I am so sorry that it has been so long since my last update. For those of you who may be curious, I do have most of the story framed out and written, but I add a lot (especially in this chapter) to the story when I edit it and everything. I am working a lot on the middle/ending of the story, so this will not be abandoned, but between life and everything, I can't say how long the time between updates might be, especially once I run out of the pre-written stuff. I would also like to thank my twelve reviewers and encourage more of you who find my story or have it on story alert to review. I like reading them; it gives me warm fuzzies and makes my self-esteem rise! I kid you a little though--I like to think I'm not that desperate, but that's kind of up to you.
Blackbird Fly
Six
The week passed quickly, as their lives were a simple routine for five days of the week. Severus and Hermione continued to fumble and blush around each other like preteens, though Severus was better at hiding it; Hermione seemed a bit bewildered by her behavior, as though she was not in control of herself when she was around them. Isolde merely watched the proceedings, ever the sardonic observer, though she occasionally gathered information from one for the other; she had often been told that she was well suited for espionage in her discretion and occasional deceit. The good news was that Halloween was fast approaching, bringing with it the annual Masquerade Ball. Isolde saw an opportunity and took it, speaking with Severus first.
"Sev, I know a girl who's really interested in you. She never stops talking about it and I think you two should go out at least once, based on how often I've been forced to listen to her wax poetic about your greatness and erm . . . assets. I could set you up with her, and I think you would like her a lot," she wheedled.
His interest was piqued. At the very least he could dissuade her from her little infatuation by being an arse. "What's she like?"
"Erm . . ." Isolde wasn't sure how to answer; too much and she would give it away, but too little and he would probably say no. "She's our year and she's brilliant. Pretty too, in an earthy kind of way, and she has your sense of humor. You'd really like her, Severus. Say yes," she begged.
"You won't stop unless I say yes, will you?" he asked wearily.
"Nope." She grinned, proud that she had worn him down so quickly and hoping that things would go just as well with Helene.
"Fine," he sighed. "I just hope you know what you're getting me into."
Isolde gave him a mischievous smirk before sauntering over to her table as the professor walked into the dungeon.
Helene was her next target. She would have to be extra careful so as not to give herself away. Girls could sense these things a bit better than guys could, in her opinion.
"'Lene, do you have a date for the Masque?"
"No, Zelda, you know that." She sounded suspicious, as if she was able to smell Isolde's brilliant yet slightly nefarious plot to convince her friends to date, if only for one night.
"Well, there's this guy I know who really likes you but he's never going to make a move on his own, so I figured I could set the two of you up for the Ball. How 'bout it, Helene?" she coaxed, hoping it wouldn't be too obvious.
Hermione thought carefully. She was wondering if Severus would go with her as a friend, but this guy had a romantic interest in her, which was definitely a bonus. She would, of course, have to be sure that she wouldn't run into him in the future, or the effects would be disastrous. Although she could always ditch him if she really had to . . .
"Fine," Hermione replied, grinning. "But if I have to ditch him, I'm blaming you."
"'Lene, I can almost guarantee that you'll like him. We'll go together on the Hogsmeade trip this weekend to get our costumes."
"Do you think I should ask her?" Sirius Black said for the third time in a few minutes. The other three looked at one another, each one begging that one of the others answer. James took the bullet in the end.
"Have you spoken to her at all recently or have you just been stalking her?" he asked pointedly.
"Well, I don't know how to go about dealing with this one; she's not likely to fall for the same bits as the others, is she?" he replied thoughtfully.
"What if you get a matching costume by 'accident'?" Remus asked. "That shop in Hogsmeade keeps tabs on who buys which costume so that there won't be duplicates or anything like that at the Ball, so all you have to do is say that she's your date."
"Moony, my friend, you're brilliant!" Sirius roared. "When's the next Hogsmeade weekend?"
"Not till next week, I think," James said. Peter nodded his head vigorously in agreement.
"All the better to plan, for this week, I officially begin my seduction!"
James, Remus and Peter all rolled their eyes.
Isolde turned eighteen on Thursday of that week. Severus acknowledged the occasion with the offer of a butterbeer during next Hogsmeade weekend while Hermione began scheming for a special surprise during the Ball; she hoped to encourage Isolde's dream of performing professionally. Either way, they all agreed to meet in Isolde's dormitory later that night to just hang out and have birthday cake to celebrate.
A Hogwarts Eagle owl swooped down on their table, landing neatly on Isolde's plate and ruffling its feathers, shaking a few of them into her uneaten eggs. She laughed prettily, stroking its head as he cooed at her and offered his leg.
"What's this, handsome?" Isolde asked, untying the letter carefully. The owl hooted proudly in reply before winking at her, its great amber eye opening and closing slowly. She winked back, causing Severus to groan at the exchange. Hermione smacked him lightly on the arm in retribution.
