Divined Intervention

***********

"Small blessingsÂ…"

"What was that, Tabby?" Estelle glanced up from her telescope for a moment.

Tabitha straightened up, a rather unpleasant grin on her face. "Umm, nothing. You have fun with your stars. I'll be back in a little while."

"But Tabby!" Estelle looked out the window, then at her friend. "You'll miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Tabitha smiled. "Oh, no. I think I'm going to find one."

***********

"So, Malfoy can't plot against you all night? He must be going starkers!" Ron sprawled in his seat, reading Harry's Quidditch magazine.

"And you two can't argue. Must be hellish." Harry grinned at his friends amiably.

Hermione set her quill down on her scroll. "Harry Potter, you didn'tÂ…"

Harry's eyes widened. "Of course I didn'tÂ…I just appreciate the humor of you two not being able to argue." He paused, suddenly solemn. "Umm, what will happen if you two start arguing? Boils? Hair falling out?"

The Quidditch magazine caught him upside the head just before the quill whizzed past his ear. Harry yelped in surprise and dove for cover behind his chair.

"Never mind! Truce! Sorry I asked!" He peeked over the back of the chair, straightening his glasses. He grinned. "I could just look up things and guess for myselfÂ…"

A wadded-up piece of parchment caught him square in the forehead.

Suddenly, a cramp seized up his stomach. With a cry of pain, he knotted up, curling up on the ground.

"Oh, come off it, HarryÂ… I didn't hit you that hard." Hermione looked over, then gasped and jumped up. "Harry!"

Ron leapt over the low table, joining Hermione at Harry's side in a couple long-legged strides. "Harry, what's the matter?"

"Potion," he gasped. "ThinkÂ…MalfoyÂ…just tested it." The pain subsided, and he sat up shakily, leaning against the arm of the chair.

Hermione patted his arm gently. "Ugh. Nasty git. I hope he got it ten times worse."

Ron's fists were clenched. "I'd be more than happy to make sure he did."

Harry placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. "The thought's appreciated, but no. I'm willing to bet he enjoyed that as much as I did. And at least I know he was being a treacherous git."

Hermione chewed on her lip. "I wish there was a way to know what he was plottingÂ…" She cut herself off abruptly, a sudden look of inspiration in her eyes.

"Oh no," Ron and Harry chorused.

*************

In the past couple of weeks, Maggie had learned a lot about Hogwarts. The water pressure in the shower was always better in the evening. The halls make a certain sort of Escher-esque sense after a time. And, most importantly, house elves cook like five-star fast food chefs, and if you know which piece of fruit to tickle, they're open twenty-four hours.

"MmmmÂ…Cornish pastiesÂ…" Maggie hummed happily to herself as she licked her fingers, getting the last bits of gravy off. "I have got to hug Vi for showing me those."

"Hail, fair damsel! You return from your voyage triumphant?" Sir Cadogan loped along beside her, leaping through picture frames. Maggie chuckled.

"Indeed, good sir. The kitchens have been thoroughly inspected and found most worthy."

I feel good. She smiled at the thought. Content. The students seem to be liking me, or at least not stuffing dungbombs into my teapots anymore. Lavender and ParvatiÂ…well, they'll hate me forever, but maybe I can reach them anyways. The food isn't that scary anymore. I know where I'm going. I have friends. Life is good.

"You seem chipper this evening, Miss Carter."

Maggie stopped in her tracks. And then Tabitha Vector comes along and kills my buzz. Why do you hate me, God? "Hi, Tabitha. How's it going?"

"How is what going?" Tabitha's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Maggie groaned softly, shoulders slumping. "It's a greeting in America. A version of 'How are you?'"

"Why don't you just say that, then?" Tabitha sneered.

"Because suddenly I really don't give a rat's ass." Maggie turned towards the ladder to the Divination classroom and rested her left hand on a rung.

"I know your secret."

Maggie paused. "What the hell are you talking about?" Crap. What does she know?

"I know your secret, Mudblood." She sneered coldly, victory glinting in her eyes. "If you want to be dead so badly, why don't you just do us all a favor and do it."

Maggie stood frozen. Tabitha strode off with a self-satisfied grin, chuckling nastily.

