26- London Boys
Raven was excited. More than a week had passed since that dinner at Anna's, and it was also almost a week since the trial against his mother had rendered Severus uncommunicative for day. He had locked himself up in his room, doing whatever. Probably he had no idea at all how much his reclusive behaviour was hurting her.
And then he had just walked into the kitchen one sunny morning, reminding her that they had to go and buy their Hogwarts supplies. Almost sheepishly he had asked if she'd like to join him.
Of course, she had answered in the affirmative.
Now, they were strolling along Diagon Alley together, heading for Fortescue's since they were almost done running their errands and could use a break from their shopping spree. As they were walking down the main road, they soon came to Quality Quidditch Supplies, one of the attractions in Diagon Alley. Although the atmosphere in the popular shopping street had changed in recent years, there would always be a group of youngsters pressing their noses against the display window, dreaming of the newest broomstick designs.
It was a shop that neither Severus nor Raven were particularly interested in, so they walked past it and ran into a fellow house mate or theirs. Regulus Black had just left the Quidditch shop.
""Oh... um, hello Snape; pleased to meet you," the boy said and, nodding at the direction he just came from, added, "I was just thinking about buying a new broomstick, but I can't seem to decide which one."
"Indeed," Severus drawled in a bored tone. He was so tired of pure-bloods bragging about their Quidditch skills.
"Yeah... hey, I heard what happened at your home..."
"Great."
"Mother said it's a scandal they sentenced your mother, a witch from a respectable family like the Princes, to fifteen years in Azkaban only because she tried to dispose of her Muggle husband. Is it true you actually tried to save his life?"
Before Severus could reply, Raven interjected.
"So you think a Muggle's life is worth less than that of a pure-blood? Would it make a difference if the victim was a half-blood? Do you believe a pure-blood has the birth-right to kill anyone of inferior blood status?"
"Er..." Regulus was at a loss; he didn't know how to answer these questions because he had never been asked anything like that before. He was raised with the knowledge that pure-bloods were superior, that blood-traitors were a disgrace to the wizarding race- his own brother had been blasted off the family tree for his rebellious blood-traitor ideas- and yet he couldn't reply that. All of a sudden he was wondering if it was actually right to kill someone only because of his or her blood status. Confused as he was, he quickly changed the topic and addressed Snape again. "I expected to see you at Malfoy Manor during the summer."
"I was busy," Severus said, "I had the pleasure of completing a traineeship with Professor O'Flaherty at St Mungo's potions research."
"You had to work during holidays?"
"No, I completed a traineeship; it was very informative, academically..."
"Want to join us for an ice cream?" Raven chimed in
Regulus flashed her a surprised glance; this witch was really an enigma to him. He had almost thought she disliked him because of his beliefs and yet she asked him to join them. Little did he know that she had an ulterior motive.
She had noticed his hesitation earlier, and she knew that he wasn't Death Eater material through and through although he had imbibed their bigoted ideology from his infancy. But unlike Mulciber or Avery, he wasn't ruthless enough; little Regulus Black had a conscience. He was just a misled youth, who could use better influences in his life.
"I trust your OWL results were satisfying?" Severus wasn't one who liked to engage in small talk, but he didn't like the way the boy was staring at Raven's legs as she went to place their order. Why did she have to wear a short purple dress with matching platform sandals? Why didn't she wear robes like a decent witch?
"Yes, thank you." Regulus replied with a polite smile.
"And what do you want to become when you're grown-up?" Raven asked sweetly while enjoying her raspberry ice cream.
"I don't know yet. A career within the Ministry would probably be agreeable."
"Is that really what you want? You don't seem to me as the kind of guy who is happy with shoving stacks of paperwork from one end of his desk to the other."
A light flashed up in Regulus' grey eyes, if only for the fraction of a second. but it was enough to tell her she had guessed right. Most likely, the boy didn't have much say in that matter. Probably, he didn't even have to work at all. Raven was certain all that was expected of him was to produce an heir to the most noble name of Black. Life must be great if you're considered the perfect stud horse of a new generation of inbred imbeciles. She felt a little sorry for him.
Regulus was talking to Severus again, almost as if he were on safer grounds with him.
