The Name in Red **COMPLETE**

Hello everyone! Here is chapter 13. Sorry again for the delay in updating. I was hoping to have the chapter done a couple days ago, but I had a bit of a busy weekend and the chapter ended up being quite long, so it took me a while to write it. Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews I have been getting! I feel terribly guilty making all of you wait for updates. I wish I could magically complete the entire story for you!

Enjoy chapter 13!


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The Name in Red.

Chapter 13: Spying and Mischievous Firewhiskey.
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After Harry hurriedly escaped the confines of the storeroom, he had quickly made his way back to the Gryffindor common room. Since he had reappeared well over an hour after Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were expecting him to, it was difficult to play off where he had been. He quickly cobbled together an excuse which involved taking a walk and dropping by to see Hagrid after having walked Sarah to Snape's office. Even though they seemed slightly suspicious at first, Harry remained as nonchalant as possible, and they eventually bought it. It was a long while later when he was able to successfully extract himself from their presence.

As soon as he was able, he went up to his dormitory and attempted to stash the small bottle of Polyjuice potion in the bottom of his trunk, wrapped in socks.

After a moment or two, he stilled. He realized that he hid his Felix Felicis this way as well a couple years back, and that Ron had seen when he'd given it to him on the fateful night he left the castle with Dumbledore. He wanted to take the utmost care in keeping the potion hidden until it was time to use it. If Ron, Hermione, or Ginny were to somehow find out, he would have a world of explaining to do.

Harry sighed. Where else could he hide it? His options weren't numerous. After a few more moments of thought, he decided that he would go back to see Sarah. He could have her hide it in her room. It wasn't as if she was living with someone else who might accidentally stumble upon it, or even go looking for it, as Ron might. If Hermione or Ginny grew too suspicious enough of Harry's activities, they might prod Ron to snoop around. The potion would be safest in Sarah's room until it was time to use it.

Donning his invisibility cloak again, Harry crept back down into the common room. He had been worried about how he would discreetly sneak back out of the portrait hole, but was relieved to see that Ron and Hermione had begun snogging a little. That would distract them nicely, he thought. Looking away to afford them some privacy, he made his way over to the portrait hole, idly wondering where Ginny had gone and if he should try and sneak up to see her later. Of all the amazing things that Harry and Ron had accomplished, they still had not managed to engineer a way to get up into the girl's dormitories without the staircase turning into a smooth stone slide, denying them entry. Everyone seems to be snogging tonight, he thought to himself. Even Snape.

As he made his way toward the Room of Requirement, he couldn't help but reflect upon what he had tried his hardest not to see back in the storeroom. The plan was for Sarah to distract Snape, and she did just that. They certainly had been quite passionate. Harry had carefully given Sarah the all-clear, but he had no idea how far things may have carried on after he left. It was hard enough for him to accept the fact that Snape had been snogging anyone, let alone his friend. It was even harder to imagine that he might have taken it a step further, right there in the storeroom. Harry shuddered involuntarily.

It was so strange to imagine Snape in that context. As he turned the corner into the seventh floor corridor, he was greatly hoping that Sarah was back in her room. He was also greatly hoping that she was alone in there. If for some reason Snape had accompanied Sarah not only back to her room, but into it, Harry would certainly be spending the next several weeks in the hospital wing courtesy of Snape.

Pacing back and forth in front of the blank stretch of wall, he made Sarah's door appear. Approaching it, he took a deep breath before knocking softly.

It was several moments before anything happened. Harry grew worried. Either Sarah was inside, fretting about who could be at the door and trying to decide whether or not to open it, or he was about to get a very unpleasant greeting from an angry Snape. When the door finally swung open, he was relieved to see only Sarah, but still quickly glanced over her shoulders and peered around her room to be sure that she was alone.

"Harry," Sarah breathed. He quickly looked her over; she looked slightly flushed and a bit disheveled. Harry didn't have to guess why. Despite having said his name, she did not move aside. She stared out into what appeared to her to be an empty corridor. Harry blinked at her.

"Oh," he said softly, realizing that he was invisible. Pulling off his cloak, he watched as Sarah's eyes focused on his newly appeared form. He gave her a small smile. "Hey Sarah. Can I come in?"

"Sure," she said softly, stepping aside for him to enter.

As Harry stepped inside, he gave the room another once-over, and also peered into the bathroom. Sarah's room was indeed empty except for her, but he couldn't be too careful. During his inspection of the room, he had noticed that her sheets were not turned down in spite of the fact that she was now wearing her comfortable pajama robes. The fireplace was burning lowly, and only one of the sconces was lit. It made the room fairly dim. On the nightstand, there was a small uncorked bottle, and a few small scraps of parchment which had been written upon. When he heard the door close softly behind him, he turned back to face Sarah.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" he asked, casually throwing his cloak down on the foot of her bed.

"No, not at all. I was just... lying around, really," she replied sheepishly. As she regarded Harry, her eyes involuntarily flickered over to her nightstand where the small bottle of Amortentia was standing uncorked. Harry didn't miss it.

Turning back to Sarah's nightstand, Harry carefully picked up the small bottle. He could only imagine that it contained whatever Snape had instructed her to brew this evening. Not being able to identify it outwardly, he raised it close to his nose, where he passed it back and forth a few times and sniffed gently. He could distinctly detect the scent of treacle tart, broomstick handles, and Ginny's flowery likeness. His eyes widened as he turned back to the girl standing near the door. She blushed.

"This isn't Amortentia, is it?" he asked, sounding surprised.

Sarah nodded a couple of times, moving further into the room. Harry turned back to the nightstand and corked the small bottle, setting it back down. He realized that she had probably been sitting here enjoying its scent, though what it smelled like to her, he dare not ask. He could probably hazard a guess.

"Professor Snape had you make it tonight?" he asked, turning back toward Sarah.

"Yeah," she replied softly.

Harry snorted a little.

"Not very subtle, is he?" he laughed. Instead of getting a smile out of Sarah, he saw that she still appeared flushed and was looking away from him. His eyes narrowed a little in thought, again reflecting on the passionate scene that he partially witnessed. "You didn't take any of it, did you?"

Harry easily recalled just what a powerful reaction a love potion had on Ron just a few years previously.

"Of course not," Sarah smirked. "But I think I might as well have. I did a really great job of picking which ingredient to mess up," she said, her tone sarcastic.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

He watched as Sarah moved toward him, gently pushing him aside to access the nightstand. Picking up one of the pieces of parchment, she folded it over so only a portion of it showed. Handing it to Harry, she moved back across the room, where she turned one of the chairs in front of her fireplace to face him.

Harry plopped down to sit on the edge of Sarah's bed as he examined the parchment. He squinted. It was a bit too dark. Taking his wand out of his robes, he flicked it at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It began to glow semi-brightly, giving him enough light to read by. Looking back down at the parchment, he immediately recognized the spiky, cramped script to be Snape's. He silently read the small paragraph describing the tribulus terrestris seeds. When he finished, he began to laugh.

"You didn't," he said to Sarah, still laughing.

Sarah, now seated in one of her comfortable chairs, folded her arms across her chest.

"No wonder you two seemed so... passionate." Harry continued laughing to himself.

"Well, I had a little help," Sarah said curtly.

"What did you do to them?" Harry asked, gesturing to the parchment.

"I was trying to crush them or tear them up, but they wouldn't come apart," Sarah explained. "I squeezed them a little too hard and they pierced my skin. I was fine at first, but when I was following Professor Snape to the storeroom I started feeling... weird. I guess I should be thankful that the seeds gave me a little push... I was so nervous, I probably would have choked otherwise," she sighed.

"Enjoy the plan, then?" Harry winked at her suggestively. Sarah glared at him, but not harshly.

"Oh yes," she said, her tone dry, "I just loved snogging with your teacher and getting felt up by him too. I'm disappointed he didn't take me right then and there against the ladder. I'm sure you could tell how much we were enjoying it, Mr. Invisible. Did you hear us moaning?" she drawled. If Harry was going to joke around, she was going to be as honest as possible and perhaps make him regret it a little.

