"Can you tell me what a moonseed is?" he asked a tone of sharpness in his voice. She straightened her back as though trying to draw strength into herself. Her shyness was crippling and her voice seemed unwilling to co-operate with the thoughts in her brain but she managed to whisper,
"It's...it's a plant that's used in potions sir. Its named 'moonseed' as the seeds are the same shape as the crescent moon. It has been documented that all parts of this plant are highly poisonous in any quantity." She inhaled deeply and tried to even out her breathing. She always got nervous when talking in front of people. Snape nodded and tried to hide the fact that he was impressed, no-one else in the class would have known that if he'd picked on them judging by the puzzled expressions on their faces; and the murmured whispers running through the classroom of how did she know that? I've never even heard of a moonseed...causing the girls cheeks to flush again.
"Very good," the professor said matter-of-factly, "What is your name?"
"C-Candra sir. Candra Jones," she stuttered. Snape tried to recall images of any Candra's that he had taught but none of them matched the girl before him. Snape gave a slight nod and looking at her tie said,
"Ten Points to Ravenclaw." She smiled slightly.
The boy in the back snorted again and whispered something to one of his friends. Candra's head turned at the noise and quickly turned back, resuming the position that she had attained before. Snape moved across the room, his gaze now firmly attached to the disrupting boy at the back. This face he did recognise.
"Mr. Tyler. Do you have something you wish to share with the rest of the class?" His eyes bore into the boy and he squirmed slightly under his glare.
"No...professor" said the aforementioned Mr. Tyler.
"Well whatever it was you had to say I'm sure it would be far better constructed as an essay on the properties of moonseed don't you think? Two rolls of parchment due next lesson." Mr Tyler's face contorted into that of regret and rage.
"That's not fair professor, I barely did anything. Just because the ugly little mudblood over there is a know-it-all doesn't mean we all are." Snape saw Candra flinch slightly at the boys words and crossed her arms trying to detract attention from herself. Snape felt a sudden flair of anger and his voice cracked slightly as he shouted at the boy in front of him,
"I will not tolerate language like that in my classroom! Fifty Points from Slytherin and detention. I still expect that essay tomorrow."
"Professor you can't -"
"Three rolls of parchment and if you dare to utter another word it shall be four is that clear Mr. Tyler?" Snape spat out the words. The boy nodded and Snape quickly walked to the front of the classroom. The students were shocked at his sudden outburst and him taking points from his own house, which rarely happened.
"Now if the rest of you would turn to page 15 then we shall properly begin today's lesson and I expect no more ignorance on behalf of anybody." The next couple of seconds was a rustle of pages as all the students found the correct page and made sure that they had parchment ready to take notes.
Candra looked up from her book quickly to look at the professor at the front of the room. He caught her eye and she looked away quickly but not before trying to convey a silent thank-you that she hope he'd noticed.
The rest of the lesson went smoothly, the Tyler boy having been too embarrassed to say anything else. Mostly Snape was lecturing and they were taking notes...as most of the lessons would be.
"That's everything for today's lesson, class dismissed," Snape said, slightly relieved. Candra quickly shoved her text book and other equipment into her back and walked briskly out of the room. Before she could get out the door however Mr. Tyler (who should be referred to as Hunter as it seems fit to skip formalities with this brute) shoved her over. Before Snape could say anything Hunter had run out of the room laughing with his friends. Candra had hit the floor hard. She'd banged her head on the hard flagstone floor and she could feel her knees bleeding beneath her tights. One of her wrists was incredibly sore where she had tried to break her fall...to no avail. Snape waited for someone to help her up but all the students (who had gasped when she fell) just kept walking. By the time they had left Candra had just begun to stir on the floor where Snape suspected she had been knocked out for a few seconds.
He walked over to the almost motionless figure laying on the floor and bent down next to her.
"Miss Jones, are you alright?," he tried to let a little warmth into his tone...which was much harder than he thought. He touched her right wrist to try and aid her in sitting up and she flinched making a small moan.
"Okay," he said quietly moving his hand to her elbow, "Can you sit up?" Candra gave a weak nod and slowly raised her body so that she was sitting. The embarrassment was overwhelming, one little fall and she can barely sit up. The world was a little hazy and she was struggling to focus, she was vaguely aware that the professor was talking to her. It sounded as though she'd actually hit her head on one of the stone desks as she fell...she didn't recall that happening. She noticed Professor. Snape's eyebrows burrowing in what she thought was possibly concern and she realised he must have asked her a question.
"I'm sorry Professor...umm...what did you say I didn't -"
"I think we should get you to Madam Pomfrey. You've had a severe blow to the head and your wrist is badly sprained, though luckily not broken." Candra began to panic. Going to the hospital wing meant that she would have to say who pushed her, though she knew Snape must know the answer to that. Then there would be questions that she didn't want to answer. Who was it Candra? Have they done anything like this before? How long has this been going on? Last time she'd told anyone it had just made it ten times worse. That time she did have a broken wrist and a few good bruises to show what happened to people who snitch.
