Insomnia
Disclaimer: not my best chapter but I didn't want to leave uploading it too late.
0o0o0o
Severus was downing as much coffee as he could get away with at the staff table on Friday morning. When he saw Albus entering the Great Hall he pushed the coffee cup away and started innocently nibbling toast. Outside it was dull and overcast and, although the enchanted ceiling was supposed to only reflect the real weather, Severus had changed it to mimic a sunny day with big, fluffy clouds.
Albus took his seat in the middle of the table and said – "I hope you're heeding my advice about avoiding caffeine – it does your fatigue no good."
"Indeed," Severus said vaguely.
"Our new secretary arrived last night – I'm sorry you missed her."
Severus had fallen asleep over summer Potions marking at six-thirty (but Albus didn't need to know that).
"How's she settling in?" he asked.
"Just fine – we had dinner with her; she's keen to get started on the job."
Albus's gaze settled on the ceiling for a moment, and then he added, "I have a favour to ask of you – just a small one. Keep an eye on Neasa – make her feel welcome."
Severus raised one eyebrow.
"I'm not the best man to make people feel welcome," he said.
"Try anyway – she has just left Ireland and she doesn't know anyone here."
Albus returned to his breakfast, and after a pause so did Severus.
Minerva arrived at the table after a few minutes and struck up a conversation with Albus; Filch later joined them too, and then, as Severus was sneaking another cup of coffee when the Headmaster's back was turned, Casey entered the hall.
Her heels clicked softly on the wooden floor as she walked. She was wearing robes of a pretty midnight-blue colour, with long sleeves and a low collar, and she held a newspaper in her hand. Her attention was focused on the floating candles and the enchanted ceiling of the Hall, and as she approached the table, she asked, "Who chose today's weather?"
"Severus did," Albus said.
Casey looked at Severus, whose mouth was full of toast.
"I admire your spellwork," she said.
Severus just raised his coffee cup since he couldn't actually speak.
"I wanted to ask a small favour of you," Casey continued, now rounding the table – she chose the chair next to Severus and began spooning porridge into a bowl. "I'm re-stocking supplies for the school – would you write up what you need bought for Potions?"
"I've always ordered those myself," Severus replied.
"Then I'd be out of a job, wouldn't I? I'll drop by next week to collect it."
And she started on the porridge without another word.
Severus's eyes fell on the newspaper Casey had left on the table between them – it was entitled An Nuacht na hÉireann but it was written in English. He read the first story:
Rumours of the return of He Who Must Not Be Named in Britain have been staunchly denied by the British Ministry of Magic for the last month, but the Irish Ministry are neither denying nor confirming it.
Senior Auror in the Auror Department in Dublin, Róisín Rí, gave the following written statement: "The safety of the Irish magical community is our topmost priority. We must remain mindful that He Who Must Not Be Named was only ever active in Britain agus níor rinne sé iarracht ar bith a dhéanamh ar Éirinn a ionsaí."
Severus blinked. With a tap of her wand Casey had just changed the entire text from English to Irish – perhaps she preferred reading it that way, but it meant Severus didn't understand a word except Éirinn and Róisín Rí, which weren't much use. He gave up when Casey turned to the daily crossword and started filling it out – even that was in Irish.
"You said that you didn't attend Hogwarts," Severus said. "I'm just curious – what was your school like?"
"To work at or attend?" Casey asked.
"To attend. Similar to Hogwarts, I imagine?"
"Similar enough. Bríd – named after Saint Brigid – has four houses, named after the four provinces of Ireland: Ulster, Leinster, Munster, and Connacht."
"Province?" Severus asked.
Casey smiled patiently. "A group of counties. If I was to draw loose parallels to the Hogwarts Houses – Ulster would be Gryffindor, Leinster Slytherin, and Munster and Connacht Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I was very much Ulster."
"Because you grew up there?" Severus asked.
"Yes and no – I had a friend who grew up in Leinster but was put into the house of Ulster. Ulster was the house my older sister went to, before she…"
Casey stopped abruptly, and looked away. She cleared her throat and said, "We lost Siobhán when she was… fifteen. I was ten."
"I'm very sorry," Severus replied.
Casey added after a moment, "There were three of us – three sisters – Siobhán, Bess and myself. Bess was a year younger than me."
Severus looked away, snuck another mouthful of coffee, and then Casey asked, "Do you have family nearby, Professor?"
"I was an only child and both my parents have passed – I'm not married."
"I've none of my own – my parents and Bess are in Dublin – she just got married. The rest of the family's still in Derry – we moved south when I was a teenager."
There it was again – Derry. Why did she call it that?
"You moved for school, I imagine?" Severus asked.
Casey paused, then poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice and took a long sip.
