Chapter 3
Kat awoke early the next morning. Even though she was still tired, it had been impossible to sleep with how much was on her mind. The Common Room was silent and gloomy from the dim morning light that managed to push through the misty windows. She sat in one of the cushy armchairs in a corner. Her eyelids were heavy and her body was exhausted, but sleep seemed like a far off memory to her now. Images of last night's adventure flashed through her mind. It had been an experience she wouldn't soon forget. More so, it hadn't caused an overload, nor had it hurt Sara. For that matter, it may have greatly helped her.
This brought up a very good question, could she manage to enter someone's mind again? According to what happened last night, as long as she had a focus it could be possible. A benefit to this would be that overloads could possibly be controlled, better yet, stopped all together. Levitation skills had become a lot better with the more practice she put into it after all. Control was the key, as it is for a lot of things. In her first year, everyone had messed up spells and caused some pretty strange things to happen, Neville still accomplished this. But like Flitwick had told them then, "With practice comes control, and with control comes perfection.", it was still the case now. She couldn't just let her mind run off with her all the time until it drove her insane. She could practice levitation until she could lift Hogwarts itself, but it wasn't going to even touch on her psychic abilities. She had to learn how to do this, so it was settled. With a large sigh, she resigned herself into the facts of it all.
Now comes planning, how she was going to manage this. A focus - her hand, it was all she had until she could control the power that flowed directly from her mind. Next, she needed a victim- no, that sounded too gruesome, even though she feared that might be a good way to describe it. Pushing that thought from her mind, she tried again. She needed a test subject, a little better, it still sounded bad but it was more the description of whoever she chose should have. Now, what she would do, it should be nice and formed out. Just barely tap the edge of the person's mind, quick and simple and everything should be fine. That sounded good. All she had to do now was gather up enough courage to do this. Even though it was mainly fear keeping her back, conscience screamed at her that she was invading someone else's privacy. If she did this really quickly though, she wouldn't "hear" more than a few words. Nothing much, nothing to get over excited about, and nothing that would make much sense. Simple.
Suddenly she realized how much like Snape she was thinking and laughed a little to herself. He was getting to her, though it didn't surprise her. She could probably describe the way his mind worked batter than even he.
One of the early birds came downstairs just then. It was a sixth year girl who Kat barely knew but they always were friendly to each other. Mainly because they were one of the few that got up so early, therefore they always saw each other. She nodded at Kat and Kat nodded back smiling slightly. It was understood by the early birds that nodding was just as good as any other greeting and smiling wasn't necessary, mostly because everyone was far too tired and noise was so much louder in the mornings. Kat had always smiled back though; it was habit that came from hanging around Sara so much. Sara. Now that brought her back to the former subject.
Looking back at the other Gryffindor as she began to slowly pack her bag for the day, Kat figured this was as good of time as any. She needed to get this done before she lost her courage, besides everyone was still asleep, an overload wouldn't be too bad this time of morning. Barely lifting up her left hand she pointed the palm in the direction of the other girl. Concentrating her mind and what she wanted in a small, steady, stream, Kat reached out and brushed the other girl's mind.
"…of all the classes…" The little piece of thought had started off extremely soft before gaining volume, then dieing back down.
Kat held her breath. No noise other than the rustling of the backpack played in her ears. Heaving a huge sigh of relief Kat sank back into the chair again. That hadn't been so hard. In fact, it had been pretty easy. Did she dare try it again? Just to make sure it wasn't a lucky shot.
As if on cue, one of the other early birds came down just then. He was a nerdy, third year that had this strange thing about one day admiring Hermione, then the next day envying her. Everyone just supposed it was some nerd rivalry thing and never said much about it. He and Kat exchanged the customary nods as he went to sit on a sofa and pull out an Arithmancy book to read. Kat figured that this would be just as good a time as any. Holding up her palm once more to face him, she focused in on his mind.
"…in the sense that…"
Kat smiled triumphantly as the sound died down and nothing else but the normal shuffling of sounds were heard. How come she hadn't had the courage to try this before? It was simple, and she was hurting no one. Not even herself, much to her relief. Maybe she could manage this. If she practiced like this, then just a little long, and a little longer, after a while she'd get the hang of it. Smiling wider she thought, ~This could end up a very interesting day.~
The whole day did, in fact, enc up being rather interesting. Kat would jump into people's minds as often as she could. For practice sake she began taping into people's minds up to three in a row without a break, then she would rest some and do so again. The best part was that once the combined clips of sentences from different minds were connected, they came out quite funny. A sudden outburst of laughter in the middle of class had caused a lot of strange looks in her direction. One of her favorites had ended up saying, "I thought I… jumped all over… that broom stuck… Proffesor Flitwick's, but…" This had caused a fit of laughter while walking through the halls from class to class. She had to lean against the railing to keep from falling over as tears of laughter welled up in her eyes. By the time she was able walk again she had almost been late for class. Though, for the longest time, if anyone mentioned brooms or Flitwick, Kat would start laughing again. She thanked her lucky stars that she didn't have charms that day.
It was supper now and everyone was in the Great Hall. Kat was in a better mood than she had been in weeks. Sara, though a bit subdued, was talking and smiling again. Christy looked so happy at this sudden change in mood that she was talking with Sara as fast and as much as she had ever seen her talk. Kat had gained a lot of control over her power in a fairly small amount of time. As she took breaks she would chat happily with Sara and Christy, then leave them to their happy ramblings on the topic as Kat tested her powers. Life was going by nicely.
Kat was now working on singling people out through the mass of students. Since she didn't know that many people from other houses, she had to make do with glimpses of a face to focus on. Concentrating on another Hufflepuff, Kat reached out past the Ravenclaw table and managed to catch a glimpse of his mind. Or at least, she hoped it was the guy she had picked out. At least she knew it was a Hufflepuff by the way he talked about their Quidditch team. Smiling to herself she chose another person. This one was kind of cute, if anything she enjoyed looking at him more than anything.
"…and that Kat girl. To bad I didn't have the guts to ask any of them to the Yule Ball…"
Kat froze. Had she just heard that? From ~him?~ The one she had just be fawning over? Curiosity had kept her in his mind longer than she should have, and curiosity brought her back. Just for a little glimpse.
