The next day at work Freddie found she could not stop smiling. Snape had woken her half an hour before her alarm went off that morning and he'd done so in the best way – by kissing his way up her leg to her inner thigh... they'd made love once more in his bed and still had time for tea and a bit of breakfast, which Noelle had brought to them in Snape's office after they were both dressed.
Knowing that he wanted her to come back after work made the day go by surprisingly quickly. She knew she shouldn't be so happy, not with the Dark Lord returned to full power, but she couldn't help it. She'd had a really good night with Snape.
She worked on creating false memories with her Occlumency, like he'd instructed her to do. It wasn't easy to come up with more than a couple of fake scenarios, so she thought of other patients she had treated in the past, other potions she'd brewed, and scattered those memories through her mind as if they'd happened today. She thought she'd done a pretty good job of it and wondered if Snape would be able to tell which memories weren't accurate.
When 7 o'clock rolled around at last, Freddie placed a stasis spell on the cauldron of Antidote to Common Poisons she was working on. Normally she wouldn't leave work before a potion was finished, but she was looking forward to returning to Hogwarts. Besides, this particular brew wasn't urgent, it was just something they were running low on on the first floor. She could finish it tomorrow. The other cauldron in her office contained a batch of Dreamless Sleep Potion that had to simmer for another 12 hours before it could be bottled. She'd be back by the time it was finished.
Freddie had gone home on her lunch break to replace the dirty Muggle clothes in her bag with clean ones. Before leaving her office that evening she changed out of her St Mungo's robes into a comfortable green sundress and pulled her hair loose from the ponytail she kept it in while brewing. She ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it, then went to tell Madame Hawkins she was leaving.
When she opened the door to her office nearly all the interns working in the lab stopped to look at her – then quickly looked away. She could tell they all had questions about the Triwizard Tournament, they'd been looking at her like that all day, but none of them had asked her about it. She assumed Master Hawkins must have told them not to bother her about it, for which she was grateful.
She knocked on Master Hawkins' office door and was quickly told to enter. She found the older woman bent over a cauldron in the middle of her room.
"Yes, Miss Gray?" Hawkins asked absently, carefully adding a finely crushed powder of shells to the cauldron.
"I was just letting you know I'm heading out for the night," she said, peeking into the cauldron at a blue-green potion. "Is that a Deflating Draught, Master Hawkins?"
"Yes, a particularly concentrated version of it. Healer Cooper needs it for a particularly stubbornly swollen patient he has on his ward."
"Oh. Did you need my help?" Freddie asked tentatively, hoping the answer would be no. Any other time she wouldn't hesitate to offer help, but tonight?
Hawkins glanced up from the cauldron, taking in Freddie's appearance, and shook her head.
"No, Gray, don't worry about it. It shouldn't be too much longer. Besides, you look like you're ready to get out of here."
"Yeah, that's alright isn't it?"
"Of course. Your shift ended at 7. I'm just surprised, I don't think I've ever seen you actually leave on time. Hot date?" she asked with a grin.
"Something like that," Freddie said with a sheepish smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Freddie Apparated outside the Hogwarts gates and found there were even more students milling about the grounds than she expected. It seemed just about everyone was out enjoying the slightly cooler air now that the sun was going down. Freddie ducked out of sight long enough to apply her Disillusionment Charm, then started down the path to the castle. She'd been on the grounds too often and she didn't want to be spotted by anyone who might figure out that she didn't belong.
She had just reached the Entrance Hall when she felt Snape's presence in her mind. She quickly dropped her mental shield.
Can you come back later? My office is currently occupied, he said, and sent her an image of his office as he saw it – two red-headed twin boys sat a table in front of his desk, identical looks of annoyance on their faces as they disemboweled rats by hand.
The Weasley twins? What did they do this time? She asked with a mix of amusement and annoyance. It certainly wasn't the first time they'd served detention with Snape. The boys probably spent more time in detention than anyone else in the castle.
I caught them snooping around Moody's office before dinner, he answered. The real Moody is still in the Hospital Wing, but that does not mean they can go into his office whenever they like.
Right. When will they be done? She asked, wondering if she should return to work or find something else to do while she waited.
Come back after curfew, he said decisively. I'll see you then.
Then his presence withdrew and she was alone once more with her thoughts.
Feeling frustrated, Freddie left the Entrance Hall and went back out onto the grounds. She didn't particularly want to go back to work and she thought it was probably too late to find Ada for another duel. She began to wander the grounds aimlessly, keeping clear of any groups of students who might stumble into her while she was invisible.
After a while she found her feet leading her towards the Forbidden Forest. There was once a time when Snape would know if she got too close to the Forest. After Daniel's disappearance he had put some sort of Trace on her so that if she tried to go out there he would come to stop her. But that was a long time ago. Not only was her mind camouflaged from his with her Occlumency, but the Forbidden Forest was only out of bounds for students. And Freddie was no longer a student.
For years Freddie hadn't been able to go near the forest without feeling a sense of dread, occasionally hearing Daniel's voice screaming in her head, telling her to run. She'd never know if his screams were something she actually remembered or if it was something her brain had conjured up on its own. To this day she had no memory of what actually happened that day in the forest. She'd been walking with Daniel, listening The Eagles vinyl on his record player that he'd enchanted to float behind them...and then she'd woken up in the Hospital Wing, covered in blood, with no idea what had happened to her.
