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Two Sides Against the Middle by Rose of the West [Reviews - 1]

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Disclaimer: Except for some OCs, the characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling. This chapter takes place within the time line of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Auror Tonks got into a skirmish with a Death Eater while guarding the prophecies at the Ministry of Magic. Emily finished bandaging Auror Tonks's arm and let her go back to the meeting. Brendon was pulling himself up on the coffee table where yet another Wizard's Chess game was paused. Looking around, Emily saw a bundle of gauze had rolled under the table. She started to kneel down and pick it up, but then thought better of it and used a Summoning Charm.

“It would have been faster to kneel down.” As ever, her host was leaning against the door jamb.

“Severus doesn't like it.”

“He always wants you to use magic, huh? What a snob.”

“No, that's not it. I asked him once and he told me that my body is too precious to him to be on the floor like that.”

Sirius was taken aback. “Are we talking about Severus Snape?”

Emily smiled enigmatically. “The one and only.” She sat down and rolled the gauze back up, placing it into her bag.

He sauntered into the room and sat at on the couch. “It's not an obvious thing, you and Snape, or anyone and Snape, really. The way he looks at you, though, and the little things he does for you...”

“Be careful; you might say something nice.”

“I can see where some girls would go for that. I never would have thought you were that kind of girl.”

“Every girl is that kind of girl, Sirius. We like to feel as though the man in our lives is looking out for us. He doesn't have to fight great battles or treat us like children, but we do like to know he's paying attention and gives us little signals that he cares.”

Sirius looked at Brendon and replaced some chess pieces the baby had moved. “How does he know what to do? I have no idea what that is like.”

“Surely you saw your parents together.”

“They must have been at least twice, but really, I only saw them in the same room when I was being punished for something, like talking to the Muggle children who lived next door. It was this room, in fact. They sat me over in that corner over there while I wondered which of their dark mechanisms was set to watch me behind my back. Usually it was just Kreacher...I was far better off on the days I never saw them at all.” He was lost for a minute but soon came back to the subject. “Truly, Emily, how does someone like Snape know how to be a husband?”

“We taught each other such things, I think. He's always been a very good student, you know. When we first got together we simply studied each other and learned what we liked and that's what we try to be and do.” Her voice changed as she wandered from the subject. “He's so good to me, and now he's got He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to deal with, and school's no picnic with Dolores watching to see if anyone breathes, even. I just have to try to be a good wife to him.”

“You're quite a woman, Emily Snape.”

They fell into their own thoughts. Emily let out a soundless sigh. She hadn't felt quite right in months and there was too much to think about. She opened her bag and looked hopelessly at her knitting. There was no reason to even take it out. She would get it into a frightful muddle and she wasn't in the proper frame of mind to work with it at all. Brendon wanted to be held, so she picked him up and spoke nonsense to him for a few minutes.

Severus showed up in the doorway, his extra meeting with Dumbledore and Shacklebolt over, and she stood, smiling as brightly as possible when she greeted him. He helped her gather her things and they took the baby and left, nodding to their host as they did so.

Sirius straightened out his chess game one last time and pondered the domestic scene he had just witnessed. Snape was standing tall these days, perhaps happy for the chance he had to do something. Emily was a ball of nerves. It didn't take much to see that the smile she put on for her husband was not very deep. For some reason, she was hiding her true feelings from her husband. Rather, she was trying to hide her true feelings from her husband. It was impossible to believe that Snape didn't know how distressed she was.




Dear Hope,

Have you heard about Educational Decree Twenty-Four? I think I know why it happened. Someone in this school is a total fink.

Meanwhile, the latest spells in Transfiguration are not working for me at all, and I need to write an essay about my last failure in Potions. My housemate who sometimes helps me is in a bit of a snit lately and isn't even helping her two best friends. Your explanations always seem to help more, anyway. Somehow you tell me less but I understand it better with you.

Are you going to London for the Holidays? I would like to go over some of what's been going on and what it all means. My one housemate, of course, seems to be so close to the middle of it, but you always seem to know stuff, too.

Sincerely,
Lucky




Dear Lucky,

Are you serious? It's easier to count the number of people at that meeting who are not finks. The Hog's Head, indeed! No one shows their face there, but many sorts of people go there. By the time the first of your meeting's participants arrived back at the castle, most of the professors knew all about it.

Besides that, most of the students who went to the meeting came back full of butterbeer and bravado. My one cousin, whom I will identify as “Suck-up,” couldn't wait to tell me all about how my other cousin, “Jerk-off” tried to cause a problem. Cousin Suck-up was very proud of the way he claims he yelled Cousin Jerk-off down. Meanwhile Cousin Jerk-off couldn't wait to explain to me how important it was for a doubting voice to be heard. The way those two argue over who's my favorite cousin is obnoxious. At any rate, piecing things my cousins told me, together with the rumors in the common room, I have a pretty good idea how the meeting went. You need to be a lot more discrete in the future.