"Where are you staying now? I mean, you cannot possibly be living with your Muggle father anymore."
"I don't see why that may be any of your concern, but if you must know, I moved in with Raven."
"Yeah, I've got a flat here in the city."
"Wow!" Regulus breathed astounded, trying to imagine what it must be like to live with a witch as hot as Raven was. He thought Severus was a lucky fellow- on the other hand, he gave to consider, "Do you think that's appropriate? After all, you're not married and-"
Raven burst out laughing. "Oh my," she chuckled, shaking her head is amusement, "you're so cute and so very, very old-fashioned, Blackie. Don't you know what year it is? It's 1977. Welcome to the modern times! Of course it is appropriate for two friends to live together."
-o-
While Raven firmly believed in women's liberation, Severus actually started brooding over matters of decorum. She tried to assure him that there was nothing wrong or inappropriate about their living arrangements if both their parent units agreed to it, but her words seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"What if people start gossiping about you, claiming I'm trying to take advantage of you?"
Oh yes, please...
"I don't want to ruin your reputation," he continued, totally unaware of her fantasies.
"What's there to ruin?" Raven asked. "At Hogwarts, I'm unpopular anyway and our Muggle friends can't seem to find any fault in it."
"Our house-mates are sticklers for tradition and moral-"
"You mean the same moral that makes them want to join Lord V in order to torture and kill Muggles? Forget them. Let them believe we're having wild sex parties all night long, I don't care." She saw him blushing and thought it was adorable. If only she could tell him of her feelings for him, but she feared his response. There were moments it hurt being so close and yet never close enough.
All too soon, they had to go back to Hogwarts for another year, and he would see Lily again.
If only he would realize that Lily Evans was never going to love him; not as much as he deserved and certainly not as much as Raven loved him- even though she sometimes felt the urge to smack him.
-o-
"I broke the Statute of Secrecy," Raven confessed, saying it almost as casual as if she was talking about the weather.
Severus nearly spilled his tea. It was still early in the morning and she had just come home from a night of partying with her Muggle friends. Their trunks were already packed; they had to leave for Hogwarts in a couple of hours.
He scowled at her. "You did what?"
She lit a cigarette and repeated herself. Severus had not accompanied her on a last night of freedom, instead he had chosen to look through his seventh year textbooks in order to be well-prepared for his final year at Hogwarts. "I told Jeffrey."
He almost breathed a sigh of relief since he considered Jeffrey a decent Muggle; nevertheless it didn't sit well with him. "What the hell has gotten into you? You know we're not allowed to tell random Muggles about our world."
Raven waved aside his demurs with an airy gesture. "Jeff's not a random Muggle, and besides he knew already that we're not just like the ordinary kids from next door. I already hinted at not going to a normal boarding school."
"How did he react to the truth?"
"Fairly well, I reckon, given that he said he's glad we're no aliens from outer space and he can deal with the rest."
"Hm," Severus frowned, mulling things over. "But why did you tell him? You know the Statute of Secrecy was instituted for a very good reason and shouldn't be treated lightly."
"I know. But... remember when you told me about Petunia sending a letter to Dumbledore?"
"Yes?" He wished she would finally get to the point because he was still kind of clueless to what she was up to.
She flashed him an almost peskily bright smile. "If I recall correctly, we agreed that it is possible to send letters to Hogwarts by using the services of the Royal Mail."
"Well, it certainly worked for Petunia." There was bitterness in his voice as he thought back to the day Lily had urged him to read Dumbledore's response to Petunia's letter and how very embarrassed he had felt when Petunia had caught him in the act. Later, Lily had blamed him for another fall out with her sister...
"I guess it will also work for Jeffrey. Listen, Sev, I'm not like you. I cannot stand being isolated and completely out of touch with the Muggle world while I'm at Hogwarts. I... I need someone outside, someone who's sending me things that make me feel alive and not being buried in an ancient castle."
There were times when Severus wondered if Raven knew at all how very privileged she was, having been born with that wonderful gift to be able to use magic. Why did she have to be so bloody different? Different was not an attribute that was favoured much in Slytherin house. But he also reckoned what she would say about that given that she considered herself privileged because she was living in both worlds. He'd rather call her a wanderer between two worlds. It was an almost impossible balance act and yet she managed it... in her very own way.
