Author's Note: Sorry this took me forever. I have been busy planning a wedding, so I may be a little occupied between chapters. Enjoy :)
Chapter 4: Halloween
The first month and a half of term passed without too much hassle. Athena had helped Harry with his Quidditch training and was immensely proud of him for securing the spot of Seeker. As much as she loved watching Quidditch and flying, actually playing wasn't her cup of tea. She much preferred flying around the grounds or taking her broom for a spin around Hogsmeade. She had wanted to take Harry broom shopping, but when Professor McGonagall had asked for her help to surprise him she had immediately said yes. The look on his face when it landed in front of him was something she would never forget.
Athena had been pretty open with their head of house in her three years of being here, but recently she had opened up more about their struggles with her aunt and uncle. While she didn't tell her everything, she did make it clear that Harry was the happiest she had ever seen him here. Her professor had agreed that he seemed to enjoy the entire experience and although he didn't always focus purely on the academic side, he was smart and talented.
It had been a week since Athena met with Professor McGonagall and started the month long process of holding a Mandrake leaf in her mouth. While she waited, Professor McGonagall had told her to forego their weekly meetings for check-ins at the end of classes to make sure everything was going well. Athena knew that if she for any reason lost or took the leaf out, she would have to start all over again, so the daily check-ins were perfect for helpful hints about what to eat and how to keep it secure while she slept. It definitely helped to have a professor that had done this all before to guide her.
Given that her sessions with Professor McGonagall had been suspended for the time being, Athena had asked Professor Snape if she could come by a couple more times a week to work on stocking up the reserves for the Hospital Wing. Given that she had passed the initial exam with flying colors, he had agreed and again offered his personal brewing station for the potions. She had felt bad using his station, but he reminded her that his cauldron and supplies were a lot higher quality than any that the students could afford and therefore produced higher quality potions with little to no extra effort.
She found her time in the Potions classroom to be peaceful. She enjoyed being alone to simply think through a potion and develop her skills more than she ever could just brewing potions for class. She had made several batches of Pepper-up, Wound-cleaning Potion, and Sleeping Draught, and both Professor Snape and Pomfrey were grateful for the amount she was able to produce in a week. Not only was she quick, she was producing high quality products that rivaled the Potion Master's.
Tonight, she was working on Calming Draught. While most of the students were enjoying the Halloween Feast, she had decided to get some of the potions done. She knew at this point the food that she could and could not stomach with the leaf adding weird aftertastes to everything she ingested. She had taken to going to the kitchens after dinner if there was nothing that tasted good, and tonight would be no different.
She had just finished bottling the first batch while the first phase of batch two was stewing when she heard someone crying in the hallway. She turned the heat down on the second batch and made sure everything was safely stored away before she went to inspect the source of the sound. She found Hermione turning the corner while sobbing uncontrollably.
"Hermione?" Athena called towards the young girl that was facing away from her.
Hermione turned around and looked at Athena with a tear stained face. Athena immediately moved towards the girl and opened her arms to give her a hug. Hermione gave returned the hug and started to cry heavily into her shoulder.
"What's happened?" Athena asked gently.
"Ron was making fun of me in front of every one," she got out between heavy sobs, "all I did was try to help him with a spell in class and now he is telling everyone I'm a know-it-all."
Athena couldn't help but smile a little at the story. Of course the two pre-teens were going to put their foot in their mouth around a girl they like. She could tell that Ron had a little crush on her, though he probably just thought she was annoying right now. And Ron was probably embarrassed to have Hermione correct him when he has tried to live up to all of his older brothers.
"I'm sure Ron was just embarrassed at being corrected," Athena said softly while looking down at the girl in her arms, "some boys will always feel a little insecure if you know things that they don't. I'm sure he feels terrible that he made you feel bad."
Hermione nodded before pulling back and wiping some of the fresh tears away. Athena could tell that she had been crying for a while at this point.
"I just wish that he had told me instead of telling anyone who would listen," she was starting to calm down.
"He probably doesn't understand the effect it had on you. You have to remember that Fred and George alone give him enough reason to go on the defensive most times," Athena conjured a tissue and handed to her, "I'm sure he was stuck in sibling defense mode and didn't think about the fact that you are just trying to be a good friend."
