Disclaimer: yes, it is still Rowlings characters I'm playing with.
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Chapter three: Boxing day
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Sarah was lying on her bed, sharing a cigarette with her sister, who was lying next to her.
They looked much the same. She too had dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. They had the same perfect nose and the same full lips, the same height. She was a little older, and compared to Sarahs usual waistlenght hair, the womans hair was much shorter, reaching only above her chest.
« When was he supposed to be here?», Roxanna asked as she handed the cigarette back to her younger sister. « Around noon», Sarah said and blew smoke towards one of the posters on her wall.
She had spent the last month preparing for today. She had quit her job, left school, canceled the lease on her apartment and was back in her hometown. She had been there a week now, doing little other than waiting for boxing day.
Her bag was waiting in the corner, stuffed with her books, clothes and everything else she wanted to bring. The extension charm had done its part to help. Without that she would probably have needed three trunks, just to carry her books. Roxanna got up and started pacing the room, wondering how Sarah could be so calm. Snape was more than five hours late, and Roxanna seemed on the brink of hysteria.
With a massive sigh, Roxanna slumped back down on the bed. « I cant believe you are so calm! He should have been here hours ago! What if he forgot? What if something happened? How can you not be worried? Why dont you call him and see where he is?!»
Sarah sat up and slapped her sister upside the head, « Call him? Would that be on the cell-phone he doesn't have?».
At that moment the doorbell rang. Roxanna jumped off the bed, « What if thats him!?».
« You wont know if you don't open the door now, will you?», Sarah said and let her self fall back on the bed. Roxanna was out the door in a second, and from the loud thump, she probably jumped down the stairs. Sarah lied in bed and finished her cigarette. Unlike her overly excited sister, she was calm and almost sleepy.
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« He is here!», Roxanna squealed as she entered the room again a few minutes later.
Sarah pulled herself off the bed. « How should I have my hair?». She had grown tired of the short, lilac hair she had been sporting the past couple of days.
« You dont have time to think about your hair! He's waiting! Go!»
« No, I think I want to change my hair first. Waiting a few minutes, wont kill him».
Now it was Roxanna's turn to slap Sarah upside the head. « Sarah the vindictive», she teased.
Sarah turned her hair blonde and spent a little too long examining herself in the mirror.
« dont go blonde, how about a deep wine red?», Roxanna suggested, more for a laugh than anything.
Sarah tried it, and didn't hate it too much.
« So what do you think of him?»
« He is no Alan Rickman, and a bit younger than I expected», Roxanna said and suggested that Sarah turn her hair straight. « Please! No one is a Rickman...», Sarah snorted.
« Stephen is a Rickman...», Roxanna said airily.
Again Sarah snorted. « You have to say that, you're engaged to him». Then she focused back on her hair.
« You hair looks fine! Will you go already? Before he leaves without you!».
Roxanna practically shoved her sister out the door.
« Eager to get rid of me?», Sarah laughed as she finally went downstairs.
ooo
Snape was standing in the hallway talking to Sarah's father, when he saw her come down the stairs beaming at them both. He stopped mid sentence, as he realised that he had forgotten how beautiful she was. He quickly pulled himself together again, and snapped at her, « I thought you would be ready by now!»
« Oh, I am ready» she said back, in a sweet voice, pretending she didn't hear the harsh tone in his.
Moving a little slower than she usually would have, she put on a white coat, and spent far to much time buttoning up and making sure her belt was tight enough.
Roxanna came running down the stairs. « You forgot your bag!».
« Are you ready now?», Snape snarled. « Yes», Sarah replied. Again in a voice dripping with honey, again ignoring his growl. Sarah gave her father and sister a quick hug.
Snape put his arms around her, inhaled her jasmine perfume and turned on the spot.
Then the darkness was crushing down on her again. It was nowhere near as scary as the last time, but still unpleasant and Snape holding her so hard it hurt.
ooo
They apparated into a back alley to leading to the main street of Diagon Alley.
« Do you have your list?», he asked, all of a sudden in a much nicer tone
She reached into her pocket and withdrew a folded piece of parchment.
« Yes, sir!» she said, almost jokingly.
«We will need gold, so Gringotts first, then we'll work our way down the list».
She agreed, and they went out into the main street and made their way towards Gringotts.
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The Kessler family vault consisted of two rooms. In the first there were three rather large chests of gold. 215,982 galleons according to the goblin accompanying them.
