Disclaimer: Do I still need to use one of these…it's depressing to remind myself that I can't own Snape! If you want a disclaimer, look at the other chapters…for now, I own him, muahahahahaha! Just kidding…J.K. Rowlings, you know the rest!
Emma walked from her dorm room to Professor Connelly's office. It was eight in the evening and all she wanted to do was go to bed. How could she have gotten detention on her second week of school and besides, she had the excuse from Snape. She couldn't remember the last time she was reprimanded by a teacher. Connelly was being unfair, she wasn't even that late to class and it was all Draco's fault anyway. If he had not have tripped her, she would never have been late. She would go out on a limb and say Connelly didn't care the reason she was late, just that she showed up at his office on time.
Emma reached his door, taking a deep breath before knocking. Hopefully, he would have her do something simple and in an hour, she would be curled up in her bed fast asleep. Her knuckles hit the wooden door three times and she waited to be called in.
"Come in," she heard Connelly call out.
She entered his office. He was sitting behind a large mahogany desk going over some parchment. Emma took this time to have a look around. The room was dimly lit, which surprised her a little. Connelly seemed much brighter than what his office was putting out. For a moment, it made her think of Snape and his office. It was quite the same in comparison. Maybe the lighting in all of the Professor's offices was this dimly lit.
All around her were rows and rows of books, none that she could read the names of due to the lighting. The number of books surprised her. His desk was immaculate, nothing out of place. His well-built body sat in a black leather chair. His quill flew over the parchment as he wrote feverishly. For a moment, Emma tried to peer over and see what had his attention, but in the dim light she could see nothing.
Emma chose to just stand silently, waiting for him to finish. She started to get a bit antsy as the seconds ticked away on the large Grandfather clock in the corner. The sound began to take its own shape in her mind, building speed. She shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Her heartbeat began to match the rhythm of the ticking noise. Still, he did not stop his writing. For a moment, Emma thought of just walking out, but she knew that her troubles would intensify. Maybe making her wait was part of the punishment.
"Can you please be still, Miss Forrester, you are distracting me," he said lightly.
She stopped at once. Her attention went back to Connelly. His voice had been soft, but there was something underneath the surface. It made her skin tingle and crawl. For some reason, unbeknownst to her, she was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She became entranced by the speed of the quill, faster and faster it went. Her eyes stared, unblinking, at the black feather until suddenly it went still. She let out a small breath that she had been holding. Connelly's lips began to twitch, as if he wanted to smile.
"Have a seat," he said, pointing to the chair beside his desk.
With numb legs, Emma walked to the seat, sitting down slowly. Her eyes never left his blue ones. There was a look in them that made her feel uncomfortable, as if he were looking straight through her. She swallowed, her throat feeling dry and forced her eyes to look away, staring straight ahead. Connelly stood up, walking behind her. Emma forced herself to remain looking ahead, reminding herself that he was a teacher and no matter who uncomfortable she felt, he had never shown anything but compassion. Where ever this bad feeling was coming from, it surely wasn't necessary.
"You were late for my class, Miss Forrester. I do not like it when my students are late. It throws off my whole day," he said softly.
Again, she swallowed, "I do apologize, Professor Connelly. There was an incident outside of Professor Snape's class. I tried to hurry as fast as I could."
There was a small laugh behind her. Emma turned her head, watching Connelly take his robes off. He was wearing a plain, blue suit. It matched the color of his eyes. He slowly ran his hands through his brown hair. She could see how tired he looked, and there was something else she couldn't quite place.
"Next time, you come directly to me and not Severus! I will not have him interrupting my class," Connelly hissed.
Emma jumped at the sound of his anger. She thought about telling him that it wasn't Snape's fault and that she didn't go to him, he was just there, but she kept her mouth shut instead. It dawned on her that something was going on between Snape and Connelly, some unspoken dislike. What it was, she wasn't sure, but she decided it must be over the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Since Connelly had won the position, it angered Snape, but why Connelly disliked Snape was still a mystery.
"It doesn't matter the reason you were late, Miss Forrester. It has only given me the perfect opportunity for such occasion as this. I have been waiting to come to Hogwarts for a while now, do you know why?"
