Silk and Brocade

Chapter 3 - An Unpleasant Misunderstanding

Snape woke up as the first rays of the new day crept into the room. He stretched his legs and arms, and scowled at the pain in his back for the bad position he had been sleeping in. He slowly turned his head towards the bed and was welcomed by the sight of a fully awake Ginny.

"G-good morning, Professor Snape," Ginny said sleepily.

"You're awake, I see. Good, get up. We're leaving," he said curtly, without greeting her back.

Ginny did not wait to be told twice, and jumped out of the bed. Her face beamed with happiness aware to be leaving that place for good, to be leaving that terrible experience behind. She brushed her beautiful copper hair, as Snape put his Death Eater attire back on. He did not say anything when he saw what the girl was doing, he just rolled his eyes.

"Come here, Miss Weasley!" he ordered and the girl complied. "Listen to me carefully. I'm allowed to take you back with me, but I'm supposed to put you under the Imperius," he explained in a serious tone.

"But you said you weren't going to harm me!" Ginny protested, narrowing her eyes.

"I said ' I'm supposed ', not that I must do it," Snape sneered, amused by the girl's temperament. "I believe you're smart enough to fake its effects, aren't you?"

"Like this?" she asked, as she let her eyes get unfocused.

"Very well, Miss Weasley. How did you know about how the victims' look?" he asked, surprised.

"I heard Harry describing Victor Krum's odd behaviour in the third task of the Tri-wizard Tournament," she readily explained.

Snape's face twitched unpleasantly at the mention of Harry's name, but he restrained himself to do any comment. There were more important matters in his mind, like getting the two of them away from that place, safe and sound. He walked to the door and beckoned her to follow him.

"Just keep up that acting of yours and try to remain impassible to whatever will happen around you," he urgently whispered to her.

Ginny nodded, then took a deep breath. Snape checked the corridor which was luckily empty. He exited the room with Ginny behind him. They walked down the twisting corridors that led to the big hall where she had previously met Voldemort. When the corridor split in two, Snape took the one in the direction opposite to the hall, but Ginny managed not to flinch at that unexpected change. She guessed there would be some anti-apparition wards there too. In fact, Snape led her to a small circular room.

"We can disapparate from here," he whispered lowly, causing Ginny to freeze suddenly on the spot.

She was too young to apparate, and the fear to be left alone in that awful place even for a few seconds sent shivers down her spine. Snape turned towards her, and noticed her tension by the clenching and unclenching of her jaw.

"Hold tight on my arm. You'll apparate along with me," he instructed her, "but first, I think a change in clothes is in need," he added with a smirk.

He flicked his wand and Ginny's odalisque attire turned back to the clothes she had been wearing on her trip to Hogsmeade the previous day. At first, Ginny was a bit surprised to see them and was about to ask him how that was possible. Then, she suddenly understood that she might have been wearing them all along, but somebody had simply transfigured them. Without a moment of hesitation, Ginny closed her eyes while she gripped Snape's arm as if her very life depended on that - a very likely thing, indeed. When she opened her eyes again, they were standing right at the castle gates. She took in her surroundings and the sight of Hogwarts filled her heart with endless joy. She was back home and she was safe, all thanks to Snape.

"I think you can let go of my arm now, Miss Weasley," Snape sneered, his eyes gleaming.

"Oh sorry, Professor," Ginny shouted, blushing furiously.

They headed for the castle, and entered from a secondary door. It would have been really odd if the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was to be seen getting back to the castle - at the break of dawn - with an underage female student. Ginny was dead tired and her eyes were heavy with sleep. She nearly growled when she saw they were going straight to Dumbledore's office, instead of the Gryffindor Tower. They paused in front of the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's office. Snape reluctantly said the name of the weird sweet that was the actual password. Ginny could not suppress an amused grin at the funny face he made when uttering the word. They went up the spiral staircase, and Snape knocked once on the door before going in.

"Oh, Severus, Ginny. What joy to see you both back, safe and sound!" Dumbledore cheerfully greeted them.

"Ginny!" shouted Mr and Mrs Weasley together, and hurried to hug their daughter.

"Mum, Dad! You don't know how happy I am to see you!" Ginny warmly whispered, hugging them back.

"Severus, please, take a seat!" Dumbledore gestured Snape to a chair. "Molly, Arthur, sit down as well," he added, and the three Weasleys took seat on a comfortable couch standing in a corner.

Snape gave his report about the events of the night, but kept the details about the meeting with Voldemort for himself. He did not want the Weasleys to know such delicate information, the knowledge of which could have been quite dangerous for them as well. Molly and Arthur listened carefully to Snape's every word, gasping in shock at the mention of the rape nature of that party; staring surprised at the realisation of Snape's spontaneous involvement in Ginny's rescue. The only thing that seemed to have left them uneasy was the fact that the man and their daughter had shared the same room for the night.

"Thank you, Severus," Arthur said kindly.

"You don't have to thank me. I was just in the right place at the right time," Snape said coldly, as gratitude was one of those things he was not much familiar with.

"Do you really had to sleep in the same room anyways?" Molly snarled in an accusatory tone.

"It was the only way I had to protect her, and take her back whole," Snape hissed back.

"You'd better have not touched a single hair out of my daughter!" Molly barked, heating up.

"Molly, please, calm down," Arthur tried to soothe his angered wife.

"Should I remind you that, if it wasn't for me, your daughter would have been raped or even worse?" Snape hissed furiously. "I have enough of your accusations. Headmaster, I'll finish my report tomorrow," he added before storming out of the room.

"Mum! Why did you have to treat him like that? He saved me!" Ginny protested.

"Be quiet, Ginny. You're too young to understand these kind of matters," Molly reproached her daughter.

"Molly, dear. Your concern for our Ginny is understandable, but I have reason to believe you have overreacted to Severus's words," Dumbledore tried to make her see reason. "Do not forget that he has been acting on his own free will and not under my orders," he admonished her.

Dumbledore dismissed Ginny, who marched out of the room fuming for her mother's lack of touch. She did not pause to say goodbye to her parents and headed straight towards the Gryffindor Tower, her exhaustion growing with every step she took.