Really, Rowle?!
Rowle makes his first move. Sophia meets Granger. The past starts colliding with the present.
The next morning, Rowle was awake early, for him. Normally he slept until the last minute, then was dragged out of bed by Yaxley and Dolohov! He showered, dressed and headed for the common room, following Yaxley and Dolohov. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he glanced towards the couches. His eyes narrowed as he saw Sophia in between Theo and Draco. He smiled deviously as he slipped over to the couch. It wasn't that he wanted to be the one beside her, he just didn't want those little tosspots beside her!
He snuck up to the back of the couch she was sitting on. Yaxley and Dolohov, noticing what he was about to do, were already sniggering at the girl. Opposite her, Pansy, Daphne and Tracy were trying to wordlessly warn her but apparently she wasn't getting it. He leaned over the back of the couch, put his mouth right beside her ear and whispered. "Ready for Potions class?"
"GAH!" she screamed in fright, slinging her arms out violently. Draco and Theo both dived away, wide eyed. Rowle slumped on the couch as he burst out laughing at her. Yaxley and Dolohov were propping each other up, dying laughing!
"Rowle, I'll KILL you!" she yelled angrily after catching her breath. He bounded out as she jumped up to chase him. The girls were giggling as they grabbed her bag and hightailed it after her. Coming through the corridor to the Great Hall, they could see a trail of destruction! Students were scattered left and right, chasing after runaway books and notes from book bags knocked out of their hands. Right before they came up into the lobby, they heard screaming.
"Help me! Help me!" it was unmistakably Sophia and they could hear the booming laughter of Rowle as well. They raced into the lobby in time to discover Rowle going into to the Great Hall and Sophia stuck to the wall opposite the doors. Literally stuck to the wall, as they quickly discovered after trying to get her down! Luckily for Sophia, Headmaster Dumbledore came through and was kind enough to get her down and offer her a lemon sherbet drop.
She stormed into the Great Hall and down to where he sat. "You're dead, Rowle! You better watch your back! I'll get you back for sticking me to that wall!" she hissed at him. He just smiled, satisfied at getting her away from the two boys.
Once she simmered down enough to eat, Sophia looked across the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table. She saw Hermione Granger looking at her. She smiled tentatively at her and received a serious frown in return. She couldn't quite figure out exactly what would prompt that look, unless it had been her noisy entrance into the hall. Still, that was Rowle's fault for sticking her on that wall!
After breakfast, they had gone on to class and, sure enough, she'd fizzled in Potions class! She tried her best but just couldn't concentrate, especially as she and Pansy were giggling over the other boys in the dorms. She didn't even get upset at Pansy for teasing her gently about Rowle. It didn't help that, between her dad picking on Harry Potter and Hermione Granger keeping her hand almost constantly in the air, nobody else had a chance to try and answer! She and Pansy laughed as her dad took five points from Granger for being an 'insufferable little know it all' and gave her five points for already having her quill sharpened for taking notes!
It didn't get any better in her other classes. It seemed as if Granger completely dominated the teachers' attention! But, unlike Potions class, in her other classes she was constantly showered with praise. Sophia grew more and more frustrated as the day went on. Finally, much to her relief, the school day was finally over. She made one short trip to the library and came back out steaming angry! She stormed her way down to the dungeons and gave the password. She practically growled as she spotted Rowle, doing homework with Yaxley and Dolohov.
"You! Why didn't you WARN ME?!" she ran over and jumped on the couch beside him. Rowle looked up in surprise. SOMETHING had his little firstie all up in arms.
"Firstie? What's wrong?" he asked, noticing his friends were also paying close attention.
"My name is Sophia, Rowle, not FIRSTIE! And you didn't even warn me about her!" she stomped her foot.
He smiled. 'Oh, this was gonna be good!' he angled himself to face her. "Warn you about her? Who am I supposed to have warned you about?"
"Granger, that's who! She's, she's, oh my Merlin! She's insufferable! Just like my dad said! And this is who Malfoy thought I was yesterday! Didn't he?" she was pacing back and forth on the couch, clenching her hands in her hair.
