The Founders' Legacy

Covered by the darkness they flew across the woods, levitating the Muggle between their brooms. Snape had given her another dose of sleeping potion. The night air was pleasantly warm and in the distance the lights of the nearest city where already visible. Miss Beresford had been kind enough to give them the address of her friend in London, not knowing, that as soon as they reached the hospital, her memories of everything that had happened would be removed.

Unnoticed, Dumbledore and Snape landed on a lawn near a side entrance of the hospital. They levitated the sleeping woman inside. The corridor was empty and Dumbledore quickly conjured a stretcher.

They put her down gently and Snape pointed his wand to her head, ready to cast the memory charm, when Sophie opened her eyes. Confronted again with a wand pointed directly at her, she started to scream at the top of her lungs. Snape cursed. He should have insisted on doing the memory charm right away. They could hear hurried footsteps nearing and had to get out at once, no time to obliviate her.

The shocked security guard who had discovered her called a doctor immediately. Sophie claimed to have no memory of how she got to the hospital. If I would tell you, you would book me into the psychiatric ward right away, she thought. The doctor looked at her injuries and was surprised when he found them already healing. They wanted to keep her in the hospital for observation, but Sophie insisted on going home. The doctor watched disapprovingly as she signed the necessary papers, but since she could identify herself and showed no signs of disorientation, he couldn't keep her against her will. They called her a taxi.

She had to warn Abra. Strangely, Sophie was not very concerned about the old wizard. Yes, they had scared the living shit out of her at the hospital, but somehow she still trusted Albus Dumbledore. He would try to get the parchment from Abra, but she knew he wouldn't harm her. But the men at her house were an entirely different matter. If they found out about Abra, she would be in great danger.

The driver waited outside for his money and Sophie was grateful for that. The sight of her ravaged home was shocking and he would have surely asked some questions. She paid him and started to pick her way through the wreckage. The furniture was upside down, her clothes strewn all over the place. Torn books and scattered papers covered the living room floor. The light on her answering machine was blinking. The first message was from work, but the second one made her freeze. It was from Abra. She checked the time. If her attackers had been still here, they must have heard it and now they knew where to search. Sophie looked around and noticed her address book on the desk. With rising panic she flipped through it. The page with Abra's address had been ripped out. She reached for the phone and dialled her friend's number. The machine picked up. Sophie hung up and stared at the phone for a few seconds. Then she picked it up again and called the airport. There! was a plane to London in four hours. Sophie booked a seat, called a taxi and hastily stuffed a few things in a bag.

***

Snape had been silent on their way back, but as soon as they had touched the ground he threw a tantrum, that would have caused the whole student body of Hogwarts to tremble in fear.

"We should have obliviated her right away. Her story is going to be all over the Muggle papers! The Ministry is going to have a field day... . "

Albus just smiled.

"I doubt somehow, that Miss Beresford will talk about her little adventure, and besides, you pointed out that you nearly exceeded the daily dosage of the sleeping potion and that you could not give her much more. What if we had obliviated her and she had woken up on the way? She would have panicked and we would have been in far worse trouble."

Snape just growled, but he knew that the headmaster was right. Dumbledore turned serious.

"Severus, you have to depart to London immediately. There is a good chance the Death Eaters have found out about this Miss Harrington. If we are lucky, they don't know how to find her. Try to conceal where you're heading, there is a chance the Death Eaters might follow you."

Snape nodded and mounted his broom.

"Good luck," Dumbledore murmured as he watched the Potions master disappear into the morning light.

***

It was late in the afternoon, when Sophie reached Heathrow. She located a pay phone. First she tried the flat, even though Abra had probably already left for work. Again, she got the answering machine. Next she tried the museum, but was told that Miss Harrington had taken the day off. Sophie still had a key to the flat she had once shared with her friend, so she would take a cab and go there.

***

Michael Avery impatiently tapped his fingers on the desk. The receptionist glared at him. He glared back. When she got of the phone, she informed him, that Miss Harrington had taken the day off.

"Maybe you can tell me where I can contact her, it is very important." Avery forced himself to be polite.

