Chris Carter and 1013 Productions own the X-Files. JK Rowling, Warner Brothers and Scholastic own Harry Potter. All I own is this story line, every Harry Potter DVD and a complete collection of X-Files DVD's. I wish I owned Fox Mulder.
A/N This story is set anytime during Sorcerers Stone through Prisoner of Azkaban of HP (although it contains information in all the books) and after X-Files episode "Emily", but before "Requiem".
Thanks to all you wonderful reviewers!
GUEST QUARTERS
HOGWARTS
"I'd feel better if I were going with you, Scully."
"I'll be fine, Mulder. Dumbledore just wants us to have a look around Hogsmeade." They were in Scully's room. She was curled up in the armchair, head leaned back, eyes closed. Mulder was sitting up on her desk.
He looked at Scully curiously. "You just came off another late night. This is starting to become a habit."
"Well, I could hardly help it if the Headmaster wanted to talk to us, could I?" She replied irritably.
"Hey, you don't need to get defensive."
"I'm not defensive, Mulder. I'm just tired of being interrogated if I come back at an hour you think is too late."
"Okay, okay, don't bite my head off." He stood up and headed towards the door. "Maybe a night out will be good for you after all. As long as you don't come back as cranky as you are now."
He slipped through her door and shut it just as she reached out and threw her pillow at it.
HOGSMEADE
FOLLOWING EVENING
"Do you think you understand a little better what our world is like now that you've seen an entirely wizard town? Can you see how Hogwarts is only a small part of it?" Snape and Scully were walking down the main street of Hogsmeade. She was trying to be alert for signs of anything unusual at the same time she was trying not to stare. She was hindered by not knowing what passed for unusual in a wizarding village. To her, most of what she was looking at was strange. But Snape didn't seem to notice anything amiss and she was taking her cues from him.
"I'm surprised they don't headquarter the Ministry of Magic in a place like this," Scully remarked.
"Other people have suggested that. But the Ministry would rather be situated where they can keep a watch on muggles more easily. Hogsmeade is protected by the same powerful charm that the school is under--no muggle can find it on their own. And time and space do have a bearing on magic. The Ministry could monitor the muggle world from afar, but it's much easier to observe it up close. It's easier for them to follow important muggle events if they're headquartered in London."
Scully stopped and leaned against a lampost. "We've been up and down the streets of Hogsmeade all evening. I could use a bite to eat. I suppose your people don't have drive-thru's."
"I know a place we can go."
He took her to The Three Broomsticks. Scully would have laughed at the name if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes--people flying on actual broomsticks at the Quidditch match. He found an out-of-the-way table where they could avoid drawing attention to themselves. Despite this, she felt very conspicuous in her muggle clothes and she was aware of being the target of some curious glances--and some were not entirely friendly.
"Try this," Snape said, pushing a glass across the table at her as she ate some roast chicken.
"What is it?"
"It's called butterbeer."
"Beer? Are you suggesting drinking on the job?" She asked him archly, but she took a sip. "It's very sweet. And," she paused, surprised. "It warms you up inside. This would be great to have on an overnight stakeout, except I need my coffee to stay awake. I suppose too much butterbeer would put you to sleep."
"You're wrong. It won't intoxicate you unless you're a house elf."
She nodded. "Well, anyway, nobody we've talked to seemed to know anything about muggles in Hogsmeade--except for a few who looked at me as if they expected me to explode at any moment. Is it possible the Headmaster made a mistake?"
"It's highly unlikely. Dumbledore has contacts everywhere. Somebody is letting muggles in here and we'll see if we can find out who."
Scully peered around the Three Broomsticks. It looked like any other pub she'd been in, but with small differences. It was dimly lit, but no electric lighting; there was music, strange but naggingly familiar; the patrons were a rather quiet lot, but they were all dressed in wizard clothes, like the staff at Hogwarts. Scully, who was not known for flashy dressing, who blended in perfectly at FBI Headquarters, felt like she stood out.
She picked a little at her food. "So, is there an advantage to being pure-blood? Is it supposed to make you a better wizard or more powerful or something?"
Snape looked at her warily. The last time they tried to talk about muggle-wizard relations they wound up quarreling. He lowered his voice. "There isn't any relationship between one's level of skill and how much wizard ancestry one has. But being pureblood confers status."
