Chapter Sixteen: Goyles Sundered

By the time I found myself back in Hogsmeade, cutting across the village center towards the Hogs Head, night had fallen. As it turned out, despite my tendency to give in to my emotions, I was a natural Occlumens, and within just a few hours I was able to block Snape out of my head as easily as casting a levitation spell. It was nearing dinnertime when Snape sent me back through the tunnel with only a brief kiss on my forehead and a promise that he wouldn't risk seeing me alone again for quite a long time.

I was thankful for the assistance of the darkness in allowing me to navigate the village without being seen. The walkways were mostly abandoned, most of the students probably having made their way back up to the castle by now. It was uncommonly cold, even for early autumn, and my fingers were tingling with icy numbness until I made it to the Hogs Head.

The short stone path up to the wooden door of the pub was illuminated by a dull lamplight. A glow shone in a perfectly circular halo around the glass globe, highlighting trillions of tiny water specs within the ever present fog. I opened the door a fraction, passing through the light as quickly as possible and into the glorious warmth.

"-prove to be an invaluable resource. We'll try to get a reliable means to listen – no, Michael, I cannot send Harry your letter, please stop interrupting – so that we can stay updated…. Rowan?!" Ginny shot up in her seat, stopping in midsentence of whatever she'd been talking about with the group of onlookers whose heads almost simultaneously turned in my direction. I, meanwhile, was trying hard to keep a bitter look from my face at the very unpleasant farm-like smell that permeated the barroom. "Thank goodness, where have you been!?"

"Oh, you know. Around…" I said, avoiding meeting the curious stares from my classmates. Ginny's expression was a blend of concern and agitation.

"The Death Eaters have been here looking for you twice! They said you got into a fight… seemed pretty fired up over it," Ernie chimed in, forehead scrunched, clearly probing to hear the story. I shrugged him off.

"I'll deal with that later. Looks like a pretty good turnout," I said, waving at the nosy crowd and pulling up a chair next to Ginny. The rickety old tables were crammed, those closest to her filled by Luna, Neville, Ernie, Seamus, and a few other Gryffindors I recognized. Throughout the pub was a mix of students from different houses and years, some I could name and some I couldn't, all oriented towards Ginny. They leaned forward in their seats, faces eager as they sipped their Butterbeers, and the fact that I'd intruded during something important was not lost on me. "We can talk about it back at the dorm."

She frowned, then said, "fine." Her pugnacious tone indicated she would not be forgetting the topic any time soon, but had nevertheless been about to carry on when Luna, of all people, piped up.

"Is it true you attacked Gregory Goyle and broke his nose?" she said airily. "I am quite sure he deserved it, of course…"

"Er…"

Several others followed her lead, understanding this as an opening to shout out their own questions. The crowd came to life at once, and it seemed that yet again, I was an accidental face of rebellion. Someone to be looked up to. When in reality, I wanted… I needed… to hide in the backdrop as much as possible. To stay in the loop and keep my friends safe while not drawing too much attention to myself. But even the barkeep, a lanky older woman with tufts of wiry gray hair sticking out in every direction from under a floppy witch's hat, had paused pouring out Butterbeers and straightened, rheumy eyes flickering with interest.

I put up my hands in surrender. "It wasn't such a big deal… I was just defending myself. Really. Nothing heroic or mimicable. I'd love to hear what Ginny was saying though. I missed a lot of the meeting, so if everyone could fill me in…"

A few more kids pressed on, still wanting further details of the fight. My face went cold, and I looked to Ginny with an apologetic shrug.

"That's enough!" she said, half shouting. The crowd quieted, and the barkeep resumed pouring a glass for Michael Corner. For a moment, I regarded her with a gratified smile. It was clear that she was in charge. Respected. "We don't have much time to work out the rest of the details so we've got to stay focused. Now, Rowan… We were just discussing Potterwatch, and some ideas for how to…"

"Potterwatch?" I questioned musingly.

