Eleanor sat at one of the library's many large wooden tables; her hands were tightly balled into fists, resting heavily on her thighs. Her cheeks were blistering hot and her chest felt constricted as she tried to process what was happening.
The library was usually her haven to get away from loud students and have whispered gossip and hushed giggles with her girlfriends—today that was not the case. The light from the mid-afternoon sun dappled across the table, warm browns, oranges and yellows that should have comforted her, but they did nothing. Julia and Marta sat across from her, exchanging nervous and uncomfortable looks between them.
"Eleanor… it's just that we have our own careers to think about, you know. If Snape keeps punishing us we'll never get time to study and if we don't study, we'll fail our NEWTS," Julia said, giving her a shrug that made her thick black ringlets bounce on her shoulders.
Marta nodded, her short brown hair swaying up and down furiously. "And I can't fail my NEWTs, Eleanor. My aunt has arranged us internships with St. Mungo's, well… except for you. She thinks you might be too selfish for Healer material. You know, with the continuous trouble and all."
Eleanor's eyes widened and she hissed, "She thinks I'm selfish? She's known me for four years; she could have voiced her opinions a while ago if she really thought that."
"Eleanor, please don't make this so hard for us. We still like you. We just don't want to get in trouble with Snape," Julia argued as though it were sound reasoning.
"Well, some Gryffindors you both are. Renowned for loyalty, my arse! What would the sorting hat say about both of you now?" Eleanor snarled, hoping that Madame Pince wouldn't hear and throw her out.
"We'll see you around, Eleanor," Julia said uneasily and the two girls hurried away, leaving her alone.
How could they? She was their friend, and they were supposed to stand by her side. Julie had been her friend for about four years now and Marta the same. Sandra had been her class partner for six years and friend for five… This was ridiculous. She had to find Sandra and talk to her—she could reason with them!
Eleanor stood up from the table quickly, grabbing her book bag, and fled the library. Mazes of bookshelves that reached the ceiling with ladders stationed throughout for reaching tomes high up. The smell of dust, hinted with the fading odor of binding fluids and decomposing parchments, filled her nostrils, an antique perfume that excited the bibliophile in her. She had favourite books that would wiggle out from between the others, begging her to pick them up and take them back to the Gryffindor tower for a long night of studying in bed.
This afternoon she ignored the books, just desperate to get the hell out of the smothering old room. She burst through the heavy doors, panting and then sprinted down the halls to find the only friend she knew would stick by her side. Down two flights of stairs and across the courtyard, she found herself in the Transfigurations Corridor, alone and out of breath. She was still fighting back the tears burning her eyes and there was a lump in her throat that was making it hard to breathe, while her chest ached as if her heart was being crushed by an invisible hand.
The door to the Transfiguration room opened and the Advanced Transfiguration class exited, students grouping off to talk amongst themselves as they headed to their next location. Eleanor spotted a tall blonde and quickly moved to her, grabbing her upper arm.
"Sandra, can I talk to you?" she said breathlessly
"Oh, hello, Eleanor," the blonde girl said impassively.
"Sandra, Julie and Marta both said that they were going to stop associating themselves with me –" she started and was cut off.
"Because of the trouble with Snape. I know," Sandra said coolly.
"You do?" she said, confused.
"Yes." The other girl flipped her hair with a severe snap of her wrist, sending the blonde cascade over her shoulder. Her teal eyes locked onto Eleanor's and she said quietly, "It was actually my idea."
"What?" Eleanor stuttered in disbelief.
Sandra gave a scowl and snapped, "Eleanor, you're costing us house points and getting us in trouble on a constant basis. Already this month, I've been in detention twice because I've been with you. I need to spend this year working on my classes and getting recommendations for jobs. If you're going to hold me back, then I need to find myself a better friend."
"This is coming from the girl who lost us two hundred points in one evening back in our fourth year?" Eleanor asked critically, pointing an accusing finger at the blonde's face.
Sandra sighed impatiently, pushing Eleanor's finger away with her own hand. "That was three years ago. I wasn't thinking about my profession at the time."
"Sandra, you can't do this to me. You know I'm not doing anything to get you in trouble. Snape giving us detention because my book was last out is not my fault! I haven't ever tried to get you in trouble and you know it," Eleanor pleaded.
Now it was Sandra's turn to point an accusing finger to accompany her rejoinder. "Listen, Eleanor. McGonagall wants that house cup badly this year. Every point we've worked hard to earn is usually gone by the end of the week because of something you do that pisses Snape off. If we didn't have that Granger girl or Potter, we'd be in the negatives still. He removes more points depending on how many people are with you, so we all decided that the more people who avoid you, the less points we'll lose—"
"Who is 'we all'? Are there more people who know about this?" Eleanor asked suspiciously, suddenly feeling very ill.
"All the Gryffindor seventh-years had a secret meeting when you were at detention last night. And most of the fifth and sixth-years know, too."
"This is positively, Slytherin. How could you guys?!" Eleanor sobbed, unable to keep her tears back any longer.
"Crying again, Miss Weatherhorn?" a sharp, dreadful voice resonated behind them.
Eleanor didn't turn around to see it was Snape—she really didn't have to. He came stalking around them, his long robes floating around his feet, finally stopping in front of them.
"Bye, Eleanor," Sandra muttered, lowering her eyes and hurried down the hall.
"Five points from Gryffindor for making a classmate cry, Miss Shunpike," Snape called after her and then turned to Eleanor.
"And ten points from Gryffindor for making a spectacle of yourself in the hallway, Miss Weatherhorn."
Eleanor stared hatefully at his knees, not courageous enough to give him the look face to face.
"Clean yourself up pitiful girl. It brings down your house's morale and I know you'd hate to disappoint your fellow Gryffindors," he sneered and then spun on his heel, walking away.
"What do you know about Gryffindors?" she mumbled, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.
As Severus ate dinner that night, he watched the Gryffindor table with a sharp eye. Something was different. There was discord among the house and it took him a few minutes to confirm that it was Weatherhorn that was causing it. It appeared she was isolated from the other upperclassmen, forced between a second year and The Brat Who Lived.
'This is going to be an interesting game to play,' he pondered as he chewed his bite of pot-roast. 'I wonder how long it will take to break her.'
September was closing with a spectacular end.
A/N: I just want to thank the lovely Mrs.Snape for her reviews! Sorry it's taking so long for Miss Bodhi to write her chapters (and she apologises too!) but we've both been very busy!
