Chapter Nineteen

Surprises

Jane had gone to the Hog's Head Inn to look for Alison, but her room was locked. She decided to go downstairs to ask the owner if he knew anything about it. At one of the tables, she saw Professor Dumbledore, who had just opened a bag of sherbet lemons.

'Where's Alison, Professor?' Jane asked the white-haired wizard who was rummaging through the small pouch.

'Alison?' he repeated thoughtfully as he picked a lemon. 'Oh, aye. You mean your cousin. I think she went to Grimmauld Place. Do you want one?'

'Thanks,' she took out two and chewed on them.

She said goodbye to the headmaster and left the pub. After a few steps, she apparated in the square. She crossed the distance and stood in front of the place where the house was supposed to be. She waited until the whole building came into full view before heading for the door. She stepped through the threshold, crossed the vestibule, climbed the stairs, and was just about to knock on the door of the nearest room when she heard voices coming from down the hall. She approached almost silently the door, behind which the conversation could already be heard clearly, and put her ear to it. She knew she should be ashamed of her eavesdropping, but she found it very useful. Still, everyone had to do it sometimes.

'Let's look at the Hogwarts photographs again,' said a female voice, most likely Alison's.

'We've seen them three times already this week,' her interlocutor objected. So she wasn't alone, Jane thought.

'But you are so handsome on them that I wanted to see them once more,' continued the cousin.

'Oh, well.' The sound of footsteps and rummaging in the cupboard. Jane backed away from the door, prepared to pretend she was just about to knock, and almost choked on the rest of the lemons. 'Here, these are from the sixth year.'

Apparently, no one was getting ready to go out just yet. Jane stuck to the door again to hear Alison fawn in a strange and somewhat annoying way that her younger cousin had never heard her do. The man answered politely and somehow embarrassed. Obviously, he wasn't used to "sweet Alison" either. His voice was so familiar, however, that Jane felt she wouldn't rest until she knew who it was. The two of them continued to talk for about ten minutes, and she wondered if she should come in and surprise them after all. But maybe if she just peeked through the keyhole, she'd see them. She crouched slowly, leaning against the frame. At that moment, the voices suddenly stopped, and Jane almost cried out in surprise. Through the hole a most unusual sight could be seen – Alison was kissing Sirius Black.

She felt she needed to get out of there quickly before she did something stupid like go inside and yell at them both. She jerked back from the wooden surface of the door, almost crashing to the floor, steadied herself in a flash, then bolted through the house and left.

She couldn't believe how easily Sirius had forgotten her, and not only that, but he'd replaced her with her own cousin! Walking angrily, she crossed the square, where it had already begun to drizzle, and apparated with a swing.

The weather in the Hogwarts park was moody and stuffy. There would be a storm soon. Jane ran through the alleys where many students were walking and made her way to the castle. She spotted Hagrid on the way and waved at him as she tripped over a root sticking out at the end of the path. She had to tell someone. And fast. She ran through the Entrance Hall, past the grand marble staircase, and resolutely headed for the Slytherin dungeons.

'Professor Undead," called someone near her.

'Ah, hello, Anthony,' Jane stopped short of breath and gave the sixth-year Slytherin a confused smile. 'What are you doing in the castle when it's so much lovelier outside? At least until it rains.'

'I decided to practice the spells you gave us. I haven't quite mastered them yet.'

'Oh,' she said surprised and looked around. 'I really hope they are of use to you. And if you twist your wrist like this, you get more stability of the movement. I'll talk about that in class tomorrow, but you can start practising it now.'

'Sounds good. Thank you, Professor.'

'But I'm still an Associate Professor. I'm not sure if I'll stick around.'

'Don't leave us! It's so much fun in your classes.'

'I'll try. Anthony, do you happen to know where Professor Snape is?'

'In his room. He hasn't been out all day.' The boy smiled slyly. Even without using her skills, Jane knew exactly what he was thinking. And on top of that, he was right.

'Don't look at me like that, young man,' she hurried to defend herself, raising her eyebrows. 'Or I'll tell Lily Smith what you are thinking about her when you think she can't see you.'

'Associated Professor Undead, you can't… But how did you know?'

'It's written on your face,' she replied hastily, though it wasn't quite like that. 'Besides, I couldn't surprise her if you told her yourself.'

And winked at him conspiratorially. This boy definitely needed some prompting.

