Armilla

Chapter 18

I awoke early the next morning after a bad night's sleep and was ready to leave long before Snape appeared in the doorway, grunting at me to follow him.

I walked quickly out of the room and slowed down when I was walking beside him. I was filled with great trepidation about the day ahead. I was worried about appearing convincing to my friends. The thought of keeping this particular secret from them was really eating away at me. But then again, somehow I was also strangely comforted that I didn't have to tell Lisa and Terry about Snape because I wasn't entirely sure they would accept it.

I was also terrified of slipping up. I was going to have to be constantly alert to my reactions to things, what I said and to whom. I didn't want to be responsible for causing problems for the Order or Snape's role.

We turned into a corridor I hadn't explored and walked along in silence. I hated the silence - to be honest I was more comfortable with sarcastic remarks - though insulting, I could always silently laugh at the humour under the surface.

The corridor seemed to go on for ages. We must have been walking for a few minutes before the surroundings in the corridor suddenly changed. The colour of the floor and walls abruptly changed to different shades but we were still in the same corridor. Snape ignored my gasp of surprise - he was rather preoccupied with glaring at the air in front of him. We walked on for another minute or so until there was a sudden turn that led us onto the upper level of Dumbledore's office.

I stopped, startled at the surprise of where the corridor had led to. Last time I had been in here was when I had reappeared after Shar's attack.

I followed Snape down the stairs and saw Dumbledore sitting at his desk, obviously waiting for us. He gave a smile as he nodded at each of us.

"Good morning, Severus." Snape gave a small, and if possible, irritated nod.

"I trust you're feeling well enough to return to classes today, Armilla?" Dumbledore fixed his twinkling blue eyes on me.

I opened my mouth to reply, but Snape took it upon himself to reply for me.

"If she's well enough to go on dangerous expeditions without permission or considerations for the consequences then she's well enough to return to classes." Snape gave me a withering glare.

I glared right back at him. "I don't regret doing it," I said smoothly. Oops...maybe that was going too far...

Snape had narrowed his eyes, possibly entertaining the thought of giving me an awful detention. Dumbledore, however, chose to speak at that point, attempting to melt away the icy manner between us.

"Now what happened in the past few days is past, Severus," he said, smiling. "We mustn't let sibling rivalry get in the way of dealing with present issues."

Snape abruptly turned away from me and sent Dumbledore a deadly glare instead.

Dumbledore appeared not to notice. "Armilla, you may go down to breakfast. Then you will return to all your classes. Make sure you are very careful having conversations regarding where you have been. If possible, don't divulge much information at all."

"Yes, sir," I said, moving towards the door. Snape called after me.

"Miss Kemp, until I say otherwise you will come down to my office every night after dinner for an hour or two. You need to catch up on the practical potions lessons you have missed. Make sure you are prompt."

"Yes, sir," I said, quietly. I had thought I would have to catch up on practical potions, but I also thought Snape wanted to see me every night to make sure I hadn't slipped up during the day.

I left the office and descended the spiralling staircase. I met no one on my way to the Great Hall except for a few late first year Hufflepuffs running past me in to the Hall. I walked in; trying to make myself look as small as possible (it wasn't that hard, most of the third year girls were taller than me). Lisa and Terry seemed to be in deep conversation over the next Hogsmeade trip as I moved silently towards my seat.

"I don't care if you buy one for me, I will not eat a cockroach cluster!" said Lisa indignantly.

"But they're great," said Terry. "They run about inside your mouth!"

"Honestly, Terry," I said, slipping into my seat next to Lisa. "You have the worst taste."

"Milla!" Lisa squealed, throwing her arms around me and hugging me tightly. "I've missed you sooooo much. How are you? We're so sorry about Merle. Are you okay? Did you just get back now? Dumbledore told us you were staying with Matilda."

"Stop talking, Lisa," said Terry, smiling at her. "One question at a time." He grinned at me and shook my hand in a mock pompous manner from across the table. "Great to have you back, Mill."

