A Cruce Salus

Chapter 4

Yeah, so I'm already dead / On the inside / But I can still pretend / With my memories and photographs / I have learned to love the lie

I wanna know what it's like to be awkward and innocent / Not belligerent / I wanna know how it feels to be useful and pertinent / And have common sense, yeah / Let me in, let me in to the club / Cause I wanna belong and I need to get strong / And if memory serves, I'm addicted to words / And they're useless.

(( LG Fuad by Motion City Soundtrack ))

Strange, sitting at the head table in the Great Hall. Strange, sitting in the Great Hall at all. The Hogwarts of 1977 was so.. pristine. This was a Hogwarts that was in its prime--a Hogwarts Ginny Weasley hadn't seen in a very long while.

What was it going to be like, teaching a bunch of students the same age as she was? Hell, some of them were probably older. After all, she'd only just recently turned seventeen. And after missing out on the last three years of her education...

Well, constant battles and strategies more than qualified her for the job, she supposed. Dumbledore had seemed hopeful when he'd asked; apparently he'd been looking unsuccessfully for a replacement for nearly half a year. The Dumbledore of this period was strange, as well. Granted, she had seen the way he dealt with Death Eaters and suspects, but perhaps she might have recognized him for who he was sooner had he not been acting so.. impatient. Yes, impatient was the word. Being in the middle of the first war must have taken a toll on everyone, the headmaster included. She wondered just how different life would have been had the Boy-Who-Lived not provided that much needed break.

There was a tense, almost strained feeling in the air, Ginny noted as she scanned the hall. The long wooden tables weren't nearly as full as they had been before.

Or.. would be. Time was a strange thing. It was only a matter of years until Harry and herself would sit at those very tables, watching Ron attempt to inhale his plate as Hermione looked on in thinly-veiled disgust. And it was only a matter of years before she'd dash through those doors, throwing spells and curses behind her in an attempt to rid herself of the masked wizards following. Perhaps two timelines were running simultaneously and that very thing was happening right now. Perhaps if she only tried hard enough, she could make contact with them. Warn them, somehow.

But that would be impossible.

"--such a confusing place at first, believe me--I remember! I once tried to get down to this very hall, only to find myself in a girl's lavatory! Got whacked on the head for that one, I did. Swear I still have the bruise! Haha.. oh, it was such a sight, those girls chasing me out as angry as I had ever seen them--"

Ginny was jolted from her thoughts by Slughorn's loud ramblings. Apparently, he'd been talking to her for a while. Good thing she was excellent at tuning people out. It came from the hours of meditation it had required to achieve things like immunization to Veritaserum and becoming an animagus. Unregistered, of course. McGonagall had tried to convince her otherwise, but the need to spy and slip away undetected outweighed the moral decision.

"Sorry, what was that?" Ginny asked.. Samara asked politely as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice, "I didn't hear the last bit."

"Oh, not to worry, Sam!" bellowed Slughorn, "You don't mind if I call you that, do you? Sam? Sa-mare-a is hard to remember, if you ask me. I once knew a Sam, charming fellow. Bit troublesome, though, always getting lost like that. Oh, that reminds me of the time I got lost and ended up in a girl's lavatory! Ever tell you about that one?"

"Yeah, you did.." she began, but the Potions Master cut her off and continued to re-tell the story. Honestly, Ginny doubted if he would notice if she left.

"I've never seen them that angry, thinking I did it on purpose or something, and I was only a first--"

"Horace," she interrupted, but the frustrating man didn't seem to hear her, "Horace. Horace."

Slughorn looked surprised that she was talking. "No need to raise our voices, dear!" he chuckled merrily.

"Yes," she responded through clenched teeth, "wouldn't want to make anyone mad, would we? But as much as I'm.. enjoying talking to you, I'd really appreciate it if you'd fetch me some Dreamless Sleep Potion."

"Well, I don't exactly have any in stock at the moment.." he faltered, not wanting to leave, but his face lit up a few seconds later. "Why don't you ask Madam Pom.. Pom-fries, I think! She's the school nurse, I'm sure she'll have some!"

Ginny pretended to look sympathetic. "Oh, I would, but you see.. I went down there earlier but she was just out! But then, you know what she said to me? She said, 'That Potions Master, Horace, why don't you ask him? Such a handsome, charming fellow; it's always a good day when we get to have a nice long talk. Pity we don't see each other more often--he's such an experienced wizard, lots to discuss in his presence. I'm sure he could brew you some, why, I've never seen a potion he made fail!'"

"She.. she said that?" asked the dumbstruck professor.

