Blackeyed Girl

Hi all! Sorry for the delay! I have been really busy lately and I am not sure when I can update next, I hope I get a break and can get on with the story but not sure yet. But the story won’t be abandoned, I swear!



@Daughter of a Serpant:

Thanks for reviewing. I hope you enjoy the awkwardness between Ellie and Snape in this chapter and looks like you are quite right with your guesses about Dumbledore.



@Ari:

thanks for that! And thanks for betaing!!

I suppose it is really hard to write someone in canon when they do something that is simply hard to imagine in canon. I guess you just have to really feel your way into the character, think about how you understand him, make yourself be him and then put him into that situation, but easier said then done, I know…



@Pensive Plotter:

thanks for that review! I agree with you on Luna being Ellie’s most loyal friend. She really just accepts her the way she is and does not care what she is up to or how she is different, but I think she needs friends like Ginny as well because Ginny will be the one that will stand up for her when shit is going down.

Thanks for what you said about Ellie. I think her innocent is partly due to the fact that she is not aware of her darkness so much… not sure actually…

Funny you mentioned that still from the 6th film with Luna and Sanquini, cause yeah, I saw that pic and it completely inspired me to write Sanquini into this story. He looks like a fun guy.

There will be more sexual tension with Lucius and I suppose there is no way around more discipline from Snape, though I am not sure what form that will take. We are different in our like for spanking here I guess. I know the spoon scene was not exactly erotic and I don’t think it was supposed to be as they are guardian and ward, it just seems a bit wrong to me (God I am so proper! Haha) but in a twisted way it was sexy to me anyway. Not sure if that makes sense but personally I find none erotic spankings sexier.



Anyway, here goes the next chapter:





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Chapter 22

Malfoy’s Confession



Snape barged into the Headmaster’s office impatience visible in his face while his hands kept clenching into fists.



“What did she say? Did she tell you?”



Dumbledore held up a calming hand: “It’s alright Severus. Nothing happened.”



Snape stopped in his tracks: “What do you mean nothing happened?”



“I mean, she did not sleep with anyone.”



“How do you know that?”



“Because she told me that she hasn’t”



Snape hesitated a moment: “And she could not be lying?”



“Well, I don’t think she did. Besides we made a bargin.”



“A bargin?”



“I promised to talk to you about giving her the privacy she deserves.”



“What?”



“You can’t control her like an infant, Severus. She is growing into an adult woman. You can not possibly expect her to share her love life with you.”



“What love life? She does not have a love life! Does she?”



“No but I think she is, how should I put is... on the way of having one.”



“Did she tell you that?”



“No, but have you not noticed the way she and young Mr Malfoy are looking at each other lately?”



Snape only blinked; no he had noticed nothing of that sort.



“You mean they are… I won’t allow it. The rules are clear…”



“I know our rules at Hogwarts very well, Severus. And while I encourage you to do your job as a teacher to keep sexual activity between students to a minimum I also have to tell you as Eleanor’s guardian that you can not and should not expect to be able to prevent teenage love.”



“But-”



“Are you aware how many wizarding couples meet during their time at Hogwarts? It is natural. Just because you were denied to make this experience yourself when you were young doesn’t mean that it should be denied to Eleanor.”



Snape’s expression darkened but he kept his anger under control and only growled: “How am I supposed to make sure she does not get herself pregnant if I let her sleep around with other students.”



“Were you even listening to me, Severus? I am not telling you to let her sleep around. I am telling you to not be in the way of love.”



“But…”



“All you need to do is make sure she knows about the dangers and possible consequences of physical relations. Perhaps you should even make contraceptives available to her should she need it... Just in case.”



Snape only gaped at Dumbledore, but Dumbledore didn’t seem to mind, he leaned back in his chair and gazed past Snape for a moment, then he said as though deep in thought.



“But you are right about one thing, Severus. She is hiding something.”



“And it couldn’t be that she…”



“No. No, I believe her that she did not have sex. But there is something else. It’s deep. It is …troubling.”



Snape hesitated but Dumbledore continued without looking at him.



“You encountered that wall in her mind as well, didn’t you?”



