Harry Potter And Serendipity Snape.

[leenielou]

A warning: this fic is a sequel to 'The Female Snape'. Reading of it without reading the previous may result in confusion and head explosion!

I don’t own or didn’t think up any of the characters (apart from new ones) and the dead people in this story are only dead because I made them so, so no real spoilers here! (Apart from the whopper that comes later on, I guess.)

Please read and post some feedback. Enjoy!

[leenielou]

It wasn’t like the usual journeys to Hogwarts. Usually, Harry would be eager to get back to school, so that he would be with his closest friends again and those that he loved. But this year it was different. Harry didn’t want to go back to Hogwarts at all

The events of the previous year had successfully convinced him that had he not been at school, none of it would have happened. And the events the year before that. And the year before that. And so on, and so on. And so he sat silently in the train compartment that he was sharing with Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Luna and Neville. The others occasionally shot glances of sympathy and concern at him, and talked in hushed voices. It was beginning to annoy him.

‘Look, I’m not dead!’ he finally snapped, and they all turned to look at him guiltily.

‘We never said you were, Harry,’ Ginny said quietly.

‘Yes, but you don’t have to talk as if we’re standing in a funeral parlour! Just…please…I just want to hear everyone as normal. Like nothing has ever happened. Like…’ He screwed up his eyes and turned to look out of the window at the scenery that rushed by. He took a deep breath. ‘Like they haven’t gone.’

The others exchanged looks that spoke of their general feeling: Harry wasn’t the only one hurting here. They had known Hagrid just as well as Harry had, and had all loved Lupin.

Hermione felt angered on Ron and Ginny’s part. They had lost a brother last year, and yet Harry was still angry with them for anything; if they acted cheerful he would sniff about no respect, and if they acted sad he would demand them to be happy. But then she looked at his stiffened back and her heart softened. Harry had seen things that none of them could imagine, and had to endure so much pain in his life that if the only cure for it would be to lay down her own life, she would.

The five began to talk again in louder voices, as Harry sat feeling horribly guilty. He just couldn’t help feeling so angry. He had thought that perhaps the sixth year would be different – he could learn Occlumency and perhaps with it some sort of calm.

But all of that had been shattered when Hagrid had been pulled apart by the giants that had followed Voldemort down to the Hogwarts grounds, and when Wormtail had killed Lupin in his werewolf state. The memory of Wormtail forcing his silver hand into Lupin’s chest as he, Harry, had been forced to watch still brought him out in a cold sweat.

Sometimes he just wanted to give up, and let Voldemort kill him, simply because then he would stop trying. He would stop murdering the people that Harry loved. But then he would realise that, actually, this would solve nothing. Voldemort would carry on killing no matter what happened to Harry.

He turned to look at the faces around him. His five best friends in the world, all who had survived last term with him. Just being around them made him feel stronger. He had to survive for them. He had to force himself to exist, to feel human feelings, for them.

[leenielou]

Chapter One - Back to Hogwarts cont.

Stepping off the train, Harry realised that he had automatically looked around for Hagrid herding off the first years. But this year instead, there stood Professor McGonagall, calling for those just beginning their time at Hogwarts to come forward. Harry noticed that there were considerably less than previous years.

‘Terrified parents,’ Hermione said, reading his thoughts. ‘After the giants, I heard that no one wanted to take any chances. I bet most of them have gone to Beauxbatons or Durmstrang instead.’ This news saddened Harry. Hogwarts was a beautiful, majestic and incredible place. And Voldemort was destroying it.

The Thestrals that pulled the carriages were visible for all of them to see this year. Harry heard Ron’s gasp of surprise, then noted with amusement the look of disgust on his face. Hermione, as Harry had predicted she would, looked at them bravely, clearly realising why it was that she could see them.

‘I wonder who the new gamekeeper will be,’ Hermione said. Harry looked up sharply, and was about to launch a stinging attack on her insensitivity when he realised that it was time to think about these things. It was time to put the sixth year behind him, much as he had painfully done the fifth.

‘Be funny if it was Snape,’ Ginny said, giggling. ‘As a promotion. Oh, I wish I could see that!’ The others laughed too, for it was a funny image, Professor Snape sourly trying to contain a Blast-ended Skrewt or patrolling the edges of the Forbidden Forest at night.

‘I’m just bloody glad that I’ve got no more lessons with him,’ Ron said, sighing. ‘But I will always cherish the memories.’ Everyone looked at him oddly, and he hurried to say, ‘Yeah, right.’

The carriages stopped, and everyone climbed out, hurrying into the Great Hall so as to get a good seat at their House tables. Harry didn’t see the outstretched foot ahead of him until he tripped smack bang over it.

‘Have a nice summer, Potter? Mourning the loss of your half-breed pal?’ Harry picked himself up and wasn’t particularly surprised to see Malfoy.
‘Harry…’ whispered Hermione warningly as she saw anger steal across his face. People stopped to watch, the Slytherins jeering and every other house looking scandalised at Malfoy’s comment. Everyone, however, looked eager to see what Harry would do in return.

‘It was great, Malfoy. This stupid stuck-up git who isn’t a million miles from your father got thrown back in Azkaban!’ he replied, with amusement in his voice. Malfoy flushed at the mention of his father.

‘He’ll get out again, you mark my words, Potter,’ he spat, looking so much like his father that it was eerie. ‘And when he does, he’s coming straight for you and the Mudblood.’

He turned and stalked off with the Slytherins following him.

‘Well done, Harry,’ Hermione said, squeezing his arm. He smiled at her as they took their seats.

Hermione glanced up at the staff table.

‘There’s a new teacher!’ she squeaked in excitement, making Ron roll his eyes. ‘Shut up, Ron,’ she then said before he managed to make a comment. ‘It’s a woman'.

[leenielou]

They all looked, and saw, sitting to the right of Dumbledore, a black haired, high cheek boned woman, whose dark eyes swept the Hall. Harry’s eyes wandered to her left, and alighted on Snape.

‘Look at Snape!’ he said, nudging Ron. ‘He looks even fouler than usual!’

It was true; Snape looked truly murderous. The twitch in the corner of his mouth had come back, and the look in his eyes was a greater hatred than even his especially reserved ‘Harry’ stare. In comparison, the new woman teacher looked completely at ease, staring calmly around. She looked somehow regal, and somehow familiar.

After the sorting was finished, Dumbledore stood to make his usual beginning of term announcements.

‘I would like to remind all students that Forbidden Forest is strictly out of bounds. Unbreakable magic charms have been placed upon its boundaries this year in order to ensure that there is no exit or entrance to or from the school this way.’

‘The giants,’ Hermione whispered.

‘I would also like to announce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Snape.’

‘Nooo!’ Ron cried into the silence that followed, then clapped his hands to his mouth and turned bright red. Harry looked quickly at Snape.

‘That’s funny,’ he muttered to Ron and Hermione as whispering broke out all over the Hall. ‘He still looks majorly ****** off.’

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Oh no! Thanks for reading!

[leenielou]

‘I am, of course, referring to our Potion master’s younger sister, Miss Serendipity Snape, who is joining us this year,’ Dumbledore then said over the din. Another loud silence followed, while everyone fought to get the best look at the new woman. She looked back at the hundreds of eyes staring at her, seeming amused.

‘God, thought I was going to have a heart attack then,’ Ron said, finally removing his hands from his mouth. He looked at the new Snape again. ‘Think I still might….woooh!’ He made a low wolf-whistle noise, and then choked as Hermione leaned over and hit him hard in the stomach.

‘What was that for?’ he demanded, clutching his stomach. ‘I was just…just…making an observation.’ He turned to stare at the new teacher.

Harry grinned at him. They all began to listen to Dumbledore again.

‘Miss Snape shall be with us for just one year. I am sure that we shall all make her welcome. Other new appointments include the permanent return of Professor Grubbly-Plank as Care of Magical Creatures teacher. We have also managed to find a person who we hope will be a worthy replacement for our much beloved gamekeeper; a former pupil of this school, Charlie Weasley.’ Ron looked round at Harry and Hermione in shock.

‘He could’ve told me!’ he fumed. Down the table, Ginny was saying something along the same lines.

‘On a more frivolous note, the teachers and I have decided that there is to be a Yule Ball this Christmas, to alleviate some of the tension that has been accumulating the past months. Although not a solution to our problems, it shall hopefully take a few of them off of our minds for a while. Thank you all, and enjoy the year.’ Dumbledore sat back down, and the plates of food appeared on the tables to signify the beginning of the feast.

‘Well, a nice and startling beginning to the year,’ Hermione commented as she set upon a plate of meat and veg.

‘Wonder if she hates Snape as much as we do,’ Ron burbled through a mouthful of food, still not looking away from Miss Snape.

‘Ginny doesn’t hate you, so I think it’s a good bet that Miss Snape doesn’t hate…Professor Snape,’ Hermione said archly.

‘Just what are you trying to say?’ Ron replied, finally tearing his eyes away. Hermione simply tutted and looked down at her plate.

‘Two Snapes,’ Harry said, shaking his head. ‘Let’s place bets on how confusing this year is going to be.’

‘And how full of Harry-hate it will be,’ Ron added.