"Not for school – no – we moved because of a Muggle conflict that had started when I was nine," she said. "It began in Derry and spread over the rest of the North. At first it was all about civil rights for Catholics – and then it turned into a fight over the six counties of Ulster that belong to the British government. There was rioting on the streets – communities were split in half – Catholics were being driven out of neighbourhoods that they'd lived in for generations. We were treated much like black people once were in America.
"The conflict didn't spill over into the magical community – the Irish Ministry of Magic didn't want to intervene. They're responsible for the whole island of Ireland, unlike the Muggle government: the North still belongs to Britain."
"When you say the North – you mean Northern Ireland?" Severus asked.
"It's a staple of which side of the conflict you're on: British people would use Northern Ireland and Londonderry," Casey replied. She paused, took another sip of juice and added, "I don't mean to say you're the enemy, Professor – you're not. The British people aren't the enemy… it took me a long time to realise that."
A faraway look came over Casey, her eyes glazing slightly as she stared at nothing in particular. She was deep in thought – and she'd given Severus a lot to think about too.
"What's the state of the conflict at the moment?" he asked.
"Hm? Oh – sorry–" Casey shook her head "–the current state – a truce is in the works. It'll be over soon – we hope."
"I wish I could say the same here," Severus said under his breath.
"I'm sorry?" she asked blankly.
"If you don't already know – we're currently fighting our own war against…"
"Against You-Know-Who," she said.
Severus paused, before saying quietly, "If you think the rumours are true, you would be one of the few outside of Hogwarts to believe Albus about this."
"Why is that?"
"Why do you believe him?" Severus asked.
Casey paused to sip her drink again, and said, "I only know Dumbledore as a public figure and politician – not personally. He's never struck me as a liar."
"He isn't." Severus paused. "He's a man of the highest integrity."
"That doesn't sound like something you say lightly, Professor."
The secretary returned to her crossword and porridge. Severus took another slice of toast.
Casey finished her breakfast first and left soon after, quickly followed by Minerva and Filch, leaving only Severus and Albus. The older of the two leaned over a bit and asked, "What do you think of Neasa?"
"She believes you and Potter about the Dark Lord's return," Severus replied.
Albus raised both eyebrows but there was no surprise in his eyes.
"You find it unusual?" he asked.
"Of course I do – hardly any members of the public believe you two."
It begged the question: what made Casey different?
0o0o0o
I hope you're well. Did you get the job? Don't answer that, I know you did!
I wanted to let you know that lightning struck the house last week. I would have written sooner but it's been hectic at this end. We are all fine.
I'll write again soon. For now, wishing you the best.
The letter lay on Neasa's bedside cabinet – it was addressed to and signed by nobody. (She had been advised to destroy any written correspondence but she hadn't found it in herself to do that.)
A time charm hovered above it, telling her it was one o'clock in the morning. She couldn't sleep but she had never been an insomniac – except when her family had moved to Dublin and when she'd started attending Bríd. However, since moving into Hogwarts four days ago, she had hardly caught one decent night's sleep.
Her pet snake Athrea was happier now she was in her heated glass tank; she was a tame rough green snake who harboured a strong dislike of travelling by Portkey.
Neasa's rooms were few: the front door opened onto a small lounge with a fireplace and an arrangement of armchairs and a sofa; a bookshelf was opposite a small kitchen, next to Athrea's tank, and a dining table and chairs were next to the window. Neasa's bedroom adjoined: a simple one with a study, some shelves, and a bed next to a small window.
This was where she sleeplessly lay now – and, deciding that she needed a walk to clear her mind, she put a thick dressing gown on over her pyjamas, stepped into a pair of slippers, and left her rooms with her wand in hand.
The staff dormitories were all on the same top-floor corridor – except Dumbledore's; he had a room adjoining his office – and it was lit only by a sliver of moonlight from a faraway window. It wasn't enough to see by, so Neasa whispered "Lumos," and began walking off the corridor.
The paintings on either side of her were snoring quietly, unsettling her a little; she treaded as softly as she could to not awaken them. The next moment she was on a larger corridor, which she followed until she reached the back of a portrait of the Hogwarts founders – there were only three of them; Slytherin had long since walked out. She pushed the painting aside and walked past, onto the top landing of the central stairwell.
It was illuminated by a few torches here and there, but Neasa kept her wand lit anyway. She eyed the staircase in front of her and then, deciding it wasn't going to move, she stepped on with one foot.
In exactly that moment it did move; she retreated and waited for it to choose a destination. The other end swung around slowly, and halted at the mouth of a dark corridor on the floor below.
She stepped on, and it didn't move this time, so she continued to descend, gripping the banister as she did and being careful to avoid the missing last step. She found herself on the dark landing, holding her wand out in front, and a portrait to her left hissed – "Are you trying to blind me? You and Snape together!"
"He's up too?" Neasa asked. The portrait just swatted his hand and left his frame, and she lowered her wand and walked down the corridor.