Snape stared at Dumbledore in surprise: “I…”



“I know you, Severus, you would have done anything in your power to find out what happened. But you could not enter her mind. It was though without effort she was blocking you out entirely….there was no flexibility.”



“You have tried it too?”



“Yes. I don’t think it was a fine move by either of us. But I wanted to know what you had encountered that would not even let your advanced legilimecy enter her mind and I found out mine was not powerful enough either.”



“What could this mean? How could she have learned such strong skill?”



“I don’t know. But I am not sure she has.”



“What does that mean?”



Dumbledore shook his head: “I really can’t say but I don’t think it was occlumency that we encountered. I will have to look into this.”



Snape hesitated, then he said: “Could it be possible that someone took advantage of her at that party and somehow deleted her memory of this and sealed her mind against any intrusion? There were a lot of masters and students of the dark arts at that party.”



“I suppose it would be possible… somehow. But I certainly have never heard of such a case of abuse. We all know how fairly easy it would be to disillusion her. It has been done before with rape-victims. But this is different. It seems an awful lot of trouble and advanced planning to go through just in order to conceal a rape. It seems unlikely. No, I believe something else is going on here.”



“Do you not think it would still be important to find out who she was with at the party and who made her drink? If we knew who it was it might be easier to rule out…-“



“No, I don’t think that is necessary. I really don’t see a likely connection. But please feel free to ask her again about who gave her alcohol. But don’t expect her to tell you and Severus, please don’t get mad with her. If she does not want to tell you, you have to respect that. Just… remember to make sure she knows what she needs to know in order to look after herself.”



Snape blinked irritably again and turned to leave. He could not understand Dumbledore. How could he be so relaxed? And why would he not see this connection? Why was he so sure this wall in Eleanor’s mind was not a result of what happened at the party? He had heard his reasons about why Dumbldore did not seem sure at all what this could be or why so how could he just rule out such a likely possibility? After all what else could it be? And while he was busy worrying about this he was supposed to give his ward the talk? He breathed deeply as he descended down the stairs, and her and Draco Malfoy, well this was going to be a whole different subject. He felt a dejavu creeping up on him, -this feeling that he desperately wanted to do something he knew was wrong. He realised, it did not really matter whether it was Harry Potter or Draco Malfoy or anyone else. He would hate seeing her happy with anyone. And he did not understand why. He remembered what Lucius had said, of course he did not want Eleanor on his sofa when she was 30. He looked forward to the day he was rid of this responsibility and yet… somehow he hated the idea of her becoming part of a happy couple… a happy couple like Lily and James. Angry adrenalin rushed through him. He knew it was wrong to interfere because of that reason… but it was such a powerful reason…



He returned to the potions classroom, where he was going to set up next days first lesson but when he opened the door he froze and stared. He saw Eleanor and Draco sitting together at a desk working on something.



“What is this?” he thundered.



Eleanor and Draco looked up.



“Draco is helping me with something.”



Snape only looked at them.



Eleanor got up ”He showed me what the things in your advanced potion kit are for, you know the one that you gave me.”



“He showed you…. what an advanced potion kit is for? Anything else he showed you and demonstrated to you what it’s for?”



Eleanor frowned: “No.”



Draco got up: “I’ll go now.”



“Draco, we will need to have a word tomorrow, after your potions class.”



Draco raised his eyebrows and murmured: “Okay.” as he walked past and left the room.



Draco closed the door behind him and Eleanor was alone with Snape once again. She looked back at him silently and expectantly. She knew that look on Snape’s face by now.



“I am allowed to be friends with Draco, right?” she asked carefully.



Snape sighed: “We need to talk, but not here. Come with me.”



He led her through the door that was connected to his office. She thought he wanted to talk to her there but he led her only through the office to his private lab, where she had stayed while she was ill and further through the door that connected to his private chambers. She had secretly looked through into this room before when she was watching Snape with that woman from the village. He motioned her to sit down on the sofa before the fireplace. His living room here looked very similar to the living room in Spinner’s End, gloomy and surrounded by bookshelves.



She sat down and continued to look at Snape, who pushed a steaming mug into her hand. She sniffed at it.



“What is that?”



“Tea.”



“Oh, I don’t –“



“Take it!” he snapped.