Harry, unable to keep a straight face at her description, laughed again. That had sounded completely Snapeworthy in candor.

"Okay, okay," he surrendered, "Too much. At any rate, I got what we were after."

Harry reached inside his robes and withdrew the small bottle of Polyjuice potion. It was a tiny amount, he knew, only enough for about an hour's transformation at most. Hopefully, that should be more than enough time for them to accomplish their goal. Harry stood and moved to where Sarah sat, handing her the potion, and then retaking his seat on the edge of her bed.

Sarah turned the small bottle over in her hand, examining it.

"And this is going to turn you into someone else?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the potion.

"That's right," Harry told her, "But not automatically. I'll have to get something from the person I want to turn into first."

"Get something?" Sarah inquired. She knew that the strange potion Harry obtained would be able to turn him into someone else, but she had no idea how it actually worked.

"Right," Harry started, "That's the way Polyjuice potion works. You have to get a piece of the person you want to turn into, and add it to the potion. A piece of hair works just fine."

Sarah quirked a brow.

"So what exactly are we going to be doing with this?" she asked. She wanted Harry to explain his little plan in greater detail now.

"Well," he started, "Last time, I spent a while staking out in front of the Ministry, to figure out who we could count on to be there at the same time every day. We had to get three of us inside. This shouldn't be as bad. We already know exactly where we're going, and getting one person in safely should be much easier."

"How do you figure?" Sarah asked, still idly turning over the bottle in her hand.

"Here's what we'll do," Harry said, sounding serious. His brows furrowed a little in thought. "I'll go it alone first, and sneak in there with my cloak. Then, I can watch what goes on inside the Obliviator Headquarters, and see if I can tell who the higher-ups are. Those are the people that should have access to whatever it is we're looking for. Once I've figured that out, I'll just have to see which exit the person I pick uses to come and go from the place. After that, it's only a matter of intercepting them whenever they happen to show up to work the next day."

"Intercepting them?" Sarah asked.

"We'll have to confund them or something," Harry explained. "So they don't go into work. We can't have the real person running around if I'm trying to impersonate them."

"So let me get this straight," Sarah said, sitting up a little more. "You're going to sneak into the Ministry, pick a mark, and then assualt a Ministry official in order to impersonate them and steal sensitive records?"

"That's right," Harry replied, sounding completely unfazed.

Sarah rolled her eyes a little and sighed.

"I'm starting to think Hermione was right," she said. "This is sounding crazier by the minute."

"It'll be fine, trust me," Harry tried to assure her. "This will be a picnic compared to what I had to do in there before. It might sound a little sketchy, but at least there's not Death Eaters running 'round all over the place in there anymore, right? If I happen to get caught, I doubt they're going to be yelling 'hey, we've got undesirable number one!'. It'll be just fine. And no matter what happens, remember, you're under that cloak. No one is going to see you, its protection is flawless."

"I guess you're right," Sarah sighed. She knew Harry had an aptitude for plans like this, but it still made her nervous. "And when is all of this going to happen?"

"We can start tomorrow," Harry said, sounding hopeful. "I can ask Professor McGonagall if I can take you back to Diagon Alley for a bit more shopping, now that you're not so clueless about everything there."

"I haven't got any of my Muggle money changed over to your money yet," said Sarah.

"That's fine," Harry said quickly, "I've got loads. I can lend you some. If she lets us go, I'll take you there. Then, all you'll have to do is keep yourself busy shopping during the afternoon while I sneak into the Ministry. Once I've figured everything out, I'll come back for you."

"And what exactly am I supposed to shop for all afternoon?" asked Sarah.

"Anything you like!" Harry assured her. "Trust me. I'll give you some galleons, and you'll be all set. Just keep yourself busy. I might even give you a bit of a shopping list, there will be a couple things I want to take into the Ministry when we go, but I'm out of them."

"Are you sure?" Sarah pressed. She knew she still owed Professor McGonagall money for her last shopping trip, even if the kindly old woman told her that she didn't owe her anything. Sarah still felt a little guilty about it, and wasn't too keen on starting a new tab with Harry.

"Trust me," Harry said firmly, "I've got more gold than I know what to do with. I'd be glad for you to take a bit of it off my hands."

"If you say so," replied Sarah, still sounding unsure.

"I do," Harry said. "Now, if this works out, it should let me figure out what I need to know. Then we can decide when we actually want to go through with it. If tomorrow's Saturday, and we get to go to Diagon Alley, we might be able to do it as early as Sunday."

"Sunday?" Sarah repeated, sounding a little shaky. She swallowed hard. She hadn't expected their plan to be ready to execute this quickly, and she would be lying if she told Harry that she was completely unafraid of what they were going to do.

Harry nodded once at her. Sarah sighed.

"I guess then is as good a time as any," she admitted.

"That's what I say," Harry told her confidently. He recalled how Ron and Hermione hadn't exactly been thrilled when he'd told them that they should get their plan underway sooner than later. Hesitating for a long time wouldn't do much to make them more prepared in either case, when what they were seeking was just sitting there waiting for them.

"And what about Sunday, then?" Sarah asked. "What are we going to use as an excuse for going back to London?"

Harry sat silent in thought; he hadn't planned that much out.

"I know," he said at last. "I'll ask if I can take you into Hogsmeade then, to show you around. Perfectly believable."

Sarah gave a small smile. Harry sure knew how to make up excuses on the spot and cover his tracks very well.

Harry stood, scooping up his cloak from the foot of her bed.

"I'll go see Professor McGonagall about it tomorrow. With any luck, she'll give me permission to take you to Diagon Alley," he said, swinging his cloak about his shoulders so he still remained visible as he faced Sarah. "If I've got everything I need when we get back, I can ask her for permission to take you into Hogsmeade on Sunday. She should be fine with it, I think."

"Alright," Sarah said, also standing. Taking a couple steps toward Harry, she extended her arm, holding the small bottle of Polyjuice potion out to him. He shook his head at her.

"That's the reason I came, actually," he said, extending his own arm and gently pushing her hand holding the bottle back toward her. "I wanted you to keep it until it's time, I think it'll be safer here than in my trunk."

"Alright," said Sarah. "I'll just stick it underneath some of my clothes."

Moving toward the large wardrobe, she opened its doors and pulled open one of the drawers at random. Happening to have chosen her undergarment drawer, she blushed a little and quickly shoved the small bottle underneath her bras and panties. Harry, who had been watching over her shoulder, snorted.

"Just be sure Professor Snape doesn't look in there," he said, laughing by the time he reached the end of his sentence.

Sarah smirked and closed the drawer loudly, rounding on Harry.

"If you don't stop giving me such a hard time, I'll make sure he does," she said, giving him a little glare.

"I'm sorry," Harry smiled. "Like I told you before, the whole thing is just-,"

"I know, I know, I'm absurd," Sarah said, sounding irked. She placed her hands on Harry's shoulders and started shepherding him to the door. "The night awaits, Mr. Invisible. I'm sure you're dying to go and find more happily snogging couples to watch."

Reaching the door, Harry pulled it open, laughing again.

"Actually, before I left the common room, Ron and Hermione were-,"

Sarah cut him off.

"Alright, alright. I'll see you tomorrow," she sighed, pushing him out of the door.

"Good night, Sarah. I'll come and find you as soon as I speak to Professor McGonagall," Harry told her, wrapping his cloak around himself entirely so that he disappeared.

"Good night, Harry," Sarah said to the empty corridor, closing her door.

Walking back inside her room, she shut the doors to her wardrobe, and then moved to her bed where she finally turned down the sheets. Before lying down, however, she carefully picked up her small bottle of Amortentia again. Uncorking it, she sighed softly as she took in its scent. It smelled just like him. She idly hoped that if he were to smell it as well, that it would smell like her. She carefully re-corked it and set the bottle back down on her nightstand.

Settling into the bed, the chandelier and sconce dimmed themselves for her, and then put themselves out. The fireplace continued to burn lowly. As she closed her eyes and began trying to fall asleep, she felt a strange empty feeling inside at the knowledge that tomorrow was Saturday. Aside from all her nervousness about the weekend's plans, she felt a little disappointed; she would not have another lesson with Snape until Monday. It seemed to be ages away.


