Blackeyed Girl

And here goes the new chapter. Not too much going on in this one either but we are getting down to something very slowly from next chapter on. Thanks again, Ari, for betaing so quickly! –and doing the math of how long Snape has been teaching at Hogwarts! lol



Seriously Daughter of a Serpent, you just blame poor Lucius for everything, don’t you ;) Thanks for the song. It was interesting. I did not necessarily get that Snape connection there but I know some songs, which do that for me, too.





Well lets find out what Snape when to Pomfrey for….

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Chapter 21

Truth and Secrets



After lunch it was once more Dumbledore, who caught up with Snape who was on his way to prepare a potions lesson for the 3rd years.



“Severus, a word if you don’t mind”, he said with a light voice, still Snape knew already what this was about and that obviously the Headmaster must be concerned. He let himself get stirred away from the other teachers and students who left for their classes.



“Severus, just before lunch our dear Madam Pomfrey came to see me. I have to say I have rarely seen her so worked up.”



Snape remained quiet.



“She told me something that surprised me very much.”



“So she did”, said Snape dryly.



“Lets go to my office, shell we?”



“I have to prepare a class.”



“No you don’t, Severus. You have been teaching here for sixteen years, I am confident that you can improvise.”



Snape did not try to argue and followed the Headmaster up the hidden staircase and into his office. In his mind he prepared himself to defend what he had done. He had had to try, what else was he supposed to do? The Headmaster was not going to make him believe that it was wrong.



Dumbledore closed the door behind him: “I would offer you a drink, but it is a little early in the day.”



Snape crossed his arms behind his back and said: “You wanted to speak about Madam Pomfrey.”



“Ah yes, of course”, Dumbledore strolled past him towards the window and looked out into the grounds, “she came to see me on an urgent matter. She seemed to be under the impression that you had asked her to perform a gynaecologic examination on your ward.” Dumbledore finished and turned back to see Snape’s non-existent reaction.



“She is the matron, is she not?” said Snape and after a pause he shrugged, “after all I cannot simply do it myself.”



”Ah, I am glad you said that”, said Dumbledore and Snape frowned.



“Now, I am afraid it has never happened that such an examination was made at Hogwarts under my authority, and I am really not sure that this is the right place for it. If there was a need for such an examination I would believe a doctor outside of the school would be more appropriate to do this, don’t you agree?”



“I did not see the need for it. Madam Pomfrey is qualified and it was a priority for me to get this examination done as soon as possible. If you would like me to take her to an independent doctor I will do that.”



“Severus, may I ask why this is so urgent?” Snape hesitated, “I understand there is a problem. I want to help you.”



“I fear she might have… I don’t know for sure what happened but I have strong reason to believe she had sexual intercourse the night of the New Year.”



“What are your reasons?”



Snape hesitated: “I can’t explain it. It is the way she was acting and the way she refuses to tell me what happened.”



“So she was behaving strangely and did not want to tell you why and so you want to have her examined?” Dumbledore summarised calmly.



“This could be important!” Snape argued defensively, “She is young and stupid. She is under age and she knows nothing about these matters. If someone claimed her like this that person needs to be prosecuted and if she is pregnant something has to be done about it and soon!”



Dumbledore nodded vaguely: “Calm down, Severus.”



“I am calm!”



“Sit down, please”, Dumbledore said softly and motioned to the chair opposite from his desk. Snape hesitated but then obeyed.



Dumbledore walked towards him and leaned against the desk, he looked down at him with something like pity in his eyes.



“I think it is admirable how serious you are taking your responsibility to look out for her”, he paused, “but this is something that needs to be dealt with, with care, thoughtfulness and a cool head, Severus.” Snape stared ahead, tapping his fingertips on the arm of the chair.



“Have you even thought about how she would digest such an examination? At the age of fifteen it should rather be avoided if it is not absolutely necessary.”



“If someone has abused her…”



“If, Severus… if. And abuse is such a strong word.”