He rubbed his arm, still watching Isolde coddle the great owl. "You'd think that after seven years, she'd lose interest in the things," he mumbled to Hermione.
"Oh hush. You should have more fascination in the everyday," she replied haughtily, turning away from him and smoothing her hair a little.
Severus got a little defensive at that. "Who says I'm not fascinated?" He grasped her shoulder and turned her around, looming over her, his eyes intensely bright.
Hermione's eyes locked with him, and she felt the connection jolt through her body. Severus had turned into Professor Snape in that single moment and she found that it wasn't all that unattractive at all.
To be honest, it was kind of turning her on.
All sexual thoughts about Severus/Professor Snape (Merlin, time travel's confusing!) blew out the window when Isolde shrieked across the table. Their heads snapped to look at her quickly, and, as though in a bad old-fashioned comedy, both their jaws dropped in unison at the sight before them.
Isolde had put the ring around her neck not long before, feeling a spark shoot up her back as the necklace slipped over her neck and the ring settled on her chest. She felt a funny tingle spread through her body, odd warmth radiating from the ring to each end of her. Raising her fingers, she screamed.
Her fingertips, her hands, her arms—her entire body was glowing, luminescent in pearly light. The ring sparkled against her chest, throwing rays of scarlet light across her white blouse. Isolde lifted the necklace between her index finger and thumb, twirling the ring on the chain. As she watched, the once-dull glow around her brightened to a pure, blinding light, causing other students to take notice. The glow emanating from her began to pulsate, sending beams across the hall as everyone around her gasped and covered their eyes.
Professor Dumbledore stood, mesmerized by it; his blue eyes were horrified by the sight of her. He gazed at her as the ring lifted Isolde slowly, raising her a few feet off the ground. She screamed, and the light burst from her mouth, her head tilting up to the ceiling. She closed her eyes, hoping for the whole thing to be over soon—now, but when she opened her eyes, Isolde was levitating even higher, able to see the entire student body through eyes that glowed red like embers in pitch black night.
They flicked over the students in the hall, searching for the one person she needed to find, the glow intensifying as they found him sitting at the Gryffindor table.
As though the ring was satisfied, it lowered a magically exhausted Isolde to the floor, the teachers closing in around her as it did. Severus and Hermione hurried to her side, laying her gently on the floor, Severus cradling her head and Hermione in a vice-grip on her hand. Isolde opened her eyes and met Severus's; he was stunned to see that her eyes, once a stormy dark blue, were now a jewel-like blood red. It was the first time he consciously used his Legilimency on someone, and her thoughts surprised him: "The Stone-child has found its family; mate, parent and child are united."
Professor Dumbledore let the boy read her thoughts before resting a hand on his shoulder. He crouched down to meet Severus's ear, whispering, "Carry her to the Hospital Wing. Do not tell anyone anything."
Severus scooped up the supine Isolde and waited for Hermione to follow before leaving as Professor Dumbledore made his way to the podium to calm the assembly of students and faculty down.
Once Hermione was sure Isolde was safe and well in the Hospital Wing, she grabbed on to Severus's hand and led him to the library. There was research to be done.
Isolde was released just before dinner with a stern admonition from Poppy not to do any magic of any sort for the next three days. She ate a quick light dinner, glaring at anyone who ambled up to ask her about the pulsating red ring she still wore around her neck, wondering where Severus and Helene were. While she was nearly certain that they were both in the library researching what the hell had happened that morning, Isolde had no real desire to pore over books after spending most of her birthday in the Hospital Wing being force-fed potions and liquids every hour to get her strength back; she returned to her dormitory, nearly groaning at the thought of all the homework that would be waiting for her.
She waved her wand at the huge Gothic chandelier she had charmed on the center of the ceiling, lighting the candles in a single spell. To her immense pleasure, Severus was seated on the mountain of pillows she had transfigured beneath her loft bed; the coffee table before him bearing food and drink. Hermione was scanning her bookcase, running soft fingers over the spines of the numerous books she had lugged to Hogwarts.
Isolde tackled Helene in a bear hug, but the two were steadied by Severus thanks to his ability to move quickly and quietly without being noticed. Before he could move away, she had thrown her arms around him too, thanking them both repeatedly and quickly, crying a little into Severus's neck. He pushed her back, reminding her sternly that it was her birthday and she was going to enjoy it. Isolde wiped her eyes on her robe sleeve, laughing. She disappeared into her closet for a moment, reemerging with a few vinyl records in her arms; she then waved her wand (in blatant disregard of Mediwitch orders) and levitated an old-fashioned phonograph out of her closet, whisking it over to the desk in the corner.