She nodded. "It's a radio program. Seamus discovered it over the summer, apparently Lee Jordan – you remember Lee, don't you? – put together an undercover show to report on the truth of what's happening outside of Hogwarts. The Daily Prophet is only printing the Ministry's lies anymore, so Potterwatch is our best chance of staying informed. Only problem is, we need to figure out a reliable way of listening in. Broadcasts don't happen often, every couple of weeks or so, and there's always a password. Seamus has got a wireless – does anyone else have one?"

Ernie raised his hand, along with a petite Ravenclaw girl with extremely frizzy hair.

"Having three will make things a bit easier," said Neville. "The password for the following broadcast is announced at the end of each program. We could rotate which of you will listen in – and we can listen in pairs, so that there is always a lookout and a second person who knows the password for the next meeting, just in case…" His thoughts trailed off, but he didn't have to conclude it out loud. We all understood the unspoken sentiment.

Seamus and Neville agreed to take the upcoming broadcast, then Ginny with the little Ravenclaw (whose name, I'd learned, was Alice), and then me and Ernie. A number of the other kids in the room were collectively frowning and mumbling disappointments, apparently all having been hopeful for the opportunity to attend a Potterwatch program.

"We'll meet up here again next month. Just remember, anything to give Snape and the Death Eaters a hard time is applauded, but be smart about it. Don't get caught - "

Dong Ding. Dong Ding.

From somewhere behind the bar a bell clanged. It must have been a kind of signal – one that I hadn't gotten the memo on - because in one swift motion, the entire pub rearranged itself. With the sound of a room full of chairs scraping the floor at once, each and every student shifted on cue to face their respective tables, stirring up the thick coating of dirt from the floor up so that a dust cloud swirled in the room. Three people sneezed, and a wave of conversation crashed through the room, as though they'd all been having a casual Butterbeer rather than participating in an illegal club meeting.

Momentarily disoriented, my chair was still directed at an unusual angle away from my table when the pub door swung open so forcefully it crashed off the adjacent wall, knocking a candle stub clean off. A pair of masked Death Eaters appeared in the doorframe, letting in an ominous drift of fog at their boot-clad feet.

I fumbled to shift my chair so my back would be to them, but too late. I'd already drawn their attention.

"There!" I heard one of them say. They marched over to our table, boots clomping on the floor the whole way across the pub.

"Can we help you?" asked Neville, an edge to his voice.

I was looking straight down at the battered wooden table, trying to avoid eye contact, when the taller of the pair snatched me by the arm. "Hey!" I yelped as he yanked me up, the chair tangling around my feet as I wriggled in his grip.

"Got what we need right here," said the shorter Death Eater to Neville, before his attention fixed on me. "'Bout time you turned up, little witch. Where ya been hiding?"

Ginny, Neville, and Ernie all flew out of their seats, outraged, protesting over one another until the Death Eater's wand suddenly fixed in their direction. "Worry about your own actions, children. Shady place, the Hogs Head is. Seems a bit curious that you all have been hanging around all day. Headmaster Snape might have some interesting thoughts as to what's really going on here…"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ginny said in a deeply resentful tone. "And unless Butterbeers are banned now as well, we've done nothing wrong."

"We'll see about that," he grunted, then nodded to his partner who was still gripping up my arm. "Let's go."

The pair of them shoved me in the direction of the door, and I could see eyes from around the pub darting to me, then looking rapidly away. In a moment of instinct, I reached for my wand.

"That would be 'orribly unwise," hummed the taller guy in a slight French accent, voice muffled from behind the mask. He dragged me over the threshold, his partner flanking my other side. I was so intensely irritated that I did not even feel the cold. "Especially when the 'eadmaster is deliberating your expulsion at 'dis very moment. And do you know where rebellious children are sent? Hmm?"

I scowled but didn't respond, resisting the violent urge to rip off his ugly mask and punch him in the nose.