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The following day, shortly before lunch, Harry was making his way toward the Headmaster's study that he so often frequented over the past years. Instead of being occupied by Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall was running the show, and she was doing as good a job as Dumbledore could ever have hoped for. Daylight was shining in through the windowed corridors as he went. The day outside was cloudy and chilly, but not overly dark. As he walked, Harry mentally reviewed how his conversation with Professor McGonagall would go. He would politely ask that he be able to take Sarah shopping in Diagon Alley once again, now that she wasn't so clueless about magic and had a better idea of some of the things she might need in order to study more successfully.

If she granted him this permission, he and Sarah would leave after eating lunch with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in the Great Hall. That way, they wouldn't have to slip off and risk arousing their suspicion. Harry would tell them the truth; well, part of it, at least. He would tell them that they were going to take a trip to Diagon Alley for the afternoon, under Professor McGonagall's permission. He would omit the parts about him sneaking into the Ministry on another reconnaissance mission. If Harry only told them what they needed to know, and no more than that, he couldn't see anything suspicious about it. Once in Diagon Alley, after a quick stop at Gringotts, Harry would leave Sarah to occupy herself for the afternoon while he went to the Ministry. It seemed foolproof.

As Harry approached the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's tower, he was surprised to see as it stepped aside. He hadn't even given a password yet. All confusion was removed when Professor McGonagall emerged from behind it a few moments later. She seemed deep in thought, and looked a little startled when she noticed Harry standing in front of her.

"Potter!" she said, placing a hand on her chest. "I didn't see you there." She then examined him, expecting to find his invisibility cloak somewhere on his person. Harry smirked.

"I was just coming to see you," Harry said politely, "Completely visible, in fact."

McGonagall smiled.

"What can I do for you, Potter?" she asked.

"Actually, Professor, I was wondering if I might ask your permission for something," Harry said, trying to sound as polite and casual as possible.

McGonagall let out a high chuckle.

"Potter? Ask Permission for something?" she laughed. Harry strolling right up to an authority figure and asking permission to do something was unheard of. He'd broken more rules in his Hogwarts career than several graduating classes combined. "Perhaps Miss Garrend has had some strange effect on you. You have never bothered to ask permission for anything before!" she said, sounding greatly amused.

Harry smiled at her. He supposed that he could see the humor in the situation.

"Actually, Professor, she's why I was coming to see you," he said.

"Is something wrong, Potter?" asked McGonagall. Her expression became one of concern. She had spent nearly every free moment since the girl's arrival fretting about her, and attempting to unravel the mystery behind her circumstances.

"No, not at all," Harry said quickly. "I was just wondering if you would let me take her for another trip to Diagon Alley. She's been talking about wanting to go back, but it's not as if she would be able to get there on her own yet."

"To Diagon Alley?" McGonagall repeated, sounding neutral.

"Yes, Professor," Harry pressed. "I think it might do her some good to take another trip there, now that she's not so clueless about magic. She might be able to buy a few things that might help her out, now that she knows what they are. She seems to have taken a shine to potions, and I think she wants to buy some things of her own at the Apothecary."

McGonagall smirked. She didn't have to guess twice as to why the girl might have taken an interest in that particular field of study. Her teacher had probably driven her in that direction with enthusiasm.

"And when would you like to go, Potter?" asked McGonagall.

"I was thinking this afternoon, Professor," Harry said. "It's Saturday, so both of us are free for the afternoon. I was thinking we could leave after lunch, and come back sometime after supper."

He wanted to leave a wide window of time in which to operate. If he were to tell McGonagall that he would be back very soon, she might become worried if he were to be late. Leaving all afternoon and part of the early evening should be more than enough time.

McGonagall looked at Harry thoughtfully. She couldn't see any reason why they shouldn't be able to go. They were both of age, of course. On top of that, Harry would have already completed his education at Hogwarts had he not spent the entire previous year locked in mortal struggle with the Dark Lord. It was unusual to allow students to take trips like this, but she really couldn't see the harm. As far as she was concerned, he should be able to do whatever he liked by now, and Sarah wasn't even technically a Hogwarts student. After a few moments, she nodded at him.

"Very well, Potter," she said. "You may go as long as you both check in with me when you return."

Smiling, Harry felt elated inside. The first step of their many-tiered plan was complete. He had permission to take Sarah to Diagon Alley. As long as everything went according to plan today, obtaining permission to take her into Hogsmeade tomorrow should be simple. It was, after all, much closer to the school than London. It was even an approved location for students to visit on certain weekends of the school year. It would be a snap.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, "We'll check in with you as soon as we get back."

After giving Harry a curt nod of recognition, McGonagall continued on her way. Heading down a different hallway, Harry began making his way back through the castle toward Sarah's seventh floor corridor. Being quite excited, he wanted to tell her right away that they had permission to go. He knew that she was apprehensive about their plan. She shouldn't be nervous about this part at least, Harry thought. All she had to do was spend the afternoon shopping while he did the dirty work. She would probably enjoy having another visit to Diagon Alley where she was free to look around at her leisure instead of being hurried along by Snape.

Reaching the seventh floor corridor, he quickly paced back and forth in front of the blank stretch of wall. Sarah's door promptly appeared, and he immediately knocked several times. It was only a few moments before Sarah opened the door. Harry was glad to see that she was no longer looking flushed and disheveled, as she had been last night. She looked fresh and ready for the day.

"Hey Harry," she said, "So nice of you to let me actually see you when you knock on my door."

Harry smirked.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I forget I'm wearing it half the time, really. I wanted to come give you the good news."

Sarah tilted her head at him quizzically.

"I've gotten permission from Professor McGonagall," he said. "She's going to let us go to Diagon Alley this afternoon, after lunch."

Sarah nodded. It won't be so bad, she thought to herself. All I've got to do is shop all afternoon until Harry comes back.

"And what are we going to tell the others?" she asked.

"Only as much as we need to," Harry replied. "When we leave, we'll just tell them that we're going to Diagon Alley for the day, and that we've got permission from Professor McGonagall. They can't argue with that. There'll be things you need to buy now that you know more about what's going on."

"Like what?" asked Sarah.

"Well, like potions materials," Harry said. He had told McGonagall that one of the reasons Sarah wanted to go to Diagon Alley was to visit the Apothecary. It couldn't hurt if she actually went there to bolster his story. "Don't you want to be able to make your own? Using your own things?"

Sarah looked contemplative. She didn't really know the full extent of what potions could do, but it seemed like they could be extremely useful. She wouldn't mind having her own things on hand in case she wanted to make something on her own, outside of her lessons. After all, her room had created a Potions textbook for her when she moved in.

"Yeah, I guess so," she admitted.

"I'm sure there are loads of other things you'll find, too," Harry assured her. "You barely got to see anything last time you went. This time, you'll have all afternoon to look around at whatever you like."

"Alright," said Sarah. It did sound like she might actually be able to have some fun; that is, if she were able to keep herself from worrying about Harry all day. "We're leaving after lunch?" she asked, peering at Harry's starry watch and being unable to read the time from her angle.

"Yeah," Harry said, noticing Sarah's glance and raising his watch up to look at it. "Just come down in about half an hour. We'll have lunch with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and then we'll go."

"Okay," said Sarah. "See you soon."

Harry nodded at her and headed off. Shutting the door, Sarah moved back over to her bed and sat down. When Harry had arrived, she was reading a book about magical creatures. She was planning on seeing Hagrid again next week, and wanted to be a little more prepared this time around. Picking up the book, she dog-eared the page that she had left off on, having been fascinated by the chapter dedicated to dragons. She set the book down on her nightstand and sighed softly when she set eyes on the small bottle of Amortentia.

She reached out to the bottle and picked it up. After turning it over in her hand a few times, she uncorked it and took in its scent. It smelled just like Snape. She still had a strange, empty feeling inside from knowing that she wouldn't be seeing him again until Monday. What would she do all evening when she and Harry got back from Diagon Alley? She would probably be very bored.

