Chapter 10 - "Acquainted With the Night"

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Headmaster Albus Dumbledore sat slumped in his high-backed chair, his half-moon glasses slightly askew and his bony hands laced together on his stomach. He wasn't quite asleep, but neither was he completely awake. The old wizard was waiting up for his spy's return from his mission, and during that time, he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He had already finished off his bowl of lemon drops (which he restocked every morning), petted Fawks, talked with the portraits of previous headmasters, caught up on his reading, and had worn a trench in front of his desk from his pacing. Tom's meetings usually didn't take this long...not unless something had gone wrong. From what he had been told by Severus, Voldemort never held revels on a weeknight. His Death Eaters had lives outside of his service, and it would arouse suspicion if they were indisposed of the next morning...or not even there at all. No, this was (or it had been) a regular meeting...one which shouldn't be taking as long as it was. Something must have happened.

Dumbledore always dreaded the day he would find the corpse of his faithful spy on his doorstep, or send him to a Death Eater gathering only to never hear from him again. Being discovered as a spy was a danger that came with the job; Severus knew it, and Albus was painfully reminded of it every time Snape notified him that he had been Summoned. He regretted that the boy was forced to do this, but he also couldn't give up such valuable asset. All he needed to do was to play his cards right.

The Headmaster rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. If only he were as omniscient and omnipotent as others wish him to be.

A disturbance in the floor in front of him nearly sent him flying out of his seat. A large pool of black formed in the middle of the floor, and Raven rose up out of it, coming to a halt when her feet were at ground level. The black energy slowly closed in on itself until the girl was standing on the floor as if she had simply walked in. Dumbledore forced his face into an expression that would not give away the state of his pulse, which was beating faster than he thought it was capable of, and straightened his glasses.

"Raven?" he asked hoarsely. But he was cut off quickly by her serious expression and her first words.

"We have a situation."

What little color was left in Albus' face quickly drained away. He rose solemnly from behind his desk. "Tell me."

Raven shook her head. "There's no time. You need to come to Professor Snape's quarters at once." No further explanation was needed, for the Headmaster was at once moving toward his fireplace. "I can take you there," she offered, approaching him swiftly.

"That won't be necessary." Dumbledore grabbed a pinch of green powder and tossed it into the fireplace. "Severus' quarters!" he called. Immediately, green flames leapt up, and he stepped into them, spinning around as though he were going down a drain and disappearing.

Raven didn't hesitate and teleported back down to the professor's bedroom, arriving just a few seconds before Dumbledore burst into the room through the far door. Snape, who had still been sleeping when she had arrived, awoke with a start when his doors crashed open and a worried-looking headmaster had rushed to the bed.

"Bloody hell." Snape mumbled at being awoken so rudely.

"Severus! Severus are you all right? What happened, my boy!" The moment Dumbledore reached his side, he placed his knarred hand on the younger man's forehead and seemed to be obsessed with inspecting every inch of his body to look for injuries. All the commotion was too much for the small patch of sheets that lay protectively over Snape's privates, and in the excitement of Albus leaning over and disturbing the blankets, they left their post.

"Headmaster, I can assure you that -" he looked down, and his face blossomed into an unnatural hue of red at his exposure. "Bloody hell! Where are my clothes!" As he frantically gathered a bundle of sheets and huddled them over his body, he suddenly went very still. Apparently he just then noticed the presence of one Raven Roth still in the room, standing patiently off to one side of the room. "You!" he snarled, pointing at the girl in the corner. "You did this! How dare you unclothe me! That is entirely inappropriate behavior!"

"If I hadn't, you wouldn't be shouting at me right now, sir; you'd be giving your regards to my father," she answered darkly, raising up her hood to hide her face.

Snape had the decency to look abashed by shutting his mouth and casting his eyes to the floor. As though just then understanding the full implications of what she said, he looked down at his own chest and arms, feeling around for the bruises, cuts and hex marks that should have been there. Upon finding none of the injuries he had just recently had, a look of confusion crossed his face.

Suddenly it all came back to him, and the memories flooded his mind. - Barely managing to Apparate back without Splinching himself - collapsing - ...it became hazy around that part... - then waking up in bed - discovering that he's naked - being humiliated to find out that a mere slip of a girl had brought him back here and undressed him - the cramps from the after effects from his many embraces with Crucio - how Raven had managed to restrain him during the violent spasms - and how she had healed him using a remarkable power. He must have fallen asleep during her treatment, for that's all he remembered after he was dismissed from the meeting.

"Severus," Albus prodded, "tell me what happened tonight. What caused this?"

Snape shook his head feebly and groaned as he tried to shift onto this side.

The Headmaster was still for a moment before suggesting another option. "Severus, I need to know what happened, and if you cannot tell me, then allow me to witness the memories themselves."

"Well, sir," the younger man said hoarsely. "I can tell you that there is someone who is currently in the Dark Lord's sights, and has been recently made a target for the Death Eaters."

"Who is this person? They must be notified immediately."