Freddie felt no dread now as she stepped into the shadows of the trees, just a twinge of sadness as she thought of Daniel. She knew the chances of the Dark Lord being in the forest now were slim. He was somewhere far from here, gathering his followers. An unsettling thought, but not something she had to worry about at the moment. She just needed to kill time until all the students returned to their dormitories.
She didn't plan on going far into the forest. She was just walking along the edge, keeping an eye on the grounds through the trees...until she heard a faint voice, somewhere off to her right in the dark of the woods. She drew her wand and, without hesitation, headed deeper into the trees.
She was careful not to make any noise as she crept through the dark. She couldn't make out the voice she heard speaking but she knew whoever it was they definitely shouldn't be there.
Could it be someone sent to spy on the castle, on Dumbledore? A Death Eater or even a Ministry official. Or is it a student out of bounds? They'd have to be particularly stupid to come out in the forest after everything that's happened...
Freddie didn't have a plan, she had no idea what she'd do once she found out who was lurking in the woods. If it was a spy, should she try to fight them? If it was a student, she had no authority to send them back to the castle.
Maybe the best thing to do is observe and report back, she thought. Unless I get caught, then I'll have no choice but to defend myself.
Freddie froze as she heard a rustling of a bush nearby. Something was coming towards her, but whatever it was it was small. She could tell by the sound of paws crunching on fallen leaves. Still she didn't relax and she kept her wand raised until suddenly a furry creature erupted from a bush, heading straight for her feet.
"Ziggy?" she gasped, lowering her wand. The kneazle was winding himself around her invisible legs, not deterred by her Disillusionment Charm. She'd left him at Hogwarts that morning, knowing she'd be back after work. Before she'd left she'd told him she'd be back later and to have fun in the castle with Mrs Norris. So what was he doing in the forest?
Freddie crouched to pet the kneazle, but before she could he darted away. He glanced back over his shoulder at her and she knew he meant for her to follow. Curious but still cautious, Freddie raised her wand and followed Ziggy back the way he'd come.
She moved as quietly as she could through the underbrush and it wasn't long before Freddie spotted what it was that had drawn him into the forest in the first place. Ada was sitting with her back against a tree, facing the river. She had her wand out, face screwed up in concentration. Freddie watched her for a moment and saw Ada whisper "Expecto Patronum". A jet of silver erupted from the tip of her wand, but didn't take shape. Instead it formed a flat shield in front of her.
"That's better than yesterday," Freddie commented and Ada leapt to her feet, wand raised in front of her.
"Who's there?" she demanded.
"It's only me, Adalene," she said and quickly removed her Disillusionment Charm so her friend could see her.
"Oh hi Freddie," she said, visibly relaxing. "What're you doing here?"
"What are you doing out here?"
"Practicing my Patronus Charm," she said with a shrug.
"I can see that. You shouldn't be out here by yourself. It's dangerous! It's called the Forbidden Forest for a reason, Ada."
"I wasn't alone – Ziggy was with me. Besides, I haven't seen anything dangerous. A few snakes, a fox. The Hogwarts students said there are werewolves out here, but it isn't a full moon and I'm going back before dark anyway."
Freddie hesitated, not sure what to say to her friend. She'd been out in the forest plenty of times as a teenager, too. She didn't want to lecture Ada, but after what happened to Daniel...
"Don't worry, Freddie. Ziggy would have let me know if there was anything dangerous nearby," Ada said reasonably. "And you know I can defend myself when I need to."
"I guess so," she murmured uncertainly. "...Why'd you come out here to practice anyway?"
"I wanted somewhere quiet, where I would not be disturbed. What about you? Didn't you go to work today?"
"I got off at 7. Severus wanted me to come back this evening," she said with a faint smile. "But then he had the Weasley twins in detention, so I'm waiting a bit before I go in to see him. I was walking along the edge of the forest when I heard you. Then Ziggy found me."
"He found me, too," Ada said, grinning as she knelt to pet the kneazle. "I was wandering the grounds, looking for a place to practice, when he came running across the grounds. I figured I was safe with him in the forest."
"I'm glad he was with you at least," she said. "But I wish you'd be more careful."
"Tu te fais trop de bile, Winifred," Ada said.
"I am not a worrywart," she replied with a faint scowl. "I'd say I worry exactly the right amount actually."
"Comme ci comme ça," she responded airily. "Since you are here, do you want to practice dueling?"
"Actually, I was thinking we could meet Sunday for our next duel. I'll be off work then and I won't be so tired."
"Saving your energy for Severus?" Ada teased, grinning broadly.
"Why don't you keep practicing your Patronus Charm?" Freddie suggested. "Now that I'm here I can help keep watch. Make sure nothing attacks you while you're sitting there with your eyes closed."
Ada made a face and stuck her tongue out at her.
"Fine then," she said, sitting back down with her back against the tree. "I think I've almost got the hang of it, don't you?"
"You've definitely improved," Freddie said with a nod. "Keep trying."