Re-corking the bottle carefully, she set it back down and sighed to herself again. This was crazy. Was she so powerfully attracted to this dark, mysterious man that she was already missing him? It was only for the weekend, she realized. Once Monday rolled around, she would be back into her lessons every night. The past week, it had become so routine to be nervously anticipating what would happen in her next lesson that she felt strange without the tingling sensations of it. She would just have to look forward to Monday's lesson even more. Perhaps she could surprise him before then, and put in a little potions practice on her own.

Standing up, Sarah moved over to her bathroom. As it lit itself for her, she leaned into the mirror, peering into her eyes and inspecting them closely. They were still the same normal color of brown that she had always known. Ever since the charm had mysteriously worn off during Thursday night's lesson, she had been checking them frequently in an effort to avoid the disaster of having it fade in public. When Snape reapplied the charm, he told her that he applied it more strongly in order to protect against this, and so far his words seemed to be true. Her eyes appeared normal as ever, and if not for getting that potion in her eyes, she might not know about their shift in color at all.

Sarah spent the next short while getting herself ready to leave. Her preparations including leafing through the Potions textbook from her bookshelf, eyeing some of the more common ingredients that she might be able to pick up at the Apothecary later in the day. She had an entire afternoon to wile away shopping. She had never been much for shopping, usually only doing it when she actually needed something. She was excited, however, and already knew that shopping in Diagon Alley was infinitely more fun than anywhere she could have possibly shopped in the Muggle world.


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A while later, Sarah and Harry were finishing up lunch in the Great Hall with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Throughout the meal, all three of them were curiously observing Sarah, to see if she would display any further signs of her strangely nervous behavior. Unfortunately for them, she was acting normally. There was no anxiety over seeing Snape in the evening since it was Saturday, and she knew that all she had to do was spend the afternoon shopping in Diagon Alley while Harry took care of whatever he needed to within the Ministry. After a while, they seemed satisfied that Sarah was fine, and stopped discreetly scrutinizing her.

When they finished eating, Harry and Sarah began rising from the table. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny looked at them curiously.

"Well, we're off," Harry said casually.

"Where are you two going, then?" Ron asked, sounding confused.

"Diagon Alley," Harry stated. "Sarah wants to do some more shopping, and Professor McGonagall gave us permission to go for the afternoon."

Hermione looked thoughtful. Taking day trips to London wasn't exactly common practice for Hogwarts students, but she couldn't see anything suspicious about it. Taking note of her expression, Harry spoke up again.

"We should be back around supper time, don't worry," he said. After he had risen from the table, he leaned down to give Ginny an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later," he told her quietly.

"Alright," Ron said resignedly. He sounded a little disappointed, as he was hoping to go down to the pitch with Harry later for a bit of practice. Hermione regarded them, and nodded silently.

When Harry and Sarah left the Great Hall, they began heading for the castle's main entrance. As he walked, Harry patted his pockets, assuring himself of their contents.

"I've got my cloak," he said, "I've got my wand, I've got my last Decoy Detonator. That should be everything I need," he listed off.

"Decoy Detonator?" Sarah repeated. She looked to Harry in a small attempt to glance inside of the pocket containing the mysterious item.

"Yeah, it's this wonderful little thing, very useful," Harry said, patting his pocket again. "If you need a distraction, you just drop it, and it runs off and makes a loud noise out of sight."

Sarah raised her eyebrows. That did sound pretty useful. She imagined that it could provide him with just the distraction he might need to get away if he were to get into trouble.

When they reached the entrance hall, they found that the castle's large doors were open for the day. They stepped outside into the chilly air. The day was still very cloudy, and there was even a thin settling of fog that could be seen on the edges of the Forbidden Forest. Sarah imagined that the weather probably wouldn't be much nicer in London. Fortunately, she dressed for the occasion, putting on her warmest robes and her hiking boots. She decided to leave her Gryffindor scarf behind; she didn't want to attract any attention to herself. People might think it strange for a Hogwarts student to be walking around in Diagon Alley in the middle of a Saturday during term.

Harry wrapped his arms around himself. He didn't go out of his way to dress warmly, as he knew he would be inside most of the day. In addition to this, the less clothing he had to hinder his movement, the better. He would need to remain invisible all day underneath his cloak, and this required being extremely mobile and agile to avoid unexpected contact. If he were not so very practiced with stealth, Snape most certainly would have discovered him in the storeroom last night after he dragged Sarah inside. Harry was able to nimbly dodge out of their way.

They soon reached the edge of the school's grounds. Once they were outside the castle's protective perimeter, Harry turned to Sarah and held out his arm.

"You know how this works, right?" he asked her.

Sarah nodded, having already experienced Side-Along Apparition with Snape. She quickly stepped forward and locked her arm in Harry's, shutting her eyes tight in anticipation of the strange sensation she was about to experience. Watching her, Harry smirked. He didn't really care much for the sensation of Apparition either. Squeezing her arm tightly in his, he turned on the spot and dragged them into nothingness.

Sarah's reappearance in the material world was much smoother this time around. She still wouldn't have the faintest idea how to go about learning to Apparate on her own, but she seemed to have gotten used to being taken by Side-Along fairly quickly. Instead of stumbling to the ground, she landed steadily on her feet with Harry beside her. Glancing around, she found herself in the same dark alleyway that Snape had Apparated them into on her first visit. She slid her arm out of Harry's, but he took another moment or two looking her over to be sure that she was alright.

"To the Leaky Cauldron, then?" asked Sarah.

Harry nodded and smiled at her, leading her out of the alley. Sarah had been right, and the weather in London wasn't much nicer at all. It was just as chilly and just as cloudy, maybe even moreso. At least it had been clear by Hogwarts; here, it was lightly drizzling. The pair walked hurriedly along the streets, receiving a few curious glances from passersby due to their somewhat abnormal attire. Sarah couldn't care less. She found that she much preferred her casual robes to Muggle clothing, even though she still liked to wear her Muggle jeans and t-shirts underneath most of the time.

It only required walking a few blocks before they reached the small run-down pub, quickly getting inside for a few moments of respite from the chill. The pub was more crowded than usual. There was still a small late lunch crowd seated sparsely around the room. A few of the patrons looked over at him as he passed, but he was quick to turn his head down. He wasn't in the mood for anyone's excitement over such a huge celebrity sighting.

In the small alley behind the pub, Harry used his wand to tap a specific brick on the wall. Sarah watched again in amazement as the bricks rearranged themselves to form an archway. Stepping through, she found herself in Diagon Alley once more. It had been a very fast trip.

"Here we are," Harry said enthusiastically. He then reached inside of his robes and pulled out a small piece of parchment, which he handed to Sarah. "I made you a bit if a shopping list. There are just a couple things that I'd like to bring with us when we go, so I thought you could pick them up for me, seeing as I'll be lending you money and all. Come on," he said, turning and leading her down the crooked street in the direction of Gringotts.

Sarah stowed the small piece of parchment inside her robes, not bothering to read it yet. She still had an urge to talk Harry out of lending money to her, but she couldn't see a way out of it if he wanted her to pick up a couple things for him. She just hoped he wasn't overly generous.

There was a slightly smaller crowd in Diagon Alley today, due to the chill and light rain. Still, some witches and wizards were bustling about, going from shop to shop for their needs. Sarah examined the street with equal wonder to her first visit, amazed that such an incredible place could exist right under the noses of the entire Muggle London population. It wasn't long before she could see the immense white-marbled bank building looming before them.

When they entered the bank, Harry quickly made his way up to the nearest empty counter. Sarah followed behind him. She was still a little unnerved by the sight of the goblin, but she avoided this particular goblin's ire by keeping herself from gaping at him. When Harry drew up to the counter, Sarah immediately noticed as the goblin's eyes widened. He had seen Harry's scar.

More than aware that the goblin knew who he was, Harry didn't bother to introduce himself or present identification.

"I'd like to make a withdrawal from my vault, please," he said politely. The goblin nodded once at him.

"This way, please," said the goblin, his voice gruff. It took only a moment to retrieve Harry's key, and then they were on their way.

Sarah knew that Gringotts looked huge from the outside, but she hadn't the faintest idea of its massive underground workings. As the goblin took them down into the vaults by cart, she was awed.

