Chapter 2

Waking up to the screeching of an owl, Nyx rubbed her eyes, her body stiff from lying on the floor. Only two girls were left in the room, getting ready for classes. Opening her eyes fully she pushed herself up, her back cracking. Gasping she grimaced then pushed herself to her feet. An owl flew in, resting on her bed, a note in its mouth. Looking at it curiously she took it and opened it. It was a schedule, and by the look of what time her class started she only had about 15 minutes to get dressed and get there.

"Oh God!" rushing to the bathroom she tied her long red hair back and scrubbed her body. She would have washed her hair except for that it really didn't need it. She'd washed it the day before, before she got on the train. Drying off she slipped into her blouse and skirt, wrapping her Slytherin style bow around her neck in place of a tie. Grabbing her bag packed full of her books she flung it over her shoulder and worked to slip into her corset, tightening it as she ran out the door. She was last but it didn't bother her, maybe then she wouldn't be insulted for wearing a corset like she was in her old school.

She managed to get to the class a minute after the bell. Wrapping her robes around her she walked in. But it didn't save her from the evil glares of her peers. Not to mention, her teacher.

"You're late, Ms. Fairbourne." He pointed out, his voice sounding testy.

"I know sir." She replied taking her seat.

"You know, no no no no," He walked over, standing in front of her. "If you knew, you wouldn't have been late." He accused. "It's incredibly rude to show up late to a class. Though from what you've shown me so far, you're not a very considerate person." He grabbed her book from her bag, slamming it on the desk in front of her. "Page 263." He replied then turned his back on her, his cape flowing. She frowned as she opened up to the page.

"Well well, it seems that Nox wasn't granted to be with the first year classes. Pity, seeing how she has the mentality of one." Draco taunted behind her. She turned around glaring at him. There were a lot of things she could say to him, but it wasn't like her. She usually kept her tongue at bay in her old school, and she was already on the Slytherin head's bad side. Not to mention that rules seemed different here than at her home. Corporal punishment wasn't outlawed here. At least it wasn't punished when it was practiced. Turning she ignored him and paid attention to the book again as the professor droned on about some sort of fly. A Lace Wing fly as the book called it.

"Do you know what potions, a Lacewing fly is used in?" Snape questioned, leaning against his desk. A girl with orange tinted hair rose her hand. She was the only one who did so. He didn't seem like he wanted to choose her but reluctantly did so anyway. "Yes, Ms. Granger."

"The Lacewing fly is a green fly with transparent lace looking wings, often used in the polyjuice potion which is used to temporarily disguise yourself as a desired person." She explained. He nodded slowly, his facial expression making him look unamused or a little ticked off.

"Thank you Ms. Granger for once again telling me more information than what I ask for and ruining the rest of the lesson for your class mates. Now you all get to read the rest of the chapter." The class went up in a low moan. The Granger girl giving them an apologetic look.

"Your hair looks exceptionally greasy today, maybe in the future if you're going to be late, you should make sure that the reason for your lateness is you're washing it." He laughed lightly. "Hey maybe Nox can use the Polyjuice potion to clean her hair." Draco whispered behind her, his friends on either side of him laughing. Clicking her teeth she turned around and opened her mouth, finally tired of hearing it.

"Or maybe you can use it to turn yourself into less of a homo? How's that for a start?" She replied.

"Miss Fairbourne," She stopped, her heart sinking a bit. Closing her eyes she swallowed hard and ignored the light giggle of the blonde jerk behind her. Opening her eyes she spotted standing right in front of her with his arms crossed was the very person she didn't want to anger.

"Professor." She whispered, her eyes diverted from his.

"Miss Fairbourne, if you cannot keep your eyes off of Mr. Malfoy and in your book, I will have to ask you to leave." He adjusted his sleeves. "Perhaps to Dumbledore's office? There you can swoon over a portrait of Mr. Malfoy until your eyes bleed." She held her breath, trying to keep herself from arguing with him. But she didn't need to say anything, Draco did so for her.

