YAY! Chapter six is finally here.
Zoe - this part is totally your fault, but at least you're blond and bootiful. ;)
DeadSEXY - thanks so much for your interest... if I come up with something that I can include you in, I'll let you know!
Louisa!! Always good to see you reading! :)
Karen and Carrie - hi hi hi hi! (Yes, carrie, I'm a bit partial to the big oaf myself...)
A/N - I know that there's not quite as much swooniness as usual... but we're going for PLOT development, here, people. *wink wink*
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Early the next morning, Jenni sat at the table in the hotel room drinking tea. She looked over as Nancy began to wake up. "Someone's up early!" Nancy grinned at her friend. "Thinking of a certain, tall red head are we?"
Jenni glared furiously over her cup of tea. "How are you feeling?" she asked referring to Nancy's leg, deftly changing the subject.
Nancy grinned, "No way are you gonna change the subject that fast! What exactly happened between you two?"
"Nothing." Jenni stood up to walk towards the window. "Absolutely nothing."
Nancy sat up in her bed. "Yeah, that's why he had your wand?"
Jenni turned towards Nancy, "Well what about you and Charlie? Your hero, was it?" She grinned as Nancy turned bright red.
"Well, he did save me. And he had rather strong arms." Nancy winced as she tried to stand up on her wounded leg.
Jenni looked worried, "How are you feeling, really?"
Nancy groaned, "Horrible. My leg is really stiff."
Jenni put her tea down and walked over to her friend. She gasped as she saw Nancy's leg. The scrape was red and oozing a funny colored liquid, and the area around the injury had swollen dramatically overnight. "I think you need to go to the hospital, now," her voice took on a very serious tone.
Nancy didn't dare argue. When Jenni got it in her head that something needed to be done, Nancy learned you might as well do it. In any case she wasn't in any mood to argue. Her leg hurt way too much.
Jenni watched as Nancy limped around the room. She did look rather pale. "Did you want something to eat before we leave?"
Nancy made a face and shook her head. "I don't feel very hungry. Maybe later?"
Jenni sighed, "At least have some tea? You need something."
"Really, it's alright." Nancy continued. "Besides, my stomach feels kind of funny anyway. And if you make one crack about my hero I'll owl Bill and tell him how you've been mooning over him."
"You wouldn't."
Nancy managed a grin, "Wouldn't I?"
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Bill was grinning at his younger brother across the breakfast table. Charlie had a sour look on his face, and was glaring at his tea. It was 7:00 in the morning and he was awake. Bill knew his brother was not a morning person and there had to be a very good reason why he was awake before noon.
"Couldn't sleep?" He asked casually.
Charlie glared. "Yeah, Bill. It's the same reason you couldn't fall asleep until after 4 a.m yourself." Charlie brought his cup to his lips and stopped, smiling suddenly. "However, at least my reason didn't walk off in an angry huff yesterday."
Bill grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be a shoe on the floor and threw it at Charlie.
"Why don't you just go over there and talk to her?" Charlie asked as he ducked the shoe before continuing, "It's obvious you like her."
"Yeah," Bill ran his hand through his hair. "You could say that."
Charlie grinned. "So, what did she do? Fall all over you? Tell you how handsome you were?"
"Believe it or not, no she didn't," Bill retorted as he thought back to yesterday. She was the first girl he'd ever been interested in that hadn't gone out of her way to fawn all over him. In fact, she had done the exact opposite. She had yelled at him, hexed him, called him every name she could think of, and he was still feeling the after effects of her jelly legs jinx. He was grinning broadly, having moved on to remembering the way he felt when he kissed her, when Charlie interrupted him.
"So you gonna go see her or what?"
Bill grinned at Charlie. For once, his brother had a good idea. He tossed Charlie his other shoe. "Yeah, I'm going to see her. And you're coming with me."
The two apparated to the hotel where they had seen the women headed yesterday. Bill stopped just before they approached the entrance. Charlie looked at him with concern, "You ok?"
Bill looked up somewhat nervously. "What if she doesn't want to talk to me?" he muttered, feeling absolutely un-William Weasley-like.
Charlie grinned, "Are you telling me you're scared of a woman? Bill Weasley, what was it you used to always tell me? 'Oh Charlie just go for it. Pour on the Weasley charm and she'll never know what hit her!'"
"You don't understand. She isn't just any girl. I think she's got some sort of immunity to... that kind of stuff."
The look on Bill's face was so uncharacteristically nervous that Charlie had to fight back the laughter. "Come on Bill. You're not backing out on me now." Charlie headed off towards the hotel. He turned around and in his best Quidditch captain voice hollered, "Get a move on Weasley!"
Bill finally snapped out of his daze and followed his brother. At the front desk in the main lobby, the two were trying hard to convince the receptionist in fairly decent Romanian to see the guest registry.
"If you two don't mind, I'm going to ask you to step back from the counter." The receptionist was getting very angry.
"But, I'm telling you, they were here. We saw them yesterday." Charlie was explaining.
"Well, give me their names and I can call them into the lobby for you."
"You can't just give us the room number?" Charlie winked at the lady behind the desk.
