Spider's Blood

Chapter Nine

A million scenarios filled with hate and violence rushed through his head as Harry watched Zora move to a table and raise three glass vases...without the use of wand or hand. Harry felt his jaw drop as those three vases began to dance in the air, high above Zora's head and gracefully float and fall back to their place on the table.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Harry muttered to himself.

"Use you hands!" Snape shouted from the other end of the room. "I've told you a thousand times...center your power through your hands, your eyes will explode in a few years if you keep doing that!"

"I know, I know...but wouldn't it be better to go blind than not use my arms at all?" Zora replied in a superior tone.

"Just...do as I say, you'll thank me in the long run," Snape replied before he whipped his cape and clicked his heals to the other end of the room.

"Yeah, you always say that," Zora muttered as she rolled her eyes and stretched her arms out before in front of her body. She pointed her fingers at the vases and lifted all three again, making them rise and fall, and eventually fly about the room in every direction possible.

Harry watched with undetached attention as the glass vases soared around the room. They glided gracefully under the tables and up to gently graze the ceiling before tumbling back the Zora's side and around the room again.

"Professor Snape!" a voice called from the small room at the top of the stair case across from Harry.

The vases fell from the air and a loud shattering sound erupted and filled the large room as it echoed up to Harry's ears. Harry shot his head up and noted Professor McGonagall's stern glare as she peered over the side of the banister, her eyes locked on Snape.

"Busted," Harry thought cheerfully to himself as McGonagall walked gracefully down the stairs in her nightcap and nightgown.

"How nice of you to join us, Minerva," Snape said, almost with a smile.

"I don't come on an inspection, but on an intervention, Professor Snape," McGonagall replied.

Harry's face fell...there was no "What on earth are you doing?" or "Explain yourselves!" or anything of the sort. It almost appeared that she knew what was going on...and wasn't the least bit upset about it.

"Zora, you've shattered your vases," Snape ignored McGonagall's statement as his head turned to the ground, the glittering pieces of the shattered glass shone in the moonlight from the high windows.

"I'm sorry, Severus, I just broke my concentration," Zora replied, gazing at the pieces around the room.

"I'm sorry, dear, I didn't mean to," McGonagall said kindly to Zora.

"Don't apologize, Minerva, she should've had more control in the first place...we'll have to work on that later. Now, go and read up on that healing spell you fell behind on."

Zora walked quietly to the edge of the room. She retrieved a small book from a large stack next to a wooden chair and began to read and flip through the pages. As she did this, McGonagall and Snape walked quietly to the other edge of the room and spoke in whispers. Harry cautiously followed the two, not taking his eyes off either of them for a moment.

"I'm quite serious, Severus, I cannot allow this to continue," he heard McGonagall say as she folded her arms. "Zora is a very gifted girl in need of guidance and study, not violence and training. There has been talk in the halls about her bruises and scraps and scars-."

"Which you lot were supposed to teach her to heal and conceal," Snape commented with a sneer Harry had never seen him take with another professor.

"They should not be there in the first place!" McGonagall burst. She took in a deep breath and calmed herself before continuing, "Madame Pomfrey is especially concerned...and I'm running out of excuses. A child can only be caught in the trick staircase so many times before it becomes ridiculous. All I ask is that you end the physical hardship."

"I can't agree to that...none of you can know what she is meant for, what will become of her, what she is expected to do. One day she will be trapped, powerless, and weak. Don't you want her out of that situation?"

"If you won't comply...I'm forced to recommend to the other House Heads that Professor Lupin become in charge of her defense studies."

"Excuse me!" Zora rang loudly from her book on the other side of the room. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak so loudly about my future while I'm right here."

"What did I tell you about using that hearing of yours on other people's conversations?" Snape called back.

"That's its all right if it concerns something I want to know about," Zora replied loudly. "Or at least that's what I wanted to hear you say. Look...Professor, I know what you mean with the whole fighting thing. But he has just as many scars as I do...I don't think Lupin would be up to me kicking him a few hundred times every night and...I'm not sure if I can go with another teacher. I've been with Snape this whole year; I don't think I'll be able to learn with another, I can't just change now."