"I just try to learn as much as I can," she said quietly, "I don't have anyone at home to teach me about any of this and I was so fascinated with everything that I couldn't stop learning."
"I completely understand," Athena knelt down slightly to be eye to eye with her, "I hid away in magic a lot my first year, probably more than I should have. Don't be afraid to learn everything you can, but make sure you pay attention to your social life too. You will make some amazing friends here if you find the right balance. And if you ever need anything, you know where to find me."
"I appreciate it, Athena," she gave the older student the biggest hug she could muster.
"Of course. Now shouldn't you be enjoying the feast?"
"I'll head that way shortly," she pulled back and pointed towards the nearby corridor, "I want to freshen up in the lavatory first."
"Sounds good," Athena smiled at her and watched as she smiled back before disappearing down the hall."
Athena went back to her potion happy to know that Hermione was doing better and that hopefully Ron would wise up.
Meanwhile….
There was chaos in the Great Hall all thanks to Quirrell. Had he just come up to the staff table and told Dumbledore or even just dealt with the troll himself, the students wouldn't be screaming their heads off giving him a headache. Suddenly, Dumbledore's booming voice called out over the Great Hall and the students were silent as they were instructed to follow the Prefects.
Severus found Minerva's gaze and he could tell that she was thinking the same thing. There was no way the troll just magically appeared in the castle. Someone let it in. Minerva knew that Severus suspected Quirrell. There was something about him that Severus did not like and he had made that clear to Minerva from day one. While Minerva agreed that there was something off, she was not so quick to judge the stuttering man. However, now faced with a troll in the castle that someone let in to probably get to the stone…she was starting to agree with her friend.
"You need to get down to the stone," Minerva said quickly as she joined him at the staff exit of the Great Hall, "I'll get to the troll and take care of it."
Severus nodded and started to head out the door when he froze. He spun around quickly to look out at the students leaving the Great Hall with fear in his eyes.
"What is it?" Minerva asked full of concern at seeing the usually stoic professor almost as white as a ghost.
"Did you see Athena at the feast?" Severus was now frantic, hoping that she had come in at the last second and was not down in the dungeon with the troll.
"No," Minerva said while also searching in the crowd.
"Damnit! She's in my classroom," Severus was out the door before Minerva could say anything.
Severus rushed through the halls hoping that he could get to her before the troll did. Although he had every confidence in her abilities, he didn't like the idea of it coming up on her while she was engrossed in a potion. He knows how absolutely zoned out she gets when she is focused. He couldn't stopped thinking about all of the horrible things that could have happened to her in the time it took him to realize she was in danger. He should have told her to go to the feast. Should have insisted that there were enough potions to last another day.
He rounded the corner and saw the troll's shadow coming up to the passage in front of him. He raced towards the Potion's classroom and managed to duck in just before the troll rounded the corner. He shut the door quietly behind him and saw Athena in front of him completely engrossed in her work. He could hear the troll stomping down the corridor closer to them and knew he had to get her somewhere safe so he could slip out and check on the stone.
Just as he was about to call out to her, the troll made its way to the entrance of the classroom and hit the door with its club. He rushed to Athena, who turned around startled and attempted to grab her wand. Before she could call out, he made it to her and placed a hand over her mouth, shaking his head frantically, begging her to not make a sound. She nodded before he removed his hand from her mouth and grabbed her wand for her. He then grabbed her hand and led her towards a door to his quarters.
He said the password and pulled her through the secondary passage to his quarters. They ended up in his sitting room and he led her to the couch. She had been trying to say something but he kept shushing her, but now that he knew she was safe he asked her what she meant to say.
"Hermione was on her way to the lavatories," she said quickly, "I'm not sure which direction that thing was going, but it's not far from her."
Severus cursed under his breath before sending out a Patronus to alert Minerva and the other professor's that he had found the troll and of Ms. Granger's unfortunate position.
"Professor McGonagall will get to her. I need you to stay here until I come to get you," Severus said before heading for the door.
