I'm so sorry I'm so slow! I promise to be better! The past couple months have been kinda crazy for me, so please be patient with me.
I truly do appreciate all your follows and reviews! They mean a lot to me!
(I do not own any of JK Rowlings characters. Though having a certain SS would be nice ;) )
Chapter 7
I look over to the clock on the shelf, 1:16am, before glancing back at the flask in my hand.
"Do I want to?" I ask him.
"I can't answer that for you, Regina. You have to make this decision on your own."
For a moment, I study the flask while thinking back on past events. I remember absolutely nothing. Nothing that could have caused my night terrors. I don't remember ever being in such a horrible situation as to have them obliviated from my mind. And Severus was there when it happened. And possibly even Robert since he was the one who mentioned it. Maybe it was for my own good that they obliviated me? Maybe they did it to save me? But there's that part of me that is curious. What happened?
I take Severus' hand and place the glowing flask into it, closing his fingers around it.
"I trust you. You said it wasn't important at the moment and I trust your judgment." I hold onto his hand with the flask in it. "Just promise me that when the time does come, you'll be there to show me. To help me."
"I promise" he says.
The next morning I wake up in my bed, recalling the events of last night.
9:04am, the clock reads. I bury my face into my pillow, but know I need to get up.
I quickly get out of bed and get ready, using a little magic, of course. Running over to my armoire, I choose to throw on a long sleeved, knee-length emerald green dress with a pair of signature black heels and my robes. I briefly check my reflection in the mirror before heading out to breakfast.
After about 15 minutes into breakfast, I notice that Severus has still not taken his usual place at the staff table. My eyes casually scan the room to see if there is anyone else possibly missing, but find that no one else is missing other than a certain Harry Potter. It isn't until moments later that I realize, as I'm scanning the room, a few groups of students are looking over at me from their seats.
"Are you alright, dear?" Minerva asks, trying to discreetly lean over towards me.
"Just fine." I put on a smile while still facing forward, looking through the room.
"You seem a bit… preoccupied. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Everything is fine. Something just seems off this morning, that's all." I say, finally looking over to her and giving her a small smile. She looks almost confused. I push my plate away and rise from my seat. "Have a wonderful afternoon, Professor."
Turning out of the Great Hall and into the hallway, there's not a student or staff member in sight. I begin walking down the hallway, deciding what I should do. Do I find out where Harry is? Do I find out where Severus is? Why do I care so much about where either of them are?
As I begin to descend down the first staircase, I can hear footsteps up ahead. Not just normal footsteps, but they sound as if they're walking quickly. Reaching the bottom of the staircase, I turn to my left and run right into Harry, who is coming out of a hallway from the side. He drops a bag, which appears the have a book and newspapers in it.
"Mr. Potter, what are you doing down here?" I ask him.
"Uh, I was just in the library, Professor" he says while picking up his bag. I bend down to pick up one of the newspapers that fell from his bag, but he quickly snatches it up before I have the chance to.
"That would explain why you were absent at breakfast. Did you find what you needed?"
"Not everything…" he says while shoving the paper back into his bag.
"Well, could I be of some assistance?" I ask, his gaze suddenly moving to the floor.
"I actually was coming to see you next, Professor."
"Oh! Then what is it you wish to know?" Harry is silent for a moment.
"Can we talk somewhere privately?" he asks.
Upon entering my classroom, I make sure the doors are warded as to not be disturbed. Harry has never come to me so serious about a subject, so I can only imagine what it must be about. He walks over to one of the tables in front of my desk and drops his bag onto it. I open one of the curtains before making my way over to the front of my desk and sitting on it.
"So, what do you have for me?" I ask him. He begins to pull out the book in his bag and opens it to one of the many marked pages.
"Who is Amelia Dorphus Riddle Gale?" he asks while handing me the book.
I look at the page in silence. The two pages in front of me hold a biography and picture of her. I flip through the next few pages to see the biography go on for a total of 7 pages, before slamming the book shut and handing it back to Harry.
"She is… was…" I pause, looking down to my hands in my lap, "my mother."
"So that means that you're…"
"No!" I cut him off and take a deep breath, "yes, in a way." I pause for a brief moment. "My mother was his cousin. Their fathers were brothers." I look away from my hands and up at Harry. "I'm guessing this is the point where we're beginning to be use to each other." A small, almost nonexistent, smile comes to his face. "What other questions do you have?" I ask. He opens the book and flips to the end of her biography.
"How did she die?" he asks. I give him a confused look. He flips the book to me and point to the last page. "Her biography was never finished. It ends with her joining the Death Eaters."
I grab the book out of his hands and begin to read it furiously. The book is filled with nothing but pure lies about my mother. I look back up at Harry.
"This book is all wrong! Yes, my mother was raised as to use dark magic, but she never joined the Death Eaters!" I continue to read. "My mother never killed anyone! This book is full of lies!" I shut the book and look at the cover. "Who the bloody hell wrote this absurd piece of trash!" Before I could read the name, Harry grabbed the book from my hands.
