A/N: Thanks to Allie for the chalk and Stephen for the goat.
Chapter 7
Rebel With A Cause
After the laughter had settled and the students in the Great Hall were finally finishing their breakfasts, Hope managed to catch Robert's eye. He raised an eyebrow at her from the Gryffindor table and Hope nodded and jerked her head towards the door. She slipped quickly out of her seat.
"I'll see you in History of Magic," she muttered to Cora. "There's something I want to do first."
"I'm coming with you," Cora scraped her own chair backwards. "Goodness only knows what you'll get up to next if I leave you on your own again. That was you doing all that, wasn't it?"
Hope nodded, and hurried to where Robert was waiting patiently in the entrance hall. A grin quirked his lips when he saw her.
"I'll have to get you to teach me those spells," he said with admiration. "Snape was just priceless wearing those feathers."
Hope shrugged. "It didn't work properly," she admitted, keeping her voice low so a batch of sixth years passing by didn't overhear. "It was meant to turn him totally into a flamingo, but it only did a partial transformation."
"Even so," Robert exclaimed, his face glowing with sheer delight, "can you imagine the fun we could have with the prefects?" He glanced anxiously at Cora, wondering if he'd said something he shouldn't have.
"This is Cora," Hope explained. "She's in Slytherin as well, but she's nice. Cora, this is Robert. He's a friend of mine from home. We've known each other since we were about six months old."
"And she still acts like it sometimes," Robert chuckled.
Cora smiled shyly at him. "I've seen you in Potions."
More students were starting to wander out of the Great Hall, parting at the foot of the stairs and disappearing in various directions to prepare for the morning's lessons.
"We've not got long," Hope said. She glanced around her and as soon as the corridor was empty, she pulled open a door into a nearby broom cupboard, and the three of them squeezed inside. Brooms clattered to the floor as Robert backed into them, and Hope winced when she stubbed her toe on a metal bucket.
"What's all this about?" Robert asked. She could just about make out his expression through the darkness. "What's up?"
Hope looked from Robert to Cora, and sighed.
"I want to go home," she said simply.
Cora gave a horrified cry. "You can't!"
"Why?" Robert sounded more confused than anything. "It's not just because of your sorting, is it? There's got to be some other way round that, we just haven't found it yet."
"Balthasar's not back yet from Mum and Dad," Hope tried to explain, but she felt a knot thickening in her throat. "I need to talk to them. They must be so upset with me."
"You don't want to be in Slytherin?" Cora was aghast. "Why would anyone have a problem with that?"
"You don't know my family," Hope tried to laugh, but it came out as a strangled sob. "All of them have been in Gryffindor for years, and I've really let them down."
"They can't think that!" Cora tried to reassure her, but Hope shook her head fiercely.
"They will, all right? I couldn't get out of here when I tried on a broom because of the wards around the grounds, and the chances of me getting through the main gate on foot are about as likely as Snape winning a comedy award. That leaves me with one option."
"The secret passageway?" Robert said at once. "The one on the fourth floor."
"Exactly," Hope said, her heart rising again. "It's far less risky than using a fireplace to talk to them. If we can work out where the passageway door is now, I could be home and back again before anyone misses me. I could sneak out tonight and be back for breakfast."
"And if you're caught?"
"What's the worst they could do? Expel me?" Hope gave a dry laugh. "I need to see Mum and Dad."
"So what do you want us to do?" Robert asked, the set of his jaw telling Hope at once that she had an ally. She glanced across at Cora and saw the dark-haired girl swallow nervously.
"I'll help too," she agreed, a slight tremor in her voice betraying how scared she was at the thought of breaking the rules.
"If one of you could keep a look out, the other could help me find the door," Hope explained. "I know the incantation to open it, but there's no mirror up there now to mark the entrance, so we'll have to try the walls and portraits and everything."
"Best wait until everyone's asleep then," Robert said thoughtfully. "How about I meet you both in the little alcove by the Goblin Rebellion tapestry at midnight?"
Hope glanced at Cora, who nodded.
"Midnight," she breathed.
***
The morning's lessons seemed to drag on endlessly. Most of the pupils were in high spirits, enjoying the sight of their teachers changed appearances, but Hope had her mind on other things.
She stared listlessly out of the window during History of Magic. Professor Binns had escaped her charms at breakfast, solely due to the fact that he was a ghost and didn't bother attending meals in the castle. Consequently the lesson was about as exciting as watching a sloth run a mile. She stifled a yawn and turned her head back to the classroom itself, seeing September sunshine glittering its golden rays over the heads that rested sleepily on hands and in the crooks of arms as Binns droned on.
"In eleven forty-two Eric the Eager was assassinated by means of beheading with a large axe. He was succeeded by Omar the Ungrateful (1109 to 1143), whose foreign policy brought about a more affluent economy."
Hope scratched her quill against the scroll of parchment in front of her, doodling faces and swirls to embellish her name, the only thing she'd written thus far in the lesson. Professor Binns' chalk was scribbling away on the blackboard behind him, noting down the dates and the major events as he talked his way through the topic.
"The Treaty of Druododna in September 1143 was one of the first of its kind, as both signatories survived for more than a day afterwards."
Hope's eyes focused on the chalk and an idea slowly dawned. She'd done something similar once by accident when Mum had been dictating a chapter to her quill. What if.? She narrowed her eyes and stared hard at the chalk, feeling out for the magic controlling it. A shivery tingle ran through her, and the chalk paused in the act of inscribing the treaty's date on the board.
"Two days later an emissary arrived from the newly established Unter faction."
Behind Binns, the chalk scribbled furiously. Hope's jaw dropped. She didn't know it was possible for anyone to do that, never mind with a goat and a wand...
There was a muffled snigger from the far side of the classroom as another student spotted what the chalk was up to. Professor Binns barely paused in his delivery of his lecture, his pearly-white figure drifting slightly behind his desk as he stooped to read from the textbook.
"War was declared between the two factions a week after the signing of this treaty, and this interim period of peace was spoken of with reverence for centuries, known to all as The Long Respite."
The chalk danced its way across the dusty surface again, tapping lightly as it inscribed its message. There were little nudges around the classroom and the Slytherin first years blinked the sleep away and watched the board with delighted fascination.
Professor Binns straightened up a little, clearly pleased to have a class paying such attention to his every word, and launched into a detailed account of the beginnings of the Two Hundred Year War, thus called because it lasted precisely sixty-eight years.
