Author's Note: So sorry about the long wait! I've been writing/reading for school, plus I really wasn't inspired to write the next chapter until today. And to tell you the truth, I still wasn't that inspired. Writing this was like squeezing a penny through a pin-hole. It's possible, but you've got to go out of your way to buy a giant pin first. So, if you hate it. I will completely understand.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's all Madame Rowling's
The rest of the month went by without a hitch, and Charity finally stopped being paranoid to the point of jumping whenever someone walked through her classroom door. She and Severus had talked multiple times, trying to remember anything that they could about that night, swapping stories about what they remembered doing last. She could recall all the way up to Snape knocking his cup off the roof, but after that, it was all black.
Her friends were very supportive. Even Quirenus came and visited with her multiple times a week. He was being so sweet. Always asking weather she was able to remember anything else, and comforting her when she became depressed about it. She felt bad after a while though. Here she was, crying about not being able to remember a couple hours of her life, and poor Quirrell could barely talk. Soon, she stopped complaining about herself and started asking more questions concerning him. Of course, he just seemed to get even more riled up.
"Quirenus," She said one day, the night before Halloween. "May I ask you a question? It may be personal and I don't want to pry."
The man stared at her for a moment, as if lost. But finally came to himself and nodded in his shaky fashion. "Of-of course Ch-Ch-Charity! Y-you can ask m-me anyth-thing!"
"Are you certain? I don't want you to become uncomfortable." She couldn't help but notice that Quirrell was fidgeting with his cloak sleeve. And suddenly, a scene swam through her head, of a cloaked man fidgeting with his robes. She shoved it away into the back of her mind. Meanwhile, she had totally missed what her shaky friend had said, and decided that it was something along the lines of 'Of course I don't mind Charity. Ask away.'
"Well, I've always wanted to know, but I didn't know how to ask you without seeming rude. But, Quirenus, why do you-" She stopped mid-sentence, as she had just seen Severus Snape enter the Staff Room and sit in one of the chairs, nose promptly in a book. "Hello Severus!" She called happily. Feeling completely at ease, unlike Quirrell, who began shaking even harder.
"Well, anyway Dear," Charity said, returning to the conversation, having successfully gotten a greeting from Snape. "I was just wondering, Why do you smell like a Mountain Troll?"
Quirrell froze, and Snape stood up abruptly, stalking out of the room while muttering something about public places. Charity shrugged, and returned to looking at her suddenly pale friend. "Oh! I'm sorry! Did I offend you? I just wondered, because you always had an odd smell about you, and I just wondered if you did it on purpose, or something." She apologized rather lamely.
Quirrell seemed to become less tense as she spoke, and just frowned at her on a sad way. "W-well, I have this s-sk-skin condition which m-m-makes my s-skin s-smell odd. I d-d-didn't know that it w-w-was that b-bad. I apologize."
She immediately told him that it was nothing to be ashamed of, and that maybe Madame Pomfrey could fix it. She excused herself quickly, quite embarrassed, and went down to the kitchens for a soothing cup of tea and a nice sit on the roof.
…...
"Why do you smell like a Mountain Troll?" He heard her ask from across the room. And quite suddenly, a memory of her asking the exact same question popped into his head. But instead of being accompanied by the sights and sounds of the Staff Room, the memory provided a look at the grounds under a starry sky.
Snape flung himself out of the chair and walked briskly toward the door. "This is from that night. She asked that question that night. I can't think about this in such a public place. I need to tell Albus."
He climbed up to the Headmaster's office, gave the password, and rode the staircase up to the door. He was about to knock, when the doors were thrown open, and a very irate looking Lucius Malfoy exited. He swept past Snape with only a head nod, and quickly disappeared down the stairs.
Severus entered the office, closing the door behind him, and turned to face Dumbledore, who was softly stroking Fawkes' head. The bird, noticing Snape, let out a happy sound and flew over to land on his shoulder. Lost in thought, he sat down across form the desk and ran through everything he had just figured out. He looked up as the Headmaster sat across from him, and without prompting, revealed what he had learned.
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