:o wow.

This is getting very interesting.

btw, I've started reading the first 25 chapters of your other story... it's pretty good...

Thanks Samantha, and you also have the honour of posting the 100th post on AVWW!! :hail: Wow, I never thought this story would turn into such a big project. Most of my stories tend to last a couple of pages, nothing more, but your support (everyone who reads this) has really kept this going, thank you!
Anyway, just thought 100 posts was cool. :beer:
Here's the next bit! Post 101!

By Christmas, there wasn’t a single Blade who hadn’t been the victim of some cruel and nasty trick. Athill had been ambushed in the boys’ toilets by a delayed hex that caused every toilet, including the one he had been sat on, to explode rather violently and messily. Dinsmor, who was normally so good with potions, was shocked when his potion exploded in his face, causing him to lose all his hair, eyelashes, eyebrows included. It had started to grow back, but he was getting a lot of taunts. Lewknor had found one of her favourite tunnels set with a trap and only Sam with her spirits had been able to find her five hours later, and the Blades had dug her out. Nidhan fell foul of a Hound concealing himself in the showers and enchanting them to spit out bubotuber pus, and she had been in the infirmary for a good few days crying in pain. Catherwood had been the second Hound to leave after getting badly beaten up. What really stung Sam, though, was what they did to Artie and Ben.
It had happened so suddenly, and Sam had been stood right next to Ben when it had happened. Someone had just yelled ‘catch!’, and something looking like a water balloon came hurtling through the air. Ben instinctively caught it- and it had exploded. Whatever foul potion was in it, it completely blinded Ben. The healers at St Mungo’s were able to restore some of his sight, but not enough for him to read or write. He was very quick at picking up Braille, but all the same, it was heart-breaking to see him wandering around without his notebook.
As for Artie…
Artie had a younger sister who had only just joined Slytherin. As Artie told it, she’d found that someone had left a howler under her pillow. It hadn’t had an address, so it had to have been hand-delivered, and when poor Octavia had opened it, it had screeched such terrible threats that she had insisted on going home immediately. It had been so loud, it had woken up the whole of Slytherin House. But worse was to come. Artie’s mum had written to him later on in the term to see if knew who Regelus Black was, as someone had written on Octavia’s window that she would be tortured and executed just like him.
“We can’t keep doing this!” Artie yelled at Sam, and he wasn’t the only one. “We’ve got to get rid of Mantacori NOW!”
Unsurprisingly, all the Blades went home for Christmas. Even less surprising was the fact that Artie didn’t come back after the holidays, and neither did Nidhan. Ben was still in St Mungo’s for further treatment; he got his dad to write a letter for him to Sam saying that he wouldn’t return once he was better. His parents simply couldn’t allow it.
That left four.

It was becoming more and more obvious that Sam’s friends were dropping like flies around her, and it soon became almost bad luck for anyone to walk with her. Much to her concern, she therefore spent a lot of time walking around the school alone, except for Crawley. Had it not been for him, Sam would have had at least two encounters with the Hounds, but he had seen them just in time and hissed a warning at her to hide.
By Easter, Athill, Dinsmor, and Lewknor were also gone. The last straw had come when someone had smashed a glass vial in their dormitories, releasing a horrible gas that had made them vomit blood. Gryffindor had thus far been untouched, which didn’t help matters.
“It’s all right for you!” Athill said exasperatedly when he boarded the Hogwarts Express for the last time. “You’re safe in Gryffindor!”
And then there was one.
Sam went home for the Easter holidays and told her parents what was going on. This was too big, even for her. They wanted to pull her out of Hogwarts, but she couldn’t leave while Mantacori was still there! Reluctantly, they saw her back on to the Hogwarts Express at the end of the holidays and sent her back to the school.

“Things are looking a little bit rough, aren’t they?” Nancy commented casually. Sam rolled her eyes and stared at her Butterbeer. She, Nancy, Charlie, Flint, Fey and Cat were sat in the Three Broomsticks, which was unusually quiet. A lot of students besides the Blades had chosen to leave because of the Hounds’ behaviour. Others hadn’t returned for other reasons. There had been a lot of killings in the outside world. Nowhere, not even Hogwarts, seemed to be safe.
“You’re a right ray of sunshine, you know,” Cat told Nancy, with an apologetic look at Sam. “What are you going to do now? You need to prove Mantacori’s as bad as you say he is.”
“I don’t know,” Sam replied miserably. “Dumbledore’s not going to take anything I say at face value, and he won’t act without proof.”
And he had me killed, Crawley hissed from her book bag.
SSSSSH! Sam hissed back at him.
“Sorry?” Flint asked. “What was that?”
“Nothing. I was just-”
“We know about the snake,” Charlie interrupted.
“He’s in my bag,” Sam confessed. “You won’t tell Dumbledore, will you?”
“You can trust us,” Fey told her.
“Yeah, we’re not Slytherins, you know,” Nancy added. Sam just looked at her expectantly. “Oh come ON! You know what they’re like! Don’t you?” she added weakly. “Cut that out, Sam.”
“It’s not just Slytherins, though, is it?” Fey said. “It’s Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs too. It’s a good thing none of the other Gryffindors were picked to be Hounds or you’d be in serious trouble, Sam.”
“These guys certainly seem to be able to do some pretty nasty stuff,” Charlie continued. “You’ll have to watch your back. Well, I suppose Crawley does that, but really, you’ll have to be careful. No wandering around the school alone unless you really have to.”
“I said cut that out, Weasley!” Nancy faltered. “Okay, I’m sorry. Maybe Artie wasn’t that bad, and God knows every girl was crushing on Regelus. Will you quit staring at me like that?” Sam smiled, lowered her gaze to her Butterbeer, and took a long sip of it.
She didn’t want these people knowing that she wasn’t sure she could look after herself, but she certainly wasn’t going to ask for their help.
On the way back to Hogwarts, Flint murmured out of the corner of his mouth that a large, black dog was following them in the woods a short distance from the path. Nancy turned and glared at it.
“Shoo!” she told it.
The dog barked rapidly. It almost sounded like laughter.