A little giggle. Then another.
A whisper like leaves rustling in the wind wafted around the classroom. A limerick that Peeves would have been proud of was scrawling its way across the board, and Hope had to stuff her fist in her mouth to stop herself from laughing. She glanced across the classroom, and found that Belford was looking startled, but some of the other pupils were rocking with barely contained mirth.
Parkinson glanced across at her, and her lips thinned into the narrowest of lines. Suddenly, her hand shot into the air.
"Professor," she called imperiously.
"Er. yes? Miss. er.?" Professor Binns said, sounding rather vague and woolly now that his line of thought had been interrupted.
"Miss Parkinson," Priscilla reminded him, with a snooty glance sideways at Hope. "I was just wondering what that lizard you've written about on the board had to do with anything."
"Lizard?" Professor Binns echoed, clearly quite bewildered by the comment. "Lizard?"
The chalk scrawled a stream of colourful curses, and Priscilla turned a mottled shade of red. She visibly bristled.
"Yes, Sir," she said. "The things that are written on your."
She broke off mid-sentence, and shuddered for breath again and again. Suddenly the most enormous sneeze shook her frame and almost made the windows rattle. She tried to catch her breath, but it was no good. Again and again she sneezed until the tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was unable to speak.
Belford was sitting opposite Parkinson, blushing madly. He grinned over at Hope, and she saw him pocket a twist of paper that she would have recognised anywhere. Without doubt it contained a batch of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes best sneezing powder (guaranteed to render your victim helpless, or your money back!)
"Good heavens!" Professor Binns exclaimed as Parkinson roared in a breath of air before she began sneezing again.
"Shall I take her to the hospital wing?" Rose Lambert offered.
"Yes, yes!" Their teacher waved his hand in their direction and dismissed them with some irritation. "Now where was I?"
Cora raised her hand. "The Two Hundred Years War, Sir."
Professor Binns looked rather disconcerted. Mostly his classes couldn't have even told him what subject they were studying, let alone the last thing he'd said. "Thank you, McCord," he said to Cora. Cora bit her lip and Hope could tell that she was trying not to laugh.
"The Two Hundred Years War as it became known, actually only lasted for sixty eight years. It began with the siege of." Professor Binns settled into his regular monotonous drone, and the chalk began scribbling naughty rhymes involving an old witch from St. Ives.
The bell finally sounded to signal the end of the lesson and the students all scrambled to stuff their belongings back in their bags. Once into the corridor, Hope pushed through the throng and caught hold of Belford's arm. He was startled and swung round to face her, bright colour flushing through his face.
"Sorry!" Hope exclaimed. "I just wanted to say 'thank you' for getting me out of trouble in there. The sneezing powder was brilliant."
If it was at all possible, Belford went even redder. The tips of his ears were now crimson. "'S all right," he muttered, beaming with pleasure.
Hope grinned back, and began to stroll with Cora and Belford towards their next lesson, Care of Magical Creatures. He was looking distinctly uncomfortable and kept tugging at his collar.
"What's your first name?" Hope asked by way of conversation as they passed through a stone archway and down a set of rickety spiral stairs. "I can't keep calling you Belford."
"M-Matthew," he stammered, and walked straight into a suit of armour. The clashes and clangs echoed up and down the corridor as he toppled over onto the floor and wrestled to free himself from the ensuing mess. Hope and Cora bent to help him up.
"Are you all right?" Cora asked anxiously.
Matthew nodded. He looked very much as if he wished the ground would swallow him whole. He picked up his book bag, hoisted it over his shoulder and said, "I'd better look where I'm going in future, that's all."
They hurried off, through the entrance hall and off into the soft sunshine of the late morning. The grass of the lawns was green and full and the sky was scattered with idle clouds. Cora squinted up at the sky.
"I wonder how Trelawney's getting on," she chuckled. "How long does that spell last anyway?"
"About a week," Hope admitted with a wry grin. "I've done it on Sam before. That's my brother," she added by way of explanation. "Mum went mad when she couldn't find a counter spell."
They reached Hagrid's cabin and wandered a little way further along to the wooden railings that usually penned in the magical creatures they would be studying. Instead, all they found was Hagrid lounging back in a colourful deckchair, his enormous dreadlocks framing his cheerful face.
"Hi Hagrid," Hope smiled at him, keeping her fingers crossed that Hagrid had taken his transformation as well as Uncle Remus seemed to have done. "What are we doing today?"
"Chillin'" Hagrid responded, and closed his eyes again.
The three of them shared a grin and collapsed on the grass, enjoying the sunshine for a while. Hope dug one of her library books out of her bag and rolled onto her stomach. She worked her way through the list of charms, pondering over what mischief could be caused with them.
Some of the spells looked far too difficult for her to attempt, and if her experience in Transfiguration was anything to go by, she should definitely steer clear of things like engorgement charms. She could just see herself trying to make a blade of grass double in size and ending up with something that rivalled Jack's beanstalk. However, there were a few spells that she thought she might be able to work without too much trouble.
The warmth of the sun and the lack of sleep the previous night made her eyes droop. She forced her eyelids open and tried to concentrate on her book, but it was too much. She laid her head down in her arms and closed her eyes.
Just five minutes, she thought to herself. Her breathing deepened almost at once and the haziness of sleep washed over her. The sun was warm and soothing, penetrating the aches of her tired body, and very soon the chattering of her classmates dissolved into dreams.
"Hope!" It was Cora again. Surely it couldn't be morning already. Hope wrinkled her brow and groaned, rolling onto her back to see what her friend wanted. "Hope! Wake Up!"
Instead of the canopy of her four-poster bed that Hope had expected to see above her, there was just sky. She blinked and shook the sleep from her eyes, sitting up quickly and staring around, slightly bewildered about where she was. Straggles of Slytherin first years were walking in groups back up to the castle. She could see Parkinson and Lambert striding out in front and Belford seemed to have rejoined his friends to lark about on the way back to the castle. Cora grinned at her.
"Well, if you are up half the night what do you expect?" She offered Hope a hand and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, let's go and get some lunch, I'm starving."
For once there were a lot of gaps on the staff table and Professors Flitwick and Binns, neither of whom had actually been at breakfast, supervised the meal. Madam Pomfrey sat at the end of the table looking stern and disapproving.
"What do you reckon the staff are up to?" she asked Cora.
