The third installment of
A Sackful of Holiday Horsefeathers
is brought to you by:
Butterbeer.
Fruitbat Barny says, "I'm just batty about Butterbeer!"
Severus Snape was having a dream. His physical body was alone on the floor, unconscious, cold, and with nobody looking for it. Dinner came and went, and still nobody gave a thought to him.
Snape was dreaming of a long stairway. It swirled up and down, and there was a fat knight on a horse galloping through the oil paintings that hung on the walls. It was a spiral staircase. Snape was climbing the steps, and it seemed to take forever, but he didn't get tired. Then, at the very top, there was a ladder leading up to a room. He could smell something burning, and it reminded him of a cozy fire. He had a feeling that he should climb the ladder, and since it was a dream, Snape had no trouble at all pulling himself up the rungs.
At the end, he realized that he was in Professor Trelawney's tower room, and she was seated at a round table with a spread of Tarot Cards. He knew instantly that she was reading for him. Professor Trelawney then dissipated from the dream, and in her place sat a gray wolf. He seemed to be smiling at Snape and was panting and wagging his tail. A woman with long, shining hair stood behind the wild beast, stroking his thick fur. This woman was a wild thing herself. She wore nothing at all, and her body was clothed in her long, black tresses.
Snape went along with this, because it was a dream, and nothing is very surprising in dreams.
The woman bent down and kissed the wolf as if he were a tame pet, cradling his head in her gentle hands. Snape yearned to be in his place! He felt the uncontrollable urge to run over and shove the beast out of the way, but just then the animal let out a low, warning growl. The woman was powerless to control him, and he sprang away from her. He hurtled toward Snape and bounded upon him, and held him down with his massive paws. The wolf was about to sink his terrible fangs into the wizard's throat.
Then the world began to change, and Snape was shocked to discover there were no teeth embedded in his neck. His heart was beating rapidly, and his body was covered in sweat. He wondered where he was, and then his eyesight came slowly back. He was awake, and he was lying on the floor of his office.
Much time had passed since he fell, as he could tell by the rumbling of his stomach.
***
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were lounging in the Gryffindor Common Room after supper.
"Did any of you see Snape tonight?" asked Harry.
"No, thank God," replied Ron. He recalled that the professor hadn't appeared for supper at all.
"Oh, well," said Harry. "Say, Hermione, do you fancy a game of Wizard's Chess?"
Hermione replied languorously, hardly looking up from her book. "I'm sorry, but I'm already doing something with Ginny tonight. We’ll be leaving in a few minutes."
"What are you doing?" pried Harry.
"Yeah, can we come too?" said Ron.
"Mm, no," said Hermione. "I don't think that would be a good idea."
Ron was staring suspiciously at the sack beside her. He pointed at it, saying, "What's in there? It looks like a suitcase."
"Really, I don't have time for all these silly questions. Why don't you two play chess together or something?" Hermione really wanted to finish reading Chapter 17 before she went out.
Harry tried to capture her interest. "Hermione--did I tell you who we saw in the library today?"
"Who?"
"Lupin and McGonagall," stated Harry. "They seemed to be in a pretty big hurry to get out of there when they saw us, too."
"I suppose Professor McGonagall didn't want you to know her lesson plans for next term," said Hermione.
"They weren't working on lesson plans..." said Ron.
"Oh, really.†Hermione gave a yawn. –And what were they working on?"
"Same thing you're doing with Draco Malfoy, no doubt," Ron muttered bitterly.
"That's nice," Hermione drawled. A split-second later, it dawned on her what Ron had said. "And just what are you implying?"
"Nothing, nothing at all.â€
The girl furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would I have anything to do with him?" she retorted. "Really, I don't know what you boys are talking about. Where do you come up with these ideas?"
Ron whispered to Harry, "Hopefully not the same place she gets hers from."
"I heard that!" Hermione snapped.
Harry looked at her very strangely. "Are you sure you're feeling all right, Hermione?"
"Of course," she said. "I just need some peace and quiet, thank you."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Then you shall have it.â€
Hermione stuck her chin a little further into the air and returned to her absorbing book.
Ron and Harry still doubted whether Ginny was really going anywhere with Hermione that night. They strongly expected Draco Malfoy himself to knock on the door and ask to see Miss Granger. Maybe he would be holding a bouquet of flowers.
The boys were somewhat surprised to see Ginny Weasley when she actually did come down the staircase. She was dressed in her school uniform and had a satchel swinging from her shoulder, similar to the one that lay by Hermione's side.
Ginny strolled over to Hermione. "Are you ready, Mionny?" she asked.
Hermione closed the book immediately, even though she was in the middle of reading a sentence. "Yeah, let's get out of here. I'm afraid I'll pick up whatever they have if I stay here another second."
