18.
Vivian pushed open the door cautiously. Snape was sat at his desk, a mound of papers in front of him.
"Don't pester me." He said irritably, without looking up. "The report hasn't come."
"I was just wondering; it's been quite a while."
"Well it hasn't arrived yet. I'll tell you when it does. Now please leave me in peace."
Vivian rolled her eyes in exasperation and left, banging the door behind her as loudly as possible.
Snape felt a sudden surge of guilt. It had been two days since he had discovered the purple envelope and what it contained. He had read the report with disbelief and a sense of dread. Since then he had become more nervous and harassed than ever. He had not told anyone what he had discovered, not even Professor McGonagall, whom he was afraid of worrying even more.
She doesn't need this now, he thought, and I certainly can't tell Vivian. The last thing we need is a hysterical teenager to deal with.
He regretted Dumbledore's departure even more than usual at that moment. Dumbledore, he reflected, would have known exactly what to do; he would have known whether or not Vivian should be told. He felt a faint pity for her, for what he knew she would have to endure.
Snape shrugged. It was done now. There was no point in causing a disturbance with matters as they were. He checked the draw of his desk was locked before he left for his next class.
He had not reckoned with Vivian taking matters into her own hands.
She had been irritated and puzzled by the delay; surely it didn't take this long to analyse a blood sample? She was grumbling about this for the umpteenth time in late June when Lorna suddenly said
"Why don't you write and ask them why they're taking so long?"
"Yeah, do something about it instead of just winging to us." Diana added crossly. She had become more irritable since Harriet had left.
"Maybe I will." Vivian said.
A week later she came up to her friends as they played wizard chess in the common room holding a letter and looking puzzled.
"What?" Lorna asked, catching Vivian's expression.
"Check." Diana said, without looking up.
"I wrote to St Mungo's to ask what was taking them so long." Vivian said.
"And?"
"And they wrote back and said that they'd sent the report weeks ago by one of their fastest owls."
Diana and Lora both stopped playing to look at her.
"I think they got the results and they're awful, and they're not telling me because Dumbledore's not here or something." Diana and Lorna exchanged worried looks; Vivian had clearly worked herself up into a state.
"Don't be such a pessimist." Lorna said uneasily, "You don't know what the results are."
"Why else would they lie to me?"
They were both silent. After a pause, Lorna said
"Sit down." Vivian sat down obediently in a nearby armchair. The worry seemed to have brought on an attack; she was shivering and even paler than usual. "You look terrible." Lorna said in concern, "Do you want some of that tea stuff you're taking?"
Vivian nodded.
A few minutes later, a cup of tea warm and comforting in her hands, she was able to make a decision.
"I'm going to ask Professor McGonagall about it."
"Snape, you mean." Lorna said. Diana and Vivian turned to look at her. "Well Snape's doing all the school mail, isn't he? Didn't you hear him grumbling about in potions?"
"So I'll go talk to Snape." Vivian said.
"Rather you than me." Diana said. "He's been really stressed recently, in case you haven't noticed. Can you imagine how he'll react if you accuse him of lying?"
"I think you'd better wait until they catch Slytherin's heir, or until Snape's more cheerful, whichever comes first." Lorna said.
"I don't have to talk to him." Vivian said, "I could just search his office."
"Are you MENTAL?" Lorna almost shrieked, causing several nearby Ravenclaws to look up at her reproachfully. "You must be mad," she continued in a quieter tone, "Snape's already got it in for you, and his office is probably booby trapped or something."
Diana nodded her agreement. Vivian sighed.
"Fine." She said resignedly. She'd just have to do it alone.
It was several days before she could think of a way to get into Snape's office; she knew that he sealed his office with a spell at night, and anyway she'd had enough of midnight escapades, so she decided to carry out the search during the day. It was easy to find an excuse to be in Snape's office if she was caught: she could just say that she'd wanted to ask him whether the test results had come from St Mungo's. It was harder however to find a way in which she could get in there and have time to make a search.
At length she decided that the best thing to do would be to pretend to be particularly ill (which wasn't hard to do, her health still being extremely poor) and then slip out of the dormitory when her year had potions with Snape. That way she could count on Snape being out of the way, as well as her friends, who were keeping a watchful eye on her.
The possibility of meeting Slytherin's heir as she roamed the school alone had occurred to her, but she decided it was worth the risk.
Two days later, it was time to put her plan into action. Everything seemed to go as planned; she managed to convince Madam Pomfrey that she needed a day off school, which wasn't difficult, and she was able to sneak through the deserted corridors to Snape's office, which she had gambled on being unlocked during the day.