"Jeeze!" she yelled to Harry, having difficulty hearing her own voice through the wind whistling in her ears. They were cruising along very quickly. "How deep does this place go?"

The goblin glanced at her, giving her a little glare, but Sarah did not see.

"I'm not even sure," Harry yelled back.

There came a distant, rumbling roar. Gripping the side of the cart tightly with both hands, Sarah looked to Harry with an expression of fear.

"Dragons," he yelled in explanation. Sarah became very pale.

When they finally halted to a stop, she was feeling slightly queasy. The way down had practically been a mini roller coaster ride. The goblin exited the cart. Harry exited next, and Sarah stumbled out after him. It was extremely dark, and the small, brightly-glowing lantern the goblin held aloft was the only source of light. Wrapping her arms around herself, Sarah shivered. It was even chillier down here than it was outside.

The door to the vault before them was enormous, and Sarah looked confused when the goblin only produced a tiny golden key. The goblin approached the vault's door, inserting the tiny key into a series of keyholes. After the key had been turned in each of them, the door's elaborate locking and unlocking mechanisms set to work. It was about a minute before the vault was completely unlocked. When the door swung open, the goblin simply stood aside. Sarah looked to Harry, who drew his wand from inside his robes.

"Lumos," he said, pointing his wand into the vault.

When Sarah saw his wandlight dancing off glittering surfaces inside, she mimicked him. Drawing her own wand, she spoke.

"Lumos," she repeated. Her wandlight burst forth, blindingly bright at first, but she managed to lower its brightness with a little jerk of her hand. She smiled. She had never before attempted to create this light, and she was satisfied that she managed to do it on her first try.

Harry stepped forward into the vault, still holding his lit wand out in front of him. Sarah followed. When she set eyes upon the enormous piles of gold, she gasped. Harry hadn't been joking when he'd said he had loads of gold.

"How the hell did you get all this?" she asked loudly. She continued shining her wandlight around the room, inspecting every corner. It was literally stuffed with gold.

Harry had already knelt down in front of the nearest pile, and was picking up galleons.

"My parents left some of it for me," he said, "and my godfather left me the rest when he died, remember? That's how I inherited the house, too. Now come here." Harry motioned for Sarah to join him.

Moving over to Harry, she knelt down beside him.

"Just fill a couple pockets," he instructed her, "That should be more than enough to keep you busy all afternoon."

Sarah extended her hand toward the pile of gold in front of her, sifting through it. Many galleons lost their place on the pile, jingling merrily onto the floor. Picking up one of the large golden coins, she examined it.

"This is gold, Harry," she said, giving him a bemused look. "Are you sure about this?"

Harry smirked at her.

"For the last time, yes, I'm sure. Now fill up a couple of your pockets before I fill them for you," he replied.

Doing as instructed, Sarah filled two of the inside pockets of her robes with the large golden coins. When she was finished, they both stood and left the vault. The goblin closed the door behind them, re-locking it.

Even though it was extremely cloudy outside, Sarah was glad to be back in the daylight after leaving the bank's underground tunnels. After they descended the steps back onto the street, Harry stopped her.

"Here," he said, reaching inside his robes. Sarah shook her head when he withdrew what appeared to be another gold galleon. He held it out to her.

"I think I've got enough of those already. My pockets are so full I can barely walk," she jested.

"No, no, this is different," Harry explained quickly. Sarah extended a hand toward him, and he placed the large fake galleon in her upturned palm. "This one's a fake, the kind we used to use as communication devices for the DA. I wanted to give you one so you'd know when I was coming back for you."

Sarah turned the fake galleon over in her hand. It looked identical to the real ones she had stuffing her pockets.

"Stick it in pocket," Harry said, "And when you feel it grow hot, meet me back at the Leaky Cauldron. Just be careful not to accidentally try and spend it, that could get you into some trouble."

"Alright," said Sarah, taking the fake coin and sliding it into one of the back pockets of her jeans. "Now what?"

"Now you shop," said Harry, "And I'm off to the Ministry."

"Be careful, Harry," Sarah told him. She would probably be worrying about him all afternoon, and constantly checking to see if her fake coin had warmed up.

"I'll be fine," Harry assured her, giving her a smile. "You just worry about having a fun time here. I'll be back for you later. Don't forget to pick up the things on the list for me."

After thanking him again, Sarah watched as Harry left, hurrying the opposite direction down the crooked street. Taking a deep breath, she looked around. Well, here she was, she thought. Smack in the middle of a magical shopping establishment, loaded with gold, without the faintest clue of what to buy.

Reaching inside her robes, she took out the small piece of parchment Harry had given her when they first arrived. She hadn't bothered to read it immediately, but she thought that it would be best to start with what she knew she needed to buy first. Once she had that out of the way, she could work from there.

Upon unfolding it, she discovered that there were in fact two small pieces of parchment. One of them bore her name, and the other one was labeled George. Unfolding the piece which bore her name, she read the note that Harry left her.

I need a few more Decoy Detonators, and some Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. You can find both of these in the joke shop that you visited last time. Ron and Ginny's older brother George runs the place. The other piece of parchment I gave you is a note for him. Give that to him, and he will know that you're a friend of ours. He's really friendly, I'm sure he'll give you a deal.

Also, don't accidentally wander into Knockturn Alley.

Stuffing the note back inside her robes, she started on her way down the street in the direction she knew the joke shop to be. It wasn't long before she saw the store front emblazoned, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Stopping herself from gazing into the shop's front window, still filled with multitudes of fascinating, eye-catching objects, she opened the door and stepped inside.

A small bell jingled as she shut the door, alerting the shop owner to her presence. Sarah saw as a tall, lanky man with bright red hair and one ear stepped up to greet her. When he saw her, he smiled widely, recognizing her from her previous visit. She'd inspected his wares with much more curiosity than most people did, and that was saying a lot.

"Back again, are we?" he said to her, looking her over. "As I recall, you promised you would return last time you visited. I was beginning to get worried that you weren't coming!"

Sarah smiled back at him, reaching inside her robes for the note that Harry had left her for George.

"Not at all, I've just been busy. Here, this is for you," she said, holding out Harry's note to him.

George took the note from her, giving her a sly smile. Unfolding the parchment, he read it over.

"Well, well!" he said, sounding jovial. "You sure know how to choose the right friends, young lady. Except for Ron, of course. Terrible sort, really. You're much better off being friends with me instead. I'll show you around. An American witch, then?"

George looked Sarah up and down, waggling his eyebrows at her. Sarah blushed faintly. Apparently George was privy to the same rumor that Ron had heard about American girls.

"That's right," she told him.

"Well you certainly have chosen a fine establishment in which to begin your shopping adventure, Miss Garrend. Or may I call you Sarah?" George said, stepping closer to her.

"Sarah's fine," she smiled at him.

"Very well then, Sarah," George said, making a sweeping bow and taking her hand in a gesture of flashy gallantry. "Let us begin on your very own personal tour of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

Sarah spent the next hour or so having a wonderful time as George showed her around the shop, demonstrating the various amusing uses of many of his products. He was extremely funny, and brought her to tears in laughter numerous times. She was sure to pick out the Decoy Detonators and Peruvian Instant Darkness powder on her small shopping list. George was correct in guessing that Harry had instructed her to buy them for him, and insisted that she take them for free. Sarah at first refused, but after much more insisting, as well as explaining how Harry had given he and his late brother their start-up loan for the now booming business, she consented to taking them at no charge.

When Sarah was finished inside George's shop, she was carrying a tiny bag. With the rest of the afternoon ahead of her, she knew that she would probably be completely loaded down by the end of the day.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Off in another part of London, Harry was nearing the visitor's entrance to the Ministry of Magic. He had needed to Apparate across town to reach where the Ministry was located. In order to be extra safe, he stopped in an alley along the way to put on his cloak. He didn't want anyone to see him anywhere near the Ministry, let alone going in and out of it. Even something as little as that, if it involved Harry Potter, would most likely make the Prophet.

