Faded Away ↠H. Potter Twin [Dean Thomas]

TEN: Dodge No More

A/N: I cringe at the writing in this chapter, but I don't want to have to completely rewrite it. So, bear with me. I hope the edits make it readable.

Mary trudged into the headmaster's office, dreading yet another day of the same boring activity, only to find Snape waiting inside. She took one look at him and was ready to bolt. It took a lot of self-control to force herself to enter. She knew where this was going and would have gladly returned to feather extraction for a hundred days in a row if only it would have saved her from what was to come. Alas, the snake in the room had to be faced whether she wanted it or not. Perhaps all that patience stuff had been meant to prepare her for the moment she dreaded the most.

"Take a seat, Mary," Professor Dumbledore said, conjuring two chintz armchairs. "You, too, Severus."

"I am fine standing, headmaster," Snape said at the same time Mary cried, "I'm not sitting next to him!"

"Now, now, you two," Professor Dumbledore said. "Put on your best behaviour and sit down. I'll pour the tea."

"Tea?" Mary repeated. "Isn't it a little early for that?"

"It is never too early for tea."

Mary couldn't argue with that. She did look forward to some tea. Wondering which biscuit Professor Dumbledore preferred, she sat down and inched her chair away from Snape's. The table was set with an Aynsley bone china tea set that Mary suspected had been passed down the Dumbledore family for generations. Piled on a plate at the centre of the arrangement were -

"Jammie dodgers!" Mary couldn't resist. She snatched one off the plate, twisted it apart and licked the jam. "Raspberry!"

"My favourite flavour of jam."

Mary was on the edge of her seat. "Mine too! Mam makes it at home because the store-bought ones are too sweet for me –" The back legs of the chair next to her scuffed on the carpet as its occupant shifted uncomfortably. Her face fell. "Not that I'm going to be having that anymore," she muttered. Snape was such a mood kill. She crammed the biscuit in her mouth with a big frown.

"Alright," Professor Dumbledore said, reclaiming the reins of the conversation. "So, Mary, you probably do not know this, but Professor Snape used to be a friend of your mother."

Mary snorted. "He and Mum's friend? Yeah, sure, why not?"

"Your disagreement does not alter the truth," Snape said.

"I just don't see how you two could possibly be friends. You're not like her at all." Mary froze. She had done it again.

Snape raised his eyebrows. "You act as if you knew her."

"I do know her," Mary said slowly. "I've heard many stories about her." A close save.

Snape scoffed. "Stories. How much truth can reflect off stories?"

Mary pointed a jammie dodger at him. "Well, whatever you say is going to be a story anyway, so I would revise my logic if I were you."

Professor Dumbledore had been watching the two squabble in silence, hoping that they would come to a resolution in the end, but they had stepped too far. "Mary, regardless of being your guardian, Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher, so you are expected to give him the respect that is his due. As for you, Severus, I am sure that you cannot deny that it is through stories that we live on, long after our deaths."

"Okay, but can we cut to the chase?" Mary asked, gulping down her tea. It was sugared to her taste. She wondered how much of that was magic and how much was Dumbledore. "What's the point of this meeting?"

"I wanted to make sure that you are on good terms with each other for tomorrow. As your guardian, Professor Snape will take you to St Mungo's for the procedure and then bring you back after you are released from the hospital."