Memories Not my Own

Chapter 3: Wish You Were Here

By breakfast the next morning, all the students wondered what was wrong with Snape. The other classes had passed along that he was less than mean--he was downright indifferent. He didn't take off points, he didn't criticize anyone or anything, and he spent most of the classes at the front of the room, grading papers from other classes. "The only time he talks is to give us our assignment and class work," Dean Thomas noted.

"Maybe he's sick," Seamus Finnigan said hopefully. Hermione, at this point, stood up and left breakfast. "What was all that about?" Seamus asked incredulously.

"Probably some girl thing," Harry said misleadingly. Seamus and Dean nodded, bringing nothing else up about it. Ron and Harry exchanged glances and watched as Hermione left. They weren't the only ones--Snape was watching her fearfully from where he sat at the Head Table. She turned to look at him, and he shrunk down in his seat slightly, attempting a glare but coming off half-hearted. Hermione looked away quickly, not wanting to upset him any more than she had.

As of yet, Potions was still on. She had no idea how Snape would act with her in class, and frankly she didn't want to know. The day wore on, and class loomed closer. Before she could enter the room, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped and turned. It was Lupin.

"Professor Lupin!" she cried, hugging him happily. "What are you doing here?" Harry and Ron, who had been walking ahead of her, turned and ran back out to shake his hand as well.

"I'm going to be your returning Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year." He smiled warmly.

"Wonderful! I was wondering who it would be when they didn't tell us," Hermione said excitedly. Lupin looked awkwardly around. "What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"I heard about what...what happened. I don't know all the details but what little I do know..."

Hermione blanched. "You know about...about Snape?" She was about to add: "and me." When he spoke again.

"Yes, I heard he was sick. You have a substitute I understand--someone from a wizarding university." Hermione let out a sigh of relief--but he didn't notice. Lupin smiled mischievously. "Too bad I'm not good at Potions: I could replace Snape."

Ron laughed. "That would've taken the cake." Hermione hit him in the arm and he winced. "You're getting too good at hitting me, 'Mione. It actually hurts now."

Hermione raised a hand to hit him again when Harry cleared his throat. "We should probably get into class now."

"Oh, yeah, right," Ron said hurriedly, avoiding Hermione as she attempted to hit him again.

The teacher ended up being a young woman named Danielle from the Loch Ness University. She was nice and polite, and everyone was glad to have someone unlike Snape. The only people who seemed to be against her being there were the Slytherins. "Probably because she's actually fair--wonder how many points Slytherin has lost today..." Ron muttered to Harry and Hermione.

Class ended, and lunch began. By the time dinner rolled around, the school was abuzz with more gossip. "I heard he only missed one class--ours!" Seamus said excitedly.

"Only one? Maybe he's starting to realize he's no match for the 6^th year Gryffs!" Dean shouted. Half of the table cheered.

"Hey Harry, maybe he's avoiding you," Seamus said suddenly, turning to him.

"Maybe," Harry said quietly, looking at Hermione as he said it. She stood up and left dinner early.

"That's the second time she's done that!" Dean cried.

Lavender and Pavarti watched her leave. "Maybe we should talk to her. I sense her aura is less than happy." The Gryffindors around them snickered. The Divination kick had never really left them.

"Listen, Lavender, it's nothing," Ron said quietly.

"But that's twice she's done that!" Dean repeated loudly.

"She's just...not feeling well is all," Harry argued.

"I'd still like to talk to her," Lavender retorted back, standing up to follow Hermione.

"Lavender, it's just that...it's just..." Ron was searching for something to say.

"Just that time of month," a voice finished lamely from next to them. Harry and Ron looked incredulously at the person--Ginny. Dean and Seamus immediately changed the subject over to Quidditch, and Lavender sat down, clearly put off that it wasn't something worth gossiping about. Ginny smiled at Ron and Harry and leaned closer to them.

"Listen, whatever it is you three are hiding, I know you don't want anyone else to know about it. So I'll help you cover it up if you promise me something."

"What?" Ron asked.