I smiled. "It's wonderful to be back here," I said, honestly. "I missed you two as well."

"We're really sorry you haven't heard from us, Mill," said Terry. "Dumbledore told us not to send you anything because he didn't want Umbridge knowing your exact whereabouts."

"Yeah, that's right," I said, still honestly. "Dumbledore didn't really think my whereabouts were Umbridge's business. I've just been sending schoolwork in - I didn't want to fall behind."

"Very good," said Lisa approvingly.

"Ever the model Ravenclaw," Terry laughed. "Eat something, Armilla."

I helped myself to some toast while Terry and Lisa filled me in on all that had been happening in the school that Snape hadn't told me about. I really enjoyed being with my friends again, and as I heard ridiculous tales about educational decrees and reapplying for clubs and organisations, the past week seemed to fade away into the back of my mind.

"And so you'll have to be really careful in Umbridge's classes, Milla," said Lisa, seriously, pouring herself more coffee. "Don't take anything in your bag except your Defence books and quills and stuff. Umbridge is on the warpath and it has become so easy to get expelled."

I nodded, glancing around the Great Hall. At the Gryffindor table, the Weasley twins seemed to be marketing their latest product. One of the first year boys had sprouted a trunk and looked as though he might cry. Hermione Granger was pursing her lips, as if debating whether to tell the twins off in front of everyone.

At the Slytherin table, Malfoy was showing off some present he had just received from home. I suddenly felt sick when the thought crossed my mind that I might have ended up in Slytherin if I had been raised by my real parents. My mother had been a Ravenclaw, but obviously her husband's influence over their son had landed Snape in Slytherin. I wondered briefly if Snape had ever wished he had been a Ravenclaw like his mother.

Speaking of Snape...I looked up at the staff table in time to see Snape sit down next to Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall leaned over and said something to Snape, who nodded. McGonagall then spoke again, a wicked smile playing about her lips. Snape shot her a nasty glare and she laughed before diverting her gaze to the Ravenclaw table. I guessed she was looking for me so I quickly looked down at my plate. So she knew. Snape or Dumbledore had seen fit to tell McGonagall about what had happened, but I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. I wondered how many other Order members knew.

"Armilla? Hello? Come on, we're going. Charms starts in ten minutes." Lisa was yanking my arm in an attempt to pull me up from the table. I got up, my gaze moving towards the staff table again. Snape was watching me closely. I turned my back and walked with my friends out of the hall.

The day passed without as much trouble as I had anticipated. Defence against the Dark Arts went by smoothly, except when I wanted to pretend I was throwing up when Umbridge said in her sweetest voice, "so lovely to have you back, dear." It was also good because I didn't have Potions. Snape had seemed in an extremely bad mood that morning and I didn't want to spend any more time with him than I had to.

Terry and Lisa felt exceedingly sorry for me about having private practical Potions lessons with Snape. Terry said he would rather drink Neville Longbottom's potions than face every evening alone in Snape's company. I would admit, though I hated the git, I didn't go out of my way to agree just how bad it was.

I waited for Snape to leave the staff table at dinner before I headed to the dungeons. I didn't want to hang around outside his classroom when there were Slytherins about.

The dungeons were cold and I was shivering as I knocked on the classroom door.

"Enter," came Snape's waspy voice.

I opened the door and stepped inside. Snape was sitting at his desk, marking homework. He looked up briefly as I entered and then went on marking.

"I've left the instructions and ingredients for the potion on your desk. Follow them carefully or you will have to start over."

"Yes, sir," I said, moving to sit down at my desk in the middle of the room.

And so it was that an hour and a half went by in near silence, the only sounds being the scratching of Snape's quill and the bubbling of the potion in my cauldron. I didn't look at Snape once. I was so intent on getting my potion right so I wouldn't have to stay all night.

