Sixteen
Weeks pass and Bram is no longer the tiny ball of fur he once was. While still very much a kitten, he now has long legs and no longer fits in the palm of her hand. His tail, which was once a wiry nub, is now long and luxurious, he frequently uses it to wrap around his body for warmth when he sleeps on one of the chairs in the common room. All of the Ravenclaw students now know him by name, and make sure to give him a scratch between the ears whenever they see him. While he still spends the majority of his free time with Luna, he has since decided that he is much too old for a baby-sitter and insists on following Danu to the dungeon twice a week for her lessons with Snape. Except, Snape has not been there in weeks.
Ever since the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived, and the Goblet spit out Harry Potter's name, Snape has been busy with who knows what. This has not stopped him from leaving her a book and cup of tea next to her cauldron, along with instructions for whatever potion she would be brewing that night. The dungeon is dark and depressing without Snape, and this makes her giggle, being as Snape himself is dark and depressing.
Tonight, however, Snape is present, and Danu can't help but feel giddy at his return. Bram lies curled up on Snape's stool, much to his displeasure, since Snape is between his class and the brewing room. Potter and Weasley serve an especially depressing detention in the next room, pickling rats brains. Snape stands in front of the door, left hand clasped to his right forearm, a pained expression on his face, watching as she uses his personal pestle and mortar to powder unicorn horn.
"Must you bring that filthy animal every evening? There is much more cat hair in this room than I wish there to be." Snape remarks dryly, plucking a single black hair from the table and holding it up to the light to prove his point. Bram stretches, yawns, and turns his body away from Snape, unfazed by his usual indignant personality. Danu finishes grinding the unicorn horn and places the pestle and mortar on the edge of the counter space, she then turns her attention to the cauldron bubbling lazily before her.
"Ms. Black, would you ple-" Danu turns, perhaps a bit too abruptly towards Snape, her arm bumps the pestle and mortar, sending it crashing to the ground. Ground unicorn horn dust fills the air, the granite mortar shatters against the stone floor while the pestle rolls away, gently bumping Snape's foot. Danu's mouth gapes open, everything begins to move in slow motions. Snape strides towards her, his face scrunched with anger. She instinctively raises her arms to her head in an attempt to shield herself from him. He grabs her by the back of the neck with one hand, Bram with the other, and tosses them both out of the private potions room and it to his classroom.
Still holding a tight grip on the back of her neck, he whirls her around to face him, Bram screams and thrashes in Snape's strong fist. Snape tosses Bram to the ground as if he were nothing more than a terrible essay on a balled up length of parchment. Danu gasps and struggles against Snape's grip, desperate to get to Bram, but Snape is strong, and Bram runs off screaming.
"YOU STUPID GIRL! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE UNICORN HORN?" Snape screams in her face, her eyes sting with threatened tears as she looks up into his angry coal colored eyes. Something changes in his face; she can't quite put her finger on what it is. His grip loosens, but his hand remains. He leads her to the door by the back of her neck, past a gawking Potter and Weasley, pushes her into the hall, and slams the door in her face.
Danu and Luna sit huddled together for warmth in the stands, not paying an ounce of attention to the goings on below. While initially enthralled with the dragons, Luna quickly lost interest and began telling Danu all about her and her father's search for the illusive crumple-horned snarkak, even inviting Danu to join them on their next hunt for one. It wasn't until the stands erupted with both applause and boos that they even became aware that the task was over; Harry had successfully captured his golden egg, tying him and Viktor Krum for first place.
Snow falls in thick wet globs from the sky, not sticking to the ground, but making everything slick and miserable. Danu has a thick blanket wrapped tightly around herself while her and Luna search the darkened halls of the first floor for Luna's missing shoes shortly before curfew. Danu left her own shoes behind in the common room as a sign of camaraderie while the two scoured the castle for any hint of the missing shoes. The two girls are clad in thick woolen socks as they pad their way from the grand staircase and through the Great Hall.
"It must be the Nargles." Luna states matter-of-factly as they make their way from the Great Hall, each with a mug of tea gripped tightly in their freezing hands. As they begin to make their way towards the grand staircase, two figures burst through the main entrance, seemingly arguing in hushed voices. Danu recognizes one of the voices immediately, Snape.
Snape had been avoiding her for the better part of a month, ever since she had spilled the unicorn horn and broken his favorite mortar. Despite being busy throughout the current term, Snape always left her tea, a book, and instructions for a potion twice a week when he could not join her in brewing; this small token of friendship stopped the same day. Outside of class with him once a week she does not see him, as he often skips breakfasts and dinners in the Great Hall. The only indication that she was to continue her private brewing schedule is the potions book left open in front of her cauldron with instructions to specific potion she is to brew. Danu found herself missing him, and wishing the two of them could brew together again. If she had only paid attention, not placed the mortar so close to the edge of the desk, things would be normal.
