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To Hogwarts from the New World by Melpomene Erato [Reviews - 4]

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Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everyone and everything described in this tale except the main female character, the characters Felding, Roche, and Stroessner, and the story relating to these characters, which belong to me. These characters are entirely fictitious and any relation to any person living or dead is a coincidence. I make no money from this story nor intend to. Rating: PG-13.



Chapter 8 One student fewer

The term had progressed quietly for her. She had pretty strict study habits, as she was preparing herself to take N.E.W.T.s the following year. When the winds started bringing the Autumn chill, though, she decided to take a break and enjoy the fresh air before winter set in. She walked leisurely around the grounds, taking in the last bit of warm sunlight and green grass. She decided to stroll around the greenhouses. Sometimes Hagrid was working there, and she fancied a chat with him, since she hadn't had a chance to do so in a long time.

As she approached the greenhouses, she heard voices. Thinking that it might be Hagrid, she sped her pace, but as she neared the building, it became apparent that the angry voice wasn't Hagrid's.

"... the hell did you think you were doing?!"

"I could have killed him!" That was Remus Lupin.

"You wouldn't have killed him." The voice was Black's. "Look, nothing happened, alright?"

"That's because I got there in time!" stormed James Potter.

She wondered what the commotion was about. She neared the greenhouse, keeping out of sight and listened to the three boys.

"Look, it's Snape we're talking about, right? He's more than capable of defending himself... as you should both know by now. Besides," Black finished sullenly, "the git deserves whatever he gets."

She furrowed her brow. What had they done to him this time?

"Don't you get it? What if I had bitten him? What if I had killed him?" Lupin sounded furious.

"You wouldn't have killed him... maybe just bitten him. He was trying to get you expelled, all right? If you had bitten him... which... you... did... NOT... then he would now be in the same position you're in right now."

"Sirius, forgetting Snape, I could have been expelled, at the very least!"

"Dumbledore would never let that happen!" yelled Black. "It wouldn't have been your fault, he knows that."

"Don't be a prat!" snapped Potter. "Do you think parents would let Dumbledore keep Remus here? How many parents would let their kids hang out with a werewolf, you recon?"

Her eyes widened. Remus was a werewolf? A wave of understanding flooded her. His absences, his appearance, it all suddenly made sense. Her mind fled back to Snape. Had Black set Lupin on Snape? Pulling out her wand, she stepped out from her hiding place glaring at the three boys, who startled at seeing her.

"What were you doing there?" asked Potter.

"Eavesdropping," she said angrily.

"What did you hear?" asked Lupin.

"Enough."

Black bristled. "Who gave you the right...?" he started, but she interrupted him.

"Shut UP!" she yelled at him. "You don't get to talk about rights!" She rounded on him. "Who gave you the right to expose Remus like that? Who gave you the right to endanger Severus?"

"The guy's a greasy git who was going to all ends to get us expelled!" Black retorted.

"So he deserves to die at the ripe old age of sixteen for that?"

Lupin looked pleadingly at her, "Are you going to tell everybody?"

Potter started, "She'd better..." But she didn't let him speak either.

"I said, shut up!" she glared at Potter. She turned to Lupin and softened her tone. "I guess Dumbledore knows you're a werewolf?" He nodded back to her.

Black stepped menacingly towards her. "I don't want to hurt you, but..."

She didn't let him finish. "Sirius, I swear, one more word out of you and... I don't care how powerful you are... not only will I scream blue murder, but I'll hex you to next week." Black was about to continue defiantly, but Potter grabbed his arm to still him. She turned back to Lupin, "I'm really sorry about your problem, Remus. I won't tell anyone. This wasn't your fault." The three boys looked relieved. "But you've got to make things right by Severus."

Black snorted and she glared at him, slowly raising her wand so it pointed right at his forehead. They stared right into each other's eyes for a minute, the other two boys looking nervously between the two. Then Black looked down, giving her the implicit upper hand.

She turned back to Lupin. "If you don't fix things with him, he may very well tell everybody about your condition."

Potter answered, "He won't. Dumbledore made him swear not to."

She blinked.

