Chapter 10 ~ Boggarts and Broom Closets Don't Mix
Her father let her apparate to Hogsmeade alone. She wanted to think as she walked back to the castle. She clutched the boxed boggart tightly to her side as she trudged along, her trunk following. She meant to think about her mother, but found that she'd exhausted all her thoughts on the matter. It was over. Her mother had lived and died in the service of Lord Voldemort and been a very cold woman in between. Papa wasn't dwelling on it, and Muriel wouldn't either.
Instead she thought about Severus. He'd been acting very strangely ever since the Christmas party, beginning with trying to tell her he'd had no fun. It wasn't like him to lie like that, at least not to her.
To everyone else he was the same insufferable git he'd always been. He hexed Potter and Black every chance he got. She smiled. He'd been leaving Peter Pettigrew alone lately. The boy was so pathetic that even Severus felt a little guilty hexing him. She'd noticed that he wasn't cursing Remus much anymore either. He'd asked her about Remus several times, but as they hadn't really spoken much since second year, she'd had little to tell him. And she wasn't going to tell him the one thing she DID know.
But there was definitely something going on with him. Sometimes he looked as though he was deep in thought, but she couldn't hear anything going on in his head at all.
The boggart shook the box a little and she held it more tightly, letting a smirk creep across her face. Maybe he needed a little shock to get him back to normal? She had just the thing. After she took her trunk up to Ravenclaw tower, and greeted her roommates, she put the box under her arm again and set off for the Slytherin dungeons. She ran into Bernice Rollens, a 2nd year half-blood who really didn't have any business being in Slytherin anyway, and forced the password from her. She was almost there when she stopped dead and flattened herself against the wall. Professor Warrington had just rounded the corner up ahead, chatting pleasantly with the Ravenclaw prefect. She cast her invisibility charm before she realized that it didn't work on boggarts, and the squirming thing (Yuck! Who knew they were so disgusting when they thought no one could see them?) appeared to be floating in midair. Panicking, she opened the nearest door and threw the box inside.
She was about to run, since the closing door had caught the professor's attention, when she heard a hoarse shout followed by a piercing scream. Smiling widely, she backed against the wall again, keeping herself invisible.
She watched as Professor Warrington threw open the door to the broom closet, and nearly laughed out loud when she saw who was in there. Malfoy Sr., his face red with anger, towered over a cringing Lucius Malfoy, shouting furiously about the impropriety of being caught snogging in a broom closet. Narcissa was crying, her lips puffy and bruised.
Professor Warrington knew immediately that it couldn't REALLY be Mr. Malfoy, so he cast a riddikulus charm on the boggart, turning Mr. Malfoy into a tomato with a shock of blond hair where the stem should be.
Professor Warrington and the Ravenclaw prefect laughed loudly and the boggart disappeared with a POP! Malfoy was beside himself, and trying desperately to master his fear. Narcissa was drying her eyes, and looked both relieved and amused.
But Professor Warrington no longer looked amused at all. Muriel held her sides and shook as he told off the Head Boy for snogging in a broom closet, gave them both detention, and stormed off toward his office. Her silent giggles stopped abruptly however, as Malfoy bent down and picked up the box she'd thrown. Aunt Rosa had sent her a present in that box once, and the address was probably on it.
"Deesia." He said in a dangerous voice, showing the box to Narcissa. They both looked around angrily before stomping off to their common room, box still in hand.
Mur dropped her spell as soon as they were out of sight. It was the longest she'd ever held it, and it drained her horribly, but it had all been worth it. She couldn't wait to tell Severus.
Her father let her apparate to Hogsmeade alone. She wanted to think as she walked back to the castle. She clutched the boxed boggart tightly to her side as she trudged along, her trunk following. She meant to think about her mother, but found that she'd exhausted all her thoughts on the matter. It was over. Her mother had lived and died in the service of Lord Voldemort and been a very cold woman in between. Papa wasn't dwelling on it, and Muriel wouldn't either.
Instead she thought about Severus. He'd been acting very strangely ever since the Christmas party, beginning with trying to tell her he'd had no fun. It wasn't like him to lie like that, at least not to her.
To everyone else he was the same insufferable git he'd always been. He hexed Potter and Black every chance he got. She smiled. He'd been leaving Peter Pettigrew alone lately. The boy was so pathetic that even Severus felt a little guilty hexing him. She'd noticed that he wasn't cursing Remus much anymore either. He'd asked her about Remus several times, but as they hadn't really spoken much since second year, she'd had little to tell him. And she wasn't going to tell him the one thing she DID know.
But there was definitely something going on with him. Sometimes he looked as though he was deep in thought, but she couldn't hear anything going on in his head at all.
The boggart shook the box a little and she held it more tightly, letting a smirk creep across her face. Maybe he needed a little shock to get him back to normal? She had just the thing. After she took her trunk up to Ravenclaw tower, and greeted her roommates, she put the box under her arm again and set off for the Slytherin dungeons. She ran into Bernice Rollens, a 2nd year half-blood who really didn't have any business being in Slytherin anyway, and forced the password from her. She was almost there when she stopped dead and flattened herself against the wall. Professor Warrington had just rounded the corner up ahead, chatting pleasantly with the Ravenclaw prefect. She cast her invisibility charm before she realized that it didn't work on boggarts, and the squirming thing (Yuck! Who knew they were so disgusting when they thought no one could see them?) appeared to be floating in midair. Panicking, she opened the nearest door and threw the box inside.
She was about to run, since the closing door had caught the professor's attention, when she heard a hoarse shout followed by a piercing scream. Smiling widely, she backed against the wall again, keeping herself invisible.
She watched as Professor Warrington threw open the door to the broom closet, and nearly laughed out loud when she saw who was in there. Malfoy Sr., his face red with anger, towered over a cringing Lucius Malfoy, shouting furiously about the impropriety of being caught snogging in a broom closet. Narcissa was crying, her lips puffy and bruised.
Professor Warrington knew immediately that it couldn't REALLY be Mr. Malfoy, so he cast a riddikulus charm on the boggart, turning Mr. Malfoy into a tomato with a shock of blond hair where the stem should be.
Professor Warrington and the Ravenclaw prefect laughed loudly and the boggart disappeared with a POP! Malfoy was beside himself, and trying desperately to master his fear. Narcissa was drying her eyes, and looked both relieved and amused.
But Professor Warrington no longer looked amused at all. Muriel held her sides and shook as he told off the Head Boy for snogging in a broom closet, gave them both detention, and stormed off toward his office. Her silent giggles stopped abruptly however, as Malfoy bent down and picked up the box she'd thrown. Aunt Rosa had sent her a present in that box once, and the address was probably on it.
"Deesia." He said in a dangerous voice, showing the box to Narcissa. They both looked around angrily before stomping off to their common room, box still in hand.
Mur dropped her spell as soon as they were out of sight. It was the longest she'd ever held it, and it drained her horribly, but it had all been worth it. She couldn't wait to tell Severus.