"Names?" The glare she sent the younger of the two was enough to rival even McGonagall.
Charlie looked over at Bill and shrugged. "Nancy Gwin."
Bill started grinning, "Not the same Nancy Gwin that Fred and George were always raving about?"
"Yeah, that's the one. Why?" Charlie asked.
"Well, they were always going on about how fabulous she was at Quidditch. And to be friends with."
"I hate to interrupt this nostalgic conversation, but unless the party you're looking for has checked in under another name you're out of luck."
Bill and Charlie both glared at the receptionist. "Try Jenni Ferguson. No.how about Jennifer Ferguson." Bill smiled recalling the look Jenni had flashed Nancy at being introduced with her entire name.
This time it was Charlie's turn to interrupt, "By the way. I went to school with Jenni and I have never once seen her get angry. What did you DO to her?"
"I didn't do anything!" Bill exclaimed. "She, for some odd reason, decided that my sole reason for existing was to be yelled at."
"You didn't do anything?" Charlie looked somewhat bemused. "Somehow, I find that hard to believe."
Bill glared at Charlie. "All I did was try to fix the newspaper she was reading. It was upside down. Her friend thought it was funny."
Charlie nodded back towards the lady behind the counter. "So, what room are they in?" He gave the most devilish grin he could muster while leaning on his arms over the counter.
"There is no one here today by that name." She stared at the two men, her face expressionless.
"What do you mean, no one here by that name? I'm telling you we saw them come in here." Bill's voice had raised a notch.
"I mean, just that. There is no one here by that name." The lady continued to glare. "Now, if you two don't lower your voices, I will call security."
"Imagine that." Charlie replied sarcastically. "Getting kicked out of a hotel for your loud mouth."
"My loud mouth? You were the one trying to hit on the receptionist." Bill retorted.
"Hit on her?" Charlie responded incredulously.
Bill rolled his eyes. "You'll have to excuse my little brother here. What he meant to say is that we just don't understand how it is that a superb establishment such as this one would not be able to keep track of two employees of the Daily Prophet, who were sent down here on assignment. Other than that," Bill grinned at Charlie, "I'm sure Charlie here would love to take you on a date sometime."
Before Charlie could reply the lady answered. "For your information, gentlemen, I am married. I would not go on a date with either of you if I were paid to. And further more, if you would have been so kind as to give me all of the information concerning the party you were looking for, I would have been quite happy to tell you that the employees of the Daily Prophet left only moments ago for vague medical emergency reasons."
The two brothers stared at each other in surprise. This was not what they wanted to hear.
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It had been two weeks since their trip to Romania had ended so abruptly. Nancy was sure of this, because St. Mungo's had given her a trial potion and told her that if it had not cleared up in two weeks, to come back. She had no intention of going back. It was too damn embarrassing to try and explain that she couldn't afford the treatment she knew damn well she needed. She'd spent some time researching her injury on weekends and during lunches.
She knew that Jenni was worried. She kept buying her lunch and trying to get her to take days off. Nancy sighed. She had to come up with a better way to deal with the consequences of the dragon's poison. That last book had been interesting, and she thought that she could brew that elixir herself for a much smaller cost than the hospital would administer it, if she could just find... Shoving this out of her mind for now, she glanced down at her assignment for the day and groaned. The Snape interview.
Across the room, Jenni was watching her best friend with worried eyes. Nancy'd been keeping a secret ever since they'd gotten back from Romania. She'd been sick, too, Jenni was sure of it, despite all of her assurances that the medi-witches had fixed her up those first few days in the hospital. She sighed and looked back down at her desk, catching herself opening the paper to the international section and scanning for pictures with long red hair. Two whole weeks already and he'd never once tried to contact her. Furious with herself for letting her mind drift to the man that incensed her beyond reason, she closed the paper in anger.
She really needed to get her mind off of him. She had told herself after her last boyfriend that she would never allow herself to get hurt by any man ever again. But damned if she didn't find her mind wandering off, thinking about that kiss. Not just once or twice. She thought about it constantly. Jenni felt face getting hot as she remembered the way his eyes had gazed into hers after they broke apart, all warm and... Jenni shook her head to clear her thoughts. Her gaze slipped back over to her wan friend, who was walking nervously toward the bathroom, looking rather green. She knew that Nancy had been crushed not to hear from Charlie.
Jenni herself was furious at the younger Weasley. At least she hadn't really expected to hear from his sneaky older brother, but he'd never given Nancy any indication other than really being interested. No wonder her friend was so crushed. Well, maybe their assignment today would cheer her up. Making the infamous Potions Professor dish about his personal life. Jenni smirked. This was going to be one interesting day. Jenni made a face as she thought about Snape having a relationship. She couldn't help but feel sorry for whoever this poor lady was that had agreed to marry Snape. Shuddering at the thought, she gathered her quill and parchment to get ready for the upcoming interview.
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Pausing in the act of pacing back and forth in the bathroom, Nancy saw that they were due to start in five minutes. 'I have got to pull myself together,' Nancy thought desperately, 'I just have to find that last ingredient and I'll get rid of the nausea...' With a sigh, she cast a temporary stomach settling charm. That would last her for a while, at least. She jumped when Jenni walked into the bathroom.
