Armilla II

Chapter 26

"Broomsticks," I murmured, shutting my eyes tightly and shivering. I could still see them with my eyes shut. I opened them, blinking several times, but to no avail. "They're everywhere."

"What are you talking about?" Severus hissed as he knelt down beside me. He reached out and gripped one of my arms. "What have you been doing? You're all wet from the snow."

"Don't," I murmured, wincing at the touch. "Sore." My muscles seemed to think that they'd been part of a marathon. Hm, perhaps they had been...I was starting to confuse what was reality and what I'd dreamt. Was Severus really here right now?

As I felt my arm being released, I looked over at Severus, blinking in order to focus my eyes properly on him. "Severus."

He said nothing as he took out his wand and then removed his travelling cloak.

I stared at him, watching as he waved his wand around us, muttering a spell.

"Not awake," I murmured to myself, shutting my eyes again and resting my head on my knees. It was hard to tell with the broomsticks, not to mention my frozen behind and feet. I was suddenly certain I was still sleeping.

"Awake and delirious, to be exact," I heard Severus say. I opened my eyes as I felt something warm being wrapped around me. Severus' travelling cloak felt like a blanket.

"Severus-"

"I have no wish to linger," he said quietly. "Anything urgent can wait until we're safely in the dungeons." He conjured a cold cloth and passed it to me. "Keep it pressed against your forehead." He lifted me easily, ignoring my protests about being touched.

"I can walk, you know," I mumbled, closing my eyes again as I pressed the cloth to my face.

"I do believe you've had enough exercise."

"This is not in the least bit embarrassing," I murmured, the sarcasm only just making its way through in my tone.

"I have little concern for that," he replied, "I've cast Invisibility and Soundproofing charms over us. I am fairly certain there will be no one about at four o'clock in the morning on a Sunday anyway."

"Shar is," I whispered, "or was...I don't remember. Is he here?"

"No," my brother replied shortly, as he began walking. "You've been dreaming by the sounds of it. You shouldn't have been."

I was silent, pondering this. I shouldn't have been dreaming? There was definitely an edge to his voice. I frowned, trying to separate my memories from my dreams. Hadn't I apologised to Severus about dreaming when I shouldn't have been? Yes! I'd been purposely finding memories!

"That's it," I murmured, feeling satisfied that I'd at least sorted that one out.

"What's it?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but found explaining myself was going to take up way too much energy. I settled for one word, hoping he'd understand. "Dreaming."

As I rested my head on his shoulder, I was suddenly struck with something else I needed to tell him. What was it? Too many dreams to sort out...

"Malfoy," I muttered.

I felt him stiffen. "Hush, Armilla. This is not the place to talk of Draco, soundproofing charm or not."

I was content to be silent; I was dozing off anyway.

Severus suddenly gave me a small poke. "Don't go to sleep," he whispered, shifting my weight in his arms. "Not until I give you a potion. Your fever is far too dangerous."

"Mm," I mumbled, dozing off again. I really needed to sleep or my head would explode.

This time he actually pinched me.

"Ow!" I hissed. Didn't he understand that I was sore?

"What did I just say to you?"

I didn't answer him. "Don't pinch me."

"Then don't go to sleep."

As it turned out, it was very hard to concentrate on not dozing off when at times, I wasn't certain whether I was awake or asleep. I didn't receive another pinch from Severus, so I must have succeeded in staying awake.

"Nymphadora!" Snape called out, as soon as we'd entered our quarters. The volume of his voice made me groan as my head pounded harder.

Severus walked briskly through the sitting room, down the hallway and nearly bumped into Tonks in the doorway of my bedroom.

"Oh thank Merlin!" she exclaimed, a hand over her heart. "You woke me, Severus - and Armilla's bed was empty - Oh thank Merlin. I-"

"I must insist on knowing why you saw fit to fall asleep in the first place," Severus said harshly, depositing me on my bed. "You were told to supervise a sick child, Nymphadora. It really wasn't a difficult task."

"Severus, I know. I-"

"And then," Severus went on, taking out his wand and renewing the charm on the cold cloth, "I returned to the school grounds at four o'clock on the morning and happened to see someone off in the distance sitting in snow." He handed the cloth back to me and then turned back to Tonks, who looked very unhappy. "I thought it was a strange thing to see and then I found that it was Armilla! Would you believe that, Nymphadora? A child with pneumonia sitting in snow!"

I pushed aside Severus' cloak and curled up on my bed, shutting my eyes tightly and holding the cloth to my head. Too loud...I wished they'd go somewhere else so I could sleep.

"There's nothing I can say, Severus, except to apologise most profusely-" Tonks said desperately.

Severus cut her off. "I am in no mood to hear apologies from you. I am far more concerned about getting Armilla's fever down." I heard him sigh. "Who knows what she got up to around the castle."

"Didn't you ask her?"

"She's delirious, Nymphadora!" he snapped. "She's barely aware of what's happened."

"Too loud," I moaned.

"Armilla, you must be frozen." I heard Tonks rush forward.

"You think?" my brother said icily.

"I'll help you change, Armilla," Tonks said kindly, touching my shoulder.

"Don't," I mumbled, shrugging her off. "Sore."

"Help her change whilst I fetch some potions," I heard Severus say.

"Certainly. Come on, Armilla. Sit up again."

