Why she hadn't followed R's plan, Patricia couldn't say. She simply couldn't let children be used as dragon bait again to open the cursed cellar. It had ended so badly last time. It had cost too many lives. She refused to think about Duncan. Not right now, anyway. Not at this beautiful ball.
And to think she'd let R talk her into abandoning Jacob to his fate. And she'd almost done it again. And for what? A stupid cursed cellar supposed to contain treasure? There wasn't even a shred of evidence that there was any treasure in those caves, unlike on her Gringotts missions.
It was her last evening at Hogwarts before leaving to find R. But nobody, not even Dumbledor, knew what her intentions were. As far as everyone was concerned, she was going back to work at Gringotts in Egypt. And that was for the best. No one, especially the children, would be hurt if she failed. She just hoped Jacob wouldn't do what she'd done and, above all, that he'd be safe. She hadn't spoken to him since the cursed cellar, not knowing what to say. He had every reason in the world to hate her. And nothing she could say to him could change that.
She had to stop brooding about it if she was going to enjoy the graduation ball. With all the idiot students trying to bring booze or fireworks, it might be complicated. But she could always try, even if, after all, keeping an eye on those brats was the main reason for her presence at this ball.
She resumed her watch, keeping a special eye on the apprentice spellbreakers. Well, ex-apprentices, she reminded herself violently. They were at the edge of the dance floor. Clearly, the group was trying to convince Merula to dance with them. They had all her courage. If Merula had made up her mind, it would be very difficult to change it. And then again, by a student Merula didn't know. Indeed, a snotty fifth-year Gryffindor who had no classes in common with the girl seemed to want to ask her to dance too. The Slytherin stood up, wand in hand, which had the effect of scaring off the young red and gold. The red and gold didn't seem very friendly or polite. Well, if she was going to put up with the sight of such idiots all evening, she couldn't do it without a little pick-me-up.
So Patricia headed for the bar, where she ordered a pumpkin juice from Rosemerta, for whom she had no friendship whatsoever. Indeed, alcohol was forbidden at the ball, although half the students were of age, the other half were not, and this also helped to avoid any unnecessary outbursts. But Patricia hadn't been a student for very long, and as a teacher she was entitled to certain privileges, such as bringing a flask of alcohol. And in this case, she had brought with her a flask of firewhisky.
Patricia then went into a corner to pour a few licks of whisky into her pumpkin juice, not wanting any over-confident students to try to bribe her or take her precious little bottle of alcohol.
She then returned to her watch, always keeping an eye on her little protégés. Professor Flitwick arrived to take her place, so that she could enjoy the rest of the evening.
"Good evening, Patricia. What a splendid evening for your departure from school, isn't it?" asked Professor Flitwick with his usual cheerfulness.
Patricia really liked Professor Flitwick. Even though she was often annoyed by his long chats and discussions, Flitwick was one of the few people who was genuinely kind to her, and although Patricia wasn't the most sociable person, it was always nice to exchange a few words now and then.
"The ball is very successful indeed. You've done an admirable job of redecorating the great hall." she replied amiably.
Normally, she would have cut the conversation short, but Patricia figured she could be nice to him for an evening. After all, he had been one of the few people to brighten up her long days at Hogwarts over the past 2 years with his inexhaustible joie de vivre. So she could well repay him.
Thank you." It warms my heart to hear you say that. I hear you're going back to Egypt?" replied Professor Flitwick, always on the lookout for new things to gossip about.
"Exactly, I'm going back to Egypt on Monday, there's a permanent excavation site there and it's been far too long since I left." she replied in the same friendly tone as before. The more people who believed she was going to Egypt, the more room she had for revenge.
As she spoke, her eyes drifted over the group of students she had been accompanying for two years. To her surprise, Merula had joined the dance floor. She was less at ease and surely less accustomed to dancing than the rest of the group, but everyone now seemed to be enjoying themselves.
"I've always been fascinated by this country. With all those huge pyramids, all those hieroglyphs..." he replied to Patricia with dreamy eyes.
"It's a magnificent country, indeed," she assured him. And she meant it.
"Well, I guess duty calls." he said, seeing a group of seventh-graders with something that looked like canned fireworks.
"And above all, have fun!" he exclaimed as he headed towards the group of potential troublemakers.