"Yes, that's who Malfoy thought you were. Why? What happened?" he gently caught her hands, pulling them from her hair. Yaxley and Dolohov exchanged glances at the gesture.
"Can you believe, I was actually going to try and make friends with her! I went to the library, Pansy said she practically lives in there. She was doing homework. I went over to her table and sat down. I was all polite like. 'Hello, my name is Sophia, I'm in Potions class with you.' Do you know what she said? Seriously, Rowle, do you WANT to KNOW what that, that, know it all said to me? TO ME!" she almost had steam coming out of her ears.
Yaxley and Dolohov had their hands clapped over their mouths, tears of laughter rolling down their faces. It was all Rowle himself could do to not burst out laughing at the girl. As it was, he was seriously having to bite his lip to hold the laughter back.
"So what did she say to you, sweetie?" he choked out, trying to imagine what Granger could possibly have said to upset her so much.
"She told me I needed to do my homework! It isn't due until Thursday! It's only Tuesday, Rowle! Then, then she said 'You know, as the teacher's daughter, you should be setting a better example for everyone, not giggling in class and melting your cauldron!' Can you believe that? She actually SAID that! To ME!" she was clearly disbelieving of her own hearing. Rowle burst out laughing.
By now, both Yaxley and Dolohov had fallen out of their chairs and were rolling on the floor, pounding their fists and busting a gut, screaming with laughter. Rowle grabbed her and held her close, laughing his head off.
"Rowle! It's not funny! That's exactly what she said to me!" Sophia squeaked out, muffled against his shoulder. She couldn't figure out what it was they were laughing so much at. This was serious business! Rowle couldn't have spoken then to save his own life. He knew why Yaxley and Dolohov were laughing. He would have to wait until he and the little witch were alone before he could explain how funny it was that she was getting outraged by her own self!
By the time the three boys stopped laughing at her, even Sophia had begun to see the humor in the situation. She found it even more ironic after meeting Rowle's eyes and realizing why he, especially, was laughing at her. She honestly had never realized how irritating her behavior had been that first year. She just knew she'd not had any friends for the longest time. Even Harry had stayed annoyed at her for a while. Then had come the mountain troll! Realizing she was letting Hermione Granger thoughts into her head, she quickly Occluded her thoughts.
"So, she told you that you needed to get your homework done?" asked Rowle, still chuckling as he held her close to him. Sophia rolled her eyes as she nodded.
"I KNOW I need to get my homework done but then she basically called me a bad influence, Rowle! I'm not a bad influence, am I?" she stared wide eyed up at the older student. "I mean, yeah, Pansy and I were laughing and giggling in class but we weren't the only ones doing it! Even the boys were fooling around in there! The only ones not laughing were her and that little Potter kid! Oh Merlin, Rowle!" She suddenly remembered. "You should have seen it! Dad picked on that Potter boy all through class! The redhead kept distracting him. That's who she should have jumped on, bad influence indeed!" Sophia turned up her nose and snorted. Rowle almost started laughing again.
Rowle smiled and tapped her chin with his fingers. "Well, how about you get your notes and start your essay? You don't have to do the whole thing right now." He said hastily as she frowned and started to speak. "But didn't you say, he wanted me to mentor you? Because you're having trouble with Potions? At least write your opening paragraph and I'll look it over. That way, we can see how much I need to work with you. How long is it to be?"
"Not long, just a six inch parchment to make sure we were paying attention in class today." She giggled. "I got us five points, Rowle, just for having my quill sharpened and ready to write!"
Rowle laughed. "Let me guess, he'd just taken five points from a Gryffindor!"
"Granger, for being an insufferable little know it all and not giving anyone else a chance to answer!" Sophia nodded. "And she did that in EVERY class, Rowle! All day today! I actually knew an answer in Charms class! I didn't even get a chance to answer!"
Rowle bit his lip to keep from laughing again. 'Listening to her going on about her other self was almost more fun than tormenting her!" he decided he MIGHT not torment her as much as he'd planned to. It sounded like he, Yaxley and Dolohov were going to have a great time while she was here, laughing their arses off at her. He looked at the older students, only just now composing themselves.
