Chapter Five: Severus Snape

Ginny didn't think she would be able to focus in Herbology, but Professor Sprout quickly had her full attention. They were in Greenhouse 6 which was full of wild looking vines, shrubs, and grasses. Sprout, a dumpy little witch with flyaway hair and dirty fingernails, started class with a reminder that most of the plants in this greenhouse could kill them – possibly faster than she could recognize the danger and rescue them. "This term will be dangerous," she warned. "But seeing as how you're all O.W.L. level students, I expect that you'll all come out of this class alive and with an appreciation for growing things."

Once she was sure that she had the students undivided attention, Sprout smiled kindly. Ginny let out a breath she hadn't been holding. Sprout didn't usually go for the scare tactics in class.

Sprout glanced at the assembled students. "Who can tell me the differences between grass and quickgrass?"

Lily raised her hand.

"Evans."

"Quickgrass is just like regular grass except it is always a vibrant too-perfect green. If you see a yard with grass that seems too perfect, it is likely quickgrass, which is a carnivorous plant along the lines of devil's snare."

"Excellent," Sprout said. "Take three points for your house." She then launched into a detailed explanation about the carnivorous grass, explaining how it would surge up and entangle anyone foolish enough to walk on it.

Everyone had to take out their Herbology guidebooks and start an entry on quickgrass. Apparently they had been working on the guidebook since First Year and it contained detailed entries for each of the plants they had ever worked with, complete with illustrations. At the end of each Year they had to turn their book over to Sprout who would grade it for extra credit. She reminded the class that they could copy their drawings of the plants and the information about them from their text-books if they wanted to redo the project. At the end of class she instructed them to write an essay on the properties of quickgrass and research ways to escape it without harming the grass. She warned them that in the next class they would be expected to practice what they had discovered.

As they left the greenhouse and headed to Care of Magical Creatures (doubles with Hufflepuff), Ginny couldn't help but notice that the classes were more intense then she remembered. And this was her second time in Sixth Year. It should have been a breeze!

The Care of Magical Creatures class was further proof that this blended timeline Hogwarts didn't tolerate half-planned lessons. Ginny had studied Care of Magical Creatures for three years with Hagrid. It was typically a boring class punctuated by a few minutes of abject terror induced by Hagrid's confident streaks which were populated by charming creatures like Blast-ended skrewts. Hagrid wasn't the teacher anymore. Instead a dashing wizard with numerous scars on his face and arms directed them to a paddock containing two horses that appeared to have flames instead of fur.

"Firemanes," Sirius said with a low whistle.

"What are those?" Ginny asked, moving closer to him and eyeing the horses cautiously.

"They're incredibly rare," he told her unhelpfully.

The professor opened the paddock, motioning the students through, and then locking them in. He didn't introduce himself – probably because he'd been teaching the students for three years – but Ginny quickly learned that his name was Carlos Santos. He explained that firemanes were almost extinct, but he'd managed to procure a pair on loan from the London Magical Zoo. He split the class into two groups: boys and girls. "We're going to have a competition," he explained. The goal of each group is to get a rider onto the firemane. Now, who can tell me the danger of riding a firemane?"

"The danger would be, ah, the danger of burning, your, uhm, crotch," James said, causing laughter from most of the class.

"Correct. Take ten points for your house, Potter." Santos locked eyes with Ginny. "Weasley, what are the benefits of riding a firemane?"

Considering she'd never heard of them before, the answer was easy. "I don't know . . ."

"Anyone else have an answer that shows at least a basic attempt at comprehending the holiday reading?"

Sirius grinned at Ginny. "It makes you a genius," he said. "Temporarily."

"Exactly," Santos said. He then explained that the Zoo had loaned the firemanes because the mare was in heat. Firemanes would only mate after a witch rode the mare and a wizard rode the stallion. But they were extremely picky about who they would let ride them. As a result, the class got the chance to become temporary geniuses and in the process they'd be possibly helping the magical horses to reproduce. "You'll be in two student groups: one boy and one girl to each team," he said. "Today we'll work on a fire-proofing charm and getting acquainted with the firemanes. Next lesson you'll be grooming them to further acquaint them with your scents. After that, if you have a preferred partner you can submit your request in writing and I'll consider allowing it." He dismissed the class without giving homework.

The class was quickly falling into clumps as they walked back. Students making partnership agreements. Ginny suspected that she was going to be stuck with whoever was left, but her apprehension about Riddle made her want to get a chastity potion as quickly as possible. She hurried up to the castle's medical wing, but Madam Pomfrey, the matron, refused her request. She told Ginny that there was no need because none of the students would ever, ever force himself on another student, and if Ginny suspected someone was going to she should speak with the head of her house immediately.

As Ginny left the room, scowling, MacNair turned up. "Weasley," he said. "Riddle's looking for you. Your brother told me what happened."

"And?"

"And I think that we're in trouble," he said. "We're planning on meeting in the library after dinner." He nodded his head towards the Great Hall. "Come on, I'll walk you."

