And here's ten,

As promised.

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As we entered November, the weather turned incredibly cold. The mountains around Hogwarts became icy grey and every morning the ground was covered in frost.

The first Quidditch game of the season is tomorrow, Saturday. Gryffindor has been training for weeks, and Oliver had let me sit in on a few sessions when I hadn't been in never ending detention for punching Ron and running. Needless to say, McGonagall was quite upset when I finally made it back into the castle and my detentions would be served until Christmas break, between her and Snape.

Ron and I are on very tense speaking terms. It's very formal, and I'm basically only dealing with him for Harry. Hermione and I have gotten quite a deal closer after the whole troll thing, which is both a blessing and a curse. She'll let me copy some of her work every so often, but also lecture me on how I should try more. She seems to think that I can do a lot better in classes if I just put effort into them. Isn't she intelligent?

The common room is especially loud tonight, with the game being against Slytherin tomorrow. I can tell that Harry is restless. I'm restless and I'm not even playing.

Needing something to do, I go up to my room to get the potions book that Remus had got me for my birthday. Searching through my trunk I can't find it.

I go back downstairs where Hermione, Harry and Ron are sitting by the fire talking. "Hey guys," I state gaining their attention. "Have you seen my potions book, it's not in my room."

"Did you leave it in detention?" George asks from behind me. I turn around to look at him. Fred is standing beside him, but makes a great effort to avoid looking at me. This doesn't go un-noticed by Hermione and I know I'll be drilled about it later. Maybe I will tell her that we kissed, it would be nice to tell someone.

"I didn't think about that. Maybe Snape found it."

"You're going to voluntarily seek out Snape?" Ron asks me.

"He's really not as bad as you make him out." Whoever is in ear range of our conversation scoffs at this statement and I roll my eyes.

"Whatever. I'll be back soon guys," I state to Hermione, Harry and Ron. "Bye George."

Walking out of the portrait hole I feel slightly bad about ignoring Fred, but he's not exactly going out of his way to speak to me either.

Passing the staff room I pause. There is the slight possibility that Snape is in there instead of down in the dungeons.

I knock on the door and there's no response. There's almost always someone in there so I knock once more, and still nothing. Slowly, I open the door and am shocked by what I see.

Snape and the caretaker Filch were inside of the room alone. Snape was holding his robes up to above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangles, and Filch was handling the bandages for it.

"Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Slowly, I attempt to shut the door quietly, but-

"BLACK!"

Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. I stood there terrified.

"I- Are you okay?"

"GET OUT! OUT!"

I stood there, practically frozen. When Snape's features began to soften and it looked as if he might say something else, I slammed the door quickly and took off for the Gryffindor common room.

"Was it there?" Harry asks as I sit down beside him. "What's wrong?"

In a low whisper, I quickly tell the three of them what I had seen.

"You know what this means?" Harry states. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him- he's after whatever it's guarding. And I'd bet me broomstick that he let that troll in to make a diversion!"

I don't say anything, but Hermione's eyes grow wide.

"No- he wouldn't," she says. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try to steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," Ron snaps. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"

Harry is staring at me. I'm looking at my hands but I can feel his eyes on me. "Are you okay, Tay?"

I get off the couch and nod at him. "I'm just tired; I'm going to bed now."

I make my way to the empty room quickly and finding my Charms book on my bed, I throw it as hard as I can against the wall.

"Taylor?"

I turn to face Hermione. "What do you want?"

"For you to talk to me," she replies. "I know that more than one thing is bothering you right now, and I want to help."

I sigh and sit on the end of my bed. "I can't tell you most things."

She sits down beside me and places her hand on my shoulder. "Just tell me whatever you want to, then."

I look at her and smile at her sincerity. "Okay."

"Start small?" She suggests.

I nod at her and begin to tell her about what happened with Fred.

"And now he won't speak to me or even look at me," I finish.

"I noticed something was wrong between you two," she states. "Maybe he just needs some time to figure out how he really feels about you."

"I guess," I say with a shrug. "It's really the least of my problems, so I'm not thinking about it too much. I'd just like to be friends with him though. I'm kind of low on those."

"Do you want to tell me what's really bothering you, Tay? You kind of ran out on us down there. Is it Professor Snape?"

"Yeah," I reply, breathing in deep. "It is."

"What about him?"

"He's the only adult here to treat me as a person and not a monster of some sort." I pause. "This whole dog thing- he wouldn't do anything against Dumbledore, but it seems as if he did. I guess I'm just upset because I trust him. He screamed at me tonight, and- I just don't want him to hate me."

Hermione studies me for a second. "You've gotten close with him?"

"Yeah," I say softly. "I thought he saw me different than his other students. That he might actually care about me. Maybe it was just hope."

"Don't give up on him then. Harry and Ron are quick to judge, but you see people for who they really are. He was probably just aggravated tonight."

"Maybe you're right, Hermione. I just hope I'm not wrong about him."

She stands up and hugs me tight. "Get some sleep Tay, you'll feel better in the morning."

Taking her advice, I close my curtains and got under the covers, for a very long night of sleep deprivation.

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