Destiny of Souls

Chapter 4: Junior Death Eaters Anonymous Club

By the end of October, she was having trouble sleeping. The pressure of teaching, correcting papers, overseeing Quidditch practices and doing nighttime strolls about the castle were catching up to her. She and Snape had come to a quiet agreement not to be nasty to each other. Each week he would drop into her fifth year Slytherin class to observe. It turned out it was the only time he had free to do so. He seemed as amused with the classes as the students did.

She woke on a Saturday so late she missed lunch. "It's time to do something about this. I must find a better sleep schedule." She said out loud. "Absolutely Professor Lazy." Replied her mirror. She could ask Snape for a potion, or better yet ingredients, but she'd just as soon not involve him. She got up, dressed, and headed straight to Hogsmeade.

"Six ounces wormwood, six ounces asphodel, six ounces leaf root," she told the man behind the counter. He jumped into action as she waited, admiring the neatness of his shop. The door opened. To her horror, it was Snape.

"Hello Professor Snape!" cried the shop owner. "I'll be right with you."

He was wearing a smug expression on his face as he glanced at the ingredients now sitting on the counter.

"Asphodel, leaf root, wormwood. Having trouble sleeping Professor?" he sounded amused. "Yes."

"I do keep a supply of these ingredients at the school and Madam Pomfrey stores large quantities of regulating Sleeping Potions." He sounded almost offended.

"I prefer to make it myself." She replied avoiding his eyes.

"Of course. I should have known you would not find my work acceptable." he knew full well that was not true.

"I'm sure you operate in the same way Professor Snape." She said casually as she paid the shop owner and turned to leave.

"Permit me to observe your work then. Use my private laboratory," he said.

"Very well." She left, completely mortified.

Why did he want to watch her work? Sleeping Potions were first year material, and certainly not worthy of observing. Was this professional admiration or condescension? Did he simply want to look over her shoulder and criticize that her asphodel was not diced finely enough? She decided would take up the offer to work in his laboratory, but she would not take any of his petty musings. She informed him over dinner that evening that she would need to work. They arranged to meet in his office at 7:30pm. She gathered the ingredients in her standard sized pewter cauldron, collected her dragon-hide gloves and her favorite thirty-minute hourglass that sang "Flight of the Valkyries." She changed into her new black work robes and headed off to the dungeons.

On her way there, she ran into Hermione Granger obviously on her way back from the Library. "Good evening Ms. Granger. Spending time on my essay then?". she asked casually as Hermione stopped to talk to her.

"Yes, actually Professor I just finished. I was able to find extra information in the third volume of Magical Creatures Indigenous to Albania," Hermione replied, apparently very proud of herself.

"Excellent, I will enjoy reading it then Ms. Granger. Now if you'll excuse me Professor Snape is expecting me."

"Goodnight Professor."

Kara could feel Hermione staring back at her as she passed, no doubt wondering why she was going to see Snape. Snape was right though, she was a know-it-all, a feature she found rather endearing in Hermione's case.

She reached the dungeons and rapped on Snape's door. He opened it and invited her in. He locked the door behind them.

"Locking the door? Is that necessary?" she snapped as she set her materials on an empty workbench that sat just across from his desk facing him.

"Afraid to be alone with me Professor Lynch?" he returned.

"Hardly, but I can see why your students find you inaccessible."

"I merely thought that I didn't want any students casually wandering into my office or eavesdropping."

"Very well." she said in an airy voice.

She setup her cauldron and lit a warm flame under it as she had many times. She didn't use her wand, and in fact realized she had left it in her quarters. It shouldn't matter. Snape wouldn't care if she didn't use it. She was glad he had locked the door however. She started grinding her leaf root and when she was done she threw half of it into the cauldron and flipped the hourglass.

He began to mutter to himself not unlike the way she was used to doing.

"Ten ounces Moonstar wood," she heard him say as the sound of the ingredients plopping into his potion rang through the room. "One pint of cactus milk."

Wolfsbane Potion. Her curiosity got the better of her.

"Know many Werewolves, Professor Snape?" she asked in a condescending tone, gliding over to observe him.

His face went rigid as if recalling a particularly unhappy memory. "Just one, a friend of the Headmaster's."

She peered into the cauldron.

"Not quite blue, is it?" She raised her eyebrows humorously and looked him in the eyes. He understood what she meant.

"Malkin is a moron." He spat. "How he ever got his to turn blue I will never understand although I suspect he used molded cactus when he milked it. If done properly, it should turn a deep red. If it turns orange it means the Moonstar wood used wasn't fresh. It would still have the same potency, but I find the drinker complains more about the taste." He had one of those "You had to be there" looks on his face as if a werewolf had indeed complained to him how awful the potion tasted. At least he had made the same mistake she had.

A knock came at the door. He walked over and opened it. "Come in Mr. Malfoy."

He didn't close the door behind him. Malfoy gave her a puzzling look as he walked in.

"Good evening Mr. Malfoy." She said acknowledging his presence as she turned her attention to dicing the asphodel.

"Hello Professor Lynch."

"What did you need Draco?" Snape said in a harsh voice as he sat down behind his desk.

"Uh... sir" Draco was stumbling over his words as he looked between Snape and Kara. Snape caught on.

"Mr. Malfoy, anything you have to say to me can be said in front of Professor Lynch." Draco didn't seem convinced, but when on.

