In the Head of the Snake
Chapter 3: Different Views
He strode purposefully through the night. Children were so easy to discover; he had already taken twenty five points from Hufflepuff and another twenty five from Ravenclaw for that new couple that had been running the corridors at night. The two were fourth years, Severus recalled, and made a mental note to give the whole grade an extra essay for the next hogsmead weekend.
His spirits slightly raised, Snape decided on a shortcut and zigzagged to a hidden passage behind a hanging tapestry. He bumped into a red-headed girl, she and he were falling. Before he knew it, Snape had manoeuvred the girl around him and landed hard on the stone steps. For a moment, with the red hair draped over him and a smell and fresh flowers, Snape was reminded so heavily of his dream that he actually stammered an apology.
"Get off me!" yelled the girl and jumped to her feet, her wand out in seconds.
Climbing slowly to his feet, berating himself for his clumsiness and for his unnecessary apology (he was the professor after all!) Snape said in a dry voice, "I believe you were the one on me."
"S-Snape!" the girl blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected him as much as he hadn't expected her.
"I also believe that a 'Professor' needs to be put in front of that statement."
"Sorry, Professor Snape," the girl rolled her eyes. Snape realised she still had her wand out, and with a delicate flick of his wrist, drew his as well.
"Lumos," he said slowly – not at all in the mood to be jinxed by a teenage night-time stroller. "Ahh," why hadn't he expected it. It was the other Weasley. Ginny. In his opinion, the only Weasley worth giving time to. "Now, Weasley – "
"I believe that a 'Miss' needs to be in front of that," the girl cut in.
With an inward chuckle, Snape continued in a deadly note.
"Miss Weasley, what are you doing out in the middle of the night. Is there any reason why I should not deduct fifty points from Griffindore?"
"Fifty?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yes. I assume you are aware that you are not allowed to be out during the night, unless accompanied by a teacher?"
"But I am being accompanied by a teacher," the girl said quickly.
"You are?" Snape looked around the small tunnel mockingly. "Who?"
"You, Professor."
Snape's lips curled up along the one side. The girl was sharp.
"If I am accompanying you, then where are we going, Miss Weasley?"
She was stumped now. She couldn't say back to the dormitory, because then she would be admitting that she was not 'accompanied' earlier on in the night. She had only one option. Snape watched in glee as her mind came to the same conclusion.
"We're following someone," she said eventually.
"Ah, I see. Yes, I remember you asked me to help you follow…" he trailed dramatically, "Who are we following, Miss Weasley?"
She gulped and he saw a red blush run up her neck.
"Harry Potter."
So he was out tonight! Why was he not surprised! The boy was out almost every night now…he wasn't too sure why though.
"Lead the way Miss Weasley," sneered Snape.
"Only if you promise to be extra quiet. If Harry catches me…" the guilt was obvious in her voice, but so was the unspoken threat. Snape was bursting to laugh, but thought better of it. Maybe if he could see how Harry was away from Snape, then he would know how better to advance Harry within his occlumens lessons.
"I promise," he said with raised eyebrows. The girl struggled with herself before nodding once and proceeding up the stairs.
They reached the seventh floor and she stopped before a blank wall. She frowned hard at Snape before saying to him, "Turn around."
"Why? I have seen all that this castle has to offer – " she cut him off.
"Well I don't care if you've seen this or not. I promised never to show it to anyone. And, unlike some," Snape winced at the intended blow despite himself, "I keep my word."
"If I was not so eager to see the victim that you are stalking," he sneered at her anger, "then I would disagree. But, as you wish," and he turned around.
Snape had no idea what the girl was doing by the wall. He had seen Potter looking at it too in his mind, but Snape tried not to pay too much attention to what he saw. Except for the bulldog. That had been funny. He didn't like seeing into Potter's mind – it reminded Snape that Potter had a childhood as unspoilt as his had been.
"Alright," Ginny said, and Snape turned to stare at a door that had never been there before. "Follow me."
He stepped into a room with countless walls. It was like he had stepped into a decagonal room with round windows on each side. Turning around, he saw that the door had sealed into yet another wall with a round window. Looking through, he could see the corridor that they had just exited. He walked slowly along the walls, stopping at each window to look through it. Here he was looking at the kitchens. At the next he was looking at an empty charms classroom. He stopped suddenly by the next window and whispered, "What is this room?" for he was staring at the very chamber that he had created. His secret room that no one else knew of. And yet this room had access to it.
"They call it the Room of Requirement," said the red-head who was perched on a stool next to a slightly larger window.
"Why have I not heard of it before? And how do you know about it?"
"These things get around," shrugged Ginny. "You're the professor – I'm the one supposed to be asking questions."
"What are these windows?" asked Snape as he walked to the one Ginny was looking through. "Are they doorways?"
"No," Ginny smiled sadly. "They're just reflections of what is out there," she pointed with her thumb at where the door used to be. "I come here to watch others. Sometimes it helps me…" she trailed.