Yaxley checked his time and stood up, Dolohov right behind him. "Rowle, bring the firstie to the Quidditch pitch, will you? We've just got time for a quick practice. Formal training will start this weekend. Every weekend we don't go to Hogsmeade, we'll be practicing." He warned both boys.
"Since it seems we're going to be talking fairly often, firstie, you might as well call me Thorfinn." Rowle told her.
"Only if you call me Sophia. Not all the time, wouldn't want to give anyone the impression you're 'going soft' but at least when it's just us. Please?" she asked, biting her lip.
Rowle considered her, then nodded. "All right, Sophia. Only when it's just the two of us, though! Otherwise, it's firstie!"
She smiled. "Does he really want you to bring me down to the pitch? Won't that distract you, though? Having me there?" she asked as she picked up her book bag.
"No, you'll be writing your opening paragraph. We'll not be there long. It's like he said, just a quick practice, he just wants to make sure we're all ready to play." Rowle said as he packed his own belongings away.
As she was leaving with the three older students, Pansy and the other first years were just coming in. "Sophia! So this is where you ran off to! We tried to find you!"
"I had a run in with Granger and had to blow off some steam! Ugh, that girl! I've got to go to the Quidditch pitch and write my opening paragraph. My mentor will be waiting to check it over." She told Pansy, motioning over her shoulder at Rowle. Pansy, Daphne and Tracy's eyes all lit up.
"Sophia, do you think they'd mind if we came? We won't giggle or anything. We'll work on homework, too!" Pansy promised. Sophia looked at Rowle who looked at Yaxley. Yaxley shrugged and nodded. The girls all followed the Quidditch players out of the common room.
Up in the main lobby, they were met by none other than Granger, hanging off the heels of Potter and Weasley. "Hmm, of course! Should have known you'd be chasing after the boys instead of doing your homework, Snape!" sniped Granger, curling her lip at Sophia. Thorfinn halted, 'he had to see how she responded to this'!
Sophia took one look at Potter and Weasley, standing there with Granger. "I might be boy crazy, Granger, but at least my boys are gorgeous to look at!" she put her nose in the air, grabbed Thorfinn with one hand and Yaxley with the other and walked out, leaving Granger standing open mouthed behind her. The other first year Slytherins were all laughing at Granger's gob smacked expression.
Thorfinn was grinning widely, as was Yaxley, as they continued on down to the Quidditch pitch. He watched as his captain hugged the girl and flew her up to the Slytherin stands, instead of making her climb all the steps. 'Yep, this girl was special, no doubt about that! He almost wished she didn't have to go back to her own time!'
Present time
A meeting had been called. Apparently, something urgent had happened. Thorfinn Rowle thanked his lucky stars he'd been alone, not in the middle of a scrimmage, when he was summoned. The Dark Lord didn't summon HIM very often. Considering that nobody except a few select members of the Inner Circle even knew he was Marked, the Dark Lord was content to allow him to enjoy his anonymity. Thorfinn and Yaxley and Dolohov were three of the few followers he had who could openly be seen out and about. Their fathers were senior members of the Inner Circle and had nominated the boys for the Dark Mark as soon as the Dark Lord had managed to return. As it happened, THAT was the very reason for this summons!
"It has come to my attention that the side of the Light is suffering a crisis situation. Even as we speak, one of their members has gone missing! I need you, Rowle, Yaxley and Dolohov, to go to Hogsmeade and see what you can discreetly find out." The Dark Lord hissed. "Now, Severus will fill us in on the basic information."
Severus Snape stood and looked down at his colleagues. "As our Master said, one member of the Light has disappeared. A quite prominent member, as it were. Hermione Granger, best friend and virtual brains of the 'Golden Trio'." Snape watched as the three young men sat forward, intently waiting for him to speak. "She has been missing for the last three days. Strangely enough, she seems to have disappeared inside the castle. It has been searched every day and not a sign of her! The last place she was seen was the library. Anyone familiar with this girl will tell you, if she's not with Potter and Weasley, the next place you should automatically check is the library! So far, there have been no clues as to her disappearance, other than she was seen going into the stacks. Right near where she was last seen, there was a yearbook laying in the floor. This is all I have, at the moment. Dumbledore is trying to keep everything under very close wraps." He looked at the Dark Lord and inclined his head respectfully.