With a sneer, the goblin further informed her that it was not exactly an insane fortune, but enough to get her by. Sarah wasn't really paying attention to him anyway.
She stepped into the second, much larger room. It looked like a storage room. The room was filled to the brink with furniture, trunks, paintings, everything and anything that had been in her grandfathers house before he had sold it to come live with them. She opened a trunk to find it full of books. So was the second trunk she opened.
She kneeled down to examine some of the titles. Two of the books caught her attention at once. She took them out, but barely got a chance to flip the first page, before Snape was calling for her, sounding rather angry.
She stuffed the two books in her bag, and went to see what he wanted.
« How much gold do you wish to take with you?», the goblin asked her. Sarah had no idea.
« What do you think, Professor?»
« Give her five hundred galleons, that should last a while», he said to the goblin.
As the goblin was counting up gold for her, Sarah turned to go back into the other room, but Snape stopped her. « Miss Kessler, we do not have all day», he said, and went outside to wait for her.
« Yes, we do», she thought, but didn't protest. She took the moneybag from the goblin and let him guide her out.
ooo
There weren't too many people out and about today, and she was happy about this. As exciting as it was, being here in Diagon Alley, she could not wait to get back to Hogwarts, climb into her bed, and pour over her books.
Shopping with the infamous professor, turned out to be an almost enjoyable experience. He hardly said two words, but at least he was not snapping at her anymore, and even his brisk hurried pace slowed down, and he seemed more relaxed. He had even almost smiled when her wand turned out to be ebony and dragon heart string.
« That's a very good wand, temperamental, but very accurate. I believe its the same as yours, Professor», Olivander had pointed out. «It is», he had replied quietly.
She had looked down on the beautiful black wand that had seemed to merge with her hand the instant she touched it. They had the same wand, did that mean that she could have the same excellence in potions as he had? She hoped so! It was already so intriguing to her.
They had worked their way through the list, she now had parcels full of robes, cauldrons, quills, ink, and a brand new fully stocked potions set, that she secretly and desperately yearned to wear out.
She needed her books, and a few other little things, and they could be heading home. Home.
It was weird calling Hogwarts home, but thats what it was now, wasn't it?
«Yes it was home», she thought and smiled.
She found she wasn't bothered at all about the fact that he talked so little. She wasn't exactly the person for small talk, so she didn't say much to him either.
Infact she quite liked this comfortable silence between them.
ooo
Entering Flourish and Blotts for the first time, was an experience Sarah would never forget. Rows upon rows upon rows of books. Books seemed to cover every inch of the shop!
«Look at this place!» she said in awe, «I could live here...»
« Wait till you see the library at Hogwarts» he said and this time she could actually see a faint smile on his lips.
«Severus!», a man said behind them. Both Sarah and Snape turned simultaneously to see who it was.
«Hello, Lupin», Snape said in a slightly cold, yet polite tone.
« Hello, Snape» said another man emerging from behind a bookshelf. Sarah could immediately see who it was. He had hair just like Sarah, so dark brown one would mistake for black, reaching just below his shoulders, it was straight and silky with perfect curls forming at the tips with a sort of casual elegance, a twinkle in his grey eyes, and a confident smile on his juicy lips.
« He is gorgeous!» She thought to herself, trying not to stare and drool.
Sirius Black, in the flesh, more godlike in his beauty than she had ever imagined.
He caught her eye, then looked back at Snape and said, « Why Snape, it is certainly not every day one sees such an astounding beauty by your side!», then he took her free hand, and kissed it ever so gently, and introduced himself. She blushed, and from the corner of her eye, she saw Snapes face turn to stone. Lupin turned to her now, with a smile more humble than Sirius'.
« You must be Sarah» he said and shook her hand heartily, « Dumbledore said we might meet you here. I understand you will be assisting Professor Burnett, whilst studying at Hogwarts?» She gave a nod. « Well then, I am Remus Lupin, and I will be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. As we will be colleagues as well, you can call me Remus». Sarah beamed at him.
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« Shall we go find your books?», Snape interrupted, and was about to lead her further into the store, but Sirius took Sarahs arm with his own and kept her there.
« Tell me, how does it feel, being ripped from one reality and tossed into a new one?», he asked her before she even had time to react to Snapes suggestion.
It turned out that both Lupin and Sirius already knew most of Sarah's background, thanks to Dumbledore no doubt, but Sirius seemed eager to know more.
Sarah chatted away and didnt notice that the potions master seemed bothered and uncomfortable.