And so she broke the Statute of Secrecy for the owner of a record shop. He had to admit though, that Jeffrey was a trustworthy fellow, one who wouldn't run around and blab their secret.
-o-
In the evening, Severus and Raven were back at Hogwarts, sitting at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. The Sorting had just ended and they were waiting for Headmaster Dumbledore to hold his little welcoming speech before they could finally 'tuck in.'
This year, however, Dumbledore didn't content himself with utter nonsense the like of 'Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak.' He didn't speak of knitting patterns either. Instead, he appeared to be more serious than usual, talking about dark times and that all houses had to stand united- and then he announced who would be this year's Head Boy and Girl.
"Mr James Potter and Miss Lily Evans."
The Gryffindors applauded frenetically, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were more polite than enthusiastic in their acknowledgement, but from the Slytherin table came a collective groan in which only the rookies didn't join in- they hadn't been hexed by Potter and his cronies yet.
Curtains of black hair were obscuring Severus' face as he let his head drop until his forehead was almost touching the table, and for a moment he actually considered to knock on wood with his forehead. Over and over again, punishing himself like a house-elf... for a slip of tongue that was unforgivable... as if that pain would be able to remedy the feeling of a hot knife being stabbed right through his heart. Potter and Lily, Potter and Lily, Potter and Lily... it echoed endlessly in his mind, pulsated in his blood, and he knew he had finally lost her to his nemesis. Being Head Boy and Head Girl would inevitably glue them further together; he stood no chance against the popular Quidditch champion.
And Potter was popular- at least to those who hadn't been hexed by him on various occasions throughout the years, simply because he could.
"Dumbledore's a bloody old codger!" Avery exclaimed, "I will have to write to my father- he's an important member of the Board of Governors. Dumbledore has to be replaced by someone who isn't the champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and blood-traitors."
"You're right, mate. It's time for a change," Mulciber agreed. "No Mudblood should ever be Head Girl."
"Actually, it's more the fact that he gave Potter a card blanche to randomly take points from Slytherins that bothers me," Regulus Black gave to consider, which sounded quite sensible to Raven.
It was obvious that Potter hated all Slytherins and even more so he despised Severus... just because he existed. Potter had made that unmistakably clear the very day at the end of their fifth year. And even though his attacks had ceased in sixth year, Raven didn't doubt that if given the opportunity he would prance around Hogwarts in his glory, making life a hell for all Slytherins and especially for Severus.
Although she definitely didn't agree with her house-mates' beliefs of blood superiority, they seemed to be right about Dumbledore- one couldn't campaign for a unity of houses while favouring just one; his precious oh-so-noble and brave Gryffindors.
Meanwhile, her house-mates were debating about who their perfect candidate for Head Boy or Girl would be if they had a say in that matter. Raven was mightily surprised when all of a sudden someone mentioned her name.
"You must be kidding!" Avery said haughtily.
"Of course," Regulus gave to consider, "she is of questionable blood status and not popular at all, but that might even be of advantage..."
"Would you please stop talking about me as if I'm not present," Raven cut him off.
"Ah, shut up now, Lestrange. What I wanted to say is that you don't like anyone and no one likes you, so at long last you're probably the least biased person at Hogwarts; you wouldn't take points for no reason. But with Potter as Head Boy, we can so forget about winning the House Cup this year."
She blinked at him once, then once more. "You know, Blackie, you've got a really weird sense of logic."
-o-
It soon became obvious that Regulus was right about one thing- Head Boy Potter didn't hesitate to take points from Slytherin while his cronies were allowed to bend the school rules much to their liking. Although the Slytherins complained about it, all their complaints fell on deaf ears since they failed to stand united. But the straw that broke the camel's back was when Potter had the nerve to shout,
"Oi, Snape! Ten points from Slytherin."
Severus whirled around, fumbling for his wand. He hadn't done anything wrong; he was just on his way to breakfast in the Great Hall.
"You cannot prance the corridors and randomly take points!" Raven snapped, glaring furiously at Potter. Like Severus, she had also drawn her wand... you never knew with these Marauders, they were unpredictable and it was always better to be safe than sorry.