"…Black hair and blue eyes. You don't usually see that kind of combination. It's really cute. To bad she keeps her hair up most of the time, it looks good down…"
Unwillingly she began to giggle. It was highly flirty, girly, all that she didn't like of Pavarti and Lavender, but she couldn't help it. He was quite flattering. She'd have to remember to wear her hair down more often. Little by little, so he wouldn't notice too much. The guy looked over at her for a second before turning away to say something to his friend. Kat's smile widened as she reached out to him again. ~I wonder what he's thinking now?~
When she did catch hold of his mind, it was more than she bargained for. Staying in his mind so long after the others had been too much. With those flattering thoughts of his and cute little smile, it had made Kat forget completely about taking a break. An overload was fast in coming. Before it got too bad she flashed a smile in Sara's direction, encouraging her keep talking. That would buy her some time until she regained control. Searching through the mass of thoughts she found her savior, that voice she knew so well. Taking a deep breath she desperately tried to keep her breathing level and keep her face from showing pain. That was a feat in itself.
As she listened to Snape's thoughts it surprised her to find out that he had been watching her. In fact he had been for quite some time. He was comparing all the little things she did everyday. Why was he so interested in this? Were her overloads that obvious? No one else had said anything, or was even thinking about it for that matter. Snape was critically analyzing her now because her head was slightly tilted down. She couldn't bring it up though, she was trying to hide the pain. So as to not let him think anything was going on she tried to eat something. This was a bad idea, every move of her jaw was a piercing pain that went through her head. Swallowing quickly, which was painful as well, she tried to pretend interest in the conversation. This involved lifting her head a bit. This was also a bad idea.
"She feels pain. I can see it on her face." Snape thought.
It couldn't be that obvious, could it? Sure, her face was pained some, but controlled. How the hell was he finding this out? All her worry wasn't letting he concentrate nearly enough. The overload wasn't getting much better. So, she went back to her old method of trying to decide what to eat and keeping her head low. Let Snape draw his own conclusions, it was most likely he wouldn't figure it out. Snape was more open-minded than she had thought. He had gone through a thousand possibilities and knew that nothing health wise was wring with her. She didn't know what he suspected that could be so awful that he must know her secret, but he was going to find out. Not knowing what else to do Snape had a sudden idea, and it would be quick and simple. This shot fear through Kat, she knew what he was planning.
Then he thought out in his deciphering was again, rather loudly, and straight at her. "My theory is you can read minds. If this is true, you already know. Now, if you can hear me I will keep my thoughts going, for that seems to help you when you get like this. If you can't hear me, then I shall keep my thoughts under control and not think another one until your little episode is over. I'm looking directly at you, all you have to do is look at me and nod." With that, he shut his mind down.
Kat panicked. He couldn't do this! She knew she shouldn't tell him, she couldn't let anyone know. He figured it out! How? No, this is all a hunch to him, he doesn't know for sure. But she couldn't just stick this out without his help. When he wasn't around were the times when she was in the common room, or in the halls, or in a class. She always had his help when the big boys of overloads came in the Great Hall. She didn't know if she could handle all this. It wouldn't stop on it's own. Not without his help. Not before she went insane. She needed his help and should ask for it. But she couldn't, no one could know she was a mutant!
Her whirling mind didn't do anything to help the overload, only made things worse. If she didn't do something soon, whether he started his thought processes or not, it wouldn't matter, she wouldn't be able to hear him. So what was her option? To tell him? She couldn't! Just couldn't! That didn't stop the pain though. It was coursing through her as her mind felt like it was about to explode. What could she do? Out of desperation, she did the only thing she could do.
Looking up, and not so well concealing the pain that contorted her face, she locked eyes with her would be savior. He looked like he was simply scanning the students but his eyes were piercing. She nodded at him with pleading eyes. He looked away from her and back to his food. For a fleeting moment fear clenched her gut thinking that he wasn't going to help her after all. But it wasn't true. He began to run through his entire stock of potion ingredients. How little were left after today's lessons and when he should go get more. He couldn't hide the loathing in the way his mind flashed to the thought of seeing Professor Sprout. Kat knew all too well that Snape hated talking to her. Sprout was insistent that Snape was a very good-natured and talkative man deep down inside and that she was the one to bring that out of him. Actually, she was almost right in her theory, well, except the thought that she was going to be the one to drag it out of him.
Kat concentrated on his calculating voice on the amounts of ingredients he would need. She was actually trying so hard not to think about letting out secret that she could hear his subconscious voice counting up the amount of time he had to listen to Sprout ramble on. Also, on how many comments he could throw at her to make her mad at him so that she wouldn't talk to him for a while. She would have found this rather amusing had the current situation not looked so bad. But it did. In fact, it looked down right horrible. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind, she shouldn't dwell on it. The end was near enough that it would be over before she could think up all the different scenarios. After that morbid thought Kat realized that the overload was over. Only Snape's mind played in her ears.
Kat tried not to look too down trodden as she turned her attention back to Sara. Casting a weak smile to her friends she tried to eat some more, but food just didn't look good at the moment. For that matter, what little she had eaten felt as if it was about to come up. Her mouth was dry so she took a little gulp of her pumpkin juice. Her nerves, because of all that had happened, were high strung and this had made her throat close up. It was highly uncomfortable trying to swallow what little she had drank. Super was pretty much over and everyone was about to leave. But not soon enough for Kat's likings.
Snape had snuck up behind her and leaned over a little next to her ear without Kat knowing. Or her hyperly chatting friends for that matter. "Mrs. Jennings," he rumbled in her ear. Kat jumped but managed to stifle a squeak as she half turned to see Snape's face. "I trust you have not forgotten our little… appointment?" He said threateningly.
Kat was drawing a blank. What was he talking about? Suddenly it hit her, she could have smacked herself for being so dumb. He wanted to talk to her about it, or more likely, turn her in himself. He'd most likely get brownie points for that at the Ministry. Or worse yet, he wanted to let Voldemort think he was still loyal to him by giving her to him. She swallowed hard and tried to answer him in a level voice, but it didn't quite work.
"N-n-no, sir." She stuttered out. It was barely more that a choked whisper.
"Good," he said briskly. "Then I expect to see you in my office immediately." With that he left.
The Great Hall was dismissed shortly after he left. He trusted her to come to him? Couldn't she just run now before anyone figured it out? She looked over at her friends who looked about as shocked as she about Snape wanting to see her. They gave her confused but mostly apologetic looks. Kat couldn't make her face into anything but worried.
"Don't worry," Sara said and put a hand on her shoulder. "It won't be that bad. Everyone that goes in manages to come out alive." She chuckled a bit and smiled wide.
Kat knew this was said to make her feel better but it only made her fear intensify. She had a feeling she was about to be the only one that didn't fit that statement. Though, she couldn't let her friends worry too much. She gave them a weak smile and began to walk towards the door. They walked with her until they got to the split off. Sara hugged her quickly and encouraged her that she'd be fine. Christy smiled and agreed with Sara. They both gave her a thumbs up before leaving down the hallway to the North Tower.
