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.
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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".
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Scully didn't want to leave her mother alone, under surveillance, and vulnerable. But despite her worry she wasn't able to stay because she was expected back at Hogwarts that very night. It was some small consolation that Bill was there. At least Maggie wouldn't be alone, and besides, Bill was a military man. He would be able to handle a muggle intruder. Besides, he seemed to have cooled down a little. When he and Maggie walked Scully and Snape to the door, he pulled Scully into a hug.
"I shouldn't have lost my temper," he said by way of apologizing. "But I don't like to see my little sister get hurt." And here he glanced pointedly at Snape. "I'm sure you can understand that."
"Naturally," Snape replied, but Scully could see he had little liking for Bill.
Maggie hugged her daughter and shook hands once more with Snape before she waved them out the door. As she stood and watched them drive away, Bill said, "I don't like him, Mom."
Maggie sighed. She was used to Bill's xenophobic reactions to anybody outside their family, but it still annoyed her. "And why don't you like Severus Snape?" She asked in a bored voice.
"I just get a feeling from him. Don't you?
She'd had a feeling about him, but Bill was the last person she'd ever discuss it with. "Dana's not a little kid anymore. She's perfectly capable of choosing her own friends. You should respect that."
"Well, Dana's track record of choosing friends isn't what you would call stellar. Besides, what do we really know about this guy?"
"It doesn't matter. He's a colleague of hers."
Bill scoffed. "Colleague. Yeah, right. He's probably some murderer or something."
Maggie sighed again and shook her head as she closed the front door.
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"My brother's not a bad person, you know," Scully said absently as she idled at the stoplight.
"That's reassuring."
"Don't be sarcastic, Severus. He just worries about me. Ever since Dad died, he sort of took over as head of the family. At least in his own mind."
"But your job is your own business. It was high-handed of him to try to tell you what to do."
"Yes--I agree with you. But he has reasons for thinking the way he does. Not that I would ever tell him that--he'd only get a big head and say I told you so. But about what he said about somebody getting killed," Scully frowned, realized the light had turned green and pressed the accelerator. "My sister, Melissa, was killed by a bullet that was meant for me."
Snape peered at her sideways, wondering if that statement was the prelude to tears. He didn't want to see her sad, but he had a horror of female hysterics. Besides, sympathy wasn't his strong point. He tried to think of something to say that wouldn't sound banal and canned, but would stave off a crying fit, but she wasn't even looking at him. She was looking at the rear-view mirror and her eyes had opened wide.
"Somebody's following us," she said faintly.
"Who?"
She shook her head. "They're too far back. I can't tell."
"What are you going to do?"
Scully chewed on her lower lip and waited until they were approaching a busy intersection. "I'm not going to lead them back to my apartment. Hold on tight." And with that, she made a sudden left turn, swerving around the cars coming at her.
Snape gasped. Horns were honking in the other cars, drivers cursing and making gestures.
Scully was shaking. "I've never tried that before. I'm glad it worked."
"Merlin, Dana! What are you doing?"
"Trying to elude pursuit. But not for long." She looked into the mirror and swore quietly. "They're still behind us. Far behind us, but..." and with that she made a quick right turn onto another road and sped up slightly. "I hope I don't get stopped for speeding."
She drove for a couple more blocks, then a mile, two miles. Finally she made another right onto a rural road. They passed some fields and farms and she peered into her rear-view mirror. "I don't see them anymore, but that doesn't mean I've lost them." And with that she turned off the road onto a gravel driveway.
The little stones crunched under the tires as she drove. "This land used to be an organic-pick-your-own farm. But they went out of business a few months ago. This is as good a place as any to hide," Scully murmured as she glanced in the mirror.
The driveway was lined with birch trees and opened out into a gravel parking lot lined with mature arborvitae. She looked around, pulled into a corner and cut the engine.
"I'm sure they already know where I live--the people who are following us--but that doesn't mean I have to lead them there. Especially because I don't know what they want."
"Won't they see the car here?"
"They might. Maybe the shrubbery will hide the car. But the buildings are too close together to drive between and the fences block off the fields. Besides, if they're that determined to get to me, they'll do it. And seeing that neither of us is technically supposed to be here in the States in the first place, the last thing we want to do is draw attention to ourselves in a crowded public area. And so..."
She climbed out of the car and he did, too.
HOGWARTS
STAFF ROOM
Mulder sat in one of the worn, overstuffed chairs listening to a rather long and droning dissertation about the Troll Insurgencies delivered by Professor Binns when he happened to notice Professor McGonagall hurry in and whisper something into the Headmaster's ear.
"I was afraid there'd be trouble." Dumbledore muttered. And with the briefest glance at Mulder, he rose and walked briskly out of the room with McGonagall.
Mulder followed them into the hall. "What's going on?"