He was fidgeting, and looked desperate to get away. Nor did she notice that the more annoyed Snape looked, the more eager Sirius became to learn more about her.
« If you give me the list, I can get the books, while you stay here and chat!» Snape finally snapped at her, in the same harsh, sarcastic voice as before. He snatched the book list out of her hand and disappeared behind a bookshelf.
«But...» she had started, but he was already gone. Seeing the hurt look on her face, Sirius nudged her and said, «don't mind him, he is just a cranky, old git!»
«No, he is not!» Sarah replied, and forgetting all politeness, she went on, « He was actually quite pleasant and cheerful until you lot showed up».
Sirius and Lupin laughed, and Sarah could not help but to laugh too. She knew that calling Snape cheerful, was not stretching the truth, it was down right lying.
«Well, at least you have a sense of humor, you'll be needing that, trust me» Sirius winked at her, and she was lost in thoughts of how none of her fantasies had ever done him justice. He was the very definition of handsome.
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Then the subject of the unbinding ritual came up. Both wizards knew about it, but neither had ever had the opportunity to partake in one, so specially Lupin was really curious about it.
Of course Sarah had been unconcious almost the entire time, but told them what the experience had been for her, and making it sound downright pleasant compared to what it really had been like.
She neglected to mention that according to Dumbledore, Snape hadn't left her bedside for a second. After all, she still had a hard time believing that herself. Instead she went on about how it had been first entering the potions classroom, and how facinated she was by all the jars, and flagons.
How chemistry, which was the muggle equivalent to potions, she explained, had always been her favorite and best subject in school.
« And I just can't wait for my lessons to start!» she exclaimed eagerly.
« Miss Kessler, I am leaving now. Will you join me or do you wish to finish up on your own?»
Sarah turned to see Snape, frowning behind her. She barely had time for a quick goodbye, before she almost had to run to catch up with him.
Snape didnt say a single word to her for the rest of the day. Which wasnt much different from earlier, except that the comfort Sarah had enjoyed so much was gone, and replaced by a tension so heavy, one would have needed a chainsaw to cut through it.
ooo
When they finally returned to Hogwarts, Dumbledore was waiting for them in the entrance hall.
It was late, and both the castle and grounds were lit up only by a few torchlights here and there.
As soon as they greeted him, Snape bid them good night and hurried off down a flight of stairs.
« Thank you for today!», Sarah called after him, but he either ignored her, or he didnt hear her.
Dumbledore gave her the same kind of wink and smile that Sirius had given her at Flourish and Blotts. The kind that said: 'don't let him get to you'.
« Shall I walk you to your room then?», he added in a broader smile. He offered to help her with her parcels as well, but Sarah declined. She had no trouble carrying them on her own.
As they walked, Dumbledore explained that last time she had been in one of the guestrooms, and that now she would be staying in the eastwing, where the staffs quarters were.
The room he led her to this time was more a small apartment than a single room. They came into a living room, with a grey marble fireplace and two green and gold velvet baroque style sofas in front of it. Over the fireplace, hung the Slytherin emblem, in all its silver and green glory.
Between the sofas there was a small coffetable, painted gold, with carvings that matched. There was also a small dining table with four chairs, that seemed made to match the sofas as well. The curtains of the rooms three large windows, were also from the same green velvet with gold embroideries.
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« Beyond that door is the bedroom, the one on the left is the study, and over there is the bathroom».
Sarah lay the parcles down on the dining table and looked around.
« Isnt this a bit much? For just me, I mean?», she asked and calculated that her new quarters were bigger than her old apartment.
« It is the only vacant room in the staff wing», Dumbledore said, « there are only four rooms of this size, reserved for the heads of house. However, Severus chose his quarters elsewhere, and prefers them, and no one else has asked to move in here, so it has been sitting empty for eighteen years».
« Where does that door lead?». Sarah had stepped into the study and noticed a door on the opposite wall.
« That used to lead to the Slytherin common room. All the heads have a door like that in their rooms. Instant access in case of emergencies and such. Of course, it has been closed off and the connection moved to Severus' room, but if you find somewhere in the castle you wish to have connected to the door, just ask», Dumbledore replied and lit the fire for her, then he stepped into her bedroom and did the same in the identical but smaller fireplace in there.
« Any questions?», he asked when back in the living room. Sarah shook her head.
« Right, if there is anything you need, just call for a houseelf», and with that he wished her a good night and left.
ooo
Sarah undressed and threw her clothes carelessy onto the living room floor before going into the bedroom. She was too tired to bother unpacking, or even brushing her teeth.
