Chapter 1: September

Everything you recognize belongs to JKRowling. Everything you don't recognize belongs to me. I'm still not making any money.

Chapter 1 - September

I'm so happy that Harry trusts me so much that he shares his secrets with me. Harry tells me everything. A good girlfriend never tells her boyfriend's secrets and Harry's secret friendship with a lonely werewolf is safe with me. Harry was in a hurry, so he sent off his letter and promised to meet me later. I can hardly wait until he comes to Owlery again!

~**~**~

"Poor, lonely Lupin, indeed."

Severus nearly spewed the tea he was sipping all over the diary when he read that bit of the entry. Many people were openly friendly with Lupin. The werewolf had been working for Ollivander and shagging the old man's granddaughter for a bit over a year when Miss Tilly wrote the entry. Lupin could hardly be described as either poor or lonely. He wondered if Potter was lying to Miss Tilly or if she was making up the details of her relationship with Potter. It was an important clue to her state of mind.

'Big toothed, bushy haired bitch? Bah!'

He found her references to Hermione disturbing. Hermione wasn't beautiful in the classical sense, but she had qualities that he found stunning. It didn't surprise him that those qualities were completely beyond the comprehension of the insipid Miss Tilly.

Severus thumbed through the diary and saw that there were at least a hundred more pages filled with the troubled ramblings of the gawky adolescent. He doubted he would have made it more that halfway through the first entry if his life didn't depend on gleaning something useful from the girl's delusional notations. He wondered if all eighteen-year-old girls were focused on such trivial pursuits. Hermione was his only frame of reference, and she was certainly more well rounded than Miss Tilly; Hermione was surely mature beyond her years.

His heart sank when he thought about Hermione. He'd sent her away less than an hour ago, and already he missed her quick wit, discerning intellect, and insatiable curiosity. He would be lying if he didn't admit to also missing her less cerebral virtues.

His breath caught, and he felt himself rousing as he thought about the Hermione only he knew. Her small breasts, so responsive to his touch... the smell of her hair... her small hands stroking him, at first hesitantly, now confidently... the way their bodies fit together, so tight, hot and wet... the gorgeous expression on her face when he gave her pleasure --

'Focus, damn it!' Severus reprimanded himself. This was no time to be pining away like a lovesick schoolboy. He took a sip of his tea and delved back into the diary.

~**~**~

September 18th

I'm sure Harry will come to the Owlery as soon as he can get away from Granger's constant surveillance. I wonder if Harry misses me as much as I miss him.

~**~**~

"Somehow I doubt it, Miss Tilly," Severus said, in answer to her question.

The girl was obsessed with Potter. He found the entire notion of a female aching for 'the boy-who-lived-to-torment-him' nauseating. He supposed there was no accounting for taste. His musings on the fickle nature of female attraction was interrupted by a knock on his chamber door.

"Enter," Severus called out as he tucked the diary safely away in his desk drawer.

"Wotcher, Severus," said Tonks with uncharacteristic seriousness as she entered his chambers. "Do you have time to answer a few questions for me?"

"Time is something I now have in abundance," he answered ruefully. "What would you like to know?"

"How well did you know Miss Tilly?" Tonks asked, taking a seat in front of his desk.

Severus shook his head at the irony of their positions. Generally, the person sitting in her chair was an errant student, squirming as he interrogated them. Now he was the one being interrogated, and he didn't like it.

"She was an unexceptional student. I only knew her well enough to put her face with her name." Severus became uneasy when he saw that his answer concerned Tonks.

"Those were the exact words that Hermione used to describe her relationship with Miss Tilly," Tonks observed.

'Sloppy! Damn sloppy, Snape!' Severus reprimanded himself. He knew Tonks wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw for nothing. Her frivolous and clumsy manner hid a keen intellect. He trusted her to be fair with him, but he knew that she would uphold her responsibilities as an Auror. If he continued to make mistakes like the one he just made, she would have him moved to Azkaban in a heartbeat.

"I wouldn't know," Severus answered with a practiced aloofness that he hoped would allay her suspicions. "Have you been able to determine Miss Tilly's motives for attacking Miss Granger?"