"Cooperate, Armilla," Severus called over his shoulder as he left the room.

Groaning, I sat up, clutching my head. The pain was getting worse. "It's going to explode."

"No, it won't," Tonks said, going through my drawers. "It will be okay. Oh, Armilla, I'm so sorry."

"Going to explode," I repeated, barely aware that she was there. Something was moving inside me.

"No, just hang on-"

"Sick," I murmured, leaning forward over my knees, as tears sprang to my eyes.

"Severus will be right back. Ah, here they are-"

"Sick," I said, starting to get up. I was going to be sick.

Tonks grabbed my arm. "No, don't get up-" she said urgently. "Just wait for Severus."

I pushed my way past her as I got up and Tonks grabbed my arm once again as I stumbled. My insides lurched and then quite suddenly I was emptying the contents of my stomach all over the floor.

I coughed and hiccoughed and then crouched down, wiping away the tears that had appeared on my face. I winced, feeling sharp stabs of pain in my chest.

"Wonderful," Severus said from the doorway. He moved into the room and put whatever he was carrying on my bedside table. "I can call Madam Pomfrey to assist, Nymphadora," he said quietly. "I understand that assisting her now might be asking too much...unlike asking you to watch over her for a few hours."

"No, it's fine, Severus, really," Tonks said, ignoring his jibe.

Severus walked over to me, taking out his wand. "It's alright," he said softly. He waved his wand, banishing the vomit from the floor. He then cast a cleaning charm over the rug.

Shuddering, I got up and sat on the bed. It felt like I was asleep again; my head felt completely cloudy.

"Get changed and then you can sleep," Severus said, after he'd cast an air-freshening charm. He turned and swept from the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Come on then," Tonks said, holding a change of pyjamas out to me.

"I'll be fine," I mumbled, taking them from her. I shut myself into the bathroom and leaned against the door. Everything was so foggy. What had I been doing outside? Had I just wondered out of Severus' quarters? I remembered running from Shar, but was that a dream? I thought I had dreamed of Malfoy too.

When I finally emerged from the bathroom, Severus had joined Tonks in my bedroom. Tonks was standing at the foot of my bed with her arms folded, looking at the floor, while Severus was fiddling with a potion on my bedside table.

Saying nothing to either, I crawled into bed, completely ready to sleep for the next few years if it meant ridding me of the headache and everything else that was plaguing me.

"Was there something about Malfoy you were going to tell me?" Severus asked, sitting down on my bed, a glass of bright pink potion in his hand. "Perhaps it was a dream?"

I thought for a moment, before slowly shaking my head. "I don't know."

"Very well." He handed the glass to me, which I drank down immediately.

I leaned back and closed my eyes.

"Is there anything I can do, Severus?" I heard Tonks ask.

Severus made a disgruntled noise as he pressed the cool cloth to my forehead. "Certainly," he said dryly. "Make haste and place a security alarm charm on Armilla. I want a siren sounded through the dungeons if she feels like a stroll again."

"Not funny..." I murmured, feeling the potion begin to take effect.

"Not funny," Severus agreed.

o o o o o o o o o o o o

My mind was awake long before the rest of me was, or so it seemed. I kept my eyes closed for as long as possible, willing myself to go back to sleep, but my mind was having none of it. It wasn't alert by any means; it was far too busy trying to sort out what was going on in its own little world.

I was comfortable, that much was certain. Perhaps I had been sleeping for a long time. No, I had woken up, hadn't I? More than once, I thought. I had a vague recollection of waking quite a few times, feeling short of breath, only to be told to drink several things and then falling asleep again. Maybe it just seemed like it had happened many times.

There was definitely a slight buzzing noise nearby. I was quite sure that I had heard Severus' voice more than once, but that seemed like long ago. Lately I had been hearing someone else's voice.

My chest didn't feel so sore; I remembered that it had hurt a lot. My head also didn't feel so bad. The drilling feeling in my head had vanished and there was just a dull ache there now.

I tried moving my head from side to side. It felt stiff and sore. I reached up to rub it and as I did so, I heard a voice nearby.

"Ah, it seems you're awake."

The voice was familiar; I'd heard it recently, I was sure.

I opened my eyes and immediately the ache in my head strengthened a little. Blinking several times and rubbing my eyes, I looked up to see Madam Pomfrey smiling down at me. Not feeling at all impressed by this and uncertain as to why, I closed my eyes again, groaning slightly.

"There, now," I heard her say, before she cast a temperature spell. "You may not feel it, my dear, but you're a great deal better than you were earlier in the week."

I opened my eyes again. I tried to speak, but my voice was scratchy.

"Careful now," Madam Pomfrey said, giving me water to drink. "Beside incoherent mutterings, you haven't spoken since last Sunday."

After clearing my throat several times, I managed to get most of my voice back. I suddenly felt more alert. "What day is it?"

"Saturday," she said, taking the glass from me, "the seventh of December, 7:18pm to be exact."

"I've been sleeping since last Sunday?"

"On and off. You've woken plenty of times of course, but the many potions we had to give you kept you sleeping for long periods of time."

"Mild pneumonia," I murmured, closing my eyes again. It hadn't been that bad, really. Why had it been necessary to be dosed with strong potions for nearly a week?

She gave a dry laugh. "No, acute, more like," she said, straightening my covers. "You gave us quite a scare on Tuesday morning when one of your lungs collapsed."