Cora shook her head, her mouth full of baked potato. Hope turned her attention to her own lunch and picked at it, not feeling particularly hungry. She'd expected Snape to have descended furiously upon her by now and at the very least hauled her before the headmaster. Hope wasn't exactly looking forward to that happening, but at least then she could explain things to Professor Circinus himself and see if he could suggest anything to do with the sorting. In the meantime, all this waiting was making her feel queasy. What was Snape planning?
She threw down her fork with a clatter on her plate and took a sip of pumpkin juice. It was no good. She felt sick. She had to know what was going on.
"I'm not hungry," she explained. "You finish and I'll see you back in the common room."
Before Cora could protest, Hope grabbed her school bag and hurried out of the door. She twisted her way up the stairs and along a variety of corridors until she came out one level above where she'd planned to be. There was a balcony here overlooking the corridor below and a great arched window that gave a view of the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid's hut. Directly beneath her was the Hogwarts staff room, and if the staff weren't at lunch, then it was more likely than not they'd be in there.
Hope knelt down, and rummaged through her bag. They were a bit squashed, but she supposed they'd still work all right. Uncles Fred and George didn't make anything that was particularly delicate. She unravelled the long stringy tangle and, with a quick glance around her, dropped an extendible ear over the balcony to hang roughly level with the staff room door.
She caught the end of Remus saying something about Slytherin, and then Snape interrupted him, his tones dripping with sarcasm.
"Marvellous. Simply marvellous! As if having the fiend from hell in my house wasn't enough, she's only going to get worse. What's she going to do next? Turn all the house elves into can-can dancers?"
Hope hugged herself with delight and it was difficult to resist laughing aloud. There was the distant rumble of thunder, and she glanced quickly at the window, puzzled to see that the sky was as clear as it had been during Care of Magical Creatures.
"She could always use a good switching spell and change the common rooms around," Professor Sprout's laughter echoed in her ear. "That way she could be in Gryffindor without any of the hassles. If the mountain won't go to Mohammed, then."
"Then Mohammed will be put in detention until there's an anti-switching spell on the Slytherin common room," Snape retorted.
"Oh will I now?" Hope said under her breath, a wide grin spreading across her face. She jumped suddenly as the thunder rumbled again. That wasn't coming from outside, that was Professor Trelawney and her storm cloud hurrying down the corridor!
Just in the nick of time, Hope hauled the extendible ear upwards, ravelling the long cord quickly round her hand. Her heart was pounding uncomfortably in her chest, with her discovery. Snape still thought he had the upper hand? Well, he hadn't put a switching spell on the common rooms yet, had he?
She dumped the extendible ear back in her bag and pulled her library book out again. Switching spells? Her finger found them quickly in the index and she flipped to the page with trembling hands. Scanning quickly through the basic spell, she frowned. This wasn't as easy as the charms she'd done that morning because she'd never seen the Gryffindor Common Room. Still, she'd heard enough about it to know what it looked like and it was worth a try.
She lifted her wand and concentrated hard. She imagined the Fat Lady opening up and the squashy armchairs that her family had described in the round turret room high in the castle. She could picture them floating towards her, changing places with the Slytherin furniture down by the lake. A whispered incantation and magic tingled through her.
Something had definitely happened.
Hope pushed her book back into her bag and was about to hurry back to the common room to find out what she'd done when she heard a set of feet sprinting along the corridor and a furious hammering on the door of the staff room below. There was a short respite and the knocking began again with renewed vigour.
"P-Professor," a female voice stuttered. "Is Professor McGonagall there? Oh! You've got to come quickly."
"Whatever is it?"
"I was." the girl began. Hope peered cautiously over the balcony, watching the events below with interest.
"Which of you lot did it?" a furious roar came down the corridor and the Slytherin head boy bounded into sight. "You've got a bloody nerve."
"That's enough!" Snape growled and the seventh year fell silent at once, glowering at his Gryffindor counterpart. "What happened, Forth?"
"They've been into out common room and nicked all the furniture, Sir!"
"Don't be ridiculous. It was you stealing ours," the girl retorted.
Hope fled, laughter bubbling up inside her. She couldn't believe she'd actually done it. Her feet carried her as fast as they could down to the common room, slipping and sliding across the marble floor in the entrance hall in her haste. Down the darkened corridors to the patch of damp wall that slid aside to grant her access.
Uproar greeted her. Pupils of all shapes and sizes were yelling furiously and gesticulating at various strange objects that had unexpectedly filled their common room. Hope pushed through the throng, and found a very large squashy armchair right by the fire. She sank into it, smiling blissfully. Gryffindor at last!
***
Hope lay in bed, watching the inky lake shimmer in the moonlight. Darkened shapes of owls soared silently above it all, some returning to the fold with parcels and letters for their owners, others departing with news for those at home. There had been no sign of her own sooty owl, and his absence just made her feel worse than ever.
Hope swallowed, trying her level best not to cry and hugged Grandpa's Gryffindor scarf tightly. She burrowed her face into the wool and took a deep breath. She'd be home soon, and even if Mum and Dad were furious with her, they'd help her sort out all this mess somehow. The passageway on the fourth floor would bring her out somewhere in Hogsmeade, and from there it was just a case of running along a few streets and she'd be home.
Not long to go now.
She glanced at her watch and leaned over to part the curtains of Cora's bed. Cora was curled up on her quilt glancing through a photograph album, and Hope caught a glimpse of a pretty brunette witch, who must have been Cora's mother, before Cora flipped the cover closed. Her blue eyes lifted expectantly to Hope's green ones.
"It's time," Hope whispered. She rearranged her bed to make it look like someone was sleeping in there and then picked up her wand and her cloak. Following Cora, she tiptoed past the other three sleepers in their dormitory and into the pitch blackness of the stairwell beyond.
Hope put one hand against the cool stone wall and cautiously descended. Her foot missed the next step down at one point and she lurched forward, her stomach plummeting at the same time as her foot. Slowly, and carefully they reached the bottom and then, after quickly checking that the place was deserted, they ran through the re-Slytherined common room into the underground passageways beyond.
"We need to steer clear of the dungeons, or we'll run into the Bloody Baron," Cora hissed, and Hope halted in the act of turning left. She looked at Cora for a moment, grateful for the torches giving them some light to see by.
She nodded her understanding, and both girls scuttled in the opposite direction, trying to keep to the shadows as much as they could.