Woot! I'd like to thank the accademy... I mean Hogwarts, and Sam Weasley, and our very own wickedweasley for writing such a fantastic story...

Great addition to the story too, btw... but what's Sirius doing there?

*shrug* anyway, can't wait to read more. :flowersmile:

Edit: I forgot to thank Crawley... Thanks Crawley

All will be revealed

The Hounds seemed to have backed down for the summer term, though Sam got the paranoid feeling that this was because they had her just where they wanted her, and they were going to bide their time. When they came for her, she knew it wouldn’t be pleasant.
Charlie accompanied her to and from all lessons and, despite snarling looks from Filch, both carried their wands ready at all times. Hounds would pass them in the corridor and smile at them, and it was all Charlie could do to stop Sam hexing them there and then. She was slowly becoming aware of a huge cauldron of hate bubbling away inside of her. She WANTED the fight to come, and she WANTED to hurt them, every single one of them, and then she would go for Mantacori.
Every night, though, her resolve would be shaken. Outside her window was the big, black dog, Mantacori’s other form, staring right back at her, waiting for something. She could barely sleep, and she was turning into a nervous wreck. There were dark circles under her eyes and she would jump at the slightest movement out of the corner of her eye. Worse, the Hounds knew it. They laughed about it. They teased her and jumped out of doorways at her.
It was the last day of lessons before exams, and Sam was utterly frazzled. They were stood at the pens for Care of Magical Creatures and Karissa Verling and her friends were taking great delight in laughing at Sam behind her back, and stopping the moment she looked at them. Sam glared at them and turned to Charlie.
“What’s wrong with them?” Sam hissed.
“You’re still wearing your nightdress,” Charlie whispered back at her, going a little red. Sam frowned and looked down at herself. Sure enough, she was only wearing her nightdress beneath her school robe. She swallowed with difficulty and tried not to blush. It didn’t work. Karissa laughed even harder.
Sam had taken Crawley with her to Care of Magical Creatures and he had slipped out to scout the area for her. However, when the lesson ended, she completely forgot about him until she had nearly reached the school gates. She swore loudly and turned to Charlie.
“I’ve left Crawley behind,” she told him. “I’ll catch up.”
“Be quick then,” Charlie said anxiously. “I’ll wait here for you.” It was a good vantage point. From there he could see the whole way down to the pens.
Sam ran down the grassy slope and started hissing for Crawley long before she reached the pens again.
NO, SAM!!! RUN!!! she suddenly heard Crawley hiss. She looked around. A hooded Hound had just walked out from behind Hagrid’s hut. Another was emerging from the trees. Sam froze.
“Oh God…” she whispered under her breath. She would have to trust Crawley to get himself back to the castle. She started to run-
BANG! Someone had sent a hex her way, though it had missed by a good few feet. Instinct took over, she started to panic, even as a small voice in the back of her head yelled at her that she was being driven. Run TOWARDS the spells, not away!!!
But she couldn’t stop herself. She tried to make a dash for the gate where Charlie had, only moments before, been waiting for her. He had gone. She was alone. There were more Hounds now, all of them. In total, there were ten of them and one of her. They were driving her around to the same spot where she had confronted Bellatrix the previous year, a place where teachers could only be raised with great difficulty. No use screaming now, though. She would be dead before they arrived.
She ran smack into one, massive Hound who chuckled darkly as Sam fell winded on to the grass. Within moments, she was surrounded by a tight circle of Hounds.
“Silencio!” one of them sneered. Sam frowned-
“CRUCIO!” another bellowed. Sam writhed and her mouth opened wide in silent screams. No one was going to hear her. They could keep this up as long as they wanted.
Through the feet of the Hounds, she caught a glimpse of the huge, black dog running towards her. This was it then. Mantacori was coming to finish her off. And yet, she didn’t want to go like this. Let him kill her on her feet! Summoning a strength of will she had no idea she had, she got to her feet, even as the Cruciatus curse was still held on her. She made a slashing movement with her wand and felled the Hound who had been torturing her. They weren’t laughing anymore.
She removed the jinx on her and felled another Hound with the a stunning hex. A brawl broke out, with the eight remaining Hounds blasting hexes at her, all miraculously missing her and either hitting the school walls or each other. All the while, Sam was cutting them down, her face a mask of rage. She started using the nastier hexes, ones that really hurt but left no mark. She made their insides burn. She made them mad and see snakes biting them all over. A few ran away screaming.
All of a sudden, she was joined by another wizard who helped her finish off the Hounds. For those who could still walk, they hurried away. Those who couldn’t, threw their wands away. Unceremoniously, Sam snapped every single one of them. Then she brought herself to look at the man who had helped her.
It was Sirius Black. She didn’t ask why he was there. She looked around for the dog, but it was gone.
“You all right?” he asked her. Sam stared at the fallen Hounds around her.
“I’ll be expelled for this,” was the first thing she could think of saying.
“From what I saw at the Longbottoms’ house, I got the feeling you could use some help, this year,” Sirius explained. He looked around him at the fallen Hounds. “Though, maybe not. Dumbledore doesn’t know I’m here,” he added. Sam’s face fell. “But I’ll stick up for you. I saw everything.”
“There is no need, Sirius,” Dumbledore called. Led by Charlie, Dumbledore, McGonagall and several other members of staff, including Madam Pomfrey, walked across the grass towards them. “Charlie has told me everything already.” Sam looked at Charlie gratefully.
“Good heavens, what did you do to them?” Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, seeing to the first Hound. She pulled off the hood to reveal none other than Edie Sumner, the potionsmistress.
“P… Please Albus,” she trembled at Dumbledore. “Mantacori’s behind it. He’s the one you want.”
“He didn’t make you enjoy it,” Sam snarled at her, but Dumbledore held up his hand for Sam to be quiet.
“Thank you, Edie. Poppy, please see to their wounds. I will go and speak to Julius. Samantha, Sirius, follow me.” Sirius put his hand on Sam’s shoulder as they walked back into the school.
“You were great,” he told her. For a moment, Sam looked up at him, eyes threatening to spill tears.
It was just what she’d hoped one day to hear from Regelus.