Back in the Gryffindor common room, Harry relaxed by the fire. He had eaten a huge meal, probably more than he had ever eaten at school, and so was feeling extremely well fed and sleepy. His eyes were drooping as Ron and Hermione sat bickering, and Crookshanks curled up in his lap as he fell asleep…

He was in a dark forest. The trees were so thick and so tall that when he looked up he could not see the stars. The air inside the forest was thick with stillness, and the dark foliage around him barely rustled as he spun around. Thick leaves had fallen beneath his feet like a carpet, and here and there fronds hanging from the trees tickled his face. He plunged forward into the darkness, searching for a way out.

Lights appeared up ahead. Flickering lights that cast distorted shadows in the dark; they immediately became obvious to Harry as fires. He stopped walking, nervous of who would be setting several fires alight in the middle of a dark forest at night.

But as he looked further he saw that the fires had not been started in the forest. The trees ended upon the edges of a large, circular clearing that rose gently to a peak in the middle and dipped away on the other side. On top of the peak was a single solitary tree, and tied to this tree was a woman in a bright red robe.

The sky above him suddenly split as a crack of thunder cracked loudly. Lightning forks began to flash all around, and Harry peered through the leaves covering him at the woman tied to the tree, who was looking not as fearful as Harry would have expected, but welcoming.

A huge fork of lightning that lit up the whole sky and the outer reaches of the forest suddenly crashed into the tree on the peak. The woman threw back her head and screamed as the electricity coursed through her body, and as one all of the fires were extinguished…

Harry awoke with a start. The fire in the grate had gone out, and he was all alone in the common room apart from Crookshanks, who was annoyed at his sudden awakening.

Harry tipped him off of his lap. ‘Time for bed, I think,’ he said to the cat, who was looking at him with something akin to disdain.

He climbed the stairs to the dormitory, rubbing his eyes as he went. The dream that he had had was puzzling him. Usually his most vivid and disturbing dreams were in some way related to him – his experiences, his past, present and future, but this was new. It felt so real, and yet it was nothing to do with him.

[i]Maybe Hermione was right,[/] he thought, remembering a heated argument from the previous year. Maybe I do only think about myself.

He changed quickly and leapt into bed, pulling the curtains around him. Crookshanks had followed him, and nosed through the curtains to curl up on Harry’s legs. Harry absent-mindedly scratched behind the cat’s ears as he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

[leenielou]

At breakfast in the morning, their new years worth of timetables were handed out. Harry quietly scanned his and then placed it in his robe pocket. The arrival of the morning post however impeded his attempts to pour milk onto his cereal as a small brown owl crashed straight into his bowl, splashing milk and crisped corn all over him, Ron, and two first year girls sitting near them.

‘Bloody hell, you idiot!’ Ron cried, curiously holding his timetable in the air so that it did not get wet and mopping at his robes with one hand. ‘Whose stupid owl was that?’

Hermione calmly leaned over and detached the newspaper that was hanging just out of the bowl that the owl was now outstretched in.

‘My Daily Prophet deliverer,’ she answered, immediately unrolling it and lifting it up to read so that her face could no longer be seen.

Harry picked a few bits of corn out of his hair, then tipped the owl unceremoniously out of his bowl. It lay sprawled on the table in a puddle of milk and corn crisps, then coughed once and abruptly climbed to its feet and flew off.

‘Must be related to Errol,’ Ron said, moving away from the rapidly spreading puddle and returning to analyse his timetable.
‘Double Defence Against the Dark Arts first,’ he lamented. ‘A new Snape on the first day – what’s the luck of that?’ He stuffed a slice of toast into his mouth with an air of defeat, but his eyes betrayed his excitement.

Hermione snorted. ‘I can tell without even looking at you that you aren’t that disappointed,’ she said from behind the Daily Prophet. Ron scowled at her.

‘Well a new teacher is kind of exciting, Hermione,’ Harry said. Ron looked up, looking pleased that Harry was sticking up for him. ‘It’s not as if we have one every year…’ Harry continued. Ron scowled again at the unappreciated sarcasm and Hermione lowered her paper to grin at Harry.

‘Of course, we’ve never had a female teacher this young and pretty, have we?’ she teased. Ron turned a dull shade of red.

‘That’s a good point, Hermione,’ Harry replied, grinning. ‘I wonder exactly how young she is?’

‘So…what do you two have third?’ Ron asked quickly, quite obviously trying to change the subject. Harry and Hermione shared an amused glance.

‘Arithmancy,’ Hermione said, as Harry said, ‘Transfiguration.’

‘And I’ve got Care of Magical Creatures,’ Ron said dully. ‘It’s going to be so weird without Hagrid.’

Involuntarily, Harry’s hands balled into fists so hard that he felt his short nails pierce his skin. Slowly he unclenched them.

‘I think the whole place is weird without Hagrid,’ Hermione sighed. Harry lowered his eyes to the table. The Hall felt very large around him all of a sudden, empty and silent.

‘Hey, are we going to go down and see Charlie today?’ Ron asked into the silence. ‘I need to give him a couple of punches for not bothering to tell me that he was coming here.’

‘Yeh, course,’ Harry replied distantly. Hermione looked at him sharply.

‘Of course we will, Ron,’ she said, folding up her paper and placing it back on the table with a sigh. ‘Although I don’t know about the punches.’

There was a sudden stir from the ends of the tables near to the door. The three looked up, and Ron choked on his toast.

‘Whoa, easy boy,’ Hermione said slyly, rubbing his back.

Miss Snape had entered the Hall, smiling slightly at the wave of attention she had created. Up close she looked even more perfect than the night before. She was wearing black and emerald robes that looked beautifully cut and very expensive. Her long black hair was pinned up today, displaying her delicate yet determined face fully. Her dark eyes were fixed straight ahead, but as she passed where Harry was sat, they darted sharply to the left and fixed upon him.

Harry felt himself shudder beneath her blank, expressionless gaze, and wished that he was not covered with milk. Funnily enough, the blank stare made him feel more uncomfortable than any other glare full of hate had done before. After she had passed, he said as much to Ron and Hermione.
‘That’s strange,’ Ron said, through his toast, still staring openly at Miss Snape. ‘Usually they just hate you.’

‘I know,’ Harry said. ‘So why does an emotionless stare give me the…the…’

‘Creeps?’ Hermione interjected. ‘Maybe it’s because it’s just different, you know. A Snape that doesn’t openly hate you.’

‘Hmm,’ Harry said, non-commitally, watching Miss Snape greet Dumbledore and take her seat. He had to admit that she was rather striking. He glanced sideways at Ron and wasn’t surprised to see him still staring. ‘What are you going to do in the lesson?’ he asked, not expecting Ron to know what he was talking about.

Ron shook his head. ‘No idea, mate. I can’t wait! That close to…’ He stopped abruptly as he noticed Harry and Hermione looking at him oddly. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have let you know I knew what you were talking about,’ he muttered.

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Haven't updated in a while. Sorry! Hope it's refreshing your memories, and please leave feedback

[leenielou]

They made their way to Defence Against the Dark Arts after Ron had finished his fifth slice of toast. He still had crumbs clinging to his mouth that Hermione kept trying to tell him about, but each time she opened her mouth he would begin to talk about something else.

They arrived at the fourth floor room to find their classmates lined up outside excitedly. Neville was hopping from foot to foot, Lavender and Parvati were gossiping wildly and Dean and Seamus seemed to have exactly the same facial expression as Ron. Even the Slytherins that they were once again subjected to seemed to be filled with anticipation.

‘Looks like you’re the only sensible guy of the lot, Harry,’ Hermione said, looking around. ‘Honestly, anyone would think that she was famous or something.’

‘My aunt says she went to school with her,’ Parvati said. She frowned. ‘But she wouldn’t tell me anything about her.’

‘Why not?’ Hermione asked.

‘Don’t know,’ Parvati replied, shrugging her shoulders. ‘Said she didn’t want to talk about it.’

Harry and Hermione exchanged a puzzled glance, just as the tip-tap of high heels became audible from around the corner.

‘Here she is!’ Ron exclaimed, then appeared to pull himself together and said, ‘Good, the lesson can start now.’

Miss Snape appeared from around the corner, her head held high, in once again a regal fashion, Harry noticed.

‘Good morning, class,’ she said in a firm yet quiet voice. ‘Please enter.’ She waved her wand and the door opened. Everyone walked in. Ron and Neville headed straight for the front seats, as did every other boy. A silent match of Musical Chairs ensued as Ron and Malfoy fought over a stool. Harry and Hermione stood watching in amusement.

‘Let go, Weasley! You can sit at the back, in your natural order,’ Malfoy spat eventually. Miss Snape’s head whipped around in the direction of the disturbance.

‘Are you incapable of taking seats, gentlemen?’ she asked icily. Hermione and Harry sat down on seats in the middle row with a bump, unwilling to incur her strong glare. The boys at the front froze. Ron took advantage of the distraction to plant himself on the stool Malfoy had grabbed.

‘Your name?’ Miss Snape snapped, looking at Malfoy.

‘Draco Malfoy, Miss,’ he purred, grinning slightly at her.

Miss Snape stared at him for a moment, then her face relaxed into a smile.

‘Well, Mr Malfoy, why don’t you take a seat further back?’ she asked, her voice suddenly as soft as honey. Ron looked up at Malfoy in disgust, clearly jealous at his special attention.

‘Of – of course,’ he hurried to say, and practically ran to the back. Crabbe and Goyle followed, allowing Dean and Seamus to take seats on the front row.