"She said that I should use the Polyjuice potion to turn myself into less of a homo." He ratted. Her jaw dropped a bit, biting her lip. She didn't need to see his face to know that he was expecting some kind of punishment for her. Dropping his gaze from the blonde haired boy to the red haired girl he read the situation, his eyes stern, and hard.

"The Polyjuice Potion cannot work miracles, now, I expect silence." Turning he made his way for the front of the class. A few students laughed, including Nyx but her laughter didn't last long, her teachers threat lingering over her heavier than a pure gold chandelier.

After a long and torturous amount of time spent sitting under the hot gazes of her fellows and her teacher she found herself free as the bell rang. She headed through the halls, attempting to make it to her next class on time. Stopping in the middle of the court yard she shielded her eyes from the blazing sun. Pulling her schedule out of her pocket she unfolded it and read which class she had next. Behind her she could hear laughing but she paid it no heed. She knew it was probably just another group of kids picking on how her hair looked.

"Aquamenti!" A voice barked. Suddenly a rush of water doused her. Gasping she went rigid, the only sound that could be heard was the roaring of water, then laughter as it died down. "Quick, someone get some soap!" a taunting voice could be heard. Gritting her teeth, she clenched her eyes closed against the roaring laughter around her. Dropping the sopping wet piece of paper she took off on a dead run. Shoving by Harry and Ron she made a break for the gates. Enough was enough. She'd had it already with the taunting and insults of the students.

Once far enough out of the reach of the other students, she stopped. Her hair was frizzled now, sticking up all over her head as it dried. Her heart racing, fluttering with humiliation. Sitting on the top steps of the stairs that led down to the pier she began crying.

"Why? Why!" She screamed. Her voice echoed off the stone, ringing out over the water. Kicking her foot out she buried her face in her hands. She'd never been treated like this in her old school. She'd never been picked on. Of course, she was never spoken to by many students, let alone any, but she was never insulted flat out. And when she had been she could always rely on the teachers to help her out. But here, it seemed as if everyone was against her. It sucked.

Curling up she rocked back and forth, crying into her knees. She hated it. She was picked on for her hair, her teeth, and even being tall. This place wasn't like home. These people weren't like family. They were executioners waiting for the day to lay their axe in your necks. Waiting to kill you.

After a few minutes she came down off of her altar of depression and looked up. Sniffling she wiped her eyes free of any trace of tears. She wanted to get away. She could get away, but how? She stopped, a smile stretching across her face. She knew how. She was alone and the boats she'd used to get across the river to the school in first place must still be there. At least one boat. Standing she ran down the stairs to the pier. Her heart fell when she realized that she was stranded. All of boats gone. Her once confident smile fading into a defeated frown. Sighing she turned to head back but was stopped by a homely, frightening looking man. His hair was grey, and he seemed to be balding on top. He gave her a twisted smile and spoke in a low voice.

"You're going to be in trouble now." Grabbing her arm he turned and started dragging her back up the steps. Stumbling a bit she fought against him, but he never let her go. "Severus is going to give a right good lashing." He laughed.

"No," She gasped. "Please I can explain why I was out there!" But it was too late. Barging into her teachers room he shoved her forward.

"This, this student was found by the pier, vandalizing the boats sir." Her jaw dropped as her head whipped around to look at him. "I expect to see some punishment." He smirked.

"Vandalizing school property Miss Fairbourne, you're worse than a troll." Her teacher groaned and stood from behind his desk, walking over to her. "Thank you Argus, I will see to it she is thoroughly punished." Nodding the man left, smiling to himself, a cat following closely behind him. "Miss Fairbourne, your behavior is unacceptable. Staying out pass curfew, bullying, skipping classes to vandalize school property, if I didn't know better I'd say you enjoyed hearing me lecture you." He began circling her, his eyes peering into her, his arms crossed. "You enjoy mocking me and sullying the name of Slytherin. You are a glutton for punishment and discipline. You enjoy, wasting my time by forcing me to take action." He stopped, looking into her eyes.

"Trust me sir, you're the last person I want to see." She admitted truthfully, her head hanging. "And I swear, I'm not denying everything else but this. I was not vandalizing school property sir. I swear on my life." She replied, her hand finding its way to her heart.