"You ok?" Nancy winced at the uncertain tone in her friend's voice. She hated keeping stuff from Jenni, and since it was obvious that something was wrong with her, she knew she was hurting her friend by not explaining. Unfortunately, she also had her own share of pride, and wasn't about to put her friend in the position of having to lend her money.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Snape here?"
"He just came in, and there really IS a woman with him..." Despite everything, Nancy giggled at Jenni's _expression. She noticed that her friend had enough paper for the two of them, and suggested, "Wanna go get started?"
"Are you sure you're..."
"Yeah. Let's go -- last one there has to kiss Snape hello!" Avoiding Jenni's eyes, Nancy dashed out of the bathroom, gritting her teeth to keep a smile on her face every time her left leg hit the floor. When she ducked into the conference room, having beaten not only Jenni but Snape and his fiancee, she pulled her wand out and cast a temporary numbing charm on her leg. As long as she remembered not to stand up, she would be fine during the interview.
Jenni watched her go, certain that Nancy had either been crying or being sick just before she'd walked in. She took a second to glare in the mirror, catching her own blue eyes. Blue eyes, red hair... STOP right there Ms. Ferguson! she ordered herself silently. 'This is all his fault, him and his stupid brother,' she thought bitterly. 'Nancy used to tell me everything.' Splashing some water on her face, Jenni sighed and followed Nancy's path to the conference room.
As she walked in, she saw an odd picture. Nancy had dozed off while waiting for everyone, still looking pale and tired, but the part that made Jenni stop and stare was the sight of her one-time potions professor NUZZLING a very pretty woman with long blond hair. After a moment of silence in which she had the very uncomfortable experience of catching the black eyes of Severus Snape mid-nibble, Jenni nudged Nancy awake and managed to say weakly, "Professor, Ms. McAuthor, nice of you to... er... join us."
The couple sat up, with the woman flashing a grin in Jenni's direction. She sat down. Hard. And tried to think of SOMETHING to say while trying to erase the memory of Snape necking from her mind. The only thing she could come up with was the memory of another kiss, and she sank into the memory of a certain redhead's lips.
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Nancy glanced up, why was Jenni so quiet? Huh, well, she had plenty of prepared questions. Feeling that she was missing something, Nancy forged ahead, glancing at the fairly pleasant looking woman sitting next to Snape.
"Well, I guess the first question would be, where did you two meet?" and what kind of spell did he use on you? she thought with a slight grin as the woman, Ms. Zoe McAuthor reached over and took Snape's hand with a smile.
"It was at Hogwarts. I came to England when I was about..."
"That is NOT really important, now is it. All they," Snape had interrupted her answer, shooting a glare at the two reporters, "need to know is that you came to England and we met at Hogwarts."
Nancy almost choked. The woman, Zoe, seemed about to laugh but settled for rolling her eyes.
"What he's saying is, I'm just a tad younger than he is and he gets uptight about it."
Fighting valiantly against her baser instincts, Nancy managed to swallow a clever remark about Snape and age and uptight, but only barely. She glanced over at Jenni, who was usually better at dealing with the tough nuts in an interview, but her friend had a vaguely distant look on her face and didn't seem to be paying attention at all. Fine, she could set him straight on the way to conduct an interview.
"Professor, we are trying to write a profile piece. Age is generally included..."
There was silence around the room. Jenni was still spaced out, Zoe McAuthor was biting her lip as she watched Snape who was sending a death glare at Nancy, who was giving as good as she was getting. After a minute, with neither one backing down, Zoe coughed loudly and said quietly, "You were saying?"
Nancy flushed. How entirely unprofessional of her. Well, at least she was responsive, unlike Jenni...
"Well, all right. How about, where are you from originally, Ms. McAuthor? Is that question allowed?" Shooting one last defiant look at the sulking man across the table, Nancy turned her attention to the pretty woman who was voluntarily sitting next to him.
As the woman grinned at her and started answering, Nancy elbowed Jenni hard, trying to shake her out of whatever daze she'd slipped into.
"Another toughie... see, I grew up in the United States, Maryland to be precise. But when I came to England I learned that I'd actually been born here."
Nancy smiled at her, and her grin grew when Jenni leaned over and whispered angrily, "What was that for? That HURT you know..."
Ignoring her muttered complaint, Nancy followed through on Zoe's last answer. "Wow, Maryland? That's quite a ways from here, how did you wind up there if you were born in England?"
"Well, that's a bit complicated..." the woman grinned slightly, and launched into a description of discovering that her parents were not actually her parents, owl messages from Dumbledore, and was just describing how she had first experienced her magical powers, when Snape finally could no longer contain himself.
"Where, EXACTLY, are you taking this?" he asked Nancy with a tight voice. Then, before she could answer him, he turned to glare at Jenni saying, "and is she even PARTICIPATING in this interview?"
"So tell us about the wedding then. You two must be pretty excited." "We were just getting the story of the lovely lady sitting next to you, Professor."
