Chapter 2
(with mosquitos, essays and little runs)
The fate decided to abandon Severus Snape sitting grudgingly in his quarters and staring hatefully into the informative papers he obtained from Dumbledore and to move to the second participand of his little plan.
It's gaze flew from north where Hogwats lies to south and pierced through the thick layer of clouds to arrive at quite shaby subburb of St. Hollow. It had to look a little around before it spotted the right house and before it's eyes could look through greyish brick walls and watch the absolutely ordinary late morning of it's inhabitants.
Three boys between ten and fifteen were still sleeping in their room. The bedroom was cramped with beds and furniture and hardly provided space for anything else than moving between all of this and the doors leading to the narrow corridor. The second floor of the shabby looking house was dark with only one small window facing the large street and it was so dirty that sunlight barely made it through the thick layers of dust and cobwebs.
The fate turned it's attention to another person living in the house. An older grey and blond haired plump woman who was currently sitting in small living room, sleeping in her armchair with legs outstretched towards still running television. Apparently she fell asleep sometime during the night and as Fate looked closer it noticed empty bottle of Scotch still tightly wrapped in her arms.
It snorted. This woman was certainly not the motherly figure she was supposed to be to her daughter's children.
It abandoned the living room and moved to the back yard where it spotted two small kids, they appeared twins playing in dry and dusty patch of grass, the only green place still strugling bravely with dirt and dry weather of the summer. It was one of those summers when temperatures lazily rose to hellish heights in one and only desire. To cook the world alive.
Those two kids were disturbed by taller blond boy who ran as fast as he could throught the patch of somewhat green grass with dog leashed to the rope.
„Gran!" the tall and blond boy shouted from the backdoor. His dress was mesh of all colours and he got pointy knees which were right now scraped and bloody and his right hand squeezed tightly a dirty rope to which other end was leashed middle sized grey and brown dog with particularly pointy fur and what looked like mane of thick hairs sticking out the front of it's head.
„GRAN!" the boy shouted again but was rewarded with deadly silence from the crumbling house. „Tssk. fine I'll leave the mutt here." The boy resignately fastened up the rope and cleared the field before his older brothers came down for breakfast. It was always better to stay out of their way.
He skipped happily. If gran found out that Misti actually brought home that stupid dog he knew very well what kind of up roar it would make. The boy enjoyed himself imensly as he returned to the back yard where he left his cars half burried in the large pile of gravel. He was enjoing himself right up to the minute when large stone hit his back and he fell to the ground with painful shriek.
„Where's my dog you idiot!" a high pitched voice yelled into his ear and he felt himself pressed to the ground by two knees and his hands were grabbed and painfuly twisted behind his back.
„Get off me you friek." He coughed and his mouth soon filled with taste of dirt and he had to force himself not to sneeze.
„Tell me where's my dog or I swear I'll cut all your hair off." The pitched voice on his back threatened angrily.
„Heh…try that and Gran will slosh you sensless. Remember the last time Sis." He growled and tried to shake the girl of.
„Yeah maybe…but it'll be you who'll look like total jack ass with bald head the rest of summer." She pointed out with malicious smile and to prove her point held him even tighter and pulled out large scissors from the back pocket of her jeans.
„Alright….he's in the house!" The boy shouted now terrified that his half sister might actually shave his head clean.
„Thanks Dave." She said and he felt a wave of relief wash over him and then he heard a silent snap as the scissors cut through his ponytail and the mass of hair showered his shoulders. He couldn't even say a word. The dreadfull realization that his long and well kept pride was just cut off of his head.
„Just so you remember never to touch my dog again brother dear." The girl whispered into his ear and got off his back.. But it was no different really. He still felt as if bound by invisible force and he knew it was only Misti who could do this.
„I'll get you for this…you hear me? You're dead." He growled with his face still tightly pressed to the ground.
„I'd like to see you try." She laughed out loud and skipped happily to the house. After all her friend was there.
