The Hitchcock Match

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Chapter 16: The Hitchcock Match

I could be as bold and blasé about approaching Lily Evans as I wanted to in the comfort of our compartment. However, watching her from across the Great Hall with her friends was an entirely different thing to think about. What could I offer such a repugnant girl? A girl who openly revealed her emotions for all to see, who laughed and cried and shouted at her whim?

And why, in the deepest secrets of my heart, did I envy her that?

Oh, but Lily was beautiful. She could barely even compare to the radiance of Narcissa, to the seduction of Bellatrix, to the candor of Andromeda... The Black sisters together only, I think, could compare to the combined talents of Lily Evans. She really was beautiful, her scarlet hair and brilliant green eyes reflecting so sharply against one another, against the tanned skin she showed off with her name-brand Muggle clothes.

If she were a Slytherin, I'd kiss her.

Thus began my observations of one Lily Evans. Oh, I certainly wasn't overt about it. In fact, I doubted even Lucius could have called me on it. Evans blocking the Marauders – my brother included – from Severus as she left the Great Hall. The way she angled her own body between them in every class, including Care of Magical Creatures. It was only through the journals with Remus and Scorpius that I knew about that. Not that they knew I was watching her, of course, but one could conjecture these things.

I knew, too, when they were going to plan a big prank.

The end of January brought my first opportunity to be of assistance to Lily Evans. Remus was sick (again), and Score had brought me the journal in Potions class. I read it before Arithmancy. Most of it was the usual gibberish about what was going on in classes that we didn't have together (all of them save Potions).

But it was the last bit that really pulled me in.

We're planning a major prank at the Ravenclaw-Slytherin Quidditch match this time, Heck. I want you to be there to see it. It's going to be great! And I got the idea from you, sis, so I hope you appreciate it!

Score a.k.a. Stingtail

I did not allow myself to wilt. I did not allow my attention to drift in class. But once I had Illi and Lucius safely ensconced in my bed with silencing, locking, and warding charms on the curtain into the room, I sank into Lucius' arms. The familiar scent of his skin, a subtle hint of limes and spearmint, soothed me as much as his swirling hands on my back.

"They're going to do something at the match," I murmured. "Score says he got the idea from me."

Lucius wrapped me securely in his embrace. "Well, love, at least you can't get out of coming to the match this time, right?"

I growled half-heartedly.

"Come on. We need to practice Occlumency, Hecate, or you'll never best the Dark Lord's Legilimency."

"Why would I want to anyway?" I asked quietly, sitting up. "Why are we doing this?"

"Because there are sometimes things you will want to keep safe," Lucius said. "I'm sure you don't want him watching the first time you made love, Hecate."

My face heated up, and I'm sure I looked more than a little flustered. "Well, yes, that's true, but..."

"Just trust me, love. It's all I ask."

In the years to come, those words would mean more to me than anything that would follow. It would mean more than anything spoken to me before I'd ever met Scorpius.

More to me than perhaps even my own life.

Because a Slytherin protects her own.

_-~*~-_

Snow fell out of the sky in silent, calm movements, sullied only by movement from the ground. It was the third Quidditch game of the year, but my very first. Just as well. I should have gone to Slytherin versus Gryffindor at the start of the year. Lucius led the way as Illi, Rabastan, Ali, Regulus, and I followed out onto the Quidditch pitch. The ground was blanketed in grey slush from the many feet that had traveled this way.

The stands were decorated with the Ravenclaw and Slytherin crests on each tower. As was my wont since this term had begun, I sought out Evans and Severus. They were both sitting in a mostly-empty Slytherin stand. I had figured that Evans would root for Slytherin if there were no Gryffindors playing. It took everything not to roll my eyes – typical Gryffindor.

It would only take so much to twist her against him.

I tugged at Lucius' arm. "By them, but not too close. Ali, Regulus, you two and I will sit closest. It will show that we're not as 'Slytherin' as the others."