"If you weren't vandalizing school property, then what were you doing down at the pier?" He questioned, his voice proved to her that he didn't believe her in the least. His eyes enforcing what his tone of voice couldn't. Swallowing she looked down, feeling as if those hawk like eyes were burrowing into her flesh, leaving pockets of boiling shame and embarrassment.

"I…was trying to run away." She whispered. It was silent. Not a single noise was made. Not from her, not from the usually angry teacher. Five minutes probably passed before the silence was broken.

"Well, you still skipped class and have been nothing but a pain in the bristles since you were sorted into Slytherin. Detention for one week Miss Fairbourne." He turned and headed for his desk. Once again her jaw dropped his forehead crinkling as she watched him. So he was punishing her anyway? Any normal teacher would have asked what was wrong, or what would prompt her into running away, but there was that one exception. King Dick of the Magical world. Grabbing an item he came back and stopped, handing it out to her. Hesitating she took it and examined it. A blue tooth brush and a clear, tall glass. "These will be used to complete your detention." He instructed.

"Uh…you brush your teeth in between classes?" She gave him a confused look, winning a reflected unamused expression in return.

"Go." He pointed for the door. Turning she trudged for the door, the fuming teacher hot on her heels. Heading into the hall he grabbed her arm, but the moment he did he let go and grimaced, holding his hand up. "Why, Miss Fairbourne, are you wet?" He looked at her, drying his hand off on his own cloak.

"Uh…rain." She lied. Staring at her for a second he turned and headed for the staircase, leaving her to follow behind. Climbing the long twisting –and changing- staircase he came to a stop outside a tall, large door.

"Your punishment will be to clean out this room." He pushed the doors open, a cloud of dust billowing out at his feet. "With the instruments provided of course." He walked in. Clapping his hands the torches in the room lit, illuminating the foul, dust covered cluttered messy room. Staring at it in horror she turned, facing him.

"You're expecting me to clean out this room with a tooth brush and a cup? That's completely mental!" She squealed. "It'll take me more than a week! It'll take me a month of none stop work!" Her hands shot to her head, the glass falling to the floor. Snapping his wand out Snape caught the glass and the tooth brush before it hit the ground and gave her a smug smile.

"I'm sure your punishment will need to be increased before the deadline. We have plenty of time." Turning he shut the door, locking it, leaning against it to make sure no one interrupted, but the way he moved reminded her much of a rapist, locking his victim in. Grabbing the cup and tooth brush from the air she glared at him and muttered below her breath.

Dropping to her knees she set the glass on the floor and grabbed the tooth brush, using it to sweep up the thick, sticky dirt from the stone. She grimaced as it stuck to her palms and her knees. It took her about 10 minutes to sweep up a normal broom sized pile, and already her knees were protesting and every time she moved to get at another area she was pulled to a stop by her cloak as she kneeled on it. Cursing she pushed herself to her knees and pulled her cloak off, throwing it off to the side.

Nyx was a beautiful girl, but because she was tall for her age –almost 5'8"- she was often called a troll, or a giant. Her hair was hip length, and almost an unnatural red color. Because of the natural shimmer in it it had a slight greasy look to it, another thing which she was teased for. Her body was thin and athletic looking although she didn't play sports. She weighed about 130 pounds naturally, her hips thick and her breasts a normal B to C. Her eyes were the real noticeable feature though. A beautiful glowing violet, sometimes Lilac color.

She was beautiful, but apparently her looks weren't enough to get people to stop treating her like an alien. Unlike most of the students she had chosen a different uniform than the others. Instead of the sweater that was worn over the white blouse, she chose just the blouse, in which she wore her corset over. Most of the skirts in the females' uniform were about knee length, but being used to more the shorter design she had chosen the shorter skirts –unfortunately for her they stopped a little above mid-thigh. Although she was fairly good at keeping her panties covered in such a short lower covering, she was unaware just how far up it rose while she spent her time on her hands and knees, nor did she necessarily care. She was too flustered and angry with being treated like a slave that it didn't matter that her headmaster was getting a full peak of the good.