I opened my eyes again. I looked incredulously at her.

She smiled. "That's the same look Severus gave me when I informed him. It wasn't as severe as I'd first thought and I was able to heal it, though you really should have spent the rest of the week in St Mungo's. Once you were stable though, Severus wouldn't hear of it. Too dangerous, he said."

I looked around the darkened room. "Where is Severus?" I suddenly wanted him.

"He's been sleeping for the past few hours," she answered, organising a few things on my bedside table. "Severus, Nymphadora Tonks, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick and I have been taking it in turns to sit with you. Severus, though he seemed to think otherwise, was quite content to spend every waking hour either in here or in his lab, brewing up something else for you. He developed a cold himself yesterday...run down, I think...and I finally convinced him to go to bed after dinner last night." She laughed suddenly. "He's a far more stubborn patient than you are, Armilla. He won't let me in to check on him. He seems to think he can take care of himself."

"He can..." I said, closing my eyes again.

"Ah, you're no help."

I glanced over to my right to identify the source of the buzzing. There was a funny looking mechanism floating in the air nearby that wouldn't have looked out of place in Severus' office.

"That's a magical humidifier," Madam Pomfrey explained, following my gaze. "It's helped the potions along with having you breathe properly again."

I shook my head. "I've been an awful amount of trouble by the sound of it."

She smiled. "No, just very ill. Nothing we couldn't cure anyway."

"What about Severus' classes?"

"Dumbledore's had a substitute teacher on his classes all week." She shook her head. "Of course, that resulted in rumours flying about everywhere to explain the absence of the two of you."

"Of course," I said dryly.

"Your friends, of course, have set the rumour straight, to the chagrin of the rumourmongers who had insisted that the two of you had caught a flesh eating virus and weren't expected to last the week. It seemed that acute pneumonia wasn't anywhere near as impressive."

I rolled my eyes. "I'd rather they all mind their own business."

She patted my arm. "This is Hogwarts, dear."

"Am I able to shower?" I asked, trying to sit up. I felt icky.

Madam Pomfrey looked doubtful. "Not by yourself."

I shrugged. I was beyond caring if she helped me. All I knew was that I wanted a hot shower.

"May I have a headache potion?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I'm afraid not. The pink potion you've been taking is immensely strong and cannot be mixed with any other potion. You'll be due to take it again shortly."

"I haven't dreamed," I said suddenly, thinking of the clouds that were still floating around in my memory. I had many of my memories back now, but there were still quite a few things I didn't know. "How did you stop me dreaming?"

"Severus did," she answered, helping me get up. "That's how he overworked himself. He spent hours and hours experimenting with that potion until he had altered some of its effects. He managed to include a component that would rouse your mind as soon as the dreamless sleep element wore off. If your mind came close to dreaming, you would wake, meaning you were due for more."

I shook my head. "I wish I could be as clever as he is."

She shook her head. "Be grateful that you're not as obstinate as he is. He's been unbelievably snarky all week. Only this morning I threatened to deduct points from Slytherin."

o o o o o o o o o o o

I awoke on Sunday morning feeling much better than I had in ages. My head still had a slight ache, but I felt more like my old self, lack of some memories aside. Damn Malfoy.

Malfoy. I glared up at the canopy above me. Evil git. I was certain that I'd dreamed about him recently. I knew that I'd dreamed about Shar, only because I now had a memory of him chasing me...an incident which I was certain I had dreamed anyway.

Dreamed...

I suddenly cringed. I had dreamed it! I had dreamed it after I had apologised to Severus for dreaming on purpose. He was probably still furious about it. Madam Pomfrey had said only the day before that he'd been snarky all week. Maybe he thought I'd gotten myself into this predicament. I could understand that.

I had a vague memory of snow and seeing Severus somewhere in Hogwarts. Everything else seemed rather foggy. I was sure I had dreamed of Malfoy...and my violin.

I was suddenly aware that I was alone in my room. Hadn't Madam Pomfrey said that people had been taking it in turns to supervise? In case I ran off again... Hmph. I didn't quite remember running off it the first place.

Madam Pomfrey had rattled on about it the evening before when she'd helped me shower. Listening to her had eased the discomfort I'd felt about the situation. The effort of walking to the bathroom and showering had taken so much energy that I'd been quite grateful to sleep again once I'd returned to my bed.

I sat up, wincing at the ache this caused to my head. I wanted to find Severus. It felt like I hadn't seen him in weeks.

Hanging onto any available furniture, I made my way slowly out of the room, pausing at the door and waiting for the slight dizziness to go away. I walked to the sitting room and was disappointed to find it empty. Turning back, I headed for the end of the corridor to Severus' room, where the door was slightly ajar.

I knocked, but heard no answer. I wondered whether or not to go in; I had enough memories of Severus now to know that it wasn't the worst thing in the world if I dared walk into his bedroom.

"Severus," I called, pushing the door open. The room was empty, but his bathroom door was closed. Perhaps he'd just gotten up; it was still early after all.

"I'll be out in a moment," I heard him call back.

Not feeling inclined to stand there waiting for him when my legs were tired, I moved towards Severus' unmade bed and sat down on the edge to wait for him.

I didn't have to wait long. A couple of minutes later, the door opened and Severus appeared, fully dressed and looking tired. He frowned when he saw me. "You shouldn't be up and walking about."