Mantacori’s office was a mess when they got there, but one thing was clear: he had fled the school. Dumbledore looked around mildly surprised, as though this was just an impromptu modern sculpture someone had done.
He was still out there. Mantacori had escaped. The other Blades were still at risk, and Sam told Dumbledore so.
“The Phelps family, I am afraid to say, have fled the country already,” Dumbledore told her. “The Zarragas are staying with relatives for the time being. Mochrie has left home, and no one know where she has gone. A similar story applies to the rest of the Blades.
“Be sure of one thing, Samantha. You made a difference here. Were it not for you, they would have joined the Death Eaters. Instead, you taught them to fight for what’s right.” Sam looked awkward. That hadn’t been the point at all.
They had been fighting to win, to begin with, and then they’d been fighting for their survival. They hadn’t wanted to be anyone’s slaves, nothing more than that.
“Mantacori’s an animagus,” Sam told Dumbledore.
“No, he’s not,” Sirius said swiftly.
“Yes, he-” Sam stopped and looked at him. “Oh. My mistake.” She grinned. Sirius looked VERY relieved. Dumbledore seemingly ignored the whole thing.
“Alas, it would seem I need a new defence against the Dark Arts teacher as well as a new potions teacher. I do hope, Miss Weasley, that you take better care of the new ones.”

The Hounds were expelled without exception from the school. It was soon known that Sam had played a major part in that, and the Gryffindors became a lot more friendly towards her as a result- after all, most of the Hounds had been Slytherins. She didn’t like their reasons, but Sam enjoyed the atmosphere. She was able to sleep contentedly for once, and even heard an older Gryffindor having a go at Karissa and telling her to back off and leave Sam alone.
All in all, a good end to the year.

Ah. How Dumbledore didn't figure out Sirius was an Animagus is beyond me... I guess he was distracted or something.

Anyway, great post. :flowersmile:

I don't think Dumbledore was ever fooled by the Marauders. Never misses a trick, that man. We'll call this "selective deafness" for the time being.

Sam spent that summer again with her parents. Things felt better now. She felt like she was in the right house at last, and that she was getting a much clearer idea of who she was, what her place was in the world. She would never willingly serve Voldemort; it was an impossibility. Her friends may have fled, but they were safe.
Iris had an important announcement to make as well. She was going to have another child. She was only four months gone by the time Sam went back to school, but Sam was so excited she could barely wait. She would have a younger brother or sister that she could help; she could teach him or her through mistakes Sam herself had made, so he or she would never have to make them.
There was a permanent party atmosphere at Sanctuary, and visitors from the Order came almost every other day. The Potters, and baby Harry, were among their most frequent guests. Perhaps James was hoping Sam would see something more hopeful when she met Harry, but she saw nothing except for a quiet, happy one-year-old who had no clue what was going on around him but was enjoying all the attention anyway. He seemed to have trouble seeing things- Sam predicted he’d probably need glasses through school. However, he was so sweet, Sam could see just why James and Lily were so proud of him. He was going to be very loved.
“I hear Dumbledore hasn’t filled the vacancies at Hogwarts,” James said one pleasant evening. “I know Moony would love to give it a go. How about you, Lily? You were always smart in school.” Lily laughed.
“Maybe when Harry’s a bit older,” she replied, before smiling at Sam, who was currently playing with Harry. “He likes you, I can tell.” Sam smiled at Harry.
“Thanks, Harry,” she told him. Harry gurgled.