Eleanor shook and decided to hold on to the mug, if it was so important to him. She watched him as he rummaged around fiercely until he pulled another armchair towards her and sat down next to her.



“Is something wrong?” she asked carefully. She wondered if Dumbledore had kept his promise and had spoken to Snape about her privacy. She wondered what Snape’s reaction to that would be, was this it? Or would he do another attempt at finding out about her little secret.



Snape sat and looked at her intensely.



“Well…if there is you would know and I wouldn’t, isn’t that correct?”



Eleanor frowned.



Snape sighed: “Listen to me. We’re going to have to… did your parents tell you about the whole… how life gets to happen…?”



“Bees and stuff?” said Eleanor helping him.



Snape grimaced: “Yes.”



Eleanor nodded: “I know where babies come from, Professor.”



“Good… good so you know you need to make precautions if you have sex to not get pregnant?”



Eleanor blushed and held on tighter to her mug now glad she had it. She nodded vaguely.



Snape focused: “Contraceptives have to be reasonably fresh and are to be taken straight afterwards. I always have some in my personal storage but Madam Pomfrey has them as well. However you should not go and ask her for it because it is forbidden for students under age to engage in sexual activities while at Hogwarts. Now this doesn’t mean that you can come to me for it either. The point is you are not to have sex period. But if it somehow happened… which it better not or I’ll kill you… you must come to me to get it. You have to promise that. It is very important. Do you understand?”



“Uhm…”, Eleanor shook her head, “I’m not… I mean, I don’t want to…have …sex”, she added very quietly.



Snape frowned at her, trying to decide whether she was playing him or not then he said: “I hope so. But I needed you to know this and you need to promise it.”



She nodded: “I promise.”



He looked at her a moment then he asked: “And you are sure you do not need it now? There are potions that might still work, even if it has been several days.”



Eleanor stood up: “I don’t need it, thank you!”



Snape got up as well: “And you won’t need it in the future either, will you?”



“No Sir. Never”, she glared back at him. Snape narrowed his eyes, she seemed so sure. What did this mean? Was this a teenage thing? He did not remember being like this. Perhaps girls were different. How was he supposed to know? At Eleanor’s age he had stopped understanding girls… even Lily.



“Be careful with Draco Malfoy”, he suddenly said.



“Careful?”



“Don’t let him… trick you into anything.”



“I won’t Sir. Can I go now?”



“Don’t underestimate him.”



“I don’t”, Eleanor answered growing more irritated, ”I am not stupid. I’ll just enjoy his company if that is alright with you.”



Snape didn’t say anything. He wanted to say that that was not all right. But he had learned from their Harry Potter disaster. He could not forbid her to be near Draco. But he had not given up yet as he send Eleanor back to her dormitory.



The next day Draco leaned back in his seat as the rest of the class left the classroom. He was tapping his fingers on the desktop waiting to be alone with Snape, who was staring at him from across the room, also waiting.



When the last student had left Snape walked towards him and asked with a dangerously quiet voice: “What is it exactly you are planning with my ward, Draco?”



Draco raised his eyebrows; of course he had known it would be about her: “Planning? …Not much. I take it as it comes.”



“You are not taking anything. You hear me?”



“What’s the problem, …Sir?”



Snape hesitated: “Did anything happen between you and Eleanor at your house?”



Draco frowned: “Like what?”



“You know what I’m talking about! Stop acting dumb!” Snape smacked his hands on the desk.



“I didn’t care a thing about that skinny geeky weirdo hanging around my house! I didn’t invite her, did I? Nobody asked me!“ Draco shouted angrily.



“Then what are you doing, playing the gentleman now?” Snape growled.



Draco hesitated a moment, then he said: “Well… things have changed…”



“In what way?”



“Professor, are you blind?”



It was quiet a moment then Draco continued as clearly Snape had no idea what he was talking about: “She’s become very… pretty”, Snape frowned, “but that’s not really it… it’s more what’s in her eyes… she’s different.”



“What are you talking about?”



Draco hesitated again: “I like her.”



“What do you mean you like her?”



Draco shrugged: “What I just said”, he paused and looked back at Snape, “I wouldn’t ever hurt her. I hurt her once… scaring her cat…I would never do that again now. There is no need to worry about her. I look after her.”