"Let me get this straight," she began, barely controlling the trembling in her voice, "Sirius sets a werewolf on Severus, and it's Severus who's disciplined?" She turned on Black. "So, let me guess. You got detention?" she asked sarcastically. Black shook his head. "Five points from Gryffindor? No?"

She turned around and stomped away towards the grounds.

     *  *  *

The three boys looked at each other alarmed. Would she tell everybody? They followed her towards the grounds. Considering that she was much shorter than any of them, they were having some trouble catching up. They called out her name, but she ignored them.

As she headed towards the castle, she saw Dumbledore descending the steps towards them. She swept by him unceremoniously. Dumbledore didn't seem to notice, he was calling towards the three boys, "James, Remus, Sirius, I need to speak..." Dumbledore paused, with a confused expression on his face. The three Gryffindors were frantically gesturing towards her as she bounded towards the stairs. Dumbledore turned to look back and called after her.

"No," she muttered grimacing. "I've had it. I'm cashing my chips and I'm checking out."

"I assure you," Dumbledore raised his voice more sternly, "you won't get far if I don't wish you to."

She stopped in her tracks. Fine. She turned around and slowly returned towards him.

"You see," he said more amicably, "we can all talk our problems out politely, without ignoring each other."

"I have nothing to say to you. At least, I have nothing of consequence to say to you," she said quietly.

Dumbledore regarded her face carefully. Clearly, there was something here he was not aware of. "Come to my office. We can talk there."

"No," she said bluntly. "You want to talk? We can talk right here."

Dumbledore frowned, he was not offended, for he was well aware that he inspired respect, and even awe, in his students. For this girl to speak to him like this meant that something was deeply troubling her. A group of students were gathering around them, and from what he gathered, she was in possession of information about Remus he did not want aired. "We can talk in my office," he said in a more commanding tone.

"No! You're not taking me to your office where you can stand over me passing judgment. You're not putting me on trial... I'm putting you on trial!" she said pointing at him. "We'll talk here, on equal ground, or not at all."

They were now surrounded by a large crowd of students and some teachers had approached the scene. Professor Vector, the standing Head of her House while Professor Flitwick was on sabbatical, came up to them. "Headmaster, what is the problem?" Her clinical eyes rested on her student.

"I suspect we're about to find out," he answered dryly.

"I've had it!" she bellowed at him. "I'm sick and tired of being looked at like I'm second rate! I've put up with it so long that I've started to believe it myself!... But no more!"

Professor Vector, clicked her tongue. "Control yourself." She turned towards Dumbledore saying, "Headmaster, I've never seen this student behave like this. She is usually a model student. I suggest she go to the infir..."

She interrupted, "I'm not going to Madam Pomfrey, I'm not going to either of your offices, I'm..."

Professor Vector raised her voice menacingly, "You will control yourself and show due respect towards the headmaster and me, or you will face expulsion." Vector was extremely strict with her House.

"I'll let you get on with the paperwork, then. I haven't finished here yet." She rounded on Dumbledore again. Several students gasped. She didn't know how to start her tirade, so she just blurted out the phrase that had been circling in her mind for weeks, "The world is my oyster just as much as it is for your precious golden boys!"

A boy nearby snorted, "She mental?" But Dumbledore held up his hand to silence him and let her continue.

"Alright!" she rounded on the boy who had snorted, "That didn't make sense! I know that! The point is... the point is..." She cast around for the words to express her frustration. "I wish I had known when I first came here that getting sorted into Gryffindor made you a member of your personal favorites club, and everyone else was supplemental."

Several Slytherin students grinned at each other, clearly happy to see someone blast a few ugly truths at Dumbledore. She glared at them, and suddenly saw Snape behind them. His expression was calm and serious. She continued, "See, if I had known that, then right after the Sorting I could have decided whether I wanted to stay here as a wallflower in Europe's greatest institution of learning," she said in a mocking tone, "or gone off and aspired to greatness somewhere else."

"No one is stopping you..." Vector tried to say.

"Yes, yes, I know." She waved at Vector's remark impatiently. "We can all study really hard and do really well... or at least as well as our lesser condition allows. Well, not for me. I'm sick of it and I'm leaving!"

She turned around and stormed up the stairs, leaving a stunned crowd behind her.

