Dianthus Stories
Chapter Twenty - Truth, Lies, and Something In-Between
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Anything you
recognize belongs to someone else, namely, JK Rowling.
the HP universe, characters from same.
Sadly, I have no hope of publishing this story outside the fan fiction
characters I’ve created. Feel free to
give me critical feedback, including flames and harsh criticism.
personal embarrassment, but I do promise to read it and incorporate it if I
feel it improves the story.
*****
This is Chapter
Twenty. Smut begins in Chapter Twenty
Six, so if you’re only looking for that, feel free to skip ahead.
of the stuff in those later chapters if you don’t stick it out.
*****
Chapter Twenty –
Truth, Lies, and Something In-Between
“Precisely,” he
sneered. “To protect
you from me.”
Her mind was
racing as she watched him jerk his sleeve back over his wrist and slump in his
chair. “Professor Dumbledore would never
let a Death-eater teach at Hogwarts,” she said, breathlessly.
His upper lip
curled. “That is true,” he snarled.
participant.” His eyes lost focus as he
seemed to consider some of his activities in the service of
He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named.
“So – so what are
you doing here?” she quavered.
“I owe the
Headmaster a great debt,” he said,
with obvious distaste. “He was able to
assist me when certain parties insisted that I should be placed in
he thought it best that I accept a teaching position here, and I
acquiesced. I would have preferred to
teach Defense against the Dark Arts, but he thought my talents would be best
served in Potions.” His lip curled
derisively on the last word.
That explained why
he scowled at Quirrell so often.
died to give it up?” she asked, fearing the answer.
“No,” he said
simply.
“I didn’t think
you could quit being a Death-eater.”
“The Dark Lord is
generally – most reluctant – to release an active Death-eater prior to their
demise,” he said evenly.
Obviously, he
wasn’t telling her everything. She let
it go for the moment. “That’s the
impression that I got.”
“So,” he
drawled. “You see why I felt it was best
for you to maintain a proper distance from me.
You–”
“So you lied to
me,” she interrupted.
“Excuse me?”
“You lied to me
when I asked if you’d joined You-Know-Who.
In Dumbledore’s office.”
“I did not lie to
you, Dianthus,” he said calmly. “I said
I would not answer you.”
“Semantics,” she
jeered.
They sat in
silence for perhaps thirty seconds, and then Snape cleared his throat and spoke
again. “You have not yet run screaming
from the room.”
“Part of me thinks
I should,” she said, shrugging. What can I say?
I’m still here.”
“Yes, you’re still
here,” he said, suddenly brisk. “But you
should be in your dorm. It’s almost
one-thirty in the morning. Let’s get you
back quietly, to avoid incurring Professor McGonagall’s further wrath.”
But Dianthus
didn’t move. “Why didn’t you take me
straight to McGonagall?”
“Because I am a
selfish bastard,” he said, promptly. She
raised her eyebrows, and he sighed. “If
she had come upon you, drunk as you were, she quite likely would have had you
expelled.”
“What does that
have to do with you?” said Dianthus, a little breathless.
He glowered at her
for a moment, obviously not wanting to answer her question.
quietly. “I hate almost everything about
it. The students are idiots, even those
from my own house. They show no
creativity, passion, or subtlety. Most
of the staff is no better. And some of
them are aware of my…former status as a Death-eater.”
over his eyes.
“You’re lonely,”
she said, in a small voice.
“I am not!” he
snapped, dropping his hand to his lap.
“%'>“Yes, you are,”
she insisted. “Most of your old mates
are probably Death-eaters, too – fucking Slytherins – and now you’re out of it,
you don’t talk to them much, I imagine.”
An image of Snape flashed in her mind, sitting by himself in his rooms
every evening. The thought of it made
her heart ache for him. She had a
reckless urge to rush to tell him everything she felt for him.
hold him until the hollow look left his eyes.
“You’re lonely,” she said again, wonderingly.
“Dianthus–” he
said warningly.
“What will you do
when I leave?” she asked, cutting off whatever snappy comment he was preparing
to throw at her.
He looked down at
his hands. “I will continue as I have,”
he said, sounding thoroughly dejected.
She wanted to be
his friend, yes, but she wanted so much more.
The thought that he trusted her enough to tell her he’d been a
Death-eater only intensified her feelings for him, as did this unexpected show
of vulnerability.
She watched him
absently twist the silver band round and round, his dark eyes hooded and
downcast beneath those lashes, his long, black hair curtaining his face.
“We shall see what
happens when you graduate,” he said bleakly, glancing around the room.
“I’m a much better
correspondent than you are,” she smiled.
“We really have to
get you back to your dorm,” he muttered distractedly.
little outing,” he added, with a malicious grin she was actually delighted to
see, even though the loss of fifty points hit her hard.
Professor McGonagall – and I’ll force a potion down your throat that will have
you throwing up at for least three days.”
He moved to his office door and held it open for her with a mocking bow.