This corridor was faintly familiar to Hope, and her feet moved easily around the twists and turns that had been hewn in the rock centuries before. The path forked, and she instinctively turned left, her feet pattering quickly up a flight of shallow stairs. Cora grinned at her, and Hope smiled back. She was less disconcerted by her knowledge of the castle know and, for once, it could actually be an advantage.
They took another turn and the floor began to slope steeply upwards. They struggled up the hill. Hope felt like her legs were being transfigured into jelly and she leaned her hand against the wall for a second, bending forwards to gulp air into her aching lungs. She couldn't stop now. She was going to go home.
She propelled herself up the incline, forcing herself to get to the top, and as she eventually did, she stumbled and sprawled headlong across the stone landing at the top.
There was a muffled giggle.
"Are you ok?" Cora whispered.
Hope sat up and inspected herself. There was a graze across one knee that was oozing with blood, and her left wrist stung abominably. She'd obviously come down hardest on that and had sprained it or something.
"Fine," she said brightly. She got to her feet, brushed her robes down and, with a wince of pain from her wrist, she pushed the solitary door on the landing open.
They were halfway up the main staircase. She glanced at Cora. They knew what they had to do.
The place was deserted and they scrambled silently upwards. Second floor. Third. Fourth. Cora grabbed Hope's arm and hauled her backwards into a tiny alcove behind a stone dwarf.
"Someone's coming," she murmured. Her breath was hot in Hope's ear. They waited, barely daring to breathe. All Hope could hear was her heart pounding in her ears like they were about to explode and the footsteps of someone getting ever closer.
"I'm sure I heard something. Mrs Norris, my pretty, do you think there are students out of bed?"
There was a yowl of assent from the cat and Hope chewed on her lip. She didn't care about getting caught, but she wasn't about to get Cora into trouble. There had to be some way out of this.
Her heart was beating faster now, and her fingers slipped on her wand. She'd managed a switching spell earlier, what if she tried to do one again? There would be some noise and Filch would surely go to investigate. Filch was coming nearer and Cora was pressed back in the corner, balanced somewhat precariously, desperately trying to stay out of sight.
"Hunt them out, my lovely," Filch crooned to his cat.
Hope took a deep breath, tried to focus her mind on Professor McGonagall's desk and blackboard. It was far enough away to get them out of trouble, but near enough so Filch would hear it. She lifted her wand and muttered the spell she'd tried earlier, hoping the two objects would switch places. Cora overbalanced and fell against her.
There was an almighty crash. The Transfiguration blackboard had evidently toppled over.
"Peeves!" Filch bellowed furiously. He tore down the corridor, Mrs Norris at his heels. Hope let out a shuddering sigh of relief.
"OK?" she whispered, as Cora sat upright again. "We'd better try and find Robert."
More footsteps could be heard, and Hope closed her eyes. They'd been lucky once, but the chances were they'd be caught this time. This set of steps was quieter and slightly uncertain; they paused now and then as if their owner was inspecting something.
"Is anyone here?" a familiar voice hissed.
Hope opened her mouth to let Robert know they were there, but someone else beat her to it.
"No doubt you'd prefer it if there wasn't." Snape's sardonic comment rang down the corridor. Hope cringed. "Well, well, who do we have here? Miles of Gryffindor, isn't it?"
"Y-Yes, Professor Snape," Robert replied, sounding totally terrified.
Hope shook her head and began to get to her feet at once. She couldn't let Robert take the blame for this, not when it was all her fault. Cora caught hold of her hand and looked imploringly at her. Suddenly Hope understood. If she moved, then Cora would be caught too.
Memories of Cora worrying about what her mum would say if she got into mischief drifted through her mind. She couldn't do that to Cora either. It was agony and Hope writhed uncomfortably, the guilt eating away at her. What could she do to make sure this was put right?
"You're one of Potter's friends," Snape said, and Hope could imagine her teacher's face as he put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Where is she?" he added silkily.
"I don't know, sir," Robert admitted, with perfect honesty. "Probably in bed if she's got any sense."
"Indeed."
There was a rustling noise, sounding like Snape was looking behind the tapestry that they'd arranged to meet behind, and then a grunt of irritation.
"What were you doing out of bed, Miles?" The question was barked, shattering the stillness of the night.
"I-I'd left my homework in Professor Flitwick's room and thought I'd better get it before I got into trouble. But I've got into trouble anyway."
"Thirty points from Gryffindor," Snape said coldly. "And you can have detention as well for your trouble. I want to see you tomorrow morning before breakfast in my classroom, is that understood?"
"Yes, sir."
Hope's insides were curling up with frustration. This wasn't Robert's fault. She wanted to stand up and yell at Snape, but she knew she couldn't.
"Straight back to Gryffindor," Snape commanded. "Do not pause on the way. I shall see you first thing in the morning, and I should hope that by then you would have come up with a better excuse. Gryffindors never were very inventive, but this cock and bull tale about homework is below par, even for Gryffindor's usual low standards."
Robert turned and obediently headed back towards Gryffindor Tower, his shoulders bowed and head low. Hope felt a huge twist of guilt. She'd go to Snape first thing in the morning, even before Robert had a chance to get there and confess. There was no way she'd let him be punished because of her.
Snape strode off in the opposite direction, his robes billowing out behind him. Cora gave a shuddering sob.
"It's ok," Hope reassured her. "He's gone now, but I think we'd better get out of here before Filch comes back. Come on, it's not worth trying this again tonight."
***
Hope was dressed before the rest of the girls in her dormitory had woken up. She brushed her hair patiently, trying to get it to lie straight, and to some extent succeeded. She looked at herself in the mirror beside her bed and saw her reflection staring back. She looked pale and wan. Dark shadows were smudged under her eyes belying a lack of sleep. Her face was even paler than usual, in direct contrast with the brightness of her hair and her black robes.
The others began to get dressed for the day ahead, but she didn't speak to any of them. She stared listlessly out of the window, willing the slow pointers of time to move forwards so that she could confess to what she'd done; she thought her watch must have broken because the minutes barely seemed to be moving at all. She shifted restlessly, unable to keep still.
Finally, with a quick smile at Cora, Hope let herself out of the dormitory and made her way along to Snape's classroom. Her insides were twisting themselves in knots, lurching and making her feel sick.
Don't be stupid she reprimanded herself. You deserve this. Robert doesn't.
She stared for a moment at the heavy oak door and steeled herself. Her shaking hand reached up and knocked firmly on the dungeon door. Snape answered with a curt, "Enter!" and she pushed the door open, determined to meet her fate.
What met her eyes took her breath away.