A short time remained before the match was to begin. Ali and Regulus chattered excitedly about the previous games in front of me. Lucius spent the time explaining to me the rules of the game. Though I had read Quidditch Through the Ages, some of the finer points were left to the imagination. Unfortunately, I knew next to nothing of any physical game, let alone one played on brooms.

Sin Avery soon joined us. Cissa and Bella were higher up, giggling loudly. I scowled in their general direction.

"Oh, leave them their fun, Heck," Lucius said, his tone lightly chastising. "The Slytherin players are all... what is that word you women use? Charming? Debonair?"

"That doesn't mean to giggle like morons before they've even come out of the changing rooms," I snarled under my breath.

Lucius' brow rose expressively. "I was under the impression that they were morons, love."

I chuckled softly. "No. Simply unnaturally ignorant."

Lucius glanced down at me from the corner of his eyes. "Some would argue that those two notions are combined in this regard."

"You've obviously never seen one of their Hair-Thickening Charms," I said, sitting up straighter. "They simply place more emphasis on insipid things."

Lucius chuckled softly. "That's my little Hecate."

He put his hand on my opposite shoulder and pulled me into a half-hug against his chest. The familiar pressure of his lips on my forehead, the warmth of his body in the cold, relaxed me as nothing else ever did. I smiled up at him. Enough, yes, enough to ignore the squealing giggles of Narcissa and Bellatrix Black.

Professor McGonagall sat in the stand opposite us – I could tell because only she wore green tartan robes. A machine sat before her and behind it sat one of the older students. I think he was a seventh-year. From his scarf, I'd say Hufflepuff. Though, since it was yellow, he may have been a Gryffindor.

"Good afternoon, Hogwarts!" he cried, his voice magically amplified. "Welcome to the third match of the year, Slytherin versus Ravenclaw! Representing Ravenclaw is... Yue Chang, Keeper!"

The sound, like a blast from a cannon, came from the right-hand side of the pitch. A streak of royal blue flew past the stand, coming to a halt right in front of Madam Hooch. It was only then that a pale sixth-year Ravenclaw in royal blue robes materialized.

The process continued with Underhill, Bumbo, and Davies (Chasers); Wendell and Holmes (Beaters); and a Huxley (Seeker).

From the opposite side of the pitch flew our team: Flint (Keeper); Norstram, Beluge, and Norfolk (Chasers); Crabbe and Goyle (Beaters), and Bulstrode (Seeker).

The Keepers sat on the edge of the floating circle with Madam Hooch at its core. The Beaters and the Seekers flew over everyone else and the three Chasers hovered nearest Madam Hooch. The young, short-haired witch might have been the inspiration Molly had for short, spiky hair. She held the Quaffle and the Snitch in either hand. An assistant was on the ground with the Bludgers.

I could scarcely hear Hooch's mumbled words, let alone make out what they were. Down below, the Bludgers were released. Hooch let go of the Snitch in a flash of gold. The Chasers on both sides tensed – the Quaffle flew into the air almost of its own accord.

Norfolk and Underhill lurched forward almost as one. To the cheers of the Slytherin supporters, Norfolk caught the Quaffle. I watched in almost mystified awe as Norfolk wove in and about the blue-clothed flyers, making his way with ease to the three rings at the other end of the pitch.

As though it were the most simple of motions, Norfolk threw the Quaffle into the air straight up. He swung the whole broom around like a top, using the bristles to smack the ball straight in between Chang's outstretched fingertips.

"SLYTHERIN SCORES!" shouted the announcer. "Ten points, Slytherin!"

The stands around me erupted in cheers so deafening that I stood up to see over into the pitch. Underhill caught the Quaffle and raced toward the other end of the pitch. However, he was nowhere near as graceful as Norfolk. Almost immediately, Slytherin was back in possession.

The world shifted around me, flashing.

It was snowing – it wasn't snowing.

I sat by Lucius – the red-haired boy I couldn't name sat by me instead. Lucius. No-name. Lucius. A younger girl with white-blond hair wearing an atrocious lion's head fashioned into a hat. Lucius again.

A black-haired boy... Potter?