"Why?" She pressed.
"Because it's increasingly rare with each passing generation."
"So You Know Who was pureblood?"
Snape hesitated before answering no.
"He hated muggles even though he was part muggle?" She looked at him narrowly.
"It might seem illogical to you, but..."
She interrupted him. "Actually, that sounds like a type of conversion reaction--a psychological phenomenon whereby somebody tries to force themself to feel and act a particular way, rejecting the way they would be expected to feel under the same circumstance. For some reason he hated that part of himself, which led him to reject not only the muggle part of himself, but all other muggles. Sometimes prejudice has its roots in conversion reactions."
"You Know Who was rather more complicated than that. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can put him into some neat little box with a fancy label. All those who underestimated him ended up dead."
Scully shrugged. "Everyone's complicated. And I've learned over the years not to underestimate suspects." She paused, looked at him and lowered her voice even more. "Severus, are you a pureblood?"
He stared at her with an inscrutable expression before shaking his head slowly. "Muggle father."
They looked at each other before Scully looked down at her plate and pushed the food around with her fork. When she looked up again, he was still staring at her with that same inscrutable look.
"I'm not going to psychoanalyze you, if that's what you're thinking," she said. "Although I am curious. What was it like?"
"They fought constantly. I think he was afraid of her. And with good reason."
"Because of her...powers?"
"It was a relief to come to Hogwarts as a student," he said, bypassing her question. "To get away from all that. Don't give me any sympathy," he added, looking at her closely.
"I wasn't planning on it," she answered mildly. "Maybe we should take another look around Hogsmeade--perhaps the mysterious muggle will show up later."
Some time later they were standing outside what seemed to Scully to be a clothing boutique when Snape saw a wizard he recognized and stepped forward.
"Good evening. I'd like a word with you?"
The wizard looked at Scully and nodded reluctantly.
Snape continued as if he hadn't noticed the wizard's reluctance. "Have you happened to notice anything unusual around here lately? Any muggles, either alone or with wizards?"
"What do you call her?" The wizard asked irritably.
"She's here on special assignment."
Scully pulled out her badge to show him, but before she could talk he interupted, "Oh yes. Dumbledore's pet project. Well forget it. I don't care what agency you're with, I'm not talking in front of any strangers, muggle or wizard."
Scully and Snape glanced at each other and Scully murmured, "You know, there was something I wanted to see in that shop window anyway. I'll go..." And she put her badge inside her jacket pocket and started to walk down the street.
When the wizard was satisfied that Scully was too far away to hear, he said, "There has been a muggle lurking around here. Some woman in a cloak.--No, I don't know her name, can't get close enough to talk to her--every time she sees somebody coming she hurries away..."
Meanwhile, Scully pulled her duster closer around herself even though she was still warm from the butterbeer. She looked around at the buildings of Hogsmeade. Stepping into the wizarding world was like walking into a foreign country. The streets, the buildings, even the foliage were similar enough to be recognizable, but it had its own distinct flair--it was different.
All of a sudden she heard a psst and a shuffling coming from an alley and turned to look, her hand inching towards her service weapon.
"Oh please, don't shoot!" Came a hoarse whisper.
"Who's in there? Come out where I can see you."
"I'll come, I promise I'll come, but please don't make any more noise."
"Come out, hands where I can see them," Scully directed, although she lowered her voice. She kept her eyes on the alley and her hand where she could grab her gun quickly if necessary. But she beckoned the person to come forward. It was a woman who looked to be in her mid-forties who approached slowly, eyes darting quickly from side to side.
"Don't shoot me. I want to talk to you," the woman pleaded.
"What makes you think I would shoot you?"
"You have a gun, don't you? I thought FBI agents never surrendered their weapons?"
"What makes you think I'm with the FBI?" Scully asked.
"Never mind that--it's not important right now. What I need to tell you is--that man you're with--he's one of them."
"What man are you talking about?"
"Stop being coy with me--there isn't enough time. I've been watching you all night. That man you're with--I know he's a teacher at some secret school around here. But he's one of them--a memory stealer. Here, take this--you may want to contact us later. Of course, if he steals your memory you won't remember our having this talk, but you'll have our phone number and email address. Everything you need to know is in here." With that she pressed a folded paper into Scully's hand. "Don't look at it here! Put it away, put it away!"