"But we are closer-" Athena moved towards the door to follow, but was stopped by Severus physically blocking her advance.
"There is no we, Ms. Potter," he said a little harsher than he intended to, "you need to stay here until I tell you otherwise."
"But she is right down the hall! Professor McGonagall won't get to her in time-"
"Athena! I need you to trust me when I say that Professor McGonagall will get to her. I cannot explain everything right now, but I need you to stay here where you are safe! Do you understand?" Severus was pleading with the young witch now.
She would have rebutted if it weren't for the desperation that she saw in his eyes.
"Ok. I trust you," she quietly.
Severus didn't waste any time before running out the door, leaving her there to wonder what was happening. He ran straight to the wing that he knew he would find Quirrell in. The only question he had to answer was how far the man had gotten. He tried to get passed the bloody three headed dog, but Fluffy caught his leg as he was trying to cast a spell to determine if anyone had tried to enter. To his surprise, there was no evidence of an attempted entry.
So why did Quirrell let the bloody troll into the castle? Why would he need the distraction for anything other than trying to get the stone? Unless I got here before he did.
With that thought in mind he made his way back towards the lavatory. On the way he ran into the man that he was looking for.
"Going somewhere, Quirrell?" Severus asked in a dangerously low tone.
"S-S-S-Severus!" Quirrell jumped a bit before gathering himself, "You frightened me!"
The startled man chuckled nervously as Severus continued to stare him down, waiting for a response to his question. When he finally realized that the man in black was waiting for an answer, he scrambled for one.
"I was looking for you of course," he pointed over his shoulder in the general direction of the troll, "Professor McGonagall found me on my way out of the Great Hall. She wanted me to take her to where I found the troll when we got your Patronus."
Minerva found him first. She won't let me live that one down.
"Then why are you standing around? Let's go," Severus nodded behind Quirrell and they both took off towards the troll.
As they ran to the front of the lavatory, Minerva quickly popped up from her animagus form to greet them. Severus and Minerva had their wands drawn the second they heard screaming from inside. Quirrell moved to the back of the trio, but Severus strategically moved to the left to make sure he couldn't hide behind him completely.
Coward.
As they entered, the scene in front of them was hard to believe. Three first years stood over the unconscious troll that had just minutes ago been wandering the halls. Not only was it a full grown troll, but not a single one of the children seemed to have any injuries to show that they went up against it. Minerva gave them all the speech, and even some points for some stupid reason. He was annoyed at the three troublemakers yes, but even more so at not having caught Quirrell in the act. Now they had to wait for him to try again.
After the three first years left, Severus watched Quirrell make his way out of the lavatory while looking over his shoulder at him and Minerva. Severus couldn't help but sneer at the man as he bid them a hasty goodnight and left in the direction of his quarters. If Severus could strangle the man right now he would. Not only was he incompetent, but he was a conniving coward that was obviously here for more than just a teaching spot. Something was off about him.
"I take it you didn't catch him?" Minerva asked quietly after the man had made his exit.
"I made it there before him," he lifted his cloak slightly to show his leg, "and that bloody creature wasn't too kind."
"You should really go to Poppy, Severus," she took in the angry swelling that now encircled the gashes in his leg.
"I've got some healing draught that I can use on it. I just wish that infernal dog had taken a piece out of that idiot instead of me. He found me just as I came out of the room. Said you sent him to find me," Severus raised an eyebrow as he looked at her.
"I most certainly did," she smiled, "but I didn't tell him where you were."
"And there's no logical reason for him to go looking for the Potion's Master on the third floor away from the Potion's classroom" Severus realized that while he did not catch him in the act, Minerva had basically proven that Quirrell was up to something.
"He's going to slip up again, and we will just have to be there first. Let's just hope that Mr. Potter and his friends cease their involvement."
"Shit," Severus quickly turned down the hall in the direction of his quarters, "Athena is still waiting in my quarters."
"In your quarters?" Minerva questioned.
"She was in my classroom when the troll walked by. I had to get her to safety."
