Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the characters within this fanfic, but I do own Eileen Pierce and her kneazle Mephistopheles so don't steal them! That is all, you may continue...
Chapter Four
Weeks passed as Eileen spent her days doing extra credit work and her nights peacefully enduring tasks Snape set her to do for detention. He didn't bring up the topic of her parents again for fear she would have a similar reaction, even though he'd taken the precaution of hiding her wand in his desk while she was in his presence. It was the night before Halloween and Eileen was quietly finishing the 378th line of repeated text, elegantly scribbling "I will not attack fellow students" on the bottom of the page before raising her head, saying, "I'm out of parchment, sir, may I have some more?"
"Hmm?" Snape looked up from a pile of homework he was grading and blinked at the mound of parchment she was buried in, cocking an eyebrow at the amused expression on her face. During the time they had spent together, Eileen had begun showing hints of emotion and even smiled when he told her to clean all the girls bathrooms with a toothbrush. He didn't understand why she enjoyed it but at least she was calm and collected again.
"I need more parchment, I have 22 more lines to do." She replied.
"Write on the other side." He waved his hand but she picked up the parchment and motioned to it, saying, "I've already done that. Shall I write it on my arm?"
"No, that won't be necessary." He quickly responded, the idea of her putting a sharp object anywhere near herself not appealing to him.
"If you say so, sir." Eileen began looking over the parchment for any free space but she did a thorough job of covering it with her handwriting.
With a keen eye, he watched her and said, "Since it's already going on 11:30 PM, perhaps it is best you stop for the night and finish it tomorrow. Oh...the feast." He remembered and continued, "Tomorrow is Halloween so consider it a holiday break. We will resume your detentions the day after tomorrow and then you can finish your current punishment. Do not do it outside of my office, do you understand?"
"Of course, I wouldn't think of it!" Eileen remarked, looking surprised he would ever imagine her trying to evade her proper punishing schedule.
She began to wind up the parchments when Snape asked, "Miss Pierce...might I ask you a question?"
She dropped the parchment and stared at him, the joy falling from her face as the roll clattered across the stone floor.
"A...question, sir?" She whispered, frozen in anxious anticipation of what he had in mind.
"Yes. What do you plan on doing for the feast?"
Blinking, she relaxed and looked surprised as she leaned over to gather the parchment she dropped, saying in a stronger voice, "Plan on doing? Eating, I suppose..."
"The Slytherins still do not allow you to sit with them and the other houses are beginning to grow weary of your presence as well." Snape stated simply, keeping his eyes on her.
This was true, ever since she defeated Draco in the duel, the Slytherin students had been shunning her everywhere she went. They tried to keep her out of the dormitory but Mephistopheles put an end to that and began patrolling the common room and hiding at random so that no one would dare defy him. But the students had succeeded in shutting her out of the dining table by spacing themselves out enough to guard every inch of its surface from her. She tried sitting at the far ends of different house tables every mealtime but their occupants began to stare incessantly and whisper behind her back at how she was being exiled from her own house.
Through all of this, she had not shown the slightest bit of concern but Snape had noticed her steady desire to do more and more grueling tasks as if trying to inadvertently punish herself for being unpopular. She hadn't been happy with being given lines but after catching her flushing her head in the toilet with a cackling ghost floating over her egging her on, he wasn't eager to give her any more chances of committing suicide.
"I...suppose I shall grab some food and return to the dorm to dine with Mephi, he might enjoy it." She mused, putting the last roll of parchment onto the neat little pyramid she had made on her desk.
"Why do you let them govern your actions, Miss Pierce?" Snape asked, turning to face her and fold his arms over his chest, leaning back into his chair.
"What do you mean, sir?" She asked curiously.
"You don't have to let them shut you out and yet you do. Why do you care what they think of you?"
"I don't care what they think, but you told me not to cause anymore trouble. It seems simpler to just avoid being anywhere near them, it would give them no chance of saying anything to enrage me." She explained thoughtfully, as if she had been brooding on these facts for a while.