“Oh, I don’t think
it will ever happen again,” she grimaced, rising from her chair.
pissed off at you, of course.”
“Just don’t do it
again,” he murmured as she passed him.
He took out his wand and reset the locks on the door, and then placed
one hand in the small of her back to guide her through the dark corridor.
pressure through her robes, and was very glad for the cool darkness hiding her
flushed face as they wended their way through hidden passes to Ravenclaw tower.
After ten slow
minutes’ walk, they arrived at the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room and
Dianthus turned toward him. “Good
night,” she said, not trusting herself to meet his gaze.
ear.
“Good night,” he
said gravely, and then he leaned toward her and whispered over her shoulder,
“and happy birthday, Dianthus.” He was
so close she could feel his breath on her neck.
She stood very still, not even breathing, as he turned sharply and
strode down the corridor away from her.
She crept through
the common room and up to her dorm. Her
roommates had obviously waited up for her as long as they could – they were all
curled on top of their beds, fast asleep in their pajamas.
story immediately. She groaned when she
looked at the clock – it was
collapsed into bed. Yanking the blankets
high around her neck, she thought of Snape’s breath there just a few minutes
ago and grinned like an idiot. She
rolled onto her stomach and was asleep almost immediately.
It seemed she had
just closed her eyes when she was rudely awakened by someone jumping on her bed
and roughly shaking her. “Leave me
alone!” she groaned, trying to burrow deeper under her blanket, but the rough
shaking continued, and was accompanied by light smacks from a pillow landing on
her head.
“Get up, you hag,
and tell us what happened to you!”
Dianthus opened
her eyes. “Oh, come on!” she yelled,
lifting her head and looking blearily at her clock.
thirty
“I know,”
sniggered
“But you snuck in here without waking us at who knows what hour, and
this is the price you pay.”
Shoving
off the bed, Dianthus rolled onto her back and sat up, rubbing her eyes – they
were burning and itchy from too little sleep.
And too much whiskey, she
thought, wryly. She pried them open and
gazed around. All three of her roommates
were sitting on their beds, arms around their raised knees, staring at her with
wide, expectant eyes.
“Come on, Di,”
Martine said eagerly, when Dianthus didn’t begin speaking immediately.
Dianthus frowned
and looked blankly at them. “Did what
work?”
“Did Snape find
you, of course, you twit!” barked
face, she explained, “Melanie saw him lurking in the shadows when McGonagall
was marching us to her office.”
“Yeah,” piped up
shouting about how you weren’t with us.
But then she gave us a look, and we joined right in.”
“I knew Snape
would go looking for you,” Melanie said with a shrug.
“How did you know that?”
“I don’t know,”
said Melanie evasively. “I just knew he
would.”
“So,” demanded
Dianthus rolled
her eyes. “You are worse than Cornish
pixies. You almost got me killed.
bloody tower when he came swooping down on me.
And how do you know somebody else wasn’t listening – anybody could have
thought to go looking for me, with all the racket you
were making about me not being with you.”
“Yeah, right,”
anybody else find you.n stn st'mso'mso-spacerun:yes'>
Mel said he jumped so high when he heard your name, she thought his head
was going to ricochet off the roof.”
“Don’t be an ass,”
Dianthus drawled. “You’ll be pleased to
know he took fifty points from Ravenclaw.”
“Knew that was
going to happen,” said Martine, waving her hand dismissively.
us as well.” She grinned. “’Course, we
weren’t as drunk as you.”
“Shut up,
Martine,” said
“She’s going to tell us what Snape said when he found her.”
Dianthus
sighed. “He yelled at me for about an
hour, threatened to write my Grandpa, the whole nine yards.
all over the stairs in the
disgust. “He gave me something to drink,
some potion that sorted out my stomach.
Said he didn’t want me throwing up all over his office.
ever did that again, he’d take me straight to McGonagall.
“That’s it?” said
Melanie, obviously disappointed.
Dianthus
laughed. “What were you expecting?
“No,” said
slowly. “We were expecting…something
else.” She reddened, which was such a
rare occurrence that Dianthus suspected she knew what that ‘something else’
was.
“You thought he
was going to declare his undying love for me,” she said sardonically.
away on his white horse.”
“Well,” said
Melanie defensively, “at least make up to you for treating you so, uh, nicely
these past few weeks.”
“Well, he
didn’t.” She hesitated, wondering how
much more she would have to tell them.
“Well, we did talk for a bit.”
Their disappointed frowns were replaced instantly by avid stares.
thinking. He’s still trying to figure
out how to put me in my place.
him.”
“Hmm,” said
Melanie, looking pensive.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Melanie
shrugged. “Just seems strange that he
keeps telling you to keep your distance, when he was the one running around at
Dianthus shrugged,
feeling evil for not telling her roommates the whole story.
she wasn’t going to break it now. “You
know what?” she said, rising from her bed.
“I am starved. I think I threw up
every bit of that shepherd’s pie you guys brought me.
breakfast.”