“Are you saying…-“



“I am saying there are so many possibilities of what might or might not have happened. You know I trust your instincts and if you say that she is hiding something important I would not dream of disregarding this. But you cannot risk traumatising the girl just for a hunch. What if she does not agree to the examination? Are you seriously prepared to force her to do this?”



Snape only continued to stare darkly ahead. He would not admit that he had not even thought of the details of how this was going to work. He had been too rushed by his panic.



“Would you like me to try to speak to her?”



Snape looked up in surprise: “You would?”



“Of course. She is a student at my school. I am responsible for her, too.”



Snape looked down again: “You can try but I would be surprised if she would tell you anything.”



“Let me talk to her and then we will decide how to go from there, agreed?”



“Agreed.”



Shortly later, just after their transfiguration class Eleanor and Luna met Ginny in the library. But Ginny was not alone, Neville and Hermione were also there.



“Hi, are Harry and Ron not with you?” asked Eleanor disappointed not to see Harry.



Hermione looked up from under her bushy hair:



“Oh no, not those two. No, they have more important things to do than study”, she said her voice dripping with sarcasm in a way that not even Professor Snape could have done better.



“Well they don’t have OWLs coming up”, said Ginny preoccupied while turning pages feverishly in her transfiguration book.



Eleanor dropped her eyes on Ginny’s book and realised that she had forgotten all about OWL’s. She sat down next to Ginny and unpacked her transfiguration book. Luna followed her example.



But just when Eleanor had started concentrating on her text Ginny looked up from her book and started observing Eleanor from the side until Eleanor noticed and turned to silently look back at her.



“I was wondering…” started Ginny, “you were home with Snape over the holidays… where… is his home? What was it like there?”



Now Hermione, Neville and Luna looked at Eleanor as well.



Eleanor shrugged: “Muggle town called Spinner’s End… there is a smelly river going through it… I think it was near an industrial estate and… well I didn’t see any of the people who live there. It’s pretty dead. He has a nice little house though”, she finished and turned to her book again.



“What was his house like?” asked Hermione now. Eleanor looked up again and thought a moment.



“Just sort of cosy. Dark and small but nice… he made me a room up, a really nice little room for myself.”



Neville looked sceptical at her.



“And did you see anyone over the holidays, I mean… did anyone visit, like family… or”, Ginny exchanged looks with Hermione and it was clear it was not just a harmless question, they were wondering if there was any evidence at his home that Snape was still working for Voldemort.



“Yes, Draco’s father came to visit a couple of times”, Eleanor answered casually.



The others exchanged looks again.



“Lucius Malfoy? Really? What for?”



“Don’t know… they disappeared in the lab a lot.”



“What could they have been working on?” asked Ginny.



Eleanor frowned at her, but then she saw Draco entering the library and she looked up at him. He came towards them and as he saw Eleanor he gave her the faintest smile.



“You all right?” he asked as he walked past.



Eleanor nodded silently and watched him walk away. Everyone at the table stared after him.



“What did he just say?” asked Ginny, her eyes still fixed on Draco, who took a seat at a table further down.



“What’s the problem?” asked Eleanor. Ginny turned back to her.



“The problem is that Draco Malfoy just smiled at you and asked you how you were. Is he ill…imperioused… what is going on with you and him?”



“Nothing is going on. We just… I guess we just spent some time together over the holidays, that’s all.”



“How?” asked Ginny almost shocked.



“Well… I stayed with him and his family for a few days.”



“What?!”



“So? I had a great time.”



“You had a great time?”



“Yes. What’s the big deal?”



Ginny was about to answer but Hermione interrupted her: “It’s just that we don’t know the Malfoys that way. They hate Harry and they hate…muggleborns…like me.”



Eleanor looked down slightly ashamed: “Yes, I know… but… well Mr. Malfoy was very nice to me. He even defended me in front of Draco. And he was very generous.”



“He got you all those new things and the glams”, said Ginny with outraged realisation.



“Yes. I thought that was very good of him. …I like him.”



The others exchanged silent looks not sure anymore if Eleanor was still to be trusted or if she had switched sides. Eleanor felt interrogated and judged, she turned to look back at Draco. He noticed and looked up from under his blond strands and smirked at her, she smiled back vaguely.