"I am not randomly taking points, Lestrange." Potter waited until his audience was big enough for him to continue. "I'm taking points from Slytherin because Snivellus here is dripping grease all over the floor."
His audience was snickering; apparently they considered Potter's personal feud an incredibly funny thing.
Severus was about to hex him into next week for his impertinence, for once more humiliating him in public. To make things worse, Lily was also there, watching the scene unfold. There was no way to get out of it with his dignity still intact.
"James, let him be," Lily said softly, tugging at Potter's arm. "He's not worth the trouble."
It was another stab in his heart to hear her words and see her interacting so very familiar with bloody James Potter.
"James? It's James now? Aw, isn't that cute?" Raven sneered as she stepped forward, thus blocking Severus from firing jinxes at Potter while at the same time making her interference appear as if it was something between Lily and her. And indeed, she would have loved to leap into a cat fight with her rival. But that wouldn't be a very wise move now. No, she had to be more sophisticated. "I wonder what happened to Mr Arrogant Toe-rag."
Some of the students actually giggled at her words, so she carried on in a very calm and clear voice, "I'm also wondering, Mr Potter, what is probably worse- to have greasy hair or to be a mindless bully? Well, I reckon the first problem can be remedied by the right choice of shampoo. The second, however, is much more difficult because it would require a nice little lobotomy to get rid of that problem."
"Don't talk too big, Lestrange," Potter rebuked her, but Raven didn't flinch. She wasn't scared of empty threats, and this was an empty threat because he couldn't possibly attack her now with all the students watching, and not every single one of them was favouring him. There were some Hufflepuffs that hadn't yet forgotten how the Marauders had hexed them just for fun, and at least two or three Slytherins had finally decided to back her up. Blackie was standing next to Severus now, glaring daggers at his dear brother, the Head Boy's omnipresent side-kick.
If she wouldn't know that Potter fancied Lily Evans, Raven might have felt inclined to compose a love song for the two Gryffindor brothers-in-heart.
"Or what?" She challenged him. "Is that supposed to be a threat, Mr Potter? If so, I will easily find at least ten witnesses that will confirm you're abusing your position."
He shot her a glare that seemed to say, 'watch out when you're walking empty corridors at night,' then he turned his back on her and walked away, through the open doors into the Great Hall. The better part of the assembled students were following him, some chatting about the recent event, but most of them were simply keen to have breakfast. A small group, however, was lingering in the Entrance Hall, waiting for more to come.
Severus brushed past Raven, flashing her an indignant glance. She let him. Counting to ten, she closed her eyes for a moment before she busily addressed Regulus Black and the few other Slytherins that were still there.
"We have to make a list of events like this. Whenever our prodigious Head Boy harasses one of us, we have to write down time, date and matter of assault- meaning, why did he choose to take points from Slytherin. Of course, we have to back up our information with evidence, so make sure you never run into Potter or the Marauders without having a witness around. If we're able to present Headmaster Dumbledore with a list of his most favourite protégé overstepping the limits of his position., we can possibly force him into action."
"Or he will simply set the list on fire," a disillusioned fifth-year Slytherin gave to consider.
"Yeah, that's why we will have a copy that we can send to the Board of Governors."
"Lestrange, I'm beginning to believe the Sorting Hat wasn't completely mad when he put you into Slytherin," Regulus said with a smirk.
Raven smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, don't let yourself be fooled, Blackie. That old rag is as mad as a hatter."
"Don't call me Blackie."
She just laughed and entered the Great Hall, not knowing that very soon she wouldn't be in the mood to laugh anymore. Naturally, she was expecting Severus to be in a sour mood and probably he'd snap at her to mind her own business. Or scold her for being a meddling busybody, or whatever.
She hadn't expected an owl to drop a letter on her plate. The letter carried the postage stamp of the Royal Mail, and she picked it up quickly, before any of her house mates had the chance to take notice of that.
It was a Friday, the seventeenth of September, when all of a sudden a part of her world seemed to collapse. She stared at the letter is disbelief; the words were right in front of her eyes but somewhat blurry, while her mind refused to get the meaning. Stifling a sob that came from deep within her, she jumped to her feet, tearing down her plate in the process. It fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.