Dumbledore stopped and frowned slightly. "They've run into some difficulties in retrieving the data."
"Difficulties? What does that mean? What's going on?" Mulder repeated himself.
"Apparently, some person or persons objects to Agent Scully, or her work, and they are trying to stop her." And with that the Headmaster continued walking towards his office.
Mulder had trouble keeping up with the older man--he moved surprisingly quickly for his age. "Is she okay?"
"I don't know. I was afraid there might be some trouble when I sent them."
"Did you know she was walking into a trap?"
"Why Agent Mulder! I never said she was walking into a trap. Furthermore, I'm surprised at you--nobody can know the future. But I knew it was a possibility."
"She didn't need to go back. You should have forbidden her."
"Agent Scully asked to go," admonished Dumbledore. "I think you underestimate your partner. Come with me to my office. I'm going to try to find out what's going on. But she's fully capable of taking care of herself."
Except when she's not. Mulder thought gloomily as he followed the headmaster.
MARYLAND COUNTRYSIDE
"This used to be the store," Scully said as she quickly led Snape through the abandoned farm, pointing out the different buildings. "That--of course--was the farmhouse. And the barns and granaries are in those buildings back there..."
The crunch of gravel and the revving of an engine could be heard in the distance. Scully's eyes grew wide and she peered around quickly. "Here," she said, "Into the barn." And she took off running.
He followed close behind, ducking into the barn after her. It was a prefab steel building of fairly recent construction, but it was still dusty and close, with old straw moldering on the floor and the faint, lingering scent of animals remained despite being unoccupied for several months. "It didn't take them long," he muttered.
"I knew they were following me," Scully breathed. Her eyes adjusted to the barn's dim interior. But the dust made her want to sneeze.
As they listened, the crunch of gravel grew louder, then stopped. After that the squeak of a car door opening, a slam as it shut, and footsteps approaching.
"I can hear them coming--they know I'm here," she mouthed, barely talking in a whisper. And she carefully removed her gun from its holster and slid the safety back. Snape reached for his wand, but she put her hand over his and shook her head vehemently. "We're in my world now," she reminded him. "Here you have to play by our rules."
The footsteps were approaching closer and closer. The barn was the first open building on the property, and they would probably look there first. She glanced down and noticed a rock near her foot. She picked it up and threw across the barn, hitting the metal wall opposite with a loud crash.
They heard the footsteps hesitate, then turn in their direction. A man entered the barn, following the sound, and headed towards the wall where she'd thrown the rock. He was armed. Steadying her gun with both hands and pointing it at the man, she said loudly and firmly, "Federal agent--drop your weapon and put your hands in the air where I can see them. Do it! Now!"
The man stopped short, hesitated, then slowly reached over to put his gun on the ground. "You're fighting for the wrong side, Agent Scully," he said, shaking his head and chuckling.
"Turn around, slowly, and put your hands on your head" she ordered. "How do you know my name?"
The stranger did as he was told. When he was facing her he replied, "You don't realize just how powerful your opponent is. You can't even begin to imagine how strong his weapons are."
"Step away from the gun and kneel down, hands on your head." Scully kept her gun pointed at him. "I don't know what enemy you're talking about."
"Oh, I think you do," said a second voice.
From the shadows emerged a man Scully had never seen before, and he was a wizard. At least, Scully knew he was a wizard because he had his wand out and pointed directly at Snape. And to her surprise, she realized Snape had his own wand out, pointed defensively in return. When had he done that? She hadn't noticed his stealthy movements while she was dealing with the muggle.
"And you," the strange wizard continued, directing his words at Snape who hadn't moved from his place in the shadows. "You definitely need to rethink your priorities. Just because the Dark Lord lost the War doesn't mean he was driven out of existence. A lot of us still believe in what he taught us about the place of muggles."
"Who are you working for?" Snape asked. His expression didn't change, but Scully noticed the strain in his voice when he spoke.
The other wizard smiled. "I work for somebody, who must not be named, to coin a phrase, but who believes in keeping muggles in their place."
"What about him?" Snape asked as he tipped his head towards the kneeling muggle as Scully kept her gun trained on him.
The wizard shrugged and looked contemptuous. "He..."
"I can speak for myself," the muggle spat out. He seemed to need to prove himself to his wizard companion, but he directed his words to Scully. "You're an intelligent woman, Agent Scully. You should be able to understand reason. I've seen wizard power. It's stronger than anything we have. But they're willing to live peacefully with us as long as we cooperate with them."
"Cooperate? What does that mean?" Scully asked.
"It means they'll give us their protection as long as we don't hinder them."
"Hinder them? How do they think we'll hinder them? And who do we need protection from? Other muggles? We can do that for ourselves. Or are there a few wizards we need protection from? If so, this sounds suspiciously like negotiating with terrorists."