So it was with very fond memories of Sanctuary that Sam returned to Hogwarts Express in September, though she knew it wouldn’t be for long. James and Lily had invited them to stay the week before Halloween to celebrate Lily’s birthday, and also to have a bit of an impromptu baby shower for Iris, so Sam was going to miss a few lessons, as were Bill, Charlie and Tonks, whose parents were also close friends of the Potters.
At this time, they had a fairly large house not far from Gloucester, and so a lot of the guests, who would have otherwise had to travel a long way, were able to stay the night after the party.
Perhaps James was hoping Sam would see something more hopeful when she met Harry, but she saw nothing except for a quiet, happy one-year-old who had no clue what was going on around him but was enjoying all the attention. He seemed to have trouble seeing things- Sam predicted he’d probably need glasses through school. However, he was so sweet, Sam could see just why James and Lily were so proud of him. He was going to be very loved.
Tonks, Charlie, and Bill were sharing one of the smaller bedrooms (Percy, Fred, George and Ron were still too young to attend, and Molly, with her newborn girl, Ginny, had stayed at home with them). Arthur had gone home to help Molly, and Bert and Iris promised him that they would get Charlie and Bill back home safely.
Bert and Iris were in the master bedroom, James and Lily having graciously decided to sleep downstairs that night.
Sam eventually fell asleep, the last out of the four, but within a couple of hours woke again. Strange, she’d thought she’d dreamt that a huge snake…
She leapt up and stared out of the window at the grass below. No sign of any snake. Stupid dream. She sat down on her bed again. Should she fall asleep again? She couldn’t. She decided to see if her parents were awake. They were generally sympathetic to Sam’s snake dreams. She opened the door.
Kill the Potters! Kill them both! The huge, orange snake’s gleeful hiss turned suddenly into a hiss of alarm as Sam burst in, but she was too late. Bert and Iris had already been bitten. Sam screamed. She was still screaming when Sirius wrapped his arms round her, stopping her from entering the room until the snake had gone, and held her as James checked Bert and Iris to see if there was anything they could do. She was still screaming when Lily said that the Healers would Apparate within minutes. She fell silent as Bert and Iris began to convulse, blood trickling out of their noses, ears, and mouths. She saw their spirits leave, all three of them, her new sibling too, just as she had seen Regelus’ go. For a moment, she thought she saw her mother’s spirit look at her despairingly, before fading into the eternal.
Sam burst into tears. She was inconsolable. Sirius had to drag her out of the room and down the stairs. When the Healers came, they gave Sam a very powerful calming draft and a large bar of chocolate that seemed utterly tasteless. Her screams had woken up the entire house, and it wasn’t long before other members of the order, Arthur Weasley included, arrived at the scene. Dumbledore was talking to the Potters and to Sirius, Remus and Peter, but he kept throwing glances at Sam. She knew what was coming. She had her answer ready.
“It came for the Potters,” she told him without him needing to ask. “It mistook my parents for them,” she added, before choking up and starting to cry and again. Dumbledore held her hands until she had calmed again.
“I am so very sorry,” he told her quietly. He turned to James and Lily. “I am afraid it was no random attack. It was meant for the two of you.” Lily gasped and looked at James horrified. Sam turned to look at the Moses basket now sat on the coffee table. Harry had returned to sleep after a while. He was so peaceful. Sam doubted she could ever be that peaceful again.
Quietly, Sam got to her feet and walked out of the house. She sat on the steps leading into the house and shivered in the chill of the night. After a while, wordlessly, Arthur wrapped a coat around her and put his arm across her shoulders. She cried herself to sleep, and woke up the next morning on the sofa.

Everything happened very quickly after that. Sam went back to the Burrow with Arthur, Bill and Charlie, and there was more crying, and Sam, sharing a room with Charlie for the time being, kept herself to herself. The Potters fled their Gloucester house to an unknown destination. They, Dumbledore and Sirius were going to perform some kind of rite which would protect the Potters.
All so simple.
But it went so horribly wrong. Sirius betrayed the Potters, or so they said. The man who had defended her against the Hounds? The man who had taken her dying body to St Mungo’s? The man who had stopped her from going to her parents until the snake was gone? She owed him her life three times over. She couldn’t believe it. And poor Peter as well! Peter dead too! Only Remus now remained from the four friends, and though he put on a brave face, it was all too clear that he was completely devastated.
And then came the worst day of all.
There was a huge crowd at the church that day. A worrying percentage had battle wounds. Some were smiling through the tears. Voldemort was dead, they said. That’s what the Potters would have wanted. Hooray for Harry!
Sam suspected the Potters would have very much preferred to be alive. Molly bought Sam a black, short-sleeved, knee-length dress. Sam didn’t argue about wearing it. Molly didn’t argue when Sam strapped her sword around her middle and carried her wand in with her. She looked very odd, but nobody could bear to look her in the eye.
There, at the head of the church, were five coffins. From left to right, James, Lily, Bert, Iris and Peter. All dead. All in a week. It was too much.
Arthur caught her arm as her knees buckled beneath her. She scowled at the people who gave her pitying looks. She was taken to the front pew, with the Weasleys, Remus, and a few other close friends of the dead. On the other side sat a strange looking couple. They didn’t look happy to be there. Not that any of the guests wanted to be there, but these two made it look like a chore more than anything else.
The portly man with an impressive moustache caught her staring at him and glowered back at her.
“Weirdoes, Petunia!” he commented audibly. Sam coldly took her sword out its scabbard and let the candlelight catch it just so. The man visibly jumped and tried to bury his head into his shoulders, as he seemed to have no neck whatsoever.
She put the sword away, and tried to zone out of the whole thing.

