A/N: POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILER FOR HALF-BLOOD PRINCE TOWARDS END OF THIS CHAPTER, FYI! And I'll probably wait a few days before I post chapter 4, so some more reviews can come in. Thanks, Mish Michelle, for your reviews! Also, I realize the spell Flipendo is not canon (it's from the video games), but I needed a spell that would literally flip someone into the air. Enjoy!
CH 3: THE DUELING CLUB, PART DEUX
By the end of the first week of school, it came to nobody's surprise that the truth about Morgana Cimmerii's heritage had spread like wildfire throughout the school. By the end of September, rumors that she had been working undercover in Transylvania had also surfaced, giving the students much to talk about as Halloween neared.
"I wonder if she'll turn into a bat at the feast," a Hufflepuff student thought during break one morning in early October.
"Yeah, she and Snape can lead that cloud of real bats around the great hall," another one joked, realizing only too late that the professor was within earshot of their conversation.
"Twenty points from Hufflepuff!" Snape growled as he passed the children, glaring at them.
It was common speculation amongst the student body that the Potions Master assumed the shape of a bat and flitted around the school during the night, searching for unaware rule-breakers in the corridors. This, of course, was an absolute absurdity. Snape prided himself on being able to swoop down on any student roaming the hallways after hours simply because he was good at finding them.
But nevertheless, he allowed the rumors to continue. It only added to his reputation of being the most feared teacher in the school. This, however, was soon being challenged by none other than Miss Cimmerii, who apparently governed her classes similar to his own methods of teaching.
Students in his own house had began to annoy him with constant questions about the new professor, as if he was supposed to know everything there was to know about her simply because he had gone to school with her. Others wondered why she frequented the glacial cavern of dungeon thirteen every night, a question that Snape was sworn not to answer…although he gave them hints.
Snape glided into his seat at the staff table and helped himself to a piece of toast and a cup of strong tea. Dumbledore had asked him to attempt at being a little more accepting when it came to new staff members, but how could Snape ever be more accepting to someone like Morgana? He knew her from when she was just a pathetic little first year, terrified of him and his friends because they were third years and the rumor was that Severus himself knew more curses than half the seventh year combined. For half her first year, she could always be seen hiding away in the corner doing her homework, looking shyly up at the older students.
And then Snape had woken up one morning to find the entire Slytherin house in a complete uproar. He could remember the scene as if it had happened yesterday: He was coming out of the boy's dorms to go and brush his teeth, and there was a large group of people surrounding someone that must have been very short, and they were all ogling over the person. It just happened to be Morgana, and she was beaming at everyone.
As it turned out, Morgana had shed a little bit of light on why she had so quickly been sorted into the House of Salazar. People were pointing at her very sharp teeth, whispering and smiling in fascination. Her father had been a vampire and she was therefore half pure evil.
And from that moment on, she was the most popular girl in the entire Slytherin house. This angered Snape more than anything, because his pride existed solely on the attention he received whenever he showed off some amazing curse that nobody else knew; now, all this little first year had to do was smile and there was cheering from all corners of the common room.
It didn't help that when Snape returned at the beginning of his seventh and final year, Morgana had blossomed from a prepubescent little girl into a fully developed, beautiful young woman. And he had felt his stomach do somersaults the moment he saw her in the Great Hall at the feast.
As Snape pulled his mind back to the present, his toast practically untouched, he angrily realized that his stomach had tightened noticeably when she had arrived at the school a month earlier.
Why? She's still the same arrogant twit you once knew. Nothing has changed, he thought as he tapped his black wand against his cup and watched it refill itself.
And yet, she had changed. Dramatically. Her skills in Legilimency and Occlumency had developed into what was expected of a full-fledged vampire; it would take just as much of Snape's power to shield his mind from her prying eyes as it took to guard himself from the Dark Lord. It unnerved him to know that he would never know if she was lurking in a dark corner, waiting for her chance to catch him off guard and…well, bite him. This was a stupid thought in and of itself, because Dumbledore had forbidden her to allow the evil buried inside her soul to emerge at any time while she was inside the castle. But still…
Snape watched her continue her conversation with the Headmaster, mesmerized by the confidence with which she carried herself, how it seemed to shimmer off her already iridescent skin. He felt his thin lips twist into a smile as he caught a whiff of the honey and vanilla perfume she was wearing.
