#okay disclaimer I do think snape is an absolute jerk however interesting of a character he is

[carewyncromwell]

“So, ya wanna be a hero, kid? Well, whoop-dee-doo! I have been around the block before With blockheads just like you --  Each and every one a disappointment,  Pain for which there ain't no ointment... So much for excuses --  Though a kid of Zeus is asking me to jump into the fray, My answer is two words -- ! ...Okay.”

~“One Last Hope” from Hercules

x~x~x~x

Following the Easter break of 1989, Hogwarts’s four Heads of House -- Minerva McGonagall, Pomona Sprout, Filius Flitwick, and Severus Snape -- each had to host one-on-one meetings in their offices with their outgoing fifth years, who were set to sit for their O.W.L. exams. One of those such fifth year Slytherins who Professor Snape had to meet with was Hogwarts’s infamous “Cursebreaker,” Carewyn Cromwell.

Snape had left Carewyn for last, largely because just interacting with her was such a headache for him. Her thoughts had always been rather loud to Snape when she looked him in the eye -- undoubtedly a symptom of her striking potential for Legilimency -- and considering how anxious all of his students had been about their exams and careers, he anticipated Carewyn’s overwhelming amount of emotion would be particularly grating. 

There was a very measured, polite knock on the door -- clearly the knock of someone who was trying to put out as good and lady-like of an impression as possible. 

Definitely Cromwell, Snape concluded at once. 

He rolled his eyes up toward the ceiling and sighed loudly. 

“Enter.” 

When the door to his office opened, Carewyn Cromwell entered the office. However loud her feelings had been, her face was incredibly stoic.

“Professor,” she said politely.

Snape gave a light scoff. “I appreciate you not keeping me waiting, Cromwell.”

Carewyn’s blue eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. For once, though, her feelings were a little harder to read -- Snape could sense the ever-slightest Occlumency shield there, however glass-like it was.

Dry humor. Just like that grumpy old cat at Mrs. Sackett’s. 

Snape didn’t attempt to push through the weak mental shield Carewyn had put up, though -- her actually bothering to try to quiet her own thoughts was a minor relief. With another sigh, he crossed to his desk.

“I daresay this won’t take long...” 

Snape looked across the desk at Carewyn without even bothering to sit down. 

“Cursebreakers are expected to be well-rounded in their areas of study -- most notably, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, and of course, Defense Against the Dark Arts. You would also need to start taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes at the NEWT level, so you’d have to study very hard in order to qualify for those classes, this following September...”

As he said this, though, Snape felt Carewyn’s feelings once again scratching at the edges of his mind. 

Something disheartened. Something unsettled. 

She seemed to be trying hard to contain them, but it made Snape look at her with a slightly sharper gaze. 

“Frankly I’m surprised you didn’t think either of those subjects would’ve helped you sooner, with all of your running around playing hero with the Cursed Vaults,” he said dryly. “I suppose you’ve just been leaning on Bill Weasley to do all of that work for you.”

Something offended. Something irritated.

“In either case...you’ll also have plenty of emotional and physical tests to do for any bank who might hire you for such a position in the future, but those are things you can’t study for. Only you will be able to prove that you have what it takes -- if you can.”

Something faintly impatient. Something disgruntled. 

With another roll of his eyes, he made as if to return to cataloguing the bottles on his shelf.

“That should about cover it. Off you go.”

“Sir.”

“What?” Snape said without looking up.

“I don’t mean to be rude...but I have no interest in being a Cursebreaker.”

Snape’s fingers grazed the edge of the bottle he’d been about to pick up.

He paused. Then, very slowly, his pitch-black eyes slid back over his shoulder. 

The Slytherin Prefect had her hands clasped in front of her and her red lips slightly pursed, but once again, she seemed to be trying to stay stoic, even as her emotions began to leak out through the sides of her weak mental shield.

Something resigned. “Cursebreaker!” “As if Cromwell would be anything other than a Cursebreaker...” “ -- Cursebreaker Cromwell -- ” Something frustrated. Something bitter, almost longing. 

Snape considered Carewyn for a very, very long moment. His eyes were as dark and unreadable as lightless tunnels. 

“Is this indicative of a change of heart, Cromwell,” he said after a moment, “meaning that you’ve finally realized how dangerous your behavior has always been...or this indicative of you acting like a Gryffindor again, that you only ever did any of these things that endangered yourself and others so as to help your brother?”