"Sir, my father wants me to tell you that there will be a... meeting next Saturday," he stumbled slightly over his words.

A meeting, Kara thought. A Death Eater meeting no doubt. She wanted no part of this conversation and decided this would be a good time to fetch her wand. She looked up at Snape who met her eyes. She made for the door.

"Where are you going Professor Lynch?" he called.

She waved at him as she hurried for the door. "I left something in my quarters. If that goes off," she pointed to the hourglass "just flip it."

Malfoy and Snape both had puzzled looks on their faces now. She broke into a run. Whatever Snape was up to, she didn't want to know.

She grabbed her wand and headed back to the dungeons. When she arrived, Malfoy was still there but the two were discussing Quidditch now.

"Honestly, sir. Gryffindor has no chance of beating Ravenclaw this year. Their keeper is green and hopefully Potter's run-in with the Dark Lord last year diminished his minimal Seeker skills." Draco said as he fiddled with a dead beetle carcass that Snape had on his desk.

She kept her head down, but silently she was appalled. Here was this boy of fifteen discussing casually how Harry Potter had hopefully been addled by his confrontation with Voldemort. She doubted Malfoy would come out so clean in a similar situation. Wannabe Death Eater indeed. The best, she assumed, Malfoy was good for was kneeling at the knees of his Master. At least Potter stood up to him.

Snape was unmoved. He has nerves of steel she thought to herself.

The hourglass broke into fits of song. Both Malfoy and Snape jumped. She flipped the hourglass and caught Snape's maniacal expression. It was the same horrified look that Polishnikov had given her the first time she brought it into his lab. "Why are you tainting my workspace with such girlish amusements?" her old Potions Master had asked. She had ignored him. He got used to it eventually. So would Snape.

"Just keep up the practices Malfoy. Let Ravenclaw worry about Gryffindor." Snape responded idly returning back to his work. She could hear him stirring the Wolfsbane potion. It was now snapping at him.

Malfoy was quiet for a while but apparently her presence in the room was peaking his curiosity. "My father says he doesn't remember you from school Professor Lynch. Where did you attend?" Snape's eyes jetted at her even though he was looking down at the potion he was working on. It was a look of caution. She proceeded carefully.

"I attended school in mainland Europe Mr. Malfoy, and thank you for checking up on my credentials." The asphodel was finished, she moved onto the wormwood.

"I wanted to attend Durmstrang, but my mother wouldn't let me move so far away from home." He sounded disappointed, as if he expected Snape or Kara to comfort him. "It has a much better stance on the Dark Arts and is... more selective about enrollment."

He was definitely a wannabe Death Eater. Snape shot her a second warning look when Draco had turned towards her.

"Hogwarts is an excellent school Mr. Malfoy. After all it has its own reputation for turning out powerful wizards, Tom Riddle and Albus Dumbledore are two good examples." Draco's mouth fell open. She had called Voldemort Tom Riddle. She could see a faint smile rise out of Snape. "Plus, Hogwarts has a better Potions Master than Durmstrang. You should consider yourself lucky to be working with Professor Snape. He could teach you things beyond your wildest dreams." She said casually.

Malfoy turned red. Kara had twisted his words into an insult to Snape. Snape had looked up from the Wolfsbane potion and stared at her. She had complimented him and shut Malfoy up at the same time.

"If that is all Mr Malfoy, Professor Lynch and I need to continue our work." Snape snapped as he mentally shook himself in shock.

"Yes Professor. Goodnight." He left.

The door closed, locked. They worked in silence for several minutes.

The wormwood was ready. She put it into the cauldron, stirred, added water more leaf root Kara became suddenly aware that Snape had silently snuck up behind her. He was less than a foot away.

"Fresh asphodel, Professor Lynch? Risky."

"My preference and my habit Professor." She replied attempting to ignore the warmth emanating from him.

"I have nothing to hide from you Professor Lynch. Lucius Malfoy has been trying to get me to attend Death Eater meetings for some time now. He is not aware of my loyalties to Dumbledore or my betrayal of the Dark Lord. " He whispered this gently into her ear. She could feel his breath; it sent tingles down her arms. Why did he feel the need to tell her this? Was he afraid she would read his mind some day and find out?

She turned her head towards him keeping her body facing the cauldron. "I have no need to understand your motives Professor Snape. The Headmaster trusts you and that is good enough for me. I, however, would like to stay as far removed from your troubles as possible. Next time you have need to discuss Death Eater meetings with the Junior Death Eaters anonymous club, please excuse me from the room."

He was silent for a moment. Pondering his next move.

"How is it you were never recruited?" His voice was soft and non-threatening. She could tell he had been saving this question up for a long time.

She turned to face him. Their bodies were now close together. They could feel each other speak. "Polishnikov. Voldemort recruited out of my class of course, but Polishnikov told him I was a worthless lab rat. Told him I would be better suited to work for him once the Ministry had been taken over. Said I wasn't suited as a spy or a potion maker."

"I see. A calculated response or a miscalculation Professor Lynch?" he said quietly.

"Calculated response I imagine. He knew I had no desire to be Voldemort's slave," she replied with venom in her voice.

He was visibly taken back by this comment.

"I.... I didn't mean to imply... that you..."

He simply walked away. She finished her work in silence and left.

They didn't exchange goodbyes.