"Raven?" She heard Severus addressing her with a hint of concern in his voice, but she wasn't in the mood to explain. She couldn't tell him, couldn't possibly speak the words that would make it real. So she merely tossed the letter into his hands before she almost fled the Great Hall.
-o-
Severus was pretty certain that he would never understand the way witches ticked, but then he read Jeffrey's letter. Fortunately, nothing had happened to her parents, which was a great relief to him. On the other hand, the news that Jeffrey had sent did startle him as well; he was just so much better at hiding his emotions.
"What's bitten Lestrange?" Regulus inquired as he leaned in closer to get a glimpse at the newspaper clipping Severus was holding in his hands. He couldn't see much though, only that the picture underneath the headline looked kind of... weird. But it wasn't until later that he came to realize it was just because nothing had moved in that picture, as if all movements had been frozen in time.
"And why would that be of your concern, Black?" Severus snapped while repressing his very urge to jump up and follow her. He knew she needed him now, and he truly wanted to be the friend she deserved- but there was so much more at stake. He had a role to play. His house-mates weren't to know how much he cared about her.
"I was just wondering..."
"Keep wondering, Black, but keep in mind as well that all females seem to have unexpected mood-swings that are totally unfathomable to most wizards."
Regulus appeared to be satisfied with this answer although he should have known that Severus wasn't exactly an expert when it came to witches and their quirks. Nevertheless, the boy gave up pestering him with mindless questions, and Severus balled up the newspaper clipping in his hand.
The headline read
MARC BOLAN KILLED IN CRASH
-o-
"Where have you been?" Severus wanted to shout at her when Raven finally showed up for Potions, after having missed double Transfiguration, but he managed to keep his voice low.
"Inverness," she replied coolly.
"Inverness?"
"Yep. It' the only place between here and London I could think of that would have a public phone box; I just had to talk to Jeff."
"Raven, I'm really sorry for what happened, but you can't just leave Hogwarts whenever it pleases you. You missed Transfiguration-"
"So what? Marc got killed. I couldn't bother with transfiguring a hedgehog into a hairbrush or anything similarly stupid and useless." If she wouldn't need passing grades in Transfiguration for Auror training, she would have long dropped her last favourite class. Raven failed to see why people thought it cool to be an Animagus like Professor McGonagall (who could change into a cat) while at the same time they were torturing animals by turning them into immobile objects.
"You can have my notes," Severus offered with a sigh before he had to focus on the potion Slughorn wanted them to brew. It was an annoyingly simple one, though, and so he decided to help Raven with the task at hand; she was so far away with her thoughts that he feared she might blow up the classroom if he didn't keep an eye on her. On the other hand, she appeared almost unnaturally unfazed on the outside, her face a stony mien. He noticed that he missed her smile.
-o-
"There's something fishy about his death and I'm gonna find out what it is," Raven said after dinner, heading towards the front doors.
Severus rolled his eyes and hurried to catch up with her. "Merlin, what are you up to now? You ought to be lucky that McGonagall didn't give you detention for missing her class."
"You can always trust a Gryffindor to become emotional when she hears about the tragic loss you're suffering from," she said casually.
"I know, I came up with quite a sensible excuse for your absence, but don't push it too far. Whatever you're about to do, it won't bring him back. You have to accept that he died in a car crash."
"It wasn't just an accident."
"The papers said his girlfriend lost control of the motorcar, thus it left the road and crashed into a tree. Given that it was 4am and they were on their way back from a 'night of merriment', there's hardly anything fishy about it." Meanwhile, they had passed Hagrid's cabin and were walking further on in the direction of Hogsmeade. Severus knew she was eager to leave the grounds so she could finally Disapparate.
"Cars don't just leave the road and crash into trees, and it is already established as a fact that neither of them was drunk, nor had they taken any drugs. Of course, cars are not infallible, but the police ruled out it was a technical problem. Also, all the tyres were intact." Raven stopped to glance at his face. In the twilight at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, his eyes stood out even darker than usual in comparison to the paleness of his face. She reached out and touched his cheek. "Sev, I'm not asking you to join me, but I really have to go. I have to... see... the site of the alleged accident. And I want to meet with people who loved him. Jeffrey said that many of his fans would go there tonight... you know, to leave flowers and such... Please try to understand that I simply can't be in this old castle now. Don't stop me from leaving."
