The next thing I knew I was being woken up, abruptly and cruelly, it seemed, from my sweet slumber.

"Miss Cockerham, are you alright?"

"Wha- no. I mean yes," I mumbled with my eyes still tightly shut.

"Open your eyes."

"I can't," I groaned. Who is this person and why doesn't he just leave me alone?

"Sit up." I felt someone pull me up to the sitting position and I managed to pry my eyes open partially. The light flooded them and I had to blink repeatedly to adjust.

"Are you sure you're alright? You hit your head on the floor."

My eyes were coming into focus slowly, and I began to make out shapes in the room.

"I'm fine, stop asking me," I replied grumpily.

"Well excuse me, your highness," said the voice.

Hmm, he sounds familiar, but what is a man doing in the girl's dormitory? I thought.

"What are you doing he--" I began, but I managed to open my eyes all the way in mid-sentence and saw Professor Snape's face peering down at me. Oh, yeah. Letter, Snape's father, fell asleep. I remember now. "Oh no, I have to go." I tried to get up but my legs felt wobbly and I had to sit down in a chair after a few steps. Another chair was sitting on its side near where I had been lying. I fell out of that chair, I thought stupidly.

"I didn't realize how late it was," Snape said, looking at me strangely as I stared blankly at the overturned chair. He walked over to it and set it upright. I broke my gaze and looked at him.

"I think you should go see Madam Pomfrey about your head."

"It's fine, I've got a hard skull. It doesn't even hurt, see?" I ran my hand down the back of my head and found a rather large lump that did, in fact, hurt. "Ouch."

"Doesn't hurt?" Snape said sarcastically.

"I'm fine. Right now all I want to do is go to sleep."

"That is what I'm worried about." Snape walked over to me and took out his wand. "Lumos," he said and held the tip of the wand in front of my face. He moved it side to side and up and down. My eyes followed the light. "I don't think you've got a concussion."

I sighed. I told you.

"I'll bring you up to your common room, though."

"That's really not necessary," I protested.

"Miss Cockerham, it is after curfew. Do you really want to be found wandering the halls at night alone and without permission?" He looked down at me forcefully.

"No," I replied meekly.

"Come, then."

He escorted me to the Ravenclaw common room in silence, but when we reached the entrance he said,

"You will, of course, not speak of this to anyone." It was a demand, not a request.

"Of course, I would never tell a soul about your father."

"Not even Polley?" He said, sneering slightly as he said 'Polley'.

"No, not even Franco."

"Good," he said sharply. "Now get some sleep."

"Yes, sir."

I skirted around a few people in the common room who were still up, doing homework no doubt. I crept up to the dormitory, hastily kicked off my shoes, and crawled into bed fully dressed. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


"Where were you yesterday?"

"I was in the library."

"But you said you would be right back."

"Well, I was coming back, but then I remembered that I hadn't finished my homework for Ancient Runes, so I went up to the library to look some things up. Is that a crime?"

"Are you sure you went to the library?" Franco asked suspiciously.

"Of course," I said firmly putting on my most honest face. "Now stop bothering me about it." I didn't like lying to Franco, but I couldn't tell him anything about what had happened last night. I wasn't even clear about what had happened myself. I hated being the only one who knew about his father. I felt like if I could tell someone it would lighten the load I carried, but I knew I could never tell a soul. "Hogsmeade this weekend," I said, changing the subject.

"Do you want me to stay here with you?" Franco asked graciously, and I felt even guiltier.

"No, that's okay Franco. Go and have fun. Smuggle me back some butterbeer."

"Are you sure?" I nodded. "Okay. It's just that it's so unfair. First, your dad wouldn't let you go, and now your aunt won't."

"Yeah, well, I'll be eighteen soon and it will be 'good riddance' to her!"


The next day, nearly everyone in the school left for Hogsmeade after breakfast and I slowly made my way in the opposite direction towards the library. I figured that I would get all of my homework done and have all of Sunday to lay outside in the grass and read while it was still relatively warm. I began to walk up the staircase and saw a man down below out of the corner of my eye. He was looking very closely at a small marble statue. I stopped and watched him from above. He looked around a few times to see if anyone was near, then picked up the statue and attempted to hide it in his overcoat.

"Excuse me," I said, coming down the staircase a few steps. He jumped and looked up. "Who are you?" I asked. As I got closer to him, I could see that he was wearing very tatty brown wizard's robes that looked a few sizes too large, a musty green hat, and dirty scuffed up boots. He looked to be in his mid-fifties, had a terrible five o'clock shadow, squinty blue eyes and a large hooked nose.

"Well, 'ello, little missy!" He said with mock enthusiasm. "I was jus' wondering if you could show me where Professor Snape's office migh' be?" His voice was rough and slightly slurred, and he spoke in an accent between Popular London and Cockney.

So this is the elusive Harold Shue, I thought. The wonderful, kind, and caring Harold Shue. If only Berthe could see him now. "Why, of course," I said sweetly. "It's right this way." I led him to the dungeon, watching him out of the corner of my eye as he struggled to make the large, oddly shaped lump sticking out of his stomach look natural.

I knocked on the door to Snape's office and hoped that he was there. I really didn't want this man following me around all morning while I tried to track him down.

"Miss Cockerham," Snape said, looking almost surprised. Then he looked behind me and saw Shue fiddling with the buttons on his coat and his expression immediately turned sour.

"You have a guest, Professor," I said quietly. "He was looking for you."

"Thank you, Miss Cockerham, you may go now."

I have to admit I was quite disappointed that I did not get to stay and watch the spectacle. I turned to leave and Snape gestured for Shue to enter his office.

"Hold on, Miss Cockerham," he said before shutting the door.

"Yes?" Please, ask me to stay, I thought.

"Will you kindly return this to its rightful place?" He picked up the statuette that had fallen from Shue's coat pocket when he sat down in the chair.

"Yes, Professor."

"Thank you, Miss Cockerham," he said, and gave me a meaningful look as he shut the door.