When she saw the bedroom, she shuddered. The room was enterely decorated in the same gaudy baroque style as the living room. The same green velvet hung from the windows, and from the giant fourposter bed. Every piece of furniture was carved, goldpainted wood, and all Sarah could think was if she would be allowed to redecorate the room.
She climbed into the bed, which was standing on an elevated part of the floor, and with the three matresses was so high up that she literally had to climb in. The sheets were soft, luxurious cotton, but again in that same green and gold combination that dominated. Sarah cursed the former head of Slytherin and his pompous, and flashy taste.
As she settled down, she thought of the day shopping, and her grandfathers vault. Well, technically it was her vault now. She became annoyed with Snape for not letting her explore the second room further, and then she remembered how he had almost acted like a normal human today, before, like lighting out of a blue sky, he had transformed back into a growling mongrel.
Just because she spent five minutes talking to Sirius and Lupin.
She fell asleep thinking that Sirius was indeed right. « Snape was a cranky, old git».
ooo
At the crack of dawn, sunlight fell in through the east facing window of Sarah's new bedroom.
She dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. A full bladder could be quite commanding.
When she came back out, there was a little more light in the room and she was little more awake.
She noticed that her parcels were gone. So was her clothes which she had left in a pile the previous night.
A quick look around explained everything. All of her things had been unpacked and neatly placed on the shelves in the study, or in the dresser and closet in the bedroom. Last nights clothes were folded neatly on one of the chairs in the bedroom, and they smelled freshly laundered. She searched through the cabinets in the bathroom, and found her toothbrush, along with the rest of her cosmetics.
As she was getting ready, someone knocked on her door. She threw on a bathrobe, and went to open the door, still brushing her teeth. It was Lupin, looking as tired as she felt.
« I thought I'd escort you to breakfast», he said, sounding much more awake and cheerful than he looked. Sarah nodded and waved him into the room, before going back to the bathroom.
« So what do you think of Slughorn's old room?», he asked in a suggestive tone.
Sarah came back out of the bathroom and vanished off into her bedroom to get dressed.
« I like it...», she lied, not too convinsingly.
Soon she came out, fully dressed. « It's a great room! It's just...»
« Absolutely hideous?», Lupin suggested. « Something like that», Sarah laughed.
« If you need help transfiguring the furniture, just let me know, or you could ask the houseelves. They are really good at decorative stuff, if you just explain clearly what you want».
Sarah nodded and looked around, she would definately have to change the room as soon as possible.
ooo
When they entered the great hall it was almost empty.
There were some students there, but very few as most students spent the holidays with their families. The curved staff table however was full of people. She was introduced to every one, and Lupin took her to sit next to him on the end of the table. She glanced around the great hall, and the wizards and hoped she didnt look too much like a tourist.
She felt a bit nervous a first, sitting at the staff table, everyone around her, so knowledgable and experienced, and she knew less than the two firstyears sitting at the Ravenclaw table.
But she found comfort in Lupin, was next to her, and talked to her as if they were old friends, even though she had only met him for the first time yesterday. Soon she felt more at ease, and dared talk to the other professors around the table.
Some were just as she had expected to be, including Mcgonagall, Flitwick and Sprout. Then there was Sinistra, who she had always imagined as a relatively young, beautiful witch, was old and wispy.
Professor Vector, who Sarah had read was a witch, was infact a wizard, and Professor Binns was certainly no ghost. Although, over the following weeks, Sarah would find out that he was boring enough to be one.
Sarahs eyes roamed the length of the table, she noticed Hagrid was not there, and Snape sitting at the opposite end of the table, had ignored her completely since she had entered the hall. She made a mental note of not saying a single word to him, unless he spoke first.
Sarah looked at Snape. He was lost in a book, and his plate was untouched.
She couldnt help but bite back a smile, there was something very familiar about that image.
ooo
As Dumbledore was leaving the table, he handed her a roll of parchment. It was her lesson plans for the entire semester. She was to start with Transfiguration on the following Monday, Charms on Tuesday, then Herbology, Defence against the Dark Arts and finally Potions on Fridays.
Each lesson started at three, and lasted six hours, with a one hour break for dinner at seven.
Further down the roll were list of which chapters she would need to read in order to prepare for each individual class. In addition to the booklist she had already been given, Dumbledore had added a list of librabry books that were not in the ciriculum, but would be a useful to read anyway. The list of potions books alone went on for five inches. Apparently all the professors expected her to cover the theoretical on her own, and only focus on practical and spellcasting during lessons.