"I'm not," I pointed out.

He narrowed his eyes. "My bed doesn't count."

"I'm sick of my bedroom."

"How unfortunate," he said, looking completely unconcerned about this. "You still have several more days at the very least to spend in there."

I made a face. "Haven't I slept enough?"

"Not nearly enough."

"Are you better?" I asked him, as he came to sit next to me.

"I wasn't really sick," he answered, scowling slightly.

"Madam Pomfrey said you were."

He rolled his eyes. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "Okay, I suppose. Better than last week. My head still aches."

"That's a lingering effect of getting your memories back, I believe," he said, "not so much the pneumonia." He shook his head. "You're certainly one for doing things well, Armilla. If you had to get pneumonia, you had to go all out and develop a severe form of it."

I smiled. We were silent for a moment. "You're not mad then that I dreamed?" I asked.

He frowned. "Dreamed? When exactly?"

"I had dreamed of Shar when you found me," I explained. I'd thought he'd worked that out.

"You mentioned him, yes," he said, "but you weren't quite talking sense at the time. I doubt you dreamed on purpose. I do wonder what you got up to that night. I doubt you did much except wander about the castle."

"I don't really remember much except little things." I thought for a moment. "I sat under a table."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Are you sure you didn't dream that?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I'm sure there's something about Malfoy...and Crabbe and Goyle."

Severus stared at me, waiting for me to go on. I shook my head again. "It was probably a dream...like running from Shar when he wanted to hear me play the violin."

He gave me a funny look. "You imagined that one. That's certainly not a memory. Shar never asked to hear you play the violin because I only bought it for you last summer."

"Oh..." That's right. We were silent again.

"Do you remember hurting your foot?" Severus suddenly asked. "We found a cut on it which suggested that you'd stepped on something sharp."

I thought for a moment, thinking that hurting my foot would be something I'd remember. Slowly, I shook my head. "No idea."

"Come," Severus said, standing up. "We'll have breakfast and then you can go back to bed."

"Madam Pomfrey told me you successfully altered that potion," I said, pushing myself off the bed. "That's why I haven't been dreaming."

"Yes, well, it still requires improvement," he said, "but it was certainly a great help."

I slowly followed behind him as we left the room. As we went to pass my bedroom, a strange thought suddenly hit me as I was thinking about when I'd been wondering the castle.

"Wait," I said, turning and going into my bedroom. I smiled at Morag as she hooted her good morning, sporting lime green feathers this morning. I went to my armoire and opened the door, my eyes immediately scanning the bottom.

Uh oh.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked from the doorway.

"My violin's not here," I said turning back to him. "I'm quite sure I picked it up."

He shook his head. "You think you wandered the castle with your violin?"

I shrugged. "Perhaps. It seems familiar."

He sighed. "And I don't suppose you have any recollection of where you left it?"

I shook my head. "None."

He shook his head again, looking a little exasperated. "I daresay we'll find it. Hopefully a summoning spell will do the trick. Let's hope it's not buried under the snow."

"I didn't mean to," I said crossly, closing the armoire door.

"I know," he said, turning away and walking down the hall to the sitting room. "You do the strangest things when you're ill."

o o o o o o o o o o o

The following couple of weeks were frustrating and generally uneventful. People who were content to sit and not do much all day would have delighted in what I had to endure the week following my illness. A severe lack of energy meant that I spent the majority of those days in bed, sleeping, reading or grumbling. The week after that was less painful; Severus finally allowed me to roam around our quarters whilst he was teaching classes, as long as I slept sometime during the day.

Catching up on classes was going to be difficult and this was what had caused the most arguments between my brother and I. I had yet to get all of my memories back, which meant that I didn't remember all of the classes I had been to, or the content of the lessons. The way I saw it, seeing as I no longer had a fever, Severus should stop giving me the Dreamless Sleep and I should try and get the rest of my memories back. Of course, doing this was likely to cause a low fever, but Severus could easily give me a potion for that. Wasn't that easy enough?

Certainly not, it would seem. According to Severus, who apparently knew best about such things, the whole idea of it was dangerous, especially since I was still recovering. He'd said that perhaps he'd consider the idea again in another couple of weeks. Hmph! Where did this leave me then? Bored in our quarters, that's where.

I had been reading my textbooks and looking over my notes from the term, but it was a lot to take in. I hated not being able to attend classes, and since I'd gotten sick right near the end of term, I'd been excused from classes until the new year.

Lisa and Terry came down to see me every afternoon during the last week of classes before Christmas. By this time, I had almost completely recovered and was anxious to go outside simply just to see the sky. Severus had promised me that we'd go home on Christmas Eve and spend a few days there. It was this prospect that I was looking forward to more than anything else.

Lisa and Terry had been a great help with filling in the gaps on Ravenclaw or general school gossip that I hadn't remembered. They also went over all the lessons with me that we generally shared, saving Severus from tutoring me in everything in the evenings. Lisa had also been particularly helpful with ordering a Christmas present for Severus.

My violin? Found! Dumbledore and Severus had finally concluded that it had to be in an odd place when it couldn't be summoned or located within the castle. Dumbledore had immediately suggested the Room of Requirement as one of the places I might have ventured to. It was either that, he'd said, or I'd somehow managed to place a spell on the violin to stop it being found. Severus immediately rejected the latter because I'd been found without my wand. Severus had been able to get into the room and the violin had been retrieved with a simple summoning spell. Why exactly I had been in the Room of Requirement was a bit of a mystery, but I believed it had something to do with Shar.

