The Solstice

Disclaimer: If I owned the Potter-verse, I'd be sitting on a lounge chair in the Caribbean, drinking frozen drinks brought to me by handsome young men. And yet here I am. 'Nuff said.

Author's Notes: Thanks again to Verity for beta reading. Any remaining errors I snuck in afterwards!

Chapter 7: The Solstice

Despite her having observed his discomfiture the other night, Professor Snape appeared to be treating Rowan with the same level of disdain as everyone else in Potions class. On the whole, a good sign, Rowan thought.

Rowan noticed that the classroom floor looked especially clean now; not a speck of dust to be seen, glassware sparkling, floor spotless and completely mucus-free. Clearly detentions had occurred.

Following the directions on the board, which had appeared at a gesture of Professor Snape's wand, Rowan cut her caterpillars carefully into thin, even slices. While she did this, Rowan observed Snape. He seemed oddly distracted today. He barely sneered when Edgar had to confess to a caterpillar allergy, and he only took five points from Gryffindor the entire lesson.

The rest of Rowan's week progressed without incident. Preparations for the holidays were well underway. The Great Hall was festooned with holly and evergreen. Hagrid brought in several fine trees from the Forbidden Forest, and Professor Flitwick charmed them into festiveness. Rowan looked around with admiration. This was going to be her first year staying at Hogwarts over the holiday; she was looking forward to the Christmas feast. She had heard that even the staff got a little giddy. A tipsy Minerva McGonagall, that would be something to see. Rowan knew better than to expect anything other than a typically malevolent Snape.

Rowan continued working on her fabric samples each evening. She had found several leads in the potion books she had examined in the library after fleeing Snape's classroom the other evening. She tried all of them, in every combination she could think of. Always keeping careful notes, she set the the wet swatches in the evening near the fireplace to dry. In the morning, she checked them for signs of invisibility, but they all remained stubbornly opaque.

Friday night was her Astronomy lab. She and her classmates gazed at the heavens through their telescopes and shivered in their cloaks. Rowan thought longingly again of the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall, hot cocoa, and crumpets. This was the last day of classes; the Hogwarts Express would leave tomorrow to take the students home for break. The moon was second quarter this evening; Tuesday it would be full. Rowan remembered that Saturday was the Solstice. She wondered if her luck would turn with the turning of the year. She didn't find any great revelations in the sky; not that she expected anything useful. At the end of class, Rowan put her telescope carefully away and handed in her lab notes for the evening. She went back down the staircase with the others and passed through the portrait hole into the Ravenclaw dormitory. She made one more batch of samples of her thestral fabric and set them out to dry.

That same evening, in another part of Britain, Voldemort conferred with his lieutenants. Wormtail, as ever, was in attendance.

"Well, Bella, have you prepared the potion?"

"Yes, Dark Lord, it is complete except for the final step, which must be done on the Solstice."

"You have not made any mistakes?"

"No, Master. I have compared the instructions returned by both Malfoy and Snape carefully. I am certain I have followed them correctly.

"I do hope that this is so, Bella; you know how I hate to have to punish you," the high-pitched voice said silkily.

Bellatrix looked fearful and bowed to kiss the hem of Voldemort's robe. "Master, I am not so sure that Snape can be trusted. It would be wise to make sure you have the blood tomorrow, or the effort will be wasted and you will have to wait another three months."

"Perhaps you are right, Bella. I think we shall ensure that Snape does not forget his invitation tomorrow. Boyle and Wart! I want you." Two hooded figures stepped forward expectantly.

"You both have children now at Hogwarts, am I correct?"

"Yes, Dark Lord," they both acknowledged.

"I want you both to pay them a visit. Perhaps there is some question about their Potions grades? You should pay a call on their instructor. If he has not arranged to have a student at hand, let him know he has incurred my displeasure, and select one for him. Bring them both here."

Here Voldemort took a small object, held his wand over it and murmured, "Portus." It quivered for a moment, then quieted. "Take this for your return trip. Now go." The indicated underlings departed on their errand.

Saturday morning, when Rowan checked the dried swatches from the night before, she saw one of them had actually worked! Her fabric swatch had seemingly vanished. She found it by feel from where she knew she had left it and picked it up with two fingers. Rowan held the fabric scrap up to the light – yep, that was invisible all right. She realized she had better embroider a border or something on it in a brightly-colored Muggle yarn, or she risked losing it. Rowan draped the little piece of cloth over her hand and stroked it. The thestral wool had an unworldly feel to it – soft like camel down but with a thrill like silk. She gazed at her bare hand through the fabric.

Oh.

No.

Arrrggghhh! Blistering Boggarts! Desiccated Doxy Droppings! Seasick Sea-serpent Snot! Rowan mentally ran through every exclamation she could think of, till she felt a little better. The endless supply of inimical and unendearing creatures in the magical world provided creative scope to her invective.

Rowan realized her error – she had made invisible fabric, not invisibility fabric! Ugh. How was she ever going to face Professor Snape now? Ah, well, no help for it, she was going to have to tell him.