The woman was so insistent that Scully, unwilling to have her make a scene, pushed the paper to the bottom of her pocket.
The woman kept talking. "What you have to understand, is they're not like us--they're not quite human..."
They heard footsteps and turned to see Snape approach them. Snape looked piercingly at the woman. "Is there a problem here?" He asked, still staring at the woman.
She pulled herself up and gave him stare for stare; although it was obvious she was frightened. "I can be here if I want. I know my rights--this street is not private property." But she was starting to back away.
Scully reached out a hand to her. "Can we talk to you for just a moment?"
But the woman shook her head. Giving Scully a meaningful glance, she took off at a brisk trot, then turned down the alley and disappeared.
"Should we pursue her?" Scully asked.
"No. Dumbledore just wanted us to gather information. What did she say to you?"
"She said...you were a memory stealer."
Snape shook his head. He looked disgusted.
"Do you know what she's talking about?" Scully pressed.
"She belongs to a group called Momento. They're trying to spread the word about us--inform the public, as it were. But they don't understand anything about us."
"But why the term memory stealer?"
"That is the result of some botched memory charms. Wizards who haven't been thoroughly trained in the art shouldn't attempt them."
"I thought magic wasn't supposed to be used against muggles."
"It's not. But we can't risk the exposure of our world, either. When we have to, we use memory charms. Don't look so shocked, Dana. You muggles do something similar to each other, only with medicine. What do you call scopolamine, rohypnol, versed..."
"They're called amnesiacs. But scopolamine and versed are used in legitimate surgery under controlled conditions. Rohypnol is illegal in the States. And the only people who would use it are those who want to perpetrate a crime against another person without that person remembering anything."
"We have similar laws regarding memory charms. They're only to be used sparingly and only for the protection of our world..."
xXxXxXx
Phoebe Green watched from her hiding place, irritated. The Memento woman was only supposed to make contact with Scully and not any of the witches or wizards. But no, she had to go and talk to a wizard. The little idiot.
But then Phoebe got a closer look at the wizard and almost gasped out loud, almost gave herself away. It couldn't be, could it? Severus Snape? Phoebe was stunned. How many years had it been since she'd seen him? But it didn't matter. She had to find that Momento nutter first.
The woman ran up to Phoebe at their pre-arranged meeting place, breathless and panting. Phoebe grabbed her roughly by the arm.
"Whatever possessed you to talk to that man?"
But the woman had more spirit than Phoebe had given her credit for. She wrenched her arm away and asked angrily, "Who are you to tell me what to do?"
"My instructions to you were clear--you were only to talk to that American FBI agent I pointed out to you."
The Memento woman sniffed contemptuously, which only made Phoebe angrier.
"Listen," Phoebe said. "You owe me. If it hadn't been for me you could never have even gotten into Hogsmeade."
"Don't you dare tell me what I owe you," the woman hissed. "I know you think we're all crazy. I know you've been covering up for the memory stealers. And after we trusted you and brought you into our meetings. I let you stay in my house, and then you covered up for them."
"Oh stop being such a child--you know how good they are at covering their tracks. What would it have served if I came forward with what I know? I would have been laughed at and ridiculed and I decided it wasn't worth the hassle. You don't really think your little group can expose their whole world, do you? Why don't you grow up?"
"Then I guess we're even. But all the same, I happened to recognize that wizard. What's more, I think he recognized me."
xXxXxXx
A short time later Phoebe slipped through the streets of Hogsmeade alone, quickly and not stopping until she was in sight of Scully and Snape. After taking a deep breath, she approached them boldly.
"Severus? Severus Snape, is that you? Oh, hello...Scully."
Snape's eyes widened slightly. "Phoebe Green, what a surprise," he muttered ungraciously. Scully just peered at her, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of acting surprised.
"Inspector Green," Phoebe corrected him. "Of Scotland Yard. Well, it's been a long time, hasn't it? I think I was in college the last time I saw you." Then, as if just remembering Scully was standing there, she explained, "Severus and I grew up on the same street. We even went to the same school, at first. At least until he transferred out. When was that? I guess we were eleven years old or thereabouts."
"What do you want, Inspector Green?" He asked in barely civil tones.
"I'd like to have a word with you."