***
Draco knew he had to write back to his parents; Dumbledore had told him before dinner. But right now, he had more pressing issues at hand.
Images of Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley came floating across his mind. He would see them soon. And they would be wet, at that. He could see them now: laughing and splashing in the water, wearing nothing but their swimsuits. Now there was Draco Malfoy's ultimate daydream, soon to become reality.
***
Snape was rubbing his head on the spot where he fell. It was swollen and felt like an ugly blemish beneath his already greasy, unsightly hair. But he didn't care what he looked like. Why should he? There was nobody to impress.
The professor was standing at the foot of the ladder that led up to Professor Sibyll Trelawney's tower room. It seemed oddly like deja vu, the memory of the dream still vivid in his mind.
Severus Snape normally did not acknowledge the powers of Professor Trelawney. He had never even been in the North Tower before. However, he couldn't help but feel that his dream was a premonition--a message inciting him to visit the seer Trelawney. After all, he reminded himself, it did thunder and hail that evening. Did Sibyll not say the words "deafening clashes" and "clouds of darkness?"
He didn't have a clue as to what he expected to learn. He only knew that his dream was too powerful to ignore. Therefore, he must conquer his newborn fear of ladders and scurry on up there before he changed his mind.
***
Draco was easing himself down into the water. His towel lay a couple yards away from the pool, and he was wearing bright yellow swimming trunks.
The shallow bottom of the pool was smooth as polished marble. Soft, white Christmas lights were strung up around the perimeter of the ceiling.
The mermaid in the painting had awoken from her nap and was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected company. Draco was about to ask for some privacy, but then he changed his mind. Who was he to deny a lovely mermaid a glimpse of his gorgeous self?
Just outside the door to the prefects' bathroom (which was off-limits to most students) stood Hermione and Ginny.
"Is this it?" asked Ginny.
"I think so," said Hermione. "I've never actually been here before." She recited the password which Draco had told them earlier and pushed the door open.
The sound of water lapping against the sides of the pool was strange and musical. It had a rhythmic quality to it that was magnified as it bounced off the bathroom walls.
The girls entered the room and set down their knapsacks. Draco pretended to be unaware of their presence as he finished his lap. He reached the far end of the pool and showed off his prowess with an underwater somersault. Pushing off the side with his feet, he propelled himself in the opposite direction, his body a streamlined model of agility as he shot through the water. He went above to get some air, and the movement hardly disturbed the pool's calm, glass-like surface.
Ginny removed her sweater. She was wearing her white blouse yet, and beneath that was her swimsuit.
"It's really hot in here," said Hermione.
Ginny merely nodded.
Draco looked up finally, coming up from a breaststroke. "What are you waiting for? Come on in, the water's great."
The girls smiled nervously and stripped down to their swimsuits.
"Oh, it's so nice and warm," sighed Hermione as she stepped into the pool. "It's like our hot tub back home."
"What's a hot tub?" asked Draco.
"It's like a really big bathtub. With jets of water that shoot out at you, and it feels like a massage," explained Hermione.
"That must be nice," said Draco. "It's been so long since I got a massage."
"Oh, really?" said Hermione. Come to think of it, his muscles did look tense. Perhaps she could help him loosen up.
"I don't know about you, but this past week has been so hectic," said Draco, hoping for a back massage. "I had three exams and that five-page essay for Professor Binns. All in one week!"
Hermione said, "I know what you mean. I've been studying all week, too. Not like Harry; he's such a procrastinator. It's so annoying! He waited until the last minute to write that essay for Binns, and then he wanted to look at mine! Yeah, like that was going to happen."
Draco shook his head in sympathy.
"But I suppose everyone procrastinates," said Hermione. "I'm just some weirdo who actually likes learning."
"No, you're not," said Draco. "You just don't belong in Gryffindor."
"What?"
"If you were in Slytherin, you'd fit right in. Everyone there is ambitious and hard working." Draco added as an afterthought, "Except for Crabbe and Goyle."
"You think I'm ambitious and hard working?" said Hermione, hardly believing that she was getting compliments from Draco Malfoy.
"No, I'm saying you're a hopeless Hufflepuff," said the boy. "Now, getting back to that massage idea..."
Ginny spoke up. "Can I go first?"
Draco said, "Actually, that's not a bad idea, Gin. Why don't you girls give each other a massage first, and I'll wait here for my turn."
Pretending to be outraged at this indecent proposal, Ginny splashed him with water. He splashed her back, and it soon erupted into a water-fight between the three of them.
***
The students were caught in a very compromising situation, to say the least, when Lupin and McGonagall walked in the prefects' bathroom. (They wanted to use it, too.)