"Very well. Boys, you are to go and see if there is anything more than has been said about this." The Dark Lord told them. Yaxley's father, Corban, spoke up. "It's strange that they didn't alert the Aurors office or at least the DMLE about this."
"They don't trust the DMLE anymore." Snape told him. "Several prominent members have recently broken ties, revealing themselves to be aligned with the Order of the Phoenix. As such, that is also why details concerning Harry Potter himself, have suddenly become few and far between!"
"No matter. We will find out where the girl is and we will capture her. Without Hermione Granger, Harry Potter is lost." The Dark Lord hissed in satisfaction. Waving his hand, he dismissed his followers. He stood up and several members jumped up and immediately surrounded him.
Rowle watched as his father, along with Dolohov Sr. and Yaxley Sr., crowded around the snake like figure of their All Mighty leader. He stood and headed out of the room, not sure why the thought of capturing Hermione Granger was causing an almost protective feeling inside him. Cory and Tony had felt it, too. He knew they had. Also, unless he was greatly mistaken, even the Potions master/spy had also felt it!
"Thor, wait up!" yelled Cory as he and Tony hurried after their younger friend. All three still played Quidditch. Thorfinn was with the Bats. Anthony was with the Arrows and Corbin was with Puddlemere United.
"So, Granger." Tony said simply. He carded his fingers through his short, dark hair. "What the devil are we going to do? What happens if we actually find her?" he hissed at his friends.
"I don't know but let's get out of here. The walls have ears." Corbin said, nodding at the portraits. They quickly vacated the premises. As soon as they were outside the gate, they Disapparated. Reappearing outside the Hogs Head, they went in and commandeered the same corner table they'd used all through school.
"So you two feel it, too? I'm not the only one? You're both getting memories of her that you didn't have before?" Thorfinn pleaded. They nodded. "Thank you! Merlin, I thought I was going spare! All I've been able to think about the last three days is HER! Why?" he groaned, holding his face.
"That doesn't matter, not right now. All that matters right now is figuring out how the girl has somehow managed to kidnap herself!" Cory said calmly.
"Well said, Mr. Yaxley." To the surprise of all three, their former Potions master had somehow snuck upon them. "I'm quite certain that's exactly what she has done. Why? I don't know. I have yet to work that out but I'll keep you updated as I figure it out myself." He sat down and produced four glasses and a bottle of Firewhiskey. "I can get you into the castle this weekend but only so far. The dorms, no but the Great Hall and the library, where she disappeared from, yes."
They all took a fortifying swig of whiskey. "Professor Snape? Have you been getting memories of her, too?" asked Thorfinn.
"Yes, I have. I've also got memories of a name. A name that shouldn't exist because I was an only child and so were my mother and grandmother. And I know for sure that I don't have any children running about. Is the name Sophia Snape ringing any bells?" all three men gasped, their eyes wide. "I was hoping that I hadn't dreamed that part myself."
"So what do we do? If we find this girl? Do we let her go, hide her, what?" Tony wondered quietly. He could see the tormented look in Thorfinn's eyes. 'Whatever this was, it was having a much harder impact on Thorfinn than any of them!'
"Let's not jump ahead too fast, Mr. Dolohov. We have yet to figure out exactly what the girl has gotten herself mixed up in. This investigation will take some time. I would suggest that the three of you relocate to Hogsmeade for the time being. That way, I can quickly and easily update you as we uncover more details." Snape cautioned the young men. From what he could see before him, Thorfinn was the one catching most of the memories. Both Yaxley and Dolohov were only slightly being affected, for the moment. He prepared to depart, leaving them the bottle of whiskey and taking his glass with him. 'Yes, he was just that paranoid!'
The young men slumped around the table. Corbin and Anthony were keeping a close eye on Thorfinn. They could see signs of exhaustion on him. "Thorfinn, when's the last time you slept? I only ask because you look like Death warmed over. Boy, you got to get some rest! If you don't, it won't do you or her any good when we do find her. We will find her, Finn. Don't worry, we WILL find the girl." Corbin told him sternly.