‘Really,’ Hermione muttered, watching disapprovingly as the four boys as one leant their head on one hand and gazed up at the female Snape.

‘I wish they’d remember that she’s Snivelly’s sister,’ Harry said to her under his breath.

Miss Snape began by calling the register. Fortunately, she showed no recognition at Harry’s name, which seemed to him too good to be true. However, at Parvati’s name her eyes flickered upwards to focus briefly upon her. Harry remembered that Parvati had said her aunt went to school with Miss Snape. Perhaps she recognises the name, he thought.

Miss Snape shut the book containing the register with a slam and looked out upon her class. The four Gryffindor boys on the front row sighed.

‘I see that you have been well taught in the various creatures and hexes that may pose a threat to you,’ she said, her voice now a neutral, calm tone. ‘However…’

She walked to the front of her desk and withdrew her wand. ‘This is NEWT level, and recent events have dictated certain measures…’ She flicked her wand so suddenly that Ron and the boys on the front row sat up with a start. A loud bang erupted from it, and Harry felt his stool suddenly being dragged across the room in one clean sweep. By the time he had put his hands out to steady himself on the desk though, the movement had stopped. Looking down he saw that the large oak desk had been split in two, the half he was sitting on against one wall and the half Hermione was on against the opposite. This had created a large space in the centre of the room which Miss Snape strode into. The class stared at her in awe, and Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville quickly swivelled in their chairs to watch her.

‘Most of our lessons this year shall be practical, and in each I expect you to master a new spell,’ she said, eying each of them in turn. ‘Make no mistake, I shall be teaching a hard class and I shall expect results. As the most successful graduation student from Hogwarts ever, I expect – ‘

‘Miss Snape, successful at what?’ asked Parvati suddenly, cutting her off.

Miss Snape’s dark eyes flashed and she turned to look at Parvati.

‘Miss Patil?’ she asked, and Parvati nodded. Harry was quite puzzled as to why Parvati, normally a more reticent member of classes, had dared to interrupt this frankly quite intimidating woman.

‘Miss Patil, I do not tolerate interruptions. You shall listen to me until I finish what I have to say. Consider this, and five points from Gryffindor, as a warning.’ Harry and Hermione looked at each other, disgruntled. They didn’t attempt to say anything though. Parvati was staring at the floor, her dark skin slightly flushed. Miss Snape’s eyes rested on her for a few minutes, and then she continued.

‘Today we shall be learning a more complex blocking spell than any of you will ever have attempted.’ She turned to face the board and spun her wand in a large, lazy circle. ‘The more basic blocking charms should, of course, be easy to you by now.’ Writing and diagrams appeared on the board detailing the Shield and Slowing charms. ‘However, these are not designed to withstand the more brutal Dark Arts.’ Her nostrils flared slightly, and she whipped around.

‘Draco Malfoy!’ she cried. ‘Come here!’

Malfoy got to his feet and strutted arrogantly to the centre of the room, smirking. Ron and Neville looked green with envy.

‘You shall be my volunteer today, Mr Malfoy,’ Miss Snape seemed to purr. Was it Harry’s imagination or did her brown eyes flicker in his direction in an amused expression as she said this?

‘Wh-what do I have to do?’ Malfoy asked, a little fear entering his ratty eyes as he focused upon the tip of her wand swinging from side to side.

She smiled indulgently at him. ‘Firstly, I shall require you to hex me, in order for me to demonstrate the blocking spell. And then…I shall hex you.’

She turned to the rest of the class.

‘This spell name is the Dark Destroyer. It will repel successfully a large number of dark hexes thrown its way more greatly than a simple Shield Charm. Of course, it will not stop something as potent as Avada Kedavra…’

She paused as a visible shiver ran around the room. Hermione shifted uncomfortably on her seat.

‘…and it also requires a very strong individual to perform it to the greatest effect,’ Miss Snape continued. ‘Now, Mr Malfoy,’ she said, turning back to face him. ‘Give me your best shot.’

‘What?’ Malfoy asked, his pale face turning slightly paler.

‘Attack me, Mr Malfoy, or am I not making myself clear enough? Surely you must know some sort of dark spell…’

The hidden accusation hung in the air, and Malfoy’s pointed face glowed a little. Harry and Hermione sat forward eagerly to see what would happen.

Malfoy took a deep breath. ‘Alright then, Miss,’ he said, and drew back his wand. ‘Devoro Cutis!’ he shouted, and a jet of purple light shot out of his wand, straight towards Miss Snape.

Hermione and Lavender audibly squeaked, but Miss Snape was completely calm.

‘Eversor calimalam,’ she said calmly, and moved her wand in an indistinct shape. A deep blue disc appeared in front of her wand, and as the purple light blasted into it, seemed to absorb the energy and digest it. The disc glowed purple briefly, and then disappeared as Miss Snape pulled her wand away.

‘And that is the Dark Destroyer,’ she said, pulling a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. ‘Now, Mr Malfoy, let’s see you try it.’ Malfoy looked petrified. ‘The wand movement is as follows,’ she said, waving her wand in a short circle and then jabbing it towards him. ‘And the incantation is EvErsor CaliMALam,’ she pronounced with exaggeration. Malfoy nodded.

‘Okay then, here we go.’ Miss Snape began to move her wand just as Malfoy asked,

‘Wh-what spell are you going to throw at me?’

Miss Snape grinned almost evilly. ‘Mr Malfoy, would you ever really know that? In battle with a Dark wizard, would you ever know what spell they were going to cast?’

Malfoy shook his head. ‘I guess not,’ he said slowly.

‘I’m glad you understand,’ she replied. ‘Ready? Crinisia!’ she cried, and a red jet of light shot at Malfoy, who looked ready to cry.

‘Ev..evErson…eversor calimal…um…’ he was still dithering as the spell hit him.

‘AAARGHHH!!! YAAAARGHHH!!! RRRGAGAHAHHH!!!’ he yelled, falling to the ground and clutching his behind.

Harry tried to stifle a laugh as he saw a lovely long tail emerge from beneath Malfoy’s clasped hands. The boys on the front row broke their gaze at Miss Snape to get to their feet, pointing and laughing. Hermione giggled along with Lavender and Parvati. Even Crabbe and Goyle seemed to have a hard time keeping a straight face.

A smile twitched at the corner of Miss Snape’s red mouth.

‘Perhaps, Mr Malfoy, you should pay more attention,’ she said, amusedly. Malfoy was holding his tail in front of his face in disbelief. ‘So let’s move on to the theory.’

She turned away and the notes for the Dark Destroyer appeared on the board. Everyone hurried to copy them down, still smirking at Malfoy as he tried to sit on his stool, eventually having to resort to pulling his tail behind him so that it draped down over the seat and pooled on the floor.

At the end of the lesson, Miss Snape undid the hex on Malfoy, and he slunk out of the classroom with Crabbe and Goyle close behind.

‘Oh, people are going to be dining out on that one for years to come,’ Ron sighed as he waited for Hermione to finish packing her bag. ‘Isn’t she just…the coolest?’

Hermione nodded. ‘That was rather funny,’ she said, finally stuffing her notebooks into the leather bag that she used. ‘I don’t think she ever actually thought that Malfoy would be able to protect himself.’

‘I just wish she’d have left the tail on,’ Harry said, as the three of them left the room.

Behind them, Serendipity Snape watched them go, subconsciously rubbing at her left arm....

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This is where Ren really starts to rock Sorry I haven't updated in a while, so that was an ooey gooey big one for you! Please oh please leave some feedback and I'll love you forever

[leenielou]

Harry struggled in his Transfiguration lesson for an hour, trying to turn a toad into a desk chair. His chair kept on having webbed feet and a slimy, sticky feel to it. Also, being the right size for Professor Flitwick, it was a tad too small.

He felt rather alone in the class without Hermione or Ron. It wasn’t as if he knew many Ravenclaws either, and what with their sharp brains, the classroom rather resembled a furniture showroom of the type that Aunt Petunia favoured, while Harry’s chair still croaked and tried to jump off. At least Neville was with him, but that wasn’t much of a comfort, as Neville had become rather advanced lately since he got a new wand.

‘Come on, Mr Potter, a nice hard swish and that’s it!’ Professor McGonagall encouraged, watching his attempts. ‘Look at Miss Straun. She’s created a rocking chair!’

Harry looked around at Samantha Straun, smiling smugly as she rocked in a beautiful beech chair.

‘Oooh, a rocking chair,’ Harry mimicked under his breath, then felt immediately guilty. Just because I couldn’t work the spell doesn’t mean that I should take it out on others who can, he thought.

The lesson ended with his chair no further along than before, and all of the Ravenclaws cooing over each others. One clever idiot had even conjured up a swinging beech love bench with some intricate carvings on, that prompted Professor McGonagall to give out fifty points on the spot.

‘Oh well, Harry, at least we were both bad,’ Neville said disconsolately as they walked out of the classroom ten minutes late due to some extra coaching and made for lunch. Harry had to admit that that was true. Neville, for all of the newfound cleverness surrounding him, had only succeeded in giving his toad four long wooden legs.

As they passed Miss Snape’s classroom, Harry distinctly heard the sound of raised voices. Neville’s interest visibly picked up.