"I will know if they are causing trouble and give the trouble maker their due punishment, do not take matters into your own hands."
"But sir..." She stopped and looked down, it wasn't often she argued with him and he raised his eyebrows, almost purring, "Go on."
"I do not want you to have to do anything to defend me, I don't deserve it. They have every right to hate me." She muttered, not daring to meet his gaze.
"So you will avoid them for 6 more years? How will you manage that?" He seemed amused now.
"I will just take my food back to the dormitory." She explained.
"I see...what if I don't want you to?"
Looking up suddenly, she blinked and said in surprise, "Sir?"
"I do not tolerate weakness in my students and I consider running from ones problems as a weakness. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir. You...want me to return to the Slytherin table and eat with them then? What if they shut me out again?" She looked somewhat upset about this and he cleared his throat, saying, "There won't be a problem, just do as I say."
"Yes, sir." She bowed her head and fiddled with the pleats of her skirt.
Frowning, Snape said, "Why does this make you upset? Do you enjoy being hated?"
She didn't respond right away, instead she clenched her fists in her lap and grimaced, muttering something under her breath he couldn't quite make out.
"Excuse me?" He narrowed his eyes as she looked up with a smile, saying, "Of course not, sir. But..."
"Yes?"
"Nothing, it's not important. As you've said, sir, it's late and I should be in bed."
"Yes, of course, you may go." He leaned forward and picked up another essay to grade as Eileen rose from her seat and turned to leave. She pulled the door open and whispered, "Pleasant dreams, sir," before leaving the room.
Snape glanced up and watched the door shut quietly, a look of unease at being wished such delightful thoughts every night for the past few weeks despite having forced her to do terrible things as penitence for merely choosing to defend herself. He didn't want to admit it to himself but he was beginning to feel uncomfortable with choosing punishments every night she came back for more with a joyful greeting and a determined heart.
OoOoOoOo
Halloween was full of gleeful students playing pranks on each other and racing around the leaf-covered grounds chasing the few fleeting moments of a break between classes. A pair of redheaded twins were making mischief throughout the day at random, Passing the blame off onto a poltergeist that inhabited the school. They even managed to get their younger brother Ron in trouble with McGonagall for catching him snickering under his breath near a set of singing pumpkins that had burst into song when she passed them in the great hall, singing "Minerva" by the Deftones, a well-known Muggle band. Various other unsuspecting or merely curious passersby were subjected to songs about them, filling the great hall with cheerful and sometimes rather catchy tunes about everyone.
Finally, all the students gathered into the great hall for the Halloween feast and were chattering away happily, even the teachers seemed to be enjoying themselves as the enchanted pumpkins sang another rousing song.
"Go ahead and fight, ohohohohohoh Go ahead, don't be a pansy, ohohohohohoh Go ahead, will you fight?"
"Bloody pumpkins..." Pansy Parkinson grumbled as she sat down at the Slytherin table with Draco, glaring over her shoulder at them as they drifted off into different tune.
As the room filled with banter, Snape watched the entrance for signs of Eileen sneaking in but she was mysteriously absent. Beginning to think she had finally decided to stop listening to his orders, he heard the pumpkins singing again.
"Come on Eileen! Well, I swear (what he means) At this moment, you mean everything With you in that dress, my thoughts I confess Verge on dirty ...... Ah, come on Eileen!"
Snape didn't bother with pondering how she had managed to get in unnoticed but watched closely to see how the Slytherins would respond. They were all cackling at the lyrics to the song as they continued to resound since she had not yet sat down.
"Excuse me, could you please let me sit there?" Eileen asked softly to a 5th year that was sitting with his legs stretched across an expanse twice his required seating.
"Sorry, I'm saving these seats for some of my friends, better look elsewhere." He sneered, the kids at the table laughing boisterously and copying his actions by taking up the open seats in various means: legs, bodies, bags, spilled drinks and food. She moved slowly around the table, the students covering up in her wake and laughing when she would try to gently force her way in.
