Okay... I got only two reviews, but I'm going to say that's pretty good, for now, since my usual reviewer, LMo98, to whom I have been very grateful, didn't even review Chapter 10! So hopefully, I can actually get three reviews this time... right?
Disclaimer: Don't own HP, don't own Set Fire to the Rain
"Sasha!" Severus whispered to her in the hall, pulling her into an empty classroom. Sasha looked up expectantly, thinking he was going to kiss her, but he instead, he was speaking. "Me and the others've decided to meet tonight to talk about what we're going to do. You know, for the mission."
"Oh. Oh, yeah. Where should we, er, meet?" Sasha asked, blindsided by this change in conversation.
"I don't know... I mean, I've thought of everywhere, but I can't quite figure it out," Severus responded, looking disappointed that the first thing she'd asked was the question he didn't know the answer to. "There's nowhere where he can be sure we won't be found and where we can go and disappear at night."
Yes, there is, she thought, but she wasn't sure whether she wanted to suggest the Room of Requirement, especially if he didn't already know about it. It was Sirius that had shown her, after all, and it wasn't everyone that knew about that room. What if Severus got suspicious that she knew about a room that wasn't exactly the Great Hall in terms of people going there? But you do want to help the Dark Lord and Severus, right? the voice in her head taunted her, prompting her to blurt, "Oh, yeah, there is. The Room of Requirement."
"The Room of Requirement? You know about that?" Severus asked.
"Wait, you know about it? Then why didn't you suggest it?" Sasha wondered, perplexed.
Severus shrugged. "I wasn't sure whether it would be a good idea. It's kind of one of those secrets, you know? The kind you don't want to tell, because it's you like it when it's yours, and yours alone."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Sasha agreed, mainly just to be agreeing, relieved that Severus hadn't pursued how she knew about the room. For some reason, she didn't want to tell him that Sirius had shown her the Room, even though he obviously knew they were friends. But being alone in a room - Well, she knew what could happen then.
"Well, if you think it's a good idea, too, I'll offer it to the boys. Is that okay with you?" Severus asked, his black eyes hungrily searching her grey ones.
"Of course, Severus," she responded, getting up on her tip-toes and kissing him.
"I love you," he whispered, as he had done at least once every day since the ball. Sasha liked it - it made her feel happy, worthy, complete.
"I love you, too, Severus," Sasha reciprocated, tapping his nose before ducking out of the room. She was headed to the library, where she had plenty of things to work on. Exams were in only two and a half months, after all, and it was time to put her color-coded study schedule to use.
Unfortunately, somebody else didn't want her to do well on her exams. "What?" she snapped, whirling around at the tapping on her shoulder. To Sasha's surprise, it was James Potter, his untidy black hair sticking up as always. "Potter? What do you want?"
"I wanted to talk to you, Sasha," Potter said nervously. Her brain registered the use of her first name, and immediately she was on her guard.
"What is it? Are you here to tell me to stay away from Sirius? Because he's my friend, James," she responded.
"No, no, it's not that," James replied hastily, raising his hands ever so slightly. "I just - want to tell you that we know what you were doing the night of April 5th, and you need to stop. Sirius was there, and he's really broken up that you want to do something like that."
"I don't see how what I do is any of your business, Potter," Sasha countered stiffly, about to turn back to her work.
"It is my business because I'm making it my business," Potter snapped, spinning her chair around with his hands. "It's my best friend's heart you're playing with, and I'm not going to let some Ravenclaw floozy ruin his happiness."
"Funny, that's what Lily Evans called me, too," Sasha retorted. "I guess I'm a Ravenclaw floozy, then. And guess what? I don't care what you think, or Lily Evans, or anyone. I'm not a Ravenclaw floozy for no reason, Potter. I know what I'm doing."
"Oh, I don't think you do," James disagreed. "I know you're no Death Eater, Sasha Williams."
"Oh, really?" Sasha challenged. "Well, that just goes to show you know absolutely nothing about me, James Potter." She spun back around and refocused on her work.
"You're wrong," Potter whispered from behind her, then walked around so that she was facing him.
"What?" Sasha was surprised. On what grounds could he say that?
