Something that needs to be pointed out that is mentioned in this chapter actually, is that Dany is operating on a century old wizards memories. I don't know about you guys, but I don't remember things that happened twenty years ago clearly, so she's not perfect in the slightest in that department.
Anyway this wasn't beta'd by Lily, late night update, hope the grammar isn't too terrible.
Please review!
Dancia would honestly have loved to have said that the first couple of months at Hogwarts had been memorable for her, but it would be an out and out lie to do so. Apart from her pulling her Godfather Severus aside and essentially pouting at him to give Harry a fair chance nothing of real interest changed from Draco's time.
Ends up that the lack of Draco's needling of Harry and said boys usually fiery reactions made everything feel rather mundane really. It was startling when the thought hit her but for probably the first time in her existence, in both her lives, Dany was...academically bored.
Hermione was of course an ongoing work in progress at least, but one that was kept leveled from entering truly obnoxious territory thanks to Harry and Dany's efforts, and more surprisingly their fellow Ravenclaw year mates Su Li and Padma Patil.
The Chinese and Indian witches were both soft spoken, highly intelligent, socially awkward first generation Eastern witches living in a Western country. They had their moments of being completely lost as to what was culturally and socially acceptable and had latched onto Dany and Hermione like limpets to try and stay afloat on more than one occasion.
It was a...strange symbiotic relationship but the four witches managed to form a bond that Dany had never even considered, and that kind of blew her mind away a bit honestly.
What had happened to the pair in Draco's time? She honestly didn't know, they were both adorable kids which promised them to be beautiful young ladies with minds that would terrify most adults. One would think that such a memorable pair would have made massive waves in the magical world, unless...
She actively resisted the urge to shiver as she thought of Voldemort's 'Detention Camps' meant for those who didn't match his standard of normal, and silently hoped both girls had just gone home not wanting to deal with magical Britain's bullshit.
The alternative would cause her to channel Auntie Bella and that was bad news for everyone, including herself.
Taking a deep breath as she tapped her quill on the parchment before her Dany did her best to push the ghosts of the past aside and tried to focus on the present while doing her homework.
Aside from these largely inane social issues her time was primarily spent studying, dragging their now expanded group of friends to hang out with Neville and Susan's growing circle's, and doing their best to be friendly to the Slytherins.
Now that bit was interesting; apparently Harry befriending multiple scions of Ancient Noble houses, regardless of the fact they were largely family, had impressed the house of snakes to the point of forcing them to behave civilly. So while they were not necessarily welcoming, they were at least cordial towards the Boy-Who-Lived and company.
Which incidentally meant a complete lack of conflicts, which meant all around boredom for one reborn witch.
Holy hell... Muttering to herself she came to a startling conclusion.
"This is what school is supposed to be like isn't it? No adventures, no monsters, no conspiracies, no death defying orders from an insane Dark Lord... I'm having...a normal school year..."
It. Was. So. BORING!
Sighing she gave up on her charms essay and quickly began packing up her things, the Halloween feast was about to start and she still needed to head down to the dungeons to check on her brewing potions.
Her Yule present for her friends was something of a pet project that Uncle Sev was helping her with, and while the Moon Stone potion was post NEWT's her Godfather didn't question her abilities to brew it as long as his supervision was involved.
After all, he had trained her himself, good old Slytherin ego working in her benefit yet again.
It was actually a very unique, if admittedly slightly useless brew that if finished on a magically important time of year, Beltane, Yule, Samhain, and the like, would allow one to craft a Moon Stone.
The potion was applied to a base of silicate powder and the witch or wizard in question would channel their magic into it with a ritual circle and after a few minutes a crystal would form. Said crystal would always glow with an inner light the shade of moon glow and reflected the lunar cycles, even turning a lustrous amethyst during a new moon. On top of that it was quite pretty, which would be her cover story for the necklaces she intended to make her friends.
The side benefit that she wasn't going to share with her friends? Anyone who was wearing a Moon Stone made from the same potion batch could be tracked down easily by the one who brewed the initial potion base.
Dany wasn't loosing any of her friends this time around, and if Riddle managed to kidnap her Harry again in this timeline...she'd be able to find him anywhere he was dragged to.