"Come on, Eileen, taloora aye Come on, Eileen, taloora aye Go toora loora toora loo rye aye"
"The pumpkins seem to like you, ghost girl! I rather like this song, it suits you! Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever!" Draco bellowed, another uproar of hoots and howls chiming in all around the table. They began to sing along with the song and Eileen stared at the floor, her hands clenched tightly at her sides as she tried desperately not to retaliate upon them.
Growing disgusted with her lack of assertiveness, Snape rose and swept down to the Slytherin table where he grabbed Malfoy by the back of the collar and hissed, "If you don't let her sit down and end that infernal song, you'll have detention for a week! It's giving me a headache!"
"But she likes it! Look at her, she couldn't be happier!" Draco motioned to Eileen who was staring up at him with a burning hatred in her eyes.
Finally, when about the 10th run-through of the chorus played, she raised her wand sharply and the pumpkins exploded, causing everyone in the room to scream in surprise as they were showered in orange chunks. She ran out of the great hall in the wake of the disturbance and Snape gave Draco a rough shove into the table, staring after her retreating form with a deep-set frown.
Finally, he returned to the head table and took his seat again, stabbing at an innocent potato like it was the reason this all happened.
"I would go after her if I were you, Severus." Turning, Snape met Dumbledore's gaze with slight annoyance before sighing and rising again, stalking out the employee entrance behind the table. He searched everywhere for her but she was not hiding in her usual places: his office, the library, the dormitory - he had called up to the girls dorm rooms to make sure she wasn't hiding where he could not go, all the girls bathrooms - to a few students' surprise, and finally he resolved to search the grounds. Stalking across fields and hills, sweeping the lawns with his wand light until spotting a faint glimmer out by the lake. Quickening his pace, the light grew closer until he made out the small quivering form huddled against the chilly October wind, its white hair shimmering in the pale moonlight as it danced on the breeze like silk.
"What are you doing out here alone, students aren't allowed outside so late." Snape barked, apparently saying just the wrong thing as she began to sob into her knees. Shifting uneasily, he added more softly, "Why did you not return to my office like you usually do?"
"I've...I've disappointed you again, sir." She sobbed. He stared down at her with a frown and said, "It's not your fault they're such pathetic excuses of human beings now stop crying, Miss Pierce."
"Y-yes, sir..." She sniffed, collecting what little nerve she had left and hugging her knees tightly in an attempt to distract herself from the pain she felt.
Walking to her side, Snape crouched and poked his wand close to her face to light it up, saying, "Now come back inside."
"Yes, sir..." She shivered as a sharp wind broke over them, shrinking further into her robes to remain warm. With a flick of his wrist, he flung his robe into the wind to block it. Eileen looked up into his cold black eyes with curiosity as he muttered, "Why did you come out here anyway? You're not trying to punish yourself again, are you?"
"N-no, sir..." She whispered, "I always hide outside when I don't want anyone to find me, I normally find shelter in the woods but I was told not to go in that one." Motioning to the Forbidden Forest, she added, "I suppose you'll think me childish for running from my problem."
"Perhaps...why do you find solace in the outdoors?" He asked in a low voice as if he might attract attention to them by speaking at a normal level.
"It's the only place where I feel safe. The wind doesn't mock you, the trees don't gossip behind your back, the birds don't insult you with their songs. Speak ill of nature if you must, but at least it won't reject you just because you're different." She wiped the tears from her face, resigning to gazing out across the black lake.
Snape watched her in silence for a long while before saying, "If you live alone at home, who is there to mock you? You never mentioned a school or orphanage or any other children in your past."
"I never said I was hiding from other children, sir." She whispered, reaching down and touching the hem of his robe as it brushed against her legs in the wind, fiddling subconsciously with it.
"Who then? You're father?" Snape inquired, a little twitch in his eye at her touching his garment.
Whimpering, Eileen brought the cloak up to her face and hid in it, saying, "Please don't, sir, I can't..."
"Why not." Snape asked carelessly, making to pull his cloak from her grasp.
"It hurts too much to remember...you can understand, can't you, sir?" Her muffled voice carried across the darkness that shrouded them, hitting him like a ton of bricks as his heart skipped a beat.
