They stayed under the bleachers together for almost half an hour, wanting nothing more than to comfort one another. She could still feel him shudder periodically in her embrace and she knew that the Dark Mark was still stinging. Their minds were open to one another, though they weren't speaking, and she could feel the pain through the link like it was her own. He wasn't even trying to hide it from her, just like he was no longer trying to conceal his worry, his love for her, his concern, his fear. All the things she was feeling herself though she kept the love at the forefront of her mind. Things were bad and they were going to get much worse, but as long as they loved each other she knew everything would be okay.
When an uproar of voices came from the stands they both looked up but didn't let go of one another. Freddie figured one of the champions had made it through the maze finally and she heard Diggory's name. She thought that the Hufflepuff had won until the shrieking started – screams and cries and finally she heard someone shout 'He's dead!'. They immediately sprang apart and Freddie followed as Snape ran from beneath the stands.
People were pouring from the stands, some running towards the castle but most were surging towards the Quidditch pitch. Freddie caught a glimpse of Potter on the ground, clutching Diggory's lifeless body and she felt her blood run cold. They tried to fight their way through the crowd, but everyone was pushing and shoving and she got separated from Snape. She was looking around for him when a large boy Gryffindor boy knocked her to the ground. People bumped into her, tripped over her, and she was stepped on more than once before she struggled to her feet. There was no way to go forward through the thick of it, so she made her way back towards the stands. She started shoving and elbowing her way through the students, because there was no other way, until she was able to get away from the crowd.
She stood behind the stands, her heart beating wildly, hoping that Snape would come find her once he knew what was going on. She brushed the dirt off her dress and checked herself for injuries from being trampled. There was a scrape on her leg that was bleeding, but it wasn't too bad. She was searching for Essence of Dittany in her purse when she saw a number of teachers trying to corral students back towards the castle. She ducked beneath the stands again so she wouldn't be mistaken for a student. Her bag had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it and she always carried a lot of potions, books, and other things with her so it took her a while but she eventually found the dittany. She healed the wound on her leg, re-corked the bottle, and returned it to her bag. After that there was nothing to do but wait.
She didn't know how much time had passed before she finally felt Snape's magic on the edge of her consciousness. She dropped her Occlumency shield immediately.
Where are you? His voice asked in her head. She couldn't glean any thoughts or emotions from him.
Beneath the stands. I got knocked down and stepped on. Where are you? What happened? Is Diggory really-
Stay there. I'll come find you.
Then he was gone. She walked to the edge of the stands and peaked out until she saw Snape coming towards her. His face looked grim, his mouth set in a thin line. She waited until he was closer before stepping out.
"Diggory is dead," he said quietly before she could ask. "The Dark Lord killed him and tried to kill Potter."
"Wh- he was here? In the maze?" she asked, alarmed.
"No. I'm not sure but someone said the cup was a Portkey. We do not know the whole story yet, we-"
"Severus, come quickly!" Dumbledore shouted suddenly as he ran past them, with McGonagall close behind him. Both had their wands drawn and Snape immediately drew his and followed them. Freddie ran after them as well, putting her hand on her wand in the pocket of her cloak.
"What happened?" Snape asked as they ran towards the castle.
"Professor Moody took Potter," McGonagall answered. "Albus, I don't understand-"
"That is not Alastor Moody," Dumbledore said darkly.
"Winifred, go wait in my office," Snape ordered without stopping as they reached the castle.
"But-" she began.
"Go!" he shouted, rushing up the stairs behind the headmaster.
She didn't dare disobey when he used that tone so while the three professors raced up the Grand Staircase, Freddie turned and went down into the dungeons.
Freddie was fuming when she reached Snape's office, annoyed that she hadn't been allowed to go with them and worried about Snape. She was worried Dumbledore would send him off to the Dark Lord before she got a chance to say goodbye. She removed the enchantments that guarded Snape's office door and went inside. It hadn't changed since the last time she was there last summer. Really it hadn't changed much at all since the first time she ever saw his office. She'd been a first year then, only 11 years old, and she'd gotten in trouble for fighting a second-year Gryffindor boy. She remembered the scene like it was yesterday...