Apart from her lessons, she had decided that she would also study magical history, ancient runes, arithmancy and astronomy on her own. These were subjects she could easily learn from books, without really needing to attend classes. Besides all the teaches had assured her that if she had questions, or needed some deeper explination, she could come talk to them.
ooo
Sarah spent the week between Christmas and New Years Eve, exploring the castle between meals, and she was often found in the staff room, so lost into a book she probably would not have looked up even if a troll danced by in a tutu. She got along well enough with the other teachers, mostly with Lupin, as he was after all the one closest to her age.
But she enjoyed spending time alone, walking around and just looking. She had not yet dared venture down into the dungeons though, she felt that was his territory, and would not want to intrude if she was not welcome.
She had even been to see Professor Burnett on Wednesday and they had made up next terms lesson plans together.
She had not talked to Snape, or even seen him except at meals, and that one time in the staff room when she had been sitting in one of the armchairs facing the fire, and was so engulfed in her potions book, that she hadnt noticed him come in and sit down on one of the sofas in the room. Snape had been so deeply devoted to his own book that he had not spotted her either. Only after several hours when they both had, coincidentally, decided to get up at the same time, had they become aware of the others presence. He had seen the potions book in her hand and looked as if he wanted to say someting, but instead he had just left the room.
ooo
On the surface everything seemed perfectly fine, but there were things troubling Sarah as well.
Mainly the fact that ever since her unbinding, she had a hard time sleeping properly. Not every night, but some nights she would have nightmares. Well, they werent really nightmares, more disdurbing dreams. The night before New Years Eve, Sarah again woke up from a cloudy mess of dreams.
It was always the same. It felt like her mind was haunted.
Sarah got out of bed, and opened the window to get some of that icecold midnight air in. The view of her new room was over the great lake, which in the night looked like nothing more than a boundless mass of black. The grim view didnt do much to help her mood, so Sarah threw on one of her newlybought cloaks over the huge t shirt she slept in, pulled on a pair of jeans and set out into the halls of the school.
It might have seemed that Sarah was wandering aimlessly, but she knew exactly where she wanted to go. As high up as possible, which meant the astronomy tower.
When up there she stood in one of the glass-less vindows and inhailed the night air as deeply as she could. She pulled the cloak tighter around her, but became aware that the cloak was made of a finer, denser wool than the two she had bought. When she looked down at her feet, the bottom two inches of the cloak were dragging on the floor. It was clearly far too big for her. This was not her cloak.
She remembered that the last time she was here, the houseelves had packed her bag for her, and they must have thought it was her cloak hanging on the back of the chair. When she returned home, she hadnt unpacked either, just fished out the things she needed and let the rest stay in the bag.
Right now she didnt really care who's cloak it was. It was freezing in the tower, and the cloak was soft and warm. She crouched down on the floor with her back to the wall, pulled the hood up and wrapped the cloak even tighter around herself. The cloak smelled like a kitchen pantry. Peppermint, rosemary, liqourice, anise, vanilla, coriander and cumin. The was a familiarity and safety in that smell.
Sarah pulled her knees up to her chest, and rested her head on them. The cloak became like a sort of cocoon, covering her completely and sheltering her from the outside.
ooo
Sarah was not the only one that couldnt sleep that night. Someone else was also wandering the halls, feeling the strange beckon of the astronomy tower.
« Are you alright?», a soft gentle voice asked, and there was a hand on her shoulder.
«Miss. Kessler, is everything ok?» a slightly nervous tone in the voice, the hand gripping her shoulder tightly.
She opened her eyes, and found herself staring into a pair of black, unfamiliar eyes. They weren't the slits of angry black she had become used to, but wide, and almost placid. There was a little more light in the tower now. It was close to dawn. She must have slept for hours.
«Professor Snape, I- », but he cut her off, « you seem alright to me». He shrugged and turned to leave.
«No, Professor, please dont go». He stopped, but did not turn around.
« Please, will you stay here with me? You dont have to talk to me, but will you please sit with me for a while?»
She needed him right now, she needed company but not conversation. She needed that same comfortable silence they had found in Diagon Alley, the unspoken understanding.
He had meant to leave, to tell her he did not have time for such noncence. Sitting in the astronomy tower in the middle of the night, looking at the walls. But then there was the slight quiver in her voice, the earnest plea for him to stay. He remembered her screams of pain. She needed him.