Jenni and Nancy looked at each other as their answers collided, and Jenni realized with a sinking feeling that she'd already missed most of the interview. Damn Snape and his greasiness, she thought angrily, reminding me of that other kiss... Shaking herself, she shot an apologetic look at poor Nancy and repeated her question.
"Any specific wedding plans you can tell us about?"
Jenni looked at Snape, and recognized the gathering storm on his face. How many times had she used that look to know when she had to sneak Nancy out of the great hall after one of her many pranks had blown up in his face?
"The wedding is private, personal, and none of your business." Snape's eyes flashed dangerously and he bit out each word. This display of temper, however, didn't appear to help his case at all, as all three women stared at him with varying displays of astonishment and amusement on their faces.
"Professor, the wedding is why we are DOING this interview!" Nancy said carefully, not sure how that rather important point could have slipped by the man when setting up this whole meeting.
"The WEDDING," Zoe McAuthor interjected smoothly, shooting a stern look at her fiancé, "is still in its early planning stages, but I can tell you the basics." When Jenni nodded encouragingly, the blonde woman went on to explain the number of guests (around a hundred) and the general location (somewhere in Scotland).
"What about the honeymoon? Is the Professor going to be able to get away from school?"
Snape reddened slightly and snapped, "Again, I don't see..."
Nancy lost it, she was feeling awful and just wanted to go home and curl up in her bed. Why couldn't the man simply cooperate? "Professor. This will be a very SHORT article if you refuse to answer any of our questions."
Jenni shot a look at her that said to stop while she was still alive. Sitting back in her chair, Nancy flushed when Zoe answered with slightly raised eyebrows. "Well, as to a honeymoon... Severus here is quite the romantic. He wants to surprise me." She winked at him and giggled, causing the two journalists to look at each other in silent shock. The woman across the table continued, "Ms. Gwin, would you mind if I asked YOU a question?"
Nancy shifted nervously in her seat wondering just what Snape's fiancee could possibly have to ask her. "Sure, ask me whatever you want."
Zoe flashed a winning smile, "Did my darling Severus happen to be your teacher at one point?"
Nancy grinned back, catching on. "Yep! Seven years of wonderful me!"
"Zoe darling, no need to get into that. This interview is not about me being a professor..."
Nancy managed to cut Snape off before he finished his sentence, "I think he still resents me blowing up the potions class room. Destroyed half of his ingredients my seventh year." Nancy flashed a smile back at Zoe.
Snape glared furiously, "Shouldn't we be getting back to the topic at hand?"
Jenni, sensing the interview about to go downhill, quickly changed the subject. "So, er, what exactly sparked the interest in your relationship?"
Zoe spoke up, quickly cutting off Snape, "Well look at him! I mean, aside from the fact that he's intelligent, strong, brave, alluring, and a whole lot of other nice things. He's so gorgeous." Ignoring the strained smiles of the two girls, she leaned over to him and planted a lingering kiss on his lips. When she finally pulled back, Nancy and Jenni both managed to not meet Snape's eyes for a moment, as all three tried to compose themselves. He spoke first, as he wasn't fighting a case of the giggles.
"And for my answer, well, I would just say that what my Zoe said applies better to her than to me."
Nancy glanced up at him when he spoke, and saw that he was lost somewhere in Zoe's eyes. She almost felt bad for him, knowing as she did the power of a certain pair of deep blue ones. Jenni, who had stayed focused on the ceiling the entire time, broke the moment by saying, "Well, I think that's enough. I know that you two have somewhere else to be. Thanks for your time, and don't forget to stop by and see our photographer on your way out."
She stood and walked to the door, waiting to show them which way to go.
As Snape and Zoe prepared to leave, Nancy muttered the counterspell to the numbing charm she'd put on her leg and hobbled over to where he was helping his fiancee into her cloak.
"Sir?" She cleared her throat, and Snape whirled around, glaring at her.
"What is it NOW, Gwin, need to know what I prefer for breakfast?"
"Actually, I just have a question, if you could step over here for a minute. Excuse me, Ms. McAuthor."
Snape's face was unreadable, and Nancy could feel her hands shaking as they stepped out of hearing range of the other two women.
"Well, Miss Gwin?"
"I just... where can I get... I need, for a..." she paused, trying to pull her thoughts together. Not meeting his eyes, she whispered, "Do you know where I can get Powdered Dodo Claws?"
Snape's eyes widened. "Unless you are much dimmer than I gave you credit for, you are aware that the dodo has been extinct for at least a hundred years." He paused, scanning the room with a glance, and sending some sort of message to his fiancee, who moved to the door and began talking to Jenni.
"Why in Merlin's gaze do you need them? The only potions which require them are rather old and very temperamental cures for dragon bites."
"Sir, no disrespect, but I just need..."
"Unless you have been studying Potions for the last three years with one of the three wizards who have a better grip on them than I do, Miss Gwin, you are not qualified to even think about any of those potions, never mind make them. Send your unfortunate friend to St. Mungo's where they can get proper treatment."
Nancy blinked. "My friend?"
"I am assuming that someone you know has been bitten and does not wish to be healed through normal channels. That is not only stupid, but dangerous. Now, good day, Miss Gwin."
