-The Graveyard, Chapter Thirty Six-

CECILY POV

I woke up early the next morning, shaking. I had terrible nightmares last night, but I couldn't remember a single one other than the usual dream, not a fact, or a face, nothing. I swiftly got dressed and packed my bag. It was a Potions day, a day I was actually looking forward to. Snape had never seen me (Dad wouldn't let him), and he had switched to Defense against the Dark Arts this year, and a Professor Slughorn was teaching potions. I would never have to see him in a classroom, which cheered me up.

Hermione woke up and I waited for her to get ready, quietly observing the group of girls in the farthest corner from me, whispering and laughing, frequently looking my way. I ignored it and soon forgot about it as Hermione and I joined the boys in the Great Hall. The sky was a perfect cloudless blue today, no traces of last nights storm remained.

I shot an uncertain glance at the Slytherin table as I sat down, and was immersed in the current conversation. "Cecily, there you are, from what I've heard, you've got a way with a broom." Ron said energetically, and I threw a dirty look at Harry, who grinned.

"Harry seems to think so." I said, and gave myself a portion of eggs that made him frown. He still thought I should be eating more, but I was fine, he was just being overprotective. "But I don't have a broom, and I have no skills whatsoever. All I did was get on the thing." I took a bite of eggs as they huddled again, talking heatedly.

"You should totally try out, I am; I played last year." Ginny said, swinging into a seat beside me, making me jump. I shrugged.

"How flexible are you?" George asked from the current argument the boys were having. I raised an eyebrow, fully intending that to be my answer, but Ginny started talking.

"She's as flexible as hell." Ginny said from my other side, and it was her turn for the dirty look, which she didn't even see. She was gesturing wildly with her fork. "I'm serious, you should have seen her get something from underneath the table, I can't remember what it was, but she just bent in half like presto." She said, and I ducked as she shot her hands into the air to prove her point, nearly hitting me in the side of the face.

"Oh, sorry…anyway, yeah, buck up Cecily. Take the credit." She said, finally seeing my glare.

"Well, everyone can bend in half and touch the floor, that doesn't count—" I said while Hermione snorted, turning pink.

"Oh, yeah, sure, that's something everything can do." She said sarcastically, not helping at all. "I can't even touch my toes, much less the floor." She continued, shocking me.

"Seriously? I thought everyone could you know, touch the floor." I said, and she shook her head and opened a book. I turned unwillingly back to the boys. "What position would I play, anyway? Harry's Seeker, and I will not be Keeper, it's too dangerous." I said firmly.

"We could use some Chasers." Harry said eagerly. I forgot he was Quidditch Captain this year. "Ginny's trying out for Chaser too, you wouldn't be alone. They need to be fast and flexible, and from what I've heard, you are both." George spoke up. I forgot the twins were the Beaters. Lovely.

"Well, again, I don't have a broom, so you're out of luck. Besides, the games we played with apples and stuff in the backyard is nowhere near a Quidditch game." I said. They had convinced me to play as a Chaser during the summer, using one of the older brooms. Thinking back now, there were several warning signs that they were going to do this…

"Don't be so sure." Fred said with a nasty grin as the bell rang.

"Don't you dare." I said, glaring at all of the boys as we walked out. I didn't know what they were planning, but the twins' planning anything was never any good. Fred and George split off with Ginny, and I followed Ron, Harry and Hermione to Potions.

Professor Slughorn was nice enough, very grand and pompous, but nice. I was really interested in Potions; it was the most interesting class I could take. He set us to work making a potion Draught of Death, which didn't make me happy. He said the best potion would win some sort of luck potion, but I wasn't interested in winning, I was interested in passing.

I started slow, lighting my cauldron's water to boil, and read the directions three times. I was dead nervous, and my hands were shaking. For some reason, I had no trouble identifying ingredients, so I was doing ok, for the moment.

I started measuring Armadillo Bile when the dungeon door opened, and Snape strode in, smirking. I instantly realized why Harry and most of my family and friends hated him. His eyes were black and held no happiness or spark, and long, greasy strands of hair fell down in his face and around his shoulders.

I yelped as bile flowed onto my fingers, I hadn't been paying attention. Resisting the urge to curse (it was a terrible habit the boys were starting to press on me), I grabbed a rag and wiped off my fingers, and then carefully poured the extra in the bottle, ignoring Snape at all costs.

"Snape! Welcome, welcome, what can I do for you?!" Slughorn said excitedly, a stark contrast to Snape himself.

"I simply came to see how your first class as Potions master is coming along." He said silkily, glancing around the room. I looked down as his gaze got close, and read my next directions, pouring the bile in. My potion hissed and turned black, the color it was supposed to be, which surprised me. I felt eyes on me and looked up, to see Snape staring at me strangely from across the room, an unreadable expression on his face. Slughorn was babbling at his side, oblivious to the fact that he wasn't listening. I bit my lip and looked back at my directions.

I was on my last step, and had no idea what it meant. I wasn't about to ask Hermione, she was looking quite frustrated, her hair poofing in the warming room. I glanced at Ron, who was frowning and stirring what looked like cement, and then I looked over at Harry, who seemed absorbed in his book. Fantastic.