‘Reckon she’s in there?’ he asked, his voice definitely excited. They both stopped in the middle of the corridor and listened.

‘Just what is your problem?’ they heard. ‘Shouldn’t you be glad for me? Or is it just your own self that you can think about, as it always is?!’

‘She sounds angry,’ Harry muttered. ‘I wonder who she’s talking to?’

The two boys crept nearer to the closed door, and Harry quickly looked through the small glass window. What he saw inside was highly amusing beyond all belief....

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Ooh, what could it be? Pretty pretty please leave me some feedback? I might try slythy's trick and offer something sweet and edible...or maybe I'll just let you all stay alive

[leenielou]

Miss Snape was sat on a desk, her elegant legs crossed and posture regal and composed, but her face was flushed and she looked furious. Professor Snape stood a few metres away, fists clenched and looking likewise fuming. They both wore identical expressions, their faces eerily alike.

‘What? What is it?’ Neville whined, clamouring for a look. He pushed Harry’s head out of the way and looked in. ‘Wow,’ he said. ‘They sure look mad.’

Harry felt rather uncomfortable listening in on a private conversation, but he wanted to see what the Snapes were so angry about. The corridor was deserted due to them being late out, and so he continued to listen without qualms.

‘My problem is that you just turn up, out of the blue, with no contact for fifteen years – I didn’t know if you were dead or worse Serendipity – and casually take the place at Hogwarts that I have wanted since before I ever began working here!’ Snape snapped.

‘Well perhaps you should have worked a bit harder to get it, shouldn’t you Severus?’ Miss Snape snorted.

‘I have worked harder than the both of us put together!’ he roared. ‘While you were swanning off around the globe I was working for a living, trying to put my life back on track!’

‘And you think that I wasn’t?’ Miss Snape said, menacingly quietly. ‘You think that I was just having a holiday?’

‘Well you disappeared from anyone else’s view well enough!’

‘Maybe I had to!’ she suddenly yelled. ‘Maybe I was thinking about other people rather than myselff!’

‘You’ve never thought about anyone else your entire life!’ he yelled back at her. ‘All of my life I’ve been covering up for you with our parents, running around after you, trying to save…’ Neville sneezed suddenly, and Snape cut off. Harry saw both of their heads whip around in the direction of the door, and ducked.

‘Run, run!’ he whispered to Neville, pushing him away. It was too late, though. The door was yanked open just as Harry and Neville began to run, and an invisible force caught them by the back of their necks and pulled them back into the room.

Harry turned around, expecting to see the male Snape, and so was surprised to see the female Snape right behind him. Her hands were empty, and Harry glanced around the room to see her wand lying on the table that she had been sat on.

Funny, he thought. How did she perform that spell if she isn’t even holding her wand?

‘And what are you two doing?’ she asked, her voice silky smooth but eyes burning like fire. Behind him, Harry heard Neville gulp.

‘Just…going to lunch,’ Harry said, trying to be casual.

‘Oh, well I find that very hard to believe,’ Miss Snape said snappily. Professor Snape had moved to beside her now.

‘What do you think you were doing, Potter?’ he spat. ‘How dare you listen in on a private conversation?’

Harry had to laugh. It was just too funny. Two Snapes, glaring down at him, wearing the exact same expression and looking so eerily alike that it was hilarious.

He burst into laughter. Neville nervously joined in, unsure of what was going on.

‘What’s so funny?’ snapped Miss Snape. ‘Why are you laughing?’

Professor Snape looked dumfounded. ‘Shut up, Potter,’ he said. Harry smothered his laughter and looked up at them again. He could still feel the giggles inside of him, but he tried to restrain them with a smirk.

‘Thirty points from Gryffindor and detention for a week,’ Snape barked, looking at Harry as though he were a thing off the bottom of his shoe. ‘You have no right to listen to private conversations. Especially mine.’

Miss Snape then did something that surprised Harry greatly. She reached out a hand and placed it on her brother’s shoulder, then said softly,

‘That’s a bit harsh, Severus. Just make it ten points, and one night’s detention.’

Snape glared at her in disbelief. ‘Why? Why?!’ he cried. She didn’t reply, and instead stared at him meaningfully.

Harry couldn’t believe it when Snape conceded. ‘Alright, alright,’ he said. ‘One night’s detention Potter, and feel lucky.’

‘And the rest?’ Miss Snape said smoothly, folding her arms.

‘The…rest?’ Snape asked.

‘The twenty points that need to go back on to Gryffindor?’

Snape’s face set. ‘I shall never award Gryffindor points,’ he said in disgust.

‘Really?’ Miss Snape said, widening her eyes. Harry watched the exchange with his breath held.

Snape’s face changed after around a minute of staring to a look of uttermost hatred.

‘Very well,’ he said shortly. He rolled his eyes. ‘TwentypointstoGryffindor,’ he said very quickly, then looked up at the ceiling.

Neville inhaled audibly, and even Harry was shocked. Snape giving points to Gryffindor? What next, Snape in ladies underwear?

‘There, see, it wasn’t that bad,’ Miss Snape cooed. Professor Snape simply shot her a glare and stalked out. Miss Snape began to laugh quietly.

‘That brother of mine…honestly…’ She seemed to become aware that Harry and Neville were still stood there, and suddenly clapped her hands. ‘Come on then, go away, go to lunch,’ she snapped.

Harry and Neville didn’t need telling twice, and turned tail and ran.

************************************************** ***************

Intriguing.... I'm so glad that I got the opportunity to make Snape award Gryffindor points

[leenielou]

‘And she said what?’ Hermione asked at dinner that evening.

Harry speared a potato with his fork. ‘She said, did he think that she wasn’t trying to put her life back on track.’ He took a bite of the potato. ‘Then all that happened.’

‘You got to talk to her? Up close?’ Ron said, eyes glazed.

‘Yeh, Ron, it was really sensual the way she dragged me over the floor by my neck,’ Harry replied sarcastically, jabbing his friend’s arm with his knife. Hermione’s eyes closed briefly in disgust at Ron, then she carried on talking.

‘Do you think it means that she was traumatised by Professor Snape joining the Death Eaters?’ she asked, looking interested.

‘Dunno,’ Harry said. ‘Probably not, he said they’d had no contact for fifteen years.’

‘How old do you reckon that’d make her then?’ Ron said, trying to make it seem a perfectly innocent question. Harry and Hermione ignored him.

‘Don’t you think it’s odd how she disappears sixteen years ago, just after…after…’ Harry’s voice trailed off, and he stared down at the table. It should have been okay, he’d accepted his parents deaths long ago. But after last year it had suddenly become harder to think about.

Hermione, realising what he was trying to say, said;

‘Probably just a coincidence.’

‘Yeh, but with our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher track record, it’s hard not to think something.’

‘I know, Harry, but if Dumbledore trusts her, then you should.’

Harry sighed. He’d heard that all before, about the other Snape.

‘I suppose,’ he muttered.

‘Well, we’ll keep an eye on her, just in case,’ Hermione said, and set to her dinner as though the case were closed.

Ron, staring between the two of them, said through a mouthful of Yorkshire pudding;

‘Whaft?’

************************************************** ***************

Dargh, I tried updating this a couple of days ago and it didn't work - guess it had Miri syndrome So here we are! (Hopefully) I would love it if you could leave some feedback. It's so sad that those who used to post it regularly don't anymore I guess it's my own fault though, so thank you for reading, anyway

[leenielou]

After dinner, the three went down to the hut that used to be Hagrid’s house to see Charlie. As the heavy door was pulled open, they realised that they weren’t the only ones with that idea.

‘Hey! Ronnie!’ Charlie said, ruffling his brother’s hair. Ron swatted his hand away.

‘Hi Ron, Harry, Hermione,’ came the calls from inside. Ginny, Luna, Fred, George, Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson were all crammed inside the tiny house that seemed bigger without Hagrid, obviously having a good time.

‘You two just can’t stay away, can you?’ Hermione said to Fred and George, who snickered in reply.

‘We thought we’d come see big bro at work!’ Fred said, gesturing around the hut.

‘And bring him a few house warming gifts,’ George put in.

‘Like what?’ Harry asked, then wished he hadn’t as all around the room, scantily clad life-like female dolls began to dance to non-existent music. Charlie blushed and tried to kick them all under the furniture, resulting in pathetic squeals issuing from under tables and chairs.

‘Something to keep him company on those long, cold nights,’ Fred said, picking a doll up. Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down on the end of a newly installed wooden bench.

‘Honestly,’ she said, as a doll tried to pick a fight with another one about her hair extensions.

Harry left Ron watching a spontaneous dolly limbo dance with Lee and squeezed himself down next to Hermione.

‘So, Harry, we hear you’ve got a new Snape to worry about,’ George said, snatching the doll off of Fred and throwing her over to the other side of the room.

‘What? Who mentioned Snape?’ Ron said, tearing his eyes away from the dolls.

Harry rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t know about her yet,’ he said. ‘She doesn’t seem openly evil like Snape…you know…the other one.’

‘So how come you didn’t tell us that you were coming here, Charlie?’ Hermione suddenly asked, clearly bored with the topic. Charlie groaned.

‘I’ve had that all day,’ he said, stretching, but smiling. ‘Dumbledore offered me it at the end of last year, but, well…I didn’t really want to accept it right away like that…felt a bit morbid.’