"Well, there you have it," Snape replied, with a superior tone in his voice, and devious grin on his face.

"I will still speak with the other Houses...and as far as I can tell, you put the cut on her arm...you teach her to fix it."

McGonagall gave a satisfied nod and walked to the staircase and out the door. Zora causally turned her eyes back to her book and continued reading. She leaned further against the wooden back of her chair and gently swing her left leg back and forth as she read, giving her a very childlike appearance.

"Thank you for that," Snape called back to Zora after a long silence.

"Well, I should've let you rot," she replied with a deep sigh without looking up.

"Don't tell me you're still sore about last class," Snape replied with agitation.

"You let the Slytherins create a potion that would do whatever they wanted to me for three minutes, what did you think would happen? They'd turn my hair blonde and back again? They hate me and you know it. They were probably trying to kill me!" she said angrily, but still kept her face straight and in her book.

"They couldn't have killed you, they don't know how," Snape replied casually.

"Some of them do," Zora replied finally looking up from her book. Her eyes were cold and her brows raised as she glared at Snape. Harry could plainly see she was referring to Draco.

"He wouldn't kill you...not like that...no glory in it for him, it's a cowardly kill without physical strength."

"So beside the point...what were you thinking?"

"That I was peeved that when I awoke that morning, all of my robes had 'Slippery Snape' written on the back of them."

"Oh, no one saw, I knew you could take it out...and you're the one who cut off all my hair when I wouldn't kill that frog!"

"It grew back!" Snape replied childishly.

"So beside the point!" Zora retorted.

"Fine...I won't take our...small disagreements and dislike for one another out of this room...only if you agree to do the same. Agreed?"

"Agreed...anyway, I'd rather beat your face in than turn that damn turtle into a teapot again."

"Get that spell yet?" Snape asked impatiently after a brief silence.

"I don't know, let me try it on you and see if your stomach bursts into flames."

Harry was stunned as he watched Snape casually walk over to Zora's side and let her apply the spell on his recent wound. She placed both hands over the cut at his stomach and closed her eyes. A small bolt of white light escaped her palms and went dead in an instant.

"Did it work?" Zora asked as she peaked her eyes open.

"Surprisingly, yes it did," Snape replied as he gently rubbed his side. "Congratulations, you're a sixth year student."

"It's about time!" Zora exclaimed excitedly.

"And since it is a holiday, no laps around the greenhouse tonight. You can go to your room early if you wish," he added with a yawn.

Zora excitedly closed her book and placed it on top of the large stack. She wore the bright smile that showed off her gleaming teeth as she did a little dance and hop around the tables of magical items around her.

"Don't get too excited, you have to stay with McGonagall tomorrow night...more turtles I presume."

Zora stopped her dance mid step and brought her arms down from over her head and took the appearance of a defeated warrior.

"Before you leave, I have a gift for you. I didn't really trust that the other girls would leave your presents alone in the morning, so here you are."

Snape handed Zora a small box with green paper wrapped around it. There was no bow or tag, but Harry was impressed that Snape even took the time to wrap the gift instead of just throwing the item in Zora's face. Zora smiled and carefully removed the paper, which disintegrated into air before it even hit the floor. She opened the box and drew a small object from the inside.

"It's a detection ring," Snape explained casually, "it detects harmful ingredients in food and drink. Think of it as sixteen missed holidays and birthdays."

"Thank you so much," Zora said softly as she hugged her professor.

Snape was taken back for a moment before he returned the embrace and cracked a smile. Zora stepped out of his arms and placed the ring on her finger with a bright and wonderful smile.

"Clean up the room and off to bed," his voice boomed as he turned and walked up the stairs. Zora smiled after him and rubbed her thumb against her ring as she stood in her place.