After a short walk, he reached the specific unassuming phone booth which he knew to be the visitor's entrance. Completely invisible underneath his cloak, he entered the booth, and quickly dialed 62442 on the telephone's number pad. A high female voice immediately spoke to him out of nowhere.

"Name and reason for visit?" the voice asked.

"Harry Potter," he replied, "Research visit."

The telephone immediately issued him a small visitor's tag, which he quickly snapped up and brought inside his cloak, stowing it inside his robes. The booth rocked a little, and then began descending beneath street level.

Harry soon found himself lowering into the Ministry's reception area, in the Atrium. The booth came to a halt and he opened the door, quickly exiting and getting aside. He saw as a few personnel curiously examined the empty booth. At the security desk nearby, they knew that someone had given the name of Harry Potter and used the visitor's entrance, but the booth was clearly empty. Eavesdropping on their conversation, Harry was relieved to hear that they assumed it had been a prank, and that someone had given the name of Harry Potter and immediately exited the booth before it descended into the Atrium.

He was inside.

Never having been to the floor containing the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, Harry had to stop and glance at one of the maps the Ministry kept all around the Atrium to direct visitors. The Ministry was back to its normal appearance. Instead of the hideous "Magic is Might" statue, the Fountain of Magical Brethren had been restored to its former glory, even if it did still smack somewhat of bigotry. Being a Saturday, the Ministry wasn't extremely busy, but there was still a good crowd.

Examining the visitor's map, Harry saw the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes to be located on the third floor. The Atrium was located on floor eight of the underground complex, so he would have to take a ride on one of the many lifts. He quickly made his way over to the lift area. Thankfully, the usually long lines to use the lifts were absent. Only a few witches and wizards were milling about, waiting for lifts to arrive. Harry waited them out, biding his time while he watched a few lifts come and go, taking away the small crowd. Finally, when no one was present, Harry entered the next lift to arrive back at the Atrium level. Not wanting to have to do any more close-quarters dodging, he had wanted the lift all to himself. Hitting the button for his desired destination, the door to the lift slid shut and it clanked into motion, pulling him upward toward level three. As he went, the lift shifted backward and forward at different points, as well as side to side. None of the lift passages seemed to go straight up and down like Muggle lifts did. They seemed somewhat maze-like.

When the lift came to a stop, a disembodied female voice spoke.

"Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes," the voice said.

The lift door opened to reveal two stocky, balding wizards conversing with one another. When they entered, Harry dodged, pressing himself up against the side of the lift. Once they were situated inside, he quickly made his way out just before the lift's door slid shut once again. It only took a few minutes of blind navigation before he found himself inside the Obliviator Headquarters front office.

Harry positioned himself in one of the front corners of the room to watch the goings-on. Many Inter-departmental memos, pale violet paper airplanes, were soaring into the room where they were received by a few witches at some of the reception desks. Every so often, someone would come or go from the department, but not before stopping at what appeared to be time cards on the opposite wall.

After silently watching for quite some time, Harry became encouraged by the lack of activity and set out to explore the department. It took him about an hour to completely comb the place, as he was very cautious to move slowly and silently. There were numerous cubicles toward the front, and many more larger private offices in the back. What interested him most, however, was the large vault-like door in the far back of the department bearing the inscription of Records Hall.

Examining the door, he discovered that there were a series of small keyholes, similar to the ones on his Gringotts vault. Where this key could be located, however, or just who might have one, Harry could not imagine.

Knowing that he had found his objective, Harry sat himself down next to the door to wait. He'd found where the records were kept, but now he had to figure out who had access to them. The best way to do this, he thought, was to wait outside the door and see if anyone went in or out. Then, he would be able to find out who this person was, and hopefully find out what time they came to work in the morning by inspecting their time card. Then it was just a matter of finding out which entrance they used to enter and leave the Ministry.

Harry almost fell asleep before anything interesting happened. It was nearly two hours of waiting before he heard someone coming. Standing, he pressed himself flat against the wall and watched as a tall wizard with braided blonde hair approached the vault-like door. He was carrying a small folder, the label of which was hidden under his hand. Harry was thrilled when he saw the wizard produce a tiny silver key which he used to unlock the door, much the same way the Gringotts goblin had unlocked Harry's vault for him. Whoever this person was, he had clearance to access the records kept here.

Positioning himself behind the blonde-haired wizard, Harry watched as he opened the door and stepped inside. Afraid to follow, Harry only dared peek his head in for the moment. The room was huge, and filled with what appeared to be gigantic filing cabinets of some kind. There were rows upon rows, and they seemed to be arranged alphabetically, as some rows were labeled with large letters. Others were numbered. The nature of his alphabetic and numeric ordering was a mystery to Harry, and presented him with another challenge in finding the file that he hoped to exist. If it was even there, he would have to find out what exactly about these files were alphabetized and numbered in order to find it. Taking a deep breath, he hurried forward to the first filing cabinet labeled with a large letter "A". Sliding open the topmost drawer, which was also numbered, he took out the first folder right in the front.

The folder was labeled "Aaronson, A-1-1, #29672". Whipping the folder open, he quickly examined the only piece of parchment inside.

Obliviation Case Aaronson A-1-1 #29672.

Subject: Aaronson, Jeffrey.

Status: Wizard.

Memory Modifications: None.

Date of Event: 19 May, 1972.

Location: 80 Scoresby Street, Blackfriars Road, London.

Reason: Involved in starting street altercation with Muggles. Two Muggles jinxed, subsequently requiring memory modification. See: Obliviation Cases Cyrano C-12-3 #29673, Walters W-1-4 #29674.

Harry vaguely understood. The files were arranged alphabetically and numerically according to name, and there was a file for every person involved in a particular event, whether they were the cause of it, or the people that had been Obliviated. The letter of the file seemed to indicate which alphabetical row the file was located in. The other two numbers seemed to indicate the specific filing cabinet, and the specific drawer respectively. The case numbers seemed arbitrary. They were probably just numbered chronologically in the order all of these events had occurred. If this was correct, there would hopefully be a file somewhere in here bearing the name of Garrend. It would describe Sarah's childhood incident with the tree. If the status line of the file read "Status: Witch", they would have struck gold.

When Harry heard the blonde-haired wizard's re-approaching footsteps, he quickly put the file away exactly where he had found it and shut the drawer again. There was no way he could attempt to search for anything else without risking being trapped inside. He hurried outside, where the wizard promptly exited the record hall and slammed the large door shut behind him. Harry followed after him as he made his way back out to the front of the office. The wizard made his way over to where the time cards were, and Harry tried to stay very close to him.

"Calling it a day, Ed?" one of the reception witches called to him.

"See you tomorrow, Mary," the blonde-haired wizard said, flicking his wand at his timecard so that it automatically filled itself out with the date and time. He then went to the door.

Moving the time card as little as possible, Harry inspected it. This man's name was Edward Skyvale, and he was thrilled to see that he arrived to the Obliviator Headquarters office every day at eleven in the morning. This would be perfect.

Putting the time card back, Harry hurried after the man named Edward. He was now waiting outside the lift. When the lift arrived, it was empty, and Harry quietly stepped inside with him. He would need to see where this man exited the complex in order to know where he would need to stake out for him to arrive. Harry's heart was beating very quickly; everything was going perfectly. The old excitement of planning something was creeping back into his veins. He always had the best luck.

Unfortunately, his luck ran out for the moment. The lift screeched to a premature halt. It was stuck.

Harry had to bite down very hard on his tongue to keep from swearing aloud.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Just as she had anticipated, Sarah was now toting along several heavy bags. She had spent the entire afternoon shopping. She hadn't spent anywhere near all of the gold Harry had given her, and she kept hoping that she would feel Harry's signal that he was coming back for her. She really didn't want to be spending all this money. She had bought her own potion-making supplies at the Apothecary, her own cauldron at the cauldron shop, several books at Flourish and Blotts, some more robes from Madam Malkin's, Harry's indicated products from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and several other random things she'd found.

Sarah sighed. It was now just about supper time, and Harry still wasn't back for her. Deciding that she had done quite enough shopping for the day, she headed back to The Leaky Cauldron on her own. The pub was more crowded than it had been around lunchtime, but she was able to find her own table at which to sit down. She was glad to put down her heavy bags.