"Mum? Dad?"
Chapter 7
Rebel With A Cause
After the laughter had settled and the students in the Great Hall were finally finishing their breakfasts, Hope managed to catch Robert's eye. He raised an eyebrow at her from the Gryffindor table and Hope nodded and jerked her head towards the door. She slipped quickly out of her seat.
"I'll see you in History of Magic," she muttered to Cora. "There's something I want to do first."
"I'm coming with you," Cora scraped her own chair backwards. "Goodness only knows what you'll get up to next if I leave you on your own again. That was you doing all that, wasn't it?"
Hope nodded, and hurried to where Robert was waiting patiently in the entrance hall. A grin quirked his lips when he saw her.
"I'll have to get you to teach me those spells," he said with admiration. "Snape was just priceless wearing those feathers."
Hope shrugged. "It didn't work properly," she admitted, keeping her voice low so a batch of sixth years passing by didn't overhear. "It was meant to turn him totally into a flamingo, but it only did a partial transformation."
"Even so," Robert exclaimed, his face glowing with sheer delight, "can you imagine the fun we could have with the prefects?" He glanced anxiously at Cora, wondering if he'd said something he shouldn't have.
"This is Cora," Hope explained. "She's in Slytherin as well, but she's nice. Cora, this is Robert. He's a friend of mine from home. We've known each other since we were about six months old."
"And she still acts like it sometimes," Robert chuckled.
Cora smiled shyly at him. "I've seen you in Potions."
More students were starting to wander out of the Great Hall, parting at the foot of the stairs and disappearing in various directions to prepare for the morning's lessons.
"We've not got long," Hope said. She glanced around her and as soon as the corridor was empty, she pulled open a door into a nearby broom cupboard, and the three of them squeezed inside. Brooms clattered to the floor as Robert backed into them, and Hope winced when she stubbed her toe on a metal bucket.
"What's all this about?" Robert asked. She could just about make out his expression through the darkness. "What's up?"
Hope looked from Robert to Cora, and sighed.
"I want to go home," she said simply.
Cora gave a horrified cry. "You can't!"
"Why?" Robert sounded more confused than anything. "It's not just because of your sorting, is it? There's got to be some other way round that, we just haven't found it yet."
"Balthasar's not back yet from Mum and Dad," Hope tried to explain, but she felt a knot thickening in her throat. "I need to talk to them. They must be so upset with me."
"You don't want to be in Slytherin?" Cora was aghast. "Why would anyone have a problem with that?"
"You don't know my family," Hope tried to laugh, but it came out as a strangled sob. "All of them have been in Gryffindor for years, and I've really let them down."
"They can't think that!" Cora tried to reassure her, but Hope shook her head fiercely.
"They will, all right? I couldn't get out of here when I tried on a broom because of the wards around the grounds, and the chances of me getting through the main gate on foot are about as likely as Snape winning a comedy award. That leaves me with one option."
"The secret passageway?" Robert said at once. "The one on the fourth floor."
"Exactly," Hope said, her heart rising again. "It's far less risky than using a fireplace to talk to them. If we can work out where the passageway door is now, I could be home and back again before anyone misses me. I could sneak out tonight and be back for breakfast."
"And if you're caught?"
"What's the worst they could do? Expel me?" Hope gave a dry laugh. "I need to see Mum and Dad."
"So what do you want us to do?" Robert asked, the set of his jaw telling Hope at once that she had an ally. She glanced across at Cora and saw the dark-haired girl swallow nervously.
"I'll help too," she agreed, a slight tremor in her voice betraying how scared she was at the thought of breaking the rules.
"If one of you could keep a look out, the other could help me find the door," Hope explained. "I know the incantation to open it, but there's no mirror up there now to mark the entrance, so we'll have to try the walls and portraits and everything."
"Best wait until everyone's asleep then," Robert said thoughtfully. "How about I meet you both in the little alcove by the Goblin Rebellion tapestry at midnight?"
Hope glanced at Cora, who nodded.
"Midnight," she breathed.
***
The morning's lessons seemed to drag on endlessly. Most of the pupils were in high spirits, enjoying the sight of their teachers changed appearances, but Hope had her mind on other things.
She stared listlessly out of the window during History of Magic. Professor Binns had escaped her charms at breakfast, solely due to the fact that he was a ghost and didn't bother attending meals in the castle. Consequently the lesson was about as exciting as watching a sloth run a mile. She stifled a yawn and turned her head back to the classroom itself, seeing September sunshine glittering its golden rays over the heads that rested sleepily on hands and in the crooks of arms as Binns droned on.
"In eleven forty-two Eric the Eager was assassinated by means of beheading with a large axe. He was succeeded by Omar the Ungrateful (1109 to 1143), whose foreign policy brought about a more affluent economy."
Hope scratched her quill against the scroll of parchment in front of her, doodling faces and swirls to embellish her name, the only thing she'd written thus far in the lesson. Professor Binns' chalk was scribbling away on the blackboard behind him, noting down the dates and the major events as he talked his way through the topic.
"The Treaty of Druododna in September 1143 was one of the first of its kind, as both signatories survived for more than a day afterwards."
Hope's eyes focused on the chalk and an idea slowly dawned. She'd done something similar once by accident when Mum had been dictating a chapter to her quill. What if.? She narrowed her eyes and stared hard at the chalk, feeling out for the magic controlling it. A shivery tingle ran through her, and the chalk paused in the act of inscribing the treaty's date on the board.
"Two days later an emissary arrived from the newly established Unter faction."
Behind Binns, the chalk scribbled furiously. Hope's jaw dropped. She didn't know it was possible for anyone to do that, never mind with a goat and a wand...
There was a muffled snigger from the far side of the classroom as another student spotted what the chalk was up to. Professor Binns barely paused in his delivery of his lecture, his pearly-white figure drifting slightly behind his desk as he stooped to read from the textbook.
"War was declared between the two factions a week after the signing of this treaty, and this interim period of peace was spoken of with reverence for centuries, known to all as The Long Respite."
The chalk danced its way across the dusty surface again, tapping lightly as it inscribed its message. There were little nudges around the classroom and the Slytherin first years blinked the sleep away and watched the board with delighted fascination.
Professor Binns straightened up a little, clearly pleased to have a class paying such attention to his every word, and launched into a detailed account of the beginnings of the Two Hundred Year War, thus called because it lasted precisely sixty-eight years.
A little giggle. Then another.