"Foul beastÂ… were she not a woman, I would run her through, my lady!" Sir Cadogan stopped waving his sword and peered at her from his frame. "My lady?"

Maggie sank to the cold stone floor. She was cold, shivering, numb. The world was spinning.

She knows. How could she know? She knowsÂ… Her eyes fell to her wrist, barely seeing through the haze of almost-tears. It was covered, safely ensconced in her brace. It was always covered. How could she know I tried to kill myself?

"A horrible curse! Zounds! I will fetch help, m'lady! Stand fast!" The diminutive knight tripped over his own feet in his hurry to flee down the hall.

The answer jolted her to her feet like an electrical shock.

"Severus."

**************

"Here it is!"

Ron and Harry looked at each other. Hermione had the chapter on Linking Potions open between them and was pointing excitedly to the page marked "Complications and Side Effects Thereof."

"That does not look promising." Harry swallowed hard. Hermione's potions, while wonderful and highly effective in the past, always gave him a moment of unease.

"No, reallyÂ… this might work. I remember it from last year, when we had to look up that remote viewing concoction." She pointed at some margin notes, scribbled by the entry for "Sweetpea".

"Sweetpea blossoms plus verbena root plus scale of basilisk plus phoenix tear equals additive forÂ…what is this word?" Ron leaned in closer to Hermione, reading over her shoulder.

"Eee..eehÂ…" Hermione stammered a moment, then cleared her throat, trying to block out Ron's proximity. "Eavesdropping Elixir. It'll let us keep an eye on what Malfoy does."

"That's greatÂ….ugh!" Harry's eyes widened as he buckled over again, crashing to the floor with a thud. Hermione dropped to her knees next to him.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

Ron slapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh, bugger! We're gits. We're all gits." He looked at them both. "The potion. Harry can't be here for this." Ron grabbed Harry's arm and helped him to his feet. "We'll fill you in after the potion wears off, all right, Harry?"

Harry nodded and shambled towards the stairs. "I'll come back down in twenty minutes, ok?"

They nodded.

"Oh, can I borrow your Invisibility Cloak? Umm, for a run to the kitchens?" Ron smiled.

"Sure," Harry mumbled. "I'm going to lie down. Ow."

****************

"I want a word with you, Snape."

She stood in the doorway, hazel eyes flashing gold in the dim light of the lab.

Severus stepped in front of the cauldron, hiding his surprise behind a mask of annoyance. "Yes, Madam Carter?"

"You been talkin' shit about me?"

Severus blinked, looking at her like she was speaking in tongues all of a sudden. Maggie paused, closing her eyes and willing calm on herself. Speak British, Mags.

"Did you tell anyone what I told you that night in the dungeon?"

Severus snorted disparagingly. "Of course not. Why would I?"

"Good question." Her glare did not lessen one iota. "Maybe you all just like making my life as miserable as possible."

He stepped forward, eyes dark with anger. "You have a lot of arrogance to even think you'd enter my conversations at all, Miss Carter."

"Does she know about you?" Her question halted his forward progress like a gunshot.

"Is that a threat?" His words were so low she almost didn't hear him.

Their eyes locked for a long moment.

**************

Ron slipped carefully out of the Restricted Ingredients cupboard, pockets laden. He almost dropped the vial of phoenix tears when he saw Maggie Â…Madam CarterÂ… in the classroom doorway. He had seen that look in her eyes once, through the Spyglass. At the time, she had been very colorfully explaining precisely how she wanted to dismember a certain former lover. A shudder ran through his spine. What did Snape do? A grin shadowed across his face. And will she actually maim him? This might be goodÂ…

He leaned against the wall, trying to keep his breathing quiet.

"It seems we've reached an impasse, Madam Carter." Snape grabbed a book off the table behind him and thrust it at her. She accepted it, curiosity washing some of the rage away.

"A Linking Potion." She cocked her head. "You think I want to be linked to you?" A smirk formed at the corner of her mouth. "Cocky bastard, aintcha?"

Ron saw Snape's hand clench, knuckles paling. "Read closer, Miss Carter."