'I'll take your advice into consideration.'

'You won't go wrong. Well, I'm going to find Professor Snape.'

'Goodbye, Associate Professor Undead.'

'See you tomorrow, Anthony.'

Jane followed the retreating student with her gaze and sighed. These youths didn't know how lucky they were – everything was simple and easy for them. She then headed for the staircase that led down to the dungeon. Soon she found herself at the threshold of the room that in recent days had become as familiar to her as her own. She knocked on the door and waited. Meanwhile, three Slytherins walked past her and looked at her with barely concealed distaste. Apparently, not all students in this house approved of her.

'Who's there?' sounded from inside.

'It's Jane.'

The students stopped for a moment and whispered something to each other. Jane didn't look away until the door opened, just in time to stand inches below the ridiculous grin on Severus Snape's pale face.

'I wasn't expecting you so early,' he said, reaching out to hug her. Jane slammed the door and lunged at his neck with such determination that they found themselves on the floor in a matter of moments.

'I missed you. And I have something to tell you,' she answered, after separating her lips from his.

'If you get off me and let me catch my breath, I can pour you some tea and then you can tell me.'

'I'm sorry, Severus.'

'It's nothing. I'm almost used to it.'

Jane stood up without much grace and offered Snape a hand. He took it but was careful not to use all his weight to stand up. He knew his girlfriend was tough, but he could still knock her down unintentionally. After pouring two cups of tea, he sat down in the armchair in front of the fireplace and motioned for Jane to sit on his lap. Jane kissed him on the forehead and launched into a lengthy account of what she had seen through the keyhole.

'Of all the men, Alison ran right into Sirius Black!' she explained passionately.

'I thought you liked him,' he tapped her on the shoulder.

'Not for a brother-in-law,' Jane shook her head, accepting the challenge. 'I know what you're thinking and you can spare me. All you need to know is that I tried to get rid of you both. I only had success with one. And not just because Sirius is dangerous. But I definitely don't like my cousin seeing him.'

'You talk like he's the Loch Ness Monster and your cousin a little fairy.' He laid his head on her shoulder. 'Dear Jane, if you were me, you would realize that you two are more dangerous than Black and his friend Lupin combined.'

'Severus, you can't hear yourself. We're just witches who love travelling, rock music, and digging through dusty books.'

'That's exactly what Lucius Malfoy told me yesterday. But not with those words. I think he used the phrase "dangerous vampires".'

'One more word and you'll be sleeping in the pond with the Squid tonight.'

'I think I'll find the Squid extremely well-mannered compared to your elbowing. Ouch! As for Black, I intend to warn him personally about what exactly he's gotten into. Although he is unlikely to listen. History doesn't remember a case in which he adhered to anyone's advice.'

'Since when do you care so much about him? You used to hate him.'

'I haven't stopped.' Snape frowned, but after a moment he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and smiled. 'Really bad luck. From Azkaban to Undead, and from her to her cousin. Ouch, don't tickle me like that.'

'Tell me about it,' she held out her other arm behind her back to show him. Unfortunately for her, both were soon carefully but surely twisted.

'Your problem, dear Jane,' he chuckled as he held her hands, 'is that you don't feel happy if you're not in control.'

'You know I can snap pretty easily, right?'

'But you don't want to. Nah, you'd rather I carry you over there and beat Alison Undead and Sirius Black out of your head like only I can.'

'I'm going to bite and scratch all the way.' Jane yanked her arm away, turned in a flash, caught him around the waist and knocked him on top of her onto the floor. 'Come to think of it, there's no need to go all that far. We'll talk about Alison later, you won't get away with it.'

'I can't wait,' Severus said as he pulled his wand from the pocket of his robes and reached to place it on the table.

That afternoon Jane was walking around the lake enjoying the spring. Professor Snape was busy in his laboratory, so she had gone out alone. The Saturday was warm and cloudless and the students were out, too. Most greeted her when they saw her, some even invited her to join them, but she preferred to stand aside and just watch them. However, she couldn't refuse two of them.

First, she saw Anthony, dressed in jeans and a green-and-silver sweater, obviously knitted especially for him. It was so warm that he had thrown his cloak and Slytherin Quidditch scarf onto the lawn. He didn't notice her at first because he was gesturing enthusiastically at the girl standing across from him, of which Jane could only see the blonde hair tied in a ponytail and the blue scarf stretching under it. It took her about a second to recognize Lily – she hadn't expected Anthony to ask her out so soon. She was just about to walk around to let them talk in peace when Anthony called out to her, 'Associate Professor Undead, come watch us! Lily and I are going to duel.'