A hot flare of temper. Jacob’s weak and strangled voice -- “Carewyn!”

“I will do whatever I have to, to save Jacob,” Carewyn spat back before she could stop herself. 

Restraint. Stoicism. Detach -- forget -- detach --

Her mental shield had been reinforced. Her anger was quieter and harder to make out in Snape’s own head. 

“...I don’t think that’s contrary to Slytherin’s values at all,” Carewyn said more quietly. 

Snape’s black eyes narrowed.

“...I see.” 

He considered her a moment more. Then, with a sweep of his robes, he slowly crossed back over to his desk, indicating the chair in front of it. Carewyn took his cue and took a seat, while Snape himself slowly eased himself down into his chair.

“What is it that you’ve gotten into your mind that you wish to do, then?”

Carewyn’s almond-shaped blue eyes grew a little smaller.

“...Well...I’d like to join the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.”

“As an Auror, I suppose?” 

“No,” Carewyn said at once. “I’d like to be a lawyer. Or, at least, a representative. Someone who can advocate for people, or maybe even creatures, in court cases...maybe even work in the Being or Spirit Division, or the Centaur Liaison Office, if the Wizengamot has no openings...”

Compassion. The faces of Chiara, Duncan Ashe, and then Torvus. 

“The Centaur Liaison Office has always been vacant, so you can cross that option off your list,” Snape said coolly. 

Nonetheless, he considered her response, folding his hands on top of his desk. 

“...What you’re talking about involves a lot of monotonous office work, Cromwell. Hardly anything as action-packed as what you’ve grown accustomed to.”

Carewyn nodded. “I know. I don’t want ‘action.’ At least, not that kind of action. I want to make a difference -- to help people, as many people as I can, in my own way.”

Determination. Idealism. 

“How sweet,” said Snape dryly. “But do tone down those expectations. Working in Magical Law, and especially advocating on behalf of the disenfranchised, is not going to be a walk in the park. The Ministry of Magic is a long-lived institution, and as such, it’s prone to stagnation, corruption, ignorance, and most of all indifference. You are not the first person who has gone into the Ministry with the lofty ambition of changing the world, and undoubtedly you will not be the last. A career like the one you envision would be disheartening, frustrating, and incredibly thankless and, to most minds, completely unrewarding.”

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed.

More determination, blazing, on fire. 

“I don’t need thanks,” she said crisply. “I never wanted it, in the first place. I just want to do good in my own way and be able to support myself while doing it. I don’t care if others find it silly of me -- I’m going to do it, and I’d like to see anyone try to stop me.”

Something like conviction. Something like passion. “I am a good witch! I am! I’m gonna be the best one!”

Snape cocked his eyebrows, and for the first time, his lips had curled up into something of an amused smirk. 

“Finally you’re starting to sound like a Slytherin, Cromwell.” 

The smirk faded as he grew more serious again.

“...Very well. If you wish to pursue a career in Magical Law, you will need to get high OWL marks in all the core subjects -- Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. A high OWL and NEWT score in History of Magic, as well, would greatly benefit you -- a comprehensive knowledge of Wizarding Law over time is helpful for all those who wish to deal with the Wizengamot, and an OWL and NEWT in Care of Magical Creatures would be helpful, if you worked in the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. You will also need to make the proper social connections, however, in order to earn clients and cases. Your name is already more than known to the Ministry of Magic, of course -- but that alone will not suffice.”

Carewyn blinked, startled. Then she seemed to cringe. 

“...They know of me because of the Vaults, you mean,” she muttered.

Something like awkward embarrassment. Something irritated. 

“Correct,” Snape said very coolly. “If you want the Ministry to see you as enforcing authority as opposed to constantly disrespecting it, you will have to be very conscious of the impression you put out to those Ministry officials you interact with. If you were ever to use that Legilimency potential of yours anywhere, this would be the place to do it -- determine who is a threat to your success and who can cultivate it.”

Carewyn frowned. Something like disapproval. 

“I don’t need to be the most successful or the most powerful,” she said firmly. “I just want to help people my way. I don’t care about playing politics...” 

“All Ministry positions involve politics,” Snape replied cynically. 

The memory of Albus Dumbledore speaking out on his behalf in front of the Wizengamot swirled over Snape’s mind. It was this memory, and the faces of the jurors present, that made something grimmer pass over his face.