Not right this second, though; that ordeal could be postponed at least till later in the day. Today was the morning of holidays, the Hogwarts Express would be taking most of the student body back to platform Nine and Three Quarters right after breakfast. Rowan dressed and went down to the common room. All the other Ravenclaws were busy with their trunks and chattering about their plans for the holidays. Edgar came to say goodbye to Rowan.

"I'm wishing now I'd planned to stay. I hope you aren't too lonely."

"I'll be fine. I've got so much work to do, I'll hardly notice that no one is here."

"I'm just taking mine with me. The farm isn't quite so busy this time of year, so I'll have plenty of time to study. I'll owl you, if that's okay?"

Rowan looked at Edgar; she wasn't sure what to say, so she answered, "Okay."

Edgar smiled and shyly leaned towards her. Oh, what the heck, thought Rowan, and let him kiss her. He smelled nice; his kiss was warm and not soggy. Her experience was not wide, but she'd definitely seen worse. Edgar straightened up again before anyone noticed, and they all clambered through the portrait hole for breakfast.

After breakfast, everyone scrambled for the carriages to the train station with their trunks and things. Rowan saw them off and waved goodbye to Ariadne and Edgar from the front steps of the castle. When the carriages pulled out of sight, Rowan turned and re-entered the castle.

The few students who were remaining for the holidays gathered in front of the fires in the various common rooms and commiserated, aided by stocks of butterbeer and baked goods sent up from the kitchens. Lunch was an informal affair, and most of the students felt it was greatly improved by Professor Snape's absence. Rowan, though, grew concerned that he would not be around to consult on her project.

Since it was the holiday as well as Saturday, there were no normal office hours. Still though, Snape often had potions that needed attention and could usually be found in his workroom, so Rowan looked for him there. She dreaded barging in on him without an appointment for the second time, but not nearly as much as she dreaded failing at her final project. She picked up her samples, squared her shoulders, and headed for the dungeon.

She found him there, in his workroom, stirring something with a silver spoon. He held up one hand as she entered and motioned her to silence. She faded back a bit and watched him work. Snape continued stirring with an even and precise motion his right hand, while his left carefully sprinkled a dry powder into the cauldron. As he stirred, a lavender mist rose from the cauldron, slunk over the lip and faded towards the floor. At this, Snape gave a grunt of satisfaction and straightened up.

"To what, Miss Bourne, do I owe the honor of this unexpected visit today?"

Rowan winced, but presented her case in a steady voice. "I need some help with my project. I'm really sorry to bother you over the holidays, but I've tried everything I can think of and this is the best I got." Here she stepped closer to Snape and held up her invisible square of fabric.

Snape reached into the space where she appeared to be holding something and, encountering the fabric, took the square from her with two fingers. He held it up before the light of the fireplace and turned it around carefully. When he draped it over his palm, as Rowan had earlier, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"I believe I comprehend your problem, Miss Bourne."

"I've worked so hard. Look: here are my notes on every experiment I tried. I can't believe I made such a stupid mistake!"

Snape took her journal and leafed through it. The first pages documented her fabrication process. Then each completed sample was affixed to a page, containing neatly quilled notes on which potions and spells had been applied, how they had been performed, in which order. Quite impressive for a student, really. It would be a pity to have to fail her for it. Hmm. He did have an idea that might help.

"I think perhaps you need to include some form of a Transference spell. You have successfully invested the fabric with the invisibility attribute, but you want it to extend its magic to its immediate surroundings. I believe I have come across a potion of this type in my reading. I will check for you and give you the instructions in class when I find them."

Rowan appeared startled at his response, so Snape continued:

"Students are permitted to request guidance on these projects, though very few do."

"I can't imagine why not," Rowan commented blandly.

Snape looked at her narrowly. Guileless grey eyes met his fearlessly. The effect was somewhat marred by the tiniest trembling at the corners of her mouth; was that a twinkle? The chit!

He handed her back the fabric. This time their fingers touched momentarily, and they jumped back as if shocked.

While their attention was fixed and both struggled to find something to say, two men walked into Snape's workroom. Rowan glanced over at their entry. They looked vaguely familiar; they were probably parents and she'd run into them on platform Nine and Three Quarters a few times. Snape wrenched his gaze from Rowan to the door. He knew at once who they were and what they were there for.

"Here is your project book back, Miss Bourne. We will discuss this further at another time."

Snape attempted to direct her out the door, but it was already too late. Boyle took out his wand, flashed it at Rowan and snapped, "Impedimenta." Wart caught her as she fell.

"Ho hoh, Snape, well done. The Dark Lord feared that you were not planning on making his appointment, but I see you have your assignment prepared. Allow me to compliment you on your taste," he said, looking over Rowan with an unpleasant smile. "Let's just see if she qualifies, shall we?" At this, he waved his wand again in a serpentine pattern and incanted, "Probito Intacta." A silvery aura flared briefly around Rowan, then faded. Boyle gave a satisfied smirk.

"This one should do nicely, Snape. Shall we go? Our Master awaits." At this Boyle and Wart made sure all the four of them were in contact, then Boyle touched the Portkey in his pocket.

In the Headmaster's office, an alarm sounded.

Author's Notes: So nobody really thought Rowan was getting out of this, right? If you haven't read the story warning flag, now would be a good time to do so. If that will upset you, you'll probably want to skip chapter 8.