Are you bloody mad? He asked himself, turning back to his toast and glaring at it as if it had committed some horrible sin. He continued to stare down at his plate, keeping his eyes in check as they kept drifting back to where the half vampire was sitting.
You must be mad, Severus, a rich voice echoed in his mind.
Get out of my head, Miss Cimmerii. He glared down the table to see her smirking in his direction, her black-brown eyes shining in the sunlight. He watched her rise and glide down the table and stop behind his chair.
"Yes?" he hissed.
"The Headmaster has asked me to make an attempt at a second Dueling Club. He has requested that you assist me in this endeavor," she explained in a silky tone.
Snape could not repress his laughter; it infected him like poison. "You realize that the last Dueling Club was a complete fiasco?" he said curtly.
"I understand the last time you had an incompetent git who knew less magic than Filch as the instructor," Morgana snapped as she placed her thin hands on her hips. "And I am not asking you to do this for me, I am asking for the sake of the students and their safety."
Well that's not much incentive for me to agree, now is it? Snape thought as he continued to sneer at the woman in front of him. "When were you planning on hosting this little charade?" he asked in an uninterested manner.
"After dinner," Morgana replied. "The first meeting will be tonight."
Snape groaned and rolled his eyes, very reluctant to agree to this debacle of an idea. Then again, he may be able to show this cow what a powerful wizard he really was. "Very well," he finally muttered.
Morgana gave him a smirk worthy of his own and returned to her seat, continuing her conversation with Dumbledore where it had apparently been cut off.
Snape remained seated, becoming more and more enraged with himself as his stomach tightened uncomfortably when Morgana's deep, dark eyes drifted momentarily to stare into his own. He thought he saw her blush before she reverted her gaze back to the headmaster.
Thoroughly pissed off with himself, he decided to leave and retreat back into the secluded dungeon office he occupied. He sat behind the dark wooden desk and exhaled a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. He needed to get a grip. There was no way in hell he was going to let this woman walk all over him at the Dueling Club tonight, which, he was sure, was going to go just as badly as the first one. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and relaxed, only to hear the bell ring and students rushing down the stairs to the Potions classroom. Unwillingly, he followed them in and slammed the door shut.
Dinner that evening was full of gossip about the newly reformed Dueling Club. Most of the student body felt that it was a good idea, although it probably wouldn't work out in the end. A few old members of the D.A. had suggested to Harry to start up the classes again, but due to a considerable amount of homework from his N.E.W.T. classes, it was highly unlikely that that would be happening any time soon.
Morgana remained in the Great Hall after supper to clear the four house tables away and set up the mats on which the students would be landing on, should they be jinxed or cursed. After only a few minutes, dozens of purple pads lined the stone floor.
Morgana had decided that it would be best to take her evening dose of blood immediately after dinner instead of before, so the adrenaline rush she acquired would still be there when she was dueling. She was in the middle of removing it from the pocket of her robe when Professor Snape joined her in the hall.
"A little pick-me-up before a fight, eh?" he sneered as he neared her. The black robes that usually billowed out from behind him had been removed to reveal a black frock coat and black trousers.
Morgana did not reply as she drank the thick liquid, perfectly aware that Severus was watching her do so. She smacked her lips together and placed the phial back in her robe. "Nothing like a little blood to calm the nerves," she hissed at his look of disgust as the students began to file into the room. She waved her wand conjured up a long stage with one long purple mat covering it. "After you, Professor," she said to Snape, motioning for him to step up onto the stage.
The students gathered around the long table, pushing and shoving to make sure they all had a good view. Morgana could tell most of them were here to see the two professors duel each other rather than learn how to duel themselves.
"Good evening," she said, and the hall became silent. "According to the Headmaster, there was an attempt made at a Dueling Club a few years ago, which seems to have ended just as quickly as it began." The student snickered and nodded. "Therefore, Professor Dumbledore has asked Professor Snape and myself to make another attempt at it, as these are dark times and you all need to know how to defend yourselves."
She glared at the man in front of her as he rolled his onyx eyes. "We will give you a quick demonstration, after which you will divide into pairs."
Snape's eyes glittered maliciously as he pulled his own wand out of his pocket.
Morgana smirked at him and removed her amber robes, tossing them behind her. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end as she felt adrenaline surge through her body; she was almost sure that her usually dark eyes were becoming very red, something that normally happened after she imbibed blood. Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard someone whisper, "Look at her eyes!"
