The Hallway: Skin color doesn't matter
Author's Notes: Hello, sugar bunnies. You're back again, are you? Well, I hope you like this chapter, because I worked hard on it at...uhh...3:40am. That's right! I couldn't get any sleep until I wrote this! So here you go..enjoy!
It was not an easy night. I should make that clear here and now. The floor was cold, so cold, but not colder than the stare of Professor Snape. That constant glare from his eyes was enough to freeze me in some sort of stupor forever. Except I like to think that I'm stronger than that. That I can overcome little things like a glare. I tried.
I suceeded.
He hates me now. I don't care.
When the other Slytherin's came out of the portrait hole, I knew I could get up. I had beaten him, and he retreated. Though there was no white flag waving.
I took my time getting to breakfast. I wasn't really eager to sit with my other classmates, and feel the steely glare of Professor Snape on the back of my neck. I dawdled.
When I arrived in the dining room, everyone was gathered around the Slytherin table. They all made way for me. This was a bad sign.
When I got to the center of this gathering, I noticed a trunk. It must have gotten there by owl. I was now sorry I had taken so long to arrive. Seeing a bunch of owls come flying in with this would have been hilarious. I leaned over the trunk and noticed a letter with someone's name on it. It's said Sarah.
Professor Dumbledore made his way to the center and stood next to me. "I think it's for you," he said quietly. I nodded. Of course.
I picked up the letter. So my name was Sarah. I liked that name. It was a lot better than "Miss" at any rate. I wonder if the letter would tell me who I was.
I opened the letter. Here's what it said:
Here are your belongings. You may or may not have other things.
Sincerely,
Us
Us??? Geez, I hope I'm not related to these people. I might as well walk around and have people call me "you" or "me" or "I". How stupid could you possibly be?
I made the trunk, rise. It rose until it was chest level with me. Then I turned and walked out of the room. I wanted...no...I needed a shower. The trunk followed.
My name is Sarah, and I'm beginning to remember.
*********************************
That night I was getting ready for bed. When I walked out into the big bedroom, the four other girls were waiting there, looking at me. Well, Patricia was biting her lip. She usually does though.
"Hey, Sarah," Pansy said. She had a goblet in her hand. "We feel bad about everything that's happened to you, and so we made you this!" she thrust the goblet at me.
I looked at her warily.
"Go on! You can drink it. We aren't trying to poison you!" she giggled.
Well. That's exactly what I thought.
I drank from the goblet anyway. I drank all of it.
I went to bed.
I wasn't too surprised the next morning when I woke up and discovered that...my hands were green. In fact, my whole body was green. Except for my hair. What a neat effect.
The other girls had woken up too. They were now laughing hysterically. Except for Patricia. She was trying to laugh. She had always wanted to fit in. Well, they weren't going to get a reaction from me. What did they expect me to do? Cry? Laugh? Shout at them?
Ha.
I got dressed and went down to breakfast with my head up. Hopefully, this spell would wear off.
Everyone stared at me when I walked into the dining room. I had expected this, but it was still unnerving. The entire Slytherin table was laughing...hard. I hope they choke on their porridge.
That girl...Hermione??..came over to me. "You can sit with us," she said.
I nodded.
I sat with the Gryffindors. They said things to make me feel better.
"It'll wear off, don't worry!"
"The Slytherin's are always horrible!"
and my personal favorite: "Green is your color anyway!"
I laughed at that one. My laughter seemed to surprise everyone. They fell silent.
"I didn't think you made sounds," one girl said. I smiled. I shrugged.
I was feeling better.
Professor Snape came over. Now I was feeling queasy.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor for this obviously ploy for attention!" he spat...literally..at me. "Detention, Miss..Sarah! Report to Filch tonight for your duty."
Uhhhh....Gryffindor? Had he been paying attention at all this morning? He walked back to his table. I think Professor McGonagall talked him out of taking the points away, but I still had detention...
Oh.
Well.
What was it going to be this time? Scrubbing the floors? Polishing trophies? Brushing the cat????
Gasp. Not the cat!
They can't scare me.
****************************
Well, well.