Freddie followed Snape sullenly down the dungeon corridor. She'd been at Hogwarts five months and she had never seen her Head of House's office before. She'd also never been in trouble before, but here she was following an annoyed-looking Snape down to his office. She didn't want Snape to be angry at her. She'd spent the whole year trying to impress him, ever since her first class with him when she discovered how much she liked Potions. She rarely got more than a grunt of approval from him, but it was a sound she strove to hear every class period. Now here she was, in trouble. All because of that stupid boy, John Hobbs.
"In here, Miss Gray," Snape said, stopping in front of a door. He pulled out his wand and Freddie watched, fascinated, as he moved it in an intricate pattern over the wood.
"What are you doing, sir?" she asked curiously.
"I protect my office with more than just a lock and key," he answered tersely. "Any idiot first year could unlock a door with a simple spell."
Any first year but me, she thought silently. She'd read about the Unlocking Charm in the Standard Book of Spells, but she'd yet to be able to perform it. Her magic was still weak and unwieldy, worse than any of her classmates.
"Come in and have a seat," Snape said shortly. Freddie followed him into his office and looked around as he shut the door behind them. The room was dimly lit by candles burning on top of his desk and atop the shelves that lined the room. All of the shelves were filled with various jars whose contents she couldn't quite make out in the shadowy light. They looked to be various bits of plants and animals, no doubt for use in potions. Freddie thought she could probably identify some of them if she got closer.
"Sit down, Miss Gray," he said suddenly as she took a step towards a jar of what looked like brains. She quickly turned and went to sit in one of the two chairs that were before his desk. There were several books and piles of essays stacked neatly on his desk. She wondered if her most recent essay on the twelve uses of dragon blood was there somewhere.
"So," Snape said, sitting down and looking across the desk at her. "You and your friend attacked Mr Hobbs near the lake-"
"That's not what happened!" Freddie defended quickly. "Sir. Daniel only-"
"Do not interrupt me, Miss Gray," he said in a dangerous tone and she shrank back into her seat, her palms sweating. As much as she liked Snape, he could be downright frightening. He could be mean at times, she'd seen him yell at a number of students – mostly Gryffindors – but he'd never been angry at her before. He was snarky to almost everyone, but she prided herself on being the best in her class at Potions. She didn't make many mistakes and when she did she quickly learned from them. Already her classmates had started calling her Potions Princess.
"Sorry sir," she said in a trembling voice, clasping her hands together in her lap.
"Mr Hobbs claims you and Mr Byrd attacked him without provocation. They are both in the Hospital Wing being treated by Madam Pomfrey, so why don't you tell me what happened?"
"Well sir Daniel and I were down by the lake – he was sitting beneath an oak tree listening to some Muggle band on his record player, I think he said it was called The Bugs or something."
"And what were you doing?"
"I was, er...well I was in the lake. I know we aren't allowed to go swimming in the Black Lake, but I wasn't swimming, sir, not really! I was just sort of...wading around a bit? I didn't go any deeper than my knees, honest!"
"And what were you doing in the Black Lake in the middle of February, Miss Gray?" he asked. She couldn't tell if he was angry with her or not. His face betrayed no emotion, neither did his tone. If anything he looked a bit bored.
"Looking for plants, sir. I was hoping to find some giliac plants, like Gillyweed – not that I would have used it," she added hastily, although that had been the idea. "I would never go swimming in the Lake. I just wondered if I could find any, you know? I read about it in 'Magical Water Plants of the Highland Lochs' by Hadrian Whittle."
"Hmm."
"Anyway that's what I was doing when Hobbs came by. He was skipping rocks on the water, but then he started hitting me with them on purpose. I told him to cut it out, but he said 'make me' and chucked another rock at me that hit me in the head," she said, rubbing her temple. The rock hadn't cut her, but it had hurt. "That's when Daniel rushed over to help. He- he punched him and the two of them sort of went at it for a bit until Hobbs got him in a headlock. I didn't know what to do, I was just standing there in the lake like an idiot. Then Hobbs started taunting me again, asking me if I 'needed a Muggleborn to fight my battles for me' and saying that I wasn't a real witch. He said my p-parents probably chose to go to Azkaban so they wouldn't have to d-d-deal with having a Squib for a daughter." Tears welled up in her eyes as she repeated Hobbs' words but she quickly blinked them back. She wasn't about to cry, not in front of this man who she respected so much! Snape looked uncomfortable as she swallowed heavily before continuing. "I don't know how he even found out about them, my parents, but he- he kept on about it and I...lashed out."
"Lashed out how, Miss Gray?"