The two professors bowed to each other and raised their wands in front of their faces; Morgana glowered at Snape, who was more than happy to return the favor, as they turned and took their defensive positions. Snape rose his wand hand over his head and stuck his left arm out for balance, his legs spread at shoulder length. Morgana's wand was out in front of her while her other arm was curved up and over her head, index and middle fingers loosely pointing at Snape.
"One…"
Morgana's wand twitched in her hand.
"Two…"
Snape's left eye seemed to be having a spasm.
"Three!"
"Expelliarmus!" Snape shouted as Morgana yelled, "Protego!" and deflected the Disarming Charm.
"Protego is a shield charm," she explained quickly as both of them took up their stances again, Snape glaring at her. "It will protect you against minor hexes and jinxes."
The words were barely out of her mouth before Snape shouted, "Incarcerous!"
Thick ropes shot out of the tip of his wand and wrapped themselves tightly around Morgana, who struggled for a moment beneath them before using her wand to burn through them.
When the last of the ropes had fallen to the floor, she pointed her wand at Snape and exclaimed, "Furnunculus!"
Ugly boils began to erupt all over Snape's sallow face. Morgana could not help but laugh, and in her moment of vulnerability, Snape yelled, "Flipendo!" and sent the young woman flying backwards to the edge of the platform.
Groaning in pain, she quickly lifted herself up and, with madness in her eyes and fury boiling away at her heart, she pointed her wand and began, "Levicor –"
"Petrificus Totalus!" Snape bellowed with hatred burning in his eyes. Brilliant white sparks rushed towards Morgana and forced her arms to lock at her sides, her legs to snap together, and her entire body to go rigid. She fell backwards onto the mat, her neck throbbing when it couldn't recoil from the force of the fall.
She could hear several gasps and a few snickers, but none of them effected her the way Snape's faint, horrid laughter did. It made her want to sink her teeth deep into his throat and drink until he was within an inch from death. She watched as his shadow loomed over her, his face expressing pure triumph even with the unsightly spots welling up on his cheeks. He made no attempt to remove the jinx.
"Well, I can see that this has, once again, been a wasted effort," a calm but irritated voice said from the head of the table. "Finite Incantantum."
Morgana leapt up and turned to face Professor Dumbledore, who looked very upset with both her and Snape. She dared to glance at the Potions Master, whose face was now boil-free and unreadable. However…
Stay out, or I'll do worse, his voice said inside her head.
I'm terrified, really, I am, Morgana thought back.
Enough, the both of you! Dumbledore's voice intruded. "I am sorry about this, students. You may return to your dormitories now," he said, and the young witches and wizards departed at a rather fast pace.
When the last student was clear of the door, Dumbledore's expression turned sour, as did his tone. "I had hoped that this would be another, perhaps better way of helping the students learn the skills necessary to protect themselves in the wizarding world once they leave this school. Now, I see it was merely a way for you two to behave like children and take your anger out on each other, and I will not tolerate this." His voice was wrought with anger as he looked sharply at the two young professors.
"Sir, I apologize, we –"
Dumbledore raised a hand to cut Morgana off. "You will both act like the responsible adults that you are, not the naïve children you once were. Whatever grudges you may have, you will deal with them in a civilized manner." He sighed and a troubled look flitted across his face. "Now is not the time to be making more enemies than need be," he said in a grave tone. "Good night to you both."
They watched the old man walk regally out of the hall. Morgana felt horrible; in no way had she meant to anger the headmaster. She hoped Snape felt the same way, although his pallid face was still blank.
She gathered up her robe and waved the stage and unused mats away while Snape extinguished the candles and replaced the house tables. Morgana stared at him from the doors, the hatred that had been pulsing in her heart replacing itself with a feeling she was not sure about. It made her neck hairs rise again, but she didn't feel angry; she felt nervous. He looked somewhat handsome in the moonlight that seeped through the windows as he walked towards her and the doors, the shadows dancing on his tall form.
Morgana found herself backing into the wall, her hands shaking slightly. Snape stood in front of her, looking at her, expressionless.
"Severus – I –" she whispered.
She felt his hand on her cheek and his face came dangerously close to her own. His breath was warm on her lips, and she felt his graze hers ever so softly before he left, disappearing through the doors and down into the dungeons. Her pulse raced and the place on her face where his hand had been tingled, and she, somewhat angrily, realized the emotion her heart had been so desperately seeking and had finally found.