By the end of the day, Corina wasn't any more awake, but luckily wasn't nodding off. The yawning was getting annoying, however. In every class she was sure that the teacher would start glaring, thinking it was their lesson.
Once in potions, she chose a spot towards the back. She had no ambition to be closer to Snape then she had to be. The class seemed to drag on and on for her. Corina could feel the eyes on her randomly throughout the class, but shrugged it off. She figured that it was simply because of the stunt she pulled the day before. Her mind refused to let her believe that people were still going on about that rumor.
Snape made his rounds as usual, critiquing everyone's work. As he noticed how tired Corina seemed, he knew he wasn't the only one who didn't sleep the night before. Moving on, he barely stopped at her station for more then a few moments. He was pleased that there was no whispering that day, he wouldn't have tolerated it.
Finally, class was dismissed. He had until after dinner to grade papers, and deal with Jordyn. Knowing she'd probably be headed to the Slytherin Common Room, he would start there. However, he wanted to give the students a chance to clear the halls.
Corina tried to ignore the three girls that were chatting in the halls, but they had other plans. She recognized one of them as a Slytherin named Nina. The other two just seemed like her lackeys. As Nina stepped in front of Corina, the others followed suit. "So, decided to get some alone time with your lover?" Nina teased, laughing.
"Oh, you mean that prank in potions? No. No, you see, that was to prove to dimwitted people like you that you need to lay off the rumor juice. It's bad for you." She snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Awe. Trying to play tough, Gryffindor? So the other losers in your house don't find out about the thing you have with a Slytherin?" Nina grinned. "How...pathetic." She added, her voice dripping with hate. "Back off. Snape's too...awesome for you."
Corina raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? Are you jealous of some lame rumor? One that is so far from true it's ridiculous? You seriously need to set your sights on someone in your range. I mean, why not Jordyn? She seems hell bent on spreading this rumor. You two would make such a cute couple." She said sarcastically.
Rather then say anything back, Nina gave her the nastiest look she could manage before decking her. Her fist met with the side of Corina's face. It took Corina a moment to regain herself, having been able to avoid fights at Hogwarts. Glancing back to Nina, Corina held her cheek before hitting back herself. Others were starting to crowd around to watch, doing nothing to break it up.
A few minutes, and many punches passed before Professor McGonagall came along. "Break it up, break it up." She said, pulling the two girls apart.
"She hit me first. I was defending myself." Corina said, wiping her bloody lip and glancing to Nina. It was obvious that Nina was more pissed about the fight being stopped then Corina throwing her under the bus.
McGonagall shook her head, disappointed in both girls. "Both of you, follow me. Now." She ordered, leading the girls towards Snape's classroom. Corina mentally groaned, wanting to just stay away until her detention. Walking into Snape's classroom with McGonagall and Nina, she licked her lip and winced. "Severus, I caught one of your students fighting with Ms Bates in the hall. I thought you should be the one to deal with her." McGonagall said, not bothering to wait for an answer to her saying his name.
Snape looked at the two girls as he stood. It was obvious that it was a pretty fair fight. Both girls were banged up. "I will deal with her. Thank you, Minerva." He said quietly, his eyes locking on Nina. Corina suddenly felt relieved she had McGonagall as the head of her house.
Corina quickly followed McGonagall out of Snape's office in silence, towards her classroom. No matter how much it stung, she kept licking her lip. It was like a bruise that no matter what, you kept poking it. Once in her classroom, McGonagall looked at Corina like a disappointed mother. "I hope you understand how much trouble you are in, young lady." She started, clasping her hands in front of her. "Fighting? In the hallways? Can you explain to me what happened?" Her voice was somewhat soft, yet demanding.
Sighing, she nodded. "I was on my way to the Common Room when Nina and her minions stopped me. She started saying some stupid stuff about me, and I snapped back. I guess I made her mad because next thing I knew...she punched me." Corina shrugged. "One thing led to another, and you pulled us apart."
"What, pray tell, was she saying?" McGonagall asked, pushing for the whole story.
"There's this...rumor that was spread about me and Sn- Professor Snape. Really stupid and uncalled for. Well, I pulled a prank in his classroom to try to get it to stop, which lead to me losing fifty points and gaining five detentions. She was claiming I did it to be close to him, that I did it to be tough or something. I said she sounded jealous of a stupid rumor, that she should, uh, go after someone in her league. I then might have brought up the girl that started the rumor, telling her that they'd make a cute couple." She explained, making that face that kids make when they expect to be yelled at.
McGonagall sighed and shook her head. "I believe I've heard about this rumor. However, I fail to see what's so important about this rumor."
Groaning, Corina realized that she would have to explain it to her. "Well, over the summer I helped him out. Apparently, a Slytherin over heard my friend talking to someone about it. She then went and changed the story. Now it's going around that we, well..." She made a face, trying really hard to not say it. She really didn't want to. "That we, ya know, hooked up."
"Hooked up?"
"Got...intimate."
McGonagall's eyes got wide for a moment. She'd need to have a word with Severus soon. If this rumor was going to be a serious problem, then the others needed to be told about it. "I see." She nodded. "There is no foundation to this rumor, correct?"
Corina shook her head. "No!" She was shocked that she even had to ask.
"Well, I'll be having a word with Professor Snape. However, first, I'm taking fifty points for the fighting, and once you've finished your detentions with Professor Snape, you have three with me. Starting Monday. You may go clean up now. If you'd like, head to the hospital wing."
Nodding, Corina left, wondering what Snape did to Nina. She wasn't going to bother going to see Madam Pomfrey, she'd just have to explain what happened. Her friends were already probably alerted to the fight and would want to hear about it.
After Corina and McGonagall left, Snape's full attention was left to Nina. Nina looked like she had just encountered a dangerous animal. "Fighting? In the halls? Explain. Now." Snape said, his eyes never leaving hers.
"I was talking to her, and she said some rude things, and I, uh, punched her..." Nina just wanted out of there.
He was in no mood to discuss details. He knew what this was all about. "You just lost sixty points and gained six detentions. Starting tonight. Now get out." His tone indicated that it wasn't up for discussion. He'd be asking Corina her side of the story during her detention that night. Nina had given him very little explanation, and he knew Corina was more likely to tell him the truth about it. Nina would hold out as long as possible.
Nina didn't have to be told twice, she turned and left as fast as she could. Heading to the Slytherin Common Room, she locked her jaw. She'd lost points for fighting, and had detention. Which meant that she would have to be in the same room as Corina again.
Corina gave a very quick explanation to her friends, and then asked to drop it. Everyone seemed to know what happened, but not why. That got twisted into something different, of course. There were a few versions floating around. She was beyond caring about the fight, however. What she was pissed off about was that her plan had seemed to backfire.
During dinner, that was all anyone could talk about- the fight. Corina pretty much stayed out of it, eating in silence. John was talking to Danielle about the first Quidditch match of the season, and Samantha was re-reading something that she had written, making changes here and there. Her face was pretty funny at times.
Snape hadn't gotten the chance to ask Jordyn what she was thinking, so he had simply graded essays until dinner. Once he'd made an appearance, he ignored the other teachers. McGonagall said nothing of the fight, but gave him a simple look. If he wanted to talk, he would. There was no forcing him. She was just hoping that it all died over. They couldn't have students fighting, let alone over something like a rumor about a teacher.