Skuld: making your mind up

Thanks for reviews guys, and sorry sorry for my slowness.
Disclaimer….. I own nothing, not even my sanity anymore.

When Mia started to come round she was laying on the floor with her feet elevated on a cushion, she opened her eyes a slit and not seeing Snape, sat up gingerly. On further examination of the room she found that he had positioned himself sitting on the floor leaning against the door and was now sound asleep, muttering quietly to himself.
She stood as quietly as possible,”ok now how do I get out of here without waking him up?” she pondered. The wards and protective spells on Hogwarts meant that as half elf she would be able to apparate but it would be risky, she half turned on the spot 3 times before taking a breath and disappearing with an unpleasant crackling sound.
Mia appeared dishevelled but in one piece back in her own quarters.
“Sorrow! Come here quickly I need you to take this message to Professor Snape, then come back straight away I’ll need you to take another note.” The black and white bird hopped and flapped down from his perch in her room, croaking tiredly. He took the noted she hastily penned in his beak and glided out into the corridor; internal flying was the quickest way to the dungeons.


A clatter and tapping at the wood behind him woke Snape with a start; he instantly noticed that the young woman who had previously been passed out on the rug had now disappeared,
“Damn it and what’s that blasted noise!” he growled.
Flinging open the door he found the impatient magpie which hopping up and down, spat out a note onto the floor and proceeded to croak at him in a most annoying fashion.
“I assume I know who this is from, Merlin’s beard must you make that awful noise, hush!” Sorrow blinked at him and closed his beak, following in man into the room.
Snape read the note, it was as follows,
My dear Severus,
Please keep what I told you to yourself, I can’t afford to lose this position and I’ll surely be dismissed if people find out. I think we should talk.
Yours, hopefully
Mia

Severus tutted, “As if I haven’t got enough to worry about, your job is the last thing on my mind right now, tch, I haven’t got time for games, why can’t anything just be simple?” He looked at Sorrow, who cocked his head to the side and cawed softly, blinking. “I surely must be losing my mind, talking to a damned bird!”

I will say nothing for now. I trust you will understand that dishonesty will be no longer an option in any discourse you may wish to conduct.
SS

Sorrow took the missive and flapped back to the infirmary.




Mia, read the note and at this point was so tired from the evenings activities that she practically passed out cold for the rest of the night.

A few days later she had procrastinated as much as she could and waited anxiously outside the DADA classroom. She was hoping that a subtly edited version of events would not meet with too much displeasure from Barty. As the children spilled out into the hall she smiled at the young faces all excited and chattering about the tournament. She nodded at Draco Malfoy the boy who she’d met near the start of term, he seemed non the worse for his spell as a ferret as he gave her a haughty glare and walked straight past without acknowledgment. She frowned and looked up to find a gangly red headed boy along with the boy who she knew to be Harry potter, everyone knew Harry after all.
“Miss, I’m supposed to tell you that mum says thanks for getting my brothers back to normal after that accident with the aging potion.”
“You must be Fred and Georges brother then I suppose?”
“Yes miss, I’m Ron, and this is Hermione and Harry.” He gestured to the boy and a bushy haired girl she had not previously noted.
“Well Ron, its very nice of your mum, but I would’ve thought Your brothers are old enough to thank me themselves if they want to.”
“I think mum’s worried that they might try and give you a present miss. Fred and Georges idea of a good surprise isn’t everyone’s. They’d probably give you chocolates that make your hair purple or something like that!”
Mia gave the three a big smile, “Thanks for the tip off then, I’ll owe you one. Now you’d all better get moving.” They nodded and departed for the common rooms.
A voice from behind made her jump,
“It’s about time I saw you, and what are you doing talking to Potter and his friends?”
Mia spun around and looked at the grizzled face of the wizard standing in the doorway to the classroom.
“I wasn’t doing anything; Ron Weasley was just thanking me for getting his brothers back to normal after the other day that’s all, why shouldn’t I speak to any of the students any way?”
She was once again man handled out of the corridor, and into the classroom,
“Firstly because I say you shouldn’t and that should be enough!” Barty/Moody spat at her. She pulled her arm away from his grasp and sat back against one of the desks.
“And secondly,” He softened his speech and approached her, stroking the back of his knarled hand over her cheek, “secondly, I wouldn’t want to see you put yourself in any more danger than you’re already risking for us Mia.”
She closed her eyes and tried to remember what things were like before she’d come here, a couple of months felt like a lifetime ago. When they’d spent each day together, when she’d been employed to nurse him to health after he’d first got home, when she was just a teenager, when he was always good to her, when he’d said he loved her and they could be together; it all seemed to be so long ago.
“What’s wrong Mia?” the softness of voice seemed to sound wrong coming from this face as she looked up, a stab of sadness hit her as she thought of how long it seemed again since he’d spoken to her kindly.
“Oh Barty, I miss you. Can’t you tell me what’s going on? When will this be over?”
“Miss me? I’m here everyday, you are a fool sometimes Mia, would you ask me to pester the dark lord, to tell him his plans must be rushed because a silly girl wants it to be so?! You know I cant tell you any more, just stay away from Potter, if you know what’s good for you, stick to what your meant to be doing here.”
“Ok, whatever you say, I know you’re right.” She looked down at her feet for a while.

“Now my dear, I trust you’ve brought me those ingredients and hopefully some news too.”
“Yes, yes, hang on.” She fumbled inside her robes and pulled out the small bag of ingredients she’d brought, handing them over to the man who shuffled around in his huge overcoat to secret them away. “Things are developing, I managed to get him alone, and there was a kiss.”
“Very good” the magical eye his socket span as he narrowed the good eye slightly, “why do I sense there is a but?”
Mia chewed her lip before answering, “Snape caught me in the stores, don’t worry he doesn’t know what I was getting, he invited me for a drink, I thought it was a gift of a chance, but he gave me veritaserum Barty, I couldn’t help it…”
Barty was clearly enraged, the ruddy complexion of Alistair Moody turned in a second from deathly white to scarlet, as he gripped her by the tops of the arms and pulled her in closely, “What did you tell him girl! Am I exposed, you’ll ruin everything!”
“No no, I didn’t get onto that, so in a way it was alright,” She tried to smile weakly, ”He started by just asking about me, I had to tell him, I couldn’t help it, just about my father and mum, about what I am, I mean I concentrated really hard Barty so I wouldn’t let you down, I passed out before it went too far.”
She was released gently back into her previous seated position, and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Well done, I should’ve known that suspicious bastard would try something like that, always was a slippery one Snape. Just be more careful in future.”
“But what if he doesn’t want anything to do with me now? I’ll be useless to you? What if he tells Dumbledore? I’ll be kicked out surely?”
“Don’t worry about that, he won’t tell he’ll want to think he’s got one up on you, and something that the old fool doesn’t know too. Ha! and as for not wanting to have anything to do with you, do you think that ugly git has attractive girls throwing themselves at his feet daily! He’ll go for it even knowing about you, let him see the real you if you want to, some men like something a bit different, it’s rarely put me off does it.” He breathed into her ear the last statement and again she closed her eyes trying to see the face she was used to as the lips of this stranger brushed her neck and she was jerked back into reality.
“Ok, I’d better get back Poppy will notice I’m late if I don’t hurry.” She slid sideways escaping further romantic efforts. She unconsciously ran a hand over her ear and neck wiping where the lopsided slash of a mouth had been.
Barty/Moody laughed, “Go on, go! But expect better news next time.”
Mia almost flew out of the door and along the corridor back towards the infirmary.