"I said, you're wrong," he repeated, a little louder. "I know a hell of a lot about you, Williams. I know you love cheesecake but you're worried it'll make you fat, you someday want to own a house in the country on the shore of a lake surrounded by trees, your favorite season is fall. You hate that everyone just sees you as someone from Ravenclaw, even though you reinforce that belief because you don't want to let people in, and you love charm bracelets, because you used to make them with your mom before she died, leaving you with a father that hates you because you remind him of her." Potter paused, turning to walk away as he repeated, "So I think I know a hell of a lot about you."
Sasha sat, staring at the place where he vanished around a shelf of books, stunned, for a full minute before shaking herself free of her trance. When she did, she was filled with misgivings. Had she really told Sirius that much about herself? And had he really picked up every tiny little detail and relayed it to his friends? Did he care that much? It's ridiculous, she reassured herself. He can't have me. I'm with Severus, and I've made my choice. And I know it's the right one. Right?
The six potential Death Eaters met in the Room of Requirement, which had transformed into a sort of dining room, furnished with a low buffet and long table, but empty of food. "So," Severus began, somehow ending up at the head of the table, with everyone waiting for him to lead the meeting. "How do you think we can get the information about the Order's plans?"
"We can find out from Dumbledore," one beefy Slytherin boy suggested.
Sasha cast him a withering look. "How stupid do you think Dumbledore is? He's a great wizard; he'd catch us for sure."
"Sasha's right," a weedy boy said - was his name Nott? She couldn't be sure. "We should try one of the other teachers. Isn't Professor Matthews part of the Order?"
"Yeah, and she's so old, and she sits all alone at night. We can go and do crucio, and get everything we want," a second beefy boy added excitedly.
"No way!" Sasha exclaimed, horrified. "Why would we use an Unforgivable Curse?"
The three Slytherin boys, besides Severus, snickered while the girl raised her eyebrows and remarked, "Ravenclaws have no backbone. Unforgivable Curses are fun and easy, Brainy Girl."
"I meant," Sasha amended hastily, "that it would be easier to cover up if we used Veritiserum or something."
"And where would we get Veritiserum?" the Slytherin girl pointed out.
Sasha swiveled her head to look at Severus, who was studiously avoiding her gaze. "Well, Severus has some," she told the others after a pause.
Severus gazed back at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "Sasha, I was saving that," he hissed. "I thought I told you not to tell anyone."
"Well, I hardly think whatever you could be saving it for could be more important than this," Sasha replied hotly, offended. Even though she'd had a few scruples regarding the whole Death Eater thing, she'd decided to forget about them. Or, to try. It was all becoming very difficult to ignore - from certain things she'd passed at the headquarters, to the things detailed in the Daily Prophet every day. But each time she thought of those things, it was Severus she pictured. He was what she wanted.
"You're right," he was saying. "Okay. We'll get the Veritiserum, we'll go to Professor Matthews at night, interrogate her, and erase her memory."
"What night?" one of the Slytherin boys interjected. "'Cause we have Quidditch practice tomorrow, and the next day..."
"How about right now?" Sasha suggested, actually excited. "It's about the right time that she'd be alone, and everyone else is asleep. So why not?"
The others looked more hesitant than her, surprisingly. "I don't know..." the Slytherin girl said.
"What happened to 'Ravenclaws have no backbone?'" Sasha taunted. For a second, fear shot through her heart like a lightning bolt, and she knew it showed on her face. The others were looking at her oddly, but she plowed forward before she could back out of this. "Come on. We can do this." I can do this.
"Alright. Let's go," Severus decided, standing up. Sasha took a deep breath and kissed him. That's why I'm doing this. For Severus. Because I love him. Right?
That night, when they had gotten the information successfully, without a soul the wiser, Sasha lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Had she done the right thing? Had any of this been right? Was the Death Eater idea in any way right?
Of course it wasn't, Sasha realized, but she had been too blinded by Severus, by her need to be better for him. She wouldn't be able to stand by the wizards who wanted to hurt, kill, and oppress Muggles. Muggles didn't deserve that - they were all human, after all, and they all deserved better. The Death Eaters and Voldemort were wrong about everything. Muggles weren't worth less than wizards. Sasha had always known that, but she'd been ignoring it for too long.
She rolled over, tears forming in the corners of her eyes and sliding down onto the pillow. I can't do this, Sasha admitted to herself, thinking of the way the Slytherins' had laughed at the Professor's pain when they'd subdued her. Even Severus wasn't worth going against everything she believed in.
Was he?
For the record, I did NOT plan on Sasha finding out that she was wrong in this chapter... so do you think it was the right move? TELL ME IN REVIEWS!