As I was finishing, Snape stacked the essays into groups on his desk and came over to stand by my cauldron. He didn't look at me, but peered instead at the potion. I waited impatiently, praying that there weren't any faults. Finally, he nodded and told me to leave a bottle of it on his desk and clean up. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off me. Oh God, I was going to have to go through this process every night. There was some stress I could do without.

Snape returned to his desk as I bottled the potion and cleaned up. When I finished, I returned to my desk to pick up my textbook so I could leave. Snape had other ideas.

"Sit down, Miss Kemp."

I sat down, feeling like I was in an interview for a job. Snape sat with his fingers interlaced on his desk, fixing me with a hard look.

"Did any problems arise today?" he asked in a voice void of care or concern.

"No, sir."

"Did Dolores Umbridge ask you any questions?"

"No, sir."

"Did you tell your friends you had been staying with Matilda?"

"Yes, sir." This was certainly a boring interview...yes sir, no sir blah blah blah

"Did they question that at all?"

"No, sir."

Snape dark eyes were fixed determinedly on my own (nearly as dark) eyes.

"Very well, you may go." I got up to leave.

There was a knock on the door.

"Enter," said Snape, getting to his feet.

Dumbledore came in looking exceptionally grave.

"Ah good, you're both here," he said, seating himself on one of the stools. "I think you should both sit down. This matter concerns you both."

"Headmaster," said Snape, as we sat down again, his eyes flitting between Dumbledore and me. "If this is in regards to your meeting today, I would prefer to discuss this without Miss Kemp present."

"Actually, Severus, I think it best that you are both here." Dumbledore scratched his forehead. He looked tired. He turned to me. "Armilla, I attended a meeting at the Ministry today to discuss your guardianship. What I thought would be a simple discussion and agreement in regards to custody of you turned out to be quite an affair."

I said nothing. I couldn't think of any reason that would get in the way of the issue being handled easily and smoothly.

Snape rested his elbows on his desk. "What happened?" he asked quietly.

Dumbledore sighed. "Well, with my reputation at the moment, not all members of the Family Services group were happy to see me. I told them about this recent discovery, leaving out certain points as to the whereabouts of the ring, and I must say they were most interested in the fact that Armilla is really a Snape. When I told them of my intention to arrange a shared custody of Armilla, they halted the meeting right there and postponed it until a few hours later so they could discuss the matter in private. It seemed to me that they were intent on overruling me, though Merle had left the guardianship decision up to me."

"Why would there have been a problem?" I asked quietly.

Dumbledore looked at me sadly. "Because, as I found out in the afternoon meeting, the group didn't think I was acting in everyone's best interests. They did not want you to be placed with another new family when you already have family."

Snape gave a sudden movement, his hands clenching into fists. He looked exceedingly angry. Well fine, if he was so against being my guardian then I didn't want to have anything to do with him either. But according to what Snape said next, I concluded that I had missed the point.

"Tell me they didn't," he said fiercely. "Surely they must know that leaving her with family that is...unsuitable...is not the best course of action?"

Dumbledore gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, they told me several times that they were indeed acting in Armilla's best interests. They told me it was not my place to hide Armilla."

"Hide?" I said, more to myself than to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked at me gravely. "Nothing is definite yet, Armilla," he said.

Snape stood up quickly. "Headmaster-" he said urgently. Dumbledore waved a hand.

"She must know Severus. It is not fair to keep her in the dark about such a matter."

Dumbledore turned to me again. "Like I said, nothing is definite, but you should know that your father has been told about you."

I held my breath. My Father, the Death Eater. There was that lump in my stomach again...

Snape began pacing behind his desk.

Dumbledore continued. "You should know that your father has made similar contributions to the Ministry like Lucius Malfoy. They are both held in high esteem at the Ministry. Members of the Order know better, of course."

I became acutely aware of my hands, which were shaking in my lap under the desk.

Snape continued pacing, not looking at either of us.

"Armilla," said Dumbledore. I finally met his gaze, dreading what was coming. "The group is seriously considering giving custody of you to your father."