Trivial Pursuit

Chapter 3- Warning

Well, that was stupid, thought Julia as she hurried to try and disentangle herself from the man she had so neatly landed on. Here I am, escaping from some lunatic child- rapist, and I get caught again. She tried to back away from him and run, but he caught her by the shoulders and tipped up her face so she was forced to meet his eyes. "Professor Snape? What the-"

"Miss Summers." He let go of her and took hold of her hand. "Have you ever Apparated?"

"It's against the law to Apparate with another person, you know. Of course I haven't."

"Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" His trademark scowl was the last thing he saw before the world whirled, and only a pop was left to alert the Riddle Manor of their escape.

The two landed in the Forbidden Forest. "Come quickly, you stupid girl," called the Professor, who was already about a hundred feet away from her, hurrying down a path with his cloak billowing behind him. "The Death Eaters will be after us in no time!"

Julia hurried to catch up. "D- Death Eaters?" Good Merlin, she thought. I'm beginning to stutter like that man.

"Yes, Miss Summers." He sounded rather impatient. "Who did you think they were? Fluffy bunnies?" He choked on the last two words as if they poisonous.

"No, but they were hardly impressive. I thought Death Eaters were supposed to be scary."

"You have thankfully seen little of them. You have no idea what they are capable of." He was biting off each word as if is pained him to speak of them.

"Well, the one blonde one was rather frightening. Lucius-"

Snape stopped short. "Lucius Malfoy!? This was his doing?" His face was etched in hard lines of worry and hatred. "Come quickly. Dumbledore must know about this immediately!"

"But-" Julia sighed. She knew protest was useless. She hurried to catch up with him, and together they ran toward Hogwarts. Suddenly, she heard a twig snap behind them, and they both turned immediately, Snape taking hold of her arm, and pulling her behind a tree.

'Shut up and don't move," he hissed. "I'll be right back. If you hear shouts, run toward the school and don't stop until you are in Dumbledore's office. Do you understand that?" Without waiting for an answer, he plunged out onto the path to confront the faceless black robes that stood there.

She couldn't bring herself to watch what was going on- she was frightened to death, suddenly, and couldn't move a muscle. I wonder what Mother would do here, she thought. She would probably join Professor Snape and fight those Death Eaters. I guess that's the difference between Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. A hoarse shout interrupted her musings and returned her to the fight that was going on just meters away from her. She saw a flash of light and red sparks being thrown into the air. When Julia heard the sounds of feet racing down the path, though, she suddenly found that she could move, and she jumped out from her hiding place. The scene she saw was obscene.

Professor Snape was on the ground, robes gone, and his white shirt stained a deep red and ripped apart. He was trying to lift himself from the ground, but the gashes on his chest, legs, and sides made movement impossible. He was coughing up blood, which was dribbling sickeningly down his chin. The most horrible thing about the whole situation, though, was the beautiful white flowers that lay directly around the path were covered with splotches of red that Julia truly wished was natural. As Snape caught sight of her, he started, then winced. "What are you doing here, you foolish child?" He was stopped by another hacking cough. "I told you to run when I shouted. Stay here for now- Lucius has gone ahead."

Julia was in shock. "Professor, you're hurt!" She ran to him in quiet sympathy, and kneeled beside him.

"Excellent observation, Miss Summers." His voice was bitter and resentful. "Unless you have something productive to do, don't stand in my light."

"I'm kneeling Professor," she pointed out dryly. "And I actually can do something helpful if you would let me."

"Well, do it quickly."

"There was a trick my mother used to use on my cuts when they were really bad. I could try it..."

"Quickly, girl!" He was wheezing- clearly his chest had been hit.

She pointed her wand at his largest cut. "Reducio Singular." The wound shrunk to the size of a paper cut, drastically reducing the amount of blood allowed to escape from the severed artery. "A little spell my mother taught me to use when I fell out of trees. Rather handy, don't you think?" Julia looked into Snape's eyes for the first time, and got a shock.

"How..." His chest was heaving, and his eyes misted over. "My mother..." He looked away.