"Dey are sent to Azkaban prison."

Twenty minutes later, I was standing, once again, in Snape's office. He glowered at me through curtains of black hair, one Goyle on each side, and the two Death Eaters who had retrieved me from the pub standing guard at the door. The young Goyle was clutching a red-stained cloth to his nose, which I could see was bent at an awkward angle, and making a nasally whimpering noise. So much for his 'tough guy' routine.

"Surely you can no longer deny that this girl's a continual nuisance, Severus," said Goyle, jabbing a finger in my direction. Snape's focus stayed locked on me, a warning edge in his glare. "Aside from her repeated disruptions in classes… and not to mention desecrating a Ministry statue… she's attacked my son numerous times and has now caused him serious injury!"

I laughed outright, genuinely amused. "Oh please, he attacked me. This time and every time before. Not to mention, Madam Pomfrey could fix that in two painless seconds! He's left it like that to be dramatic."

A shade of deep pink rose in Goyle Sr's cheeks, his nostrils flaring. "See! She is taking pride in what she's done!"

"I'm right here, you know." My arms were crossed, and I glared at the trio defiantly. "Don't have to talk about me like I'm not here. And do you mean taking pride in successfully defending myself? Damn right I am. Maybe you should advise your son to stop picking fights with someone so clearly stronger than he is."

Goyle Jr. snorted at that. "Ye' 're' thin' tha', deh yeh…" He was even harder to understand than usual with the gushing nose.

"Okay, now try that again, this time with your big boy words," I said in a cooing voice as though talking to a toddler.

With a singular dirty look, he blew his nose hard into the towel, then moved it from his face before speaking again. I could see the purple color forming around the bridge of his nose, a sight which was rather satisfying, indeed. "Guess ya don' remember the Astronomy Tower last year, Pierce. As I remember it, you were the one needin' medical 'elp after tha' fight."

"I guess you don't remember the Astronomy Tower," I said, seething with bitterness. "You needed not one, but two friends to back you up because you were too afraid to fight me one on one! I'll gladly fight you again. Go on, try me, I'm right here!"

"Miss Pierce, that's enough!" Snape snapped, dousing my temper. Here I was, once again failing to control myself. What was my problem? I'd always been a little hotheaded, certainly, but never quite to this degree.

"Expulsion is the only reasonable action!" Goyle said, now near shouting. His temper seemed to be rising with every syllable. "This girl belongs in Azkaban prison! She won't stop until she ends up murdering my son!"

"Miss Pierce will not be murdering anyone, Goyle," Snape said, voice low.

"I haven't ruled it out…" I muttered under my breath. The young Goyle snorted again, a sputter of blood coming out with it. The look Snape gave me sent daggers into my chest, blatant anger coming through loud and clear.

"Be aware, Miss Pierce, that Goyle's suggestion has not been 'ruled out' either," Snape said dangerously, and while I felt confident he wouldn't send me to Azkaban, I also knew there was some truth in his words. "Learn to restrain yourself, or the next time you find yourself in my office, lenience will no longer be offered. Is that clear?"

"Of course, Headmaster," I said, attempting to meet his glower with a looked of innocence.

He nodded a fraction. "You are banned from Hogsmeade village for the remainder of the year. Your detentions are indefinitely extended, and you will apologize to the Goyles."

"That's it!?" both father and son shot simultaneously, while I shouted "Apologize for what!?" The words erupted from me without warning, and I instantly regretted it. I knew I should just suck it up and comply, but I would sooner have accepted detentions until June than apologize.

Goyle Sr.'s face grew deeper in color by several degrees, his eyes seeming to bulge. "If you do not expel her at once, it will only be confirmation of…" he hesitated, apparently contemplating the end of that sentence.

Snape's eyes narrowed again. "Confirmation of what, Goyle?" he said, laying a delicate stress on the word. The look on his face was one that dared Goyle to voice the accusation.

