ATTENTION YOUNGER READERS, THIS CHAPTER SUGGESTS AT SEXUAL MATERIAL ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT DESCRIBED IN ANY WAY. PLEASE DO NOT READ IT IF YOU SHOULD NOT BE READING IT.

Chapter 10

Dark Times

After having an abominably bad few days, Osiris was well worn out and doubly confused. When he woke up for classes the morning after he was 'poisoned' by Professor Snape, he found the man quite unconscious with a suspect bottle and glass lying empty on the table. Potions class had been the worst yet and not just for him. Draco Malfoy, much to Osiris' pleasure, was sent from class for a grand attempt at distracting a Gryffindor girl from completing her potion, which resulted in his own boiling over. Two Hufflepuffs had their work unceremoniously vanished because it was "well beyond poor." And, of course, two minutes into the potion, Osiris himself had his book slammed shut accompanied by a long tirade about not having it memorized. Not that anyone else had to have it memorized… Not that he could have even attempted to memorize it given the state he had been in the previous night.

After having no free time and one all-nighter to study for a Transfiguration theoretical exam, Osiris was thankful that it was Friday and he had just finished his potion for class. He could escape Professor Snape for a few hours and cram for his recitation the next morning; after all, he had been tortured and worked mercilessly by the man all week and Fridays were always days he had spare time.

He peered over at Lavender as he started putting away his materials. She was chewing on her bottom lip in a frustrated way. Perhaps he would see her this afternoon. Sensing his gaze on her she looked up and he mouthed 'meet me after class.' She nodded.

When he turned his eyes back forward and caught the agitated glare the Professor was aiming at him.

Pretending he did not see it, and acting as casually as he could, he cleared his throat and looked down with interest at his materials.

Timing himself carefully, he put the last item in his bag and zipped it closed just as the bell rang. He threw it over his shoulder, intent upon making a quick escape, and was thoroughly thwarted by a low, "Mr. Silver, stay after."

He rolled his eyes and mouthed an obscenity before turning back around looking as placid as possible. His discontent was conveyed by the way he dropped his bag to the floor with aggravation.

They looked at each other blankly as the rest of the class labeled their samples and filed out.

When the last person left, the Professor motioned for Osiris to come up to the desk with a very dangerous curl of his lip.

Osiris, being sleep deprived and overworked, was having a difficult time masking himself and crossed his arms in agitation after walking forward.

In a very low, lethal whisper, the Professor said, "Do you wish to have me take points from my own house for talking during class?"

As coolly as possible, Osiris replied, "No."

Cocking his head to the side, "No…"

"No," Osiris uncrossed his arms.

The man slammed his hands down flat on his desk, always a very bad sign.

"No, sir," Osiris answered again, closing his eyes for a second to collect. Then he added, "And I didn't say anything, sir."

This earned him a dark scowl, "Do not be impertinent, Mr. Silver, with such meaningless specificity. You know very well that a distraction is a distraction. Simply because you are done does not give you free rein over my classroom. Don't do it again."

He bit his tongue and muttered a "yes, sir."

"I will require your assistance this evening with a Wolfsbane potion, as I have a meeting with headmaster, it will need to be attended to from 7 until 10."

"But you've set that oral recitation for tomorrow morning-."

"And surely you did not expect to learn that much material for an oral examination in one night, Mr. Silver, and have been studying it consistently for the last two weeks."

Osiris closed his mouth and set his jaw tightly, this was not boding well.

"I seem to remember someone begging me to give them a chance. Someone who said that they would do whatever it would take. Are you falling back on that so quickly, Osiris? Did you forget what my expectations and rules were? Your attitude recently suggests that you have."

Such a carefully masked statement, but Osiris knew it was a very clear threat. A reminder that the Professor had full license to make his life hell if he so desired.

My attitude recently is due to lack of sleep and a snarky…"No, sir, I'll be here."

A slightly raised eyebrow and a huffy scowl was his dismissal.

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As Osiris rounded the corner, muttering under his breath, he was seized by the wrist. His first instinct was to retaliate, but then he realized quite quickly that the hold was soft and the hand rather small.

"The second lecture of the day?" Lavender asked, innocently, trying to hide her slight smile.