"Professor please no I'm fine," she said raising herself to her feet with her good hand, trying not to put too much pressure on her bloodied knees. "Honestly I'm fine," the blood had rushed to her head as she stood up and she felt herself sway forward. Snape stopped her from hitting the floor again resting a hand on each of her arms. Thankfully it was the last lesson of the day so no other lessons were coming in and Candra wasn't going to be late for any classes and dinner wasn't for another two hours.
"Some how Miss Jones I highly doubt that you are...fine." Candra suddenly felt embarrassed and she stepped back grabbing the nearby table for support. Candra blinked a couple of times, slowly, bringing the world back into focus. Her wrist was aching and her knees were stinging but she ignored them and continued her protest,
"I assure you professor I'm used to it." She didn't realised what she'd said until the words left her mouth but Snape didn't seem very surprised.
"How long?" Snape asked, not needing to finish the question.
"I'd rather not -"
"How long, Miss Jones," Snape asked more firmly.
"Since first year, I'm a dirty mudblood after all." She spat the words out, a spark of anger lighting inside of her. She leaned down to lift her bag back up with her good arm holding the other against her chest. Snape's face wasn't readable, there was no way to tell what he was thinking.
"Professor Snape. I'm begging you, please don't say anything." Snape opened his mouth about to go on about his duty as a professor to protect the students of Hogwarts when he noticed the fear in her eyes. Those eyes that were so much like...he couldn't. He narrowed his eyes and gave a quick nod. Candra's shoulders sagged with relief and her head dipped slightly,
"Thank-you," she said quietly before walking out of the door. Snape sighed and ran his hand through his hair, he had a feeling that that was going to come back to haunt him.
Candra walked out of the classroom and was relieved to see that the halls were practically empty. It was the end of the day and most of the students were in their common room. She walked as quickly as she could through the corridors, eager to get to her dorm where she could tend to her wounds. No one would notice her hobbling in, they all had more important things to do than talk to her. It always confused Candra, she was nice enough wasn't she? What was wrong with her? No one ever talked to her it was as though she was draped in an invisibility cloak twenty four hours a day. She didn't know where it started, she'd not had many friends before Hogwarts either. The few friends she did have were lost when she received her letter. Of course they didn't believe her that she was going to a special school for wizards. They all thought she was completely insane and promptly stopped talking to her. On second thought it would have been wiser to just tell them that she was going to boarding school.
Candra was lost in her thoughts as she walked through the almost bare corridor, until she felt hands grab her and pull her into a side corridor. It was a small dark corridor that led to what was presumably a store room of some sort. Confusion hit her before a familiar voice whispered menacingly in her ear,
"You sure were in there a long time Jones...been snitching again have we?" he gave a sharp laugh and tutted before carrying on, "don't you remember what happened last time...Jones?" As he said her last name he tugged painfully on her hair making her cry out.
"No no honestly I haven't. Please don't I -" her hair was tugged again bringing tears to her eyes.
"You better keep your wits about you mudblood, I wouldn't want to have to really hurt you. Would I?" That dark chuckle was back again and Candra was vaguely aware of a couple of his friends laughing behind him.
"Just to make sure though...I'll leave you with a little warning." He let go of her hair and Candra braced herself for what was coming. It didn't help.
She felt a fist slam into her stomach and she keeled forwards the wind knocked out of her lungs. Then it slammed into her again...and again...until she was kneeling on the floor gasping for breath.
There was the sound of laughter loud in her ears. She couldn't focus on her surroundings as her eyes were clouding over with pain. She vaguely heard snippets of conversation:
"Yeah go on Hunter...give that filthy mudblood what she has coming"
"Ha-Ha finish her off Hunter...do it!"
For a few seconds nothing happened...then suddenly a fist slammed into the side of her face and the world flashed white; before she slipped back into the darkness.
Candra's eyes opened slowly. She could feel that her lip was swollen, it was uncomfortable and heavy. Her stomach hurt and she struggled to bring herself to her feet. She picked up her bag and slowly made her way out of the small corridor and up to her common room. She tried hard not to think about how she looked before realising that she didn't need to worry. There were no other students in the hallway, it must be dinner time.
"How long was I out for?" she muttered to herself. She didn't feel hungry, not surprisingly as she'd been hit multiple times in her stomach.
When she reached the common room she sighed with relief. As quickly as she could she got to her dorm and her bed; closing the curtains around her. That was when she finally let herself cry. The tears came and they didn't stop. She'd thought this year would be different. She thought this year maybe they would leave her alone.