They found an unoccupied cottage in the village and took the rest of the day Apparating back and forth, bringing back necessary belongings and stuff they simply couldn't do without. The next day was when Snape would be able to get them into Hogwarts to look around. That night, in the living room, Thorfinn showed them a book. He was willing to bet it was the same book found where Granger had disappeared. He had memories of her telling Snape she'd been looking for a book when she disappeared. Cory and Tony inspected the book. It was a yearbook and he opened it to his fourth year school picture and Granger's first year school picture. They inspected the rest of the first years. There was not a Snape to be found.
The next day, they met Snape at the gate and walked up the long driveway. He led them into the Great Hall where they saw Dumbledore and explained they were there to watch the Slytherins practice Quidditch. Every year it seemed like the scouts would always overlook the Slytherins unless, like Thorfinn, they happened to be so insanely talented, they couldn't be ignored! Thorfinn himself wasn't even looking at the old codger.
All his attention was centered on the Gryffindor table, where Potter and Weasley were sitting. Weasley was tangled up with some blond bint and didn't seem to care less but Potter looked like he was in the same boat as Thorfinn. His hair stuck up even worse than usual, his eyes were red rimmed as if he'd been crying or had no sleep. He was so concentrated on their table, he didn't notice when Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis slipped out after seeing them. Dolohov and Yaxley noticed, though, and looked at one another. They whispered into the Potion master's ear, then grabbed Thorfinn and left.
As soon as they exited the Hall, they turned to the library. It was the only other place they'd been told to look. When they went in, they saw Pansy peeking at them. As soon as they entered the stacks, Thorfinn gasped. He was staring, frozen in place it seemed, at a particular section of the bookshelf.
"This is it. This is where she disappeared." He looked at the three girls, who nodded in agreement.
"How did you know that, Thor?" Yaxley asked.
"Because this is where Becky and I were when she showed up at our feet. I remember it!" Thorfinn closed his eyes, leaning against the shelf behind him. Yaxley walked over and inspected the books on that section. He took one down. "Anthony." Was all he said as he showed him the same yearbook Thor had shown them the previous night. They flipped to the first year school pictures. Once again, there was no Snape girl to be found!
"You're looking for Sophia, aren't you?" Pansy asked. "Sophia Snape."
"Actually we're here to find out about Hermione Granger. Does this girl connect to her? Do you know anything about this? Other than what's been officially released?" Yaxley asked her.
"No, Sophia, Daphne, Tracy and I were very good friends. She showed up at the start of the year, our first year, I remember that much." Pansy told him.
"She was very private. Aside from the first night when she was telling us her background, her mom and dad getting together, her parents breaking them up and then she slipped up and told us about her stepdad being a Death Eater and her having her own mask and robes. After that, she never talked about her background anymore." Daphne told them. Dolohov glanced at Yaxley. They both vaguely remembered something like that. Thorfinn would know but he was sunk to the floor, staring ahead of him, seemingly lost in his own memories.
They motioned the girls further away from him, then had them repeat, word for word, everything they could remember 'Sophia' telling them.
"What happened to her, do you remember?" Tony asked them next. It was Tracy who answered this time.
"She disappeared as quickly as she showed up. I'm thinking her father wasn't equipped to be a father yet and found someone else to take her in. She had been going to Beauxbatons before she came here. I think he sent her back over there. I wish he hadn't. I enjoyed watching her go toe to toe with Granger." Tracy smiled.
Yaxley checked on Thorfinn. 'If the girl hadn't been there very long, how the devil had she had this much of an impact on Thorfinn? More to the point, if she hadn't been there very long, where the devil was she NOW?'
"Thank you. We'll be doing our best to find out what happened. In the meantime, do you know anything about Granger disappearing? Anything she might have been doing, a spell, a potion or a charm? Anything at all?" he asked.
After all three girls shook their heads, he and Dolohov pulled Thorfinn to his feet and walked him out of the library. They met Snape outside the door and relayed what the girls had told them. Snape had to admit, 'that was a hell of a cover story she'd come up with! More to the point, he actually knew the family she was taking about!'
He told them to get Thorfinn back to the cottage, force a bottle of Dreamless Sleep down his throat and he'd see them as soon as he had more news, unless they came up with something first!