There was no more time for conversation as he now practically sprinted to his quarters. Well, as best as he could with an injured leg. He made it to his door and yelled the password before the portrait could even acknowledge his presence. He made it through the door to find Athena pacing back and forth in front of his fireplace. She looked up and made eye contact with him. At first he thought she was going to yell at him, but once she saw his leg, her expression immediately softened into concern.
"Are you alright?" Athena rushed to his side and knelt down to get a better look at his leg "This isn't from a troll, is it?"
"I'm fine, Ms. Potter," he used his cloak to hide the injury, "Are you alright?"
"Of course I am," she smiled softly, "You made sure of that. Is Hermione alright?"
"Yes," he said with a huff, "her, Mr. Weasley, and your brother are fine. Though it's a miracle they are considering they decided to take on a fully grown troll."
"They WHAT?" Athena's eyes widened at the mention of Harry.
Severus looked at the fear that was now present in her eyes and took pity on her.
"Would you like some tea?" Severus gestured for her to sit on the couch and took a seat in a chair next to her.
"I can see why you took so long," she said softly as she took the tea he offered her, "thank you."
"I'm sorry. I had to check on a few things. By the time I got to the bathroom with Professor McGonagall and Quirrell, the troll was unconscious while your brother and his friends were unscathed. How? I don't know, but they are safe."
She surprised him when she sprung from the couch and threw her arms around him. He had seen tears building in her eyes as he told her about the troll, but he hadn't expected her to hug him. She pulled back quickly before he could even acknowledge the hug.
"I'm sorry, Professor," she quickly wiped away her tears before turning away from him.
"It's alright," he said softly, slowly coming out of his stunned silence.
"I get flashes of that day you know. Memories that I can kind of piece together, but mostly just memories of my mother screaming, a bright flash of light, and Harry crying. For the longest time, I just thought it was a nightmare. My aunt and uncle lied to us until I got my Hogwarts letter. Up until that moment we had both thought our parents died in a car accident. After I knew the truth, I realized that those nightmares were memories from that night. Knowing that he was in the danger tonight while I was safe here, it was a little jarring."
"You can remember that night?" Severus was completely shocked.
It would make sense that she would remember some things as she was three when it happened, but he had thought that the draught of Dreamless Sleep that he had personally brewed for both of the children would have helped with any nightmares or memories they might have.
"Only pieces. At first I could only remember my mother screaming," her eyes were now filling with tears again, "then flashes of green light and Harry crying. For years, it would just be Harry crying endlessly. I don't think it was until my first year here that I started to put more and more of the memory together. I can remember hearing my father yelling from afar, then a dark cloaked figure, my mother screaming, the flash of light and then Harry crying. I think at some point I remember Hagrid coming to get us and…well I think I remember seeing another man but I don't know if that is just something I made up or not."
Severus was not sure if he was more worried about the weight that she was carrying or the mysterious man that she thinks she saw. He had his hunches, and one of them was not good given that the man was now in Azkaban.
"I'm sorry that you have those memories," he said sincerely, which was out of character for him, but something about the young witch pulled it out of him.
"It's alright. As much as I hate them, it is all I have left of their voices," she said timidly before seemingly shaking out of her state and making her way towards the door that she had been pulled through just an hour ago.
"Where are you going?" Severus stood up quickly and followed her through the secondary passage.
"I'm grabbing some of the Healing Draught I made earlier for your leg," Athena said matter of factly as if she hadn't just been at the brink of breaking down into sobs.
"That's not necessary," he said while catching up to her just inside his classroom, "I am more than capable of taking care of myself."
"Even so, it's the least I can do after you saved me and made sure Harry and his friends were okay. Plus, what better way to verify that my newest batch is up to your standards?"
He was going to argue, but if it meant seeing her in tears again, he wasn't going to chance it. The hug alone had made him uncomfortable, but on top of the tears he wasn't sure what he was going to do to console her at all. He wasn't known as being the Head of House students went to in order to be comforted.
"I'm sure this batch is just as good as the last 8 that you have made," he said before sitting on one of the stools and watching her search through the vials of potions to find her newest batch.
"Even still, everyone can benefit from a little quality control," she smiled and handed him a vial of the potion, "Hopefully it helps."