So here I am. Sitting in front of the Slytherin portrait, on my trunk, and to top it all off, I'm soaking wet (though my green skin coloring did wear off). Let me try to start at the beginning. You know how I love beginnings.
When I went to Filch's office earlier this evening, he was waiting for me with a spade and a bucket. He was wearing a rain coat.
"We're digging for regular ol' earth worms tonight," he said, grinning at me. He shoved the bucket and spade at me. "Let's get going outside. The sooner we start, the longer I can keep you out there."
Now, you may have thought that the rain coat would be a tip off. I, however, was surprised to find that it was pouring outside. And I had thought rain coats were just a new fad....
So I dug. And dug. And dug. And then for a change of pace, I dug some more. When I got back inside, I was sopping wet and muddy, but I smelled like rain. A small plus. I rounded the corner to the Slytherin dormitory and spied my trunk. It was just sitting there in the open. I ran to it and looked inside. I couldn't tell if anything had been tampered with or not. I hadn't had that close of a look at my clothes and such. A note was stuck on the top it. It said:
Dear Miss Sarah-
We kicked you out of the dormitory, because we're dumb, stupid prats who wouldn't know a good person if they tripped us in the street and made us fall on our fat asses.
Sincerely,
The stupid nitwits who live in this dormitory
Well, that's what it said in my mind.
So that pretty much brings you up to the present. I'm utterly miserable sitting here in this dank, cold hallway, but where else am I going to go?
I hear footsteps coming from down the hall. Getting up and sneaking to the corner, I peer around the side and see Professor Snape walking his evening rounds. I go and sit back down on my trunk and fold my arms. I try to think of something amusing. I wonder if Professor Snape has a theme song he plays in his head when he's hunting down truant children? I imagine it would go something like, "I have a lovely bunch of coconuts...deedley dee..."
He turned the corner and spotted me. Not that I was hard to miss.
"Miss Sarah," he said, raising an eyebrow.
I raised my eyebrow right back at him. Then I raised the other.
He wasn't amused.
"What are you doing in the hallway after hours?" he growled at me.
I ran through my options. Nod, shake my head, or shrug my shoulders...none of those options fit. So I just looked down at my sodden feet. I was so cold.
I am weak.
"Why are you not in your dormitory?" he said, advancing towards me. I thrust the letter at him, and he read it. After he was done, he said, "Well, it serves you right." I looked at him. My hair was matted to the sides of my face. I was muddy, I was wet, and I must have looked extremely pathetic, because the next thing out of his mouth was, "Well, get up then. Follow me, and don't dawdle."
So what did I do?
I dawdled.
Actually, I didn't move at first. I just listened to his footsteps fade away. Then I got up, leviated my trunk, and ran down the hall after him. Like I said before, I am weak.
I paused at the door to his chambers. I hung back as he unlocked his door, and walked in. He left the door wide open. So I followed him in. I figured, if he had wanted me to wait in the hallway he would have said so.
I stood nervously in the doorway, waiting for a sudden burst of rage to push me back into the hall. But all Snape said was, "There's a bathroom in there. Go...take a bath, wash up...whatever."
With that he dismissed me.
So I bathed, dressed in warm clothes, wrapped myself in my old cloak, and sat down in front of his fireplace. As I looked around, I noticed that Professor Snape didn't really have a bad set of rooms. There was a fireplace (duh) in the main part of the large chamber, with a sofa, and two chairs surrounding a rug, which was placed on the hearth of the fireplace. On the rug was a small table with a couple of books on it. Around the room were other sorts of end tables with other things on them. Pots and jars of things...more books. There were also about fifteen books shelves. At the far end of the room was huge four poster bed, with a forest green cover, and fluffy, oh-so-soft pillows laying on top of nice...soft sheets...
I think I'm tired.
I laid down in front of the fireplace. I had only meant to close my eyes until Snape came back from the bathroom, but I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, it was very early in the morning. I was still laying next to the fire place, but with a blanket on me now too, instead of just my cloak. That wasn't what made me wary though. What made me wary was what I heard.
I heard him.
Snape.
He was in his bed, sleeping like a baby, and breathing (very) deeply.
That dragon.
And I was in his lair.