A whisper like leaves rustling in the wind wafted around the classroom. A limerick that Peeves would have been proud of was scrawling its way across the board, and Hope had to stuff her fist in her mouth to stop herself from laughing. She glanced across the classroom, and found that Belford was looking startled, but some of the other pupils were rocking with barely contained mirth.
Parkinson glanced across at her, and her lips thinned into the narrowest of lines. Suddenly, her hand shot into the air.
"Professor," she called imperiously.
"Er. yes? Miss. er.?" Professor Binns said, sounding rather vague and woolly now that his line of thought had been interrupted.
"Miss Parkinson," Priscilla reminded him, with a snooty glance sideways at Hope. "I was just wondering what that lizard you've written about on the board had to do with anything."
"Lizard?" Professor Binns echoed, clearly quite bewildered by the comment. "Lizard?"
The chalk scrawled a stream of colourful curses, and Priscilla turned a mottled shade of red. She visibly bristled.
"Yes, Sir," she said. "The things that are written on your."
She broke off mid-sentence, and shuddered for breath again and again. Suddenly the most enormous sneeze shook her frame and almost made the windows rattle. She tried to catch her breath, but it was no good. Again and again she sneezed until the tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was unable to speak.
Belford was sitting opposite Parkinson, blushing madly. He grinned over at Hope, and she saw him pocket a twist of paper that she would have recognised anywhere. Without doubt it contained a batch of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes best sneezing powder (guaranteed to render your victim helpless, or your money back!)
"Good heavens!" Professor Binns exclaimed as Parkinson roared in a breath of air before she began sneezing again.
"Shall I take her to the hospital wing?" Rose Lambert offered.
"Yes, yes!" Their teacher waved his hand in their direction and dismissed them with some irritation. "Now where was I?"
Cora raised her hand. "The Two Hundred Years War, Sir."
Professor Binns looked rather disconcerted. Mostly his classes couldn't have even told him what subject they were studying, let alone the last thing he'd said. "Thank you, McCord," he said to Cora. Cora bit her lip and Hope could tell that she was trying not to laugh.
"The Two Hundred Years War as it became known, actually only lasted for sixty eight years. It began with the siege of." Professor Binns settled into his regular monotonous drone, and the chalk began scribbling naughty rhymes involving an old witch from St. Ives.
The bell finally sounded to signal the end of the lesson and the students all scrambled to stuff their belongings back in their bags. Once into the corridor, Hope pushed through the throng and caught hold of Belford's arm. He was startled and swung round to face her, bright colour flushing through his face.
"Sorry!" Hope exclaimed. "I just wanted to say 'thank you' for getting me out of trouble in there. The sneezing powder was brilliant."
If it was at all possible, Belford went even redder. The tips of his ears were now crimson. "'S all right," he muttered, beaming with pleasure.
Hope grinned back, and began to stroll with Cora and Belford towards their next lesson, Care of Magical Creatures. He was looking distinctly uncomfortable and kept tugging at his collar.
"What's your first name?" Hope asked by way of conversation as they passed through a stone archway and down a set of rickety spiral stairs. "I can't keep calling you Belford."
"M-Matthew," he stammered, and walked straight into a suit of armour. The clashes and clangs echoed up and down the corridor as he toppled over onto the floor and wrestled to free himself from the ensuing mess. Hope and Cora bent to help him up.
"Are you all right?" Cora asked anxiously.
Matthew nodded. He looked very much as if he wished the ground would swallow him whole. He picked up his book bag, hoisted it over his shoulder and said, "I'd better look where I'm going in future, that's all."
They hurried off, through the entrance hall and off into the soft sunshine of the late morning. The grass of the lawns was green and full and the sky was scattered with idle clouds. Cora squinted up at the sky.
"I wonder how Trelawney's getting on," she chuckled. "How long does that spell last anyway?"
"About a week," Hope admitted with a wry grin. "I've done it on Sam before. That's my brother," she added by way of explanation. "Mum went mad when she couldn't find a counter spell."
They reached Hagrid's cabin and wandered a little way further along to the wooden railings that usually penned in the magical creatures they would be studying. Instead, all they found was Hagrid lounging back in a colourful deckchair, his enormous dreadlocks framing his cheerful face.
"Hi Hagrid," Hope smiled at him, keeping her fingers crossed that Hagrid had taken his transformation as well as Uncle Remus seemed to have done. "What are we doing today?"
"Chillin'" Hagrid responded, and closed his eyes again.
The three of them shared a grin and collapsed on the grass, enjoying the sunshine for a while. Hope dug one of her library books out of her bag and rolled onto her stomach. She worked her way through the list of charms, pondering over what mischief could be caused with them.
Some of the spells looked far too difficult for her to attempt, and if her experience in Transfiguration was anything to go by, she should definitely steer clear of things like engorgement charms. She could just see herself trying to make a blade of grass double in size and ending up with something that rivalled Jack's beanstalk. However, there were a few spells that she thought she might be able to work without too much trouble.
The warmth of the sun and the lack of sleep the previous night made her eyes droop. She forced her eyelids open and tried to concentrate on her book, but it was too much. She laid her head down in her arms and closed her eyes.
Just five minutes, she thought to herself. Her breathing deepened almost at once and the haziness of sleep washed over her. The sun was warm and soothing, penetrating the aches of her tired body, and very soon the chattering of her classmates dissolved into dreams.
"Hope!" It was Cora again. Surely it couldn't be morning already. Hope wrinkled her brow and groaned, rolling onto her back to see what her friend wanted. "Hope! Wake Up!"
Instead of the canopy of her four-poster bed that Hope had expected to see above her, there was just sky. She blinked and shook the sleep from her eyes, sitting up quickly and staring around, slightly bewildered about where she was. Straggles of Slytherin first years were walking in groups back up to the castle. She could see Parkinson and Lambert striding out in front and Belford seemed to have rejoined his friends to lark about on the way back to the castle. Cora grinned at her.
"Well, if you are up half the night what do you expect?" She offered Hope a hand and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, let's go and get some lunch, I'm starving."
For once there were a lot of gaps on the staff table and Professors Flitwick and Binns, neither of whom had actually been at breakfast, supervised the meal. Madam Pomfrey sat at the end of the table looking stern and disapproving.
"What do you reckon the staff are up to?" she asked Cora.