The teams flying changed, flashing through all the Houses and most definitely not the people I was watching. Sometimes people who looked like Crabbe and Goyle remained, but a boy that looked like a short-haired Lucius was flying with them instead.

I barely noticed that the people around me had leapt to their feet in cheer again. It happened on both "sides" of the memory flashes. At one point, an older-looking Hagrid was sitting a little farther down from me.

I wore red.

I wore green.

I wore Muggle clothes.

I wore my green wizarding cloak.

The flashes came faster and faster, so quickly I couldn't tell whether I was Gryffindor Hermione Granger or Slytherin Hecate Taylor for seconds at a time.

The prank, however, pulled me back to my reality.

At first nothing really happened. A black cloud off in the distance moved in, to drop more snow on us, no doubt. The cloud grew darker and larger, approaching far too quickly to be a simple cloud. I didn't see the birds until they were crashing into the barrier surrounding the pitch, the barrier that prevented the Snitch and Bludgers from escaping into the audience.

The birds battered against the shield, making loud crunching noises that could only be their bones breaking before they vanished.

One thing I learned that day about Quidditch pitches – enough wildlife battering like rams against the shields will, inevitably, bring them down.

The birds flew into the pitch, aiming specifically for the players. People shrieked in terror. I distinctly heard, "HITCHCOCK! HITCHCOCK!" from the Ravenclaw stands to our immediate left. Birds of all shapes and sizes flocked about the stadium, landing on the empty benches, pecking at some of the observers' clothes.

Scorpius' words came back unbidden to my mind: I got the idea from you, sis.

Avifors.

I studied the birds more closely, in spite of the chaos around me. The tiniest ones were Chicadees, flying in amongst the red-tailed hawks, the golden eagles, the ravens (of course), the jays, and the cardinals. A distinct tack-tack-tack noise was coming from the general direction of my left – I think it might have been a woodpecker.

The players all headed for the ground, but not before Norfolk was caught by a swooping kestrel. He cried out, the noise barely heard over the shrill cries of women – who I might add weren't even being attacked. I saw red, blood. Was he okay? I jumped to my feet, intent on getting everyone else from the stands.

That is when I saw them.

Both Bludgers headed straight for Severus Snape and Lily Evans.

"Evans!" I shouted.

She glanced around wildly for the source of the shout, rather than toward the Bludgers. Thinking fast, I cast the first spell that came to mind.

"Protego Compleo Consummo!"

A flash of blue and white – the Bludgers bounced loudly against my shield, but it held. Lily Evans stared straight ahead at the black balls as they continued to try to get in at her. Severus, however, took matters into his own hands.

"Gelo! Gelo!"

The Bludgers fell harmlessly with a loud thud apiece to the ground at their feet.

McGonagall's voice came then, magically amplified. "All students return to your House common rooms immediately. We will sort this out from there."

Lucius and Illi flanked me on either side. However, the moment I spotted Score's head amongst the crowd, I split from them. Illi tried to argue, but I reassured her. "I'll be there as soon as I've finished with my brother."

The rest of the Slytherins made their way down the stairs. I grabbed Score and Remus' scarves and dragged the two of them into an empty classroom.

"What the bloody fuck was that about? The Bludgers aimed straight for Lily and Severus!"

"That wasn't us," Score retorted. "Just the birds. Wasn't it wicked?"

"Oh, it was wicked, all right, but not in the way you think," I snarled. "You broke the barriers to allow for the Bludgers to attack in the first place!"

"We didn't intend for it to..."

"Sure you did! All for a laugh, all for what, just to say you set a bunch of birds on a Quidditch match?" I knew I wasn't being rational. I was too upset to care.

Remus spoke softly. "Hecate, we really didn't mean for anyone to be hurt."

I glanced from brother to friend and back again. "Let me see for myself."

"What do you mean?" Score asked.

I scowled and looked him straight in his blue-grey eyes. "Legilimens!"

A series of images from the previous Quidditch matches showed up. Then their plans for the bird prank. Definitely not the way they had planned it. Apparently James had thought that the birds would simply fly around, not try to peck people. It really was all just a misunderstanding.