Emma shook her head no.
"Because of you, Emma," he whispered right at her ear.
To hear her first name being whispered by him almost had her jumping from her chair. She was confused by what he said. What on earth did he mean? He was very close to her. Emma had to squash the sensation of wanting to flinch away from him. His voice became unrecognizable to her, not the voice from their walk a few days ago. She turned her head slightly, coming to stare at his cold, blue eyes. They looked none too welcoming and Emma began to panic. The voice in her head screaming that this was a teacher wasn't helping anymore.
"What would you have me do?" she whispered.
A twisted smile began to grow on his lips. His eyes became hooded as he stared at her. Without thought, Emma jumped from the chair and began running towards the door. A panicked voice inside her head screamed at her to get out of the office. Something was definitely wrong with Connelly tonight and she could feel it through every fiber of her being. She felt as though she were a bird trapped in a cage. Behind her, Connelly began to laugh softly. Her hand flung out, grabbing the doorknob to turn it. It did not budge. Emma tried shaking it but still, it did not so much as move an inch.
"Your detention is not finished!" Connelly said amusingly.
Emma turned slowly, letting out a small whimper. He was standing before her, his wand raised. She could not understand what was happening. What was causing him to act this way? He was supposed to protect her, not hurt her. Still, his wand was raised in her direction, a devilish gleam in his eyes. Emma kicked herself for not bringing her own wand.
"W-what are y-you d-doin?" she said in a weak voice.
"Incarcerous!" Connelly said, the wand still pointed at Emma.
Emma felt her arms shoot behind her back, something she couldn't see was tied around them. Her legs came together and again, something unseen tied them to each other. She let out a startled scream as she fell forward. Her eyes snapped shut, waiting on the impact of the floor, but it never came. She felt Connelly's arms around her, holding her to him. She tried to struggle, but it was useless. She did not have the control of her hands to fight and her legs were just as useless. Emma did the only other thing she could think of…she began to scream.
"Go on, scream! No one is going to hear you, Emma. The door is protected by an Imperturbable Charm. No one can hear a thing inside of this room," he said soothingly.
She whimpered as he ran his large hand down her face, touching her lips softly. Emma jerked her head out of his reach. She felt sick to her stomach. Connelly picked her up as she struggled against him. He placed her, none too gently, back on the chair, walking around her in a circle, his eyes roaming over every part of her.
"You must be wondering what I'm doing," he said, as if they were discussing the weather.
Emma stared at him, shocked that he could be so calm. She was fearful of the things he was planning to do to her. He had used the Incarcerous spell on her so easily, tying her up so she could not move at all. She started fighting against the ropes on her hands and feet, trying to find a weakness in them. If her screams would not get anyone's attention then she was on her own. Emma looked around desperately for anything to protect herself with once she got her hands and feet free.
"Emma, there's no point in fighting. The spell is binding until I release you from it. Surly you have learned something from your time here at Hogwarts," he said with a laugh. It amazed her that he found this all funny.
"You can't do this," Emma hissed.
"Oh, but I already have! You aren't asking the right questions, Emma. You should be asking why."
"Why?" she whispered.
Connelly strolled towards her, stopping directly in front of her. For a moment, Emma watched him watching her without saying a word. Then, he slowly sat down, one leg on either side of her. She grunted with the new pressure of him on top of her. He did not hold back a single ounce of his weight.
"There are a lot of secrets you can hide from certain individuals if you have the right people in the right places. My background is important, but we won't get into that tonight. I am here for reasons your little mind can't even begin to imagine, not yet anyway. There is so much to tell you, but tonight is not that night."
Emma began to struggle again. What he was saying did nothing but confuse her more. He wasn't answering her questions, but causing more to rise up within her mind. Who was this man? What was he really doing here at Hogwarts? Tears began to build in her eyes, blinding her vision of Connelly.
"I don't understand," Emma cried out.
Connelly laughed, leaning his nose into her hair, breathing deeply. "Of course you don't, Emma. You don't understand because you have no idea who I truly am. You have no idea what I'm capable of, no one does. In time, dear, you will come to understand it all!" he said softly.
