Another Postcard Chapter 5
One bright sunny day before spring term, Snape was enjoying a quiet afternoon in the gardens while most of the children had gone off to Hogsmede or were lazing about down near the lake.
He marked the place in his book with a black ribbon and watched with interest as an owl in the sky grew closer. He wasn't the least bit surprised when the owl dropped a postcard in his lap.
The blank side had his name on it in a blocky script. Apparently commentary from the sender was few and far between. At least this time he didn't have any witnesses. Snape looked around and confirmed this. He turned the postcard over and saw a chimp in a kilt, trying to hold a set of bagpipes.
He shook his head and tucked it into his book. He'd post it on his wall later.
"Another one!" Flitwick squeaked happily. "And she's nearly local this time!"
Snape stopped eating his breakfast. He hadn't thought of it that way. He wondered if she would reveal herself.
Was there some key to the postcards? Something he had been missing?
He raced to his office after breakfast and frowned at the growing wall of postcards. He waved his wand and they rearranged themselves in the order they were sent. He couldn't see a pattern. He separated them by continent. Nothing.
He was letting her get to him. He rubbed the space between his eyebrows. Ridiculous girl, whoever she was.
"I hear your friend is getting closer," remarked Dumbledore as Snape approached the staff table for dinner.
Snape gave him a filthy look, but gave a grunt as he sat.
"I wish my former female students would think about me half as much as yours apparently do," Flitwick teased the Potions Master as he reached for a cup of tea.
Snape snorted as Madame Pomfrey giggled into her cup of pumpkin juice.
Thankfully, the rest of the meal went by uneventfully, as long as you didn't count the short-lived food fight at the Hufflepuff table.
Snape did his rounds for the evening, delighted to find two Gryffindors in a passionate embrace and given the excuse to dock their House thirty points.
He walked to his quarters in a cheerful mood.
He spoke his password in front of a small bust of Bernard the Barmy and the sculpture opened it's eyes and blinked at him before sprouting wheels from it's pedistal and rolling off down the hall, revealing a door.
"Stupid git," Snape muttered. He hated the way the bust always took off when he was in for the night. Just because he was in didn't mean he was going to stay there and the stone door locked and unlocked at the head's will.
He stepped into his quarters and let out a sigh of relief.
The elves had paid a visit and the fire was already burning cheerfully in the hearth, his laundry folded neatly in a wicker basket on the small love seat that sat in front of the fireplace. He smiled to himself.
He could always iscourgify/i the sheets clean, but the elves had a way of making them soft and smelling of lavender.
He was reaching for the basket when he heard a tapping at his window. He frowned as he saw a black owl gripping a postcard. He took it from the owl who took flight immediately, but instead of swooping off into the night sky it descended down and Snape was surprised when it lit on the arm of a cloaked figure that took off in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.
Severus felt a chill as he closed the window to his quarters. He turned the postcard over, the picture of two chimpanzees frolicking through a field in dresses disappearing as he read the message.
They're cheaper to send when you're not abroad.
He snorted as he placed it on a low table near the couch and threw a handful of Floo powder into his fireplace. He thrust his head into the green flames and saw the inside of Dumbledore's office. The old man was reading scrolls at his desk and looked up as his fireplace sprang to life.
"I believe we have an intruder on the grounds." Snape looked very serious as Dumbledore's face turned to one of surprise.