Lily also turned her head towards her and smiled. This convinced Jane that she probably wouldn't be intruding, so she hurried over to them. The weather was really hot, especially in the sun, so she also threw her cloak next to theirs on the grass. Underneath, one of Snape's sweaters, which she had borrowed on her way out of his room, was revealed – it was pure black and seemed to be too big for her.

Jane stared guiltily at the sweater, which caught the eyes of the other two as well. Although they didn't know whose it was, Anthony must have guessed – he saw her around the Slytherin corridors well too often.

Both of their reactions were subdued, Anthony just laughed and Lily gave her a thumbs-up. Jane, however, was not jokingly worried – rumours had begun to spread.

Ignoring her gloomy thoughts, she walked over to them and stood a few feet away. The duel has begun.

At first, they were both more into offensive spells, but at one point Lily got the upper hand and began to shower Anthony with well-chosen curses, paralyzing spells, mind-bending curses, and all the cute little spells that Jane had taught them. For his part, he defended himself more tepidly at first, apparently acting like a gentleman, but at some point began to really defend himself, because Lily didn't spare him. Only occasionally did he cast curses in random directions, and they hit either the lake or the nearby trees. But one of them – Rictosempra – hit Jane. She didn't laugh, in fact, she didn't look like she was cursed. Ten minutes later she started bleeding. Even then she didn't call but continued to dab the trickle from her nose with her handkerchief. When the duel finally ended with a decisive victory for Lily, two small bloody tears had rolled down her cheeks.

'Associated Professor Undead, are you alright?' Lily asked worriedly. 'Did we do this to you?'

'No, it's not you. I'm fine,' Jane tried to deny as she blinked. But then she couldn't hold back and vomited blood on the meadow.

'Come on, we'll take you to the Hospital Wing,' Anthony said, and he and Lily supported her on either side, then they all hurried to the castle.

Jane didn't want to be stuck there for long, but Madam Pomfrey made her stay the night, even though after drinking the potion she started to feel better instantly. The stay in the Hospital Wing made her think deeply about the strange effects of the curses on her. Someday she would have it hard – and then there would be no one to save her.

In the morning, she barely managed to slip into her room and collapse on the bed. It wasn't until lunchtime, when she usually fed the cat, that she noted her absence. A thorough search of the room yielded nothing. Jane went out into the hallway and started yelling "kitty-kitty" and looking around, but that didn't help either. Finally, she returned to her room and hurriedly wrote on a piece of parchment that there was a lost cat and went to hang it on the board in the Ravenclaw common room. She put a second one next to the entrance to the Great Hall.

Jane paced the Entrance Hall anxiously. Severus had left two hours ago for a meeting with the Dark Lord, his expression so grim that she hadn't dared to ask anything. She knew from her observations that things were going badly, but thought they could easily drag on for another month or two. However, she could tell by the stern expression on her lover's face that they might not have that much time.

Professor Snape arrived after another half hour of painful waiting. She looked imploringly at him, her mind completely open, but he didn't need to read it. It was all clearly written on her face. He looked at her gloomily and said, 'Jane, it's starting. Go get ready.'

He stopped long enough to kiss her forehead, then continued towards the stairs.

Her world collapsed in an instant. She felt gloom, a lack of strength and exhaustion. She pursed her lips, she had to come to her senses and go get ready as Snape had advised her.

As if in a fog, she started up the stairs, but when she reached the fifth floor, she had already come to herself. The cat was still gone, so at least she didn't have to worry about who was going to feed her. She began getting ready frantically – robes, cloak, shoes. The two magic wands, the dagger, and the pocketknife were tucked away in different places around her clothes. There were also two doses of strengthening potion from Professor Snape, which she put in the inside pocket of her robes – this time she wouldn't be caught unprepared.

She received the note from the headmaster in her fireplace, which began to glow green. Then the parchment opened and his voice said, 'Jane, I need you for the battle for Hogsmeade. It starts at sunset. I'll be waiting for you in half an hour in the Entrance Hall.'

The paper glowed a little more and then burned out. Jane checked her pockets once more and headed for the stairs with a pounding heart. She hoped others were early too so she wouldn't have to stand there alone.

