"I can find nothing wrong with her, Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey said. "She simply refuses to wake up."
Severus glared at the woman. "Then you're not doing your job!" he roared.
Madam Pomfrey gazed at him coolly. "If you think you can do better, by all means," she said with a sweep of her hand over Luna's unconscious body.
Severus slowed his pacing to glance down at the unconscious Ravenclaw. She looked so peaceful, like she might just be asleep. But she wasn't just asleep; she'd been Crucio'd. His blood boiled with renewed hatred toward Amycus Carrow.
"Why are you so concerned about Miss Lovegood?" Madam Pomfrey asked casually.
"As headmaster, it is my job to look after the students," Severus snapped.
"Of course. All the same, you weren't lurking about when Tilton Fenwick was in here last week after he crashed his broom into the Quidditch stadium. Nor were you terribly concerned when Elizabeth Dinkins was in here in September needing the bones in her leg regrown," she observed.
Severus stopped pacing altogether now. He glared at the mediwitch who stared right back coldly. "Those were not damages inflicted by an Unforgivable Curse," he hissed. "Ask Longbottom what happens to people who are subjected to the Cruciatus curse for extended periods of time."
Color rose in Madam Pomfrey's cheeks. "You didn't seem to have a problem with Unforgivable Curses last year," she retorted sharply.
"Watch. Your. Tongue. Or you may lose it. Alert me at once when Miss Lovegood wakes."
With a swish of his cloaks, he left the hospital wing.
Severus was lost in thoughts of Luna when he approached his office. He almost didn't notice Alecto standing there with Blaise Zabini by the arm.
"What is it?" he growled.
"Caught this one putting hexes on my classroom door. Professor specific hexes so when I walked through I'd be hit with a dozen at once. As you can see, I've already inflicted some of my own punishment, but I thought I'd bring him along to you, Headmaster," Alecto said sweetly, giving a less than subtle bat of her eyes.
This was not the first time Severus had the suspicion that Alecto was flirting with him, but the thought sent a wave of nausea through him. He couldn't imagine ever touching something so vile. Then he realized that must be what most witches thought of him.
He turned to Blaise who was ashen faced and sporting a nose bleed.
"I'll take it from here," he said dismissively. He whispered the password to the stone gargoyle and then grabbed Blaise by his arm and hauled him up the stairs and into the headmaster's office.
Severus sighed as he regarded the seventh-year boy across from him. Blaise, though clearly exhausted, was sporting the sort of aloof attitude only Slytherins could achieve. He glared defiantly at a spot on the floor.
"You going to hit me with another crucio?" Blaise snapped after a moment of silence.
"What were you thinking?" Severus asked on a sigh. "The Carrows are my deputies. You never would have hexed my doors."
Blaise shifted in his seat and muttered something Severus could not hear.
"Speak up boy!"
Blaise raised his head to glare at Severus. "You, at least, were always fair to us."
That caught Severus off guard. He couldn't remember ever being called fair before.
"You… you didn't single out the half-bloods," Blaise finally whispered.
The truth of the matter hit him them. Severus wrestled with this information for a long time before he spoke again.
"You will serve detention in the Forbidden Forest with Professor Hagrid. I suggest, Mr. Zabini, that you have a conversation with Ginerva Weasley."
Blaise stared blankly at Severus. "Why one earth would I want to associate with a Weasley?"
"Because, aside from that incident at the beginning to the year, Miss Weasley manages to stay out of trouble," Severus growled. Was the boy so thick that he could not see the hint Severus was throwing him?
"But…"
"She will help you Stay. Out. Of. Trouble," Severus cut across him. "Now get out."
Severus escorted Blaise down the spiral staircase. Hannah Abbott was standing next to the stone gargoyle as they emerged. She glared at Severus with more hate than he thought Hufflepuffs were capable of.
"Madam Pomfrey says Luna is awake," she told him curtly before spinning on her heel and leaving.
Two days later, Luna was working on homework in the library when Ginny rushed up to her table looking slightly disconcerted.
"You're not going to believe who wants to meet me in private," she redhead whispered. "Blaise Zabini!"
Luna frowned, trying to place the name. "A Slytherin?"
Ginny nodded. "Yeah, he slipped me a note in between classes this morning. What do you think he wants?"
