The Half Blood Princess

Chapter 9: Scamander & Black

Sneaking down to the Hufflepuff Dormitory the following morning was harder than Talia expected, she had to sneak past both the twins, Hermione and Harry as well as Ron, not forgetting Prefect Perfect Percy as all the Weasley's had nicknamed him. Passing Peeves however was easier than Talia had expected, all she had to do was give the poltergeist an idea to annoy the hell out of Argus Filch, Hogwarts most dedicated caretaker and thus she had the pesky prankster out of her main conquest. Finding away to get a message to Rachel was a different matter, thankfully Hannah Abbot was more than willing to help. About 5 minutes later,  Rachel came rushing out of the dormitory, her eyes wide and her breathing laboured. "Do you want to talk about it?" was the first thing Rachel said to Talia, not a "Hi, how are you?" but no that was Rachel, always straight to the point. "Not here, let's take a stroll outside" Talia suggested as she turned on her heel. Linking arms together the pair made their way along the path leading to the forbidden forest where just inside the entrance was a fallen tree in which the girls decided to make their new seat. "So what was so urgent that it couldn't wait? Plus why did we have to come out into the cold?" Rachel sighed as she wrapped her arms around her. "Here, you can borrow my jacket" Talia smiled softly as she draped the item over Rachel's shoulders before diving into recalling the night before. 
 
"So you're telling me that Professor Snape, the one Professor that most students in the years above us fear, saved you from falling even though you were sneaking around in his personal store?!" Rachel questioned after a moment of silence as she took in the information. "I know! I couldn't believe it either! I don't know what it was but in that moment after he caught me where I just stared into his eyes while I caught my breath it was as if I was looking at a book that only I could read." Talia breath heavily, ever since that moment she felt as though her breath was being taken away from her even just by talking about it. "Holy Mother of Merlin!" Rachel exclaimed, her hand going to her forehead in disbelief. "You can't tell anyone Red! I mean it if Professor Snape finds out I told anyone he has a soft side I'm sure to end up in detention until graduation" Talia grumbled in a harsh, hushed tone. "Alright, I promise. Just, next time maybe ask him straight out if you're going to borrow stuff from his stores, I'm sure he'd much rather that than have to catch you every time you fall" Rachel chuckled as she hugged Talia. "Yeah that sounds like a better idea than having to drink Skele-grow" Talia chuckled too, glad to have spoken to someone about that moment.