She had been right: the door swung open easily. The room was silent and empty. She had an uncomfortable feeling of being watched as she locked the door behind her and begun to search hurriedly through the papers on Snape's desk. There was nothing. Then she tried the drawers. One of them opened easily, but was full of paper, envelopes and ink, stored, she noticed, with fanatical tidiness.
She tried the second drawer. It wouldn't budge. Vivian drew out her wand from her pocket.
"Alohomora!" she whispered urgently. The draw remained obstinately closed. Apparently Snape had sealed it with some kind of charm as well as locking it. Glancing at her watch she noted that she only had half an hour left before Snape returned. Desperately she gazed round the room; she caught sight of something lying near the shut door; it seemed to be some kind of doorstop, in the form of a sizeable chunk of marble. Quickly she picked it up and smashed it against the side of the drawer.
The crash sounded startlingly loud in the silent room, but after waiting for a few minutes with baited breath, Vivian decided that no one had heard. The drawer, she realised gleefully, was completely smashed through. Gingerly she tugged at it, and it slid open.
It was full of letters, some opened some still sealed, all addressed to Dumbledore. She stared at them with mounting anticipation. This was it. Quickly she began rifling through them, until she caught sight of a purple envelope bearing the seal of St Mungo's; it had already been ripped open. With shaking hands, Vivian eased the letter out of the envelope. It was several pages thick.
Rapidly she scanned the lines:
"We regret to inform you … nature of the curse being as it is…the subject cannot be expected to live more than five years longer."
She sat down limply in a chair. The letter, which she had not finished reading, lay forgotten on the desk. She was shaking with some kind of nervous reaction. Blankly she stared at the mark on her wrist. She was going to die. All she could feel was numbness.
A bell rang somewhere in the school. It was the end of lessons. Snape would soon be heading back to his office. She stood up, and put the letter back in the drawer. Then, moving as if in a dream, she pointed her wand at the drawer and whispered "reparo". The drawer was complete and locked as if it had never been touched. Forgetting the doorstop, she picked up Lorna's broom and left, her gait curiously unsteady, as if she were suddenly blind.
Somewhere, she thought, her mother was laughing.
Vivian pushed open the door cautiously. Snape was sat at his desk, a mound of papers in front of him.
"Don't pester me." He said irritably, without looking up. "The report hasn't come."
"I was just wondering; it's been quite a while."
"Well it hasn't arrived yet. I'll tell you when it does. Now please leave me in peace."
Vivian rolled her eyes in exasperation and left, banging the door behind her as loudly as possible.
Snape felt a sudden surge of guilt. It had been two days since he had discovered the purple envelope and what it contained. He had read the report with disbelief and a sense of dread. Since then he had become more nervous and harassed than ever. He had not told anyone what he had discovered, not even Professor McGonagall, whom he was afraid of worrying even more.
She doesn't need this now, he thought, and I certainly can't tell Vivian. The last thing we need is a hysterical teenager to deal with.
He regretted Dumbledore's departure even more than usual at that moment. Dumbledore, he reflected, would have known exactly what to do; he would have known whether or not Vivian should be told. He felt a faint pity for her, for what he knew she would have to endure.
Snape shrugged. It was done now. There was no point in causing a disturbance with matters as they were. He checked the draw of his desk was locked before he left for his next class.
He had not reckoned with Vivian taking matters into her own hands.
She had been irritated and puzzled by the delay; surely it didn't take this long to analyse a blood sample? She was grumbling about this for the umpteenth time in late June when Lorna suddenly said
"Why don't you write and ask them why they're taking so long?"
"Yeah, do something about it instead of just winging to us." Diana added crossly. She had become more irritable since Harriet had left.
"Maybe I will." Vivian said.
A week later she came up to her friends as they played wizard chess in the common room holding a letter and looking puzzled.
"What?" Lorna asked, catching Vivian's expression.
"Check." Diana said, without looking up.
"I wrote to St Mungo's to ask what was taking them so long." Vivian said.
"And?"
"And they wrote back and said that they'd sent the report weeks ago by one of their fastest owls."
Diana and Lora both stopped playing to look at her.
"I think they got the results and they're awful, and they're not telling me because Dumbledore's not here or something." Diana and Lorna exchanged worried looks; Vivian had clearly worked herself up into a state.
"Don't be such a pessimist." Lorna said uneasily, "You don't know what the results are."
