12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It had been merely a few days since the Weasley twins had shown up in such ominous circumstances – that many agreed on the twins must have been waiting for – to provide Snape with what everyone seemed to think was an ordinary book. Harry knew better but wasn't about to spill the beans to anyone except his best friends. But – truth be told – he didn't know that much. Not even Hermione was able to tell Harry what the book could possibly be about. All she knew was that Pythagoras had been an alchemist.

"Isn't alchemy just another word for potions?" Ron had asked.

"Don't be daft, Ron," Hermione chided, "Alchemy is so much more than just potions. It's a meta-skill of sorts which combines all of the different magics in its process."

"But it is a very difficult skill to master," Harry supplied, "and takes years of practice and an understanding of magic that I – to be fair – do not have."

"Does Snape?" Ron asked.

Harry wasn't sure. He had never really asked Snape if he was an alchemist simply because it had never come up.

"I'll ask him," Harry said.

Since they were in the Gryffindor common room, and Snape was nowhere nearby, Harry wrote on his cuff.

'Are you well-versed in the art of Alchemy?'

It took a while before the answer came and Harry snorted at the words.

'Yes. And you can tell Ms Granger that the book is none of her business.'

Hermione blushed when Harry relayed the message. "I was just curious."

"And he's just teasing," Harry said, "It's what he does. You know him."

"Say, what is Bell doing outside of the portrait?" Ron asked. He had been lazily perusing the marauder's map for no other reason but to cure his boredom.

"She is?" Hermione asked. "Let me see."

"It's not even like she's patrolling or something," Ron said, frowning, "She just… standing there."

"She might just be lost," Harry said, "I'll go see what she needs."

When Harry opened the portrait and met the warm gaze that was professor Bell's, he knew that she was not lost. This was exactly where she had intended to come.

"Harry!" she said happily, "I can't for the life of me remember the password but I really wanted to speak with you."

Harry climbed out of the portrait hole and faced the History Professor with an amused smirk.

"Oh?" he said, "I this what I think it is about?"

Bell wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, "It is, young accomplice if mine. Oh yes, indeed."

The following morning, Harry woke up bright and early to go to breakfast as soon as he possibly could. But he would need to make a small detour first. Using his invisibility cloak – just to be sure – he snuck down to the dungeons and into Snape's office which was connected to his private potions lab.

Luckily for Harry, his presence did not trigger any of the wards. He smirked to himself. Snape was losing his Slytherin touch if he allowed Harry to just enter here on all hours of the day.

He crept into the potions lab and walked over to the rack where each and every bottled concoction was neatly lined up in order of use, their labels facing forward in a neat fashion. Harry started turning some just a tiny bit. It was not noticeable to anyone who didn't pay attention to such things but Harry made it so that when facing the rack, you could not make out the entire first letter on the label.

After that, he moved a bottle of skele-gro to a shelf above where it was supposed to be. He didn't take time to inspect his handiwork. Instead, he crept back out and made to leave when he noticed a stack of papers on Snape's desk. He took the top piece of parchment and put it in the pile completely at random. That should do it for the day. Harry left, closing the door behind him and raced towards the great hall, hoping that there wouldn't be too many people yet.

And true enough, when he arrived there, there was only one other person already occupying her table as she read the quibbler.

"Hi Luna," Harry greeted.

"Good morning, Harry," Luna replied warmly, "You're here early."

"Yes," Harry replied, smirking all the while. "There was something I wanted to do."

"Something mischievous, perhaps?" Luna asked airily, "The Gronkulls told me that Professor Bell visited you last night."

Harry sat down next to the blonde Ravenclaw with a loud thud. "Hush, Luna," he whispered, the sounds of their voices reverberating loudly while there was no one else in the hall. "She did, but you can't tell anyone. Especially not Professor Snape."

Luna smiled brightly. "Don't worry," she said, "I'm not one to spoil your entertainment. And Professor Snape really needs to have some fun sometimes."

Harry laughed. "I don't think fun is in his dictionary."

"Perhaps," Luna said, "Or perhaps he needs to be reminded of its meaning." She tilted her head slightly as she regarded Harry carefully. "You know, I think you might be the one to do it."

"Do what?"

"You are the chosen one," Luna replied carefully, "And you will deliver Professor Snape from his worry and sadness."

Harry frowned, ignoring Luna's odd choice of words. "Do you really think he's sad?"