She entered the back door as silently as she could and ufastened the rope. Led her dog through the hallway they had to be extra carefull not to wake anyone up. And as if the dog listened to her it also walked silently, carefully laying each paw before another in atempt to make it's claws unhearable on the tiled floor. They slowly made their way to the front door. And just as the girl grabbed the door knob someone rang the bell.
XX
Severus Snape rose up early from his bed. Not that he was some late sleeper but to be awake this early was quite unusual even by his standarts. He slowly kicked the sheets off and strode to the bathroom door. He knew perfectly well that many of his students thought him to sleep hanging from the ceilling head down as some kind of bat. Others thought that the billowing robes were sticked to him by permanent sticking charm and that he never lived, breathed or slept one minute without them.
Well he knew perfectly well that reality and school gossips are often two entirely different things. And as if to prove it, he bare foot entered the bathroom and looked into the mirror which displayed his boxered and undershirted reflection. He snorted at this reflection and undressed himself, there was absolutely nothing better than hot shower at the morning. And no, despite what was going around about him, he washed his hair daily, the problem was, that constant exposure to fumes from various potions made it greassy.
One hour later he was well dressed in some respectable looking black shirt and black trousers and light, dark leather jacket. If any of his students saw him now, in muggle clothes….well better not dwelling on this idea.
Severus walked across his living room and stuffed the papers into one of his pockets, he will have enough time to read them closely when in St. Hollow, after all it was barely seven o'clock and Sunday.
With his wand securely in his sleeve Severus marched out of his quarters, warded them and briskly walked out of the castle into still fresh summer morning, having to endure the entire way through the Hogwarts grounds and then apparating to St. Hollow. Hopefully he will be done with this entire house call idiocy before lunch.
His entire figure twirled on spot right behind large metal gates and with loud snap vanished in thin air. Only to appear in factory district of St. Hollow and somehow it looked quite familiar. Yes he was definitely here before.
Severus pulled out the papers and looked again at the informations.
Carter Misti
6.3.1982
Allory Rd. 8
St. Hollow
That was all that the stupid paper provided….no additional informations…nothing. But judging from the neighborhood the girl…at least he suspected that it was a girl have had hard childhood.
To be completly honest with himself Severus Snape had to admit that this place reminded him too well of his own neighborhood. And he knew well what kinds of people were living in places like this.
He shuffed the papers back into the pocket and looked around carefully. Wide street winding up over the hill. With old looking factory on one side. Judging from the broken windows and various kinds of sprayed words all over the place it was shut down long ago.
And this hideous reminder of what might have been better days for factory workers faced small, grey, bricked houses on the other side of the street. The windows in most of them were open as if to lure some non-existent breeze inside and Severus had to thank again to his geniality and perfect use of cooling charm applied to his jacket and throusers.
He slowly walked the street up and looked at the houses, all of them had been grey, dull and without anything resembling decorations. He noticed large number six at one house and thanked Merlin that he apparated so closely. It was almost mirracle, haven't seen this street before and only apparating solemly based on information provided by that blasted paper.
He walked infront of the next house and checked the number. It indeed said eight in it's shabby, peely way.
He checked the clock again. Eight-thirty, well maybe still too early but he wanted to be done with this before noon and so he rose his hand and pressed the door bell.
XX
If the fate leaned even an inch closer it might have been spotted by all the humans currently residing in south of England, but fate has to be resposible force, after all on it's back layed destinies and dooms of so many creatures and so the fate knew not to let itself be seen and patiently waited and watched with great curiousity how Severus Snape's index finger pressed the door bell. And because fate has to bother itself with so much responsibility over entire world it also has many advantages to balance it's own heavy doom. And one of those advantages is ability to be at more places at once. If you knew fate better, you'd known that it actualy is all over the world but at the same time it is concentrated in its little self.