For a moment Kat stood there and entertained the idea of running for it. She quickly dismissed it. It was most likely that she wouldn't get too far before she was caught… or killed. No, she shouldn't think like that. She wouldn't turn tail and run at the first sign of danger, she was better than that, she was a Gryffindor after all. She would take this with her head held high and go out with a fight. So, double-checking for her wand, Kat held her head up and marched towards the dungeons with confidence. Only to have it fail her half way and have her march of courage turned into her feared death march.
Trying not to think about all the things that could happen, she concentrated of keeping her breathing steady. This was a task in itself since her lungs wanted to refuse oxygen until absolutely necessary and her heartbeat was racing. Her legs were beginning to rebel on her as well. They became big pieces of led and her muscles didn't feel like they could handle lifting a feather. The cold stone floor was jarring as her feet made impact. The hallway itself seemed to stretch longer and longer. Seconds felt like hours. Dread crept up on her with every forced step. The whole world held its breath, waiting to see her doom. Then she was there. In front of the potion classroom door.
Every muscle in her body sprang to life and told her to run. Her mind screamed with terror, telling her all the places she could hide, maybe she could find somewhere safe. But her body seemed on autopilot as it lifted one shaky arm and pushed open the door. She slowly walked in trying to fight the incredible urge to run. The classroom was cold and dark. The silence pressed in on her as if it might crush her. Breathing was increasingly difficult as it came in short little gasps of air. Once in the middle of the classroom her feet refused to move any more. Every little shadow that made the slightest flicker of movement would cause her head to snap in its direction only to see nothing.
"Miss Jennings," came that low, crisp voice from her right.
The sound had made her jump and gasp for breath. She whirled around to look at him. He looked at her levelly, his face expressionless.
"Quite jumpy today, aren't we?" he mocked her.
She may have been mad about that at any other time, but for now she was too scared to breath a word. He looked at her searchingly, letting the silence build between them. She wanted to run so bad but her limbs wouldn't move. Her mind was a whirl and she felt queasy. Things never looked or felt so bad for her before in her entire life. Well, save the day she heard her parent's deaths.
That thought was like cold water splashed on her. How could she stay rooted to the spot like this and think of running away? Her parents fought to the end, she would die honorably as well, and then come back to haunt this sorry git. With that thought in mind, Kat raised her chin and took a couple of breaths. He would NOT make her feel an inch tall over something she couldn't help.
Attempting speech, Kat uttered out a shaky question. "What are you going to do to me?"
Snape raised his eyebrows as if that statement had come as a shock. This didn't fool Kat, she knew he had a plan all worked out. As always. …Didn't he?
He spoke then and Kat suppressed the urge to jump once again. "What makes you think I want to do anything to you? Granted, it has been years since a true psychic was born, but it is most certainly a good thing." Kat was shocked. Psychic wizards and witches? That's what he thought she was? The only thing she had ever heard like that was when Trelawny had spoken about those with the Inner Eye. But she knew for a fact Snape didn't believe any of that, nor did, most likely, any of the other teachers. Snape glared at her now as he continued. "What made you think this was a bad thing?" he demanded.
Kat opened her mouth and her jaw bobbed up and down but nothing came out. Snape looked a bit impatient at this. "Let me guess then." He said snidely after a few more seconds. Kat abruptly closed her mouth. "Since you're muggle born you don't know much about the magical world. So when you found out Harry was a parcel tongue you didn't find it bad at all until others did and you thought this was the same way."
That was a good excuse really. Kat wasn't going to be one to argue if it saved her life and withheld her secret. So, making her face into a mask of guilt she feebly nodded and hung her head some waiting for it. And it came, sure enough.
"Foolish girl. Gryffindors are boasted about for their courage, but it's never mentioned of their stupidity." He scolded. Kat cringed. Harsh. He went on more calmly. "All you have to do is learn to control what you have and then register at the Ministry."
"No!" Kat's head shot up, her eyes wide with fear.
He sneered at her, "And why not?" the last word he snapped at her, making her jump again.
She fumbled for words. What was she going to tell him now? She had better do some quick thinking… "W-well," she stuttered, only to get a glare from it. An idea struck her, so she plowed through it. "I've read your mind for a while now. All out of necessity of coarse. And I know You-Know-Who is looking for more powerful people on his side. He might come looking for me if he knows about me, about what I can do. I'd be easier than any potion to obtain information and faster than a spell…" she trailed off and just looked at him with pleading eyes. She made sense and he couldn't deny it. Now it was up to him whether nobility won out over his spy work. She had never seen him as a noble man, but surely he had some soul. Hopefully.
He stared her down for a moment before he spoke. "You're right. The less people on his side the better." He looked concealed, as if hiding something from her. She only hoped it wasn't betrayal. No, of coarse it wasn't. She'd read his mind long enough, she was just nervous. That's all, nervous from her worry.
Snape's eyes took on a look as if he were battling an inner argument. By the way his mind worked, he most likely was. Finally a side won out and he spoke before his mind could say anymore. "You will still need to learn to control your power. By the looks of what happened today in the Great Hall, you could use some control over it. How often does that happen?"
Kat blinked. He was offering to help? Maybe she was dreaming. It was possible. The look on his face said the he didn't want to have to wait for answers every time so Kat mentally shook herself and answered.
"About every three days," she managed to whisper out. For some reason her voice just would not go over that sound level. Snape didn't seem to mind that though, it must make him feel as if he still held a great fear factor, even though she knew so much about him.
"When did it start and what is it exactly?"
"It started that day in the potion's when I passed out." Kat figured that was the least embarrassing was to put it. "It's an overload. I can hear everyone's thoughts at once in my mind, it's overwhelming." She didn't know how to elaborate, though somehow he looked like he wanted her to. Well, he'd just have to live with that description.
"I can imagine." He stated stoically. "Why then, do you read my thoughts when it happens?"
Kat colored a bit at this. She should have seen that one coming. "That day in class I had accidentally read your mind and that caused an overload. The second time I had one was in the Great Hall. The only voice I could lock on to was yours. I don't really know why. I suppose it's because I had read it before. So when I concentrated on your thoughts, I gained control again and the overload died away." She cursed herself for how little a voice she had. He looked skeptical, but she couldn't say it with more confidence because her voice was barely making sound as it was.
"So you need a focus. Reasonable." He said a bit grudgingly. Probably was hoping to take off points for reading the teacher's mind. Well, he wasn't getting it this time. "What do you do when I am not around?"
