Unwanted Advice

Unwanted Advice

Ginny and Severus had just retreated after the first dinner of the period when a school owl delivered a neat packet containing two school robes in Ginny's size. They weren't new, but they were made from a decent-quality, soft but durable fabric.

The snakes on the clasps of one robe revealed its previous owner. With trepidation, Ginny observed how Severus applied what must have been dark curse revealer spells on it, making it flare and rustle. "I suppose I cannot prevent you from checking the robes for jinxes, but please, don't confiscate them for weeks to find a... a Hurling Hex."

Severus stared at her for a while, not answering at all. Then he continued his research, felt the fabric for any irregularities, seams and all. He shrank the garment until it might suit a gnome. He stripped off his own shirt, frock and coat, enlarged it and put it on.

"Sorry to disappoint," the mirror commented dryly, "but you don't have the cleavage or the waist for this charming cut."

Severus ignored Ginny's giggle as he stroked along his arms and chest, careful not to tear the tight seams. He moved and spelled arbitrary objects with Charms or Transfigurations Ginny had not seen before, although for more than one she supposed Severus had not quite expected the result he saw either. He repeated the lengthy procedure with the second robe, producing a useless, leathery glass bowl but steadfastly ignoring the witch hopping around him nervously.

Finally he nodded. "I cannot feel anything; maybe they are all right. You can start wearing one in our chambers. Take it off and inform me immediately if it feels strange, or if anything at all seems amiss. We have not been equally careful with other clothes you were given, but this is more difficult: we don't know who had it in their hands before."

"What a charming robe for a fresh and spirited girl," the mirror exclaimed when Ginny turned to control its fit. "Take it in more at the sides, and you'll easily make a conquest or two this period."

With a swish of Severus' wand, the mirror frosted over, and its voice died in a choke.

:*:*:*:

Again the Dark Lord had attended dinner, and again Ginny found herself spending the evening alone. Drinking her fourth cup of tea, with several, rolled-up essays as her only company, Ginny suddenly felt like a copy of Hermione Granger. Oh, Hermione, Ron, Harry ... what are they possibly doing right now? Ginny had hardly thought about them in her time at the Academy, and doing so now left her empty.

She didn't know how long she'd been staring at the wall, longing for her friends, when Draco knocked. "In here alone? How about joining us for a chat? It will be all right, I promise." Eagerly, Ginny closed the inkwell and haphazardly pushed the papers to one side of the table. When Draco cleared his throat, she grinned, but returned and left a note for Severus.

Draco led her to a corner table in the Hall with two girls from her own year and Theodore Nott. The conversation started reluctantly, but the boys made an effort, and finally they had an amiable chat. To ease the conversation, Ginny revealed she didn't always feel too comfortable with Transformation, which she knew at least Florence mastered in her sleep.

The girls both had trouble with Defence as Ginny had already noticed. Heather, a reliable but somewhat naïve Hufflepuff, wasn't excelling in any subject, but then again she worked extra hard to compensate. She could fall into the category of the soon-to-be-wives, and with her house-background, she might even face re-housing.

Curfew for the students in their O.W.L. year or below was at 9.30 pm, and Draco accompanied the two girls upstairs while Theodore walked Ginny back. She used the chance to ask the shy boy about his favourite subjects. He did well in most, but he reluctantly admitted that he was struggling in Potions. "I just can't memorise all these cutting techniques. And how can these stirring instructions be so important?" He told Ginny about this and last periods' topics. They matched with what she had done with Severus between the periods.

They had long since arrived at the Snapes' but continued discussing stirring styles: which rod, which angle, which direction, when to stir in the centre, how and when at the outer side.

Severus and the Dark Lord appeared around a corner. Quickly, Theo bade Ginny a good night and left, bowing deeply towards their master.

"Academic discussions until curfew? This is how I like my students. Feeling well here, Mrs Snape?"

"Thank you, my lord. Yes, the Academy is a fantastic place to learn. It is so inspiring," Ginny answered smoothly, curtsying and lowering her head.

"And you've made some friends, too. I hope Severus isn't jealous." His piercing laughter reverberated in the small corridor and made Ginny's bones shiver, but she smiled innocently back at him, her mind freshly Occluded.

"There is no reason for that, my Lord," Severus answered while he tore down their wards.

Inside, Ginny hastily removed her things from the desk, excused herself and left for the private side behind the French door. She recalled the light talk in the group once again, while she heard the men discussing problems with the discipline. Yawning for the nth time, she decided to retire and went out, carrying her washing kit.

Not two steps out of the bathroom and Ginny saw a stressed husband checking on her before he replied to his master. Quickly she bade the men a good night and withdrew behind the folded screens.

Not a sound passed through the flimsy divider, but Severus appeared surprisingly soon afterwards, smirking.

:*:*:*:

At breakfast the next day, headmistress Mulciber announced they would divide the student body into two colours: Green lead by Severus and Silver lead by Professor Flank, the Transfiguration teacher. "You will be sorted in your first lesson today," the headmistress told them. "For the start of the next period, your dormitories will have been rearranged according to your colours."