Dinner was a quite affair. She sat with Bill and talked casually about her lessons. Bill agreed that things were harder. He was preparing for N.E.W.T.S and already had loads of homework even though it was just the first day. He told her that Slughorn was the potions master and Moody was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. "There's also a Dueling Club and annual competition," he said. "I've signed us both up. We're going to need the practice."

Later in the library they tried to figure out a way to stop Voldemort, but it turned out that none of them knew enough about his rise to power to develop an actual plan. All Bill knew was that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been looking for something that had to go with goblins. They thought it would help, but they'd played it close to the chest. MacNair knew that Voldemort had kept Nagini, his snake close and put her in a protective bubble charm. He'd also been furious that Lucius Malfoy had given Ginny his diary. Ginny knew that the Chamber of Secrets had been closed because Riddle didn't want Hogwarts to close. She also knew that there was a deadly basilisk down there. Oh, and when Harry, Ron, and Hermione had returned to Hogwarts they were looking for something important in Ravenclaw tower.

Even putting it all together they didn't have much. MacNair crossed his arms across his chest, making his robes strain across the shoulders. "So the only solid lead we have is the Chamber," MacNair finally said. "We'll need a rooster, I guess."

Ginny frowned. "Rooster?"

"The cry of a rooster is fatal to a basilisk," MacNair said. He added with a smug look. "I've always been good with magical creatures. It was my best subject back at Hogwarts. I even got along okay with ole' Greyback."

Bill grimaced at the mention of the werewolf. Ginny grimaced at the memory of rooster feathers dusting her robes, blackouts, and red paint on her hands.

MacNair was still talking. "The problem is that roosters don't like to cry when you want them to and tend to not want to do it at all in cold, clammy dungeons. We'll have to lure the basilisk into the school grounds."

"Too risky," Ginny said. "Someone could die. And You-Know-Who will probably try to stop us."

MacNair shrugged. "It was an idea." His tone hinted that he thought this was some sort of adventure.

"A better idea would be to find a charm to make a rooster crow," Bill said. "And it wouldn't hurt to learn the Shifty-Eye Curse."

"Shifty-Eye Curse?" Ginny and MacNair asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, it makes it so the cursed person can't make eye-contact. A decent number of hexes require eye contact between the caster and the victim. The Shifty-Eye Curse means you can't make eye contact. Your eyes will not look directly or indirectly into the eyes of your opponent."

"How long does that last?"

"Two minutes," Bill said. He handed both of them sheets of paper with the Curse copied onto them. "We'll meet for practice in the Potions classroom every morning before breakfast."

The spell looked ridiculously complicated for a mere two minutes of shifty eyes. Ginny tucked it into her Transfiguration textbook. Then, without warning both Bill and MacNair stood up and headed in opposite directions. "We need a better meeting place. We shouldn't be seen together," Bill muttered as he passed her. "I'll send an owl tonight."

MacNair didn't say anything, but he seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Bill.

Ginny watched them leave and pulled out her History of Magic textbook and her homework assignment. There were plenty of people in the library so it wasn't like she was in danger of getting nabbed by Riddle and she did need to get caught up if she didn't want to fail all of her classes.

A shadow blotted out her light. She looked up and Lily smiled down at her. "Do you mind?" Lily asked motioning to the chair Bill had vacated. She sat down without waiting for an answer and pulled out her Transfiguration homework. Lily hummed quietly to herself as she worked and occasionally she glanced at the door to the library.

The Marauders arrived ten minutes later and took a nearby table. James waved to Lily, who ignored him, and Sirius blew Ginny a kiss, which she didn't see because she had gotten caught up reading her textbook.

Twenty minutes later Severus Snape sulked into the room and dropped his books noisily on the table. His cold dark eyes swept the room and he sneered at Madam Pince who was giving him a dirty look. He gave the Marauders an even nastier look.

"Get lost, Snape," Ginny hissed. She hooked the chair leg on his chair and pulled it in so he couldn't sit. "This is a git-free zone."

His lip curled maliciously. "Trust me, Weasley, I have no desire to sit by you." He yanked the chair out and sat down. His eyes fell on Lily who was glaring at both of them. An expression akin to pain flashed across his pale face, but it was quickly replaced with a guarded look. He pulled out his charms book and a roll of parchment. Ginny read the title of his paper: Memory charms. He had leaned forward so his hook nose nearly touched the paper and within seconds was writing a detailed paper with spidery handwriting.

Lily sighed. "Severus can be a little anti-social," she said to Ginny. "But he's really a good man. You should give him a chance."

"A chance?" Ginny repeated. "Uhmm . . . yeah, I'll consider that." She snorted. "Not!"

Snape's eyes swiveled to hers. "Weasley, we're in the library," he said. "Keep your voice down." His lips barely moved. Even as a teenager he managed to convey barely suppressed loathing with a few choice words.

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him, but didn't say anything. Even if he couldn't give her detention he could still probably curse her.

He gave her a withering look and returned to his paper.

