A/N

Thanks to everyone for following, faving and reviewing!

I did some cover art for this fic :) It's hard to see on this site but if you want to check it out you'll find it in the first chapter on Archive of Our Own. The art is based on Chapter 31, The Dark Mark. Tell me what you think if of it if you get the chance.

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please leave a review if you can :)

Also in this fic Harry started Occlumency lessons with Snape earlier in the school year. (I made a mistake when writing and forgot that in the book he only starts after Christmas...whoops...)

Chapter 34: In the Pensieve

Róisín flung her hand out of her sweatpants and lurched forward on the bed in response to a knock on the door.

"Eh, coming," she called out. Wincing, she glanced at her abandoned sketch of an arranaccio, half-coloured in and missing a leg, miserably hopping around the parchment on her desk. She patted down the hair at the back of her head and checked to make sure there was nothing else incriminating about her appearance before she opened the door.

"Hey, what are you up to?"

It was Hermione. There was a huge book resting against her hip.

"Nothin'," Róisín replied too quickly, her mind flooding with her fantasy; Snape pinning her down with one long, toned arm marked with the black skull and whispering, "Good Girl", in her ear. She flexed her offending right hand and slipped it into her pocket. "I mean, just working on my final year treatise for Creatures." She opened the door wider to show the desk littered with drawings and notes, as though the other girl had asked for proof.

"Here's the arithmancy book I was talking about earlier," Hermione said and pivoted the heavy slab of pages off her hip. Róisín shuffled with the book towards her desk and deposited it with a bang. She flipped through the pages, her heart still pounding.

"Do you take Runes by any chance?" Hermione asked, hovering by the door.

"Yeah, I do."

"Would you mind helping me with some Phoenician runes? I'm having difficulty inferring a few of the vowels."

"I can certainly try."

Róisín slipped into the bathroom to wash her hands and splash cold water on her hot face. Then she followed Hermione down one floor to the room she shared with Ginny. Beside one bed were piles of neatly stacked books and above the other witches on brooms zoomed in and out of a poster of the Holyhead Harpies. Harry and Ron were sitting on the floor with long, fleshy extendable ears laid out in front of them, a couple of which looked pale and translucent.

"What are you guys up to?" Róisín asked.

Harry turned and narrowed his eyes. Hermione replied pointedly,

"Róisín and I are going to work on some Runes together, you're welcome to hang-out in your own room."

"Nah, we'll stay," Ron said, "Our room still stinks from that bloody demon dung sparkler Fred let off. We're tryin' to charm them invisible," he added to Róisín and pointed his wand at an extendable ear, his eyes squeezing with concentration.

"Not with much success," Harry muttered.

A muffled bang came from down the hall.

"Ginny and the twins are testing out Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products," Hermione explained.

Half an hour later, Hermione and Róisín were sitting cross-legged on one of the twin beds with sparkling gems rotating in the air between them.

"I can't believe Professor Babbling is making you conjure from such obscure trading logs just for a class quiz," Róisín said.

"Oh, I don't think she will," Hermione replied, "I think we'll just have to conjure the five major crops traded by the Phoenicians and a common gemstone thrown in for extra points, but it never hurts to be prepared."

Ron caught Róisín's eye and gave her a look which said, yeah, she's always this much of a swot.

"Before you two travel thousands of years back in time and become gemstone moguls," he said, tongue-in-cheek, "Could you help us with these?" He gestured to the extendable ears.

"Well, it's difficult to charm magical items invisible," Hermione remarked.

"What are you gonna use them for?" Róisín asked. She'd reversed invisibility charms on magical artefacts during her internship and figured she knew which charms would work, but she wasn't sure she wanted to get involved.

"We wanna spy on the Order meetings," Ron answered.

Róisin remembered Snape's blasting curse exploding above Black's head last night and felt a tug of anxiety.

"Is that not like, a big deal?" The three Gryffindors looked at her blankly. "It's a top-secret organisation to take down He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, right?" she pressed. "Is it ok to be spying on them?"

Harry gave her an incredulous look as if to say, do you not know who I am? Róisín remembered how he'd confronted You-Know-Who in person and seen Him murder Diggory. She felt very out of her league.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to breaking rules," she muttered. The two boys shot each other a look which Róisín guessed meant, "look at this gutless Ravenclaw we've been landed with" and felt an urge to prove herself.

"Standard invisibility charms won't work on a magical device designed for deception," she began, "and you'll also want to put a cloaking spell on it, to hide it from detection spells."

"A glamour?" Hermione asked.

"No, a glamour needs continuous attention." Róisín's stomach did a little jump as she remembered when Snape had let his glamour slip. "We need a bewitchment tuned to these ears specifically. Accio charms notebook."

She held her hand out and grabbed her notebook as it swooped into the room, the door to the bedroom opening and closing in sync with its flight. Noticing the surprised looks from the boys on the floor, she cursed, "Fuck!" under her breath.

"That's magnificent wandless magic, Róisín," Hermione commented.

"But Snape would be furious."

"Why?" Harry asked sharply. Róisín's stomach dropped. She shouldn't have said that. What if they didn't know already?