I pulled out to see a gasping Scorpius. "Wh-What was that?"

"Legilimency," I said, my voice softer. "I don't know what those other... boys have been doing to you. So I..."

Score glared at me instead. "So you go poking around in my head to make sure of that, is that it?"

I blinked. "It's perfectly safe, Score, it–"

"You can take your Slytherin sensibilities and leave me the hell alone!" Scorpius snarled.

And he left the empty classroom without so much as a single backwards glance. Remus blinked. "Hecate... What have they been teaching you in those dungeons?"

"I didn't..."

"Mean for it to end that way?" Remus hugged me carefully around the shoulders. "Please be careful, Hecate. It may be best if you let Scorpius cool off for a bit."

And then he left, too.

_-~*~-_

What would later become known as the Hitchcock Match (apparently a Muggle filmmaker) had two very different effects on my life thus far. The first effect was quite obviously a step toward pleasing the Dark Lord, separating Lily Evans from Severus Snape and my continued "friendship" with Severus. The second effect, however, was completely undesirable. I had never had a row before in my short memory.

And gods did it hurt.

I made it back to the common room just as the last stragglers from the match had appeared at the blank stone wall. Crabbe and Goyle were gentlemanly enough to remember to allow me in first, but uncouth enough to stare. Later, I would use these two idiots as a perfect example of why Muggle-born witches and wizards sometimes had it better than purebloods.

They had learned the manners, but not why they mattered.

Alioth immediately pounced upon my entrance, holding out her arm. Her wide, innocent, pale green eyes were filled with tears. And like the good big sister that I was, like the honorable Slytherin that I was, I led her down the hall into the bath to gather a clean towel.

"What happened?" I murmured.

Her arm was sliced open in three distinct marks roughly halfway between the meat of her wrist and her inner elbow. From the blood on her hand, I could tell she had tried to staunch the flow. It was still bleeding sluggishly in spite of the time gap.

"A big bird attacked me," she said. I was proud of her in that moment. Though her eyes trembled with unshed tears, though they glittered, her voice was level. Ali's hands did not shake.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I cast a Freezing Charm on it," she said, her back straightening a little with pride. I grinned down at her, in spite of the ache in my chest.

"That's good. So it only got your arm, then."

"Yes."

"We should go back out to the common room. I'm sure Slughorn will be here soon. He might want you to go to Madam Pomfrey."

Ali nodded and pressed the cloth tighter to her arm.

Sure enough, I was right. Slughorn waited at the end of the hall, his belch-like voice needling in through the tapestries. "...is Miss Mulciber and Miss Taylor?"

I winced and quickly drew up the tapestry. "We're here, Professor, I was just getting Ali a cloth. She was hurt by one of the larger birds."

"Come stand by me, Miss Mulciber," Slughorn said. "Were you hurt, Miss Taylor?"

"No, sir."

Slughorn returned his attention to the room at large. "Does anyone have any inkling as to who conjured the birds?"

I glanced at Illi and Lucius. Illi nodded – Lucius shook his head. Both were so subtle I could act like I'd missed the mixed signals later. Ali's hand gripped mine tightly. I made my choice.

I remained silent.

Ali and a handful of others left with Slughorn. Everyone sat in subdued silence in the common room. I sighed and headed for the tapestry once again, Scorpius' words rolling around in my head like too much water in a cauldron. I changed into pajamas and cast the Tooth-Cleansing spell.

I pulled the curtains closed and cast a handful of privacy, silencing, and locking charms on the drapes.

I did not want to be held. I did not want company. Because for every stroke on my hair that Lucius would make, for every kiss to my temple, I would be reminded of why I was trembling in grief. I would be reminded that I had broken the trust of the one person whose trust I should have kept.

I had lost my brother's trust.

_-~*~-_

Lucius tried to get in.

Illi tried to get in.

Ali tried to get in.

Bellatrix tried.

Narcissa tried.

Hell, they even brought the Head Girl in to try.

All failed to get through my wards. All failed to get through to see me crying, to see me curled into a ball atop my covers. On one level, I was proud my wards held against a seventh-year Ravenclaw. On another level, I was grateful so many people cared enough to try to help me.