He said nothing, barely even looked at her, but sat down on the floor next to her.
They sat there side by side, without speaking, neither of them felt the need to say anything.
ooo
More light was pouring in through the windows now, it was dawn. She was resting her head on his shoulder. He was inhaling her subtile perfume with every breath.The rest of the night had passed, without a single word uttered between them, yet he felt so close to her for some reason. It was strange how the silence had created a connection between them.
He reached for her hand, and just as he took it, he noticed the scars on her wrist and forearm.
Sarah felt his gaze and quickly withdrew her hand, and was up on her feet in a split second.
The comfort was broken. She was red in the face. He got up too, he was daring himself to say something, anything. She thanked him gratiously for helping her through the night, and almost ran down the stairs and was gone. At first he was infuriated, here he had sat with her half the night, and she just ran out on him like that. And to make matters worse, just as he had finally dared take her hand, she had shrugged it back!
Then he thought of the scars on her wrist, and lower arm. They were deep and badly healed.
A feeling of understanding came over him. He pulled up the sleeve of his left arm and looked at it.
He realised he would probably have reacted the exact same way, if he had noticed her staring at his arm. He pulled his sleeve back down and headed down towards his rooms to change before breakfast.
On the way he couldnt keep her out of his mind. It was so obvious what those scars meant, and again he thought that there was something very tender underneath the fortress she apparently set up.
ooo
She was sitting at the table as he entered, he noticed she too had changed clothes. Lupin was telling her something, but she did not seem to hear. She glanced at him, saw him looking at her, and smiled at him, ever so slighty, as if to apologise for running out on him. He gave her a little nod.
« It's alright. I understand».
ooo
Sarah was deep in her own thoughts at the breakfast table. She could still not shrug off the dreams of the night before. It was a right mess of expressions. Like there were a thousand voices speaking to her at once, and the scene kept changing. Jumping from one to another, so fast it was like random pictures with no connection to eachother.
«And then Sirius sprouted breasts and ran off to join the circus»
«Oh thats great» she muttered, but somehow that didnt seem quite right. «I'm sorry, what did you say?» she looked at Lupin, who was laughing. « you havent heard a word I've said all morning have you? I just said it to see if you were listening»
« I'm sorry, Remus, I hardly slept at all last night, and ... well nevermind that. What were you saying that I didn't catch?» she turned towards him to show he had her full attention.
He laughed again. She liked Remus because he always laughed, and was so open and easy to talk to. He had become her closest friend within a week.
« I was asking if you would like to come with me to the forbidden forrest. After breakfast, I have some business there, and i thought you might like it. Seeing as you've never been there.»
« A guided tour in the forbidden forrest...? I'd love that! Have you finished eating? Can we go?»
she got up from her chair immediately, and pulled him with her. They excused themselves quickly and hurried out into the grounds, Lupin laughing at her eagerness to explore, he had barely had two bites of his food before she had virtually dragged him out of the hall.
ooo
The woods surronding the Hogwarts grounds seemed endless. The trees so tall that it was almost completely dark. They had been wandering for a few hours now, and Sarah was exhausted, but there was so much to see here. Remus was leading the way though bushes and stopping every now and then, to examine something, and scribble some notes on the roll of parchment he had with him. Sometimes they would come a cross a long thread of silver hair, caught on a branch or a bush that he would pick up and put in the pouch he was carrying with him.
«Unicornhair», he had explained, « it gets pulled out as they pass»
She knew this already, but pretended not to.
Lupin stopped, they had reached a clearing in the woods, «Time for a rest, I think?».
They sat down on a huge tree root that was sticking out of the ground and the snow. She pondered upon how old a tree must be to have roots this big.
Lupin reached into a fold of his cloak and pulled out a thermos. He conjured up two cups and poured them both tea. Sarah was astounded. « How? When did you..?», she was practically speechless.
He gave her a secretive grin, « I always come prepared», he teased.
Sarah reached into her own pocket and took out her cigarettes. « Hand over one of those», Lupin beckoned her. She tossed him one. « didn't think you were the type to smoke», she said as he lit hers then his own. « secretly since I was about 14 actually...».
ooo
They sat on the branch with their tea and cigarettes for a while. Lupin told her about what he had planned for her lessons. He was hoping they would finish dark creatures before easter. That would bring her up to a third year level.
His mention of dark creatures reminded her of something, « Remus? Can I ask you something very personal?»