Zoe - this part is totally your fault, but at least you're blond and bootiful. ;)
DeadSEXY - thanks so much for your interest... if I come up with something that I can include you in, I'll let you know!
Louisa!! Always good to see you reading! :)
Karen and Carrie - hi hi hi hi! (Yes, carrie, I'm a bit partial to the big oaf myself...)
A/N - I know that there's not quite as much swooniness as usual... but we're going for PLOT development, here, people. *wink wink*
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Early the next morning, Jenni sat at the table in the hotel room drinking tea. She looked over as Nancy began to wake up. "Someone's up early!" Nancy grinned at her friend. "Thinking of a certain, tall red head are we?"
Jenni glared furiously over her cup of tea. "How are you feeling?" she asked referring to Nancy's leg, deftly changing the subject.
Nancy grinned, "No way are you gonna change the subject that fast! What exactly happened between you two?"
"Nothing." Jenni stood up to walk towards the window. "Absolutely nothing."
Nancy sat up in her bed. "Yeah, that's why he had your wand?"
Jenni turned towards Nancy, "Well what about you and Charlie? Your hero, was it?" She grinned as Nancy turned bright red.
"Well, he did save me. And he had rather strong arms." Nancy winced as she tried to stand up on her wounded leg.
Jenni looked worried, "How are you feeling, really?"
Nancy groaned, "Horrible. My leg is really stiff."
Jenni put her tea down and walked over to her friend. She gasped as she saw Nancy's leg. The scrape was red and oozing a funny colored liquid, and the area around the injury had swollen dramatically overnight. "I think you need to go to the hospital, now," her voice took on a very serious tone.
Nancy didn't dare argue. When Jenni got it in her head that something needed to be done, Nancy learned you might as well do it. In any case she wasn't in any mood to argue. Her leg hurt way too much.
Jenni watched as Nancy limped around the room. She did look rather pale. "Did you want something to eat before we leave?"
Nancy made a face and shook her head. "I don't feel very hungry. Maybe later?"
Jenni sighed, "At least have some tea? You need something."
"Really, it's alright." Nancy continued. "Besides, my stomach feels kind of funny anyway. And if you make one crack about my hero I'll owl Bill and tell him how you've been mooning over him."
"You wouldn't."
Nancy managed a grin, "Wouldn't I?"
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Bill was grinning at his younger brother across the breakfast table. Charlie had a sour look on his face, and was glaring at his tea. It was 7:00 in the morning and he was awake. Bill knew his brother was not a morning person and there had to be a very good reason why he was awake before noon.
"Couldn't sleep?" He asked casually.
Charlie glared. "Yeah, Bill. It's the same reason you couldn't fall asleep until after 4 a.m yourself." Charlie brought his cup to his lips and stopped, smiling suddenly. "However, at least my reason didn't walk off in an angry huff yesterday."
Bill grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be a shoe on the floor and threw it at Charlie.
"Why don't you just go over there and talk to her?" Charlie asked as he ducked the shoe before continuing, "It's obvious you like her."
"Yeah," Bill ran his hand through his hair. "You could say that."
Charlie grinned. "So, what did she do? Fall all over you? Tell you how handsome you were?"
"Believe it or not, no she didn't," Bill retorted as he thought back to yesterday. She was the first girl he'd ever been interested in that hadn't gone out of her way to fawn all over him. In fact, she had done the exact opposite. She had yelled at him, hexed him, called him every name she could think of, and he was still feeling the after effects of her jelly legs jinx. He was grinning broadly, having moved on to remembering the way he felt when he kissed her, when Charlie interrupted him.
"So you gonna go see her or what?"
Bill grinned at Charlie. For once, his brother had a good idea. He tossed Charlie his other shoe. "Yeah, I'm going to see her. And you're coming with me."
The two apparated to the hotel where they had seen the women headed yesterday. Bill stopped just before they approached the entrance. Charlie looked at him with concern, "You ok?"
Bill looked up somewhat nervously. "What if she doesn't want to talk to me?" he muttered, feeling absolutely un-William Weasley-like.
Charlie grinned, "Are you telling me you're scared of a woman? Bill Weasley, what was it you used to always tell me? 'Oh Charlie just go for it. Pour on the Weasley charm and she'll never know what hit her!'"
"You don't understand. She isn't just any girl. I think she's got some sort of immunity to... that kind of stuff."
The look on Bill's face was so uncharacteristically nervous that Charlie had to fight back the laughter. "Come on Bill. You're not backing out on me now." Charlie headed off towards the hotel. He turned around and in his best Quidditch captain voice hollered, "Get a move on Weasley!"
Bill finally snapped out of his daze and followed his brother. At the front desk in the main lobby, the two were trying hard to convince the receptionist in fairly decent Romanian to see the guest registry.
"If you two don't mind, I'm going to ask you to step back from the counter." The receptionist was getting very angry.
"But, I'm telling you, they were here. We saw them yesterday." Charlie was explaining.
"Well, give me their names and I can call them into the lobby for you."
"You can't just give us the room number?" Charlie winked at the lady behind the desk.