And... After rescuing Harry from his most recent escapade she would make sure that bastard self styled 'Lord' paid for the trouble.
Rubbing the bridge of her nose and shaking her head in confusion at that last thought she sent her friends to the feast without her and made her way to the dungeons with the odd feeling that she was forgetting something about tonight. Which, really, wasn't all that surprising since Draco had experienced this evening over a century ago. Maybe she should invest in a pensieve? Definitely something to consider.
Regardless she got down to the potions lab in record time and quickly began examining her project, grinning as she stared down at the now completed silvery potion before her.
"Perfect," she quipped as she quickly pulled the cauldron off the flame and began ladling the liquid moonlight into vials.
She'd made far more then necessary, but with preservation charms the potion would hold for a couple years which was fine for her needs. She would definitely want one of the beautiful stones to go to the aptly named Luna next year for sure, and probably Ginerva as well since they'd gotten on well enough in her last life.
Regardless she had thirteen vials of the complex potion and in the end left twelve for her Godfather to examine, the one she took with her would be the eventual Master Stone. All in all, not a bad end result for a month long project, staring at the glowing vial in her hand Dany pocketed it and quoted Harry's often muttered catch phrase.
"I love magic."
Severus Snape was not a kind man, and he would be quick to point this out to anyone who would otherwise disagree, yet he was a dedicated man and thus played the role fate had dealt him as flawlessly as he could. So he suffered through a celebration aimed towards children exemplifying the fact that the only woman he had ever loved had been murdered on this night not for the first time, and locked his dark gaze on Potter.
Oh how it had rankled him when his Goddaughter had cornered him, and, much to his own chagrin, cajoled him into giving her friend, the Boy-Who-Lived, Potter's Spawn...Lily's son, a chance. It had been at bare minimum lip service but he had agreed and during the first class he had realized something that shook him to his core.
The boy might look like Potter's double, but through Lily's eyes he could easily see he was his Mother's Son.
He had an innate skill at brewing, cutting, chopping, and dicing ingredients all while yelling at his year mates not to do this, but to do that, with none of his father's arrogance, rather with his mother's intuition. Severus actually had to resist the urge to smirk, detecting the hint of Lily's exasperation when she had to deal with dunderheads leaking into the boys tone while the pair of witches at his side chided him to be nice.
In spite of himself, Severus could not dislike the boy, yes he looked like his father, may he burn in whatever hell he found himself in, but in every manner that mattered?
Harry was Lily's son, and there was no doubting that, and...and that made it easier to look at the boy on a daily basis.
Absently poking at his roast beef Severus glanced up when the boy he had been ruminating on approached the head table, glancing down at the messy haired child he raised a brow and eventually Harry spoke.
"Sir, umm...Dany... She said that she had a project in the dungeons, she wouldn't tell us what it was though. She said she would catch up but the feast is almost over and I'm worried about her."
Point in Potter's favor, his priorities were at the very least in the right place.
"I see. Very well Mister Potter I shall go see what my Goddaughter has gotten herself up to, I shall make sure she arrives here post haste."
Harry shuffled a bit before meeting Severus' dark gaze evenly with Lily's caring eyes.
Not. Fair.
"Sir? May I come with you? She was acting rather distant today and..." He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes before continuing, glancing up he met the Potions Master's gaze evenly, "I'm worried about her."
Sighing, and ignoring Albus' twinkling gaze and smile Severus wiped his mouth with a napkin before rising from his chair, "Very well Mister Potter, follow me."
Rather then inundating the Slytherin head with unwanted thanks Potter just smiled and nodded as he marched after him, neither wizard reacted to the muggleborn witch taking step beside him moments later.
Well, if he had to be chaperoning any students at the very least Potter and Granger were Ravenclaws, they'd be over analyzing everything long enough for him to finish this without getting showered with unwanted questions.
Dancia made sure to clean up her work area as best as possible, knowing perfectly well how much Uncle Sev lamented the dunderheads that dirtied up his labs on a near daily basis. Snorting to herself she threw her bag across her back and began trudging up to the Great Hall while rolling her eyes.