Suddenly, his lips were on hers, kissing her roughly. She screamed into his mouth as she tried tearing her face away from his. She felt him grab her face, holding it still. This had to be a nightmare and surly she would wake from it soon. This wasn't happening, it couldn't.
"Before I'm done with you, you won't even be able to recognize yourself, Emma. You should not fear, in the end you will see. It will be worth it all I promise. I will take you before him, declaring, again, that you are mine and then you will truly know what is happening," he whispered.
Emma's face scrunched up in confusion. Take her before whom? What on earth was he talking about? For a moment, Emma thought that he had lost his mind, but the look in his eyes told her that he was very aware of what he was doing.
"I wasn't sure it was you until the day I walked you back to the school. I felt it the first night, that it could be you, but you confirmed it once you told me the orphanage you came from," Connelly said.
"What are you talking about," Emma cried.
"I know what is going through your head right now. I know you are thinking of leaving this office and running to Dumbledore, or perhaps even Snape. Believe me, I have thought of that such thing happening and you know as well as I do that I cannot let that happen. They won't believe you, Emma. Who would believe an invisible girl over a teacher?" he said, as if she never spoke.
It hit her, as if a ton of bricks came crashing down upon her. He was going to torture her in any way that he could and she would not be able to stop it. Connelly had planted that seed of doubt in her head about telling the other Professors. He was right none of them would believe her. It was her word against his and without proof, she would be thrown out of this place like a rag doll or maybe worse.
"I can see that you agree with me about the other Professors. Emma, I have a way with people. I got this job so easily. It would not be wise to attempt to cross me. People have been led to Azkaban for much less," Connelly said.
Emma flinched at the thought of that happening to her. He had her, Merlin he had her.
"I will leave it here tonight. You know all that I want you to know at the moment. You will come to me for the rest of the week and I will explain further as each day passes. There will come a day when everything will be clear, Emma," he said, bending down to smell her hair again.
Connelly stood up, walking away from Emma. She sat there, feeling lost and empty. With a wave of his wand, her feet and hands were feed, but she dared not move. He did not say she could go. Emma was too wrapped up in her terror to move.
"You may go now, Emma. Do remember what I said about keeping quiet. You are most valuable to me and I would hate to kill you before we have even begun with our life."
Emma did not waist time. She jumped from the chair, her momentum taking her forward. She was numb and could not stop herself from crashing to the floor. With what little strength she had left, she began to crawl towards the door, tears pouring from her eyes.
Her hand reached the wooden door and she jerked it open. He must have raised the spell from it, because it opened on the first try. Emma threw herself out into the darkened hallway, half running half falling as she went. There was no one around, for they were safe and sound in their rooms.
Emma reached for the wall, putting all of her weight on it to stand upright. Her body was shaking uncontrollably, the tears in her eyes making her visibility limited. She feared Connelly would come out of his office and drag her back in doing more damage than he had already done. That thought was enough to get her feet moving. She began running towards the Slytherin quarters. If anyone tried to stop her right now, she would run straight through them not thinking twice about it.
The bile was rising in her stomach and she had to get to the bathroom otherwise, there would be a mess in the middle of the hallway. She did not want to be caught out here throwing up her breakfast, lunch and dinner. Suddenly, there were footsteps in front of her and with a soft gasp, Emma dodged into a dark classroom. She stood there, breathing heavily, holding her stomach to stop the bile from coming up any further. With wide eyes, she stared out of the crack in the door. Snape came to a halt, right across from her. Emma quietly took a step back into the darkness, her hand going over her mouth. His black orbs searched all around him, as if he could feel her presence. Slowly, he circled around, looking in every direction. Once he was satisfied no one was about, he continued walking down the darkened hallway.
Emma waited until she knew he was gone and made a run for it again. Her footsteps sounded too loud to her ears, but if she stopped again she would lose the contents of her stomach on the floor. Finally, the bathroom doors came into view and she dove for them, falling to the floor. With a sob, she crawled to the first stall and threw up. It was a violent assault on her body that had her eyes squeezed shut in a death-like grip. She held onto the porcelain with all of her strength. It seemed as if the assault lasted for hours.