They all nodded in agreement. Harry suddenly realised how odd it felt to be in Hagrid’s hut without Hagrid.

But it’s Charlie’s hut now, he thought.

‘And then mum’s been so upset…started on the whole “take every chance” thing…when Dumbledore asked me again, I said yes. I mean, it’s every person who works with animals’ dream to work as gamekeeper at Hogwarts.’ He looked at the floor. ‘Don’t ‘spect I’ll do it as well as Hagrid though.’

Everyone fell silent, each horribly aware of Harry, breathing rather heavily. Hermione laid a hand on his, and he stared at it for a few moments.

‘Well, we’d better get going,’ Ginny said, standing. Luna followed her, and gradually everyone else left to leave just the three and Charlie. Fred and George left for Hogsmeade after saying goodbye to the dolls, who performed an impromptu farewell can-can. Ron and Charlie were talking quietly about their mum, and Harry and Hermione continued to sit silently.

‘You know, you are coping well with this,’ Hermione said. Harry turned to her and saw that her eyes had filled with tears. He sighed.

‘Yeh..well…after Sirius, it’s a bit easier. But if you or Ron…’ He stopped, finding that he couldn’t continue.

‘We can take it,’ Hermione said quietly. ‘We’ve taken everything else.’

‘As long as we’re together,’ Harry said, and then groaned. ‘And just how mushy did that sound?’ He rolled his eyes and stood up. ‘I’m fed up with waiting for Voldemort to just come in and try to kill me.’ He ignored Charlie and Ron flinching. ‘I just want to get on with my life, get some NEWTs, have a good time. Why should I be kept in fear and anticipation by that evil, twisted maniac? I want to live my life the way that I should, the way that my parents and Sirius and Hagrid would have wanted.’

‘That’s the spirit, Harry,’ Charlie said, also standing up. ‘But before you go charging out to perform these noble deeds, I think that you should know there’s a doll gripping onto the seat of your trousers.’
************************************************** ***************

Thanks for the feedback guys I think after this due to popular demand Ron gets a little less doofy...but it was so much fun having him as dorky

[leenielou]

The next few weeks seemed easier to Harry than the whole of the summer had been. Now that he had faced up to the fact that he shouldn’t be constantly waiting for Voldemort to strike, he began to loosen up and enjoy himself. The lessons were a lot harder this year, and so much emphasis was placed upon preciseness and efficiency that he quite often began to despair over his Potions. The teacher of which, despite his promise last year to be more civil to Harry, had become alarmingly murderous of late towards everything and anything in his path.

Harry’s first Potions lesson was the third day back from the holidays. It was only he and Hermione from Gryffindor who had actually been accepted into the class, and once again, unsurprisingly, they were in with the Slytherins.

Professor Snape had stormed down into the dungeon, slamming the door open and speaking to no one except to berate Harry about the scruffiness of his hair. The lesson had been no better; he had seemed to have regressed back into his extreme Harry hatred – although Harry could think of no real reason for why – after all, it was his sister that had usurped his place.

‘Don’t be silly, it’s because you were listening to their argument,’ Hermione had said when he had wondered this aloud, and then felt very, very stupid.

And now Harry was in Potions again, once again under the fiery glare of Professor Snape, trying to make his Mandrake Restorative Potion and completely failing.

‘Potter! Why have you not added your essence of monkshood yet?!’ came a sudden bark that startled him into dropping a whole cupful of powdered Grindylow foot into the bubbling cauldron at once. The green liquid inside suddenly exploded, causing huge globules of it to project themselves on the walls, the windows, the ceiling, Harry himself, other students, and, quite amusingly, Professor Snape.

Snape stood there, dripping with green viscous liquid, just looking at Harry. Harry quailed, waiting for the onslaught. He heard Hermione draw in a sharp breath. Everyone was watching, waiting for the shouting to begin.

But it never began. Snape simply stood, glaring at him, and then turned around and stalked out of the room.


************************************************** ***************

Only a lickle one today, sorry! Can anyone remember what happens next? Let's just say Serendipity becomes very cool.......

[leenielou]

‘What happened then?’ Hermione whispered as confused babble broke out over the classroom. Students were cleaning their robes off the best they could.

‘Why on earth did Snape let you in his class, Potty?’ sneered Malfoy as he held his arm out for Crabbe to sponge off. ‘You can’t even pour things properly.’ He pulled a mock baby face. ‘Aww…is you having pwoblems? Does you need to be in the little boys class?’

Harry looked at his smug, pointed face, and wanted to hit it so hard that it bled.

‘Getting angry now, Potty? What are you going to do? Punch me again? Your dead mother hits harder than you.’

Harry began to shake with suppressed anger. Hermione laid a hand on his arm.

‘Harry, just ignore the bleached haired spawn of Satan,’ she said to him, a challenge in her voice.

‘And you can shut your big, ugly mouth, you disgusting Mudblood,’ Malfoy replied. Hermione stepped forward.

‘Do you know, Malfoy, that gets more and more threatening the more you say it,’ she exclaimed, her voice clear as a bell and dangerously calm. ‘One day I might actually be afraid of you. But until then, take your pathetic and frankly disturbing comments elsewhere, because believe me, if we were that bothered about it we’d have some pretty incriminating stuff to say about you and your…family.’

Malfoy looked ready to eat his own hands and feet, his expression was so full of mindless anger.

‘That’s it, Granger,’ he said, voice trembling. ‘I’ve had it with you.’ He pulled out his wand, but before he could cast any of the dark spells that Harry was sure he would have done, the wand was shot out of his hand.

‘And just what is going on here?’

The voice was menacingly sweet, dripping with poisoned honey.

‘Do I see Draco Malfoy about to hex a fellow pupil?’ It continued, and Harry and Hermione turned around to see Miss Snape, looking furious, holding her wand aloft. ‘I don’t know…I come in here, looking for my brother, and instead I find his abandoned class and a pretty boy thinking that he has the right to attack other students!’

Malfoy’s face flushed with suppressed rage, and Hermione had to stifle a giggle.

‘Malfoy, follow me,’ Miss Snape hissed, and he followed her out of the classroom with an extremely bad grace. The class remained silent.

‘What’s going on?’ they heard Snape bark outside of the door. A murmured conversation followed that everyone strained to hear.

Snape’s head popped around the doorway to survey the class with narrowed eyes. Everyone quickly looked busy, cleaning non-existent spills and grinding already dusted roots. The door was slammed.

‘That was amazing,’ Hermione breathed.

‘Thought you were against the adulation?’ Harry said out of the corner of his mouth.

‘Well, yes, but…pretty boy? Priceless!’

‘You cannot punish him and that’s that!’ everyone suddenly heard yelled from the corridor.

‘You cannot stop me, Snivellus, and that’s that!’

The door was flung open almost off of its hinges, and Snape stormed into the room, his face set as thunder. The door that led to his private room magically burst open and slammed shut behind him as he entered. Presently, a steady yet loud thock, thock sound was heard, as though knives were being thrown at something.

‘Looks like sister wins hands down,’ Harry said, grinning to himself.

‘The only thing is, if he’s as unpleasant and twisted as he is, imagine what she’s like?’ was Hermione’s reply. Harry’s grin faded.

************************************************** ***************

Ahh...the bit I stole from slythy And you've just gotta love the two kick-*** females in this update, oui?

[leenielou]

The first Quidditch practice was held that night. Harry, feeling perhaps too settled into his post as Captain, managed to forget all about it and finally remembered fifteen minutes after the time that he had called for it to start.

‘What kept you?’ Ginny asked dryly as he ran up to join the rest of the team on the pitch.

‘Sorry,’ he gasped, nodding his greetings to the rest of the team. Ron, polishing his broomstick handle with his robes, grinned at him.

‘Right then, everyone,’ Harry called, and the team gathered around. ‘It’s been four years in a row now that Gryffindor has won the Quidditch Cup. And it’s mine and Ron’s last year now, and I’d like to make it a straight five. I’d like to go out on a win. And I’m sure that you’d like to grind Slytherin into the dirt again.’

The team grinned. ‘’Course we’ll win,’ Ginny said, confidently. ‘We’ve got the best team in the school at the minute.’

‘Best Keeper,’ Ron said, faux modestly.

‘Now that he can catch,’ Ginny replied, and he tried to hit her with his broom. Andrew Kirke staggered backwards as Ginny was pushed into him.

‘Who’re the new kids on the other teams then?’ he asked, shooting an annoyed glance at Ron, who shrugged back at him.

‘Not too sure about Slytherin,’ Harry said in reply, frowning slightly. ‘But I’m sure they’ll be big, mean and ugly. Especially now that Malfoy’s Captain.’

Natalie McDonald, the new Chaser from the previous year, shuddered. ‘I bet he’ll be employing nice tactics,’ she said, and the other Chaser, Emma Dobbs, nodded in agreement.

‘Well, we’ll just have to have better ones. Which shouldn’t be too hard.’ Ron said the last part under his breath, making them all laugh.

‘Who’s the new Ravenclaw Seeker?’ Ginny suddenly asked, and Harry felt a jolt of something that could have been regret.

‘Orla Quirke,’ he replied dully. ‘She’s meant to be quite good.’

‘Quite good?’ Jack Sloper snorted. ‘Have you actually seen her play? I was watching the Ravenclaw practice the other day – she’s amazing.’