The funny thing about Uncle Sev was that he wasn't actually wrong in being as exasperated as he was with the first and second year students, because all it took was the wrong direction of a stir to make a healing paste a high explosive.
Yeah, he was kind of a dick, but really who could blame him when every single class was a potential, unintentional IED ready to happen?
She shook her head at that thought, trying her best not to reflect on Draco's idiotic attempts to sabotage Harry's potions, and how if he had succeeded, he would likely have died in the blast.
Dany slowed down a moment later as a stench wafted towards her that smelled something like a septic tank getting hit by a napalm strike, resisting the urge to vomit she turned the corner and ran head first into a man dressed in simple robes and a turban.
Squealing in surprise Professor Quirrell, who Dany had been referring to as 'The Squirrel' in the back of her head since her first class with the man, fell backwards just as she fell on her own backside.
What the hell, glancing up she finally noticed the mountain troll that had been following Squirrel who was now blinking stupidly down at the pair.
Oh. Dear.
Then it roared in rage.
Dany kicked her legs out sliding across the floor as she stared up at the monster, and for the life of her she lost her hold on Draco, the badass ICW Operative's memories slipping through her mental fingers like sand on the wind. She wasn't Draco Lucius Malfoy, century old 'Agent Against the Dark' at the moment, or had she ever been really?
Right now she was Dancia Alya Malfoy, eleven year old witch, and she was terrified beyond words.
The troll slammed its club down on Squirrel at that moment, spraying blood all over Dany as she stared in horror at the beast as it reached down and tore one of the mans legs from the mashed corpse. Bringing the haunch to its mouth it began chewing on the deceased professors flesh a few moments before finally noticing the little girl staring up at it in abject horror.
It growled.
Dany screamed, scrambled to her feet, and reached into her robe pocket throwing her Moon Stone potion at the beast as she cut across the hall corner just barely missing the club that had swung down at her.
There was a deafening bang followed with a blinding flash behind her, Dancia grimly reflected on the fact that her potion had probably been the worlds most expensive flashbang grenade but didn't dwell on it.
That troll sounded like it was pissed regardless.
Sprinting down the halls she heard the beast stomping after her, knocking over suits of armor and portraits as it closed the distance between them in seconds.
FUCK first year spells, she was not going to die today, sneering she spun long enough to point her wand at the beast and bellowed out "Sectumsempra!"
That had been a mistake.
The troll cried in agony as multiple lines of blood slashed across its skin, pausing only long enough to lock its gaze on Dany, true rage finally entering its dull pig like eyes.
"Ah...fuck..."
Dancia began sprinting yet again as the bleeding monster took chase, the entire time she was cursing in French and trying to remember if Harry had ever told Draco how he had taken this thing out.
Turning another corner she saw Hermione, Harry, and her Godfather rushing towards her and she felt her heart swell.
They'd come looking for her!
Then Severus yelled, "DANCIA DOWN NOW!"
She dove down and into a roll as Severus snapped out "AVADA KEDAVRA" in an infuriated tone.
There was a sound of something rather heavy slamming into the ground a second later, Dany sat up panting as her friends pulled her into a tight hug, both of them sobbing and muttering nonsense.
It was the most beautiful nonsense ever.
After a few moments they released their grip, much to her disappointment, when her Godfather pulled her up into his arms and began carrying her cradled form onward.
"Don't worry little one, you're safe now."
She couldn't help it, she muttered out, "Why did this happen?"
Severus had to resist his urge to sneer as he bit out with, "I intend to find out exactly that dear, now worry not. Madam Pomfrey will have you right as rain in a few minutes."
Glancing to her side she saw Harry and Hermione staring up at her in shocked horror, when she noticed her own hair fluttering around her.
It was stained in the Squirrel's blood.
Dany resisted the urge to throw up, but only because Harry reached out and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
Yup. Acquiring a pensieve was definitely on her itinerary, no way was she going to be going through this a second time...*sigh*...third time.
The way I always looked at it was that trolls were actually scary, the Golden Trio had simply gotten stupid lucky on taking it out. I'm thinking Severus might become a mentor character, I hadn't intended him to end up the way he did but the muse does what she wishes.
Anywho, hope you enjoyed, please review!