Once again, Ginny was not sorted at all, and this time she told her husband. Severus received the news with concern. "I would have preferred fewer exceptions for you. For now, you'll join my assembly. Come then." Addressing her anger, he added softly, "Don't let it get at you, Ginevra!" She swallowed and managed a neutral face.

Scanning the assembled, Ginny noticed that in all years, the clusters of friends were broken up. Draco and Pansy Parkinson were Green and also Florence and Mandy, who didn't like each other. Florence's friend Heather and Theodore Nott must be Silver.

Severus explained that they would install a credit system similar to Hogwarts points, and there would be prefects from fifth and from sixth year.

"Further, as you know, the N.E.W.T. examinations are held at the end of the fourth period. After these students have left us, we will have more flexibility. To all well-performing students, the Academy offers a splendid chance to advance a year in their very best subjects."

He spat the words as if in doubt anyone would deserve such privilege.

"Should your performance in general be steady and well above expectations, you may be granted access to the lesson one year above you in up to three subjects, provided we can arrange the timetables. A flaw in even one subject blocks your advance."

Back in their rooms, Severus told Ginny that the Heads of Colours are granted a small separate office. "I have to move the office furniture from here over there. It is just next door, and I'll ask Professor Barnes to help me Charm a door. You can have your own desk here." He finished with the remark, "Besides studying diligently, you have something to plan now."

:*:*:*:

The Bloody Baron publicly declared he would be watching over all O.W.L.s students, independent from their colour. He always directed himself to Severus and steadfastly refused to heed their headmistress.

"That woman ignores the whole concept of a school," he complained late one evening in their private quarters. Frequently coming and going through their chambers, the ghost was obviously protecting her on Severus' plea rather than keeping her company while she was once again alone, waiting for Severus to return from the Dark Lord.

He wasn't one to be entangled in idle conversation, but he floated close behind Ginny's shoulders as she was checking through a catalogue of furniture. Severus did not insist on the cheapest model, but he expected her to select reasonably. Ginny conjured a measure and found that a Queen size bed would not fit into their room comfortably, but there was space for a Double bed of 4'6''. Severus was tall, so she'd opt for the longest version: full seven feet. As she gave the measures, the catalogue presented her a beautiful four-poster. Made from reddish wood like the cupboard and chest back home at Spinner's End, its high, arched head was enchanted to show a family tree starting from the couple sleeping there and developing a new branch per child. A beautiful sample grew in the picture while Ginny was watching.

"Ambitious young lady," the ghost commented when the complex tree developed the first twigs for the great-grand children.

Blushing furiously, she turned the page and tried to ignore the chuckles above her. Thankfully, the ghost drifted upwards to inspect a dormitory.

Bedside tables? Well, they do come in handy, but there was no space here. She would first select the desk for herself. Some models came Charmed to endlessly provide foolscap or scrolls of parchment. Others had a strange-looking, blot-repelling surface and were recommended for children and the elderly. Certainly not! A Charm that would hold a book suspended in mid-air and turn the pages on verbal command sounded more reasonable.

On a hunch, Ginny took the catalogue to Professor Barnes.

"Books are neither solid bodies nor bulk goods, but something in between," he explained, leaving it to his visitor to draw the conclusion.

Ginny deliberated for a moment. "Ah, of course, that's because the pages are too loosely connected with the spine. Consequently, the Suspension Charm for neither of the two categories can be efficient."

"Correct, Mrs Snape. Whatever Charm the carpenter used will wear off within months."

Her professor had even heard of hexes that would send information back to the carpenter on what she was reading. "Also PCs, these electronic Muggle devices, can be contaminated with a similar function. The Muggles call it... spyware, Mrs Snape." He paused, and Ginny shuddered.

"You'd better invest in charming yourself clever bookmarks," he suggested. "There are spells that can memorise and link several pages with a common keyword. I'm always reminded of those when I see modern text editing programs on a Muggle PC."

Then they discussed the endless-flow quills and the parchment-providing Charm. "If you need not rein in yourself, they might come in handy. But of course you will have to pay for the stationery. Buying the Charm integrated into the desk will even bind you to only one provider who will dictate the price. I opt for a separate Charm that needs explicit renewal every so often." Reminded of her mother's shopping charm for groceries, Ginny readily agreed.

"Here, they advertise an Orthograph-Charm, sir."

"Oh, yes. Not the kind of spells you would need, Mrs Snape." The compliment made Ginny blink in surprise. He was right that her essays had shown far less of the nasty red marking this year. How could her sense of spelling and formulating straight sentences have improved this much? This flaw that she had been sure would stick to her forever, had not lost her points here in the Academy.

"In modern Muggle education, correct spelling has been neglected, and for many young people, a book is an unknown object. This new spell actually copies an idea from Muggle PCs: it corrects wrong spelling while you write. Muggles call this spell checker. It is historically interesting that we copied from Muggles here, while the spying Curse was developed on the magical side at least five centuries ago. Muggles also have a grammar check, but it does not work perfectly, to say the least."

