10.
Snape couldn't sleep. It was something he was used to, he had suffered from insomnia since he was a child; usually he would get up and read - there was something satisfying about being awake when the rest of the school was asleep. But tonight he couldn't settle. Images chased through his fertile brain: he saw Claudia, her face alight with exquisite malice, the mark on Vivian's wrist and her white unconscious face, the wall where Mrs Norris had been found, bearing the message of the heir's return.
He was annoyed with himself. He had acted foolishly, he thought as he stared into the small fire in his bedroom. He was ashamed of loosing his temper with Lorna; usually he prided himself on his self-control. It had also been a cruel act, to humiliate her in front of the class. He felt a small pang of remorse, which he quickly suppressed.
The truth was, Lorna reminded him vividly of those girls who had laughed at him when he had been at school, who had made fun of his greasy hair and love of books. He had remembered the lonely hours spent at school balls, watching the others dancing: this had caused him to lash out.
Snape stood up, and got back into bed. Insomnia or not, he needed his rest if he was going to begin research into the curse tomorrow. He looked round his room, which was a pleasant, homely place, rather at odds with the gloom of his office, but there was no one to realise this - Snape kept his apartment in Hogwarts very private. On his desk he had a picture of Claudia, which he had never been able to bring himself to throw away, although it pained him every time he looked at it.
How can you prefer loving her memory, which is agony, to loving anyone else?
The question slid into his brain as if someone had spoken it. Irritably he told himself to be quiet, but the question continued to haunt him, even into his dreams.
*
In the dormitory, Vivian, Harriet and Diana were also awake. They were sitting on a rug in the middle of the room, wrapped in their duvets. Harriet and Diana had been first incredulous and then livid at the way Snape had treated Lorna, and after Vivian had played Lorna to sleep, they decided to think up a way to pay him and Marcus Fowler back.
"Why don't we just curse them both?" Diana asked in an angry whisper.
Harriet nodded enthusiastically, but Vivian was more sceptical.
"If we do that, who do you think they're going to suspect?" she demanded. "Everyone knows about what happened to Lorna, and Snape's not exactly our favourite teacher, is he?"
"So what do you have in mind then?" Harriet asked eagerly.
"I don't know." Said Vivian, "Something so that we don't get caught, obviously."
"So curse Snape and make it look like Marcus did it." Harriet suggested.
"Of course!" Diana said.
"I still don't understand why he just dumped Lorna like that." Vivian said thoughtfully, "Why would he ask her out in the first place?"
"Who cares?" Diana said, "We need to come up with a plan, not sit here talking about him."
Vivian put the question out of her mind, and began thinking about how they could get revenge on Snape. This was easier said than done: half an hour later, the three of them were still without a plan. Eventually they decided to sleep on it.
"Whatever it is, it has to be really clever," said Diana, "something appropriate."
"So them up on a blind date ..." said Harriet, ".with each other!"
"Yuck!" said Diana, "I really don't want to picture that!"
"I don't know," said Vivian, "I think they're made for each other!"
After the others had fallen asleep, Vivian sat in bed, thinking. She could afford to be up late, as she would be spending the next day in bed anyway: Madam Pomfrey was completely stumped by her symptoms and had decided that she should stay in bed as a safety measure, especially since soup and fruit was all Vivian could manage to eat without vomiting.
What had happened to Lorna mattered more to Vivian than to the others. Lorna was her first real friend after all; she was also angry with herself for the small stab of attraction she had felt towards Marcus at first, who, as she reminded herself sternly, had never even shown the slightest interest in her. Vivian decided that the plan would be her own. And it would be clever, diabolically clever. Hopefully Snape would know it was she who had done it, but he wouldn't be able to prove anything. This thought pleased her.
She sat there for about half an hour, completely motionless, staring into nothingness whilst her brain worked. Then at last she lay back on the bed with a small sigh of satisfaction.
"'Tis engendered." She said to herself with a grim smile, and fell asleep immediately, amused by her own ability to quote Shakespeare at moments of crisis.
*
Vivian could afterwards remember little of her dream. She was standing in the forbidden forest; a unicorn lay before her with its head on her lap. She was gripping something metallic and cold. Then suddenly all she could see was the moonlight gleaming on her violin, so that it gleamed blood red. And then she saw Dumbledore's face, and heard him say: "Severus, she's -"
And then nothing.