On the way out of the church, Sam accidentally tripped and bumped into the man in front of her. The man who turned around to look at her in annoyance had the coldest black eyes Sam had ever seen. His hair was shoulder-length, black and greasy, and he looked like the sort to wear black even to happy occasions.
“Foolish girl,” the man muttered. Remus, hearing this, said loudly:
“That’s Samantha Weasley. Those were her parents in there, Severus.” A large number of people turned to look at the three of them. Severus looked as though he had just smelled something putrid and stared at Sam with absolute loathing.
“It must be hard being the child of Bert and Iris Weasley,” he told her. “Such great defenders against the Dark Arts. I wonder, can you really live up to that?” With that, he swept off through the crowd. Sam looked at Remus nonplussed.
“That was Severus Snape, a very odd fellow,” he told her. “He doesn’t get along with many people.”
“Greasy git,” Sam muttered. Remus patted her on the back.
“I’ll agree with you there,” he told her out of the corner of his mouth. For the first time in a week, Sam smiled.

Snape. :wub: *happy Sigh* I'm so glad he's entered into the story.

I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Fantastic! Need I say more??? :sorcerer:

:wine: Just to warn you.

Sam only spent the last few weeks of the first term back at Hogwarts- she stayed with Uncle Arthur and Aunt Molly, and helped to secure Sanctuary. Letters were sent to all those in possession of portkeys to tell them that Sanctuary would remain uninhabited until Sam’s eighteenth birthday. In the meantime, Sam lived in a new bedroom, which was to become Ginny’s once Sam took up residence in Sanctuary.
Christmas was obviously rather subdued. Sam sat with the twins either side of her on the sofa as the Weasleys exchanged gifts (there were a lot of jumpers and Bertie Botts’ beans). Fred and George had been sat together on the carpet initially, until Molly realised they kept trying to bury Percy under the pile of wrapping paper.
After much discussion and reassuring, Sam was allowed to return to Hogwarts. There had been a few worries raised about her safety, but Charlie had stopped Arthur and Molly from worrying too much.
“I saw her take on all those Hounds, mum, she can look after herself!” he told her one evening. “Sirius only helped-”
“Don’t mention that name!” Molly hissed back at him. “That horrible… horrible man…” Sam knew better than to argue. Besides, all she had was a gut feeling. All the evidence was against her, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.
As Sam and Charlie rode the mostly empty Hogwarts Express back to school at the start of January, she had a good feeling in her stomach. Hogwarts was safe now. Mantacori was gone, what could she possibly have to worry about?
“I heard Dumbledore’s finally hired Quirrel as a teacher, you know,” Charlie said, munching on a chocolate frog. “No one else wanted the job, but he was well up for it.” Quirrel had left the school the previous year with extremely impressive NEWT levels. “Mind if I sit next to you in defence against Dark Arts? There’s got to be advantages sitting next to the teacher’s pet.” Sam blushed.
“I’m not-” she began, but Charlie burst out laughing.
“Good grief, Sam, I’m only winding you up. Urgh, wouldn’t work now anyway, not now he’s a teacher,” Charlie told her.
“Yeah, well, just so you know,” Sam replied, trying to shrink into her school uniform like a tortoise.
There was only one carriage heading back up to the castle and there was a second year Ravenclaw wanting to get in as well. However, she took one look at Sam, then at the carriage, and ran off screaming, despite the heavy snow.
“Mantacori IS gone, isn’t he?” Sam sighed, trying to ignore the skeletal horse pulling the carriage as she climbed in.
“Yeah… I think.”
“That’s not very comforting.”
The carriage rolled up towards the castle, overtaking the hysterical Ravenclaw girl, who dived out of the way just in case the carriage left the road again. They were left at the clock tower, where Quirrel, dressed in fine new robes, was waiting for them at the doors with a roll of parchment.
“All right, Sam?” he asked her, looking a little nervous. “Uh… where’s Juhi Manjara? Ravenclaw girl?”
“On her way,” Charlie told him. “She thought Sam was going to try and kill us all in a carriage again.”
“Oh?” Quirrel asked, sighing. “darn. I thought this would be the easy part of the job, you know. You’d better head into dinner. I’d better find Manjara.” With that, Quirrel walked back out of the school to find the missing Ravenclaw. Sam and Charlie left their bags at the doors and hurried out of snow.
They had missed the start of the feast, but there was still plenty to be had. Sam and Charlie started piling their plates full of potatoes and roast meats, buttery carrots and peas, while Tonks chatted away to them.
“It’s all change round here,” she told them cheerfully. “Quirrel’s okay as a teacher, but he doesn’t have much experience, and that new potionsmaster is a right pain in backside, I can tell you. He told me to either keep my hair a sensible colour or shave it all off!” Her glazed over a little as she concentrated, and all her hair suddenly vanished into her head. “What do you think?”
“I think I prefer you in pink,” Sam replied carefully. Tonks shrugged and her hair fell in long dreadlocks around her shoulders.
Forgetting someone, are we? Sam jumped, then pretended to choke and grabbed a glass of water.
Crawley! You could be seen! she hissed back at him, not daring to look for him. Crawley hissed derisively.
Not likely, he replied. Is it true, then? Your parents?
Yes, Sam hissed very softly.
“You all right, Sam?” Charlie asked her, noticing Sam had gone very quiet and looked a little upset.
“Fine,” she replied. She dared a quick glance under the table, but couldn’t see Crawley anywhere. Are you still there? she asked him.
Of course, Crawley replied. I overheard Dumbledore discussing your parents. I was rather bored.
Don’t spy on Dumbledore, Sam told him. He’ll see you. No matter what you did, he’d find you, and I won’t have him burying you somewhere.
I’ve spent most of my summer with Quirrel, actually. He’s the only member of staff who knows about me. Terrible conversationalist. I can understand him fine, but he doesn’t listen to me.
Not everyone can speak to snakes, Sam said. Crawley sighed.
It’s annoying, he told her. Hold on, Hagrid’s coming. With a quiet, bony, rattling sound, Crawley was gone. It seemed he’d become very independent of her.