It was Friday night and classes had ended that day. Many people would be leaving Hogwarts the next day to begin their Christmas holidays. Severus and I had been invited to Slughorn's Christmas party. Of course, it must be said that both of us were virtually drowning in our joy.

Severus was putting in an appearance for the sake of staff relations, or so he said. I had received my own invitation and Slughorn had apparently been hounding Severus at every meal all week about my attendance. I was very keen for an outing further than the sitting room, so Slughorn's company or not, I was very willing to go.

I had initially been surprised that Severus was letting me go, considering I didn't have all my memories back yet and hadn't seen anyone outside my friends and the teachers who'd helped Severus and Madam Pomfrey take care of me. According to my brother, my recovering health would be a good excuse to leave the party early. Hmph. How convenient. Since my friends weren't going, I would probably run out of conversation with people by that time anyway. I hated engaging in idle chitchat.

"I don't like dressing up," I grumbled to Severus as I walked into the sitting room where he was waiting. "I feel self-conscious."

Severus, wearing black semi-formal dress robes, paused with his hand on a book as he turned around from the bookshelf. His expression was guarded as he looked at me.

"That's because, Merlin forbid, people might look at you," he said finally. "It's a good thing I'm attending tonight; I can hex the young men on the sly if you don't approve."

"You mean if you don't approve," I corrected.

"Either way," he said indifferently. "You look beautiful," he added, turning away to put the book back. "You'll have to write and thank Matilda."

"I will." Matilda, upon hearing that I'd been unwell, had sent along her Christmas present early in order to cheer me up. Only three days before, two owls had come in with a large package containing new dress robes, which Matilda had made herself. Matilda hadn't made me clothes since I'd been a young child, so I had been delighted with the floaty ivory-coloured silk and chiffon robes.

"What if I get stuck in a conversation where people are asking me things I'm supposed to remember?" I asked Severus, as we made our way along the corridor that led to Slughorn's office. It wouldn't have mattered if I had forgotten the way; you simply had to follow the sounds of the loud music and voices.

"Just say it's slipped your memory," he replied, "and then change the subject. Asking someone about themselves is the best means of distraction because an alarmingly high percentage of people simply love talking about themselves to people who'd rather not know."

I smiled. "That works for you?"

He nodded. "It's even better if you can get someone else involved in the conversation and then once the attention is focused on the other listener, you can make your escape...until the next time you're stuck with a dimwit."

I laughed. "You must love social gatherings."

He sneered. "More than life itself."

"Ah Severus!" Slughorn called happily, as we entered the office. "And Armilla too! Just marvellous!"

I looked around the office, wondering if the size of the room had been tampered with. It had certainly changed since the last time I'd been in the room. I shuddered at the thought of my detention with Umbridge. Now there was a memory I'd prefer not to have.

The room looked positively huge. There were emerald, crimson and gold hangings, which made it look like we were in an oversized tent. The red light, which I found more annoying than anything else, was cast by little fairies who were fluttering around a golden lamp in the centre of the ceiling. In a corner I could see mandolins accompanying singing, from whom I had no idea. Silver trays were floating all over the place, held up by house elves.

As Severus shook Slughorn's hand, I cast my eyes over the crowd. There were many Hogwarts students present, each of them having qualified for Slughorn's favourites list. There were plenty of people I didn't know, perhaps past favourite students or old acquaintances of Slughorn's.

I saw Hermione off in the distance, listening to Cormac McLaggen with an annoyed expression on her face. Over the other side of the room I saw Harry and Luna listening to a small, bespectacled man, who was with another man who looked strangely vampire-ish to me.

I turned my attention back to Slughorn when I heard my name.

"I am glad to have you here, Armilla," he said cheerfully. "I hear that-"

He was interrupted by an elderly warlock who tapped him on the shoulder and started talking about the Chudley Canons at the top of his voice. Slughorn gave us an apologetic look before he looked back at the warlock. Clearly the man was a little mad.

"And here's our chance to escape," Severus whispered in my ear as he moved away, gesturing for me to follow.

"You can't take credit for that one," I said, following him to the other side of the room.

He smirked as he turned around. "Really? How do you know that I didn't slip that man a galleon to interrupt early?"

I shook my head at him. "Because I know. Instinct."

"Severus Snape!" a voice suddenly said. I turned to see a tall, elderly man with a moustache that curled at the ends approach my brother with his hand out.

"Cassius," Severus greeted, shaking his hand. "You received my last order?"

"Arrived this morning. I shall have it to you no later than Tuesday. I've got a backorder of Billywigs."

I left Severus to his conversation with who I guessed was one of Severus' potions suppliers. Perhaps Slughorn saw the use in the man too, being an ex Potions Master.

I slowly roamed the room, content not to spend the whole evening at my brother's side.

"Professor Snape is distracted," said a voice behind me, "so I think I can talk to you undetected for a little while."

I turned to see Hermione behind me, looking a little out of breath. "Here," she said hastily, pulling me into a corner behind a group of elderly and apparently hearing impaired warlocks, who were engaging in very loud conversation about toe warts.