So here was his chance to prove that even he could be a good friend. Although she wasn't asking him to join her, her face told him that she wouldn't mind if he came along nevertheless; the silent plea in her big blue eyes was unmistakably clear.
Damn Raven Lestrange and her big blue eyes! He heaved a sigh and said, "Lead the way."
She beamed brightly at him, took his hand, and only a moment later they were in south London, at the edge of Barnes Common. It didn't take long for them to spot the group of fans and mourners that had gathered at the feet of a slender sycamore tree.
The place of Marc Bolan's death was covered with flowers. The sickly sweet smell of white lilies penetrated her nostrils and she realized (not for the first time) that she disliked the flowers just as much as the person with the same name. But she wasn't here to indulge in her dislike of bloody St Lily-on-the-pedestal-of-light-and-self-righteousness.
So she let her eyes wander along the road to the hump backed bridge from where Bolan's purple Mini had come before it had shot through a fence and smashed into that bloody tree. Raven pondered about how very ironic it was that Marc, who had had never learned to drive in fear of premature death, had died in a car crash. As if he'd had a strange sense of foreboding...
She also realized that the road leading from the bridge was almost straight. There was no dangerous bend, nothing that would explain why someone could possibly lose control over a normally functioning car, if not... if not someone or something had caused this accident. An animal might have crossed the road- but that was unlikely, since there were no skid marks indicating someone had slammed hard on the brakes.
Unfortunately, Raven was not a fully-fledged Auror with a whole catalogue of background knowledge about useful spells at hand; she was just a little wannabe investigator, a young witch with keen eyes and an overly animated imagination. She could almost see the sparks of an evil curse flying, hitting the car Marc was in, causing his girlfriend to wildly spin the steering-wheel... and then the car crashed into that sycamore tree. Of course, there was no proof to her theory, no evidence to underline her suspicion, and she could hardly go to the Ministry of Magic with only her gut-feeling, asking the Aurors to investigate on a crime scene that wasn't even declared as one.
"He knew too much of our world," she mumbled.
Severus furrowed his brows before he slowly nodded. It seemed he had been able to follow her train of thoughts simply by watching her as she surreptitiously cast several low level Revelio charms.
"I can almost smell a Dark Curse."
"You cannot smell the Dark Arts," he cave to consider, wearing a frown on his face. Although he had to agree that she might be right about the circumstances of Marc Bolan's death, that it was possibly not just an ordinary accident, he thought she was trying too hard to blame it on something Dark and unnatural.
"Don't you smell it? Of course, it's kind of... airy... like a gas- haven't you ever noticed that the wizarding world does smell a little different than the Muggle world?"
"Well, in our world, the air is decidedly less polluted with emissions of motorcars and all the other oh-so blessed achievements of technical development that Muggles are so fond of." Severus replied, but when he let his glance roam in order to not look at her expectant face, there was the fraction of a second in which he almost thought he saw the Dark Mark burning in the skies. But why would the Dark Lord deem it necessary to make such an effort just to kill one simple Muggle?, he wondered briefly as he blinked his eyes in confusion. Needless to say there was no Dark Mark when he looked up again. It seemed he had become a victim of her imagination running wild.
Meanwhile, Raven had picked some blades of grass from the side of the road and was clandestinely transfiguring them into sunflowers. After all, she wasn't a total sucker at Transfiguration. She merely preferred to not torture animals for the sake of magical brilliance.
"Thanks for being there, Sev. It means a lot to me," she said and reaching out for him, she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Together they were nearing the group of mourning fans.
Raven put down her flowers at the foot of the sycamore tree, which would become an official memorial to Marc Bolan in later years. There were no tears, only sadness. His music had changed her life and it would live on; it had helped her to become the witch she was now. She had unfolded her wings and ruffled her feathers to the sound of his music; she wasn't the Fat Crow anymore.
Instead, I'm just a stupid little girl, she thought as she glanced at Jeffrey's dear face. He was amongst the mourners.
