The Curse of Swan Lake

Chapter Ten

The world became a blur. I heard the officials shouting, but within seconds their voices had faded away, leaving nothing but the sound of the howling wind.

My stomach plummeted once more when I saw that we were flying across London. The streetlights whizzed past beneath us and around me was only a cloud of black smoke. I could feel Professor Snape's arms, but I couldn't see them. And that scared the shit out of me.

I tightly pressed my eyes shut, wishing for this to be over soon. First of all, when I had imagined myself in Professor Snape's arms, it hadn't been several hundred meters above the ground.

And second- when he'd said earlier to leave the escaping-from-the-window-part to him, I'd thought he would summon a broom or something. Not turn into a cloud and shoot with me across the city.

We passed the edge of the Anti-Apparition Ward and a moment later, Professor Snape apparated us away. With a quiet crack, we appeared by the black lake. I still had my eyes pressed shut, when I heard him rumble, "You can open your eyes now, Granger."

My eyes snapped open. There was the black lake, glittering calmly in the night. The moon would rise in a few minutes, I could feel it.

"Feel free to use your own legs now," said Professor Snape dryly.

My face heated up and I quickly pushed myself out of his arms and stepped backwards. "Thank you," I said hoarsely and cleared my throat. I smoothed my dress around me, trying to digest what had just happened. The shock from leaping from a window still gripped me to the marrow.
"You couldn't have warned me about the flying bit, sir?" I added in a slightly sharper tone.

Professor Snape lifted an eyebrow. "And here I thought you enjoyed flying," he said and motioned to the lake.

"It's different when I'm a swan," I defended myself, "And no one likes bring tossed out of a window."

"I can assure you, my exit was more elegant than that," said Professor Snape and his tone became slightly more biting, "But perhaps you would have preferred that your notebook had gotten discovered."

I shook my head and sat down on a rock, suddenly feeling exhausted and drained them the evening's events.
"No, I- I'm sorry, sir. I'm very grateful for what you did," I mumbled apologetically and spread my purple dress around me, so it wouldn't get creased. Who'd have thought the evening would turn out like this?

When Professor Snape didn't move, I looked up at him. "You don't have to stay, sir," I said politely and motioned to the sky. "The moon will be rising soon, anyway."

Professor Snape crossed his arms. "Trust me, Granger, I can think of better things to do," he said bluntly, "but McGonagall will have my head if I don't see to it that you are in your spot on the lake, before I leave."

I had to smile slightly, imagine Professor McGonagall giving him a good piece of her mind. My fingers began to tingle and so did my toes.

"Sir," I asked suddenly, feeling the familiar warmth spread through my body. "How did you fly without a broom?"

Professor Snape's black eyes glittered. "A trick I picked up on the way," he said. "Comes in handy when I don't have a broom."

As my transformation happened, I told myself that him learning from someone how to fly was more logical, than the explanation that he had been able to fly because he was a vampire.

I really had to ignore Ginny's hypothesis.

Once in my swan form, a strong wave of sleepiness hit me. I curled up on the rock and stuck my beak under my golden-speckled wing, feeling comforted by the presence of the wizard beside me. I completely forgot he'd only wanted to stay until I had swum out onto the lake.

Severus' P.O.V.:
I watched Granger fall asleep, curling up on the rock as if she were in her quarters and not outside by a lake. She'd probably forgotten that she was supposed to swim out onto the water.

Somewhere in my head, I realized how much she had to trust me, if she could just fall asleep beside me while being a Cygnus Cantare. I raised my eyes and looked across the black surface of the lake, spreading out before me. In the distance to the east, it narrowed to a river that flowed away into the mountains. And further beyond, glittered the stars like diamonds on a carpet.

Somewhere else:

"Did you get it?" a voice said quietly.

A hooded figure, slightly bent over because of age, reached into his robes and pulled out an old Potions book. Holding it out with a wrinkled hand, the person said with a cracked, old voice, "Next time, you can sneak into a lousy convention filled with snobby wannabe  Potioneers."

The other person took the book and laid it aside. "What triggered the alarm?"

"The replication I'd left behind seemed to be missing a certain charm on the cover, which the original has," said the old wizard annoyed. His sharp eyes looked at the younger wizard. "This book should hold all projects that are currently working on a cure against the Cruciatus curse."

"If we can find someone who's almost succeeded, all we have to do is get the notes, then get the potion onto the market, and we'd be rich." The younger wizard opened the old book and skimmed the table of contents, his eyes wandering over the listed names of Potions Masters.

"Snape said he's working on something private," the old voice rang through the room. "Find out what it is."

Huffing, the other looked up. "Snape is perhaps an asshole, but he is not a fool. He will not let anyone see what he is working on."

"And what about that apprentice of his? I met her at the convention, she didn't impress me that much. It should be easy to get something out of her."

"How do you know he's working on a cure for the Cruciatus curse? It could be anything."

The old man bared his teeth at the other, showing how yellow they were. "Snape's smarter than most of the others. Whatever he's working on, it will be worth our time, and most likely worth a lot of money."