And so Patricia found herself alone with nothing to do until the slow dance at the end of the ball, except what Professor Flitwick had urged her to do: have fun. First, she decided to go and have another glass of pumpkin juice. Fortunately, this time she didn't run into Rosemerta, but a bartender who was obviously new to the business, as he almost served her orange juice instead of pumpkin juice. She then returned to a corner to add a little more whisky before taking a seat in one of the many empty chairs lining the dance floor, where most of the students were dancing, while sipping her homemade cocktail.
She glanced back at her charges, but didn't see Maura. She had to admit she was going to miss the Craynes girl. The two women were alike in many ways, both in character and in their taste for adventure. Patricia wouldn't be surprised if Maura, after her studies, became a magician-ologist, a treasure hunter or even a spell-caster herself. Besides, in the two years they'd spent together, they'd built up a certain trust. In the back of her mind, Patricia hoped she hadn't completely broken that trust with the revelations that had been made in the cursed cellar. But she had little hope, as Maura hadn't spoken to her since those events, except to ask if she knew where Jacob was.
"Good evening, Professor. I wanted to thank you for what you did for us in the cursed cellar." suddenly exclaimed a voice next to Patricia, on the opposite side of the room from where she had been looking until now.
Patricia would recognize this voice between a thousand and one. It was Maura Craynes'. So she turned her gaze to face her pupil.
"Would you like to come and dance with me?" asked Maura matter-of-factly when she had caught her teacher's attention.
To say Patricia was surprised was an understatement. She could have expected a lot from her pupil. But certainly not this. She couldn't accept it. She couldn't accept. It would be frowned upon to see a teacher dancing with his pupil. Even more so knowing that she was the type of music that was going to happen.
"And why would you want to dance with me, Miss Craynes?" the teacher finally questioned after a few seconds' thought.
"Well, since you're leaving Hogwarts to return to Egypt, I suppose our paths will part after this ball."
"You'd be surprised how small the world is, Miss Craynes..." thought Patricia aloud, unfortunately for her.
"Come on professor, it's just a dance. A simple little dance." replied Maura, trying to convince her.
Patricia, perplexed, just stared at her student. Why was her student so keen for them to dance together?
"I'd like us all to have fond memories of this ball." "Please?" begged Maura with a puppy-dog look.
Her student's pleas finally got the better of her will. She couldn't refuse her pupil's attempt at reconciliation. Patricia drank the last of her glass in one gulp before standing up.
"If you insist." replied Patricia, setting her empty glass down on her chair.
"Would you accept this dance?", Maura promptly asked her teacher.
Patricia didn't bother to answer, but nevertheless accepted the latter's outstretched hand.
The two then walked hand in hand towards the dance floor, while, to Patricia's dismay, the first notes of a slow dance marking the end of the evening began to echo through the room.
Maura kept her hand intertwined with her teacher's and shyly placed her other hand on the latter's forearm, while Patricia did the same. A pensive silence settled between them as they swayed to the rhythm of the music while keeping some distance between them.
"What you did for us in the cursed cellars was..." began Maura.
"You don't have to thank me, Miss Craynes. I did what I should have done years ago." exclaimed Patricia, involuntarily cutting off her interlocutor.
"Why did you leave Jacob inside the cellar?" replied Maura, the question burning in her mind from the infamous cellar.
"I couldn't go back there, R was the only one who could activate the portoloin," Patricia answered her honestly.
"But you didn't even try!" Surely you could have saved him much rather!" exclaimed Maura vehemently, tightening her grip on her teacher.
"They convinced me to wait for the next cycle, that Jacob was surely dead, that in any case it would take a legilimence to open the door and that therefore even if I managed to get into the cellar, I'd never be able to open the door." declared Patricia. If she wanted to calm down and regain her student's trust, she had to be totally honest. Just this once.
Maura finally loosened her grip, letting her hand intertwine gently with Patricia's again. A quiet silence settled between them.
In the distance, Patricia saw Snape watching her with an evil eye. He obviously didn't appreciate her dancing with one of his pupils. As usual, this went right over her head. In any case, tomorrow she would have left Hogwarts and Severus Snape would be the least of her worries.
The slow dance, which marked the end of the ball, ended, followed by applause from the students to celebrate the end of school for some and the beginning of a new era for others.
"Thank you," Maura said sincerely in farewell as she saw her off.
"Good evening, Miss Craynes." replied Patricia before leaving the ballroom, her eyes glistening with tears after juste a dance.