Chapter 54, The Cold War
Heather brought sliced apples and caramel dip to Headmaster Dumbledore and he let them out of detention early with only a somber warning to Heather and Raislen to appreciate the good friendship they had and not to squander it with fighting.
"How did you get the caramel dip," Severus asked as he, Heather and Raislen headed down Dumbledore's stairs toward freedom.
Heather shrugged. "I made it in the kitchen. My grandma on my dad's side taught me how when I was eight or so. I loved candied apples, but the hard sort always hurt my teeth and gums so she introduced me to a softer caramel and taught me how to make it. It's super simple, only requiring three ingredients. Fortunately they were all in the Hogwarts kitchen and the elves were kind enough to allow me to go in and do what I needed to do. There are a lot of elves living here! I had no idea how many but the kitchen is full of them, and as one could expect of a castle, it's a big kitchen!
Severus frowned thoughtfully. "You make cooking sound like potion making. I suppose it is at that."
Heather nodded. "I knew I could bribe Dumbledore out of our detentions if I gave him a sweet treat he's likely never tried before," she said with a triumphant grin.
"That was a good idea, Heather," Raislen complimented carefully, but Heather only shot him a glare, unwilling to let go of the anger that had nearly caused her to brain him with a pipe. "I am going to the library," she said, lifting her chin into the air. "Alone!" Raislen and Severus took the hint and studied in the Slytherin common room with Regulus. Later Heather cornered Severus before dinner. Raislen was still putting his books away in his dorm room when Severus was heading out.
"Good," Heather said. "I wanted to speak to you without Raislen. Look... Thanks, Severus. For saving me from doing something stupid. I really think I would've killed him." Her lower lip trembled, and Severus nodded, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder.
"It's what friends are for," he said, a dry smile at the irony of that twisting his lips up at the corners.
Heather gave a short laugh. "Yeah, Slytherin friends."
"I just hope you and Raislen can sort this out," Severus said.
Her smile slipped and a fixed scowl took its place. "Fat chance."
The next several weeks were rather miserable. They started out as simply uncomfortable, but as time progressed and Heather continued to refuse to speak to Raislen, they turned outright miserable. Constant discomfort had no choice but to turn into something worse over time, Severus thought philosophically one day over a mostly silent lunch. It was emotional Transfiguration at its finest, and he hated Transfiguration!
While other groups of Slytherins chatted around them, Severus, Heather, Raislen and Regulus hunched over their respective plates in subdued silence. From time to time, Regulus bravely made an unsuccessful stab at conversation. It wasn't that anyone thwarted his attempts. It was just that once his topic had run its course, silence fell like a heavy wet blanket once again. Conversations fell short far faster than one might expect with Heather and Raislen not only not responding to one another, but not responding to anything the other said either, even indirectly. Things finally came to a head a few weeks after the leach incident when Heather did not sit with them at lunch.
Instead she placed herself in the midst of a cluster of seventh year Slytherin girls. Though she rarely spoke to them either, she refused to look in Raislen's direction, which meant she also could not look in Severus or Regulus's direction either.
"This is stupid," Raislen growled, rising to his feet.
"Oh gods!" Regulus said, alarmed. "Don't go making it worse, Raislen!"
"I'm just going to go and try to talk to her," Raislen said.
Regulus cringed. "Yes. That was my concern." Severus snickered.
"I wasn't going to say Heather Toy," Raislen said before stomping away.
"I can't look," Regulus groaned, covering his face. "What's happening?"
"He is approaching," Severus said, looking on in horror as one tended to do when very bad things were taking place. "She is ignoring him while he bends over to speak to her. He is still trying to talk to her regardless. She is not hitting him, so it appears that thus far he has somehow kept his word and there has been no utterance of Heather Toy."
"Now what," Regulus asked breathlessly. Though he had taken his hands down from his face, he was still studiously looking away, gaze on his food.
"He's coming back," Severus said. "And he doesn't look particularly happy."
Regulus groaned, but otherwise made no comment. "She wouldn't even look at me," Raislen said resentfully as he flopped back into his chair.
"Did she speak to you," Severus asked and Raislen shook his head.
"She's really angry," Regulus stated unnecessarily.
"Ya think," Raislen drawled. "Girls are bloody crazy, that's what," he burst out. "She started with me! She hit me where no man should ever be hit ever, so she bloody had those leeches coming. She could've just taken it with grace and called it even, then we could've been fine."
"Yes, but she chose not to do that," Severus pointed out. "So just wait for it to blow over."
"I tried that," Raislen nearly shouted. As this was true, Severus just nodded. It was odd that Heather hadn't gotten over it yet. It had been weeks, after all and she had not softened in the slightest. Severus appreciated that neither Heather nor Raislen had attempted to drag him or Regulus into it. Neither had attempted to make them take sides. Severus hated the idea of being caught in the middle, so this was a vast relief. Besides, it was hard to take a side, considering both had valid points.
"On one hand, I would be very upset, to say the least, if a leech were in my mouth or on any part of me," he said. "But on the other hand, as you said, no man wants to be hit down there. No girl can appreciate how much it hurts, though they really should."
"Yeah, which is why I showed her with leeches, a retaliation at least on the same level of wrong if not painful." Raislen snickered, then sighed, the smile fading from his face. "I just can't believe she's being so silly over the entire thing. I mean she's been mad about it for far too long. I'd get over it if she would."