"Promise me you'll tell me what's going on!" Ginny whispered loudly.

Harry and Ron looked at one another. "Okay...but you can't tell anyone." Harry said finally.

~~~

The next day, Hermione slept in. She felt like she had dreamt something, but couldn't remember it. Missing breakfast, she decided she'd go wait for her first class--Arithmancy. She arrived to an empty corridor, and leaned against the wall for a good five minutes before declaring herself bored.

Hermione wandered around the corridor, waiting for Arithmancy to begin. As she moved, she walked in little circles around the stones on the floor, staring at her feet. It was a bit like dancing--although she had never been wonderful at dancing. Her father had tried to teach her a little before her fourth year, but it had only gotten her as far as dancing at the Yule Ball.

She did a twirl and giggled slightly, when she realized she was being watched. Her head snapped up as she stared around. There was no one. A song flitted its way into her mind and she smiled. She only vaguely recognized the lyrics, and she had never heard it before, but she started to sing it as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"How I wish...how I wish you were here..." Somewhere at the back of her mind she thought she heard a sob. "We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl..." What weird lyrics, she thought to herself, but continued the song. "Year after year. Running over the same old ground, what have we found? The same old fears." She stopped twirling. "Wish you were here..." Where did that song come from? she wondered.

"Please stop..." a voice whispered, echoing off the hallway walls. She looked around, but saw no one. "Please don't sing that again..." She recognized the voice, but it was strained. Like---it was crying?

"Pro-professor Snape?" she called out softly.

She heard light footsteps, but no answer. Rubbing an arm cautiously, she went to follow when everyone from, her class rounded the corner, laughing and joking. She couldn't go after him now; she'd have to go to class. He's a git most of the time, anyway, she told herself as she entered the classroom. As Professor Vector entered to begin class, though, she wasn't sure if she believed herself.

~~~

Severus rubbed his forehead wearily as he headed towards his first Potions class. He had not been sleeping well--even with the Dreamless Sleep draught, he woke up feeling drained--as if he had never slept at all. He supposed it was because the Dreamless Sleep didn't actually stop dreams; just prevented them from the rest of your mind so you wouldn't have to see what it was you were dreaming.

Meaning they are still terrible and aren't getting any happier. He groaned and turned a corner. That was when he heard the singing. It was soft at first, and he thought perhaps he was hearing it in his mind--which wouldn't be completely impossible after the past few days.

"How I wish...how I wish you were here." A sob found it's way to the front of his throat, and he fell against the wall, leaning on it for support as the voice continued to sing. "We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl..." After all this time the lyrics still are strange, he thought wildly as he fought back the tears that were trying to come forth. "Year after year. Running over the same old ground, what have we found? The same old fears."

He slipped down to the floor, running a hand through his hair. "Why must you come back to haunt me?" he whispered.

"Wish you were here," the voice ended the song.

"Please stop..." he whispered aloud, echoes snaking through the corridor. "Please don't sing that again," he found himself saying to the voice as he stood up, gathering his bearings as best he could. His hands were shaking and he stuffed them into his robes, trying to calm down.

"Pro-professor Snape?" the voice called out to him. He ignored it. He turned and walked away.

I never wanted to hear that song again. Why does everything have to haunt me now? Why does it come back? he thought.

Because you deserve it, Sev. You deserve this sort of pain for the pain you inflicted on all those people--and her, a voice replied in his mind.