Sam, Charlie and the rest of the students gradually left the Great Hall to head back to their common rooms, or the library. Sam, hoping to catch up with Quirrel, told Charlie what she was up to and peeled away from the crowd. She hurried up the stairs and knocked loudly on what had formerly been Mantacori’s door.
The door was snatched open angrily. It wasn’t Quirrel towering over her.
Sam swore.
“Not you! Tell me Dumbledore didn’t hire YOU!” Sam cried despairingly.
“That’s ten points from Gryffindor for your foul language, Weasley,” Snape snarled at her with a horrible smirk on his face. “I’ll be watching you. Both of you,” he added, with a meaningful look at a rather shaken Quirrel. Snape swept down the corridor and vanished in a swirl of black cloak. Sam walked into Quirrel’s office and closed the door behind her. Quirrel pulled a bottle of Firewhiskey out of his desk drawer and poured himself a small glass of it, gulping it down in one, then pouring himself another.
“Want one?” he asked her. Sam looked at the closed door. Snape? Had Dumbledore gone mad at last?
“Quite a big one, I think,” she replied.

I repeat Snape :wub:

This was a great addition. I can't wait to read more.

Things started to go from bad to worse in school. In Quirrel’s lessons, Sam was doing well- maybe, for once, she had a teacher she felt motivated to do her homework for, or maybe it was because as dark as he had seemed at times, Quirrel had been the first one there for her when Crawley had been killed, and he had continued to look after him for her when she’d been away from the school. Charlie, Cat and Nigel sat next to Sam in these lessons; it was known that Sam had played a major part in exposing two teachers as Death Eaters the previous year, and she and Charlie were very much respected- as a pleasant side-effect, because she and Quirrel got on so well, his classes behaved for him.
Quirrel’s lessons were an island of peace compared to the rest of Sam’s studies. This was her OWL year, and she’d had it drummed into her over and over again. When Professor McGonagall looked over her record, she suggested Sam would either end up as some sort of mercenary maverick running around the world for newspapers, or a museum or something of the type or-
“Or a teacher, Miss Weasley,” McGonagall told her, a rare smile appearing on her lips. Sam burst out laughing. “In all seriousness, your fellow students respect you. You may use… unorthodox methods, but you are one of the few cases where the ends have justified the means. You have plenty of experience already for a mere student- by the time you’re old enough to be a teacher, who knows? You’ll need at least four NEWTs at ‘Acceptable’, though when you apply yourself, I can see, in Transfiguration at least, you’re working at “Exceeds Expectations” level.”
“I don’t think I could stand being a teacher,” Sam replied, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs. “All those rules, all the marking to be done. I’ve seen what Quirrel has to do and, no offence, but I’m more maverick material.”
With that future laid out for her, Sam could at least take comfort in the fact that no matter how poorly she did in Potions, she could still do pretty much what she wanted, which was just as well.
Mantacori had been bad, it had to be said. Sam would be the first to admit that; after all, he’d tried to drown her in the lake. Nevertheless, in lessons, he’d always given the outward appearance of being fair and actually enjoying what he was doing.
Snape was the tyrant master of captured slaves that annoyed him immensely, and he made this absolutely clear every single lesson. Only the Slytherins escaped his wrath. In fact, the Slytherins couldn’t see what anyone was complaining about. Snape? Oh yeah, a bit moody, doesn’t smile much but he’s all right deep down, right?
NO.
For Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors alike, Snape was loathed. Sam could see what was happening after only a few lessons with him: he was dividing the school. It would take some great feat, a mighty leader to unite the houses again into anything like the Hounds had once been. The division between Slytherin and the rest of the school was so pronounced now that vicious little quarrels and snide remarks passed between students who had formerly been courteous to one another. It was even starting to spread to Gryffindor- they, the most despised of all Snape’s students, were also finding themselves cut off. The Ravenclaws had started to view the Gryffindors as dull slackers, and the Hufflepuffs thought Gryffindors were boisterous show-offs.
They were believing Snape.
Perhaps because Sam had not been in school for Snape’s first term she hadn’t been affected as much, but then again, the Slytherins had been her friends. It was with some reluctance that any of them acknowledged her now, but at least they didn’t give her a hard time.
Which was just as well, as Sam didn’t think she could have survived with them on her back as well, because, if Gryffindors were the most hated of all houses, then Sam was the most hated student in the most hated house. No one would sit next to her in potions for fear of being tainted with Snape’s deep dislike of her.
“Miss Weasley, once again, your potion fails to look anything remotely like the example I made. Is there some sort of hex on you that prevents you from reading the instructions properly? I told you to add two pinches of ground moonstone. Just how much did you add?” Snape asked her loudly while the rest of the class stared at her to see just what she’d done wrong THIS lesson.
Sam looked at her cauldron. It was a slightly, only slightly, paler green than Snape’s. A quick glance around the classroom showed her that Charlie’s potion was brown, not green, and that one of the Slytherin girls’ potions had solidified into a small, burping green brick.
Hers was the best potion in the class. It was the Draft of Peace, one she’d seen her mother make many times before, and her mother had always added two large pinches of moonstone to it, rather than Snape’s stingy measures. She could make it blindfolded if she had to. She could have done it with one arm missing- after all, her mother had taught her to do it that way.
Despite all this, Sam just stared up at Snape.
She took a cup of potion and downed it in a single gulp. She heard several people gasp, but nothing happened except she suddenly no longer felt the need to throw the rest of the potion over Snape. She took a deep breath, settled herself more comfortably on her stool and smiled.
“Tastes fine to me, sir,” she replied calmly.
“Detention, Weasley!” Snape hissed at her.
“Okay,” Sam replied, still calm. This seemed to annoy Snape even more, but as he could do nothing more to Sam than to give her detention, he stalked away, saw Charlie’s potion and knocked it off the fire.
“Start again and get it right!” he barked at him. Charlie shrugged.
“I don’t need potions anyway,” he whispered to Sam. She nodded serenely.

When the potion wore off, just as she was walking towards the Great Hall for tea, she swore loudly and screamed “I HATE HIM!!!” down the corridor.
“Detention!!! He’s put me in detention and I did nothing wrong!!!” she cried exasperatedly to Charlie.
Charlie shrugged, and didn’t seem surprised when, instead of going to tea, Sam wandered off to see Quirrel instead.

I don't know what it is... perhaps someone's been slipping me some Draft of Peace... but I just can't get angry at anything Snape does. *smiles* I might feel different if I was in his class... then again, I might act up to try to get detention with him. :wub: lol. Anyway... this was a great post, typicaly Snape. Can't wait to read more.

Flower for you. :flowersmile:

Sorry about the delay- writer's block. Not so much Snape in this one, sorry.