"Names?" The glare she sent the younger of the two was enough to rival even McGonagall.
Charlie looked over at Bill and shrugged. "Nancy Gwin."
Bill started grinning, "Not the same Nancy Gwin that Fred and George were always raving about?"
"Yeah, that's the one. Why?" Charlie asked.
"Well, they were always going on about how fabulous she was at Quidditch. And to be friends with."
"I hate to interrupt this nostalgic conversation, but unless the party you're looking for has checked in under another name you're out of luck."
Bill and Charlie both glared at the receptionist. "Try Jenni Ferguson. No.how about Jennifer Ferguson." Bill smiled recalling the look Jenni had flashed Nancy at being introduced with her entire name.
This time it was Charlie's turn to interrupt, "By the way. I went to school with Jenni and I have never once seen her get angry. What did you DO to her?"
"I didn't do anything!" Bill exclaimed. "She, for some odd reason, decided that my sole reason for existing was to be yelled at."
"You didn't do anything?" Charlie looked somewhat bemused. "Somehow, I find that hard to believe."
Bill glared at Charlie. "All I did was try to fix the newspaper she was reading. It was upside down. Her friend thought it was funny."
Charlie nodded back towards the lady behind the counter. "So, what room are they in?" He gave the most devilish grin he could muster while leaning on his arms over the counter.
"There is no one here today by that name." She stared at the two men, her face expressionless.
"What do you mean, no one here by that name? I'm telling you we saw them come in here." Bill's voice had raised a notch.
"I mean, just that. There is no one here by that name." The lady continued to glare. "Now, if you two don't lower your voices, I will call security."
"Imagine that." Charlie replied sarcastically. "Getting kicked out of a hotel for your loud mouth."
"My loud mouth? You were the one trying to hit on the receptionist." Bill retorted.
"Hit on her?" Charlie responded incredulously.
Bill rolled his eyes. "You'll have to excuse my little brother here. What he meant to say is that we just don't understand how it is that a superb establishment such as this one would not be able to keep track of two employees of the Daily Prophet, who were sent down here on assignment. Other than that," Bill grinned at Charlie, "I'm sure Charlie here would love to take you on a date sometime."
Before Charlie could reply the lady answered. "For your information, gentlemen, I am married. I would not go on a date with either of you if I were paid to. And further more, if you would have been so kind as to give me all of the information concerning the party you were looking for, I would have been quite happy to tell you that the employees of the Daily Prophet left only moments ago for vague medical emergency reasons."
The two brothers stared at each other in surprise. This was not what they wanted to hear.
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It had been two weeks since their trip to Romania had ended so abruptly. Nancy was sure of this, because St. Mungo's had given her a trial potion and told her that if it had not cleared up in two weeks, to come back. She had no intention of going back. It was too damn embarrassing to try and explain that she couldn't afford the treatment she knew damn well she needed. She'd spent some time researching her injury on weekends and during lunches.
She knew that Jenni was worried. She kept buying her lunch and trying to get her to take days off. Nancy sighed. She had to come up with a better way to deal with the consequences of the dragon's poison. That last book had been interesting, and she thought that she could brew that elixir herself for a much smaller cost than the hospital would administer it, if she could just find... Shoving this out of her mind for now, she glanced down at her assignment for the day and groaned. The Snape interview.
Across the room, Jenni was watching her best friend with worried eyes. Nancy'd been keeping a secret ever since they'd gotten back from Romania. She'd been sick, too, Jenni was sure of it, despite all of her assurances that the medi-witches had fixed her up those first few days in the hospital. She sighed and looked back down at her desk, catching herself opening the paper to the international section and scanning for pictures with long red hair. Two whole weeks already and he'd never once tried to contact her. Furious with herself for letting her mind drift to the man that incensed her beyond reason, she closed the paper in anger.
She really needed to get her mind off of him. She had told herself after her last boyfriend that she would never allow herself to get hurt by any man ever again. But damned if she didn't find her mind wandering off, thinking about that kiss. Not just once or twice. She thought about it constantly. Jenni felt face getting hot as she remembered the way his eyes had gazed into hers after they broke apart, all warm and... Jenni shook her head to clear her thoughts. Her gaze slipped back over to her wan friend, who was walking nervously toward the bathroom, looking rather green. She knew that Nancy had been crushed not to hear from Charlie.
Jenni herself was furious at the younger Weasley. At least she hadn't really expected to hear from his sneaky older brother, but he'd never given Nancy any indication other than really being interested. No wonder her friend was so crushed. Well, maybe their assignment today would cheer her up. Making the infamous Potions Professor dish about his personal life. Jenni smirked. This was going to be one interesting day. Jenni made a face as she thought about Snape having a relationship. She couldn't help but feel sorry for whoever this poor lady was that had agreed to marry Snape. Shuddering at the thought, she gathered her quill and parchment to get ready for the upcoming interview.
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Pausing in the act of pacing back and forth in the bathroom, Nancy saw that they were due to start in five minutes. 'I have got to pull myself together,' Nancy thought desperately, 'I just have to find that last ingredient and I'll get rid of the nausea...' With a sigh, she cast a temporary stomach settling charm. That would last her for a while, at least. She jumped when Jenni walked into the bathroom.