"Because she could be discovered," Hermione replied, as if it were obvious. "Sióga are like elves, they don't need a wand."

Ron looked at her with something akin to awe and Harry looked perturbed.

"So you guys know then?" Róisín said, feeling both relieved and anxious. "Who told you?"

"Hermione figured it out," Ron said proudly.

For a moment, Róisín was so taken aback she didn't know what to say, then she uttered, "Really?! How?" and felt a guilty lurch in her stomach as she remembered Snape warning her that she'd be discovered if she wasn't more careful.

The three Gryffindors exchanged a look.

"A couple of things… happened and I eventually put it all together," Hermione said slowly, almost apologetically. She slid a glance towards Harry, who was studying the extendable ears. "Firstly, you should know that Harry is taking Occlu-"

"-Hermione!" Harry barked.

"I think if she's staying at the Headquarters of the Order it's ok that she knows you're taking Occlumency lessons Harry." Hermione turned back to Róisín, "Occlumency is the art of shielding-"

"I know what it is," Róisín interjected and Hermione hurried on,

"Well Professor Snape is teaching it to Harry. In their lessons the professor attempts to penetrate Harry's mind and Harry has to shield his thoughts from his attack. That kind of magic can rebound on the attacker, so Professor Snape uses something called a pensieve to store memories he doesn't want Harry to see. Once, the professor had to leave during their lesson and Harry" -Hermione hesitated- "looked in the pensieve."

Hermione glanced at the boy in question and Róisín's gut twisted with anticipation.

"I, er- I saw two memories that you were in," Harry said reluctantly. "And one from when Snape was at school before he came back and pulled me out of the pensieve."

"Oh My God!" Róisín exclaimed. "Was he furious?"

"You could say that."

Róisín swallowed past the lump in her throat. She was pretty sure she knew what kind of memory involving herself Potter had seen.

"So that was when you found out Snape and I had, er-" She hesitated.

"Actually, I knew something was up before that. We've got this map of Hogwarts, it shows where everyone in the castle is at any time, with little footprints and a label of their name."

"What? That's crazy! Can I see it?"

"Dumbledore confiscated it that night that-" Harry gave her a look and she remembered Snape complaining about a map when Harry had snuck into his chambers. "A few weeks ago I saw you two on the map together way after curfew, in Snape's chambers. I told Hermione and Ron in the morning but they didn't believe me," he said with an edge to his voice.

"It's not that we didn't believe you, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "I just thought it was more likely you'd mistaken what you saw so late at night. That map is huge and the dungeons are a warren of chambers and rooms. I thought maybe they'd been just beside his chambers but not actually inside them and perhaps Róisín had tripped on her way down to the kitchens or something and he was just helping her."

"Yeah helping her with his footprints on top of hers."

"He could've been carrying her!" Hermione argued.

"They. Weren't. Going. Anywhere!"

Clearly the two had had this argument before.

"There was also the possibility that the potions master had a er- friend he'd invited to the castle for the night who happened to have the same name as a Hogwarts student," Hermione said. "But you always jump to the most unsavoury conclusion when it comes to Professor Snape and you're always wrong."

"Well, I wasn't wrong this time, was I?!" Harry retorted, red-faced and gesturing to Róisín.

Hermione huffed. "I'll admit you were right about a certain aspect, but you were wrong about the professor and his motives, it wasn't anything untoward-"

Harry's snort interrupted her. Hermione gave him a pointed look and added, "You really think Professor Dumbledore would sanction it if-"

"-Hey, guys, she's right bloody there!" Ron snapped.

Hermione shot Róisín an apologetic look and mumbled,

"Sorry."

"It's fine," Róisín replied flatly. She felt numb and brittle. When no one had said anything after a moment she added, "This is all just so… weird. I know Snape is a gobshite in class but-" For some reason she wanted the Gryffindors to know that it wasn't as though it had been her idea to sleep with the potions master. "Well, they said I could either-" she gestured lamely with her hand, "you know with Snape or I'd have to leave Hogwarts so…"

"That's sick," Harry spat.

"Harry!" Hermione said sternly at the same time Róisín snapped,

"Hey! I'm not the bloody famous saviour of the wizarding world, I'm muggleborn, Hogwarts is the only link to the magical world I have!"

Harry, looking for the first time humbled, held his palms up to the two bristling witches and said placatingly,

"No, sorry, not what I meant at all. I just meant it was sick to give you that choice, which clearly isn't a choice at all! I'd do anything to stay at Hogwarts so" -his face paled- "well not that obviously, I mean, clearly…" He looked back and forth between the glares of the two witches and continued, "I'm not judging you, Feral, for making that choice, I'm judging Snape. It's all worked out fuckin' dandy for him, hasn't it?"

"Harry, that's enough," Hermione said firmly. "Don't tell Róisín how she ought to feel about it. She isn't you, she doesn't necessarily despise the potions master. If Róisín is ok with it then it's none of our business. Understood?"

Harry's nostrils flared.