Ginny spent the next forty minutes reading the assigned chapters for History of Magic. By the time she finished Snape had moved from Charms to Herbology and Lily was working on her Herbology homework as well. Ginny started on Transfiguration and found her mind wandered to Sirius. She could remember him explaining some of the finer details Transfiguration principles in class earlier. His lips were so . . . She stole a glance at him.

He caught her looking and casually saluted her. All of his books were spread out, including several thick transfiguration tomes and a couple books that appeared to deal with Dueling Skills. All four of the Marauders were studying hard, hardly whispering to each other at all.

Ginny was surprised. She'd thought of James being like Harry, Sirius being like Ron, and Remus being like Hermione. In short, one person studying and the other two dawdling. Apparently that wasn't the case. Pettigrew was the only one who looked like he wanted to go and play. The others were studious and writing their assignments with neat handwriting.

Sirius had removed his tie and undone a couple of buttons on his shirt, exposing a tantalizing bit of bare skin. With a shake of her head, Ginny put down her quill. She was not going to think about Sirius that way. He was Harry's godfather and over twice her age (even if he was currently her age). Besides, he was trouble and she needed to stay out of trouble because she had to work with MacNair and Bill to stop Voldemort. It was just too bad that MacNair wasn't more of a confidant with Voldemort. If he was there was a chance they'd known more of what was going on now.

Ginny tapped her quill against her parchment.

Snape looked up, glowering. "Stop that noise," he hissed.

She tapped her quill harder, glowering back at him. Snape had been Voldemort's number two guy – or pretty close to it – hadn't he? He probably knew loads about the Dark Lord. And at a mere sixteen years, he probably hadn't had much chance to practice occlumency, so his mind was probably an open to a careful invasion.

She forced her attention back to transfiguration, but watched Snape periodically until he appeared absorbed in reading about quickgrass. Then, moving slowly so as not to draw attention, she pulled her wand and aimed it at him under the table. Casting non-verbal spells took a good deal more skill than casting verbal ones. But Ginny knew a few spells like the back of her hand. Legilimens, she thought. There was a rush of darkness and then she was in Snape's mind.

Reading someone's mind was not like reading a book. There were layers of memories mingled with feelings, thoughts, dreams, and fears. Ginny knew enough to direct her mental invasion toward Voldemort and the Death Eaters. The images flashed rapidly, and then she saw Voldemort, red-eyed and flat nosed in a dimly lit room. Voldemort said softly, "I have a problem, Severus."

"My Lord?" Snape asked.

Voldemort held up a wand that looked like Dumbledore's. "Why doesn't it work for me, Severus?" he asked. A twelve foot snake hissed softly in the silence.

"My – my Lord?" Snape asked blankly. Ginny realized with a start that he wasn't sixteen. He was dressed in black robes, his pale skin practically glowing in the dark. "I do not understand. You – You have performed extraordinary magic with that wand."

The images skipped a bit, flashing to Snape taking the wand from Draco Malfoy and then pointing his wand at Dumbledore. Dumbledore was begging him, "Please, Severus . . ." There was a flash of green light and Dumbledore was falling off the tower, long silver hair flowing.

The images skipped forward and Voldemort was hissing at Nagini in parseltongue. Then the snake's fangs were sinking into Snape's neck. "I regret it," Voldemort said coldly as the color drained from Snape's face and he fell to the floor. Voldemort and the snake left, leaving Snape on the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck.

Then, like a door being slammed shut the images went dark and Ginny was suddenly thrown from Snape's mind. The force of his spell casting her out knocked her out of her chair. She crashed into a bookcase, dislodging several books. They hit the floor with a loud thump. She was pale and sweaty and tried to scramble to her feet.

Snape was looking at her murderously.

"What happened, Weasley?" Lily asked, looking concerned. "Are you okay?"

One table over the Marauders were all on their feet, reaching for their wands, eyes on Snape.

Ginny had lifted her wand, pointing it toward Snape. Her arm was trembling. Madam Pince arrived like a furious vulture and slapped Ginny's hand. "Out, out, out!" she cried. "You'll have detention for this." She waved her wand, collecting Ginny's school things and shoving them into her bag. She thrust the bag at Ginny. "You have detention. Report yourself to Mr. Filch and don't ever let me catch you disrupting the peace in here again. You'll not come back for two weeks, do you understand?"

She seized Ginny by her arm, hauling her to her feet and bustling her out the door.

As soon as Ginny was in the hall she broke into a run and didn't stop until she was safe inside Gryffindor tower. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute. Snape had his memories. He hadn't probed her mind – at least she didn't think he had – it was hard to tell because he was excellent at Legilimency.

"Everything okay, Weasley?" Sirius asked, trying to catch her hand. He'd chased her from the library, needing to know what happened. As far as he could tell Snape hadn't done anything to her. His wand had been in his pocket and Sirius couldn't imagine that Snape would be talented at wandless magic.

"Get lost, Black," Ginny snapped, snatching her hand away and darting without a work to her dorm room. She climbed into her bed and drew the curtains and stayed there, trying to remember how to breathe.

Snape had his memories.

She'd been stupid for trying to probe his mind. He was dangerous and talented and evil. And she'd just drawn his cruel, twisted attention to herself.