‘Well I’m sure that she’s not as good as Harry,’ Ginny said, comfortingly. Jack looked as though he wasn’t so sure. There was silence for a moment as everyone digested this fact.

‘Right then, let’s get on,’ Harry said, walking over to the chest that held the Quaffle, Bludgers and Snitch. ‘If we all start off with the Quaffle, then Ron’ll go in goal and we’ll all try to get some past him.’

Everyone took to the skies, and Harry threw the Quaffle up in the air as far as he could. Ginny caught it, and soon the team were passing and catching as they weaved in and out of each other in the air.

After around five minutes, Harry heard Natalie exclaim:

‘What’s she doing here?’ and in his curiosity to see who she was, he mistimed his throw to Ron and the Quaffle sailed through clean air towards one of the stands.

‘Sorry!’ he began to call, but then noticed that Ron’s attention wasn’t on the Quaffle, or Harry, or even flying. Harry followed his gaze to see Serendipity Snape sat at the top of one of the stands, wrapped in a huge black cloak, eyes upon Harry. As their eyes met, Harry felt incredibly uncomfortable. He looked away quickly; instead focused upon the Quaffle that was still heading for the stand where Miss Snape sat.

‘Um…’ he said. Natalie began to laugh.

‘It’s going to hit her!’ she shrieked.

As if she had heard, Miss Snape looked up at the approaching Quaffle. Harry briefly saw her hand appear from beneath the cloak. There was a brief flash of light, and the red ball blew up.

Harry blinked in surprise as fragments of red Quaffle flew out in all directions, followed by a red cloud of smoke. Ginny and Emma yelled in surprise, and Jack and Andrew began to laugh.

‘On the ground!’ Harry yelled, and the team all landed on the pitch.

‘What the hell did she do that for?’ Harry exclaimed fiercely as soon as he had landed. ‘Now we’ve got to get a new Quaffle and lose practice time! And what’s she doing here in the first place?’

‘Maybe she’s come to watch me,’ Ron said dreamily.

‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ Ginny warned. ‘Don’t worry Harry, I can run up to Madame Hooch for you now and get one. It won’t be too long.’

Harry sighed. ‘We might as well stop now, anyway. I shouldn’t think it’s an exactly good omen, the Quaffle being blown up just during practice.’ He looked up to where Miss Snape had been sat, but the seat was now empty. ‘Did you even see a wand?’ he asked, remembering seeing a pale hand but no more.

Everyone shrugged.

‘I wasn’t really looking,’ Emma confessed, and everyone nodded in agreement. ‘But of course she’ll have had one.’

‘She’s got a really nice wand, come to think of it,’ Natalie said. ‘She told us that it was ash and hazelnut mix. Apparently a mix of woods is really rare, you have to have a really complex character to own one.’

‘What core was it?’ Ron asked, casually.

‘She said it was a raven feather.’ Natalie frowned. ‘I’ve never heard of raven feather being used in wands before.’

Harry became bored with the topic. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘It’s half seven, we might as well go in.’

The team trooped towards the changing rooms, laughing about the exploding Quaffle and Ron’s crush.

What was she doing here in the first place? Harry thought. A sudden unbidden memory came to the forefront of his mind; a huge black dog sat in the stands, watching him play in the wind and the rain…He shook his head as if to get rid of it.

I wonder if they knew each other?

************************************************** **************

Ahhh an update!! How lovely am I? Tell me, do, while I toddle off to make others

[leenielou]

There were no interruptions at the further Quidditch practices, and Harry remembered why he had been so proud of his team the year before. To say that Ginny, Natalie and Emma were almost as good as Angelina, Katie and Alicia was an understatement; they worked just as seamlessly as a team, if not better. Jack and Andrew, who had looked so hopeless at the beginning of the previous year, were excellent Beaters without being too ruthless. Of course, they didn’t have the effortless ease of Fred and George, or the humour, but they were still solid players. And Ron was still Ron, shaping up to become a brilliant Keeper. The first match was scheduled for the Saturday after Halloween, against Ravenclaw. Harry had been to watch a Ravenclaw practice and had to admit that Orla Quirke was exceptionally good. An obvious natural on a broomstick, Harry even thought that she might be able to outdo him on some of the tighter turns and loops that she executed.

The worry of this and the increasing work load meant that Harry had little more room inside his head with which to worry about Voldemort and what he was up to now. Hermione hadn’t forgotten though, and constantly sent nagging letters to Tonks asking what was happening. The most she had ever gotten back was a two lined reply saying:

Hermione,
Dumbledore will fill you in soon. Please stop writing, Molly’s getting irate. Tonks.

Ron had laughed his head off at this, imagining his mother’s wrath at an over-curious Hermione.

‘Dumbledore will fill us in soon?’ he said incredulously. ‘Since when has that happened?’

‘New things do occur from time to time, Ron,’ Hermione chastised. ‘I’m just worrying what Voldemort’s objective is this time – last year he just wanted to take Hogwarts.’

Harry, overhearing their conversation, said loudly,

‘No, Hermione, he wanted to kill all of the people that protect me so that he could kill me more easily.’

Hermione fell silent, and Ron frowned.

‘Well it’s the truth,’ he asserted. Hermione looked up at him, and he was surprised to once again see her eyes filling up with tears.

‘Maybe I don’t really want to hear the truth that plainly,’ she said quietly, and Harry felt horribly guilty.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said after a while. ‘It’s just all this work – the stupid essays Snape’s given me on top of everything else and all of the idiot defence spells that I still have to learn for the other Snape’s class…’

‘It’s alright Harry, I know how it feels to have so much work to do,’ Hermione replied, sitting in front of a stack of homework that had all been done in the past hour. Harry didn’t want to reply to that. They were sitting in the library, with the encroaching night pressing against the windows.

‘Speak of the devil…’ Ron muttered, shifting in his seat so that most of his face was hidden behind his Care of Magical Creatures textbook. Miss Snape had entered the library.

Harry watched her greet Madam Pince, then walk straight through to the Restricted Section.

‘More complicated spells for us to learn,’ he groaned.

‘I like her bracelet,’ Hermione said, looking puzzled. ‘I’m sure I’ve seen it somewhere before.’

Harry looked for a bracelet and eventually saw it just emerging from the long sleeves of the tight robes that were her habitual clothing. It was a thick silver band, with engravings upon it that Harry could not properly make out from the distance that he was sat at. He could see the delicately glowing purple stones within it though.

‘Never seen it before,’ he commented.

‘I’m sure…maybe it was just a copy…’ Hermione was muttering to herself. Harry watched Miss Snape’s back through the grilled windows of the Restricted Section, stretching up as she stood high to reach books with her long fingers, her hair occasionally catching the light and glowing like finely polished ebony…

‘You two are as bad as each other,’ Hermione suddenly snapped, and Harry turned to look at her.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘You and Ron salivating over Miss Snape,’ she said dryly, pulling her books towards her. ‘I think I’ll go to the common room; I don’t fancy watching that anymore.’

‘Hermione, don’t be stupid, Ron’s the one that’s completely in love with her, not me,’ Harry scoffed, and Ron kicked him under the table.

‘Yes, well, it didn’t look that way to me,’ she snapped, and stood up so quickly that her chair was knocked over backwards.

‘What’s wrong?’ Harry asked, mystified as to why she had gone into such a bad mood so quickly.

‘Nothing!’ she called over her shoulder as she practically ran out of the library. Harry and Ron looked at each other, totally confused. Harry shook his head.

‘So…what did you get for question nine?’ Ron asked.

[leenielou]

The following day Hermione was fine again. Harry knew better than to broach the subject of her fit in the library, and so instead asked her about Miss Snape’s bracelet.

‘Didn’t you say something about a copy?’ he asked as they fell into step walking to Defence Against the Dark Arts.

‘Well, I’m certain that I’ve read somewhere about a silver and amethyst bracelet that contains some sort of power…I can’t really remember what it was though. I tried to find out last night, but it isn’t in any book that I’ve got.’

‘What kind of power?’ Harry said. There was a silence. ‘What kind of power, Hermione?’ he asked again. She took a deep breath.

‘That’s why I think that it must be a copy…from what I remember it enabled the user to keep permanent tabs upon someone…really useful for spies…’

‘You think that she could be spying on Voldemort for the Order?’ Harry said after thinking for a few seconds. ‘We’ve never heard of her before…and she said she’d been away…maybe she was always keeping track of him.’

‘That’s what I thought…but if she knew exactly where he was then why didn’t she tell someone? Usually a spy passes on important information like that.’

‘Well perhaps she only started to spy when Voldemort came back properly.’

‘If that was true, then they would have been able to stop the attack at the end of last year. And prove to the Ministry the year before that he had actually come back.’ Hermione rubbed the bridge of her nose. ‘Look, we’re here now,’ she said as they drew level with the classroom door. ‘But I’d better just tell you quickly before we go inside…from what I remember, you have to be within the daily sphere of the person you are tracking in order for the magic to work.’

Harry’s eyes widened.

‘You think she might be spying on someone here?!’ he exclaimed.

‘Shhh!’ Hermione looked into the room. ‘Look, just forget about it until I find the actual book. It’s a while since I read about it, I could be wrong.’ She turned to go into the room, but Harry grabbed the back of her robes.

‘Hermione, how many times have you ever been wrong?’ he hissed. She looked at him with fearful eyes.