"Why do you assume that?" He hissed, glaring at her in the dim wandlight.
"I don't know, it's just...you seemed so interested in my parents I thought maybe...you knew what it was like." She whispered cautiously.
"What what was like?" He narrowed his eyes as she shook her head, saying, "It's not important, it's none of my business, I shouldn't have made that assumption."
"No, tell me." He leaned closer to her, his eyes boring into her as if daring her to look up at him.
"I...I can't, please!" She shook her head and Snape grabbed her arm, hissing, "What have you heard?"
"Heard? What - I don't - " She stammered, finally meeting his gaze with surprise and shock at his sudden show of aggression.
"Who sent you here? Tell me now, girl!" He shouted, shaking her slightly.
"No one!" She responded in shock, her eyes full of fear.
"Don't lie to me, why are you here!" He bellowed, threatening to pull her arm clean off if she didn't confess soon.
"Please, sir, you're hurting me..." She whimpered, beginning to cower against his menacing grasp.
"Tell me!"
"I...I can't - "
"Tell me or I'll have you expelled!"
"I'm hiding!" She cried, her eyes beginning to water and threatening to let tears fall if he shook her any harder.
"From who?"
"Please, sir..."
"WHO!"
"MY FATHER!" Her voice echoed across the lake as Snape stared at her, the troubling truth flooding her eyes and telling him she was far from lying to him about anything.
She let out a weak sob before looking away in an attempt to hide her tears from him.
Frowning and loosening his grip, Snape asked, "Your father? Why?"
"Oi, what's goin' on over there?" A booming voice broke the tension as Hagrid came marching across the lawn toward them, having most likely heard them on his way back to his cabin for the night.
Moving quickly, Snape swept in front of Eileen and blocked her from his view, saying, "It's none of your concern."
"None o' my concern? It ruddy well is my concern if yer yellin' at students in the dead o' night!"
"Please excuse me, Mr. Hagrid, I was out of line by coming outside unaccompanied, he was merely reprimanding me for my trespasses." Eileen spoke up, stepping out from behind Snape, to his annoyance.
"Sure didn' sound like it ter me." He frowned, looking down at her with concern in his voice.
"Perhaps you are mistaken, all the noise from the singing pumpkins most likely caused many peoples hearing to go funny during dinner." She reasoned.
"I s'pose so...but still, he don' have no rights yellin' at yeh." Hagrid argued, giving Snape a stern look as he glared back.
"What I do with my students is my business." Snape snarled.
"It is growing late, I should be back inside before I miss curfew. Have a lovely evening, Mr. Hagrid." Eileen said, bowing and turning to return to the school.
"Oh, alrigh' then..." Hagrid muttered, watching her go before turning back to Snape and saying, "I don' think Dumbledore would be very happy with yer treatment o' students, Professor. I'll be tellin' him next time I catch yeh doin' it."
"Don't worry, I won't give you the pleasure of catching me again." Snape hissed under his breath before whipping around and following Eileen's retreating form huddled against the wind. As he entered the school entrance way, he heard a commotion upstairs and ran to find the teachers hurrying upstairs, making to follow them and leaving Eileen to dawdle in her slower pursuit. Reaching the cause of the commotion, Snape was met with the scene of water all over the floor and Mr. Filch's cat hanging from a hallway lamp with blood on the wall saying "The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware." and the three most unlucky students standing looking just as surprised if not guilty of finding this scene themselves.
Eileen walked up behind the teachers and was straining to see what was so fascinating as she heard the familiar shrieks of Filch accusing the children of murdering his cat. Before long, the teachers were ushering the crowd of students off to bed - excluding Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were found at the scene, and Eileen found herself staring up at Snape curiously.
"We will finish our discussion tomorrow, go to bed." He hissed, motioning toward the stairs she had just come up. With a look of dejection, she turned and descended the stairs and left the fiasco not even aware of what had really happened and not concerning herself with it in the slightest. All she knew is that she had said more than she had wanted to and wasn't looking forward to further questioning from her master at her next session of detention.