"I usually have to stick it out. But it's not that bad. The Great Hall is the worst because of all the people there. So today when you stopped…" her voice failed on her then. Snape simply nodded.
"Well, that may be for the best. Now we know what's truly wrong with you and can work on this." Kat looked a little worried at this statement. Who all was he going to tell? He saw the look on her face and elaborated. "The less who know of this, the safer until the Dark Lord falls from power permanently." To bad he didn't look as if he believed that statement. "If you wish, it can go no further than me. I have a feeling that no one needs to tell the Headmaster anything, as it is, he knows everything that goes on in this school without informant."
It sounded as so he truly believed this, and after all that Kat has seen in this school and how much he seems to know all the time, she believed it too. That didn't make her feel much better about it though. She supposed however, that if Dumbledore hadn't said anything about her so far, then her never would. Now that could be one on her side. Dumbledore was a good man, she just hoped that he wouldn't be faced with the option to choose sides. The ministry or her, she wasn't ~that~ special.
"So, this leaves me to the fact that I must help you develop your powers." Snape said matter of factly.
This dumbfounded Kat. He wanted to help her? Snape, of all people wanted to help her? This was almost too much.
"Y… you're going to help me?" she chocked out.
He looked severely annoyed at this statement. "I'm not going to let a student run around the school with untamed powers. ~Especially~ in my potions class." He said snidely. That figures though, he wanted to protect his Slytherins. If anything happened to them, it was his head on the block considering the high social status of some of their parents.
All Kat could do was stare at him. For a moment he looked like he was having another battle. But before he finished it, he spoke one side's opinion. "I also want a favor from you since you're going to be taking up my free time now." He stopped there, as if waiting for an answer but more so, because he was having great conflict on whether to ask it. What was so bad?
Kat took a chance and reached out into his mind. It was sitting there on the edge of his mind, just waiting to be asked as the rest of his mind reconsidered it and tried to come up with something else to amend for what he already said. What he was dying to ask was, "I want you to spy on Slytherin."
This got Kat extremely curious, she had to question it, at least it would save him the trouble of saying it. "You're the Head of House and they think you're still on You-Know-Who's side. Why do you want me to spy on them when you're in the perfect position to do so?"
Her question threw him off guard as he simply stared at her for a long moment. Recovering, he put a bit of a snip in his reply. "You only do that when I give you permission. You don't know what I might be thinking."
Kat blushed fiercely. ~That~ had been unexpected. He went on though, the slightest bit dejected. "No one but the Dark Lord himself knows the full story. Everyone has their posts and obligations. Most of my house is getting a diverse amount of orders that are to be shared with no one. Including me. I need to know what these are, and you are the only one who can help me find out. For this reason, I'll do anything to see that you can manage you're skills up to their maximum."
Well, that settled it. Spy work comes before compassion, at least she wasn't dead because of it. Still, Kat contemplated all this. If she spied for him, then she would also know the full story. That little detail could come in handy in saving her life. It could also mean that she'd learn a lot more than she wanted to. But that was minor in comparison. She had to also keep up the shared that she was psychic and not mutant so that Snape wouldn't find out. All this added up to one sure thing, she was studying with Snape, alone, at night, whenever possible. Well isn't that just peachy?
"Okay," Kat said slowly. The comment mainly to make sure she still had a voice. "Agreed. So when do we start practicing?"
He looked at her with an odd expression but it was gone before she could place it. "Why not now?" he stated. "Usually, my meetings with students not of my house last longer than a single conversation."
Kat was momentarily stumped. "Now?" she said and immediately regretted it.
"I do believe I spoke loud enough to be heard Miss Jennings, unlike you."
She flinched at that. Oh ya, this was going to be a ball. "Okay then… Where do we start?"
Snape paced to his desk and picked up a piece of paper. "It seems you have a problem with lengths of time and focusing. Am I correct?" he looked up at her. She simply nodded. "Then we will start with length of time. Since there is no one in here but me, it will be fine. I will read this paper, and you will recite it as I do so. Understood?" She nodded again. They began.
Having had so many, Kat knew what an overload felt like. By the end of the paper it felt as if she had overloaded and receded from it three times. This ended up in a twinge of a headache. Snape asked her how it had gone and she relayed this information. He simply nodded, wrote something on the paper, picked up another and they began again. This went on for another ten papers. When he was about to pick up another she had to stop him.
"I'm exhausted. Can't we continue later?" she said. Her speech was slightly slurred because of how tired she was and her eyelids were drooping. She had a headache that throbbed in her ears but she knew better than to complain of that.
Snape then seemed to realize how tired she really was and agreed to let her go. They made arrangements to meet tomorrow when she was more awake so they could figure out how they were going to keep practicing without anyone getting suspicious. As she walked to the door she accidentally bumped into a chair. It scraped across the floor and rang in her ears. The loud noise had been enough to shoot pain through her already throbbing head. She made a small, involuntary whimper of pain when it happened and Snape had heard it.
"I know that running into a chair doesn't hurt that bad when you're that tired." He said it more in a way that he knew something else was wrong rather than meaning it to be an insult.
"I have a bit of a head ache." Kat whispered. This time more to the fact that sound hurt rather than that she was afraid.
Snape "hmm"ed and went over to his stores. He pulled out a large bottle of liquid and a small glass. He poured a little into the glass and brought it over to her. "Drink." He commanded.
It smelled awful but she knew better than to ask questions so she drank it. It didn't taste as bad as it smelled, but it was still wasn't butterbeer. Resisting the temptation to wrinkle her nose she swallowed hard and handed the now empty glass back to him. Before she could ask he said, "It's to help all bodily pains. I use it mainly for headaches but its capabilities don't stop there. Unfortunately, it does nothing for pain inflicted from spells." He said the last part like an afterthought. But Kat had a feeling it held much more meaning than that.
Snape walked back over to his stores to put the things away. Kat was about to leave but something held her back, something had been bugging her ever since super. Before she could lose her courage she went ahead and asked it.
"How did you know?"
Snape gave her cruel glare. "I am not the mind reader here, you must clarify your ramblings."
Kat blushed but continued. "How did you know I read your mind to help me during overloads?"
Snape paused thoughtfully at this. "Because I know the face of hidden pain." He said finally. He stared at the empty glass still in his hand before he looked up and placed it back on shelf and muttering a cleaning spell on it. "Good night, Miss Jennings." He said with a tone of finality.
Kat knew when to leave. "G'night," she said turning back around to the door. She walked out slowly and about halfway down the hall heard the quiet click of the door closing. That had been quite an experience. Now time for some sleep.
