Mina awoke to a thumping sound at the foot of her bed. When she opened her eyes all she could see was the dull red glow of light coming through her bed curtains. She leaned over to the edge of the bed and opened the curtains. Lita was up already. She was by her bed in full karate regalia sparring with her bed post. Loki was flittering around her head neighing joyfully. Mina cleared her throat.
"Some of us would like to SLEEP, you know." She said grumpily, aware her hair was in horrid disarray.
"And some of us need to train!" Lita grunted in reply. "Who knows what sort of evil we'll meet here?"
Mina rolled her eyes and buried herself under her pillow, determined to ignore her friend.
"All right, girls. Rise and shine!" said Frances coming up the stairs carrying an arm full of pasties, muffins, and other breakfast food. "Oh, hello," she said stopping, "I see you're already up and ready, Lita. I don't mean to be a rush, but we need to get going. Our first class, Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Snape starts in thirty minutes."
"Thirty minutes?!" The two girls chorused, and Frances found herself shoved out into the hall with the room door slamming in her face with an echoing bang.
The sounds of two people rushing about here heard from the other side, and in an impressively quick amount of time, the door flew open again to reveal the two foreign girls dressed and ready but decidedly disheveled.
"All right," said Mina. "We're ready."
The three of them crossed quickly through the Gryffindor common room and out the portrait hole entrance. Their pace quickened when they reached the hallways of Hogwarts and Frances tried desperately to brief Lita and Mina for their first encounter with Professor Snape. Artemis hung off of Mina's shoulder in a half awake sleeping stupor.
Mina continued to feverously take notes until her arm hurt. The words began to jumble in her head, something about Werewolves, silver, and hot cakes. Though she wasn't sure about the last part. She looked to see how Lita was faring. Her friend's eyes with alight with interest. She was obviously interested in the subject matter.
"Are you all right?" asked Artemis.
"Notes away class, exercises," said Snape.
Now Mina felt even more nervous. She stood up with the rest of the class, and with a wave of his wand Snape had all the desks and their bags against the sides of the classroom, leaving the middle of the floor empty. He himself walked around the perimeter like a lurking, hook-nosed shadow.
"The first pair will be the two—, " he sneered, "DIGNITARIES. Wands out, one performs a simple Stunning Spell, the other a Shield Spell."
Mina felt the wand in her hand, but didn't know what to do with it. Had it been so long? What was she supposed to do? Luna had set them adrift in an ocean without a paddle boat. She looked across the room to Lita, thinking she'd see the same vacant look in her eyes.
"Now!" she heard Snape yell.
Lita's wand rose and Mina felt herself falling backwards against the hard stone floor.
Yet, her friend seemed excited at the same time. She had yelled something that Mina didn't understand. As she was trying to figure out what it was she had to do, she felt something like a pulse running through her arm and down to her fingers. When Snape ordered the two of them do go at it again. Mina was ready.
"Protego!" she yelled as Lita's spell came dashing towards her.
With a sudden flare of flashing light, the Shield Spell burst forth and illuminated the room, making Lita's spell bounce off it harmlessly and hit the bookcase. There were scattered murmurs of approval around the room, and Mina looked at Snape, smirking, who sneered.
"Well, it looks as though this year's class won't be as hopeless as I thought..."
Mina held an uncomfortable gaze with Snape for a few moments. She felt as though his eyes were piercing through her. She felt a pang in her chest.
"Class dismissed," said Snape, grasping the hem of his long black cloak and escaping into his office in a flurry of cloth.
Mina hardly listened as Lita made some sort of reply. Her thoughts were on Snape, and what she had sensed.
"Artemis," She whispered quietly, "Professor Snape—is suffering from a broken heart."
"Are you sure Mina?" said Artemis.
Mina watched as Lita spoke loudly to Frances about the Stunning Spell she had used. Poor Frances couldn't begin to keep up with the rate at which Lita was speaking.
"Yes, Artemis," said Mina clutching her books to her chest as a shiver ran down her spine, "I think I am."