I wish I could belong to a group like that. Daddy has taught me all sorts of things that might be useful, and I'm sure that the leader of the group knows some things I could use. I guess House rivalries trump something worthwhile, yet again.

Mum is not quite herself. Grandma still says it's a touch of something called postpartum depression, but worries about this war or whatever it is are not helping in the least. Mum tries to be so cheerful all of the time, but you can tell she's not. When she doesn't think we notice, Daddy and I sometimes find her crying or, even worse, sitting by herself and staring into space.

We're going to spend the entire Christmas Holiday at Grandma's house. Daddy thinks it might cheer Mum up, and at least we'll be away from here and that professor that only Argus Filch can stand. I know Grandma will bring me to the hospital for all her shifts, so I think we'll be able to meet a good deal.

As usual, you've only got the Potions muddled a little bit, but you are in a tangle with the Transfiguration, aren't you? Let's see if I can explain it.

Sincerely,
Hope





“So she doesn't do anything but sit and stare out of windows?”

“She talks with Grandma about hospital cases, and she's very attentive to Daddy. She takes care of Brendon just fine and all, but when she hasn't anything to do, she sits and stares.”

Hope and Neville were in the greenhouses, where they could be by themselves. They were going over Transfiguration spells as well as some defensive techniques Hope had learned from her father.

“I'm sure your mum will be fine.”

Margo nodded her head.

“I mean, she's always seemed so strong and everything.”

“Yeah, I suppose. It's just so odd. You think you know what everything is about and all of a sudden you wake up one morning and realize your mother isn't quite right. If this is what happens when You-Know-Who comes back, what will happen if he actually comes to power? I think she's actually worse since Mr. Weasley got bitten by that snake.”

“Have you heard how he is? I ran into Harry and the others just the other day. They saw my parents. It was so weird and uncomfortable. Not like when you visit at all.”

“Daddy led the Potions Masters here through a new formulation that seems to do the trick and reverse the effects of the venom. Grandma says Mr. Weasley will probably get to go home pretty soon.”

“How does he do that? When he takes us through specific potions on the chalk board it always seems so obvious, but then when I'm trying to make it in class, it doesn't make sense in the same way at all.”

“He says some potions are obvious based on the ingredients but others take a lot of effort and trial and error. I heard him tell Grandma that after looking at all the trial and error results on this one, it was obvious what sorts of things should work and then they did. Mum made him give her a vial of it. I can see her wanting something like that as a Healer, but why would she put it in her private stock?”

Neville didn't know. They practiced some more jinxes and hexes. He loved to hear how she handled Malfoy when he tried to trick her into kissing him. Counting the time in first year, he had gone to the Hospital Wing of the school six times so far because he couldn't figure out how to stop the effects of whatever jinx she placed on him. She had used the same jinxes on Ernie Macmillan and Zacharias Smith, too. Neville loved to hear her mimic them as she described the boils or tentacles she unleashed upon them. There was only one boy she didn't seem to jinx or hex.

“You seemed pretty chummy with Nott in the library right before the Holidays started,” he observed, unable to keep all accusation out of his tone.

“We were studying Arithmancy together. He's all right, and he doesn't try to foist his body parts all over me.”

“Isn't his dad one of the oldest Death Eathers?”

“I guess, but Ted says that's not his scene, at least not now. If he joins up or starts hanging around with Malfoy's crew, I can drop him, I guess. It would be a shame, though, because I'd be at loose ends. It's nice to have one person to sit with in the Great Hall who doesn't want to attack me or who isn't completely intimidated by Daddy...or who isn't in the wrong House.” Hope looked up at Neville ruefully.

“I wish you could hang out with Hannah and me,” he said. “We would have a lot of fun together.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, “ Hope replied, hoping she sounded convinced.

The chime rang and they stood to walk downstairs.

“Well,” said Hope, “Good luck with that group. I hope you can still meet and that you learn the sorts of things you want to learn.”

“Thanks. Good luck for the spring classes and all. I hope your Mum feels better soon.”

“Thanks. See you this summer.”

“Yeah.”

With that they separated, she toward the staff entrance and he toward the guest one.

A/N: For those who are wondering, no, I didn't suddenly give Emily siblings. The "cousins" to whom Hope refers are actually the children of Emily's cousins, or perhaps the grandchildren of her parents' cousins. I think that even as a second or third cousin, the Smiths and Macmillans would be happy to claim Hope as part of their families.

Thank you all who are reading my story. It's keeping me entertained and I'm glad to see that others are entertained as well. Thanks, especially, to Trickie Woo, who beta reads and always has great advice.

Two Sides Against the Middle by Rose of the West [Reviews - 1]

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