What was a dried spine of lion fish? I had never heard of it, and it wasn't in my kit. Also, what was the difference between powdered and dried? I went to the cupboard, feeling Snape's eyes on me. Distractedly, I peeked in the cupboard, and found a small amount, so I took what I needed and scurried back to my seat, hopping nimbly over Malfoy's quickly outstretched leg; he was trying to trip me.

Did I mention he was in this class, and had been shooting me death glares the whole time? Well, he was. "One minute!" Slughorn called, so I quickly went to pour it in. Everyone else was done, and Hermione grabbed my wrist before I poured it in.

"What are you adding? Its powdered spine of lion fish not dried." She said tiredly. I showered her the book, it was dried, not powdered, and a look of horror crossed her face as I added my dried spine of lion fish. I had no idea if there was a difference, but from the look on Hermione's face, there was.

The potion started to get a tiny fog across the top as Slughorn started coming around. His test was dropping a leaf in, which would instantly curl up and die, turning to ash, if the potion was correct. Snape's eyes were making me even more nervous, so I held my right hand firmly in my left, trying to minimize the shaking. Hermione was looking bad; she was currently losing to Harry, which I could tell bugged her.

I bowed my head, my nervousness reaching a peak as Slughorn dropped the leaf in mine. And after a moment, he started clapping, making me flinch.

"I think we have a winner, well done!" He said, and the class reluctantly joined in, making me keep my eyes glued to the floor. "I believe this belongs to you." He held out the tiny clear vial, and I took it, but he grabbed my wrist, and examined my left hand, planting a kiss on it.

My face had frozen, I was trying madly to keep his soul information out, I really didn't want to know anything; but pulling away would be rude. "Fascinating, congratulations." He said, finally dropping my hand. I smiled weakly at him and started to pack up quickly with the rest of the class. Snape was still watching me.

Hermione vanished my potion, trying to flatten her hair. I rolled the vial across the table to Harry, who rolled it back. "Take it, I don't want it. I owe you." I said, and he slowly took it, with a mix of excitement and sadness on his face.

"You don't owe me anything…listen, will you be ok?" He asked. I suddenly realized that I would be in this room all day, with the exception of lunch. Uneasiness crept into my stomach, but I ignored it.

"Of course, I won't get lost, and Potions isn't so hard." I reassured him, and myself. He bought it though, and left, shooting glances behind him. I stayed where I was, trying to keep my shaking hands under control. I looked down at the floor, letting my short hair provide some cover as students began to file in.

"Cecily." A voice said suddenly, making me jump. I looked up, and it was Snape. The blood drained from my face, making me slightly angry inside. He shouldn't inspire fear in me. I shouldn't have to be afraid.

He stared at my face as if he had never seen the sun before, and it was making me nervous. "Yes?" I asked, my voice softer than ever in my fear. Snape's face twisted at the sound of my voice, staring me. It looked like I was causing him pain.

"Congratulations." He said quietly, and strode quickly out of the dungeon. I sat there, totally shocked. From what I had heard, Snape was supposed to be a heartless git, but here he was, being perfectly polite, and talking to me nicely, unlike Harry, who was supposedly bad-mouthed by him.

"What did he say to you?" An angry voice said in my ear. It was one of the twins, and the other was coming over, looking furious. I blinked, still surprised.

"Yeah, he was looking at you funny, like you were some sort of priceless artifact or something, the git." Said the other as he sat down on my other side, his expression stormy.

"Nothing." I said, still dazed, my voice even quieter with my new emotion. "He congratulated me." I said, and I saw the twins exchange looks. I continued staring at the spot Snape had been.

"And he wasn't sarcastic or mean at all." I said in wonder, and before the twins could say anything, class started. Slughorn talked for a few minutes, and then set the class out on a more difficult potion.

I was about to start it, but the twins started interrogating me. "He wasn't mean or anything? He didn't say anything that didn't make sense?" One of them asked, and I realized he was George, I finally remembered, he had been wearing the blue sweater today.

"Well, besides the obvious congratulations, which is supposedly completely out of character for him, no. He was acting strange though, he was looking at me like I was the sun, and he had never seen it before. It was strange." I said, starting my potion, my hands shaking again.

The twins grumbled the whole class, unhappy to be back after their 'grand escape' last year. Supposedly, they had to retake everything they missed last year, which was about half a year. (I just realized, the twins are supposed to be gone, so bear with me here.)

I managed to complete the 7th year potion with no problems, but it wasn't fantastic. Slughorn was impressed though. The twins swore with a vengeance to get to the bottom of the 'Snape Mystery'.

Slughorn's next class was with some fifth years, and that pleased me, Ginny would be in this class. The 5th year potion was easy, I actually helped Ginny with hers, and we chatted the whole time. I mentioned the Snape thing, and her reaction was very much like the twins. She said that would be the topic at lunch, which was next.

She practically dragged me there, and Harry was waiting, his face as dark as a thundercloud. Uh oh.