody asked, inviting himself inside.
"Of course." replied Sophie.
"You'll have to forgive me for listening in on your conversation, but I couldn't help overhearing. And I think I may have a solution to your problem." The dim office light made the scars on his gnarled face seem deeper and more pronounced than ever. He helped himself to a chair and stretched out his wooden leg, grimacing in pain. While his normal eye was fixed on Sophie, his magical, electric blue eye whirled around in all directions. "I agree with you Sophie…" he began. "Snape would definitely recognize Miss Bane here out on the street. So what are our options as far as where else she could watch him?" he turned his normal eye on Lexie, as though he were a teacher directing this question to his student.
"Um…" Lexie stumbled, she'd been taken off guard, being asked to speak so suddenly.
"Where else does he spend most of his time?" Moody rephrased the question as he took a draught from his hip flask.
"Well… with the Death Eaters… we think…" Lexie said uncertainly.
"Right, right." Moody said, swallowing his mystery drink of choice. "But we can't very well send you into a Death Eater meeting now can we?" he reasoned. "Where else?"
"At the school… but - "
"Exactly!" Moody said, looking, well… mad.
"What exactly are you suggesting?" Sophie inquired.
"I'm saying we send her to Hogwarts, that's what I'm saying." He said as though he were explaining that 1 + 1 2.
"Alastor… Lexie is 20 years old. She's too old to be at Hogwarts."
"The question isn't how old she is… it's how old she could pass for… or how young in this particular case." He replied. After neither of the women replied, he spoke again, "Could she pass for 17?" he asked, sounding slightly exasperated.
Sophie looked back at Lexie, who'd been silent for some time now. She cocked her head to the side pensively. "Hm… I suppose she could." She said thoughtfully as though she were only noticing Lexie's youthful appearance for the first time.
"Well then, there's your answer!" Mad-Eye said sounding quite pleased with himself and getting to his feet. "It's all settled. Miss Bane will attend Hogwarts starting September first and continue her fact-finding mission on that grease ball, Snape."
"It can't fail, can it?" Sophie said with a look in her eyes that was frighteningly similar to Moody's. "Even if he does recognize her…" Sophie went on wildly, "It won't matter… he'll just think you're some crazy new student!"
Oh wonderful, Lexie thought to herself. That's exactly what I want him to think about me, brilliant!
"He'd never consider that anyone who's still young enough to be in school could possibly be onto him being a Death Eater! I mean, yes, it's strange enough…" she said as she took to her pacing again, "A student following him around at night in dark alleys… a student that wasn't even attending Hogwarts last year. Of course, he never said exactly how long he'd known you were shadowing him… he may have just caught on last month. Or even in June… you could've easily moved here and taken to following him once your other school had let out!"
"Precisely…" agreed Moody, who had miraculously followed Sophie's rambling. "There are excuses for every one of his questions. As long as you can get close enough to get your answers without having to reveal too much about yourself… you should have this mission wrapped up in a couple of months." He said clapping her, rather harshly, on the shoulder.
With that Moody turned and left the office whistling absentmindedly.
Sophie stopped to grin at Lexie, who was not smiling back at her.
"Sophie… this is never going to work. He'll recognize me and how am I supposed to explain why I've been following him for so long?" Lexie said getting to her feet and raking her hands through her hair.
"Oh… I think it'll work. If you play your cards right…"
"You know…" Lexie said, cutting Sophie off this time, "I hated… no… I abhorred school. ABHORRED! The last thing I want to do is go back and do it again!" Lexie said, her voice crescendoing.
Sophie's face became smug. "Fine." She said, sitting down in her chair. "You don't have to do it then." She tapped a stack of papers to straighten them up.
"What?" Lexie said, confused, her hands frozen on her hips.
"No. You don't have to do it. I'll get someone else to do it. It's no problem."
Lexie stared at her boss. This was too easy. What was the catch? It wasn't long before she figured out what it was.
"No, someone else can go spy on Snape at Hogwarts. Since you no longer want to go into the field on missions… you can have your old desk job back and deal with all the other Aurors thinking that you couldn't hack it. As you said, two screw-ups in a row and look… you're back to shuffling papers."
"That's cold Sophie." Lexie said, her voice soft and angry.
"Yes. It is." Sophie said, with the same smug grin on her face. "But Lexie, you are perfect for this! I want to give you a chance to redeem yourself. You heard what Moody said, this mission cannot fail! You'll be under his ugly, oversized, crooked nose all the time – since you know what you're looking for… there's no way you'll come up empty handed!"
Lexie flopped down into her chair and buried her face in her hands.
After a moment, Sophie asked, "So what do you say? Are you in? Or are you out?"
Lexie looked up at her boss, "In."
"Splendid!" Sophie was positively bubbling over with excitement. "Now, the only thing we have to do is ensure that you get into Snape's house. That'll score you points right off the bat; Snape's said to favor his students. Now he's head of Slytherin house so we'll have to-"
"That… won't be a problem." Lexie stated quietly. Sophie frowned back at her. "I was in Slytherin when I was in school. They'll sort me into his house. I haven't changed that much since school." She said wryly.
"Perfect." If Lexie hadn't known better she would've sworn Sophie was salivating at how well this plan was coming together. "Now, don't you worry dear, we'll make all of your arrangements for you. You get on home now… you'll need to rest up! Oh Lexie! This is going to work!"
Lexie's wry smile was etched into her face, so she didn't bother attempting a real one.
"I'll be in touch!" Sophie said shooing Lexie out the door to her office which she shut with a snap behind her.
"Talk about a bad night gone worse…" Lexie thought, looking with contempt through the smoky glass of Sophie's office.