He agreed reluctantly. As she drew him aside, she called over her shoulder to Scully, "Say hello to my good friend Mulder, will you?"
It wasn't lost on Snape the way Scully rolled her eyes.
When she had drawn him off to the side, Phoebe looked at him with some amusement. "She hates me, you know. But I didn't come here to talk about that." She put her hands on her hips. "So this is your big secret? You're a wizard? When you left school, it must have been to go to Hogwarts."
"What do you want, Phoebe?"
"I must say, I'm quite disappointed you couldn't tell all this to an old friend from the neighborhood like me."
"We weren't exactly friends," he replied sardonically.
"But you wanted to be," she countered as she swayed towards him suddenly. "I seem to remember you making your feelings quite clear to me on that subject. In fact, there was that time you..."
He stepped back just as suddenly. "That was a long time ago. Besides, it should have been obvious, even to you, that I'd..."
"...Had too much to drink," she laughed scornfully. "Blame it on alcohol if it makes you feel better. But I wasn't fooled then and I'm not fooled now."
"How did you get in here?"
"I don't have to answer to you. And don't even think about using legilimency on me. I happen to be under a protective charm. Oh, don't look so surprised. Yes, I know all about legilimency and occlumency. But I'm not here to talk about that." She looked over at Scully, who was standing and staring fixedly at a point between two of the buildings. "So, how do you like having muggles around your precious school? Word around town is you deem yourself to be high above us non-magical people. It must be galling to have to work with Scully."
"I'm sure I don't know where you've been obtaining your dubious information, but I'm warning you, Phoebe, you better be sure who you're dealing with. How do you know you're not being used by your wizarding contact?"
"How does he know he's not being used by me?" She asked softly. "Severus, you should know by now I can take care of myself."
"Don't make the mistake of thinking that dealing with wizards is the same
is dealing with muggles."
Phoebe laughed shortly. "Actually, I find that men are men, whether they're wizards or muggles." Then she winked at him.
xXxXxXx
Once again, Scully was left to her own devices while Snape talked quietly to somebody. Somebody in his world. She walked down the main street of Hogsmeade in desultory fashion, trying to notice anything out of the ordinary. But she stopped at another shop window, looking at the selection of brooms, when she became aware of a sudden, tiny flash of light coming from a small copse of trees to the left of the building, a light which vanished just as suddenly. She glanced back at Snape, but he was in deep conversation with Phoebe Green. She took a couple tentative steps towards the place where she'd seen the light. It was might have been nothing, but all the same, she rubbed the back of her neck when she felt her hair prickle.
xXxXxXx
"Stop it! Don't light that, we'll be seen," Lucius Malfoy hissed as he hurriedly cast an Invisibility Charm over himself and his muggle companion.
But the muggle looked unimpressed as he slipped his lighter back in his pocket. "I'm quite positive you assured me we wouldn't be seen. Can you wizards do that particular trick or not?"
"She's looking right at us."
The muggle brought the cigarette to his lips, inhaled, peered intently at Scully. If it weren't for the Invisibility Charm they would be staring at each other face to face. "But she's not seeing us, I'm sure. You wouldn't allow her to see us, I trust." He turned to look at Malfoy.
Malfoy glared back at him for a few moments, looking like he wanted to put a curse on him. But then he took a breath and forced himself to speak calmly. "Well anyhow, she's here--and I've delivered on my side of the bargain. Now it's your turn, I believe?"
"Wait just a minute--what do you mean by you've delivered?"
"As even you can see, she's standing right there."
"But our agreement was that you would deliver both of them."
"How was I supposed to know Albus Dumbledore was going to separate them?" Malfoy replied irritably.
The muggle inhaled again, then turned back to face Scully, who apparently decided she hadn't seen anything important after all--for she had turned away and was walking towards the wizard Phoebe had been talking to. But Phoebe herself was gone. "Funny--you insisted you knew how his mind worked."
Malfoy struggled to be reasonable. "Look. If you take her, Agent Mulder would come looking for her, right?"
"Absolutely. But is that what you want? A muggle loose in your world?"
"He wouldn't be loose for long. We could catch him easily, then release him to you."
The muggle shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Take this as some friendly advice--you don't want a loose cannon like Fox Mulder wandering around your world unsupervised and uncontrolled. I'm doing you a favor by not taking her."