"Running from someone?" I asked, grinning at her.

"Cormac McLaggen," she muttered under her breath. "I've never met with such an ego...apart from Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Lockhart? Weren't you part of his fan club?"

She gave me a guilty smile. "Yes, I admit it. Weren't you?"

I shuddered. "Never."

"I take it you're better then, seeing as you're here," she said, her eyes scanning the room, presumably on the lookout for McLaggen.

I nodded. "Much. I was quite happy to just to have the opportunity to walk up here."

She laughed. "Is it that bad down there?"

I shook my head. "Not at all; just too much of one place, that's all."

"Hermione! Hermione!"

I turned to see Harry moving through the crowd, pulling Luna Lovegood of all people behind him.

"Hi, Armilla," said a voice behind me. Startled, I turned around and my heart did a nervy sort of flip flop as I saw those dark eyes.

"Arian," I said, more surprised than anything else. What was Arian Bletchley doing at Slughorn's party?

"I'll see you later, Armilla," Hermione said quickly, nodding in the direction of Harry.

"Okay," I replied vaguely, feeling very alone all of a sudden. I had absolutely nothing to say.

"Something I said?" Arian asked, watching Hermione's retreating form with a raised eyebrow.

"No," I said hastily. "She's busy trying to avoid someone."

"Ah," he said, nodding in understanding. "Poor fellow."

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Does Slughorn throw good parties or something?"

He smiled. "I've put Slughorn off too many times before. He's useful every now and then with his connections, so I thought I'd better make the effort this time and come."

"Oh."

He looked around. "Are you here with Professor Snape?"

I looked around too, but I couldn't see my brother through the crowd. "Yes, he's here somewhere."

He looked surprised. "Snape never struck me as one for parties; he very rarely went to our Quidditch celebrations in the common room while I was at Hogwarts."

I nodded, still scanning the room for Severus. I finally spotted him off in the distance, talking to a couple of wizards I didn't know.

"Your father, on the other hand," Arian went on, folding his arms, "seems to love parties."

"Mm, but he's pickier about the guest list than Slughorn," I commented, as I watched a couple of seventh year boys try and grab one the fluttering fairies.

"True, though I think the Flints won't receive an invitation from your father for a long time." Arian shook his head. "Not after Marcus' behaviour towards you that night of the dinner party."

I nodded. "Don't remind me." That was a memory that had been returned to me. Seeing a drunken Marcus Flint trying to grab at me was something worth forgetting. The majority of my experiences at Father's house were forgettable, it seemed.

"You said Slughorn is useful for his connections," I said, turning to him. "What do you do for a living?"

"I've been studying abroad for the last few years," he answered. "I'm not home a great deal because I was offered an apprenticeship with a Transfiguration Master when I left Hogwarts. I spend most of my time in Lyon now."

"How's your French?"

He smiled. "Très mal."

"As long as you enjoy it."

He considered this. "I don't love it," he admitted. "I mean, my Master is an excellent teacher, but he's...how shall I say it...exceedingly dull."

"Oh."

"But it's not forever," he went on, "I've only got another year before I finish-"

"Hello, Armilla."

Arian frowned, his eyes on whoever was behind me. I turned to see Ruby Parkes and Padma Patil.

"Hi," I replied, wishing they'd go away.

"Feeling better?" Padma asked cheerfully. "You haven't slept in our dorm for weeks now."

"Yes, a lot better," I said quietly.

"Are you going to introduce us to your friend?" Ruby asked, smiling in a sickly sort of way at Arian.

"Oh," I said awkwardly. "This is Arian Bletchley. Arian, this is Ruby Parkes and Padma Patil. They're in Ravenclaw as well."

Arian nodded his hello without a smile.

"I think I remember you from a few years ago," Padma said, staring at him. Her face suddenly changed. "Um...Slytherin, right?"

Arian folded his arms. "Slytherin," he said, his tone a little cold.

"Oh, is that how you know him so well, Armilla?" Ruby asked, still grinning. "Through Snape?"

"No," I said shortly. "I-"

"Would you excuse us?" Arian said, addressing himself to Ruby. "We were actually in the middle of a conversation. Would you mind awfully if Armilla speaks with you later?"

Ruby opened her mouth, looking startled. This only lasted for a few seconds, as a moment later she looked rather cross.

"No problem," said Padma, looking totally unaffected. "Come on, Ruby. There are cauldron cakes to be sampled."

Ruby allowed herself to be taken off, but not before giving Arian her most displeased look.

"Friend of yours?" Arian asked, eyeing their retreating forms.

"Not really. We share a dorm."

"Ah." He turned back to me. "You've been ill?"

"Pneumonia," I answered vaguely, watching Severus across the room as he began talking to Flitwick. "I'm fine now."

"I'm glad to hear it."

We talked for several more minutes, mainly of Hogwarts, before Slughorn came to claim Arian's attention.

"Bletchley!" he boomed, clapping Arian on the back. "I have someone I want you to meet, Henrik Cavillier. He's about to leave, but I must insist that you meet him first. He has a lab in Lyon, you know."

Arian nodded. "If you insist, Professor." He turned back to me. "Do excuse me, Armilla. Hopefully I'll talk to you again later tonight."

"Okay." I watched as he followed Slughorn to the other side of the room, near Severus and Flitwick.