After continuing to wait for a while longer, she grew bored as well as hungry. Her fake coin still hadn't warmed up. She began to worry about Harry. Shouldn't he be back by now?

Little did she know, Harry was currently stuck inside a lift.

She dined on a simple meal of onion soup. A while later, when Harry had still not come, she perused the menu of drinks.

"Elf-made wine," she said quietly to herself. "That sounds good." She had nothing else to do. She was of legal age in the wizarding world, after all. She might as well try it.

Flagging down the barman, Sarah proceeded to drink her way through several wonderful varieties of wizarding alcohol that she never knew to exist.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It was almost seven when Harry finally made his way to The Leaky Cauldron. It had taken Magical Maintenance quite a while to get the lift going again. After figuring out which exit Edward used, he used his fake galleon to let Sarah know that he was coming. He knew that she would be waiting for him inside the pub.

He had never been to the pub on a Saturday night before. When he entered, the pub was more crowded than he had ever seen it. It was almost loud. Scanning the tables, he quickly located the witch with long brown hair. There were several shopping bags placed on the floor next to her. He quickly hurried over to her.

When Harry reached Sarah's table, his eyes widened when he saw what was on it. There were a couple empty wine glasses, an empty bottle of Butterbeer, and several empty shot glasses.

"Harry!" Sarah said loudly when she saw him. "You've gotta try this firewhiskey stuff, it's great!"

Sarah's eyes had a kind of glazed look. Harry had seen her blushing before, but the blush that she now wore was somehow different. He didn't think he'd ever seen her smiling more widely than she was now. She was clearly drunk. He shook his head in astonishment when he again examined all the empty glasses on her table.

"Sarah," he said, "Did you drink all this?"

"Yeah!" she said, smiling. "Want some Butterbeer? I was just about to order some more. It's sooooooo good," Sarah raised her hand to try and flag down Tom again, but Harry grabbed her wrist and forced her arm back down to the table.

"I think you've had quite enough," Harry said, sounding amused. "We've go to get you back."

After making sure Sarah paid her tab correctly, he led her back to the alleyway which they had Apparated into. It was now dark outside, and very chilly, but the slight drizzle from before had stopped. Sarah was pretty unsteady on her feet, and Harry helped her carry her bags.

"Where the hell were you? I waited for so long," Sarah slurred.

"I got stuck inside a lift on my way out," Harry sighed. "That's what kept me."

"Did you find anything out?" Sarah asked.

"Actually yes," Harry said, "I found someone perfect. We'll be able to go in tomorrow. I'll explain in the morning when you're not so... erm...,"

"Drunk?" Sarah laughed.

"Right," Harry said. When they reached the alleyway, it was quite a challenge to lock Sarah's arm in his while holding onto all of her stuff. Somehow, he managed to turn on the spot and Apparate them just outside the school's grounds.

Sarah stumbled all the way up to the castle. Harry had to keep her from falling several times, and ended up carrying all of her heavy bags. He wasn't surprised; Sarah wasn't a very big person, and judging from all the empty glasses he saw on her table, she had drank quite a lot. Having discovered how good elf-made wine was, she jumped headfirst into as much of the pub's drink selection as she could. She had gone fairly overboard.

Instead of heading up to the Headmaster's tower, Harry began leading her back to the Room of Requirement. It would probably be easier to obtain permission to take Sarah into Hogsmeade tomorrow if Professor McGonagall didn't see her sodding drunk from their trip into Diagon Alley. He would go see her alone instead of taking Sarah with him, and claim that she had retired from being worn out from shopping all afternoon.

When they reached the seventh floor corridor, Sarah had to use the wall for support as she paced back and forth in order to make the door to her room appear. Harry helped her inside, placing her bags down on the floor.

"We'll have to leave before lunch tomorrow. Try and get some rest," Harry told her. "I'll come around in the morning to explain everything."

Sarah had been sitting up in bed when Harry left her. He hoped that she would get to sleep as soon as possible. The last thing he needed was for her to be hung over for their adventure into the Ministry tomorrow. She would need to be as clear and alert as possible.

Unfortunately, going to sleep was the last thing on Sarah's clouded mind. She was still buzzing on the alcohol, to say the least. She was very tipsy. With nothing else to do, she unpacked her bags and put her new things away. When she was finished, she sat back down on her bed. Her eyes fell on the small battle of Amortentia.

She didn't bother to pick it up and smell it. Suddenly having a great desire to see Snape, she wanted the real thing. The knowledge that she didn't have a lesson with him in the evening had given her a strange, empty feeling all day. Under the effects of the alcohol, she could admit to herself that she wanted to see him, she wanted to be around him. Last night, the strange little seeds had given her the drive to start something with him, but she doubted that she would have reacted to it any differently if they hadn't been a factor. Even without the seeds or the alcohol, she desired him strongly.

As these thoughts filled her head, she decided to go for a walk. Without even paying attention to where she was going, she soon found herself standing in front of the door to Snape's office, almost as if she had been drawn to it. Her mind still pleasantly numbed by alcohol, she didn't really register what she was doing when she raised her arm to knock. She was a little shocked when the door opened to reveal the object of her desire.

Snape looked thoroughly confused as he regarded the girl standing outside his door. Even though she had been the one to knock, she looked surprised to see him. Sarah simply stood there and stared at him, and her eyes held a glazed look, similar to the one she'd worn while daydreaming. There was a permanent blush spread across the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheeks, somehow different from the shy blush that she would normally exhibit around him. Snape cleared his throat loudly. Sarah blinked.

"It is Saturday, Miss Garrend," he spoke to her. "You do not have a lesson this evening."

Even though he would not admit it to himself as Sarah did, he had been filled with a similar feeling of emptiness in knowing that he would not see her again until Monday. Outside of teaching classes and visiting with McGonagall to discuss the girl's progress, he spent all of his time in near complete isolation. He found that he had become used to the girl's presence every evening, and during the day, he would imagine just what he could do to set her off guard in her next lesson. Ever since they had first kissed, he spent a lot of time pondering the girl, as well as himself and his reactions to her.

Knowing that he would not see her again until Monday, he had been filled with a strange sense of dread in thinking that maybe the girl would have forgotten all about their passionate exchange, or perhaps come to her senses about being attracted to a much older, undesirable man. He couldn't have been more wrong.

"I know," Sarah said quietly. Focusing her eyes, she took in Snape's appearance.

He was wearing his black boots as always, but the rest of his outfit was somewhat different than usual. He was wearing black trousers with a black belt, and a loose white collared shirt that he usually wore as an undershirt. Since it was Saturday and he usually spent the weekends completely alone, he hadn't bothered putting on his teaching robes or anything else of significance. The first few buttons of his shirt were undone, and Sarah found herself staring at the small section of chest that she could see exposed. She hadn't seen this much of it since she had seen him in his robe that one evening after her first lesson.

During the few moments of silence that passed, Snape noticed her staring.

"Then why have you come, Miss Garrend?" he asked.

Sarah continued staring. In truth, she didn't really know how she ended up here. She simply went for a walk, and her feet seemed to guide her here of their own accord without thinking.

"I think I wanted... to see you," she spoke quietly, still staring.

Snape examined her for several more silent moments. The girl had come here on a Saturday evening simply because she wanted to see him? Most people avoided him like the plague, yet here she was, standing in his doorway, letting her strange but powerful attraction to him lead her actions. What's more, she admitted it. Last night, she had told him that her Amortentia potion smelled just like him. Maybe he hadn't admitted it to himself at the time, but perhaps the reason he had her brew that particular potion was to gain some kind of physical proof of her attraction to him. The fact that she had shared such intimacy with him after such a short time should have been proof enough.

Taking courage from the fact that the girl had practically assaulted him last night, he quickly reached out and grabbed her hips, pulling her very close to him.

"You wanted to see me?" he purred down at her.

Sarah swallowed hard. The alcohol was causing her senses to be overloaded in a similar fashion to the tribulus terrestris seeds. She could immediately feel his heat, and she was once again drowning in his scent. She stared into his chest, fighting the urge to caress it again.