Lucius Malfoy had always told his son to watch out for 'the shy, quiet girls.' They were almost invariably the most deviant ones behind closed doors. Somehow, Draco had ended up kissing both Hermione and Ginny while they were splashing around in the water. Then the girls decided that a little experimentation couldn't hurt. As Ginny had put it, "We can't let boys have all the fun."
So Ginny and Hermione kissed each other, and then they kissed Draco again, and the mermaid continued to watch with glee. She saw the whole thing play out, right until the end. Then she witnessed, still with her usual detached amusement, the three rule-breakers get escorted out of her bathroom by Professor McGonagall and Remus Lupin.
***
Hermione, Ginny, and Draco said not a word as the two adults led them up to Dumbledore's office. They scarcely breathed.
McGonagall knocked upon the Headmaster's door and uttered the password. The door swung open and she entered, leaving the children with Lupin while she explained the situation briefly to Dumbledore.
A few minutes later, the Headmaster was stationed in his armchair facing the three solemn-eyed youths who sat before him.
"You two may wait outside,†he gestured toward McGonagall and Lupin. –I would like you to escort the students back to their respective dormitories after I'm through speaking with them."
"Yes, sir," replied McGonagall. Lupin nodded, and they left the room.
Doom hovered low above the children's heads. Not even a knife could cut through the tension.
Dumbledore looked very disappointed and even a little angry.
"This is not the first time that my students have acted in such a fashion," said Dumbledore, "but I hope it will be the last. Your private lives are none of my business. However, the prefects' bathroom is strictly forbidden to students, even the best and brightest of them, and this rule applies at all times of the year--including holidays. You must understand why I set this rule. Being a Prefect is a privilege, and it is only granted to a chosen few. It is a reward for academic excellence--and integrity. Are any of you Prefects?"
The children quietly shook their heads. Ginny Weasley whispered, "No."
Dumbledore sighed. "Hermione, I'm very surprised at your conduct. You are one of the smartest pupils in this school. I hope your intelligence hasn't given you a false sense of self-worth. We must all abide by the same rules as everybody else.
"And Draco. Draco Malfoy, how on earth would you explain this to your father?"
This statement might as well have been intended to have two separate meanings, for Lucius Malfoy despised the Weasley family almost as much as he despised Muggleborns like Hermione. Therefore, he would disapprove of his son's behavior for quite a different reason.
"You're also one of the top students here, Draco. Severus Snape is not the only professor to notice your talents. You ought to use them more wisely."
Dumbledore fixed his eyes upon Ginny, trying to seem gentler. His face was alive and alert even when softened. "Ginny, dear. You're a sweet girl and a hard worker, and clever, too. I want you to become a leader, someone who doesn't follow the herd. Sometimes we have to do what's right and not be swayed by emotions. It's a very difficult thing to do, but in time, I hope you will all learn to achieve it."
Albus Dumbledore glanced up at his clock and said, "I'm not going to punish any of you, since this is only your first transgression. You know, I'd actually like to send you all to the nurse."
The students appeared mildly surprised.
"Yes. Madam Pomfrey should examine you for any strange, er, enchantments. Just a brief check-up, really. Like going to the dentist once a year. I don't want you coming down with anything; they say the flu is going around like crazy."
The students could hardly believe their luck. Still, they felt extremely embarrassed.
"Oh, just one more thing before we leave," said Dumbledore quickly. "Draco, did you send a letter to your father yet?"
"No, sir," said the boy.
"Well, I'm not letting you leave this office until you've written it. I'll send it by owl myself. Now, where's that stationery?"
***
It took Madam Pomfrey several minutes before she fully woke up. Heaving a great yawn, she tied her bathrobe and trudged out of her bedroom, which connected to the infirmary by way of an adjoining door.
"Hello, Poppy," greeted Dumbledore, trying to keep things light. "I'm sorry to trouble you so late. I just have a small favor to ask of you. These three students need to be examined."
Madam Pomfrey turned her eyes to the children, claiming, "They look to be in fine health to me, Professor. What do you want me to examine them for?"
"Oh, uh," the Headmaster stumbled over his thoughts. He pulled the nurse aside and spoke to her in the sick room so they would not be overheard.
"They were caught together, under the most unusual circumstances, Poppy," cried Dumbledore. "You wouldn't believe me unless you saw it yourself, so I won't even bother telling you what Minerva and Remus found them doing--"
"My word!" exclaimed the nurse. "You don't say!"
"Wait, let me finish. I want them tested for every kind of love spell you can imagine--"
"That's quite a lot; it would take the whole night, it would."
"Then just check them for the most common ones," advised Dumbledore. "And also, I'd like you to run a thorough, er, psychological examination on each of them to rule out mental illness. Better to be safe than sorry, you know."
"I'll do my best, sir," Pomfrey said with a nod. She and Dumbledore went back into the infirmary, and the children were then subjected to Madam Pomfrey's motherly care and supervision.
......................to be continued