“Eleanor Prince?”



Eleanor turned around. One of the Ravenclaw prefects stood in front of her.



“Yes?”



“The Headmaster wants to see you.”



Eleanor looked around as though caught in the act about something. And her friends looked back at her, alienated. She got up:



“Well, see you later.”



The others nodded, clearly still not sure what to do with this new information that Eleanor “liked the Malfoys”. Only Luna smiled and waved as Eleanor left the library.



Shortly later Eleanor found herself in front of the large door to the Headmaster’s office. What could it be this time, she wondered? She doubted that he just wanted to check how she was doing half a year later, or did he? Was this about her miserable grates in Divination? Surely Snape would have mentioned that to her before the Headmaster would get involved. Or could this even be about her problems with Professor Snape at the moment? She breathed deeply and knocked.



The door opened by itself and when Eleanor hesitantly stepped inside she saw Professor Dumbledore smile at her from his desk.



“You wanted to see me, Professor?”



“Yes, Eleanor, thank you for coming. I am so sorry to keep you from your studies. Tea? Pumpkin Juice? Hot chocolate?”



Eleanor shook her head and came nearer. Dumbledore waved his wand at one of the cabinets anyway and a moment later a pot of steaming hot chocolate slid over his desk towards her. Eleanor only looked at it.

“Please sit down and have some hot chocolate. It will do you good.” Dumbledore said cheerfully and Eleanor sat opposite from him. She looked back at him, waiting.



“Did you enjoy your holidays?”



“Yes, thank you.”



It was silent a moment in which Dumbledore only gazed at her. Eleanor did not look away.



“You must be wondering why I asked you here.”



“Yes, I am, Sir.”



Dumbledore leaned over the desk towards her, as though about to share a secret that the portraits on the wall were not supposed to hear.



“Let me tell you first of all that we are all very impressed with your school work. All teachers keep reporting back to me how much they enjoy teaching you. Many of them said to me they have rarely seen such a talented witch.”



“Thank you, Sir.”



“But I asked you here because of something else. You see, your guardian is rather worried about you”, Eleanor broke the eye contact and looked down, “he really is concerned because he fears you might be in some sort of trouble, possibly even without knowing it yourself.”



“I don’t think I am, Sir.” She looked back up at him. She was very good in concealing things but Dumbledore was able to detect the slightest hint of a doubt in her eyes.



“You need to understand that Professor Snape carries a lot of responsibility for you, and that in the end of the day he only wants the best for you.”



“I do understand that. I don’t want him to worry. It makes him shout a lot. I don’t like it when he gets so angry but… I’m not a child anymore. There are things that are my business alone. I ought to have some privacy.”



Dumbledore nodded: “You’re right.”



“Professor Snape doesn’t agree. He says nothing ought to be private for me.”



Dumbledore sighed quietly then he said: “Would you like me to talk to him about that?”



She looked up surprised: “You would?”



“Of course. You are right. Your age required you to have some privacy. He needs to understand that and respect it. However, there is one question I have to ask you before I can take that responsibility to encourage him to give you that freedom.”



She looked at him more intensely.



“Eleanor, please feel free to just nod or shake your head, that is all I need. I promise you your answer will not affect the way Professor Snape or I treat you. But you must answer this question in order for me to help you with Professor Snape. Do you understand?”



Eleanor swallowed and nodded.



“Did you have sexual intercourse with someone at the Malfoys New Years party?”



Eleanor blushed; she had not expected to be asked this so directly. She glared a moment then she shook her head silently.



“I want you to know that you can trust me. If someone ever tried to push you towards something you are not happy to do, don’t do it. You are in control of your body and it belongs to you alone. No one can demand anything like this of you. You understand?”



Eleanor blinked, she felt strangely as though Dumbledore could look through her, like he was paralysing her brain and gaining access. She shook slightly to make that feeling go away.



“Yes, Sir.”



Dumbledore smiled softly and leaned back: “Well then there is nothing to worry about or is there?”



“No, nothing, Sir.”