"You ok?" Nancy winced at the uncertain tone in her friend's voice. She hated keeping stuff from Jenni, and since it was obvious that something was wrong with her, she knew she was hurting her friend by not explaining. Unfortunately, she also had her own share of pride, and wasn't about to put her friend in the position of having to lend her money.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Snape here?"
"He just came in, and there really IS a woman with him..." Despite everything, Nancy giggled at Jenni's _expression. She noticed that her friend had enough paper for the two of them, and suggested, "Wanna go get started?"
"Are you sure you're..."
"Yeah. Let's go -- last one there has to kiss Snape hello!" Avoiding Jenni's eyes, Nancy dashed out of the bathroom, gritting her teeth to keep a smile on her face every time her left leg hit the floor. When she ducked into the conference room, having beaten not only Jenni but Snape and his fiancee, she pulled her wand out and cast a temporary numbing charm on her leg. As long as she remembered not to stand up, she would be fine during the interview.
Jenni watched her go, certain that Nancy had either been crying or being sick just before she'd walked in. She took a second to glare in the mirror, catching her own blue eyes. Blue eyes, red hair... STOP right there Ms. Ferguson! she ordered herself silently. 'This is all his fault, him and his stupid brother,' she thought bitterly. 'Nancy used to tell me everything.' Splashing some water on her face, Jenni sighed and followed Nancy's path to the conference room.
As she walked in, she saw an odd picture. Nancy had dozed off while waiting for everyone, still looking pale and tired, but the part that made Jenni stop and stare was the sight of her one-time potions professor NUZZLING a very pretty woman with long blond hair. After a moment of silence in which she had the very uncomfortable experience of catching the black eyes of Severus Snape mid-nibble, Jenni nudged Nancy awake and managed to say weakly, "Professor, Ms. McAuthor, nice of you to... er... join us."
The couple sat up, with the woman flashing a grin in Jenni's direction. She sat down. Hard. And tried to think of SOMETHING to say while trying to erase the memory of Snape necking from her mind. The only thing she could come up with was the memory of another kiss, and she sank into the memory of a certain redhead's lips.
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Nancy glanced up, why was Jenni so quiet? Huh, well, she had plenty of prepared questions. Feeling that she was missing something, Nancy forged ahead, glancing at the fairly pleasant looking woman sitting next to Snape.
"Well, I guess the first question would be, where did you two meet?" and what kind of spell did he use on you? she thought with a slight grin as the woman, Ms. Zoe McAuthor reached over and took Snape's hand with a smile.
"It was at Hogwarts. I came to England when I was about..."
"That is NOT really important, now is it. All they," Snape had interrupted her answer, shooting a glare at the two reporters, "need to know is that you came to England and we met at Hogwarts."
Nancy almost choked. The woman, Zoe, seemed about to laugh but settled for rolling her eyes.
"What he's saying is, I'm just a tad younger than he is and he gets uptight about it."
Fighting valiantly against her baser instincts, Nancy managed to swallow a clever remark about Snape and age and uptight, but only barely. She glanced over at Jenni, who was usually better at dealing with the tough nuts in an interview, but her friend had a vaguely distant look on her face and didn't seem to be paying attention at all. Fine, she could set him straight on the way to conduct an interview.
"Professor, we are trying to write a profile piece. Age is generally included..."
There was silence around the room. Jenni was still spaced out, Zoe McAuthor was biting her lip as she watched Snape who was sending a death glare at Nancy, who was giving as good as she was getting. After a minute, with neither one backing down, Zoe coughed loudly and said quietly, "You were saying?"
Nancy flushed. How entirely unprofessional of her. Well, at least she was responsive, unlike Jenni...
"Well, all right. How about, where are you from originally, Ms. McAuthor? Is that question allowed?" Shooting one last defiant look at the sulking man across the table, Nancy turned her attention to the pretty woman who was voluntarily sitting next to him.
As the woman grinned at her and started answering, Nancy elbowed Jenni hard, trying to shake her out of whatever daze she'd slipped into.
"Another toughie... see, I grew up in the United States, Maryland to be precise. But when I came to England I learned that I'd actually been born here."
Nancy smiled at her, and her grin grew when Jenni leaned over and whispered angrily, "What was that for? That HURT you know..."
Ignoring her muttered complaint, Nancy followed through on Zoe's last answer. "Wow, Maryland? That's quite a ways from here, how did you wind up there if you were born in England?"
"Well, that's a bit complicated..." the woman grinned slightly, and launched into a description of discovering that her parents were not actually her parents, owl messages from Dumbledore, and was just describing how she had first experienced her magical powers, when Snape finally could no longer contain himself.
"Where, EXACTLY, are you taking this?" he asked Nancy with a tight voice. Then, before she could answer him, he turned to glare at Jenni saying, "and is she even PARTICIPATING in this interview?"
"So tell us about the wedding then. You two must be pretty excited." "We were just getting the story of the lovely lady sitting next to you, Professor."