Severus attempted to rest his leg on an adjoining stool, but the sharp pain that was now shooting up his leg stopped him short.
"Let me help you," Athena immediately stepped in and grabbed the back his ankle to help him lift his leg high enough to rest atop the stool.
She gently pealed back the fabric of his pant leg to show the large gashes that marred the skin.
"Ms. Potter I am more than capable-" Severus hitched his breath in pain as she conjured a rag to dab some Wound-cleaning potion carefully over the gashes.
"What was that?" Athena was grinning at him as he fought back the discomfort.
With the adrenaline wearing off now, the pain was washing over him tenfold. He took a couple of deep breaths to keep himself from passing out. She grabbed the vial that she had handed him and applied the draught with care. He could instantly feel relief from the potion and knew that she had brewed it perfectly.
"Thank you, Ms. Potter," Severus said before slowly lowering his leg from the stool and standing up to test it.
He had some pain still, but after a day or two of the draught he should be back to normal. Athena was vanishing the cloth and gathering another couple of vials for him when he caught her attention.
"The potion is perfect," she smiled shyly, "twenty points to Gryffindor."
"Thank you, Professor," she sat down on a stool across from him before something hit her and she gasped loudly.
"What's wrong?" Severus spun around quickly thinking there was something behind him.
"I just realized that when you grabbed me I must have swallowed my mandrake leaf," she looked heart broken.
"I'm sorry, Athena," he felt horrible, "I know how much this means to you. I think I have some leaves in the storeroom. Help yourself!"
"I have to wait for the next full moon," she said flatly, "but it's alright. If I had to choose between being smashed to a pulp by a troll and having to start the month over again, I'll choose the leaf every time."
She laughed a bit and it made him feel a little better about man handling her earlier.
"I am also sorry about grabbing you earlier. I shouldn't have grabbed you like that, but I didn't want you to alert the troll."
"Again, I would much rather not be face to face with a troll, it's alright," she could tell he was still ashamed of his actions, "and on the bright side, I do get to eat food again and not have it taste horrible. In fact, I may even grab some food on my way back to the common room."
"It's after hours, and with the troll the feast ended rather abruptly," Severus said, "but I can have a house elf bring you some food."
"I was just going to stop by the kitchens on my way back. I didn't want to disturb any of the students given all of the excitement they have had recently."
"I don't want you walking around the halls alone tonight," he said quickly, "I would rather you eat here and then I can escort you back to the common rooms."
"I can handle myself, Professor," she said a bit offended, "and Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the wizarding world."
"That may be so, but you and I both know that the troll was let into the castle, and did not just simply find its way here."
Athena thought about it for a moment before nodding. It wouldn't be smart to think she was impervious after all. He led her back into his sitting room and called for his house elf. Winky brought back an assortment of food from the feast before long and Athena tucked in. While she ate, Severus worked on a few things left on his desk, including a note to Dumbledore about the whole situation with Athena. He also wrote one to Minerva to make sure her head of house was aware of her nightmares.
By the time he was done catching up with everything, he looked towards the couch he had left his student at, but did not see her. Standing up quickly he started to panic. He knows she was there just a few minutes ago. He was about to search the castle when he walked around to the front of the couch and saw her curled up on the couch asleep. He looked at the clock above the fire and realized that he had taken longer than he thought with his work, and she must have been exhausted.
Walking over to his owl, he tied his letter for Dumbledore to the creature's leg. He added a line to Minerva's explaining that her cub had fallen asleep on his couch and not to worry about her empty bed. He then attached it to the owl as well and sent him on his way. Walking over to the cedar chest in the corner of the room, he pulled out a couple of blankets and brought them over to the sleeping girl. Placing them gently over her, he then left for his bed chambers at the back of the room. He called Winky again and asked her to wake him the minute Athena was up the next morning.
He yet again found himself in a situation that reminded him just how much of a soft spot he had for her. Had it been any other student, he would have sent them on their way within the castle given that the professors had searched and cleared the grounds after the troll. However, if something had happened to her, he would never forgive himself. It was only a matter of time before she would have him wrapped around her finger.
TBC…