His face turned serious, «If you are wondering wether or not I am a-». «I'm sorry, Remus, I shouldn't have asked» she interrupted him, « It's really none of my business, and I dont even care if you are or not, I was just curious»
«And a bit nosy» he added with a faint smile. « well, to answer your question, yes, I am a werewolf, and it's not a big deal that you asked. It's not like it's a secret, not any more at least».
« And the parents are ok with you teaching their kids?», Sarah blurted out before her interal filter could cencor the question.
« Well, of course they were not at first, but Dumbledore does have a way of talking people into seeing things from his point of view...», Lupin said and flicked the butt of his cigarette out in the snow.
Sarah offered him a second one, and he accepted gladly.
ooo
When she hadnt said anything for a few minutes, he asked her if it bothered her.
« No, I was just thinking...», she said and decided that she too wanted a second cigarette.
He asked what she was thinking about, and the reply was far from what he had expected it to be.
« About what a funny coincidence it was that I wore this particular t shirt today», Sarah said and with that, she took off her coat and jumper to reveal a pink t shirt with purple writing that said:
'Hug your local werewolf'.
After which she did as the t-shirt said, and gave him a big, crushing hug.
« But why...?», Lupin asked with a smile. Sarah put her clothes back on.
« Because there is no menopause for lycantropy...», she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Lupin laughed so hard he spilled tea all over his trousers.
ooo
It was just past noon when they got back to the castle, they had spent all morning roaming the woods. She had picked some winter-blooming roses on her way back and headed for her room to pratice an everlasting charm on them. She had never seen roses like this before, icy blue with long black stems and leaves, and had a scent that was vaguely familiar to her. She could not quite put her finger on it though. She did not go to lunch, but stayed in her room practising the everlasting charm.
It was nearly 5 o'clock when she finally managed to create an almost invisible mist that was absorbed by the roses. She had cast her first spell! Oh, she couldnt wait to tell Lupin.
She put her wand back in its box. She didn't feel the need to carry it around with her all the time. Not yet at least. She was planning on a hot bath, but seeing as she had spent the previous night in the astronomy tower, the bed suddenly seemed more appealing. She stretched out and figured she would just close her eyes for half an hour before taking the bath.
The flames in her living room fireplace turned green, and Lupins head poped up. He called for her, then his head vanished and seconds later it appeared in the bedroom fire.
« Wake up!», he bellowed, and Sarah got up so abrubtly, she fell out of the bed.
« Are you ready to go to the New years feast?», he asked as she was pulling herself off the floor.
The feast! She had fallen asleep and forgotten to get ready!
«I'll be there in ten minutes» Lupin said, and vanished.
ooo
She almost panicked! Showering so fast it seemed she was in and out before the water had even touched her body.
She put on an emerald green silk tunic, and looked in the mirror. The wide sleeves were only three quarter lenght and didnt hide the hideous scars on her forearms. With a dissappointed sigh, she took it off again, but then she realised something. She closed her eyes and with a tremendous amount of focus, the scars slowly dissappeared, leaving nothing but flawless, satin skin.
With a victorous squeak, she made a few other scars on her body vanish. Then she stood looking at herself in the mirror. Her skin looked like it had been airbrushed and retouched for hours by professionals. With a gratified smile, she put the tunic back on and tied a belt around her waist.
ooo
A knock on her door. «Come in» she bellowed form in front of her bathroom mirror,
she was adjusting the length and fullness of her lashes. «This is so much better than putting on make-up» she murmured to her reflection.
« Aren't you ready?», Lupin slumped down on a sofa.
«I'll be ready as soon as you dry my hair.» she came out of the bathroom, «how do I look?»
«You look amazing!» Lupin pointed his wand to her hair and it dried in an instant, « but I am not too sure about the slytherin green though».
«It's not Slytherin green. It is just green... jeez..», She protested and reminded him that even if it was 'slytherin green', she hadn't been sorted and was free to proudly wear any of the house colors.
He smiled, and led her out the door.
ooo
As they headed down towards the Great hall, she told him about the everlasting charm she had managed to cast on the roses. He gave her a big hug, and seemed proud of her. «thats great!» he beamed at her, «I think you'll make quite the witch, once you get some pratice.»
The four house tables were gone, and there was only one long table in the senter of the room.
Including the few students that had remined for the holidays, there was about twenty people sitting at the table. Just as Lupin and Sarah sat down on two empty chairs, Snape entered the great hall.
