Always For You. [Snape Romance] [Harry Potter]

Arc 2: Chapter 4: Waltz

Arc Two: Delusional Reverie
Chapter Four: Waltz

The next day swiftly came and it seemed as if the entire castle had forgotten about the ruined portraits. Students and teachers alike were buzzing at the Quidditch match that was to be occurring today. Even Severus, who did not typically mind the tournament, felt positive at his house playing against Ravenclaw. He gave a mild nod of encouragement towards the Slytherin table as cheers filled the Great Hall. The captain of the Slytherin team was trying to rile up the Ravenclaw captain, but the prefects quickly put it to a standstill.

"It's so competitive..." I muttered to myself as I bit into my breakfast waffle. It tasted so nice... My mind almost completely forgot about Dumbledore's task and focused on the potato goodness in my mouth and the commotion going around.

"Have you seen a Quidditch match before, Cassandra?" McGonagall asked before taking a glass of water. Despite Gryffindor not playing, she was still on high alert for the outcome. 

"Not exactly. I know the extremely basic rules but I've never seen a match. There wasn't enough time with my workload." I admitted.

Severus looked at me in the corner of his eyes. He knew exactly what game McGonagall was about to play.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea for Severus to take you." she chuckled lightly at his slightly embarrassed expression. 

"I was going to do so regardless," he informed McGonagall, clearly not happy to be receiving teasing from someone that wasn't me. 

"How kind of you, my darling Severus." I patted his hand to which he gave a frustrated grunt about. "Okay, okay, I'll stop messing with you! But there's something I want to do before we go."

*****

After breakfast, we headed to the Entrance Hall's side room. I had come to realise that the portrait that was attacked yesterday was none other than Greta Catchlove who wrote the book Charm Your Own Cheese. There was an additional version of the same portrait at the location we arrived. Now, the interesting thing about these portraits is that the person inside can move between paintings and there Greta was minding her own business. She was quite a large witch dressed in bright red robes, blonde hair and bright blue eyes that contrasted with the darkness in the background.  

An artist can instil the personality of the portrait's inhabitant as a method of preserving said person. Therefore, this Greta was well and alive in her own right. Assuming she hadn't completely forgotten what happened yesterday, she should be able to give us some valuable information. 

"Hello, Greta." I greeted her formally but she was not prepared for our arrival. At the first sound of my voice, she let out a scream and threw herself out of frame. 

"I believe you may have frightened her," Snape said as he watched me stare blankly at the empty portrait. 

"Okay, come on. This one is hardly my fault. I can understand when people feared me at the Ministry but... to think I believed I had mellowed out a bit..." I pouted.

Moments later, once Greta realised that we weren't a group of delinquents, she poked her head back into the painting. 

"What do you want? Here to gloat?" she interrogated with a sour expression. She wasn't in the mood to cooperate, it seemed.

"Not at all. I'm very sorry about what happened to your portrait in the Grand Staircase." I began. "I was hoping you could tell us about what happened so we can catch the culprits." 

Greta placed her arms on her hips in mild irritation.

"I have a feeling you won't go away until I answer you." Snape and I shared a secret glance of "she's caught us". "Fine. Come close and listen because I won't repeat it again."