"I can see you think I'm a coward," the man sighed. "Or have no self-respect."
"That's right. I do think you're a coward," she replied scornfully.
"But can't you see it's better to go along and stay alive, rather than fight a battle we have no chance of winning?"
Scully shook her head. "No. Because I don't believe the outcome is that certain. But even if I did, I wouldn't dream of knuckling under."
"That will do," the strange wizard interjected. "I have better things to do than listen to a muggle squabble. Besides, it's obvious we're at an impasse--one wizard and one muggle versus another wizard and another muggle. But if you had been alone, Dana Scully, this interview would have ended quite differently. We'll go now, and we don't want any trouble. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Snape answered.
Scully glanced at him, not sure she liked him answering for her--after all this was her world, and her jurisdiction. But then her attention was diverted. "Don't even think about taking your gun," she warned as she saw the man inch towards his weapon. He looked questioningly at the wizard, who nodded and gestured towards him.
And with that, they were gone.
Scully replaced her weapon in the holster. "That could have been a pitched battle, Severus. And I'm not sure who would have won. Why do you suppose he backed down?"
"He didn't precisely back down. You heard what he said--we were evenly matched. But I think his intention was to give you a warning--not to kill you. And if you'd been outnumbered, they might have tried to intimidate or abduct you. Dumbledore must have known something like this would happen. Aren't you glad you weren't caught alone? Because you would have been if you flew out all by yourself."
Scully shrugged. She still wasn't ready to concede his point.
DANA SCULLY RESIDENCE
GEORGETOWN DC
"I've kept this hidden in my apartment for some time. I had a hunch I might need it someday," Scully said as she dragged a chair over to the closet and climbed up on it. She pushed some boxes aside then lifted one of the ceiling tiles in the back corner with one hand. With the other hand, she felt around up inside the ceiling until she found the envelope she was looking for. She brushed the dust off, opened it and rifled through the papers inside and nodded to herself. "It's all here."
"If you had it hidden away here, why did you think you might have to go to Headquarters?" He was standing beside her chair and lifted up his hands to help her down.
She accepted the help with a nod of thanks and as she dragged the chair back to the dining room she gave him a cynical smile. "Just because something is hidden away under lock and key doesn't mean it's safe. Besides, this is just the copy. If it were lost, then I'd have to get the original."
"Now you have your data, we can go back to Hogwarts."
"Oh yeah, sure. Aparition," she mumbled. Her eyes scanned the room and stopped at her computer. "Before we go, can I check my email?"
"We shouldn't stay here any longer than necessary. Dumbledore instructed us..."
"It will only take a minute," she said as she hurried to her desk and sat down. She turned on her computer and called over her shoulder, "Go help yourself to whatever's in the fridge. There might be soda. I haven't been to the supermarket in a long time, so I'm not sure. But you should be able to find something. Or you can make some tea." She swiveled around in her chair. "You do know how to work a stove, don't you?"
He sniffed contemptuously. "It's just a stove--not legilimency."
She shrugged and turned back to her screen. "Fine. Help yourself. I've got some Lipton tea bags in the canister on the right."
"That's quite all right. I'll wait until we get back to Hogwarts."
Scully scoffed. "I've heard about British people being picky about tea, but I thought it was just a stereotype."
She clacked away at the keyboard for some time, then suddenly the screen went blank. "What happened?" She wondered aloud. "It's never done this before," she said to Snape who was standing right behind her. "I hope I didn't lose all my messages." She typed some keystrokes, then hit the computer desk impatiently. "No, this can't be happening," she complained as she pushed her computer's on/off switch, trying to find her mail, then gave up and pushed her chair back. "I don't believe this." She stood up and stomped furiously into her kitchen. "I had all my messages--I had them right there, I..." she stopped and stared at the screen. "No, wait, wait. I think..." and she ran back to her chair and hit some keys. "Whew. It's back. it's not ruined at all. Let me just--no!" She glanced back at Snape again. "I lost it, a second time. What on earth is going on here? Maybe I can get it back if I--I need a pen and paper. There should be one over on the counter--could you get them for me?" As he went to get the things, she turned back to the screen. "Oh--I got it! let me print it out...ooh--it's gone again! No wait" she stopped, swiveled around in her chair and looked at him accusingly "--it's you! You're doing something to my computer--what are you doing?"
"I'm not doing anything."
"Yes you are, you've been walking around the room...it must be your wand, interfering with the electronics. Would you please turn that thing off?"
"Wands don't turn off"" he said indignantly. "Magic is in their very nature."
""Then put it over on that table. I don't care. It just can't be here."
"I'm not going to leave my wand behind."
"Not behind, just over on the table."
"A wizard's wand is more important than his right hand. And not the least of its uses is for protection. I don't see you surrendering your gun."