"Miss Fairbourne," He spoke after a few minutes of her scrubbing at the floor. She stopped and looked back at him, dirt on her face from her hair falling in it and having to brush it back. "I suggest you find a longer skirt in the future, less you scar someone with an unpleasant view." He informed but she shrugged and kept going.

"If you don't want to see it, give me a broom." She replied, sweeping the dirt into the cup and started on another pile.

"Then it wouldn't be much of a punishment would it?" He glared.

"My offer stands sir; I'll cover my bottom when you give me a broom." She muttered. He didn't say anything just stood there, his arms crossed. 45 minutes pass by, her back, arms and knees on fire from the dirt and the stone floor. Groaning she sat back on her feet and rubbed her knees. "My knees are killing me."

"You need to spend more time on them." He replied, his arms still crossed. Looking at him, she bites back an insult and begins sweeping again, cursing to herself. He stayed silent, watching her, emptying out her dirt glass when it was filled with a swish of his wand, his eyes switching from her to a clock. He half debated on giving her a broom to make it faster, but then it'd make him seem like he was giving in, and what good would lowering your walls around a troublesome student do? Though he did question a lot about her. Though he didn't trust her, he spotted something in her that he saw was familiar

"Oh God damn it!" She threw the toothbrush, flopping to the floor. "Am I done? Please God say I am." She whined. He looked at her then checked the clock. Already since they started 6 hours had passed and it was past curfew, and bed time. Looking at the progress she made he nodded. Most of the floor was swept up –the room was the size of the great hall after all, and with how caked on and disgusting it was he was surprised she got it as clean as she did on the first day.

"You're finished for today. Go take a shower and head to bed." He pushed himself off the wall and gathered her cloak, tossing it to her. "You'd better make sure you're in my class on time tomorrow, or else you will start cleaning this room all over again, do you understand me?" He looked at her seriously. Catching her cloak she looked at him horrified. He was serious. She could tell it by the stern, cold glance. It was a gaze cold enough to freeze fire. Nodding she pushed herself up and headed for the door. Pushing it open, he noted just how filthy she was. She looked like she'd been rolling in a tar bit, her body and clothes caked in hair and dark brown dust and filth. Grimacing he stepped off to the side.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow sir." She muttered, pushing by him, still fairly upset she'd been pushed through that torture, but complaining wasn't going to get her out of it. Walking by him she headed for the common room, leaving him to walk back alone. She didn't need him holding her hand, and she was glad to be rid of him.

Entering the common room she grabbed her towel and sent to have her clothes washed and dried for tomorrow. Heading to the showers she stripped and stepped in. It felt good to have hot water run over her. Grabbing her sponge she set to work at scrubbing the inch thick grim from her flesh, then went over again, washing every inch of her body once more before turning attention to her hair. Once finished she stepped out and blow dried her hair then straightened it. She didn't know how to use her wand, and she didn't care to learn. These magic using maniacs were certainly bad for her health, and quite frankly, it sounded stupid to her. If she hadn't been there to witness the use of magic, she'd say it sounded like something the nerds in her school would come up with. The usual Dungeons and Dragons fan.

She laughed lightly at the thought. She was trapped in a world run by nerds. How fun. Drying off she slipped into her Pj's and headed back up to the common room, her focus on the day's events. Why was everything so…blah? Heading to the girls dorms she spotted her spot on the floor, and her uniform already cleaned and ready for the morning. Sighing she grabbed her blankets and curled up on the floor. Why was everyone so horrible to her? Even the people said to be nice were jerks.

Rolling onto her back she stared at the ceiling. She was going to continuously be made out look like the enemy huh? A tear welled up in her eyes, then trickled down her cheek. She was going to made out to look like the enemy again. Inhaling she covered her mouth, crying, her joint sore from being on her hands and knees for so long. Rolling over, burying her face into her pillow she cried. Everywhere. Everyone she met. Why couldn't she get a break? Hogwarts, a magical dream land? No, to her, Hogwarts was a never ending nightmare, and Snape was her personal Goblin King.