"Dunno," Luna replied honestly.
"Do you feel up to coming with me? In case it's some kind of trap. Neville is coming too."
"Of course. I feel just fine," Luna said irritably.
Everyone had been treating her very carefully since she passed out in Dark Arts, as if she were very fragile. Worse, Severus had not come to see her. On the contrary, he seemed to be avoiding her and he seemed quite angry when she did see him at the staff table in the Great Hall.
Luna had not told anyone about seeing her mum.
"Okay, okay," Ginny said. "Sorry. We're meeting tonight at nine pm in Frienze's classroom. The Carrows actively avoid him. I think they're a little intimidated."
That evening at precisely nine, Blaise slipped into the Divination classroom. Luna, Ginny, and Neville were waiting for him. He eyed all three of them suspiciously.
"I thought I was just meeting with Ginny," he said cautiously.
"I didn't trust you," Ginny answered. "What do you want?"
Blaise seemed to be considering his words. "I… I was told you could help me stay out of trouble."
Neville frowned. "We're not terribly good at that. I've been in loads of trouble over the years."
"Never mind. This was stupid." Blaise turned to leave.
"Wait! Who told you I could help you stay out of trouble?" Ginny asked.
Again, Blaise seemed to be weighing his words. Finally he sighed and said, "The headmaster."
Ginny and Neville gaped at him. Luna snapped to attention. "When did he tell you this?" she asked.
"Couple days ago. I was in his office. I was in trouble." Blaise shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"What were you in trouble for?" Luna prodded.
"I got caught putting hexes on Alecto's door okay? Is that what you needed to know?"
The three looked at each other in surprise.
"Why would you do that?" Neville asked slowly.
"Do you know what the password is to Slytherin? It's been the same password since my second year when that Chamber of Secrets nonsense happed." Ginny blushed at this but Blaise didn't seem to notice. He was on a roll now. "It's 'Pureblood'. Do you know what I'm not? A fucking Pureblood. And you know, it didn't really matter in the early years because I'd been sorted into Slytherin and despite what the rest of you think, we're pretty close. But things have been changing lately. I have pureblood friends whose parents won't let them associate with me anymore and I have muggle family members that I'd rather not see killed."
The four of them stood in silence.
"But you're mum's a famously beautiful witch. That's why you were in the Slug Club last year," Ginny pointed out.
Blaise snorted. "Yeah, my mum's a famous witch all right. On husband number seven. Two out of seven have been muggles. I belong to one of them."
Finally, Ginny nodded in understanding.
"Okay. Yeah, we can help you stay out of trouble. Congratulations, you're the first Slytherin member of Dumbledore's Army," she told him, rummaging around in her bag for a piece of paper. "Sign this."
"What is it?" he asked cautiously, taking the paper and quill from Ginny's out stretched hand.
"A contract. You're not to speak about the D.A. to anyone. This binds you from ratting us out. We'll teach you Defense Against the Dark Arts spells and you can help us create a little extra havoc for the Carrows. We've got a pretty good system going."
Blaise nodded. "You should know that Crabbe and Goyle have taken the Dark Mark. I think Pansy is close to as well. But they're crazy because I've seen what it's done to Draco."
It was Ginny's turn to snort. "Yeah? what's it done to that arsehole?"
It was Luna who answered. "It broke him."
Ginny blinked at her friend. "What?'
"Yeah. He won't associate with anyone. He just goes through the motions. I don't think he sleeps much. He used to have the second best grades in school, behind Granger, but he doesn't even try anymore," Blaise told them as he scribbled his name on the list of D.A. members.
"Here's the deal, this coin will tell you when the next meeting is. As you're the only Slytherin, I don't think it'd be wise to come to every meeting. But our next one is Saturday at six o'clock," Ginny told him, handing over a fake gold galleon.
Blaise turned the coin over in his hand. "How long have you been at this?"
Neville grinned. "Since Umbridge. Of course, the stakes are a bit higher now."
Blaise looked at them all with a sort of newfound respect. "Okay," he said simply.
After he'd left Ginny rounded on Luna. "Snape sent him to us? Why would he do that?"
Neville glanced between the two girls. "Why would Luna know what Snape's thinking?"
"No reason," both girls answered sharply.
Ginny gave Luna one last disapproving glare before walking away.