Kat awoke early the next morning. Even though she was still tired, it had been impossible to sleep with how much was on her mind. The Common Room was silent and gloomy from the dim morning light that managed to push through the misty windows. She sat in one of the cushy armchairs in a corner. Her eyelids were heavy and her body was exhausted, but sleep seemed like a far off memory to her now. Images of last night's adventure flashed through her mind. It had been an experience she wouldn't soon forget. More so, it hadn't caused an overload, nor had it hurt Sara. For that matter, it may have greatly helped her.
This brought up a very good question, could she manage to enter someone's mind again? According to what happened last night, as long as she had a focus it could be possible. A benefit to this would be that overloads could possibly be controlled, better yet, stopped all together. Levitation skills had become a lot better with the more practice she put into it after all. Control was the key, as it is for a lot of things. In her first year, everyone had messed up spells and caused some pretty strange things to happen, Neville still accomplished this. But like Flitwick had told them then, "With practice comes control, and with control comes perfection.", it was still the case now. She couldn't just let her mind run off with her all the time until it drove her insane. She could practice levitation until she could lift Hogwarts itself, but it wasn't going to even touch on her psychic abilities. She had to learn how to do this, so it was settled. With a large sigh, she resigned herself into the facts of it all.
Now comes planning, how she was going to manage this. A focus - her hand, it was all she had until she could control the power that flowed directly from her mind. Next, she needed a victim- no, that sounded too gruesome, even though she feared that might be a good way to describe it. Pushing that thought from her mind, she tried again. She needed a test subject, a little better, it still sounded bad but it was more the description of whoever she chose should have. Now, what she would do, it should be nice and formed out. Just barely tap the edge of the person's mind, quick and simple and everything should be fine. That sounded good. All she had to do now was gather up enough courage to do this. Even though it was mainly fear keeping her back, conscience screamed at her that she was invading someone else's privacy. If she did this really quickly though, she wouldn't "hear" more than a few words. Nothing much, nothing to get over excited about, and nothing that would make much sense. Simple.
Suddenly she realized how much like Snape she was thinking and laughed a little to herself. He was getting to her, though it didn't surprise her. She could probably describe the way his mind worked batter than even he.
One of the early birds came downstairs just then. It was a sixth year girl who Kat barely knew but they always were friendly to each other. Mainly because they were one of the few that got up so early, therefore they always saw each other. She nodded at Kat and Kat nodded back smiling slightly. It was understood by the early birds that nodding was just as good as any other greeting and smiling wasn't necessary, mostly because everyone was far too tired and noise was so much louder in the mornings. Kat had always smiled back though; it was habit that came from hanging around Sara so much. Sara. Now that brought her back to the former subject.
Looking back at the other Gryffindor as she began to slowly pack her bag for the day, Kat figured this was as good of time as any. She needed to get this done before she lost her courage, besides everyone was still asleep, an overload wouldn't be too bad this time of morning. Barely lifting up her left hand she pointed the palm in the direction of the other girl. Concentrating her mind and what she wanted in a small, steady, stream, Kat reached out and brushed the other girl's mind.
"…of all the classes…" The little piece of thought had started off extremely soft before gaining volume, then dieing back down.
Kat held her breath. No noise other than the rustling of the backpack played in her ears. Heaving a huge sigh of relief Kat sank back into the chair again. That hadn't been so hard. In fact, it had been pretty easy. Did she dare try it again? Just to make sure it wasn't a lucky shot.
As if on cue, one of the other early birds came down just then. He was a nerdy, third year that had this strange thing about one day admiring Hermione, then the next day envying her. Everyone just supposed it was some nerd rivalry thing and never said much about it. He and Kat exchanged the customary nods as he went to sit on a sofa and pull out an Arithmancy book to read. Kat figured that this would be just as good a time as any. Holding up her palm once more to face him, she focused in on his mind.
"…in the sense that…"
Kat smiled triumphantly as the sound died down and nothing else but the normal shuffling of sounds were heard. How come she hadn't had the courage to try this before? It was simple, and she was hurting no one. Not even herself, much to her relief. Maybe she could manage this. If she practiced like this, then just a little long, and a little longer, after a while she'd get the hang of it. Smiling wider she thought, ~This could end up a very interesting day.~
The whole day did, in fact, enc up being rather interesting. Kat would jump into people's minds as often as she could. For practice sake she began taping into people's minds up to three in a row without a break, then she would rest some and do so again. The best part was that once the combined clips of sentences from different minds were connected, they came out quite funny. A sudden outburst of laughter in the middle of class had caused a lot of strange looks in her direction. One of her favorites had ended up saying, "I thought I… jumped all over… that broom stuck… Proffesor Flitwick's, but…" This had caused a fit of laughter while walking through the halls from class to class. She had to lean against the railing to keep from falling over as tears of laughter welled up in her eyes. By the time she was able walk again she had almost been late for class. Though, for the longest time, if anyone mentioned brooms or Flitwick, Kat would start laughing again. She thanked her lucky stars that she didn't have charms that day.
It was supper now and everyone was in the Great Hall. Kat was in a better mood than she had been in weeks. Sara, though a bit subdued, was talking and smiling again. Christy looked so happy at this sudden change in mood that she was talking with Sara as fast and as much as she had ever seen her talk. Kat had gained a lot of control over her power in a fairly small amount of time. As she took breaks she would chat happily with Sara and Christy, then leave them to their happy ramblings on the topic as Kat tested her powers. Life was going by nicely.
Kat was now working on singling people out through the mass of students. Since she didn't know that many people from other houses, she had to make do with glimpses of a face to focus on. Concentrating on another Hufflepuff, Kat reached out past the Ravenclaw table and managed to catch a glimpse of his mind. Or at least, she hoped it was the guy she had picked out. At least she knew it was a Hufflepuff by the way he talked about their Quidditch team. Smiling to herself she chose another person. This one was kind of cute, if anything she enjoyed looking at him more than anything.
"…and that Kat girl. To bad I didn't have the guts to ask any of them to the Yule Ball…"
Kat froze. Had she just heard that? From ~him?~ The one she had just be fawning over? Curiosity had kept her in his mind longer than she should have, and curiosity brought her back. Just for a little glimpse.