"He always has been," Luna said empathically, "It's become better over time but I've rarely seen him just happy. There's always some underlining tone of something darker there."

"I think that's just his act you're seeing," Harry supplied, "He's a lot looser at home."

"A mask tells us more than a face," Luna replied knowingly, "He wouldn't hide himself away if he didn't feel like he needed protection."

"From what?" Harry asked, blinking in confusion.

Luna smiled sadly. "From caring for others," she said, "And from being cared for. I feel that he's suffered tremendous emotional pain already."

"He's got me though," Harry said.

"He does," Luna agreed, "And I think that's all he'll allow himself for now. Don't you?"

Harry sat there somewhat flabbergasted at Luna's words while she continued reading her quibbler, humming an unknown tune under her breath as she did.

It was only a few minutes later that other people started to come into the great hall, yawning and stretching as they walked.

As Harry had expected, Snape was one of the first Professors to arrive for breakfast. He quirked a surprised eyebrow when he saw Harry sitting there already and took his own seat at the high table.

"Good morning, Harry," Snape said. Since there weren't a lot of people present yet, they could easily hear each other. "Defecting to Ravenclaw, I see? How will the Gryffindor quidditch team ever survive this blow?"

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Harry said, "Well don't worry. I'll be around to kick Slytherin –"

"Language," Snape warned.

Now Bell and Flitwick came in together – Flitwick clearly serving as Bell's guide – and sat down at the table as well.

"See you around, Luna," Harry said.

"Be careful of the ravens, Harry," Luna warned, "The Gronkulls told me they have it in for a stag."

"I'll keep that in mind, Luna," Harry replied. He waved to her and walked away. But instead of heading back to Gryffindor Tower, he walked straight up to the high table and went across it to stand next to Snape.

"Have you gotten so little sleep that you've forgotten where your house sits?" Snape asked, "Do I look like a Gryffindor to you?"

"Not one bit," Harry admitted, "I just wanted to wish you a very happy Wednesday!" And without warning, Harry took a step forward and hugged Snape awkwardly and shortly. Before Snape had even processed Harry's movement, the boy had pulled away and flashed him an amused grin.

"Professor Flitwick," Harry greeted as he passed by. "Professor Bell." At her, he actually winked and she acknowledged him by shaking her head in disbelief. With her back turned towards Snape, she clearly mouthed 'subtle' and rolled her eyes to which Harry bowed graciously before running off and sitting at the Gryffindor table where Ron and Hermione had arrived by now.

"And you say the hat thought you might have done well in Slytherin?" Hermione asked incredulously, "What was that?"

"He has no idea," Harry chuckled, "Don't worry. Maybe he'll think I'm sick or something but he'll never suspect foul play."

"I still think you have a death wish, mate," Ron said, "Snape may have warmed up to you but I don't think he'll let you off the hook when he finds out."

"If he finds out," Harry corrected him. "Don't forget. It's Professor Bell who is the mastermind at work."

All three of them sat on the right side of the Gryffindor table where they had a clear view of the high table and everything that was going on there. They filled their plates with the breakfast foods of their choosing and ate absentmindedly as they kept an eye on their defence teacher.

Snape seemed to sense their staring and looked at the golden trio, arching his eyebrows in a questioning look. They averted their gaze to look at their food but went right back to staring as soon as Snape refocused his attention on breakfast.

He poured himself a cup of tea but had poured a bit too harshly, causing at least half of the scalding liquid to jump right back out of his cup and land on the tablecloth and partly on his robes. The man looked around as if to check that no one had seen his little mishap – Harry had seen this reaction coming and pretended to have a conversation with his friends - and removed the spillage with a wave of his wand.

Next, he wanted to grab two lumps of sugar – as Harry knew was his usual amount – with the tweezers that were meant for them. Harry couldn't help but chuckle as Snape obviously wasn't able to get a firm grasp on the lumps. After a few tries, he mumbled something to himself and set the sugar aside, not bothering with it anymore.

Bell had noticed his predicament though and – much to Snape's mortification - added a lump of sugar to his tea. She asked him something but he seemed to snap something back at her rather rudely which she took in stride. She glanced over at Harry and when she saw he was looking she alternatively held up one and two fingers with a questioning glance.

Harry held up two fingers in response. Bell nodded and added a second lump of sugar to Snape's tea who simply shoved the cup away and filled a glass with pumpkin juice which caused no accidents.