"I still think this is your best chance. There might not be another opportunity to get to her, especially since Phoebe Green seems to have been fighting with that Memento nutter we were using as bait. I hope Phoebe put her in some place safe...I assure you--now is the time to abduct Agent Scully."
"Abduction--how inelegant," the muggle muttered. "But as you can see, it's too late now, anyway. You seem to have overlooked something--she's not here with Mulder, but she's still not alone. How would that wizard she came with account to Dumbledore if anything happened to her?"
Malfoy sniffed dismissively. "Him? He's on our side. He doesn't like muggles here anymore than I do."
The muggle peered closely at Scully--who had now rejoined Snape--and shook his head. "Even if that's so--and it doesn't look to me like he is on your side--he would still have to answer to his superiors if anything happened to her. No, I'm afraid it's no deal."
xXxXxXx
"Did you see anything unusual while I was talking to Inspector Green?"
"I thought I saw a light flash, but when I investigated the area, there seemed to be nothing there," Scully replied.
They looked together in the alley, but as Malfoy and the muggle had already left the scene, neither of them saw any evidence of unusual activity.
"It's getting late, anyway," Snape said. "How do you want to get back? Floo could take us right to Dumbledore's office. There's also Portkey or broom."
"Portkey was too dizzy. And I've done Floo. It made me feel disoriented. Why does every means of transport in your world have to be uncomfortable? But broom? I don't know--can't we walk?"
"We could, but it's several miles between here and Hogwarts, walking in the dark. Not to mention it's not paved."
"The Ministry's not big on infrastructure, is it?" She couldn't help showing a bit of sarcasm. "Oh...broom...I guess..."
With more than a little trepidation, she climbed behind him on the hovering broom, wrapped her arms around him tightly and leaned her cheek against his back. He kicked off and she gasped at the rapidity of ascent, squeezing her eyes shut. The air rushed past them noisily, making conversation impossible. She peeked once or twice, but it was too dark to see anything and she shut her eyes again. She held tighter when she felt the decent, although it seemed they were slowing, rather than accellerating, so she wasn't afraid.
He dismounted first while the broom was still hovering and took her hands to help her dismount. Once safely on the ground she ran a hand through her hair and crossed her arms. The gates of Hogwarts were several yards ahead of them, but when she looked back the broom was still hovering. Snape muttered something she couldn't hear properly and the broom inverted to an upright position, still floating. To Scully it seemed to be following him.
"Wow. That was...different...that was..." she gestured helplessly then shrugged.
He tried to project an attitude of careless unconcern, but he was watching her intently.
She shivered slightly. "I think the butterbeer's worn off. It's chilly out here."
"Well, it will be warm up at the castle." He muttered lumos and the tip of his wand glowed to light the way. He took her hand and started to lead her to the gate. But before they got to the gate he stopped and peered at her.
"Unless," he said, pulling her closer, "Unless you want to rest a moment, first."
She nodded agreement, so he led her a short distance around the wall to where a depression in it made a sort of bench. He sat down and drew her down by him. She shivered again and he unclasped his robe and pulled it around them both.
"It's strange here," she said. "Sort of a no man's land. Not Hogwarts, not Hogsmeade. And it's not my world, definitely not D.C. Is it safe here, in such an out-of-the-way place?"
"The precautions they've taken at the school are only in effect at the school for the safety of the students--and you. They're not taking any unusual precautions in Hogsmeade. But is it safe here?" He looked down at her and slipped an arm around her waist. "Is any place completely safe? Are you safe in D.C.?"
"That depends on how you look at it," she said ruefully.
"You're under enchantments here," he continued. "Right now, certain types of magic can't touch you."
"Are you trying to convince me I'm safe right here, right now, alone with you?"
He couldn't decipher her tone of voice and it was too dark to see her clearly. After a moment's pause he crushed her to him and kissed her vehemently. She threw her arms around his neck.
After some time went by, Scully drew back a little and ventured to ask, "Don't we need to go up to Hogwarts? Isn't Dumbledore waiting for our report?"
"Yes--he is waiting," Snape murmured against her throat. "But do you want to go up?--now?"
She tightened her arms around him--but didn't answer.
Hope you liked it! Please review and let me know.