Danu watches as the second figure grabs Snape's wrist and attempts to pull his right sleeve up his arm. Snape jerks his arm from the figures grip and slams their body against the wall, snarling something in their face in the process. The figure pulls their own sleeve up, and shoves it under Snape's nose before shouting, "I am not wrong!" Danu and Luna stay glued to the spot; too caught up in the struggle to leave, too afraid of Snape's wrath to stay. The two girls share a look, silently deciding what to do, when the second figure notices them and slinks from Snape's grip before bolting out of the door from which they came. Snape stalks towards the two girls, even in the dark, Danu can feel the anger radiating from his core, he stops just shy of stepping on her bare feet and stares down his nose at them.
"What. Are you. Doing?" Snape's voice is deep and low, vibrating her chest with each syllable.
"Nargles." Luna answers before Danu has a chance to, she looks over to see Luna staring up at a strand of mistletoe hung from the doorway above the Great Hall. "Mistletoe is full of Nargles. That's where my shoes have gone." Snape glances down at both girls sock clad feet and audibly scoffs in displeasure.
"Not only are these fabled 'Nargles' responsible for your missing essay, Miss Lovegood, but now you expect me to believe they are responsible for your being out of bed so close to curfew? If I didn't know any better, I would think the two of you were….up to something."
Luna opens her mouth to respond, Danu reaches out and clasps her hand, Snape cuts her off just as noise begins to escape her lips.
"Go to bed, Miss Lovegood. Miss Black, follow me." Danu lets go of Luna's hand and gives her an apologetic look, Snape is already halfway down the corridor, she can no longer see his outline in the darkened hall but can feel his presence.
"NOW." Snape's voice booms throughout the hall, causing her to jump out of her skin and spill tea all down her front. Luna sprints up the stairs, Danu gulps hard and attempts to calm herself before following Snape into the darkness.
Danu carefully pushes Snape's office door open to reveal a dimly lit room; Snape sits at his desk, elbows on the desk in front of him with his fingertips pressed together. Lined in front of him are several jars and vials in different shapes. As she approaches she sees leaches, lacewing flies, bicorn horn, knotgrass, fluxweed, boomslang skin, and several broken glass vials.
"Are we to brew Polyjuice Potion, Sir?" She asks, timidly.
Snape sneers at her and jumps to his feet, sending the chair skidding across the stone floor. Danu trembles and looks down at her feet while rubbing her thumb against the chipped lip of her teacup, a nervous habit. Snape strides towards her, she can feel him practically against her front as he jerks the teacup from her hands and slams it down on the desk. He grabs her cheeks with his thumb and middle finger, squeezing until her mouth puckers slightly, and forcibly lifts her head towards his own.
"LOOK. AT. ME. WHEN I SPEAK TO YOU!" He booms, causing her to jump. Her hands go to his wrist in an attempt to pry him off of her, her breathing increases, and her heart hammers in her chest; he holds steady, squeezing her face even tighter. "You and your little friend Loony Lovegood have been stealing from me and I will not stand for it!"
Danu attempts to shake her head in denial but is unable to with Snape's grip on her face. She can feel her face redden in terror; tears threaten to spill from her eyes. Snape pushes her back and releases his grip on her cheeks in one swift motion, causing her to nearly tumble to the ground. She catches herself on a chair back, leans forward, and brings her hand to her chest in an attempt to steady her heart.
"Fluxweed, lacewing flies, knotgrass, among others, all missing!' Snape gestures towards the nearly empty bottles lining his desk and bends at the waist to look into her eyes. "You are brewing Polyjuice Potion, and I will. Find. Out. Why."
"I brought six bundles of fluxweed from the greenhouse during last month's full moon." Danu managed to choke out between sobs.
"Guilty conscious, I assume."
"I have never stolen from you. I have never brewed Polyjuice Potion!"
"So, I am supposed to believe that all of these ingredients simply…walked away?" Snape straightens himself and raises an eyebrow at her.
"I have never-I would never steal from you!"
"You are the only person in this castle with unsupervised access to my personal stores! My personal brewing room! My personal expertise, and you take advantage of that!" His voice rattles her head and sends vibrations down her spine, tears begin to trickle down her cheeks and across her lips, but she doesn't dare wipe them so as to not draw attention to it. "That ends now. I will no longer be subject to your kleptomania."
"Please, Sir! If I truly wanted to steal from you, wouldn't I have started last year? Wouldn't I have stolen something more valuable? A book, a silver dagger, for instance. Why would I steal these when I can get them from the greenhouse any time I want? Ask Professor Sprout, Madam Pomfrey, even Madam Rosmerta, I have never stolen a thing from anyone!" Danu straightens herself and points towards the jars on the desk, desperate for him to believe her. Her heart continues to hammer in her chest, her palms begin to sweat, and her lower lip begins to tremble. She cannot lose this apprenticeship, not when Dumbledore has gone as far as writing to St Mungo's on her behalf, not when she's so close to the finish line. If Snape brings this to Dumbledore, and he believes him, she will be labeled a thief and St Mungo's will never hire her. The proof is damning, she is the only one with access to his private stores, she has no alibi.
"ENOUGH!" Snape bellows: he slams his hand against the desk so hard it rattles the jars.
"Get. Out. Now."