"He seems grumpy," Ron said, "Maybe you shouldn't have done this on a defence day."

"Please," Harry said in a low tone of voice, "It'll be fine."

Dumbledore had joined right when Snape was attempting to butter a piece of bread but had pressed just a tad too hard, his knife going straight through the bread. Snape stared at it, almost dumbfounded and Harry couldn't help it. He laughed loudly. Snape turned his head sharply to see his son laughing at him and Harry could only barely make out the annoyance in his eyes. It only made him laugh harder. Meanwhile, Dumbledore had replaced Snape's piece of bread and put a hand on his shoulder, saying something softly. Snape frowned but took the bread. He didn't attempt to butter it anymore but simply put a slice of cheese on it and ate it.

"I know I've asked you this before, but he's not a morning person, is he?" Hermione commented.

"He definitely is not," Harry agreed, "Especially not when he's being picked on by a bunch of Gryffindors."

Snape didn't stay long at all. As soon as he was finished eating, he got up brusquely and went to sweep out of the hallways, glaring daggers at Harry as he went.

"I think he suspects something," Hermione said.

"He's just upset that I laughed," Harry said. "What would he even think I did?"

Harry look over at the high table once more and saw that Professor Bell was beaming at him, a mischievous twinkle in her eye that reminded Harry of the twins.

That brat must have done something! What it was, Snape could not possibly imagine but oh, it was him. The bloody golden trio had been staring at him from before things had gone wrong. They knew!

Or was he getting paranoid? He must be. This was probably just a rough morning. These mishaps could happen to anyone. Though they rarely happened to himself. Could it have been a potion? No, he thought not. Harry knew very well that he was to report every new potion he even attempted to create to Snape and he had brewed nothing that would clarify what Snape could only explain as a lack of luck and an increase in clumsiness. And Bell had certainly seemed pleased with herself when she offered to add the sugar to his tea for him. As if he were four! Maybe she was in on it too!

Snape sighed. No, he was really looking too much into this.

There was still an hour before he would have to go teach his first defence class. He would stop by his private potions lab for a calming draught real quick and he would be ready for the third graders who thought they were ready to face boggarts.

From his office, he swept into his lab and searched the labels for the calming draught. Wait… that's not where he put the skele-gro. Was it? Perhaps Harry had mistakenly put it there after he was done brewing. Snape moved the potion to where it belonged and took the calming draught.

He stared at his potions for a moment longer. Something didn't feel right. But he couldn't put his finger on it. He shook himself, dispelling the thought.

He tried to pull the stopper out of the bottle but didn't quite succeed the first time. Instead, his nail got stuck behind the cork, tearing it slightly. It was small but enough to annoy him greatly. With a huff of disapproval at his own inelegance, Snape removed the stopper on the second try and downed the potion.

He kicked off his boots and sat behind comfortably behind his desk, quite sure that no one would dare disturb him yet. He glanced at the stack of assignments on his desk. He frowned only slightly when he noticed the discrepancy but it didn't seem to bother him as much. He must've really been out of it the previous day. Could it have been the fire whiskey? He had only had one glass though.

After he took a while to gather his senses, Snape cast a quick 'Tempus' to check the time and sighed when he realized he needed to get going. He put on his boots, growling to himself when he accidentally tried putting the left one on his right foot the first time – and left to go teach class. It was only after he closed the door and tried to take a step that he noticed that his robes got stuck. It was with great self-restraint that he didn't blast the door to pieces.

By the time Snape arrived in Harry's defence class – which was the last class of the day – he was absolutely furious.

"Uh-oh," Ron whispered quietly as Snape swept past them to the front of the class, "I think you unleashed the beast, mate."

Harry chuckled, "What I wouldn't give for his memories of today."

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked.

"Oh right, we didn't have the chance to tell you," Harry said, "We've –"

"Be silent," Snape snarled at his son and godson, "Or – so help me – you will be repainting every inch of Hogwarts."

Harry and Draco wisely kept their mouths shut but smiled at each other as soon as Snape's back was turned.

"Today," Snape spat, "You will be learning about detecting as well as breaking curses. If you all read the required chapters as I had instructed, you will be fine. If not –" A malicious smile formed on the Professor's lips, "- You will suffer the consequences."

Non-verbally, Snape levitated a whole slew of inconspicuous looking items out of a bag, placing them on each student's desk. Harry received a tattered looking plastic doll that looked like it could easily star in a horror movie. It missed its right arm and eye and its dress was dirty and torn.