Snape gave Dumbledore a pointed look. "Who do you think?" he sneered distastefully. "Who is currently your most valuable asset? Who just recently has made an appearance on Hogwarts' grounds? Who has enough mysterious aura to provoke curiosity in every ambitious Death Eater?"

Both wizards turned their heads simultaneously to Raven, who was still standing silent in the corner with her hood drawn and face impassive. Though her outward appearance suggested no reaction to their announcement, her mind was in turmoil. Raven closed her eyes to keep the emotion from spilling out of them. Once again, she was causing pain to others. An inconvenience. A hazard. A liability. A thing. Because of her these things were happening. All because she had sought asylum. She'd be better off dead. Would be benefiting the rest of the world if she simply didn't exist. What had she been thinking? That she could just wish all the problems away? Did she honestly think the Magical world would be any different? She was far more stupid than she could have imagined. Raven choked back a hopeless sob. In her desperation she hadn't bothered to consider the danger she would be inflicting on the very people who agreed to protect her. Her father was right all along. She really was worthless to everyone who mattered to her.

"How has Tom found out about Miss Roth? She only just arrived this afternoon, and her letter was kept in my office at all times...I even checked to ensure that it had not been intercepted en route to Hogwarts. How could word have reached him so quickly? And how much does he know?"

Severus Snape drew a breath slowly. "I'll show you." He reached onto his nightstand, and picked up his wand. "Accio Pensive!" he commanded. A small and round stone bowl came flying into the room and landed in his lap. Lifting the point of the wand to his temple, and after a few seconds of deep concentration and a furrowed brow, Snape drew out a long, silvery thread of smoke and directed it into the bowl. He handed the pensive to Albus with a slightly dazed look on his face. "That should do you," he murmured with glassy eyes and a confused expression. Snape then gathered the rest of the blankets from the bed and covered his entire body while pushing himself up so that he was leaning back against the headboard.

Dumbledore moved around to the side of the bed that was closest to Raven. "My dear, I would like for you to join me in viewing his memories, for I fear that much of the content may concern you."

Snape's eyes flew open in alarm. "Headmaster! Those are my memories! She has no right to invade my privacy like that! I don't want unnecessary people sauntering through a Death Eatermeeting! Considering the state I came back in, there are obviously graphic visuals in there that young girls such as her should not be exposed to!"

Albus waited patiently for his tirade to end. "Your objections are noted, Severus. However, the matters that are addressed in this memory include Miss Roth, and I feel it is necessary that she understand completely what we are up against, and the new developments concerning her." The older wizard then turned to Raven. "Miss Roth, would you rather not view the pensive? There may be scenes of violence, but you would also gain knowledge firsthand of what took place and what sort of danger you are currently in. You will also see what our adversary, Lord Voldemort," -Snape snarled a curse at the name- "looks like and how he regularly deals."

Raven raised her eyes to meet the solemn, sky-blue ones behind half-moon glasses. "I am not a stranger to violence. And I would like to see this Dark Lord. I am not familiar with 'Pensives', as you call them, but I get the general idea. Just tell me what to do."

"Very well, my dear. Simply lower your face into the bowl and your body will follow. Just imitate my example." Dumbledore placed the pensive on the nightstand. He straightened his robes and mentally braced himself for whatever horror might lay in store before taking a deep breath, and stooping over to place his nose into the small bowl.

Raven expected his whole body to disappear, or to shrink and tip into the opening, but the Headmaster simply stood there with his nose in the bowl. "That's it?" she asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

Snape shrugged indifferently. "The perspective is different when you're the one doing it."

She nodded, and then approached the table.

"You might want to lower your hood."

Raven sent a glare at the prone form on the bed.

Again, the Potions Master shrugged. "Might be easier that way, is all. It's not like I haven't seen you without your hood."

After a second's consideration, Raven sighed and pulled it down. Placing her hands squarely on either side of the bowl, and mindful not to trap Dumbledore's beard, she bent her head down to the surface of the bowl. Personally, she felt rather silly, but she was soon captivated by the contents of the pensive. It wasn't quite liquid, and yet not quite mist, but it swirled around inside. The grey substance pooled, and also vaporized into fog near the surface...the colors weren't even completely grey - more of a combination of grey, blue, and aqua green. Everything was moving, rippling, flowing, and Raven was mesmerized by it.

Finally, the tip of her nose touched the surface of the substance, and the reaction was instantaneous. She felt her entire body tilt vertically and fall into the bowl. Raven was free-falling for a short while, until sight of ground below began rushing up at her. The power of flight didn't work in this eerie new place, and she couldn't break her fall as well as she wanted to. Raven landed on soft grass, thankfully not on her head, but on her feet. Wherever she was, it was night, and she was in the middle of an open field. The dark sorceress thought she might have heard the noises of sheep somewhere in the distance. She would have spent more time studying her surroundings if it hadn't been for a tall figure dressed entirely in black robes, which was standing not twenty feet away from her. This figure raised a skeletal hand and lowered his black hood. Instead of a white mask beneath it, Raven was aghast to behold a bald, scaly head which sported no nose to speak of, a very wide mouth, and gleaming red eyes.


A/N:

"Acquainted With the Night"

"I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night."

- Robert Frost