She laid a tender arm on his shoulder, the only area on his upper body that wasn't bruised or cut. "Professor, what is it?"

"My mother used to..." He stopped, obviously not used to talking about his family.

"Go on."

"She used to use the same spell on herself. When my father hit her, that is. Don't worry," he said, seeing Julia's horrified face. "Only Slytherins" -he spat the word- "do that. They are expected to treat women badly."

"My God..." She had known Slytherins were evil before, but never had she expected this. "C- Continue, please." More stuttering, she thought, exasperated. I'm getting worse by the second.

"There really isn't anything more, Miss Summers. The spell is rare, and I hadn't heard it used since before my mother passed away. Please excuse my burst of emotion." He looked away.

Julia was surprised. Is he embarrassed? she thought. Fascinating. "Don't worry, Professor," she said sardonically. "I won't tell anyone that you're human if you ask nicely."

Snape turned back to her, the astonishment on his face becoming a sneer of anger. "What are you talking about?" he growled. "Don't be rude."

"The truth hurts, Professor." She knew she was pushing it. But seriously, she thought. How many more points can I lose anyway?

"You little-" He was cut off by the sounds of footsteps on the path. "That might be Lucius. Hide yourself, girl!"

Julia ran. She knew she should probably try to heroically save Professor Snape as well, but she was no Gryffindor. I have an excuse, she thought numbly. I'm a Ravenclaw. Behind her, she heard shouts again. And then, through a babble of voices, rose Snape's clear baritone. "Albus! You are much too old to be running like that."

Albus? she thought. Oh, yes, Dumbledore. They're friends! She ran excitedly back towards the little clearing to see the entire Hogwarts staff crowding around Snape, healing his wounds and asking about her. Again, his voice broke through the barrier of murmurs and bodies and made its way toward her. "Miss Summers is safe. She is directly behind you, if you would care to look." They all turned in unison to face her.

Madame Pomfrey was the first to move toward her. "My poor dear, what happened?" Then, en masse, as it were, they all came toward her, asking her the solicitous questions that were usually reserved for Harry Potter when he returned from one of his heroic and successful quests. "Oh, how are you? Are you hurt?" And from one particularly strange teacher she didn't recognize, "Would you like some chocolate?"

Julia backed away from them. "Er, I'm fine. No, no chocolate, thanks." Her heart went out to the Boy Who Lived. No wonder he was such an arrogant prat- he had to put up with this every moment of his life. Only Dumbledore hung back from the crowd, still engrossed in an intense conversation with Snape. She tried to desperately to listen to them, but only a few snatches of conversation floated her way.

"The Riddle Manor... levitation... fifth floor window... saw no one else... Lucius Malfoy...towards Hogwarts...never passed him..." She saw that the headmaster's face was tense and worried, and he was gesticulating wildly in the direction of the castle. Then he took a deep breath and visibly calmed his features into his normal expression of benign objectivity, before turning toward Julia. He pulled himself into a standing position and walked toward her tenderly.

"Now, now," he admonished the other teachers gently. "I think Miss Summers needs some lemon drops and a nice warm bed more than all this fuss, don't you think?" He peered at her kindly and yet there was no warmth in the gaze. "Come along with me, now, and let's hear your story in my office. Poppy, take care of Severus, will you? He needs rest."

Now Snape spoke. "Don't be ridiculous, Albus. I am perfectly fine; after all, Poppy has already healed the worst of the wounds. I'll be much better off in the comfort of my rooms."

Dumbledore laughed. "Severus, you live in the dungeon's torture chamber. I hardly call that comfortable. Now, don't be difficult, and go with Poppy. You need some Honeydukes chocolate and some of her calming tea." Ignoring Snape's indignant splutters, he waved off Madame Pomfrey to attend to him, and turned once again to Julia. "Come now, and let's forget about Severus for now, shall we?" Taking hold of her shoulder, he led her through the Forbidden Forest and toward Hogwarts castle. At the end of he Forbidden Forest, though, he stopped short, staring at the sky. Julia was about to ask him what was wrong when she saw what he was looking at and stopped short. The Dark Mark was hanging over the Hogwarts Castle.