Harry had, in fact, read the requested chapters and was focusing on the object of his current consternation, vaguely aware of Snape keeping a watchful eye on him. He cast a simple 'Revelio', full well expecting that to not work. And so it didn't. He could practically feel Hermione rolling her eyes at him.

"It can't hurt to be thorough," Harry said, shrugging all the while. On Hermione's desk sat a black boot, acting entirely innocent.

Harry went through an entire sequence of spells he could think of. It didn't take long for Neville to discover what was amiss with his 500-piece puzzle and Draco had been able to solve the conundrum that was his Chinese puzzle trap within minutes.

It took Ron and even Hermione a lot longer to detect their problems and Harry couldn't help but wonder if Snape had purposely given them the hardest ones to crack. It didn't escape Harry's attention at all that Snape hadn't so much as lifted a finger during this entire class. He was simply standing there, with his arms crossed, nodding occasionally when someone had been able to break their curse. But his eyes kept fluttering back to Harry and it soon became clear that the doll was one of two things. It was either not cursed at all or it was cursed at a level that was far beyond that of a Hogwarts student.

Interesting. So Snape must have realized that Harry had something to do with what had clearly been a bad day.

Eventually, Harry smirked, crossed his arms and leaned back.

"Mr Potter," Snape droned, "Do you give up?"

"Give up?" Harry repeated, "I would never. I simply solved it."

"You solved it," Snape said icily, "And you expect me to believe that? When would you have done that?"

"At the moment you inspected Hermione's boot, sir," Harry replied easily, "That's when it hit me."

Harry fearlessly met his mentor's eyes and felt the subtle push of his Legilimency but Occluded without a problem.

"So pick it up," Snape said, smirking sadistically.

Harry had anticipated this response and already knew exactly how to act. He moved to grab the doll but bumped his desk unceremoniously, causing the doll to fall off. Snape – with reflexes he honed by years of catching glass vials and potion ingredients that found themselves into the clumsy hands of students – caught the doll before it landed and looked at Harry just in time to meet his triumphant smirk.

There was a poof. There was smoke and then, Snape was gone. Harry frowned, not knowing what had happened. Had Snape disappeared? Did he teleport to the amazon forest or something? But then a couple of the girls screeched and jumped on their chairs. Harry leaned over his desk to see a small grass snake slithering on the floor.

"Well, well," he said in parseltongue, "Who knew you would make such a cute snake?"

"Don't jusssssst ssssstand there, brat," the snake hissed. Anyone who didn't speak parseltongue – which was the entire Hogwarts populace minus Harry – would think the snake upset and ready to attack. And perhaps, that wasn't too far from the truth.

"What am I supposed to do even?" Harry asked innocently, "Unfortunately, I'm not too good at curse breaking, and this one seems to be rather high level."

"Blasssssst it all! Jussssst bring me to a Professsssor before I bite you."

"Alright, alright. Don't get your coils in a twist," Harry chuckled, "Come here."

Harry extended his arm and the snake slithered onto his wrist, squeezing so he wouldn't fall off.

"Class dismissed, I guess," Harry said. He waved his wand and got all the cursed objects to float back into the bag which he closed and took with him just in case some poor first grader came in for some reason and saw that awesome soccer ball to play with.

Slytherins and Gryffindors alike laughed heartily at the situation at hand but they quickly made themselves scarce when Snape the snake hissed threateningly.

"This is what you get, you know," Harry chided, "For trying to trick me."

"I did no sssssuch thing," Snape argued, his forked tongue flicking in and out of his mouth.

"Oh really?" Harry said, raising a sardonic eyebrow in the same fashion Snape always did. "So you're saying that this curse is on an equal level with the jelly-legs curse you so graciously bestowed on Zabini?"

"You are better than Zzzzzzabini," Snape hissed.

"You know, I could just leave you a snake," Harry said.

"And perhapssss I could cut off the blood cccccirculation to your wrisssssst," Snape replied, squeezing tightly.

"You're a grass snake," Harry chuckled, "You can't do a thing in this state."

"Don't tesssssst me, child," Snape hissed, "I'll have you dicccccing Flobberwormssssss until Chrisssssstmasssss."

"Hey, I'm going, aren't I?" Harry said to the snake, still smiling. The students he encountered in the hallway regarded the pair with either interest or disgust. One lone Hufflepuff boy even took off screaming at the sight.