‘I was wrong about her brother; I don’t want to jump to conclusions about her.’


The next few days were spent mainly in the library, researching the bracelet.

‘Look, Hermione, she can’t be evil,’ Ron protested for about the seventh time.

‘We thought that Moody couldn’t be evil as well, and look what happened there,’ she said without even looking up from the book.

Ron snorted. ‘I don’t think that Miss Snape is a man in disguise. Plus, she seems really nice to us Gryffindors, she’s always giving us points.’

Hermione finally looked up at him. ‘Why don’t you just say that you don’t think she’s a spy because you want a piece of her ***?’ she snapped. Harry tried to disguise the smile that spread over his lips.

‘Go jump off a cliff,’ Ron replied, amiably.

They all read in silence for a moment, then Ron said;

‘Halloween tomorrow.’

‘Quidditch match in two days then,’ Harry said, glumly.

‘Cheer up, Harry, you’ve never been beaten before when you’ve been fully conscious for the entire match.’

‘Orla Quirke’s father used to play for England,’ Hermione put in from behind her book. ‘That’s probably why she’s so good.’

‘I wonder if my dad ever got offered a place on a regional team?’ Harry wondered aloud.

‘I’m sure Sirius would have told you,’ Hermione replied.

‘Maybe he didn’t get chance,’ Harry snapped back, suddenly feeling a little irritable. It looked as though there might be another evil person in the castle again, he had too much homework, Ravenclaw had a brilliant Seeker and he was tired. He pushed away his book, and as he did so, a page flipped over and revealed the picture of the very item that they had been searching for. Hermione immediately grabbed the book and pulled it up to her nose.

‘Hey!’ Harry protested. ‘Let us look too!’

Hermione’s eyes quickly scanned from line to line beneath the picture, and then sat the book down on the table with a satisfied sigh.

‘Thank goodness we’ve found it; that was going to bug me all year.’

Ron rolled his eyes. ‘Look, just forget about your crazy perfectionism for one minute and tell us what it says!’

Hermione leaned forward slightly.

‘It’s called the Band of Isis. No one really knows when it came about, but there is only one of it.’

‘Isis?’ Ron said, screwing up his eyes. ‘Have I heard that name before?’

‘She was an Egyptian Goddess,’ Hermione said distractedly, picking up the book again. ‘Of protection and magic. But apparently, in the making of this band, they harnessed her power in order to keep track of a chosen person.’ She frowned. ‘It doesn’t say anything else though.’

Harry began to feel extremely worried.

‘Nothing else at all?’ he asked. ‘Nothing about spying or watching?’

Hermione pulled a face and shook her head. ‘Nope,’ she said. She closed the book and lay it down on the table.

‘Do [i]you[/] think that she could be a spy?’ Harry asked Hermione, who was chewing her bottom lip. A sudden flash of blood upon it caught his eye, and it was only then that Harry realised how worried Hermione was.

‘I don’t know,’ she sighed. ‘It’s doubtful that Dumbledore would give her a place if her background looked suspicious.’

Harry likewise sighed, realising that this was true.

‘Hang on a minute,’ Ron suddenly said. ‘Background…what exactly do we know about her? Nothing! We know that she disappeared for fifteen years, but not why, or what happened before that. We know that Parvati’s aunt went to school with her, but nothing about her at school except that she was really clever. Isn’t that a bit odd? Plus…you do remember CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Yes?’

Hermione was slowly nodding. ‘We ought to try and find out a bit about her…there must be records somewhere. Or something.’

‘Or maybe we’re just being paranoid,’ Harry snapped. He was very tired, and at the moment it seemed to him that they were making a fuss over nothing.

‘It’s a bracelet, it’s probably a copy, Dumbledore wouldn’t bring anyone into the castle who posed a risk right now. I’ve had seven years of being told to trust Dumbledore, so let’s just try that now, okay? I said I wasn’t going to let Voldemort ruin my last year here, and I won’t, so let’s just stop looking for trouble and…and…have fun,’ he finished lamely.

‘Okay then Harry, we’ll just ignore the possible threat to you and see how well that turns out. Don’t worry, everything’s been fine before, I don’t see how it could possibly turn out badly this year. There’s never been anyone killed or hurt, or maimed due to Voldemort trying to kill you.’ Hermione stood quickly and stormed out of the library.

‘I wish she’d stop doing that,’ Ron muttered.

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Da-daa! Hope you're all enjoying re-learning or just plain learning all about what's going on...leave me some feedback and tell me how!!

[leenielou]

Hellooo everyone, I'm back, and so is this!!

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Chapter Nine – Halloween

The morning of Halloween dawned surprisingly fair. When Harry awoke, the sun was shining through the dormitory window, and although the general temperature was quite chilly, the sun beams were warm upon his bed. This put him in a better mood than the previous night, and he whistled as he went down to breakfast.

The Great Hall was decorated in typical fashion for the holiday, and there were festive foods for breakfast. Ron tucked into a pumpkin and marshmallow pie, while Hermione picked at a slice of witch-shaped toast. As Harry sat down with a cheerful grin, they both looked up at him.

‘Morning, mate,’ Ron said through his pie, but Hermione simply nodded. Ron looked at her distastefully out of the corner of his eye, and Harry realised that they had been rowing.

‘What have you two been arguing about this time?’ he asked with a smile. Ron rolled his eyes.

‘She’s still in a grump about us not believing that Miss Snape is evil,’ he said.

‘I never said I didn’t,’ Harry quickly said, but Hermione still looked at him with angry eyes. ‘I just meant that maybe we should wait to see if anything else happens…you know…if she does anything suspicious…’

As one, the three turned to look up at the staff table, where Miss Snape was sat talking animatedly to her brother, dressed today in deep red robes. A sour look still lingered around Professor Snape’s face, but he was replying to every single one of his sister’s comments.

‘Looks like they’re getting on, anyway,’ Ron remarked.

‘Surely Snape would know if she was evil, Hermione?’ Harry wheedled, unwilling to have her mad at him. She stood up.

‘Okay, we’ll give her some more chances. I’m just not comfortable now that I know about the Band of Isis, that’s all.’

‘Well go and tell Dumbledore about it then,’ Ron said curtly. Hermione gave him a withering look.

‘He’ll already know – it’s rather obvious that she’s wearing it.’

‘Well, we’ll just keep an eye on her,’ Harry commented, buttering his warlock –shaped toast. For some reason he could feel himself playing the peace maker in every conversation that they had now. He looked Hermione in the eye. ‘Come on, Hermione, sit down. We are taking it seriously. Really.’

She nodded slightly and sat back down. She smiled at Harry suddenly, making him pause with his toast halfway to his mouth, wondering what he had done.

‘What?’ he asked, feeling slightly alarmed.

‘Nothing!’ she cried. ‘I was just...smiling.’ She looked down at the table quickly, blushing slightly. Harry, feeling extremely confused, continued to eat his toast, occasionally glancing up at the staff table where Miss Snape sat, still in a deep conversation with her brother, waving her fork around to emphasise a point, smiling as she listened to his reply, reaching a hand up to smooth back a stray piece of hair, turning slightly in her seat…

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Biggie chapter this one is....have fun!

[leenielou]

Chapter Nine cont.

The feast that night was as spectacular and lavish as it had ever been. Harry, Ron and Hermione were rather subdued though, as they realised that it would be the last one that they would attend at Hogwarts. Ron tried to make it worth his while by eating more than even he could ever previously manage. Charmed candies shaped like leprechauns, ghouls and witches hopped and skipped around the tables until someone got so fed up that they ate them, their screams surprisingly realistic and unnerving. Huge Jack O’ Lanterns lit the air instead of the normal candles, and at several points they belched huge showers of Honeydukes chocolates onto the tables below. Enchanted streamers and showers of glittery stars filled the air, to the point where Harry began to wonder if the lavishness of the feast was a way of saying goodbye.

Eventually, when they had all taken their fill, and everyone was sleepy from too much food, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny made their way back up to the common room.

‘Ohhh…I think I ate too much…’ Ron groaned, heaving himself up the staircases. Ginny laughingly pretended to push him along.

‘At this rate we’ll end up having to roll you to your Graduation,’ she quipped.

‘I can’t believe that was our last Halloween here,’ Hermione said sadly, gazing up at the pictures on the walls. ‘I feel as though I want to slow down time completely.’

Harry nodded. He knew exactly what she meant. The previous week, a notice had gone up in the common room detailing a talk on employment once out of Hogwarts, and it only was hitting him now just what that meant.

‘My last year playing Hogwarts Quidditch…’ he said.

‘Last year in the common room,’ Hermione replied, leaning against him as they climbed the staircase to pass by the end of the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor. Her hand gave his an affectionate squeeze. Harry looked around to see Ginny and Ron with their arms around each other too. Ginny looked upset, and Harry could imagine that it was because she would be the last Weasley in Hogwarts soon.

The sound of running footsteps suddenly brought Harry out of his nostalgic reverie. He looked to his right just in time to see the hooded figure that was barrelling down the corridor towards the group.

‘Watch out!’ he called, and the other four looked around in surprise, but were too late to move out of the way. Whoever it was crashed directly into Ginny and Ron, felling all three to the ground.

‘Erghhhh…what did you do that for? I think I’m going to be sick now,’ Ron grumbled, clearly not seeing what the others were.