Seeing Padma heading back my way, I turned, pretending I hadn't noticed, and walked in the direction of the bathroom, which must have been added on to Slughorn's office for the party.

I sighed as I walked into the empty bathroom, for no real reason. I looked in the mirror and immediately jumped when I saw two reflections. It looked like both were mine. One, my own, was as clear as a reflection should be, while the other was blurry, but still quite clearly me. I suddenly remembered another memory that had recently returned, where I had seen something quite similar.

I glanced to my left and saw the ghostly Merle, smiling very cheerfully at me. "Hello," she said sweetly.

I groaned. Why did the ghostly Merle's reflection look like me?

"What's the matter?" she asked, looking around.

"You."

She frowned. "Well now, that's not polite, Armilla."

I ignored, looking back to the ghost's reflection. How could it look like me? My eyes fell on my bracelet. I shook my head in annoyance at myself. Why hadn't I thought of using it before? Hm, perhaps I had, but the memory had yet to come back.

I stared down at the emerald, which was now a rather dull green. The emerald was pretty powerful. I had never quite understood if the emerald contained its own magic or if it fed off the magic of the witch. There were such limited records around of the nature of bracelets like mine. Now though, I was fairly certain that the dullness of the once bright emerald had been caused by Merle presence and the weakening of my magic. Severus, upon listening to my theory, had quite agreed.

"Merle is a danger to me," I said, concentrating on the emerald. "She drains me of my magic. I need it back." I held the emerald in the direction of Merle, who was giving me a strange look.

As soon as the emerald was aimed at her, Merle opened her mouth and began to scream like a banshee. Her whole ghostly form began to shudder and the pearly white of her appearance turned green, a similar shade of green to the original colour of my emerald. There seemed to be a sheen covering the green, and no matter at what distance I held the bracelet, nothing would break it and release my magic from within.

I heard footsteps come running and a moment later, Slughorn, Flitwick, Snape and several witches and wizards I didn't know came hurtling into the room, wands at the ready.

Startled, I took a step back. Merle was gone, as expected, leaving me with the explaining to do.

"Good gracious, Armilla!" Slughorn said, lowering his wand. "What in Merlin's name happened? Are you all right?"

"Yes," I stammered, as the rest of them lowered their wands too. "It wasn't me...It was Moaning Myrtle..." I ignored Severus' frown and looked back to Slughorn. "Peeves," I said simply.

"Ah," he chuckled. "Old Peeves should know better than to visit the ladies' room. Hasn't stopped him in the past."

I gave him a small smile, wishing they'd just clear off. I was sure there were plenty of eyes and ears waiting just outside the room to find out the source of the noise. How embarrassing.

Slughorn turned and led the way out and the others followed. Severus gave a quick jerk of his head for me to follow and I joined him, following the crowd out.

Once we were out of the room, I was saved from any curious stares by Slughorn loudly announcing that Moaning Myrtle had been upset by Peeves. This was followed by a good deal of laughter before people resumed their conversations.

Severus, however, was intent to start a new one with me. I followed him to a corner, away from the crowd, and when he turned around, he wore an irritated expression on his face.

"What was that about?" he hissed. "Moaning Myrtle? It certainly wasn't you screaming."

"Merle," I whispered back.

"Merle?" he repeated. "It was that thing screaming?"

"I don't want to talk about it here," I whispered angrily.

"Then let's go," he said, taking a step away.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "We only just got here."

He stepped back. "Socialising is not as important-"

"Severus," I said beseechingly. "Please..."

He glared at me. "It's a new development, Armilla. A potentially dangerous one, I might add."

"It's okay now," I murmured, looking down at my bracelet. No, it wasn't really. The emerald was just the same dull colour as before. My magic was trapped inside Merle and my bracelet couldn't release it. I looked back up at my brother. "Nothing is going to change if I tell you now or if I tell you in an hour."

He didn't say anything for a moment; he merely regarded me through narrowed eyes. "Why were you alone in the bathroom in the first place?" he asked finally, folding his arms.

"I...didn't think," I admitted.

"Clearly."

"Who was I supposed to ask?" I challenged, feeling annoyed. "I'd feel like a lunatic asking someone here to accompany me to the bathroom."

"I do wonder if you see the bigger picture," he said, sneering.

"Of course I do," I said angrily, glaring at him. "Honestly, I'm not an idiot. I can-"

"What you can do," he said scathingly, his eyes flashing, "is retire to your room early if you continue to insist on speaking in such a manner."

I stared at him, trying hard to bite back the retort that was so close to slipping out. I looked away, feeling a lurch in my stomach as the sound of Merle's scream echoed in my head. It had sounded like someone was murdering her.

"We'll talk about it later then?"

"Fine," I muttered, not looking at him.

"Try again," he said warningly.

I paused, distracted by the sound of Merle in my mind, before I turned back to him. I wanted to stay at the party. "Yes," I said quietly, meeting his eye. "We'll talk about it later."

He nodded curtly before sweeping away, leaving me to try and push away the sound of Merle's scream from my mind. It shouldn't have affected me, I knew, seeing as it wasn't really Merle, but all the same, it hurt to hear it.

I slowly made my way over to where Severus was standing with Slughorn, Trelawney, Harry, Hermione and Luna. I was hoping that my curiosity as to why Severus would be part of such a crowd would distract me from thoughts of Merle.