The quarrel was interrupted by a knock at the door. Scully looked at Snape with some alarm as she stood up and padded quietly to the door. She peered out the peephole as another knock sounded.
"Open up, Agent Scully. It's Skinner."
Her eyes widened with surprise, but she let him in. He closed the door quickly behind him.
"What the hell are you doing here, Agent Scully?" He said by way of greeting.
"I needed some information for this case, Sir," she answered as if flying back from Scotland on a whim was the most reasonable thing in the world.
"And I believe I sent you and agent Mulder overseas on assignment."
She put up a hand. "We're returning there tonight. Now, in fact."
"You had better. And for future reference, when I send you away on an assignment like this, I don't expect to have you coming traipsing back here before it's completed."
Scully listened patiently to this tirade, then said, "I understand Sir, but...if I may ask--how did you know I was here?"
"I have my ways--not the least of which is Headmaster Dumbledore. But it might interest you to know he wasn't the first one to alert me to your presence."
Scully felt a chill down her spine. "We came from my mother's," she said evasively, not wanting to cop to the encounter at the abandoned farm. "And it's not as if we sent out advance warning about our arrival..."
"I'm surprised at you, Agent Scully. You know there's always somebody watching."
That was true, but it was still disconcerting to hear. Maybe she would have been better off following Dumbledore's orders to the letter--grab the information from the apartment and get out. She hoped she didn't get the Headmaster into any trouble with the Ministry. Thinking about Dumbledore reminded Scully she hadn't introduced Snape to her boss. She proceeded to do so.
"I know who you are," Skinner told Snape. "You're the one Dumbledore assigned to protect Agent Scully."
Scully's eyes narrowed. "Protect me? No, I'm afraid you're mistaken sir, he's not here to protect me. Professor Snape was only assigned to bring me here quickly and back to Hogwarts again." She saw the two men glance at each other and she turned on Snape. "Or is that the reason you were told to bring me here? To protect me?"
"I have my orders, Agent Scully," Snape answered. "And I have to follow them, just the same as you."
"Not to mention," Skinner added, "I sent you and Mulder away for your own good."
"What are you talking about?" Scully asked, puzzled.
"Why do you think I gave you this assignment?" Skinner asked heatedly. "Why do you think I sent you so far away? It was for your own safety."
"I don't understand."
Skinner sighed. "You and Mulder came a little too close to some truths you weren't supposed to discover. Facts about the wizarding world and its connection to our world. When I was warned about the kind of danger you were in..." He shrugged. "Let's just say it was very lucky when Albus Dumbledore contacted me those several weeks ago. If he hadn't taken a personal interest in you two, there's no telling what would have happened to you. As it is, you've made some enemies."
"There's a shock," Scully muttered.
"Anyway," Skinner paused and lowered his voice. "I brought you the information you were looking for."
"You did? How did you know what I needed?"
"I was the one who sent you on that assignment, remember?" And he handed her a manila envelope. "This is the picture you were looking for--the one where the Dark Mark is clearly visible on the victim's left forearm."
Scully pulled out the glossy photograph, looked at it closely and sighed.
"What is it, Agent Scully?"
"Did you put yourself into a lot of danger to bring me this?" She asked quietly.
He shrugged. "There's always danger."
"Well, the reason I'm asking is...because I already have a copy."
"What are you talking about?"
"You told me once," she hesitated, "that you had evidence on your desk that was possibly damaging to Mulder. That you hadn't turned it in to Section Chief Blevins. Yet. I needed to see that evidence for myself. And," she said slowly, "I copied it."
Skinner turned abruptly and paced to the window. Then he turned, put his hands on his hips and glared at her. "You had no authorization to do that."
"And with all due respect, Sir, you had no authorization to divert it in the first place."
"Do you realize the trouble you could get us both into if the knowledge of what you did leaked out? This is a classified file."
"Is it? Because, as you yourself told me, it was never filed to begin with."
"That was different. I had responsibilities. I had to look out for you and Mulder."
"Which fact I didn't know at the time, Sir. I thought the day would come that I would need it. But I promise, this information will be put to good use."
Skinner looked around. "Forget it. We can discuss this when the case is over. You both have to leave now."
"I agree," Snape stepped forward. "Agent Scully, are you ready?"
"Yes. Let me shut down my computer." But before she reached her desk, she whirled around. "What about my car--it's out in the parking lot and..."
"I'll take care of it," Skinner said. "But you don't seem to understand. Your car is the least of your worries"
"I'm ready to leave," she said as she took the arm Snape held out for her. "But Sir," she said to Skinner, "I think you overestimate how much protection I need."
"Agent Scully, I think you underestimate how much danger you're in."
She tossed her keys to him, and Snape began the aparitions back to Hogwarts.