Miss? That smarmy bastard. Ron saw the scowl ripple across her brow. For a moment, he thought of chucking something at the back of Snape's head, but common sense intervened. She read through the text swiftly.

"So, if one of us betrays the other somehow, we'll both get bitchin' PMS?"

Ron bit his tongue to halt the giggles before they surfaced. Snape chuckled softly, a low, eerie sound. "Colorfully put, but surprisingly apt, Miss Carter. I'll start brewing it now."

Ron slumped against the wall, resisting a groan. Madam Carter perched on the edge of a table, swinging a foot idly.

"Need help?" she offered. "I should probably learn how to make one."

**************

"Now, we each add a hair."

Maggie reached back to the nape of her neck and plucked out a strand. It shimmered a little in the light before she dropped it into the cauldron. Severus did the same, letting the black strand fall across hers. Gold smoke drifted out of the cauldron, and Severus poured the liquid into two goblets.

"L'chaim," Maggie toasted as she drained the cup. "MmmÂ… tastes like my old buddy Jack."

"Pardon?" Severus downed his, then coughed slightly.

"Jack Daniels. It's an American whiskey. Good stuff." She grinned slightly. "I'll have to get the recipe for this."

Severus was staring into his goblet silently. "Odd."

"What's odd?" Maggie set her goblet down. "That's about the last thing I want to hear you say after I chug a potion, Severus. Did you just slip me a mickey or something?"

Severus snorted. "Of course notÂ… it's nothing."

He looks uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. Should I be feeling uncomfortable? Maggie glared. "You sure? Cuz, if I'm gonna die, I'd really like to go see Madam Pomfrey and at least buy her that drink I promised her."

His expression cut through her like a chill wind. "The potion is fine, Miss Carter. I know what I am doing."

"So, the next time you decide to blab all about my life to someone who hates me, I'll know, right?" She eyed him.

"I SAID NOTHING!" The chill was replaced by a blast furnace of rage. He turned a rather ugly shade of purple as he loomed over her.

She glowered up at him. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears. It was oddly exhilarating. "Then how did Vector know about it? How did she know if you didn't tell her?" Her whole body was warm, and her breath came in short gasps. "I've seen you two talking, sneaking looks down the table at me. What the hell else have you told her about me?"

"Damn it, MaggieÂ…" His eyes glittered as he set the goblet down hard enough to crack the stem. His hands were shaking.

"C'mon, Severus, admit itÂ…" She strode forward and grasped the front of his robe with both hands, hauling him down to face her, eyes glinting fiercely. "You hate me."

His lips met hers with a hungry ferocity. She fell against the edge of the table, knocking the cauldron and goblets to the floor. For a moment, she tried to shove him away. His hands clamped over hers against his chest. She tasted the potion on his lips mixed with the coppery taste of blood. Her lips parted with a feral, needful growl, and her body arched against him.

His reaction was swift and fierce. Strong arms wrapped around her waist, hauling her up onto the marble table with a swift, powerful jerk. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, nails raking his back through the coarse fabric of his black robe. The scent of dried herbs and ozone filled her senses as she buried her face in his neck, biting and kissing her way to his collarbone. She heard a soft hiss escape him and felt his arms tighten as he thrust against her hard. She cried out, nails digging in deeper. All rational thought fled before the almost painful need to feel him against her, to have his skin pressed against hers; she could feel his need, as strong as hers if not stronger, and the rest of the world melted in a haze of desire.

****************

Nausea flooded over Ron's unseen features. One part of him made him want to rush to Madam Carter's rescue and pry the foul old bastard off of her. He was scum. He didn't deserve to be in the same room, much less touching her, much much less touching her like that! Another part of him was mutinying. He looked away abruptly, trying with all his might and both hands over his ears to block out the gasps and moans emanating from his two instructors.

He glanced back at the two, trying to find an escape route. Like a deer in headlights, he froze. Snape had found the clasps to Madam Carter's robes, and they fell around her hips, baring her to the waist. A crescent moon traced along her left shoulder blade, dark against her tawny flesh. Her long brown hair flowed freely down, obscuring much of the rest of her back, and Snape's fingers sent a cascade of glitter from it as they snaked through it. She fell back against the table, pulling Snape onto her and shoving his robe down over his shoulders.