"…Black hair and blue eyes. You don't usually see that kind of combination. It's really cute. To bad she keeps her hair up most of the time, it looks good down…"
Unwillingly she began to giggle. It was highly flirty, girly, all that she didn't like of Pavarti and Lavender, but she couldn't help it. He was quite flattering. She'd have to remember to wear her hair down more often. Little by little, so he wouldn't notice too much. The guy looked over at her for a second before turning away to say something to his friend. Kat's smile widened as she reached out to him again. ~I wonder what he's thinking now?~
When she did catch hold of his mind, it was more than she bargained for. Staying in his mind so long after the others had been too much. With those flattering thoughts of his and cute little smile, it had made Kat forget completely about taking a break. An overload was fast in coming. Before it got too bad she flashed a smile in Sara's direction, encouraging her keep talking. That would buy her some time until she regained control. Searching through the mass of thoughts she found her savior, that voice she knew so well. Taking a deep breath she desperately tried to keep her breathing level and keep her face from showing pain. That was a feat in itself.
As she listened to Snape's thoughts it surprised her to find out that he had been watching her. In fact he had been for quite some time. He was comparing all the little things she did everyday. Why was he so interested in this? Were her overloads that obvious? No one else had said anything, or was even thinking about it for that matter. Snape was critically analyzing her now because her head was slightly tilted down. She couldn't bring it up though, she was trying to hide the pain. So as to not let him think anything was going on she tried to eat something. This was a bad idea, every move of her jaw was a piercing pain that went through her head. Swallowing quickly, which was painful as well, she tried to pretend interest in the conversation. This involved lifting her head a bit. This was also a bad idea.
"She feels pain. I can see it on her face." Snape thought.
It couldn't be that obvious, could it? Sure, her face was pained some, but controlled. How the hell was he finding this out? All her worry wasn't letting he concentrate nearly enough. The overload wasn't getting much better. So, she went back to her old method of trying to decide what to eat and keeping her head low. Let Snape draw his own conclusions, it was most likely he wouldn't figure it out. Snape was more open-minded than she had thought. He had gone through a thousand possibilities and knew that nothing health wise was wring with her. She didn't know what he suspected that could be so awful that he must know her secret, but he was going to find out. Not knowing what else to do Snape had a sudden idea, and it would be quick and simple. This shot fear through Kat, she knew what he was planning.
Then he thought out in his deciphering was again, rather loudly, and straight at her. "My theory is you can read minds. If this is true, you already know. Now, if you can hear me I will keep my thoughts going, for that seems to help you when you get like this. If you can't hear me, then I shall keep my thoughts under control and not think another one until your little episode is over. I'm looking directly at you, all you have to do is look at me and nod." With that, he shut his mind down.
Kat panicked. He couldn't do this! She knew she shouldn't tell him, she couldn't let anyone know. He figured it out! How? No, this is all a hunch to him, he doesn't know for sure. But she couldn't just stick this out without his help. When he wasn't around were the times when she was in the common room, or in the halls, or in a class. She always had his help when the big boys of overloads came in the Great Hall. She didn't know if she could handle all this. It wouldn't stop on it's own. Not without his help. Not before she went insane. She needed his help and should ask for it. But she couldn't, no one could know she was a mutant!
Her whirling mind didn't do anything to help the overload, only made things worse. If she didn't do something soon, whether he started his thought processes or not, it wouldn't matter, she wouldn't be able to hear him. So what was her option? To tell him? She couldn't! Just couldn't! That didn't stop the pain though. It was coursing through her as her mind felt like it was about to explode. What could she do? Out of desperation, she did the only thing she could do.
Looking up, and not so well concealing the pain that contorted her face, she locked eyes with her would be savior. He looked like he was simply scanning the students but his eyes were piercing. She nodded at him with pleading eyes. He looked away from her and back to his food. For a fleeting moment fear clenched her gut thinking that he wasn't going to help her after all. But it wasn't true. He began to run through his entire stock of potion ingredients. How little were left after today's lessons and when he should go get more. He couldn't hide the loathing in the way his mind flashed to the thought of seeing Professor Sprout. Kat knew all too well that Snape hated talking to her. Sprout was insistent that Snape was a very good-natured and talkative man deep down inside and that she was the one to bring that out of him. Actually, she was almost right in her theory, well, except the thought that she was going to be the one to drag it out of him.
Kat concentrated on his calculating voice on the amounts of ingredients he would need. She was actually trying so hard not to think about letting out secret that she could hear his subconscious voice counting up the amount of time he had to listen to Sprout ramble on. Also, on how many comments he could throw at her to make her mad at him so that she wouldn't talk to him for a while. She would have found this rather amusing had the current situation not looked so bad. But it did. In fact, it looked down right horrible. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind, she shouldn't dwell on it. The end was near enough that it would be over before she could think up all the different scenarios. After that morbid thought Kat realized that the overload was over. Only Snape's mind played in her ears.
Kat tried not to look too down trodden as she turned her attention back to Sara. Casting a weak smile to her friends she tried to eat some more, but food just didn't look good at the moment. For that matter, what little she had eaten felt as if it was about to come up. Her mouth was dry so she took a little gulp of her pumpkin juice. Her nerves, because of all that had happened, were high strung and this had made her throat close up. It was highly uncomfortable trying to swallow what little she had drank. Super was pretty much over and everyone was about to leave. But not soon enough for Kat's likings.
Snape had snuck up behind her and leaned over a little next to her ear without Kat knowing. Or her hyperly chatting friends for that matter. "Mrs. Jennings," he rumbled in her ear. Kat jumped but managed to stifle a squeak as she half turned to see Snape's face. "I trust you have not forgotten our little… appointment?" He said threateningly.
Kat was drawing a blank. What was he talking about? Suddenly it hit her, she could have smacked herself for being so dumb. He wanted to talk to her about it, or more likely, turn her in himself. He'd most likely get brownie points for that at the Ministry. Or worse yet, he wanted to let Voldemort think he was still loyal to him by giving her to him. She swallowed hard and tried to answer him in a level voice, but it didn't quite work.
"N-n-no, sir." She stuttered out. It was barely more that a choked whisper.
"Good," he said briskly. "Then I expect to see you in my office immediately." With that he left.
The Great Hall was dismissed shortly after he left. He trusted her to come to him? Couldn't she just run now before anyone figured it out? She looked over at her friends who looked about as shocked as she about Snape wanting to see her. They gave her confused but mostly apologetic looks. Kat couldn't make her face into anything but worried.
"Don't worry," Sara said and put a hand on her shoulder. "It won't be that bad. Everyone that goes in manages to come out alive." She chuckled a bit and smiled wide.
Kat knew this was said to make her feel better but it only made her fear intensify. She had a feeling she was about to be the only one that didn't fit that statement. Though, she couldn't let her friends worry too much. She gave them a weak smile and began to walk towards the door. They walked with her until they got to the split off. Sara hugged her quickly and encouraged her that she'd be fine. Christy smiled and agreed with Sara. They both gave her a thumbs up before leaving down the hallway to the North Tower.