"-just talking of Harry's natural abilities in Defence, Severus," Slughorn was saying merrily, as I lingered behind Severus.

"It's heartening to know he's got some ability in something," Severus said wryly, narrowing his eyes at Harry, who immediately glared back.

"Remind me what other subjects you're taking, Harry?" Slughorn asked.

"Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology..."

"All the subjects required, in short, for an Auror," said Snape, a slightly mocking look on his face.

"Yeah, well, that's what I'd like to be," said Harry, defiantly.

"And a great one you'll make too!" hiccoughed Slughorn, clapping him on the back.

"I don't think you should be an Auror, Harry," Luna suddenly piped up. "The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy. I thought everyone knew that. They're working from within to bring down the Ministry of Magic using a combination of Dark magic and gum disease."

Harry seemed to nearly choke on his mead, while Hermione was looking like she had a new appreciation for Luna.

"Ah, there you are, Armilla!" Slughorn boomed. "Why are you lurking there behind your brother, eh?"

Severus turned, only just noticing my presence and immediately stepped back to allow me into the circle.

"So," Slughorn said, looking cheerfully at me, "I hear you've been quite under the weather these past weeks. Pneumonia, poor dear." He shook his head. "I once had a student die of pneumonia...brilliant lass she was too."

"Very helpful, thank you, Horace," said Severus dryly.

"Oh, but I'm sure you're right as rain now," Slughorn boomed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "You'll certainly live."

"So it wasn't the Nargles then, Armilla?" Luna asked, her eyes wide.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Nargles, Miss Lovegood?"

Luna nodded. "Nargle bites are highly infectious, Professor Snape. Surely you knew that. It's a good idea to place anti-Nargle wards on your rooms, sir."

Severus stared at her with the faintest sneer on his face. "Your advice is invaluable, as always, Miss Lovegood."

She beamed at him. "Thank you, sir."

We all turned at the sound of an angry yell near the door.

"Excellent," I heard Harry mutter.

Draco Malfoy was being dragged by his ear into the room by Filch. When I saw Malfoy, something inside me seemed to snap. I felt anger boil up inside me when I looked at him. Damn ferret. How I wished I could finish him off.

"Professor Slughorn," wheezed Filch, excitement evident in his eyes, "I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed in setting out. Did you issue him with an invitation?"

Malfoy roughly pulled himself free of Filch's grip, looking furious. "All right, I wasn't invited!" he said angrily. "I was trying to gatecrash, happy?"

"No, I'm not!" Filch declared, though the sheer maniacal delight on his face more than contradicted his words. "You're in trouble, you are! Didn't the Headmaster say that night-time prowling's out, unless you've got permission, didn't he, eh?"

"That's all right, Argus, that's all right," said Slughorn, looking more amused than anything else. "It's Christmas, and it's not a crime to want to come to a party. Just this once, we'll forget any punishment; you may stay, Draco."

Both Malfoy and Filch's faces seemed to drop at once, for entirely different reasons. Malfoy had clearly been up to something else...like he had been before.

My eyes suddenly locked with Malfoy's and my heart pounded sharply as something came back to me. The hinge! The cupboard! The Room of Requirement! Was it real or was it a dream? The memory that was slowly weaving its way through my mind seemed so distant that I simply couldn't tell if it was from reality or not.

Malfoy looked away from me indifferently and immediately began thanking Slughorn for his generosity. I stared at him, noticing the dark circles under his eyes and the greyish tinge to his skin. Not one part of me felt sorry for him.

"It's nothing, nothing," said Slughorn, waving away his thanks. "I did know your grandfather, after all..."

I looked over at Severus. I had to tell him what I knew as soon as possible. Did I still have that hinge? I touched his arm to get his attention, but he shook his head slightly, his eyes on Malfoy.

"-said you were the best potion-maker he'd ever known," Malfoy was saying, an arrogant smirk on his face.

"I'd like a word with you, Draco," said Severus suddenly.

"Oh, now, Severus," said Slughorn, hiccoughing again, "it's Christmas, don't be too hard-"

"I'm his Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, or otherwise, to be," said Severus curtly. "Outside, Draco."

I stepped in front of Severus as Malfoy turned away sullenly, heading for the door, Harry and the others were watching him.

"I need to talk to you," I said urgently.

"It can wait," he said, stepping around me.

"No, it can't," I insisted angrily. "It's potentially dangerous," I added, echoing his words from our conversation.

He scowled at me. "What's it about then?"

I looked across the room at Malfoy before turning back. "The hinge," I whispered.

He shook his head. "I have that."

"No, another one. There's another."

"How do you know that?"

"I've got it...or I had it...that night you found me."

He raised an eyebrow. "When you were delirious? Excuse me, Armilla. We'll discuss this later."

"Wait," I said, as he swept away, but he ignored me, heading for Malfoy.

The anger bubbling inside me as I stared at Malfoy neared breaking point.

"Ow!" Malfoy suddenly cried out, clutching his arm.

A number of heads turned in his direction. Severus turned back, his black eyes sweeping the crowd, resting only momentarily on me.

"Come," I heard him say to Malfoy. "That's easily healed."

They left, and I stood there shaking, not registering whatever Luna was saying to me. My eyes fell on a tray floating nearby, or more specifically the little creature underneath it. I had an idea.

o o o o o o o o o o o