At the end she came to a large window, and outside she could see the Great Lake, coloured beautiful silver in the moonlight. The surface of the water rippled heavily as a massive squid tentacle broke it for a moment, before sinking once more. Neasa shivered.
Most of the stars were smothered by the moon, leaving only the brightest few – Betelgeux, the North Star, Sirius. Neasa continued to gaze at them through the glass, until she heard footsteps coming in her direction.
She glanced right: a figure was walking towards her, their wand lit; they took long strides and wore a long, billowing black cloak which brushed the floor. It was Professor Snape.
He came to a halt when he saw her, and she approached him.
"Miss Casey," the Professor said – with an air of suspicion. "What are you doing up?"
"I can't sleep."
"You can't sleep."
"It's too quiet," Neasa said. The light from two wands was making her eyes burn, so she extinguished hers. "They say New York is the city that never sleeps – they haven't seen Dublin."
"I'm sorry?"
"Dublin's never quiet, and I sleep best if there's the noise of traffic and dogs barking. Here, I could hear a pin drop from the Owlery."
Snape only replied by raising one eyebrow, so Neasa asked, "Why are you up?"
The Professor paused for a long moment, before saying, "I find myself in the same situation; needed a walk to clear my mind. Do you want a vial of Sleeping Draught? –I'm fetching one for myself anyway."
"If you would be so kind," Neasa said, with a smile. Snape didn't reply; just started walking away down the corridor, and she followed.
He led her down several flights of stairs to the ground floor, and then in the direction of his office in the dungeons, where the temperature dropped sharply. Neasa rubbed her hands together as they approached his office door, which Snape unlocked with a complicated charm.
The gloomy office was no warmer than the corridor; Neasa drifted towards the fireplace and lit it up when Snape wasn't looking. He was rummaging through a cupboard behind his desk.
The office walls were lined with shelves filled with individually-labelled jars and bottles, many holding various dead animals – Neasa spotted Murtlap tentacles, an eel, a few frogs. She looked away, fearing the frogs would start moving if she stared at them too long.
Leaning next to the fireplace was a broomstick, which Neasa recognised as a Nimbus Two Thousand And One.
"You fly, Professor?" she asked.
"Occasionally," came Snape's quiet reply.
"So do I. Where's the best place you've flown?"
Snape closed the cupboard door and joined Neasa by the fire, with two vials in hand; he pocketed one.
"Around Hogwarts," he said. "The Scottish highlands. You?"
"The Giant's Causeway in Antrim. Dublin city at night is a close second."
Snape glance at the Nimbus and said, "A Christmas present. What broom to you have?"
"Just the Two Thousand," Neasa replied.
"Not a bad model," Snape remarked. "Now – as for your draught – the one I'm giving you isn't a particularly strong one but one sip before bed will be enough," he added, offering Neasa the small vial.
"I remember I tried to brew one of these in my sixth year and it kept me up for two nights," she said.
"How on earth did you manage that?" Snape asked, sounding very slightly amused.
"No clue!" Neasa laughed. "I was terrible at Potions, always have been."
"Well I can assure you, this was brewed perfectly," Snape said, motioning to the vial in her hand. "Last week, in fact."
"If you don't mind my asking… is there a reason you couldn't sleep, Professor?"
Instead of answering Snape cast his gaze towards the fire, and Neasa began worrying she'd gone too far. When he looked back his eyes were searching, as if reading her – with Legilimency, she realised – and she let him.
He was only curious – he only wanted to know the true reason she wasn't sleeping, so she brought it to the forefront of her mind: the castle was too quiet – an image of her tossing and turning – it was so easy, because it was the truth. Beyond that she had already raised her Occlumency shields, not letting him pry any further if he tried.
He didn't. His eyes seemed to come back into focus, and she knew he'd found what he wanted: Snape believed her.
"Too much on my mind," he said at last. "You know how it is with the new term."
He pointed his wand at the fire, extinguishing it, and then said to Neasa, "Allow me to walk you back, Miss Casey."
0o0o0o
AN
The Troubles – the conflict Neasa described to Severus was called the Troubles and it ran for nearly thirty years. I've always found it an interesting piece of Irish history and while reading Harry Potter I kept wondering how the Troubles could have personally impacted a Muggleborn witch or wizard and the wizarding world in general. I wrote this to kind of explore that issue (but that won't be a central theme). The central theme will be the friendship and, ultimately, the relationship between Neasa and Severus.
Neasa's opinions are a reflection of the opinions of many Nationalists (and Republicans) in Ireland and, while I can understand them, I don't necessarily share some of her stronger opinions.
Bríd – the parallels Neasa drew between the houses of Bríd and of Hogwarts were inspired by the poem Ard Ruide.
Upload schedule – my aim is every Monday and Thursday or Friday but I can't make any guarantees about that.