Hermione gaped at her friend's brilliance: the phonograph wasn't electronic, as it was powered by a hand crank, so it could be used in Hogwarts without magical interference. Isolde quickly flicked through the records she had brought out, picking a trippy looking cover with multi-colored swirls and loops. She put it on and cranked the player, blasting ABBA's "Dancing Queen" before singing along while Hermione picked up on the mood and did corny dance moves, acting as Isolde's back-up singer.
Severus just scowled through the song, mainly focusing on eating a sandwich he had picked out from the platter the house elves made. His peace was disturbed when the girls grabbed his arms to convince him to dance, but he resolutely refused, though his lips quirked in a smile every so often.
The song ended, fading away into the now-quiet room. Severus looked from one girl to the other before asking, "Is there any good music on that thing?"
Isolde grinned before answering in a voice as cheeky as possible. "Well, there's 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head' or 'Sunshine On My Shoulders' and those old standbys, 'YMCA' and 'You're The One That I Want,' but I think 'Age of Aquarius' would be most appropriate." He looked confused, so Isolde began to sing.
"When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius
Aquarius!
Aquarius!"
Hermione caught on to the song as she was singing, and pulled Severus into a dance, doing the dance move she had often made fun of with Harry and Ron in the future. He groaned as she started doing a Charlie Brown, tugging his hand away and pulling out the cake they had gotten from the kitchens.
Chocolate, he reasoned, would effectively distract any teenage girl.
As they ate their cake, Hermione began questioning Isolde on her singing, as she was quite good and Hermione still owed her a birthday present.
"I play guitar mostly, but I'm trying to learn piano, and I take voice lessons for singing during the summer. My parents got me a music box when I was turning sixteen that plays whatever instrument I need it to once I feed the sheet music into it. The music box learns it and after that, all I have to do is say what song I will sing and then it plays. It's been a fantastic help, especially for when I'm writing a new song."
"You write as well?" Severus asked, saddened a little that no one but him and Helene saw this Isolde.
"Yes," she answered, licking the last glob of icing from her fork. "Would you like to hear?"
The two nodded emphatically, so she pulled the music box down from a shelf on the wall, opening it on the desk next to the phonograph, which she stopped. "Box: play 'A Night at the Roses' in thirty seconds."
Isolde picked up her guitar, giving it a few gentle strums as she spoke quickly, wanting to tell them a little about the song and get herself ready to perform. "I wrote this not too long ago, and it's still kind of a work in progress, but I like it, so here goes." She took a few deep breaths, and the music box made a tiny little ping before the song began.
"You should see yourself; when will you grow up?
Every knob you twist on that machine is like a crutch.
But I was just the fool you'd been waiting for.
Who says we can't touch ourselves to keep from getting bored?
Nothing else is touching that's for sure.
A ring around the roses.
I will watch you play.
I come here every night.
It's just me, the bartender, the waitress and the lights
shining on you not getting it right.
We clap not for you but for your kind.
A ring around the roses.
Everybody poses threats and then backs down
the second you put clothes on.
A ring around the roses.
Everybody knows it.
I will sing your fears if you sing my neurosis.
You should back out now—not a night too soon.
I'll still be here when the last poor soul has left the room,
standing round just like a good friend should,
smiling as if your songs were good.
A ring around the roses.
Everybody poses threats and then backs down
the second you put clothes on.
A ring around the roses.
Everybody knows it.
I will sing your fears if you sing my neurosis.
And I sat there for hours, waiting on the curb
thinking you might like a flower from a pretty girl.
A ring around the waitress from the verse.
A ring of fire around the roses' door.
Put it on before you lose your nerve.
Put your hands together and they'll hurt.
Put your hands together and they'll hurt.
Put your hands together and they'll hurt.
Put your hands together and they'll hurt.
Put your hands together and they'll hurt.
Make a sound that no one's ever heard.
Make a sound that no one's ever heard.
And I hope we get what we deserve."
Hermione and Severus both applauded, Isolde laying her guitar back in its case before giving them a deep mock curtsey. "That was brilliant, Zelda," Hermione said, beginning to scheme a little for Isolde's birthday. Her plan involved Isolde, the music box and the Masque; far less subtle than Isolde's, and only slightly more cliched. Severus asked her about her writing and flattered her a little less obviously as Hermione lost herself in her plans.
The phonograph was turned back on, as Isolde was getting too tired to sing. They talked well into the night on nearly everything; the evening eventually turned into an unintentional sleep-over, the three of them curling up on pillows and huddling into each other for warmth until the house elves covered them with heavy blankets when they came to do room cleanings.
The songs mentioned in this chapter are ABBA'S "Dancing Queen," BJ Thomas's "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," John Denver's "Sunshine On My Shoulders," The Fifth Dimnesion's "Age of Aquarius," and the Dresden Dolls' "A Night at the Roses." I own none of them; I just like Severus's reaction to them.