"Helps you to do what?" Severus was genuinly curious. This was the girl, he remembered, who had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets. Who, if the stories that he had gathered were true, had been possessed by the Dark Lord. Maybe this girl knew a little of what he, Severus Snape, the Dark Lord's lap dog, felt.
"It helps me remind myself of who I am," she looked to him and actually smiled. It had been ages since a girl had smiled at him. Snape was painfully reminded of Lily.
"So why this window?" asked Snape and sat down beside her. All of a sudden his arm twinged and his hand involuntarily shot to his wrist. The girl noticed.
"Must not be fun," she sneered.
"You don't know the half of it, girl," snarled Snape. He thought abruptly of how foolish he was being. It was most out of character for him – following a girl around the castle at night. What did he think he was doing?
"I think I know a little about being under someone else's control," mumbled Ginny and turned back to the window.
Not withstanding his previous thoughts, Snape looked towards the window. It showed the star-lit outside grounds, a mirrored half-moon curling across the still black lake. A youth streaked across the grounds, a free spirit flying through the night on thrilled legs, exhilarated by the chance of discovery.
"They cannot see us?" enquired Snape.
"Nope. Or, rather, they never have before."
Once at the meeting point of a large tree and the shore of the lake, the figure stopped suddenly and stooped down. Then, she stood and lowered the hood of her cloak. Cho, her black hair flailing loosely behind her, was chatting animatedly to what appeared to be no one.
"Cho Chang?" asked Snape, remembering the images of the girl he had seen through Potter's mind.
"Unfortunately," grumbled Ginny.
Then an arm, floating through the night, connected to nothing, reached out and brushed the hair out of Cho's eyes. The arm was soon followed by a torso and a head with a tuft of messy black hair. Harry Potter, his invisibility cloak aside, stood by Cho under the moon light.
"What a classy meeting place," drawled Snape.
"Just because you don't have a romantic bone in your body," snapped Ginny.
"Ten points from Griffindore for that."
"Wh-what?"
"I am still a professor, Miss Weasley, and it would be good for you to remember that."
Ginny glared at him, but didn't waste her time. She turned her back on him.
"You don't flinch," noticed Snape.
"What do you mean?" she didn't bother facing him. Snape was annoyed, but decided not to show it.
"When I am near you. You don't flinch."
"Other than your apparent lack of hygiene, there's nothing really scary about you," Ginny said airily. "It's your reputation that sets people off. And what you've done, or have been said to have done."
"And doesn't the latter scare you?"
Ginny faced him and raised an eyebrow.
"No," she said simply.
It grabbed Snape. A desire so strong he almost couldn't resist. A want to squish little Ginny into nothing. A longing to hear her scream and see her squirm. So his life mission of building up a strong reputation wasn't even enough to scare away a teenager?
"Don't get me wrong," Ginny continued, oblivious to the struggle within the Professor sharing her company, "you are scary. I'm just not scared of you."
His curiosity piqued, Snape calmed himself, unclenched his fist around his wand, and coolly asked, "Why not?"
"I guess other emotions cloud my fear," a wry smile crossed her lips, but then she added, "and I guess it helps that I've experienced worse than what you could ever put me through."
There was silence between the two. Snape's face was a blank white page. Ginny hated how nothing she said could write any emotion onto it, but at the same time it was refreshing. Harry was so angry these days…she couldn't do anything to help. At least Cho could…
"Why do you put yourself through it?" he asked as he watched Harry and Cho through the window, now hand in hand walking along the edge of the black lake.
"It's the only time I see him happy these days," Ginny smiled sadly. "Have you ever wanted someone so badly, but nothing you did ever impressed them? Or the circumstances just seemed so out of touch that you would never get a chance with them?"
"Ginny," she whipped around at that. Now he had her attention. He tried to be as calm and collected as always, but for once, Snape found that his emotions were betraying him. "I want you to go out of this room and straight back to your dormitory. Go to bed. If I find that you have disobeyed these direct orders, I will deduct every single gem that Gryffindore has left. Do you understand?"
Wide eyed, Ginny Weasley nodded and ran to a random wall. She opened the window and climbed out of it.
To want someone so badly, but nothing ever worked to impress them. To have such circumstances put forth by life so that there would never be a chance with them. Oh yes, Ginny Weasley, Snape thought. He knew exactly what that was like. Snape watched Harry hold Cho close as he stroked her hair. What was he whispering in her ear? Sweet nothings? Comfort? Despite being in Harry's head so many times, Snape still knew nothing of the boy.
What he needed, he thought suddenly, looking around the room with its multiple windows, was another point of view. He needed someone who knew Harry well, and he needed them on his side. But he also needed them to be strong, and to know the Dark Arts and the touch of it. Every window's view changed to the same thing.
The room had heard the requirement and as such, had answered the call of its user. Through the window, Snape watched as Ginny made her way back to the Gryffindore common room.