Ron felt his face flush crimson, and he whirled back around to face the Restricted Ingredients cupboard. He wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure that even if there was a clear path out of the room, he wouldn't be able to walk very far just then. A lump had settled in his throat, blocking all air to his lungs. His knees were weak. His whole body seemed to be joining the mutiny in his pants.

Stupid hormones! A sick feeling flooded through him. Why me? Oh GOD, why me?

Slowly, he sank to the ground, back pressed against a bookshelf, both arms over his head.

****************

She wasnÂ’t sure which of them was shaking harder, or if she was just shaking hard enough for the both of them. His arms were still around her, holding her tightly to him. There was a tremor to his breathing that she couldn't place. Fear? Anger? The cynical side of her brain spoke up. Nausea? Great, he's going to barf because he justÂ…

She couldn't even bring herself to identify in words what had just happened. She just lay there, arms around his waist, shivering against the cold stone of the table, more confused than she had ever been.

"WhatÂ…justÂ…happened?"

Her voice sounded far away and strange to her. Drugged, almost.

Reality came like a gunshot, loud and scary. She sat up, pushing him away from her. He caught himself, leaping back a step from the table, face blank. Her robe was back over her shoulders, clutched with white knuckles over her body.

"What the hell was that? What was in that potion, Severus?"

"I don'tÂ…" His brow furrowed, confusion drawing him in on himself for a moment as he drew his robe back on hastily. He straightened quickly. "Moonstone. It had to be. But howÂ…?"

"What?" Nausea began to swim through her stomach. The book lay on the table still, not far from her. She leaned over and grabbed it, still holding her robe closed.

"Whatthefuck?" She exhaled the question, almost too softly for him to hear. She stumbled to her feet, shaking again. Her head was spinning. "IÂ…whatÂ…the hellÂ…too muchÂ…this is too muchÂ…IÂ…I have to goÂ…nowÂ…."

"MargaretÂ…" Severus looked at her. She couldn't read his expression. It could have been an apology. It could have been an entreaty.

It could be indigestion. The last option seemed the most welcome. He can't. I can't. Damn it. System overload.

She backed to the door, then turned and ran, still clutching her robe closed.

*************

"Maggie!" Snape took two steps towards the door, then stopped. His hands rested on the surface of the table for a long moment as he took several very deep breaths.

The potions textbook whizzed past Ron's ear, hitting the wall hard enough to break the binding. Too surprised to make a sound, he sidestepped quickly, gripping the Invisibility Cloak tightly around himself.

The man at the table couldn't have been the Potions Master.

He was too human.

Ron's stomach clenched. The older man was kneeling beside the table, head resting on his folded arms, cursing softly but vehemently into the folds of his robe sleeves.

He sounds likeÂ… Ron shook his head. Sympathy for the man who'd just violated the woman he'd been protecting was bad enough. EmpathyÂ…no way.

Carefully, he picked his way through the strewn potion-making supplies and bits of clothing and slipped out the door.

The common room had never looked so welcoming.

Unfortunately, there was a welcome party waiting.

"Ron!" Hermione ran over and hugged him. "We were afraid Filch had caught you." She looked at him curiously. "What happened? You look terrible."

Ron jumped backwards, nearly knocking Hermione over. She gave him a hurt look, and he cursed himself at length internally. "SorryÂ… IÂ… the bottles are in my pocketsÂ…didn't want to break them." She looked a little less hurt.

"Oh, sorryÂ…I didn't, did I?"

"No, they're fine." He gave a sigh of relief. His heart was still racing, rekindled by Hermione's proximity. For a horrible moment, he was afraid other things had been rekindled, and he sat down quickly in hopes of masking anything.

"Are you sure you're all right, Ron?" Harry gave him a worried look and sat down across from him.

"Nothing! I meanÂ…" Harry looked at Ron, then looked away. "Snape was down there. ItÂ…took a little while longer to get out of the lab than I thought it would."

"What was he doing down there?" Harry mused.

Ron made a choking noise. Hermione and Harry stared at him. "UmmÂ… lab dust?" he offered with a weak smile.