A/N: Written for the Slytherin Cabal's Death by Quill Competition. Winner of Round 2 & Admin's special award. Fun little One-Shot. Enjoy.
o.o.O.o.o
"I want this filthy little blood traitor punished!" Alecto ranted, pointing furiously at the petite blonde witch standing demurely before the Headmaster's desk.
"What proof do you have that Miss Lovegood was responsible for the curse, Alecto?" Severus raised an eyebrow, his tone supremely bored. "While Miss Lovegood has known ties to Dumbledore's army, she is hardly a Gryffindor prone to openly attacking an adult."
"I KNOW it was her." Alecto fumed. "I was humiliated! Something must be done."
"And when you have evidence, the ones responsible will be punished…by me. You are dismissed, Alecto. I will speak with Miss Lovegood privately to ascertain if she has any knowledge of the attack on you last night." He said firmly, dark eyes sliding to the student in question.
"NO! I want to see her PUNISHED!"
"Enough." Severus stood, fixing her with a look. "I am Headmaster here, and you will do as I command. Unless of course you mean to question our Lord's wisdom in placing me here?" His voice turned to liquid silk, both a threat and a promise of violence.
"Of course not." Alecto wilted under that look and turned on her heel, storming out of the Headmaster's office and slamming the door behind her.
"Cursing a Professor, Miss Lovegood?" Severus sat down with a sigh.
"She's not a real professor, Sir." Luna said with a simple smile on her lips.
"Be that as it may, I cannot always protect you." A tiny glimmer of approval in his eyes, gave lie to his words.
"I know that, sir." Luna said. "It's a curious thing, but did you know they did a study fifty years ago on the compounding effect of the Confundus charm on the mind?" She'd done extensive research on the topic, and over a period of time you could literally unhinge someone's mind by repeatedly cursing them in that way. It seemed somewhat fitting, since the things she was trying to teach them were clearly the product of an already disturbed mind.
"Indeed, I was unaware." His lips quirked a little and he opened his desk drawer. He withdrew a slender vial of clear liquid and a carefully folded square of gauze. "Dittany, for your lip." He offered it to the sixth year Ravenclaw.
"Thank you, Headmaster Snape." She took the piece of cloth, dripped a sparing amount on the gauze and pressed it to her lip. She put the rest of the vial into her bag, knowing there were others that needed it more. The Headmaster often slipped her such things, able to show her some minor kindness without anyone finding it odd. She was a pureblood and a Ravenclaw, it granted her allowances that many other didn't have, and wouldn't have until Harry finally vanquished He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
"Remind your friends that discretion is the better part of valor, Miss Lovegood. The Carrows may be dull of wit, but they are sharp of claw."
Luna nodded and stood. "Eagles eat snakes, Professor. I wonder that more people don't remember that." She smiled.
"You may go, Miss Lovegood. Might I recommend the hidden charms corridor to take you back to the Tower, I fear Miss Carrow may be loitering on the Grand Staircase." He warned her and gave her some information at the same time.
"She should be more careful, people prone to confusion have a horrible habit of missing the trick steps." Luna said and fairly skipped out the Headmaster's tower.
oOo
Luna did take Professor Snape's advice, and slipped through the hidden corridors to make her way through the castle, but she didn't head to the Tower. Her prey was loitering below, and Luna kept to the shadows, judging her timing while the horrible woman paced. People always discounted Ravenclaws, to their peril. Gryffindors had their bravado, and Slytherins their ambition, and the Hufflepuffs had their loyalty, but nothing was as dangerous as cool, undiluted, Ravenclaw logic. Alecto Carrow was a monster masquerading as a Professor, she twisted the truth and fed it to them as fact. Her sick propaganda was insidious and even though they all knew it was false, eventually it would start to seep into the minds of the younger students and begin warping their understanding of the world.
She understood Neville's resistance efforts, but they were too open and too predictable. It was important to support him, of course, because every success was helpful for the moral of the others. Real damage to the new regeime required more direct efforts.