"It wears off?"

Now her professor smiled. "There is no such concept on Muggle PCs. They do the same, the VERY same, for thousands of times. It is rather the Muggle that... err... tires off."

He ended their chat, recommending that she invest into a back-supporting, adjustable chair and good mattresses. When Ginny walked back to their rooms, she smiled: the latter had been the heartfelt advice of a person with a stiff leg and back problems.

Her smile died when she arrived. A nervous Severus had already sent the Bloody Baron around to search for her and was pacing agitatedly when she entered. "Where have you been, wandering about all on your own?"

"I don't want a babysitter, Severus!" she argued with force, despite the fact that she knew of ill-wishers that he wasn't aware of.

Brushing his teeth in company has always been agony for Severus, yet today he bid his time to waylay Barnes in the bathroom. When the door opened, Severus quickly spat out and was about to berate him, when the old man lifted his hand. "I did accompany your young wife back, Severus. I merely used a Disillusionment charm."

Severus nodded in gratitude, his anger melting.

"She is such a refreshingly natural girl, Severus. Do keep her that way!"

:*:*:*:

If he was not called to their master, Severus had to stay in his office until curfew of the older students, to be available for them. However, he arranged it so that he took a cup of tea with Ginny around her curfew.

He was pouring her a cup when she returned from the Great Hall with a sparkle in her eyes, reminding him suddenly of the girl he remembered from Hogwarts. Severus felt an unknown pain in his chest, seeing her behave like an innocent pupil for the first time in so many weeks. He had failed to realise how little she was allowed to act her age and how much she needed friends of her own age! Barnes' words popped up in his mind.

Ginny showed him the simple bed she had finally selected. "The reddish wood fits your furniture back home. It comes as a low one or a four poster, like this," she ventured, steering again free of the monstrous bed head with the family tree. Severus liked the plain model, no flourishes, easy to clean and polish, however, his vault would groan when the Galleons were withdrawn. There was a postless, budget version on the following page, but a four poster with a high bed head, testers and canopy was the symbol of wizardry! He'd get them one, and if only to spite his Muggle father!

The rest of Ginny's proposal found his approval as well. The only thing that he felt the need to comment on was suggesting the somewhat wider desk. Ginny's face twisted into a grimace. "Am I not working enough, yet?"

So much for keeping her the innocent girl, he thought drily on his way to the bathroom that thankfully granted him an unoccupied washing sink. Wetting the toothpaste, he jumped as the Bloody Baron appeared next to him, but decided to ignore the apparition.

After a while, the ghost said, "Your young lady was enthralled with the charmed family tree on one bed head." Severus looked up sharply, his brush stopping in his mouth. "I recommend," the silvery man continued, "to refrain from such a bed. If motherhood is denied to her, the tree will be a sad sight. Many a witch and wizard, from Slytherin, especially, wasted away being reminded of their unfulfilled hopes every morning and every night."

This was not what had shocked Severus, but the baron was right nevertheless. He even continued. "There are separate wall decorations available with the same charm. They make a splendid present for a mother after a delivery." Severus nodded, hiding his serious blush behind the curtain of hair.

Back in their room, undoing his trousers, Severus noted that once again, he had taken in advice with toothpaste running out of his mouth. Weren't the two somehow contradicting? Could a mother be 'refreshingly natural'? Yes, with all her overbearing, Molly Weasley had managed to be so to an admirable extent, Severus thought. So would Ginevra if he had his way.

Inching close to the subject of his musing, he gently laid his left arm over her belly and drifted away into dreamland for the last night at the Academy for this period. Tomorrow, Monday, they would leave right after breakfast. It was all arranged.

:*:*:*:

On Monday evening a loud plop would announce that a nervous, young woman had Apparated at the train station of Hogsmeade. The old station guard would see that her cloak was damp, her hair wet and her shoes soaked with mud. And he would note that he didn't recognise her, although, considering her age, he should have seen her at the station during her years at school. When she hastily looked left and right and all around herself, she would have a haunted look on her face as if she had just had a traumatic encounter. Yet, she would resolutely march to Hogwarts castle, now pulling her hood over her face as was common nowadays since nobody wanted to be identified by mere passers-by.

The Auror on guard three hundred yards further might see how her brows suddenly furrowed. She obviously contemplated over her most recent experience. Suddenly a thought would strike her, and she would shake herself. Her face would go neutrally blank, and she would slow down, continuing like any inconspicuous evening visitor, although basically the mere fact that a person would walk around alone at this time of the day was suspicious.

Panting from the brisk walk, she would finally arrive at the gates to Hogwarts ground where one of the guards would recognise her.

:*:*:*:

:*:*:*:

Hugs and thanks to Savine Snape and Coshie, my supportive and creative betas. They went through the logic and the details in this chapter and made the text readable.