It was nearly dawn by
the time Snape and Lucretia returned to Hogwarts. He had to tell her
where to go, as Lucretia had a terrible sense of direction. Also, he
had to threaten to strangle some house elves to let them back in and
to keep them quiet. They snuck back into their rooms unnoticed, as if
nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Unfortunately, there was no
time for them to catch up with sleep. Lucretia chose a bad time to go
out: the last day of Christmas holiday.
Carefully
cracking open the door to the Ravenclaw girl's dorm, Lucretia could
see that everyone was still asleep. She flopped down onto her bed,
pulled the hangings closed, and wrote the day's events into her
journal. If anyone found this, she would be in big trouble. This is
why she put a special charm on it that required a password, only to
be accepted if spoken in her voice. Then surely no one would be able
to know the many deep musings contained on the pages within.
Rubbing
her eyes with her fist like a sleepy child, she looked towards the
large grandfather clock on the wall. It was six o' clock. Her dorm
mates would be awaking any moment. The clock chimed six times as
Lucretia hastily changed into her uniform and slipped her journal
back into her bag. She left for the common room to sit and will
herself to stay awake
"Luuuuuci? Helloooooo?!"
Wystaer whispered, poking Lucretia in the arm. She was fast asleep on
her desk, face first in a small puddle of drool now forming. "Huh?"
She nearly shrieked aloud. "Oh...sorry."
"Did you get enough
sleep last night?" Wystaer asked looking concerned, then magicked
the drool off the desk.
"No..." she said wearily.
"Why
not?"
"Um...I just couldn't sleep... I guess."
"Sure...
now tell me the real reason."
"I think I have insomnia or
something..."
"Okay then..."
Wystaer reluctantly
accepted her excuse, even though she had vague feeling that her
friend may be lying. Lucretia drifted in and out of sleep for the
rest of the History of Magic class. Fervent dreams of pain and death
fluttered around her mind, jolting her awake at every stab they took.
At the end, which seemed it would never come, Wystaer dragged her
down to their last class of the day – potions.
Snape burst
through the heavy doors of the dungeon in his usual dramatic fashion.
He seemed extra grumpy today when he told everyone to shut up and
take notes.
"God! Someone definitely took their bitchy
potion today," Lucretia, now wide-awake, whispered to Wystaer. "I
know! He can be such a greasy git sometimes..." Wystaer said, just
a little too loudly.
Snape turned around quickly, and said,
"I do not allow side-conversations in my class! Shouldn't you
know this by now?" Wystaer attempted to look innocent. Lucretia
giggled under her breath, "Sorry, professor..." He stared at her
for what seemed longer than necessary, before turning back to the
chalkboard.
Eventually, a very boring potions class ended.
Lucretia always took a long time to gather her things and get going.
But in this class she always seemed to take her time. "Come on!
I'm hungry," Wystaer nagged at her. "Okay, okay, I'm
coming," Lucretia said, walking with her friend out the
door.
But something caught her arm before she left. "Just
a moment, Miss Morrigan..." Snape said in that deep, silky
voice. Wystaer looked confusedly at Lucretia, searching for an
answer. Lucretia flushed slightly pink and shrugged. Snape glared at
Wystaer menacingly. "Oookay...I'll see you at dinner,"
Wystaer said, taking a hint and walking down the hall.
"Have
any interesting conversations lately?" He sneered,
pushing her back against the wall.
"N-no, sir..." she
stammered.
"I'm glad to hear that, but you have been
naughty."
She started to sweat.
"You know what
happens to girls who are naughty, don't you?" He said coolly,
pointing toward a wooden meter stick leaning against his desk. She
nodded.
He smirked, "Good. See you in detention." And
with that, pushed her out and slammed the door.