Cora shook her head, her mouth full of baked potato. Hope turned her attention to her own lunch and picked at it, not feeling particularly hungry. She'd expected Snape to have descended furiously upon her by now and at the very least hauled her before the headmaster. Hope wasn't exactly looking forward to that happening, but at least then she could explain things to Professor Circinus himself and see if he could suggest anything to do with the sorting. In the meantime, all this waiting was making her feel queasy. What was Snape planning?
She threw down her fork with a clatter on her plate and took a sip of pumpkin juice. It was no good. She felt sick. She had to know what was going on.
"I'm not hungry," she explained. "You finish and I'll see you back in the common room."
Before Cora could protest, Hope grabbed her school bag and hurried out of the door. She twisted her way up the stairs and along a variety of corridors until she came out one level above where she'd planned to be. There was a balcony here overlooking the corridor below and a great arched window that gave a view of the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid's hut. Directly beneath her was the Hogwarts staff room, and if the staff weren't at lunch, then it was more likely than not they'd be in there.
Hope knelt down, and rummaged through her bag. They were a bit squashed, but she supposed they'd still work all right. Uncles Fred and George didn't make anything that was particularly delicate. She unravelled the long stringy tangle and, with a quick glance around her, dropped an extendible ear over the balcony to hang roughly level with the staff room door.
She caught the end of Remus saying something about Slytherin, and then Snape interrupted him, his tones dripping with sarcasm.
"Marvellous. Simply marvellous! As if having the fiend from hell in my house wasn't enough, she's only going to get worse. What's she going to do next? Turn all the house elves into can-can dancers?"
Hope hugged herself with delight and it was difficult to resist laughing aloud. There was the distant rumble of thunder, and she glanced quickly at the window, puzzled to see that the sky was as clear as it had been during Care of Magical Creatures.
"She could always use a good switching spell and change the common rooms around," Professor Sprout's laughter echoed in her ear. "That way she could be in Gryffindor without any of the hassles. If the mountain won't go to Mohammed, then."
"Then Mohammed will be put in detention until there's an anti-switching spell on the Slytherin common room," Snape retorted.
"Oh will I now?" Hope said under her breath, a wide grin spreading across her face. She jumped suddenly as the thunder rumbled again. That wasn't coming from outside, that was Professor Trelawney and her storm cloud hurrying down the corridor!
Just in the nick of time, Hope hauled the extendible ear upwards, ravelling the long cord quickly round her hand. Her heart was pounding uncomfortably in her chest, with her discovery. Snape still thought he had the upper hand? Well, he hadn't put a switching spell on the common rooms yet, had he?
She dumped the extendible ear back in her bag and pulled her library book out again. Switching spells? Her finger found them quickly in the index and she flipped to the page with trembling hands. Scanning quickly through the basic spell, she frowned. This wasn't as easy as the charms she'd done that morning because she'd never seen the Gryffindor Common Room. Still, she'd heard enough about it to know what it looked like and it was worth a try.
She lifted her wand and concentrated hard. She imagined the Fat Lady opening up and the squashy armchairs that her family had described in the round turret room high in the castle. She could picture them floating towards her, changing places with the Slytherin furniture down by the lake. A whispered incantation and magic tingled through her.
Something had definitely happened.
Hope pushed her book back into her bag and was about to hurry back to the common room to find out what she'd done when she heard a set of feet sprinting along the corridor and a furious hammering on the door of the staff room below. There was a short respite and the knocking began again with renewed vigour.
"P-Professor," a female voice stuttered. "Is Professor McGonagall there? Oh! You've got to come quickly."
"Whatever is it?"
"I was." the girl began. Hope peered cautiously over the balcony, watching the events below with interest.
"Which of you lot did it?" a furious roar came down the corridor and the Slytherin head boy bounded into sight. "You've got a bloody nerve."
"That's enough!" Snape growled and the seventh year fell silent at once, glowering at his Gryffindor counterpart. "What happened, Forth?"
"They've been into out common room and nicked all the furniture, Sir!"
"Don't be ridiculous. It was you stealing ours," the girl retorted.
Hope fled, laughter bubbling up inside her. She couldn't believe she'd actually done it. Her feet carried her as fast as they could down to the common room, slipping and sliding across the marble floor in the entrance hall in her haste. Down the darkened corridors to the patch of damp wall that slid aside to grant her access.
Uproar greeted her. Pupils of all shapes and sizes were yelling furiously and gesticulating at various strange objects that had unexpectedly filled their common room. Hope pushed through the throng, and found a very large squashy armchair right by the fire. She sank into it, smiling blissfully. Gryffindor at last!
***
Hope lay in bed, watching the inky lake shimmer in the moonlight. Darkened shapes of owls soared silently above it all, some returning to the fold with parcels and letters for their owners, others departing with news for those at home. There had been no sign of her own sooty owl, and his absence just made her feel worse than ever.
Hope swallowed, trying her level best not to cry and hugged Grandpa's Gryffindor scarf tightly. She burrowed her face into the wool and took a deep breath. She'd be home soon, and even if Mum and Dad were furious with her, they'd help her sort out all this mess somehow. The passageway on the fourth floor would bring her out somewhere in Hogsmeade, and from there it was just a case of running along a few streets and she'd be home.
Not long to go now.
She glanced at her watch and leaned over to part the curtains of Cora's bed. Cora was curled up on her quilt glancing through a photograph album, and Hope caught a glimpse of a pretty brunette witch, who must have been Cora's mother, before Cora flipped the cover closed. Her blue eyes lifted expectantly to Hope's green ones.
"It's time," Hope whispered. She rearranged her bed to make it look like someone was sleeping in there and then picked up her wand and her cloak. Following Cora, she tiptoed past the other three sleepers in their dormitory and into the pitch blackness of the stairwell beyond.
Hope put one hand against the cool stone wall and cautiously descended. Her foot missed the next step down at one point and she lurched forward, her stomach plummeting at the same time as her foot. Slowly, and carefully they reached the bottom and then, after quickly checking that the place was deserted, they ran through the re-Slytherined common room into the underground passageways beyond.
"We need to steer clear of the dungeons, or we'll run into the Bloody Baron," Cora hissed, and Hope halted in the act of turning left. She looked at Cora for a moment, grateful for the torches giving them some light to see by.
She nodded her understanding, and both girls scuttled in the opposite direction, trying to keep to the shadows as much as they could.
This corridor was faintly familiar to Hope, and her feet moved easily around the twists and turns that had been hewn in the rock centuries before. The path forked, and she instinctively turned left, her feet pattering quickly up a flight of shallow stairs. Cora grinned at her, and Hope smiled back. She was less disconcerted by her knowledge of the castle know and, for once, it could actually be an advantage.
