Snape's Match

A few days later Lia received a sealed flying envelope from none other than Professor Dumbledore during Care of Magical Creatures, carrying a message asking her to see him in his office. Surprised, she nevertheless attempted to get Hagrid’s attention, but realised it was useless after spotting him chasing after a Moke that he had been showing to the class.


The Moke kept exercising its ability to shrink at will, therefore making Hagrid’s chase twice as hard. Harry and Ron were busy glaring daggers at Malfoy and his two sycophants Crabbe and Goyle, who were snickering at Hagrid’s predicament, but Hermione promised to tell him where Lia had gone.


“Hurry back, Lia, you don’t want to miss Charms next!”


Lia had already reached the Entrance Hall when she remembered that she had no idea where Dumbledore’s office was located. She was just considering which direction it was likely to be in when Professor McGonagall appeared out of the Great Hall.


“Everything all right, Lia?” she said inquiringly.


“Oh, yes, I suppose, Professor,” answered Lia, “except Professor Dumbledore asked me to see him in his office and I don’t know where it is.”


McGonagall gave her a peculiar glance, and motioned for Lia to follow her. “No matter, Miss Fitzgerald, I’ll show you.”


They continued along a long corridor lit by shafts of light from the huge windows that lined the left wall.
As they passed a moth-eaten tapestry depicting one of the many goblin revolutions, McGonagall suddenly looked amused.


“I see you’ve settled into Gryffindor well, Miss Fitzgerald, you even seem to have made a lifelong enemy of Professor Snape.”


If you only knew, thought Lia dryly. “Well, I hope not,” she replied diplomatically.


McGonagall snorted. “No need for that, it’s a well-known trait of Hogwarts that every Slytherin head of house hates one Gryffindor in particular. I would have thought it was Mr. Potter up till now, but you seem to have stolen his title.”


Lia forced a laugh as they reached a particularly ugly gargoyle.


“Chocolate Creams!” snapped Professor McGonagall at the gargoyle, and with a brief smile at Lia, left her to climb the slowly revolving staircase that appeared after the password had been spoken.


Lia felt a sickening mixture of nerves and curiosity as the door at the head of the staircase swung open. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, writing, as Lia entered cautiously. He fixed her with his characteristic light blue gaze, and motioned for her to sit.


“No doubt you are wondering if you are here for some kind of punishment, Miss Fitzgerald,” began Dumbledore, eliciting a self-deprecating smile from Lia. “And although there is one teacher who did come in a few weeks ago to beg for your expulsion, I am glad to say that is not the objective of this conversation.”


Dumbledore leaned forward slightly, examining Lia. “I apologize for not coming to visit you in the hospital ward after your unfortunate accident, I had hoped to ask you how you felt.”


“Oh, that’s OK, Professor.” Lia did not quite know what to say.


“Do you feel back to normal? There are no lingering effects of your stay in the hospital wing?”


Lia shook her head, confused as to where all these questions were leading. “I feel perfectly fine, Professor, I can’t say I’ve noticed anything different.”


Lia grimaced. “Although I do have an interesting collection of scars on my back now.”


Dumbledore smiled slightly. “Excellent, I thought you would make a full recovery, but I wanted to make sure,” he said, “but I would like to ask you, Miss Fitzgerald, if there’s anything you could tell me that could shed light on why this terrible thing happened to you.”


Lia shifted in her chair.


“Anything at all, Miss Fitzgerald.”


Dumbledore seemed to be watching her, although his eyes were on the paper in front of him.


Lia almost opened her mouth to tell Dumbledore about the disturbing dreams she kept having – they always felt so real, but she would have to talk about the soothing eyes that constantly chased the dreams away and that would drag Snape’s name into the conversation. She knew now to whom the coal-black eyes belonged, and why Snape’s had always seemed so familiar. It had been something she’d realised the night they’d spent together, and she hadn’t really thought about what it meant yet. Maybe I should risk it, she wondered, but decided that if Dumbledore started quizzing her about Snape she was sure to give something away. Dumbledore was now looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.


“I really don’t know of anything, Professor,” she lied, “but if I remember something I’ll tell you.”


He seemed to have expected her answer, and surprised her by switching on that famous light blue twinkle Harry always talked about.


“Very well, Miss Fitzgerald, you may go on back to class.” Lia stood up to go, but a light cough from Dumbledore made her pause at the threshold.


“You might want to know, Miss Fitzgerald, that we always hoped Professor Snape would settle down sometime.”


Lia’s face must have registered the shock she was feeling, because Dumbledore gave her a small smile.


“Just keep it discreet.”



As Lia slipped into a back seat in Charms she could still feel the blush on her cheeks. Merlin! Dumbledore knew already? How many others had he told? Would every teacher in this whole blasted school know by dinnertime?


“Are you OK, Lia? You look a bit shell-shocked.” Harry had noticed her entrance.


“Um, yeah.”


Harry still did not look convinced, so she smiled at him.


“Sorry, yeah I am. Just a bit intimidating, Dumbledore, he seems as though he can look right through you. Your description was spot on.”


His expression clearing, Harry laughed. “Yeah, he can be a bit scary sometimes. He is the only wizard Vol – I mean You-Know-Who, was ever afraid of.”


Lia nodded, and turned to the frog on her desk she was supposed to be teaching an opera aria to.


“What did he want, by the way?” asked Hermione, conducting her frog through the Habanera from Carmen.


“What, Dumbledore? Just making sure I was alright after, you know, the accident.”


There was a loud croak. Ron had just prodded his frog too hard and it had jumped out of the window. He swore.


“Merlin! First this and then Potions after lunch! How wonderful is this day?”


“We have Potions today?” asked Lia, startled. Oh Gods, how will I be able to see Severus without jumping on him? We\'d sure give the class a show if I did what I want to right this moment...


Harry looked around, amused at the faraway look on her face he obviously took for shock. “Yeah, it’s Thursday, remember? Oh come on, it won’t be that bad.”


Brought back from her daydream involving Snape, herself, and a rather thick-looking hearthrug she\'d noticed in his rooms, Lia started to laugh. “Coming from you, Harry Potter - Snape\'s-punchbag Harry Potter - that’s not entirely believable.”


Harry looked annoyed. “All right, but just don’t get into a fight with Snape and I bet he’ll leave you alone.”


Oh no, Lia thought, I will be getting into a fight with Severus. If the teachers know about us, then at least the students won’t.
With this fresh determination overcoming her embarrassment, and with the prospect of seeing Snape after lunch, Lia was able to join in with Harry’s teasing of Ron about his unfortunate frog.