Snape couldn't sleep. It was something he was used to, he had suffered from insomnia since he was a child; usually he would get up and read - there was something satisfying about being awake when the rest of the school was asleep. But tonight he couldn't settle. Images chased through his fertile brain: he saw Claudia, her face alight with exquisite malice, the mark on Vivian's wrist and her white unconscious face, the wall where Mrs Norris had been found, bearing the message of the heir's return.
He was annoyed with himself. He had acted foolishly, he thought as he stared into the small fire in his bedroom. He was ashamed of loosing his temper with Lorna; usually he prided himself on his self-control. It had also been a cruel act, to humiliate her in front of the class. He felt a small pang of remorse, which he quickly suppressed.
The truth was, Lorna reminded him vividly of those girls who had laughed at him when he had been at school, who had made fun of his greasy hair and love of books. He had remembered the lonely hours spent at school balls, watching the others dancing: this had caused him to lash out.
Snape stood up, and got back into bed. Insomnia or not, he needed his rest if he was going to begin research into the curse tomorrow. He looked round his room, which was a pleasant, homely place, rather at odds with the gloom of his office, but there was no one to realise this - Snape kept his apartment in Hogwarts very private. On his desk he had a picture of Claudia, which he had never been able to bring himself to throw away, although it pained him every time he looked at it.
How can you prefer loving her memory, which is agony, to loving anyone else?
The question slid into his brain as if someone had spoken it. Irritably he told himself to be quiet, but the question continued to haunt him, even into his dreams.
*
In the dormitory, Vivian, Harriet and Diana were also awake. They were sitting on a rug in the middle of the room, wrapped in their duvets. Harriet and Diana had been first incredulous and then livid at the way Snape had treated Lorna, and after Vivian had played Lorna to sleep, they decided to think up a way to pay him and Marcus Fowler back.
"Why don't we just curse them both?" Diana asked in an angry whisper.
Harriet nodded enthusiastically, but Vivian was more sceptical.
"If we do that, who do you think they're going to suspect?" she demanded. "Everyone knows about what happened to Lorna, and Snape's not exactly our favourite teacher, is he?"
"So what do you have in mind then?" Harriet asked eagerly.
"I don't know." Said Vivian, "Something so that we don't get caught, obviously."
"So curse Snape and make it look like Marcus did it." Harriet suggested.
"Of course!" Diana said.
"I still don't understand why he just dumped Lorna like that." Vivian said thoughtfully, "Why would he ask her out in the first place?"
"Who cares?" Diana said, "We need to come up with a plan, not sit here talking about him."
Vivian put the question out of her mind, and began thinking about how they could get revenge on Snape. This was easier said than done: half an hour later, the three of them were still without a plan. Eventually they decided to sleep on it.
"Whatever it is, it has to be really clever," said Diana, "something appropriate."
"So them up on a blind date ..." said Harriet, ".with each other!"
"Yuck!" said Diana, "I really don't want to picture that!"
"I don't know," said Vivian, "I think they're made for each other!"
After the others had fallen asleep, Vivian sat in bed, thinking. She could afford to be up late, as she would be spending the next day in bed anyway: Madam Pomfrey was completely stumped by her symptoms and had decided that she should stay in bed as a safety measure, especially since soup and fruit was all Vivian could manage to eat without vomiting.
What had happened to Lorna mattered more to Vivian than to the others. Lorna was her first real friend after all; she was also angry with herself for the small stab of attraction she had felt towards Marcus at first, who, as she reminded herself sternly, had never even shown the slightest interest in her. Vivian decided that the plan would be her own. And it would be clever, diabolically clever. Hopefully Snape would know it was she who had done it, but he wouldn't be able to prove anything. This thought pleased her.
She sat there for about half an hour, completely motionless, staring into nothingness whilst her brain worked. Then at last she lay back on the bed with a small sigh of satisfaction.
"'Tis engendered." She said to herself with a grim smile, and fell asleep immediately, amused by her own ability to quote Shakespeare at moments of crisis.
*
Vivian could afterwards remember little of her dream. She was standing in the forbidden forest; a unicorn lay before her with its head on her lap. She was gripping something metallic and cold. Then suddenly all she could see was the moonlight gleaming on her violin, so that it gleamed blood red. And then she saw Dumbledore's face, and heard him say: "Severus, she's -"
And then nothing.