"Those exact words," she supplied so innocently that the bumbling fool was sure to believe her.

"Well," he replied, looking even more cheerful (if it was possible), "I never even thought she liked me! Especially after that time she refused to accept one of my Pepper-Ups when she was out on the pretense that 'she wouldn't want to owl a sick child's parents and explain why they would not be coming home this summer.' It just goes to show you! Some people you can never tell with. Playing hard to get, I bet she is. Why, I ought to go talk to her right now!"

"Wait--don't you want to start brewing the potion first?"

"Oh, yes! I tell you, this old memory of mine.. well, I'm off to brew you some Dreamless Sleep! Enjoy your pork chops, Sam."

"Oh, I will."

Watching Slughorn practically skip out the hall, she bit back a laugh. That was just too easy.

"Well, if you can't teach your students to head off Death Eaters, at least you can teach them to head off their Potions Master."

Ginny laughed good-naturedly this time at the Transfiguration teacher's comment. Trying not to think about what would happen to her, she responded, "Well, if you can't teach them that, what can you teach them?"

"You know, I could be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure that's not the way most professors arrive."

All things considering, Sirius's comment summed up the thoughts of the group.

Well, most of them anyway.

James, who was relishing in the fact that he could finally spend some time with his newly-made girlfriend, had grown bored with the situation quickly. The two had just caught each other in a passionate kiss.

Sirius and Peter, who were sitting across from the couple, quickly turned their backs and stared up at the ceiling.

"FASCINATING, how the rain just STOPS like that before HITTING us!"

"PRESICELY, Wormtail, presicely! MAGIC, I think it's called!"

Remus looked up from his schedule.

"You two can look again, they've finished."

"Finally," said Peter, though it had only lasted ten seconds, "I think my neck is stiff."

"Damn it, you two," said Sirius, "next time just ask me for my Galleons and you can get yourself a nice hotel rom."

Lily had gone slightly red in the face. "Shut up, Black," she warned.

Sirius put his hand over his heart in stage-hurt. "I see how it is, dear Lily-flower. You've finished insulting James-the-Toerag and his accomplice, the Inflatable Head, and now you've moved on to me."

"James-the-Toerag and his accomplice, the Inflatable Head, huh? That has a nice ring to it," said James.

"Thank you, Prongs! At least someone appreciates my starving talent!"

"Padfoot, the only 'starving talent' you've got is the ability to realize when is a good time to shut up."

"You too, Moony? Now you're ALL out to get me? What's next? Peter attacking my relationship status?"

"In case you're done--"

"Actually, I have a few more things--"

"In case you're done, our first class with her is this Thursday."

Sirius and Peter looked confused.

"For Merlin's sake, you two, our first class with Professor Davidson!"

Peter cocked his head to the side.

"Mystery girl!" said Remus exasperatedly.

"Oh.." the pair said simultaneously.

"You know, I could be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure that's not the way most professors arrive."

"Yes, I think you've established that, Sirius," said Lily, wondering whether he was saying that to be annoying or if he'd forgotten he already said it. Probably the latter, she decided.

"Well," said a voice from the head table rather loudly. James, Sirius, Peter and Remus looked to the far end of the hall to see their Potions Master talking excitedly to the new teacher. She wassmiling and nodding complacently. A little while later, Slughorn bounded off to the double doors. McGonagall said something to Davidson and they both laughed appreciatively. Sirius tried not to notice how attractive this "Samara" was when she threw her head back.

As if feeling their eyes on her, her head turned in their direction and made eye contact. She nodded again as if to thank them, this time, raising her glass as well. She took a sip of it as the marauders did the same.

This small acknowledgment of each other's presence only made each party more eager to meet the other.

They were given that chance when, some twenty minutes later, Samara Davidson made her excuses and stood up to leave. Remus, who had been the only one to notice, stopped the other three in what they were doing. Making sure she was safely out of the hall, James kissed his girlfriend goodbye, and they stood up to follow.

What they didn't expect was to find the woman-in-question waiting outside for them.

She looked at the four for a moment before saying softly, "I figured."

The four were so pleased that they finally had a chance to talk properly to the person they'd been so curious about for nearly a week that when she started walking, they continued to follow her.

Apparently, this was what she wanted, as she started walking in step with them.

"Thank you," she said, "I've been in a lot of near death experiences, but I probably wouldn't have made it if you lot hadn't found me."

"How--" began Remus.

"Oh, Dumbledore told me. The infamous marauders, right?"

Sirius smiled suavely. "At your service."

She laughed. Laughing was good, right?

"If you don't mind us asking," began Remus, "how did you.. well.."