"Maybe this will get the 'The heir of Slytherin' rumours started again," Harry said. There was only humour in his voice though.

"That'sssss far more acceptable than sssssstudentsssss knowing I've been coiled around your arm," Snape said.

"To you maybe," Harry replied easily, "Well, here we are."

"Brat," Snape hissed shortly, "Find sssssssomeone more capable."

"She's very capable though," Harry replied, "And she's the closest by."

"I refussssssse," Snape said.

"Quite frankly, Severus, you don't have a choice in the matter," Harry said just a tad too happy about the situation. He knocked on the door of the History classroom.

"Come on in," resounded the kind voice of Professor Bell.

Harry opened the door and found Bell sitting at her desk, perusing a book. A stack of sloppily piled books sat atop her desk, some of them with the edges of pieces of parchments sticking out.

"Hi, Harry!" Bell greeted him, "Oh, and who is this? Is this your new pet?"

She placed the book she was reading on top of the pile and moved closer to Harry, leaning forward to get a better look at the snake.

"It's beautiful!" she cooed, "What's his name?"

"Severus," Harry deadpanned.

Bell frowned. "That's a tad formal for a snake, don't you think?"

Harry laughed. "Actually, Professor, this is Severus. He cursed himself when he tried to curse me with an object. I think he's mad at me."

"Nonsssssensssse," Snape hissed, "I tried no sssssuch thing."

Bell just started laughing. "You don't say!" she said, tears running down her cheeks, "How unfortunate of him to pick today of all days to work on curse removal."

"What isssss ssssshe talking about?" Snape hissed.

"I wonder what he's saying," Bell said.

"Remove thisssss curssssse and I ssssshall tell you myssssself?" Snape hissed dangerously.

"Can you remove it?" Harry asked.

"Of course I can, Harry," Bell said easily, "Nothing to it. If you're ready?"

"I think it's time," Harry agreed, "We've had our fun."

Bell nodded and waved her wand elegantly as Harry kneeled to allow Snape to slither unto the ground again. Finally, Bell pointed her wand at Snape and broke the curse non-verbally. When Snape was transformed back into his old body, she crossed her arms and leaned against her desk, smirking triumphantly. Snape's glare was murderous but Bell seemed completely undeterred.

"Will you two finally tell me what's going on before I horribly disembowel one of you?" Snape growled.

"It's only fair!" Bell exclaimed, "You pranked me before. And by Merlin, you got me good."

Snape's gaze softened just a little. Harry thought he was probably the only one who noticed.

"So, I decided to get back at you," Bell continued, "And since Harry helped you with your own ploy, I thought it prudent to have him help me as well."

"Traitor," Snape spat viciously but Harry detected the amusement underneath.

"Oh, just turn around already," Bell said.

"Excuse me?" Snape replied in surprise.

"Turn around," Bell repeated, chuckling as she did. "I'll remove the rune that was applied to your robes."

"You use runes?" Snape asked, but he did turn around which Harry thought was a remarkable sign of trust when faced with someone who Snape's only known for a few months tops. Especially considering how untrustworthy new teachers had often turned out to be.

Bell waved her wand over Snape's robes and revealed a piece of paper that sort of looked like a cut-out stick figure. A strange symbol was drawn on it. It stuck to Snape's robes but Bell peeled it off and showed it to him.

Snape took it from her and ripped it up, a satisfied smirk on his face when he dropped the pieces to the ground.

"And the application was no doubt Harry's rather obvious… theatrics this morning," he said.

"Subtlety does not appear to be a Gryffindor trait," Bell agreed, "But yes indeed. You should be able to add sugar to your own tea again."

"I must say, that was very well played, Bell," Snape said, holding out his hand.

"Glad to be considered a worthy adversary, Snape" Bell replied, shaking the offered hand.

"Oh, we'll have to see about that," Snape said mysteriously.

"Bring it," Bell said, tilting her head in mock defiance.

It was not entirely on the same level as three first graders bringing down a troll together, but Harry sensed that this too might be the start of a new friendship. Even if it seemed to be a bit of a rivalry.

Saturday morning was upon them fast as it always was when the week was interesting. And this year, every week was interesting.