Shaking, she sat back against the cold stall, her eyes still shut tight. Her cheeks were wet with tears, her head pounding with each beat of her heart. For the rest of the night, Emma sat in the stall, thinking of all that had happened and what she was going to do to get herself out of Connelly's grasp. None of it made any sense, but that didn't stop her from feeling trapped and frightened. Everything Connelly had told her didn't explain his actions. His words were said with such conviction that she had no choice but to believe them. What about the other Professors? Would they believe her if she told them what he had done to her tonight? Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice whispered they would no more believe her than they would believe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was harmless.
Emma had no idea what time it was, but soon the bathroom came alive with chatter. Finding the strength, she stood to her feet. Her body was still shaking, but nothing like earlier. With a deep breath, she pushed the stall open to go to her room. Three girls stood in front of the mirror fixing their makeup. They were all in her same year and each of their eyes was on her. She tried to smile at them, but she could not force the smile to her lips. They looked at her as if she had grown two heads. Emma could only imagine the state she was in. She did not give them time to say anything to her. The bathroom door was jerked open and she walked briskly towards her room, not stopping to look at anyone passing her. Slowly, the hallways began to fill with students.
Emma stumbled towards her bed, sitting down. Her hands came up to her face, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She had not gone to bed, therefore, she was exhausted. There was no time for sleep, seeing as it was already eight-thirty in the morning. She only had a few moments to shower, change and head for the Great Hall. Finding the strength to make her body and mind grow numb, she grabbed her robes and headed to the showers.
Laughter and chatter filled the Great Hall as Emma walked in. She kept her head down, her eyes trained to the floor. She knew where the Slytherin table sat and did not need to look up to find her way around. She avoided the teacher's table at all cost. If her eyes so much as caught a glimpse of Connelly, she would break down in front of the entire school.
Her seat was empty as usual and she sat with an audible sigh. Luckily, no one at the table tried to talk to her. She buried herself as low towards the table as she could get, wanting to black out the teacher's table as best she could. She knew Connelly was present, the hairs rising on the back of her neck.
When everyone was settled, Dumbledore stood and made his morning announcements, nothing was new. Then, with a clasp of his hands, food appeared before Emma. She could not help the flinch as she looked over the assortment of bacon, eggs, buttered toast, fruits and yogurt. Her stomach did a flip and she feared that she would be sick again. The last thing she needed was to make a scene in front of the students by uploading the contents of her stomach onto the table before her. The smell alone was enough to make her whimper. She would not be eating a bite today.
What was she going to do? Was Connelly staring at her with those cold, blue eyes? Would he punish her worse for showing how scared she was and not eating? The questions continued to swim in her head and she fought the urge to glance towards the teacher's table. It was beginning to become too much and to her horror, she looked up.
Connelly sat between Snape and Mcgonagall, looking deep in discussion with the older woman. Emma swallowed hard as last night's events played in her mind. She remembered how his weight bore down on her, how rough his lips had been on her. She thought how he confused her with every word he spoke and scared her all at the same time. Now, here he sat talking to Mcgonagall like nothing had ever happened. She closed her eyes, letting out a small breath. As much as she tried, she could not stop the dread that seeped into her very core. This wasn't going to turn out good she just knew it.
Moments later, she slowly opened her eyes still staring at the teacher's table. She could not help the small gasp that escaped her when she noticed someone was watching her. She was too scared to look away. It took a moment to realize something was different about the eyes. They were just as intense as Connelly's but softer somehow. It was the color of the eyes that finally got her attention. Gone were the cold, blue eyes and in its place, Emma realized she was staring into black orbs. Those black orbs happened to belong to one, Professor Severus Snape. He looked at her with a face full of confusion and it hit her, he had seen the fear in her.
Alrighty! Emma is in some deep trouble and it will only get deeper as the story goes along. More details on what Connelly is up to will reveal itself in the upcoming chapters! As for Snape...do you think he will be able to see past his own pain to see someone in need? We will just have to wait and see! Review, review, review!