Everything seemed to go into slow motion as the person clad in a black, hooded robe scrambled to their feet, a black velvet bag held in their hand. The group fell into a horrified silence as they saw the mask that covered the person’s face. As one, they withdrew their wands.

Another set of running footsteps echoed down the corridor, and Harry managed to tear his eyes away to look in their direction, desperately praying for Dumbledore.

Instead, he saw Miss Snape.

The black-robed figure took advantage of the distraction to push Ginny aside, who had just stood up, and begin to jump down the stairs. Ginny fell straight into Ron again, and the two fell awkwardly to the floor, Ginny clutching the ankle that she had broken two summers ago.

‘Stupefy!’ Miss Snape shrieked, so furiously that the hairs on the back of Harry’s neck stood up, and he felt the power of the spell barge past him. The person on the stairs below let out a scream and crumpled to a heap, continuing down the flight of stairs as a soft, unprotected body, falling clumsily and landing sprawled upon the landing below.

Miss Snape ran past the group without commenting, and down the stairs, pausing at the very bottom with her wand pointing straight at the figure on the floor.

‘Ginny, are you okay?’ Hermione asked desperately, crouching beside her and trying to look at her ankle. Harry began to descend the staircase towards the two people at the bottom, his wand likewise drawn.

‘Miss Snape, is that – ‘ he began, but she cut him off.

‘Be quiet, Potter!’ she snapped, never moving her eyes from the person on the ground. She jerked her head back in the direction from where he had come. ‘Get one of them to get Dumbledore. Hermione needs to stop any other students from coming up here,’ she said through gritted teeth.
Harry turned to look at Hermione, but she had already heard, and she was fearfully standing up.

‘Neville, look after Ginny. I need to go with Hermione,’ Ron said, all traces of discontent erased. The two ran off down the other corridor.

When Harry turned back round, Miss Snape was bending over the sprawled figure and attempting to tug the velvet bag out of their grasp. When she gained it, she immediately ripped the cord open and plunged her hand inside.

Harry saw, in that moment, the movement of the body.

‘Miss Snape!’ he yelled, but the person had already screamed a curse, and Miss Snape staggered backwards onto the stairs, clutching her throat. The velvet bag had been dropped to the floor, and, the person that Harry now knew without a shadow of a doubt to be a Death Eater, quickly retrieved it and then turned to go again.

He found himself running down the stairs before his brain registered what he was doing.

‘Impedimenta!’ he cried, and the Death Eater stumbled, slowing to a walk. Harry could feel their frustration as they attempted to run again. Miss Snape, meanwhile, was still collapsed upon the stairs, breathing as though there were strong hands clasped tightly around her throat. Her wand had fallen to the ground as well, and her fingers were grasping upon thin air, or so Harry thought. Until he heard a shadow of a whisper pass from her lips;

‘Finite Incantatem,’ and she fell to her knees, coughing.

‘Don’t let her get away,’ she gasped, rubbing her throat.

Her? Harry had time to think before he charged after the Death Eater.

‘Petrificus Totalus!’ he yelled, but his spell went wide, and the Death Eater was regaining speed all of the time. In a desperate measure, he leaped, wrapped his arms around…her…head, and pulled her to the ground. As they rolled over, a sudden thought flashed into his mind…

Bellatrix.

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ooooOOOooo....

[leenielou]

Chapter Nine cont.

His ears blanked out all sound except for the heavy breathing of the Death Eater and his own heartbeat, and his eyes were blind to everything except the mask that he could see in front of him now…

Miss Snape was beside him before his outstretched hand could rip the mask away from what he was sure was that evil, sneering face beneath. She grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him off of the woman, whose black hair he could now see emerging from beneath the edges of the mask.

‘No! Get off of me!’ he shouted, struggling to get back to the figure and remove that mask. She turned to him, her face feral.

‘Get back up the stairs and away from here! Leave it to me!’

Harry backed away a bit, furious at missing his chance, but did not leave completely. He watched with hatred burning every cell in his body as Bellatrix slowly stood, the velvet bag swinging from one wrist, her wand focused upon Miss Snape…

…whose wand was still on the floor by the stairs.

‘Foolish girl,’ Miss Snape hissed. ‘Did you really think that you could get away with this?’

Harry edged towards the dormant hazelnut and ash wand, never taking his eyes off of Bellatrix and Miss Snape, one seemingly emotionless and one so angry that it put her brother to shame.

‘Crucio!’ Bellatrix screamed, and Miss Snape fell to the floor, making no sound, but her hands were tearing out huge chunks of her hair. Harry, remembering full well the pain of the Cruciatus, and faced with such an opportunity that he had never had before – an unprotected Bellatrix Lestrange – began to speak a curse that he hoped would cause her considerable pain, when she whipped around and directed the Cruciatus at him, releasing Miss Snape.

Without even thinking, Harry said,

‘Eversor calimalam,’ and the deep blue protecting disc appeared in front of him, absorbing the curse and destroying it.

Miss Snape got to her feet, and somehow, she had her wand.

‘Stupefy!’ she cried again, but Bellatrix deflected the spell, and turned to run again.

And all of a sudden, Dumbledore was standing there, in her way. She skidded to a halt, then raised her wand.

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you,’ Dumbledore said calmly, his blue eyes hard and mouth firm.

She did anyway, and the two began to duel viciously, the beams of their spells hitting the walls, floor, and, to their disgust, the paintings.

‘Dumbledore, it’s Bellatrix!’ Harry yelled, as Miss Snape grabbed hold of him and tried to push him up the stairs.

‘Get back up there and do as you are told!’ she hissed, pushing him onto the first step.

‘No!’ he shouted, openly defying her. ‘I want to see her killed!’

He thought for a moment then that Miss Snape’s eyes appeared to soften; her whole demeanour seemed to sag. But then she let go of him so suddenly that he nearly fell, and spun around to aid Dumbledore. A spell shot just past Harry’s ear and hit the stair rail just below his hand.

‘Harry, get out of here!’ Dumbledore shouted as another sailed past him.

Harry wasn’t going anywhere. He wanted to see Bellatrix die…

A spell knocked her to the ground, and in the next moment Miss Snape was on top of her, tugging the velvet bag from her grasp. Bellatrix reached up a hand to pull Miss Snape’s hair violently down, and she swore aloud. They were grappling now, Dumbledore was yelling at Miss Snape to get off of her, Miss Snape was frantically tugging at the velvet bag with one hand and Bellatrix was trying to say a curse while her mouth was covered with Miss Snape’s other hand, and then…

Miss Snape pulled the mask off.

Dumbledore fell silent, his face suddenly an expression of dismayed disbelief. Miss Snape snatched Bellatrix’s wand and hauled her to her feet.

Harry saw her face.

It wasn’t Bellatrix Lestrange.

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oooOOooo Who can it beeeee???

[leenielou]

And all is revealed....

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Chapter Nine cont.

Footsteps skidded to a halt at the top of the staircase. Harry heard Ron and Hermione gasp. He saw the rest of the staff within the Order behind them. He felt too shocked to do anything; paralysed by complete and absolute astonishment.

Cho Chang’s face was flushed, but proud. Her dark eyes flashed around at the approaching teachers, who were likewise in a state of disbelief. Miss Snape, clearly puzzled at the silence that had fallen over the landing, stepped away from her.

Cho ran.

Miss Snape began to run after her, but Dumbledore put out his hand to stop her.

‘What are you doing?’ she cried, exasperated, but Dumbledore placed his hand upon her shoulder.

‘We are in the position of power, here,’ he said. ‘We know another of his servants.’

‘But she took…’

‘It doesn’t matter. We will just have to send for the star.’

‘And faith?’ Miss Snape asked. Dumbledore nodded, signifying that he did not want to talk about it in front of Harry and the others.

Professor McGonagall was helping Ginny up, letting her lean on her arm. Neville took her other arm.

‘Yes, take Miss Weasley to the Hospital Wing,’ Dumbledore called up, and the three turned to head slowly off towards it. Dumbledore turned to Harry.

‘Are you alright?’ he asked.

‘Um…yeh…that was…wasn’t it?’ Harry managed.

‘It was Miss Chang, yes.’ Dumbledore sighed heavily. ‘This means that Voldemort may have gathered other young supporters.’

Harry noticed that Miss Snape did not flinch at all at the name Voldemort.

‘I suggest that you three go to your dormitories. Please do not tell anyone about this disturbance until we have decided what is to be done,’ Dumbledore continued. They all nodded, clearly still as shocked as each other, and Harry turned to walk up the stairs towards the other two.

‘Harry, do you think that – ‘ Ron began in a small voice as they headed for the portrait door.

‘I don’t want to think about it,’ Harry said firmly. He knew what Ron was going to say. He was going to ask if Cho had only wanted to get closer to him in the fifth year because she was spying. He was going to ask if Cho had given all of the details of the past two years worth of meetings with the DA to Voldemort. He was going to ask if Cho had been a Death Eater all along…

Harry got into bed with his mind whirling. He had always thought that at least one girl had liked him. But now he wasn’t sure at all. Had he been used? Would Cho have taken a chance to hurt him if they had been alone more? And if someone as unlikely to be suspected as being a Death Eater as Cho could not have been trusted, who else was under Voldemort’s sly employ that they knew nothing about?


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