Roche turned to Snape and commented, "You're well out of it. She's unstable, and she can just kiss her schooling goodbye."

Snape said nothing. He had seen her bounding across the grounds with Potter and Black rushing after her, with Lupin close behind. He had a shrewd idea what had precipitated this scene.

     *  *  *

She was in her dorm room tossing her belongings haphazardly into her trunk. She was leaving, no doubt about that, but she wasn't too sure where she was going. Where would they take her? She had good grades, but being expelled was hardly a light matter.

She paused, and sat down trying to calm her nerves and collect her thoughts. Then, the door slowly opened and Dumbledore stepped in. He strolled over to her and sat down beside her. She looked down at her hands. She felt embarrassed after the huge scene she had just caused. He pulled out a crinkly package and silently offered her a toffee. She looked up at him and saw a gentle smile.

"If it makes any difference, I agree with much of what you said," he began, "though I would have preferred a calmer tone."

She sighed and said, "I'm sorry I was so harsh with you. I shouldn't have been. This place has been very good to me in many ways. I don't know why I lashed out so angrily at you." Snape's face came swimming to her mind, and she realized why she had been so livid, but she didn't want Dumbledore to know that. She tossed the book she was holding into the trunk.

"So you're still leaving?" he asked quietly. She nodded, looking down again. He adjusted his position and turned towards her. "You don't have to, you know. We don't want to lose you. Hogwarts is like a big family, and you belong to us."

She looked up at him gratefully, but then shook her head. "Thank you, sir. But I really have to leave. I'm sorry I was rude to you and to Professor Vector, but what I said was true. If I stayed, I'd feel like I'm... settling. I want to approach my graduation feeling like I'm about to revolutionize the world. I don't want to graduate feeling that my future is 'as good as can be expected.'"

They talked for a little while longer, and he had left her to finish packing.

     *  *  *

Snape stood at the foot of the stairs waiting for her. He skipped Charms class just to make sure he would see her before she left. After what seemed like an eternity, he saw her descend the stairs dragging her trunk behind her. She was slightly pale, and her face was sad. Then she saw him and walked down towards him.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" she asked. She knew why he was here, and in spite of everything that had happened between them, she appreciated the gesture.

"I'll live," he answered with a dry smile. His expression sobered. "Are you being expelled?"

She shook her head. "No. Dumbledore said I could stay if I wanted, but..." she glanced at him fleetingly, "I don't think that's possible. I need to feel that I'm... I don't know... important, that I can do great big important things with my life. I guess that sounds pretty dumb," she finished sheepishly.

"I guess you have some Slytherin in you," he said grinning.

She looked up at him and smiled warmly. She toyed with the thought of staying at Hogwarts. Maybe things could be alright for her here. Maybe she could finally patch things up with Severus and maybe 'good enough' was good enough for her. Then she remembered her neighbor. Her heart dropped. No, if I settle now, I'll never forgive myself. This is my chance at greatness, and I can't give it up.

"Where will you go?" he asked concerned.

"Dumbledore said he would write a letter of recommendation for me. I suppose I can go to Salem's back in Boston."

"Back to America," he said almost to himself. "That's pretty far away. You think you'll come back to these parts?" He tried to make his tone light, but she knew better.

Her desire to seek out her destiny was having a terrific battle with her desire to stay near him. If she didn't get out of here soon, she wasn't sure which one would win the day.

"Maybe," she answered vaguely. "I guess I should get going." She walked around him, half wishing he would grab her and hold her to him. He didn't move. "'Bye, Severus."

He turned to watch her leave. "Good luck..."

He sat down on the steps and watched her walk away. She was going to America, and he would never see her again, he was sure of this. She had reached the gates and she turned down the path towards Hogsmeade. He sat on those steps for the rest of the afternoon, without bothering to go to his classes, his elbows leaning on his knees, his fingers loosely intertwined, looking out towards the forbidden forest. He remembered the night she asked to hold his hand. He looked down at his empty hands now. Sometimes he would stare at the gates for a while, but no one came through them.

The end





Author: Melpomene Erato

To Hogwarts from the New World by Melpomene Erato [Reviews - 4]

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