The receptionist stuck her nose up. She didn't like him and she didn't hide it.

"I'm sorry Sir, but you have to try again tomorrow. I'm not authorised to give out the address or private phone number of employees."

His hand inched towards his wand. He would love to hex this arrogant Muggel. It was bad enough he had to wear Muggel clothes around here, but to tell him to come back tomorrow... he willed himself to calm down. The Dark Lord would be highly displeased if he cursed a Muggle in broad daylight. They had to work discreetly for now. Avery forced a fake smile on his face and thanked the woman, vowing silently to pay her a visit again when the time had come. Outside he ducked behind some bushes and Disapperated. They had lost another day, but he would try again tomorrow.

***

It was getting dark again, when Snape finally reached Hanway Street. It had taken him a whole day to get to London, but he was sure that no one had tracked him and the darkness would be useful to get inside flat 16 D undetected. Once inside his worst fears seemed to be confirmed. The place was practically torn apart and there was no sign of Miss Harrington.

***

Outside, Sophie paid the cabby. She felt miserable. Her whole body was aching from lack of sleep, she was hungry and running out of money. Under the streetlights she dug the key out of her bag and let herself in.

The lights on the staircase were not functioning. Some things never change, Sophie thought and turned left towards the letterboxes. Groping along the top, she found one of the cheap flashlights the tenants of number 16 traditionally kept there for this case.

The door to 16 D was ajar. Sophie held her breath and switched off her light. Inside she could hear someone move around and a tiny light was visible from the kitchen. A dark figure was passing trough the sitting area and disappeared into the bedroom. Trying to avoid any noise Sophie moved along in the dark and pressed herself against the wall next to the bedroom door. With her blood pounding in her ears she took a firm grip on the flashlight. Whatever light source the person was carrying, it was faint and all she could make out was a tall form in dark clothing emerging from the room. With all her strength Sophie smashed her flashlight against the intruder's head. It connected with a satisfying crack and the person went down, causing the light to go out.

Sophie tried to get across the dark room, but her foot connected with the body on the floor and a strong hand grabbed her ankle. She struggled to free herself and her hands desperately felt around for a better weapon. The grip on her loosened as the person started to search around too and Sophie managed to get a hold of something that felt like a bottle. A male voice whispered "Lumos". Sophie wrenched herself free and whirled around, raising the bottle. In the faint light she found herself face to face with the greasy-haired wizard.

Snape couldn't believe it. The blasted Muggle! Keeping an watchful eye on the raised bottle, he lowered his wand.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed.

"I could ask you the same," the woman snapped back. "Couldn't you at least turn on the light instead of sneaking around here in the dark, scaring me to death ... again. And please do me a favour and put that thing," she motioned to his wand, "away?"

Keeping her eyes fixed on him, she walked backwards and switched on the light, causing him to blink at the sudden brightness. Snape pocketed his wand, crossed his arms and put on his best scowl. To his disappointment she was unimpressed and continued with her rant.

"And why did you have to trash the place? Couldn't you have been a bit more careful?"

"Things are exactly like I found them upon arrival. And more importantly: your friend is missing," he said coldly. This seemed to shut her up.

Sophie frowned. This could either mean the worst or... . She went and checked the bathroom. The toothbrush and Abra's usual assortment of cream pots and lotion bottles were gone. She breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the cranky wizard.

"Nothing to worry about," she explained. "Her toiletries are gone. She's probably staying at her new boyfriend's place."

"And that would be?"

Sophie shrugged. "Sorry, I know his first name, his job and a whole lot of things I wasn't that keen on knowing, but neither his address or number."

"Number?"

"Phone number." Dimwit, she added in her mind.

Snape lost it. "Are you telling me you have no idea where I can find that women?" he bellowed. "Do you have the slightest idea of what is at stake here? Tell me, did you just wake up this morning and thought: Today I'm going to make someone's life hell?"

"If someone's life turned to hell, it would be mine!" Sophie screamed back. "During the last 48 hours I have been chased by some wand-waving weirdoes, got nearly killed, got drugged, found out that there are wizards, had some more wands pointed at me, had to deal with a nosy doctor, travelled across half the country and now I'm hungry and tiered. So you better stop whining about your problems, because I had enough for a lifetime and, by the way, what kind of stunt did you try to pull at the hospital?"