"I suppose it doesn't get any easier..." he thought as he remembered he had to go to Potions. The song still rang in his mind, and he cursed aloud as he realized it would be stuck in his head all day. "I didn't even like that song all that much," he muttered as he pushed a million other thoughts into his head, trying to forget what had just occurred.

~~~

Hermione was exhausted by the end of the day. She could not wait until tomorrow: Friday, it seemed, could not have come any faster. September sixth; on her calendar, at least; seemed just one spot on one page of a thousand more pages until the end of the year. Of course, I can't say it hasn't been interesting: these first few days back, she noted as she crawled into bed. Crookshanks, who had been asleep on her pillow, meowed pitifully as Hermione dumped him onto the foot of the bed. "Oh, quiet," she scolded the cat, "you can't complain! All you did was sleep all day. At least you don't have weird visions interrupting your life," Hermione said angrily as she pulled the covers over her head. "I'm not even sure what they mean," she added, muffled slightly by the comforter. "I wonder who Guenevere was...and what happened to her?" She yawned, and started to fall asleep.

The girl walked out of the house, waving her arms wildly as a car passed. "Hey! Alex!" The car slowed a bit and stopped. She ran up to the window as it slid down.

"Hey there, how are you?" A longhaired boy leaned over the driver from the passenger's side.

"Fine. I see you still haven't cut your hair," the girl added as she leaned down to talk into the car. The driver laughed as the boy called Alex shook his head.

"Man, it's all about freedom! That's what we're here in the good old USA for!" the driver said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, whatever Brad. I still think that being a complete anti-conformist only causes trouble," the girl added.

"That's just you, O fair Juliet." Alex said, raising his arms jokingly in the air as if he were praising her.

"If you two aren't careful you'll become hippies like the rest of them," the girl added knowingly.

"Dude, it's fun. You should try it sometime," Brad retorted.

"You already got me to wear the bell-bottoms, what else do you want?" the girl shrieked.

Alex and Brad laughed and soon the girl joined in. "Ok, ok, we gotta go. I have a job, you know," Alex said to Brad. Brad shook his head.

"Conformist job, too."

"Hey, an orchestra job is NOT conformist. I don't want to be in some office, man. Musician is ten times better than nothing," Alex said while shaking his hair out of his face.

"Anything that involves uniforms is definitely conformist," Brad argued.

"It's tuxedos!"

"Even worse," Brad scoffed.

"Look, back off about it!" Alex said, ignoring him. "I do need to get to the job. Maestro hates it when I'm late."

"All right, all right, we'll go," Brad grinned.

"See you later Gwen," Alex said lovingly to the girl.

"Yeah, right," the girl added. "And cut your hair!" she shouted as she stepped back towards the house. Alex merely laughed as Brad turned the ignition back on.

"Oh, and Gwen!" Brad shouted suddenly.

"Yeah?" she called, turning back.

"There are some Brits hanging around. Danny said he saw them at the Happy Rooster."

"The pub?" Gwen said, stepping closer.

"Do you know any other building that would name themselves the Happy Rooster?" Alex said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Point is, I like Brits and all but...these guys are weird. Both Danny and Jill said to watch out for them. They beat up a guy just because they didn't bring them the right drink," Brad said concernedly.

"Well, the Happy Rooster is quite a ways away, and they won't be heading into a suburban, wooded neighborhood just to come after me," Gwen said dismissively.

"Whatever you say--look, just be careful, ok?" Alex said.

"I will, O Romeo. Now you had best go. Maestro--"

Alex cut her off. "I know, I know. And he said he'll want the harp tomorrow so..."

"I'll be there," Gwen said quickly. "Je t'adore."

"Je t'adore," Alex replied with a grin.

"What does that mean, anyway?" Brad shouted loudly as he started driving away.

Guenevere watched them leave, sighed, and returned to the house. As she entered her bedroom upstairs--which was visible from the street, a large group of cloaked figures surrounded the house, nodding to one another.

"Will we raid the entire neighborhood?" one man asked a taller man.

"Why not? This is our tribute to America--what we do when we go on vacation," the taller man said in a high, cold voice. The group behind him laughed. "Severus," the man said, beckoning to one of the tall figures in the back of the crowd.

"Yes, milord?" the young man replied, stepping in front of the tall figure.

"Consider this your first true test. Show us what you can do," the man said, backing up and looking at the house. "There's a girl upstairs. Bring her back down with you--we'll take her back home with us." He turned to the rest of the group. "We need some sort of entertainment. It's getting dull back there, even at your house, Lucius."