"I didn't mean to do it," she said, staring at her feet, her face burning in embarrassment. "But I still have trouble controlling my magic sometimes...a lot of the time actually."
"I have heard as much from your other teachers. What happened?"
"I was still standing in the lake and I...I felt anger bubbling up inside of me at all the things Hobbs was saying and he still had Daniel in a headlock and his face was turning purple. I shouted at Hobbs to let him go and the water around me started bubbling and churning until it...it rose up and went at him like a- a tidal wave, only the water was b-boiling, sir... Hobbs and Daniel both got burned."
She felt tears threatening again but she bit the inside of her cheek hard and clenched her fists, willing them to go away. She felt angry and ashamed of herself. She hadn't meant to hurt anyone, especially Daniel. He was the first friend she'd ever made. Even before she started school, she'd never had a friend like him. Her nails dug into the palms of her hands and all the candles in Snape's office flared brighter. She gasped quickly and all the candles on his desk went out, casting them both in darkness.
"I see," Snape said tightly.
"I'm so sorry!" Freddie cried, frantically digging her wand from the pocket of her robes. "I didn't mean to! I can light them back!"
"I would prefer you did not," he said lazily drawing his own wand. "No doubt my whole desk would be aflame if you attempted to light the candles."
Freddie couldn't even feel annoyed at his comment because she knew he was right. She hung her head as he gave a simple wave of his wand and wordlessly lit the candles. She still had her wand in her hand and she stared at it, wondering if maybe Mr Ollivander had been right. He hadn't wanted to sell her a wand made with a kneazle whisker core, but it was the only wand that had chosen her. It had taken hours to find her wand, she'd gone through hundreds of boxes that day.
"Your wand is not the problem, Miss Gray," Snape said as if he had read her mind and she looked up at him, startled. "You lack control and discipline. It is surprising, as you are quite adept at focusing on potions – for a first year, anyway. Yet, according to your other professors, you struggle with the most basic of spells."
"Maybe Hobbs is right, sir," she said miserably. "Maybe I am a Squib."
"You are not a Squib, Miss Gray," he said in a bored-sounding tone. "There is powerful magic inside of you, there's no doubt about that. You just need to learn to control it. You are not the first child to struggle with controlling your magic and you will not be the last. You just need to practice."
"Yes sir," she said humbly. She felt reassured by his words and she was glad Snape didn't think she was a Squib. She almost smiled, but didn't because she knew she was still in trouble. "...Will Daniel be alright? And Hobbs?"
She didn't really care about Hobbs, but Daniel's face had been pretty badly blistered when McGonagall had taken them to the Hospital Wing. She hoped he was alright and that he wouldn't be mad at her for burning him. She really hadn't meant to hurt him.
"They will be fine. Madam Pomfrey has treated far worse injuries," Snape said dismissively. "As for your punishment-" Freddie winced, certain that she was about to receive her first detention and from Snape no less. "-it seems unwarranted. I believe you were just defending yourself against a bully. Although I must say I strongly disapprove of Mr Byrd's brutish display of Muggle violence, it's clear he was attempting to defend you against a boy who is two years older than the both of you."
"So Daniel won't get detention either?" she asked hopefully.
"As Head of Slytherin House you are my responsibility, Mr Byrd and Mr Hobbs are not therefore their punishment, or lack thereof, is not up to me. However I will relay your story to Professors Flitwick and McGonagall for their consideration. You may go now, Miss Gray. I do not want to see you in my office again for fighting, understand? You need to learn to control yourself."
"Yes sir. Thank you, Professor Snape," she said gratefully. She took one last look around his office, thinking how cool all of his jars of ingredients were, before leaving to try and find Daniel...
Freddie smiled slightly at the memory and sat down at Snape's desk with a sigh. Of course Daniel hadn't been mad at her – Madam Pomfrey had healed his burns easily enough and he hadn't received detention either. Meanwhile Hobbs had gotten four nights of detention, but he never harassed them after that and Freddie was never sent back to Snape's office for fighting again.
Not a day went by that Freddie didn't miss Daniel. She'd never had another friend like him – although Ada came close. She wondered about Ada, wondered if she had gone back to wherever the Beauxbatons students were staying or if she were still expecting Freddie to come and find her like she'd promised. A student had died, though. Cedric Diggory was dead. Surely Madame Maxime was keeping a close eye on all her girls. She hoped wherever Ada was, she was somewhere safe.