"Erasing your memory. According to the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy... ."

"Fuck your Code of whatever! If you ever try to mess with my mind again, I'm going to rip each and every appendage from your body, starting of with your... ."

"Shut up, woman!" Snape roared with spit flying from his mouth. Sophie made a disgusted face and backed away. "You said your friend is working at the British Museum. Fine. Tomorrow I'm going to pay her a visit, that is, if she decides to grace her workplace with her presence and doesn't take the day off hiding with that boyfriend and... ."

"WE are going. Do you honestly think I'm going to let you play your little magic tricks on her? I am going to handle this and YOU can come along, if you promise to behave." And with that Sophie stalked past him towards the kitchen. Snape followed. She had opened the fridge and taken out a box of leftover Chinese, which she sniffed carefully before placing it in the microwave.

Snape watched curiously as she punched some buttons and the strange apparatus started to hum softly. He could see the box rotate inside and after a few minutes the thing started to beep.

"What are you doing?"

"I told you, I'm starving. You want some?"

Disgusted, he shook his head. He would not eat something that came out of this ... thing.

Sophie just shrugged. "Your loss."

She found some chop sticks and started to wolf down her food.

"So," Snape asked, "you are staying here for the night?"

With her mouth full of vegetable stir-fry, she could only nod.

"Then I'm staying too. I already checked for spying devices and harmful spells when I arrived, but there might be a chance that someone checks on Miss Harrington again and you wouldn't stand a chance on your own."

Sophie swallowed. "I think so far I've managed quiet well on my own, but if you insist ... just a word of warning, the couch has a tendency to collapse when someone tries to sleep on it."

"I'm not planing to sleep on the couch."

"I'm taking the bed and I can assure you, I'm not willing to share."

"That would not be necessary," Snape declared, taking out his wand, gloating over the little jump she made at the sight. He mumbled a quick spell and an impressive four-poster bed appeared.

"You see?" he said haughtily. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Well then, see you tomorrow."

The next morning came much too soon for Sophie's liking. A loud bang caused her to shoot upright in bed. She winced; her arm was still sore. Outside, clattering could be heard. Sophie checked the alarm. It was seven am.

What the hell is he doing? she thought and got up, picking up her glasses on the way out.

The bed had disappeared and Snape was sitting at the kitchen table, eating. The elegant china plate, teapot and silverware were obviously not from one of Abra's cupboards. Realising Snape had made breakfast only for himself, she searched the messy kitchen for the missing parts of the coffee machine. Once she got the coffee started, she stretched and yawned.

"I would prefer it if we get an early start today, so maybe you should do something about your appearance," a cold voice said.

Sophie closed her eyes briefly. Someone like Snape was the last thing she needed this early in the morning.

Still yawning, she turned around. There he was, sitting perfectly straight, his black robes immaculate, finishing his tea and already annoying her.

Snape was giving Miss Beresford a disapproving once-over. She was still wearing last night's T-shirt, decorated with some stains from last night's food and pyjama bottoms. And her hair... . It gave him an idea about how a descendant of Granger and Weasley might look like.

Severus Snape was a person with no tolerance for dawdling in the morning. For him it was get up, get dressed, breakfast and back to work, like clockwork and the Muggle was testing his patience, still stumbling around in her sleepwear.

"Well, Professor, I have no idea about wizarding work hours, but in a ...what do you call us ... Muggle office work starts at nine, so we still have plenty of time. If you would excuse me now? I'm going to do something about my appearance," Miss Beresford said, mimicking his earlier tone. Scratching her head she disappeared into the bathroom.

He was left alone with the blubbering coffee machine. He could hear water from the bathroom and the women screeching some Muggle song. She had a horrible singing voice. The shower was shut off and he expected her to come out, but she didn't. At least she had stopped singing. Snape started to pace. What, in Merlin's name, is she doing in there? Suddenly a loud roar emitted from behind the closed door.