"Yes," she whispered quietly.

Moving his left hand from her hip, he used it to tilt her chin upward, forcing her to look at him.

"And why would you want to see me, Miss Garrend?" he purred. "You have no lesson this evening. There couldn't possibly be any reason for you to see me." He led her on. Being a terribly insecure person, he wanted her to once again admit her desire for him. She took the bait.

"I... wanted you," she whispered.

As soon as she said it, Snape leaned down and captured her lips, kissing her deeply. He could immediately taste the firewhiskey on her. He had been about to break the kiss, but found he couldn't when the girl reached up to caress his chest. Placing both hands firmly back on her hips, he pulled her inside the door. Closing it, he pushed her back against it. Removing his hands from her hips, he took her wrists and pinned them above her head to prevent her touching him. He was then able to break the kiss.

"Miss Garrend-," he started, but Sarah quickly pushed forward to recapture his lips before he could speak any more. He obliged her with another deep kiss, but quickly broke it.

"Miss Garrend, you are intoxicated," he told her sternly.

"Can't you call me Sarah, yet?" she complained to him. If she weren't drunk, there was no way in hell that she would be making such gutsy requests of this intimidating man.

"Fine," he said quickly. "You are intoxicated, Sarah," he drew her name out, sounding impatient.

She huffed and rolled her eyes.

"I don't care, Severus," she said, mimicking his impatient tone and giving him a little glare.

Not wanting to take advantage of the drunken girl, Snape had been wanting to stop. That was, until, he heard the girl say his name. He hadn't been aware the girl even knew his given name, but he quickly realized that Minerva had said it numerous times in her presence. It sounded tantalizing as it rolled off her tongue, and it sent chills down his spine. Imagining how very good it would sound if she were to say it again, he quickly leaned back into her and continued kissing her deeply, keeping her hands pinned above her head with one hand.

When he pressed his hips firmly into hers, she moaned softly into his mouth. With his other hand, he began gently caressing up her side. As he kept her hands pinned above her, he could feel as the muscles in her wrists began flexing impatiently. Perhaps she wanted to touch him? He let go of her wrists, returning the control of her hands. They immediately went to his chest, groping it. This caused him to press his hips into hers even harder, and to break the kiss in order to bite down on her neck, just beneath her ear. This gave him the reward he was seeking.

"Severus," she whispered into his ear.

He sighed deeply at the sound of her whispering his name, and she trembled at the feel of his hot breath on her neck. Emboldened, he slid his hands up her sides to caress her breasts. As he did this, he felt as her fingers began working at the buttons of his shirt. Pretty soon, it was hanging open, and he could feel her hands on his bare chest. Nibbling at her neck again, he pressed into her even more firmly, certain that she could now feel just how hard he was.

Sarah was pleased with what she revealed as she opened his shirt. His torso was very lean, but he had smoothly and subtly defined muscles. He was mostly hairless, but there was a line of darker hair which started just below his navel and disappeared beneath his trousers. Curious as to where this trail of hair might lead, she slipped her fingers underneath his waistband and began tugging at his belt. Judging from the hard heat he was arduously pressing into her, she had an idea at just what was down there.

When she tugged on his belt, Snape shifted his hips back away from her. He had been caught off guard. She wanted to touch him there? Already? Knowing that she was drunk and probably had no clue what she was doing, he tried to take a step back from her, only to have her step forward into him with even more force. He took a hold of her wrists again to control what she could touch, and she whined in protest. Pressing her back against the door again, he pinned her hands back above her head. He was too lost in sensation to stop touching her, but he wouldn't have her trying to do anything to him while she was intoxicated.

Alternating which hand he used to hold her wrists in place, he shrugged off his shirt. It fell to the floor. Bringing his free hand to the front of her robes, he began working on opening them. Turnabout, after all, was fair play. He had her robes opened in short measure, but was displeased when he found a tightly form-fitting Muggle t-shirt underneath. He began trying to lift it up, but simply ended up tearing it off in impatience. Through her opened robes, he could now see her black bra and bare stomach. Her stomach was relatively flat, and he immediately began caressing her smooth skin. When he brought his hand up to caress her breast through the fabric of her bra, she moaned softly.

Completely lost in the sight and feel of her almost-bare chest, he had forgotten to keep her hands pinned above her head. He was sharply reminded of this fact when he once again felt her tugging at his belt. Before he could react, she had managed to unbuckle it. Before she could unbutton his trousers as well, he stepped back from her, grabbing her wrists again.

Sarah stared down at the impressive bulge in his trousers, satisfied that she had managed to undo his belt. Even without the aid of the alcohol, this man was driving her to new heights of arousal, and she could plainly see that she was having a similar effect on him.

"Sarah, you are drunk," he told her again, giving her a stern look.

"So?" she complained. "I already told you, I don't care."

"You may not," he said, "But I do. I will not have you... handling me without knowing what you are getting yourself into."

"I think I know what I'm getting myself into," she said, eyes glued to the bulge in his pants.

"I am going to escort you back up to your room," he said, letting go of her wrists and stepping away from her. When he saw the hopeful expression in her eyes, he further clarified. "And I will be leaving you there, and returning to my quarters. Perhaps you will come to your senses when you have sobered up. Speaking of which..."

Sarah watched as Snape disappeared through the door into his private quarters. A few moments later, he returned, holding out a small dark-colored bottle to her.

"This will relieve you of any hangover symptoms you will most certainly be experiencing in the morning," he said.

After taking the bottle from him, she allowed him to mend her shirt, and watched disappointedly as he put his own back on. He also re-buckled his belt.

Sarah was silent the entire way back up to her room. After her door was summoned and opened, Snape could see her in the light that was flooding into the darkened corridor. She looked extremely dejected. He wasn't very good at being an empathetic person, but he could somehow tell that the girl felt like he was rejecting her. He felt a pang of hurt inside his chest similar to the one he had felt before when he frightened the girl, or accidentally caused her physical pain. Now he had managed to cause her emotional pain as well.

Before she could enter her room and escape him, he stopped her forcefully. He took a deep breath. He wasn't exactly good at expressing his feelings either.

"I am not rejecting you, Miss- ... Sarah," he said.

Sarah looked up at him, her expression having brightened a little.

"I merely do not feel it is appropriate for me to take advantage of your intoxicated state," he explained. "I am simply trying to be a gentleman. Our entire... situation... is inappropriate enough to begin with, wouldn't you agree?" he asked.

Sarah blushed and nodded silently. She wasn't even officially a student of the school, but it would still be extremely scandalous if people were to find out about what was going on between them.

"Do not feel that I am rejecting you," he said, stepping even closer to her. "Quite the contrary. Had you been sober...,"

Sarah looked up at him, and saw desire burning in his eyes. He could not complete his sentence. It was difficult for him to keep from grimacing at his own words; it sounded so ridiculous for him to be saying things like this. It was so far removed from the person he normally was. Somehow, this girl had effortlessly brought about another side to him.

"Okay," she whispered to him.

Snape leaned down, placing a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Good night, Sarah," he told her softly. He was satisfied that he had managed to dissuade any feelings of hurt or rejection the girl could have been harboring. For some reason, he was once again filled with a strange feeling of pride at himself.

"Good night, Severus," she replied. It felt strange to say his name, but she found that she liked it. Even if he stopped her from going farther back in his office, she was glad that they seemed to be on a first name basis now. She had grown tired of having him call her Miss Garrend after the impromptu sessions of intimacy that they shared.

After Snape left, Sarah went inside her room and plopped down on her bed. Instead of feeling buzzed from the alcohol, she was now beginning to feel very tired. She placed the small bottle that Snape had given her next to her bottle of Amortentia. She only would lie down to go to sleep after having smelled it once again.

She could barely even remember the reason that she spent all day in Diagon Alley. She was in for a rude awakening when Harry would come knocking in the morning.


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A/N: There you have chapter 13! I hope you enjoyed it. It took me quite a while to write. More to come soon! I hope you all didn't get too impatient waiting for the chapter. Please leave a review if you would be so kind :)

Thank you for reading!