"Likely the second of five if this course keeps on."

"It's not that bad," she said gently, running a soothing hand up his arm.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure, and you don't spend hours a day with him."

"Wouldn't want to, but he seems to like you well enough."

"Like would not be the word that I would use. He's on me all the time, getting a bit annoying really. Honestly, I think he knew I wanted a free night, anticipated that I wanted to spend time with you and then decided that he'd rather thwart that than let me go on."

He leaned his back against the wall, his feet well in front of him, so that he was closer to eye level with her.

"Than we shall simply have to thwart him," she answered, poking him in the chest playfully.

"I can't not show, I'll get into loads of trouble and then I'll probably not be able to keep my calm."

"You cannot not show for Professor Snape tonight, but we can for Professor McGonagall."

"Skivving Transfiguration? You're serious? And what do I say when he finds out that I did that?" he asked, shaking his head, his mouth twisting.

"Come now! Weren't you some sort of troublemaker in your old school? You cannot come up with a good lie?"

Looking a bit furtive, he said in his straightest voice, "Professor, Peeves accosted me in the hallway, saying I sent the Bloody Baron out to get him…by the time I got rid of him and cleaned myself up, class was almost over."

She giggled, "That a good one. Or with that thing between you and Malfoy, you could always say that you got hit with a good curse and had to wait until someone stumbled upon you to do the countercurse."

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Lavender had picked a rather good spot by the Transfiguration classroom for them to consort in private. This way both of them would have been seen on their way to class. However, neither of them counted upon a late student catching a glimpse of them going into one of Filch's closets.

Osiris was so stressed out, he welcomed a good, quiet snog session, although quite honestly his hormones were asking for much more. That was why, against his better discretion, he did not say a word when Lavender began to acquaint herself with his more sensitive areas.

The sound of the doorknob was magnified tenfold to their ears by what they were doing. Lavender jumped up haphazardly, not being careful with him at all, Osiris squinted, bit his lip, and then pulled her in front of him.

Three sets of eyes stared at each other, each set as shocked as the other. That was in the few moments before Professor McGonagall went into a furious tirade, Scottish accent blaring with anger, thick and heavy. It was quite clear that although she had not seen anything explicit, she had seen enough to know what had been transpiring. She yanked Lavender away from him, not that he fought having his shield taken away. He was thankful that robes were very easy that way.

"Never in my years…skiving class to…indecency…ought to be properly ashamed…"

Those were the only words Osiris caught the woman was talking so fast. It was all so surreal that both him and Lavender were in McGonagall's office before he even realized it.

Lavender was crying hysterically on a chair, obviously mortified at being caught in the act. Osiris found himself leaning against the wall, his hand blocking his eyes from the Scottish woman's eyes, thinking that he should comfort Lavender but not really feeling like he could.

In another minutes worth of his thoughts, Professor McGonagall flooed Professor Snape and that really snapped him to his senses.

"Professor, really-." He began to protest, but she cut him off.

"You be quiet! You've done quite enough."

She is really blowing this out of proportion. "We were just kissing Professor, really, we must have lost track of time. We didn't mean to miss class."

McGonagall sent him a glare that immediately shut him up. He was not going to be able to smooth this one over.

Lavender wailed.

Osiris muttered, "Oh Merlin."

A loud, angry knock on the door sent a fresh wave of tears through Lavender. Osiris discretely pinched his nose, muttering again.

He could not imagine a worse scenario, but he had a feeling that at that very moment in time, there was no possible worse scenario.

"Minerva, what is the meaning of this, I have a class to teach."

McGonagall opened the door fully and said, "This concerns one of your students taking advantage of one of mine."

Before thinking better of it, Osiris burst out, "That a lie!"

All that action did was bring Snape's very agitated and slightly confused glare from Lavender Brown, who was the only student he had originally seen, to Osiris. The full weight of that glare was enough to make Osiris feel like sliding right down the wall underneath it.

Sorry for the long break. Death in the family, my sister abruptly almost dying and being on life support, and finals really took their toll. Anyhoo, here's a new chappie. Let me know that you are still out there! I need a pick me up after all of this. I miss u guys. ;-)