She was the first to go downstairs and soon found herself in her starting position, pacing the Entrance Hall and waiting for someone to appear.

Not even ten minutes had passed when she was joined by Professor McGonagall. Her face was stern with barely hinted surprise. The two greeted each other but didn't strike up a conversation.

Jane carefully tried to apply Legilimency to her and, to her surprise, succeeded. Apparently, the strain had weakened the deputy headmistress's defences.

Minerva was thinking about the missed opportunities to start a family, missed career opportunities, and so on, which made Jane sulky too and she began counting her failures. At one point she decidedly stopped herself and, in order to focus on the present, asked, 'Do you think we stand a chance?'

It made sense to ask her, Jane thought, after all, Minerva was more familiar with the Order's strength than she was. The older woman smiled faintly and replied, 'I think so.'

After a while, the others began to arrive. Professor Sprout, Professor Vector, Hagrid, Snape and Dumbledore, finally a panting Aurora appeared. The headmaster briefly explained everyone's positions and the possible composition of the enemy, as far as Professor Snape had managed to learn. He also said that in Hogsmeade there would be some militia of local, and not only, witches and wizards waiting for them. However, Jane didn't remember much of what was said because she was worried and didn't understand much about military strategy. Besides, she was trembling all over with fear and wanted to hide somewhere as quickly as possible.

"There is nothing valiant about my battles," she thought. "I'd rather be teaching." She thought about hiding in her room and not coming out until the whole fight was over. How she goes around the castle looking for Murray instead of fighting.

At some point, she felt someone staring at her. She turned her head to see that it was Severus standing next to the headmaster, clearly wondering what was wrong with her. Jane took a deep breath and shoved her fear into a dark corner of her mind – she'd decided she'd have time to tremble after all of this was over.

Arranged in a semi-battle formation, the teachers followed Professor Dumbledore to the front door and down the path to Hogsmeade. Jane was somewhere in the middle of the column and Severus was in the front, close to the principal.

In Hogsmeade, people were waiting for them outside the other Dumbledore's pub – Aurors and common wizards from the village and country had come. Alison was there too, along with the annoying Black holding her hand. There were also various harmless-looking witches and wizards from the countryside – she'd almost expected to see villagers with pitchforks and torches. But what was her surprise and horror when she noticed her aunt Charlotte in the crowd?

She waited for the teachers to mingle with the Aurors and villagers, and while Professor Dumbledore was giving much the same instructions as before, she went to her aunt and asked her, 'Aunt, what are you doing here? You'd better get back to Yorkshire at once.'

'Don't think it's only your prerogative to fight, Jane. Your mother would surely approve of my joining.'

'You're old, so stop arguing with me and go home,' Jane insisted. 'And, I'm begging you, don't drag my mother into this.'

'I'm sixty years old and I'm quite sane,' the aunt persisted. 'I don't need my niece telling me if I can fight or not.'

Jane was just about to retort when Alison approached them.

'What are you arguing about?' she asked and, without waiting for an answer, began to look around, obviously to find out what lines were exchanged.

'Jane,' Alison turned to her, 'Aunt Charlotte is not in your custody and she can definitely make her own decisions.'

Alison didn't seem in the least surprised by their aunt's sudden desire to fight, which led Jane to a certain thought.

'Are you telling me that you prompted her?', she snapped at her cousin.

'I've never done anything like that! I just mentioned the Order to her, something you obviously failed to do, and she immediately wanted to join.'

'You know what I'll tell you?' Jane began angrily.

'Jane,' her aunt interrupted. 'Alison, stop it already. I will not tolerate you fighting over me as if I were a little child. Shut up and start watching what's going on around you.'

The two of them stopped talking but continued to look at each other sullenly. Instead, they traded wordless insults like "cocky kappa" and "cowardly hunkypunk". It didn't take long, however, before someone next to them called out, 'Look!'

Jane and Alison finally looked around. A strange sight appeared before their eyes – from the outskirts of the village appeared figures dressed in bright green robes, walking in formation, two in a row.

'How's it going, mates?' greeted their leader in a thick Irish accent. 'We heard there is a holiday in your village, and you didn't invite us.'

Everyone burst out laughing, including Jane, Alison, and Charlotte, temporarily forgotten about the feuds, and last but not least, the Irishmen. If these boys fought as bravely as they talked, Voldemort should watch out for his arse.