"Why else would they lie to me?"
They were both silent. After a pause, Lorna said
"Sit down." Vivian sat down obediently in a nearby armchair. The worry seemed to have brought on an attack; she was shivering and even paler than usual. "You look terrible." Lorna said in concern, "Do you want some of that tea stuff you're taking?"
Vivian nodded.
A few minutes later, a cup of tea warm and comforting in her hands, she was able to make a decision.
"I'm going to ask Professor McGonagall about it."
"Snape, you mean." Lorna said. Diana and Vivian turned to look at her. "Well Snape's doing all the school mail, isn't he? Didn't you hear him grumbling about in potions?"
"So I'll go talk to Snape." Vivian said.
"Rather you than me." Diana said. "He's been really stressed recently, in case you haven't noticed. Can you imagine how he'll react if you accuse him of lying?"
"I think you'd better wait until they catch Slytherin's heir, or until Snape's more cheerful, whichever comes first." Lorna said.
"I don't have to talk to him." Vivian said, "I could just search his office."
"Are you MENTAL?" Lorna almost shrieked, causing several nearby Ravenclaws to look up at her reproachfully. "You must be mad," she continued in a quieter tone, "Snape's already got it in for you, and his office is probably booby trapped or something."
Diana nodded her agreement. Vivian sighed.
"Fine." She said resignedly. She'd just have to do it alone.
It was several days before she could think of a way to get into Snape's office; she knew that he sealed his office with a spell at night, and anyway she'd had enough of midnight escapades, so she decided to carry out the search during the day. It was easy to find an excuse to be in Snape's office if she was caught: she could just say that she'd wanted to ask him whether the test results had come from St Mungo's. It was harder however to find a way in which she could get in there and have time to make a search.
At length she decided that the best thing to do would be to pretend to be particularly ill (which wasn't hard to do, her health still being extremely poor) and then slip out of the dormitory when her year had potions with Snape. That way she could count on Snape being out of the way, as well as her friends, who were keeping a watchful eye on her.
The possibility of meeting Slytherin's heir as she roamed the school alone had occurred to her, but she decided it was worth the risk.
Two days later, it was time to put her plan into action. Everything seemed to go as planned; she managed to convince Madam Pomfrey that she needed a day off school, which wasn't difficult, and she was able to sneak through the deserted corridors to Snape's office, which she had gambled on being unlocked during the day.
She had been right: the door swung open easily. The room was silent and empty. She had an uncomfortable feeling of being watched as she locked the door behind her and begun to search hurriedly through the papers on Snape's desk. There was nothing. Then she tried the drawers. One of them opened easily, but was full of paper, envelopes and ink, stored, she noticed, with fanatical tidiness.
She tried the second drawer. It wouldn't budge. Vivian drew out her wand from her pocket.
"Alohomora!" she whispered urgently. The draw remained obstinately closed. Apparently Snape had sealed it with some kind of charm as well as locking it. Glancing at her watch she noted that she only had half an hour left before Snape returned. Desperately she gazed round the room; she caught sight of something lying near the shut door; it seemed to be some kind of doorstop, in the form of a sizeable chunk of marble. Quickly she picked it up and smashed it against the side of the drawer.
The crash sounded startlingly loud in the silent room, but after waiting for a few minutes with baited breath, Vivian decided that no one had heard. The drawer, she realised gleefully, was completely smashed through. Gingerly she tugged at it, and it slid open.
It was full of letters, some opened some still sealed, all addressed to Dumbledore. She stared at them with mounting anticipation. This was it. Quickly she began rifling through them, until she caught sight of a purple envelope bearing the seal of St Mungo's; it had already been ripped open. With shaking hands, Vivian eased the letter out of the envelope. It was several pages thick.
Rapidly she scanned the lines:
"We regret to inform you … nature of the curse being as it is…the subject cannot be expected to live more than five years longer."
She sat down limply in a chair. The letter, which she had not finished reading, lay forgotten on the desk. She was shaking with some kind of nervous reaction. Blankly she stared at the mark on her wrist. She was going to die. All she could feel was numbness.
A bell rang somewhere in the school. It was the end of lessons. Snape would soon be heading back to his office. She stood up, and put the letter back in the drawer. Then, moving as if in a dream, she pointed her wand at the drawer and whispered "reparo". The drawer was complete and locked as if it had never been touched. Forgetting the doorstop, she picked up Lorna's broom and left, her gait curiously unsteady, as if she were suddenly blind.
Somewhere, she thought, her mother was laughing.