"There's more I need to know…" he says. I take a deep breath and he hands me a Daily Prophet, dated back two years ago. The front page had a picture of her brother and the title 'Gale Heir Arrested in Belief to be Death Eater'. Harry then handed her another Daily Prophet, dated two weeks later and with a title 'Gale Heir Found Innocent and Framed'. I scan the papers quickly and then lay them on the table in front of me. "So, is it true?" he asks me. I look back over at him.
"Yes, it's true." I get up from my desk and walk over to the other side. I unlock one of the desk drawers and pull out a few pictures of my family, then hand them to Harry, before going back and sitting on the front of my desk again. "My brother is a Death Eater. My father started as an auror down in Romania for fourteen years, then in France for 3 years, and then moved us to England for Robert and I to have easier access to Hogwarts when Robert became of age. My mother never worked. Yes, she was raised under dark magic but she never used it because she never wanted to. And she never became a bloody Death Eater." I pick up one of the newspapers again and began to scan it. "My father became a lead auror for the Ministry of Magic when I was 9 years old and Robert was thirteen. He paid many people to get my brother's name cleared of being a Death Eater, even though he knew it was true."
"Why did he join?" Harry asked.
"That's a whole other story." I watch him flipping through the pictures. "Tom Riddle learned of my mother's whereabouts after seeing a story about my father in the Daily Prophet. One night during the summer before my final year, four Death Eaters invaded our flat in London and kidnapped my family, bringing us to Malfoy Manor and to Tom. He told my mother that she must join the Death Eaters, because with the power the two of them both held, they could destroy anyone who got in their way." I look back down at my hands. "But my mother refused. He threatened to kill her, and she still refused." I pause for a moment as I feel the tears beginning to sting my eyes. "Then he threatened to kill Robert and I if she didn't. My mother begged for him not to, but Tom wouldn't take no for an answer. Then, out of nowhere, Robert stepped forward and offered to take my mother's place. And said since he had Riddle blood and was also the Gale heir, he could be of more assistance and add more power to Tom's rule in the long run. Tom accepted, had my parents, Robert and myself beaten, and then sent us on our way home." I wipe the tears from my eyes. "Robert has now been a Death Eater for almost 6 years."
"Why didn't you join them? You seem close to their side."
"Mr. Potter, 50 points from Gryffindor for asking such an ill-mannered and needless question that is absolutely none of your concern whatsoever." Came from a velvet voice from the doorway.
"Sev… Professor Snape." I stand from my desk. "How did you… What did you…"
"Professor Gale, it is not yourself who should be defending themselves." He says, walking, mostly billowing, from the doorway over to Harry and I. I look over at Harry and he looks scared out of his wits. "How dare you ask Ms. Gale such an inappropriate question!" He scolds Harry.
"I'm sorry, Professor. I was just asking about…"
"I do not care what you were asking her about. None of the information you are asking is any of your business." Severus grabs Harry by the collar of his shirt, lifting him inches off the ground.
"Severus, let him go!" I yell at him.
"Do not let me catch you again, Potter." Snape says sternly and quietly.
"Yes, Sir." Severus lets go of Harry and the boy nearly falls to the ground. He hurries, grabs all the papers and his bag, and quickly walks out of the room. Severus turns to me.
"What were you thinking?" He asks me.
"You know I have to help the boy! I didn't tell him EVERYTHING! Calm down." I pick my family pictures up off the table and put them back into my desk drawer. "How long were you standing there anyway?"
"When he asked how your mother died."
"So, basically, you were standing there eavesdropping the whole time?" I ask with a small laugh.
"Pretty much." He says, even giving a faint smile.
"Where were you this morning?" I ask, as I'm turning around to face where he is, but as I do, he is right behind me and I bump into his chest. "Oh! Sorry." He wraps his arm around my waist and I look up into his eyes. I still can't read what he's possibly thinking or feeling, I never can. Suddenly, I hear the door lock. I look over and there's no one there. "What are you doing?" I ask without looking at him.
"Did you see the papers this morning?"
"No, why?"
Severus suddenly pulls a copy of the Daily Prophet out of his cloak and hands it to me. I look at the headlining title; Robert Gale Arrested for Murder of Gale Family. I feel my body freeze but get hot all at the same time. The picture next to the article is of the aurors cornering him in what looks like a Hogsmeade alleyway. Tears begin to sting my eyes.
"You know he didn't do it, Severus. We all know." I look up at him. "Everyone knows that Tom did it!"
"But there is not proof. All traces he left led them back to Robert." He wraps his arms around me. "The only people who know for sure are Death Eaters, and they for bloody sure aren't going to tell anyone." He looks down at me for a moment before wiping tears from my eyes.
"Well, there's another newspaper to add to the collection." I say with a scoff.
We're both quiet for the next few minutes as I stand there in Severus' arms. At one point, he lowers his chin onto the top of my head while my face is in his chest. I hadn't even noticed that I had wrapped my arms around him, as well.
"I know this probably isn't the best time to ask," he says, finally breaking the silence, "but would you possibly accompany me to the ball at Malfoy Manor tomorrow evening?" I look up at him. "I know you don't like Lucius, but…"
"Are you asking me on a date, Severus?" I interrupt, giving a small smile.