"Not yet," Tonks answered. "I can't find anyone who was close enough to her to tell me much about her."

"What is there to know? What does any silly eighteen-year-old girl think about?" asked Severus, in a subtle attempt steer Tonks' investigation in the right direction.

"I don't know. Eighteen-year-old boys, I suppose," Tonks said with a laugh.

"Perhaps it would be prudent to interview the boys closest to Miss Granger again," Severus suggested. "They may know more than they think they do."

"Good point," Tonks conceded. "That would be Harry and Ron I'm guessing. I'll get right on it."

"May I accompany you when you question them?" Severus wanted to compare Harry's interpretation of events to Miss Tilly's. It would be useful to know to what extent the diary corresponded with reality.

"I don't know about that. I don't think it will be to your advantage to have any irregularities in the investigation. Not everyone trusts in your innocence as I do."

"Please, Tonks," Severus asked with sincere humility, "my life is on the line. I can't just sit here and do nothing while others determine my fate. Please, just let me observe."

Tonks sighed deeply and considered his request.

"I don't suppose there would be any harm in you observing the questioning so long as you don't interfere," she reluctantly agreed. "You can come with me as long as you leave your wand behind."

"You know my wand isn't good for much more than opening my door and flushing the loo," he said with a slightly humorous sneer. "You put the wards on it yourself."

"So I did," she laughed, "but you're a cagey bastard. I wouldn't put anything past you."

"Fine. The wand stays. Shall we go now?"

"A cagey, impatient bastard," Tonks complained. "That's understandable. Let's go talk to Harry and Ron."

~**~**~

Severus sat in a wing chair in front the fireplace in the teacher's lounge as Tonks interrogated Potter and Weasley. He gave an appearance of indifference, but was actually carefully considering every word the boys said.

"Did you think Miss Tilly was unusual in any way?" Tonks asked the boys.

"She had a mustache," Ron offered earnestly. "That's unusual, isn't it? I've never seen another girl with a mustache. You don't think that maybe she was a bloke, do you?"

Severus struggled to suppress a snort of laugher. It wasn't often that he found Weasley's idiocy amusing. Gallows humor, he supposed.

"She hung out in the Owlery a lot," said Harry, ignoring Ron's comment. "She talked to the birds. She acted like they all belonged to her. She made me feel nervous and uncomfortable, like there was something not quite right about her."

'Now we're getting somewhere,' Severus thought. 'Keep him talking, Tonks.'

"What did she say to the birds, Harry?"

"I don't remember anything specifically. She would stop when she saw me," he answered.

"Did she say anything to you?"

"She would ask me who I was owling all the time. It made me uncomfortable to tell her that I was owling Katie, so I always told her that I was owling Remus. She wouldn't ask me questions about him."

Ron laughed. "Remember the time that Hedwig got confused and delivered your letter to Katie to Remus? The poor man probably thought you were in love with him. That was funny!"

"I didn't think so," Harry complained. "This is serious Ron. Will you stop joking around?"

"What did you say to her, Harry?" asked Tonks. "Miss Tilly, I mean. Not Katie."

"I just said hello... thanks for giving Hedwig treats... see you later. You know, polite stuff."

'Harry loves the way I take care of his owl... he said he'd meet me later. Of course,' Severus thought. 'The girl was reading much too much into simple social exchanges.'

He was beginning to get the answers he needed.

"I don't see the big deal," Ron spat. "That weird girl tried to kill Hermione. Professor Snape did what he had to do to save her. They should be pinning the Order of Merlin on his chest as far as I'm concerned, not trying to put him in Azkaban."

Severus found himself wishing he could award house points to Gryffindor on Weasley's behalf. It was an uncomfortable feeling that he hoped would pass quickly.

"I tend to agree, Ron," Tonks said, patting him on the shoulder. "Understand, I have to do my job. You can go, boys." Tonks escorted the boys to the door and turned to address Severus. "Okay, back to your chambers, Sev. Sorry this wasn't more productive."

"On the contrary, Tonks. I thought it was very interesting."

Very interesting, indeed.