“...I feel you should be aware,” he said lowly, “that you would not be the only Cromwell aligned with the Wizengamot, if you pursued this particular path.”

Carewyn’s face lost some of its color. 

The face of Lucius Malfoy. “ -- your grandfather -- ”

Her red lips knit together that bit more tightly.  Seeming to sense how easy her emotions were for Snape to read, her eyes fell down to the floor in the far corner of Snape’s office. 

“...I know,” she said very lowly. 

With her mental shield up and her eyes averted, Snape couldn’t read her thoughts. He was kind of pleased about the silence, since it let him consider her for a moment without being distracted. He leaned a bit over his desk, his gaze more solemn upon his student’s face.

“I know Charles Cromwell only by reputation,” he said quietly, “but what I’ve heard does not inspire confidence. Professor Dumbledore has spoken multiple times of his talent for manipulation, and of how he seems to view others solely through the lens of how valuable they are to him, and his own ends.”

Something strange passed over Snape’s face. 

“And as much as I hate to acknowledge it...you would be very valuable to a man like him...just as you would be to Patricia Rakepick.”

Carewyn’s jaw clenched slightly. When she finally looked up at Snape, her eyes were flashing with righteousness. 

The face of Lane Cromwell -- “ -- your grandfather -- ” -- “decided I wasn’t going to be like him” -- Lucius Malfoy -- “ -- please your grandfather quite a bit -- ”

“I said I have no interest in being anyone’s pawn,” Carewyn murmured. “Not Rakepick’s, nor his. No matter how terrible he might be...I’d never bow to him.”

“If that is your intention,” said Snape sharply, “then you will need to practice both Legilimency and Occlumency regularly. Control your emotions and discipline your mind. It might be your best defense against those who mean you harm.”

Carewyn nodded. Snape’s brows seemed to relax ever-so-slightly, his expression becoming a little cooler, as he rose to his feet.

“I do believe that concludes our session,” he said crisply. “Unless there’s anything else you wished to press me on?”

Carewyn shook her head. “No, sir.”

“Then you may go.”

Carewyn rose from the chair and started to head out of the room. When she reached the door, she paused.

“Professor?”

“What?” said Snape, his voice betraying the slightest tired edge.

“Thank you,” Carewyn said with a small wry smile. “I know you don’t like me very much, but I appreciate your help. And even if you don’t think I can do it -- join the Ministry and become a lawyer...I'm going to do everything I can to prove you wrong.” 

“Wonderful,” Snape said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. “Perhaps your first step would be fulfilling the role of a Prefect and following the rules for once.”

“I do believe we Slytherins are known for having a certain disregard for the rules,” Carewyn pointed out with a slightly wider smirk. 

“Prefects and lawyers generally are not,” Snape shot back coldly. “Just make sure you earn twice as many points as you lose, or I’ll see to it that you spend another year completely in detention, this time scrubbing out every single cauldron in this school.”

Carewyn was fortunately able to bite back an amused laugh in response to this and left Snape’s office, closing the door with a gentle, lady-like click behind her.

Despite his irritation at Carewyn’s sass, Snape actually found himself in an oddly satisfied mood as he returned to organizing the potion bottles on his shelf. 

A lawyer, hmm? Not what he’d expected from that overemotional child who got into fights with her own dormmates trying to protect wimpier students...but from the girl who he’d chosen as Prefect almost by default, simply because she was the only one in her year who mentored, guided, and protected other students and wasn’t afraid of conflict or confrontation -- the girl who’d actually managed to try to learn from his Occlumency and control her emotions, and who helped him spy on Patricia Rakepick because she assessed her shadiness just as he had...it almost made some sense. 

“I want to make a difference -- to help people, as many people as I can, in my own way.”

Cromwell was a naive, idealistic child, to think that she could truly make any real difference. But -- Snape had to admit -- at least she had learned the value in working quietly to achieve her ends. And truly, it was a good thing, that those ends of hers were so noble. 

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #my art #my writing #severus snape #carewyn cromwell #charles cromwell #lane cromwell #lucius malfoy #jacob cromwell #patricia rakepick #okay disclaimer I do think snape is an absolute jerk however interesting of a character he is #but carewyn has a bias toward him because he is her head of house and she's not a potter so he's more favoring of her #however hard he was on her because of her brother and her legilimency potential annoying TF out of him #I did have some fun though having these two strong personalities bounce off each other though #both slytherins but VERY DIFFERENT slytherins #caps cw