She could hear giggling. Normally, giggling was just the usual background noise in the girls’ dorm in Gryffindor, but this giggling hit her ears like hailstones and made her curl up and moan. The giggling increased. Sam started to sit up-
And smacked her head on the underside of a sink.
Moaning Myrtle was now in fits of laughter as Sam staggered to her feet. She stared at herself in the mirror- she looked a wreck.. Her eyes were red and squinting against the light, her hair was a mess and her clothes were crumpled from where she’d slept in them. She tried to recall… oh yes…
She’d perhaps underestimated her ability to drink Firewhiskey. About two o’clock in the morning, she’d mumbled something to Quirrel about going back to Gryffindor. He’d been drunk too, slumped in his chair and unable to move. They’d got through a bottle and a half of the stuff between them. She’d become lost on the way back- the staircases had fooled her. She’d started to feel a bit poorly and…
And now she was in the girls’ bathroom with Moaning Myrtle laughing away at her. With a head full of burning coals, Sam staggered out of the bathroom and hoped she’d be able to sneak back into Gryffindor unnoticed. Fortunately, it was only six in the morning and very few people were up. She ducked into the bathroom, peeled off yesterday’s clothes and sat in a bathtub.
She woke again to someone banging on the door.
“Are you quite all right in there?” called McGonagall. Sam sat bolt upright.
“Sorry, Professor,” Sam called. “I fell asleep.”
“Good heavens, Weasley, you ought to be more careful! It’s a good thing Miss Verling came and found me.”
“You’ve been in there an hour!” she heard Karissa laugh. The water was cold and her skin was wrinkled- she could well believe it. Wrapping herself in a school towel and quickly gathering up her clothes to throw down the laundry chute, she darted out of the bathroom, red-faced, as the other Gryffindor girls laughed and jeered. Karissa made a grab for Sam’s towel and tore it away from her. The other girls shrieked with laughter… until they saw the scarring on Sam’s shoulder. A shocked silence fell through the bathroom.
“Had a good look?” Sam asked them sarcastically. She snatched the towel back, not bothering to wrap it round her again, and turned her back on them. There were gasps and little cries of shock as they saw that the scarring had gone right through her.
“That was horrible, Karissa,” she heard one of the girls comment. Sam smiled to herself and ran up to the dorm before anyone else could see her. She pulled on a fresh school uniform, muttered under her breath when she realised she only had a skirt to wear for the day instead of her trousers, laced up her boots and ran down to breakfast with Crawley in her bag. She had nearly finished her breakfast when the other Gryffindor girls turned up. They were oddly subdued that morning. Some of them looked at Sam worriedly.
“Something happen?” Charlie asked her. Sam shrugged and told him. Charlie turned red with embarrassment. “That evil witch!” he hissed under his breath. “Looks like she’s not so popular now.” Sam dared a quick glance up at Karissa, who was sat on her own eating cereal with less than her usual enthusiasm.
“Serves her right,” Sam said coldly. She wolfed down her own breakfast and left the table without a glance back at him or the rest of the Gryffindors.
Quirrel must have noticed her rapid exit because not long after she was stood outside the defence against the Dark Arts classroom, he came walking along the corridor, unlocked the door and said-
“Come in, close the door.” Sam shrugged and pulled the door shut behind her. She couldn’t look up at him. She didn’t want to see anyone else staring at her today. Her hand rubbed the scarring on her shoulder, wishing she could make it, and the events which had caused it, go away.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sam growled, staring at her feet swinging below her as she sat on a desk.
“I’m going to be talking about vampires today. It sounds more interesting than it is. Most of these textbooks are so out of date, and I’ve got no real experience with them myself.” He left the sentence hanging.
“Razekiel isn’t a normal vampire, and I don’t want to talk about him either,” Sam told Quirrel firmly.
“Just answer me one question and then I’ll drop it. Who’s worse? Razekiel, Mantacori, Bellatrix or Karissa Verling?” Sam looked up at that point. Why on earth would he ask her that?
But she had an answer.
Razekiel had almost stolen her away from her family, and he had forever injured her mother when she had come to Sam’s rescue… but he was miles away, and with each day that passed, she grew stronger in her abilities. Maybe the next time they met, she’d be ready for him.
Mantacori had been a daily threat in her latter years at Hogwarts, but she’d been safe in Gryffindor. He couldn’t get to her there. And in her earlier years, he had been a mentor and protector. He had helped her survive those first years, even if it had led to his downfall in the end.
Bellatrix was Bellatrix. She was a good duellist- no, that was unfair. She was a frighteningly deadly duellist with a sadistic tendency to torture rather than kill her enemies unless deemed absolutely necessary. But she lacked the true creative, evil genius of Mantacori, or the power and strength of Razekiel.
And then there was Karissa. Karissa was not a vampire, or a necromancer, or an evil genius, or particularly skilled duellist. She was just a girl. But Sam couldn’t get away from her. She couldn’t hurt her lest she get kicked out of Hogwarts. Karissa, alone of all the others, was untouchable, and she could get to Sam in her sleep, last thing at night and first thing in the morning. She couldn’t get away and she couldn’t fight back.
She felt tears starting to run down her face.
“Karissa,” Quirrel said softly, reading her reaction correctly. “You should speak to Dumbledore, you know. He can get you moved to another house, Slytherin perhaps-” Sam barked out a laugh that, for a split second, reminded her of Sirius.
“With Snape as my head of house and all the Blades gone or dead? I can’t. And I wouldn’t fit in as a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff, not anymore. Besides, what sort of answer is that, anyway?” Quirrel looked surprised. “When you were a student, we used to sort things out ourselves. We didn’t go running to the teachers. They’re getting to you, turning you into one of them!” Sam finished triumphantly.
“I am not!” Quirrel snapped back at her. “I’m just… I’m just new at this, that’s all.” Sam frowned slightly- he’d never had a note of uncertainty in his voice before. It was Snape, it had to be Snape getting at him.
“So who’s worse?” she asked him, and let him decide his own options. He met her eye to eye.
“You. By far,” he told her. “And for that, I can work even with the likes of Snape breathing down my neck, because no matter how bad they get, you could be worse if I ticked you off.” He smiled lop-sidedly, and then noticed the time. “Ah, time for lessons to begin, Weasley.”
“Yes, Professor,” Sam replied, grinning.

*smiles* what a nice moment... even without Snape.

Ooo very nice...minus Karissa, I don't like her!