Above all the levels of emotions, though, I was boiling with anger. Angry at Scorpius for not listening. Angry at Lucius and Illi for not giving up. Angry at myself for not telling Slughorn just precisely who had set those fucking birds on the stadium, just who it was who had hurt Ali and nearly killed Severus and his Mudblood girl.

I trembled with the rage.

It consumed me.

I slept fitfully, dreamlessly, the anger, the terror, and the grasping tentacles of horror at what I'd done and not done. The sun rose, casting pink and purple light through the glass wall opposite my bed. Sleep captured me again in its gentle embrace, tugging me, pulling at me under the surface like grindylows beneath the lake.

Unable to keep a Slytherin face, unable to understand precisely what made me so upset, I stayed in my bed with my homework. Illi, Cissa, and Bella all woke up, tried the curtains again, and left. Ali came back half-hoping... but no.

My wards would admit no one.

I was hungry, but I refused to give in until I could hold my own.

It was early afternoon by the time someone actually got through.

I heard the muttering, heard the wand swishing and flicking precisely in the air. I heard the rustle of pages in a book, felt more than saw my wards crash around me. But the face that emerged through the drapes was not one I expected.

"Insufferable know-it-all." Severus scowled. "You do realize you have half a room of dunderheads out here worried for your health."

Numb with shock, I nodded.

Severus glanced over his shoulder then back at me. "Why did you help us?"

I only had one answer that I was willing to give. "Slytherins protect their own."

He glared with his tiny black eyes. Sullen, they narrowed. "Indeed. And yet here you sit." He glanced over his shoulder again. "Come. You should eat."

Severus thrust the curtains aside with two smooth movements. On my bedside table were a smuggled plate of sandwiches and a flagon of pumpkin juice. I must have stared at it for longer than was necessary.

"You didn't think your friends would allow you to suffer, did you?"

"Who brought this for me?"

"Mulciber and Black," Severus said. "Eat, woman." I bit back the urge to ask which Black he was referring to. Only Regulus spent any real amount of time with Ali.

Was he always so formal? So curt? I was reminded of Lucius in the way he demanded I eat and of Illiad in the way he tapped the plate impatiently. Of Ali the way he was silent, of Rabastan in the way he moved. Even a little of Scorpius, in the way that he sat down on the floor to watch, his ankles crossed and head resting on his knees.

And yet there was a hurt, a darkness in him that echoed my own. A sense of longing to belong, hovering at the edges of his soul. I ate slowly and hoped he would remain. He did. Instead of speaking like a normal person, however, he simply sat and stared off into a distance far beyond the wall behind my bed.

"Malfoy loves you," Severus said quietly after two sandwiches.

"Of course," I said, blinking. "He's my ooh-doe."

"Your what?" Severus looked at me for the first time since he'd last ordered me to eat.

"It's Cherokee for 'brother,'" I added. "Illi taught us."

"Ah. Parkinson. American. I don't mean brotherly" – he spat the word – "love, Taylor."

I scowled. "Don't call me that."

"Your little memory problem is like a double-ended dagger," Severus said, his eyes finding that spot over my shoulder again, "if you can't see that Lucius wants you. Or perhaps you were always so unobservant, which I highly doubt." He stood abruptly. "Go to your friends, woman, before they do something stupid."

And he left as though he had not said that my friends might do something idiotic, as though he hadn't reduced my Obliviate to a mole hill. As though he hadn't just... well.

Severus Snape was an enigma; that was certain. One I intended to figure out. After all, if there's one thing Hecate Hermione Taylor enjoys, it's a challenge.

_-~*~-_

Hey, it's UK with some notes. The Quidditch players are all random names, some canon (like Davies and Chang). They really aren't important at this time, so I won't go into them. The birds the Marauders conjured are all real birds, though I'm not certain whether any of them live in the UK or not.

I know I promised recipes from last chapter. I'm kinda slammed with Real Life at the moment, but I will find my cards so I can give ya'll the recipes. Promise.