"So what did you just say to her anyway," Regulus asked.
"I told her that it's high time we let this go. I even said I was sorry, but that she should not have hit me there even on so called accident, which you both know is bloody true!" And she hadn't responded.
Severus shrugged. "Perhaps she's just thinking it over," he said hopefully. Raislen made a skeptical face but otherwise made no comment, allowing their little part of the Slytherin table to sink back into its deep dark well of silence. If Severus was right and Heather was thinking it over, she took her time about it. Her wall of silence was not to break for two more long grueling weeks. During those weeks she rarely sat with the rest of them, often skipping lunch to hide out in the library or sitting in a gaggle of Slytherin girls and not looking very happy to be there.
Severus only knew about the hiding out in the library because Heather told him when he directly asked. She still spoke to him freely, but as she wasn't particularly happy or conversant, there was little to say. Severus was not a social butterfly in his best moments, so if his friends were not feeling talkative, he was rarely the one to change that. When it came to this particular situation, he had no idea what to say to fix things, so did not try for fear of making it worse. He had no particular words of wisdom to offer on the matter, and he supposed when it came down to it, it was for Heather and Raislen to sort out.
Not only had Heather taken to abandoning them at lunch most of the time, they saw less and less of her after school as well, for she was rarely studying in the Slytherin common room with the rest of them. To Severus's mild surprise, Raislen had not decided to seek her out either after she'd rebutted him that time at lunch. If Severus or Regulus sought her out, she was friendly and willing to spend time with them so long as Raislen was not around, so it was difficult to be angry with her though the situation was growing more frustrating. Severus wanted to tell Heather and Raislen to both just stop ruining things, but as both thought the other was doing that bit, he knew such a conversation starter would go nowhere productive.
This did not mean he wasn't still tempted to try it at least once a day, though. Eventually he became resentful that both were ruining the pleasant dynamic he'd found at least in Slytherin house if not in school. More than once, he nearly sat with Mulciber and Avery at lunch just to escape the uncomfortable grim silences among his friends. Then he realized that this would just be swapping out one discomfort for another. Though Mulciber had been friendly enough during their few brief interactions he did not know the other boy well, and he had perhaps spoken two entire sentences to Avery during their shared time at Hogwarts. Not that he had a particular problem with Avery, but they traveled in different circles and he knew little about him.
Though Avery and Mulciber were in Severus's own year, due to socializing with Heather and Raislen, Severus had never gotten to know the students in his year much. Sure he shared classes with them, but classes were for studying, not for getting to know one's house mates. Not only that but his house mates just seemed more immature than he and Heather and Raislen. Even than Regulus, who was surprisingly mature for being two years younger. He supposed Raislen and Heather had always seen him in the same way, considering they were two years older than he was.
Unlike the Gryffindor Gang Of Gits, Avery left him alone, so there went ten points to him on principle. Still what if he sat with Mulciber and Avery and the conversation was awkward? This would only make things worse in general. He'd had quite enough of awkward in his own bloody social circle of late, thanks very much. This left him sinking into a dull acceptance of things as they were while fervently hoping Heather would forgive Raislen before they all turned one-hundred.
Regulus took things a bit more in stride, because he could spend enough of his time writing to Kreacher. Though as they weren't doing anything particularly exciting thanks to Heather and Raislen, Severus had no idea what Regulus found to say. Perhaps he just complained about Sirius. When things finally sorted themselves, it certainly did not happen in any way that Severus saw coming. He sat with Raislen and Regulus in the Slytherin common room after classes were over one Friday when Heather dashed in. She was white as a sheet and her face was crumpled in utter misery. Unchecked tears streamed down her cheeks as she ran to Raislen. "I can't," she sobbed.
Looking as shocked at Heather's state as Severus felt, Raislen hurried to embrace her, patting her on the back as he rocked her back and forth. "What is it,then," he asked, tone oddly soothing. Heather sobbed as if someone had just torn her heart out as she clung to him. Something about that made Severus want to sink through the floor. "He's dead," she managed at last. "My grandfather is dead. Kicked in the head by a horse! How could such a thing happen to a wizard! He could've lived so much longer and it isn't fair! Such a stupid pointless way to... to die!"
"Oh Gods, Heather, I am so sorry," Raislen said. Heather's body shook with uncontrolled sobs as she clung to him. Many Slytherins from first to seventh year stopped to gape, and Severus and Regulus glared at them until they all faded away, finding something better to do than stare at a grieving girl. The grief was uncomfortable for Severus on a visceral level, perhaps because it spoke to his own. He knew damned well that he'd never stopped grieving for Tobias.
"That's your mum's dad, right," Regulus nearly whispered. "Your favorite grandfather?"
Heather mentioned him often, how he made delicious candy and told the best stories about ancient magical races like the Firbolgs that had lived before wizards. Heather lifted her head from Raislen's shoulder long enough to nod at Regulus before continuing to sob. "I am so sorry," Regulus said. "Oh Heather, that is dreadful."
Severus nodded, then realizing that she could not see him with her face pressed into Raislen's shoulder, he added, "Yes, very sorry. Horrible." Sorry felt inadequate because no amount of sorrys would bring Heather's favorite grandfather back any more than they had brought back Tobias. The words felt hollow, but what else could one say. The silence stretched out as Heather clung to Raislen and cried as he rocked her back and forth.
"Should we leave them alone," Regulus whispered after a while, and Severus nodded, not knowing what else to do.