Goyle bared his gritted teeth. He hesitated for several seconds before finally, reluctantly turning to address me directly. "Apologize to my son. Now."

"You're out of your mind. Look, I'll fix his nose myself, no need to get Madam Pomfrey. That'll be my apology. Here," I drew my wand, entirely prepared to repair the break in his nose, when the force of a centaur hit me in the chest and drove me hard into the wall. Trinkets that had been displayed on the wall crashed to the ground along with my wand. It took me a long moment to register what had happened. Goyle Sr. had charged at me, and was now pinning me to the wall by my neck. I thrashed at him, slightly dizzy from the impact, but he only tightened his hold and drew his own wand with his free hand. My wide eyes flew to Snape and then back to Goyle's face, which was sweaty and livid and just an inch from my own.

"I am done waiting for proof," he hissed, a spray of spit hitting me in my cheek. "Legilimens!"

Tendrils twisted around my thoughts. I groaned with the effort it took to will my body to calm against his grip. I had to relax, in spite of the fact that my windpipe was dangerously constricted… in spite of the fact that my head had bounced off the wooden shelves inlaid in the wall. With a deep, slow breath I focused my full attention on shoving him out of my head.

I could see in his eyes the moment he met my resistance. They turned from eager and hungry to wild and enraged, bulging more severely than ever. It had been almost too easy; Snape wasn't wrong when he'd said Goyle was a weak Legilimens. If Goyle's face had been radish-like before, it was nothing to the color it had become now.

He dropped me to the floor. Air rushed into my burning lungs, and through the coughing fit that ensued and I grinned up at him triumphantly.

"Is that quite enough, Goyle?" Snape asked, tone somehow perfectly controlled while also venomous. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"You - " Goyle said, protruding veins straining against his neck. "HOW CONVENIENT! How convenient that you can close off your thoughts! Where were YOU all morning, headmaster. Why did I have to search for you until nightfall to report what happened in the village? I did find what I was looking for, because that is ALL THE PROOF I NEED!"

The implications were scarily on track. Snape's Occlumency lesson couldn't have been more conveniently timed, but his absence had definitely be noticed thanks to me. It was lucky that I'd picked up on the skill so easily.

Snape maintained control, staying completely calm. "Proof of what, exactly? That a child is conspiring with the most trusted advisor to the Dark Lord?"

Goyle reached his limit, becoming suddenly unhinged. Sweat dripped down from his forehead, and his breathing was ragged. "THAT HIS 'MOST TRUSTED ADVISOR' IS NOT WORTHY OF HIS POSITION! WHEN I PRESENT THE DARK LORD WITH THE FACTS HE WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO CONCLUDE THE SAME!"

"You're psychotic… your 'Dark Lord' is doing nothing but making himself look foolish by keeping you around…" I interjected, to which Snape shot me yet another dark glare.

"Father," the young Goyle hissed through gritted teeth. Even he looked a bit discomfited by the outburst.

"I have warned you once, Goyle," said Snape coldly as he slowly closed the gap between them. He looked stony. Dangerous. "My loyalties will not be questioned, and I am certain, as are you, that the Dark Lord would not appreciate your skepticism over his judgement. I would think twice before expressing your lack of faith in him. You are dismissed from the school post, effective immediately."

Goyle Sr. must have lost all ability to form words, because the sound he made then was one of unadulterated rage. He was shaking with fury, chest heaving. The pair were inches apart now, and it was impossible to say which face held more hatred.

"Do not test me, Goyle," Snape's jaw clenched and unclenched with restraint, "else your mistrust of the Dark Lord's powers will be conveyed to him, and your fate will rest in his hands."

I heard something tweedling from a shelf somewhere in the silent seconds that followed. Animosity passed between them tangibly, until finally Goyle Sr. spun away with another roar.

"THIS ISN'T THE END OF THIS, SEVERUS SNAPE!" he howled, voice straining with the effort, then slammed the office door shut behind him.