Her eyes went to the pile of shattered glass on the floor. She shot out his right arm and the glass disappeared, all the doors in the room closed, and every item placed itself in a rightful position. The windows just behind Harry closed and shuttered from the outside, blocking the moonlight. Small candles emerged from the ceiling and became enflamed and circled the upper and lower rooms, filling both with light.

Zora's face was now on the balcony. Her smile broadened as she peered past Harry's concealed figure.

"Come down from there before you break you neck!" she called in Harry's direction.

Harry's heart began to pound and his head darted behind him and all around the balcony.

"Yes, you...Harry! Come down," she persisted with a smile.

Harry removed the cloak from his head so that his body was still covered.

"You can see me?" he asked.

"I can now," she smiled. "I could hear you too...come on down, before you fall. I said I can heal cuts, but I can't mend busted bodies."

Harry removed the cloak and continued his path to the stairs across from him.

"Careful," Zora warned as his feet reached the end of the staircase, "I think I missed some of the glass."

"Oh!" Harry said as he took a step and glanced around the floor. Harry looked up form his spot. The room looked completely different from the floor looking up than the ceiling looking in. The windows that began at the ceiling reached all the way to the floor, they were now boarded and withdrawn, but their brilliant size remained. The walls were scattered with elaborate tapestries and paintings Harry had never seen before in all his wonderings through the halls of Hogwarts. There were at least twenty tables of all shapes and sizes taking up the edges of the surplus room. Each table held something different: bottles of potions, astronomy charts, maps, boxes upon boxes filled with Lord knew what, and several filled with simple miscellaneous items that didn't seem magical or extra special in any way.

"Nice isn't it?" Zora laughed as she too gazed around.

"What's going on?" Harry blurted out. He hadn't meant it to sound so strong and arrogant, but he found it difficult with his mind racing as it was.

"I'm not sure you'd want to know," Zora replied as she moved away from Harry's side. She retreated to a window at the edge of the room and sat at its edge. She rested her head against the stonewall and looked at Harry.

"If you don't tell me...I'll-."

"Tell Dumbledore? He already knows...it was his stupid idea in the first place," Zora replied quickly, her face trailing off to a painting a little way down on the wall she rested on.

"Would you just tell me then?" Harry said impatiently.

"If I tell you, you must promise me to never tell...or use it, do you understand? What am I saying...of course you won't tell! How am I going to explain this? Alright...'Once upon a time' there was a girl. She was a normal witch I guess you'd say...a little strange, but who isn't?...

Severus sat at his desk, scratching away with his quill against the trapped parchment.

"Student must use less beetles...it gives a bitter aftertaste," he said slowly to himself as he wrote it out. How unappreciative these students were of the craft of chemistry and potion-making. He wondered why they still allowed such children incapable of performing into such a school as Hogwarts.

"Hallo, Severus," a light and musical voice sounded from just over his black covered head.

Had it been such a long night that he was actually hearing her voice in his head? His eyes traveled up and there she stood. He was almost in awe for a moment, such separation as theirs would have that affect. Her light hair was pulled away from her face as it always was in their school days together. This allowed for her to slouch over a bubbling cauldron without tainting her gorgeous blonde locks and to keep those tendrils out of her magnificent blue eyes. Other than that hair and those eyes, she seemed a completely transformed person. Her robes were black, not the usual red or green she preferred, and her frame was small and bony as if she'd been sick for quite some time.

"Lara?" Severus muttered as he stood from his chair, still in shock.

"One and only," she chimed with a bright smile.

He smiled too, but just for a moment. His back straightened suddenly and his face took on its classroom glare as he starred at her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, not breaking his mastered glare.

Lara stood, her smile fell and her lip quivered with emotion. She turned from his sight, pretending to analyze a few bottles of some liquid she had never seen before. She sniffed quietly at the pestering tear in her left eye as she searched for the strength she had when learning at this very school...that little girl must still be there somewhere.

"Such a way to greet an old friend?" she asked cheerfully. "It has been five years since we last spoke."