They took another turn and the floor began to slope steeply upwards. They struggled up the hill. Hope felt like her legs were being transfigured into jelly and she leaned her hand against the wall for a second, bending forwards to gulp air into her aching lungs. She couldn't stop now. She was going to go home.
She propelled herself up the incline, forcing herself to get to the top, and as she eventually did, she stumbled and sprawled headlong across the stone landing at the top.
There was a muffled giggle.
"Are you ok?" Cora whispered.
Hope sat up and inspected herself. There was a graze across one knee that was oozing with blood, and her left wrist stung abominably. She'd obviously come down hardest on that and had sprained it or something.
"Fine," she said brightly. She got to her feet, brushed her robes down and, with a wince of pain from her wrist, she pushed the solitary door on the landing open.
They were halfway up the main staircase. She glanced at Cora. They knew what they had to do.
The place was deserted and they scrambled silently upwards. Second floor. Third. Fourth. Cora grabbed Hope's arm and hauled her backwards into a tiny alcove behind a stone dwarf.
"Someone's coming," she murmured. Her breath was hot in Hope's ear. They waited, barely daring to breathe. All Hope could hear was her heart pounding in her ears like they were about to explode and the footsteps of someone getting ever closer.
"I'm sure I heard something. Mrs Norris, my pretty, do you think there are students out of bed?"
There was a yowl of assent from the cat and Hope chewed on her lip. She didn't care about getting caught, but she wasn't about to get Cora into trouble. There had to be some way out of this.
Her heart was beating faster now, and her fingers slipped on her wand. She'd managed a switching spell earlier, what if she tried to do one again? There would be some noise and Filch would surely go to investigate. Filch was coming nearer and Cora was pressed back in the corner, balanced somewhat precariously, desperately trying to stay out of sight.
"Hunt them out, my lovely," Filch crooned to his cat.
Hope took a deep breath, tried to focus her mind on Professor McGonagall's desk and blackboard. It was far enough away to get them out of trouble, but near enough so Filch would hear it. She lifted her wand and muttered the spell she'd tried earlier, hoping the two objects would switch places. Cora overbalanced and fell against her.
There was an almighty crash. The Transfiguration blackboard had evidently toppled over.
"Peeves!" Filch bellowed furiously. He tore down the corridor, Mrs Norris at his heels. Hope let out a shuddering sigh of relief.
"OK?" she whispered, as Cora sat upright again. "We'd better try and find Robert."
More footsteps could be heard, and Hope closed her eyes. They'd been lucky once, but the chances were they'd be caught this time. This set of steps was quieter and slightly uncertain; they paused now and then as if their owner was inspecting something.
"Is anyone here?" a familiar voice hissed.
Hope opened her mouth to let Robert know they were there, but someone else beat her to it.
"No doubt you'd prefer it if there wasn't." Snape's sardonic comment rang down the corridor. Hope cringed. "Well, well, who do we have here? Miles of Gryffindor, isn't it?"
"Y-Yes, Professor Snape," Robert replied, sounding totally terrified.
Hope shook her head and began to get to her feet at once. She couldn't let Robert take the blame for this, not when it was all her fault. Cora caught hold of her hand and looked imploringly at her. Suddenly Hope understood. If she moved, then Cora would be caught too.
Memories of Cora worrying about what her mum would say if she got into mischief drifted through her mind. She couldn't do that to Cora either. It was agony and Hope writhed uncomfortably, the guilt eating away at her. What could she do to make sure this was put right?
"You're one of Potter's friends," Snape said, and Hope could imagine her teacher's face as he put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Where is she?" he added silkily.
"I don't know, sir," Robert admitted, with perfect honesty. "Probably in bed if she's got any sense."
"Indeed."
There was a rustling noise, sounding like Snape was looking behind the tapestry that they'd arranged to meet behind, and then a grunt of irritation.
"What were you doing out of bed, Miles?" The question was barked, shattering the stillness of the night.
"I-I'd left my homework in Professor Flitwick's room and thought I'd better get it before I got into trouble. But I've got into trouble anyway."
"Thirty points from Gryffindor," Snape said coldly. "And you can have detention as well for your trouble. I want to see you tomorrow morning before breakfast in my classroom, is that understood?"
"Yes, sir."
Hope's insides were curling up with frustration. This wasn't Robert's fault. She wanted to stand up and yell at Snape, but she knew she couldn't.
"Straight back to Gryffindor," Snape commanded. "Do not pause on the way. I shall see you first thing in the morning, and I should hope that by then you would have come up with a better excuse. Gryffindors never were very inventive, but this cock and bull tale about homework is below par, even for Gryffindor's usual low standards."
Robert turned and obediently headed back towards Gryffindor Tower, his shoulders bowed and head low. Hope felt a huge twist of guilt. She'd go to Snape first thing in the morning, even before Robert had a chance to get there and confess. There was no way she'd let him be punished because of her.
Snape strode off in the opposite direction, his robes billowing out behind him. Cora gave a shuddering sob.
"It's ok," Hope reassured her. "He's gone now, but I think we'd better get out of here before Filch comes back. Come on, it's not worth trying this again tonight."
***
Hope was dressed before the rest of the girls in her dormitory had woken up. She brushed her hair patiently, trying to get it to lie straight, and to some extent succeeded. She looked at herself in the mirror beside her bed and saw her reflection staring back. She looked pale and wan. Dark shadows were smudged under her eyes belying a lack of sleep. Her face was even paler than usual, in direct contrast with the brightness of her hair and her black robes.
The others began to get dressed for the day ahead, but she didn't speak to any of them. She stared listlessly out of the window, willing the slow pointers of time to move forwards so that she could confess to what she'd done; she thought her watch must have broken because the minutes barely seemed to be moving at all. She shifted restlessly, unable to keep still.
Finally, with a quick smile at Cora, Hope let herself out of the dormitory and made her way along to Snape's classroom. Her insides were twisting themselves in knots, lurching and making her feel sick.
Don't be stupid she reprimanded herself. You deserve this. Robert doesn't.
She stared for a moment at the heavy oak door and steeled herself. Her shaking hand reached up and knocked firmly on the dungeon door. Snape answered with a curt, "Enter!" and she pushed the door open, determined to meet her fate.
What met her eyes took her breath away.
"Mum? Dad?"