"Severus, you have to go back to Hogwarts now. I will return in time for classes on Monday morning. "
-o-
His objections had been in vain. If Raven Lestrange got something into her pretty head, she was persistently stubborn to get her own way. And so Severus was back at Hogwarts now, while she was doing... whatever. It was none of his concern. His main interest was to reach the Slytherin common room before curfew and not get caught by the Head Marauder. Or any of the teachers, for that matter.
Unfortunately, he wasn't that lucky. Traipsing down the staircase to the dungeons, he ran straight into Professor McGonagall. Since he was still in time, he decided that a polite 'good evening' was in order- it would definitely be considered rude of him if he walked by without a proper greeting, and besides, he hadn't done anything wrong... or had he? Well, he shouldn't have left the castle because of Raven's whims.
"Good evening, Mr Snape," McGonagall replied and for a moment it seemed as if she would simply continue her way. But then she stopped and turned around, giving him a curious glance. "Mr Snape, one moment please."
Oh no, he groaned inwardly, bracing himself for what was about to come. "Professor McGonagall?"
"I was wondering if you possibly know the current whereabouts of Miss Lestrange."
"Um," Think sharp now, Severus, McGonagall isn't easy to fool. There was no use in pretending he was clueless or that he didn't care at all. So he lied smoothly, "I believe she is visiting with the family of her recently deceased friend, paying condolence."
McGonagall's usually so stern face seemed to soften with compassion at his explanation. "Of course, in times of grief we have to stand united. Please give Miss Lestrange my deepest sympathy and ask her to meet me in my office, Monday morning before classes. Although she is of age and therefore allowed to leave the grounds on weekends, she nevertheless has to apply for a permission."
"Yes, Professor, I will do that." Severus breathed a sigh of relief that she was buying his lie, even if it wasn't a real lie; he had merely bent the truth a little. "May I be so bold and ask you to take into consideration that Miss Lestrange simply forgot to apply for said permission, because she is so shattered about the death of her friend?"
"Indeed, I will take that into consideration. Good evening, Mr Snape."
-o-
Raven spent a sleepless night at her flat in London, listening to her T. Rex records and contemplating what to do now. The answer was there, all the time, and it was rather simply. And yet she dreaded what she would have to do, taking the logical consequence of her foolishness.
How could she have been so stupid? Hadn't her parents left England because of the danger? Hadn't her mother told her that it wasn't safe to use the Floo Network because it could be monitored?
She read about it every day in the Daily Prophet. Muggleborns and Muggles were attacked all over Britain, and it was getting worse with each and every fucking day. Marc's death was no accident. There was a war coming up in the wizarding world, and it would affect the Muggle world, too. No one was safe anymore and least of all those, who had any connections to her world.
Saturday afternoon found her at Jeffrey's flat; he had closed his record shop for the day. Her eyes roamed the room, ever so fascinated by his huge private record collection- he even had some rare recordings of Marc's first musical releases- but she wasn't here for that. Raven's glance fell on the table, where there was a sheet of paper with her handwriting. She still remembered the day she had scribbled down her Hogwarts address for him, so he could send her cigarettes, her subscription of the Melody Maker... She had been so very fucking foolish!
"Like a beer?" Jeffrey asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Yeah." She flashed him a smile that almost made her face ache. Because it was so very false, even though she liked him a lot. And because she liked him so very much, she couldn't wait until he disappeared into the kitchen. Immediately, she leaped for that damnable sheet of paper.
When Jeffrey returned from the kitchen, he stared dumbfounded at the wand in her hand. He never realized how he had all of a sudden lost memory of some things he used to know about Raven. Blinking his eyes, he handed her a bottle of beer and thought it weird that she seemed to stifle a sob. Naturally, he blamed it on her grief about Marc's death.
"Cheer up," he said, trying to sound encouraging, as they clinked bottles, "his music will live on."
And so will you, Raven thought, devastated about what her folly had forced her to do. She hated herself for what she had just done.
"I'm sorry, Jeff, but I have to leave now."
"I thought you wanted a beer?" His confusion was obvious now.
"I changed my mind."
As she rose and took her leave, she surreptitiously balled up the sheet of paper in her pocket, destroying the last piece of evidence for him to know that she was a witch.