Jenni and Nancy looked at each other as their answers collided, and Jenni realized with a sinking feeling that she'd already missed most of the interview. Damn Snape and his greasiness, she thought angrily, reminding me of that other kiss... Shaking herself, she shot an apologetic look at poor Nancy and repeated her question.
"Any specific wedding plans you can tell us about?"
Jenni looked at Snape, and recognized the gathering storm on his face. How many times had she used that look to know when she had to sneak Nancy out of the great hall after one of her many pranks had blown up in his face?
"The wedding is private, personal, and none of your business." Snape's eyes flashed dangerously and he bit out each word. This display of temper, however, didn't appear to help his case at all, as all three women stared at him with varying displays of astonishment and amusement on their faces.
"Professor, the wedding is why we are DOING this interview!" Nancy said carefully, not sure how that rather important point could have slipped by the man when setting up this whole meeting.
"The WEDDING," Zoe McAuthor interjected smoothly, shooting a stern look at her fiancé, "is still in its early planning stages, but I can tell you the basics." When Jenni nodded encouragingly, the blonde woman went on to explain the number of guests (around a hundred) and the general location (somewhere in Scotland).
"What about the honeymoon? Is the Professor going to be able to get away from school?"
Snape reddened slightly and snapped, "Again, I don't see..."
Nancy lost it, she was feeling awful and just wanted to go home and curl up in her bed. Why couldn't the man simply cooperate? "Professor. This will be a very SHORT article if you refuse to answer any of our questions."
Jenni shot a look at her that said to stop while she was still alive. Sitting back in her chair, Nancy flushed when Zoe answered with slightly raised eyebrows. "Well, as to a honeymoon... Severus here is quite the romantic. He wants to surprise me." She winked at him and giggled, causing the two journalists to look at each other in silent shock. The woman across the table continued, "Ms. Gwin, would you mind if I asked YOU a question?"
Nancy shifted nervously in her seat wondering just what Snape's fiancee could possibly have to ask her. "Sure, ask me whatever you want."
Zoe flashed a winning smile, "Did my darling Severus happen to be your teacher at one point?"
Nancy grinned back, catching on. "Yep! Seven years of wonderful me!"
"Zoe darling, no need to get into that. This interview is not about me being a professor..."
Nancy managed to cut Snape off before he finished his sentence, "I think he still resents me blowing up the potions class room. Destroyed half of his ingredients my seventh year." Nancy flashed a smile back at Zoe.
Snape glared furiously, "Shouldn't we be getting back to the topic at hand?"
Jenni, sensing the interview about to go downhill, quickly changed the subject. "So, er, what exactly sparked the interest in your relationship?"
Zoe spoke up, quickly cutting off Snape, "Well look at him! I mean, aside from the fact that he's intelligent, strong, brave, alluring, and a whole lot of other nice things. He's so gorgeous." Ignoring the strained smiles of the two girls, she leaned over to him and planted a lingering kiss on his lips. When she finally pulled back, Nancy and Jenni both managed to not meet Snape's eyes for a moment, as all three tried to compose themselves. He spoke first, as he wasn't fighting a case of the giggles.
"And for my answer, well, I would just say that what my Zoe said applies better to her than to me."
Nancy glanced up at him when he spoke, and saw that he was lost somewhere in Zoe's eyes. She almost felt bad for him, knowing as she did the power of a certain pair of deep blue ones. Jenni, who had stayed focused on the ceiling the entire time, broke the moment by saying, "Well, I think that's enough. I know that you two have somewhere else to be. Thanks for your time, and don't forget to stop by and see our photographer on your way out."
She stood and walked to the door, waiting to show them which way to go.
As Snape and Zoe prepared to leave, Nancy muttered the counterspell to the numbing charm she'd put on her leg and hobbled over to where he was helping his fiancee into her cloak.
"Sir?" She cleared her throat, and Snape whirled around, glaring at her.
"What is it NOW, Gwin, need to know what I prefer for breakfast?"
"Actually, I just have a question, if you could step over here for a minute. Excuse me, Ms. McAuthor."
Snape's face was unreadable, and Nancy could feel her hands shaking as they stepped out of hearing range of the other two women.
"Well, Miss Gwin?"
"I just... where can I get... I need, for a..." she paused, trying to pull her thoughts together. Not meeting his eyes, she whispered, "Do you know where I can get Powdered Dodo Claws?"
Snape's eyes widened. "Unless you are much dimmer than I gave you credit for, you are aware that the dodo has been extinct for at least a hundred years." He paused, scanning the room with a glance, and sending some sort of message to his fiancee, who moved to the door and began talking to Jenni.
"Why in Merlin's gaze do you need them? The only potions which require them are rather old and very temperamental cures for dragon bites."
"Sir, no disrespect, but I just need..."
"Unless you have been studying Potions for the last three years with one of the three wizards who have a better grip on them than I do, Miss Gwin, you are not qualified to even think about any of those potions, never mind make them. Send your unfortunate friend to St. Mungo's where they can get proper treatment."
Nancy blinked. "My friend?"
"I am assuming that someone you know has been bitten and does not wish to be healed through normal channels. That is not only stupid, but dangerous. Now, good day, Miss Gwin."