Because belive it or not, even fate has to have its own self awarness as everything else have. And so this self awareness was right now watching not only the index finger with perfectly cut nail touching the dusty door bell but also the small black haired girl freezing solid just behind the doors with one hand on the door knob and the other tightly holding the rope leash.
And because fate likes to interviene into lives of others and right now on his list – yes it has a list of priorities – was Severus Snape and how to change his life in most extraordinary way, the fate reached out and conjured medium sized mosquito and as if fate intended it (and it did) the mosquito found itself in the bedroom of three sleeping boys.
And what can be better for a little bit shaken and confused mosquito, because just a moment ago it was happily flying over medow somewhere in the continental Europe, than three humans full of blood. And the mosquito decided to grasp this chance and with all the force his tiny body allowed him flew towards the nearest uncovered patch of skin and pierced through.
Little it did know about fate and that in that exact moment it was the most powerful mosquito in the world. Exactly then when its sting lanced through the skin of nearest and smallest human it had the power to wake the sleeper. And it did.
XX
She heard a loud shriek from upstairs and that brought her from freeze-like state. If she wanted to move Snacks to safety this was the only time to do it. Because after that wailling the whole house will be up and to be spotted standing in the hall with Snacks on the leash was exactly what she didn't want.
With final resolve the girl opened the door and without bothering herself to look at the stranger dressed all in black standing at the door step she ran right into him.
„Move it!" she yelled and pushed the man aside and ran into the sunny empty street and right towards the abandoned factory. They'll hide there at least till evening, she counted that by then the whole house will be pretty much settled with Dave's new haircut and her being responsible for it.
But even despite her grim situation she had to laugh, her brother had it coming for a long time now. Stealing her stuff, ripping to pieces her favourite T-shirt, shooting that bird nest from the tree and as the last act of his total assiness he wanted to take away Snacks.
They both ran to the factory back yard and hid under the small tree which sprouted there after the whole complex was abandoned.
Misti looked at the clear blue sky only here and there dotted with puffy white clouds and sighed. She desperately wanted to get out of here. To be alone with Snacks and not always scared half to death when she sneak out of the house to come here and be with her only friend. It was strange really. All of her siblings have had many friends from neighborhood but she was always left out, even at school. Other kids avoided her, probably because she often caused strange things.
That was it, all those strange accidents surrounding her. But she couldn't help it, she had no idea how all those things happened. Like the Essay disaster on Friday, she was the only one having problems with correct spelling and grammar and she so wished not be the only one in the whole class with those problems and suddenly all the essays which were to be handed over on Friday had been full of grammar mistakes and icorrect spelling. Even Emma the best student in her class have had her essay full of mistakes.
But adding this to all those strange things which surrounded her and also because she always have had the worst clothes and was the only one without proper school bag the kids almost chased her to death during the lunch break. It was her only luck that she found hole in the fence just wide enough for her slim body to squeeze through. And off course she ran here, the only problem with it was that Dave saw her with Snacks playing outside the factory and since then the whole weekend turned rather downfall.
Misti sighed again and felt heavy head comfortably snug into her lap and without second thought she started to scratch Snacks' ears and neck.
Yes it would have been so awesome to just get away from here, somewhere where no-one would judge her clothes and grammar and where she would be able to keep Snacks around whole day and to have enough food and the most important thing to have friends.
The more she sit there and watched the clouds the more her mind wandered back towards the man who stood at the front door this morning. She was in such a hurry that she managed to register only his dark clothes and that he was tall, taller than any other man she met before. Somehow he didn't looked like one of those weird people who often stopped by telling Gran about Jesus and stuff. No he looked more hmm what was that word Gran used so oftem? Ah yes posh. He looked like those people in magazines and posters with nice dark clothes and sneers on their faces.
Misti crossed her hands behind her head and layed on her back into the yellow dry grass. If anything she knew better than associating herself with such people. As Gran always said, it was people like this who got her mum go jail and if they'd done it, then to hell with them all. And with this one last angry thought about the whole unfair world Misti fell asleep with Snacks faithfully watching over her.