"Confundo!" Luna struck the dark-haired witch with the curse and smiled darkly as she tottered at the top of a step and tumbled headlong down one of the longer flights of stairs. Impassive blue eyes, watched her collide with one of the stone walls, a sickening crunch cutting through the darkness. She slipped backwards into the shadows and headed back towards Ravenclaw tower, a bit of a bounce in her step. Under her breath she hummed a little song, pleased with her progress. Two good doses of the confundus charm in less than twenty-four hours, she'd have to make note of the effects tomorrow.
oOo
"I know its her, Amycus." Alecto said, gripping her brother's hand tightly. "Snape claims she was with him, but I know he's lying! It was that little blonde bitch."
"Alecto, you had a major concussion. You're bound to be a little confused." He said and stroked her cheek lovingly. "I questioned all the portraits and the Ravenclaw prefects, Lovegood didn't return to the Common Room for nearly two hours after your meeting with Snape. It couldn't have been her, love." He looked worried. "Are you sure you didn't just slip?"
"I didn't slip!" She batted his hand away. It was that Lovegood girl, and she was going to prove it. "Get out if you're not going to be helpful!" Alecto's tone was biting. That little bitch was going to get what was coming to her, so help her Merlin!
oOo
Luna jotted notes down in her journal, while she sat tucked into a window. She was watching Alecto pull her hair out strand by strand, because she seemed to think they were attacking her. It was the most interesting result so far from her little campaign of attacks on the Death Eater.
Subject continues to have varied and compounding responses to the curse. Responses to pain seem mitigated, at least temporarily. Has started yanking hair out in clumps, can observe some blood now, but it seems to be only encouraging her to pull out her hair more frantically. Current time of curse duration: one hour and thirty-seven minutes.
Luna set her quill down and cast a hurried disillusionment charm, as she heard footsteps pounding on the stone of the transfiguration courtyard. Amycus Carrow was racing towards his sister, and he threw himself down on his knees beside her, grabbing her wrists to keep her from injuring herself further. It was so very odd, the clear attachment and affection they showed to one another. She'd always believed that people like them were incapable of any true understanding of love. Hmmm, perhaps it needed further observation.
oOo
"They're hurting me, Amycus! Help me get rid of them, tear them out, tear them out!" Alecto ranted, struggling against her brother's grip.
"Merlin! Stop! You have to stop hurting yourself, please Alecto!" She was going mad, there was no other explanation for this. He'd gone looking for her when she'd failed to show up for their lunch in his office. It was one of the rare times they had to be alone together, and not worry about someone seeing or interrupting them.
"She did it, she did it…she always it to me!"
She was rocking back and forth in his grasp, raving now about blue and gold, and black and red. It made no sense, and he was starting to panic. No one could see her like this, they'd be removed from their post and the Dark Lord…oh Merlin, the Dark Lord would punish them so severely. He transferred both her wrists to his one hand, and slipped out his wand.
"Stupefy!" He cast it, relieved when she collapsed forward, pulled into the blissful oblivion of unconsciousness. He picked her up, head tucked against his shoulder and carried her swiftly into the castle.
oOo
"Twenty points to Ravenclaw, Miss Lovegood." Severus said, a tiny smile turning up the corners of his mouth.
Luna lowered her disillusionment charm and inclined her head. "Whatever for, Headmaster?" She looked utterly guileless.
"For excellent penmanship." He nodded at her open notebook. "Another three applications and the effects should be permanent, if the Swiss Study is to be believed."
"That is my understanding, Sir." Luna hopped down from the window ledge, and straightened her robes. "Sir, I believe I've skinned my knee."
"I trust this will find good use in your hands." He pulled a full bottle of essence of Dittany from his robe pockets and handed it to her. "That should be sufficient for one scraped knee.
"I imagine it should." Luna responded politely. "Sir, would you like a copy of my notes?"
"I think that will be unnecessary, Miss Lovegood. Do keep me informed once your full experiment has reached it's inevitable conclusion." Severus did say. "And take care, Miss Lovegood. A wounded animal can be quite dangerous."
"I'm always careful, Sir." Luna tucked the potion bottle and her notebook away, and headed off to the library to work on her Charms essay. Something told her the Muggle Studies would be cancelled today, what a shame that it would likely be permanent.
~Fin