He was not alone, but Sarah didnt recognise the tall, muscular man that had entered the hall along with Snape. He was probably the tallest man she would ever see in her life. He was more than a head taller than Snape, who was a very tall man himself. He had rough, tanned skin. He was bald and had a short bushy brown beard, streaked with white. He didnt have a moustache though, and this made him look peculiar.
Dumledore waved Snape over to come and sit in the empty chair between himself and Sarah, and the other man sat down in front of her. Sarah was actually a little pleased she had Snape this close.
She was all too aware that from next week she would be spending hours alone with him, and wanted a chance to talk to him before that. A normal conversation, between two normal people, that sort of thing, but just as she turned to greet him, Lupin caught her attention.
«Sarah, this is Rubeus Hagrid»
«Pleasure to meet you, Sarah» Hagrid reached out across the table and she shook his enourmous hand. « Severus tells me you are the latest additon to the staff. Been settling in alright?»
He did not look at all as he had been decribed in the books, but she could see how he had inspired the idea that he had giant blood in him. He was twice as broad as Lupin, and his biceps were the size of a human head. He could have almost looked scary if it had not been for his soft, black eyes.
« Oh yes, everyone have been most welcoming,» she grazed Snapes elbow with hers, almost on purpose, « and I'm starting to know my way around the maze of corridors and floors»
«I showed her around the forest today» Lupin said, with a hint of pride.
«I must warn you, Sarah, not to go roaming in the forest alone. At least not to begin with. It is far too easy to get lost in there, and some of its inhabitors dont take too well to strangers. If you feel like a walk, Im sure Remus can take you, and if he is busy. You can always knock on my door. Remus tells me you two have become good friends, and any friends of his is a friend of mine» He raised his goblet and toasted her.
She raised hers in return. « I might just take you up on that»
ooo
The feast was fantastic, there was probably enough food to feed 50 people, not to mention the wine.
She could not get enough of it! «I do take pride in the winecellar here at Hogwarts», Dumbledore told her, as she praised it.
Hours passed. Toasts and more toasts were made, and conversations flowed easily across the table.
She hadn't had a chance to talk to Snape though, even if he was right beside her.
Then Dumbledore stood up and announced that it was almost midnight, and that they should all step outside for some fireworks. Everyone were slighty tipsy at this time, except of course the five underage students, the two ravenclaw first years and three Hufflepuff fourth years, and Hagrid and Lupin, who were drunk as hogs, and walked arm in arm ahead of the crow, singing.
As the crowd made their way down to the lake, Sarah let herself fall behind and sat down on one of the many stone benches scattered around the schoolgrounds. To her cheer amazement, she was joined by Snape. He didnt say anything, but simply came and sat down next to her.
Soon Sarah started shivering. It was freezing and she had left her cloak in the great hall. The silk tunic did nothing to keep her warm, she might just as well have been siting there naked.
«I'll just run back up to the castle and get my cloak» she said and got up.
Snape, who was a little more daring than usual, most likely due to the wine, got up as well, grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. « You'll miss it if you leave now, here, you can share mine»,
and in one fluid motion he pulled her close and wrapped his arm and the side of his cloak around her.
His cloak was thick, warm and big enough to keep both of them warm.
Sarah said nothing, but gently wrapped her arms around his waist to warm herself on him.
Her cheeks were flushed and her heart threatening to pound its way out of her chest. «I've had way too much too drink» she thought to herself.
5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Everyone was cheering, and hugging eachother.
The sky was gleaming in red, gold, green, blue and silver. Two rockets exploded into glittering firebreathing dragons, roaring around them in the air. It was unbelievable.
There was no point in trying to speak with him. The cheering and singing from the crowd in front of them, and the bangs and roars from the fireworks, made it impossible to hear anything.
So they just stood there, perfectly still, watching the sky.
As the fireworks slowly died out, Snape, who still had his arm around her shoulder, pulled her in closer to him.
« Happy New Year», she said softly, and looked up at him.
«Happy New Year», He looked into her eyes, and then his gaze moved down to her lips. He licked his own lips and was just about to pull her even closer, when a very drunk Lupin and an even drunker Hagrid, nearly ambushed them. «HAPPY NEW YEAR!»
Lupin pulled her out of Snapes cloak and hugged her. Clearly oblivious to his intrution, he cried,
« Come on, more drinks at Hagrid's!», and before she had a chance to object, Hagrid snatched her up and threw her over his shoulder, and they headed towards his hut. She looked up to call for Snape to join them, but he was already halfway back to the castle.