"I know how long it's been, you don't have to remind me," he added harshly. "Are you still with him?"

She stopped her analyzing. He could see by her frozen hand on an empty bottle that she was impacted by his words...he enjoyed her pain, it matched his.

"I'm trying to leave," she replied with a jagged exhaling of breath as she turned to face him.

"Why did you come here? If you haven't left, you're still bound to him...I want no part of whatever it is you want with me. Leave now!"

"I need your help. I have nowhere else to go, you must understand that?" she pleaded, her pride scattered on the floor.

"I can't help you," he replied.

"You're the only one who can," Lara continued, "You left him...you survived."

"I had a great deal of help...Dumbledore for one," Severus replied, he felt his hard face slipping and his voice retreating.

"It's exactly what I need...I'm in...trouble," she replied, he voice had rapidly changed. It was full of honest fear and pleading that Severus could not ignore.

"What do you mean 'trouble'?" Severus asked, fearful of the answer. Life under Voldemort's power was never enjoyable even on his good side. 'Trouble' was probably the absolute worst place anyone could be, especially at that moment in time. His power was at its height and his followers were scattered everywhere. No one on earth could stop him...no one.

"I'm pregnant," she finally replied, trying to sound nonchalant and uncaring, but the crack in her final syllable gave her emotion away.

He stared at her. Unmoving. Unbreathing. What could he say? What could he do?

"What has he done to you?" he finally whispered.

"I thought that should be obvious," she laughed, but dropped her smile at the sight of his face. Such pain and agony she had never wished on anyone, but she hadn't lied: she was in trouble and needed help from somewhere. "It's a spell...he designed it himself so I'm quite sure there is no...reversal."

"What happened?" he pestered with growing anger. The thought of anyone harming Lara brought a bolt of heat through his heart and mind that enraged Severus to an uncontrollable state.

"I told you...it's a spell. Basically...the prophecies are coming true. A child will be born soon that will eventually destroy him. He's simply setting off 'the plan' a bit earlier than he thought he would have to."

"And he chose you?" Snape asked, his mind slowly remembering the old days and the old talk. He had never really believed in the prophecies, but "The Plan" Lara was referring to had been foolproof and brilliant...this is what was scaring him the most now, in his office, staring at his once time best friend.

"He's improved it since you left...there were five of us instead of just one at a time. Each placed under the spell...only two spells will end in pregnancy."

"Two? What about the time between?"

"No time...the child against him will be born in less than a year. He wants his two now...one has already come forward with a confirmation on the boy...two have come with negative. There's only me and one other. I just need to hide until she's born," Lara added as she placed her hand over her stomach.

"What will you do after that? He will not stop, you know that...you and the girl both."

"Which is why...I need someone to take her," Lara replied. "I need you to take her."

Severus looked into her eyes. He could see her hand shaking over her stomach and her eyes were filled with tears. She was scared, more than he had seen her in a long time.

"You want me...to take the offspring...of an evil madman...and care for it as my own?"

"That would be the general idea. I believe he will be satisfied with me alone if I convince him she is...gone."

"What do you mean satisfied?" Severus asked, pretending the answer didn't exist and that this was just a dream without the realities of Voldemort's vengeance.

"Don't be stupid, Severus. I know the rut I've gotten myself into. I didn't really think that it would work...you know how he is. But when I realized that I was pregnant...I had a vision of so many people dieing and so many beautiful things being destroyed...I couldn't be responsible for that. You must take her and teach her...don't let him have her, you must promise me!"

"I can't..." Severus struggled out.

"Then tell me who can! I can't give her to him. You now the prophecy...I can't let him do this...I just can't," she said as the tears flowed freely from her eyes.

Severus wanted to hold her and comfort her, but part of him wouldn't allow it. She had turned on him, abandoned him for power. She was suffering now for it, but that didn't mean she didn't deserve it. At least she had realized what was going on, what was happening to her, and what her future held; such realizations were oblivious to her mind years before.

"We must go to Dumbledore immediately," Severus replied awkwardly.