The group laughed, nudging one of the other figures. "I'm trying my best, sir," an oily voice added hopefully.

"Yes...well, let's see what happens when a new form of best is brought forth. Severus?" The boy nodded, stepping up to the door.

The taller figure raised a wand and with a sound like a bang, a dark shadow flew up into the air over the house. A silvery shield surrounded the neighborhood, keeping unwanted visitors out. The dark shadow turned green, and grew into the shape of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth.

"The Dark Mark is set...we may begin," the tall figure said to the laughing, cloaked figures.

"Hey!" a voice shouted suddenly from above them. They jumped and looked up. At the window, Gwen leaned out, glaring at them all. "What do you think you're doing down there?" she cried angrily at them. Strains of an electric guitar floated out the window behind her.

The figures looked at one another and moved forward until they were out of her vision--under the window. "Continue, Severus," the tall figure said.

"Alohamora," Severus muttered, waving his wand. The lock clicked, and they opened the door. It squeaked as it opened, and they heard padded footsteps upstairs as the girl came out to see what was going on. As she saw them in the foyer, she mumbled something, and fearfully ran back into the room. Severus charged up the steps after her as Lucius and the others took a good look around the house.

"If you see anything worth taking--although in this house it seems everything is mostly sentimental...pity--but anyway, shrink it and take it with you. We'll burn the house once she's out," the tall figure said to the group as they wandered in. Lucius picked up a picture frame and pointed it out to a figure close to him.

"Good thing she's the only one home. Best looking one out of the three of them, wouldn't you say?" He threw it down to the ground; and after the tinkle of broken glass filled the air, picked up another. "Here they are again...she must be the only child," he said knowingly.

"You can also start on the other houses, if you wish," the tall figure added, pointing out the door.

Half of the figures disappeared down the street. There was a loud scream upstairs, and Lucius dropped the picture he had been holding in surprise. There was a thump and another door squeaking open as Severus kicked it open, holding the limp girl in his arms.

"Oh, you didn't kill her, did you?" Lucius said pitifully from where he stood.

"No. She's stupefied," Severus replied simply, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Well, master, what do we do now?" Lucius said smugly, turning to the tall figure that was still leaning on a wall by the door, casually twirling a wand in his hand.

"Despite the fact you would desire to partake in this girl, Lucius," the figure stopped twirling the wand, waving it at the girl, "you can stop drooling. She is Severus' to do with as he likes."

"Can I take her back to London now and return?" Severus asked calmly, supporting the girl slightly against the banister.

"If you wish, you can stay there. But you'll miss out on destroying this place." The figure walked forward slowly, gazing down at the girl. "Pretty, isn't she? Even for Muggle filth..." He looked back up at Severus. "I daresay you should have enough fun back home with her that you won't need to stay here at all, will you?"

"No, sir," Severus replied in a monotone, apparently thinking about something else. Setting the girl down, he ran upstairs. There was a slight popping sound, then silence. Returning back down, he picked the girl up and left, the tall figure staring after him in confusion.

"See what he just did, will you Lucius?" the figure asked.

"Of course." He and the figure that had been standing next to him went upstairs, and then poked their heads around the corner after a minute.

"He took the entire room with him, sir. This room is empty now. Must have been something interesting," the figure next to Lucius called dully down.

"I'll ask him about it later. In the meantime, enjoy yourselves gentlemen," the tall figure said, leaving the house carelessly.

Lucius snickered as he turned back to the shorter figure next to him. "I'll bet you anything he won't even know what to do with the girl once he gets back to London." The shorter figure laughed as well. "I never did understand that boy the whole time we were in school," Lucius added thoughtfully, "always had his head in the books, never came out to see the light of day." He snorted as they walked downstairs. Lucius pilfered a vase. "It's no wonder he never had a girlfriend. Wonder how he got Priscilla to go with him to the ball last year?" Lucius pointed his own wand at the vase and it shrunk. He threw it into an inner cloak pocket. "Do you know he actually wanted to be a Potion's master? Of all the dull things he could do...yes, that girl certainly got a boring consort tonight..." They laughed and the scenery faded.