Snape had gotten up early – as was his habit – but had not seen Harry appear at breakfast. It wasn't entirely strange to see. Nothing short of Quidditch practice could wake the boy up before ten in the weekend. In fact, of the golden trio, only Granger was eating breakfast at a respectable hour, chatting amicably with the Weasley girl over a piece of toast.

Snape had gotten a very interesting message earlier that week. He looked over the letter he had been sent with hungry eyes.

Professor Snape,

You've asked me to inform you before anyone else when I received a lump of painite. It is rather small, for which I apologize but as you know, the jewel is rather rare.

If you are still interested, I request you to send me a reply at your earliest convenience. I would expect to have the painite in stock on Saturday. If you can't come by that day, I'll be forced to sell it. It would be too much of a liability to have lying around in the shop you see.

Yours,

P. Pippin

It had been years since Snape had asked the man to alert him should the rare jewel ever arrive. Frankly, he had started to think that he had been forgotten. But the letter had finally come and Snape could not hide his excitement.

"What are you so happy about?" Maya asked, nudging Snape slightly. "You're practically salivating over that letter. Got some hot admirer?"

Snape snorted. "Nothing of the sort, Maya, I've just been invited to pick up some painite back in the apothecary in Hogsmeade."

"Amazing!" Maya replied, "I've never actually seen it but I've heard it's really beautiful."

"I don't need it for its beauty," Snape said, "I need it for its function."

"Always the practical man, aren't you?" Maya teased, "Could you show me the jewel though? Before you splinter it into dust or whatever you do with it."

"If that appeases your appetite for shiny things, let it be so." Snape complied.

So it was that after breakfast, Maya and Snape both walked to Hogsmeade. Snape in silence, and Maya making remarks about every unremarkable thing they encountered on the way, much to Snape's annoyance.

"Would you kindly refrain from making any more observations about the surrounding area?" Snape asked coldly, "I am very much aware of its structure and contents, thank you very much."

"What are you so grumpy about?" Maya asked, "I thought this was a happy day for you."

"I wish to get to Hogsmeade sooner rather than later," Snape replied, "And your dilly-dallying makes that sufficiently challenging."

"Oh, you're such a killjoy," Maya chided, "Fine. First, we get your precious stone and then we cherish the view."

Snape sighed. "Or you cherish the view and I keep on walking.

"I could get lost," Maya pointed out in mock horror.

Snape smirked ever so slightly, "Sleeping here might give you the insight in the area that you seem to want to know more about. I'm merely granting you the opportunity."

"Just go and get your stone already," Maya huffed as they arrived in Hogsmeade, "We don't have all day."

Snape rolled his eyes and walked into the apothecary, walking straight over to the counter to meet Mr Pippin. The old man almost seemed shocked to see Snape there. He was sweating profusely and had a guilty look on his face.

"Don't tell me you've already sold it," Snape grunted, "We had a deal."

"I'm so sorry, Professor Snape," Pippin said, "I had no choice. They have my daughter."

Before Snape could reply, he felt the presence of several people behind him. He whirled around, wand already in hand to come face to face with Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband.

"Hello Sevvie!" she greeted, "Out on a date, are you?" She inclined her head towards the other end of the shop where Greyback had grabbed hold of Maya's arm and was sniffing her intently. Maya slapped the werewolf in the face but the man did not relent.

"Why don't you come with us, right now?" Bella asked, "And we won't hurt your new toy."

"Oh, come off it, Bitch!" Maya hollered, "Who do you even think you are? You Death eater rejects!" This time, she elbowed Greyback in the solar plexus and forced her wrist towards the gap between Greyback's fingers and thumb as she shifted her weight, effectively removing herself from his grasp.

"Get out of here," Snape yelled.

"I don't think so," Maya said sternly, brandishing her wand.

"Fool," Snape muttered. He pointed his wand at her and the history teacher was blasted out of the shop, leaving no one but Snape, the four death eaters and Mr Pippin in the apothecary.

Snape's wand arm was grabbed from behind by a strong hand, the limb twisted painfully behind his back.

"Let's go on a trip, shall we?" Bellatrix said sweetly and with the loud cackle of her sick laughter, the five death eaters disappeared with the sounds of a car back-firing.

My dear readers. Today, the games pokemon sword and shield were released and I will be playing them. Don't expect to hear from me anytime soon. give it a week or so, I would say. I wrote this chapter yesterday to set you all up with a cliffhanger to enjoy.

So, I can only ask you to review and perhaps I will show mercy.

Haha, thanks for reading in any case.