"End up the way you were?" provided James.

"I'm an auror." Well, unofficially, she added silently. "Plus, I grew up in Lancaster--that's west of London--where most of the action is."

"You're an auror?" asked James.

"That's incredible!" said Sirius.

"We're both signing up as soon as we graduate."

"What's it like?"

"It must be--"

"Guys," cut in Remus.

"No, it's fine," said Samara amusedly, "To tell you the truth, it's amazing. I mean, knowing you might be dead or worse at any moment and using everything you have to prevent that.. it's undescribable."

Caught up in her depiction, she had never looked better to James and Sirius, who were captivated. "The adrenaline rush must be unreal."

"One of the many reasons I'm a suffering insomniac," she said mock dramatically.

"So," said Peter uneasily, "who did that to you? And how did you get here?"

She hesitated slightly.

"Honestly? I have absolutely no idea. How I got here, anyway. One minute I'm duelling a bastard named Parker, and the next minute.. well.. it kind of went dark. As for who did it to me--pretty much every Death Eater there."

"So let me get this straight," said James. "You came here directly from a battle?"

"Wicked," Sirius said under his breath.

Remus looked confused. "A battle miles of way? And you came here like--like that?"

"Like I said--absolutely no idea."

At this point, they reached the Defense classroom and office, which the boys now realized was where they had been heading.

Dissapointed, Remus began to say, "Well, we'd better--"

"Are you serious? It's only eight o'clock!"

And with that, the five walked through the classroom to her office. But where the office should have been was a common room leading to an office, a bathroom, a bedroom, a kitchen and another room whose door was shut.

"Where's the office?" asked Peter stupidly.

"I may have enlargened it a bit," Samara said, smirking, "sorry if it's a bit.. bare. I haven't really done much with it yet. Stay here."

The boys sat down on a brown leather couch as the professor disappeared into her kitchen.When she came back, she had five firewhiskies in hand. Noting their disbelieving looks after tossing one to each, she explained, "Think of it as a thank you."

James laughed. "Well, if it's a thank you, then technically, Remus shouldn't even get one."

"True," agreed Sirius, "He wasn't even there."

"Then think of it as a.. housewarming party, I suppose. But don't tell anyone.They'd probably fire me if you did."

"Nah," said James, twisting the cap off of his, "They were too desperate. Dumbledore had enough to do without filling in everyday."

"Probably; after all, I wasn't even the one to bring up the opening." Samara took off her robe and settled into an armchair. Underneath, she had on a pair of dark wash jeans and a purple silk camisole. "I prefer muggle clothing to robes. Much less stifling." Looking thoughtful, she added, "Well, actually, I prefer battle robes, but wearing them wouldn't have made a very good impression."

"It would've on us."

"Cheers. So, how did you find me? Dumbledore just told me that you levitated me to the hospital wing."

"It's a bloody good thing we excel at creating havoc," James noticed.

"Right you are, mate," said Sirius, "We had detention in the library and ran across some rather.. unfriendly copies. Anyway, long story short: Peter fucked a few things up and we ended up escaping Madam Pince's and a few of her books' wrath."

"We stopped at the Astronomy Tower when all of the sudden, there was a bunch of blue light and heard someone scream."

"We found you tumbling down the stairs, unconscious."

Samara was silent for a few seconds. "Blue..?" she said eventually.

"Yeah."

"That's.. odd.."

She shook her head and took a sip from her bottle.

"Nevermind. I'm sure you don't want to talk about this all night."

"Well, we wouldn't mind," said Sirius smoothly, "but what do you say we do something a bit more fun?"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Padfoot?"

"Pretty sure I am, Prongs."

"Miss Davidson, what do you say to a game of I Never?"

Author's Note: You Should Probably Read This. I'd Appreciate It, Anyway.

I'm not terribly fond of leaving massive author notes, but I have a few things to say.

First off, sorry for the long wait. I've had a lot of things going on in my life right now, including my sister and I crashing & trashing her car, which was really scary and took a while to recuperate from. I haven't had much time to write, but the reviews made me really want to, so thank you to everyone who took the time to comment. I try to respond to everyone, but like I said, I haven't had much time, so if I didn't respond to you yet from last chapter, let me know and I will.

Also, I'm the kind of author who has to wait for inspiration to hit her or writing will become a chore. When that happens, I'm prone to abandoning. Thankfully for you guys, I have lots more time on my hand and inspiration hit me quite suddenly last night. The next chapter should be out within the weekas long as there is at least 35 total reviews for the story.

Hope this makes up for the long wait! I'm quite proud of this chapter, so have fun reviewing. Please.