For a moment Kat stood there and entertained the idea of running for it. She quickly dismissed it. It was most likely that she wouldn't get too far before she was caught… or killed. No, she shouldn't think like that. She wouldn't turn tail and run at the first sign of danger, she was better than that, she was a Gryffindor after all. She would take this with her head held high and go out with a fight. So, double-checking for her wand, Kat held her head up and marched towards the dungeons with confidence. Only to have it fail her half way and have her march of courage turned into her feared death march.
Trying not to think about all the things that could happen, she concentrated of keeping her breathing steady. This was a task in itself since her lungs wanted to refuse oxygen until absolutely necessary and her heartbeat was racing. Her legs were beginning to rebel on her as well. They became big pieces of led and her muscles didn't feel like they could handle lifting a feather. The cold stone floor was jarring as her feet made impact. The hallway itself seemed to stretch longer and longer. Seconds felt like hours. Dread crept up on her with every forced step. The whole world held its breath, waiting to see her doom. Then she was there. In front of the potion classroom door.
Every muscle in her body sprang to life and told her to run. Her mind screamed with terror, telling her all the places she could hide, maybe she could find somewhere safe. But her body seemed on autopilot as it lifted one shaky arm and pushed open the door. She slowly walked in trying to fight the incredible urge to run. The classroom was cold and dark. The silence pressed in on her as if it might crush her. Breathing was increasingly difficult as it came in short little gasps of air. Once in the middle of the classroom her feet refused to move any more. Every little shadow that made the slightest flicker of movement would cause her head to snap in its direction only to see nothing.
"Miss Jennings," came that low, crisp voice from her right.
The sound had made her jump and gasp for breath. She whirled around to look at him. He looked at her levelly, his face expressionless.
"Quite jumpy today, aren't we?" he mocked her.
She may have been mad about that at any other time, but for now she was too scared to breath a word. He looked at her searchingly, letting the silence build between them. She wanted to run so bad but her limbs wouldn't move. Her mind was a whirl and she felt queasy. Things never looked or felt so bad for her before in her entire life. Well, save the day she heard her parent's deaths.
That thought was like cold water splashed on her. How could she stay rooted to the spot like this and think of running away? Her parents fought to the end, she would die honorably as well, and then come back to haunt this sorry git. With that thought in mind, Kat raised her chin and took a couple of breaths. He would NOT make her feel an inch tall over something she couldn't help.
Attempting speech, Kat uttered out a shaky question. "What are you going to do to me?"
Snape raised his eyebrows as if that statement had come as a shock. This didn't fool Kat, she knew he had a plan all worked out. As always. …Didn't he?
He spoke then and Kat suppressed the urge to jump once again. "What makes you think I want to do anything to you? Granted, it has been years since a true psychic was born, but it is most certainly a good thing." Kat was shocked. Psychic wizards and witches? That's what he thought she was? The only thing she had ever heard like that was when Trelawny had spoken about those with the Inner Eye. But she knew for a fact Snape didn't believe any of that, nor did, most likely, any of the other teachers. Snape glared at her now as he continued. "What made you think this was a bad thing?" he demanded.
Kat opened her mouth and her jaw bobbed up and down but nothing came out. Snape looked a bit impatient at this. "Let me guess then." He said snidely after a few more seconds. Kat abruptly closed her mouth. "Since you're muggle born you don't know much about the magical world. So when you found out Harry was a parcel tongue you didn't find it bad at all until others did and you thought this was the same way."
That was a good excuse really. Kat wasn't going to be one to argue if it saved her life and withheld her secret. So, making her face into a mask of guilt she feebly nodded and hung her head some waiting for it. And it came, sure enough.
"Foolish girl. Gryffindors are boasted about for their courage, but it's never mentioned of their stupidity." He scolded. Kat cringed. Harsh. He went on more calmly. "All you have to do is learn to control what you have and then register at the Ministry."
"No!" Kat's head shot up, her eyes wide with fear.
He sneered at her, "And why not?" the last word he snapped at her, making her jump again.
She fumbled for words. What was she going to tell him now? She had better do some quick thinking… "W-well," she stuttered, only to get a glare from it. An idea struck her, so she plowed through it. "I've read your mind for a while now. All out of necessity of coarse. And I know You-Know-Who is looking for more powerful people on his side. He might come looking for me if he knows about me, about what I can do. I'd be easier than any potion to obtain information and faster than a spell…" she trailed off and just looked at him with pleading eyes. She made sense and he couldn't deny it. Now it was up to him whether nobility won out over his spy work. She had never seen him as a noble man, but surely he had some soul. Hopefully.
He stared her down for a moment before he spoke. "You're right. The less people on his side the better." He looked concealed, as if hiding something from her. She only hoped it wasn't betrayal. No, of coarse it wasn't. She'd read his mind long enough, she was just nervous. That's all, nervous from her worry.
Snape's eyes took on a look as if he were battling an inner argument. By the way his mind worked, he most likely was. Finally a side won out and he spoke before his mind could say anymore. "You will still need to learn to control your power. By the looks of what happened today in the Great Hall, you could use some control over it. How often does that happen?"
Kat blinked. He was offering to help? Maybe she was dreaming. It was possible. The look on his face said the he didn't want to have to wait for answers every time so Kat mentally shook herself and answered.
"About every three days," she managed to whisper out. For some reason her voice just would not go over that sound level. Snape didn't seem to mind that though, it must make him feel as if he still held a great fear factor, even though she knew so much about him.
"When did it start and what is it exactly?"
"It started that day in the potion's when I passed out." Kat figured that was the least embarrassing was to put it. "It's an overload. I can hear everyone's thoughts at once in my mind, it's overwhelming." She didn't know how to elaborate, though somehow he looked like he wanted her to. Well, he'd just have to live with that description.
"I can imagine." He stated stoically. "Why then, do you read my thoughts when it happens?"
Kat colored a bit at this. She should have seen that one coming. "That day in class I had accidentally read your mind and that caused an overload. The second time I had one was in the Great Hall. The only voice I could lock on to was yours. I don't really know why. I suppose it's because I had read it before. So when I concentrated on your thoughts, I gained control again and the overload died away." She cursed herself for how little a voice she had. He looked skeptical, but she couldn't say it with more confidence because her voice was barely making sound as it was.
"So you need a focus. Reasonable." He said a bit grudgingly. Probably was hoping to take off points for reading the teacher's mind. Well, he wasn't getting it this time. "What do you do when I am not around?"