Róisín couldn't believe she was finally discussing the absurdity of having sex with the Head of Slytherin but instead of with Anna it was with three barely sixteen-year-old Gryffindors, one of whom famously loathed the professor with every fibre of his being. She sighed and asked Harry tentatively,

"What did you see?"

"Sorry?"

Róisín almost told him nevermind, but instead braced herself and added,

"In the pensieve."

Harry glanced at Hermione who said,

"I think she has the right to know."

"Well, you were… in a bed with the covers drawn up," Harry started slowly, addressing Róisín but avoiding looking at her. "I didn't recognise you but I thought you looked very… frightened. Your heartbeat was drumming in my ears. I didn't even know where I was until" -Harry swallowed- "Snape came farther into the chamber, and I-" he shook his head, "I had this horrible feeling and I just had to leave and suddenly I was in the same place but I knew it was a different memory, I… er, that feeling was gone. You were both on the bed with, er-" He rubbed his hand across his face, clearly desperately uncomfortable and then he said in a mumbled rush, "Snape was on top of you, kissingdownyourstomach."

Ignoring the burning heat in her cheeks, Róisín replied,

"That second memory wasn't me."

"It was, I saw you."

"It must've been another woman. What was I wearing?"

"Er… nothing."

"That was definitely not me. He's never- That's never happened."

"Well, could he have obliviated you?" Harry suggested gently.

"Stop trying to freak her out Harry," Hermione snapped, "Of course the professor wouldn't obliviate her!"

"Why would he?" Róisín added. "It's not like he's shown any interest in me like that. It's just an obligation." Both of the teenage boys raised their eyebrows sceptically. "It must've been a different woman," Róisín muttered and strangely felt a pinch in her chest at the thought. Harry shook his head as if to say that wasn't possible.

"Or it was the professor's imagination." Hermione stated matter-of-factly. Harry scowled and Ron raised his eyebrows and covered his shocked grin with his hand.

Róisín felt hot blood throbbing through her face. It wasn't possible that Snape had been fantasising about her. He didn't even like her.

"But pensieves are for storing memories," Harry argued.

"Not just memories, any scenarios or ideas can be stored in a pensieve," Hermione said. "The "Gotters", the Gringott robbery gang, stored their heist plans in a pensieve when they thought they'd be questioned."

There was a pause before Ron said, grinning,

"So clearly not just an obligation for Snape."

"Ronald, stop it," Hermione scolded. "We can't judge our professor on what goes on inside his head that he never expected anyone to see. How would you feel if we poked around in your mind, is there nothing you've ever imagined you wouldn't want us to see, let alone your professors?"

Ron turned bright red and Hermione responded with a self-satisfied smug.

"So after defying the Head of Slytherin by spying on his thoughts, you decided to barge into his chambers to confront him?" Róisín asked Harry, incredulous and honestly a little impressed that he could be so foolhardy.

The Boy-Who-Lived turned an even darker shade of pink and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I just couldn't get that first memory out of my mind and the fact that Snape purposely chose to hide it. You looked so scared. I felt really angry about it and, I dunno, guilty?" His voice wavered. "I thought if I went to Dumbledore without having made sure then Snape would be able to make some excuse and cover up whatever had happened. And weirdly Hermione didn't seem bothered by what I'd seen." Harry sent the other girl an accusatory look.

"Well, I was confused at first," Hermione explained. "You were troubled by the first memory, even though nothing really happened in it, whereas the second memory didn't seem to bother you, even though it was much more explicit. Actually, you didn't want to talk about the second memory at all, despite the fact it was more incriminating for the professor." Harry fidgeted with the fleshy ears in front of him, not looking at Hermione while she spoke. "It just didn't make sense. Then I considered from whose perspective those memories were, and tried to find out if memories viewed in a pensieve could impart emotions as well as external stimuli, and it turns out they can, if the emotions were strong. So you felt guilt and concern in the first memory because that's how Professor Snape felt when he formed the memory, and from that I realised… Well, I figured it was unlikely the professor was simply taking advantage of a student as Harry had first thought."

Róisín pressed against her eyes, trying to push away the memories of that first night, Snape entering the room and looking at her like she were some injured, defenceless creature he was being forced to put down.

"And the second memory, well," even Hermione blushed as she continued frankly, "obviously that had different kinds of feelings attached to it, but it wasn't the memory Harry was worried about and, well, now Róisín says it never even happened." Hermione sighed and finished heatedly, "But I would have told you I suspected Róisín was the sióg if I'd known you'd do something as reckless as sneaking into the Head of Slytherin's chambers!"

"What do you mean suspected I was "the" síog?" Róisín asked.

"You didn't know?" Harry said, whipping his head up from toying with the extendable ears on the ground.

"Know what?"

"That Snape was looking for the sióg."

It felt like the room was tipping over.

"DINNER!"

They all startled as the booming voice of Mrs. Weasley magically reverberated up through the townhouse. The two boys jumped to their feet and Róisín looked at them with disbelief.

"Wait! What?! What do you mean he was looking for the sióg?"

"We should go eat," Hermione said, "we'll talk after dinner, ok?"