"I usually have to stick it out. But it's not that bad. The Great Hall is the worst because of all the people there. So today when you stopped…" her voice failed on her then. Snape simply nodded.
"Well, that may be for the best. Now we know what's truly wrong with you and can work on this." Kat looked a little worried at this statement. Who all was he going to tell? He saw the look on her face and elaborated. "The less who know of this, the safer until the Dark Lord falls from power permanently." To bad he didn't look as if he believed that statement. "If you wish, it can go no further than me. I have a feeling that no one needs to tell the Headmaster anything, as it is, he knows everything that goes on in this school without informant."
It sounded as so he truly believed this, and after all that Kat has seen in this school and how much he seems to know all the time, she believed it too. That didn't make her feel much better about it though. She supposed however, that if Dumbledore hadn't said anything about her so far, then her never would. Now that could be one on her side. Dumbledore was a good man, she just hoped that he wouldn't be faced with the option to choose sides. The ministry or her, she wasn't ~that~ special.
"So, this leaves me to the fact that I must help you develop your powers." Snape said matter of factly.
This dumbfounded Kat. He wanted to help her? Snape, of all people wanted to help her? This was almost too much.
"Y… you're going to help me?" she chocked out.
He looked severely annoyed at this statement. "I'm not going to let a student run around the school with untamed powers. ~Especially~ in my potions class." He said snidely. That figures though, he wanted to protect his Slytherins. If anything happened to them, it was his head on the block considering the high social status of some of their parents.
All Kat could do was stare at him. For a moment he looked like he was having another battle. But before he finished it, he spoke one side's opinion. "I also want a favor from you since you're going to be taking up my free time now." He stopped there, as if waiting for an answer but more so, because he was having great conflict on whether to ask it. What was so bad?
Kat took a chance and reached out into his mind. It was sitting there on the edge of his mind, just waiting to be asked as the rest of his mind reconsidered it and tried to come up with something else to amend for what he already said. What he was dying to ask was, "I want you to spy on Slytherin."
This got Kat extremely curious, she had to question it, at least it would save him the trouble of saying it. "You're the Head of House and they think you're still on You-Know-Who's side. Why do you want me to spy on them when you're in the perfect position to do so?"
Her question threw him off guard as he simply stared at her for a long moment. Recovering, he put a bit of a snip in his reply. "You only do that when I give you permission. You don't know what I might be thinking."
Kat blushed fiercely. ~That~ had been unexpected. He went on though, the slightest bit dejected. "No one but the Dark Lord himself knows the full story. Everyone has their posts and obligations. Most of my house is getting a diverse amount of orders that are to be shared with no one. Including me. I need to know what these are, and you are the only one who can help me find out. For this reason, I'll do anything to see that you can manage you're skills up to their maximum."
Well, that settled it. Spy work comes before compassion, at least she wasn't dead because of it. Still, Kat contemplated all this. If she spied for him, then she would also know the full story. That little detail could come in handy in saving her life. It could also mean that she'd learn a lot more than she wanted to. But that was minor in comparison. She had to also keep up the shared that she was psychic and not mutant so that Snape wouldn't find out. All this added up to one sure thing, she was studying with Snape, alone, at night, whenever possible. Well isn't that just peachy?
"Okay," Kat said slowly. The comment mainly to make sure she still had a voice. "Agreed. So when do we start practicing?"
He looked at her with an odd expression but it was gone before she could place it. "Why not now?" he stated. "Usually, my meetings with students not of my house last longer than a single conversation."
Kat was momentarily stumped. "Now?" she said and immediately regretted it.
"I do believe I spoke loud enough to be heard Miss Jennings, unlike you."
She flinched at that. Oh ya, this was going to be a ball. "Okay then… Where do we start?"
Snape paced to his desk and picked up a piece of paper. "It seems you have a problem with lengths of time and focusing. Am I correct?" he looked up at her. She simply nodded. "Then we will start with length of time. Since there is no one in here but me, it will be fine. I will read this paper, and you will recite it as I do so. Understood?" She nodded again. They began.
Having had so many, Kat knew what an overload felt like. By the end of the paper it felt as if she had overloaded and receded from it three times. This ended up in a twinge of a headache. Snape asked her how it had gone and she relayed this information. He simply nodded, wrote something on the paper, picked up another and they began again. This went on for another ten papers. When he was about to pick up another she had to stop him.
"I'm exhausted. Can't we continue later?" she said. Her speech was slightly slurred because of how tired she was and her eyelids were drooping. She had a headache that throbbed in her ears but she knew better than to complain of that.
Snape then seemed to realize how tired she really was and agreed to let her go. They made arrangements to meet tomorrow when she was more awake so they could figure out how they were going to keep practicing without anyone getting suspicious. As she walked to the door she accidentally bumped into a chair. It scraped across the floor and rang in her ears. The loud noise had been enough to shoot pain through her already throbbing head. She made a small, involuntary whimper of pain when it happened and Snape had heard it.
"I know that running into a chair doesn't hurt that bad when you're that tired." He said it more in a way that he knew something else was wrong rather than meaning it to be an insult.
"I have a bit of a head ache." Kat whispered. This time more to the fact that sound hurt rather than that she was afraid.
Snape "hmm"ed and went over to his stores. He pulled out a large bottle of liquid and a small glass. He poured a little into the glass and brought it over to her. "Drink." He commanded.
It smelled awful but she knew better than to ask questions so she drank it. It didn't taste as bad as it smelled, but it was still wasn't butterbeer. Resisting the temptation to wrinkle her nose she swallowed hard and handed the now empty glass back to him. Before she could ask he said, "It's to help all bodily pains. I use it mainly for headaches but its capabilities don't stop there. Unfortunately, it does nothing for pain inflicted from spells." He said the last part like an afterthought. But Kat had a feeling it held much more meaning than that.
Snape walked back over to his stores to put the things away. Kat was about to leave but something held her back, something had been bugging her ever since super. Before she could lose her courage she went ahead and asked it.
"How did you know?"
Snape gave her cruel glare. "I am not the mind reader here, you must clarify your ramblings."
Kat blushed but continued. "How did you know I read your mind to help me during overloads?"
Snape paused thoughtfully at this. "Because I know the face of hidden pain." He said finally. He stared at the empty glass still in his hand before he looked up and placed it back on shelf and muttering a cleaning spell on it. "Good night, Miss Jennings." He said with a tone of finality.
Kat knew when to leave. "G'night," she said turning back around to the door. She walked out slowly and about halfway down the hall heard the quiet click of the door closing. That had been quite an experience. Now time for some sleep.
